#because I have major people pleaser problems

[six-improbable-things]

Soooo.... we ended up not actually testing ship combat... We spent 2 hours talking about the rules and making sure we were both solid on them and on the same page, and then the DM asked me a very unrelated question and we talked for almost 4 more hours and never tested ship combat. [*sigh*] Nah, I'm not mad I genuinely had a ton of fun talking to him. (We're very similar in some ways and complete opposites in others. It makes for interesting conversations.) Plus it gives me time to actually make the Tide Breaker's map... Since I didn't have that done for this week.

The dnd ship combat doc I made for my DM is 2.5 pages long now... (but that might be in part because I do not know how to be concise.) I know dnd is not the system for sea combat or extensive sailing. But it's happening anyways (blame me, ofc), so I'm going to make it work. Me and the DM are doing a trial run of ship combat tonight, and since I wrote the rules and also will be playing the captains of the ships we'll be on, I'm basically becoming co-DM for these fights, which is gonna be great.

[solid-white]

CURLY IS A PEOPLE PLEASER AND ANYONE WHO SAYS HE'S HOW MEN IGNORE PROBLEMS IN THE WORKFORCE CAN MEET ME BEHIND DENNY'S! That man only wants what's best for people and would rather avoid conflict as much as possible, he was a bad captain but he was a good person who needed to learn to stand up for himself and others, which was ultimately his downfall in the end

Just to to clarify because that sounded bad: While Curly has his flaws (MAJOR flaws), he's a people pleaser who'd rather let the ship sink then EVER get into any sort of conflict with a person.

Jimmy SA'd Anya? Well that's terrible, but I don't want to piss him off, yknow? He's still my friend. Swansea is having trouble with Daisuke because he can't do much and ISNT doing much? Well that's fine, he's just a kid still learning. Jimmy is off his rocker and is going to do something bad? Well that's our boyo Jimbo for you! (He and Jimmy have an almost parasitical relationship with each other while still being symbiotic, it's insane, but that's another analysis for another day)

Conclusion?: Curly is paradoxical while still being parallel to Jimmy, Curly WOULD let the ship sink if that meant conflict while Jimmy DID sink the ship. Curly is the complete opposite of Jimmy while still being the same as him. They're inseparable.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Why do you think they don't show Marinette comforting other characters? It's always been a weird writing decision to me, and I sometimes wondered if I was legit just erasing all the times it happened out of my memory or smth. Like the first character trait established for her is she struggles to say no to people, she is a people-pleaser. And there isn't a better way to make ur mc lovable than showing how they effect the people around them. AND it would make her breakdowns genuinely heartbreaking, because she keeps giving and giving and it's a genuine flaw. Like, she rushed off to comfort Ivan in Origins, right? We should have had more of that. I'm reminded of that one Lady Wifi (i think?) scene where Ladybug is smiling at her adoring fans and the camera while Chat Noir is in the background actually comforting a child lmao. It just feels so weird, because I think Marinette IS actually supposed to be someone who does that, who provides that comfort to her loved ones all the time (even at the cost of her own mental health, boom, an actual thing she can work towards). But we just keep getting the reverse instead. She just kinda feels like a shit friend? Showing that emotional labor would also make her exhaustion work because like, what does the guardian even DO? Tell not show, but they ain't telling shit.

One of the things that drew me to Miraculous is the fact that the show tends to write the characters in non-standard gender roles, so I actually like the fact that Marinette tends to be more of a fixer than a comforter. She drives people to action and wants to solve problems and is very good at taking the weight of the world on her shoulders, but she kind of sucks at emotional vulnerability and comforting people. It's genuinely a good flaw for her character and a lovely thing to see in a show aimed at girls. No, we don't all need to be stereotypically maternal figures. Women can be just as bad as men stereotypically are when it comes to emotions!

The problem is that the show is obsessed with Marinette holding every important role in the story, meaning that we don't get a more emotionally aware character or characters to balance her out. Nor do we get to see her learn that this is a flaw of hers and either improve or just own that she's bad at this and learn to trust someone else with these types of issues. (This is one of the many things I think Adrien should have been allowed to do, btw. Ladybug is the brains, Chat Noir should be the heart.) We also don't get a true sense of Marinette's struggles because the show's formulaic nature rarely allows for those types of problems.

The Lila thing is a good example. Lila says that she's going to destroy Marinette's friendships, but she literally can't do that because that would mean changing the way the characters relate on a massive scale and formula shows can't do that. So instead of seeing Marinette struggle as Lila lies and manipulates everyone into hating Marinette, we get extremely annoying episodes where Lila lies and everyone believes her, but no one gets all that upset at Marinette's constant accusations. They just treat it as a minor quibble which is actually more aggravating than Lila changing the status quo in my opinion.

There's also the issue that you brought up: we don't see Marinette truly struggling to be the guardian, so her new role doesn't feel like a big deal. Not much changes for her save for the kwamis being around now. We don't even know what her relationship with Master Fu was really like because he was barely ever on screen so we really don't feel her loss.

All of this is just another problem to lay at the feat of our ever-present issue: Miraculous does not have the right conflicts and characters for a formula show. Formula shows thrive off of things being lighthearted and the heroes lacking major flaws. Miraculous chose to make things somewhat serious and give everyone flaws that are just begging to be address, but that can't be because this is the wrong format for that type of thing.

In a team show where character arcs were a thing or even just one where character dynamics were a thing and Marinette was allowed to share the screen in a more balanced manner, then everything about her would work fine. She's set up perfectly for that kind of show. She is not set up for a formula show where she's basically the only character that matters outside of the villains. If that's what they wanted to write, then Marinette needed to be limited to minor flaws that never last more than an episode or at least limited to flaws that are purely situational such as being stubborn or the classic sudo-flaw of being clumsy that the show already embraces.

[theallianceofcelestials]

Hi there!

I saw that you are/were friends with the creators of Stellar Remnants and as someone who knows one of them irl and has heard their non-stop yapping about your stuff I took it upon myself to ask what that little rat is too scared to ask!

What would the SEA Family’s reaction be to the relationships developed within Stellar Remnants?

Also, to give some relationship breakdowns that I actually do surprisingly have permission to share from CoastxlWater’s themself:

You don’t see much of the celestials in the main fic, but from my friend’s rambles about the what-ifs and oneshots series the Remnant Family do infact think about the celestials a good bit to where there are technically relationships

Eclipse hates moon basically, but a good chunk of that hate stems from fear and the knowledge of knowing Moon won’t give up. Since as we know, Eclipse was infact once Moon and so he knows how the bot would act.

Solar Flare would infact do the same thing it did to KC to Moon if it ever gets its claws on him, you don’t mess with Flare and especially not its father.

Bloodmoon wants to basically harass everyone in the celestial family. But due to Eclipse’s creative threats and tracker planted in them they haven’t tried anything yet, or atleast that is what Coastxl has told me about the upcoming prompts.

No one in the Remnants family hate Sun so to say, but no one exactly likes him. Eclipse and Bloodmoon with their distrust of the sunny animatronic and Solar Flare carries its own opinions on Sun.

Eclipse still cares about Lunar, and Bloodmoon does as well but neither would say they like Lunar, because they don’t. Surprisingly it’s Flare to have the major problem here, because from what Coastxl has told me Flare doesn’t appreciate the kids actions. Flare apparently has strong opinions on why Lunar was wrong to turn on Eclipse, especially because Moon’s own treatment of Sun. So Flare is the one who mainly dislikes Lunar.

Surprisingly no one in the family have strong opinions on Solar, and apparently one line Coastxl does have planned for a future chapter is, “Solar? I don’t care for Moon’s little lap dog, I mean yeah he helps Moon and all but they are family who usually treat each other right so it’s understandable, though Solar is a pushover. People pleaser, even.” - Eclipse

Same as Solar no one has strong opinions on Earth, they all kind of just ignore the cheerful ‘sister’ and only plan for Moon, Sun, Solar, and Lunar ever finding where they are. Or really Eclipse is the only one planning and worrying, Bloodmoon and Flare are just trying to get Eclipse to stop worrying.

One thing they all have in common though is a hatred for Monty, and yes that does include Bloodmoon. No one really likes Monty.

I think their relationships with KC are shown well enough in the making fic, Coastxl said they might try developing the hatred and fear more through more night terrors and maybe even a few complete group hallucinations, so they do have a deep fear of KC is all I’m saying.

And before you ask, “how do u know u have permission to say this if they don’t know about you having all of their socials and links to the stuff they like?” Well, they said and I quote: “hm? Oh yeah you can spoil it if you want it’s not like it’s some huge surprise or anything- oh your asking this for possible future blackmail huh? Well fuck you I could give less of a fuck about you spoiling this, HAH”

I dunno if we're on friend levels yet, though tbf I don't really do any of these online friendship things often thanks to crippling anxiety 👍

Also they didn't shut up about my stuff? :0 Somehow I'm still surprised people seem to like my stuff, haha

Also, if anyone tries murdering me in my sleep because of this post, I'm throwing you under the bus <3 /silly

Weeeeeeeell, SEA and SR are pretty different relationshipwise, which would be a surprise to the SEA family.

Solar Flare and Eclipse wouldn't be able to imagine a father-son relationship between themselves, though Solar Flare would understand Flare's attachement to Eclipse, because it's also pretty attached to its own. Even if differently.

Killcode would be greatly saddened there's such a shitty version of himself, and he'd be torn between trying to fix their opinion of him and staying away, if only because he knows more now about trauma and those sorts of things. He too wouldn't want to see the people who caged him and his family in, so he can understand why the Remnants family would want to stay away. Doesn't mean he wouldn't be very tempted to change their opinion tho

Bloodmoon would find how Flare is so much younger an amusing difference they'd use to tease their own brothers. It's too good an opportunity to waste. They just have to do it.

Lunar would be freaked by the dislike of that Solar Flare, used to his brother being reliant, protective, quietly loving and most importantly, patient and always there. He wouldn't know what to do with a version of them that's more hostile with him.

Moon would once again be surprised while also not about just how much he sucks. He wouldn't blame the family though, because he knows he's awful. He would feel more comfortable staying away.

Sun would take one look at it and shrug. He can't do anything, it's none of his business, if those people want something they'll approach each other and work out their issues. He's more than aware family can be complicated and there can be lots of resentment and hostility and dislike, especially with everything that's going on. He also wouldn't be offended by someone looking down on him, because he's aware at first glance he really does appear pathetic.

Over all, the SEA family is surprised, sad and disappointed by the state of the Stellar Remnants dimension, but not like they can do much about it. They have to decide to change their relationships if they want to be something different. Although they'd prefer if these people didn't try murdering each other

(Also, SEA Eclipse thinks the four arms are cool and wishes he was built like that too. Everyone else is just glad the sleep-deprieved fuck doesn't have another pair of hands to overwork himself with)

[mythmash]

Bouncer!Sukuna AU Pt. 10 - Furniture Shopping

Bouncer!Sukuna x Stripper/Dancer!Reader. Warnings: MDNI 18+, long, bullet point fic, uncle!sukuna, sukuna's very tired accountant, sukuna being inappropriate in furniture stores, sex toy mention A/N: this is a collaborative work made with the amazing @pastelbunnelby, @pastelpixies & @chaoskrakenuwu Series Masterlist || Previous | Next

Going back to this post, and the part about riding Sukuna on the dining room table

Your first thought is wow that must be a really strong table

But then you think about how hot it is that that’s almost certainly why he picked it

He doesn’t care about how many people it can seat he just wants to know how much weight it can handle for…reasons

You go furniture shopping with him and learn that’s actually how he picks all of his furniture

Sukuna doesn’t give a fuck about interior decorating, it’s all about maximum fucking potential

The employee at the fancy furniture store is yapping about the wood grain and how old the trees the legs were cut from are

Sukuna's not even pretending to be interested

He’s just spaced out thinking of will it wobble when he bends you over it

Before they can even finish talking he just thinks “Yeah, this’ll work.” and slaps his card on the counter

You're looking at bookcases and asking about materials and if the shelves are adjustable

When you ask Sukuna what he thinks, he pushes you up against it and stands between your legs

No, it doesn’t tilt.

Yes, the shelves hold his weight.

It doesn't dig into your back.

Sold.

Here’s his card.

Does he know how much it costs? No. He didn’t look.

It literally does not matter to him as long as it works

He's like a cat just silently walking around nudging things and muttering to himself before he moves on to the next thing

The employees are too scared to ask if he needs help, but also he seems to have…some kind of system going?? So they just leave him be until it’s time to check out

You have to follow behind him to remind him “No. We are not getting that table with a stained walnut finish. I don’t care how sturdy it is, everything in our house is oak.”

He finally says fuck it and starts getting furniture custom made

It’s the perfect shade of ash or oak or whatever you’re talking about and double reinforced so he can bend you over it and give you a real good look at the finish anytime

Sukuna spends an ungodly amount of money furniture shopping with you

And on you in general, no matter how much you try to stop him

His accountant has a lot of questions after Sukuna starts dating you

“What are all these charges for custom tables?”

“Why are you spending thousands on….Pleaser Platform Shoes?”

Can’t a man get a good cunty platform? Gosh

“You can’t write off vibrators and cock rings as a work expense. No, fucking your girlfriend for forty hours a week doesn’t count as a job. I don't care that you're "putting in the work".”

“What do you mean you have an "honorary W2" from The Love Store?”

“Why do you have a manicure budget? And why does it include $200 tips?”

Sukuna is baffled by that one because nail techs do hard work

Do you see how small those nails are and how intricate the designs are?

What is he supposed to do? Not tip? It’s 2024, get with the times Mx. Accountant.

He’ll kill people no problem, but he draws the line at being at not tipping customer service workers

The day Sukuna tells his accountant that half of his major charges are him paying for private dances from his own girlfriend (plus tip) is the day his accountant almost quits

[xjulixred45x]

Finally a record of ragnarok fan. It's been a long time I hope you are doing well. Can I please ask for a Platonic Sasaki with an apprentice reader hcs pls. Sasaki is my favorite character and I love his fight with Poseidon

Ohhhh Sasaki! That's a good one!(funfact: after i finished the season 1 i tried fish for the first time LOL)

Kojiro Sasaki and Apprentice! Reader

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: neutral

Warnings: some spoilers from ROR ending of Season 1(if You haven't watched WHY ARE YOU HERE??), Fluff, platonic.

OKAY! for the starters: i think this platonic relationship could be in two very different ways. or reader meets Sasaki while alive, or in Valhala.

We are going to delve into the first one because it is the one that makes the most sense and is most interesting.

The reader probably trained in the same dojo that Sasaki left when he was young (perhaps being the child of a member or relative of the owner).

Reader definitely didn't have it easy there either, having problems being accepted as they was smaller, younger and inexperienced than the majority.

This was probably how Sasaki first met this wild child, trying to save their skin from some more aggressive diciples.

As usual, Sasaki lost.

although the impression it left on the reader was...something.

The other members of the dojo see him as this lazy child, who doesn't take anything seriously, but the reader looked at him with FASTINATION.

It probably left Sasaki quite confused ironically. He had just lost and this kid still cheered him on? that was new.

When Sasaki eventually leaves to hone his skills/body/spirit, you can bet the reader was pretty worried because their new idol just disappeared!

Even if the reader asks the dojo members, they simply downplay it with the excuse that Kojiro tends to "disappear from practices" to evade responsibility.

but reader, far from giving up, is already beginning to apply one of the things they saw about Kojiro (being persistent) and started looking for him on their own!

...which was pretty funny, because you can see this kid running from one side of the city to the other looking for a "loser, with long hair, and that's pretty lame"

When the reader thinks there is no place to look anymore, they ends up finding Kojiro in the damn forest. both as surprised to see the other as expected.

Reader is curious by nature, so they begins to pepper Sasaki about his training and the things he has learned.

Sasaki was definitely off-kilter at first, but he realizes that he enjoys the positive attention from the child, so he indulges them, and ends up chatting about anything while Kojiro trains.

The reader probably tries to imitate Sasaki several times while training, but they is so young that they does things in a... dangerous way.

(Kojiro had to save them from drowning when he tried to fish with his hands and the water was too deep)

Kojiro begins to really enjoy the little child's company, not only because they clearly admires him, but because he has never received so much positive stimulation in his life.

Seeing the reader smile while telling them about his training, how excited they gets, how they has a desire to learn, is adorable.

It's probably READER who suggests the idea of ​​becoming Sasaki's apprentice, honestly? At first he was against it.

Don't get me wrong, Sasaki appreciates the reader very much, but he believes that a child so good and genuinely with a future deserves a better teacher.

something better than "the biggest loser in history"

However, the reader makes it clear that, even though other Samurais may have more prestige, more resources, more followers, it is up to THEM to decide how to use this "talent."

because the reader wants to use this talent as THEY pleases, not as it seems to others.

(the baby basically stops being people pleaser)

and thus begins the adventure of the TWO biggest losers in history!

To be honest, being Kojiro's apprentice (in life) includes a lot of beatings and loses(by others).

Precisely because of his way of training, Reader learned that they has to fail in order to know why and how to avoid it.

The "if You fail, get to know why" type of thinking.

Although of course, Kojiro is more considerate with Reader than with himself, so he ends up adapting his training method depending on what Reader is like.

If Reader is more like him, someone who does hand-to-hand combat, then they have equal training, not questions asked.

If Reader is someone more analytical or who takes combat theory more into consideration, he will most likely use the little knowledge he has of it to help them.

Heck, Kojiro may even develop more in theory just to help them.

Above all, Sasaki wants Reader to feel that they is advancing on equal terms with him.

Kojiro, despite having Reader as an apprentice, sees them as an equal.

And the reader sees him over time not only as an idol, but as an older brother, a role model, a friend.

For the same reason, it was probably very difficult for the reader when Kojiro eventually passed away.

Even if the reader were to have more teachers over time, they would always leave them because they couldn't find what they had found in Sasaki.

Reader probably ended up becoming a great swordsman when they grew up, maybe even had a family and had the prestige they deserved as a fighter.

They did great things, fought in wars, etc.

But they definitely could never forget Sasaki, and the pain that loss brought.

Reader's last years were filled with bitterness, probably dying in combat.

When they got to Valhalla, you can bet he was super confused.

Out of nowhere they was in paradise, young like...like the last time they saw Sasaki.

And you can bet that when they saw Sasaki...well, they both cried for a good couple of hours.

Sasaki probably kept up with everything Reader did in his time away, the adult they became, all the good they brought to people.

Kojiro was so proud to see that happy little child turned into a warrior with a big heart.

When the whole Ragnarok thing happens, Brunnhilde may have even initially thought of sending Reader to fight Poseidon, since they had a more precise fighting style and had many victories on it's name.

However, a big drawback to this was the fact that Reader is very emotional. While Poseidon was the complete opposite, it would be a lost battle before it even started.

Reader could see how much Kojiro had advanced in the time he had been away, how his mental combats had improved and that he had reached a completely different level.

It was mind-blowing.

You can safely say that Reader is Sasaki's biggest fangirl in his battle with Poseidon.

although that's true, every time Poseidon hurt Sasaki or when his sword broke, the reader was very close to jumping off the stands and stabbing him themself :)

It was a rollercoaster of emotions.

When they don't have to fight anymore, Kojiro and reader try to catch up on each other's life/training.

Probably the same way Kojiro kept training even after he died, reader wants to follow in his footsteps again.

Also reader would be really excited to introduce Kojiro to their family! Which would be so adorable specially if Reader has children. He would feel like a grampa😭

There are days when they just wait to see the next round of Ragnarok, while others decide to go get themselves into dramas (like when they almost got into a fight with Loki).

Although I can see reader being less involved in this, he wants a break from the beatings now😅

Hrist definitely finds reader adorable! She thinks Sasaki should LEARN some CAUTION AND CAREFULNESS from them.

Reader definitely finds Hirst scary and deadly, but she seems to take it as a compliment and a sign of good judgment.

Overall, being an apprentice of Kojiro Sasaki has no dull moments, and you get to have great experiences that you wouldn't get from constantly being successful.

Kojiro makes you value the defeats and treasure the victories, he makes everything feel much more valid and worthwhile.

A great teacher without a doubt.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[sunflowergraves]

Unpacking Will Solace’s Character

I’ve seen a lot of Will Solace hate since TSATS and it’s really starting to bother me. As a person that relates heavily to Will’s character, it’s upsetting to see him get bashed across the internet, especially considering we’ve never actually gotten to know his character. Personally, I feel like a lot of people are basing his character around headcanons and fanfiction (which I am guilty of) and were disappointed when he wasn’t who we saw him as. 

It doesn’t help that the only time we got to see Will’s POV it was short and through the eyes of others. He’s also not this big hero like all the characters in the PJO universe. His powers aren’t that strong, he’s not a prophecy child, and his talents are mediocre. Will is the most human demigod we’ve ever been introduced to. I can understand why his character doesn’t feel multi-dimensional compared to everyone else, but in my opinion, he was fleshed out very well. 

Yes, there are a few things I was disappointed by. I wish they talked about Will’s past more and his grief over his dead siblings. I wanted him to have his own weapon, even if it was an old bow he never used or a lyre like Apollo used in TOA. But I will always love that they changed him from the calm, collected counselor healer to an anxious, depressed, self-doubting person because it fits him so well. How could he not feel these things after losing friends and family? After being abandoned by everyone around him? Or being forced to take on the caretaker role of the entire camp because he was the only one left? 

I’m going to continue this down below, so if you don’t want major spoilers for TSATS, don’t continue reading. Also this is long as hell in case you just want to skim. 

Every time Will was mentioned in the books, it was from someone else’s POV and it was a few lines at best. 

Will has always been described as the cool, relaxed, go-with-the-flow type of guy. He was the person with a level head and knew exactly what to do. But guess what? Underneath that cool exterior was an anxiety riddled people pleaser who threw himself at every problem because that’s what he was told to do. The Apollo cabin was always the head medic team. After Lee and Michael died, Will was basically thrust into that position of power. He was trusted to take care of his younger siblings, trusted to take care of the entire camp. If he let them down, it was going to cost lives. Of course he’s going to be scared and nervous, but he can’t show that. Would you want a doctor with shaky hands and sweat running down their neck? Would you want to be taken care of by a person who doubted and second guessed themselves out in the open? 

As someone who was given a lot of responsibly and forced to grow up at a young age, I completely understand this. You want to try to make everything better for others around you, you get scared when you fuck up, and you HATE when people can’t rely on you. That’s why you will never show how scared you are to fuck up. You will never let people get inside your head because if they can’t rely on you, what good are you? Breaking out of the role that everyone else gave you because they trusted you is scary and hard. 

Nico is probably the only person who knows what Will really thinks. Will trusts Nico with his anxiety and overthinking because he’s comfortable enough around him to show that side. He knows he doesn’t have to Mr. Hero in front of Nico and that’s such a precious and important bond to make with someone. 

Will was valid for being whiny and irritated for most of the book. 

First, Will has ANXIETY. If you don’t know what it’s like to live with anxiety, count yourself lucky. It feels like your thoughts are attacking you constantly. It’s like an uphill battle between rational thought and absolute chaos. I can’t get in my car without thinking of all the ways I could die before I buckle my seatbelt. Imagine going to SuperHell for the first time in your life! Not only that, but people told Will constantly that as a child of Apollo he was basically fucked. The three strongest demigods that made it back almost went insane! Of course Will is going to be upset, irrational, irritated, and uncomfortable. 

In TOA, he voiced several times how he thought it was a bad idea and that he really didn’t like it. This is not a new thing for Will’s character at all. For him to be willing to cross a line he had made concrete shows that he loves and cares for Nico. But that shouldn’t mean he isn’t allowed to be uncomfortable. 

Second, for anyone saying he could have stayed at camp instead of going has never sacrificed their comfort for someone else. There are so many instances in my life where I went way out of my comfort zone because I knew my friends/family wanted me there. Did I complain? Hell yes. Did I still do it? Hell yes! If Will had said, “Nico, I can’t do this and I refuse to at least try,” I would have lost so much respect for his character. Instead he sucked it up, even when he was already practically dying before they got there. 

Three, Will was worried about Nico. He’s never experienced Tartarus, he’s never been to the Underworld. While Will has definitely faced his share of demons, he’s never stood in Nico’s shoes. So when his boyfriend is having vivid nightmares and hearing voices, he’s going to try and rationalize it for Nico because that’s what he has done his entire life. Will is the “healer.” He is supposed to fix things, not let them traipse off to hell like it’s a vacation spot. 

Four, this is a 15 year old. Fuck, even now at the ripe ole age of 20, I’d still be shaking in my boots terrified at the thought of going somewhere that is practically a jailhouse for the worst creatures in creation. Will has little to no experience on the field (He ran from six guards without even trying to pull out a weapon. The worst thing he’s ever said to his enemies was “anemic loser” and didn’t even want to kill Octavian. Every battle before that he had an older sibling to look up to and care for him). So yeah, I’d just be a tad bit nervous and annoying.  

Will asking Persephone how to love someone from the Underworld was honest and raw. 

This scene broke me in ways I can’t even describe because of how real it felt. If you’ve ever been in a deep and caring relationship (friendship counts) you should understand. Like Persephone said, love is something you choose and it’s complicated and messy even for people who were practically made for each other. For Will to ask how to love someone from the Underworld shows that he is actively choosing to understand and love Nico. 

I get that most people interpret Will’s lines as “How do you love someone so filled with death?” but really he’s asking how do you love someone who acts like he doesn’t want to be loved? How do you love someone that pulls away from your light no matter how desperately you try to give it them? How do you love someone who hides parts of themselves from you? 

Will is a healer, he fixes things. It’s not until this scene that Will realizes the only thing Will needs to fix is his perspective on Nico. That darkness and hurt and trauma is okay. It’s also a scene where Will realizes he doesn’t have to force down his own trauma anymore. 

Will loves Nico and it’s so obvious he scared to lose him. He thinks he’s weak and broken and incapable of helping Nico escape his trauma. His insecurities shadow him and he’s confused about how to navigate this relationship because he thinks he needs to be the leader. How can he lead if Nico won’t let him? How can he help when he doesn’t know how? Persephone’s scene was Will’s chance of finding guidance from someone who could understand exactly what he’s thinking

People in their late 40′s still can’t get relationships down. Why are we pushing unrealistic relationship ideations on a 15 year old who doesn’t even know who he is yet?

Will was not useless. 

Sorry that the relationship duo isn’t Mr. Badass and Mr. Badass 2.0. Will not being a fighter is refreshing to see because honestly I’m quite tired of seeing badass couples in every book/movie. Not everyone is strong and powerful and super awesome. Will is a nerd that likes healing people. Why isn’t that enough? 

“He’s described as having muscles,” “He’s a field/combat medic,” “He fought in the wars,” “He carries people all the time,” “He trains with the Apollo cabin.” Okay and? I was raised to work hard and protect myself. I work out and I know how to use a bow and knife. Does that mean I want to? No. 

I’d also like to point out that almost everyone in camp is described as having muscles. You kind of have to when your life motto is Try not to die or get eaten. Also they train on lava walls, jump eight foot pits, and weapons. I get a little bit of muscle going on my silly little walks, I’d be fucking jacked if I was actively training. 

Second, Will has never once been described fighting monsters/demigods. I don’t doubt that he’s had a few encounters, but the boy practically specializes in RUNNING AWAY. He’s a feral little animal that finds injured demigods and sprints them away to the medic center while occasionally bashing monster heads in. He’s strong because he needs to be, not because he wants to be. Strength also doesn’t equal battle prowess. 

Not to mention, he hates killing! He didn’t want to kill Octavian despite Octavian being the actual worst. He runs away as a distraction even though he had weapons on him. He got upset when Nico threw Sherman Yang out of the chariot in TOA. Monsters are different, but monsters are also scary. Will is terrified of demon pigeons, you really think he’s willingly gonna go one-on-one with anything bigger than his pinky? 

I’ll admit, I hated that he didn’t have a weapon in Tartarus. I thought it was really stupid and out-of-character because my anxious ass would have loaded up. Still, it was kind of funny when they described Will bashing rocks over monster’s heads during their fight with Nyx. 

My final point for this: Will was Nico’s support system and that was the point. Will knew he wasn’t going to throw hands with anyone. He went because he knew Nico needed him even when Nico told him to stay. Will was going to trek through SuperHell with the love of his life and hold his hand to remind him that he was loved. Will wanted Nico to know that he’d literally go to Hell and back for him and that’s what mattered. 

Nico didn’t ask Will to be the Hero. Nico states several times that the reason he loves Will is because he wants to heal and he’s so stubborn to find the good in everything. And that’s exactly what Will did. He offered support, care, and reminders. He was going to understand and love Nico, even through the darkest parts of his life. 

Will is one of the best support systems in a PJO couple duo. 

It makes me incredibly sad to see people call Will toxic when he gave his entire life to support Nico. I won’t deny that he complained a lot and said hurtful things and that he occasionally belittles Nico’s feelings. But Will didn’t know he was doing those things. He thought he was helping Nico navigate his PTSD. How is someone who is still emotionally developing his own character supposed to know how to take care of someone else’s? 

Will also clearly showed love and affection towards Nico. He met all his friends and was polite to them even when they looked scary. Will risked his life several times before they got to Tartarus and still insisted on continuing. Built a Minecraft house for his boyfriend and left him a KitKat bar because he knew he would feel fatigued (also Will brought KitKat bars, meaning he was already thinking of Nico’s health beforehand). He tried to be useful by scouting ahead because he felt like he was being a burden on Nico. He kissed him, called him silly nicknames, hugged him, respected his boundaries (asking to hold him instead of trying to comfort him immediately), and oh yeah, went to Tartarus when he was obviously quaking in his flipflops. 

He also helped Bob when he had no idea who/what he was, comforted Nico when he was beginning to lose hope, acknowledged his mistakes and admitted he needed to try harder, realized he didn’t need to fix Nico and that his boyfriend was perfect the way he was, and learned that Nico wasn’t going to leave him. 

Love is complicated. Love is something you choose. And Will chooses to love Nico. Also for everyone saying a year is long enough to learn/realize these problems already and have them solved, you need to take the rose tinted glasses off. I’ve been with my partner for almost four years, and I’m still learning things about our relationship. We argue, we don’t always meet eye-to-eye. Our own trauma and experiences surface and it gets difficult. But do we just call it quits and throw everything into the trash? No. We talk, we problem-solve, we come back and try to understand each other even if we don’t know how to do that. A year is nothing. A year is puppy love and excitement. It’s like your favorite movie on repeat. All the problems are ignored because you don’t want to see them yet. 

So for a pair of 15 year old's who just came to terms with their sexuality, I think that they are doing pretty damn good at this love thing. 

Anyway, that’s all I really wanted to say. Even though we’ve had Will for years, we’ve never gotten to know his true character until now. It’s raw and weird and doesn’t fit the mold of Will Solace, son of Apollo we all created him to be. You can still hate his character or whatever, I’m not going to try to change your mind. But don’t hate on everyone else who loves him and loves this book. 

[timkontheunsure]

Ok so Fizzarolli has some major daddy issues, and will do anything for a surugate father figure.

Let's poke at that abit.

While he sings about a mum and dad in 'look at this', they don't appear to have raised him. Maybe he's an orphan, because he doesn't sound upset at them. (So probably not abandoned or ran away to the circus).

He seems to have glommed onto Cash, who used that to work the kid like crazy, with multiple shows a day.

Both Cash and Mammon are without a doubt narcissists, who only see people as tools to be used.

It was great seeing Fizz, with the backup of his friend and lover, finally cut ties with Mammon,

But let's look at some of the reasons why Fizz was easier to manipulate into such a horrible working situation.

Ok out of the 3 circus kids Fizzarolli was the most talented, this would put him in the position of the golden child.

This isn't a good position, (no position with a narcissist is good), because all love and privileges from a narcissist are conditional.

So while they normally get less physical abuse; the kid has to be perfect. If they slip all love and affection is withdrawn.

This explains why he's so worried that Ozzie won't love him anymore if he doesn't win a competition Ozzie doesn't give a hoot about.

Problems former golden children often have are: lifelong anxiety issues, panic attacks, over competitiveness, as well as being people pleaser, and chronic over worker.

We can see that alot of these traits are already present in ickle teenage Fizz.

Instead of telling the creepy fan to big off, he's trying to appease him, while wrapping his tail around himself to self soothe. And need to relay on Blitz to get him out of the situation.

And unfortunately like with all childhood abuse it sets the person up for more abuse down the line.

This is because it feels familiar, and is hard to not assume that what you grew up with isn't just normal.

Especially when Fizz goes from one abusive boss, who is a pseudo father to another. This sets Fizzarolli up for worse abuse and being groomed. ( Along with Mammon does say he wants a kid to win the contest, and make sex bots of that underage kiddo. Flipping hell that dark even for helluva).

I really like the accurate look at different types of trauma that Helluva Boss does; and how it can be over come. ���

It's awesome that when Fizz understands he has the backup, and a safe place with Ozzie that's not conditional, he can finally tell Mammon

[leuke-rants]

Some fan facts about the four heroes in my rewrite of trotsh:

Motoyasu:

- He is half Finish-half Japanese. I like the idea of Motoyasu being a natural blond so he has to get the genes from somewhere.

- He is ambidextrous, though he favours his right hand.

- He has excellent memory and can learn things very fast if he wants to. I think this is kinda canon considering he learned the Melromarc language in just one day.

- He can speak four languages: Japanese, English, Finish and French (five if you count Melromarc's language)

- He majors in linguistics

- He is really into fashion and wanted to major in fashion but his mother shut down the idea rather quickly. Too many girls in that major .....

- He knows how to sew and cook (he is an average cook)

- Although he is very flirty and doesn't mind the idea of having a girlfriend he does not want to get married. His parents marriage is proof enough that it doesn't end well for either parties.

- He is a certified himbo

- He is a people pleaser and doesn't like making others upset.

- He trusts women more that men.

Naofumi:

- He is a very relaxed and lay back guy

- He knows how to read people and acts accordingly.

- Used to take care of his younger brother when his parents were at work so he has a soft spot for children.

- Just like his brother he has anger issues. He learned to control his anger over the years and even helped his little brother with his.

- He is generally friendly but his introverted nature make him seem unapproachable.

- He is rather distant and may seem a little cold to strangers but once you get to know him he is a the sweetest guy ever.

- His parents were so busy with work so he basically raised his brother.

- Learned how to cook for himself and his brother since their parents were barely home. He is an excellent cook and always tries recipes from different cuisines

- Just like his father he has a talent for the trading business. Because of that he majors in international trade.

- H is e also very good at gambling and knows how to manage money. Thankfully he reserves his talent for card games with his friends.

- He has no idea how to talk to women his age so whenever a girl approaches him he becomes a stuttering mess . He can talk to them normally if they are close friends or talking business.

Ren:

- The most antisocial person you will ever meet.

- He is autistic.

- He noticed that people treated him differently and not in a good way. Because of this he became really closed off.

- He puts the 'Too good to talk to you" persona so that people will leave him alone.

- He found solace in video games and spends most of his times in his room.

- He doesn't know he is autistic, he just thinks that people dislike him for no reason.

- Although he loves his parents and they love him back they have no idea what is wrong with their son and they can't seem to understand his problems.

- He has a bad reputation among the students for being the "creepy-quite kid". The teachers don't mind him,he is quite and has pretty good grades.

- He has no idea he is autistic.

- He really loves cats. His parents noticed this and bought him one. He named her after his favourite video game character and has been his close companion ever since.

- He is extremely blunt and people don't like that. That's the reason he has only one friend.

- He finds it easier to talk to people through the internet. He has a lot of online friends and they even have a discord chat together.

- His only friend is a senior girl from his school. They met at a comic con and became friends after they realized they liked the same anime and video games.

- He started to have a crush on her and fell in love after she defended him from her friends who thought he was a weirdo.

- He became heartbroken after she moved away and vowed to never get close to anyone ever again.

- After that he became more cold and intolerant of people.

Itsuki:

- Lives with his mother in an apartment complex.

- His father always told him to protect his mother and stick up for the little guys and he took that advise very seriously.

- He is being bullied for being a late bloomer and for his feminine features.

- He always defends other kids from bullying and isn't afraid to throw a punch. Because of that he gets into a lot of trouble.

- He has a talent for archery. He found out during gym class and ever since he took part in competitions and tournaments to earn some money and help his mother.

- He has dyslexia and isn't aware of it. Because of this his grades are not the best. He doesn't tell his mother about his problem because he doesn't want to burden her.

- He is very flexible and pretty good at gymnastics.

- He gets frustrated rather easily and can lose his temper quickly.

- He will either think things through or act on impulse, there is no in-between.

- He really likes animals and feeds the strays very often.

Well that's all I have so far. Perhaps I "ll make a part 2 or give information about their allies,who knows?

[orangepeelshortbreadcookies]

What do you think show!Colin’s characterization/personality is? It’s inconsistent throughout the series and I’m curious as to what I’m missing as people seem to love him and I feel like I’m missing something. He’s sweet, he likes to travel, he’s got a hero complex (that is never explained why), but he doesn’t seem all that close with his siblings and prefers traveling or seeking out Marina or Penelope

(I’m asking you because I like a lot of your other Bridgerton opinions and wanted to hear your thoughts once again)

Hii!!! First of all, my beautiful friend @dollypopup has a lot of thoughts about his character and she has largely succeeded in converting me from a Colin agnostic to a Colin appreciator. I highly recommend checking out her blog!

Ah, Colin, my neglected little cinnamon roll of failed potentials who deserved better. There were flickering moments in time that I've considered the writers of Bridgerton value him more than an attractive, unquestioningly agreeable eventual trophy for Penelope. I miss those days. I think before the showrunner changed, there were glimmers of Colin's character that would have been worthwhile to explore had they stuck to their guns and followed book orders. I think he has a lot in common with how they wrote Francesca in season 4: he's the most timid one among his brothers. He's walking earnestness and a people-pleaser. He mostly only has a bigger personality when he's among family. He has massive middle-child syndrome, which I think in parts explain the hero complex. He is possibly on the spectrum. He has difficulties deciphering social cues and despite a rich inner life, verbally he is not very eloquent, especially in a public setting. He's honest and probably not very good with money.

(Remember that adorable scene in season 1 when he sings while Frannie plays the piano? The show owes me particularly compensation for squandering that potential).

All of these make very solid foundations for a compelling character to spring from. But then, to come to these conclusions, I'll admit it takes a considerable amount of intepretive work, work that a big chunk of fandom, who prefer fast, easily-digestible content, have no interest in engaging with, and work that the sensationalism-prioritising writing discards to accomodate the short 8-episode format.

I do see where you're coming from with his character being written inconsistently. There were a lot of seeds planted in the first two seasons for his character getting thrown out of the window. Luke N did the best with what he got, and to me Colin comes off as a lost, insecure boy trying out different personalities in order to fit in. To an extent, I even sympathise with the 'Colin gives the ick' camp. There were multiple instances in season 3 where he talked to people (both men and women) about his travels that gave me major 'shallow rich boy after a gap year abroad' vibe. That being said, to pay that off with him eventually confronting his "friends" about the abysmal quality of their conversations was very nice. Such a shame he did not have enough screentime to invest in his true personality away from that scene to better drive that point home, being reduced to a secondary character in his own season. I don't remember Colin ever had any substantial conversation about his travels (which can be character-building and fulfilling) or interests after that confrontation, not one for the sake of his own character-building instead of some detail subservient to Pen's needs for validation. He should really have had at least a moment like the swing-scene between Eloise and Benedict (Colin-Francesca piano duet musings!!! I was ROBBED.)

Honestly, the problem here imo is that the writers, especially ones from season 3, just don't like Colin very much. It's pretty telling when he's the lead character with the least amount of screentime across 3 seasons. Many among the fandom echo that sentiment. His existence (among many other characters that suffer a personality lobotomy) in his own damn season is to absolve Penelope of guilt and consequences for her toxic actions. His hurt, his loss, his feelings, are secondary on the grand scheme of the show's narrative, ultimately they are obsolete and more or less an inconvenience to Penelope's HEA. The same applies to characters like Marina and Kate, and to some extent, Eloise. There are still highlights though, like his utterly distraught reaction at discovering Pen's Whistledown. And despite the ardent complaints about him refusing to share a bed with Pen on their wedding night, I'll maintain that it was one of his best moments, as he was still steadfast in his love for her but also setting clear boundaries regarding his substantial (and pretty fucking justifiable) hurt. I was so proud of him.

[sanctus-ingenium]

I’d love to hear Finbarr’s story. All I’ve seen are just the little tidbits here and there about what happened between him and Olivier, but I’d love to know his whole deal.

OKAY so the basic gist is that it's a story about the foundation of Inver as a country, but really it's about how Esk (the viper) learned for the first time that humans can die and how that affected it, but really it's a story about how trans men are often their own worst enemies and looove to tear one another to pieces.

Finbarr is forced to be stealth; he has a secret he can never reveal to anyone, otherwise he will be cast out from his clan. Women warriors exist, they're common actually in his culture, but he is an outsider whose father used to be the clan leader's shieldbrother. Finbarr's father Fionnán abandoned the clan to go be with a witch, and they had a daughter. That's all the clan leader, Aodhán, knew before he went and killed that witch. Anyway, with nowhere else to go, Fionnán took young Finbarr back to the clan and passed him off as a boy instead, and not the daughter of the witch. This was partially on Finbarr's suggestion so it wasn't against his will.

And now as an adult in a matchmaker-arranged marriage, he's dying with the stress of it all. His dad passed away and now nobody alive knows that he is a transexual. Yay. Finbarr as a person seems... nice? He's fine? He's mid? But that's all he is to other people. He's the type of person who hangs out with the group and you think you know him but afterwards, in hindsight, you realise he has never given a single piece of information about himself. In reality he's a chronic people pleaser and rather cold, he is completely self-absorbed in his own suffering, in himself, and it warps into a sense of superiority, look how good I am at suffering, if you can't suffer as gracefully as me then you're weak. He controls himself so strictly that in a culture that celebrates battle rages and berserker modes, he never loses himself, remaining precise and deadly at all times. Finbarr is the guy who purges every hint of femininity and hates it in others because he hates himself.

Olivier belongs to the Tanet sect which has a very different culture. They are lycanthropes, but public knowledge is that lycanthropy is a male condition - mainly because the women are cloistered and are not allowed to meet with outsiders. It is a very repressive and misogynist culture. Olivier's younger brother Corentin is next in line to take over the Tanets. Instead, Olivier does his most famous stunt of challenging his father, eating his heart in front of everyone, and then claiming that this makes him inherit his father's lycanthropic spirit, which makes him a man, and because nobody can contradict him without revealing the existence of female werewolves the Tanets (and Corentin) just have to accept this. Word goes out to everyone living in the region - Olivier Tanet is now King Tanet.

This is a major problem for Finbarr because only the Tanets and other werewolf sects are obligated to formally respect this decision. Finbarr's first encounter with the concept of Olivier is anger, annoyance, how dare you make things more difficult for me. Now everybody's gossiping about ugly women with beards and laughing in disgust at the idea of any woman marrying Olivier. He attracts a monstrous amount of widespread ridicule at first, and he knew this would be the case. So Olivier quickly makes himself into someone you never want to be on the bad side of.

He is very intelligent and manipulative and adept at using shock tactics to brow-beat his opponents; making himself out to be completely bloodthirsty and warlike, someone who'll kill you if you disrespect him. But this sets him on a difficult path of making connections with the other kings, promising favours in return for alliance. He tries to be smart about it and he is, he's smarter than most, and he manages to stay ahead of consequences for a long time. So by the time he and Finbarr meet, when they're in their early 20s, Olivier has clawed himself into a fearfully respected position in this political landscape.

Olivier beats the shit out of Finbarr's shieldbrother Conn at a gladiatorial match, and Conn is a whiny baby about it to the point where Aodhán, his dad, goes "stop whining, I'm fostering you with the Tanets right now so that you can learn how to behave". Bearing in mind that the Tanets were always at war on their southern border with Aquitan, so had more experience with direct combat. Finbar had to go along too, being attached to Conn at the hip as his shieldbrother. Olivier, in turn, gets lessons in the Hibernian language from them, because Tanet women are not taught that language and he needed to learn Hibernian. In these lessons FInbarr found that they hit it off pretty well and Olivier was a lot less violent and bloodthirsty in person, behind closed doors, and instead tended to be excitable, passionate, and generous. Olivier found that Finbarr, when given the freedom to actually talk, is quiet and thoughtful and proud. Anyway they sort of fell in love and Finbarr told his secret to Olivier.

So these two guys are like the only two people in the world clinging to the same life raft, and each envies the other to such an extent that it makes them sick. Finbarr thinks Olivier's life is so much better; no secrets, just freedom and respect. Olivier feels the same about Finbarr. Having nobody to talk to about these things but each other, they become codependent and privately resentful of one another, while also being basically obsessed with eachother. Olivier is typically manipulative; he sees Conn and Finbarr's other friends as a threat and starts trying to isolate him, aware that he could out Finbarr at any moment to destroy his life and cement himself as the only person Finbarr could go to for shelter. It's not strictly successful but it is enough to keep Finbarr coming back, whenever he can, even though they live largely separate lives most of the time on different sides of the country.

Finbarr can never defend Olivier in public, however, without feeling like he may be implicated. He publicly condemns Olivier all the time while showing affection behind closed doors - he's a bit of a snake (ha ha) about their relationship.

Important to note about Olivier is that he pulled the ladder up after him - his position as No Really I'm A King is SO tenuous and fragile and exists in a state of hyper-scrutiny, and improving the lives of the Tanet women would immediately reveal his lie to the public. So he can't. He keeps them cloistered, he tells them that he was a unique case and nobody could ever do what he did.

Fastforward like 20 years and oops Olivier gets caught in his own web. King D'Ouilly, leader of another werewolf sect, has announced his plans to annex the territory of one of a former ally, King Cervoy. This is huge news at the big gathering in Invergorken one year, and D'Ouilly is basically laughed out of the room. The other kings are like lmao you don't have the support to even try this. But Finbarr, who is in attendance, knows that Olivier owes D'Ouilly a favour. He begs Olivier to stay out of it - Cervoy's daughter is Finbarr's wife. Olivier swears an oath to Finbarr that he won't back D'Ouilly's bid for power.

Olivier then turns around and backs D'Ouilly's bid for power - he has no other choice. He has to. And so the civil war begins with a surprise attack from Tanet werewolves on the Cervoy keep, where Finbarr is currently posted with Conn. Finbarr races to the keep and finds Olivier in the midst of trying to kill his wife and manages to stop him. Finbarr then swears an oath of vengeance, as you do, and promises Olivier that the next time they meet, Finbarr will kill him.

Any act of aggression Olivier makes is seen as disproportionate and unjustified, but if anybody attacks him it's fine to attack the nasty pretender king; Olivier is backed into a corner with no other option than to do something he deep down doesn't want to do - join D'Ouilly as an ally alongside Carhaix and start taking Inver for the werewolves, while still, in some way, struggling to impress Finbarr and catch his attention.

The civil war is pretty nasty, lasts a long time, and consists of a whole lot of Olivier and Finbarr (in their late 40-early 50s at this point) singling out one another on the battlefield and fighting. Finbarr meets and gets the aid of Esk and makes his bow (that's a majorly important plot thread but also um spoilers so we'll gloss over that), specifically a bow that harms werewolves, and things just sort of devolve from there. Both Finbarr and Olivier burn through any other friendships and relationships they might have had so that even now, with two broken oaths hanging over their heads, they have nobody at all but each other. They care about nothing else but each other and, maybe, there is a way out - maybe they can just abandon this terrible war and society. Maybe they can leave together. It does end in tragedy, but that would have been obvious even to them.

Basically I wanted a story about evil old man yaoi but also a story that explores how toxic bonds form between trans men who are otherwise isolated. When there's only two crabs in a very big bucket, it can be indistinguishable from the sea.

[ventismacchiato]

full genshin smaus masterlist

scaramouche — just playing the part (completed)

↳ you and scaramouche are both drama majors and have been at each other’s throats vying for the same lead roles since high school. but when you’re both cast as each other’s love interest in your second year you’re forced to be civil with your academic rival and see him in a new light. are his feelings for you true or is he just playing the part?

scaramouche — behind the lens (completed)

↳ you, better known as STARDUST, and BALLADEER have always been in competition for the top streamer spot on twitch, which is especially impressive since the two of you have never shown your faces. you’ve never been on good terms, constantly one-upping each other in matches and getting into petty arguments on twitter, causing your fans to also dislike each other. that’s until BALLADEER does a face reveal that breaks the internet with his good looks…which makes you realize it’s the same guy you went on a date with last night. the type of date that made you crave to see him again. the only problem was he didn’t know you were STARDUST and he was way different behind the lens than he portrayed himself online to you. should you keep your identity a secret to salvage the relationship or just let him go?

scaramouche — stuck with you (ongoing)

↳ after the disaster that was the live award show, where you and scaramouche got into an argument on stage after both of your groups got a tie for top artists, your guys' PR teams have been in shambles trying to scrape up your mess. that's when the idea to send you both off with some other idols to a remote location for a survival dating show to mend your public image comes up. before you know it your bags are packed and you’re on a plane to a remote island. the only obligation is you need to end up with scaramouche at the end of the show, whether you end up liking him or not doesn’t matter to your managers as long as the show’s ratings stay high. whatever you do in between to get there is up to you!

[NOT STARTED]

scaramouche — i hope this doesn’t find you (not started)

↳ you were perfect on paper: school captain, one of the top students, cocaptain of the volleyball team, and a “pleasure to have in class.” it wasn’t easy to be such a model student, especially when you were competing against scaramouche, your rival since you both could barely talk. his competitive streak has annoyed you ever since you were kids, especially since you were working so hard to keep your scholarship while he flashed around his family’s money every other day. but the trick to keeping your sanity was to channel your frustrations into your email drafts. you’d never send them of course, the people pleaser in you would rather die than hurt someone’s feelings. all of your intensely worded emails were usually directed to scaramouche, your annoying cocaptain. you never have to hold back in your emails, because nobody will ever read them. that is, until they’re accidentally sent out. overnight your carefully crafted life is turned upside down now that everyone knows what you truly think of them. but amidst the chaos, there’s one person who grows to appreciate the real you: scaramouche, the only person you’ve sworn to hate. 

scaramouche — beneath the mask (not started)

↳ ever since you were chosen, or rather cursed, to become a holder of a miraculous, you’ve spent your time juggling your nights as a masked hero and your days as a tired college student. and when your master introduced you to your new hero partner, scaranoir, you hoped your missions would become easier. but you both can’t seem to get along, let alone agree on anything, which only makes your nights the more difficult to get through. but things start to look up for you when the city’s heartthrob, kunikuzushi, transfers to your university, especially when sparks fly between the two of you. but with your double life constantly demanding your attention, will there ever be time for anything more?

scaramouche — LOVER BOY™ (not started)

↳ for extra money an ai company pays scaramouche to roleplay as a boyfriend on one of their fake dating apps since they can’t afford to have a proper ai. it’s easy money but you drive him over the edge when you keep begging for esex, leading him to admit he’s a real person. even then, he continues to talk to you and you both form a close online friendship. but unbeknownst to you, he’s the same person you’ve been intense academic rivals with since your college freshmen year.

scaramouche — the business proposal (not started)

↳ after agreeing to go on a blind date in the place of your rich friend, aether, and sabotaging it on purpose, you think it’ll be like the usual dates you’ve tried to ruin for your friend. but when you go on the date acting as him you’re dumbfounded, it’s scaramouche…the CEO of the company where you work. scaramouche’s mother, ei, and founder of his company grew sick of her son being single and continuously sets him up on blind dates. scara is a workaholic and is annoyed by this so he decides to marry the person on his next blind date so he won’t be distracted from his company anymore. that person happens to be you, but pretending to be your friend aether. after seeing how badly the date went he chooses you just so he can anger his mother. you continue to play the part of his fake future partner and also employee, staying out of his sight during work so he doesn’t realize you aren’t who you said you were. how long until he finds out?

scaramouche — thank you, next (not started)

↳ in a universe where you and your soulmate swap bodies on your twenty-first birthday and every birthday after that. world renowned soloist scaramouche is set to have a concert on the day of your guys’ shared birthday, a firm believer he doesn’t have a soulmate and wants nothing to do with them. you, a college student who hasn’t listened to a single one of scara’s songs, swap bodies with him on the day of your final exam and his big concert. you’re now under the public eye for ruining his career and scara has to deal with your wrath since he failed your exams. he must also process the fact that he does in fact have a soulmate, one he couldn’t care less about.

scaramouche — checkmate (not started)

↳ scaramouche, the grumpy son of the mother of one of the most prominent companies of teyvat, receives an ultimatum from her after she deems him as too spoiled to become her company’s heir. he may either leave the house penniless and survive for two years or achieve results as a team leader under her company, in which he chooses the latter. in doing so he’s forced to move out and rent out from you, a middle class employee at his mother’s company who is a landlord on the side. you enjoy holding power over your new grumpy roommate and berate the spoiled man every chance you get. but that’s until you go to work and find out he’s your new boss, where he now holds power over you.

[wafflerageface]

For the 3rd past life ask game, number 7 and 13?

I got sick and got behind on these I'm so sorry

7) The Slayer form is part of their dread inheritance so how did they earn it? Before or after becoming Chosen?

Okay so I know how the game mechanics work to keep things from being overpowered, which I get, but I took a completely different take on the Slayer form (cause I'm special like that o.o)

So being the mythology nerd and having grown up on PJO, I had some disappointment with how normal Durge is in game play considering they're meant to be a demigod. Even if you go off the idea of Durge is made from a scrap of Bhaal and other Spawn are just born from some mortal he impregnates, imo there still should have been something more that set them apart from normal people other than just simply being slowly going insane murder hobos. I personally headcanoned the idea that all Spawn have the potential to achieve Slayer form through training and an appropriate amount of blood tithes to Bhaal. An idea where Sarevok could instruct how to eventually achieve a level where they could assume the Slayer form, but ultimately only if Bhaal really decided they were worthy. That way we kept some of that "inheritance" vibe to it but it still added that something special I felt the character was lacking. Kind of like reaching a bloody nirvana.

For Fallon, knowing that Durge is canonically Bhaal's specialist little baby and can do no wrong (unless it's loving Banite Chosen), she earned her Slayer form much easier because she has always been a people pleaser in order to survive the temple. She has always put what Sarevok or Sceleritas says over her own thoughts and opinions. As much as I really dislike Fel (he gives me the creeps) I do recognized that he loved Durge in his own twisted way, so I fully believe he helped Fallon find the best people to sacrifice to her father in order to speed run hitting bloody nirvana and achieve her Slayer form.

However for Aria it's a different story. She isn't made for direct and close combat and she's never been "daddy's princess". She hates sacrificing her kills to anyone, especially Bhaal. It's not that she has any problems with killing, she actually enjoys her kills, but only when they are hers. She hates being forced to do anything in Bhaal's name, so her blood tithes, while performed, weren't exactly the most reverent as they should have been. She can only sort of shift into a Slayer form. Like she can get half way there with the more monstrous attributes and appearances (like the horns, claws, the tail, she gets larger, she grows spines) but it isn't complete because she isn't complete. She is an almost perfect Spawn so her Slayer form reflects that. Now admittedly part of this was born from seeing really good fanart of half-shifted Durges on here, but also I thought it added such a cool mechanic story wise that the Spawn could be almost perfect.

13) Cazador's dungeon is located really close to the temple. Were there ever any run-ins with each other or disputes?

I'll be honest that I did not notice this detail while playing so I absolutely have to take a closer look when I get back to act 3. As it is, thinking about it, I feel like the answer is both a yes and no to the run-ins, definitely no disputes.

We all know Cazadick is a major asshole and a whiny bitch, but he was effective and careful. I mean you would have to be in order to survive as a vampire lord living in the heart of Baldur's Gate while planning to perform a profane ritual of ascension. Like the Gate is home to not just the Flaming Fist but also a lot of religious sects that would love to take credit for crushing turts like Cazadick. So I firmly believe that the moment he settled in and found out there was a Bhaalist temple full not only of, well, Bhaalist, but also Bhaalspawn he decided fuck that and one of the rules given to his Spawn was you are to never go near that place. Kinda like with forbidding them to ever go near where Jaheira's house is.

As for run-ins, I don't think there were ever any face-to-face run-ins with each other, but I do think that they caught glimpses of each other as they came and went. Fallon might have been hiding in the rafters somewhere in the undercity tunnels to think and vibe and watched Astarion and Petras walk under her while arguing over how they fumbled grabbing a victim that night at Elf Song. Astarion probably heard footsteps on his way out one night and ducked in a corner to hide only to peek out and see three Bhaalspawn sisters playing a dangerous game of knife tag. Both groups of spawn very likely came across the aftermath of the other and walked the same beaten paths they did without ever really acknowledging the presence of the other because there was no need to. I think at the same time it may have been a comfort knowing there was someone else walking the same paths you did, living just as awful a life, but you were suffering together and there was some comfort found in knowing there really would be others out there that could relate to you.

[fiberglassandflowers]

Hey idk if there’s some master post about mbts but if there is may I please ask where and if not could I perhaps humbly request a description because it sounds cool as FUCK

omg yayy okay so there's not a masterpost as of now (though there is a google doc in the works that will probably be. very big) BUT i will try to give a brief rundown. underneath a readmore 👍

OK SO. IN SUMMARY

MARY BELL TOWNSHIP: more like mary bell CLOWNSHIT ha ha. heavy surveillance like everywhere (including in peoples homes. how fun). it's also got some like radiation stuff going on. all the residents are a lil radiation poisoned But it's mostly fine. also the town moves and i dont know why.

VANNIE OVERTURE: based on suburbia overture. the mayor who is a vampire. major control freak. sucks shit. like most of the reason mary bell is the way it is. permasmile swag. has killed before. hates when people are weird freaks and is actively passive aggressive if not outright aggressive.

TRIP LETWO: based on 2econd 2ight 2eer. world's silliestguy contrarian and infamous public nuisance. deeply tortured individual but shes dealing with it i guess. physically cant leave mary bell township. he has too much goddamn lore

LYDIE LAPLACE: based on laplace's angel. so lame. just deeply lame. killed a guy and got kicked out of office building heaven (laplace's inc. id give this its own section but it doesnt really matter all that much). i dont ever think about it unfortunately im sorry women.

MINA BYRD: based on i/me/myself. very sweet very nice. ladybugpilled socialanxietycel. doesnt have a whole lot going on but she is nice im glad shes there. im gonna have a significant relationships section of this but im saying that shes roommates with lia here bc its not really significant otherwise

WALTER LEE: based on ...well, better than the alternative. worlds first cis father to be a butch lesbian. probably a girl but she doesnt know that. weird nostalgia issues so bad his wife left him.

DOTTY LEE: ten years old. strange little girl but i dont really think about it a lot. not much else to say about her really.

LIA CRATES: based on outliars and hyppocrates. her name is pronounced like lie-uh cray-tees not lee-ah crayts. i have to clear this up because i realized most people were wrong LMAO. a little mean but not so much when you get to know her.

WARREN LEARY: based on blackboxwarrior. actually the worst therapist you will EVER meet. isnt even licensed. you book a session with her and she only talks about herself the entire time. constantly referencing a dark and contradictory past.

MARSHA TILLIS: based on marsha, thankk you for the dialectics. slightly better therapist! still not that good. has the spirit of an old man despite being in his 40s. will begin to psychoanalyze your behavior upon the first thirty seconds of knowing you.

NORMAN LEE: based on love, me normally. guy trying really really hard to be a regular guy. has a loooot of problems that stem from this. hugest people pleaser the world has ever known. a little bit offputting. has hair symbolism :-)

MORTIMER: based on memento mori. doesn't have a last name. worlds silliest grim reaper death thing. works in the death division for laplace's inc. lived a pretty normal life. then it died :-(. more here

FERN O'DYNAMIC: based on thermodynamic lawyer. hates his bitch wife (who is a praying mantis for. unknown reasons? will elaborate). just has a lot of anger inside him and doesnt know how to deal with it so he takes it out on other people. he kind of sucks but he's a neat character.

MIRANDA WRIGHT: the person being sung about in thermodynamic lawyer. bug wife (i can blame anything on radiation). she wasnt always a bug she just kinda did that idk. there's not much about her but she's an etymologist.

COTARD LETWO: based on cotard's solution. she has so many problems oh my gooood. deeply lonely person. fascinated with the macabre. its like coping mechanism that makes you worse. im insane about her writing a basic description is so difficult fkdjsfhsjd

RAMONA MCLAREN: based on red moon + hand me my shovel (though the latter was included later on bc it fit her). worlds most intelligent and stupid single celled organism. patheticswag. absolutely batshit insane. attempting to solve the end of the world.

KUIPER SUNSHINE: based on dr sunshine is dead. uh. i dont really know much about her to be honest SORRY... its really silly though + haver of prophetic dreams that she is NOT transparent about. fucks with people a lot just for funsies

COLIN THESIER: based on cover this song. girl who used to be in a band but got kicked out bc of friend drama. survivor of a toxic codependent queer friendship. trying to be a better person bc she used to suck pretty bad unfortunately. a bit more here

theres like a couple more characters but none of them are really important enough to give their own sections. debbie letwo is trip and cotards mom, laplace is the head of laplace's inc, maude is walter's ex wife who left him (heres the scoop on that).

OK NOTABLE CHARACTER DYNAMICS TIME:

VANNIE/NORMAN: norman has been pretending to be a normal dude this whole time + vannie totally fell for it. normans stuck in this friendship bc hes too much of a people pleaser to break it off even though vannie actively drains him emotionally. also he feels validated by vannie thinking hes normal. its so awful im so insane about their dynamic

VANNIE/TRIP: THEY HAAAATE EACH OTHER. their entire core beliefs are at odds (guy who thinks everyone should do their best to conform vs. guy who loves being a weird freak and doing fuck all). their dynamic is honestly pretty simple in comparison but theyre so petty and stupid its insane. if you put them alone in the same room one of them isnt coming out

TRIP/NORMAN: theyre gay together. there's a weird lore thing about the way relationships are handled in mary bell but long story short theres paperwork that has to be filled out if you want to be registered for one and trip thinks its really funny for xem and norman to constantly break up so they'll have to fill out the paperwork because it fucks with vannie. theyre also kind of awful and tragic

WALTER/DOTTY: that is a father and his daughter. walters trying his best and hes doing well but nothing would have been better than just moving out of mary bell township to raise his child.

WALTER/NORMAN: they’re brothers 👍 not much else to say there but they’re cool

WALTER/MAUDE: already linked a more in-depth explanation of their deal but ill summarize it here. maude thought living in mary bell township was really bad for a child (and it is) but since walter has issues about idealizing his childhood he was like "whaaat well i was raised here and im fine" and they fought about it and once it became clear walter wasnt changing his mind maude figured shed just spare herself from all of it. so she left 💯

WARREN/MARSHA: what if the two worst therapists ever were queerplatonic and violated hipaa together. also what if one of them [marsha] was helping the other [warren] because they're on the run from the law. would that be crazy or what

FERN/MIRANDA: actually awful. they really want to divorce but trip and norman keep clogging up the paperwork so theyre on a waiting list forever. their relationship was really good at one point but its not anymore :-( more info here

NORMAN/FERN: fern haaates norman because of the previously mentioned paperwork debacle but normans ass cant deal with the thought of anyone disliking him so hes just been really trying to get on his good side to no avail. also theyre coworkers so its more relevant

MORTIMER/TRIP: man how do i even summarize this one. due to lore reasons that you can read about in the link provided in trips session they have a super weird dynamic present day. or at least on trips end, mortimer is just super friendly to them and it wigs her out.

TRIP/COTARD: OUGUIGHJ. AOAUYFGDSFHSJ. tragic sibliiings. man i dont even know if i can go into this. go here and here if you want to learn more about them. jesus

COTARD/COLIN: frienndsss :-] classic extrovert forcing themselves into introverts life trope a little bit. they play music together and its great. mina's also in their little group but the two of them are closer

KUIPER/RAMONA: have been described by my friend as being "nonromantic freak4freak" and this is true. theyre working together on the end of the world stuff. they also rope cotard into it but thats lore i havent talked much about yet. go here and here for more info about them.

that might??????? be it?????? if there's more ill update it but thats the general basics i think. thank you for being interested and hopefully reading i greatly appreciate it :-)

[clowngames]

Do you feel like talking about game development?

https://youtube.com/shorts/0w3hnaUo-50

I can't speak on Palworld as a game because I haven't played it, watched any footage of gameplay, or seen any trailers, but I can aggregate some commentary by gamedevs I've talked to along with some research I've done to confirm we're not all just making shit up.

Palworld is Pocket Pair Inc.'s second major release, and it's an Early Access game while their first game is still, also, in Early Access.

The banner from their other Early Access game, Craftopia, is this:

This doesn't bode well for Palworld's future. Note that it is February at time of the screenshot taken, and more distressingly a "bugfixing update" is worth celebrating 4 years into Craftopia's development.

They have two previous releases which are an AI-art-based social deduction game and a gacha card game. There's no nice way to say this, but the types of games in their portfolio bring to mind an amount of startup capital that makes the Early Access model unnecessary. In particular, there's no circumstance in which a game dev company simultaneously needs the early return of the EA model and also has the resources to split their studio off to make a second one. The reason they're using this model is as a metric of gauging interest to figure out how to divide their resources according to demand and to show to their investors that they're doing well.

Finally, they're working on another game at the same time as Palworld and Craftopia: Never Grave - a metroidvania roguelike with visuals similar to Hollow Knight and the capture mechanic of Super Mario Odyssey (complete with throwing your hat at enemies to possess them).

All of this paints a pretty clear, if cynical, picture of their business strategy. Pocket Pair is simply making other people's video games, but faster.

To be clear, I'm not accusing them of plagiarizing. I think Palworld is pretty distinct from Pokemon in fairly obvious ways, in the same way that Craftopia is distinct from Breath of the Wild. In addition, both games are borrowing game mechanics and ideas from more than one game each.

But at the same time, the vibe I get is less "taking inspiration from multiple sources" and more "seeing what is successful about multiple sources and combining them with the goal of making something appealing." Gamers like farming, so we added crops. Gamers like third person shooters, so we added that to Pokemon. There's no consideration for thematic cohesion or vision. I think the reason there was a controversy involving the suspected use of AI in Palworld is because there's an evident absence of artistic intent which mirrors the way AI generates images or text.

Pocket Pair Inc. is the cover band of game developers. And with Palworld they happen to have learned the crowd pleasers.

That's not to say there's no artistic value to Palworld, or even that the game isn't worth playing, or fun, or "good," whatever that means. Objectively speaking, making a game that appeals to so many people it breaks records is an accomplishment worth paying attention to, and quite frankly if that were me I'd be pretty proud of myself. But I can't help but think about that post about AAA games all being the same because studios are afraid to take risks without risking capital and then think, Palworld is a manifestation of the same problem.

[timestillstands]

RAAHAHHAHAHRF

Hi i’m normal

Tell me about your au so I can EAT IT (the information, I mean.)

RRRAGHHHHH HELLO SLIME I HAVE NOT SEEN IN THE PAST TEN MINUTES COUGH COUGH

Hurrrg this might take me overnight because I'm sickies and exhausted but um anyways I'll try and do what I can

BA NA NA NA NAA ENTER THE READER. 100 men's anxiety packaged ever so careful. but not labeled as fragile. Has an overwhelming sense of people pleaser. also thinks everyone hates them if they aren't close w them. I wonder who could write such a self insert. Reader needs a job(you either quit or got fired from your last job) and you're fresh out of college(where you majored in engineering or something. idk.), what better place to turn to than the one and only(that's a lie) PizzaPlex!!!!

Yeah uh hahaha Sun doesn't like you. yayyy. you totally don't blame yourself at all. you do actually ignore that.

Haven't mentioned this yet but the dca is actually trying to PROTECT you. which is funny. because. you get harmed. physically and mentally. a lot. all apart of the plan to get you to quit !!!!

also sun and moon are one person in this au, which is extra fun because yayyy that totally isn't hard to explain at all. I did this to myself. moon is a set of nighttime protocols, while sun is day-time protocols. it just alters how he acts around you and talks etc etc. they both have the same goals and want you OUT.

Moon has very crappy programming; when they tried removing him or reprogramming him entirely, which they gave up on, they weren't very smart and didn't go back to fix anything they have erased. yknow. like safety measures. because. why would they try to do that.

They were more worried about fixing sun and just said screw it, shoving moon in there for a while as the naptime attendant before they realized they fuzzled up. oh good fun. so moon is like, erased from anything besides merchandise. sun won't even talk about what he did. or the fact that he's the same person as moon.

that turned into a bigger problem. why on earth would anyone want to give you a proper set of instructions? sun dismisses any sort of question about moon(who you were specifically told to FIX. by said date unless further complications arrived. they do, btw.) hey, at least we have Vanessa!

your brief encounter w her was great, she got along with you for the short amount of time that you talked that first time. you brought up moon, not having any other real coworker outside of staff bots and the dca around to ask. HEY !!! SHE KNOWS SHIT !!!

so you get some information, really rare around these parts, and haha. yay. you head out for the day and guess what? tomorrow you have a nightshift. fingerguns.

btw. you've never had a nightshift or anything. but you didn't think it was weird or anything to not have lights on, it was night, right?(ahaha that rhymed)

ouhg. hi Moon. um. btw. he likes playing hide and seek 😃

and that's like. the rough outline for the first two chapters

☝️me explaining my au 😁😁😁