#would this not apply to the other ships as well? like the wording is vague enough to apply to literally any of them I think

[quibbs126]

Id say it's more nuance. Like they are two halves of the same whole. The themes show a messy tragedy in the making. The whole "they can make them worse" and general toxity makes for interesting potential. The craving to place the lil guys in angsty situations that break further and further until SOMETHING bleeds

Itbjust depends on the creativity of the person making the content lol

Just some old people with beef

I’m sorry to the anon who asked this originally, but I was going through my inbox for something, and I came across this

And I no longer have any context as to what this was about

My brain is like “…is this about Transformers?”, but this is too old to have been an ask about that, not to mention I don’t really get Transformers asks

Honestly my best guess as to what this could have been was Golden Cheese/Burning Spice or just generally Beast/Ancient related. Some of the other surrounding asks seem to date this around the Burning Spice update, so that would make sense, but I’m not sure why I’d ask about that because I’m pretty sure I’ve made my stance that I don’t really like those ships

Oh wait, it might have been about me wondering why mysticcacao and goldenspice weren’t that popular/generally disliked ships, but shadowvanilla/vanillamilkshake was. I’m remembering now I didn’t really understand that (tbh I still don’t but I don’t really care that much anymore)

[saintsenara]

Hi! I just wanted to ask: what advice would you give someone who wants to start writing fanfiction for the 1st time, without any real writing experience? Have a nice day!

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

i'm always honoured to be identified as someone who might have something meaningful to say about writing - and so i always worry about doing justice to questions like this without coming across as being flippant.

because i don't think its ever worth giving advice on writing style or techniques, because these are so inherently subjective. i am an unabashed plantser - i have a vague idea of how i expect a story to go [and i always skip to the ending first, harry burns style], but i let the muses take me where they will otherwise - and this obviously affects everything else about my writing process: whether i like to stick to a specific posting schedule [no]; where i begin in a scene [dialogue]; whether i prefer short or long pieces [yes]; what sort of themes i want to look at; my attitude towards the source material [i believe in the value of canon coherence, but i'm not drawn towards trying to make my work unclockably canon-compliant]; what i find useful to receive from others during the writing process; and the fact that i like to play with genres, themes, and pairings.

if these things don't apply to you - and there's no reason why they should, even after you've been writing fic for a century - then i don't think i'm qualified to give you any advice on how you should go about putting words on a page.

but i do think i can give you something.

because if you want to start writing fanfiction - as is the case for everything else you will want to start doing in your life - there is only one key principle to bear in mind:

fortune favours the bold

by which i mean, at the most basic level, that the only way to start writing fanfiction is to... start writing fanfiction. the only way that you'll ever know if it's something you enjoy doing - and what it is about it that you like, what you find instinctive, what you don't, what your "voice" is, which characters you find harder than others to bring to life, what techniques you'll use to plan, how your work will be received, how that will make you feel, how your style will change the longer you write, and so on - is to grit your teeth and just take the leap.

but i also think that remembering that fortune favours the bold is a fandom principle which serves us all very well in a context broader than just tapping out fics while hunched over our keyboards.

because boldness is synonymous with courage - and writing something and putting it out into the world does take courage! - but it's a courage which has quite a distinctive style.

boldness is not solemn, quietly-enduring, captain-going-down-with-his-ship bravery. to be bold is to be audacious, daring, cheeky, innovative, and a little bit irreverent. it's not someone saying mournfully over your coffin "she fought bravely to the bitter end" - it's someone looking at you in awe and saying "how the fuck did you pull that off?"

and this matters in fandom. because participating in fandom - whether you end up writing fic or not - takes a hell of a lot of brass neck.

after all, each of us has ended up here because we looked at canon and said "sorry - did you think you were done?"

and then - when canon got flustered and started stammering - each of us has rolled our eyes, rolled up our sleeves, and said "don't worry, hen. you can leave it to me."

to be in fandom is to have the audacity to treat the text as a springboard - rather than something which remains behind glass in a museum. it's deciding to fling the characters we love into genres they don't originally come from and revelling in the chaos which ensues. it's finding missing moments and daring them to be just as important as a canon scene. it's the fun of wildly improbable alternate universes - from dystopian horror to coffee shops. it's cheerfully ignoring that there's a point canon thinks its story ends - whether that's finishing narratives which end unsatisfactorily or just playing with happy-ever-after. it's taking two characters who never interact in canon, winking at the camera, and making them kiss. it's taking two characters who never interact in canon, winking at the camera, and making them fuck. it's having the time of your life becoming a malevolent deity and making a character suffer.

while it might not always feel this way, at its core fandom is fun. and it's fun in a way which is quite unusual in this day-and-age - in that it's something we get to shape for ourselves, rather than having to engage with a product according to the whims of the corporation marketing it. it lets us be indulgent without calling us greedy. it lets us chatter away at each other without calling us unproductive. it lets us be sincere without requiring performative earnestness from us. it lets us engage with the uncomfortable and the lurid without the bland sanitisation of respectability.

and it allows us to be hopeful.

and i have always been struck by just how much about fandom rests on hope.

to believe that the dead can live happily in another universe, to believe that time-travel can fix things, to believe that bad people can get their comeuppance, to believe that good people can be imperfect and it doesn't matter one bit, to believe that those who are hurt can be comforted, to believe that justice can be done, to believe that villains can be redeemed, to believe that an insignificant background character matters just as much as the hero, to believe that things can be better - whether your story is overthrowing a corrupt government or letting two people enjoy themselves uncovering a kink, to believe that the most improbable people can love each other - romantically or not... all of this takes hope.

and hope takes boldness.

so be bold and start writing.

be cheeky. take risks. be your own biggest fan. be irreverent. be cunning. recognise that not taking fandom too seriously is self-protective. be self-indulgent. have some self-awareness. be collegiate. gas up your friends whenever you can. be nice to your commenters and try and give them the benefit of the doubt if they express themselves poorly. be curious. regard disagreement as interesting. be compassionate. be tenacious. be prepared to write stuff that flops. be prepared to write stuff that gets left on the drawing-board. be prepared to write stuff people hate. be prepared to write stuff you hate. be audacious. believe you can do it. be hopeful. be daring. be brave. and be bold.

because i promise you that, even if you've never written a word of fic before, you can write your way into and out of anything - any fic, any trope, any pairing, any characterisation choice, any plot hole, any setting, any premise - and have fun and look good doing it.

if you simply have enough nerve.

[wooyoungisbaby]

Precious

My entry to the 18+ ateez server's Guess The Author event that we held :)) Read it on AO3 here, if you'd prefer! It's a little event where those who want to participate, write a <500 word ficlet about a prompt. This time, the prompt was "Precious" :)

Words: 496 · Rating: T · Characters: Hala!Wooyoung, mentions of both versions of San · Ships: Can be read as romantic or platonic woosan · No archive warnings apply · Additional tags: Unresolved angsty ponderings, vaguely mentioned past trauma, Choi San needs a hug, Halateez & Ateez

Wooyoung knows San well. Like the rest of the Black Pirates, they’re tight knit. Have been for years. They’ve worked together and seen each others’ successes and failures up close and personal. Every bit of celebration and grief in graphic detail. 

Although… Since the other group, the idols - Ateez, stumbled their way into this dimension, he has found himself questioning how well he truly knows his old friend. 

It’s the other San. His way of existing messes with Wooyoung’s head. 

The idols are, in essence, the same as them. They have the same DNA and the same natural tendencies, they’ve just lived vastly different lives. No doubt they’ve faced many hardships, living in the spotlight and having the burden of millions of eyes on them, scutinising. Expecting. No life is easy, but those are lives they wanted. Lives they chose. Lives they willingly worked towards because those were their desired paths.

Wooyoung has never had the luxury of choice. Neither has San. 

Their existences started out black, white and grey, void of meaning. The blooming colors that the idols have been surrounded by since birth, the Black Pirates have had to fight tooth and nail to even see glimpses of.

Yes, Wooyoung knows San - his own San. Knows his carefully crafted persona; a right hand to Hongjoong, skilled and ruthless. Perceptive and analytical, and sharp as a knife. Never one to back down from a challenge. Never afraid to charge head first into danger if he believes it will help their cause. He knows how San became like this, too, has seen the reality of the world they live in first hand. Seen the danger that comes with challenging that reality. 

San is strong, because he has to be. He’s razor sharp because if he were not, people might get a chance to hurt him - or worse, put the team in danger. 

Wooyoung knows what San is like behind the scenes, too. What he’s like when he’s not actively trying to intimidate the enemy into submission with a single, fiery gaze. He’s seen him calm, seen him resting. 

Sometimes he closes his eyes, trusting that the others will keep watch for a beat. 

But looking at San the idol, prods at something within Wooyoung. Like a physical stir inside his chest, one that he can’t control. 

This other San is soft. On purpose. His expression is honest and open. He bodily leans on his team mates and pets their hair, holds their hands.

He smiles and laughs, openly. Easily. 

And Wooyoung can’t help but wonder. If his own San hadn’t been on the run his entire adult life, if he hadn’t had to look for danger around every corner, if he had ever been safe enough to let himself stop sharpening the knife of his heart for even a second... If his features, too, would shape themselves into that soft, vulnerable expression. If he would close his eyes and lean on Wooyoung.

If he would laugh.

[lenreli]

Day 28 - Cruise Ship

[AO3] 2022 Hob/1389 Dream from @windsweptinred’s post! Yesterday’s drabble with 1389 Hob/2022 Dream was part 1, technically. It’s time travel stuff. Part 3: 2022 Dreamling.

-

Hob isn’t sure how he ended up ― well, he’s pretty sure he’s in the Dreaming. Though, not like he’s used to, once he sees Dream, and he wonders if that contrived death by cruise ship maybe messed something up in his brain. The memories are vague, but he’s pretty sure his death was like one of those rube-goldberg machines of death in that horror movie after those kids miss that plane with a vision and― 

“Robert Gadling?” Dream’s voice cuts off his thoughts, which he’s glad about, opening his mouth to answer until he looks at Dream. With shoulder-length hair. And a ruby around his neck, looking much like when they first met in 1389. And unlike the Dream he knows, greeting him with a dark scowl. “How did you get in here?”

“Ah,” he frowns, scratching his head, looking down at the clothes he definitely died in, in 2022, “good question. Dunno,” he shrugs, brain pulling up that one really weird dream he had in 1389 ― or thought was a dream, until right now, the memories hazy between Dream’s moans and his wet cunt, but he was at the New Inn, he realises. Not a dream, then. “Time travel, maybe?” 

Dream gapes at him, brows furrowing and staring at him intensely, probably using whatever extra senses. “Why here, then?” Dream asks, arrogant, body straightening like he’s trying to be more intimidating, hands clasped in front of him, robe billowing. 

“Probably because we already met in the Waking World, at this point, Dream,” he points out with a smile, and Dream startles, eyes widening and stepping away from him. He’d tell Dream about what his past self did to a future Dream but―probably a bit much for this Dream, practically tight-laced and skittish. “You’re very tense,” he says, stepping closer. “I’m not here to hurt you, Dream,” he says, voice soft. 

Hob thinks of ― well, kissing Dream, touching him softly, unsure if Dream can see it. But Dream makes a sound, cheeks flushing red, blue eyes darting away from him. “That―you do not want that,” Dream falters.

“I’ve had 600 years of fantasising about you,” he says, and Dream inhales sharply, whether it’s from the amount of time, or the other thing, “I’m pretty sure I want it,” he steps closer, and Dream doesn’t step back, shock giving away to amazement. “I want to touch you,” he says softly, bringing a hand up to touch Dream’s cheek―the first time he’s ever touched Dream.

“The rules,” Dream says and Hob sighs, leaning forward to kiss Dream chastely, who freezes like he expects judgement.

“Fuck those,” he mutters, can feel Dream mouth the words against his lips, “whatever bullshit that is, doesn’t apply to me,” Hob says, hands going down to a pale throat, covered with high collar, and Dream chuckles, the sound abrasive, disturbing and wonderful. 

“A man like you would say that,” Dream relaxes incrementally into the kiss and Hob nods, pressing Dream against a convenient wall, a hand going to a pale wrist, parting from Dream’s pink mouth to nip at the inside of it. “Gadling,” Dream ― whines, almost, eyelashes fluttering as he nibbles at the soft skin on his wrist, fingers gently going up under his black robe.

“Hob, please,” he says, kissing Dream’s wrist and knuckles, and in a quite smooth move that he’ll pat himself on the back for later, twirls Dream around, Dream’s back pressed against his front, and Hob licks up a pale throat to nibble at the shell of an ear. 

“Did you not―“ Dream pants as his other hand goes up Dream’s chest, feeling what he’s pretty sure is unneeded breaths. “Want to touch me?”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years, is that anticipation can be really, really satisfying,” Dream whimpers, one of Dream’s hands coming up to clutch his hair as he holds Dream close to his body, feeling a lukewarm warmth. Dream smells like forests and oceans. Hob hums, hand on Dream’s chest going down slowly, until it reaches black pants, thumbnail pressing into Dream’s hips, down to covered thighs ― and Dream makes an annoyed sound, arching up into his thumb, and Hob looks down, Dream’s cock hard underneath the fabric. 

“Hob,” Dream whines, relaxing even more into his hold and Hob shudders, nosing at Dream’s soft hair, pressing light kisses into it.

“Are you sure?” He asks, feeling Dream’s nod against his face, Dream’s deceptively strong body making him breathless with how Dream’s arching into him, against his own hard cock, pressed against the other’s arse. “Can I get that in words?” Dream practically growls, head twisting to bite at his chin and nose, eyes black and endless. 

“Hob Gadling,” Dream’s voice booms throughout the room, through his body and he shivers, cock throbbing at the intensity, “either fuck me or touch my cock, but stop teasing,” Dream decrees. 

Hob moans, both of their clothes suddenly vanishing, and he whimpers at the feeling of Dream’s naked body against his. Mind scrambled, his fingers dig into Dream’s thighs, other arm across Dream’s waist, and between one breath and the next, he’s inside Dream, walls hot and tight around his dick and he keens, biting Dream’s shoulder as they moan, pleasure spiraling quickly as he rocks into Dream. 

“Yes,” Dream breathes, the hand in his hair almost painful, Dream’s other hand covering the one on his thigh as they come together.

[cryptid-crawly]

Advice for Writing Fanfic

Assume your readers know what’s up. People read fanfic because they are, well, fans. Write with the assumption that your readers know the basics of the source material.

Don’t rewrite canon scenes unless you’ve significantly changed them. Whether it’s and AU or canon divergence, reading a play-by-play of the exact same scene as in canon (or one nearly identical with few or cosmetic changes) gets really old really fast. If there’s an important minor change, reference it in an original scene. If nothing changed and it’s canon divergence, your readers will assume it’s the same as canon. Want to rewrite an iconic canon scene in some vastly different AU? Change it up. Identify what elements of the scene are the most important and make something new that keeps the essence of those things.

Do not change your tags after the fact. To elaborate: this *specifically* means that you shouldn’t tag your fic with something only to go “ah-ha! It was a red herring!” and delete the tag later. Don’t do that. (A very dramatic example is tagging the fic as Everyone Lives/No One Dies and then deleting that later so you can have a surprise character death). Yeah, you might change your mind. In that case, let your readers know in the Author’s notes. But don’t do this on purpose.

Don’t worry about spoiling your plot. Have the greatest plot ever? Awesome! But people aren’t reading fanfic for new and original ideas (it’s transformative work for a reason). It’s great to write a complex and compelling story, but remember that first and foremost, people read fanfic to have a comfortable and familiar experience. It really really sucks to read 50k of something only to have a new tag/element thrown in as a surprise twist, when you intentionally try to filter that stuff out.

Write your summary to reflect what tropes/ships/setting your fic will have. This is part of not worrying about spoilers. Again, you may have a fantastic idea, but if you’re too afraid of spoiling it you may leave out too many details in the summary and people won’t be interested. Let your readers know what this story is about! Don’t be afraid to spoil some of the plot—I guarantee you it will make some people excited to “get to that point” in the fic. (For example, if character A secretly being a werewolf is an early plot twist, maybe don’t worry so much about revealing that in the summary?)

Don’t say you suck at summaries in the summary. Just trust me on this one. Write a summary like you’re convincing yourself to read the fic. Slap it on and go.

Stop using greenette, [color]-ette etc. That’s not done in published fiction.

Read published fiction. I don’t care what you read but read some of it occasionally. Otherwise you get used to the way that other fanfic writers write and ily all and am blown away by the creativity people put out into the world but many writers are new and learning and you’ll pick up bad habits. I personally recommend reading literary classics because 8 times out of 10 the writing is legit good. Not always, but it’s easier to guarantee good quality then just picking a random book.

Write for yourself. Yeah, whatever, this is lame advice. But it’s also true. Write what you want to read, otherwise you probably won’t have any fun. Eventually you’ll get to a point where you’re confident in your writing and you can go back and read your stuff and go “I am the funniest motherfucker in the room” and you’ll be right. (Replace “funniest” with whatever genre term applies to you. Like “angstiest”. Ignore that that isn’t a word.)

Comment on other people’s fics with questions. So technically this goes with the read published works one but it applies to both. The point is to develop literary analysis skills. When you read anything, think about it. Vague and unhelpful advice? Hell yeah that is. So if you want some concrete starting places: when you’re reading fic, ask yourself if you agree with how the author characterized your fav. Why did they act that way? Would you have written it that way? And engage with the author! This doesn’t mean point-blank saying “well I would’ve written it like this…” but if you notice a character decision you agree/disagree on or is interesting, simply ask “hey [xyz] scene/moment was interesting, why did you decide [blorbo] would do that?” Understand why authors made the choices they did in their writing. Learn. Grow. Flourish. Take over the world.

Occasionally revisit the source material. Reread or watch it or whatever applies. Dump fanon out of your head and think about the source. Please. I love you all, but please. Thank you.

To anyone who writes fanfic: I love you and thank you for sharing with the world. Hope this helps.

[stardustdiiving]

I would read your zhongxiao codependent yuri Like, I do generally picture them as a vaguely father/son dynamic BUT THAT IS NOT CANON. It's just as much fun to view them through a romantic interpretation! Idk why people can't view the same characters in different kinds of relationships without being weird about it.

Anyway I love your vision and would love to hear more about it lakdjs

THANK U SO MUCH Im not sure if I’m gonna write zx in the future since I’ve tended to be shy about posting my stuff relating to them for over a yr now, but I did post this fic with them last year while trying to get a hold on how to write them (mind the tags it’s pure angst omg). I was too shy to tag it as ship since it didn’t feel shippy enough, which is kind of funny to me in hindsight bc I reread it and am like. Man I think only a zx shipper would write this NUFNVJVJV

Post got kind of lot Im gonna go on a tangent about them under the cut

Honestly my theory for why ppl r very set on the father/son interpretation is everyone’s immediate thought on to how to make the power imbalance between them seem less uncomfortable is to apply a parental interpretation to it. Which is fine ofc, I get it, but the way ppl push it as canon a lot kind of grates on me a little bc they’re usually incredibly passive aggressive and pushy even if u clearly designate ur post as ship OTL

Also not really a fan of the characterizations either since ppl tend to treat Xiao like a moody teenager Zhongli has to reel in (this is hilariously reminiscent of the post I made about how ppl handle scaramouche and nahida a bit ago haha). And idk I just feel kind of polarized about the headcanon overall bc I associate it with people being really uncomfortable and frustrating about zx

I just like how there’s sort of an imbalance to them, some zxs like them being more fluffy and functional but I sort of like it where it’s not like, entirely dysfunctional but I’m prioritizing a specific kind of character study over romance. This tends to be how a lot of my ships go ngl I just sometimes enjoy the intensity/intimacy of romantic feelings thrown into the mix if it makes it interesting but I’m not often interested in a lot of my ships following more standard romance plots(?) I guess? Unless it’s specific ones. Which sounds clinical when I put it like that but this is just bc I am very aromantic NHFBVJVJ

When I say codependency in zhongxiao honestly it’s sort of a theoretical(?) codependency—not sure how to word it? I think Xiao would be really fucked up if he didn’t have Zhongli in his life suddenly but I don’t think his relationship with getting attached to people invokes what people would majorly think of when they think of codependency in a ship I suppose. It’s moreso I just feel Xiao could be at his worst with dehumanizing himself in comparison to other people with Zhongli, because said mental state is driven by how he feels about debt, service, and duty which are very closely tied with devotion and how he would feel about someone he considers his god and leader, as well as someone who saved him

It’s fun this is paired with Zhongli who generally knows how to work with Xiao kind of understands the self destructive depth Xiao’s loyalty/devotion comes with. Also fun they have been around each other for a very long time and Xiao as one of the adepti is familiar with the past I think Zhongli appreciates having around. They work but it’s also a case where Zhongli is in such a position of power over Xiao its kind of very delicate situation that’s hard for both of them to navigate. Which is fun to explore. I esp love contrasting it with other Xiao pairings (actually i think i still have that xiaoven fic up on my ao3 where I tried to convey a specific interpretation of them in a similar exploration vein too)

I totally get why people wouldn’t like it (I feel a lot of my opinions on xiao ships just clash with a lot of fandom consensus so bad all the time And it’s just bc I’m like this I’m not even trying to be contrarian or anything. HELDINCJD) but I just tend to handle shipping in a specific way. It’s not I don’t enjoy fluffy or lighthearted zl and xiao stuff I actually enjoy it a lot I just like there being layers. This makes it feel more impactful when I think about how Zhongli looks out for Xiao in canon or how Xiao gets like textually flustered talking to him (lantern rite 2023 was so tailored to my tastes it’s not even funny)

[22degreehalo]

Aaaaand I finally return with my next update for the Summer Fic Reading Challenge by @ficreadingchallenge!!!

And the end really is coming up, hahah... But I hope I will be able to finish the whole card before then! :)

Reviews/links under the cut~ Ships include Yuki/Kakeru, Aegon/Larys, Dirk/Jake, Archie+Jughead gen, Kirk/Spock, and Aegon/Helaena!

Domestic/Curtain Fic Like Fireworks in the Night Sky by PrincelyHairdos (86k, ongoing, Yuki/Kakeru) Uaaaaghhhhhhhhh OTL I really can’t recommend this fic enough if you want to fuck yourself up!!!!!! Yes, there’s the pining, and the achingly-sweet relationship between the main two boys, but they’re both in relationships at the start of the fic, and the story explores every little beat of the pain and awkwardness and tension of that premise!! None of the characters involved are bad people, and the story is equally sympathetic to all four of them, but Yuki is very much just forcing himself in his relationship with Machi (comphet up the wazoo), and although Kakeru and Komaki sincerely love each other, he and Yuki so obviously have this long-standing unintentional and unaware emotional affair going on that just gets more and more in between them! I chose this theme because so much of the Yuki/Kakeru relationship revolves around how comfortable around one another as uni students living in the same dorms; they’re not actual roommates, but they may as well be with easily they share their space, and it’s that pre-established and on-going easy domesticity that provides all the delicious, awful tension in their actual official relationships!

Rarepair Last Hope by Yarwrit (1.4k, Aegon/Larys) Of course for this theme I had to use a ship that I never possibly would’ve considered prior to that final episode of the show :’D But this fic was exactly what I wanted: Aegon’s despair and Lary’s quiet support; Aegon’s rationally skeptical of his sincerity, but so desperately needs some sort of a real friend, and the commonality between them as two disabled men rings true. Larys might well still just be manipulating him (I mean, that’s certainly at least part of what’s going on), but his attraction, at least, is real, and meaningful <3

Space AU it’s only a canvas sky by Mayleavestars (9.2k, Dirk/Jake) I really struggled with this theme for a while because I’m not much of an AU reader and all the space AUs I could find just felt like normal fics with a hand-waved set dressing. This fic was my saviour: the vaguely Star Trek universe setting relates perfectly to the long-distance communication Dirk and Jake had in canon, allowing for a dynamic that perfectly supports their canon personalities and relationship while giving enough of a twist to the formula to justify the AU. Oh, the pining; the rituals!

Angst love story (but it's platonic) by sharksarewaterdogs (2.8k, Jughead + Archie gen) Another soulmate mark fic, and another fun twist! Jughead's angst is super believable, not just worrying about himself but how Archie would feel to know that his soulmate is an aro/ace guy. But Archie is so sweet, and once the shock wears off, their friendship really does shine through! I always love to see a-spec fics with at least a lil non-fluffiness, and this was nice and cathartic <3

Author’s Oldest Fic The Word Withheld by j_s_cavalcante (12k, Kirk/Spock) Of course for this theme I had to go with one of the chronologically oldest ships I’ve been into, and what a beautiful fic I chose for that!! I have memories of AOS fic about Spock Prime encouraging his younger self tom seize the day and make the most of the time he has with Kirk, but applying that plot to TOS gives it all the more resonance given the way things turn out in the canon timeline. The quiet intimacy between Kirk and Spock is on full display here, and perfectly reminded me why I once read so many fics about these two <3

Bittersweet/Unhappy Ending lost innocence. By ProjectFreelancer (1.4k, Aegon/Helaena) :’( These two deserved so much better… Among all the longfic in this fandom I was soooo happy to see this shorter and more melancholy missing-scenes type fic, elaborating on this relationship we haven’t gotten to see nearly enough of, with a particular focus on the actually pretty damn traumatic circumstances of their marriage!! It ends on a positive note for the whole family… but we already know how this story ends. :(

And that's all so far!!

Of the spaces left, I have a definite fic in mind for 'Enemies to Friends / Lovers' (it's just a matter of finishing it first; could've done that before making this post but I've delayed long enough already :') ), and a potential something for Take Your Fandom To Work and Secret Relationship. I didn't expect that last one to be difficult given how much I love the trope, but maybe I just need to try some other pairings... And I've always figured it wouldn't be too hard to find something for Whump once I get in the mood, heh.

So with all that, it'll just be a matter of which of the random non-recced fics I've read recently I should use for the Free Space!! n.n

(Also ahhhhh I really did expect to ask for another card before this thing ended... but that'd be kinda pointless now, huh :'D)

(Also? Yes, I have indeed managed all different ships for each square so far. :'DDD No idea how it's worked out that way, but I can't bring myself to stop now!!)

[the-twelve-daggers]

🏴‍☠️ ⤷ Davy Jones: The Truth Behind The Ruthless Villain

Several of the pirate characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise were based off of or inspired by one or a mix of real-life pirates, most of whom sailed during the Golden Age at the beginning of the eighteenth century when the franchise itself was set. This applies to the movie's mystical characters too, like Armando Salazar and Hector Barbossa.

However, concerning the initial trilogy's villain, this is a bit of a grey area.

Whilst there are various myths and direct sources linking to the origins of concepts like Davy Jones' locker and Jones' ship The Flying Dutchman, the actual man himself has very vague historical links (unless, miraculously, he was based on The Monkees singer, which I highly doubt).

But, nonetheless, let us look through the theories...

Davy Jones: The Welsh Pirate

One story suggests that the Davy Jones character came from the frightful pirate David Jones, who sailed during the 1630s in the Indian Ocean. However, there is little known about him, which only makes this concept even more unclear.

"During the 1630s, a pirate captain named David Jones sailed through the Indian Ocean, but many historians believe that he was not famous enough to be remembered for quite a long time." [Kouachi, Mecheri & Zerrouki 25]

There are also rumours of a Welsh pirate Dafydd Jones, though it is unclear if these are the same two people. Either way, there is too little known about the figure(s) in order to make strong connections. But, having said that, if the myths of his ruthlessness are true, there is definitely a connection that can be made to our contemporary Davy Jones.

Davy Jones: The Pub Owner

A slightly stronger theory that has been circling around is the figure of a London pub owner, who would drug and/or heavily intoxicate his customers and sell them to ship captains, where they would wake and find themselves unwillingly in the middle of the ocean, or technically, 'Davy Jones' Locker'.

Some stories go on to say that Jones eventually became bankrupt, stealing a ship and becoming a pirate himself. He would sail around the Atlantic, keelhauling or decapitating other crews as well as locking them to their sinking ships.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any direct references to quote, but I have linked some articles below that discuss this theory.

Davy Jones: The Prophet

There are some rumours that Davy Jones, or at least the origins of his name, derives from Saint David, the patron Saint of Wales, as well as the figure of the prophet Jonah from the Bible, who was swallowed by a whale.

I think it better to include this in the words of W. Pinkerton, in the scholarly journal Notes & Queries in 1851:

During many years of seafaring life, I have frequently considered the origin of this phrase, and have now arrived at the conclusion that it is derived from the scriptural account of the prophet Jonah. The word 'locker', on board of ship, generally means the place where any particular thing is retained or kept, as "bread locker", "shot locker", "chain locker", &c. In the sublime ode in the second chapter of the Book of Jonah, we find that the prophet, praying for deliverance, described his situation in the following words:—"in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about; the depth closed me round about; the earth with her bars was about me." The sea, then, might not be misappropriately termed by a rude mariner, Jonah's locker—that is, the place where Jonah was kept or confined. Jonah's locker, in time, might be readily corrupted to Jones's locker; and Davy, as a very common Welsh accompaniment of the equally Welsh name, Jones, added, the true derivation of the phrase having been forgotten. [Pinkerton 509]

Davy Jones: The Devil

A very early (perhaps even the second after Defoe's writing in 1726) mention of Davy Jones' and his Locker is in 1751, in Chapter XIII of Smollett's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. Here, Jones is described as a devilish sort of character, with a terrifying appearance that almost resembles the typical imagery of Satan:

“By the Lord! Jack, you may say what you wool; but I'll be damned if it was not Davy Jones himself. I know him by his saucer eyes, his three rows of teeth, his horns and tail, and the blue smoke that came out of his nostrils. What does the blackguard hell's baby want with me?[...]” This same Davy Jones, according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is often seen in various shapes, perching among the rigging on the eve of hurricanes, shipwrecks, and other disasters, to which a seafaring life is exposed; warning the devoted wretch of death and woe. No wonder then that Trunnion was disturbed by a supposed visit of this demon, which, in his opinion, foreboded some dreadful calamity. [Smollett 105]

This was then illustrated in 1832 by George Cruikshank, visualising all of the characteristics mentioned above.

Whilst this depiction is rather different to the one we get in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, with horns rather than tentacles and blue smoke rather than the classic pipe, it's still interesting to see how Davy Jones was sometimes thought to be as horrifying as we see him now, simply based on his involvement with death at sea.

Overall, I hope that we get to find out more about the initial myths and legends that surround Davy Jones in real-world context, as I think that the information from word-of-mouth stories that we have so far are compelling already. I would love to read more older texts that reference him or his Locker, so that we might gain a better understanding of his place in seafaring history.

CITATIONS:

[Abdenour Kouachi, Ahmed Soufyane Mecheri, and Zina Zerrouki. Tracing The Origin Of The Stereotypical Image Of Pirates. 2021. https://bucket.theses-algerie.com/files/repositories-dz/1921423357564832.pdf]

['Notes and Queries'. Vol. 3, Issue. 86. 1851, pp. 490-512. https://archive.org/details/sim_notes-and-queries_1851-06-21_3_86/page/512/mode/2up]

[Merchant Mariner Guide. Davy Jones: The Legend, The Pirates, and The Flying Dutchman. 2023. https://merchantmarinerguide.com/blog/f/davy-jones-the-legend-the-pirates-and-the-flying-dutchman?blogcategory=History+]

[Famous Pirates. Davy Jones - Legend, Facts and Biography of Famous Pirate. http://www.famous-pirates.com/pirates-facts/davy-jones/]

[Owlcation. Old Sea Legends: The Incredible Story of Davy Jones and His Locker. 2023. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Old-sea-legends-The-Incredible-story-of-Davy-Jones-and-his-Locker]

[Marine Insight. The Real Story Behind The “Davy Jones’ Locker” 2022. https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-history/the-story-behind-the-term-davy-jones-locker/]

[Smollett, Tobias George. The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. W. Strahan, G. Robinson, T. Cadell, 1784. https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-adventures-of-peregr_smollett-tobias-george_1784_1/mode/2up]

[sol-consort]

The more I play Helldivers 2, the more I imagine what it'd be like in mass effect. Just when does the patriotism of the alliance cross the line to managed democracy.

If anything it shows the human range. We are both sides of the coin at the same time, the epitome of freedom, harmony and acceptance of all species but also could become a human-centered war hungry soldiers chanting "the only good alien is a dead alien"

Every utopia is someone's dystopia. Therefore, every dystopia is someone's utopia. Every human's nightmare is another human's wet dream. Being social creatures to a fault means well placed propaganda can very easily sway the humans in the citadel into rethinking their peace with the turians.

Even Cerberus weren't that successful. Their soldiers weren't enthusiastically and willingly dying while screaming sweet liberty as their last words. No, Cerberus had to brainwash them and remove their own humanity from them.

The trick is to make the reason why you're fighting to sound vague enough before coating it in heroics. To say "the lives of every one of humanity's children hangs on your shoulder" before pushing a clueless human with a couple guns into a swarm of enemies to obtain more oil to fuel all the endless war ships you need to send more soldiers to get more oil to fuel all the endless war ships you need to send more soldiers to get more oil to fuel all the endless war ships you need to send more soldiers to get mo

The literal hammer method of throwing enough lives and firepower at a problem until it gets solved.

If we're integerating it into mass effect, it has to start slowly, on a low simmer, so the frog doesn't jump out immediately. Maybe it's humanity's new special elite unit, much like the salarians have their spy teams, and the asari have their warriors. The humans established the helldivers at first, and for a second in time, they did truly fight for the freedom of all.

Power does not corrupt. It's a silly correlation that doesn't cause causation statistical error. It just happened that most people who seek power tend to be corrupt ones. And humanity is known to turn a blind eye or a billion if something greyish in morality fell to their favour.

It's a sad reality in a dystopian end. There is also the other scenario where first contact doesn't happen until after helldivers are established when humanity fully figured out space travel and technology. Now it's more of a question would the helldivers shoot on sight rule still apply when faced with an asari or will the corrupt government harness their biotics fully first before launching a smeer campaign to ruin their image with all humans, how they're "stealing" your potential human kids by marrying humans and making more asari, how they're "brainwashing" people into loving them.

At the same time, the government still denies 90% of C-01 requests for humans seeking to repopulate with other humans just because of an overpopulation problem and as a form of control. That would be incredibly hilarious.

Why would humans fight the aliens? For freedom.

Yes but what did the aliens do? They threatened our way of life!

How? The ministry of truth said so, you don't need an explanation.

But is it trustworthy? You sound like an alien sympathiser. What you're saying is treason.

Rinse and repeat.

Side note: it is very tricky to write about human fascism and alien racism without glorifying it. The better the parody is, the more it flies over the heads of people. Suddenly, your nightmares become reality where you get the wrong crowd cheering for more of the thing that's making fun of them.

[murmurmurl]

gay people

(not canon btw! none of the ships/labels will be canon :3)

I'm also gonna yap now yipeee

Uhm. Affection!! Wanted to think about how they would express and receive affection. Not only in a romantic context btw, just in general.

Matsu LOVES casual physical affection. He loves hugging people, holding hands with his friends, tackling them, just. Being all over the ones he loves. This also applies to non-physical affection, although a little less. However! He's really not the best when it comes to being on the receiving end of that affection.... Not because he doesn't like it or anything, it's just that his brain short-circuits, and he has no idea how to react. He loves receiving affection from people he trusts and, well, also loves (again, not necessarily romantically). I think the reason for him reacting that way could be that he's only started experiencing this after getting close with everyone in H♡L. Sure, he's been practically best friends with Fumi since ~middle school, but their falling out lasted at least a few years, and in that time Matsu didn't really get all that close with anybody else. Also, he doesn't like being super affectionate with people he isn't close with, or doesn't trust enough, or just isn't comfortable enough.

Toshiro isn't as enthusiastic... but they still like it. They like receiving affection, even if with some complaints (not seriously though) whenever Matsu tackles them. They're a little more reserved, but when he *really* loves someone, he'll stick to them like glue. I think his favorite way to show affection physically is through doing someone's hair. H♡L members often walk around with little braids or some uncharacteristic hairstyles because of that. He isn't very good with words though... but a little better than Matsu, who just. Would like to be able to express his feelings through something more than cutting himself off every 2 seconds because it's absolutely impossible for him to put the vague concept of his emotions into existing words. Toshiro is, indeed, a bit more successful in that, but still prefers quiet physical affection.

Fumi doesn't let herself be very emotionally open and vulnerable. That's what years of repressing and trying to get rid of any possible "weakness" will do. The person she lets to herself the closest is Matsu... she's more used to him and has a giant soft spot, even if she would deny it as much as she can (most of the time). However, Fumi still has ways in which her affection and appreciation towards someone end up being shown. It's pretty casual, and sometimes can seem a little mean, but she's trying her best. They often ruffle Matsu's hair, for example. Though Toshiro gets slightly "harsher" treatment, like very light shoves. Seina manages to escape all of that, though. She's not as close with Fumi as everyone else, but has this effect of calming her down and making her drop the defenses a little. I think over the course of the story Fumi will slowly learn to allow herself to be more vulnerable with people close to her.

Seina. Her affection is the most gentle, I think, but she expresses it more through words and caring for someone, rather than with physical touch. However, since I think I'm kinda focusing on physical affection here, she likes to pet her friends' heads, or dust them off, or just calmly hold their hands or shoulders.

They all also have slightly different ways of expressing affection towards each other that I thought of. Like Matsu tends to tackle Seina less, and more just hug her. With Toshiro he doesn't really hold back, as well as with Fumi. He also likes to try to ruffle Fumi's hair when she does it to him, though... have you seen how short I made him? there's no way that's even remotely easy. Toshiro likes to hug specifically Matsu a lot, but it's more calm than how Matsu himself does it... with Fumi, he often casually puts a hand on her shoulder, which she surprisingly allows. And with Seina, he plays with her hair probably even more than with everybody else's. I think I pretty much described Fumi's ways with everyone..? But something I didn't mention is that she often gives gifts to her friends. Which mostly involves flowers (of clourse)! She's a little embarrassed when doing it most of the time, but it's one of the few visible ways she can allow herself to show her appreciation to someone. Seina likes to do Toshiro's hair back, like he does to everyone, though she isn't really the best at it... they still like it! A lot, actually! She calms Fumi down with surprising ease and likes to allow them to lean onto her and just kinda... hang out like that. With Matsu she gets even more caring and worried than with everyone else, which can look pretty funny.

This might sound strange, seeing as Fumi is clearly the "keeps a tough front and rarely allows herself to show affection" person of the group, but Seina actually has a lot of trouble properly expressing her appreciation, maybe the most out of all of them. She kind of acts almost the same way with everybody, which results in people sometimes thinking she doesn't care enough about them personally. Repressing her own emotions in fear of burdening or upsetting her loved ones with them made it so that she isn't very good at expressing them when she wants to.

I am getting a little off topic? And also tired. Even though I absolutely love rambling about them,,,,, also, I think somewhere later I'll just be dumping all of the lore/details, actually maybe literally everything about Helianthus♡Light! to the side blog, for which!!!!! I still have to draw a few things bc I want it to look cool and pretty,,,,,,

[esther-dot]

I sent the show!Jonsa ask! Yeah, I was toying with it because one of the sticking points for me is figuring out why the show did or didn't do Jonsa and why that may or may not happen in the books. That to me is really some of the most damning stuff, and I can't point to Dany's arc in the show or Stannis' etc. (many of the examples you use) as argumentation for what makes sense in the books but have yet to have happened without, too, including Jonsa.

Anon asks are limited by length (and I would not want to waste your time with adding caveat after caveat lol) but I do also have complicated feelings about D&D; on the one hand I think there were serious problems on set and I have a lot of capital F feminist problems with them, but that doesn't belie all the creative work they put into the show (I do think there are Choices they made about how to portray romance without the source material at hand, and even before that honestly, but I already wrote that ask lol).

You're definitely right about the heaping of romantic parallels; one or two of those relationships alone could be written off, but the Sam/Gilly one is very weird, and Kit's acting choices are... very weird lol. Re: Sansa's jealousy, I had read that more as Dark Sansa foreshadowing as opposed to Jonsa jealousy, so I don't know???? When it comes to show!Jonsa I mostly only like the S6 dynamic anyway, so that might be down to some of my bias.

Basically I'm trying to entertain alternative ideas that might explain things as opposed to genuinely arguing for show!Jonsa being an accident, and I was thinking about this as well because it is an issue I've encountered with shipping/romance/fandom in general before. The male-gazey tropey dynamic ends up feeling off, but by virtue of the romance goggles of the author not being applied to another dynamic, it ends up feeling more mutual and less objectified and more interesting lol. A good example off the top of my head, given you've just watched the MCU films, is that I shipped Steve/Natasha (yes...) because the dynamic in Winter Soldier was above and beyond any other M/F pairing in the films. Naturally everybody goes on about ~platonic soulmates~ but I love good guys with sad/evil/redeemed ladies so I can't help it. Not saying it's at all canon though, I think they absolutely stumbled into that one.

I'm glad your nephew enjoyed the MCU films! I remember when I rewatched Endgame with my best friend, her dad came in and we had to keep explaining who the 'blue one and the green one' were. It made the film much better.

Anyway, thank you so much for entertaining my ask, and as always, being such a good sport. 🥰💝

(continuation of this convo)

You have no idea how much I sympathize with the caveat issue. I write answers and then delete entire paragraphs because I have such a tendency to try to clarify everything that it makes things less clear because I bury the point, but then I regret it when the vague blogs start. We all have limited time though, and every answer can't be thousands of rambling words! Sometimes I've literally just said "insert caveat" lmao!

I do also have complicated feelings about D&D; on the one hand I think there were serious problems on set and I have a lot of capital F feminist problems with them

I read this article about Emilia's experience on set for GoT (I have not been able to relocate it, but I did actually read an article with her quotes--it wasn't just a tumblr post), and I felt that she was taken advantage of when it came to the nudity/sex scenes. I actually think she meant for some of the stories to be amusing, but I felt sick reading it. She didn't say it was D&D, but apparently when she wanted to do less nudity going forward, she was told her fans expected it and it became a fight trying to move away from it, and....I just worry about the power dynamics with all these young actresses and what they're told they "need" to do. The fact that even if they ultimately agree to certain things, it still may be a result of coercion or they aren't actually being taken care of/feel safe when doing it...it left a very bad taste in my mouth regarding the behind the scenes stuff. And obviously, we all noticed the changes they made to the story, what they did to Sansa...plenty of things we can take exception to purely on what made it to our screens.

Basically I'm trying to entertain alternative ideas that might explain things as opposed to genuinely arguing for show!Jonsa being an accident

I enjoy doing that too! Groupthink is boring! I don't expect everyone to think the same way/come to the same conclusion, and I've changed my mind on a few things which only happens if we're willing to entertain different ideas instead of shutting people down. I mean, I'm not easily persuaded to a different way of thinking, but I try to be open to it. With the condition that someone interprets Sansa in a way I can live with which excludes most of the fandom/their theories tbh.

I basically work myself to one position and then back to where I started when it comes to show Jonsa. If it was an accident, I don't love it any less, if it wasn't, I'm curious what the hell happened. I didn't get what I wanted there, so it really doesn't matter to me what people conclude. I genuinely thought it was amusing when Kit acted surprised when he was asked about Jonsa because it was his face that was saying "not normal sibling feelings here." Silly man. 😂 And, D&D fucked up enough I don't like to take them too seriously, so I can't say, "this doesn't make sense therefore it was an accident" because, uh, a lot of their choices ultimately made no sense.

it is an issue I've encountered with shipping/romance/fandom in general before. The male-gazey tropey dynamic ends up feeling off, but by virtue of the romance goggles of the author not being applied to another dynamic, it ends up feeling more mutual and less objectified and more interesting lol.

I certainly agree about the general male v female view of romance. I found that a problem when I said that they didn't write a romance for Jonerys, and the guy I was talking to was like, "they had sex tho???" There was just...a massive gap between what we were looking for when talking about the characters/relationships. Although, he did know what I meant when I said "well, they filmed Jon and Sansa like a ruling couple." He immediately understood that. And, considering what they did to the sandsnakes (I'm not saying the line), I do understand the argument that if they meant for there to be a romance, they would have done it in such a way that we would have objected.

I think part of the reason I believed Jonsa was intentional was because I don't ship non canon pairings. My brain isn't one to think, "oh but what about those two" as I wasn't even involved in fandom before, and I generally just took what a story was and reacted to it, rather than re-configuring it. Obvy, having been in the fandom for so long now, that's changed somewhat, but for me, s7 was a total puzzlement, and Jonsa / some variation of poljon was the only way it connected to everything we had established before. In a bizarre twist, we didn't get the story that would make it coherent, but we still got the endpoint: Jon betraying Dany for Sansa. It's still weird to me, all these years later. Now I'm mainly bemused rather than angry though.

[biblicallyaccuratebeskar]

Metal Home

Read Chapter 8 Here

Also on AO3

Chapter 9/22: ~2K words

Unfiltered

Mando was purposefully vague about or brief “vacation.” Karga was curious, naturally, but luckily respected our privacy.

I healed well. The bacta was a miracle, even if it did feel like fucking molten lava. In a day or so I was up and moving again, almost like nothing happened.

The wound had apparently left behind a scar. It was out of my line of vision and I didn’t mind, really. I’d never minded scars as long as they had a story attached. Mando hated it though and I didn’t know why. Once I felt his gloved finger linger on it a second too long after applying more bacta. Maybe I just imagined that part, but it gave me chills nevertheless.

We’d been staying on the tiny moon Reius because of its low population and general level of boring compared to some of the other places we’d been to. Breaking through the atmosphere when we first arrived, the view took my breath away. Rolling hills of blindingly green foliage cut into pieces by rushing rivers that carved through the surface everywhere you’d look.

I loved being there. The air was crisp and cool and smelled of trees and soil. The vacation was a farce, but I could at least pretend, right?

Mando usually approached everything with neutral confidence, but since I got hurt it was like he was walking on an icy lake, trying not to fall through. I always felt his eyes on me wherever I went, never letting me stray too far from the ship.

I didn’t like feeling like I was a liability, like I was breakable. But, I admittedly found amusement in his attentiveness. After years on my own it felt a little nice to be taken care of.

One afternoon we were sitting in the hull, where I was helping him clean some of his blasters. I had no idea how much upkeep they required, all the polishing and reloading. Well, maybe that was just him and his tastes. I happily played along.

I was just finishing the barrel of his pulse rifle when there was a knock on the hull door.

We both jumped to our feet in surprise. He drew the blaster he wasn’t cleaning and slowly crept towards the noise.

“You stay here. I’ll take care of this.”

I drew my blaster and followed him, of course.

We opened the hull, backs flush with the sides of the door, ready to pounce, when I saw who was standing outside.

It was a tiny old woman. “Hello? Is anybody there?” she called out. I motioned for Mando to withdraw his blaster. He didn’t listen. I huffed as I put mine in the holster and walked out to greet her.

“What are you-Larkin!”

“Hi there, everything alright?” I asked, trying to angle my arms to cover the blaster on my belt.

“Ah, yes! Hello! Were you the one I saw tinkering on this ship?”

“I am,” I responded cautiously. It was true. I’d started updating the gas line underneath the cockpit that morning, but why she was interested in that was beyond me.

“Oh, good! I live in a town three or so klicks east of here. I saw your ship fly overhead a few days ago and I knew I needed to find you. You see, we have a water filter and it’s been broken for nearly a month now. There’s a reservoir, but we’re beginning to run low and I can’t help but fear the worst. I’m afraid we do not have the tools to fix it. Would you be willing to come help? We have some credits.”

“Our services aren’t for sale,” Mando announced, emerging from his hiding spot. The woman’s eyes widened and she took a few wobbly steps backward. Living with him and knowing who he was, I sometimes forgot how intimidating Mando could be to strangers. And right then, he was definitely turning the whole fierce Mandalorian facade up a few notches.

My jaw clenched. “Can we talk?” I said as I grabbed his arm and dragged him into the hull.

“One second!” I called, giving her an apologetic smile as the door closed.

“What the hell?” I hissed, letting go of his arm. “She seems harmless, why are you being so weird about it?”

“We aren’t mechanics for hire. And we shouldn’t trust just anyone.” “Oh yeah, because you should never trust sweet old women. I’m going to help her, whether you’re coming or not. It’ll probably be an easy fix.”

Now he grabbed my arm. “You’re not going alone for a handful of credits.”

I shook him off. “You know I’m not going for the credits.”

He sighed, turning away from me.

“I’m going, Mando. I know you’re worried about me, so then come with. I trust myself more when you’re around.”

He thought for a moment, pacing back and forth, boots clunking on the floor.

“Fine,” he finally muttered.

I bit back a smile and nodded as I ran to grab my tool kit.

——

The woman, who introduced herself as Pira, took us to her village on a gondola she expertly maneuvered through brush and over streams and rivers. She seemed kindly, her white, fine hair blowing in the wind as she explained how she was the matriarch of her people. In the early days of the Empire, a mining facility had been built upstream from her village, polluting their water supply. The young people who went to work there during the day, given no other choice in the new economy, managed to pilfer enough parts to build a filter with what they learned engineering in the plant. Five years after the mine was built, there was an accident, an explosion she said, and no one came home. The Empire left the ruin they created, dissatisfied with their failed venture, and Reius had been quiet ever since.

The filter had persisted through all these years, still required as the creation of the mine had torn a hole through the earth, leaking chemicals into the water supply. But now, since it broke, they were getting desperate. We were their last chance.

When we approached the village, the people slowly crept out of their homes to see us. Some grimaced, others smiled and waved. Children looked at us with wide eyes from behind their mothers’ legs.

I took a moment to look around the village, finding it to be beautiful. The homes were to be made of sediment from the riverbeds, adorned with greenery and flowers. It seemed as if they’d emerged from the earth itself. As the sun went down, lanterns flickered to life in every direction, casting everything in gold.

Pira led us just beyond the village to a small stream, no wider than my bed. There was a metal box there, sputtering and choking out water from the other side. I could smell the chemicals.

Luckily, I was right. It was an easy fix, just like realigning the coolant in a ship. Mando stayed right by my side keeping watch as I worked (I nicely asked him to put the blaster away when there were no imminent threats). He held a light so I could see as the woods grew dark.

When I was done we went to find Pira. She was in the main square of the village in front of a large fire, surrounded by children, animatedly telling a story. Her expressions were heightened by the shadows cast by the flame, eyes bulging, hands waving. The kids were entranced, laughing and screaming at all the right parts.

I stopped just beyond the firelight’s reach to watch, leaning on Mando’s arm. It reminded me of when I was growing up. My mother was a fantastic storyteller, like Pira. She was an expert at doing the voices and movements, each character in my nightly bedtime stories rich, almost living and breathing. Tears unexpectedly sprung in my eyes as I thought of her. Mom cared so deeply about stories. Mine probably wasn’t what she imagined for me, but I hoped she’d still be proud.

I could tell Mando wasn’t looking towards Pira. He was looking at me. That happened every so often. I’d feel his gaze on me, even underneath the helmet. I always wanted to look back at him, but I would rather look into his eyes than a visor. I knew that was impossible to even think about, so I never looked.

Pira approached us as the crowd dispersed.

“All fixed. Just an issue with the piping. Nothing a good tool kit couldn’t help.” I said, handing over the box in my hands.

Her light eyebrows shot up. “Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly-“

“Please, I insist. I needed to update them anyway. If you ever have another problem, you’ll be able to fix it yourself then. Your village needs water.”

Suddenly I was wrapped in an enveloping hug. To my surprise, I hugged her back. She leaned back, cupping my face in her hand, the deep wrinkles in her face curving over smiling cheeks. “Thank you. My people thank you. Both of you,” she spoke, looking over at Mando. He stiffened, never good with compliments.

“You have no need to travel back to your ship in the dark. Come, I have an extra room you may stay in for the night.”

Mando somehow stiffened even more at that.

“Uh, that’s a very generous offer, but we’ll need to talk it through first if you don’t mind,” I responded.

She bowed her head. “Of course. If you do decide to stay I’m in the one just there,” she said, gesturing to one of the dwellings across the plaza, covered in vines. “If not, may the Maker watch over your journey.”

As she walked away, Mando said, “We shouldn’t stay.”

“Ok, but here me out. Reius is quiet, nearly remote now since the mining incident. And just look around you right now.”

The lanterns swayed in the breeze, casting light all around in golden wisps. The stars were infinite overhead from the lack of light pollution.

“We told Karga we’re on vacation,” I said slowly. “Just one night?” I gave him my most convincing smile, and it worked. Like always. ——

Pira was happy to see us. She led us to the spare room in the back of her home. It was modest, just a bed and a table. The door closed behind her after she said goodnight.

Just one bed. We stood there for a moment, frozen. It wasn’t like we didn’t sleep next to each other anyway, but we did sleep separately. It wasn’t a big deal. Not a big deal at all.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” he blurted out.

“No, that’s stupid,” I shot back, mildly offended for no specific reason. “We can both sleep on the bed.”

“I’m not taking off my helmet. Or my armor.”

I figured as much. He never did when we were outside the Crest. “Ok. I’ll just be sleeping by a block of beskar, then. Nothing new.” He huffed a little at that.

“I’ll take first watch,” he said curtly.

“Mando, we’re not on a job. You can relax.”

I might as well have told the sun not to rise, but I tried anyways.

I laid down first, staring up at the ceiling. I felt him lay down next to me, but I didn’t look. It reminded me of the first night I slept next to him with the blindfold. The nerves, the tension, it was all the same.

“That can’t be comfortable,” I muttered.

“I’m used to it.”

“Ah.”

It was about as relaxing as a business meeting with Karga, neither of us knowing what or what not to do.

“I’m, uh...I’m going to sleep now,” I said after a long period of silence.

“Am I stopping you?”

“No! No. I just...I don’t know. Thought I’d announce it.” Maker, what the hell was I saying?

“Thank you for sharing.”

I sighed, covering my face to hide my smile. “Goodnight, Mando.”

Surprisingly, I slept well. He made the bed warm with his body heat, even underneath the armor.

When I woke up the next morning curled into his side, neither of us said anything. It was like an unspoken agreement. Unspoken words.

[2xcursekissed]

RULES

SECTION 1. Writing.

I want to write with everyone! Although I prefer multi-para replies, I enjoy having a variety of threads from one-liners and icons to brief responses and long-form text. I am flexible and reciprocate the energy given to me by my writing partner. I enjoy both serious threads and crack. I only ask that you don’t godmod or dictate how my character acts/feels.

Ask memes are always a good way to start a thread, but I am also open to plotting. That can be done via Tumblr IMs or Discord. Your preference, really. Response speed may vary depending on multiple factors, but please note I don’t intend to ghost anyone. I am an adult with a demanding full-time job and a part-time job so it can be a bit hectic on my end. 

In terms of response speed, I may favor my mains or people I've interacted with OOC first, as well as plotted threads. These are usually easier for me since I have an idea of how to approach the writing. I will still write with anyone though!

 SECTION 2. Selectivity.

Although I say I am selective. For example, one case I might not follow back is if I observe poor dash hygiene. I don’t really want a super clogged dashboard so I tend not to follow people who have a greater ratio of OOC posts compared to IC. Other things I like are cut posts and new threads for asks. The last two are not dealbreakers, though, but I consider this good dash hygiene.

I am crossover-friendly and OC-friendly. However, I likely won't follow back unless you have a JJK-specific verse or some sort of bio for your muse. I dislike having to fish for information. I am a bit more hesitant to follow back in these cases, but I can overlook that if I see potential for interaction. 

SECTION 3. IC Dynamics.

I enjoy exploring different dynamics with different characters. Shipping can be romantic, friendly, filial, etc. I love writing with various muses.

That said, I am highly selective about romantic shipping. It will be done on a case-by-case basis. I will only really write shippy content if there is chemistry between the muses (our portrayals) or A LOT of prior conversations between us OOC discussing the dynamic. All interactions with muses within my muse's age range are platonic unless stated otherwise. I will never off-the-bat assume there is romance involved between muses unless we have explicitly had a conversation about it. Although I am 26, there will be absolutely no smut. 

In a similar vein, what is said in a thread with another person's muse does not apply to the canon of our threads unless you have made your muses' canon clear (i.e. your rules/about cite this connection, you have stated something OOC, etc). If I follow you, assume I have read your rules and bio.

 SECTION 4. OOC Conduct.

All I ask for is kindness and understanding. Always assume the best intentions from others and never yuck anyone’s yum. I work a stressful job and I am here for entertainment. Please don’t bring negativity and other exhausting energy into this space. If there is ever a time I do something that bothers you, please bring it to my attention directly. I am here to have fun and make friends, so I will put in work. I also ask that you do not come to me talking about anyone else. That will get a hard block - I may or may not give a warning.

Also, bear in mind that I am not my character and would prefer to keep a clear distinction between what is IC and what is OOC.

This should go without saying, but if you reuse a plot we crafted together or copy anything I, or anyone else, has done, you are a special-grade asshat. I have no words. Don't do that. You may get blocked if it is brought to my attention. It really depends on the severity, or if it is a repeat offense.

 SECTION 5. DNI/Vague Posts.

Don't follow me if you do a lot of vague posting. If I see it enough times, I will block. We are adults. If you want to say something without the repercussions of saying it, then idk what to tell you. Do it in private or keep it to yourself. If it is that serious, then go talk to that person directly. Communicate like a mature adult.

If there is someone I interact with who is actually problematic or has actually engaged in problematic behavior, dm me in private. It's up to me to decide if it is an actual issue. If it's just a disagreement between two individuals leave me out of it. I will not stop following someone I talk to over your petty drama.

[feuqueerfire]

I Told Sunset About You Live Blogging

I learned about this back in 2020, around the time 2gether was coming out or afterwards I guess? I had the trailer on my Watch Later because I heard about some gay series with the beautiful title and some appealing tagline. I hadn't even been into BLs or shows much back then and was still curious about it. Yet, it's nearing the end of 2024 and still haven't watched it.

I watched Billikin's How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies in theatres a few months ago. I've gotta make some time to watch this, man. I don't know whether I'll be tempted to binge or watch 1-2 eps a day, maybe I'll try to savour it.

Ep 1 (Dec 23)

2021 - starts toward the end I guess, when Teh is applying for university

2016 - beginning of their friendship

ah, Oh-aew got offered the role in the school play instead of Teh despite not even having interest in it

Damn, this play is in Mandarin, which they don't speak? no translations? i didn't know kids did plays like that

The scene of Teh doing the moves behind the stage is so good

Ah, they become rivals as both want to be actors

Oh, they stopped interacting and seeing each other

So like 5 years later, he's trying out for university admissions right?

Girl, don't tempt me, if the girl is endearing enough, I'll start shipping the main male lead in a BL with a girl too (a la Love Mechanics with Vee and Ploy lol). Tarn seems cute

friends -> rivals but almost kinda enemies

Ah, another blow up

Dang, Oh tearing up almost

Oof, Teh was first on the list while Oh didn't get in... I guess this is where the studying part comes in that I'd vaguely heard about? Teh decides to tutor Oh to coach him getting in or smth?

Also for a second I was like is Teh gonna say the stuff he said in his interview about what he'd say to his friend? but maybe later on, since they didn't show it yet

They're kinda making up bit by bit but there are still barriers and hurt words from the past

They really do cry a lot. Billikin crying is mentioned a fair amount when it comes to this show but like I wasn't expecting them both to cry this much and this many times in ep 1 lol

Ep 2 (Dec 23)

Teh is so loved by his family, both his mother and his brother. But also where is that airplane ticket to?

Oh is first on the waiting list. hmm would anybody who tried to early admissions by auditioning actually give up their spot?

This recurring Rival Chinese word that Teh is/was obsessed with lol. Oh's "you meant me?" teasing is sooo cute

Rival page -> Intimate page turned

lol not the boob touching convo. meanwhile neither has touched any. delighted at both being virgins lmfaoo

will Teh postpone/cancel on Oh to hang out with Tarn?

cryingggg at Teh being so distracted by the open button on Tarn's shirt showing a sliver of her hibiscus bra

Tarn is so cute, I like her, I hope she's not too heartbroken by the end

tutoring seems to be going well

Teh is so up in his feelings about Oh inviting the whole group to what he thought was just going to be two of them hanging out + Oh telling everybody that's he's a virgin/chaste when he told Teh to not tell anyone. but he doesn't fully even understand why

ah, the Intimate Chinese word now is the focus

ahh Teh doesn't want to be just same as other friends to Oh, he doesn't want to be equal to their relationships. god this gayness

omg??? Oh telling Teh something top secret but it's literally that he likes Bas?!?!

Teh is sooooo excited for Oh and talking about how he'll help Oh lmfao oh girl just you wait

This lunch room scene with Oh and Teh communicating secretly and on their own wavelength about how Teh should get closer to Bas and Teh's fear of both being found out + rejection ahhh

lmfao not Teh saying that he'll be hitting on Oh-aew to observe Bas' reaction to figure out if he likes Oh. And his plan worked! cryinggg

their knee nudging playing in contrast to Oh's fear when trying to get his knee to touch Bas' at lunch and being unable to. like obviously this shows that Oh is more nervous about Bas and has romantic intentions while touching Teh is so much more comfortable and familiar

And now Teh is jealous lol

hm an IG story saying that Teh will be with Tarn every afternoon from now on? in a fit of jealousy? idk girl, are you abandoning tutoring Oh

girl and Teh doesn't even fucking mean it, he just wants Oh to see the story

omg lowkey got scared by the look Teh was giving Tarn

ahhh Tarn kissing him in the end, i love her

why is Teh being an ass to Oh again >:( I guess he's mad that Oh didn't check his story but c'mon

literally obsessed with Teh going all the way to the pier and waiting on the boat and riding the boat with Oh to the destination but not quite managing to speak to Oh. And Oh's the one who comes back to talk to Teh. just such a good way to show the warring factions in Teh's mind + how he's taking action but can't quite follow through with all of it

"Don't give my time to others" from both of them

Crazy, Teh now likes the coconut scent from Oh's hair even though he hates coconut and its smell

Why is everything from the cinematography to the storyline and pacing to the characterization to the acting so good?

Ep 3 (Dec 24)

Teh's newfound obsession with coconut lol

Ah, of course the 2 people who immediately see Oh's story are Bas and Teh

The difference between how Teh didn't want to wake up at 4am to spend time with Tarn vs calling Oh at 4

both Tarn and Oh getting jealous of the other and they don't even know lmfao

omg Oh almost trying the knee thing on Teh but not doing it and writing Secret in his notebook repeatedly

We'll get to see Oh being moody this episode I guess as he figures out that he likes Teh?

ah, Teh texts Oh telling him to let him know when he's home, something he used to only do for Tarn and Oh was kinda jealous about

Oh can't control his smile seeing his and Teh's knees touching

This piano piece as Teh unknowingly loses his mind over Oh sharing a room with Bas is so good

Teh watching Oh and Bas spending time

omg?! the way Oh left Bas' side to come to Teh but then literally kinda crawled the last two inches and was fed a chip by Teh... wild

damn, Oh. Tried to kiss a sleeping Bas but when Bas woke up and asked to spend Chinese New Years together was like hm it's not fun just us two, let me invite the rest of them too

Playing around at dawn and giving each other hibiscus woahh

Girl, you don't know if Bas really likes you?! Be fr, you're just doubting how much you like it

This is crazyyyy T: "You really like someone else? Who? Tell me!!" O: "I think you know." *silence* O: "You really don't know? But I think you do"

Oh asking Teh "and you? since when?" possibly in reference to Teh liking him back?! ah Teh says "I don't know. I just want to be close to you and don't want you to be close to anyone else"

Oh is so bold

noooo my beloved Tarn

I was eating, so didn't say much but oh wow, lots of time together + like kinda progress idk

i can't watch the back scratching and heavy breathing/smelling scene for real, it's currently playing in a little box on my screen because oh my god...

Teh has dodged several attempts at a kiss from Oh

Last ep neither consciously knew but this ep both know that they like each other.

Ep 4 (Dec 24)

I... am afraid to watch this because it is supposed to be sad I think?

ow, Hoon brought his gf and having dinner with whole family + Oh-aew

oh Tarn's translucent shirt which shows her bra today

ahhh her drawing the hibiscus

her pushing her hair back to show her chest/bra omggg okay

omg Teh doesn't even notice...

oh Tarn... :(

okay, Tarn's putting her foot down and putting distance between them okay

but we also have Oh and Bas

ah, the time and effort

dang, underwater kiss... i feel like I maybe knew about it? I'm still afraid for what's coming though, another hour of the ep left

Teh wants to be friends? girl

Feels like a breakup and they haven't even dated fuck thisss

Ah, the bra scene

OH POSTS A PIC OF HIM WITH THE BRA ON IG?!

Dang, telling him right before he's leaving, don't make him miss his flight to go to Oh or smth

girl... I'm scared that this man is not gonna do his confirmation

fuckkkk he didn't sign?! because Oh was 1st on waiting list? girl!!! okay can you still get in with exams, you haven't been studying bruh

Fuck, Teh's mother... T.T

Ah, and now is when Oh-aew watches Teh's IG stories

damn

damn

okay so is Oh still going to take the admission route instead of waitlisted method that Teh basically gave him. In that case, Teh can indeed get in again and get in while Oh doesn’t because for a while I thought since they go to different universities and Oh was given the spot, that means Teh doesn’t make it again. but not necessarily

Ep 5 (Dec 25)

Last episode…

deleted text history damn Teh

Teh blessing Philip but basically talking to Oh lol

Bas scaring me with his blessing

oh Bas why would you say that in public I’m paused right as Bas says I like you with his cute smile bc omg… how could this go well?

girl at the back is fujoing out though

Why is Bas literally confessing

Teh crying watching this confession and even Oh crying and it’s going on forever my goodness

Teh’s teary look of longing as Oh and Bas go outside to sort it out

exam day already

these loud ass fire crackers every damn time

no way their first conversation in weeks? is right before the exams and Teh also finds out Oh and Bas are together

what the fuckkkk he can’t handle it and is just crying instead of doing his exam?? TEH FUCK don’t fucking do this right now, pull yourself together

bro for a second i thought Teh did his answers wrong by 1

also v impressive if he managed to do 92 questions out of 100 if he literally had a crying breakdown at the beginning of the exam

Teh telling Hoon that he likes Oh-aew omg

ah, Hoon being so nice to Teh

girl don’t worry about telling your friends you’re gay and their reaction, they’re fine with Oh and Bas

one of the friends is literally muslim? omg

oh fuck Oh got in?! fuck… wait… wait wait wait ummmm

girl they’re taking so long to show, it’s obvious Teh didn’t get in

ah, second choice instead of first choice

Bas is literally sooo good and kind, I’m sad for him but I believe he can find somebody who loves him and whose first choice is Bas

ah finally they meet again

aw they made up

Overall:

One of the shows that has been on my watchlist the longest, since before I was even into shows or BLs. It was beautiful to watch and you could feel the effort and thought in the storyline and characterization and plot progression and the writing. Really well done, I thought they used their runtime very well. Emotional but I don't think that I'll actually think about this show or characters much. I didn't latch onto the characters or relationship as much as I hoped or other people seemed to but it's still well-crafted regardless.

Rating: 7/10

Things I knew about ITSAY:

some sort of academic rivalry but also tutoring. they're friends to lovers but also not friends

The scene of them in the swing/hammock on the beach but not much surrounding it

the ep 3 not-sex-scene sex scene lol I saw a clip on tiktok about the nuzzling and stuff and then later saw ppl mention ep 3 a lot when referencing it (or referencing something that I guessed was about that scene)

PP's character cries while holding a bra to his chest in a mirror

they don't end up going to the same uni? because seems like from the IPYTM convo that they're kinda LDR. And also either somebody gave up on their spot or didn't give up on their spot or smth like that idk fully

[nyxelestia]

See Nyxelestia's works here!

Questions for the creator? Reach out to them via Tumblr (here)!

If you have a very specific prompt and are not flexible, it's best to contact the creator before bidding, even if it fits within their listed parameters. If you are asking for a specific kink, always ask first.

Nyxelestia's offerings:

Nyxelestia Auction #1

Organizations this auction benefits: Bidder's choice of any of the listed groups (See full list.)

Type of fanwork: Written fanwork Subtype(s): fan fiction (new) Fandom(s): Kinnporsche, Avatar The Last Airbender, Dead Friend Forever Highest rating: E Length/scope: 5 -10k words. Minimum Bid: $5

Especially interested in: All fandoms: friendships, family, mentors, and other platonic/non-romantic relationships. Recovery (from trauma, addiction, mental illness, etc.). KinnPorsche The Series: Kim/Chay; Chay & Kinn and/or Tankhun; Kim & Porsche; Chay/Macau; Chay & Macau; Various familial or platonic relationships; willing to explore niche or crack ships, with the exceptions stated below Avatar The Last Airbender: Sokka; Sokka/Zuko, Sokka/Suki, Sokka/Zuko/Sukki; Asami/Korra; Outsider POV/worldbuilding, Dead Friend Forever: TBD (show is still airing as of the time of this sign-up)

Unwilling to address: All fandoms: Trope AUs (i.e. modern AU, college AU, coffeeshop AU, historical AU, pirate AU, omegaverse, soulmate AU, Hanahaki, etc.); Incest; Major Character Death; Character Bashing; RPF; KinnPorsche: Tae, Time, Tem, Jom, or any combination thereof; Shipping Tankhun with any bodyguards; Avatar The Last Airbender: Zuko/Katara, Azula-centric ship fics, Dead Friend Forever: TBD

Other notes: I have a knack for Outsider POV, or otherwise playing around with POV. I tend to lean heavily into 5+1 or similarly structured fanfics.

Special interests: F/F ships, Poly ships, Genderswap/genderbending

Auctions run from 8:00AM EST, 5 March 2024, to 8:00PM EST, 9 March 2024. Bids before or after this period are invalid and will not be counted. If you would like to bid on this auction:

Step 1: Check the bidding spreadsheet to find out what the current high bid is. (Note: It may take up to five minutes for a bid to appear.)

Step 2: Fill out the creator's bidding form with a bid that is higher than the current high bid. If you want to make it harder for someone to outbid you, bid higher! We will NOT notify you if someone outbids you. If you would like to track changes to this bidding sheet, select Tools -> Notification Settings. Email notifications may not be immediate, so we do not recommend relying on them near the end of the auction period. Bookmark this sheet so you can check it manually. FTH will only notify you if you are the high bidder after the auctions end.

Nyxelestia Auction #2

Organizations this auction benefits: Bidder's choice of any of the listed groups (See full list.)

Type of fanwork: Fan labor Subtype(s): Betaing, Creating Outlines; Worldbuilding Fandom(s): Kinnporsche, Avatar The Last Airbender, Dead Friend Forever Highest rating: E Length/scope: More than 50k words. Minimum Bid: $5

Fan labor details: Beta: Characterization, Plot Development, Alpha Reading

Creating Outlines: if you have a vague image or idea, but aren't sure "what" to write or how to get there, and want some help with an outline

Worldbuilding: help with worldbuilding, or providing worldbuilding for you

Relevant experience/background: Beta: on-and-off beta reader across fandoms for +10 years; Creating outlines: been helping people with their outlines, or writing outlines for myself that other people then take on, for +15 years Worldbuilding: I tend to apply my education (politics, economics, history), as well as enjoying research, to create worlds. I often like to worldbuild more than write a story in a world.

Other notes about labor offered:

Especially interested in:

Unwilling to address: Mpreg; Omegaverse; Incest;

Other notes: I enjoy conversing and chatting about fanworks and will happily chat. I like to set myself self-imposed or mini-deadlines as a way of managing my ADHD, so I would be updating or checking in regularly.

Special interests: F/F ships, Poly ships, Genderswap/genderbending, Ambiguous endings

Auctions run from 8:00AM EST, 5 March 2024, to 8:00PM EST, 9 March 2024. Bids before or after this period are invalid and will not be counted. If you would like to bid on this auction:

Step 1: Check the bidding spreadsheet to find out what the current high bid is. (Note: It may take up to five minutes for a bid to appear.)

Step 2: Fill out the creator's bidding form with a bid that is higher than the current high bid. If you want to make it harder for someone to outbid you, bid higher! We will NOT notify you if someone outbids you. If you would like to track changes to this bidding sheet, select Tools -> Notification Settings. Email notifications may not be immediate, so we do not recommend relying on them near the end of the auction period. Bookmark this sheet so you can check it manually. FTH will only notify you if you are the high bidder after the auctions end.

[plantsjustwannahavefun]

That's not how I see it at all...

I think you're coming at this with the wrong mindset to begin with if you see apology as "groveling", aka something inherently degrading and humiliating. No, I don't want Ed to be degraded and humiliated either. One thing this show is adamant about is that self-hatred doesn't lead to salvation or growth, it only makes you spiral further into destruction. I don't want Ed's act of apology to come from a place like this, and I don't think the show does, either.

But the fact is that Ed does need to answer for his actions in some way and take responsibility. The crew deserve his forgiveness. Even if Izzy wasn't a complete innocent in this, and you could say he deserved some punishment, the rest of the crew did not. Their relationship with Ed is now shattered into pieces, and it's up to Ed to take the first step towards repairing it. OFMD might not be about becoming a good person in general, as in, in some vague moral way, but it is about becoming a better person to those you love, because you owe it to them. The show does care about murder. Stede literally came and took a single look at the world of piracy and said, what if it didn't have to be this way? And that's literally the premise of the show. "Bad people" are capable of love, and deserve to be loved, but at the same time, those they love deserve to be treated well. And, in Ed's case, that does mean he's gonna need to apologise and ask for forgiveness. So is Izzy. And Stede. They've all done bad things they regret. If none of them apologised and everyone simply ignored and forgot about each other's wrongdoings, well there would be no point for this whole season to begin with. It could just end with the next episode after Ed and Stede reunite. But obviously this isn't going to be the case.

I like the idea about emotional pain being treated as worse than physical pain in the show, but again I don't think I agree, and in any case it doesn't apply here. Ed wasn't only physically hurting Ed and the rest of the crew (who, as I said, did nothing to deserve it). He was psychologically and emotionally tormenting them as well. He was forcing the crew to act as brutal killers - yes, that might be what being a pirate means, but we already know this crew isn't like that. People like Frenchie, Fang, even Jim hate murdering others, especially in such a pointless way, looting ships only to throw the treasure away. Everyone's constantly terrified of Ed and can't say what they mean without fear of getting tortured or killed. The fact that they're on Izzy's side now literally shows how bad things got. Jim was so heartbroken that they'd learned to cherish and treasure life only to now be forced to treat it like trash that they wanted to save Izzy's life, despite not liking him very much, just to remember how it felt to fight to protect someone instead of senseless fighting to kill. The whole crew was in so much emotional pain they trauma-bonded with each other.

As for Izzy, Ed had already punished him for his words in S1 by cutting his toe off and feeding it to him. This wasn't a regulare case of a captain punishing their subordinate for disobedience, something that would happen in public too, since that's the whole point, making an example. It was a calculated sadistic move. Stealing into his room at night, ambushing him in his sleep while he's at his most vulnerable and defenceless, making him eat the toe... That goes way beyond punishment, that's something that could cause a lifetime PTSD.

Sure, even then you could say Izzy deserved this, and wouldn't necessarily be wrong. But Ed didn't stop at that, did he? He kept taking more toes - and for much less justifiable reasons, too. Izzy apparently got punished every time the crew refused to follow Ed's insane orders. Ed psychologically humiliated him too, mocking him for being weak and threatening to replace him. And the leg? Izzy lost it for defending the crew. And for being the only one brave enough to tell Ed the truth to his face. You can't simultaneously say the show rewards characters for being true to themselves while agreeing Izzy deserved to get hurt and tortured for this one, too. Although you could say his reward is forming a stronger connection to the crew, which led to him having his life saved. Which, again, ties into the show's theme about learning to be a better person for the sake of others. Even afterwards Ed continued to torment Izzy, forcing him to shoot him. And then literally tried to kill everyone and himself. That's not something you can get away with after a half-arsed mumbled apology. Did Lucius look like he's going to let Ed off the hook that easily? No, because he's traumatised as fuck. As are the rest of them.

Ed definitely won't find it easy to apologise and start repairing this whole mess, but he'll have to. If Izzy could squash his ego enough to thank Stede for the rescue, then Ed can work through his issues enough to be able to apologise, too. Pretty sure that's gonna happen because, as I said, without it there's no room for the story to move forward.

Mostly buried this in the tags of my next OFMD meta reblog down from this post but…. I don’t think Ed is going to apologize for his Kraken era and I don’t think the narrative is going to demand that he does.

I saw a couple posts expressing eagerness for Ed’s inevitable “apology tour” after he wakes up and I just fundamentally don’t think that’s going to happen. I could easily be wrong. But at most I think we might get a few mumbled, shamefaced apologies. If you expect him to grovel before Lucius and the crew, imo, that’s just not going to happen and here’s why:

- the narrative morality of OFMD has NEVER been encouraging its characters to become “good” people. The story is about finding love and acceptance during a midlife crisis. It’s about following your bliss. The highest moral demand it makes of its characters is to be true to themselves, not to become Good People. It’s a pirate comedy. It doesn’t care about murder. It cares about being true to yourself and your desire to be a pirate. Everything goes well when people follow their bliss. It falls apart when narrative defining main characters like Stede or Ed do what they think they should do instead of what makes them happy.

- Emotional pain has always been more important, more impactful, than physical pain in the show. Ed’s bad behavior (to put it lightly) was an expression of his emotional pain. Simply put, the narrative isn’t going to ask him to apologize for his emotional pain.

- Stede, the main driver of the narrative, DOES apologize because his actions led to Ed’s emotional pain (in his mind) and again, narrative pain is weighted more than physical pain in this show. Also, life is cheap, if you’re not a main character. This is still a pirate story. Murder is not treated as a sin.

- Ed is proud. Taika is proud. Both rightfully so one would argue, they’ve accomplished a great deal. Ed’s got a bit of Taika in that, actually more than a bit. It’s clear Taika puts a lot of himself into Ed. My gut tells me that Ed/Taika is just not going to grovel an apology. That’s just not his style. Mumbled self-conscious apologies because he feels he should is one thing. But deep sincere apology tours? Not gonna happen. He won’t abase himself like that (Ed OR Taika)

- The person he arguably hurt most directly, Izzy, hurt Ed IMMENSELY at the end of S1. Arguably more than Lucius, the majority of whose pain came from what happened after he was pushed overboard. But Izzy Ed personally tortured, and he did it because Izzy threatened to murder Ed if Ed didn’t climb back into the suffocating closet of Izzy’s expectations for him. Ed is not going to apologize to Izzy. Izzy got exactly what he deserved in physical pain after the emotional pain he dealt Ed, narratively speaking.

- I’m not talking real world morals, to be clear. Or even what the various Izzy or Ed fans THINK the other deserves, where the fans think the fault truly lies and who owes what to whom.

- What I’m saying is, in the OFMD world where emotional pain matters more than physical maiming, the narrative isn’t going to ASK Ed to apologize to Izzy for maiming him after what Izzy did at the end of S1 and Izzy getting his comeuppance for it. And that’s because they hurt each other equally, emotionally. They’re even now. Izzy lashed out and emotionally destroyed Ed during a vulnerable moment. Ed took his leg. They’re done. The way forward is for them to separate and get their toxicity out of each others life or find a new way forward with new understanding of each other as they become entirely new people after their respective ordeals. But as far as the pain they’ve dealt each other, there’s no debt. They’ve both hurt each other beyond the point of apology being anything but a false display.

Again, I could be totally wrong. Joke’s on me if ep. 4 opens with Ed on his knees crying and apologizing to everyone he hurt. But I just cannot picture that happening. And I don’t think OFMD is the kind of story that will demand it.