#something I did for this maris server challenge (:

[jittyjames]

⭐

ok let me talk about john 11:35 for a moment— or jesus wept

this fic is actually more recently written. it originally started as a Valentine's Day fic for the jcs discord server (sun/moon dynamics with jesus/mary/judas) but then it twisted into this big ole fic. you can still see the whispers of the fluff piece it once was, like when jesus compares mary to light and warmth and stares at the stars with judas. so i didn't get to actually join that challenge, but there was an effort!

i think it's quite clear the disciples in this fic were actually a commentary on most modern day religious spaces. like blatantly ignoring the words of jesus to focus on their hate instead? searching for power? having no forgiveness of empathy for even the man they call savior? yeahhhhh. i think the disciples are still sympathetic characters honestly, and they're more traumatized than anything. their perceptions of death are so scattered at the moment. so much so they can't even grasp what it means to die anymore. because jesus came back. he came back after the horrors. he suffered, but yet he's still here. so how bad can death truly be? and they want to ensure their legacies are intact. they want to become legends, just like they always did. but now, two of their own just died at once. they have to scramble to make sure they're leaving something behind. so now, let's talk about the misogyny. we can see it begin to mold. we all know jesus accepted women perfectly well into the group, that it was the apostles and paul who started with the whole "women should sit down and shut up" type thing. but we can see that with mary's treatment. peter is the first person to disregard her when it comes to picking the next apostle. yeah he says it's because she's traumatized, but truly it's because he doesn't think he can handle sharing the spotlight with someone who jesus loves more than him again. (we all know i headcanon judas and peter as jesus' right and left hand). it's not necessarily that he's in love with jesus or anything like that, but he knows how he feels. he thinks he knows what's best at the moment. mary and judas? even jesus to an extent? ruled by their emotions for each other. he sees judas' betrayal as the result of some petty relationship drama. he won't have it coming in again to ruin everything he has planned. but peter is also viewing mary as weak. how can she grieve the man who killed jesus? why is she crying all the time when she should be spitting on his grave like the rest of them? it makes Peter not trust her. and then you just have the period-typical misogyny, too mixing with that. then, we also have matthias not even acknowledging her, even as she stands by jesus' side. she's not important to him or to the story, even if she's jesus' heart. she's already being erased by the narrative. and john making the choice of leaving their relationship as a whole out of his book? rooted in homophobia and misogyny. their version on jesus should be above the likes of mary and judas. i have a lot of disciples thoughts. they're not perfect, but they're not simply evil here either. they have their reasons. like can you imagine watching your friend die bc their boyfriend sold them out to the police, and no one really gives you a good explanation for it? you'd be pissed, too. you'd be hurt.

ONE OF THE THINGS IDK IF ANYONE HAS MENTIONED YET. He had caught sight of him one night, sitting amongst a field of poppies, the darkness encasing the deep red of them, the pale blue of Judas.- POPPIES ARE A SYMBOL OF DEATH. JUDAS WAS SITTING IN A FIELD OF POPPIES NIGHTLY. idk if anyone caught onto it, but i most definitely wrote that with an intention. ALSO i had never utilized feet washing scenes bc i don't want people to think i have a foot fetish but like. there's so much angst potential there, and gerohugerh.

also i tried to sprinkle as much judas imagery as I could (or at least what i find to be imagery) but the more obvious ones like the blue coat and peaches, and the judas tree as the hanging tree. but also birds, spring, and stars. hehe. very sell-indulgent.

my roman empire is mary and jesus moving to kerioth to feel close to judas. i love this idea. i love the picture of it. i headcanon kerioth as just the typical, small southern town. orchards and fields, farms and small schools, everyone knows everyone. i mean is this me projecting my own small town life? yeahhhh.

but something i didn't get to talk about is the issue of simon iscariot. but I think I'll save that one 👀

there's a part of me that want to add to this bc @pinkishflowersilverycoin and i hatched a plot in dms. like judas isn't in hell in this world. he's in heaven. jesus didn't go back, so it's just judas alone up there for the time being. he'll be the one to welcome all the disciples, mary, jesus when they die. (will jesus die?? who is to say?? is it some weird supernatural thing?? maybe.) but we felt like maybe judas would take on peter's supposed role at heaven's gate. he's the first one to get there. they'll all have to deal with him again, so even if the apostles think that he's just rotting somewhere, his will be the first face they see when they die.

also we didn't even get started on jesus and mary's kids (sara and elias of kerioth, respectively). we decided they would be the ones to write some gnostic gospels, wanting to set the record straight about their third hypothetical parent, and tell the actual story of their mourning parents.

and I think this is everything for now!

[yurisorcerer]

some thoughts on Hanako & The Terror of Allegory

On a Discord server I'm in, some folks are doing a manga-swap challenge. I have six manga from this challenge to read in 2024, and I've just finished the first one. I don't have enough thoughts to warrant a full review, but I did want to say a few things.

This is Hanako & The Terror of Allegory. Also called Hanako & The Teller of Allegory---the name has an intentional double meaning that doesn't translate super well, I think.

This one is pretty obscure, it was recommended to me by my buddy AftershockWolf (@theokamiproject).

To be honest, I didn't love it. The series is in that "urban legend horror" genre, of a sort that's since been perfected by the likes of Otherside Picnic or, say, something like Mysterious Disappearances (which, that's getting an anime next season, isn't that weird?). The innate disadvantage something like this has is because there's such a small pool of source material, it can very much feel like you've read every take on every idea before, and furthermore, this manga is from 2004 (into 2005. Ran for about a year, from what I can tell), so I've seen a lot of different spins on the stories it mines for most of its chapters---Hanako of the Toilet, Mary the Doll, Kokkuri-san, Red Paper / Blue Paper, the Slit-Mouthed Woman, etc.---and in many cases I've seen them done better. Again, it's kind of unfair to this manga since it was written quite a while ago, so I suppose you'd call this a case of something aging poorly.

It's also bad in a few other more mundane ways; the sense of humor is absolutely daft as fuck, lots of very basic stock jokes with zero originality to them. Most of these were getting old in 2004. Reading them 20 years later makes them kind of insufferable. Occasionally it'll be funny *by accident*, but that's a different thing and doesn't really count IMO.

It's also not actually great at really getting under my skin in the way that the truly great stuff in this genre (again like Otherside Picnic) can, and has a bad habit of pulling plot twists out of its ass when it doesn't really need to. Most of this will not stick with me, and to top it all off the art is very middle of the road and of its time. Although there are occasional cool splash panels that make up for that somewhat.

However, all is not lost. The weakpoints of this manga are mostly not that interesting, what is interesting is where it goes in its final act, where it introduces a (to my knowledge) completely-original antagonist, and the manga starts essentially collapsing in on itself as the characters very directly fight for control of the narrative against said antagonist, a villainous authorial figure who herself might not really exist. It's a rather sudden shift, but it's a welcome one, and I think if more of the manga had been like this I would probably have enjoyed it a lot more.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this series got axed from whatever magazine it was running in, and that's the culprit for the swift change in direction, but in this case it saves a bad manga from itself and makes reading the thing not a complete loss. Also, said character is attractive, I'll say it. (Wolf happened to tell me that this character was the whole reason they recommended me the manga. Given that she carries this last arc hard, I will say that was a good call.)

If you can put up with everything I mentioned in order to get to the fairly compelling final act, I might tentatively recommend it, since Terror of Allegory here is only 19 chapters long. Still, I don't think anyone's hugely missing out by not reading this thing, the genre has evolved *a lot* over the past 20 years and this is not exactly a foundational release.

Interesting side note; on the scanlation page the translator actually recommends a few similar works, one of which is the MUCH better Dusk Maiden of Amnesia, which came out only a few years after this. Another reminder that even at the time this was solidly middle of the pack.

[fahrni]

Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

I’m getting more and more excited about writing code full time at work. I’m sure that won’t last but I’m going to enjoy every minute of it while I can. 😃

I ran into issues getting my git SSH keys to work earlier in the week and while I find that frustrating it was also a nice challenge to fix. I’m up and running and ready to break some stuff! 👍🏼

I hope you enjoy your coffee and the links.

Sarah Burns • The Irish Times

Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor has died at the age of 56, her family has announced.

The 80’s was my era of music and I most certainly remember Nothing compares 2 U, it was a big hit.

The thing that really struck me is, she was 56 years old. As I age my mortality has occupied more of my thoughts than I care to admit, but there you go.

God speed. ❤️

Jacob Zinkula • Business Insider

ChatGPT creator says AI advocates are fooling themselves if they think the technology is only going to be good for workers : ‘Jobs are definitely going to go away’

Emphasis is mine. I’ve not used ChatGPT but we’re pushing into AI hard at WillowTree. It’s such a hot button item at the moment all agencies will have to take it very seriously.

For my daily work I see it as a really smart auto complete. The next evolution in code assistant. It felt like cheating early on but as a developer you still have to validate the output. Did you get valid and good code? It may not work all the time. Yes, it’s fallible but it’s also early days. I am certain I’ll use it at some point to help generate some code.

Give it another 10 years to mature. I’ll be really close to retirement by then and the next next generation can use it to their advantage. 😃

Owen Bellwood • Jalopnik

According to General Motors boss Mary Barra, Chevrolet has backtracked on its plans to completely kill off the Bolt, which has so far seen its sales more than double in 2023. Now, the company is working on a next-generation Bolt, which will join Chevy’s other electric models: the Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV.

I found this really encouraging! We need more little EVs in the market and I always thought the Bolt was a nice little car.

Hopefully the next generation gets its fire issues under control.

Oh, the only downside I can think of is Chevy’s insistence on building their entire infotainment system.

Manton Reece

Dave Winer posted a 12-minute audio recording on his blog, addressed to me but applicable to everyone who is creating tools for the social web. Listening to it, I have a bunch of thoughts. In this post, I just want to start with server-to-server ActivityPub, and leave some of the other technologies Dave brings up for later.

Dave Winer has created a bunch of the technologies we rely on everyday in the blogging world; blogs, RSS, and Podcasting delivery. Now he’s trying to unify the mechanism to span posting to multiple social networks and blogging.

Manton Reece is the creator of Micro.blog — the service I use to publish this site — and is into open standards like MetaWeblog and ActivityPub, so much so Micro.Blog is a Fediverse server by federating with Mastodon.

To see these two chatting about putting something together to bride these systems is nice to see. I see what Dave is proposing as the next version of MetaWeblog, perhaps extended to accommodate new blogging and social network norms.

Perhaps Micropub could serve to do this? I’ve not looked into it but it seems like it could be the way to go?

I have my own opinions on the matter and I’m sure I’ll voice them at some point. In the meantime it’s nice to see this happening and I’m going to keep an eye on it. 👀

Robert Reich

Someone who has tried to overthrow the U.S. government cannot be president.

Mr. Reich is point out what may sound obvious at first but what he’s really saying is it shouldn’t take a conviction to eliminate TFG. We all know he tried to overturn a fair and valid election in 2019. We all know he rallied his supporters to storm the Capitol and try to stop the formality of recording the election results.

He doesn’t need to be convicted. He’s a danger to democracy and the rule of law. That’s disqualifying. ⚖️

leboncoin Engineering Blog

I recall how, when I was a junior developer, I often felt happy and reassured when I was writing software. It felt like a safe place compared to the overwhelming complexities of the world. The simple, deterministic functions, mechanical in their way of working, offered comfort. If you inject an input, it always gives the same output. It’s controllable, manageable, uncomplicated!

If you’re good at what you do eventually someone will notice and give you more to do with greater responsibility. Eventually you’ll be mentoring people and more junior developers will naturally look to you for your experience.

It’s not a bad thing. It’s just what happens and isn’t isolated to software engineering. This happens in all fields.

While I enjoy working with Junior folks there’s also this big part of me that’s ready to sit in the corner and just work on features and bugs, and that’s all. A simplified dev life. 😃

Dean Obeidallah

Barbie not only broke box office records, she destroyed the GOP’s Barbie Boycott

Barbie isn’t a film I plan on seeing but it sounds like the GOP is once again up in arms over cultural issues dealt with in the film.

I hope it breaks all the records. 🎬

Tony • arcadeblogger.com

I was visiting my family in the Chicago suburbs recently, when my niece mentioned she saw “some TRON thing” sitting on a curb while she was riding her bike through the neighbourhood.

As a teen I remember well the arcade in Exeter. It was called the Quarter Slot. Ahhh, good times. Anywho, I will never forget the Tron game — not the one mentioned in the article — because there were two guys who spent a crazy amount of time playing it and taking copious notes on how to beat every level.

Yes, those were the days.

James Surowiecki • Fast Company

Threads has one big advantage over Twitter: Zuckerberg understands advertising

If Threads can pull people away from Twitter — I mean, ahem, X — does that help to extinctify the ailing bird?

Who knows. Musk is crazy rich so I’d imagine he can keep it afloat for a very long time.

All I want to know is when will he be selling Twitter.com and for how much? It would make for a great Mastodon instance. 🐘

Ryan Erik King • Jalopnik

The Alpine F1 Team is currently competing at each race weekend with the odds slightly stacked against them. The Renault power unit used by the French factory team is believed to be 30 horsepower behind their rivals. Under normal circumstances, Alpine would be told simply to improve on their own, but there’s currently a freeze on engine development. The FIA, the sport’s governing body, wants to allow Alpine to catch up.

Alpine is kind of what remains of the Renault team and it seems like they’re going backwards.

I’d love to see them move closer to the front of the pack but they continue to be one of the “back of the pack” teams with flashes of brilliance on rare occasion.

Formula One is an extremely tough sport to compete in. Teams with extremely deep pockets can buy great engineering and dedicate huge resources to land their teams in victory lane. It also makes the races really boring. 😃

Here’s hoping Renault is given a chance to fix their horsepower issue ahead of next season. At this point I suppose it doesn’t matter much.

I’m a Haas supporter myself. It’s the only American team on the grid so why not support them? They also have Guenther Steiner who is the most entertaining of all the Principals in F1. 😃

Oh, by the way! Since you’re an American team why not use American built power? I mean, you run Ford motors Stuart Haas Racing, why not work with them on an amazing F1 power unit? I’d love to see that! Don’t let Red Bull be the only team doing it!

Who else is looking forward to the next season of Drive to Survive?

Tim Hardwick • MacRumors

Apple has become the target of a £785 million ($1 billion) class action lawsuit on behalf of over 1,500 developers in the UK over its App Store fees, reports TechCrunch.

Unfortunately this is pocket change for Apple. I don’t make much as a developer of apps for Apple devices but to those who do giving up 15 to 30% of revenue is a big deal.

Even if Apple allow for third party stores or payment processors they’re still going to charge their fee. Might as well keep the App Store as it is and be done with it.

Daring Fireball

Translation From Hostage Code to English of X Corp CEO Linda Yaccarino’s Company-Wide Memo

I mean, if Yaccarino isn’t actually asking for help to get out now I suppose she will be in six months to a year because Space Karen won’t agree with her about something and drive her insane or sack her.

Just let Twitter fade away, sell off the domain, and let’s move forward with the open web.

Janis Mara • berkeleyside.org

Peet’s is widely credited with transforming the industry — after all, the three founders of Starbucks learned much of their craft from founder Alfred Peet — but there’s much more to it than that.

I’d always known Peet’s was a big influence in the coffee world but I had no idea how much of an influence it really was.

This story is a fun read about one employees view from the inside. ☕️

[teecupangel]

You know what would be fun?

If they leave the club and then it starts burning, stopping Jacob, Henry and Arno just at the front of the club.

Jacob starts to pale as memories of what happened before starts knocking in his head. Then…

He hears it.

Whistling…

Whistling the same song that Jacob heard that day when Roth burned the theatre down.

“Run…”

“What?”

“We need to run. Now!” Jacob ordered as he pulled Arno back to his feet.

All three of them run as fast as they could.

But Jacob could still hear it.

The manic laughter of Maxwell Roth.

.

Thatch’s information gave answers but also gave more questions.

Thatch remember waking up and hearing Juno’s voice. Everything was… alright. That was the feeling he got.

As long as he listens to Juno, everything would be alright.

He will have peace… and be happy.

In her servitude.

But Thatch had never enjoyed that sort of peace and that was how he was able to resist.

But that didn’t make sense.

If Edward was right and he did see Mary and Adéwalé among the ships there then they should be able to resist it as well.

Especially Adéwalé.

“But this Creed of yours… doesn’t it order your loyalty as well?” Thatch challenged lightly, “Loyalty to the Creed.”

“Are you saying that wench’s using our own Creed to control them?” Edward asked as anger simmered underneath the calmness he was trying to keep a hold of.

“It’s possible…” Aveline looked uncertain but seeing the two men focus their attention to her, waiting for her to continue…

“I’m not completely certain of course but the real Juno has been defeated, correct? Then this Juno isn’t the real one but…” Aveline’s face darkened as she continued, “A being made of Desmond’s memories…”

“Does that mean she’s any different from the real one?” Edward asked with a slight frown.

“Desmond had access to more information than the real Juno did when he was part of Abstergo’s Server, right? And if she was created from Desmond’s ‘memories’, wouldn’t that mean that…” Aveline halted for a moment before asking, “What if… she’s using what Desmond knows? Desmond had the memories of three Master Assassins who are all legends in their own rights.”

“You think Juno’s using those memories to make Mary and Adé loyal to her…” Edward’s eyes widened as he realized, “By making them believe they’re doing what the Brotherhood would have wanted.”

“What we do know is that Juno messed with our minds.” Thatch reminded them, “What Juno feed to me to keep me docile might not be the same thing she feed them. The lassie might be onto something… using this ‘Desmond’s memories.”

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard a loud commotion coming from the docks and they saw another ship docking next to theirs.

“Aveline! Grandfather!” Ratonhnhaké:ton called out from the deck.

“Well, Thatch.” Edward patted Thatch’s back, “Try to look nice meeting my son and grandson.”

Thatch raised an eyebrow when Edward added, “… and my descendant.”

(Edward named their dog ‘Thatch’ so when he introduces him to Haytham, Haytham raises an eyebrow and Thatch asks what’s wrong and he just goes “Oh, nothing. I had wondered why our dog was named ‘Thatch’ while Edward looked embarrassed in the background.

.

They talked about it while docked and tried to make a plan, using what Evie knows which isn’t much. But what they are sure is that the portals act as a means of teleportation and their best bet is to keep using these portals until they meet up with Arno, Jacob and Henry.

Splitting up using two ships was immediately vetoed because that’s risky as well, especially with Juno having an armada and Shay also suggested that Achilles’ version of the Aquila might make an appearance if Hope and Kaniehtí:io are chasing after them. This darkens Ratonhnhaké:ton’s and Haytham’s faces so Edward suggested that they stay together and have the Jackdaw-Aquila ship refitted with upgrades from this era first while maybe they look for a portal that can also fit their ships?

Otherwise they’d be in a disadvantage if they leave their ships here in Thames and go portal hopping while there’s ships chasing after them.

.

In this one, either they get a break and staying while being refitted actually got the lost trio jumping into a portal that leads them into London while they’re there. Maybe there’s an explosion caused by Roth, Élise and their mooks that got everyone’s attention and we’ll have a reunion there.

Or… we go the long route and they find a portal that would lead them to another part (maybe one of Lydia’s memories?) and if there’s no body of water nearby, they learn that they can sail the skies… sorta. It’s all very weird.

For this one, I’m thinking Haytham stay with Morrigan. Edward and Thatch stay there as well because Edward is worried about Haytham (patting Ratonhnhaké:ton on the back to tell him that he’ll ‘keep an eye’ on Haytham). Maybe Shao Jun also goes to their team to actually keep an eye on Shay?

.

Also, from @kingdomheartsrox

Oh wow. This just keeps getting better and better! The segment with Edward sounds very interesting! It does make me wonder, if Thatch is able to break free from Juno’s control, if Mary and/or Anne would be able to as well and ‘wake up’ as everyone else did and join the crew in their mission if Thatch buys them time to escape? If they did, I can certainly see Edward eagerly introducing whoever joins them to the others. I wonder if Adewale would be able to break free from Juno’s control, as well? Or would he still be manipulated by her and would need more convincing? And regarding the part with Arno seeing Elise, I can definitely see him chasing after her while Jacob and Evie try to catch up with him, and when they do, they find he caught up to Elise in a different area... though she has her blade drawn and is preparing to fight Arno, who clearly doesn’t want to fight her...

I feel like the others need something to shake them ‘awake’ like Thatch. Thatch is the one who woke up first because (1) the peace Juno showed him wasn’t the kind of peace he wanted and (2) Edward rammed straight for his ship which was the tipping point.

So… depending on just how many of the people hunting the seas are actual people with their memories intact and how many of them are just dolls taking the appearance of Edward’s friends.

Adéwalé would join them if he ever wakes up. There’s no way in hell Adéwalé would willingly join someone like Juno… although having Haytham and Shay there might make him hesitate.

the post is getting Too Long on my blog and it’s breaking my poor phone so. WHEE. new one!

gang sails off into the distance! and by “distance” I mean they’re high-tailing it into the Assassin servers in order to regroup and recuperate and figure out what the fuck to do now since. well. hey, they retrieved Desmond and they’ve kept him safe! uh. now what. if there were other Assassins’ memories in Abstergo, how long until they gain sentience as well? and how the fuck did Desmond and Jacob find a movie projector on the ship?

Desmond is still kind of reeling from everything that’s just happened, and to his surprise, despite the whole awkwardness surrounding Uh Fuckin Everything, the Kenways are willing to take him in, altho Edward somewhat morbidly jokes that their dysfunctional family being an improvement over his is really kind of sad when he thinks about it. then he offers to let him take a turn at the wheel—he needs to go see what they’ve done to the captain’s cabin anyway, he wasn’t able to since the collision and it’s probably messed with a few things.

they do need a base to operate out of for the time being. Davenport Manor is suggested, then somewhat reluctantly shot down bc of the two Templars around who are immediately like yeah uh No. Café Theatre is too cramped, although in a pinch it could do. the Frye twins’ train has little to offer in the way of bedrooms. Monteriggioni is considered and makes it into a top five list, only losing bc an entire town is a little too big and prone to glitches. (Desmond is a little peeved about it.) eventually everyone settles on finding a version of Great Inagua in the Assassin servers and regrouping there so they can figure out their next move. and maybe Edward is a little bit smug over it.

I do like the idea of Desmond teaching the gang how to really break shit in Abstergo, like—Juno is still in there, and there’s a possibility there might be more sentient data representations of dead Assassins (and dead Templars) rolling around now in the servers. Ezio shudders to think of Juno at the same time that Shay does, and they’re both concerned about the idea of Juno being able to simply possess somebody, and if she’s able to do that in the digital realm, there’s the lingering possibility of her being able to do that to an actual flesh and blood person. which nobody wants! so that’s on their priority list. and also all the other possibly-sentient people who might be running around the servers.

Arno and the twins and Henry listen to all of this, then sit in contemplation. then all three of them are like. oh shit we have to check on our simulations bc Lydia and Elise might also be gaining sentience and god KNOWS what they’re doing right now without us. who wants to come with, we’ve got spare clothes for you. (aka: how to justify the legacy outfits lol.)

The “Too Long Post” which was about the playable characters in Abstergo’s games gaining sentience for easy reference. (And considering we ended it after they got away, we can count that as Arc 1 XD)

Honestly, I think the only valid locations for their homebase would be the Great Inagua or Davenport Homestead because they also need to park their ship (depending on who you ask, it’s either called ‘Aquila’ or ‘Jackdaw’) and the Seine river would be hard to navigate while the Thames is chock-full of other ships and boats and the moving train means they can’t always get to the ship quickly. Also, they all try to fit in the mansion that Edward had ‘commandeered’ but it becomes clear that there is a division. Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton took the rooms nearest to Desmond. Haytham took the room furthest away from everyone and Shay took the room to his left. Shao Jun took the empty room nearest to Ezio while Aveline took the empty room nearest to Ratonhnhaké:ton. Jacob’s the only one who went ‘whichever room is free’ and Arno took the room furthest away from Shay which sorta put him between Jacob and an empty room that Evie took for herself. Jacob joked of Jayadeep just sharing a room with Evie so he took the room on the other side of Jacob instead, making Jacob roll his eyes. Edward just took his old room (which was the largest room). So… they might be in this together but they’re definitely not exactly the bestest of allies at the moment.  

Desmond taught them what he knew, things he didn’t know when he was alive but he just… knew once he ‘woke up’. He doesn’t even know if these skills came from his memory of Clay or from his memory of Dionysus (holy shit, his Isu ancestor was the god of wine and debauchery? What the fuck???) but he wasn’t going to reject such a boon. He’s quiet about his life though, only sharing a bit if anyone asked about what they saw. 

And the only one who asked was a worried Shao Jun because Shay was keeping his distance and the others either didn’t have such a bad memory to watch (Aveline, Evie and Jayadeep) or didn’t even see any memory (Jacob and Arno).

The ones connected to Desmond though… Desmond told them everything. Even Edward who was just in the room with the three people who had the biggest urge to find Desmond and Haytham who Edward believes had been affected just as much by the time they started to piece Desmond back together. Edward provided the alcohol back then (although Altaïr did not partake) and they finished more than five bottles of Edward’s hardest liquor. He was especially worried for Haytham who grabbed an entire unopened bottle and just started topping his glass with it and ended up finishing it and still requesting his glass to be filled afterward.  

Are we talking about the Juno in Desmond’s dataspace or the real Juno in digital space? Because if it’s the real Juno and this is set after Syndicate BUT before the comics where she died, then Juno is out in the real world (which would give us an excuse to have our sentient Assassins travel into other corners of the internet XD).

However, I do like the idea that they’ve unintentionally created Juno 2.0 from Desmond’s memory of her (and also a bit of Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton’s memories). This also gives Ratonhnhaké:ton a reason to want to take her down since she… technically didn’t lie but she absolutely used Ratonhnhaké:ton and gave him the short stick in that deal. (With her past misgivings to Ratonhnhaké:ton, Edward would be on board and maybe even Haytham once he learned how everything had been set into stones because of the path the Isus have chosen the world to walk to, including how the Kenway family ended).

You know what would be fun? If they made the grievous assumption that the data are gaining sentient while they were gone BUT the real reason why they’re slowly gaining sentient is because all sentient data (them) are still connected to the virus that started this all. Now, the virus was fast-acting in Abstergo because it was meant to fuck shit up there but the virus also have a failsafe that makes it dormant when it knows it’s no longer in Abstergo’s servers. But… the virus itself might be dormant but constant exposure to it will still affect data. 

… wanna make Arno have a bad time once more? Élise is slowly waking up and she starts remembering…

The many times Arno repeated her death, together with the pain and rage that consumed her during those days, not knowing Arno repeated that memory over and over again to try and save her.

You gotta wonder… if Élise would even be happy to see Arno once more when her most lived memory was her death.

(Also… Lydia would be fine being sentient since she loves her grandaunt and granddad who raised her but… remember… Jack the Ripper is also in the servers). 

[yekkiz]

I want to look absolutely drop dead decadent during my stay here!

[turq8]

Okay, I’m on my 4th (5th?) rewatch of OFMD, but I tend to get distracted easily and I really wanted to note down all these little details to maybe write some meta, so here are my notes for episodes 2-5 from that

Ep 2:

-Izzy wants the hostages to sell them, but it's probably a bad idea for Stede to do that bc they're witnesses to his crimes. But he already sent someone back to the ship so maybe that ship has sailed (lol)

-when Buttons first meets Izzy, he tells him exactly how many men they have and where they are, but later in ep 8 when Calico Jack is asking about Blackbeard, he's noticeably cagier about answering; did he learn not to tell strangers potentially important info?

-during the hearing, Stede hallucinates Nigel talking about how he might have children that will "never see Papa again" and that's what sets Stede off about how he's killed someone... Shortly after that he says he doesn't feel bad about killing Nigel, and when someone suggests that he's feeling guilty about something else, we see a flashback of him looking in on his children the night he left

-obviously Black Pete talks a big game about working for Blackbeard but I literally don't think we see Ed recognize/acknowledge him once lmao

Ep 3:

-is this (& the bit at the end of ep 2) the extent of what we see of Blackbeard's ship?? Where the fuck IS it for the rest of the season?

-there's just skulls everywhere lmaooo that's so dramatic

-what exactly is the backstory for Olu & Jim? Bc Jackie says Olu is the one who suggested Jim as a server, and that was before Jim killed her husband and then they both ran and joined Stede's crew. Plus in ep 7 Olu says he's known Jim for like a year, and I don't think Stede's been sailing for that long, bc Jim writes that they've been in disguise and on the lam for 28 days in ep 2. What happened in the previous several months??

-"I explicitly told him 'Blackbeard desires his company'" IZZY HANDS YOU FUCKING LIAR, YOU SAID NO SUCH THING

-Jim and Olu are arguing about how he dragged them out before they could get their family dagger back, Lucius brings them said dagger, they say "now THIS. Is a good friend" very pointedly to Olu, kiss Lucius, and then hit Olu with THIS look:

That's a hell of a message.

-everyone except Lucius screaming while Jim's "nose" is pulled off is always funny

Ep 4:

-the date they use on Stede's gravestone for his birthday is his historical baptism date lol

-Fang HISSES at them before telling them to get back to work

-I've seen a couple posts discussing what a terrible listener Stede is but I don't think anyone's mentioned Mary's "I hate the ocean, I literally said that the other day" when he's already started having the boat built as an example

-I love Ed giggling at all the trinkets as he goes through Stede's cabinet lol

-Izzy pleading with Ed to focus while Ed's distracted by the trinkets. Ed's brain literally never turns off (he noticed the clouds that morning, and then later has Lucius start counting down for 147 minutes- until dusk because he’s been working the plan the whole time) and he never stops moving, he's always fidgeting. His big frustration and source of boredom is that he's not being challenged anymore because being Blackbeard is too easy. That's ADHD babes

-As an addendum, I think the stillest we see him is when he's watching over Stede

-At literally the first possible opportunity to separate himself from "Blackbeard", he introduces himself as Ed

-Gnossiennes No. 5 starts playing just before "Do you fancy a fine fabric" and I have passed away, the musical director(s) were really on their shit because this also plays at "what makes Ed happy" 😭

(also it continues playing until Izzy comes in looking for Ed)

-Ok, so they go into the secret closet. There's the part with the actual closet, but behind them when they come in, we see a wardrobe and possibly more space to the right given how the light is coming in. 

In Ep. 6 when Ed has his panic attack, he goes through the secret door and then the next time we see him is in the bathtub, but I can't imagine he would have left the secret passage to go there if it was somewhere else on the ship. Ergo, the bathtub is behind the secret door. Where am I going with this? In Ep 2, Jim knows Stede has a bathtub -> Jim knows about the secret passage.  Does the whole crew know about the passages, or just Jim (and Olu presumably)?  Food for thought for season 2.

-I don't see enough discussion about how Ed's fog trick is literally some Sherlock Holmes shit. More master strategist in season 2 please!!

-okay wait, everyone's on about how 1717 wasn't even a leap year, but I think even more importantly is that it's literally been months since the leap day and Ed would have been watching the moon cycle the whole time, so it's weird that he got tripped up on that. also we can literally check what phase the moon was on for September 1 1717, and it was just about 1st quarter which is a full week from full lol (I suspect the sources I'm using are on the Gregorian calendar, but the English colonies used the Julian calendar until 1752, and when they made the switch they added 11 days, so Sept 1 of the Julian calendar is Sept 12 on the Gregorian calendar.  Then again, France and Spain (and their colonies) switched in 1582, so who the fuck knows what calendar Blackbeard would have been using.  Either way though, the moon definitely isn’t full.). I have now officially put more thought into this than the writers did.

-Anyway Ed just builds a lighthouse rig out of a lantern, a mirror, a beam, some rope, and some booze bc he's brilliant??

Ep 5:

-In the flashback to Ed's past, you can see his dad passed out at the table- FORESHADOWING

-Ed wants to go to this fancy party so, so badly and it makes me want to cry a little

-Ed! In purple! With bows in his beard!

-"How do I win this interaction" that line is so telling

-3 different times in the show, people come up to Stede and say "there's a rumor going around about you". First is Nigel in ep 1, about Stede running off to be a pirate; second is in Ep 5, when they ask if he's Sir Godfrey; third is in Ep 10, when his old acquaintances ask again if it was true he became a pirate, but this time it's in awe instead of derision. Not sure exactly what that means but it feels important.

-"Would you be willing to palpitate my wife?"

Stede and Ed, who have no idea what phrenology is: 😳

-This ep is Frenchie at his absolute best

-"I killed a Prussian once" impulsive blurting out, Ed has ADHD example #374

-Ed can play the harpsichord (?), where would he have picked this up?

-Every line of the drawing scene is perfect

-there's been so much written about it already, but the turn when Ed realizes that they're laughing AT him, not WITH him is amazing

-Lucius is so powerful in that scene with Izzy

-Stede is also so powerful in the gossip scene, his pettiness knows no bounds and he completely destroys the reputations of an entire room of people just because they made Ed upset

-the way the scene ends with Ed staring at Stede, and then when it pans out from the ship Ed is STILL staring and you get the sense that he has barely taken his eyes off of Stede

-If I loved the moonlight scene less, I might be able to talk about it more

-Gnossiennes No. 5 again 😭 that's their love theme. It starts the moment Ed looks back up at him and I've seen someone point that out as the *moment* Ed falls (whether or not he actually realized it then)

-God I just want to dissect every second of the little nod to himself, deep breath, step forward, slight lean in and then pulling back and all but running away when Stede doesn't reciprocate because FUCK

[onomonopetabread]

Declawing the Cat- Chapter 1

He just couldn’t figure her out. No matter how many times he’s tried to wrap his head around it, Felix Graham de Vanily couldn’t solve the mystery of Marinette Dupain-Chang; not why she did the things she did, or how, or why she seemed to infuriate him to no end…

It had all started when his brick head of a cousin had the bright idea to convince his mother to transfer him to his school. The two of them had recently moved closer to the Agreste household for more “family solidarity”, but it seemed as though Adrien needed even more quality time with cousin dear.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Adrien? You know Felix isn’t the most social child. Do you really think that your classmates will welcome him as you say they will, even after the incident?”

“I’m positive, Aunt Amilie. The kids in my class are very kind and believe in redeeming others if they apologize. I have no doubt in my mind that they’ll forgive him. I mean, look at how they accepted me when I first started going there. They could have shunned me and thrown me aside like trash, but now I have a lot of friends. The same will happen with Felix, for sure.”

“Well, if you really think so, then it's a beautiful idea,” said Amilie avidly. “What about you, gabriel? Do you think that our sons should go to school together?”

“It will be beneficial for Adrien to have a good influence around the school with him to make sure that he doesn’t try to rebel and become like his… recalcitrant peers,” said gabriel without glancing up from his designs.

“And you, Felix? Do you want to go to College Francoise-Dupont?”

Felix gulped. He didn’t really want to go to school with his ridiculous cousin, but his mother really seemed to like the idea, and he’d hate to disappoint her ...

So that’s how Felix ended up going to school with the same kids he duped. Even though Adrien can be way too gullible (someone really needs to tell him that life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows and not everyone can be trusted), Felix soon found that he was indeed right about his friends. When he arrived there a few weeks ago, it only took a small smile and a half-baked apology to get them to trust him. One might think that Felix would be sulking at the mere thought of going to school with these losers, but he had decided beforehand that if he was going to have any fun at this school, he was going to have to toy with this naive group of teenagers to cause some trouble, and what better way to do that than to make them think he was on their side?

“Guys, this is my cousin Felix. He’s going to be attending school with us for now on. I know you guys will take him in with open arms.”

Kim cut in. “Is this the same cousin that pretended to be you and replied to the videos you sent us?”

Nino had something to say as well. “Why should we trust anything he has to say? He hasn’t exactly given us any reason to like him.”

“Yeah, how can you expect us to just become friends with us after what he did? He’s a liar!” Alya declared.

The rest of the class chimed in with arguments of their own, and who can blame them? It definitely didn’t feel good to be deceived. Soon, the whole courtyard was filled with angry yells and upset students. Adrien, bless him, was trying his best to calm them down and explain.

“Well-”

Felix cleared his throat. Talking ceased and all eyes were on him: Adrien’s glancing nervously, and the others’ full-on glares.

“Hello, everyone. As Adrien just told you, my name is Felix Graham de Vanily. To answer your question, Mr. Le Chein, yes, I’m the cousin of Adrien’s that impersonated him and sent you a cruel response to your heartfelt videos. For that, I am deeply sorry. I have no excuse for what I did. I can only hope that you all will find it in your hearts to forgive me for my terrible sin.”

You could hear a pin drop. All of the students were giving each other and Felix calculating looks. Should they believe him? Was he really telling the truth? After a few beats of deafening silence, Mylene spoke up.

“If you’re really sorry...”

“Oh, I am, you can be sure of that, Ms. Haprele,” Felix nodded, puppy eyes fully on show.

“Then… I suppose everyone deserves a second chance, right guys?” she continued, looking around at the others.

Slowly, the rest of the group started nodding their heads. Where there was anger and hurt towards Felix was now acceptance and forgiveness. Why not forgive him? Of course he was telling the truth! Why on Earth would someone lie to gain our trust only to be able to play us for fools right underneath our noses? It’s not like it’s ever happened before. Oh, if only Lila was here to greet our new friend! It’s too bad she’s away in America doing her internship at NASA!

The group, who were once resentful and angry at the fancily-dressed boy that was in front of them, began to crowd around him, smiles and name introductions all around. By the way they were acting, you would have thought that they all have been friendly with Felix since birth. Amazing what the power of deception held when used right.

He recognized most of them from the terrible videos they had sent Adrien: the manic pixie girl, the ultra-nerd, the stupid jock, the wannabe dj and his amautur reporter girlfriend.

And what a reporter she was! Neither she nor her dim-witted friends could see through his act. They followed him like lost puppies looking for an owner. The only person who didn’t seem to believe him was her. Felix didn’t see her in the schoolyard for his “apology”, and he noticed she never seemed to be around if he’s in the room.

Honestly, he’d thought that Marinette would have been the easiest person to convince. Only a silly, pigtail-twirling, school girl would send such a pathetic confession. “AdRiEn, I LoVe YoU. I’Ll AlWaYs Be ThErE If YoU NeEd Me”. Puh-lease.

But she never seemed to be around, Felix didn’t see her in the schoolyard for his “apology”, and he noticed she never seemed to be around unless they were in class. He sat in the back, and spent most of his time conjuring up plans to recruit her, for after a few days of observations, he’d been able to work out that he had underestimated her. By a lot. Felix found out that she was class president and a good one at that. She was seen as a leader by the others, but it didn’t seem like she used deception to earn that respect. She was actually kind-hearted, selfless, and true. If she wasn’t so annoying and stubborn, those characteristics might have even been...admirable. She really could be a great ally to have by his side. But by jove, was she ever making it difficult. Eventually, he’s been able to talk to her alone. To sum it up, it definitely could have gone better.

During lunch hour, Marinette was on a bench in the park. She was sketching on a notepad, most likely designs for a new sewing project. Felix learned from Adrien that Marinette was a very talented aspiring designer, which took Felix by surprise. You’d never guess that this girl was into fashion by the way she dressed (Felix could not stress enough how atrocious those pigtails were), but he digresses. He isn’t here to insult Marinette’s clothes, though he could do so some other time. He took a deep breath and strode over to Marinette’s seat.

“Ah, Ms. Dupain-Cheng! How lovely it is to see you. We never seem to talk, do we? It is quite a shame really.”

Marinette didn’t move a muscle. It was as though he hadn’t said a word! Ok, well, give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she’s really focused on her drawing?

“I must say, that is a lovely suit that is a lovely suit you’re designing there. I love the use of gold thread on the pants. If I may make a few suggestions-”

“No, you may not. As a matter of fact, I’m going to stop you right there. Don’t say another word.”

“I-I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me.” Marinette set her notepad aside on the bench and rose up from the bench to look him in the eye . Never in his life had Felix seen a stronger glare, and even though he was a good head taller than Marinette, he felt as though she could crush him like a grape. Of course, he didn’t let it show. What would it say about him that he shakes like a kitten in the presence of a 4’ 11” teenage girl?

“Now Felix, I’m only going to say this once, so listen up. I know you have everyone else fooled with your nice act, but I’m not as stupid as you seem to assume. You think you’re the first fake I came across? Don’t make me laugh; you’re not even close. Heck, next to Lila, you’re just a petty gossip. The rest of our classmates seem to have put the video incident in the past, but let me make it crystal clear that it is still fresh in my mind. I meant to share something extremely personal with Adrien, we all did, and you screwed that up. You hurt all of us carelessly as if our feelings were nothing more than spinning tops. You know what that makes you?”

Dumbfounded, Felix couldn’t do much more than shake his head.

“It makes you a little bitch. And I don’t associate with little bitches. So unless you can prove to me that you really are turning over a new leaf for good, I don’t want to say one word to you unless absolutely necessary and vise versa. I’ll stay out of your hair, and you WILL stay out of mine. Capisce?

Without waiting for a reply, Marinette turned her heel, grabbed her notebook, and began the walk back to school.

Well, he must admit that Marinette won that round. She certainly was a challenge, but luckily, for Felix liked puzzles. He was going to get Mari to like him, even if it took every ounce of strength and scheming he had in his body.

@mickeyaaliyah @lyssaisprobablynotaloser @firstclassdumbass I wanted to put it in the server but Google wouldn’t let me

@threebirdsinatrenchcoat @ladylupuscrow @kittynoirblog

If you guys want the next chapter here it is

[astroninaaa]

Hot take a talk about technoblade:

Okay look I've been part of this fandom since August(thank god cuz i watched it all live and it woukd be a nightmare to caatch up) I bring this up cuz i want to discuss my problem with technos character. I have watched every single techno livestream that he made on dream smp and believe it or not i used to be a techno sympathiser that is until doomsday. (By techno apologist standards i am qualified to talk about his character hooray..)

Now techno like every character is flawed if he wasn't he would be boring fandom. One of his biggest flaws is being a hypocrite. That is not something you realise until you compare what he says all the time so you need to look a little deeper to realise it and i don't blame people for not seeing it.

This wouldn't be that much of a problem because that is a character flaw among with many others but the problem that his character has faced is that he doesn't develop much.

Now i hear techno apologist jump at me every single time noooo he isn't a stagnant character he has developed a lot. I am not saying that he hasn't developed at all the problem is that he has developed very little especially when you consider everything.

His goals his ideas his perception of the world what he believes him everything that makes his character him hasn't changed much and that is not a good thing from a writing perspective. Now why do i bring this up. Firstly I'm not saying this to say techno is a bad writer far from it he can be very good when he puts his mind to it. The problem with keeping a character in this state is that it's very harmful for said character first and to the story and other characters second. Look even at yourselves i can guarantee that you aren't the exact same person you were like five years ago for example because during that time you made mistakes learned from them and you grew. Just like in real life you also can't stay stagnant in fiction.

Okay so that's the main problem with technos character that he is stagnant as a character. Now this wouldn't be as big of a problem if he didn't have the role that he has.

You see techno both c! and cc! are very good at the game basically. Now why do i bring this up. The reason why i bring this up is bc of where this places techno whuch is at the very top of the chain don't try and seny it. This means that he is one of the most powerful people on the server if you are going to try and go against this point just look at lmanberg guys that's living proof of how powerful and how terrifying he actually is. I know a lot of you are gonna say but every can get stacked or play the game but you guys forget that even if you are stacked you just don't have the skill and cc! Techno of the best people when it comes to that which bleeds into his character. Saying that is like looking at the upper class than looking at the lower class saying just get rich like it doesn't work like that.

Because of his role techno is literally the 1% by rl standards which means he can a lit of things free of consequences bc no one can give him said consequences. The butcher army was ig an attempt at that but they failed miserably let's be real here.

Because he is in the 1% is incredibly skilled at pvp and can do anything bc no one can challenge him this places him on a pedestal and creates a power imbalance a very big one at that.

And that leads to his biggest problem he has practically everything as said by Techno himself and is never challenged, but that's not an interesting character. An audience gets tired for a character that always wins or loses. Because if it happens repeatedly it just takes all the suspense oh he will win immediately. He will go and slaughter them problem solved. That's it every time. Something that techno himself confirmed is then when he has a problem he just stabs it (both of these were said during the egg stream).

And if you are going to bring the things he went through to say he's changed don't cuz as long as he doesn't act on it it means nothing. Like examples Red festival killed tubbo an ally. Traumatic experience right? This is a good moment to develop his character and give us more insight. What happens? Techno tries to dismiss it and shows us his anxiety and gives us insight on his character Great! Character development? Starting to question himself just a bit or any sign of that event having an effect on him? Nope! Why? Cuz he doesn't act on it instead he tries to hide the fact that ever happened and changes to a different topic bc there is no justification there and he knows it. Nov 16th c!technos pov he just got betrayed caused some damage wished death upon his former allies and left. Quite a dramatic scene. He feels betrayed time for some good old character development. Him thinking about himself and his actions. Reflecting on them. Great moment! Problem: literally everything that shows this is done off camera and now suddenly he's retired... Okay you know what fine it's alright he would probably expand upon and did a timeskip to explain the ling time he didn't stream. I see where it's comming from. The butcher army ge gets hunted down bc actions have consequences techno and you can't just run away like that not after doing that. Great point from the butcher army. Go give him some consequences his character needs it. And then he gets executed alright a bit too far but i guess that's how it goes in this server. Techno gets his life back immediately.. well that was a bit pointless but alright a cool scene for the animatic fair. Then he kills quackity.. the butcher army lost.. this.. what? But this was the moment of consequences... and quackity didn't get it back like techno the butcer aemy lost more than techno what? Moving along he teams up with tommy aannnd the 50 withers are up and ready of course you didn't fully retire what was i expecting. And now team up with tommy perfect way to learn about dream and give more insight on lmanberg and how dream is a tyrant and everything techno is supposed to stand against. The green festival tommy chooses tubbo over techno techno feels betrayed understandable.... and then he teams up with dream lmanberg is destroyed and the underdogs are beaten to the ground loose everything they ever worked for and are taught to be scared of the anarchists?!?!?!?!

Okay now hold up a sec I'll have to stop you right there. What. did. you. just. do. Cuz there is a limit to the amount of stuff you can let a character get away with. The line was crossed months ago this is not good at all.

Also what are yoi guys talking about consequences. Lives? All 3 home? Right there pets? The ones that died were the ones he brought expecting to not live he brought them there on purpose so they don't count. He is one of the most wealthy peoole on the server (no one beats ranboo lol) what did he exactly loose? Friendships? Was that all the hardships you guys have?

Lmanberg lost their home their lives their wealth their pets their friend everything they loved and lived for everything they stood for they lost a part of themselves in the end.

Look at the last 2 paragraphs and how imbalanced that is. How are you guys blind to this How?! And why did doomsday happen? Because the butcher army failed. And if anything techno proved them that they should have punished him harder with this.

So what was the lesson of doomsday?

That you shoukd obey the people on top and never go against them or you will loose everything you love.

Great lesson guys this is exactly the lesson the rich class and every single tyrant tried to teach society and this lesson is being told by the anarchist great job....

Do you see the problem now. This is the reason techno needs a consequence bc if he keeps going like this he will become a Mary Sue. And that is a horrible direction for a character that has a lot of potential. That potential is why i liked his character that much in the beginning but now it's almost non existent. Anyway I'll end this now cuz this went on for too long. That's basically my opinion on it feel free to share your thoughts.

okay. okay. i read this like three times bc. because look

i agree in some very specific points, but i disagree in very broad manners.

(this entire......... essay is all /rp and /nm!!!!)

anyways. send me hot takes!!!

i like c!techno. i personally think he's one of the most fun characters to watch because i enjoy the mess, the crazyness, the chaos of it all. watching doomsday through c!tommy's eyes was painful. watching doomsday through c!techno's eyes was just so fucking hilarious and exciting and fun. he's just a fun character to watch. he's just Funny. i am a fan. however

for starters: ctechno is, 100%, out of the park, an stagnant character. he has little to no development throughout the story. we see no changes in how he acts. that's not necessarily a bad thing, but considering the type of character he is, watching him develop (be it to an actually full-fledged villain or towards a redemption arc) would be ideal to keep him a character people can actually support.

i wouldn't say he's a hypocrite. c!techno has a very strict moral code and he follows it with no hesitation, with no doubts. the point is that his moral code is flawed and skewed. that doesn't make him a hypocrite, that makes him someone with bad morals.

calling c!techno "the 1%" is a stretch. for one- c!ranboo has as much resources, if not more, as c!techno does. he has dozens of totems, thousands of emeralds, and probably has one of the higher counts of diamond and netherite on the server. why is that never brought up? because it doesnt matter. c!foolish has so much gold and diamonds and netherite and just everything, really, and it's also never brought up/a reason for people to be afraid of him. the dream smp isn't a capitalist universe, there's no "1%". specially bc there's, like, i don't know, 20 players? that makes c!techno 1/20 OR 3/20 if we count c!ranboo and c!foolish. but that's not the point at all: the point is that ctechno is feared bc he's skilled and has a relevant personality, not bc he has resources. c!wilbur has no shit and he's still terrifying, there's no character willing to oppose him. not because of resources, but because of who he is. when c!techno first fled from l'manburg into "retirement" he had no shit either, it took him a while to be rich again. no one attacked him either way.

why, you ask? bc he fought against c!quackity with a fucking pickaxe and won. that's why. c!techno doesn't need resources to be feared. the power imbalance doesn't come from his resources, it comes from others’s fear. and they have a reason for that fear, bc c!techno hasn't been defeated yet. that has nothing to do with "upper class" and "lower class". because, one, not a capitalist system and class disparity isn't as simple as that, and two, even without his "riches" he still wins, bc he's got the skill. if you take out the skill, him being rich means nothing and he wouldve been easily killed by the butcher army or c!tommy or whoever decided to kill him. a good example is, once again, c!ranboo: if he wasn't friends with everyone and someone decided to actually fight him like was done with c!techno, he would've died. easily. being rich in the smp is relative.

c!techno will be challenged when we have a character strong enough to challenge him in a way that matters. it's important to be smart about it. that's why i'd love to see, out of everyone, c!philza turn against him, but that's a how other discussion (WHICH I'M WILLING TO TALK ABOUT.......... everytime i make these and i add little point i dont elaborate on and then say i'm willing to talk about them and no one ever asks me to <//3 PAIN /nm /lh).

i do think he's a character that just Always Win in narrative ways and that's very frustrating. he does need to get pulled a few notches down. again, that will only happen when we have a character that can step up to him and challenge him in a way that matters (woooo c!philza you want to hold c!techno accountable for his bullshit so bad woooo........)

now, onto c!techno's trauma. he doesn't need to show it. he- he doesn't. that's........ not how trauma works, and that's one of the points that make his trauma so forgettable for the viewers. c!techno is, from inside out, a character that hardly shows his emotions, but that doesn't mean he doesn't display symptons of trauma. he does, they're just a lot more subtle than other characters's. that doesn't mean he doesn't have any or that he isn't affect by it. c!techno is, in a lot of ways, a lot like c!tubbo: both of them don't mention the shit they've gone through and don't react to it and bc of that some of the viewers don't see how important some traumatic events were in their characterisation. that's why you analyse those characters's trauma through behavior, not through easily seen displays of trauma.

i do think it's taken a little too far with c!techno. the way he reacted to c!tommy's death was...... disappointing, to say the least. c!techno is an underwhelming character in many ways. as said before, it's because he's stagnant. that definitely needs to be worked on.

about the syndicate? yeah, no. theyre not teaching others to fear them. others just Do That bc of their history on the server, but they have literally talked about how they want to better their reputation, bc they don't want to be seen as murderers or oppressors in any way. are they flawed? yes, very much. they have no indicators of what is or isn't a government and they show no regard around the importance of a difference between an oppressive and a democratic government.

they had no right to show up at c!tubbo's door and interrogate him, because they can't appoint themselves as government police. for starters, that's not how anarchy works (they should've had everyone's permission for that. they obviously don't), but also it's just... stupid. it makes it seem that they're trying to boss everyone around so that they live like the syndicate wants them to, which goes directly against the syndicate's own ideals. however, c!techno thinks he has that right. he thinks this is what he's supposed to do. he's just following his moral code - his moral code is just deeply, deeply flawed. what he says and what he does contradict each other but not for him, not to his interpretation. to his interpretation, he's following his strict moral code.

what happened at doomsday was horrible and c!techno has to be held accountable for it, yes, but, again, no character knows how to work around c!techno enough to hold him accountable for it. that's not c!techno's fault.

l'manburg just deserved better, honestly, but to be fair c!techno has been taken advantage of time and time again (sometimes purposefully, sometimes not) and he's fucked up in the head, god bless LMAOOOOOOO

i agree that things need to change otherwise he's just gonna keep being a stagnant character who can get away with everything. i do think he has more to him than meets the eye, tho. meh idk that's still just analysis!!! we have no way of knowing the intent behind c!techno's characterisation, at least not for now. i hope for the best tho cc!techno don't let me down <3

[legends-live-in-memories]

I Have Too Many Opinions. ep. 1

lmao. i got encouragement to post my opinions on fandom things and now i want to make a miniseries doing just that. so here i am. doing just that.

im putting it under the cut cuz this was 4 whole pages including the disclaimer. yes i put a disclaimer and i explain why.

Anyways, here is the first piece in what inevitably will become fandom info dump, this time on thomas astruc’s writing on miraculous ladybug. but only some of my opinions cuz we would be here all day otherwise.

So… a disclaimer before I begin… 

I do not hate Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (yes i'm using their government name). I am quite a fan of the show actually despite its faults. I am also older than the intended audience but was obviously younger when the show first aired which is how my interest was piqued (the fact that its been 6 years and only 3 seasons says more about the show than me being a fan for that amount of time but also i never want to rush content creators cuz they're doing their best) and due to my age, there will be inherent bias in my approach of what i'm about to say as there is in EVERY opinion. The fact that it is an opinion should imply the presence of bias but most people tend to lack the critical thinking skills required to draw that conclusion ANYWAYS…

If I did hate the show I would not have this blog nor would I be even writing this because i tend to not give more than 2 seconds of thought to things i actively dislike (some of yall should give this a try) and i'm allowed to like things that are designed for an audience that i was originally a part of but grew out of. (I don't suddenly stop liking things because I'm older despite what many younger fans seem to believe about older audiences. I also don't need to be ‘allowed’ to do anything cuz i wasn't asking for permission anyways.)

This will not be character bashing, astruc bashing nor fandom bashing cuz, again, that would imply i hate any of those elements and if i did, i would not dedicate brainpower to them. Analyses and criticisms of media are fun and engaging and required if you wish to produce good enjoyable content. Now most of this should be already assumed and self-explanatory but people on the internet like to play morality roulette roll dice on purity culture and I rather have documentation that I am in fact not bullying fictional 14 year olds or a grown man. But alas, people get trigger happy whenever someone has less than 1000000% positive opinions on something they like and will throw out words they can't define (gaslight, baiting, toxic, problematic, gatekeep etc) in an attempt to defend their blind devotion, 

which is not needed, if you like something you never have to defend it, even if i don't like it. If you respond to anything I post saying you disagree with me, I will not argue with you. I won't debate back and forth and try to convince you that the things you like are wrong. Unless you are being absolutely tone deaf to what i'm saying, you wont get a negative reaction from me. So don't try to fish for a fight. Please. I got metaphorical hands for days and I'm mean, you don't want me hurting your feelings on the internet. Do yourself the favour. Difference of opinion is how we get diversification in media and is inherently a good thing. Now that that's out of the way, please don't ever let me have to say that again. I beg.

Now onto the fun stuff

I didn't know what I wanted as a first topic so my trusty internet friend @moonlitceleste suggested astruc’s writing… 

AND BOI do i got some opinions on ole tommy boi. Again I don't hate the dude. In fact, he has worked on a few shows that had defined my childhood, including but not limited to W.I.T.C.H. (all eps available on youtube for those interested, 2 seasons, general fun time all around).

So I don't think he’s scum of the earth but I do think his approach to writing mlb specifically has more misses than hits.

The first big miss is that he has no idea how to write 14 year old girls. At all. Almost every girl he has ever written feels like some terrible archetype built entirely for marketability and childish projection and pubescent self-insert (kind of). He has never been a 14 year old girl. I have. In fact when the show first aired, I WAS around the (assumed) age of the mlb characters. The behaviour he passes off as quirky or awkward or just the character’s genuine personality tend to perpetuate harmful stereotypes of teen girls found in the media and are never actually addressed as harmful. they just get swept under the rug. Marinette’s exuberant collage of teen heart throb model boi Adrien Agreste and her very painful almost fan worship she has of him (which flip flops like a paper sandal in the rain) being portrayed as a cute school girl crush uwu, Chloe being the y7 Regina George, Alya being the token best friend of colour with her ‘sassy’ personality (i want y'all to imagine me eyerolling so hard i bust a vessel in my eye), Kagami being the very damaging Perfect Asian Child stereotype. And before y'all get on your dusty soap box and defend going on about “BUT IT'S FOR CHILDREN”,,,, know this.

 i don’t give a solid fuck. 

Not one. 

Children arent stupid. Children are always going to remember the richy bitchy blonde who bullies the art kid, and the big kid, and the shy kid, and the non white kids, and was only nice to her equally rich white friend who she probably had a crush on or was only ever civil to her equally white lapdog. They're going to remember the half asian girl who was never allowed to actually be asian or the only black girl who existed solely as a soundboard for enabling bad habits or chastising the main character for the same habits she enables in the first place (boi aint THAT a topic for later). Like do i really need to explain that alya chastising marinette for taking max’s spot in gamer just to play with adrien rings absolutely hollow when she actively encourages her to sabotage the contest she’s in just so Kagami doesn't win?? Like I don't have to explain that right?? Again kids arent stupid and its quite something that Mari gets chastised for proving herself the best video game player regardless of her intentions just cuz it comes at the expense of max’s feelings/ego but is actively encouraged to sabotage not only kagami but herself by extension cuz kagami is ‘competition.’ Adrien is not a trophy to be won. And no I don't expect 14 yrs old to be perfect and to always make good decisions but these decisions are never addressed as being bad decisions. they get swept under the rug cuz those decisions were necessary for the ‘plot’ but astruc can barely keep characterization consistent and his characters suffer for it and it's the same children you preach are watching it that suffer as well. Cuz guess what? I KNOW 14 yr olds aren't like that cuz i've been there done that (this is the last time i'm saying that i promise) so I know astruc is just metaphorically throwing darts to figure out who says and does what without consideration for pre established personalities to drive the stalemate plot along. The same kids you say are watching this don't know that that's not how preteens work and will absorb and internalize those dynamics like baking soda and vinegar. Cata-fucking-strophically. 

And I haven't even gotten to the boys yet. Which honestly doesn't require much explanation anyways cuz they suffer the same fate as the girls. Tired archetypes with nothing to give them life. Nino falls into Adrien’s person of colour token best friend who dates the female lead’s person of colour token best friend so they can have cute double dates uwu. Except the plot goes nowhere and we have no inclination of romantic development beyond moments that only act to actively convince me to anti ship the lovesquare (i don't want to do that so i self indulge in fanon that actually cares about the characters and plot. may i interest you in True Sight on AO3?). Max is the residential nerd but it doesn't matter (cuz he and everyone are dumbed down for the sake of ‘plot’), kim is the sports jock (which interestingly subverts the asian comedic relief stereotype but only barely) and luka is cute older guy ™ that wears black nail polish and is in a band. The point of all this is to say there is no depth in the characters. It's especially blatantly obvious with the characters astruc doesn't like (chloe). Again, it being a show for kids is not an excuse to be absolved of putting effort into the characters you make.

This is one of the biggest misses astruc has. I haven't even gone into all the nuances of this particular miss. And i havent gone into how that works against him in the plot either. Mostly because the plot itself hasn't gone anywhere and partially because I wanted to go into the plot (or lack thereof) separately as its own miss. 

AND BOI is it a miss. 

SO home boy astruc wanted to reap the benefits of a serial show with ‘engaging’ plot without putting in any of the work to make a linear storyline and relying on the episodic format for, again, marketability. You can't have the best of both worlds, you are not Avatar: The Last Airbender. Which btw has a lot less episodes and a desired end goal that didn't involve top dollar. Legend of Korra did but that's not the point and it had its failings with that too. I challenge you, tell me how many episodes actually contribute towards a plot point or introduce new thematic elements to the show? Can you name them? I can and I'm going to include the plot points that moved the story in some direction if only temporarily. Yes only temporarily for some of these and i will explain later. (if you're in the server you already saw this list *wink*)

25/26. Origins- self explanatory, the beginning of the story, 

24. Volpina- introduction of the grimoire and Master Fu (kind of) and no, Lila is not a plot point,

28. The Collector- proper introduction of Master Fu,

37. Sapotis- introduction of Rena Rouge,

41. Syren- introduction of new aquatic power ups,

44. Anansi- introduction of Carapace,

47. Frozer- introduction of new ice power ups,

48/49. Style Queen- introduction of Queen Bee,

51/52. Heroes’ Day- introduction of Mayura and mass akumatization,

66. Startrain- introduction of Pegasus,

67. Kwami Buster- Marinette wears multiple miraculouses,

68. Feast- backstory as to how the miraculouses were lost,

69. Ikari Gozen- introduction of Ryuko,

70. Timetagger- introduction of Bunnyx,

71. Party Crasher- introduction of Roi Singe and Viperion,

73. Chat Blanc- alternate timeline that essentially means nothing but got a reaction out of fans anyways (myself included)

 77/78. Love Eater/Battle of Miraculous- Marinette becomes guardian and other heroes lose their miraculous,

New York Special- other heroes exist and there is an American miraculous box,

That's 21 episodes. 21 out of a heaping 78 plus 2 specials. Everything else was just your typical akuma of the day episode and everything that happened outside that had no lasting consequences on the plot thanks to the miraculous status quo. Was it entertaining to watch Lila stir the plot of the class dynamic? Hell yeah. Too bad it meant nothing by the end of the episode cuz we were struck with miraculous status quo. She literally doesn't appear again until Heroes Day. that is from episodes 25 all the way to 51, she means nothing and yet she is treated with the severity of a b-villain/rival thing. She means nothing by the end of Volpina if I'm being honest. She is only relevant for 20 mins of episode time she’s in then it's back to magic status quo that undoes any shift in dynamics and relationships. It's like Spongebob who can't get his driver’s license. The worst part is I actually like Lila and I wish the story treated her with the seriousness we as an audience are expected to treat her with. Despite being painfully inconsequential by the end of each of the 3?? 4?? episodes she’s in, it's entertaining to watch a character create drama just because. 

Too bad it means nothing.

Astruc is constantly building up suspense to something ‘important’ only for it to not deliver and fans are constantly having the rug pulled out from under us. Oblivio teased us with a reveal only that gets undone cuz memory akuma. Chat Blanc teased us with romantic development but that gets undone cuz time travel bullshit. Feast introduced more miraculous lore and the history of the guardians but that means nothing by the next episode or ever (i'm not including any reference to the season 4 trailer cuz i've been around the block a few times and im familiar with this lil dancy dance). Heroes Day teased us with a possible future team of heroes but that gets undone in Battle of Miraculous cuz ????? why?? (here's why; astruc was having a jolly ole time letting us know how irredeemable Chloe is at the expense of shooting his own stagnant plot in the foot. Again, discussion for later.)

Too bad anything that slightly swerves off course from the akuma of the day gets undone or ignored. Too bad nothing has any lasting consequence. I mean, if anything did, the episodes would have had a consistent order and release schedule so im not scrambling to watch the leaked ep in Portuguese or something while the french dub is two episodes behind while the english version hasnt even been dubbed. I really wonder how he plans to conclude the show when he’s so afraid to step out of the corner he painted himself in.

Again, not going into nuances. If you want you can ask for more specifics (i doubt anyone would) but this is really just a slightly detailed general overview of my opinions on astruc’s writing. 

I was going to include another miss in his approach to this show but imma save that for another time. 

How’s that for a ‘first’ post?

[day-writingdaydreams]

You Will Be Found - Chapt. 1 Anybody Have A Map?

A big Thank You to @khanofallorcs for being a wonderful Beta, and to @noirequin for creating the Spin the Record Challenge

Can also be read on AO3

🎵“And the scary truth is I’m flying blind, and I’m making this up as I go!”🎵

“Marinette, are you okay?”

Marinette turned slightly from her position, leaning on the railing of her balcony, looking out at the world to see the little red and black spotted being who had asked her the question.

“Yeah, Tikki,” she said in a quiet, almost sad voice. “I just… woke up an hour ago and couldn’t fall back asleep. So I decided to come up here to do some thinking.”

Tikki flew over to her chosen, a concerned look crossing her tiny little face as she faced her. “What seems to be troubling you?”

The dark-haired girl blew out a raspberry, ruffling her fringe. “The question should be what isn’t troubling me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” she trailed off, the beginnings of being overwhelmed evident on her face

“Can we try to have an optimistic outlook?” The Kwami of Creation interrupted her holder, knocking her out of the downward spiral for the moment. “Can we buck up just enough to see the world won't fall apart? Maybe this day we decide we’re not giving up before we’ve tried? Today, let's make a new start.” Tikki said as she gave Marinette’s cheek a nuzzle.

A sudden noise interrupted them, making the two glance in the direction from whence it came. Noticing it was her phone with a notification, the designer picked it up to see that Alya had texted her.

“I wonder what Alya wants this early,” Marinette said with a sidelong glance to her Kwami. Tikki gave her a shrug, just as confused as the girl sitting beside her.

Ladyblogger: hey gurl wat up?

                      R u excited about 2day’s project?

MDCDesigns: Yas!

                        I can’t wait 2 c who I’m partnered with!

Ladyblogger: Whoa!

                      Ur awake!

                      Wait, y r u awake?

MDCDesigns: Couldn’t sleep.

Ladyblogger: That sux    

                      So…

                      Who do u think ur partner is gonna b?

MDCDesigns: idk

                       But I hope its not Chloe

                       Or Lila

Ladyblogger: y not Lila?

MDCDesigns: sorry Als,

                       No offense

                       but...

                       I don’t trust her on a project this big

Ladyblogger: gurl.

                      I don’t know what ur issue is wit Lila

                     but u need to stop being jelly of her

“How did this get turned into me being jealous of her?” Marinette asked out loud, turning to face the little red embodiment of Creation with wide eyes.

Turning back to her text conversation, the dark-haired girl furrowed her brows as she tried to get her point across to her supposed “best friend”.

“Another stellar conversation for the scrapbook,” the dark haired girl quoted with a sigh as she began typing again.

MDCDesigns: I am NOT jealous of her, Als!

                       I just don’t trust her.

Ladyblogger: so you say gurl

                      I’ll see u in class

“Another stumble as I’m reaching for the right thing to say,” she muttered quietly with a shake of her head, dismayed at the direction the conversation had taken. “I’m kinda coming up empty, can't find my way to you...”

MDCDesigns: yeah...see u

With a sigh, Marinette exited the text messaging program, checked the time, and slipped her phone into her handbag. It was still pretty early for her to head to school, but she figured that there was a first time for everything.

“It's a ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ kind of day, isn’t it, Marinette,” Tikki commented as she phased into the bag, giving her holder a sympathetic look as she did.

“Oh, Tikki,” the designer said with a humorless chuckle, pinching the bridge of her nose as she headed towards her trap door. “It most certainly is!”

Her parents were surprised to see their perpetually late daughter up and about so early.

”Marinette,” her mom called out before the girl could make her escape. ”We’re going to need you to help out after school today. A big order came in that your father and I need your help to take care of for tonight.”

The dark-haired girl stifled a grimace. She normally didn't mind helping out in the bakery, but today wasn't exactly a normal day.

”I would, Maman, but I'm being assigned a big group project at school today, and I'm not sure when the due date is yet,” Marinette said tactfully.

”I know that your schoolwork comes first, dear,” Sabine countered gracefully as her husband lumbered over to join the pair. ”However, we really could use your help. It would only be for about an hour, give or take.”

It was the give or take that worried her.

Resigned to her fate, Marinette bowed her head dejectedly and mumbled, ”Yes, Maman.”

”Thank you. You're a good girl, Marinette, ” said her father, patting her on the back before heading back to the ovens.

Grabbing a croissant and a to-go cup of coffee, Marinette left her parents with a kiss to their cheeks and a wave before starting her daily walk to school.

As she started up the stairs at the school’s entrance, she was met with the one person who would sour her day.

Lila.

“Well, if it isn’t Mari-brat,” the Italian vixen sneered.

“What do you want, Lie-la?” Marinette asked as she continued up the front steps, keeping her eyes to the front.

“What I want is for you to go down in flames,” the brunette said in a sing-song voice as she walked beside the secret heroine. “Are you ready to give up yet?”

At the top of the stairs, the designer spun to face her nemesis, blue eyes flashing like lightning. “Let me tell you something,” she growled. “I do not make deals with liars, and I never give up easily.”

“Oh,” the fake fox said coyly, “but you will. I’ve already won, you know. You just haven’t realized it yet.”

With a flick of her brown locks, Lila sauntered away, ready to claim her next victim.

Marinette glared after her, wishing with all of her might that the bitch would finally get caught up in her web of lies. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“Another masterful attempt ends with disaster,” she muttered, bringing a hand to her face to give it a slight rub. “Pour another cup of coffee and watch it all crash and burn,” she continued as she headed to the locker room, ready to just get the day over with.

Opening the door and finding the room empty, the designer kept singing under her breath as she reached her locker and gathered her belongings for the day. “It’s a puzzle, it's a maze. I tried to steer through it a million ways, but each day’s another wrong turn,” she took another deep breath as she closed the locker door. The secret heroine felt her Kwami pat her through her purse on her hip in reassurance.

“Does anybody have a map, anybody maybe happen to know how the hell to do this? I don’t know if you can tell, but this is me just pretending to know,” Marinette sang slightly louder, looking around as she left the locker room and crossed the courtyard, confident now that no one was paying attention to her. “So where’s the map? I need a clue, ‘cause the scary truth is I’m flying blind… I’m flying blind... I’m flying blind, and I’m making this up as I go...”

Reaching her classroom, Marinette discovered it to be empty. 'Just as well,' she thought, setting her bags down and pulling out her tablet, sketchbook, phone, and earbuds. ‘It's bound to be a long day.'

Feeling inspired, she sat down and opened up her sketchbook to an empty page. She then pulled up the ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ soundtrack on her phone, plugged in her earbuds, and set to work.

Are you interested in reading and writing fanfiction, making fanart or cosplaying/roleplaying for Miraculous? Then  the Miraculous Fanworks Discord Server is the place for you! Come and join over 1000 other fans as we share, discuss, and have a general good time bonding over the Fandom we all love!

@miraculousfanworks

[nikkigrand]

i saw that you've been reblogging posts and stuff, but you dont update, which is totally fine! no pressure!! but i've noticed that you're such a loner in fandom and barely talk to anyone, and disappear alot??? can i ask why?? we all love your work and would love to be more involved with you

I wanna start by saying thank you for reading and supporting my work. It gives me the fuzzies to know that people like the things I put out. 

Now, on to your question! I guess this will be a long one lol. 

I’ve been a part of the Naruto fandom for about 15 years now - as a silent lurker and as a contributor. That’s a large part of my life. 

When I first started, fandom was this thing where you could unleash your creativity upon the world and people’s comments were either constructive criticisms (such as spelling, grammar, plot, character development, etc.) or praise for your work. 

There were flames, of course, but i can’t remember if these flames were personally incendiary or along the spectrum of, “your character is a Mary Sue, and this is terrible and I hate it.”

There were dark!fics, squik!fics, fetish!fics, all types of fics that were creative in a way that would challenge the author and the reader. And we all knew that just because they liked writing about it, it didn’t mean that they did these things in real life. 

In fact, fanfiction.net hadn’t even been around for a decade when I first logged on. I only created an account 5 years after finding it. I remember when character slots were being updated each time a new Shippuden chapter was released.  

Don’t get me wrong, these were also the days of active character bashing. I guess things in that respect haven’t changed, but back then, if you didn’t like a character or a pairing, you just didn’t read or actively search for it. This is where the term “Don’t like, don’t read” or “DLDR” came from. 

Now, you’ll have people who disagree with what you contribute to the point where they’ll actually dox you. That was simply unheard of back in the early 2000s and 2010′s. For some, fandom is a secret part of their lives - a guilty pleasure, something they don’t want others to know about. That’s why usernames exist. 

A lot of us write erotica, and some of us don’t want people knowing that - i sure don’t. 

And now, because users are becoming more guarded, they feel protective over their work, who they share it with, and who they allow into their circles. Which is fine for them, I guess, that’s their prerogative. But, I miss the days where fandom was all inclusive. 

For example, I tried joining a server for a pairing I really enjoyed and was excited because I could talk about this thing that brought me joy with other people who would also be excited to share what they thought. Except, I was told I could not join because my content “made them uncomfortable” and I need more recommendations from other users.

Being told I could essentially “not sit with them,” was a Mean Girl way of saying I did not fit into their mold and their ideals of what fandom should be. Their 2020 definition of a fandom “safe space” is not the same as it was back then.

And that absolutely blew my mind. That I would be excluded from an environment that used to be so inclusive that I could theoretically write a story about a tailed beast orgy and no one would have batted an eye. 

I mean, what is this? An exclusive club I need recommendation letters to join? The hell? Is this college? A corporate job? The Illuminati???

Since when was that even a THING in fandom??

So now, I keep to myself. 

I disappear often because this is just a hobby. If I want to write, I will write. If I don’t, I don’t. Once I feel like this is a job, it is no longer enjoyable for me. I am under no obligation to post anything I write, I only do so because I want to share. 

I have never been a writer who updates based on reviews or kudos. I have stories with over 30k words that have 8 reviews, and I don’t care. I have stories with 10k words with 100 reviews, and I still don’t care. Why? Because I write for ME. Because it makes ME feel better. And if you enjoy what makes me feel better, then that is simply a bonus for me. (this doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate reviews, they’re just not necessary for me.)

Bashing does not affect me, I couldn’t care less what losers who have nothing better to do have to say. Like, how weird do you have to be to attack someone over fictional characters? I mean, there’s weird and then there’s fucking weird. 

So, yeah, I keep to myself because the Naruto fandom has become toxic and I like keeping my blog a drama free zone. This has always been my own version of a safe space. This blog is still in the 2000s days of fandom. Back when it was FUN. I talk about what I want, post what I want, and do what I want.

Some people may see me as cut throat and a hard ass, but I don’t believe in bowing down to people I don’t know over the internet lol. I have thick enough skin to ignore weirdos.

Don’t get me wrong, any of my readers can message me and talk to me and ask me anything without fear. I believe in respect, kindness, and courtesy. I have NOT ONCE ever treated one of my followers like they were beneath me, or like they should be grateful for what I’ve shared with them. 

Because for me, that is not what fandom is about. 

[miraculousfanworks]

Miraculous Fanworks Fanfiction Compilation: August 2020 Exchange

Image credit.

Miraculous Fanworks Fanfiction Compilation: August 2020 Exchange

Welcome to the compilation for the August 2020 Exchange on the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server! 

On the server, we host events every month. This August, we hosted a fanfiction exchange.

A fanfiction exchange is where fanfiction authors submit an offer and a request, and are then matched with fellow writers who would like to write their requests.

This is the compilation of all the authors who published works for the August 2020 exchange.

Enjoy!

Everybody is Confused, Nobody is Responsible by Ambrosia_678

for MyMayura

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26072089/chapters/63411766

When Adrian accidentally finds out his father's alter ego, everyone has to make some hard choices.

Origin of All that is Good (We'll Go Together) by faelynwythe

for tbehartoo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26193631/chapters/63742417

In an ancient time and land, the great goddess Ladybug has all but lost her influence upon the world, save for a single young man who still believes in her with everything he has.

august rain by fictionalinfinity

for miraculousandstrangerthingsworld

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26097877

Over the years, the umbrella comes to mean different things for Adrien. From empty promises to flourishing friendships and secret identities, he finds that there’s more to the rain than just the thunder.

You Had Me at Bonjour! by JaydenMarie

for Rikkapikasnikka

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26189995/chapters/63732202

More than anything in the whole world, Marinette wished someone would say his name again. Alix kept calling him Bozo, but she knew that was most certainly not his name. She’d been far too flustered by his painted nails, the blue running through his black hair, his open shirt and his bare chest, his voice...UGH. What was she thinking about again? Oh. His name. Marinette certainly couldn't spend an entire weekend in Phuket calling him Soft Hands Guy, could she?  Lukanette

A Game of... Bug and Chat by JuliaFC

for fictional infinity

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26065015

A revealing dream leads Marinette to suspect the identity of her Minou. Being the Guardian, she could just ask him to show her... but where's the fun in that? Marinette starts a game to "spice up" the reveal. Will an extremely flustered Adrien survive flirty!Marinette's "ordeal"? And will Marinette keep her cool when the tables will be reversed? Read and find out! Plenty of Adrinette :)

Lazy Morning at home by Khanofallorcs

for PurpleFlower04

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26112136

Determined to help Marinette relax after weeks of hard work, Adrien plans to surprise his girlfriend with breakfast in bed, on the morning of her 23rd birthday.

Perhaps Love by L3245

for JaydenMarie

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26154802/chapters/63636466

‘Being known is being loved… and then what?’  He bites his lip. ‘Come on, Luka… you had this.’Luka has never written a love song. It's not that he hasn't tried--he has, but nothing has ever felt right. It's never bothered him, until one day the words hit him out of the blue. Being known is being loved. Then there are incomplete lyrics and a half-baked tune stuck in his head until he finds a way to finish them.Perhaps a chance encounter (or five!) with a clumsy, but attentive girl will help. 

Is There a 101 on Crushes with Secret Identities? by Lethargic_Pink

for MissNoodles

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26199550

What is Marinette going to do when they both, accidentally, find out each other's identities?Well, of course, she's going to challenge him to a game of flirting, because that's totally Marinette.

The Unfortunate Flour Incident by liminalshadow

for MarinetteAgresteBrand

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26224177

When Chat Noir and Marinette have a bread baking date, an unfortunate flour incident forces a conversation that they wasn't quite ready to have.

Cirque Du Désir by MarinetteAgresteBrand

for CassandraFisher

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26017315

There was a fine line between Hell and Heaven, lust and love, and the ringmaster, Viperion, knew how to blur it all just so... make everything meld together until Chat Noir and Ladybug couldn’t tell where they themselves began and ended, their fate dancing on a tightrope.

I don't know what to title this. by Mavicah

for sseagully

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26192701

Friendship shenanigans? I'm bad at descriptions.

This cafe by miraculousandstrangerthingsworld 

for Nomolosk

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/MLBAugust2020/works/26174752

Marinette and Adrien get engaged at the place they met and have a few flashbacks.Adrien is a singer and Marinette is a songwriter.No miraculouses

Me, My Best Friend, and Her Cat by MissNoodles

for liminalshadow

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26051047

Ladybugs aren't known for being particularly sneaky. Good thing this Ladybug has a fox in her corner, watching her back.(And giving Ladybug's love life a nudge along the way. Maybe more than a nudge. In Alya's defense, Ladybug can use all the help she could get.)

Before and After by Mommadon

for pickledtalie

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25965442/chapters/63120091

Moments of sorrow bring Marinette and Adrien closer together as they learn, grow, and heal together. A series of nonlinear Before and After snapshots, glimpsing how heartache is turned to joy and tears become laughter.

Lace and Beads and Silk Brocade by MyMayura

for PrinceKapitan

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26075419

Ms. Bustier can't seem to accept that Chloé and Marinette have no intentions of becoming friends. It seems, however, that their forced "friend date" might have some positive surprises in store, which are much needed after Marinette's terrible day.

heroes (just for one day?) by NOIRequin

for Mommadon

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26120986/chapters/63540517

After the epic failure of Heroes’ Day, Mayor Bourgeois and his counselor decided to organize another city-wide event in honor of all the citizens who fought against the evil during the previous celebration. Some people nominate Marinette as an Everyday Hero, the face of that event, but she doubts that she’s worth this title. Luckily, she gets a partner who will help her not only nail organizational issues but to embrace the title of Everyday Ladybug as well. Set immediately after s2, so episodes after that are invalid in this universe.

The Things We Do For Family by Nomolosk

for JuliaFC

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26125108/chapters/63553105

Felix is getting married. It's tradition that the eldest child in the Graham de Vanily family use the Twin Rings as their wedding rings, passed down through each successive generation, and Felix has no intention of breaking with tradition. There's only one problem. Felix only has one of the rings.

it will take time, but we'll be okay  by pickledtalie

for Shattered_Heartless and Angylle

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26160067

ladybug and chat noir sit on a roof. they talk. it goes... well? 

Seven Seas of Symphony by PrinceKapitan

for faelynwtythe

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25946050/chapters/63068758

Luka's relationship with his mother Anarka is rather poor. While neither one had much of a regard to the civilian norms, Anarka would more often than not take things too far. When Luka's crush Marinette comforts him after another altercation, things seem to go well between the guitarist and the designer. Unfortunately, Luka's rebellious mother pulls a life threatening stunt to spite her son's dispiriting attitude towards her reckless behavior and this leaves him, Marinette and Juleka out at sea in the midst of a storm. If they somehow get back home, their relationship is bound to strain even more.

Exposed by PurpleFlower04

for delwyndelwyndelwyn

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067430

When Alya finds out Mari is Ladybug, she is given something very special to remind her not to spill the secret to the Ladyblog.

Tell Me All Your Secrets (let me know you) by Rikkapikasnikka

for SilverMoonSky

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26166259/chapters/63668782

Luka was tired of secrets.His hands were full of them: in the lines of his palms, in the wrinkles of his knuckles, and in the callouses of his fingers. He held onto the secrets of his partners: the synchronicity of their breathing, the beating of their hearts, the pain of their burdens. And he was exhausted.Admittedly, Luka Couffaine did not know Kagami Tsurugi that well. But he invited her over to talk, and she had showed up, and now, it was time.Adrien and Marinette have to come clean, too. 

Rebound by theriveroflight

for Mavicah

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25848778

“I was in love with you. Adrien you. I was putting off thinking about it until after I told you,” she says, “but I’ve come to a decision. I refuse to be your rebound, Adrien. You just broke up with Kagami. And I know that you didn’t really love her, you told me that yourself, but every breakup needs time for the dust to settle. I don’t want to be your rebound. I don’t want to be the person you use as an outlet for your feelings. I don’t want things to move too fast.”

i promised myself (wouldn't let you complete me) by theriveroflight

for ladybuginette

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205169

and all I do is cry and complain, 'cause second's not the same...

I can tell that we are going to be friends by sagansjagger

for theriveroflight

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25811668

While Ladybug kicks his butt during their weekly video game session, Adrien realizes he has to treasure his friendship with her and pack it away into his heart like a precious jewel. Featuring heart-to-heart conversations about identities, superhero guilt, and fame, as well as Adrien Agreste/cupcakes.

Ridiculous, Utterly Ridiculous by sagansjagger

for Lethargic_Pink

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995058

This shouldn't hurt as much as it does, Chat thinks.But after being rejected by Ladybug (again), he's devastated. Vaulting across the city blindly, he finds himself on the balcony of the Grand Paris...And finds sympathy from an unexpected person: his oldest friend outside of the mask, Chloé Bourgeois.

It’s the Yeast I Could Do by sagansjagger

for Speckleflower

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26054116

Wandering the Parisian streets after nine pm on a Sunday, Adrien Agreste is miserable. He’d fought with his father about the stupidest thing. Fortunately, Tom Dupain is there to help him through his turbulent emotions, using the stress-relieving arts of stirring, kneading, and baking bread. It didn't hurt that Tom had a cute daughter, either.

'til we can't tell where you end and where i begin  by sanj_sanj and sagansjagger

for Ladybuginette

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26206465/chapters/63778384

After Hawkmoth's defeat, Adrien is a little, lost bird without a home. Marinette Dupain-Cheng takes him in, and they live as roommates together.But not everything is okay. Adrien is a terrible roommate. They fight about everything and neither has any idea of their mutual pining for each other due to the lack of communication after the reveal and the battle.Adrien is jealous of Marinette and Luka's very close friendship. Eventually, enough is enough. Adrien decides that he'll do anything to fix his relationship with Marinette.Starting by being a friend to her again.

rewrite your history, light up your wildest dreams by sseagully

for khanofallorcs

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26103793

Marinette Dupain-Cheng is just a normal girl with a normal life. That is, until one day, when she is presented with the Mouse Miraculous to join the fight alongside the famous Cat and Bug heroes of Paris, Nekomata and Coccinche.But she is not brought in alone. She has a partner by her side. A really great partner who is very cute and funny and supportive — and who unfortunately has a giant crush on a classmate at his school. -AU where the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous were given to Luka and Kagami at the beginning; Marinette and Adrien are brought on to flesh out the team as the Mouse and Snake wielders.Reverse crush SnekMouse. Side pairing Lukagami. Characters slightly aged up.

give me hope for something better by sseagully

for L3245

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228080

Chloé and Luka sit on the rooftop of Le Grand Paris hotel and have a talk that's been a long time coming.

Repercussions by Shattered_Heartless and Angylle

for sagansjagger

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26208031

Time means nothing when you have love, family and a purpose. And if you don't? What happens when minor changes occur in the Battle for the Miraculous?What repercussions will the choices made have? Will everyone be able to manage the fall out?

Wistfully In Love With You by SilverMoonSky

for NOIRequin

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26056492

Now that Marinette finally knew the way she felt about him, she couldn’t look back. She’d tried to scream at her heart to stop. She’d told herself it wouldn’t work out. But in the end, she’d fallen hard.And yet, despite the fact that she didn’t know what she could really do, Marinette knew only one thing when she’d realized she’d somehow fallen for her superhero partner: she could absolutely not tell him about her feelings for him.How could she? Their love had led to the destruction of the world; what would happen if he ever found out? What if he figured out her identity? Although Marinette didn’t want to admit he still had feelings for her, if there was even the slimmest chance. . . . She couldn’t let Chat Blanc happen ever again. If suppressing her feelings for him was the only way that would happen, then that was what she had to do.

Bitten by the Love Bug by Speckleflower 

for Sanj_sanj

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26141788/chapters/63600310

Adrien gets floored by Marinette at video games, when they are totally not supposed to be working on a project.Later on, Adrien finds something out that completely changes his view of her.And when placed into a difficult situation together before Adrien has a chance to process his feelings, how will they get through it?

A Date with Destiny by tbehartoo

for A_Human42

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26209693

Nathaniel has been set up on a blind date by his dear friend Alya. Marc is Alya’s co-worker and Nathaniel’s waiter for this clandestine meeting. Alya might finally be able to put a win in her score book as a matchmaker, if only Kim would show up for the date!

[shirtlesssammy]

10x22: The Prisoner

Hey Guys! We’re finally done with recapping all of Andrew Dabb’s episodes this week. For the rest of hiatus we’re doing a mix of favorites and not-so-favorites (*cough* finally addressing some of the Buckleming episodes *cough*) Six weeks until the final season. Agh!

Shreveport, Louisiana

Nerd Boy Styne leaves school only to be harassed by local burnouts. They want to know how much of a virgin he is (um, is there a gradient on that?) (Natasha: Virginity. Is. A. Construct.) Nerd Boy bites back HARD which does not sit well with Alpha burnout.

He’s pushed to the ground but is “saved” by his older brother. I get the feeling that he’d rather take his chances with the burnouts.

Later, Alpha Burnout is enjoying his Slushy and stayin’ alive when he notices a car following him. He takes off but runs into Older Brother Styne. Styne #2 creeps up and puts a plastic bag over his head and bye bye burnout.

*FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK ALERT*

Sam and Dean are building Charlie’s pyre. We get flashbacks as they burn her body. Sam tries to say some words but Dean is full of rage and doesn’t want to hear it.

He even goes so far to tell Sam that he should be on that pyre instead of her. Oh boy. He tells Sam to stop what they’re doing to help him. The Mark isn’t going to kill him. Meanwhile, he WILL find who killed Charlie and end them all.

Nerd Boy Styne is busy playing video games and chatting with a friend. He has plans on moving to LA, but can’t tell his family because they’re scary and will kill him. His older brother lets him know their father wants to see him.

Cut to the elder Styne (listen, I HATE this storyline, I HATE that they killed Charlie, I HATE it all. I am not putting any effort into finding out any of their names. They’re all just Styne #1-4 to me.) He’s berating Styne with no arm about not getting the book and losing his arm. He tells his father about the bunker’s lore.

First, he’s got to get a new arm, so they bring in Nerd Boy (Fine, Nerd Boy can have a name-- it’s Cyrus) and show him Alpha Burnout and tell him to carve him up. He doesn’t want to. Jesus, his dear old dad says he’s going to do this or his dad will do it and then he’ll tie up Cyrus and do the same to him. W o W.

Dean calls another hunter, Rudy, about a lead on the Stynes.

Cas and Rowena continue to work on the Book of the Damned.

For Too Much Beauty in One Shot Science:

Sam comes back and wordlessly tells Cas that Charlie is gone. Sam then says that Dean knows and that he promised Dean that he would shut down their little plan. Rowena, still the delightful antagonist here, wants to know what’s going on. They opt not to fill her in. Cas asks the only important question: “What about Dean?” Sam looks at the GPS on his phone pointing to where the Impala is when he gets an email from Charlie. It’s the codex. Rowena can now read the Book of the Damned.

Sam tasks Cas with finding Dean. Sam’s going to keep with their plan. He’s going to save his brother.

He then demands that Rowena read the Book. She’s not so inclined right now. She wants Crowley dead first.

Back at Casa Styne, the burnout is dead and brother Styne has a new arm. Cyrus is devastated.

Dean’s made it to Louisiana and gets pulled over by the cops. They dare to knock out Baby’s rear lights and Dean goes for one of the cops and gets arrested for his effort. I mean, I’m really surprised at the restraint Dean shows here? He doesn’t fight really. He could have busted up both the cops with little effort.

At Phil’s Diner, Crowley enjoys the best cup of coffee he’s ever had (and I’m enjoying the midcentury set design!).

Seth, the server, tells him that he learned how to make a good cup in Ecuador. Next, he’d like to head to Asia. It’s just a dream though. Crowley is in the business of making dreams come true. He gets a call from Dean before he can seal any dream making deals though. Then he gets a text with where to meet Dean --in Kansas, not Louisiana.

Dean’s at the sheriff’s station having his entire rock alias collection uncovered (not to mention the secret arsenal of weapons in the Impala). The officer wants to know who Dean is. “I’m the guy who’s going to get out of here in about 30 seconds.” He then proceeds to knock a mug of pens over. The guy comes over to Dean and Dean promptly gets him in a headlock, demands the handcuff’s keys and knocks the guy out cold. I’d say that took maybe 15 seconds.

Dean finds the sheriff talking to someone on the phone.

He butts him with a gun once for lying and once again for hurting his car. He then demands the sheriff tell him who he was talking to --one of the Stynes, but they own this town and there’s no way Dean can take on this family. Challenge Accepted! (Also: let’s just temporarily think about Dean saying: “Yeah, well I kill gods” as we head into the final season.)

Crowley makes a fabulous entrance into a nasty warehouse, looking for Dean. <Insert 8,000 booty call jokes here> Sam shoots him with a devil’s trap bullet. Sam reveals that he lured Crowley there with a faked phone call from Dean. He flourishes the demon-killing knife and a hex bag, before stuffing the bag into Crowley’s pocket. Oh, and he has a final message from Rowena: “She should’ve taken the three pigs.” Sam x Rowena: murder couple extraordinaire!

Dean casually kills his way into the Styne compound and it’s half James Bond ease and half YIKES OH NO KILLER DEAN BEAN.

Inside, several people point guns at Dean surprise-party-style, while another Styne sneaks a plastic bag onto his face, smothering him. (Query: why are there no women in this family except the single hot nurse? Lame.)

Sam continues to listen to Crowley monologue as he slowly crumples under Rowena’s curse. Crowley insists that he’s been creating a friendlier Hell. “I thought if I did better, I might actually feel something again. That it might matter.” Sam reminds Crowley - and us - that he’s killed a lot of people we care about. Crowley admits to being monstrous and he looks up at Sam. His eyes glow red as he rises, tosses out the bullet, and thanks Sam for jolting him back into his true King-of-Hell give-’em-hell mindset.

Sam started Crowley on his human journey, so I guess it’s fitting that he’s ended it as well.

Dean wakes up on the Styne operating slab. They tell him they’ll kill him and harvest him. (So, like, just do it and quit the smirky speeches?) Dean points out the Mark - he can’t die but he CAN come back as a demon so...don’t say he didn’t warn you. In very little time, Dean dispatches the entire operating theater, killing Elder Styne riiiight in the middle of his evil villain monologue. (For that, we applaud you, Crazed Killer Dean.)

The other Stynes break into the bunker, which is currently unoccupied. They plan to loot and then burn it which, yep, seems pretty much on par with what we’ve seen of these yahoos.

Sam calls Rowena and tells her about the failed hex bag. Rowena’s entirely unimpressed at Sam’s killing prowess and snaps at him to finish the job he started. Mmmhmmm yesss gurl!

Cas calls Sam from the Styne estate. It’s a bloody mess; Dean took out the whole dumb Styne storyline - I mean, family. Now, Dean’s headed back to the bunker.

In the bunker, Cyrus digs through books while Formerly-One-Arm makes dick commentary like, “So this is what I know about Dean Winchester. He's got crappy taste in music, got a hot mom, and he loves flannel.” Man, what I wouldn’t give for a late-season Mary Winchester to show these Stynes what’s what! They finish piling stuff in the middle of the library and pour fuel over everything. A single match gets dramatically lit when the other Styne Stooge stumbles in, stabbed.

Dean Winchester appears, covered in blood and looking so pissed that he’s practically on the other side of the emotion by now.

Formerly-One-Arm Styne disrespects Charlie and, despite Dean’s dead-eyed stare, we’re really ready for Dean to let go and beat this jerk down. Without further preamble, Dean shoots him in the head. Dean then threatens Cyrus, who begs for mercy. He doesn’t have monstrous stitches and he hates his family! (Though it’s strongly implied that Cyrus is complicit in his bully’s death and de-arming.) “There's bad in you,” Dean tells him in response. “It's in your blood. Now you can deny it and you can run from it all you want, but that bad will always win.” Oh, Dean Bean. The Mark’s got you well and truly hooked now. Dean kills Baby Styne.

Cas walks in, horrified by what Dean’s done.

….And then they hug it out and go for milkshakes!

Right?

Ugh, okay. Fine. Cas confronts Dean about his faulty moral compass.

Dean flares up about Sam and Cas’s secret project to cure Dean. Cas insists that Dean needs help. “Maybe you could fight the Mark for years. Maybe centuries, like Cain did. But you cannot fight it forever. And when you finally turn, and you will turn. Sam, and everyone you know, everyone you love...they could be long dead. Everyone except me. I'm the one who will have to watch you murder the world. So if there's even a small chance that we can save you, I won't let you walk out of this room.”

Dean continues to glare at Cas.

……..And then they hug it out and go for milkshakes!

(Boris and I will take just a moment to picture Cas staying by Dean’s side for centuries. Please do not mind the sound of quiet weeping.)

Instead of milkshakes and hugs, there’s a terrible fight where Cas only defends and doesn’t attack. He begs Dean to stop his march into darkness and in response Dean beats him bloody. He pulls out Cas’s angel blade and raises it to strike. As Dean hovers above his bloodied friend, Cas simply says, “Please…”

Dean stabs a nearby book instead, and stalks out of the bunker leaving nothing but terrible feelings in all of us - and a clear threat of future murderous intent.

______________________________

The Mark of Quotes is Changing You!

An angel that rejected Heaven. That's like a fish that wants to fly, or a dog that thinks he's people. I’d be happy to kill her, she just called me a fish.

You got seventeen fake I.D.'s, and a trunk full of guns, knives, freakin' ninja stars... I mean, who are you, man?

Aren’t you a clever kitty?

You can save me the speech on the three hearts, the two spleens, the seven nipples, for the ladies... or the fellas, I don't judge.

______________________________

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[artificialqueens]

Uprooted, Part 1: Branching Out to You (Branjie) - writworm42

A/N: Based on a prompt from Holtzmanns & another from Multifandomgeek asking for a smutty lesbian AU whereby Vanessa & Brooke hook up before Vanessa starts a new job, only to discover Brooke is her boss. Thank you Holtzmanns for beta-ing and also putting up with my puns… not to get sappy, but your ideas and proficiency at cutting down my straight-to-the-smut instincts planted some great seeds, and really helped this fic grow…

The entire time Vanessa was in college, she was told that she’d never find a job.

Arboriculture is a dying field. No one cares about it any more.

It’s just so niche… there can’t be that many jobs in it.

Even if you do find a job, it probably won’t be too secure, or well-paid.

The entire time Vanessa was in college, it was only her stubbornness and passion for plants that kept her from dropping out, from switching to a nice, practicalmajor like teaching or engineering. And now, she was finally seeing her efforts pay off–starting tomorrow, she was going to be working full-time in the tree department at West Nurseries. Starting tomorrow, she’d be able to live an arboriculturist’s dream, with benefits and pay well above the minimum wage her family had tried to scare her with. Starting tomorrow, she would be able to spend eight hours a day in her happy place, breathing in the tang of fertilizer and pine, feeling the grit of dirt sneaking inside her gloves and burrowing under her fingernails. Starting tomorrow, she would be able to officially call herself a professional.

That was tomorrow, though–tonight, she was going to celebrate.

“To the baddest bitch in the plantin’ game,” Vanessa’s best friend, Silky, raised her shot glass in the air, her loud voice audible over the noise of the bar, “And to gettin’ some bush tonight!”

Vanessa rolled her eyes as her friends howled around her, but nonetheless took her shot with them, grimacing against the sharp burn of tequila down her throat.

“Thanks for takin’ me out, guys.” Vanessa smiled warmly as she slammed down her glass on the table along with everyone else, the thud of glass on wood echoing in their ears.

“Girl, please, you know we gotta celebrate the first of us to get a job!” A’keria laughed beside her, already flushed and giggly.

“Seriously,” added Yvie, “You almost make me wish I’d skipped out on accounting.”

Vanessa was about to say something back when a server walked over to their table and dropped off four more shots.

“Hold on, Mary, we didn’t order these.” Vanessa frowned, slapping away A’Keria’s hand before she could grab at the one closest to her.

“That girl over there did.” The server shrugged, jerking her thumb over to the bar, where a tall blonde woman sat watching with an easy smirk on her face. “She said congratulations on your new job.”  

There was a beat, then all Hell broke loose. A’keria dove for a shot glass while Silky screamed, punching Vanessa’s arm, and Yvie repeated advice over and over, girl you have to go thank her, oh my God, like seriously, bitch, go thank her, you have to go talk to her!

Well.

Vanessa’s mama did raise her to be polite.

Grabbing a shot and throwing it down, she let the tequila guide her away from the table and towards the bar, making a beeline for where the blonde was still watching, waiting, smirking. It was a challenge as much as it was an invitation, one that Vanessa was getting more and more eager to accept with every step towards the woman that she took.

Maybe it was the tequila; maybe it was the fact that this woman was probably the most beautiful girl Vanessa had ever seen, even more radiant up close. But the minute Vanessa finally came face to face with her, she felt every breath in her lungs leave her, and she was unable to get anything out but a single, quiet, hey.

“Hey yourself.” the woman returned with a broad smile, taking a swig of her beer. “What’s up?”

“I… well, I just wanted to say, um…” Vanessa trailed off as she noticed the woman staring, her grin growing ever wider as she looked Vanessa up and down, her gaze thorough and slow.

“Sorry,” the woman’s eyes finally met Vanessa’s, “I got distracted.”

Fuck. Vanessa felt her mouth go dry, and for the second time within a minute, she was at a loss for words.

“You’re welcome, by the way. For the drink.” The woman’s eyes carried a mischievous sparkle as she gestured for Vanessa to move a little closer, a cue the smaller woman was powerless to resist. “That is what you wanted to say, right…?”

“Vanessa.” Vanessa swallowed hard as the woman inched her hand towards her own.

“Vanessa.” The woman said Vanessa’s name like it was honey on her tongue, slow and sweet and almost overpowering, making Vanessa shiver again. “I’m Brooke.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Brooke.” Vanessa smiled. “So, you give drinks to all the girls who got somethin’ to celebrate?”

“Just the pretty ones.” Brooke winked, laughing as Vanessa rolled her eyes.

“So tell me, Vanessa,” Brooke closed the distance between their hands, twining their fingers together and brushing the underside of Vanessa’s palm with her thumb, savouring the shiver it triggered. “What’s this job that you’re so excited about?”

Vanessa felt her heart stop.

It’s just so… niche.

I mean, it sounds like you’re a lumberjack.

Isn’t a plant nursery just working in retail, but with dirt?

She looked Brooke over, and the seed of doubt in her chest began to grow, its tendrils snaking around her throat and choking down the words she was trying to get out. Brooke was probably something cool and successful, something that required people skills and leadership and enough balls to grab girls’ hands within the first two minutes of meeting them. Marketing, maybe, or sales, something like that. Definitely not something as nerdy or pathetic-sounding as working in a plant nursery. Brooke stared intently, waiting for an answer, and the tendrils tightened; Vanessa had to think of something, and she had to think of it quickly.

“I’m a pharmacist.” Vanessa blurted out. Brooke nodded, and Vanessa relaxed a little. “What about you?”

Was it just her, or did she see a flash of panic cross Brooke’s face? Before she could think too heavily about it, though, Brooke’s expression had smoothed out.

“I work in sales.”

She knew it.

For a moment, she was afraid the conversation might die off; Brooke didn’t look too eager to answer questions about what kind of sales she was in, and Vanessa wasn’t chomping at the bit to answer questions about pharmaceuticals, either.

Luckily, though, Brooke seemed to get another idea.

“So, your friends…” Brooke looked over to where Yvie, Silky, and A’keria were chatting amongst themselves, occasionally stealing quick looks at Vanessa and giggling to each other. “Are they gonna miss you if you’re gone?”

“Why you askin’?” Vanessa eyed Brooke suspiciously; she’d never been the type for one-night stands, and if Wolf of Wall Street had taught her anything, it was that sales folks could not necessarily be trusted.

“Because I want to take you to my apartment, sell your organs, and use your empty corpse as a container to smuggle cocaine to Greenland in.” Brooke deadpanned, and Vanessa couldn’t help but laugh.

Maybe it was the tequila; maybe it was the fact that Brooke was probably the most beautiful woman Vanessa had ever seen, even more radiant up close. For whatever reason, Vanessa let Brooke take her hand again, let her pay both their bills, and let her take her home.

–

Brooke and Vanessa barely had time to get into Brooke’s apartment before they were all over each other. The Uber back to Brooke’s place had been almost unbearably tense, Brooke’s hand on Vanessa’s knee and occasionally tracing up the inside of her thigh, just short of where Vanessa wanted it. Her want only grew as they ran into the elevator, Brooke’s grip on Vanessa’s hand electric as she pulled her through the doors and then brought her close, their lips crashing together and not parting until the doors opened again. Everything after that was a blur of teeth and lips and skin, until finally, Vanessa was laying on Brooke’s bed, the taller woman kneeling on top of her, a hand on either side of her head and knee on either side of her hips boxing her in completely.

“You know, Vanessa,” Brooke leaned in close, pressing slow, soft kisses against Vanessa’s lips, “A first full-time job is a pretty big accomplishment. One that deserves a pretty big congratulations.”

“What sort of— Oh.” Vanessa gasped as Brooke’s mouth moved to her jawline, gently grazing her skin with her teeth.

“What do you think, baby, do you want me to congratulate you?”

“ Yes.” Vanessa hissed as she angled her head to make room for Brooke’s mouth on her neck. “Yes, please, mommy.”

“Mommy, huh?” Brooke rasped into the nape of Vanessa’s neck, the sharp bite of her teeth becoming harder, more present. Vanessa blushed, a pang of embarrassment kicking her chest.

“Sorry, I–” she began, but Brooke cut her off with a smirk and a shake of her head.

“Don’t be.” Brooke shifted her weight so that she could cup a hand over Vanessa’s chin, running her thumb along the bottom of Vanessa’s lip. “Just relax and let mommy fuck you, okay, baby girl?”

Vanessa didn’t respond, only opened her mouth and accepted Brooke’s thumb, sucking it softly and watching with a fire in her belly as Brooke relaxed into the sensation, smiling fondly down at her.

It felt nice, somehow, to earn this woman’s approval, even if they had never met before. Would likely never meet again.

Vanessa tried not to think about that just yet.

Brooke withdrew her finger from Vanessa’s mouth and resumed her ministrations, continuing to pepper short, burning kisses down over the line of Vanessa’s collarbone as she traced her hands down to grab at her waist.

“Lift up your arms for mommy, there’s a good girl.” Brooke pulled off Vanessa’s dress in one swift, fluid movement, then made quick work of her bra before easing her back down on the bed and continuing to trail kisses down her body.

“How do you want me to fuck you, baby?” Brooke brushed a thumb over Vanessa’s nipple, causing the shorter woman to gasp, her hips bucking as Brooke giggled in amusement. “You want me to finger you? Or eat you out? Or maybe I should just rub that sweet little pussy of yours ‘til it’s raw, hm?”

All of it. Do all of it. Vanessa gasped desperately, parting her legs to give Brooke room to trace a hand over her slit through the damp fabric of her panties, smiling approvingly. But she didn’t say anything, couldn’t say anything, could only whine as Brooke finally peeled down her panties and threw them to the floor before leaning in and licking a long, slow stripe along Vanessa’s slit up to her clit, watching with utter satisfaction and a mischievous smile as Vanessa shuddered at the sensation. Vanessa’s eyes fluttered closed as Brooke continued her ministrations, lapping and sucking at her clit before teasing in two fingers and beginning to pump them slowly in and out.

Vanessa’s orgasm came fast and hard, Brooke fingering her and licking her all the while, not letting up until she had drawn out three more, each coming closer and harder than the next.

Vanessa arrived home that night to a barrage of questions from Silky and A’keria, all of which she dismissed with a smile and a wave of her wrist. Retreating into her bedroom, she fell asleep with a contented sigh almost as soon as her head hit her pillow.

Tomorrow, Vanessa was starting a new job.

Tonight, though, boy, had she celebrated.

[profoundnet]

Profound Member Post - August 2019

Header by @cryptomoon​​​ and is available on merch from her redbubble store. You can use all those fancy emojis (and more!) on our Discord server!

The Masterpost is open for all creations by ProfoundBond members which are posted in their entirety during that month.

MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS FOR AUGUST 2019!

Masterpost below the cut.

goldenraeofsun - @goldenraeofsun - goldenraeofsun

Don’t Look Back (E, 36k)

While Mary was alive, she would tell Dean that soulmates were chosen by angels. When the right time came, he would hear his soulmate’s voice in his head, and he would know, wherever they were, they were singing just for him.

But Dean never heard a damn thing. Not at 12, when most people heard their first soul song. Not at 15, when Sammy heard his. Not at 17, when only two-percent of the population heard their first.

And definitely not at 28, when Sam leaves to be with the love of his life, and Castiel, deaf professor of rock music history at KU, moves in.

Tags: Soulmates AU, Deaf Cas, Professor Cas, Mutual Pining, They Were Roommates, Dean has self worth issues, Slow Burn

nickelkeep - @nickelkeep - nickelkeep

Some Pacific Wind (E, 11k)

When a storm comes through and tears away the roof of Dean's beloved night club, Nereid, he believes all is lost. But can the anonymous donations and the attractive new guy, Castiel repair all the things that have been broken?

Tags: AU - Modern Setting, Strangers to Lovers, Bartender!Dean, Businessman!Cas, Dom/Sub Play, Body Worship, Sub drop, Angst/Hurt and Comfort with a Happy Ending

Edge of Paradise (E, 3k)

Cas started to fold the panties when a thought crossed his mind. Dean always put the panties on himself, but had he ever wanted to see Cas put them on? Would that be something that turned on Dean? For a moment, Cas unfolded Dean's panties and held them out in front of himself. He looked at them, imagined the feel of the fabric wrapped around his skin instead of Dean's.

Tags: Canon Compliant, Established Destiel, Panty Kink, Dom/Sub Play, Porn w/ a little Plot

Faithfully (E, 7k)

"I have an idea!" Charlie giggled as she stood up. She stumbled a little, but Dorothy shot her hand up and helped steady her. "I saw a new game in the closet. It's a game we all know, but they put it on cards."

Dean shot a look at Cas who shrugged in return.

Charlie opened the closet. "I know I saw it. Oooh! Here!" She picked up the game and held it over her head triumphantly. "Never Have I Ever!"

"No, no, no, no." Dean stood up and intercepted Charlie. "Red, no one wants to know everything about everyone."

"You're a spoilsport, Winchester." Charlie pouted. A few other people agreed with her, causing Dean to roll his eyes.

"Do you all seriously think any of you are sober enough to play this?" He looked around and saw a mixture of heads nodding yes and heads shaking no.

Tags: AU - Modern Setting, They Were Roommates!, Idiots to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Love Confessions, Platonic Cuddles, Ensemble Cast, Alcohol Use, Minor Drug Mention

Nothing You Confess (E, 5k)

Slowly, Cas opened his eyes and looked at Dean. "Dammit, Cas. I told you to not go dying me on again. Don't scare me like that." Dean hugged Cas tightly before helping him sit up. "Are you ok?"

Cas nodded and attempted to speak. When no sound came out, he squinted and looked at Dean. He pointed at his lips and then his ears while trying to speak.

"Cas, are you saying something?" Dean leaned in close, getting his ear closer to Cas' mouth. "There's nothing come out." Surprise and fear flashed across Dean's face. "Cas, did that spell do something to your voice?"

Cas' lips moved some more without sound before he resigned himself to the fact that he couldn't speak. He nodded at Dean.

Tags: Canon Compliant, Witches and Curses, Cursed Castiel, Mutual Pining, Love Confessions, Sammy Ships It, Cas/Dean First Kiss

Wargurl83 - Wargurl83

Call My Name (And Save Me From The Dark) (M, 31k)

Wardens and Vargar have long existed in sync with each other. Each Pack has an Alpha and a Warden that are bound together that makes the other stronger. The Novak pack was the first Vargar pack in Kansas, and remains the largest in the state- but that may not hold true for much longer. The Pack’s Warden was ripped away from them by murder, and her son stolen in the night before he could complete the ritual to formally become the Pack’s Warden. Now, the Novak Pack is being ground down by Demons and a rival Pack, one who’s Warden uses dark magic. Now, Castiel, the Alpha’s son, strikes out on a desperate search for his Warden- Dean Winchester. Can he find the man he’s loved since childhood? And even if he can, will it be enough?

Tags: Graphic depictions of violence, magic users, creature Cas, Destiel harlequin challenge

rauko-is-a-free-elf - @rauko-is-a-free-elf - FeaRauko

The God of Laundry and Hipbones (T, 1.8k)

This is a drabble for the prompt: Destiel - I’m sorry you caught me moving your clothes out of the dryer but in my defense I’ve been waiting for one to open up for about an hour now

Or...

That one where Dean catches Cas moving his laundry, gawks at him like an idiot until he leaves, and then spends the next several months not being able to find him

Tags: College!au, fic with art, dorm life, Dean's pink panties

MaggieMaybe160 - @maggiemaybe160 - MaggieMaybe160

Forget Me Not (T, 2k)

The angels aren't a fan of Dean and Cas having a relationship. They find a way to sabotage the relationship.

Tags: Major Character Death, torture. 

andimeantittosting - @andimeantittosting - andimeantittosting

The Winchester Affair (E, 34k)

Castiel Shurley has emerged from self-imposed exile to help see his sister safely wed. But when Hael discovers a priceless diamond brooch at the LaCroix ball, a villain finds the opening he needs, and Castiel finds himself in a nightmare.

Blackmailed by the odious Zachariah Adler, he is given one mission: to spy upon Dean, the handsome Marquess of Winchester, or see his entire family ruined. As he’s running out of time, Castiel has to make a choice—save his family, or risk it all to protect the man he has loved in secret since childhood.

Tags: Regency AU, Friends to Lovers, Friends with Benefits, Mutual Pining, Blackmail, Harlequin Challenge

Jemariel - @jemariel - jemariel

Witness Protection (E, 5.5k)

At first, it was an inconvenience. Now, it's their lifeline.

True mates from rival Families, Dean and Castiel fight to escape with their lives.

Tags: Mafia AU, Background Dean/Abaddon, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Dean, Alpha Castiel, No mpreg, Knotting, True Mates, star-crossed lovers, Dialogue Heavy, Clothed Sex, Little bit of graphic injuries

Head Over Feet (E, 9.5k)

Castiel's brother is getting married, and Cas's ex boyfriend is in the wedding party.

Putting an ad on Craigslist for a wedding date seems like a terrible idea at the time, but one of the responses is... very intriguing...

Sparks fly, boys dance, and everybody lives happily ever after.

Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Past Castiel/Inias, Strangers to Lovers, First Kiss, Slow Dancing, Frottage, Clothed Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Fluff and Smut

insominia - @a-insominia​ - insominia

In The Air Tonight (E, 3.5k)

It had been sixteen days since Dean Winchester had last made headlines. Not that Castiel was counting. Not that he had given it any thought at all.

Tags: Graphic Description of Violence, Murder Husbands, AU - Serial Killers, Blood and Gore, Masturbation, Psychopaths in Love

P.Cas. I Love You (G, 2.5k)

Dean Winchester is not a man of words and declarations of love do not come easy to him. Castiel is an angel and is so assured of his place in Dean's life that he does not need such affirmations. This is what Castiel understands to be true. Until Dean goes away.

Tags: Canon-verse, Established Relationship, Fluff, Domestic fluff, Dean Winchester needs to use his words

shealynn88 - @shealynn88​ - shealynn88

Another Day, Another Demon (T, 800 words)

Dean gets called in to handle a demon problem. The demon is…not what he expected.  (endverse!Cas as a demon, meet-cute. Or at least a meet.)

Tags: humor, fluff, meet-cute

Make a Deal With the Bad Wolf (M, 1k)

Dean is bitten and becomes something new. If only he knew what, exactly, that something new was.

Tags: A/B/O, alpha Dean, monster Dean, canon-level violence

MalMuses - @malmuses​ - MalMuses

The Shadow in the Corner (E, 48k)

As a high-ranking member of the Men of Letters, Lord Dean Winchester is overqualified to be investigating strange phenomena at a seaside photography studio. But since the photographer is related to the organization’s most powerful sorcerer, Dean reluctantly boards a steam dirigible to Brighton.

Castiel Novak is haunted by a shadow that appears in some of his recent portraits. In each case, the subject died within days of the sitting. Does he have his grandfather’s gift of foresight, or has he somehow caused the deaths?

As Dean and Cas search for answers, their investigation draws them together in a most improper way—but it seems the evil presence in the studio may not be their only enemy…

Tags: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Period-Typical Homophobia, Crossdressing Castiel, Strangers to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Lovecraftian Monster, Panky kink, A Ridiculous Amount of Sexual Tension.

Down to Suck (E, 5.5k)

Castiel and his vampire boyfriend Dean have been together for a couple of months, and Castiel is very happy with their relationship. But there is a little something else he'd like to add to their dynamic...and he has a sneaky, fluffy plan to get his way.

A timestamp in the Bat Dean 'Verse.

Tags: Bat Dean, Anxious Castiel, Vampire Dean Winchester, Miggles the Cat - Freeform, Bottom Castiel/Top Dean Winchester, First Time Bottoming, Love Confessions, Established Relationship, Fluff and Crack, Additional Timestamp

Usarechan - @usarechan

Sunset

Postcard for Profoundzine Vol. 1 (SFW)

Angel Baby

My submission for the Profoundzine Vol. 1 (SFW)

[ranier-layarte]

LONG Character Survey: Ranier Leveilleur

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Ranier Kyran Layarte Leveilleur

NICKNAME: Ran, Raven

AGE: 21-25 (depending on expac)

BIRTHDAY: 1st Sun of the 2nd astral moon

ETHNIC GROUP: Au ra (Xaela)

NATIONALITY: Eorzean – From Ul'dah

LANGUAGE(S): Eorzean,

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: No

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Isn't this the same as the above?

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married

CLASS: Weapon Master

• Proficient in almost all martial weapons.

• Tends to carry multiple weapons at all times.

• Prefers Axes out of all the bladed weaponry

HOMETOWN / AREA: Ul'dah

CURRENT HOMETOWN/ AREA: Shirogane Mansion

PROFESSION(S): WoL, Scion, Machinist, Businessman, Crafter

PHYSICAL: Extremely fit, exercises daily. Muscular build

HAIR: Black/Dark Blue

EYES: Crimson

NOSE: Average, straight, roman-esque

FACE: Straight essentially a greek nose. (At least if I had to try and describe it)

LIPS: A bit on the thinner side, very lightly pink.

COMPLEXION: A mix of Fair and Medium?

BLEMISHES: None

SCARS: Scar on left thigh from stab wound, Scar on left midsection, and upper right thigh.

TATTOOS: WoL tattoo on the palm of his right hand. (Working on giving him another)

HEIGHT: 7'4

WEIGHT: 330 LBS/ 150kg

BUILD: Tall, Muscular, Fit,

FEATURES: None

ALLERGIES: None, at least not yet.

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Long hair parted in the middle framing the face. Pulled into a ponytail and held with a silver bead big enough for the tail.

USUAL FACE LOOK: Around 40% expressionless, 30% Scowling, 20% Reflective, 10% happy.

USUAL CLOTHING: Higher end clothing generally a mix of casual with formal preferring long pants and a short sleeved shirt. Boots of some kind and armor of some kind at all times. Either under or over the clothes having a preference for the bulkier armors.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR(S): Dying and thereby becoming unable to prevent future deaths and incidents. A fear of the unknown. (Which is part of why he tries to prepare for so many things)

ASPIRATION(S): Being able to amass enough wealth to live comfortably and to continue making the lives of the less fortunate easier. Helping create a better society for all.

POSITIVE TRAITS: Empathetic, Compassionate, Humanitarian, Perseverance, Fairness, Courageous, Loving, Self discipline, Reliable, Thoughtful, Patient

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Bossy, Jealous, Secretive, Grumpy, Harsh, Aloof, Stubborn, Cruel (Only to enemies but that doesn't really matter to people does it?) Arrogant (In some things though less now)

ZODIAC: Pisces

TEMPERAMENT: Mix of choleric and melancholic.

SOUL TYPE(S):  King, Warrior, Server (In that order)

ANIMALS: Raven, Bear

VICE HABIT(S): Training, Fixing machines, Drinking, Rubbing Chin, 

FAITH: The Twelve (Loosely)

GHOSTS?: I mean if you've seen them you can't deny them.

AFTERLIFE?: With everything we see there has to be right?

REINCARNATION?: Yes, it's clear there is.

ALIENS?: Yes.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Leftist

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: Prosperous, everyone has what they need. Along with the means to go beyond that if they are willing and able.

SOCIO POLITICAL POSITION: I think there’s enough to go on.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Higher end of the spectrum, attended sharlayan schooling for a few years of his life. (Around three) Was home taught and by other teachers. Extensive knowledge in numerous subjects such as Machinery, Technology, Gunsmithing, Gemology, Business. Holding the equivalent of a mixture of Graduate or Masters in the subjects.

FAMILY.

FATHER: Kyran Layarte

MOTHER: Sahar Layarte

SIBLINGS: Kyari Layarte

EXTENDED FAMILY:

NAME MEANING(S): Ranier (Rainier with out the first I Meaning Wise army apparently)Kyran (Beam of Light) Sahar (Early morning or Dawn) Kyari (???)

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?: My families connection to history? My connection? My father was one of the survivors of the hotgo tribe also. Does fighting in the Calamity among all the other events count?

FAVORITES.

BOOK: Whatever has his current interest, it can very.

MOVIE PLAY: Does this mean Movie or Play?

5 SONGS:

• “Shock me” Baroness

• “Up In The Air” Thirty Seconds To Mars

• “Rise” League of Legends, Glitch Mob, The Word Alive

• “Unbreakable” Of Mice and Men

• “Drown” Bring Me The Horizon

DEITY: Halone

HOLIDAY: Valentione's day

MONTH: March

SEASON: Fall

PLACE: Beside his wife or workshop.

WEATHER: Light rain

SOUND: The turning of pages, the sound of rain, metal moving against each other.

SCENT(S): Smoke, Metal, Old books, and sweat

TASTE(S):  Dulcet, Spicy,

FEEL(S): Rocks, Silk, Smooth metals,

ANIMAL(S): This was listed before.

NUMBER: 1? I don't know.

COLORS: Black, Blue, Red, Gold, Silver

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Metalworking, Singing, Sewing, Gem Cutting, Technology, Smithing, Machinery, Dexterous.

BAD AT: Getting rest even now, Not over exerting himself, Not overthinking potential scenarios that may never happen. Dealing with almost all animals, Even now sometimes talking about what bothers him too well, but he’s gotten much better over the years/expansions.

TURN ONS: Caring, Helpful, Courageous, Educated, Aggressive. Listening, Reliable, 

TURN OFFS: Selfishness, Boastful, Belligerent, Cruelty, Intolerant, Racism, Weak willed, Careless,

HOBBIES: Creating new things be it machines, armor, clothes, weapons, tools, etc. Working on the same as before. Reading, Exercising, Cooking. Shopping.

TROPES: Pragmatic Hero, Bad ass boast, Big Fancy House, Chekhov's Gun, Determinator, Don't You Dare Pity Me, Genius Bruiser, Heroic Build, It's All My Fault, No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction, Super toughness, Friend to All Children, The Chosen One, The Ace, Ain't Too Proud To Beg, Always Save The Girl, Berserk Button, Death glare, Excuse me while I multi task, Game face, Hypocrite, Lady and Knight, Not So Stoic, Not So Invincible After all, Red Eyes, Take Warning, Stern Teacher, Undying Loyalty, The Power of Love

AESTHETIC TAGS: Workshops, Tools, Kitchens, Weaponry, Guns, Armor, Fine Clothes, Rain, Feathers, Azure Skies, Romance.

VOICE CLAIM(S): Keith Silverstein, (Speaking voice) John Rzeznik (Singing) John Baizley (Singing)

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC(S): Free company? Azure Talons.

ALT FC(S): What?

OLDER FC(S): What?

YOUNGER  FC(S): What?

GENDERBENT FC(S): What the fuck?

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1: IF YOU COULD WRITE YOUR CHARACTER YOUR WAY IN THEIR OWN MOVIE, WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED, WHAT STYLE WOULD IT BE FILMED IN, AND WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?:

• I genuinely don’t know. Something with the grandeur of lord of the rings maybe? But with the ability to add comedy and romance in the proper way. I'm all for serious movies but I enjoy the ability to add a well executed joke or sweet moment. It also would probably not just be a single film. Taking the general events and using my fics as material would probably be fine.

I’d have to think about it a lot more than I will right now

As for the name, well, I don't really have many options. But, probably something with Final Fantasy XIV as the main title. Give it a JRPG title I suppose as a sub title. Sort of like Warriors Dissonance or Uncovered Stories.

Q2: WHAT WOULD THEIR SOUNDTRACK / SCORE SOUND LIKE?:

• Ambient, switching to full of energy, able to convey emotion. Again mentioning LOTR, the score by Howard shore is really great and able to accompany many scenes in such a fantastic manner. As for the other bits perhaps the addition of artist tracks such as from favorite bands and those songs that have meaning to him. Like the ones listed above. 

Q3: WHY DID YOU START WRITING THIS CHARACTER?:

• As a way to work on and show that, a character doesn't just have to be overly reliant on tropes and cliches. That those are good as part of them but not as defining traits of them. Along with breaking some of those. Like how all protagonists always have dead parents, what's up with that? I enjoy seeing characters that try to break their molds and be more than that.

Q4: WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS CHARACTER?:

• My general thing in any game where you can create your own character has always been. To make who you'd want to be in this universe. I did that and then worked on it and reworked things until I got what I have now. So also, yes, he was a self insert.

Q5: DESCRIBE THE BIGGEST THING YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR MUSE:

• Hard one I suppose but. I'd say how he is capable of doing so much. Even though I work with it as it is a key part of him, it's still hard to make him feel right, feel human when he's got these clear incredible strengths. He's very proficient at so many things some would maybe say he's a mary sue type of character. I make an effort to work on how he became that way to offset it. So it's a lot of extra work than if I had him being a more archetypal hero of his type. I may dislike this the most but I also like it. Love hate relationship you know?

Q6: WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN COMMON WITH YOUR MUSE?:

• A good part of our attitudes and personality though on his end they are greater generally. Along with our want to be as best as we can at certain things. 

Q7: HOW DOES YOUR MUSE FEEL ABOUT YOU?:

• Honestly, and in my current state. He would probably be very upset with me and to just know me or the hand I have in his creation and self.

Q8: WHAT CHARACTERS DOES YOUR MUSE HAVE INTERESTING INTERACTIONS WITH?

• Alisaie Leveilleur – She is the main one being his main love interest, girlfriend, and wife later. Though overall he sees her as an equal and a partner, which is part of the reason their relationship grows as much as it does. Along with giving someone who he can trust in and rely on, and vice versa.

• Finn Hogveart - Who harasses Ranier often enough especially with his pet and regarding moogles.

• Alphinaud Leveilleur - and him sometimes get along strangely due to Ranier's relationship with his sister. For a long time he tried to spy on Ranier and make sure he was good for his sister even though he knew he was a good person.

•  Cid Garlond - Ranier sees him as a mentor of sorts, along with someone that he can bounce ideas off of and work with on projects leading to a solid relationship between the two. The two sometimes bicker regarding their work but it's always just them being passionate for the projects.

• Gerolt Blackthorn – Similar to cid in some ways. Ranier looks up to Gerolt and his ability to continue making such amazing creations. Wanting to learn more regarding the processes means Ranier visits him when possible, bringing some drinks for him when he does. Almost having a relationship like bros. Ranier also sometimes has gone to try and sway Rowena on his behalf to lower his debt.

There are more but I don’t want to make this too much longer.

Q9: WHAT GIVES YOU INSPIRATION TO WRITE YOUR MUSE?

• I do not control the write, also Alisaie.

Q10: HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE YOU TO COMPLETE?:

Uhhhh maybe an hour all together. Over the course of three hours.

==========

Tagged by: @amandafullmetal​ @lyllyan-weiss

Tagging: @heyafinney​ @anikisbox​ and anyone who wants to do it that sees this.