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yaksha-lover · 1 year ago

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Hi! Maybe strange question but you seem to have a good grasp on the boys’ personalities. I’ve been reading a lot of the yanderification of the TWST boys and started wondering which ones (if any) would be most likely to have what could be labeled “yandere” tendencies. Just seems like a fun train of thought to chase.

Do you have any thoughts on this? (Also sorry for the word salad.)

In my opinion, I think it’s pretty easy to twist most of their personalities to fit a yandere type, but as for who’s yandere characterizations are closest to their canon counterparts, I would say:

Malleus, I think is the obvious one. Although clearly I don’t think he’d be yandere in canon, it makes sense for him to have some clingy tendencies in a relationship, and an obsession with his romantic interest. It’s the whole ‘you’re the only person in the world who matters to me’ type trope, because of the social rejection and isolation he’s faced.

People usually take it two ways here, either a) very possessive and jealous or b) very protective. I tend to lean towards the second interpretation (although I love to explore the first one, the second is more canon to me). More ‘I would burn cities to protect you, move heaven and earth to make you happy’ than ‘I want to keep you locked up here all to myself, you belong to me.’ So yes, a yandere Malleus may kidnap you, but only to keep you ‘safe.’ He’s also not as emotionally immature as I think he’s sometimes characterized as (although I’m probably also guilty of this). He’s not really the type to force someone to love him, imo, because he wants it to be genuine (his insecurity stems from an inability to be accepted so forcing it wouldn’t truly fulfill that desire to be loved and validated).

Rook, I think also makes sense, but it’s hard to say because most of the time a lot of his characterization is just played for jokes. Like the whole ‘he’s a stalker, he knows a lot about everyone, others get unnerved by him, etc.’ It’s meant to be funny, but if we take it seriously then we could probably jump to some interesting conclusions about Rook. Also, combined with that ghost bride line about him ‘never letting his beloved go’ -

He seems the type to get fixated on some object of beauty, and I could see that developing into a yandere-like obsession. Maybe if he finally finds the one thing - or person - who he thinks is the true pinnacle of art and beauty, what he’s been searching for all along. Initial stalking to learn more about his interest, some uncomfortable attempts at closeness because he knows everything about them and they know nothing about him. Divided between showing his beloved off to the world and keeping them all nice and pretty for his own enjoyment - the only one who can truly appreciate their beauty. Also, once he’s felt the experience of love, I doubt he’d ever want to live without it. Maybe that’s the ‘true’ beauty of life to him, even.

Jamil is just so apathetic that if he ever did fall for someone, I can’t see him ever giving them up if he can help it. Also, we’ve seen in canon that Jamil isn’t above doing mildly bad things for self-serving interests (think masquerade with ruggie, manipulating the oblivious students).

He just wants something nice and soft for himself. Is that so much to ask for, after all he’s been through? Jamil is never allowed to have anything, nothing that Kalim doesn’t. It’s no wonder he’d cling to the only sweet thing he can get his hands on, something just for him. Even if you’re frustrated with him, even if you get tired of him, he isn’t so willing to just let you go. He deserves something nice like you, and you’ll be happy with him, even if you might need a ‘charming’ reminder of it sometimes.

Lastly, Jade and Floyd are popular yanderes to write for a reason. They both already have so much inexplicably unhinged energy even compared to the rest of the cast (other than maybe Rook). Jade seems so cold and apathetic, while putting on a mask of care. Floyd doesn’t really care to do so, wearing his many moods on his sleeve. But they’re still two sides of the same coin; they’re used to getting whatever they want, often by questionable means.

They also seem like they would be pretty possessive, even if it comes out in different ways. Jade and Floyd may be good at sharing with each other, but they’ve never been good at sharing with anyone else. Floyd will show you (and whoever thinks it’s okay to encroach on his partner) how upset he is by this particular development. I doubt you’d want to keep it up when he threatens your friends that get a little too close. Jade is different; the same annoyance and possessiveness still burns him, but he has a little more patience than Floyd. He isn’t willing to start any fights. Jade prefers not to get his hands dirty, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have other tactics to scare away anyone who tries to flirt with you.

#tw: yandere #thanks for the ask!#i really love discussing characterization and stuff like this :)#sorry i’m so tangential when trying to make a point 😭😭#it’s simply impossible for me to be concise #these are just my opinions tho #malleus draconia #rook hunt #jamil viper #jade leech #floyd leech #twst #yaksha-lover replies

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randomnumbers751650 · 2 months ago

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Saying that No Game, No Life is wasted potential isn’t a particularly new take, but still, I can’t help but to think about it. When I first watched it, I honestly didn’t notice how weird it is, how shock-full of invasive fanservice it was, just that it was colorful and had an engaging plot – I only learned of that when rewatching clips and I honestly can’t understand how I just not noticed those things at all and that makes me wonder how much of it is the editor’s demands or the author decided to put there (because, in order to sell, there needs to be a bit or a lot of otaku pandering).

In hindsight, Sora and Shiro were really different from other isekai protagonists. Most of them were really “normal people” given powers, reflecting the average audience of these works, with varying degrees of success. Sora does seem like the standard isekai protagonists at first: people who feel they don’t fit on Earth and would be glad to turn their virtual escapism into a real one.

But, the more you watch, the more you realize there’s nothing normal about these two: they’re both batshit insane. They don’t concoct crazy plans because the situation demands them to, but rather they’re the ones pushing forward those crazy plans, they’re the ones betting everything on the table in order to win a game. And, above all, they want to have fun doing it.

Tet didn’t just bring them to the new world, but he spirited them away. Before the term “isekai’d” was popularized in anime fandoms, the term was “spirited away” (just like the movie) when a god or entity decided to take someone from their world into a new one; there are hundreds of stories like that in many cultures before isekais. Tet saw them as perfect for his plans and thus he didn’t give them a lot of say.

And it makes me wonder what made Sora and Shiro reject their world so deeply, before being spirited away. They are in their own room playing games and criticizing real life for being such a crappy game. They probably were into e-sports or something (which, given their ability, wouldn’t be a big problem), and that would explain how they could afford all that stuff and why they are so attached to their stuff, that's all they have besides each other. I remember there was a flashback with their parents or guardians just walking past them and I think that’s a great example of minimalism – it teases you into thinking what actually happened, but that’s the only it’s needed to explain their perspective: no one really likes them in Earth. Maybe they tried to make friends and couldn’t, maybe everyone looked at them for being different. This makes plausible why they just stop working when they’re separate (something the anime never had time to explore, but I’m sure it would play a role in the later game).

Also, one thing that attracted most was that the author (Yuu Kamiya, or Thiago Furukawa Lucas) was born and lived in Brazil for most of his early years, before moving to Japan. As a Brazilian, I always thought that to be amazing, because I can see some “Brazilianity” in NGNL. I mean, I hope I’m not seeing things that aren’t there, but an author adds the flavor they grew up with consciously or not. Sora’s “I love humanity” shirt reminds me of the catchphrase “Sou brasileiro e não desisto nunca” (I’m Brazilian and never give up) and even the Brazilian method of resourcefulness (called “jeitinho”, check r/ItHadToBeBrazil and you’ll get it), which might be a component on how Sora and Shiro act in their crazy plans. It makes me want to try to read isekai not as an escapist fantasy, but rather as a metaphor for immigration.

The series also has a degree of deconstruction: Tet rewrote the rules of the world to avoid that catastrophic war and centuries later it feels like the inhabitants of Disboard learned nothing, there’s still racism and high demands for war, and humans are an endangered species. So, he needs Sora and Shiro to break through this probably teach a lesson, so that they can unite all the peoples of Disboard in the best game ever against Tet.

But I don’t think we’ll ever see that. The jeitinho has a dark side, represented by the saying “Pra Deus, até faço gol de mão” (I’ll even score a goal with my hand for God), and a Brazilian can understand how it applies here. Kamiya got involved in a plagiarism case and I’m not sure if his reputation rebounded or not. Either way, I have to admit I haven’t followed the light novel’s updates since a bit later after the anime ending, but the fact no one talks about it means that I guess we can only expect the worse.

Either way, it’s been over 10 years since I watched NGNL and it was something that really let a mark on me. I honestly think isekai opens the possibility to explore so many questions and scenarios. Even if NGNL recycled certain very very questionable tropes and pandering, I do believe it did try to do something different and fun with it.

#no game no life #isekai #this is quite a personal texti #I have to admit

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theanxiousghostartist · 9 months ago

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THE MANGUS ARCHIVES (all eps)/ THE MAGNUS PROTOCOL (through ep 8) SPOLIERS BELOW

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So we are seeing the fears from a different point of view, something not as cohesive as in TMA. While it is possible that they could be desires, we see that Needles feeds off the fear from their victim, and enjoys it. The doctor in Ep 3 is very reminiscent of Prentiss near the end, and Needles (Ep 6) seems to have a similar personality/ideals to the Distortion(s). We also see that the Violinist (ep 4) has qualities similar to Melonie King, who was also marked by the slaughter with the anger that they both hold. This very well could mean that the fears are the same as they once were, we are just seeing them in a different light. However, some episodes don't have specific distinctions between the fears. For example, the case in episode 7 fits between the Stranger (with the volunteers very similar to the students in Anatomy Class) and the buried (Dianne, who is writing the email is buried up heaps of different items, almost swallowed into the piles) and episode 8 is definitely coded both for the Lonley and the Flesh.. Could the fears be working together? In TMA, the Eye and the Web work together a little bit, in order to help the apolcolypse, but that was more of the Web sneakily helping the Eye as they had the same goals. Could this be something more possible now, with the fears more aware than they were in TMA? Maybe they now have a similar awareness as the Mother of Puppets in TMA. Or do they have to work together in order to get the same amount of fear as in TMA? Or could the fears be afraid something?

There are 4 characters important to the plot of TMA that we have not seen/heard about in TMAGP: Jurgen Leitner, Annabelle Cane, Elias Bouchard, and Jonah Mangus.

Leitner - The one who brought the fears to more people through his books. We know in TMA that he was killed by Magnus (in the form of Elias), but since the fire happened in Gertrude's time and Leitner's death came after, what happened to him? Does he exist in this universe? Is he alive? Where is he? Is there someone that is his alternative self in this universe (not him exactly, but they fill his role)? If he doesn't exist in this universe, does that mean less have been inpacted by the fears or is there another way that they have gotten through?

• Speculation - I think that Leitner in this universe is represented by Klaus, and the fears probably want him dead (the reason he was with Lena in ep 4). Like Leitner, it seems that he was in hiding for a while, before his confrontation with Lena.

Annabelle Cane - The last time we saw her in TMA, was near Hilltop Road. It would be out of character for her to leave the portal alone. Did she die in TMA or was she brought to this world with Jmart? Where is she? Could she have something to do with Fr3D1?

• Speculation - I think Cane is in the world, but hasn't revealed herself yet. She's probably in her humanlike form (not trapped in a computer) because of her proximity to the portal.

Elias Bouchard - His body was in the tower when John and Martin disappeared (although he had died long before). We also know that he is somehow related to Gwen. Is he her relative? Her father? Brother? Uncle? Cousin? Is he her either pre or post transition? Could he have been the Archivist instead of Gertrude? The possibilities are endless.

• Speculation - I think Elias is Gwen's older brother, who works for the Office and is above Lena. Maybe he's involved with the fears, but I like to think he's just a stoner. I also really like the theory that he is Gwen pre or post transition.

Jonah Magnus - While it is extremely likely that he is Augustus, what part does he play in thie universe? Is he staying low, defeated? Or is he trying to gain power? After all, in Ep 1 (statement 2), we have RedCanary, exploring the tunnels of the Institute and eventually, they get their eyes gauled out. While this could be John, it doesn't seem like something he'd do. Also, if John did take over RedCanary, why would he send Sam an email from inside the system instead of just talking to him? It's much more similar to Jonah, something he did in the past. What if RedCanary is the next body for Jonah Magnus?

• Speculation - I think Magnus, or at least part of him, is trying to come back through RedCanary, while he's trapped in the 'puter.

I want to talk about Gerry and Gertrude next. They are alive and well, which means that Gertrude somehow was not affected by the burning down of the Institute by quitting in some other way besides blinding herself or by having enough connection to the Eye were it didn't affect her as bad, or by not being the Archivist at all. Judging by the static when Gertrude asked questions and mentioned the Institute, I think the 2nd guess is the most likely. Also, the Institute had a gifted children program that Gerry was in, so I would assume his mother placed him in the program. I think this program was to root out kids marked by the Fears, and especially the Eye, that could be useful for the Fears in the future. Gerry also mentioned reading, could they have made the kids read Leitners? And why doesn't he remember much? Could it be trauma? Or could it be the Eye or Web? Or even possibly the Dark, since it is opposite to the Eye?

These are just theroies and TMAGP could be completed different from TMA, but I think the fears (and possibly Magnus) are definitely at play here.

•

Here's a lil' Gwen doodle for ya (:

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cosmos-dot-semicolon · 7 months ago

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As someone who loves Inscryption despite its flaws I GOTTA know: what are your thoughts on its faults? I've seen you vague post about it and I'm so curious (also, hi!)

hiiiii :3 Lovely to see you reach out after you seeing you always pop up in the tags :D

To be clear, I still like Inscryption despite its flaws. It’s *interesting* as a piece of art, and that’s way better than a game that just technically checks off all the boxes of being playable. Like, I’ve been able to write several thousand words’ worth of a video essay script on this game, covering both the good and bad. It’s that fascinating to me.

Since I don’t want to unload 40 minutes’ worth of text on you here, I’ll just say my main thesis is that the game brushes up against a ton of genuinely cool ideas, but the developer never seems to notice them because he’s too married to the way things were done in Pony Island, and what people who like Meta Games expect. And Inscryption keeps so much info in the dark that you only realise this at the end.

The genre shifts are the biggest sticking point for me. If you know the developer already (or have watched someone else play the game), you’re perfectly fine with them being there. But if you’re someone like me who played the demo and then jumped in blind, you’re going to be burned by the shift to act 2 (and to Luke), which is nothing you would expect from the wonderful aesthetic act 1 mostly relies on. Even though I *like* both act 1 and 2, I kind of have to like them for separate things (i.e. a beautifully haunting roguelike based off forest folklore vs a deckbuilder exploring the worst art-kid polycule divorce you’ve ever seen).

The culmination of this is Kaycee’s mod, which I love, but is an implicit admission that the creator didn’t actually know his own strengths. An endless mode to only one third of your game is not a common thing to add in after launch, especially if you’re not early-access.

Then in act 2, outside of its lore, the game’s theme becomes the idea of games as art. The Scrybes are both multi-faceted characters in their own right and proxies of game design philosophies.

Leshy is the visceral experience of being in another world, while his actual game is pretty janky. Grimora is pure fun (which is a great contrast against her death aesthetic). P03 is the very specific way some designers get obsessed with game mechanics above all else and produce the most mid games you’ve ever seen. Magnificus is spectacle to the point it’s stupidly hard to actually play his deck.

Throughout both takeovers, there are always items or mechanics from the other Scrybes popping up. The stand-alone campaigns are arguably better than act 2 because they’re much more focused, yet Leshy and P03 both still can’t escape the influence of their colleagues.

This is all extremely interesting characterisation and commentary on game design that all goes unsaid. And as much as I dislike Luke Carder’s plot, I’ve spoken before about how the themes his story touch on would be a fantastic fit for that meta-commentary.

All this is great, self-contained within act 2. But the way the finale (and arguably act 3’s more lore-based segments) are written afterwards implies that wasn’t intentional at all. The culmination of this game is that all the Scrybes get deleted and go out in a sudden bombastic finale like in Pony Island and then 😱 maybe this guy shouldn’t have looked for secrets… Because now he’s dead IRL…

And it’s like. Okay? Sure. That looked cool I think. But what is the point of the story then, exactly?

So much happens in so little time in the finale. The writing is basically speedrunning all 3 of the remaining Scrybes’ arcs, and then has to reveal the OLD_DATA affecting Luke, and then has to show him getting killed. And you still don’t know what’s going on.

Then you go looking online for secrets and read that actually the evil glitch thing that was mentioned maybe twice in act 2 was important, and was the entire motivation for the plot. Also everything’s technically linked to the dev’s other games.

And I just. Do not think that is interesting at all, compared to the more carefully designed, and more character and theme-driven stories.

Daniel Mullins' work is unique in how whole-heartedly he includes meta elements, and I just think it's a shame he didn't take the opportunity to explore further beyond his usual comfort zone, as you might've expected from how different Inscryption's aesthetic is to his other games.

It should also not have taken that long to get to the point if the main story was a straight-forward evil artefact plot. Which the creator has already done in a more concise game years ago.

I think Kaycee’s mod tackles a lot of Inscryption's main issues, and I’m loving its smaller plot and more consistent pacing more than whatever the fuck was going on with Luke. But objectively I think it’s a big ask to force people to go through like. Everything after act 1. So they can play a potentially better version of the game.

#'i'm not going to unload 40 minutes' worth of text on you' i said. starting to type for 40 minutes in the afternoon and another 40 at night #and this is the cut down version of my thoughts. help.#who'll read this? idk but nobody can stop me. so #this game is so fractally interesting because of its subject matter. you start writing about one thing and then you get 5 more ideas #all pinging between fandom brainrot and writing and game design and how they collide #asks #dots dots dots #not a snowman

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flamebringer0 · 1 year ago

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More About Nightwing Powers

I decided I had more to say about this post, so I reblogged it and wrote some more. It seems like when you do that Tumblr doesn't put the post into tag searches, so nobody can actually find it. I'm just going to copy the full text into a new post. I'm sorry if this spams anyone's feed, I just don't understand how this site works yet. I've never actually had a blog before.

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Ohhhh damn I just had another thought about this. This is my problem, I think about this stuff all the time and I keep coming up with new things I think are cool, but now that I've written all this out and published it for the whole world to see I can't change it so easily.

It's actually fine though. These thoughts are kind of a mix of things I think are canon but sufficiently non-obvious to be worth stating (All Nightwings have powers at hatching and then lose them), things that are definitely not canon but I feel like it doesn't mess with the story too much to change them (Prophets have a silver scale on their foreheads), and things that are ambiguous and I'm just filling in the blanks (fake Nightwing magic is based on their sense of smell). But there's a fourth category, which is things that I don't like about canon but changing them would basically entail writing a whole new story. I'm pretty sure this new idea falls into the latter category, so I wouldn't really have put it in that post anyway.

But let's explore the hypothesis that Tui T Sutherland and Scholastic collectively lose their minds and give me the rights to Wings of Fire, and also I have infinite time, resources and motivation to make my own adaptation of the story. Then what happens? Well, the first thing is obviously to change animus magic to be something other than total omnipotence, because omnipotent characters are the kind of albatross (tee hee) you don't want around your neck when you're trying to write a coherent story. And the second thing is to make it so the terrible Rainwing queens in book 3 are hereditary royalty and Glory is not, because I've never liked the valorisation of hereditary royalty in WOF (or in general), and that would be an easy way to subvert that. And THEN I would turn scavengers into lizard people, because I am a furry and I think that's cuter than making them humans. Lol.

But somewhere down the list would be the fact that I don't actually vibe with the idea that normal Nightwing seers/mind readers apparently have a built-in power limiter that varies randomly according to the specific individual, and the special gift you get for hatching under three moons is just to have that limiter set to 0. I don't like this because, first of all, the fact that it works like that just doesn't fit into my brain in a satisfactory way. Hatching under zero, one, or two full moons each results in a qualitatively different outcome, so in my mind, the third full moon should also do something qualitatively different. But it doesn't, it's just the same as two full moons but better. And then I'm left to assume that there are probably very rare cases of twice-moonborn Nightwings who have all the power, just because whatever secondary factors there are happened to line up in their favor? Weird.

But the more important reason is, I don't really like the idea of Clearsight as someone who has extraordinary power because she just hatched that way. Nor do I like the fact that the reasons for this are, on the one talon, unexplained (maybe inexplicable?), and on the other, not a function of who she is as a character. I think it would make for a much stronger motif if run-of-the-mill seer Clearsight were able to take down once-in-a-generation chosen one Darkstalker because she's diligent and doesn't believe in destiny while he's entitled and sure of his glorious future. At its core this feeling is actually the same thing as what I said about the Rainwing queens above: I just don't find it satisfying when the hero has some kind of special trait that makes them naturally better than everyone else. A villain can have that, but a hero I want to prove themselves through their own efforts. But that's explicitly not what happened in canon: Clearsight IS naturally more powerful than all the other seers, that's an essential part of her story, and changing it requires basically rewriting the books. I don't love it!

So anyway in the universe where I'm rewriting the books, here's a thought about how Nightwing powers might work. This partially contradicts what I wrote above, but I've decided I'm cool with that. I love contradicting myself actually, and maybe next week I'll contradict all of this again. There are no laws.

Some Nightwings are seers, some are mind readers, a few are both, and most are neither. But aside from the fact that an individual might or might not have these powers, they don't vary in strength from dragon to dragon. All seers have equally strong abilities, and all mind readers have equally strong abilities. But the strength of the abilities does vary: not per individual, but over time. Specifically, the current state of the moons affects the abilities of empowered Nightwings. On a hypothetical "darkest night" with three new moons, all Nightwings are effectively powerless. On the brightest night, empowered Nightwings experience the full strength of their abilities. Seers can easily look down many different paths into the distant future, and mind readers can easily examine any information in the mind of another dragon. Of course, the phases of the three moons are not synchronous. Most of the time, the moons are all in different states, and empowered Nightwings experience abilities somewhere in between those extremes.

Above, I said that the "strength" of Nightwing abilities doesn't really vary per dragon. Strength, as I use the term here, only refers to the raw potential to look into the future or into another dragon's mind. But different individuals do have different levels of adeptness when it comes to applying their abilities. On the brightest night, any seer can look with relative ease into the far future, down multiple timelines, examining subtle ripples of possibility. The rest of the time, most seers can't use their abilities on that level, but a particularly adept one can get closer. What makes one seer more adept than another? Well, it's really just training. If you're someone who, for whatever reason, keeps looking into the future, over time you'll get better at it, just like anything you keep doing. This is what sets Clearsight apart from her peers. She isn't more blessed by the moons than them, because no seer is more blessed by the moons than any other. Clearsight just looks into the future all the time, to a degree nobody else does. She works harder on her visions than any other seer, so her abilities are more advanced than those of any other seer.

There is one exception to the maxim "no seer is more blessed by the moons than any other". The special gift of the thrice-moonborn is that they are exempt from the cyclical waning and waxing of power with the phases of the moons. They hatch on the brightest night, and its power soaks into them and becomes permanently part of them. And so, they live as if every night is a brightest night. They always have the potential to see the ripples that spread into many distant futures, and they can always pluck any information they want out of another dragon's mind. What other Nightwings may train and train for, these dragons do as easily as they breathe.

There are few Nightwings who never dreamed as dragonets about what it would be like to have hatched under three full moons. How different their lives could have been from those of the common powerless Nightwing, or even ordinary seers and mind readers! And not just directly because of what they could see: the thrice-moonborn are almost inevitably beloved by their tribe, showered with attention, and elevated to the highest strata of society. Wouldn't that be nice, think the dragons who could have walked that path but for something as meaningless as the sky under which they hatched.

It's unsurprising that many covet that life, but it's not entirely as pleasant as they imagine. The adulation that surrounds the most powerful Nightwings is instrumental. As laid out in excruciating detail just behind the eyes of smiling dragons, few love them for who they are; many more love them for what they are. They will never have any interaction with friends or family that isn't fundamentally shaped by the asymmetrical power dynamic implied by their abilities. It's easy for a dragon in that situation to become profoundly isolated, especially without support. But the brightest night comes so rarely that most Nightwings who receive its gift will grow up with neither peers, nor mentors who can relate to these experiences. That many ultimately respond in unhealthy, self-destructive ways is a given; that the self-destruction of such powerful dragons often also destroys those around them is a recurring tragedy in the history of the tribe.

But it's not inevitable. No dragon's fate is actually written in the stars or sealed by the moons. It's always possible to choose a different future.

#the nice thing about making a blog is that now i can record the infinite cascade of thoughts im always having about night dragon moon magic #without feeling like im compelling any particular person to listen #next time ill talk about a different topic though #probably #wings of fire #wof #wof headcanon #headcanon #wof nightwing #nightwing #wof clearsight #clearsight #wof darkstalker #darkstalker

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mdhwrites · 1 year ago

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Is TOH Worse By Having Character Arcs?

In a story theoretically about inclusivity, finding your space and accepting who you are... Is it right that so many people change as drastically as they do?

This is going to be a bit of an odd topic because pop culture nowadays reveres the concept of the character arc almost above any other aspect of writing. If your characters do not exhibit change, how can they be deep or interesting? Where is the story in a character who mostly stays static? And that's not a bad instinct because a character overcoming some major flaw or corrupted ideal they hold onto is very compelling.

However, character arcs are like any part of writing: They are a TOOL for the writer to use. Just like with any tool, it won't fit every job. Not every story needs large, grand arcs. So was The Owl House a story where this tool should have been applied?

I argue no, despite the fact that its character arcs are such a lauded part of it. This isn't entirely because there is no space for character arcs in its themes but that its goals are... touchy when it comes to the idea of change. That requires us to first ask what those goals are in the first place.

Well, the show isn't always very good at defining these but if I'm being generous, we'll go with: The idea that one shouldn't be ashamed for who they are.

The need for a space where you can feel safe and like yourself.

Self expression and self determination being the greatest virtues in both people and society.

As a base this isn't bad. The middle one is dangerous because it can very quickly become isolationist but they do all point in the same direction of a story that wants to make sure that 'the other' doesn't feel wrong simply for not conforming to what society expects of them. Whether this is stereotypes pushed upon them, anxieties over things like sexuality, generational gaps, etc. like that, there's PLENTY to explore. Even if you want to go less severe, there's just a lot of quirks, especially in modern society, that can lead to someone feeling fake or wrong or weird, including feeling like you lean too much on your own stereotype just because you genuinely like makeup or the like.

The problem for TOH becomes that only the more extreme version actually supports real, long term character arcs. Someone who is deeply entrenched in a toxic element of society figuring out ways to be themselves despite the prejudice before them. In the show, the only person who actually faces anything like this is Eda since the society of the Isles actually DOES push down on what she believes is her identity as a wild witch. Unfortunately, Eda's arc isn't about grappling with her position as a wild witch and how that separates her from the world and family but more about softening up, getting rid of the activities she used to love/kept her alive and becoming maternal rather than embracing the wild side that made her a wild witch in the first place.

In other words, her arc is about flipping her character around rather than about embracing who she is. Which, you know... Goes against the goals of the show.

Pretty much every arc is like this. Amity goes from being extremely driven about magic and caring about her future in this world, as well as having anxieties about her family to the point where she takes drastic action to get ahead... To caring only about her girlfriend and marginally about maybe keeping some okay relations with her family. Instead of any of her drive, intelligence, cunning, etc. like that being refined by smoothing out the rougher edges and realizing she shouldn't be cruel in order to succeed in her ambitions, her ambitions are blamed on someone else and otherwise her character entirely inverts for the sake of... Luz. Which, you know... Luz needing a maternal figure for her found family is much of why, in hindsight, it feels like Eda became motherly. For Luz.

Hunter becomes a soft boy because when he gets his staff back and reminds her that he is a loyal member of the EC, she disapproves. Hell, 90% of what Hunter ever does in the show is for someone else's approval or survival, with him even ending up following after an ancestor almost 1:1, making him probably the least self-accepting character in the entire cast. Lilith falls under similar issues. She was driven and even had appeared to have softened with age, wanting to usher in new witches into their best forms as part of her job, and then... She stops. She gives up on all of her ambitions besides a little bit of a grudge against someone else and is turned into a joke for the most part. Even her trauma is mocked which doesn't seem to have literally ever been something she would have accepted, young or old nor is it something a show about acceptance should include.

And you might notice that most of the problems for these characters I'm describing aren't for themselves. Solving them isn't about self actualization. At best, they are about getting out of shitty situations but you can do that without changing the core of the character. You can have Luz save someone from death but then have who they are reject Luz anyways because of her position in society. People are complex like that. After all, if you wish for acceptance for what you care about, you naturally have to extend that kindness to others and their interests (so long as those interests aren't hateful/harmful, etc. like that. Do not tolerate Nazis.)

Amity for example is at worst a bully. She isn't hateful, she's just mean as a function of how she sees EVERYONE as an enemy. A competitor who she needs to guard against. You can develop her, because not all development forms a character arc, into still being driven, still desiring to be better, but now she understands that she doesn't need to be an island. That she can drop her guard sometimes and when she needs to crush something, it's an actual enemy. Instead, her desires, beliefs, friends, family, etc. are all put to the pyre. They are not allowed to coexist with the 'correct' version of her, not without them having to also change in a similar manner to her. To a state that the show is willing to deem acceptable in a wider sense.

Why is that a thing in a show about self acceptance and realization? How is that self-expression or self-determination? How is that understanding?

And that's why I think in the end, The Owl House's character arcs hurt it more than anything else.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical

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undertheopensky · 1 year ago

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Concealed

Whumptober Day 15: Suppressed Suffering

Characters: Four

Trigger warnings: Stab wound, blood, electrocution, violence to a child (if you personally consider Four a child)

Spoiler warnings: This is set in the TotK Hyrule, so there may be some environment-related spoilers!

Read on Ao3!

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Four huddles in a dark corner, nursing bruises and a new disdain for Wild’s ‘Yiga’ cult.

They definitely hadn’t been prepared to hold onto someone child-sized. Even at their tightest, it had only cost Four a little skin and some time to wriggle free of the manacles, and that gap above the door was clearly not supposed to be large enough to fit a whole person through. Sometimes, the side-effects of being immersed in Minish magic at such a young age came in handy.

Now, his main problem is just that they’re fucking everywhere.

We have got to help Wild clear some of these bastards out, Blue grumbles. I thought he said they were a splinter group?

Well they’re clearly a sizeable splinter group, says Vio, now shut up and let me focus. We have to time this just right.

Four waits for the guard to turn away from the tunnel he wants, and darts forward. He’s following the pull of fresh air, the sense of relief that is the earth spilling an opening to the outside world, rather than a map or empirical exploration. Which is great, because these tunnels are ridiculous, he’d get so lost doing that. It’s rooms upon rooms and tunnels that all look the same, except for however many fucking Yiga inhabit each one. He’d call it a miracle none of them have caught him yet, but they don’t seem… all that bright. He’d overheard a three-way argument on the best way to cook bananas, with a fourth person proudly chiming in about how the Hero had told him to try freezing them and they were amazing, only to get dogpiled by the others because when did you talk to the Hero?! Why didn’t you kill him?! “But banana ice cream!” they wailed from the bottom of the heap. “It’s so good, you have to try it!”

Blue in particular is offended they’d been captured by these guys, though Green is also not pleased.

All the wet stone and moss makes for slippery footing. It makes it even harder to get out without attracting attention, struggling not to flail or fall over or do anything attention grabbing.

This doesn’t seem very safe, Red muses. Four is climbing up a wall, very carefully choosing his grips and praying no one looks up.

Who the fuck even has a tunnel that people have to climb vertically?!

It doesn’t look like it was carved, says Green. Maybe it’s just the way the cave happened?

Ignoring all of them, Four peers over his shoulder as he nears the lip of the overhang to make sure no one can see him. Fortunately there’s a stack of crates in the way, so he climbs up using them as cover.

Look at all the moss on the stone, no one uses this as a regular path, Vio is arguing. At best it’s utilised for air ventilation.

I still think it’s fucking stupid to just have an open hole any idiot can fall down in your secret base!

“Maybe it’s how they weed out the stupidest,” Four mutters under his breath.

Red giggles guiltily.

The crates make a great but ultimately unnecessary barrier; no one’s in the room or any of the nearest corridors. Four creeps onwards. Distant laughter echoes; he can’t help tensing, despite knowing it’s just another card game. Identities hidden behind masks and magic, even their voices sound the same, and that eerily-similar laughter was the last thing he heard before waking up in a moss-covered cell. Some part of him still expects the cold touch of a blade or a hard fist to be waiting around every corner, punctuated by mocking laughter.

Four turns a corner and catches a glimpse of sunlight, a snatch of pine-scented air.

His heart leaps. The exit!

There’s no one along this stretch of tunnel, probably because of the small cliff he has to climb. Why bother guarding something no one will bother with, or will fall down like a blind idiot and then lie around moaning over their broken leg?

Blue’s annoying but he’s not wrong. The cliff is high enough to force Four to shove a crate up against it to climb onto first, since he isn’t Wild and can’t climb like a lizard with thumbs. They must not use this entrance much if there isn’t so much as a ladder for access. Goddess, he can see the sky from here, he can even see the castle.

Four takes the last few steps at a run, desperate to feel sunlight again -

Pain bursts in his side.

“Haha! So the great Hero thought he could sneak past me…”

The words fade into meaningless noise. Lost in static, Four staggers as the blade is yanked back. He nearly falls. Doesn’t, thanks to the combined efforts of the four screaming Colours in his head, pulling at every muscle to lock him in place until the dizziness hardens. One shaking hand comes up to cup the new wound, blood hot and wet and flooding his fingers.

The Yiga is just standing there, Four’s blood dripping off their wicked hooked blade.

He doesn’t stick around to see what their next move will be. He runs.

The steep grade of the path yanks gasping sobs from him with every agonising step. Even breathing hurts. It pulls at the new hole in his side every time he inhales. In his mind the Colours are a strained hum. They all experience the same pain, the same fear; all their words have fled in the face of it.

Instinct drags him towards the heavy shadows and reaching trees of the forest. Maybe it’s the promise of hiding places; maybe it’s the memory of the Minish Woods, a lifelong haven for them. Whatever the case, the dappled shadows and thick underbrush are a visceral relief.

…they should be hunting him by now. Even if that guard was too incompetent to call for backup, someone had to have found his empty cell.

He’s stumbling, dizzy with pain and shock. He needs to get away - needs to get enough distance - but he’s so slow right now there’s no way they won’t outpace him -

Voices. Loud, angry; the sound of metal on metal.

Out of time.

The tree is so ancient that its roots cradle empty hollows where the dirt of centuries has been washed away by rain. Four crawls into this empty space, burrowing into the thick carpet of leaves. He hopes the bright colours will disguise any blood that he gets on them in the process.

Burying his nose in musty dirt to hide his breath, he waits.

The voices come closer.

“- you kidding me?! In the time it took you to remember to do your rounds he could have made it off the Plateau entirely! He could be anywhere by now!”

“Aw, come off it, Marn! None of us thought the kid would get out of those chains!”

“Besides, I’ve been wanting to test this thing out!”

There’s a crackling sound Four is all-too familiar with. His eyes widen, and he shoves as much of his bracer-covered forearm in his mouth as he can manage before -

Thunder booms directly overhead.

Four feels it more than hears it. Ears ringing, brain whiting out, electricity dancing over his skin; the pain that had been radiating from his side is overridden by the lightning in every nerve screaming to life. It goes on, and on, and on -

Then it stops, just as suddenly as it started.

Four lies in the leaves, gulping air that burns, and knows he screamed through the makeshift gag. Can only pray it did enough, just as he can only pray no one was looking at this pile of leaves while his body thrashed and jerked. He’s in no condition to stand up, much less run, if the Yiga noticed him.

His ears still ring.

Through the buzz, he hears more shouting, but it takes a moment for the words to register. The Yiga are fighting - arguing, rather.

“Oam, what in the DAMNED HELL was that for?!”

“It’s lightning! If he was in range, he woulda gone down like a sack of rocks!”

“You idiot!” There’s the sound of someone being smacked upside the head. “There’s no way he’s still close enough! You just zapped all of us instead! And look, you called up a damn thunderstorm! Quick, everyone get inside!”

Four lies very very still in the fallen leaves, waiting for the footsteps to fade away.

Then he drags himself up, clamps a hand over the still-bleeding wound in his side, and starts to move.

#whumptober 2023 #linked universe #lu four #lu fic #skies writes #fun fact this is not what was originally planned #that one was absolutely insistent on being 10k+ and i went 'fuck that'#and threw this together instead #new problem: the fuck do i title it #totk spoilers #sort of

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juliedrawz · 2 years ago

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The long awaited appreciation post/character breakdown

Note : I mixed canon and headcanon facts from my book in here. (Some infos however are still missing because of spoiler reasons)

A/N - If someone would ask me to discribe Héctor, I would tell them that he's a walking ray of sunshine, spreading happiness wherever he goes. He's everything a perfect father and husband should be, and the bestest friend anyone could ever ask for.

Orgins

Héctor Rivera was born to his parents Arlo and Estella Gracía on january 10th in Santa Cartoria (the biggest part of the city El Torres) in Yucatan.

Through his mother's hispanic gipsy orgin, Héctor was brought into a world full of dancing and music. He was loved to pieces by all his family members and discribed as an unusual happy baby, always laughing and hardly ever crying.

The love for guitars especially was planted into Héctor by his father, who was a passionate guitar builder and player himself.

Both his parents, which he was very close with, meant the world to Héctor. Between the age of 3 and 4 Héctor lost his father first to a local civil war whereupon his mother, after seperated from her family, fled with him all the way to Oaxaca, Santa Cecilia by foot. Once in the new city, the exhausted and sick mother and her son were taken in by nuns of the local church. After Estella's death, Héctor was brought to the orphanage, where he subconsciously supressed his memories to cope with the loss.

Early childhood

Despite the great loss of his parents and family, Héctor never lost his optimistic and lively character. Always seeing the good rather than the bad. Though shy and quiet at the other hand.

It didn't take long for Héctor to understand, that he was different from other children his age. Mentally ahead of others, he found joy in reading books, writing poems and exploring the surrounding nature on his own. Since the other kids would call him weird, Héctor didn't even bother to try and fit in, he didn't want to and he didn't care.

If not on and about in the fields and forests of Santa Cecilia, Héctor would find himself at the center plaza to watch and listen to the mariachis. His adoration didn't stay unnoticed for too long. Eventually he was taught how to play the guitar by the leader José Vargas by the age six.

According to Josè, Héctor lived and breathed music, having it in his soul. He also called the guitar Héctors third arm.

Most important Relationships

Ernesto

A/N - I wish I could just tell you their whole story here, that's how eager I am! But, it has its time and place in my book and I certainly don't want to spoil anything. So, here come the basics! Also they're 12 and 8 above ☝️

When Héctor told people he and Ernesto go way back, he meant it. They grew up together, formed a deep brother bond and loved and considered each other family.

Having Ernesto as big brother, Héctor always looked up to him. He couldn't imagine a life without him and tried his best to balance his time after marriage and becoming a father to please everyone.

Noticing Ernesto's behaviour change was painful and confusing. Just as much as getting rejected over and over again in the land of the death. Héctor never understood what made his best friend snap like that but he yearns to understand. Also, in my book, Héctor at one point says this to Álvaro (the doctor)

"As odd as it is, despite everything, I don't hate Ernesto. And don't get me wrong, but I know that he could never hate me either."

Furthermore he says this -

"That man at the sunrise spectacle, that wasn’t Ernesto. That wasn’t my best friend; my brother. He'd totally snapped, gone savage. I … I didn’t recognize him anymore. There was so much anger and fear in his eyes. I can’t make sense of it. I wish I could! I wish I could understand what happened to him. Caused him to become that way."

A/N - writing about their relationship and past was and is still tasking but it's also wonderful and exciting. I cannot wait to share that part of the past!

Imelda

Héctor 15 y. Imelda 16. y 👇

Héctor's one true love, his twin flame and soulmate.

From the moment he first spotted her, he felt that special, unexplainable spark. That deep connection has always been there, and it took a while for Héctor to understand what it meant.

Héctor was well aware that many couldn't really understand how he could manage being with Imelda and handle her fiery temper. But to him, it was never a problem. If asked about it, he would always reply that he even loves her temper tantrums. To him, they are "sexy"

- In my book, I discribe their reunion, their road of recovery and how they get back on track. Also their whole past and future. I'm obsessed with them! 😍 I love love love writing them up and down! *sigh*

Coco

Like father like daughter. Héctor passed down a lot of his characteristics to Coco. He was/is very close to her and despite his young age (becoming a father at 18) he was a remarkable good parent. Surprising everyone around how good he was at handling his baby. Héctor also was what others would call a helicopter Dad. Overprotective and always worried something might hurt his precious daughter.

Next to Imelda, Coco is Héctor's everything. Back when he was still aiming to cross the bridge, he was ready to rather die a second time trying than giving up.

A/N ~ Guh! Did I mention that he's the best Dad? He needs a 'best Dad ever' award!

Character traits

Positive :

Optimistic, humorous, ambitius, caring, altruistic, empathic, spontaneous, honest, protective, creative, easygoing, enthusiastic, gentle, humble, idealistic, innocent, loyal, forgiving, passionate, persistent, bubbly, spunky, supportive, trusting, unselfish ...

Negative/neutral :

Stubborn, melodramatic, reckless, shy, clumsy ...

Man I wish tumblr would allow me to post more than just 10 images 😒 ....

Now, if I haven't already gushed and raved about Héctor enough ... I FREAKING LOVE THAT GUY! Like, man, he's the perfect package of everything! He's incredibly handsome (to me at least) He's got frecklessss, ans those eyelashes! Fluffy hair! He's tall! Full lips, perfect white, straight teeth. And that combined with his personality, Ay Mama!

I enjoy writing Héctor a lot! He's just awesome! Like a hot cup of tea and a cozy blanket after a long walk through a snow covered forest.

His goofyness just cracks me up over and over again. His pure heart just deserves the biggest Aawwwww. I mean, the INNOCENCE! With Imelda behind closed doors, he surely knows the whole rollercoaster menu and while other adults would consider Miguel old enough to know what boobs are (he regulary gets his face shoved into his grandmas chest when she hugs him!) And here comes Héctor cencoring the word!

Back to him being a heli-dad. I bet you, he covered baby Cocos eyes whenever Imelda would walk out of the shower stark naked, trying hard not to drool like a great dane. And Imelda poker faced would just argue why he was covering their daughters eyes.

Or as soon as Coco could walk, Imelda would one day find all pointy furnitures covered with pillows and Héctor would say that he doesn't want Coco to hurt herself.

He would freak out big time when they would be outside and there's the slightest possibility of Coco getting hurt. Bees, birds, cats, dogs, stones, puddles, dirt. Imelda would regulary need to calm Héctor down, convincing him, that a bug bite isn't deadly and no, neither is a little bit of sand that Coco shoved into her mouth. Or that flower she ate.

And I cannot repeat this enough! The 👏 flower 👏 bridge 👏

The freaking thing with El puente ok!

I am over and over again blown that Héctor would stop by nothing to cross the bridge. Get caught? Try again. New disguise blown, try again. Broken bones? Try again. Risking to die a second time? He still tries. He simply doesn't care! He wants, needs, has to get to his one true love and daughter. And even after Imelda has passed over, he keeps going because Coco is still there! If that man's devotion isn't the prime example that perfect father love and the one true love exsists, I don't know what else could be.

Also, again, let me underline his kindness, his altruism! He's too good for the world! He hardly EVER picks a fight, he avoids fights! And even IF there's a situation of conflict, it takes Héctor, what, 5 seconds to backpaddle and be like "ok, you know what, let's not argue!"

We saw that with the police officer. Then with Chich, Ceci, Miguel, Ernesto and Imelda. He constantly takes the blame or gives in for the sake of peace, for the sake of the other ones feelings. He would rather swallow being right, if that means his opposite doesn't get hurt too much.

You really REALLY have to push and force Héctor to the farest edge, to have him snap and really get mad.

Being such a person deserves the highest respect. Being such a person in a word like ours is dangerous. You are bound to get hurt. And if you are STILL standing and still having that pure, kind heart, 👏 applause!

Such souls are rare! Héctor is a full blown jackpot! We need more people like Héctor in the world!

#pixar coco #coco 2017 #coco fan art #coco hector #héctor rivera #ernesto de la cruz #coco characters #coco imelda #imelda rivera #Héctor appreciation

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tsskyx · 2 months ago

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"I want to travel. See new places, meet new people."

"But I don't like the people... I don't like... humans."

"For the longest time, I thought I was stuck."

"Stuck at the place I live at."

"It's not so bad here, to be honest."

"I've got good food, nice friends, a family... but I want to travel."

"With the help of an auspicious associate, I found a spark in me."

"The resolve to change fate, the power to reshape reality."

"Determination."

"I always thought this power was just about magic... or maybe time travel. But as it turns out, it also allows me to... visit places."

"So many... other places, other worlds..."

"There are monsters out there, new people I wish to meet..."

"And so I extend my arm, and let the blade cut through the fabric of reality. Ever so subtle, it opens up a new horizon to me, a new universe..."

"And I pass through."

Introducing the Traveler!Chara AU!

Okay, this is not an announcement of a series or a comic or anything. It's just a fancy crossover idea that I came up with about Undertale and His Dark Materials, particularly the way that parallel realities are represented and traveled between in that book series (though personally I haven't read them, I've only seen the TV show).

And as the above text implies, this Chara comes from a post-pacifist timeline (in which they lived), who wished to explore new worlds and meet new people. Not that they didn't love their home, but compared to the whole of humankind, their tiny corner of reality felt a little bit oppressive at times.

At first it was just a fleeting thought - what if there are other worlds, with other monster communities out there? How would they look like? And then, one day, it all became a reality. Taking an ordinary kitchen knife, using the power of determination (and with the help of a certain someone), they reforged it into something unique. The blade ceased to be physical, its very edge becoming infinitely sharp, enabling it to cut through the quantum mesh itself.

And as for Chara's outfit, I dunno what it's supposed to be exactly. I just felt like this sort of... steampunk-ish aviator-ish style would fit them here? I also can't draw that well and I envy the people who can, who have designed so many amazing out!code characters like Ink Sans, Core Frisk, etc. I tried to create something unique of my own, something that I myself could feel proud of. Not sure that I do yet, but creating these images certainly took a lot of effort.

Welp, that's my contribution to the 9/9 Chara birthday Tumblr day!

#undertale #tsskyx #chara #9/9 #travelerchara #undertale au #ut au

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n7punk · 1 year ago

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"Children of the Crystal" Fic Notes: Season One

I’m breaking up the fic notes for Children of the Crystal into two “seasons” because there’s so much to cover. “Season one” ends with Halls That Make a Home, but I couldn’t post it until now because there were spoilers in these notes. I recommend not reading this until you've finished fic 10 (IDJtBS).

Season two will have all the rest of the fics as well as stuff like my usual discussion of the original outline. This post has the notes up through fic 7.

General Notes:

⦁ Before this idea came to me in… March? Maybe? I had never actually considered what would have happened if Light Hope’s plan… worked. Like, never occurred to me for a second, hey, what if Light Hope actually did bring Adora through and succeeded in raising She-ra? So I explored that. And of course, instantly, it was obvious Catra is going to be part of this too and then it became oh I… can give them a good childhood? They can be happy? Obviously, as explored in the fics, this childhood wasn’t sunshine and roses and still left them with issues, but it was better than growing up in the Horde, while also managing to preserve a lot of the character traits growing up in the Horde gave them due to a combination of Light Hope’s pressuring replacing Shadow Weaver’s manipulation (like, not great for the mental health, but she’s still way nicer and a better authority figure) and growing up a little feral to replace the whack conditioning of the Horde.

Beckoning to Break the Seal [one shot]

⦁ I had to make a lot of calls early on about what Light Hope would “risk” telling Adora about her origins and such. I’ve never fully decided if she intended to lie to Adora about her origins (in canon), though I’ve generally leaned towards her genuinely not knowing Adora wouldn’t remember (mostly because not knowing such a simple fact about the species she created to serve really illustrates how she was just a weapon to them as well). In this AU, though, Light Hope is very aware of this fact either way because it became apparent as she raised Adora. I decided Adora would know the truth, because 1) Light Hope probably wouldn’t think about it upsetting her, 2) Light Hope might not know she didn’t already know it and thus wouldn’t even consider lying about it, 3) Light Hope was raising her, so she could mold her into someone who would believe her origins were for the best (which is what ended up happening), and 4) Adora having always known what she is and her supposed place in the universe really worked for me. It isn’t just: you’re She-ra and you don’t get a choice. It’s: you’re She-ra, you’re a First One, the last one ever, who can never quite fit in with the rest of the world so you must prove yourself by filling the role of the only thing people want from a First One, She-Ra.

⦁ The rations they eat are the same kind of ones from Darla, with their apparently miraculous preservation technology. They’re not as good as regular food, but miles above Horde rations. However, since all they have experienced are these rations and regular food, their reaction is still “aw shitty rations” because they don’t have that perspective and just know these are worse than what they’ve had at festivals.

⦁ It’s called a “meal replicator” not in the Star Trek kind of way but because you put in ingredients and it “replicates” cooking a full meal with them. Like dumping in pasta, water, and sauce and a plate of spaghetti coming out. Only it’s very bare bones, there’s not a ton of seasonings included (notice: I did not list even salt), and it’s selection is very limited. It’s better than, say, MREs, but it’s not great. Think microwave dinners.

⦁ Honestly, I misremembered Glimmer tugging on the sword and not being able to move it without Adora pulling it free first and trying to run for it (she didn’t, Glimmer teleported in, grabbed it, and teleported out with it) but I’m going to stand by the defense mechanism and just say magic was the only thing that could have gotten around it.

⦁ I’m pretty sure retractable staffs… aren’t. It just seems like something that sounds logically possible but is actually very flimsy in practice. Regardless, the show has them, so the fic does too. They could have all kinds of alloys on Etheria, who knows.

Wild, Weird

Chapter 1:

⦁ The “Adora’s birthday is exactly two months before she arrived in their time” line was my first groundwork to FINALLY get my time portal headcanon into one of my fics. A lot of things are different due to the set-up for this AU, but I also got to finally showcase some of my headcanons that never make sense for an OotW fic.

⦁ When the little girls says their clothes “shimmer weird,” she’s referring to how the light catches on the synthetic fibers (think spandex) versus the natural ones she’s used to (think linen). Their clothes aren’t shimmer fabrics or something, they’re just a different composition. Also, white is called expensive here just because keeping something white is such a pain. Not to mention bleaching something out damages the fibers. It might be cheaper to produce than many dyes, but it can be more expensive to maintain.

⦁ Caprellia comes via Clare, via the SPOP marketing team, and means “she-goat.”

⦁ “… a weird training dummy draped in clothes” Adora sweetie… That’s a mannequin… My little child soldier baby. Even when I fix things I leave them broken.

⦁ I really enjoyed doing little things with young!Adora’s narration like “thinky-frowny face” but also I couldn’t stop myself from using words like elasticity so it only went so far.

⦁ The “machines” are things like a peddle-operated sewing machine (they’ve been around since the 1800s at the very least, I think earlier), looms for weaving, etc.

⦁ Basically all the adults in the village have a kind of silent agreement to keep an eye on the forest children when they do show up. When one of them learns something important, they often pass it on to those they know, who pass it on to the people they know, etc. By the end of week two it’s common knowledge that Catra and Adora’s minder is disabled, which clears a lot of things up for the villagers, because they were seriously worried they had made her up and were just running feral in the woods. The general information the villagers have is: Catra’s parents were killed by the Horde and Adora + her guardian took Catra in. Their guardian educates them and trains them how to “survive” in the woods (the villagers interpretation of what the girls have said about their training to be soldiers), but never leaves their home herself (now explained by her being disabled in some manner that makes that impossible/impractical). They know they don’t have money and they’re self-sufficient in the basics but lack a lot of luxuries, but also weirdly have some others, like clothes that are made from fancy materials, even if the clothes are fairly simple. There’s no consensus amongst the villagers on who their guardian is. Some people think it’s the weird old lady who is rumored to live in the woods (often only appearing to children, the lost, or the hungry), but that doesn’t make sense with her being disabled. The villagers worry about the young girls running around on their own, but they never go anywhere without a weapon and do seem to have been taught effective self-defense. They should be more worried about their social skills, honestly.

⦁ IRL, ALL fashion is produced by hand, even mass produced fashion. Machines that can produce finished garments just don’t exist and would be near impossible to create. This is the future with space travel, though, so anything could be possible, I’d just feel remiss to not acknowledge that when it leads to human rights issues and the sweatshop industry.

Chapter 2:

⦁ “…a kindness they’ve never done much to earn. They’ve never provided much for the village” Yeah this was a lead-in directly to the next fic where they save it.

⦁ Uh, mild Nimona spoilers I guess? but “rearranging the weapon racks by deadliness or some other unhelpful metric” is a Nimona (movie) reference.

⦁ Okay fashion being the only thing that is truly Catra’s makes the jacket a really big deal. I went into this thinking “maybe one time when they’re older Caprellia sees Adora looking a little wistfully at Catra’s new clothes and decides making her one (1) unnecessary thing would be fine” but that wasn’t the right call. That would have been Adora getting another special thing on her mountain of special things. The jacket is so much more meaningful as a gift from Catra, and that meaning is why Catra got inexplicably (to her) mad when Adora surprised her. Catra didn’t understand right away why she was angry, but as she processed she comes to that line about how this is the only thing she can invite Adora into. Not only is it the only thing she has, but she’s still trying to share it with Adora, who Catra only lives by the grace of. She has some bitterness about that, but she has more love for Adora, so she wants them to have this thing together, and then Adora shows up and stops her from doing it on her own terms.

The Start of a Legend [one shot]

⦁ “the Crystal Castle will be vulnerable without them” babygirl the spiders are to fight YOU if you catch on too quick and won’t set off the Heart.

⦁ The change the Crystal Castle goes through, especially the introduction of the threatening and invasive guardians crawling through their home, does a lot to start changing Catra and Adora’s feelings of comfort and familiarity with the Crystal Castle. It reminds them that what they have always treated as their home is actually a war facility, and is some of the first hint towards its true sinister nature as the control hub for the Heart of Etheria.

⦁ The mention of a giant building in the woods that turned out to be someone’s home is a reference to the (then-upcoming) fic with them stumbling across the library. At the time, it was fic 10 in the outline (following the current fic 12), but I was desperately wanting to write it.

⦁ The “something going on” Catra suspected from Light Hope saying Adora had to stay behind was actually that she had already heard Horde forces closing in on Elberon. When Adora started running to stop them, Light Hope told her she had to stop because there were people at the door who could discover the castle (Glimmer and Bow had bad timing). This led to a lot of arguing that took place while Catra was doing her spooky kitty routine before Adora refused to be delayed any further and ran up.

⦁ The descriptions of the Crystal Castle were running entirely on memory and what I needed for the story, but tbh I’ve never been certain if the ruin from the first episode is the same exact chamber of the Crystal Castle as we see later because there’s inconsistencies and if the show can change its mind I can make some shit up lmao.

⦁ In case it’s been awhile since you watched that part of the show: Light Hope shows Adora silhouettes of all the princesses, which is how Catra knew what Glimmer’s outline would look like. Because Light Hope’s focus was on balancing the planet and thus the princesses connected to the runestones, Bow was beneath her notice despite being more involved in the war than many of the other princesses at the time.

⦁ In the first (second, whatever) episode, Bow says that Glimmer’s mom knows more about the First Ones than anybody? I can’t remember if it’s just “the First Ones” or “First Ones tech,” but either way this is befuddling to me since it’s obviously Bow’s dads for the first or Entrapta for the latter? But, whatever, you get the line about Glimmer’s mom being interested in the First Ones.

⦁ “She has to remind herself that a lot of girls have moms” Catra… Baby…

⦁ In the show, Adora is the one who questions why they’re attacking a civilian settlement (“there must be a mistake”), but she was doing it from a place of disbelief that the Horde would do this. Bow is asking from confusion rather than surprise; Thaymor isn’t worth capturing, why waste the resources? And that’s why Catra answers how she does; Thaymor is simply the beginning, at least to the Horde.

⦁ “Catra releases Glimmer’s scruff” obviously Glimmer doesn’t have anything near a scruff and Catra was just holding onto her cape, but she was instinctively doing it where Glimmer’s scruff would be if she had one, and tbh it kind of looked like it too with her cape.

⦁ “She notices Adora’s gaze catching on her teeth. It’s not her fault no smile seems all that innocent to humans or the human-adjacent when there are fangs hiding in it.” Catra. Baby. She was being horny. She was on an adrenaline high from winning and having Thoughts.

⦁ Originally I included a line about it and then it was too clunky, but the mayor thanked Adora and Glimmer basically because they were the ones right in front of him. Everyone saw Catra, Glimmer, and Bow fighting, and so they just assumed when they later saw Adora that she was somewhere else in the chaos, because why would she ever be far from Catra? There was so much going on basically no one had thought much about the new princess who appeared yet, and those who had weren’t talking through it out loud. It was a big shock to most of them when Adora transformed, but it also made that whole sequence of events (and a lot of things over the years) make sense.

⦁ The scar on the boy’s arm is, of course, the same one mentioned in Wild, Weird.

⦁ Adora says she’s not “just a human” because she learned a long time ago to never say she’s a First One and has generally begun to think of herself as human because of that.

⦁ In the show, they take a horse from Thaymor, and then in the next episode Adora turns him into Swift Wind and only find out he’s sentient later. That… didn’t happen here. This was intentional, because Swift Wind’s (lack of) existence actually has very important ramifications. It seems like he doesn’t do a lot in the show, but there is one episode where he’s pivotal, and that’s the episode where Adora and him repair the broken Watchtower using their sacred bond (“Ties That Bind”). Without repairing the Watchtower, Mara’s emergency signal never goes out, and her ship in the Waste never wakes up. The First Ones messaging tower in the town of Alwyn never comes online either (“Signals”), so they never get the message from it that turned out to be a constellation map to Mara’s ship which they decipher in the library in “Reunion.” No one ever steps foot in the Crimsone Waste, Yeah, without Swift Wind they’re missing a MAJOR piece of the puzzle.

Maze (Literal, Metaphorical)

Chapter 1:

⦁ You know those “Purple” mattresses with the annoying ads that are made from rubber. Yeah the bed in the castle is made from something like that but with fancy ~future rubber~ so it didn’t break down into nothing over time. Listen, none of this shit should be here after 1000 years, I’m doing my best.

Chapter 2:

⦁ Adora calling the chaise lounge a chase long was because I don’t think it’s a word she would realistically know (at least well) at this point, so I leaned into her weird pronunciation stuff from the library episode (“Reunion”) for it.

⦁ The mention of Adora “forgetting about dictionaries” is because she hasn’t thought about them since George and Lance tried to teach them reading.

⦁ “eighteen-and-a-thousand years of planning” is referring to both Adora’s lifetime and the thousand years it took Light Hope to gather the resources to bring her here, showing just how much weight Adora has accepted on herself.

⦁ The mentions of them handholding a lot, especially around other people, is because of their dependence on each other.

⦁ The language around Adora stammering (“Catra hits Adora in the face with her tail to reset her.”) is influenced by them growing up with a slightly buggy Light Hope, so they’re a lot more used to tech stuff in this AU.

⦁ The board game goes horribly. Everybody is feeling awkward, except for Catra who has progressed to angry sulking, and somehow she dominates the game through a combination of spite, only knowing half the rules and not being “held back” by preconceptions, and wanting to get it over with.

⦁ Adora puts “tactile” in quotes because she was just discovering the word for the first time.

⦁ “[Glimmer and Bow] don’t even act that different from her and Catra” gee I wonder why THAT could be.

⦁ My general headcanon is that magicats have great memories (because different species would encode memories differently, and it feeds into my angst headcanons for Catra remembering every horrible thing Adora suppressed) but my headcanon has also always been that Catra’s memory basically starts the moment she meets Adora because she was very young when that happened, Adora was there to echo the memory back with her over the years and thus reinforce it, and everything before that was traumatic enough that her brain wanted to let it go.

⦁ When I was writing Adora’s POV for this chapter I was careful not to actually say what her feelings for Catra were even if it was obvious, because Adora herself is doing her best not to think about/process it. She knows, but in the way where she has seen it in the distance, half-registered what it is, and then quickly looked away so she could pretend she never saw it.

⦁ “Getting some one-on-one She-ra training reminded her what her priorities need to be.” AKA “Light Hope could tell she needed some more brainwashing done and used emotional manipulation to keep her on track.”

Be Honest (for the Very First Time) [one shot]

⦁ In regards to the first author’s note, I really don’t like “rewriting”(/transcribing) episodes from the show into canon divergent AUs. I used to be in a video game fandom where rewriting entire missions but with your take on the MC (since there were branching choices) was really common, and that shit gets old fast, versus when I was in the Mass Effect fandom and it seemed more common not to include the story missions and instead effectively pick up on the “next scene” after, which would be original dialog between the characters and happen to include mentions of which branches had been chosen on the previous mission (when relevant). That’s the style I went with for this fic because yes, there are a lot of changes in, say, the Plumerian episode, but those changes are primarily to dialog and then instead of trying to infiltrate the camp using Horde knowledge, they try to Be Sneaky and then go in guns blazing when that doesn’t work. It’s fundamentally not that different and writing within the constrains of the show is chafing. I still covered episode one (the meeting), the library episode, and the portal because they were so different and I had ideas I found fun for them, but I’ve watched the recruitment episodes so many times and didn’t feel like retreading them.

⦁ This fic is one of the first things I outlined for the series. I did a little outlining for The Start of a Legend, but this was the first proper outlining written done I think. Next was the final scene in On Stumbling Feet and then it jumped straight into the angst stuff.

⦁ The nature of this AU is that things go really well for a while, with victory almost seeming like it could be on the horizon, and then the Horde gets desperate, the portal happens, and the entire world falls to shit, which feels like being brought lower by the lack of major setbacks so far (with the greatest being losing Entrapta, a big blow but still just one, and they never thought she was dead before).

⦁ Adora is down so bad in this. She suspects her feelings are “wrong” from what Light Hope says and tries to avoid them, but she also convinces herself that she isn’t feeling anything because (then that would be bad) these are just friend thoughts, and having never experienced even a casual friendship with anyone else, she gets away with it until Bright Moon slaps her in the face with context.

⦁ I have outlined and written out in my head so many scenarios, in so many canon or canon divergent story ideas, where Adora and Catra have a big “fight” and Catra runs away into Bright Moon Castle in the middle of the night and Adora runs out after her, panicking about what she can do to fix this. It has finally ended up on paper and it feels so good to get it out of my system. This series lets me get a lot of things out between this, [major story thing later that’s spoilers], and finally being able to put my backstory headcanons for them into something.

⦁ “They have a mountain of issues to work through but they’re trying” sometimes trying is not enough (◡‿◡✿) LOL every time someone commented like “wow such progress!” I was just sitting there like. I can’t even reply to this comment you have NO idea what’s coming.

Girls Talk [one shot]

⦁ This fic got added in at the last minute, actually while I was writing Maze. As I was writing Maze, I realized I needed to feel out Catra’s relationships with Bow and Glimmer in this AU more so that spawned this fic, which I really enjoyed doing.

Halls That Make a Home

Chapter 2:

⦁ Catra mentions the woods seemingly not trusting them without “adult supervision” and then the woods immediately lead them to the adults perhaps Most concerned by them just wandering round. Catra isn’t quite right but she also isn’t quite wrong.

⦁ Okay, so I like, have a lot of headcanons about the Whispering Woods. Well mostly one headcanon that effects a lot, but basically they are semi-sentient. Most forests are connected via roots in vast networks underground, stretching miles or more sometimes, and the Whispering Woods is a magical amalgamation unbothered by its own movement. It’s magic working in concert with some level of awareness. The forest moves on a rotation that can change over time, like a river changing direction, just by the consciousness shifting its preferences or needs, but its also capable of moving outside of that pattern, as seen when Adora finds the sword or they need to reach Thaymor quickly. The woods show some level of favoritism and don’t move settlements as long as the people living there respect them. The woods have disrupted their pattern when necessary to avoid anyone from reaching the sword for generations, keeping She-ra safe until she could return and free them from the meddling of the First Ones. After the Heart went off the first time the First Ones began to register as a potential threat just like the Horde does, and the woods tries to mitigate threats.

⦁ Light Hope doesn’t really understand age and just didn’t “know” to baby them. She knew their faculties had to develop, but she never treated them like adults would for someone their age and it made going into the “real world” and no longer being treated like an adult really frustrating.

Chapter 3:

⦁ Incredibly catholic of Adora to take on the “sins” of her ancestors despite not having anything to do with them and only being harmed by them too, but the show had a lot of religious trauma themes so I did it too lol.

⦁ Until the full truth came out (like seconds later) George and Lance thought Bow might not have mentioned his dads because he didn’t want to be treated differently because his dads were academics, in case people might use that to diminish his own accomplishments because clearly it’s just ‘in his blood’ or he had access to more resources or something.

⦁ When rewatching the library episode I registered that Bow said Adora was an art major for the first time so I have to do artist Adora at some point now I guess XD

⦁ Okay, so the time portal thing. In the show, I initially thought back in seasons 2/3 that the reason portals didn’t work in Despondos was a feature of the dimension itself, rather than being because the runestones were out of alignment as implied by Light Hope in season 4. Because of that, I came up with the idea of dimensional portals not working, and thus time ones being the only viable method of travel to Etheria, which would mean both Adora and Hordak were time travelers. This would explain why Horde Prime thought he had wiped out all the First Ones, why Hordak’s technology was so much less advanced than Prime’s (although an easy answer to that is he isn’t as smart and doesn’t “remember” the knowledge base in the hive mind), and why it took Light Hope a thousand years to make her move: as explained in the fic, it took a long time to figure out how to reach back in time and then where to reach back, getting Hordak the first time and Adora the second. Now this… could be viable in canon? Basically, we don’t actually know when the Black Garnet went offline, so it could still be true that it needed to be a time portal and when Light Hope said she “reached across the wider universe” for Adora she meant back in time as well, I just don’t think that the runestone was offline that whole time. I’m also 99% sure Light Hope says at one point that it was Mara who threw them out of balance, implying something has been wrong for a thousand years and thus portal capabilities could have been offline that whole time, but she easily could have been lying. I always kind of assumed that the Garnet went offline when Scorpia’s mom died without Scorpia bonding with the runestone. We don’t know either way on that, but that’s why this time portal idea is showing up for the first time in a canon divergent AU where I can really tweak whatever I want. It’s also plausible that, regardless of her portal capabilities, it still had to be a time portal because all the First Ones really were gone, but it’s all a big “we don’t know” and in that case I get to do what I want.

Meta:

Catra’s clothes (Wild, Weird)

Season Two fic notes

Series Directory/Share Links

#cotc #ficmeta #fic notes #share post for IDJtBS soon but the last chapter is up now!

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steveharrington · 2 years ago

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with the full knowledge that they probably won’t get the best endings bc the duffers don’t know what to do with their own characters, what would your ideal endings be for the st main characters? or like at least the ones you care about? like in an ideal world

this is so fun i’m gonna do as many as i can think of <3 i don’t think the duffers are gonna do a Huge time jump at the end of the series (i could b wrong) so i’m just gonna base these on like roughly anytime in the next year after s4

steve: ideally steve would not be in a romantic relationship and completely satisfied with this outcome. i’m not saying he should like Never get his little domestic dream but i think he needs some time to focus on himself instead of constantly weighing his self worth based on whether or not he’s romantically valued. i also think it would be nice if he found something that gave him fulfillment whether it be a specific job or hobby or even just like continuing to be best friends forever with robin <3

robin: i wouldn’t mind if she ended up with vickie because i genuinely like the way their relationship has been set up, but if she was single by the end too i’d be okay with that. mostly i want robin to get out of hawkins and meet other gay people and find a community where she doesn’t feel like an outsider. maybe make some weird art. and to continue being best friends forever with steve <3

nancy: i’m begging on my hands and knees for nancy to end the show single. i think she gravitates towards relationships because they feel safe to her, but she’s ultimately unsatisfied because she has goals and aspirations that don’t necessarily fit with steve/jonathan and i think she needs to just focus on herself without having to factor someone else into the equation. i think she should go to school for journalism, maybe start some kinda nonprofit, and help barb’s parents get their house back after murray SCAMMED their asses

jonathan: honestly i just want jonathan to have like….someone who acts as a consistent emotional support. doesn’t matter who it can be argyle it can be nancy in a platonic sense i just want him to be given the space to express his feelings without them always taking a backseat to someone else. i think a fun career for him would be music journalism

argyle: we don’t know shit about his personal life or his background but i just want him to be able to return to his life pre-vecna without too much trauma <3 like obv i want that for everyone but argyle especially is so happy go lucky and it would be so sad if he lost his vibes

max: god please i just want her to be happy and have peace. i want her to stay with lucas, romantically or platonically idrc i just want them to be Together in some sense and i want her to feel safe and happy that’s all i ask

lucas: same as above AND i want lucas to get to fully explore his identity with actual genuine support from his friends. i can see him going through high school trying a little bit of every club and hobby and group and i want him to just like grow into himself and have the freedom to do that <3

dustin: again happiness and safety PLEASE also idk how to explain this but i want dustin to like…lower his guard. i feel like in s1 & 2 he was much more trusting and had more faith in people vs s3 & 4 where he’s just constantly assuming that his friends are like incapable of doing anything? i know it’s just bad writing for bad jokes but i’m choosing to believe it’s his defense mechanism and his way of dealing with trauma by being like “well luckily i’m a genius and i’ll fix everything >:)” and i want him to like let go of that and be more carefree again

el: again this applies to all of them but for el especially i want her to have stability and to feel safe. i want her to get the family and home she craves so badly with joyce and hopper and jonathan and will, and i want her to get to try things out and shape an identity kinda like lucas. i want her to have a little bedroom where she can try out new hobbies and not have to worry about packing up because someone died again

mike: honestly this is the toughest for me to envision and i don’t really know why? like obv i want him to be happy feel safe etc but i can’t think of anything like Concrete for mike’s ending that i absolutely want to see. maybe just permanently reunited with his friends idk

will: i want willy b to feel comfortable and find joy in being gay and also come out to joyce <3 and maybe hopper <3 idk i want will’s story to go back to his family, the way it started, and for him to realize that he’s still very young and mike’s feelings don’t have to determine his personal happiness and i feel like the best way for him to reach this conclusion is just by knowing that his mom and brother will always have his back

erica: ugh god i want her to like finish middle school unscathed 😭 the writers ignore her feelings so much so it would be nice if for Once they let her acknowledge what she’s been through maybe via a conversation with lucas. idk why but out of all the characters i can really See erica getting therapy skdndnc like i think she’d enjoy it <3

joyce: lord idk i want joyce to somehow know with certainty that everything is Over and that she doesn’t have to be on alert anymore. that’s probably not plausible given the nature of the story and the fact that she’s naturally always going to look over her shoulder BUT i would be ecstatic if the ending somehow gave her this 100% surety that it was officially over

hopper: i just fucking want him to be el’s dad man <3 i want him to take her fishing and get her a pet cat and help her with homework at the table and do a bad job wrapping presents on her birthday like i just want him to live out the rest of his life with his #1 priority always being el <3

murray: in jail for scamming the hollands out of their house

#this is longggg sorry i have a lot of thoughts #i don’t Think i forgot anyone but it’s late and i kept getting distracted while writing this so i may have #answered #anon #long post

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