#if the romance is not well executed

[sarascamander]

Me, finding a book to read: This better have romance in it. I am NOT reading it if it doesn't have romance

Me, upon reading: What the hell is this romance? You're distracting the plot and it is unnecessary, GET OUT OF MY BOOK

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

idk man been sifting through my feelings on all this. and i think what it comes down to is i don't really care/mind that there are non-canonical (BY DEFINITION, if it is not IN the media, it is not in the 'canon', and this info was in tweets) statements about Lucanis' sexuality being demi/ace/him being a virgin. and i'm glad for people who like to incorporate that into their headcanons about the game/interpretation of his character and expand on that more than the game itself does, like, this is our space now baby do what makes you happy!

but personallyyyyyyy i just do not think these new labels are some magic bandaid that solves the flaws in the pacing and writing of his romance. Lucanis never talking to Rook about his feelings as they get to know each other (but sure is willing to talk to Rook about his feelings for Neve if you don't romance him) is not solved, for me, by saying "well he wouldn't be attracted until he got to know you and also has no experience with sex". the same way calling it a "slow burn" did not solve this for me. especially because right up until release he was being advertised as a "bisexual mess". but now was secretly a "panromantic demisexual" the whole time. it just... idk. you can say anything you want online, you know? but if you don't Show Me... well. i also don't like that people who are saying 'well this was Not part of his story in the game so i don't see it' are getting labeled as anti-ace when like, many of the criticisms i am seeing are coming from people who are themselves demi/ace lol. it's not asexual representation bc it is not in the game itself. (though honestly. i AM glad that that was not jammed into his story arc, and that his quests were about his agonizing over his family and the fact that he's now bodysharing with a demon. because his writing was never going to get MORE lines, and to take away any of the ones he had to put in a sexuality arc beyond an offhand mention would have really crashed that because the existing writing barely holds together as is. like there just was not room to have more so personally i am not criticizing Mary Kirby for her decision not to add it. but you can't not add something and then also claim it's a definitive part of his character. plus i dont think a character needs to know/understand/use modern labels anyway).

and personally i DO prefer an awkward/fumbling Lucanis, to be clear. Before Veilguard came out I was never expecting the sexy antivan lover angle because we got that once already: Zevran. I didn't want poor-imitation Zevran, and bioware would not write Lucanis like that to make sure he is a more distinct character anyway. BUT i do think it's reasonable in a bioware game to expect that a romance is going to have romantic content--and the number of times after his cutscenes i literally said aloud "go girl give us nothing" after he failed to react to a flirt was pretty sad. If he's awkward and nervous give him a line where he stutters and doesn't know how to react, not just a blank stare and back to business, or whatever. Or a scene where you can literally ask "you never respond to my flirting do you want me to stop" and for him to say say he likes it but doesn't know how to reciprocate or. ANYTHING. Idk. I have seen 10 different posts/takes on how the Wall Lean Scene fits in, be it that he was imitating a romance novel or it was crow seduction training or he was just pretending because that's how he's seen Illario do it but at the end of the day. It is all just speculation because nothing in the game EVER addresses how wildly different the tone of that scene is from every other one of his romance scenes. And as much as i love the Sexy Wall Lean, given the rest of his characterization in EVERY other romance scene, i think I'm at a point where i think the romance would have been better served by cutting it out and having a different scene where you actually get to talk to him instead.

but! that is not the game we were given. we only have what we have, which is the Veilguard content by Mary Kirby, and The Wigmaker Job written by Courtney Woods (where for reference, he mentions stumbling into an orgy on a previous job, and having an "interesting" time getting out of that, so i already think we have 2 different interpretations of his character between them anyway). but yeah idk man to me "well he's ace" is not an excuse for either gaps in the writing or cut content or whatever was going on. because 1. HE IS NOT AN ACTUAL PERSON he is a storytelling vessel that i felt failed to satisfyingly communicate the entire romance story and 2. even if he was a person saying 'well in ace relationships communication sucks' would also be, not great, you know. everything beyond the text itself is just interpretation and headcanons

[blogblogartstuffuhh]

"From the earth to the morgue..."

[parissonss]

mcr office au???

we know how it goes. i can write the a hell of a summary, but dont expect a full story. plus this idea is all over the place. my idea is that gerard works as an assassin type, and the organization he works for sends him out to take down the head-members of some company (idfk what i have a lot of holes, throw ideas at me if you want), eventually ending in the assassination of the CEO. there's our girl! shes evil, sorry. gerard is undercover as a normal worker, but after the first few deaths in the building, our CEO calls on him for an employee meeting or something idk how offices work. she explains that she knows whats going on, and blackmails him (with like. mikey? or frank and ray?) into working for her instead. she uses him to take down her competition in other companies, stuff like that. idk anything that would happen, but i have an idea for the ending. i feel like in the end gerard would be able to finally kill the CEO, but immediately after the office gets stormed by bodyguards and they GET his ass 😁

[ibijau]

slapping a big disclaimer on all OCs like "this person has values inspired by a different time period, please I beg you don't go thinking that their views on society and justice match mine"

[astralleywright]

fandom reaction to calamity would have you believe it was a 1 on 1 rp with brennan and luis imo. i cannot remember the last time i heard someone discuss nydas

NYDAS UNDERAPPRECIATED IN HIS TIME... i could tell going into it that the fandom, broadly, was less invested in him and Patia than the others (with certain pockets of fandom being more into Zerxus, or Cerrit, or Laerryn and Quay) and i didn't know if that was a reflection of how well drawn the characters were or just fandom priorities but it was the latter of course. Nydas and Patia my beloveds

[fallenaither]

It's so cool to see Triple A (Ace, Aro and Agender) character! It makes me curious if Apollyon would be interested in listening about love stories of its friends or reading romance books? Or is it completely disinterested in romance?

I feel like Apollyon wouldn't *actively* seek out things about romance, but if someone does speak to them about it they'll listen! It...can't really offer advice past what it can parse out, but Apollyon won't get mad if it happens.

They *will* get a little nervous though since they don't want to come across as rude. ^^;

[penrose-quinn]

I'm sort of afraid that my Shinomi fic might get misinterpreted t.t

[gigantomachylesbian]

Guys. I did not know before now that writing could be painfully millennial in a full prose book but the pho*nix ke*per has proven me wrong and I have to complain about it in the tags

[fruitybashir]

❄️

❄️ What's your dream theme/plot for a fic and who would write it best?

oooof tough question! i would love a kid fic for either bokris or jance, idk if there are any out there already tbh but im actually a sucker for single dad dating au's lmao

meeting through the kid, like idk jan is the single dad and nace teaches music at an elementary school and they meet at some school festival or parent/teacher day smthn like that. idk what it is about kid fics, i just think they can get soooo sweet and interesting bc you dont just get heartwarming dynamics both with the parent but also with the new partner bonding with the kid, but also the complicated bits. figuring out dating when you have a kid to take care of, you dont want to just force a new parent figure on the child but also ofc want them to get along but it all takes time and might not always work out the way you want it to etc etc

theres a lot of potential for interesting dynamics and challenges to overcome and bond over, i just think theyre neat 🥔

i have nooo idea who would write it best though, i literally cant say. not that i wouldnt trust anyone with it but i dont think this is a plot where i would go "oh 100% this sounds like something xyz might write" you know?

✨️ send me asks!

[thebellekeys]

what are your thoughts on this take? at a first glance, this seems like a mostly american/chronically online view. if i deep it, it seems that younger people maybe think romantic relationships in media strip characters of their individuality and so they want less of it?

[teafiend]

[f1gure-skater]

Super niche, but I just saw someone comment on something saying that they can't comprehend the fact that figure skating qualifies as a sport and as a figure it kind of just ticked me off? Of course the skaters seen on TV are really good at it and they make it look easy but the amount of work that goes into training that isn't seen in competition isn't as pretty as what's shown on the screen. There's a lot of off ice training for cardio and strength in the form of fitness classes and there's also the on ice cardio training which is running program parts in addition to the full run through. AND THEN, so it looks good, there's ballet, and on ice movement, and theatre on ice etc. etc. etc. which makes you THINK it's more of an artform but I've gotten so many bruises from falling that I don't think I can call it art, more like pain. Honestly figure skating is a dangerous sport, there's so many risks that can lead to injuries, I've a couple of friends who have gotten concussed from bad falls and I call myself very fortunate for not having gotten any bad injuries that cause me to take time off (knock on wood) but all of the gross stuff that happens out of the shiny costumes is what gives figure skating the right to call itself a sport.

[muninnhuginn]

went to see 'better man' earlier today and ngl I wouldn't have gone seen it on my own (biopics in general aren't my bag but even more so when it's about someone who is very much still around), but it was actually surprisingly good. Just... pretty difficult to describe? So, if you've seen anything about it, you'll know they have robbie williams (for non-Brits, he's a household name pop singer over here who was biggest in the early 2000s) as a cg monkey. Which is like... okay? But weirdly, beyond working thematically, that does somewhat help set the tone? Because the best way I can put it is that the film is an aggressively northern english magic realism musical

[danmeichael]

both ad lib lovers and the summer hikaru died to something really interesting wherein they take typical genre conventions and set-ups of BL and place them into a genre other than romance, while still portraying the romantic undertones. where the summer hikaru died does this with horror, ad lib lovers does this with comedy.

as opposed to hikaru's focus on horror, in ad lib lovers, jealousy, desire, and a fear of inadequacy and loving someone more than they love you is portrayed through the lens of improv. this accurately depicts that having a crush on someone as an adult is humiliating.

[darcpython]

looking through all the fanart of Wayne and Raj making out is so fucking funny in hindsight. we were close lmao