#this particular piece of information i choose to treat as canon

[lokijiro]

Oh look, the framed bullets set that Mycroft gave to Sherlock.

Sherlock is displaying the gift from his big brother in his flat and this fills me with joy.

(screencap source)

[thanks-mike-stamford]

Fics that inspire my writing - Part II

This is Part II. Read Part I or Part III

Continuing the discussion, I grouped these fics together for something they have in common: author style! It was actually a bit hard choosing them because they are all written by authors who have a distinct style. Something in them that makes you recognise the author right away, that makes you think - oh yes, definitely is a story from this person. When you have a bunch of stories with the same kind of feel, it's hard to choose one to illustrate my point. Tip is: binge read the authors below!

Part II

I Used to Live Alone Before I Knew You by etothepii Back when there wasn't even s2 yet I was already reading stuff from this author. I absolutely love their fics. This one is super interesting, a Good Omens fusion book version - beyond numerous screaming posts on the internet I'm not really familiar with this universe.

Something I like in all their fics and it's worked beautifully in this one is that there's more than it seems under the surface. The characters are not an open book even to the reader, and the narrator (close Sherlock POV) doesn't give all the information. The narrator sometimes doesn't even explain the information we are given. The facts are presented piece by piece, building the layers of a character, making it clear that even if right now, for this story, it's not relevant, this person is a complex human being (or angel. Or demon) that doesn't exist solely for the purpose of the plot. Two factors help with this: the non-linear narrative, that permits we only know a part of someone when it becomes relevant; and the sort of omniscience of Sherlock. I say sort of because yes, he's a demon and he has access to the core of someone. He's able to fish for stuff that happened in someone's life and how they feel about that as a way to build their vulnerability to sin. However, this is not necessarily mind-reading or future prediction. He makes deductions based on the soul, let's put this way. But because he can't use it to predict exactly what is going to happen, he still gets surprised. Because the characters are layered, they are able to be consistent with what we know and yet unexpected, up until the end.

The combination of giving powers to the narrator and using non-linearity is brilliant, working to enhance the themes behind the plot, which are about the complexity of the human soul. I'm working on a WIP that has similar themes and I try to play with these aspects to make it smooth like this story, instead of a philosophical essay using voices of characters. I've tried the non-linear narrative in a published fic, but it didn't have the same level of success in serving the story. Let's see if it goes better when I try again.

What It Is by toyhto This author has two main things going on in their fics: the type of angst that makes you question yourself, and the type of humour that is not really about trying to make you laugh, it's a very weird type of humour. I love weird stuff.

This fic is not Toyhto's best angsty one or best humourous one, but it's one that creates a good mix of both, like a tragicomedy (but without a tragic ending). You have John not knowing how to feel about Sherlock, and Sherlock gambling possibilities on how to fix the situation. It's the narrative that fascinates me. The story keeps its cards close, the reader is often a bit uncomfortable, a bit wrong-footed. You don't know where the story is going (hell, sometimes you don't even know where a scene is going), so you keep hanging up until the end. There's an underlying panic in how characters interact, but it's never hysterical, it's never loud or obnoxious. And then you find yourself snorting in situations that shouldn't have been funny. Life is usually not one genre or the other, so why literature should be? I love that the story never tries to be something (sad, funny, intriguing), and yet it is. It's not easy to pull something like this.

I have a WIP currently on my drive folder where I try to play with this tragicomedy narrative thing. This fic inspires me in trying to keep the reader on their toes all while looking effortless.

Borrowed Ghosts by DiscordantWords DiscordantWords has been out there since 2016 showing how there's more than a way to fix canon. In fact there are multiple ways. This is the author you want to go if you watch the show and think eeh this should have gone a different way. There's probably a story in here which takes the same premise you thought about.

This one is just too incredible. Because it picks up right from a crucial point in canon and said - ok, what if everything still happened, but they actually make sense? For this story consistency is key, and if canon gave us a John Watson making bad decisions while nursing an unreliable brain work, that's what you get. But make it make sense! This is what happens when you are on a roll of bad decisions, this story tells me. This is what happens when you're isolated from what before kept you on track. This is what happens when on top of everything your mind is playing you tricks: they don't just stop because you decided to. That's not how it works. This story acknowledges the bad stuff, but to fix them it doesn't propose miracles, and it definitely doesn't ignore them. We get the consequences but we also get the process of change that is necessary for things to be good once again. Like John says: there's a difference between wishing something happened differently and wishing it hadn't happened at all. But it did happen, so now what?

Make it canon divergence but character consistency and twist it to fix it, it's what inspires me in this fic.

The Ancillus's Tale by Chryse I reiterate that everything by Chryse is a must, but everyone that follows me on twitter had to deal with me constantly gushing about their most recent work for months, so it will be this one here. I just have a lot of feelings about this fic. Oh, yes, omegaverse again, inspired by The Handmaid's Tale.

The one aspect that comes to my mind when I think about Chryse's works is dark themes. If I want to read about fucked up stuff happening, I will go to them. And this particular fix has fucked up stuff from the first to the last chapter. And it's very immersive: you get inside the head of whoever is POV at the moment, Sherlock or John. You get their physical reactions, their thoughts, you know what they know. And the world building is on point: detailed enough that is totally credible, you can see reality becoming that way, but it's not described to exhaustion. We are presented the info about what we need to know, and rest is there, somewhere at your peripheral vision where you know it exists but it doesn't become a nuisance to the plot. But more important than that, it's how the dark themes are treated. It's never on black or white situations, surprisingly, despite the universe setting. The characters especially - they are allowed to have conflicted feelings, they are allowed to misbehave even if they are supposed to be on the good side, they have nuance and complexity. And the cherry on top: just because it has a dark premise, it doesn't mean it can't have a super satisfying happy ending that even brings comfort to the soul after letting it being hurt. We get snippets of comfort, the promise it's going to happen all along the fic, to compensate the extreme suffering the characters are going through. It's glorious.

I have been toying with the idea of writing something on the dark side. In fact my next multi chapter is super fucked up (but as always, with the certainty of a happy ending), and I hope it can see the world soon. I'm writing with this premise in mind: characters are allowed to have conflicted feelings, and they are allowed to misbehave, that won't make them the bad guys.

This was part II! If you missed part I, just click here. Part III is up!

[palmett-hoes]

how do you think this fandom deals with "measuring" trauma? i've seen a couple posts detailing aaron's reaction to trauma/nicky's reaction//seth's/etc and it seems like some people have a tier list of trauma responses in regards to the foxes? like what's "acceptable" versus what isn't, and who's trauma was "enough" to make their actions excusable versus others. this doesn't make much sense but i hope you get where i'm coming from?

no no i get you don't worry

i think it’s something i used to see more said explicitly than i see it now. like i definitely remember a point in the fandom when ppl were very openly mad at aaron for the way he acted in the books and especially him not being “grateful” enough for all that andrew had “done for him.” additionally seth used to be used as a minor villain or an abusive ex in fics a lot more than i see now. then of course there was a period of calling out these trends and reminding ppl that these are books about trauma, not books about ethics, and that you really really can’t read them without attempting compassion for every character. they’re not books about who’s right and who’s wrong, they can’t really be read in terms of theory or ideology. they’re about survival and recovery.

i haven’t really seen those sentiments in the past few years tho, at least not as openly as they once were, nor have i seen the old posts recirculating. at the same time, i think that there’s less meta and character analysis being written in general so there’s also less debate in general. i don’t see the whole fandom tho, just who i follow and the stuff from the tags that shows up on my tl. if this stuff is actively still going on idk about it, though i’d like to think we as a collective have moved on from seeing trauma as a zero-sum game

additionally, because of the discourse period over them it seems like aaron and seth in particular are treated with extra care not to invalidate that they came from abusive situations and were shaped by that. i’d say it’s now seen as bad taste to openly denounce what a character has been through as “not enough”

however

measuring trauma isn’t always angry, it isn’t always saying to a character “you didn’t go through enough” or “he went through more so shut up.” measuring trauma can also be dismissive. it can take the form of simply choosing not to include it. of removing character traits or actions or topics that make us uncomfortable or are maybe complicated to approach. by removing them or replacing them or avoiding them and simply writing like they’re not there, you essentially get to the same place as saying “get over it” but instead you write them as having, well, gotten over it

so i do still see people measuring trauma it’s just not as outright anymore. instead it’s paring certain characters down for ease and digestibility, and simply not engaging with their trauma and circumstances

i would say i see this most often with the upperclassmen, dan, matt, and allison especially (and nicky even though he’s not an upperclassmen) (ik i mentioned him but seth content is still pretty few and far between) (renee’s trauma has the “rule of cool” so it still gets in there). i’ve mentioned before how sidelined the upperclassmen are in fan works and some of the unfortunate implications of that, but another dimension is not acknowledging or considering their individual backgrounds. they all come from some pretty fucked up circumstances and more than that they’re all SHAPED by those circumstances

in the books, they are all wary isolationists with attitude issues.  they can be mean, they can be nasty, and they can be violent. they come from poverty, abuse, neglect, drug addicition, gang violence, and sex trafficking. they are treated with extreme suspicion by their school, the media, their classmates, and their fellow athletes, and they respond with suspicion right back. their relationships with each other are often on thin ice. they treat neil the way they do - tolerate his puzzle pieces that don’t fit together right without questioning - because they can all recognize themselves in him. and on the flip side, neil is able to relate to them for the same reasons, because they are also wary dogs used to being hit

but then i so often see the upperclassmen used in ways that mostly imply they’re like,, mostly normal, chill, often quite woke. goofy and cool. they all grew up watching disney movies and going to carnivals. they get used as a contrast for neil and andrew to highlight their traumatized behavior and the extremity of their circumstances, and if their trauma gets mentionted at all it’s in passing and it doesn’t inform the way they act. their trauma isn’t sufficient to inform their actions so it just,, doesn’t factor in or get mentioned really and they’re all nice, friendly, happy-go-lucky neurotypicals who are trying to teach poor traumatized neil how to be normal. tell me that isn’t measuring trauma

it’s annoying, in all honesty, especially since it now seems to come in a form that’s hard to call out because it’s no longer content that actually states a bad opinion so much as it is a lack of content or consideration for certain characters, pushing them further and further into the background and giving them increasingly more vague, palatable, and relatable characterizations.

in fact, it often comes off as praise, by ascribing them positive traits like nicky being a good guardian for the twins or allison being super knowledgeable about lgbt stuff or dan being a “queen” or matt being a “himbo” and because this is all good stuff it’s fine, right? it’s better than canon actually, right? except actually what it is is dismissive of their trauma and individual experiences. it’s a series of easily digestible filler words used to make the messy, ugly, complicated characters of canon softer and easier to swallow

also this is by no means restricted to the upperclassmen it’s just the one that slips most through the cracks. i definitely see this happening to andrew, too, but it works in slightly different ways and is a whole other discussion

[jericholeader]

a question: markus pressing North to share information about her background/story on the roof. I am not sure if you have commentary but if you have commentary I would like to read it! even the most understanding dialogue.. the... "We all have something we want to forget. But you need to know where you come from to know who you are." that line. seems...? weird (pushy? preachy?) to me, I would be interested in your thoughts.

I agree! That line does feel... preachy, in a way that doesn't allow for the very real possibility of trauma and North's right to not discuss it. It isn't forceful or demanding, but it does feel pushy and. Self-righteous.

And while I understand it is a piece of 'canon' dialogue, there are. Pieces of dialogue that are better written or more in-character through-out the game for All of the characters. Markus can be self-righteous... to a. More mild extent. The game pushes a religious kind of power and narrative on him that I don't hold to as it is (in the same scene the Androids are literally referred to as 'followers' by an option; button presses refer to his helping Androids find the 'Edge' as 'converting' them; and there is a 'He is RA9' background thread. Androids... calling him that, but in the end being mistaken is fine. And realistic, honestly. But he is not a deity. He is not a god. And he is not some... cult-leader). And this might overall be a side point to my over-all point that he has self-righteous tendencies but the over-all definition does not fit him. He struggles frequently with his choices and whether they are best for their people; he admits he is lost. There is Weight to the revolution and he is sometimes Tired and it is Heavy.

I. Personally. Think that this piece of dialogue:

[ OTHER NORTH ] [ unlocked if looked at the other North in Capitol Park] [ North📷 ]

Markus: That android you were looking at in the store... She reminded you of who you were, didn't she?

Is more 'in-character' for Markus over-all. It still... presses slightly. But in a gentler way, in my opinion, that expresses a 'I noticed' and 'I am willing to listen' that doesn't take a perceived moral high-ground 'we need to know where you come from to know who you are'. What he 'used to do' doesn't define him either, and it is something I believe he would champion. There is a measure of (unwarranted) guilt he expresses about his past in some dialogue here 'when you're happy it's hard to see other's misery' when. He was as much a slave by programming, even if he was well-treated. Slavery is slavery. Markus generally isn't one to dwell in guilt, but. He. Might have struggled with an initial 'I should have noticed Sooner'.

So. I definitely agree with your comments on that particular piece of dialogue. My Markus chooses to ask about what he saw the night before. And he would not have pressed further.

But I have some overall opinions on several pieces of dialogue in this sequence as is, though the wonderful and very Markus line, 'I needed to see the daylight' does come from this chapter.

[haberdashing]

No Puppet Strings Can Hold Me Down (13/?)

The Magnus Archives fanfic. An AU that diverges from canon between episodes 159 and 160, in which Peter Lukas’ statement that “he got you” takes on a different meaning.

on AO3

Eventually, though Jon couldn’t have said how many minutes it took, he managed to escape the looping cycles of his own mind and drag his attention back to the conversation still going on outside of it.

“-and that’s if, if he’s even in there, which I’m still not convinced of-”

“He is.”

“So I’m supposed to, what, just take your word for it? Just trust you when you say he’s still around?”

Wait, were they... talking about him?

Jon focused on the conversation a bit more, letting the fading echoes in his mind go silent entirely so that he could hear what was happening around him that much more clearly.

“Did you have something else in mind?” It still felt weird to Jon, hearing the voice that both was and was not his own coming out of his own mouth thanks to Jonah Magnus’ machinations. He didn’t sound like that much of a smarmy asshole normally, did he?

“Well I’m not going to, to treat you with kid gloves just because you’re using Jon’s body-”

“It’s not just his body. He can sense everything I can, feel everything I can. He just can’t react to it when I’m in control.”

...Jonah Magnus was actually telling the truth there. Huh. That might have been a new one.

...or, no, that wasn’t quite right. As much as he lied and obscured and misled, Jonah Magnus did also seem to have a fondness for awful truths, for giving exactly enough true information for people to reach exactly the wrong conclusion.

Which, Jon noted with a distant sort of alarm, was also the case here, if Jonah was trying to talk Martin out of harming him because of Jon’s presence. He’d knocked himself out for a moment there, and the only regret Jon had for that decision was that he hadn’t tried it sooner or timed it more carefully; if Martin could stop Jonah Magnus’ plans by attacking this body, well, at least Jon’s suffering would be for a good cause this time.

“So it’s still possible for you to not be in control, then? Jon can still come back?”

“Yes, Jon can still come back, if you don’t destroy his body trying to get rid of me, and I daresay you had your chance at that already.”

Jon still didn’t know what exactly had unfolded between Jonah Magnus and Martin before his own arrival at the Panopticon, but his suspicions that Martin’s coming close to murdering Jonah had happened then increased.

“Prove it, then.” Martin put his hands on his hips and shot Jon (shot Jonah) a fiery glare. “Because I’ve got no reason to believe you’re not just trying to save yourself by choosing a convenient body at this point.”

“Well...”

As the lone word spoken by Jonah Magnus hung in the air, Jon tried his best not to get his hopes up by imagining what might happen next, what kind of “proof” Jonah Magnus might have regarding his continued existence.

“I can tell you that Jon’s been thinking very intently about you calling him ‘the man I love’ for the past several minutes. I daresay it’s all he’s been able to think about ever since.”

That... wasn’t what Jon had been hoping for. He hadn’t realized that he’d been thinking the phrase clearly enough for Jonah to hear it, and he certainly hadn’t expected that Jonah would choose to share that particular thought with the one it concerned most, that any chance Jon would get to share his feelings would be pre-empted by Jonah Magnus pulling some strange sort of power play.

Martin’s face turned red, and he averted his gaze to stare at the unexceptional tile floor instead, and for a long, terrible moment Jon thought he’d managed to misinterpret things once again, that Martin hadn’t meant the phrase to come off the way it did-

“You’re lying.” Martin said, his gaze still resolutely focused on the floor tiles rather than on Jon. ”You’re- you’re just telling me what I want to hear, and I’m not falling for it.”

...oh.

Jon was actually glad, for a moment there, that he didn’t have to think of a reply himself, that the scene would continue to unfurl without his interference. He didn’t have the words prepared for what he wanted to say anyhow.

“It’s entirely true, but I’m not sure what sort of proof you’d accept for it--are you expecting to hear it from Jon himself before you believe me?”

“You know what, yeah! Yeah, I would like to hear Jon’s perspective here! Is that something you could arrange, or are we going to be stuck in this stand-off forever now?”

Wait, was that something Jonah Magnus could do? He’d turned over control of Elias’ body easily enough, sure, but that was only so he could control Jon in turn. Even if he could do it, though, Jon was all too aware that Jonah having the ability to give up his prized puppet and him having the desire to do the same were two entirely different things...

“Well, if you insist...”

Jonah’s speech trailed off, and then... Jon found his body staying eerily still, his gaze focused somewhere around Martin’s forehead, not moving, not talking, only steady breaths to indicate that he hadn’t just given up the ghost entirely-

And there was a strange, sudden shift, and he could hear Jonah Magnus’ voice in the back of his head saying Showtime, and the pieces fell into place.

Jon averted his gaze, looking down at his hands, and took a long, shaky breath as he flexed his fingers, the movement coming as easily and naturally as if he’d been the one controlling things all along.

“...Martin?”

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 78

A BIG THANK YOU TO @thetorturerwrites​ for helping me with the 🥵 part of this chapter. Also warning for smut, and anything bolded in the tags. 

Warning, PLEASE CHECK TAGS IF YOU SEE SOMETHING YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THEN DON’T READ. | Tag lists are closed | INBOX OPEN

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Will tag as I go along, Will update tags, Slow Burn, Influenced by Star Trek and other Sci-Fi themes, References to We Happy Few, Tons of References and quotes to George Orwells 1984 see if you can find them all, The First Order is the new Big Brother,  but who is really surprised, Blatant Nazi Symbolism, Interrogation Themes, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Really just drawn out Slow Burn, Don’t repost without permission, Torture themes, Suggestive Themes, Execution themes, Disturbing Themes, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Controlling Kylo Ren, Physical Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Possessive Kylo Ren, A character shamelessly based on Zelda

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 78: The End of a War

You walked back into the meeting, without your faithful guard dog. “Now where will we be sending everyone off to,” you ask your newly appointed Chancellor Hux.

“We have some reason to believe there is a Resistance base in the Outer Rim, on this end of the galaxy somewhere in K-5/6 and L-5/6 sectors. We will be sending heavy reinforcements to that region.” Hux seemed to be confident in the intelligence that you were given.

You considered the tactile plan, “I see and what do we think we will be met with?” You weren’t a military mind, but you needed to be sure that they knew what they were doing, they had failed before and failure wasn’t an option now.

Another First Order general spoke up, “Not much, we have already crippled much of their army, with the destruction of their last base and the several New Republic planets. Mostly this will be to finish them off and to now establish authority across the galaxy.” That’s exactly what you wanted to hear, taking control of the galaxy. Soon it would all be yours.

“So are a portion of the troops going to do that? While others face off in battle?” You knew sending all your fleet to one area would not be a wise decision. The Empire had chosen to do something similar in the past, and you weren’t going to be so stupid.

“Yes, I believe that is the best tactic. You have a phrase from your home planet saying ‘not to put all of your eggs in one basket’ and so by making sure we have a proper disbursement of ships across the galaxy we will maintain our authority.” Hux was an expert at trying to bring things to your understanding. He knew you had little background in any of this, and that you trusted him to make the right decisions. It is why he earned his promotion.

You nodded to him, “Good, Lord Ren will join the forces heading to the base, he has an important mission from me, one that he should not be distracted from.” You needed your husband to complete his mission, but more importantly, you needed him to come back in one piece. You wanted there to be no one in his way.

Hux seemed to understand this. “Of course, Empress. We will make sure he sees his task through without any obstacles.”

You left the meeting, Kylo was off fighting for you on some planet someplace in the galaxy. Hux had told you where but you really didn’t care. All you needed to know was that he was ok and that he was taking care of what you sent him for. It had been three days before you heard they were back. You had been doing various things, making sure the Final Order and First Order’s union was going smoothly. One of your staff came and told you that Kylo had requested in some of the interrogation rooms.

Walking down the hall with Ap’lek and Vicrul by your side, you saw officers and 'troopers dodging out of the way. All of them giving you proper salutes and acknowledgments to you as Empress. You made your way down to the interrogation rooms, pausing in front of the doors of the large one.  Entering you saw an interesting sight, four people chained to the floor, the other Knights of Ren along the back wall, Kylo pacing in front of the prisoners, and Hux and Phasma talking in an opposite corner. It looked like a real party. Vicrul and Ap’lek joined their brothers in arms along the back wall. Doing the usual silent communication thing they did.

You looked at Hux and then Kylo before saying, “What do we have here?” You then looked at the four prisoners, who looked pretty worse for wear.

Hux spoke first, you could tell Kylo was still in beast mode as his Force energy wrapped around you protectively. “These are the last known leaders of the Resistance, unfortunately, we lost a few in battle at no fault to anyone.” The man on the left seemed the most rabid of them all, sneering at Hux.

“Why don’t you tell me who our guests are?” You kept your tone rather light, knowing what was to inevitably come.

The man on the left spat up at Hux, who was closest to him. “Guests? So that’s who we are now?” You could hear the venom dripping from his voice.

Hux looked rather unimpressed at the man who was chained down by his feet. “Poe Dameron General of the Resistance, notorious pilot who has killed millions in this war. He is responsible for blowing up Star Killer Base.” The brunette man glared at him before looking at you, you could see Kylo’s body shift towards him as a sign that he should watch his actions.

You point to the next chained prisoner.

“And him?” He seemed much bulkier than the pilot next to him.

“FN-2187,” responded Phasma first.

“My name is Finn,” spat the man.

Hux continued with his debriefing, “FN-2187 is a General of the Resistance. A defective stormtrooper traitor who has killed his own brothers and sisters in battle. He is partially responsible for the destruction of Star Killer Base.”

“And her?” You pointed to the next prisoner.

“Rose Tico, chief engineer of the Resistance. She and her family fought against the First Order when we annexed her homeworld, and she was crucial to the evacuation of the old resistance base.” Hux seemed rather displeased in particular with her.

“And what about them?” You pointed to the last prisoner.

“Noor Abdallah, a chief information officer of the Resistance. They have foiled many of our attacks by intercepting communications between ships, they helped with the destruction of Star Killer Base.” So this was Carter’s match? A Resistance fight, someone Carter had been dreaming about for years. Someone who now seemed to waste their life before they ever got a chance to meet their other half.

You stepped back for a moment watching your husband pace in front of them. They seemed to regard him as a higher status than you. Something he was not.

FN-2187 pleaded to him, “Rey wouldn’t have wanted this.” Rose seemed to agree.

“You think I cared for the Scavenger? I killed her.” So they thought she could be a bargaining chip to reason with the beast? She held no candle to you, you were the Empress, and she was a dead sand rat. You were his match, and she was nothing.

Poe now seemed to reason with him,  “Leia wouldn’t have wanted you to do this.”

“And what do you know of my mother? She sacrificed herself to save me and her. You know nothing.” Bringing up his mother was a terrible decision on his part. What good did this pilot think he was doing? Did he really think he knew his mother better than he did? Ignorant and cocky is a dead man’s wish.

You were sick and tired of the prisoners ignoring your presence. “So these are some of the people who have outsmarted the First Order for so long?”

Hux responded in kind, “Dameron’s a damn good pilot and FN-2187 was trained as one of our own and was once very promising.” It was noted to you that he did not speak of the others at this point, you wonder just how many squabbles the two men had won against the First Order before you arrived.

You kept your voice aloof, “I see. It’s a shame they choose the wrong outcome in life don’t you think? Working for the Resistance, harboring chaos, defying me? What do you think my love?”

This caught Kylo’s attention, you could see he was shaking with anticipation and power. He wanted blood and now you would let him have it.

“Kill the pilot, the traitor, and the girl. As for Noor, send them to reconditioning, and then to Earth, there is someone there that doesn’t deserve to lose them just yet. Maybe they will reconsider unwise life decisions from now on.” You saved their life for your former friend Carter. You weren’t all heartless, but you knew whoever sided with the Resistance would still call you that. When your back was turned to head out of the room, you heard the crackle of Kylo’s lightsaber and the sound of bodies hitting the floor, you didn’t stick around to see the aftermath, rather you chose to go back to your quarters to prepare the treat you had promised him.

When you arrived you headed immediately to the bedroom where you pulled it out of a closet and laid it on the bed. While he was away, you had asked Vicrul and Ap’lek to fetch it from wherever he had chosen to hide it. It wasn’t a toy for you, but for him. Something to tame the beast for a short time. Something clad in tight black leather that the knights seemed to be fond of. You don’t know if Adlez had sparked the idea within them or if it was something they already enjoyed that she was the perfect outlet to share it with. But the present came with a little accessory, a black riding crop, something to instill obedience within the beast.

You had a newfound confidence that paired nicely with your new ego, your new self. You heard the door to your chambers open and the rush of booted footsteps. He was eager to see where you were, to receive his treat. He entered the bedroom with his helmet on, something you hadn’t considered before, but something to possibly explore at a later time. With the crop in your hand, you ordered, “Strip.”

The helmet came off first with a thud to the floor, his eyes fixated on the instrument in your hand. You could feel his desire pooling around you with the Force, his protection bubble revealing his underlying moods and wants. You watched his eyes grow dark as he obeyed your command, his breathing deepening and his arousal evident. You could tell that the beast was underneath the surface. Once he obeyed your command, you made a simple order again, “Kneel.”

He was already half-hard and growing more erect by the second. You stepped closer to him, his eyes followed you wildly, like a predator watching its prey. You leaned down next to his ear and said, “Now, I believe I promised you a treat for all your hard work. Your knights were so kind as to deliver me our wedding present. I think it’s high time we use it don’t you think? I think my beast deserves it.” You watched his body ripple with pleasure, trying to contain himself, trying to obey your orders.

You grabbed the toy off the bed, “Lean forward.” If it was anyone else, you would have had them lean against the bed for support, but he was just that, a beast. His strength could hold him for however long you needed him in a certain position, his monstrous strength and resilience would make sure of that. The black leather hugged his arms beautifully as you strapped him in and tied him up, the binder allowing you to have full control of the situation at hand. He still had the Force of course, but he seemed less inclined to use it now. Not wanting to disobey you. He was leaning into your touch, desperate for your warmth.

You took one look at him all tied up and were satisfied. “On the bed, on your knees, back to the headboard.” The beast was going to get some training today before you let him free. He scrambled to obey, and he was a sight to behold. He was now fully erect but frustrated at the lack of friction. He moved into the spot you wanted him in. Over the last few days, you put in a simple work order, you needed a few anchors put in the wall. One on each side of the bed and one in the middle for this exact purpose. You grabbed a sturdy chain and hooked it to the anchor and then to the ring in the binder. This would not hold him if he chose to go completely feral, but if he obeyed you, it would serve its purpose. Now your guard dog was chained up, and you were just about ready to let the beast loose.

He tested the chain, as you slowly and teasingly stripped in front of him. The beast wanted to touch you, to take you, but right now you were too far away for that to happen. “Does the beast want a taste?” This earned a snarl in reply. His eyes were wild, and his body was vibrating. You moved in closer. You brought the riding crop against his cheek, the only form of contact between you two at the moment. He wasn’t pleased as he bit the end of it, “Now, now, only good little attack dogs get their treats.” He let go of the crop which you then lightly whacked against his cock, earning a yelp and a thrust of his hips. But he didn’t seem to dislike it as you watched his lower ab muscles clench and his cock twitch. He looked like a wild chained up animal.

You moved in closer, but just out of reach, even though his hands were behind his back you wanted there to be distance yet. “Now are you going to be a good little guard dog and obey me or will you need to be punished some more?” The snarl you received seemed to encourage you to keep punishing him. You randomly whacked him in the abs, ass, thighs, face, and cock for a bit. You could see the pleasure rippling through his body, and the occasional moans of pleasure supported that. You rubbed the head of his cock with the tip of the crop, spreading the pre-cum around. After a few more hits to the dick, he came with a force. His seed covering both of your chests and stomachs. You then wrapped your arms around him and ordered him to clean you up.

The pleasure you received from giving his punishment and his attention and sucking of your breasts, got you close to the edge. You were enjoying everything as much as he did as you leaned back away from him and finished yourself off. On display for him, with your fingers buried in your own cunt. You could hear the chain creak as he pulled against it, wanting so desperately to touch you. But you came too fast to allow that. Once you caught your breath you stared up at him. He was struggling against the hold, desperate for you. You got up and brought your fingers to his lips, allowing him to clean them off before you ordered him to move back on the bed. “Clean me up.” You watched as he eagerly obeyed. His tongue, lips, nose, and teeth buried into your folds cleaning up your fresh juices. The beast loved to nip at the tender flesh, whereas Kylo just kissed and sucked, both had their advantages, but right now it was the beast’s turn.

Once you were confident that you were cleaned up, and that he was just eating you out now you ordered him to stop. Which seemed like it was difficult for him to obey but he did reluctantly. “Stay put.” You got up and moved behind him, propping yourself up on pillows. “Turn around.” He looked wild as he followed orders. The beast was waiting. You spread your legs open for him. His re-hardened cock twitched at the sight, you watched him breathe in and out jaggedly, attempting to keep what little control he had.

You swallowed back your own desire as you commanded, “I want your cock.” That seemed to flip the switch. Even though his arms were chained up behind him, the power of his hips was enough to cause you to scream his name. He thrust deep and hard into you, the beast giving his full power as he relentlessly pounded into you. The grunts, groans, moans, and growls filled the air as the sound of skin slapping filled the room. He bit and sucked at any flesh he could get, marking you up. It didn’t take long for both of your orgasms to crash together. He let out some sort of howl as he did, his name being screamed on your lips. For a few minutes, the beast seemed satisfied.

You struggled to get up, now wanting to unrestrain him so you would at least have one round with him free. He snarled at you as you tried to get up, thinking you were leaving him there. “No, I want to let the good guard dog go. So he can have some freedom.” Your fingers trembled as you removed the straps and undid the ties. You couldn’t really feel your lower body anymore, but you could feel the empty sensation of him not being inside of you. Once he was free it took only a few seconds for him to grab you and slam you back down on the bed. His feral side took over as he aggressively took you again. This time his thrusts hand more purchase as he was able to hold on to you, and the headboard. His hands occasionally groped your breast but they mostly were buried into the meat of your ass.

He filled you up completely, taking no pause as to fuck you deep and hard. The beast is using his full power now. You had promised him a treat and now your tight cunt was delivering it to him. If someone were to walk in on you now, they would probably think a wild animal was fucking you, but it was him. Holding you down, taking you as his own prize. Your breasts are barely able to bounce properly to meet the speed of his thrusts. All you could do was moan like a desperate whore at his deep hard pounding. He locked on to your g-spot and didn’t give up even after you orgasmed. He was looking for two for one as he continued his unrelenting pace. Which he was granted as you finally came together, being filled with his fire you felt completed.

He collapsed on top of you, seeming to hog all of your personal space, completely wrapping around you. It felt protective and possessive as he seemed to use the last of his energy to cover you in kisses. You fed your beast with your own pleasure. He was sated for now. You were now the Empress to the galaxy, and he won that for you.

A/N: Let me know what you think? Two more chapters after this. 

[gear-project]

The TRUTH

I suppose with everything that has happened, everyone wants to hear the Truth from me.

The Truth is, I was born and raised on the South Side of Milwaukee, in a mixed hotpot of cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Everything from Hispanic to Greek to Hmong to Afro-American to Polish to German, Canadian, and everything in-between.

I was raised by my parents not to categorize people by what they looked like, not to call them by any specific color or race or category or label. Not out of some twisted sense of disrespect for their ethnicity or background history, but as a means of treating everyone EQUALLY, as friends, neighbors, and family.

The South Side (my own "South Town") was where I met many friends of all types, some of whom have stayed my friends throughout the years fortunately.  I even have family who married in to roots from Haiti and had kids.

I've even had close friends in college open up to me about being Gay, even had a Gay roommate, and I accepted all of them.  Because People are PEOPLE. They're living beings, each with Souls of their own.

--But, I suppose that's not the Truth you're here for.

The truth is, back in 2000 or so when I first bought Guilty Gear X for the first time, I knew absolutely nothing about the series back then.  All I heard were head-canons and rumors. People treated Ky Kiske like a gender-swapped girl, or they treated characters like Dizzy, Millia, and Jam like sex objects.

None of this misinformation matched what I found in the GGX Instruction Manual that was included with the PS2 disc I had bought.  Nor did I question the accuracy of the manual's translation, or if the localization team behind the game manuals of GG1 and GGX (thanks to Atlus/Sega) had some kind of twisted "ulterior motive" when they presented the game's story to me.  Nope.  I just accepted every aspect of what was officially presented to me.  They had no reason to lie, of course.

And, at the time, I had no idea expanded content like the Guilty Gear Bible even existed... because it was Japanese exclusive content, so of course I wouldn't know, not knowing the language at the time.

On the other hand, I came to grow frustrated with the game's fanbase community who loved to perpetuate their head-canons and "fan lies".

I swore to myself that I would get to the TRUTH behind Guilty Gear's story... as the honest, humble, naive gamer that I was.  This was before I learned of Ed Chang's GameFAQs guides or anything else that had ever been written.

--But, I guess that's not the Truth you're looking for.

The truth is, around May 2012 when I first created my Blog, while I had some experience translating and consulting with friends on the accuracy of translation for the Night of Knives Drama CDs and working on a script for GG Judgement, I was never the first person to call myself "Lore Expert" or Lore Master", or anything of the sort.

It was other people who called me this, don't ask me why, they just did.  I adopted the idea of being a "Lore Expert" mainly as a beacon to help anyone looking to know about Guilty Gear to find it... it wasn't out of some twisted means to brag about what I knew, or to say I'm a Know-it-All, or that I'm hording knowledge over others.

My sole intention was to share information on Guilty Gear.  Nothing more, nothing less.

This was not out of some twisted desire to spin my own "narrative" on GG.  Even with regard to obscure character backgrounds like that of Raven's, the story left a ton of hints to peripheral information that one only need look up on the internet to learn more about, like Raven's connection to the Original Crusades.

And even if you left out the peripheral tidbits, much less side story content, the overall narrative of GG remains unchanged.  Even the recent Manga released by Sumeragi contains enough bare-bones information for anyone to pick up on the story.  Whether you want to learn more, that's entirely up to you as a fan.

--But, I guess that's not the Truth you want to hear.

The truth is, I grew very TIRED of the abuse I had received from the community.  Anonymous potshots on Twitter, reflexive insults with no willingness to communicate, "Kill Yourself" death threats, disassociations, and endless rumors about the "twisted villainous icon" of whom I supposedly was, constantly discrediting me.

No one knew who I really am, not as a person, not as an individual.  Nor did they care about my feelings or true intentions.

As a result of my depression and anxiety from all this, I went completely off-grid for several days, nearly a week.

I needed time to re-evaluate myself, my motivations towards this game series, along with trying to come to terms with a fanbase that has somehow been gripped by endless fear, suspicion, blind hatred, and in particular, selfish SPITE.

People who consume and beg for roster characters without giving back to the community, while constantly demanding unreasonable perfection on the developers; people who criticize translations and translators without even trying to sympathize or understand how hard the work is themselves; people who have the talent but not the willingness to share their knowledge or content in other languages besides their native country; people who project their own agendas and perpetuate false rumors of others, heartless and hateful, setting traps for every good intention.

In truth, I cried myself to sleep over the anxiety and fear of having to face such a community ever again.  

I lamented my fear, questioned myself, consulted with family and even God himself, and took some time away from one of the few things that I had once and still held very dear to me.

Perhaps because of the fact I had at least one person, a family member, a neighbor, in my corner to speak with... while I felt so miserable it would have broken me, I was given some pieces of wisdom:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." --Jesus, the Christ (John 15:18, the Bible)

"The Truth is only as big as those willing to believe in it." --Frau (07 Ghost Children)

"Death is not a choice. Death is giving up.  I choose to live, slowly and painfully. At least for now."  --"That Man" (Asuka R. Kreutz to Baiken)

----But, if, after all of this, if this wasn't the Truth you were looking for from me, then perhaps the truth you seek relates to how you perceive and interpret it.  

My inbox is still open, and I will continue to discuss and analyze GG Lore (even with my limited knowledge) as a fan, as someone who has and will continue to love this game series... But I am still a living, vulnerable, Human Being.

If you cannot acknowledge that Truth or Respect it, do not expect me to acknowledge the "truth" as you "view" it.

To Regular Readers/Followers: I'm still on Hiatus, so give me some time to recover. Thanks for always supporting/understanding! You mean the world to me.

[a-paragon-of-their-kind]

2021 Frequently Asked Questions

A Paragon of Their Kind is a fanwork gift exchange that showcases dwarf love in the Dragon Age Fandom. Any pairing is eligible as long as it contains at least one dwarf from the Dragon Age fandom.

2021 Important Dates: Nominations: May 30th 12am US EST - June 6th 11:59pm US EST Sign Ups: June 7th 12am US EST - June 13th 11:59pm US EST Assignments Received: June 14th by 11:59pm US EST Assignments Due: August 2nd 8:00pm US EST Assignments Revealed: August 9th 10:00am US EST Creators Revealed: August 16th 10:00am US EST

FAQ:

1. What are the requirements for this gift exchange?

When signing up, you will nominate at least three pairs you would like to receive fanworks for (art and/or fic) and at least three pairs you would like to offer fanworks for. All pairs must have at least one DA dwarf from any DA media in it. You will be matched with a person according to what you have offered. You must then complete a fanwork for at least one of the requested pairs.

2. How do I participate in the gift exchange?

The exchange will be run through AO3 so you must have an AO3 account. Detailed instructions on how to nominate and sign up will be posted closer to the date of the exchange. You may also follow the official Tumblr @a-paragon-of-their-kind or join the official Discord. These things aren't required, but are EXCELLENT ways to stay in the loop!

3. What pairings are eligible?

The pairing must have at least one dragon age dwarf character in it. This character can be from any Dragon Age media - games, books, comics, etc. Pairings can be canon, non-canon, or sheer crack. We also allow poly nominations and crossover nominations as long as they contain at least one dragon age dwarf character.  

4. What should my completed fanwork look like for the exchange?

This exchange accepts art or fiction. You must complete one fanwork for the pair you are assigned by the deadline.

Works of fiction must stand alone and be no less than 1,000 words. You may include OCs you have used before, but this work must not be part of an existing series and must be tailored to the request you have received. There is no maximum word count.

Art can be computer or hand drawn and must be complete. Complete art is defined at a minimum as clean, finished line art.

Works can be explicit as long as the request you received did not prohibit it. Please tag your works appropriately if they are explicit (or choose not to rate according to AO3 TOS.) Works may also contain ANY content as long as the request did not prohibit it. Please tag works fully and appropriately to the best of your abilities.

5. How does this work exactly?

FIRST! Nominations May 30th - June 6th:

You can nominate up to 20 different pairings. The moderators will go through the pairings to check that each contains at least one dwarf from the Dragon Age fandom. Any nomination that does not contain at least one dwarf from the Dragon Age fandom will be rejected. Nominations may consist of homosexual, heterosexual, threesomes, moresomes, or platonic requests.

For the purposes of this challenge, the Dragon Age OC Dwarf Protagonists will be considered different characters based on their gender and surname. This means that there are three options (male, female, and non-binary) for Aeducan, Brosca, and Cadash. When nominating an OC Dwarf Protagonist, please keep this in mind and specify which option you want. For example:  

Male Brosca/Female Aeducan or Non-binary Cadash/The Iron Bull instead of Brosca/Aeducan or Cadash/The Iron Bull

Please do not nominate a custom/individual Dwarf OC Protagonist (IE: Maria Cadash/Varric Tethras). When you do your request and pick your pairings you can provide additional details, such as a preferred name or physical description, in your request. Requests are optional - the only part of your request that must be adhered to are the DNWs.

Other original characters are allowed as long as they are "general" characters. For example: "Carta Smuggler", "Merchant's Guild Member", or "Noble Hunter" would all be acceptable. If you have questions, ask the moderators.  

SECOND! Signups June 7th - June 13th:

After nominations, moderators will open up signups. Participants will complete a form on AO3 to request approved pairings that you would like to receive fic and/or art for. You do not have to request the pairings you nominated! On the same form, you will also make offers of pairings you would like to make fic and/or art for. You must request at least three pairings and offer at least three pairings. However - you may request and offer up to 30. You will only be asked to complete one piece of fanwork.

On the form, there is a place for you to go into details about what you want. This is a great place to put a prompt with your ideas for a fic or art! You do not need to go into detail, but you can go into as much detail as you like to give the creator ideas. You may also put this information on a third party site instead.

Good things to list: general likes, rating restrictions, prompt ideas, squicks/triggers/do-not-wants, or anything else you’d like the writer/artist to know. Make sure you list things you do not want. We are insisting Authors and Artists adhere to the Do-Not-Wants and the pairing, otherwise they have complete artistic license. Here is an example of a request:

Pairing: Blackwall/Female Cadash

Hello! I have a Baewall love that is deep. I'm okay with all ratings (I would particularly *love* an E rating if a threesome is involved), but I wanna see Blackwall going to lengths to please his lady love, either through sexy or sweet means. I also love AUs! No unhappy endings!

DNWs: Smut for pairings not listed, incest, angst with no happy ending, adult/minor, extreme gore, non-con/dub-con, humiliation

In your offers you must offer three pairings and can offer up to 30. You may also offer "Any". Any does, in fact, mean you can be matched to ANY request. Please use it wisely. There is also a box for any information you think the moderator team needs to know - ie if you wish to not be matched with another participant in the exchange. This information is confidential.

THIRD! Assignments - June 14th:

The moderator team will match you to someone based on interests. You are guaranteed to have a match on June 14th, if you do not by 11:59 EST, please reach out to the moderators.

Once matching is complete, you will receive an email with your assignment from AO3. You will be assigned to write or draw for someone who requested at least one of the pairings that you offered to write or draw for. Since everyone must put in at least three requests, it is likely that your assignment will include pairings that you did not request or parts of canon you may not be familiar with.  

FOURTH! Create a Fanwork: June 14th - August 2nd.

Pick one of the pairings/prompts in your assignment (it doesn't have to be the one you matched on) and start creating! You have a little over a month to work on your assignment. You must honor Do Not Wants and the requested pairing. You must also remain anonymous - the only people who may see what you are creating is your beta reader(s) if you have them. If you have a question for your intended recipient, reach out to the moderator team and we will ask it.

If you create a work with a Do Not Want in it, you will be banned from the exchange.

FIFTH! Posting and Review by Moderators: August 2nd - August 9th

All stories and art must be posted by August 2nd at 8:00pm US EST on AO3. You may continue to edit your fanwork until August 9th, but it is imperative that you have a complete work submitted on August 2nd. The mods will then go through posted fanworks to make sure that they are complete, meet the criteria, and do not contain DNWs. If there is a problem, the moderators will reach out to the creator and ask them to correct.  

FINALLY, the Reveal: August 9th - August 16th

All stories and art will be revealed anonymously on August 9th. You must have your final draft up by this time. Creators will be revealed on August 16th; after this point, you may post your work anywhere.

You are required to comment on any and all gifts produced for you. Anyone who does not leave a comment on a gift for them will be banned until they leave a comment on their assigned gift.

6. I'm in trouble and can't complete what I signed up to do. What should I do?

If you know you are going to have trouble meeting the deadline, reach out to the moderators and/or default as soon as possible. We expect people to complete the offer they've made, HOWEVER, we understand circumstances sometimes are beyond people's control. If the person defaults prior to the deadline, or informs us that they need to default, there will be no penalty. If we need to default someone after the deadline is passed, they will be banned from future exchanges.

We will be asking for a list of volunteers who may be able to step in and create content in case someone defaults. The exchange will not open until everyone has a gift. 7. I’m not able to commit to the exchange, but I want to be involved. How can I be?

We will be asking for volunteers to:

Step in if someone defaults on a prompt Assist as beta readers Promote the event and our creators

You can do any of those things or create treats!

8. Tell me about these treats?

A treat is any fanwork created for this exchange that is not a participant’s assignment. You do not have to be an exchange participant to create a treat and you can create treats in addition to your sign up, or only do treats. Treats can be any length fic or any completed drawing.

9. I have other questions...

We love questions! And talking! In particular, @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold really likes talking, but all the moderators are available to answer questions. Please use this information to contact us via Tumblr:

Official Account: @a-paragon-of-their-kind

[thirstzone]

On The Interpretation Of V

V is an interesting character to be sure, and certainly one that’s taken the hearts of many of us, I’m sure. I’m still trying to nail down how I want to portray him, so hopefully this helps organize my thoughts a bit more. As always, everyone is entitled to their own character interpretation and their own way of writing characters! This is just how I personally analyze things.

On to the topic of the mysterious one, V.

Where to begin with V... As I write him on this blog, he’s... sort of his own character? I leave it ambiguous whether or not he’s his own entity or if he retains his origins. I do this because most of the time, it’s not relevant to the writing at hand. This leaves it up to the reader, and everyone has different opinions on this. Everyone can see V as they wish, so long as they aren’t attacking others for having a different opinion. Personally, I’ve already crafted a completely alternate storyline for the purposes of my own fantasies. However, for this particular analysis, I’m writing strictly from canon. So let’s dive in.

Before I reflect on V’s personality, let’s trace back his beginnings and his emotions when he came into existence.

With the release of the Visions Of V manga, we’re getting some more information about V directly after being formed. It’s still being released on an every other week basis, so this is absolutely subject to change as we get more information from that. 

I think to understand V’s situation, it’s important to understand where Vergil’s been in his life. Of course, that post will be coming soon, so for the short of it, Vergil’s been broken. He didn’t always start out so corrupted, but having been tortured to the point that he completely lost his identity must’ve seriously messed the guy up. Even before that, Vergil was trying to suppress his human side, but he still acknowledged it, sort of. But after all that broke him, well... we saw the state he was in. In the manga, he states that he needs to sever his human emotions because it was doing nothing but holding him back, plaguing him with nightmares.

And thus, V came to be.

V was just dregs. I’m honestly stunned there was enough of him left to even manifest alongside Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare with how absolutely broken down Vergil had been. But there’s something the manga revealed: he was scared. He realized he was separate and he was scared of what “he” had become. We can even see it on his face in the game. He’s absolutely mortified when he sees Urizen. He realizes he’s helpless, and it terrifies him. And let’s not forget this panel.

Pardon the non-translated text, but the website I use to read the English translation isn’t connecting at the moment. What he’s saying is shinitakunai which translates to “I don’t want to die.” He knows almost immediately that being split off means that it’s a death sentence. Given what he’s saying, and the imagery of the darkness creeping in around him, it’s obvious that he’s at least mildly afraid of dying.

So let’s tie that in with the prequel novel Before The Nightmare. I won’t linger too long on this because I’m mainly analyzing his actions in relation to his emotions. He’s already mentally separated himself from Vergil, as evidenced in the manga when he says, “I guess ‘I’ had forgotten how scary it is to be helpless.” Or something to that effect. I attempted to use Google translate before the chapter was actually translated and I noticed that when he uses the pronoun “I” in that sentence, it’s in the equivalent of quotation marks. Just that shows he sees Vergil as someone different. And in the novel, he even says that his “past self” was “full of delusions.” Though it’s interesting to me that Griffon seems to treat V’s actions as surprising when he chooses to leave on Dante’s suggestion. It’s possible that Griffon sees V as Vergil, even though V himself doesn’t feel the same way.

Another action of V’s that Griffon is shocked by is his decision to stay in Redgrave City to try and help the humans there. Vergil would’ve never done something like that. He may not have actively tried to kill them, as Urizen was doing, but he wouldn’t have bothered saving them. So for V to actively want to do so is something out of character for his old self. And V volunteers to do this knowing that doing that would only accelerate his death.

So we know that at the beginning, V is, to some extent, selfless. He would wear down his already decaying body to save people, or at least attempt to.

Regardless of this, let’s not forget that V has a touch of ruthlessness to him. In Before the Nightmare, he obtains the money to hire Dante by basically mugging a man. He’s not above doing things like that if he really needs to. He’s not maliciously manipulative, but he knows how to pull strings to reach the outcome he desires. He even refers to how he gets Nero involved as “using” Nero, with that exact word. In the prologue of the manga, he states that he will use anything at his disposal. In the game, he tells Dante “I never would’ve dreamed of using that child.” He’s pulling strings by getting Nero involved. He didn’t outright lie to Dante, but he did leave out some pretty important facts. He told Dante his adversary was Vergil, which was partially correct. He knew the name would mean nothing to Nero, and so he named him Urizen when speaking to Nero. Why he would make this distinction, I’m not sure. It wouldn’t have impacted anything to tell Nero Urizen’s name was Vergil from the start.

In regards to Urizen and Vergil, I think another thing that I should discuss is his motive. Was V planning to re-merge with Urizen? Was he planning to defeat Urizen? In my personal interpretation, I think merging with Urizen again was not his initial intention. So what changed?

When he tells Trish the story of his birth, you can tell he’s sincere. He’s being genuine and open and vulnerable. He is truly regretful for the things that Vergil had done and wanted to set things right by taking down Urizen. He’s guilt-ridden, and it’s clear in his voice. I do think he told Trish his origins in particular because she looked like Eva. Vergil’s mother. The memories V was in possession of. When he tells her, she basically brushes him off and tells him that it’s his own problem. To hear that from someone who reminds you of your late mother must have hurt. To add insult to injury, my friend pointed something else out: that must’ve drove home the fact that no one cared about V. When he says he’s glad Lady’s okay, she responds “You too, I guess.” Now, I get it. This stranger you know nothing about is kind of shady. But to add the “I guess” on is sort of... well, it’s rude, in my opinion. Then again, I’m southern, and manners are a huge thing here. And when Trish also shows that she’s not personally involved with V, it must’ve made him realize that oh right. They don’t care about him. They’re only working with him because he’s paying them. What happens to him or what he feels doesn’t matter to them.

So when Trish tells him “You need to see this through,” I think that’s when his goal changed from “I need to take down Urizen” to “I need to take down Dante.” He wasn’t seeing his goal as V through anymore. He was seeing his goal as Vergil through. That moment is when he decided to merge with Urizen, even though he didn’t originally plan to do that. I think he really was ready to bring down Urizen and save Redgrave City, even if it meant he died.

Now that I’ve talked about that, let’s talk about his personality in regards to how I write him.

When I write for V, I always write during the point of the story that he wants to save Redgrave. So basically I write V as he is before mission 12. Whether or not he’s a part of Vergil or his own person doesn’t come into play with his personality, as it only effects his motivations. V is polite, that much is certain. He tells Lady that he’s glad she’s okay, he specifically picks up a piece of Geryon for Nico without her asking him to, he doesn’t fuss when Dante tells him to turn back, among some other examples if I thought a little more about it.

He’s kind, but not too kind. He would willingly sacrifice his health to help the people of Redgrave. At the same time, he doesn’t have qualms about acquiring money (or clothes, according to the new Visions of V chapter) by unsavory means. He’s most definitely an “ends justify the means” sort of person, as he strung along Dante and Nero with just a bit of manipulation, although his intentions were good at the time.

Above all, being someone’s concentrated humanity, I think V feels his emotions very strongly. He may not know how to process them, but he’s the most open about what he’s feeling.

[ironforgedrp]

hello ! ive been looking at this rp for a while now and even thought about joining but theres a problem : i dont know ANYTHING about gots :/ is it recommended to know the basic story / plot or watch the entire thing?

      hey there friend, i won’t lie it does help to have some understanding of game of thrones as it is the world we set ourselves in.    there are key aspects that you would need to know of the world of GOT/ASOIAF in the same way you would need to know general knowledge about the world; key events, battles, betrayals, religion, places, allegiances. but thankfully, that doesn’t mean you need to have seen the whole show so no, you definitely don’t have to go and watch 100s of hours of the show, or have read the books, to be able to get along here.   many of the muns here are absolute whizzes with ASOIAF/GOT lore so general questions that pop up are easily answered.   i can say that your knowledge is somewhat character-choice dependent  as some have their own family histories,  and i’ll do my best to give a summary as we go.

     IMPORTANT & HELPFUL THINGS TO NOTE***  we are both tv-show canon and book-canon divergent from around the year 300AC (approx. end of season 6), and if you do want a recap of the episodes that are short and a basic summary i would suggest checking out OZZY MAN REVIEWS (GAME OF THRONES RECAP) seasons 1-6.  keep in mind anything beyond season 7 would be somewhat irrelevant here.  each episode recap is about 5mins a piece with ten episodes per season, and you can throw them up on youtube on the side while you’re doing things if you are really set on knowing as much as possible.   isaac hempstead-wright (the actor who plays lord bran stark in the show) actually said that he would watch the ozzy man recaps before the next seasons respective press-junkets because they are very solid and easy to listen to in  the background - so it’s lead-actor approved.

      things like common knowledge of RELIGIONS (of which there are three main ones in westeros), there is the general KNOWN WORLD, you obviously don’t need to  know everything fluently or perfectly - in the same way that you personally would know of places of the world (i.e. i know of italy, but likely can’t name all the cities etc.)      westeros, where everything is set in this RP, also runs on a gender-based monarchy (the oldest male blood relative inherits their house, title, land - unless they are an infant/toddler/child, in which case a casellan [perhaps cousin, uncle] would be appointed, or the mother would rule as lady-regent, until he is of age),  save for dorne who run on  a gender-blind monarchy, meaning the eldest of any gender will inherit the lands, house, title, etc. the great houses would also be general knowledge of those in westeros, and of people from other countries who are well educated. 

    those houses  & families are the oldest houses of westeros, the most powerful and are all  appointed as guardians/wardens of their respective regions.   this map, starting from the south (bottom) to the north we have:

HOUSE MARTELL of sunspear, capitol of the region of dorne.

HOUSE TYRELL of highgarden, capitol of the region of the reach.

HOUSE BARATHEON of storms end, capitol of the region of the stormlands.

HOUSE TARGARYEN of dragonstone, capitol of the crownlands. (they rule everything save for THE RED KEEP, which is always occupied by the royal family of the iron throne, currently it is house lannister)

HOUSE LANNISTER of casterly rock, capitol of the region of the westerlands.

HOUSE TULLY of riverrun, which is the capitol of the region of the riverlands.

HOUSE ARRYN of the eyrie, which is the capitol of the region of the vale of arryn.

HOUSE GREYJOY of pyke, capitol of the region of the iron islands.

HOUSE STARK of winterfell, which is the capitol of the region of the north.

     a lot of what happens here is actually by the creation of our muns, we are set 200+ years in the future at this point so only key cultural aspects have been kept.  a similar question was asked a few days ago, and there’s a few dot points HERE that would help you as well. otherwise, our PLOT PAGE & TIMELINE page is the most important for you to read (the first two sections are relevant GOT recap specifically for people who are unfamiliar with the fandom but are interested in he RP), followed closely by the summaries of the characters you can find on the MASTERLIST.    lastly, the HOUSES pages - now that you know who he big houses are aka. the great houses of westeros, it probably won’t surprise you to know that they have smaller houses who populate their regions and are loyal to one of the great houses.   listed on the houses pages are all our taken characters sorted by their regions of loyalty and allegiance.    depending in the particular character you choose, you might benefit from a look over of that the respective wiki page/s (which we can help you with if needed) or you can pick the brains of the admins and muns for specific help.

   honestly, if you are particularly nervous - i am happy to offer my discord, and many of our muns are always happy to help answer any questions you might have, especially if those questions are about a specific family, house or region.   i know this might seem like A Lot, but please do keep in mind that we have been open for nearly two years so we have built up a lot of our own HCs and lore.   beyond knowing what i’ve summarised above, treat us like any other literate RP, because yes, ironforged is set in the world of GOT but our roleplay stands on it’s own two feet as an alternate universe.    the NAVIGATION page has a bottom category denoted as resources, which has plenty of miscellaneous helpful tips for new people to the world or even period genre.    and honestly, if you are really overwhelmed but still absolutely want to bring your muse/s here, you could easily craft a noble or royal of another country of our known world such as essos, yi ti, ulthos, lys, summer isles etc. which have far less dense history and connections, and the only details we have about them is general ethnicity or aesthetics that is listed in THIS ANSWERED QUESTION (also linked as enthicity help in the navigation page!)

    i’ve put as much information in to this as i possibly can to help with confusing you (i hope!), but our IMs are always open and same with the ask & suggestion box - so please hit us up as much as you like, it’s never a bother !

[xmenwickedgame]

Wicked Game senior cast: Cain Marko

I’ve decided I’m going to write up blurbs about the key canon characters in X-men: Wicked Game. This is going to be a very slow process so bare with me!

This is an unusual first pick I know. Possible trigger warnings ahead so please read with caution!

Name: Cain Marko Face Claim: Michael C Hall Age: 60 (appears around 40) Species: Mutant (ish) Sexuality: bisexual Powers and abilities: Cain is a carrier of the mutant X-gene but spent most of his life believing he was human. An accidental encounter with extraterrestrial technology during the Vietnam war forcibly activated it. Since that happened Cain’s endurance, strength and healing capabilities have been greatly enhanced. His aging has slowed considerably; sometimes he’s wondered if it’s stopped altogether... Cain also possesses the ability to summon a metallic exo-skeleton that triples his abilities. In this state he’s nearly indestructible.

Birthmarks or blemishes: Cain has a number of scars along his body: some are leftovers from the two wars he fought in and a handful are leftover from his childhood. 

He also has a piece of alien technology partially submerged in his chest. It looks very much like a gem, although it pulses like a human heart (and with good-reason as it’s partly fused to his heart.)  Physical/mental disabilities: Cain is an abuse survivor and has long suffered from PTSD. It worsened in adulthood after serving in both the Korean and Vietman wars. He’s aggressive by nature and quick to anger, although both of these things he’s tried to curb in his older age...

As far as physical issues go Cain is partly concerned the alien technology fused to his chest is doing permanent damage to his body. He can’t feel any changes but the flesh around the “gem” is grey and hot to the touch... Transforming into the Juggernaut also leaves him physically drained and almost ill now.

Other facts: Cain isn’t stupid. He’s no genius but he’s observant and calculating and if he can’t physically break his way past an obstacle he’ll approach it another way. He just likes the taste of adrenaline and occasionally violence...

Family: Kurt Marko (father) Sharon Xavier (step-mother) Charles Xavier (step-brother) Raven Darkholme (step-sister) James Darkholme (step-nephew) Sachi Yama (ex-wife)

Prime universe history: Cain Marko is the son of Kurt Marko and a mother who left the family when he was young. His relationship with his father deteriorated rapidly after that, and what was a distant but civil relationship grew verbally and physically abusive. As a child Cain wondered why his mother left them and if there was anything he could’ve done to change that.

When Kurt married Sharon Cain was fifteen years old. He was five years older than his step-brother, Charles, but wouldn’t meet him for another few years as Charles was “away” at the time; Sharon never spoke in depth about her son until he returned (Charles spent several years in a Sanitarium until he realized he was a telepath and learned to control it.)

While it was easy to avoid his father in the Xavier mansion Cain still held onto a promise he made to himself: as soon as he turned eighteen he’d leave and never look back. 

When Charles finally returned to the mansion it shocked and infuriated Cain that his father seemed to treat the boy better than his own son. Oh Kurt still lost his temper from time to time but overall he seemed to be trying. This cut Cain deeply: he took that pain out on Charles and later Raven Darkholme (who he swore he couldn’t remember early on but she must have always been around, right..?)

Almost two years after Charles returned home Cain moves out and stays out. He takes a handful of jobs to support himself and in 1950 is drafted into the Korean War. He’s discharged three years later.

Cain returns to the Xavier estate only once: for his step-mother’s funeral. He speaks very little to his step-siblings and when he does he makes it clear his feelings towards them haven’t changed (he didn’t have a problem with Raven at first but her loyalty to Charles irritated him.) Cain sticks around long enough to take what little he’s left in the will and leaves again. 

He spends the next several years making trouble and playing dodge with the police. He never stays in one place for very long, running from both the law and the acid corroding his insides. It’s a lonely, empty life but it’s easier this way...and safer as well. He was married for a short time to a woman named Sachi Yama: his short temper and inability to trust eventually led her to leaving him.

In the 1960s Cain is drafted again, this time for the Vietnam War. During this time he begins hearing rumors of people with extraordinary abilities (apparently some may have aided the government during the Cuban Missile crisis??) Cain starts to remember things, things he thought he forgot...things involving his step-brother and hints Charles may be one of these so-called mutants.

Cain’s interest in mutants peaks when he sees some in action during the war. One such mutant is Alex Summers: a decent soldier with an admirable temper...and one who absolutely will not answer any of Cain’s questions. This irritates Cain and the following blow-up lands him in trouble with his superiors. Cain is a talented soldier but known for being difficult to direct and get along with. As a result he’s been told to “take a walk” more than once as long as he doesn’t go far...

...of course Cain puts his interest before others and during one such “walk” he goes just a little farther than intended. He accidentally stumbles onto what look like scattered and charred debris. He returns to this area more than once, each time going further (and each time getting reprimanded until he starts sneaking away in the middle of the night. Something about the area calls to him...)

One night he doesn’t return to camp at all. I’m still working out the exact details but this particular venture ends with him accidentally fused to a piece of this alien technology...a different sort of piece that almost seems to be alive... (there’s nowhere to state it outright but this is intended to be the same area from which adamantium is first acquired. Since it is XMCU canon that it came from space)

Cain has no memory of the symbiotic fusion and at the time it didn’t matter. For the first time in his life he felt alive as well...alive and powerful. He spent the next several years traveling the world, known now as the all-poweful “Juggernaut”; a title he didn’t choose but embraced nonetheless. Cain eventually returned to the U.S. after hearing of a “Brotherhood” of mutants. Cain wasn’t sure whether or not he’s actually a mutant, but it’s the only word he knows to describe the super-powered. Either way it gave him something unique to define himself by...he was aggressive and strong and damn good at slipping under the radar...but now he’s evolved. Nothing and no one can ever harm him again.

Though believing he worked better alone than with others Cain admired the Brotherhood’s push for mutant rights...and sooner than later discovered his own step-brother was apart of it. So Charles was indeed a mutant then...

As Cain follows the Brotherhood’s activity his poisoned opinion of Charles starts to change. What he’s heard he mostly heard through word of mouth but Cain eventually forces himself to admit he admires his step-brother’s choices and the contributions he’s made for their kind. For the first time in his life he starts to feel guilty for the way he treated Charles...

Approaching sixty now Cain has largely mellowed out. Not entirely of course but he’s lonely and tired and while he won’t easily admit it, haunted by the way he’s treated people. He’s also mildly concerned about his health and as a result doesn’t transform as often as he used to. He's still an advocate for mutant rights but works largely on his own and far more discreetly than he used to. It’s a way to connect and give himself something of a purpose, although it’s not as fulfilling as he initially hoped.  

He’s also still angry at his parents, blaming them largely for the person he became. This anger isn’t explosive anymore but borders on a depressive state of mind that eats at him when he’s alone. That said, his temper hasn’t gone away; he’s just learned to control it...most of the time.

Alternate universe history: Cain’s history remains largely unchanged in the alternate/doppelganger universe. If anything, he might actually wind up working with one of the split Brotherhood factions (either under Erik or Emma.) It hurts and annoys him the original mutant movement fractured: they were stronger together than alone. 

He might also look into his step-brother’s disappearance if he finds he can’t get any information about his departure and why. There’s a part of Cain that wants to believe it was an accident, or that he was forcibly discharged, if only to preserve his changing opinion of Charles...

He also doesn’t care much for the Morlocks and considers them misguided kids who will get themselves killed sooner or later.

[mindibindi]

Do you have any tips for writing fanfiction?

Hey, Anon, thanks for the ask and sorry about the delayin replying. I’ve been writing fanfiction for so long that I’ve gotten into abit of a routine with it so I had to have a think about what I actually do. These tipsare based on my own writing practice, experience and approach to fanfic.But I would encourage you to keep asking this question, keep chatting withother authors (some might be kind enough to comment here) as you search for your ownunique writing style and practice. Everyone’s will be different and, as long asit works, I say stick with it. I’m assuming that you’re a new or aspiringauthor so I hope one, some or all of these tips prove useful.

1. Get In The Zone: Find the time of day when yourbest writing happens. For me (rather inconveniently when there’s work to bedone), this is first thing in the morning. For others, I’ve heard it’s themiddle of the day or late at night. But you will know this time when you find itbecause words and ideas will flow freely and easily, faster sometimes than yourfingers can keep up. Revel in this time, use it well then stop writing when theenergy runs out. Nothing good was ever produced by pushing past inspirationinto frustration or exhaustion. That said, inspiration can strike at any time – while watchingan ep or taking a walk or going about your work or trying to fall asleep. When itdoes – whether it’s an opening line, a plot point or snippet of dialogue – jotthose ideas down.

2. Watch (and Rewatch) Your Source Material: Thismay sound obvious (and not much of a chore for a fan) but watching whatevermovie/show/whatever you’re working from helps you to pick up the jargon of thatworld, to absorb the particular milieu, to know the people, places and canon(before you presumably diverge from it). The best fanfic gets both the bigpicture and the little details right. Without these firmly in place, you riskwriting a story that doesn’t ring true to the basic characters, tone orsituation you’re attempting to emulate. You want to extend a reality you love,not break it. So always be on the lookout for any little thing that mightfracture this reality and cause readers to fall out of a world they (you mustassume) know equally well. As a reader, there’s always a jolt when this happens, a dishearteningplummet. So know your stuff before you put pen to paper.

3. Get the Voices Right: Unlike character which canbe ambiguous, changeable and open to interpretation, every fan becomes attuned tothe particular voices of their favourite characters. When reading, you don’t need to work toknow when an author gets this right. You can just hear it. You can also (unfortunately)hear the tiniest slip in consistency and truth. I have written for somecharacters with very distinctive voices, voices I really didn’t think I couldemulate: both Ten and Donna in “Doctor Who”, Jack and Liz in “30 Rock” and,more recently, Gene Hunt in “Ashes to Ashes”. My particular trick for writingthese characters, for practicing their voices, was to write out the dialoguefirst then fill in everything else. Obviously this is only going to work forfics like this, this and this that rely heavily on banter. I love this kind offic. I love reading ‘em and I love writing ‘em. But even in fics which meldprose and dialogue, writing the dialogue out in isolation can help since theseaspects use slightly different writerly muscles.                          

4. Spellcheck is Your Friend: There will probablyalways be errors in your writing but do your best to avoid preventable andobvious mistakes. These can destroy your credibility as a narrator and takeyour reader out of your story. Personally, I am a compulsive editor. I wouldn’trecommend it. But I would recommend reading through your work at least once andrunning spellcheck before posting. Reading aloud can also help to identify anygrammatical errors or issues with flow. You can, if you find a friend willingto act as beta, outsource some of this work.

5.Don’t Be Afraid to Start Small: I’m a fan of theshort, self-contained fic. I’ve written lots of them and significant work must still go into making them work. So don’t aim to produce 25,000brilliant words right off the bat. Just 1-2,000 solid ones of which you can be proud.

6.Write What You Want: If you’re lucky, readerswill request fics of you (I have never been good at fulfilling these requests).If you’re unlucky, they’ll complain about directions you take or detail whythey refuse to read what you’ve written (this is pretty rare). But you can’t, Ibelieve, force inspiration. It’s either there or it’s not. For me, I beganwriting fanfic because there just wasn’t any for a pairing I shipped. So Iwrote it myself, for myself. I wrote what I liked and wanted to read (I stilldo). This is a medium in which fans have complete autonomy. They choose to go frompassive consumer to active creator. So just do what you do. Do whatever youwant. Turn back time. Bring people back from the dead. Unite lovers. Mergeworlds. Create characters. Make it sad, happy, dramatic or funny or both. You have the power. Claim it. Play with it. Revel init.

7. Start Strong and End Strong: You gotta have agood first line, in my theory of ff. That’s where it (literally) all begins. I always like to openwith something concise and intriguing that immediately communicates a little (butnot necessarily all) of what I’m planning to work with. Don’t be fooled intothinking you gotta start at the beginning. You don’t. You can enter the storyat any point. You can enter late – and leave early, as the saying goes. Thisis a screenwriting principle that ensures that only the most relevantinformation is included in a scene. It keeps the pace of a piece up, controlsthe dissemination of information and keeps audiences engaged. I think thisprinciple transfers rather easily to the page, especially since most of us areemulating material from the big or small screen. In order to imitate thesevisual mediums in written form, you might like to think of paragraphs, breaksand sentence structure as editing techniques that can guide the reader’s pace, growingperception and emotional experience.

8.Avoid Clichés: Clichés can occur at the level ofexpression, character or narrative. At the level of expression, these arewasted words that hold no meaning so find a fresh way to express what you mean.At the level of character, keep words, thoughts and actions rooted in thecharacter. “Show, Don’t Tell” is another well-known writing principle that can help maintain authenticity. As much as we may identify with certain characters, make judiciousdecisions about how much of yourself belongs in them. When writing intimaterelationships, less is often more. I know many shippers (myself included) spendyears sometimes LONGING for couples to express what they mean to each other,physically and/or verbally. By all means, let your beloved characters express –but not everything and not all at once, would be my advice. Allow them to maintainsome sense of mystery and sovereignty. At the level of narrative, clichés canactually work, especially if used with awareness. I had such fun writing a OneBed! fic for Jack and Liz, in which I paidtribute to some of the many reams of MSR fanfiction I had previously consumed.There were so many of these stories in that fandom that they became a categoryof their own, boasting a set of (increasingly ironic) conventions. Some fanfictraditions, it must be said, deserve to be embraced, extended and celebrated.   

9. Read: Reading is the easiest way to absorbgrammar, to expose yourself to different writing styles and to become moreadept with language. So read books of all kinds. And read fanfic from your favefandoms. But read it actively, critically. Figure out what works and whatdoesn’t and why. Figure out what you enjoy, don’t and why. Apply theseinsights to your own writing and keep applying them. Keep improving. The more you read and write, the better you’ll get.

10. Avoid Comparisons: My best experiences of readingand writing fanfiction have been in strong, supportive communities. Generally,the more supportive the community has been, the more prolific I have been. These communitiesare wonderful spaces to inhabit, filled with peeps that love their shows,defend their ships and support their authors. Authors are always hungry forfeedback, and is it any wonder? Writing, creating and sharing takes work, love,thought and guts. You have to claim a little corner of a fandom and boldlystate that you have something to say that’s worth listening to. Sadly, you will probably never receive the same amount of energy back as you putin. This can lead to authors comparing their output and input, judging theirwork on its stats rather than on its merits. It can lead to them competing forthose few meagre reviews that roll in. This is partly why it is so important toreview fanfic, particularly fanfic you love and authors you read consistently.It’s part of encouraging and creating a sense of community in which people feeltheir voices are heard and their contributions valued. So be generous with others. Encourage and share. Read, review, reblog.Treat your fellow writers as your community, not your competition. Viewfanfic as a labor of love, an act of generosity that sometimes gives back. And if you don’t get the response you wishfor then make sure you hit that internal heart button and give yourself somekudos for trying, for creating, for loving something and letting it show.

Good luck. :)

[rassilon-imprimatur]

A Rag and a Bone

As some of you saw, I found one of my “lost” Doctor Who holy grails, Daniel O’Mahony’s A Rag and a Bone! I’d been hunting high and low for this piece of fiction because the idea of O’Mahony writing a Sabbath-centric story was too good. There was literally no information whatsoever online as to what the story was actually about, but I love O’Mahony’s writing and the idea of him tackling Sabbath seemed like a match made in hell.

Finally getting a hold of this story, I must say that calling it “a Sabbath story by Daniel O’Mahony” is incredibly disingenuous, and while I dissect this story and share it all with you, I have to be completely honest and say that I have never been more confused at such a short piece of fiction in my life. Delighted, mind, but very confused. 

This story was published in 2003′s Myth Makers Essentials, the famous fanzine’s special 40th anniversary celebration. Myth Makers has been rather a white whale of mine, most long out of print issues holding onto other holy grails, most notably Parkin’s Saldaamir and The School of Doom. 

This story is more than a Sabbath tale, being a celebration of Doctor Who’s history, the history of the humans who keep Doctor Who going, as well as a celebration of the 2003 BBC prose continuity that, for all intents and purposes, was the Doctor Who at the time alongside Big Finish’s 1999-2003 years.

It’s also written by one of the closest things Doctor Who has ever had to Clive Barker, meaning that it’s a very disturbing celebration. 

O’Mahony introduces his story with a discussion of what he considers one of Doctor Who’s essential elements: 

In O’Mahony’s view of the series, Doctor Who is about humanity. Human history, ingenuity, sacrifice. Without humanity, Doctor Who is nothing. It’s a much more grounded view on the series, and while I’m not sure I quite agree with it, it makes literally every Doctor Who story O’Mahony has written make a lot more sense. 

I go into the story’s eccentricities and references (SO MANY REFERENCES GUYS, I’M SO HAPPY) under the cut. Reminder that a) O’Mahony, while a beautiful writer, is a very brutal one; his whole brand is painting objective horror and worldly ugliness in the richest, wine-like prose ever, and it’s definitely not for everyone, and b) this story, like Bidmead’s wonderful With All Awry, is far less literal than it is figurative. The continuity of the time is a factor in the story, but it’s rather useless to try and squeeze it in anywhere, that’s not it’s point. 

A Rag and a Bone is an author’s thesis on the spirit of Doctor Who, as well as a simultaneous criticism and celebration of its state in 2003, all the while managing to use Sabbath in the manner he was intended, rarely seen outside of Lawrence Miles’ writing. 

I’m not doing every passage of the thing, just the meatier ones. Enjoy and watch me stretch my English degree! 

(Note, the story starts in first-person from Fitz’s POV, shifts to weird surreal mix of Fitz and O’Mahony himself, back to Fitz, and then ends with third person omniscient.)

The story opens up simply enough (which, given what appears to be going on, it’s really funny to say “simply”): 

Already, this story seems to be following the beats of The Adventuress of Henrietta Street, the idea that in the universe without Time Lords, the universe is free game and humanity (led by Sabbath) needs to step up. But, it’s also a meta commentary. The passage is vague as to what’s really going on, but I think the war/looming disaster is something very specific, that I’ll touch on later. 

1) The date. Lmao. What could that possibly be a reference to?

2) Sabbath frequently had agents and allies throughout his novels, and one of these two, the Angel Maker, is actually from Lloyd Rose’s Camera Obscura. I don’t know if that gives an idea of the placement, or just further shows O’Mahony’s “I’m playing with current continuity” schtick. 

3) “Miss Kapoor went through the inevitable ritual struggle with her ideological opposite [...] We watched the catfight from the bar balcony - Bollywood Queen of Sin versus the [Angel Maker]...” Perhaps a smirking jab at the rules or sterotypes of storytelling? Set certain characters against the idealogical opposites. Anji often went toe-to-toe with the ideologies and beliefs of people in her novels, far more than Fitz or the Doctor did, so I think that’s what this is a nod to, wrapped in the story’s theme of ritual and symbolism and framed as “the Doctor’s female companion must face Sabbath’s female companion in a duel!!!!!!!” 

4) “... a dog-faced parahuman whose name I missed. He was the softest spoken of us all, fresh from the plane of the First Time War, resplendent in Gallifreyan scarlet.” This is Wardog (or a contemporary of Wardog), originally from Alan Moore’s DWM Black Sun Trilogy, portraying the First Time War. He had been recontexualized into Cold Fusion/The Infinity Doctors’ canon in Lance Parkin’s Executive Action, published in 2001′s Walking in Eternity, making him an (admittedly tangential) interesting cog in the EDA’s history and continuity. 

1) First time reading this passage, I couldn’t decide if this was purely Fitz or O’Mahony inserting himself into the narrative... and then I realized it’s both. There are two major critical takes on the companions, and this is the first: the role of the companions in the series is to give the audience someone to relate to and, in some cases, live vicariously through. Enjoying the adventure, experiencing the sights, etc. This section is both Fitz Kreiner and Daniel O’Mahony, trying to make sense of what’s going, while the story is already giving us the implications that, despite trying to create a narrative of the Doctor’s condition, he is actually not real. 

2) Marvel at Fitz dragging himself in every possible way. Maybe a reference to how the novels (since the VNAs) really hadn’t had any qualms with pushing the flaws and imperfections of their characters? O’Mahony in particular is a writer who would go into great detail about how flawed people were. 

3) “... Miss Kapoor - whose sins are much more scarlet than mine - wouldn’t stoop to.” I choose to believe this is a slight reference to how Anji was treating by some writers at the time. The EDA authors wither loved Anji, or hated and demonized her. I could be reaching with that one, but it doesn’t quite make much more sense otherwise. Maybe a reference to her earlier distrust and betrayals of the Doctor (such as in Mark Clapham’s Hope?)

1) This is why I think O’Mahony was attacking the negative handlings of Anji, because the description of her character in the first few sentences is so... good. Beautiful, caring. 

2) “The entropy rolling from the Deep...” I’m convinced that, in the end, the threat coming to destroy the universe, the stagnancy, the entropy, the “war,” is Doctor Who’s continued cancelation. Its the 40th anniversary, fourteen years since the show was cancelled, the series kept alive by a small and committed group of book readers and BF listeners (during BF’s early years). I’m adamant that the Wilderness Years produced some of the most creative and original Doctor Who ever, but it is very easy to see why people considered continuing the story a losing battle. More and more, the series slipped out of public consiousness and become more and more of an exclusive cult

3) The second critical take on companions in Doctor Who is a negative one (but one that needs to be said in some cases): in the end, they’re all interchangeable. None of their backstories or quirks matter in the end because they’re interchangeable stereotypes that need to stand their and ask the Doctor questions. What’s gorgeous about this sequence is how it tackles that idea in such a meta and independent way. Anji, realizing that she is, in fact, the latest face in a countless list, takes power from that. She reaches back to her predecessors and uses their abilities, their attributes, for her own agenda, all the while dressing as Anji Kapoor, praying to Ganesh as Anji Kapoor, being the unique and seperate entity that is Anji Kapoor. 

4) “Babewyns.” The Ma’lakh grotesques, the villains of The Adventuress of Henrietta Street and one of the major elements in Faction Paradox. 

This section operates on two levels, both fictionally and metafictionally. The idea that the Doctor is now a vacuum and Sabbath must either fix or flat-out replace him is the central conflict of their relationship and adversity throughout their novels. There’s also a pun on the EDAs’ “Earth arc” which was the start of the status quo that brought in Sabbath. But, you’ll notice, the “Earth arc” here is not The Burning... it’s An Unearthly Child. Sabbath’s (very morbid) take of what happened to the Doctor isn’t the plot of the EDAs, it’s the beginnings of Doctor Who. The Doctor became part of human consciousness in 1963!

So why is the Doctor now a puppet? A doll, an inhuman echo? Because the show is cancelled, and despite the series living on through, there’s this overwhelming feeling that maybe, just maybe, the final end is fast approaching. 

(Actually reading this theme in a story published two years before the show returned is rather nice, isn’t it?)

Sabbath’s take on this is, of course, negative and condescending, while Fitz focuses on the positivity of the Doctor. How he brings goodness and love into our lives, and that by “forgetting him,” (the show being cancelled) we’ve let horrible things into the world. That what Fitz is traveling with is the idea of the Doctor, the “totem” of what’s left, pushing through because Fitz/O’Mahony/the authors/the fans are still holding onto him. 

This section also shows how Sabbath really, in the end, cannot replace the Doctor. His best appearances outside Adventuress (Parkin’s Trading Futures and Rose’s Camera Obscura) stressed his limitedness, his flaws, his (debatable) inability to rise to the occasion. He talks to Fitz about power vacuums and the state of the universe, and then Fitz immediately confronts him with his antiquated 19th century beliefs and ideals. Lawrence Miles always claimed Sabbath was never meant to actually replace the Doctor, but several authors, including Lance Parkin, have since expressed that this was not common knowledge and that many authors fully believed Miles was trying to push Sabbath on them as “the new Doctor.” That’s what I think this is a response to (and mind, O’Mahony and Miles were colleagues and friends).

Here we see, we don’t need or want Sabbath. We just want our Doctor back. 

“Sometimes he believed that TV would save the world.” What a sad line, knowing the meaning of this story, huh? 

In the end of the story, Fitz and Anji rebuild their “Doctor-totem” from the junk of IM Foreman’s yard, literally using the ruins of the character’s humble 1963 beginnings to build the foundations. But remember, their Doctor is the Doctor of the novels. There’s more work to do to recreate their perception of him.

1) “Dawn Brigades of parahumans and the killer-cats of Gallifrey as they fought over the nature of the newborn universe.” Wardog’s Special Executive (representing the might and will of Rassilon) and the villains planned for the original story replaced by 1977′s The Invasion of Time (who I think here represent the Pythia), clashing during the universe’s minting (later known in Faction Paradox as the anchoring of the thread). This take on Gallifrey’s history (VNAs, EDAs, FP) is THE Gallifrey at the time of 2003. 

2) “Their tales would be told by the Needlefolk at the End of Time...” The Needle, seen in The Infinity Doctors, Unnatural History, Father Time, Miranda, and alluded to or contextual related to in Hope and The Gallifrey Chronicles. An important aspect of the lore at the time!

3) This ending is so beautiful, if sad. Here is where Fitz and Anji fully represent the Doctor Who fans and creators at the time. Using their stories, their (new) adventures to further coax their Doctor back to life. He’s built from the junk and refuse of the dead Classic series, he’s lavished with the stories and lore of the Wilderness Years. He is part of humanity, he’s in us, as long as he as friends (the fans) trying to keep him alive.  

[marypsue]

fanfic: First 5 prime numbers!

why would you force me, a writer and known dumbass, to try to remember math stuff

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one? 

I was going to be extremely witty and paste in screenshots of the list of fandoms on my AO3, but tumblr is having a breakdown and won’t let me, so I’ll just go with the short answer: lots. 

There are different things I like about all of the different canons - and fandoms - that I’ve written for. I love cheesy jokes no matter where I go, but I also like the rich mine of angst and garish darkness that the Lost Boys have to offer. I love the fairy-tale structure and the heady romance of Labyrinth, I like how I can basically just write original fiction when it comes to the X-Men and it’s probably canon to something somewhere, and I appreciate the challenge of trying to nail the tone of RAM while still keeping the depth of character and the core of sincerity and emotion that I’m gonna end up bringing to anything I write about. (And also, projecting. Did I mention projecting?)

ROTG in particular stands out for the sheer creative freedom the fandom encouraged - we made up an AU where several different versions of the main villain (English movie, Finnish dub, book, concept art) lived together and attended the same university (along with multiple versions of the other characters) and it was sheer unadulterated crack. We wrote mythos. We wrote an expanded steampunk Treasure Planet universe full of high tragedy and classic-children’s-lit drama. We wrote poetry. We wrote ambitious crossovers and extraordinarily complex backstories for characters who ended up being Not That Deep. We wrote ridiculous comedy nonsense. We wrote so much fluff. My partner @gretchensinister created an entirely original fantasy alternate world and wrote a high fantasy novel inspired by the characters, which she’s planning to turn into an original series (speaking of, I will always shamelessly plug A Draught Of Light. If you liked A:TLA, you owe it to yourself to read it, and you don’t need to know anything about ROTG to enjoy it. In fact, you might enjoy it more not knowing anything about ROTG, though a few inside jokes might go over your head).

With that said, though, I think I have enjoyed writing for Gravity Falls the most. Partly it’s because of the skills I developed working in the other fandoms, so that now I feel confident enough in my work that I can stop worrying so much about making it good and just have fun with it. Partly it’s because the tone, the mood and the theme, of the series align with my interests and my values so well. It’s the kind of story that I would like to write, it’s the kind of story that I wish I’d written, and I love all of the characters so much but also can relate to so many of them, that getting to expand on it and play in its universe is just a treat and a joy. I may have found my forever fandom.

(The rest of this is going behind a cut for length because it turns out all of my answers are like this.)

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

I…don’t get reader inserts. Especially the ones that include the little (y/n). (Partly because it jolts me right out of a story, partly because for the first while after the trend started, I was reading them as ‘yes/no’ and was extremely confused.) I understand that the intent is to create a story where the reader can easily imagine themselves as the protagonist, but…you have to give that protagonist some traits, and have them make choices, and in order to do that you have to give them some sort of a personality, and then 1) not every person who reads it will be able to go ‘oh yeah, that’s me’ and 2) you’ve got an original character anyway! 

I saw a post recently where someone had drawn a picture with the caption “this is what (y/n), the reader of my story x, looks like” and listed a set of personality traits/likes and dislikes, like, at that point…just give them a name! They’re an OC! 

With that said, though, like self-inserts, reader inserts are fun (for people who like that sort of thing) and harmless, and I really hope nobody’s being a dick about them. Fandom should be fun, and even if I don’t get that thing you’re doing for fun, that doesn’t mean you’re Doing It Wrong.

Also, I fucking love making up OCs, and if allowed, I would do nothing but that all day.

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why?

Oh, this is cruel. I should not have done this. 

So, there are a lot of them. Apparently some people don’t spend all their free time coming up with bullshit ideas that spiral wildly out of their control into full, developed narratives that require tens of thousands of words to fully express? I bet those people have cleaner bedrooms than I do. Also probably more money.

Again, I’ve gotten better at this with lots of time and practice, so a lot of my earlier stuff is less well-executed than I’d want it to be. There are still ideas that I like, and stuff I’m proud of finishing, but I wouldn’t say they’re favourites, because the execution is less skillful and less polished than some newer things. With that said, though, I still have a big ol’ soft spot for Northern Lights, which was my indoctrination into the genre of ‘wildly self-indulgent crossovers and rampant canon revisionism’. Same with It Was A Dark And Stormy Night, the first multi-chaptered thing I ever finished. You can see the seeds of some classic Mary tropes in it, including ‘what if we just took all the female characters who were mentioned once and develop them into fully-realised people with important roles in this story’, as well as some tropes that have since fallen by the wayside (I do not do nearly as much with fairy tales as I did when I was a teenager).

Dreamland deserves a shot at the title, as do Reincarnation Blues and Raising Stakes. But purely for scale, ambition, and how closely the execution matches the ideal version that exists only in my head, my absolute favourite multi-chaptered fic has to be Hive. I’ve been trying to write decent horror for eleven long years and Hive makes me feel like I’ve finally nailed it. 

7) When is your preferred time to write?

Preferred time to write is from midnight to 2am. 

Best time to write is literally any other time than that, probably. 

(I’ve read all the science and the thinkpieces. I am aware that the only reason 2am seems like such a good time for creative work is because you’re tired enough that your internal self-regulation is low and your inner critic is silenced, and also because it’s often the only time when we sit down and let ourselves focus on the work with no distractions - because there aren’t any. I’m working on introducing this environment into the rest of my day so that I am not in a permanent state of sleep deprivation. Funnily enough, writing in a dimly-lit room and working on a dimmed computer screen really seems to help.) 

11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

Not that I can remember.

To be fair, I have received very few criticisms after posting that were about writing issues rather than matters of personal taste (and most of those have been along the lines of ‘so uh, I know you knew mentally what was going on in this scene, but the critical piece of information never actually made it to the page’). But…I also…take long enough to work on things and have so many damn things on the go that once something is posted, it’s posted, and I have to make a promise to myself to never touch it again, otherwise I would spend all my time nitpicking and never finish anything. If somebody’s noticed a legitimate issue or possible improvement, it is incredibly likely that I will go ‘oh dang why didn’t I notice that’ and then mentally file it for use in future stuff. I’ve only ever taken one fic down, and most of the edits I do after the fact are for tagging or author’s notes.

I did amend the ending of Any Misery You Choose, but that was less because I got criticism (people were actually incredibly nice about it!) and more because I was extremely dissatisfied with how the original ending turned out, because I hadn’t adhered to the plan I myself had made, because I was rushing to finish the damn thing. (Protip: don’t do that.)

(please, please, please let these actually be the first five prime numbers)

[mythsofmodern]

             Lily J. Evans Potter 

Lily J. Evans was born to Mr and Mrs Evans, two Muggles of the Evans family, on 30 January, 1960. Her family lives in Cokeworth, England. She has an older sister named Petunia, whom she was quite close to. At the age of nine, Lily became friends with Severus Snape, who lived down in Spinner's End, which was within walking distance of the Evans' house. However, her family was apparently better off, since Petunia sneered at Snape for coming from that poverty-stricken neighborhood

Severus was the first person to tell Lily that she was a witch, and he went on to teach Lily a great deal about the wizarding world while the two eagerly awaited the time when they could attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry together. Lily's magical abilities and friendship with Severus caused problems between the Evans sisters. Envying her sister's abilities, Petunia wrote to Dumbledore, asking if she could attend Hogwarts with Lily. However, the headmaster kindly refused her petition. 

At the age of eleven, Lily bought her wand from Ollivanders in Diagon Alley. The wand was 10¼ inches, willow, "swishy", and according to Garrick Ollivander, good for charm work. Shortly before her depart to Hogwarts, Lily and Petunia argued about magic again. Her sister called her a "freak" for possess that power and said it was better that she went to that school so "normal people" would be safe. At the age of eleven, Lily started attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she was Sorted into Gryffindor house. She became quite skilled at Potions, attracting the attention of Professor Horace Slughorn, who made her a member of his Slug Club for the students that he considered talented and possibly successful in the future. 

In her fifth year, Lily stood up for her then best friend, Severus Snape, when he was being bullied by James Potter. Lily attempted to stop his bullying, addressing James only by his surname and vice versa in this moment. However, Snape lashed out at her in his humiliation, calling her a "filthy Mudblood." He then begged for Lily's forgiveness, but she asked him if he still intended to join the Death Eaters. When he didn't deny this, Lily realised that Snape did not understand what was wrong with the Death Eaters. This led to a parting of ways between Lily and Snape, as the former had already become dismayed by Snape's fascination with the Dark Arts and friendship with his Slytherin house-mates Mulciber and Avery, both of whom were aspiring Death Eaters.

By Lily's fifth year, James had developed a crush on her, but she didn't reciprocate, calling him an "arrogant toerag" because he bullied other students, particularly her former best friend. While she didn't approve of his bullying, she did admire how James stood up for his friends and other people who were cruelly treated by aspiring-Death Eater.

During their seventh year, James matured somewhat, proving himself to be responsible and brave. However, it is implied that he still had the desire to bully Snape, but was willing to stop actually doing it for Lily's sake. This led to her agreeing to go out with him; gaining genuine affection for him in the process. Due to their academic achievement, skill, and responsibility, the young couple eventually were chosen to be Head Boy and Head Girl.

In late 1977, Lily and James had a disastrous first meeting with Petunia and her then-fiancé, Vernon Dursley, which took place over Christmas break. The evening ended with both Vernon and Petunia storming out of the restaurant and Lily bursting into tears.Petunia was married by the end of 1977. Though Lily and James were invited to the wedding, her sister refused to have Lily as a bridesmaid, upsetting her deeply.

Sometime after graduating from Hogwarts in 1978, Lily and James married, the wedding took place sometime between the summer of 1978 and the autumn of 1979, with Sirius serving as James' best man. Petunia and Vernon refused to attend the wedding, and Lily had little contact with her sister from that point on. Living off James' family fortune, the Potters became full-time members of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, along with their friends Sirius, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. During the war, Lily and James defied Voldemort on at least three occasions, the first being when they refused to join his cause when he tried to recruit them. 

Lily became pregnant in the autumn of 1979. Around the same time, Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy in front of Albus Dumbledore, predicting that "the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches" and would be "born to those who have thrice defied him". The first part of the prophecy was overheard by Lily's ex-friend, Snape, who had since become a Death Eater. 

The Potters went into hiding while Lily was still pregnant.Their son, Harry James Potter, was born on 31 July, 1980. Due to the danger they were in, Lily and James chose to keep Harry's christening a "very hurried, quiet affair" with Sirius as the only guest. The couple also chose Sirius to be their son's godfather. Lily sent a birth announcement to Petunia; it was to be the last piece of information she ever sent her sister, though Petunia would later send Lily a vase for that Christmas.

The Fidelius Charm was placed on their home in Godric's Hollow. Their Secret-Keeper, Peter, was chosen as a less-likely target for the Death Eaters than Sirius, but he betrayed the Potters by telling Voldemort of their whereabouts barely a week later.

Lily is a beautiful woman with thick, dark red hair that falls to her shoulders, and almond-shaped, bright green eyes. Lily is known for being a vivacious, talented, and popular student. She was a responsible student and leader to be Head Girl in her final year at Hogwarts. Horace Slughorn noted that Lily was witty and charming. Remus Lupin once described her as an uncommonly kind person with a habit of seeing the best in others, even when they could not see it themselves. Lily is a woman of sound moral principles and would stand by them no matter what it cost her, though her actions sometimes were ineffective.

Though she has a sharp tongue and had no problems in standing up to others when she is in a temper, Lily is still the type of person who would give others a second chance when they had proven themselves worthy of it. 

Since even Lord Voldemort was willing to overlook Lily's Muggle-born status and ask her to join him, this is proof that she was a truly powerful and accomplished witch. She was noted for her particular talent in Potion-making and was able to conjure a corporeal doe Patronus, a mark of superior magical ability.

Magical abilities and skills

Love: Lily displayed a tremendous amount of love throughout her life. When she was only 21 years old, she lovingly sacrificed her own life for her only son despite being given the choice to leave him behind and live. It was this very sacrifice that enabled Harry to survive the Killing Curse, which rebounded off him and destroyed Voldemort's body. It protected her son from her murderer for 16 years after her death, especially due to their blood connection.

Duelling: Along with her husband James, Lily was able to defy and escape Lord Voldemort three times, which showcased her remarkable talent in martial magic.

Potions: According to Slughorn, Lily was an excellent potioneer who impressed him. She had an "instinctual understanding" of the subject.

Charms: Lily excelled in charm-work - her wand was described as being "nice for Charms work". She was able to animate teapots to make "[them] sing" and effectively conjure a corporeal doe Patronus, which is an incredibly advanced piece of protective magic.

Transfiguration: Lily was revealed to have been proficient in transfiguration. When home from Hogwarts for the holidays, she "turned teacups into rats". She also transfigured a lily petal into a fish, which Slughorn described as "beautiful magic, wondrous to behold".

Control of Underage Magic: Before attending Hogwarts, Lily already had a level of control over her magic - once she literally flew into the air after jumping off a swing and subsequently slowed her descent to lightly land on the ground. She also went on to manipulate a flower to open and close its petals like "some bizarre, many-lipped oyster".

              from Harry Potter WIki

VERSES

Hogwarts Years Verse: This focuses on Lily's years at Hogwarts. Especially fifth, sixth and seventh year, mostly sitxth and seventh tho. For unplotted things I'll just randomly choose one, however for plotted things I will most likely specify which year. For now the individual years stay untagged. This might changes later. follows canon heavily influenced by headcanons. ( muggle born witch grown //  𝓛.𝓟. marauder era verse. ) 

The Other Chosen One Verse: The Longbottoms and the Potters get told about the prophecy and since Dumbledore can't really tell which boy it's about, both families go into hiding. However Voldemort chooses the Longbottom's son and after torturing their secret keeper, he finds the family and kills them, failing to kill little Neville and disappears. Everyone assumes he is dead. James and Lily survive and get to raise Harry. ( not marked by death //  𝓛.𝓟. the other chosen one verse. )

Ghost Verse: Everything follows canon until Lily dies. However she can not pass to the other side, then she got an unfinished business. The urge to make sure her son, Harry, is alright keeps her here. Dumbledore forbade her to contact Harry before he got his Hogwarts letter, but let her move to Hogwarts, where she is now living as one of the ghosts. ( darling dearest dead //  𝓛.𝓟. ghost verse. )

Future/Golden Era Verse: Dumbledore sends some members of the Order on a mission at the Ministry, which includes Lily too. They get into a fight and Lily has an accident with some time turners and another unidentified objects that sends her into the future. Dumbledore can't explain what happened, but since Lily doesn't have a place to go, he decides to let her go back to school, since she can still pass as a student and live in Gryffindor until he figures out a solution to send her back in her own time. ( lost in time //  𝓛.𝓟. golden era verse. )

Professor Potter Verse: As Porfessor Slughorn plans his retirement, he decides to write his old student, Lily Evans - now Potter, a letter asking her how she would feel about taking the position, as he plans to put in a few good words for. After thinking about it for a few days Lily decides she likes the idea and ends up being the new Potions teacher at Hogwarts. ( the student becomes the master //  𝓛.𝓟. professor verse. )

Fantastic Beasts Verse: Lily was born in 1899. After finishing her education at Hogwarts, she decided to become a healer at St. Mungo’s. A few years into her education, Lily travelled abroad, to gain experience at other healing institutions as well. It can depend on the thread, if she went to New York, Paris or if she is back in England. In this verse she is not married to James Potter and clearly Harry wasn’t born. ( a different time a different place //  𝓛.𝓟. fantastic beasts verse. ) 

[croy-on-a-working-vacation]

Okay. So. Lemme organize myself here haha. I am LOVING this discussion.

Croy’s Age/History:

When the Professional Weekenders slip up and tell him they’re fans of the Empire, Croy responds like this:

He ends up talking about how the Empire was great and all, but the First Order “elaborated and moved it forward.” The First Order provides peace, stability, strength etc—implying that maybe the Empire attempted this, but the FO is actually doing. HAH. Little does he know… but that’s another story. I think it’s interesting how he uses the phrase “history buff” when his age from the auditions implies that he was alive and aware of the fall of the Empire. Like you said, @pianopadawan, it may just be this particular actor not giving off 40s vibes and accommodating for that. In the case of him being younger: whatever he knew about the Empire was probably read in books (btw what IS the name for books in the SW universe? Google’s not giving me answers, but I imagine they function like ebooks) or ingested propaganda. The other actors playing Croy are older, so I wonder if they would give a different answer if asked about the Empire or how/why they joined up. I would imagine so.

Oooh, so the datapad says 15 years of service? I’ve only really seen that he was a data analyst before getting the Halcyon mission, so I picture him being a forgettable worker bee in the First Order. He wouldn’t have been recruited for Stormtrooper service; they would have used him for his intelligence as the FO equivalent of a cubicle dweller. Crunching numbers among other FO analysts also crunching numbers, all of them dreaming of moving up within the organization while only seeing the one small piece of the puzzle they’re responsible for. Data analysis as a profession could inspire a meta post all on its own haha. But it thrives on hyper focusing on numbers and patterns, so it’s easy for me to believe that Croy wasn’t seeing the bigger picture of what he was doing in the First Order. Too busy holding a magnifying glass to his Excel spreadsheets haha. Do I think that his first field mission was the Halcyon? 100% yes.

Can you have anything be “canon” with improv-based character development?

Good question! I had no idea that there was an actual line being drawn in terms of what’s considered canon or not, because the Galactic Starcruiser is breaking new ground. It’s innovative in terms of storytelling. I’d be interested to look into the Adventurers Club which was also an improv-based storytelling experience at Disney to see how fans of the club recorded and treated character bios and personalities. In that case, I’m sure there was a script that was used as a baseline, but the actors grew their characters how they liked—so what’s canon and what’s not?

The way I’m approaching it is that anything flying out their mouths is canon to me. But, it’s not canon across all Croys. If one Croy swears off drinks until he stops the rebel scum, I’m not going to assume that the other three Croys are doing the same thing unless I come across it with a different Croy via the vlogs. Is that confusing? Maybe… but not really? I think all the Croys are so different from each other. They have a foundation, but they’re choosing to play their character in different ways, so I kind of compartmentalize them.

When it comes to fan works (esp fanfiction), I think a writer would need to pick a specific Croy and inform their readers that this is the one they’re writing about. That goes with the other Starcruiser characters as well like Sandro, Sammie, Raithe, Gaya, etc. Each performer brings something different, and everyone in this new little corner of the fandom has their favorites.

BTW @pianopadawan and @ebay-taxidermy, I am VERY excited about fanfics being written about or including the Starcruiser characters! Like, please, when they come into being, send them my way and I’ll share ‘em on here. I’ll be writing my own eventually. I’m just working on other projects at the moment, and I’d like to watch more vlogs to pin down a few characters better. I wouldn’t worry too much about having your headcanons debunked by future vlogs. Yes, of course, it’s possible, but like with any fandom, sometimes the best ones are the ones that fans come up with themselves :)

Hi! I had a few thoughts and headcanons regarding your post on what happens to Croy after the whole Halcyon story line. (Apologies that this became longer than I expected - you don't have to read it if you don't want to lol)

I feel like a redemption arc of sorts would be possible because he gives me the vibes of someone who's pretty naive about the true nature of the First Order. Therefore, he would try to go back to his station after failing being oblivious to the fact that they would try to execute him. There's a clip of him talking with his commanding officer who threatens to destroy the entire Halcyon cruiser and Croy seems genuinely shocked that he would do that with him and the loyalists on board. Overall, I think he earnestly believes that they're making the galaxy a safer place because he's been sheltered from the dirty work.

It's possible that he hasn't seen this side of the Order since it's implied he's relatively new to being a commanding officer in the audition sides. He doesn't strike me as hardened enough to have grown up in the Imperial Remnant, which makes me suspect he enlisted voluntarily as an adolescent. Maybe his origin is similar to Rae Sloane's (i.e., kid from a crime-ridden planet and when the First Order arrived and wiped out the local gangs, he'd believe the narrative that they're protecting the galaxy).

So, maybe he goes back, narrowly escapes execution on account of recovering the Coaxium but is still pretty beaten up by Ren and slowly uncovers more of the Order's true nature. That could be an impetus for him to desert. Maybe he gets out with the help of some others who have similar feelings. Gaya meets him some time later in the Outer Rim and almost doesn't recognize him because the guy's trying to hide his identity on the run. It's risky for him to go see any of her performances at this point, but he wants to for reasons he hasn't really come to terms with.

Hi @pianopadawan! Thank you for the submission!

So I’ve been ruminating on this for a few days and let me just start out by saying that I really love these thoughts/headcanons about Croy and his potential post-cruiser situation.

Oh my goodness, YES, I got the same vibe about his naivety. There are so many little moments captured by the vloggers that support this theory, just from the kinds of comments he’s made in the Atrium while speaking to passengers, and his exchanges with Captain Keevan and Gaya. He believes the very best of the First Order and thinks they’re providing a positive impact on the galaxy.

That clip you referenced about the First Order threatening (and actually trying to) blow up the Halcyon with Croy still on board—talk about plot twists! When I imagined the FO bridge narrative, this wasn’t it! I thought for sure that rebels would show up and, as a loyalist, you’d be trying to thwart them using the bridge. Never did it EVER cross my mind that you’d be fighting off the First Order itself!

I kind of love the fact that the only reason why the Halcyon is still in one piece at this time is thanks to Croy and the loyalists defending themselves on the bridge haha.

It’s hard to watch this narrative unfold and not take it as the first major betrayal that Croy is exposed to. Up until this point, he trusts the First Order to support him as much as he’s supporting them. His trust should be shaken by these events. But still, he seems like the kind of character who leans on duty and responsibility, with just enough ambition to think that he’ll come out of any challenge on top. He’s shaken, but not stirred lol.

However, the punches just keep landing from here on out. I really would love to put together a compilation of Moments Where Croy’s Faith Is Shaken. On my list to work on for future posts. Anyway, you’re right, there’s at least one more narrative moment where the Croy is told he needs to kill everyone—including the loyalists—and you can hear the shock and disbelief and pain in his voice when he pleads to keep them alive.

Yessss the information that was provided during auditions is fascinating. It definitely sheds light on what type of officer he’s supposed to be and how the different Croy actors have chosen to portray him. Even though everyone iteration of Croy is unique, the origin point is that he’s new to being a commanding officer. Some Croys maintain the illusion of being confident and in control better than others, but ultimately, this is his first time with a real mission and oh boy, he’s not ready for what that actually means.

I did see that Croy hails from Kuat or Coruscant (apparently the data pad says Kuat, but he verbally claims Coruscant as his home planet so… is he lying to seem more impressive or is this simply a glitch? LOL Inquiring minds). Both planets are heavily influenced by the Empire and then the First Order, so most likely he’d grown up being fed propaganda and enlisted because he didn’t know any better. Probably had no basis for comparison. I’m not sure if he grew up in a crime-ridden part of these planets, which would have given him a different perspective. Seems more likely that he was sheltered. Maybe solid middle class, if not higher, though he doesn’t seem to have the nepotism situation that Hux had in having his father already in FO. Croy seems very much alone (BTW thanks for mentioning Rae Sloane—I need to look him up. I’m still only just starting to dive into the fandom on a deeper level).

Your version of how he might survive and desert the First Order is so good. I can definitely see it happening. He would absolutely use the Coaxium recovery to save his own life—maybe he’d be persuasive enough about it to hold off on his execution a little while longer. He could also function as a spy for the Resistance like Kallus in Star Wars Rebels, which would be pretty cool, but he’d still need to get out of there sooner rather than later. He could use his data analyst skills to track a new Resistance pattern and make his escape. I also love the idea of Gaya not recognizing him when they meet again. He would need to have a disguise for a long time, that’s for sure. But how could he resist seeing another one of her performances? ;)

Gifs from WDW News Today of the bridge scene