#like yeah i've watched lots of stuff and shipped plenty in that but these two??? i'm straight up having highness feelings like

[txttletale]

Saw a tweet that said something around:

"cannot emphasize enough how horrid chatgpt is, y'all. it's depleting our global power & water supply, stopping us from thinking or writing critically, plagiarizing human artists. today's students are worried they won't have jobs because of AI tools. this isn't a world we deserve"

I've seen some of your AI posts and they seem nuanced, but how would you respond do this? Cause it seems fairly-on point and like the crux of most worries. Sorry if this is a troublesome ask, just trying to learn so any input would be appreciated.

i would simply respond that almost none of that is true.

'depleting the global power and water supply'

something i've seen making the roudns on tumblr is that chatgpt queries use 3 watt-hours per query. wow, that sounds like a lot, especially with all the articles emphasizing that this is ten times as much as google search. let's check some other very common power uses:

running a microwave for ten minutes is 133 watt-hours

gaming on your ps5 for an hour is 200 watt-hours

watching an hour of netflix is 800 watt-hours

and those are just domestic consumer electricty uses!

a single streetlight's typical operation 1.2 kilowatt-hours a day (or 1200 watt-hours)

a digital billboard being on for an hour is 4.7 kilowatt-hours (or 4700 watt-hours)

i think i've proved my point, so let's move on to the bigger picture: there are estimates that AI is going to cause datacenters to double or even triple in power consumption in the next year or two! damn that sounds scary. hey, how significant as a percentage of global power consumption are datecenters?

1-1.5%.

ah. well. nevertheless!

what about that water? yeah, datacenters use a lot of water for cooling. 1.7 billion gallons (microsoft's usage figure for 2021) is a lot of water! of course, when you look at those huge and scary numbers, there's some important context missing. it's not like that water is shipped to venus: some of it is evaporated and the rest is generally recycled in cooling towers. also, not all of the water used is potable--some datacenters cool themselves with filtered wastewater.

most importantly, this number is for all data centers. there's no good way to separate the 'AI' out for that, except to make educated guesses based on power consumption and percentage changes. that water figure isn't all attributable to AI, plenty of it is necessary to simply run regular web servers.

but sure, just taking that number in isolation, i think we can all broadly agree that it's bad that, for example, people are being asked to reduce their household water usage while google waltzes in and takes billions of gallons from those same public reservoirs.

but again, let's put this in perspective: in 2017, coca cola used 289 billion liters of water--that's 7 billion gallons! bayer (formerly monsanto) in 2018 used 124 million cubic meters--that's 32 billion gallons!

so, like. yeah, AI uses electricity, and water, to do a bunch of stuff that is basically silly and frivolous, and that is broadly speaking, as someone who likes living on a planet that is less than 30% on fire, bad. but if you look at the overall numbers involved it is a miniscule drop in the ocean! it is a functional irrelevance! it is not in any way 'depleting' anything!

'stopping us from thinking or writing critically'

this is the same old reactionary canard we hear over and over again in different forms. when was this mythic golden age when everyone was thinking and writing critically? surely we have all heard these same complaints about tiktok, about phones, about the internet itself? if we had been around a few hundred years earlier, we could have heard that "The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth."

it is a reactionary narrative of societal degeneration with no basis in anything. yes, it is very funny that laywers have lost the bar for trusting chatgpt to cite cases for them. but if you think that chatgpt somehow prevented them from thinking critically about its output, you're accusing the tail of wagging the dog.

nobody who says shit like "oh wow chatgpt can write every novel and movie now. yiou can just ask chatgpt to give you opinions and ideas and then use them its so great" was, like, sitting in the symposium debating the nature of the sublime before chatgpt released. there is no 'decay', there is no 'decline'. you should be suspicious of those narratives wherever you see them, especially if you are inclined to agree!

plagiarizing human artists

nah. i've been over this ad infinitum--nothing 'AI art' does could be considered plagiarism without a definition so preposterously expansive that it would curtail huge swathes of human creative expression.

AI art models do not contain or reproduce any images. the result of them being trained on images is a very very complex statistical model that contains a lot of large-scale statistical data about all those images put together (and no data about any of those individual images).

to draw a very tortured comparison, imagine you had a great idea for how to make the next Great American Painting. you loaded up a big file of every norman rockwell painting, and you made a gigantic excel spreadsheet. in this spreadsheet you noticed how regularly elements recurred: in each cell you would have something like "naturalistic lighting" or "sexually unawakened farmers" and the % of times it appears in his paintings. from this, you then drew links between these cells--what % of paintings containing sexually unawakened farmers also contained naturalistic lighting? what % also contained a white guy?

then, if you told someone else with moderately competent skill at painting to use your excel spreadsheet to generate a Great American Painting, you would likely end up with something that is recognizably similar to a Norman Rockwell painting: but any charge of 'plagiarism' would be absolutely fucking absurd!

this is a gross oversimplification, of course, but it is much closer to how AI art works than the 'collage machine' description most people who are all het up about plagiarism talk about--and if it were a collage machine, it would still not be plagiarising because collages aren't plagiarism.

(for a better and smarter explanation of the process from soneone who actually understands it check out this great twitter thread by @reachartwork)

today's students are worried they won't have jobs because of AI tools

i mean, this is true! AI tools are definitely going to destroy livelihoods. they will increase productivty for skilled writers and artists who learn to use them, which will immiserate those jobs--they will outright replace a lot of artists and writers for whom quality is not actually important to the work they do (this has already essentially happened to the SEO slop website industry and is in the process of happening to stock images).

jobs in, for example, product support are being cut for chatgpt. and that sucks for everyone involved. but this isn't some unique evil of chatgpt or machine learning, this is just the effect that technological innovation has on industries under capitalism!

there are plenty of innovations that wiped out other job sectors overnight. the camera was disastrous for portrait artists. the spinning jenny was famously disastrous for the hand-textile workers from which the luddites drew their ranks. retail work was hit hard by self-checkout machines. this is the shape of every single innovation that can increase productivity, as marx explains in wage labour and capital:

“The greater division of labour enables one labourer to accomplish the work of five, 10, or 20 labourers; it therefore increases competition among the labourers fivefold, tenfold, or twentyfold. The labourers compete not only by selling themselves one cheaper than the other, but also by one doing the work of five, 10, or 20; and they are forced to compete in this manner by the division of labour, which is introduced and steadily improved by capital. Furthermore, to the same degree in which the division of labour increases, is the labour simplified. The special skill of the labourer becomes worthless. He becomes transformed into a simple monotonous force of production, with neither physical nor mental elasticity. His work becomes accessible to all; therefore competitors press upon him from all sides. Moreover, it must be remembered that the more simple, the more easily learned the work is, so much the less is its cost to production, the expense of its acquisition, and so much the lower must the wages sink – for, like the price of any other commodity, they are determined by the cost of production. Therefore, in the same manner in which labour becomes more unsatisfactory, more repulsive, do competition increase and wages decrease”

this is the process by which every technological advancement is used to increase the domination of the owning class over the working class. not due to some inherent flaw or malice of the technology itself, but due to the material realtions of production.

so again the overarching point is that none of this is uniquely symptomatic of AI art or whatever ever most recent technological innovation. it is symptomatic of capitalism. we remember the luddites primarily for failing and not accomplishing anything of meaning.

if you think it's bad that this new technology is being used with no consideration for the planet, for social good, for the flourishing of human beings, then i agree with you! but then your problem shouldn't be with the technology--it should be with the economic system under which its use is controlled and dictated by the bourgeoisie.

[the-bar-sinister]

Bleeding, Broken, Mended (69605 words) by VickytheSnake, thesavagesabretooth Chapters: 12/?

Summary: Law is certain that he was 'rescued' just so Doflamingo could kill him himself, but Doffy has other plans. As far as he's concerned, Law's decade-long quest for revenge was nothing more than a sad misunderstanding. He wants to remind Law how things used to be. He wants to find a way to bring Law back into the fold-- back to him-- forever.

catch up here

-

The celebration lasted long after the meal had ended, lingering for a good while until people had to head off for tasks on the ship, or for their beds. Stories had been told. Apologies and assurances had been made. Law reflected on the whole of it, as he was one of the last to linger along with Vergo and Bepo.

Law— the new Corazon— leaned against the wall with a half smile. Baby 5 had tried to embarrass him with stories of the past and his exploits, only for him to turn the tables and tell a few rather choice 'troubles' of her own. He had been patted on the back, hugged, shaken; all enough, and through enough wine, that he finally started to feel like he really was back.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and there was Doflamingo, smiling broadly down at him. "Get some rest tonight. I'm putting you to work in the morning."

"You are, huh?" Law bumped his shoulder against Doflamingo. "Dare I ask with what?" 

Doffy loomed down over him, his glasses glinting in the low light. 

"Oh feel free to dare," he teased. "Most of its normal stuff. I want you fully walked through the armory and the guns. And I'll bring you up to speed on what's happening with Cross Guild. You'll get a turn on watch."

".............Cross Guild." Law said slowly. "Ah, shit, yeah. This means I'm technically part of that now, don't it? Huh. Buggy's weird ass cult." 

Doffy threw back his head and laughed. "Buggy's weird ass cult. That's how people outside see it, isn't it? Yeah you definitely need to be brought up to speed on that."

Law smirked with a shrug of his shoulders. "Sounds like a plan. It all sounds good, I'll rest up for it, promise." 

"Good man," Doffy purred. His hand lingered on Law for a moment, the pad of his finger trailing over the back of his neck before he released him. "I'll see you in the morning, Corazon."

It felt surprisingly good, surprisingly amazing, to hear him call him Corazon. He placed his hand on his chest, over his tattoos with a lopsided smile. "...see you in the mornin' , Doffy." 

Doffy started to swagger to the door, waving for Vergo to follow him. Vergo gave Law a wide smile as he sauntered out, looking over his shoulder with one last sentence.

"Proud of you, Trafalgar."

And with that, Law and Bepo were the last ones in the quiet, messy galley room. At some point, as Law remembered it often was, it had been decided that cleaning up was a 'later' problem.

Bepo smiled at him and Law noticed how pink the insides of his ears were. The bear had actually done some drinking, which was unusual for him.

Law bumped his shoulder against him. "Drunk ass bear," he grinned. "Looks like you got into the party mood too.' 

Bepo chuckled a rumbling chuckle, his ears flicking embarrassedly. "I haven't been to a lot of parties, you know. And they kept handing me bottles of wine. And it was your party. Mr. Big Shot Corazon."

Law was flushed with wine himself.

"Hey, don't worry. I had plenty to drink. I think if another person clapped my back I'd get a fracture. I…" He shook his head "I can hardly believe they're so happy to see me." 

Bepo shook his head and draped his arm over Law, snuggling against him. "I'll be gentle then, I don't want to fracture you. I think the only person I've ever seen happier to see you is Straw Hat and he gets distracted way easier than… your family? I guess?"

"Yeah, my family." He chuckled as he leaned his face against Bepo "...Straw Hat…"

Luffy, Luffy was always happy to see him, but it was true he tended to get distracted. He had two modes, bouncing between all the connections he made and people he loved— and pummeling his way straight to whatever goal he'd gotten his sights set on, with the occasional baffling and often ridiculous diversion in between.

"Really care about that guy. Hope we can manage to explain this to 'im." 

Bepo patted Law's back sympathetically, nodding. "I'm sure we can. As long as like, we're not supposed to be picking a fight with him. As revenge or something. That would get awkward fast."

"Eeugh." Law laughed with a shake of his head. "If Doffy tried to pull something like that I'd set him straight. Besides… I think he understands Luffy's kind of a force of nature." 

"He really kind of is," Bepo grumbled, shaking his head along with him. "But Straw Hat aside, um, congrats, Law. I'm really happy you're happy with this. It seems like, I guess, things got kind of derailed for you for a long time. And I'm glad I met you, but…. yeah."

Oh Bepo was definitely drunk.

Law leaned up, and kissed the side of his furry face, against his cheek. 

"Shit's finally getting back on track…and this time, with the best damn treasure I picked up as leader of the Heart Pirates."

….he may have been a bit drunk too. 

Bepo cocked his head against his face, blinking uncomprehendingly at him even while he nuzzled him. "We do?"

Law flushed deeply as he gave him a slightly tipsy grin. "....you, Bepo." 

Bepo smiled bashfully back. "Oh."

-

Doffy sat up a little while longer, sitting in his room with Vergo and drinking cool water so he didn't end up with yet another hangover.

"It feels like a dream, you know, Vergo? And not the kind that I usually have."

Vergo nodded, sipping a cup of water of his own as he sat leaned against him. "I know what you mean, Doffy. I thought that seat was gonna stay empty forever." 

"So did I," Doffy said, leaning his cheek against the top side of Vergo's head. Even when Vergo had come back, after Punk Hazard, after his long stint in the marines, he hadn't taken the title back. He knew he would have if Doffy had asked him, but it would have felt wrong. "I know you like being our wildcard. The ace up the sleeve."

Vergo nodded with a wry smirk. "That's right. Besides— I think I changed after my stint with the whitecoats. Enough that when that seat was filled for the third time, I knew it had to be someone new." 

Doffy felt his stomach lurch, and he grabbed at Vergo's hand, holding it tightly like he'd often done when they were young. He fought the urge to demand assurances that no matter how much he changed, he'd always be there. He didn't need assurances. He knew it was the case.

Still, he squeezed his fingers. "It did need to be someone else. The kid we promised it to a long time ago. You know me, Vergo. I keep my promises."

"You do. Always." he chuckled as he looped his fingers together with Doffy's. "That's one of the reasons we're all loyal to you to the end. And the kid…he's gonna be the same. I can already tell." 

Doffy smiled, thinking back on the party. "Me too. He was actually fucking smiling, Vergo. He was smiling and having a blast. He was always so fucking serious all the time– I mean who could fucking blame him, kid had a death sentence… But tonight he was smiling."

Vergo glanced over at him with a smile. "Maybe that means he finally feels like he ain't just living to die, huh?" 

"I fuckin hope so. He's got his whole life ahead of him. As our Corazon." He smiled slyly back at Vergo. "Think he's gonna do a good job?"

"I mean I think he's gonna be a little bastard about it, maybe. Give Trebol no end of trouble, the whole nine yards." Vergo mused. "But I think he's gonna do alright." 

Doffy laughed. "Yeah, if he wasn't gonna be a little bastard about it, he wouldn't be Law. But I think you're right. I think he'll do just fine."

-

Hearing that Law was coming back to the family-– was taking up the old promised position of Corazon— hadn't surprised Diamante all that much in the end. The kid was a firecracker. He was spontaneous and bloodthirsty. He fit right in with the rest of the family. No, what surprised Dia was that he had ever left. And he'd been willing to believe that since he had left, maybe he was going to stick to those guns and keep his bloodlust trained on all of them. Dressrosa had been a hell of a mess, after all.

But Doffy had won him over. 

It hadn't even been hard. Just get the kid alone for a while without a whole shebang of fireworks exploding everywhere to distract him. Losing his whole crew probably helped, too. Loss like that reminded you what was important. Sent you back into the arms of the people who had your back.

And who could resist Doffy? Not Dia, that was for sure. He'd meant what he said while they were drinking. What made Doflamingo happy made Diamante happy. Besides, the kid had grown up pretty good. Even made a mark on him in their duel, though admittedly, he had been going a little easy on him. But he was a strong, cunning little savage, and Vergo was right. The best way he could make up for the damage he'd done to the family was use his abilities to help them put things back together. To rise up stronger.

And of course it was increasingly obvious that the kid was absolutely smitten with Doffy. But again— who could blame him? He couldn't wait to see where that went.

After the celebration had mostly concluded, he shuffled his way on deck to get some air in the moonlight, and found Trebol already there, up at the helm double checking their bearing.

"Looks like we might not need to scrounge up a new orphan after all," Dia chuckled.

"Maybe not, maybe not," Trebol grumbled. "I started to wonder after I talked to him. An impulsive move like this is just like Law. What will matter is if he sticks to it."

"He seems excited," Dia observed. He leaned on the mast, watching Trebol as he pawed over charts. "Can't blame him there, you know? We're a hell of a lot more fun than some grim 13 year vengeance quest he wasn't even enjoying. I swear to hell, Tre, if I could go back in time and wring Rosinante's throat—"

Rosinante. Doffy's bastard of a brother who'd infiltrated the family like a worm in an apple. Who'd been welcomed into their midst only to turn a knife on them and cut out their heart. Who had aimed Law at them like a timebomb to destroy them from beyond the grave.

Dia's breath caught. "We're gonna have to keep a close eye on Law. Just in case."

Trebol sighed. "At least we can be sure he's not a fucking marine. And he fucking talks to us. We will have to keep an eye on him. But I think we're in the clear. This whole loss to Blackbeard, at least, couldn't be planned."

"True," Dia nodded. "It's just a scary thought, you know? Doffy's brother ran off that night cause he was scared of him. Came back about 13 years later and got welcomed with open arms. And then."

"And then," Trebol sighed. "But Law isn't Rosinante. Thank all that's unholy."

Diamante thought of the first time he'd seen Doffy's brother as a child, trembling like a leaf and looking at him and Trebol and the others like they were some kind of fairytale monsters, despite the fact that they'd just saved his worthless life.

The first time he'd seen Law, on the other hand, he was a lot like Doflamingo. Trembling not with fear, but with rage, and ready to blow them all sky high.

Dia took out his cigarettes and put one to his lips. "Yeah. He sure ain't Rosinante. I think you're right, we're probably in the clear. But I'm still gonna watch him, just in case."

"Caution, always," Trebol agreed. "If only we could teach the new Corazon the same thing."

Dia chuckled, lighting up and inhaling a long drag of smile. "Yeah, well, maybe you'll actually get the chance."

-

Law discovered the next morning that Doflamingo had been very serious about putting him to work. After a very pleasant breakfast with the family, many of whom were more or less hungover from the night before, he was given a rough schedule for the day. First he'd be familiarizing himself with the ship's weaponry and battle readiness with Pica. Then he'd check in with Diamante for a stint on watch on deck. After that, Doflamingo— for briefing about Cross Guild and some other mysterious task he'd alluded to. Bepo and Komurasaki had, with his permission, been similarly put to work.

It was his first day as Corazon— his first day properly back with them after everything. In the wake of the party, and his own slight hangover, he still felt good; sure that this was the right choice.

Even as he wished for a pair of sunglasses to cut out the glare of the light, he swore he'd face the day and every damn task sent his way with the grace expected of him.

Which was to say he was grumbling exhaustedly, even with coffee in him, as he made his way down towards the armory. 

"Are you going to absorb any of this?" Pica demanded with his arms crossed. "You look half blind and half asleep."

Law held his hand up. 

"Don't worry. I learned how to operate on a man's heart with less sleep and more of a hangover. Just..." He rubbed his eyes. "Just gimme a sec, Pica." 

Pica snorted and softly said. "Sure, we have all day, Corazon." He said it almost snidely but then he shook his head and almost smiled. "If you need sunglasses I'm sure we can find some for you to borrow."

"Thanks, Pica." Law gave him a lopsided smirk. "..I'd punch you on the arm but I don't want you to take it the wrong way."

He stretched with a huff. "So what kinda weaponry do you got? We had a bit on the Polar Tang but we weren't exactly bristling with armaments." 

Pica didn't need much encouragement to start talking about weapons. In fact, Law suspected it would have been harder to get him to stop than to start. One of the few family subordinates Law had seen around the ship was sent running to get a pair of shades, and Law was inundated with information about the ship's cannons— their configuration, their make, the type of shot they fired, and more.

It was a lot to take in, but he was true to his word. He cataloged each bit of information back with the rest. He accounted for each weapon, each ammunition…even the details on their particular ranges and functions.

On the Polar Tang, they carried bombs that could be launched from the water, striking ships while remaining hidden below.

Here, it seemed they had an army's worth of cannons to sink ships with. And after Pica was done telling him about the cannons, he launched in on the mortars. And the stores of gas and smoke grenades. And the chain launchers. By then Law had had a pair of sunglasses pressed into his hands that, judging by the size and style, probably belonged to Derringer.

He stared at them for a moment. They were a little…femme…but that was fine. He wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth as he slipped them on with a low sigh. "Seems like you guys are ready to sink an army." 

"I'd hope so," Pica huffed, crossing his arms. "The whole point is we're hunting marines. The last expedition was a lot more lucrative than this one. Since we got distracted."

"Sorry. I'll make it up to you, promise." Law smirked under the cats-eye sunglasses. "...by killing plenty of marines as soon as I get the chance, yeah? I take it this is part of that 'Cross Guild bounty system' yeah?" 

"Yeah," Pica nodded. "I'm sure Doffy will explain more. Any questions about the weapons?"

Law put his hand on his hip thoughtfully, before he asked. "Are you stealing the weapons of the marines you kill? A lot of the higher ranked officers have legendary swords or guns of some sort or another." 

Pica raised his chin. He actually looked impressed. "Haven't had the opportunity yet," he murmured. "But that's something good to keep in mind."

Law grinned at him. "Good, because every good blade we pick up is a little more strength on the family's side. Better with us than some dead fucking marines, right?" 

"Yeah, a lot better." Pica gave him another scrutinizing look. "Diamante said you had an interesting blade yourself. Did you steal it off someone?"

"Sorta. Its name is Kikoku. It's cursed, you know. A cursed blade, said to be immensely powerful as long as you can handle the curse of it. I actually picked it up at the site of a massacre. I was supposed to provide medical care to this captain in exchange for some intel, but when we arrived everyone was dead and this blade was stabbed through the man's heart." 

"And you took it with you." Once again, Pica actually sounded impressed. "You always had balls, Law. It'll be nice to see you in action for our side again."

Law lightly punched his arm. 

"Damn right I did. What, like I was gonna leave a gorgeous sword like that buried in some loser? It's served me well." He chuckled roughly. "It'll be nice to be in action again, side by side with you guys. Not gonna lie…I'm frustrated I missed out on it this long."

The impressed tone from the man he didn't expect to forgive him for a long, long time…it sent a thrum of pride and hope through Law as he looked the stubborn, stone-like Pica in the eyes. 

Pica punched him back, and it didn't send him flying across the room, which was a minor miracle. "You missed out bad, Law. And I'm still mad. But I heard it maybe wasn't all your fault. We'll get there."

"Yeah, things…things weren't going well, Pica." He rubbed his neck with a sheepish edge to his smile. "We'll get there, some day. I'm gonna put in the work" 

Pica almost smiled back. "Want me to show you how to load the cannons?"

Law clapped his hands together with a nod. "Damn right I do. Show me the ropes, big guy." 

-

Baby 5 had had Komurasaki assigned to shadow her for the day, to introduce her to the ship, and the kind of work that needed doing on it.

Komurasaki had been a great shadow, honestly. As Baby 5 bustled about her daily duties on the ship from tidying up (something that from her help lately, Komurasaki had already become rather acquainted with), checking on the supplies for dinner, and the care and maintenance of various weapons from swords to the massive broadside cannons.

It was the sort of work Baby 5 often occupied herself with when her main duties were unavailable. There was nobody for the assassin to kill, and she'd said as much to Komurasaki as they worked their way through the ship together. Her greatest duty— and the one she liked the most, was the taking of enemy lives.

But when sailing about, someone had to handle the day to day tasks. Komurasaki— she was helpful, clever, and great company as they bounced from task to task. Baby took every opportunity to be close, and every opportunity to gush about the specifics of each individual task just to prolong that closeness a little longer.

It was after they'd been asked to take a guard shift on the top deck that she finally asked Komurasaki what she thought of the Donquixote ship now that she was one of them. 

"I like the ship well enough," Komurasaki said with a smile, looking out over the ocean. "And I like the people even better, I think. The Donquixote family reminds me of the Kyoshiro family who raised me— only with less of the reserve and careful politeness of Wano. More… vigorous. Unrestrained."

Baby 5 nodded with a curious smile, leaning her arms on the edge of the crows nest and watching the rippling water far beyond where it faded into fog.

"That's one way to describe us, Saki. We're a little crazy." She laughed cheerfully, tilting her head to the side. "The Kyoshiro family were criminals too, right? Organized crime?" 

"Yakuza," Komurasaki nodded, leaning against Baby 5 and watching the fog with her. "The organized crime of Wano are called Yakuza families. The Kyoshiro family ran the commerce of the city, charging protection fees, engaging in smuggling and prostitution. Running the gambling rings, and engaging in assassinations. But it was… pretense."

"Oh…" Baby 5 felt the flush of warmth as the other woman leaned against her. She really was very pretty…and even Doffy noticed that Baby was smitten. She tried not to let it show on her face as she tilted her head. "sounds like a lot of what we did, minus some stuff… but whatta ya mean pretense?" 

Komursaki's bare shoulder brushed her arm. The woman of Wano hadn't changed back into her kimono, despite it having been dry enough for the last day. She'd hung it on the wall in Baby 5's room. Instead, she was still wearing another borrowed dress of Violet's– though now the sword that she'd been clinging to when they found her in the water was strapped to her side.

"Pretense," she murmured. "What do I mean by that? The Kyoshiro family were a dream. A lie. They were a subtle engine of my father's vengeance. Warriors of the old regime disguised as criminals in the new empire, waiting for their moment to cut its throat. The man who raised me lived as a scoundrel for twenty years— all so that he could uphold his master's honor."

"......???" Baby 5's thoughts about how good she looked outside that kimono and in less body-obscuring clothes were derailed as she tried to wrap her head around Wano's inexplicable ways.

The North Blue operated on profits, the honor of wealth and industry and 'hard work' that often translated to the abuse of workers and children.

Dressrosa was a land of open passion, outspoken emotion and expression, crime and love. Wano was a complete mystery to Baby 5. She tilted her head to the side in confusion. 

"...huuuuh? I don't…really get how someone can be a fake criminal to uphold honor? I mean, doesn't that kinda seem…honor-less?" 

Komursaki chuckled. "That would make sense, would it not? But he put his own honor aside to pursue vengeance for my father. Admittedly, he strove to act with honor as far as he could in the underworld as well. But he was still a criminal, by trade if not by heart. I left a letter for him, when I left, begging him to consider me to have died the day that he faked my death It's all very… complicated, I'm afraid."

She lay her head on Baby 5's shoulder and her pale eyes were distant and unfocused. "I was born a princess, but that girl died the same day as her father. And I carried her inside me for 20 years to allow her ghost the bloody vengeance she sought. When that was done– I decided to be free of her ghost. I'm sorry, I'm babbling. You were asking about my family…"

"No! No it's not babblin'...I mean, it may be babbling a little but that doesn't mean I don't wanna hear it." Baby 5 raised her cigarette to her lips again, tilting her head so it lightly bumped the top of Komurasaki's. "I think I can understand that…basically, the 'you' that everyone wanted to take her place by your brother's side was long, long dead. And the girl you'd become made sure that the vengeance that she wanted came true, but now you don't wanna be tied to that, right?"

She blew smoke from the corner of her lips. "You wanna be free to follow your heart, a criminal heart that ain't tied down by all that 'honor' stuff that Wano's so obsessed with. Yeah? You're not just keeping up a pretense for vengeance. You really are a pirate."

"Exactly," Komurasaki nodded against her, her pale, sea-green hair draped over Baby 5's shoulder. "The men who raised me were acting as criminals for their own reason, but… they raised me in a life of crime, and that's what calls to me. They're no doubt aghast. I suppose what I mean to say is that… your family is like I would have wished mine to be, perverse as that may sound."

"Perverse huh?" Baby 5 laughs "I don't think that's all that perverse. I mean…crime calls to me too, you know? I wasn't born to be a princess or nothin'...I wasn't even named. Mom had me by accident, far as I can tell and only let me trail along until I was more trouble than I was worth. Doffy found me when she left me to die. Called me needed, and gave me a job, and I was good at it."

She shrugs. "If it calls to you, if you're raised in it, I think that's more natural than perverse. I'm a good killer. I think it'd be weirder if I'd gone to be, I dunno…a marine like Rosi probably wanted." 

Komursaki chuckled. "Perhaps. But I'm pleased to be among people who understand my desires. The stories you've told me today, of your assassinations, are very exciting. I'd be pleased to see you work some time."

Baby 5 flushed, her grin almost doubling. 

"You really thought they were exciting? I mean— they're some of my proudest work. If you wanna, the next time I get a job maybe you can come with me? I haven't seen you fight yet but I get the feeling you'd make one hell of an assassin! I'll make sure we're 'armed' to the teeth for it." She made a muscle, and it formed her arm into a revolving pistol. 

Komurasaki laughed, watching the arm change. She seemed fascinated every time Baby 5 used her power. She put her hand on the sword at her hip.

"I'd be pleased for the opportunity. It's probably wise not to hold shusui back from tasting blood for too long."

"Ooooh better not…is he a hungry bastard?" Baby 5 grinned, leaning down to look at the blade "...is it a him?" 

She patted the hilt of the sword. "Him, yes, I think. And he is. He's a black blade. Heavy in the hand. A so-called 'problem child' that likes to cause destruction. A treasure of Wano that I've stolen for myself. And now will be my pleasure to wield."

"A black blade…I think Mr. Dracule has onna those. Yoru, he calls it!" Baby 5 leaned a little closer to her, resting her shoulder gingerly against hers. "Heavy in the hand, tends to act up and likes to cause destruction? Sounds like if y'tried wielding me!" she joked.

"But seriously, pretty fucking hot of you to have swiped it for yourself despite it being a national treasure." Baby 5 grinned widely. "Real cool!" 

"It's disgraceful, in fact," Komurasaki laughed. She slung her arm around Baby 5's shoulders.

 "Low, and honorless. And I'm very pleased you think it's 'cool'."

"Maybe I like a little honorlessness in a gal, it's familiar." Baby 5 snickered, leaning more heavily against her as her arm looped back around her back, though she did change it back from the loaded pistol. "We should find someone to kill together to really break Shusui in. I'd say some marines but this lil' adventure sent us on a bit of a detour from our big hunt!" 

"What a shame," Komurasaki murmured. "Well, I'm sure we'll run into someone who demands killing sooner or later, don't you think?"

Baby 5 looked up at her with a feral edge to her smile. "Oh without a doubt…if there's one thing I've learned it's that there's always someone in need of a little killing. It's only a matter of time till we get our taste of blood, Saki~." 

-

After he was trained on the guns, Law had his first official watch shift for the ship. It was a quiet, uneventful couple of hours— as was often, but not always the case with a ship's watch. It gave him time, and quiet in the warm afternoon sun and the cool breeze to sit alone with his thoughts for the first time since he'd woken up.

The sea was calm, if a little foggy all around them, though Law knew that could change at a moment's notice on the Grand Line, especially in the New World. So he watched the waves…he watched for ships and for hidden islands.

It was a new dawn for him, wasn't it? His first day as Corazon, making good impressions on Pica despite all odds…getting back into the good graces of everyone he'd spurned for a decade.

It felt like one, but at the same time, at the same time it kind of felt familiar. Like slipping back into an old glove, or falling into an old routine. Did that mean he was meant for this? That all that training as a kid really did pay off?

Maybe. He still didn't know exactly what Doffy expected of him going forward. Whatever it was…he could handle it. He knew he could handle it.

As he watched a bird far ahead that he occupied himself trying to judge the size of, he thought about Doflamingo once more. He was the man who raised him, the man Law tried to destroy, and the man who saved him again and again and again.

Now he'd saved him one more time, and finally convinced Law's wounded pride and spirit that he was genuine. Doflamingo cared about him— and Law had the slow and creeping realization that he kind of cared right back.

It was no wonder then that he couldn't strike him down directly in Dressrosa. The image of Doflamingo at the dinner table, grinning and desperate for Law to come 'home' flashed in his mind again, distracting him from the bird as he flushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"....geeze. This is gonna get complicated, quick." 

Complicated. That was without question. No matter where he went from here, it was complicated. Had his relationship with Doflamingo ever been simple, even back when he was young?

He kept his eyes on the sea, refusing to let the hot flush behind his eyes distract him from his duty of keeping a lookout.

"Tch…"

It hadn't, of course. Doflamingo was notoriously affectionate with his crew, and Law had once found himself with a bit of a– it gave him a shudder to call it that but— a schoolboy's crush on the man…at least until Rosi had convinced him of Doflamingo's 'innate evil' and 'lack of care for his subordinates'.

The feeling in that moment was like heartbreak. But now here he was, back under Doflamingo's roof. A grown man and Doffy's Corazon.

Would those notorious affections now turn to him? He remembered Doffy's arm around him at dinner the night before, his tall body looming close over his.

"Guhhh…" Law ran his hands through his hair with a deepening flush as the memory rolled through him.

If he did, would he reciprocate? It was already complicated as it was, right? 

"Law?" Bepo's voice broke through his distracted thoughts and Law saw him climbing up to the lookout perch.

"Gah!!" Law jolted up with a lopsided grin. "Well shit, hey Bepo! What's up?" 

Bepo chuckled a grumbly chuckle, and stared up at him. "Your shift's over. They sent me up to take the next one."

Law hopped down, laughing again. "Well… you're in luck. The time flies, and nothing happened."

"I was about to ask if there was anything I know." He thumped his shoulder on Law's as he passed. "But you looked about a million miles away."

Law tinged a little red. "I was just thinking about how far things came since yesterday. You know? The party…my first day. How over the fucking moon Doffy seems to be." 

"They've come pretty far, captain. Corazon," he chuckled again, and shook his head, his ears flicking. "He does seem pretty pleased though. Uh, how's that make you feel?"

"Good. It makes me feel good." Law leaned against the railing. "It makes me feel like I'm setting something right. Like I'm actually wanted around here. That's a good feeling. Yeah." 

Now that he wasn't bound to fighting towards a goal that he was sure would end in death, now that he wasn't fighting against the tide of emotion— it really was nice to feel wanted, welcomed back into the fold.

Not everyone had forgiven him, but enough did that he couldn't help but feel at home.

Bepo gave him a soft look, and squeezed his shoulder. "That makes me really happy then. You were supposed to go see him after your watch, right? I think I heard that at breakfast?"

Law leaned into his touch for a moment. "Yeah, for a few things…telling me about Cross Guild and some 'mystery' job that he's got for me." 

"Will you tell me what you hear about Cross Guild? I've been curious." His paw lingered on his arm for a while. "I mean I'm curious about the mystery job too but I don't even know what to expect from that."

He patted his first mate's hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "I'll tell ya all about both. Honestly, I'd been curious about it myself. I've heard stories but..." 

"But this is the first chance for actually good info?"

"Exactly. Straight from the Flamingo's mouth." Law snickered as he slapped Bepo's shoulder. "...good luck with watch, Bepo." 

"Good luck with the boss," Bepo teased. "Sorry, the 'young master'."

"Damn, that's weird hearing you say!" Law laughed, shaking his head as he hopped down. "Give me a full report on your watch when you're done, Bep. I'll see you soon. Try not to fall asleep after partying all night." 

[quantomeno]

I just finished 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (I only didn't do the axe ending and the coffin ending). Mild spoilers ahead, but I won't go into details.

It was a veritably fun game. I love puzzles and it had plenty of them that were challenging but rarely too hard that they irritated me. Plus they give you hints if you fail enough times so it helps.

The replaying to get all the endings isn't too bad either (the skipping is pretty quick) and you typically have one set of puzzles you haven't done each playthrough (until the last two, because by then you'd have done them all). I never felt bored even though I had to rewatch the exact same opening four times.

I am proud to say I guessed who Zero was pretty early on. I've watched enough Vera that I've gotten a feel for these sort of things. The rest of the ending and a lot of the other twists were completely out of left field. I'm not sure if it is the craziest twist in a game I've ever seen (the Layton series is pretty high up there) but it definitely was insane.

It also gets points for the Ship of Theseus bit. I liked the thing Clover says about atoms and cells etc all coming from something else because as someone who's studied chemistry I've thought about that a lot.

But yeah, wow. I don't think I'd really recommend it for the story or the weird philosophical stuff, as much as I would recommend it from a puzzle/mystery perspective. It's like Professor Layton: you come for the puzzles, the mystery is crazy and gets you thinking, but the story is just a bit weird and you kind of just accept it and enjoy the emotional power of it rather than how well it holds together. Saying that, it holds together decently well, but it is just very, very convoluted and takes a bit of stepping back to appreciate it all.

Now I'm just feeling like, man I should've seen xyz coming... it's all so well thought out that it just leaves you a little awed by how it all fits together. It's still crazy and confusing but it's all very clever.

[phantom-of-the-501st]

TBB Ep 10 Thoughts

Spoilers for TBB Season 2

Today on The Bad Batch, child slavery!

Let's get into it.

The way Wrecker stares at the part that fell off the speeder for a second and then falls back. 🤣

The timing of that cracked me up.

They're gonna try and fit all 4 of them on one speeder???

GONKY IS HOW THEY FIND THE MARAUDER?!

Omega being a smart bean. 🥰

Honestly, the amount of Gonky in this episode makes me so happy!!!

Excuse me, but Mokko is not the metal-handed guy that I wanted to see.

ALL OF THEM BALANCED ON THE SPEEDER HAHAHAHA

"That's our defective power droid"

Fuck yeah it is!

Don't mess with Gonky. The dads will come after you. 😠

Wrecker activated Intimidation Mode ™️

Okay, yeah, cool, we're all just gonna abseil down a chimney, sure.

That seems totally safe. 😐

"Plenty of time". Omega's so one of them omg. 😭 She's grown so much. 🥲

That brief slow-mo when Hunter falls forward. 😍

Than animation this season is so good!!!

Ngl, them all sticking their faces over the chimney stresses me out.

Smooth take-down from Hunter, there!

Mokko is a dick. 😡

I'VE JUST REALISED THAT THIS IS WHAT JENNIFER'S CRYPTIC TWEET WAS

Omega's head poking out from the oversized coat! 🤣🥰

Bitch, you did not just press that button. YOU DID NOT JUST PRESS THAT BUTTON!

Omega giving Benni her ration even though The Batch don't have much food. 😭

Wrecker hanging upside from the ship is one of my new favourite things.

Okay, I understand why Benni did what he did. I'm still pissed though. 😤

All the stuff about kids not being able to just be kids in this galaxy is so sad. 😭

Sorry, did Mokko really expect his "let's make the Batch work in the mines for a decade" plan was gonna work???

Although, he does say something about if they survive that long, so best bet is he was just gonna leave them to die.

Like I said. He's a dick.

ALSO THREATENING TO THROW OMEGA OF THE PLATFORM?! HOW DARE YOU SIR!

He's actually lying to the kids and keeping the ipsium for himself? How surprising (note strong sarcasm).🤨

OMEGA THROWING HERSELF OFF WITH THE DROID BECAUSE SHE KNOWS HUNTER WILL CATCH HER 😭

That scene might be my favourite of the episode. Especially with the altered Bad Batch theme over the top.

Ngl, the fight with Mokko was underwhelming.

The guy literally fell over a railing by himself. 😭

Although he was also a pathetic dickhead so a pathetic end is kind of what he deserves.

WRECKER HUGGING GONKY!!! 🥰

Even though they were all in competition with one another, when it comes down to it, the kids actually do all care about each other. That's sweet.

Wrecker is reunited with Lula! 🥲

TECH AND OMEGA THIS SEASON ARE GIVING ME SO MANY FEELS!!!

Was hoping the Echo and Crosshair convo would carry on this episode but oh well.

Also, we never saw Tech and Wrecker apologise to each other. 🥲

Overall feeling about this episode is that I think it might be one of my least favourites of the season. I didn't dislike it but with how good the others have been, this episode didn't stand out a whole lot to me.

There were specific moments that I absolutely love though! Wholesome Batch moments just hit me right in the feels. 🥲

And Wrecker's "I'm working on it" reminded me of Echo in Season 1. 😭 I still miss that man.

Weirdly, I don't feel like I have much to say about this episode right now. There's some more stuff delving into the idea of kids not being able to just be kids in this galaxy, so I'm happy they're continuing on that narrative. I maybe would've liked to have seen a little bit more from the other miners? I don't know.

Normally when I watch an episode, one or two particular things sticks out to me as something I want to talk about more but I didn't really get that much from this episode. Think I may just have to sit on it for a few days and see what comes to mind.

Still liked the episode, but I definitely think that the first half of this two-parter was much stronger. Very excited to see what Metamorphosis is going to be about though! My hope is to see Echo and Rex again, but that's more wishful thinking than me believing it's actually going to happen. 😅

Edit: This was supposedly a breather episode, so that may explain why it fell a little flat for me. I think I got really hooked up in the more high-stakes episodes and that swayed my judgement on this one. 🤔

[rmhashauthor]

"Pet", fiction in 4 parts - Part 2

Part 1 can be found here

When Kira came out of the shower-room, dressed in a deeply green sheath that set the gold and copper in her eyes aflame, Taun had to swallow his heart back down into his chest in order to continue setting up the dinner he'd prepared for her. His heart leaped again when he heard her small gasp of astonishment, and he held out a cup of mid-grade liquor he'd prepared for when she appeared. Her eyes, wide and beautifully expressive, took in the sight of various roots, talks, leaves and seeds arranged on plain steel plates and garnished with the few flowers he could spare, and rose to his with amazement as she took the drink. “Did you...?”

“Ah, yeah...” He had to control his eyes, trying not to focus too hard on the shape of her body under that clingy green fabric. “Is it too much?”

“It's...” Kira searched for the word. “It's incredible – you grew all this?”

Taun nodded. “Mm-hmm, I've gutted and refitted this ship and turned it into a mobile farm, basically. It keeps my food cost down and passes the time.” He didn't mention the secure rooms where he grew hallucinogenic herbs, fungus and algae just yet – he'd tell her about that particular income stream later.

“I haven't had fruit in probably six or seven years,” Kira breathed, staring greedily at a small cluster of bright yellow berries. “I don't even know what half of it is.” Her eyes sparkled, though, and she looked hungry enough to demolish it all. Taun wondered if she'd ever look at him in the same way. Don't get ahead of yourself. Instead, he invited her to sit on the mat he'd laid out on the floor – his only table was currently holding up a pallet of seedlings in the greenhouse. He watched her kneel, green fabric rippling around her legs as she reached for a cushion to sit on. Settling in, Kira took a drink and raised her eyes to the ceiling in bliss. “Oh my god... Don't tell me you do this all the time?”

Taun shook his head, grinning and lowering himself to sit. “I wish. I'll be honest, if you decide to stay we'll be eating leftovers for a while, then it'll be mostly protein bars and greens.” Taun found himself hoping she would stay.

“Sounds like paradise.” Kira took another sip and set her cup down. “It's still better than the colony, did you hear the part where I said I haven't had fruit in years?”

“I did. I don't always have fruit, either – the plants need to rest between crops, but I keep plenty of preserved stuff on hand. You won't go hungry unless something really bad happens, and even then it'll be a while before I run out.”

“Good to know. Can I...?” Kira gestured towards the food.

“Help yourself, I did this for you.”

She smiled. “Trying to win me over?”

Taun shrugged. “It gets lonely and cold out there, and my setup gets bigger every year, I could use the extra hands.”

“So it's not just about sex, then?” Kira picked an arrangement of fresh fruit and prepared vegetables, selecting pieces carefully. Taun paid attention to the pieces she picked and how quickly – they would be things she was familiar with or appealed the most to her. “When I read the notice, I kind of got the impression that being a pet is more like an arranged marriage than anything else.”

“It can mean a lot of things, depending on who's making the rules. That's what this is for, a chance to talk it over and see if we're looking for the same thing or if we can compromise. What led you to respond, if I may ask? It's... not common for humans to be interested in these things.”

“Can I be honest?” She popped a piece of fruit in her mouth, her tongue pink.

“I'd prefer it.”

Kira took a moment to chew before she answered. “I'm over thirty, I'm not married, and I don't want kids. These colonies tend to be on the conservative side, so if you're at least two of those things people start asking a lot of questions and getting into your business. There aren't many single women out here, so the guys can get annoying real fast – and pushy.”

Taun had to willfully settle his hackles. Already the thought of other men harassing this beautiful, obviously intelligent and amazingly bold woman had him feeling... fighty. Still, she was choosing a relationship that largely centered around sex over settling down, raising a family, being among her own people... “From what I understand, Rock 22 isn't a popular colony.”

“Nope, it's a mining colony, so the work is hard and supplies are expensive. And it's just a rock, there's nothing nice to look at or anywhere to go where you can forget what it's like being underground.” Kira raised her eyes again, this time to the profusion of greenery around and above. Some of the vines had become enmeshed with the wiring, and trails of leaves wound around the support frames Taun had left intact when he cut out bulkheads. Suddenly her eyes widened. “Is that a flower?”

Taun looked where she stared. In one of the supporting beams, in a hole he'd stuffed with moss and growing medium, a tiny white and yellow blossom had begun to unfold like a hand revealing a tiny, precious jewel. He smiled. “Drassian teaflower, one of my favorites. It just started doing that today.”

“All by itself?” Kira shot him a teasing glance, “I figured with you trying to make a good impression and all that...”

“Hey now, if you know how to make flowers bloom on command I may not let you leave.” Taun caught the flash of a grin. “It's just luck, and patience. And a lot more trial-and-error than I care to admit.”

“Isn't that everything?” Kira pulled her attention back from the plants and redirected it between him and the food. Despite not having fruit for years she ate with controlled but obviously sincere pleasure. Taun hoped she approached more than food in the same manner. He was more than content to just watch her, let her enjoy the meal uninterrupted while he enjoyed the view. The dress, probably home-made from whatever material she could scavenge or barter for, hugged her body from chest to hips before widening slightly, and the body under it was no disappointment – already he was imagining what she would feel like against his hands, his pelt, his mouth... Obviously Kira understood what a Leagan expected from his pet, and she must have chosen this outfit to show off what she had to offer in that respect. Sitting on the floor with her legs curled to the side, her hips and thighs strained the green cloth and Taun thought he could see the outline of a little roll in the crease between them. He bit his cheek in anticipation. “So, what about you? How does a guy with a mobile farm not already have a woman and a handful of kids?”

Taun scratched his head, fluffing his crest. “Like a lot of Leagans, I served time in the defense corps. Engineering, mostly. By the time I got out, most of the women were already settled and I guess I missed the window.” The immediate downcast of her eyes told him Kira knew about the fight against the Arakan, and the horrific attack on the Leagan genesis planet. “I guess you know about h'Leaga, then.”

Kira nodded soberly “News travels faster than supplies. I'm... I'm sorry, Taun.”

“Not your fault. We'll spring back in a generation or two, and I donate what I can.” Taun grinned at that. For all he knew there might be a hundred or so Leagan kids with his coloring, born from his 'donations' to gene banks over the years. He shook off the grief and had a drink. “Besides, raising children never really appealed to me either. I like doing what I do, trading and transporting and living my life. It's honest work... mostly.”

“Mostly?” That got her attention. “What does that mean?” Though she asked, a sly smile teased the corner of her mouth. Taun liked that.

“Well, I guess I should ask how you feel about... moving the occasional contraband cargo. Most of what I do is legit, but I don't see why I should pass up the opportunity to make a little extra untraceable funds now and then.”

Kira's eyes sparkled and she chuckled. “I should've guessed – you come all the way out here not because you want to provide us poor mining folk with fresh food, but because the authorities don't come out this far unless it's a big deal. You lure people in with oranges and berries, then you sell them... Let me guess, naash? Redthorn? Ayahuasca?”

“And cannabis, mushrooms, pills, all the good stuff. Not to mention poisons and rare plants for edgy collectors. Is that going to be a problem?”

“Hell no, fuck the police.” Kira grinned, giggling. “There's nothing else to do out here except work, let people have some fun.”

Taun breathed an internal sigh of relief. “Do you partake?”

“Not on the first date. Better safe than sorry, yeah?”

“No pressure. I can show you the grow-rooms if you're interested–“

“Plenty of time for that later. Right now, I'm curious about how long it's going to take before you finally crack.”

Taun blinked. “Hmm?”

Kira indicated the food. “You've barely touched anything, and the whole time I've been here you keep eating me with your eyes. Not that I mind, but it's pretty obvious you like me. And I like you, so we don't need to play games. I want off this rock, and playing pet for a guy who seems like he knows what he's doing is a hell of a lot better than rotting in a mineral mine with drunks and convicts pawing at me all the time.”

Taun blinked some more. She did seem eager to get away, but she was treading carefully. She made no unreasonable demands and seemed to accept what she was getting into. There was no legal tape, no binding contract – if things didn't pan out, he could always drop her off at another colony and start over – but for the most part she seemed willing. Her disdain for authority didn't hurt either. “What's the difference between getting pawed at by a convict and getting pawed at by me? I'm just curious.”

Kira rolled her eyes and sipped at her drink. “There's not a woman on the rock who hasn't been grabbed, rubbed on or slapped on the ass by some soggy prick who thinks he's being cute. Since I came here, though, you've been nothing but manners – I could've walked out of that shower buck-naked and you would've just stood there. I can tell already by how you act and talk that you won't do anything to me unless I say I'm good with it, and I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character.”

Stunned, Taun could do little more than have another taste of his drink. It was true – she'd been giving him cues and openings all evening, from the moment she walked in, and he hadn't acted on any of them. She hadn't explicitly said he should, though her eyes feasted just as much as his. Hell, she'd touched him without asking, something Taun wouldn't have dared with any woman. Leagan women had claws too, and you could always tell a stupid male by the scars. “Well, you're right about a few things – I don't touch anything that doesn't belong to me, and I was raised by parents who didn't want me to lose an eye, so I'd agree with you on my character. And you don't seem to mind my odd jobs, which is good because I'm not giving those up – the money's just too good. As far as cracking goes...” He ran his eyes over her again, taking his time and making sure she saw. “Let's just say I'm made of sterner stuff.”

A slow smile spread from Kira's lips to her eyes. “The 'stuff' is what I'm interested in. I've met Leagans before, but I never had the chance to get really close to one... Do you know what a cat is?”

“Those little fluffy creatures that eat vermin? Yes, they're all the rage on some of the Leagan colonies at the moment.”

“Hmm.” She studied him for a moment, visibly working through a thought. It looked serious. “Would it be racist of me if I said you remind me of them?”

Taun laughed. Gods, I like her! She was so forthright, so clever and humorous, she cut through the bullshit and said exactly what she wanted to say, in such a way that he just couldn't be offended. “Maybe a little? But I don't mind, they're fine animals. Unless you're suggesting I eat vermin?”

“No, not at all.” Her smile returned and Kira looked relieved. “But... I kinda would like to pet you, if that's okay.”

The thrill that coursed through Taun's body was rapturous. He closed his eyes so she wouldn't see them roll back in his head, anticipatory pleasure briefly overwhelming his senses. To feel her smooth, brown fingers combing through his pelt, ruffling the coarse hairs on the back of his neck leading up to his crest, stroking his ears, chest and belly before moving lower... Taun gathered his courage and opened his eyes. “Only if I get to pet you, too.”

Part 3

[caesarflickermans]

Tag Game

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better. I was tagged by @hayffiebird Thank you c:

Three ships:

Virgilia/Plutarch. I know, a bit cliche to put my own ship forth here, but I'm noticing how much less of a shipper I've become insofar that I've more lukewarm takes on most ships, but this is one I'm really passionate about. It really (obviously) encompasses a lot of what I personally enjoy in seeing a relationship unfold. Virgilia has her own personal journey that fits well with Plutarch's. They complement each other so well and it's enjoyable to write / think about them :>

David Butt/Julia Montague. Those two are from the BBC series Bodyguard and they are such an interesting couple. There's hatred initially, each of their moments bringing them closer, and the final resolution of their story (the question of being together) never finding an answer. The show has its own problems with the portrayal of Muslim characters, and tbf whenever I rewatch it I only watch the first three episodes, but it has a sort of tension and development that I've really never seen replicated. I'm a sucker for bodyguard stuff, but none ever did it as well as this show, and most of those stories are far too smutty, far too overprotective, far too easily and quickly resolve (and me and @beedelia totally have a Plutarch&V AU based on those two).

This is NOT a ROMANTIC ship (hence the &), but I love PLATONIC stuff so much, so: Ellie Williams&Joel Miller. I really, fully, enjoy their growth together. I love a good parenting platonic not-actually-related situation. Their story is so raw. It's the way that their relationship is painted through struggles. It's the going through everything to keep their dad/their daughter safe. I love their journey and I love both games so much.

This was really hard because, as I said, I've got plenty of ships and I feel rather lukewarm about them. As in, yeah, I enjoyed this, but it doesn't have my mind spinning once I finish it and am done with the show/game. Here's a list of some ships I enjoy, but do not have a lot to say about: F!Commander Shepard/Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect), Cullen Rutherford/F!Inquisitor (Dragon Age), Will Graham/Bedelia Du Maurier (Hannibal), Serena Joy/Mark Tuello (Handmaid's Tale), Blackbeard/Stede Bonnet (Our Flag Means Death), Newt Scamander/Leta Lestrange (Fantastic Beasts). Was this cheating? Maybe, lol.

First ever ship:

I think my first ever ship was Captain Amelia/Dr. Doppler, mostly because I was very gay for Amelia and was excited for any romance interest she got. Like, it should have been me, but this was second best. I didn't write fanfiction about it or anything because I was far too young, but I think this was the first moment where I really shipped something.

First time I engaged with fandom might have been Remus Lupin/Tonks. Though I mostly read stuff rather than wrote anything.

First time I wrote something (in rp) was Haymitch/Effie, though I don't ship them anymore--same as Lupin and Tonks actually lol. Both for different reasons.

Last song: Bottom of the River by Delta Rae. Been listening to this one while writing!

Last movie: Everything Everywhere All At Once. I've had this on my watchlist since release and finally got around to it. Feels like something you should totally watch a second time. It was a brilliant movie.

Currently reading: A secret history. I'm not sure what to think of it yet & I'm halfway through. It's definitely interesting, but it's a very slow read (or maybe me mostly reading it in bed before falling asleep just doesn't read very fast).

Currently watching: Arctic Warrior. It's a German TV show about one (military) expert and one beginner having to survive (and travel through) the arctic parts of Finland. I usually don't enjoy those kind of shows, but I have a soft spot for Otto + watching it as an uncut reaction video from a favourite youtuber of mine is double fun. Actual tv series though, I want to start Succession (thanks Emily, lol) and/or Yellowjackets.

Currently consuming: I ate my salad + slice of bread for the evening :>

Currently craving: Still a bit hungry, so maybe some fruit later. I've got mango and peaches at home :)

Tagging: @beedelia @footnoteinhistory @plvtarch @mrsalanavalentine @rosegardeninwinter @ellanainthetardis @endlessnightlock @tinyfrenchowl @mollywog @districtunrest @bexbaxx @thegoddessprose @jenniferiawrence

[rainbow600]

My thoughts on Inside Out 2

Hi 👋 so a long time ago, I had made a post talking about Inside Out and what I thought about it. I figured, why not do the same for the sequel! Mainly cause wouldn't it be weird if I didn't? Lol. Anyways, let's get right to it.

First things first, I have to admit that it wasn't as strong as the first movie, but that I still enjoyed the sequel and still has very important hitting points.

I actually got to watch it twice, the second time being last night, and it gave me the opportunity to see things I might of missed or overlooked from trying to follow along with where the story was going. I didn't realize how much part of the movie paralleled the first, like with Riley's most important islands being tested and in trouble or having to learn that having all the emotions working together is very important for things to be alright for Riley.

The main parts I want to talk about is the ending and some pairings.

The ending probably would of hit me harder if I was still a teen in school or college, but I still suffer with anxiety sometimes. I remember what it was like for me when I was younger and I've had plenty of stressful situations in recent years. Showing how much Anxiety was struggling to try and make this all work while Joy stepped in to try and get them under control. Telling Anxiety to "let her go", it still hit me. Felt like it got directed to my own anxiety too, cause it can be so hard to get out of a panick when you're stuck in a rut with that one feeling inside of your head. Then when we were confronted with the fact that we can't try to change Riley, and Joy realizing her mistake of trying to have Riley seem perfect by throwing out the memories that seemed bad to then let all these feelings of Riley shine to then hug the belief tree when it ends on sometimes needing help, that's the moment I think I actually cried. Cause yeah we aren't perfect, we all make mistakes, and we all need help sometimes to continue to try out best in life. The second time watching, I appreciated Joy being in control given Riley the feeling of feeling better, cause I realized that this was Joy in her moment of knowing what all she needed to do and going through one of the things Riley loves. Skating/Hockey. Plus the ending showing how we can getting keep anxiety to a low n such was also very nice to see and I can somehow, somewhat try to imply that to myself.

OK, SOME FUN STUFF!

I slowly had started to remember all the shipping stuff with Inside Out after seeing some tiktoks and having of seen the biggest hint at a relationship that happened in the movie. Even tho I never gave my own opinion on some of these ships or ships I like, I figured I could share here cause OK I LOVE EMBARRASSMENT AND SADNESS!! They are just so cute and I love their dynamic! I know a lot of it shines because Embarrassment ends up helping Sadness throughout the movie, BUT THATS WHERE IT ALL COMES TOGETHER!! Sadness and Embarressment are pretty similar in behavior of being shy. Embarrassment seems to recognize this when finding out Sadness had made her way back to headquarters in order to try and save Riley. Sadness tries to hide and it's implied that Embarrassment has been following along with the plan, but wasn't really very sure how this being the right thing to do. Instead of telling the others, he helps her hide and continues to help her keep her hiding and lowkey helping the other original emotions. He just quite the sweetie and it feels like behind the movie knew what they were doing as the ship feels strong for the two of them loo.

I'll try not to be too long, but I'll talk about the other relationships too. From the first movie, Disgust and Fear I thought was a cute couple idea. The scared wimp of a guy with a confident beautiful gal is always a cute combo. I also loved the idea of Joy and Anger. Such a firy combo that I can totally see why people would ship it, and even if some people don't think so, I think that kind of shines a bit in the second movie as we're given more time with the two (and the others ofcourse lol) in the second movie. With the second movie, I do love the ship idea or even just at least the friend idea for Fear and Anxiety BOTH because of the two comments from Fear, but also because fr those two emotions go hand in hand with worrying about stuff. Fear short term, while Anxiety goes for long term. Evny and Ennui don't have too much for ships (at least to me) but Anxiety and Evny for sure have a good friendship as they work together the most while the core emotions are gone.

That's all my thoughts on the second movie! If you read this then hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave an ask in my ask box if you'd like. Figured I'd offer that since I offered it last time lol xP.

[brighteststar707]

Yeah, it's been a long time! I've been doing alright, though! I'm kinda mostly waiting for my last school year to be over and find a job so I can earn money and slowly fix my life the way I want.^^"

The fandom is Blue Period! It's actually my next big focus after Mystic Messenger actually, I even found a character I consider my f/o from there! I got a special box with a sketchbook that is full of drawings and illustrations with really good quality! Since the fandom is not even active, there is stuff in this book that you won't find anywhere else, makes me feel good SMSMSM and one of the best parts is that it's in Japanese! So whenever I have progressed way more, I'll come back and read all the new juicy info and new scenarios I've never seen before, exciting!!!!

I also got some bookmarks and two keychains from there! Although I wasn't kinda happy with the shipping process, I'm still very happy I got them!!

Blue Period has also helped me a lot with my path with art, it has given me plenty of motivation and the main character has opened my eyes to so much about art, too! I felt so seen when he had the same thoughts and experiences as me, even if he does oil painting^^"

You can watch the anime or read the manga if it interests you! If you start with the anime, please check the manga out since there is so much more! If you do anything with art, it might give you motivation just like it did to me.

Learning the language can be fun but it is challenging, haha. They are many words that have different pronunciations and stuff I haven't seen in a language before. I found that listening to people speak makes me remember the words easier haha

I hope you are able to rest well, you're doing great, I reassure you! I'm also so happy I got to speak with you again, it really has been a lot of time, holyyyy!

I'm thinking of starting to use Tumblr when I get more Into art again but I'm still here, I still check some stuff every day when I can! <333

I understand that sentiment. So much changes once you're done with school. I'm rooting for this year to be an easy one for you!

Ooh, I've never heard of Blue Period before, but I looked up the premise and it sounds interesting! I will keep it in mind when I'm in the market for a new anime/manga!

It's so wonderful to be able to pull motivation from the media you enjoy, especially when it's a hobby like art or writing where it sometimes feels like you can hit a wall. Funnily enough, even though it has nothing to do with writing, Mysme is what pushed me to write more often and put more effort into it. It's thanks to these guys that I've been able to develop my skills as far as I have.

That merch sounds so nice! That sketchbook especially sounds really detailed and extra bonus that it's something you won't find elsewhere. It'll be fun to see what else it holds once you progress further in Japanese! Shame about the shipping issues with other merch pieces, but at least they made it to you!

I've had similar experiences learning languages. What I love is that each language says so much about the country's culture. I'm currently attempting to learn Italian, and while it has its difficult and awkward moments (I've messed up in front of locals more times than I can count), I love learning about the expressions and their meanings.

Thank you for your support, it means a lot! I'm taking time to catch my breath and to do the things I enjoy before life gets busy again.

[amazing-spiderling]

Mattfoggy for the ship ask game ♡

Oh I definitely ship it 1. What made you ship it?

Believe it or not I watched the whole the Daredevil series as it came out and was like "WOW! GREAT TV!" and went about my business??? I was like "yeah that Matt Murdock is a good egg" but had no interest in doing like fandom stuff, but I was elbow deep in Spider-Man fandom at the time. In fact I was so deep in spiders that I was doing a Spider-Man podcast with a buddy, and we happened to do an episode about Spider-Man and his adventures with Daredevil, which got me reading several team up comics, including "The Death of Jean deWolf" and it blew my face off. At that moment in time I was feeling kind of underwhelmed with the Spider-Man/Deadpool series because it kept hinting at these deeper emotional themes and then chickening out, but the Jean deWolf story just *went* for it. We didn't just get a dark and hurting Spidey, we got a Matt Murdock questioning whether he was too unaffected by the course of events and the two characters realizing they had something to learn from one another and it just HIT.

After that, I decided to check out some of the Daredevil comic proper and ended up snagging a few random comics (Man Without Fear, whatever was out of the Zdarsky run and the Waid run) and the Waid run just scooped up my heart like a little football and ran for the end zone. HERE was a relationship between Matt and Foggy that had what I was looking for. Not just squishy feelings, but anger, confusion, true protectiveness and support and sacrifice and disappointment and love love love.

After reading the 2011 and 2014 run I went back and revisited the show, this time with my shipping goggles firmly in place and it was a wonderful experience. Not long after I found some people online to share fandom and ship love with and made myself quite comfortable, so I imagine I'll be here for a while. <3

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

I mean, I'm a sucker for a friends to lovers situation, and my last two major OTPs also involved characters who were working together in one form or another to further an idealistic goal. I think what I love most of all about these two is their capability for quiet intimacy. When someone uses the phrase "old married couple" I think our minds automatically turn to petty bickering, and while there is certainly plenty of that between these two, I think the notion applies to them in a softer way. A "knows your order at the restaurants we go to" and "picks up your preferred brand of shampoo because they noticed you were running low" kind of familiarity. Relationships of course, have their big moments, their swell of the orchestra, confession in the rain, scaling a mountain to save your soul glimpses into the depth of each other's emotions- but such things burn bright and burn out without the quiet soft moments to sustain them. I think it's this capability that helps to strengthen the bond between these two (in whatever capacity a reader wants to enjoy their relationship, honestly), but it allows for them to have a meaningful impact on each other in a slow, long lasting way. It isn't so much about the two of them meeting and one saving the other or sweeping them off their feet (okay, maybe there's a little bit of that) so much as it is about two people growing together over time, and both becoming stronger, becoming *better* for it. What could be a greater sign of love?

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I think I've said this before, but I think it's the only unpopular opinion I have... I don't want MattFoggy to become canon in main continuity.

That has absolutely nothing to do with them as characters and everything to do with comic book meta. I mean, there *are* stable couples in comic books, but I think a lot of them are introduced where that was always how they were conceptualized (and in the case of queer couples, they can often involve newer or less well known characters). But when it comes to main characters? Comic book title holders? Their romantic relationships are constantly in flux. Think of Peter and Mary Jane, who have been together for literal decades off and on, and MJ is rarely if ever given space to exist as anything other than Peter's girlfriend-sometimes-wife-just-another-thing-he-has-to-worry-about-balancing. Even with married couples like Reed and Sue, they are put though some frankly toxic situations just to make their relationship interesting on the page.

And while we might argue that hey, Peter and MJ are destined to be, they find each other in almost every universe, I can't imagine they would do that for Matt and Foggy. It's just... not a path to happiness in comic books, because comic books last for ages and ages and the status quo is always changing, and a quick way to do that is to break characters up and make them miserable. (I mean, Matt and Foggy break up as friends all the time, but if they did it as a romantic couple I just don't think Marvel would put them back together again. It would just go down as a failed experiment.)

Now, if someone wanted to write a limited or side series (like Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows) or hell, even make them a canon couple in one of the other established universes (cough Earth-65) that would be great. Since those universes/storylines aren't constantly being dragged into the spotlight (and in the case of Spider-Gwen, Matt and Foggy are not the main characters) there is less of need to constantly change things for the sake of changing things. If Gwen tried to thwart what she clearly thought was some kind of secret plot by Murderdock and DA Nelson only to find out they were having a small but tasteful wedding ceremony? Fantastic. And there would be literally no reason for Marvel to ever change that down the line. Why bother? They're not on the page enough for it to need to change, and we the fans can have as much fun as we want with it. Likewise a RYV style side series would just accept the pairing as fact and then build a story around that established parameter. The whole point would be that this one facet of the relationship is different, and it is permanent, so what else can the writing team drum up to create drama.

I don't imagine any of that is going to happen any time soon, of course. Marvel probably doesn't have the guts to do it, and whatever, that's fine. I just don't want to give naysayers the ability to rain on my parade by saying, "they got together and it was a trainwreck" after the fact.

[utilitycaster]

oh wow, you actually got that "migratory" part spot on, it really felt weird. have you seen the other kinda weird people that have "migrated" those feelings from beauyasha and now can't fathom any other ship for ashley than those with a woman? i've seen actual arguments dismissing any posible connections from fearne with chut or ashton, in favor of a real one with imogen (because she was sweet and touched her.... arm....) and im like....yeah shipping based on real people really does a number in your brain huh

I can’t take credit for that term tbh - it’s been around for a while in a lot of contexts just to mean the general case of "people copy-pasting one dynamic onto another without considering the canon differences". And for what it’s worth, while there are definitely people who are obsessed with a specific dynamic between two cast members, this kind of thing happens across ships and fandoms without consideration for the actors playing the characters (if that's even applicable).

I haven’t personally seen this take on Fearne anywhere. All three of those ships have some support in my mind (ignoring her dynamics with Chetney and Ashton is definitely bizarre, but I do think there's plenty of support for Fearne/Imogen too, and honestly Fearne has pretty much indicated she's attracted to most of the party).

It could be people overlaying Beauyasha but honestly my guess is that unless someone has specifically said something, it's more likely that this is coming from viewing EXU. I thought Fearne was probably a lesbian while watching EXU, but in retrospect I think it's a combination of her hitting it off really well with Opal, Dorian and Dariax being probably the most prominent ship at the time, and the fact that I'm pretty sure Orym is gay. FWIW I've also found that the migratory fandom stuff is much, much more likely to occur if the ship people are migrating from didn't happen in canon (or didn't happen in canon to their exact specifications).

[kim-ruzek]

I like Brettsey, but I'm not the biggest Brettsey fan because I'm not a big shipper, honestly (so I like Stellaride and Burzek as well and feel nothing for the other OC ships), but even I have to admit that they did them; the individual characters and the fans are so dirty with that break-up. I don't think the writers realise how shitty they have been with all the baiting and saying stuff they don't mean. I'm disappointed but not surprised, but honestly, this is how I've felt about OC for a while now:

Making Violet's whole storyline about two men-Gallo and Hawkins

The constant miscommunication or lack of communication with Stellaride and Brettsey

Dragging the slow burn with Brettsey on for way too long.

Replacing Mason (Chris Mansa) with a white male actor.

Saying they had no more storylines for Dylan Scott even though he's what made Med feel like it was worth watching again.

Pushing Ritter and Kevin to the background and only using Kevin for a race storyline.

Notice how it's the black characters they keep treating like crap.

The constant back and forth between Kim and Adam.

The lack of acknowledgement that Kim and Adam, two white cops, are raising a traumatised black girl (one acknowledgement isn't enough.

Having three opportunities during season 10 of CF to cast people of colour or LGBTQ individuals and instead casting 3 white heterosexual characters.

The list goes on.

I think that's when you really know that as writers when you've messed up, when people who like the characters but not really a big shipper can appreciate how dirty they've done them!!! The thing that annoys me most about all this bloody baiting and shit is that they had ample of warning Jesse was leaving, and yeah they probably wanted to see if he just wanted a year break or if it was indeed long term but there was plenty of time to do the storyline and have the conclusion be like this but in ways that actually makes sense with the bloody characters!!!

But yeah, as disappointed and frustrated it makes me, it unfortunately doesn't surprise me. But that kinda makes it more disappointing, that it didn't exceed the incredibly low expectation I have for these shows.

And YES omg the Dylan Scott thing has pissed me off so much, because I think a lot of the fandom can agree, that he brought a new life to the show and actually made med more worth it! But no, off he goes!

And don't even get me started on how they continually push Ritter aside-- literally did he have only one line (about violet's bloody love life at that!) last episode??

And pd continually just using Kevin for race storylines -- and then not even reflecting on the biases and problems poc face in every episode, just once in a blue moon when they remember Kevin is a character-- it just really pisses me off. I am hoping this season he gets a storyline outside of it, because he is so long overdue but I'm not very optimistic because I thought the Celeste storyline last season would be but nope!

I do agree they need to address the two white cops raising a traumatized black girl thing more, but that I'm even less optimistic about. The main problem is they decided to bring her in before burzek has sorted themselves out, which means, especially with too much focus on other characters, whenever any episode is on them, the writers decide to continue the insane miscommunication and conflict between them rather than idk, doing a much more interesting storyline about interracial adoption? My hope is that now it looks like burzek is sorting themselves out that we'll get more storylines around that but I very much doubt it since this is cpd after all !!

Tbh when I got into one Chicago I did get into it knowing that most likely it will not deal with race well but I am a huge shipper-- I watch things for the romance really, and that's everything -- so I accepted that but honestly it's-- ESPECIALLY fire bc pd has always been pretty damn shit and definitely has been since s5-- gone supeeeeer downhill recently and it annoys me so much!

Thank you for sending me this!!! Even if I got a little ranty! 💖

[seyaryminamoto]

I've been browsing your blog for Sokkla research as I feel like it has similarities to what I'm trying to write with Azula and Soren. I haven't begun tackling Gladiator yet, as it looks a little daunting, but I feel I should since I keep hearing so much. I am a little hesitant over accidentally using anything you wrote for my own story. I'd be proud if I could make it as long and epic as yours. It's very personal to me. What motivated you to write Gladiator and keep writing for so long?

Yeah, I saw your post about your crossover ship having potential similarities with Sokkla and I agree that it would, since Soren shares a few traits with Sokka, character-wise. Admittedly, Azula interacting with a character like Soren would present quite a lot of fun possibilities, so it seems to be an idea worth exploring :)

As for reading Gladiator and accidentally using similar tropes… well, I don’t know if it will ease your mind much, but there are several tropes that I’ve run into in many Sokkla fics, mine, other people’s, just… lots of them xD and it’s not really a problem. Storytelling can lead to similar places, but usually, every writer handles their tropes and character development differently.

My plan for a certain, poignant scene in Gladiator’s 96th chapter was set in stone in my head back when I started plotting the fic (like I said in that ask I answered yesterday). The scene in question is one I depicted in some artworks for Gladiator’s second anniversary: Sokka defeats Azula in combat for the first time, pins her down, aims his sword at her, and they just stare at each other before things take a pretty heated twist...

A few months after planning this, I read another fic where practically the same thing happened between them (it’s a Spanish fic, I hadn’t tried reading it yet because it was incomplete, sometimes I still scold the writer in question for never finishing it), only, rather than it happening when they could no longer resist the attraction between them, it happened when they were barely getting to know each other: Azula followed Sokka into a forest clearing, where he was training on his own. Upon noticing someone was hiding in the bushes, he leaps at her and pins her down, aiming his sword at her as well. Of course, he freaks out upon realizing it’s her, she isn’t very happy, and no heated things happen other than a lot of blushing, especially on her part xD

So, as you can see, even if the trope is “Sokka holds Azula down, at swordpoint”, the context was entirely different, the outcome was completely different and heck, the wording and even language we used was 100% different.  I came up with the idea for Gladiator before reading Majesty, later on I found out that someone had written a very similar scene already (and it was a close associate of mine, no less xD). As much as I didn’t feel like I was all that original anymore… I didn’t change my plans because of that. As long as I didn’t pull a Cassandra Clare and copy-pasted the whole scene my friend wrote into Gladiator, where was the harm in trying my own hand at it? I wrote the tropey situation in my own way, with my own words, and it’s completely my own thing.

There was something else that happened with Gladiator, another friend read it and thought I was taking inspiration for my portrayal of Sokka and Azula from a couple in a TV show she loved. Turns out I’d heard about the show, but I hadn’t watched it until she nudged me enough to do it (no regrets!), and after watching it I understood where the similarities were, but the context was all different. More than that, a certain situation (Sokka admitting his love for Azula for the first time, she asks him to say it again) was close enough to what happened between the main couple in said TV show…

… But I actually had been inspired by another couple, in ANOTHER TV show, that had a slightly similar exchange too xD

Therefore, tropes are tropes. I’ve recycled so many tropes in so many things I’ve written that people could probably psychoanalyze me and figure out all my brain chemistry damn easily if they did. I tend to have a very particular structure when writing, too (the original story I wrote and finished had 3 parts, Gladiator has 3 parts too, to name the most superficial similarity only), and I’ve frequently explored similar topics in them. It’s hardly a crime to do it again, but as long as you do it in a unique way, there’d be no harm in testing how some tropes would turn out with Soren and Azula. It could be worrisome if you portrayed Soren reacting to events exactly the same way Sokka does, but that’s not very likely to happen. As similar as they can be, they’re also different in several ways and in the post where you compared them you seemed to see those differences pretty clearly.

Therefore, I don’t think there’s any real harm in trying your hand at certain tropes and situations. If the context is different, if there’s logic to what you’re writing, and of course, as long as you write it yourself, there’s absolutely no need to worry about repeating things other people have done before.

That being said, don’t feel pressured to read Gladiator at all. I’m glad people have recommended it, but I understand if it feels not only daunting but that maybe you won’t be sure what to write if you see all the stuff I’ve done so far. Gladiator is many things, and one of them is my playground for testing Sokka and Azula’s relationship in just about every way I can xD it’s so long that I’ve been free to play with all sorts of possibilities with them, to fulfill all my shippiest wishes for these two. Therefore, if you’d rather be true to your own ideas and not get too influenced by it, it’s absolutely understandable not to read it until you feel comfortable about giving it a shot (presumably, once you’ve plotted plenty of own story and feel like you won’t be at risk of taking too much inspiration from it).

As for what motivates me… well, I guess there were many factors. One of them is that Gladiator was an idea worth digging into, with so much to explore that I was completely overwhelmed by the possibilities and I got completely caught up in it. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted the story to exist, so I decided I needed to make it happen. As it’s practically a full re-write of ATLA’s storyline, I had a chance to just… handle everything on my terms. And that meant the developments I didn’t like from the show could change: I could improve on things I thought needed improvements, I could add things that I felt the show needed, and so on and so forth. There were nearly no limits, really, and as I was absolutely lost in the beauty and glory of my OTP, I couldn’t help myself and I decided to dive right in.

It helps a lot that Gladiator’s kind of a multi-faceted thing: as I’ve been developing my art too, whenever I was bored in class I’d sketch things related to it and then, if I had a chance and the sketch was good enough, I’d finish the art digitally later. I have a lot of music that inspires me, so sometimes I just sit down, listen to it, and I let myself evoke scenes that I want to write or draw. Fact is, the whole fifth anniversary project was a mix of art and music: the songs that inspired many arcs of Part 1, along with images that referenced them.

Lastly, though… I generally know where Gladiator’s going, so I don’t usually reach a point where I’m like “Woah I have zero plans for what to do next”. I plot things for the story whenever I have nothing to do (when I’m traveling places, when I’m showering, when I’m waiting for something? Just, whenever, wherever). If an arc isn’t shaping up to be particularly fun, I try to figure out what to do to make it more interesting and appealing for me to write. Whenever I come up with something I’m hyped about writing, it helps me keep on writing until I get there. Sometimes that’s also a curse because I go overboard and write like… 12K in a single day because I am that hyped about whatever I’m doing :’D happened a couple of weeks ago xD

Anyways, always try to fulfill your own needs with your story, first and foremost. Sometimes your public won’t be 100% receptive to your ideas, but sometimes they’ll actually want exactly what you’re putting out there for them. The magic of fanfiction is that, if someone doesn’t like what they’re getting, there’s absolutely nothing to stop them from taking to writing a story they do want, right? So, why should we try to please other people instead of writing what we’d want to read?

Make your story something you can revisit and smile about, make your story something you can find value in, regardless of whoever tries to undermine it. Make it yours, make it everything you want it to be. Want humor? Set up humorous situations (I mean, your lead couple would be Azula and Soren, humor’s basically guaranteed xD). Want tragedy and angst? You can have it too. You really can do anything, as long as you make up your mind to get it done. Figure out what it really is you want to write, the key scenes, the development you’re looking for with your main characters, come up with plans on how to get them where you need them to be, and once you feel you’re in solid grounds for it, feel free to start writing and always keep on looking forward to the big things you’ve wanted to write for your fic.

[randomaliha]

A, C, N, X

Thanks! :) 

A - ships that I currently like a lot.

I always have a bunch of ships I’m invested in to some degree (most sort of casual or in the background) but my main one right now is stucky so prepare yourself for a ramble, my friend. I’m a sucker for ships that span a long time frame because you get so much richness and development. So, Steve and Bucky meet as kids in 1930s Depression-era New York. They grow up together but get separated for the first time when Bucky gets drafted for the war. It’s a whole time period that’s really evocative, with heaps of scope for stories about discovering each other and ~feelings and trying to work jobs and live together and Bucky trying to find Steve a date but no one wants to date Steve but p.s. Bucky’s pretty much taking him on dates all the time soooo yeah. Then we get this second act where Steve has been transformed and Bucky has been captured and experimented on, so they’ve both changed – except for the way they feel about each other. They spend the rest of the war fighting together until Bucky is presumed killed (Steve couldn’t save him! Steve will never fail him like that again! Is what Steve says to himself every night I’m guessing!) and right after that Steve sacrifices himself and puts his plane into the ice. Ultimately, of course, the war was bigger than both of them. And that should have been the end of it, an amazing but tragic journey for those two kids from Brooklyn. But we get another act, another page, in which they find each other again and Steve breaks through Bucky’s 65 years of brainwashing pretty much by existing. Two bits I absolutely love in this third act: the first time they cross paths again since 1945 is in TWS, when Bucky/the soldier comes to kill Fury at Steve’s apartment. At that moment, ‘Its been a long, long time’ by Kitty Kallen plays on Steve’s record player, a romantic af song from 1945 about lovers reuniting after the end of the war. Never thought that you would be/Standing here so close to me… You’ll never know how many dreams I've dreamed about you/Or just how empty they all seemed without you/So kiss me once then kiss me twice, then kiss me once again/It’s been a long, long time. Wow what a totally platonic bros reunion song. And second, when they’re fighting aboard the carrier and Bucky’s struggling with his programming, Steve says “finish it. Cos I’m with you, to the end of the line” which…. you know, he’s telling Bucky/the soldier to kill him because Steve won’t kill Bucky. Will not. Full stop. He’s with Bucky even if Bucky’s not really there anymore, even if being there for Bucky means dying. And the thing about it is, that’s a promise they made to each other. To be there til the end of the line. We see Bucky say it to Steve in a flashback, it’s how Bucky has always felt about Steve, a promise he’s made to Steve as much as to himself, to be there for Steve always, and on that carrier Steve is returning that love and that unwavering loyalty. And that promise is what finally gets through to Bucky and breaks decades of brainwashing. I MEAN. This devotion to each other is absolutely core to their characters. Those birds are in love. (If Infinity War kills one of them or separates them again I will be mad as hell, dishonour on all marvel’s (cash) cows.)

C - a ship I have never liked and probably never will

I feel like all my NOPE ships are in Star Wars. Rey/Kylo is the biggest nope in the galaxy and I hated their scenes in tlj. Actually, Kylo really reminds me of Anakin in the prequels, but worse. Kylo is that kid who got a chip on his shoulder when he was a teenager and has never moved past it, and now he’s a selfish tool who causes suffering and kills people because he got his feelings hurt and it makes him so angry but he’s just misunderstood and deep down he’s a nice guy if people would just do what he wants. In a high school AU this would be the character that would need to be on some kind of fbi watch list, and I hate that Star Wars writers can’t come up with a better characterisation when they’re trying to write a complex character who turns to the dark side. Things don’t go right for angry young white man; he kills everyone? That’s basically it? Some fans might point to the influence of Palpatine and Snoke as playing a role but there are plenty of characters in the SW universe who got dealt a shitty hand in life and got tempted by the dark side and didn’t go over. Basically Anakin wasn’t good enough for Padme or Obi-Wan (nooope nope nope) and Kylo isn’t anywhere near good enough for Rey or indeed anyone in the galaxy. 

N - 3 things you wish you saw more of in your fandom(s)

1. I just found a bunch of meta posts for Bucky/stucky that included timelines and costume research and meta and it was amazing and super exciting. So I guess more of that in all my fandoms but yeah, I love world-building, I love being able to fit a character into a setting and a world, and get more context on who they are, so discussion of that stuff is great and I find it really helps and inspires me as a fic writer.

2. drabbles on my dash. Can we bring back 100 word drabbles as a thing we post on tumblr? I tend to only read longer fics on ao3 but 100 word drabbles are perfect little mouthfuls for your dash, like a gifset. Also they are a damn art form and I love them.

3. Rare pairs maybe? (says every rare pair fan ever) 

X - a trope you are certain to love in any fandom

Misunderstandings that lead to mutual pining and loads of shivery tension and a big beautiful reveal. I WILL ALWAYS READ SUCH PERFECT GOODNESS.

Tagging anyone on my dash who wants to do this or send me an ask?

[itsbenedict]

nonanalogue: Hey Benedict, real quick: do you like Queen?

itsbenedict: open your eyes

itsbenedict: look up to the skies, and see

nonanalogue: Ah, a Kaito Momota quote. I understand.

itsbenedict: but yeah i do

itsbenedict: they're extraordinarily nice

itsbenedict: guaranteed to blow your mind, anytime

nonanalogue: Okay, good. Now I know you're ALSO a fan of world-building, right?

itsbenedict: now i know, now i know, now i know, now i know, now i know, that you know i do

nonanalogue: Okay, so. My wife keeps a Best Of Queen CD in her car and it's usually what I listen to when I drive it. And all of the songs are good, but the one that makes me start thinking is Seven Seas of Rhye,

nonanalogue: Like, where are these seven seas? What sort of kingdom or world is Rhye?

nonanalogue: And on one particularly long drive I ended up started actually thinking these through.

itsbenedict: okay, but be warned

itsbenedict: i will destroy anyone who dares abuse my trust

nonanalogue: Noted.

nonanalogue: Now you know my standard setting is 'vaguely medieval fantasy world' - that's what I naturally gravitate towards - so I figured Rhye is, like, some wide-spanning empire, but not the only place in this world.

nonanalogue: And if Rhye has seven seas, then there must be a lot of beaches, right?

nonanalogue: Waterfronts, at least.

nonanalogue: Which implies a lot of boats and docks and ports and stuff.

nonanalogue: Right? Like, this all checks out, right?

itsbenedict: sure

itsbenedict: the beach sounds like a good time, havin' a good time

nonanalogue: And I've been reading Discworld a lot too, and one of the things in the Witches books is that witches live on boundaries.

nonanalogue: Like, mountaintops - boundary between earth and air.

nonanalogue: Or beaches - earth and sea.

nonanalogue: So, naturally, Rhye must have witches on their beaches.

nonanalogue: And the specifically last Discworld book I read was Shepherd's Crown, which has a character named Geoffrey who wants to be a witch despite being a dude

nonanalogue: And I thought, well, maybe a Queen-inspired setting has scads of guy witches.

itsbenedict: he wants to make a supersonic man out of himself, sure

nonanalogue: And I thought of a witch named Brett who sets up shop on one of the Rhye's many beaches

nonanalogue: And he has his little cottage right past the tidal line

itsbenedict: to avoid complication, is apparently not one of your priorities

nonanalogue: And on the door is a sign that says

nonanalogue: Rhye Brett, Sand Witch

itsbenedict: are you happy? are you satisfied?

itsbenedict: there are plenty of ways you can hurt a man

itsbenedict: you big disgrace

itsbenedict: somebody better put you back into your place

nonanalogue: I've done my sentence but committed no crime.

itsbenedict: i want to break free from your lies

nonanalogue: I gotta be cool, relax.

nonanalogue: Didn't mean to make you cry.

itsbenedict: it's the terror of knowing what this conversation is about

nonanalogue: I'm OK; I'm all right.

itsbenedict: you took me for everything i had

nonanalogue: I'm having such a good time.

itsbenedict: i know you think you got that one, but i can prove you wrong, 'cause i said it the first time

nonanalogue: Don't stop me now.

itsbenedict: here we belong, fighting to survive in a war against the darkest powers

itsbenedict: but no

itsbenedict: people say you've had your day

nonanalogue: I'm easy come, easy go.

itsbenedict: go, go, go, go, go, go GO!

itsbenedict: mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go

nonanalogue: Never let you go.

itsbenedict: beelzebub has a devil put aside for you

itsbenedict: look at you

itsbenedict: watching a good friend scream "let me out"

nonanalogue: I like it!

itsbenedict: begone with you, you shod and shady senator

nonanalogue: Here I stand.

itsbenedict: how do you think i'm going to get along without you when you're gone?

itsbenedict: (that was a rhetorical question, the answer is ''just fine'')

nonanalogue: Can't do this to me!

nonanalogue: I got nobody left to believe in.

itsbenedict: how long can you stand the heat?

itsbenedict: because me, not that long

nonanalogue: I'm burning through the sky, as a matter of fact.

itsbenedict: 200 degrees?

nonanalogue: That's why they call me Miss Fahrenheit!

itsbenedict: no man ask for this

nonanalogue: Too late! My time has come.

itsbenedict: ^she drives me crazy

itsbenedict: i cry (like a baby)

nonanalogue: Guaranteed to blow your mind, anytime.

itsbenedict: that's strike two

itsbenedict: i'm ready, yes, i'm ready for you

nonanalogue: Momentarily out of action...

nonanalogue: Temporarily out of gas...

nonanalogue: Nothing really matters.

itsbenedict: if you're out of gas

itsbenedict: maybe you should ride your bicycle bicycle bicycle

nonanalogue: Don't need a bicycle. I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars

itsbenedict: Mars was never my scene

itsbenedict: and i don't like Star Wars

nonanalogue: Oooh. Good one.

nonanalogue: I dunno about you, but I'm having a ball.

itsbenedict: for my part, I'm Going Slightly Mad

nonanalogue: I don't wanna stop at all.

nonanalogue: But I'm gonna have to since I need to go have lunch.

itsbenedict: It finally happened

itsbenedict: It finally happened oh yes

nonanalogue: I've been with you such a long time.

itsbenedict: i defied the laws of nature and came out alive