#ofc i mostly have ranger thoughts. you know why

[claitea]

do you all wanna hear random pokemon worldbuilding headcanons i've had written down for a while but never really had an excuse to talk about. of course you do here you go

you know how pikachu in the anime says "pikapi" when it refers to ash bc it sounds like satoshi? a lot of pokemon do that. the only ones i've thought of so far are volo's togepi calling him "toto" and emmet's archeops calling him "che-ar-che" (kudari)

my in-game explanation for dex cuts only starting to happen in swsh is that more regulations were put in place to prevent invasive species, after alola's current problem with alolan rattata. you Can have cross-region pokemon still, but you can't release them outside a region they're not native to, you cant breed them, no freeroaming. protag characters arent traveling out of their region so they only use the pokemon available to them

pokemon journeys are a very integral part of the society! its seen as a coming of age thing by most, However, it's never mandatory, and you can go on one at any point in your life. it can be as long or short as you want, you can have a goal from the start or you can just wing it. its not even always about battling, some people do it for contests or just making friends and seeing sights. its not a strongly defined thing

since its such an important part of the world theres immense support for it! its why pokemon centers are free and you can even stay at them overnight in little hotel rooms attached to them specially made for travelers. the gym circuit's purpose is a good progression tracker for people who want to go that route, an easy way to sequentially explore the entire region while battling its best trainers

the poke balls found in the overworld with items in them are specifically left by other people as treats and aid for traveling trainers. its also why people just give you free stuff just for talking to them

"sinnohan form" is technically an acceptable term for hisuian pokemon, but people are so used to calling them hisuian pokemon bc thats how it was written in early dexes and carried over, that not a lot of people call them sinnohan actually

speaking of. sinnoh nowadays has a much higher population of dark type unovan zorua :)

the way rotom work is that they slot their sparkplug body into something in order to possess it. newer appliances make it harder for them to do so. thats why the rotom catalog is a thing now - people have made rotom specific appliances that are easy to possess and are battle resistant

zoroark have photographic memory to produce realistic illusions with. hisuian zoroark mostly do not retain this - most ghost-types born from the death of something else have memory issues especially about their past life - but what they Can do is pull memories directly from their victim's minds and construct more tailored illusions out of that

meloetta also never forgets a song or dance that it hears. when it performs, it can transmit its memories of instrumentals played for it to its listeners. so when you hear guitar play when encountering it in the terarium, thats completely diegetic

when testing a trainer to see if they're worthy of catching it, or when its already captured, legendary pokemon actively hold back in battle. its simply a game mechanic that every legendaries' stats arent like 10000 in every stat. a genuine no holds barred precipice blades would reduce your garchomp to dust. in battles where the pokemon is Actively trying to kill you like eternamax eternatus, your pokemon should be trying their best to dodge every single attack and the huge damage they do sustain is from being Grazed. its extremely rare for anyone to see a legendary pokemon's true power

battling and the use of poke balls simply never caught on in fiore, almia and oblivia. they've historically always been extremely close with pokemon, unlike regions like hisui where people started off scared of them. so, proving yourself with a battle and using poke balls to befriend a pokemon was never necessary

^ the lack of poke balls in those regions did once cause a major issue, where people from abroad realized befriended pokemon counted as "wild" still, so they could easily steal them. this is part of why the ranger union was established, and also why pokemon can let themselves out of poke balls when they wish. its a safety measure. ranger bases can manually tag a pokemon to prevent others poke balls from working on them

the ranger union of fiore, almia and oblivia is completely different to the rangers of the mainline regions, but they find merit in their different ways of handling pokemon so they sometimes swap members

i have several thoughts about the different pros and cons of battling and poke balls vs capture stylers:

poke balls need to constantly be replaced, but a styler is a one-time purchase that a ranger can use for years

mainline region rangers do battles, but that wouldn't work if, for example, the pokemon was already injured and weakening it further to get it to stay in a poke ball would cause it unecessary stress or be dangerous. union rangers calm pokemon by getting them to trust them via styler, but this just becomes dangerous if the pokemon is particularly aggressive.

poke balls are great for transporting a pokemon, keeping it isolated if, say, they have to take an aggressive pokemon through a busy city. but, they wont work on pokemon that have already been captured with a ball. stylers cannot undo a capture, but they can encourage a pokemon to leave a dangerous person and come with the ranger

[disastardly]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @hereforanepilogue!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 16, with more on my mostly-abandoned FF.net account

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 163,682 (and about ~200k more unpublished in my WIP folder)

3. What fandoms do you write for? Right now the big one is Stranger Things but my forever fandom is Power Rangers/Sentai/Kamen Rider. I've also written for Psych, Doctor Who, and Supernatural. (Most of my SPN and DW stuff is sequestered to my FF account.)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Descent into the Depths of the Earth (Or at Least Milwaukee) (1093)

To Find a King (869)

Dream On (112)

In the Mood (112)

Cold Hard Bitch (104)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I really try to, but sometimes it gets away from me and I worry it's been too long since they left the comment, and it turns into a whole thing (in my head ofc).

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Descent, easily. The post kiss freakout being resolved in another fic? When the fic was originally going to end very differently? Yeaaaaaaah.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Toss up between TFaK (fully resolving's Descent's angsty ending) or California (literally a mini-fic about the OTP getting married).

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not so far?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I have, mainly some pretty straightforward m/m stuff. A few funkier attempts swim around my WIP folder, almost certainly never to see the light of day.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've written a lot of subtle crossovers, but only two overt ones, and I think the craziest would be the Doctor Who/Office one I wrote back in high school. Dwight is a Dalek!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? If anyone has, they didn't ask or tell me (or it's been long enough that I forgot).

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have not!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? At this point, feels safe to say Maddie/Nick, even if that's at least 75% my own interpretations and projections. Destiel, Shassie, and Steddie are pretty darn close, especially Destiel, even if I haven't been involved in that fandom in over a decade.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? A few of my orphaned fics on FF.net will probably never see the light of day, as well as some of the half-formed works in my current WIP folder. Technically have the finished final chapter of Magical Mysteries but no motivation to edit, so still holding hope for that one.

16. What are your writing strengths? Dialogue, I think. I spend a lot of time trying to imagine the scenes I write and hear the dialogue how I think the actors would deliver it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Conciseness, clearly. Takes a lot of self-editing to wrangle a story to a manageable, clear narrative.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I've done bits and pieces of it here and there, mainly with the like five languages that I can double-check against my own thin linguistic knowledge.

19. First fandom you wrote for? if you dig back far enough, pretty sure it was Pokemon on the Bulbagarden forums

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Descent, easily. Despite the angsty ending, it was fun to write a slice of life centered on two characters I love, going to an event I love even more.

no pressure tags for @eriquin @serpentinegraphite and whoever else sees this, go wild

[moogghost]

yknow i never exactly. liveblogged it when i played cassette beasts for the first time these past two or so months i should go into detail bc i don't think. the one screenshot of 900+ something fused material upon unlocking the noticeboard was enough to stress just How i decided to play this game bc i don't think a simple screenshot can get that across (and also bc lowkey i think this may give context for how i'm gonna write stuff with my cassette beasts oc asphodel in the future bc like. that is semi based on this playthrough and the reason she's Like That is partially bc of that fact .)

be warned this is very long and goes into detail about the whole game so also spoilers ofc

ok so when i first started my save file it was actually pretty late when i started and i got through like. the tutorial stuff and then went to sleep. but like i went through that relatively normally which is surprising even for me bc i need everyone to know that like. i'm the kind of person who grinds to like level 10 and up in the tutorial section for fun if the game lets me. if u know pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of darkness/time/sky. i literally grind to level 30+ each time right before i hit waterfall cave. there is no reason for this other than i just want to. for no reason. for those who don't know this dungeon is like a level 15 dungeon at Most and is a relatively early section in the game. this is very important to know bc i have a Habit of playing games like this even when i'm not given absolute freedom to do fuckall. and to clarify i mostly played the game in harder level scaling though i Did put it on easy if i was struggling enough with a fight but i generally went on harder difficulty once i got comfortable enough with the gameplay like around 5-10 hours in

the moment i picked up the game again i immediately decided to turn on the level scaling to max and did not stop destroying the local wildlife population until i hit like. level ~40-50 i wanna say? i also wanna stress that this was when i was supposed to head to the ranger outpost. i knew it was something marked as part of main quest and immediately decided to ignore it on purpose. i did also explore more and then managed to get all the way to thirstaton lake and then went back. i would regularly go back and forth for grinding by foot until i got too injured and fast travelled back.

now see another fun thing about this all was that i had no clue where to fight other archangels that weren't involved in any partner quests. bc i hadn't thought of the others that were just There at all with no partner quest involved. so i didn't even unlock any of the stations i could've until after i completed everyone else's quests. the only ones that i found were by complete accident until i realised like 50+ hours into the game. so i did not have fast travel to so many of the areas in this game for the longest time and honestly idk if that made the whole grinding situation better or worse

speaking of the partner quests. i had most of them except barkley's started Enough that they were marked on the quest log but didn't really do them yet for . whatever reason ???? honest to god i still don't know why. but anyways would you believe me if i said the first partner quest i actually did and finished was viola's. and that it resulted in robin goodfellow being the second archangel i fought. because it was and honestly thank god for level scaling except also not bc i briefly disabled it to check and see my level for that area and was surprised when it was still close to mine and i didn't think . to maybe do something else first instead for. whatever reason. but anyways yeah that was my second archangel fight and i struggled if only bc i was still figuring out strategy in this game and therefore while viola's signature tape was fully remastered by the time i fought robin goodfellow the moves were a little. a little ass. that is to say i just brute forced the entire fight all the same and did not bother with preparing for the angelic attack or. bringing cures. i still don't know how i pulled this off because this was the fight i was the least "overlevelled" for bc i was pretty close in level even without level scaling and this did not help me to remember walls are a valuable move to have in archangel fights

then i actually decided to do everyone else's quests, which i went through relatively alright with ?? it took me a bit. longer with each one if only bc i wanted to remaster everyone's tapes first (barring kayleigh's bc i'd already remastered hers before swapping her out for viola). i think this was when i did actually look on the wiki for specific things like the elemental altars and then like the landkeeper offices in the mire sea and autumn hill (the moment i got the personal quest for kayleigh i avoided autumn hill if Only bc my allergy to actually doing story in a normal way so i had no clue about the right side of the map ngl). but that i actually did without scary grinding for the most part except i think i did reach level ~70 ish around this point? and also i was losing my mind bc i accidentally knocked out the averevoir in barkley's quest and didn't record it nor get the ability. this becomes relevant to a whole mission i went on in an upcoming bit

okay so before i did the last partner quest i had left (kayleigh's to be specific), i was still. peeved about that damn bird. and looked into where i could potentially record it later. and then i learned of the fusion radar and that's where i went into the full grind on the ranger stuff. because until then i thiiink i went into the outpost but that was it?? and didn't do anything else but the moment i learned of the fusion radar i Needed it so. i immediately went on the hunt for all the ranger captains and i need to stress for the most part i think i brute forced everything except like. judas and clee-o's fights bc judas fight did actually teach me the value of actually using cures in battle (i forgot i could go back to dr pensby and. buy more) but clee-o's trashed me so bad i actually ran my own stuff with roll again with my southpaw and Then i won after stalling and hoping to god roll again would kick in for me. but i eventually did it and barely managed to win against ianthe and wilma first try?? idk. to be clear i was using eugene w robindam as my main partner for the most part during this and after getting my ass kicked i started experimenting with passive moves more so. that could also have influenced it

but anyways after that the moment i got my fusion radar you can bet your ass i went and nabbed myself that averevoir once it showed up on the map.

THEN after doing. a decent amount of grinding fusions ngl i eventually decided to do kayleigh's quest and fix up decibelle's moves bc reminder i hadn't had kayleigh as my partner in so long closer to when i started the game at that point. then i actually progressed the plot bc after that immediately the whole aleph banishing you to the dead world intermission happened and it was funny for me in the aftermath bc i was like. ok where the hell am i supposed to find other archangels now if i've done all the partner quests (did it know) (it did not know). i did figure it out after a while but tbh i got more preoccupied with grinding rogue fusions at this point and also i Did want to max out my relationship levels with eugene at least since i was already on 3-4 hearts before the intermission and i wanted to finish another partner's relationship levels since i already maxed out barkely's by this point so. give or take it took me a while. then i actually did all of the archangels except i think i did like cherry meadow's station like the dungeon earlier on but didn't come back for several in-game hours until i remembered. but either way i did all of them EXCEPT waterloop station and icelington station bc 1. those damn puzzles. and 2. idk why i didn't do icelington station sooner tbh there was no real reason bc it's one of the earlier stations i had unlocked

and also i will say before i did all of the archangels that i was probably supposed to fight sooner i Did do the dlc. this is important to mention only bc scarleteeth my beloved carrying me through so many of those archangel fights w carnivore and bite but also bc i think This is when i started thinking more heavily about asphodel backstory bc the implications with human experimentation made me think (the current backstory for it isn't the exact same as the original concept just similar in specific themes now but yknow). but i say this last part bc i think this is what helped me toy with making asphodel an archangel of sorts bc i mentioned it Once in the tags of an art post but yeah this is where that lore got stemmed from or at least gave it a gentle nudge in that direction. also i wanna say that i think gwen was the first time since clee-o that kicked my ass so bad where i got my ass beat and then won the second time after fixing my team a little bit. topsy turvy i hate you i hate you (i say like i even bothered with walls during archangel fights instead of brute forcing everything to begin with. no this didn't make me use walls in these fights after this)

but anyways bc i figured 'oh shit i'm close to completing morgante's song now i'm closer to end-game than i thought' i felt it would be a good time to stop before doing waterloop and icelington stations and max out everyone else's relationship levels bc like. by this point i had already maxed out barkley and eugene's so i figured i might as well, and also bc i wanted to fix up their signature tapes' moves more bc it'd been a while (note that i always keep their signature tapes on them. i had been making sure so much after i accidentally had eugene take my wyrmaw tape after switching partners. i was very distraught over my wyrmaw tape). and also just to 5 star those tapes too ngl bc i 5 starred some of them but not all and it felt wrong to have not done that by that point. i wanna say i managed to get everyone to around level ~100-115 by this point? and also a lot of the grinding to catch up in levels was done against rogue fusions i was accumulating a decent amount of it every so often

after that i switched back to eugene as my partner mostly bc I Like Him but also bc i had the most thought out moveset on his signature tape bc i'd used him the most thus far and it was easiest to grind rogue/swarm fusions with echolocation + pre-emptive strike and then toy hammer for the rest of the fight (this was before i made it worse with rarer stickers and sticker fusion). so i decided to grind rogue fusions again BUT i also wanted to complete as much of the bestiary as i could so that also happened too (i didn't decide on 5 starring everything until in postgame. which i have done by now). i got just about everything outside of anthema for obvious reasons i think? i mean khepri was. annoying. but i persisted

then i eventually got to doing icelington station first bc. the wretched puzzles that haunt me. and it was relatively alright so i eventually did waterloop and i need u to know i just looked up the puzzle solution immediately for the turning statues. i lose it every time i see those types of puzzles dragon quest 7 left me a bitter creature when i had to solve one of those puzzles without any way to look up and answer bc i was in a car (road trip) and no wifi and i struggled for hours. i did not forget nor forgive. but either way i did both archangels and if you're thinking i did the rest of the main story after this. you're wrong i went bootleg hunting for almost 50 in-game hours instead

bc you see i wanted more coverage for certain things so i decided to replace my southpaw for a plant bootleg one with a similar ish build to the old one? just with stuff like leech and poison pollen in addition to the roll again bc i liked the speed on it and i happened to like plant bootleg puppercut enough after burning my first ritual candle bc it was the first one i encountered so. yea

the others though. oh my god let me tell you scarleteeth and apocrowlypse were a pain in the ass . to be fair i did their first stage forms littlered and nevermort just bc i didn't wanna do all of that and also it looked easier to tell those fusions apart than with their remastered forms. but it was still painful. i was looking for ground littlered and fire nevermort specifically right. and while now i do think ground isn't really as good as other types please note that i had no other lightning coverage than robindam and it isn't always a guarantee i'm using eugene or just having him use it bc of type interactions. and also fire bc it was annoying me but ramtasm had it mostly covered so i cared less. i was very desperate. fire nevermort was bc i got so sick of the khepri tape breaking after one or two melee hits it immediately got benched after i grew annoyed enough ❤️ also bc i wanted more speed and a taunt user bc "having taunt would be useful" i thought, 80+ hours into the game. i mean now khepri finally got released from the timeout corner and is now used for random starter + headshot spam for rogue fusions bc funny but Never Again if i'm not doing that

but anyways littlered bootleg hunting was. painful. i found. everything but ground for a solid day. i found 4 separate glass bootlegs. 4 separate beast bootlegs. 3 plant. 2 poison. 2 metal. and then one of literally every other type until i found ground. i think i lost my mind during this but not enough to never do it again bc after this i did the fire nevermort hunt except that was less painful. this i actually liveblogged most of it on discord to my friends i was so distraught i even have pictured images of it all (...don't mind the nickname)

so after That whole battle i decided the only way to move forwards was obviously to go hunting for an astral bootleg traffikrab (this was less painful than the littlered saga but was more stressful in that i was trying to do this before i went to work and idk if i'd feel awake enough for video games afterwards since i had a 6-11 pm shift. i did somehow succeed though so yay?)

but anyways after this all i ended up fighting more rogue fusions mostly just to max out my rewind and respool upgrades, but also to get as many upgrades as i could to make my life a little easier (after doing many of the major story fights already). but eventually i think i got high enough level to the point where i was like 'fuck it i'll just go to level 200 then' and it was mostly just against rogue fusions? i mean i did captain rematches during this point too but it was mostly rogue fusions bc i had done most of the captain rematches before the whole bootleg hunting happened. but then i reached that and decided. why not do that with the rest of the partners. and oh my god going from level 200 partner to level 150 ish on the impenetrable grind fighting level 200 fusions is. something. if you're wondering why i didn't use olive ups it's bc i wanted the exp gained to get to the benched partners and i doubted using an olive up did that so i instead went the hard way with it. but in the end i don't even think i used the olive ups later not even with barkley who was giving me the most trouble leveling up ngl so i just had. 33 olive ups sitting there. i have at least 40 now

during all of this i was given like too much time to think while doing all of the grinding bc i think This is when i started thinking about asphodel backstory in full depth bc i had gotten vague spoilers about certain things but not enough where it was explicitly said (but like enough that i had an idea on stuff that would happen w the finale and also the mordread stuff bc i thought about it a lot i really did. though it was the stuff i was most spoiled on but not by too much). and was like. 'ok i wanna finish the main story first just bc i wanna get the information firsthand but the moment i do i'm hitting asphodel with the archangel beam bc like. idk i think it fits with specific aspects of her character and background.' and also bc i was relistening to kirby and the forgotten land ost entirely too much during that so it was bound to happen to asphodel at some point sorry girl. two planets approach the roche limit assignment be upon you

but after all of that. i did in fact beat the game and did the final stuff. like i didn't actually procrastinate it even after unlocking night's bridge station which is shocking for me. but the funniest thing to me is that i did not utilize fusion until it was forced upon me during the scripted part of the aleph null fight bc like. i need you to know even with having the levels close to mine it was like a one sided battle. fighting aleph was funny bc i don't even. think his angelic attack did that much to me or it didn't matter bc custom starter + sticky spray + two critical AP (one shared with allies) mothmanic with robindam that hits like a truck with ranged attack just. utterly demolished that guy. literally the same shit happened with aleph null except everyone else was there that i had. also maxed out and everything. i'm pretty sure if the fight wasn't scripted that would've been the end of it aleph is just a sore loser and cheated. i got through the scripted segment, i went through the credits and i decided to listen to into the light splatoon 2 after it and it made me feel. Emotions. did not help that this game reminds me the most of a pokemon mystery dungeon game out of all of the pokemon games i've played if anything

postgame has been mostly me grinding and i have not touched the gauntlet yet just bc there's other stuff i wanted to do first (such as completing here comes the sun and also eventually the morgante rematch...which i still haven't done yet. rn it's bc i'm procrastinating but before it was bc it forces me to actually use walls in archangel fights >:(). but i Will get around to it in between that and other things i need to work on

i think i said it before but i'll say it again: i had fun with this game and still am having fun! i played it on switch for the first time bc honest to god if i had gotten it on steam it would've taken me. months to get to and lowkey i would've been enraged if i had started playing it on my old laptop right before it broke bc i Did think about buying it on steam first i really did. i Do wanna play it again on steam at some point mostly to stream it to my friends on discord so i can spread my illness /hj but yeah it was definitely a fun experience to play a different monster collector genre game that wasn't pokemon or dragon quest monsters (i only add the latter bc i grew up w it specifically the joker series. more people should try that one too), the experience felt more unique to those and it was really fun actually going into the game absolutely blind to anything about it. i plan to eventually try out more monster collector games when i have the gaming energy to do so, though honestly a lot of the time it's gonna be on switch first bc i don't. trust my laptops to function properly for longer than a year any more despite me maintaining them well. i do plan to keep playing cassette beasts in the meanwhile, i had fun with it and honestly having a thing to hyperfixate on after the whole latter half of october and november as a whole went down. probably helped me not lose my mind as much lol

on a different front. i Will blame this game for causing me to introject like 3 different guys relating to it bc wtf man /lh (<- see: system. i know damn well that i was likely to introject at least one character from this game i just didn't think it'd fuckgin be. three guys at once)

but yeah thank you for reading this far if you did bc this is . very long i enjoyed explaining the way i played this game very much i hope this gives context on that one screenshot of the 900+ fused material collected

[the-teddy-bear-butch]

And if I made a semi-D&D based Dablooniverse TTRPG, what then? Hm, what then?

Initial thoughts:

Basically everyone is a little anthropomorphic cat traveler

Keep some D&D stats, but not all: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence stay. See also: Cuteness (basically Charisma), Mischief, Magic

Races -> Breeds which affect stats. Up to you and the GM, but basic formula being every breed gets +2 in one stat and -1 in the other, you can also forgo specifying a breed and just pick a stat to increase and one to decrease

Stats are rolled 2d6 +6, so 8-18 before additions

I’m still thinking about the leveling system but it will probably go along with a sort of D&D style system

(Orange cats get +2 cuteness and -1 intelligence because come on)

Classes get simplified down somewhat. Essentially barbarian, bard, mage, ranger, rogue, maybe a basic fighter. Mostly just simplifying the casters because there are So Many and they are needlessly complex. Probably dropping subclass, but maybe including things like specializations? (Alternative idea, Fighter -> barbarian, ranger, rogue, monk for specializations, Mage -> potion maker, healer, battlemage specializations type shit)

Backgrounds being occupations like fisher, farmer, potion maker and provide different skill proficiencies.

Skill checks are still based on stats and the GM decides what makes the most sense in the moment??

Still using the d20 system

In game culture places a lot of value on food. Most foods and rest stops provide limited magical healing and buffs

Taverns are seen as culturally important as well. They’re community gathering places, rest stops, places of healing and whatnot. Stores are also important, and item bartering happens just as much as dabloon purchases

Surprising lack of large cities, more often small villages with warm communities and cottages and cabins and random taverns on the road

Look I’m making this shit wholesome, sue me

Obviously in world currency is dabloons. You only ever gain or lose them in multiples of 4 for unknown reasons

Emphasis on keys as symbolism and cultural imagery. Why, you may ask? I have received at least 5 strange keys from dabloontok and idk what they do

Other animals exist, but for the most part it is cats

There are familiars and horses still, maybe some dragons

Ofc there’s a thieve’s guild and little cat robbers but encountering them isn’t an immediate loss, you can fight or reason with them

I have a whole main quest line worked out in my head but I’m not putting it here because I’m running a game at some point with some of y’all and you’re not getting spoilers 🗡

Gonna type everything in a Doc and make it Fancy like an Official Player’s Handbook at some point but I don’t have my laptop so you’re getting disorganized thoughts

Please please please let me know if y’all have thoughts or suggestions 👀

[miss-smutty]

Immortal Chapter 2

A/N- I'm kind of falling in love with where this is going, super excited for it!! I would love your feedback, as always 😘

Summary- Aria had to avoid the God of Thunder at all costs, she couldn't risk his questioning. Questions that even she didn't know the answer to, at least not yet.

Word count- 1,866

Pairing- Thor Odinson x OFC

Warnings- Swearing

18+ only!

Posted: 1st June 2021

Taglist- @innerpaperexpertcloud @pandaxnienke @chickensarentcheap @longlostinanotherworld @mostly-marvel-musings

Chapter 1

Aria was actually running from the ball and her Prince Charming like freaking Cinderella. The only difference is, she can't remember Cinderella getting fucked on a balcony by her Prince. Poor girl, she missed out there. It was the best experience of Aria's life, certainly the best orgasm of her life.

She didn't stop for breath until she reached the sidewalk outside the luxurious hotel where the ball had been held. Hailing down a cab as quickly as possible, wanting to put as much distance between herself and Thor as she possibly could. 

"Are you ok?" the cab driver asks, a look of genuine concern on his face as he manoeuvred his mirror to see aria's face sat in the back. Gesturing with his eyes at her badly torn dress and distressed face. Realising now, how it looks like she'd been attacked by a hungry animal, oh the irony of that one. She certainly had been but in all the right ways.

"I'm fine, just caught my dress in the door as I was leaving." She leans her head back against the comfy seat, the tiredness hitting her all at once. Having to read so many people in such a short period of time exhausts her, the sex and the running didn't help either.

Aria could tell he didn't believe her but he went about his business anyway, pulling the car back on to the road. Before she could relax she quickly got a sense of the stranger she was trusting to get her home safely. Searching him deeply to make sure there was no hidden agenda and finding the middle aged man sat in the front seat was a good man, he loved his family dearly and worked many hours to provide for them. She could relax for a while now, knowing through her intuition that this man would do her no harm.

"Where you going love?" He asked.

"22 Brook street please" She closed her eyes as she rested against the window of the cab, watching the world pass her by in a blur.

She wasn't always so lucky, to meet people with no bad intentions. Aria had come across many men and woman that had wanted to do her harm. She could tell almost immediately who these people were, could sense it on first glance and made a conscious effort to avoid them at all cost. Knowing everything about a person, even their deepest darkest secrets made it especially difficult to make friends. She was a loner and happy that way, nobody to explain herself to. Only herself to worry about and that's how she got by on a daily basis. A lone ranger.

                              *************

Why did I question her so much? Thor thought to himself, still leaning over the very balcony he'd fucked Aria on, not ten minutes earlier. He'd been so desperate to know more about the mysterious girl that he'd scared her and she'd fled into the night without so much as a glance back at him. Now he'd lost his only opportunity to find out why he felt such a connection with her.

Thor had never met a Midgardian like Aria before, there was something about her that felt like home. Even the way she smelt was familiar, he needed answers but more than that he needed to see her again. Their eyes had met across a crowded room, a chance meeting of strangers. Only now he couldn't stop thinking about her, she consumed his thoughts and he wouldn't rest until he saw her again.

Before he knew it he was already making his way around the back of the huge hotel and Into its large, open grounds. The enormous expanse of gardens, surrounded by tall trees was the perfect setting for what he had planned and there was only one goal in his mind.

Thor had to find her.

He didn't even know her name.

"Heimdall, I need your help." Thor spoke out loud in his deep and determined voice. Waiting for meer seconds before the Bifrost shot through the atmosphere, damaging the ground around him and pulling him back to Asgard. Taking him home.

"Welcome back to Asgard, Thor." 

"It has been a long time, my friend." Thor beamed, clapping Heimdall on the back. "I would very much appreciate your help with something…" 

"What is it? Not another mortal?" 

"Yes sort of but this one is different, she is unlike any other mortal I have ever met. I need to know what she is." Thor paced the ground, anxiety wearing him thin. He knew he would have to convince Heimdall to help him.

"I'm certain you said the same about Jane Foster." Heimdall raised his eyebrow at Thor questioningly, not convinced by his words.

"You can see for yourself, I do not think she is entirely mortal. I felt something within her, something familiar." Thor frowned, remembering the encounter and the way she almost matched him in strength. Maybe a slight exaggeration but certainly stronger than any other mortal he'd met before. Thor shook his head, turning back to Heimdall.

Heimdall thought for a minute, his eyes narrowing while his silent contemplations flashed through his mind. 

"Very well." Heimdall agreed. Thor watched in anticipation, waiting as patiently as he could.

"Can you see her?" Thor asked unable to bear the wait any longer, his feet shuffling beneath him. 

"I can't see her." Heimdall looked strangely confused. A look thor had never seen before. "She is shrouded from me."

"What does this mean?" Thor asked, agitated, his best shot at finding Aria taken away from him.

"A spell has been used to hide her from my vision."

"I am aware of that but why?" Thor says, his voice laced with anguish.

"I am unsure, this has never happened with a Midgardian before." 

"I told you she was different." His thoughts start to drift as he thinks of her, trying to fit the pieces together in his mind but coming up short.

"It appears you are right. This could mean danger but I'm sure you're not going to wait for answers." 

"No. Send me back, I have to find her." Thor announced clearly, his face contorting to a frown.

Heimdall pauses for a moment, thinking of a way to convince Thor to leave it alone but knowing deep down, nothing will deter him once he has his mind set on something.

Admitting defeat Heimdall wields Hofund and opens the Bifrost once more.

"Goodbye, friend." Thor says over his shoulder before making the journey back to the same place he had left, the luxurious hotel grounds.

Landing back to earth on bent knee, a large crowd had gathered around the huge crater that had been created by the Bifrost upon Thor's departure. The crowd expresses their awe once they see the God of Thunder stand and with no time for pleasantries turn to leave. The crowd parting to make way for him, some of them wary and some full of admiration but all filled with silent appreciation for the God.

Thor checked himself into the hotel knowing it would be foolish to search for Aria during the night. There was no way he'd be able to sleep with all the thoughts running through his mind so instead he spent the entire night making a detailed plan of where he would search. The fact that he didn't know a thing about her made it extremely difficult but he was still optimistic.

He must've fallen asleep at some point because when he awoke the next morning, his head was resting on the papers he'd been writing on. His neck stiff and his cheek aching with a little bit of ink imprinted on it.

With no time to waste Thor left the hotel, he didn't know where he should look but the little town centre seemed like the best place to start. 

                          **************

Aria sat in the little coffee shop in town, drinking her latte and lost in her book, immersed in another world that was as far away from this one as possible. She'd been sat there for most of the morning, her favourite thing to do on a Saturday. First a trip to the library and then she'd spend the morning sipping coffee slowly and reading whichever book had caught her fancy.

"Another coffee, Aria?" The waitress asks, seeing her third cup of coffee empty. 

"No thanks, Lauren. I better get going." While packing up her things into her handbag, making sure to leave a generous tip.

"No worries, see you next week." Lauren waved.

Aria made her way down the busy sidewalk, walking no where in particular. Intending to let her senses take control for once and see where she ended up.

Casually weaving her way through the people on the street, letting her mind wander, not concentrating on anything in particular...

Until her senses tingled with something new, well not entirely new but the very same feeling she felt in Thor's presence. Her heartbeat quickened, she wasn't sure whether it was excitement or something else.

Frantically scanning the people around her, thinking surely not, surely out of all the people you wouldn't accidently bump into Thor.

And then she spotted him. Thor wasn't exactly easy to miss. His tall, broad frame stood out from the crowd across the street.

And he spotted her. The moment their eyes locked, Aria felt the same sparks and magnetic pull she'd felt before. She was pretty sure if she gave in and didn't fight it, she would literally be pulled right across the street and into his arms. It was that strong.

"Hey… Hey stop. Please." Thor's voice carried across the traffic, that deep and commanding voice again. The voice she could hear above everyone else's, that consumed her mind on all levels. She began to panic, turning to look over her shoulder, not being able to think fast enough. What should I do? She thought.

What should she do? Run? Again. Stop and risk having to tell him about herself? Having to tell him everything she'd tried so hard to hide. For so long. No, she couldn't do it even though she so desperately wanted to see him again, wanted to feel him again. She couldn't.

So yet again, Aria ran away from her prince. Only this time he ran after her, he wasn't about to let her disappear again, so he ran, straight across the street. Meer meters away from her, chasing her and he was so damn fast.

Of course he's fast, what did she expect? There's no way she was going to outrun him but she could certainly outwit him.

Aria ducked in-between a crowd of people, hoping Thor would lose sight of her and she'd keep him off her tail. The problem being, him being so tall, he could see right over the heads of the people and Aria crouching low between them.

Last chance, picking up in her peripheral an alley between two shops. If she could get over there faster than Thor and find a dumpster to hide in , hopefully he will think she's escaped him once more.

In her desperate state she loses all sensibility, running out into the road without even looking. Realising too late that there was a car heading right her way. Fast.

[queeranerys]

the last time i watched lord of the rings i was struck by how often legolas stares longingly or lovingly at aragorn so here is the alternate romance subplot that exactly one person asked for

arwen and aragorn are like, sibs. they grew up together in rivendell and are brother and sister. she can still comfort him about being isildur’s heir and the legacy of wanting the ring, etc etc etc, but it’s not sexy whispering anymore!

legolas, longtime fan of aragorn, joins the fellowship mostly because he can't let a dwarf go along unsupervised and unchallenged, but also bc hot crunchy ranger man said "you have my sword" "WOW that was hot and you have my bow!!"

arwen gives aragorn the evenstar necklace, which i’ve decided was a betrothal necklace that elrond gifted to celebrian (arwen’s mother) when they got engaged, and she tells him to keep it in case that cute blond sylvan elf turns out to be more than a pretty face

legolas sees aragorn wearing this thing and assumes he’s got a beloved back home, but also can’t stop himself from them good old longing glances. he’s a simple boi with simple needs

aragorn returns them ofc but legolas is like “he’s just being nice”

aragorn tumbles over the cliff and legolas gets the necklace from that orc. he takes it really hard. gimli makes him meditate for a bit to steady himself (since elves don’t sleep) and he dreams of aragorn

we still have the breath of life sequence because viggo mortensen worked too hard for those shots for me to even consider removing them from the vision in my brain

aragorn dreams of legolas, coming back from the brink of death to the soft sound of “may the grace of the valar protect you” and the brush of lips on his own

(it’s the horse, but maybe it was legolas)

aragorn, with the aid of brego, drags his bloodied and battered ass to helm’s deep and pushes the doors open like the dramatic sexy bitch he is (this doesn’t change i just thought i’d remind everyone of that Very Excellent Moment)

legolas tries to be cool about aragorn not being dead but squishes him with a big hug anyway

he gives aragorn the necklace back, but aragorn, knowing what this necklace means to him and rivendell elves, is like “oh fuck oh fuck he’s pROPOSING??? i mean he’s cute and hell yeah but it’s not a great time legolas” and kinda mumbles a thank you but um hmmm and runs off to go bother theoden

eowyn sees all of this go down and is like “okay so that’s gonna be a dead end for sure”

this is why legolas is a pissbaby for the rest of the lead-up to the battle at helm’s deep

so when he’s like “forgive me, i was wrong to despair” aragorn is like “there’s nothing to forgive. i mean, let’s talk about this maybe....after the ring is destroyed... or at the very least after this battle is over” 

legolas: talk about what

aragorn:....this betrothal necklace....

legolas: it’s yours. i pulled it off the orc that watched you go off the cliff. i wanted it to be safe in case you came back or in case you didn’t and your betrothed wanted it

aragorn: my w h a t

legolas: aragorn i know what a betrothal necklace looks like. 

aragorn: my sister gave this to me

legolas: wait what

anyway they figure it out and all is well and they’re cute and the battle happens

the rest of the plot isn’t that different EXCEPT

if we want a “dying elf as motivation to defeat the bad guy” the one dying is elrond, he’s old as balls and can take it

arwen is the one who brings anduril to aragorn :)

before the final battle, legolas kisses aragorn and says like “idk if my dad is down with this, but if we survive this i’m marrying the fuck out of you” and aragorn is like :) :) :) :*

the coronation bit

aragorn makes his way down the aisle in the crowd like normal la di da except where legolas was in the movie, he pats eowyn on the shoulder instead

behind the white tree banner is legolas, in the sweetest tunic you ever saw, flanked by his fancy dad, who nods at aragorn like “all good dude” and we still get the very sweet bow-touch-the-chin-unsure-looks-but-then-passionate-kiss-and-hug thing and the rest is the same and they’re in love and it’s beautiful. anyway. 

thank u for coming to my ted sandyman talk

[official-lovestruck-galen]

Lucas Season 2 Episode 6 Thoughts

Lucas laughing in the face of a freaky puppet army is slightly concerning to say the least. I mean maybe not but I’m concerned.

At least he’s trained in army destroying and dragon slaying

His happiness is kinda infectious tho tbh I get you MMC

YESSSS KISSSSSSS!!!!!!

I’m just out here beaming is the thing.

👀👀💖💖👀👀💖💖

It’s just so natural and giddy and they’re happy and it’s making me happy!!!!! Aaaaa!!!!! :D

Also the wording of everything in this route is still everything the writing quality is so high I love it.

You can have celebratory make outs it’s fine. You’ll feel great when it’s done it’s fine.

Also I haven’t looked at Ezra’s route and my memory is nothing but like is this his room it looks like it and if it is LOL

God something about MMC thinkin this is the most beautiful Lucas has ever looked makes me so happy is the thing what is it idk I know nothing except that it’s awesome.

Ezra knew it was comin ahdlahdkahkdh and ofc he's chill about it Ezra’s great

Noooo enjoy the moment you had it was ggreaaaattttt!!

Agdlhqkfhakrhelsh FMC. If this was realistic she won’t let him live that down until it just fails to embarrass him and she can move onto something else.

I mean y’all can always make out on a place that isn’t the stairs

CAMPAIGN SOOOOOOONG ahdlahdlahdksh I can imagine MMCs face.

THE MMC BARD COMPARISON IS MORE THAN A ONE-OFF YESSSSSSS. I love bards they’re awesome. I’ve played plenty of uhhh morally questionable ones recently but!!! MMC is a great bard and I love him.

Well now I want them to play DnD. Also I’m very glad to know me and MMC have the same favorite class even if I clearly like rangers more than him ahdlahfksh.

I know I said last time I wouldn’t mourn every heart scene and I know it’s becoming the norm now but dang it. I want all the heart scenes this update and I’m gonna be sad about my lack of hearts!!! Why must all MMCs music be paywalled I wanna see, damn it

God they’re so in love though they’re wonderful

This is my favorite Lucas CG so far actually I love this. THEY’RE NAPPIN.

That was so sweeeeeet omg. I loved that episode it was just pure joy honestly. I mean there was a liiiiiiiiiiiiittle serious talk but it was mostly pure joy.

Listen the plot’s great I’m into it I’m invested but sometimes. You just need some fluff to get you through 2020. I’ll probably be going back to that episode at the inevitable season cliffhanger. For recovery purposes.

Also I’m mostly in it for the characters and writing, the plot could be nonsense for all I care. Though the fact that it’s good shit is a definite bonus.

[zhoufeis]

I’m almost finished with rewatching all episodes of seasons 1, 2 & 3 of the tribe. So I decided it’s time for a personalized summary (under the cut). I’ll be focusing on favourite storylines, favourite characters and ships... and things that surprised me while rewatching.

So, to give you a heads-up season 1 and season 3 are far better than season 2. And, to my own surprise, it’s not just the lack of Amber that’s a problem in season 2. Season 2 is all over the place. The Mallrats don’t seem like an actual family anymore, the storylines are told throughout the city rather than mainly focusing on the things that happen within the mall, some members of the Mallrats don’t even interact with each other. I suppose, actually, that this atmosphere of a broken, dysfunctional family (and not in a good way) is precisely what the writers were aiming for though considering the turnout of season 2, which, btw, I didn’t even remember like this but it’s BREATHTAKING. Definitely one of my favourite scenes in the entire show, which was a huge surprise to me because I just couldn’t remember anything that was positive about season 2. But besides the season 2 finale, there was actually more. The attempted rescue of Trudy - I did remember this, it was a picture of the show that has been stuck with me forever and watching it again reminded me how incredible that scene was. My favourite thing about season 2 of The Tribe as a child was... who would have thought, Ellie. And she still is. She’s less biased than most people in there and looks at things with morality and rationality alike, but she always takes different perspectives. One of my 3 top characters in season 2, which leads to the surprises season 2 had in store for me: Alice and Tai-San. Honestly, I don’t remember loving Tai-San nor Alice as a child very much. I changed my point of view on them completely. Tai-San in season 1 might not be my fave, not even close, but starting with season 2, Tai-San actually becomes awesome. Her quotes were always great, but in season 2, her actions actually have consequences and she makes valid points when verbally fighting her own tribe members. I guess it also makes it easy to side with her because she constantly fights Danni, but well, that’s just a personal preference. The friendship of Alice and Tai-San is another of my fave things about this show, and I didn’t even remember it. They’re so different and yet have such a nice understanding for each other that their argument over Lex really hurt to see. However, like all good f/f friendships... a guy isn’t worth giving up a friendship about, which these two eventually prove. Therefore, Alice and Tai-San were my favourite surprise about my rewatch.

But enough of season 2, let’s talk season 1. Season 1 is great. While the first few episodes are slow-moving, by the time you get to episode 10, you just wanna keep watching and watching and watching. I don’t know exactly what it is - the drama, the characters, the fact that you basically only ever follow the events in the mall and barely anything outside of it... I don’t know, but it’s great. What I don’t understand is the hatred that some of these characters have to endure in the comment sections. This specifically goes out for Salene and Trudy. I mean, yeah, it’s not like this is the only season they’re hated on, but I feel like this season is the most constant when it comes to hatred towards both characters. Honestly, I love them. Do they annoy me sometimes? Absolutely. But basically all of their behaviour and actions are explained - post-natal depression, an eating disorder, or the simple fear of being alone (btw, all very well-developed storylines and well-explained for children); all of it is understandable if one puts themselves into their shoes for a moment. I do feel extremely bad about what happens to Ryan and Salene in season 2+3 because they deserved better but... I cannot hate Salene for it. Salene obviously has a lot of problems with herself, which she must figure out first before she can accept someone by her side who clearly accepted her more than she ever did herself. This leads us to Ryan. Ryan... God, Ryan. Ryan deserved better and I’ll forever cry about him. His character development from the guy who blindly follows Lex to the pure, freedom-loving, rebellious, kind guy who just wants to live in peace with his Mallrats is... tragic if you consider what happens to him. Never again will I forget the look on his face when he realizes that Salene is telling him he cannot see his child. So to sum this up: Salene and Trudy deserve more love by the fandom; Ryan deserved more love by the writers. So did Patsy, btw. Has anyone ever seen a child character suffer that much?

Now... what did surprise me in my rewatch? The amount of characters I actually like or even love. Actually, there’s barely anyone I don’t love. I mean, when it comes to character depth, this show is one of the most well-written ones because the characters are not just one thing or another. They’re multi-faceted, multi-layered and you can understand most of their reasonings even when you don’t agree with all of their choices. And by “most” I mean there are exceptions. Some things you aren’t supposed to understand - you’re supposed to judge it negatively. I suppose, Lex in season 1 often falls into that category. However, it’s difficult to hate him afterwards, isn’t it?! His relationship with Tai-San is nice to watch, his love-hate relationship with Bray is entertaining, his parenting with KC is... questionable but all the more fun, his devotion to Zandra even after her death is beautiful, his friendship to Ryan is interesting, his friendship to people like Alice, Ebony or Amber is just wonderfully fun and... unlikely. So, who do I hate in my rewatch so far? There’s just three names coming to my mind and I’d like to make a difference here. I hate the Guardian. Like everyone who watches this show should. However, he’s an interesting, entertaining character to watch and he’s not someone I wish had never been in the show. The other two characters I really, really, really dislike... they’re this category of characters I wish had never been on my screen: Ned and Danni. While I do see that Danni was just this poor substitute for Amber, but was incapable of making up for Amber, I just don’t see the point in Ned. Maybe the show wanted someone to kill off none of the viewers would mourn. I certainly couldn’t. I was actually happy when Moz turned around his body and his dead eyes were staring into the sky. Kind of made me like the Guardian to 1%. #SorryNotSorry. However, Danni is a more interesting case here to discuss because there’s two things that went wrong with her character. The first thing that went wrong is the fact that she was definitely too much like Amber but she just WASN’T Amber. Also, as you may or may not have noticed... I’m a Bray/Amber fan. And I do admit, I might be biased. Then again, I love Pride. Like I looove him so far. I didn’t when I was a child, but I do now and I’m happy to. Sooo, the fact that I dislike Danni must be more than just me loving Amber/Bray. But well, still, viewers don’t like having to get over their favourite characters with characters who are basically like them but aren’t them. And the second thing that went very wrong with Danni’s character was the casting choice. The actress just was really, really bad. 

Which actually leads me to some noteworthy comment about the acting on this show: I was positively surprised how good it actually is. Like, duh, not Oscar-worthy. But I could have sworn it’s as bad as the Power Rangers series or teenage-driven shows like The Next Step. I suppose, that actually has something to do with the fact that I would watch the German dubbing as a child rather than the actual English versions. Now that I’m a grown-up, I’m watching the English versions ofc. And it actually isn’t bad acting. It’s better than most of the acting that I see on The 100. There are a few who stand out for being very good compared to the others and there are a few who stand out for being quite horrible compared to the rest - the actress of Danni falls into the latter category. But Dwayne Cameron, Beth Allen, Caleb Ross, Meryl Cassie and Michelle Ang actually make great leads. And there’s a couple more actors and actresses who are really not that bad. I also like to give this show credit for the fact that they mostly actually cast children and teenagers - most other children- and teenage-driven shows are incapable of doing that.

I don’t know what to say about season 3 of this show other than pointing out that it’s just well done. I love how it starts out with the rebels not being in contact with their Mallrats who have been enjailed in the mall by the Chosen. I like the Chosen storyline, I also love how it sometimes drags religion in general... it’s nice to watch. On the other hand, watching the rebels in the form of Lex, Ebony and Bray is just entertaining and fastmoving, which makes up most of season 3 anyway and goes by fast. The development of Ebony’s reign over the city is a storyline that starts pretty early on but takes up more and more screentime with every episode of season 3. She’s a great character who has always moved the plot forward and you just know that this will go very, very wrong for Bray and Amber. She’s always been established as an energetic, mesmerizing, charismatic leader who fears no means to get to her goal - season 1, 2, 3... Bray should have listened to Amber and Lex. They warned him. The only thing I dislike about season 3 is the romantic development between Alice and Ned. Then again, I really love Alice and I really hate Ned, so it’s understandable. Furthermore, unlike most of the fandom, I’m not a huuuuge Jack fan. I mean... he’s fine, but he never will be my favorite character, which is why I didn’t mind that he was gone for quite some time. I have to admit that I liked him a lot more in season 1 because he was mostly shown spending time with Dal there - and I should mention, Dal is one of my absolute faves. In season 2, Jack mostly behaves like a jerk towards Dal, which made him lose points with me. Tbh, I’d also rather ship Ellie with Dal than with Jack... but mostly still... Dal with Jack. And Ellie with Luke... or did anyone else get gay vibes from Ellie and Ebony? Because I did. Basically, I ship a lot of things on this show. Ah, right, another thing I should mention... most heartbreaking moments: Dal’s death and Ryan finding out he won’t get to see his child. Also... peak acting on this show of Beth Allen and Ryan Runciman there. Anything else... ah yes... surprises... KC. I love KC. I don’t remember loving him that much, he’s fine in season 1, he’s better in season 2, but I just LOVE LOVE LOVE him in season 3. Barely makes up for the loss of Dal, but I love KC.

Soooooo... let’s summarize obvious things. After 3 seasons... - Top 3 female characters: Amber, Tai-San, Ellie. (special mentions to Alice and Ebony... and also, Trudy and the kids and... really, I love everyone) - Top 3 male characters: Bray, Dal, KC. (special mentions to Ryan, Pride... did I mention I love everyone?) - Characters who deserved better by the writers: Ryan, Patsy, KC, Bray, Zandra. - Characters who deserve better by the fandom: Trudy, Salene, Bray,  - Favorite canon ships: Bray/Amber, forever and always. I also really like Tai-San/Lex as well as I like Lex/Alice. But we all know the best option here is Alice/Tai-San. I really am warming up to Pride/May right now... and I will always love Salene/May. I also don’t understand why the show didn’t go with Trudy/Salene when they were RIGHT THERE AND PERFECT. Istg, Ebony and Ellie are also a thing. But well... the child in me could watch an entire show on Bray/Amber... and I guess... grown-up me isn’t that different ;)

[dawnfelagund]

So I just listened to your presentation about the Tolkien fandom - which is really good btw, very informative - and the point that transformational fanfiction is mostly female got me thinking (mainly bc in my experience fanfiction in general seems more female, I have knowingly read only three authors who identified as male). Do you think that's bc most fandoms have a distinct lack of fem characters, so fem writers have an incentive to write transformational fics that male writers don't?

Oh my, oh my this is such a good question that I fear I will not answer it as well as it deserves. But I’ll try!

(Here is the presentation mentioned in the ask, for anyone who wants context. Both video and text are available at the link.)

Why transformational fandom trends female is complicated and has been the subject of much discussion/debate since the advent of fanfic studies back in the early ‘90s. Early scholarship focused on women using fanfic to expand the original texts so that the better reflected the women/author’s own experiences, especially where emotions and relationships were concerned. From Jenkins’ Textual Poachers (1991):

Fans want not simply internal consistency but also what Ien Ang has described as “emotional realism.” Ang (1985) suggests that Dallas fans viewed the program not as “empirically” true to real-world experiences of upper-class Texans but rather as “emotionally” true to the viewers’ personal lives…. (107)

Female readers entered directly into the fictional world, focusing less on the extratextual process of its writing than on the relationships and events. … The female reader saw her own “tacit inferences” as a legitimate part of the story …. Moreover, male readers tended to maintain the narrative’s pre-existing focus on a central protagonist, while female readers expressed a greater eagerness to explore a broader ranger of social relationships …. (108-9, citing David Bleich [1986])

Camille Bacon-Smith, author of Enterprising Women (also 1991) writes:

Fanwriters, like soap opera fans, want to see characters change and evolve, have families, and rise to the challenge of internal and external crises in a nonlinear, dense tapestry of experience. Whether because of innate qualities or socialization, women perceive their lives in this way, and they like to see that structure reproduced in their literature. The writing experience becomes one of participation in the lives of the characters. (64)

Jenkins and Bacon-Smith really established fanfic studies as we know it, so I include these ideas to show how foundational they are and, I believe, underlie more recent resistant/reparative motives. Underlying this early assumption is that mainstream media and literature doesn’t represent the experiences of women, so we have to create it ourselves. Hence what we’d now call transformational fandom: the shifting of authority onto the fanwriter to rework a fictional universe according to her own experience of reality. I think this holds true in Tolkienfic fandom, although it is more complex than the theories above (rooted in media, not book, fandom) suggest, in that my research shows that Tolkienfic authors engage in much more negotiation with canon details and (most importantly) Tolkien’s authority. In other words, they care about how to create that “emotional realism” but within the confines of the canon, which many would take to include Tolkien’s views, unstated in the texts, on the canon and even his moral prerogatives.

My sense is that there is a definite connection between the early ideas of women creating fanworks to see their realities and experiences represented in the fictional universes they love and the present-day idea of fanfiction as a form of resistant reading. (Here, I am perfectly willing to have my hand smacked by people better versed in fan studies history if I’m mangling or missing key pieces of the relationship between these two schools of thought. Just speak up.) Because part of the experience of being a woman is opening a history book and not seeing the lives of women represented or going to a film where women usually make up a minority of the cast (and are often cast into stereotyped roles). Part of our experience as Tolkien fans is coming to terms with our love of a book (LotR) where, to borrow the wince-inducing stat cited by Una McCormick, there are more named horses than women. (The Silmarillion fares better in terms of named women but still isn’t great, as I have argued elsewhere, in providing those named women with roles and agency equal to that of the men.)

(Here I’m going to focus on the Tolkienfic fandom. I know your question was broader than that, but I study the Tolkienfic fandom, and as a fan, I’m monofandom myself, so I’m hesitant to speak about the norms and practices in other fandoms, nor am I as familiar with their scholarship. Others with insights about other present-day fandoms, please do add on.)

Una McCormick has a fabulous essay in Perilous and Fair that positions Tolkienfic as a form of what she calls “reparative reading”:

The complexity of such reading and writing practices and the ambivalence of the creative labor involved in making repairs upon such texts have driven some women readers to find a presence for themselves in The Lord of the Rings through writing fanfiction as a creative-critical response to Tolkien’s text. By weaving female characters into the familiar narrative, or else focusing upon marginalized characters such as nurses, servants, and non-combatants, these authors write themselves–or those like themselves–into the events of the War of the Ring. (310)

Una is a fanfic writer herself and a Tolkien scholar, and her work is unique in this sense, because she is intimately familiar with the Tolkienfic community as a participant and also because she has written one of the rare fanfic studies pieces focusing exclusively on our fandom. However–and I don’t think Una would disagree–reparative reading is just a part of Tolkienfic fandom, so I don’t think it fully explains the “transformational is female” trend. It is certainly part of it. My survey data shows a strong interest among Tolkienfic authors; 78% agree that “Writing fan fiction lets me explore the perspectives of female characters.” (80% of readers “like reading fan fiction about female characters.”)

What is interesting is that there is not a big difference in how women and men respond to the statement “Writing fan fiction allows me to explore the perspectives of femalecharacters.” 78% of women agreed; 73% of men agreed. Where there is a significant difference: 90% of nonbinary survey participants agreed with this survey item. (It’s worth noting that the sample of men was small. Less than 4% of survey participants identified as male.)

I also feel that I have to note that, historically, Tolkienfic fandom has had contingents hostile to including women characters in Tolkien-based fanfiction. Many who started in the fandom when I did (mid-2000s) will remember when “OFC = Mary Sue” (itself a term that I find sexist since the number of scrawny, nerdy dudes who become superheroes in comics attests that adding a dose of Awesome to a whopping pile of Ordinary is not inherently deserving of derision), and many people avoided writing women characters because they were a flame magnet. Key to this piece of history, too, is that, in my experience, the detractors and bullies of creators who wrote about women? Were, like the rest of the Tolkienfic fandom, a majority women. This was not guys trying to preserve a boys-only treehouse in the canon; this was women policing other women’s production of fanfiction, often using the canon itself as a tool to do so.

It’s also worth noting that changes in fandom perception of women characters has been due to the concerted effort of fans to draw attention to sexism in the canon and in the fandom and to celebrate fanworks that feature strong women characters. @vefanyar‘s concept of the textual ghost is the prime example in my mind, in that she not only drew attention to the problems in the canon–simply scrolling through her Textual Ghost Project is a visually provoking experience–but the potential for fanworks creators to address those problems in the reparative way that Una McCormick identifies. @vefanyar, among others, has paired this work with the canon with a concerted, years-long effort to encourage and celebrate fanworks about Tolkien’s women, creating a climate where, finally, it feels like writing about women comes with more rewards than risks.

So. To conclude. I think that the scholarship, my data, and my own experience as a Tolkienfic author/archive owner points to an answer to “Why is transformational fandom overwhelmingly female?” in the context of Tolkienfic fandom, as: It’s complicated. Yes, some of us are working to address the inequality both in the number and quality of female characters in the canon. But as my presentation states, this is just a partial picture because Tolkienfic fandom is not fully transformational, and women are attracted to this fandom for reasons that have nothing to do with establishing gender parity in the canon. I earlier held up the stats of 78% of authors (and 80% of readers) enjoying fanfiction about women to suggest that there is an interest in telling women’s stories in the fandom, but I’d also say that the one in five not interested (or not sure if they’re interested) in stories about women aren’t insignificant. This is still a sizable contingent of the fandom, a majority of whom are women. The desire to produce transformational fanworks runs deep in women fans and may hearken back to Jenkins’ and Bacon-Smith’s broader ideas about women’s experiences, may suggest a difference in how girls/women are socialized, may reflect barriers to entering more affirmationally oriented fan communities, or may come down to something else (like the social/community aspect of fandom) entirely.

[hzcleski]

hello friends! you probs know who i am already but if not hello! i’m sam aaand this is my newish muse! i played hal here for a minute one time but i’ve decided to give him a huuuuge revamp so character info is under the cut! lmk if you wanna plot! messaging me @ellvie​ is probably easiest!

╰☆╮ DYLAN O'BRIEN ─ HAL ZALESKI identifies as CIS MALE and uses HE/HIM pronouns. they’re a FORMER OLYMPIAN/NHL PLAYER, and they’re only TWENTY THREE ! they’re said to be CAPABLE, but also TURBULENT. i guess that’s why they’re known as THE LEGACY in the tabloids.

quick disclaimer that this is a sideblog so i might post to the wrong account sometimes

other disclaimer a lot of my hockey information is from google ok

nathan harold zaleski jr was practically born with a pair of skates on, which makes sense considering his family is hockey royalty. his father is nathan harold zaleski sr, aka a legend and one of the biggest names in sports to this very day. olympic gold medalist several times over, beloved longtime defenseman for the toronto maple leafs, at the very peak of his career and married to a beautiful wealthy socialite when his only child was born.

listen...this is an au where the maple leafs are good or like, had one genuinely good star player in nathan sr. okay thanks for coming to my ted talk!

he’s got dual citizenship because he was born in canada even though he hasn’t lived there since he was ten, but his parents were us citizens, which doesn’t seem important but WAIT FOR IT

nathan jr, who would begin going by the nickname of hal early on in life, probably learned how to skate before he even learned how to walk because of course he did. his father’s intention was always to have another him. i mean for fuck’s sake they have the exact same name. hal’s purpose in life has never been in question, not by him or anyone who’s ever seen him play.

his natural talent for hockey became apparent from a very young age, which didn’t surprise anyone ofc. his father saw it as a sign and began pushing him even harder, hiring the very best trainers and coaches to help perfect his game while nathan sr focused on his own career.

except that he was running out of steam and fast. nothing happened like there was no huge scandal or career ending injury. nathan sr was just...getting old. fans were simply losing interest in him as newer and younger players joined the league and there was nothing he could really do about it except make sure his legacy lived on.

hal was ten years old when everything seemed to finally fall apart. his dad was hanging on to the very last threads of his career, let go from the maple leafs and almost certainly picked up by the new york rangers purely out of pity. meanwhile, hal’s parents finally divorced which he took almost alarmingly well for a ten year old, but it’s not like his parents were ever a shining example of a deep, loving marriage. they spent years settling the divorce, fighting back and forth while suing the shit out of each other across whole fuckin countries. lowkey they almost wound up being more famous for the legal drama than they were for hockey.

hal’s dad finally retired when he was twelve, won sole custody of him when he was fourteen, and pulled enough strings to get him a spot on the canadian hockey team dual citizenship! going to the 2010 vancouver winter olympics when he was just a teenager, making him one of the youngest players to ever compete in the games.

and canada won gold that year so hal was making history again in no time, being one of the youngest players to ever become a gold medalist in the winter olympics. now he didn’t actually see a lot of playing time that year. his skill was undeniable, but no one seemed to think that he was ready for the big time rush. tbh they probably weren’t wrong, but nevertheless his name and his win made an impression on everyone.

up until that point hal was homeschooled bc ofc education came second to hockey, but he always wanted to attend an actual school and he did! after his first olympics his dad finally sent him to the same private school in the city as all the other rich kids and it was...weird! he started in the middle of the year and was instantly an outsider among his classmates. everyone else had known each other all their lives so hal immediately at a disadvantage. it didn’t help that he’d never really...had a single friend before. tbh his peers were probably intimidated by him. he was just a high schooler and already an olympic gold medalist like...ofc no one wanted to be the person to go approach him and say hi.

played for canada again dual citizenship! at the 2014 winter olympics in sochi when he was eighteen and this time HE WAS THE STAR. absolutely at the top of his game. anyone who still thought that he was a joke before the games started shut up real quick when he won his second gold medal.

he got home and was eventually drafted into the nhl, so he sorta ditched school oops. technically he finished but like...barely since he went back to being tutored for the last few months.

several teams wanted him and tried to throw a shit ton of money at him, but hal settled on the new york rangers with a huge multi million dollar deal

he quickly stole hearts on and off the ice. whether fans admired his skill or followed him during the olympics or remembered his father, for one reason or another he was winning people over left and right. unsurprisingly he’d go on to win the 2014-2015 rookie of the year award, presented to him by the president of the nhl and everything.

he did not attend the 2018 winter olympics in pyeongchang as the nhl famously refused to release their players. hal himself was a major part of the uproar. the whole country of canada dual citizenship! practically threw a fucking fit bc the nhl was disqualifying their star player from winning them their third gold medal in a row and hey big surprise...canada didn’t win gold in 2018 :)

hal’s in the middle of his fifth i think? year of pro hockey rn and so far his career has been solid. his dad is really pushing him to sign with a “better team” and he has gotten offers, but he isn’t really interested. he likes playing for new york & he likes living in new york. maybe someday....maybeeee....but for right now he’s happy with where he is.

okay now for some fast facts!

literally always looks like he just got into a fight, probably bc he just did during his last game. is usually sporting some injury like a black eye or split lip or cut cheek. fortunately hasn’t completely given in to the hockey player stereotype by getting all of his fuckin teeth knocked out...yet

notice that i hardly mentioned his mom? that about sums up their relationship tbh. hal was practically raised by nannies and trainers. his mom always had some brunch or gala or public appearance she was far more invested in. literally she didn’t even really...want custody of him when she divorced his dad, but she claimed to just to be petty and give nathan sr an even more difficult time. yeah they kinda hate each other now and since hal has always been closer to his dad, his mom isn’t even really that interested in seeing him lmao. she’ll call like once a month and invites him to brunch if she happens to be in the city, but ngl hal probably hasn’t seen her in like...a couple years at the least. he’s not really broken up about it either.

right so...walking talking endless pit of daddy issues? you bet! just because hal prefers his dad doesn’t mean that they get along or that his dad is a good person. he still has his perfect public image and he isn’t complete garbage but...yeah their relationship is extremely toxic. he’s always been very harsh with hal, pushing him and pushing him to be the best bc nothing he accomplishes is ever good enough.

so what if he's won two olympic gold medals? so what if he was rookie of the year? so what if he’s considered one of the best and most beloved players in the nhl? he can do more, he can be even better. his dad is a constant voice in his head even though he’s always around anyway. he never misses a game or an opportunity to point out hal’s every flaw.

ofc as a result hal’s always been very hard on himself. every single day of his entire life has been spent basing his self worth off what his father thinks of him. it was awful for his self esteem bc no fucking duh.

HOWEVER. it isn’t public knowledge at this time, but as of right now? hal’s relationship with his father is falling apart faster and faster by the moment. they’re a ticking time bomb & it’s literally only a matter of time before they explode yikes!

fortunately hal could sorta sense the direction things were heading and did something about it. he finally moved out when the hockey season started back in october and he’s been feeling better ever since. like he has more control over his life even though his dad is still WAY too involved.

personality: a douchebag who means no harm, mostly because he's never really trying to be a jerk. tends to come across as a typical meathead jock for good reason bc that’s exactly who he is. in conversation he's usually very blunt and a little awkward bc he’s still learning how to socialize with others. hockey is basically his whole life so it’s all he knows how to talk about, which can either be endearing or annoying. a genius hockey player, but a ditz in every other area. very short - tempered and impulsive. always means well and wants the best for those he cares about, but might go about expressing those feelings in a weird way bc he was never taught how to properly deal with his emotions.

CONNECTIONS

family

step sibling he grew up with - sabrina miller

paternal cousins - warren daily and wren daily

cousin by marriage - rosalind cox

maternal cousin - open. his mom is polish for reference!

romantic

girlfriend - genesis iver

ex fiancée - ginny baker

ex on good terms - margo massey

ex who cheated on him - isla thompson

former fwb - amethyst armenta, open to more.

former toxic on / off relationship - reese monroe

exes, open to more.

hal has a ton of other exes and i don’t feel like listing them tbh all so i’m just gonna assume that y’all know who you are ok

platonic

best friend 5ever - marialena goldstein

confidant - open.

family friends - sullivan ramsey, open to more.

childhood friends - open to more.

close friends - open to more.

friends - mia kauri, chance kauri, theo cannon, angel almeida, open to more.

bickering friends - open to more.

workout buddy - open.

negative

on bad terms - kennedy drakos, jay weston, open to more.

these are just a few plot ideas! i’m most definitely open to other stuff so if you have any ideas please free to share! i think that’s enough from me soooo yeah! mssg me if you wanna plot & as always i’m super excited to write with everyone!

[futb-o-lka]

So, here is today's god tier TMA-related conspiracy theory

Which was originally just a throwaway thought but by now it's so late into the night that we might as well call it early and I've long since gone full 9th season of x files on this thing.

But still

Many think the 15th Fear to be connected with technology. Well, what if it isn't.

You see, every time something Russian is mentioned I go 'yay finally a familiar word' so I noticed that it happens quite often.

Or, to put it simpler:

Let's count:

другой Цирк (aka the Circus of the Other). The most obvious one, and to me the funniest as well. What makes a russian circus so creepy? I mean, the circus as we know it developed in Europe in the second half of the 18th century. Traditionally these are Italian circus families who are most renowned for their art and the most famous contemporary circuses come from the US, Canada and France. As for Russia, circuses - and clouns - were never historically associated with evil or feared here. For crying out loud, ever since 1975 clowns are etched into our subconscious as these sad guys who have to do their job no matter what they really feel (all thanks to The Song). Doesn't make much sense, huh? Note: associated with the Stranger.

The Tundra (aka Peter Lucas' ship). Fyi tundra came into Russian from Finnish tunturi, i.e. a high woodless mountain, and then transferred into English as well. Tundras are flat and treeless, but more importantly they are vast, cold and lonely. Ironically enough, note: associated with the Lonely.

The Sannikov Land (aka i checked and such a place never really excited). Fun fact: maybe it did. Nowadays it's referred to as 'a ghost island'. The first explorers back in the 19th century proved its existence through simple observations as well as studying the migration routes of wild geese. Some modern scientists explain the phenomenon by stating that there was an island, just not a solid one, but one formed by the fossil ice of permafrost with a thin layer of soil on top. They discovered the Sannikov Bank, after all. It is situated right where the the original island was supposed to be: to the north from New Siberian islands, Russia. Note: associated with the Spiral.

That book in Cyrillic that attempted to read Michael Crew. The vaguest one, as several Slavic nations write in Cyrillic. Maybe I'm reading too much into it (haha), but there is no proof that it wasn't in Russian either. Note: a Leitner, probably associated with the Eye.

Well, over with fun facts, here we are. Four things connected with four different entities and covered in total of at least 7 statements (mag 24, mag 33, mag 44, mag 91, mag 99, mag 104 and mag 126 are all I can name off the top of my head but hey, it's the effort that counts). What unites them? One word, 6 letters: Russia.

I gonna cut the bullshit now: I think that Russia might be the 15th Fear. Yep! The whole friggin' country!

That's how it works.

As this (actually coherent and plausible) speculation on entity politics goes, each entity feeds of several more specific fears (aka fear territory). When a new Fear gains enough power to become a whole new entity, the other entities are forced to share some of their territory with it. (Which they happen to hate, thus the coalition that is supposedly forming rn). Anyways, what really interests me here is how small fears can be regrouped. Like, if that's turns out true, under certain circumstances they can sorta assemble into a big bad Fear Power-Rangers-style.

So, given in tma universe the number of paranoid guys who fear one (1) country for a number of different reasons (its appearance as vast, deathly cold, thoughtlessly brutal hellhole, its government reeeally continuous struggle to pull off power play against the rest of the world and whatever else) is big enough, the said country will turn into something other than just a country...

So basically the Russia (lmao) as an entity feeds on the fear the foreigners feel for it. Its every citizen is its avatar. If you were born in Russia you are doomed (as a person, not as a creature of pure terror, naturally).

Also good luck with those plastic explosives of yours, Team Archives.

UPD: I forgot Mr Sergey Ushanka from mag 65: binary, associated with Elias-knows-what. 'Ushanka' (шапка-ушанка) is a hilarious fur hat (with flappy 'ears', thus the name) btw

TMA geography is wider than that ofc. There are statements from France, Italy, Germany, Egypt, China, and India was mentioned at some point, too. Apart from that there's USA, which is home for at least two of the entities. These are the facts BUT within the context of this theory I prefer to turn a blind eye to them, pun intended.

Thanks for reading my Wild Speculation™, hope you enjoyed it at least a little. As for the facts (Researched for Fun and Educational Purposes Only), the articles I read were mostly in Russian, that's why there are no links:( I still can provide them; feel free to ask but beware of paranormal properties of Cyrillic texts dxhdhflhpej