#that said - logistically i have no idea how to make such a thing canon?

[wandercr]

i think it's funny and not talked about nearly enough that bethesda strongly implied, if not basically canonized, the fact that pip-boys could not be removed until the user died (and sometimes not even after that!) in fallout 3, then completely ignored that they did that in every piece of canon created since

[arolesbianism]

Thinks oh so hard abt raccoon au printing pod doomed yuri.... What if you were a robot in love with your fellow robot but your past human selves had to fuck it all up and murder eachother 🙄

[lemonhemlock]

the thing is i don't care about how hard it must be for the hotd writers to adapt from book to screen with budget and time limitations (even though i am historically sympathetic enough to these difficulties and i do understand the need to make changes to fit the story in a different medium)

but what i see as understandable excuses would be shoddy cgi or costumes and less impactful action scenes or even fewer action scenes/battles. which we already got anyway, the only battle (rook's rest) is humdrum and rather spiritless. to a certain extent, i can even excuse cutting out characters or merging them or simplifying storylines.

be that as it may, the fact of the matter is that, even the scenes which should have cost the least amount of money in this whole production, i.e. the sitting-around-in-rooms-talking genre of scenes for which GoT became famous, SUCK. the politics in this show are non-existent. the characters' motivations are so wishy-washy to the point of parody. the character arcs look like they were settled via a game of russian roulette. the S2 version of characters doesn't make sense as a progression of their own S1 canon.

and this has nothing to do with money OR time constraints. it plainly only has to do with bad writing. a talented writer can absolutely have a canon-divergent vision and an understandable desire to adapt their own vision. but they have to recognise if they have the TIME or the BUDGET to bring that canon-divergent vision to life, if they can sufficiently commit to integrating those changes in a way that feels organic to the characters. IF NOT, THEN DON'T DO IT.

i get it if they're big rhaenicent stans or if they really, really like this version of alicent that lives in their heards, the one that would ditch her kids in favour of rhaenyra or if they're so enamoured by the idea of heroic rhaenyra (and that's just scratching the surface when it comes to all the points the show fumbled). but if they don't and can't fit those changes in a way that doesn't destroy the logic of the narrative, in a way that doesn't leave other characters hanging dry with no motivation left to carry out the plot points they have to hit, they should have had the maturity to drop those ideas and settle on something else that could have been easier to film with the resources available.

i said it before and i'll say it again: 1) whether fans are satisfied with the changes made to the source material and 2) whether those changes make sense in the context of the show are two separate issues that apologists sometimes try to merge in other to muddle what the actual problem is. "oh you're just mad because it's not book canon" or "you're mad because your headcanons diverge" or "we had logistics limitations" are not pertinent responses to critiquing the integrity of the show's storyline!

so i hope the writers and executives see all these criticisms and choke because they did a piss-poor job of everything and turned S2 into a goddamn hack operation

[damianwaynerocks]

ya know how it’s canon that damian was taking acting lessons with carrie? and that he was really good at it?

what if that’s his civilian job when he’s older?

like we know some of the bats have civilian jobs. bruce, obviously, runs WE. tim is CEO. dick is a cop.

what if damian’s civilian job is an actor?

i know it wouldn’t make total sense bc he’d probably have to leave set randomly in the middle of a scene because he’d have to go on a mission but hear me out.

we know he loved acting because he gets to be someone else. carrie says this:

and then damian says the same thing in super sons

yeah he could’ve been saying that to fuck with jon but because carrie said the same thing, i think he was being honest.

and besides, look at how he played that old man. that is a jolly old fella and i personally read it in sweet old man voice.

and the disguises he always chooses when going undercover are outfits like these

and yes you could say that it’s just a gag bit the writer put in to be funny or you could say that that’s how damian feels like “normal” people dress and he’s trying to fit in but to me!! i feel like it’s him trying to be the opposite of how he is. you know, being somebody else.

plus he’s so good with voices. he could easily put on any accent necessary.

and so i think he would be an actor. yeah, he wouldn’t be able to be in gotham all the time filming movies and stuff, but personally i love the idea of damian being like dick and moving out of gotham to become his own hero/person.

he’d get the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be someone else, someone who wasn’t taught to kill someone before they could walk, someone who wasn’t forced to grow up way too fast, someone who doesn’t have to risk their life every single night, somebody who doesn’t have to hold possibly the world’s biggest secret. he could embrace being a completely different person, even if it’s only for a few hours at a time.

and imagine how funny it would be for the batfamily to turn on their tv and watch their mean, stern little brother have a wide smile with an australian accent in a romantic comedy.

jason storming out of the manor after damian insulted him 30 times and then he turns on his tv to get his mind off it and there damian is on a beach searching for treasure side-by-side with tom holland

damian in a wired google search interview and the first result is “is damian wayne robin?” and damian just sighs.

damian on a press tour in an interview and he’s just shooting the shit with jennifer anniston.

tim watching the tiktok edits of damian and just silently fuming at the comments that are like “he’s so babygirl”

damian getting an offer for a star wars movie and yeah, he might hate star wars because the lightsaber duels follow no sword fighting etiquette but he takes the role anyways so that tim can’t watch his beloved star wars without seeing damian wielding a light saber with ewan mccgregor

would dc do it? no definitely not and logistically it wouldn’t work because crimefighter hours probs do not mesh with 14 hour days on set. however!! imagine damian in a buzzfeed puppies interview.

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Pieces of media my mom has seen and the popular MLM ships in them that she doesn't think are gay:

MCU - Stucky (note that she does get a kick out of Stony stuff and she believes wholeheartedly that those two hate fucked in a not-filmed scene of Avengers 2012 so this is not about her thinking "oh Captain America is so straight-laced because he's the ideal American man" or anything)

MCU - Poolverine (she's fully aware and accepting of the fact that both Logan and Wade are canonically queer characters but she thinks all the flirting Wade did with Logan in the newest movie didn't necessarily mean anything because "he talks like that to everyone". Side note though: while she believes Wade should be with Vanessa, she does think that Logan can and should shoot his shot with Wade after Vanessa inevitably dies since he and Wade are both immortal. It's just that she thinks Wade should get his happy ending with Vanessa first.)

MCU - Lokius ("Mama have you ever seen a man fix another man's tie like that" "No but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen! I wouldn't know though; it's been like 15 years since I worked a corporate job.")

Sonyverse/Marvel - Symbrock ("They literally have a symbiotic relationship. That doesn't make them gay." So I showed her the comics where Eddie calls Venom "love" and gives birth to Venom's babies and she said "Fine you win but please never show me alien man birth ever again."

Supernatural - Destiel ("They're like Steve and Bucky! They're brothers in arms! They've been through hell and back together!" Note that she only watched through season 5 but she does know about a lot of their later interactions because I told her about them)

House M.D. - Hilson ("Dot I watched that whole show and they were never anything more than good friends" "What about when House admitted to thinking about Wilson during sex? What about that whole episode where they pretended to be gay for each other to prove a point to a neighbor and Wilson proposed? What about that whole episode where Wilson had to furnish the apartment and House told him not to let a woman tell him what to do but Wilson let House tell him what to do? What about the whole ending?" "Why can't two men just be close enough friends to joke about that stuff with each other?"

Real life - Me and my best friend of the same gender orientation who I've kissed multiple times and have had a requited crush on for years that neither of us have ever persued for logistical reasons (I literally used me and this friend to try and prove my mom wrong about Stucky and Destiel. I asked her if she thought me and this friend were like brothers and she said yes with a straight face)

Sherlock - Johnlock (to be fair this is the BBC ship name, but she doesn't think any iteration of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are the slightest bit gay. "They're business partners and roommates.")

Our Flag Means Death - BlackHands (Should go ahead and say that I'm not really a BlackHands shipper myself; we both really enjoyed Stede and Ed's romance in the show. BUT it takes so much away from Izzy's character and his development if you don't acknowledge that he was jealous of Stede and in love with Ed, at least a little. My mom thought Izzy was just an extremely loyal first mate.)

Also, for the record, I'm not trying to call my mom out as homophobic. I'm queer and so are two of my siblings and she's very supportive of us. There are gay romcoms she enjoys like Our Flag Means Death and Red, White, and Royal Blue. The reason I'm making this list is because I think it's really funny how she doesn't understand the concept of queerbaiting (not that all of the above listed ships are queerbaiting). She thinks things are either explicitly straight or explicitly queer (whether it's gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc) and cannot comprehend the idea that some character relationships are deliberately pushing the boundaries of straight friendships into queer relationships to get more minority viewers and I think her explanations are funny.

[itsa-me-lily]

This was yet again, not what I was intending to write. I was going to try to do the fic for the spa day hint but I got too caught up in my head on logistics. Remember kids, don't let logic or canon stop you from writing the fiction you want to.

This is a pallet cleanser for me after posting 'It's a Quarter after One'.

Here is the rest of the Simon & Thimble playlist.

Here is the MPS AU masterlist

Warnings;

Nothing really. Just tension.

Movie nights, were supposed to be peaceful. A way to unwind from the day and maybe, possibly, in the realm of, spend some time with a person who's existence didn't drive you crazy. So how this turned into you using Simon like a living barbie doll you weren't sure, but you couldn't complain.

That was a lie, you knew exactly how it turned into you belting Simon's pillows around his waist. You had a fucking point to prove.

Simon had been willing to watch a new documentary from the Smithsonian with you, a piece about historical fashion and the myths that spiral out of it. You hadn't thought that Simon would want to watch it, but he had shrugged when you'd ask and well, gifted horses and mouths and all that.

You had made veggie snacks for the boys, and popcorn for you and Simon, queued up the film and the night was off. For the most part it was alright, some stuff you already knew, others you didn't. Simon was pretty silent the entire time, until they got to the corsetry and the discussion of tight lacing.

Simon wouldn't believe the idea that it was mostly an illusion trick. Said that men were obviously smarter than that. You called bullshit. He called your bullshit bullshit. So belting his pillows to his ass.

And no, you weren't going to think about how thick his waist was, or how solid he felt as you tightened the cord around said waist. And you especially weren't going to look up at him because you were positive he was doing that thing where he was staring down at you with his dark eyes that made you feel like you were being sucked in via your soul and did not make your heart skip. Not thinking about it at all.

Giving the improvised belt a tug, and not thinking about his...everything, you nodded, pleased with how the pillows bulked around his waist. Now just for the final piece. You grabbed a throw blanket from the couch, wrapping it around the front of your husband.

(How dare that man be a fucking brick wall of muscles. Seriously what the fuck.)

Once you were ready you grabbed your phone, snapping a photo and disregarding the unimpressed look on Simon's face, already talking over his silence to prove your point.

"Look your shoulders are already broad enough," (Not thinking about it) "So we just had to balance out the width of your hips. Now instead of looking like a Dorito, it's like an hourglass, and your brain gets tricked into thinking your waist tinier."

You're zooming in to show him what you meant when there's a knock on your door, making the both of you freeze to stare at each other. You weren't expecting anyone, and given how tight his shoulders drew in, neither was Simon.

It was tense as you waited to see what would happen. And it only got tenser as there was another knock, whoever was at the door insistent.

"Oi LT, ye in for the pub? Never answered me earlier."

Oh. It was Johnny. At the door. To see if Simon wanted to go out. Because Simon hadn't clarified with him earlier? You almost felt like your strings got cut as you relaxed, looking at the door as you answered for Simon before the Scot could start knocking again, or break down your door.

"Just a second Johnny."

You looked back at Simon and felt your breath catch. He was so...intense sometimes. For a moment all there was, was you and him, the TV lighting half his face and showcasing the curve of his brow that lead to the bridge of his nose, the rest of his face hidden by his surgical mask.

"We should get the door."

"He can wait."

Simon's voice couldn't possibly be that deep most of the time. You'd have noticed it before right?

You had to swallow, your mouth turning dry as you tried to think of something to say.

Thankfully a certain impatient Scot saved the day by knocking yet again, though sounding uncertain this time.

"Are ye alright in there? Am I interrupting-"

"We're fine MacTavish."

You had to make a break for the door then, or else you were all going to be stuck in some loop of talking through a door or not talking while the oxygen apparently left the room. You made an effort to try to ignore whatever Simon was doing behind you as you made the few steps to the door to open it, unaware of the flush that was painting your cheeks.

"Sorry about that, come in."

Oh. Kyle was with him too. You waved over Johnny's shoulder giving the young man a happy greeting, but both of them were too busy staring over your shoulder into your living room. You hadn't really give Simon time to unpillow his ass...oops.

"I was trying to show Simon how proportions with creating visual illusions..."

"Ye look thinner Lt."

You shot Simon an 'I told you so' look, which you were pretty sure he did not appreciate. Instead of trying to get himself out of his pillows he just crossed his arms over his chest, leveling his sergeants with a look.

"Not going out tonight."

"I don't think you have a matching handbag there Ghost."

You couldn't help but grin at Kyle's joke, though you tried to bite your lower lip to hide it. You had done this to the poor man after all. Neither Kyle nor Johnny gave the same consideration as they snickered. Simon didn't seemed impressed with any of you though as he came over, thankfully not tripping over his improvised skirt. With a curt good night he just shut the door in the boys face, though it didn't shut out their laughter as they walked away.

You two didn't say anything as you listened to the laughs fade into the evening. Once it was clear that your guests had left you looked up at Simon, noticing how the tips of his ears looked just a little redder.

"You could have gone out with them if you wanted. I wouldn't have minded."

Simon didn't seem to hear you at first, instead turning to head back to the couch, the blanket making a soft swish noise against the floor. When you didn't follow him he simply turned to sit on the couch, making it clear that there was space next to him on the couch.

"You proved your point. Now get over here so we can finish this."

Edit;

Simon does not care about if tight lacing was a common practice or not. He simply argued to a) argue with you and b) because a part of him was a 'little' hopeful that you'd pull a corset out of somewhere to model or something. Play stupid games get stupid prizes.

Edit edit;

Soap bribes reader to send him the photo of pretty princess Ghost and he hoards it for just in case black mail.

[lizzybeeee]

It's just a minor thing, but I'm annoyed at how during those missives about the South falling they start pretending like Skyhold is the only safe place that any of the population can stay in, but like--Chateau Haine was also designed to hold a huge population of people in case of the Blight! This, and a method of getting large quantities of people there using makeshift "aravels", is something that was detailed in Last Flight! The book they heavily referenced for Davrin's mission! If they were going to treat Isseya the Way They Did, they could have at least referenced her ingenuity that rescued so many people before she went mad. It wouldn't have fixed all of it but it would have at least been a nice touch. Hell if they had let us say Hawke survived, they could be responsible for leading people there because they visited Chateau Haine and know about this. It could be another of those "South repelling the Blight" counter things I saw in one of your replies, like how it makes no sense for Orlais to not ally with Ferelden out of "paranoia" in a worldstate where Celene is in charge.

Isseya & Chateau Haine

Loving the idea of Hawke (or maybe even Talis if you didn't anger her!) leading survivors to Chateau Haine!!! That's what the retreat was built for, after all! Since it's connected to Isseya it would provide an in-game reason for the Chateau Haine/aravels to be brought up as well?

I would have loved for their to be more mentions of (pre-mad) Isseya and Garahel in the game - what we see and hear of Isseya is so limited beyond her being the 'griffon boogeyman'' which really does her no justice. While we do get some humanizing moments/dialogue with Davrin, the whole time I was wondering why she was here? Bringing her back just to make her relive her greatest regret - I can get why they chose her, 'thematically', but I thought she had such a satisfying conclusion in the Last Flight. :(

(Also what happened to her when you defeat her? She just lays down and dies? lmao.)

If anything, the entire 'Blighted Weisshaupt' feels like it would better suit the Architect/Awakened darkspawn as some dark reflection of the Grey Wardens? Which was what the Architect was doing in Awakening: the inverse joining ritual, darkspawn consuming blood of the wardens, etc... That entire area looked like it could have been part of Awakening.

2. Skyhold

I was also really puzzled about how Skyhold seems to be the only fortress capable of withholding the darkspawn according to datv? The moment I read that they had brought refugees to Skyhold - as some final refuge from the blight (since Redcliffe and Denerim have both fallen by the last missive) my heart dropped because Skyhold is, comparatively, tiny.

Obviously, BioWare had limitations with their resources/engine and made a Keep that was limited in scope - I know that logically. But Skyhold is no Theirinfall Redoubt, Redcliffe, or Chateu Haine! A new player won't know it's size - but I do! I jumped off every staircase and walkway - I know that place!!! Even in cutscenes it's not shown to be much bigger!

(It's a nitpick, I know, I'm sure there's some logistics/retconning that make this less fatalistic - but how grim is it to imagine that Skyhold, of all places, is somehow large enough to house Ferelden's remaining refugees?)

3. Celene & World States

Like you said about Celene, the idea that she suddenly had such a radical turnaround in her position on foreign relations/policies (for no reason provided outside of paranoia!) was genuinely baffling. I can see it happening for Gaspard or for a world state where all three were forced into a truce - but Celene alone???

In trying to be as vague as possible about the south, they only managed to make it more noticeable that they were avoiding mentioning specific people: 'The leaders of Ferelden' and 'Orlais' rulers'. At the same time they canonize events/people like Harding talking about Blackwall/Thom Ranier and Sera? Two characters you can not recruit?

Losing the DA Keep in this game was a damn shame. It could have been a great way to have past decisions we made come back meaningfully in showing how the south of Thedas can defend itself against the double blight. It's not even a new idea! The comment I made about a 'south repelling the blight' counter was based off of Mass Effect 3 and how they used the galactic readiness meter.

You got a series of messages/cameos relating to quests you did in previous games, with people pledging to help you in taking back earth...it was genuinely heartwarming and rewarding to see how a person I helped two games back came to help Shepard. Certain decisions also could really bite you in the ass and I loved seeing that! It could have been a great way to provide closure for what choices we made through letters/missives/dialogue - showing that our Warden, Hawke, and Inquisitor did made a difference.

(It would also be an incentive to play and buy earlier games - to get a better ending! Unlike datv which really gives no incentive to play previous entries in the series.)

Just off the top of my head:

Bhelen is King -> he allows casteless dwarves to fight the Blight and support the warriors.

Harrowmont is King -> he refuses to let casteless dwarves fight and half the warrior caste dies.

If the warden is a dwarf commoner -> you can have Rica lead a coup and depose Harrowmont, becoming Queen.

If the warden is a dwarf noble -> they kick Harrowmont out and install Gorim as King.

If Branka was left alive -> she goes crazy from the blight and creates red lyrium golems or something else horrifying. To stop the golems the dwarves have to abandon Ortan Thaig.

A Dagna who was supported in her studies manages to create some newfangled rune that helps hold the tide back and she becomes a paragon.

(I recently just finished a dwarf commoner playthrough so i have a lot of dwarven thoughts at the moment lmao)

Thanks for the ask! You got my brain going with this one! :)

[chaifootsteps]

Brandon Rogers said that it can be scary as a fan to not know where all the characters will end up by the end. But the fact it’s all planned out and that they as writers know everyone’s “resting place”, makes it a bit less scary and more comforting. (I think he said “all the characters are where they need to be” and implied what they actually need is different than what they thought they needed.) he said knowing their fate is less stressful.

But not to me really? I’d be a lot more comforted if I felt like the stories could still evolve and change at least partially based on the feedback from the audience. I guess that’s the thing with animation taking so long, the story is set in stone and we can only watch and react too late. Viv is completely in her own head when she’s writing this stolitz stuff, and nobody close is brave enough to tell her straight that this is abusive, it isn’t romantic whatsoever just because people ship it. At some point we have to admit the point of shipping is playing with dolls in an idealised way we prefer, it doesn’t reflect the reality of the actual story and the dynamic of characters.

As it is, the statement above comes off as them harshly doubling down on whatever they have planned. And it’s starting to get to me a little that whenever they ‘talk’ to the fandom, it feels like they’re only talking to just stolitz shippers as if they’re the whole fandom, when they actually aren’t. And I mean really, not one person saw what went down with Circus and said “Viv, I know the kiddy shipping fanart is cute, but please don’t undo years of work and the story of an entire season, by retconning the writing around the whole series” Like she did when she ditched the pilot for making stolas look too mean, despite the heart and soul put into its art, and how fun and uplifting it was not because of but despite stolas.

She wrote s2 when LooLoo land was airing, I feel like she should have waited a bit to see the responses and how it comes across on screen. And maybe pay better attention to Stella. Especially with the ash-tray blitz scenes and the infamous chain scene. That’s why I feel like The Circus is nothing like the actual ongoing canonical story, it’s just a grandiose piece of stolitz fanart. Please medrano, don’t do that again.

The fact that it's Brandon Rogers saying this, and that he said the characters end up where they need to be, gives me a hairline amount of hope. Not much though, since it's obvious Viv's running the show and her idea of "where the characters need to be" is fellating each other and leaving the logistics of whether it all makes sense for her fandom to slap headcanons on.

It's true though, and I'll never understand this crew's obsession with spoiling as much of their plots as possible. I don't want to know that it all ends up okay, I want to bite my nails wondering whether these characters will make it to the final credits alive or not.

[zeravmeta]

Super Sankta 2 Exu sounds like an excellent idea Zerav. For maximum meme, she's a John Wick style Guard- just uses guns to bash in people's skulls.

Super Sankta 2 Exu whose going John Wick style on people is funny but my concept for Exia Alter was always based on like, the concept that Skadi Alter first introduced that we all thought at the time was gonna be the standard fare for alters

My Ultimate Sankta vs Exia 3 concept was based around the idea of a "Bad End" Exia the way Skadi Alter is, where Exia would be further mechanized ala Executor and become an emotionless seraphim-type unit who would essentially be the ultimate Sankta weapon. This would happen as the result of Laterano having some kind of big event that would cause them to pull all remaining Sankta from all corners of Terra for their promised day of ascension where they would leave Terra and all its problems behind, with certain Sankta (Like Exia) essentially being the vanguards and protectors of these people (I essentially just took the idea of the Rapture and assigned it to the Sankta), with the event concept in question being Penguin Logistics invading this holy land to save their girl.

So like. you can imagine how hard ive been popping off with all the new lore reveals we've gotten over the past 2 years. That said, this concept is a little outdated, and just leaving it at that would be no fun

So here's my pitch for how Exia Alter 4: The Quest For Peace would go with modern foresight (added read more because reasons)

The Popes basement computer in Zwillingsturme just let out a directive that they need to gather their best Sankta to fight against the end of the world. This is in conjunction with the last few events squarely tying together Iberia's Seaborn plotline with both Laterano and Siracusa and their dividing faiths. Now, all of this is in conjunction with the hints we've been getting that Penguin Logistics is going to split up (Lappland and Mostima have already flown the coop, and currently the rest are in Siracusa helping Texas the Amogus, but that will likely not last especially bc Exia's own anniversary line all but majorly hints at this split happening because they all got different stuff going on)

If Penguin Logistics splits, Exia will well and truly be left without a support system.

Now, Exia has always been kind of off as far as Sankta go, because for all intents and purposes she shouldn't be out of place: We see just how Sankta tend to act in Guide Ahead, and Exia didn't really seem all that different. Yet, when we look at her history and actions (she was basically kicked out, she was super accident prone which made other Sankta hate her, as part of Penguin Logistics shes constantly drunk, Texas herself says that Exia being an optimist makes her different, etc), she's actually Really different.

Almost like she has an abnormality compared to other Sankta. Me and a few others (check out @annierosaart post here) have speculated on her being different, but we also don't really know WHY: Even if she was suddenly disconnected from the Sankta empathy powers, we don't see any indication of how, and unlike Ezell we don't have any sort of 'wake-up' moment for her.

But given the weirdness about her and her lines, I think I know what the exact nature of her abnormality may be (and heres my pitch) when looking at the most relevant characters who have abnormalities, namely Executor and Arturia, because I think she falls in line with them (shameless plug to my old exia/executor buddies post):

Executor's abnormality is that his emotions are incredibly muted compared to others. He isn't heartless or emotionless, but more that his heart and mind runs on rationale and logic first and foremost, which almost disqualified him from being canonized had he also not been Laternos single most competent man because saint fedex is entirely disconnected from caring about petty things like being racist.

Arturia's abnormality is that she is receptively empathetic to the point she has nothing within her. She can remove the inhibitions of people, and this is in service to understanding them, because she lacks an understanding of herself: She has a grand dream of an empathy for the world even beyond the Sankta Empathy power, and to accomplish this she draws out the emotions that people hide. As a result, she reflects the emotions of others within herself and thus is incredibly empathetic to the point she's also lacking in emotions and a self.

Exia? I think that her abnormality is that she's too emotional, that the emotions she feels are far more amplified compared to others.

I believe this for a couple of reasons: All the weirdness surrounding her aside, whats the one thing that's always defined Exia? Her Rapid Casting EX. It's always been memed about, but simply firing a single bullet from a gun is akin to casting an Arts attack, with guns serving as a type of wand in these cases. Exia is the only character within the series whose been noted to be so fast with her arts and casting.

This post here does a phenomenal job expanding on this point, but Arts are an expression of the soul, they're influenced by emotions and become stronger with them because they are ultimately expressions of the self, which all characters in and of themselves having a "unique" arts inherent to them. Hell, all of Leithaniens arts are based around using musical expression, while Sarkaz are noted for their arts based on souls and memory, with the literal main heroine of Arknights having an empathy based arts superpower.

Exia, having Super Emotion as her Sankta halo abnormality, could explain why shes so good at gun, even without Oripathy, because said emotions are boosting her casting ability. Remember, anyone can use originum arts, it's just that oripathy is needed for them to be able to do it without a casting device.

This heightened emotion could also possibly explain her crush on Mostima, and even why Mostima is so weird/cruel about her: Mostima was simply a childhood friend alongside her and her sister, and yet when she left for Lungmen, Exia was hot on her trails and then waited 4 YEARS to be beside her and meet her again. She joined Penguin Logistics specifically because of Mostima. It's incredibly likely that Exia might have just had a small crush on her that then spiraled heavily because of this, and Mostima (with her chronic backstory-itis letting her find out that the whole Sankta and halo thing is a scam from her op files and events) might even be aware of this aspect of Exia, and may have wanted her to get over it, always leaving to try and make Exia move on but also always coming back because she needs to look after Exia. After all, if Exia had heightened extreme emotions, what are the chances she could die of grief? She already gets drunks regularly, and despite being cheerful and optimistic, Exia is wearing a mask hiding an incredibly depressed individual.

It could also be possible that the reason why Exia never noticed this is because while it doesn't let other Sankta feel her emotions, she can still feel that of others. She's always confused as to why back in Laterano people always accused her of being disingenuous, because can't they feel her emotions? Well, if she has Super Emotions, it could potentially be overloading her halo, so while she can receive signals, they can't be felt by others. Moreover, this mechanical aspect blends in well with her E2 art, where she is the single operator in the game without an animal/living motiff

Even other Sankta have birds and/or human statues and robotic elements (funnily enough, Executor Sniper only has crosses but even then he is clearly being themed as specifically an angel), but Exia? She has her guns, becoming wings as a ring forms with them. She's literally ascending while her wings become darker.

So what does all this mean?

Well, the Pope's basement bonzi buddy just sent out a directive for the Pope to gather the best Sankta to fight against the end of the world, and who else to recruit but a vulnerable, lonely Sankta who was kicked out for being TOO destructive? Exia's profile does make mention that despite appearances, she is also incredibly pious just like other Sankta, and if the Pope himself came knocking, wanting to give Exia a place back in Laterano, and in a high ranking, respected position no less?

She would jump at the chance, not only to be beside her sister (and possibly Mostima), but also to be accepted back into Laterano society.

Executors own halo has a mechanized element to it, where he also gains more parts to it when he goes from normalest man to saint fedex, so he likely underwent some kind of modification to go along with his promotion, especially because he also now carries an Nier Automata companion cube with him straight from the machine

If Exia is to be canonized, she might be adjusted in a similar way by The Law.

She might even be fully altered into becoming Laterano's perfect weapon to fight against the end of the world. The Witch King himself describes this approaching threat as a void of infinite knowledge which seeks to eliminate them, an unshakeable truth of existence that drives people insane.

The Creator must perish.

What better weapon to fight against such a thing than one who feels her own emotions so strongly she cannot be swayed? Or better yet, an equally as unshakeable, emotionless machine?

[waywardsou2]

This was inspired/made for @mrcorkus. You've got the right idea mate.

Summary: A past so dark, and stained with blood will always come back to haunt them. One way or another.

Word Count: 2.2k+

Tags: Nightmares, past trauma, past abuse, death, canon typical violence

Logan was sitting by the window, taking large puffs of his cigar. Wade was sitting in the bathroom. Staring at himself in the mirror, pulling his mask off and shoving it back on his face at random intervals.

Tonight was not a good night. For either of them.

They kept their distances, knowing they weren't good company when things got like this.

And by this, they meant when the two of them were suffering from the effects of their pasts. A time when Logan couldn't stuff down all he remembered he'd done, and Wade couldn't crack a joke to hide the fact that he couldn't stand the thought of someone actually loving him.

He still didn't believe that Logan loved him. Even though he had saved Wade's universe when he didn't have to. Stayed when he could have been anywhere else. Agreed to be Wade's boyfriend even though there were plenty of fish in the sea. He didn't believe a face and a mind like his was worthy of being loved. He looked into the mirror, trying to see even the smallest glimpse of what Logan saw in him. But he couldn't.

There was nothing there except his horribly scarred face and his even worse past as a mercenary. It lurked behind his eyes, like a constant, haunting reminder.

And Logan, couldn't understand why Wade saw him as anything more than a monster. That's what he was after all. A wild killing machine, a feral animal. A dog that at any moment might snap its leash and run wild.

He didn't know why Wade cared for him. Why Wade tried to make him smile, and how he even succeeded. He didn't understand why Wade accommodated for him in his life.

Eventually Wade came out of the bathroom with the biggest fake smile he could muster, having left his mask on the sink.

He turned to Logan saying "I'm off to bed kitten, join me soon?"

He said it in a sing song voice as he slipped over to give Logan a peck on the cheek.

"Yeah yeah, see you soon bub"

Wade smushed Logan's face in his hand, pressing his cheeks together. "I love you Wolvie"

And without another word he skipped back to their room. Passing Al who was sitting passed out on the couch.

"You're really gonna leave an old woman sleeping on the couch? For shame" he said to the writer who wanted to mention Al but couldn't be bothered working out the logistics of their living situation.

Wade changed into his favourite shirt and PJ pants. His bright pink Hello Kitty pants and his white custom made shirt that said "Two seater" with an arrow pointing to his mouth and his crotch.

He climbed into bed, grabbing his unicorn stuffie and passing out almost instantly. No one said it was easy being a hyperactive, traumatised fourth wall breaker.

After an hour, and four more cigars, Logan stumbled his way to bed. Hoping sleep would steal his thoughts away from his last moments with X-Men. How...angry they had been. How much he wished he could take back all that had led to them being taken from him. Wishing he hadn't taken for granted how much of a loving family they were to him.

He stripped himself of his pants and his shirt, crawling into bed in only his boxers before he too passed out.

The night dwindled on as Logan and Wade were sleeping. Wade was curled over on his side. His fist clutching at the blanket. Whilst Logan was on his back the blanket kicked away from him roughly.

Neither of them had found the peace they were hoping for through sleep.

Logan was tossing and turning in the bed, his face twisted into a pained scowl. Logan was getting terrible flashes of his past mingled with his not-so-recent present. He remembers his time with Stryker. Feeling the pain course through his body as he took Logan's body and twisted it into a weapon. Logan was taken advantage of, convinced and manipulated. His mind becoming a mess of thoughts and orders that he didn't want to follow but was compelled to.

He saw his family, his real one and the one he found. He saw his father, his true father. Dead by his own hands, 6 little puncture marks in his chest. He had been a villain all his life. A murderer. A killer.

He saw Scott and Jean, laying bloody and torn apart in the foyer. Their faces pale.

He saw Storm strung up from the chandelier, her cape caught in the ornate bronze. Her hair knotted and twisted.

He saw Jubilee and Nightcrawler. His tail severed lying next to his body. He looked as if he had been shielding Jubilee. Small burn marks in the shape of sparkles littered his skin.

Beast had been in his lab, shards of glass sticking out from his body where the hunters had used his own lab against him.

And Xavier, a look a terror on his face as he sat limply in his chair. His body didn't match his face.

He remembered seeing red. Seeing it everywhere he looked. The blood of his family, strewn across the place he had reluctantly called home.

He saw red in his hands. As he tore any remaining hunters to shreds. Watching his claws take the lives of the humans who had mercilessly taken the life of his family.

And he continued to see red. For days as he chased down anyone who held fear or hate for mutants in their eyes. And he kept going. After a while he stopped looking for that glint in their eyes. Only wishing to see it fade as many times as possible. Because all humans were the same. They always were.

Wade lying next to him curled the sheets and the blanket, clutching at them desperately until his knuckles were white. He saw Francis. Watching him walk in and out of view, every time he walked into view a new method of torture would begin. And Wade could hear his own voice making quippy remarks. Remarks he remembered. But all he could feel was horrible, unbridled fear. All he could hear was the rapid beating of his own heart. The strained rasps that were supposedly his breathing.

All he could feel was the searing pain in every part of his body as it was placed under heavier loads of stress. He remembered how desperately he wanted his body to give up on him. He was dying anyways right? So it wouldn't matter.

But it didn't and for hours and hours it all became worse.

He remembers when it was over. When he was able to break out and free himself.

Only for the pain to return. He remembered the metal poll being shoved through his chest. And hearing it creek as Francis bent it over trapping him on it.

The taste of blood in his mouth as he spat up tattered pieces of his internal organs.

He remembered the hours he had taken to pry himself off the thing. Silently begging that he would just die in the process. But he didn't. And then he spent more hours in the rubble as the hole in his chest closed up. Only for the building to collapse on him and him to pass out. Or die. He didn't know which. Either way, it wasn't permanent enough.

Francis stupid face was all he could see. His voice all he could hear.

"What's my name?" He called, but Wade refused to give him that satisfaction. Refused to allow his face fucker to hear the way his voice might tremble if he said it.

And then in a flash, he was gone and instead he watched as the mercenary pulled the trigger. And Vanessa dropped to the floor.

Wade instinctively reached for Baby Knife who was under his pillow and thrust it into her killer.

Just a Logan protracted his claws and shoved them into the cold dead eyes of Stryker who had taunted him about the monster he had become.

But Wade wasn't killing the masked Merc and Logan wasn't face to face with Stryker.

Instead when they opened their eyes they saw each other.

Wade was hovering over Logan his blade in Logan's neck. Right between his shoulder and his nape. And Logan's claws were in Wade's chest. Blood oozing out of the puncture and dripping onto his bare chest.

The two of them scrambled away from each other freighted. Wade yelped as Logan pulled his claws out of him and he proceeded to fall of the bed. The fall adding to the throbbing, burning pain in his chest.

Logan desperately clutched at the knife in neck feeling blood pool in his mouth. He yanked it out and dropped into on the bed as he spluttered. Coughing blood all over the sheets.

Wade had tears streaming down his face and Logan's eyes were wide with horror.

Logan spat out the blood as his wound began to close and he scrambled out of bed over to Wade. Wade was sitting curled into his chest. The blood staining his t-shirt and pants as he held his knees as close to his chest as he could.

Logan wrapped his arms around Wade and sat with him on the floor. His whole body was shaking as his hair stood on end.

The two of them were breathing heavily. Wade's groaning was punctured with sobs as his organs and ribs repaired themselves.

When Logan's neck had healed enough to allow him to talk again he pulled away from Wade but didn't let go.

"Wade it's not your fault. And I- fuck. I didn't know it was you. I didn't see you"

Wade looked up at Logan from where he was crouching in front of him. His hands still gripping Wade's shoulders.

Logan half expected him to make a joke about penetration but all Wade could muster was a weak pathetic "He wouldn't stop"

Logan knew he was talking about Francis. He had told him all about what happened to him years ago.

Wade had probably just relived it all like he did countless times every night.

"M'sorry Lo"

"You're fine. Healed see?" He touched his neck to prove the wound had almost closed up.

Wade simply put his head into his knees and continued to cry.

It wasn't often Logan saw Wade like this, it had scared the shit out of him the first time it had happen. When one of these nightmares had consumed Wade in his sleep.

But I guess everything isn't like what you always see on screen, is it?

Logan sighed and picked him up, no strain at all, and sat down on the bed. His back rested against the headboard as Wade curled up on his lap. His legs less tightly pulled to his chest as he half laid on the bed and half laid on Logan

Logan ran his hand over Wade's head and back. Stroking him softly to try and ground and calm him. Not to let him slip away again into that horrible place.

It helped him not to slip away too

"I'm sorry Logan. I didn't mean it"

"I know you didn't, bub"

Wade couldn't stand the thought of hurting Logan. He never wanted to hurt the ones he loved. But he always managed to get them hurt. He got Vanessa killed, he watched as Colossus got beat to a pulp and Negasonic almost got crushed to death. He watched as the entire X-Force was slaughtered. And he remembered all the nights he had woken up like this. Having hurt Logan, again

Logan was frustrated. His actions were always violent. He always attacked first and asked questions later. He kept fucking hurting Wade. He was ashamed and frustrated and afraid. He was worried one to many nightmares would lead Wade to kicking him out. Sending him packing because Wade realised that Logan was too much of an unstable monster to be kept around.

"I'm sorry too"

"You don't need to say sorry. You just watched you whole family get killed"

Logan laughed humorlessly at the blunt but accurate statement. Wade also knew what went on in Logan's dreams. Wade knew how badly Logan had lost people.

The two of them stay curled up like that in silence for ages. The moon beginning to set over the horizon.

"You could never hurt me. Not where it matters. You know that right" Logan said it. It wasn't really a question. It was more of a reassurance, a statement that Wade couldn't do it. But he wanted to make sure Wade knew that as well

Wade hesitated but Logan felt him nod his head softly against Logan's chest.

"And I've had worse. You stabbed me in the balls remember?"

Logan grunted "Yeah. I remember"

The two of them didn't say anything else. Having said their apologies they couldn't think of more to bring up. They just needed to sleep.

And so Logan sunk down in the bed and Wade shuffled over. This time the two of them fell asleep. Wade's back pressed to Logan's chest and they slept until the mid afternoon.

Their presence was the only thing that brought the other peace.

I hope you enjoyed this! It was really have and maybe a little ooc on my part but I tried my best. I hope I did it justice.

[bluecatwriter]

⭐️ for the director’s cut game!

Since you wrote one of my favorite Jack/Arthur fics ever, I give you my very first Jack/Arthur fic: "Words and Voice Fail Me"! "When Jack Seward has a breakdown trying to record on his phonograph on October 11th, Arthur comes to comfort him."

(CW for discussion of period-typical homophobia) 

-This was *checks notes* my third fanfiction I ever posted, and reading back over it, I can really tell— not so much by the overall writing, which has stayed pretty similar over the past two years, but by the way I handle the details, especially logistical details of who's doing what when. I just wasn't used to writing with such precision, and as a result a lot of the writing comes off as a little awkward. Would definitely streamline if I were to rewrite it now.

-This starts out with Jack's canon narration from the book, interspersed with description. This is one of my favorite ways to write because it feels very much like directing a play— the lines are there, but I'm "directing" (writing) the stage directions, as it were, to show how the character is saying the lines.

-I liked the idea of Jack breaking down here as sort of the culmination of all the past trauma that he hasn't been able to process yet, thinking of the way that Mina's "funeral" reminded him of Lucy's death and everything around it. 

-Like most of my fics, I just started with the premise and let the character voices lead me. (It's very similar to playing an improv scene, just with me playing both characters rather than bouncing ideas off another person.) I originally intended for it to be a pretty straightforward emotional hurt/comfort, but as I kept writing and the scene kept unfolding, I realized that Jack was going to lose it and ask Arthur to kiss him— and when that happened, it opened up a whole different plot than I was expecting.

-I am still pretty happy with the line, ""Well," he said, straightening his cuffs just for something to do with his hands, "I suppose I shall—" He wanted to follow the phrase with an excuse, but his mind blanked out on anything he had ever done in his life. "—go."" This is a good example of me 1000% projecting my nervous habits onto Jack. 

-This was the first time I realized that characters could have erotic tie-pulling and talk about emotionally-charged subjects while their lips barely brushed. It was the beginning of an Era for me. ;)

-There's some kinda interesting gender stuff here, with Jack escaping into a fantasy about him being a woman so that his feelings for the men in his life would be "natural." I feel like there's more I could've explored there, but the fic was long enough as it was.

-In this fic, I very intentionally wrote Arthur as demisexual, and have projected it onto him ever since. 

-Jack has curly hair in this fic! This was before I realized that I'd given all three suitors curly hair, and decided one had to go. The casualty was Jack, so nowadays I describe his hair as "fine."

-I'm a sucker for "one character says 'I love you' and the other returns it but they're not sure they mean the same thing" trope, and I use it here. (This may be the only time I've written Jack saying "I love you" to Arthur— in my more recent fics, I often have Jack express his sentiment in different ways, rather than just saying the words.) 

-It was fun to write a little scene with Jack pouring his heart out about all his crushes, and Arthur very logically analyzing them to explain why they make sense (except for Van Helsing— he just can't grasp that one). It was also a good excuse to throw in the phrase "virile manhood."

-Originally I wasn't gonna have them kiss again, but then the dialogue just made sense for Jack to beg for another kiss, and… well. There they go!

-"You can trust me, I'm a lord" is probably the best line-before-a-fade-to-black I've ever written. ;)

-Of course there's some angsty aftermath in this one, since Jack is still struggling with a lot of self-loathing. I feel like some of the writing here is a bit rough, but I'm still happy with the overall emotions that come across.

-I originally had this end on a pretty melancholy note, but reworked it to make it more hopeful that, regardless of whether or not they sleep together in the future, their friendship is still solid.

Thanks again for sending the ask! :D

(Ask game here)

[thetarttfuldickhead]

I know that Jamie/Colin isn't the focus of this blog, but I really liked your "Locker Room Conversations" ficlet, and I was wondering if you had any headcanons/thoughts on how, in an alternate universe, a Jamie/Colin might shake out.

Well, to be honest I’ve never really thought about it too much since I don’t particularly ship Jamie/Colin, but let’s see what I can scrounge up for you, ey?

The one actual headcanon I do have:

Colin had a bit of a crush on Jamie back when Jamie first joined the team, and Jamie knew about it but never said anything. I entertain this notion at least half-seriously because I find it’s very entertaining to think about Jamie knowing and not really reflecting much on it, other than to go “uh yeah of course he has a crush on me who can blame him i mean have you seen me?”

Pre-canon angst

If you want something early and angsty and potentially canon-compliant, you could have the two of them hooking up before Jamie and Keeley get together (we have no idea when that was, but I think it was after Jamie joined Richmond purely for logistical reasons – hassle keeping a London girlfriend when you live in Manchester),. For Jamie it’s mostly about getting off and feeling a bit better about himself (both from making Colin feel good sexually and from Colin being a bit of a fanboy, giving his ego a boost) because Jamie’s not in a great place at this time. For Colin, there’s also feelings, so yes. Angst. Could end on that unhappy note, or you could go full AU and have Jamie slowly realizing that actually, he cares for Colin. (SHOCKER!) Obviously you’d need a turning point of Colin taking a stand and breaking things off with Jamie because he doesn’t want to be used like this anymore. He is a strong and capable man who deserves better! Cue Jamie having to prove his genuine affection and woe Colin back. Very classic rom-com vibe, and thus not my style at all, but I’m trying to give offer you a variety of flavour here.

Season 2 Enemies to lovers

In an another world, I think there’s a lot of potential for something set early during season 2, when Jamie first returns to Richmond. As mentioned in my recent post, I’m very intrigued by Colin’s reaction to this and how they go from him being very angry with Jamie to loving him so much, man. Besides, enemies to lovers is my one true ship trope, so I might even read this if I ever came across it.

Vanilla version: Colin is working hard to convince himself that he’s a strong and capable man, and he doesn’t need Jamie Tartt reminding him – simply by being around – of the person he used to be only a year before. Jamie is hellbent on repairing their friendship, though, and while initially Colin finds some measure of petty satisfaction at seeing Jamie’s bumbling attempts at making amends, he’s little by little and in spite of himself won over. I can see Jamie persistently taking him out on friend dates and Colin first agreeing only because he kind of enjoys torturing Jamie a little by being an ass, but Jamie is undettered and then they start having a really good time together and in therapy Colin comes to realize that part of his anger with Jamie is really anger with his own past behaviour – and maybe some shame over having had a crush on someone who was such an asshole. Over time, soft and mushy feelings develop. There are lots of hand-holding and cuddling and watching reality shows and bitching about the contestants together. They go on really stupid fucking adventures and love clubbing and once they come out to the team they are really kind of insufferable because their joint himbo energy is a threat to all of mankind, but they are so fucking adorable it’s hard to be mad (except for when they bring their bitchiest selves and team up to bring it down on everyone else, epic sassy style).

Dark/angsty/kinky version: Jamie is doing his best to make things right with the team, but Colin’s still not having it and in the end Jamie (remembering the crush Colin once had on him) offers sex as a way to make amends/prove how sincere he is. Colin can’t resist taking him up on the offer because even if he’s long over his crush the idea of Jamie kneeling in front of him, of Colin’s fist twisting in Jamie’s hair as he fucks his mouth, of Colin using Jamie however he sees fit and Jamie letting him… That does things for Colin, particularly when he’s in this vengeful state, yeah? Can end on a dark note, if that’s your jam, or end with some sweet comfort, aftercare and reconciliation.

Cracky post-canon poly shenanigans

Keeley is dating both Roy and Jamie, and while Jamie and Roy are not dating each other there’s this tension between them and yeah, maybe they wanna give this whole also sleeping with each other thing a go, except neither of them has ever done anything with another man before and so they’re a bit unsure about how to proceed and things keep Not Happening. (In this universe, Keeleys staunchly refuses to guide them, no matter how hot she’d find it, because she’s very much and rightly on the let Roy and Jamie sort Roy and Jamie out track.)

Jamie, glorious solution oriented himbo that he is, goes to Colin for some pointers on how to be gay, mate and after Colin stops staring inredulously at him he shrugs and gives him some general hints, the more gay love the better right, only Jamie soon comes back for a more hands-on tuition session because no, i tried, mate, but i just couldn’t figure it out, could you maybe show me instead? and Colin is a good friend (who once had a crush on Jamie), so yeah, that happens.

Keeps happening too, because everything Colin is teaching Jamie is working great and Roy and Jamie are very much getting it on and having a grand old time – but to no reader’s great surprise, there’s also some feelings starting to grow between Sassy Himbo No. 1 and Sassy Himbo No. 2. and in the end Jamie is not only dating Keeley and Roy but Colin too!

Colin only dates Jamie, though – the very idea of being involved with Keeley, a woman, or Roy, a Roy, is slightly nauseating and somewhat scary to him. There are no joint dates, no dinners for all four of them. Isaac is a little perplexed and initially concerned over the whole set-up but he sees how happy it makes his best friend so he rolls with it, even if he does end up having a talk with Roy about how he needs to make an effort to not look angry when Jamie and Colin go off together after training. I’m not angry, that’s just my face, Roy protests. Yeah, Isaac agrees, I know, bruv, but it’s freaking Colin out a little so maybe make an effort to not look like yourself, yeah? So the next time, Roy tries for a smile and Colin has trouble sleeping that night.

(For an extra helping of crack if Jamie/everyone is your thing: When the rest of the team learns of this, a few of the lads complain that it’s not fair that Keeley and Roy and Colin all get to have Jamie as their boyfriend when they don’t, but Jamie quickly assures them that he can be their boyfriend too! [Right… ? with sideway glances at Roy and Colin who just nod.] There’s plenty of Jamie to go around! Except he’s kind of busy with the partners he’s already got so maybe they need a scheduele and it’ll mostly be odd dates, but yeah, everyone who wants to can sign up for the Jamie Tartt Boyfriend Experience and in the end one fourth of the team is dating Jamie in some shape or form.)

That’s what I got for now. I hope at least one of them tickled your fancy, even if I strayed into OT3+ territory there for a bit...

[shmowder]

Noticed recently that there’s a lack of poly content on this blog and low key I’m shocked but then again I don’t imagine that there’s alot of poly content demand in this fan base but whatever I think it’s time to suggest the idea of a reader with two hands and those hands are for Daniil and artemy why pick one hottie healer when you can have both? Especially when said healers already have homoerotic tension with eachother! This is either going to be the most unstable polycule ever or shockingly calm one there’s really no in between in my opinion

Reader puts Daniil and artemy in a get along shirt and makes them hold hands everytime they fight

Putting them in a get along shirt? These men are making out in the corner of the room as we are speaking rn anon.

I get that the fandom plays on their rivalry for funsies and all but they're actually friends in canon, aren't they? They hold a begrudging amount of respect to one another and would've gotten along wasn't it for the families in powers toying with them like puppets on a string.

I mean Daniil was looking forward to meeting Artemy in a way, Isidor wasn't just an acquaintance to him but a dear colleague. Daniil held admiration for him and described him as selfless and kind hearted, Dankovsky actually complimenting someone!?

Daniil's problem is with the town and not Artemy or Menkhu's ways, Artemy just adores this town above all and took it personally. Otherwise, both of them always acknowledged how skilled the other healer is.

Then the whole murder thing happened, and it gave Daniil a false bad impression, leaving a bad taste in his mouth since Isidor was his friend.

They wouldn't be at each other's throats in a love triangle is what I'm saying, absolutely the opposite in a poly relationship even.

You'd have a harder time tearing them off of one another without them persuading you into joining, Daniil's honeyed words coaxing you, Artemy's heavy gaze undressing you.

A poly with them wouldn't be unstable or always calm, it will certainly have a strong foundation and a lively atmosphere.

Daniil wants his time alone? Artemy will keep you company instead.

Artemy is too overbearing? Daniil will keep him occupied while you get your personal time.

It's hard to feel neglected with Artemy and even harder to feel suffocated with Daniil. They balance each other out, they agree to disagree on certain things while their interests overlap on another.

They're absolutely unstoppable together, good luck winning anymore arguments if the two of them decided to team up or put their mind into something.

But they also share drastically different tastes and prefer contrasting lifestyles. Daniil wants the fame and recognition, he wants to live at the heart of the capital and keep up with the cutting edge technology. The conferences and galas, the upper crust society he wishes to mingle with just for a chance to spread the word about Thanatica even more.

While Artemy doesn't try to impress or appease anyone, he doesn't have anything to prove and couldn't care less about the legality of him preforming medicine. He has all this skill and knowledge which he will gladly put to use on anyone who asks for his help, no payment required in return. He wants a domestic quaint life in his hometown while he walks the footsteps of his father.

That's the one thing the two of them will always disagree about, and there are only so many weekly train rides between the two locations you can endure before it starts making you sick.

Artemy would want you closer in a way? He wants you involved in his life, in Sticky and Murky's life. His kids are part of him, it's a package deal.

While Daniil wouldn't only getting a fraction of your time, he is gentle with children but treats them as... children rather than humans or future adults. While nice, he won't form any deeper connections with them, more akin to an uncle than a parent.

The logistics of making it work will be very hard, not because of their personalities, they get along very well, but because of their contrasting lifestyles and differing ambitious.

The most tension between them there will ever be is when Artemy keeps making scrambled eggs while Daniil huffs and gets up to make his own sunny side eggs since that brute clearly can't follow instructions while Artemy rolls his eyes because once a Capital dandy will always be a Capital dandy huh Danya.

[icespur]

Resurrected Akeshu Daughter Third Semester AU

Warning: Angst, and discussion of premature infant death. 

Extremely pissed Goro Akechi 

Please pray for Maruki's safety, because god, does he need it. 

Warning for graphic descriptions of murder and maiming.

I’m going to describe some of the brutal things Akechi might do to Maruki as an example of how furious and scary Akechi is here. But please don't take it as me attacking or disrespecting Maruki’s late English Voice Actor, Billy Kametz. This is in no way related to him and was never intended to. He's a wonderful man who got taken away too soon, cancer sucks. 

I enjoyed you, Anai, Rui, White Blood Cell. As of writing this I have not played Persona 5 Royal myself, but I can't wait to experience you as Maruki.(Wait, are those really all the anime voices I've heard him as? I thought there were more, bummer guess that's it) 

Rest well ❤️ 😇

………………………

4/27/24: Edited to in an attempt to make it read better, spaced out paragraphs towards the end, slight rewording, and replaced commas with periods at certain point

The timeline I have for Akeshu daughter wouldn't work normally with this scenario, unless we—-say, move the third semester to take place a full year later (so like, way after Strikers, December 25th 2017 - February 3rd 2018) 

So we are entertaining the concept that the Third Semester takes place a year after Strikers instead of right after Base Game Yaldabaoth fight going into a new year; for the sake of Goro and Akiren's daughter being born by then. 

Now remember in my past, very long sloppy “Panicked ParentGoro” post I said their daughter would be born 27 weeks premature and would have to be in an incubator for a while? 

Well, in this scenario, what if she sadly—didn't pull through and died. 

Goro's death and resurrection by Maruki would be a bit weird here. Logically in this scenario Goro would have to have really died in Shido's palace and so never got to reunite with Akiren and learn about the baby and stay, but for the rest of my idea to work, Goro would have to be alive and reunited with Akiren to witness their daughter’s birth and short moments of life for this to fully hit hard. 

So in that sense, the rest of this post won't make much sense logically with the timeline, but try not to think about the logistics too much from here, okay? 

Goro would witness the birth, follow the doctors to the NICU out of overprotective parental panic and stay by his daughter's side. But---between her early emergency birth, and her underdeveloped organs and frail body, it proves to be too much and she flatlines—-----in front of Goro. 

Akiren and Goro are both heartbroken but Goro is especially fucked up because he witnessed her death, so that just adds a whole other layer of guilt and grief to him. 

And then—-Maruki starts to change reality, not only is Akechi resurrected, but—---their daughter is too. Not only is she resurrected but she's full term and healthy. 

Now, this would make refusing Maruki's reality choice a lot harder for Akiren. It was already a conflict in normal canon Third Semester with Maruki bringing Akechi back to life for him, and it was “Accept false reality and live brainwashed in a happy world with an alive happy Akechi” or “Refuse false reality and join Akechi to defeat Maruki, take his treasure and bring back original reality even at the risk of Akechi going back to being dead.” 

In here it's: “Accept a false reality and live brainwashed in a happy world with Akechi and your baby girl that got taken away too soon, so the both of you can spend this reality living life as new parents.” 

Or: “Refuse false reality and join Akechi to defeat Maruki, take his treasure and bring back original reality even at the risk of Akechi going back to being dead again, and your daughter back to being a necklace of cremated ashes.” 

Now, I don't think the add-in of their daughter being alive would make Akechi struggle with wanting to stay, like Akiren would. He saw himself being resurrected as a leverage for Maruki and saw the perfect reality as enslavement and no better than being a puppet to someone else's desire. 

No, Akechi would still firmly want to return to the original reality. If anything he'd be even more dead set on returning because—--

You use his life as a bargaining chip in an attempt to convince his boyfriend of your view? Shame on you. 

You use not only his life, but the life of his deceased baby girl as a bargaining chip in an attempt to convince his boyfriend of your view? 

Oh—--

Oh—--- 

You must have a fucking deathwish, Doctor. 

You think “Newly nonconsensually resurrected” Akechi was unhinged and scary? 

Try: “Newly nonconsensually resurrected and still internally grieving and guilt ridden from seeing his infant daughter die only to see her alive, full term and healthy all for the price of your boyfriend accepting a false reality and stripping away yours and your daughter’s freedom” Third Semester Akechi. 

Akechi is LIVID. 

Takuto Maruki resurrected the wrong former Metaverse assassin and premature infant. Akechi doesn't give a fuck about how good of intentions this pacifistic bitch thinks he has. The man just unknowingly signed away his rights to a heartbeat and open casket funeral of old age. If Maruki wants to be in one piece and values having all his limbs attached and organs in working order, he better pray that he never ends up in a room alone with Akechi, because it will not end pretty. 

Akechi straight up tells Akiren, in a calm voice that you can hear struggling to not commit to manic and rage filled, but is somehow still just as startling at how calm it is; that if Joker wants to only injure Maruki and take his treasure to return to reality--- he better pry Akechi's phone out of his hands to make sure he can't access the Metaverse or Maruki's palace because:

“If I go with you, and I lay eyes on that bastard, I can't be held responsible for what I'll do next.

A mental shutdown is too good for that man----

I am going to take up sculpting and tear his face to shreds to recreate a mental shutdown with my own bare hands by gouging his eyes back into his skull until he bleeds tears.

I am going to shove my sword so far down his throat it will come out his ass---

I will borrow your dagger to manually castrate him--

I will tear his chest cavity open to rip his beating heart from his body and replace it with his cognitive treasure...

I will unleash every Almighty attack in my arsenal until I either pass out from exhaustion or until he finally collapses to the ground, where I will then empty all my bullets into him--

and for good measure to make sure there is nothing left for someone to even attempt to bury, I will tear him limb from limb, chop those limbs into tiny bite sized particles, and eat them along with the rest of his minced corpse.

Then, you and Mona are going to drive us down to the depths of Mementos, where we will seek out the biggest. Bottomless. Black. Pit. So I can proceed to shit his remains into.” 

Do not mess with Resurrected angry parent Akechi. 

Joker is also angry at Maruki, but not on the same level as Akechi is. Even he’s like “Akechi, I completely understand your anger but I don’t think Maruki Sensei had completely malicious intentions of bringing our daughter back to life, he thought he was helping us. I mean, I agree, it’s still not worth giving up our free will in the name of an ideal reality, but you’re at a thousand right now, and you need to take it down to at least 50.” 

[inkblackorchid]

Can I ask you something? Have you considered doing a fanfic of Aki facing odd against her hold black rose witch persona which I'm surprised wasn't a episode to begin with I mean the idea is too good to waste

The ask box is always open for a reason, my friend!

But to answer your question: Yes, I absolutely have considered the idea of Aki coming face to face with the Black Rose Witch and being forced to confront her own past in a very literal way. The problem with this scenario is mainly one: Logistics. Seeing as Aki can hardly physically split herself in two, making this possible would require supernatural shenanigans of some kind, if you ask me. And sure, 5Ds has plenty of those, but what to use? Time travel? (High potential to shoot yourself in the foot.) A sort of supernatural test of willpower? (Okay, sure, but where, why, and how?) Try to keep it simple, say it's just a nightmare and all in Aki's head? (Possible, but pretty basic.) Say Iliaster creates another signer double, and Aki has to take it down same as Jack took down his? (Runs the risk of being a rehash of the fake Jack episodes, unfortunately.)

Depending on how they're written, I don't necessarily think any of these options are better or worse than the other, and I agree, the opportunity to have Aki literally confront herself would have been great. As far as my own writing is concerned, my main issue, personally, would be where the hell to slot this into canon. Because writing it just as-is, with zero context and no place on the canon timeline, isn't my style. Therefore, I'd have to find a spot for this, and ideally give it some kind of nice payoff, too. And the way my Aki stuff is going right now, especially with the next, big fic I'm currently working on, I'm not sure I could fit this in anywhere. (At least not without making things seem really, really bloated in terms of plot threads and tension.)

That said, I have thought about it before, and may yet think more about it in the future. So I'm not categorically denying I'll ever write this. I'd just love to place it somewhere where it makes sense and haven't found that spot (nor the best way to execute this scenario) just yet.

[piandaoist]

Sometimes, I get stuck on Iroh's siege. Like, it spins in my head like a microwave plate. Weird, I know. After all these years, why am I still thinking about this bullshit siege?

I just… The walls of Ba Sing Se are made of stone, and they're in a kingdom filled with people who bend stone and dirt. It seems like the least viable option would be to attack these massive walls that your enemy's children can bend at you. Yet the Fire Nation kept "hammering away" at the Outer Wall as Azula put it. We can tie this nonsense 'strategy' into things like stupidity, hubris, greed, ambition, ego, the Fire Nation's unwavering belief in its own Exceptionalism despite all evidence to the contrary… And, let's be honest, there are a lot of real-life examples of people who are, frankly, just doing all kinds of stupid things for reasons rational people wouldn't understand. Personal reasons we aren't privy to, for example. Coercion and mental instability can also play a factor. Then there is the fact that some people truly believe they're smarter than the rest of us. But I don't want to speculate about the motives of every Fire Nation knob who tried to take down Ba Sing Se's Outer Wall because 'It seemed like a good idea at the time.'

For what it's worth, Iroh's motivations are both clear and uninteresting. He said he had a 'vision' of conquering Ba Sing Se. Which is…whatever. (Imagine you're the top general and you make all of your decisions based on Destiny.) I would have preferred canon give us something more interesting than 'destiny', but here we are. Who are we to dispute this claim from a guy who can see into the Spirit World? Not to mention, 'destiny' is one of ATLA's core themes. Personally, I always found it suspect how 'destiny' always seemed to line-up with ambition. It was Iroh's destiny to conquer/liberate Ba Sing Se (to further an agenda). It was Zuko's destiny to become Firelord (even if that meant he had to take down his own sister). Is destiny really on their side, or is it just bullshit Iroh was making up as he went along? Another discussion, another time, I suppose.

I'm more interested in the siege itself. How did Iroh ever get through the Outer Wall which, again, is made of easily-bendable earth? This next part is all speculation. No idea if any of this is covered in supplemental materials because I haven't been keeping up. But I needed to develop this for a story I'm not writing, so I have thoughts…

I think Iroh's siege was always meant to fail, just not in the way it happened. It was a trap. The planning went something like this…

A siege takes a lot of preparation--months, even years of planning. Logistically speaking, it requires moving around a lot of resources to get the resources and manpower ready for a huge push. There are a lot of moving parts. EK spies would have noticed things like resource reallocation, uncharacteristic troop movements, shipments of wood and other materials for the building of siege forts, a lot of weapons and artillery being moved to a specific location, maybe they'd gotten some inside intel… It's a bit of an undertaking to keep something like that a secret.

There's a good chance Iroh didn't know about the Dai Li presence in Ba Sing Se. Maybe he had an idea of some secret police in Ba Sing Se from some intel received decades earlier from some infiltration team, but he had no idea of their scope or reach. It's pretty clear they call the shots, not General How. How gets his walking orders from the head of the Dai Li, probably Long Feng. So, what happened? And why?

In the Five General's War Room, in Ba Sing Se, How confirms the intel that the Dragon of the West is going for the wall. A smart-ass makes a comment about how they should let Iroh's forces knock down parts of the wall and then they raise it like "Psych" until he gets tired and retreats. ;)

How looks at the general who always thinks he's the funniest guy in the room and says "Here's what we're gonna do. You're not gonna like it. We need you to take one for the team…"

A siege is probably one of the worst types of warfare. They often drag on for weeks, months, years… Resources are depleted and, if the enemy cuts your supply chain, you're looking at starvation and the rapid spread of disease as well as a shortfall of more men, weapons, ammo, and other materials. It's bad for morale because time erodes the men's resolve and frays their nerves. Iroh probably knows this but, you know, it's his destiny. Whatever. EK generals would know this, too; they're counting on it.

After six hundred days, due to various unpleasant circumstances, Iroh's army drops to an acceptable number of tired and broken men--a number the Dai Li is prepared to fight. Also, the Dai Li had to make it look like they were actually putting up a fight hence the timetable. But now it's time for the wall to come down.

The Fall Guy, General Funnyman, is there with his 'army', ready to surrender, giving Iroh his knife as a show of 'respect' for the unbeatable Dragon of the West. This gives Iroh's ego the boost it needs to convince himself that he can turn the tide in the siege. If, for a brief moment when Iroh's men were dropping like flies he questioned his destiny, that moment has now passed. He's within striking distance of his goal. The Inner Wall is literally within his sights, and an EK general is in his custody…

The remaining EK generals and several Dai Li have infiltrated Iroh's ranks. It isn't like Iroh knows the thousands of men under his command. How could he? And his command is in shambles, anyway. They're just running on desperation and hope at this point and no one is really looking at anyone else. They're all looking ahead, at this massive Inner Wall looming on the horizon, at the far end of a vast expanse of wide-open land.

All How and his handful of earthbenders needs to do is follow the last vestiges of Iroh's army inside the Outer Wall so they can close it behind, trapping Iroh's men between two walls. And those farms that maintain the land that feed the people inside of Ba Sing Se's wall and the structures built into the walls themselves are just crawling with eager earthbenders ready to take their pound of flesh from the Dragon's army. They can't wait to see the look on Iroh's face the moment he realizes it's a trap.

As Iroh is about the give the order to advance forward toward the Inner Wall, he gets word Lu Ten has died. You know the rest.

When Iroh abandons his siege, the commanders who are left realize they cannot take down the wall without him. Maybe some of them have figured out this is probably a trap? Others are doing the math on their losses thinking they just don't have the numbers or resources to mount a another siege on the Inner Wall? Maybe they think attempting to move across this landscape toward the Inner Wall is too great a risk? Some of them just probably want to go home. For whatever reasons, they retreat.

Iroh doesn't conquer Ba Sing Se and the Dai Li don't capture the Dragon of the west. Maybe the Dai Li capture Iroh's men, but they don't know where Iroh is because he just left… All that bloodshed and nobody got what they wanted.

Point is, things never go as planned. Life happens. Best laid plans, blah, blah, blah. Everybody just has to live with it. Everybody took huge risks with that engagement and thousands died and nobody came out ahead.

But at least General Funnyman got out alive. How was never gonna let anything happen to him even if he is super annoying.

Maybe when Iroh realizes how many Dai Li there are in Ba Sing Se, and of what the city is like, he realizes his siege was a trap. Maybe he realizes that Lu Ten's death saved his life.