#even if there was a better explanation for them i just hate these fully formed rockets and hydrants in my medieval-esque fantasy game

[pitchblackespresso]

That post you just reblogged re: ToTK’s handling of Zonai tech replacing Sheikah stuff and unnecessary backstory for calamity ganon really put into words a lot of the feelings I have about ToTK that I’ve never been able to articulate. It does make me curious on your opinion on this, though: how would you have gone about writing ToTK differently?? What would you keep/change? Do you think the Zonai as a whole could be done away with and would that improve the story and the coherence to botw?

(This is the post Anon is referring to)

I will preface this to say that I'm not a writer and haven't got some superior version of the plot in mind that would fix every issue. I also want to say that I genuinely love TotK's story.

I have a weird relationship with the Zonai. I made a post a while ago detailing why I dislike the execution of the Zonai in TotK, especially the weird "everything was the Zonai all along" narrative they tried to push. I don't think they should be removed altogether, since they are so intrinsically tied to the plot (despite us knowing almost nothing about them...), but their influence on everything needs to be nerfed. The Sheikah tech doesn't need to be inspired by the Superior Zonai Tech. The Forgotten Temple and BotW's Hyrule Castle don't need to be Rauru's.

The Zonai devices, on the other hand, I absolutely despise. They look horrendous, clash with literally everything else, and aren't even tied into Zonai culture (what little there is) in any significant way. They're just ugly pre-made assets for people to mess around and for the developers to flex the physics engine with, without any justification for their existence lore-wise. I'd get rid of those in a heartbeat, and instead flesh out Rauru's arm magic. Making the Zonai purely magic-based, rather than "technology", would go a long way about fixing their aesthetic, as shallow as that sounds.

So yeah, it'd be nice if more of their culture was developed, especially their influence in the sky islands and depths, but also not shoehorn them into every plot thread and turn them into BotW's illogical and unnecessary backstory.

[autistichalsin]

Okay I know I've made like three posts about this one specific thing but I gotta say, anyone who calls Halsin a typical boring Druid either doesn't understand Halsin or doesn't understand Druids, because Halsin is very much an atypical Druid.

Just a few ways Halsin is different than other Druids:

He can't control his wildshape. He transforms involuntarily when under stress, which is not a thing other Druids experience, and he can't control himself fully in wildshape either. He retains traits, such as an enhanced sense of smell, out of his wildshape form, and has the ability to remain as a bear borderline indefinitely, instead of Druids usually only being able to maintain the same form for a couple hours at most.

He doesn't hate undead; he views them the same as living creatures, worthy of life. He cares for Astarion deeply, and is furious if the player allows the 7,000 spawn to die. (He's a little nicer if they do it for a mercy kill instead of the ritual, but is clearly only happy when they are released into the Underdark, the exact thing a Druid is supposed to want to avoid.)

He dislikes the city because it displaces nature, yes, but he VERY rarely says that. Instead, almost every time he laments the conditions of Baldur's Gate, what distresses him is how capitalistic systems harm sentient beings- especially children. He is more upset at the human(oid) suffering he encounters in the city than he is at how it displaces nature.

Halsin is on an obviously morally good alignment. While Druids are no longer required to be neutral, most still are anyway, especially those from the Emerald Enclave, which the Emerald Grove is part of.

Emerald Enclave Druids are encouraged to sabotage society; they breed aggressive animals and place them near settlements to deter development, secretly sponsor brigands to attack new settlements, and simultaneously interact with local populations by providing sweet drinks and teas to boost their public image, so that new developments are curtailed while nearby people think the Druids are kind and harmless. Halsin very notably never even thinks about doing such things, even though it would be trivial for him to do so.

While Halsin's explanation for wanting to stop the Absolute is initially far more in line with Druidic thinking (they're unnatural, obviously), he later grows to want it finished because he wants you, the player, and your friends to be safe.

Halsin has zero desire to ladder-climb in the ranks of the Druids, nor to grow more powerful; he was perfectly happy as he was before the Shadow Curse, and is quite upset he had to waste 100 years of his life "dealing with others' problems and personalities." BUT the fact that he was happy to just that as alderman of his commune suggests the problem was with being forced into the position and being relied on as the sole authority, instead of one trusted elder of many.

Halsin wants children desperately, but was kept from having them by his leadership role. This is yet another example of how, despite his deeply held beliefs, being a Druid ultimately made him less happy.

Halsin isn't very good at leading the Druids, to the point that many of his Druids resent him, many are swayed to a cult the instant he leaves, and he himself decides the best thing he could possibly do for the Grove is leave it and have a better leader come in and take over.

Nearly every struggle Halsin has in the game arises from a conflict with his Druidic beliefs- whether it's his need to cleanse the Shadow Curse causing him to be an ineffective leader of the Grove, his desire for a family being held back by his leadership role, or his love of humanity battling against his hatred for cities as unnatural blots on nature.

Basically, nearly every character beat Halsin has comes from him not being a typical Druid at all, and in some cases, from him being rather bad at being the things Druids are supposed to be.

[xo-cod]

"you don't trust me like i trust you"

the words echoed from his lips as he let out a soft resigned sigh, his face knitted in the same frowning pensive look he usually gave to his team when they were receiving bad news. it was odd being on the receiving end of it as you watch your husband lean against the counter tops. his black jacket discarded on top of the couch, revealing the compression top he had worn underneath highlighting his bulging muscles and broad frame

"what do you mean?" your voice was next, raising your brow as you look at him. but there's no lightheartedness about him tonight, he looks defeated and you couldn't help feeling guilty. your stomach in knots for being partly responsible as he brushes himself slightly trying to organise his thoughts.

"tonight. with your parents. you just froze up when they asked about me, what was that?" he asked again, his tone confused and hurt as he tried to understand your point of view. the night had consisted of a dinner with your parents and while you loved price with all your heart, you knew it would be difficult to explain your backstory with him. his true nature, his job.

so you chose to omit a few details but none of that had escaped price's watchful gaze. he kept his mouth shut, swallowing down the words that desperately wanted to be said with a forced smile as he watched you answer for him. every false thing to avoid the truth twisted the knife that much more until he excused himself early to the car, muttering some excuse as he left the place gulping down air that didn't seem to fully reach his lungs.

until now, back at home where he couldn't take another word and confronted you hoping you'd prove him wrong. but every second that ticks by and the dread only continued to grow.

"it's been a long night" you spoke back, your tone a warning not to delve into the matter tonight as you tried to side step him but he stands in the way. his brow furrowed as he looked down at you refusing to let it go, challenging you back as he stood there.

"it bloody well has been. which is why i need you to explain exactly what the hell that dinner was" his voice is sharp, a command as he looks at you expectantly his form tense. he looked angry and it only caused your temper to rise as you tried to move away, hoping not to escalate the situation.

"you're embarassed of me, aren't you?" the words were cold, harsh as he eyed your movements carefully. he knew you well, he knew your moods having been married to you for three years. he took pride in that, having knowing you better than himself.

you froze at the words, quickly trying to compose yourself but even that was a second too long as his eyes darkened. shock on his face. confirmation, resignation on yours

you almost hated how well he read you and in this moment, he shared the same notion.

"so what it is then, my work? me? what, aren't i good enough for your love anymore??" he snapped as he clenched his fists, taking a few steps forwards as his eyes narrowed in on your face. trying and hoping you'd tell him it was all in his head, that he was overanalysing everything. that there had to be a reasonable explanation for all this

he forgot, however, that sometimes not everything plans out the way he so desperately wished they would.

"no, maybe not! this whole thing was a mistake, this whole marriage is a joke" the words tumbled out of your lips before you had a chance to comprehend them and the realisation dawned on you when you see his face, his stoic demeanour cracking under your proverbial hammer. it made you instantly regret saying a thing, your breaths hard and fast as you stutter slightly. he almost deflates a little, his heart thundering under his chest but his face rests usually. almost like he had expected the disappointment to come naturally

"i see" it's the only sentence that leaves his lips, you can see the hurt swimming in his eyes practically threatening to drown you whole. you don't think in all the three years you've been married to john, see him in this state before. his muscles tense and rigid, rooted to the spot looking you over before his gaze falls to the floor. unsure of what to even say, what could he say to that anyway? his wife, his love, proving to him that he was his worst fear. that he was a burden, you simply couldn't get rid of.

price felt a stabbing pain in his chest as if on cue reminding him of the pain he felt regularly whenever he missed you. even when you were there, standing right in front of him, he missed you. but it was clear you didn't feel the same and the realisation only hurt him that much more. who knew people could carry this much pain with them? surviving a war seemed much easier than this

his arms closed around his chest, partly for comfort and self soothe. partly to keep him from falling into the dark abyss that threatened to overtake him, to keep you out even though you were so deeply intertwined with his very soul it would be impossible to completely remove you without taking a huge part of him

"i know what they say, i've heard it before. i know have a bad past, i know my job is unconventional" he starts as his adam apple bobbs in his throat, brows creased as he speaks

"but i didn't think the first person i've ever had a true and honest connection with, would give me hell on top of that. i thought you would've seen more to me than that. you're my wife for christ's sake, my best friend..... i need time. i need space" it almost pains him to say the words as much as it hurts you to hear them. his voice was was soft, low, and almost like a plea. he rarely ever sounded like that. he seemed tired, broken, and fragile standing before your eyes. hardly the formidable strong captain everyone knew him to be. it only pains you that much more when you see the true extent of the damage your words have done.

who knew it took five minutes to completely shatter three years of marriage just like that

it's the only thing he offers you for the night as he turns his back, settling on the couch. you know it won't be comfortable for him, his muscles already look cramped but he's made his mind. he doesn't even have to be angry, to be fuming as he should've been. he didn't get the urge to throw himself into a workout and lift the weights until the familiar burn settled into his bones whenever he worked himself too hard. to punch the lights out of the hanging bag until he felt his knuckles cramp and ache.

no, tonight he felt inexplicably sad. as if the person he thought you were deep down had completely obliterated into pieces, your words had been like bullets hurting him more than anything physical could've done. maybe he didn't know you as well as he thought and that made him feel worse, trying to bury it all deep down to get some rest for the night. deep down knowing he would hardly find some relief to soothe the ache deep down in him.

a soft sigh passes your lips, every ounce of your heart throbbing to hold him one more time. to touch his skin, to feel his comfort, to feel those strong arms pull you to the safety of his chest his heartbeat a soft hum under his chest.

but tonight you've lost that privilege and you walk away, resigning to a room filled with loneliness and despair without your other half to keep you company. your hand strokes his empty side, missing the way his warmth would seep into your skin while he cradled you close to his chest. his nose buried in your neck, nuzzling your skin.

you loved it all, now you missed it terribly.

[bibibbon]

smth i hate abt hori is how easy it would’ve been to use the lov to show how hero society lets people slip through the cracks as a result creates villains, but he never fully expands on the idea.

jin’s parents died when he was in *middle school* MIDDLE SCHOOL! which means he could’ve been anywhere between 12-14. and then because of a motorcycle accident that *wasn’t his fault* he got a criminal record, was fired from his job, and became homeless. and then he just spiraled from there.

toga is biologically wired be to fascinated and obsessed with blood. but instead of helping her, her parents are disgusted by her and force her to suppress herself until she inevitably snaps.

dabi is a product of his fathers abuse and it was allowed to go on for decades because his father is a famous pro hero

compress is just an unapologetic evil bastard tho and i love him for that

This is also one of my problems with horis writing!!! Villains in MHA all had wasted potential and I absolutely hated the way their arcs went!

I guess the only arc that I can semi agree on is toga himiko's arc to a certain extent but that even has wasted potential that I talk about down below 👇. I discuss what togas arc could of been and different directions her character could of went.

In my opinion himiko was already introduced as somewhat irredeemable. The first time we see her we are told that she killed 6 people known so far and on around 5 of them she performed blood letting. Also her first victim she literally sliced him up and started drinking his blood (some including I theorise that she maybe even ate some of his body parts). I think it adds to the story simply because togas love or idea of love is based on her becoming that person and having parts of them on her whether that be literal or metaphorical.

I personally like the idea that toga is an irredeemable victim. Toga is someone who was failed by the system and had went through a lot for sure but the actions she did were also things that she should be accounted for ( I talk more about toga and what makes her different from lady nagant in another post). In the end I personally enjoy seeing toga be a humanised not redeemed victim of society that has also commited many crimes.

When it comes to other members of the league I feel like they could of all had better arcs in general.

I remember talking to @doodlegirl1998 and she suggested that twice and togas characters could of very much switched roles as twice is a character who parallels more with ochako (both struggling financially) and hawks would get more repercussions for killing a child (toga). However, I also do like twices death but I do have some problems like how I wish his death would of been thoroughly explored and we see how it impacted everyone or we should of gotten more from twice himself in general.

Dabi deserved better and I really would of wanted him to have a redemption arc, receive some concequences but end up with the todoroki family WITH ENJI DEAD (I HATE HIM!). I hated the whole Dabi always had an ice quirk and that he was just the second choice, always the second choice all along.

Shigaraki and just how much AFO was involved ruined everything for me also Shigaraki knowing about AFO was a horrible twist which made shigarakis characterisation even more inconsistent. I would of liked to see a Shigaraki redemption where he himself works towards one by starting to question AFO and get into the leader role a whole lot more while using the MVA to his advantage to get information, resources and more.

Spinner could of ended up being the better stain and learned form stains mistakes while also changing with shigaraki. I also feel like he needed more build up with his own counterpart like shoji and a thorough explanation and development of the whole hetamorphis discrimination thing.

Compress was evil for fun and it's fun to have those types of characters. One thing that I really would of liked to explore is compress's and magne's interactions. I feel like their arcs could of been interwoven (maybe I ship them a little who knows 🤷‍♀️) magne's death should of had more substance to it and all it just felt lacking and compress's disappearance the same.

Now when it comes to minor villains Iam a huge advocate for MUSTARD!! AND GIVING US A MUSTARD REDEMPTION 👇👇👇

I also think that muscular and moonfish should of obviously went to prison but that this could of been used as a way to shake the leagues trust for shigaraki. If any of the league members were to end up in jail would shigaraki help them? Maybe he won't as he didn't do that to muscular or moonfish or maybe he has stated to care for them more and he would as he is growing into that leadership role.

I would have it so that the Dr garaki is just an evil menace who starts to become much more greedy and manic causing AFO's death and going insane.

Kurogiri or kurooboro in this case would go through a different type arc that's down below.

In the end all of the villain characters or characters that don't up hold the status quo are victims of society. I think your ask could also apply to the hero characters that are also harmed by the system like hawks and izuku.

[ivymarquis]

Hi loves 💕💕 I saw requests are open so I figured I'd send one in! I absolutely love your work you're so talented and I binge read all of your fics!!

I would like to request fem reader x soap where Soaps wife adopted a dog she found on the streets and keeps her even though he hates the idea.( he has a cannon fear of dogs which I find a little funny) slowly but surely he warms up to the dog but not fully. While he's out on a mission there's a robbery and the dog protects the reader and scares off the intruder. Soap hears about this and is instantly is best friends with the dog because even though he hates dogs he loves that the pup will protect his wife (I also hc that mabey it's not a street dog but a retired k9 reader adopted to feel safe while he was gone and she just didn't tell him until he comes home and sees a dog. it's up to you what you pick���)

Hello anon I appreciate your patience!! I did pick and choose a wee bit to make the fic make sense for me, I hope you like it!

The Exception to the Rule

Pairing| Soap x Reader Rating| T Word Count| 1.9K Content/Warnings| Housekeeping first- this fic is SFW so if you find it in the tags I won’t be bothered about minors reading it but I am an MDNI blog and I will block any minors or ageless blogs who follow me. Got it? Cool. The author is an American attempting to write a Scottish accent, likely inaccuracies about how military dogs in general or bomb dogs in specific work. Allusions to prior animal injury, allusion to potential dog choking (in the context of choking off a working dog who won’t release its quarry), allusion to home invasion, dog bites, Johnny is not happy, the author does not condone getting animals you know your partner has issues with (but the plot necessitates it so on we go!)

Soap knows his wife well enough to know when she’s taken a “ask for forgiveness rather than permission” course of action. It’s written all over her face when she accepts his FaceTime call and answers his greeting of “What did ya dae, hen?“ with a “Please don’t be mad.”

Now certain men might have to worry about their brides stepping out on them on deployment. Soap knows her well enough to not even entertain that notion, so the wheels start turning for what exactly she could have done that has her looking this guilty out the gate.

The answer comes very suddenly in the form of a bark on the other end of the screen.

John Soap MacTavish sputters, something he is not often inclined to do, “Is that a fuckin’ dog?” And not just a dog. That wasn’t a little yappy fluffball who can be picked up with two fingers if need be. It sounds like one of the damn bomb dogs always yapping over in the kennels.

“Please don’t be mad!” She pleads again.

“Well a’m not happy, that’s for sure. Where and why did ye git that thing?”

This is completely out of character for her. Soap’s disdain for dogs (and why) is well known. She bloody well knows. So what the hell?

“It’s not permanent! You said this deployment would be a long one, and there’s been break ins in the neighborhood and I got nervous and my friend told me about this rescue group that helps rehome retired military dogs.” Her explanation is all in one breath. “They approved us” (Us??) ”as a foster family. He’s already got applications in for a permanent home. It just feels,” she pauses to catch her breath, and Soap can feel himself softening ever so minisculely to the dog- as long as he’s on the other side of the world, away from it, “safer here, with him here since you’re gone. The break ins have been really scary, they haven’t caught the guy yet.”

Fucking hell how is he supposed to argue with that? Especially if there’s some prick on the loose breaking into houses.

“Cujo better nae be oan th’ bed wi’ ye,” he grouses, acquiescing while still making his displeasure known.

“His name is Kabar and I’ll have the bed freshly stripped when you’re due back I promise.”

Soap is a god damn sucker for those pleading doe eyes, giving a big exasperated sigh to signal he’s letting her off the hook. “Fine. Bit he better be gaen by th’ time I pull intae th’ driveway. Let’s see th’ damn thing then,” Christ he hopes it’s not a Belgian Malinois. He knows they’re popular for military dogs but his darling is not built to handle a maligator, retired or not.

“Okay hang on,” she replies, notably cheerier as she taps the screen.

It’s a German Shepherd, thank fuck (Johnny must be having a stroke to be grateful for the sight of a German Shepherd in his bed)

He knows as well as anyone else they can be intense, but they’re a step down from the Malinois at least.

The coloring is traditional, but Soap’s brain starts nudging him that something is wrong with the dog. It takes a moment to click before he realizes the problem.

The damn dog only has three legs. “Is he a tripod?” The question is out before he can stop himself because no he is not inquiring about the damn dog. It was just a thought that escaped.

“He is a disabled veteran!” His bride corrects cheekily, before much more solemnly adding “He was a bomb dog.”

Oh Christ. He did not need to know that. Doesn’t need to think about the damn animal waking up one day with four legs and clocking in to work with his handler before boom.

“A’m only entertaining this because of the break ins, hen, am ah clear?”

Maybe having that booming bark rattling the windows will keep any would-be intruders at bay. This is the worst part of the job- being stuck on what might as well be the other side of the world when she’s got something to deal with.

“Absolutely crystal clear!” She’s all too agreeable, pleased as hell to have her cake (the dog) and eat it too (Johnny tolerating it).

Somehow this is going to blow up in his face and he’s going to permanently end up with a fucking military dog he doesn’t want, he just knows it.

But there’s no fucking way he can tell her No. Absolutely not. He goes back today, with a potential threat lurking around the neighborhood. He’d never forgive himself.

The rest of the conversation is much more in line with what he usually anticipates with their phone calls being- He doesn’t much like talking about work off the clock although lets her know of any interesting shenanigans around the base, and listening with baited breath as she regails him of tales both extraordinary and, well, extra ordinary.

Usually their phone calls end when she passes out in bed, and they’re perfectly poised to continue that habit tonight also.

“Ye made sure all th’ doors and windows are locked, hen?” He asks as she starts snuggling into the bedding underneath her.

“Yeah Johnny, I,” she cuts herself off with a big yawn “-I double checked them.”

It’s a few minutes later that the phone slips from her hand, camera pointing at the ceiling as she drifts off.

Johnny can almost imagine he’s at home laying on his back, watching the rhythmic movements of the ceiling fan in time with his lovely girl snoring slightly in his ear (despite her verbose protests that no she doesn’t snore- okay. Whatever you say, gorgeous.)

It’s an incredibly comforting moment that lets him feel a bit closer to home that is ruined by the sound of snuffling by the speaker.

The dog’s nose appears on screen, the angle making him look like an aardvark as he sniffs the phone before laying down, presumably relishing in the fact there’s not a damn thing Soap can do about this situation.

“Ye better keep an eye oan my girl, Cujo.” Soap grumbles as he begrudgingly hangs up the phone.

The mission ends quicker than expected- substantially quicker- and as content as Soap is with getting home he also is annoyed.

The mission got cut so short, and it’s so damn late by the time Soap is driving home that he knows the fucking dog is still there. The agreed upon date has not yet passed, which means that fuck is lazing about on his side of the bed.

Not to mention the mere obstacle of convincing a former military dog he’s never met, in the middle of the night, that yes this is his fucking house and he’s the one paying the bills around here and yes that actually is his spot on the bed so kindly fuck off.

At a point during his drive home, a police car flies by him. Then another. Then another.

Must be the fucker that’s been breaking into homes. Hopefully he gets caught and that’s one less thing to worry about when Johnny leaves again.

Except the red and blue lights seem to be fucking honed in from the spot that he’s steadily driving to, and Johnny’s convinving himself that he’s seeing things. There is no way that those lights and sirens are stemming from his house, thank you very much.

Even still, he feels himself driving faster. The sooner to quiet his anxiety that’s brewing.

The anxiety doesn’t dissipate as he makes each turn to his home. If anything it gets worse.

Because all that noise and the flashing lights are stemming from his own fucking home. Johnny can barely get the thing in park before he’s flying out of the vehicle. He can hear screams and specifically her crying and in an instant Johnny’s beyond being keyed up.

One of the officers attempts to intercept Johnny- thinks he’s just some nosy fuck from who knows where- and it takes everything in him not to blow his top entirely as he cuts the man off with a stern “This is mah house ‘n she’s mah wife!”

The sound of his voice booming into the night is enough to catch her attention and bring her running to him. Johnny embraces her as she flings herself at him, crying into his shirt as he strokes her back and soothes her.

He can piece together the general what happened, although he’s completely unaware of the details.

One piece begins to fit into place as he starts to hear what all the screaming is. His initial attention completely fixated on ensuring his wife is whole and hale, now he can check that off the mental list he now has the bandwidth to listen to the bellowing.

“Git it aff me! Och Jesus, someone git it aff o' me!”

“Cannae git th’ damn thing tae release him,” Johnny hears one of the officers comment dryly.

“Can always choke him off if the owners can’t git him tae let go,” the other one supplies.

“Eh, ah guess,” the first one responds in a bored tone that makes it clear he has a this guy fucked around and now he’s finding out, and I don’t see a reason to hurry- the dog looks happy anyway, stance to the situation.

On the side of the house, face down in the grass is the man who presumably broke inside.

He is so incredibly lucky there are witnesses and a sobbing wife to curtail the dark, angry thoughts swirling around in Johnny’s brain. Otherwise all it would take would be one phone call to Laswell and this prick disappears forever.

Attached to the calf of that man is Cujo, happily laying on the ground with his tail wagging slowly like his teeth aren’t sunk inside a man’s flesh. If the dog gets too annoyed with the man’s wiggling he shakes him like a chew toy, starting up a fresh round of someone git this fucking dog aff o’ me! until he lays still.

The mention of choking the dog off the would-be intruder doesn’t slip past his darling in the slightest, looking up at him with wet, pleading eyes.

Damn it all, he’s always a sucker for that look.

“Johnny, do you know how to make him let go? I don’t want him choked!”

He decides she’s probably better off not being told how often that ends up having to happen, and that Cujo will be just fine minus a few brain cells if push comes to shove.

But he has spent enough time (against his will, mind) around the dogs that he’s learned the basic commands over the years through repeated exposure.

“No promises, hen, bit we’ll see.” The dog has never met him a day in his life- there’s no guarantee he’s going to listen to a man that’s a stranger barking orders at him, but Johnny gives the sharp German command anyway.

To his surprise, the dog lets go immediately and turns towards them, giving the skipping lope that a 3 legged dog does before placing himself in a heel at Soap’s side, eyes wide and head tilted.

Johnny doesn’t want to think about what could have happened tonight if it wasn’t for Cujo- Kabar- taking such an involved roll in apprehending the man stupid enough to break into his home.

And he’s most assuredly not magically over his aversion to dogs- especially military dogs- but he might be able to tolerate an exception if it means having some peace of mind that his wife is safe at home.

[eastern-lights]

Ok so we all know how amazing Baldur's Gate 3 is. I could talk for hours about everything it did perfectly.

But rn, I want to talk about what I think Dragon Age Inquisition did better. And this is not to judge which game is better overall, but what still makes DAI so special to me despite its flaws.

1. Voiced protagonist

Yeah, starting off controversial. I know some people prefer silent protagonists, but I just find myself wishing we could have a fully voiced Tav, even at the cost of fewer dialogue options. I'm sorry, but Tav's silent indifferent face just always breaks the immersion for me, especially when contrasted with the award-worthy acting and animation of the characters they're speaking with. In DAI (and DA2, although to a lesser degree) your character could be heavily customized, but they were always an actual person who fit in with the rest of the universe and flowed seamlessly with the story.

2. Mystery and dread.

BG3 is full of heavy, scary, traumatizing stuff hidden all over the place (or in plain sight). But it can always be explained in some way. There are dreadful things in Faerûn, but we always know what they are (mostly due to most of them having to have precisely given stats as the result of being based on DnD). We know what happens after death and what we can do to bring people back from it. The closest you get to truly dread-inducing mystery in BG3 is "Do Illithids have souls" and "where do illithids come from" and (at least in Act 1) "who is the Absolute".

In Dragon Age, the whole world is made of existential dread. What happens when you die? Dunno. Is God real? No idea and if He does, He hates you. What is the Blight? Are all darkspawn capable of independent thought? What is lyrium singing about? What happened to the titans? What happens when all of the Old Gods die? And this is just the Big Questions. There's a myriad of small things, small mysteries you encounter that just have no answers. Stuff that reminds me of those creepy Goldshire children forming a pentagram in World of Warcraft. While having an explanation for everything makes for deeper worldbuilding, a world full of mysteries without answers makes for a much scarier and, in some ways, exciting experience.

3. Group dynamic and party banter

I enjoyed the party banter in BG3. Hell, it had some of the funniest lines in game. But it didn't do enough to make the group dynamic feel any less Tav/Durge-centric. You hear the companions exchange banter, but you never get beyond stuff like "Karlach and Shadowheart both enjoy wine" and "Gale enjoys Lae'zel telling him about the Astral plane". The protagonist forms amazingly written relationships with each of the companions, but they never seem to have such a bond with one another. The closest we come to what I'd like to see is Karlach and Wyll's friendship, but even that's kind of shallow, I feel. The companions do comment on the others' personal quest, but it's always one sentence reaction, before going right back to being mostly indifferent. DA2 had the same issue, if to a greater extent (srsly, the companions had the same attitude about one another over the span of 10 years)

The banter in DAI was superb. It told a story. It had arcs. You could watch in real time as Solas and Dorian became friends over their shared magical nerd-dom. You could even take part in it, such as when telling Blackwall to stfu about jousting for a moment, or telling Sera that what you and Solas do in private is none of her business. You could see Dorian and Bull fall in love. You could watch Varric slowly chip away at Solas' worldview until he arguably came closer to changing his plans than Lavellan ever did. The relationships grow over the course of the story and by the time of Solas' betrayal, you're not just sad because he betrayed you, you're sad because he betrayed Varric, Dorian, Bull, Cassandra and everyone else. Because you saw how they cared about him, each in their own way.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than Varric's "Chuckles, what have you done?"

In BG3, the relationships are mostly left to your imagination, which has its perks, but still, the group dynamic feels more like a wheel with Tav at the centre rather than a web.

4. Having limits on the romance options

Let me start by stating what I am not saying: I am not saying that bi and pan people shouldn't be represented. Far from it. But I don't think making the whole group pan is the way to go about it. I can't help but feeling it is, in a way, pandering to players, making every single companion interested in them as long as they have a sufficiently high approval.

Making some companions explicitly bi, pan, gay or straight made for a more real experience. Getting rejected by Sera on the grounds of "We have a lot in common - we both like women" felt disappointing, yes, but also real. This also allowed the writers to make the characters' sexual/romantic preferences a part of their, well, character. We got Dorian's personal quest, which I think is great. Limiting Solas' options to just Lavellan allowed the writers to make it about him realizing that his people are not mere shadows. It allowed them to write the Vallaslin scene. None of this could have been done if he were romanceable to all races.

When you have diversity in romantic attraction among the companions, suddenly the pan and bi characters (in Bull and Josie respectively) feel like their orientation is part of who they are, rather than a game mechanic to prevent players from missing out on content.

[anjanahalo]

Wayne vs Fenton 4

probably after tim starts investigating

~*~

It was another scheduled playdate that forced Damian to really question what Danny meant when he stated he was “liminal.” From what Danny shared at the time, it felt like a chronic medical condition. He’d been exposed, at some point, to a substance Danny knew from his scientist parents as “ectoplasm.” The exposure was strong enough to leave a lingering effect upon Damian’s body. However, Danny also warned the sort of ectoplasm in question was, as quoted by his classmate “super gross and nasty. Not shocked if it made you more prone to angry outbursts than the normal liminal. Like, getting into actually fighty fights and not regular fights.” Danny, as usual, wasn’t exceedingly helpful in clarifying his explanation. His peer evidentially understood the topic, but was horrendous in conveying the principles. From what he’d gleaned, it seemed this “ectoplasm” was a form of less potent Lazarus Water as, when he’d questioned Danny if it could heal the ill or bring the dead to life, Danny seemed horrified at the prospect. Damian didn’t question further. He enjoyed having Danny’s companionship. He’d hate to jeopardize that with giving his friend dangerous knowledge that might lead to the League hunting him down. He’d have to ask for help in researching this, but later. Later became now when, during their fight, after Damian lept to the next rooftop after being pushed closed to the edge, Danny stopped his pursuit. “Whoa, okay, we gotta go back.” “Are you frightened of falling, Danny?” “From that jump? No, but we’re not going further that way. Let’s head back. Saw an ice cream place a few blocks over. We could go there for a playdate treat?” “You’re deflecting.” “I am not! Get over here and say that to my face.” Damian didn’t move. “Make me.” Danny didn’t move. “Seriously, I get you’re liminal, but you’re apparently not liminal enough to realize why we should go back but, trust me, we should go back.” “I’d like a logical explanation you want to draw our ‘playdate’ to a close before I return, Daniel” Danny groaned. “You know how much I hate that name!” “And I’ll keep calling you that until you either use your fists or your words to stop me, Daniel.” “Urgh, look, you gotta promise not to pick any fights, alright? Seriously. There’s a super dangerous and strong liminal that way, and I do not want to deal with that shit on a school night.” Damian glanced back, properly mapping their location. They were both on the border of Park Row, better known as Crime Alley. Even more known among the Batclan as Red Hood’s territory. Red Hood, Jason Todd, a man who, very certainly, came in contact with the Lazarus pits. If living by them made Damian liminal in Danny’s scientific senses, being fully revived by them certainly would. Damian thought about tempting Danny further in to watch his reactions, but decided against it. Having strong if indirect proof of his hypothesis would be enough for the evening, considering his company. “Alright, Danny. This area is known as Crime Alley. Best to head back for ice cream.” “Thank you! Ancients!” Danny gave his favorite odd curse. “I didn’t want to have to chase you down in that sort of poisonous haunt!” “A…haunt?” “Nevermind about it. Basically the area a liminal lives gives a sort of aura from their ectoplasm and, trust me, yours might give the heebie geebies, but his is full Jason Vorhees. Neither of us want to deal with that shit. You paying?” Damian smiled back, hiding the thoughts and theories forming in his head given the indirect information he’d just been given from a scientific perspective of the Pits. “I assumed you were since you suggested it.” Danny sighed. “Fine, I guess I can use my meager allowance on you. But that means no waffle cones.” “And the place offers vegan-” “Of course it does! You think I’d be so focused on fighting you I wouldn’t note if a neat ice cream place didn’t offer vegan options for you? What sort of friend do you think I am?!” “With that division of attention,” Damian laughed, “it’s a bit up in the air.”

[laura1633]

I am clearing out some of the old wips I have and I came across this piece that I never fully developed but still thought I might share with you all. So here is some Omega Charles.

Warning for mention of alphas not being able to control themselves around omegas.

Charles always knew this conversation would have to come up sooner or later. He’s been avoiding heats with Max for six months now and the alpha has been surprisingly patient. More patient than any of Charles’ previous partners were but Charles guesses he owes Max an explanation. 

“We don’t have to spend your heat together,” Max looks disappointed, “I just wanted to be able to look after you properly.” 

“What if I said we couldn’t spend my heats together?” Charles starts cautiously despite being almost certain of how this will play out. There’s no way he can word this that is going to make Max happy. 

“Never?” Max already sounds upset.  

Charles’ feet bounce under the table. Max is his perfect alpha. He’s not ready to lose him. Except he knows he’s not like all the other omegas Max will have been with. He knows he can’t quite give Max the full omega experience. 

“I just…I don’t like spending my heats with alphas.” 

It’s a lie. Charles would very much like to spend his heat with an alpha. Just not sexually. He gets slicked up just like all the other omegas. His scent even turns sweeter. He just doesn’t get turned on. Quite the opposite. The idea of having sex during his heat makes him sick to his stomach to the point he’s hunched over a toilet and heaving. 

He’s tried having alphas lie with him during heats before but - much like he was warned in biology class- they always want more than cuddles and it never ends well when he has to tell them to leave. They get incredibly selfish and aggressive. He doesn’t want to ever see Max that way. 

“Maybe you’ve just never spent your heat with the right type of alpha before,” Max puffs his chest out and smiles, “I could change your mind.” 

Charles smiles fondly. Fuck he’s going to miss this. Max is so goofy sometimes. Charles knows that he is in love with the alpha. So in love it makes him feel like his heart is beating at twice the speed of normal when they are around each other. 

“I don’t think you could.” Charles sees the frown forming on Max’s face. 

“So my ruts?”

“I can spend ruts with you,” Charles smiles. It’s not like he doesn’t enjoy sex. He just doesn’t enjoy sex in heat. Which is so confusing and not at all normal and he wants to cry about it, “Just not heats, I am sorry.” 

Max smiles but looks a little embarrassed, “I just thought maybe I could help.” 

“I wish” Charles mumbles before he can stop himself. 

“You wish?” Max’s eyes widen, “Do I not….. I mean am I not very good… in bed… I thought you liked it when..”

“No you are” Charles jumps in quickly before he gives Max the wrong impression, “God no, you are good. More than good - ” 

“You always like my scent near you when you are in heat” Max says cautiously. 

“Yes,” Charles wants to cry, this is all so difficult, “But just your scent not..…”

Max waits silently for Charles to finish his thought. 

“Your knot” Charles finishes. 

“Is it not big enough?” Max looks like he is trying to work things out in his head, “I can use my tongue and fingers and I can ..”

“I hate having sex in heat,” Charles finally blurts out, “The thought makes me want to be sick. I know that makes me weird. All I want in heat is your scent close by because it makes me feel better.” 

Max purses his lips and takes a moment to process things, “So it’s not that you don’t want me there. You just don’t want me there for sex?”

“Kind of, but I know alphas can’t..” Charles trails off to a whisper, “Contain themselves.”

“I would never touch you if you didn’t want me to,” Max looks horrified at the thought, “But I could be there, no sex, just for whatever else you need. It’s my job to look after you, as your alpha.” 

Your alpha. 

Its the first time Charles has heard Max refer to himself as that and it gives him butterflies. But none of that matters because how can he ask Max to be with him, to be surrounded by sweetness and slick and not be able to do anything. Charles feels cruel thinking about it. 

But Max is looking back at him so earnestly. Sweet sensitive Max who has been nothing but loving and kind towards him. Max who has been patient enough not to press the issue before. Max who has always scented and soothed him after sex. 

Charles thinks, maybe, just maybe Max would be different to all the other alphas. Maybe Max would look after him like he needs. 

[moltensmusings]

I was wondering what your thoughts were on the battle of fairy tail arc and what if anything you would change. Personally I would have liked it if they Laxus had a better relationship with the thunder legion - or there had been some stuff before that showed they were close so his spiral over the arc into being kinda a dick to them too was more shocking. On a side note, I'm kinda sad they didn't include in the anime the scene where he overhears people bashing fairy tail in a pub and beats them up because I feel it speaks to his character more!

Anyway I've been really enjoying your headcannons and they've made all the arcs you've discussed better in my head lol

Thank you! My goal when thinking up rewrite ideas/alterations is always to enhance the story presented more than fully, outright change it to something else entirely.

I didn't read the manga prior to Grand magic games since I was anime only, but I probably should at some point because scenes like that would be interesting to see!

I fully agree with you on the "Laxus should've cared point". One point I always think about every arc is just how much Mashima doesn't trust his audience to hate villains without making them horrible, sadistic people. Now I don't need villains to be written as redeemable, I myself thoroughly enjoy writing heinous individuals who are cruel to their core with no regard for life outside of their own (and even sometimes no regard for that). But if you want to make a villain that the audience can accept as redeemable you either need to make them complex and sympathetic, or show us their hard earned redemption.

Now, for Laxus, I personally would've made it clear that he cares about Fairy Tail members. Not just the reputation of the guild. Though his ego and insults towards others would often have people believing that. Makarov and Erza would both be capable of seeing through this and understanding that every criticism he has towards his guildmates comes from a place of trying to help them get better to keep them safe. I'd hint at him having a history of being close to guildmates who die or leave due to permanent damage sustained on missions.

This underlying care would be the reason Makarov would believe him to be the one right to take over as master. Because in spite of his inflated self worth, he still cared for his family.

Phantomlord arc would've been his breaking point, I would remove the scene of him saying he'd only help if Lucy dated him (that was only added to make him hate worthy) and have it simply be that he can't be reached due to a mission with the thunder legion. A rift forming between him and Makarov for Makarov letting Gajeel into the guild with no explanation after the dude hospitalized team shadowgear and tormented Lucy would cause him to believe Makarov incapable of putting the safety of the guild above the redemption of enemies.

The battle of fairy tail would be his way of proving to various members that they aren't cut out to be mages because if they can't even take care of themselves in a controlled environment, how can they hope to do so out in the field. He'd have a desperation as well to show that he is the strongest person in the guild thus the only one capable of stepping up to the role of guild master (Him having divine magic in the au would also explain this solid belief, god given magic and all that.) Rather than getting angry when Evergreen, Bixlow, or Freed loses, there would be a resignation that they aren't meant to stay. A sadness to it because he'd have known them all for almost a decade at this point.

"Why would people get frozen in stone" rather than it being all the girls who competed, it would be every member he deemed too weak to compete safely. People who use primarily support magic or haven't been with the guild long enough to make a mark in his memory of what they're capable of. Erza would be post tower of heaven nerf at this point so she'd be far below her normal strength level.

Makarov nearly dying this arc rather than being a moment of elation, would simply reinforce his need to get things done. To prove his own strength and take the position he was destined for.

When Makarov sends him off to self reflect he would note "You can't know what will come of people. Dangers exist in the world whether you're part of a guild or not. People will do as they please and all you can hope is to prepare them for what comes."

I would also throw in a few flashback scenes during the arc, scenes of guild members interacting with Laxus and Laxus meeting/grouping up with the thunder legion. I'm personally partial to Makarov raising Erza post tower of heaven so I'd have loved if prior to this arc we got some Erza/Laxus sibling scenes.

Again: I don't need villains to be tragic always, I think gajeel being a horrible person that has to earn his place is something I like (wish it was better handled) but for characters like Laxus I think them being complex and sympathetic is crucial. Especially when we don't see them until they've completely changed.

[fxoye2]

i love asking you stuff about characters and reading your replies. it feels like you understand them so well and you delve into their psyches and personalities and struggles with such passion and care, and love. you genuinely give so much reasoning and explanations for why they are that way and prompt people to look past the superficial aspects and actually consider their roots. i am genuinely interested in your thoughts about snw Spock. you seem to be one of the few people here who actually don’t straight up hate him and actually give valid opinions about why he is the way he is, and why he is not TOS spock yet, despite most fans hating that version of him. i am one of those who don’t really like how he’s portrayed but i feel like that’s because i am so used to TOS spock snw spock just feels.. wrong. i would love to understand him better from your perspective since you seem like a really thoughtful person and your analysis are always on point.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this! I’m genuinely honored that you enjoy my ramblings about these characters because I get so emotional and attached when it comes to Spock (in all his forms). I completely get why SNW Spock doesn’t sit right with you (and a lot of people), especially when you’re used to TOS Spock, who’s just this untouchable, beautifully alien, and deeply queer-coded character. But I’d love to help you understand my take on SNW Spock and why, despite his rough edges and some questionable choices, I think there’s a lot going on with him beneath the surface that we can explore and appreciate.

First off, I totally agree that SNW Spock is hard to relate to for TOS fans because he’s so much more humanized and… well, messy. And that messiness can make him feel like a betrayal of the Spock we know from TOS, who is all about restraint, logic, and this very dignified alienness. But here’s the thing about SNW Spock: he’s not supposed to feel like TOS Spock yet, and that’s not an excuse to justify everything he does—it’s about showing us a version of him that’s still in the process of becoming.

SNW Spock is still figuring himself out—and I mean that in the most profound sense. At this point in his life, he hasn’t fully accepted that his human side isn’t something to hide or suppress. He’s still caught in this place where he believes he needs to earn acceptance, whether from Vulcans, from Starfleet, or even from himself. He’s trying to fit into these societal molds, and that’s where a lot of the disconnect comes from when you compare him to TOS Spock. In TOS, Spock has already done a lot of this internal work, but in SNW, he’s still deep in that struggle.

Let’s talk about the “relatability” issue, because I think this is where the heart of the discomfort lies. A lot of fans, especially queer folks, have always found Spock relatable because of how unrelatable he is. His alienness, his restraint, his sense of always being on the outside looking in—those are things that resonate so deeply with people who feel different from the world around them. SNW Spock, on the other hand, feels more traditionally relatable, in a very human, almost insecure way. He’s awkward, he’s unsure, and sometimes, he’s even a little bit emotionally sloppy. It’s a jarring shift from the Spock we know, and I think that’s what makes it feel wrong to a lot of people. It feels like they’re stripping him of his alienness and making him “just like us,” when part of what makes Spock Spock is that he isn’t like us.

But here’s where I think it’s important to dig deeper. SNW Spock’s relatability isn’t supposed to be comfortable. It’s supposed to show us that he is uncomfortable. He’s not at peace with himself yet, and that awkwardness we see, the messiness, the moments where he’s not quite as restrained as we’d expect—that’s a direct reflection of the fact that he’s still struggling to reconcile his two sides. He hasn’t yet learned to embrace his human emotions or his Vulcan logic fully, and so he’s in this liminal space where he’s trying too hard to be something that he’s not.

Take his appearance, for example—the fact that he’s fit, perfectly groomed, and polished. This isn’t just about looking good for Starfleet. It’s about control. It’s about Spock trying to hold onto something, anything, that makes him feel like he’s in charge of his identity. By keeping himself physically perfect, he’s projecting an image of control and discipline, even though inside, he’s far from it. His appearance is his way of compensating for the chaos he feels internally. He hasn’t reached the point where he’s comfortable letting go of those superficial markers of success and perfection. And that’s why he feels so different from TOS Spock—he’s not yet secure enough in who he is to stop caring about how others perceive him.

Now, the really tricky part: his relationships with women. I know this is one of the biggest sticking points for a lot of fans, especially because TOS Spock never really shows any interest in women, and his bond with Jim feels so queer-coded and deep. So why is SNW Spock out here kissing women? Is it just bad writing? Is it erasing his queerness? Personally, I don’t think so.

To me, Spock’s interactions with women in SNW are another symptom of his internal conflict. He’s following a script—a script that says if a woman shows interest in you, you’re supposed to reciprocate, because that’s what people do, right? At this point, Spock is still so wrapped up in what’s expected of him that he’s not acting out of genuine desire; he’s acting out of a sense of obligation. He’s not comfortable enough with himself to reject those scripts yet, and he hasn’t fully realized that his feelings don’t have to align with societal norms. It’s not about homophobia or heteronormativity, exactly—it’s about Spock still figuring out what he wants, and until he understands that, he’s going to go along with what he thinks is “normal.”

But here’s the thing: it feels out of character because Spock is out of sync with himself. He’s not fully Spock yet—he’s in this awkward, uncomfortable stage where he’s trying to be something he’s not, and we’re watching that play out. It’s uncomfortable for us because it’s uncomfortable for him. He hasn’t figured out that he doesn’t need to fit into those expectations—whether that’s maintaining a perfect appearance, or engaging in romantic relationships that don’t actually resonate with him. That’s what makes his portrayal in SNW feel so disjointed from TOS Spock, but it’s also what makes it interesting. We’re watching him struggle, and struggle is never pretty.

And that’s the part that I think people hate, because we want Spock to be Spock—this wonderfully strange, alien figure who doesn’t fit in because that’s what makes him so relatable to people who don’t fit in either. But SNW is showing us the painful process of him realizing that. Right now, he’s still trying to perform, to meet expectations, to fit into a mold that was never made for him. That includes his relationships, his appearance, and even how he carries himself emotionally. He’s not out here kissing women because he’s suddenly straight—it’s because he’s trying to follow a path that doesn’t suit him, and he hasn’t yet figured out that he’s allowed to forge his own way.

So, I get it. SNW Spock feels wrong because he’s supposed to feel wrong—he’s still out of balance, still trying to reconcile who he is with who he thinks he needs to be. But that’s what makes this era of his life so important. It’s the uncomfortable, awkward, messy part of his journey where he’s still learning that he doesn’t need to meet anyone else’s expectations to be enough. He hasn’t learned yet that his humanity isn’t something to suppress, but something to embrace. He hasn’t yet figured out that it’s okay to not fit in, and that trying to be perfect all the time is a losing game.

SNW Spock is searching. He’s trying to find himself in a world that’s constantly telling him to be something else, and that’s why he feels so distant from the Spock we know and love. But that discomfort? That’s part of the process. It’s hard to watch, especially when you love TOS Spock’s alienness and queerness, but it’s a necessary step for him to get to a place of peace with himself. He’ll get there, but for now, he’s still lost in the mess of trying to fit in. And that’s what makes him so human, even if it’s uncomfortable to see.

[loveharlow]

Could I ask why the series is called seven? It’s probably a really obvious answer and I’m just being stupid tbh 😭😭

I was actually waiting, plotting for someone to ask this question

SO, basically, it's loosely based on the song Seven by Taylor Swift. Not the entire song, but certain parts. This is a looong explanation so buckle up...

So, Seven is loosely based on these specific lyrics from the song:

1. "Are there still beautiful things?"

In Seven, you may have noticed that TR goes through a lot of trauma and there's a lot more to come (sorry :/). But even through these traumatic events, she doesn't lose complete hope that things will get better. When I was researching characters archetypes a while back, I saw this thing where one trait of a hero is that they may bend but never break. So, even though throughout the series TR is faced with all of these things that may drive any another person to hit rock bottom and call it quits, she never does. She has her ups and downs, her doubts and breakdowns but she never waves the white flag. And that is due to the pogues, her friends, still being there for her and being each others support system throughout the entire journey. So, even when she's questioning her faith in hope, her friends show her time and time again that there is something worth fighting for. Not the gold, not the money, not even justice but for each other. She doesn't really have any family left and the pogues have become that for her. And she considers that a beautiful thing.

2. "And I've been meaning to tell you, I think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why, and I think you should come live with me and we can be pirates, then you won't have to cry or hide in the closet, and just like a folk song, our love will passed on."

To break this down one by one, the "i think your house is house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why" part is a reference to two things - obviously JJ and Luke's relationship and how TR does everything she can to keep them seperate or act as a buffer. Even though she's fully aware that Luke could beat her ass she doesn't care as long as it's not JJ that's taking it (which JJ hates but loves at the same time). But it's more largely in reference to how the home that the pogues created within each other is destroyed by the people around them because it's either no one believes them or they're against them.

The "you should come live with me and we can be pirates, then you won't have to cry or hide in the closet" ties in with the events after season one, which you will see in 'The Inbetween', in which TR and JJ kind of create this bubble of shared comfort between each other. Like kids playing pirates, they know that the happiness they feel after John B's 'death' is only temporary and fleeting but they try to drag it on as far as they can in hopes of comforting the other, almost ignoring their real life problems. In trying to preserve this happiness, they learn a lot about each other that they never knew in the years of knowing each other and learn how to help one another in ways that none of the others pogues can or know how to when the facade falls. They develop a deeper connection and understanding and overall appreciation for one another that unknowingly makes them feel safer in each other's presence, safe enough to be themselves and not have to conceal their emotions.

Lastly, the "just like a folk song, our love will passed on" is a little obvious. It's mainly in connection to how by the end of the series, TR and JJ have navigated their feelings, formed a connection, acknowledged that connection and nurtured it into a relationship that has, in turn, matured them as people. They helped each other learn and grow and explore and though they'd never admit it, the pogues really admire them, even on their bad days, and do hope to have a love as pure and open as theirs.

heads up: i added emoji anons to my blog, so feel free to send an ask to take one if you frequently send in asks!

[dead-loch]

wondering what my Deadloch folks think of this headcanon which I will be working into my fic:

Eddie throughout the season is very over-the-top homophobic in ways that, to me, obviously speak to someone who has repressed a part of themselves (I’d be interested to know how others feel about my read on that, specifically people who identify with wlw). The things she says are made to be as offensive as possible but they don’t strike me as coming from a place of hate (tbh this might be due to the writers and the actor, but again, let me know if you think differently).

(Homophobia stemming from repression is not something that needs to automatically be forgiven or I guess a better word might be it’s not an excuse, but it is an explanation. I don’t want to downplay it because it can cause real harm both inwardly and outwardly)

At the end, of course, she reveals she’s “done stuff” with women.

I’m wondering if Eddie-the-young-person (and let’s include here anywhere up to the age of 25 maybe? Idk how old you are or what kinda schooling you need in AUS), prior to her career in law enforcement, had tentatively been exploring queer relationships of some kind. But once beginning her career in law enforcement, (which, I mean, need I say more than that really) realised how Not Good of an environment it was for someone discovering they might be queer (whatever that may entail for her). And that for years she prioritised her own safety and sanity by adapting to a shitty, homophobic and sexist and racist environment and becoming “one of the boys” as a sort of armour. Of course, this armour would not ultimately protect her from being thrown to the wolves and blamed for the death of her partner, and boy was that a piss off.

Throughout her time in Deadloch, Eddie is (maybe for the first time ever) surrounded primarily by queer people and by queer women specifically. She goes from an environment of toxic masculinity, one she’s spent a very long time adapting to and-maybe-ingratiating herself to, to an environment that is, well, nearly the complete opposite. If it was me, I think I’d be angry. And maybe feel betrayed. Like… I could have had this all along?

Holly, I believe, is the only woman Eddie has had a close relationship with prior to Deadloch, and even then, it was through her partner on the force. But we know that Eddie and Holly were close enough because Eddie keeps calling her. But this one relationship (and here I mean friendship, not that there was anything romantic or sexual between them necessarily), to me, seemed important to her and not just in a “you’re my work partner’s wife” way. It felt to me like Eddie, on some level, really valued that relationship but that it was also something she craved, again, on some level, and probably not on a conscious one.

Just… imagine chipping away at yourself for years and years so that you’re protected from poisonous hate, and then suddenly finding yourself in a place where others like you— or like the you-who-could/might-have-been— have allowed themselves to exist as they are. (And again, this is fully said without judgement. We deserve to feel safe and that can take many forms and should be up to the individual to decide for themselves what is best for them at any moment in time.)

I can’t speak for queer Australians (although I’d love to hear from you) but even just discovering that marriage rights were only afforded to queer couples in 2017 pushes this narrative even more. For comparison, my country legalised “same sex marriage” in 2005, with some provinces having legalised it as early as 2003, and civil marriages between “same sex” couples existing since 1999. I was 15 in 2005 and I can assure you it didn’t really make anything in my day-to-day life easier but it did mean… other people like me are out there. We didn’t have the world at our fingertips as readily as we do now, even so relatively recently.

[kiwwia-wiwwia]

matt murdock songs and explanations pt. 1

most of these will be noah kahan just a heads up but I can talk about these for HOURSSSS. just me analyzing matt and some songs and making a verbal venn diagram.

song 1: No Complaints by Noah Kahan

I thought I had somethin' And that's the same as havin' somethin'

matt constantly, CONSTANTLY grasping at whatever connection he can get. foggy, father lantom, elektra, karen, claire... the list goes on. but i really see this as him and elektra. him desperately searching for goodness in her that may or may not even be there but he still so ferverently believes in her, that there's something there, something permanent, esp when he was in college.

I'd get mad at nothin', blame my dad for somethin' I pull no punches, then feel bad for months

he has. so much anger. towards himself, towards his parents, towards god... sometimes he just needs to pin the blame on something. him getting to worked up one night and doing more damage than necessary and then berating himself for it for months. got that Catholic Guilt fr

Mm, thought I was raised better, tried to fake better

impostor syndrome, anyone? he constantly feels like he's not what his dad would've wanted him to be and again, So Much Guilt is in that man. his dad didn't want him to be a fighter and that's literally All He Does. pobrecito hates himself so much for not living up to his father's expectations of him.

Tried to blame weather and escape better Hope the skin heals where the pain enters

GODDDDD THE SYMBOLYSM HERE. hope the skin heals where the pain enters. are u kidding me. i have never heard something more daredevil. the physical and emotional pain he's in constantly, the way that when things get bad for him he uses vigilantism as a form of self harm, especially in season 3 when he tries to off himself by getting those guys to kill him.

But I finally got sewed up I set a time, then I showed up Now the weight of the world ain't so bad

all the times he tries to fix his relationships. when he's destroying friendships left and right (foggy and karen), flaking on them, placing daredevil as his highest priority and then when he realizes he's being an ass he does his best to show up??? trying so hard to be better for them because they don't deserve the way he's been treating them, only for the cycle to repeat itself? oh my god.

I saw the end, it looks just like the middle Got a paper and pen and a page with no space

Him realizing every now and again that nothing changes, the city will always have a new threat and his work will never be done. everything stays the exact same. the end looks just like the middle. GOD.

I filled the hole in my head with prescription medication And forgot how to cry, who am I to complain?

he does self medicate, just not with substances. his drug is being daredevil. he gets frustrated? daredevil. sad? daredevil. angry? daredevil. that's his only outlet, the only time he feels like he's truly being himself. and that man represses so aggressively and feels like he has no right to feel the way he does. again, catholic guilt. "other people have it worse" NO matt. you are in hell.

And now the pain's different It still exists, it just escapes different And evades vision, makes the rain different Makes the news boring and my rage distant

when he gets bad, he gets BAD. mf is depressed. depressed squared. everything dulls around him, he's feeling things at an arms length.

Yes, I'm young and living dreams In love with being noticed and afraid of being seen

his playboy side loves the attention he gets, especially in college, but he's terrified of someone truly knowing him. sure, get close on a surface level, but he's so guarded about anyone fully and wholly knowing him. he's terrified of losing more people.

But I can finally eat and I can fall asleep It's fine, fine, fine

denial is a river in egypt. he's Fine, he swears. everything is Normal and he is Functioning. everything is FINE. but it's not. hes a mess and he's barely holding it together and the only thing he's trying for is the people around him so when he's alone because he pushes everyone away it's dangerous. he doesn't have to keep up appearances, he can just rot away and daredevil until he gets too injured even though he'll probably keep going after that.

thank you for your time this has been me psychoanalyzing my husband

[rivalsunraveled]

Geto + Psychological HCs

mentioned briefly on Geto's page, but I wanted to elaborate. putting it under a read more

obligatory disclaimer that mental illness =/= evil. geto just happens to have a lot of brain worms and make a lot of bad decisions.

1. He's autistic. I know this because I'm autistic.

Maybe one day I'll articulate why this is better but it's vibes. Trust me on this.

Geto has very rigid thinking patterns and social reciprocity just doesn't come naturally to him. Prior to his defection, he did a lot of masking, to blend in with other people as much as he could. He memorized social rules by rote, coming across as a quiet, mostly polite child.

This was exhausting, but made things easier for him, since seeing things that no one else could see (curses) already made him strange enough to other people, without adding onto it. He was more himself around Gojo and Shoko, but by the time he met them, he was in such a habit of masking that he rarely fully relaxed even around them.

After defecting, he masks much less, but he also lies a lot more, so it's not that he's exactly being himself, it's more that he's gone from a carefully constructed persona for survival purposes to a carefully constructed persona for deceptive purposes.

2. Bipolar II.

Doesn't quite hit full manic episodes, but he has occasional hypomanic episodes in between long stretches of depression.

3. OCD.

This started developing after Geto started at Jujutsu High and getting a lot more trauma, with the events with Riko, Toji, and the Star Religious Group being a major factor. Geto perceives a contamination from anything handled by non-sorcerers ("monkey smell"). He will clean himself off if he's near non-sorcerers for too long and avoids having things from non-sorcerers around him as much as possible (to this end, most of his food is grown for himself). If he must use items that non-sorcerers have handled, he will meticulously clean them before they are brought into his living space.

Geto truly believes there is a smell/some perceptible contamination (absent insight).

This all alleviates a nebulous dread of non-sorcerers overwhelming him/other sorcerers. If one were to really press him for explanations, he might say that these cleaning habits get rid of cursed energy that leaks from non-sorcerers, so it keeps wild curses from forming. This isn't a real thing; it's just a rationalization.

4. Misc

Geto is really reluctant to admit to having any trauma or being afraid, so he'll push that down and hide it under anger and hatred. His encounter with Toji terrified him, most especially because it shook the belief that he (and Gojo) were the strongest. Rather than allowing himself to feel "weak" for being scared and shaken, Geto focused on hating non-sorcerers. It's very "some people become hateful mass murderers to cope????" of him, but there we go.

Nothing is diagnosed for Geto. As far as he's concerned, he's generally unhappy with the state of the world and is willing to sacrifice himself to make it better for sorcerers. He knows other people think he's crazy, but they just do not understand his vision.

[blackhairedjjun]

about me

i usually go by bhj :) she/her, 21+. my home timezone is utc+8.

this is a sideblog and i am generally uncomfortable sharing my main! if i send asks through anon or don't see my username in your likes, that's why.

my writing specialties are fluff and comfort fics! i also like royalty aus a lot :) i usually write for gender-neutral or fem reader.

guidelines

blog content this blog is sfw. i do post and reblog things with suggestive themes, and these will be tagged as #suggestive. i interact with blogs that do post nsfw, so minors please be careful.

i write for txt only, and this is a yeonjun-focused blog! he's my bias and the member i feel most comfortable writing for. if you want to read fics about the other members, please check out my writer rec list!

dni & boundaries i don't tolerate any form of discrimination and prejudice (sexism, racism, ableism, homophobia / transphobia / any anti-lgbtqia+, extreme nationalism, etc) on this blog.

i block blank blogs and any blogs i suspect to be bots. please personalize your blog before interacting.

minors ok to follow, but i will not complete the mutual.

users who are rude, repeatedly break these guidelines, or make me or anyone else uncomfortable will be blocked.

i block liberally for my own peace of mind. that means i block even blogs that haven't even interacted with me directly, as long as i've seen posts from them that make me uncomfortable in any way. please do not take my blocks personally - "block" does not always mean "you're a bad person and i hate you." sometimes it just means that it's better for us not to interact for my sanity.

requests and soft thoughts i don't take requests - i don't write consistently enough to do them. i accept soft thoughts, which are not fully-written or fully-edited but just me rambling about how i think your idea will go! soft thoughts are short and a little bit descriptive but they're unedited and not as detailed as a full fic. go here for a full explanation of the differences.

fic writing no-no's i do not write: male reader, high school aus, hogwarts aus, pregnancy & parenting, fratboys / fraternities, cheating / infidelity for the main couple, a/b/o, hybrids, highly triggering topics (abuse, traumatic events, specific mental illnesses, suicide, etc.), + tba

please do not request specific features for the reader (e.g. reader of a particular race/ethnicity, nationality, physical appearance, diagnoses, etc.) i don't have the life experience to accurately depict these - if you can, find a writer who actually fits these and read their works instead!

maybes: fantasy, sci-fi, mythology, and historical aus. these require a lot of worldbuilding and research from me, even for soft thoughts, so i'm not guaranteed to answer asks on these.

i reserve the right to turn down asks / soft thoughts requests if i disagree with the idea or if they make me uncomfortable in any way, even if they don't show up in this list.

[sharksa-shivers]

What are...Shadowdemons?

I thinks ima do a new sorta thing where i explain an aspect of Kidnapped and whatnot in a post...So for our first one, we've got shadowdemons!! Shadowdemons are the main type of demon we see in series. They are the ones that are running the shadowcult and are doing...Alot of uhhh not good things... (NOTE TO BE AWARE OF: Not every single shadowdemon we see in series is bad...Shadowdemons as a species are neutral until proven good or bad. They are not inherently born hateful, they become so overtime...I wanna make this clear before i start going off about them because THIS IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT...Hell, some shadowdemons we even get to meet in show are actively fighting against the cult and their shit...It's just the cult is fucking HUGE and there's alot of shadowdemons in it...) Alrighty so ig i'll start with a bareass basic explanation...What are they exactly? (Old art incoming and whatnot lol...I have to use old stuff cuz i haven't done any newer stuff soooooo bare with me here...)

(...This above might perhaps potentally be Bastard #2...Prince Collin...Perhaps...But ima actually officially introduce him later and give him a better design lol so uhhhh hold up for me yeah??

(Rando one i drew lol) Shadowdemons are described as very very humanlike...By this, they behave similarly as well, being intellegent and whatnot. They tend to be pale-ish tones of white or grey, some being darker greys as well. They have black voids for a base eye and a more blurry/glowing light for a pupil. It's also known they have incredibly incredibly sharp features usually...They have razor sharp fingers, teeth, ect. All shadowdemons can fly but typically lower casted ones/more common ones have wings while very very high status ones (like...Collin lol) Have no wings and fly by levitation instead. High powered shadowdemons ALSO have the ability to steal magic from mers which...is a death sentence to a mer...A MER CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT THEIR MAGIC. IT IS A VITAL PART OF THEIR SYSTEM... Shadowdemons are...Known for not being easy at all to kill. Mostly because there's only one surefire 1000% kill method for them. Only ONE. And that's by burning them. They have to be burned to be fully destroyed (and even then, you have to FULLY FULLY burn them...You cannot halfass it otherwise they will regenerate.) Typically if you stab a shadowdemon or take their head off or whatever other death method you wanna use, they will simply be temp dead for a 5 to 15 minute period (depending on how bad the injury is) and then they will reform...They can literally reform their entire head and brain if you shot them like 30 times, you need fire to fully do one in... Shadowdemons do need food and rest to recoup and regain lost energy HOWEVER they will not die without these things and some shadowdemons forgo these things for years and years...Depends on the demon, each one has their preference... Shadowdemons are also known for being able to blend among people very well. They are known to have 3 forms: 1. Their typical shadowdemon form, the form we see the most usually. 2. A "human" form, basically a disguise form to fit in among people without raising flags... 3. Their shadowform, basically they can turn into a shadowcloud. We tend to not see this as often but it does and can happen. As a note as well; Mers and humans are about on par strengthwise (if you don't count magic) Shadowdemons however, are about 3 times stronger on average then humans and mers, they can SERIOUSLY do damage and fuck you up with raw demon strength if they're able to… Your average mer without magic is like a typical human...A shadowdemon, 1 shadowdemon alone, can give Sharky a run for his money in the strength department so yknowwwwww uhhhhh not good lol...They can take alottttttt of damage, regenerate and are very difficult to fight. Alot in the cult are bloodthirsty though some aren't and are simply...Just trapped in the cult unfortuntely for them... Another thing of mention in the shadowdemon toolkit is something known as 'body-hacking' ...........And yeah, it's exactly what you think it is; demon possession. If a shadowdemon can get inside you and they have bad intentions, it's pretty much curtains for you because there's...Not really a good way to exorcise them out of yourself...They can weaken you and weaken you and weaken you and the weaker you get, the more control they get of you...Andddddddd that's not really good for your ass now is it?? --- Shadowdemon reproduction (might as well since i am talking about them lol...) Shadowdemons-Shadowdemons reproduction is VERYYYY different from humans…For starters, asexual reproduction…Shadowdemons also do not need het coupling to reproduce either, any gender of shadowdemon can join in. Shadowdemons also can reproduce with more then 2 partners, up to 5 (past 5 demons, you usually start getting really bad genetic defects…)

In order to produce a shadowchild, a few steps are taken. (we will discuss this with a average couple of 2, insert whatever gender you'd like, but 2 parents…)

The shadowparents will dig a hole, about 4 or 5 feet deep, deep enough for the offspring to grow.

The shadowparents choose a base parent. A base parent is one that will temporarily sacrifice a limb that will be removed and placed into the hole. The limb removed is usually a arm, hand, foot, or leg. The usual method of limb removal will be through a sword, knife or machete and will be done fast, usually to try and help reduce pain. Once the limb is removed, it is placed into the hole…

The other shadowparent will then proceed to add some sort of dna, usually spit or blood to the limb (though other dna isn't unheard of.)

After this is done, the hole is very very very quickly covered back up and the base parent leaves as quickly as possible to avoid the limb reconnecting to the base parent. After this process is complete, the hole is left alone for a weekend to a full week…Shadowdemons are made very quickly compared to other creatures due to their regeneration aspects…After this timeframe, what's known as a shadowchild, will dig it's way free and into the world, "being born". Shadowdemons do not have a baby stage in life, instead being "born" as children right off the bat(albeit small children…) Shadowchildren are able to take human forms pretty much instantly and resemble 4-6 year old children…Shadowchildren are then either picked up by their shadowparents or move into society themselves and are given food and clothes upon moving into the area. Shadowdemons have areas where orphan shadowchildren can stay as they grow up.

Shadowdemon life cycle: Shadowchild-->Teenager-->Adult Shadowdemon It's noted/thought that the most powerful shadowdemons have some sort of direct connection to Demon Drop...Who was the first shadowdemon and seems to be somewhat different then other shadowdemons...In certain ways... Collin for example is incredibly incredibly strong and takes alot more to tempkill then your typical shadowdemon...This is because Collin is Demon Drop's son, directly apparently (and thus why he has the power he does in the cult...And why he's prince...And everythingggg else...) ------ Shadowdemon culture: There's the cult culture where...You do whatever you are told or face the fire/consiquences OR the shadowdemon outsider culture...Where alot of them try to hide and live their lives like normalass people, wanting absolutely nothing to do with the cult and their bloodshed. It very much depends... It's said too there's a demon fighting group known as 'The Rising Dusts' which is made entirely of ex cult demons and tries to fight against the cult as well as pulling shadowdemons from it...And stopping the whole uhhhh doomsday death thing the Shadowcult wants to spearhead at some point very soon...(Perhaps we'll even get to learn/see/encounter them in series despite them being quite elusive apparently...) The main shadowdemons we will see are from the cult though...And we'll see them in full action, killing mortals, trying to recruit outsider shadowdemons, trying to fuck with demon fighters, trying to bring Demon Drop back, the whole 9...So that'll be funnnnnnn... ------

......I think this is the bulk of info but i mayyyyy probably am missing something, idk, ig i can always do another later on if need be lol...