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tackytigerfic · 1 month ago

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Do harry and draco ever get the chance to meet little Scorpius ??🥹

Yes! I'll stick it below the cut as it has spoilers for First Watch.

This is set about a year after the fic ends. Harry and Draco use the needle to visit Potter and Malfoy, but not too often - they don't want to risk overburdening the magical systems of their two universes. So this is only their second visit. They've agreed to do some tests at Malfoy and Potter's Ministry to see if they can learn more about the way the two universes interact, and by the time they finish, they're too exhausted to travel home and decide to stay at the Manor. They haven't met Scorpius yet. (Full disclosure this is unfinished, there's a sex scene where Harry and Draco talk about their plans for the future, but I'm not going to get that written any time soon, so here's the bit where Draco meets Scorpius).

In Draco's version of the Manor, there's a beautiful Axminster down in this vestibule, but since this is Malfoy's version of the Manor, and Malfoy is a masochist, the bare flagstones are icy under Draco's feet as he makes his way towards the corridor. He's following the noise.

It's a not-unfamiliar sound—the snuffling of a small animal, perhaps, or a curtain shifting in the breeze of an open window. Certainly not anything malevolent; even though Draco has crossed about eighteen timelines to be here, the magic in this Manor still recognises him by the ties of blood and ownership and simple fondness, and the sense of the undisturbed wards gives him easy reassurance. There's no threat here.

It's just as well Draco knows these halls as well as he knows his own magic. The lamps are all off, the whole wing in darkness, though the sky through the window at the end of the corridor is picked out in starlight, clean-edged with the gleam of a thin cold moon. Draco's toes curl, a draught sweeping up his pyjama legs (Malfoy's pyjamas, technically), and bloody hell he loves this place in any universe—its high ceilings, its uneven walls, its fucking frigid corridors and welcoming magic and rolling landscaped lawns and the vast vast sky above it. Home.

The sound picks up in urgency now, a long breathy rasp, stifled. This is, in fact, Malfoy and Potter's wing, Draco registers belatedly. He'd been exhausted when they'd shown him to bed, only vaguely remembers Malfoy gesturing, knowing Draco would know exactly where he meant. Draco hopes he's not going to end up barging into their bedroom, but this noise is far too restrained to be them, even if they've not put up any Silencing Charms. He moves forward, carefully, trying to work out where the sounds are coming from. In his own Manor, he'd light this whole corridor with one wave of his wand hand; here, he can't risk it, so he just treads the stones in darkness.

Three steps forward, four, and then he moves closer to the lefthand wall. Up ahead there's the merest hint of a door, a thin line of light at ground level. Closer than that again there's a shift in the shadows, a change in the pattern of different darknesses, and the sound comes again, more forcefully, from the general direction of Draco's knees.

"Hello?" He only whispers it, but it's loud enough here, in the silence of the Wiltshire night.

An answering murmur, and a noise most definitely animal, a wounded whimper that has Draco bending down blindly patting, grasping. There's an answering clutch, and he finds himself holding onto a small wriggling creature—hot little hands, a hot damp head, hair sticking to hot fat cheeks. A child, crying.

He stoops, clings, lifts—with some effort, it must be said, his centre of gravity thrown off by the unexpected muscular density of the small body in his arms—then stands.

"Scorpius?" His arms tighten. It must be Scorpius of course, that he's holding—or rather, who's clinging to him, wet face in his neck, legs clamped around his waist, so all Draco has to do is balance him on one hip, anchoring arms around him.

"Daddy," Scorpius says, and as though the word is Alohomora it unleashes something in the child, the force of his shuddery breaths rippling through him and into Draco with an intensity that makes Draco hug him closer. The collar of Draco's pyjamas is damp where the child is crying into it, everything moist with breath and tears and probably snot, which is… well, Draco isn't going to think about it.

"Shhhh," Draco murmurs, into Scorpius' hair. "It's alright, I'm here. Let's just…" He bounces gently foot to foot, grip slipping slightly as Scorpius wails louder. Draco doesn't know what do with children, really; this is the first time he's ever held one unsupervised. He begins to walk down the corridor. Someone will be awake, surely, to take over.

The door, barely visible in the shadows, swings open invitingly as they draw near, a cracked-open glow of lamplight. Draco shoulders it open further, slides in sideways so as not to bump Scorpius off the door frame. The room inside is warm and well-lit. In Draco's world, it's a reading room, but in this version he sees a little bed, dwarfed by the high ceiling, the damask wallpaper, the sweep of velvet curtains. A dragon mobile hangs above the bed, suspended by invisible threads or perhaps just old magic; Draco had always wanted one himself, as a child, fascinated by the jointed wood bodies, the bright colours, the sparkling false flames.

Scorpius' room, obviously, and as good a place as any to set him down and go in search of his parents. There's a portrait on the wall next to the door, rather a good one too, done in oils with a deft hand. Potter and Malfoy, posing, baby Scorpius a swaddled bundle in Potter's arms. Potter winks at Draco; Malfoy yawns, stifling it behind his hand.

Draco has to kneel to reach the low bed, almost staggering under the weight of the child, shifting him round to his front so he can hold him more carefully, cupping the back of the small head in one hand. Scorpius goes down easily, with a little hiccoughing sigh.

"There," Draco says, satisfied, and draws the blanket up so that Scorpius is covered. The pillowcase is decorated with tiny Snitches, repeating rows of spectacles, a lightning bolt motif. It's the same sort of tat they've started selling in the tourist kiosks down Diagon since the war ended, where you can pick up replica Potter glasses and garments with a truly terrible picture of Harry on that say "I saved the world and all I got was this lousy t-shirt". Which is a bit rich really—Harry wasn't even <i>there</i> when Voldemort died, though Draco's not inclined to set the record straight for fear of sparking a similar line of merchandise with his own face on it in horrifying close-up.

There's something sweet about the dreadful bedclothes, though, with Scorpius snuggled into them, blinking and hot-cheeked.

"Are you okay?" Draco goes to touch him, hand hovering indecisively before he decides it's probably alright and brushes Scorpius' hair off his forehead, tests how warm he is. He's not even sure what he's looking for—it's not like he knows what's a normal temperature for a child—but he remembers his mother doing it when he was little, the comfort of her cool palm.

"Daddy," Scorpius says, then reaches up and pats Draco's cheek contemplatively. His eyes narrow. They're a hazy almost-blue, the exact colour Draco's were when he was the same age, but Scorpius has Potter's judgemental expression, his generous mouth, his stubborn chin.

"Daddy, your face is different." His moist little fingertips graze Draco's skin, perilously close to his mouth. And then: "You're not my daddy."

"No," Draco agrees. "I think your daddy is asleep. It's the middle of the night, you know. Do you want me to go and find him for you?"

"My head feels poorly," Scorpius says piteously. "Want Daddy." As though he's reminded himself about being sad, he begins to cry again, tears sliding effortlessly out of his eyes and down his cheeks. He sneezes, violently, and continues to cry, his nose running now. "Nose," he says to Draco, his voice thick with liquid. "Blow my nose."

He's so pathetic that Draco almost forgets and reaches for his wand. It would be so simple to just perform the old charm, but of course here he has to be more careful.

"I can't use my wand," he tells Scorpius. The child's face crumples, and he sneezes again, very possibly maliciously this time. "Hang on, look."

Draco's got a t-shirt on under his pyjamas, all the better to combat the cold of the Manor. He struggles out of the pyjama top, snagging his hair on the buttons, and then he folds the sleeve up a few times.

"Here." He holds the folded fabric to Scorpius' nose. "Blow."

Scorpius does, so enthusiastically that Draco has to move to a different section of sleeve before he's done. He uses the other sleeve to wipe Scorpius' face down after, patting at his drying tears.

"Better?"

Scorpius blinks, nods, then yawns hugely. His eyes are drooping.

"My daddy didn't have a wand before," he says, voice still muffled by the tail end of his yawn. "But Father got it back for him." He hitches in a breath as though in preparation for a wail. "I want Father."

The word is almost slurred, the th sliding into a soft v sound in his sad small-boy voice.

Draco pats at him frantically, rubbing his hair. "Don't cry," he murmurs. "You just close your eyes and I'll go find your dads, okay?"

"It's alright, Draco." Draco jumps at Potter's voice, but Scorpius just turns over in his bed with a pleased noise and snuggles deeper under the covers. There's a door in the wall that Draco's pretty sure isn't in his own Manor, carved cunningly into the panelling. Through it, Draco can see a slice of the next room, just soft lamplight and the end of a big bed. Potter stands in the doorway, Malfoy behind him.

"Just a minute, Scorp." Malfoy sounds exhausted, and then he puts a hand to his mouth and turns quickly, retreating back into the room. Then comes a distant, dismal retching sound, and then Potter steps into the room and lets the door close behind him, shutting out the noise. He's wearing flannel pyjama trousers with nothing else, feet bare. Draco looks away from his soft stomach, the line of hair above his waistline.

"Sorry," Potter says quietly. "He'll be alright. Just, you know, something he ate."

He kneels down at the side of the bed, kisses Scorpius, smooths his hair back off his face. His expression is nakedly tender, the low light reflecting softness. He's not wearing his glasses.

"I found him in the corridor," Draco says, stupidly. "I was just coming to look for you."

"Poor baby," Potter says. "Couldn't you sleep?" Scorpius doesn't answer, dozing, eyes closed already under his father's careful touch.

"I wasn't asleep anyway," Draco says, though Potter hadn't asked, was still watching Scorpius with that awful raw look on his face.

"His room is meant to be warded," Potter tells Draco, voice low. "But I think he can sometimes do wandless magic in his sleep. He had a bit of a sleep regression when we got back from your world. We usually wake up when he does, but I suppose I was tired from earlier, and Malfoy's been sleeping so badly…"

Malfoy had looked wretched over dinner, face too angular, complexion waxy. He'd barely eaten, barely spoken. He'd been a bit off with Draco since their last visit, when Draco had refused to bring his mum to visit, to take part in the tests Malfoy's Ministry team was conducting on them all. Malfoy wouldn't do anything as gauche as say something out loud, but Draco knew him, and worse, knew what he himself would have wanted if his mum was the one who had died. Malfoy had the sort of hunger Draco himself understood, but that didn't mean he'd let his own mum be the one to satisfy it.

"Scorpius thought I was Malfoy at first," Draco says. "I suppose that makes sense."

"He's a little monkey. And I was really looking forward to introducing you and Harry to him in the morning, too," Potter says. He looks weary too, now that Draco sees him up close, but then, it had been a long and tiring day. "He's not at his best at 3am, funnily enough."

"He's lovely," Draco says, and finds that he means it. Between them on the bed, Scorpius shifts, lets out a fluttery little snore. "He reminds me of—" Myself, he almost says, but of course he doesn't mean that. Draco's room had been off in the nursery wing, with Nanny in the connecting chamber, and he would never have been allowed lightning bolt bedclothes or dragons on the ceiling. Draco would have got in trouble for being out of bed at night, if his father had even noticed. "—Malfoy," he finishes, somewhat inadequately. "And you, weirdly. Despite the colouring."

"He's quite a mix of us both," Potter says, smiling down at Scorpius.

"Good luck to the Hogwarts staff in about eight years' time," Draco says, and it startles a laugh out of Potter so he almost looks like his usual self again. His smile is just like Harry's.

"Sorry he woke you." Potter stands, knees creaking, and stretches. From this angle, Draco can see faint silver stretchmarks on his lower belly, catching the light. He stands himself, a bit too quickly.

"It's fine." He hesitates, but the tired lines at Potter's eyes convince him to continue. "Look, if I can help with anything… If you need a break, or someone to babysit…"

Potter's eyebrows are creased in confusion, but he's smiling.

"Draco, thanks, but I'm alright. Malfoy's been a bit under the weather recently, so I've been the one on night duty and getting up in the mornings at the crack of dawn with the incredible non-sleeping child. I'm just a bit tired."

"I don't mind, though. I mean, obviously, I'd offload most of the work on Harry, he's the one who's good with children—"

Potter laughs again.

"You seemed to be doing an alright job tonight." He rubs at the back of his neck. Draco had almost been managing to ignore the full expanse of skin on show, but now he's faced with underarm he thinks it's time to go back to his own room. "Okay, well, if you're sure. Maybe you and Harry can take Scorpius for a walk after breakfast, then, and I'll have a quick nap?"

"Perfect," Draco says. "Righto, I'll let you get back to bed."

He makes for the door, stepping back out into the hallway where the stone floor is once more icy against his feet, no warming charms like the ones that keep Scorpius' room toasty. As he pulls the door shut behind him, he sees Potter Accio a stack of blankets and pillows from a cupboard, shaking out a duvet and laying it on the floor beside Scorpius' bed.

#this is unbetaed #that's probably obvious lol #i have such a nice sex scene planned too #but i just cant write it atm #anyway thank you Anon #and i hope this fic was what you were thinking of when you sent the ask #if not i apologise!#first watch #tacky's fth #drarry #drarry kid fic #thank you for being interested Anon #i really appreciate it #rowing and writing #rowing and chatting

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yuri-is-online · 1 year ago

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Love and Deepspace Timeline: Xavier

This is all speculation and should not be taken as fact, I have made a previous post about Zayne, but as stated there I do not have the necessary cards to make one for Rafayel and will direct you to this post by u/joonmin on the love and deepspace subreddit. This post is being made before I have managed to complete the Myths date (as soon as I hit level 55 it is over for you hos) and will be updated at some point once I have finished it, but I think I have enough information to explain Xav's overall timeline and hopefully clear up a few things for people missing his cards.

I have included a TL;DR at the end of the post for people who don't want to get lost in the weeds of theorizing.

Some information from that post about Zayne will be re-hashed here to help provide context about the game's setting. SPOILERS FOR ALL IN GAME CONTENT UP TO CHAPTER 8, VARIOUS MOMENTS, AND ANECDOTES, PROCEED WITH CARE.

Current Timeline

The current timeline where the main story of LAD takes place is set in the year 2048 in a place called Linkon City. We are told that the Deepspace Tunnel opened 14 years prior and that is when wanderers started invading earth. There is a lack of understanding about why this has happened, and it has sparked an interest in space exploration in the hopes of finding a solution.

The Hunters Association is sort of like an adventurers guild? It's supervised by the government, and is sort of split between Hunters like MC and researchers attempting to understand what makes the wanderers tick.

This includes researching protocores, currently the only thing the hunter's association knows for sure is that they contain a great deal of energy, and that they can cause disease in humans based off of which category the protocore falls into. This is confirmed the be what is wrong with MC, and appears to be a problem all versions of her share.

The events immediately following the opening of the Deepspace Tunnel are referred to as the Catastrophe due to the amount of destruction caused by the influx of wanderers. This is what birthed the N109 Zone. According to the in game Spacepedia, it is surrounded by various other "no-hunt" zones, which it further clarifies as being places with "a chaotic Protofield and frequent Wanderer appearances," i.e. really dangerous places for people to live let alone go to. Civilians are outright banned and hunters need special permission to enter because of just how dangerous these places are considered to be.

Unlike Zayne and Rafayel, Xavier does not have an alternate self yet. The versions of him in his myths card and all of his anecdotes are all the same person, just at various points in his long life. The technicality of this is addressed in one of the shareable posts: Immortality No Longer A Dream! The article goes into detail about how a new biotech company using protocores to regenerate the heart. You can share this article with each of the three boys, who have different types of reactions, but Xavier's is not one of surprise or skepticism, but of acceptance. The article itself talks about immortality as something everyone will one day be able to accomplish, but Xavier disagrees.

Xavier's first two anecdotes, A Special Vacation and Passing By, both establish how exactly he has been living his life on earth since his arrival. We learn that he has been doing his best to keep a low profile by moving between various jobs and tries to avoid making friends. As mentioned by @exactlycleverpirate in the replies of this post (who has made their own timeline you can check out here) "Xavier says he has been on Earth for 214 years, and that this will be his last. That means he arrived in 1834. We also see in one of his Tender Moments, that he rented a book from the library 30 years ago. So he has definitely been on Earth longer than the Deepspace tunnel has been around." Chapter 8 ends tells us that soon Earth and Philos will be in alignment for the first time in billions of years, which is likely why Xavier says this year will be his last, but I am unclear about what exactly that will cause.

We learn that there are other immortals from the same place as Xavier living in Linkon City, and that some of the see him as a traitor. We can assume that many of these immortals are involved with Onychinus due to Xavier's knowledge of and interest in their organization.

It's not clear how or when Xavier chose to start working as a Deepspace Hunter, but the other jobs he's taken all seem to be related to the military/evol combat. He is also very keen on fighting wanderers, so being a hunter is a good way for him to hide in plain sight. Which is what he has been trying to do.

His Precious Bonfire date suggests he has been a hunter longer than MC and has a reputation of not participating in team events. He has the highest level of access to the Hunters Association database and seems to have a good working relationship with Jenna, who seems content to let him do his own thing. She also attempted to assign MC as his partner, in part seemingly because she wants to protect MC's evol.

There is of course also the concept of Lumiere, a legendary hunter who appears during the catastrophe caused by the Deepspace Tunnel and wreaked any wanderer he came across. He has a light evol, a giant bounty on his head, and looks exactly like Xavier when we see his wanted poster in Chapter 8. While MC might have her doubts, since we the reader know Xavier is immortal, it's not much of a jump to say these two hunters are the same person.

Chapter 8 gives us more detailed look at the exact dynamics these immortals have with each other, but I think it makes sense to talk about Xavier's origins first so we know where he is coming from.

Philos Timeline

As I said on my other post, all of the Myths cards take place on the planet of Philos. In the present timeline, Philos is no longer a planet, just a lonely core floating in deepspace at the other end of the deepspace tunnel. In Xavier's third anecdote, When Shooting Stars Fall, we finally learn what Philos is: it's Earth. An Earth that has been reborn by substituting the planet's old core with an artificial one and with a different name.

Now this anecdote takes place in the year 214, which is explained to us as meaning 214 years has passed since Earth was destroyed and reborn as Philos. How does that make sense if we are currently on a very much alive earth with a very dead Philos on the other end of the Deepspace Tunnel? No clue, but I think that's going to be one of the main focuses of the story. Something had to happen to Earth to make it become Philos, and then something happened to Philos to make it uninhabitable. Given what we know, both are likely related to wanderers.

I also want to briefly mention that in Rafayel's myths card, it is mentioned that the sea is missing so the Lemurians have no home. Based off of MC's description of the weather and how "fragmented landmasses" are being held together, I wonder if the re-birth of Earth as Philos is what caused the seas to dry up? And if so what role did MC have in the creation of Philos if any?

This anecdote is from the pov of MC who is studying at a school she simply refers to as "The Academy." It is unclear if this is the same school as she and Xavier are attending in his Lightseeker cards, but based off the uniform he wears and the sword he carries I think this is likely meant to be a highschool of some sort, and the Astria Knyght Academy is a form of military school equivalent to a college.

Xavier's words about immortality being a privilege come into play here as we learn something about MC: she always seems to have heart problems, specifically she always seems to have Protocore Syndrome, the exact same disease she currently has. In this anecdote she explains it as being a birth defect that has only one cure, a special protocore. One that supposedly can cure any illness.

Protocore disease prevents the patient from living forever, something Xavier finds very hard to accept. He abandons MC for a month without telling her where he is going to try and find this Protocore that she needs to live, but comes back too late. By the time he finds her, the core can't save her and he holds her as she dies. She asks if he thinks they will meet in her next life and he promises to always wait for her.

We know current timeline MC has shards of an Aether core in her heart, and that her heart is currently stable. While the anecdote does not outright say that the cure to Protocore Syndrome is an Aether core, Xavier's knowledge of them and his emotions when MC brings them up to him makes me think it probably is. Currently we do not know how an Aether core can be obtained, other than (assuming that is what he brought MC) Xavier was injured getting one. The MC here says she is unable to live for more that a century, something that has changed in her next re-incarnation but we don't know why.

When MC re-incarnates she is brought under the tutelage of the Grandis Knight, the personal knight and retainer to the King of Philos. Xavier is the Crown Prince of Philos, and is also studying under swordplay under the Grandis Knight. She has no memories of Xaveir, who does not tell her about their shared past despite holding on to the gift she made for him: a star sword tassel. This doesn't seem to bother him as much as you might expect, he mostly just seems happy to have her alive again.

She is stupid jealous of that tassel because Xavier openly admits to being in love with the girl who gave it to him. But he also speaks about her and the MC in the same sentence if that makes any sense? He sees both versions of her as her, and just as he promised he intends to wait for her so they can be together.

Xavier is an interesting character (to me anyway) because he has a pretty clear arc to his attitude towards his relationship with MC as he ages. He starts off as being shy in the third anecdote, then he moves to being openly teasing and affectionate (outright asking to elope and saying things that make it sounds like they might have been betrothed) in his lightseeker cards, to how he is at the end of his myths date and currently with MC: restrained in his interactions with her but unable to completely keep himself away. Why he has become restrained, why he thinks he needs to distance himself from MC is unclear. What is clear is that he has no interest in taking the throne from his father, a man he actively hates and does not seem to see eye to eye with. While their relationship seems to have always been tense, the breaking point is during Xavier's Gladius Ceremony.

The Gladius Ceremony is a sort of coming of age ceremony where the heir proves their ability to ascend the throne by killing a wanderer with nothing but their lightblade. Something happened during that trial that Xavier does not want to talk about and MC mentions he has "changed" since then. Like he left part of himself behind????

As an interesting note this trial takes place in a forest, a sentient forest much like No-Hunt Zone 7 in chapter three.

Xavier says he cannot be the man his father wants. What his father wants is not clear, but I personally think it has something to do with what wanderers are as Xavier seems to have a degree of sympathy towards them if they show a degree of sentience. It also might have something to do with how Philos was made, as both MC and Xavier acknowledge that the planet is dying.

The MC mentions that Xavier leaves her a lot but always comes back within a specified time frame. He goes on expeditions into Deepspace, but never tells MC what he is looking for and we as a reader do not learn. He does, however, mention finding a newborn planet filled with flowers and offers to take MC there if she will give up on being a knight. She is confused, as her entire life's purpose has been to be his knight, and doesn't fully comprehend a world where Xavier isn't going to be king.

But the card story starts with MC being crowned Queen, with Xavier as her Grandis knight, so we know that's what will happen. So neither of them got what they wanted in the end.

The "Lightseeker" title of Xavier's card refers to a unit of knights that are commanded by the Crown Prince and answer only to the royal family. Their duty is to keep Philos safe from Wanderers, much like the modern day Hunter's Association. Both the MC and Xavier are training to become Lightseekers, and have a sort of rivalry for the spot. MC keeps beating Xavier when they spar but he seems to have the stronger Evol so they're quite equally matched. It's stupid cute how everyone but Jeremiah thinks they hate each other, speaking of which:

Jeremiah is a friend of MC's in the same class as her. He's also her wingman who keeps trying to help set her and Xavier up, something Xav doesn't seem fully aware of. He's stupid jealous of their friendship which Jeremiah seems to find really funny (he's the only one who knows how delulu they are for each other and seems to find a lot of enjoyment in teasing them.)

Jeremiah also ends up being a knight under MC's command after they graduate the academy. Xavier however... goes missing after a meeting with his father and does not reappear even after he dies. He is missing for a period of 200 years until MC finds him again in the same forest that his Galdius Ceremony took place in. He saves her from... something. An illusion? A cosmic vortex? Whatever it was Xavier has discovered something that affects the health of people's hearts. And he seems determined to not get close to MC or let MC get close to him because of it.

I think it might just be because she is about to die from her disease, which she doesn't seem aware she has but always does, and Xavier doesn't want to have to watch her die again. But I haven't finished the card yet so I don't know.

He also seems to be under the impression the whole world is going to end now, and not just Philos.

The last thing we need to take from all of this information about Philos is the existence of a group called the Backtrackers. Xavier was with them once, but he isn't anymore. MC was seemingly under their care and, according to his Passing By anecdote, traveled through the Deepspace Tunnel with them but was lost. I'll explain more about what I think about them now that we're ready to return to the present timeline, but just know that the Backtrackers are A) from the Philos timeline and B) likely immortal just like Xavier is.

Back to the Present

In Chapter 8 you are either introduced or re-introduced to Jeremiah, who now owns a flower shop called Philo, likely named after his home planet of Philos. He is a friend of Xavier's and they both share the same current goals, which includes protecting the MC. Jer's job in this chapter is to provide MC with a fake identity to use in the N109 zone, but he does provide us with some information to try and tie up some loose ends with Xavier's timeline.

While the Nonintervention principal he refers to probably does have something to do with MC, it also likely just refers the fact that since both Xavier and Jeremiah are from Philos and therefore the future they are trying not to interfere with the timeline too much. Something that whoever blew up MC's house does not care about anymore, implying that if that was indeed Onychinus then we can assume they likely are also immortals from Philos who want MC and her Aether core for something.

When MC finds Xavier again after his 200 year disappearing act he is leading a squad of Lightseekers from various units. I think these are probably the Backtrackers, and that there was a split in the group after the MC and the Aether core went missing during their journey into the Deepspace Tunnel. We know that at least Xavier has been here longer than the Deepspace Tunnel has been, but there is room for speculation around Jeremiah and the others. As Pirate again pointed out in the comments, whatever disaster during the travel the Backtrackers took into the Deepspace Tunnel likely caused them to arrive at a bunch of different points in time.

While this confirms that Xavier and Jeremiah are not from this timeline it raises a lot of questions about MC. Her memory is constantly spotty, and I had wondered if that had something to do with the Aether core... but now.

With the way Xavier tries to limit his interactions with her and says he's the last person who should be trying to get close to her I wonder if Xavier is worried MC is being erased from time? Or if she belongs to this timeline so while he loves her, while he wants to be the one she chooses, he subconsciously knows he's from a doomed timeline and therefore unable to stay with her. This also raises questions about the other two love interests; we know MC has forgotten things about Rafayel and I theorized she has forgotten something about Zayne. Is this because they also don't belong? Does MC not belong? Or is it something related to the trauma MC experienced from being experimented on?

TL;DR

This was all pretty complicated so I thought I would sum up the basic points because I felt a bit incoherent.

Xavier is the Crown Prince of Philos, a future version of Earth that was created by replacing Earth's core with a fake one.

This fake core allowed the citizens of Philos to live forever unless they had the rare heart condition know as Protocore Syndrome, something the MC always has no matter how many times she is reborn.

The cure to Protocore Syndrome is a rare Protocore that Xavier tries to get for her but gets back with too late. He watches her die and while he was already shown dislike seeing her injured, this seems to turn it into a genuine trauma of his. He is shown to be deeply distraught seeing her gravely injured or sick in multiple moments/dates and is determined to take care of her. In a rare decision by the writers, this does not appear to manifest itself as a desire to not see her engage in combat as he trusts her ability to take care of herself, just maybe not her willingness.

MC is reborn and begins military training with Xavier intending to become his knight, but Xavier refuses to take the throne of Philos for reasons he does not share with MC. He also begins disappearing for long periods of time on journeys into space. On one of these journeys he finds a young planet filled with flowers and attempts to convince MC to elope with him and abandon her dreams of being a knight. He seems uncertain if MC's desire to be with him is just because she has been told she is to be his knight or if it is because she genuinely loves him; Xavier knows which one he wants it to be though.

After talking with his father he disappears for 200 years and founds a group of knights investigating a forest with an unstable Protofeild where killed Wanderers simply don't stay dead. It is my theory that these are the Backtrackers mentioned by past MC, Jeremiah, and Xavier.

Xavier arrives in this current timeline in year 1834. Other immortals from Philos begin to arrive in the current timeline at different points and agree upon something they call the Nonintervention Principal, likely to keep from destroying the spacetime continuum too much. What they are refusing to intervene in is unclear.

The Backtrackers made a journey through the Deepspace Tunnel with future past MC and an Aether core, but something goes wrong and she disappears. Xavier has been waiting to see her again ever since he got here, and intends to wait forever.

There are more immortals than just Xavier and Jeremiah living in Current Timeline Linkon City, some of which are very likely allied with Onychinus and searching for the MC. Why is related to the Aether core in her heart, but might also have something to do with her Evol.

It is my personal belief that many of these citizens of Philos used to be in the Backtrackers, but even if they didn't they see Xavier as a traitor to his people and more importantly to them. Why is unclear, but I imagine it might be because of their goals for the MC and her Aether core. In a broader sense it might be because they intend to do something to current earth to save their home, and Xavier disagrees with that but the two things do not seem mutually exclusive.

Earth and Philos are about to be in very close alignment, and both Xavier and Jeremiah expect something bad to happen around that time.

Final Thoughts

I would be interested in knowing the direct Chinese translation of these particular lines from precious bonfire to see if there is any difference to them... but honestly this is one of the things that sold me on him. She dies and he follows the traces of her light until he finds her again, and he tries to keep her alive but he fails and so he follows her again.

I saw at least one post wondering of Xavier will betray MC and rip the Aether core out of her heart, and I want to clear that up here. I understand why people might think this if they haven't read any of his anecdotes but no, that's not going to happen unless it's the only way to save MC's life. Xavier very much wants to keep MC alive, his efforts to distance himself and withhold information from her are always done to serve that goal.

Rafayel is the one who has a pretty good reason to want to cut out MC's heart, not Xavier. And I do mean good reason I don't really hate him for it and am not trying to imply he's a bad character or a bad romance option for it.

One of Xavier's immortal friends is name Noah. There is always a chance that this is a coincidence, but there's a part of me that wonders if he shares the same name as Dr Noah because they are the same person. The anecdote he appears in involves Xavier getting him a new identity so I don't think they're likely to be related.

I actually really like MC , Xavier, and Jeremiah's friendship and sort of hope it gets some focus in some small way in the future. Jer and Xav had to have bonded over losing MC, not to mention Jeremiah spent 200 years fighting Wanderers with MC under her command. She talks about him as being her best friend!!! I want to see more of him!!! (if he doesn't have a partner and if I can't have Tara x Jenna I should be allowed Tara x Jeremiah)

I'm worried there might be a plot point that involves Xavier dying in the future and then maybe we get to meet a different timeline version of him and end up on the opposite side of the "can't tell this ghost wearing your face how I really feel" spectrum.

Speaking of which I like how Xav seems to respect MC's current life and doesn't expect her to be a carbon copy of her past selves. It's nice (stares at critically acclaimed mmorpg villain Emet Selch)

Anyway that's it. I'll update the post when I finish the Myths card, which I fully expect to make me cry like a baby. If anything confused you my askbox is open, just because I write for twst doesn't mean I am not open to talking about this if I made mistakes or if you feel like any of this was unclear.

#love and deepspace #lad xavier #love and deepspace xavier

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rottenraccoons · 1 year ago

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HIIII I wanted to ask a more technical question related to the game. I know in another ask I think you mentioned that the ending you get in chaper 1 would determine where the story goes in chapter 2, but I was curious if individual/specific choices from chapter 1 would make a difference or effect anything like a bit of dialogue in chapter 2.

Like for example in Oleanders route you pick a trinket and that can effect a few lines of dialogue later. Will some choices like that carry on into other chapters? Tho I'd totally understand if not since it'd probably get too complicated to do stuff like that ^^

I really hope this isn't spoiler territory. I tried my best not to do that ><

The short answer is yes! Choices you make in chapter one can absolutely be referenced or have ongoing effects in later chapters. For anyone who has never programmed before, I'll explain a little about how choices work under the read more and show some examples of Obscura code, but the simple version is that it's only a little more work to include stuff like this: a line of code and then whatever the extra/alternative dialogue is.

So!! If you've never programmed before, the word you'll want to know is variable. A variable is basically just a box that contains information. In basically all visual novels any information the game needs to remember is stored in a variable. And in Ren'py games, it is very easy to make and use variables for a lot of stuff!

Your protagonist's name, for example, is put in a variable box labelled "Name", and so we can just type [Name] in dialogue and Ren'py knows that what we're asking for is the contents of the "Name" variable box, so it just shows that. You can see us doing just that in the first line of this code screencap! So when you enter your name at the beginning of a playthrough, you're telling the game what information goes into the "Name" variable box.

(You can also see how we set variables here, with the "trust_keir" variable remembering if you said yes or no to trusting him, and if you say no then he gets one point added to his affection score.)

Within a single playthrough/save file your variables stay the same until something in the code changes them, but starting a new game makes a new set of variables for that playthrough. That's why no matter how many new games you start and enter a different name into, your old saves will still have the name you entered there.

Since Chapter 2 is going to be a direct continuation of Chapter 1, you're still in the same save file and so all your variables just continue being used. And that means they're available for us to use for all sorts of things! Using variables can be complicated if there's a lot of them that interact in a lot of ways (ask me how a certain date scene is going!), but here's a pretty simple version.

There's two ways onto Keir's route: you can get kidnapped by him normally, or Vesper can accidentally find a way into Mouse Hole after leaving Cirrus' route. If you do leave Cirrus' route, the variable "cirrus_escape" is set to True. That means that later on, I can program dialogue that will only be shown if you left Cirrus' route, in this case mentioning him by name while passing his church. There's a different line for players who didn't leave Cirrus' route. And we can do that with basically any variable in the script!

(For those who want a total breakdown, the screenshot above works like this:

First line: everyone sees this.

Second line: the code that tells the game only to show anything "inside" it (below and indented) if the player left Cirrus' route

Third line: the piece of script that's shown to players who left Cirrus' route

Fourth line: the piece of code that says "anyone who didn't get to see the third line get to see anything inside this"

Fifth line: the piece of script that's shown to players who didn't leave Cirrus' route

Sixth line: everyone sees this.)

So yes, there will be references to previous things that happened where they're appropriate! We love weaving references to things that happened before into the script, it makes everything feel more alive and responsive to your choices, even if those responses are individually pretty small.

#obscura vn #rotten raccoons #asks #about us #(by which i mean our process)

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chara2127 · 7 months ago

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Spoilers for bsd and Crime and punishment ahead.

Why I don't think Fyodor is all he seems? As we've seen before in bsd Fyodor always fakes or hides the true nature of his ability. What we know is his ability is called Crime and Punishment. The ‘crime’ seems to be killing him, whether it be indirect or not, as we saw with Bram. And the punishment being turning into a kind of version of himself, or like a data transfer. His ability seems to function on being a kind of data stacking on individuals and their minds. We can see that because of Bram's oath, Fyodor has the restriction of not hurting Aya. Which leads to the theory that he is just a bunch of personalities stacked on eachother. What if riding the world of abilities isn’t his goal, since chapter 120, and leaving Atsushi there.

What even is his goal or grand plan? Religious ideals or his ability wouldn’t be the full reason for his crimes. What if he wants to rid abilities because the ability we were shown so far isn’t his full ability. I've had two theories on his ability before it was released. What everyone considers to be his actual ability, the one i explained above. Or a form of reincarnation cycle. When we saw what sigma was seeing, all of Fyodor’s memories, were they actually his memories? Were they past selves or reincarnations? What if he did a heavenly crime and his punishment was to be forever reincarnated as a punishment, and that's why he was enjoying his game with Dazai so much, there was a thrill of dying if his ability is ACTUALLY an ability. Think about it.

As we have seen when sigma got stabbed by Fyodor, he seemed to “fake” a sort of personality disorder. What if he wasn’t faking it? What if that was him remembering one of his past reincarnations. What if when he dies it's not because he was murdered and takes over someone’s body, it's a punishment for a crime he did, like I’ve said before. So that’s why he seems to want to get rid of abilities all together. He sees them as a curse, like his is.

But wouldn’t he, knowing Atsushi is the bookmark, need Atsushi to complete his goal? Why would he just leave him there? I say he likely realized that maybe he didn’t need Atsushi at all to achieve his goal, he already has Amenogozen. An entity in a different dimension. Something seemingly godly to people in the 3rd dimension. Fyodor also (technically) broke the 4th wall in the panel when he explains why Amenogozen would always succeed in battle against someone in the 3rd dimension. Or, maybe after achieving Amenogozen, he realized that maybe the world he is in isn’t the original one.

We know it was altered using the book, and we know that maybe “our” reality is considered the original, Kafka asagiri being the author of the “book,” and Atsushi, the “bookmark”, the main character. I believe Fyodor realized that his goal was pointless, but wanted to try to succeed and continue in making his current plan work, to become one on the 4th dimension, to “transcend” the dimension barrier, essentially becoming akin to a god on the 3rd dimension.

#am i delusional?#bsd fyodor #fyodor dostoyevsky bsd #fyodor dostoevsky #bungou stray dogs fyodor #bsd theories #bsd theory #bsd #did i cook or am i just sleep deprived

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iwillbringyouruin · 2 years ago

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Radskier dialogue nuances in different languages

So I have been rewatching The Witcher in French recently and some of the changed lines stuck out to me, in the interactions between Radovid and Jaskier in particular. So i figured I'd compile my favourites from the translated versions I've seen so far here and compare their meaning to the original. I've also included some of the German lines since I'm German and I got curious!

Disclaimer: I'm just a guy who speaks a bunch of languages, don't expect overly technical linguistic wizardry here. Also this is not about the voice actors' skill or how well the lines are matched up to lip movements, strictly about the little changes in meaning when you take the translations literally! All meant to be in good fun.

Since this is about the season 3 dialogue, there are spoilers ahead.

This is going to be a long post so buckle up!

Season 3 in general: The way Jaskier and Radovid address one another

English (original): both use "you" which makes sense of course

French: Jaskier uses "vous" (the formal "you") for Radovid and Radovid uses "tu" (the casual "you") for Jaskier until they have sex in episode 4. When they talk the morning after in episode 6, they're both using "tu".

German: both use "Ihr" and the other formal derivatives for one another throughout (Even Geralt and Jaskier address each other formally the whole time. I'm not a fan)

Episode 1: Jaskier and Radovid meet

The dialogue here is generally very close, just two little things between the original and the German version I want to point out.

English (Jaskier): Fuck, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to… Bow? Or curtsy, or… I’ve been holding your hand a long time, so sorry about that.

German (Jaskier): Shit, I don't know if I'm supposed to bow or be polite... I've been holding your hand for too long, forgive me ("bow or be polite"?? HUH?)

English (Radovid): If your time at court’s been staid, you’ve been doing it wrong

German (Radovid): If your time at court has been too calm/quiet, something went wrong ([gay silence])

Episode 2: specifically Extraordinary Things

I've put the different lyrics as rather direct translations in the pictures below. They're also written out in the alt text. The French ones are a little more pointed compared to the original imo, I like that version a lot. I'm not sure how I feel about the German version but the first line did make me giggle.

Episode 3: Jaskier talks to Vespula about Radovid

I love this scene for many reasons. I have two things to point out about this.

The first thing is that while in the English and French version, Jaskier says that he and Radovid have only met twice, in the German version he says that he and Radovid don't even know each other.

The second thing is that in the English and German version, Jaskier calls Radovid a spoon and he does in the French version as well. However, he specifies Radovid is a "little spoon" here. Need I say more?

Episode 4: the scene in the shed

Ah, the scene of all time. Before the other scene of all time in episode 6. A few things about this one. The first thing is a very small change in the French version:

English (Jaskier, after Radovid admits he's scared): Just saying that makes you braver than you know.

French (Jaskier, after Radovid admits he's scared): The fact you're admitting that proves you are brave

The second thing bothered me more because it isn't really a subtle change. Both in English and French, Jaskier says Radovid has "learned [his] song", but in German he says Radovid "knows [his] song". The German line here isn't saying that Radovid "knows" the song as in he knows how to play it (from hearing and watching Jaskier play it for him once, mind you), the way it's said makes it sound like Radovid has just heard the song before.

The third thing is what they're saying right after the kiss. Unfortunately with the slightly changed lines for Jaskier we don't get the clever connection between Jaskier talking about taking Radovid into the cabin and Radovid asking Jaskier to take him (sexually).

English (Jaskier): I can't take you inside, I'm sorry.

English (Radovid): Then take me here.

French (Jaskier): The cabin is occupied, I'm sorry.

French (Radovid): Then take me here.

German (Jaskier): We can't go inside, I'm sorry.

German (Radovid): Then take me here.

Episode 6: the morning after

The German version is the same as the original here.

English (Jaskier to Radovid): I thought I’d seen through your mask. Turns out there was nothing behind it.

French (Jaskier to Radovid): I thought I had lifted the veil from your soul. But I found nothing but darkness beneath that façade

The subtle differences in the French version on the other hand not only make the pain a little different, it also includes an allusion of sorts to that version of Extraordinary Things with Jaskier talking about Radovid's soul. At least that's how I saw it. Ouch!

Episode 7: the moment where Jaskier finds Radovid at Thanedd

All three versions here make me want to cry. That's all.

English (Radovid): Just let me be there with you. Prove that I’m more than a mask.

English (Jaskier): Maybe.

French (Radovid): Just let me stay with you and show you what is beneath this façade.

French (Jaskier): Why not.

German (Radovid): Just let me be with you and show my true self.

German (Jaskier): Maybe.

#radskier #jaskovid #radovid #jaskier #the witcher #the witcher netflix #the witcher meta #twn s3 #the witcher season 3 #i made myself sad

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onepiece-oc-archives · 2 years ago

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Oda-approved questions to help build your OC

If you head to the One Piece Wiki page of the Straw Hats and take a look at the Miscellaneous section, you'll find a lot of trivia questions about the Straw Hats that Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, has answered in the Q&A portion attached to some manga chapters, called an SBS. I like to call those answers "Straw Hat Fun Facts" and I love them, because they work really well if you want to flesh out your OC and give them a bit more life and depth.

So, even if you're not planning on making your OC a Straw Hat, these questions might still be helpful for you to think about.

The way I'm gonna structure this post for the sake of avoiding spoilers is I'm gonna list all current LA Straw Hats with their facts and all future confirmed Straw Hats will have their facts mentioned without their name, if it makes sense to mention them. That way you can avoid duplicates within the crew if you want to do that and still have no clue about who's gonna join. I'm also gonna comment on how the various fun facts apply to the live action adaptation wherever applicable.

If you're looking for people's birthdays, I'm gonna make another post about them, don't you worry. But you won't find them here.

Animal Resemblances

Luffy: Monkey

Zoro: Shark/Tiger

Nami: Cat

Usopp: Armadillo/Chameleon

Sanji: Duck/Bighorn Sheep

Others: Reindeer, Red Panda, Crane, Falcon, Bull, Rhinoceros, Horse, Giraffe, Whale Shark, Bear

I don't think any of them were mentioned or referenced just yet in the live action, aside from Luffy's name having the word Monkey in it, but that doesn't count. I'm pretty sure we'll get some hints in the future though since these just have such great potential for easter eggs.

Specific Numbers

Now, this is a category that's a bit more complicated because each Straw Hat has at least two signature numbers, for very different reasons. Everyone has a main number based on when they joined, with Luffy being number 1. The second number is the same but it skips Luffy, making Zoro number 1, but this version is rarely used, if ever at all. Then there's the possibility of a Straw Hat getting a number assigned to them based on a pun, whether that be based on their name, their devil fruit, or something entirely different. I'll explain pun numbers in a bracket.

Luffy: 01, 56 (go-mu)

Zoro: 02/01

Nami: 03/02, 73 (na-mi)

Usopp: 04/03

Sani: 05/04, 32 (san-ji), 59 (ko-kku = cook)

Others: 06/05 - 10/09, 110, 87, 26, 43

Now, you may ask: "Evie, I wanna have a pun number for my OC, how do they work?" I got you, buddy. You can make your own pun numbers using a technique called goroawase, using this handy chart I made based on a Wikipedia chart. Everything I added is in (brackets) and consists of variants that would technically be possible due to my own understanding of goroawase, but might not be commonly used.

On a very basic level, all you have to do to create your pun number is to grab the readings from this table and glue them together. I took some work off your shoulders by adding the phonetic changes you can use, indicated by the arrows. You can also only use the first syllable of a reading or add or remove an n at the end of readings that end in vowels or n's. As you can see whith Sanji's ko-kku, you can duplicate consonants, and you can also turn short vowels into long vowels (tsu -> tsū, for example), both for spelling reasons. If you need to transcribe a c, either use an s or a k (or whatever else fits), depending on the pronunciation.

Here are some examples with my OCs:

Cora: 96 (ko-ra) or 25510 (a-ka-i-to - would be very unusual due to its number of digits, but I think I'll use this as a plot device in a future fic!)

Luna: 67 (lu-na/ru-na)

Inari: 576 (i-na-ri) or 53 (ka-mi)

Create away!

Specific Colors

This was in the live action! And I think we'll definitely see something similar again later.

You can't really see it that well but here are Luffy, Nami and Zoro lit up in their respective colors - red, orange and green respectively! I tried to take a better screenshot but, alas, Netflix will not let me.

Luffy: red (aka)

Zoro: green (midori)

Nami: orange (orenjī)

Usopp: yellow (kiiro)

Sanji: blue (ao)

Others: pink (pinku), purple (murasaki), light blue (mizuiro), white (shiro), black (kuro), ochre (ōdoiro)

As you can see, we pretty much have the whole rainbow here, which makes picking a unique color for your OC pretty hard, BUT it's completely allowed to use different shades of the same color (see: blue vs light blue), which is why I listed the Japanese color names for you. I did some digging and it turns out that these are the names of some of Japan's traditional colors. Those traditional colors don’t always match up with what my impression of the character's color is, BUT I made this handy little graphic for you:

In case there are any animal-related characters around and for those of you who like describing smells in their fanfic (me too, me too), this might be very useful!

These are all of the Straw Hats' specific colors (top row) according to the overview of Japanese traditional colors I linked for you above, their color names underlined with my perception of what color Oda might actually have been referring to, in modern terms. As for the grey names beneath orange and pink, those are the traditional colors from the overview that I used to replace the romanized English colors, based on what the first translation that popped up was. The columns directly underneath are a selection of different shades of the same color, also with their names. It just goes to show that you have a huge variety of colors to choose from for your OC - Japan's traditional colors alone are about 1,000 different colors and you can definitely play with hex codes some more. So, go wild!

Specific Smells

Luffy: meat

Zoro: steel (and probably blood, let’s be honest)

Nami: mikan (tangerines, essentially) and money

Usopp: gunpowder

I'd say everyone smells of the sea at least a little bit, realistically speaking, since they are pirates.

Sanji: cigarettes and seafood (and I'm willing to bet he wears some type of cologne or aftershave or something)

Favourite Type of Island and Season

Luffy: summer but he also loves snow, basically everywhere with meat

Zoro: autumn on an autumn island

Nami: summer on a spring island

Usopp: summer on an autumn island

Favourite Food

Sanji: a spoilery gag, so get creative!

We either directly see some of these in the live action or can easily guess.

Luffy: any kind of meat

Zoro: white rice (specifically in the shape of onigiri aka rice balls), sea beast meat, any food that compliments sake (though he's also pretty fond of beer, at least in the live action)

Nami: mikans (tangerines) and most other fruits

Usopp: pike from an autumn island and other fish of the season

Sanji: spicy sea food pasta, food that compliments black tea

Others: not really relevant but maybe interesting; cotton candy, chocolate, sweet stuff in general, sandwiches, not-too-sweet cakes, food that compliments coffee, basically anything that you can find at McDonald's, curry, mozoku seaweed with vinegar and fruits

Basically, Sanji gets to juggle around a whole lot of different flavours and cultural influences - and he does it really well and finds a way to make everything special, by the way! He generally favors the ladies in his cooking though.

Least Favourite Food

Even Sanji can't make them like everything. Their reasons for not liking something are very different, so they probably still eat it, especially if it's used in something Sanji prepared because he's their cook

Luffy: Cherry pie

Zoro: Chocolate (yes, chocolate! Adds a lot more depth to the scene of him eating Rika's rice balls, doesn't it?) - it's too sweet

Nami: orangette (candied orange peels) - she prefers actual fruit

Usopp: mushrooms - he got sick once

Sanji: konjac (Japanese konjac gel is usually made by mixing flour from the konjac plant with seaweed; it pretty much tastes like nothing and is used mainly for its texture) - it's not nutritious

Others: anything spicy, chewing gum, marshmallows, lemons, parfait

As a Family

This is part of the reason why Oda said there would be no romances within the crew in canon - but this is fandom, he has no power here. Feel free to ignore any of these roles and substitute canon with your own

Luffy: fourth son

Zoro: first son

Nami: daughter

Usopp: third son

Sanji: second son

Others: another child, parents and grandparents

Real-world Nationalities

Now, this is interesting, because these played a part in how the Straw Hats were cast for the live action!

Luffy: Brazilian (Mexican in the live action)

Zoro: Japanese

Nami: Swedish (her actress is American, but she was kept as white)

Usopp: unspecified African (his actor is Jamaican-American, so it sort of checks out)

Sanji: French (Sanji's actor is very international, but he's not French - I do believe Sanji is still supposed to be at least part French in the live action though, at least he still has an affinity for the language and he may very well have grown up multilingual)

Others: Canadian, Russian, American, Austrian, Indian

Inner Brain

Basically: What are the five words their brain/subconscious circles around?

Luffy: meat, meat, meat, meat, pirate king

Zoro: sword, sword, strength, train, sleep

Nami: money, money, money, money, beauty

Usopp: warrior, lies, lies, run, run

Suited Flower

Sanji: You guessed it, it's a spoiler-y gag. But, to summarize, he thinks about cooking and women

These were actually answered by one of the voice actresses for the anime (except for Luffy and Zoro's alternates) but they're Oda-approved! I know fanfic writers love flower language, so rejoice!

Luffy: cosmos, sunflower

Zoro: thistle, wisteria

Nami: sunflower

Usopp: daisy

Sanji: delphinium

Others: tulip, casablanca, anemone, rose, peony

Blood Type

-> this is a topic for another post since it's more of a life fact than a fun fact, isn't it? Maybe, I'll put the blood types in with the birthdays and make a sort of Straw Hat info post?

How often do they bathe?

Bathe, not shower, I would assume. Zoro showers after training... right?

Luffy: once a week

Zoro: once a week

Nami: every day

Usopp: once every three days

Sanji: every day

Typical Hours of Sleep

The only reference to this we have in the live action is Zoro's habit of napping. An interesting thing to note is that the Straw Hats' sleep schedules largely coincide in just such a way that someone is always awake - except for during one hour. Maybe this really is a coincidence or maybe this is a habit they built while travelling together. They do still have night watches though, I believe. But that means there's usually always someone to keep the night watch company :)

Luffy: no set time, but usually sleeps around 5 hours

Zoro: 4am to 7am (3 hours) + naps

Nami: 11pm to 7am (8 hours)

Usopp: 1am to 8am (7 hours)

Sanji: 12am to 5am (5 hours)

In conclusion, more than half of the crew has no idea what a healthy sleep schedule is. This is a pattern that's gonna continue, by the way...

Suitable Careers

Basically what careers they would have if they weren't pirates. Their actual careers in-universe also don't count.

Luffy: firefighter

Zoro: police officer (I will not accept this slander)

Nami: childcare worker

Usopp: graphic designer

Sanji: beauty salon worker

Others: elementary school teacher, cabin attendant, pilot, detective, train station attendant

Cooking Specialities

What are they best at cooking? According to Usopp in the live action, none of the guys besides Sanji can even boil water, so I'm willing to assume Sanji may have taught them a little. A lot. Not Luffy though. He's still a disaster.

Luffy: raw meat on a plate

Zoro: sashimi - a dish consisting of variously cut raw fish and meat

Nami: roasted duck with mikan sauce

Usopp: fish and chips

Sanji: literally anything, but he prefers seafood

Who would win a 50m sprint?

Only the current Straw Hats count here.

Fifth: Nami

Fourth: Usopp (he's already fairly fast, mind you)

Third: Zoro, slowed down because he got lost (but I still don’t think he could beat the people ranked higher than him, I'm sorry, Oda)

Second: Luffy

First: Sanji

Alcohol Tolerance

Another very useful one for fanfics! Tolerance doesn't equal how much they like drinking, by the way. I'd be willing to bet that the Straw Hats' alcohol tolerances got toned down in the live action, or at least Zoro's, judging by him stating how he woke up under a table once. With his manga-level tolerance, he would have had to drink gallons worth of alcoholic beverages before that happened. Still, I think the ranking holds up.

Fifth: Luffy

Fourth: Usopp

Third: Sanji

Second: Nami

First: Zoro

And finally one last bit that doesn't really fit anywhere else:

Sanji is currently the most qualified to give the crew a haircut. This makes sense if you read about his alternative career choice earlier and due to him generally putting a lot of thought into appearances.

So, that's it! Hope these help you!

#one piece #one piece live action #one piece netflix #one piece oc #opla oc #no spoilers #topic: basics

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theknightlywolfe · 8 months ago

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Thoughts on Agatha All Along since I gave in to watch it since people on Tumblr seem allergic to tagging their spoilers.

I know it was inevitable but I am annoyed we didn't get Lilia's trial before she was killed off.

Why did amnesia Billy/William go goth-lite? There was no indication from either boy's life. Did he just realize he was gay and randomly choose that from the twink aesthetic catalogue? Did he go with it once he heard about witches and decided to lean into the commercialized version of that aesthetic that they had the whole co-opted culture rant about? If so, that would be hilarious. A bunch of witches stuck with a little fanboy in a Spirit Halloween costume of them the whole time.

I think the potion didn't work for Sharon/Mrs. Hart because they forgot to add her hair to the potion, not because she had drunk more of the wine.

It's going to be interesting to see how the passing of time on the Road vs regular world goes. Because we are talking about a regular of Westview life and a teenage boy just up and disappearing for a while. Lillia can close her shop and it's whatever, Alice just lost her job, and Jen it would make sense she went into hiding to avoid the charges. But Sharon and Billy were expected home for dinner soon. Knowing Marvel, they're just going to ignore that.

Given that only two witches can make it off the road, are they going to loophole Billy (and/or Rio?) since he wasn't one of the witches who summoned the road (or because they're going to technicality him into something not a witch), are they going to end it by trapping/killing Agatha in the vein of destroying the last of Vision in Wandavision so everyone knows there's no s2, is the other witch who made it off the road with Agatha the first time going to come into play (watch, it's Rio), or is Rio not going to make it? I can't imagine, with the poorly done hints at assembling the Young Avengers, that they're going to kill Billy. Also, let's be real, it's still Disney and their execs get nasty at the suggestion of killing children in their media, especially on screen.

The whole jade egg thing was hilarious.

How has Agnes been surviving for three years? Especially with the implication that she randomly goes cuckoo. Is Ralph still paying the mortgage and utilities in the hope he eventually gets the house back? Is she normal enough long enough to hold down temporary jobs to cover her bills and maintain friendships with the neighbors? Especially since they show up to bring her food and make sure she's okay when she does go cuckoo and they all know she didn't live there before Wanda showed up. Does Agnes have access to Agatha's bank accounts and has just been unknowingly draining her savings?

I really need one of those Bohner family tshirts.

On a tangent:

If they are going to Young Avengers Billy, I am even more annoyed at the implication that Kate and maybe Yelena are going to be part of that. Yelena is 30, Kate is going into her mid 20s, and Billy, Kamala, America, and Cassie are mid teens. And how is Shang Chi supposed to fit in? Are they ignoring Secret Invasion or are we really going to see Super Skrulls? If so, what good will Kate and Yelena be except as coordinators and trainers? Billy is the most powerful living witch, America is a universe jumper and wizard, Kamala has super powers and bangles which can build intergalactic wormholes, and Cassie can shrink into a realm where physics work differently and from where she can summon a multi-powers army of friends. Kate and Yelena fight good. Which is kinda useless against Hulk power Skrulls.

If they're going to ignore Secret Invasion the way they seem inclined to ignore Eternals and they're dropping whatshisface because of the actor's legal troubles and poor audience response, then what is the new generation going to be fighting? And if it's basic foot soldier invasion at a level two non-powered mortals can deal with, then what do we need Shang Chi, Kamala, America, and Billy for? I mean, even with everything the Avengers dealt with, the heroes were pretty low level power wise until the last Thanos battle. Thor didn't have his full powers and they're still kind of weak, Wanda didn't know the full extent of her powers, Vision was so busy waiting for Tony to give him orders he never actually used any of his real power, and the rest were mortals. Like, yeah, Cap and Hulk could hit hard but what good is that against Shang Chi or Billy?

So, what? The new full Avengers will be Sam and Shang Chi, with Katie along for the ride to fill the archer role and maybe Yelena, maybe She-Hulk? And then the Young Avengers will be Kate and Cassie and a few planet destruction level super powereds? And if they are going to split Hawkeye 2.0 and Widow 2.0, why bother introducing them to each other and making them be friendly.

And, again, if they are going to give everyone amazing archery skills, why bother with Kate Bishop at all? Kamala has plucky optimism and knows Fury, America has the active connections to the OGs through Strange and Wong as does Cassie in some ways, and Billy brings the purple. Kate has no tactical or strategic training or knowledge, no powers, and while the rest have experience with super powered battles, Kate has ... fought gang members.

And really, how stupid to have all the powers be on a Young Avengers roster while the only person in the potential new full Avengers who would maybe even survive a battle between them is Shang Chi. Because with what they have done since Endgame, all the powers except for him are with teenagers. Shang Chi is the only super powered who can walk in a bar. Are we going to have to wait eight years for them all to be acceptably aged? Is a Disney owned studio really going to lean into child soldiers? Is Sam just gonna swan off and do his own thing and not build a new Avengers team? Is Shang Chi gonna be a Young Avenger? Or is he gonna be the new Strange, there when needed but not really an Avenger.

Is Billy going to be the new big bad? His mom destroyed the Darkhold and the throne room place so he doesn't exactly have the path to world ruling and her full power. And again, is Disney really going to be okay with sending teenagers to kill each other in bloody battle? If Agatha might be the new big bad after she gets her powers back in the show, then they only need to send Shang Chi and Kamala against her since their power weapons are tech not magic and she can't steal them. Or maybe Billy distracts her while Yelena sniper rifles her from behind.

If they just let their stories run, fine, but they hint at team ups that just make no sense.

#agatha all along #agatha spoilers #spoilers #wolfe watches #agatha all along spoilers

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strawbubbysugar · 1 year ago

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Happy birthday Bubby!

Couple more questions!

-Are you able to say everyone’s ages in So(u)l, including the animatronics?

-Does June ever play his guitar and sing in public or at bars or anything or does he only do that at home now?

-Soulmate question, kinda regarding Rush and Morgan’s bond, does that imply that if you don’t have a soulmate due to your previous one passing away, you can get a new bond later even if your future soulmate already exists? Like the string will “wait” kinda until they’re ready? Or was Morgan and Rush’s string there right when Rush woke up?

-What are June, Hello, and Goodbye’s main fidgets/stims?

-Okay this might be weird lol but I’m curious, what are Hello and Goodbye’s favorite little things that June does in his sleep? Does he talk, twitch, unconsciously cling to them like a koala, anything like that?

-What kind of odd jobs does June do on the side?

Thank you!!

i wanna keep it vague, but June is roughly in his mid 20's matt is roughly in his mid-late 30's Marlow is roughly one year younger than June Morgan is two years older than June Hello is a year old (his AI is somewhere around June's age) Goodbye was a year older than June (now the same age as Hello) Rush is around 8 years old (his ai is early 30's) Wibble is around 6 years old (his ai is the same as Rush) Cammie is 4 around years old (her ai is the same as wibble and rush) Octavia is around 2 years old, but was technically never completed (her size makes it much easier to fit a more complex system in her, so her mental age is around 40) The skrittles have the same AI age as toddlers, but theyre a few months old Astro Cadet has been worked on off and on for about six years, and his ai is about the same age. It grows much slower than the WOW branded animatronics

Absolutely no in public things. He's gotten a lot more shy about performing since his band days. He only ever plays for hello/goodbye and piper

Soulmate marks are all about right time, right place. if you arent the version of yourself that would be soulmates with someone, no markings will show up. Morgan was a very different person with their last soulmate, and their life experiences changed who they are. it happens! people change, especially as they get older. its why a lot of people are told not to be upset if they dont get any markings until later on (SPOILERS BELOW) Its why samir and june didnt have any soul marks until samir was goodbye. he wasnt the person that wouldve been soulmates with june yet, he needed to experience and change and grow before that would happen. So did june!

June chews his lip a lot, and sighs. Sometimes he sighs for no reason just because he forgot to breathe. I think his favourite fidget toy would be one of those fidget cubes Hello stims by waving/flapping his arms, or playing with his hands. I think he'd enjoy fidget spinners or rubix cubes! Goodbye stims with squeezing/pressure. He'd enjoy weighted blankets, and I think he'd enjoy stress balls. Ones with thick stuff inside so he can really squeeze down

Hello likes it when June sighs in his sleep, or mumbles. Goodbye thinks its funny when he snores on occasion, and records it to play it back while pretending to nap. (taking inspiration from my roommate bc its hilarious, sometimes june will make the saddest, softest little sigh in his sleep and hello will wake him up like "WERE YOU HAVING A BAD DREAM ARE YOU OKAY" & june will be entirely confused)

June does a lil of everything. people in town come to him for a lot of stuff like yard work, painting houses/fences, cleaning houses. He occasionally comes into bryn's office and helps with anything they might need too, like fixing the chairs, etc. He's known as a jack of all trades around town (which makes him feel nostalgic, since that used to be what he called his childhood best friend)

#ask #so(u)l project #i ADORE getting these asks #theyre so fun

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thekulemiverse · 2 months ago

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Welcome to the Kulemiverse!

I have multiple F/Os and with each F/O is a different story and a different version of me to go along with them! I created this blog soley to have a place to help better organize my thoughts and ideas. Obviously, I am open to people following this blog and interacting if they want to. Hell, if you see the chaos I'm cooking up here and it intrigues you, I am happy to have you aboard. I just want you to be aware of what your walking into. Everything I write here is written for me and my own entertainment- if it's not for me, then it's for my friends who I've included in these little adventures.

If you're wanting fics to insert yourself or just enjoy the canon characters as they are, I have a whole entire blog for that- @kulemiwrites. So, please, allow me to indulge in my own selfish fantasies. Everyone deserves whorish self-care every once in a while.

General information about the Kulemiverse:

✕ All versions range from ages 25-35, as I am 27 and counting irl.

✕ Many AUs will include: juggling multiple f/os at once, nsfw content at any given time which may or may not be tagged, some drama, sad and pathetic men who are sort of obsessed with their version of me, relationship toxicity not limited to abusive behaviors.

✕ Crossovers that make no sense and will likely have no explanation.

✕ Random additional characters that are not S/Is or canon characters are probably proxies I made for/with friends. I am not really interested in making more right now- it's been alot of work with just those lolol

✕ Potential spoilers are always a possibility.

✕ The following AUs are currently active: Daily AU, Reverse Harem AU, Death of a Legend AU, MM&N AU, Swanview AU, Idol AU, Love & Deepspace AU, Merman AU, Reality TV AU & the Jujutsu Kaisen AU

AU MASTERLIST

Daily AU- Can mean it's just my standard S/I dropped into any universe at any given time. It could also (and most likely) means, I interact with an F/O in a world that looks more like mine.

Characters to make an appearance: Any.

Reverse Harem AU- It is exactly as it sounds. Straight up debauchary and drama. Generally, I'd use the standard S/I for this but essentially it is her and up to 22 F/Os living under one roof operating on a schedule. It's strange! It's fun! It's my not so guilty pleasure!

Characters to make an appearance: Plenty! I'll have to make a list and link it here.

Death of a Legend AU- It is an S/I wedged into my protagonist Aizawa game project which is currently on hiatus, as was this AU for a while, but I've been itching to bring it back.

Characters to make an appearance: Masato Aizawa and Akira Nishikiyama.

MM&N AU- It is the aftermath of the Death of a Legend AU. It's where the trio ended up.

Characters to make an appearance: Masato Aizawa and Akira Nishikiyama.

Kids AU- It is technically a branch of the MM&N AU, but I tend to alternate between doing solo and trio here. Solo is the more traditional, two parent household. Trio is a super unconventional three parent, blended family type sitaution.

Characters to make an appearance: Masato Aizawa and Akira Nishikiyama, plus their children (OCs obv).

Swanview AU- It's essentially the same as the MM&N AU but my friends are also there with their F/Os!

Characters to make an appearance: Masato Aizawa, Akira Nishikiyama, Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima, Daigo Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu and Shun Akiyama.

Idol AU- It is an AU where my S/I is a popstar! I got my start in fandom writing back when I ran an Utapri blog. I left that account almost 10 years ago but the stories I wrote for the characters never stopped. I haven't followed canon much since then so, they've more so become my own thing-- which is my specialty (she said sarcastically). They grew with me and so did the mood. It's dark. It's a little tox-- Okay, so it's very toxic but it has been a fun AU to play around with over the years.

Characters to make an appearance: (As love interests) Natsuki Shinomiya, Reiji Kotobuki and Tokiya Ichinose. (As friends) Any.

Love & Deepspace AU- It's basically just me taking my MC from L&DS into my own hands whenever I have ideas.

Characters to make an appearance: Zayne, Sylus and Caleb.

Merman AU- It is an AU where Masato and Akira are merman royalty, complete with my best shot at worldbuilding!

Characters to make an appearance: Masato Aizawa and Akira Nishikiyama plus others but those are more supporting/background roles.

Reality TV AU- It is an AU that's sort of a love letter to some of my favorite shows starring an OC that I don't consider an S/I but I will talk about here anyway. There's also another friend's proxy here!

Characters to make an appearance: Once I'm ready, I'll share the roster of contestants and their eye candy but this first batch will be RGG for sure!

JJK AU- It is an AU that flashes back and forth between the past and the present. Not only does it diverge from canon but it also changes some details so that the school is a tiny college instead. The present follows the aftermath. My S/I is first a student, then later an instructor.

Characters to make an appearance: (As love interests) Suguru Geto, Satoru Gojo, Kento Nanami. (As friends) Any.

It probably seems like a lot to juggle at once but I'm kinda hoping that having this blog will help quiet down my mind some because I've just been manically info dumping on random docs in my drive over the years lol. So, whether I am running this blog or not, the ideas will still float around my brain until I put them somewhere😭

#info

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melkormajere · 2 months ago

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Regarding the ALT Finale performance. Kruglov has written about this.

Some spoilers I mentioned in my translation post apply here. Apparently "Blade" and " Fate " weren't supposed to be cut. They had a misunderstanding. Uhm. I don't entirely understand how you can cut two songs, think it's still stageable and still advertise it as THE alt finale. Kruglov can be a total and utter pain in the ass, but he's pretty ready to email on most things, and he sort of hovers over most productions anyways. I mean this to not come off as rude as it's going to sound. On one hand Kruglov being overly involved does stifle a lot. On the other hand. He could have realized "shit where did the two songs go". He did make a huge point in his comments though. People are confused about versions and since it's not technically Последнее Испытание with the ALT finale, it's something else, that it might need to be named something else. Then he goes on to mention there are so many different PI's going on and it's confusing to tell which people which is what and what to watch. This is the shortened version of a longer post I wrote because I ramble a lot about this musical.

#dragonlance

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cocozydiaries · 1 year ago

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Can you tell me more about your mha dr please?

HIII tysm for the ask!!

noticed two mha related asks really close to each other? anon are you the same person twice🤨

okay okay if ur not new here u probably know i did post about my mha dr before BUT THAT POST WAS AWFUL so now it’s deleted and gone. sorry😞

Honestly with my updated version i’ve just kept most things kinda vague. Don’t get me wrong I love scripting, but i don’t do it that much anymore coz now i just let my subconscious handle it so my scripts are kinda empty.

I do still script, just less but dw i’ll share what i have!! I love over sharing🫶

be warned this is unorganised asf since i wrote it all at like 2am😭

My dr name (spoiler alert i don’t have one):

even tho i think names are very important I haven’t picked a name for myself in any of my drs💀. Partly coz I wanna be surprised but also partly coz just coz i’m lazy.

I did however script that my name suits me and has a nice meaning. I also scripted that my siblings and i all have the same first letter of our names (smth we have here!) but my parents also have different names for each of us, like a sorta nickname (mine is yara coz i have a love/hate relationship with butterflies)

Onto actual stuff related to my mha dr. Also probably the only thing you really care about smh. yeah ik your intentions anon🙄

Quirks!!

soooo basically quirk basically siren/mermaid irl?? tbh idk but the main thing (aside from occasionally cosplaying as ariel) i’m basically able to shape and manipulate water. Very korra coded of me ik but she has always been my favourite.

Me, some of my siblings, and parents mostly have different quirks tho due to that fact that my parents adopted us. That’s a whole different thing tho we can get into later.

I haven’t scripted my family’s quirks because again lazy asf and wanna be surprised. I’m assuming based on their jobs they’re gonna have either powerful or really useful quirks anyhow. Just makes sense

Anywhooo onto actual mha stuff like

UA:

Idk if i’m gonna get in lmao💀 all i scripted is IF i do i’ll end up in class 1A. I did that coz i wanna know if i can get into class UA without scripting it. I mean ik i will but idk funsies ig.

I also changed the uniform coz it’s ugly asf. Honestly i just think dark blue would’ve been so much better than that vomit izuku inspired green.

i also scripted that midnight and mineta are actually chill and normal people. IM SORRY GUYS💔 but mineta is lowkey funny when he isn’t a creep and midnight is so extra i love her. i just don’t like when they’re…. icky. so i scripted that out!

and i scripted that toru gets a proper hero outfit kinda similar to mirio’s thing. makes absolutely NO sense that his hero outfit was made to adapt to his quirk but they leave my girl to freeze? nuh uh

i��ve actually scripted quite a few minor difference or things i want to happen. let me know if that’s smth you guys are interested in!!

Anyways that’s kinda it coz idk what to say… I need y’all to ask me specific questions PLS😭 i suck at answering vague stuff💔

EXAMPLE: “coco” (or yara since you lot did technically unlock a new name) “exactly what are you gonna do when you wake up in ur dr at 5:21am because you heard one of ur rat siblings cluttering around outside ur door while getting ready for school.”

how i’m feeling after checking what other people’s dr intros look like and realising i was only meant to write a couple of sentences and not explain why i picked each thing i scripted for my dr in a stupid amount of detail: 😐

i can drive in my dr btw!! can’t do that here tho. thought you should know. IDK HOW TO

#this is so unorganised #IM SO SORRY ANON #YOU DESERVE SM MORE #i just don’t know what to say #shiftblr #reality shift #shifting realities #reality shifting #shifting #desired reality #reality shifters #shifters #shifting script #reality shifter #mha shifters #mha shifting

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possiblyvalerio · 5 months ago

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[[SPOILERS PRESENT]] mimic - LONG monster oc (technically) rant

I've been thinking about a cool monster id implement in sotf to make it trickier....

Jane, A mimic who (like the name) mimics other npcs or yourself OR your friends! (using current ingame models) This thing can mimic NPC's strenght, noises and mechanics!

Cannibals and enemies aren't a problem, since you kill them anyway, but how can you tell if your deaf best friend or boyfriend to some is infact a beast beyond recognition?

Finally put to use your night goggles! Most night goggles tend to have cameras implemented, so once put on, it'll censor Kelvin and Virginia's face. Alternatevely, the camera/vhs screen-filter option (found in settings) can also work, censoring the faces.

The mimic has different forms, wether it's Jack's possible death outcomes (by all game theories i've compiled when implying quantum death into sotf as a HC) or the most disfigured version of him, going from long joe (seen wrapping around him when in the cube), to fingers, to even holey. The censorship is used to distinguish those forms that the mimic takes to trick the most. Occasionally, it can take form of animals, which will be harder to kill and will stalk you periodically.

The mimic has the state stats a glowing puffy would have, taking some time to kill it (unless drowning it). Different models have different sounds, given if it's Jack Holt (or a player, if in multiplayer), it'll distort generic walkie-talkie sounds, or replicate Jack's generic grunts (ex. when chopping wood, out of stamina).

Harder to hear would be if it took the form of Kelvin, given that Kelvin.. doesn't exactly talk. It will refuse to do major tasks such as picking up logs/cutting down trees/finish structure, but will clear the area of grass and fish 1 fish per command (no matter which). Occasionally, he'll aimlessly point and duck to distract you.

Like the animal one, it'll only stalk you, following even given commands such as STAY (at shelter, here), HIDE or REST. It attacks by attempting to bite or generic cannibal punching.

Virginia is easier to spot in the first days, given that the mimic would immediately go to trusting you, while, when already having Virginia's trust, the mimic will replicate her agreeing noises or pointing noises to distract you aswell. It attacks by swinging multiple limbs, similar to armsy.

Given the occasion the mimic takes Jack's form (or the player/s'), the mimic can tackle the player down, where as a chance of the minigame "RESIST" pops up, where the player has to quite literally smash SPACEBAR or F to break free of the Mimic's grasp/wrestle, and fight yourself out. It has a cool down of one minute and can be dodged, either by crouching or moving out the way. Or, more realistic to the game's mechanics, it knocks the player down like holey, fingers, or any major enemies are able to.

Like every NPC, the mimic has stats and sentiment where it can grow afraid of you, get confused at the cross, and generally have whatever other action they can take, same as Kelvin, as cannibals, as animals.

The mimic's original form tends to be similar to a puffy, simply given a more prominent spine, eyes (lack of mouth unless transformed) and a lankier figure.

Lore cut to short words, it happens when the exact same person from two different universes encounter, same as all, the difference being, the parallel person comes from another quantum immortality universe, where a choice was taken that changed the course of their death.

my name is the fucking mimic oh yeah

#ONE SPOILER MENTIONED #sons of the forest #sotf #sons of the forest oc #own character #i love making monsters

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merionettes · 1 year ago

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rubicon ask!!

first off I'm so so delighted that I picked up FE3H last summer and that it led me to finding your writing & especially this fic. what an amazing experience, what a treat with every update, I have all these fun memories now of places I was when I got the update email (and screamed internally every time). a little collection of sense memories colored in.

as for the actual question: very curious about your process. did you have an outline going in? I have to imagine yes (or else you're braver than black friday shoppers). how did you go about structuring this, ie did you have a series of Moments in your head that you wrote around and connected, or did you try to build scenes to fit the arcs you had in mind, or a mix of the two? anything and everything you want to share, I'm 🤲

you're killing me!!! man, thanks so much, seriously.

as for the actual question, indeed. hahaha. ha. i delayed answering this for so long because it kept devolving into an essay about the emotional experience of writing a novel for the first time. well i give up. this is now two posts. one is the actual answer to your question, only ten times longer than it needs to be. the other is an essay about the emotional experience of writing a novel for the first time. so… caveat lector.

first part under the cut. ← not kidding about the caveat!!!!!!

i've talked a little about the process before, so i'll piggyback on that post and dig a little more into the differences between the original idea and the finished product, including spoilers i couldn't get into when i'd only posted 55k. ("only." god.)

technically this did start with an outline. technically because at the time i was brand-new to fe3h and hadn't written anything but a few friend-ficlets in about 8 years. thought "skating au!!", spent a fevered weekend outlining all the major scenes, started in on the writing, and…. very quickly realized that i was nowhere near competent enough to actually. write it. "intensely frustrating" does not even scratch the surface, lmao, of what it felt like to have this thing in my head and only be able to produce what felt like the worst clumsiest tritest version of it. very apropos for skating, actually.

looking back on that outline, it had almost nothing to do with the finished product, especially on felix's side. it didn't have the nationals flounce, the timeskip, training in vancouver, the lake, the nhk trophy sports anime climax, the backstory reveal meltdown. (it did have the redemptive healing free skate.) what, critically, it did have was sylvain's personal arc—burned out, desperate to quit, wants to go to college. it ended at exactly the same place as the actual story, with sylvain and dorothea's final skate together. the last line was one of the earliest things i wrote.

in other words, even though almost everything between the first and last scene changed WILDLY in the process of writing, i always knew exactly what i was working towards and that was invaluable.

insert two year timeskip here! during which i would occasionally reopen the skating doc, take a stab at another scene, feel this ominous sense of foreboding, and give up lol. you can thank the 2022 winter olympics for making me get serious, specifically 1) yuzuru hanyu going out in a blaze of bittersweet doomed quad axel glory 2) shoma uno losing to some eighteen year old. i believe my exact words were (consults notes) "anyway time to go back to my fic where i control the narrative and i decide who wins." idk what made this attempt different than any of the others—right time, right inspiration, right circumstances—but this time it caught fire. in uh. in a big way.

so that's when i wrote what i refer to in that post as a skeleton draft and what i've since come to think of as a storyboard on steroids. this is when felix's arc really took shape, beyond "he is sad… he is mad… he is perfectly positioned to see right through sylvain." the fallout from nationals crystallizing, in particular, was one of the things that snapped felix into place and helped determine the tone and focus of the story overall. (that initial outline had much more of a romcom/classic fwb-to-lovers feel.)

the other thing that did this, of course, was sylvain's narrative voice. when i committed to "burnout who is controlling every single word of every thought to avoid admitting that he is burned out" was when this story became what it is. the voice dictated every single scene, the tone, the shape, what was revealed, what was implied, what was never making it on the page. it led me places i didn't anticipate. it made the cuts for me! cute scene you've got in that outline lol sylvain would never.

i see past me in that post dancing around the length, lmao. well the ""storyboard"", the skeleton, whatever you want to call it, was over 100k. and yet even then, EVEN WITH 100K ON PAPER, there was still so much i had no fucking clue was coming! felix pushing sylvain on what he wants was there, but sylvain never explained what happened. my oc jm gautier (thanks for nothing, three hopes!!!) was an ominous presence, but he wasn't the final boss. there was no memory of the first time sylvain and dorothea met. (<- insane.) there was no glenn skate. i had to write to discover all of that.

so like—i cannot emphasize how much i grew as a writer through the experience of writing this story. prose, structure, character arcs, thematic arcs. i was harder on myself than i've ever been. and if i hadn't had that end goal in sight i don't know if i would have made it through all those iterations—storyboarding, drafting, rewriting, editing. wanting to deliver that moment powered me through any amount of frustration/exhaustion/bewilderment.

wow this post sounds almost normal. nothing about this experience was normal. which is why you're getting a part 2.

#sorry op for hijacking your ask for my own personal catharsis #extremely long post #rubicon #writing #ask

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