#who is this grain character?!

[grian-in-a-plethora-of-places]

Whos this grain character?

Grain is on hermitcraft!

[sakasakiii]

not really a modern au but more like a weird future timeline thing where beach hermit maglor Hibernates™ all through the 2nd and 3rd ages & misses the last boats to Valinor.... thus resulting in him skulking about history until he ends up living among modern day humans haha?? the kicker is that he one day finds an abandoned baby thats all-too-suspiciously like a certain dead brother and becomes a single dad-younger brother-adopted guardian person...

i wrote a few pages of this back in 2022 but never really thought abt it further after i started posting less frequently hahaha.... heres just some feel good domestic sketches of this AU bc i miss drawing modern clothes 🤭 i have sooo many thoughts about it that i couldnt fit into these doodles !! its quite a lot of yapping so feel free to skip past the cut haha

assorted au thoughts:

i planned for maglor to eventually find all 6 of his brothers one by one through the power of Accidental Child Acquisition ✨ example: he'd spot a kid lurking around some woods near his home and eventually realise said wild child living amongst stray dogs is a bit too similar to celegorm

i just couldnt fit in the time to draw that this round... maybe next time!

though he's raising reincarnated-Maedhros, i think it makes more sense for him to give him a modern name and not explicitly call him Nelyo/Maitimo/Russandol just bc he'd not want to get his own hopes up or shove said identity onto the kid

(the occasional 'hey Nelyo' does slip out by accident from time to time however)

i think as Mae-the-kid grows up he will in time start to remember bits and pieces of his original identity? with the nicer familial things (like valinor, his brothers, feanor and nerdanel) first, and then the darker things (kinslayings, angband, war) once he's grown up that Maglor will struggle explaining or even helping him through

i promise this is a wholesome au 😭

side characters include a high-strung but good guy policeman named Officer Borden who's very suspicious of Maglor bc of all the random kids he keeps adopting.... and his younger brother Farren, who happens to be Maglor's scholarly coworker

as well as Maglor's next door neighbour Morgan, a witch-woman married to some guy named Hugh... she's got 3 kids who visit from time to time but from what Maglor's heard, the oldest son is followed by misfortune and has supposedly never met his youngest sister...?

credit to Ted Nasmith and Cartoon Network for some assets used in the doodles :D

[dustjacketmusings]

I do wonder what sjm is doing in her newest books because while rhys' actions frequently indicate he's a much worse character than the narrative claims, i don't think that's what she meant to do. She loves him and wants readers to love and forgive him. She's expecting her readers to suspend disbelief and go where the narrative tells them to go (and mostly they do)

So I'm seriously wondering why she had a likeable character stand up to him and say "you remind me of my abuser" in such blatant terms

She's clearly going to keep writing him as doing very dubious things to cause conflict and expects her readers to keep suspending disbelief for her, but it's significantly harder to do when she stops mid scene to go "THIS IS ABUSIVE - anyway isn't rhys great?"

This is some fourth wall breaking shit. Like, does she know? Why would she write it that way if she knows? Is it supposed to be ironic and failing badly?

I thought her plotting was bad, but this is seriously next level

[charbroiledchicken]

arcane season 2 introduction analysis incoming:

does anyone else find it really cool, but also very nerve-wracking, that the season 2 arcane introduction is referencing a bunch of well known tragic plays/musicals? we all know riot/fortiche isn’t one to put unnecessary details in, every single thing is either symbolic, a parallel or foreshadowing - especially in the introductions. so, could these chosen plays/performances foreshadow how the rest of the story could go?

i know that the caitlyn/macbeth poster parallels have been circulating a lot recently, and i think it provides a really good idea into how caitlyn’s arc might go. 

the events of act one positioned caitlyn in a perfect place to follow the storyline of macbeth. her current state (losing her mother, the trauma from jinx, etc) has made her predisposed to violence, much like macbeth. we can clearly see that in the caitvi betrayal scene, when she hits vi in the gut with a rifle, as well as in the fight before that, where she has no qualms with potentially killing innocents for the ‘greater good’. she was also thrust into a position of high power where she will be easily manipulated by ambessa. 

similar to this, macbeth is a story of a man thrust into a high position of power and unable to keep the blood off his hands, and he and his wife eventually go mad because of it. I think ambessa fits the role of lady macbeth here, and she has the potential to goad caitlyn (macbeth) into violent acts and atrocities while keeping the blood and blame off her hands. through caitlyn, ambessa now has significant influence and power over piltover and the fight with zaun. how will caitlyn, who is barely more than a pawn now, cope with this? macbeth slowly went insane in his attempt to maintain power - i fear for how caitlyn will fare. 

macbeth is a tragedy, by the way. 

i haven’t properly analysed the rest, but i think it’s interesting to know that the shot of jinx holding the flag is a reference to les mis (also a tragedy, as SPOILER ALERT all the characters die in their fight for freedom and fairness). the line is literally 'oh the misery'. if jinx rallies zaun to fight against piltover, is she leading them into a massacre?  

les mis is a tragedy. 

the shots of mel and ambessa lounging on the couch is a reference to julius caesar. it is a play of betrayal and caesar is betrayed by one of their companions. et tu, brute? brutus joins a conspiracy to assassinate caesar and prevent him from becoming a tyrant. does ambessa become a tyrant/bloodthirsty leader with her newfound power? will mel join the black rose and betray her mother in order to stop piltover’s destruction?

julius caesar is a tragedy.

one last thing. in all of these works, the main character of the story dies by the end.

so, safe to say, i am very nervous about what the introduction is foreshadowing. i have a feeling an important character is going to die.

arcane will be a tragedy. 

(viktor and the mask is also a reference to phantom of the opera but, as much as i love that musical, i haven’t analysed his shots yet so i haven’t included it)

[bhaalsdeepbat]

Lae'zel is like a play on the "I'm not other girls" thing, except she's trying SO hard to be like other Gith girls. She's trying to steel her heart and be a perfect soldier in the collective army serving beneath Vlaakith. No will of her own. Just blind servitude alongside the other Gith who are also denying their own individualism.

Rather than gutting the companions right then and there - as any other Githyanki would do - she joins them AND promises them a cure. A cure that was meant to be ONLY for Githyanki warriors. And she doesn't know about the lies or the fact that he cure is a death sentence, but she still extends that olive branch to the group. She'll speak up when she's grouchy and try to project a hard exterior, but she's SO secretly soft.

When you approach Rosymorn, she'll stay on that part of the map if you try to leave. Upon returning, you can make her admit she missed you.

You can make the strong Gith who was raised to pillage, kill, and conquer admit that she missed the player character.

Lae'zel isn't like other Gith Girls.

Her act two scene is trying to progress the romance as though it were between two Gith raised within that culture. It's a fight to prove your worth through your battle prowess, which makes only the best *warriors* worthy of companionship. However, it becomes clear that isn't want Lae'zel wants. If the player loses, and Bae'zel beats the fuck out of them, she becomes distraught because she doesn't WANT to fight her romantic partner.

She wants to mutually protect one another. She wants companionship with her partner. She wants to enjoy the sunrise with them, feel the tickle of the night breeze, see the Tears of Selune chase after the moon across the night sky, she wants to live and she wants to share those experiences with her love. She doesn't WANT to be the stone cold Gith that she was raised to be.

Lae'zel wasn't given any role to do with the eggs, but once the egg is in the party's possession, she's instantly drawn to it. When Xan hatches, she gives him a name to represent that he'll be raised to be free to be himself. He'll have the freedom to choose his own path, whatever that maybe. Xan DOESN'T have to be like the other Gith. He could be a scholar, an artist, a warrior, anything he wishes to be. It's his life and Lae'zel is just happy to see her little Xan be raised with the freedom she didn't realize she craved until she arrived on that silly little planet.

Lae'zel isn't like other Gith girls because no two people are the same, even if raised in the same circumstances and culture. Everyone is an individual, even when they serve a collective or are fighting alongside Allies with the same main goal.

Lae'zel isn't just a nameless, faceless soldier. She isn't interchangeable with other Gith. She isn't like the other Gith girlies.

[samssoulll]

Medium Joel and FBI agent Etho AU I'm working on! Here's what I'm thinking the summary will be:

"They talk to me."

“Who…?”

“The dead people.” Joel admits, barely above a whisper, as if he’s afraid the wrong person will hear it. There’s no one else in the room though. Just him and a special agent.

“The dead people talk to you?” Etho repeats, and he sounds doubtful, almost judging.

He thinks it’s a joke.

“Yeah, they-” Joel swallows, “They come to me with their unfinished business. Like justice, or revenge. I- I know this sounds crazy but you need to believe me-”

Or,

Joel is a medium who's sick of ghosts constantly pestering him, and Etho is a federal agent. They both want to solve a murder case for completely different reasons.

[bad-traffic-smp-ideas]

Sandwich life

Lifes are now designed with indregient instead of colors so

Red life

1 - bread

2 - ham

3 - cheddar

4 - tomato

5 - salad

Lifes are randomized at the start, only you know about your life's name but no one knows what those names correspond too

Watch them scatter around not knowing how many lifes they have just screaming "i'm tomato without any understanding of what it means"

Honestly just the phrase "I'm tomato without any understanding of what it means" alone is the best thing I've read all day

[qrichas]

btw! from twitter, some context from qforever and qcellbits convo

[markantonys]

just accidentally stumbled on an egwene hate reddit thread and everyone was bitching about how she tries to act like rand's equal when she's only the second-most powerful authority figure on the continent, and one sane person was like "well, balance was a huge theme of the series, so it's pretty clear that RJ did consider the dragon and the amyrlin two halves of a whole and that rand is meant to be egwene's equal co-authority rather than her superior" and of course they were downvoted to hell. and this one little thread just really epitomizes how the readers who approach WOT as a male power fantasy just fundamentally will never understand the series and its themes and the story it was ACTUALLY telling.

[sh1-n0bu]

my issue with the natlan characters being white (color, not ethnicity) is that

1: it doesn't make sense from a environmental standpoint. If they're based on all these places with more sun, wouldn't the natlan genetic pool have adapted so that those in hotter places have darker skin? for example: Mexico, Africa, India, any other country on the equator? (Not including European integration)

2: why blend all these cultures of color beautifully (i was so looking forward to an aztec based region) just to put a pale person in their place? We *know* they can put poc characters in their games. We have plenty of colored npcs, Arlan in Hsr, and even the eremites.

And 3: I saw an edit of the main three people have been upset about with darker skin (the green and black guy, little Geo girl, and white haired hydro girl) AND I COULDN'T EVEN TELL THEY WERE EDITED UNTIL I READ THE CAPTION. They were gorgeous, truly. The truth is, genshin's sales in other countries would spike if they made these new characters darker. There would be that much more representation, opening the community to others who would grow the community

Tldr: There's no reason to make these characters pale other than origin country specific beauty standards. Everyone, and I mean everyone, no matter poc or not, should refrain from spending money on genshin for the foreseeable future. It will be difficult to those used to buying their primogems, especially with the new Nilou skin dropping, (looking at you, whales) but we gotta.

And come on, the new Kirara skin can totally hold us over

exactly! hoyoverse CAN make darker skin tone but they just DON’T want to. a few example images i’ve gotten from the enemies

every enemy we have came across have a darker shade of skin than the playable ones. even the fatui enemy has a darker/ombre type of shade of skin color. and from what i’ve seen the new enemies in natlan had darker skin tone than these ones. i have another point i have forgotten to mention in my latest post answering abt the natlan situation and this may seem like a huge stretch but hear me out.

we all know and have heard of the ‘big black beast’ writing racism right? how media will portray POC as the aggressor, enemy, the wrong side, the abuser, the pet etc etc. basically using a character’s skin tone to hide their racism. and please take this with a bag of salt as i may be reading too deep into it here, but isn’t it odd how the enemies always end up having a darker shade of skin? not just entirely POC but south asian ones too.

paimon and traveler have always been shown to be wary of or even downright afraid of every darker skinned character they meet in sumeru. eremites are darker skinned and have POC features (dreadlocks), the new enemies shown in natlan trailer does as well (dark skin and POC feature like dreadlock). its almost as if they’re trying to do the ‘big black beast’ racism in writing thing

[valewritessss]

The amount of criticism and hate the wottg book is getting makes me scared to like it bc it feels like if I do then I’m doing something wrong😅

[rowrowronnie]

by jove i love weird girls i love when girls are allowed to be weird and aren’t shamed for it!!!!!! i’m a watermelon slammed into your driveway!!!!! crack me open so i feel the air inside me!!!!!!!!!!!!

[swagging-back-to]

worst trope is found family separating as soon as the antagonist is dealt with.

[ghost-y-toast-y]

He’s probably about to steal your door or something

[balljointedfae]

Grain WIP

[fuedalreesespieces]

one thing that always gets me whenever i read inuyasha modern au fics is that inuyasha is supposedly "the slacker" or the guy who doesn't try hard on anything academia related, and that always struck me as odd bc you're telling me inuyasha wouldn't be competing with, say, koga for rank 1? that he wouldn't study his ass off in the subjects he's actually interested in? that he wouldn't pour his everything into extracurriculars he cares about? he has his aloof moments in canon but ultimately he's a hard worker and i think that trait should be reflected in aus!

plus if we're thinking about the setting here, inuyasha's canon behavior is greatly influenced by his upbringing (and later lack thereof). putting him in an environment (modern au, lack of youkai discrimination) where his talents are cultivated instead of looked down upon would give us a very different character. it's always interesting to me whenever i see canon-typical inuyasha behavior in an au where his mom is alive because it suggests that his mistrust and gruff behavior are just part of his personality and not largely a result of childhood events. i feel like modern aus are an opportunity to see how he might have grown if not for the death of his mother + father & the consistent threat looming over him as a child. what would his personality be like then? how would his first meeting with kagome go considering that? his dynamics with his older brother? his goals? it's something that could be explored in a fic taking place in the feudal realm but it's kind of difficult to just subtract the discrimination aspect that comes with that setting...just things to think abt ig!