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kayura-sanada · 5 years ago

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Idea for an ironstrange with peter au. Instead of tony dying after infinity war, he becomes like a celestial being or a star and only someone like dr strange could vist him. Peter wanting to be able to see tony again decides to become a wizard to.

Tony is so far away. Yet Thor and Hulk and Nebula and Strange - and eventually even Peter, in his Iron Spider suit - all come to visit him, so he’s never lonely for long. ;_; Still!! I want him back!!

…

Maybe the Infinity Stones mess with him and he becomes, not something celestial, per se, but something trapped beyond space and time, something with fluctuating power and mind and life. Like those trapped in the mirror dimension or an astral projection, but far, far more complicated.

At first, Stephen thinks he’s gone mad. Too many worlds looked at too quickly, too many timelines in which he’d gotten to live years with Tony, gotten to fall in love with him. And for the sake of the universe, he had to let this man go before he could ever be with him. So when he feels like Tony is right beside him, or he’s in his astral form and thinks he sees Tony next to him, he fears he’s allowed the knowledge of multiple realities to bleed into this one. It makes him infinitely glad the time stone is gone.

He watches over the kid. Unofficially, but when the kid’s field trip kept getting interrupted by cataclysmic events, he’d gotten involved, watching over him the way he would have if he and Tony had gotten together by this time. Eventually, the kid senses him, and he lets himself get caught before Peter can become paranoid.

It’s as he explains why he’s there - leaving out the bit where he and Tony would have been friends, lovers, husbands, a lost piece of him he’d never even gotten the chance to find - and as they speak together, in hushed tones, about the man they both grieved for, that Peter told him he sometimes still felt Tony’s presence. That suddenly, out of nowhere, his spider sense would tingle and he would feel like Tony was right there next to him. It would always feel so urgent, like there was danger nearby. That was why it had taken the kid so long to properly notice Stephen’s presence nearby when he fought dangerous opponents - oftentimes the kid would feel that same presence, would even sense it calling to him in certain places, notifying him of something to dodge or a tool he could use to stop his enemies. The kid thought Tony’s spirit could not rest.

What if, Strange thought with horror, Tony truly was not resting?

He did not tell the teenager. He didn’t want to get his hopes up. Especially since Tony’s body had already been buried and weeks had passed. There would be no normal body for him to return to.

At first, Strange struggles to even find a way to locate Tony. He realizes he saw actual, physical visuals of Tony in his astral form and uses that knowledge to try to pin Tony down. It’s only months later that he’s able to call upon that strange energy that made up Tony, and one night as he works on creating a small time loop outside of space and time - much harder without the time stone - that he finally catches a true glimpse of Tony. His eyes widen. Tony looks exactly as he did in the fight before he snapped his fingers, tired and battle-ready and afire with determination. ‘Strange?’ he says, blinking, seeming to take in Stephen and the fact that he was looking right at him. Quickly, he speaks again. ‘I’ve been like this since I snapped away Thanos. I don’t know what happened.’

Stephen opened his mouth, ready to explain it all, but shut it again. The time loop would only last for a few more seconds, and then it would simply loop this moment over and over again. The moment he let it go, however, they would be back in the normal time stream, and he would lose sight of Tony once more. “I’ll get you out,” he promises, looking Tony straight in the eye. “I swear it.”

For a long time, he tells no one. Wong is the first to figure out the biggest parts of it; Stephen starts losing sleep, acting erratically, and sometimes, Stephen starts speaking to seemingly no one, and he calls that no one ‘Tony.’ Wong goes up to Stephen one day and admits that, if it weren’t for the fact that he felt the presence himself, he would have thought Stephen had lost his mind.

Wong delegates some of Stephen’s efforts in finding a way to bring Tony back to other masters and even students of Kamar-Taj, acting like it’s a complicated problem they can work on for extra credit, the manipulative genius. It’s the forty-year-old female student who makes a random note that ‘ghosts,’ as they’re perceived by those unlearned to magic, are often believed to be embodiments more of emotion than anything else, and that perhaps this thing they were searching for was a being held together by its emotional attachments.

Stephen has nothing to lose and has spent nearly half a year spent in tiny time loops, in which Tony would tell Stephen a snippet of information on his circumstances or make a couple quick conjectures with him or, in rare cases where Tony seemed incredibly lonely, they would just share moments together, with Stephen sometimes updating Tony on the lives of those he loved, on Rhodey being asked to take on the leadership of the Avengers beside Ross or how Pepper handled the fallout of Stark Industries’ stocks by releasing one of Tony’s works in progress to her staff, or how Peter had barely escaped the defamation Beck tried to place on him by hacking into Beck’s illusory technology and showing the fact that it had been running at the time the supposed video had been recorded.

So Stephen goes and meets with Tony’s loved ones. He starts with Rhodes, the one most likely to understand Stephen’s explanation. In fact, Rhodes did not understand, despite being well-versed in listening to tech babble from his best friend, but he did parse out the part where a part of Tony was still alive and completely cognizant, and that the presence he’d sometimes thought he’d felt was in fact very, very real. After freaking out about the rotting body thing, Rhodes agrees to do whatever he can to help Strange bring Tony back. When prompted about any lingering feelings Tony might have toward him, Rhodes admits to Tony’s feelings of shame and guilt that Rhodes had sustained a permanent injury that, in Tony’s eyes, was thanks to him. “It was Rogers who demanded the fight and Rogers who chose to run away from responsibilities, even from those he had toward his friends at the airport. But people who run from responsibility aren’t the ones to feel guilty about it.” When Stephen asks about kinder lost feelings, Rhodes just smiles sadly and says, “who wouldn’t feel at least a little regret, knowing they’d left behind people who loved them?”

Virginia Potts is similar. “This whole thing you’re talking about is all beyond me, but Tony loved helping me take care of my adopted daughter, Morgan. Maybe he felt like we might have a hard time if we lost him? …No, Tony doesn’t think he’s good with kids. It’s why he got Happy to take over watching out for Peter. Maybe he’s just… maybe it’s because he saw me crying. Maybe he just doesn’t want me mourning him.” She tears up at that. “Idiot,” she says. “Who wouldn’t cry?”

He speaks with Happy, who says he doesn’t think Tony would have anything to regret with him. “He gave me a better life. He believed in me when no one else would. The only regret should be mine, that I couldn’t save him.”

Stephen is humbled over and over again by the love and loyalty Tony has from those he loves. He goes to speak to the Avengers, finding Thor easiest, sitting in his home. “A good man,” Thor says. “Perhaps he holds regrets because he was unable to stop Thanos before? Though that was my responsibility, not his. And I failed.”

There’s something slightly off about it, something Stephen doesn’t get until he’s already spoken with Bruce Banner and Vision. They say little about Tony, do not speak of having lost him themselves. It’s as he speaks with Clint Barton that he first hears the man say, ‘if Tony’s still kicking, then that means the disasters aren’t over. Not my business. I have my family. I’m not losing them again.’

With that, Stephen realizes that these people were not like those who loved Tony Stark. In those cataclysmic universes he’d lived through with Tony, Tony had always worked with these people. Even in the one he’d had Tony choose, he’d gone to help them go to the past. Yet here, for the first time, he wondered if these Avengers weren’t exactly like members of the Stark Industries boardroom, who demanded what they wanted and tried to bend the CEO - their leader - to their will. Cutthroat. Selfish. Skeptical. Demanding.

He stops asking for anything from the Avengers.

This leads him to Peter. He didn’t want to place this pressure on someone so young, but Peter ends up being the one to understand the most the fastest. Stephen is impressed by how much the kid understands and, perhaps more importantly, how much the kid rejoices over it. “You mean this feeling I’ve been getting means Mr. Stark might be alive?” The kid cries with happiness. “Anything you need, I’m your man!”

The kid is the one who says Tony might be an amalgamation of the stones, that, instead of his wish destroying them, they might have fused with him. Which meant Tony would need to learn to control them with his own body, even without his suit or the Hulk’s gamma radiation. He’s the one who figures out that Tony’s emotions actually grant him a level of stability - when Tony wanted something desperately enough, he was able to touch the physical world and make it happen.

With that information, Stephen starts working on helping Tony focus. His time loops can last for almost a minute at a time now, and he quickly sends Tony the information the kid gave him. His message makes Tony smile. “Peter’s a wonder.” It was all he said, yet he looked so happy. Stephen couldn’t help but smile back. Tony stares at Stephen’s smile for so long their time almost runs out before Tony says, “that looks good on you, Stephanie.”

Before Stephen had known it, they’d fallen into a few of the moments Stephen had already seen. They were well on their way to being in love with each other once more.

Stephen sucks in a breath at the thought. Because there was still time, and he might still have the chance to be with Tony.

The kid demands to go with him one day. “You can do the magic, and I’ll work on the science!” Stephen knows the kid just wants to see Tony, but he can’t deny the kid has a good point. He even has Tony’s glasses, which would help them get readings on just what Tony was now.

So they return to the sanctum, and Stephen shows Tony to Peter. Holding the time loop with another present is a million times harder, and he can only keep it for a few seconds again. But it’s worth it, as Peter and Tony immediately start crying at the sight of one another. “You’ve started growing into your suit,” Tony says, and Peter blubbers too hard to respond. Tony smiles softly at the sight before him, and Stephen goes mushy at the sight of Tony’s mushiness. Thank goodness it ended quickly; he was certain he had a dopey smile on his face.

It becomes routine, while EDITH ran scan after scan as quickly as she could. They worked from there. Somewhere along the lines, Peter starts asking about the magic Stephen is using to get them to see Tony, then what he is doing to try to affix Tony back to their dimension - preferably before he started really traveling between them. Dormammu had sworn to no longer enter their dimension, but that wouldn’t protect Tony if he entered the Dark Dimension. In fact, Dormammu would take out his frustrations about Stephen’s interference on Tony with extreme prejudice.

Without thinking, he starts explaining the basics of his work, oftentimes busy with putting together brand new patterns to try to get Tony back. Unbeknownst to him, the kid has started going to Wong for answers, too. And reading the books. And using EDITH to translate said books. And secretly practicing magic. Until finally, Wong interrupts a short conversation Stephen is having with Tony with a short, deadpan, “you need to start officially teaching that kid, Strange, or he will undoubtedly harm himself.” Stephen is shocked to learn Peter’s learning magic; Tony, before the loop ends and starts over again, expresses feigned outrage that the kid has ‘defected’ to his side. Strange rolls his eyes, huffs a tired breath, and gets to his feet. “Where is he?” he asks.

Peter has gone home, and Strange has an awkward moment when he steps inside and is greeted by Aunt May with a sharp, “you better be a superhero, bud, because you’re too old to be one of Peter and Ned’s LARPing pals.”

Peter saves him from having to explain too much, saying, “he’s the sorcerer supreme, Aunt May! I told you about him! He was on Titan with me!” She immediately lets him in, apologizing and thanking him for trying to protect her quote ‘idiot nephew’ from getting himself killed on that planet. Stephen didn’t bother explaining that he hadn’t, that he’d let Peter die in order to save the universe. He didn’t explain how, in the universes where Stephen had indeed kept Peter alive, he’d done it partly to save Peter and partly to defend Tony from heartbreak. He certainly didn’t admit that he’d chosen to hurt both Peter and Tony to defend the universe.

He speaks with Peter about the magic, and Peter admits that he wants to be able to help there, too. “I know I can’t get good enough to be of any real use,” the kid says, “but I’m sure I could at least learn enough to help you make those time loops longer! Or to help you use the emotional bond we have to bring Mr. Stark back!”

“This isn’t something you should learn just to help others,” Stephen says, not even certain why he’s saying that when that’s exactly the best reason to learn anything. He meant to say that Peter needed to think of himself, too, and take care of himself and not overwork himself. He opens his mouth to try again when Peter interrupts.

“Magic is amazing,” he says. “I could use it to advance my suit, or to save someone’s life, or even to give myself a couple of extra hours to work on my homework.” The kid blushes at that one, as if it’s shameful to think about his grades or his future in the same context as his hero work. It is, in fact, wonderful to hear that he did. “It’s like chemistry and physics all rolled into one, as if the mental lines we draw are the same as nature’s elemental blueprints.”

Stephen listens to the kid speak and realizes he sounds an awful lot like the Tony from the few universes in which he’d taught him some magic, in that interim between life and death. “You’re so much like him,” he breathes, and stills when Peter’s words stop mid-sentence and his eyes widen.

Somehow, Peter understands who he’s talking about. “Thank you,” he says quietly. “That’s always been my dream.”

Once more unbeknownst to him, Stephen seems to have also ended up loving this kid, mentally adopting him. He tells Tony that night how amazing Peter is, and all Tony says is, “I know, right?”

They work together. After eight more months, Peter learns enough to make the loop last twice as long as they speak with Tony instead of half as long with Peter’s presence. He figures out how to take the presence of Tony nearby and amplify it - by making his own emotions strong and broadcasting them via magic. Over time, Tony begins to help with the time loop, not by using magic but by focusing his own will. He sends thoughts through whenever they feel his presence, matching his mind to theirs. He blocks attacks against Peter when Peter’s fighting. He helps Stephen find Scott Lang when he hears the man’s gone small again. And one time, when Stephen is sleeping, he wakes up to find Tony sitting in a chair, nose-deep in one of the books Stephen had been studying. Tony looks up, completely human-looking, and sends a quick thought that, ‘these are more helpful than I realized,’ before Tony blinks and disappears. When Stephen jolts up and creates a time loop to speak with Tony about it, Tony admits that it’s harder to keep control when he uses two powers at once.

Time. Mind. Power. Life. Space. Reality.

Slowly, Rhodes and even Potts get in on the act; they gather in the old Avengers building one day, Stephen and Peter and Tony all working overtime to make the time loop last long enough for Potts and Rhodes to see Tony. They cry. They beg Tony for forgiveness for burying his body, but Tony just says, “I’d be far more concerned about you if you didn’t.” Rhodes chokes out a laugh. They bombard him with questions, with news about their lives, until time runs out.

Rhodes is the one who says Tony should link himself to his tech to help ease his return. Potts is the one who notes the BARF system and how it might be able to link to Tony’s mind. Peter and EDITH are the ones who manage it, with a single, very long and likely expensive video call with Wakanda to ask for their tech’s help on the matter.

Within weeks after that, Tony has linked himself to a computer and made himself into a sort of virtual AI. It shows a hologram of him, it lets him move more naturally, and finally, it lets him exist in this world once more, without constantly bouncing through space and time so rapidly he showed up nowhere.

Peter helps Stephen work the magic needed to keep the computers from overloading at Tony’s power. He helps Stephen teach Tony control over the new powers he wields. And finally, over two years after Tony ‘died,’ it is Peter, together with Stephen, who gets to see Tony successfully alter reality to allow him a new, fresh body, Peter who gets to hug Tony tight and feel those arms wrap around him for the first time since the battle against Thanos, as Tony solidifies in a single space and time with the stones. It is Stephen who allows Tony to pull him into the same embrace, who gets to hear Tony says, with a voice scratchy from disuse, “thank you. I love you guys.” And it is Peter and Stephen who get to cry on Tony’s shoulders, Peter for having Tony back, Stephen for having the opportunity to hear those words.

Tony refuses to use his powers, fears how they can be used if mishandled, and largely relegates himself to the sanctum, where he will be watched over by the Sorcerer Supreme for what may turn out to be eons. Thankfully, the Sorcerer Supreme is willing to take up that burden for as long as necessary, with Tony’s life, power, and time stones all working to keep the Sorcerer Supreme alive with him. And if they favor one of their students more than the others, it’s probably just because he’s exceptional, and not just because he’s as good as their son.

#anon #response #ironstrange #tony stark #stephen strange #this got... so long #i didn't mean for that to happen #as usual #i absolutely went off the rails of the original headcanon with this #sorry nonny!!#fanfiction #because at this point that's what this is #my fanfiction #omg. why so long. why.

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joezworld · 4 years ago

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sooo... pip and emma headcanon?

So, I had to put some thought into this one - behold my result.

The Princess Dragon and The Dragon (better known as Pip & Emma)

There are few ‘true’ siblings on the railways - engines not only related by class and proximity, but also age. Sodor has three such sets - Donald and Douglas, Skarloey and Rheneas, and Pip and Emma.

They were close from birth - they were built right after each other, numbers 43017 and 43018. They were outshopped the same day, and each were the first locomotive they saw once ‘born’.

‘Close’ does not begin to begin to describe the two. From their introduction to service in the 70′s, they were kept as a pair, working trains all over BR’s network as a matched set - where one went, the other followed. Attempts to separate them in order to meet trainset needs typically ended poorly - both units operated well below norms when alone, and often exceeded those same norms when together. By 1983, a notice had been put into BR’s computer system to ensure that they wouldn’t be separated.

Such close proximity is nothing new to engines (look at Donald and Douglas), but with Pip and Emma there was a new twist:

Ask most diesels about being a trailing unit - one that is controlled by the lead engine via Multiple Unit (MU) controls - and they will say that it’s a necessary discomfort. (To sum up many different opinions: It feels weird, and not in a good way. )

Because the HST sets were supposed to permanently run ‘top and tail’ on their trains, BR did design them in such a way as to make MUing more comfortable, and most class 43s have no strong opinions on being MUed.

The key word there, is most.

Pip and Emma - who had spent most of their lives connected to one another in just about every way, including mechanically - began to exhibit some form of telepathy with each other as early as 1985, and by the early 90′s had basically stopped acting as two separate entities.

While they remained two (interconnected) minds, they became basically one body - totally aware of what each other was seeing and feeling at all times.

[They can also sense each other’s thoughts, but wisely have kept that on the down-low, and have said little on exactly how close they are.]

-(They’re totally drift compatible, btw)-

Now, after decades of basically living in one another’s heads, the sisters are capable of sensing each other even when disconnected, which has caused no small amount of shock for bystanders when one of them is in for maintenance, and the other one is miles away on a train, but they’re still talking to each other.

They originally gained nicknames back in the late 70′s, when a cracked exhaust manifold caused Emma’s engine to roar loudly at idle. Pip’s somewhat demure attitude at the time quickly gained them the nickname of “The Princess and The Dragon”.

This nickname lasted almost three whole years, until Pip learned what a dragon actually was, decided that they were much more exciting than princesses, and began referring to herself as ‘the dragon’ as well. Emma, being an enabler, agreed with her sister totally on this point, and the two of them essentially gaslit members of staff at BR into believing that they had always been referred to as “The Dragon and The Dragon”. This nickname has stuck ever since - including after their move to Sodor, but nobody on the Island knows why they’re called that, so it doesn’t get as much use unless they’re feeling quite ornery, at which point they become insistent on being called by their “titles”.

Also, in the 1980′s, some true Agent of Chaos in the Western Region taught Pip how to growl and roar like a “real” dragon. Naturally this meant that Emma learned that skill as well, and the ‘Dragon Sisters’ have occasionally expressed their frustrations by roaring into the night when they think nobody is around.

On more than one occasion, this has absolutely scared the living daylights out of some poor shunter parked just out of sight.

(It’s a ridiculously accurate sound too, and isn’t helped at all by both sisters having seen ‘jurassic park’ enough times to be able to mimic the t-rex’s roar. When coming out of two little express engines, this sound can and has startled bigger engines off the rails)

Moving to Sodor happened in the 90′s. The newly independent North Western Railway wanted a diesel express service for running into London, and The Fat Controller (the Third) found an agreeable pair of West Coast Main Line HSTs in London.

That agreeable pair was promptly killed less than a week later in the Southall Rail Crash, forcing Stephen Hatt to go back to Great Western Trains for a different set.

GWT, now down a pair of 43s, wouldn’t sell him any more, which forced him to go to GNER, where he found Pip and Emma, who jumped at the chance to go back to the strange island full of steam engines that they’d visited before.

Their arrival on Sodor doesn’t go perfectly, as some engines who shall remain nameless *cough cough* Oliver, Douglas. *cough* are still opposed to new diesels - *for somewhat* understandable reasons. (It’s 1998 guys - stop stereotyping. They’re not all evil.)

However, Pip and Emma really don’t help avoid suspicion when they intentionally act “evil” and “scheming” whenever certain engines are about.

BoCo and Bear, who are always down to psychologically torment idiots, get involved too, and the prank goes wildly out of hand when everyone on Thomas’ branch line (except a very unamused Daisy) starts panicking about ‘soul stealing, mind reading, red-eyed, diesel electric monsters!’

The prank is eventually brought to heel after an embarrassing incident at Kellsthorpe road station involving tinfoil, Annie, Percy, and one of the engines from the Electric Branch. The Fat Controller - once he learns all the facts and can speak without laughing, is merely glad that Pip and Emma are integrating well to the railway.

[Note - this does totally ignore RWS book 42 “Thomas and his Friends”, which states that Pip and Emma arrive on the island in 2011. This is because that book is dumb. The last time any main line engines are mentioned in the RWS before then is in 1995 in “Thomas and the Fat Controller’s Engines”. There is zero reason for the NWR to have waited almost 20 years to buy an HST set. It makes no sense. Also, it ruined a very good Railway Series fanfiction on the Sodor Island Forums, which had to be taken down because it defied continuity. So I say they showed up in the late 90′s. Deal with it.]

In 2007, Pip pleads/threatens the paint shop staff at the works, and gets herself and Emma a Christmas present: A giant, fire-breathing dragon painted on both of their cabs. The works’ paint shop staff consists of a bunch of guys who customize old cars in their free time, and a bunch of young apprentices who play D&D in their off-hours. The resulting Dragons are some of the most amazing vehicle art ever applied to something that isn’t a 1970′s Chevy Van, and actually win several awards from hot rod magazines.

More concerningly, the dragons do not appear to be stationary, as multiple pictures taken by trainspotters show the dragons on different parts of the engines at different times. Pip and Emma have not been asked, but one can assume that the Dragon Sisters might have more than just flashy paint, they may actually have real dragons now.

#ttte #ttte headcanon #ttte pip #ttte emma #ttte pip&emma #sodor #headcanon #ask response #dragons #all of this happens before Game of Thrones is aired #both of them answered to Daenerys #They hated the end of the show - just like everyone else #I wrote this for like me and two other people at most #trains #thomas the tank engine #extremely specific headcanon

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mayeetjim · 5 years ago

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Got any FAHC Fiona Headcanons?

why yes i do

- she moved to Los Santos because she got bored and was like, fuck yeah yellow and black colour scheme

-and everyone started calling her a star like literally a in space star so she just goes with it, some how making sure people know shes a SuperNova (haha get it)

-she joins the Fakes after most everyone and its still all new to her, the whole "you have people you can trust" and ryan can see this so of course she connects with him but like, hes the vagabond so its terrifying

-she also accidentally gets adopted by Jack after she stays up one night too late. Next thing she knows, Jack is taking her out for relaxation days and small heists and surprises her with cookies

-she also somehow has a sibling like thing with gavin, this absolute buffoon. She originally was terrified of him, the whole Golden Boy is perfect and already knows everything thing, and she once told this to ryan who laughed and was like, oh dont worry, Gavin wouldn't go within ten feet of him when Ryan first joined, now he will randomly just curl up beside him after business deals, even when Ryans covered in blood from his own missions

-this help ed. Her and then they got put on a heist together and oh no it went off the rails easily, but at least t hey trust each other now, right ? Trevor has lost so many years off his life from worrying about those two, the fearless duo that would do literally anything

-she is a wildcard a lot like Lindsay but she always prefers to get close up to anyone she has to fuck around with, and so while she does know how to use a sniper rifle, she doesnt do it with the crew cause she'll shoot near their feet and laugh on their comms

-she also has her "rages" and i just got the image of fiona coming back to the penthouse slightly singed while ryan and gavin stood on either side of her, ryan untouched and gavin covered in all sorts of toy golden jewelry.ryans on a murder break and went to "supervise"

#Achievement hunter #fiona nova #ah ryan

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1863-project · 4 years ago

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I’m at the end of my first-ever Omega Ruby run, and I’ve honestly had a great time getting to know Hoenn. I just have to evolve some Pokemon and catch the Regis and Deoxys before I move along (I’m waiting to trade with folks to finish the Dex properly, but I can do that at any point), but I think it’s worth doing a retrospective on the characters and Pokemon I met along the way.

As a region, Hoenn is unique in that it has a LOT of water routes. You spend a large portion of the second half of the game traveling via Surf. The Azumarill in my party, Pikablue, ended the game knowing Waterfall, Surf, and Dive (it also carries Play Rough), and it was one of the most crucial members of my party for transport purposes.

When I won the Hoenn League, the team May (named ‘Hatshepsut’ in my playthrough because we love cool historical figures in this house) had with her was her evolved starter, a Blaziken named Cluck You, along with Pikablue the Azumarill, Pangaea the Groudon, Charles II the Shiftry, Friendo the Latios, and the team anchor, Bastet the overleveled Skitty. I beat Steven because Bastet dodged a Zen Headbutt from Metagross and gave me the time I needed to revive both Blaziken and Groudon in the back, and their fire moves handled the rest. Bastet went on to become the first party member to reach level 100, way ahead of everyone else. She was absolutely incredible and I love her. Her final moveset: Heal Bell (surprisingly useful, especially in Doubles), Thunder, Ice Beam, and Play Rough. She’s a Dragon Slayer.

As soon as I got my hands on the Eon Flute I started running around to check every Mirage location that came up in the hopes that it would be a Mirage Cave. I knew that was where Tynamo was, and I needed Eelektross to complete the Submas team I was building (the other nine members are in SwSh at the moment; Eelektross will hopefully someday join them). On November 30th, my persistence paid off, and I went and caught three Tynamos so I could have the entire evolutionary line in my National Dex in Pokemon HOME. As it turns out, Eelektross still hasn’t been added to HOME because Third Rail has become a vital member of my party in postgame and I love him and he loves me. (I’m just Emmet, really.) The Eon Flute is also really nice in that using it allows you to literally fly in real time over the entire region, and I prefer doing that to using Fly because it’s just so aesthetically nice. Friendo just swoops down and picks me up, and we have a nice time exploring together. It’s especially pretty at night when everything is all lit up. It’s a lovely little feature exclusive to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and it’s so great.

Character-wise, Hoenn has produced some notables. Magma and Aqua are two of the most beloved villain teams in the entire franchise, and the reboots gave them so much more personality and gave the leaders and admins some excellent updated designs. (Years ago, when the remakes were first released, my dash was filled to the brim with Hardenshipping.) I had OR, so I had Magma to contend with, and one of the single most entertaining things in the entire game is Maxie’s losing animation. It’s perfect, it suits his character so well, and it’s just really funny. Also, shout-out to the Team Magma grunt that I met in the Extremely Obvious Hideout who told me how proud he was of kicking his soda habit whilst standing next to the vending machines. I love that guy. In terms of reformation, Magma and Aqua come around very easily when they realize that they’ve had a very bad idea - they ultimately were well-intentioned but made a really horrible mistake and set out to set things right (with the player’s help, of course). It ultimately makes both teams very likeable.

In terms of other characters, not every Gym Leader from Hoenn is a complete standout, but a few are very, very popular. Flannery is a perfect time capsule of 2003 fashion and I love that so much, and I don’t think I need to say much about Wallace. He’s just Wallace. He’s so freaking entertaining. Steven is also a very popular Champion, and he plays a pretty big role in the plot, so you see a lot of him throughout the game. (He and Wallace are also a very popular ship, with Originshipping - named for the Cave of Origin which Wallace has to grant you access to - actually being referenced in Pokemon Masters on, of all days, Valentine’s Day. Make of this what you will, but I’m here for it.) The Gym Leaders all received redesigns as well, with a lot of them benefiting greatly from it - I like Roxanne’s new school uniform so much better than her old one, for example, and once again, Wallace outshines everyone with an ensemble that would go wonderfully at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. I wish we got to know the Gym Leaders a bit more as people, because they don’t get to stand out as characters as much. Galar actually did this very well by allowing us a lot of interactions with the Leaders outside the Gyms and as teammates and rivals in the Galarian Star Tournament. A big part of the reason Wallace is so popular as a Gym Leader here is that you see him outside the Gym multiple times and can even compete with him in Contests. You get to know him as a person more and not just as the eighth Gym Leader, and it makes him a much more interesting character.

In short, here’s how the League stacks up for me:

Roxanne: Benefited massively from her character redesign, which gives her a lot more personality. Would like to see her and Steven interact since they’re apparently friends, which I imagine revolves around going out and licking rocks together or whatever geologists do with their geologist friends.

Brawly: He still isn’t very distinct. He’s a surfer who trains Fighting-types, which is a bit of a subversion since you’d expect Water-types from someone like that, but nothing about him really pops for me.

Wattson: Gives off Grandpa Vibes. Wattson actually gets a lot of expository development via his work on New Mauville and Sea Mauville, where you find out he halted the projects to protect the Pokemon ecosystems in both locations. A lot of employees were angry about this and he was even investigated briefly for stopping the projects, even being called a traitor to the company (which appeared to overwork its employees and prevent them from unionizing), but it was apparently evidently clear that he did things out of environmental concerns, and the employees were able to find work on other projects elsewhere. This actually slots nicely into the themes of the game involving environmentalism and how to ensure the livelihoods of people and nature both.

Flannery: Time capsule from 2003! I was, of course, around in 2003 (I turned 14), and Flannery was at the peak of fashion back then. Flares were in, and I miss that trend so much. For that alone, she’s one of my favorite Gym Leaders in this generation, but I also appreciate that she’s shown trying to find her footing and figure out who she is instead of pretending to be someone else. There’s a certain performative aspect to being a Gym Leader, but it needs to come naturally from them and be an extension of their own personality, not be artificial. I would, however, love to know who her grandfather is. It’s still never been confirmed. (As a side note, a lot of people headcanon her to be Kabu’s niece, since he’s from Hoenn, which is cute.)

Norman: A Dad. More specifically, the player character’s dad. There’s really nothing that stands out about him except for that damn Slaking, which gives a lot of people trouble. I did, however, appreciate the conversation he had with Wally’s father as Wally and the player character departed together, because I’m actually pretty close to my own father (who I’m very similar to in many aspects). I’m 31 years old and I still get emotional every time my parents tell me they’re proud of me. Notably, Norman is the only player character father we have ever seen in Pokemon, though, which is odd.

Winona: In-game, she doesn’t feel like she has much of a personality, although she goes off on aesthetics pretty well. It just weirds me out that that’s her hair coming out from under the helmet and not wings attached to it. She could have been really cool but she gets the short end of the development stick.

Tate and Liza: The two of them intentionally playing up the ‘weird twins’ angle by completing each other’s sentences actually comes across really cutely because they’re kids. You can also run into them in the Lilycove Department Store being children and buying toys, a good reminder that they’re still very young and evidently very skilled for their ages. Battle-wise, my Azumarill knew Surf by this point so I ended things quickly because I’m into Doubles as it is and like using spread moves when I can.

Wallace: I’ve discussed him a lot above, so I don’t need to say much else, but he really is the most notable Gym Leader in the region, and not just because he’s the last one you face. He has a lot of personality and development, you meet him outside the Gym several times, his niece Lisia is also out and about in the game and the family resemblance is notable, and you find an old magazine in Sea Mauville featuring a woman on the cover who looks like Lisia - likely Wallace’s older sister, Lisia’s mother. The entire family gets more development than a lot of the other Gym Leaders in this region.

Sidney: The first member of the Elite Four you face...I’d actually like to know more about him. He seems like an interesting person, and I personally enjoy Dark-types myself so I always appreciate seeing Dark-type users not being portrayed as evil. His upbeat nature is nice, and it’s a pleasant surprise to run into him at the Battle Resort, even if he was only there to track down Steven.

Phoebe: I love how much her appearance contrasts with her Pokemon typing. She’s a Ghost-type trainer and you’d never guess that from her outfit! Her grandmother is the old woman on Mt. Pyre, which is why Phoebe has an affinity for Ghost-Types, and I’d love to see more interactions involving them together. You can run into Phoebe on Mt. Pyre after you beat the League and talk to her briefly - she was likely visiting her grandmother - but sadly she doesn’t get much development outside of that.

Glacia: An Ice-type trainer who we learn next to nothing about. Glacia is mentioned outside of the context of the Elite Four by an NPC in the Mauville Food Court who says she was slurping down ramen so intensely that she broke a sweat, but that’s all we know about her aside from that she’s originally from a different region, and she tells us that herself. Not very memorable.

Drake: Yet another Dragon trainer late in the game, and not one of the more notable ones. Lance and Clair are remembered for being cousins and for being the first Dragon trainers you really come across in the series, and later Dragon-type trainers like Iris (who becomes Champion of Unova in B2W2) and Raihan are carried by their personalities and distinct looks. Drake is just an old sea captain with Dragon-types, and he doesn’t really jump out at me much either.

Steven: A major player in the plot - one of the most active Champions we’ve had in the franchise - and a perpetually popular character. I never minded running into Steven out and about in Hoenn, even if it meant I’d have to listen to an infodump about rocks, and his Champion battle was actually fairly difficult for the team I brought in despite having two team members with Fire-type attacks to handle the Steel. As I mentioned above, it was my Skitty that made the decisive dodge to allow me to bring in the team member I needed to deliver the final blow, meaning this is now the second time in my life I’ve beaten the Champion with an unevolved house cat. (Rick Pratt the Purrloin is a vital member of my beloved Young Ones Galar Championship Team.) Overall, Steven’s a very likeable Champion, and I did enjoy the little detail of the rocks on display in his home - he has them labeled so you can see where he found them, and they’re from every region featured in the games up to that point.

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire also have the Delta Episode, which features Rayquaza (which you’re forced to catch) and a character named Zinnia, who isn’t in RSE at all and is new to ORAS. Besides being named after my favorite flower, Zinnia’s personality is actually very interesting because although she comes across as cheery it’s clear she feels the weight of a massive responsibility and that the cheeriness is covering a lot of pain. Her Whismur named Aster is evidently named after someone important to her who is no longer around, and it’s never revealed in-game who the original Aster was. Whoever Aster was, though, Zinnia misses her deeply. In a 2015 interview, Ohmori Shigeru stated that the original Aster was the person who held the position of Lorekeeper before Zinnia, but we don’t know anything more than that - a shame, really, because that makes for some interesting backstory.

Overall, I had a lovely time in Hoenn, and I’ll be moving on to Kalos in the next few weeks once I finish up this Dex business first. I just wish I got to get to know so many of the characters I’ve met a little better, but I adore the team I put together and I’m super proud of them and all they’ve accomplished.

#Pokemon #Omega Ruby #ORAS #Hoenn #Hoenn Retrospective

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ardenttheories · 5 years ago

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I don't expect a super serious answer from this, but I'm just curious. in a perfect world, how would hs^2 be written? do you have any particular headcanons or plot lines that would be interesting to explore? I understand the hesitation in answering a question like this, because other people might try to discredit your critiques under the guise of "well its not ur headcanons so that's why ur mad". anyways, just curious because I respect your perspective and ideas

In complete honesty? The first thing I would consider vital is a diverse team of people - genuinely diverse - to consider every point of representation with. I’m talking people of different races (to avoid the anti-black coding of Gamzee), with mental illnesses (to avoid the ableism in both Gamzee and Dirk), with different gender identities (to more accurately and healthily portray Jade, Roxy, Vriska, June - any character we could feasibly want to make trans or nonbinary), with different romanticisms and sexualities (so that we could write genuine MLM and WLW relationships without falling into homophobic pitfalls; to avoid biphobic stereotypes), and overall, with different traumatic experiences and triggers (so that we could more accurately gauge what triggers would need to be tagged and how to go over them in an appropriate and respectful manner).

We could never be 100% perfect, but with a team like that, we could at least get close to it.

Additionally, I’d bring back either fan prompts or closely listen to fan theories and conversations. Homestuck^2 was touted to be written with the fandom in mind; to consider the direction we were asking it to go in, while basing it around a general barebones structure. I’d want to make sure we were including as much of that in as humanly possible. So, if a fan theory seemed like it’d fit into the story? I’d want to include that with the rest of the text; if the fans liked a specific character? I’d want to try and include them more often. Little things to show that we’re listening and that we’re writing the story WITH the fans - like how early Homestuck used to be.

On an actual storyline basis, I really do love the concept of Meat and Candy; that there’s one timeline that goes off the rails and one that is very rigidly stuck to a track. I wouldn’t want to change that concept entirely, but I would want to make it more palpatable for people to read.

This would mean, for me, absolutely getting rid of anything to do with Yiffany. I’d completely replace that with Dave and Jade having a child together via ectobiology; how Jade has to raise their child in Dave’s absence after he goes missing, how that affects her, who she turns to for comfort and help.

I’d want to focus Candy more on that feeling of helplessness and dissociation. On John feeling adrift in a world that doesn’t quite connect with him, that doesn’t entirely feel real; how that would affect his relationships, his friends, his family. In this timeline, all of the rebellion stuff would be completely background to the interpersonal connections everyone has (the things that supposedly don’t matter, as is the point of Candy), with much more emphasis on how useless and frivolous the whole war is. It’d get to a point where nobody actually knows why they’re fighting anymore except for the fact that they are, and that even Jane, who started it out of a genuine fear for the human race, is getting tired of it, is losing resources, is starting to realise that she’s drifting away from her own child.

A truce would be garnered, started by Jane who just very much wants to reconnect with her son, with Karkat taking on the role as troll emissiary. It features long talks in a large, empty room, pouring over papers, where Jane admits that she doesn’t actually know what anyone is up to these days, how long it’s been since she’s seen her husband, since she’s seen John, and Karkat quietly confesses that it’s been several years since he’s seen Dave or Jade, and that he misses them both.

After that, a lot of the content of Candy would focus on healing. They would get back to their happily ever after, even though some things would never be the same, and there would still be inconsequentialities. It would also correspond with John coming to the slow realisation that he really doesn’t need a plot to be happy at all; that just because it doesn’t matter to the overarching story doesn’t mean it can’t matter to him.

The Candy timeline, therefore, would close early; it would fade from our view just as Dirk feared, but it would be happy and content, and free from any further meddling. I’d essentially want to enforce this idea that, yes, we can still have happy endings - even if they aren’t “full of meaning”. They can still be satisfying.

The Meat timeline, on the other hand, would have a significant focus on Dirk and his attempts to continue the plot. I think it would be fun, admittedly, if nothing went the way he thought it would. That after all of his villany and his acceptance of destruction in order to facilitate something he thought would be better, he actually just lost complete and utter control.

The plot isn’t something that he alone can continue. It’s created with character conflict, with motivations and rises and falls and losses and gains; trying to recreate SBURB, to try and restart the cycle, isn’t what a plot needs to be. It isn’t what he thinks it will do.

I’m unsure if you’ve seen this recently, but there’s been a lot of fanwork around the Lord!Jake English idea that went around several years back (when people saw the Caliborn sona). Now, this I’d want to put into it.

Jake, fed up with being stepped on, walked over, hurt, suffering from the trauma of being completely and utterly ruined by Dirk, absolutely flips shit. He chases after Dirk to seek revenge, to cut short whatever bullshit he’s trying to do, and therefore much of the comic becomes this constant back and forth with an increasing fear for Dirk the closer Jake gets as he traverses Paradox Space.

It’s very much clear that when Jake arrives, Dirk will lose. There’s no question about it. Nobody suggests that anything else will happen. There’s several arguments on Meat’s Earth C over whether or not they should try to stop Jake, or let him stop Dirk - and whether or not Jake will calm down afterwards or continue his rampage.

In the end, Dirk fails. Jake catches up to him, and just before he hits the killing blow, the entire thing goes dark. Our narrator dead, the plot abandoned; there is nothing more to see. This I would want to use to enforce the idea that, yes, plot can still be satisfying as hell and still have integral moments and be heavy and harsh - but it can also end in a way that leaves open questions because that shows that it isn’t the best ending you can get.

And then we jump back to Terezi, using her Seer powers. Both timelines have been her trying to use her powers to See what’s in store, where she should go, what she should do. She’s still floating through Paradox Space, looking for Vriska, and as such she’s met with this... sort of internal dilemma.

She knows, now, that the chances of her dying out here are high. She also knows that even if she does survive, she’s pretty much never going to see Vriska again anyway. She knows there’s a chance at a happier relationship with John, and that the only way she can get that is if she somehow manages to make a timeline where Meat and Candy merge together at once.

So, she flies back. She manages to arrive on Earth C the day of John’s big decision, and interrupts him before he can go to the picnic. Through their dialogue, John gets it stuck in his head that, hey, there’s something BIGGER out here that you need to do, but you need to do that amazing thing again where you make a third Choice.

When John arrives at the picnic, he decides to eat some of the pumpkin instead - to which you might be thinking, what pumpkin? The one he put there, of course, using his retcon powers.

So we start on the Pumpkin timeline, written entirely in the 1st person narrative from John’s POV. It’s a completely biased interpretation of what’s going on, but it’s honest to John’s own thoughts and feelings, too, allowing everyone to act the way they usually would do without any influence, but still having a narrative touch.

It shows John actively fighting to free the timeline from Dirk’s and Alternate Calliope’s narrative controls, those little hooks they’ve planted in it since time began, with a lot of back-and-forth as the two talk to John through the narration (which, he hears their voices as thoughts in his head).

John attempts to free them both from their own biases and chains, encouraging Alternate!Calliope to leave the space she’s isolated herself in and join Earth C while convincing Dirk to undo the bullshit villain schtick he’s on (and that plot or no plot, there’s still a reason worth living for).

It’d be a timeline filled with references back to original Homestuck (and funny quips from both Alternate!Calliope and Dirk along the way), a lot of morality discussion, plenty of theorising on narrative control and arcs and the placement of plot and fluff in a satisfying story, and have plenty of representation and romance and hints towards kids, too (such as nonbinary RoxyJaneCallie, DaveJadeKat, aromantic Jake, JohnDirk [because I couldn’t stop myself, honestly, with how their Classpects work so well hand in hand], and definitely RoseMary being the first to adopt a child that they absolutely do not call Vriska).

It’d fill plotholes the fandom wants to be filled, and it’d have drama, of course, in the form of figuring out a way to destroy Lord English that doesn’t inherently lead to the Candy timeline. But it’d go back and forth between the heavy, plot-filled moments and the slower, relationship-based moments, with more humanising and development of Dirk and Alternate!Calliope and John as rounded characters.

That’s the best my tired mind can come up with right now. It’s something I’ve daydreamed about a lot, actually; how I’d rewrite Homestuck^2, or what my own ending to Homestuck would be using it as a foundation. I hope it makes sense! It’s a fun little thought experiment, honestly.

#long post//#ardenttheories #homestuck^2 critical #Anonymous

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nny11writes · 4 years ago

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13, 16, 18, 43 and 50 for tha ask game please and thank you :P Just, many many numbers lol

13. What is your planning process?

My first reaction was to squint and go “Do I have a process?” which is probably an answer on its own lol!

It depends is the actual answer.

Like most writers I start a fic because of one scene or dialogue or description that I really, really, really wanted to write and then I have to figure out where it belongs.

I almost always start by just...writing. I used to be 100% stream of consciousness writer. I’d sit down at least once a day with a blank document and without ANY forethought or direction I’d start writing a fic. It was always as much fun for me as my readers to see where a story would go because I literally had no clue.

These days, as I’m putting THE THING down on the page my brain is shrieking ideas at me so I start slapping them down too, but I’ve got a better filter so not everything goes down. There’s a lot of [WHAT IS THIS THING PLS PLS FIGURE IT OUT] and [PAST OR PRESENT TENSE MF MAKE UP YO MIND] at this stage.

This is where I actually start planning. I’ve got a bunch of stuff down, a vague direction, and a lot of ideas so this is usually where I sit down to do some planning. Am I aiming to write a short fic or long fic, one shot or multi-chapter, where are we, how many characters, etc. I leave things pretty wide open, while sometimes it’s fun to challenge myself to meet very specific goals it’s usually frustrating to me so nothing is set in stone. Literally. Even when I’ve posted if someone leaves a comment that’s amazing or enough people liked it I’ll usually try to write more in that fic or another fic with those ideas.

How To Quit You is a great example of how my loosey goosey planning works. I don’t know if people realize but that fic was originally supposed to be ONLY that first chapter. I wrote it in an hour tops for 2019 glitra week and all I knew at that point was I wanted to do a western with some romance tropes to it (hence the exes who still love each other thing).

Once I realized how many people seemed to love it and wanted to see more I sat down and planned it out. I first decided how I wanted to write the story (hence going back in time ~15 years) and then I created chapter titles and had vague descriptions for them. Once it was all down I went through it again and made adjustments, then created a timeline (Micah died in 1868, they meet in 1870, Catra works BMR rails 1870-1880 min, etc etc). And that’s it. I made an outline and used it as my idea bouncing ground and map and huge parts of it have changed as we’ve gone along. Catra was going to become a drunkard out in [REDACTED] after the timeline met up with chapter one. I scrapped that because it didn’t fit with other details and changes I’d made. I re-wrote the chapter and now I gotta scrap that and re-write it again do to reasons that would spoilers.

Let’s Try This Again is another hilarious example, because chapters 1-6 were meticulously planned and I charted out a whole story around them that I was going to stick to damn it all! And then Palpatine hip checked me and changed the course of the story. I still included a lot from my original VERY detailed outline, but some chapters were nixed completely and others added in too sooooo...

I’m not a true pantser because I do some planning, but I’m not a planner because I leave huge chucks practically up to the whims of fate. I’m a plantser.

16. Do you use sentence starters, writing prompts and/or fandom headcanons for your fanfics?

Sometimes!

I think some of my best works are from prompts (WHICH ARE ALWAYS OPEN, HINT HINT, NUDGE NUDGE, KNOW WHAT I MEAN KNOW WHAT I MEAN) specifically.

I rarely use sentence starters but I think I’ve done okay when I did.

But fandom headcanons? Oh hell yeah baby now we’re talking!

Can Anakin cook but Padme can’t? Hell yeah!

Togruta have some cat like features so Ahsoka is obligate carnivore and color blind? WOOOOOOOO BOYYYYYYYYYYYY!

"This is not because I like you.” is 100% something that everyone in the Horde says when trying to cover their asses, Catra’s just a useless lesbian and has to use it A Lot More Than Most. Awwwwww yeah, that’s the good stuff!

Glimmer and Catra talk to one another but only have serious conversations sitting back to back post canon. I DON’T MAKE THE RULES!

Like, god, fandom headcanon is practically what my fics live on lol! I’m not great at writing things in canon or sticking to canon, and people are amazing and smart so of course I’m going to steal their cool ideas and then mess with them until they’re my own.

18. What is your favorite writing prompt?

...I gotta be honest I have no clue lol. I’ve liked basically every prompt I’ve ever gotten (there’s literally only been 2 that I got and went “...oh.” and of those two I was able to bend the prompt into things I liked a lot! One of them is actually posted and people like it, and then other is currently sitting in the naughty prompt corner for crimes of FIGHTING ME TO A STANDSTILL every time I write a few sentences for it, but I do actually like it now lol).

I think my favorite style of prompt are ones that are open for some interpretation. You know that joke about you know a writer based on how they respond to a one word prompt like “fall” or “cold” or even “love”? I love that kind of stuff! Heck, even things with a more narrow focus are fun to play with. For one of my prompt fics I was able to flip the script and have the character everyone expects the unrequited pining from to instead be the unattainable beloved instead.

*Marge potato meme* I just think they’re neat!

43. Guilty pleasure tropes and scenarios?

None, because I am very loud about what I enjoy and refuse to have things I enjoy ripped away by strangers on the interwebs.

Okay, more seriously, as far as things that others might think are guilty pleasure tropes and scenarios?

I love a good “morons to repressed idiots to lovers” slow burn. Yes, yesssss, let them be absolute fools and make MASSIVE mistakes that they have no reason to make. There was a miscommunication? Delightful! Oh look, they’re both flirting with one another but think the other one is just joking around with them. I WILL TAKE ANOTHER 200K OF THEM SUFFERING THANK YOU!

I love AUs man, every time I see someone who really hates coffee shop AUs or highschool AUs or modern AUs I end up getting grumpy and I go find some of those AUs to read because I love them. The AUs I love the most change fandom to fandom. Not a huge fan of modern AU for star wars, but an absolute slut for them in She Ra. Palpatine chokes on a bagel and I live, but if that happened to Horde Prime I’d be pissed. *shrug* I just know that some people really don’t like or even outright hate AUs, and I do not understand them at all. Like, good for them and I hope they find the fics they do enjoy! But also, why???????

I think my “cringiest” one is that I actually really like A/B/O as long as they flip the script somehow or delve into how something like that would actually effect the world it exists in. Is sex in public a common and acceptable thing b/c they can’t control themselves? Do jobs and schools give people time off for heats and ruts? Is it considered antiquated and anyone who struggles with their biology is considered lazy or stupid? Do celebrities sometimes get in trouble with fans or even lose their jobs/prestige after showing off their new mating mark? GIVE ME THE WORLD BUILDING I WANT TO KNOW! But if it’s a really boring traditional A/B/O...like, what’s the point there?

Please don’t misunderstand me here. These three examples are all things that are WILDLY stupid in their own rights, and I love them dearly both because of and regardless of that!

50. Can we get a teaser for an upcoming chapter?

It’s All Fun and Games Until...Stop! Stop! We’re Already Gay!

AKA the one where they all go to Mystacor to relax in the steam grotto and have to deal with seeing one another in tight fitting and wet underwear. The thirst is high.

“So…” Bow started conversationally as Sea Hawk put the finishing touches on Bow’s freshly painted nails. “How doomed are they? Are we making bets?”

Mermista and Sea Hawk made significant eye contact before looking at him pitifully.

“What?” Bow asked, starting to sweat nervously. “What!?”

“Nothing, just-” Sea Hawk didn’t even get to finish.

“You need to get your girlfriend to get her girlfriends under control, and like, I knooooow that’s a tall order or whatever. But uuuuuuuuugggggghhh, we are going to die.”

“Girlfriend!?” Bow’s voice cracked painfully. “Ha! A-ha! Ha! W-who? I don’t, I don’t have a girlfriend, what are you even talking about?”

“Uuuuuggggggghh!”

“There, there my dear. We have survived worse.”

#ask game #writer game #fanfiction game #fanfic ask game #wip #tropes #planning process #how do write?#guilty pleasures #thanks for playing! :D #venn364

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pinkletterday · 6 years ago

Text

Writer's Year In Review

This year has been a revelation. I went from deeply, irrevocably believing I can't write fiction at all to knowing that I'm actually pretty good at it!

It's given me the confidence to find work as a freelance writer and editor in real life, after years of unemployment and anxious paralysis resulting from chronic illness and trauma. A lot of other factors also helped but the fic writing played a huge role in getting my shit together.

General Fic Stats:

Word Count on AO3: 92284

Fics posted to AO3: 23

Favourite Fic:

Kiss It Better (Westallen).This fic is my baby. I love little Iris and little Barry in it so much, the hurt and confusion in each other they attempted to heal, how that healing carried into their adult love and family. It will always and always be my favourite thing I have ever written. Wee!stallen is my jam, and the reason I ship them so damn hard.

Do Not Go Gentle (Westallen). Ngl, I love this for the sheer amount of truly gratifying comments. Every single one of them have been emotional and flaily. It all makes me feel like I may have finally levelled up. Hallelujah. xD

Funniest Fic:

The Care and Feeding (Queenwestallen). This is my ultimate OT3. This fic, written as a list and discussion is 95% humour and contains some of my best banter and (I feel) characterization. An element I'm really proud of is how I managed to center and include all their important non-romantic relationships in their conversations. Iris's boisterous female friends, Oliver's friends, Cisco and Caitlin's snarky commentary all shoehorned themselves into the list with hilarious and wholesome results.

It's not a popular OT3 but I feel like it's a good first attempt to drag this ship to water. xD

Cutest Fic:

Dancing Queen (Olivarry). Even after a year this contiues to be the fic with the highest kudos ratio (except for the more recent one) and the second most bookmarked. I love getting comments on this because they are all some variation of "my teeth hurt. I have diabetes!" xD Well, I did build it around a rainbow sprinkle icing sugar donut, but there is a significant dollop of angst there in the middle. A flangst donut.

Your Vigil In My Keeping (Westallen). This fic has less than 200 hits but has the highest kudos ratio of all. I guess kid fic isn't everyone's cup of tea, but Wee!stallen is cute af yo. I headcanon the origins of Barry and Iris's steadfast partnership in this story, where her faith and belief in him is as strong as his protectiveness of her, all tied up in the language and innocence of children.

Kinkiest Fic:

WA Smut and Kink Collection. I literally just posted this yesterday lol. So far it's just a face-sitting short, but I have quite a few hard and soft kinks lined up. Westallen needs more hard smut tbh, and they have such a unique powerfully loving dynamic that every kink I'm writing has required me to come at it a little bit sideways with a whole lot of emotional focus.

Saddest Fic:

Three fics I can't choose from.

Do Not Go Gentle (Westallen). This is basically Iris's grief and fear in a raging tempest, and it's strongly implied that the future Nora has warned them of will come to pass regardless of what they do. The fact is that there already is and will be a timeline where Iris loses Barry, just as there must be one where she won't, because that is the nature of potentiality.

The Paradigm of Uncertainty (Westallen). This was a drabble almost, that ruminates on the probability that speedsters do not erase timelines but abandon them, along those versions of their loved ones. It's as @rkwago's brilliant comment says: "Iris hurts in so many weird, cosmic ways that her life is almost an eldritch horror house," which is the most perfect description ever of what it means to be a time traveller's wife.

The Universal Constant (Gen, background WA). A lot of people find the way Barry goes off on Joe cathartic in this fic, and so do I. But it's not so simple. I don't think Joe was wrong to form the views he did, or that anyone was in the wrong really. As @sophiainspace pointed out, it's a mediation of grief and love, their parallels and continuations between parents and children and lovers. The fact that it takes Henry's death for Barry to find the adult language to articulate to Joe why he will always believe in his father's innocence is a tragedy that cuts three ways.

(This fic is also the reason I have a folder in my drive marked "how to get away with murder" and probably a likely reason to get me arrested one day. xD)

Most Popular Fic:

Strangers In The Cold (Coldflash). The Coldflash fandom is a joy to feed. This was my first smut fic which was preceded by an entire chapter of banter about nothing in particular (except it ended up establishing a background that gave birth to the Coldflash vs Olivarry polyam series) And holy wow, for a newbie writer, the response has been amazing. Looking back, I wince at a lot of writing mistakes and its undeniably rough, but it really bolstered my confidence.

(I feel a little guilty that all my other CF stories are still in my WiP folder while I update the polyam series at snail's pace.)

The Shape of Us (Westallen). I wrote this on tumblr half-asleep one night, half as a rambly headcanon...and woke up to literally one hundred freaking notes. What the hell. Now at over 260, it's the most popular fic I've ever posted on tumblr.

I never consciously intended it to be a body-positivity fic but apparently women really relate to the insecurities of growing older and watching our bodies change with marriage, children and the sheer hectic pace of life. Even my non-fandom friends reblogged it simply for its representation of "real women". Barry's response is my own wish fulfillment fantasy; the sort of total acceptance and validation that we wish we could hear it the times we can't find it in ourselves. In light of the virulent body-shaming Candice Patton has been subjected to ever since she was revealed to have gained a fuller figure in S5, I'm very glad to have written it.

Least Popular Fic:

Carry On (Gen) This character study of Oliver Queen only has 135 hits a year after posting, which is par for the course with gen. But has a solid 12% kudos ratio, which means it's probably as good as I think it is. It's one of my favourite and easiest fics I have ever written.

Love Me Like You Do (Olivarry) Lordy, if my first Coldflash smut filled me with confidence, my first Olivarry smutfic all but ruined it. I struggled with it for a long time, unlike SitC, which I suppose shows in the over-descriptions. I got carried away with the quipping and I guess Barry topping at all is really not popular with slash fans?

Still, I'm honestly toying with the idea of deleting and rewriting it. At least it was a learning experience - don't write smut unless it makes you feel horny yourself.

Most Challenging Fic:

Do Not Go Gentle (Westallen). I think the reason stories you knock off in two hours are instantly popular while the ones you slaved over for weeks barely get any attention is because the process is reflected in the ease of reading. But this one is an exception. It was an absolute monster, taking three weeks and several revisions to wrestle into submission - and it paid off in spades! Going by the response, I seem to have achieved the wow factor I was going for.

My only regret is that I posted it on tumblr before the last revision that finally made it work, so that too many readers saw the lacklustre version rather than the polished one.

Honorable Mention:

A Stitch In Time (Olivarry for now, eventual Queenwestallen) Baby's first multi-chapter! Admittedly chapters 3 and 4 have been languishing in my drive for a few months now and this thing has 100% more deleted scenes and outtakes posted to my tumblr than the actual story on AO3. But I'm so proud of it! I learned to write action scenes because of it, how to write climaxes, dream sequences, news articles and tell a story in several different formats. It made me rediscover my empathy for Felicity and write her as a PoV character, think deeply on Laurel Lance's losses and give voice to her struggles, and explore how a real friendship and understanding could evolve between Oliver and Iris out of their mutual love for Barry. (Centering female characters within manpain narratives, ftw! Otoh, I centered Iris so much it veered off the Olivarry rails into Queenwestallen territory on its own)

There is so much meaty conflict and delicious looming disaster in this story that I'm determined going to keep at it, even if slow and steady. If only to bring the light of Barry/Iris/Oliver into the world. xD

Holding On (Olivarry). This real-world disability AU deals with chronic and mental illness and the precariousness and personal demons of that reality. I tore out the rawest parts of my life for this fic and put them on display so that I couldn't bear to show it to anyone for a year after it was written.

I'm very glad I did finally brush it off and put it up because it has struck a chord with so many people, especially other Spoonies. The low number of hits on a fic that deals in hurt/comfort rather stings, as I can't help but think the disinterest is because of the "disability" and "neurodivergence" tags. But I still think it's one of the best things I've written and one I'll always be proudest of.

General Reflections:

Things I've learned over the past year of writing:

- Self-deprecation is not my friend. I need to be honest enough with myself to acknowledge when my writing is good, because either I self-validate and build confidence or I become a black hole of insecurity where validation goes to die. And if I think I'm a bit better than I actually am, it's not just okay but necessary to believe it.

- What I call writer's block is perfectionism, anxiety and physical and mental fatigue. If I don't eat, sleep, hydrate and acheive a relaxed mental state, I won't be able to write.

- Momentum is more my friend than any amount of inspiration and motivation. Sitting my ass down and make it a habit to churn out X number of words a day, even bad writing, will do more to help me than polishing an idea to a high shine.

- If I don't forgive myself for the stories I can't write I'll never write anything. I am doing this for free, to share the love and joy and therefore obligated to no one.

- I'm capable of writing things I don't have the first idea how to write. My fingers on a keyboard can paint the picture my brain can't visualize.

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, but I am going to make it a personal goal to write at least 15k words per month, learn to stick to a posting schedule where possible. and end next year with an additional 150k words posted.

To everyone who follows this blog, commented, reblogged and liked my posts - I see and remember and appreciate every one of you. You're the reason I feel seen and valued and why I am motivated to keep writing through all the difficulties life throws at me. <3<3<3

#the flash #myfic #fanfic #westallen #olivarry #arrow #oliver queen x barry allen #personal #barry allen x iris west #coldflash #queenwestallen #leonard snart x barry allen #oliver queen x iris west #writing #meme #review #year in review #happy new year #pinknote

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authoratmidnight · 6 years ago

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Two anime asks! Cardfight vanguard (the original, G, and/or 2018 version, your choice), and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Already covered all versions of CFV here

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

don’t watch period| drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes| give it a go, could be your thing| 5 star recommendation

I fucking love this series so much.

fav characters: Ling, Greed(esp after he joined with Ling), Al, Ed, Izumi, Olivier...I could go on cause they’re all so great.

least fav characters: Shou Tucker

fav relationship: Greed-Ling, Mustang-Hawkeye and Mustang and all his subordinates, Ed-Al-Winry

fav moment: Ed basically punching god in the face with his bare hands because ‘fuck you that’s why’.

Also I have a soft spot for the scene were the Briggs men are returning from underground tunnel and they’re like ‘whelp it’s been 24 hours they’re not going to open the door’(as per Olivier’s orders) but then it does open to let them out and when he questions the guy guarding the tunnel he’s just like ‘hmm, 24 hours, not by my watch see?’ and holds up this very obviously broken pocket watch before adding ‘The general gave it to me every time you went on away missions, pretty nice huh?’

headcanons/theories: I honestly don’t think I have any, the series deals with everything fairly nicely. Though I’d like to think that if Ed and Winry have a daughter (as it’s hard to tell if their babies are boys or girls) they’d name her after Nina. And that Roy and Riza would finally get hitched once they’re out of the military/should the rules change (since Word of God says military rules are the only thing keeping them from getting married).

unpopular opinion: I prefer it to the ‘03 series. The ‘03 series does have a fair number of good points (the OVAs are great and there are parts that are manga accurate) but, I don’t like it. I understand why they had to change things, and that’s not a bad thing (I’ve watched plenty of series that went off the rails in regards to canon and liked them) But I don’t like what they did for FMA.

If the main characters that I’m growing to like have had a shit life and lost everything, I want to see them succeed, not have it torn away from them at the end after they’ve tried so hard and lost so much. And Brotherhood lets them finally win.

Not to mention the movie was a huge let down. I was hoping it would fix the sad ending problem but nope. It just decides that to make Ed less lonely they’d drop Al in the real world with him. So now Winry gets to suffer alllll over again. Lovely.

Not to mention, the homunculi. I was not impressed by their whole ‘but we want to be human waaaa’ schtick :/ That’s not how they are, they see themselves as better than humans.

Also, nooooot very keen on the ‘03′s decision to go ‘let’s make the Amestrian military’s real world counterpart be *actual* Nazis and put beloved characters like Hughes into a Nazi uniform.

Like, WHAT THE FUCK? That’s a yikes from me.

how’d you find it: I found the manga at the school library, read it and got hooked. Watched the ‘03 anime (cause at the time it was the only one available) and then eventually heard they were doing a more manga accurate series called ‘Brotherhood’ and decided to watch that.

random thoughts: I don’t understand why people insist that Hoenheim was a bad father. Like, did we watch the same series here?? Are we talking about the same character??

Cause he really isn’t. There’s probably other absentee fathers in anime that are far, far worse. Like for godsakes, he didn’t leave home with the intent on abandoning his family. He left b/c he was so consumed with self-loathing for his very being that he wanted to find a way to rid himself of his immortality (something forced on him without his consent for the record) so he could live out his life with his wife and kids and then things spiralled out of control on both ends (he didn’t expect his wife to up and DIE while he was gone nor did he expect to learn about that big-ass transmutation circle intended to destroy the world).

Ahem. I have, a lot of thoughts about him and I think he gets an undeserved bad rap.

#ask meme #kamui-katsuragi

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fountainpenguin · 6 years ago

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What kinds of AU pieces go in the Off the Rails collection?

“Get Flappy Reprise - The Sort-Of Musical” - That ‘fic based off the first draft script of the Musical, where Flappy Bob was actually Imaginary Gary in disguise, and Gary and Betty possibly knew he was an imaginary friend all along and they love and support him. This ‘fic would make mention of all the old songs and their ridiculousness. Also, lots of pixies in birdcages.

The “You Deserve It” Prompt - An AU where BookwormGal’s take on Anti-Cosmo is replaced with mine, and I rewrite the almost-climax scene of Never Had a Friend Like Me appropriately. Basically, Anti-Cosmo grinds the entire “Let’s throw everybody in lava” plan to a halt, much to H.P.’s annoyance, and spontaneously throws a massive party in Amanda’s honor for zodiac-related reasons. The plan is still to kill her, but now she’s a fancy sacrifice. Norm is still going through paperwork with Sanderson and has no idea what’s going on.

The “Only an Idea” / “Learn Your Place” Prompts - Also known as Reedfilter Rules AU. Basically, we’ve got girl pixies this time. In fact, one of them is Rani Reedfilter, the Head Pixie before our H.P. came along, and thus the reason for this AU’s name. Pixie society is very different, being less based on insect biology and probably a bit closer to what the true canon would be. Also, H.P. spent 37 years seducing Rani in order to work his way up to the vice president position because that’s just how he is, and Sanderson gossips with everybody and judges him super hard. Definitely more of a schemer than loyal lieutenant.

So it’s just a different take on the Pixies, really. Possibly worth mentioning that the reason H.P. takes an interest in Sanderson in this AU is that he and Sanderson are both Fairy/Pixie crossbreeds, with Sanderson’s mother being a will o’ the wisp. Sanderson has blue eyes, too. My favorite joke about RR!AU is that H.P. is a massive klutz who trips over half of everything and yet still tries super hard to be cool. And unlike his touch-starved Riddleverse Classic counterpart, Reedfilter Rules!Sanderson is super squeamish about any type of physical affection, and I just think it’s funny.

For now, I’ve tentatively chosen to scrap this version of the “Learn Your Place” Prompt (which covered some of H.P.’s flirting from Rani’s perspective) in favor of making “Learn Your Place” a Cupid and Juandissimo friendship Prompt. So I’m not really sure what my plans are for RR!AU, especially since between the two Pixie AUs I have, I favor the next one more than this one. So I might keep it to myself, or I still might make it its own ‘fic. I’m a weirdo that way.

“The Gyne and the Drone” - An absolutely self-indulgent story based on that moment in Fairy Idol where H.P. is referred to as “Sanderson’s friend.” In this AU (Happy Dip AU to you guys), they’re friends who met in their adulthood, and this ‘fic covers the development of that friendship. Specifically, it covers H.P.’s ascension into Head Pixie-hood and Sanderson’s parallel journey up the social ladder to being his alpha retinue drone. It’s kind of like a slow burn platonic friendship with pheromone benefits, as they awkwardly navigate around each other’s expectations and try to work out the whole preening situation when it’s not something they’ve been doing since Sanderson was a kid this time.

In Reedfilter Rules AU, the Head Pixie isn’t allowed to have a mate, and H.P. was a lowly worker who flirted his way up the social ladder after recognizing how much Rani misses the husband (“match”) she had to let go of following her coronation. But here in “The Gyne and the Drone”, only the Head Pixie is allowed to have children (Don’t worry- we’ve got other Pixie companies to avoid inbreeding). So far this ‘fic consists of H.P. sliding from his bed to the floor and whining to his dad that he doesn’t want kids because he “doesn’t liiiiiiiiike people”, and Sanderson dragging H.P. out to his first rave. I’m pretty sure that first one is just a placeholder. Second one is definitely happening.

Basically, it’s an AU where all the general worldbuilding is the same, except there are several Pixie companies and it’s kind of like one of those fantasy books with the castles and arranged marriages, but more corporate. And instead of Wolbachia there are loose hints of haplodiploidy because I am eusocial insect trash and I don’t even. For once H.P. is telling the truth when he says he’s not a dad and has no sons /shot

Don’t ask me what I do in my spare time because it’s just this.

“Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails” - A silly, stylistically-different multi-chapter story about Foop and Anti-Marigold gathering potion ingredients to turn Foop into a boy after his aging potion accidentally turns him into a girl.

So, it’s an alternate, way more lighthearted explanation on the origin of the “magical to-die-for heart-shaped pendant” we saw in “Blue Angel” than the explanation I went with in Identity Theft. While Identity Theft and “Snips” can’t coexist in the same timeline, neither exactly contradicts Riddleverse Classic canon and in theory you could accept either one as your headcanon’d backstory for the pendant. Even so, I technically consider Identity Theft to be part of the Riddleverse Classic works for purely stylistic reasons.

“Pulling Your Puzzles Apart” - AU where Timmy considers his best friend to be A.J. over Chester, so during Fairy Idol, Norm ends up going to college with A.J. and does not enjoy it at all. The first chapter is done (Mayor’s perspective was surprisingly a lot of fun), and the outline is done with 10 chapters pinned down. Except I still have a few details about the finale to untangle. Hmph.

The title of this piece is from the lyrics of the Coldplay song “The Scientist”, and all the chapters are named after other lyrics in the song.

“King Me” - Riddleverse worldbuilding is exactly the same, but this time Anti-Dusty received his inheritance over Anti-Bryndin. Thus, Anti-Wanda was raised as nobility and heir to the High Countess seat, and Anti-Cosmo was raised in rags on the outskirts of society. Talon still exists and is still raised by both Anti-Cosmo and H.P. (though his biological parents differ from Riddleverse Classic canon). This will probably be a one-shot unless it gets too long and needs to be divided into three. It’s basically a bunch of Anti-Wanda / H.P. friendship as Anti-Wanda works out her feelings on her impending marriage to a man she’s never met. And then… wedding! I also included some pieces from one of the very first Prompts I ever wrote, which had to be scrapped due to conflicting with finalized headcanons. Nice to actually use them in an AU!

Thus far I’ve had to physically restrain Anti-Wanda from sweeping Anti-Cosmo off for immediate kisses, because she would totally do so if I let her and I suspect she’ll get away with it in the end. I only have the Anti-Wanda and H.P. chat done so far, so I’m not sure what the ending is, but I suspect it’s going to dissolve into absolute wedding night fluff. Except for the fact that my document is currently a collection of several directions to take this story, one of which involves broken wings and one of which involves Anti-Cosmo on a farm. So I don’t even know where this is going yet. It could go anywhere. All I know for sure is that it’s told from Anti-Wanda’s point of view and she’s a riot, and Anti-Cosmo becomes High Count in this piece (hence the title).

“Just Ask” - Okay, well, I haven’t really planned anything officially, but I have been entertaining some ideas of an AU one-shot where Gary and Betty both grew up in Dimmsdale independently of one another, and only cross paths at the Learn-A-Torium. It’s their summer job that they each try to juggle with a thousand other life responsibilities (such as Betty’s anxiety issues and Gary’s difficult home life). So it’s a “what could have been” piece about if the Pixies hadn’t invaded their childhoods, and had instead approached them for the first time just before the Musical. Some fun ideas in this one, my personal favorite being Gary’s overprotective biker friends, so it’ll be great if I get around to it.

Dust to Dust and “Antlers for Dummies” are both crossover pieces (with “ChalkZone” and “Milo Murphy’s Law” respectively) and would technically fall in the Off the Rails category too, if I ever do write them. The “First Impressions” Prompt is kinda a crossover too, in that it covers the Creature Convention where Cosmo and Bunsen met according to “Bunsen Is a Beast” canon, and there are other Nick show cameos around too.

Potentially more to come, since I have tons of scrapped FOP stuff and maybe I can recycle some of it. But most of what I write fits within standard Riddleverse canon, so these are the only pieces I know of right now. What sounds interesting to you guys?

#Anti-Wanda / H.P. friendship is basically my favorite. The SASS.#Anon #asks #FAIRIES!#ridwriting #Bat cube and associates #I'm wasp dad trash #Sanderson is neat #The bat with the hat #The best bat queen #Lava lamp dude #Gary and Betty #Bats are my favorite animal but mammal reproduction is boring #Do you see my problem?#Reedfilter Rules #Little Imperfections

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thunderlordess · 7 years ago

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Mac and Erin 1-15 otp asks 😊

1. Who is the most affectionate? ---Probably RJ with early morning neck-kisses and gentle hand-squeezes. Just littlw things to let her know how much he appreciates her. Erin is more of a gift-giver.2. Big spoon/Little spoon?--- They're both pretty versatile. For Erin, being the small spoon is a silent promise that he'll have her back, and whatever wants to hurt her will have to go through him. For RJ, being the small spoon usually happens when he's upset or thinking about Lucy and needs some reassurance. 3. Most common argument?--- Probabaly the best way of raising their three kids. Erin is very much a "no" parent and tries to keep the children sheltered and safe from the dangers of the Wasteland while Rob is the more outgoing parent and believes the best way to learn is to just go and do it. They've reluctantly agreed that the kids can start learning how to shoot at 8.4. Favorite non-sexual activity?---Date-sniping. They go to a ghoul-infested city, each take a rooftop, and snipe as many of those suckers as possible, loudly exclaiming their kill numbers and flipping the other off a la use of scopes.5. Who is most likely to carry the other?--- Erin has tried to give Rob a piggyback, only for her to take a few steps and fall down. Rob can do a few more, but neither one of them is strong enough to carry the other for long, so most carrying is actually more like awkward dragging.6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?--- His eyes. When they first met, Erin thought they were brown, and it didn't help that the lighting in the Third Rail was absolute shit. But he took his hat off one afternoon when the sun was out and his eyes were this deep, soulful blue. His wirey muscles take second place, especially how good they look under a tight sleeveless tanktop ;)--- Her face. Erin has a habit of hiding her face under a mask or helmet, so when she took it off to breathe after a particularly energetic fight, he was taken aback by how beautiful she was underneath, even with the dirt. Second place is how nice her butt looks in that vault suit. ;)7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?--- Erin would start trying to distance herself, trying to avoid another heartbreak like Nate from happening. Rob would have blamed himself, thinking he did something wrong. There would have been some hardcore romantic tag going on until a third party sat them down and made them confess their feelings for eachother.8. Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate?--- Oh Lord, Erin has all the nicknames. Cree is used for everyday, Mac when she's feeling sarcastic or playful, RJ when they get close, and Honey or Rob when she is upset and needs his attention. Rob just settles for a few like Babe or Honey. When they firmly settle into their parental rolls together, the names will affectionately change to "Mama" and "Daddy".9. Who worries the most?--- They both worry equally. Both have experienced where everything was going like a dream until it wasn't and they lost everything. It's more of becoming increasingly paranoid that something bad will happen. Rob makes sure Erin is in the middle of the Minutemen whenever he's gone, and Erin makes sure that he takes Dogmeat and at least another friend, preferably Preston, Nick, or Strong with him.10. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?--- Erin. She'll also remember his caliber, alcohol, and pre-war food preferences. (It's .50, Gwinnet Lager or whiskey, and only the chocolate cakes with the pink sprinkles from the Fancy Lads Snack Cakes).11. Who tops?--- Rob. And on occasion Erin will once she gains enough confidence to please herself.12. Who initiates kisses?--- Rob most of the time, unless Erin gets competitive and sees how many kisses she can sneak him.13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first?--- Rob. He's a sucker for hand-holding.14. Who kisses the hardest?--- Rob, and they're usually to assure himself that Erin exists and is right there and it isn't a dream. Erin's are the sweetest.15. Who wakes up first?--- Erin. She's an insomniac anyway, and is a light sleeper.16. Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer?--- MAC. REE. DEE. He's such a baby when it comes to walking up early, and he'll whine about "five more minutessss..." for the next two hours. He'll also grab hold of her wrist to make sure she stays with him for morning cuddles.17. Who says I love you first?--- Rob. It'll be on accident in the heat of the moment when she reminds him so much of Lucy and he can't help himself. It will have been so natural, that Erin would have responded with "I love you too." Both would have kicked themselves about it later.18. Who leaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does it usually say?)--- Erin. She usually makes the lunches for the kids, and will do the same for her husband. The notes will be lovingly teasing and/or small drawings. 19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?--- Nick does. He knows things. He'd wait for them to come to him first though. 20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship?--- Erin's brother-in-law Hancock will twirl a knife between his fingers. "It's about damn time you guys shacked up." Nick will congratulate them, but make a point of threatening Robert with the authorities never finding his body if he hurt her. Her sister Skye would hug her and tell her how glad she was that she's finally happy. Shaun wouldn't be pleased at all and Mac would have to win him over. 21. Who is more likely to start dancing with the other?--- Erin. When she's in a good mood she'll come behind him and take his hand and lead it to her waist to begin slow dancing while humming a pre-war song. 22. Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?--- Erin. She grew up in a world rhat conditioned her into becoming a perfect housewife, and that includeded cooking. It would be a little difficult for her in the beginning seeing as how most of the ingredients she's used to went extint, but once she got her footing, her skills would return. Rob would also take over too from time to time, especially if it seemed like Erin was overwhelmed or didn't want to cook.23. Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines?--- ROBERT24. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times?--- They both do this, but Rob does it more, usually it's when she's working on dinner. 25. Who needs more assurance?--- They take turns assuring eachother. Bad dreams happen, and Nate and Lucy make appearances sometimes.26. What would be their theme song?--- At Last I See the Light as sung in Tangled27. Who would sing to their child back to sleep?--- Both of them. And only when they think the other is busy or asleep. Sometimes one will catch the other singing soft lullabies to the kids and listen at the door for a while before going back to bed. They both have really great voices, with Mac covering a wide variety of pitches, and Erin with the deeper, husky, 1950's noir voice.28. What do they do when they’re away from each other?--- Wait for the other one to come back or work fast so they don't have to be gone for long.29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart--- The bullets in the band on Rob's hat increases by two with the addition of Erin and Shaun to his family. And by one more when Nikora is born.30. one headcanon about this OTP that mends it--- Erin and Rob will spend warm, lazy afternoons at the Red Rocket Truck Stop sitting on the counter in their bare feet and reading comic books. Grognak is Rob's favorite, while Silver Shroud is Erin's. They'll occasionally read in their character's voices.

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