#and in general i like to think i'm not the sort of person who would do that anymore

[maureen-corpse]

I think you have a bad perception of the romance genre!

Now, I see that this was initially about the manga I'm a Wolf, but My Boss is a Sheep! and I haven't been reading a lot of comics lately, so of course take everything I'm going to say with a grain of salt, but I do read a decent number of romance novels, and genre romance has lot of conventions.

So! Prose-wise, genre romance has a pretty defined structure and a pretty defined goal (the HEA or HFN) and then you're done. If you depart from it too much, you will lose your reader, and then you will get bad reviews, you will get a reputation for writing outside of the genre you claim to be a part of, and you will not get money for writing alleged romance where they die at the end or something.

(I'm just getting in a dig there at people who aren't here; from time to time on Book Twitter you will see someone roll up and say, "I am going to change the romance genre forever--my characters won't have a happily ever after!" and then the romance readers who know what to expect from genre romance--a happily ever after or happy for now--will say, "No, no, if you try that, the reviews will kill your career, if you even successfully get into the romance section at the store." The term "romance" is an important marketing tool.)

Now, anyway, this proposal that a romance story not be able to the formation of a relationship, but rather about the time in the HEA...I believe you are simply proposing, here, a different genre. All kinds of stories happen to people who are happily in relationships. A nosy amateur detective in a cozy mystery might well be married. (A nosy amateur detective in a cozy mystery might even start the twenty-book series unattached, meet a hard-boiled PI, and form a relationship that is ultimately happy--all while solving twenty mysteries.)

Now, a story that doesn't have another genre like that, however--well, that will just be...general fiction. Slice of life, perhaps? (I suspect "slice of life" is more likely a descriptor for comics than for prose.) But calling it Romance will just annoy the Romance readers. And while each person is the center of their own universe, their experiences are not universal, and the readers of genre romance are probably more numerous than readers who want to call things Romance that don't fit into current genre conventions.

Now, as for these suggestions about people's bad perceptions of relationships: I will assert that people don't actually want to read about real relationships. This is evidenced by the fact that they happily read about the wild shit that happens in romance novels. People want to fantasize about a little light dubcon with a rakish marquess in a castle or about seducing a woman who is also a car or something, but they don't want these things to happen in real life. Goodness knows I don't have any interest in marrying a man and then being unknowingly widowed as his twin brother takes his place to try and keep me from finding out so that I won't lose the baby*, but it certainly is fun to read about.

Preferring to read about the drama of people eloping to Gretna Green or being rescued in the snowy forest by a mysterious wolf woman over reading something steady and smooth like the simple day-to-day of living in the wolf woman's cave (if it's not steady and smooth, by the way, I propose that it would likely become an adventure or drama or action story; a different genre altogether) does not mean someone has a bad perception of relationships. It means they have a preference for what they read. It also probably means they've been reading genre romance , are familiar with the structure and conventions, enjoy the structure and conventions, and don't care to adopt something new, even if they don't say, "Well, the genre convention is this and I like it fine."

I am very lucky in that "responding to other Tumblr users" is not a genre with widely accepted conventions so this doesn't have a strict structure of any sort to stick to, because I feel it is disorganized. But I also feel like maybe you don't actually like genre romance. And that's fine! You just have to find the things that are for you.

*Lorraine Heath, The Earl Takes All

So I posted this elsewhere yesterday but like...

Why does almost every romance series spend all the time in the world on getting the two characters into the “actually dating” phase and then immediately zip to “married with kids and now the series is over.”

This is, currently, about “I'm a Wolf, but My Boss is a Sheep!” which was very fun and cute and I enjoyed it a lot!

But I wanna see the meat of things too dammit! Don’t skip over the actual relationship! That’s the best part!

A lot of folks mentioned it's "an easier story structure to follow the building of a relationship", that "real relationships are hard work and unromantic", that it's more fun to focus on "THE CHASE" and "THE DRAMA", and I legitimately cannot disagree more.

I should note I’m very much on the Ace/Aro side so all those replies and quotes saying “THE DRAMA/CHASE IS FUN” is so counter to how my brain works.

I legitimately hate the drama, I don’t understand the chase, I just wanna see the characters I like grow together and be happy.

The drama is boring and gross and often times just like... sets bad examples for how real relationships are.

Anyway, I'm rambling, but it's just very frustrating.

[utilitycaster]

ok but while I am thinking about the impending ending of Campaign 3, I have to say: the trope of "taking a third option" is obviously, as are most tropes, utterly neutral, but also? I don't love it, for several reasons.

There are three options already, for what it's worth, in terms of what Bells Hells as protagonists can do: they can attempt to prevent its release (whether or not that is successful, the intention is what matters in this context); they can choose to release it with the intent of simply letting it out to do what it does; or they can choose to release it with the intent of containing it or destroying it. Whether or not any of this works, and regardless of the specific outcomes (eg: the gods could get eaten or the Archheart's thought could be correct and they just leave Exandria but still exist elsewhere), those are the only real options I see other than "just ghost this whole situation", which I think any thinking person can agree would be an unsatisfying narrative and just cause for the Exandrian Accord to go apeshit.

That doesn't mean they can't learn more about the nature of Predathos - I expect and hope they will - but I just...find a lot of Take a Third/New Option outcomes in fiction in general to be really unsatisfying because it often requires some poorly signaled last-minute revelation, and because it fosters a sort of magical thinking that I find really childish. I just generally find the idea of pretending like there's some perfect solution to the problem that makes everyone who is deserving (already getting into really rocky territory with that concept) happy that will arise at the moment of greatest need is painfully naive and not even rewarding. I keep thinking back to how my issue with Rusty Quill Gaming's ending (which is not, to be clear, an unambiguous happy Morally Pure one) isn't the nature of the choice to get rid of magic and disconnect from the gods; it's that it's never once explored earlier on. And I wish I had the faith in this campaign to believe there was a subtly hinted-at secret option that all comes together and makes brilliant sense that I'm missing, but I really do not.

[nauticaltrain]

is the way you interpret the stex characters, are they robots or a mix? since they don't feel pain, but bleed oil etc. what is the lore? are they built at a young age or are they built into adults? (p.s your art is delicious too look at !!)

ohohoho boy, the lore i have for you, strap in

(brief note, this is all my personal interpretation and is definitely not the word of god lol. I genuinely love every interpretation and believe that headcanon variety is vital to a healthy fandom ecosystem)

So, this is something I have thought a lot about and still continue to think about. I'm pretty sure I've nailed it down but it might still be a little nebulous so bear with me.

In the most basic sense, my interpretation of Starlight Express, and all of its characters, is that they are real world pieces of rolling stock that have the ability to shift between a train form (primary configuration) and a human form (secondary configuration). Not an uncommon idea in this fanbase.

However, I'm an overthinking bitch, and I love going in-depth on things like this, so let's expand a little.

There are three main phrases that I use to define my interpretation (headcanon? au? lore?) and to keep myself on track when developing ideas. Sort of layers, if you will. They are as follows:

Fabricated manifestation of psyche - This is rolling stock's appearance in secondary configuration, or what we see in the musical. Their human bodies are a cosmetic representation of their will. A psychological trick. It reflects their personalities, their jobs, their mental age, the demographics of the region they serve. There about a million different factors that go into how they look, and like us, they can't control it. (well, except for CB, but he's another story) It's important to note that this is a manifestation. They are not Transformers. Secondary configuration is not 1:1. There are certain things that get muddled in the changeover. Wheel arrangements being different, missing certain parts, changed color palettes. You could open one up and see parts but not in any sort of similar arrangement to their blueprints. I mean, who can honestly picture every single part of their body in perfect detail and then reinterpret it into a new shape? (this is in part my answer to discrepancies between the real costumes and my lore shh shh)

Counterfeit reflection of humanity - This is their minds. They are our copies. They experience everything we do. They work, play, socialize, fight, fall in love. You could talk to a piece of rolling stock and have a fully human conversation. They are people. However, the longer your conversation goes on for, you may notice certain...oddities. Gaps in their knowledge, speaking in rhythmic sentences, constant repetitive movement. Someone copied humans and didn't do the most perfect job. Like looking at human culture through a lens. Many a train has pondered the simultaneous existence of being machine and being alive.

Physical incarnation of industrialism - Now this, is the origin of all of this. The humans did not create trains to be the way they are. Every piece of rolling stock is designed as they would be in the real world: vehicles to transport people and goods from one place to the next. No one designed Greaseball's slicked back hair or big, studded belt, they designed an EMD E7 built for pulling fast passenger trains. My point is, at the advent of industrialism as we know it, the trains manifested their secondary configurations themselves. They are the offspring of humanity, sired by ingenuity and innovation and birthed from the overturned earth of the Industrial Revolution. No one knows how or why, they just are.

So, in summary, they're sort of robots? Sort of a power of the mind situation? Sort of my own self-reflection on the nature of being alive?

Bonus facts!

Indeed, they do not feel pain. In fact, much of their sense of touch in general is limited. It ranges from same sensitivity as human flesh (hands, face, wheels) to just registers contact (shoulder boxes, hip plating, couplers). I have a diagram of the exact distribution somewhere lol

They bleed? Kind of? If parts are pulled off or damaged, they sort of…leak. Also, if their fleshy bits are "injured", the wounds only heal when the actual machinery is repaired. Also also, if you remove a human part (arm, leg, head, etc.) it will turn back into a train part!

Their temperature resistance is notable too. Comfortable is between -10 F to well over 500 F. Anything above or below that, and they start to complain. Wooden rolling stock have a harder time than steel ones.

They're afraid of deep water and tornados.

In addition to their nails being painted in relevant colors (which I believe is a semi-popular headcanon already), their mouths are the same. Some more unnatural colors include, black, yellow, and blue!

Tall! Generally between 12 and 17 feet. Loosely correlates to their height in primary configuration. Some are the same height, some are taller, some are shorter. Really depends on personality. I contemplated once to have their heights be the length of their primary configurations, but that would result in some pretty awkward height differences and they would be too big for their loading gauge.

They always manifest as adults, or at the very least, late teenagers. They kind of age? Sometimes? Momma started out a bit middle aged, but Rusty has spent like 50+ years looking 25. Really depends on the person, workload, environment, etc.

[fairymischief]

I have never seen a description of the Divine feminine/masculine that wasn't disgustingly regressive, and both disempowering to women while excusing men from doing things that every human being ought to do - especially in relationships. It's basically setting a one-size-fits-all personality type for both men and women. For example:

This makes it seem like being a leader, being rational and logical, being assertive, and generally taking charge of your life in a proactive way is a male thing. "Let things come to you, let them flow." Let yourself be a pawn in a man's world, moved hither and thither by THEIR desires, THEIR plans. Oh, and don't forget to "be open to change," because your life is supposed to be open to changing any time and any way your man wants it to. He's the active element; you're just expected to go with it.

Meanwhile, it makes it seem like being caring and nurturing is a female thing (which is a convenient way to unload the entire burden of caring for EVERYONE else on the woman) and it suggests that men shouldn't be expected to have emotional intelligence. So it makes men feel justified to be cavemen who understand nothing about the feelings of others and don't need to understand, nor lift a finger to help anyone in a way that would be considered "nurturing."

It's just so silly, and it doesn't even make sense; for example, it says that "receptivity" is a female thing. Um, I'm pretty sure that when a man is sitting on his ass doing nothing and having everything done for him by his woman, that that's him being pretty damn "receptive." It's like these qualities only apply when it's convenient, sort of like how "the kitchen is a woman's domain" until its in a professional setting; THEN the kitchen is a man's domain. And are we going to say that all the male innovators, writers, artists and musicians are in their "feminine energy" by being creative?

I could go on and on, but I think it's easy to see how sexist and gross this whole concept is. 🤮

@hyacinthsgrimoire

[justtrashperson]

Could I hear that RtGame life series essay? 🥺

KSAJASKJ TBF it's not really a full essay, but just multitude ideas of what would happen if RT joins life series (in my opinion)

It's a mix between RT playing minecraft in general and My own Magistrex lore/characterization so be warned

might get long, if it is long then it's gonna be after read more lol

ANYWAY in my opinion the way RT plays games and interacts w people very much fits the gameplay of life series boogeyman gimmick, even if he had no like, skills in pvp or what not, being the boogeyman means basically hiding your identity before killing someone in any way possible to get the curse out

MIX THAT with how RT somehow has such good charm and persuasion points I feel like he'd try to be allies w almost everyone similarly how WL!Joel did it

BUT IF WE'RE TALKING VERY MUCH LORE WISE OH BOY OH BOY if we're basing this on Martyn's eyes and ears lore, RT would definitely be liked by the watchers. Why you may ask? Well it is basically confirmed that the watchers HATE positive feelings mainly love and enjoys chaos and destruction. Now, RT has multiple times be the being of chaos during a gameplay either directly or indirectly (especially if he's like, roleplaying). This said man created a revolution in a yogscast server that had monarchy. This man would kill himself if it means causing chaos. He embraces that personality so much that I feel like if he's mostly spending the series in Red life or was a boogeyman, he would try and just cause chaos as much as he can even if it risks his life. If he ever got involved into the lore, he'd definitely be someone the watchers like.

He would also probably try to make some sort of gambling system just like the heart foundation or the game Tango made in 3rd Life or if someone else made it before him, he'd gamble and probably somehow wins bc this mans luck is umatchable /silly

He could also probably do a Scar thing and try to scam people out of their stuff or money. All i'm saying this man could definitely gamble and scam his stuff away but he's probably gonna get out with profit at the end.

now if we're going at it per season, this is how i think RT/Magistrex would go:

3rd life: He's probably gonna be against dogwarts, probably trying to dismantle the "monarchy" from the inside out or as an opposition

last life: boogey gimmick introduction. he'd probably thrive a bit

double life: no thoughts rn bc idk who he would be paired up with

limited life: the season where death doesn't have that much of an impact, so i'd think he'd also thrive considering boogey system is back

secret life: probably would do almost all his task flawlessly

wild life: this is just the gambling season. let him gamble- /silly

but anyway RTgame in life series when /lh

OH ALSO EXTRA! RT seems to have quite a good character reading skills (which boost his charm and persuasion skills imo) so he definitely can pick and choose how he interacts w other players during the season

though if we're speaking realistically between you and me? he's probably gonna die first due to not having as much MC experience as the other characters /hj /lh

[zolo-san]

So I was recently looking at the layout of the Sunny and only just realized that the boys all sleep in bunk beds Which got me thinking of who shares what bunks and who has top and bottom bunks 🤔

I'm curious if anyone has any opinions on what they think the boys' sleeping arrangements would be (replies and reblosg with your head canons are very much encouraged)

my personal hc is below:

Going from right to left, starting at the door I think the final sleeping arrangements ended up as: Top Bunk: Zoro | Luffy | Chopper Bottom Bunk: Sanji | Franky | Usopp

I don't think this is how they all started out tho

I think Luffy and Chopper's beds have always stayed the same Luffy would have chosen a top bunk because he thinks the top bunk is cool and would want to be in the middle so he's closest to everyone I don't know why, but I think Chopper would feel safest higher off the ground so he'd take a top bunk as well Usopp probably originally chose the middle bottom bunk because he thought he'd feel safest there, but once he realized he couldn't easily escape in case of an emergency, he would have quickly swapped with Franky When it first came time to claim beds, Zoro first took the bottom bunk closest to the door (1: because it's easy access for him to crawl in and sleep & 2: he tends to be instinctively protective so he put himself by the door) Sanji was per-occupied in the kitchen when everyone chose their beds so the only bunk left was the one above Zoro (and boy, oh boy did he make a stink about that before finally giving up and taking the bunk) Problem with Sanji and Zoro's originally sleeping arrangement was that Sanji is one of the first to wake up in the morning because he's just generally an early riser and also because he has to prep breakfast for the crew While his bed being closest to the door was convenient, him being in the top bunk meant that every morning, without fail, he woke Zoro up when he would get up to start breakfast Everything sort of came to a head one morning when Sanji was getting up and a very tired, very over it Zoro yanked him off the ladder and the two of them ended up in a full blown fight that woke everyone up (including the girls lol) Eventually they came to the solution that the two of them should just swap bunks (this was Robin's idea) As for Brook... well, he joined after all the bunks were claimed and technically doesn't have to sleep, so he mostly will just end up hanging out elsewhere on the ship throughout the night, but when he is in the men's quarters, his place of choice is the kotatsu (he likes to be cozy 😊) I would assume after Jinbe officially joined they had to somewhat reconsider sleeping arangments on the Sunny once again lol

[stellamancer]

👁️👁️ …. sweet niku i am abt to go eep but . u have opened pandora’s box and so i must ask :3333c for nikumichi crumbs ….. uraniku …… you are v creative with shipnames so it’s hard to guess PVDKDBD but i desire to know >:3 how do you think you would meet / what would the dynamic be like ….. ? who’d catch feelings first ? ?? i must know . this is extremely important pls tell me everything!!!!! 🎤

🐭🐭🐭🍵 (<- the mice bringing u tea while you think this over …….)

LMAOOOO i'm not super creative!! they get adapted from by others... like nikooj (or enlightenmeat which was still a friend's idea and not mine). so the uramichi x niku name (as adapted by others is) uraniku/uranikoo but if i wanted to go in the same vein as enlightenmeat... UNFORTUNATELY THE FIRST THOUGHT IS ACTUALLY 'ROADKILL' OF ALL THINGS. T_T let me workshop it a little longer.

i think that i've never really actually super thought of it it because i think i was thinking of doing an ocship (with my baby girl princess kira no less) more than selfshipping. the lore there is actually really hilarious imo. mostly because kira's brothers are the type of hilarious people that uramichi would hate dealing with.

this is actually super hard because like. it's extremely hard to think of HOW we'd meet. i don't wanna do overlap so i don't want it to be like how i meet gojo or deku in their respective selfships. and I DON'T WANNA DO NEIGHBORS SINCE U KNOW I HAD A NEIGHBOR AU FIC I WANTED TO WRITE.

anyway, after some brainstorming on discord with some pals, uramichi and i would be introduced to each other by some friends we have in common, or rather, i have plucked my beloved moda and their beloved momo (from idolish7 which has now be canonized in uramichi world lmao) and they decide to set us up. kind of. maybe. they both invite us to go to yakiniku on a covert double date (actually moda has invited me to go with them and momo before but i have refused on account of not wanting to be a third wheel).

both uramichi and i separately clock that we're essentially being set up on a blind date immediately when both moda and momo suggest it to us but both decide to still go for our own reasons (me because moda tells me that momo has offered to pay for everyone and uramichi 1) to prove to usahara he does indeed have friends and 2) he's ultimately incapable of telling anyone who isn't usahara no).

i think that first double date is kind of... awkward. i'm honestly not particularly outgoing and neither is he and momo and moda do a lot of heavy lifting at the beginning...... i think the conversation 'takes off' (as much as it can take off for two socially awkward introverts) once we get into talking about hobbies. and moda and momo kind of watch us in amusement lmao.

it would probably be a very slow start, with a lot of nudging from momo and moda who thought things went very well. we probably run into one another randomly at some point and have go out to eat or hang out or something. maybe drinking. well. he drinks and while i don't really drink, maybe i have one or two since i'm a social drinker LMAO. i think the dynamic is kind of sickly sweet and wholesome ahahaha. uramichi doesn't really activate the tsun in me, but i think once we become closer he teases me a little as a treat. LMAO.

i think i'm generally fairly good at navigating personal landmines so i don't think i'd step on one of his but the lore need some drama so i probably do at some point...

IDK WHO CATCHES FEELINGS FIRST. i think we probably have an idiots in love sort of thing in which we don't think the other is interested (usahara and kumatani are trying to convince uramichi otherwise but failing). it might be a case of he catches them first but i realize first. he's probably pretty deep in denial. some jealousy aspect needs to get involved tho. idk how yet, i need to cook on that more, but i need jealous uramichi. i think he'd be like an angry sulky cat. no i need him to get so jealous he drags me away all dramatic ASK ME THIS AGAIN LATER I NEED TO REALLY COOK ON IT.

[aikoiya]

Nah, it's chill.

Merry Christmas, BTW! I hope your years' been a good'n!

Anyway, this is gonna mostly be based on my hc of what happens to Dash after high school.

Dash After High School - If ya wanna take a look-see.

But the overall idea is that Dash's parents were abusive, but in polar opposite ways.

Whereas his mom, Freida, was negligent & a bit of a wino, his dad, Harvey, was a lot like how Dash is at school: loud, confrontational, & just an outright a-hole.

(Looking at the brief picture we see of the 2, I sort of see Freida as the one with money & Harvey as a bad decision she made. They have cash, but the guy was wearing a white sleeveless shirt &, I think, jeans. My guess is, he was a jock in school, but either his family was poor, he was disowned, or he burned all his family's money by making terrible business decisions. Either way, when I look at him, I see either a bum or a skinflint.)

Anyway, he didn't normally get physical with his abuse, but he definitely got verbal... & loud. But he would also push Dash to "be the best" & was never completely satisfied with anything Dash accomplished, who despite resenting him, also wanted to make his dad proud.

Thing is, dude is also stupid macho in the really bad way, as well as low-key misogynistic & homophobic.

Like, there's not agreeing with a person's lifestyle, but supporting their decision to live their lives & make their own decisions regarding said lives... & then there's the assholes who legitimately hate those who prefer their own sex to the opposite.

Harvey is the latter... Adores his baby daughter, though. (But then again, everyone loves Sarah. Including Dash. If that curly-haired little angel were put in danger, then even the strangely cowardly Dash would throw down with a ghost. Seriously, that little girl is the sunny spot in Dash, Harvey, & Freida's lives & woe be anyone who dare harm a hair on her adorable little head. She's like Shirley Temple meets Annie & I love her.)

The problem comes in that Dash is bi. (Technically, I hc him as bisexual, heteroromantic, but Harvey would exactly hear that last part before exploding.)

Basically, this, plus all the expectations & pressure put on him from not only his dad, but also the school, his mom's emotional manipulations & gaslighting, the fact that Dash really isn't doing all that great academically, the clock is ticking, & this little line from the literal first episode of Danny Phantom:

"These are the best years of my life. After High School its all downhill for me. How am I suppose to enjoy my glory days eating mud?!" Which, woof!

And, he was bound to only react in one of a few ways. It's just that the reaction he chose was to be a dick.

However, I think the reason that he targets Danny is partly the fact that despite how... peculiar the Fentons are in-general. Yet, despite that, Jack & Maddie are very obviously caring & love their kids to pieces. Sure, they're not perfect, but they love & support their kids & would do anything for them.

So... I think that at least part of it is that Dash is jealous of Danny. (Though, I don't think that's all there is to it.)

Also, Danny's just too much of a little snarkmouth, so I doubt that he only started cracking wise at Dash after he died & came back. Which, if so, then that most likely adds a bit to it.

But... & this part I'm not totally sure about, but it's possible... either Dash is p.o.-ed at Danny for trying to keep him away from his sister or...

He may have... a teeny-tiny bit of a crush... Possibly a hate-crush that shows itself in the form of "pigtail pulling." Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Now, this is honestly just based on what all we know of him in canon, so I very well could've misinterpreted things.

Sorry if any of this sounds bad, I like to get a bit experimental with my hcs.

I’d like to take a quick minute to talk about Danny and Groose interacting.

At the very first glance, Danny was instantly reminded of Dash. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t intimidate him, but when he stayed longer and saw how he actually acted, he realized quickly how friendly he really was. Groose was much friendlier and pretty clever. He’s watching his strength when interacting with others, and apologizes when he slips up.

If someone outshines him in some way, he doesn’t get upset and try to bully them, but instead he compliments them and often tries to learn from them.

From Groose’s perspective, Sky had warned him that the new member was a little freaked out since he’s never been to Skyloft, so he expected Danny to be pretty nervous. He didn’t fail to notice the fact that he was intimidated by him, though. It hurt a little, but Groose also understood that a height difference like this often startled people a little.

Then he started getting a little interested in stars. He told Danny about it, and it slowly turned into Groose learning a lot about the night sky from Danny. Next thing they knew, they’re friends!

[icewindandboringhorror]

examining a seemingly normal image only to slowly realize the clear signs of AI generated art.... i know what you are... you cannot hide your true nature from me... go back where you came from... out of my sight with haste, wretched and vile husk

[eisthenameofme]

"you are not immune to propaganda/cult indoctrination" is largely useful and the sort of shit it's used to point out as not making you immune (being "smart" or a certain degree of educated, etc) is worth pointing out and it never feels like the appropriate place to mention it, but a lot of people seem to be conflating "the things people think make them immune to this kind of thing doesn't because it doesn't work that way" along with "the same conditions that make people more vulnerable to indoctrination/conspiritorial thinking/etc can happen to anyone" with "everyone in the world is equally vulnerable to every kind of indoctrination under the same conditions" and i just don't think that's objectively true.

It may be true that someone started out holding one belief and flipped to hold the apparently opposite belief, but does that actually mean everyone who holds that belief is equally liable to change their mind? Why did they hold that belief in the first place? Is it consistent with their values and what they care about more broadly, and do they specically go out of their way to combat the potential for misinformation and propaganda? Are they prone to making their decisions based on what the people around or closest to them think instead of thinking for themselves? To what extent do they base their values and decsions on kneejerk emotional reactions? (these aren't the only factors obviously, just examples of other potential contributing factors) It is not a given that everyone will answer these questions in the same way, and this is part of why different people respond differently in similar situations. Also not everyone will respond positively to techniques that often work to draw people in (eg lovebombing is a common tactic that works on a lot of people, but may be actively offputting or ring alarm bells for others; different people have different tolerances for attempts at social control and some might nope out the moment they see it attempted regardless of any other factors).

"You Yes Even You" can be an important tactic to get people who wouldn't otherwise to legitimately consider why these tactics work on people and what might work on them and keep in mind that the people it Does happen to usually aren't aware of it and it's not always their fault the way it's often presented, but that is not objectively the same thing as "anyone can fall down any pipeline not matter what forever"

like maybe no one is literally "immune to propaganda" but if a type of propoganda is something that necessarily hinges on X mechanism and a person is notorious for both intellectually and instinctively being violently opposed to X. then yeah I think the propoganda that hinges on X is probably going to be a Very Difficult to Impossible sell, even potentially under coercion, especially if that person has already demonstrated that they are willing to put themeslves at risk/resist that kind of coercion about it. unless your argument is that there is scp level literal mind control happening.

[blimbo-buddy]

Daisuke = Satyriac

A really easy decision to make, a lot of the Satyriac's cultures of always partying, living carefree lives and generally being outgoing really fits with his character. I would imagine though that not many Satyriacs in this universe would be apart of Pony Express due to the restrictions of the company. How Daisuke joined the company would likely change. But it still safe to say that he'd be a Satyriac

Scrapped alternative: Snake People - Because of their agoraphobic culture it didn't seem right to me to make Daisuke one. Of course, Daisuke being a Satyriac was always going to be the endgame but I wanted to think of who else he'd likely be.

Pterosapiens - I think the fact that they live to be just 23 makes me think that his parents would be rushing to get him some kind of job experience though because they're a more philosophical species focusing more on living generally, it made me think against this idea. Though still a depressing thought

Swansea = Tool Breeder

With a human species as technologically advanced and baffling as the Tool Breeders I just had to make Swansea one. It's very self-explanatory why I made him one and there's no real deeper meaning behind it all. I imagine that he never truly gets used to the cold steel of the Tulpar, as he's used to living in organic, biologically modified homes. He may also need lots of accommodations due to being a semi-aquatic human species. He keeps his tools away from Daisuke because he's not gonna try and fucking repair a broken organism because some dumbass handled it too hard

Scrapped/Considered alternatives: None - I think he's one of the characters that is set to be one human species

Jimmy = Symbiote

Yes, the little guy on the top of the host's head. Trust me I originally was going to go for another species but something about the Symbiotes just felt very "Jimmy-Esque" to me. Maybe it's the fact that the Symbiotes offered their hosts, "an ability to think in return of total submission". I also think that Jimmy would choose a nice but respectfully rough looking host, rough in the way that you'd imagine those respectful rough working-class people. It's also just funny to imagine little parasite Jimmy being flung around I'll be honest.

Considered Alternatives: Killer Folk - This was actually who I had in mind with Jimmy at first and I'd actually still consider making him a Killer Folk. But I think that the Symbiotes fit him just a bit more, but I'm not against switching his human species around

Anya = Snake Person

So Anya as a character actually has a lot of options open with what she’d be. Much like Jimmy she’s a character whose assigned human species here can be any of the options given. In the end though I chose the Snake People purely because they generally remind me of her in some way. What really got me was the fact that they're described as being culturally agoraphobic, and one part of the definition describes it as, "extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places, of leaving one's own home, or of being in places from which escape is difficult."

Considered Alternatives: Pterosapien - Definitely a really depressing option, due to the fact that the species only lives to 23 - because of heart disease- it'd really be a race against time for Anya to get into medical school. I also think that, due to her lack of opposable thumbs/hands, accommodations provided by Pony Express are the bare minimum and would really show how little they care about their employees

Bug Facers - Honestly I don't have a solid explanation for this. A part of me is a bit iffy on this because of the species' culture of xenophobia towards the others and the assault by Jimmy being some sort of "reason" for why Anya was wrong to join the other human species on the Tulpar or whatever

Curly = Killer Folk

To me, the Killer Folk seem like the perfect generic human species and that somehow fits well with Curly. Not to call him generic though, I think that it's common to associate him with generic animals. He'd definitely be on the side of condemnation for old, conservative cultural beliefs. I also feel like if Jimmy was instead a Killer Folk as well, it would have Curly subconsciously gravitate towards his side more, as a strange instinctual bond as two Killer Folks

Scrapped/Considered Alternatives: None - Like I said, I feel like this "generic" human species works well for Curly in some way

you guys aren’t ready for my All Tomorrows x Mouthwashing crossover au

[clowndensation]

okay over-involved asa timeline.

9:24 - born to two circle mages in ostwick. immediately taken to be raised in a chantry, per custom.

9:29 - develops magic a little after his fifth birthday :\ he's packed off to kirkwall's circle with absolutely no idea what's going on. thinks he's done something wrong, and now neither his parents nor the maker want him anymore.

9:29-9:37 - this is not a good time for him. quiet and withdrawn as a kid, but becomes more rebellious as he makes friends. absolutely incapable of seeing his friends get treated poorly by templars without stepping in and making things worse, not always in a way that correctly diverts the templars' attention solely onto him. was in quite a bit of danger of being made tranquil towards the end of this time period, in spite of only being 12/13 at the time.

9:37 - annulment of the kirkwall circle. wahoo! he and a small group of mages escape during the upheaval.

9:39 - asa and his friends make it almost two years outside the circle through constant running and clever shenanigans, but are eventually tracked down outside of perendale through their phylacteries. he also transitions during this period "as a disguise" but never leaves that "disguise" after being found. lmao.

one of asa's friends turns into an abomination in an attempt to kill the templars sent to capture them, but it backfires and the abomination attempts to kill everyone there, including the mages.

by sheer luck, two grey wardens are nearby when the fighting breaks out, and they assist with killing it. the wardens are impressed with asa and one of the other mages, lucena, and after speaking with them, offer to conscript them rather than let them return back to a circle. asa agrees but lucena, shaken by their friend becoming an abomination, says no and is taken back to the kirkwall circle by the templars.

asa is too young to officially join the order on arrival, and instead acts as an initiate, helping out full fledged wardens around weisshaupt.

9:40 - the college of enchanters vote to separate from the chantry. asa hears about this. stand by.

9:41 - the conclave is destroyed! asa demands the wardens help the mages. this obviously doesn't happen, and asa is chastised for taking interest in political matters. asa runs away to see what he can do to help.

a lot happens here that isn't especially relevant atm. he helps out runaway mages until the inquisitor ends up siding with them and bringing them to safety inside skyhold.

he returns to weisshaupt, gets his ass handed to him, and is told that they have no place for deserters, and he's lucky they didn't inform the templars (who still have his phylactery) about him. he argues the semantics of leaving and coming back vs deserting. he's not allowed to join the wardens for a while after this due to his general nature and disposition and inability to even pretend at neutrality in a way that doesn't piss off wardens who suck at neutrality in a more morally bankrupt fashion.

9:50 - asa performs the joining at the tender age of 26.

late 9:50/early 9:51 - the thorne grey warden backstory happens and he's immediately in the fucking doghouse again. he meets varric :)

9:52 - present day

[rotisseries]

i don't read enough loz fic to know what the popular fanon is so maybe this already exists but there should be a revali and zelda besties agenda i think it would be good for them

[jonathanrook]

can i bitch for a second

[elytrafemme]

i have had TWO successful interactions with my father today. this is unprecedented

[neverendingford]

.