#and pla to a much lesser extent

[kooldewd123]

so i guess maybe this rank system will take the place of alphas in plza? instead of getting locked on to by a rampaging ursaring or whatever, now you can accidentally make eye contact with a trainer 40 levels above you wandering the streets at night.

[atoriv-art]

What's your favorite Nejigaa headcanon?

love when i get these so i get to ramble. thank you so much

well i started to be fond of them as a pairing from the idea of neji finding some solace from his clan issues in suna! he initially started going there as just as extra protection sent by konoha for gaara in whatever diplomatic business he might be on, but eventually gaara starts requesting him specifically because

it gives neji some space from konoha as he knows it stresses him out, and gaara post-chunin exams is someone who really wants to offer others a helping hand when he can

he's fond of him :3 there's some brief panels in chunin exams where you see gaara appearing to be a bit fixated on neji (like he got fixated on sasuke, just to a much lesser extent) and i think that would morph into fondness as he chills out and no longer sees people whose anger he relates to as 'prey', so to speak!

the whole 'you almost killed my teammate' thing wouldn't just go away immediately even if gaara Is friendly with lee, imo neji is the type of person to hold onto those grudges even if lee himself might not, but he's also someone who is very easy to disarm with like... honesty and empathy. and as much as gaara is stone-faced, he is also very much someone who has a lot of both! his Tone initially rubs neji the wrong way because it's just So unfiltered, but it also gets to him because it's impossible to dispute gaara's sincerity when he puts everything so bluntly, yknow? and as someone who grew up hiding or otherwise obscuring many of his true feelings (majorly by necessity, but later on also out of sheer habit), it's a trait that neji finds very very admirable — its part of why i like him with sasuke too, i think neji is drawn to people who are very openly themselves, people whose ideals are impossible to ignore

this got so long (as youd expect.) and definitely strayed from the initial ask so here's a read-more <3

neji fusses over him a lot id say, he comes to think of gaara as a very noble person — someone with power and who is trying to make the world a better place with that power — and he gets protective over people he considers so fundamentally Good. i think it's nice for gaara to have someone like that around (esp divorced from his past, a bond that he's managed to build on his own by his own merits) and it gives him a lot of fondness for neji in return :)

a lot of their rs progression is this back and forth of finding out like, how much the other Feels and how gentle the other can be when not forced into situations that bring out the worst out of them.. i Love the idea of gaara's disposition softening up (being more outwardly sweet, more playful) a lot as he grows closer to people, it's why i like drawing him being so affectionate even though he's so introverted... i think the contrast is cute :-)

i'm also super fond of the thought of them unpacking some of their family troubles together lmao, i think it'd especially be good for gaara as he has a lot to retroactively think about once he's not on survival mode 24/7 and he might benefit from a detached third party as a listening ear — his siblings have their own baggage attached to their father, their mother, and their uncle, after all. and well if anyone knows what it's like to have a complicated family history it's neji :P

also as a bonus. imo temari+kankuro would get along with neji (…after a bit. everyone involved here is a bit of an asshole but that's part of their charm ok.) but kankuro treats him like he's his secret extra sibling. meaning he really likes the guy but also meaning he will not know peace under their roof. they argue about anything and everything

hinata and gaara also get along pretty well despite gaaras Past. mostly because i think hinata should be friends with every autism boy there is (shino. sai. etc) but also because i think the thought of her being like "i know he used to be a serial killer but let's hear him out people can change 🥺 he's so sweet he likes plants" is really funny

[endiness]

eta 11/8/2024: okay, just fyi, but the user i'm replying to is actually just homophobic/biphobic and they made that comment on my post (and others) because they're actually just mad that lauren and the show made jaskier "gay" (ie bisexual/pansexual.) so their "concern" about how the show's treated jaskier is actually just bullshit and most likely just a tactic to manipulate the fanbase against lauren and the show and to ultimately push bigoted agenda. but with that being said, here's my counterargument to their comment:

the showrunner does not hate jaskier. and just to note considering that this isn't the first time i've seen you leave a comment like this on posts about geralt and jaskier's friendship, or rather the lack thereof as the show did drop the ball on their friendship (in s1 and to a lesser extent s2; s3 resolves this, imo, as does the brief sirens clip):

"All the grunts, I either added or I didn't say anything and just grunted instead. It was often up to the other actors to go, 'I think he's not gonna say anything now.'" — Henry Cavill

"Henry likes to cut his lines, 'cause he's lazy. No, he literally just likes to cut them. He likes to do more up here [frames his face with his hands] and just with face and hmms and grunts. There's a lot of hmms, and so I often have to take a lot of his lines and turn it into a lot of my stuff so that the plot happens." — Joey Batey

"Joey did all the work, I just had to take the right look and… we had a ready-made 'comedy.'" — Henry Cavill

"In the books, they are very, very close friends. That is so obvious. They speak to each other fondly. The opportunity is different in this story because Jaskier turns up and he’s not an immediate player straight away. We sort of had to show that essence of Geralt and Joey playing the complete opposite, which creates a wonderful dynamic. If I were to play it more directly like the books, it wouldn’t quite have the same sense of two fated friends. They’d just be like, “Hey, buddy!” Instead, Geralt cares deeply for Jaskier, whether he wants to admit it or not." — Henry Cavill

"I didn't even cut that much. Just little bits when someone says how they feel, I thought if Geralt says nothing, and maybe the well-known grunts or hmms and sometimes the occasional f-word, people can take from that what they will." — Henry Cavill

"I wanted to make [Geralt's voice] something which carried a lot of weight when you say very little. And I found my natural accent didn't quite portray what I wanted Geralt to portray in those brief moments. Whether it be a grunt or a single word or a couple of words directed at a bard." — Henry Cavill

"Henry tends to cut his lines, say less, which means I have to say more. So I had to improvise quite often." — Joey Batey

yeah, js, but if anyone was responsible for fucking up their friendship in s1, it was likely henry cavill more than anyone else as he would cut his lines especially in scenes with jaskier and to the point where joey often had to take his lines and improvise just in order to move the plot along. plus! by henry cavill's own admission, he didn't want to play them all "hey buddy" with each other which is actually the thing that was severely missing in their friendship in s1 and what was really the problem. because just a reminder to everybody, but the problem with their friendship in s1 was not actually geralt being an asshole to jaskier as there were times in the books where geralt was perfectly capable of being an asshole to dandelion:

the problem with their friendship in s1 was that there was not enough balance to any moments of contention in their friendship and that there weren't enough light-hearted, fun moments with them and that there wasn't enough warmth between them on geralt's side of things and that there was not enough sense and indication given that geralt actually cared about jaskier. which as we've already established was something that was probably greatly inhibited by how henry cavill didn't want to play them with that dynamic in the first place and how it's kind of hard to build up a friendship and not have it come off as extremely one-sided when one half of said friendship won't say his fucking lines.

and at least imo, chances are he's the reason why their friendship still wasn't the best in s2 even with geralt coming off as slightly warmer to jaskier than he did in s1 as henry cavill, basically, didn't want to play geralt with any character flaws in s2. and it's kind of hard to address the mountain and move past it in a way that's satisfying if the show couldn't, y'know, actually acknowledge that there was any wrongdoing on geralt's part given that henry cavill didn't want to play geralt with any flaws. (and just a reminder, but the only reason why geralt was more verbose and emotional in s2 (and s3) wasn't because henry cavill just cared oh so much about the sanctity of the books and the source material. it was because he got dunked on by reddit for cutting geralt's lines in s1 and either saying nothing or just grunting instead thus making geralt's characterization inaccurate to the books. if he had not gotten dragged by reddit for doing that, he never would've advocated for a more verbose and emotional geralt in subsequent seasons in the first place.)

also, js, but i don't exactly think it's a coincidence, either, that geralt and jaskier's friendship only really starts to feel like a friendship in s3 and that there's really a sense that geralt cares about jaskier and that their friendship isn't one-sided when that's the season henry cavill seems to've had the least amount of influence over. nor do i think it's a coincidence that geralt and jaskier also come off as genuinely being friends in the sirens of the deep clip, despite it being set during s1 when their friendship was at its least convincing on the live action show, given that henry cavill wouldn't've been involved in the production of sirens at all and thus wouldn't've had any input on it and given that doug cockle, who voices geralt in sirens, can actually act and emote with voice and despite not even physically being in the scene with his co-star, still manages to have chemistry with him. js.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

That does make sense, yeah. I guess I wasn't really thinking of the wider fandom kickback of nerfing characters, I just found it really weird because it seems so out of character for them not to be really, really good at their job(s). They're experts in their field, it just seems so weird to nerf them that much, and in that specific area. That's like nerfing their knowledge about trains (outside of the amnesia), it just doesn't compute. I already knew that they tend to under sell how good they'd have to be at battling, but I hadn't seen them under sell how much they knew about pokemon species in general until lately.

But you're right, that's something I've seen before in other fandoms too. I just usually don't see it for characters who are certified experts at the thing they do. Maybe downplayed a little, but not to that extent. I mostly only see it in main character heroes to make things more difficult for them, or villains to make them less threatening and/or more palatable. But that might just be a product of the circles I tend to run in, and it's more common for other types of characters to be hit by it in other fandoms

to be entirely fair their knowledge of trains and transit DOES get nerfed. unintentionally. because (i include myself in this) fic writers don't tend to know that much about trains. so it's uhh cosmic balance wkjwhkjwh

and yeah, i really wouldn't know whether it was a newer thing for this specifically, cause i haven't really read a new pla fic in like... uh. it's been a minute. i am over here in my hermit corner. but i'm not shocked? i do feel like, like you said, it's been a longtime problem to undersell their competence in battles (i maintain that facility heads are some of the most expert level trainers in the world, on par or even beyond the E4) so maybe it's just a gradual downward slide in skill level?

i'm glad it's not just me who's seeing this under-competence thing tho!! as another example i feel like vivi and sometimes arthur in msa also got hit by this to a lesser degree. (vivi should be way more knowledgeable about ghosts than she's generally treated as, and also have more scientific curiosity about them. In My Opinion. AHEM.) (and then for arthur it's not so much competence as it is DRIVE, the man does not STOP i've been grinding on this since day fucking one, where is his determination!!) i'm getting sidetracked sorry i hit a pet peeve. what were we saying

oh yeah. yeah i'm sure there's a lot of different rationale behind it, but it really does feel sometimes to me like there's this... shying away in fandom from having characters that really kick ass. like they're afraid of being accused of making them overpowered. and honestly this is probably not just a fandom problem? but i do think it's WORSE in fandom bc i think modern fandom has more of a general anxiety around getting called out for anything or like, being perceived as cringe in any way? but like. gang, it's fandom. what are we doing here if not wish fulfillment. cut loose! make it unrealistic if you wanna! it'll be ok i promise!

[aenor-llelo]

hello mx. smallman! (i think thats how i should i refer to you? sorry if im wrong) but i just wanted to tell you how absolutely grateful i am and inspiring all of your writing has been to me.

its truly the stuff of legends.

as most do, i started with orp (despite not being in the dsmp fandom) because my friend recommended it to me. i Loved It. i have my criticisms (mostly pertaining to how the weakest parts are the parts not rewritten / taken from streams beat for beat) but overall i LOVED IT. my personal favorites have to be (and im sorry if i forgot the names, im not gonna check right now) the Fable of Endlantis, Where the Water Meets Wine, and the Cornelius one.

starved for more, i ended up checking out the PLA stories (which have been good), FADIAMT (which has been AMAZING) and Stars, Eyes of Heaven (which had been very cute).

It was actually Stars, Eyes of Heaven that finally got me to write this message.

Its astounding how much your writing has changed me (orp mostly, fadiamt to a lesser extent). it had made me try to be kinder and more patient in my life, and try to be a better person. overall, your depiction of various conditions and how even if people have them, they arent less human, that has gotten me to tears.

i love how even though the stories are generally similar in concept (God-esque Former Mortal having a condition that makes them different and how they interact with others because of it. (i know ingo isnt there yet, but he's gonna get there isn't he?)) theyre all so vastly different in their journeys and how touching and interesting they are.

it boggles the mind, truly.

i think that's all for now, unless i get some more words that i could sling at you in a different ask.

thank you very much for doing what youre doing and im hoping the best for you in the future! dont sweat it though, im sure ill love it.

(im gonna check out the newer stories in a bit, gotta catch up with the old crow guy after all!)

bye and again, thank you.

the condition is humanity. the condition is being alive. the condition is we must be alive. isn't that horrible? isn't that wonderful?

(isn't that worth living.)

[iruludavare]

{ ooc. This has been on my mind since last night, when there was Brief Talk about pokemon diets

And I just boy, serena’s team’s is a little odd. You have, very very simply:

The strange ones

Evanthe (Carbink): Dirt. Just minerals from the ground. They’ll just submerge themselves in dirt and vibe. They’re literally a sentient diamond-covered rock

Rosen (Drifblim): Their pokedex entries mention melancholy and regret?? So literally just that. They feed off of that. But can also eat normal food because... the food in pla and xy

Fiora (Leafeon): Sunlight?? Leafeon can photosynthesise and their cells are more like plant cells... but then also maybe omnivorous to a lesser extent?? Because that whole species is a weird hybrid of animal/plant... and All Eeveelutions Are Naturally Predators is a hill i will die on

The not strange ones

Daphne (Delphox): Also an omnivore because apparently fennec foxes are (apparently they even eat leaves???)

Florian (Lucario): Dex entries literally talk about them hunting prey so like. Probably an opportunistic omnivore with a carnivorous lean?? Since pla has them liking things like beans, mushrooms and grains

Acacia (Florges): Tbh probably a herbivore-- i don’t think their irl inspiration, the anthousai, ate meat. Probably refuses to eat anything she creates though. Maybe uses the flowers she grows for energy?? Since their power is derived from them

Like, there are a few that are very normal, but then... Fiora, Evanthe and Rosen... not so much Acacia is on thin ice}