#i love going off on vaguely relates tangents because i have so so so many thoughts. about this guy

[everymeloneveryday]

I'm thinking of Melon and Legoshi's relationship again specifically in the early pre-"evil does exist" stages they make me so ill. Legoshi wants to save him soooo bad.

it's soooooo funny bc up until that point, legoshi HAD saved everyone (excluding the shishigumi boss who he was too much of a baby to ACTUALLY mortally wound). as far as legoshi is concerned, Melon is just another Riz. someone who, if he could manage to empathize and reason with, would at least Reconsider his actions and turn himself in for treatment. which is of course exactly what melon laughs at him for 💖 because he sucks and has spent the last dozen or so years reinforcing the same noxious beliefs in himself over and over and over again 💖

though to be fair to legoshi, Melon IS similar to riz in a lot of ways. it's because of this that I believe a loss of taste is linked directly to feelings of trauma and guilt, which, well. you don't actually learn how early on in melons life he'd been isolated and assaulted, we just know it'd been happening for a long time, and while he was Very Young. while Melon himself says his lack of taste is because of his mixed genetics, there is no actual proof that that's the case. also both Melon and Legoshi are unreliable narrators LOL neither of them know shit for fuck about the world in two entirely different ways.

anyway legoshi shouldve spent more time with his grandpa and volunteered at that mixed daycare too, then he really would've been able to meet more like himself and his mom. ALAS!! he and haru BOTH wanted to be soooo nicies and save the world's most miserable 24yo because he just so happens to be a representative of the Potential they want to bring into the world, unaware of course that he took his trauma and doubled down on the worst parts of what others saw him as.

[sincerely-sofie]

Have you ever wanted to draw something but you fought due to your skill level at the time you decide not to do it

Ohhh man. I’ve got so many projects that I want to make but haven’t because I view my current skill set as lacking— and they’re almost always drawing related, because I’m very insecure about my drawing skills— even moreso than my writing skills. To go on a tangent and paint a picture of how severe this visual art insecurity is, I will list off how many people I have directly permitted to read my major written pieces once I passed my mid-teens:

My older sister, because she was my co-writer for the project and not letting her read my work wasn’t an option

My mother on one occasion

My aunt, who has experience with writing and publishing, and I have only ever sent two pieces to

Look at that number of people. The number of pieces I shared with them, in total, was four out of the hundreds of projects I’ve made over the years. I was so precious about my writing because I’m insecure about it. I’m even more insecure about my art. I couldn’t list off all the drawing projects I hesitate to make because I think it’s impossible with my current skill level, not even in a thousand years, but I’ll give a few examples that are always in the back of my mind lately.

A semi-animated pilot to a fantasy-comedy cartoon parodying The Office, starring a goblin secretary who’s trying to assassinate her employer and take over as the final boss of an RPG-esque dungeon that operates like an office building, while her employer is a lich who misinterprets all her efforts to kill him as her being flirty, leading him to develop a very severe crush on the goblin. The project is titled “Boss Fight”, and I have all the resources I need to make it, but I drag my feet because of my art insecurity… also I would be doing all the voice acting myself, and I don’t find my voice very appealing even when I change it to fit different characters.

A webcomic about a fantasy world populated by bipedal bug people that features a very brief “save the world” plot, then focuses the rest of the storyline on how the characters recover from the events of their backstories and the trauma the experienced while saving the world. It’s titled “The Creeping Chronicles”, and I love the project but am so insecure about being able to do the story justice with my art skills that I’ve tentatively pivoted to making it a book series instead. It’s got 21k+ words across 10-ish chapters because I’m too insecure about my art to draw it fully.

A slice of life comic titled “Welcome to Wayside” that’s basically Gravity Falls meets Stardew Valley where a young girl saves a cryptid’s life and now he’s stuck helping her until he repays the life debt he owes. The story features a vaguely men in black-style evil secret agency called G.L.O.O.M. (Gents for Ludicrous Oddity Organization and Management) who have various ranks are named after facets of fashion (khakis are their grunt labor and pocket squares are researchers) and they use a threat-ranking system based on dress codes (i.e. “WE HAVE A BLACK TIE DOWN ON SOUTH STREET, REPEAT: BLACK TIE DOWN ON SOUTH STREET”), and I adored G.L.O.O.M. along with the cast of characters featured in the story, but I don’t feel confident in my ability to design interesting-looking original cryptids.

I could leave this post at that, but I’ve got an important thing to say on this subject—

If you want to make something but are hesitating to because your skill levels are lackluster, make it anyways.

Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever can. Let yourself make the thing, and let yourself make the thing badly. Love it and how ugly it is. The perspective is all askew in this part, and that character is horribly off model there, and isn’t it all amazing? You made that! You made a thing! And you wouldn’t have this thing that you made if you waited until the conditions were perfect to make it and refused to create the thing before your skills were sufficient.

There’s this terrible thing about creative projects— one that is very noticeable in drawing projects especially, in my experience. As your artistic skills develop, your artistic vision also develops to become more and more detailed and masterful… and it’s always going to be outside of your grasp. If you wait until you’re ready to make the thing, you will never make the thing, because you’ll never feel ready no matter how much you build your skills. But if you make the thing before you feel totally prepared, you’ll learn and grow artistically as well as personally, and will be able to feel more confident in future thing-making efforts.

[csyched]

Since some people seem to like my QDS rambles i think i will keep going… :>

Did you know i really love QDS Gale? And I will tell you everything I love about how he was written and how I have analyzed him after being into QDS for over a year. Mind you, spoilers for volumes 1+2, though it's only regarding Gale himself and nothing else, and I try to keep the big moments vague. Also, this is a long post.

First off, I think Yu Godai does a fantastic job writing her own interpretation of Gale. Since he wasn’t an original character of hers, he’s quite different in the novel series, yet I would argue that his character arc is written better and of course, more stretched out than it is in DDS. There is more of a slow-burn in terms of his development, and even if you can’t read the later volumes apart from the summaries available (I had to machine translate the entirety of vol. 5 lmao), you still can see how he changes throughout the series, and it’s really nice to see it through.

In QDS, rather than having an instant awakening, Gale has to grapple with difficult emotions like anxiety and frustration a bit more slowly as things in his environment begin to change. Another different component is that because of changing conditions of the world, he is denied of his role by Serph and is stuck back at base for many missions, hence his developing frustration. Thus, he starts to question his worth within the Junkyard, and because of the "thought conditioning" that he and all other bishops in the Junkyard were put through, it’s even more difficult for him to try and rationalize these unfamiliar emotions. (At one point, he even tries to run an internal diagnostic check because he's so confused about what he is feeling). For him, someone who has been born to act as an obedient machine, emotions are unnecessary and an obstacle in his job. Additionally, it's clear the sudden change is something he is not designed to handle. This leads to him repressing his feelings as a defense mechanism. It ends up protecting him as intended later on (ooh does that part get interesting by the way!), but it leaves him struggling to connect to the people around him. Most people brush him off as cold and uncaring with his nature of relying on logic for strategy.

Clearly though, Gale does care, and he is self-aware. He just has no idea how to express it all.

Gradually, Gale does begin to break, starting with the unease he feels with his unfulfilling role. He isn't allowed to fight alongside his comrades, nor do normal bishop duties (everything in the Junkyard is breaking), and he's essentially being grounded like a child, his ideas very often dismissed. With the weight of this and confusing, contradicting orders from his leader, we get to see Gale crack under all of this pressure. There is an expectation for him to be a bishop and listen to orders obediently, but to also change and adapt and understand everything like everyone else, including complex emotions. It’s a ridiculous expectation, of course, which leads me to a bit of an off-tangent point.

As an autistic person, reading and focusing on Gale’s perspective felt… painfully familiar. Sure, there are obvious things like his monotone voice and low variety in facial expression, things I also have. There’s also his hypersensitivity, something he is equipped with due to being a bishop. Additionally, there is a certain level of infantilization I think he is treated with, made more noticeable by the fact that he is the oldest in the Embryon. But something I also recognized as relatable was that inherent and instant expectation for Gale to quickly grasp the intentions of others and the nuances of their emotions and perspectives. In response, Gale begins to develop an ability to predict how people will react (e.g., he develops a tactical plan according to how he thinks Serph will like it and will respond to the current situation, his commanding style being of slight irrationality and emotional “hunches” that Gale doesn’t understand, but tries to) and he really does try to empathize with his comrades out of his own concern... it's just hard. And he isn't given much patience with it, clearly.

Additionally, he misses “obvious” social cues, yet is hyper-vigilant, or very self-aware in how he talks to people, to the point of fearing rejection or punishment. For example, he:

Thinks he's in trouble and being detained when Sera holds his hands when he goes unconscious, and is then assumed to be ungrateful

Misses sarcastic jokes by Cielo

Provides prolonged explanations that are usually unprompted, at least not to be in such high detail

Immediately assumes punishment from Serph when failing a certain responsibility he was given

I believe these are things that some, or many autistic people have experienced in their life. For me, I was recently diagnosed as an adult, and understanding the way I interact with others is eye-opening, yet frustrating and painful since it’s taken so many years of utter confusion to get here. Many of us grow up with a distinct feeling of "what is wrong with me?". I believe that Gale truly deserved some grace, but nothing ever goes well in QDS, sadly. I can promise you however, that Gale gets to learn and grow a lot in the series.

And if you want to know more about Gale in QDS, I'd be happy to share more. These novels deserve a lot more spotlight.

[journeytojaburo]

ZZ thoughts, comments, questions, concerns, etc…

Favorite Characters:

Favorite episodes: Prelude of ZZ, Hot-Blooded Mashymre, Crybaby Cecilia, Sibling Love Blooming in the South Seas, Leina's Blood, An Afternoon in Dublin, Falling Sky, Ple-Two Under Gravity, Emary's Glory, Vibration, Warrior Once More

Favorite Mobile Suits/Armors:

What I Liked:

While I do think the pacing of the finale could've been better, I was pleasantly surprised by how much it took from the first Gundam's finale with how Judau and Haman's encounter outside of their mobile suits paralleled Amuro and Char's swordfight and how Judau returned to the Nahel Argama on the almost wrecked ZZ (though it actually survived this time)

Not that its predecessors didn't have jokes, but this show was so funny some episodes made me practically laugh until my stomach hurt which those other shows didn't do

On a related note of humor, I think this show handled the transition from wacky adventures to more serious dramatics pretty well. It still maintained some wackiness up until the end though, which is nice

I liked that Judau interacted a lot more with the people he met and locations he traveled to in his obligatory Earth adventure because it made the world seemed more fleshed out. I also like that Judau's experiences on Earth are part of why he wanted to protect it so fiercely, even though he never lived there before himself

What Ple and Ple-Two's stories had to say about personhood and identity really resonated with me as a twin even if they're not really that. Speaking of, I wonder if any other Gundam shows (future entries in the Universal Century or not) are going to have random super sci-fi cloning shenanigans

Kamille's recovery from the injury he got during the Zeta finale not being linear or "perfect" was a nice bit of realism I appreciated. The whole story concept exploring how someone who has psychic powers (vaguely) would heal from brain damage considering that's where many stories say those powers come from was really interesting

What I Disliked:

I think the finale did a good job of wrapping up the story, but I wish it more than literally 5 and a half minutes (yes I timed it) to do an epilogue because it felt really rushed. I think the one thing that got glossed over quickly that I was surprised by was Ple-Two's death because in any other case I feel like at least Judau's reaction to it would have been shown

I wish I had liked the plotline of Judau and his friends getting left to their own devices on the Nahel Argama better, but I don't feel like they dug deep enough into the consequences that it had beyond the scene of Judau punching Bright in the finale. Like on one hand, it would be cruel for the AEUG to cut off Judau from the support system he gained all of a sudden (and also the plot literally couldn't continue as it was), but surely they could've at least brought the rest of the former Argama bridge crew on as extra moral support or something. It just feels bizarre to me to do a "the youth are the hope for the future" message about sending teenagers to war

Going on an unrelated tangent because this isn't something I disliked but it's related to the previous point here...Apparently there's rumors that the reason why Sayla wasn't really present in Zeta or ZZ was because her voice actress (Yo Inoue) wasn't available, and I kinda wonder if the reason Bright basically disappears from the show around when the Nahel Argama enters the picture is because of a similar situation with Hirotaka Suzuoki LOL

The amount of jokes in this show that boiled down to "Haha, wouldn't it be funny if a woman was harassing a man and making him uncomfortable 🤪" with Chara being the main perpetrator of them was really annoying

I was hoping Emary would eventually get a stronger character outside being in love with Bright, and while she did, I don't feel like it was enough to still not get on my nerves (bless her heart though). I don't think she needed to do a 180 and completely rebuke Bright or something, but playing up her love for Bright all the way until her untimely end and not even showing Bright's reaction to her death is a little unsatisfying...

This one is really petty, but I really did not like the outfits Judau and pals picked up like halfway through the show (Ple especially) 😭 I genuinely had tears of joy in my eyes when they put their old ones back on

Overall Conclusion: This was a fun show that was a nice breather from the despair of Zeta, with its own brand of fascinating dramatics. I wish we lived in the world where it got at least one more episode to make the end feel complete, but it did its best with what it had.

[masterwcrk]

rpcdev's Fantasy Lounge Launch prompt - Portals.

(except I went on one hell of a vaguely related tangent, love me.)

🍄 :: Where is your muse’s favorite place in the world? If they had a portal that opened to one place, where would they want that place to be and why? Does it hold sentimental significance or does something else draw them there?

Portals are incredibly relevant for all verses built off her Centurian variant - Marvel, Supernatural, & The Last of Us being the current active ones. Each of those verses are founded on the plot point of Clary having isolated herself from her support network & anything familiar after suffering a pyrrhic victory during the Battle of the Burren.

variant from canon: In canon, Clary separates Jace (her soulmate) from her brother's demonic influence with the angelic sword Glorious & the battle ends with Sebastian & his army fleeing + Jace freed. In this variant, instead of freeing Jace, Glorious & its contained heavenly fire kills both of them instantly.

In fandom verses built off this variant, Lilith eventually tracks down Clary - now her universe's equivalent of special forces, a Centurian - & decides the only fitting punishment for killing her precious son is for Clary to suffer a similar loss. She opens a portal to a different dimension & throws her through it. Because of the nature of mirror dimensions, things are familiar enough that Clary will always be reminded of what she's lost in that the same buildings & streets will exist but they'll have drastically different purposes & the things that marked them as familiar or worse, home, will be absolutely absent.

In her Marvel verse, this has manifested with her taking up residence in what would have been her step-father's old bookstore & apartment. Initially, she tried to set it up exactly as she remembered but as time wore on, she eventually started putting her own spin on it & making actually home in her own way. She hasn't actually tried to visit the Institute yet in any incarnation of that verse, but given how strongly she associates that physical place with incredibly, painfully deep emotional connections, the fallout from seeing it stripped of everything that made it meaningful would likely be utterly disastrous.

In her Last of Us verse, I haven't gotten to explore the fallout but I do know that seeing the places she cared about so deeply having been abandoned twenty years prior to her coming through a portal, coupled with a complete & total absence of the people that once gave them that special meaning would go a long way towards nearly breaking her before she's even really had a chance to face any new developments, setting the stage for some pretty explosive emotions right off the bat.

Pan-verse, a lot of her growth centers around coming to terms with home being more than the stone & mortar of a physical place, as well as the value she ends up placing on relationships instead of nostalgia. In many cases, I’ve actually had to debate if she would take the offer of a portal home after she’s established herself in a new dimension or not.

The only verse I've gotten close to exploring this as a concept is her Marvel verse & that's hinged very heavily on what connections she's forged in her new life & the weight of the emotional attachment + time passed, but ultimately I think it's very, very possible that she might take a portal back to her former dimension to tie up loose ends - leave a message that she's okay, maybe, or to at least say goodbye - but ultimately even if she never sets foot across that threshold again, she'd be at peace staying in her new home dimension because home is the people she loves, not the physical place itself.

A lot of this has to do with the fact that Clary is very externally motivated. It’s not that she doesn’t value herself, it’s just that the people in her life are incredibly anchoring so if she has the choice to be with them or near them, she’s going to gravitate to them in not only a physical sense but an emotional one - no matter how comfortable she is in having just herself for company.

This is something she's actually forced to contend with heavily in this collection of verses; she punishes herself heavily by forcibly staying away from those people & those locations for a decade (in the variant verse itself) or up until the point she's thrown through the portal & now no longer has a choice in being near them.

TL; DR: The first few days, even weeks of those verses, she would absolutely no questions asked take a portal home but as time goes on she's going to reforge those connections in her own unique ways & ultimately it would heavily depend on what, or who, she ends up identifying as her special place (home) when the notion of portals comes back up as a viable option.

[maximusboltaqon]

This is a loaded question, and I've asked it on another Inhumans fan blog, but what's your take on the possibility that Black Bolt is autistic-coded? Or that Black Bolt and Maximus are both autistic, but express it differently because Maximus has comorbidities such as brain injury?

Obviously, there is no one-on-one real life analogue for Black Bolt's destructive voice, or his isolation while trying to control his powers. However, I see it as symbolic of how people without mental mouth filters can destroy conversations and relationships by saying the wrong thing. While Black Bolt's voice causes actual destruction, he's also done plenty to wreck his relationship with his loved ones (Ahura, for example). His isolation and training to keep silent would then be symbolic of people who clam up because they believe they can never say the right thing.

While it's more likely that artists are choosing to be lazy, there's also scenes where Black Bolt does not try to communicate, even in sign language. Or scenes where, though he is signing, he never communicates more than the basics. It could be that, in a face-to-face conversation, he has no way to describe what he is actually feeling at a given time. Certainly he and Maximus have had several errors in communication where Maximus believes Black Bolt hates him and wants revenge, but Black Bolt loves him and only wants to help, but he struggles to find a way to actually convey that to his brother.

There's also stories where Black Bolt, like his friend and fellow autistic-coded Reed Richards, has run off and done something unorthodox by both human and Inhuman standards, not bothering to explain himself before hand because it actually made sense to his personal logic. It's led to a lot of misconceptions over his motives and character, even among his closest friends. By the time things are over , Black Bolt, like Reed, always forgives them for doubting him, likely because he's used to this treatment. On the other hand, Maximus holds grudges a mile long over even misconstrued doubts and slights.

Finally, there's the fact that in scenarios where Black Bolt can talk, whether it's an AU, or he has some sort of power nullifier, there's moments where he's gone on tangents and needs to be steered back to the actual topic at hand. This is, again, something I have experience with.

Overall, it would be interesting to see how neither Black Bolt nor Maximus are neurotypical, but they express it differently. And it would be one more vulnerability to add to Black Bolt, who usually seems so stoic and regal.

hmmm.. this is definitely interesting to think about. imo one of the most interesting things about the inhumans is how terrible their society is (was) despite so many of the royal family going directly against those societal expectations. triton needing accommodations to be on land, gorgon using a wheelchair/having chronic pain, maximus having prosthetics and being neurodivergent (i really wish they would go into more specifics with that! it all feels so vague… especially since sometimes they explain it as something other than a disorder).

and as some other people have mentioned, there’s definitely some subtext for triton, though he hasn’t appeared in too many of the comics i’ve read so far, so i can’t comment much on him. i do think an argument could be made for karnak, as well, though! though maybe that's just me. i find some of his personality very relatable.

but back to the boltagons. considering the comics have commented more than once that ahura could “inherent maximus’ madness”, and there’s that one comic (more than one?) where bb’s tuning fork is damaged and he begins hallucinating (just like maximus!), i think there’s definitely something that runs in the family that agon could very well have also had. whether it’s autism specifically, i’m not sure i could really say, as i haven’t been diagnosed with it, so i really can’t speak from any type of experience on that. but i do think you make very good points, and i certainly don’t think he’s neurotypical, based off what the comics have stated and his upbringing! (i like to think he also has social anxiety)

plus, as you mentioned the comics where he does talk - in those that i’ve read, it seems even then he keeps the tuning fork. i very strongly believe it has some type of control over his mental state, something that agon would have created for him while he was very young, and something he wouldn’t know how to exist without… that tied with the communication issues, his general personality of appeasing, his tangents in zombies (man, did i love him in zombies, even if it was such a short role), i can definitely see it. it would 100% add to his character, and i think would also give further reasoning into some of his decisions, especially maximus or ahura related. i would love a comic focused on the three and their mental health.

[writinandcrying]

Hellou!Im the persone who asked about requests a while back(Mainly because I didnt wanna overwhelm you if theyre closed) and Im really glad they are.Anyway,could I request Donnie(TMNT),Tamaki(BNHA) and/or FatGum(BNHA)(Also,I hope I havent gone over the character limit) with a slightly chubby s/o?(Insecure or not,you chose!).You dont have to do this if you dont want to tho!Have a nice week❤

Hellou! Thank you so much for being so thoughtful, I’ll have to apologize tho, I no longer write for bnha, I had a huge burnout fand I do not feel comfortable writing about it anymore, I hope a veeeery detailed Donnie reaction to a chubby reader will make up for the absence of those characters! ♥️

Tmnt - Donnie x Chubby reader (Gender Neutral!)

I’ll have to start that all of the boys wouldn’t judge or reject you based on your appearance, being either chubby, slim, tall, short, there are a few attributes that I think each turtle would find it e seeing or interesting, but it’s more… humanly related(?) maybe one day I’ll make a post about it if you guys wanna hear my opinion on it hehe :)

Donnie(generalized) x Chubby Reader:

just like there are certain stuff about the turtles that they like and dislike about themselves, there are stuff about humans who think the same about themselves! and even though Donnie knows there are beauty standards that control many areas in humans society, he still doesn’t understand why people outcast those who are different

I think some of us (readers / shippers) get a bit :C when thinking about Donnie bc in almost every version, he had a crush on April (who is a babe in every. Version. Specially rise, I love rise-April so much, and that’s the only apriltello I’ll let it slide lmao) and that can give a “perception” that he wouldn’t even glance at some of us ( “us” = being a huge group, trans, guys, chubby girls, chubby guys, skinny girls and guys, everyone who doesn’t fit the normie mold I guess- I unfortunately think about that often. Which sucks cuz I gotta remind myself that isn’t true!!! At all!!)

I personally Headcanon Donnie being… I don’t know if interested would be the correct word, but more intrigued with how humans relate to each other, on their first missions, he knew they could… scare some of them off, “frightened by their own prejudice” as master splinter would say, but it’s far more different to hear about it than to actually live it, and it hurts to hear someone scream their heart out just by seeing you

While growing up, he started to notice not only in television, on and off midia, how people would mess around with others on the street just because of their appearance, he knew society worked though this beauty standards, but he didn’t understand it. It didn’t made sense! value someone based on what they look like? There are so many things, so many attributes to make someone interesting, and you gonna pick the most…. Boring? Plain? Vague? Shallow reason to create privilege over others? Really? (And thst enters on the topic of how almost all beauty standards are rooted in white privileged and racism but I’ll go on a tangent about it once I start it and I’ve already said a lot lols)

He could literally go on for hours about this topic (which he has. At least tried with each one of his brothers, but they never really responded well to so said topic “if humans have it bad, then what do we have left?” Raphael barked back once, an attempt to shut him up, which it worked, btw- he didn’t like to go through that direction when thinking about that topic, but yeah, what does he have left?)

He started searching about different aesthetics, ethnicities, he has folders on Pinterest dedicated different body types, cultures, he swears it’s for research reasons, which kinda is, but Donnie’s guilty pleasure is checking “different” people online, those who would deem strange and weird outside the internet, he liked seeing their content and specially their comment sections being filled with wonderful compliments, people relating to different styles and tastes, that gave him hope that there are someone out there with different views of how everyone should be “shaped”, and that maybe he will find someone who thinks he’s handsome and desirable (Donnie, just like Raph, is also insecure about his body, but he’s more… melancholic about it, if you confessed to Raphael, there would be a high change of him pushing you away, trying not to break his heart from actually believing you, while DonDon here, if you both started dating- on some days Donnie would need more reassurance that yes, his partner does think he’s handsome/hot/attractive. Otherwise he might internalize his insecurities and it will be HARD to get a confession “why he’s so upset out of the sudden” from this turtle)

With that being said!!!! (My god I do know how to ramble) without even realizing, Donnie open his “preferences���? Let’s say, Became more open minded than most, While seeking comfort for himself, and when he says he doesn’t have a type, he really doesn’t. There are so many aesthetics that could be attractive! punks, goths, cottagecore, y2k, dark academia, light academia, grunge, fairycore, alt, the list is endless! And don’t get him started on physical attributes cuz there are so many different combinations that some how, people manage to connect the most random ones and make it look great

Donnie wouldnt fall for someone specially bc of their appearance, or that would be the first reason he would fall head over heels, when you think about it, what happened to April it was that she was extremely passionate and dedicated to *insert which cause she was fighting for* and took Donnie seriously, that light up a lightbulb in his head that has never been on before, people showing how ardently they can be into something, how much they care and such, that’s attractive to him, and after that, everything that person does, or is, suddenly becomes beautiful and amazing for Donnie

Withthatbeingsaidpart2- if Donnie did fall for someone more on the chubbier side, their “plumpy-ness” would def be something to call his attention out after he developed feelings, he longed for your hugs, specially after he found out how soft and warm they were, he actually started having more naps after you caught his heart, imaging how it would be to cuddle someone as soft as you while hugging his pillow late at night on his bed (which eventually he would doze off from day dreaming so much)

Talking about day dreaming, Donnie can totally lose himself in his mind, just like with his projects, he can imerse himself in a fantasy about you two easily, which makes him totally freeze when you show up and he actually have to say or do something he has been constantly dreaming about

So please confess first, cuz when I say he can lose himself in his daydreams, that can last for months until he actually gathers courage to do something about it

While in a relationship, Donnie is totally a hopeless romantic, but not the typical “roses and candlelight’s dinner” kind, as your boyfriend, he wants to help you out no matter what, he will make aaaaas many inventions as he can that might increase the quality of your life, becomes easier to do… whatever, literally. And he always longs for your adorable reactions to his gifts

He adores your chubby cheeks, he will! Get lost! in your face! Your eyes! Eveything! He will oh so slowly caress his knuckles softly across it, sliding to your neck, traveling through your arms, he likes to squish your face a bit as well while cupping it when he goes for a kiss, he just thinks everything about you is adorable (and hot at the same time)

He really like the contraste his skin has with yours, it’s so foreign for him and he can’t help but to love how smooth your skin can be, (which leads his mind to ahem. Certain kind of thoughts. If you know what I mean)

Just like he needs reassurance about his appearance, he knows you probably had to deal with more than one unpleasant comment about your physique, so you don’t even have to ask, Donnie is so whipped with you, compliments about you just drip of his tongue, and it’s always so sweet, followed by a pair of soft eyes, always admiring you, plus, Donnie is a science / fact man, he would gather information about other cultures that value more curvy, chubby, bigger people, he would go as far as making a slide presentation how wonderful and more inclusive people are being (even if it doesn’t seams like it, and there’s still a long way to go) he would include real opinions online other than his on the matter that your body is indeed, a snack, (aaaaaand he is once again right, aaaaand just like everyone else you just have to live with it and accept it 😌 end of story)

He would definitely “put up to test” his theory of how amazing it is to cuddle someone who’s more on the chubbier side (and his theory is ✅ correct)

Cuddling becomes a weekly thing for you guys, that being you sitting on his lap, having naps, watching movies together, he loves to create or update his projects with you on his lap, holding you grounds him. Plus it’s easier to speak some kisses on your cheeks that way

He finds out some people on the heavier side stops themselves to live some experiences the hard way, he never wants to make you uncomfortable, ever. But it takes a while for him to understand why wouldn’t you like to, as an example, wear a bathing suit/ swimwear around other people, wearing lighter clothes when it’s absurdly hot during winter time, that you don’t like when he picks you up? things that don’t connect right away. he promises himself to never force you to do anything you don’t want to, but he slowly will try to support you to do whatever you have always wanted to but stopped yourself from doing so bc of your weight

He would take extra time while making out with you, he wants you to know how much he loves your body, every inch of it. Lowkey likes to drag his nails on your tights and mark you

Overall? Donnie is extremely thoughtful, independently of how his partner look like, if they were “part” of some sort of outcast from society, he would take his sweet time to show how important and special his partner is, he is extremely thankful to be able to experience love, something that not only him, but all of the boys, thought it was out of their reach for a really long time, so you bet he’s going to show how appreciative he is oof your love, of all of you 💜

I really tired to innovate a bit here, didn’t want to add the same stuff as other Headcanons that already exists (I mean, Its cute to read how we as writing blogs / authors “agree” on how the boys would react in certain situations, which it is a FactTM that Donnie is a sweetheart. but it’s also good to read new stuff, oooor you know, a new perspective of it, even if it is a “common” / “already done” scenario, you know? )

even if I mostly rambled about Donnie’s personality analysis than to actual stuff he would do or act around an chubby reader lmao, I truly hope you like this! I didn’t proof read this so I’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes hehe

[gretel-moonlit]

The funniest part is there's not even a need to bully Celes to show off her nerdiness. Just let her talk long enough and eventually she'll expose herself for the cringy awkward chuunibyou loser she is

oh true true her whole thing does kind of fall apart when you talk to her enough and you even have a vague idea of how fancy rich people actually act

literally she was already kind of exposing herself by her second free time event where she takes makoto to the kitchen and then tries to get him to make her gyoza without telling him she likes gyoza in the most awkward way possible and then ends up telling him where she's from (he didn't really even ask she just got there trying to explain why she brought him here) it's an entire mess and that's just one free time event, there are many other examples, especially if you get into v3's talent development plan and danganronpa S

this isn't really related, but people also ignore how she clearly likes to talk and go on and on about things she likes and it makes me sad because I think it's great. like her whole tangent on zero sum games that literally no one asked for? incredible. she likes to explain things and I love that for her

also I don't think anyone trying to bully her would even have to talk to her for long, they'd clock her as a complete nerd on sight, literally there is an essay in my brain about how Celeste acts so much like someone who was bullied as a kid but that's for another day

[gakkubi]

Hi! Sorry to bother you, this feels like a bit of a loaded ask;;

So I'm currently working on a big ol fic and the ame trio (and original akatsuki) are a part of it. It has 3 original characters (2 being parents and one being a young child) that join Akatsuki. I was wondering if you had any tips for writing the ame trio as sort of older siblings to this kid? Also any general tips on writing the trio would be nice too if you have the time... I really love your work regarding the three. 💖

Hello!! Wow, this is such a lovely and fun ask! It's not a loaded question at all. I'm glad that you feel like asking my opinion on this, our own works are such personal things! I'm also super excited to know more people who are working on creative content (art & writing) with the Ame Oprhans. <3

I'll try to give an answer as detailed and helpful as possible! Leaving it below the cut because it will also be long, as I can't manage to be cohesive lmao.

I hope it's not a problem, but I'll rearrange a bit the order of your questions: first, general pointers about the Ame Orphans (+ Hanzo and Amegakure), and then how it'd relate to them being older siblings to your OCs.

The original Akatsuki timeline: I think the context of what was happening in the Land of Rain during the time of the original Akatsuki is a bit messy/vague, which makes it hard to understand, that's why I'm including it in the answer.

Bear with me for a little while, I know it feels like I'll be going on a tangent but I believe to better understand the characters, it's important we understand their environment just as much.

--- First off, I think it's good to clear up that the Akatsuki was not opposed to Hanzo (or his government). This is a misconception I see rather frequently, and it contradicts directly a lot of Yahiko's own actions - why would he want to ally with Hanzo if the Akatsuki was opposed to him? It's important to keep in mind that the trap that got Yahiko killed only happened because Hanzo "wanted to use the Akatsuki's influence to assist with peace negotiations between the three countries (waging the Third War)". (Ch.446). That is why Hanzo betrayed them... you can't betray your enemies.

I believe the misconception comes from, well, the fact that Hanzo killed Yahiko, and the fact that Kyusuke saw the Ame Orphans wearing hitai-ates with the Rain symbol, assumed they worked with Hanzo and stated that in a very... snarky manner. (Ep. 346).

Was Hanzo popular? Was he hated? Both? I don't think we have canon information enough to state either. What we know is that Yahiko (and, in extent, the Akatsuki) had a goal of working with him, or at least not against him - after all, the Akatsuki was all about estabilishing peace, not more conflict.

"Just like Hanzo, we hope that one day we'll be able to bring peace to the shinobi world..." Yahiko on Ep.346, English dub.

--- What was the Akatsuki's goal besides, well, world peace?

As far as we know, Rain didn't have a central government (like Fire and the other Great Nations had the Kage and Daimyo) -- Rain is not ever even called a "Country", probably because of that. When you a weak/non-existant/unstable government in a nation, it opens space for the rise of criminal factions. You don't have to search too much to get reference for that; crime-dominated cities are good examples, even if in smaller scales, for what happens when governments lose control to factions (mafia, gangs). When these factions wage war against each other, citizens suffer. In Rain, you also have the factor of Rain being occupied and used as battlefield for the Third War. We can assume the Akatsuki was trying to peacefully work against both of these situations.

Achieving "world peace" is a very broad goal -- you can try to do that through many different ways, as Nagato (post Yahiko's death) and Madara show us. We can tell through the story that Yahiko's Akatsuki, on a daily basis, tried to pave the way to world peace through local action: being the "guardians" of small villages (ep.346) and protecting it from local criminal gangs, as well as more 'international' actions such as helping (interfering?) with the conflics between the Great Nations (ep.347).

In this regard, we can also safely assume the Akatsuki grew to be known/powerful enough to have influence, or at least enough to pose as a threat to Hanzo; they were not just a small little group ninja among other similar groups of ninja. I think it's quite safe to assume that a lot of people heard about the Akatsuki (and the three main leaders), given that they caught the attenttion of Danzo, who is not even a Rain citizen...

2. The Ame Orphans.

I have a series of analysis of the Ame Trio as inviduals if you want to read, so I'll try to keep a simpler answer here, and more directed at your question.

I think writing them as older siblings to your character would depend a lot, of course, in what is the relationship of your character with them. Are they a member of the Akatsuki?�� If so, what is their role in the Akatsuki? Are they trying to figure out where they fit, or do they start more or less knowing what is it that they will do?²

¹ Side note: You did mention one of the characters being a kid - if your child character ends up joining the Akatsuki... I wonder how the process of bringing a child into an organization that deals with war will work in the first place? We know the Shinobi World doesn't oppose children dealing with violence -- but how do the Ame Orphans, who are rebels against the system, feel about it? I'm very curious. I can totally see the Akatsuki having a "younger members" section, but I also feel like there would be some resistance to that idea. I wonder if this will cause some conflict until they decide what to do about your OC? Will they all be on the same page? Will of some of them be too idealistic ("we can't do what everyone else does and involve children with violence") and others be too realistic ("this is the world we live now, and we need to play the game to change the rules")? ² Side note: Especially for the adult characters, I think their "roles" will influence a lot with which of the ame orphans they'll interact most. Yahiko is the leader, of course, which means that he will probably interact with everyone more or less equally, and for that same reason will probably be in too much constant hurry to be present all the time. I think Nagato and Konan are the ones you can have a lot more freedom in this regard!

--- I don't think making the Trio behave as "older siblings" would be, in any way, OOC - in fact, it's entirely in their character to do that very naturally and instantly.

Yahiko is the most obvious one in this regard, having cared for Konan and Nagato with a (quite extreme) overprotection, and then serving as the leader of the Akatsuki and caring for everyone else. We saw how Nagato behaved as the Akatsuki's leader as well; he was distant in many ways (for obvious reasons), but he disliked name-calling between the members and chose members with similar interests to work "better" together (I mean, Kishimoto did, but you can extend that to him). We saw how he behaved with Naruto during the Edo Tensei, warm and proud and also worried about hurting him with his own powers. And Konan was the one Jiraiya called "happy and caring", and despite the coldness we usually associate with her (after Yahiko's death) she really was; she gifted Jiraiya with flowers, made origami to play with Chibi, and then gifted Naruto with flowers right after all the Pain Arc ordeal. She has a will of doing good to others that is very natural to her.

--- I find that, in order to highlight a character's virtues, we have to first identify and understand a character's flaws -- and in the Ame Orphan's case, how these flaws strain the relationship between them and how this can affect the relationship between your characters and them.

We know that Yahiko was so convinced that Nagato was the one to "save" their country and so adamant on the idea of having him as the Akatsuki's leader, he didn't really care for Nagato's (and Konan's) own opinions about it. (Ch 509/510). Of course his fiery will is a reason why Yahiko is admired, but couldn't his tunnel vision on his ideals also make him excessively busy and even hard to work with? We have a pretty clear implication that YahiKona didn't 100% happen because he was so stubborn on pushing Konan to be with Nagato despite neither of them wanting it. I'm not sure if YahiKona is a thing in your story, but if canon Yahiko was too focused on his goals to allow himself to be in a relationship with the person he loved, and even disregard their beloved's own desires, one can only wonder what it means for his other relationships...

Konan, like him, is someone who is also loyal and duty-oriented. Pretty much everything she does in Naruto is because she's extremely focused on her goals. She stays with Nagato after Yahiko's death, despite not fully agreeing with him or his methods (as implied in canon and stated in Akatsuki Hiden), because she's loyal to him (her family). Her whole reason to fight Obito is because he's a direct threat to her ideals and goals and family (as Nagato believed in Naruto). If Yahiko is insufferably loyal to his ideals, then Konan isn't all that much better, maybe just less obviously so. In Akatsuki Hiden, she misses a pretty obvious implication Nagato makes about them (YahiKona) because she can't think of anything besides the Akatsuki. Again, even if YahiKona isn't a thing in your story, one can only wonder how such extreme focus (and little thought for anything else) affects her relationships.

Nagato is, of course, also loyal and duty-focused, but he has a factor neither of the previous have, which is the Rinnegan. Jiraiya states that he mastered all jutsu natures (fire, water, etc) by age 10 - in the flashbacks, we only see him using "normal" ninjutsu. Nagato does not use the Rinnegan willingly until after Yahiko's death. He can't, and he doesn't want to; we know he is scared of the powers he can't control. Think about it; Nagato is a person who is scared of himself. He's scared of what he can do, because he can't control his powers once they unleash. How confortable can he be, interacting with others, if he has such a relationship with himself? We know he is nervous, insecure, hesitant despite being so powerful - maybe that's why he relies so much on Konan, and especially Yahiko. How confortable would he be with protecting others, if he can't safely use his own powers to their full extent?

3) Now, back to your character - how the "older sibling" relationship could estabilish.

Please note that this will be heavily influenced by how I would write such a thing, based on their personalities. It will be wonderful if you agree, but feel free to disregard if any of these don't sit right with you at all~!

I think Yahiko is the easiest one to know; we has a pretty strong tendency to protect the "weaklings". Konan and Nagato are way more powerful than him, we know, but only physically. From the start, they relied on him for everything, and kept on relying on a lot as the years went by. I think it would be extremely natural for Yahiko to take someone under his wing if they seem too lost or too much in need of guidance.

I believe Konan, on the other hand, would have her attention caught by someone who doesn't obviously need so much support. We know Yahiko is loud and expensive, and we know how quiet and composed Konan is compared to him - so I think someone who puts on a strong façade, but shows cracks of maybe needing help, needing to talk, needing care, would be the one to catch her eye more than others. It would be a more delicate relationship, one that Yahiko (being so blunt and on hurry all the time) could easily miss. And maybe you're thinking: "that also sounds like Nagato" - yes, I think Nagato and Konan gravitate towards similar things in general.

But Nagato has the Rinnegan, which adds a complexity factor that Konan, despite all of their similarities, doesn't have. We associate Nagato's behavior with insecurity and shyness, but we don't associate Konan with either of those, despite her also being a quiet and reserved character - Konan has full control of her powers, whereas Nagato doesn't. I think Nagato would face an internal conflict when meeting new people and estabilshing relationships: a tendency to be kind and helpful vs. a tendency to isolate because of the general sense of fear he constantly lives in. Your OC being a child would only amplify that: the desire of protecting someone who is fragile, especially considering how much the trauma of being orphaned impacted him (he knows "pain"), vs. the expanded fear of hurting that person who is so much more fragile than most (a child, not an adult). Maybe that extra nervousness could call the attention of the other rain orphans...?

-- So, I know I talked a lot, and I hope this will be helpful (or at least interesting) for you. It was surely a lot of fun thinking about all of this to answer your question, and I'm curious how your imagination will build this story~!

I hope you're having fun writing it, and I'll be super eager to read it once you publish it. :) Good luck! I'm sending a lot of creative vibes for you. 🌸

[theladyofdeath]

Tempting the Fates {Chapter 4}

Summary: It’s the final semester of Aelin Galathynius’ collegiate career and she is so beyond ready to be done. Her schedule is packed full of nursing classes and labs designed to test her knowledge and hone her skills for the real world and her “big girl” job. However, she needs one last elective to graduate, so she decides to study a subject she’s always been fascinated by: Mythology. Who would have thought that a class about gods and goddesses living complicated lives would end up complicating her own in such an unexpected way?

Word Count: 2550

Chapters will be posted every Wednesday.

Tempting the Fates Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist

Tara’s Masterlist

Apollo

– God of light, prophecy, inspiration, poetry, the sun, music and arts, medicine and healing

Aelin tried to convince herself that she got up and got ready two hours early for class because of her busy schedule. She kept telling herself it was for the meeting she had with her advisor, about a possible internship at the end of the semester.

She knew that both reasons, while extremely important, were full of shit. She knew she’d showered, blow dried and curled her hair for Rowan. It wasn’t that she was trying to impress him. She’d already done that and the chance she had to be with him had come and gone.

No, now it was about proving to him that even though this class may be a gen ed, she was taking it seriously.

Dropping the class had crossed her mind. She really didn’t need to take it, she could still find a different one to pick up. But she didn’t want to think about the sort of impression it would leave about her.

If there was anything to know about Aelin Galathynius, it was that she was not a quitter, nor did she run from her problems.

Or heartaches.

With one last look in the mirror, and a whistle from Lysandra, Aelin was out the door and hurrying across campus. She grabbed a coffee on the way, but avoided her usual place, knowing full well that Rowan enjoyed the same famous cafe that she did.

He wasn’t there yet when she got to the hall, but she took the same seat she had the class before.

She wondered if Rowan would be looking for her this time.

She quickly shook the thought away.

With her hot coffee on the corner of her fold up desk, she was pulling out her notebook and a pen, waiting anxiously for class to begin.

For him to walk through the door.

Apparently he liked to be right on the dot, though, because students continued to wander in, but he did not.

She was tapping her pen against her notebook, doing her best not to stare at the clock. She was just anxious for her day to start. It wasn’t that she wanted to see Rowan.

Professor Whitethorn, she amended in her head. She had to quit thinking of him as Rowan. She couldn’t think of him like that anymore, his body pressing into hers, lips on her neck, as he—

Shaking her head, Aelin sighed and suddenly realized that the rest of the class had hushed. She was so focused on reprimanding herself for her highly inappropriate thoughts that she hadn’t noticed him come through the door and begin setting up for class. When she dared to glance towards the front, she found his eyes on her. He quickly looked away, going back to his laptop and setting up the PowerPoint on screen.

Maybe he hadn’t been looking at her.

Maybe it had all been in her mind.

But she didn’t think it had been.

He had been watching her.

“Happy Thursday, class,” he began, as the title page of his presentation flashed onto the board. “Glad to see you all showed up again. Must mean my first class didn’t suck.” Quiet laughter thrummed through the room. Aelin couldn’t muster a laugh, though. “On Tuesday, we covered the basics. So, today… Sorry, we’re doing that again.”

More laughter, especially from the pretty, flirty girls up front.

Aelin couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Which, when she settled her eyes back on Rowan, he definitely saw.

Come on, get your shit together, she chastised herself. With her back straightened, she gave him her full attention.

She took dutiful notes, but his slides didn’t hold much in the way of information. They were mostly headers, with a few bullet points. Most of the important information, information she knew would be critical for homework or exams, came straight from Rowan’s mouth.

It was clear that he loved mythology, that it wasn’t just a class his aunt had tossed his way and told him to figure it out. He was a trove of knowledge and she noticed he had a habit of going on slight tangents when he got going on a topic he was clearly interested in.

After a student asked him to clarify what he meant about Hercules not being Zeus’ only son, he ended up talking for nearly twenty minutes about what the beloved Disney movie had gotten wrong. Aelin had stopped taking notes and was watching him go on and on about how Hades, while god of the underworld, was not necessarily a villain. He just had a job to do. A job that had rules that must be followed, or the consequences could damn not only him, but others involved. His eyes found hers again and the amused smile on her face fell as she made the correlation between their own situation and the story.

They held each other’s gazes for far longer than was appropriate, and Rowan cleared his throat, going back to the PowerPoint, and the  predetermined lesson plans he’d made, which didn’t include children’s movie breakdowns.

She watched him.

She listened.

And she found it all fascinating. 

Rowan peeked at the clock after going on and on, and stilled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, I guess I’ll end there. There is an assignment due by tomorrow evening. You can find and submit it online. It’s an opinion piece. I want a little insight as to why you were so interested to take this class, or what you’ve found fascinating so far.” He sat on his desk, his legs hanging over the side, his feet nearly touching the ground as he leaned back on his palms. Aelin found it charming. “You’re going to write a short essay telling me of your favorite deity. It could be one I’ve talked about so far, or one I haven’t. It’s your choice. But, tell me why they are your favorite. Give me a little depth. And, remember, this is a college course. Grammar counts.”

The clock struck nine-thirty and everyone began packing up. Aelin had been so captivated by his voice that she had to snap herself back to reality.

She quickly packed up her bag, alongside the other students around her. She noticed then how young they all were, and she was willing to bet that she may be the only senior on the roster. As she was descending the stairs, she found Rowan’s eyes on her again, but he looked away as his attention was taken, thanks to the group of girls who’d been sitting in the front row. She heard vague questions of whether they could all write about Aphrodite, since they all related to her.

The scoff Aelin thought she’d kept to herself had apparently been out loud, since not only Rowan looked at her as she passed, but so did the three girls. With his attention on her again, she decided to give him a little wave.

“See you later, Professor Whitethorn.”

If there was some extra sway to her hips, it wasn’t on purpose.

At least that’s what she told herself.

Two and a half hours later, Aelin was starving. She’d just gotten out of an extremely complicated lab and she could barely focus over the growling of her stomach. Twice, the instructor had looked over at her, half expecting to find a dog stashed under the table she was working at.

So when the class let out, she was hurrying toward the cafeteria ready to get a salad from the salad bar and a big ass slice of pizza.

It was all about balance. 

As she was waiting in line to fill her plate with salad, she heard a voice behind her.

“Are you actually getting lettuce or just filling your plate with ham, cheese, and croutons?” 

Aelin looked over her shoulder to find Chaol, her ex, suppressing a smile.

Aelin chuckled. “If it’s the same price, you may as well pile up on the good stuff.” 

Chaol gave her a small smile. “Fair enough. It’s good to see you, Aelin. You look good.”

Things hadn’t ended the best between her and Chaol, but that had been just after freshman year. At least now when they ran into one another, they could have nice little conversations like this one.

No hard feelings.

“You too,” she said, and he did. He’d been in an accident the year before. They weren’t sure he was going to walk again. In all honesty, it was just good to see him on his feet.

“How long until your class?” He asked, sliding his tray along behind hers.

She glanced down at her watch. “About forty five minutes. You?”

“This is my long break,” he sighed. “I’ve got an hour and a half, but didn’t feel like leaving campus. Want to have lunch with me?”

“Sure.” Her smile wasn’t forced, it was easy and she was glad they could even do this, when three years again, they could barely be in the same room.

“I assume you’re getting a piece of pizza after this,” Chaol said with a smirk, nodding towards her plate. “So I’ll grab us a table while you get the rest of your lunch.”

She scoffed but nodded, and went off to get a slice of pizza. When she ordered her pizza, she also got a slice of cheesecake. It was his favorite, something she hadn’t forgotten, but it didn’t hurt that she liked it, too.

Finding him in the cafeteria, she sat down at the table across from him. “How’s Yrene doing?”

He blushed, and Aelin had to admit it was adorable. After his accident, he’d fallen for his physical therapist, and she was just as smitten with him. It must have been all the one-on-one sessions, because Chaol had never been one to let someone in. Aelin had met Yrene early in her med classes, but Yrene had specialized in PT and graduated in less than three years, taking as many classes as she could manage and even studying through the summers as well.

“It’s going good,” he said, at last. “We, uh, just moved in together, actually.”

Aelin lifted a brow. “That was fast.”

Chaol shot her a look.

Aelin laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, good for you. I like Yrene. A lot. You two are good together.”

Chaol cleared his throat before taking a bite of his salad. “Thanks.” 

Aelin chuckled, taking a bite of her pizza.

Chaol blinked. “What?”

“You get so uncomfortable when it comes to feelings,” she said. “Always have.”

His eyes narrowed at her. “That’s not true.”

Aelin stopped mid-chew and raised a brow.

Even Chaol couldn’t help but chuckle at the expression. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. What about you? Seeing anyone?”

Aelin hesitated, then said, “No.”

A slow grin appeared on Chaol’s mouth. “Didn’t sound so sure about what one.”

Aelin shrugged. “Better be nice or I’m not sharing this magnificent cheesecake with you.”

Holding up his hands in placation, Chaol went back to his salad. Rowan was a dangerous topic, one she wouldn’t share with anyone but Lysandra, so she summed it up quickly. “Met someone I thought I hit it off with. Turns out we didn’t work.”

He slowly nodded. Aelin knew he’d had a couple failed relationships between her and Yrene. “I get it, I’m sorry. Still sucks.”

Shrugging again, she turned to her salad. “It happens. Not a big deal. So if you’re living with Yrene, does that mean you and Dorian broke up? Or is he playing house with you, too?”

Chaol leveled her with a look. Chaol and Dorian had been best friends long before they came to the University of Orynth. They were both from Adarlan, both trying to get away from overbearing fathers, and decided college across the country was the way to do it. They’d been roommates every year and Aelin couldn’t even imagine Chaol living with anyone except Dorian. But now he was. “He moved into an apartment with Manon this semester when I moved in with Yrene.”

Aelin blinked. “Blackbeak? He moved in with Manon Blackbeak?”

Nodding, Chaol went on. “Apparently, they’ve been dating for about a year, without anyone noticing.”

Something in the way he said it told Aelin that he had noticed, but when Dorian had his mind set on something, there was no stopping him. And apparently, he’d decided to date one of the most terrifying women on campus.

Aelin’s response was eloquent. “Wow.”

Chaol grinned. “I like it when you’re caught off guard. It’s satisfying.”

With a scoffed she nudged his leg with the toe of her sneaker. “Well, I don’t. Dorian will be getting a very angry phone call this afternoon.”

“I’ll be sure to give him a warning,” Chaol promised.

Aelin chuckled, taking the last bite of her pizza. “It’s good to see you all happy, though. Really.”

Chaol’s eyes softened. “Thanks, Aelin.”

She nodded. “Even if I am terrified that Dorian will get eaten alive.”

Chaol laughed, and she had forgotten how nice Chaol’s rare, hearty laugh was.

She meant it. She was so happy for them, both of them. It was interesting how things changed over the course of a few short years.

Their conversation continued, as did the laughs, and before she knew it, Aelin glanced down at her watch. She had less than fifteen minutes to haul ass back to the nursing building for her next class. Chaol, who had much longer to sit with nothing to do, assured her that he could handle her trash and told her to get to class. With a hug, and a promise that they’d have dinner soon, all of them, even Manon, Aelin was hurrying out of the cafeteria building.

Somehow, the entire time she’d been having lunch with Chaol, she hadn’t noticed the set of pine green eyes watching her.

Rowan’s own break had been at the same time as hers, but the gen ed building was much closer than wherever she was having to run off to, so he had longer to sit and— there was no denying it— brood. They were halfway across the room, so he couldn’t hear any of their conversation. He had no clue who the tall man was she smiled at so often, but clearly they were very familiar with each other with how easily they talked. And he made her laugh. A lot.

Rowan wasn’t sure why that was what grated on his nerves the most, but it unsettled him.

Seeing Aelin with someone else, someone clearly her own age, it all unsettled him. He didn’t like it. Almost as much as her parting words in class had.

See you later, Professor Whitethorn.

It’s like she was mocking him, yet at the same time, she clearly wasn’t. She was doing exactly as he’d asked of her, seeing him as her professor, not as her boyfriend.

No, he reprimanded himself. Not boyfriend. Hookup.

They’d had sex one time, that didn’t give either of them any claim over the other. It was a hookup and nothing more. And she was his gods-damned student.

She was off limits, in every way possible.

Yet he couldn’t figure out why seeing her with someone else, someone she should clearly be interested in instead of him, had him seeing red.

[cardboard-aliens]

A thought that just occurred to me: What was jack doing during those two years on the surface pre-game?

Was he just alone on some farm the middle of nowhere, going through the motions of being a person in a haze until he was recalled? Did Fontaine have some of his gang pretend to be his parents to make sure he didn’t wander off into traffic? Was he just locked in a box to hallucinate his fake past until he was put on a plane? Many options.

YEAH, I've thought about this TOO- Did Jack have a JOB??? There is about zero information on this subject so it's PURELY headcanon and interpretation space, and everyone has wildly different ideas on what happened during those two years.

So anyway here's my loose version: First thing tho, I think Jack was done by the time they shipped off to the surface, so he was an adult. I take Fontaine's comment before the final fight about Jack 'being no more than 2' was in reference to his chronological age. I can't imagine they would send Jack to the surface to do growing up there on his own, he's the first of his kind there's a lot of instability and risk that comes with developing him and they'd want him on hand to make sure everything is progressing smoothly and to intervene if his condition drops. His whole development makes more sense to me if he was 22 when he left Rapture, with his growth stable after that point.

I also don't think Jack's fake parents were real at any point, just something they put in his head to keep him content enough. The most there would be to them would've been whatever actors took the photo in his wallet with him, and I don't have a preference on if the photo was taken down in Rapture or on the surface- tho toying with the idea that the photo also isn't real is an interesting idea since Jack doesn't look at it after the intro.

(I think Jack's fake memories were more so to justify his conditioning to himself. Which is probably a reason farm life was chosen [along with being disconnected from the ocean]since it would be easier to set up ‘always working, always busy, no rest, no breaks, no play, just do what you’re told’ and then tint it with ‘you have loving and supportive parents’ in that setting. I mean why would you tell your weapon it's a person? Wouldn't that make it harder to control? I figured towards the end of his time in Rapture he must've been putting up some resistance for them to try to repackage his conditioning so he would accept it easier. [there are a lot of other angsty interpretations tho, but we've already tangented enough on this post sjkdflsd)

That said because Jack is triggered most easily by audio input I'd imagine Fontaine would've arranged somewhere isolated to keep Jack to make sure random people couldn't accidentally trigger any of his phrases (I've met people with a 'would you kindly' verbal tick before- so even though it's unlikely for Jack to run into someone like that it's still a possibility they'd want to avoid).

I imagine he'd basically be in standby for those two years on the surface where he was basically stuck in his fake memories only vaguely aware of his physical surroundings automatically going through routines to keep himself alive and his body physically well (workout routines were probably his main form of exercise in the labs).

They probably set him in standby down in Rapture, giving him his fake memories and locking up the memories of the labs- I don't think his memories got erased, since during the reveal he has a flash of himself as a child with Suchong and Tenenbaum and that wasn't a photo we physically see in the game so those memories are there even if they're repressed. (I mean not that Ryan is a good source for anything Jack related, but I think 'Sleepwalking through life' is a pretty solid hint at what his life was like pre-game).

Since he's basically locked down and kept from the public there would have to be someone Fontaine was paying to bring Jack supplies to keep him alive and make sure Jack hadn't just keeled over randomly one day due to an unforeseen complication in his body, along with getting to the airport and with the package and note to hijack the plane. I just don't think there was anyone playing house with him the whole time (With the 'your special' comments either being completely made up in his head, or it being something Tenenbaum told him before he left Rapture and his subconscious worked it into his fake memories)

AND OKAY- the plane flight is one of the canon details that makes the least sense to me. Why would his flight be in California???? I don't personally think Jack was ever actually in Kansas, but even if you do, you wouldn't go to Cali to go to England??? You'd still go to New York, and that's where I pretend his flight took off from.

BASICALLY... I think Jack was idle on the surface, waiting for input. I don't think he had a job, or meet other people- he probably didn't even talk for those two years. Fontaine wouldn't want Jack meeting anyone else, keeping him deprived of genuine human contact so he doesn't know any better than mind control. I also feel like him being isolated on the surface makes the most sense with Jack's character arc- If he had a genuine life on the surface between his time in Rapture then the reveal wouldn't be that bad because he had a job and coworkers he would've gotten to know- he would've had something real to ground himself in. Something to go back to.

But given that we only see him ever thinking about his parents or the farm I don't think he had anything at all and put all his value on his family just to find out it wasn't real (His fake memories are probably everything he longed for during development- something more genuine than the twisted relationship he had with Fontaine, Suchong and Tenenbaum as his parental figures).

Which is what makes his relationship with the little sisters so important for him, because it's the first thing in his life that's completely real and untainted by his existence- The girls don't feel guilty about him, pity him, they don't know anything about Jack beyond the kindness they show each other. And that's a starting point for Jack to move forwards in his life and form genuine connections with people and actually live his life instead of sleepwalking through it.

[oswinsdolma]

Proving all the Knights of the Round Table have magic part 3: Elyan

I've seen quite a few people headcanon Elyan with magic before, and it's definitely one of the more popular magic!knights hcs, so I apologise if I accidentally hijack anyone else's points xx

The most obvious indicator of this is the fact that Elyan leaves Camelot a year before Merlin arrives. This is about the same age Morgana's magic shows itself, so it would be natural to assume he left because he began showing signs of being a warlock, Camelot's laws being what they are.

It is also implied that Elyan left fairly abruptly, with Gwen having no idea where he went. He may have left in a hurry because somebody might have noticed him, and not told Gwen or Tom for fear of putting them in danger.

Perhaps in a darker note, he didn't say where he was going because he was ashamed of his magic and didn't think his family would accept him.

Gwen says that "[Elyan] always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time". Maybe accidents happen around him because he had trouble controlling his magic and found it increasingly difficult to cover for. This could be another indicator as to why he left.

Elyan didn't return to Camelot even for his father's funeral, and while he expresses his guilt, he doesn't give sufficient reason why: the reason? He may not be able to tell Gwen because he was still scared to return with magic.

When Gwen reveals her relationship with Arthur, Elyan is skeptical, and maybe even a little panicked. After all, would your sister falling in love with someone with the power to set you ablaze not be a terrifying concept to anyone with magic? But when Arthur comes to rescue them and proves himself to be slightly less of a prat than he may think, he tentatively agrees to return home, though I suspect this is mainly for Gwen's sake.

When the immortal army invades Camelot, Elyan manages to stay hidden and fight off some soldiers. Note that he is the only one of the group within Camelot with no Knights' training, which begs the question: how did he manage to escape? The answer could very well lie with magic.

Again, in The Darkest Hour, he is one of two knights that survived the meeting with Morgana. He is one of the more inexperienced knights as well, which suggests that he may have aided himself magically in the fight.

When faced with a seemingly unbeatable threat, Elyan says to Arthur: "tomorrow, we fight in your name, sure. For freedom and justice in this land." Now there is a lot to unpack here, but if we break it down, firstly there is the fact that Elyan places is emphasis on "your" when addressing Arthur. He has previously made a statement about the Pendragon crest, but in this moment, it seems that he cares more about Arthur than this. This is clearly indicative of the fierce bond between Arthur and the core knights, but it could be more than that: the emphasis of "your" is specific to Arthur, but perhaps more importantly, it is an exclusion of Uther. In his time, Arthur has made mistakes, but he has generally been more sympathetic towards magic than his father, and this may be Elyan's subtle way of acknowledging that.

In addition, the words: "for freedom and justice in this land" could just be in reference for Arthur's abilities as king, but this is a deep speech and one would assume it has a deeper meaning. Freedom and justice are two things that have not been afforded to those with magic for a long time. Uther's twisted "justice" involved executing anyone who disagreed with him and anyone who could be vaguely affiliated with sorcery. As for freedom, Arthur has created a fairer kingdom than his father, but magic users still live in fear. Combined with the earlier stress of "your", this is indicative that Elyan too believes that Arthur may one day come to bring peace to anyone who is born with magic.

This last point also has the implications that Elyan knows of the Once and Future King and surrounding prophecies. Though he is described as a troublemaker by Gwen before he comes to Camelot, he keeps his head relatively low upon arrival. Perhaps in the time he spent travelling, he sought help from magical communities, e.g. the druids, who helped him control his powers. This would also explain his vagueness about his whereabouts and lack of contact during the years he was missing.

I could go on about this quote but we'll leave it there for now.

Before he is overtaken by the power of the Lamia, Elyan is vocal in standing up for Merlin. This could be because he knows what it is like to be shunned by society. Magic could be a reason for that. (Also I fully believe that the only reason the Lamia didn't try and take over Merlin was because she was scared of the extent of his magic, not just because he had magic.)(and the merthur reasons when I'm in the mood)

Then Elyan falls sick, before the others begin to show symptoms. Maybe the Lamia sensed some magic and decided he was more trouble than he was worth.

Elyan was not raised by druids, and does not have the same powers as Merlin so wouldn't have sensed the power of the shrine, at least not too strongly. When he first sees the spirit though, he is genuinely sympathetic, even before the murderous intent takes hold.

In the Dark Tower, Elyan is consumed by his need to find Gwen, convinced that he is to blame for her capture. This could be survivor's guilt (and to an extent, probably is), but it is equally probable that Elyan believes that he should have used his magic to protect her.

Going off on a slight tangent here, the theme of "I have magic so it must have a purpose" within warlocks/sorcerers in the show is a) not a healthy mindset and b) uncomfortably common. Elyan may have latched onto the idea that he must use his magic to protect Gwen to convince himself to stay in Camelot, and with that conprmino, he began to fall apart. His behaviour is almost identical to Merlin's fervour regarding Arthur at this point, and it's fairly disturbing that these characters adopt this mindset that is Not Good For Their Mental Heath, Please Get Some Therapy.

Elyan dies. It's heartbreaking, and he does so trying to save his sister. But what is interesting is his funeral. When most main characters die, they are given a funeral in Camelot, e.g. Uther, Lancelot (the first time). But then Freya and Shade!Lanceot (and later Arthur) are set to rest in the Lake of Avalon. The difference between the two is that the lake funerals were arranged by Merlin, and those laid to rest there can somehow be affiliated with magic.

Now I'm not saying that Merlin knew about Elyan's magic, because sometimes he can be really not very perceptive about that (though it's always fun when fics cheerily toss that out the window because it's fun goddamnit-), but I don't believe he was entirely oblivious. Think about it: there are two of Arthur's closest friends canonically hiding magic from him and it's fairly probable that they'll pick up on Elyan's magic at some point. Even if it's just little things like his sympathies with magic or gentle arguments about the way mages are treated. There are so many avenues to explore with this it's overwhelming-

I also think Elyan may have picked up on Merlin's magic later in the series: the point of realisation was probably when Merlin rescued him during his time being possessed by the drowned druid boy, upon which he says: "you know, Merlin, you're much braver than you look." This is the first time Merlin has revealed his more BAMF side to Elyan, and in this moment, something unspoken passes between them. If not mutual understanding, it is at least Elyan realising what Merlin does beneath his carefree exterior, and despite the possession, I think he acquires a lot of new respect for his friend.

(also are we going to ignore that the lake funeral implies that it was arranged by Merlin. How close were they and what stuff did we miss out on behind the scenes for him to be trusted with this?? I need to know)

Elyan and Mordred have a friendship in series 5. If the earlier headcanon about Elyan learning to control his magic with druids is true, perhaps he may have recognised Mordred from his time there. They probably didn't acknowledge it much, but it created a bond between them.

And now for the mythological context!!

Of all the Knights of the Round Table, Elyan's backstory is perhaps the most estranged from the original legend (of course all of them are fairly disconnected *flashbacks to pope-gwaine* but Elyan's is w a c k y)

As a consequence, there is little to draw on for behind-the-scenes evidence of magic.

Elyan, or Helayn, was another Knight whose origins stem from France (the Vulgate Cycle, I think, though he could have surfaced earlier). He is said to have joined Lancelot in exile after his affair of 'courtly love' with Guinevere (go and look up this concept- it gets convoluted in the myths but is really interesting in terms of both origin and content). Anyway, his exile here could represent the time he spent out of Camelot before his appearance in s3, and relates to hiding from harsh laws, particularly if we regard Lancelot and Guinevere's relationship in the same way as we do in the Vulgate Cycle (basically keep the context with the appropriate work and it sort of makes sense)

I appreciate this seems a little like grasping at straws but that's literature I suppose ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In the legends, Elyan is nephew to another of Arthur's knights, Sir Sagramore. This knight is less famous than some, but at one point, he embarks on a quest to find the fay. The fay are closely linked with the she, and perhaps also live on Avalon, somewhere mortals are only supposed to see moments before death. Perhaps Elyan can be associated with this magic?

In reality, there is little written of Elyan and no prose or poetry dedicated to him so it's quite hard to find stuff about him.

Also legend!Elyan is heir to the throne of Constantinople, which just goes to prove how widespread and deeply convoluted the mythos is.

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

so are dreamons canon? i read your post a while back and agreed, but since foolish has mentioned them on this livestream, i feel like it isn’t something to brush off. idk just wanna see your thoughts since you’re my go to for lore :) love the essays btw

(warning: the answer to this ask goes on a bit of a meandering tangent, I apologize lol. Basically just a train of thought, no solid theories yet)

Dreamons canon maybe? Maybe??

DreamXD canon? I mean like, beyond McDonald’s? Like the OG DreamXD lore might actually be canon?

I mean, not like it matters a ton since DreamXD’s not gonna be a big part of the lore as we know, but...

That’d be really interesting if it were canon, and what Foolish said lines up with what we know. Dreamons can only possess one person, the Egg can brainwash many. 

But OG DreamXD lore my beloved

“I think he’s one of those rare species…I think it’s called a transmuted Dreamon, which means he quickly swaps between the two. But I think when we did the ritual, we got rid of the “Dream” part and kept the ‘Dreamon’ part, and now, I think…”

“Dream’s ghost got back into his body when he — that’s how he levitated!”

“Yeah, so he must have been full Dreamon when he levitated up! But now I think he’s back to regular old Dre.”

“We are mad scientists…we have just played god! And it worked!”

(DreamXD logs in)

“We’re not gonna talk about that…like I said, he has two. Two of them. That’ll be something we’ll have to tackle next time.”

(DreamXD comes zooming in to punch Tubbo)

“YEP! YEP, THAT’S A DREAMON! THAT’S A DREAMON!”

“If my theories are correct, Fundy…I think every person has a Dreamon.”

(Then in the next stream)

[of the two states] “One which is probably possessed by a Dreamon, and one which is his normal self. And what we did is, we split those in half last time, didn’t we? And now Dream is actually Dream, but…I’m gonna put this name in the chat, I want you not to say it out loud…”

[He types “DreamXD” in chat]

He implies that’s the Dreamon one.

So basically, Dream had two states and the Dreamon Hunters split them, and that’s when DreamXD -- either a Dreamon himself or possessed by one to the point of becoming one (the way Tubbo describes it, those things seem to be interchangeable -- if you’re possessed by a Dreamon, you are one) first appeared. So now DreamXD is a separate entity.

And then you’ve got the Egg, whose vines can be turned lime green with Church Prime water. And Dream himself is the sole enforcer of the Holy Land’s rules and /kills anyone who breaks the no-kill rule, the Holy Land is only a neutral zone because he designated it as such (as he brought up during Quackity’s revolution) and implied that the Holy Land’s power could be revoked if he chose.

Dream attempted to destroy the Egg the first and only time he met it (and his meeting with the Egg has been mentioned in canon multiple times, so we can assume that wasn’t just an OOC bit), so it seems like Dream and Church Prime are an oppositional force to the Egg, DreamXD is god but maybe also still a Dreamon, and the Egg is more powerful than Dreamons but can be resisted with the power of Church Prime.

It’s like rock paper scissors lmao

So Dreamons were mentioned in relation to the Egg, a comparison to it, which means the Egg is not a Dreamon.

But what’s neat is that Foolish actually brought up the idea of Dream being a potential ally for or against the Egg in his lore stream, he didn’t know which. 

And Bad brought up Dream to the Egg as “the green guy -- you’ve met him” when telling the Egg the news about Tommy’s death.

And Tommy brought up the Egg during his last prison visit stream.

And Bad brought up the Egg as well during his visit and Dream said he remembered meeting it in both.

Dream’s meeting with the Egg keeps getting brought up, so it’s safe to say that him attempting to repeatedly break it with Sam, making an effort to clear out the Blood Vines, and him being creeped out by the Egg is also canon. 

Bad was first to meet the Egg. Sam was second...and Dream was third. Even before Puffy, even before Antfrost.

And there’s clearly some sort of meaning behind the colors, behind lime green being a “purified” version of the Blood Vines washed off with holy Church Prime water.

And then you’ve got the freaking book.

What about Bad and Sam made them safe to give the secret of the revive book to, I wonder? 

Bad: “Information about what?”

Dream: “Mmmm…I think that it puts me in danger if people know I have this information. I can’t clarify what it is, otherwise – I don’t think – you wouldn’t – it wouldn’t be a danger to you, but to other people, that…”

Bad: “Oh…okay. I’m really curious now.”

Dream: “I…we’ll find out.”

Sam: “Wait, so you’re saying…Schlatt traded you information to join his side, which you accepted, so it must’ve been valuable.”

Dream: (chuckles) “I think it’s the most valuable thing on the server!”

...

Dream: “I think that, in pertaining to the prison, it may be important, but – so maybe I’ll have to tell you guys once the prison’s construction is done, but…we’ll see.”

“It wouldn’t be a danger to you.” 

To Bad and Sam...the only other two people to have met the Egg at the time...why?

We finally found out what the book is, but there are still some hints Dream gave about it that remain unexplained.

What does the book have to do with the prison? Why might Dream *have* to tell Bad and Sam what it is once the prison was finished?

And...who was the original prisoner the prison was meant for, anyway? We know it wasn’t Tommy, Tommy wasn’t the prisoner in the original plan Dream commissioned the prison for...

Dream: “It’s just an option, because if you can’t kill somebody, you might need to lock them up.”

Can’t kill somebody...but Dream then goes on to tease secrets about a book that literally gives him the ability to kill people and bring them back?

The only person Dream can’t revive, at least that we know of, is himself, because you need someone else to "click respawn” for you. If Dream dies, death is permanent. He’s the only person no one can kill without risking that.

The book has something to do with the prison, something about the Crimson and the color green...everything’s vaguely connected but we don’t have the answers to start putting the pieces together yet.

What does it all mean...?

Time will tell!

[diverse-hearts-moved]

Excuse my Rambling that is about to occur. For those who’d rather ignore my thoughts etc I’ll place it all under a read more - I’ll make a later announcement about threads going forwards etc.

Excuse my rambling that is about to occur. For those who’d rather ignore my thoughts etc I’ll place it all under a read more - I’ll make a later announcement about threads going forwards etc.

I’ll start this off by admitting that I am aware that I am part of the problem that’s been growing over the last few months. I’m not saying for one second that anyone should be policing who writes with who or who should be more accepting of ocs etc - but basic respect towards other muns is something that seems to be on the decline.

I’ve watched as headcanons have been stolen, as muses are taken up for no other reason than they happen to be popular, as newcomers have found it difficult to get their foot in the door and how old members of the community have felt as though they’ve been drowned out. I’m mainly relating this to my experience with Bungou Stray Dogs and Fruit Baskets fandom - and again I am aware I haven’t been helping, which is why I wish to do a soft reset of my blogs.

There are so many of you out there who’ve felt like giving up on your blogs either because you can’t get your foot in the door, you’ve felt as though you’ve been pushed aside for someone else who writes the same muse - or you’ve had a headcanon stolen and simply are too afraid to put anything out there anymore. Muses are dear to our hearts - at least I feel that they should be.

Again, you can have many muses, write with only a few select people, run your blog as you wish to run it but - don’t make interaction posts if you have no intention of following through with them, don’t make other people feel as though your take on a muse is the one true take and everyone around you just doesn’t know their muses as well as you do and for the love of god - DON’T STEAL OTHER PEOPLES HEADCANONS

Writing the same muse as others is of course going to make some headcanons seem rather similar but it’s painfully obvious when someones put so much work into their muse and then some of that work is simply carried off by someone else as though it is all their original idea. This is a basic rule that we all should bloody be following and I honestly don’t understand as to why it’s needing to be pointed out??

To be a community, to have fun on this broken mess of a site, it’s important to feel comfortable around those who you’re following/writing with and yet there've been so many stories where this is far from the truth of the matter. Yes, no one can possibly write with everyone but my god you can still offer support from the sidelines, you know? Stop comparing muses - it can make the mun rather uncomfortable even if you see their portrayal as the ‘best’ one.

We’re all human - we’re all going to have our favourites. There will be times where one muse/thread just takes over and that’s perfectly fine. We need to be comfortable in knowing that late replies doesn’t mean that you aren't wanting to write with them, just that you may not have an idea on how to reply. We’re all writers here, we’re aware of how fickle the muse can be at times - but guilt tripping people should never be a thing. There’s a difference between - hey did tumblr fk up and you didn’t get this and - I’ve seen you’re writing with X but not me? I guess you hate me now? - put into very simple terms but this mentality is just adding to the issues... least that’s how I see it.

I could be wrong - I could just be too old for this place now and simply be longing for a time where communities were just that - creative little hubs for you to gush with others over your muses and the alternate universes and storylines that can be explored. These include darker topics and just because a Mun writes about torture, sexual assault, child abuse etc DOES NOT mean that they frigging support that action!

As long as these topics are handled with the care that they should be and not romantized in any way then no one should be made to feel bad for exploring darker issues. Fiction allows us to explore the darker side of humanity but it should be handled with caution, in a serious nature that does not pull away from the seriousness of such an event on anyones life...

Darker topics can be sensitive in nature and that’s what the tagging system is for. Ask people to tag things you may not wish to see - tag topics that you know will be sensitive but please stop comparing the Muse to the Mun. Darker topics/angst are great for character development, but they aren’t everyone's cup of tea - in which case avoid them. If a blog is too much for you, don’t follow them. Block them. Do what you have to in order to feel safe but please don’t send in anon hate or a vague call out post etc. All it does is feed into people’s anxieties, and then we’re all back to square one.

The last thing I want to mention is character discourse. We write who we write because either they mean a lot to us, we wish to explore their character or they simply demand to be written. You can like or loathe a character, that’s perfectly fine of course, but going off on tangents about how horrid X character is and why everyone should hate them and if you don’t then you don’t understand their character - that bullshit needs to stop. I used to get death threats in the Mystic Messenger Fandom for writing Rika... thankfully that’s a thing of the past but I still get so fking nervous when people write huge essays on why she’s the most horrid person ever to have been written into existence.

Fiction is great because it allows us to explore all sides of humanity, the good, the bad and the ugly - and this freedom should be encouraged. People should be encouraged to explore their muses, not shut down by someone saying how ‘wrong’ they are and how they don’t know jack shit about their character or how they are making the character too likeable. Villains are humans too. Villians will have their soft moments... I’m slightly running on empty now but I really do hope that this made sense.

Short Version - We should all feel safe and welcomed on the dash so please stop doing bullshit to ruin that spirit of creativity.

[magicofthepen]

i am Extremely interested in the titles of every single one of your wips but i am actually begging you for details on 'Veega my beloved' because she is also my beloved <3 (🤝 our unity bullshit ❤❤)

Send me a WIP doc title (list here) and I’ll talk about it!

I’ve had “something Leela/Veega” on my fic idea list since Time War 3 came out....but it’s your fault that this fic has skyrocketed to the top of my priorities now, thank you so much for jumping into this sandbox with me <33

Initially I wasn’t sure whose pov I wanted to write from – we know Leela, we know her baggage going into this world and this relationship, and exploring all those internal emotions could be really interesting? But at the same time we don’t know Veega very well and so *insert “It’s Free Real Estate” gif*

So the project evolved from “something Leela/Veega” to “Veega character study” because I realized if I was writing from her pov, I wanted/needed to know what baggage she’s carrying when she meets Leela, and that means this fic has to be about her life and her backstory. 

I keep thinking about Unity as the end-of-the-line, a place people end up when they have nowhere else to go (I feel like there’s actually a quote about this but I can’t find it right now so it’s possible I made that up?) So I see Veega’s backstory as one of running, of losing one home and building another and losing that one too. There’s tragedy throughout her life, but she keeps choosing to create a home as much as she can wherever she is, and keeps choosing to love even in this universe that’s tearing itself apart. 

And since Veega’s father was a soldier who died in battle (and she references the battle by name when she’s talking to Romana, as if Romana would have heard of it), I see her story as one of running from the Time War specifically – sometimes she’s ahead of it, sometimes it catches up to her and tears at her world.

The fic is going to be structured around that idea of loss and rebuilding – I’ve kind of split it up in my head into the different families she builds throughout her life? So starting off with the family she was born into – her parents, I’ve invented a younger sibling – and seeing where she grew up and what that world and that family was like (I’m thinking maybe she originally grew up on a farm, and so there’s a ‘coming full circle’ narrative with the farm on Unity, and also she’d have certain skills and memories to lean on when she’s starting the farm on Unity later in life?). And then how that world falls apart – the death of her father and something that forces her family to run/scatter in some way (still working on this bit).

For her second family (when she’s a young adult), I have vague ideas for this group of twentysomethings all on their own who become close friends as they’re all thrown into the same work environment or running in the same direction together.....again, a lot of the details of this fic are still tbd. But I think this part is likely to be quite spaceship-based? It’ll depend on what I decide for how she got separated from her mother and sibling and what kind of work she gets involved with (Veega’s work experience/background is something I’m still thinking about).....but if the first part and next part of the fic are very grounded on a particular planet, I like the idea of telling a story here about her finding a home while hopping from place to place – there's never the same ground under her feet, but there are the people she loves around her.

And then we hit Things Get Bad, Round 2. Also very nebulous right now? In general, I don’t want to just kill of or have her get separated from everyone she’s ever loved throughout her life, but she is definitely quite alone by the time she meets Leela so.....yeah it can’t really be a happy backstory?

But I think Rayo’s father is going to be one of the people in that friend group, so there’s some continuity-of-family there? And I can get into the backstory of that relationship, and then how they eventually ended up alone together on Unity. And this is the third family – the two of them setting up this life on the farm, and Veega getting pregnant, and them preparing for this kid who they’re so ready to love and do everything they can to shield from the war.

And then, not long after Rayo is born.....yeah. (This fic really is just me continually ripping the ground out from under Veega’s feet unfortunately, but also that cycle of loss is what I want to explore – particularly because it parallels how Leela keeps losing one home and finding another one, so by the time they meet they’ve both loved and lost so much - but they still choose to love again.)

So Rayo’s father dies, Veega’s alone with baby Rayo on the farm, things are very rough.....and then Leela shows up, injured and alone, running from the city and the slavers she recently escaped from. And I’m going to spend quite a bit of time on this family (of course). The early days: Veega taking Leela in and taking care of her, Leela protecting her and Rayo (if Leela’s way of dealing with grief is throwing herself into a fight, Veega’s is throwing herself into caring for others). Them learning to communicate (bc language barrier – I could handwave it and say the Trell, who must have given Leela the ability to speak the language on that planet in Mother Tongue, left her with that ability – but I want to try exploring the idea of not having a translator?). And the eventual shock of learning that Leela’s from Gallifrey, and processing that (honestly I could write a whole fic just on that, so I’ll probably just touch on it here?). Growing into being a family, falling in love (and I know it’s from Veega’s pov, but I’ll have to at least indirectly touch on Leela’s motherhood-related trauma and initial wariness around Rayo because of it, and Leela’s complicated emotions towards Romana and Narvin and how there isn’t any closure there so it’s hard to let go?)

One thing I haven’t completely decided is the exact relationship backstory I’m going with for Leela and Romana and Narvin in this fic – it’s not something the fic will get into too much, but I’d like to know in my head? But there is a good chance I’ll end up making this fic What We Choose compliant. I want my post-Time War fic to be a WWC ‘verse fic and I want to get into Leela’s grief for Veega in that fic, so it is all nice and convenient if all the fics can co-exist in the same universe, even if the Veega fic won’t formally be part of that series? And I like the idea of there being an overtly romantic backstory there, because then I can explore how not ever ending things with or being able to talk with Romana and Narvin affects Leela re: getting into a relationship with Veega.

I would actually want to explore a different relationship backstory for those three for the Everyone Escapes Unity AU.....but that’s not an active project/as likely to actually get written, so I probably won’t let that factor into things. 

And back from that tangent: so eventually, we once again hit the Things Go Wrong times – the raids keep getting worse and worse. The shadow of the Time War is looming.

Veega gets sick.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted this fic to go right up until her death but I think it will – because I want to touch on Romana and Narvin showing up, and how Veega resents them for crashing into her life but also is glad that they’re hear because maybe Leela will have people to lean on after Veega is gone. Maybe, if they get the TARDIS, Leela and Rayo can run when they need to and continue to keep away from the war as long as they can.

Stylistically, this fic’s gonna be along the lines of knock the ice from my bones or leaned in and let it hurt, with shorter scenes spanning a (in this case very) long range of time. It’s in vague outline stage right now – I’ve got this general structure, but I’m in the process of figuring out what scenes I actually want and making actual proper backstory decisions. It has the potential to end up quite long, but I also don’t want to go overboard – there’s a lot of coloring in the lines I could do in future fics, this one is meant to sort of sketch an outline of her life? So I want to make sure I’m being selective with how many and which scenes I’m including, and if they’re each contributing to the thematic through-lines.

So this fic is gonna take a little while, but most definitely watch this space :)

[a-little-slice-of-fandom]

I know I talked about Aragon, Howard and Parr having a bookclub like ages ago but I’ve been doing a LOT of reading and I just want you all to imagine:

The queens are all pretty shocked by how accessible and cheap books are these days, but they all soon find themselves reading loads during their time off.

Aragon going to Waterstones alone one day and coming back with books for the other queens that they had either offhandedly mentioned or she knew that they’d probably like because she’d do anything for the other queens

All six of them cuddled up on the sofa, drinking tea and reading together

Boleyn straight up yeeting her book across the room when her favourite character dies

Parr thinking she might not be a good enough writer and the other queens constantly reassuring her that she is

Aragon insists that her goddaughter will not only be a pop icon but also a bestseller

All of them going off on tangents whenever someone brings up something that’s vaguely related to a book they’re reading

Of course the other queens always listen carefully because they’re a family god dammit

Aragon sometimes likes to read aloud to people, especially Maria or Cleves

Cleves LOVES audiobooks, especially ones that have full cast voice acting, because she can listen to them while walking her dogs

They all have different tastes in books

Howard found a love for fantasy novels and YA, while Parr became super invested in the gothic or classic literature and Aragon and Cleves like crime or detective stories. Boleyn likes lighthearted books and Seymour enjoys pretty much anything.

There’s always like 40 books on the coffee table at one time

They’re all pretty split on the idea of bending the pages down on books

Aragon and Parr think it’s NEVER okay while Seymour and Boleyn think if it’s your own book then it’s alright.

Cleves just uses her kindle or her audio books so it doesn’t really apply to her.

Howard just buys a bookmark like a reasonable person.

SPEAKING OF BOOKMARKS Parr and Seymour have hundreds of them but they refuse to use them in case they get lost or bent.

When they find that they’ve amassed too many books, they go to schools or libraries in less well off areas and donate them so everyone gets a chance to read!

Just,,,the queens and books