#i got a lot of thoughts of the characterizations in guardian

[pluckyredhead]

I have fallen down a Fourth World rabbit hole (this is @ngoziu's fault) and am now reading everything DC has ever published with these characters, in order, as is my wont, and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings, so I'm going to start dumping them all here. Sorry.

Background if you have no idea what I'm talking about but want to read this post anyway (why?): in 1971, Jack Kirby left Marvel because he couldn't put up with Stan Lee any longer and came to DC, where they were like "Yes you can do anything you want" (this was a lie). He immediately began writing, drawing, and editing an incredibly ambitious epic that stretched over four simultaneously published books: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen (we can mostly ignore this one), New Gods, Mister Miracle, and The Forever People. These books came to be known as Jack Kirby's Fourth World Tetralogy.

The books all center around the war between the utopian planet New Genesis, ruled by the benevolent Highfather, and the dystopian planet Apokalips, ruled by the evil Darkseid. At the heart of the narrative is "The Pact," aka The Cosmic Baby Swap. To ensure a (temporary) truce, Highfather and Darkseid traded sons when said children were very young - so Orion, Darkseid's son, is raised on New Genesis, and Scott Free, Highfather's son, is raised on Apokalips. Neither knows who their real father is until adulthood.

Orion grows up in a utopia, but tormented by his feelings of rage and otherness that he can't explain. Scott is raised in a torture orphanage, because that's just what happens on Apokalips, but eventually he escapes to Earth and becomes the escape artist Mister Miracle. The Cosmic Baby Swap begs what to me is the central question of the Fourth World, which is: what is the nature of good? Which boy will be a hero? The one born to good and raised by evil, or the one born to evil and raised by good?

TRICK QUESTION THEY'RE BOTH HEROES!!! GOOD IS MORE POWERFUL THAN EVIL! LOVE WINS AND FASCISM LOSES! This is so, so important to me and any version of these characters that doesn't understand the really not very complex symbolism here is invalid and kind of embarrassing for the writer (looking at you, Tom King).

Also Scott falls in love with and eventually marries Big Barda, one of Darkseid's fiercest warriors, who was born on Apokalips and raised on Apokalips and chooses good anyway. LOVE WINS AGAIN! BARDA TOPS HER TINY HUSBAND IN THE NAME OF PEACE AND COMPASSION!

Sadly DC canceled New Gods and Forever People after only 11 issues, which kind of killed Kirby's whole vision. Mister Miracle limped along until #18, but as a really pale shadow of itself. So we never really got the full scope of Kirby's original plans.

ANYWAY. That's the background. Now thoughts on the actual comics:

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen: I love Jimmy, I love Superman, I love the Newsboy Legion, but this book feels very tangential to the whole Fourth World experiment and I think we can safely set it to the side. However, if you love the 90s Superboy series, I recommend dipping into this because it's the source material for a lot of Kon's worldbuilding (Cadmus, Dubbilex, clone Guardian, etc.).

The Forever People (1971): So I originally read all the Jack Kirby Fourth World stuff like...at least 15 years ago, when I was still relatively new to comics, and I'll be honest: I didn't get it. Kirby is sort of an acquired taste, and I didn't really have any context for what he was doing. I understood the metaphors, but I didn't get why people found the work appealing. And Forever People in particular was the book where I was like "Why. What is the point of this" the most.

Rereading it many years later, I find it to be a lot more moving and profound - like, the Happyland issue alone is a knockout. That said, Kirby is, uhhhh...not great at ensemble characterization without Lee, and the Forever People themselves are unforgivably bland. Default Guy! Big Guy! Black Guy! Girl! Kid! Props to Kirby for making it a not all-white group - and for introducing five out of seven of DC's first Black characters in the space of, like, two years - but it would have been nice if he gave them personalities, too.

New Gods (1971): This is Orion's book and the heart of the Fourth World. At its best, it's the pinnacle of "Makes no sense...compels me, though." Like, "Glory Boat?" I don't understand a single thing that happened in that comic but it's so fucking good. I just want to read thousands of words of comics scholars over the past 50 years going "????" in collective confused admiration.

Mister Miracle (1971): This was the book I was most invested in when I read the Fourth World years ago, because I already loved Scott and Barda from JLI, but now I think it's weaker than New Gods and arguably even than Forever People. Kirby doesn't seem as invested in going all in on Big Concepts here, and Scott escaping endless weird deathtraps is only compelling for so long. The later issues, after the other books were canceled and DC made Kirby pivot away from the Apokalips/New Genesis war, are nothing. But Scott and Barda (and Oberon and Shilo) are everything, so I guess it balances out. Anyway Scott clearly already knows a lot about Earth by the time he meets Oberon and Thaddeus Brown, so DC please feel free to hire me to write a Mister Miracle: Year One miniseries about Scott's arrival on Earth, thank you.

Okay, now for the post-Kirby (or really, intra-Kirby) stuff:

Mister Miracle (1977): This picks up the numbering from the Kirby series, running from #19-25, and was written by Steve Englehart and then Steve Gerber, and it sucks so bad. For three reasons, in escalating importance:

Riddled with continuity holes and factual errors that don't match what Kirby established. Himon is shown on New Genesis - how did he get there? Metron is depicted as subservient to Highfather when Kirby showed him as a neutral, independent agent. Etc.

The treatment of non-Scott characters is largely terrible. Oberon is written really condescendingly (Scott's like "Ride on my shoulders like you used to!" even though they definitely did not ever do that before, because Oberon is not a child). When Scott feels guilty that he's not actively fighting the war, Highfather's like "I don't want you to fight because I feel bad that I traded you to Darkseid, let Orion do it" as if that isn't the root of Orion's severe emotional trauma TOO. And worst of all is Barda, who is knocked out and captured in the first issue and spends pretty much the entire rest of the series unconscious, waiting for Scott to rescue her - except for the brief scene where she wakes up brainwashed, requiring Scott to beat the shit out of her. Lovely.

The series is reeeally fixated on the notion that Scott is a god, and extrapolates that to Scott deciding he's the messiah. Now, I'm not going to say that the Fourth World can't be used to explore Christian themes just because Kirby is Jewish, because Kirby was very definitely exploring biblical themes extensively and frankly I don't know enough about the Bible to say whether he was sticking religiously (ha) to the Old Testament. But I do think taking one of the central characters of a Jewish man's magnum opus and making him the messiah is, uh, pushing it. And there's no way to argue he's not a Christian messiah because, uh, he T-poses a lot in this series and Granny also specifically states that if Scott is the messiah, she'll find an anti-Christ to combat him (which...wouldn't that sort of by default be Orion? which just further proves that the idea of a messiah really doesn't work in the Fourth World framework). Anyway it's gross and I hate it.

New Gods (1977): I'm kind of using this as a catchall to cover all of Gerry Conway's New Gods work, which includes the actual 1977 New Gods series (which picks up the numbering from Kirby, so it's #12-19), the conclusion of the story in Adventure Comics, and the Justice League of America crossover with the Fourth World. (Also there's one issue of Super-Team Family where Lightray and Metron team up with the Flash to save Orion, who has grown really really big, but that doesn't fit with the rest of Conway's continuity so I guess we can ignore it.)

Anyway this stuff is not as infuriating as Mister Miracle, but it's also not...good. The central concept is that Darkseid has discovered that the Anti-Life Equation is contained within the brains of six humans, so Highfather sends six New Gods to protect said humans: Orion, Lightray, Metron (he doesn't work for you, Highfather), Forager (also does not work for you), Lonar, and Sensational Character Find of 1977, Jezebelle of the Fiery Eyes (Original Character Do Not Steal).

Mostly this series is frustrating because all the New Gods are wildly incompetent and fail completely at their tasks. Orion is dumbed down to The World's Most Basic Superhero (he has a big O on his chest now!). I spent the whole time yelling "HE CAN'T FLY, GERRY!" at the comics. Forager is lumped in with no mention of that whole thing where...he's a New God who was raised among the Bugs, who are being persecuted by the New Gods? I feel like that should be explained or at least addressed? (Presumably Kirby would have gotten around to it eventually.) Forager also should not be flying but here he does. I guess. Lonar flies too but mostly on his horse, which bothers me less for some reason, I'll accept a flying horse. (Also Lonar's human he's supposed to protect is Inuit and hoo boy is this comic racist. The poor guy wears a fur diaper the whole time and speaks a completely made up language.)

And then there's Jezebelle of the Fiery Eyes. Who is blue, for reasons that are never explained, and wears a bikini and fishnets because it's 1977, and mentions her fiery eyes (heat vision) every time she speaks. She's from Apokalips, but defected to New Genesis during battle. Which, like...I appreciate that Conway recognized that this team should have a female character, but what with Orion, Scott, Barda, and Inexplicably Present Himon, it feels like we have enough characters who have defected from Apokalips in some way? And it's just super weird that the ONLY female characters we have seen from New Genesis are Beautiful Dreamer of the Forever People (trapped in another dimension indefinitely) and Scott's dead mom. Like, what's the implication here? Heaven doesn't have women? Also, I know Conway was going for biblical names to match New Genesis and Izaya (he also introduces a Lucifar), but, like...Jezebelle? JEZEBELLE. Your only female New God and you named her "whore." Amazing.

And with that, we have covered the New Gods in the 70s (minus some Mister Miracle/Batman teamups). Next time: the 80s, and Kirby tries so so hard to kill Orion but DC won't let him.

[welovetesvkaidan]

OPINIONS ON KAIDAN EE/IF???

My honest reaction:

in all seriousness, if you wanna hear me yap about it, more under the cut

warning like, genuinely a ginormous yap, like a HUMUNGOUS, sleep-deprived yap,,, im cursed to be obsessed with skyrim + modded followers instead of touching grass

I think a lot of this is probably gonna be the same thing other people have said, so im sorry

if you feel i'm gonna be bringing up redundant points and get mad at me😓dont read

I haven't experienced and thus won't talk about the versions of EE and IF that are now separate mods from each other. I don't know anything about that.

if they're better now yayyy but this is about pre-separation

I should preface this with the fact that I've played through Skyrim 3 times with different stages of Kaidan EE/IF:

The initial Dawnguard + fixes/miscs mod

Kaidan EE/IF versions before extensive faction/NPC dialogue for Kaidan

EE/IF w/ NPC Dialogue (AKA Fratpack)

I was also part of the two different discords that were purged and created during these intervals. i don't even know if there is a discord currently?

anyway, that is to say that I have experienced the mod and it's behind-the-scenes progress, extensively so I have a pretty good idea of what I liked and didn't like

That being said, I will introduce probably my biggest problems with it: Tonal whiplash

Okay, well the most common complaint is ofc that a lot of the writing is out of character - and I agree. But it's not just ooc on paper, it's his voice too. I swear, it is very jarring hearing hushed, mild og Kaidan 2 voicelines, and then being deafened by EE Kaidan SCREAMING in my ear ALL.THE.TIME. (like... why are you yelling at me rn jeez)

Seriously. I'm not sure why they didn't just re-record everything from the original mod instead of adding more and more contradicting lines on top of the originals. It definitely could have been a standalone mod, and sometimes it almost feels like it is - because he is just so different.

My most infamous moment in my last playthrough with him happened after we defeated the dragon at Kynesgrove. His og Kaidan 2 dialogue played first, in it he shows interest and is cordial about Delphine ("I wouldn't mind prodding her mind" or whatver dialogue), THEN immediately after his Kaidan EE/IF dialogue will play, in which he walks up to Delphine and STARTS YELLING AT HER AND INSULTING HER - like they argue for quite a bit wtf. And it's like, listen, I have my thoughts about Delphine, but whether or not it was okay to yell at her isn't the problem. It would be fine - IF he hadn't just calmly told me he thought she was okay.

It is sooo confusing how he contradicts himself :(

I mean, yeah, fragments of who he is are still there, I can tell it's Kaidan, but he's warped to fit a different character. Like a con-artist Kaidan.

Anyway, besides the contradictions, it also feels out of character because of his established backstory.

Let's go over it: He's an orphan, lost his only connection to his family(his guardian) to drugs, fell into substances himself, joined a violent cult, had to escape said cult, came clean from his addictions, has been traveling Tamriel bounty-hunting, got brutally attacked by the Thalmor, rescued by mere chance. Do you honestly mean to tell me this man would be yelling, pissing, drinking, lewding, and joking his ass off?? After all that???? NO - or maybe not these levels of extreme. (maybe some other dude might, but Kaidan's characterization insists he is a brooding, keeps-to-himself man, even though he never acts like it anymore)

That man should be tired, and he did feel like he was tired in the original. He was more brooding then than he is now, usually silent, but could still have an edge of comedy/wittiness, he was smart, he had been through a lot!

In that regard, EE/IF Kaidan felt like... we are experiencing Kaidan 10 years in the past - like a Kaidan in his early 20s when he was still a drunkard low-key terrible person. He is just so energetic, always yapping - GOD he talks a lot now. ugh but most of the time it wasn't about anything, it was either inside-jokes, meta jokes, and only occasionally did we get things that added to the experience.

For example, I think most of us who have played Kaidan 2 remember at least one specific line he has said while exploring. What comes to mind for me is either "Can you smell the magicka in the air too? Smells like a rainless thunderstorm." or "Watch for the mammoth with the carvings on their tusks, that's how the giants mark their herd." Alright, both pretty nice small talk for characterization (he IS smart) and worldbuilding.

Tbh i can't really remember any iconic lines from the additions of EE/IF Kaidan... the only two lines that stood out for me were: the "elevenses" line from the clip above (started bumping into him every time he was about to say this so he would stfu... total tonal dissonance), and one he said while I looted Lucky Lorenz ("poor sod wasn't as lucky as his namesake would have you believe!") kai HOW do you know this man, and his nickname, who told you that??? (idc about it that much but its like the only other added line i remember)

I thought that maybe his ooc-iness might have been caused due to the collaborative approach of the mod, I think the mod authors created their own perfect Kaidan - and that's good for them! It takes a shit ton of work (Ik cuz i was there!!) But I think the original essence was lost with each addition. It might have been lack of direction for the voice acting too, a lot of the lines might have hit better if they weren't borderline screamed.

Okay, at some point while playing I got so tired of his constant himbo chit-chatter that I tried tuning him out and bringing other npcs from vanilla skyrim as followers. Problem: even without kaidan on your party, everything starts being about kaidan. Because the extension made it so that Kaidan either has history with/character interactions and development with different NPCs from the base game.

The main poor sods that traveled with me:

Erik the Slayer: Apparently was Kaidan's childhood friend, got inspired by Kaidan to become an adventurer. Least egregious in my opinion, they say sweet things to each other. I swear, Kaidan yells more at me than he ever did at Erik.

The Companions: dumb, dumber, and dumbest basically.. This part of EE/IF was also known as "The Fratpack" and y e a h they pretty much had Vilkas, Kaidan, and Farkas acting like immature frat boys all the time. Just,, absulutely taking away all the maturity out of these GROWN ASS MEN. im sorry, i guess i dont get the appeal. I liked it when they didn't behave like teens (Aela im so sorry, you deserved better than being part of this)

Lydia: All she does is simp for him, ALL.THE.TIME. You think she's about to have a meaningful thing to say? nope, she's checking out Kaidan's ass. Think she'll have a deep convo with another npc about one another? nope! she wants them to tell her all about Kaidan. Both the Companions and Erik will either talk down to her or have to deal with her thirst for Kaidan. i had to start leaving her home.

They also suffered from the same tonal whiplash as Kaidan, unfortunately

additionally, the mod added an "early flirt switch" - you could basically toggle Kaidan to start showing romantic affection for the Dragonborn before the amulet of mara., the interactions were good on paper, but everytime he stammered and stumbled over his words it was written in such an unnatural way... pls people don't talk like fanfics lol !!!

I did like that he gave me flowers, my inventory got full of them - but then he noticed how many flowers I had in my inventory and judged me for "picking everything i see" ugh dude you gave them to me, but also even if you hadnt... mind your business lol

Another addition was a feature that basically made it so NPCs could potentially throw flirtatious comments at Kaidan and the Dragonborn (Bishop flashbacks😨)

You can't do anything to defend Kaidan from those comments, but he WILL take it upon himself to defend your honor infront of any men, women, jarls, or criminals that even so much as find you attractive (THIS INCLUDES FARKAS AND VILKAS BTW :( ) by being rude, forthcoming, AND violent. so yea, you can guess the target audience

speaking of which, he definitely comes on too strong on you once you start the romance, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I specifically picked the "go slow" option for the romance, and the next day or two it was him constantly complaining about having to go slow under his breath, how he wanted to do anything but slow rn... and like just, wow. :/ yikeees lmao

Maybe this is the result of "i can fix him" romance ideals? im sorry but I liked him when he was down to earth

Bonus? He comes with a campsite now, which has to be magic because its ginormous and he somehow lugs it around despite it also coming with a whole ass furnace (fine fine i'll hold my disbelief)

anyway I do like it, its basically a player house you can take anywhere (so long as kai is with you ig) also you can have a cat in there

I like that there is an MCM, I like that the MCM lets you get through the quest stages in case you get stuck

I like that he can guide you places, usually he gets stuck in a tree or rock but its the thought that counts

I think if the mod had continued in the vein as its original iteration when it was just audio/bug fixes and included these qol features it would have been better than it is now.

But it seems maybe i'm just not the target audience, and as a young woman I'm really confused as who the target audience is 😓

okay im srry rant over

if anyone else wants me to yap about other kaidan skyrim things also ask or join in cuz i like yapping about skyrim and kaidan to people!!!

[luminousdryad]

characterization and relationships in The Aurelian Cycle

a common criticism Fireborne gets is the slow start and how it starts off feeling generic? personally I liked that it opened with the tournament because it immediately established character dynamics and archetypes, which were then played with and even subverted later on

Lee choosing his new family, the Guardians over his surviving relatives made so much sense because we were already shown from the beginning how close he'd become to these people. Annie is narratively the most important person in his life, but Cor, Crissa, even Duck are given a lot of importance. He and Cor are like brothers, so Duck has become a sort of younger brother to him too. I love that Lee mentions becoming close with Cor and Crissa because they were the squadron leaders and had to cooperate often. It's understandable that Annie would be friends with Duck, who is often bullied. Outside of Lee and/or Annie, they have their own interactions as well. Cor and Annie are both protective of Duck and are friends. Annie and Crissa are roommates and get along better than the other girls. Crissa acts like an older sister to Duck because he's her squadron leader. What I'm saying is, all of their relationships with one another are so understandable and organic, none of their interactions feel forced and it gives the story so much heart.

I love, love LOVE the tiny bits of background sprinkled throughout the text about the side characters, among them Lee mentioning Crissa was nervous about being squadron leader, Annie's flashbacks with Duck, Lee and Annie visiting the Sutters often.

Even the minor characters have individual personalities with what little we get from them. Rock is a gentle giant who makes bets with his buddy Lotus, and they're always around each other. Alexa and Deirdre are Those Two Girls who giggle and snicker but are capable dragonriders themselves. Ola is the shy girl who sometimes participates in the fun. Max and Deirdre are together.

And the character who surprised me most: Power. I originally dismissed him to be the one-note bully archetype, but I got curious about his character after Annie defeated him in the tournament and he didn't throw a tantrum or anything (which was what I was expecting). He was an ass, sure, but then he turned out to be more complex than that. He helped Annie with mastering spillovers, which turned out to be the gateway to her ability to summon without a summoner. He genuinely tried to get her to win, and he only got better in the later books. That moment where it was revealed he was adopted was such a jaw-dropper because, like I said, I initially dismissed him to be a flat character (too used to this being a thing in YA) but there were more layers to him than I thought.

[astraldrake]

tfs thoughts beneath the readmore note: contains spoilers for the entire campaign

the opening vision we get when we enter the traveler... i ended up watching it multiple times (computer issues ;-;) but MAN was it cool the inside of the traveler in general looks super funky, im going to have to do a no hud run at some point just for screenshots. shoutout to bungie for giving us a sparkly pink rainbow subclass, just in time for pride month lol weapon unsunsetting means i get to pull all sorts of old friends out of the vault. (python, the vow, steelfeather repeater, perfect paradox, etc...) i'm pretty ambivalent abt cayde generally but they did a good job w/ his characterization. i was worried he'd end up being kind of grating but so far he's been okay i was (initially) delighted to see targe. i was not anticipating that they were introducing him just so they could kill him off 5 minutes later. i have mixed feelings on zavala's characterization but it's been a minute since i buried my face into the ishtar collective lore vault so maybe it's just my memory being unreliable. for him to just lose it and start acting irrationally like that felt odd. maybe it's bcs we havent seen him in a while? idk it just felt off. (tbf you could point out that it's probably a byproduct of being forced to relive one of the most unpleasant moments of his entire life so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ fear and desperation can make people do strange things) ikora was cool, idk she didn't read as ooc or anything to me, her reunion with cayde was very sweet, though in hindsight i wish they'd given her a little more to do. seasonal stuff has struggled to give consistency to crow but i appreciate this expansion's efforts to tie up some of those threads more neatly. (i lost it when he pulled out an iron battleaxe, i did not expect that plot point to get touched on!! also it was cool!) i am still irritated that they fridged amanda ( i ignored that part of canon so hard it kinda smacked me in the face when they mentioned her.) i love luzaku, and i would kill for luzaku. ( finally! friendly hive!) i did like the emphasis on ghost and guardian relationships throughout the expansion's story. (also ghost as the location vendor!!!! having regular chats with him while we go through the story!!! the fact he becomes increasingly damaged and wounded throughout the campaign giving me the distinct dread that he might die!!!)

the fact the traveler is letting out intermittent shrieks of pain... MAN... the return of the glowing bird as our guide! (also the fact that the grenade projectile for song of flame looks like a bird... i dont think they're actually connected but it is giving me Ideas.) speaking of song of flame, i kind of expected it to be more underwhelming than it is?? it's actually pretty fun! prismatic is a lot of fun to mess around with! nothing like throwing a storm grenade at an enemy to simultaneously proc devour and amplify. the speaker mask exotic is also giving me Ideas >:) i lost my shit when they mentioned Micah-10. she's one of the last lore characters i expected them to pull out of the hat but i am delighted to see her in game, and seemingly as more than just a cameo too, as far as i can tell. pretty ambivalent abt the whole "player character is the most powertful being in the universe and the chosen one" thing. it's kinda where i figured they'd take it and i dont hate the trope so eh whatever. im glad they actually gave me cover for some of these story missions. i did not super enjoy lightfall's strategy of throwing me in a room with one million guys and a few tiny scraps of cover. ( the radial mast double tank fight... *shudders* ) difficulty wise legendary wasn't all that painful, there were a few fights i struggled with, but a change of loadout, or a little trial and error was pretty much all i needed. i def understand why they've saved the witness fight for the raid, but if my raiding history is anything to got by im certainly not doing day one, but that doesn't mean ill never touch it. (ive missed most of the newer raids, im just not that much of a people person.) ill try and take some day 1 screenshots of the opening area at least. also wrt post campaign!! i loved playing projectile tennis with savathun. all the two queens stuff was great tbh sav is such a fun villian. like yes!! you do owe us nothing and are only going to swoop in to help us bcs we have a bigger threat to deal with!! we can go back to trying to outscheme eachother once this is over!! ( also hey, they brought back adventures! i thought they'd never do that!) also what ive played of the crode camping trip (i forgot the mission name) has been fun. just me and the bois, out exploding screebs. ( then the game crashed so i guess i gotta go play that again lmao) overall i think this expansion is pretty good! i havent even gotten to the seasonal stuff yet, much less some of the regular patrol stuff for the pale heart.

[lemonlyman-dotcom]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tags @iboatedhere @bonheur-cafe @alrightbuckaroo & @welcometololaland 💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Nine!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

48,025

3. What fandoms do you write for

911 Lonestar

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Make Me Laugh 'till I Die, I Stand Beside You With Pride - TK and Carlos discuss TK’s special relationship with Owen, and how previous boyfriends have been intimidated by it

getting past the wounds of love - Paul-centric fic for @guardian-angle22! Carlos attends his first 126 hang, Paul, TK & Marj go crate digging

Sunshine On My Body, Rainbows Bloomin' In My Skies - Tarlos goes hiking!!

TK Strand’s Sweet 16 (times 2) (minus 2) - TK’s 30th birthday party!! The Reyes family throws him a double sweet 16 party, the first family party since the loss of Gabriel.

Why Do You Think I Ran - TK & Carlos have a vulnerable conversation about the beginning of their relationship the night after Owen calls with his Huntingtons results.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Always!! First, because I am so appreciative that anybody takes the time to read my stuff. But I know it’s only like one in every few hundred reader that bothers to leave a comment so why wouldn’t I return that energy with a response?

Second, I am first and foremost a reader. I put a lot of energy into writing thoughtful comments. So I know how nice it is to get a reply!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don’t know if it’s angsty, per say, but maybe All Your Colors Make Me Feel Alive because they’re discussing the ways they’re grieving and remembering their lost parents.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

They’re all happy endings, generally. But maybe Call Me If You Get Lost because they’re in a hot tub and they’re bouts to get it on *sings Marvin Gaye*

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Very PG-R-rated so far

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t but I have a couple ideas for using the plot lines of another show.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not plagiarized but I had someone take the plot idea of one of my fics. Doesn’t feel good, folks!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven’t, but I beta read which is definitely a collaboration

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Tarlos

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I want to finish TK Strand’s day off (@carlos-in-glasses 👀)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, description and characterization. Also background for side characters.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Coming up with plots to go around the 1-2 scenes I’ve written 😂

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I love incorporating Spanish as much as I can. If I’m not 100% sure I’ll have a friend who is fluent read it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

911 Lonestar!

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

This is a tie!

Call Me If You Get Lost This one got a pretty low engagement, which was really disappointing for me because I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written. It’s a whole, complete story with a beginning, a climax and and end. Its funny and heartfelt, and I think the characterizations are really well done. Basically Nancy tells TK she’s going on a romantic weekend by herself, it was a trip she’d booked at an estate in Hill Country with her ex for their anniversary before they broke up. TK is worried she’s having a crisis and forces Carlos to go to the estate so they can “be there for her,” but instead they catch Nancy in an awkward position with Mateo.

TK Strand’s Sweet 16 (times 2) (minus 2) this one was so much fun to write! It’s funny and sweet, there’s a lot of side plots going on with different characters. It not only shows us TK through Carlos’s eyes, and how much Carlos loves him and is completely in awe of him, but how TK gently cares for Carlos and has cemented his place in the Reyes family and helped hold them together through this loss. Also it’s the introduction of my Tía Lucy. The response to this one was really really lovely 💕

I’m knee-deep in a move right now so I’m not sure who’s already gone but tagging @chicgeekgirl89 @ladytessa74 @tarlosmalec @ithilien-writes @carlos-in-glasses @rosedavid @herefortarlos @freneticfloetry @thebumblecee @wandering-night19 @sanjuwrites @your-catfish-friend @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad @liminalmemories21 @never-blooms @ambiguouspenny & @theghostofashton and OPEN TAG 🏷️

[flightfoot]

So, that one ask about Luka got me curious: Do you have fic recs for Luka being an actual, fleshed out person? I know you read a lot of fic and you mentioned it specifically, so I thought you might? I'd be interested in really getting into his head. Bonus points if there's Lukagami involved (since that's my preference), but stuff about Wishmaker or Desperada or any other episode were he was particularly relevant should be the most interesting? Or Couffaine/Jagged family stuff. If you do, thanks!

Sorry it took me nearly a week to answer this, but there was a fanfic one my radar I needed to read first, since I suspected it would be perfect for this list. And I was right!

In The Shadows by @19thsentry-blog is the best Luka fic I've ever read. I just finished binging it today, and am looking forward to reading its sequels!

On one side is Luka, 140-year-old Snake Miraculous holder and keeper of the Guardian's secrets, on the other is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a relatively newly minted hero of Paris and Guardian of the Miracle Box. Each is looking to fulfill their promises to their now gone mentors to reunite the Kwamis and keep them safe. Sounds simple--until you throw in a rocky start, the Atlantic Ocean, Félix Graham de Vanily, and a whole host of secrets…and suddenly simple becomes complicated (story of Marinette's life, right?).

Yes, this is a Lukanette fic. I don't normally read those since I've had enough bad experiences during my early days in this fandom (particularly while season 3 was airing) with Adrien, Alya, the class, etc getting demonized in those sorts of fics, that it put me off of the pairing as a whole, even though the pairing itself is fine (I happily read poly fics that include Lukanette so long as Adrien's in there too, since those have historically been pretty nice to all the characters).

This one I decided to take a chance on, since I read one of 19thsentry's more recent works (See This Chance, a FeLuka fic where Luka's a ghost, it's under 4000 words so if you want something bite-sized it's a good read), was impressed, and decided to give "In the Shadows" a shot since it had an interesting premise and the sequels sounded like they were nice to Adrien and Alya, with the second fic featuring Alya as Scarabella and the third fic going into Adrien adjusting to adult life post Hawkmoth-defeat.

I wasn't disappointed. I adore how fair it was to all of the characters, From Luka to Adrien to Marinette to Felix, and even though it's tagged as having slight Master Fu bashing, it's fair to him as well. Felix received some of the most interesting characterization in fact. He's not exactly the greatest guy, and he's not super well-liked for good reason, but he is intriguing and I found myself enjoying watching his machinations, as well as him very obviously getting a crush on Viperion that he resolutely tried to ignore. 19thSentry's love for FeLuka shown through here quite a bit.

Luka's a little different since he has a very different backstory in this fic than in canon, but he's still recognizably himself. We get to see a lot of his thoughts, feelings, concerns, and baggage, and while his feelings for Marinette are an important part of the fic, they're not the driving force behind his entire character, he's got a lot of other things going on.

Honestly even if you're normally put off by Lukanette, I'd still recommend this fic, just for the plot and characterization alone, it's really solid and deserves FAR more attention than it's gotten.

---

Now as for other Luka fics, ones that build out his characterization while still being recognizably him, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up this next fic, though it's not Luka-centric by any stretch of the imagination.

one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace.

Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack for the last remaining Miraculous: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most.

Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

I adore this fic for so many reasons, but as far as Luka goes, this is the fic that gave me the best insight into why Luka might have lied to Ladybug in Wishmaker about not discovering hers and Chat's identities, and didn't bring up that he knew them in Ephemeral, when it was relevant. One of my biggest issues with Luka has been my inability to get into his head, to see what he could reasonably have been thinking and feeling that makes his actions and characterization in the show make sense. Wackus delivered here, really showcasing what he might have been thinking in those cases, with Luka not wanting to rock the boat, afraid of causing harm, until a catalyst came along and spurred him to action. Luka's characterization in one does not love breathing may not be the focus of the fic, but it's one of the parts of it that stands out the most for how unique and exceptional it is.

---

When Feelings Are Too Big For Words by ClockworkCaptain

When Luka takes a gig playing for a drag show he's falls hard and fast for the drag queen Buttercup who uses her performances to work through her own emotions. Meanwhile Adrien's been using drag to work through his own emotions and thinks maybe Luka coming back into his life and showing interest might mean a second chance.

Made for @mlsecretsanta 2022

I greatly enjoyed this one-shot, seeing Luka's feelings about "Buttercup", and him getting to know Adrien a bit better. It's a fun read!

---

Come Take My Hand by @carelisswriting

Luka heard his soulmate for the first time when he was ten. All he knows about her is that she likes fencing. It's just a coincidence that Kagami likes fencing, right?

(Lukagami Soulmate AU, written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa Exchange!)

You specifically mentioned liking Lukagami, so I recommend giving this one-shot a shot! I loved seeing Luka figure out that Kagami was his soulmate especially, with Kagami having figured it out first.

---

Forced Perspective by @emmalylis

A bodyswap akuma hits Ryūko and Viperion, then promptly vanishes. While Ladybug and Chat Noir track down the akuma, Luka and Kagami must live each other’s lives. Along the way, they discover some things about each other.

Another Lukagami one-shot here that I think you might enjoy! They both have to live with each other's families, which is interesting.

---

Transparency by kopycat_101

Luka and Juleka come out of the closet.

(An apparently very thin, very transparent closet, but a closet nonetheless.)

A story about two siblings, the complications of family, standing strong in the face of hardship, bonding, and supporting one another no matter what life throws at you. Told in three parts/three days.

You asked for some Couffaine family stuff, and this is some of the best I've seen, with it mostly focusing on Luka's, Juleka's, and Anarka's family dynamic. Jagged isn't their father in this, partially because it wasn't revealed as canon yet, and partially because the author didn't feel like using that (at the time) popular headcanon.

---

I hope these help satisfy your craving anon!

[cringecompanionapologist]

Cradle of the Snake Part 3: Things Are Starting to Not Make Sense

The first half of The Cradle of the Snake is stronger than the second half. A lot of stuff regarding the Mara in the finale doesn't make sense and some odd things happen to the companions when their all together, their characterizations shifting from when they were separated. I still love this story, but this is the point where picking it apart might not be very good for it.

The first half of part 3 continues on from part 2 pretty well. Baala finds Turlough and lets him out, deciding that he has to be a good guy because he's scared.

Not like he'll admit it. Turlough doesn't want to be scared of the Doctor. The Doctor's presence has made him less scared before. This doesn't add up and he can't face it yet. Turlough is also probably scared for the Doctor along with being scared of the Mara. The Black Guardian possessed Turlough at least once. There's also the general idea of Evil Thing Living in Your Head Making You Do Bad Things That You Don't Want To Do. He nearly killed the Doctor because of that. The Mara seems to have more control over the Doctor than the Black Guardian had over Turlough, so this could be even worse.

So, Turlough escapes and finds Nyssa, Tegan, and the friends they've made along the way. He's panicking and just wants to gtfo NOW, but there are snakes making that a bit impossible.

Yoanna, a sort of social worker who has an American accent for some reason, kind of saw the Mara!Doctor in a sort of nightmare thing (it's complicated), so she knows to be very afraid.

Apparently Mara!Doctor has hypnotic eyes, which might've been why Turlough was almost possessed earlier, though I thought the snake tattoo is what had the hypnotic effect. The Mara is hypnotic but the Doctor just as very persuasive eyes, I guess. Especially for Turlough.

Mara!Doctor taunts the companions a bit, giving a description of each. He'll do something similar later. Both times, he addresses the three companions in the same order, which is probably a coincidence, but it's interesting.

So, I had to check a dictionary for some of this. The arrogance/large vocabulary actually resembles the Sixth Doctor a little. I wonder if it was intentional.

Anyway, big words. Tegan doesn't get a big word. Turlough is "truculent" meaning "confrontational" and Nyssa is "Interminably Reproachful" meaning "endlessly disapproving". I think some of what the Mara!Doctor says comes from the more negative traits the Doctor sees in his companions. The Mara tends to bring repressed meanness to the surface, as we saw in Part 1 with Tegan. The Doctor probably sometimes sees Tegan as always mad at him, always complaining, never happy. Meanwhile, Turlough won't listen to him. He disobeys his instructions and gets himself into trouble.

It's the Mara that has this weird obsession with Nyssa though. What about the Doctor Nyssa would morally disapprove of in a way that upset him, I have no idea. So, it's probably the Mara just bitter about being unable to get to Nyssa through Tegan.

The cops show up and arrest Mara!Doctor for causing a ruckus. They also arrest Turlough for being associated with said ruckus, even though he didn't actually do anything and disapproving of the ruckus the entire time. They also get put in the same cell, so these people apparently have no regard for Turlough's safety, despite being aware that the Doctor is the more dangerous of the two.

Kerrem, the scientist guy Mara!Doctor got possessed before, is called in as an expert on whatever's supposedly wrong here. Kerrem slips and reveals that he already knows who the Doctor is, meaning that Yoanna never answers his legitimately good question about why the Doctor and Turlough are in the same cell. From how scared he is, Kerrem can tell that Mara!Doctor hasn't possessed Turlough, so he has no idea what to do with him as a part of this jailbreak.

In the cell, Mara!Doctor waits for Kerrem to get him out while Turlough tries to find the real Doctor In There Somewhere

Turlough reveals how much the Doctor means to him, and once he gets that off his chest, he lists some continuity. Then he pauses. He has an idea. What about the TARDIS? Traveling in the TARDIS is the Doctor's main thing. Companions come and go, but the TARDIS remains. The personality of the Doctor would be more tied to that constant than his most recent companions or recent events.

The Mara decides to try some shit, pretending to be the Doctor, letting Turlough think he's won.

The Mara doesn't actually cause that much damage in this story. The story's body count is really low for a Fifth Doctor story. But, the Mara is cruel and this might be the cruelest thing it does. As much as it upset Turlough to see the Doctor possessed, seeing him so scared and weak like this is even worse. He tries to get him help, since he can't handle this on his own, but he'll try. He'll do anything he can to help, anything the Doctor asks without question if it'll be of any help.

Removing the Doctor's coat makes it easier to expose the snake mark. The Mara is tricking Turlough into getting himself possessed, not by preying on suppressed hatred or temptation, but on just how much Turlough cares about the Doctor.

The thing is, Turlough's care for the Doctor ties into a vice for the Mara to prey on. Turlough is still pretty early in his arc. He's still a coward, or he views himself as one. The Doctor is his protector, someone he can fall back on if he gets in trouble, so he's less afraid to take risks. The universe would be too terrifying to face without the Doctor.

Quiet despair...

The Mara reveals itself to still be in control only after Turlough begins to break down. If it had kept the act up, it might've been able to possess Turlough, but it can't resist the pleasure it takes from its own cruelty.

The Mara tries one last time to win Turlough over. "The Doctor" still wants his help. He can still help him. He can still be with him if they're both possessed. But, it doesn't work. Turlough panics.

Kerrem helps Mara!Doctor, who doesn't even want to be called the Doctor at this point, escape, leaving Turlough behind. Since it's not really the Doctor, Turlough doesn't seem to mind that last bit.

After everything that's happened with the Mara!Doctor, Turlough still seems shocked that the Doctor attacked him. He has to admit that he isn't safe with the Doctor anymore.

But, Turlough doesn't go into "the Doctor is dead" mode. He still wants to help him. The real Doctor has to still be in there somewhere and he won't help Yoanna if she won't help the Doctor.

Also, in the midst of whatever struggle occurred in the cell, Turlough stole the Doctor's TARDIS key to keep the Mara from having access to the TARDIS. He's not completely stunned by all this.

So, Turlough is reunited with Nyssa and Tegan and they lock the Mara!Doctor out of the TARDIS while they try to figure out what they're supposed to do to fix this mess. This causes a shift in Turlough's characterization, though it doesn't come up right away. Now that he's around companions you'd expect to be selfless and loyal, Tegan takes over the "The Doctor's still in there somewhere and we can't give up!" role. Nyssa tries to be rational, Turlough just wants to get out of this alive, Tegan is the emotional core of the team. When it's just Tegan and Turlough, the "coldly rational" role goes to Turlough. His role adapts to accommodate the other companions.

But, first, a more amusing thing: There's a certain pattern with Turlough that probably isn't a deliberate running gag, but it's consistent and funny. You can see it in The Five Doctors, where Turlough and Susan are stuck in the TARDIS and there's a bomb outside and Turlough weirdly comments that it's "Big, isn't it?".

When scared, Turlough will state the blatantly obvious or otherwise say weird, not particularly helpful things. He might have to remind himself (and/or Nyssa and Tegan) of how the alphabet works:

Meanwhile, the Mara!Doctor is confusing. It's not the Doctor anymore. It won't answer to that name. So, you'd assume that this is just the Mara speaking through the Doctor. But, the Mara!Doctor still acts like a separate entity from the Mara itself.

The Mara terrifies ??? and will be born tonight. So, Mara!Doctor isn't the Doctor and isn't the Mara. So what is he, then?

Nyssa is the biggest STEM genius out of the companions. Turlough's a STEM genius by 20th century human standards too, but it's much less pronounced. Nyssa being a scientist is a major character trait for her. It's why she stayed behind on Terminus. Because of this, the Mara wants Nyssa on its side. It's gotten bored of Tegan and it would've been fine with having Turlough around, but it seems to have given up on him. He was supposed to be the easy one to corrupt but he just wasn't. The Mara expected a troublemaker and found a young man with anxiety and a crush on the Doctor.

Mara!Doctor uses The Magic Thing That Makes Your Thoughts Real (it's complicated) to make a new TARDIS key. It goes through another round of taunting the companions.

Tegan is the one the Mara judges as still in shock. It's still mad at Turlough for stealing the key and also thinks he's stupid now. Nyssa is the good one, the brave one, the smart one, the one the Mara has chosen to possess. The Mara probably pulls from Five's suppressed mean side again. Tegan is never satisfied, too emotional, can never keep up. Turlough is always in trouble, doesn't listen to Doctor's orders, thinks he's clever because he knows more technobabble than Tegan does. But, Nyssa is level-headed. She's naturally heroic. She listens to the Doctor and generally does what she's told. The Doctor probably doesn't think he plays favorites, but he's capable of it.

Turlough is now in a more "traditional male companion" role, protecting Nyssa. Of course he cares about her, but he reacts to Nyssa being threatened before Tegan does.

He's even willing to physically attack the Mara!Doctor to protect her!

There are some promotional photos for season 20 with Nyssa and Turlough where they look like a couple, so maybe we're supposed to think that Turlough has a crush on Nyssa? I mean, Adric did, Tegan does, I guess everyone's just in love with Nyssa now. It isn't just the Doctor who plays favorites with this group...

Nothing against Nyssa btw. She's not bad, but it's easy to get annoyed with anything that's hyped up a lot. I get the same way about Ace. Great companion, I love her, but the fandom's enthusiasm can feel a bit overwhelming.

So, Nyssa's possessed and Mara!Doctor is Lord Mara now.

Also, if you didn't know that Nyssa is much older in these audios than she was on the show, that decades passed for her between Terminus and Cobwebs, you would think she was still young. I think Marc Platt completely forgot about the age up.

I like to imagine some of these Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough stories as being from an alternate timeline. Turlough could've met the Doctor without the Black Guardian's influence. Most of the stuff the Doctor was doing in Mawdryn Undead had nothing to do with the Black Guardian. It wasn't why he was there. Turlough would've jumped at the chance to leave Earth that the Doctor could provide without needed any other motive.

The Black Guardian invaded the Doctor's timeline, found a vulnerable companion right before he met the Doctor and made him an assassin. This didn't result in the Doctor being killed though. But, Turlough sabotaged the TARDIS on the Black Guardian's orders, landing them on Terminus, where Nyssa decided to stay. Nyssa wouldn't have left when she did without the Black Guardian.

So, when the Cobwebs audios don't match up with Cobwebs, that's just bits of the original timeline reasserting themselves. It's a bullshit explanation, but I had fun making it up.

So, let's wrap this up with two brief comments. Tegan believes that she could reach Mara!Nyssa easier than reaching Mara!Doctor, or otherwise automatically calls for her help before the Doctor's:

And Turlough once again states the obvious when terrified:

Yes it is, Turlough. Yes it is.

[high-guardian-herbs]

Alright so a while ago I’ve watched “high guardian spice” and boy,,,,

Ok, look, the show was a bit disastrous, the first episode was too boring I barely got through it, and the 11th episode was just plain bad, the writers use the characters sometimes to speak to the audience their thoughts, and it destroyed the characterization and lots of these thoughts were not really good, the plot doesn’t make much sense, you know nothing of what a guardian is what exactly they do, the world building contradicts itself, characters feel out of character a lot of the time and some characters seems to be the golden child of the writers, which made said character never in the wrong, even when she is very much in the wrong

And somehow the fan favorite character isn’t even from the main cast, it’s either Amaryllis or slime boy (very valid options)

Honestly as much of a mess it was writing wise, and even tho the animation can be a bit cheap sometimes, it had so much potential because the characters and the world setting seem interesting, the character interaction sometimes is actually very fun, and because of the variety of creatures and skills and power in their world, many fun plots can happen

Also there are some good jokes and bits, and some tender moments that actually feel like the characters knew each other for a while, like the sun naps thing, or rosemary trying to brush aside conflicts with jokes, parsley and her family conflict could have been much more, and although I still don’t really understand much about thyme, she seems interesting, and as for Sage it could have been that her moms old fashioned teaching bleeding into her, and she could had a whole journey of trying to undo it and becoming a better person (I don’t mind her sensitivity, I mind the way she acts with it)

The rot plot is also interesting, and leave lots of questions unanswered, olive seems to have a bit of a dark past and you know what I’ll stop here

I just gotta say that the potential was there, and it was big, so I’ll just try my hand at it, and although I’ll probably fail worse than them, i will at least earn some experience

[guardian-rocket]

Who are your top 10 favorite muns to write with and why? If a mun is a multimuse also tell which are your favorite characters to write with and why?

(The order in which you list the people doesn't matter unless you want to assign them specific places.)

Question Master

Top 10, here we go... @antvnger Puppy-Mun is the first I am putting on this list first because of all the threads and ideas I've ever had on here the thread I've been doing with them (Space Heist) is the largest single run I've had so far. We actually had an entire 4 part mission and went to Knowhere. I feel like Rocket and Scott made some real progress in becoming friends and I love that. Every post they make is gold. They're nice to their anons and I generally enjoy interacting with them OOC and hijacking their random posts. They're also genuinely funny, which I feel is very important for someone portraying Scott. I already loved Ant-Man but Puppy-Mun makes me adore him even more! They also often tag me and I love that 💕

@byondtheveil Rei-Mun (Birb-Queen) is #1 OC in Rocket's world and my Rocket muse simply adores her. I always look forward to reading her replies and she's a great person to talk to and shoot the breeze OOC. We both love thrifting IRL so it's fun to just spam her DMs about my latest finds. Her character Rei is literally one of the most endearing original characters I've ever come across. She's well thought out and has connected with Rocket in a way most muses can't do. With her I have been able to explore Rocket's comfortability just popping on and off Earth and get some much deserved down time. @papetoonfox Papetoonfox was a RP partner I had many years ago. We haven't interacted much on tumblr but we got a RP going on Discord that I am fully engrossed in. Our conversations OOC often puts me in stitches and we have so much common interest it's so easy to just get lost in our own little nostalgic world of Y2K aesthetics and retrowave vibes. They're also very encouraging with me about my art and they produce some of the coolest music I've heard from anyone I know. I love their portrayal of Fox and so does my muse.

@stripesofbrooklyn They were one of the first to interact with me OOC when I started getting more active again and I feel we check in on eachother both ways pretty regularly I am confident to call them a friend. Our muses have great chemistry together and Rocket always loves hearing from them no matter what strange shenanigan they might be getting into. Rocket fully admires and trusts their Steve and is someone Rocket would go out of his way for.

@spidermanxnoir / @jeff-the-gnome-king First they get super points just for playing my favorite version of Spider-Man (Noir) and our thread which started off without any plotting has turned into one of the most epic adventures my Rocket has ever had. I think Rocket's gotten pretty attached to him as they've gone along and genuinely think he's cool. Looking forward to them retaining an ongoing friendship. Being able to tie or franchises together has been a ton of fun and I think we write beautifully together. Also they're super chill OOC and I love bugging them with my latest ideas. @the-mjolnir-owner This Thor is one of my best friends on Tumblr. They are often sending me posts in my DMs to see about Rocket and Thor and I just love their characterization. We also have a lot of fun discussions about Thor and the Guardians and I feel they capture Thor very well in their writing. Just in general they're an absolute joy.

@butwithmoreme I know our thread is fairly new/short but I literally hear Tony's voice in their writing, it's so damn good. As Rocket's mun I will hold a special place in my heart for anyone who doesn't just write him off for being a little shit. The fact they're being science bros together makes me so happy. @spideymn A big stand-out as a great writer. Sounding repetitive here, but I hear Tom Holland in their dialog and they feel very in character. A shining standout, and my muse likes him because he's a helpful kiddo. Happy to see them interacting together. @beatfreesmysoul They're my #1 music buddy right now, and I enjoy dropping into their DMs to be annoying lol. It's so great to have someone here to talk tunes with because I genuinely am a big music nerd. I love that they send me memes/tag me for that stuff too. As a Rocket RPer I often feel a bit sidelined so they make me feel included on things which I super appreciate. Our thread taking place earlier in the storyline is great too, kinda fun to undo all my muse's character development and let him have 'issues' he needs to work through and I love that we can explore or character's developing friendship.

@gctbusydying I am pretty sure they're my first Kitty Pryde and honestly, worth the wait. Interacting with them feels like we're jumping right out of the comics. I think that Kitty is canonly one of Rocket's favorite ladies and their friendship is important to me. I know I MOSTLY adhere to MCU canon but I've read the comics too (albeit a long time ago) but when it comes to Kitty I'm like -slams fist on desk- FRIENDS. I know we haven't had a TON of interaction but I hope it keeps going.

[night-dark-woods]

(This is the anon with the hold me like water or a knife quote) I. I beg you to share the lore pieces about Eris comforting Petra because I have been brainrotting about the two of them for so long.

Both of them are truly guard-dog 1 and guard-cryptid 2 for Mara (AKA two people who have devoted their lives to her due to an unquestionable loyalty and viewing her as someone who has set them on the right path/ someone who truly sees them) and I think they should make out about that

YEAH. i <3 femslash rarepairs with like three lines exchanged between the two of them. & yeah its such a fun dynamic!!! theres a reason Petra and Eris are the ones mentioned in that Tyrannocide loretab (thank you seth. as always.)

The plan exists in her mind alone, although beloved Eris has by necessity learned most of it. The Techeuns do not know the whole plan, although they will position the Harbingers upon the threshold. Even sweet capable Petra does not know the whole plan.

but anyway these are really the only 2:

"You are the Wrath, now. You are the last hope for your people. Trust the Guardians, trust the Vanguard. And you will find your salvation beyond this moment."

-Eris Morn, message to Petra Venj

& this one:

"If I did not know you better, Ikora, I would say you are fretting. To answer your real question: no. In my estimation, there is no danger of Petra Venj 'pulling an Eris Morn."

-Eris Morn, Hidden Report XXI.I

so. i guess not comfort really but. understanding.

& then i was just poking around for other interactions and there's a lot of clear familiarity but i thought this one was especially good from the Wild Hunt set w/ the rude guardian:

"The Reef will take note of their opinions. For now, I imagine the Vanguard are rather focused on Europa. At least, if what I hear from Eris is accurate."

"Eris Morn is a traitor." Siegfried's voice was stern, his eyes locked with Petra's.

Her lip convulsed in a silent snarl. "The information she shares would suggest otherwise."

i love the amount of familiarity & love that defensiveness conveys. i need to know how often they talk to each other. i need to know how they talk about Mara when she's not around. im always fascinated by the vague shape we can see behind the loretabs of the entire Extended Reef-Tower Polycule (Sav Mara (Sjur when she gets back) Petra Eris Ikora Chalco Elsie). i hope none of it is ever clarified. i like to see the gay glow of it on the horizon and never quite know what's up with them.

I do like that we finally got a loretab of Ikora and Mara interacting in TFS (*hater voice* despite the fact that it was a thinly veiled exposition dump & also has wildly sloppy character work- SotL writer again imo, who i think also did Immolant and SoDefiance writing. characterized by using SAT words for the sake of using them without understanding fully how they are used, and by describing characters experiencing emotions by saying their facial expression and then telling us exactly what it means)

[dilfdoctordoom]

If you had the chance to fix some comic storylines that you thought were bad or a waste of potential which ones would it be.

I'm taking this as an excuse to tell you how I would rewrite every GOTG run barring 2008 and 2020.

2013

I think this run would've been. so fucking cool. if original sin dropped the bombshell that the Peter Quill we've been following this whole time is the Peter Quill of the Cancerverse and 616 Pete is still trapped in the Cancerverse with Rich.

It'd do a lot to explain the wonky characterization-- and it'd give the Guardians themselves a clear-cut mission. the 2013 kind of meanders a lot with no clear goal, so it'd benefit from a straightforward "save x from y" type of mission.

Peter & Rocket's friendship would be a big focus here; I think if Pete was replaced, Rocket would be one of the first to pick up on it

Plus, Adam could show up <3

2015

Extrapolating the Wanted arc into something more- by this point in the GOTG comics, they've pissed off every major empire (Kree in Black Vortex, Shi'ar in TOJG, Spartax by Peter's existence, Badoon by Gamora's existence, etc) and it'd be fun if it was just... every galactic empire is gunning for their heads & they've got to keep up the whole guarding the galaxy through that.

I'd have Cammi come back in this, like if we've gotta have her with the Ravagers then fine, she's there to take them in 'cause she's pissed that they never found & she got stuck with Arcade.

It gives Drax some limelight & focuses on how he navigates being a father

Nebula as the main villain, having the Graces as arc long bad guys for the team to fight. Neb obviously has her 616 personality & is in this for the bounty - but Gamora can take it personally due to the drama with the Graces

All New All Different/2018

Magus as the main villain this seems so obvious to me

I'd keep the Infinity Wars stuff, just in a way that makes sense. Gamora is working with Magus to get her soul back because he's also got a part of him stuck in there

It's all a scheme by Magus & Goddess to escape Soul World; Goddess has shown to be able to brainwash Gamora before, so we can put that on that

I'd also not. downplay the Ultron side of things. Conquest was fucking traumatizing for this team

Gamora's past with the Phalanx would also work well with the Magus/Goddess thing; maybe she's got it in her head that if she gets her soul back, she'll have purpose again

Mantis would be there for the Ultron side of things

I would work Phyla's resurrection in there somehow. 616 Phyla, specifically, like I don't think anything fancy needs to be done at all, Thanos has been resurrected so many times it'd be simple to say Oblivion brought her back to combat Magus&Goddess

Can work the Groot stuff into the themes of Soul & Trauma like... Groot died in Conquest, he was lit on fire, and grew back as a little stump. So the Groots are killing worlds... but it's always worlds that Ultron was going to target & it's a fucked form of mercy

2019

In stories that focus primarily on Thanos & the Universal Church of Truth as the antagonists, I would simply not make it the Peter Quill show & instead let Gamora & Warlock take the lead

If Starmora has to happen, I'd have Peter's arc be more about trust & how to keep it, contrasting with Gamora's arc of learning to give second chances after people hurt her

I'd also. address how Adamora broke up, like delve into why, bring in Atleza in at least a mention, etc

2023

I'd keep Grootfall as some kind of corrupting force in the Manifold Territories but not as the reason they're there

Instead

I'd use the whole "the Manifold Territories are from beyond the known universe" and have Peter be the one insisting they go. Have him aware of the risk this could pose to teammates (maybe have it have something to do with damaged souls-- Gamora's & Drax's are healed after Infinity Wars, etc, but Groot is still vulnerable from the Gardener) but he does not care because if it's beyond the known universe, it's beyond the sun

He's trying desperately to get back to Morinus

Mantis has brainwashed the others into coming & it becomes an inverse of GOTG2008; instead of Peter doing all of this for altruistic reasons, it's because he wants to go home

Continuing to inverse 2008 - show how the GOTG have changed each other through their refusal to kill Groot. Peter shot Warlock; now, years later, he can't do that to Groot. Being a Guardian has changed him

Like show the positive & negative effects that the Guardians have had on everyone

[the-marron]

Got tagged by @fixaidea, thank you!!!

I technically did it a few days ago, but then I was tagged by myself, to let this tag game make rounds, so can I be excused for doing it again? 🥺

This time with Guardian/Weilan derivs focus, not to repeat the same info too many times ~~

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 144, and at this point Guardian and co are the majority of those

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,261,968 words - I am pretty much this meme:

things always end up longer than I plan them to be 😓

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Well, aside from the old ones, currently mostly for Guardian, The Rebel/ Detective L (Luolin, my beloved), I dabble in DMBJ for weilan derivs purposes

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

In Guardian/Derivs fandom? Through the Window of This Love, written with Ascel (300), The Once and Future Hei Pao Shi (270), The Story's Unwinding, written with Ascel (223), One Prize I'd Cheat to Win (187), Constant Vigilance (177)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Oh, absolutely, I love talking to people in general, and I do like thanking people for sharing their thoughts about the story, 'tis why I share afer all

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Erm. Either When I Make an Oath to the Flames (Guardian) or Unceasing Path (Luolin)? Hard to choose, I do love angst and bad endings

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hm. Maybe We Devour Like a Falcon in a Dive? (Luolin) - it's as much of a fix-it as my angsty tendencies allowed these two

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Well. I wouldn't call it 'hate' but I did have some odd interactions lately that suggested gently that maybe I should stop writing.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No, no smut from me. Behold my best buddy: Fade To Black

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Oh, yes, absolutely. Mostly of the Weilan derivatives persuation, admittedly, but it counts, right? I also comitted a Luolin/ Guardian crossover, inspired by Terry Pratchett and his observations about the nature of universities.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Kinda

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not a Guardian one

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Hah, hell yeah. Best kind of fun

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Weilan, on the basis that they are canon and the reason why I am still here and not moving on. From Weilan derivs: Luolin

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

A post-canon murder mystery with Luo Fei and Lin Nansheng that I am not educated enough to write just yet, too many things to research, too little time. Also I am not very good at Agatha Christie murder riddles, on the basis of: I haven't written any yet. Would love to try though.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've heard that it's characterization and sense of humour. Unless I am gutting people, then it's the atmosphere?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Repetitions. Commas. Forgetting where the hell my characters are sitting. Ignoring the fact that they should eat at some point.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Sure, if researched and checked

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Inuyasha, I guess

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Hard to pick due to lots of sentiment to different ones for different reasons. In terms of 'this was a fic written by me, for me' then weilan!steampunk au Deceive me kindly (while I am still here), because it's a mixture of my favourite things: doomed romance, steampunk and references to the drama

Thank you once more for tagging me! 🥰

Tagging this time: @forerussake, @clevermanka, @sasamelons,

[foulfirerebel]

Do you have any complaints About rwby? Or at last something you think could’ve been done better?

A lot,of fellow rwby fans seem to agree the white fang storyline wasn’t handled very well. But at the same time I keep seeing those same people acting like ghira did nothing wrong, that Blake is some badass rebel when canon doesn’t seem to support that currently, etc.

Oh boy. Strap in for this one.

So, I thought as much as I could focus on this since I've had the flu for the past three weeks. And I realize my complaints and thoughts are very small when it comes to this particular subject. But, if you're curious, read on below the cut.

Spoilers for RWBY V1-V9, the books, and games.

So, let's just get one thing out of the way first: I loved Monty Oum's fight scenes but they hurt my eyes to watch now. And I'm not sure why. To preempt a long rant, I'll say this. I prefer the fight scenes we have in V4-V9 to the ones in V1-V3. They contain more narrative tension to me then the earlier ones (Except for the train fights in V2, and the entirety of the Fall of Beacon in V3).

I'm not a huge fan that Yang doesn't get much in V1, with a bulk of her character starting in V2. I'm even less of a fan of the fact that Weiss' racism toward Blake in V1 felt a little swept aside instead of one of the many facets of her character that evolved over time. Ice Queendom, to me, helped this a lot but there's a lot that could be said there too.

As everyone seems to hate the Jaundice part of V1, I will also throw my two cents in: it went by fast for me given V7 was my first "live" volume and I binged all the others. It could've been shortened, made way for Yang characterization or otherwise. Cardin can get yeeted into the sun for all I care.

Now, of course, there's the White Fang part of the Faunus plot. For the record, I don't think it's the WORST racism storyline or allegory attempted (See: Overwatch, Detroit: Become Human, and others for worse) but it definitely needed more polishing. Give Sienna Khan more screentime and more of a presence, show more of the distinction between Ghira, Sienna, and Adam and either 1) Make Sienna's death a full-blown fight scene and last stand, 2) A sneak attack rigged heavily in Adam's favor that gets exposed later on and causes the White Fang to disown him, or 3) Have Sienna live and aid Blake and the Faunus militia afterward.

There are other changes too, mind you, like having the White Fang under Adam express doubt in what they're doing only for Adam or Cinder to silence them or something like that. We got that with Ilia, and I love her story, but we needed some more like that.

The following are going to be under the "just bugs me" complaints, nothing too huge or rant filled and I can elaborate if needed:

I wish we got more Happy Huntresses stuff, because I find the Ace Ops/Happy Huntresses ratio in V7/V8 to be...unevenly weighted toward the Ace Ops. Understandable, but still.

I'm sure we'll get this in V10, but I'd like an update on the rest of the world's current situations. Vale, Mistral, Menagerie, the changes that occurred, etc.

I'll be happy when Penny returns or is confirmed officially to be truly dead. If the latter, I'll be complaining more about "wasted potential". If the former, I'd like to see how she'd be revived.

Summer Rose. I need more answers.

Just something fandom related: Stop going after Ghira and Tai Yang for the love of all that is holy. If you'd like examples of awful parentage, Jacques, Marcus Black, Cinder's wicked Stepmom, Neo's parents, Roman and Nora's unnamed mothers, Raven Branwen and even Lil Miss are right there. Also, Jax and Gill's guardian too.

Grimm Eclipse was fun but...wow, Arrowfell was better as a video game in a lot of ways. Told a better story than GE too.

The only thing I can complain about in the books is not giving much to Sage of Team SSSN, though given "Before the Dawn" had to juggle so many characters I'm cutting it some slack.

Obviously the obligatory "Rooster Teeth isn't a good company"/"The Upper Management are terrible" and all that jazz, please support all the staff and former who have Patreons, Kofis, Twitch Streams, etc.

That's about all I can think of. Again, I'm still addled by the flu and medication I'm taking for it.

TLDR: I just think RWBY needs...well, more of it. More time and budget and space to fully flesh out everything. What we got is superb, especially for starting so small, but I always find more better than less.

[sunnyrosewritesstuff]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Oh this looks like so much fun! Thank you for tagging me @middleearthpixie.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 54 😵

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 437,811

3. What fandoms do you write for? Mostly Hobbit, but I have written for Tintin, and a tiny bit of What We Do in the Shadows and Sherlock

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

A Future Bright as Snow- 1,812 Guardian of Kings- 1,368 A Smile for a Cold Spoon- 483 Thirty Minutes to Change Your Life- 466 The Marali Festival- 439

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes! It does take me a little while, but I try to answer each and every one. 😊

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Oh goodeness, I don't do angsty endings at all. 😂 I've got a few planned that will have some bittersweet endings. But I'm going to say Home was the angstiest ending, and it's mostly just Thorin comforting Dis as she allows herself to cry.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Almost every fic of mine has a happy ending. I don't know that there is one I can qualify as having the "happiest" ending, but One More Little Adventure and Every Wedding Has a Few Disasters are the two that first come to mind.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I have never actually gotten hate on a fic. (knocks on wood)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do write smut, but I don't know how to describe it other than smut with humor. 😂 I've done a little bit of everything when it comes to smut, and here are a few examples:

Breaking the Rules (Haddotin) Living the Hobbit Way (Bagginshield) An Ill-Timed Giggle (Bagginshield) Webcam (Bagginshield)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've not really written any crossovers yet, but I have one in the planning stage which would be a Hobbit/Dungeon Meshi crossover. I don't think it's all that crazy though. 🤣

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I HAVE! I actually love getting to collab with other authors, and am very thankful for the Hobbit: An Unexpected Collaboration event for getting the chance to do so.

They Stole My Heart (Along With the Rest of Him) with @lordoftherazzles What Happened in 30C and Secrets in the Blue Mountain Apartment with @thotinshield

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Definitely Bagginshield 😉

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I haven't quite labeled it as abandoned because ideally I'd like to get back to it, but it would be really special circumstances and that's Once Upon a Dream.

16. What are your writing strengths? I feel like characterization and humor are things I excel at and definitely have had people comment on it before.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Transitions and just adding enough prose. I tend to talk through dialogue and I feel like my stories miss that extra little 'ah!' that would make them special.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I mean, I add Khuzdul or Sindarin when I want to enhance that aspect of the character's culture and understanding, but other than that I don't really mess with other languages.

19. First fandom you wrote for? LOL calling me out, but for Mario Bros I wrote A LOT of Daisy/Luigi.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? AHH! Asking me to choose my best child here. 😭 Okay, I'm going to list out my top 5 favorites:

Home (my first gen Hobbit fic) Guardian of Kings (my first finished multi-chapter fic; so proud!) A Lesson Carved in Stone (I really loved playing with Fili's POV) The Different Shades of Bilbo's Love (the SYMBOLISM I USED!!) Ambassador to Madness (even though its a WIP)

Tagging: @lucigoo @conkers-thecosy @domesticgoddesswriter @fantasyinallforms @lordoftherazzles and @thotinshield and of course if I missed you, please do it and tag me so I can see your answers! 😍

[ciaossu-imagines]

Day 20 Prompt 3

✏️

Ohh, well, this is one that I wasn’t expecting! I don’t often get chances to talk about my original characters very openly. I’ve kind of been talking about a couple KHR OC’s I have had for years but never really done much with here and there with a lovely fandom friend though, just bare basics, and I’m going to take the opportunity given to me to actually share a little bit more information with her and all the other lovely readers here! I got some blow back years ago when I did more openly talk about them so I’m hoping that won’t happen again and again, anon dear, thank you for this opportunity!  

I will reveal an OC that I thought about making and writing.

So, like almost everyone else in the KHR fandom, I’m sure, I’ve made a whole other family within the KHR universe. The way I’ve always figured it is something really major happens within the family itself, some sort of civil war tearing the family apart and the heir apparent to this family and his generation (the teens) become the family’s main hope after the current boss is assassinated during this whole civil war. There’s large portions of the family that don’t support the heir apparent, everyone’s trying to take over, and the heir apparent and his Guardians are just teens. They’re doing their best but they’re a little in over their heads and so they go seeking help to rid the family of the elements that brought about this internal war and to help the heir take control of the family and bring everyone back together again.

And of course, who better to ask than the Vongola family? They are the largest family, the most prestigious and in a way, if the heir to my OC family could forge an alliance with the Vongola, it would not only help with the situation but set this OC family up for growth in both rank, prestige, and power going into the future and as his Guardians kind of point out, that would be good for the family and would look good as a resume building move on his part.

They find themselves blocked from really approaching Timoteo though so they figure where the 10th Generation, Tsuna’s family, might be easier for them to approach, both because they’re roughly around the same age and because they’re a little less well-guarded.

Shame though…Tsuna really doesn’t give the most amazing first impression and while the two bosses really do kind of hit it off and get along, a lot of the OC family don’t really believe that Tsuna and his Guardians are actually going to be any help to them and some of the OC family are initially really rude to the family, though it mostly stems from feelings of ‘oh shit, this was really our biggest hope and kind of our only hope and these kids are kind of losers instead of the big, strong Vongola we were hoping to find.

Now I know what some people are thinking – this family is so going to be a rip-off of Tsuna’s family, but I like to believe that they’re not, both in characterizations and in how the family interact with each other. The OC family does really respect their boss entirely as their leader, but there’s less of a friendship feeling among them all and a real strong familial relationship between all of them. They all grew up from infancy with each other, the family home-schooled them all, and these kids, while not blood related, have lived, learned, played, and done everything together since they were in the crib and so they all really do regard each other as siblings and every situation I have imagined with them really does strongly give that feeling.

The structure of the family – Boss and Guardians all with Sky Flames – is exactly like the Vongola but I like to think that’s where the similarities end. I will also say that other than some mild flirtatious moments that might lead to things in the future, there’s really no shipping in the story, it focuses around a plot and around building strong bonds between the families and between the individual characters.

One thing to note – I fucking suck at naming characters and don’t really have strong names in my head for them because I’m a loser that way, hahahahaha! So, this is the first time I’ve had to sit and think of names so, as of this post, it’s the first time they all get names.

We’ll start with the most obvious OC to introduce. The Boss! Heir apparent of the Accardi Famiglia, Luca is a pretty quiet guy. Mostly because he’s a deaf mute so like…not too much of a chatterbox, Luca. He comes across as being a little uncomfortable around people and to some extent that is true…he doesn’t feel super comfortable with strangers but isn’t exactly shy. It’s just that with his disability, interacting with strangers can sometimes be a struggle and he gets really frustrated at time. He reads lips and signs and his right hand or one of his other family members does translate for those who don’t sign (to mixed results, depending on the family member translating because some of his family members find it funny to say things that are definitely not what he’s signing). He’s a very trusting person, someone who wants to see the best in everyone, who truly loves people and finds humanity beautiful, and he is friendly in his own way. He really wants more friends; he really wants bonds with people…they’re just harder for him to make. He’s really hard-working and diligent but gets overwhelmed sometimes with the expectation of leading the Family and he sometimes does wish that he had a more normal life, something he, Tsuna, and Enma do bond over a little.

Oh, and in a departure from the way it normally works, because absolutely NOTHING says a boss has to be a Sky Flame, Luca’s actually got a Sun Flame and has the purest flame of all his family members, on par with the purity of a Vongola Guardian’s flame.

His right hand? Her name’s Bria and she actually possesses the Sky Flame out of the Guardians. She’s totally and completely devoted to the Family and the others. She wants everyone to be happy and healthy, to live their best lives, and she wants to see Luca become the amazing boss she knows he’ll be. (She might have a small crush on him, just saying, something she struggles with because for most of her life, he was like a brother to her.) She struggles with some social anxiety and self-esteem issues, but she pushes past them and really pushes herself, in general, to an almost unhealthy degree to do everything she can for her family. She’s the one staying up all night to do paperwork, to study harder, to think of plans and such. She’s the one waking up at 4 am to clean and make breakfast for the others so that they don’t need to worry about that. Despite the thought of talking to complete strangers making her nauseous, she’s normally the one translating for Luca and the one laying out facts and talking to the various people. She’s the most accepting, after Luca, of Tsuna’s family and in general is a person who doesn’t judge by appearances. There’s not a time this girl doesn’t remember being stressed, but she wants to appear perfect and good to everyone around her, so she hides behind a mask that not even those closest to her notices is fake.

The family’s Storm Guardian is Lara. Hot-tempered, prone to solving problems with violence, wildly confident and the most likely to get into stupid situations or wild scenarios because she just does whatever comes to mind. She also has a bit of ADHD, just saying. Oh…and she’s fat because like…bodies come in all sizes and she actually likes her body and her curves. She’s really into fashion and accessories so her appearance is as loud and wild as she is.

The family’s Rain Guardian is tall, pierced, desperately wants a tattoo, wears a leather jacket, has a mohawk and plays the guitar. They write sappy songs and poetry and loves cars and motorcycles. In short, Alfonso (who goes by the nickname Fonz and who actually does love The Fonz) is the stereotypical bad boy with the heart of gold. That heart of gold is most emphasized around his ‘siblings’ because he’s the oldest of the Guardians and takes it on himself to be the best ‘big brother’ to everyone that he can be. It’s just strangers who get the brunt of his dirty mouth and ‘fuck off’ attitude.

The family’s Lightning Guardian is Raf. Raf’s kind of a go with the flow kind of guy, though he has no problem with opening his mouth to give you his opinion on things. He’s a little bit of a nerd, with a strong interest in technology, a love of working on things with his hands. He not only listens to DnD podcasts, collects Magic: The Gathering Cards, loves Star Wars, but is a bit of a ‘weeaboo’. Being in Japan? Awesome. The fact that Tsuna and his family seem like weak kids who know nothing about the Mafia? Not so awesome.

The family’s Cloud Guardians are identical twins. Theo and Tony are actually complete opposites in terms of personalities – Theo is more confident and actually really judgmental and manipulative, though he does truly care about and takes care of those he does love. It’s just that he likes getting into people’s heads and playing with them and he’s the rudest, in a very silver-tongued fashion, to Tsuna’s family. It really does come from him now needing to try to figure out how to keep his beloved family safe though. Tony, meanwhile, is quieter and stoic. He’s not really a huge people person – he enjoys time alone or with one or two close people. He’s really big into nature and sports and a bit of a guy’s guy. He’s also a little simple-minded in contrast to his twin. Both twins are more than willing to act on their own, without consulting the others, if they think they’re in the right. While both of them are loyal to the family and do love the others, their main alliance is to each other above all though.

The family’s Mist Guardian is a bit of a kook. Eccentric is definitely a little bit of an understatement for Guiana. Guiana’s very loud, over-dramatic, and honestly leaves most people thinking there’s something wrong with her. She speaks a mile a minute, is a conspiracy theorist, believes she’s the reincarnation of the Grand Duchess Anastasia, and gets really into media. She definitely would be a Tumblrina and is a fandom creator who talks about her fictional others and favourite characters as if they were real people…like someone will ask her what she was doing and she’ll go into this big tale of going on this grand adventure with her favourite character. Yeah, she’s a little divorced from reality and goes with her gut feeling on people, but behind all that, she’s actually a really skilled illusionist and solidly cares about and will protect her family with her life.

[freddy-fazbears-wonderland]

what is a hot take about the FNAF franscise / fandom that you have? You seem to have really good opinions tbh

Lemme give you more than one

A lot of the male characters the fandom obsesses over really aren't shit when you think about it. When you look into them, you realize that most of it is just fandom interpretation, and the characters on their own aren't worth the hype. And I'm not just talking about being underdeveloped. Even just poorly written in general. This is why I am largely uninterested in the Afton family with the exception of Elizabeth.

If Security Breach didn't bring us characters like Gregory, Vanessa and Cassie, I probably would've stayed invested purely in the animatronics.

And while we're on the subject of character writing, a lot female characters in fnaf get done dirty not only in canon but the fandom as well. The most infamous example and one I'm sure everyone agrees with is how Circus Baby was handled after Sister Location and in the books. I'm not completely opposed to the idea of her being manipulated by William.

But they dropped her original characterization entirely just to make her daddy's little girl. That being said, this also could've worked if we got to see how William controlled her become she's just... unwaveringly loyal and we don't get why. The most we could go off on is that William probably knowingly had his daughter endure controlled shocks. I'm so fucking glad Help Wanted 2 dropped and we got OG Circus Baby's characterization back.

But it's also weird that the writers of the fnaf novels thought it was a good idea to make Circus Baby of all characters an attempt at a femme fatale. The character possessed by a freaking kid.

Which is why I'm glad that at least with the games, Steel Wool has been doing better with how the female characters are handled.

That leaves the fandom as a problem the girlies can't be bad or nuanced. Because Elizabeth, who is also a victim much like her brothers, tends to get overlooked at best if nor outright villainized. Like, this girl being a brat makes her irredeemable somehow.

Which is so weird when a popular headcanon is that Michael is the Foxy bully and loved to pick on the Crying Child. But he gets treated with much more grace despite this.

William motherfucking Afton gets treated which more grace despite clearly being an irredeemable villain.

And let's not forget how people were trying to antagonize Vanessa for throwing away Mike's pills. Sure, she could've handled it better but she still helped him out. Hell, she's one of the reasons why Mike was able to get his shit together and become a better guardian for Abby. Despite all her flaws, if she wasn't there, Mike would've lost custody Abby.

There's probably more but those are the only ones I can think of.

Can we talk about how the Clickteam/Scott era of fnaf is overhyped?

Because since he retired, people have gotten rose tinted glasses about that point in fnaf history and have forgotten that a lot of the problems we have with fnaf's writing is his fault.

But because Steel Wool committed the crime of making one bad game, people blame them for fnaf's bad writing. Which isn't true because while Security Breach wasn't good, what we got in writing and what could've been is way better than what Scott would've given us.

My last hot take is that I'm noticing some elitism in the horror side of the fandom. Like, they seem to think that they're true fnaf fans because they're in it for the spooks and think that kids are ruining the franchise when... youngins have always been there. Hell, I have no doubt in my mind they were fnaf kids themselves.

Not even just kids in the fnaf fandom but anyone who dares indulge in fnaf any way they deem unacceptable like making goofy videos or even shipping characters, for example, are somehow ruining the franchise.

It's weird until you realize that a lot of them are toxic anyways, so of course they see harmless fun as a bad thing while actual dogshit behavior like grooming, bullying and the likes get overlooked.

I have to mentally prepare myself for them because I want to make a fnaf shipping series and while it's most likely that it'll just be isolated to just other shippers, you never know. Especially since I've seen two YouTubers make negative videos about fnaf pairings, there is a chance I will have to deal with one of them.

They also have rose tinted glasses about fnaf because they refuse to acknowledge that the franchise was already kinda goofy from the start and not horror 24/7.

Anyways, I'll end it here because I'm pretty sure I'm pushing it and I can’t think of anything else to add.