#it doesn't really have any timeline weirdness in canon but I could always make an au for that

[multishipper-baby]

Kinda want to write something about time loops because time loop narratives are fucking awesome but I don't what fandom to write it for. I mean I have a few options but nothing concrete yet.

[empressofthewind]

Hey there, Meronia fan! Do you mind if I ask for Meronia fics recs? And, do you have any fav ships (from any fandom) that the dynamics remind you of Mello/Near?

You can't imagine, how excited I am to find your blog. Let's just say in my older anime/manga group who love Death Note mostly ship Lawlight & Matt/Mello, anti Meronia and are Near haters. So when I said I love Meronia, some blocked me and said I was the weird one. So, I never said it again. But now, after I got out from that group I feel better. Then finding your blog with amazing Mello and Near's metas, I'm so happy! Thanks for your blog...

Thank you very much!!! I'm so happy to hear this :-) in my experience most people on Tumblr are pretty normal about Meronia, and it's SO easy to block/filter users who aren't.

Unfortunately re: ships with similar dynamics, I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'll put this post in the ship tag; I'm sure someone else will have an answer!! In terms of fic recs, I've actually set up my bookmarks page on AO3 to function like a rec list. I have 36 fics there each with a little blurb and I'm constantly updating it, so hopefully a decent amount that you haven't read! I'll pick 10 of them to link here for easy access (ordered by rating in case you can't/don't want to read the mature ones):

the roof by @lightningblade | 3692 words | Rated T

This is a college AU focused on the development of Mello and Near's relationship through a series of encounters on a rooftop. The writing is GORGEOUS, the progression is masterfully done, and it removes the element of the rivalry without removing the core of what makes Meronia such a great ship! There's also a companion piece up as of yesterday which I'm still recovering from (very very positive).

Dear Mello by @tzviaariella | 4158 words | Rated T

This fic is written during the canon timeline through a series of emails. It's an AU where Mello survives, originally written for the 2023 Meronia Zine but also posted on AO3 (which is what I've linked here). The format is really creative and I'm OBSESSED with the way Mello and Near's dynamic is written. The petty back-and-forth is very entertaining and in-character, and there's a certain familiarity and fondness underlying it that I adore. There are also a few artworks throughout which is a nice treat!!

How to Get Any Guy to Fall in Love with You by Sick_head_Sweet_heart | 7025 words | Rated T

This one has such a late-2000s fandom classic feel to it that I'm surprised it's only a few years old??? It's set at Wammy's House, in which Matt gives Near advice on how to make Mello fall in love with him. The dynamic is insanely cute and I'm obsessed with the way Matt and Near's friendship is characterised here. Them scheming together is something I need more of in fics!!

The Mihael Factor by spiritcrimson | 16 chapters | Rated T

One of the longest completed works I've ever read for Meronia and I have been DYING to find something like this ever since. It's a talent agent x singer AU, and it's literally everything I could have asked for in a longfic. A unique idea, compelling progression and a fun antagonistic dynamic that blossoms into a really sweet romance. It's a slowburn but it doesn't drag on at all, and the ending is SO well worth the wait.

3 + 1 by @squidish | 2423 words | Rated T

x + 1 fics are a favourite trope of mine, as is the general concept of Mello and Near behaving inappropriately in the workplace, and this one combines both of those perfectly. The premise is 3 times Mello and Near got walked in on by one of the SPK members, and 1 time they were caught by the whole group. The writing is SO delightful and there are several lines in this that are permanently lodged in my brain. I find humour in writing immensely difficult to pull off so I'm always in awe of authors who can integrate it naturally, and squidish's writing is a great example of that! (Worth noting that this one is slightly more mature than the other T-rated fics here, so I've put it closer to the M & E section; however the smut scenes are not explicit)

it's friday, i'm in love by @neallo | 2676 words | Rated M

You could read literally anything by neallo and it's guaranteed to be good, but to keep this list short, I've included one angsty fic and one lighthearted fic so you can pick the vibe. This one is more lighthearted, and it depicts a very tender moment in which Mello shows up at Near's door drunk and dances with him in the kitchen. This is a prequel to a bigger AU focusing on a casual relationship between them, but it also holds up as a standalone fic! It's unbearably sweet and there are many lines in there that made me audibly laugh.

Speculation on Demisexual Sex Drive by SayHiDestery | 4069 words | Rated M

The smut scene in this fic is so intimate and perfect, I'm melting just thinking about it. It's an established relationship fic in which Near has PTSD and has certain struggles with intimacy, and Mello guides him through it. It's quite slow-paced and takes its time to linger on the small details, which I absolutely adore, and the writing itself is vivid and beautiful. It also features demisexual Near!!

Winning the Game by clearmain | 4134 words | Rated E

This one is a PWP set mid-canon, immediately after the raid on the SPK. I'm a huge sucker for bold & bratty Near and that's EXACTLY what this fic serves. The way this introduces elements of rivalry and competition into their relationship is excellent and makes this fic feel faithful to their canon dynamic. It's a compelling push-pull with an open but hopeful ending that very succinctly captures the complexities of their relationship.

A Certain Hush by BlueberryAsh | 5434 words | Rated E

One of the first fanfics I read for Meronia and I'm not exaggerating when I say it changed my life. This fic has had SUCH a massive influence on the way I view and write the ship. It's a little glimpse into Mello and Near's relationship immediately after getting together. It's really cute and sweet in a way that feels authentic to the characters, and I'm incredibly impressed by the way it manages to give just enough backstory for their relationship to make sense without getting caught up in the details. Genuinely a masterpiece!

i want to hold you (hostage) by @neallo | 4 chapters | Rated E

The aforementioned angsty neallo fic! This one is an exes AU set during the canon timeline, and it is, as you can imagine, a very fraught dynamic done SO incredibly well. The tension is absolutely delicious and there are earnest moments littered throughout that are guaranteed to have you tearing up. Brilliant setup, brilliant writing, brilliant dynamic; just an absolutely stellar fic on all counts!!

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

Discussing Hide and Seek Pilot Tapes

So the Hide and Seek Pilot tapes are apparently canon too. So let's discuss. Note: I know I probably already mentioned some of these points in a previous post but I'm bringing it all up again.

First off I think "pilot" implies that these came first, before anything else. So that's where I'm gonna assume they take place in the timeline.

So here's what I notice in the first tape:

First off, Amanda and Wooly are still clearly friends at this point. Amanda and Wooly were still best friends at this point. "Right now I'm playing with my best friend Wooly." She says in a way that does not feel forced at all, like she means it.

When looking for Wooly, she says the box is a "good hiding spot" which is foreshadowing that it was supposed to be her hiding spot. More on that later.

I gotta say the art style of the storyboards after Wooly is found is ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE AND MY FAV BY FAR. It's so cute!

Just look at them! Look at their little faces! I just wanna hug them!

When Wooly starts talking the song "I'm An Animal, and I Ta-" from the game's original soundtrack starts playing. It kind of feels like it was meant to be a leitmotif for Wooly. I noticed it mainly because it's one of my favorite compositions on the soundtrack heh heh... is it just me or is it a little messed up that they chose the song from when Wooly turns into a literal sheep to be his leitmotif? Is that symbolic in any way or am I just reaching? Either way I think it's pretty funny!

I didn't really understand in the music video why Wooly kept asking for it to be his turn only to get really scared when he actually got it. Now that I've rewatched the pilot tapes... I think I have a better idea about it. It's because that's the script and Wooly likes to stay on script. But that clearly doesn't mean he LIKES the script.

Also, while the scene where Wooly asks "what comes after one?" is pretty funny I also find it a bit weird. Like, does Wooly actually not know how to count? Like he could just be sticking to the script but far as I recall from being a little kid myself once (I know, shocking). Usually they'd simply ask the viewer to count with them, I don't recall any characters legitimately NOT knowing what comes after one. Like sometimes they'd say something like: "Can you help me count all these rubber duckies?" or something but I don't think I'd ever seen a show where the character simply doesn't know how to count. And I also had to watch a LOT of these type of shows with my younger siblings and cousins growing up (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is permanently SEARED into my brain thank the universe for Bluey).

So like genuine question... does Wooly actually straight up not know how to count? He even sounds really unsure the entire time he's counting like... it's just a possibility but like does he really not know? Because that would genuinely be really interesting.

Wooly calls the tree a really good hiding spot, you know cuz it's HIS hiding spot. Side note: It's really neat to see them having so much fun with this in the first tape. Like they are genuinely having a blast.

Moving on, Wooly got REALLY startled when Amanda jumped out at him. Can I make it a new headcanon that he startles easily? (TBF that's the same reaction I have whenever people try to startle me. I'm not scared, just really caught off-guard).

But what happens next is really interesting because Wooly points out that Amanda went off script and he's unsure how to feel about that. He seems really confused. It made me wonder if Wooly likes staying on script because that way you always know what's going to happen and how to react to it. Amanda was out here going off script and changing the episodes for her own amusement from the very start. Wooly also seems a lot more okay with going off script a little "as long as your having fun." but he doesn't seem to like it still.

Amanda and Wooly playing and messing around with each other as they run off screen is just so sweet! I wonder what happened to Grandma?? One of the biggest things I wonder is if this particular pilot happens before or after they get trapped. Like are they recording these lines in a recording booth? Or are they already trapped and haven't gotten their memories/awareness back yet? I think it might be option 2 just because Amanda was able to go off-script and Wooly seemed genuinely confused about it.

Anyway onto part 2!

Right off the bat Amanda seems confused and unsure about this episode.

Also I find it interesting how she hears out name and says: "Oh really I think we've met before" before getting cut off. This is yet another example of what seems to be the shows built-in censor system for when Amanda goes off-script. When she says "box" the tape glitches and says something else. It sounds like she says "tree" again. I wonder why? When the mouse clicks on the box Amanda seems uneasy. Could this be foreshadowing for Mr. Fox's death? Or does she already know he's not going to be there. Now whenever she says: "This is a good hiding spot" I think of the music video and I think Yeah, to hide a body Amanda?

Wooly still doesn't know how to count... Wooly's part isn't really different but when he says that she's not behind the tree there's this weird intense glowing from the left side of the screen. Wonder if that means something?

The only difference is now when he lifts the box he says: "You're not Amanda." Like... really Wooly I didn't notice a difference? <- sarcasm/joking.

Amanda's eye twitches when Wooly says he hopes he'll see us again soon. Then she says: "Let's play tag next time." which is obvious foreshadowing for her both not wanting to play any more hide and seek and wanting to play tag so badly. They also don't run off playing together in this ending... odd.

Anyway that's all the stuff I noticed! Hope you enjoy the post!

[finalgirlminamurray]

remember when halloween 2018 (or as i like to call it, halloween h40) came out and people were making those flowchart-style diagrams explaining the various halloween timelines? i like when people try to do that for the texas chainsaw massacre series because it is a fool's errand. you cannot divide that series into distinct specific continuities because there aren't any. there's a good argument to be made that every single film in that series takes place in its own completely separate timeline because it so often does not bother to meaningfully connect them beyond the single recurring character of leatherface.

i've mentioned before that tcm2 is my favorite sequel and the only one i actually like and will accept as a canon sequel to the original film, and part of that is because despite the complete 180 in tone it does, it's the only one that bothers at all to be a sequel. i think it's the only one that makes sense as a continuation of the first movie - the only glaring continuity errors are confined to the opening scroll text, which you can take or leave as part of the films' canon. (by this i mean the first movie's opening implies that the sawyers' crimes were discovered after sally's escape, while the second film explicitly says no evidence was found. also it retcons sally's last name to be "hardesty-enright" instead of just making lefty's last name also hardesty, for whatever reason.) there's one newly introduced member of the family but you can infer why he wasn't there in the first movie, and the one who isn't there this time has a good reason to be absent (he's died.) one of the main characters in this movie is a relative of the first film's final girl and his involvement in the plot is explicitly connected to what happened to his niece and nephew. the events of the first movie clearly happened in this universe. low bar, i know.

this could be attributed to this being the only sequel also directed by tobe hooper, although the original film's screenwriter did not return, and him having more of a vested interest in continuing the story of his own work. most of the original film's cast did not return for this one (can't say i blame them), but they work with that pretty well. i do think the film ends in a way that pretty decisively puts the brakes on any possible continuation from there, which could be attributed to hooper not really wanting to do a sequel in the first place and trying not to get asked back for another one. (i agree this was not a film that should ever have had sequels, much less become a full-on franchise. but you can tell that upon having to do it they were just like fuck it, let's have fun. hence the tone.) not that that stopped the studios from valiantly trying again and again to profit off of this title.

which might explain why the later sequels are so particularly weird. they don't really have a lot to go off of, i guess. i think part of the problem is that this is one of the few slasher films where the villain is actually a group of people, not a single recurring killer or identity various killers take up. they do have a silent, masked slasher who can be played by whichever new stunt guy you get for each film, but what about the rest of the family? it's always felt important to me that there isn't anyone outside of this isolated little unit in the first movie, but sequels keep inventing totally new characters out of nowhere with no explanation as to where they've been in previous installments. doesn't matter - we're in a new continuity now. tcm3 does not logically follow in any real way from tcm2 or tcm1. it's not a sequel despite the number in the title. it's a reboot.

(i've kind of come around on tcm4 aka tcm: the next generation. i used to think it was the worst sequel but now i think i get what it's trying to do a little better, although it is a pretty stupid movie in a lot of ways. some people have described tcm2 as a deliberate parody of the first film but i think that applies way better to the next generation, seeing how it follows a lot of the same plot beats but done in a more outlandish and parodic way. also, hey: same screenwriter as the original, returning this time as director.)

then the remake made a shit ton of money and kickstarted a new direction for 2000s horror (great. thanks for that.) and got a prequel that also actually made sense as existing in the same continuity as the film it was a prequel to. (again it probably really helped that they were able to get most of the cast back. no need to invent new family members when you still have all the same people playing them.) then in 2013 we got a sequel that promised to Finally be a Direct sequel to the original movie and...it made no sense as one. they try to pick up right where the original left off but right away there are once again a whole bunch of new characters who definitely weren't there in the first movie suddenly appearing in the house, including a baby whose existence is crucial to the plot.

(i'm sure everyone knows about the bizarre timeline decisions of this one, namely the main character ostensibly having been born in the same year as the events of tcm1 but only being about 18 years old during the main events of texas chainsaw 3d, despite it seeming to take place in the modern day. however there is an explanation for that! originally the film was supposed to take place in the early 90s when a character born in 1973 would have been that age, but studio meddling forced them to reshoot it to be 2013. you might notice that any mention or depiction of the exact year the opening scene takes place seems conveniently obscured in this film, implying that it is yet another alternate timeline where the events of tcm1 occurred sometime in the 1990s. this also serves as further demonstration that 1. studio executives are the dumbest people alive, and 2. people really don't care that much about the first movie. more on that later.)

leatherface 2017 is an attempt at a prequel that also makes little to no sense as a backstory for its titular character; i wouldn't be surprised if it started out as an original screenplay that got retrofitted into a tcm movie. there are no new sawyer relatives invented for this film (i don't think), but it does seem strangely insistent on keeping its leatherface away from the family for as much of the film as possible, making it feel especially like it didn't actually want to be a tcm movie. (the twist of the titular character's identity is clearly meant primarily to be surprising and not to make sense, but i can only say: there's no way that the original film's leatherface grew up apart from his birth family for that long and also used to be a "normal"-by-neurotypical-standards, verbal kid. different continuity.)

then in 2022 we get yet another attempt at No Guys Seriously For Real, This is a Direct Sequel to the First Movie, and i should have known things weren't looking good when it was announced this was actually getting dumped on netflix in february but my expectations plummeted to rock bottom when that teaser came out that thought the most relevant part of the movie to sell to people was a "canceled" joke. jesus. tcm:tng i'm sorry, this is the clear worst sequel. (if it was just that one dumb joke it might not be, but there's so much more that's awful in this movie - whatever.) anyway continuity-wise i guess this isn't completely disconnected, there is clear acknowledgement that the events of the first movie happened, but it's really not relevant to the main plot at all, when you get right down to it. pro tip: if a slasher sequel advertises the return of the original film's final girl, she will most likely not be in the film for more than five minutes. there's some implied backstory about leatherface running away to this neighboring town and being taken in by the lady who runs the orphanage, but honestly this could easily be yet another different continuity where leatherface is the adopted son of a kindly old lady (who still has a confederate flag in her window, jfc, i think this is the first time that imagery has ever been used in this series and it's associated with a character who's supposed to be sympathetic??) who was keeping a lid on his murderous tendencies before she died. points for effort i guess but i don't think it deserves much.

i really don't know why this series in particular is like this. most horror franchises will have their movies clearly follow each other and exist within the same continuity, sometimes with a reboot or two if they've gone on long enough (see: halloween having at least three different timelines, but all clearly branching from the same source.) if it's supposed to be an anthology series, they'll just...say that. i've heard it said that this series works best when viewed as variations on a theme, like the original film's events are an urban legend of sorts being told and retold around the campfire and every version is different because everyone remembers it differently or makes up their own. i do like that and think it makes the franchise make more sense but i know most people watching these movies aren't thinking about it like that, they're thinking of them all as sequels to the same movie, with the remake and its prequel being the only ones clearly existing in their own separate continuity.

it's a little sad to see how no one making official movies in the series seems to really care that much about the ostensible source material. maybe i'm biased because it's the film my brain latched onto the hardest when i started really getting into horror, but i think this movie is so interesting and there's so much there to explore with the little we're given about these characters and their dynamics and what they do and why they do it, and even if you can't really dive into all that in a movie you could at least use what's already there for your sequel and most of them just...don't. like they don't seem to have watched the original movie even before writing a sequel to it, just going off their own vague memories about that one scary movie about a guy with a human skin mask and a chainsaw. i know i shouldn't be expecting any more from a slasher franchise on its 9th installment but...whatever. it is what it is. this was never supposed to be a franchise in the first place. at least i can shout into the void about my thoughts and feelings on here.

(i think i read somewhere that the filmmakers were actually forbidden from referencing cannibalism in the script for texas chainsaw 3d and if that's true...oh boy. talk about missing the point. if you feel like something significant is missing in the later films in this series that's probably part of it.)

[bcolfanfic]

hi hi! I would love to hear all the angst that happens during the time period where Bucky is drinking again and the build up to the intervention. Did Bucky struggle with drinking before this? How does he act when he’s drunk? How does buck react if Bucky tries to initiate anything intimate when he is drunk(if he ever does) does Bucky ever resort to other substances to cope? Does Gale feel ‘angry’ with Bucky for drinking to cope instead of coming to him for help, if so how does he deal with those em? Does he lash out or go self deprecating? Thank was a lot sorry! But I would love to hear your thoughts on literally any of these things or whatever you have thought about this time period so no pressure at all ofc!! I just absolutely love this au it’s so special to me 🫶🏻

lmao re: other substances i have a 'in my head wip' thing about *gale* having a bit of a pill problem. and rachel and i gave kenny that issue too once. poor boys </3 but re: bucky in my head he just sticks to alcohol. i think he has some issues with paranoia re: his ptsd and that something like taking pills or other drugs is just too shrouded in what ifs that drinking alcohol from the store isn't y'know?

timeline wise i think he was always *susceptible* to having a drinking problem but knew that to the extent that he kinda harm reductioned himself? drank quite often, got *drunk*, but esp being with gale was pretty good about having limits and sticking to them. which becomes shakier post-suicide attempt when he's picking up the pieces from a months long mental breakdown. starts to feel like it's all less scary to deal with if he's more "loosened up"- which is what starts the more for-emotional-comfort drinking ie: keeping a flask on him or around him almost 24/7.

my experience with alcoholism comes from someone i know really well- and the thing with them was that outside of like nighttime party drinking they could be drinking heavily during the day and about 75% of the time you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't know them. when it's a habit like that you learn how to Function to hide the problem which i think bucky is pretty good at at least to begin with. plus he's always been more of a loose canon personality sober too, so to put it bluntly just ~being a little weird~ isn't necessarily a red flag.

but gale *does* know him, better than anyone so he does pick up on it eventually. which is hard at first because he *wants* to be wrong so so badly that he tries to brute force convince him he is. and then he finds a flask that john had hidden somewhere and the lying to himself about this being a capital p Problem gets a whole lot harder </3 doesn't even know how to bring it up because even though this is obviously /bad/ john is doing miles better than he was before his attempt. less nighttime episodes, less depression fatigue, seems a lot happier generally speaking. which gives gale so many conflicting feelings because it's different than the alcohol issues his dad had but. still issues. but not as bad so maybe its fine right? right?

i had a 'in my head wip' thing a while ago about john going out with some local buddies and getting a little 'lost along the way' getting back. ends up calling gale slurring his words begging to be picked up, which gale of course does but. poor john is a mess. needs quite a bit of help to get in the house, gets sick and now he *is* starting to remind gale of his dad which makes him itch so bad.

is so apologetic too when gale is helping him clean up and get into different clothes so he can sleep- and i think that's the only situation he'd really try to initiate something when drunk under. just feels so vulnerable and guilty and wants gale to kiss it better </3 kills gale to see him upset too when he has to reject him but just kinda. squeezes the back of his neck tells him not now and keeps chugging on getting him into bed so he can sleep.

coping wise i think gale goes right into self-deprecating mode. gets a bit angry during the whole debacle when they're in new york and john gets into that fight with croz and brady, because all their friends now know what's going on and he's embarrassed. but otherwise is real internal about it all. feels like he failed at Fixing him like he was supposed to and that they're never going to be truly settled/there's always going to be Something. which is also hard itself because he's so used to their life just being. like that. that he gets somewhat resigned too. even when curt is trying to push him on the intervention thing after the new york incident he has to pull teeth a little to get him on board because gale is just well. well it might not work /: it's fine i can handle him, i always have /:

couples therapy. couples therapy for everyone lmao but in all seriousness i do think this pushes them there once john is actually one foot in front of the other on the sobriety road. something they probably should've done after john's attempt to begin with it but they were a little in lalaland re: if john is okay gale will be okay and then we're both okay (: thinking.

[phxntomhives]

Twst theory: the events are all canon, they just fit in a weird timeline for each character

WARNING: Spoilers for Book 7

This is because the events are happening in the dreams created by Malleus' unique magic.

This is just for fun but it always bugged me how much canon the events are. They are not mentioned in the main storyline and the main storyline doesn't really mention them.

Yesterday night I couldn't sleep so I started to thinking about the cards and remembered the groovy animation: there are the thorns covering the card. And there is the black fog (also used when Silver and the others are being trapped in the blot) when the character speaks their line. Then the thorns retract, "freeing" the character and you have the groovy.

An example of a groovy here in case you forgot/don't remember (but litteraly any card is fine): https://youtu.be/vp68GOQnE6w

It would be interesting if this was an hint that the events are just the wishes/desires of someone that became true in the reality that Malleus created. Thanks to Idia we have seen that the dream can reset itself and in general everything goes as intended by Malleus' idea of Happy Ending. It could be that the events happen when the owner is waking up/realizing something is wrong so Malleus uses a panick button and make a nice event for them in order to distract them. Or the person dreaming is just feeling silly and wants to do something different and Malleus just goes "I got you". Plus, if I am not wrong, most, if not all, event are just overall nice, there isn't too much trauma in them (but it is true I am EXTREMELY behind in reading them, I am lazy).

"But the player/us can make decision" my brother in christ, Yuu does barely anything, we are cheerleaders at best. ESPECIALLY in the events. I understand why, on a gameplay level, it is not possible for us to make decision that actively effect the story, but we at most get a line that is slightly different as a reaction. If Malleus can recreate a whole fake universe in a dream I don't see why he can't add a fake version of us to the events, he HAS created a fake Ortho for Idia, Baul and Maleanor for Lilia. He just uses the memories and/or the hopes of the dreamer to create the situation. So maybe the Yuu in the events is just how Malleus and the dreamer sees Yuu. Remember, in this theory everything is working as he intended, even "us". Yuu (player) can't affect the story because Yuu (player) is not living it, it's Malleus' version of Yuu, how HE sees Yuu. Most likely also influences by the dreamer's view. Probably more the dreamer's view of Yuu that Malleus' honestly.

I also like the idea that Malleus just add Yuu since Yuu is basically his favourite human (after Silver/right with Silver) so I can see him going "Yuu brings happyness, let's add them to the dream, it makes sense, they will help make the dream happier."

The I started to wonder: but then why doesn't he add himself to every event? Doesn't he want to be more present in everyone's life? Be invited to stuff and spend time with them? What better opportunity than this, since he is adding himself already to the entrance ceremony? My polite guess is that he knew it would become too weird for the dreamer if he suddently appeared everywhere when he was barely seen until that moment, so he decided to cast himself aside for most events to be less suspicious. Idia realizes almost immediately something is wrong thanks to the insane gatcha luck so imagine if he suddenly found Malleus everywhere? "Why are you here, you aren't supposed to be here????" it would immediately raise suspicious from everyone.

This being said, the theory is likely wrong but I had way too much fun trying to guess who would be the owner of each dream-event. So I tried to think about it and here is my results, feel free to share if you think it different! (Under the cut because it would become kilometric)

Part 1 because it has become SO MUCH LONGER than expected

Happy Beans Day - Seize the Golden Harp!

SSR Azul, SR Jade + Jack, R Cater.

Dreamer - I feel like this is easy: Azul's team won and he is free from the pain of P.E. (felt). So I feel it's pretty safe to assume it's his dream. I do believe this challange could happens also in the main story since it's a yearly tradition, but it would be fun if Azul dreamed of it and maybe changed the outcome. In the happy dream, his team won while in reality he is still stuck with the lessons (I feel your pain Azul).

Why the others are present - I wouldn't be surprised if this is just how the teams were in the main story, and Azul just changed the finale. I don't remember if the first event had the Malleus VS Lilia fight but I like to think that is the real Malleus and he was just training a little to see how much he can affects the dreams and just have a nice sparring session.

Fairy Gala ~Festival of the Spring-Calling Fairies~

SSR Leona, SR Jamil + Kalim, R Ruggie

Dreamer - This was already harder, because no I don't think being the SSR automatically means you are the dreamer. It's too easy and with event with multiple SSR it would be more complicated (plus, this game would become boring quickly). So I reread it quickly and since "Leona and Kalim were tasked by Crowley to infiltrate the Fairy Gala" I believe Kalim would be a nice fit. He is there, dancing, spending time with Jamil and getting to know Leona and Ruggie better, which I don't think he would mind!

Why the others are present - he goes everywhere with Jamil and deeply cares about him, so I can see him trying to add Jamil to the dream in any way possible to enjoy more things together. I feel he could see Leona and Ruggie as a "do not separate" situation so, of course they would come together in the dream too. The reason for "why Leona?", it's because of the "Exotic" (tho I deeply disagree with the term ofc) theme. Vil and Divus are there because they can easily be considered the best for the costumes and training in any situation.

Ghost Marriage ~Proposal of Destiny~

SSR Ace, SR Riddle + Epel, R Rook

Dreamer - well, I think we can all agree it is definitely not Idia lol. As my biggest kin, I can promise you that if I were to dream of being kidnapped I would also be also the one saving myself and I would not want to have a squad of people to come to dig my grave deeper help me. We can also all agree that, most likely, all the slapped boys are definitely not the one dreaming. I don't think Ortho would dream can he dream? of his brother being kidnapped. Sam also doesn't feel quite right. I think it is pretty safe to assume again one of the guys that got the card is the one dreaming (yes I don't feel safe assuming that this is true for all events). But then who? Riddle is off the chart because the rulesTM were almost broken and he was desperate to fix it. I guess he would dream something more peaceful that either follows the rules or completely ignore them. Rook is also off the chart, he can see beauty in everything so he would not make Eliza reject everyone if anything I see him going more for an harem ending. Also he would not let Vil's face be ruined by a slap, I think. Ace or Epel that is the question. My heart is screaming Epel just because he can let go of his frustration by fighting, and he could finally hit Vil (Eliza did it, but it would be his dream soooo). Buut my mind reminds me that Ace has dropped that he had a girlfriend that left him. Seems like a pretty big lore to drop if Epel is the one dreaming. I can't find a reason for Epel to dream about Ace telling of his romantic past. Plus if I am not wrong he is the one that in the end plays the major role of making Eliza realize her feelings. So, for as much as I would like to say Epel, I think the dreamer is Ace.

Why the others are present - for chaos. And the Drama.

[jammedjanna]

Some (Slightly Yujin-Centric) Head Canons About the Original Study Exchange Characters

Warning!! The Great Ace Attorney 2 SPOILERS AHEAD

The grandma that raises Susato for the first five years is Ayame's mom. Yujin does NOT talk to his parents. but he does feel the need to quietly send them money out in the country. Helps him connect to Jigoku whose family straight up disowned him (the devil connotation in his name is too easy to not make his fam super puritanical and decide he isn't good enough for them), Genshin who lowkey wishes he could disown his parents but kinda needs them around cause of the whole teen dad thing and his wife being VERY poor so basically having no assets to bring to the table besides bastard child (made her a factory worker cause industrial revolution was growing at the time, women who needed to work were basically prostitutes or factory workers and the working conditions of both were shit, and Kazuma's speech in the original Japanese game is actually about the need to improve factory conditions and liberate those workers which was super progressive at the time so I think his mother being a former worker who had to go back to support them after Genshin died and that basically killing her would 100% radicalize him; sadly Japanese society would not have looked at her very kindly at the time, but I love her), and Kazuma's mom whose only family has been dead since she was younger than Kazuma was (helps him understand her better when Yujin comes back from England to discover his parents died while he was away and no one told him cause they just weren't in actual contact at all)

Ayame has a good relationship with her parents. They're great. They run the dojo Yujin and Jigoku (and later Susato) learn/practice judo at. It's pretty close to the university so they both decide to go their for it, which is how they meet Yujin ALSO meets Ayame there cause her mom insists he can come by to practice any time he wants cause his studies end up giving him weird hours of free time. So he decides to go in the middle of the night one time and Ayame Susato-Takedown style attacks him assuming he's an intruder. Her mom clarifies and leaves them alone. They talk and spar til they lose track of time and it's morning. blah blah love story. Her parents are also very supportive of women's rights so they encourage Ayame to have a career. So she's an writer under pen name (Yujn starts doing his journals in England in her honor since she was always jotting down notes like that to use later). Yujin's parents were much more conservative but he never really understood the point of their beliefs. Naturally questioned everything thank god.

Ayame is the one who applied for Yujin to do the study tour. He was too down on himself and sure they wouldn't pick him but she knows he's brilliant and forges the application for him (he doesn't know until he's accepted.) The plan was her pen name would take a trip to Britain independent of the study tour so she could keep writing and they could go together. Plans changed a little when they found out she was pregnant (they were already married but weren't really planning a timeline on when to have kids.) They decided to continue their careers in Japan instead so they could start their family and maybe they'll check England out when Susato's a little older. They were still cycling through candidates for the third spot when Tragedy Strikes, so Genshin and Seishoro convince them to let Yujin back on and depart the tour sooner than intended Yujin is not doing well in the wake of Ayame's death. He's truly trying his best but he can barely take care of himself and Susato cries anytime he holds her or feeds her or changes her to the point he's worried she might be colic before they actually knew what that was (really she can just sense how stressed he is and the looming despair of everyone around her grieving Ayame.) Thankfully Ayame's parents are there to help and she seems to do so much better with them that in his grief and dysfunction, he decides the best thing he can do for her is literally just to support her financially cause he's going to fuck her up if he keeps going like this. And making as much money as he can means going where pathology is the hottest right now, which the exchange trip is his ticket too

Seishoro and Genshin are friends from childhood (yeah I like Brutus by the Buttress for them too much not to be). Yujin and Genshin meet each other through Seishoro, Yujin meets Kazuma's mom through Genshin, and she meets Ayame through Yujin Important to me that they're ALL good friends, especially Yujin and Kazuma's mom cause I feel that relationship is very important in the year after he returns to Japan. It's what ultimately leads to him unofficially adopting Kazuma after her death.

Like mentioned above, she has to return to her factory job which she was thankfully safe from after becoming pregnant with Kazuma because Genshin's family has money from before the samurai abolition that could support them. But they never really liked her. They always thought she derailed Genshin's bright future (even though he's still very successful while he's alive) and they don't want much to do with Kazuma until he's of age because he's not much use to them as a child. So now it's up to her to support them. The options are pretty much the same after half a decade, so back to the factory she goes which escalates her painful but manageable health problems into life threatening ones. And she is VERY insistent that Kazuma does not get a job to try to take the load off. She had to start working as a child and it wrecked her body. She will not let the same happen to her son. He's a smart boy who is going to stay in school and focus on his grades and he'll find a good job to keep him out of this position even if it kills her. She will not let this horrible system take him the way it took her.

She also doesn't like Genshin's family. She saw the toll they took on him and she doesn't want that for Kazuma, especially since they only care about him when he's useful to them. Yujin is also trying to help her but he's already supporting himself, Susato, and Ayame's parents on the salary of a fresh out of school pathologist (he tries to continue on the coroner route but after watching Kazuma's mom fade away in front of him, unable to do anything for her, he loses his stomach for it and switches to research and academia.) He can only stretch it so much. So she begs him, her only real friend anymore (Jigoku gets distant from both of them during this time cause of killing Genshin. He warms back up to Yujin after a while but at that point it's too late for Kazuma's mom), to at least Kazuma in if something happens to her. The Asogis don't have his best interests at heart and he can't survive on his own. She doesn't ask him to go as far as he does, she mostly pleads with him to give him enough financial support to stay in school and out of the workforce. Yujin sees that he desperately needs emotional support too and decides to take him in as his own (he tries his best to respect that he's not his father but he can't help but come to see Kazuma like his son. Kazuma has very complicated feelings about the Mikotobas and loves them like family too but he creates an intentional wall between them (that Yujin can see but Susato doesn't until he comes back "from the dead" in the second game) because he feels like he's betraying his parents by loving anyone else like he loved them. Ryunosuke helps break that down a little and seeing him, Susato, Iris, and Sholmes kinda beats into his head the idea of found family, so he tries to let everyone in more post-canon.

I know the game literally only talks about Kazuma's dad. I'm pretty sure they don't even mention his mom once, maybe just to say the grief killed her or something. but I think Kazuma was 100% a mama's boy and at the time, losing her hit him much harder than losing his dad (tho it doesn't help that it stacked on top of that death) Genshin had already been gone for so many years that Kazuma was a little more detached from him than he'd care to admit. and they never had a chance to reconnect like Susato and Yujin did. vs. losing his mom who has been around the entire time and is literally killing herself trying to give him the best life she can I think over time, he hyperfixated on Genshin's death being the thing that "ruined his life," or at least tore his family apart and focuses on clearing his name as something tangible he can do to try to get justice since there's nothing he can do to bring either of them back, but even less he can do to avenge his mom

I think Genshin and his wife loved each other but they got married more out of circumstance than anything else. They provided an escape for each other when they met and all things being equal, they would've moved on with someone else and possibly never seen each other again. They came to appreciate each other more raising Kazuma together and their bond definitely strengthen over their shared love and devotion for him, but when they were on other sides of the world, they sort of fell out of "love". Don't get me wrong, they still very much care about each other. Genshin's death definitely devastates her and causes her health to deteriorate much quicker. I just think they both naturally feel an inclination to explore other relationships while apart but don't because they feel too guilty "cheating" on each other despite knowing on some level they both feel this way. Plus societal expectations of married couples still weighs on them. Even though a lot of people considered it no big deal for men to cheat, Genshin still struggled with acting on any of his feelings while in England (COUGH COUGH KLINT) I also kinda think they were both gay and were drawn to each other because of that but struggled with identifying their feelings because of comphet and their platonic affection for each other.

On the other hand, I think Klint and Lady B also started as a marriage of convenience. They're both the eldest living family members of their families and though Klint has Barok, they're both far from the perfect picture of nobility. So getting married is a good way to improve their social standing and preserve wealth and their family images. Plus they find each other charming enough to strike up a partnership and Barok likes her which is hard cause a sweetheart but kinda judgmental about the complexities of nobility and the way it shapes people (he's also very scandalized at the idea of marrying for anything short of love cause he's always been a hopeless romantic and that's what their parents did. He tries to get Genshin to side with him who then has to awkwardly explain he had a shotgun wedding.) Anyway all that to say they like each other enough but don't have any romantic feelings in the beginning. But I think they slowly fall in love over the next few years until they're genuinely very enamored with each other and want to start a family together. Which is a teensy bit of a struggle so the best day of Klint's life ends up coinciding with the worst. (His wife is pregnant and they're going to have a child together :D! But also Stronghart caught onto him taking justice into his own hands and blackmailed him into killing his mentor, who acted as a stand-in father after the death of his parents :/) 10. I think Yujin, Genshin, and Jigoku remain very close in London and get together quite often but they each have their own little corners of London they sort of keep to themselves. Great friends who are all somewhat acquainted with each other but only barely. Like at a party Klint hosts and wants to invite Genshin's friends and some Judiciary and Sholmes crashes it. Yujin has Sholmes and Mrs. Hudson (I can't fucking believe we never see or talk to her in-game by the way. They only mention her like once). Jigoku has Stronghart and some other dudes who are definitely kickstarting his villain arc. And Genshin has Klint and Lady B and Barok. and then they all kinda share Gregson cause he intersects with all their bullshit (much to his dismay) and Sholmes to an extent cause he NEEDS to know everything he can about Yujin's terrible taste in friends and he breaks into crime scenes and courthouses and offices a LOT

I don't know how accurate this is to ACD Watson, but: Yujin definitely thinks he's a good judge of character but he's actually shit cause he always wants to see the best in people So Sholmes 100% feels the need to investigate everyone in his circle to make sure he hasn't accidentally befriended Jack the Ripper. None of them are serial killers (yet) but he's keeping his eye on all of them.

OKAY NOW I'M DONE

Sorry for the stream of consciousness dump there but I wanted to get all my thoughts out about these freaks with barely any screentime besides Sholmes and Yujin.

And Would you believe I have all this head canon lore about Kazuma's mom/Mrs. Asogi but I STILL can't come up with a good name for her?? Same for Lady B but at least I have something to refer to her as besides Iris's mom or Klint's wife.

[dorianwolfforest]

Hey, i just had a revelation that some of the quests read like a weird DND campaign. Do you think the writers are just playing DND hence why some of the quests are muddled because they haven’t written down any of the lore and they’re just kind of making shit up on the fly?

I like the idea, but I don't think that's an apt comparison because DND Gamemasters, while coming up with things on the fly, often know their established characters, the lore of their world, and the general beats they want to get their players through. SSE lacks even this. They do however, fittingly, very often take their characters into DND-esque one-shots and alternative stories, although they do it all in the same world with the same characters as their main "campaign", so it just adds a lot of confusion.

What you need to know about SSE writers is that they aren't actually writers. Anyone who feels up for it and has a relative interest in the story could logistically write a quest because there isn't an established writing team, and while they have a lore bible, often times they'll add information that maybe doesn't directly contradicts the established lore but is so out of left field it becomes more convoluted than it needs to be.

Because there is no consistency with the writers, I do firmly believe that they do not value consistency in their writing either. There is also the fact that a lot of the lore is almost a decade old, and written by people who may not work for the company any longer. The game has also been updated weekly for several years, so any new information will always contradict the established timeline (think of how Elizabeth got her name from the new Wynna Sunbeam character. That makes no sense with what we already know, because Elizabeth and Wynna never interact, Wynna isn't at Elizabeth's funeral, they never even talk to each other, and yet they really wanted Wynna to be an important part of Elizabeth's character so they forced it into the game anyway.) This is one of those moments where the writer of a quest wants something, and they do not care enough to go back and make sure that, through over ten years of lore, it all makes sense.

What you are playing is an unfinished product, and if the writers want to change every single detail about the lore and rewrite it all tomorrow, that is something that they can do. Until the game is finished, nothing is canon, which gives the writers a lot of freedom to completely ignore anything that has been previously established. This is incredibly frustrating and confusing for players, but is unfortunately just something we have to "put up with". It sucks, it's wildly confusing, and SSE does not deal with it in any kind of good way.

[bedlamsbard]

Hello (almost doctor?!) bard! Hope the tail end of the school year is going okay. I have a plot choices question about Of Home Near, which I just binge read and totally fell in love with. What lead to your choice to leave Bucky and Sam unsnapped? It was done so naturally and it felt like it fit in the narrative so well I had to blink and remind myself that it was canon divergent.

Thank you! I'm into summer semester now, which had darn well better be my last semester.

I don't remember exactly when I decided that Bucky and Sam weren't going to be snapped -- I think Bucky, Sam, and Yelena are the big three that don't get snapped in Home but do get snapped in canon. Part of it is the randomness factor; Steve and Natasha don't get snapped in canon, but in Home they're not even there to be snapped, which changes the number of people who can possibly get snapped. *handwave* So that's the internal logic of why Bucky, Sam, and Yelena are still around in Home but not in canon. (Horizon, which is also an IW AU, has similar internal logic for why characters who are snapped in canon don't get snapped in that fic: the divergence means that there are different people around and in theory the Snap is ~random. Which is also the reason that there are different people snapped/unsnapped in Home, Horizon, and canon -- i.e., Thor gets snapped in Horizon/Yonder but is still around in Home, Alexei is snapped in Home but is still around in Horizon.)

For Bucky and Sam specifically, I don't remember when I made that decision but I think it was very, very early on, possibly even before I started writing. Part of it is just so Steve's life isn't so god damn miserable; the Snap is bad enough as it is. But it's also to balance out the characters in the 1945 timeline: Bucky isn't there in 1945 even though the rest of the Howlies and SSR are, but he is there in 2018. There was never going to be a 1945 Bucky/Winter Soldier in this story. That was never an option; that empty space always had to be there. There was a lot of speculation in the comments right up until Chapter 13 about when the Winter Soldier would appear and it was making me pretty unhinged, since from my POV it could not be more clear that this was not a Save Bucky fic. He was always, always going to be the ghost in the room in 1945.

I knew that Steve and Natasha were always going to make it back to 2018, though the earliest I think I started saying so was in July 2023, since I do talk a lot about my WIPs and I was trying to stay vague about the outcome until then.

To some extent Sam and Bucky survive the Snap for the comedy factor after the return to 2018; it wouldn't have quite the same effect with any of the canonical survivors. Though you'll note the actual reunion goes differently than this! Also yeah the ENTIRE reason that Tony is there in the 2018 sequence is for the comedy factor. That is also the entire reason the Howard/Steve kiss actually made it into the story. I do stuff because I think it's funny and then I add the emotions in once I actually start writing.

I also thought Bucky and Steve having reverse experiences in 1945 and 2018 was funny, tbh. Steve's got the "I would like to not be brainwashed by the USSR" problem and Bucky is speedrunning Steve's usual Avengers problems.

More seriously, part of Bucky and Sam's survival is just so that Steve's team is there in 2018 as well as in 1945 in a way that they really aren't in canon, since the Avengers seem to fall apart after the Endgame prologue -- it's part of the reason Clint shows up at the compound (which he doesn't do in canon). Yelena (and to some extent Clint) is there to balance that out for Natasha, as well as to provide a mirror for the 21st century Red Room vs. the mid-century Department X.

There is another, more practical reason, which is: seeing Bucky in 2018 is an instant "oh SHIT" for the 1945 gang. As soon as he turns up in the time window, that's a clue that there was weird stuff going on that Steve's only began to touch on. And it's also to give Bucky closure on leaving the Howlies and the SSR -- he was ripped away from them as much as Steve was, but I feel like I never see that touched on in the fandom, so he gets some of it back.

This is more about Bucky than it is about Sam; part of that is because I didn't want to snap one and not the other and because Bucky's the one who's more relevant to this particular part of Steve's narrative, the reasoning is more about him than about Sam. But like -- that's Steve's team. They have to be there in 2018, just like the Howlies are there in 1945.

(I do think that because I didn't snap anyone in Home who didn't also get snapped in canon that there are too many Avengers survivors, especially because I have Clint and Yelena show up at the compound, but I also didn't want to snap anyone who survived canonically. And it ended up being most of Team Cap, minus Wanda, so it does end up feeling unbalanced, but I didn't want to kill anyone else off.)

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

Crossover: Everyone & Mugman x Clara Carmine (2024)

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[Note: I plan to use this as a Cover for one of the Crossover stories I'm working on over at Quotev, so while I'm free to use this for both here and over there, please respect the whole "do not reblog without permission" tag thing...Oh, and it is best to click on the drawing to get a bit of a better view of it to see it better.]

Credit for Hazbin Hotel & Helluva Boss goes to Vivienne “Vivziepop” Medrano

Credit for Cuphead goes to Studio-MDHR

Credit for Undertale goes to Toby Fox

Credit for Steven Universe goes to Rebecca Sugar

Credit for Red Vs Blue, RWBY & Camp Camp goes to Rooster Teeth

(and even though Monty Oum, we can only hope his legacy that is RWBY will always live on for many years to come...)

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well besides Kaikaina being confirmed to be Bisexual, and she can make that whole "bi-phase excuse" all she wants, she can't hide the fact she's into girls as well...

but anyway Fan-Headcanon about Nerris and Ruby, is that Nerris is a Nonbinary-Girl and their pronouns are She/They.

and Ruby Rose is Transgender and Asexual, oh yeah and she is Nonbinary as well, but it is a part of herself she has yet to fully discover.

Kaikaina being like another Big Sister Figure to Ruby, could be interesting in a fan fic.

anyway I don't really have a name for that Hellhound that is suppose to be OC, doesn't really have a name, but I might have her appear in That "Third Bride Of The Garden" over at Quotev, just not right now but maybe later on...which means this drawing could end up as one of the covers for the future chapters of that story.

and I might end up add a bit more worlds to Crossover into that story.

it might be weird, but I couldn't help but like the idea about Older-Mugman and Clara being ship together, even if it is in a fanon timeline and the ship isn't canon.

if they got married, Mugman's Mother-In-Law would be a Overlord.

the female version of Moxxie, who can be thought of as a version from one of those Alternate Universes in one of the Fanon Timeline.

her name is Moxxanne, like being a mix of Mox and Roxanne put together.

Moxxanne has her Mother's Flower in her hair, and her outfit is a bit different from her Canon Male Counterpart...

and I don't think any of the other Female versions of Moxxie, would have their outfit like the one in this drawing.

anyway in a hour or so, I will work on the next chapters of some crossover stories over at Quotev that I haven't updated since maybe a few months ago...anyway hope some like this drawing. :)

[sugaredbloodcells]

hyacinth, lily & rose!!

SORRY this has taken me so long to get to... i've procrastinated a lot and plus i've found words stuff a bit hard as of late so. buttttt i am finally getting to this <3 finally!

warning: there will be terrifier 3 spoilers!

lily: do you try to fit your s/i into canon, or do you just do whatever you'd like with them?

answering this one first because it's needed before hyacinth. i usually do try to fit my s/is into canon as best as possible, that makes the most sense to me, and my autism doesn't allow me to see other pathways than that? this is mega reminiscent of my oc sunny because i tried so hard for her timeline with johnny to match up with the real time events of jackass. i had a conversation about everything not having to be perfect because this literally isn't real, but my autism thinks everything has to match up and make sense to the canon, whatever that may be. so, yes, i do absolutely try to fit my s/is into canon.

hyacinth: how did your s/i meet your f/o(s)?

in the third movie, in the scene where art and vicky are in the house and they kill those two guys (this is vague but i'm too lazy to completely describe the scene), alfie had explored this house himself and found art. (a bit of an explanation: alfie loves exploring abandoned places, so he will go to places illegally. he pretends he doesn't give a fuck, but he is actually very scared and paranoid about getting arrested. he loves to take photos on his adventures as well.) back to how they met, alfie found this house and decided to explore it, figured he could get some cool photos out of it. this is where he finds art, which does scare the ever-living shit out of him. art had decided to murder him, but since alfie seemed so... not afraid about it... art just stopped and look at him in fascination. like in a "wow maybe you're just like me, fucked in the head" way, which is true! alfie does have a bit of a death wish even if he is kind of a pussy about things. but yeah, art chose to not murder alfie out of fascination. and later on, art somehow found alfie's address and just showed up one day...? and the rest is history. fucking freaks (affectionate).

rose: is your s/i more like yourself, or are they more of an oc you project on?

for alfie particularly, it's a mix of both? i guess? i want him to be like me when i thought i were a trans man. i was... really depressed during this time, and i do want to make alfie like this. but i want to give him a happier way of living after befriending art. i know it's weird but just having one person, despite how fucked up they are, can make such a difference. and art would fully accept these parts of alfie because... art is so much worse. like he murders people. and yes, that makes alfie a bit more fucked in the head for being loving towards art while knowing this information, but art gets alfie in whatever way, and they accept each other's most ugly parts. and that is love any way you want to look at it. i want alfie to have the kind of love i didn't get during this time. he also carries parts of me i feel ashamed about, like my fear of literally everything. but i do make him seem more brave about it than i am actually. and i also want him to have my desire for connection quite largely (obviously, with what i've just said before). he has bpd too, so he often has breakdowns over art. alfie definitely gets more angry than i do. he has rage episodes more often, he breaks things, and feels so much rage that he cries. this says a lot because alfie has been conditioned to not cry even when he wants to (projecting). his anger is all-consuming, something he cannot control (this is the reverse of my own bpd with fps, i get severely depressed, so i'm making alfie have rage instead). so, i'm not quite sure? maybe he is more like an oc instead of being more like me? that's a hard thing for me to say because i always make my ocs so much more like me subconsiously than i realize.

[harpershigh-arch]

(So as a fan of the Baldur's Gate one and two can i get a head canon on if Jaheira still remembers Khalid and what happened in the beginning of the second game? if so does her heart still ache? purely curious because it never came up in the third game and im kinda salty about that)

ATTENTION!!! THIS CONTAINS ACT 3 SPOILERS!!!

Thanks for the ask!

Grief is a constant in Jaheira's life, and this is canon.

In the game, we have small glimpses of her grief. Grief for Khalid, for Abdel Adrian (I follow the timeline where they were a couple, but even if they were not, she and Minsc talks very fondly of Gorion's Ward when you're playing as the Dark Urge), for her absence in her children's lives. Also, if you let her do the final speech in your place, Khalid's memory is evoked as a wound that still bleeds.

Despite her kindness, her grief makes her cautious and reserved to the point of not telling Tav or any of the companions about her children even though she trusts them! It's as if there was an invisible barrier between her and those she cares for, a need to protect herself and others from even more heartache. As a druid, she knows very well the fragility of life, and though she still offers her guidance and strength to others, she withholds a piece of herself, perhaps afraid that, if she lets them in too deeply, she might lose them too.

In BG3, we get what perhaps might be her most famous quote in the game:

“You twine your life around the people you love. And when they’re gone, you grow around their absence instead. It is just another way they shape you.”

As a person who had lost her fair share of beloved ones in life myself, this quote ressonates deeply with me. It captures the reality that grief doesn’t just fade over time; instead, we grow around it, learning to live with the spaces left behind. That acknowledgment that loss never really leaves — it becomes a part of us, intertwining with who we are, it is SO important for her character, because it not only tells us how much she still feels all her losses, but also shaped how she parents her children.

Her absence in their lives stems not from a lack of love but from the difficult choices she has made to protect them. No, I DON'T approve her questionable parental choices, but I DO understand where it comes from, how she fears of losing them too soon (like she'd lost Khalid and Abdel), how she does not want to inflict them the same pain she endured so many times before. Here her grief is tied not just to the people she lost, but also to the opportunities she missed, the sacrifices that kept her from fully being with her family. Her short message for them, "I'm sorry, you know what to do", implies that she was actually preparing them since an early age for her death, and she didn't even expect to be mourned!

So, her way of handling grief is just this weird, guarded, resilience — by moving forward even when every step is painful, tinged with a layer of humour to not crumble to the pain. The losses have taught her to cherish what remains but have also made her a little more distant, knowing how easily everything could be taken away. She still offers care but she does so from a place tinged with sorrow, as if she was always trying to brace herself for the worst outcome.

In my opinion (and this is how I try to portray her), Jaheira's relationship with loss could be better, but also could be much, much worse — especially given that, as a high-level druid and High Harper, she has enough power and influence to make her pain everyone else's problem, just like Ketheric did.

Still, she doesn't. The druidic teachings about balance may play a great part in this, as well the support she received from everyone, especially Abdel, after Khalid's death (I loathe D&D's alignment system, I will NEVER justify anything with "she's good/evil" because this is bullshit for me, I'm more a "conditions and circumstances" person).

So yeah, I try to portray Jaheira as someone balancing strength and vulnerability — she’s been through so much, and even though she’s resilient, it’s definitely wearing her down after years of always having to be the strong one. I like to show her as this grounding force for her loved ones, but deep down, she needs their love to keep her grounded too. She tries to keep things light, to find joy in the little moments, even though for her, they sometimes feel like the calm before the storm. At the core, I try to depict her as someone who did not give up hope, even though she knows blind hope can be dangerous and break you. But she holds onto it because the alternatives — falling apart or breaking the world — aren’t options she’s willing to take. I just hope I can get all that across in my writing.

As for the begining of the second game, I'll return to it soon, because I played it about 15 years ago, give or take? So now Im re-playing the whole saga. Just finished BG1 this week and I'm halfway through Siege of Dragonspear.

PS.: I'm playing BG: Siege of Dragonspear rn and got to a certain part where Khalid asks help to put up the necklace he gifts Jaheira... I'm weeping...

[roscvcins]

SHIPPING INFO. Answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)? I kind of have too many muses to answer this question. Assume canon (tm) because I'm pretty basic when it comes to that, with a few exceptions.

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping? Within the realm of normal stuff (tm), I'm down to try anything! Within the realm of darker topics and toxic relationships, as long as we've all discussed it / there aren't any hard no topics (which are listed in the rules, and pretty straightforward for the most part) and we're all okay with it, I'm also down to do some exploration! I think relationships are complicated and as long as we acknowledge what's wrong with one it's fun to explore some dysfunction. Anyway, I don't typically write nsfw either but I do do fade to blacks / if I'm really super comfortable with you it might be something we could discuss.

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable? You know, writing in xianxia makes this hard. I think in a normal (tm) non-xianxia timeline, as long as everybody is well over Adult Age / the equivalent of 30 (tm), I'll typically accept up to a 12 year gap. Any more over that feels like it's approaching the territory of weird (tm). If it's xianxia as long as everybody is well over adult age I'll go hundreds of thousands of years without so much as blinking hhhh

Are you selective when shipping? Yes and no! I tend to jump the gun when it comes to ships because I'm enthusiastic about trying things. If characters have some kind of chemistry I'm typically all for jumping straight in without too much preamble. On the other hand, if it's really not working or I really just don't think a ship will work I don't want to compromise in order to try to ship! Dupes are another area where I'm a little selective. Only if I think I can offer a different perspective or a different vibe for a ship I already have with a particular character will I try to ship with a dupe of that character. I don't want anybody to feel interchangeable with anybody else and I want to respect everybody's individual portrayal!

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW? To preface: NSFW is a rare occurrence on this blog, as I typically do fade to blacks. On the particular occasion when I need to tag NSFW however, I feel I'm bad at judging this threshold??? I'm an overzealous tagger, so I think a lot of times my read mores and my tags are used on things that may not be considered *very* nsfw! My judge for whether or not to tag/read more really depends on my own innate "what the fuck can I really post this on tumblr" meter. Which is to say, I'll tag everything but how hard I blush about what I wrote determines whether or not I throw it under a read more. I think statistically this is typically when: clothes come off, people are touching in private areas, or, and this one may only pertain to me - they're saying things they wouldn't want anyone other than their current partner to hear.

Who are other muses you ship your muse with? Crossover canons!!! OCs!!! Canon canons!!! My lovely mutuals are always so lovely with their muses and my muses love them!!

Does one have to ask to ship with you? Please do! It'd be easier for both of us to talk about it so we know we're shipping. Cat and mouse games are fun when it comes to chemistry (tm) but it's always most clear and least confusing if we talk about the muse intentions!

How often do you like to ship? uh, contrary to my "not ship obsessed" personality...quite a lot! It's a fun part of rp that I don't tend to deprive myself of! I am happy to write any kind of relationship between two muses, however! Just because I frequently find myself shipping doesn't mean that I won't do other types of dynamics / invest equal amounts of emotion into them! I've got some great platonic things going on too!

Are you multiship? Very much so! Multiverse multifandom multiship baby it's on the tin!!

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less? Haha, not quite ship obsessed, as previously mentioned! Also not quite ship more-or less, so I guess somewhere in the middle. On the "ships are nice and I enjoy them very much but they are not the sole purpose of rp" point, I think.

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom? Everyone knows I haven't shut up about T.aliu since September 2023 right? You can pry love as faith from cold dead hands. I felt that feral (tm) about h.ualian and I will feel This Feral (tm) about t.aliu now. something something the softest evil god in the history of the universe who finally found someone he wanted to believe in him x the quiet and lonely believer who found something he wanted to protect for the first time I just jfkdlsajkldjsa;f foaming at the mouth screaming crying puking -

Finally, how does one ship with you? Step one, open my dm, im, or ask Step two, say HEY RO SHIP WITH ME Step three, ???? Step four, profit

tagged by : the dash, since I stole it tagging : YOU MY LOVELIES

[dilucofdawn]

Blog Intro:

- This blog is for my OC x Canon Universe, AUs may be introduced at somepoint, and will be under #au you can ask messages to the AU, but please specify. I use my own headcanons here and my version of Diluc, it may vary from what you wish/want/or perceive as canon. I wouldn't say my version necessarily but just, "my writings/written Diluc" / "how I write Diluc"

-Diluc will respond as the OC x Canon Universe version regardless of the ask, although unless Lily is mentioned, there really isn't any need to specify this.

-This blog skips around in the timeline often, if you wish to ask a question to a certain part of time,please specify

-You can ask romantic questions, it will be tagged as #noncanon since it is.. not canon to any universe I have. Honestly if you want to do this just ask me to roleplay with you in dms, its easier and more fun for me, I prefer writing vs simply replying in character though. Lit Roleplays they are called right? >< Minors please do not ask direct romantic questions, general things as "what is your dream date" are fine but I don't want to write any romance for a minor.

- I have not run a blog like this before, be aware of that

- the in universe explantation for this blog is that lady beatrice gave everyone a book and they write and receive questions and no one else can read the book..or .. simply it doesnt matter. Basically Diluc is aware of the universe he is receiving questions from is a paraell of 'Lilys Original Universe' (think that book from sunset to twilight in equestria girls.. that was the main inspo)

-This takes place in a world without lumine and aether, I'm sure theres plot holes with that, but it isn't serious enough to fill them. I do have an AU with Lily with the traveler but I don't talk about it much. Lily is suppose to take the role of the traveler I suppose. Does she look like lumine? I hate to tell you but one of the multiple names I was given was Lily (complicated on how I have three names) and I happen to be blonde and decided to cut my hair short a few years ago before genshin. Am I secretly Lumine? Feel free to speculate.

- Questions can be sent for Kaeya, Claret, Lily and other ocs if I ever add any more (specify or it default's to diluc)

-You or you're ocs can reply, if its an oc, please specify for me

-Lily is literally just me, but as a written (fictionalized) version of me that is in Teyvat, there are differences since.. she is an alternate me essentially. Although what she says does not correlate to me always. If Lily is rude to you/your oc it doesn't mean I am. I think writing an Isekaied version of myself and the problems/dynamics it has is super fun and interesting. Lily has a third person perspective on Teyvat and knows more about it, due to being a 'reader' Diluc meanwhile lives in it. Also Genshin is simply referred to as /the story/ since it gets too idk I just like it like that lol

- I do full literate roleplays in DMs Only, I have the right to decline, say I'm too busy etc (although.. this is rare for me) I can do OC's or as previously mentioned. I find it super weird to have anyone share my writing where anyone could see the roleplay/full roleplay. I do prefer to roleplay on discord if its a full literate roleplay.

- do not be scarred to talk to me PLEASE.. i am begging for people to interact with 😭

-NO NSFW, I do not mind jokes but I keep that strictly to my friends (my mutuals are friends) if we are friends just talk about that casually with me lol

- Proship (yes that includes k/eluc) do not interact, I am adopted myself, my partner is chinese, we know Kaeya is adopted. Please leave me alone and stop making weird comments about my family origin and adoption as a whole. I will block you. If you're blocked on my main blog, I'm not going to respond to you here either. Didn't read all this? PROSHIP DNI

-important tags include (will update as needed):

#diluc #kaeya #claret #lily #beatrice #character intro #au #noncanon #ooc #ask #bloginfo #dilucsdiary #timeline

Tags are in the bottom of this post for easily finding it

Diluc's Intro:

[danko420]

Fallout TV thoughts

Under a cut because I rambled... SPOILERS AHEAD BE WARNED

So seeing people complain about morality of certain writing choices in the fallout show- like Cooper saying there will always be factions fighting each other etc (there's been other examples that's just one I've seen most recently)

and its like... yeah, but he's wrong? Everyone in this world is wrong? Everyone is a product of their traumatizing experiences and upbringing... Even the vaulties, even Moldaver, and the BoS etc...

Like for example I didn't expect to like Thaddeus when he showed up (after like... his initial intro in ep 1), but then he starts talking about HIS traumatic experiences and they give him more characterization and its like yeah, he's just another fucked up little guy in a fucked up world. The people in power when he was growing up didn't protect him from the pecking order (in fact probably encouraged it) so he was bullied and then in turn bullied Max...

I guess that's my takeaway from the show, everyone has a horribly skewed perspective, they're working with ONLY the info they were taught (except Coop I guess, but he's ALSO only working with the info he was given as a pre-war American citizen)

Like they're all cults, the vault is a cult, the BoS is a cult, hell even the pre-war american attitudes were cultish. None of their opinions are true or valid, they shouldn't need to spell that out, you should be able to tell their opinions are wrong just with like... your own logic and critical thinking skills...

ALSO, I saw someone complain about how we should never know who dropped the bombs and the fact is we still don't? We just know who's intention it was to drop the bombs... doesn't mean they got to it first. I guess we'll see what unfolds?

idk all in all I liked it? I think it's a good starting point anyway, and if they're allowed to get more political they should but I also know studios may not let them... I feel like that's the issue with every big piece of media lately (movies, shows, games, etc), they can't be truly controversial (in any way that makes a real difference) because the people funding it won't let them.

Still they had plenty of jabs against capitalism/corporate monopolies so like, I don't think they were pulling as many punches as people seem to suggest? They just had to be more coy with it- or have the person delivering those lines say it in a heroic way (because from their perspective they're the heroes- that doesn't mean they're right)

ALSO ALSO (Last thought) Seasons used to be 24 eps long... then they got cut down to 12 and now 8... that's not enough time to meaningfully flesh out a story with this many moving pieces? They have to squeeze in as much as they can in every moment and sometimes that means they can't spell things out as explicitly as they may have wanted to.

I wish shows could be 24 eps again I feel like we'd be really able to get into the nitty gritty of the world and characters with that kind of time...

OH OH FINAL LAST THOUGHT

Someone was complaining about it erasing pre-war racism (which like yeah huge issue) but they were also acting like the bombs dropped in the actual 60s and that's not how the fallout timeline works... the bombs dropped in 2077, in the FUTURE from our perspective, because the timeline split IN the 60s and their world went hard on developing Nuclear tech whereas we did not. Their culture didn't change over those 100+ years, which is weird to me but they wanted the 60s aesthetic so I'll let it slide as a like... everyone got so passionate about developing tech they stopped investing energy in fashion or culture? (Yeah doesn't make sense to me either) but yeah the point is that's another 100 years for race relations to change, and although there's def canonical anti-Asian racism in the games (because the communists they were fighting were Chinese instead of Russian) but idk it's possible the world changed enough for a black woman to be in a position like Barb.

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW

(also also also I liked Maximus, I saw people saying he was boring or they hated him because hes BoS but that isn't his fault, he was basically stolen as a child and BoS is A BAD ORGANIZATION. THEY DO BAD THINGS. They're not as cartoonishly evil as the Enclave (literally tossing puppies in a furnace- again cartoonish but a very fast and efficient way of showing THESE PEOPLE ARE VERY EVIL when introducing them) but yeah Max is a victim of the people who raised him but they weren't able to totally break the gentleness in him. His inherent goodness and desire to help or save people the way he was saved remains intact. It's a cult, he's been brainwashed by a cult, but he's still soft spoken and he likes popcorn and hot showers as soon as he gets a chance to experience them. He's an interesting character and I can't wait to see how he handles things in the next season!!!

[agonycrossbow]

Hello

So i have a rather specific question. Seeing as you multi ship, i wanted to ask how do you personally do it? I ask because i feel like there's this sort of invalidation when it comes to shipping one character with more than one person you see they'd have a significant and intimate relationship.

For example i ship Leon with Ashley because of how i experienced the game and connected with them, but also because your analysis here about them provided some great insights and a very interesting perspective that i hadn't thought about before. The thing is though, i also wanna ship Leon with other characters but i always feel like I'd be missing something or doing something wrong because it's like there's some sort of insecurity that lies and i hate it. Bad.

So how do you do it? Mind sharing some advice because I'd really appreciate it. Again, sorry because the question is really specific 🙏

I imagine Leon's affection less like a pie chart and more like a timeline.

And then, over in the OG timeline, you've also got:

LMAO

So, if, for you, it's like, "It makes me feel like I'm making him unfaithful" -- well, no, actually, because these are all happening at different times. Luis overlaps with Ashley, but the whole point of that relationship is that Luis has to die for it to become significant in the first place. And Jill overlaps with Chris in OG, but OG Leon is also kind of a whore, so like ??? LMAO

Like, when I'm thinking of metaltango, it doesn't conflict with my eagleone thoughts because... Leon and Ashley haven't met yet. She's not part of the equation. I'm not looking at that period of Leon's life. And even when I'm looking at Leon and Krauser's interactions during RE4make, I know that the love is already lost. metaltango is, at its core, a story about things having fallen apart.

Like shipping both cleon and chreon probably seems weird because Leon's just going down the family tree, but -- at the time that I ship him with Claire, he doesn't even know Chris yet. Never met the man, never had a conversation. And by the time Chris does come into Leon's life as having been significant, Claire has really faded into the background.

All of these relationships make Leon who he is. There is no good faith argument that you can make to say that Ashley is more significant to Leon than Chris, or that Chris is more significant to Leon than Krauser. He needs all three of them. He just needs them at different points of his life for different reasons.

Ashley is a canonical romance. However comma, she is not more important than Krauser, who picked Leon up from his absolute lowest point and supported him for years when he had no one else and didn't even believe in himself. On the flipside, he's also not more important than her, who actually healed all of those wounds that Krauser only just kept closed and prevented from bleeding out. And neither of them are more important than Chris, who has to pick up the pieces when both Krauser and Ashley are gone.

And that's what's really at the heart of multishipping. It's not about the ships, per se -- it's about the character. I focus on Leon as a character, and I see the people and events that are significant to his growth -- and because I can see that, I can very easily see how he could get romantic and/or sexual feels for any one of these characters.