#I lied about WRITING lol

[mastcrmarksman]

Amanda started this thought, and I have to say it.

Clint fucks a lot of people over, like Tony especially is someone victim to Clint's bad reactions, takes, and often one of his first friends to throw blame on. That's just a fact of Clint's character. (I could listen several cases for Tony and clint; you really owe tony several apologies clint)

Now with that thought said. We should talk about character development for characters and there are positive developments and negative developments, and having both is a good thing. It rounds out a character. They aren't always going develop to being a better person. I actually think, narratively, Clint has a lot of negative development, that makes him a worse character some of that I do think is some bad writing and plot holes and jumbled narratives, but some of it is like "this is a facet of clint's character; he isn't gonna improve" and honestly I think clint has had a lot of those, and those kind of get drowned out by the emphasis on Clint being a human disaster dumpster fire joke character.

Like even for my where i say " the peaks of clint's character as a hero aka WCA & most of Thunderbolts (which I could go into his bad calls there)" that Clint is narratively one of the best versions of himself there and peak example of Clint the hero. And I feel like due to MCU And oversaturation that Clint has a character in canon is kind of lost, they just do not know where to go with him.

And while I tend to write a Clint who is trying to be a better, less jerk person who has to own up to the lot of bad calls and times he has blamed other people and specifically fucked them over.

Giving him a narrative arc of trying to be a legitimately good person and passionate hero, who yeah he is a jerk and he fell on hard times and those aren't fully to blame for his actions against others and who has to own up to the fact he is a jerk (especially to the likes of Tony and Steve and Kate and his exs and plenty other avengers)

That is also like a part of clint's character. He kind of sucks. He's kind of a jerk. He's the guy ready to weaponize blame for plenty of situations and especially if you look at specific canon events.

I do just think the comics don't know how to give Clint any kind of positive or negative character development anymore ( as if they seem to back track a lot with him ). So really what to do with him. Like gods BW&H and Blood Hunters literally give him like nothing of substance and flip flop on him.

[soldearestsoulmate]

Just imagined Sol taking out his hate over Crowe by aggressively writing Crowe's name nonstop in a notebook in red ink. All while he mutters curses over him.

But someone passes by him, Sol totally unaware of the person taking notice of his actions, since he's too distracted by his own rage. Then they think Sol has some wild love-obsession over Crowe, especially after hearing "Curse you for making me feel this way, Ichabod."

Cue Hyugo later on saying "SUNNY! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD A THING FOR CROWE?!" Because the rumor spread fast that Sol apparently is in love with Crowe now. Which only angers Sol more, all while Crowe is getting word of this rumor too, and isn't sure how to respond, but is blushing...lots.

[marimbles]

i miss carpisuns sometimes </3

[maxthesillyy]

thinking about. i dont know how to phrase this really but. chloe and frank.

like. when Chloe killed Frank i (, personally,) feel like her guilt from it was less because she killed Frank, and More because she Killed Someone (and their dog).

but!!! thats not to say she didnt feel guilty for killing Frank. because she definitely did. because on some level. despite everything. despite all of his shitty behavior. a part of her still cared for him. that tiny 15-17ish year old part in her still cared for him.

because that 15-17ish year old with intense abandonment issues in her only had. a small handful of people in her life that actually cared for her, and when THOSE few people aren’t even doing the best job at it— it’s no shit that Chloe’s standards for Good Friends are going to be Immensely dropped.

and so. it’s kind of like what happened with Rachel, but WAY less intense. when she found someone who didn’t hate her, and was willing to hang around her—after so so long of people hating her and not wanting to be around her— it makes sense that part of her would kinda latch onto them a little bit.

and so, even after all of the shit she’s learned he did— even when Frank starts to hate her— even when he threatens Max and her’s lives— part of her keeps remembering him as one of the few guys who stuck around when no one else did.

it’s just that. no matter how bad the person— if you’ve known someone for years, and they were one of the only nice people to you in a town where theres like. four people that are nice to you— it’s gonna hurt if you kill them. even if it was self defense. even if it was entirely their own fault— even if you two aren’t on even remotely good terms anymore.

ESPECIALLY for such a sentimental person like Chloe. taking that in consideration it makes me wonder. maybe she didn’t feel bad for killing Frank. maybe she felt bad for killing the person Frank used to be to her. but maybe she realized that That Frank already died long ago.

but yeah. im mentally ill. take everything i said with a grain of salt considering it is 12:07 AM.

[exitvelocities]

a kiss on a place of insecurity fic meme fill from discord, requests still open. yes, this is the version where dfs survives the purification process.

speaking of discord, consider joining us over on the dihua server!

*

some nights li lianhua lies awake and looks at the moonlight caught in di feisheng's hair, silver on silver, the sight of it blinding to his heart if not his eyes. he remembers all too well the sight of di feisheng bloody and triumphant, hair loose and pale, falling around his shoulders like an unseasonable snow drift. what have you done, li lianhua had cried, and di feisheng had smiled with red teeth and all the arrogance of jianghu's demon king when he said saved your life, and collapsed in li lianhua's arms.

li lianhua had been able to tow him back from death's door with the renewed vigor of yangzhouman that time, but his meridians were damaged beyond repair, a lifetime of training and cultivation gone, and for what? a dead man's life? it's not that li lianhua doesn't appreciate the depth of di feisheng's sacrifice or the returned strength of his body, he sometimes just cannot fathom being worth the cost. now, he gathers a handful of di feisheng's moonbright hair and brings it to his lips, presses his love and regret into the strands with kisses that taste of salt.

di feisheng, as always, wakes without a sound. he sleeps more deeply than he used to, both out of familiarity and his diminished senses, but old habits die hard. "what is it," he murmurs and li lianhua shakes his head. di feisheng hums warningly, a sound that means li lianhua won't get away with that tonight, and he sighs.

"don't you ever regret it," he says, still with his handful of moonlight, fingers twined in pale silk. di feisheng turns to face him fully, reaches out to tilt li lianhua's face up until their eyes meet.

"no," he says, and li lianhua's heart swells in his chest, never quite sure how to grapple with di feisheng's absolute pronouncements.

"but your martial arts," li lianhua says, doubt a clinging spectre in his soul, "you worked so hard..."

"i gave it up so you could live and i would do it again," di feisheng says, so sure that li lianhua feels almost embarrassed by his sincerity.

"you could have died," li lianhua says, grasping for his earlier certainty of his own unworthiness.

"i didn't," di feisheng says. "you didn't either. are you not happy?"

"i am," li lianhua says helplessly, disarmed. di feisheng has a way of extinguishing his misgivings by simply suffocating them with his surety. it's infuriating, but also reassuring.

"then it was worth it," di feisheng says, closing his eyes. "go back to sleep."

[teenage-fleabag]

Some thoughts on the Life is Strange franchise

To be fair I'm not really up to date with recent Life is Strange discourse, but since the somewhat recent announcement I've had so many thoughts and I just wanted to ramble a bit.

I've been a huge Life is Strange fan for years now, falling in love with the first game when I played it at fourteen. Since then I've played every game that has been released in this franchise. But the first game has always felt special, like a little glimmer in time that no other game has been able to replicate, but that doesn't mean that the other games suck though!! I've quite enjoyed them!! I just think that Deck Nine aren't really living up to the standards set up by the games made by Don't Nod.

Even though one of the critiques of Life is Strange 1 is how the choices made throughout the game don't really matter in the end, seeing as they all can be easily erased by the last choice, it still felt as though they all had a purpose? They contributed to the sentiment of ''your choices matter'', letting the players see the butterfly effects that they themselves were responsible for. And all of this culminates with the final choice - being dictated by how you played the game and which relationships mattered the most to you, creating an incredibly heart wrenching ending.

And I was so excited to see how Don't Nod expanded on the choice mechanics in the second game!! Life is Strange 2 isn't without fault or criticism and I understand why many people didn't love it, especially if they played it while the episodes were being released, but it was so refreshing to see a new story and mostly, to see that the creators were trying to improve and make something different. Especially knowing that they probably saw the love for Max and Chloe, but stood firm that their story was over, which I think creatively was the best choice.

Before the Storm is difficult to talk about, because even if I do genuinely love it, it still suffers from the ending just not being as strong as you'd expect from a Life is Strange game. But I've always kind of written that off as something that you just have to deal with when creating a prequel. But then True Colors came out, which I was very excited about, even if the storyline seemed a bit similar to the first game (small town, mysterious death - I know it's kind of a reach, but still), but once I finished it I felt quite disappointed. I loved the characters, but I thought the ending absolutely sucked. So did the big reveal. It felt as though Deck Nine had learned nothing from the progress made by Don't Nod.

Since the release of True Colors I've had this feeling that Deck Nine ar just trying to recreate the magic of the first game without making any bold creative choices themselves, just juggling around elements of Life is Strange 1, trying to figure out which one will grant them the most success. This point being further proven by the announcement of Double Exposure.

Don't get me wrong, I love Max, but her story was over, she had her arc. And yeah, sure, maybe a part of me is saying this because I don't want to see her suffer anymore than she already has, but there's a reason why Don't Nod have been so adamant that her story is over for now. I know the new game isn't out yet, and I'm still holding out hope that it'll surprise me, but I truly cannot see how they can make a Life is Strange game with Max as the main character, while basically ignoring the events of the first game. I get that it has to be stand alone for commercial purposes, that a direct sequel probably wouldn't sell as well, but that makes this game just feel like fan service without actually serving the fans.

I truly have no clue how they plan on just explaining away Chloe if a player chose the bae ending, especially since they were still mentioned as being together in Life is Strange 2. I'm aware that they mentioned that the player will be prompted to input their ending during a conversation, but Max's story is so much more than just a simple conversation. It makes it seem as though a whole part of her is just being erased, a whole games worth of trauma just ignored for the hope of selling a game to as many people as possible.

I don't really know how to end this, but I'm not sure that Double Exposure will really hit the mark for many fans of the franchise. I'm still excited to play it, but I'm staying cautiously hopeful that I might be pleasantly surprised.

[amelikos]

To make my stance clear for my posts on here, this blog is stricly a spoilers yes leaks no zone.

[alumirp]

Flying Low

A magical AU where Law is a raven shapeshifter, but has had his wings torn off, so he is always using a cane to balance himself and he lives in seclusion in the forest. He absolutely doesn't trust, well, anyone. Whether humans or other shapeshifters or any other race, he doesn't approach anyone and does everything he can to not let them approach his home either. But that changes when one day a guy just falls from the sky. It literally falls from the sky. Right in the middle of Law's herb garden and although he really wants to get rid of this invader, he can't get rid of his curiosity because Law's house is in the middle of the forest, far from peaks or mountains, so where the hell is this guy came from and, even better, how did he survive the fall? Curiosity (and his sense of duty as a healer) causes Law to drag the guy inside and nurse him back to health. 'The guy' soon wakes up and gets a name, Luffy, who reveals himself to be a priest of the Sun God's temple, which makes sense to Law, since Luffy's magic seems totally opposite to his, a raven whose species is constantly attributed to the Goddess of Darkness, Nika's enemy. All this, however, does not explain how Luffy fell out of nowhere from the sky and it only gets worse when not even Luffy knows how it happens. Unfortunately for Law, meeting Luffy is a path of no return and in the blink of an eye his isolated and peaceful life is disturbed by the priest who, after returning to full health, becomes a noisy guest in Law's small cabin. Things get weird when Law's wings start to grow back, white instead of black, at the same time that Luffy also starts to change. For worse. His health simply declines and his magic grows and becomes out of control, becoming a danger to everything around him, excluding, in some way, Law. Desperate to understand and help Luffy, Law begins his journey out of seclusion toward the capital's temple, where Luffy is said to serve as a priest. But dragging a time bomb in the shape of a man all the way to the capital is not simple when you are alone and Law has no option but to accept the growing number of people who seem to be drawn into Luffy's orbit and who decide to accompany them on the journey

[hanzajesthanza]

"the michael kandel translation of "the witcher" short story can't hurt you!!"

the michael kandel translation of "the witcher" short story:

[lesbian-diana-cavendish]

Absolutely love this picrew so I had to make my wardens, hawke and Inquisitor! If you see this feel free to do it too!! (And maybe tag me, I'd love to see y'all's DA characters!!)

A bit about each of them:

Valda Aeducan x Leliana

Named after a former great queen of the aeducan house, Valda is a proud warrior with her mother's eyes and her father didn't even try to hide that she was his favorite, causing both brothers to resent her...(Also, all dwarves can grow beards! Most women in orzammar just chose not to... probably due to a human lover of a paragon at one point who accidentally made it a fad in her time lol...When she gets to the surface Valda starts to occasionally grow hers out)

Antoinette "Atton" Tabris x Morrigan

Atton is very butch and most non elves mistake her as a man, something she used to her advantage to survive the alliangae, she's a rogue with quick hands and a quicker wit. she has a lot of rage against nobles and she doesn't try to hide it (she and Valda exist in tandem and it takes *awhile* for them to get along)

Marian "Rain" Hawke x Isabela x Merrill

("Wow hawke, how come the Maker lets you have TWO GFS?!") To strangers she's a sarcastic ass who comes across as borderline lackadaisical, but her inner circle knows shes extremely driven and can be deadly serious when needed, had a twin brother who died at ogstagar to save carver so he in turn could save their family, it took her well over a year to even say his name again.

Pallegina Trevelyan x Sera (Trevelyan)

Youngest of seven, greatness was never really expected of Pallegina, who was always a bit quiet and socially awkward, she didn't take to politics as quick as her siblings, and was usually just ignored by her parents, but one of her older brothers trained her with the sword and shield and she proved to be a natural warrior, she was sent to the conclave as an expendable formality. Thanks to the support of her friends she's taken to being the inquisitor remarkably well... tho Josephine often has to work overtime to fix her many faux pas

[liquidstar]

a friend who'd wait :)

[al-luviec]

still haven't moved on from zane in this episode (aka I hit tag limit again and am unhappy about it)

[moeblob]

OK I swear the reason I'm showing you this will have context in a couple days! But also, the fact B&N has a section dedicated to "well he may be a ten buuuuut" and included my current crime of "he's blonde" is like. Dang. Called out.

Didn't help I saw this with a guy and I said "oh no, my blonde enjoyer crimes called out!" and he said "better than redheads" and I'm like. "Sir, I have to inform you of my previous crime." and he was not pleased as he said "Fish... why....."

[unluckysatellite]

A Retrospective Analysis of Victor's Swim Date

Aka more like me yapping about Victor's Swim Date...Well, I guess this is less of an analysis and more of just me rambling about a few things about his date that I noticed. Sometimes, it's fun to read back on past content with the lenses of today's context, yknow? I may do more of this, when the motivation to spite people strikes.

I had this post on the back burner for a few months now and today I was randomly reminded 24/7 I will always love Victor that I had this in my drafts LOLOLOL

This date is pretty interesting, because I vaguely remember that people were disappointed by how unromantic it was (considering that it takes place after Victor's confession in his Rooftop Date). But to me, I think this date is significant because of what it establishes for Victor and MC's relationship: that he is always her safe harbor, someone she can trust when she fails. (which is fitting because of the sea imagery...get it??? Swimming....harbor...eh? Eh????)

To summarize this date: Victor offers to teach MC how to swim, in preparation for meeting with her new client, a swimming enthusiast.

Although she is nervous because she has no experience with swimming, the MC is eager to learn, since Victor is teaching her. Immediately, the MC nearly drowns as soon as she puts herself in the deep end of the pool. It's important to note here, that this near drowning accident was self-inflicted -- she let go of the railing and her foot slipped at the same time.

Anyways, she is immediately saved by Victor, there are a couple of important things to note here:

Victor teases MC for slipping and nearly drowning herself, but one should take note here, that none of his remarks hurts MC's feelings or her sense of confidence in any way.

It is the near drowning incident that puts the fear of deep water in MC, and it is that fear of drowning that makes her feel insecure about herself.

When she is visibly nervous, Victor gets into the water with her. He is patient throughout his lesson, not once does he insult or belittle the MC as he guides her through the motions, and stays with her when he removes her swimming ring:

When the MC feels more confident in herself, she and Victor do a bit of bantering as usual, and her curiosity is sparked when she asks about Victor when he learned how to swim, and briefly imagines what he looked like back then:

So after a bit of practice, Victor lets of her hands and the MC almost drowns again.

Though he immediately rescues her again, and she panics:

Although she says "I just can't learn. I'm not as smart as you." because of their conversation earlier, like I pointed out earlier: nowhere did his words ever hurt the MC's confidence when it comes to swimming, nor did she ever describe that her feelings were hurt -- she is flustered and saying anything that comes to mind and is making whatever excuse she can make because of her fear.

At no point does she ever blame Victor for insulting her, but rather she tells Victor that it is his fault for letting go of her when she wasn't ready to swim.

It is absolutely ridiculous to say that Victor is "abusive" in his Swim Date, to say that his words have hurt the MC's confidence, when it is her own fear of the deep water that leads to her own failure.

And so Victor tells her:

Victor is establishing himself as a safe harbor for the MC, for her to grow and mature. To be true to herself, as he is there for her as a safe place.

The MC herself realizes this about Victor: although his words are harsh, and challenges her every step of the way, he only, truly has the best intentions at heart for her:

And when she fails, he is there to protect her.

Like I said at the beginning of this post: although this date is...very awkward in the VictorxMC lore, especially as it takes place right after the Rooftop Date, one might expect something more...romantic.

But to me, it marks an important turning point in their relationship, as they go from boss and employee to lovers, and establishes one of the key aspects of their relationship: Be it as her boss or as a man who loves her, Victor is the MC's safe harbor, a lighthouse to guide her as she navigates through the sea of life.

(I suppose this is why a lot of their dates take place around the ocean, huh?)

[getvalentined]

So, when I'm finished with Smoke and Mirrors, I'm thinking about finally sitting down and writing out Little Lion Man, aka the alternate universe in which Late is placed. It features Vincent/Veld, Sephiroth Valentine, a non-hateful deconstruction of Vincrecia, a coup d'etat, body horror, slice of life—the whole shebang, basically. It's more involved, and the whole concept is over a decade old, but I think I've got it outlined to a point that it's feasible. It'll take longer than Smoke and Mirrors (which was meant to be a long oneshot and just spiraled out of control) and my biggest concern is that it's very...niche, I guess?

There really aren't a lot of VinVeld shippers out there—I'm one of the first English speakers to have shipped it, one part of a group of three that fell into it at the same time, and the only part of that group that is still active in the fandom. I know for a fact that I posted deviantART's first VinVeld fanart ever, way back in 2005. I gave the ship it's current name, forcibly dragging my friends away from calling it Vineld because why. They're my actual One True Pairing, above all the others. If I had to pick one ship to see really and solidly and undeniably canonized, it wouldn't be Sephesis or Strifentine or Valenstrifesodos—it would be VinVeld.

I'm less active in portraying them in recent years because the people I used to RP and draw and write with are either no longer active in the fandom, no longer in my life, or both. And that's the biggest issue: I don't do exceptionally well without feedback because have The Ancestral Curse, and this whole concept is so niche that I worry I'd just leave it unfinished forever, like every other FF7 longfic I've ever started.

It's...probably my favorite canon divergent AU that I've ever played in. I'd really like to share it with the world rather than keeping it relegated to snippets and random doodles, but I don't know. Would anyone actually read it?

[babacontainsmultitudes]

Lincoln and Grant eventually having a very emotional and much needed talk over the speaking stones do you see my vision?

Lincoln who is so hurt and betrayed that he can't even bear to look at his dad right now, who *needs* space, but who loves his dad (the fucking poeticism of that nat 20 babeeey) and keeps the stone with him as a compromise, for when he's ready, as a show of love in and of itself, that he's still his dad's baby, eventually choosing to give him another chance.

Grant who loves his son more than anything in the world, but who can no longer avert his gaze and speak in half-truths and jump off of (cat)buses. Grant who *needs* to prove that he can confront himself and talk about his pain and his shame and his mistakes and try for his son's sake if not for his own to love himself and see himself as something other than broken and beyond repair. Grant who's last chance is stripped of all possibilities of escape and now he can only talk. But maybe it's easier this way for him too. To not have to look at the child he tried so painfully hard but ultimately failed to protect as his heart unravels, to pretend that he is alone with his thoughts rather than speaking to someone, to let the tears fall down his face without having to be seen.