#anyway sorry I am on a tangent
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Jamie Jamphibian is such a good DM. like this last episode, and how the dream gives us like a bit of lore while also including a funky game dynamic?? so cool. Jamies ability to let us, the audience know more about the characters while also engaging the player is sos so good. Their worldbuilding, and just general storytelling capability is incredible. Cantripped is such a good dnd podcast and its in no short part thanks to how good a DM Jamie is.
#soop.txt#cantrippped#of course its so good because of how all of the cast are#and how they interact with each other#and they are all in their own right incredibly good at their own storytelling.#Honestly everyone in the cast#both the players and jamie are so talented and cantripped is so good#anyway sorry I am on a tangent#I <3 cantripped
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camping with allergies is so adorable especially with a significant other. being outside all day kicking off their allergies. then holding them close by the campfire and having the smoke tickle their nose more. and then finally exhausted after a day of sneezing cuddling into their partner in the tent only to realize there’s so much dust in there. also the idea of not having tissues because you can’t throw them out so having to use a bandana, a shirt, or your partner…
#snz blog#snz kink#snzblr#snz scenario#camping snz#allergy snz#i love camping so so much and i have so many stories of my horrible allergies while camping and backpacking#also the idea of cuddling together for warmth in the tent ughhhhh so cute#i’m so excited me and my friends are planning a bunch of little trips this summer#combining my two hyper fixations snz and the great outdoors lol#ALSO i interviewed for a super cool outdoor job and it went really well???#like i actually am so bad at interviewing but i was so proud of myself and was more prepared then my interviewer#really hoping i get it cause the money and hours would be super nice#anyways sorry for another tangent in the tags lol
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lord its so dark in here the sahara desert of tsaritsa content you are like a shining oasis. your characterisation of her compels me & mihoyo would be hard pressed to top it imo.!! caaaaan i humbly request yr thoughts on her first meeting w a reader of any kind, or maybe even multiple kinds (sagau, sagau god au, isekai, etc) if you so desire...
it really is like a desert here. being the fan of a character we aren't getting until the last damn nation is driving me up a wall but i will persevere bc if nothing else i support morally bankrupt women in media. we r in a severe drought over here but i do my best. unfortunately nothing i say is ever coherent so pull out your translation notes its abt 2 be messy
also this got out of hand but thats bc first meetings w the tsaritsa are tricky to write + a LOT of her characterization lies in deeper exploration then just surface level yknow...NOT A DIG AT YOU this is just my excuse for rambling. gently pats the tsaritsa she can hold so much complexity i do not have the word count to delve into it completely :]
gonna talk cult au for a bit here though because that's 99% of my content. and honestly? she thrives in sub au's of the cult au like villain au + imposter au. it's basically made for her. i mean, early days, the imposter au had been going around for a little while but one of the first few ideas was the Fatui taking reader in so like. it kinda technically actually was. pretty sure cult au Tsaritsa popped up because of the imposter au. a lot of it's writers kinda left though which. man am i getting old or.
anyway.
there isn't much of a chance her first impression is all that positive. at best it's usually neutral, imo, but rarely if ever positive. specifically because i view the Tsaritsa as someone who isn't as fanatical as most of the acolytes typically are towards the creator. she's not exactly going to worship the ground you walk on unlike a certain geo lizard. which is partially why i think she thrives in the sub au's i mentioned.
imposter au, for example. she meets you at your lowest. there's no gaudy extravagance or pampering from the acolytes waiting for you because your own acolytes have turned on you. for all intents and purposes you aren't a "god" at all. which is why i don't think she meshes well with normal cult au reader. the Fatui are made up of outcasts, basically, and imposter au slots right in just perfectly. you're weak, at your lowest, when you meet the Fatui in the imposter au. and the Fatui can help you, too.
a mutual exchange, really. the Tsaritsa sees a tool she can use to one up the rest of the nations and especially Archons, and she has no qualms about you using her and the Fatui in turn. you both want something out of it, after all. whether you just want to be safe from the rest of the acolytes, or you want revenge, or whatever else..she'll give you the power to fulfill it, and she gains the strongest piece on the chessboard when all is said and done.
the best way i can describe the first meeting is "practical", i suppose. she sees an opportunity in you. the ultimate gamble. because if she "saves" you, and you dont trust anyone else because they tried to kill you, well..she holds all the cards, doesn't she?
but the Tsaritsa, imo, is just as capable of being just as fanatical towards you as anyone else. she just won't worship you as the creator. but as yourself? clawing your way back to your divine power and taking back what belongs to you? the Tsaritsa is, to me, a character who's character flourishes in long-term fics more because she changes a LOT between "just met reader" and after having been with reader for some time. she's practically apathetic at the beginning but a lot of her character, in my characterization, shines through LONG after the first meeting.
#asks#Anonymous#sagau#tsaritsa#like. am i explaining this coherently?? first meetings r GOOD and i could go on a tangent of like. first meetings w zl and make it work#but first meetings w the tsaritsa is like. you just cooked a 5 course meal. took one bite. called it a day.#so much of my characterization lies in the “after” of the first meeting#because her first meetings are generally the same. she's apathetic at best!! she does not gaf abt the creator in the SLIGHTEST#but show that you are more then the creator? that you do not cling to the title like a shield? that you do not rely on it?#youve got the worst person youve ever known ready to kill a man for you.#tsaritsa is very like. EXTREMELY hard to earn the trust of but when you do she will kill someone for you no hesitation no question#which is why she works SO WELL in villain au and imposter au!!!!!!!!!#esp if theres a fake “creator” calling you the imposter. she hates their ass and was .5 seconds from dethroning them anyway#you just made it 10x easier#also cant do just first meetings bc i am incapable of not shoving themes of love into every fic w her SORRY#tsaritsa going on a full multiple month long mental breakdown bc she is not in love with you but she would destroy everything for u..#(shes in denial)#tsaritsa and complex themes of love and what it means for the god of love to be incapable of feeling it + what it means when reader shows u#LIKE UGHHHHHH okay. i guess ill write another tsaritsa fic and put it in my vault#aka my drafts#i hold so many fics hostage there its crazy#this answered like 0 of ur questions sorry i see tsaritsa and black out and this happens#i just think first meetings dont let her character really come thru but my response got out of hand so uhhhhh everyone look away. please#putting tape over my mouth now so i shut up before this gets worse#basically tsaritsa gravitates more towards outcast reader rather then one who has already become accustomed to the adoration of the acolyte#does that make sense........#i havent slept in forever and im running on nothing but spite and dreams atp dont expect coherency when it comes 2 the tsaritsa from me#head in hands someone please stop me i keep rambling abt the tsaritsa it makes me go NUTS#lays down. explodes
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after i made the undertale ones i knew i couldn't NOT make matching icons of these 2 aswell...
#mother 3#lucas#claus#mother series#even though there are like 15 ppl active in this fandom ❤️ if nobody uses it can just be me and my sideblog fr🔥🔥#i like these less than the undertale ones maybe bc theyre messierr?? i mean my art is always messy but#idk whenevr i indulge in my special intrrest even literally just drawinf the characters i get this like pain in my chest and like my hands#shake which i knwo is very Not Normal i swear i love it it just makes me feel crazy anxious when i draw with the Intent to post knowing how#so so sensitive i am about it for NO reason im just veruy autistic about this game and have a deep personal connection to it#so anyway the point of that tangent was to say i dont think ill ever make m3 art that ISNT messy bc of thr shaky hands#sorry if you read allat i have a tendency to get too real in the tags#izzy art
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Girl, help, the book authors are trying too hard to be "hip" with the fleeting "teen lingo" and trends again, immediately dating their works before they're even released
#eye twitching seeing certain modern slang in for real published books unironically#tiktokian slang that is out of date within weeks#it's a pet peeve of mine but so is modern books mentioning tiktok or stuff at all esp. when not relevant in general#god it pulls you out of the illusion#turns it into this very set in stone time frame rather than letting it just be or resonate on its own which is fine sometimes if natural#you can't avoid some mentions of some things when setting it today but in these cases it's so forced#hello fellow kidz.jpeg vibe in book form#books#this isn't even specific to ya books i've seen it in adult books as well#booklr#petty as i am i once stopped reading a first chapter excerpt for mentioning spotify by name on page 1 i'm sorry#this other book though oh they've used online phrases and boomer insult 3 times and brought up tiktok twice it's on thin f-ing ice#ignore me i'm petty but don't ignore me because this is a legit problem in the media industry#don't even get me started on text speak in the dialogue or texting sections yeah#it's not quite as bad if it's some fake variation of an app or just generic about being online but mentioning by name oh i'm gonna explode#most times anyway#i have yet to see it handled well#this was about slang though so tangent but !! gaah
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i need you to know that your jonah magnus art has changed me on a fundamental level. i come back to your blog every now and then and search "jonah" and i simply Look at the most evil trans man to exist
😅 aahhhah
#i renamed his tags to just jonah to avoid tma fans#i think i art i did at the time was good#but i think it was my brain’s last hurrah in terms of ‘dedication to a piece of media’#and it was an extremely Big hurrah. and i am tired and i am ashamed#and based on what ive seen crop up on my feed my effects still echo in tma LMAO#i dont know what took over me but ive Actively taken steps to never get invested in anything that deeply again#dear lord it was so bad i couldnt even sleep more than 5 hours. and i woke up tense#anyway. obsession… (hyperfixation?) is like a sugar high#and since tma ive been riding out my sugar crash IM SO TIRED#SORRY TO GO ON A TANGENT ANON i know youre just being nice#thank u for liking my art at least#shioshpam
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I'm a psych survivor & want to find community in general or join conversations on here but it seems like no one really cares what I have to say & a lot of the conversations on here about mad liberation etc. are so academic that I feel alienated & shut out by them, and afraid of being talked down to & made fun of, even though I was (barely) able to master's degree and thought I was fairly intelligent. it seems like the academics mainly want to talk amongst themselves. idk. it's like the more I try to connect the worse I feel. I guess you probably don't have an answer to this but I appreciate your blog & how accessible your writing is
💜💜💜anon i think you have SUCH an important point. for me, the most meaningful mad community that i've found has always been when I've been institutionalized and just talking with other mad people, where most of them don't have any experience with mad liberation politics or antipsychiatry or any of that vocabulary. But like--time and time again those are the people who just get it the most, and are some of the most insightful people I've met. And I know that if some of my psych survivor friends came on tumblr, I think they would be judged for not having the "right" language or not communicating clearly enough or whatever. Which makes me so fucking mad, especially considering how many of us are disabled in ways that impact our communication, processing, and language. and how to me, it feels like such an important value of mad liberation to celebrate different styles of communication and all the different ways we're going to show up and exist as mad people! I'm sorry that you haven't been able to find a lot of welcoming community on tumblr--I know how exhausting and isolating it feels to not be able to connect with the people that are Supposed to actually understand and support you.
and it's not that I hate academic stuff about madness--I'm currently at university studying disability studies and really appreciate disability scholars. I think it's super fucking important + there's a lot of really talented people doing cool work. But I think that especially in disability studies, there needs to be a LOT more of an effort put in to actually make research + writing accessible. If half our community can't access any of the writing about our community, that's fucked up, you know? I'm always getting into arguments at university lmao when I talk about how we should do more to translate academic work into plain language. especially since i think it's a form of injustice when we are kept away from resources and knowledge that would let us build a political understanding of our experiences. it just feels super important to me to think about accessibility and what that means in mad spaces and psych survivor spaces, and who feels welcome to participate in our spaces and who feels left out of them.
and i also don't really have answers or solutions for How to Make That Happen on Tumblr--if you or any followers have any suggestions i would def love to hear them. i know that a lot of people are going to come on tumblr to do a lot of different things and that some people see this mostly as an academic space for them, where some people just come on here to talk or create art or a million different things.
For me, I use tumblr as a space where I want to talk and connect with a lot of people about all kinds of topics and hear psych survivors opinions on a ton of stuff. a lot of my posts are pretty casual, but when i make longer educational and political posts i spend a lot of time thinking about the best ways to translate really academic concepts to a wider audience. when i sit down to write out a long post i try to incorporate as many accessibility features as possible like using bullet points, putting in summaries/ Tl;DR sections at ends of posts, adding in real life examples when I'm defining complicated technical concepts, adding content notes, and more. Before I post, I read through my posts and highlight every time I use a more academic or technical term. Then, I think through whether that vocab is necessary for people to understand the post, or if there's better language I could replace it with. A lot of times I do end up keeping in some technical terms in my posts because it is honestly the most direct way to explain some of the stuff I want to talk about, but it's been super valuable for me to go through and really think about it, even when some terms stay in my writing. that's just my process and what works for me and I really don't think that other people need to write the same way I do lmao, but if anyone ever wants to talk about writing in plain language & easy read PLEASE come into my inbox bc i love talking about this and want to chat about it with more people.
other things i'll say is that i've found that virtual/in person psych survivor/antipsych support groups are often times a lot more welcoming and accessible and are just like, people talking about things and hanging out together. I've heard really good things about Wildflower Alliance's support groups, and also recommend the Hearing Voices Network. Project LETS has been running an exceptional psychiatric survivor support group for almost a year that is more casual and is a really great community, I'm hoping that they're going to open up availability again in the spring so that might also be worth checking out in the next couple months. Campaign for Psych Abolition in the UK runs a mad art space that seems super fun. i wish there were a lot more existing groups cause it sucks how few things there are tbh.
anyway, know that you + anyone else are always welcome to chat in my inbox or on any of my posts and you will not face any judgement from me. i genuinely love talking to other psych survivors so much and want to hear what people have to say. the only people i get annoyed at on my posts are psych students and other mental health professionals who leave really bullshit stuff on there lmfao.
sending you all the solidarity, anon <3
#asks#psych survivor#surviving psych#psych abolition#mad liberation#accessibility#sorry for going on a tangent about plain language in the middle adsfjkhjkfsh i just like. am very passionate about plain language writing#and tumblr is one of the main places in my day to day life where i practice writing in plain language#i am not perfect at it but i really enjoy doing it and keep wanting to get better at it#also want to get better about writing in easy read. i'm not very good at that at all yet#ik that wasn't like directly related to your question tho so sorry!! i started getting excited about plain language#and then was like no okay i should just go post about plain language on a diff post that isn't ur ask askfdjhfjdkah#ANYWAY. sending all the love u way anon
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Everytime I face a new character limit on a website that didn't have them before/used to have really long ones... AUGHHhhh the modern social media world was not made for people like me (lovers of details, rambling, elaboration, thorough explanation, and nuance)
#twitter and other short form shit and everything being a Phone App On Small Screen instead of a Proper#Computer Website i feel like has just ruined the format of literally everything for me. Thoughts just keep getting more and more condensed#with detail and nuance taken away. everything over simplified into only the basics. blah blah blah. I've already probably rambled about thi#all before but it's just SO frustrating. I literally just CAN NOT talk that way!!! even if I try!!! I took multiple advanced placement#english & language arts classes in school and I literally never made below an A on any assignment EVER except for ESSAYS#where I would legit get almost failing grades just because I cannt express myself concisely. I took an english placement test thats made to#like evaluate your competency in a subject and out of the 102 multiple choice questions I only missed TWO of them. almost a perfect#score. But for the 5 open response questions (about articulating thoughts succinctly) I did not get a single one of them lol#I only got partial credit on 3. It's like I OBVIOUSLY understand the material and I know how Words Work and how to analyze and interpret#meaning and etc. etc. But it's just when I have to express myself CLEANLY I can't. It's always ''well you have very good points and you#get around to the idea eventually and I think it's very insightful - but it just needs to be shorter/the side tangent needs to be removed/#etc.'' I've always wondered if it has something to do with being on the schizophrenia spectrum and how that can cause disorganized#speech sometimes hmm..ANYWAY.. But I just naturally express myself in a very particular way which is lengthy and I can't rea#ly seem to control it. So it's basically like just.. being gradually pushed out of every place that won't accomodate people with different#ways of like perceiving and expressing or etc. Everything cannot ALWAYS be 100% 'Short and Snappy and To The Point' or a quippy one#liner or the Bare Minimum of information being provided or etc. Some peoples brains just do not work like that!!!!! Sorry I operate#in detail and elaboration lol. ANYWAY.. I still sometimes use random ''dating sites'' like OKCupid to look for platonic friends since#I never leave the house so it's hard for me to just meet friends naturally. And I just realized today that they added a RIDICULOUSLY small#character limit to their messaging system (2000 words?? augh). And also took away answer explanations (when you answer a compatibility#question you used to have a space to give detail and explain why you answered the way you did) and removed a few other features and it's ju#t like.. how the fuck is any of this actually helpful in terms of judging compatibility? take away ALL nuance and anyting that actually#is meant to tell you anything about a person? Bumble's character limits for your profile description are even more fucking insane and so#is every other disgustingly minimalistic place I've seen like.. OKC used to be superior BECAUSE it allowed for a TON of detail. like back i#2016 or something there was SO much data you could look at. long form question answers. personality trait summaries. etc. Now you have#SOO little to judge off of when evaluating compatibiility it's like. You'd have better luck just throwing a dart in a crowded street and#talking to whoever it hits. Why are people so fucking allergic to reading anything longer than 3 words and providing DETAILS!! It just seem#harder and harder to find any place to meet platonic friends where you have any amount of actual data to go off of and it isnt basically#just random 'speed dating' set up shit. AARGH. &I know 'oh just join a club& meet ppl irl' 1. erm..covid. 2.I mostly want to meet ppl#in places I'd like to move so I already know ppl when I get there. You kind of HAVE to do that online. bc I am not there yet.. WISHING for#Complexity.Com where ppl can upload full 900 page psychological files of themselves. MINIMUM profile character limit 30k words lol
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I’m rewatching bits of ordem paranormal calamidade and I’m very excited for you to get there because it’s my favourite \o/!! it is… a while away pfft but still \o/!! also episodes 12 and 13 of osnf I enjoy—I hope you have fun with them!!
:0 yeah I've heard bits and pieces about calamidade and it all seems so interesting, I'm excited to get there!! but. well. as you said there's a long way to go. I'm sure I'll make it eventually though o7 !!
#my issue with where i am in osnf rn is that i find extended fight scenes in ttrpgs boring to watch#and keep skipping through them until someone gets like Gravely Injured and i have to pay attention for plot reasons#the long fight scene in the mansion was an exception because it was terrifying and there was so much going on#but these ones where it's like. wolf number 3 is attacking. horse is attacking. wolf number 2 is attacking#idk i just don't find them interesting to watch. it's ok though that's what we have the fast forward button for#but. ANYWAY sorry that was a tangent that's why i'm a bit slow with osnf atm because it's not really holding my attention very well#echo.asks#wsdanon
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Me, looking at vulgar french words for penis: Oh neat they also have Verga
Also tbt to the time a teacher of mine said "Le bilo bitte" instead of Bic and we spent a full hour laughing
"verge" is commonly used in french smut and is at least marginally better than "membre" which is a nightmare imo. "organe" is another euphemism which i feel like you need to be very confident in order to pull off. i haven't written smut in french in so long i'd like to write some this year
"bite" is always funny altho i do think going a step further and reaching for "teub" gives it a real special flavor
#la réponse d#also bite is just always a riot in english.#french smut is a lot less vulgar than in english in general funnily enough at least in fic#people will use euphemisms for everything. even in like pwp#i saw 'bite' only in like. two fics back when i was researching for my in-universe fanfiction#i do have a soft spot for 'verge' tho even if it's silly#when i was writing the bad french smut i wanted to try and use 'engin' somewhere but couldn't do it#i do think augustine would use 'engin' to talk about lysandre's dick to aggravate him tho.#would probably make puns and jokes about him being an engineer.#anyway sorry for going in a tangent i am still shiniless and suffering💔#talking about funny peepee words helps#WHY DID A BUNCH OF THE WORDS GET ADDED AS TAGS LMFAO.#ohhhh it's bc i forgot not to use quotes oughhhhhhh brain empty#okay i'll fix this on pc later but first missing word was bite. second was uhh i think verge. last was ENGIN#my tags are ruined but i'm not retyping all that sry#i fixed it on pc.
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gotta say the design decisions for the dude between postal 3 and postal 4 are kind of funny. im postal 3 he was a hot 20 something with transmasc swag but the game ended up being so shit that they decided to do a complete 180 and make him an old man with gray hairs. honestly i was a hater at first but yeah. you go girl. you go old man postal dude.
#postal#postal dude#is this anything . probably not#im tired i woke up like an hour ago#its 3 am. i have school babes#cat is still harassing me shes like grabbing onto me and biting me and it HURTS#anyways . getting postal 4 soon . my grandma has me doing a sidequest for it . no im not joking#quest: light the menorah on the first day of hannukah. reward: postal 4#im not jewish#the rest of my family is. i am not#but i think meemaw is tired of me getting a hannukah gift without being jewish so shes like#ok bitch. light the menorah#i just asked her for a game cuz i think if i told her what postal was shed go into cardiac arrest#k sorry for going on a tangent in the tags. audhd i rhink
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My Pacrim oc Vivian ft some interactions i imagine happening at different points
#pacific rim oc#pacific rim#Vivian Lou#uhhh sorry but im not tagging all these characters#artings#anyways some fun interactions#will note once more that i dont speak cantonese i just looked some stuff up (so feel free to correct me if i got it wrong)#anyways im slooowly figuring out how to draw chracaters as i am. not very used to drawing real life ppl and or likenesses#on another tangent vivian is slightly nocturnal so she sometimes bumps into mako when she goes training#also hermann is incredibly frustrated that pentecost trusts vivians headaches to in part determine hn th breach opens#oh and tendo n vivian are often either joking w eachother or doing the oh god we are tired and trying our best or coming up w new in jokes#also newt has zero tact#comic
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ive said this a thousand times and i need to actually write a fic about it but it really does tickle me that due to hyv dropping the ball, canon indicates that the only people who can use elemental powers without a vision are two interstellar travellers, the archons, a dragon sovereign, and Some Vigilante
#its been over a year and im still salty about diluc's skin event but bcs hyv never explained how diluc can use his elemental powers#without a vision i am within my rights to believe he Just Can. godlike powers he uses for beating up abyss mages we stan a king#inb4 'its his delusion' canon lore from the manhua is that his delusion is broken and in dottore's hands so no its not his delusion#side tangent. the popularity of this whole hc of making diluc into some sort of like. cringefail loser killed any sort of theories about#this and it makes me so sad. its my least favourite sort of thing bcs so so so many people say they like him then remove anything coo#he actually does its like. :( diluc is so cool and it sucks hes just fallen into this 'dumb angry brute' trap in fanon#anyway. 2am rant over. diluc's the coolest im also v sad hyv just doesnt want to do anything with him anymore#my copium is he got mentioned twice in reference to neuvillette and like yknow. no visions!#ha..... i miss my boy. i have such big copium hes gonna show up in fontaine or natlan but.#its really clear hyv and the fandom in general prefers kaeya which is fine if fanon kaeya wasnt awful lol#sorry. eepy. diluc cool no vision powers go brrrrr#step right up! || 🪄.txt
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Once again asking for the legality of blocking my closest homies who are not into kpop but managed to track down this blog and LOOK AT IT WITHOUT TELLING ME
#i do not like to be perceived it makes me feel so.... embarrassed#like im not even doing anything weird here i just make gifs and call the guys silly like#regardless its /my/ interest yk what i mean?#like this is a lil corner for me and others who enjoy these fellas idk#i always think my friends dont like. think about me unless im present and then i get reminded they do#and then im immediately like 😰#lmao ive been isolating my interests my whole life its just who i am#anyway insane tangent over sorry for that byeee
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ASK MEME HUH? 😏 prepare yourself here :^)
okay okay so. (for the kid fic ask) 2 or 8 (toddler) or 3 (teenager)? with any parent child combination you feel like
I know this is a prime chance to write some angst but I have entered silly mode at some point lately so you get AU silliness only SLIGHTLY tinged with angst, I hope that's alright ssadkajshdnkbfk
(It also got longer than I'd anticipated, F in the chat for us all)
Kid/Parent Fic Prompts
3. "Everyone makes mistakes, it's okay."
"Hey, August, your dad said I'd find you..." Emma trails off, stopping halfway through the door as she takes in the scene before her. "...here. What are you guys doing?"
To Marco's credit, his son is, in fact, sitting in the shed just like the man had said. The only issue is that he's not alone - in fact, a swooping three of the kids in his care are crowded around him, typewriter pushed to the side as they peer at something taking center place on the table.
August looks up from it momentarily to shoot her a slight grin, which does nothing to soothe her confusion. "Scientific research."
"On a lamp? Thought that had been patented a while ago."
"Yes, but this is a monad lamp. We're trying to figure out if there's actually a cricket in here."
Emma's gaze moves to the object in question, eyebrows raised. "And that other guy's letting you? Isn't this literally attached to his hip most of the time?"
"We traded for the day!" The smallest of the puppets chirps excitedly, all but bouncing on August's knee. "Gina's showing him around, and we get to hang out with Gemini!"
"I see."
The problem with these kids, in Emma's mind, is that while they might have fairly contrasting personalities, there's something in them that betrays their connection even at first glance. Cedar's a sweet girl and the strange one with the metal arm is prone to brooding, and the two younger boys (she needs to find better nicknames to differentiate them than Big One and Little One, honestly - they bring to mind Tweedledee and Tweedledum, sometimes, but they'd probably take offense to that) are just unruly children like any other, and still they all share faint traces of past events that make her understand August a little bit more.
Right now, for example, the man has got a boy perched on his lap and Cedar leaning onto his shoulder, the other boy sitting on the tabletop with his ruined legs dangling over the edge, and yet they're all looking at her like they're about to tell her to take a leap of faith...or blow something up and ask her for help, at least, given Big Pinocchio's tendencies and those of the guy they call P. Emma should be backing away before it's too late, honestly.
"Doesn't that thing talk, anyway?" She hears herself asking instead, as if that were the most pressing matter. "Can't you just ask?"
"He's recharging," Cedar replies, ever the most helpful of them all. "That's why P left him at home. Grandfather said Gemini's not allowed to be around us unsupervised anymore, since the last time he tried to teach some nasty words to-"
"Hey!" The Pinocchio sitting on the table glares at her, a thunderous look on his face. "That's none of your business! Don't be a snitch!"
"It's not snitching if it's true! You only want to know because you've got a point to prove, anyway."
The boy sniffs haughtily, turning away. "I don't need to prove anything. I'm right. We've all got a cricket, so P should have one too."
"You're wrong. I never got a cricket, and Dad doesn't have one either-"
Emma can clearly see August barely stifling a laugh, the bastard. "Don't let Jiminy hear you say that, Cedar- I can assure you, he helped me quite a lot before he got a degree."
"I don't have a cricket," the little one says, beaming, seemingly unbothered by the squabble. "I just have Gina."
"Gina counts."
"Gina does not count, she's a duck." Cedar sighs, shaking her head of dark curls. "Why are you so worried about this, anyway? Your cricket isn't here, either."
One would expect Big Pinocchio to have a snappish retort for that, as well, and yet, none comes. Instead he seems to curl even further into himself, his glower even deeper, like a turtle tucking head and tail into its shell. "Yeah, but he was there," he mutters, much lower than before. "No one else could see him, so they thought I was making him up, but I wasn't. He was real, and I wasn't crazy."
The two adults exchange a look, the mood grown a tad more somber all of a sudden. This, perhaps, is the other thing these children have in common, and it's much less amusing than the first one - they have had some awful experiences already, for being so young, and sometimes they mention it in such an offhanded way, it sounds like everyday stuff, like making the bed or running errands.
Maybe it was everyday stuff for them, before. That doesn't make it more reassuring, either.
"That's okay." August sounds softer, too, as he leans closer to the boy and tries to meet his eyes. "We know you're not crazy. Those boys in your old school- they didn't have the full picture. Everyone makes mistakes, when they don't have the full picture."
And that, a smidge more teasing, once he has finally gotten Pinocchio to look up: "And I mean everyone. You know, Emma here, she didn't believe I was made of wood, in the beginning. Guess who proved her wrong later."
"Seriously?" Emma exhales heavily, relieved that her friend has been able to handle the situation so well and yet resigned to the fact that August continues to be, well, himself. "You only butt into this argument to throw me to the wolves?"
"You wouldn't want me to get in the way of a scientific debate, do you?"
If this were a normal conversation between the two of them, she would tell him to stop being so cheeky; but as it is, there are three more people in the room with them right now, people who have barely stopped looking wary and guarded before returning to their analysis of an otherworldly piece of machinery. There is little Emma can do beside playing along, distracting them from whatever effects the past still has on them all. She owes them that, at least.
"Alright," she says, dragging a spare stool closer and finding a spot near the table, mindless to how Cedar moves to lean on her instead, as is the nature of things.
"Let's crack this, then. I came over to ask something else, but you guys got to me. Show me what you've got, Gemini."
#okay I know I wasn't very good at looking out for henry but I DID try so#please keep an eye on these little idiots if I can't#lizardthelizard#ask meme#fanfic#ouat#au: stray saplings#LOOK I SETTLED ON A TAG#also I'm going to go on a tangent now sorry not sorry#because I'm an “emma and august are besties” truther first and foremost#but I am CERTAIN that eventually he'd be like#she's like. their fairy godmother but better cause she isn't a fairy#she's got...mixed feelings about her godchildren tho#cedar? wonderful. genuinely looks up to emma. as normal as a kid in her situation can be#the baby? traumatized but sweet. you can't have beef with a 5yo#but p and mokku? they would TEST her patience even though the former isn't even a child technically#regina would find it extremely amusing#pinocchio#kashi no ki mokku#anyway august as a passable father figure who at least is TRYING and emma as the tired aunt who loves those kids a lot but needs a fk drink
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finally getting a chance to work on chapter 15 today :-)
#shout out AS ALWAYS to people leaving comments!!!! you are keeping me motivated you are keeping the dream alive#for some behind the scenes: in the last few weeks i've been barely sleeping and it makes it very hard to write or even be in a good mood#i usually need 11+ hours to function and so like. 2-3 hours a night is putting me in a bad place both mentally and physically#and yes i realize 11 or more hours is like a silly amount of sleep but idk. it's just how i am. i go to bed early AND sleep in ahaha.#i've been falling behind in all my classes due to the sleep thing so writing for fun has totally been off the table lol#ANYWAYS#typing typing typing (this chapter will be a lighthearted one)#we all need some fluff and levity i think (and i need to give time for Riku to care for Sora even more and be like. wow. i love you)#I was struggling earlier bc i wanted to write both about how Sora has been hiding darkness from loved ones and needs to let them in#but also with the idea of sora feeling that he needs friends to have strength or value. and i kind of realized i needed to pick one#like maybe a better writer than me could have both of those things be addressed at once but for me i was like... I want Riku to comfort him#which goes against him learning that he's fine on his own. we can address that in a different fic. rn he is just sad and needs to know#that he can share that with the people around him. and that he's still loveable despite it all#also shout out to my gf for teaching me “love isn't something you deserve that's not what love is” like. i did not know that b4 her#so I asked her lots of questions for chapter 14 actually cause I was like. i want Riku to support Sora in the way you'd support me#cuz IDK SHIT ABOUT THAT i have always felt unworthy of love and like i had to beg people to stay with me until i got into this relationship#so i was like. judy. what is your wisdom. how do you care for me when i feel like my pain makes me unloveable. what would you say#So yeah shout out to her! I am off on a tangent now hehe sorry. thanks for reading if you read this at all!! have a good day :)#jtsys fic#updates
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