#common question about write from dictation

[blogtey45]

Mastering PTE Writing | Common Questions Answered | Writing Tips by English Wise

[zillychu]

I’ve gotten a WAVE of asks about this AU, so I decided to flesh it out some more and answer some of those questions!

I’ll probably polish this extended summary up at some point and submit it to AO3. But for now, here’s a rundown of my thoughts–please feel free to send more questions! I’ll update this post if I get any more. But if you’re someone who wanted to write fic for it, don’t worry, you don’t need to take my headcanons as gospel. It’s a pretty basic AU honestly lol

Summary:

The portal accident results in a violent explosion that wipes out the whole block, and condemns all of Amity Park. Danny haunts the city for 100 years, before Sam and Tucker find him. 

Setup:

In the 1920’s, 19-year-old Danny went into the incomplete portal on his own, hoping to help out his parents. Ripping the portal open through unnatural means created a huge burst of energy that resulted in a massive explosion. A good portion of the Amity Park population died, many were injured, and the ones on the fringes relocated–Amity was quickly deemed too dangerous due to the excess ectoplasm in the area that attracted ghosts. 

While the disaster was in Amity, the fallout was seen around the globe. Before, natural portals were rare, short-lived, and rarely allowed ghosts to fully slip into our realm (the most severe cases being on par with poltergeists that most people didn’t believe in). Now, natural portals pop open frequently around the world, large enough to allow the entirety of a ghost into the physical plane. They’re more common the closer you get to Amity, but they happen enough elsewhere that this change was something of a small apocalypse before people settled back down and found out how to combat at least some of their new, permanent neighbors. 

Danny is unaware that he’s only half-dead, believing he’s a full ghost. He ends up sticking around Amity, unintentionally making it his haunt. His grief and guilt over causing the death of his loved ones (and many others) makes him isolate and avoid human contact. Though he has, at times, scared nosy people away from the city in a mix of territorial instinct–and to get them to leave before a less friendly ghost finds them. 

Ghosts are much more of an uncontested danger in this AU. Lesser ghosts are practically mindless, and while stronger ghosts are capable of reason, their interests are limited. They’re highly territorial, possessive, and often destructive. Most worrisome is that they also like to snack on the life force of anything alive. No one is sure what dictates a ghost’s propensity to attack or hunt the living for their life force since ghosts don’t exactly experience hunger. At least, not the way we do. If a human is rescued before their life force is fully drained, they can make a full recovery–though humanity has still not yet found what this “life force" is. 

And since the Fentons’ research died along with them, there aren’t many tools available to the public to protect them from ghosts. Most homes have standard ghost shields and some weapons are available on the market, but certified ghost hunters are required to take care of anything more powerful than your average spook. 

Sam and Tucker met in high school, and are now rooming together for college very close to the Amity border. Rent is surprisingly cheap when you’re a stone’s throw away from a condemned area crawling with ghosts. Sam is the one who drags Tucker along with her fascination over finding out more about the city, and its largely mysterious demise. Sam is aware of the danger, but feels ghosts have a place in this world just like everything else, and does exercise caution–like one would while foraging in the woods with a known tiger population. 

What she and Tucker weren’t expecting was to run into a ghost that felt almost human. One that hasn't hurt them, not for lack of trying���while being powerful enough to walk past ghost shields without so much as a flinch. The long white hair is familiar in the whispers of the ectobiologist community, but there’s no way it could be the rumored ghost king Phantom, right?

About Danny:

He has very long hair, claws, and black sclera. His hazmat suit is more torn and ragged, with exposed hands and feet that fade into a burnt black.

His hair tends to float a lot on its own. It can start morphing into fire under duress. 

He does still technically have gloves and boots, they've just charred and melted into his skin towards the ends. He can't take them off in his ghost form. His hands and feet have a leathery texture that's tougher than the rest of his skin.

The white of his hazmat suit is both supposed to look like flames, and also a battered look representing his more violent, explosive death.

Overall, he appears rather listless and sad, with an unnerving air of danger around him–even for a ghost. 

Danny’s “ghost sense” comes out as white smoke.

He does breathe black smoke at times, usually when agitated. 

He's already fought and defeated Pariah Dark by the time Sam and Tucker find him, technically making him the Ghost King. This is heavily speculated by ghost experts, despite there being no real proof beyond a massive battle that scarred Illinois. He has not donned the Ring or the Crown, and captured sentient ghosts are hesitant to answer questions surrounding him. Danny basically has the throne but doesn’t do anything with it, and finds it meaningless enough to routinely forget he has the title. He only fought Pariah because he knew otherwise, humanity would have perished. A lot of ghosts are scared of him because he's so hard to figure out, and he's strong. 

Danny is usually very quiet and speaks softly, because his lungs were damaged in the blaze that half-killed him. He's technically healed since becoming a ghost, so it's more of a compulsion due to the traumatic memory. That, and he’s just… very forlorn and distant, shy around humans who don’t seem to understand how dangerous it is to keep hanging around him.

His memories pre-accident are extremely fuzzy. He knows the very basics of who he was, but specifics have been muffled due to trauma and isolation. He routinely forgets human habits, etiquette, etc. and tends to act more like a full ghost with some odd quirks. 

He does try to scare Sam and Tucker off numerous times. Unfortunately for him, they realized they shouldn't have been able to escape a ghost that strong–but they did, because he let them. 

Sam and Tucker think he's mute at first! He doesn't speak a word to them until several encounters later, when he fumbles his whole scary act and saves them from another ghost. 

He’s still half-ghost, though he doesn’t figure this out until Sam and Tucker come along trying to unravel the mysteries behind the Amity catastrophe. Physically and emotionally, he’s been stuck for 100 years–so his human form is still 19. It’s unclear at this point if he can age normally like a human as long as he stays in human form, or if he’s immortal. 

Danny's family did not turn into ghosts, though he sometimes worries he'll find them in the afterlife as shells of their former selves. He doesn't know if it's better or worse that he's not sure he'd recognize them. 

(Danny also still has some living family. Take a guess.)

Yes, he knows how to Wail. Understandably, he very rarely uses it. You do not want to witness this.

Danny :) is not immune :) from the allure of eating a human's life force :)))

[fanmistery]

HEADCANONS ARCANE X GN READER!TINNITUS.

៚HEADCANONS of how you would meet and move into a relationship with Vi and Viktor. The reader is gender-neutral.

TINNITUS: A whistling or ringing sound in one or both ears that may be constant or come and go, often associated with hearing loss.

Characters included: Viktor and Vi/Violet. Part Two Jinx and Caitlyn here.

Part one!

Note: Hello everyone! I just wanted to write something about these characters, this idea was in my head all day. It should be clarified that I do not intend to offend anyone with this, I myself have Tinnitus so everything I put here is based on my experience. Just that, enjoy reading!

៚VIKTOR.

៚ Viktor in his youth, more specifically when he was studying and before he became Heimerdinger's assistant. He is completely absorbed in his investigations at Piltover. His world revolves around science and his efforts to overcome the physical limitations that have always accompanied him and, above all, to surpass others and be the best student. So it will take a long time for him to realize your existence.

៚He will only realize your existence when he hears you asking the colleague next to you that he could offer you his seat since you did not want to sit at the back, which led to a heated argument due to your insistence, even he got upset (more than nothing because he couldn't concentrate on reviewing the topics from the previous class), there were other benches available, I didn't understand why you were making a fuss for wanting to sit in front. You ended up sitting all the way back anyway, and you just became the talk of spoiled brats, and, normally he wouldn't care but he got to hear through the rumors that you were someone from Zaun. Which surprised him quite a bit, since as far as he knew, the only one from Zaun was him.

៚ And for a while he was not the center of criticism and ridicule, but you were. Most of the class complained because you were always asking obvious questions to them or to the teacher, even asking them to pass you the notes of what a teacher was dictating. It got to a point where you could no longer ask for guidance from them and you ended up asking him for help. Of course he helped you but not before he asked you directly “what the hell was wrong with you?”.

៚When he finds out about your situation, that you have tinnitus, his reaction is very Viktor: scientific but empathetic. "Is it a subjective perception of sound, without external stimulus? Fascinating." Although he may seem cold, he has no intention of minimizing your experience; rather, he is genuinely interested.

៚For Viktor, attraction begins in the mind. If you prove to be an insightful, curious person who is able to understand (or at least try to understand) his way of reasoning. One night, while you're both working on a particularly complicated project, Viktor might blurt out something unexpected without looking you straight in the eye. "I never thought I would find someone who would understand so well the... persistent nature of my mind so well. It's exhausting, but you don't seem to freak out."

You pause what you were doing and turn your back on him to go get a cup of coffee to take your mind off your sleep, while doing so you say nonchalantly : "And why should I? We all deal with something."

Although Viktor doesn't respond, his slight smile and the way his eyes soften say it all.

៚The relationship begins to deepen when Viktor talks openly about his own physical limitations (his cane, his deteriorating health) and how these have made him feel isolated at times. This creates common ground: they both feel that their relationship with the world is limited by their physical conditions. Viktor comments something like, “It's funny how our minds can be so clear, but our bodies constantly remind us how fragile we are.”

៚So Viktor begins to see you as someone who not only understands his struggle, but also that you face your own daily battle. This inspires you to be more considerate and open with your emotions, although your reserved nature moves you forward slowly.

៚At some point in their lives you end up working in their lab, in fact, you have an exclusive little space just for you.... So you are always together day and night, you doing your thing and he doing his.

៚Viktor's small gestures begin to show his concern in subtle ways, such as adjusting the volume of his experiments when you are nearby or avoiding shrill sounds. Little by little, this shows that he is not only a brilliant man, but also attentive to details that might affect you.

៚In his conversations, Viktor tends to speak in a higher, more leisurely tone. The idea of creating a device to help you hear is born after seeing you frustrated when you don't understand what he is saying when they are a few meters apart, so Viktor spends entire nights studying tinnitus, from its physiological origin to the experimental solutions available.

Jayce might walk into the lab and find Viktor surrounded by diagrams and medical texts.

Jayce, curious, asks, "Are you working on anything related to acoustics? It's not typical for you."

"It's a personal project. It's not for me." Viktor replies without even bothering to look at him

Although Jayce insists on knowing more, Viktor prefers not to reveal too much. “It's not relevant to our joint goals.”

He uses Hextech to explore how frequencies can interact with the auditory system, and although he encounters obstacles, he is more determined than ever.

When you're about to be introduced to the device, he doesn't hesitate to speak up: "I've been thinking...about your hearing."

“Uh, what about it? ”you ask, a little surprised that he has initiated so randomly about your condition.

Viktor averts his gaze, to avoid embarrassing himself, about his feelings to you. "It shouldn't be something that limits your experiences. I think I can do something about it."

Although you might at first feel unsure-perhaps even doubtful that anything can really help-Viktor assures you with a mixture of humility and confidence, "I don't promise miracles, but it would be interesting to see if I can...level the field for you."

៚Viktor spent weeks fine-tuning his prototype: a small device with Hextech technology that not only amplifies sound, but filters out the harmful frequencies associated with tinnitus. When it's finally ready, he hands it to you with his trademark serious but intent tone. "It's a prototype. It may need tweaking, but I'd like you to try it out."

You put it on, and after a few seconds of adjustment, you experience something you didn't expect: the sound of the world, clear and crisp. Perhaps the light brush of Viktor's fingers on the table, or the conversations of students in the hallways. You can't help but let a sense of relief and full of happiness flood through you, you allow yourself the luxury of crying, of breaking Viktor's personal space and hugging him a little tightly, feeling so lucky to have him by your side. "Viktor...I.. I...I can hear... I can hear things I haven't heard in years."

Viktor is surprised by the sudden physical contact but it doesn't bother him, he even loves your sudden outburst of trust, even though you've been friends for a long time you're not hugging, just occasional touches here and there. He smiles sideways, satisfied with the result and reciprocating your embrace without hesitation, he just hopes you don't notice his heart beating fast for you and your warm closeness. "It's just the first step. If something doesn't work, we'll make it better. But I'm glad it's working."

He says, and if the hug lasted a long time neither of them minded.

៚But it doesn't stop there, Viktor customizes the device after you've been using it for a while. He adds a feature that can amplify specific sounds, such as the pitch of his own voice, so you can hear him even in noisy environments.

When you notice this, you ask him, "Did you do this just so I could hear you better?"

Viktor looking at you warmly, at this point no longer caring about hiding his affections from you. "Maybe. I'd rather you didn't miss anything important...especially when I'm the one talking."

៚Instead of using flowery words, Viktor explains his feelings in a very logical way.

"You are like a perfectly calibrated system. You find a way to fit even in my messiest moments...and that's not something I can easily explain. But I think the reason I want you around is more personal than scientific. "

You, so touched by her sincerity, smile and respond, "You know? That's probably the most romantic statement anyone has ever made to me."

៚Viktor's formal statement. Although Viktor has already made his intentions clear, you want to make sure everything is perfectly understood. A few days after the conversation, while they are in the lab, he interrupts the silence with an unexpected proposal. "I've been thinking about our conversation... and I'd like to ask you something. Would you consider staying by my side, not just as a colleague, but as something more?"

You, already so used to his direct but genuine manner, agree with a gentle nod, and Viktor responds with a slight smile that lights up his normally stoic expression.

៚For Viktor, expressing love is not something he does lightly. Probably, the first “I love you” happens accidentally.

While working on an experiment, you make a small mistake, but Viktor intervenes before the damage is irreparable. You are frustrated, the fatigue seems to get to you. You know it, but you can't help but feel guilty. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin it...”

Viktor without thinking admits, "It doesn't matter. You wouldn't ruin anything... I love you too much to worry about that."

They both fall silent.

Viktor realizes what he just said, but instead of taking it back, he calmly adds, “I guess it's about time I said it.”

៚VI/VIOLET.

៚ Vi will meet you in her Emo days, This meeting takes place at a complicated time for Vi. It's been weeks since she broke up with Caitlyn. Although she is no longer hurt by the breakup, she carries enormous pent-up frustration. The situation with Jinx (Powder) is out of control, Zaun is still in chaos, and Vi feels like she's fighting a never-ending battle. This mix of anger, emotional exhaustion and discontent with the world makes her more impulsive and sarcastic than usual. It is very late in Zaun, the atmosphere is full of noise: shouting, laughter and the constant hum of industrial machinery. Vi is in her usual place, a subway bar called “The Rusty Forge”, known for its underground fights and noisy clientele. She is drinking something cheap, with her fists clenched and her gaze lost in her glass, trying not to think about everything that torments her.

Suddenly, a small commotion develops in a corner of the bar. Someone is trying to talk to you which you don't seem to respond to. Vi, from her seat, watches curiously as the other person begins to lose patience.

The stranger seems very, very impatient with you, "Hey, I'm talking to you, I told you it's ten coins, not five! Are you listening or what? " The stranger's arrogant tone and attitude makes Vi raise an eyebrow. While you look a little uncomfortable but try to stay calm and try to explain.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you right. Could you... repeat that?" The stranger snorts, visibly annoyed, and raises his voice in an exaggerated manner. "What's in your ears, you Zaun filth! Do you or don't you want this! I don't have all day."

That's enough for Vi to intervene. She rises from her seat in her typical defiant manner, dropping a few coins on the table and walking towards them with a smirk. "Hey, genius, why don't you try talking like a person instead of a jerk? Maybe then they'll understand you."

The stranger turns to Vi, clearly irritated. "What's it to you? This has nothing to do with you."

Vi crosses her arms, leaning slightly toward the stranger. "Oh, I care because I can't enjoy my drink if there's some idiot screaming like he's missing something in his head. So why don't you beat it before we have to settle this...my way?"

The stranger grunts something unintelligible, but decides to retreat under Vi's intense gaze. Once he leaves, Vi turns to you , her tone relaxing a bit. "Are you okay? That guy looked like a complete idiot."

Although you feel the embarrassment in you, you don't hesitate to thank her and say, "Yes, thank you. Everything is fine now. It's not easy to understand people with so much noise."

៚Vi tilts her head, interested. Noticing that you seem sincere but a bit tired. She decides to stay a moment longer, it wouldn't hurt to meet new people. It's worth noting that she notices something is different about you, but doesn't mention it right away. Instead of asking questions, she prefers to let time reveal it. To her, differences are not something strange in Zaun; everyone has their quirks.

៚ So, of course Vi decides to stay a while longer to make sure they don't bother you again. In the meantime, the two of you start talking. She says, noticing how your head leans closer to listen to her, "So, what are you doing down here? This doesn't seem like the kind of place for someone..... I don't know, like you."

You chuckle softly. "What kind of place is it, just for guys with tattoos and people who yell a lot? "

Vi gives you a small smile and continues, "Kind of. And you don't yell a lot, do you? "

you reply shaking your head but amused. "No, but it sounds like you do. It's not a bad thing though. Thanks to you, I heard you running at that guy."

Vi laughs, surprised by your response. This piques her interest even more, as she didn't expect to find someone so... quiet with a sense of humor amidst the chaos of Zaun. But before you take your leave, Vi notices that you seem a little unsure of yourself in the bustling environment of the bar. On impulse, she pulls out a pair of gloves she had hanging from her belt, worn but functional, and tosses them on the table in front of you.

"Take it as advice: if someone else bothers you, give them a good whack. If you need someone to show you how to do it .... well, you know where to find me."

You're surprised but take the gloves with a grateful smile. "Thanks, but I don't think I can hit as hard as you."

Vi laughs "No one can. But you don't need to be me to defend yourself. Although, if you want to learn, give me a couple of days. I'm bored of training alone."

៚After that night, Vi decides to look for more reasons to return to “The Rusty Forge.” Not for the fights, not for the cheap booze, but for the chance to cross paths again with someone who unknowingly gave her some peace in the midst of the chaos.

៚Vi, despite being extroverted, has an empathetic side that leads her to take an interest in others. At first, she communicates with you casually, although she quickly realizes that she has to adjust her tone or repeat things so that you can understand her better. Far from becoming impatient, this awakens her protective and patient side. "Didn't you hear me? Hey, it's okay, I'll say it again. 'You, what are you doing around here at this hour? Zaun is no place to walk alone, you know.' "

Seeing that you're somewhat embarrassed by your hearing difficulty, Vi adds with a teasing but friendly smile, "Don't worry. I didn't hear when Claggor was talking to me while I was eating either . Maybe you just have high standards of attention."

This breaks the ice and makes you feel comfortable next to her.

៚Vi's first gesture, is more of actions, not words. So, Vi is not the type to try to "fix" people or ask invasive questions. Instead, she shows her interest by helping without asking. For example, if she notices that you don't hear someone shout your name, she becomes your personal interpreter, shouting back or reaching out to relay the message.

Vi says, "Look, the next time someone tries to talk to you from across Zaun, tell me. My voice can cover this whole damn town.". This starts to become a recurring joke between the two of them.

៚Vi is someone who thinks fast and acts even faster, which can sometimes be a challenge for you what sometimes you need clarity in instructions. However, this leads to the two of you developing a sort of "language of your own". Vi might come up with simple gestures for things like "watch out", "follow me", or even "knock first, ask me later". Says Vi "See this? Two fingers in the air means we have to get the hell out of here fast. Three means 'hit 'em with everything.' Easy, right?" This makes them an effective team in Zaun's dangerous situations.

៚Vi is quick to note that, although you are hard of hearing, you also have skills that impress her. Perhaps it's the way you pay attention to small details, your ability to stay calm under pressure, your critical thinking even. "You know, not many people make it down here, let alone with everything stacked against them. But you... you're something special. Either that, or you're as stubborn as I am."

៚Vi has a protective nature, and when she sees someone treating you impatiently because of your hearing difficulty, she can't help but intervene. "What part of 'speak louder' didn't you understand? Do you want me to write it down for you? No, wait, you'd better get it tattooed on your forehead." Although you could try to calm her down, Vi isn't the type to let these things go easily.

៚Vi is fiercely loyal, and that translates into total devotion to you . No matter what happens, she's willing to stand up to anyone to protect you. "If anyone dares to mess with you, you let me know. Or better yet, don't even bother; I'll already be there before they can try."

៚Vi is not someone who plans things carefully. Everything in his life happens impulsively and passionately, and asking you to be his partner would be no exception. While she may try to disguise her nerves with humor or sarcasm, her intentions are clear: she wants to take the next step because she knows how much you mean to her.

The night is less chaotic than usual. You and Vi are in one of her favorite places in Zaun: perhaps a rooftop where you can watch the twinkling lights of the city, or a quiet corner near an abandoned factory where the noise isn't so overwhelming. It's one of those rare moments when Vi lets her guard down, and you can see her as she is, without masks or barriers. Vi has been thinking about this for days. Though she's never been good with words, she knows she can't stay quiet much longer. She runs a hand through her hair, clearly nervous, as she tries to find the right way to say what she feels.

Vi breaks the silence in a manner typical of her: with a seemingly casual comment, "You know, I've been thinking...and that's dangerous, I know. But listen, because this is important."

Curiosity overcomes you and you turn to her with a smile. Vi takes a deep breath and decides to cut to the chase. "You're the only person in this damn place that makes me want to be better. And I'm not saying I want to change who I am, because, well, I'm perfect just the way I am..." He pauses for a moment, clearly joking to ease the tension. "But with you... I don't know, everything's different. Less complicated. And I think I like that too much to ignore." Vi starts to lose a little control of her usual confidence. She knows what she wants to say, but the words don't come out the way she planned in her head. "What I mean is.... well, you know. I like you. No, that's an understatement. I like you a lot. Like, a lot-a lot. And I wanted to know if... uh..."

As for you, you wait patiently, clearly enjoying watching Vi get flustered for once. Vi, frustrated with herself, folds her arms and lets out a nervous laugh. "For the love of Zaun, are you going to make me say all this by myself or what? What I want is for you to be my partner, okay? There it is. I said it. Happy? "

៚and of course you reply positively, Vi lets out a sigh of relief, and her expression immediately softens. She regains some of her usual confidence, though you can still tell how much this moment means to her. "I knew you'd say yes. Who could resist this?" she smiles with that mixture of arrogance and warmth that characterizes her. Then she leans toward you, looking at you directively.

"You know? This means we're going to be the toughest team in Zaun now. I can't wait to brag about you. Sure, don't tell anyone, but you're probably the best decision I've made in years."

៚So after that, she won't hesitate to throw herself at you, thirsty for physical contact. She won't be shy, if she wants to kiss you or touch you. She will.

៚Vi is not the type to express her love with sweet words all the time, but she has very clear ways to show you how much she cares about you, like casual touches: she always finds an excuse to touch you in a casual way, whether it's putting a hand on your shoulder or placing her arm behind your waist, or she just places her hands on your waist.

"I don't know if you know this, but I like to keep you close. So don't move too far away."

៚Vi uses humor as a way to keep the relationship light and fun.

" You know what? If one day you want to ignore me, just pretend you didn't hear me. But I warn you: I'm stubborn. I won't shut up so easily."

៚If you forget something she said because you didn't hear it, Vi always turns it into a joke to diffuse the situation. "Don't worry. Most of the things I say don't make sense anyway. But this time, listen to me carefully: I love you."

[hrrtshape]

Hey emmaaa

I just read the post abt your cultural shock when you shifted back to this reality and it just helped me a lot and i thank you for every piece of information you shared.

I just wanted to ask somethings for curiosity(if i can):

how it felt being a noble person in babylon?

Did you learned somethings that right now arent even spoken or found? Like ancient magic of some sort? or idk any knowledge that our society dont know abt?

WERE THE CLOTHES AS COLORFUL AND PRETTY AS SOMEONE CAN IMAGINE?

Did u have any pets in babylon?

I imagine music to be so cool in ancient times was it?

im so sorry to ask a lot of questions but i cant help my curiosity

here's a total rundown + some more questions i collected from my inbox.

how did it feel being a noble person in babylon?

honestly...kind of god-tier. being a noble meant automatic respect, like people bowed, they averted their eyes if they were not of high enough status. i did not really have to do anything myself, there were servants for literally everything. but also, nobility was not just lounging around eating figs, there were expectations, responsibilities, political marriages. the social structure was rigid as hell, and stepping out of line could ruin you. but the luxury was unparalleled. the oil massages, the silks, the elaborate jewellery that made modern gold look like tin foil.

did you learn something that isn’t spoken about now? like ancient magic or lost knowledge?

yes. actually, i was a witch!! anyways. there were priest-scholars who had knowledge passed down orally, things never written down. astrology was not just a hobby, it dictated everything. they read the stars like a language, predicting wars, famine, even personal destinies. i also learned a lot about incantations, protection spells, herbal medicines that do not exist anymore. some of the knowledge felt.........dangerous. there were things they knew about the human body, the mind, the universe that we just do not anymore. and yes, there were rituals, some of them eerie as hell, but undeniably powerful.

were the clothes as colourful and pretty as someone can imagine?

more. the dyes they had were insanely rich. deep blues, vibrant reds, golden yellows. and embroidery was indeed next level. everything was woven with gold threads, beads, little intricate patterns. the noble outfits were layered. linen undergarments, then richly dyed wool, then embroidered shawls with fringe so soft it felt like clouds. men and women both wore jewellery, a lot of it, and perfumes were so strong they clung to the air around you.

did you have any pets?

yes. a caracal. it was a status thing, having an exotic animal. dogs were more common as working animals, guarding homes, but caracals were just........ elegant. and fast. they were seen as a symbol of power, and mine had gold hoops in its ears (yes, they pierced animals).

was the music good?

haunting. mesmerising. it was mostly lyres, harps, flutes, drums. very rhythmic, very hypnotic. there were actual musicians employed by the elite, and they performed at feasts, rituals, even just for noble entertainment. some melodies felt ancient even back then, like they had been played for centuries before. the chanting was otherworldly. i still hear some of it in my head when i wake up.

now, some extra questions i feel like answering because why not:

what did people eat?

bread, a lot of bread, but not like modern bread. denser, richer, with honey and dates. lamb was a big deal, lots of stews, vegetables like onions, leeks, cucumbers. and beer. beer was safer to drink than water half the time, and it was thick, almost porridge-y-like. also, honey was in everything.

how did people bathe?

public bathhouses for the less wealthy, private baths for nobles. oils and scented scrubs were used instead of soap. there were these clay cones filled with perfume that people would melt onto their skin. i swear i have never smelled so good in my life.

did people write a lot?

yes, but not like we do. everything was on clay tablets in cuneiform, and scribes were highly trained. writing was more for record-keeping, law, and religious texts, not casual journaling. but poetry, oh my god. they loved poetry, especially dramatic, epic tales about gods and kings.

was babylon as grand as history says?

grander. the walls were massive, the temples were imposing, and the hanging gardens (yes, they were real) were beyond anything i can describe. there were actual irrigation systems keeping everything lush, fountains flowing, flowers that don’t even exist anymore. everything was built to impress the gods and neighbouring cities. and it worked.

if you have more questions, send them :)

[writers-potion]

Suggestions for a body swap story? They seem harder to write

Body-Swapping Stories: I Understand You In A Particular Way

The high-concept of a body swap story is versatile, with endless possibilities. The main factors of a body-swapping plot would typically be comprised of:

Two people whose souls are being interchanged (the catalyst)

Awkward/funny/dangerous things they encounter by living the life of the other person (main premise of the story) 

A resolution brought about through insight gained by the protagonist about the other person’s perspective/secrets, with a promise to act differently once they’re returned to their original body. (the moral of the story)

Why are body-swapping stories appealing? Among many reasons, the central premise of such a story is to address the theme of: how much do we really know about others? 

As souls living in one body only, we encounter problems due to our lack of understanding about others around us, including external conflict, jealousy, misunderstanding, etc. It is a universal human experience to be curious about what’s in another person’s head and want to be somebody else sometimes.

By forcing the protagonist to experience “thinking inside another person’s shoes” in the literal sense, body-swapping stories tend to be versions of the characters growing up by breaking out of their old worldview to widen their intellectual horizons. 

Here is a list of common story components and patterns for a body-swapping story.

A Body Swapping Mechanism 

The body swap happens out of the blue as a one-time occurrence: a lightning strike, electric shock, supermoon, weird potion, etc. In this case, not much justification is required as there is no magical system or follow-up about why this happens.

A higher power conducts the body swap: a fairy, a disgruntled God trying to teach a lesson, a reputable couple therapist, etc. The rationale here is that this higher power is trying to redeem/punish the protagonists. 

One character actively wishes to have their body swapped: the school nerd who envies the prom queen, a daughter who wants to be a grown-up, a poor man wanting to be the rich man next door, etc. 

A character has the ability to “infiltrate” other people’s bodies. They use this ability in an attempt to solve a mystery, espionage, disguise a murder, etc. 

Only “destined pairs” can swap bodies. In this case, a bit of justification/worldbuilding would be good to convince the readers how these people are paired (bloodline, soulmates?).

Body swaps are conducted through a specific ritual or potion. This can be a candles-and-pentagon type, a magical notebook, a specific dance, etc. 

Body swaps are common in the story world, and everybody (with certification/practice/of age) can use this ability. 

The character(s) do something wrong which sets the swap in motion.

The Relationship Between Two (or more) People Getting Swapped

Relationships with long-standing misunderstanding: busy parent & unhappen child; couples on the brink of breakup; siblings with beef; strict teacher & irresponsible student, etc. 

In a romantic arc, a potential couple who are now going to fall in love as a result of this body swap

A human and an animal/supernatural creature 

Enemy relationships: the head of rival companies; a murderer and his victim, etc. 

If you have a magic system, your choice of people would depend on what the magic system dictates. Ask the question: is this someone my protagonist must learn about? 

Things to Explore

Protagonist(s) exploring each other’s bodies

Them arguing over how the other person should/shouldn’t use their bodies

Them trying to keep secrets from each other.

Them teaching the other person about how they should/shouldn’t act so that the body swap goes unnoticed by others around them. 

Them snooping around each other’s lives and secrets without the other knowing.

Them trying crazy stuff they’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t due to physical constraints.

The Purpose of the Body Swap

Providing the entrance into a new (fantasy) world. Ex) Human swapping bodies with a witch, forcing them to learn about the secret society of magicians.

Teaching the protagonist a hard-earned lesson. Ex) An ungrateful child gets to live a day in the life of her mother which humbles her. 

To resolve a long-standing (romantic) conflict. 

To provide a tool for crime, with unexpected consequences. 

Interesting Ideas

Writing these here just because I can. 

The Living Realm and the Dead Realm are like parallel universes. When someone meets an untimely death, their body gets swapped with their doppelganger in the parallel universe.

The protagonists are living in two separate story worlds. The author who’s in charge of writing stories for them is highly indecisive and keeps switching protagonists mid-story. 

The protagonist and her friend swapped bodies to cheat in an exam. But the protagonist’s friend dies – in the protagonist’s body. 

A magical agency offering to swap bodies for trans people who wish to have the body of the opposite sex. But their services come with a huge price tag…

Hope this helps <3 Let me know if you guys have more questions/ other ideas/ helpful resources below in the comments!

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[atlasthegreatest]

A Union of Ice and Fire / Rhaenyra Targaryen x Stark! Male Reader

Where a Targaryen princess and a Stark heir are betrothed since childhood to unite the fiery South and icy North, growing from strangers bound by duty to lovers connected by trust and respect.

Word count: 3332

Rhaenyra Targaryen had known since childhood that she was to wed Y/n Stark. It had been decided long before she had the chance to form an opinion on the matter—her father, King Viserys, and Lord Rickon Stark had struck the agreement when she was barely five years old. A marriage to secure the bond between the Crown and the North, to ensure that Winterfell would remain steadfast in its loyalty to House Targaryen.

At first, it had been nothing more than words spoken by their fathers, a promise of the future that neither child fully understood. But as the years passed, the reality of their betrothal became undeniable. Letters were exchanged, brief and formal at first, dictated by maesters who ensured each line was proper and respectful. Then, as they grew older, the messages became less stiff—Y/n would write about the brutal winters of the North, of the dire wolves that roamed the Wolfswood, of the weirwood trees with faces carved in their bark, and of his brother. And Rhaenyra, in return, would write off the Red Keep, of the dragons soaring above the skies, of courtly intrigues she found dull yet necessary.

Their first meeting came when Rhaenyra was twelve and Y/n was fourteen. He had traveled to King’s Landing with his father, a rare visit from the Stark lord and his heir. She had expected him to be cold and distant, much like the North she had only heard of in stories, but instead, she found herself faced with a boy who stood tall even then, his dark hair unruly, his grey eyes sharp but not unkind.

“You are smaller than I thought you would be,” Y/n had said, his voice carrying the rough cadence of the North.

“And you are less hairy than I imagined,” she shot back, earning a startled laugh from him. It was the first of many small surprises.

Their time together during that visit had been brief, but it had planted the first seed of understanding. Y/n had not treated her as a delicate thing, nor had he been intimidated by the knowledge that she was the King’s chosen heir. He had spoken to her as an equal, and for that alone, Rhaenyra had found herself intrigued.

As the years passed, they met only sporadically, always under the watchful eyes of their fathers and the court. But each meeting solidified something unspoken between them—a slow, quiet companionship that neither had sought but neither could deny.

By the time Rhaenyra was sixteen, their betrothal no longer felt like a political arrangement forced upon them, but a fate she had come to accept willingly. Y/n was no longer the boy she had met years ago; he was now a man, broad-shouldered, his voice deeper, his presence more commanding. And Rhaenyra, too, had changed, growing into her power, a dragon rider, a woman with a claim to the Iron Throne.

It was during his visit to King’s Landing that year that she realized something had shifted between them.

They were walking through the gardens, away from the court’s prying eyes, when the Stark heir spoke. “Do you ever wonder what it would be like, to be free of duty?”

Rhaenyra glanced at him, surprised by the question. “I used to,” she admitted. “When I was younger, I wished I were born a common girl, with no throne to inherit, no expectations to meet.”

“And now?”

“Now, I see duty for what it is. A cage, perhaps, but one I would not escape even if I could.” She looked up at him then, searching his face. “And you? Do you resent this betrothal?”

Y/n was silent for a long moment before he exhaled, his breath misting in the cool evening air. “No,” he said finally. “I do not.”

Rhaenyra’s heart gave a strange lurch at that.

Y/n reached for her then, his calloused fingers brushing against her wrist, tentative yet firm. “I have come to know you, Rhaenyra. Not just the princess, not just the heir—but you. And I find that I do not mind this future we were given.”

It was not a grand declaration, not the kind of poetic words sung by minstrels in the halls of the Red Keep. But it was honest. And it was enough.

For the first time, Rhaenyra allowed herself to consider what their future would truly be—not just an alliance forged by their fathers, but something built between them. A bond that had taken root slowly, quietly, like winter creeping up on autumn.

She smiled then, a small, private thing. “Nor do I.”

And in that moment, under the glow of the setting sun, the dragon and the wolf stood together—not as strangers bound by duty, but as two souls who had chosen each other.

——————-

The weeks following their quiet confession changed something between them. It was subtle at first—a lingering glance across the feast table, a touch that lasted a heartbeat longer than necessary, the way Y/n would find her gaze when something amused him. It was as if, after years of walking parallel paths, they had finally stepped onto the same road.

Rhaenyra had never truly known what it meant to be courted. Not in the way noble ladies whispered about, with stolen letters and secret trysts. She had grown up knowing she was promised to Y/n Stark, and so there had been no need for courtship, no expectation of romance. But now, she wondered if this—this careful, deliberate shift in their relationship—was it's kind of courtship.

She found herself watching him more closely. He was different from the men of the South. Y/n Stark was not adorned in silks or fine embroidery, nor did he speak in the flowery riddles of the court. He was a man of action, of quiet strength, and something was reassuring in that. While the lords of King’s Landing played their endless games, Y/n remained steadfast—unmoved by flattery, unimpressed by false smiles.

One evening, as they stood atop the walls of the Red Keep, looking out over the city, Rhaenyra turned to him. “You do not belong here.”

Y/n arched his brow. “Should I be insulted?”

She smirked. “No. It is a compliment.”

He studied her for a long moment before exhaling, his breath misting in the cool night air. “You are right. I do not belong here. The South is too warm, the air too thick with perfumed lies.” He glanced at her then. “But you—you belong everywhere.”

The words struck her unexpectedly, sinking beneath her skin like molten gold. She had always felt the weight of expectation, of duty, of the crown’s burden. But to hear it spoken like that—not as a demand, but as an undeniable truth—was something else entirely.

She looked away, her fingers tightening on the stone ledge. “You will take me to Winterfell, one day.”

“When we are wed,” he said simply.

She turned back to him, searching his face. “And will I belong there?”

Y/n’s expression softened, and he reached for the princess hand, his thumb brushing against her knuckles. “Yes.”

It was not a promise made to a princess. It was a promise made to her—to Rhaenyra, not just the heir to the Iron Throne, not just the daughter of a king. And it was the first time she truly believed that, in the cold of the North, she might find warmth.

——————

Y/n Stark had spent his entire life in a land of wolves and winter. In the North, words were not wasted, nor was affection displayed so openly. Love, he had been taught, was not in flowery speeches or grand gestures—it was in the quiet moments, in the unspoken acts of devotion.

And so, when he began to show Rhaenyra the ways of the North, it was not with gifts of jewels or whispered sonnets. It was in how he watched her during their training sessions, offering pointers with careful precision; in how he made sure her goblet was always full at feasts, how he walked on the outer side of the path when they wandered through the city, placing himself between her and any potential threat.

At first, she did not notice. Then, when she did, she did not know what to make of it.

“You do not compliment me like the men of court,” she mused one day as they spared in the training yard. She had insisted on learning to fight, and Y/n had been more than willing to oblige. “Is that not what betrothed men are meant to do?”

Y/n parried her strike with ease, their wooden swords clashing. “Do you need words to know your worth?”

Rhaenyra scoffed, lunging forward again, forcing him back a step. “That is not an answer.”

Y/n smirked. “Would you rather I tell you you’re beautiful?”

She rolled her eyes, but he did not let her dismiss it so easily. Stepping forward, he caught her wrist, holding her blade steady. His voice lowered, rough but firm. “You are strong. You are fierce. You are more than just beautiful, Rhaenyra.”

For the first time, she faltered.

Their faces were inches apart, Y/n’s grip still on her wrist, and Rhaenyra was suddenly aware of the heat between them, of the way her breath had quickened.

Y/n stepped back first, releasing her with a knowing look. “Words mean little if they are not proven in action. You will not need to question my loyalty when the time comes.”

Rhaenyra swallowed, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly. She had grown up surrounded by flatterers, by men who whispered sweet nothings with empty smiles. But this—this was something else. A promise forged not in words, but in steel and certainty.

And god's help her, she believed him.

Their love did not come in a rush of passion, in stolen kisses or reckless declarations. It came slowly like embers catching flame like winter yielding to spring. It came in the way Rhaenyra sought him out at feasts, the way Y/n caught her hand beneath the table when no one was looking. It came in the way he listened when she spoke of the burdens of her birthright, in the way she traced the scars on his knuckles after a battle.

One night, as they stood before the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra turned to him. “When I sit upon that throne, will you stand beside me?”

Y/n did not hesitate. “Always.”

And in that moment, she knew.

She had been bound to him by duty, but she had fallen for him by choice.

———————

Rhaenyra had never known the kind of love that burned slowly instead of consuming all at once. She had heard stories, of course—of dragonlords who took their brides in a rush of fire, of poets who spoke of passion so fierce it threatened to destroy. But what she found with Y/n was something different. It did not scorch her like dragon flame; it steadied her, like the North wind bracing against the cold.

He did not look at her the way the men of the court did, with reverence or ambition. He looked at her as if she were simply herself—no less, no more. And Rhaenyra, who had spent her whole life being either too much or not enough, found that she wanted to be seen exactly like that.

It was on a rare quiet evening that she truly understood.

They had retreated to the training yard after a feast, both eager to escape the suffocating halls of the Red Keep. The moon hung low, silver light glinting off the steel of their practice swords as they circled each other.

“You rely too much on speed,” Y/n mused, blocking her strike with effortless precision.

“I am not as strong as you,” she countered, pivoting to avoid his next attack.

“Strength isn’t everything.” He fainted left, forcing her to react, then twisted his blade in a way that sent hers clattering to the ground. Before she could reach for it, Y/n caught her wrist, pulling her in close.

Rhaenyra’s breath hitched.

She should have pulled away. She should have laughed and made some remark about his northern arrogance. But she didn’t. Because standing this close, with the scent of leather and steel and something unmistakably him filling her senses, she realized something she had been trying to ignore for too long.

This was not just duty.

Not just an arrangement made by kings long before they had been old enough to understand.

This was something else.

Y/n must have seen it in her eyes because his grip on her wrist tightened ever so slightly. “Rhaenyra—”

She surged forward before he could finish, pressing her lips to his in a kiss that was not tentative or soft, but sure. Certain.

Y/n froze for only a moment as if caught off guard before he responded. His free hand came up to cup the back of her neck, his fingers tangling in her silver hair. He kissed her like he fought—steady, unyielding, yet with a quiet intensity that sent heat curling through her veins.

When they finally parted, his forehead rested against hers, his breathing uneven. “Are you certain?”

Rhaenyra let out a breathless laugh. “Y/n Stark, I have never been more certain of anything in my life.”

Y/n’s mouth curled into something between a smirk and a smile before he kissed her again, slower this time as if sealing something between them that had long been inevitable.

And at that moment, beneath the godswood’s silent watch and the distant roar of dragons in the night, Rhaenyra Targaryen knew—she had not just found an ally, or a husband, or a match made for politics.

She had found her equal.

She had found her home.

Bonus Chapter:

The day Rhaenyra Targaryen left King’s Landing for the North was the day she realized how much of her heart she had already given to Y/n Stark.

The journey had been long, with the cold creeping into her bones the further north they traveled. She had grown up beneath the warmth of dragonfire, in a city where summer lingered far longer than it should. The North was nothing like that. It was ice and wind, endless white landscapes, and towering forests of ancient trees. It was nothing like home.

And yet, when she rode through the gates of Winterfell and saw Y/n standing at the steps, waiting for her, she felt something settle inside her.

His grey eyes locked onto hers immediately. He looked different here—more at ease, more himself. The weight of the South had never truly fit him, and now she understood why. This was his kingdom, his throne of ice and stone, and he stood before her as its rightful ruler.

As she dismounted, he stepped forward, reaching for her hand. His fingers, rough and calloused from years of training, wrapped around hers, their warmth grounding her against the cold.

“You came,” Y/n said, his voice quieter than she expected.

“Did you think I wouldn’t?” Rhaenyra teased, though her voice softened as she looked up at him.

He exhaled a small breath, shaking his head. “No.”

A wolf did not question the loyalty of its mate.

Their wedding was held beneath the heart tree, the weirwood’s crimson leaves whispering above them as the old gods bore witness. It was nothing like the lavish ceremonies of the South. There were no grand feasts, no extravagant displays of wealth. Only the cold wind, the murmur of the gathered Northmen, and the solemn words of the ceremony bound them.

Y/n took her hands in his, his grip firm, unwavering. “I vow to stand by your side, in winter and summer, in war and peace.” His voice was steady, yet she could hear the depth in it, the weight of what he was giving her. “No crown, no throne, no kingdom will change what I swear to you now. I am yours, Rhaenyra Targaryen, now and always.”

She had always thought of herself as fire—burning, untamed, destined to consume. But standing there, looking into the eyes of the man who had chosen her not because of her title or her dragons, but because she was her, she realized something.

Even fire needed something steady to burn beside.

Rhaenyra tightened her grip on Y/n’s hands, a rare shiver running through her as the wind howled through the godswood. “And I vow to stand by your side, through storm and shadow, through victory and ruin.” She lifted her chin. “I am yours, Y/n Stark. Now and always.”

Y/n’s lips quirked into a rare, private smile. “Good.”

Then, before the old gods, before their people, before the North and the sky and the distant echo of the world beyond, Y/n Stark kissed his dragon queen, sealing their bond not in fire, nor ice, but in something far stronger.

Something unbreakable.

—————-

Winterfell was not King’s Landing. The halls were not adorned with golden tapestries or polished marble floors, nor were there perfumed courtiers whispering behind fans. The air smelled of cold stone and burning wood, of leather and steel. It was not warm like the South, yet Rhaenyra found she did not mind.

Not when Y/n was beside her.

Their first night as husband and wife had been quiet, but not awkward. There was no need for pretenses between them—there never had been. After the wedding feast, which had been simple by Southern standards but rich with the laughter and songs of Yn’s bannermen, he had led her through the halls of Winterfell with an ease that made her heartache.

“This is your home now,” Y/n had said as they reached their chambers, a simple yet undeniable truth.

Now, as Rhaenyra sat beside the fire in their room, brushing her silver hair, she felt Y/n’s gaze on her from across the room. He had already shed his heavy furs, dressed only in a tunic and loose trousers, looking at her with that quiet intensity she had come to know so well.

“You are staring, my lord husband,” she murmured, a teasing lilt to her voice.

Y/n leaned against the stone wall, arms crossed. “You are beautiful.”

She raised a brow. “You once said words mean little without action.”

His smirk was slow, knowing. “So I did.”

And then he was moving, crossing the distance between them in a few steady strides. Y/n reached for the brush in Rhaenyra’s hands, gently taking it from her fingers before settling behind her, his hands threading through her silver hair with surprising care.

The first stroke was slow and deliberate. Rhaenyra closed her eyes, letting the steady rhythm soothe her, the warmth of Y/n’s presence grounding her in a way she had not expected. She had been touched before—by courtiers seeking favor, by maids preparing her for court, by men who thought they had the right.

But this… this was different.

This was not a man claiming her, nor a husband fulfilling duty.

This was Y/n.

The wolf who had stood beside her, not because of her dragons or her crown, but because he had chosen to.

Her heart clenched, an unfamiliar warmth curling in her chest.

“You are quiet,” Y/n murmured, his breath warm against the shell of her ear.

Rhaenyra opened her eyes, meeting his gaze in the mirror before them. “I was thinking.”

Y/n’s fingers continued their slow movements, untangling knots with patience. “Of what?”

The Targaryen princess hesitated for only a moment before answering. “Of how much I like this.”

A flicker of something crossed Y/n’s face—something softer than the hardened warrior the world saw. He placed the brush aside, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. “Good.”

Y/n pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his lips warm against her skin. “Because I do too.”

And just like that, the dragon and the wolf found something neither had ever expected—peace.

[multifunctionalnitroglycerin]

The Radiant Dawn, Leona of the Solari – an analysis

Leona, Leona, what to do with you, oh Radiant Dawn, daughter of the Sun-forgers? You who scorn love so, in the face of duty?

What with the latest season of Arcane having fully come out, and many of us still grasping to comprehend the ending of that wonderful series (I will maintain that it’s probably one of the best pieces of media I have ever had the joy of consuming), I got to thinking about another military dictator that leads a scourge against her lover’s people. So, strap in and grab your drinks, cause this is going to be a long one.

I have seen some funny posts juxtapositioning Violyn/ Caitvi and Leodia, and while one cannot deny the first glance similarities in the stories, especially with the new route Piltover’s finest took, the premise of their stories is at its core different.  BUT today we will not explore the similarities and differences in the premise of the broader systems that both stories take place in, but rather take a deeper look into our beloved obstacle of a Targonian “cult leader”, Leona.

            Now Leona’s character in league is rather…unremarkable at first glance. More of an obstacle than a worthy adversary, a mindless cultist that perpetuates the oppression against her peoples’ sister tribe, too blind to see past that, even when her lover begs her to. Personally, I prefer to think of Leona as an unremarkable character with remarkable potential, should Riot decide to ever do anything with it. The roots of a good story have already been planted. Because yes, in Arcane we also talked about oppression, class stratification, abuse of power, and a twisted corrupt judicial system, but now, in Targon, we’ll talk about cults.

I am no expert, but cultism and totalitarian regimes do have a few common points in the way they function, thus the perceived similarities between the two storylines. However, I feel in the hands of capable writers the Targonian storyline can become a beautiful story about religious fanatism, and cultism, the struggle of individuality, and how challenging it is to escape from them, if at all… (I do like some tragic lesbians, sue me. A happy ending that does justice to the inherent tragedy of those two will have to be earned, and if a tragic ending is what does them justice, I will accept it.)

It’s high time we got this party started though, isn’t it?

Leona is born in the Solari tribe of Targon, a tribe that venerated the Sun more than any other upon the mountain. Which at first glance seems innocent enough, right?

Cults in principle, and to my limited understanding, are authoritarian systems that revolve around a particular belief, that have rules and dogma and encourage their members to isolate themselves from would-be questioners of their faith. By taking a look at what we know about the Solari, most of these terms seem to be fulfilled. An authoritarian system based around the worship of the Sun, with strict rules, rigid principles, and rituals, led not by one charismatic leader, as many cults are, but by a council of elders, that determine what is acceptable and what not in Her worship. While they also take care to mindfully curate the available information in the temple and discourage or silence those that oppose their teachings.

Leona is a child born to the Sun-forgers Melia and Iasur, and takes to her parents’ faith with a stride, comfortable in its rigidity and its unrelenting structures. She is reportedly as seen both through her bio and the letter to her parents in “Rise with me”, a near perfect acolyte, her devotion, and excellence in seemingly everything but that one oration class, inspiring envy in her peers, and admiration in her elders, all of them certain that she would one day become a Ra’Horak, a holy warrior of the Solari.

The thing is, that children growing up in cults are a tricky thing to write despite its supposed straightforwardness. Especially if you want to create a character as complicated as I hope Leona will turn out to be. The basics of it are things we already know; children are extremely vulnerable to adult influence; their minds are sponges and their parents’ world is their world. They listen, observe and absorb the behavior, the views and opinions of the people around them, and accept them as reality, because they are children and do not know any better. As one might imagine, the extent of fanatism that Leona grew up with is variable, depending on how her own parents acted and how deep in they were themselves. Now I am a bit rusty on Rakori and Targonian lore, but if we take the short story “Rise with me” into account, I think it is safe to say that Melia and Iasur were in pretty deep.

Another thing to note about children that grow up in cults is that the cult leader and the cult’s needs come first. Which means that the child rarely enjoys their parents’ attention, much less love and affection. Something that in my humble opinion would drive some of them to strive for perfection and trying to satisfy their parents’ every wish and every whim, in hope of getting even a hint of affection. That is something we can see rather clearly in the story if we want to examine a bit Leona’s relationship with her Dayblessed parents.

Before we dive into that, however, what we can summarize from all of the above is that Leona is, in principle, a person that likes rules. Someone that grew up heeding them. That thrives in hierarchical systems, and well-structured environments, with clear denominations for right and wrong, for what one should and should not do. According to the bio this rigidity brings her comfort, and solace. Because it is familiar and comfortable. It’s what in all probability she grew up with. Moreover, Leona is a perfectionist. Something we are told, through her bio, and her own letters and diary, but we can also see when looking at her through the lens of Diana’s eyes.

To continue with my previous point, though, when looking at her relationship with her parents…well, I’ll let you figure this out on your own. We only have her diary entries and letters sent and unsent to garner information from, but that is enough to paint a detailed enough picture of what her relationship with her parents entails. Even without looking at it from the “child that grew up in a cult” angle, we can see there is little affection between them. Even from her first letter, we can feel the clean-cut, prim and proper courteousness of their communication, accompanied by the hints of affection every child holds for their parents. It is, however, far from warm, or heartfelt. It seems more like kind interest, than any real investment, in her parents’ or siblings’ wellbeing and then proceeds to become a report on her achievements and perceived weaknesses. Even the title of the section, the opening of the letter, “Letter from a devoted daughter” holds no personality, as if Leona’s entire being can be compressed and described by those two words.

We do get a similar impression from the letter Polymnius sent to Melia and Iasur. The letter itself contains the priest’s thanks for the new lanternglass crafted by the sun-forger, and also devolves to a report of Leona’s progress after his communication with all of her instructors, and his observation of her skills in battle. Now on the one hand, Polymnius could be just a family friend or the priest responsible for communicating with the acolytes’ families. On the other hand however, one might start questioning just how much control Leona’s parents can exert over her life, even in their absence. Do they hold sway with the priesthood? Are their immense expectations passed on through priests and teachers, adding more and more to the pressure Leona faces every day? To be strong, devout, worthy and good? And again, the letter ends with  “I know you would be proud.” I am sure they would Polymnius, I am sure they would.

            At this point I’d like to point out that he is probably the only person that worries that Leona is taking her duties far too seriously and needs to take a few steps back to relax and delight in the Sun’s gifts. (And honestly, same.)

Moving forward we have the Letter from Sunsworn Priestess Nemyah to a shining pupil, that once more applauds Leona for her achievements, with little to no fanfare. And again we note that sense of depersonalization, of Leona being defined by those characterizations, by her achievements, her rights and wrongs. 

            And then of course we get into the fight between Leona and Diana and the disciplinary letter sent to her by her parents. Which honestly goes about as well as you would expect,

We know that you are capable of better and expect you to rise to the occasion. Leaders in Her Light do not run into impediments that they cannot overcome, nor do they get hindered by such earthly mischief as “a shouting match at school.”

And of course

…will speak with you about how better to secure your future then.

So much for parental love… If anything, it’s a declaration of disappointment, with clear expectations and measures to be met, We know you are better than this, we expect you to be better than this, leaders do not fumble. Sounds particularly loving, doesn’t it? Definitely not like they worry about their reputation, and their image in the community more than their daughter’s wellbeing and most certainly not like they have her future already decided for her. A future they can benefit from, of course.

I will try to keep this at a reasonable length and will not overly analyze Leona’s own unsent replies, for they are pretty straightforward. They are characterized by Leona’s anxiety, fear and guilt for disappointing her parents and failing to reach the tremendous expectations they have set for her.

            So to sum this part up, Leona was raised by overly strict parents, in an environment in which she received little to no affection and positive reinforcement, even for her achievements that far exceeded those of her peers. She has also been burdened with a set of rather impossible expectations, that she strives to reach no matter what. We saw that Iasur and Melia are quick to discipline her and voice their disappointment, rather rancidly might I say, and yet made little to no mention of Leona’s multiple achievements that have been noted by multiple instructors as well as Polymnius. As for Leona herself, one might say she is afraid to be herself and express her own thoughts. Even when she writes a letter that truly encompasses her thoughts and feelings, in that same letter she resolutely states that she will not send it.

So insofar we have an affection-starved, rule-loving perfectionist, that probably hasn’t had any positive reinforcement since she was like 5 and has her parents and everyone around her connect and define her worth as a person though her personal achievements and services in Her light. It would be safe to assume that from a point on, Leona herself starts putting herself in those boxes, limiting her sense of self and worth to the glass ceiling of their expectations, adding more and more expectations on herself, back bending further and further back, until inevitably reaching her breaking point. And of course, this is all she has ever known. The rules, the hierarchy, the expectations, the dogma, is what she grew up with, is what feels familiar, and in a twisted sense, “right”.  We could thus somewhat explain why Leona holds her duty in such high regard. She has come to define herself and her worth as a person, through it. It’s all she has ever really known.

            Not to say that things are as bleak as they seem at first glance. For there is one shining light in Leona’s life, one guiding beacon that tries to break her out of the glass cage, at least at the point in time when Rise With Me takes place, and it is none other than Diana.

            Now, according to Leona’s bio, she saw in Diana an ever-curious spirit devoted to the search for meaning, and the truth, and that’s sth that holds up in the short story as well. Diana’s ingenuity and unique perspective of things, her being the one dissonant voice in the harmonious chorus of the elders’ teachings, intrigue young Leona.

When looking into the respective missives that Leona sends to Diana in respects of their shared oration class, starting from the first one even, we can see that despite all the greatness she has achieved, all her triumphs, and graces, she remains shy, and humble. Even knowing that she is amongst the best of her peers, and the priests’ favorites, she does not brag, does not demand, does not exert any power or control. Instead, she approaches her faults humbly and asks for Diana’s – the outcast’s - help in a respectful manner. She does not let her shortcomings define her or hinder her. She recognizes them as something to improve, and humbly asks for help from someone she believes she can benefit from, someone that will help, and not just shower her with mindless praise.  She recognizes Diana’s ingenuity and applauds her argument construction; while pledging to help her in return should Diana need assistance herself.

Leona is humble and kind. Though to a certain degree we might even consider her having a bit of a people pleasing attitude accompanied by a slight lack of confidence. Perfectionists as a rule hate making mistakes or seeming inadequate. It’s a big blow in their confidence and the sense of self they have constructed around the concept of said perfection. After living for so long in an environment of such heavy expectations, it’s no wonder one might start second-guessing themselves, no matter how good they are, even for the smallest of mistakes.

            Back to Leona though, she is humble, kind and considerate, perhaps even to a fault. There is this sense of her not wanting to impose on Diana’s schedule, on which she rather insists. She doesn’t want to be trouble, she does not want to be a burden, and of course she then offers her own help in return should it be needed, which is the decent and honorable thing to do.

            Leona’s diary entry where she considers asking Diana to the festival is what also gives us a glimpse of the person behind the armor, behind the rule abiding student, behind the mask of achievements and perfection. To no surprise, we get a more in depth perspective of Leona’s own thoughts and feelings, as long as her take on “how to ask the girl I like out without coming across like a total fool, or indoctrinating asshole?” She is anxious, thoughtful and tender, considerate and sweet in her approach, and a little bit hopeless, but I think we can forgive her. She is downright smitten and hasn’t realized how much just yet. She even goes through with one of her plans to ask Diana to practice with the shields, and well, forgive me if I say it is adorable.

            Diana’s presence in Leona’s life and story, however, is not important because the will-be Aspect of the Sun is absolutely smitten with her, or even because she encompasses the total opposite of what Leona is (which let’s be honest, she doesn’t. They are complimentary to one another, not opposites), but because Diana makes Leona think.

            That’s the reason Leona approached her in the first place, her ability to think and construct cohesive and compelling arguments. Something that Leona herself is lacking in, because alongside most of the other Solari acolytes, she lacks critical thinking. An essential component of trying to construct an argument of any sort - if you do not want to parrot something you learned in a book once.

            Diana’s arguments, thoughts and criticisms on their given materials have Leona thinking, examining what she is taught, and what she says in oration class herself. Diana teaches Leona how to think, she teaches her how to construct arguments, how to reinforce them, to find fallacies in arguments and counteract them. In her quest to learn how to defend her point, Leona starts learning how to look deeper into things, to examine their essence, and construct counterpoints. And we can see that she starts thinking about it, if only superficially. She doesn’t go full out critical thinking, or questioning everything she has ever known, it doesn’t work like that, but the seed has been planted.  “Why do you think I need to go deeper than that when it’s widely known already?” It’s not much but it is a start to the path of critical thinking.

And then after an undetermined amount of time, comes their shared ascension. And that’s where the discrepancies in the story start. Mind you the bio was written a few years before the short story came out, so the characterization obviously is not entirely in line with what we know.

            This Leona is one that debates with Diana still, but wants to persuade her not to look further into their faith, and just accept it as it is. At Diana’s sharing the secret of the alcove, Leona is a stone wall of resistance urging her friend away from the climb, afraid for her wellbeing should she inspire further ire from the Solari. When Diana inevitably climbs the mountain, and while her first instinct is to alert the elders, Leona resolves to help and protect her friend instead and follows after her into the night. Against all odds they manage to reach the peak, and she is wreathed in golden light, fighting tooth and nail to keep her sense of self intact. And she wins.

            At this point, I think we can all see the difference between bio-Leona and the Leona that the short story sets the foundations of. Obviously for the sake of storytelling and with some tweaking these two could co-exist as canon versions of Leona in different times of her life. We could potentially be talking about a tragic story about how religion and blind adherence to duty and tradition drive a wedge between two people that very much love each other. Or the bio could be a bit of a “historical account” of what happened, and Leona having had to care for Diana after her punishments one too many times puts up a wall of resistance, an ultimatum of the “I don’t want to lose you” kind.

            No matter the case, and despite of what Riot might decide to do to expand on their story, and either give us a critical thinking Leona, or a very good reason for not having a critical thinking Leona, the point is that Leona is incredibly loyal to those she cares about.

            And now comes the point of the ascension. The critical point in their story, where instead of going with Diana, and living their happily ever after away from the system that tortured them both, albeit in completely different manners, Leona chooses to stay.

            And I think sometimes when thinking about Leona, we do not always recognize that this is the point where everything is going down. This is the point where everything we have so far discussed comes into play. Because their ascension is a traumatic experience. One that upends everything Leona has ever known. The process of their ascension is traumatic, the very essence of it, bloody terrifying. Because it is a jump into the unknown. It challenges the truths that she has constructed her whole sense of self around, demolishes the very principles that she grew up enforcing.

            There is this interaction in Legends of Runeterra, where Diana urges Leona to understand that Day needs Night, referencing the visions they both saw upon Targon’s peak. And what does Leona reply? “Visions from memories not my own.”

            Full-blown denial. Not that I particularly blame her initial reaction. Because what is it that we have here? We have that affection-starved perfectionist that grew up in a cult, that wounded inner child that has come to tie her worth as a person to the degree of her personal achievements. We have that honorable, rule abiding, and duty loving person, a person that finds solace in strict structures and hierarchies, that thrives in them, thrown into absolute CHAOS.

You have Leona, that rule abiding idiot, that transcends her own limits that takes that one calculated risk to follow Diana and save her from the mountain’s clutches and ends up with watching a blast of divine light slamming into Diana. She goes to help, and before she can help a blast of divine light slams into her, filling her head with a second divine conscience, with visions and memories of other Sun Aspects, of times when truly the people of the mountain were united. And then the onslaught ends, and she faces a Diana different from the one she knows, a Diana dressed in the colors of the enemy.

            So Leona, bearing all of the characteristics we mentioned above, is bloody terrified out of her wits. She is faced with such terrifyingly foreign notions, with such stress, that what is she going to do? She regresses back to what she already knows. And what she knows are the elders and the Solari, and the priests, the rules, the scriptures, the dogma. In face of that terrifying truth she regresses back to the perceived safety of that toxic and unhealthy system -that on top of everything is a cult- that she grew up in.

            Now this brings forth this thought about ignorance. Because Leona is ignorant of the truth. She is, however, intimately familiar with the narrative she has grown up with. People are familiar with their ignorance, and oftentimes they choose to bear the ills of what they know than to fly to others that they know not of. And thus, they are cowards. (Hamlet anyone?)

Leona is a prime example of that. Instead of sitting down and considering the new information, the truth revealed, the unknown future ahead, she clings to her ignorance, to her half-knowledge of the story, because it is familiar, and safe. And she is bloody terrified of the new unknown that Diana proposes they follow.

Now that is not to say that everything we have discussed boils down to Leona is a coward. Though that is partly true. But she is also a kid that grew up in a system that fostered that kind of cowardice. She is someone that grew up in an environment of cultism and religious fanatism, and she grew up ingrained to it. Contrary to Diana as one might point out. And these are all things we need to take into account when handling a character like Leona, and care that we do not flatten such immense complexity of conditions and circumstances, such depth of thought and emotion to “brainless genocidal cultist”. 

(Now if you ask, why does Diana have critical thinking, why did she not get ingrained and lost in that system despite growing up in it for as long if not longer than Leona, what is it that makes her different from the other cult kids, I have absolutely no idea, but that’s not the point of this particular post.)

To finish this off, the point of this post is not to excuse Leona of all the horrible things she has done, or even to argue that she is not a genocidal cultist- she very much is, and the point is definitely not to say that it is not her fault and she was just a product of her circumstances. We all are products of the circumstances that surround us, but we are not passive participants in those conditions. No, the point is to try and understand where Leona might be coming from, and to demonstrate that even the simplest and most obtuse of character concepts can have an intricate and complicated story behind them.

If you did manage to reach the end of this, congratulations! Have a cookie and don’t forget to hydrate!

[the-music-maniac]

Why is the daddy dom characterization so common with pre-nibelheim Sephiroth in fanfics. Does that look like a man who knows how to fuck, to you?

If someone does anything sexy in front of him, he would give them the Seph equivalent of a frog blink. That man is tired.

Lol jokes aside, I suspect for someone who has had his bodily autonomy dictated by lab techs and Hojo for the entirety of his life, he wouldn't be raring to have one night stands with complete strangers in his free time. Sure you could argue that sexual intercourse would be a way to regain a little control of autonomy, but I don't think it's likely when it would be with strangers that - not only never sees Sephiroth as anything but the famed legend (an image he doesn't like btw) which is likely accompanied by unwanted expectations of what he's like in bed, but complete strangers that could've also been sent to like. Assassinate the most important asset that Shinra has?

My point being that I don't think Sephiroth really had any safe space to explore what he likes for something like sex - and since it isn't necessary for his duty as a soldier, and may even count as unwanted distraction and vulnerability - Sephiroth likely discarded any interest in it entirely. That is, if he had any interest at all in the first place. You could also assume he could explore it with people he IS close with (ex. Angeal, Genesis etc.) but in those scenarios he wouldn't exactly know off the bat what he likes, or be self assured in any sense.

Trigger Warning (implication of SA/dubious consent): Of course you could also explore the darker side of this, which is that Sephiroth has experience because he didn't have a say in it, bc the company used him/trained him as an asset in this aspect as well. Which is an entirely different discussion to be had, so I won't go into it any further here.

And I think despite the suggestive shit that post-nibelheim Seph says to Cloud, his mind is not on anything sexual in actuality. He's likely aware of the effect flirtation and innuendo can have on people - disgust or interest or whatever would distract an opponent. Or he's just entirely unaware of - or does not care how else his words can be taken. He's a drama queen, but his goals have been pretty clear post insanity, and they have nothing to do with something as mundane as sex. So his demeanour after Jenova isn't that applicable (also we know that square Enix was like heehee we figured you would like this dialogue, so there is also that).

Basically, while I understand Sephiroth is a cool character for exploring fantasies (valid, go ham) - in terms of if you're trying to be accurate to canon characterizations, fics where he's written as a suave dom/top gets a bit of a question mark from me??

I feel like what makes more sense for ships involving pre-nibelheim Seph (including those sefikura time travel fixits that I'm mildly obsessed with) would be uncertainty. Here is finally someone who he actually feels safe to explore this aspect with, and it's natural for exploration to involve stumbles. And I don't think Seph would rule out submission or bottoming as an option in regards to himself either. Or switching/versatility. As someone trained to be objective or logical when tackling anything really - he would probably go about it methodically. So why not try it all to gather data?

What his and his partners' eventual preferences are gonna be is author's choice of course lmao

Also a disclaimer before I end it here - this post is purely because I find discussion on this interesting. If you disagree, or just wanna write what you wanna see, definitely do that and disregard what I've said. Fanfic is supposed to be self indulgent, so who gives a shit what other people think.

[certifiedsexed]

hi hi hi ik this isn't really a sex ed question but it's a queer question and i'm too afraid to google it. what exactly makes someone butch? i've been told i can't be butch cause my face/body are too feminine but i think your identity being dictated by how you were born is kind of bullshit in the queer community. i've got raggedy as hell short hair, i've never worn makeup a day in my life, and 90% of what i wear is a tanktop, shorts, and boots, the only thing differentiating me from butches i've seen recognized as such are that i'm kinda waifish and have a girly face. maybe it's mannerisms? i'll be the first to admit i'm upbeat but the idea that butches can't be cheerful also seems dumb. idk, i'm worried i'm overthinking this. i don't want to take t but i'd have been born less girly if i had a choice. i just can't tell if i'm inserting myself where i don't belong or if i've happened to meet a lot of people with weird ideas around queer women. your insight is appreciated oh certifiedsexed

Hi! Actually, information about sexualities and the like fall under sex education! Thanks for asking me!

Let me be clear, there isn't a list of categories you have to meet to be butch. It doesn't have to do with your body or personality.

The "butch" label is about a queer (or generally gay) connection to masculinity and/or a queer/gay presentation of masculinity: it's very common [and was born] in the lesbian/sapphic community but you can hear it thrown around in the general gay community as well, especially in older corners.

It's not a sexuality, though it can be a gender.

There are social aspects to the identity, specifically in the sapphic/lesbian community. It has very deep roots and a lot of associations that change depending on where you're from but the important part is that gay/queer connection to masculinity. The way you look/act doesn't really matter.

You're correct on the second option, it sounds like you've just met some people who have some weird ideas about queer women and identities associated with them.

The best person to learn about being butch is butch folks, so if you're looking to learn more about it, you should look up some writings and/or media created by butches! [I can provide some resources, if you're interested. <3]

Hope this helps! If you have anymore questions, let me know! <3

[writingquestionsanswered]

Fanfic Character w/Conflicting Traits

Anonymous asked:

How do I write a character who has low self esteem + is very pessimistic while also being (rightfully) proud of his work and rude? I'm having trouble balancing these traits of this fanfic character as I don't want want to go to the "soft sad boy" or "arrogant evil guy" extremes, both of which I've seen the fandom push their characterization toward sadly. I see myself in this character so it makes me want to go for a more nuanced approach.

The tricky thing about this character is the dichotomy between having low self-esteem yet still having the ability to be proud of his accomplishments. That definitely requires a nuanced balance, which is why I think people struggle with portraying this character, tending to either veer into "soft sad boy" or "arrogant evil guy."

The fact that you see yourself in this character to a degree will give you a leg up on others who are writing him. Hopefully you can look to canon as a guide and suss out how these two contradictory personality traits coexist. If low self-esteem doesn't inhibit his ability to take pride in his work, how does it affect him instead? What is it that allows him to see the value of his work and take/show pride in it, despite feeling low about himself in other ways? Examine how canon handles this and you'll have a better idea of how to portray it.

You can look at other specifics, too. How does their low self-esteem typically dictate their interactions with others? Is rude their default because of the low self-esteem? Or is there another default, and the rudeness comes on as a matter of pride? What sorts of things tend to trigger this shift? Is it specific to mood, circumstances, or even character?

Your best bet for doing this well is to pay very close attention to how they behave in canon and really try to get to the bottom of what makes them tick. Then, you can apply your own sense of things--from your own experiences or whatever it is you see yourself having in common with them--to fill in the gaps left open by canon.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[gremlingottoosilly]

Hey! I got a question for you if you don't mind.

You mentioned briefly in the fic that Emperor König has concubines. Does he still keep them in his harem even after he's married to reader? Perhaps he still keeps them for diplomatic/politic reasons, since these concubines came from influential families.

How will he react if one of these concubines try to seduce him and attempt to replace empress reader? Or even hurt reader in the first place.

Emperor!Konig has the most frustrating and horny harem of them all because he literally never touches them. Not even once. There are rumors about the emperor basically being infertile or lacking a dick or exchanging his balls for the ability to resurrect people - because he has some of the most wonderful women in his harem, stock in different castles because he couldn't be arsed to keep them all in one place for easy access. These are all daughters of important families in his Empire - he never requested one, since he couldn't really care less about the importance of maintaining the royal bloodline(he fully expects to kinda...never die at this point, and he couldn't care less about kids, but still). The second reason, way more secret, is that he...doesn't know how to act around pretty women. Pretty royal women. Really pretty really bitchy royal women who were selected by their families to live in the intrigues of the royal court. Konig was never intended to be an emperor, a ruler - he is a bastard, a nobody who was raised to be the most dangerous person in the world just through his strength and ability to rule over the armies. He would love to give up his title and be a general, but he also kinda liked power lmao. Just not the public aspect of it. One of the reasons he took Reader is because she wasn't royalty - but she still received enough education to be mistaken as one, so he could pass her as the regent empress without society bitching about marrying a commoner. He couldn't care less, really, but his political capital is running from one side of the swing to the other. People have very mixed opinions on him...good thing he is a dictator, right? He has a harem and it was still present up until the royal wedding - poor women were just kept in different castles with money and their own lovers because no, Konig couldn't care less about sleeping with them. He took a few before, but it were flings purely for carnal desires - he respected women who just wanted sex from him, but attachments and the hunger for power that comes later...not so much of his style. I'm not going to write more on the subject here because I intend to make a chapter about it in the fic, but thank you for the idea anon!! You're my concubine now lol

[doumadono]

I just wanna know why so many adult mha smut creators say they age up minors as if it justifies their attraction to them. Would you say it's okay to age up Eri too?

Ah, aging-up fictional characters, my favorite controversial topic! ♥ You know, I was low-key anticipating an anon to drop this kind of question, sooner nor later (what a pity you didn't have balls to come off-anon tho!). I've had my fair share of childish anons before, and trust me, those went straight into the digital dumpster. But hey, this time, I've decided to lay it all out on the table, crystal clear 🙅‍

You know, I've done it all – murder, rape, summoned demons, even glorified Satan and had several children killed in my stories. But guess what? Not a single pair of handcuffs in sight! 😎 And don't get me started on the horror section at any bookstore - it's like a buffet of dreadful deeds.

Let's be real, the purity police can take a hike. There's something oddly fishy about the fact that fanfic, mostly crafted by awesome writers, gets the brunt of the criticism or some ridiculous accusations, especially the smutty bits, while the gruesome stuff gets a free pass 🤷

Look, folks, it's all about context. Fiction is a realm where creativity knows no bounds, right? So, if I want to age-up a character for a mature storyline, I'll go for it 🤷 Look, it's all a part of the creative process. Fiction is like a playground where we can swing from the monkey bars of imagination, right? Aging-up fictional characters is a common practice in creative communities, and it's important to remember that these characters exist solely within the realm of fiction - they are not real, so it doesn't hurt them in any single way. It allows creators to explore different scenarios and relationships without crossing any ethical boundaries :) Also! Aging-up characters isn't some sneaky scheme to write "inappropriate" content about youngsters. It's about taking characters you adore or find fascinating and giving them a new lease on life. It's like those college AU fanfics for characters in their late 30s or kidfic for full-grown adults. It's all about exploring different phases of their lives. So, whether it's smutty or not, the essence remains the same 😎 You see, the whole "aging-up" thing in fanfic/fanart is just common sense. We're not into the whole "let's sexualize kids" scene, so we gracefully turn our characters into adults. It's all about creating content featuring responsible, grown-up folks. And let's get real, if reading about something meant you were all in on it, then every mystery novel reader out there would have to be either an undercover detective nor a murderer 😎 So let's dial down the judgment and just enjoy our creative freedom, shall we?

But you know, trying to equate aging-up with things like grooming/pedophilia is like saying eating a banana is the same as piloting a spaceship because they're both hands-on activities. Let's keep our perspective here, folks, and not get too carried away with the terminology 😂

If you don’t want to read those stories (containing aged-up characters/dark content/smut with aged-up characters) - then don’t read them - problem solved!

Oh, how times have changed, my friend! Back in the day, I used to let all those comments and anonymous hate bring me down. But guess what? I've evolved, and I've got news for the critics: I write what I want to write, and nobody's gonna tell me otherwise. I've got this little thing called free will, and I'm not about to hand it over to anyone who thinks they can dictate what I should or shouldn't put on paper. If that means ruffling a few feathers, so be it. I've shed my tear-soaked days and embraced the fact that I couldn't care less about those sensitive souls who can't handle a bit of fiction. So, to all you "snowflakes" out there, if you're trying to stifle my creativity, good luck, because I'm just going to crank up the heat and write even smuttier storylines with aged-up characters! Thanks for the encouragement, dear Nonnie – you've only fueled my fire! 🔥😎 I might even consider writing some very dark-themed fic with aged-up Eri, why not! 😈

Oh, hey Anon! Quick question for you. Have you ever picked up a Stephen King book? You know, the master of horror and suspense? Well, if you have, you might've noticed that he doesn't shy away from some pretty explicit content, and not just with adults. Sometimes he writes about kids too, and they're sometimes off legal age as well! Surprise, surprise. You can stroll into a bookstore, grab a book off the shelf, and guess what? There's a good chance that some of those books contain content that would make a sailor blush! Yet, the world isn't collapsing because of it. The point is, even in mainstream literature, you'll find situations that might make you raise an eyebrow. So, let's not throw stones at age-up fiction creators when the literary giants sometimes walk on the same edge, right? 😏

In the conclusion, if you've got a problem with aging-up fictional characters, dear Nonnie, you might want to take a chill pill and remember that it's all just a bit of fun in the end ♥ Well, you know what would truly make my day? If you took the liberty to hit that "block" button with glee and gracefully vanished from my interactions. And if, by some chance, you decide to stick around, don't hold your breath for a response. I'll be too busy conjuring up some fiery, smutty tales featuring Bakugo or Shoto or any other character I like to bother with your, shall we say, less-than-enlightening queries. But hey, chin up, pal – here's a little nugget of wisdom from your "older and wiser" friend: go get a life. It's an absolute game-changer 😜 I'm tagging some content creators who write dark fics or use aged-up characters and might face similar anons/anon hate: @mrskokushibo @ectologia @kyojurismo @bakubunny

[homestuckreplay]

Webcomics at Day 100 #10: The Order of the Stick

Pages read: 9/25/2003 – 4/4/2006 (books 1&2; 301 full page strips)

Reason for selection: D&D is really important to nerd culture (and online culture since 3e), and this is probably the most popular and longrunning D&D webcomic, to this day loved, followed and theorized on by a large fanbase.

Current status: Ongoing with no set schedule, averaging twice monthly updates. Creator Rich Burlew says the current book will be the last, but fans predict the arc will not end until 2031 or later.

Content warnings: frequent misogyny, sexualization of female characters, equating sex and gender, occasional transphobia, sexual humor, occasional jokes about sexual assault and harassment, one joke about slavery, extreme amounts of cartoon violence

Overall thoughts:

I am definitely the target audience for Order of the Stick. As a long time D&D player who also enjoys hearing about games I didn’t play in and likes webcomics as a medium, it’s not surprising that I fell in love with this very quickly, because I’m the exact type of person it’s being written for. As such, it’s hard to analyze whether it’s easy for non-D&D players to get into.

D&D references appear in the majority of strips, typically to 3.5e – the edition released shortly before the comic’s debut, which almost entirely dictates the characters’ abilities and the rules of the world they live in. Most references are still relevant to more recent editions, and the comic riffs on random encounters, initiative order, attacks of opportunity, momentary in-game retcons after remembering an extra feature or skill bonus after the fact, timeskips during travel, rogues stealing from party members leading to intraparty conflict, the ‘all PCs have dead parents’ backstory stereotype, and especially alignment.

The entirety of book two, ‘No Cure for the Paladin Blues’ (so named because it features a paladin dressed in blue), explores alignment in more depth than the occasional jokes surrounding the other topics. Roy, an honorable leader who has sworn an oath but isn’t a paladin by class, and Miko, who is a true paladin and follows her order’s rules to the letter, come to blows over the meaning of ‘good’ and ‘lawful’, whether intent or outcome determine a person’s alignment, and what it means to live in a world where alignment is objective, codified, and detectable. These are ideas that later D&D editions will also question, but not as efficiently as secondary character Celia, a sylph defense lawyer, does in a literal courtroom scene in comic 282.

The D&D references range from these blatant ones, to the more subtle. To zoom in on a moment I loved, strip 214 features a moment where Miko – a party ally, who would be controlled by the DM in a real game – goes against the party’s planned stealth ambush and barges into an ogre camp to confront the leader. This would be really bad D&D etiquette in most games, as a DM would be taking agency away from the players, not allowing them to even attempt a plan they’d worked hard on. But it works well as comic writing, because it characterizes Miko and sets up a new three-way conflict between her, the party, and the ogres.

Establishing characterization is much easier with D&D ability scores and spell lists to lean back on, but Burlew has never made official character sheets for the party to allow the story to come first. Instead, Burlew uses common player character archetypes – a respectable human fighter/party leader avenging his father, a Scottish dwarf cleric who likes ale and can’t roll stealth, an androgynous elf mage who prefers learning about the limits of arcane potential to social interaction, an annoying, pretty, constantly singing and talking when he shouldn’t bard (who surprised me by being dumb instead of horny), a treasure-obsessed crackshot rogue, and a chaos gremlin. XP and level up mechanics provide an easy, in universe reason for characters developing new powers.

I found most characters quickly likeable, except for the chaos gremlin – halfling ranger Belkar is the party’s evil member, generally played for comic relief. However, as the overarching plot is introduced as early as strip 13, and other characters are given two dimensions and ethical beliefs within the first hundred strips, Belkar’s being loved by the party of relatively decent people despite his selfish, violent and amoral actions (stated outright in strip 285) feels out of place and unearned to me. His misogyny and sexual harassment of female characters, also played for laughs, really contributes to this – it’s hard to overlook, especially as it’s reflected by the author.

Burlew falls into common pitfalls when writing female characters – for example, a woman only being taken seriously when she is competent and can out-perform the men, a man needing to experience being treated like a woman in order to respect one, and regularly referring to women as ‘bitches’, ‘whores’, and ‘chicks’. In 2015, Burlew said that he has few regrets about his early work, but that they include ‘[u]nintentional sexism and/or insensitivity to gender issues. Doing my best to fix it going forward.’ This acknowledgement is important to my decision to keep reading.

[Note on next paragraph, added later: I have now been informed that Vaarsuvius is canonically genderqueer, confirmed later in the comic! huge win for representation and on Burlew incorporating reader feedback & thanks to the anon who let me know!!]

Against all odds, the wizard of unspecified gender Vaarsuvius is actually written fairly well. The ambiguity is often treated as a joke, and minor characters will sometimes assume their gender one way or the other – but the other main characters don’t know and are okay with not knowing. They’re respectful and don’t question it when Vaarsuvius doesn’t use the gendered dungeon toilets, and while Vaarsuvius shares a room with female party member Haley at inns while the men all share a second room, strip 225 makes it clear that this is because Haley and V are good friends, not because they share a gender. (As a sidenote, Haley and V’s sweet and unlikely friendship is my favorite dynamic in the comic).

Artistically, the characters are drawn as stick figures (as represented by the comic’s title) with clean lines and bright colors in strips that are typically one A4 page. The first OOTS book was printed in February 2005, with further books released after each major story arc, so Burlew has written the bulk of this comic knowing that it will be collected in print. Likely, this influences the decision to mostly stick to the A4 style, and rarely include oddly shaped strips, animation, hyperlinks, hover text, or other web-specific elements. Important story beats and milestones do see extra-long strips, with the 200th strip covering a long-foreshadowed battle four times as long as a regular strip – with white space indicating the page breaks. Strips may play with panel order while keeping the A4 format, such as comic 242, which uses arrows to indicate that panels should be read vertically, not horizontally.

Character designs are extremely recognizable from the first strip, and the art style gets slowly more complex – while the stick figures remain, backgrounds grow more detailed and shading is introduced over time. With the early strips, the art in print books is (allegedly) an improvement over the web versions, an incentive to buy print copies when the full archive is available for free online.

Most characters speak in white speech bubbles with black text, but there are exceptions – core villain Xykon the lich has black speech bubbles with white text, creatures of pure light have yellow speech bubbles, sylpha and ghosts have blue, and a bastion of lawful good order has red. Lowered opacity speech bubbles with dashed outlines indicate whispering, and (in a more questionable choice) bold lower case speech indicates a character has low intelligence. The different colors are effective at making characters from other planes feel truly alien, and the importance of the speech bubbles reflects the wordiness of the comic – the text is small, speech bubbles are often paragraphs, and even zoomed into 150% I ended up with a bad screen headache after a couple hours’ reading, which makes an archive binge much harder.

OOTS has a reputation for beginning as humorous and becoming more serious and story driven in its third and fourth books. I haven’t reached those yet so can’t compare, but I already find that while jokes are frequent, the story takes precedence when necessary – and like other comics I’ve read, even Burlew seems surprised at how quickly the strip becomes something beyond its original intentions, letting a character say ‘Wow. That’s a lot more planning than I thought this strip had’ as early as strip 60. However, he also says that having the characters leave the dungeon and take on a bigger quest in strip 122 was partly because he ‘was leaving a lot of good jokes on the table by never having them go to town or on a wilderness adventure’, so the ‘plot driven’ and ‘joke focused’ drives are coexisting then. I’m really excited to see how the tone and story develop over the next thousand strips. :D

Relevance to Homestuck:

As best I can tell, there’s no official connection, though there is fanbase overlap. I’ve said before that Homestuck is a precursor to actual play podcasts, and plan to write more about that someday. In its case, Andrew Hussie clearly acts as DM with the command-submitting readers acting as players; D&D mechanics aren’t used, but the dynamic is spot on.

In Order of the Stick, the characters referencing movies, modern slang, current events and 21st century professions is extremely reminiscent of real D&D play, as this sort of humor is common to both regular D&D groups and actual play shows like Acquisitions Incorporated and The Adventure Zone. A pair of lawyers sent by ‘the spooky wizard who lives by the coast’ are introduced in strip 32 and become recurring characters, a reference to Wizards of the Coast, the real world company who owns D&D. The same is true of characters mentioning exposition, sidequests, plotlines, character mirrors, and other concepts that D&D players know about, and therefore put into their characters’ mouths in games.

OOTS characters feel like they have players and the strip captures the experience of the gaming table really well, but readers don’t have much influence, and Burlew is taking on all roles. This is true even when they contradict, like in strip 21, where the character’s actions of killing a chimera go against the DM’s plans to have him be a recurring villain.

Like Homestuck, OOTS begins as a fairly small scale story – taking place in a single dungeon – but expands within a couple of years to include threats not just to the world, but to the very fabric of reality. In a couple of very minor parallels, both feature the dunce cap (HS 746/OOTS 14), the 8 ball (HS 804/OOTS 127), and a plot important meteor (HS 196/OOTS 134). Meteors seem like a surprisingly common feature of webcomics, actually, and I wonder if this was a big part of 2000s culture that I don’t remember. OOTS has a minor character, Banjo the Clown God of Puppets, who appears in several strips including 80 (regular Banjo) and 85 (as the eldritch Banjulhu). His mysterious and unsettling appearances are reminiscent of Lil Cal, and his tentacles of Rose’s eldritch doll. I could also discuss Kickstarters here but I think I’ll save that for a few years down the line.

Scholar Gabriel Romaguera wrote his master’s thesis and part of his PhD thesis on Order of the Stick. I’ve read his master’s thesis in full and really enjoyed his analysis, which is far more comprehensive than my own (though as a sidenote, I do genuinely hope to write a master’s thesis on Homestuck someday). He’s only one scholar, but a lot of his analysis links up with the limited Homestuck analysis I’ve read. Romaguera discusses serial vs archival reading, web vs print versions, and whether the OOTS books can be considered a webcomic.

‘Some of the material is only relevant when read within twenty four hours of the original publication... Readers are supposed to wait for new installments, read them, go over to the forums, reread them to make sure th+at no detail was left unnoticed, speculate what would happen, and continue to wait until the new issue is published and then the cycle continues. This process makes for a deeper connection to the narrative and to the characters as years go by.’ (Romaguera, p.138)

This argument is presented uncritically and unproductively, just as it has been by many Homestuck analysts. While it’s technically true for any serial work, it becomes more true when participation in an active fan community of theorizers, proofreaders, lorekeepers and fanwork producers is seen as critical to understanding the work. From some time browsing the forums, this is definitely true of both OOTS and Homestuck moreso than other webcomics. (It’s also the attitude that made my lab scientist brain go ‘okay, cool theory, but have you tested that experimentally?’) Romaguera goes on to say that ongoing webcomics could be taught in classrooms when teaching students about serial narratives as ‘[t]he serial reading experience is often taught in hindsight and with nostalgia that suggests that current readers have missed out on the original text as it was intended to be read.’ (p.151) I agree and I love this idea more than words can say.

‘This effectively makes OOTS an ongoing trans-media narrative, wherein some parts of the narrative are exclusive to one medium, and some parts are exclusive to the another one [sic]. Readers go through the process of piecing these parts together to make this third text and thus fully attain the narrative. Still, this practice only goes on until Burlew publishes the final book and all of the narrative is collected in one authoritative text.’ (Romaguera, p.139-40)

In most webcomics (including Homestuck), print editions are supplementary, collector’s content. With OOTS, it seems like both the author and fans give the print editions a lot of importance. Once OOTS is no longer serialized, it does seem likely that the print editions, which include entire books of bonus material not found online, will be seen as fully definitive. Similarly, I would call The Unofficial Homestuck Collection the definitive edition of Homestuck, due to its functional flash player, wealth of supplemental content, and options for reading spoiler free. Ultimately, both these works have transcended their original websites in a way few webcomics have.

Continue reading? I think this is my favorite webcomic I’ve read for this subproject so far. I usually would’ve read 2009 strips for a comparison, but didn’t, because I want to experience the story linearly without spoilers. I could get totally obsessed with this. I want to make D&D character sheets for the beta kids.

[charrfie]

i need to so badly know your opinions/thoughts on wilfre and sock

Unsure if this is the same dtl anon as before, but either way HELLO AND THANK YOU FOR BEING CURIOUS!!!!! I would be more than happy to share! Because the phrasing of this ask was pretty vague, I winded up writing a multiple page essay in an attempt to cover everything wilfre/sock related. So it's all under a read more. That being said, if I've not covered something you were specifically curious about, let me know. I have a million more thoughts on the two (or the whole game!) I'd be happy to share. Here's an additional drawing I made to accompany everything :^]

For those unfamiliar with the drawn to life series, please be warned MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

So, to get into it! I figured I would start with the very basics: wilfre, sock, and the rest of his forms. A lot of folks have different interpretations on the intricacies between wilfre and his disguises! I'm a believer in the fact that they *are* all the same person (in contrast to how some people believe them to be disguises created from stolen appearances/stolen bodies)... but different facets of this same person. Essentially, normal raposa wilfre was a wholly fleshed out being, and every other form he takes exaggerates various traits of his. Flanderization, I guess, but only to a certain degree. Shadow wilfre is an elevation of his more sadistic tendencies, sock is an elevation of his cowardice, and salem is an elevation of his mystery/flair for the dramatic. Granted this is a fairly barebones description of the way his forms worm since I do believe there to be more to these characters and their behaviors, but what I've said already gets my point across well enough for a generalized "what are your thoughts" type of question. Though I will say, sock's spotlight on cowardice is especially interesting to me considering- at least from what I've seen- wilfre's character being largely dictated by his own fear is not something focused on often by fans; it's much more common for you to see him just being cool and evil. We'll come back to this.

Another thing that comes from my belief of them all being the same person is that wilfre absolutely *did* design his separate forms with conscious intent (with an exception of shadow wilfre, which was likely only natural corruption of his form following his exposure to shadow). It speaks so heavily for who he is as a creative!! He likes being a little edgy and snobby- hence salem's design- and he also doesn't think too far ahead sometimes- hence sock's name, which absolutely had to be something he thought of on the spot! So many hints at who he is as an individual outside of "the antagonist" are hidden away in small details like that.

Now, with that out of the way, back to the topic of wilfre's fear!

In the first game, his sights are not set nearly as high as they are in the sequel. He chooses to spread shadow over the whole world as an effort to fix what the creator ruined; he WILL take matters into his own hands and bend the world how he pleases if it means a reality "done better." While there may have originally been truth in such a goal, his reasoning is slightly disingenuous considering it's more of a rebellion than an instance of wanting to actually better the world (due to his inability to ACTUALLY fix things how he wishes he could). Wilfre has a habit of convincing himself he's correct though, so it makes sense why it pans out this way. The writing of the first game makes it out to be a lot more malicious and pointlessly evil than dtl:tnc. Sort of always seemed flat and boring to me in how it's presented so I tend to have to embellish it a bit in my fanworks lol. It's also at this point that the fear which drives him isn't as obvious... while there are suggestions of it in dtl, it's ramped up a whole new degree in dtl:tnc. For now, most of what the player sees sets the stage for this development with wilfre's struggle against power imbalance.

At the very beginning of dtl:tnc, this framework of a power imbalance comes into play almost immediately when wilfre is spoken to directly by the creator. It's almost insulting to him considering he prayed and begged for some kind of answer for so many years, and yet only when he is far past his worst- when he is no longer devoted- now he hears them. He's livid and extremely reactionary about it! In part, this is due to justifiable anger, but I've always been lead to believe fear plays a large part here as well. His manner of speaking shifts, he hesitates; he's unsure, only for a moment before breaking out into an extravagant display of his power. Almost as if to reaffirm his control of the situation. As the game progresses, these sorts of actions increase in frequency.

Alongside these sorts of direct fear reactions popping up much more often, wilfre's shifted goal also reflects the terror which motivates him. His sights have been set on bigger things by this point: saving the world by freezing it in time and space. It's destruction is imminent if he doesnt stop those who try to return color to it. It's an action SOLELY motivated by fear of death, something he develops an almost obsessive fixation with.

Wilfre's thought process during the execution of his plan tends to follow the idea of "you can't bake a cake without breaking a few eggs," which is essentially the equivalent to "you can't save the whole world without killing or harming a couple people along the way." Even if it requires him to create a sterile, barren, unmoving world, he will do anything to prevent the physical destruction of the world... to prevent death. This is something he considers noble and just; something which makes him a savior. Realistically, freezing everything EXACTLY how it is is not much better than the world and it's inhabitants fading out of existence; it's basically the same thing! But when fear dictates logic, it doesn't need to make any sort of sense. Self preservation is the most and ONLY important thing one accounts for.

Sock, specifically, embodies wilfre's myriad of fears to a whole new level. Rather than fear being combated with a reactionary display, he cowers, hides, and acts dismissively towards a various amount of situations. I'll delve into this a bit more later in a separate point, but while some of this may be to manipulate others in the situation, it's not uncommon for wilfre to do/say something that puts on a front while masking other meaning. It's just that his typically inward thoughts tend to project themselves outwardly in this form of his!

Keep in mind that while I do believe there to be reason behind wilfre's logic and actions, that does not necessarily excuse all or even most of them. Do not misconstrue me!!! He's killed people, he's trapped people both in physical cages and in time and space, he's psychologically tortured others, the list goes on. And that's what makes him so fascinating! He's not a good guy! If you erase or excuse all of his terrible actions he becomes so much less interesting as a character and antagonist. But its undeniably interesting to look into the psychology and motivations behind his actions.

Moving on from this, it is also worth noting that I am a HUGE proponent of jowfre and it's very much so interlaced with my reading of the story/characters. Let me explain:

Sock, as a character, stands out to me a lot in how he is a major turning point for wilfre. According to his plan, the "sock" disguise SHOULD be another approach to the same issue at hand: preventing any raposa from impeding on his end goal. Disguising himself as salem was his first attempt at this... but holes were quickly poked in it's execution, and he found that prevention by force would not be successful. Instead, he then goes the opposite route; by disguising himself as sock, he can befriend jowee (who at this point has assumed the role of leader), gain the trust of others, and destroy their group from the inside. Which works! ...A little too well, he finds, as he too starts to believe his own lie of being someone who cares about jowee and his fellow raposa. And in return, he is gifted something he thought impossible in his current state: jowee's genuine friendship.

Now obviously this is a BIG DEAL. For a lot of reasons. For one, it's a hell of a lot harder to endanger the life of someone you care about than it is a random stranger who hates you (worth noting that every time this happens in the game, it becomes increasingly passive to the point that any danger isn't even coming from wilfre himself, sock just suggests that everyone leave/give up). But even less than endangering someone's life is breaking someone's spirit. If he can break jowee's determination and make the village give up on their mission, he'll succeed. And yet this is STILL something wilfre can't find it in himself to do.

I have two personal favorite examples of this that stick out to me. The first is the infamous treehouse balcony conversation... where jowee is heartbroken about the disappearance of mari. Discouraged and lost, jowee confides in sock, airing out his grievances. It's an ideal moment for sock to reaffirm jowee's broken view of himself; jowee wouldn't argue with the state he's currently in. Instead though, sock listens to him, encourages him, and comforts him. One can argue that it's a simple manipulation tactic since it's the perfect moment for wilfre to gain jowee's trust, but it's always stood out to me as something very... vulnerable. Jowee *is* the first raposa wilfre has had casual conversation with in ages anyway...... it's as if he's relishing the feeling of being able to relate and be on equal ground. The shadow has influenced his entire being, yes, but there's an undeniable glimmer of humanity in him still that yearns to escape. It's also here that we get critical insight to wilfre's inner principles when he tells a (likely fictionalized) tale and ends it with "I made a decision that- regardless of consequence- I would succeed." It speaks so much for who he is at his core and how right he believes himself to be. He's sharing BIG things with jowee rather than breaking his spirit.

The second example of this is following the first hint of mari's betrayal: when she steals the book of life from jowee. Accusations are being thrown around, faith is dwindling, and the entire village is on the brink of collapse... but when jowee comes forward with the notion of wanting to try again, to not give up... out of everyone else there, sock is the first and only to speak up. Cheering for him and encouraging him forward. Without him doing so, the mission would have failed. WHICH IS CRAZY BECAUSE THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT HE'S BEEN ASKING FOR!!!!!! The entire time he's been accompanying the village he has again and again (and will continue to) try to get everyone to back out of what they're doing, to split apart. But when it's served to him on a silver platter, he can't. IT'S FASCINATING!!!!!!!!

As I said though, jowee's friendship doesn't just come with one issue for wilfre, but multiple. Arguably the most egregious is the fact that it makes wilfre question if his grand plan of draining the world of all color is really right. If it's something he should even bother to do. Which must be a realization so chilling considering *he is doing so to save the whole world.* How can such a pest of a single raposa make him- the great and infallible wilfre- waiver in his confidence? This particular issue is all implication rather than direct statement; I've mentioned previously how sock gets less and less pushy as time goes on, instead vouching for generally avoidant approaches, and this is what I'm referencing here. It's downright procrastination rather than prevention!

Wilfre drags the execution of his "destroy jowee's village from the inside out" plan out for so long that he only acts when he's desperate. When there's nothing else he can do, no further thing that might delay them. He's been backed into a corner and knows jowee is far too determined to quit. And so, he drops the act. He steals heather's pendant, reveals himself as wilfre, and escapes.

I highly doubt it's intentional (and I'll get into the details on why I find this legitimate reasoning regardless of intention later), but I do find it interesting that he waits until the moment in the map room to ask for the pendant because it directly follows jowee having an outburst about wilfre and how terrible he is. Realistically, it would have been even more in sock's favor to have stolen the pendant while jowee was alone with him on one of the islands they visited. At that point, the other villagers may even have turned on jowee- their leader- out of suspicion. Better yet, sock could have stolen the pendant away while jowee slept, eliminating the need to get caught entirely. But he doesn't. It's not until he's desperate AND is directly getting reminded that the person he most cares about hates him that he acts. It's a nice callback to the aforementioned treehouse conversation the two have: regardless of consequence, regardless of losing someone he had come to care about, he would succeed in carrying out what he meant to do. And so he does. He tries to, at least.

A brief interruption from this point to speak on the writing quality of the games themselves. The drawn to life series contains two separate writing approaches: multidimensional storytelling and face value storytelling. "Multidimensional" in the sense that the writing itself mirrors a character/dictates their identity (e.g. jowee's writing reaffirming his position as someone thought of as unworthy) and "face value" in the sense that the writing tells the story in a straightforward sense with no hidden meanings (e.g. most large plot developments). It's pretty fascinating! Now, do I think this approach of dual writing systems was intentional? Well... no. Truthfully it's my opinion that the writing in the game is fairly underwhelming and not very well thought out. It's not a masterpiece by any means. But despite intent, the dual writing system is very much so at play, and one needs to approach the game being ready to actively parse through which is which.

I bring all this up to say that occasionally, the blatant multidimensional storytelling embedded in the games' writing is really just meant to be normal, face-value storytelling. Certain interactions or events seem deeper than they really are, implications come to the surface due to it, etc. And because of this, the growth of certain characters is entirely stunted. Namely due to the fact that while the player expects said character(s) to act in a certain manner due to implications previously made, this character will instead act in a wildly unexpected way because it was what the writer initially intended. And as we've established, intent does not equal correct execution. By far the worst example of this is the latter half of dtl:tnc, where wilfre tears the appearance of "sock" away with no remorse and escapes to his wasteland. After all the build-up of his blossoming relationship with jowee, his dynamic character development, and overall stakes rising, the player is suddenly brought back to a very static, unsatisfying square one... a completely out of left field 180° with character direction. I've always suspected the reason for this was that midway through the project, the script writers realized the villian had become more sympathetic of a character than one of the main protagonists (mari) and out of nowhere switched it up, cut off character arcs, etc just to ensure their original intent was preserved.. even if that ultimately led to something that felt clunky and odd.

A bit of a longwinded side tangent, but it all prefaces my next point: if the games were written with more care and without the literary biases present, wilfre would have had a redemption arc. Or at least an arc where he sees his redemption as a choice, but turns against it.

I know, I know. You can't simply see a villian character you enjoy and go "well I think they should've had a happy ending so I'm going to let AU reflect my analysis of the canon media." That's not what I'm saying here! It's not just a simple wish for better circumstances influencing my thoughts. I would have been 100% okay with an unhappy ending for him either way, if only the writing didn't handle it in a way so jarring. Because it *is* jarring though, I try to work with it by incorporating it into my analysis rather than just discarding it as unusable, disingenuous storytelling. Case in point: what I did with my jowee pmv... you GOTTA boost the drama and stretch the truth a little bit...

To wrap this very long response up, I wanted to briefly mention very minor miscellaneous thoughts I have about wilfre that didn't fit in with any other main topic I touched on:

Based on my interactions with the fandom, I've come to notice there are a LOT of people who seem to think wilfre doesn't believe in the creator. In reality, he very much so does, he just thinks they suck lol.

I think it's very cute seeing how wildly out of practice wilfre is living as a normal raposa. He's spent so long as a shadow that things which used to come so easy to him are such a chore now (e.g. in lavasteam where he breathlessly chases after jowee trying to keep up with him.. he's so used to floating he's out of practice actually carrying his bodyweight around).

I have always read drawn to life as being a story relating heavily to forced role fulfillment; a character must fill the role they are given, or the world/their own self will fall apart. Assuming you're the same anonymous asker from before, you've seen my pmv, so you know how evident jowee's forced role fulfillment (or lack thereof) is throughout the games. But wilfre is also a shining example of this narrative theme! Many of the issues that the raposa world suffers from (be it relationship disputes, societal structures, general unhappiness, etc) are oftentimes tacked on as something wilfre is somehow at fault for, however loosely. The shadow's influence leads him to lose a lot of his humanity (raposity?) on its own, but his role as the scapegoat does as well, since it warps him into more of a concept than person. This is another reason his paralyzing fear of death is so critical to get across; it returns some of the humanity and dimension to him which make him more well-rounded.

I mentioned that sock becomes more avoidant as the story progresses, but what I've neglected to mention is the fact that wilfre is generally very avoidant by nature. Despite having more power than any other thing he commands, throughout both games he incessantly tries to have the hero and others dealt with through indirect means (other bosses/shadow creatures, influencing potential allies, robbing raposa of resources, etc). It's a pretty obvious behavior that dictates his character, but is further enabled in the circumstances I elaborated on outside of these notes.

Not very wilfre-specific but moreso just general info: I do not consider the newest entry in the series of drawn to life: two realms canon in the slightest so none of my interpretations of stories or characters will ever stem from two realms events. Sorry!

Wtf is up with him being weirdly flirty with mari at the end of tnc btw. I usually just excuse it as bad writing and that sudden shift in character I talked about. Which is funny because if that character shift is indeed the writers overcompensating then that means they were worried about too much gay tension between wilfre and jowee I guess LMAO there's literally zero reason for it otherwise.. it's so ooc and out of left field. Can I just write this dude myself please.

Thank you so much for asking in the first place... I love talking about these guys!!!!! <3 If you can't tell, lol. Hope you found it interesting, I'd be happy to elaborate further if anyone's curious. Just know it might take me a little while since it took me about a week to get to this ask haha

[kcwriter-blog]

Let’s Talk Solas on the Balcony

A comic in which Solas and a Qunari Inquisitor discuss his views on the Qunari people is making the rounds. Per usual, it is sparking conversations and arguments about whether Solas is a racist piece of shit or not. I don’t think people’s opinions can be swayed one way or another at this point, so I’m not going to try.

What I want to talk about is the diffculty Weekes would have had writing this scene, the contradictory nature of the balcony conversation with banter, and the fact that Solas may not be entirely wrong (although he shouldn’t have said it that way).

The writing. I’m going to use the Qunari balcony conversation because it’s the most egregious, but all conversations Solas has with an Inquisitor of any race are problematic. I don’t think the intention was to cast Solas as a racist. I could be proven wrong in The Veilguard, of course, but for now, let’s say that was not the intention.

Weekes had the Herculean task of writing the “loyalty” conversation that happens after every companion quest is successfully completed. That isn’t an easy thing to do when the character is hiding the kind of secrets Solas is and who might not be feeling particularly loyal at the time.

The writer must show that Solas has doubts about his plan based on his observations of a single person – the Inquisitor. Weekes must show that Solas is looking for anything he can cling to, to justify his plans. They must show Solas’ growing admiration for the Inquisitor – in some cases against his better judgement. They must show that Solas is only just beginning to realize these people are real and destroying them would make him a monster. They must do it all without giving away the stinger. Not easy and very open to misinterpretation.

I love Weekes as a writer but even they can miss the mark. Solas has a tendency to say whatever is on his mind in the most socially awkward way possible. Probably because he spent 4,000 years conversing only with spirits. I love Cole but imagine spending that long in a place where everyone talks like that. Also Solas' first language is Elvhen, a conceptual language that is much more fluid than the common tongue. He's trying to express complicated thoughts in a language that isn't his. Again the writer has not and probably can't give us this context.

What Solas says on the balcony contradicts his banter. This could be because of the way banter triggers. It’s possible that banter was meant to trigger after the balcony conversation to show the growth of the character. But let’s look at it.

In an exchange with Bull Solas defends Tal Voshoth. Bull calls them savages and says they are sick. Solas says they aren’t. They are victims of a sociopolitical system that denies them agency so when they gain it, they don’t know what to do with it.

If you save the Chargers, Solas is the person that helps Bull through his concerns that without the Qun he will turn into a mindless beast. My family has dealt with enough racism to know that a racist would never do that. Basically, if Solas was a racist, he would absolutely believe Bull is right and he will eventually turn into an animal.

Solas’ problem- as has been stated multiple times - is with the Qun and the fact that most Qunari don’t question the regime they live under. The Qun removes agency from the people. That is anathema to Solas. The problem with the balcony conversation is that this isn’t expressed. Solas seems to be saying he believes that without the Qun all Qunari are savage brutes when he clearly defended all Qunari who have rejected the Qun.

It’s poor writing because it isn’t made clear that this is Solas’ problem with the Qunari. When he says the Inquisitor is different he means that they question the world around them. They don’t take things for granted or mindlessly follow whatever their society dictates. Again, poor writing choices don’t make this clear.

And Solas isn’t entirely wrong. The Qunari aren’t savages but they can be brutal. Most of us have played all three games. We have learned a lot about the Qunari and it isn’t all good.

Their goal is for everyone to live under the Qun. The entire second act of DA2 explores what your average Qunari believes. We must fight through Kirkwall because the Qunari have decided the city would be better off under the Qun. We know that the Qunari treat their mages even worse than humans treat mages. Circles are bad but the Qunari cut out the tongues of their mages, sew their mouths shut and give them personal minders. They are fed a chemical that keeps them pliable (a chemical they feed anyone who is judged to be a problem child as Fenris tells Isabella).

The Qunari don’t have names. They have numbers. Their “names” are just their job descriptions. They can have all the sex they want but when it comes to children there is a breeding program. They are told what jobs they will do. If they don’t do what they are told, they can be made Tal Vashoth or killed. In DA2 we free a Qunari mage who doesn’t want to be free and self-immolates because he feels that’s what he must do under the dictates of the Qun. Most Qunari, even Bull, would rather turn themselves over to re-educators than become Tal Vashoth because they have been told they will turn into savages without the Qun to guide them.

As of Tevinter Nights we know that a subset of the Qunari decided to take the “Path of Blades” to forcibly get other races to submit to the Qun.

Solas would see all of this and hate it. He doesn’t hate the Qunari people - which is an aspect of racism - only what they have become because of the system they live under. The Inquisitor is different, not because they are a special snowflake (they are because they are the hero of the story) but because they don’t believe in the Qun.

The fact that Qunari can throw off what he perceives to be their shackles confuses him and makes him believe that they and possibly Bull aren’t the only ones capable of doing this. That’s not good for his plan. That’s why he wants to know if the Anchor has affected them. He wants to believe they are special because of the Anchor so he can carry out his plan with a clear conscious.

I think this is true of the other conversations with other Inquisitors. The solution to the problem would have been for the Inquisitor to be able to strongly push back against Solas’ comments. Weekes could have then provided some clarity. As it is we get no clarity and people are left with misconceptions.

[choccy-zefirka]

Letter sent to the field hospital for the Blight victims in Treviso

Dear Father

I hope you are doing well. Your research is invaluable to

Papa,

Are you getting enough sleep? Are you remembering to eat? I know how you get when you are focused on work. Please don’t torture yourself.

And no, to get it right out of the way: nothing bad happened. Well, nothing worse than what we already have going on. I’m not writing to report a new calamity; and nobody is taking dictation while I am lying back dramatically, gravely injured. Get that out of your head this instant.

I’m writing because I wanted to share something with you. Though it’s such a long and convoluted story I struggle with even getting started. But I will try.

You know Emmrich Volkarin; I remember the two of you were friends, before everything. And Neve told me he has been asking after you — so if you are becoming friends again, I am glad. From the bottom of my heart.

Well, and if you know Emmrich, you must have heard of Manfred: his spirit ward, who’s been growing more and more human the more we travel together. To cut down all the ramblings (those will have to wait until we all see each other in person), we almost lost Manfred recently. His spirit was torn from his vessel, about to be forever lost in the Fade, and Emmrich had to make a choice. To let Manfred go, to accept the finality of death — or to bring him back, but lose the ultimate honor a Mourn Watcher can get, his greatest aspiration, the reward he’s been working so hard to earn. This was a terribly heavy decision to make, and Emmrich was so dismayed he turned to me for advice.

And here’s the reason why I picked up the quill and did not put it down after so, so many drafts. When Emmrich looked up at me, with so much pain and desperation, kneeling beside Manfred — all I could see was you.

Ten years ago, you refused to let go of me. No matter how much I begged you to. No matter the lengths myself, and Dorian, went to in order to stop you. No matter what your grief twisted you into. I was ready to die, I was meant to; but you would not accept it, and it broke my heart. Even after King Alistair sensed the Blight in me and arranged for my Joining, it still felt wrong. Like I shouldn’t be here. That’s why I went through so many aliases, I think — first Warden Tristan Thorne, then Rook. To hide from the Venatori, yes; but also to try and make sense of this new thing that I was, alive against all common sense, fitting shoddily into the gap that was supposed to be there after my death.

But now… Now I think I made peace with that. Redcliffe is still on my conscience, and I’ve been trying so hard to make something of my stolen years, to prove that it’s all been worth it. And it just might be working. I am fighting against gods — the gods, the beings whom Corypheus tried to copy — and with every pushback, we also get a little victory. I have new comrades in the Wardens (I hope you are not bothering Evka and Antoine too much with questions about my health it’s a bit embarrassing).  I have Bellara, and Darvin, and Neve, and so many other dear friends that I would be lost without. I get to watch Dorian make our home better, the way he and you always wanted. I get to see the sky again, and again, in so many different parts of Thedas.

Maybe I shouldn’t be here, but I am. And so are you. And maybe that matters.

I told Emmrich to save Manfred. Not to let go, if just for a little while longer.

I love you.

I hope to see you again soon.

Felix