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spaced0lphin · 4 years ago

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The Problem with the EDI Thing

It will surprise no one who’s familiar with me to know that I’ve sat on these opinions for what is, embarrassingly, close to a decade. I remember not having the vocabulary to explain how I felt at the time, and my opinion has done a little evolving since then, but seeing as I’m doing the whole Mass Effect thing right now, I may as well explain myself. I’m very much not a fan of the Joker/EDI pairing, and if you are, power to you. However, I have some feelings about that that come from who I am as a person as well as just surface level stuff such as not finding that romance particularly substantive, but there we are. I don’t have osteogenesis imperfecta, but I am a disabled person. Ain’t that fun to write. I’m not embarrassed about it, but I also don’t like talking about my stuff too much, since, like, it’s private? So forgive me for being a little vague. It’s relevant to the points I’m making, though, so bear with me I guess. So part of the reason I like Joker so much as a character is that he’s lived a life where people have just told him no, all the time, and yet he aggressively exists, even in spite of it. Wasn’t born into money, had a bunch of horrible problems, and didn’t ask for any of it. Everywhere he looked, some dickhead was at the door telling him to stop trying. However, he had his dream and his drive and his passion, so fuck what those people said. He went for it, he broke all the rules that people had put in the way of even letting him try. He knew that if he had a shot, he could do it. It was just about getting that shot. He knew his specialism could do the rest. Man, I relate. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been forced to have to “prove myself�� to fit into someone else’s definition of what a “good candidate” is. There have been so many instances where, because I don’t ‘fit in the box’ like everybody else, I’ve had to work twice as hard and still get overlooked anyway, even despite having the knowledge or the skills. It’s honestly bullshit, so seeing him in the position he’s in really means a lot to me. It’s a breath of fresh air to see someone with such obvious struggles still do what they love to do. So, being disabled, you get condescended to, quite a lot for one reason or another. People talk to you like you’re a child, or make weird assumptions about what your life experiences are, or start being a dickhead to you once they’re tired of how you struggle with your disability. It seems like people just kind of expect you to get over it at some point, especially so if the disabilities aren’t visible. “I guess I just thought you’d be better at this by now” starts to become a phrase you can just tattoo on yourself and have a person point to whenever they want to say it so it doesn’t waste any more of either of your time. It can make you cagey, defensive, emotionally withdrawn, and fucking tired. Not only do you have to deal with whatever it is physically or mentally or both, but now you’ve got your own insecurities and other people’s insecurities about you to deal with all the time, every day. Some people turn this acid manufactured through this daily experience into sarcasm and dry humour, a sometimes self-deprecating deflection tool you can deploy to make people smile and defuse the situation and not talk about anything important because good god let’s not go through that again.

You can sometimes get weird ideas about whether or not you deserve to be loved like everybody else. Because you’re different, and you function differently, you can sometimes feel like you are looking at the world from the outside, on the sideline. Because you have a disability that does indeed work to your detriment, whatever it is, because of its very nature as a fucking disability and not a superpower, getting caught up in that question of whether or not you deserve to be loved and the “I just thought you’d be better at this by now” exasperation from other people combines into this huge ugly thing. Now, I’m a big fan of sci-fi and transhumanist concepts and I love moral and ethical discussions about what constitutes a person and all that good stuff. I enjoy EDI as a character and as a concept. I especially enjoy EDI when she’s a sphere with a little Winamp visualiser for a mouth, because I feel like it creates a lot more of a dialogue around that specific idea and it’s fun to talk about. When she looks like an abstract object, how can she be a person? And yet, she both is and is not. So, I find it more than a little thematically weak that EDI gets this like, 1950s style fembot body that looks like she’s wearing garters. I mean, I’m bi, I like hot women too, but that aesthetic decision was very strange and I felt undermined the previous and interesting work done to explore EDI as a concept. EDI grows and evolves in several ways throughout the games, but is, at the end of the day a machine, and doesn’t experience love in the same way, if at all. She learns to approximate human behaviour and eventually learns to mimic and anticipate quite a lot, but she is what she is, and I don’t think there’s any taking away from that. From a purely writing based perspective, I found that path fairly tokenistic and poorly justified, in my view. It also always read to me as ‘d’aww, throw the guy a bone,’ ‘haha pat him on the head and give him a toy’ type thing rather than an actual real emotional exploration, which, given how the entire game series makes it very clear to us that Joker is a very important character, seemed... weird. So when you combine all of this, I’m so allergic to the Joker/EDI pairing because personally I find it condescending. I find it communicating to me that, no, I and others like me are in fact not worthy of a powerful and passionate romance with peers. What we are worth is a tokenistic, fetishistic and ultimately unrequited fling with a fleshlight. Like, that’s how it feels to me! I get that my experiences aren’t universal or whatever but I’ve had nearly ten real entire years to think about it, and I can’t interpret it any other way. I literally do not have any animosity whatsoever where it comes to Joker and any other pairup. It’s only Joker/EDI and it’s fucking frustrating that that’s the canon one. I’m sure I can make another equally long and boring post about the case for Joker/Shep and I’m sure I probably will do because it’s not like we’re leaving the house much these days. Inb4 y u take fictional character so srs y u talk about art

#mass effect shipping #mass effect joker #jeff moreau #jeff joker moreau #probably fandomwank I don't really understand the term though #disability experience #disability and games #shoker

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panharmonium · 4 years ago

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with regard to that ask where i explained why i personally don’t ship merlin/arthur -

there’s another reason in addition to the ones i talked about in that piece, which i didn’t include in any detail because it’s not merlin/arthur-specific and is more a general impression, but i figured i’d write it up separately anyway, because it really does supercede all the others:

i don’t, in truth, see merlin as being motivated by romance at all. ever.

(putting the rest of this under a cut because it’s just some wandering thoughts that likely aren’t interesting or relevant to anyone but me)

i don’t think romance is something merlin thinks about. i don’t think he pursues it. i really don’t think it’s ever on his mind.

this isn’t something i can confirm, obviously; it’s just a personal read. but i wouldn’t call it a headcanon, either - it’s a reasoned conclusion based on the source material. so guess i’ll just say it’s an evidence-based inference.

merlin, across five seasons, never demonstrates any real interest in romantic attachment. he definitely can be starstruck by physical beauty and overall grandeur of...presence, on rare occasions, but he doesn’t ever do anything to pursue it, and he is never shown to feel any sort of “lack” for not having a romantic partner. he is either oblivious to or uninterested in reciprocating the attraction of people who appear to be interested in him (gwen, sefa, etc), and he never seeks anybody out for himself. even gaius and arthur, in season 5, both look at enchanted!gwen like she’s lost her entire mind when she tries to tell them that merlin is off having some kind of romantic tryst. they know it’s ridiculous.

the only person with whom merlin ever has a “romantic” kind of moment is freya in 2.09, and that whole thing is just fascinating, because how he feels about her is not like...well, it’s not just that he has a crush on her. his reaction to freya is inseparable from and intensified by the fact that she is like him (not a magic-user herself, exactly, but touched by it, and hunted like him), and it’s also made more potent by the timing - she is somebody his age with whom he can be his true self, and she shows up precisely when he’s been living without someone like this for the longest period of his life, because lancelot is still off in parts unknown and will died back at the end of season 1 and now we’re near the end of season 2 and this is a whole new empty world that merlin has been living in, and he does not like it one bit, as evidenced by how he resolves to run away with freya almost immediately, without a single thought spared for arthur, camelot, or his destiny. he literally has his bags packed and ready to go without a second’s hesitation, because he is desperate to be seen, known, and cared for, in a way that he doesn’t have access to anymore. i like you, he says to freya. with you, i can just be who i am.

freya is also someone who needs protecting, which merlin is (obviously) built for, and she is a cast-off, somebody who has been forsaken by the rest of the world, someone who doesn’t understand why anyone would care about her. and that’s the kind of person merlin has always been drawn to in his friendships, anyway.

so, the intensity of all those combined factors expresses itself in how quickly merlin cleaves to her, and then in how he kisses her, and that moment is clearly not just about ‘liking’ her in your normal young-person romance way. he cries when he does that. it is much more emotionally charged than a simple crush, and there is way, way more going on behind the scenes there than just simple romantic attraction. i don’t even honestly think that merlin’s reaction to freya comes out of “romantic attraction” in the traditional sense at all.

the netflix summary for this episode actually describes his and freya’s relationship as an “intense new friendship,” and i know some people would probably be annoyed by that wording, but i’ve actually always loved it, because i don’t think merlin actually approaches this situation from a friendship/romance binary. i think what he feels for freya is connection, more than anything else. i think he feels intensely connected to her in a way that he can’t feel connected to people who don’t know the truth about him, and i think what that means for him, in terms of how the two of them express that with each other, doesn’t exactly fall into romance/non-romance categories, in his mind. it’s all just an extension of the same feeling.

essentially what i’m saying is that i don’t see merlin as ever being motivated by romance. it’s not something he wishes for or feels an interest in pursuing or really thinks about at all, but given the history with freya, i also don’t think he’s necessarily categorically opposed to it - i don’t think it bothers him, exactly, just that it’s not on his radar. kind of like when gwen kisses him in 1.04 - that’s not a relationship he’s ever tried to pursue (or was even aware gwen was interested in, to be honest) but he’s not offended or upset when she kisses him. he’s surprised and pleased. (”it’s fine - more than fine!” he says, smiling, staring at her with something like wonderment on his face). he doesn’t mind what we would consider a typical romantic display; he appreciates it and even enjoys it, as a gesture of affection, but he doesn’t ever actively look for that sort of thing, or react to it/process it the same way as other people, either - he moves on to the next thing immediately in that scene, and there’s no follow-up from him on that moment at all.

so like - romance just isn’t a factor in merlin’s life, and i don’t think it’s something he himself is ever going to feel the urge to seek out, but, given what we just discussed, i also think that if someone were to come to him (and i do believe, as with freya, it would really only be under a very specific set of circumstances) and if merlin felt connected enough to that person, then there’s a not-quite-zero possibility he might be like, ‘ok well this is not exactly something i’m used to or something i even particularly think about but you clearly have thought about it and i do actually like/appreciate that, and i do feel very close to you and this appears to be a way you want to say that to me, and i don’t DISlike it, so it might be nice??? so let’s see.”

in a situation like that, i don’t think it’s about romantic love vs. platonic love. i think merlin’s core drive is to feel connected to people. i think he wants to be close to people. he has had so little real love in his life...when he stumbles onto a real connection, like he does with freya, one that doesn’t involve hiding or shame or fear, it’s like he’s been starving, and i don’t think that feeling, for him, necessarily expresses itself as something where ‘i like this person’ and ‘i LIKE-like this person’ are different things. i think it’s just ‘I WANNA GET CLOSER TO YOU!’ and that might end up meaning any range of things, including things we typically would separate into romantic and platonic categories.

but again, i think that’s vanishingly rare, and limited to unique sets of circumstances. it only happens once in canon, after all, with freya - so the rest of this is just venturing into hypothetical-land.

(and of course this is only dealing with canon!merlin. in AU’s, i’m not fussed about whatever people want to do with him in this regard. in terms of what we see from him in the actual show, onscreen, though - this is the impression I’ve always had.)

#this has always been my read of merlin #but i don't think i've ever typed it up before #anyway #there might be a fic in here somewhere?#i only ever write gen but #if i get tired enough of seeing the same story over and over...well let's just say i've spite-written before lol #¯\_(ツ)_/¯#the once and future slowburn #meta

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toushindai · 4 years ago

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sometimes a fic you’re very proud of gets unceremoniously booted out of canon compliance by something that........ really does not earn the right to evict your fic from canon compliance, and your only recourse is to

Decide that in your own headcanon, what you must begrudgingly call the “canon scene” was merely a dream, and

Remind yourself why you wrote what you wrote.

Anyway I still love “The Diamond” because it does a lot of character work that I really wanted to see done, and although no one asked I’m gonna talk a little bit this is fifteen hundred words long so a lot bit actually about that out of a combination of sincere enthusiasm and very poorly hidden spite.

Within twenty-four hours of completing the Meg route and learning that both relationships were fully above-board, I concluded that Zagreus would want a threesome, and shortly thereafter I concluded that if he got one, it would be a disaster. I’m speaking literally, this is not an exaggeration. Within forty-eight hours I had a rough outline of what would become “The Diamond” written up, and the structure of the encounter is basically what it is in the final draft: Zag suggests it, Meg and Than are less enthused but decide to go along with it, Than is persistently awkward about the experience that Zagreus and Megaera seem to have with navigating each other, though he makes a gallant effort anyway which is interrupted by a reminder that Meg is still there, watching all of this, and the encounter falls apart.

As I began to flesh the idea out, I really became interested in exploring just... a number of different complications, a number of different tensions that to tell the truth I had expected to be present in the relationships based on the antagonism displayed by both Meg and Than early on. It’s clear that, canonically, they sorted out their differences somewhere out of Zag’s sight. And I have no objection to this, really. But “The Diamond” became about forcing the two of them to face their permissiveness towards the other relationship in close quarters, and to experience tension and discomfort that they may have shrugged off originally. They are each different things to Zagreus—this is a canon line, I just wanna emphasize that that’s a canon line, not something I came up with in a dream once—and in “Diamond,” I wanted to bump those two things up against each other and have them clash in ways that were awkward for everyone involved. Not wrong, not even unnavigable in the end, but awkward in a way that should be faced rather than looked away from. Thanatos, not just an uncomfortable outsider to the D/s dynamics that are so natural and inherent to Megaera’s relationship with Zagreus, but also watching the two of them follow familiar steps and feeling inadequate compared to how well they know each other. Megaera deciding that she is best suited to lead the encounter but in the process of giving Than space to play along shunting herself off into a corner, from where she feels awkwardly left out, and in her attempt to reintegrate herself into the scene by trying to take charge as comes naturally to her, shattering the entire encounter. Because the fic was strictly from Thanatos’s POV, I didn’t get to highlight this quite commeasurately to how strongly I felt it, but both Meg and Than saw glimpses of the shape of the other relationship and wondered, is that something Zagreus needs? Is that something he can’t get from me, does that make my relationship with him lesser? I saw a failed threesome as a perfect encounter to force them to have these thoughts.

(The answer to these questions is of course that neither relationship is lesser; they’re just wildly different, and for Zagreus, with his heart so full of love that it constantly overflows, to have both is beneficial to all involved. Maybe more strictly canonical iterations of the characters can understand that more easily, without having to question it. But where’s the fun in that? I want to see them working through it.)

The other big tension I wanted to put these characters through is... eh, it’s a combination of communication and respect issues. Like I’ve said and will keep saying, it’s pretty cute that Meg and Than sorted themselves out, and certainly that’s preferable to either relationship being secret or even just having to clear surprise polyamory with them after the fact, but at the same time... it is a little weird to me that Zagreus was excluded from the conversation. And so “Diamond” became about how Megaera and Thanatos think about Zagreus, and how they need to do better about that. Zagreus thinks, sincerely, that this will be great fun for everyone involved!. Neither Megaera nor Thanatos agrees, but how is Zagreus supposed to know that when they gripe amongst themselves and agree to go along with it? He gives Thanatos really a number of opportunities to back out, but Thanatos just grits his teeth and treats it as here Zag goes, being unreasonable again, and there’s nothing I can do to stop him. Megaera’s attitude is similar. They both fail to show Zagreus the respect of communicating their actual opinions to him. He’s right to be hurt by that, at the end of the main chapter.

And I wanted to show Than and Meg making this mistake, together, because I feel that even canonically, even with both romances complete, both of them take the attitude that they are reasonable and he is unreasonable. Their adherence to the order of the Underworld and the House is something they are doing that is morally good, and his defiance is something that is morally bad, and they’ll both permit it because of his circumstances and because, mortifyingly, they’ve both come to care for him, but even so that is taking the attitude that they are in a position to permit, to allow, and that his actions are the aberrance. And you know what? That’s a shitty attitude to take with anyone, let alone your boyfriend. I wanted them to face this hurting Zag, and moreover making things wildly uncomfortable for them, too—so that they could see the truth of what a negative stance that is, and repent of it. Decide, consciously, to do better.

And then the last thing I wanted to touch on was an idea that, bluntly speaking, Zagreus is better and more practiced at wanting things. Megaera and Thanatos have been living and working for aeons in this environment where what they sincerely want is the last thing they’re able to take into consideration when it comes to what they must do. Zagreus... lives and has worked in this same environment, but because of whatever quirk of personality, he refuses to sublimate himself. Prior to the game, it seems, this mostly took the shape of just not doing what he wasn’t motivated to do; but now, during canon, Zagreus is going after what he wants no matter how many times he fails. No matter how many times his father or the fates themselves tell him no, he is going to keep trying. And I wanted to look at how this is foreign and overwhelming to Meg and Than, how they might even reject it at first because it’s so foreign—but also how they are drawn to it. How it’s something liberating, how they might learn from it and become more fully themselves. More honest, more relaxed, happier. If only they take the step of admitting that they are in the wrong here, and that they’ve been stifling and harming themselves for a long, long time and calling it justified.

(That post about what your favorite Hades ship says about you has my number so thoroughly; why, yes, I am bisexual, and yes, I do live and breathe for repressed characters letting down their guard for exactly one person; and yes, I am a fan of men getting p—wait, that last bit’s not relevant here.)

I’m ready for 1.0, I think. There’s been a lot of post-clear content integrated into the game without the ramifications of a true clear—one that doesn’t involve the storyteller killing you in increasingly aggravated ways, whatever that’s going to look like—actually being incorporated. And I’m hoping a true clear involves a little more tension. Not permanently, not in a way that breaks some of the happy endings that are already in place. But in a way that makes the characters work for them a little more, in transition. Who clings harder to the status quo, which is broken but has been stable? Who fights a little more against the good that Zagreus is doing by pushing back? What prices are paid for breaking things so that they must be rebuilt better? I want to see these tensions. The game starts in an untenable place and asks hard questions, and I hope that the mechanical difficulty of the escape process isn’t considered enough to have earned emotionally easy answers. Because complication is what I’m interested in. Complication, and characters deciding that it’s worth it to put in the effort needed to address that complication. That’s why I wrote “The Diamond” and that’s why I’m proud of it.

#hades game #megzagthan #thanzagmeg #hades game spoilers #this is tremendously self-indulgent but it’s very sincere #tou wrote a thing #the diamond #LISTEN... post #spoilers #mzt

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deviant3lover · 5 years ago

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Personal Headcanons for the Trio

On a rare spark of inspiration, I’ve decided to compile my list of headcanons for the Trio for you all to look at if you’re interested. :)

I tried my best to make them rooted in canon so that they may be plausible while still allowing me to indulge. ;)

Putting this under Read More because boy, it is long.

Metal Bat/Badd

- From my asks to @atinychai, Badd likes traditionally masculine things because it makes him feel empowered and keeps most people away. He shows almost all the traits: being into sports, working out, being fierce and intimidating… all except for being attracted to women. (Came as a real shock to him too: his team often found girls cute but Badd couldn’t help but notice that some guys were pretty hot and nobody pointed it out. Doubly so because he loves the thought of being married one day and none of the ladies appealed to him.)

- Very straightforward thinker, but unlike Genos, he isn’t completely tactless or over the top with it. His thought process focuses on what needs to be done, what is needed to do it, and to do it ASAP. Considerations are taken into account, such as what would happen if he doesn’t do it right or in a certain way. This is especially good for him since he’s a busy guy even by S-Class standards, but it does leave him vulnerable to not thinking through long term plans that well.

- The most empathetic and physically affectionate of the three. He keeps his tough look on him in public and in private, but he’s one of the first people to offer to hug it out if you’re breaking down.

(Obviously where no one can see it: that’s embarrassing on you and would attract too much unwanted attention to him, so he makes sure there’s no one watching. If there is, he’ll clap you on the shoulder, look you in the eye, and offer some advice and encouragement.)

Young boys and teenagers look up to him, and they usually feel better about crying into his shirt when Badd tells them how hard it was to stop himself from bursting into tears at his first loss in a match, or when he was trying to keep quiet for Zenko’s sake at her recital.

- Continuing on that note, he keeps a nice relationship with some of his sporty fans. Not anything too intensive, but he’ll keep track of the boys who come to him asking him what he was like on his baseball team, what to do if there’s infighting in their group, which ones are worried about their baseball matches and he gives them a proud congrats if they win, or a consolation + inspiration to do better next time if they lost.

- When he’s not blinded by anger, Badd’s surprisingly pretty adept at being a social expert. His experiences of being on the baseball team + hanging out with problem students like him has given Badd a pretty good perspective on both the popular kids and the hated, loner kids, as well as what they’re going through. As a result, he’s usually well received by them. Feels a little embarrassed and uncomfortable around smart kids though, especially when they explain something that sounds a little complicated to him.

- Back in his younger days prior to all the responsibilities piled on top of him, Badd was a pretty good leader for his baseball team. He checked in regularly with his team mates, their equipment, their training regimens, and their upcoming opponents. He helped some of his team mates with confidence issues, and made sure to keep in check with how they’re doing to prevent in-team fighting. All-star baseball team in their region for sure. :3

- In the future, I imagine that Badd might take up some boxing after taking a hint from all the times monsters knocked his bat out of his hands away from him. Lost his weapon? He’ll use his fists until he can get it back again, and he’ll use them well. Turns out loves the sport, but baseball will always have a special place in his heart.

- He empathizes easily with people experiencing stress; he goes through that daily with everything he has to take care of- but he’s more clueless with issues such as mental illness. Badd’s a little insensitive about it, sometimes suggesting things to take care of it which don’t work, but he’s trying his best to understand what someone is going through and knows enough to know that it isn’t something that can’t be solved by blowing off steam or cutting off some bad things in your life. Gets pissed off if someone dismisses it as ‘something that’s all in their head’ or ‘they’re crazy’ and will confront them. Forcing apologies out of the offender isn’t out of the question. Might want to stop him before he gets too pissed off.

- Like you’d expect, he’s a pretty big fan of sports, but in a more casual way. He likes hearing about his favorite athletes, training regimens, and certain meals/diets that helped stars to build up/maintain their strength and skill, but doesn’t obsessively get himself involved in the subject. On a more sentimental note, Badd finds some solace with famous athletes because they had to work hard to get where they needed to be, and on top of that, have to deal with the pressures that come with their popularity; whether they like it or not.

- Despite not having much time to cultivate attention to honing his skill and interest in cooking, he loves Gordon Ramsay. Seeing him rip entitled, spoiled people apart with words alone and gently encouraging + teaching kids has him placed high on Badd’s list of celebrities that he respects.

- Badd is a Closeted Romantic and a Family Man. Always found it touching where in some old action/thriller films, the male married lead thinks about his wife and kids back home and tells himself that he shouldn’t die, powering through the pain/adversity to get back to them. At some point it shifted to him liking some intense drama/action movie focusing on romance where the couple race against time to get to each other before it’s too late. The idea that someone you love and treat as an equal might actually be gone forever really gets him, and if done right, he’ll cry.

- Cannot, for the love of him, focus well on books. He’s literate, but he always wants to get to the most important stuff, often skimming over details that might be important later on. This is also evident in how he writes, explaining something simply and to the point, which makes him pretty good at teaching kids basic, simplified concepts, but not so good at constructing incredibly thought out and nuanced writing. Books and audio books just aren’t immersive to him. Consequently, English is one of his worst subjects in school, and he often has to rely on online notes and essay examples to help him out.

- Extending on that, I imagine him to be a kinaesthetic/visual learner. He was born with amazing dynamic vision after all. (Under ‘Fighting Style: Keen Perception.’)

- Loves American action movies, but they’ll have to be really well made for him to remember a specific one. If you asked him about his favorite action scenes, he’ll describe it, but more often than not, he won’t remember the movie’s name unless you gave him some clues.

- (Inspired by this fanfic.) His mother died in a monster attack just moments after giving birth to Zenko. Badd used to love and respect his father, but her death lead to him spiraling down to alcohol abuse and neglect due to his grief, leading to his broken pedestal status in his son’s eyes. Badd’s still bitter over it when he thinks about it, saying that his ‘old man nursed his bottle like it was his new kid’ instead of being there for him and Zenko. Caught between poor grades in school, a rough home life, and a baby sister he didn’t know how to take care of, Badd had to convince himself that he needed to be twice the man his father is, and ever was, to get through the worst of what life had to throw at him.

- No matter how hard he tries, he still loves his father, and wants to see him endeavor to become better again. But the combined grief of seeing him crumble and give up on himself, the bitterness over his dad failing to be there for him when he needed it the most, and the anger over how seemingly self-absorbed he was in with his booze and watching the static on the TV when Badd was struggling to cope, makes him force the thought of reconciling out of his mind. Badd forces himself to be outwardly angry over what happened to avoid the conflicted feelings he has over the man he used to see as his hero.

- That being said, if you know what his father used to mean to him, you’ll see subtle signs that while Badd can’t forgive, he had never forgotten him. His father was a big sports fan too, and taught him how to properly hit a baseball. If you knew what he taught and looked closely when Badd fights or does some swings, you’ll see that the tips and tricks that he taught his son has never left him.

- Wanted to get a dog because he thought they were cool, but realized he wouldn’t have enough time for it. Begrudgingly got a cat for him and Zenko after she picked one out. He expected it to be the widespread stereotype for cats: cold, mean, and ruins your stuff… and then he saw how lovable and sweet it was and fell in love. That cat is Tama.

- Hates horror films because some of them remind him of the fact that monsters can manifest for the stupidest reasons, anywhere, anytime. It gets him worked up and restless because anything can happen, and the fact that some monsters in the past had tried to target Zenko to lure him out doesn’t make him feel any better.

- When he’s sick/injured, he sleeps. A lot. A very heavy sleeper; expect snores and heavy eyelids. Seriously, this guy is practically stuck in either Stage 4 NREM or REM sleep until severe injuries heal quite a bit, and germs making him sick are killed off.

- Does not take kindly to anyone calling him weak or stupid. Despite getting angry easily, he’s very resilient (emotionally and mentally.) He knows from experience that if he can’t resolve it quickly, it’s best to put it on the backburner until the opportunity arrives where he can, and does his best to blow off steam in the meantime. He’s not that smart academically and he knows it, but it’s still a berserk button you should stay away from because while he’ll never admit it, it hurts him to know that despite forcing himself to attend school so that he can build a future for himself and Zenko outside of hero work, he’s still failing at getting the grades he needs.

- Expanding on that, he’s smart, but it’s more akin to Saitama’s words of wisdom than eloquent, polished reasoning and beliefs; straightforward and inspiring in a simple way that leaves no room for misinterpretation.

- Don’t let him play video games. Especially rage inducing ones like Cuphead. He will crush the controller and wonder why his character isn’t responding mid-game. The keys on the keyboard are smashed in. There are cracks on the area around the buttons. There’s a Wii remote sticking out of a wall after a frustrating defeat and the wrist strap wasn’t securely fastened.

Garou

- He likes athletic wear better than punk styles. They’re easier to put on and move in, whilst the leather from some punk clothes heats up too much/gets too stiff for his liking.

- Hates being restrained. Sometimes, on a very, very rare occasion, it can be interpreted as him being scared of the idea since he lashes out pretty angrily at it. Garou had been held down and beaten up by bullies twice, pinned against a tree and choked by Genos before escaping his blast by the skin of his teeth, and then was implied to be chained up and tortured/punished for his insolence against the MA in their torture room. He’s strong enough to escape most bindings, but he will be on edge if he feels like he can’t get out of them. If you play your cards right, his attack patterns will lack their usual cunning and be more animalistic.

- He’ll eat almost any kind of food except for sweets. It’s too sugary for him, leads to a crash later on, isn’t sustainable, and it doesn’t offer much nutritional value to him either, so he steers clear of them if he can help it. The odd exception are energy drinks. The sugary taste isn’t something he exactly likes, but Garou loves the immediate rush that kicks in soon after drinking them; the slight burn on his tongue from carbonated drinks such as coca cola is a plus.

- Loves the thrill of the challenge of almost any sort. The excitement comes from giving it his all and not knowing for sure how things will turn out; if he won, that’s another trophy to him. If he lost, he relishes in a milestone he has to beat and loves the idea that there’s still room for improvement. Winning or losing too much tends to be boring for him, and he’ll abandon it if he sees no way to rectify it.

- When he’s sick or injured, he’s a restless sleeper; it’s hard for him to get the proper hours that he needs. He drifts in and out of sleeping and waking, usually sleeping a few hours at best before waking up for 10 minutes and falling back to sleep. Being attacked while vulnerable, in places with little means of defense or shelter is a pretty good plan for monsters/bigshots who want his head and he knows it. One of the places he can sleep more peacefully at is Bang’s Dojo, but he hasn’t been back there for some time now.

- Tsundere. Not necessarily the blushy ‘I-it’s not like I like you, b-baka!!’ sort of way, but he’s a more subdued tsundere. He’ll come off as mean spirited at times, but the most reliable way of knowing he loves and cares about his loved ones is when they’re being threatened; he’ll rough up the threat so they won’t get any funny ideas in the future.

- Is Russian-French, with some (suspected) Norwegian in there. Is generally a European mutt who takes a keen interest in Asian culture, especially those that developed sick martial arts and/or those who have interesting, complex histories; however, Garou isn’t as interested in wars and political intrigue as he is in weird, clever, and hilarious events and hijinks that sound too surreal to be true… like Zhao Yun's army being outnumbered by the enemy, retreating, and him choosing to make their fortress look empty so that his enemies get suspicious, thinking that it was an ambush and withdrawing... before launching an attack on them, killing off his enemy's army by inciting chaos. (E.g. Some of them got trampled, others fell into a river and drowned.) He won.

- Continuing off of that, he generally regards European history with distaste due to how... unkind, some of them are.

- (God, I love @the-goddessfighter‘s headcanons for Garou’s parents, so honestly? I’m all for this being 100% canon. Murata or ONE, make it happen. In my eyes, this is as good as you possibly can get with Garou’s backstory.)

Check out her tumblr for her OC’s for Garou’s parents! (Although I do headcanon Toru as a more neglectful father who didn’t care much for Garou, if at all. He didn’t sugarcoat his words to him nor try to comfort his son.)

- Prefers black/white/grey/neutral colors for his clothes, if only to avoid people saying that the colors clash and that he looks like a fashion disaster.

- It’s an unconscious move on his part, and while he usually has impeccable control over his power, sometimes his fingers feel like they’re jabbing you when he’s distracted. Especially when he grabs or hugs you. Sometimes, there are some small bruises where they’ve dug in a little forcefully. When he’s feeling affectionate or sentimental and you’re his lover, he traces over your skin, and it’s a contrasting mix between the calloused, rough textures from the fingers, and smooth, fluid movements that slide like water. It’s a distinct Garou feature, and whether you love it or hate it depends on your tastes.

Genos/Demon Cyborg

- Doesn’t care too much about his popularity, but acknowledges the work that his fans put in when it comes to promoting his work and what little information he shares that others will pick up on. E.g. He doesn’t like to be bothered when he’s busy/with that bald guy, but otherwise is OK with signing a few autographs and shaking hands, he avoids certain obnoxious fangirls, he hates it when there’s a group and they crowd him, etc.

- Despite appreciating this info circulating so that some fans are more mindful about how they interact with him, he’s one of the hardest heroes to connect with due to how cold, closed off, busy, and/or socially awkward he may be. Not that many of his fans mind, as it feeds into the mysterious ‘Cyborg Prince’ fantasy that’s popular in his fan base.

- Thinks that Nice Guys/GirlsTM and people who use ‘I’m an Alpha, those betas/omegas can suck it’ are pathetic. At best. He thinks that they’re compensating for something instead of actually trying to improve themselves: for the latter, the added weight of using a disproved scientific theory makes him lose respect for them even more.

- He has a certain amount of fondness for fauna and flora. Prior to meeting Saitama, he’s had to travel long distances in search of the Mad Cyborg, and more often than not, company is fleeting, leaving him alone most of the time. Flowers by the side of the path, blue skies, the sound of chirping birds, or even some berries with rainwater droplets on them are familiar, nice sights that put him at ease. Some of his notebooks outside of taking notes on Saitama have hand drawn illustrations and notes on some plants he’s encountered, as well as their various uses.

- Conversely, barren cities will put him on high alert. Buildings act as great hiding spots, and Genos isn’t a stranger to being ambushed by monsters and criminals alike. (His eyes can be a great asset in these situations; scanning for threats and movements can give him a heads up on how dangerous the area is.)

- His sense of humor is pretty dark, if not outright sadistic at times; especially towards the people he hates. Otherwise, he likes making (mostly. Key word is mostly) harmless jabs and teases at those he loves because he finds it funny when the other person gets riled up/flustered. His tone and expressions don’t change (most of the time) when he makes them though, making it hard for others to know whether or not he’s joking until he clarifies on the matter.

- Hates those who spread misinformation about medicine, or demonizes scientists. He cares about keeping the public safe, and admires/respects science for everything it’s discovered for the sake of humanity: people such as those are a direct attack on both.

- Though on the outside he takes even the most inconsequential things seriously, to the point where he’s gullible and too honest to lie, he keeps his more solemn thoughts to himself and ingrains them at the back of his mind so that he’ll never forget them. His notebooks don’t hint at them even existing. The only way you’ll ever get to hear them is when you directly attack something he holds very dear to him (beliefs, values, aspirations) so that he may fiercely (and furiously) defend them. He berated Saitama for seemingly making a joke at his expense, but he was somewhat more lenient since he knew that Saitama wielded the power he needed. He won’t be nearly as nice if you’re not someone he likes or respects, so it’s a sure-fire way to get onto his blacklist.

- Is German-Japanese. German father, Japanese mother, though a lot of people mistake him for being fully German thanks to his looks. He understands some parts of the language, but isn’t fluent in speaking it. Japanese he’s fully fluent in, and English is getting to that point as well.

- He doesn’t usually use pet names if he gets a lover, but if he’s fallen in love hard, they get sort of ridiculous and a little cheesy. ‘My beloved’ and ‘darling’ are the most modest ones, but you’ll have to stop him from going after extremely specific and loving nicknames because they blur the line between being hilarious and embarrassing.

- Awesome at stake outs, and often keeps a first aid kit handy in his temporary bases (in the case of civilian injury) alongside a repair kit for himself. Genos is incredibly well prepared just from the equipment he has inside them, but unlike other matters (such as learning how to fold clothes efficiently and going taking it far too seriously), Genos shows pretty good judgment in how he sets them up. He doesn’t take more than what’s needed, and prepares some emergency supplies just in case there’s a new development and he needs to stay a bit longer. He’s learned from experience that taking too many things for them makes it harder for him to clear his tracks, and in return, the enemy (or enemies) that he’s been keeping an eye on might catch onto the fact that they’re being watched, making it harder for him to discover new information.

Shared Traits & Other Bits

- The no-brainer: you will get intimidated into fleeing if you mess with them. Things may get physical if you target their family/loved ones. Injuries vary depending on level of apologetic attitude, how much of a threat you pose, how far you’ve pushed things, etc. Best case scenario is that you flee the scene with no injuries, but scared out of your mind.

- Badd and Genos use the same nickname for their lover: ‘Darling.’ Although Badd will say it as ‘Darlin’’ instead. Other than that, their nicknames are fairly different, with Badd going for things such as ‘sweet cheeks,’ ‘babe,’ and ‘sweetheart.’

- Both Genos and Garou have the tendency to mess with people for their own amusement. Garou comes in the form of taunting and goading, whilst Genos likes to make underhanded comments and jokes that will infuriate you.

- Genos and Garou like books. Genos however, is more introverted and will share his knowledge more thoroughly when prompted by someone who needs it. Garou being Garou, you wouldn’t even know he was into reading until he offhandedly mentions a bit of knowledge from a book he read. Odds are you won’t have time to ask him if he knows how to do x because he would have already gotten up to do it before you can open your mouth. This occurrence is far more common in emergencies.

- Genos doesn’t take any visible joy in fighting. He sees monsters as a threat to society that must be eliminated quickly and effectively. Badd used to enjoy throwing himself into battles and coming out of them victorious, but thanks to time and HA’s obligations, he sees monsters as destructive assholes getting in his way and creating more work for him when he’d rather come home to catch up on other things on the forefront of his mind. Garou loves fighting, the challenge- but it has diminished by a notable amount after his webcomic arc as he’s reflecting on what he needs and wants to do now. Despite this, he usually keeps his eye out for any interesting challenges, if only to distract himself.

- Slightly digressing from the Trio: Zenko shares the burden of taking on responsibilities with Badd, though he doesn’t know they exist. She’s aware of the fact that her brother isn’t living a normal teenage life and is bothered by the fact that he can’t act like his own age most of the time, making her want to be headstrong, capable, and independent soon so he doesn’t have to worry about her. At the same time, she knows that there aren’t many heroes his age that he can get along with, so she tries to fill in that hole by spending time with him while finding heroes she likes, and hopefully her brother will like- the reason being is that hopefully, Badd will make friends with them, and she can meet her idol often! It’s part of the reason why she was so insistent in having him obtain AM’s signature.

- Genos can sing, but sometimes struggles with singing with enough emotion in his lyrics. Garou can sing pretty well, (and sings almost every Disney villain song like a champ) but he’d be resistant to others goading him into it. He’s pretty uncomfortable at the notion that he’d have to sing in front of people. Badd can… sing, but he’s best at singing the lullabies he sung to a baby Zenko- songs that get him into it can have him be really, really into it; to the point where it’s almost embarrassing to watch. He’s pretty good at rap/singing more sentimental pieces such as this:

youtube

#opm #genos #badd #metal bat #garou #shitty teen squad #hellion trio #zenko #headcanons

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downtonabbeyrevisited · 5 years ago

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Series One - Episode Seven

One thing that seasoned Downton viewers will know is that either the plot moves so fast that you get whiplash moving from point to point and have to perform a fair amount of mental gymnastics to recall single lines that were (canonically speaking) made months and sometimes years ago, or it’s so slow that you think you’ve slipped into a coma and are having a strange dream about the coming of electricity. This instalment is a whopping 65 minutes long and defiantly falls into the former category of episode. Don’t be fooled by the slow start of dusting chandeliers, every single plot point that King Julian has ever thought of is about to be covered in rapid succession whilst the July 1914 stamped ominously at the bottom of the screen indicates that the shit is about to get real. The main topic of conversation in Downton Village is apparently the murder of the Austrian Arch-duke. Who knew that rural Yorkshire with its still broadly illiterate population during this time period was so switched on to international relations?

William’s mother has (predictably) died and Anna has made an armband which is utterly indistinguishable from his livery in her honour. Another soul unable to appreciate this is Mrs Patmore who is now so blind that it has been brought to the attention of those who dwell upstairs. Mrs Patmore is summoned to the library where she collapses into the nearest available chair after chewing off Robert’s ear and he arranges to send her up to London. I doubt this was quite the reaction he was expecting but there we go. In Beryl’s absence, Mrs Bird comes to hold the fort and test Daisy’s loyalties to provide a bit of light relief in what is, when you think about it, quite a grim episode.

Despite being slow on the uptake, Daisy soon gets into the swing of launching the Downton scullery equivalent of chemical warfare whilst Mrs Bird makes disparaging comments about the kitchen and staff. But Daisy soon falls foul of a bit of bait and switch and only succeeds in almost giving Thomas’ colon a thorough clean out.

Whilst Mrs Patmore sits in Moorfields reeling at the fact that cataracts can’t be removed by whatever the 1914 equivalent of homeopathy is, Anna is determined to get to the bottom of why Bates was in prison. Thomas and O’Brien’s written confirmation of Bates’ previous misdeeds have only served to light a fire under her and with a confidence to which I can only aspire, she marches into Greenwich. Or is it Chelsea? My knowledge of barracks isn’t what it used to be despite the fact that I am typing this a stones throw away from one now. My superiors are weeping somewhere. In true British Army fashion, a man with an impressive hat brings out a massive book which he never refers to for any information that he could not hold in his head. He then gives out Mrs Bates Senior’s address 104 years before GDPR kicks in.

A meeting with Ma Bates confirms that it was Vera who stole the regimental silver rather than John but he took the fall, apparently feeling that he had ruined her life. However I can’t be the only person who is still a little unclear as to why he did go to prison for Vera as there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that he had ruined her life unless I’ve missed something, which is entirely possible. Anna returns to Downton and appeals to Robert to keep Bates on. Because he is a useful character for pivoting plot points around, Robert agrees, and our favourite self-sabotaging valet lives to survive another series.

Considerably less eager to stay at Downton is Thomas who has a right old time of it this episode, roaring through all of his typical behaviours: smoking in archways, leaving tables with entire plates of food in-front of him to go and perch on a crate and plot with O’Brien, stealing from Carson in an inept manner, having at least two other characters discuss just how awful he is and finally take shots at William. Except this time, they aren’t snide remarks. These are actual shots involving pre-German sniper mangled fists. Having volunteered for the Army medical corps with Dr Clarkson, Thomas is riding high on his way out the door and makes inappropriate marks about a combination of dead mothers and babies. William takes him on and the two roll around a bit on a table then the floor. Carson calls for a halt but doesn’t actually intervene: its up to the Irish Radical to bring about peace. Some irony there one feels.

But perhaps Carson’s inaction is connected to the emotional upheaval that of course comes with owning a telephone. I should know; mine has been on ‘Do Not Disturb’ for at least a year now. Presumably seeing the phone as an affront to his skills as a butler, there are a fair number amount of him looking perplexed at the new arrival. But with a bit of practice under his belt, he is ready to reluctantly shuffle into the twentieth century. Oh I do love him.

The coming of the telephone is good news for Gwen through who manages to bag herself an interview out of its installation in the Abbey. However she neglects to say that she was a housemaid on her application form. The manager of the company scoffs at this upon learning she works at Downton “you thought that would put me off!”. Well yes, because less then twenty minutes ago you were bemoaning the fact that you couldn’t find any secretaries with experience which is what you needed. King Julian is now struggling to maintain continuity within an episode never mind between. Lord.

After 18 years, and presumably a lot of hormonal shifting, Cora is pregnant. Robert sounds incredulous and frankly, we all are. Robert doesn’t understand what’s been done differently to bring about this major shift in plot, but Cora brings him to an abrupt halt before he can pick along any further down that particular line of enquiry and an entire nation, nay the world, exhales. However Foetus C’s appearance on the scene coincides with the departure of Simmons and through a convoluted chain of events, their fates are inextricably linked. O’Brein overhears that a new lady’s maid is required and immediately jumps head first into the wrong end of the stick. But to be fair to her, Violet and Cora seem to only talk about their quest when either Thomas or O’Brien are in earshot which is asking for trouble really. But that does not excuse O’Brien committing infanticide by proxy via the medium of Imperial Leather. With a bar of poor quality soap that breaks alarmingly easily and an off-screen yelp, it’s all over and another massive plot point that has a whole lifecycle within less than an episode.

Although Foetus C didn’t hang around long, he made quite the impact and along with the influence of Aunt Rosamund manages to unsettle the romance that Matthew and Mary have been carefully cultivating since Episode One. St James Park provides a backdrop for Rosamund, following the tradition of all Aunts worldwide, to winkle out the truth about their nieces and nephew’s love lives. As they glide through London, and pass two men sat on a bench trying to divert the apocalypse, Rosamund plants the seeds of doubt that will eventually blossom into a full blown crisis in about thirty minutes time with the mere suggestion that Mary might have to live in a cottage.

With the prospect of another male heir on the horizon, Matthew considers moving back to Manchester but not before he can have the first of two emotionally charged conversations under a tree. Matthew witters on about ‘prospects’ whilst Mary looks increasingly desperate. That tree and the accompanying bench have seen an awful lot of drama: people have sobbed under it, plotted beside it and stared artfully into the middle distance beneath its shadow and its only series one.

But even when it’s clear that Matthew’s inheritance is not in danger, he returns to the tree with Mary to assert the fact that he is leaving Downton for reasons that I can’t entirely fathom but are mainly based around the fact that he doesn’t want to be socially engineered and that he can’t be sure of anything. Wearing the world’s most pointless gloves, Mary covers her face and weeps in what is fast becoming a signature move. The ‘tree’ scenes between her and Matthew have been a real chance for both actors to get their teeth into a bit of decent uninterrupted dialogue. I have loved Michelle Dockery since she stole my twelve year old heart as Susan in Hogfather and she has not failed me yet.

Carson comes to comforts Mary under the ’tree of emotional conflict’ and in one shot we have captured the charm of Downton. Ahh. Now, back onto the nonsense.

The garden party is suddenly upon us and with it, the tying up of as many loose ends as possible just incase the series isn’t renewed. Hold onto your hats folks! Mrs Patmore returns in a cracking pair of sunglasses, Clarkson gives Thomas his papers who then promptly resigns, William and Daisy reconcile, Mrs Hughes warns Branson off Sybil whilst Sir Anthony pegs it out of Downton before Edith is allowed any measure of happiness, O’Brein attends to Cora’s every need and then learns that she was never in the firing line anyway, Branson plucks up the courage to answer a telephone, Gwen gets the job and proceeds to hug Branson and Sybil hug in a manner that you would think would be enough to cause a scandal, we learn of Ma Bates’ approval of Anna but Bates is still a stubborn idiot , Mr Moseley wants to crack on with Anna and if you squint a bit Downton Abbey briefly looks like The Villa. Oh and WW1 breaks out.

Romantic declaration of the moment

“I’d say he’s keen. Very keen indeed” Well then TeLl HeR JohN! Anna and Bates must be up there for slow-burn romance of the millennia and for my money is a better love story than Mary and Matthew but that could just be my gritty scots and northern heritage rooting for the little guy.

Expressive eyebrow of the week

Robert won last episode but nevertheless his face during the menopause chat with the accompanying “please” wins this one. THIS is why Fleabag Season 2 Episode 3 had to happen.

Wait, what?

“Is there anything worse than losing one’s maid” Erm…maybe the oncoming death of 17 million people with 11.5% of the British Army told by the upper echelons of society to walk slowly towards the guns?

“Oy” is Mrs Patmore Jewish?

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to sit in your presence my lord” That is a surprising amount of respect from someone who only two episodes fed him a chicken that had both been on the floor and nibbled by a cat….

“Try not to miss me, it will be good practice” Bates is a lovely man but ultimately he is a masochistic twat.

“First electricity, now telephones. Sometimes I feel as if I were living in a H.G. Wells novel” Julian really does reserve his best for Maggie.

“I’m not much good at building my life on shifting sands” Calm down, Matthew.

“He had a right to know how his countryman died, in the arms of a slut” Calm down, Edith.

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whoslaurapalmer · 5 years ago

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L, R, M, and N!!

L: Which of your fanfics was the most emotionally challenging towrite?

and I’vewritten pages upon pages trying to rid you from my bones had mein regular agony for the month I was writing it. constant. constantanxiety. to try and get intothat mindset of someone breaking up with someone they love so muchbecause of Just How Life (And Spy-Adjacent Stuff) Happens Sometimesand the details about all the love and heartbreak, ithurt!! I was also thinking of my own ill-fated romance-relatedwriting that I did in high school while listening to that particulardecemberists song, so there was. old background emotion going on,too.

anytime I write laura is also emotionally challenging, just by thenature of writing laura??? like. there’s a lot of my brain in laurabut there’s also so much about laura that isn’tin my life and to get through all that, to keep in mind everythingabout her, it’s a bigweight. not a bad weight but just, you’re dealing with heavy thingsand trying to get it right.

R: Which writers(fanfic or otherwise) do you consider the biggest influence on youand your writing?

ren’s meta and thepeaks chat in general has helped inform a lotof the way that I view peaks. like there are certainly thoughts of myown that I’ve stuck to, because I look down on my own analysissometimes and I shouldn’t because some of it was fine!, and Istarted watching it knowing that I was getting involved in somethingthat was really heavy, but it took a while for certain things toclick and to understand all of the vulnerability being asked and someof the character or theme nuances that I didn’t get right away. andreading all that helped but sometimes I worry that I rely on it toomuch and I don’t think about the series enough myself, but, that’s,an entirely different problem, but something that I am also consciousof here

in sad lemon man, Idefinitely would not ship lemonberry ice without having seen it onsara’s blog, also reasonably positive that some tiny headcanons Ihave like beatrice wearing glasses and kit getting the family intovfd are from her, and just in terms of like top-notch content thatlined up with how I saw the series and expanded on things I wasalready thinking, 100% sara. anytime sara or ren reblog somethingfrom me I still get so thrilled. I feel like I’ve made it…………….

non-fanfic wise,leigh bardugo and danhan are writers that I greatly admire and that Itry to glean worldbuilding/backstory and deep gutting emotion from,respectively, because those are the things I think they do the bestand what I respect in their work. and no one writes ‘I will workthrough trauma and by god I will be okay!!!!!!!!!!’ like natsukitakaya. fruits basket is ingrained in my soul and pops up in mywriting when I least expect it.

M: What’s theweirdest AU scenario you’ve ever come up with? Did it turn into astory?

parent trap au.hands-down. and if you count ‘I posted the 22k outline’ as ‘itturned into a story’ then HELL YEAH

other than that, myAU ideas are kind of??? chill????? not really weird??? mostly justrole reversals or modern AUs or what if I combined this book and thismovie or this book and that book, most of which are notas wild as parent trap au. I try to keep it. reasonable. over here.especially after all the weird AUs I wrote in middle school. I reinmyself in a lot. (although I still did once say ‘arthur + sugarbowl gen’ but admitted arthur was already a really modern AU ofthem anyway and went no further.)

living a quietexistence, deep in my laptop, is the….almost 100-page outline/notesof my gravity falls/peaks AU. (not that that’s necessarily weird,because of all the similarities, but, also kind ofweird? as sailorleo once said, ‘don’t think about it too hard.’)there’s some great, great stuff in there but I just….the older Igot, the more I looked at it, the less okay I was with some of thestuff I’d written??? it originated in like the end of the ‘causedipper pines a decent amount of pain and suffering, honestly morethan he experienced in canon in the first place’ era of tumblr,even if in the outline it was very subconscious and not on purposeand I did try to make it flow well, and when I thought aboutit after graduating college and gravity falls was over, I just didn’tlike it and couldn’t commit to another way to write it (although Idid have quite a few scenarios, I just, didn’t.). a lot of goodnotes, though. I still think about certain scenes. some of the themesI did manage to hit pretty well.

this is sure aStatement to make, but relevant to the question, but that AU wasactually how i will get there came to be and I will have to beasked specifically for thatbackground story to reveal it

N: Any fic ideasbrewing that you’d care to share?

beyond my current active wips (laura fic, and like idk seven sadlemon man ones what is time or life) –

-thismay actually fall under ‘weird AU’ but I want to write. for sadlemon man. and I have brought this up afew times before I’m justvery excited for it. gustav sebaldfound footage AU. I knowlike….40% of how it’ll go. I need to do some foundfootage/horror-ish research but I know EXACTLY thekind of stuff I want for it,I just haven’t had the time to get into it. andhorror is not my natural vibe at ALL, notby ANY MEANS, but it issomething I’ve been trying to figure out.

-youknow those two teenage cashiers when sarah palmer buys the vodka ins3???? I want to write about them. Iwant to write about them so bad. theyhave names!!! they’re on their nametags!!! they aren’t in thecredits, though!!!! their names are oscar and victoria and I hopethey’re okay!!!!! ifI was like, up on my tulpa game I would write it like that becauseof how much they look like coop and laura but my notes are reallyjust about them living in town.

-thisisn’t brewing necessarily but sometimes I want to write 1944 laurashenanigans but sam I actually still have your fic on my desk and youhit allthe themesI would want to write about and I love it

#cerealninjakat

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corpulentus · 6 years ago

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All of those headcanons and scenario questions that people have been asking me since I started this blog and then some: The Compiled List

What was the best thing in your character's life? What was the worst thing in your character's life? This is a difficult thing to answer because Torvald is still living his life into current canon, but if I don't want to be difficult about the question, here are a few ideas?

BEST THING(S): The birth of Adelynne, When he met his first dog, Joining training with his best friend Gylfis WORST THINGS(S): When Marek ran away, When his parents passed, When he fought Marek on the battlefield, When Marek murdered his only 2 friends in the world

What seemingly insignificant memories stuck with your character? Because of the way that he lives, there is not a lot of small memories that he tends to hold onto. Most things, if they don't make an intense impact one way or the other ( that being positive or negative ), he tends to easily forget them. However, there are some things that he's otehrwise forgotten that ought not to have been.

A better way to answer this would be "what seemingly insignificant moments stuck with your character" -- This has one answer and it was the moment that Torvald had to be pulled back from dark depths by Gylfis. Torvald was about to give his blood to a dark warlock in search of his brother and Gyl swooped in and talked him out of it. It was not necessarily a threat to his life, nor was the woman that was to perform the magic particularly dangerous, but it is a moment that Torvald can never repay.

How does your character feel about sex? Torvald is not, generally, an overly sexual person. His first thoughts upon seeing a woman are not usually of a sexual nature and, admittedly, this may have a lot to do with the fact that I, as a woman, do not know what it is to be a man or to feel about sex as a man does. However, I think this gives him his own, softer, qualities towards love and romance. Torvald would much prefer to wine and dine before intimate relations than just -- "jump right in", as it were.

He's a good boi, okay. I love him.

What are Marek's feelings for Torvald? Does he feel any kind of sibling jealousy? Oh Y E S.

Marek has, of all of his adult life, all of his teenage years and some of his young childhood been very jealous of Torvald for many reasons. He was jealous of Torvald's natural talents, of his social skills, of his relationship with his friend, Gylfis, of his relationship with their parents and younger sister. Marek felt very much like he was the social outcast and was unsure of how to overcome this hurdle. Torvald was an obstacle that her felt he had to destroy or his own life would never be his own. He would always remain in the shadow of someone better and his pride would not let that happen.

But that is merely the jealousy aspect. As far as his other emotions go, Marek feels a great deal of anger toward his brother, but he also loathes this fact about himself. However, after so many years of brainwashing and devotion to his own hatred, he has become numb to anything pleasant toward his brother. He can no longer tell if he loves his brother or if those feelings have been suppressed to the point of its self extinguishing.

After what tradition were Torvald, Marek and Adelynne named? Did their parents follow a certain idea when naming them? Would the siblings name their children after the same traditions or just go after what they like? The trio were not named after any particular traditions or ideas. It was very much an on the spot decision for them when it came to naming their children. However, due to the lack of information given to the actual answer -- Have the literal definition of their names? Just because? IDK, have this!

Torvald From the Old Norse name Þórvaldr, which meant "Thor's ruler" from the name of the Norse god Þórr (see THOR) combined with valdr "ruler".

Marek Polish, Czech, and Slovak: from the West Slavic personal name Marek, a vernacular form of Latin Marcus (see Mark). Czech: from a pet form of the personal name Martin.

Adelynne Adelyn is a new American coinage. As an invented name, Adelyn is thought to have been inspired by one of two more traditional names. The first, Adelaide, comes from the Germanic elements “adal” meaning 'noble' and “heid” meaning 'kind, sort'.

What is Adelynne's relationship with Torvald and Marek? Which of her brothers does she feel closer to emotionally ( by moral character, appearance, etc )? Adelynne's relationship with her brothers are very different from one another, though she does love them both in a far closer measure.

Adelynne and Torvald share a closer bond because they have spent much more time together than she and the other. They have shared in grief, loss and happiness together. They have shared in memories insurmountable by a great deal of other siblings they have encountered in their lives. It is a bond that neither would surrender for anything else in the world -- particularly now -- since they are all one another have left.

Adelynne and Marek have a different bond. Though he left when they were still children, for all her life, Marek assured she was kept safe. It was an uncanny coincidence that was nearly becoming passed off as luck. Adelynne continued the search for Marek when Torvald was in his coma and there was always a part of her that knew he wouldn't be coming home. She has forgiven him for leaving them, but continues to struggle knowing what had happened to him and what he has done. They are destined to encounter again on the Broken Shore, but it is undetermined whether this is to take Adelynne into the rank of the LEgion, or to finally see Marek submit to his past life and have his current taken from him.

Appearance wise, Adelynne and Torvald look much more alike than either of them look like their brother.

What are Adelynne's crafts? Does she share any interests or hobbies with her brothers? Id so, which ones? Adelynne doesn't have any professions in the game, but she does like to collect herbs and brew elixirs in her spare time. She has used amateur potions on the field before and had Torvald test some questionable ones as well.

What is the age difference between Torvald and his siblings? How does this difference influence their relationships with eachother? How does it affect how they see one another? Torvald is 4 years older than his brother, Marek and 8 years older than his sister, Adelynne. Because they are all so close in age, it had very little in means of affecting their relationships, not nearly as much as their life views. The same is for their opinions and views on one another.

Which of the siblings is the most similar to their parents? How is this shown? Torvald is most like their father, certainly. Both he and Roderic are loyal to a fault, dedicated to their morality and their emotions and share an equal love for history and peace, in any capacity they can attain.

Adelynne is a fine blend of both their parents. Compulsive, patient and strong willed.

Marek is most like their mother. They share similar qualities, as well as Marek displaying some of the worse of the woman's dark side. He is selfish, narcasistic and greedy. He lives in a great amount of delusion, something which their mother had been prone to in her youth.

If you were not bound by the ingame models, how would you design the siblings appearance and their individual clothing styles?

Adelynne, Left. Marek, Center. Torvald, Right

What are the siblings favorite meals? Is there a reason they have these favorites? Can they cook for themselves? Do they cook for one another? Torvald's Favorite Meal: Smoked Eel, Crusty Bread and Malt Beer Marek's Favorite Meal: Rabbit ( Over A Flame ), Roasted or Raw Vegetables and Spring Water Adelynne's Favorite Meal: Roast Pork with Thyme and Rosemary, Baked Potato and Honey Milk

Torvald and Adelynne have done their fair share of cooking and enjoy it quite a lot. However, most often, Adelynne will be the one to cook meals for her brother, since her personality is generally the giving type. As far as Marek is concerned, over the years, he didn't do much in the way of eating unless it was prepared for him or it was unnecessary for him to do much work in it's preperation.

In the Warcraft Universe, what is Torvald's relationship and opinion of Orcs and those who look like them? ( Like Mar! ) So, given the fued between Orcs and Humans in Warcraft history ... You would think that Torvald would hate them, right? Well, he's one of those weird people that don't judge people by thier skin, for example, but rather, by their actions. So, follow these examples below ---

Durotan of the Frostwolves. Yeah, he would 100% be close compadres with Durotan. He is full of honor, truth and faith in his sense of morality. He is a good soul and Torvald would know this. He would perhaps even go out of his way to befriend him.

Garrosh Hellscream. Fuck. That. Guy. Torvald would most likely have been a huge part of the downfall of Hellscream were he not focused entirely on personal life matters at that point.

Mar Muthand. His favorite 'orc', honestly. She can be rough and gruff, but she has a kind heart and soul. He cares deeply for her and would rather spend his day with her than several of his own kind. But! B U T! As I said, he judges by CHARACTER, not RACE.

Does Torvald prefer to live / travel alone or with family / friends, significant others, etc? Torvald is a flip flopper when it comes to this subject. He was alone for so long, after being 100% involved in his family as a child, then he started to open himself up after he 'finally lost' his ambitions to hunt down his brother. He will definitely have his moments where he needs that time to himself and others where he needs to be in contact, he needs a hug, he needs a kiss, he needs affirmation of his worth to other people.

How does Torvald usually dress in daily life? How does Torvald usually dress for a fancy event? How does Torvald usually style his hair? What jewelry, if any, does Torvald usually wear? Torvald's Appearances are below, listed in simple forms.

Daily life includes ;; Leather boots, a pair of light cotton 'boxers', a heavier pair of leather pants and a light tunic. He carries his axe with him most places he goes, but if he isn't in need of it, it will be just an accessory.

Fancy Event includes ;; Lighter, more ornate, boots paired with sleak black trousers. Cotton boxers, of course. Something similar to his light daily life tunic, but probably with some more baubles then he might generally consider. If someone else has dressed him, like Lysirae for example, then there is no telling what he might get put into.

Hair looks are generally very much the same. He will wear it down, consider braids to keep it from his face or up in a 'man bun' as it were.

Torvald doesn't make a habit of wearing anything dangling or lose fitting when he's on the battlefield, but he does carry with him several charms from important figures in his past. He has a locket from his mother, a set of gritting gloves for his weaponry from his father and a ring from his sister, Adelynne which she made herself. At some point in his past he carried, and then lost, a knife that once belonged to his brother, Marek.

What scars, if any, does Torvald have? What tattoos, is any, does Torvald have? What birthmarks, if any, does Torvald have? Over his years, particularly during the time when he's started being actively involved in wars and conflict, he has accumulated many scars. They range in size and location, but namely he has a pair on his shoulders from a felbat that plucked him from the ground. He also has another around his upper thigh from an incident in Westfall where a pack of wild dogs latched onto him and ( the alpha ) tore pretty good at him. The rest of the wounds heal as much as they can and have not left many lasting impressions.

Torvald, in a few words, looks like a living canvas. He has many tattoos that are, generally, hidden by his clothing. It is difficult to define many of them, as they are runic in nature and resemble pagan symbolism. If you ask him about them, he will probably tell you that they were a result of a spell gone wrong, but in truth, he got them when he was searching for his brother, Marek. A lot of them look like endless loops, all of them representing major leads on his brother that ended up taking him in circles and leading him nowhere.

Torvald has no significant birthmarks.

How tall is Torvald compared to his peers? How thin/heavy is Torvald compared to his peers? Honestly, we all know already that Torvald is a pretty husky man. He's very strong and he's also very tall. He is 6'2, well over 200 pounds and he can lift 3 children with one arm ( you know, with their fingers latched around his arm and he just lifts them up while they dangle ). He is also a trained warrior who has dedicated a lot of his life to sword skill and strength training.

Now, in relation to his peers, at least the ones he has actually interacted with ( Khadgar, Lysirae, Alamor, Eryis, Mar, to name a few ) -- He is literally the tallest of everyone ( as far as my knowledge goes ). Funny, considering 3 of them are elves. He is probably also the most strongly built, looking more like an orc than a human -- minus the green skin.

Want to know more about Champion of the Alliance Torvald CHAMPION OF THE ALLIANCE TORVALD WOULD BE GREAT FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS

1. Despite not being a seasoned war veteran like Genn or Varian, he does know the ins and outs of strategy and has seen battle first hand. 2. Torvald spent a great deal of his youth studying and becoming, on some level, a scholar. It undoubtedly increased his reasoning skills and put a damper on his anger and violence ( which seems only to come out when he is fighting a war). This would likely make him a good diplomat when it comes to political matters. 3. Torvald is only in his early 30s which means, with any luck, he would have a long and prosperous life ahead of him with which to attend to and fix many wrongs he has personally observed within his lifetime as a traveler. 4. Torvald is a personable person, okay. His social skills are fairly good and his ability to conform with speech of his audiences is pretty good as well. Got a rally full of people? He will just use multiple definitions. It works like a charm. 5. Torvald does not like war, but he can understand the necessity for it. 6. In a lot of ways, Torvald is the ideal mixture of Varian and Anduin.

In short, @blizzard, Torvald Starsk for King of the Alliance 2020?

What do you see in your muses future? Torvald, as my main muse both on tumblr and in the game, has an undetermined future. I would like to see him live into old age with a wife and family, but as we have seen before in the good ol World of Warcraft, this is not always the fate of brave and noble warriors. His fate will be determined at a later date.

Marek is almost certainly destined to perish just before, or during, the Battle for Azeroth. His power has been robbed from him, his cause as well, and here is no returning to the Alliance for him. Though I have though on having him build his own group ( like the Twilight's Hammer ) from the ground up, I do believe he would be unsuccessful and he would be met with death regardless.

Adelynne has recently gone through some changes that has had her leaving her comfortable home and the Cathedral of Stormwind to become a paladin. She has just begun her adventures in the world and I would like to see a lot more out of her before her life is ended. However, just as with Torvald, this is not always the case in the good ol World of Warcraft. Her fate could be determined at any time.

What is something about Torvald that annoys me? This asshole literally finds every person he encounters a beauty to behold, okay. He could compliment you to death and then mourn for you without skipping a beat. It's almost malicious, I tell you.

Terrible. Unnecessary.

Does Torvald have a mount that is just his? Wht is it ingame? Does this mount have a certain name? What about character and personality traits? Does it cooperate? Is it difficult? Does this mount have certain ingame details or is it completely its own being? Does the mount have its own story and relationship with Torvald that has influenced Torvald in some way? If he doesn't have a mount, how does he usually travel? Torvald generally rides a horse in the game, but I do not canonically have a SPECIFIC mount that he would call his own.

Mag'har - How Important is freedom to Torvald? Hunter - Does Torvald have any pets? Mage - Does Torvald have any special talents? Priest - How empathetic is Torvald with others? Lightforged Draenei - Are appearances important to Torvald? Warrior - How athletic is Torvald? Shaman - Does Torvald follow any traditions? Human - Does Torvald have a personal hero? Zandalari - Is Torvald a proud person? Demon Hunter - Has Torvald ever sacrificed something? Torvald, should he lose his freedom, would be a very different man. He would definitely become more aggressive, more manipulative and extremely intolerant to those around him. He would devote all of his time and energy into getting out of whatever means of capture this mysterious party had used to get him in the first place. ----;; In short, Torvald values his freedom greatly.

Torvald, in his later life, after he'd 'finished' with adventuring and fighting wars, would adopt himself a Gilnean hound dog that his son, Leopold, would name Sir Woof.

Torvald's not especially good at unusual things, but he does seem to be good at a variety of things, as it were. He is a fine person to share a battlefield with, he is a good enough strategist and he is quite knowledgeable in many historical Azerothian verse. And, I suppose, he is adept in a few languages that are not just human common. This likely comes from his interaction with many different races throughout life and his travels.

Torvald is as empathetic as one can be without being an empath. He feels very much for other people and he does, essentially, live to serve others as best he can.

Appearances are not particularly important to Torvald. He could be sporting a heavy load of clothing or barely anything at all and still he would feel just about the same -- If not a bit colder than if he were bundled up tight.

Torvald can lift a grown man with his own strength from a squatted position. He is mighty strong, my friend.

Torvald doesn't follow many traditions himself, but he participates in the Azerothian holidays when he finds time. Her particularly enjoys Brewfest and spending that extra time with his dwarven companions.

I would say no, Torvald doesn't have a personal hero, but like most kids, he thinks his father is a pretty respectable guy. He taught him who he was meant to be and he was always there for him when he needed support the most. He also quite admires his lifelong friend, Gylfis, whom saved him from himself on more than one occasion.

Torvald is not at all proud. He greatly values his friends and he is proud of THEM, but of himself, he is not at all proud.

Torvald has sacrificed a lot of his own life and his own sanity throughout the years in pursuit of his brother, in particular. It cost him many years that he could have spent in happiness and joy with the rest of his family. Instead, it cost him dearly in his relationship with his parents, sister and friends as he, essentially, was completely consumed by his hunt for his brother.

What are Torvalds Ingame Professions and how do you play them In-character out in rp? Or does her ingame professions do not belong to the character ic? Does he possess professions beyond his ingame professions (Like for example not a alchemist but possess a knowledge of healing herbs and how to make healing oinments, not a smith but can recognize a proper blade or not a Tailor but knows how to sew and stitch etc etc etc...) In the actual game, Torvald is a blacksmith and a miner, but I slack horrifically at professions in the actual game. HOWEVER, he utilizes these skills in writing quite a lot. He makes his own gear, at times, or at the very least, he improves upon and repairs his own gear. He mines and sells the smelted bars for money at times, but he also uses it to craft jewelry for gifts or further cash.

#( ( factoid. ) )#( ( factoids. ) )#( ( letters. ) )#( ( there are so many from mar and i laguh ) )#( ( i don't remember who all these were from but have this giant fucking list of things ) )#( ( i'm so glad I finally fucking finished it guys ) )

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expshared · 6 years ago

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Fall 2017 had some of my favorite anime from the year as a whole—draws big ol' hearts around Girls’ Last Tour and Land of the Lustrous—so how did Fall 2018 compare?!? this is clickbait.

Starting with the leftovers from Summer, Golden Kamuy manages to be strong and intriguing despite being a project wholly mismanaged by studio Geno, who simply don’t have the staff give this show what it needs. I dream of a Golden Kamuy given to us by a Madhouse or a Bones. That said, I love Golden Kamuy very much, it is so unlike anything else in anime. Historical edutainment, cooking show, slapstick comedy, grotesque body horror...the sum of its parts is so strong that the horrible CGI bears almost don’t even matter. The season ends on such sequel bait that I’m just dying for more, oh god please.

You guys like sports anime???!? Run with the Wind sold me on its premise by virtue of taking place in college, which is just different enough to be interesting. I didn’t realize this one was a 2-cour, and when I did its glacial pace made a lot more sense. I do love a good underdog story, and no one in this club is looking to become an Olympian, that’s for sure. There’s something to be said about doing something just for the sport and community of it, and I like that a lot. Speaking of sports anime that are about coming together as a community and not so much about being The Best at This Sport Ever, Anima Yell was a delightful show about cute girls learning how to cheerlead!. It’s not inspired by any means, but it’s cute, fun, lively, and super enjoyable to watch. I was afraid there would be many opportunities for upskirts and raunchy gags, but Anima Yell is wholesome and just really invested in getting you to enjoy cheering on other people. GO FIGHT WIN! Tsurune is, unlike Anima Yell, just not fun to watch. It’s dreary, moody, and I ask myself wondering why anyone in this show has any friends at all. If this were my first sports anime, maybe I’d be more tolerant, but its biggest sin is that it’s just so boring. If it weren’t Kyoani, I’d have dropped it at episode 2.

Iroduku: The World in Colors was an incredibly pretty time travel story about opening yourself up to the world and the people in it after trauma. I felt it dragged a little in the middle, and some episodes felt just plain compulsory (gotta have an episode per club member!! unfortunately all club members are not equally interesting) but the last three episodes were clinchers. It came together to be quite a nice little package, if you don’t mind a little bit of melodrama. I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to recommend this one, but I would put it nicely on the shelf with comp titles like Angel Beats and After the Rain where it could hold its own.

The worst thing I watched this season was Girl in the Twilight, which was like a really bad episode of Black Mirror that just wouldn’t end. The plot involved some very convoluted alternate world hopping with cassette players of all things, but it also gave us Evil Amazon, Westworld: Japan, and a canon gay couple I Guess. While I wanted to like it for its sheer chuzpuh, unfortunately, everything about this show was Bad. Bad CGI. Bad character design. And worst of all: a Bad ending that never bothered to tie up any of its loose threads. Bangin’ OP though?

Oh my god you guys, watch Bloom Into You. I read a lot of GL manga and Bloom Into You is generally agreed upon as being one of the best: more of a character piece than a romance, uninterested in the noncommittal will-they-won’t-they agonizing of its peers, committed to saying something about the world and its characters more than just being fluff. As a manga reader, I had highish hopes—I’m quite fond of studio Troyca—and you know what, I actually felt I had a more enjoyable time watching this than I did reading it. I found it an incredibly sensitive and inclusive watch (ace, aro, bi, and lesbian characters??? In ONE SHOW??), and was, many times, struck by how true to LGBT experiences it was. A lot of GL manga either take place in a world where there are no bigots or in a world that erases the sexuality of women altogether (there’s a reason why “pure yuri” exists) or else exist in a “fanservice bubble”, but Bloom Into You is none of the above. GL anime are incredibly scarce and so few of them nail the actual, terrifying, honest-to-god experience of growing up and realizing you’re not experiencing romance or youth like other people are. I really, really hope the success of this show starts a trend of further adapting GL manga, because there are some excellent ones out there for the picking. My only complaint about this adaptation is that it ended too soon.

SSSS Gridman was the strongest directorial effort this season—a love letter to kaiju and the tokusatsu genre, a show about playing with toys and fantasy and escapism, bloated with so many references to mecha anime and old school Ultraman and a dozen other unrelated properties that the showrunners loved to buy toys of when they were kids. This is a show that rewards repeat viewings, as the first couple of episodes are hidden behind 5 layers of foreshadowing, red herrings, and referential Easter eggs. The bait and switch is delicious, and even though I felt like a lot of it went over my head because I am not in the know about all the extremely specific references this show was making, the journey is worth it. The scale feels huge, the reveals are all great, and the characters are engaging. Akane Shinjou is one of my favorite villains because she is also technically the protagonist, and also she is an emotionally messy kaiju fucker who lives in garbage and that’s delightful.

My favorite this season was a dark horse: the never-to-be-imitated-again Zombieland Saga. The incredibly vague descriptions and trailers that were put out before its release did not gear me up for the first episode. This was on purpose. The first episode had me so fucking floored I couldn’t believe I could still be surprised by anime. Even after a picked my jaw up off the floor and resigned myself to the fact that I’d been tricked into watching an idol anime, and I liked it, the show didn’t stop surprising me. It understood physical comedy in way that never got tired, but didn’t sacrifice any heart (hehe). I learned more about the idol industry than any other idol anime I’ve ever watched combined. There’s also something very tongue-in-cheek about having your idol anime--a genre done to death-- star zombies. It was a constantly surprising delight to watch, and I loved every episode more.

#chitchat paddywhack #animoose and mango #lost post /#boy i hope that read more is working

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lostinthewinterwood · 4 years ago

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Id Pro Quo 2021

Hey there!

It seems we share some aspects of id, my friend, so let the letter go forward :3

(also, if anyone is curious—would be delighted at art treats, though I haven’t requested any art)

Here’s the order of things:

- DNWs

- Likes

- Tags I may or may not have requested that would go great with anything (as additions, not instead of requested tags, lol)

- Mother of Learning

- Revolutionary Arc

- Original Work

General DNW

non-con/dub-con;

explicit sexual content;

incest (incl. adoptive/chosen family);

a/b/o;

mpreg;

non-canonical permanent major character death;

complete downer endings;

hurt no comfort;

heavy angst;

on-page deliberate self-harm*;

on-page suicide;

gore;

graphic physical trauma;

character bashing;

cringe comedy;

fic-as-writer-soapbox;

fic that’s all about real-world bigotries or real-world politics;

canon-typical 2020;

unrequested full-setting AUs;

marginalized identities as focus of fic;

unrequested romance as the main plot.

*I don’t include things like, say, punching a wall in a fit of emotion under this. However, something like cutting would not be appreciated.

General Likes

– I really like plotty fics

– Secret identity and disguise shenanigans, the more layers to them and more absurdity the better.

– Casual genderfuckery - guys in skirts and girls in suits, and nobody cares. Not necessarily any deep rumination on gender, just comfort in playing with it.

– Time travel and time loops are always fun

– A focus on family and/or friendship, especially characters realizing they’re not nearly as alone as they think they are, and just generally characters who like each other and enjoy spending time together

– Found family; families of choice

– Character studies

– Worldbuilding

– Canon-divergence AUs and missing scenes; things set pre- or post-canon; wriggling into canon and poking at it to see what it spits back at you, if that description makes any sense at all.

Tags that go great with literally any of these (unless contradicted by DNWs) as optional additions, if appropriate:

after worst day of A’s life A pretends to fall asleep on B to get tenderness without having to talk

all the diaspora feelings

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Alternate Universe - Daemons

Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale

Alternate Universe - High Fantasy

Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic

Alternate Universe - Regency-Inspired Fantasy

Alternate Universe - Space Setting with Magic

Alternate Universe - Traveling Circus/Carnival

Badass in Distress

Ballroom Dancing

Bonding over music

Catching injured character as they faint or lose balance

Character A lost character B's trust; trying desperately to get it back

Character confesses traumatic events to sympathetic friend

Character Ignores Their Trauma; Their Friends Try to Help After They Can No Longer Deny It

Character is rescued and comforted

Character tries to hide their problems but friends are determined to help

Character who isn't used to being protected gets protected

character(s) get the therapy they so desperately need

Characters That Don't Like Each Other Nonetheless Find Comfort In Parallel Traumas

characters undercover as whatever seems interesting to you

characters understand each other so well they barely need to speak in times of crisis

Class Differences

Coming to terms with the permanent effects of significant injuries

Conversations In Liminal Spaces On The Border Of One World And Another

Conversations in Mundane Liminal Spaces

Cuddling & Snuggling

Drawing & Painting

Emotionally Repressed Characters Have to Work Through Having Emotions

Families - Found Family

Finding Someone Sleeping and Putting a Blanket or Coat Over Them

Fire-forged Friends

Forgiveness

Gratuitous descriptions of hugging

Gratuitous Descriptions of Winter

Grooming - hair brushing

Hair Braiding

Hair Stuff - A is unexpectedly very good at styling hair; styles B's ornately; B wears it all day

Hair Stuff - A looks up how to do fancy hairstyles so they can do B's hair

Hair Stuff - character cuts another character's hair

Hair Washing

A has baggage; doesn’t trust others & (less obviously) doesn’t trust themself/has guilt

Holding Hands

Hurt/Comfort - Character Doesn't Expect Tenderness But Gets It Anyway

Hurt/Comfort - comfort after a nightmare

Hurt/Comfort - comfort focusing on little hurt because the big hurt is massive and unapproachable

Hurt/Comfort - Loneliness

The Inexplicable Peace That Comes from Stargazing

Intelligent Characters Enthusing Over Learning New Things (Especially From Each Other)

Learning a New Language

Learning to Dance

Loneliness

Platonic Life Partners

Protectiveness - Character A drapes their jacket over B's shoulders

Protectiveness - Character being protected isn't used to being cared about

A rescues B from trouble B knowingly walked into (B thought they could handle it on their own)

Scars - Exchanging stories about scars

Scenery Porn

Snow and Ice

Teamwork

that fic genre w/ long lowercase title (&parenthetical) that’s sexy moody multilayered & complicated

Thing character has built a large chunk of their life around comes to an end; finding a new path

Touch-Starved Character gets their hair stroked & gets other kind gentle touches & cuddles

two people really want Found Family but are too emotionally stunted to admit it

Uncovering a major secret by gradually putting the pieces together

Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding - Magic Spells & Rituals

Young character(s) solving problems in surprisingly mature ways considering their age(s)

Mother of Learning - nobody103

- Solo: Kirielle Kazinski (Mother of Learning - nobody103)

- Kirielle Kazinski & Zorian Kazinski (Mother of Learning - nobody103)

- Mother of Learning - Controller Kirielle Kazinski

- Mother of Learning - Deaf Kirielle Kazinski

- Mother of Learning - Time Looper Kirielle Kazinski

fandom-specific dnw: romantic and/or sexual Zach/Zorian; physical parental abuse within the Kazinski family; significant exaggeration of canonical emotional neglect/abuse/general family dysfunction; explicit permanent erasure of time traveler characters in your fic who weren't erased in canon

Look, I just love Kirielle a lot, okay. And there are two basic concepts that will not leave my brain when it comes to her, so I’ve requested both here—if not this exchange, when else? Also, they’d definitely work great together, if you feel so inclined.

Anyway, concept 1—time traveler Kirielle. I think it would be really interesting to explore how she dealt with all of it—she’s nine, not fifteen, so she’d be growing up while looking like a child, and she’d have to trick her way around people a lot more to get them to take her seriously. It would be different, also, depending on if she were a hanger-on or the Controller; ironically she’d probably have more support in her learning and growing if she were a hanger-on, since there’d be at least one other person looping with her then. She’d also look like a lot less of a threat to anyone looking for those—physically, she’s nine years old, no matter how long she lives, and children are a lot less threatening than teenagers.

As for concept 2—I really should’ve mentioned this in my sign-up, but it slipped my mind at the time—I really, really don’t want to see fics that infantilize disabled characters—if Kiri’s deaf, she’s still gonna be herself, you know? Not exactly self-sufficient or anything, she is nine after all, but not a helpless little kid who can’t do anything on her own either. And please don’t cure her—magic (or mundane) adaptive tech is fine, but please no outright cure.

That being said, I’m using “deaf” here in the looser sense, so do what you will with that piece of knowledge.

Anyway. I’m fascinated by this idea, I think, because it would both fundamentally change Kirielle’s circumstances and be a big opportunity for worldbuilding—all we really know about disability in Eldemar is that modern disability theory is not a thing which is familiar to giant spiders or to fifteen-year-old boys. But like—if she’s deaf, then that means that she can’t be the perfect little girl Cikan quite clearly wants her to be; I’d be very surprised if they didn’t raise her oral, didn’t try to hide her disability or at least make it as invisible as possible to everyone else. And I’d imagine that there isn’t much of a Deaf community in Cirin of all places—maybe that makes her want to go to Cyoria even more, find a community there, learn a sign language so she can communicate in a way that’s easier for her.

Actually, I think it really would be interesting to combine these two—I know I already said they go great together, but like, it would just give her more time to find a community and a language and what it means to be a Deaf merchant family’s daughter in Eldemar, when you aren’t restricted to a tiny little village with parents who care too much about appearances.

Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88 (fanfic)

- Solo: Pansy Parkinson | Pandora Parkinson (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Solo: Arcturus Rigel "Archie" Black (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Solo: Adriana "Addy" Potter (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Arcturus Rigel "Archie" Black/Hermione Granger (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Francesca Lam/Aldon Rosier (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Harriet Potter | Rigel Black & Pansy Parkinson (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Hannah Abbott/Blaise Zabini (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Ginny Weasley & Ron Weasley (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Caelum Lestrange & Pansy Parkinson (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- Caelum Lestrange & Harriet Potter | Rigel Black (Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88)

- can't go back to school because you're critical to putting your country back together post-civil-war

- Characters That Don't Like Each Other Nonetheless Find Comfort In Parallel Traumas

- dissonance of normal college life and the secret civil war you fought overseas as a teenager

- finally getting a chance to sit down and process all the things you had to do to maintain your cover

- Fix-it - Last-minute rescue for character who died in canon before they die

- going back to school after fighting a yearlong civil war against the new dictator of your country

- going home after the war (but you can't go home again)

- Post-canon - characters slowly recover from trauma caused by canon

- A was too young to remember the war but every adult they know was involved in it

- we both have massive trust issues; it seems like we’re the only reasonable people in the world

- World-weary broken people find comfort and understanding in each other

Don’t have any fandom-specific dnws here.

For Rev Arc, what I’m looking for is essentially consequences and fallout; canon is nice! Canon is very nice! But we don’t see a whole lot of what happens afterwards—all these kids who came of age during the war, who have to or can’t go back to school, who have to live with the world that exists after. The new generation, who are in a lot of ways more akin in circumstance to canon HP’s characters than Rev Arc or RBC characters ever were. There was a war; the war’s been won. What now?

If you happened to be looking at the fix-it tag, I didn’t have any canonically dead characters in my requests, but I was definitely thinking of Draco when I requested it—you wouldn’t even really need to change much else, I don’t think, since he’s injured badly enough by the time Harry and Leo show up to put him out of commission for the rest of the war. Also, I formatted Pansy’s tag the way I did because I was thinking of her reconciling herself after it all, if that makes sense.

Original Work

Mentor angle

- Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl & His Older Female Mentor

- Abused Child Grows To Trust New Authority Figures/Guardians

- Bonding over music

- Catching injured character as they faint or lose balance

- Character Discovers a Horrible Political Secret

- Character who isn't used to being protected gets protected

- Drawing & Painting

- Families - Found Family

- Finding Someone Sleeping and Putting a Blanket or Coat Over Them

- Gratuitous Descriptions of Winter

- Grooming - hair brushing

- Hair Braiding

- Hurt/Comfort - Character A discovers Character B's biggest secret

- Hurt/Comfort - Character expects to be punished but is comforted instead

- The Inexplicable Peace That Comes from Stargazing

- Learning to Dance

- A rescues B from trouble B knowingly walked into (B thought they could handle it on their own)

- song of the lioness style gender disguise plot

- teaching moments while rescues are taking place

- Thing character has built a large chunk of their life around comes to an end; finding a new path

- Uncovering a major secret by gradually putting the pieces together

Gen angle

- Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl & Male Student Warrior

- Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl & Female Student Warrior Disguised as a Boy

- Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl & Female Fellow Student Mage

- Character tries to hide their problems but friends are determined to help

- characters understand each other so well they barely need to speak in times of crisis

- Epic Friendship Slowburn

- Finding Someone Sleeping and Putting a Blanket or Coat Over Them

- Fire-forged Friends

- Found Family - characters come to unspoken acknowledgement that that's what they are

- going back to school after fighting a yearlong civil war against the new dictator of your country

- Hair Stuff - A is unexpectedly very good at styling hair; styles B's ornately; B wears it all day

- A has baggage; doesn’t trust others & (less obviously) doesn’t trust themself/has guilt

- Hurt/Comfort - Being comforted by someone character distrusts

- Hurt/Comfort - Character A discovers Character B's biggest secret

- Hurt/Comfort - Character overuses magic/powers/etc. to protect a loved one

- I would do anything to save you from yourself (including physically fight you if it comes to it)

- Intelligent Characters Enthusing Over Learning New Things (Especially From Each Other)

- Learning a New Language

- A rescues B from trouble B knowingly walked into (B thought they could handle it on their own)

- song of the lioness style gender disguise plot

- Uncovering a major secret by gradually putting the pieces together

- Villain undercover as a good guy; grows to care about good guys leading to heel-face turn

- X tells Y the (outlandish) truth; Y thinks it’s a joke until something proves X’s truthfulness

Ship angle

- Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl/Male Student Warrior

- Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl/Female Student Warrior Disguised as a Boy

- Male Student Mage Disguised as a Girl/Female Fellow Student Mage

- A Admires B's Fighting Skills

- all the diaspora feelings

- Ballroom Dancing

- Character sees color for the first time upon meeting soulmate; it's a highly inconvenient time

- Characters Didn't Realise The Relationship Was Secret; They Thought It Was Obvious

- characters understand each other so well they barely need to speak in times of crisis

- Fake Dating Leads to Feelings Despite Characters' Best Attempts

- Hair Stuff - A is unexpectedly very good at styling hair; styles B's ornately; B wears it all day

- Hurt/Comfort - Character A discovers Character B's biggest secret

- I would do anything to save you from yourself (including physically fight you if it comes to it)

- Intelligent Characters Enthusing Over Learning New Things (Especially From Each Other)

- Language of Flowers

- A rescues B from trouble B knowingly walked into (B thought they could handle it on their own)

- song of the lioness style gender disguise plot

- Soulmates - Scars appear on each other's skin

- Soulmates- Name on the wrist is not the one character goes by

- Uncovering a major secret by gradually putting the pieces together

- Undercover - Masquerade Party

- Villain undercover as a good guy; grows to care about good guys leading to heel-face turn

- X tells Y the (outlandish) truth; Y thinks it’s a joke until something proves X’s truthfulness

fandom-specific dnw: age gaps in ships of more than 3 or so years when one character is underage; predatory manipulation between characters in the relationship in service of the relationship; transphobia directed at cisgender characters; crossdressing as fetish. I’d also rather not see any kind of serious relationship with at least one character disguising their gender pre-reveal of that disguise–flirting, starting to date a little is okay but if it’s going further please have them reveal it. Please don’t play into the idea of gender-disguised character as “trap”. If actual trans characters are present, then some transphobia isn’t a hard dnw—my gift in Heart Attack didn’t bother me at all.

also dnw characters requested as gender-disguised to be written as trans or to be written as absolutely loathing their disguise. other characters are fair game. if writing trans characters, dnw them to be explicitly nondysphoric (but not addressing it is fine).

So, uh, I’m sure you can see the… theme in all these requests. For these ones especially, the freeforms aren’t the really iddy part; I just picked the ones I liked best and thought I suited the relationships best. It’s the ship tags that are the iddy part.

Look, I fell in love with Song of the Lioness as a kid, then I grew up and realized there was a tragic dearth of gender-flipped versions, and now I’m fishing for them in exchanges.

So give me this boy and the people in his life! Tell me a story—what is this world, that this is necessary? How does he handle various aspects of it? Or just let them go on an adventure or have a nice quiet day tbh, those would both be rad too.

#exchange letters #id pro quo #requested: fic #requested: revolutionary arc #requested: mother of learning #requested: original work

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nyangibun · 7 years ago

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I am maybe an ignorant person but ... I don't understand the Jonsa thing so ... I fou have time can you explain this to me .. ? And even if i'm a Jonerys shipper for years i would really like to know the Jonsa chemistery :)

Oh wow…

The thing is I think shipping is kind of subjective to a degree. It doesn’t matter if it’s canon or not because there’ll always be a group who think it shouldn’t be canon and so on and so forth. I don’t know how to explain Jonsa to someone who doesn’t see it (not that I’m blaming you for not seeing it! Some people just don’t and that’s totally okay!) but I will try my best, Anonny.

For me personally, it began in Season 6. I had no prior inclination for Jonsa or even an inkling of the possibility of them. Frankly, I was the most casual of Game of Thrones viewers. It took me nearly a year to actually finish watching Season 5 (but that’s mostly because my ex told me about the Sansa x Ramsay storyline and I hated it so much I refused to watch it). For me, GoT was and has always been a political fantasy drama with lots of boobs and blood. Shipping wasn’t on the cards for me at all (aside from my love for Gendrya). But then Season 6 happened and we finally, finally got a Stark reunion. Only this Stark reunion felt weird.

First of all, Jon and Sansa had so very little interactions (ie. none) prior to this. They were the two most seemingly random Starks to meet. And yet when they hugged, Sansa nuzzled his face. At first, I thought ‘okay, well they lost everyone and this is the first person from their old life they’ve seen’ and even in retrospect I don’t see it as particularly a romantic action on their parts. But it is a weird thing to have the actors do. Even if they were always meant to be platonic, nuzzling is weird for anyone not involved romantically or sexually. I would never ever nuzzle any of my family members or my friends, but then I’m not the best comparison. I don’t like physical affection from anyone I’m not dating so lmao. Still, I was willing to overlook that because it’s Game of Thrones. Maybe they’re just trying to amp up the intensity of the scene. But then you get continued lingering looks from Jon, strange awestruck half-smiles and dim romantic atmosphere. The most bizarre shot for me though was the tent scene. Jon and Sansa had to stop in the middle of their arguing to stare at each other, chests heaving with candlelight in the background. This is Romantic Trope 101. If you had siblings arguing with each other, there’d be more angry yelling, insulting and storming off. You don’t pause to stare at each other as you struggle to catch your breath.

This all contributed to my questioning over what I was seeing. I didn’t immediately think ‘oh yeah this is my ship’. I just thought ‘okay this is weird, right?’ and continued to think that for the rest of Season 6. Honestly, the idea of them as a ship didn’t really cement itself in my head until the very last episode where Jon kissed her forehead, lingered just a bit too long, stared at her lips, walked away and the immediate next shot is the reveal of R+L=J. It was like light bulbs flashing in my head, like ‘oh shit they’re cousins and cousins totally get together and is accepted as a viable marriage prospect!!’ I mean I suspected Jon wasn’t really Ned’s son, but the confirmation right after a Jonsa scene felt so so important. Not even through shipper goggles. It was what made me realise the strange tension between them wasn’t solely in my head and that this probably had a purpose for setting something up.

That’s the Jonsa thing for me. That’s literally how I began to ship them. I don’t know if this answers your question about their chemistry, but these were the moments that highlighted their chemistry to me personally.

The reason why I’ve stayed with this ship for as long as I have, I can list you the reasons below:

To paraphrase from a Tom Cruise film, they complete each other. I know, I know. How utterly cliched of me, but for lack of a better phrase, it’s true. I don’t even mean it in a their souls match and blahblahblah, but I mean that in personalities. Jon is the emotionally-driven, honourable, brave and intelligent military tactician, whose life has been consumed by war and physically fighting for survival. Sansa is the emotionally-guarded, brave, shrewd and pragmatic politician. Her life in contrast has been consumed by the political game and she’s had to mentally fight for survival. Jon knows the North and the dangers beyond; Sansa knows the South and the dangers there. They’re two sides of the same coin and they need each other to survive. Yes, I’d love it if it was romantically, but even taking that away, they still need each other. Together, they make a formidable team. They are Tyrion and Dani but better because there is no power imbalance. They’re equals. Yes, Jon doesn’t quite listen to Sansa sometimes, but him leaving her the North is a testament to his trust and respect for her. This is one of the reasons why I love and adore their interactions so much. You can still see how different they are as individuals but just as clearly, you can see how well they mesh together, and you sit there rooting for them both.

They offer each other something no one else does. S7 Sansa is the most open and honest and confident I’ve ever seen her and that’s all because she trusts Jon. He might disagree, he might argue, but she feels so safe in his presence that she feels comfortable enough to finally speak her mind and demonstrate how intelligent she really is. And for the first time, she can let herself love and hope again. You see that in the soft and affectionate way she regards Jon in any matter, and that is true even in the scowls and exasperation because those emotions are still born out of her love and thus her concern for him. She wants only the best for him and for their home. Ultimately what it comes down to is Jon makes her happy, safe, hopeful and strong. His faith in her is slowly restoring her own faith in herself. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for Sansa. Even if Jonsa isn’t canon, if Sansa continues to get this, I’ll be okay. But I do feel Jonsa as a romantic pairing would be the perfect way to conclude Sansa’s story. She’s been basically sold into two loveless marriages and believes no one will ever marry her for love even though all she ever wanted was a fairy-tail romance. If her story concludes with the valiant knight (Jon) and her falling in love and marrying, it would be the perfect end, and one that isn’t too fairy-tale considering their angst and conflict over being half-siblings-turned-cousins.

As for Jon, I personally believe Sansa’s return gave his second life meaning again. He had been so ready and determined to escape to the south and give up entirely. We don’t know whether he would’ve gone through with it and maybe he wouldn’t, but this was the lowest Jon’s ever been. He was so lost, so disillusioned, and insecure and broken, but then came Sansa and suddenly he had purpose again. Maybe it was simply family obligations, but you can’t say she didn’t inspire him to fight for his home. I don’t think Jon would’ve done it without Sansa. She also challenges him in a way no one else has since Ygritte and Jon needs that. He’s not the perfect hero; he doesn’t know everything. He’s been in the North too long to understand the political game the way Sansa does. She offers him insight into a world he had no prior knowledge in. She also offers him camaraderie, a partner with equal stakes in this war, and a friend who he can come to, someone who loves and respects him and believes in him so wholeheartedly. Yes, he has loyal knights and friends, but no one quite understands his insecurity as a Stark and a rule the way Sansa does. Their interaction in 7x01 showed us this relationship/friendship between them (the way Sansa immediately knew Jon was doubting himself and sought to reassure him earnestly even when he was being rather rude to her because the thing is she knew he needed it more than she needed his validation).

Another reason why I love this ship so much is Jon’s ferocity when it comes to Sansa. You could absolutely read this as platonic and I’m sure many do, but you can’t deny there’s definitely something visceral and primal in the way Jon strives to protect her. I’ve seen Jon kill and get aggressive, but I’ve never seen him lose control so violently than when he was beating the crap out of Ramsay. It was probably a combination of seeing Ramsay kill Rickon in front of him, but definitely also for Sansa. Then you have 7x02 where Jon chokes Littlefinger, who had been needling him and provoking him all throughout that scene, but it was the comment about loving Sansa in a sexual/romantic manner that really got him angry. The fact is there was no immediate thought to that action; it was absolutely a reactionary thing and again a primal one at that. Jon doesn’t even say anything for awhile and I think for a few seconds he really was considering killing Littlefinger. But then it’s like he comes to himself. Angry murderous kitten Jon is my favourite kind of Jon lol.

There are also a lot of Ned x Catelyn parallels that makes it hard to ignore, as well as 7x02′s parallel to Jaime x Brienne’s awkward wave goodbye. These are 2 of the most established ships in the fandom. Paralleling Jonsa with them feels intentional and important.

But honestly, there really are so many reasons why I love this ship and why I believe in them so wholeheartedly. Maybe it is just Kit and Sophie having unbelievable chemistry, but I like to believe otherwise. I hope this sheds some light for you, Anonny.

#jonsa #jon x sansa #actuallyjonsa #jon snow #sansa stark #game of thrones #asks #anonymous #jonsa meta #long post #got s7 #spoilers #why i ship jonsa

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andsundrymuses · 7 years ago

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Muse: Jared Morehu

Disclaimer: The mun is not Māori, nor from New Zealand. While I have looked into Māori culture, and will continue do research if I need to, I may fuck up at some point. My intention is to do everything I can to respect this culture that I am not a part of as best I can, and represent it and Jared as well as I can. If anything I write is incorrect, inappropriate, or (heaven forbid) offensive, I beg of you to tell me. I will do my best to correct my mistakes and learn from them. Thank you.

Name: Jared Morehu

Face claim: Pana Hema Taylor

Birthday: November 18

Age: 25

Height: 5′8″

Nationality: Kiwi (New Zealander)

Ethnicity: Māori

Residence: Brokenwood, New Zealand

Occupation: A bit of this, a bit of that

Orientation: Heterosexual*, not looking for romance

Body type: Compact, athletic

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black, clean cut

Bio: Jared was born in the small town of Brokenwood, New Zealand. He is an only child whose mother (Mariana) died in childbirth as a teenager. Before her death, she never revealed who his father was, and he was raised by his whānau (family).

Jared was a friendly and smart child, but there was a restlessness to him and it was a struggle to get him to settle on a task or a subject for too long. Eventually, a few subjects took hold more strongly than others (horticulture and horses, in particular), but in his youth this restlessness sometimes lead him astray. He became involved in more criminal activities that his cousins were up too, along with his extended “cousin” Kahu Taylor. It was mostly harmless, he thought, trading in stolen goods and weapons, occasionally drugs, but then people started getting hurt. Kahu got sent to juvie for a crime he didn’t commit and his cousins eventually went to prison. Jared pulled back from that side of the family, but did not cut off connections with them entirely. They were family, after all. He’s still aware of how to procure anything you might need by illegal methods, but he tries to avoid most of the trouble. By his 20s, people only came to him to involve him in criminal activity directly when it was either inconsequential or when they were desperate.

He took odd jobs within the community, and soon became known as a reliable, friendly, knowledgeable young man. As he put it, he knows everyone that’s worth knowing in Brokenwood. When word of his green fingers reached DSS Gary McLeod, Jared was hesitant to work for anyone associated with the police, but agreed to it eventually. Once he got to know the other man, they formed a close friendship, but unfortunately, by that time, it was too late for both Gary McLeod’s grapevines, and for Gary McLeod. When Gary passed away, the new DSS, Mike Sheppard, took over his home and vineyard, and asked Jared to stay on to take care of his crops. Jared said yes, and another unexpected friendship formed. Jared’s expansive knowledge on a vast number of subjects became an invaluable resource to Mike and the Brokenwood CIB. As were his criminal connections and skills learned while he still took part in those activities, on occasion. Though Jared had to skulk around in the dark with his hood up whenever he had to go the the actual station, for fear of being seen as too cozy with the cops.

However, after a series of difficult cases that affected Jared directly and almost cost him his life more than once (culminating in being framed for double homicide and suffering severe head trauma and blood loss, then later attempted suffocation), Jared had to take a step back from his normal routine. He needed time to recover from both the physical and emotional damage that had been done.

Family: Mariana Morehu (mother, deceased), unknown father, Tina Morehu (auntie), Walter Elliot (uncle). George Morehu (kuru), Kahu and Mihiata Taylor (extended ”cousins”)

Knowledgeable about: horticulture, horses, quantum physics, wine making/tasting, hunting, Christianity/the bible, guns, poetry, some cars, etc.**

[This bio may change if future seasons talk more about Jared or if he comes back to the show.]

Headcanons:

While the entire Morehu family shared in Jared’s upbringing, his uncle Walter and auntie Tina were closest to him. Walter is surly and cantankerous, and spent 2 years in prison when Jared was young after he ran over a cop who tried to arrest him after he shot up a neighbor’s house. After his release, Walter dedicated his life to becoming “the smiling brown face annoying the snot out of” those same neighbors. Tina, on the other hand, was extremely religious, always ready to quote the bible at you, or point the finger at those things she perceived as sins. She could be extremely strict and difficult to live with. But growing up so close to two very different people is part of why Jared became so adaptable in life, capable of of accepting and interacting with all sorts of people from any and all walks of life.

Mariana and Tina Morehu were both Christian, but never as devout as auntie Tina became after Mariana’s death. Mariana saw her underage sister die after becoming pregnant, she believed, to a man many years too old to be sleeping with teenagers (read: raping, as the age gap was far too much for Mariana to actually consent, even if she was willing). Tina saw her death as a result of that sin. She devoted herself fully to the scriptures after that, wanting a better life for both herself and for Mariana’s orphaned son.

Jared got teased and bullied when he as very young, and called a bastard. Both Auntie Tina and Uncle Walter helped Jared to deal with this in vastly different ways, with Walter telling Jared to tell people to fuck off and punch them in the nose if they didn’t, and Tina telling him to turn the other cheek. Somehow, a combination both approaches worked.

He had a lot of guilt when he was young about his mother’s death, and still finds the subject of his parents sensitive. He doesn’t like to talk about her/them.

In spite of his high intelligence, Jared did poorly in school. Teachers lamented that he was smart but didn’t focus enough on the lessons, and often wound up goofing off. This lead to him being disciplined quite often. He barely passed secondary school, and didn’t go to university.

While Jared puts on a strong and carefree face, the events of S3 took a toll on him mentally and emotionally. Honestly, only the first episode of S3 didn’t do something awful to him, so expect him not to be as okay as he seems (after he heals from his physical injuries) in any canon-based post S3 threads.

More to come…

*Mun is open to the possibility that with very strong chemistry, I could ship Jared with a non-female character. However, please be advised that Jared is from a very small town and part of a community where people are not always okay with people being lgbt. Jared would likely have a very difficult time accepting any attraction he may feel for someone who is not female, and threads may involve the dredging up of internalized homophobia. **While Jared knows these things and, imo, has near genius level intelligence, the mun does not. I will try to research anything that comes up where Jared would have knowledge that I don’t, but don’t expect me to be as smart as him. ;)

#to be or not to be; about jared #channeling the elf within; jared headcanons #ooc #bio; jared

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juushika · 7 years ago

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Homestuck liveblog part 3: Vriska, Terezi, and characterization; “let me tell you about homestuck” is “let me explain quadrants”; Karkat/Karkat OTP

me: You know sollux is pretty great tho Canon mental health issues Can see vision of his own death Generally a seer but with like a lot of angst and bodily suffering “I’ll copy/paste less now that the typing quirks are insane,” I said, like a big liar http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003985

TA: ii al2o talk two you becau2e iin ca2e you havent notiiced ii de2pii2e my2elf and perpetually 2eek two dupliicate through emotiional paiin the cacophony of phy2iical paiin my hiideou2 mutant braiin cau2e2 me every day.

Sollux is pretty great

Missy: hah i read like.. 4/5 words some i just go.. meh fuck it

me: Sometimes the trolls will find each other’s typing quirks confusing Which functions both to normalize some of the text for the viewer And to be like lol we know this is ridiculous I appreciate the meta When one troll will repeat what another troll says but with different typing quirks

me: http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003986 Sollux to karkat:

TA: the only thiing youre good at ii2 yelliing and makiing huge mii2take2.

Same tho

me: Nopeeeeee time to meet vriska Preemptive feels Abort abort The way that she engages interpersonal relationships reminds me too much of myself Especially with tavros??? Who is a small angel which better nature dictates we must protect at all costs Which spoiler is not what happens!!

me: http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004078

AG: Can I join your team? CG: YES I’M GLAD YOU ASKED, BECAUSE THERE IS A WIDE OPEN SLOT FOR THE MOST VILE BACKSTABBING SOCIOPATH WHO EVER LIVED. CG: YOU REALLY HELPED ME OUT OF A JAM BY STEPPING FORWARD. AG: Vile 8acksta88ing sociopath? Karkat, did you copy and p8ste that phrase directly from your personal ad descri8ing what you are looking for in a lady?

CG: BECOMING FRIENDS, WHAT THE FUCK. CG: WE WILL NEVER BE FRIENDS, MORON. AG: Not even h8 friends? CG: NO. MORE LIKE TWITCHY EYED PROJECTILE VOMITING IN UTTER DISGUST FRIENDS, WHILE I PERFORATE MY BONE BULGE WITH A CULLING FORK. AG: Yessssssss. I’ll take it! CG: GET LOST.

Vriska makes me!!! uncomfortable!!! What’s particularly interesting here is that karkat is super obsessed with quadrants which is how trolls conceptualize their interpersonal relationships And they have a dark side to the quadrants which are animosity-fueled relationships So he is actually in desperate search of hate friends So in his own way the answer is yes He said that he is also really bad at communicating his wants with other people but also with himself, he’s very bad at honesty and self-knowledge So the answer is also no And also yes My babies

Missy: Can I just hate hate the stupid drivers? [from longer story about being stuck in traffic QQ] No friends?

me: Yes that is allowed It probably won’t be this personality- and life path-defining interaction Like it is for trolls But that’s probably a good thing

Missy: I remember you like karkat and want to be vriska From long ago* But that all i remember

me: Vriska is very black romantic inclined Also approximately a sociopath, hurts people a lot…really cruel And then I’m like oh my God is this dream-me Well, that bodes well

Missy: Yes that See

* chatlog from 2011 (!!!!), which is what Missy remembered from long ago:

me: it's a few things [which make me feel uncomfortable about identifying with Vriska] it's 1) a different set of morality than yours (general you) I sympathize with that it's similar to but not quite amorality which I think we all have that inside but because I hate people mine is pretty pronounced so I understand hers but the 2) is harder to phrase it's sorta Ayn Randian to be honest she's selfish, and violent, and really just a murderous monster, but that interior morality doesn't just justify it to her, it makes the issue moot you don't need to justify what you know to be innately correct, even if others don't see it your way BUT she has second thoughts because her interior morality/rules are not as fixed or indeed as ... countercultural [or even cultural] as she thinks in fact in being so secure in them and the belief that they don't need to be justified is actually her being ... defensive and for good cause, and she’s partially in the right but not to the extent she's arguing she is so like killing and hurting people as a form of self-expression is not innately bad, except that it is and where am I going with this... I understand the conflict between "my rules are different, which is okay" and "my rules contradict yours, which is problematic"

Missy: i sorta get it. except with that i don't read homestuck so this is all theoretical and without context

me: http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004120

“It should be noted that in troll language, the word for friend is exactly the same as the word for enemy.”

Equius is…. So weird…. I’ve never known what to do with this character

Missy: ?

me: God it’s just a lot of tealdeer, uh Trolls have a caste system based on blood color which is sort of outdated but still carries social prejudices he’s really obsessed with it but sort of embodies the obsession via what amounts to fetishes and d/s dynamics Which are intentionally played to be embarrassing for the reader So it’s like this interesting aspect of troll culture combined with embarrassment squick and just I never know what to do with it He’s not an attractive character Profoundly not He also wants to roleplay being bossed around by higher castes No homo And he’s a furry Still no homo!!!! He makes me Uncomfortable

me: equius is SO CONFUSING i am so confused also i remember why i never latched on to terezi in the long run her character … re … development…. by which I mean that when we flash back to the troll origin stories her characterization is less consistent she’s actually super justice-y it’s just that troll justice/legal system is super tyrannical and violent and doesn’t mesh well with humans, so it came across v murdertime from human PoV but i legit think her earlier dialog doesn’t adequately reflect that distinction and so her character (retroactive) development is still inconsistent i think i remember her flying off the handle in later acts tho and becoming murder so we’ll see [future Juu: nope this did not pan out; my earlier argument stands] http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Terezi_Pyrope

Terezi can be civil, flirty, manipulative, and derisive in her interactions. Her drive for justice results in some callous and cruel actions, the majority of which she has been shown to be deeply affected by and regret later on.

yeah i… like that balance: deeply regret the doing of what one must because one can but i much prefer earlier characterization of just “because one can” i really--like, as much as hussie has everything pre-written in his head i really think her characterization is uneven and just sort of….unwrites earlier (publication order not internal chronology) interactions like HEY DAVE WHAT DOES YOUR BLOOD TASTE LIKE or when she tricked john into killing himself and destroying the entire game session (which is “punishment for jack noir/the way the kids play their session” but there’s nooooooooo indication of that in dialog i srsly think it’s just retconned if it’s explained at all) yeah wiki really doesn’t have good explanation for the murdering john thing b/c it’s inconsistent so there, homestuck! p.s. earlier terezi was better but i guess vriska makes her redundant since she does just murder for murder’s sake that said vriska doing the murder is why she and terezi stop being frand, which seems like just poor writing/further (retroactive) character development

me: Time travel (from troll relative perspective) had begun!! You know what that means Time for karkat to realize his true potential to hate himself

Missy: Time for your feels you mean (Pt 8383939/8382962882)

me: He is leaving memos to his past/future self!!! I love him So much Like no exaggeration Top 10 fav

http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004447

CCG: FUTURE ME, DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE WEIGH IN ON THIS, I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING. CCG: IF I WERE FUTURE ME, WHICH I GUESS I AM, I WOULD READ THIS AND BE ALL OVER IT, LIKE DAMMIT KARKAT WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING. CCG: GET TO THE POINT. FUTURE carcinoGeneticist [FCG] 0:20 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo. FCG: YEAH PRETTY MUCH. CCG banned FCG from responding to memo.

http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004467

FCG: OH GOD, NOW I’M ARGUING WITH CURRENT ME. FCG: I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE I WAS DOING IT, THIS IS REALLY FUCKED UP. FCG: I’VE GOT TO PULL IT TOGETHER.

I love!!!! Karkat as everyone’s fucking romance councilor is.. it’s so good….. Like He is so obsessed with romance, so actually a great person to go to for advice about it, and actually surprisingly emotionally accessible when he wants to be Except where the relationships involve him Even in pale romances aka what we think of as friendship or animosity Then he gets over-performative or defensive or just locked up He really values and understands these things but is unable to access them Instead, and I know I’ve written about this before but, his most meaningful and complex and intimate and antagonistic relationship Is with Himself I love him so much and like the weird narrative techniques of HS are what make this possible, they’re not just gimmicks, they’re ways of exploring something unique but identifiable further http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004467

FCG: NOT THAT I EXPECT YOU TO GIVE A SHIT BUT PERSONALLY I AM ALL TWISTED UP ABOUT BLACKROM STUFF ESPECIALLY. FCG: HONESTLY I DON’T THINK I WAS CUT OUT TO HAVE A KISMESIS, I THINK MY STANDARDS ARE WAY TOO HIGH. FCG: DID YOU KNOW THAT… FCG: THIS FEELS SO INSANE TO ADMIT, BUT FCG: OVER THE COURSE OF THIS ADVENTURE, AT TIMES I ACTUALLY BEGAN TO SUSPECT I WAS MY OWN KISMESIS. FCG: HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT???

¡!!!!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!!!!!! Kismesis is uh black romantic arch nemesis with sexual intimacy

http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Quadrants

in other words, kismesissitude seems to be based on a mix of hatred and sexual attraction. As it thrives on a rivalry between two trolls, defeating or killing your kismesis is discouraged, since obviously there wouldn’t be a relationship anymore. However, despite the stronger hatred aspect of the relationship, in order for a kismesis to last there must be some level of respect between the those persons involved; the tension in kismesissitude relies not only on hatred and annoyance of ones more irksome aspects, but also a level of admiration for their more positive aspects

even more http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004467

FCG: BUT OBVIOUSLY ITS NOT TRUE, I NEVER EVEN DID ANY LEGIT TIME TRAVELING WHERE I COULD MEET MYSELF, I JUST BICKERED WITH PAST AND FUTURE GHOSTS ON A CHAT CLIENT. FCG: FITTING REALLY. EVERY CALIGINOUS ADVERSARY I’VE CONTEMPLATED HAS ELUDED ME LIKE A PHANTOM, EVEN MYSELF!

Legit my fav… interaction…. Thing… Of all time

me: problems with terezi 1) that “when i became a visible character” altered characterization 2) the flushed relationship with karkat it starts offscreen as a noodle incident … thing their interactions after that are good--like, silly, but i can accept them but what sparked the start of the relationship? the soonest we see is when she violates his privacy to find out the color of his blood, which … has class-connotations for trolls, also violent connotations even tho it was a non-violent act, but basically it’s a … like it reads as blackrom, then whips around to a cutsey redrom the way trolls initially feel about each other (& humans) vs how their relationships develop/want vs need/the general emotional maturation occurring within their complex social system is super neato but sometimes what hussie ships doesn’t …. make sense?? in the sense of making a cogent arc for either/any involved character and/or has problematic repercussions specifically within human social constructs, like “i physically abused you to the point of paralysis b/c i liked you” aka vriska who ends up in redrom relationship with tavros??????? (briefly!) like they have An Energy but the “hitting as sign of embarrassed affection x10000” is not a SUPER great thing to depict (inverted a bit b/c vriska is female so it isn’t just straight-up rape culture really but STILL, a BAD START) sollux and feferi end up together b/c she kisses him to wake his dream-self after he dies???? with ZERO prior interaction on-screen?????? hussie also sets up “trolls don’t gender” and then all the trolls mostly end up in hetero relationships so that’s also weird like karkat’s intense initial blackrom crush on john being played as a joke, a lol it’s funny both b/c karkat is desperate and b/c gayyyyyyyyyyyyyy the saving grace is that a lot of these relationships are eventually unwritten b/c the trolls are like going through adolescence lots of hookups and then character growth and then breakup, sometimes played super well

me: oh interesting the wiki categories things … differently so btw http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Quadrants#Quadrant_Vacillation

Often in quadrant vacillations one party will have red feelings while the other one has black feelings. Usually one party will adjust their feelings to match their partner’s emotions, but this is not always the case. This sort of relationship volatility is one of the reasons why auspistice is an important part of troll culture.

is my life goal like, kismesis is my love but matesprit/kismesis double reacharound “it’s complicated and also violent” is ….hannibal and also my dream!!

Due to the multiple relationship types and the demands of troll society, trolls form groups and chains of Matesprits and Kismesises. A quadrangle is the simplest complete form of such a group of relationships. It consists of four trolls with two Matespritships and two Kismesissitude between them. If one pairing in a relationship group swaps its relationship type it can force all other relationships within the group to swap as well.

polyamory goals~

why is it not me

me: http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004553

EB: but also i know that it is probably not exactly an empty threat! EB: since one of you already managed to trick me into getting myself killed. EB: well, in another timeline at least. AG: Man. AG: That was pro8a8ly Terezi! I should have known she would pull something like that. What a meddler. EB: terezi? AG: Yes. The pesky 8lind troll who licks her monitor and smells words and stuff. The one who got you killed. I’m sure of it!

(john’s first convo with vriska) and it MAKES NO SENSE why would you go, oh yes, that person obsessed with righteous justice/vengeance who got so mad at me hurting others that they did a big revenge on me; obviously SHE tricked you to your death it’s an obvious attempt to retcon sense into her inconsistent characterization

me: http://www.mspaintadventures.com/test_index.php?s=6&p=004561

EB: heheh. car cat. that is how i am saying that. EB: beep beep, meow!

(Missy later told me that he had been thinking “beep beep, meow” every time I talked about Karkat and still isn’t sure if it’s b/c I have quoted this to him before or b/c he parallel-evolved John’s phrase)

me: kanaya/rose is the otp to end all otps tho so i guess that’s nice, that the most convincing, meaningful romance is between women, nice job redeeming yourself hussie

Missy: why does he need redeeming? i thought you liked these people

me: hussie is creator

Missy: yes but why he need redemption? do we all need redemption? (deep thoughts there Missy)

me: hussie has Shipping Problems where he sets up his trolls as outside gender binary/outside heterosexuality/with different concepts of romantic relationships and sexuality and then … conforms to heteronormativity like 90% of the time, in part b/c this was written like 7 years ago, in part b/c he’s a generic white dude but he frequently aims for like, diverse characters and dynamics and then defaults to everyone is heteronormative even when it doesn’t make sense/even if the writing for it is lazy/even if it means going against prior established characterization or interactions the true heteronormativity-conquers-all narrative; miss me with that please but every now and then he actually does something approximating the diversity in his worldbuilding, and gracefully so that’s nice

#/#//#///#////#/////#Juu reads #Homestuck #conversations with Missy #spoilers be ye warned #heterosexism tw //#flashing gif under the cut

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marvelandponder · 8 years ago

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The Messy Fun of B-Canon

Should I Read It? Short Answer: Yeah! Not the most involved story the comics have gone into, but for a single issue, it’s certainly a worthwhile little story, especially if you’re interested in Starswirl the Bearded and/or Luna and Celestia’s past.

Spoilers will be discussed from now on, so enjoy the comic on iTunes, in stores, from wherever you get your comics, or here in video form (uhhh, what? Who said that? Reading comics for free—pffft, I never do that…).

Starswirl the Bearded is a mysterious figure in MLP lore. One who’s actually already had several different depictions outside of the show, and yet still remains so because at this point it’s become up to preference which you consider canon.

The most notable are the stories where we get to spend time with him, as mentions like the Rainbow Rocks backstory and brief appearances like the Sirens’ Fiendship is Magic are certainly neat, but don’t offer too much in the way of real character aside from what you may read into yourself.

The Journal of the Two Sisters gives us a look at him through the eyes of a very young Luna and Celestia, who at the time are just becoming princesses because he (and the ponies from A Hearth’s Warming Eve) approached them. He apparently even coronated them himself, so it’s no wonder why they looked up to him right from the start (if, found him a bit “unusual”).

Here, it’s his strangeness that lead him to creating so many spells, according to Celestia, as he thought of things no one else would.

This seems to fall in line with the old kooky Pinkie parallel depicted in the Reflections arc. Luna makes that comparison herself at one point, and it’s quite apt. He’s rather silly and eccentric, explaining his fascination with a big old hat with bells on it in a funny way without taking away too much dignity from the figure.

After all, we know Pinkie. The more Starswirl is likened to her, to more we know his silliness will never go so far as to make him shallow or uncaring. He proves throughout his time in this arc, too, that he can be serious when necessary—even, perhaps, to his detriment.

In Reflections, he has to tell Celestia to stop travelling to the alternate dimension where the good King Sombra lives. It’s for a good reason, there can be consequences to this dimension-hopping romance, but I have to wonder if this is why Celestia thinks Starswirl never understood friendship as well as Twilight did.

The guy’s certainly not heartless or cruel, and not much of a loner, really, so we’re left with choices like this to demonstrate why Celestia hold that view of him. She was pretty heart-broken over this, so it might just be her bias speaking.

Or, perhaps this is symptomatic of Starswirl’s usual mindset: instead of doing what he could to help this blossoming relationship survive (finding a way around all the paradoxes since he’s, y’know, a magical genius), he forbade it for the greater good… which, I mean, only resulted in Celestia sneaking behind his back anyway, but whatever. He had a good reason, it just may have damaged their relationship in the long run, as Celestia later says things were never the same between them after he found out she disobeyed his orders.

On that bright note, now we come to the Legends of Magic depiction of Starswirl!

Here, he’s a fair bit younger and seems rather strict. He’s not afraid to give the girls some tough love to get a lesson to hit home.

If Legends and Reflections are still canon with each other (question mark), it paints a nice picture of him; an all around eccentric guy who was a strict mentor in the beginning, and perhaps grew sillier and with age, but was still able to lay down the law when needed.

For that matter, it’s interesting to me that the most prominent depictions of Starswirl always seem to have a balance between his silly side and his strict, non-nonsense mentoring side, because they both come with pros and cons.

His more out-there side, where he takes himself less seriously, seems to provide some of his most brilliant ideas and allows for him to have a sense of humour. It seems this is when he’s best able to connect with his students, too. Even if he is a bit of a goof.

You people wonder why I keep babbling about the parent-child parallels between the teachers and students in this dang franchise. It cute.

On the other hand, his worldly, serious side lets him take charge in dangerous situations and get through to his two students when they need it most. Although, it can come off as callousness and has hurt both Luna and Celestia, even if they needed the lesson.

Granted, having two opposing traits battling for dominance might be the result of the writers of these various materials not necessarily coordinating, but it can also be seen within each work, and I think it works really well. The worldly adventurer and the old eccentric are two well-worn tropes that could be used on their own when developing Starswirl’s character, but by combining these tropes into one character, you get a more interesting, 3-dimensional dynamic!

Although, these two sides to Starswirl aren’t the only thing that seems to contradict itself, and it’s here where this analysis/review has to talk about… *shudders* continuity errors.

Well, okay, I can mostly shrug off minor continuity errors here and there (mostly because even for the brief time I wrote for a fan show, I found it crazy how many little details I had to be reminded of by other writers in the chat; I have admiration for the poor bastards who do this for a living).

On the other hand, continuity errors so big that they bring other stories from b-canon into question are a different story. I still have sympathy for the writers, but that just makes my job as a (non)Professional Analytic Bullshitter much more… creative.

So, let’s try to explain (bullshit) some pretty big continuity errors, shall we?

Continuity Error? # 1: Starswirl’s Impeccable Sense of Timing (… get it? TIME)

Okay, so we know the order of these stories—Journal, Legends, Reflections—but that’s about where the logical flow stops.

During the beginning of Legends, Celestia tells Sunburst that Starswirl went missing before Luna became Nightmare Moon, but that directly contradicts the flashbacks laced throughout Reflections, which took place (for the most part) after Luna became Nightmare Moon.

There’s also the fact that Reflections keeps stubbornly referring to Starswirl as Celestia’s mentor, not Luna and Celestia’s—to the point that Luna at one point says she doesn’t remember much of him outside of his appearance.

2/3 say he mentored them both and that’s cuter in my book, so screw that.

So, let’s just focus on the mysterious whereabouts of Starswirl the Bearded. That one sounds cooler, anyway.

Some fans have already speculated that Celestia might be lying to Sunburst about exactly when and how Starswirl disappeared, basically just to cover up the whole I-almost-destroyed-not-one-but-two-dimensions fiasco, which is an explanation that has merit.

In Reflections, Celestia apparently kept this whole story a secret from even Luna up until she absolutely had to tell her. Mostly because of all the guilt and other messy feelings involved, but this was something she and Starswirl originally experimented on in secret.

If she didn’t tell her own sister for that long, I could see Celestia covering up the sad truth that she lost Starswirl both emotionally and physically sometime after she lost her sister. Especially if she still blames herself for at least one of those.

Continuity Error? #2: The Castle

There’s a bit of confusion now on when exactly Canterlot Castle was built, if the sisters appear to be living there as teenagers in this comic, but built The Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree forest shortly after their coronation as kids.

However, while I don’t know if this was intentional or not, I can find an explanation in the Journal. When Luna and Celestia were coronated, Princess Platinum, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Commander Hurricane didn’t just buzz off. In fact, at the time Luna and Celestia didn’t even have their cutie marks yet, so responsibilities like raising the sun and the moon were left to teams of ponies (one of which being Starswirl).

It would stand to reason to me that Canterlot Castle originally belonged to that lot of leaders, as a sort of middle-ground between their three castles since the country was united.

This seems to be backed up by something Celestia writes:

“I had a great time meeting with Private Pansy, Clover the Clever, and Smart Cookie, the three representatives from the Pegasai, Unicorns, and Earth ponies who originally came up to Canterlot.” - page 57, The Journal of the Two Sisters

They may have ruled from there all together, or met there for meetings, or what have you, but that would make sense. Even if they wanted these young alicorns to represent all Equestria, they couldn’t exactly leave it to inexperienced children to do it quite yet.

Speaking of which…

Continuity Error? #3: Princess Personalities

It’s not just Starswirl who got a brand new bag for Legends of Magic #1! Teenage Celestia in particular shows off some real thoughtlessness and attitude, really rubbing it in that her younger sister can’t keep up with her.

Some have called this into question, as in the Journal of the Two Sisters, a young Celestia is quite the dork. Geeking out over libraries and scrolls, anxiously doubting the choice to make her a princess, etc.

She’s certainly very thoughtful (even Twilight-esque) at a young age, so it might seem backwards for her to be even more immature as a teenager.

But, then again, we know the timeline here.

By the time Celestia’s a teenager, she’s been a princess for years. The Journal only covers the time just after her coronation (in addition to being her and her sister’s journal, with a obvious bias) and when she and Luna got their cutie marks.

There’s a time-gap in between that might seem a bit small in comparison to the hundreds of years she seemed to remain relatively unchanged. However, given how fame and power has been known for corrupting those who grow up surrounded by it, it’s not too far-fetched for me to think vast amounts of ponies worshiping her for doing something no one else has ever had the power to do on their own got to her.

Besides, that seemed to be in the narrative of the original lore. Celestia was praised, and because of it was relatively blind to her sister’s slow descent into jealousy and depression.

Speaking of which, between Celestia’s unkind treatment and the Nightmare forces, I’ve seen it suggested that Luna seems to be more a victim of circumstance than a true villain in her own story.

The delicious dramatic irony in this story only adds to that perception. A young Luna is the only one who can hear the dark whispers from the dimension she was dragged into, and it seems that whatever wanted her power seemed to think she’d already become Nightmare Moon (or, was trying to speed up the process).

Plus, Starswirl keeps foreshadowing her descent in ways that might be too obvious for some, but just make me feel so sorry for them, that they think they’re out of the woods for good. I’m a sucker for the sap.

But as to whether Nightmare Moon was Luna’s fault, I still think it was Luna’s choices and jealousy that sealed her fate. Whether Nightmare Moon was a force entirely from Luna or not, she was willingly calling on it. At most, Luna seems a bit in awe of the forces transforming her, but it was absolutely her decision to listen to the dark whispers in the back of her mind.

So, in the end, that just makes Legends of Magic all the more endearing, with the power of hindsight. I can totally see how the continuity … mess would turn some readers off, and how some will find the foreshadowing/dramatic irony (more so the latter, since we as the audience will exclusively appreciate this with the knowledge of what’s to come already in mind) for Luna’s fall a bit heavy-handed, but dang, if the character dynamics in this trio worth the long wait for more of their adventures.

With any luck, that’s the part of this comic that ties into season 7. Here’s to hoping!

Year of the Pony

#yearofthepony #year of the pony #starswirl the bearded #princess celestia #princess luna #mlp #my little pony #mlp:fim #mlp: fim #friendship is magic #My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #mlp analysis #mlp reviews

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suaine · 7 years ago

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Yuletide letter 2017

*cracks knuckles* Alright, let's get this party started. At first, there are a few things to know about me, none of them very important:

I will read almost anything if you write it with passion and kindness. That doesn't mean it has to be fluffy and happy all the time, though I do prefer a general trajectory toward happiness. If you can, I would like you to write this story because you believe in it, not because you want to please me. I'm usually easily pleased, and there aren't a lot of things that will turn me off.

That said, please avoid writing about death or rape, graphically or just their impact and aftermath. Both things are hard for me to deal with and even if it's canon I'd rather not have to be exposed to it during the already super emotionally taxing holiday season.

Generally I love all self-indulgent tropes. There is nothing too cliché, no path too well-trodden. I love adcenture stories and cracky fun slices of life and everything in between. I'm equally into swords and sorcery as well as space ships. There isn't a well-crafted AU I don't love if the characters stay true to themselves. Feel free to go a little bit wild.

Fandom: Star Wars: Aftermath - Chuck Wendig

I didn't expect to be able to sign up so I couldn't nominate everyone else on the team, but feel free to include them all or any of them in combination. I just want to hear more stories about these idiots, Sinjir most of all. After Rogue One, I'm full up on tragic heroes, so if you can find hopeful, loving paths to put them on, please do.

Oh, my relationship with this canon is a difficult one. I still haven't dared to read the last book and I'm trying to get to a place where I can forgive fate and Chuck Wendig for personally giving me hope for my fave pairing (Jom/Sinjir) and crushing it under the bootheels of miscommunication. (Basically, we tweeted, he was vague, I misunderstood, I thought Jom/Sinjir was gonna happen, and it really hurt when it didn't) But! I'm absolutely 100% in favor of Sinjir getting a happy ending EVERY WHICH WAY possible, including but not limited to any pairings you might enjoy, and I'm more than happy for you to sell me on them.

I love the team so much, every single damn one of them. I love the snarky bits and the hopeless bits and the resilient bits. I love that this is not the happy ending we expected from Return of the Jedi and I love Rae Sloane.

I honestly don't know what kind of prompt I should give you. I've enjoyed stories of Sinjir showing up in TFA times, I love alternate universes where things played out differently, I love introspective pieces and action-y bits. I love the humor that is always inherent in Wendig's writing.

Fandom: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator

I absolutely love and adore this game and I found my perfect route only to realize that in the scope of the game it couldn't happen - Robert needs to take care of himself for a while, a year isn't nearly enough to put him back together. But we can try. The player character can absolutely try. In many, many ways. Also, I love any and all iterations of Amanda and Val interacting and maybe more.

I absolutely enjoy every route in this game, though some characters resonate more with me than others. Robert is the one that I feel closest to, maybe because he's quite damaged in very specific ways. Maybe it's because if you play your cards right you get to fix his relationship with his daughter and I actually have two fathers who will never be as big a person as that.

The core aspect of the game for me is giving Amanda every happiness she desires, she deserves to be loved and appreciated and she deserves to grow into exactly the woman she wants to be. Val and her interaction were my favorite amazing surprise.

I'm actually quite invested in a future where Robert gets better and realizes that the player character (let's call him Jake) has always been there. I'd like to see that recovery, soft, playful, unassuming friend dates, supportive moments, nighttime monster-hunting adventures.

Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) RPF

The last few months I've fallen into an awesome hole: catching up on a 100+ episode webseries that has 4+ hours of footage per. It. Was. Ridiculous. And amazing. And I accidentally once read a comment (on youtube) about how Matt separated Marisha and Taliesin because jealousy. I adore Marisha and Taliesin's friendship but also I can't help but go extra defensive when I read stupid stuff like this: so, tell me about the many ways that Matt and Taliesin love each other, all the bonding, whether bromance or romance. The three of them once went to party in the desert together for a few days. Also, I loved the team playing themselves but d&d style during Liam's one shot - why not put them all into Exandria, but as themselves (and adult)? Adventures!

I mean, what is there to say? I'm really invested in the entire group's happiness and love. It's pretty obvious that they're close and I love that so very, very much. I've been crying like a baby at the latest episode (114) and how much they care about each other and their characters, and the last few minutes of ep 113 were really intense after Laura realized what was happening. I love how sometimes the lines between character and actor get a little bit blurred.

I don't really have a lot to add to the optional details, maybe all I need to say is this: feel free to go anywhere your heart takes you.

Fandom: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic

I adore Theron Shan and his ridiculous squib/secret agent/mama issue plot. He's everything I ever wanted from a Republic character - pragmatic and still idealistic, hopeful and sarcastic, complex as the force itself. I love stories about his tech abilities, about his smarts and his work ethic, and how deep down he is much more like his mother - and Revan - then he would ever admit. (OMG the Revan connection is such a narrative kink for me. Revan (girl Revan for me, incidentally) is such an influence on how I see the character - grey, but still undeniably good.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that means more to me in TOR than Theron in love with my lightside male Sith Warrior. Obviously, you're in no way obligated to include my player character, but whatever you want to write I would ask you to consider that fact your canon for the story - please don't break them up or write him with other people. You don't have to include this in particular, but please don't negate it.

I haven't played the newest chapters because of time constraints and I don't know a whole lot of spoilers except that... something happens... with betrayal and Theron? I honestly didn't want to read up on it because often experiencing it makes it very different to whatever might show up on a twitter rant. Here's the thing: betrayal and the sith warrior. Theron being a double agent to save the love of his life by breaking his heart. Just saying. That makes one hell of a story.

If you want to write something romance free, how about the early days of Lana and Theron's partnership? The minituae of running the alliance? Theron doing his job because he's a competent, sarcastic assholes. Theron making peace with his mom. Theron making peace with the force.

Fandom: Star Trek: Discovery

I love everything Star Trek and this new thing feels very much in line with everything before even where it's completely out of left field (I mean, the hairless klingons take some getting used to for sure). Michael Burnham is the best, but I would literally love any story about any of the characters, as long as it feels like Star Trek. I missed this world and this universe and this SPACE so much. Tell me everything, anything, DISCOVER.

Okay so obviously this is a developing fandom that's going to fucking explode. This is an amazing thing to be at the start of. I love everything Star Trek and as of today which is just a few days after ep 4, I love everyone on that boat except Lorca who I very much love to loathe.

Michael is amazing. My gay mushroom man is amazing. Tall gangly alien is amazing. Twitchy redhead is amazing. The klingons are super weird cannibals. I want to see exactly where Discovery is going – all the weird alien planets they can explore. There's a war, sure, but that's not a warship, it's a science vessel. Let it do science.

I personally love all the tropes Trek ever gave us and there's basically so many to choose from that it would be too hard to list them all. You want to give an old episode plot a new coat? Go for it! You want to explore some cute character moments? Be my guest! You want to write cute ship fic about mushroom man and doctor snarkadoodle? Please, please do.

Fandom: Folgers "Home for the Holidays" Commercial

Folgers is a yuletide fandom if I've ever seen one. Pretty much all the stories are yuletide stories and I've read them all. I think it's obvious why we're both here and neither of us can pretend that this is wholesome and pure. But here's the thing: just because something is problematic doesn't mean it can't be fun and happy. I mentioned in another request that I'm full up on tragedy, so here's the deal: a Folgers story where they get what they so obviously want and figure out a way to be happy.

Two things: yes, porn is totally acceptable though obviously not required. You can, but you don't gotta. And AUs are also a perfectly lovely way to explore this kinky as hell prompt. I think we're both here for the kink – if not, I'm not sure why you offered this fandom at all and this is your get out of jail free card: just dump this request in a dark hole and never think about it again. Some of my other requests have quite accessible canons and I won't be offended if I show up on the pinch hit list. I've been there, it's not a terrible place to be ;)

If you want to go AU, please keep the delicious and terrible fact that they're siblings who so very obviously want to bone. I'm with you, friend. We're both in this kinky hole together. I'm not into this fandom for realism – angst, sure, that's what makes it great, but that doesn't mean we can't have a totally unrealistic romantic comedy style happy ending. Think Do Começo ao Fim.

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