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littlejuicebox · 1 year ago

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I just want to stay in that lavender haze.

Pairing: Astarion x Original Female Character/Ranger AKA AstarionxWren Rating/Warnings: PG maybe 13?/ Act 1 Spoilers / Nudity / Sexual Tension / Gore / Angst / Anxiety / Cursing / Lae'zel being kind of a butthole Chapter number: Nine Word count: 3.9K Masterlist: Click here. Song inspiration: "Lavender Haze" - Taylor Swift Notes: I know only a few people read this series religiously but thank you! Wren and Astarion are my little lovely goobers and I'm glad at least one person loves them as much as I do. And I know my other work gets more attention, but this is my favorite storyline and I plan to continue writing it. That being said, if you do actually enjoy their story… I truly appreciate the comments on this fic and that’s what inspires me to keep writing them even though they don’t get as much traffic.

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After terminating the last few goblins, everyone recollected themselves outside of the dilapidated temple. A few healing potions were drunk, a couple of incantations were murmured and then the group turned to Wren with an expectant look, waiting for her next directive.

The half-elf woman never actually wanted to be a leader. But more than once, she’d had the damned role thrust upon her. It was becoming annoyingly, and unfortunately, apparent that this time would be no different. What was it about her that made everyone trust her judgement; why did they let her make the calls? Hadn’t Shadowheart been doing a fine job… couldn’t she just… keep doing it?

The tired little bird sighed, running her bloodied, callused hands through a mess of gut-splattered brunette hair as she looked towards the sky, quickly gauging the time. It was early evening by now. The last few rays of sunlight were glimmering upon the horizon as that soft blend of rose and orange began to melt into a deeper, star-speckled blue. The merry band of misfits had to accomplish two things at once by nightfall… so unfortunately, they would have to split up.

Wren rubbed at the jagged lightning bolt burns sneaking out from underneath her bracers; it hurt like hells. Her eyes glossed over the group as she took a deep, exhausted breath, and then muttered, “Well... I’m sure Halsin needs to get to Emerald Grove as soon as possible. Some of us should go with him and the others should swing by the bog to pack up camp and bring it all back to the Grove. We'll have to head out from there once we've all had some time to recover. Astarion and I will go with Halsin, the rest of you can pack up camp and then meet up with us.”

Lae’zel made it clear she disapproved of this call with a hissed, “Tchk! Why do we have to do all the grunt work, while you and your favorite vampire princess get the easier route.”

Astarion almost leapt forward to snap at insufferable woman, quite displeased with being called a princess. Before he could, Wren’s mouth hardened into a thin line at the challenge, and she quickly stepped closer to the Githyanki, tone dropped into an irritated hiss.

“You’ve been given more people than we have, Lae’zel. The Grove needed Halsin back yesterday, and Astarion is skilled at both downing and evading enemies… whatever we may happen to need along the way. The Archdruid can surely handle himself. As for the rest of you… Well, sorry to be the one to say it and to burst your little bubbles, but none of you aren’t quite as versatile as the two of us, and you all need one another to cover your weak spots. It isn't favoritism, it's pragmatism.

And as for me? I had my brain invaded and nearly fell to my death today… so no, I’m not interested in packing up camp and playing inventory manager right now. If that’s such a problem for you, Lae'zel, and you’re questioning my judgement, then leave my shit there for all I care. I have all I need in my pack... Or should I remind you, I'm not the one that insists on hauling a stone wheel all around Faerun when a simple whetstone would suffice?"

Wren and Lae'zel were roughly the same height; she stood nose to nose with the fighter, her two-toned eyes boring into angry reptilian ones. Gods, Wren was growing so tired of this. If no one else wanted to be the one to make the calls, then why was there always someone questioning her judgement?

“Oi, no worries, mate! I’ll take care of yours and Fangs’ stuff.” Karlach cut in, stepping between the two women, quick to try and ease the group tension. “Go on and we’ll meet you — the Grove has to be in an absolute state by now, what with Kagha and all her antics.”

Lae'zel spat at the ground and then spun away from Wren, and the two groups went their separate ways in silence.

-----

The short journey to Emerald Grove was a mostly quiet one. Astarion felt too mentally worn from all the revelations of the day to play the loquacious, flirtatious rake. Wren, on the other hand, felt absolutely shredded around the edges of both her psyche and her body.

The Druid and the ranger had a brief conversation about her father, but it soon became clear it wasn’t a subject Wren wanted to discuss for too long. She would trail off or become distracted during the conversation, her mind entirely elsewhere. Halsin graciously took the hint and let silence fall among the trio, chalking everything up to the exhaustion of such a tedious and gore filled day.

At the gates of Emerald Grove, many of the tieflings and a few of the druids welcomed the Archdruid with a chorus of ecstatic cheers. All three beings were ushered in with a smattering of hugs, thanks, and congratulations, which Wren numbly accepted and Astarion willingly played into. Halsin soon interrupted the small welcoming party and rushed to interrupt the ritual of thorns, unleashing a scary and very bear-like chastisement to all the participants. His thundering voice drew the attention of everyone in the grove, and Wren took the opportunity to quickly peel away from the scene.

Astarion’s eyes followed Wren as she headed towards where they’d rescued that Tiefling kid from the Harpies weeks ago. This was his chance; the other campmates weren’t around to stick their noses into his business. The vampire thought for a moment that he might try and use his body to lure information from her like a Harpy used their voice to lure tiefling children… and he quickly made his peace with that possibility. Whatever the method, the rogue had to act now, without the risk of outside interruptions. He had to pry some information out of Wren tonight.

The pale elf quickly trailed down the remaining stone steps while the other druids had their heads bowed, listening to Halsin's booming lecture. Silent steps led him around the curved pathway, down to the water bank. He thought he’d see Wren rinsing her hands and face, ridding them of filth or taking a small moment of silence to stargaze or smoke from that pilfered pipe. He truly didn’t expect to see a panicked little bird, tearing wildly her own armor, trying to rip it off. He stared dumbly at the wide-eyed and panting ranger, watching as she appeared to be in the middle of a battle with… well, herself.

Wren’s eyes snapped to Astarion, where he was frozen mid step, scarlet eyes assessing her hysterical movements. Suddenly, she called out in something between a strangled scream and a sob, shaking hands now pulling desperately at her chest plate, “Take it off! Take it off! Please!”

She fell to her knees, half in the sand, half in the water. Her hands ripped at the leather straps of her armor as she heaved. She sounded as if the weight of her armor were crushing her; she sounded as if she couldn't breathe.

Of course, she could breathe… she was speaking, after all. Astarion didn’t know what else to do but answer her pleading voice. So he moved forward, deft hands quickly unsnapping buckles and ripping leather pauldrons from the ranger’s shoulders. She gasped in relief, and without a word, nimble fingers moved down to snap off her chest plate and then quickly loosened the laces of her bracers.

His brow furrowed as he watched Wren’s face, still caked in goblin guts, with thin rivulets of tears streaming from her two-toned eyes. She clumsily slid her bracers off and threw them down into the sand. Wren was still heaving as she sank down into the earth and then suddenly, she was sobbing, her entire body shaking with the force of her cries.

Gods. This absolutely hadn’t been the plan; Astarion was, once again, totally out of his depth here. How did he keep getting caught in these ridiculous situations with her? None of this ever ran on any script he'd ever prepared for himself.

The rogue ran a stressed hand through his hair before he took a deep breath and kneeled beside her, placing his cold hands on either of her shoulders. “Darling, listen to me! Shut up, right now. Stop this instant or else the entire grove is going to be here staring at you in a few minutes and unless I’m horribly mistaken, you don’t want that. Wren, come on, that's enough!”

The ranger wasn’t listening; to be fair, Astarion couldn’t be sure she heard him in her current state. She was still crying -- well, wailing, really -- and the look in her eyes seemed a million miles away. He recognized that look, that feeling. It made his gut churn. The vampire began to panic; she needed to quiet down before this all became an even bigger spectacle, or worse, someone accused him of causing her pain.

“Darling! Wren! For gods sakes—“ The rogue snapped his eyes shut and plunged forward in a last-ditch effort. He smashed his always-cold lips into her always-warm ones, swallowing her insufferable cries, digging so tightly into her shoulders as if he were hoping to pull her out of her own mind with brute force.

They stayed frozen like this for several beats; time almost felt like it ground to a halt. Astarion could hear the half-elf woman’s heart thudding erratically in her chest and then, miraculously, slow itself to a steadier thrum. The vampire opened his eyes and pulled away to see the little bird staring dumbly at him, her perpetually berry-stained lips swollen from the crushing force of his mouth on hers. Wren blinked rapidly, but remained silent, before carefully lifting her hand out of the water and brushing it against her own lips.

“Apologies, darling, but I didn’t know what else to do. Now let’s get cleaned up and then we can chat about whatever is going on in that pretty but absolutely twisted head of yours.” Astarion murmured, quite ruffled, but still lifting himself to his feet and then holding out a hand to help the little bird up, as well.

The half-elf woman had apparently fallen selectively mute, but she nodded her head and followed the vampire as he dragged her back toward the grove circle.

He was still mad at her. Furious, really. He didn’t have all the words to explain why, but he felt she’d somehow been misleading or hiding things from him all along. But then again, hadn’t he been doing the same in so many ways? If he weren't outright lying, which he definitely had more than once, then wasn't he also concealing aspects of himself… just like she had? But somehow, despite the clear hypocrisy Astarion was aware of and chose to ignore, it still felt like a betrayal to him. And yet, even though she absolutely infuriated him… the way she looked in her panic plucked at his heartstrings and compelled him, beyond his better judgement, to comfort her.

Gods this was supposed to be easy. A nice, simple plan. But it grew increasingly complicated by the minute.

-----

Halsin kindly allowed Astarion and Wren access to his bedchamber. The bear of a man often preferred to bathe in the natural water source on the edge of the Grove, but he conveniently kept a tub for soaking within his personal chambers, more for his own rare moments of enjoyment.

“Thank the gods that the druid isn’t totally removed from society.” Astarion mumbled, after Halsin helped to fill the massive wooden tub with heated water and then politely saw himself out. He was about to have a lengthy conversation with Kagha… surely, they would hear the results later.

Wren hadn't uttered a single word, but she watched as the vampire moved around her, plucking jars from the shelf by the tub and sniffing them. Finally, he settled on one, and poured some of the milky contents into the tub, causing the water inside to turn a clouded haze of pale purple. Then, he spun to the little bird and clapped his hands in his signature, impatient chop-chop. “Well, come on then, darling. In you go."

Wren sat blinking at him, unmoving. Astarion scoffed and rolled his eyes, briskly moving toward the archer. “Little bird, surely you aren’t going to turn down the first real bath you’ve had in weeks and the only one you’ll get for who knows how long. Now enough of this. Arms up.”

The half-elf sighed and followed Astarion's order with heavy limbs. The vampire stripped her of everything besides her underwear and then tugged her with a bit of force, over to the tub. The rogue couldn’t help but admire the sinewy ripples of her back, and the freckles along her collarbone as he watched Wren remove her smallclothes and sink into the opaque tub of water.

The little bird closed her eyes and sighed as the comforting smell of lavender began to swirl around her. Wren allowed herself the smallest moment of bliss as she inhaled the relaxing tendrils of scented steam, but then she felt Astarion’s leg slipping into the bath with her and snapped her eyes open to stare at the silver-haired elf.

The man cocked an eyebrow as he assessed Wren’s wide, shocked eyes from where he faced her, now sunk chest deep in water, sitting on the opposite side of the tub. He huffed and leaned back in the bath as his long arms crossed resolutely.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re suddenly a prude now, little bird. This bath is more than big enough for the two of us, thanks to the behemoth it belongs to, and we’ve already seen one another completely nude and in the throes of ecstasy. So, if you think I’m going to pass up the only luxurious bath I might get in weeks, just because you’re naked and in a sour mood, you’re dead wrong.”

Wren chuckled; Astarion smirked in response at the first sign of her potentially improving mood. And then the ranger gave a good-natured eye roll before she shifted over just enough to make a bit of room for the rogue’s legs. But still, she didn’t speak.

The vampire occupied himself with dunking a sponge in water and wiping the grime off his own body. After that, he grabbed a small wooden cup off the bath tray and rinsed his hair; pale hands moved to scrub more of that milky liquid through his blood-flecked silver strands. Astarion closed his eyes and carefully rinsed again, inhaling the floral aroma and ensuring he felt no more suds remaining in his precious curled locks.

When the rogue’s lids fluttered open, the little bird had already moved to scrubbing her own body with a sponge. With his eyes closed, Astarion didn't see that she'd been staring at him, admiring his little smile and the way his hair looked weighed down by the water.

Wren flicked her gaze toward the vampire and sighed; her mouth opened as if she were about to speak, but then she sighed and shut it again. A few more minutes of silence passed, in which both beings simply welcomed the heat as it eased the soreness of overtired muscles.

Eventually, the ranger broke the silence, her voice still raw and scratchy from the earlier episode at the shoreline. The pale elf's eyes were closed as he lounged in the tub, but quickly snapped open when his pointed ears picked up her quiet, shaking voice.

“There are many pathways to and from the Underdark throughout Faerun. Kol was out with his friends, exploring one of those pathways. Unfortunately, they’d picked one that led to a cavern full of Phase Spiders… not unlike the one we encountered down that well.

We were out hunting when we heard their screams and went to investigate. By the time we downed the spiders, Kol was the only one alive… but barely.”

Astarion passed the cup to Wren as she spoke, and a few more seconds of silence passed as she rinsed and scrubbed her own hair with the lavender-scented solution. The elf watched from hooded, relaxed eyes as the water ran down the woman’s neck, languidly flowing down to that little spot at the crook where two faint pinpricks blended into a smattering of freckles, before finally trickling to where her breasts hid under the clouded tub of water.

“My father and the other elders wanted to leave Kol there to die… simply let nature take its course. But a few of the younger generation, including myself, begged them for mercy and they relented. Kol spent a week with us before he was well enough to go on his way and return to the Underdark. But he didn’t want to go. Life isn’t exactly great for male Drows in Menzoberranzan, especially not a second son, despite the Baenre name. So, he left a coded note in the cavern in case any of his other friends hoping to escape came looking for him... and then he was one of us.

Father considered Kol dead weight… he was softer, an artist… he would often draw me pictures of squirrels or other creatures. He was about average with a blade and terrible with a bow… but he was talented in other ways and surprisingly kind. I’d never met a man with a gentle, soft-hearted nature quite like him. And he pulled a softness out of myself that I’d shoved down and all but forgotten when my aunt brought me to my dad.

My father never wanted to be a parent, he remained unwed and unattached for that very reason, but I was an unexpected consequence of his actions and well… suffice to say I didn’t always have the most tender upbringing. Neither did Kol, but he honored his own nature despite that.

Anyway, my dad wanted me to marry Zahara, my first love… or one of the other warriors. His priority was to guarantee my safety and status within the clan. Either Zahara or I were going to be the next elder when one of the clan members passed… so it was the most pragmatic decision. But I was uninterested; so was she… we’d had our fun, but the romantic love just never stuck between us.

Against my father’s wishes, I snuck away with Kol... more than once. We sometimes journeyed down into the Underdark, and he showed me around very briefly. I suppose you've never been, but it’s beautiful down there, truly. We would never venture close to the city; he didn’t want to risk being caught… turning from Lolth is unthinkable and unacceptable in their culture. But I know he missed the beauty of the Underdark… he drew it all the time.

Father eventually relented and gave his blessing for Kol and me to be married. He knew I would leave and marry Kol on my own, settle down in some small hamlet or within a city, if it ever came down to it. So, we were married one beautiful autumn day, and we spent five years as husband and wife until his own kin found him.

They tracked us for days, waiting for the right opportunity. Kol was ambushed; they found him alone by the river near where we’d made camp. He was drawing, practically defenseless apart from a small dagger. I had been hunting not far away with the youngling group I’d been placed in charge of. I ran to the screams, but he was already gone when I got to him... Minthara was among them, she escaped… but one of her siblings and a two of her cousins were less lucky, in the end.”

Wren blinked away tears that were just beginning to form in her eyes as her voice cracked. She inhaled a shuttering breath through wobbling lips. Astarion watched the little lip scar that he was absolutely obsessed with as it trembled and fought back the urge to move forward and envelop it in a kiss.

The little bird dunked her lithe hands under the water and brought them back up to her face, wiping at the final specks of blood still stuck to her forehead and cheeks. She missed the spot near her eye, and Astarion leaned himself forward, lifting his hand to gently rub at the stubborn stain with his thumb. His eyebrows furrowed as he struggled to process all the information. And then, he stuck his foot in his mouth.

“So… when you said you downed two of house Baenre… it turns out you didn’t actually mean your own husband.” He murmured, his hand lingering a beat too long on her cheek.

“No! What?!” Wren snapped, her own eyebrows crinkling together as she pushed Astarion's hand away from her face.

Astarion rolled his eyes and huffed, leaning back again on his side of the tub. Part of him wanted to back off, but the more insolent and hurt part decided to double down. “Look, you've been quite mysterious about all this, and one can’t help but assume things, trying to make sense of it all. You’re hard to read!”

“Have you ever considered I’m not here like a book to be read?” The little bird snapped, suddenly lifting herself out of the bath. Streams of water trickled from her dark hair down her naked, freckled body. Astarion averted his gaze, suddenly quite aware he'd made another misstep and unwilling to piss Wren off further with his wandering eyes.

She climbed from the tub and snatched a towel from the shelf, wrapping it around herself before crouching and rustling through her bag. Then Wren quickly pulled her chemise from the sack and threw it over her head. When she turned and looked at Astarion, the expression on her face was a heartbreaking mixture of disappointment and sadness. She heaved a heavy, burdened sigh as she slipped her camp shoes on and shoved everything into her bag before grabbing it by one tattered strap.

“Astarion…” His name on her lips simultaneously sounded like a song and a slap, “If you’d ever bothered to actually ask me about myself… I would’ve told you the truth. I would’ve told you anything you wanted to know… if you’d just asked. I felt it, that night you pried into my mind, after the first time we kissed, you know. Why do you think you saw primarily nature scenes? That Wood Elf you kept seeing? It was a nightmare… not a memory.”

And then she walked out of the room, leaving Astarion alone and staring up at the ceiling. The vampire ran his hand through his hair and then groaned, dunking himself under the water’s lavender-scented, hazy surface. He closed his eyes, effectively cutting his senses off to the outside world. For a while, Astarion considered staying like this forever… he didn’t need to breathe, after all. Perhaps he could just hide in the tub, senses numb, all alone. Nobody would miss him or come looking for him here… that much was certain.

But soon the bath water started to grow cold, his fingers began to prune, and the rogue’s discomfort forced him to break through to the surface — and to reality — once again. He stood and shook his head, spraying scented droplets around the room before gathering his own towel and wrapping it around his waist. Astarion sighed and sat down on a bench, pinching his nose bridge as he wondered what in the hells he should do now. His body was clean, but his mind still felt riddled with debris.

Perhaps it hadn’t been Wren weaving a messy web around him… perhaps he’d been the one doing it to himself all along.

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anonymousewrites · 1 year ago

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One Hell of a Love Special: OVA

Sebastian Michaelis x Demon! Reader

Special: One Hell of an OVA

The Making of Black Butler Season Two

2008. People are in a spiral of excitement and enthusiasm. The legendary work, Black Butler. Elegant characters. Stylish film direction. Intense action. Captivating romance.

Together with a beautiful and cruel story, it created passionate fans and birthed a world phenomenon.

Then comes 2010. Breaking the silence, the legend is revived! Finally! Unveiled before our eyes. Now, let’s take a look behind the scenes.

Summer: 2009.

Ciel, actor, sat before the camera. “I didn’t feel like doing a sequel. What’s the point in doing the same thing over again?”

The camera interspersed with (Y/N) and Sebastian, actors, sitting beside each other before the camera.

Sebastian smiled. “Well, Young Master was none too willing to do it.”

“He said a sequel wouldn’t be creative,” said (Y/N). The pairs hands were intertwined on the armrest between them.

“I went to the studio because it would have been rude to refuse without hearing them out,” said Ciel. “But…the staff had prepared a script. They said if I could refuse it after reading it once over, they’d give up. Their eyes were serious.” He shrugged. “It was something worthy of performing. That’s all there was to it.”

“My thoughts?” said Sebastian. “I have no opinion. I just obey the Master’s will.” He glanced at (Y/N). “And my significant other’s.”

They smirked. “Good answer.” They paused. “Me? Well, I enjoyed doing the first season. I had a central role and found it entertaining.” (Y/N) chuckled. “I thought that if the second was anything like the first, it would amuse me.”

“How do we feel about playing love interests as a couple? Well, it means we don’t have to pretend with one another,” said Sebastian.

(Y/N) smirked. “I rather enjoy it, pretending to fall in love all over again.”

Their participation was decided. But still more help was needed.

New Faces, New People

Claude, actor portraying demon rival of Sebastian, turned away from the camera. “I believe in actions, not words. Yes, my character talks a lot. No, none of us dislike each other in real life. I’ve known (Y/N) and Sebastian for ages. They’ve got a great relationship.”

Mishaps

Claude stood on the prop boards that would be CGI-ed to spider threads. “So beautiful…” he murmured, totally in character as he leaned. “I knew you’d look—” He slipped and fell, landing on his face. “Damn.”

(Y/N) couldn’t hold it back and began laughing. “Very professional.”

“If I recall, you hit yourself in the face with a knife,” said Sebastian in amusement.

“Whose side are you on?”

Lizzie’s “I’m One Heck of a Fiancée”

“Hi! I’m Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford! Call me Lizzie!” said Elizabeth into her camera. “Now I’ll take you behind the scenes of the filming!” She excitedly ran through the set. “My favorite character is (Y/N)! They’re such a great actor, so talented!”

Elizabeth ran up to (Y/N). “(Y/N)! What are you up to today?”

“Costuming,” said (Y/N).

Sure enough, Nina Hopkins was measuring (Y/N) and humming to herself. “Yes, yes…I’m thinking a high slit for the Costume Ball.” She smirked at (Y/N). “Might as well give your boyfriend something to look at during the scene, right?”

(Y/N) huffed, scoffing and looking away in denial. “Nina.”

“Well, I’ve got to have a little fun! I get to change up the costumes during the Costume Ball! I’ve got this one chance to really show you off~” teased Nina.

“Oh, my! Is (Y/N) going to be cute?” said Elizabeth excitedly.

“I was thinking sexy vampire,” said Nina.

“I think you just want sexy,” said (Y/N) in amusement.

Trailer Talk

“I just want them to be cared for,” said Sebastian as he poured cat food into bowls.

“Sebastian, they’ll be fine. We’re only filming for a few hours before a break,” said (Y/N), sighing. “You’re so protective.”

“But they’re so precious, I must ensure they are comfortable.”

“I think you like cats more than me.”

Taglist:

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@izzieg3987

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@otomyoli

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@anxious-chick

@bellacastiel

@v1l-ismissing

@agentdedf1sh

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@iamsexytrash

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#one hell of a love #x reader #x gn reader #gn reader #x nb reader #nb reader #demon reader #demon!reader #sebastian x demon!reader #sebastian x reader #black butler sebastian #sebastian michaelis x reader #sebastian michaelis #black butler fic #black butler ciel #black butler #kuroshitsuji x reader #kuroshitsuji

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victoriadallonfan · 10 months ago

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Mistborn: Well of Ascension Review

Is It Good: Yes

Does It Have Flaws: A lot

Is It Problematic: Sometimes

Would You Reread: No

Would You Recommend: Yes

Spoilers below

I’ve listened to positive and negative reviews of this book to help formulate my thoughts

So overall, I think there’s a great book buried underneath a slog of really repetitive material.

Brandon is great at writing a mystery, but it’s hindered by the fact that we get incredibly uninteresting scenes that just have Elend, Vin, Zane doing the same song and dance over and over again.

I was 200% more invested in Sazed investigating the Hero of Ages compared to the political drama Elend and Vin dealt with. Or Vin dealing with “wanting to wear a dress” (more on that later).

I really love how Eldritch and Sinister the cosmology is, even as I knew from Stormlight Archives what it would be. It’s handled far more horrific here in a good way compared to Stormlight, which was a letdown imo, so this was enjoyable.

I also really love Sazed’s magical abilities. Allomancy is neat, but the story points out that Mistborn are just.. so powerful they make other Allomancers feel pointless, worldbuilding wise. But Sazed’s powers are more limited while also being far more interesting in applications, so I loved that we got to see that more in depth.

Most of the characters are good, and enjoyable, even Breeze.

Now for the bad.

Breeze and Allrianne relationship is just… disgusting. I really don’t understand the purpose of having a near 40 year old man having sex with a barely legal woman who just recently turned legal iirc. Why was this added as a story beat? Why are some of the characters that aren’t Vin and OreSeur not more grossed out by it?

And no, having the “she seduces me!” reveal does not help.

Secondly, none of the antagonists are good. Sure, they are hateable, but they all lack any sort of impact. Zane is the worst because he is quite possibly the most cookie-cutter CW Bad Boy stereotype in existence, monologuing like a bad anime character about how “we are different”/“why do we listen to them?”/“they just don’t understand us” ala Lysanderoth. And he dies from the worst “reveal” I’ve ever seen; it was so cool how Vin used pewter dust to blind the Inquisitors and improvised weaponry to bypass the skill gap. Here it’s just: “Lmao I just wait to attack bypass your precog, get good”, which I’m pretty sure does not track at all with what we see in the first book (or this one).

Despite Lord Ruler having little presence in the first book, he at least had PRESENCE

Finally, the way this book handles women and skaa is just so odd. It feels as if the story/characters/Brandon treat women as having a hive mind for being obsessed with fashion; in fact, it’s part of Vins struggle that she loves dresses but can’t find the “strength” to wear them. Meanwhile, no male character obsessed over fashion nearly as much, even Breeze who admits part of his design is an act for others. Likewise, there’s no woman who thinks fashion is stupid or just indifferent.

I don’t hate the idea of Vin struggling with newfound femininity vs her own biases, but it’s just so blandly set up that I can’t feel invested.

And I will lose my damned mind if I have to hear one more “you can never understand a woman”/“teenage girls aren’t rational” comment, even from other women characters!

Also, besides Tyndl and Vin, there aren’t any really any women in power nor is that explored. Even Allrianne - who is just… meh as a character over all - has no political power without her father and she’s basically a femme fatale cliche as well. None of the Skaa have female leaders, for example.

And speaking of Skaa, those poor guys. Going from brave freedom fighters and rebellions, even prior to Kelsier, to idiots who are treated as fools who need the privileged Elend and his like to guide them all to the right answer (or they become manipulated or are in fact corrupt). I don’t even hate Elend, but the way Brandon puts him in this position is just such a shame. The story doesn’t even let him explore his ingrained classism or racism/specism for the Skaa or Kandra

Like I said, there’s a great book under all this stuff. But it’s pulled down by - in my opinion - a lot of faults that verge on problematic.

Good but it could be better

#mistborn #well of ascension #Mistborn well of ascension #cosmere #brandon sanderson

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beanghostprincess · 1 year ago

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Why is shanks/buggy so underrated in this side of fandom? It’s much more loved in Japanese one, one of the most popular for shanks. I feel like this one prefers other mlm options for him and I don’t get it. It got better after OPLA I think but still. Sorry for my English!

Oh! This is actually such an interesting question. I was talking about this the other day and I came to a conclusion with my friend about this. Basically, there are a lot of things to take into consideration here. The screentime, the age of the characters, the chemistry, how they're perceived by the fandom and canonically, etc etc etc.

The first thing I thought about was the screentime, honestly. Shanks and Buggy grew up together and they have a deep bond, however, we've only seen that through flashbacks (one in quite literally episode 8 of the anime, another one in Wano that isn't even about them and they're just side characters in this flashback, and in chapter 1082 of the manga. But it's not even a proper flashback because we already saw that when Shanks talks to Whitebeard about Buggy, it's just Buggy's interpretation of it) and we only have like one scene of them together that isn't even two minutes long. So, quite obviously you'd think "well, the ship isn't as popular as other ships because they barely have any screentime" and I think it's correct but also not quite. And also, this would also have to apply to the Japanese fandom at the end of the day. Fandoms don't give a single fuck about screen time if the chemistry is right, really, but there's always this factor, y'know. Lawlu has less screentime than Zolu and yet it's more popular somehow because people absolutely love their dynamic. Then, if you stop to think about it, both Satosugu (Jjk) and Soukoku (Bsd) have the same dynamic and concept as Shuggy, but they're by far the most popular ships in their fandoms. They're basically the same ships but Jjk and Bsd give them proper development and story because they're shorter series. One Piece is a long show and we still have many things to see, even if we know it's gonna end soon, so I guess that we'll still have to wait to see more of Shuggy. Once we do, I'm sure it'll become more popular. Also, Shanks' personality is very diverse because he's all mysterious and all, so I kind of understand why people don't want to make content because they still don't have him figured out.

But then again, screen time isn't really the problem. It's just one of the factors. If they had more screen time, they'd be more popular for sure, yes, but it's not exactly what makes them less popular in this side of the fandom. Otherwise, it'd be equally as popular on the other sides too. The Japanese side of fandoms is different from this one and tbh they often don't take into consideration things like cancel culture and proship discourse or the standard beauty regarding age because they just post whatever they want and scroll past what they don't like (god I fucking wish we were like that because I am so done with these things). Besides, isn't Buggy like a very beloved character over there, aside from Oda's favorite? At least from what I've seen, they take his character way more seriously than this side of the fandom does, honestly. And it bothers me because he's such a complex and great character, and people never see it because they use him either for memes or to keep saying "omggg turns out the clown is hot!! Can you believe I want to fuck a clow-" yes, Samantha, we know you want to fuck the clown. It's not weird. It's not new. Do you even like the character, at least, or you're just using him to say how kinky and quirky you are? (And I don't even care about the sexualization of characters because, again, fictional characters are fictional characters and you don't have to take everything so seriously. I have tons of characters I don't like that much but only stan because I find them hot and that's alright. But damn, it bothers me sometimes).

Anyway, with this, I wanna say that there are other things to have in mind when talking about this.

Recently (I know it's not exactly new but in fandom years? Recently) there has been a huge thing surrounding the term "old men yaoi". People are so down bad for middle-aged men and they see two of them together and they instantly go "omg they're soo married" but that's- That's it? That's just it. They don't even ship them, they just find the concept of older men hot because "omg he's such a dilf" and they want to fuck both of them. But they never end up doing anything with it. They try to be so groundbreaking like "ohh I am SO woke by shipping these two old men! See? Breaking stereotypes!" because both irl and online, age has always been a very stigmatized thing. Apparently you can't be in a fandom if you're older than 25 because then you're weird, and if there's an actress older than 50 she's instantly useless for the industry.

What I want to say with this is that most people in the fandom are young. They're young and they like attractive, young, hot people and they don't want old, unconventionally attractive men. They don't want them unless it's to give a "hot take" and to be super progressive and woke. Do you know what they like? They like Dilfs. They like Shanks because he's conventionally attractive and good with kids and he's the standard for a Dilf. Because he's hot and mysterious but also silly and quirky and "he's almost forty that is so hot something something daddy kink". And they don't want to see him fucking someone his age because God forbid this man has a personality outside being a Dilf. Younger people in the fandom constantly read y/n fics regarding Shanks because they want him to fuck them and not Buggy. And they can't project in these old men, so they publicly say "oh, Shanks and Buggy are so married" because it's just a fact the fandom made clear, but they don't really like the content. Because liking Buggy sexually, apparently, is just so weird. Or as a character. Nobody wants to say their favorite character is the failguy clown. It's a hot take when you say that Buggy is hot because people keep being all weird about it when... Uh... He's- He's just a clown. Guys. It's not weird. Or bad. Who raised you to think that? God, I find Monet extremely hot and she's half-bird. Could we please normalize these things? They're fictional characters. And also, stop reducing Buggy to his jokes or the fact that he's a clown because his character is GREAT and complex and it just bothers me so much.

This makes me think about this whole "background couple" thing. Which are basically couples that are canon or that are so popular and obvious that people, instead of making content for them (because why would you make content for a canon couple?) just place them in the background instead. There are so many fanfics in which Shuggy is a background couple. Or studies in which, instead of analyzing them, they're used only for parallelisms. This happens with, idk, Saboala? Frobin? Yamace? People don't like couples that everybody agrees on. They don't like m/f ships because they can't be woke!!!!! And queer!!!! (when they easily could but whatever). They don't like ships that everybody likes because!!!!!! They're canon already and why would you write about them???? And so, Shuggy stays a bit more as a side couple instead. For being old and unconventionally unattractive and not having much screentime, but being extremely popular. Not in a "content" way, but in a "knowledge" way. Even the general audience thinks their bond is crucial to the story, c'mon.

One of the differences that this side of the fandom has with the Japanese one, as I mentioned before, is the cancel culture and proship discourse thing. They just don't have that concept. And that's perfect, honestly, I wish we could just scroll past what we don't like too and live peacefully because the discourse is getting tiring. And also you have to admit that, because of the anti propaganda going around, now fandoms have turned into the most puritan thing in the world. Beware! Sex! Age difference between fictional characters that have a consensual and healthy and mature relationship! Oh! God forbid teenagers have sex with people their age! Ohmygodjustshutup. And so, Shuggy isn't a problematic ship. Not even close. But inside the OP world, people do say they are brothers. They keep talking about each other like that, too. And I don't even think it's the typical "we say they're like brothers so you don't think they're gay because they're both guys and guys can't kiss" (I am having flashbacks from the IT fandom). They do have the same parents. Like- We all agree Shanks and Buggy were both raised by Roger and Rayleigh and they consider them, if not their dads, parental figures at least. Right? And you're aware that doesn't make it incest, right? Both things can coexist. Foster families are a thing. Lots of people who grew up together and consider the same people their parental figures end up dating because they don't see each other as siblings. Well, most people don't see it this way and hear the word "brother" and run from it like it's a fucking virus. The Japanese side of the fandom doesn't give a fuck because they're fictional and because they're y'know, not brothers? And even if they were, cancel culture and proship discourse is so fucking stupid to them because they follow the "don't like don't look" thing. But on this side of the fandom, a lot of people see them as brothers and the other half sees them as a divorced couple and apparently nobody knows how to fucking read this manga and have a proper fandom experience without jumping to each other's throats at the minimum disagreement.

So, to summarize: People on this side of the fandom don't like Shuggy THAT much and it isn't such a popular ship in comparison to the Japanese side, because young people don't like older men together, they don't focus on unconventionally attractive characters, are afraid of any little possibility of cancelation, and also, well, Shuggy doesn't have much screentime anyway so there's not much we can do with that.

#oh shit this is long #and i think i got a bit carried away #but yeah i am surprised the ship isn't more famous tbh #also have in mind that people read the manga but a huge side of the fandom are anime only and chapter 1082 is quite important for shuggy #and please PLEASE if you start discourse right now for the proship/anti thing i am going to jump off a bridge do not do that it's dumb #i got a bit angry at the end i am sorry #one piece #shuggy

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ilyrouxls · 1 year ago

Text

Amusement Parks Have Rouxls Too

Rouxls Kaard x Reader

(Fluff, Gender-Neutral Reader, Not Canon AU idk, Y/n used)

Your sibling Kris forces you to join them with their friends and Rouxls to go to the Amusement Park. Chaos, failed flirting attempts, jealousy, and disaster oh my!

You awake early on this Saturday morning to grey clouds covering the city, and cold air nipping at the people outside. A morning like this called for a warm beverage and a pile of blankets. Settling for hot cocoa, you feel excited thinking about everything you won’t have to do today. You stir the packet of Cocoa mix into a warm glass of water. No college, no chores, no work, and no terrible coworkers. It’s only 10am, so you still have a lot of time to waste indulging in doing nothing. It’s perfect for the first day of Winter Break. Of course, until Kris had decided to text you.

“Y/n. come to the amusement park with us.’ So unspecific, per usual of your texts with Kris. They seemed to have a knack for never telling you the full details while at the same time also leaving you on read. Sipping on the steaming cocoa, you write back a response; ‘1. Lol. why? 2. Who is going? 3. Why??’ Kris is always a handful for you, but you love them to death. When you had decided to move out, you chose to not move far so that you could still see them easily. You're glad that you had chosen to do that considering after you moved out, Asriel soon did as well. Asriel is sadly much farther away than you, so Kris began taking the bus to see you. You appreciate it a lot more than you’d ever admit. You both weren’t really close when you were younger, so it’s nice that you’re closer nowadays.

‘Ralsei, Susie, Noelle, Berdly, Lancer, me. The usual. Rouxls is gonna be there too. Meet us at 11.’ You sigh, Kris didn’t even give you an option to not go. And now if you don’t show up you’ll look like an asshole. Damn it, they’ve got you cornered.

On the flip side, Rouxls will be there. Your feelings for him are… complicated. He’s annoying, obnoxious, and quite frankly outright irritating. But these traits are why you’re madly in love with him. If you look past the three previously named traits, he’s genuinely sweet and caring. Especially towards his adopted son Lancer, aka his lesser son. You don’t really know the story between them because you've never asked; it seemed too personal when you first met him and now it seems like it’s too late in the friendship to ask. Rouxls certainly is an interesting character, you can’t tell if he likes you or not. He always calls you a puny small worme or a peon, or other names along those lines.

You drink the last of your cocoa, wash the mug, and think of the pros and cons of going. Cons; Being in a crowded Amusement park, scary rollercoaster rides, tons of people, and annoying kids. Pros; The Fun Gang, hanging around Kris, an opportunity to romance Rouxls…….

‘I’ll get ready, see ya soon.’

Your face feels hot, this could actually work out if you play your kaards right. The amusement park is the perfect place for you two to get closer. It almost makes you giddy thinking about it. Correction, it actually does make you giddy. You smile as you go to shower and tidy yourself up.

Showering is easy but picking out an outfit is hard. You want to impress Rouxls by looking your best, but not too overdressed. You want to be comfy, but not under dressed... It’s an overly complicated process, but eventually you pick something to your liking. You pack a bag with a thin blanket, so you all can sit in the grass at lunch of course, and your wallet. Soon enough, you drive over to the amusement park, planning your ‘devious’ plan.

The local amusement park isn’t far from the city you live in, but it’s a little farther to get to from where Kris lives. Your parents, Toriel and Asgore of course, used to take the family during the Winter and Spring a lot. Asriel always wanted to play the games to earn prizes but Kris wanted to ride all the rides. So you guys always did both. Kris won all the prizes, but got forced to share against their will. Asriel would get sick from Roller Coasters, but still went on them so as to not ruin the fun. You never weren’t much into games at the time and were too scared to go on the rides. What you enjoyed the most was the atmosphere; sitting in the grass, enjoying your family's presence, and watching the sunset at night. But besides that, you liked cheering both of your siblings on! The good old days of youth. One thing that’s definitely changed is that you would totally play the games now.

Soon enough you arrive at the amusement park and you already feel your anxiety kick in. There’s a lot of people, scary rides, and Rouxls Kaard here. That’s a lot of things that are scary. ‘Where r u? I'm here’ You send Kris the text, and try to gain the balls to go out. You take a deep breath and get out with your bag and head toward the entrance. You feel a buzz in your pocket and pull out your phone to read what Kris said while you stand in line. ‘Already got entrance tickets, trying to buy tickets for rides and games atm.’ You smile, it’s been a bit since you’ve seen Kris. They honestly brighten your day when you see them.

Going up to the entrance to buy tickets, you see a skeleton snoring at the ticket booth. “Uhm… excuse me..” You say, hoping to get their attention. The skeleton stirs and looks up to you, but keeps their head in their arms. “Oh, hey-o. Wanna ticket or somethin’?” His voice was monotone yet he kept a tight grin on his face, a bit friendly but a bit unnerving at the same. You hope he’s actually an employee, but his attire wasn't exactly a uniform.

Blindly trusting the suspicious guy, you nod your head. You were similar to Kris, not one for conversation but more in a socially awkward way. You pull out your money and put it on the counter. You focus your gaze into the park while the worker, if he even is a worker at all, gets your ticket. There's a chance you just gave your money to a scammer. You look past the gates and there in the distance you can see the Fun Squad!

… Oh no.

The scene before you plays out like this; Kris and Susie are shaking the ticket machine, Ralsei is frantically trying to stop them, Berdly is standing a couple feet away trying to act like he doesn’t know them, Noelle is at a different ticket machine, Lancer is hanging onto the machine gleefully, and Rouxls defeatedly sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. Oh boy, today is gonna be a long day. “Know 'em?” The worker at the ticket booth asks you. You make a face, knowing the fate in store for you when you walk in, "Yeah." He hands you your ticket and you thank him before going in.

“Guys don’t go breaking the ticket machine please... We just got here, we can't get kicked out yet!” You say, walking up to the group. “Ah! Finally, the assistance has arivedetheth.” Rouxls stands up and exclaims exasperatedly; it seems like he already tried to stop Kris and Susie. Kris and Susie stop shaking the machine and Kris runs up to you, giving you the biggest hug. Smiling, you hug back and ask, “So, what’s the issue with the ticket machine?”

Susie rolls her eyes and walks over to you. “We thought if we shook it hard enough the tickets would come flying out and we would save our money.” You can’t help but laugh a little because that makes sense now. "Don't worry, I got enough tickets for everyone while you guys were... doing what you did." Noelle says, tickets in hand. Seems like she was the only one with a brain. She hands out tickets to everyone, what a saint she is. As the Fun Gang begins to move towards the rides they desire, you fall a little back to walk with Rouxls. For no particular reason of course. “So, what made you want to tag along Rouxls?” You imagine the reason was probably that he wanted to watch Lancer, but you still ask regardless just so you have something to talk about. “Well, I wasn’t planning on attending, but I heardeth thou were going to be here and decidetheth to join along to so thou shall not be watching these little worms alone.” You don’t know whether to feel flattered that he cares for your well-being or offended for calling them worms. It makes you wonder whether Kris asked Rouxls to come by pretending you were already going, and vice-versa for yourself. What a trickster they are, if it was purposeful. “Aw, that’s sweet of you to tag along for me. Thank you, I appreciate it. The kids aren’t worms though.” You giggle, looking at your feet instead of him. He chuckles in response and you both walk in silence.

Soon enough the kids found the first roller coaster they wanted to ride on. The start of your master plan began to set in motion, or so you were hoping. You wanted to pull a few super smooth moves on Rouxls, but you were, conveniently, inconvenienced every time you tried. The first inconvenience was when you tried to ask Rouxls to get on the rollercoaster in the same cart as you. But he declined, saying something along the lines of rollercoasters was for worms and that he would never. The look on his face gave it away though, he was scared of them. So you were you so it was kind of a good thing. Instead you decided to join him watching the kids ride their rollercoaster. You were excited to get alone time with Rouxls until your second inconvenience happened. Ralsei wasn't able to handle the roller coaster and the poor little guy got sick, so he sat with you both for the rest of the rides. It reminded you of when Asriel got sick from roller coasters all the time when you were kids. You did feel bad for Ralsei, but you were also secretly cursing him for accidentally ruining your alone time.

After the last ride ends and everyone gets off the ride, you ask, “Okay everyone, are we getting hungry?” You get a collection of answers such as, “Hell yeah!” and, “Yes please.” Pretty obvious who those two answers came from. Kris takes the lead and shows everyone the way to the food and snack portion of the park. The stands around you smell delicious and the food looks great, but you can only think of one thing. Cotton candy. It’s been years since you’ve had authentic amusement park cotton candy, and it was the only food on your mind.

Seeing the stand in the distance, you start to veer away from the group with it being the only thing on your mind. “Huh? Y/n, where are you going?” Noelle's voice calls out from behind you, and you point at the booth. Heading over to it, you notice the man running the stand is the previous man from the entrance ticket booth.

“I thought you worked at the ticket booth?” You ask him when you get to the front of the line. The guy looks up and his grin seemingly gets wider. “Ha, I s’pose I multitask. It’s a skele-ton of work though.” He winks, and you can’t help but laugh a little at the pun but also cringe at it. “Oh I bet, sounds like you get worked down to the bone.” He snorts at equally cringey pun while you hand him the money, and he starts making your cotton candy. “Didn't read you as the type to like puns.” You look at him a bit confused. “Are you a professional at knowing whether someone likes puns or not?” He chuckles, "Perhaps." You roll your eyes and laugh. He hands you your cotton candy and you turn to walk back to the group.

After you turn around, you notice all the kids are playing tag on an empty grass hill nearby. Rouxls is standing nearby but instead of watching them, he's watching you. When your gaze meets his, he turns and watches the kids. You could imagine it but it seemed weird that he was watching you, his face looks a bit angry too. Was he mad that... you got cotton candy? Maybe he wanted some too. Putting that aside, you walk back to the group. The kids are all playing a seemingly intense game of tag, but it looks like they got themselves some snacks and put it in a pile nearby. You walk toward Rouxls and say, “Sorry about that, it took a little bit. I’ve got a blanket for us all to sit on.” He doesn't say anything, but you set your bag down and grab the blanket you packed and lay it on the ground. Rouxls sits on one end while you sit on the other, eating a bit of your cotton candy. Awkward silence ensues.

…

“So, did thou know the man at that stand? Thee both seemedeth.. uhm.. quiteth friendly.” The question broke the silence but didn't make any sense. “Oh, no not really. He was also the guy running the ticket stand. Kinda weird to be running both areas right? He was also making some cheesy puns.” Rouxls makes a hm sound in reply, leaving you with more questions than answers. Rouxls' weird attitude made it seemed like he could be jealous of the way you acted with the ticker stand slash food stand worker. But that's too cliche to be true, right?

You want to break the tension but you’re not sure how to with the way he's shut your previous conversation down. Staring at the yummy sugary treat you hold in your hand, an idea sparks to life in that brain of yours. Slowly, and hopefully not noticeably, you scoot your way closer to Rouxls. In a matter of seconds you’re so close that the both of you are almost touching arms. He doesn’t seem to notice thankfully, he’s staring at the kids but it seems like he’s actually spacing out. “Have you ever had cotton candy before, Rouxls?” You ask, finally breaking the silence. He jumps at your voice and turns to you in a surprised manner. He was definitely spacing out based on the slightly shocked expression he holds. “A-Ah, I didn’t realize you- thou got so.. close. No, I hath never had whatever thou speak of. He almost broke his façade but he picked it back up quickly... you always knew he probably exaggerated or faked his way of speaking. You smile and push the cotton candy close to his face and say, “It’s called ‘cotton candy’, and you should try some! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, basically it’s sugar that gets heated up into liquid and then spun into this like uh, soft cloud threads? I’m not sure how to describe it but you should try it.”

His cheeks flush a dark blue in a way that makes it seem like he could be blushing, but you’re not sure. “Are you sure? Isn’t it yours?” You nod your head, and he hesitates for a second but then he takes a surprisingly good sized bite out of the cotton candy and his eyes light up in delight. “Mm, tch-at is pretty, mm, good.” He mumbles, mouth full of cotton candy. You can’t help but giggle at his cute behavior. He glares at you, but it seems playful enough that you don’t mind. You pull the cotton candy back to you and take a bite, then bring it back to him to eat. From an outside perspective it probably seems like you two are a couple. You don’t mind at all, you hope he doesn’t mind either.

The kids finally tire out and join you both on the blanket to eat their lunch. You all share some laughs, and before long lunch passes by and the real fun begins. Susie suggests you go to the arcade, and of course you all agree. When you get there, Berdly loudly exclaims, "We should do a competition to see who is the best overall gamer! I know you all know I am undoubtedly the best, but I'm sure you're all eager to try to beat me." Ignoring his gloating for a second, that actually sounds pretty fun. "Sure, can I go against you first?" You ask him, you can't wait to kick this kid's ass. Berdly smirks and picks out some random shooter game. The others begin to pick out their competition and go to other games. While you get ready to start your epic match against Berdly, Rouxls walks over to you. "I am admittedethly not good with video games, so I wisheth thee luck on winning. I have no doubth that thou shall win." Even though you were sure he was just being nice, your heart can't help but flutter that he went out of his way to wish you luck. You played against Berdly a few times, and let's just say you won by a long shot. Even though Rouxls said he wasn't good at video games, you managed to get him to play a couple of games with you. He did pretty well for his first time, only struggling every once in a while. Then Kris joined in and basically annihilated everyone. They always did have a knack for games, always winning while barely putting in effort to it. These events have led up to now, where you’re all surrounding Kris and Susie, the last competitor against Kris. They’re playing Dance Dance Revolution and both of them are trying their hardest to win. Who knew Susie was this good at dancing, she was really holding out against Kris. Everyone was cheering for who they thought was going to win. You could hear Noelle cheering for Susie the loudest though, how cute.

The song was just about to end with Susie winning when suddenly she missed a note. The game flashed with a finish sign and showed their scores. Kris won by barely a smidge of points. “GODDAMN IT KRIS, I WAS ABOUT TO WIN!” Susie exclaims and in a fit of rage punched the screen, smashing it. Everyone stands in shock and you hear someone shout, “Hey! What do you think you're doing!” Looking to where you heard the shout, you see a guy who looks to be the manager and a couple security guards running towards you all quickly. In a rush of panic you yell, “RUN AND HIDE!!”

You all run out of the arcade, scrambling in different directions to hide on various attractions. You pause in the middle of a crowd outside the arcade unsure where to go, when a hand grabs yours and drags you along with them. Startled, you look and see Rouxls is the one who grabbed you. You both run towards the nearest ride to hide, the Ferris wheel. The worker, obviously clueless to the previous arcade incident, lets you into the box and starts the ride up. You take a seat to catch your breath.

Rouxls sits next to you, in the same state as you. “That was quiteth… hah.. an exciting and scary predicamenteth.” You nod your head feverishly in agreement. Pulling out your phone, you send a quick text to Kris informing them that Rouxls and you escaped to the Ferris wheel and that everyone should meet up in 10-15 minutes at the front. You know it's a bit annoying that you all have to hide out for that long, but it's better safe than sorry in case the guards go to the gate now. They don't text back yet, and you hope they're okay along with everyone else.

Suddenly, realization hits you in the face. Rouxls and you are alone. In a Ferris wheel. By yourselves. Alone. Did you mention alone? Your face warms up and your body starts to feel uncomfortably sweaty. Even though you were trying to woo him from the start and this is the perfect place. But now that it's happening with no interruptions this time, it's making your body feel like it wants to collapse and yet always throw yourself out of the window. You feel too scared to make a move so instead you decide to look out the window. You didn’t realize how long you all were playing arcade games until you looked, the sun is already setting behind the clouds. It was beautiful, it had already passed the orangey stage and was now in the darker stages. Dark purples, pinks, and light blues painted the sky. Some stars even started showing up.

“Rouxls! Look at the sunset, it’s beautiful right now.” You lean back into your seat to allow Rouxls to see the sunset from your window. Instead of looking from where he was sitting next to you, he scoots closer and leans over you to see the sunset. He stretches out his arm putting his hand on your thigh and his other hand on your shoulder to steady himself. His face lights up looking at the sky, and he smiles peacefully. You blush and oh my god do you want to kiss him right there and then, but you don’t want to interrupt the moment. He looks absolutely stunning in the lighting, the sun dimly reflecting against him, enhancing his features perfectly and making his hair look angelic. You try not to stare but you can’t help it.

Rouxls turns his head away from the sunset and instead looks at you. Your eyes meet and slowly Rouxls leans closer to you. He’s so close you can feel his shaky breaths against your face. To say you were freaking out in your head was an understatement, your thoughts were running a million miles a minute. You’ve been wanting to kiss him for months now, and it felt like it was about to happen. You want to make the move, but you feel frozen staring into his eyes. Rouxls makes the first move, and finally seals the gap and kisses you. It takes a moment, but you reciprocate the kiss and put your arms around his neck while he moves his hand from your shoulder up to hold your face. His lips feel soft and taste sweet, the flavor of cotton candy still lingering on his lips even after all this time. You both pull apart and you feel a little winded. “I apl- aplogizeth for not asking to kiss thou.. I couldn’th help myself.” Rouxls trips up a little on his words, but you understood what he said. “It’s okay, I’ve been wanting to kiss you for months- I mean it’s okay yeah don’t worry. Don't think about what I just said.” You accidentally overshare that little tidbit of info and try to laugh it off nervously. Rouxls smiles and kisses your cheek, which reassures you that he didn’t mind.

A minute or two passes, and Ferris wheel finally brings you both to the bottom to get off. Rouxls stands up and holds out his hand gentlemanly for you. You take his hand and hold it tightly, and he leads you off the Ferris wheel. With your free hand, you take out your phone and see Kris has texted a few times updating the situation.

‘Okay, I got stuck in a ball pit. A security guard is near me.’ (8:21pm) ‘The security guard just walked past me.’ (8:28pm) ‘THE SECURITY GUARD ALMOST SAW ME’ (8:34pm) ‘IM RUNING RNW OMG HE IS RUNIGB AFTER ME I WILL HAVE TO’ (8:35pm) ‘Sorry for the typos and not finishing my sentence. I’m safe now, we’re all here at the entrance except Rouxls and you.’ (8:39pm) ‘We’re leaving without you two with mom. If I see that you're both in the news for getting arrested, we aren’t gonna bail you out lol. And I'll print out your mugshot and hang it up in the house.’ (8:45pm).

You can’t help but laugh at the series of texts Kris sent. You update them that you’re okay and that Rouxls and you got stuck on the Ferris wheel. You shiver, now that the adrenaline is gone you realize how cold the night has gotten. Rouxls looks at you at you concerned and you say, "Sorry, don't worry. I'm just a little cold." He smiles and replies, "Ah, I see. It does seemeth to have gotten quite cold from when we hadth first arrivedeth. If you are cold dear, then taketh my coat." Rouxls lets go of your hand and takes off his coat, handing it to you. Although flustered, you take it gratefully and put it on. The coat is warm since he had been just wearing it, and is stops you're shivers in a matter of seconds, the jacket was a bit big on you but you didn’t care. You grab his hand again, already missing the feeling of it. “Thank you for the jacket, you’re never getting it back ever again. The kids left with my mom, so it’s just you and me. We better get to the parking lot quickly before security recognizes us.” You tell him and the both of you speed walk and get to the parking lot quickly. As you approach your car Rouxls suddenly stops. “Are you okay? What’s up?” You ask concerned, still holding his hand. “Uhm.. I just realizedth that thy mother took me here with Lancer, it was convenienth at the time to not take two cars...”

…

“Oh.”

“Luckily Lancer is with them. I think they’re all going to have a sleepover, I heard them mention it earlier at lunch.” You say and Rouxls sighs in relief that Lancer will be okay. While wondering how Rouxls will get home, a thought crosses your mind. You tug on his hand to get his attention, “Hey, wanna have a sleepover of our own? You can stay at my apartment for the night and then in the morning I can take you to pick up Lancer and take you both home.” Your face heats up, while your offer is meant to be innocent, your thoughts can’t help but imagine some not so innocent scenarios.

Rouxls looks surprised by your offer and you hope you didn’t over step. “I mean of- of course you don't have to, I can just take you home instead and then you can do your own things. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable-“ Rouxls cuts off your rambling by squeezing your hand reassuringly. You stop and look at him, and he leans down to kiss your cheek. “Don’t fret dear, I would love to stayeth over at thy home.” You smile, happy that he wasn’t offended and happy that he actually accepted your offer. You turn toward your car and you pull him close, walking hand in hand together.

“Alright then, let’s go!”

(Orginally posted on AO3 9-12-22, 4551 words)

(Based off of a dream I had January 2022. In the dream I had, instead of sharing cotton candy it was a bowl of white rice and I was feeding it to Rouxls. Just plain white rice. Not on a grassy hill, no no no we were just below the Ferris wheel on the concrete for no reason. Then Kris, Susie, and Ralsei come over and get all mad that we were sitting and eating because we were supposed to be in the arcade playing games. So yeah that dream inspired this lol)

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bigmack2go · 8 months ago

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Ive never been more pissed than when i found out aki max and Audrey didn’t end up together. Not like usually tho. This isn’t me goinh *ugh but i ship them so much“ no. I couldn’t care less about whether i like their ship or not. Thsi is about polyamory representation. They build up two seasons like that, finally giving you hope of seeing a poly couple that doesn’t end bad. In the first season k might have been like „oh this is bait“ but then they actually got together and i was so happy. But no. You give me yet another polyamorous story that end in betrayal. You guve me one single poly couple and call it representation and then they end bad?

The fact that they actually were together doesnt make it better.

Every poly representation EVER ends up bad. In betrayal. (Thats exactly what poly ISNT about.) what picture do you think that paints us in?? And especially when you KNOW that its always like that, how dare you be apart of it??? This is like when the only gay character turns out to be the villain, the only female character being the love interest (?) the only black character doing a shooting the only muslim character being a therrorist: WRONG

I am NEVER one to compare minorities experiences to each other but i simplycant keep going know that EVERYONE pretends that poly people aren’t a minority. Sure you SAY that you know that but you don’t treat us as such. And by „treat us as a minority“ i do not mean under representation till the cows come home. Im not talking about conservatives treating me as a minority, in talking about progressive people. Im talking about putting up a fight to let us get our rights like everyone else.

because lets face it, they dont treat us the same way they treat other minorities. Maybe they put a little rep here and there (which is almost always BAD rep) but thats it.

(For the sake of authenticity i‘m gonna use gay as an example for these because thats a minority that im actually a part of and i dont wanna put myself in anyone else’s shoes)

„you dint have to include poly characters if youre not comfortable woth it“ BULLSHIT.

That is like saying „you dont have to include gay characters if youre not comfortable woth it“

If you heard that, would you go „oh that’s fine“ NO. You would not. Because even if you are a straight person who would feel uncomfortable having gay sex or a gay relationship, that does not make gay people less existent and therefore not representing them is not okay.

THIS IS THE SAME FUCKING THING. I dont CARE if you would have a threesome or not (EVEN I WOULDNT AND IM POLY). I exist! And just because you aren’t me, that doesn’t mean i don’t exist?! So get your damn shit together.

Sure polyamory isnt for everyone. NO SHIT. But neither is homosexuality and is it okay to leave that out? No. It fucking isnt.

If you dont wanna represent a certain type of relationship, you shouldn’t put any relationships at all

And to get back to wjat this all was originally about: BAD REPRESENTATION IS WORSE THAN NO REPRESENTATION BECAUSE IT PUTS US INTO A BAD LIGHT ESPECIALLY WHEN THE ONLY REPRESENTATION EVER EXISTING IS ALWAYS BAD ONE.

I think the only representation of polyamory that wasn’t bad is have ever seen in my entire life was half bad. And even that was left open (enough) at the end.

So no DONT TALK TO ME IM ON A RAMPAGE AND I AM NOT OVER REACTING. LET POLYAMORY EXIST FOR FUCKS SAKE

FUCK THIS FUCK EVERYONE. FUCK POLY PPL NOT BEING SEEN

Im so fucking done with this shit

The same tjing is for nonbinary people. I could go on a rampage about this too but i would literally only repeat myself for almost everything

Putting a lot of random tags cuz i want ppl to see this

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drplantboss · 1 year ago

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I think that Sonic media could benefit somewhat from an approach to canon similar to what the SCP Wiki does.

For those who don’t know, the SCP wiki uses a “choose-you-own-canon” style of universal consistency. This makes sense for it in particular because it’s a community writing project. It’s hard to get everyone on the same page when “everyone” encompasses literally thousands of writers. What this has done is created a system where there are general elements that will almost always be internally consistent — the SCP foundation itself, the other groups of interest, the containment classes and danger levels — while still allowing people the freedom to bend the rules in order to make their stories work. Some entries are written from the perspective of the foundation hundreds of years into the future. Some of them take place in alternate realities or the places in-between. As stated, this works very well because it allows authors to craft their own stories, and it also allows readers to choose what kind of story they want to see.

Obviously, this can’t have a 1-to-1 translation to Sonic. There have been a whole lot of Sonic writers through the years, but nowhere near the level that the SCP wiki has. It’s also an official product, licensed and produced by a company that pays people. Nevertheless, I think some elements of this fluid canon approach could still be applied to Sonic given the right execution.

At this point in time with Sonic “lore” for even just the games, there’s a whole lot of confusion about what the timeline of events is, what events actually happened, and whether they even happened to the characters we think. Generations and Forces did a lot of this because of the introduction of the “classic” timeline, which is apparently separate and distinct to the “modern” timeline — essentially, the timeline splits after Sonic 3&K. This is something that has been extremely unclear, and even what I just said is still just the idea that has been most widely accepted from “official” tweets. The problem is that this makes understanding what is happening, when, and to whom very nebulous.

This is something that was an issue for one game in particular, 18 years ago: Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). Shadow has 11 different endings, and 326 possible ways to get to each of the 10 primary endings. Each of these paths is a pure hypothetical; the game is posing the question and then answering: “What would Shadow do if this happened?” Only the final, “true” 11th ending is a concrete addition to canon — the rest is up to speculation. Obviously, some chain of events leads to Shadow betraying Black Doom, remembering his memories, discovering he isn’t an android, and quieting his inner turmoil. We just don’t know what those specific events are.

While this has been infuriating to some Sonic fans who want to have a concrete canon, I think this might actually be a fairly good approach to use for basically every Sonic story. Does this take place in the same universe as [other piece of Sonic media]? Unless it otherwise states it, that’s up to you! This would give each writer the freedom to choose what aspects of the Sonic world to bring with them into the narrative they want to tell — universe consistency be damned. It would also allow fans to interpret the works as they see fit; something a lot of Sonic fans already do in spite of blatant contradictions. This would make the differentiation of the “classic” and “modern” timelines pointless, and it would allow for integration with external media. References to the IDW comics, Sonic Prime, or other adaptations of the character could be mixed and matched.

One of the main issues I see arising from this would be a bit of an increase in difficulty when writing a Sonic story. While having rules may be restrictive, having the freedom to do what you want can be a bit of a headrush when writing. It’s easy to trip over your own narrative coils when you don’t have a neatly laid out thread with which to start. I wouldn’t envy being a Sonic team writer in that instance. But, hey — if fanfic writers can do it, I’m sure they could make it work.

The other issue would be fandom reception. Sonic fans are notoriously fickle, and I don’t really think this would “help,” per se. The key to success would come with the fandom’s willingness (or unwillingness) to accept that not everything is canon to everything else. I know that the infamous tweet “everything is canon” gets a lot of mileage, but I don’t think it was meant to be interpreted the way many people do. I think it’s more meant along the lines of what I’ve been saying here — even if the events aren’t consistent within the universe as a whole, the events that are meaningful in that interaction are true to themselves. In Shadow the Hedgehog, the events of those 10 endings and the buildup may not have actually come to pass, but that is how Shadow and the other characters would have behaved if they were to happen in that order. Getting over the hurdle of simply not having a defined canon would be very challenging for a lot of people.

To summarize my thoughts, I think it boils down to this:

Sonic struggles with canon because of a multitude of inconsistencies already, so the writers should embrace the inconsistency and let the individual writers and fans determine how they wish to perceive the events of the world as they see fit.

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonic #sonic lore #sonic canon #SCP #sonic fandom #i dont think this is perfect obv #but i would be very interested to see how it would work #this is already sorta how i look at the canon anyway #but thats just me

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alaffy · 1 year ago

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The Gilded Age - Head to Head (Spoilers)

We’re in episode three, why do I feel as though they’re still setting up for the season? I mean, there are some stories that are on track; but it feels like other stories have had very little progression. And there’s a least one story….

Let’s be honest, do we really care about the Vallet and his daughter? Maybe if we had gotten to know that character better, but…

Marion’s story is progressing just like I thought. Agnes’ nephew is interested in Marion and has let Agnes know. Marion just thinks the nephew is being friendly. Agnes approves of the match, but needs to figure out a way to manipulate (let’s be honest about what it is) Marion into a marriage.

Ada finally has a first, uh, outing with the Rector. Agnes will not be happy.

The Widow is clearly using Larry for a good time. I mean, I know Larry’s young; but, damn, she couldn’t drop any more signs that he’s just a fling.

Oscar seems to be getting along with his new (money) interest.

Peggy has convinced the newspaper editor to allow her to go with him to visit Tuskegee, Alabama for a story on Booker T. Washington. Peggy goes back home to get more summer clothes and lets Dorothy know about where she is going. Dorothy, understandably, does not want Peggy to go. And, well…look, we all know Peggy is neither stupid nor ignorant; she knows that things are going to be bad in the South. But there’s a difference between knowing about something and living through it. I don’t think Peggy is fully prepared for what she’s about to experience.

But going on to the main story/stories tonight. The episode starts with Bertha giving a party in hopes to get people to take boxes as The Met. She’s invited several of the Old Guard that she thinks she might be able to convince that it would be possible to take a box at both venues. Of course, this includes her former Lady’s maid; Turner now Winterton. And, of course, the servants find out that Turner has married into the Upper Class; which leads to gossip.

Winterton, however, is not interested in taking a box at the Met. She just wanted to rub Bertha’s face in the fact that she’s now part of the Upper Class, that she knows the Duke of Buckingham, and George has kept something from Bertha. Basically, a bitchy information dump.

Oh, and there’s this funny little scene where McAllister, who was at Bertha’s party, has to sneak over to Agnes’ where Ms. Astor is holding a meeting on what to do about The Met. And boy does he have information (although he doesn’t let them know he was at Bertha’s party or heard it from Bertha herself). Apparently, the opening day for the first season of the Met will be the same day as the opening for the next season of The Music Hall. Scandal! Ms. Astor asks Agnes to write to the members of the Old Guard saying that she (Agnes) heard a rumor that if someone takes a box at The Met, they’ll loose their box at The Music Hall (Ms. Astor can’t be the one to tell everyone this because that would mean Ms. Astor is making it a policy and right now Ms. Astor is only trying to scare people).

Anyway, I have a feeling that Ms. Astor is soon to learn about the whole Turner/Winterton thing as one of the Servants in the Russell house told one of the Servants in the Van Rijn house and we all know where this will lead.

Going back to Bertha. Bertha confronts George and he tells her about how Winterton did slip into his bed one night and that nothing happened. And…I don’t know…I feel like Bertha’s reaction was more for the drama. Don’t get me wrong, I fully believe the character of Bertha would be pissed at George. But I feel she would have been more, you should have told me not just because I’m your wife and I deserved to know; but because this was a staff member who reported directly to me and because, if Winterton had so chosen, could have caused us/or could cause us great harm. Like she would have been hurt, yes, but she also would have known where exactly to put the blame (on Winterton for trying to sleep with her husband and for Gorge not to tell her about the incident).

So, this causes a big riff between them and Bertha almost doesn’t show up for the luncheon, that George has planned with the Union Rep, like she promised. Shocking! But she does show and George has a talk with the man. It doesn’t go George’s way. He thinks he has the upper hand, but he doesn’t know his workers are about to Strike.

At the end of the episode, Bertha finds George and lets him know the Duke of Buckingham is coming to America (I think this would be the future King Edward VII). She wants George to find out when he’s arriving and where he’s staying because she wants to get in his good graces and rub Winterton’s nose in it. If George does this for her, than maybe he’ll be back in her good graces.

#the gilded age #the gilded age spoilers #marion brooks #ada brook #agnes van rhijn #bertha russel #george russell #peggy scott #oscar van rhijn #larry russell #gladys russell

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the-path-to-redemption · 2 years ago

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Vol 9 Ch 2 Review

....Man.

Spoilers for Chapter 2

Again, what is with this tonal dissonance between the situation and the characters? It went from, “hehe haha what a whimsical place” to “nothing make sense, and this world is fucking stupid” to “we’re terrible people and everything we touches goes to hell” within a minute. The tone transition doesn’t feel natural, and it nearly gave me fucking whiplash just looking at them interacting.

I do appreciate the more cartoony, slapstick style of animation though. Even if it’s, once again, tone deaf and weird AF.

Wow, Blake is finally a bookworm again. After 6 fucking years.

A little nitpick, but really? Alix and the Jabberwocker? That’s the length you’re going with? Just fucking slap me with a brick that said “it’s Alice in Wonderland”, I don’t think I caught the memo yet. /s

The Dormouse gag with Little is getting a bit tiring tbh.

Two thoughts about Jinxy: 1) he’s kinda cute :3 would pet. 2) Oh my fucking god, please tell me this isn’t a caricature of Romani/travelers, please please PLEASE. You can’t just do something else?? Bro, we know fairy tales are laced with antisemitism and anti-traveler rhetoric but you’re supposed to be AGAINST it.

*flashback* “hey it’d be kind of interesting to see Yang without an arm and having to adapt to the situations without relying on-”

*Yang got her arm back literally the next episode, killing any potential ideas of her actually being interesting as a disable character having to navigate and adapt to her surroundings using skills and wits*

...I’m in hell.

Speaking of Yang:

Yang: Alix was kind of an asshole huh. :/

Also Yang: I’m going to disrupt a public event full of civilians, beat up someone in front of the guards and potentially create chaos the moment I step foot in a foreign community, despite Blake telling me to “when in Rome, do as Romans do”.

Hypocrisy has a bloodline, and it started with Raven.

Another nitpick, but wow, I wonder which is the arm. The two ambiguously looking items, or the scepter that looks exactly the same as the damn arm.

Also, ENOUGH with the Bumblebee pussy footing. “What’s the meaning of love?” “Are we holding hands? :3c teehee no no, just teasing.” Get. It. Over. With. You wanna fuck each other, just do it already and spare me 8 more episodes of your pseudo-queer bullshit.

Again, the tonal dissonance. Ruby’s having a crisis over Penny’s sword (I’ll get to this madness later), Yang excitedly running away, Blake is frantically doing the same... Weiss just walk off nonchalantly. ISTG if this is her stihck for the Volume I’ll wrangle her myself.

Blake: I just didn’t expect us to be morals in a story.

...so, the entire White Fang storyline, in which you were constantly on Adam’s case about being “pacifistic” in the eyes of systematic oppression, continuously making a fuss about an issue that affects YOUR race and life despite barely doing jackshit, and always fucking around when it comes to the reality of a racist world that shits on your people wasn’t a moral journey to you.

Can’t say I’m surprise, Blake, you pasty All Lives Matters bitch. You continued to ignore an enterprise’s legal slavery after TWO people you knew shows you the horror of racial discrimination while your ass was cozy in an island mansion. You can’t be trusted to talk about morals, you lacked them.

Ruby herself is giving me so much mixed feelings right now, more bad than good. She’s broken up about Penny, which is understandable, but I really, REALLY can’t believe her when she honors the poor girl. Not after gaslighting her in Volume 8, not after barely having a discussion about the events of Beacon, not after everything between them that was just Penny giving and Ruby taking for the entirety of Atlas.

She got a W though, for being the only sensible person at the end. None of them know what they’re doing, not after crashing a kingdom and economically cripple another in your absence. So stop acting like they know what is going on.

#rwby #rwde #long post #fuck me I'm gonna die at the end of this #rwby vol 9 thoughts

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girl4music · 4 months ago

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youtube

Everybody’s blaming Emily Andras but…. It seems like it was more Tim and Tubi’s choice to kill Doc off than Emily’s. She might of wrote the story but it wasn’t her idea to kill Doc off. So… I think we should pipe down.

Or you know… go after Tim and Tubi’s throats instead.

TIM: “Doc has been on an adventure. He’s been a bad guy. He’s been a gunslinger. He’s been a good guy. He’s been a father. He’s been a vampire. But he hasn’t been on the greatest adventure of all - which is death.“

EMILY: “Are you sure? I can talk them out of it.”

I’m just saying... Emily is always going to do what her team wants. Even over what the Earpers may want. And she sees how lucrative making those choices are the same way Tubi does. What brings everyone back? What generates buzz for new watchers to tune into it?

I don’t think it’s so shocking that this has happened. I’m just glad it happened to a major character it felt most right to happen with. Especially the way it did.

Now it’s just me but I definitely think they made the right choice in killing Doc off. Yes, I’m devastated but that’s kind of what they want. They want that reaction.

They want you to be bothered enough to ask for more.

Ask for a fix it solution or just something else to make up for it. This is how these art/entertainment industry people think. Any reaction is a good reaction to them.

It means you care enough to shout at them or support them. And they want that. This is what they’ve signed up for. To be apart of the streaming service experience where this kind of thing happens all the time because it generates enough interest to keep all the $$$ going.

The pain is palatable for me right now but if they even try to touch WayHaught then it’ll be fucking personal.

But at the moment it’s a sweet pain. It’s bitter suite. Because I think it works best for the character and it works best for the creator and obviously for Tubi too.

The only ones that are really bothered by it are us.

The fans. But as I said - that’s the point.

That’s how they do this. Is it right? No. Do they care? No. It works. It always works. And so they will do it.

That’s what brings the money in whether you like it or not. And Emily looks at this and thinks “Okay, fine…” because she has to pay her way and her team’s way.

Does she care that it upsets her most loyal Earpers?

Probably. But what else can she do?

She signed up for this. They all did.

But she knows the boundaries she mustn’t cross and if she doesn’t have the balls to say ‘No’ then, I’m gone.

Doc’s death is fine for me. It makes sense for him as a character. I’m good with it. But try that shit with WayHaught and that’s it - packed up, lights out, gone.

I told you we needed to be concerned. I wrote a whole fucking analysis about this. That we needed to watch Tubi and that we needed to make sure there’s mutual respect and relationship going on between us and them because I knew this could very much happen.

I knew that because they signed up for this, that it was going to be different and they’d lock Emily up in this.

But it seems to me that the person we should be screaming at if anyone is Tim Rozon. Not Emily. Now I’m not going to do that because I’m not petty or pathetic like that. The moment it personally affects me, I will do the exact opposite of what they want.

I’ll fucking disappear. Completely. I will stop watching Earp. I will stop talking about Earp. I’ll just disappear.

Because I’ve seen this shit happen too many fucking times and I am damn sick of it. They’re just lucky that - this time - I agree with the decision to kill Doc off. But because I agree with it, it means that I believe they should stick to it and honour a heroic sacrifice. They did this to leave it in the open on what happens next. But I don’t want that. Of course I want more Earp but not like that. Not to bring Doc back to life.

That decision was made and it should be permanent lest we fuck up the storytelling of this IP even more and we start writing characters to narratives instead of narratives to characters because I fucking hate that and I will immediately be able to tell the difference.

Doc’s death is painful but it makes the most sense. So it’s fine, whatever, do it. But DON’T bring him back!

And DON’T - I mean it - go after the queer characters!

Emily knew the risks she was taking in signing up for more Earp. She also knew the consequences. Now if she’s still any bit of the queer ally she has been for us, she will not cross that line and she will say “fuck off!”

An old straight white male character died. Boo hoo.

Nonetheless a beloved old straight white male character and for reasons that are not so good.

As I said up top. This is how Tubi do this.

Now I hope you’re all fucking concerned.

#wynonna earp: vengeance #wynonna earp #vengeance #doc holliday #tim rozon #doc’s death #emily andras #interview #scifivision #fucking raging #tubi #spoilers

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barbiesimadventures · 5 months ago

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Join here for the adventures of Barbie Sim (aka Eris Nyx) who is just here, living her Extra™️ Barbie Life like she is the Anakin Skywalker of Barbie Sims. She got nicknamed Barbie Sim when I made literally everything she owned some shade of magenta, and despite the fact that I love her absurd name (and I think the Goddess would approve of the chaos!) I still call Eris “Barbie Sim” in my head, so that’s what she’s gonna be called.

I have been thinking of making some kind of simblr for a long, long time, and was finally convinced to do it because there were actual people enjoying this absurdity that I posted as humor when I realized how I was leaning into the pinkness of this blonde Sim I made. Some posts may be about other Sims I have going, and I may post my progress on the Soul Sickness challenge here, too, but I promise I’m a good tagger!

I will post a mods & CC Masterlist at some point in the near future, but I can pretty much promise that most of the shit I use comes from PralineSims, MySimRealty, nraas (bless them), Nightcrawler, treeag, douglasviega, and Around the Sims3. Like I said, full mod & CC list incoming. I might even post up a list of my nraas settings because unlike all the people I’ve seen who post theirs, I don’t do rotational gameplay, and there aren’t a lot (or any easily findable) settings pages from people who just play one household in a town.

I’ll also post a list of tags as they’re created so you can blacklist if you want to avoid seeing Barbie Sim’s Soul Sickness run, attempt #97 (I finally made a damn Notion page for the fucking complicated ruleset because FUCK I could never keep track of the difference between a Farmer and a Provisioner! Might do the same for the Legacy Challenge because I’m using Notion for goddamn everything these days!)

Barbie Sim has been so fun in the few days I’ve been playing her that I’m super likely to recreate her and play her as one of my main characters for that Soul Sickness challenge, and while I’m not a Fallout fan (nor do I dislike it, I’ve just never been interested enough to play the games), the Vault-Tec challenge looks pretty fucking awesome, too! I’m not about to do them both in the same world, I don’t hate myself that much, my dudes, but I do use Overwatch to export my tuning files/settings for the rest of my nraas mods so that I don’t have to spend the whole first five hours re-setting them. Haven’t gotten to it with Story Progression, yet, but a lot of my settings were based on SarahSims, who I won’t tag because I don’t t know them and I’d feel weird? I might have taken it to a different place on certain things (like making harvesting plants take way less time dammit) and PleasantSims.

This post is under construction, is basically what I’m saying here and probably always will be as I adjust my gameplay over time.

But one thing that is never going to change is that my language is never gonna be “family” friendly, unless yours and mine are a lot alike and the word “fuck” drops from everyone’s mouth. I laughed my ass off the day my kid got a Critical Mission Failure in Mass Effect and dropped a muttered “fuck” right after. I also use some skins and such which have actual nipples, and I don’t use the mosaic blur (except on children, yikes). So I’m probably going to end up marking this simblr as NSFW and just post away, but I’ll wait until the first time my nude sims show up.

I also play a lot of sims that are inspired by and named for various fandom characters (I’ve got an Ember McLain sim from Danny Phantom who is a fairy because I don’t like playing as a ghost in-game and I’ve had a lot of fun getting her to the finish line of her career). I play a lot of fairy sims, tbh, because I like the extended lifespan. I am Attached to every sim I make. They’re almost always one I downloaded and then altered (and I sometimes really want to ask the original creators WTF they were smoking when picking out clothing for those sims, especially the ones that come with CC that I’d never download in a million years if it hadn’t come with the sim!). So, like, don’t be surprised if a lot of my male sims look like Thor, is what I’m saying here! I turned a PralineSims Gwen Stefani into Darcy Lewis and I think I did a great job! I’m never worried about total accuracy when it comes to the face, my dudes. If my sims are pretty to me, and they are close enough to the original that I’m gonna know who they are meant to be? That’s good enough.

I don’t create things, I’m sorry. I’m not here to make shiny things because I don’t know how, though I’ll probably reblog those that do because maybe I’ll be able to find them again, too. I’m just here to chronicle Barbie Sim and her adventures, along with my adventures into various challenges. I am honestly expecting 0 follows on this, so if you’re here and reading this hella long intro and you still wanna stick around? I am 100% in love with you.

Barbie Sim and I will return soon for fun and laughs in pink. Lots and lots of pink.

Love, luck, & lollipops,

Neph (that’s me, Barbie Sim’s Simmer)

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theoreza · 1 year ago

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I’ve woken up in the middle of the night to question my romantic identity apparently. Thank you for making this available. While I’ve definitely experienced romantic attraction before, I would like to add my thoughts to a few of your bullet points to share how my experience differs and maybe that could be helpful to someone else who’s also not entirely aromantic in it’s purest form. My notes are in italic/bold. Also, not everything is necessarily a sign of aromanticism, but yet a part of my experience of questioning whether I’m arospec.

Here goes:

You would rather be huggy, cuddly or emotionally intimate with all of your friends instead of reserving your intimacy for just one person.

I don’t really miss a romantic partner as much as I miss my best friend MM whom I just moved to live an hour away from, but whom I used to live in the same building as and see almost every day

You would rather have a queerplatonic relationship than a typical romantic relationship.

My friendship to my best friend MM feels to me like a queer platonic marriage, in my mind, she’s my life partner. Would never want to kiss her.

not understanding the appeal of kissing

Make out sessions have always bored me very fast

thinking about your future and being excited to live alone/with friends rather than immediately thinking about marriage

My biggest dream has for a long time been to live in a village with all my best friends

being annoyed or grossed out by romance in the media

I get tired and sad because they make it seem so simple which hasn’t been my experience

seeing romance in the media as formulaic, saying things like ‘these two characters will kiss once then break up I can tell from the portrayal of their first interaction’ rather than getting emotionally invested.

I sometimes get frustrated that romance on TV just feels like a script, because every story is so similar

your ideal romantic relationship being suspiciously similar to your ideal friendship when you think about it

… my best friend MM

feeling out of place

Feelings of there being something wrong with me, as if I have to kickstart or rekindle emotions and feeling responsible/guilty when I don’t succeed, knowing I will likely hurt the other person. Trying to hack this by researching about how people who thrive in long lasting relationships manages to keep it going for so long

you never get why your friend doesn’t just break up with their partner(s) (and if you’re asked for advice, your most common thing to say is break it off), after all why would you stay if it’s not working out? (assuming the relationship is non-abusive)

I love a good breakup

also urging friends to confess to crushes to avoid painful pining, because why would you wait?

100% relatable. Having a crush is painful and time consuming, right?

for your crushes, you either confess very soon after realizing, to “get it out of the way/it’s out in the open now/avoid needless pining,” or never confess because “unsure of crush/what’s the point/dating is kinda dumb and I’m too young/it could have consequences for our friendship.”

Mostly the first one

however, either of those actions are never or almost never because of you wanting to know if they like you back

Yeah, just to get it over with

interpreting any interest when you want to get close to a person of a different or opposite gender as a crush, then “oh I just want to be friends with them!” then crush again, then friends again, and you can’t decide

My feelings feel flighty and unreliable

trying to decide the above point by deeply analyzing how physically and emotionally close you get with them, giving it a lot of thought to what you want to do with them in the long-term and not so much what a first date or kiss would look like

Is this why I overthink and build those damn castles that come crashing down every time because reality can never live up to imagination ???

I remember posts like this being helpful when I was questioning so I thought it might be good to make a checklist of sorts for The Aro Experience:

not picking up on your friend’s crushes

not understanding the appeal of kissing

thinking about your future and being excited to live alone/with friends rather than immediately thinking about marriage

being annoyed or grossed out by romance in the media

alternatively, seeing romance in the media as formulaic, saying things like ‘these two characters will kiss once then break up I can tell from the portrayal of their first interaction’ rather than getting emotionally invested.

choosing not to read/watch something because there is romance

not getting why people say they want a relationship if they don’t have a crush at the time

your ideal romantic relationship being suspiciously similar to your ideal friendship when you think about it

being able to explain your ‘type’ with fashion style, aka caring more about clothes than looks when considering if you find someone attractive

feeling like your views on relationships are more ‘childish’ than your friend’s views are

feeling uncomfortable when family or friends ask if you’re dating/like someone, even if their questions aren’t particularly invasive

assuming other people make up their crushes to fit in or seem cool

making your own crushes to fit in, or just mindlessly agreeing that people all your friends like are ‘hot’ even if you don’t think so

feeling out of place and like you can’t contribute when your friends talk about crushes and relationships

thinking people your age are way too young to date, and this view never seeming to change as you get older

This is mostly from personal experience and obviously every aro is different, but hopefully this is helpful.

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talenlee · 2 years ago

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Story Pile: GGWP — Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games

What if the prettiest girl in your school who nobody knew well was so aloof, so pure, so perfect, not because she was in fact, transcendentally perfect, but because she was an utter gamer gremlin who didn’t care about anything any other student was doing, since they weren’t pulling off sick combos and trash talking noobs in ranked ladder matches? And you could tell because you were an expert in the same kind of games, and now she wanted to fight you? To fight you? To fight you? To stay up late and fight you?

And you were both girls?

That’s the story of Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, which is a manga series about exactly what I just described. This is a Japanese story about a Japanese sector of life – about the pressures of school and the intensity of hobbies you wind up with if you have to have them in secret. It’s about social pressures on women, it’s about what is or isn’t acceptable for people to do and how an invisible online persona creates a space for people to become what they truly want.

It is also full of some of the sickest reaction panels of a girl power-posing over an opponent who isn’t even in the room I’ve ever seen in manga.

If you want to learn a bit about fighting game lingo, this might be a place to pick it up, but I’m not sure. Part of how the story works is that the playstyles of the characters and their relationships to the games they’re playing is important to how they relate to one another, you see, you see, because the big crybaby who plays by her heart and wants to win because of how it makes her feel, right, she’s not as good a technical player as the much more skilled formally minded one who achieves by dedicating absolute organisation to everything she does, but but but when you’re a technically focused person what do you do when patch notes drop for your character a week before the tournament, and then, then, you see, there’s conflict between them because one of them is trying out new toys she got in the patch notes and the other is trying to reconstruct what she had.

I do not know if they say a damn word that makes sense about fighting games.

I know that there’s a procession through translation that’s going to make the best translators struggle. You need to understand the lingo in Japanese and its relationship to similar lingo in English and I can understand just giving up. It’s also all talking about a pastiche game that I think is meant to invoke Street Fighter, but also…

… it might not.

It could be nothing to do with Street Fighter. It could all be about Tekken or King of FIghters or Sango Fighters for all I know. I did show panels to a friend who knows a lot more about fighting games, and sometimes the manga gave good advice and sometimes it gave bad advice. But I can’t say for sure if that’s the manga being mistaken or if it’s the translation struggling with conveying a topic. Just a misplaced pronoun can really mess up that kind of thing! Doesn’t really matter, though, to me. It’s trying, and that’s interesting, and what it is telling me about the games is being used to tell the story at large. I could bust out the Gina Bloom Gaming the Stage checklist again, if you want.

There’s a real art to translation. Particularly, there are times when a manga has a really interesting title in Japanese that, translated to English, loses something about what it is. There’s this manga, Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, which is about a pair of delinquent girls re-finding one another after school and realising they’re interested in one another, and the title means something about attacking one another with love and fists. Translating that title could have been something really awkward, but some genius translator came up with Catch These Hands.

I knew Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games by a shorthand title: GGWP, back when it was being translated by fans, and not by professionals, selling the manga in actual book stores. It’s not only gotten an official translation since but it might be getting an anime soon, which is good news since it might make this series more available to more people. It might also dilute the queerness here, the way this story is about girls and their relationships to one another and the intimacy that grows in a slow, organic way and how the fights are about fights (but they’re not just about fights).

Here’s the big secret of if you’re looking for queer media. Queer anime isn’t common. It’s not uncommon, but it’s absolutely not common, and part of how queer anime gets to exist is by not being too far out of bounds of acceptable, deniable value judgments. Basicaly, anime gets to exist as long as the shittiest dude in its production staff is okay with it. Also, that kind of production staff role, the people who make hiring and firing decisions? Well, that’s a senior position and in Japan, seniority of roles aren’t necessarily tied to who in the room has the best ambitious drive or even the richest dad, but instead, tends to land on the oldest people.

That is to say, in the anime industry, where young people join and burn out in one to three years, all the people in positions of power are older. A lot older. Old as balls. And that may be why anime, despite all of its cool traits and its great imaginative concepts advertising all sorts of merchandiseable nonsense, still has a bunch of trends that feel like hey, why would we do that? Why would there be that in there? Isn’t that a bit weird?

Manga, on the other hand, is not so constrained. You know what you need to publish a manga? A pixiv account. Wotakoi, one of my favourite manga and anime ever, started out as a pixiv webcomic. Horimiya, a series with a really promising start that I kinda snoozed through towards the end, started out as a webcomic. The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, one of my favourite yuri series started out on twitter. The point is there are a lot of publishing vectors for manga, and that doesn’t mean everyone who wants to make and share manga are doing it in a way that’s going to get them money but they can get attention and as a result, manga is a space where you’re going to see a lot more wild stuff.

And yes, this does mean you’ll find more filth and weirdness and stuff people ditch on because they get bored. Sure. That’s a possibility. You’re talking about an art space where amateur art gradiates into professional art without any clear distinction and the industry that pumps out the series on schedules people like are essentially a machine that chews on artists and poops out merchandising opportunities, with the manga itself a sort of wafting fumes it expels as an accidental byproduct. Sometimes you’ll find an interesting high concept that disappears because the artist just couldn’t hack the pace they set and they dropped out, sometimes you’ll find something that degenerates over time as the creator’s hobby time changes.

And in this space, you can find queer media.

You can find, straight up, media that is just about gay boys doin’ kisses on one another and yuri that’s all about a particular niche interest and just, no question being asked about a potential market importance, because it’s being made because someone wanted to draw those faces having feelings about those things. And that’s how we get the space in which we wind up here with this, this manga GGWP, a sexless yuri manga about girls who play fighting games in secret and also sleep together and are girlfriends.

It’s a long hauler! It goes places and it covers tournaments and I don’t know if it’s even done because I’ve been reading it entirely legally, officer, I swear. But it’s a very sweet kind of story about girls relating to girls, and if it doesn’t wind up with two of them married, then I’m going to notify the yuri authorities.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Media #StoryPile

#Media #Story Pile

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