#yes I know the timeline doesn't add up let me have this

[anamateurhumanbeing]

Thinking about Jinxtor but as childhood friends

[icarusredwings]

Thinking about Wade googling, "Is my boyfriend a werewolf?" When things start getting colder because;

Logan starts nesting, curling up under 5 duvets, stealing hoodies, and fluffy hello kitty pants to add to it.

He's is extra growly and practically nonverbal at times.

Wade has witnessed him ripping up a pillow with his bare teeth, shaking it the way dogs do with toys. He now fears for his stuffies' lives.

When Logan starts instinctively devouring their kitchen, packing in food for the winter. (Wade has already gotten his hand slices off for poking fun at his weight gain and trying to grope his hips)

When they're out in public and he's visibly shaking like a leaf but snarls if anyone touches him (even on accident)

Takes hot baths and does not share them, wanting all the heat to himself.

Pops out his claws a lot more, for little things that he already is aware of that aren't threats. Perking up from whatever spot he's at to go investigate. Esspecially if puppins barks, it gets him twice as riled up.

The other day, he stood in the window growling because someone he didn't know was helping the neighbor fix their car.

"Wade? He's doing it again."

"Doing what ma- Oh for fucks sake Peanut."

He's at the window like a dog, growling and death glaring the mechanic, puppins is on the back of the couch, wagging her tail and yapping at them too.

"What has gotten into you two? Go on, off. Off! Shoo. Get. And you, go to your room, mister."

A huff of protest, but Wade already shut the curtains and picked up puppins. "Go on. You aren't going to just sit at the window all day looking for a reason to be all broody. It's not good for you. Look are you hungry? Ill make you some eggs. Go take a nap or something you're scaring granny over here ya big bad wolf." He sighs and with a final grunt he goes to curl up in the bedroom.

He also gets jealous the more attention puppins gets but he doesn't, lingering around the corner with a pout.

"That makes me riding hood, doesn't it? Yeah, Huh? Oh yes, it does. But litsen perfect angel, I know you're trying to be like daddy, but shhh! Were not supposed to have any pets, girl. No dogs allowed. It's bad enough that we have mister murder mittens trying to attack our landlord, let alone I had to tell him you were one of those giant New york rats." He tells the dog, who just licks him and was happy to join along in one of her papa's protective beefs with a random person.

Wade has only seen it a couple of times, but sometimes, after popping them out too much, he regrets it and licks his knuckles.

At first Wade thought this was just Alternate timeline Logan stuff, only to quickly realize that it was probably just in the Howlett genes, having been told that Laura also ripped up pillows and stuffed animals, chewing on them like a puppy and Gabby also licked her knuckles when they hurt from growing pains.

Apprently, gabby was a big whiner, too, whimpering instead of grunting most times. It made Wade wonder if she would grow up and grunt too like Laura.

[beifong-brainrot]

I do find it annoying how a lot of Zutara fans tweak the character's stories, personalities and even the timelines to suit their own needs.

Once again, there's nothing wrong with fanon and headcanons, however if looking through the lense of canon, you're objectively wrong.

I ended up stumbling on a post from a Zutara shipper. (At this point I'm regretfully considering not following the tags for Zuko or Katara because I get way too much Zutara content lol) I'm not replying directly to her because I don't want this to turn into an argument, and I know she doesn't take criticism very well.

Ok, So let's break this down.

The character who was first out of the group to trust Zuko?

I'm quite sure this is referring to the scene in Ba Sing Se's caves. And yes, that is a very important scene. I think it's a very important scene preceeding Zuko's 'relapse'. It shows how he's matured during his time in Ba Sing Se and therefore it serves to add to our dismay when he joins Azula. I adore the fact that Zuko's journey to redemption is not linear, it certainly adds a lot to the character and shows us how his trauma affected him.

It's also a horrific moment for Katara. To have her worldview on Zuko and firebenders as a whole challenged, and then for it to go blowing up in her face. It rips open old wounds of her childhood. It refreshes her resentment of Zuko and the Fire Nation as a whole. It parallels the death of her mother when Aang dies due to Azula's lighting and she is unable to do anything about it. It places her back in that spot of helplessness. Even though she's grown up, even though she's a master waterbender, she still comes a hair's breadth to losing one of the most important people in her life.

No wonder she hated Zuko so much after this.

It's an important moment for both characters, but I wouldn't say it is that in a romantic sense. It's a sweet, hopeful moment that then turns absolutely horrific and visceral for both parties.

I could argue that there are other characters who could be given the title of 'first to trust Zuko'. Funnily, Appa being one of them lol.

But other characters trusting Zuko dovetails nicely into the next point.

The character who emotionally connects to Zuko?

Well, technically, I'd argue that most members of the Gaang connect emotionally on one level or another with him?

But I'd argue that Aang is the person Zuko connected with the most. Aang is Zuko's parallel. Aang is the first person to reach out to Zuko. Aang is the person who showed mercy to Zuko, multiple times. Aang is the person who valued Zuko's life, the life of someone whose whole life goal is to capture him.

This was also an incredibly important moment to Zuko. This is the thing he brings up when trying to convince the Gaang to let him join.

Zuko: Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me.

The character Zuko feels safest letting his guard down around?

It's Mai. Love her or hate her, her relationship with Zuko is incredibly important to him. Maiko isn't my favourite Zuko ship, in full honesty. But even platonically, Mai and Zuko are one another's reprieve from their respective shitty lives.

People often talk about Katara touching Zuko's scar while discussing healing his scar, however one could argue that she did so as a medical examination. Mai touching Zuko's scar is a casual thing, neither of them really make a big deal of it and that's the beauty of it.

I'm mainly talking out of my own personal experience, as someone with a huge amount of burn scars, but there is a world of difference between someone inspecting my scars like Katara did and simply accepting them as a part of me, like Mai does for Zuko.

With Mai, Zuko isn't the scarred banished prince, Ozai's son or Azula's brother. He's just Zuko. And they speak freely with one another, arguing like real people do. Often, being comfortable having arguments is actually a sign of being comfortable with one another.

The character who helps Zuko heal from his trauma?

Once again, this is a bit of a flawed question. By the end of the show, Zuko isn't even fully healed, in my opinion. He has made leaps and bounds on the road to recovery, but when he will truly heal if ever is yet to be seen.

Zuko's journey to recovery includes plenty of people. This includes Iroh, Aang, Song and Jin. People who show him the error of his coping mechanism. Who challenge his worldview, who coax him out of the his shell of pain and anger.

The character known for showing most compassion to others?

Yes, Katara's compassion is a huge part of her character. Her need to help and protect those who cannot do that for themselves cannot be understated.

But Aang's compassion for others and all beings is just as great, if not greater than Katara's. Compassion and nonviolence are huge parts of his culture and his own philosophy.

Aang: Wait, we can't just leave him here. Sokka: Sure we can. Let's go. Aang :No, if we leave him he'll die. Aang airbends himself off Appa and retrieves Zuko, bringing him to Appa. Sokka: [Sarcastically.] Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us.

Friendly reminder that Aang could've absolutely wrecked Ozai, but held back because his own moral compass was so powerful. Hell, he was friendly and nice to Azula, the woman who literally killed him.

This is why Aang and Katara work so well together. They're both incredibly compassionate people who will immediately jump in to help others in need. Like they did during the Painted Lady, destroying the factiry together.

The character who primarily bears the burden of having to step up into a parental role?

I think "parental role" is an incredibly vague term. There's a lot of things that go into a "parental role". Katara plays a stereotypically "maternal" role, while someone who plays a "paternal" one would probably be Sokka.

Katara deals with very "homemaking" tasks like sewing and cooking, etc. And Sokka often takes on the role of leader, hunter, gatherer and also protector, despite being a nonbender.

This coincides nicely with their core childhood traumas. The loss of Katara's mother impacted her greatly, leading her to have to step up into a motherly role. While Sokka was clearly heavily traumatised by his father departing and the crushing responsibility of having to care for his entire village.

Sexism also probably played a part in this dichotomy.

The character who represses their emotions to be strong for others?

I'd argue that this could apply to all the members of the Gaang in some capacity.

Aang's pain is something most of us will never experience and cannot hope to understand. The complete horrific destruction of his culture and home followed him through the entire show. He was entitled to his grief and rage, yet he supressed it. We see during Appa's kidnapping, how easy it would be for Aang to rage, to let himself be destructive. And yet, he wakes up every day and chooses to smile and goof off, because his friends need someone to remind them how to be children.

Sokka puts on a very impressive bravado, despite having a lot of insecurities. However, as the oldest member of the Gaang (pre Zuko) he puts on a facade of the confident and unbothered older brother. Even if he's the butt of almost every joke, he still keeps that demeanour up, letting it slip only a few times.

I'd actually argue that Toph is the person whom this label fits best. While we know Toph as witty, callous and strong, we have to remember that she kept up the facade of her parents' good, helpless little blind girl for no reason other than her mother and father's comfort. She actually hides a lot of her hurt, covering it up with a prickly exterior.

I want to do longer think pieces about Toph and Katara so apologies if this isn't complete.

I'm actually baffled by the idea of Katara repressing her emotions. She's actually quite straightforward and open about her feelings. She yells and feels a lot of emotions and lets them be heard. She gets angry and sad. She's actually kinda bitchy sometimes and that's honestly why I love her so much.

The whole inciting incident of the show was her getting so pissed off she somehow pulls a giant iceberg from the bottom of the sea.

She is anything but repressed.

She is angry.

She's angry at the fire nation, at Sokka, at her father, at men, and with good right to be so.

This is what makes her an amazing character and one who broke the mould of a lot of female characters at the time. Her anger and unrestrained emotions rang true with a lot of watchers at the time. I'm not sure why this is being taken away from her rather than celebrated.

I reiterate the point I made at the beginning of this post: there is nothing wrong with headcanons and fanon interpretations for one's enjoyment. I do find it a bit odd when it changes a character too much (because then, why not just create an oc?) but it's all in good fun. However, you shouldn't push that onto other people and how they perceive canon and you certainly shouldn't use it to take away from other characters. It's a very unfair way of entering discourse.

[indestinatus]

The silent art of gif making

The gif above has 32 layers plus 6 that aren't shown because this is part of a larger edit. I wanted to share it to give everyone a glimpse of the art of gif making and how long it usually takes for me to make something like this. This one took me about an hour and a half but only because I couldn't get the shade of blue right.

I use Adobe Photoshop 2021 and my computer doesn't have a large memory space (I don't know what to call it) so usually most of psds get deleted because I'm too lazy to get a hard drive. It doesn't really bother me that much because I like the art so when it's done, it's done. Off to somewhere else it goes.

Here are the layers:

Everything is neat and organized in folders because I like it that way. I prefer to edit it in timeline but others edit each frame. There's a layer not shown (Layer 4 is not visible) and it's the vector art. Here it is:

Now it is visible. I don't plan to make this a tutorial, but if you're interested I'd love to share a few tricks about it. I'm pretty new to the colors in gifmaking but the rest is simple to understand. Here, I just want to show how much work it takes to make it.

I opened Group 2 and here's the base gif. I already sharpened and sized it correctly but that's about it. Let's open the base coloring next.

Yay! Now it looks pretty! The edits are in Portuguese but it doesn't matter. There's a silent art of adding layers depending on how you want the gif to look but you get used to it. The order matters and you can add multiple layers of the same thing (for eg. multiple layers of levels or curves or exposure).

This was pretty much my first experiment with coloring so I don't know what I'm doing (this happens a lot with any art form but gifmaking exceeds in DIYing your way to the finished product) but I didn't want to mess up his hair, that's why the blue color is like that. Blue is easy to work with because there's little on the skin (different from red and yellow but that's color theory). I painted the layers like that and put it on screen, now let's correct how the rest looks.

I was stuck trying to get the right teal shade of blue so yes, those are 10 layers of selective color mostly on cyan blue. We fixed his hair (yay!) we could've probably fixed the blue on his neck too but I was lazy. This is close to what I wanted so let's roll with that.

BUT I wanted his freckles to show, so let's edit a little bit more. Now his hair is more vibrant and his skin has red tones, which accentuates the blues and his eyes (exactly what I wanted!). That lost Layer 2 was me trying to fix some shadows in the background but in the end, it didn't make such a difference.

This was part of an edit, so let's add the graphics and also edit them so they're the right shade of blue and the correct size. A few gradient maps and a dozen font tests later, it appears to be done! Here it is:

Please reblog gifsets on tumblr. We gifmakers really enjoy doing what we do (otherwise we wouldn't be here) but it takes so long, you wouldn't imagine. Tumblr is the main website used for gif making and honestly, we have nowhere to go but share our art here. This was only to show how long it takes but if you're new and want to get into the art of gif making, there are a lot of really cool resource blogs in here. And my ask box is always open! Sending gifmakers all my love.

[kingmaxstatic]

In Defense Of Lanolin, A Post About Perspective, Flaws and Development. (Part 1: The Incidents)

Hey there everyone! It's time for another ✨Max Opinion Moment✨. Out of all of the IDW characters I think Lanolin is the character I've seen get the most hate. I'm not just talking about "I dislike this character" I'm talking I've seen posts where people act like Lanolin killed their family sort of hate.

Today I plan on defending Lanolin as a character! Talking about the main panels that caused this hatred and why I think she's... actually justified in her actions!

DISCLAIMER! This post is not meant to say "You can't DISLIKE Lanolin!". You're allowed to have your opinions of the character!

with all of that out of the way, let's talk sheep! Buckle up! Because this is a long one! (So long I might have to make a part 2)

Case #1: The Paddle Ball Incident

One of the earliest examples (comic timeline wise) was this set of panels! I've seen people actually seethe over these panels. Now I want to explain why I, personally, understand why she's taken the paddle away from her!

Lanolin is talking about important stuff here! Tangle is ACTIVELY interrupting the conversation by playing with the paddle ball in her face. Also, as an autistic person, I personally know how distracting those noises can be!

People also seem to forget that Lanolin, a few pages earlier, looks EXHAUSTED. That is not the face of a sheep that's well rested. Of course she's going to be irritable!

You'd be a bit of a bitch too if you were trying to talk about important stuff and someone was cutting off the conversation by fiddling with something really loud in your face! It's like if you were trying to present a school project you worked all night on and someone started playing a really loud video next to you.

Does this make Tangle a bad person? Of course not! She's energetic and gets bored easily (trust me girl, I get it.) but Lanolin isn't bad for being upset.

Case 2: The Duo Incident

THIS is the main reason a lot of people hate Lanolin as a character. Though in the timeline it's the second panel people will point to as justification for wanting this fictional sheep dead. This is the part of the post where I talk a LOT about perspective and justification.

Get ready for a LOTTTT of panel posting to add context.

SO Let's discuss the main perspective we see, Silver and Whisper's

Silver and Whisper know something is up with Duo, hell Whisper hits the nail right on the head when she instantly assumes Duo to be Mimic! This all happens after Mimic sneakily kicks Silver and Whisper notices.

Another event this happens is when Mimic basically leaves Silver for dead and what does he say after Lanolin asks him where silver is?

"I'm sorry I couldn't save him... the teeth... so big."

From LANOLIN'S PERSPECTIVE, Duo is the new guy, inexperienced and doesn't know how to deal with badniks and this one was HUGE. So from HER pov Duo did his best to save Silver and just simply couldn't. Of course she doesn't know that Duo is Mimic.

So what do Whisper and Silver do after they assume there's a traitor amongst them?

"We're Going Hunting."

Silver and Whisper don't first contact Lanolin or the others, they jump INSTANTLY to murder. The next panel we sees Silver and Whisper in in this arc is them camping in a bush, ready to shoot this Mimic.

Once again, I need to emphasize, they DID NOT discuss this with Tangle or Lanolin. They jumped to murder. This is a rash choice on both of their ends.

I also want to point out that Lanolin acted a lil playful and friendly... before she saw Whisper coming out of the bushes with her wispon.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize what Whisper is implying here. She wants to kill someone. Justified? Yes, Mimic is a horrible person who seems to only know one word, betray. But from Lanolin's perspective Duo is a newbie who's only crime was being inexperienced. She does not know Duo is Mimic.

She even asks "The Shape-Shifter? That's a big accusation. Do you have any proof?" She isn't saying "Whisper, this guy clearly isn't mimic." She's saying "If you have proof he's mimic, show it instead of shooting this person I assume is innocent.".

and Whisper responds "We will soon."

Whisper then walks forward and proceeds to grab Lanolin's arm and move it, if you have a keen eye, you'll notice it was the arm Lanolin was using to protect Duo.

A teammate is walking towards your other seemingly innocent teammate, accusing them of being someone from their past. They're carrying a loaded weapon and move you out of the way. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what would happen next. Someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed.

So what do you do?

You knock the person down.

What Lanolin does here is knock Whisper over before she does anything and attempts to reason why her. Before whisper then KICKS her legs, trying to knock her over. Thus starts a fight. I'm not gonna post the full panel because we already got the idea.

But afterwards Jewel asks "Hey let me get this straight, you tried to attack this dude based on an assumption"

And Silver is like "Yeah shit guess I was"

THEN Lanolin steps in like "Hey until you can like. think before you act you should stay away from us, kay?"

OKAY SO, TO EMPHASIZE THIS A THIRD TIME. Silver and Whisper decided to try and kill this guy before discussing with their team. Silver is a powerhouse and a well known powerhouse at that. "Yadda Yadda great power, great responsibility." and all that.

People act like Lanolin is banning Silver from ever being in the diamond cutters ever. But she's saying "FOR NOW you can't be one of us.". Until is a word that changes a LOT here. She's also saying "That's my vote." implying she wants the others' input.

Hell this is even more emphasized when Jewel says Tangle has a say in this! Lanolin is saying "Hey, I think Silver shouldn't be around until he grows more, what do you guys think?".

I do think Lanolin has flaws here, she should've tried to give whisper a bit more benefit of the doubt here, but Whisper shouldn't of ALSO jumped to murder. They're BOTH in the wrong here.

PHEW THAT WAS A LONG ONE.

Case #3: The X-Treme Gear Incident

This is the latest Lanolin panel that I've seen spark debate about her! Let's talk about the Diamond Cutters' roles in this arc!

They're referees! They're even called "The Restoration Refs" in issue 70! Basically, people who oversee the race to make sure everyone is playing fair and safe.

She's not doing this because she hates Sonic (okay maybe she has beef with Sonic), Amy and Tails. She's doing this because it was an active threat to everybody else and themselves!

Hell I want to point out that in the first panel of this case, she's pointing at Sonic. Who she has witnessed first hand clearly having a disregard to the rules and safety.

This then proceeded to almost get one of her teammates hurt.

So Lanolin calling Sonic a "Hazard" Isn't too far off. Do I think Lanolin is being harsh here? Yeah. Hell even the comic points out she's being harsh after the first panel of this case.

People act like she swiveled around to Tails and went "You suck as an inventor" and spit on him. She's calling the gear "faulty" and "hazards". Shes literally doing her job. I need to emphasize this. Is she being rude? Yes. But she's blunt and it's apart of her character. Tangle is gonna be naive, Whisper's gonna be distant, Lanolin is gonna be blunt.

Bonus Case: The Shattered Glass Incident.

Okay so this isn't one that I've seen people hate on Lanolin for but I... have seen the Anti-Lanolin squad be weird over this panel. Being all like "HA!! Not as perfect as she thought!" and "She's finally facing the consequences of her actions!!"

What actions?

Ah yes! Stopping Sonic from endangering more racers!

Lanolin broke the glass, yes. She acted quickly, yes. This wasn't her scheming and being like "Heehee!! Time to put all these people in danger for some reason!!"

Let's call it what it is.

A Mistake.

Something people are allowed to make, something Lanolin is allowed to make. This isn't some sort of "her getting what's coming to her" it's her realizing she fucked up. Let her make mistakes and let them BE mistakes!

But yeah, if you've read this all the way through, thank you! I had a lot of fun making this (despite how exhausted I am of the lanolin hate train). Hopefully I'll actually make that part 2! Because that would be more so me talking about Lanolin's flaws, her role, and her backstory! Things I like to discuss (I do not like being a hater).

[azaharinflames]

Will you share your theory on what you think is happening behind the scenes of 911?

Hi, Nonnie!

Sure! As long as everyone is aware this is purely speculation, and nothing I say should be taken as proof of anything, I have no problem.

I've gone over a few things in my head, to be honest. I thought that JLH having filming conflicts could've been a major factor, and I still don't exactly disagree with that initial idea, but overall I think it was one of the things that threw TM for a loop.

Now, I've seen a lot of people theorize that perhaps Angela is leaving and that is what is causing so much chaos in BTS, but I am on the fence about this. I do think she might've asked to not have such a big role moving forward, especially if they get a season 9 (which I am also on the fence about ngl), like perhaps retiring, or just having a more laidback position training new recruits. The seeds are planted for that, not so much for her fully leaving. And it would give Angela more free time to dedicate to other projects (which, yes please. I need her in new projects ASAP).

So... (and please don't kill me for this, it's just a theory).

I think it all comes back to Ryan. And that he perhaps is leaving, or actively wants to leave. I will try to explain myself as concise as possible:

A couple of months ago there was already speculation about this. In all of his individual interviews (which were a lot, to be honest), Ryan made a point of talking about his work beyond 911 and talking about what he would like to do after 911.

On top of the individual promo, there was an uncharacteristically high amount of BTS dedicated to him and the godforsaken mustache. To the point where they threw a mustache party. And in the pics of that party, the vibes were that it was a party for Ryan, not in general.

Small thing, but Josh randomly dressing up as Eddie for Halloween. Perhaps unrelated, but I wanted to add it.

The 911 account reposting and celebrating Ryan's 100th ep, when 1. it wasn't his 100th (if we count the eps he was actually in) and 2. it was also JLH's, and yet they didn't say a thing about it. Ryan reposted that as well and the message he reposted it with was more nostalgic than anything else. Very much giving 'it was an honor to work with you, what a journey'.

I could be wrong, but I do think his contract ends this season. So, that just adds to it.

The timeline of the move to Texas. By the reactions alone I was fully expecting Eddie to leave for Texas at the end of 808, and then to be back with Chris (in a lazy way of solving their conflict off-screen) by 809-810. But the way he's currently thinking about it makes it very sus for me. As in, it can be a thing for the end of the season, and an actual goodbye for Eddie.

Of course, nothing of this has to actually happen, and it's quite possible it just exists in my brain. But this makes sense in my funny brain because then it explains why BT had to break up so soon... because they wanted Buck to feel completely isolated.

We know 809-10 will deal with Maddie being kidnapped. That alone will make Buck spiral. But if on top of that his best friend is also leaving... well, being alone just adds to the isolation and the angst. Because if Tommy was still around he'd be able to lean on him, and have him help him through this. But it seems like the writers wanted Buck fully alone for this, because sure, seeing a character never learning and being completely isolated is so much fun.

If this ends with BT getting back together, I honestly don't know. It wouldn't surprise me if Tim doesn't know. But, all in all, I wouldn't be surprised if RG deciding he's done is the thing that kinda created the domino effect.

(Also: I do not believe Oliver was telling Tim to fire Lou and end BT. Sorry. I just don't really see it. Nor do I think there were actual conflicts between actors BTS, as much as everything they're doing right now does feel a bit weird)

Anyway, thanks for letting me rant, Nonnie! My inbox is always open for ranting, venting, or discussing

Take care <3

[bethanydelleman]

I saw a post you reblogged at some point about Fanny being stuck in a time loop and it got me thinking: if the main men (both protagonists and antagonists) of the different Austen novels time travelled back to the day they first met their love interest/the start of the novel - whichever is latest so wentworth, knightley, and Edmund Bertram would travel to the day the main events of their novels start - who do you think would end up changing the least of the events and the most (intentionally or not)?

Because I feel like Knightley would change the least and Henry Tilney and the three S&S gents would come next. But like Wentworth would immediately throw the entire novel off track and like Darcy and Henry Crawford would come in close second trying to change their truly awful first impressions

(Also I just want to add that I really love your Austen takes and discussions 😊)

Thank you!

This is a fascinating idea. Here are my thoughts:

Wentworth just marches into Uppercross Cottage and proposes again. Doesn't even wait to be properly introduced to the family. He's getting Anne back NOW. (She says yes, of course)

I can imagine Darcy having a tiny little crisis as he decides if he really wants to be married to Elizabeth, maybe he could just not accompany Bingley to Netherfield and his life could go the way he planned... nah, he can't resist. Off to Netherfield he goes and he lets Bingley introduce him to Elizabeth at the assembly ball. Things progress unimpeded and by Christmas there is a double wedding and Wickham's character is known throughout Hertfordshire. He skips town and Lydia is packed off to Pemberley to benefit from some better society. (Side note: Mrs. Bennet would push Mr. Collins on Mary if she had any inclination that Darcy liked Elizabeth).

If Bingley knew everything, he'd never leave Jane. He'd return from London and marry her, no matter what Darcy or his sisters said. (I wrote that once actually)

Does Wickham count as a main? Because I don't want him having the ability to predict the future. Yikes on bikes!

Henry Crawford is very interesting, because does he actually understand where he went wrong? I'm not sure he does. Can he resist a flirtation with two very pretty sisters? That would be a fun fan fiction to write. Because if he went for Fanny right off the bat and she knew nothing else about him... he'd probably succeed with her, secret Edmund love or not. And she certainly wouldn't have a leg to stand on in refusing his proposal.

Does Edmund come back in the same timeline as Henry? That would be so agnsty! If not, he'd probably be doing whatever he could to keep Maria and Henry apart, but he's shockingly ineffective in canon, so would he even be able to change anything?

Henry Tilney would probably just try to prevent Catherine being sent home alone. He could easily come back early.

Mr. Knightley's best move would be to tell Robert Martin to propose in person. I doubt Harriet could have resisted. Then he could just sit back and watch everything else play out.

Honestly, I don't know if Frank Churchill would change a thing, other than making sure his final letter was posted to Jane. He enjoyed the subterfuge.

Poor Edward Ferrars has to travel back while engaged to Lucy? I feel like he wouldn't even want to relive the novel, there is nothing he can do anyway.

Colonel Brandon would probably change a lot. He could immediately save Eliza and challenge Willoughby. He might even spare Marianne from a lot of pain.

Reginald de Courcy (Lady Susan) would likely act as well and save Frederica earlier than in the novel.

[yetanotherhiddlestoner]

(MDNI 18+, smut will be eventually happening in this story line but still please respect the MDNI)

(Plus size reader x Negan. In the world of the dead rising, you just happen to fall for the one fucked up person who has no interest in you. And I am aware the timeline doesn't add up but for the story I had to make the timeline longer than a couple months.)

*Trigger Warning - There will be a few hurtful words. Negan is going to be an asshole for the first part of this so if you want the fluff and smut just skip past this chapter. Fatphobia. Eating Disorders. Fat shaming.*

CHAPTER ONE - I FELL HARD, YOU'LL FALL HARDER.

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You remember the day that you were found and bought to the Sanctuary by Negan himself. You had been abandoned by your own people and left to die in the woods, Negan and his crew were on their way back home when he spotted you sitting at the base of the tree.

"Well Shit looky here" he said, and you looked up at him as he flung the bat over his shoulder. "You lost little lamb?", you were too scared to reply so you just nodded. "You alone?" again you nodded. "Do you speak?". You took a deep breathe and shallowed the ball of fear that had made it way to your throat "Yes, ummm" you didn't know this man, but holy hell was he hot. "I'm Negan, you may have heard of me?" He questions again. "No sorry I haven't." You tell him truthfully. "Well fuck me girly you have no fucking idea who I am" He looks shock as he lowers himself to your level, your eyes lock on to his. "Where did you come from; I own all the survivors in this area?" "My group never settled down, we were constantly wandering in search of supplies and would bunk down wherever we felt safe." Negan nodded understanding now how she wouldn't have known him if they were always on the move. "So where is your group now?" "They left me here, so I don't know."

"Excuse my fucking language but they fucking left one of their own out in this shithole world, what are you gonna do be walker bait? you don't seem to have any weapons on you, you're as helpless as a baby." You shrug, "I really don't know what I am going to do." He gets up quickly, but not before grabbing your hand and making you stand up to. "You are going to come to the Sanctuary with me. It is safe there, plenty of supplies and you can work for you food and other things," "Ok" is all you said as you follow Negan back. The first night there they didn't have a spare room for you so Negan let you crash in his room while he went and have fun with his wives. You had wanted to object to staying in his room, no doubt you could bunk on the floor anywhere else but he insisted that you had a goodnight sleep and that was that. For the first time in years, you slept peacefully.

You had lived with Negan as your leader for a few months now. You were thankful for the first time in your life to be a fat person, it meant Negan didn't want you as his wife, you could fly under the radar when it came to that way of living. You had been told many times by the other women there how they all had been asked to be his, but they had decided not to, they were allowed to live and work here.

He had a type as you could tell by the wives that he paraded around the compound daily and the ones he checked out when new people were bought in. His type was the tall skinny type, the ones that would go out nightly and party, who now obeyed him and gave themselves over to him whenever he wanted.

Yes, he was nicer to you than he was to most, he spoke to you with a kind voice, but he never asked you to be his, he never asked you to go hunt the dead down or even fight the ones who threaten to take over. Whenever you had interactions, he would never yell, and would often be smiling at you, of you took it as he was being a friendly leader. He disliked it when his men would interrupt your conversations. You did see his dark side, you saw what he did to people, the punishments, the torture.

After a while you started developing feelings, you tried to deny them, try to tell yourself it was pointless but it never worked, the more he spoke and showed you affection the more harder you fell and it made your heart break every time he had his body wrapped with his wives, it hurt to hear him talk about how they pleased him, how hard he was for them almost every day.

That changes in a blink of an eye.

"Hey Y/N Negan wants you in his office now" Simon says, leading the way to him.

You panic, have you done something wrong, have you not been pulling your weight? Had you missed an order he had given you?

"Come in" Negan says as soon as Simon knocks. "Sit" He orders you and Simon leaves you two alone. The room ran cold suddenly, this was not the Negan you knew. "It has been bought towards me by some of my men that maybe you should have less portions than the others considering how fat you are" Negan smirks, a laugh in voice. The words cut you like a knife. You look away from the man in front of you. "It really wouldn't hurt to lose a few now, would it?"

All you can do is nod. "Answer me dammit" he screams his hands hitting the desk. "Yes Negan" you muster up in a quiet voice. "I agree"

"Well alrighty then you can go finish your job then." he says dismissing you. You walk quickly to the bathroom, rushing past people trying to hide the tears.

"You, ok?" A female's voice says from one of the stalls.

You know her, she is one of his wives. "Yeah, I'm fine"

She puffs on a cigarette, "Let me guess you're Y/N?"

"How....did you know that?" You ask wiping your face.

"He talks openly around us, without realizing we hear and remember all, and from the tears he said some hurtful things, right? He has been boasting that shit all week. I am so sorry he said those things."

You shake your head, afraid of saying anything in case she would report it back to Negan.

"It is the truth, I am fat, I could use less food. I am not going to deny it. Less portions for me means more for others."

You leave the bathroom, feeling more shit about yourself than before.

It took about 2 months of planning before you had snuck enough weapons and food to make your get away. Sherry had helped you plan and save up for you to escape when nightfall came, she wanted to give you a chance, something that she didn't have at this point in time.

"Promise me you will never come back here" She asked as she opened the gate for you quietly.

"I promise but you deserve this so much more than I do" You whisper back to her, tears forming in both.

"I know Y/N but if I can help you and the others than maybe one day, I can be free to" she says wiping your tears away.

"You shouldn't have fallen for such a cruel man; I hope you find your happiness out there one day." Sherry gently places her hand on you cheek and smiles then closes the gate, leaving you in the woods once again. You run to the car that she had bargained just for you about 15 minutes away.

Once you started driving away you fought back the urge to cry. You were alone again, traveling to God knows where.

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12 Months later ~ Alexandria.

You had been at Alexandria for about 6 months when those trucks came rolling into your home. You had heard the stories about what he had done with Ricks gang and Rick knew that you had been one of his people before you escaped, only he knew the truth, he kept your secrets.

He made sure that each time Negan came to collect you were out scavenging. He wanted to protect you from him, with fears that maybe he would force you to return or hold some grudge over you leaving.

But on this day Negan had decided to come two days early and you looked at Rick for answers, you couldn't run and there was no point hiding as they searched the houses. Today you would be out there, you had just hoped that he didn't recognize you.

"Go over to the garden. Keep yourself blended with them; keep you hat down. He shouldn't bother you." Rick says pushing you to go.

You run over and quickly make yourself look busy, you picked up the small rack and you grabbed a spare hat and put it on, hiding your face.

You heard the tires, the brakes of the trucks squeal and a very familiar voice.

"Well Ricky boy look at you, your so close to pissing yourself aren't you."

You couldn't hear his reply. His men started to grab the goods that you spent time getting for him, a couple of them walked past you are smiling and wolf whistling at you and the others. You could hear him and Rick walking to the pantry, Olivia greeted them.

Negan laughed when Olivia was explaining that they were running out of food and staving.

"You got a fat chick guarding the food, are you sure as hell she not sneaking it at midnight.?" Rick stayed silent and Olivia started crying, you couldn't bear it.

You storm over to Olivia and Negan and slap him hard across the face. You turn to hug Olivia tightly.

"Fuck me, who the fuck do you think you are?" He says rubbing his cheek. You look at Rick from under your hat, "I'm Sorry" you whisper to him as he stares in shock.

"I asked you a question, you are to fucking answer it" he says grabbing you from Olivia pushing you to the floor, aiming Lucille at your face.

The hat still hiding your face, "You come here and take our stuff, that we worked hard on, that I don't care about but to talk shit about someone's weight is the fucking worse thing. You have no right to judge us on appearance." You say getting up, ignoring the protests from your friends and the fact that Lucille was still aimed.

"You must have some lady balls to speak to me like that. Who are you?" He uses Lucille to push the hat off and stops smirking. For the first time in 12 months, he locks eyes with you. Negan cannot believe what he is seeing.

"Y/N." he whispers. He notices that you have changed so much, you look good, not that you didn't look good before he thinks to himself.

"Are we done here?" Rick asks, everyone not sure what is about to happen.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Leave us, I think I need a word with Y/N alone." Negan places Lucille on his shoulders and one by one they leave. The group questioning Rick about you.

"Have you been here the entire fucking time?" Negan was mad.

"What does it matter?" You respond, eyeing him off.

"You fucking left in the middle of the night. Why?" He growls.

"Not like you cared but so what. One less fat mouth to feed would be a good thing, right?" He can hear the venom in your voice.

Now Negan understands, "So that is why? You were hurt by what I said."

"I am not the only one who wanted to escape you that night." Negan raises and eyebrow., you ignore his question.

"Let me guess, Sherry helped you. I had a feeling when she acted all weird the next day, avoiding me and shit." Negan slams Lucille down onto a coffee table, smashing it.

You don't flinch, you just look at the table, all broken. Wondering if you could repair it.

"AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU. " Negan screams. You just breathe deeply.

"I was always thankful for what you did for me, saving me, giving me a bed and a room and a job." you say ignoring the tantrum that he was having.

"THEN WHY LEAVE OVER A STUPID COMMENT?"

"WHY?" You scream back before taking a deep breath "I was already eating less portions, if you or your men even cared to have noticed I only went to 2 dinners a week, I skipped most breakfast and lunches. I was already feeling bad for being fat, the looks I got for having the EXACT amount of food then everyone else confirmed what everyone was thinking and then you go and listen to your men and ask me to cut down more without even consulting me."

You tell him the truth; you were starving yourself anyway.

"You acted like an asshole; you could have maybe noticed that I was trying to change but you didn't." You spit back at him.

"So, you come to ole Ricky boy here and he takes you under his wing?" Negan eyes blacken as his says Rick's name.

"They saved me from a horde, I was stupid enough to try something and got overrun and stuck for a couple days on the roof of a shop. Simple as that, Negan."

"YOU WOULDN'T HAVE GOT STUCK IF YOU HAD STAYED WITH ME" Negan shouts the anger is bad once again. "I never asked you to scavenge, I kept you inside for a reason. I didn't want you to get hurt. I was always nice to you; did you not notice that?"

"And that is why your men did what they did, you showed me kindness, you showed them weakness, so when they came to you, telling you lies, and shit and you felt scared and put on the Big Bad Wolf pants and did what you did." "I have nothing more to say to you Negan. So, get the shit Rick and the rest of us have collected for you and get out." You look at him straight in the eyes, he just stares at you sternly, pointing Lucille at you. "If you were anybody else, I would have killed you." With that he turns his heels and stomps out, you hear shouting and the sound of the trucks being loaded. Once the gate closes, you break down crying. You feel Rick hugging you as you cry.

The next time you run into Negan, he a prisoner in Alexandria.

[misc-obeyme]

You know the drill.

Spoilers for Lesson 40 below, including locked and hard lessons.

Just to clarify: when I say that it’s “the end” in my rantings, I am referring to season two, not the entire game. ☺️

Hmm.

I'm confused. And... underwhelmed? What even just happened?

I mean, we had lovely moments with the side characters and we got to kiss them all and of course I'm incredibly pleased I got to kiss Barbatos and Solomon, but aside from that we just... went back?

Most of the lesson was about the RAD founding ceremony. We say good bye to the side characters and they even address how we told Solomon his cooking was bad (more on this later).

But just as the ceremony is about to start, a dark rift opens in the sky. It's a rift in space and time. Barbatos straight up asks Solomon if he did it. Solomon says he didn't, but that he wasn't expecting it to show up so soon. (So who did create it? Nightbringer? And if so, doesn't this prove Solomon at the very least knows enough to know when Nightbringer is going to open a portal back through time??)

We miss the ceremony because we have to go through that rift if we wanna get back. The brothers come with us because we need their power. Just like when we summoned the white dragon, we call upon each brother for his power. Then Solomon adds his. Then there's a bright light and..

...roll credits.

Yeah. That's it. That's the end.

There's a locked lesson where Diavolo gives a speech at the ceremony.

And then the HARD lesson... is us returning to the House of Lamentation in our time. The brothers are all like oh hey MC good morning like nothing even happened. They say it's weird because it feels like it's been a long time since they've seen MC but that can't be right because it hasn't been that long at all.

AND THAT'S IT.

No Nightbringer. No further insight from Solomon or Barbatos. Not even sad angsty brothers who have been missing us.

It was like they didn't know we were gone.

So either we went back a little further in time or there was never a point where they decided as a group to send Solomon back to help us.

We didn't even get a Michael appearance!

THAT WAS VERY ANTICLIMACTIC.

I am confused because it wasn't bad, it was kinda cheesy, there were some sweet lines and like I mentioned previously I got to kiss my malewives but WHAT THE JUNK.

I'm not suffering, more like I'm just left hanging???

My one consolation is that we're back in our timeline now. So maybe NEXT SEASON we can FINALLY get some ANSWERS.

I really thought they couldn't drag it out any further and yet...

I didn't take a whole lot of screenshots this time because again, it was kinda just... underwhelming. Overall this lesson was just me going that's it?! And being baffled.

First I'd like to present you with these lovely Barbatos moments.

As sweet as this is, the man knows. Not that I ever thought anything else, but he's so subtle about it. I'm onto you, Barb.

My HEART. If I wasn't going back to another version of him, I would just be like nope staying by your side forever the end I don't care about anybody else.

But before all that, there was also this:

I'm glaring at you because you let Solomon into the kitchen.

I DIDN'T WANT TO.

OF COURSE I DIDN'T.

GOOD. SOMEONE ELSE CAN SUFFER WITH ME.

OHHhhhh Barb I love when you get all threatening and smile like that 💕

But seriously, then Barbatos and Luke help Solomon make a lunch that's actually delicious and we eat it with everybody and they're all amazed. I was like OKAY WELL I do feel a bit better about that whole fiasco now. But still, was it even necessary to begin with? No amount of sweet kitchen buffoonery with these guys is going to make me forget the pain.

At least we had a cute Solomon moment, too.

Yeah but I'm still wondering about the past version of you, Sol. I'm just saying, where is that guy?

I mean you don't have to look so sad about it.

Ah. Your jealousy is showing, Solomon. (I don't mind.)

Hard Lesson bits because I'm still just ????

YEAH BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T.

YEAH IT'S BEEN TWO WHOLE SEASONS.

Once again, I am left with more questions than what I started with. Will MC tell the brothers what happened? Will we just never see the past brothers again? Will we return to the past in the next season? Will we ever see Nightbringer again, the being for whom this game was named?

At the very least, we still have Mephisto being himself and man I can't believe I ever disliked this guy.

THAT'S MY BOY.

I'm feeling extremely unsatisfied but it isn't like that's anything new.

I will say that it wasn't as bad as I expected. I was expecting them to do some really terrible things that made me freak out and scream and scare my cat. But no, I was mostly just ?? the whole time. And confusion is preferable to suffering in this case.

But I am also ANNOYED. We have waited long enough for the Nightbringer reveal, please give it to us now Solmare!!!

I fear we only have a short time before we are dragged further into this game that has truly become a hell of its own when season three is upon us... (I'm being deliberately melodramatic but still...)

[perpetualexistence]

Alenoah Hypnosis Corruption AU, where after Alejandro hears Noah call him an 'eel dipped in grease', Alejandro makes a deal with Noah... If Noah lets Alejandro hypnotize him into not saying the truth about Alejandro to anyone again, then Noah won't get eliminated... However if Noah refuses to get hypnotized, then Alejandro will hypnotize Owen instead, after Noah's elimination... Noah hesitantly agrees to be placed in a trance by Alejandro... Alejandro tells the hypnotized Noah to be loyal to Alejandro! 🍥

So, funny story anon. I don't really have any more ideas I could add to this lovely idea you've presented...because you've accidentally (I hope) recreated the wheel.

You've also accidentally awoken the essayist that has realized she has the opportunity to share things she knows. So, with that in mind:

(I don't mean for Lisa to be mad. I am genuinely excited to share these things with people who potentially don't know them. I just couldn't find a better meme.)

Feel free to read under the read more for fanfic recs followed by my own personal thoughts about the Alenoah hypnosis corruption and why I love it so. I'm basing my knowledge on what I've seen on Tumblr and on Ao3. If you feel like I've missed anything, please let me know!

First the elephant in the room: the horny fics.

Yes, the earliest examples of Alejandro using hypnosis on Noah were smut. No, I'm not about to link them for what I would hope to be obvious reasons.

To be clear, I've got no problem with people who do have hypnosis as a kink. Everyone's allowed to have or not have a kink so long as it doesn't hurt anybody. To each their own so long as consent's involved.

The problem only starts when you do things like bringing minors into the mix. For what, again, I hope are obvious reasons.

Hypnosis is something that can be used as a great plot device when used for non-horny reasons too, and that's the context we're looking at them here.

So now onto the more palatable dark, horrible things you can do with hypnosis! /aff

The one who started the most recent trend was Creative_Creatures with their fic To Reach New Heights. It's a NoCo fic they started in November 2023 and was discontinued in April 2024.

Alejandro tricks Noah into letting himself get hypnotized, and Noah starts getting more and more corrupted as he grapples with his sense of self and the version of himself Alejandro is imposing on him. Cody starts noticing something's up, and Alien Cody also gets involved in the plot.

There are some moments of OOCness that the author has admitted to. They've also stated that they no longer like the work, hence the fic being discontinued. However, I still think it's worth checking out at the very least as a fic to learn from. It still deserves the credit for being the first to try tackling the subject, even if the result didn't end up as expected.

After Creative-Creatures came Total-drama-brainrot, aka Ophe. For Ophe there's actually a linear timeline for how their fic, Snap, Crackle, and Pop, came to be.

The seed started on January 14th, where Ophe made a stray comment about how the fandom doesn't really address the fact that Alejandro hypnotized Owen, and received a response regarding the negative side effects of hypnotism that Owen could have hypothetically dealt with: https://www.tumblr.com/total-drama-brainrot/739512421490835456/i-was-thinking-more-along-the-lines-of-how-messing

About a month later, Ophe made a seemingly random ask regarding how one would write hypnosis. I may or may not have a footnote in this history as I made a comment regarding To Reach New Heights: https://www.tumblr.com/total-drama-brainrot/741634477880754176/how-the-fuck-am-i-supposed-to-write-hypnosis

A day later they unleashed Snap, Crackle, and Pop, a fic where Alejandro convinces Noah to make a bet regarding hypnosis, and takes advantage of Noah's forced compliance from then on. Though Noah is by no means helpless and finds his own ways to fight back.

The fic only has three chapters written so far with no clear idea of when the next chapter will release. Still, I highly recommend it for the writing and the exploration of the concept.

About a week later, Ayawilliams came into the picture. For those of you who don't know who Ayawilliams is, I'm going to assume you're new to the fandom. In which case, hi! Glad to have you here! They've been shipping Alenoah as far back as 2016 on Fanfiction.net from what I can tell. This was way before it started taking over as the main ship in 2021. They're still consistently writing fic every few days, and through all of this have made a name for themselves on AO3.

If you look through the comments for the first chapter of Snap, Crackle, and Pop you can see that AyaWilliams definitely did take note of the hypnosis fic, and of To Reach New Heights. Almost a week later they delved into their first foray into hypnosis fic: Passive. (Though the main inspiration for the fic is credited to a role-reversal genderswapped fic called Hexxed by lonelybrachiobrute (triceratroops)).

Passive's a role reversal one-shot where Noah is actually the one hypnotizing Alejandro to be better at the competition for just a small, tiny price.

AyaWilliams liked the idea so much they made a sequel fic set in the same universe during the London episode called Unrecognized Yearnings.

The hypnosis trend of fic came full circule on March 5, 2024 when AyaWilliams wrote A little persuasion. After London, Alejandro threatens Noah into letting Alejandro hypnotize him or else he'd do it to Owen.

Since that fic, there haven't been any new additions to the hypnosis trend for Alenoah.

Which I think is a shame, because I do rather like hypnosis as a plot device. It's a branch of mind control that needs one party to trust the other in order for it to work. It's an exploration of power dynamics, and how they can be exploited and taken advantage of.

And although none of these fics explore it, I also like considering the other side of hypnosis. With the idea that the trust is warranted, and the hypnotizer uses a power that could so easily destroy and corrupt to instead help the hypnotizee achieve a state of calm and peace they didn't know was possible. Or to help them work past their own inner demons by detaching in a safe way, with the ability to ground themselves to come to a better understanding of themselves.

Or as another, more specific, certainly not something I have in mind for one of my own AUs example: Having Alejandro who starts off with using hypnosis merely to get what he wants from people, only to transition as he grows as a person to use it to do something like bring a certain cynic out of a dissociative state induced by personal trauma. And possibly becoming open to the idea of allowing said cynic that same amount of power over him, creating a more balanced relationship founded on trust between the two.

But you didn't hear that example from me.

Hypnosis can be used in multiple ways, and how specific characters use it and react to it speaks so much about who they are as a person. Every way is neat, and I hope to see more of it!

Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.

[shallow-between-stars]

So like... hear me out and feel free to tell me if I've been proven wrong already or my maths is off or anything and I have only had about three hours of sleep here (because my body responded to ALL THE SLEEP I've had the past three days by refusing to acknowledge the passage of time yesterday) but the more I play and the more I replay the more convinced I become that...

...Taash could possibly be Bull's child. (Hear me out!)

As evidence I provide the following three points. The first is...

The math checks out.

Look, okay, I've been bored. I don't do well with enforced idleness and I've been sick. So I sat down and did the math. I have recollection of Bull being 39 during Inquisition. I don't know where I got that number from but it is a number that feasibly works with his military history. So I'mma go with it. This math works out -anyway- with Bull just being 'late 30's, early 40's' in either direction so I'mma just gonna go with 39 for the sake of convenience.

Taash is said to be early 20's. This math does get a bit more iffy the closer to 20 they are and I think the sweet spot is if they're about 23. So that's the age I'm gonna use. Again, math still checks out if slightly older or slightly younger, but gets more dicey the closer you go to 20.

Let's take the timeline and play with it now.

Fact one: We have Taash at around 23, which puts them at around 13 around the time of base Inquisition.

Fact two: Bull spent 7 years in Seheron, plus a year or so with the re-educators, plus two years in Fisher's Bleeders, plus a couple with the Chargers before we meet him in Inquisition. So all up let's say... 11-12 years total since leaving Par Vollen for Seheron.

So it checks out that Bull is in Par Vollen being a baby Ben Hassrath (26, 27 years old) at the same time that Shathaan is an ashkaari in Par Vollen.

And look, Ashkaari are teachers, right? I had a look and it's not specified as to which part of the Triumvirate Ashkaari are part of, but logically you would need teachers for Ben Hassrath training. My own personal standing on how much I hate the "Hot for Teacher" trope aside, (comes with the territory of being a -responsible- teacher) it is fully possible that Bull... well... got Hot for Teacher.

Whether or not Bull was involved, Taash's conception happens some time around the time Bull is 22-25 years old. He's in Par Vollen, so is Shathaan. It's possible. (Par Vollen is a big place, but it's still possible.)

Physical similarities

Bull and Taash look similar in a lot of ways, and not just in a whole "All qunari look alike" (ew) kind of way. I give you that this is the weakest point on my list because a lot of these features Shathaan also shares, but onto the points.

All three qunari have green eyes. (Well, eye, as the case may be) All three greens are a pretty similar shade.

Taash's horns hit a middle-ground between Bull's massive rack and Shathaan's curly horns. This is less convincing than I want it to be because we know that qunari can and do manipulate their horns into growing a certain way but horns also do need a form to start from.

Taash is significantly taller than their mother. Bull is pretty freaking HUGE for a qunari. Yes, we do see other huge qunari, but both Bull and Taash stand head-and-shoulders above pretty much every other qunari out there, including Inquisitors and Rooks. Taash also has an incredibly muscular frame, which Bull shares. They stronk.

Taash and Bull share cheekbones and have similar underlying bone structure to their jaws and chin. Add in genetic variation from Shathann and...

Personality similarities

Yes, yes, this could just be "They both love dragons" but it's more than that. Taash and Bull are both extremely blunt tell-it-like-they-see-it people who are both significantly more intelligent than they appear at first glance. Taash doesn't like learning about qunari, but retains what they learn fairly well (despite their mother being, in my professional opinion, a shit teacher.) They're both able to find connections and alternate pathways to getting what they want, and both usually choose the path of least resistance. (Even though Taash absolutely fails their stealth check the first time you meet them, they still try to talk the Antaam down from trying to take the dragon before resorting to violence when this doesn't work.) Taash evades questions about themselves like the plague, similar to Bull when you first meet him ("You writing a book?") and both are incredibly loyal once they've decided where their loyalties lie.

Also, they both lack confidence in their identity and turn to others for help choosing who they want to be, and both struggle immensely within the structure of the qun and crave freedom. Both also are willing to repress this desire if told that it's better in the long run.

And, y'know, both love alcohol, dragons and fighting.

In conclusion

Look, I just wrote this for fun, okay? And also because I love fucked up family dynamics. I'm presenting this as a possibility and nothing more and am mostly doing it because I'm tired and sick and trying to make the most of my weekend. That said, I do believe there's a case for Taash being Bull's kid and it would absolutely make my fanfic heart delighted if it were more than just a pipedream

Yes, I know I wrote like 500 words just now but don't take it too seriously, it's mostly just for lols and 'what ifs'.

But yeah. In conclusion Bull is Taash's daddy and I will be taking no questions at this time. (Kidding, kidding, give me any questions you have, rebut me with grace and kindness if you want. Just don't be a jerk.)

[yuri-is-online]

What are your ideas on Yutu’s Unique Magic?

Maybe Riddle!Yutu having a countering UM to his father, or Cater!Yutu having one that allows him to see the true in people, etc, etc…

Also, what if Yutu has a sister/brother back in his OG timeline? Did he bring them with or they just got left behind?

for context, check these posts (1) (2) or look at the Fyuuture kid section under series on my masterlist.

oof I have a lot. Unique magic strikes me as something that is supposed to be reflective of who the mage is as a person as well as the Disney character/concept the boy is based on.  Since Yutu is not based on anyone really, we are more free with inspiration for his unique magic, with two exceptions. Idia and Kalim both have lines suggesting that their unique magics are passed down in their family's, though I imagine the incantation is different to each person; it makes sense for their Yutu's to have Gate to the Underworld and Oasis Maker respectively.

Before I really get into the weeds, I do like the idea of Yutu having (a) sibling(s) in the OG timeline, again because that can happen in Fire Emblem Awakening but also because it adds to the angst somewhat. As for whether or not he would bring them back in time, the answer to that is yes. Yutu has a few friends he traveled back in time with that are scattered around Twisted Wonderland with no way to contact each other, and if he had a sibling (with the exception of Malleus! Yutu whose sister is a bit... special) then they would be among that group. If you want some extra angst we can steal even more from FE: Awakening and make it so Yutu's sibling died before he arrived, maybe they turned into a blot monster that follows Grim's overblotted form as a replacement for his hench human.

We could even make it so Yutu's sibling doesn't have any magic, just like Yuu. You know. For the parallels ψ(｀∇´)ψ

Riddle! Yutu

Riddle! Yutu having a magic that counters his dad is such a good concept, especially for someone who initially hates him. There are two types of magic that we have seen counter Off With Your Head: Trey's Doodle Suit and a strong shielding spell used by Leona.  I can think of a few directions to take this line of thinking, so let's start with the most grounded.

A strong shielding spell, one that can be applied to multiple people, sounds like a spell that thematically fits Yutu.  We don't know a lot about how these spells function, but they're important for combat magic and shielding multiple people seems to be implied to be difficult.  Let's say in this case it's natural for Yutu and essentially the same for him as shielding himself.  This sort of spell feels like it should have a card themed name, Big Blind maybe?  It's a term that refers to the minimum bet required to continue a poker game if I understand what I read correctly. The only card game I know how to play is yugioh

The less grounded approach could be a sort of spell that creates an anti magic field… it's a concept I did toy around with mostly because I was thinking about more Alice in Wonderland themed names for a unique magic, and thought up “Everything is Nonsense” or something along those lines.  My one sort of caveat to this concept is that I think a spell like this would be heavily stigmatized, probably cause a lot of blot build up for a caster, and I'm uncertain of how it would work mechanically. Well that and I have an idea for a different Yutu who this spell would fit a bit better... but that would require me to cook with a different type of fire.

I did mention in my post about Riddle! Yutu that I liked the idea of his unique magic allowing him to shrink or grow because of Rule 42 in Alice Adventure's in Wonderland saying all people more than a mile high must be rejected from court. If Riddle is the Queen of Hearts, well then any time they argue all Yutu has to do is grow and then he won't be allowed to yell at him any more so there. As a side note do you think this logic could apply to the Chimera in the Prologue? Because I could see that being darkly funny if it comes up in game in that context.

Cater! Yutu

I had a really well thought out idea about Cater being able to see a limited amount into the future before I realized that I was describing the sharingan from Naruto so fuck me I guess.

So just hear me out, you know in twst battles you can see at least one of spells the enemy is going to use? That's sort of what I thought Yuu's unique magic would be if they had it, but I also like the idea of it being Cater! Yutu's. It would function more like an instinct than an actual vision (*clenches fist* just like naruto) but he can use his magic to tell what a person intends to do before they fully think it. Cater is skilled at divination so a unique magic that lets his kid see a little bit of the future feels like it could work for him.

Speaking of divination, I sort of also like the idea of Cater! Yutu having a magic that has something to do with stars and starlight. Maybe he can turn into a void like being made of cosmic energy, similar to how Cater's Split Card is symbolic of his many faces, Yutu's void form could be symbolic of how he feels displaced in the world.

Ace! Yutu

We don't know what Ace's unique magic is (yet) but there are a lot of theories. Time travel, something that steals another person's spell, something related to optical illusions?

I think it would be fun if Ace! Yutu could do something with reflections/mirrors. As in he can reach through mirror and attack, similar to how Hanged Man works in JoJo. The further the distance the more magic it takes, it can also work with things like water but that takes a lot more magic too.

Either that or he's able to travel between mirrors on his own without the dark mirror. That might be a much more difficult thing to do though...

Jade! Yutu

I have a very clear idea for what I wanted to do with Jade! Yutu's magic, but it's a bit complicated to explain because I'm not a physicist.

The basic idea was that Yutu is able to exert magical force on an object, so long as he knows it's exact dimensions and what it is made of. I called it "Crush the Heart" because I wanted both his and Floyd's Yutus to have magic to follow their dad's naming theme. To activate it he has to be looking at where the object should be and picture it in his mind, the more precise the crush the more concentration, control, and magic it takes.

The name could in theory be quite literal, but Yutu isn't quite there yet in his knowledge of biology or magical control.

Floyd! Yutu

Like I said, I want the twin's Yutu's to have a name that is similar to their dad's. Floyd's Bind the Heart uses Kanji that literally translates to "coiling tail"... which I guess is more similar to the magic I gave Jade! Yutu than the "gnawing teeth" that Shock the Heart does, but that magic is supposed to be something that requires calm collected control, which Floyd and his son simply do not have. Still, lets play off that and give Floyd! Yutu a magic that has something to do with shocks and teeth.

I think Floyd! Yutu should have a taunt. Floyd already loves the idea of a good fight, his son is really good at combat magic, and they both talk so much shit that the idea of that literally being his unique magic just sort of works.

Functionally the spell would work similarly to Jamil's, where the person has to look him in the eyes for it to work. The name of the spell could be something like "Reveal the Heart" but that does sound sort of stupid to me so I'm not sold on it. The spell makes a person unable to focus on anyone other than Yutu and wares off after a certain amount of time, it can fail in fashion similar to Riddle's if the enemy mage has a protection spell up.

Azul! Yutu

Another Yutu who I know exactly what I wanted to do with, I got the idea while playing Darkest Dungeon of all things. I feel like it's a bit lame though.

Azul! Yutu can create phantom limbs out of cosmic magic. When he is in octopus form those limbs take the form of human arms, and when in human form they take the form of tentacles. He says when asked that what he is doing is manipulating shadows because he likes to keep people on their toes (or fins take your pick) and he finds it very funny to watch people squirm when they realize there really is no escaping his grasp.

It is a very difficult magic to use, he needs physical strength to use those limbs because they are only as strong as his real ones, so he works out and a lot to make sure he doesn't hurt himself while using it.

Ruggie! Yutu

Laugh With Me is a perfect magic for a hyena to have, and it suits Ruggie's personality really well. Actually... I did write that his Yutu shares his laugh and I think it would be so painfully cute if that extended to his Unique Magic too. Ruggie makes a big deal about how he's kind of a crappy mage, how he has to do a lot of extra work to make up for his low mana pool and poor upbringing. Can you imagine how embarrassed, proud, and awed he would be if his son inherited his spell? That's something only great mages are supposed to have, not little guys like him. Good thing neither Yuu or Yutu care about that huh?

Vil! Yutu

I haven't done a post about Vil! Yutu really beyond this bit about him bonding with Vil, but I did mention what I think his unique magic would be.

I can't find it but I read a myth once about a painter who drew animals with a magic paintbrush that would bring them to life if he gave them two eyes, so he only ever gave them one. I thought it would be neat to have a spell like that and it feels like something that would fit Yutu Schoenheit very well. His magic allows him to create temporary familiars similar to Lilia's bats, bigger creatures take more magic and focus.

I wrote the name for this spell as "Technicolor Dream" since I thought it would be nice for the name of Yutu's magic to nod towards his father's job and his dreams about having his family back.

I have a lot more Yutu's chilling in my inbox, so I'll revisit this topic (lilia! yutu has a whole ask about his um that I really like) once we are done with round 2 of Yutu posting.

[phantom-playdough]

Human!Bill Cipher x GN!Reader: What's Valentine's Day?

Side note for the sake of the story: Bill and the Pines family are on friendly terms in this timeline. Just pretend, okay!?

TW: SLIGHT Attempted Sexual Assault, NOT BY BILL.

I promised my viewers on my YouTube channel that I would do a Bill Cipher x reader story, and people have wanted me to write such for years. So, I might as well give the people what they want and incorporate Valentine's Day. Hope you guys enjoy!

Guide: (N/n) = Nickname (F/B/F) = Favorite breakfast food

~~~

Y/n woke up to a certain someone booping their nose lightly. They opened their eyes, not fond of the fact that they were being awoken from their sleep. Of course, their best friend Bill was crouching in front of their face, mere hairs away.

"What do you want, Bill?" Y/n asked, not commenting on how close he was.

"I got a question for ya, sweets." He said, a bored expression coming over his face.

Sweets?

Y/n sat up and rubbed their eyes. "Well, what is it?" They decided to indulge in this conversation even though they had just woken up. Despite the rude awakening, Y/n struggled with the concept of being mad at Bill for an extended period of time.

He was too cute for his own good, honestly...

Bill hopped onto Y/n's bed, making Y/n bounce in the air a little bit.

"I heard Wendy talkin' 'bout some Valentine's Day thing? What the heck is that?"

Y/n blinked at that. "You don't know what Valentine's Day is?"

Bill shrugged. "I haven't been in this realm for that long, Y/n. Besides, you humans have too many holidays for me to remember."

It was hard to argue that when Y/n thought about it. December was overwhelming for Bill and, by extension, them because he was so confused by all the various traditions and holidays around that time of year.

"Valentine's Day is about expressing your l-love for others." Y/n saw the way Bill's uncovered eye widen in surprise. So, they were quick to add, "But it doesn't have to be about romantic love. It can be expressing love for friends or family. A-Although it is mostly advertised by people to be about romantic love. You normally do all of this by giving people gifts."

Y/n kicked themself in the head mentally at the fact that they kept stuttering with their words. It was too early for this conversation.

Luckily, almost suspiciously, Bill seemed to be eager to drop the topic almost as fast as it was brought up.

"Welp! Thanks for telling me, Y/n! Ya wanna go get breakfast at the diner?" Y/n was about to answer verbally, but their stomach seemed eager to answer by growling very loudly.

Bill cackled, slapping his knee dramatically. "I'll take that as a 'yes'!" He then stood up and left for the door, but he looked back at Y/n right before leaving. A serious look was on his face that made Y/n's hands sweat.

"Just outta curiosity, Y/n, do you have anybody you're gonna give a Valentine's Day gift to?"

Y/n flushed at that and wiped their hands on their blanket. "Uh, I was kinda just planning to give some stuff to Stan, Ford, and Soos." It was easy to see the glare from Bill. "I don't know what I would get you, Bill! I don't know what in this dimension would be a good gift for you."

Bill's face softens up. "Relax, Y/n. I'm just playin'. But I could say the same for you, though."

"Don't worry about getting me anything, Bill. Save that energy for someone you really like." Y/n said, brushing off the idea and hiding their feelings in the process.

In all honesty, Y/n really wanted to get Bill something. But making something would be hard to do, especially because Valentine's Day was tomorrow. Buying him something would serve to be even more impossible! Only a few months ago, he came into this dimension as a human and turned a new leaf. He hasn't had much time to adjust to how things were here. So, Y/n didn't know what would even serve as a good gift for him! Let alone whether he would want a practical gift or a sentimental gift.

But the idea of Bill giving them something made them even more uneasy than the other way around. Plus, Y/n didn't even consider the idea of what if Bill liked them back. It was not likely in their eyes.

Bill noticed how Y/n's face dropped a little at their own words, but he decided for once to not blab too much. Instead, he said, "Whatever you say, N/n. I'll meet ya downstairs." Bill then left the room without waiting for a response.

Y/n felt a little sad that Bill didn't argue with them about what they said, but they figured he didn't feel anything romantic for them. They brushed the disappointment aside and went ahead and got dressed.

When they came downstairs, Y/n was puzzled to not see Bill anywhere in sight.

"Bill? Where are you?" They called out.

No response.

Right when Y/n was about to call out again, they were poked in the middle of their back. They yelped out in surprise and turned around to see a certain smug blonde smirking down at them.

"Shut up, will you?" Y/n snipped, despite Bill not saying anything.

Bill's smirk only grew at that. "It's not my fault you space out so much, N/n." He flicked their forehead playfully. "Come on, let's go get some of those waffle-cakes."

"Pancakes, Bill." Y/n corrected.

"They're almost the exact same thing, Y/n!" Bill defended dramatically, making Y/n roll their eyes.

So, after a 15-minute walk that involved debating about pancakes and waffles, Bill and Y/n made it to the diner. The pair walked in and ordered their food. Y/n had (F/B/F), and Bill had pancakes, waffles, and a giant milkshake. When Y/n questioned why he got the milkshake, he said that having a brain freeze was amusing to him.

Once the meal was done, Bill begged asked for Y/n to go with him to the movie theater to see some random romantic comedy. Y/n had tried to ask him why he wanted to see it. But he only said, "It's research, sweetheart."

Y/n blushed as red as a rose at being called 'sweetheart', so much so that they completely dropped the topic.

So, they bought two tickets for the romantic movie. However, Bill was also bugging them to buy a GIANT thing of popcorn.

"I don't even know if the two of us can finish that when we literally just ate, Bill."

"Come on, Y/n! The popcorn is one of the most important parts!"

"To what?"

"To my research! Come on, please?" Bill once again begged.

Not wanting to hold up the line behind them because of their bickering with Bill and also not being able to say no to him left Y/n no other choice but to buy the popcorn.

Once they both got into the theater, Bill pulled Y/n to the back row, and they sat down. After the previews, Y/n started getting hungry from the aroma of popcorn next to them. Bill kept the bucket of popcorn in between the two of them so both of them could eat from it.

However, Y/n noticed Bill had not made a move to start eating any of it. They were confused, but they were not about to let the money they spent get thrown into the movie theater trash can without a fight.

So, Y/n reached their hand in to grab a handful of popcorn. But right as they put their hand in the bucket, Bill had put his hand in. As a result, their hands end up brushing against one another. Startled, Y/n retracted their hand and muttered an apology. Bill didn't respond to it at all, which only served to make the whole thing both more awkward and suspicious.

Instead, he only took some popcorn and munched away. Y/n waited for a good three to four seconds and reached in again to grab some when Bill brushed his hand against theirs again!

One time could just be an innocent mistake. But twice? The odds of that happening twice didn't make sense to Y/n. But they still muttered an apology and were ABOUT to pull their hand away. However, Bill clearly had different plans.

He simply grabbed Y/n's hand and held it in his own. Y/n looked at him in surprise, but Bill was just looking straight ahead at the movie with a semi-bored expression while he rubbed circles on Y/n's hand as though it was the most NORMAL thing in this dimension.

But if he wasn't making a big deal about this, why should they?

At least, that's what Y/n thought. So, despite them blushing profusely, they didn't pull away. But Bill just HAD to speak right when the embarrassment was dying down.

"Do all you humans sweat so much when holding hands?" He didn't even take his gaze off the movie when he asked.

"S-sorry." Y/n apologized again and tried to pull their hand away. But Bill tightened his grip. It wasn't enough to hurt, but it was enough to prevent them from slipping their hand out of his.

"It's fine, sweetheart." Bill spoke with a smirk, leaving Y/n a bright red, blushing mess.

After the movie, the pair almost killed the whole bucket of popcorn despite Bill refusing to let go of Y/n's hand.

The both of them exited the theater room when Y/n realized they forgot their phone at their seat. So they told Bill, "I'll be right back! Forgot my phone!" They didn't wait for him to respond as they rushed back in to grab it.

Y/n felt panic surge through them as they did not see their phone near their seat. But a guy who was cleaning up the row below clearly noticed Y/n's distressed face and said, "I take it this is yours?" Sure enough, he held up Y/n's phone.

"Oh, my God, yes! Thank you!" Y/n said, taking it from the guy.

"No problem. Uh, mind if I have your number?"

Y/n's face paled a little at the question. They didn't even know the guy's name, not seeing a name tag on him. They did NOT feel comfortable giving this random dude their number.

"O-oh, uh..." Luckily, the universe decided to bless Y/n with a savior at that moment. Right then and there, Bill walked over next to Y/n.

"I think they do mind, buddy." Bill spoke with venom. He appeared out of nowhere, practically. He must've come in when Y/n wasn't paying attention. But for once, they didn't mind him sneaking up on them.

The guy looked at Bill with a scowl. "Uh, who are you to be deciding that for them?"

Bill came closer to Y/n and put his hand around their waist, pulling them into him. But what Bill said next sent chills up Y/n's spine.

"They're off limits, kiddo. Turn around now before you see something you might regret..." The guy was spooked enough by Bill that he sped out of the room without a beat.

Once he was gone, Bill let a breath out through his nose he didn't know he was holding and turned to Y/n. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. You saved my skin there." They tried to laugh the whole thing off, but Bill clearly saw that Y/n was shaken up. He took their hand in his again and intertwined his fingers with theirs. The two of them stayed like that for a while when Y/n tried to change the subject.

"Is this a part of your research?"

"What?" Y/n squeezed his hand to specify what they meant. "Oh, haha, you could say that." Bill said as he squeezed back.

"Are you ready to head back to the Mystery Shack?"

Bill smirked and pulled Y/n outside. "Not quite. We got one last stop."

~~~

Eventually, Y/n and Bill were out in the woods. But by this point, it was dark out, and Y/n could hardly see anything in front of them. But Bill stayed ahead of them and assured them that this would all be worth it.

After a few more minutes of walking, the pair made it out to a small clearing in the trees. Bill let go of Y/n's hand and made a picnic blanket appear on the ground a few feet ahead of them. He sat down and gestured for Y/n to join him.

They did, and Bill pointed up at the sky. Y/n was blown away at what they saw.

A meteor shower.

"Ya know, they normally say to make a wish when you see a bunch of shooting stars, right Y/n?" Bill asked with a genuine smile.

"Yeah." They then closed their eyes and made a wish. When they opened their eyes, they noticed Bill looking at them.

"What'd you wish for?" He asked as if he really was curious.

"If I tell you, it won't come true."

"Oh, Y/n, you underestimate me." Bill said confidently.

Y/n looked down. "I wished that you and I would be friends forever." They said softly.

Bill's face immediately turned a bit sad at that. "Just friends?" He asked seriously.

"What?"

"Just friends?" Bill repeated, looking almost nervous.

Y/n blinked. First in confusion. Then realization. Then shock. "Bill, are you having a brain freeze or something?" They asked with a nervous laugh.

"No? Why?" Bill felt a little hurt at that comment. What made Y/n think that?

"Because there is no way you're serious right now. It's either that or you're pulling my leg."

"Come on, Y/n. Even I'm not that cruel. Not... anymore."

"Well, what else would make you ask me something like that?"

"You." Bill didn't skip a beat in replying. But he knew that Y/n was going to take the high road in this. Besides, if he was going to be rejected, he might as well go down swinging.

"I mean, I've only known you for a few months. But I've lived longer than you humans could comprehend, and I have never felt the way I have when I'm with you. The moments we have together are kinda simple, but I like it that way. You make the boring things humans do fun for me, and you've been patient with me while I try and learn about this dimension. I couldn't do all the fun stuff we do with anyone else in this town. You seemed so simple when I first met you. But you're even more strange than I am because of how you put up with me. What more could I ask for in--" Bill hesitated in the last words of that thought. "--in someone I love?"

Y/n struggled to take this all in. They weren't even totally sure if Bill could feel any attraction to someone in this dimension. But the speech he gave seemed very genuine, and it was clear he wasn't joking around at all.

Before Y/n could reply, Bill snapped his fingers and made a small golden necklace appear. There was a single golden triangle charm with the same grooves Bill had in his triangular form hanging from the chain. But instead of his one eye in the center like his demon form, there was a black, heart-shaped diamond.

"I'm not gonna force ya into anything you don't want, Y/n. But if you do feel the same, I want you to have this." Bill said, holding the necklace out for the taking.

Y/n didn't even need to ponder the offer. They knew their feelings for Bill. So, they took the necklace from him and put it on. Bill released a breath that he again didn't know he was holding.

"I wished for you to return my feelings." He muttered. Y/n laughed.

"You didn't need to wish for that. It's already true."

"So is your wish." Bill then wrapped an arm around Y/n, pulling them close to him.

"Happy Valentines Day, Bill Cipher." Y/n said before they leaned up and kissed him.

The End

[zimszim]

it's sort of funny sort of fascinating how river consults the diary about Demon's Run in the show (and maybe another big event i'm forgetting) cause on one hand, it's for the audience, to let the audience know what's happening and that she's future river at that point, but on another hand...

i find it incredibly hard to believe that she wouldn't have everything about Demon's Run memorized. river's general feelings about That as a whole are pretty much up to interpretation as she's river and hides the damage and lies constantly (affectionate) and also they (the show itself) never give her time to do so, but that monumental event in her life? yes, i think it's not impossible to say she'd study it. but it's also pretty easy to tell that she uses the diary as a crutch in an emotional way

for her meeting/reuniting with a younger version of the doctor, it's sort of a shield, she's trying to use it to say "look! we have a future together where you trust me implicitly! i've lived it! trust me" (and here i'm thinking of flesh and stone and the library eps)

with the Demon's Run one, she uses it for herself, it's not a shield for the doctor, she even turns around from rory. she's using it to stabilize herself. but she could also be sort of checking through it, like she's double checking, making sure the information she remembers is right

her childhood was extremely up to whatever you could glean from s6 but to be somewhat raised in that orphanage with the Silence without an eyepatch to remember them, along with the fact that she didn't even remember Madame Kovarian makes me want to believe that she probably has memory issues. it sort of adds up, the diary itself, the reason why she "has pictures of all of his faces" and uses that to justify why she always knows it's him (so late in her personal timeline, she should already know all versions of him it's not that hard. also she was raised to kill him. im sure they taught her that too Imfao)

i'm just saying shit atp but i thought that was interesting to think about. you're a time traveller with memory issues, a husband that doesn't know who you are yet, a past you can't remember, and a future that's all out of order. what can you trust if you can't trust your memory? well, what you have written down, i suppose.

[666writingcafe]

Quick Strategy

After hiding in a side corridor and giving the spider the slip, I'm able to properly assess everyone's emotions. I'm more or less calm, Asmo's freaking out, Lucifer's over it, and MC...

For once, I can't read them.

"We need to figure out a way to soothe this beast," Lucifer remarks quietly. "Otherwise, we're not getting out of here alive."

"And how are we supposed to do that?!" Asmo exclaims, causing MC to hush him for being too loud. "We don't have anything at our disposal!"

"That's not entirely true," MC replies.

"What do you even mean, Zephyr? Of course it's true!"

"Your charm. It's tied to your demonic power."

"But I've never charmed an animal! At least, not on purpose! Besides, I've not dealt with something this huge before. I don't think I'm powerful enough to stop a giant spider in its tracks."

"Maybe not on your own, but if your power is combined with someone else's, then you'll be able to calm this spider down, and we can go home." Is MC doing what I think they're doing?

"How do we go about doing that?" Lucifer sighs.

"Unfortunately, the quickest and most painless way would be for you to make a pact with Solomon," he answers. "From what I've heard, he's powerful enough to draw out and enhance your demonic power." I never thought I'd see the day. Lucifer actually agreeing with me about pacts?

Granted, he's not the one getting one from me, but still. He's made it clear many times before that he doesn't want my magic anywhere near him or his brothers.

"But don't feel like you have to if you don't want to," MC quickly adds. "It's very difficult to undo a pact with someone, so you need to be completely sure that you want it before getting one."

Okay, now I'm confused. Surely MC remembers the situation with the snake, right? That's why they brought up his charm in the first place, isn't it?

"In this particular situation, however, it is the most viable option. You'd still be able to keep some autonomy this way, and that won't be possible if you choose me or Zephyr."

"Quit forcing the issue, Lucifer."

Oh. I get it. MC's still pissed that Asmo got manipulated into making a pact with me.

But I'm not the one pulling strings this time, which makes their objection that much more baffling. They seem to be bumping heads with Lucifer a lot more frequently in this timeline, and I have no idea why. Is it related to a power struggle that I don't know about, or is it something else entirely?

"Zephyr, believe me, I'm not a big fan of the idea. I don't trust Solomon as far as I can throw him, and I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to abuse this pact with my brother." Wow, Lucifer. I'm standing right here. "However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and I don't know about you, but I'd really like to not become that spider's lunch."

"What's this about keeping my autonomy?" Asmo asks. MC diverts their attention away from Lucifer and answers,

"A pact between a human and a demon works both ways. He has the ability to control you, but you can also do the same to him if the mood strikes you."

"How interesting..." Asmo's deep in thought. Now's my chance.

"If we make this pact, I promise I will do anything you ask me to," I quietly tell him, causing his eyes to light up.

"Anything?" I nod. "You'll actually allow me to charm you into submission whenever I please?"

"Yes." I know MC probably thinks I'm lying, but the truth is, I've already agreed to this arrangement with him. Initially, it was proposed as payback for me taking advantage of him while he was drunk.

But as time's passed, I've actually come to like having Asmo controlling me occasionally. It's a nice way to shut my brain up for a bit and allows me to genuinely relax. No thoughts; just Asmodeus.

The Avatar of Lust smiles as I hear something scuttling across the floor.

"Then let's make it official. I'll make a pact with you, Solomon."

"Better make it quick, because I think our spider friend's returned," MC warns us.

Thankfully, I know how to do exactly that.

Taglist: @lost-in-time-wanderer, @fuzztacular, @dianedancer18, @sweetbrier2908, @flare-love, @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf, @thunderlightning351, @l3v1chan, @anxious-chick, @5mary5, @expressionless-fr, @tenkobitch

[aliquistis]

On Mystra and Gale

Okay I gotta say it.

tl;dr: Gale is too old to have been groomed by Mystra (unless you headcanon him as 30 or younger), bc she was dead until 1479 (game year is 1492). I am not defending Mystra. Mystra is a mess. Her (FR) writing is a mess. But for this at least, the timeline doesn't add up.

Disclaimer: there is absolutely nothing wrong with people disregarding/tweaking lore for fan works/fanfic. God knows I do it all the time when I GM. That's your story now and you can do whatever you want with it, including exploring problematic relationships like what if Gale was groomed by Mystra? This is just a post for general information. Write what you want. Explore those dark recesses of the human heart. Fly free, you beautiful butterfly.

Too long but still gonna read explanation under the cut.

Let me preface this again: This is not a post in defense of Mystra. I have, in fact, been very loudly complaining about Mystra since long before Baldur's Gate 3 was even hinted. This is simply pointing out timeline discrepancies that it seems many newcomers to Forgotten Realms aren't aware of (totally understandable! You should not need to ingest 30 years of lore to enjoy a game and I'm not saying you do.) Additionally, FR literally kills Mystra every new edition and it gets dumber every time.

Anyways. It is highly unlikely that Gale was groomed by Mystra. This is not a statement of morality, it's a statement of timeline. Mystra died in 1385. She was in pieces (like bits of her magic were still in artifacts/her Chosen, such as Elminster in lore that I absolutely despise) and that, as far as I can tell, is how magic subsisted until 1479, when she was reconstituted by Elminster (in lore that I absolutely despise) This is a gross oversimplification of an event called the Spellplague. I am open to correction on how magic worked here because I moved to Pathfinder during the 4e era and you could not make me read those Elminster books if you put a gun to my head.

Regardless, from 1385-1479, Mystra was dead/missing/asleep. BG3 takes place in 1492. If Gale is 40 years old, he was born in 1452. This means, if Gale is 40, the youngest he could have been was 27 when Mystra contacted him. This lowers, obviously, if you think Gale is 35 or even 30. If he's 30 then Mystra could have contacted him at 17. Yes, a 17 year-old is a child and this could have led to grooming, but Mystra wasn't at full strength when she first returned and she most likely wasn't seeking new Chosen until the next year, 1480. Regardless, this is the reason I put grooming as Highly Unlikely instead of Impossible. I personally believe Gale is older than 30 (I say this as a person in their 30s), I believe he was written with the intention of being a man older than 30, and I cannot see him being in his 20s. (more power to you if that's your headcanon, he's an archmage, he could be 600 for all we know, fly free, etc)

OKAY THAT SAID. Would she have groomed him? Fucking probably! Mystra is a mess. I have been playing in Forgotten Realms in tabletop and video game settings for going on 25 years now and let me tell you. Mystra is a mess. I could make a whole long ass other post on all the many problems I've had with her writing over the years. Even without the "Mystra banged a minor" angle here, there is a serious power imbalance and very obvious manipulation on her part. And I'm here to tell you Gale isn't even the first wizard she has done this to! She's done much worse! Mystra has a ton of flaws (I could write a BOOK on Mystra's flaws) but it remains highly unlikely that grooming Gale in particular is one of them.

If you'd like more FR lore this person has some amazing lore write-ups that I really enjoyed reading during EA. And here is Mystra's forgotten realms wiki page, already linked to her death and return.

(my friend told me to post this after I kept bitching to them about Lore on discord and They Know Who They Are)