#very little of her backstory and circumstances would change too

[direwombat]

mmmmmm listening to murder ballads of 1816: the year without a summer by american murder song and...i think it sparked some inspiration for a supernatural western original storyline where syb would make a good protagonist

[windmaedchen-oceanhorn]

Okay, just a few more sketches. xD

Today I noticed that Valen's Affinity Tales were reworded! Dang, I didn't save the old ones, now I can compare them only with my memory. They didn't change the content of each tale, but they feel more specific now.

This post spoke about some beta backstory for Valen and even though none of that is mentioned in his tales and no interaction between him and Fay... I really like to accept as my headcanon that they are siblings. Their designs are too similar: same hair and eye colour, even their personality is similar. They have also been shown together in the first AFK Journey trailer! xD So...

Valen and Fay are siblings

He's eight years older

Due to his habit of "taking strolls" outside the castle/home rather than staying for lessons or whatever else, he's actually got little to do with his sister. He is not all that much interested either, given the age difference.

Fay is aware of her brother, and while she is quite fond and attached to him when he is around, she is very young and only 8 years old when he leaves. She's a little bad with faces and after his departure she doesn't study family photographs enough to ... remember or recognise him straight away so many years later.

Since Valen left an 8 year old girl behind, he's got trouble recognising her also, even though she sure as heck looks familiar.

In order for this to work, I imagine that Valen might actually have a different birth name, but introduced himself as "Valen" whenever outside his home and it stuck ever since. Fay wouldn't know that, only his "real" name. Something like Ferdinand or Viktor ... xD

In turn, Valen probably met too many "Fays" to even give it another thought when they meet. He would never expect his sister to be anywhere else than on his home island, too.

Since the circumstances of their meeting is tense and the threat of the golems prominently on their minds (as well the drama between "the two girls") ... even if Merlin or anyone else saw the similarities between them, they were too distracted to follow up on that.

I do hope that the devs get back to their attempt to make them siblings and show us future interactions between them. Hopefully Valen will continue to be a returning companion, with some chances to reveal more about himself or, in this case, also Fay's background. <3

[lykegenia]

So something has been bugging me for a while now about A and N’s backstories, and while I know not everyone will be as pedantic as me, as someone who loves history and has done a lot of writing, I feel that if you’re going to write a story about vampires and give them a specific time and date of origin, then there should be a certain level of research that goes into making that background authentic. I'm not saying that Mishka didn’t do any research. It just seems that in order to keep the vibe of a happy, mellow fantasy some of the less savoury aspects of A and N’s upbringings have been left out, and it's a shame. To be honest, it feels a bit disingenuous, and it feels like an opportunity got wasted.

Let me explain (long post got long, it's 2am)

Let's take A first, since the problem is simpler here.

A is the child of a Norman lord and an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, born in the first generation after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. A says that these were turbulent times but that their parents had a happy marriage. Which. While I’m sure a lot of unions in that time period made the best of it, I can’t help but feel this description strips away a lot of the context of what was going on at that point in history - and removes some of the complexity about A’s thoughts on love and relationships.

Basically, after he took control of the throne, William the Conqueror stripped many Anglo-Saxon lords of their lands and titles so he could give them to his Norman buddies instead - with the added bonus that it left the Anglo-Saxons without the means to raise armies against him. The sisters, daughters, and widows of the dispossessed Anglo-Saxons were then forced to marry these new Norman lords to legitimise their power, not infrequently after all of their male relatives had been slaughtered. It’s not as if Anglo-Saxon women weren’t used to being used as political chess pieces, but the years after the conquest were brutal. It’s why William had to build so many castles. The point that I’m trying to make is that even if A’s mother was content enough in her daily life, due to the power imbalance between her and her husband, it's very likely she had little choice in the matter. She may have seen a lot of her family killed for political reasons, with the knowledge that – in an age where women had very little protection outside of their paternal household – she might be next if she made too much of a fuss.

It would be fascinating to see what effect that tension has had on A 900 years later, or even to get an acknowledgement of how much times have changed, but we don’t. We don't see how their early years affected them, how they view relationships formed naturally instead of via political contracts. And I really, really wish we did. There is so much potential there.

But A is not the one keeping me up past 2 in the morning. It’s N, and the utter detachment their backstory seems to have from the period in history they lived in as a human. And it all stems from the fact that they came from the English nobility in the late 1600s.

See, the bulk of the problem is that English inheritance law at the time heavily favoured primogeniture, where a man’s wealth would go to his first-born son. Some dispensation was made for widows and other children, but the estates, assets, and most of the money had a very clear destination.

For one thing, this makes it kinda weird that N’s stepfather would have needed an heir before he could inherit, because except in extreme circumstances everything would have gone to him anyway. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the worst part of the problem, it’s just annoying when there are more plausible reasons for him marrying a woman already pregnant with another man’s child (old family friend wanting to save her from disgrace, needed the dowry to pay off gambling debts, there was a longstanding betrothal between them that would have been tricky to get out of, etc.).

No, the bigger problem with N’s backstory vs primogeniture is firstly that at the time the English aristocracy was racist af (still is tbh) and given his pretty obvious mixed-race heritage, no court would have agreed that Nate was a legitimate son (this is for a very special reason that we will be coming back to). I say Nate specifically here because primogeniture requires the eldest legitimate son. Nat wouldn’t have inherited at all, as women in that period passed from the guardianship of their father (or other male blood relative) into that of their husband after marriage, and only gained any kind of independence with widowhood. If N had been an only child, maybe they would have been treated as a special case, but unfortunately Milton exists: the eldest legitimate son who by law will inherit everything.

Now here’s the thing. Your average aristocrat in the 17th century is very obsessed with lineage and keeping the family line unbroken. He would not, therefore, send his legitimate heir to sea to be shot at or drowned before he can carry on the family name – that joy instead goes to any other sons who need their own profession, because again, they will get very little. Nat would have had a dowry, but would never have been expected to make her own living, so I'm going to focuson Nate for this next bit.

In Book 3, if you unlock his tragic backstory Nate tells you he joined the Royal Navy after Milton went missing so that he could go look for him. And, well. This is where his backstory as Mishka tells it completely falls apart. For two reasons:

1. Even in the modern day, you can’t ‘just’ join the Navy, and you certainly can’t just jump straight to being a lieutenant – it takes years of training and after a certain age they won’t take you because they won’t be able to mould you easily enough into a useful tool. For most of the Navy's history, the process was even more involved. It wasn’t an office job you could just rock up to and then quit if you felt like it, it was a lifetime commitment. Boys destined to be officers would be sent to sea as early as 12 to learn shipboard life, starting at the bottom and moving up the ranks. These were gained by passing exams and by purchasing a commission – which is why you generally had to come from wealth to be an officer at all. Once you get to lieutenant you're responsible for a lot of people, and might be tasked with commanding any captured ships alongside the daily running of yours - it was not an easy job.

2. Even as a lieutenant (one rank below Captain, with varying levels of seniority) it’s not like you can just go where you want. In the 1720s British colonies already existed in India, the Caribbean, and up the entire eastern seaboard of North America and into Canada, and the Navy was tasked with protecting merchant shipping along these seaways (and one trade in particular that we’ll be getting to, don’t worry). Nate could have ended up practically anywhere in the burgeoning empire. He would not have been able to choose whom he served under, and would not have been able to demand his superior officer go against orders from the admirality to chase down one lone vessel because he thinks another one of the admirals might be a bit dodgy. It could not have happened.

Besides these impracticalities, there’s a far easier way for the child of a wealthy man to get to a specific point on the far side of the globe to look for their lost sibling, which is the route I assume Nat took sine she couldn’t have joined the Navy (yes she could have snuck in but she’s specifically in a dress in the B2 mirror scene so). All they'd have to do would be to charter a ship and tell the captain where to go, which is the plot of Treasure Island. It's quicker, less fuss, with less chance of things going wrong. It's even possible in the age of mercantilism that the Sewells had some merchant vessels among their holdings that could be diverted for the task. Why go through the hassle of joining the Navy and potentially ending up on the wrong side of the world when you can just hire a ship directly?

If Nate does have to be in the Navy (and let’s face it, it’s worth it just for the uniform) then it's far more plausible is that, as the illegitimate son who would not inherit because of racism etc, he got sent to the Navy as a boy and rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant. When he got news of Milton’s disappearance not far from where he was stationed, he begged his captain to go investigate in case whatever happened turned out to be the symptom of a bigger problem. Like pirates.

I like this version better not just because it makes more sense, or because it keeps Nate’s situation re: inheritance closer to Nat’s and therefore makes their stories more equal, but also because it adds a delicious amount of guilt to Nate’s need to find his brother. We know his entire crew died looking for answers, because he was selfish – that’s roughly 100-400 lives lost because of him, and we know that sort of thing eats at him.

So that's one side of the story, but if Milton wasn’t in the Navy, what was he doing on the other side of the Atlantic in the first place? Well, this is where we come to the biggest elephant in the room regarding N’s backstory as a member of the 17th century English aristocracy and potentially as a naval officer: the Atlantic Slave Trade. If you are wealthy in 17th century Britain it's more than likely that your wealth comes either from the trade itself, or from the products made with the labour of enslaved people. If you are wealthy, you want to protect your assets from attack by pirates or foreign powers so you don't become less wealthy, and that is what the Navy is for.

Regardless of N’s own views on slavery at the time – and any subsequent changes in opinion – it’s likely their family owned or had shares in slave plantations in the Americas. As distasteful as it is, it makes far more sense that Milton was on a trip to check the family’s holdings when his ship - specifically a merchant vessel - went missing. From a pirate perspective, a merchant ship would make a much better target than a Navy vessel, being slower, more likely to have valuable cargo, and less likely to have marines or a well-trained broadside.

It's not surprising that Mishka left out the subject of the slave trade given her tendency to skirt around darker subjects and general blindspot for racial politics, but it is nuance that, if it was there, would create a more grounded and coherent backstory for N that doesn’t have quite so many holes. Like with A being the child of an invader and his war bride, we could get some deeper thoughts from N about their place in the world - How do they feel to have grown up so privileged when others who looked like them were regarded as literal property? How did they feel being part of the system that made it happen? Did it inform their compassionate nature? Is it still a source of guilt or someithng they've tried to make up for?

I'm not sure where I was going with all of this. It's late, my sleep pattern is fucked. The tl;dr is that giving the vampires' backstories historical context would make them feel more multifaceted and would give opportunities for character growth that are instead missed because of a desire for a more sanitized version of the past.

[hallucinatinghalos]

I hated the idea of Lestat being married in season three when I first saw it circulating here. But it's become a brainworm and I'm starting to think it could work. First off, it's been mentioned and is probably the reason the idea first came about, he's older than in the books and so there are more years between Auvergne and Paris that need a backstory. He's 34 when turned in the adaptation. In that time period he'd more than likely be married before reaching that age. When you consider that his family has a title but are impoverished. It's likely they would bargain him for a potential wife's dowry. It would be socially acceptable and possibly expected. Also, they violently denied him an education and priesthood, they denied him the theatre troupe for cruel and selfish reasons. Why would they hesitate in binding him to an arranged marriage for their gain? His wants be damned, always. It feels very in the spirit of TVL. I think it would need to be arranged at a young age that would've been acceptable for the time, as young as seventeen even. With her probably dying in childbirth, how soon and before or after other children would be born/conceived who knows. I'm guessing within five years of the marriage she'd pass, with around five years of him struggling in the lost state Nicki finds him in in the books, then four+ happy years in Paris with Nicki pre-turning. If he had been a father, even for a short amount of time or just an expectant one, it would make his failure with Claudia all the more encompassing without taking anything away from their arc. It also feels like you could make a psychological connection to him always making fledglings as a vampire to his wife losing every pregnancy or them losing every child. But that would be a leap, and more a head cannon thing. Ultimately, I think their life together would be short and if there were children they would also be doomed by the times or the eventual revolution. Ever plagued by loss is Lestat.

I can imagine the scene after the wolf kill when Lestat is recuperating in his room and Nicki comes with his father to present the coat to him happening still, but this time Nicki comes alone. Love instantly blossoming within Lestat, already a widower, for this man who is seeing him at his lowest but gazes at him as if he is an incredible, impossible being.

All of the emotional turmoil Lestat goes through in Auvergne, the vulnerability he shares with Nicki, would still be there but given more life experience for this adaptation's Lestat. His paralyzing fear of death more layered by being rooted in grief and loss as well as his anxiety plagued disposition.

The tragedy of him then losing his life just as he's finally finding peace and happiness would remain.

I also admit there are many reasons it could not work, like why would he have never mentioned this other important person (or children!) to Louis? But would Louis have any reason to mention it to Daniel if he had? Would it change the dynamic with Nicki too much? Gabrielle? Can they throw in such a huge change like that, and it not feel too off even if it works within the adaptation? But him being turned at 34 instead of 20 is huge. That's fourteen years of experience to be created. They have to do something and him hunting and hating his dad and big brothers (for good reason) and his circumstances for an extra fourteen years sounds less entertaining than an arranged marriage. There would also be an interesting nod to the books if they have him married off at 20 instead of turned. An unwanted marriage as a little death? I'm not all in on the idea but, point is, it may not be so bad. They could still make this part of his life have all the same emotional reverb as the book with a married backstory and I know there is far more there that this team could flesh out. So, if they go that direction, I'm not worried anymore is my point.

This is otherwise all pointless rambling so if you've made it this far thanks for hanging in there.

How about a side note since you're here? Could the painting of the woman in the coffin room, the one he placed overlooking him as he rests, be said tragic wife or just another thing he picked up cleaning out the NOLA antique shops? Could it be a parallel to Louis with his painting of Paul and Claudia's dress?

Please feel free to add to this whole thing or spit venom at it. I'm always open to corrections and new ideas and different takes. This is all just what-ifs for fun anyway. I may not respond just because I suck at it, but it won't mean I don't appreciate and enjoy your thoughts.

[eiilese]

Love the designs and descriptions you did for the straw hats!! I do want to ask, since they all have different roles and skills do they meet the crew at different points in the story? Like, since Robin is the shipwright would she have met the crew at Water 7 or would it still be Alabasta but under different circumstances? Since she’s not an archeologist she wouldn’t have been raised on O’Hara, right?

Just curious to see what your thoughts are😊 - thanks.

thank you so much for the ask!! sorry this took so long to answer it took awhile to gather my ideas. i’m so happy with how well this au thing was received ;u; TY to people who left tags and replies!! i read everything 🫶

here is the original post for role swap! this post has explanations for backstories! i really did try to have drawings to go with everything but i burned out as this month went on so not every character has doodles :(

—

i kept everything mostly the same in terms of when the strawhats meet each person. i didn’t want to change too much to avoid changing important character moments that happen in canon

this isn’t a super heavy rewrite, there’s a lot of backstory to juggle and i’m not equipped to write such an in-depth au rn 😭 but i might make separate posts for arcs like water 7 or wci!! though i kept a lot of backstory the same theres a lot of rewrite potential for those sagas

i hope these are fun to read about nonetheless ^_^ i included some stuff from @flute-of-pan pan and @onethousandsunnies because they left tags on the original post that were cool ideas

nami, vice capt.

not much changes!! instead of forcing her to chart maps, arlong might just have her around as a servant girl. regardless, the deal to buy back cocoyashi village still stands and nami works hard for it

generally i think her selflessness and loyalty to her village makes her fit to be a vice captain. she looks out for people at her own detriment and was willing to take the fall for such much ahhh

in my opinion she’s good vice captain material!! perhaps a cowardly one but still reliable. also a good treasurer for the crew as always

zoro, cook

zoro grew up training to be a swordsman and competes against kuina, but he also has a knack for cooking as a hobby. he’s mostly the same but sanji’s “stuck on a rock in the middle of the ocean with zeff” happens to him instead (flute-of-pan suggested the cook always suffers the fate of starvation)

kuina decides to run away and zoro is roped into her plans. it goes wrong and they get stranded on a rock, eventually arguing and ending up on opposite sides of the rock with the little food they brought

zoro finds out kuina gave him everything they had soon after she stops replying to him. he’s rescued thanks to kuina’s dad, who tracked them down with vivre cards. kuina’s had long since burned up

similar to canon, zoro continues striving to become the world’s strongest after her death. i think this backstory coupled with him eating those stomped riceballs at the very beginning of the story is so….(GESTURE) it’s very reminiscent of sanji’s no-waste-policy which he would absolutely also have

sanji, sniper

germa 66 has a mafia aesthetic now 👍i only have the willpower to draw reiju here she ended up kind of cluttered but i like my vision

sanji’s backstory is mostly the same: he and his siblings are genetically modified to be the perfect soldiers, but he had a kind nature that made him the target of abuse. after reiju helps him escape, he ends up with zeff and worked as a janitor. zeff loses his leg while trying to save sanji in a maritime accident; though they don’t get stranded anywhere, sanji has to be indebted to him somehow

when the baratie is opened, he works as a busser/guard against unruly guests. flute-of-pan mentioned that he could fire the canons of the ship

when the strawhats meet him on the baratie, sanji still gives don krieg’s crew food. i don’t think his kindness around that would disappear just bc he doesn’t have a whole starving incident

usopp, navigator

on top of bluffing about being the leader of a huge pirate army, he would create fake maps and brag to everyone in syrup village (especially kaya) about these places he so evidently visited. kaya loved his drawings even if the places weren’t real

his dream is to create a Real map of the whole world, not a fake map that he makes up out of stories. drafting the real world makes him a brave explorer of the seas, which he also wants to become :)

when the strawhats meet him, they were basically relying on nami’s limited sailing skills to get around. not only do they get the going merry but they have a real, reliable navigator now! AND he’s multitalented B)

chopper, helmsman

from a young age he set his sights on sailing the seas to escape from the isolation he faced on drum island. he would routinely make little boats for himself to escape the island on, failing each time, and hiriluk would always nurse him back to health

instead of studying to be a doctor, chopper has a general desire to be helpful and acted as an assistant to hiriluk’s medical endeavors

both flute-of-pan and onethousandsunnies pitched that chopper studied stuff like ocean currents!! overall he studied the ocean real hard but would never leave the island without hiriluk

hiriluk’s death would glue him to doctor kureha’s side and it isn’t until the strawhats come that he has the courage to embark on a new journey

franky, muscian

bro grew up running around water 7 trying to get people to join his band. tom and iceberg are still his family. his shipbuilding skills don’t go past an amateur level in this au. he would develop a line of dinky guitars (or instruments in general) that also had lasers/canons/confetti in them. his dream is A FRANKY WORLD TOUR 🤞FREE ADMISSION

many of his weaponized instruments littered the shipyard, spandam uses them in his attack

after the whole tom/spandam situation unfolds, iceberg is the one to find and reconstruct franky into a cyborg after getting run over by the sea train. but he won’t implement piano key abs no matter how much franky asks 🙄

the newly formed franky family protect the city and throw unsolicited concerts in the middle of the street B)

robin, shipwright

though she’s not an archeologist, she still grew up on ohara! instead of archeology, she’s a gifted engineer. her devil fruit made her an outcast and her strange, misunderstood inventions did not help her case

when jaguar d saul gets stranded on ohara, robin constructs the raft for him :) the buster call unfolds the same as canon except this time, everyone’s actually not lying when they say robin can’t read poneglyphs! she never learned!! again flute-of-pan had the cool idea that she is wrongly accused. still, she’s pursued and branded as a devil child

she ends up with crocodile, who believes she can read poneglyphs. she takes advantage of this and earns his protection from the government but her ruse is uncovered when she lies to croc about what alabasta’s poneglyph says (girl cannot read that!)

robin dreams of creating a ship that can carry her and the friends she wishes to have. after meeting robin in alabasta she joins the strawhats!!

brook, doctor

he was the doctor of the rumbar pirates. an injured laboon came to like brook after he nursed him back to health!! when yorki became sick from disease brook tried his hardest to cure him, but failed :(

he was doomed to watch his crewmates die to poison that he cannot hope to cure because he himself was also dying. when he came back thru his fruit it was already too late :( the rumbar pirates Do record a song for laboon though this event cannot be edited 🤞

met in thriller bark; ik that’s a long ass time to go without a real doctor on board

by the time they meet brook everyone’s already so battered that he has to go to town on them with gauze and stitches. the company delights him ^_^

jinbei, archeologist

i mentioned this in the first post abt this au but his interest in history sparked thanks to the history of joyboy and fishman island being so intertwined. at some point in his youth, jinbei frequently visited ohara (prior to the buster call) and grew a strong relationship with the scholars there (i’m just assuming they wouldn’t be racists 🤪) he runs into robin a handful of times

he secretly learns how to read poneglyphs here leading up to the buster call. he wasn’t on the island when it happened so he managed to avoid robin’s fate

his story proceeds the same from there with the neptune army, joining fisher tiger, meeting koala, etc…

i enjoy the idea of getting invited to be a warlord by the government while simultaneously being one of the most wanted people in the world for knowing poneglyph secrets

—

also i’m sorry if there are things i forgot about or details that don’t make sense >—>o

the anime’s pacing has ruined my enthusiasm for awhile lol and i’ve consumed a lot of media since catching up!! everyone’s backstories/canon events aren’t too fresh in my memory but i did some researching to remedy it 🫡

[nightlilly0110]

This is literally a villain death tally for BNHA. Spoilers, obviously. I…hate this. I absolutely hate this. I knew some of them would die and I know that character deaths don’t necessarily have to have meaning, they could just be casualties, but the way this played out, it just seems to fit into a neat little box of “the bad guys are not allowed to have a happy ending.” Which. Goes against the entirety of the premise of Deku’s reasoning to become a hero of “I want to save people.” The only named character I can think of that he saved was Eri (not counting rescuing Bakugou from the League, Iida from Stain because they’re not civilians, feel free to tell me any others I missed) and she fits the stereotypical Perfect Victim trope. She’s just a child. Anything bad she did (rewinding people out of existence) it was done by accident, because she didn’t know any better. She has the chance to be rehabilitated into society without any of the bitterness that the League carry with them.

I really don’t like that there’s a subsection of this fandom that’s like “well they got what they asked for.” And yeah. Don’t use whatever issues you have going on as an excuse for your shitty behaviour (read: don’t be like “well the villains are abused so they have a right to kill people”) but also maybe think before saying “I think it’s good that the guy who got abused and manipulated as a child and groomed into being a mass murderer died. I think killing the murderer instead of addressing the societal problems that made him that way will fixeverything.” Your “they got what they asked for” also falls a little tone deaf with “what they asked for” boils down to “don’t be treated like shit” and the narrative of the manga has always been “we should save people.”

I also think these deaths are in bad faith when you have the hero side critically injured every five seconds and coming back from that (with the exception of Midnight, don’t get me started with that I hate that she was the only named casualty of that arc other than the racist guy) with Bakugou literally having his heart stop especially, and then with the villains it’s like “well can’t do anything about that, bye loser.”

So yeah, here’s what we know about the villains with the last three-ish chapters pending and a bit as to why I’m more than pissed about how this turned out, keeping the above sentiments in mind.

TLDR They died in vain. They accomplished nothing, no one bothered to listen to their message, and they died.

Magne - died protecting her friends from Overhaul. Body not recovered because it was cut in half (top half exploded) and only her legs remained. Might be reading into this a bit too much but a little weird that the trans woman was the first death we had in the series. Also weird that her motivations to join the League was presumably her horrible treatment for being trans but we don’t get that context until the circumstances surrounding her death. We know very little about her backstory.

Twice - Literally stabbed in the back while trying to flee. Body left in an active war zone, assumably recovered by the Hero Commission/whoever is responsible for cleanup. Mild closure in the fact that he did find out that he was the real copy of himself but not really because we still have people, years after this death, saying that it was “justified” and “a necessity” because Twice was resisting arrest trying to flee while being a non-combatant. I cannot stress enough that he was unarmed while he was running, ran past Hawks and did not attack him, and the “help” Hawks was offering him was throwing him in jail and never letting him see the light of day again. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.

Toga - Sacrificed herself to save Uraraka (semi-implied she might have been in love with Uraraka). Only Uraraka knows of her sacrifice. Has to endure in death people saying that she was nothing more than a villain, same as in life. Nothing changes for her - she’s still considered creepy, a freak, a villain. Body assumably left in an active war zone recovered by Hero Commission.

Mr. Compress - Arrested and in prison. We still don’t know why he joined the League. (Thank you @themattress for correcting me in this, glad he’s not dead but damn.)

Kurogiri - MIA. Assumed dead. Not mentioned in the final act and without closure as to his identity, only that he is still loyal to the League.

Spinner - Hospitalized. Says he’s going to preach about Shigaraki’s message. Honestly, it’s a good sentiment, but he’s clearly going out into a society that is a) hostile to people with mutant quirks like him b) hostile to villains c) canonically resistant to change and resistant to anything related to Shigaraki if those TV interviews were anything to go by. It’s a lost cause.

Dabi - Alive, but barely. He’s restrained and being kept alive by medics equipment but it’s clear his life will be short and in pain. I saw someone say that it’s “ironic justice” because he always wanted Endeavour to watch him and now he has no choice in that his family is going to be (in Dabi’s words) “gawking at him like a tourist attraction.” He’s miserable, he’s going to die, and he doesn’t even get the freedom that he wanted while his abuser walks off without punishment and still adored by society. This isn’t justice, it’s cruel, especially when we know it’s possible for him to be properly put back together (since that’s what happened after he “died” as a teenager).

Shigaraki - Dead, turned to dust after being possessed and used as a puppet by AFO after being his puppet and manipulated by him for years. Was not saved despite the fact that the entirety of the last arc was propped up by the sentiment that Deku was trying to reach out to him and save him, specifically Tenko, the spirit of a little boy who wanted to be a hero. I don’t believe in redemption through death. People calling this a redemption arc is an insult. It wasn’t a sacrifice - he was killed. He had no agency in his life and didn’t even get to choose his own death. Deku tells him to his face that his death is his own fault (what happened to saving him?!). He died hoping his friends would be able to carry on and something about hero society changed. His friends are dead, dying, or have lost everything, and society stayed exactly the same as it was at the start of all of this.

[woodchipp]

You have a lot of thoughts about the topic, so what ideas/suggestions/other input (if any) do you have for an Omori rewrite?

Ideas? I have way too many. I've outlined some of them here and here (in a very disorganized manner), but I've thought up a lot of new ideas since then. I recommend to check the linked posts first, but I'll try my best to recap some of the ideas from the posts I've linked in this post, if you don't mind!

Long and most likely incoherent rant incoming.

1) Make Mari actually kill herself, of course. I really did like the game's initial premise of this young kid and his friends trying to deal with the loss of a beloved relative/friend before The Twist, so I'd cut The Twist and try to keep the story straightforward in that aspect. Perhaps that could've made Sunny a bit more sympathetic since he'd get to be the victim of circumstance the game evidently wanted people to see him as and allowed the story to explore Mari as a full character instead of reducing her to the typical saint for everyone to revere and cry over.

One could try to make the suicide itself the plot twist, though. Maybe the sight of Mari's hanged corpse could've been so incomprehensible to the 12-year-old Sunny he'd just pretend to have never seen it in the first place (his mind would block it out) and instead convince himself that Mari happily left for college with Hero. Maybe Sunny mentioning her to Hero or asking him about her after he comes back would make the latter pause and then change the subject of the conversation in a neat little bit of foreshadowing. Besides, a good chunk of the original game's foreshadowing for its twist already pointed to suicide, so why reinvent the wheel?

I insist on this idea in particular because it's tragic, it's horrifying and, most importantly, it's realistic - it's everything the game strove to be. Realism-induced horror is one of my favorite "genres" of horror, and I think OMORI could've had a great shot at exploiting said trope to its benefit were it not for The Twist.

The biggest problem with that sort of plotline, I think, would be Basil. His importance to the game's story relies on The Twist; without it, he has no reason to be there. I woudn't want to cut him altogether, but I can't think of an organic way to insert him into the "Mari kills herself" plotline either, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2) Make Sunny and Mari's home life horrible lmao. I've already talked about it here and in the first linked post, but I'll reiterate myself - you don't grow up into a strict perfectionist or with self-esteem as low as Sunny's (the game very clearly implies Sunny had self-esteem issues even before he killed Mari) by partying at your besties' birthdays and hugging plushies together. Problems like that tend to be caused by a dysfunctional home.

Yes, the "abusive parents" trope is rather overused nowadays, but I'd still consider it somewhat of an improvement over the complete lack of information about Sunny's family pre-Mari's death. I also think it'd have been quite interesting if the game explored how the toxic home environment the two were born into would inform their personalities. That way, the recital argument would be less "why is Mari so mean 2 me 💔" and more the result of their issues boiling over.

Tying into this idea is the next one.

3) Make Black Space a recollection of Sunny's backstory a la Time's Arrow. Long story short, Time's Arrow is an episode of a show called Bojack Horseman that stands out to me due to the way the featured character's trauma is subtly conveyed without sacrificing story - the flashbacks are mostly coherent, but filtered through the character's emotional perception of the events at the time. The best example of this is a formative memory from the character's childhood, in which she sees her father callously throw her beloved toy into the fireplace before warning her to keep her emotions in check and telling her not to cry. The fear she felt at the moment infuenced her memory of the event, represented by the aforementioned fireplace becoming a wall of hellfire.

I think such an approach would've been a great fit for Black Space as well. Not only would this allow the player to get some real insight into what made Sunny the way he is, his memories being filtered through his emotions would allow the game to characterize him (e.g. the sash bars on his house's windows could be made to look like the bars of a prison cell to imply he felt trapped in his own home). This could even allow the game to show us the big argument itself!

4) Make Kel, Aubrey, Basil and Hero characters instead of props for Sunny to interact with. The story should've examined their issues too. Hero and Kel have some workings of interesting conflicts (e.g. Hero's outburst and how it affected Kel, Hero struggling with relating to the friend group only as their "dad", Kel's status as the unfavorite sibling), as do Basil (his parents and the abandonment issues stemming from them, his general relationship with his grandma) and Aubrey (see the second linked post), but none of that is elaborated on by the game in favor of focusing on Sunny and his (w)angst. Delving into their issues would've been way more interesting for me than listening to them go "man I miss my wife Tails Mari ;A;" over and over again, at least.

5) Make the game's timespan longer. 5 or 10 days instead of 3 would allow the game more room to get through the other characters' arcs before shifting focus to Sunny for the finale, I think.

6) Make Faraway Town a bit larger. Make it wackier, too. There's four streets, a church, a park and a supermarket. There's nothing to do in this town at all, which isn't good since it's where the player spends a good chunk of the plot in. The NPCs and their sidequests are equally cookie-cutter - buy a grandma her medication, tutor some kids, play hide-and-seek with the twins...

It'd have been nice if the main story's subject matter was juxtaposed with the sidequests being as batshit insane as realistically possible. "Realistic" doesn't have to mean "boring", IMO. Real life can be fun!

Tying into this idea is the next one.

7) Lock the good ending behind 100% completion of all the Faraway sidequests, probably...? It's one of my weirder ideas, and I don't know whether it'd be feasible since I'm not a game developer lol. But I think the game could've tried to make some sort of point about how Sunny managed to make headway in working on his issues only because he made the effort to socialize with people who weren't his comfortable circle of friends.

I don't know what to do with Headspace. Really. The general concept of a saccharine dream world created to avoid reality is nice on paper, but it's a big tumor on the plot - it contributes next to nothing to the player's understanding of Sunny or his friends and becomes entirely irrelevant halfway through the game. I guess I'd make it shorter?

[commsroom]

It’s my birthday too! !! Happy Birthday! I wanted to ask you about Jacobi since he rotates around my brain like he’s on a microwave plate 24/7. Just, general Jacobi thoughts, go crazy , I think about him all the time

yayy, shared birthday!! i hope you had a good one. you're actually the second person who told me it was their birthday too... june 21st birthday club!!

i feel a little guilty saying this, since it was your birthday too, but jacobi is one of my least favorite characters. not to say i don't have things to say about him, but. i don't care for him at all.

some things i can say about jacobi:

i think the most compelling thing about him is that his character arc is a perfect loop back around to his backstory mini episode - two people are dead. he feels responsible. he's out of a job. what now? in things that break other things, he deflects. he rationalizes - "it wasn't anyone's fault; everyone was just doing their jobs" - but is that really true? or is that what he has to tell himself in order to live with himself, and to keep doing the work that he wants to do. when jacobi says "i was wrong and people died, and the only thing i can do is not be wrong again" to kepler in the finale, it's as much about the deaths that weigh on him. maxwell's most of all.

... and i think there's potential for change there, now that he's able to confront it, but in a lot of ways that's the start of a character arc rather than the culmination of one. i will never believe that jacobi wants to spend any more time around minkowski, eiffel, and hera (nor vice versa, really) - they are also the people who killed maxwell to him, and they will never be "his" people. but i think if you were going to write about post-canon jacobi and that theme of survivor's guilt + escaping destructive cycles, lovelace would be a good counterpart to him for that - she's further along on that journey, he expresses a kind of respect and even almost-friendship for her that he doesn't for the rest of the hephaestus crew, and she has a more... biting sense of humor; i think they could actually be friends (or at least narrative parallels) given the right conditions.

and speaking of narrative parallels: he actually has a lot in common with minkowski. jacobi plays at being a rebel, a loose cannon, etc. because it gets people's guards down, but he's very, very patient, calculating, and measured. he is not an impulsive person, and more than that - he's a follower by nature, and a rule follower. jacobi doesn't believe in the "bigger picture" for his own sake, but he is deeply committed to maxwell's bigger picture. he wants to be told what to do, he wants to feel like he has a purpose within a greater system/structure, and - crucially to dirty work - he wants to be able to shirk responsibility when something goes wrong. jacobi craves certainty, he needs that faith in the judgment of the people who give him orders, and i think what dirty work does by positioning jacobi and minkowski as narrative foils highlights a lot of similarities in their faults.

(it does drive me a little crazy when people compare him to eiffel or say they'd get along under different circumstances, like... no? for all his other faults, eiffel is distinctly anti-authoritarian and sincere. they're like, coworkers with different politics who would really rather not speak to each other if at all possible.)

appearance-wise: i firmly believe he needs glasses (the line about his eyesight not quite being good enough is the kind of thing he'd downplay + it's a fun inverse of people drawing maxwell with glasses when she canonically doesn't need them), he has very specific military masculinity issues (thanks to his father) (and gabriel urbina once said jacobi's car is probably the civilian model of something used in the military) so i think he keeps his hair very short, and. i actually don't think he has notable burn scars. i respect that it's a distinct design choice, but canonically i think it makes more thematic sense that he wasn't personally, physically hurt by that accident (and i think someone would probably have made a remark about visible burn scars on the guy insisting he "is that good" with explosives.)

[arosnowflake]

Anyway, here are my extended thoughts on fanfic characterization. I believe there are essentially three aspects to fanfic characterization: what would they think, what would they do, and what would they say.

'What would they think' is about a character's worldview. Different people see the world in different ways, and this also goes for fictional people. When writing from a limited POV, which most fanfiction does, this determines the very way the narration is shaped. Worldview is the foundation of a character; if you do not understand how a character thinks, everything else falls apart really quickly. This is the 'why'.

'What would they do' naturally flows from 'what would they think'. Once you understand how a character sees the world, it'll become a lot easier to understand how they would act. This is the practical level of characterization, the one to keep in mind when plotting out your story, because if they would not do that, it would not happen. This is the 'what'.

'What would they say' are the speech patterns and mannerisms. This is the surface level characterization, and the most shallow; it's the impression a character makes. Their vibes, if you will. This is the least substantial part of characterization, but the impression a character makes is absolutely paramount to getting their characterization right. If you don't, your character will never feel in character no matter what they do or think. This is the 'how'.

All of these aspects are important for the characterization, and getting one of them wrong will result in OOC behaviour. However, the 'why' and 'what' are significantly more mallable than the 'how'.

The way characters think and what choices they make are heavily influenced by their circumstances; if you change those circumstances, you can change how they think and act. Of course, there is a limit to how much you can change this before they just become completely different characters, but you'll be surprised just how far you can push this. If you figure out what makes a character tick (i.e. how they think), you can use that knowledge to justify some absolutely insane character changes while still having them feel in character, by correctly identifying the circumstances under which they would change. This is how AUs work. This is also how character development works.

You have much less leeway when it comes to speech patterns and mannerisms. Yes, those are also determined by backstory and circumstance, but this is the first way everyone is going to judge your characterization. If a character does not pass the vibe check, they will never feel in character. You can stretch it a little bit depending on circumstance, but you must tread very carefully, because changing them too much will result in a character that fundamentally does not act like themselves. This is why characters may start talking in slightly different ways due to character development, but rarely develop a whole entire different speech pattern as part of said development. Because they wouldn't feel like the same character anymore. If Zelda (Breath of the Wild) talks like a surfer dude, nothing you do or say will make her feel in character, regardless of how justifiable the change is in your surfer AU. The vibes are the most superficial element of characterization, but also the least malleable.

And there is a secret fourth metric: their character core.

This one is a little difficult to explain. Essentially: characters aren't people. They act like people, they feel like people, but they are not people: they are parts of a narrative. Everything they are is molded to fit their role in the narrative. There is a reason I specified that these are the pillars of fanfic characterization; when it comes to original fiction, more nebulous factors such as 'how are the narrative's themes reflected in the character' and 'what purpose does this character serve in the narrative' start becoming much more important than speech patterns or actions or whatever. But with fanfic, all that stuff has already been figured out for you; all you have to do is identify and play with it.

But you do kinda need to identify it. I'm not saying you need to have a PhD in media analysis in order to write a 2k fluff fic; not all fanfic is the same and you do not always need to think about narrative role and theme if you understand how they think, act, and talk. But if you're going to change a character from how they are in canon (most commonly this would be while writing an AU), you have to understand what you absolutely cannot change. Having an understanding of how narratives function and how story role affects characterization at the very least makes this a lot easier.

So: what is a character core? There is no real straightforward answer to that question. It can include a lot of things, ranging from speech pattern to personality traits to thematic purpose. Often, it's a combination of several of these things, because different aspects of a character are an interconnected web that is not neatly separated. But at its most basic level, a character's core is the whole point of their character, the thing they are designed to do, be, and/or represent.

And the thing is: you can usually change this core. You can create circumstances so different from canon that a character's core changes entirely, for very logical reasons. You can do this. But you shouldn't, because a character's core is the whole entire point of their character. Once you change it, they become fundamentally different characters, and you might as well make an OC.

Example: if you made an AU where Zelda (Breath of the Wild) is a prodigy who unlocked all her powers when she was expected to, you would be justified in making her confident and comfortable in her role as the princess. That would be a logical character change. It would also completely and utterly miss the point of her entire character. Zelda's whole entire character is structured around her conflict with her assigned role; removing this conflict changes her so radically that she will no longer be Zelda. So although you could justify the change to Zelda the person, you cannot justify it to Zelda the character.

There are few things that you really, truly cannot make a character do, or change about a character. But they do exist, and identifying them is crucial if you are writing AUs or other premises that innately stretch characterization. Obviously, there is no exact science to this, and people are bound to disagree on what is or is not the core of someone's character. But this very much is the most important part of characterization.

And the second most important part is making sure they would fucking say that, because if they fail the vibe check it's all over for you. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

[kanonavi]

hello tumblr user kanonavi who is 1/3rd of the reason i started rereading tgcf. i have come to collect my personal apology for the emotional damages inflicted upon me for the past 5 days. and i have also come with THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS (mostly feelings)

- icb i put off this reread so long hualian are so romance. theyre jsut Romance......... absolutely floored by every throwaway bit of dialogue they had....... in shambles forever....,

- sqx arc was not as painful as the first few times i read it bc i now stand with my cancelled wife (he xuan) I STILL LOVE SQX AND THEY DESERVE EVERYTHING GOOD. BUT HX WAS REAL FOR ALL OF THAT. i love revenge

- i wanna know your thoughts on ling wen bc u mentioned having mixed feelings on her but i loved her so bad all the way to the end so im curious ljdkdjf

- i am not immune to backstory arc pt2. read it last last (?) night at like 3am and cried myself to sleep its just so gutting every timeeeeeee.... the hc plot that builds in that arc is ofc one of my favorites in the entire novel though :')

- the chapter w the cave of statues took me like 2+ hours to get through because i was feeling so insane abt it

i feel bad dropping this block of text in ur askbox sorry. will leave it there for now LOL

Omg hiiiii tumblr user stardust-make-a-wish welcome back from the yaoi cocaine pit :3 I know you're here to collect emotional damages, but I must make it known that I'm not even remotely sorry <3

Also you should feel bad for yourself instead of for me because I can only respond to huge blocks of text with even bigger blocks of text, so (TGCF Spoilers Ahead) and also I am so sorry lmaooooo

UGH you're so right that hualian is the most romance forever they are just so *clenches fists and sobs*....... They're always there for each other and they're so in love and they've been through so much and I just want them to be able to rest because it's what they deserve.

I will never once say that Hu Xuan wasn't justified in everything he did cuz like. Shi Wudu had it coming what a piece of shit. But at the same time Qingxuan is my wife and I will not tolerate my wife being harmed. So like revenge slay yes but also I am still cancelling He Xuan and spraying him with the water bottle (even though he is already very very damp).

Yesyesyes Ling Wen. So my thought about Ling Wen is that she kinda girlbossed a little too close to the sun, but at the same time you look at her circumstances both past and present and have to understand why she did all of that. It already would have been hard enough for her to gain any kind of recognition as a woman, much less in the Heavenly Court, so her ruthlessness is completely understandable. But at the same time, I don't really think the Brocade Immortal deserved what she did to him nor was taking Bai Wuxiang's side in the final conflict a real cool thing of her to do. I can't fully be a hater though because her own thoughts about everything are clearly so nuanced (See: The final convo she had with Xie Lian about the Brocade Immortal, which I am still thinking so incredibly hard about to this day).

I think that Ling Wen is interesting in the same way that I find other characters like Mu Qing, He Xuan, and Yin Yu interesting. It's in the sense that even if I don't really agree with all of the actions that they took, it's very easy to look at them and come to an understanding of why they did what they did. And I have varying degrees of like for all of the characters I just listed, but that doesn't change the fact that they're all Compelling. So it's almost like a begrudging respect that I feel for Ling Wen, if I were to boil it down into simple terms.

aaaaaaaaaa The Horrors(tm) :sob: Even though I could talk about Xie Lian's arc through that part of his backstory for a million years, you're so right that Hua Cheng's arc through it is also so interesting to watch. It really goes to prove that Hua Cheng is different from everyone else in Xie Lian's life up until this point, because yes there's the very obvious throughline of Hua Cheng wanting to protect Xie Lian (rather than expecting his protection), but even more importantly that feeling never changes even when Xie Lian has his mini corruption arc.

Like, Hua Cheng fell in love with the pure and virtuous Crown Prince of Xianle but not for that quality. Instead of being ashamed and looking at Xie Lian with scorn when he was like "What if I kill everyone actually" Hua Cheng is like "Then let me be your sword". There's the element of not wanting Xie Lian to dirty himself that Hua Cheng carries for the entire story but the point is in that he is not a voice who would tell Xie Lian to stop having those thoughts if it's truly what he wants (Unlike what his parents or Feng Xin and Mu Qing would probably say).

I'm going to write an essay about their character dynamic one day istg I am chewing through the drywall

The cave statues chapter......... *passes away*. Like on one hand that chapter is so funny because yes Hua Cheng is just an absolute certified freak (POV my roommate telling me earlier on in my reading that HC is a porn addict and me being like "pssht noooo" but then getting to this chapter several months later and being like "O h.") but on the other hand THE CONFESSION??????? Like. All I can do is gesture wildly at the storyboard animatic that someone made of that scene on YouTube while absolutely fucking sobbing. There is a reason why the cover of volume 6 felt somehow more intimate than the cover of volume 4 where they're literally making out.

Anyway I'm patting Hua Cheng on the head like It's okay buddy Xie Lian loves you because you're a certified freak, he's seen too much of this world to be weirded out even a little bit. Which is why those two are perfect for each other <3

I'm glad you had so much fun on your reread, have fun with the brainworms :3

[mundanemoongirl]

Maya

I never really post about Maya, despite her being one of my most important characters and unique creations. I have so much to say about her.

Maya is doomed.

I created Maya with two things in mind: she is Daron's attendant and she is doomed. It’s impossible to talk about Maya without her relationship to Daron because even after she’s no longer a part of the story, these two characters are intertwined.

Maya’s backstory is that she trained her whole life to be nothing more than a servant. She excels in her duties, which is why she was sent to attend to Daron. This training resulted in Maya being completely unhinged. She goes as far as to ask Daron to break her arm once because she grabbed onto her when she thought she was in danger. Maya is not Daron’s friend; she’s more like a worshipper.

Other than Daron, Maya is the hardest character for me to write. At first, I made her aggressive to everyone but Daron, but during my second draft I thought that didn’t allign with Spiritwalker values, so I made her more emotionless. She’s often described as having eyes like coal and more often than not only speaks when Daron speaks to her first. This makes it hard to keep Maya from falling into the background, especially as I slowly add in my four other main characters. I fixed this by acknowledging Maya’s fall from being a main character. She questions if she’s good enough and desperately needs to know why Daron would want anyone else around.

As a member of the Spiritwalker Clan, Maya is very similar to Daron, but horrifically intensified. Daron changes throughout the novel and represents the future of the clan. However, Maya represents the clan's imperfect past and is therefore unable to change. This is why she is doomed.

I made an analogy around the middle of the novel where Daron thinks of herself and Maya as opposite ends of a spectrum. They grew up with very different expectations and circumstances, but ended up so similar that those opposite ends almost touch. As Daron changes, she sees Maya as less like herself and questions if she ever was at all.

Maya only cares about Daron and doesn't interact with other characters much, but she does have some banter with Aria, as she is the only character to call Daron out. Aria refers to Maya as "little sheep" because of the way she always follows Daron around. I didn't intend for this, but love the accidental connotation of Aria, a character associated with wolves, referring to Maya as a sheep because Maya ends up being a wolf in sheep's clothing. Aria is also the only character to see that Maya is doomed. Not even Daron sees it until it is too late. Or maybe she doesn't want to see it.

In the end, Maya is her own demise, but the old Spiritwalker ways needed to die. Her death is Daron's push to change the whole clan and not just herself. That's why she is more important than any other character.

Because Maya's character is intertwined with Daron, here is a conversation with both of them that encapsulates her character:

“Do not hold yourself back, Maya. I want you to have fun.” “I will do whatever you ask of me, Lady Daron.” I shook my head. “I do not want you to have fun because I said so. I want you to do it for yourself.” “Myself? I am nothing on my own.”

Spiritwalker taglist (ask to be added or removed): @the-golden-comet @pixies-love-envy

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Honestly? This chapter took a lot of time to show us the full range of worldwide reactions and while I respect it, doesn't offer much to say we haven't already. This is still a very cool element; the reaction is so scattered and that says a lot about the character of these different lands we traversed. Mock Town laughing their ass off with the cynical take is a favorite. But man was it fun seeing Hina, Margurite, Paulie, Boodle & Shushu was a hit. Always love that type of thing.

Predicting the earthquake for credibility was cool on Vegapunk's part. Very intriguing seeing a Celestial Dragon not knowing about the Void Century. Like, even as a basic concept. We've set this up with Doffy's backstory you know, some of them may be atrocious but it's the only life they've ever known and that makes them a victim of circumstance too.

Chapter was pretty light on the main cast actually. Given what we've seen so far it has me looking for anything that doesn't really add up but so far it's playing straight. Even if it's not a full-blown cutaway segment the broadcast for now is an excellent way to distract us and create another weird gap like last night or the food pile.

Vegapunk calling the earthquake too made me think of that. How it strikes worldwide but within that gap in time last night. Something that might have shaped things you know? And of course Robonosuke is still floating around. Which makes me wonder about Edison's plan here. Logic is sound, expand the cloud layer and you can drop right into the sea. Not to diminish his little guy energy pulling it off...but Egghead's done this so much I have my doubts it's that easy of an answer. You're still very vulnerable scooting across the cloud.

Heh, more York dashing around in the lab. Yeah...I chose that over the Mother Flame. No shame. I know what I'm about. The snailhunt is fun. The Gorosei are getting desperate and the more they do the more they run into that territory of desperation making someone's moves predictable. We start a notion here too with the narration that altogether makes me think about that possibility all these gaps hide some unknown interloper.

After all we've seen of Vegapunk, if this broadcast is taking over narration duties in the story I care so much about places he's talking about predictions and the limits of his own knowledge. We haven't seen it flip over into an unreliable narrator like Oden, or Kuma, or smaller examples just yet...but you're teetering on this. And that will change the whole tone of this segment.

This is why Toki is such a great card to have hanging around as a loose thread. Vegapunk so far seems like he really doesn't know much more than Robin would. Less I'd argue though there is a possibility he's picked up a stray Poneglyph or too. From the sounds of it he may have taught himself to read them which I can buy tbh. But his angle seems to be the start of the Void Century. Toki is interesting because she's born more towards the end of it. So capping off with something that made its way in through her is a great way to turn Vegapunk's message on its head.

[acacia-may]

Hi Acacia! 💕

Could I have 1, 15 and 24 for your ask game?

Hi Lola! I'm always so excited to hear from you. Thank you so much for the ask and for playing this writing excerpt game! 🥰 I chose exclusively from my BC library for you and hope you’ll enjoy these 💕

1 An excerpt of my writing that makes me smile

If you'll indulge me, I think I'll pick two! ^^ Since I just reread this and have really been thinking about Lorelei a lot recently, here is a snippet from "Lucky" which tells the backstory of how Henry and Lorelei first met when they were children (he's 10 years old and she is 9 here). It was fun writing about a little bitty Henry and giving him a friend since he's so lonely. Just one of those wholesome stories that gave me a lot of warm & fuzzies to write! 💕

Henry’s cheeks turned a bit rose when he realized what he had said, but Lorelei just laughed. “So you’re a mind reader? Can you tell me how I’m feeling right now?” Henry pursed his lips together. It usually didn’t work the way Lorelei thought. He mainly picked up on subtle differences and changes in mana signatures. What she was asking him to do know would essentially be reading her mind, but… “I can try.” Closing his eyes, Henry took a deep breath and searched for Lorelei’s mana. Once again he was struck by how warm it was in the softest, most gentle way. He could almost think of what it reminded him of, but he still couldn’t put a word to it. And he certainly couldn’t figure out her emotion from it. “I don’t know…” he admitted at last with a defeated sigh. He decided to make an educated guess. “Disappointed?” He would have been disappointed if he was her given the circumstances and the fact she would be stuck with him in this dreary old house when they grew up. “No,” she replied, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “I’m happy.” “Why?” The question slipped out before he could stop it. “Because you’re Henry Legolant, and you’re nice. I guess I really am lucky.” Henry’s face flushed a deep red, and he stumbled over his words until he eventually managed to choke out, “Lucky?” “Mhmm…like my magic. It’s lucky magic, and even if it’s weak, it still makes good things happen for me. Like when I almost fell down the stairs, but you saved me. And my parents picking out a stranger for me to marry when I get older, but he’s actually really nice and my friend.” “Friend?” Henry repeated the word incredulously. He shook his head in disbelief. Had she really said they were…? Could they really be friends? “Of course we’re friends, silly,” Lorelei chuckled, and Henry blushed red as he wondered if it was, in fact, Lorelei who could read minds. He felt the heat rising in his cheeks as a warmth began to spread through his chest; however, he stared down at his twisting hands and bit his lip. “I’ve…I’ve never had a friend before...” Lorelei hummed. “Well…you’ve got one now,” she replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and Henry could feel her sincerity in the flickers of her kind, comforting mana. As it swirled around him almost like a warm blanket, a smile tugged at his mouth, and he realized what it was her mana reminded him of. It felt like a home—the kind that he had only read about. Somewhere warm, cozy, and safe filled with family and friends who cared for each other. It was only a distant dream for Henry, but…now he had a friend so, perhaps, he could have a home someday too.

I also wanted to include an excerpt from "First Christmas" which is a fluffy little story about all the future Black Bulls celebrating together and trying to make the holiday truly special for Yami and Charlotte's son (since it's his very first one!). This snippet has some YamiChar and Rillmy, so it especially makes me smile! ^^

“Hey!” protested Finral. “You guys are so mean to me. You’re both married and no one ever gives you a hard time about it.”  “That’s because Rill is wonderful”—Charmy beamed at him—“there’s nothing to give me a hard time about, and we were all waited for years for the Captain and Charlotte to get together. When they finally did, we were just so relieved that they had stopped being so dense.” “Charmy, Rill didn’t even know who you were for how long…” bantered Vanessa. “We actually told him that you were his ‘food goddess,’ and he still didn’t get it. I don’t think you get to tease anyone for being dense.”  “That was a mistake,” said Rill apologetically. “But I know who she is now, and we’re very happy!” Finral patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. These things happen.” “He’s still not as dense as Captain Yami,” said Zora dryly. “Listen, I got married before any of you morons so I don’t think I’m the dense one here.” The room grew suddenly quiet as the entire squad just blinked at him. Yami frowned, as Charlotte’s cheeks flushed. She had learned pretty quickly that the Black Bulls had been waiting for her and Yami to get together for almost as long as she had, but she was still getting used to getting teased about it. “She was sending me a lot of mixed signals, okay? I was just trying to be respectful.” Vanessa snorted a laugh before she rolled her eyes. “They weren’t mixed signals. She was totally into you—even Magna noticed.” “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? I notice things!” “We were honestly starting to get worried it was never going to happen,” teased Vanessa with a wink, completely ignoring Magna’s protests. “But you figured it out, and now you have this little one.” She turned to Charlotte with a smile, and as ran her hand across Katsu’s back, he turned to look at her with wide blue eyes that looked far older than his years. “And he’s such a cutie! Do you think he’s ready to be held again?” Charlotte nodded as she held Katsu out to her and said, “Sure. Go ahead” to the wide-spread protestations of the rest of the squad who were promptly told to wait their turns. Smiling brightly, Vanessa took the baby and began walking around with him to show off the decorations. “Hi Katsu. Aren’t you just the cutest little man? You look just like your dad—especially with all this messy dark hair. If only we could get him in a Christmas sweater like this.”  Yami frowned. “Don’t even think about it.” 

15. An excerpt of my writing from an old piece that I like

I've decided to choose an excerpt from the first Black Clover fanfiction I ever wrote, Yellow Flowers, (I think only the first chapter is posted to Tumblr, but all 3 chapters are on AO3 and my old FFN account). This fic is my take on the backstory of how Vanessa and Finral became friends shortly after Vanessa joined the Black Bulls, and I'm still really proud of it, even though I think I have a much better grasp on the characters now. This whole scene in final chapter is probably my favorite in the piece, but here's just a snippet of it:

Inhaling sharply, Finral's voice hitched. He turned his entire body away from her, but Vanessa watched as his shoulders began to shake. He sniffled and wiped his hand across his face, and she wondered if he was crying. She stared at him, frozen, her breath getting caught in her lungs and her insides twisting—a pang in her chest. She had felt this once before. Once, when she was in the market with Gordon, she had seen a lost child sobbing and wailing for his mother. She had tried to will her legs to move—to go over and comfort him—but she had frozen, just like this. By the time, she had managed to take a step forward, the boy’s mother had come running towards him and took him into her arms, crying herself. Vanessa had been so relieved, but it had struck a nerve in her and she couldn’t help but think of all the children who didn’t have a family to love them—whose cries went unheard and who were all alone—children like her…like Finral. When she looked at him now, all she could see was a lost, crying child, beaten down so many times with those words: useless, worthless, coward—until he believed them. Her arms seemed to move on their own as she wrapped them around Finral—holding him tightly. “Va…Vanessa,” he half-gasped, half-choked, and Vanessa pulled back slightly. She had never hugged anyone before and worried it had made him uncomfortable. She was beginning to wonder if she should have asked him first, when his stiff shoulders softened and he wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes widened. She had never been hugged either. Since they were around the same height, she pressed her chin to his shoulder and pulled him close. She could feel him shaking—hear his shallow breathing, and she knew he was crying. Something prickled behind her eyes. She didn’t know what to say. She felt…helpless. “I’m so sorry” was all she could manage.   Eventually, he broke away from her wiping his eyes with a breathy, self-deprecating chuckle, “You must think I’m pretty pathetic...” “No,” answered Vanessa shaking her head. “You’re not pathetic at all. Your family is wrong about you. You aren’t useless. Your magic is defensive because you don’t want to hurt anyone—because you’re kind—and it’s incredible. I spent most of my life wishing for magic that could take me anywhere. If I had a power like that…” Vanessa’s voice trailed as she smiled bitter-sweetly off at the horizon. Her voice wavering, she let out a shaky sigh before she continued, “And running away—leaving your House—doesn’t mean you’re weak. Just think about it, you just decided to pack up your things and leave that awful place. You didn’t even have to be rescued…” She paused as her hands trembled, and the words got stuck in the back of her throat. “There are…a lot of people who aren’t strong enough to do that, and the fact that you did…that doesn’t mean that you’re a coward”—her voice hitched—“It means that you’re brave.” His watery eyes widening in shock, Finral’s jaw fell slightly slack. “Brave?” he whispered almost as if he didn’t believe it, and Vanessa nodded. Finral’s face was already red from crying, but she could tell a blush had filled his cheeks as a small smile formed in the corners of his mouth. “I’ve…never been called that before...” He chuckled lightly as his voice trailed. “Thank you, Vanessa.” Vanessa shrugged, but her face flushed. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

24. An excerpt of my writing that makes me go "huh...i wrote that?!"

I don't think I've ever mentioned this on Tumblr before, but I have a very cheeky Black Clover "Choose Your Own Adventure" story called "Surviving The House Vaude Soap Opera." (It was never posted to Tumblr so this is an AO3 link). You are Finral, and it's very silly, purposefully melodramatic, and tongue-in-cheek--definitely not supposed to be taken seriously at all. It started out as an actual game I created with my sister so it's designed to be read with a dice for really randomizing things, but you can also just pick the numbers you want 😅 Obviously it doesn't include every possibility but there are several endings and several possible pairings in there. It's fun but far and away the most wild thing I've ever written for Black Clover and I still can't believe I wrote it.

Here are some excerpts because I amuse myself...(each indented segment is a totally separate thing)

You realize the love of your friends is the only love you will ever need, and you live a long, happy, and unmarried life as uncle to all of the Black Bulls’ children. The… Who are we kidding here?! Roll the Dice.

You are too scared to express your feelings, so you run off to the Forest of Poisonous Beasts to hide out until Mereoleona Vermillion (who has money riding on this relationship) drags you out of there by force and makes you confess. To your shock, Vanessa reciprocates your affections and soon accepts your proposal. You marry. Mereoleona gets her money, and you’re so indebted to her that you name your daughter after her. The End.

Langris suddenly appears and goes off on you for always trying to steal girls from him—why can’t you just find some of your own? he argues failing to recognize that Vanessa was your friend first. It’s like some parallel universe when Langris insists that this time you just have a duel to determine who gets to marry her instead of drawing the whole thing out. He beats you easily and, then, marries Vanessa. To this day you can’t figure out his motives, but you like to think they’re happy and didn’t just marry out of spite or something. You settle down at House Vaude with Lady Finesse and live a quiet, happy life together believing that all’s well that ends well, right? The End.

Your brother Langris in a shocking display of kindness realizes you and Lady Finesse are deeply in love and out of the goodness of his heart—which you always believed he had (despite evidence to the contrary)—decides to step aside so the two of you can marry. 

Langris snaps at you that it’s none of your business and deflects the question before admitting that he can’t be with the woman he loves anyway so it doesn’t matter. Langris is capable of love? You’re so shocked and confused but desperately want to know the identity of this mystery woman. You push Langris for answers, but he refuses to tell you. 

You think some “liquid courage” may help you express your feelings to Vanessa and ask her to have a drink with you. After way more than just “a drink,” you end up kind of yelling “I love you!” at her in a drunken stupor and asking her to marry you to which she points out that the two of you are already married. 

In this category of "Huh? I wrote that?" there's also the entirety of Spite (but let's not talk about that...)

[maweallgotohell]

Jerome Valeska - articles pt. 1

তততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততত

তততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততত

pairing: Jerome Valeska x fem! reader

warnings: none

summary: reader is a journalist for the Gotham Gazette and has to write an article about Jerome. Her boss wants her to do an interview with the criminal and so she visits him in Arkham. But what happens when they develop feelings for each other and Jerome NEEDS to see her again?

তততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততততত

"Amazing! Simply amazing, Miss LN! I am very impressed.", your boss said.

You were working for the Gotham Gazette and for the last 3 months you were working on a very important project and articles about some of the more shady sides of Gotham.

Since Jim Gordon appeared and claimed to clean up the GCPD and Gotham itself, more people in town wanted to know what's really going on.

And so you were assigned to start a series of articles about Gordon's cases, which was meant to become quite important for the Gazette.

And it did.

By the time the first article was published, every single person in Gotham knew your name and who you were. Even a certain ginger boy already heard a lot about you.

And now, because of your great work, your boss wanted you to write another seemingly important article about a certain redheaded and incredibly dangerous villain.

Jerome Valeska.

You wrote about him before in the Gordon series but that was just from the views of the GCPD and citizens. Now your boss wanted interviews. With the man himself.

You had to admit you were a little scared when you were told to go pay him one or more visits in Arkham for those interviews you needed.

But you had to get over that silly little bit of fear, because you really wanted to write that article. It wasn't only important for the Gazette, but for your career too and you had to say that you were even quite interested in the villain's reasons and backstory yourself.

So when you stood in front of the Asylum, you straightened out your olive green pants and blazer again, took another deep breath and walked in.

Strange greeted you quite friendly and offered you a cup of coffee immediately, which you gladly took.

Yeah, you already had like 3 but if you were the one to meet a fuckin' psychopathic killer who murdered his mother with an axe, you'd need a huge amount of caffeine too, right?

When Strange left, he introduced you to a male guard, who seemed to be a little older than yourself but was kinda like two times your body size and height.

The guard was introduced as 'John' and the two of you shook hands. Then he showed you around Arkham in general first.

It seemed rather scary to you and you couldn't help but feel sad for anyone who had to spend such an amount of time in such a rotten place, no matter if they were killers and psychopaths or not.

You went through the cafeteria, the common room, med room and you were even allowed to look into some of the cells.

It was quite shocking to you because you thought the circumstances in an asylum weren't that bad. They were meant to care for the inmates. But this? Nobody deserved this.

After the tour the guard gave you, he said that he would now bring you to „Mr. Valeska".

He led you into an empty room, which was guarded by around 12 huge men. In the room was nothing but a metal table and two chairs.

John told you that they all would be outside and would watch through a one-way-mirror, so that Jerome couldn't pull any shit. This lowkey calmed you down but on the other side you knew that if he wanted to try anything, he could and would, no matter if there were guards or not.

So you just hoped that he didn't want to see you dead.

You took a seat on one of the chairs and John left the room with the words " Mr. Valeska will be here in around ten." and muttered a barely audible "stay safe", which kinda concerned you.

You put down your bag and took out your files, question sheets and your notebook. 

After going through them one last time and changing some stuff, the door opened and the dangerous ginger walked in. He grinned down at you, which caused a strange feeling to spread around your body and then he took the seat on the other side of the table in front of you.

" Hello beautiful", he said, dragging out the 'o' while sitting down, still grinning at you.

You nodded, now with an unusual and strangely shy behavior.

"Hello Mr. Valeska. How are you?", you said, trying not to stare at him and avoiding eye contact by scanning your notes intensely.

" Oh please, darling, call me Jerome.", he smirked. You felt heat rising up to your cheeks and just hoped that you wouldn't go all red over him and his sweet talk.

You nodded.

"Well I'm doing real great, ya know. Well, as great as an inmate in such a shitty place could feel.", he said with sarcasm lacing his voice, but you saw something hurt in his eyes and couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

You nodded again.

" But, more important is: how are you, beautiful? It's not really usual for pretty journalists like you to just walk in here and interview some strange and dangerous criminal like me."

God, that damn smirk.

"I'm fine", you said, trying to sound as professional and unshaken by his words as possible. " My boss liked my articles about the Gordon stuff and wanted something just as interesting. So he asked me to interview a criminal."

He smitten smiled and asked in a jokingly teasing, but kinda proud tone:" And you chose me?"

You nodded.

"Yeah. I thought it would be interesting to hear and write about your motives and views, considering that you were the head of the latest shocking crimes and probably the most dangerous and intriguing criminal of Gotham."

He seemed impressed and satisfied with your answer and a rather proud expression laid itself upon his features.

Speaking of his features, you were now examining everything about his appearance and how he spoke, not realizing you were staring.

"Like what you see, Miss LN?", he smirked smugly.

" Let's just start with the interview."

——————————————————————————

word count: 1007

So this is the first part of the 'articles' story. Hope y'all like it.

C ya

[noodleswithsoba-blog]

My Invincible OC: Jason Blake.

So... my Viltrumite Swap AU, or Thragg n' Nolan switch roles and the butterfly effect causes massive changes, namely... just who is Jason Blake, otherwise known as Invincible?

Quick Facts.

Name: Jason Cassius Blake.

Birthday: 11/2.

Favorite color: Blue.

Named after the Greek Hero, Jason.

Backstory.

"So wait... you're an alien, which means I'M an alien?"

"Is that concerning to you, son?"

"No! It's cool!"- Jason's reaction to being told the Viltrumite story.

Jason was born a while after Thragg arrived to Earth and took the name Thomas Blake. His wife, Reyna, was already a heroine and impressed him with her strength. Reyna's looks prevailed over Thragg's in Jason's case, giving him golden eyes and golden hair.

The circumstances of Jason's birth actually made Thragg a little nervous, unsure if his wife's great strength would allow for their continued survival.

Little did Thragg know that his choice of wife combined with his already buffed Viltrumite strength would give Jason an edge over most enemies.

Throughout Jason's early days, Reyna and Thragg would swap taking care of him. Reyna saw it as bonding between father and son. She was right, of course...

Unfortunately, like the mainline universe, Life has a way of making tragedy happen to the main character no matter what. Turns out Reyna's mutation was rebelling against her body, with symptoms reminding Thragg of the Scourge Virus.

She made him swear to raise Jason to be kind, to fight for his home, because the baton is passed to him now.

Having also become a Guardian of the Globe, Jason grew up with the other guardians being a sort of fictive aunts and uncles. So he wasn't without love or care, just that Thragg tried his best to put walls between him and his son so he couldn't feel too much.

But Thragg had to become both Mother and Father to his son, and this is where he begins to change.

Personality.

So, Jason was raised by Thragg, which made him put aside a lot of his feelings to accomplish his goals. He also inherited his mother's hotbloodedness and some optimism from her too. It borders on being naive, which is what kills Thragg the most.

Jason's also kind of a fighter, having a scrappy style that's dirtier than most. He tends to get snappy with Rex and butts heads with Robot because he hates how logical he is.

He may be the smartest thing in the room, but Jason doesn't like the ideas Robot has. While they're right, he leans more towards his father's stories of conquerors and how they ended horribly.

He was encouraged to be part of the Teen Team as a way to get friends 'like him' that way he wouldn't feel alone... but he's oil and water with the guys.

Eventually, Rex and him get along.

But he's nice to Eve and Kate (and Amanda eventually.). Even with the Teen Team and going to school, Jason's still pretty lonely. His first power was super strength, then flight, then durability.

He's a very solemn kid sometimes. Even though the Guardians and his Dad are around, he feels like he's out of place. Unanchored, like any minute he's going to drift away.

Thragg did his best to raise his son as humanly as possible, but there's always this secretiveness between them. But he always seems to know if his son's in trouble.

Also imagine Thragg being involved in the parent's side of things when Jason was in Elementary School. Gossiping with the moms and chatting with the dads, because he sees it as coming across as more human.

Jason does okay in school, his father tried to push him to be in more programs and expand his horizons. Jason's pretty good at writing stories and really wanted to become a comic book writer so his dad's stories could somehow be kept up with.

In most encounters, Jason covers up his fear with confidence and is a little quippy. Until the absolute SLAUGHTER that is his father's 'education'.

Jason gets traumatized, Thragg flies away, after saying... "When you get stronger, come find me, son."

Not even an apology, not even a sort of way to put a bandaid on a bullet wound, just another goal. (Thragg's breaking too, which is why he leaves. he loves his son, and would do anything to not give him the same fate as his brethren, but here it is.)

Needless to say after the beatdown, Jason's angry. His anger is turned on any villains he encounters. Cecil's trying to rein him in but how can you calm a kid who lost the only parent he has?

The fact that Immortal lashes out at him is even tougher. He has no one, but he still helps. Why?

Because it makes him happy to see people live their lives, to just be. So Cecil uses that for structure, gives the kid some kind of peace. All he has to do is work for him.

Surprisingly, Allen and Jason get along famously. Two sorta himbos who just wanna life their lives and well, make silly mistakes sometimes get along.

He's extremely self-sacrificial, and refuses to be selfish, it doesn't contribute to his own code of survival. Sends him clashing against Viltrumite Prince Mark.

The Suit.

Art made Jason a suit, and instead of being similar to his father's, Jason got a cool yellow and blue suit with a bright blue cape and boots, but no pads. So it's similar to Mark's Blue and Black suit. Jason doesn't have the goggles because they'd break anyway.

Later on, the cape goes away and becomes the kilt-like form that Thragg has. This comes in Post Season-2, when Jason's more alone than ever and it's more of a comfort move for him.

Romance?

I honestly have no idea. I like him and Eve, but at the same time it'd take a little longer than Mark and Eve in canon, mostly because our boy is a little more closed off than Mark is. So yeah, if I ever get a solid way of putting them together, I will. Same counts for anybody else.

If any of you have ideas, please feel free to share them!

[color-coded-bear]

DSMP Hotel Del Luna AU

Hotel Del Luna is a K Drama that I'm very fond of, so of course I made a DSMP AU with it. I had even planned a fic for it that I never actually got around to writing.

There exists a hotel that caters only to ghosts and spirits, unseen to the human eye. Of course, that doesn't mean the living don't stumble upon it.

Ranboo comes across a hotel in some less than desirable circumstances (spoiler alert: he almost dies), and strikes a deal with the hotel owner, Wilbur, in order to keep living.

The deal? When he's old enough, Ranboo will return to the hotel and become the hotel manager; the only position in the hotel taken by a living person.

When Ranboo finally returns to the hotel to take the position of hotel manager, meets the ghostly staff;

Quackity, Techno, Niki, and Tubbo

Although he learns that ghosts arent the only ones occupying the hotel;

There's Philza, the Grim Reaper/Angel of Death, who helps deliver spirits to the otherside when their time comes.

And there's Bad, Dream, Sapnap, and George. Deities, who- well actually, Ranboo isn't entirely sure what they do.

Ok, incomplete fic outline time:

At the Doorstep (A Deal is Made): Ranboo comes across a hotel in less than desirable circumstances (spoiler alert: he almost dies) and strikes a deal with the hotel owner.

This isn’t Goodbye: The old hotel manager, Karl, has died, and it’s time for him to move on. A deity comes to see him off. (a lil bit of Karlnap, as a treat)

I Can’t Believe You’re Working With Dead People and You Didn’t Tell Me: Tommy notices that Ranboo is acting off about his new job, and decided he's gonna trail him and find out why (Tommy learns about the hotel and decides he wants to help)

Too Far Gone: A ghost escapes the hotel seeking revenge and becomes an evil spirit. A deity steps in. (Dream kills an evil spirit oOoo)

Title TBD: Ranboo and Tubbo bond over helping a (ghost?) child named Michael

Title TBD: While hanging out with Wilbur outside the hotel, Ranboo and Tommy run into some acquaintances/friends. Normally this would be chill, but Wilbur is acting weird now

Title TBD: Ranboo and Tommy learn about reincarnation, and suddenly, a lot of Wilbur's weird behavior is starting to make sense

So Long and Goodnight: Tommy and Ranboo really didn't plan on telling their dad (Sam) about the hotel, but that changes when a familiar face appears at the hotel (AKA breaking my own heart with some AwesamPonk)

Title TBD: After a particularly nasty disagreement between Tommy and Wilbur, it's revealed that Tommy is the reincarnation of Wilbur's little brother, who he lost before getting the hotel

When you reach the top there's nowhere else to go but: The story of two brothers in search of a home (aka Wilbur backstory)

Lily White and Poppy Red: Wilbur's change of heart

Title TBD: Tubbo finishes his business and finally moves on +Tubbo backstory

Title TBD: Techno finishes his business and finally moves on +Techno backstory

Title TBD: Quackity finishes his business and finally moves on +Quackity backstory

Title TBD: Niki finishes her business and finally moves on +Niki backstory

Title TBD: With Wilbur's change of heart, he can finally relinquish ownership of the hotel and move on. And so it's time for Tommy and Ranboo to say goodbye

I had two ideas for an epilogue:

The glimpse at who would be the hotel's next owner (probably a Hermit). It would be an open ended epilogue though, because I had no plans to write any sort of sequel.

A glimpse of a future where they're all reincarnated together

(Both were unlikely to happen to be honest)

A prologue I couldn't decide if I wanted to write or not;

A Debt to Pay: Wilbur meets a deity, and receives a hotel for his sins.

The reason the Techno, Tubbo, Niki, and Quackity-centric stories were so vague is because I never actually figured out their backstories and their reasons for not moving on.

I had also wanted to add more chapters between the ones listed above, to space out all the serious plot stuff. Although to be honest,, I never actually thought about what they would be about.