#I know I have to write about the other characters in my Lotus AU

[pumpkinpaix]

Very curious for your opinion- what do you think of it when people write modern au wwx as being very active in social justice movements? Personally, I can buy it but I don't think it should be a given?

maybe an unwise first question to pick out of my moldering askbox but whatever it's the first one that i felt like i had an answer prepared for off the cuff so yolo i guess!!

short answer: at this point, i don't buy it. It's a detail that I can and have put up with for fics i really like for other reasons, but i think it's pretty far off the mark in terms of how I understand wei wuxian's primary motivating forces.

ok now to get into the weeds! :D

there are several reasons why wei wuxian being heavily involved in social justice movements doesn't ring true to me--the easiest one to point to from outside the narrative is that the sort of activism wei wuxian is written to participate in is often modeled on how social justice circles look in the US. It feels really culturally alienated in a lot of ways. I can't really blame authors for this, though, because it's a very understandable approach to write what you're familiar with--but it does often take me out of the story because i find it kind of jarring, especially if the story in question is ostensibly supposed to be set in China where modern social activism necessarily looks very different than in the states.

but that kind of feels like metagaming the question, so: in terms of interpreting the text, i really just don't think wei wuxian would be inclined to that kind of work for two main reasons.

first: I think he'd be really bad at it lol. social activist movements are necessarily collaborative, and wei wuxian is kind of terrible at playing well with others, compromising, discussing, etc. he often favors action over diplomacy and has terrible impulse control, tending to act first, think later, often to pretty devastating consequences for the people he's ostensibly standing up for. See: antagonizing Wen Chao, which precipitates the chain of events that ultimately leads to the massacre at Lotus Pier; confronting the jins and basically threatening to kill everyone at jinlin tai if they opposed him, thus alienating all his potential allies and leaving the wen remnants essentially completely dependent on his individual power for survival etc. thus dooming them entirely when he died.

(also see: "can we stop talking and just start killing each other" at guanyin temple)

even really minor events in the past show the same kind of pattern, such as at the qishan conference when he throws his support behind wen ning as an archery competitor--wen ning panics in the spotlight and flubs his shots to public ridicule from being put on the spot. jiang cheng is the one who drags him away in mortification while wei wuxian simply doesn't give a shit about how it reflects upon him, not really considering how it might reflect on his sect.

i'm not saying that these were "wrong" actions to take in the moment: wei wuxian has an admirable righteous streak. he does not, however, always take other people into consideration when he makes his decisions. he basically ignores anyone who tries to change his behavior, sometimes carelessly, sometimes reacting with anger (Jiang Cheng, Lan Wangji, literally everyone post-sunshot frankly). that kind of individualist mentality is really ill-suited to activism, which requires an understanding that the individual has less power than the group and that you cannot bend the world around you. a lot of fandom comes down super hard on characters like jiang cheng and yu ziyuan for the things they say to wei wuxian, but i think they're honestly quite understandable, even if the way they express themselves is sometimes cruel or hurtful. the rationale isn't particularly surprising. It's one thing to act in a way that gets yourself hurt. It's another to do so when you know that your position will drag a whole lot of others down with you.

i feel that even if wei wuxian had the interest in joining a social activist group, he would probably eventually butt heads with the others until they either expelled him or he left himself. his thick skin would be a great tool in certain calculated actions (he would do very well as a symbol or a charismatic fall guy) but unfortunately, he's not very good at listening or adhering to a plan.

second: i just don't think wei wuxian thinks about systems of oppression very much. i summarized how i feel about his relationship to class already in this post from like 4.5 years ago (jeez.....) and I still stand by it! wei wuxian is not particularly class conscious because he is, in fact, relatively wealthy. he also like, pretty clearly doesn't think very hard about women's work or status either, except in personal terms--after all, he plays with A'Yuan frivolously, planting him in the dirt and does not think about the kind of work that goes into maintaining a standard of living, which is often women's work. (before anyone says anything, yes, i am aware he is not outright misogynist about women's work). throughout the text, wei wuxian just doesn't put a whole lot of thought into how a woman's gender might affect her status and power.

furthermore, this is kind of mentioned in the class meta, but again--wei wuxian's defense of the wen remnants isn't singularly motivated by the desire to uplift an oppressed class, because the wens are not an oppressed class. They are a sect, which is both familial and alliance-based, not an ethnic group or a class of people. Their treatment is still unconscionable, but it's not systemic oppression. the attempted killing of all the wens is not much different than xue yang's vendetta against the yueyang chang clan, except in scale. and until wen qing comes and personally begs him to help her find her brother, wei wuxian doesn't really have any thoughts to spare for the wen remnants and how they might be faring. he goes to help wen qing and wen ning because he owes them both a serious personal debt, which is something that he feels strongly about! and once he gets to the camps, he obviously isn't going to just ignore the other people suffering (esp because they are the wen sibs' immediate family). he is righteous, after all, but often fails to apply it in a big-picture way.

wei wuxian cares a lot about paying back those who have been kind to him or have helped him, which is pretty evident through his self-sacrificing streak throughout the narrative. he often forgets or deliberately does not take his own well-being into consideration--but, as established, he also forgets that he is not an isolated entity and that his well-being is tied to the well-being of others as well.

throwing himself in front of the brand to save mianmian, making sure everyone else gets out of the cave before he does, immediately coming to terms with having his right hand cut off, giving up his golden core, publicly distancing himself from yunmeng, personally defending the wen remnants, taking jin ling's curse mark onto himself, making himself into the yin flag at the second siege and so on--it's all one long extension of paying back debts, in some way.

personally, I think this is because he considers his entire life to be one that is owed--his life, his skills, his body etc. is all owed to others. I also think, however, that this tendency is often confused by fandom into characterizing wei wuxian as having low self-esteem, which he patently does not. wei wuxian thinks he's hot shit. he's arrogant, a show-off, and is so insistent in his own skills and abilities that he icaruses himself into literal bits. when he thinks he's about to lose his right hand he's like welp. guess i gotta learn how to do this with my left, without really any question about whether or not he can. of course he can! he's wei wuxian! can he bring wen ning back from the dead? for sure!! definitely!!!! can he totally do this night hunt blindfolded? hell yeah he can! and he's usually right. i think wei wuxian has very low self-worth, which is a different thing: he throws himself away at the drop of a hat for others that he cares about or feels indebted to because, whether consciously or unconsciously, he thinks that their well-being, survival, happiness etc. is something he should ensure at any cost, even himself because he owes it to them. he owes his whole existence!

so circling back to the initial topic, I think this pattern of thinking is pretty at odds with social activism. he puts those he feels he owes above himself, but doesn't have a lot of attention to spare for people he considers irrelevant--which is most people. (never learning jin zixun's name, for example). I think that while he understands the nature of systems of oppression to a certain degree (like, he understands jin guangyao's motivations, but he's not particularly interested or sympathetic), it's not something he's really passionate about correcting. his reaction mostly seems to be like "well, that sucks". he only really goes out of his way to defend those that he has personal affairs with or those that happen to pique his notice

wei wuxian doesn't actually have big-picture ambitions. he didn't want to be a leader of anything or start his own sect or anything else. he doesn't spend much of his thoughts on making a better world so much as how he might be able to be content in the world that exists with the people that he cares about. that kind of self-focused drive leaves me unconvinced that he would get involved in social justice in any meaningful way in a modern au. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i think that makes him a really fun protagonist, tbh. the tension between his selfishness and his propensity for self-sacrifice makes for a very interesting dynamic.

.....

:'] i guess i never left the weeds.

(ko-fi)

[carnatus89]

Shen Qingqiu triple trouble!

So, System Possession AU of @artsarasp is going through, stuff let's say. Angsty stuff. So of course my mind was like.

Let's make shen triplets!

The situation is, Shen Jiu has his fatal Qi deviation, Shen Yuan dies by choking on food and all is normal. But, some error occurs, and both Shen Jiu’s and Shen Yuan’s souls are in danger of disintegrating from the Qi deviation. The System notices this and tries to fix it, forcing the soul to generate a body to occupy from basically thin air. But there’s a problem, since there’s two souls that are now generating a body, meanwhile the original body is still functional, though has been metaphorically dragged through the mud. Thus, both Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan materialize with new bodies while the System is absorbed into the spare body.

So now we have three Shen Qingqius. And the System is Not Happy.

Neither is Shen Jiu to be honest.

Shen Yuan somehow convinces both the System and Shen Jiu that they should pretend to just be brothers, make some bullshit about trapped consciousness to fool the peak lords, while he wacks his brain to try to avoid death or punishment from the enraged System. Which can still give both points and punishments. The problem is that since he got the short end of the stick in the body lottery, he has to be very careful of exerting the body’s limits, so he can’t get agitated. And giving punishments is very agitating. Shen Yuan is basically trying to make the System care. If Wall-E can love, so can the System, wouldn’t it be better for the story if he becomes an active member? It would also be better to leave the story to develop itself organically, think about all the character development! So the protagonist can have a more round support cast! If he read something like that, he wouldn’t have criticized so much the papapa scenes since he could just focus on that! What do you think System-bro?

Meanwhile Shen Jiu is very conflicted, since these, what, fakers? Clones? Some type of demons? Are stealing his face and seem to have some ulterior motive, but both seem eager to ‘help him’ somehow. Granted, the blue eyed freak is creepy as fuck, a fake cherfulness that all his instincts scream to get away from, but he’s mostly… nice. The definition of the word, at least. The other fake is snarky, doesn’t really back down from a verbal dispute, and, while infuriating, it’s more real. Safer, in a way, more honest. Besides, the blue eyed one is useful when trying to find synonyms while writing or finding the name of a song he couldn’t remember well. They can stay, for now.

System is actually scared. They saved the scum villain character, but made a bigger problem while also becoming… vulnerable. How could they make sure the story functions if they have a weak and frail body? They are forced to play along, become a more direct support to the characters to make sure they stay in line. But [User02] seems to have other ideas, and while they must punish him, they really can’t without suffering themselfs. The original scum villain for the most part follows the script, but he also seems perturbed by their presence, which is fine. All is fine, they should be able to fix it.

Somehow.

The three of them are mostly the same in appearance. The major difference that the peaklords catch on is the mark on the forehead (I don’t remember what it is called). Shen Jiu has a lotus flower painted, Shen Yuan has a dot while the System has an empty circle, resembling a zero. Both Shen Jiu and the System have their clothes correctly, while Shen Yuan doesn’t really know how any of his layers of clothes work, so he fastened the belt around everyone, even the outer robe. Finally, the System has their hair tight to their head, Shen Jiu has it a little loose to let it flow but staying neat and clean. Shen Yuan just, tries his best. Finally, the System’s face is kinda cartoonish, they make faces that shouldn't be possible, stretching his smile wide and making their eyes a little too big. Both Shens don’t mention it much, they just say they’re special.

I don’t know what came to me to do this shit, but now’s here, deal with it.

Spanish rambling when this idea just came barreling through my brain.

[demaparbat-hp]

Hiiii!

Can you tell more about the Hunters AU? How diferent are katara relationship with the others, they reaction to katara 'betray'? how they discover the plan and that her don't really is in FN side?

Hi, and thanks for asking!

Hunters is, above all, a writing experiment. The idea is to change a character's chore trait and see how the story develops from there. In this case, Katara's trust and faith in the Avatar showing up and saving the world.

She blames the Avatar's disappearance for the war and her mother's death (much in the same way she placed her anger on Zuko during S3—it's a coping mechanism, and the basis of her character arc is growing out of it). Katara refuses to wait for anyone else to end things when she can do it herself.

And then Zuko arrives, having witnessed his mother's death and wishing to dethrone his father. He has a plan to end the war. A tangible plan that not only gives Katara the chance to learn waterbending and actively shape her own future, but it also places her in the best place to destroy the Fire Nation: the very heart of it.

They're taking things apart from the inside, doing side missions for the White Lotus, and chasing the Avatar because, well, can't have the throne without an unbanished Heir.

Because of all this, the Gaang is quite different! Suki is the first member, given that she leaves Kyoshi Island as the Avatar's bodyguard, protector, and handler. Then they collect Jet, of all people, and Toph once they look for an earthbending master.

Sokka is unavailable until much, much later, given that he left the South Pole with Hakoda a couple of years before the story begins. Both Zuko and Katara will join the Gaang...sometime.

The thing about Zuko's mission is that nobody can know about what he's really doing. He'd rather not bother with the Avatar at all, but that's not an option if he wants his claim to the throne to be legitimate. However...it was never said that he couldn't deliver a fully-realized Avatar to his father.

This I'll-begrudgingly-look-after-you-until-you're-ready-to-defeat-my-father-but-you-can't-know-I'm-a-good-guy mindset means a lot of Blue Spirit and Painted Lady shenanigans.

I think Aang suspects that both Zuko and Katara are actually good guys, and the White Lotus members they meet will probably hint at this once or twice. Jet is skeptical at best and murderous at worst, Suki is ready for the worst and hoping for the best, and Toph, for the best or the worst, doesn't give a damn either way.

The reactions I'd love to see, however, are Hakoda and Sokka's. How do you think that encounter would go?

[ryin-silverfish]

Ask/Writing Masterlist (irregularly updating)

Ryin(阿璎), 24. She/They. First Gen Chinese student. Ryin_Silverfish on AO3. Currently hyperfixating on old Chinese novels. casual Zhiguai tales and LMK enjoyer.

Investiture of the Gods/FSYY:

Why are the Daoist immortals fighting?

Did Yuanshi Tianzun manipulate Shen Gongbao?

Chan, Jie, and possible prejudice against yaoguai

Azure Lion and the other Bodhisattvas' steeds in FSYY

Daji's fox form in FSYY Pinghua

The historical Su Daji

Is Shen Gongbao a yaoguai?

Are all yaoguai irredeemable monsters in FSYY?

Ao Bing and the dragons Nezha fought

Does deification wipe your memory and personality?

Bi Gan and the Great Fox Massacre

More discussion about prejudice against yaoguai

How old was Su Daji the human when she died?

Differences between FSYY novel and Pinghua

Musing on FSYY's view of fate and its possible effects on Yang Jian

Master Yuding

The messy marriages of FSYY

Is Daji a goddess in the novel?

Names of immortal masters in FSYY

Just for fun: the FSYY drinking game

Nezha's age in FSYY

Nezha's death and resurrection in FSYY

What happened to the original Daji?

Lady Shiji aka the Rock Demoness

Chinese Fox Spirits:

Auspicious/Demonic Foxes

More on fox spirits

The inner core of foxes

Foxes and their association with Fire

Notable fox spirits

The foxes of 狐狸缘全传

Has Daji ever been worshipped as a goddess?

Fox masks

The foxes of Liaozhai

Weaknesses and abilities of fox spirits

Three resource collections on Chinese fox spirits: 1, 2, 3

Human-fox hybrids

Can foxes and their descendents magically know if someone's telling the truth?

The magical properties of fox saliva

Fox exams and Heavenly Foxes

Are male foxes more malicious?

More on fox exams

Offerings to fox spirits

The "Lady Fox Immortal"

Chinese Mythos in General:

The Precious Scroll of Erlang

Into the Erlang-verse: Li, Zhao, Yang

Can immortal masters romance their students?

Why we don't power-rank characters in God-Demon novels

A brief overview of Chang'e

On Chinese Religion and "Respect"

The 28 Lunar Mansions

Can the Heavenly Emperor be replaced + a primer on dynastic successions

A Guide to the Chinese Underworld (and what it isn't)

Is Nüwa JE's daughter?

Weaver Girl

Can yaoguais a/o their descendents enter the Celestial Bureaucracy?

Queen Mother of the West and her husband(s)

Bixia Yuanjun, Lady of Mt. Tai

Erlang's dad

The story that gives us the name "Yang Jian"

On the transformation of Erlang's image (and his relationship with JE in JTTW)

Erlang's mom, Lotus Lantern, and a neat little discovery

Erlang cameos in other stories and Zajus

Erlang's mom-saving story in Chinese operas

Child Manjushri, or: the absurdity of pinning a definitive age on gods

The strange modern ship of Mengpo/Yuelao, and Mengpo's myths

The half-beast form of QMoW

Does Erlang have a wife/love interest?

Nezha's mom

A overview of Gonggong and his mythos

Some introductory sources on the Chinese Underworld

Mythos-inspired Worldbuilding:

Dragons of the Four Seas

LMK S5 and a possible "Celestial Council of Regents" AU

LMK S5 Fix-it: the Four Divine Beasts

Character/Story Analysis (JTTW + LMK)

Heart and Mind: Tripitaka

Local Lion Uncle enjoyer goes on a rant

On SWK and his fear of death

Why the Dead People Supreme Court?

No, seriously, why?

Chinese Underworld =/= Christian Hell

LMK S4, Havoc in Heaven, and revolutions

Why I dislike the "class warfare" reading of Havoc in Heaven

In Defence of Li Jing...ha, as fucking if

On Yin-Yang, Chaos/Order, and the Harbringer

JTTW's view on the Three Religions

Disjointed S5 Reactions

"Chaos doesn't work that way in traditional Chinese Cosmology"

Xiangliu, the Nine-headed Bird, and Jiutou Chong

Lotus Lantern: The Summaries

Part 1: Precious Scroll of Chenxiang

Part 2: The Epic of Prince Chenxiang

Part 3: Lotus Lantern 1.0 + 2.0

Part 4: Chenxiang and the Male-Female Swords

My Fanfics:

Climbing the Sky

The Wild Son

Bodhicitta

The Serpent and the Deluge

South Seas Sojourn

Journey of the Gods AU sideblog

Masterpost 2

[borkunlimited]

Zayne, Keeper of the Shrine

Zayne had inherited the role of holding rituals in your name from his father. The passage of time flows slower for the gods and he hopes even then, he will be one of the faces you will remember when he passes away.

Tags: Zayne & Reader, Fantasy AU, Fluff

Word Count: 585

Author's Notes: This snippet was fun to write. In my drafts, his encounter with you when he was a child was actually the first one I wrote. Enjoy!

────────────────────

Zayne had been granted the gift of sight by no other than you.

A normal human would see a dense forest and nothing more, but in his eyes, he sees your friends, the forest spirits, frolicking about and walking with him while he looks for herbs.

Recently, he had heard you have made a new friend.

“He’s a snake, Master Zayne-”

All of the forest creatures, and even woodland spirits had told him covertly, expressing concerns about your new friend with ashen hair who does not appreciate being called one while whispering rumors that the wandering god is but a god of calamity who wants to devour you.

That’s a new.

Zayne is aware of your older sibling, the tiger god that prowls the mountain day and night, and he has seen that grim reaper who always goes up in the mountain with a determined look only to go down all frustrated but still politely tipping his hat at him.

Should he consider this new character an omen?

Perhaps in this rainy night he will have his answer but then again, kind hearted as you are, one can never predict the whims of a god on giving replies.

The sliding doors to the veranda of his room are wide open, the faint drizzle barely reaching inside, perfect for a late night reading that you have finally decided to make your appearance, carrying a lotus leaf as your umbrella with a woven basket full of herbs.

“Master Zayne will not grow taller if he stays up late.”

“I am no longer a child, Great Forest Spirit, you know that.”

To most with the gift of sight, they would usually see a giant deer in your place but ever since he was a child, he often sees you as a beautiful lady, your hair tied in a braid (You have told him once in passing it is your older sibling who does it for you) and growing on top of your head are pure white antlers.

You have little to no regard for human customs but you have always listened to him so when you step inside to look at the books he is reading, you leave your shoes by the door together with your lotus leaf.

(Maybe he will tell you another time to dry yourself first but he was too mesmerized towards every step you take, flowers sprouting, blossoming, wilting until all that is left behind are wet footprints on the tatami mat.)

“Master Zayne grows up too fast.”

“A year for us is a second for you.”

But he hopes you will remember him, just like how you remembered each of his ancestors and their names, and he hopes one day you will show to him where you hid all the small mementos they have given to you so-

-He can see how his gifts look amongst them.

“Oh, a colorful lotus leaf!”

“No, Great Forest Spirit, this is a parasol. Used by ladies at the capital to shield them from the sun and rain.”

If only the rest of your followers knew how bright your smile is every time you received their heartfelt offerings, they would surely linger here on this land after they pass away to be with you before they let themselves be taken away by the grim reaper.

So, Zayne has taken upon himself to describe it in words, hoping his brushstrokes would do you justice.

Afterall, everyone should know the name of the benevolent forest god and her likeness.

────────────────────

Author's Notes; I supposed one of the characters I had patterned Reader after is actually Totoro. I like how that fluff ball seemed so enamored with trinkets made by humans that he kept all of them.

Check out the roles the rest of the LIs will play for this longfic:

Sylus, The Wandering God

Caleb, The Two-Tailed Tiger God

Rafayel, The Grim Reaper

Zayne, The Keeper of the Shrine

Xavier, The Grand Prince

[funky-little-autistic-goose]

Woops Lychee Dragon Cookie analysis sorrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyy

totally not putting writing Triumph of Sloth au for LycheePrincess cause I got freaked out by the scale of what I want to do oops- so uh have this-

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Lychee Dragon Cookie is genuinely one of the most interesting of the Dragons to me because of how their character is very subtly written. Now mind you, a lot of this is made on assumptions too, but bear with me for a minute here. Okay, longer than that, but shut up. Lychee Dragon Cookie, as we know already, uses mind control to have cookies worship them and do their dirty work. We see this very thing in their first proper appearance in Gingerbrave’s Tale by luring the residents of the Rambutan Isle to their cave, including Gingerbrave and Zombie Cookie. Beforehand, they had disguised themself as Mangosteen Cookie to gain the trust of the village. This leads to two assumptions about how Lychee Dragon Cookie thinks, that A. Cookies are nothing more than pawns to the dragons, and B. Love is merely a means to an end for that goal. Something else to note is why they choose Mangosteen Cookie as their disguise. Since Mangosteen Cookie was seen as a small clumsy child, no one would ever expect them to be the one luring people to the cliffs, as a threat to the village. Most curiously is their relationship with Rambutan Cookie. Rambutan Cookie immediately clocked that Mangosteen Cookie was not what they presented, but she still stuck around them because “They reminded of herself when she was younger” (sorta paraphrasing what she says about them in Gingerbrave’s Tale). We even find out through the Dragon Egg Chest storyline that they even exchanged friendship bracelets during this time, which Lychee Dragon Cookie was very reluctant when thinking about throwing theirs away (more on this later). 

We also see that Lychee Dragon Cookie is either the youngest of the fruit dragons and/or a runt. Even during the Age of Dragons, they were controlling cookies for their own gain. Lychee Dragon Cookie is very quick to antagonize the other dragons with an exception in Longan Dragon Cookie. This makes sense since their berries are in the same family, alongside being mutually friendly because of their misanthropic demeanors. Also something to note is that Lychee Dragon Cookie’s affection jelly states “I have only admitted defeat once!” And while this could be referring to the fight with Rambutan Cookie at the end of Gingerbrave’s Tale, I am more inclined to believe that defeat was because of Longan Dragon Cookie as Lychee states in their relationship chart, “My powers didn’t work? That’s a first!” If I had to make an assumption, Longan Dragon Cookie likely brought Lychee Dragon Cookie under them after a fight for dominance, but Longan saw the potential in a servant like Lychee Dragon Cookie.

The point I am trying to make with all of this is that Lychee Dragon Cookie is desperate for attention and control. Lychee Dragon Cookie is certainly stronger than the average cookie is, but they are likely the weakest of the dragons, at least on a physical level. Being the runt of the group likely led the other dragons to somewhat disregard Lychee Dragon Cookie’s abilities, which is supported by how both Pitaya Dragon and Ananas Dragon insult their methods of controlling cookies as cowardly and shameful. As for Lotus Dragon, they just find Lychee exhausting, but with the update revealing Lotus Dragon as a flower dragon, separate from the group, they likely didn’t have much expectation as to how Lychee Dragon, a fruit dragon, should behave until much later. Lychee Dragon Cookie returns this hostile behavior, basically saying how they will inevitably control the other dragons at some point or another in their relationship chart. Being at least partially influenced by Longan Dragon, Lychee Dragon Cookie believes they must be in control and above, which isn’t helped with assumed insecurities about their strength and size as a runt/the youngest. That’s why they choose the disguise of a small child whilst hiding amidst the Rambutan Villagers. Not just because it’s cute and easy to trust, but because no one expects a weak small child to impose a threat. Mangosteen Cookie is almost more like an extension of insecurities that Lychee Dragon Cookie has buried deep behind their cruelty and manipulation.

That’s why Rambutan Cookie is such a weird case to them. Rambutan Cookie immediately offered friendship to Lychee when disguised, even when she knew full well Mangosteen Cookie was highly suspicious. Even though it was behind a deceit, Lychee Dragon Cookie found themself attached to Rambutan Cookie and made a connection that lasted even after the cave fell on itself. As mentioned before, they had received a friendship bracelet from Rambutan Cookie herself to symbolize that Mangosteen Cookie belonged as family with the village. When reminded of this, Lychee Dragon Cookie keeps the bracelet because of that relationship that they made with Rambutan Cookie. On top of that, there was rambutan grass growing in the cave, and they chose not to cut it out because it reminded them of Rambutan Cookie. But of course, they refuse to show this side of themself. Lychee Dragon Cookie says this in their relationship chart when talking about Rambutan Cookie, “A Cookie? Trying to protect me?” This is Lychee’s only other status that isn’t Tension besides Longan Dragon Cookie with it being Friendly at that. On a very surface level, you’d almost think it should be Rival if they never truly cared about Rambutan Cookie, but no. Now, this line could be read as just amusement because, why would Rambutan Cookie ever protect them? Either as Mangosteen Cookie or themself? But it also further shows how Lychee Dragon Cookie thinks. They must be above everyone else. They must be in control at all times. Being protected isn’t new to Lychee Dragon Cookie, but that was only when others were forced to listen to them. Rambutan Cookie protecting them willingly, even knowing they weren’t being fully truthful, is bizarre to Lychee. It’s a sort of love they’ve never known properly in their entire life, a love that isn’t just a tool. It confuses them, but that’s why Lychee Dragon Cookie is so amused and attached to Rambutan Cookie…Because she is the only one who’s shown them a connection without ties despite everything. A love, whatever form it takes, that is true and genuine, and I desperately hope we get to explore that in the next update soon.

[anonymoususeru]

Beast-Ancient AU Fan Sagas but its all rambles and no Art and just Pas rambling about her OCs

Uhh hi, the AU belongs to @cuppajj and this is just a blurb of thoughts and little writing under the cut. Also contains lore of OCs I haven't revealed yet soooo y e a a h . Keep in mind this isn't super following of CRK Lore but is linked to the AU. Just not super connected.

andapersonalmessagetocuppa,finishyourocanimatictheithacasagaiscomingoutonchristmas- /lhj

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Szechuan Pepper and Rakum Palm holds the full power. Blooming Hortensia, Ripe Pulasan and White Mango holds half of the full power. All five Soul Jams have their Beasts' subconsciousness inside and relied on the magic inside to stay "alive".

My Ancients are older than the Five canon Ancients and around the Beast Cookie's age. It'll explain the comments/thoughts they have of the Neo Beasts lol.

The Wilting Hortensia Saga

The first of the Five Draconic Protectors to fall into Corruption herself. As the Soul Jam of her successor, Flowery Agar, has been destroyed, all Flowery Agar Cookie could do is stick with their successor.

As Flowery Agar Cookie once held the Light of Corruption, they have led their successor down her path. The last thing she expected was for Blooming Hortensia to strike back and return the favour, getting rid of Flowery Agar Cookie's spirit for good.

Blooming Hortensia Cookie, now Wilting Hortensia Cookie, has forcibly taken what was once her home from the Blue Dragon's Rule via violence and force, draining most of the Blue Dragon's power. The Paradise is now wilting, but the cookies there have faith in their leader to bring prosperity like she has done many years ago.

As the Beast of Corruption was the only one who could hold Blooming Hortensia Cookie back, Flowery Agar Cookie being gone means that there is nothing holding Wilting Hortensia Cookie back from dealing with any threats. She has commanded many cookies to rid of any Vanilla Orchids blooming within the paradise, as she does not need a child to play in her domain nor does she appreciate Saint Vanilla Cookie trying to purify her citizens.

The main characters of the Saga are Bellflower, Hydrangea and Ginseng, Lotus Dragon Cookie would come later. If Strawberry Crepe Cookie runs to the paradise, there is no guarantee that Wilting Hortensia Cookie would ever let them leave.

The Szechuan Pepper Saga

The second of the Draconic Protectors to have fallen into Corruption. Szechuan Pepper Cookie refuses to take on a new name, and it was the most surprising outcome, as he was the most stable out of all the Draconic Protectors.

The Light of Ascendancy is not half of the full power. It does not mean that the Beast who held the power did not reside within it. The last thing Commander Fondant Cookie expected was for their forceful successor to use the Light of Ascendancy for its true purpose. Now the forceful leader of the Dragon's Valley, and with Pitaya Dragon Cookie being unavailable, Szechuan Pepper Cookie has united the tribes within the valley.

However, within the eyes of the once follower, Szechuan Pepper Cookie's morals have left him. In private, Szechuan Pepper Cookie is now a paranoid man, afraid of other cookies coming to ruin him. Including the Beast residing in his Soul Jam. Commander Fondant Cookie is likely counting their days down until they meet the same fate as Flowery Agar Cookie.

Should Dragonberry Cookie come to Szechuan Pepper Cookie for answers of how to become a dragon or to take over, it will be a tough battle. No one knows who will come out victorious from it and Szechuan Pepper Cookie does not appreciate a reckless teenager coming into his home and claiming it is hers.

The main characters are tough to tell, but Capsaicin is very much involved in this. It's his favourite professor after all.

The Ripe Pulasan Saga

The third of the Draconic Protectors to fall into Corruption from Paranoia and visions that his Beast has given him, tormenting him for years.

A man who once lived in silence, fearing for the Violet Dragon and the passive threat of Violaceous Icing Cookie, Pulasan Cookie was driven into insanity. Once holding the Light of Tranquility, he is now holding the Light of Division. Ripe Pulasan Cookie realises that how the tribe working together is the reason why the Violet Dragon have tricked him and his friends before.

Violaceous Icing Cookie, while a passive threat, did not hesitate to try to put Ripe Pulasan Cookie back into his place. It is her power that he was using after all. However, it only led to Ripe Pulasan not only destroying Violaceous Icing's Soul Jam for good, but throwing her out of his subconsciousness.

Lychee Dragon Cookie refuses to admit that they see Ripe Pulasan Cookie as a threat and tries to regain their power. Only for Ripe Pulasan Cookie coercing the now separated tribes within the islands to banish the Violet Dragon. As the conflicting ideals within the tribes have led them to focus on themselves, they are more immune to Lychee Dragon Cookie's charms and disguises. That was the end goal of Ripe Pulasan Cookie.

Rambutan Cookie could not accept what has happened, how an old folktale archivist within her tribe made them abandon her, the leader. She is the protagonist of this saga.

The islands are heavily guarded and now have many cookies making sure no outsiders ever enter. They do not appreciate vanilla orchids blooming and tries to rid of them on sight.

Although the division could only work for so long after all.

The Ivory Mango Saga

Fourth of the Draconic Protectors to go corrupt. However the reasons of their corruption seems to be unknown.

White Mango Cookie, once modest and peaceful, have become the very thing to led the Tropical Soda Islands astray. Ananas Dragon Cookie, while they have failed to nip the problem in the bud, have restrained the Beast and getting the cookies, creatures and all on the Pineapple island to evacuate.

But it is only temporary after all, as the place Ivory Mango Cookie have been sealed to was being destroyed slowly. Although there is something peculiar there too. Roux is all around the place, being the liquid to destroy the nature.

One must wonder was this the full corruption of White Mango Cookie or Reticent Roux have gained some control. However, the words Ivory Mango Cookie said seems to lead to the former, just using their Beasts' Power as a scapegoat.

The Snake Sovereign Saga

Rakum Palm Cookie, seeing all their friends becoming corrupt day by day, could not take it anymore. They have lived their life half-alive, half of a soul due to the Ivory Dragon being angered that they were deceived.

Taking their role as the Glaring Snake Sovereign once more, the Evergreen Town has fallen into Peril, as the Sovereign forced all the cookies to get rid of any vanilla orchids on sight, and made sure no cookies would ever come and go. If a cookie manages to get in, interrogate them and made sure they are not a threat. But never let them leave.

As the Evergreen Town is not too far from the Golden City (Near the jelly swamp on the map, which is near the Golden Cheese Kingdom), many cookies from the former Golden Cheese Kingdom would almost consider this a safe haven. It is quite the opposite though.

Tenacious Buttercream have only looked in horror what their successor have become and like their batchmates, tried to put them back into their place. Only for Tenacious Buttercream, the last standing Draconian Confectionery, to have been destroyed by Rakum Palm Cookie.

No one dares to refer to them as their name anymore, addressing them in their title only.

Hope you don't mind the long rambles, I have been thinking of this for a while. A lot of this is a huge subject to change so yeah :D

[butterflywannabefree]

Moodboards for @lmkobsessedmoth

Bro, where did my motivation go for me to be posting moodboards during the LAST MONTH OF 2024 ?! I don’t know but I am and still am ashamed. But hey, I’m here now. No time to procrastinate again when creativity means doing things for fun. And I admit, this was pretty fun. As the title suggests, these moodboards are dedicated to @lmkobsessedmoth who, I’m going to be honest, is one of the more nuanced artists in the LMK community. And one of the more underrated, I would say. They are the creator of the Death AU, an AU in which MK dies and is helped by their OC Yu Ling…At first. I don’t think it’s called the Death AU anymore and has a whole new plotline that involves spirits and monsters alike.

Which is understandable. Creators are able to change whatever they want about their AU and the characters within it. Lord knows how much I go back and forth on my own creations- Loyd, you’re my kindred spirit in that sense- But enough about that. I wanted to make moodboards, I made moodboard and you will now see the moodboards ! I’m back for now, baby, so let’s get the train moving !

Side note, I only made two moodboards for @lmkobsessedmoth ‘s main OC’s (Yu Ling and Diedie). I might be interested in making some for the others if we receive more about them. But for now, this is what I got.

First up is the main girl herself, Yu Ling. Or the Daughter of Death, as her title says. From what I know, Yu Ling is a being whose fate was reset by the gods, Erland and Guanyin. I believe her powers have something to do with souls and spirits. And in order to get that power, there was a deal made with the ten Yama Kings and she has been their student ever since, gaining many injuries from the accident which didn’t affect her. Though her origins were very different as in the beginning of the Death AU, she was originally meant to be a guide for MK when he died and helped him on his adventures.

Concept wise, that is a strong one. I’ve studied stories and writing before and I’ve always been one to enjoy anything relating to things like spirits and souls. So I really enjoyed learning about the AU. Even though things have changed, seeing Yu Ling change through it was also fun. Her design is both, dare I say, simplistic yet fancy. Loyd has managed the art of being able to replicate the artstyle of LMK almost seamlessly and Yu Ling looks like she could pass to be one of the characters. Simple but with just enough to make her stand out. Not to mention her character is pretty neat. When I was asking permission from her creator to make this, I asked them what represented her and I was answered souls, jade and stars. I think I leaned more into angsty territory by adding those quotes though. I dunno. I felt like they matched well enough. So I’ll give myself a pass. It goes with the picture I chose of Yu Ling well enough, I feel like.

Next is Diedie or Dandelion Child ! I’m gonna be honest and probably get hated for it but I think she’s more of my favorite than Yu Ling. Don’t get me wrong, both are great but I always did have an affinity for child characters. Especially…Ugh, tragic child characters. Loyd, who gave you the right to create one of the cutest little beans and put her through so much ? Is that even legal ? I doubt it. But it is what it is. From my research, Diedie is a child from 1920’s China. She became the guardian of an ancient artifact called the Lotus Reliquary after stopping a demon from destroying it. Diedie is also nonverbal and is seen as, and I quote, an INFECTION, by the villagers because of this and the way she acts.

Which…Bro, that makes me SO mad. If I had a choice, I’d burn that village down myself. But hey, fire is already a thing in Diedie’s story so I can’t do that. That’s all I can put in here. If you want to know more about her, please go check out @lmkobsessedmoth ‘s profile and check out their stuff. Pls, they are underrated and deserve attention. POSITIVE attention. Loyd, I hope I didn’t disappoint (as I usually do haha-) you with these moodboards. They were pretty fun to make and I’d be happy to do the rest of your characters when I have the chance. For now, I’m Vee and I’ll be back whenever with more moodboards if I can.

[blixabargelds]

I do still care about your writing!! I think your clegan aus are always so interesting (the ballet au you mentioned sounds so compelling to me btw)

also ngl but once you said you watched s3 of the white lotus I wondered if you would write anything for it (or just if you had any headcanons or anything of the sort) but i didn't say anything bc I didn't want you to feel pressured in case you just don't want to talk that much about the brothers

wah thank you soo much sweet anon! <333 i need to cook ballet au more, it's very dear to me i have the plot kind of completely formulated in my head but it needs a lot of research doing and i haven't had the time (did u know planning a wedding makes u so busy... nobody warned me fr..) and i wanna do it justice but it is not dying i promise!! siri play bizarre love triangle etc etc.

ugh i do want to!! again it's just time. also i am finding the season Overall kind of mid so it's hard to sink my teeth into a fic writing headspace for it when the show itself is resisting my teeth u know. i do want to tho i probably will write some oneshot when i have the time to think one up. also lmaooo dont want to talk that much about the brothers.... baby... the brotherssssss... idk about headcanons (except cocsa buried in memory cocsa fr...) but i do have Opinions. such as i do not think lochy is a creep!! even me with my gay incest goggles glued to my face, i don't actually think either of them are creeps (with each other at least lol). like obviously it's an extreme situation but what i think is so good and so uncomfortable about it is that it's by no means out of the realm of possibility for those characters in that situation like. no i don't think saxon was pressuring lochlan into any incestuous scenario. no i don't think lochlan assaulted saxon (some ppl may disagree w me here and that's fine but it seems to me that everyone's forgotten the fact they were on the same drugs, it seemed like lochlan drank more, and he's smaller and less used to being fucked up i don't think he was making one ounce more of an informed decision than saxon lol). it's soo easy for me to see that like.. saxon is trying to be big man like his dad i meannn i can't be nothing... they've both grown up in this world of money booze sex machismo, i think saxon has no real way of showing lochy that he cares about him other than swinging too hard to one side when it comes to being his big bro like. he wants to involve lochy and he wants to show off to him. i think he feels ownership over him, i think he's been brought up with no boundaries. i actually no i lied my incest goggles are still on, i do think he's attracted to lochlan in some ways, because to me the porn scene in the first episode was. weirder than the threesome. i think he thinks lochy is his little barbie doll. lochlan, i think, was just trying to impress and again swung and missed. i think he obviously admires saxon a lot, and he's a lot of things that he won't be. i also don't have siblings so idk how accurate this is but ive seen a lot of ppl say he's got a lot of typical little sibling behaviour, but from my pov i see a lot of his behaviour as probably autistic. like he wants to follow his siblings everywhere, he's using their behaviour as a guide for what his behaviour should be, and i think he lacks some understanding of where to draw the line there, and what's a normal/ healthy amount of attachment. like saying he wants to stay in thailand because piper wants to stay in thailand, it kind of going over his head that a reason she wants to do that is to get away from her family which includes him, even if they're close. i think lochy jacking saxon off was like. look at me, i'm doing as you do, i'm like you, i'll show you how outrageous i can be (like you) (whilst sharing an experience with you that should bring us closer). i think they're both inappropriately attracted to different parts of each other, and i think the way they've been raised and individually neglected as well has blurred the lines of what are normal ways to express their relationship to one another.

anyway that's my ramble on canonnnnn. in my fandombrained mind however they'll keep getting bits of flashbacks of that night more and more until they eventually both remember lochy got fully inside saxon and chloe was just holding the camera. and i do think there was cocsa. for sure

[dance-in-the-morning-glow]

Twenty Questions: Writer Edition

tagged by @nothoughtsjustmhaandotherthings <3 <3

Q. How many works do you have on AO3?

four. though i hope to fill the fifth spot soon…

Q. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Until the Legs Have Swung

2. a sailor and a nightingale

3. Guess

4. nights were mainly made for saying things that you can’t say tomorrow day

Q. What fandoms do you write for?

atm, only for potc, but back in ye olde days™️ (2012-2015ish), i mostly wrote for lotr and the hobbit, with some sherlock (bbc) & doctor who sprinkled in. also had a deeply questionable phase where i wrote imagine dragons rpf. we don’t talk about that one. at least i never published them lol.

Q. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

ofc, i love ‘em! please talk to me about my fics, i’m begging.

Q. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

utlhs. can’t get angstier than this.

Q. Do you get hate on fics?

i haven’t so far, and i’d like to keep it that way, pls and thank u.

Q. Do you write smut?

yeah.

Q. Do you write crossovers?

only in the privacy of my own mind. though if someone starts yelling at me, i miiight write that potc white lotus au. for science. and silliness.

Q. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of — but i have read one or two things that felt… strangely familiar. could be coincidence, could be inspiration. i took it as a compliment and moved on.

Q. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope, but that’d be cool.

Q. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yeah, loads! back in the day, @jilduairc and i used to write extremely cursed crackfic on this one dingy german fanfic site. it’s been fun.

Q. What's your all-time favourite ship?

i’m very much an oc x canon character gal at heart. but if i had to pick a cc x cc one, i’d say crowley/aziraphale

Q. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

don’t do this to me 😭 right now i’m not really feeling a sailor and a nightingale but i’m hoping i’ll get back to it once i exorcise the utlhs au brainrot.

but i’ve come to realise asaan’s plot lacks that certain fucked up je ne sais quois that seems to keep me going.

Q. What are your writing strengths?

probably dialogue and emotional moments. also, i feel like i write slow burn and sexual tension pretty well?

Q. What are your writing weaknesses?

describing settings. ugh. i am at war with white room syndrome. also, action scenes. i loathe them. that’s why people in my fics talk instead of fight. or have sex. or die tragically. pick your poison.

Q. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

haven’t done full dialogue, but i love sprinkling in a few words in other languages if it fits. did that in one scene in the utlhs au and had a blast with it.

Q. First fandom you wrote fic for?

when it comes to published fic, probably robin hood (bbc) or lotr — not sure which came first.

but technically my first ever fic was for a children’s book series about an ink monster when i was 7 or 8. didn’t even know what fanfic was, just knew i needed more about this three-legged tiny monster and its spider best friend.

Q. Favorite fic you've ever written?

utlhs. it broke me. and then i made sure it broke you too <3 :)

~*~

tagging @jilduairc, @clearpurpleskies and everyone else who wants to participate!

[tornrose24]

So a fews days ago, @chinirom05 asked me some questions regarding my art and writing, and I told them the question was too good to be just on a DM, because my response might help other creatives/writers.

So to answer the questions...

When it comes to fashion, it really depends on a few factors. Since I’ve mainly done fan art on here, it boils down to ‘What’s the event/time period’ and ‘who is the character I’m dressing up.’ As a bonus, sometimes I try to factor in if I want to pay homage to the character’s ethnicity/heritage (I did this for those TGAMM Aladdin AU drawings for the princess attire).

So I’m going to go WAY back in the past for one example that the CU fandom might recall–remember the CU Tangled AU drawings and fics I collaborated with @princeasimdiya12 ?

While there was inspiration from the movie its based on, I also had to research the time period the movie supposedly takes place in (I think it was around the 1790s if I remember correctly). Edith was the best challenge for this one because there were a lot of dresses to put her in, but I also needed to design them in a way that reflected her character as well as would look good for her body type since she has a plus sized figure. The apron from the first fic was meant to show off her creative side, Her castle dress had polka dots as a nod to her canon outfit, and the ballgown used colors I thought would be good on her–but blue was a necessary element due to her iconic blue eyes. (damn, that was YEARS ago and when I had my old tablet!) Also I loved getting an excuse to research period outfits and creating dresses. George and Harold’s outfits outfits took inspiration from the characters they were based on, but I kept their color schemes and looked up clothes boys might have worn back then.

A more recent example was from the TGAMM fic Her First Forever Friend, and I did do drawings for it, including the example I’m about to talk about. It comes late in the fic (chapter 13, to be specific), but for the moment in question, I wanted to give Molly a new outfit that was meant to be symbolic/reflective of her nature and growth in the story (especially given how limited her wardrobe is in the show). I researched sundresses (or just dresses) for a girl her age, until I found a design I could work with that also looked like something Molly would wear. I also used yellow daisies in her appearance as a theme and for the symbolism behind it (I wanted to use pink lotus flowers at first, but their meaning didn’t exactly fit what I was after). If you’ve read the fic or seen my drawings for the fic (which includes her in that dress), then you’d understand the meaning behind it as well as what the outfit is meant to be parallel to. (Also, if anyone is reading this, do NOT click the link if you haven't seen the series finale of The Ghost and Molly McGee, or read up to ch 13 of my fic.)

If you mean inspiration for fashion… I get it from almost anywhere. For art in general? Well, I started taking inspiration from anime, and then gradually cartoons.

For the writing question… well, it’s not easy. When I have a story, I focus on the ideas and plan things out in my head. However, I might not have the things in between right away, so I might have scenes that take a bit more work to figure out compared to others. There are also some times where I realize an idea might not work so I’ll have to plan it out differently, or I want the story to go in another direction (or I just can’t use an idea).

One good example of this is–again–Her First Forever Friend. I thought I’d be doing a one shot, but it had the potential to be more, so I gave it a go. Here were some challenges:

-Since Molly came to Brighton earlier than usual, how would certain events change as a result? If she’s meant to defeat The Chairman just like in canon, how do I get to that? What’s going to be the big moment where ‘everything changes?’

-Chapter 4. Everyone who read this fic knows this chapter for lots for reasons. As I wrote in my notes, I had a huge decision in ‘who will stay and who will go’ by the end of it. I knew I had a much more interesting story on my hands if I made the choice that I ultimately went with, as well as a really good character arc for someone who needed it… and my readers really enjoyed how that character arc developed. (There’s one line in chapter 6 that best reflects this arc and my readers quoted it in their comments on archive.) In the chapter that came after this, I wanted to put the fortune teller oc in the dream sequence, but I opted not too as it would have made the scene too messy and I needed to keep attention on the three characters already in it.

–When I got to chapter 8, I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but then I realized ‘wait a minute, I’m seeing a problem/plot hole in the future if I just continue forward.’ So I had to give the duo a new problem as well as a way to find the solution–it extended the story to about 2/3 chapters but it was worth it, and I got some good moments to write out.

So yeah, just some examples of my writing process. Sometimes I have things planned, and sometimes I don’t. Especially if I don’t have the entire story arc in my head.

Also, I’ve learned that I need to try to simplify some sentences to make them flow–especially if there’s action in it (a reader commented that my fighting scenes needed shorter sentences to make them easier to read many years back). However, I like going all out on the more emotional moments–if there’s a heartwarming moment in any of my fics, chances are that’s something I loved working on the most and went all out. Also, I’m sorry if you ever need to look up words–I guess that’s the academic side of me wanting to include things that hopefully the readers will look into.

Now if you are collaborating with someone, like I did with princeasimdiya12? There’s a bit of compromise, but I’ve tried to include all of our ideas and put them together. It’s been a long time since I wrote the Tangled CU AU fics and I can’t recall which exact story elements were his at the moment but I made sure to make a note as to which story elements were his. (Also, I’ve seen some collaboration fics where it looks like there’s a scene going on, but everything looks painfully out of order as if the two are writing responses at different or later times, and I can’t handle it.)

Anyway, I hope that advice helps somewhat.

[the-star-rigel]

hey hi I would like to hear more about this 1945 au where Bianca joins Gaea and Kronos to avenge her mother's death (murder)

omg hi.

okay WATCH OUT. because I’ve thought wayyy too much about this au. short version: it combines the major pjo and hoo villains and stars Hazel and Bianca as protagonists. it’s abt grief, sanity, abandonment, and inevitability. all the characters are stuck in a world where they are incredibly powerless and they’re angry because they’re trying desperately to create some kind of agency for themselves.

long version: so basically it was inspired by a reread of son of Neptune, where I realized from Hazel’s memories just how watered down her character was in fanon. Hazel is certainly heroic, she’s brave, and occasionally kind, but she’s not the sweet innocent character a lot of people write her to be. She’s someone who’s deeply angry because of how much she was wronged - someone who was abandoned by essentially both of her parents and of course the justice of the underworld. So I initially thought about it as Hazel joining Gaea in Alaska. And I think it still works, but ultimately I do believe that Hazel would betray Gaea (as I said, she’s got a pretty solid moral compass). And then I realized she had someone that could be a perfect foil for her, and who had reasons to go against the Olympians.

That’s where Bianca comes in. Hazel, at this point allied with Gaea, gets both Bianca and Nico out of the Lotus Casino. The timeline is a little hazy (mainly working off of vibes and singular scenes 😔) but essentially Hazel flees from Gaea with both of her siblings. They try and cross the ocean to get to Europe in hopes of talking to the oracle of Delphi, because as kids from the 1940s they know nothing about the Greek/Roman gods, have no internet, and haven’t been found by CHB/CJ since they are busy with the war.

The trio gets separated with Nico and Hazel still on their way to Europe. In New York, Bianca remembers what happened to her mother. She goes to Kronos and tells him she is willing to help him in exchange for destroying the Olympians.

In Europe, Hazel and Nico essentially find other demigods on their way to Delphi. This team essentially consists of 1945 au’s the seven. There’s a German son of Zeus, Adar Anstand, a French daughter of Poseidon, Morgane Le Gall, an Italian son of Dionysus, Marco Veggere, and then people who I couldn’t find a name for (but I still love my children): a Scandinavian son of Apollo, and an Indian daughter of Demeter. They all have their own thing but I’ll keep it to one fun fact, which is that Marco doesn’t believe in the Greek gods at all. Incredibly, every time something magical happens, Marco isn’t in the picture so the belief gets stronger over time 😭

(more spoilers)

Hazel and Nico go back to New York to try and attempt to unite the Greek and Roman gods, which does work and help the seven minus those two defeat Gaea although they do all die. Sorry. Hazel and Nico also talk to Bianca on Olympus. Bianca ultimately makes the same choice Luke does (it’s very much a family Bianca you promised moment). sad. Sorry Bianca didn’t feature as much because in terms of the general timeline she’s just off w Kronos but she’s very important to the story, she’s the first character whose arc I really defined. You can go check my #1945 au if you’re curious for more of the vibes, bc I’ve tagged a bunch of web weavings that I feel match them. I’ve also got some about Adar and Marco I think?

[demaparbat-hp]

Hello. I wanted to say that I really like your art style, especially how you do Katara's face. That's awesome.

But every time I read the description of your AUs, it gives me the creeps. You once said you try to stay true to Katara's character, but... your AUs are like "what if I take one of her major character traits and throw it in a trash bin?".

Halfblood AU: no connection to her culture that basically defies everything Katara thinks and feels about her waterbending.

Helping the Fire Nation AU: no hope for the avatar that Katara expressed in the intro of every episode of the original show.

And lowkey less kindness. She's cautious and bitter and wants to help only Zuko.

She seems like a completely different character. Not Katara at all.

Zuko too. I doubt he'll be in the White Lotus, it's not in his character at all. He may use the help of the members, but the original ("The Desert") tells us he will not be one of them, it's just not his style.

You make zutara look shallow, like you think that Zuko and Katara as they are in the show would never work together. As a person who sees appeal in this ship I feel very uneasy seeing your interpretations.

And my god, why do you hate Hakoda so much? Every time you add anything to halfbloodAU he looks more and more disgusting. I cannot believe mister "you and your brother are my entire world" would do what you are saying. And a married man with a child cannot be so naive to think that a woman won't become pregnant after having sex with him. Hakoda would've returned and checked and tried to help.

Sorry. I wish I could enjoy your art, but you're making it so hard.

Hello, and thank you for writing. I'm glad that you enjoy my art, at least to some extent, and I'm sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable with my AUs. However, I find myself in the need of defending them.

Creating AUs is something I take seriously, and one of the core traits of an AU is that it's, inherently, a different world. I can change virtually anything, and that's okay. Haven't we all read a fic and thought, this character wouldn't react like this in canon, but went along with it anyway? Because we know this isn't supposed to be canon. These characters are living in a different context, and react to things differently.

Canon exists for a reason. An AU does, too. They're different concepts and must be treated accordingly. It's a matter of context.

But we're talking about characters, aren't we?

You've pointed out that I've changed Zuko and Hakoda, too. And you're right. I've found that people online are more... defensive of Katara when compared to other characters. And while that may not be important to this specific discussion, I do find it rather curious. It's something to think about.

Anyways, I change characters. And I've gotta confess, I'm not ashamed of it.

My Katara is still Katara, and my Zuko is still Zuko. I'm just playing with how I believe they would react in different scenarios, and with different backgrounds (that's important, too).

You mentioned that my AUs are like "what if I take one of [Katara's] major character traits and throw it in a trash bin?". And I'm sorry that they give you the creeps, truly.

But maybe I want to explore how being a product of two different cultures affects not only Katara, but also Zuko as characters. Halfblood gives me the opportunity to address these sociocultural issues through their personal experiences, and I find that kind of narrative awfully compelling.

And maybe I wanted to change one core trait of Katara's personality and see how that affected both her journey and the general plot. Hunters is a writing experiment, and it has taught me a lot about human nature. Thanks to what you so kindly call "throwing a character trait in a trash bin", I've gained a lot more respect for who Katara is in canon. If anything, I consider Hunters!Katara as a foil for Canon!Katara.

And I don't hate Hakoda. I have a lot of respect for him as a leader and a father. I think he's a great character and role model for others within the ATLA universe. Bashing characters for fun isn't really my thing. The choices I made for Hakoda in the HalfBlood AU (and Aang in Hunters) are a matter of narrative and plot building, not my opinion on his character.

Just think about how different that AU would be if Hakoda made better choices, if he didn't have a wife and a son waiting for him at the South, or if Katara's father was a random Earth Kingdom villager. About 60% of the conflict in the story would disappear. And I could build that conflict with other stuff, I admit it. I could use different plot points or make the characters do other things or give Katara One Big Happy Family.

But it would change the core themes of the story I want to tell.

It's important to me that Katara is a product of two different cultures. It's important that she has no father figure in her life. It's important that Hakoda, who is a great leader and a great man and a great husband and a great father for Sokka, made a huge mistake in his youth that has been weighting on him ever since. It's important that Sokka is suddenly faced with the realization that his father, his idolized role model, is human and has also royally fucked up.

I want to talk about these things.

But I'm able to recognize that they're heavy subjects and, really, most of us are just here for the fluff anyway. So I'm sorry if I've made anyone uncomfortable. I won't hold it against you if you don't like what I do or just ignore whatever lore I set up for my AUs.

This is fiction, this is freedom, and this is the way I express myself. We all do it differently, and that's part of the beauty.

[stepswowdsen]

【KHR AU】 XanLena and the Varia visit Vietnam ❤️💜🔥🪷

CN Neka by BIKOSI KHR Official art by Akira Amano

Intro

Discussion rambles I had with my friends Cinna and Snow about a KHR AU scenario of mine where XanLena (Xanxus/Selena) and the rest of the Varia visit Vietnam.

For those who don't know, Selena is my Viet NB assassin KHR OC who joins the Varia as one of their members. She has a calm, reserved personality and likes flowers, gardening, and fashion. In my KHR AU, she is Xanxus' S/O. My lotus themed wife... 💜🪷

I wanted to post this for Xanxus' birthday today! Happy birthday Xanxus! Happy birthday to my fave KHR character ❤️🍷🔥

Xanxus is my favourite KHR character, tied with Hibari. You were born on 10/10 to be a 10/10! I wanna draw XanLena when I get the chance…

Varia visits Vietnam

Selena in her main outfit and Xanxus wearing áo dài

Me: I have a lot of KHR related discussions (including about my KHR AU), which is why I need to start posting more of it here. I write a lot about Selena's shenanigans with the other Varia members. The Vongola family's chaotic funky assassin squad. Assassin kindergarten brawl

Omg this generates ideas in my head of the Varia taking a vacation to Vietnam... When Selena asks him about visiting Vietnam, I feel like Xanxus would want to see Selena's home country

C: CUTE. The blorboes exploring your home country is peak comfort actually /lh

S: Y e s

Hạ Long Bay

Me: The idea I had in my head was so funny. Like I imagined the Varia visiting famous Viet tourist attractions like Hạ Long Bay. The Varia members are going sightseeing in boats.

Xanxus and Selena are sitting together in a separate boat, while Xanxus is sitting all cross legged

The other members (Squalo, Bel, Lussuria, Levi, Mammon) are in separate boats. At one point, they start arguing and fighting. And the ensuing chaos causes their boats to tip over, causing them to all fall into the water

Me: And Xanxus continues to sit there with his eyes closed, completely unconcerned/unfazed, and Selena is just like (!?!?!?) when she sees the huge splashes when everyone falls into the water

I imagined him to have these expressions~

(KHR: Vol. 40 - Ch. 391) (KHR: Vol. 25 - Ch. 227) (KHR: Vol. 39 - Ch. 375)

C: ONSNCNZNXNDZ

Average day with the Varia

I swear, Vietnam has one acre less of land once the Varia leaves /jk

S: These pics look so pretty

Me: HDAHSHDSHSH

Omg Varia exploring in Vietnam's caverns via boat would be fun!

Me: For the "The Varia members are at Hạ Long Bay" idea I had

I imagine when the Varia members fight and tip each other's boats over (which causes everyone except XanLena to fall into the water), Xanxus is just sitting like this, completely unfazed while chilling in his boat with Selena

C: Truly an average day

...

I remember coming up with a bunch of KHR AU scenarios where the Varia visit Vietnam. I wanna make more scenarios based on this idea since it's so fun to imagine the Varia's shenanigans while they're on vacation in Vietnam.

Selena would be scolding them to not wreck her home country 💥

I imagine Selena expresses to Xanxus that she feels a little homesick since she's been living with him in Italy but misses going back to see her home country every once in a while, so she wants to take a short trip to Vietnam by herself, if possible, when her work is done.

Xanxus thinks it over in his head and then decides they'll be going on vacation.

Xanxus announces to the Varia and they're going on vacation and says it's for "work" but everyone knows what it's actually for.

Hehehe. Getaway vacation to Vietnam! ✌️

(Read under the cut for more)

Misc Rambles

FGO referenced Hạ Long Bay with the Trưng Sisters! Very cool of them. Here's Hạ Long Bay in the Trưng Sisters' Noble Phantasm (NP) background at the end.

Trưng Sisters (Fate/Grand Order)

IKR AVERAGE DAY WITH THE VARIA

S: WNNISSUVAA

C: Oooh true!!! That's very cool :3 LMFAO

Me: I imagine Selena has a trait where she tips money to children at booths (since kids often help out at their family's stores). Like in general, she gives tips to people who provide good services, but will give larger amounts to kids.

S: Aw

C: Ohhh cuute. She's a good person fr

Me: Still cannot believe that FGO gave me the first major Viet rep in mainstream media like animanga and games. And they were drawn by Takegarou, one of my fave artists. And they have wonderful designs and colours. Massive W

Cuz it's FGO, which has a horrible reputation with rep, I expected to lose on every front tbh, but I won with this (and I never expected to win)

The outfit designs and colours are gorgeous... Take is such a good character designer and has really diverse body and facial types and skintones (unlike F*na LMFAO).

Take has such a strong aesthetic sense. Her colours are so strong. I love that the Trưng Sisters have tanner skin like a SEA person would. I used them as refs for Selena and Xanxus' skintones (I HC Xanxus to be a mixed Italian)

My good friend Feuri told me that Southern Italy and especially Sicily tends to have a higher mixed population and more tan and olive skinned folks compared to North Italy.

So I HC Xanxus has a very mixed ethnicity (^^) And it fits with the KHR ani giving him an olive or warmer skin tone, compared to his OG manga version. Xanxus' design literally looks better with darker skin, because it harmonizes against the black and red colours in his design.

Me: I visited Hạ Long Bay when I was a kid (my family and I went on a huge vacation all over Vietnam when I was 6 ~ 7)

YEA Selena is genuinely a good person. She's a sweetie, but she does have an unhinged side when it comes to her work. Which is a nice contrast to the rest of the Varia

C: Very true. Since outside of her job, Selena is legit nice af lmao

S: Cool :3

Me: Hạ Long Bay caves! I think I did see the caves as a tourist attraction

Oh yeah and the Varia are probably all chilling in Viet clothes while on their vacation

C: Oh those are fucking gorgeous holy shit Awwww

Me:

C: I swear Vietnam has one less acre of land when the Varia leaves

Yeah and I imagine Selena is basically the little sister of the Varia who keeps up a mentally big sister role and tries to keep her chaotic siblings in line

C: POOR SELENA JSJGNDKFKD WORST POSITION EVER HONESTLY

...

Me: Vietnam has elephant riding tourist attractions and the elephants are nice! And there's also ladders that'd lead up to tall wooden houses

C: Cool :3

Misc Rambles

S: I sometimes forget that in the art they’re like teenagers and not mid 20 adults

Me: It depends on the charas! Some are teens, some are mid 20s adults or older

S: Not in a bad way but I just think it’s funny a lot of teenagers in shounen media look like adults cause honestly I have that same problem with my art 🙈

Me: SAME LMAO

Biggest reason why you haven't seen me draw Wadanohara yet or MMBN/EXE charas that much: I can't draw kids good at all /lh

C: SHONEN CHARACTERS ALWAYS LOOK 5 YEARS YOUNGER OR FIVE YEARS OLDER I SWEAR

S: IT'S SO FUCKING FUNNY

Me: And the Xích lô (cyclos) in Vietnam where you pay a very inexpensive amount of money (it's cheap) and then get lead around in like bikes/cycles It's a common tourist attraction.

C: Oh yeah! I think I've heard

...

Me: Ngl a part of me wants to visit Vietnam again someday... I feel a higher cultural connection to VN culture than most of the younger gen in my family does and the tourist attractions are WAY more exciting than here.

There were even elephant riding tourist attractions and the elephants were nice! And ladders that'd lead to wooden houses (tourist attractions). And a bunch of caverns and such

C: Cool :3

S: Oooooo I see

C: And it'd be a great opportunity to reconnect with your culture up close

Me: I am slowly reconnecting with my culture by getting more VN clothes heehee

I want to reconnect with my culture since I'm Việt Kiều (Viet diaspora), so I want to learn more about Viet culture

Previous Posts

[xthelastknownsurvivorx]

2023 Writing Roundup

Thanks @inexplicablymine for the tag! This was a lot of fun to do

January

Satisfied (Never Have Been, Never Will Be) — RWRB, T, 833

Or, a rewrite of the lyrics of "Satisfied" from Hamilton set at the beginning of Philip and Martha's wedding, except Alex is a little flirtier and a little less repressed, told from Henry's pov.

February

Some Element of Mystery — RWRB, M, 4k

Or, five times that Alex thought Henry was a stripper, plus one time Henry corrected him. Written for the informal stripper!Henry fest.

March

Was working on finishing my master's thesis instead of fic for the most part, though I did write a few drabbles and make progress on my reincarnation au (see November)

April

Burn (They're Watching Us/I Hope That They) — RWRB, T, 295

Or, a rewrite of the lyrics of "Burn" from Hamilton, set immediately after the email leak, told from Alex's pov.

May

Graduated/finished my master's 🎉🎉 while also writing more of my reincarnation au (see November), including some major revisions

June

Got sick for part of the month, then spent the rest of it furiously working on my brownstone anniversary exchange fic (see July) doing tons of (probably unnecessary) research about Saturday Night Live and royal weddings.

July

SNL | Season 45 Episode 2 | HRH Prince Henry & FSOTUS Alex Claremont-Diaz — RWRB, M, 9k

Or, the fic in which I said bet and sent firstprince onto Saturday Night Live instead of having Alex go to London for a weekend. Written for the Brownstone Anniversary Fic Exchange.

August

Spent the month trying to make a lot of progress on reincarnation au (see November) and finally got some betas

September

Had a bad case of writer's block for most of the month, then went insane and wrote something for firstprince week (see October) despite promising myself I wasn't going to participate

October

Not a Day I Don't Miss (Those Rude Interruptions) — RWRB, T, 2k

Or, a Henry character study set during the week following Henry running from the lake house, loosely inspired by Taylor Swift's "Last Kiss". Written for firstprince week.

November

Red, White, and Royal Switcheroo — RWRB, T, 6k

Or, a body swap au set during Alex's "make nice" trip to England in which Alex and Henry have to play at being each other, and Alex discovers Henry's role is, in fact, very much not much easier to play. Written for Halloween, Huh?

Every Time My Heart Swings Back to You — RWRB, M, ~90k (ongoing)

Or, a reincarnation au set mostly in the modern era with college students Alex and Henry trying to piece together the story of their past lives as a knight and a prince through a series of non-linear flashbacks.

December

Trying my best to finish reincarnation au while also plotting out a very ambitious fic for a new fandom (mysterious lotus casebook) that I'll be trying to tackle in 2024. Also the month I got super into cdramas/c-ent.

--

Wow, compiling all this made me realize I wrote a whole lot more than I thought: posting 9 stories and writing around 50k new words! I also participated in a lot more fan events than ever before and finally begin sharing the story that's been living in my brain and docs only for almost three years. All in all, a very satisfying year for me while also looking forward to new projects in 2024~

I'm probably one of the last wants to get to this but tagging a few others who I don't think have done this (let me know though if you have) @14carrotghoul @formorewishes @affectionatelyrs @anincompletelist @celaestis1 @celeritas2997 @cricketnationrise, plus open tag because I'd love to see anyone else's writing year in review~

[spellcasterlight]

What’s one of your favorite tropes that you haven’t written for (or haven’t written for in a while)? If you want, write a little snippet about how you’d do it now.

Hi @full-frontal-lotus! Hi, friendddddd! 😁

Ooooooh! That's a good one! Not so much a trope but I have been thinking recently about trying to branch out and try a slightly darker-toned series because I've recently been on a Fallout binge.

I mean, I write Naruto stuff. If I got a bit better at writing things like violence (fight scenes specifically) or slow-creeping dread, I could do a lot more mission-type stories, which would be cool to explore!

Once I get through my current story request queue (I'm so close! Kinda🫠), I plan on releasing the next two bingo cards. The segment below will be the prologue to a FalloutAU one.

A not-completed, only-mildly-edited snippet is below!

Thank you for such a cool and sweet ask! 🎆

Ao3 ✨ |Story Request Bingo Cards 📖 | WIP Game Always Open ✒️| Ko-Fi ☕| Reblog Blog 🟢

Fallout AU Series: Chapter 1 - Prologue: War Never Changes

Warnings: Fallout Alternative Universe. Bombs. War. Minor Character Death.

Iruka wrote the number of current dead on the board, far higher than the two others combined. He forced his grip to tighten around the chalk in his hand to finish writing the last of too many digits.

“So,” he forced a pause to collect himself, feeling everyone's gaze in his direction but focused solely on the writing on the board, “the number of years each war is decreasing, but the death count is rising. What does that tell you?”

No one gave him a reply, not that he genuinely expected one. The room is so quiet the slight thud of him replacing his stick of chalk, sounding like one of the bombs they all feared, erupting decimation through their street, had already started to rain down.

Shikaku gave Iruka a subtle nod when he discreetly met the man's eyes. He agreed with how he made his point.

“Iruka Sensei.”

It took him a head shake and a few rapid blinks to realise that Sakura had spoken up. She was such a well-behaved student. Never cursing, handing in her homework on time and constantly raising her hand when she asked a question, but Iruka could see both her hands were occupied, one in both of her fathers and the other being grabbed onto by her mother so tightly all six of their hands looked ghost white. Hanging on to each other like a lifeline

“Yes, Sakura?”

“You never answered Ino before. Do you think the bombs will drop? Do you-do you think the world will-?”

Her sentence abruptly stopped when she what looked like painfully bit into her lip and bowed her head, both her dotting parents wrapping her in a hug; Mrs Haruno’s soft motherly reassurances floated on the otherwise silent air of it being okay, of everything being fine, that there was no need to cry. All lies.

Several of his more skittish and empathetic students looked at him with that same pleading in their eyes that Sakura had in her voice before it shattered.

In his classroom with him at that moment were some of the village's most amazing individuals, as well as some of the most broken children.

Gai Maito adopted two children with whom he had no possible connection and raised them to be healthy and loved when they were both too young to remember their parents, who would never return from the front lines. Tenten and Lee gripped one of his hands.

Shikamaru looked at his army battle hardened father with a wisdom beyond his years. Iruka, knowing that while he didn’t study for his Math or English tests, he skipped class to read thick tombs of battle strategies and inner army working, knowing his lineage was a path laid out for him and an important one he planned on continuing willingly.

All around the room, parents and children shared heartbroken, frightened looks. The three siblings from the Sand exchanged worried looks that the war would never end, that they would never be able to return home.

The prominent shining glaze of Fu’s eyes and shaking of her shoulders as she hugged herself and silence from the three from Kumogakure scared that the new home they had found would follow the ones they had already lost under a wave of never-relenting gunshots and explosions that created mountains of bodies of their former family, friends and fellow.

If the Land of Fire were flattened in bomb fire, there would be nowhere to start home number three and no one to start it with.

Iruka was a humble history teacher. He wasn’t a warrior or a great intellectual, and on some days, he didn’t even have the everlasting optimism that Gai Maito had. At that moment, he only had the ability to be honest with the children, nearly young adults, in front of him.

“I can’t see the future, Sakura,” he admitted, his voice barely holding together, only making the girl's green eyes cloud with more tears, “I can only tell you what history tells me. And it tells me war is violent-”

He turned back to the board, snatched the chalk back up, leaning into the spike of anger the conversation created to push on, and underlined the death toll for the First World War.

“devastating-”

He underlined the death toll for the Second World War.

“And-”

Finally, he underlined the death count for the Sound War before turning around.

“Continuous.”