#BECAUSE I AM TERRIFIED OF THE CONCEPT OF PEOPLE REACTING TO THIS STORY

[billpottsismygf]

That was a really well written episode, with some great sci-fi concepts and amazing character work. It obviously gives a slightly Midnight energy, with these mysterious creatures copying people, but it manages to be completely its own thing. The only place it really fell down were the effects, which is such a shame.

To get that out of the way, the body stretching stuff could have been really effective and creepy, but it mostly just came off very silly. After the incredible production values last episode, it's such a jump down. My suspicion is that The Star Beast and The Giggle were incredibly expensive, and that this was the budget-saving episode - just our main two actors and a spaceship set - but they tried to combine it with a story that required body horror to work, and sadly that element just didn't. Funnily enough, I noticed as the opening credits rolled that it was directed by Tom Kingsley, the original director of Ghosts, and I remember that the reason Ghosts hired him was because of his ability to do special effects on the cheap. Sadly, while I think he could get away with ghosts walking through walls in a budget-saving manner, here it just looks like David Tennant and Catherine Tate have been messed around awkwardly in photoshop and it totally took me out of the horror and the tension the episode was trying to build. It would have been far better, and still would have saved money, if we had barely been shown what they actually looked like and instead focused on Donna and the Doctor's reactions. Once the creatures started to stabilise and to look basically human, it was a fantastic episode, though.

Catherine Tate and David Tennant were on top form throughout, bringing so much comedy and also drama when necessary. I love the subtlety of their performances as the entities. When Donna started monologuing about how her family would react to her being gone, I thought it was an odd acting choice for the Doctor to be slightly smiling, but it turns out it was a genius acting choice.

Speaking of genius choices: Flux! Ahhhh, I cann't express how pleased I am with the way this episode tackled it. Trust RTD to do what Chris Chibnall totally failed to do and actually give it weight (gravity, one might say). Actually seeing the Doctor express emotions about it and have a complicated guilt over the whole thing was so goddamn cathartic. I've posted extensively in the past about how disappointing it was that the Flux seemed to not matter at all once it was over (Half the universe was destroyed, hello? The Doctor committed triple genocide without batting an eyelid, and both that and the destruction of the universe might as well have not happened by the next episode???), and RTD just swooped in and made it work with one scene. I also liked the acknowledgement that the Doctor doesn't know where they're from. I think that was perfect. I know there are people who want Chris Chibnall's run to be ignored, but I'd much rather the approach RTD is taking, which is to take those things and turn them into character moments.

This is one that I'm really looking forward to rewatching. Despite the goofy effects taking me out of what are meant to be suspenseful moments, it was a really effective episode, and what a joy to see David and Catherine at the height of their abilities bouncing off each other for an entire hour.

Small things:

Not so small, but Wilf! Wilf! Wilf! Wilf!!!! I'm so happy to see him <3 And the episode was dedicated to Bernard Cribbins' memory <3

Seeing Donna getting left behind genuinely had me terrified. I'd seen people speculating about Donna dying in these specials, which I rejected as not going to happen, but oh boy I really thought they might just do it here. My headache ramped right up as my heartrate did!

I loved seeing the Doctor having to get by without the TARDIS and the sonic, especially given how many new powers the latter was given last week.

The TARDIS was so extra this episode. Why was she playing Wild Blue Yonder as they arrived and left? I liked the anti-war discussion with Donna's teacher vs Wilf, echoed somewhat in the entities' experience of the universe, but I wonder if it'll have any further relevance.

The whole 'mavity' thing was very silly, but I also kind of liked it. Newton going for 'mavity' over gravity doesn't really make sense, given that gravity had an etymological reason to be called that - as my friend said, something like 'gravitude' or whatever would make more sense - but whatever. It was silly and kept making me laugh. I wonder if, as with the salt thing, there's an implication that messing with history might have a hand in summoning the Toymaker...

Oh, on the topic of Newton! Canon queer Fourteen! I like that the Doctor continues to be canonically queer now. I mean, my personal favourite Doctor headcanon is aro-ace all the way, but if I can't have that I'm overjoyed to have him think Newton is hot.

#doctor who #wild blue yonder #donna noble #fourteen #wilfred mott #dw #dw60 #mine #dwmine #reactions #wilf #doctor who spoilers

[jokingmaiden]

it’s my turn on the hyperfixation rant post maker and oh am i going to use it

okay so like. ive been seeing a lot of people talking abt the collector and either how sad it is for them to have been alone for so long, OR how much of a horrifying monster they are in the disguise of a sweet little kid. both of these are partially right, but not the whole story

since the collector speaks deeply to my inner child (twauma babey), adding in my tendency to psychoanalyze everyone and my incessant need to understand my kins as well as possible, i think i’m in a uniquely suited position to put these pieces together

okay. so we don’t get very much content of the collector as of the end of season two, save for some interactions in the mirror realm, the shadow speak technique, the one brief memory with the owl beast, and the last episode. from the minimal interaction we get, we can gather a few key things about them:

-thinks everything is a game

-“collects” things by sealing them in scrolls (or did this at least once, doing so in the form of the owl beast “curse.” this hobby is probably why he’s named the collector)

-is not a witch, human, nor demon. possibly the only one of his kind, rivaled the power of a fully grown titan

-has wanted to “be friends” with King since he was born (laid? put in incubation??)

-trapped in the mirror realm by the titan, assumedly for being dangerous

-is horrifically lonely, hates being contained

-can “zoom in and out” with their eyes, move celestial bodies with the wave of a finger, turn a large, half-palismen-half-corrupted-racist-dude into sludge with a single pointer twirl, break down and rearrange the entirety of a titan’s skull with nothing more than a thought, etc.

-doesn’t react to fear, anguish, disgust, horror, etc. when seen. doesn’t seem to register these emotions at all in fact, other than surface level disappointment and an unprocessed loneliness

-similarly, doesn’t seem to understand death, harm, pain, etc

with these in mind, the collector’s full character begins to approach clarity. they’re, as some have called them, a “toddler with god powers.” this meme is significantly more accurate than i think most people realize when saying it, though.

for starters, empathy takes each child a different amount of time to develop, and does so through exposure to experiences of sharing pain (see: babies crying due to external expression of emotions from others), among other similar occurrences (learning abt how each person has their own memory, experiencing disagreements, etc.)

the collector, seeming to only have long-term emotional exposure to 1. a regal, godly titan, and then 2. a horrible, egomaniacal, manipulative, colonizing, barely-human man, would have absolutely no opportunity to be able to develop empathy towards any creatures capable of experiencing emotions stemming from survival instincts (which, it turns out, is most of all perceivable emotions).

fear means nothing to them. death isn’t a concept they can understand, past knowing a person who dies isn’t coming back (hence why it’s used as a tool to remove the manipulating “LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!!” phillip, yet not understanding why it scares the kids).

they full on obliterate belos for convenience. not malice, not violence, just a desire to remove someone who doesn’t play fair. they then have absolutely no idea why the gang looks terrified when he turns around and suggests they play the same game he was just referencing when he turned a man into soup.

without the ability to empathize, the collector would have no way to understand why those two things are connected for the main gang, because in his own mind, his desire to play a game with them is completely separate from his need to get rid of belos. why are they scared? of course the collector isn’t gonna squish his new friends!! he has no way to know how and why his presence scares the absolute shit out of these traumatized children.

extending this idea, the collector has no problem with erasing the boiling isles entirely if it means he’s finally free. most humans don’t have a problem with crushing ants for personal benefit, right? why would such fragile creatures, so much like ants to the titan he once knew, be any different?

then there’s king, a creature potentially on the same power level and understanding as the collector. one who could be their equal. one who, despite being on the same level of potential, grew up in the place of a low-level demon, and had the opportunity to learn empathy and love and fear and connection. perhaps the only one who can explain it to them while actually being regarded.

but how would someone help them understand? well, the only way to help someone so late in development connect with empathy is to provide a method of logical understanding.

how would one do this? well, it would be best to start with explaining death as loneliness.

what does the collector hate? what does he understand is an awful, terrible experience he would do anything to avoid again? being trapped in darkness and isolated for what feels like an eternity, occasionally able to access a passive, minimal form of contact like a shadow on a wall.

y’know, like death.

if king can get these dots to connect in the collector’s mind, or at least get them to listen to a mature adult long enough for someone else to do it, they could potentially be brought up to the mental maturity level of king, or maybe even the main gang!!

if everyone plays their cards right, the collector could be properly raised. they could, slowly but surely, unlearn these unhealthy mentalities, escape their constant, traumatic loneliness (even before the mirror world), and get to live life as a real kid, even if they’re still absolutely OP. maybe they could even go to hexside to learn how to be a kid!! they could connect with hunter who, in a way, shares quite a lot of conceptual problems in terms of trauma, loneliness, being manipulated by belos, separation from kids their age, etc.

they could finally have a family. maybe, in a world where people love them unconditionally, they could learn to let go of exchanging world-altering favors for childlike forms of affection. maybe, with king, they could learn not to need external worth and connection to feel loved.

it’s up to the community to help them understand this, though, especially the parental figures. after all, no child is beyond redemption.

right?

#jm jabbers #toh the collector #toh spoilers #toh collector #the owl house the collector #the owl house collector #the owl house #toh #toh analysis #kinnie hours #lesgo #not sure if any of this made sense #but i kin them very hard #it’s my emotional support blorbo and i get to choose how to use them to process my trauma #please feel free to add on thoughts or ideas!! i need this food y’all please

[radioactive-earthshine]

May I ask about the vaguely plotted Cissie fic? She's such a fun character, I'm really curious about what ideas you have for her

Hello!!!

This fic is just in it's infancy and planning stages. I have who, what and where and am slowly blocking out the other details.

It is a Casper AU starring Cissie and Greta where Greta is (inevitably) Casper.

The premise is mostly the same as the 1990s film (sans the Boo Brothers); Cissie moves into an old manor with her mother who is her comic self with an extremely high stress career as a publicist, that she quit for a lower stress career in the new town of [whatever the town's name will be]. Bonnie moved both herself and Cissie to the old manor as an effort to cut back on the stress of a big city and the demands of her old career.

Cissie could have remained at her boarding school, but Bonnie also wanted to try to reconnect with Cissie during this transition in her life, so much to her (awkward) displeasure they are sort of pantomiming a 'normal' relationship.

This is not a no capes AU but rather an AU where Greta's backstory has changed fundamentally and takes place during soon after Cissie quit being Arrowette.

There is fallout as a result of that with her and her mother, and the event that led to Cissie wanting to quit is a theme that haunts the narrative.

Greta, much like herself AND Casper, doesn't remember her life at all. She only knows the house, and the people that live there, and she's scared away multiple families. She is basically the same as she is in Young Justice, a Warden, but neither find out that she's not quite a real ghost until later in the story due to details which I will block out.

Cissie decides to keep her "secret" from her mother because she thinks her mother would react poorly and by damn the girl really just wants a friend and someone, anyone, to help her remember who she is.

Other story note details I have out right now is that Greta was in fact murdered by her foster brother in that house, and that's why she is terrified of the bathroom (she will go into any room but the 'guest bathroom').

Greta was murdered in the early 80s, this story takes place sometime in the early-mid 2000s. I just want Greta to be mesmerized by Blackberry phone, like one of the earlier ones. Otherwise if not, I'll push it back to the late 90s and have her be amazed at a DVD.

The main sort of 'plot' is Cissie trying to help solve Greta's whole deal. Cissie finds out that she died in the bathroom fairly early on by looking through Microfiche archives and finding her obituary - but then discovers some odd details that don't add up and her own vigilante training starts screaming at her that something is very wrong.

Main foils to include will be Billy and the DEO. Thinking about making Greta's dad a big deal too but again, concept stages only.

It's really recent in concept so there are a lot of details I need to figure out, and refine but this is what I have so far as a concept - it's more ideas right now that need structure. I am hoping to start work on it in March.

I am thinking this should max out around 30-40K.

YES there will be a School Dance in the manor and yes there will be soft Cissie/Greta.

#my writing #cissie king jones #greta hayes #fanfiction #arrowette #young justice 1998 #casper au #i also need to rewatch casper lol

[misc-obeyme]

random obey me lore idea

so like. we know mc's magic went wild and was causing weird shit to happen to the environment and making weird magic fluctuations throughout the realms. but what if it also had an effect on magical creatures (demons, sirens, fairies, vampires, etc). i like to think that the bursts of wild magic essentially caused mutations in them (either already grown ones that were near the sites when the incidents occurred or those born or 'turned' in the cases of vampires/werewolves/ what have you). they could be major mutations that drastically change appearances or les visible ones that effect traits. like making vampires so sensitive to sunlight that they cant even go out at night bc the reflection from the moon burns them or making them more resistant and letting them survive semi prolonged exposure to daylight. making creatures more powerful or significantly weaker. giving them abilities before unseen in the race that can then get passed on to offspring or those that the afflicted individual turns and as time goes on it becomes more common in the species. others looking down on the afflicted or outcasting them bc theyre "not a True [creature type]" and it greatly affects sociopolitical interactions amongst them all. the amount of work the sorcerers society would have to do to document everything lmao

in my mc's story they get turned into a vampire (i really like vampires and also tend to pick and choose the various vampire lores i like bc if i ever became allergic to garlic whats the point of trying anymore lmao) but when they turn a combination of their magic going haywire and the ring light causes the vampirism to mutate as it takes its hold

just some Thoughts <3

-🥐

Oh my little baker friend, I LOVE this idea!!

I too am a fan of vampires. I do the same thing when it comes to vampire lore whenever I write vampire stories. Just because I find most vampire lore to be ridiculous in a lot of ways. I think a vampire that can go out in daylight, appears in mirrors, has no aversion to garlic, isn't super pale, etc is far more terrifying because they can blend in with regular people to the point where they're indistinguishable. And I think that's just a more compelling premise all around personally! (And I have written quite a few vampire stories in my time... it's a concept that has never truly released me lol.)

But anyway, it's fascinating to think about how mythical creatures existing in the world would react to increased magical surges. I love the idea of this having some kind of lasting impact, too. Like it ripples through the generations of creatures because some of those things are passed on. It's cool because in the actual story, once that stuff was resolved, we never really heard about it again. So it's interesting to think that MC's magic going crazy actually impacted something long lasting.

Now I'm just imagining the Sorcerer's Society hating Solomon even more because it was his apprentice that caused all this extra work for them lol.

I also really like thinking about how an MC that already has some magical properties would react to such things. It would make sense for an MC being turned into a vampire to have drastic effects due to the strength of the magic created by the ring.

I have an AU where my MC is half fae, leannán sídhe specifically, and I didn't even consider how something like that might change them. Now my mind is going crazy with ideas about fae that have mutated due to the magic and end up more monstrous than beautiful or the other way around. The unaffected fae are like, okay get out you guys are messing things up lol.

There is so much space for interesting interpretations of things like this. Because there's definitely an implication of such mythical creatures and such existing, but we don't get a whole lot of context on them. So you can pretty much come up with whatever you want, which is truly fun. I mean I think they did mention vampires briefly and I like to think that since vampires aren't really humans they can kind of move between the human world and the Devildom. I wonder if the ones in the Devildom would react more strongly to MC's magic while MC is in the Devildom, too? Maybe there becomes a more obvious distinction between vampires that live in one world vs the other.

Though you also mentioned demons and if demons started to mutate too that'd be a whole problem for Diavolo I would think. You could really expand on that idea. Like maybe members of the House of Lords get mutated. Then you get to decide if that means they get kicked out or if the other House of Lords demons see them as beneficial to their overall cause. Of course I don't know how important the House of Lords is in OG season two since we didn't even hear about them until Nightbringer, but it's still interesting to think about!

Yeah I could speculate about this idea all day! I quite like this idea, 🥐 anon! Feel free to tell me more about your vampire MC (or anything else really) if you'd like! I love to hear about such things!

#there's just something about vampires #what is it I couldn't say #something sexy about drinking blood maybe? #who knows! #obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me mc #🥐 anon #misc answers

[sophieswundergarten]

Yet Another Sophie Live-blog Reaction to Reading "S.O.S" (Chapter 14)

@nobody33333333 I love this chapter so much!!! I love all of your stuff, but this was so neat!!! Absolutely beautiful :)

So, without further ado, my insanely unhinged notes on how Bods has yet again created a masterpiece:

The Title Is Scaring Me

However, reading one of the Great Jeffers Scenes right off the bat made me quite happy

Erika!!

(Yes. I will continue to cheer for every single minor character whose name I manage to recognise :>)

Oh boy, the magic scene

How dare you make me Feel Things over Curtain’s stupid magic tricks

Something about “Martina didn’t deserve the Brain Sweeper. Not because of them” is just so good!! It perfectly parallels things that the Society has said/thought before, and I really like how you added it right here

And we once again enter the spiral otherwise known as “Curtain Rationalising War Crimes to Himself” SIR. You can’t wipe a child’s brain and call it a good thing!!

“But fortunately for Martina, being betrayed by a member of the Wetherall family was a situation with which Dr. Curtain could empathize.” Oh goodness. I see we’re pulling no punches this chapter.

I really love how you explain Curtain’s little magic trick in practical terms, as well as why he did it. Because, even though it’s warped and kind of problematic, he still loves Kate

Also, his concept of “the principle of the matter” and how he keeps his promises is such an interesting detail to include in his thoughts!!! I like how it communicates his morals and loopholes, because with that “letter of the law” kind of thinking, of course there are some things he’d let slide

THE MISUNDERSTANDING. THE WAY CURTAIN IS TRYING TO COMFORT HER IN HIS WEIRD SICKO WAY AND KATE IS TERRIFIED BECAUSE SHE THINKS SHE’S GOING TO LOSE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN HER LIFE. AHHHHHHH

Just. “a mix of confusion and terror” is the perfect way to describe all of Kate’s responses to Curtain being all wacky at her

Ah, yes. The “Milligan Surrendering Bit”. This marks the first time of many (Aside from seeing your message that you were updating) that I had to walk away and screech and wave my hands about before coming back to continue reading

The greys are so bad at their jobs, honestly. Even if he’s lying, you should probably react with more of a plan than “Okay, sure, lets take this guy in!”

(At least, that’s my opinion. I’m sure they’re trying their best, and Milligan appearing out of the bushes would be disconcerting to anyone)

OH. OHHHHHHHH MY WORD. Milligan doing all the same stuff he’s done so many times before but he doesn’t know it. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. And we’re so close to him getting (At least some) of his memories back, too. I don’t know how to feel but most of it is just insane amounts of anticipation

I love the exchange of "[W]hat exactly do I want you for?” / “Everything.” / “Everything?” so very much. I enjoyed watching it on-screen, but the subtle details you add make it so much better, especially because the written format you’re using allows you to see what the characters are thinking about each other. Stupendous

ALSO. THE PARTS WHERE CURTAIN GETS ALL WORKED UP BECAUSE HE THINKS NICHOLAS IS PURPOSEFULLY TRYING TO HURT HIM (Especially when they involve the Wetheralls) ARE RIDICULOUS AND FANTASTIC. I AM LOSING IT. I’M GOING TO RELEASE TERMITES IN YOUR BASEBOARDS. AJKDJKDSKJDFJKDSJKDS

Oh, and he knows that Milligan cares about Kate so much!!! The dramatic irony of Curtain (As the kind of “main character”) and the audience knowing all of the things, and then he just refuses to elaborate on his creepy vague statements is both beautiful and infuriating

“Well, Curtain figured, traitor or not, the least he could do was indulge his former friend. For old times sake. After all, Curtain had the time to spare, and for as much as he liked to think of himself as the superior performer, he couldn’t deny that Wetherall’s stories always had a bit of a dramatic flair to them. Curtain supposed there was nothing wrong with a little entertainment before his moment of triumph.” This paragraph is gorgeous. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. It just made me feel such heartache and hopefulness at the same time. Curtain's pain and Milligan being just on the edge of remembering, oh my word. I don’t have any clue how to put words to the exquisite mix of emotions reading it creates in me.

MARTINA MARTINA MARTINA MARTINA MARTINA

It’s really interesting how you write Martina’s reasoning, with her telling herself that if people got in trouble, it was because they deserved it. She didn’t get in trouble because she worked hard, and that's how the world worked. (I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that her parents don’t seem to value the work she puts into things and how she might feel like she has to earn appreciation)

Oh no. Jackson and Jillson. This can go one of two ways and I don’t feel like either of them are good

Once again, your J&J dialogue is spot on and fills me with very happy wiggles

I don’t know if it was intentional, but the fact that Jackson is the one who says “or us” both times when they’re saying Martina wouldn’t betray them is so sad

THE CONFLICT. THE EMOTIONAL TURMOIL. The way that Martina is wrestling with doing what’s right and betraying the only friends or security she’s known up to now and the way that Jackson and Jillson don’t know how to form independent opinions but they still care about her and it is just a huge mess but I love it!!!! AH

I’m really proud of Martina, and of course the way you detailed her decision is wonderful, but I am still so sad for them

Okay. Bods. Listen to me. The way that you can write such gut wrenching angst and sorrow and have so many heartfelt moments, but you also pepper in things like “(which apparently included the lengthy task of painting perfect rectangles onto a warehouse floor, lots sneaking through the sewers, and testing the believability of several disguises and accents, all of which Wetherall was happy to demonstrate)” is flabbergasting. That’s such a delicate balance, and somehow you execute it perfectly each and every time. I love how this fic is a huge mix of things, because I know that I will never have to face overwhelming despair, but it also has enough intrigue and complexity that I am always invested. You are unfathomably talented.

MILLIGAN AND GARRISON OH NO I’M GOING TO LOSE IT ONCE MORE

And more hints to Garrison’s opinions on psychics!!! Oh goodness gracious, I want to shake her. Just talk to someone for heaven's sake. Ask for help!!!

The memory fragments you keep slipping in for Milligan’s point of view as extraordinary and I love them but also I am going to have to start shredding bedsheets now

AND THE FACT THAT THE LINES ARE FROM THAT FIGHT. I knew immediately what scene it was, and the “Where was your precious conscience then?” just about had me sobbing on the ground

But, you know, par for the course, this chapter made it so much more painful

“Milligan almost took a step back as Curtain approached him. He felt a sensation creeping up on him. A familiar sensation, one that told him to run.” followed by “Curtain did not bother to watch as his men dragged Wetherall to the Brain Sweeper. There was no need. He had already watched them do it so many times already.” was like being decked in the face twice over in the span of thirty seconds

And Curtain!! Who is still grieving his friends because he can’t let himself process one (1) single emotion in a healthy way ever!!! And so he has fully committed himself to the idea that what he’s doing is the right decision that he has basically no sense of reality at this point. It’s such a weird whiplash effect to go from the mostly reliable narration of some of the other characters to Professional Liar Curtain's inner monologue

I wonder if he truly didn’t think it would cause Garrison problems to sweep Milligan or if he just had so much going on he figured it was worth the risk to trust her with it

ASKJFHDSKJSLDKGASJKDFJDSK NO!!!!!!!

Garrison and Kate is one of the worst potential relationships we lost in my opinion

(I say as if it doesn’t change all the time depending on which bit I’m reading)

Oh, and they took her bucket. And Garrison doesn’t know why it’s so important.

THE CABINET.

Oh, yes!!! YES!! Garrison, oh my goodness I am so excited. She may not be the best person, but she’s trying her hardest and I have been waiting to see what she would do for ages. You’ve made her into such a compelling character. Oh great heavens. **Incoherent screaming**

StickyStickyStickyStickyStickyStickyStickyStickyStickyStickySticky

“Curtain looked at Sticky in surprise. The sequence was right, but Sticky had messed up the first part. He had ordered people not only to not acknowledge that Curtain’s commands were in their heads, but to ignore to them entirely.” I am infatuated with how you add these little details, because even though they might be what would logically follow, you give them such a sense of belonging in the story and it makes the whole thing a lot richer.

Oh dear, every time Curtain starts thinking about which of the kids are spies he goes along the lines of “Of course! It was so obvious!” and somehow he’s still always off

“As for Reynie Muldoon, the boy clearly had some social issues and was a bit of a rule breaker” Why does he keep judging this child so harshly

GARRISON’S RUNNING. I THINK SHE’S ABOUT TO GO DO SOMETHING INADVISABLE

Isaac!!! I was holding my breath waiting for this since you mentioned him and I am so excited!!!

Aw man, he’s such a goof.

You don’t know how happy I am that you resolved poor Isaac being sent out into the woods

“-Martina doesn’t like you. Reynie lied to you so that you would give him his keycard.” For some reason this line stuck out to me. It’s so… visceral. It’s very blunt, but it’s true. And it’s showing a much more vital side of Garrison that she’s been hiding from for years, and I’m ecstatic about her little (and big) character breakthroughs

“ “But maybe one day I’ll learn to love again,” the thirteen-year-old boy mused sadly. “And maybe the next time things will work out.” ” Who is this child. Why is he like this. I have so many questions but I love thim.

In a way, he’s so mature, and the way he reacted to Garrison has a lot of sensibility in it, but also he’s thirteen

OKAY

OKAY LISTEN

I STILL CAN’T PROCESS THIS BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS AMAZING FANTASTIC LOVELY WONDERFUL AWESOME GLORIOUS EXTRAORDINARY PART THAT YOU WROTE

I AM TRYING MY BEST BUT MY MIND DISSOLVES INTO LITERAL GIBBERISH WHENEVER I THINK ABOUT IT SO FOR THE SAKE OF GETTING THIS OUT SOON I’M GOING TO HAVE TO PUT THAT PART ON HOLD

BUT KNOW THAT I LOVE IT AND I WAS SCREAMING SO MUCH LAST NIGHT AND I STILL AM SCREAMING RIGHT NOW

(I do love that you added Mr. Oshiro being like “I’m an actor!” in the middle of that)

The Jackson and Jillson stuff almost killed me. I don’t know how I’m going to survive the rest of this fic when you try and give me a heart attack every few minutes

YEAH MILLIGAN

I need you to know that I legitimately started laughing out loud as soon as the clapping happened

I was giggling like a madman, alone in the dark, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it

“Milligan frantically looked around him, looking for the sight of Kate Wetherall (which was the only person Milligan assumed Jeffers could have been referring to), but of course, found no one.” Yet another hugely artistic and lovely line that I want to hug extremely tightly

I adore how once again Milligan is completely distracted and Does Not Care In The Slightest and just knocks Jeffers out and keeps moving

Peak “rival” relationship

HHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Milligan and Garrison and Milligan and Garrison and Milligan and Garrison and Milligan and Garrison and Milligan and Garrison and Milligan and Garrison and Milligan and Garrison and Milligan and Garrison and—

AND SHE KNOWS. SHE KNOWS HE’S KATE’S DAD AND I WANT TO HUG HER

Oh. Oh, and she thinks he’s going to hurt her. And she thinks she deserves it

This is the “I think you need better friends” / “And I think my friend deserves better” thing all over again and I’m going to cry

THEY’RE BOTH CONFUSED AND SAD AND HURT AND THEY CAN’T COMFORT EACH OTHER

AND SHE TELLS HIM

SHE TELLS HIM AND I WASN’T EXPECTING THAT AND ONCE AGAIN I HAVE FALLEN PREY TO THE NOBODY SIGNATURE LAST SCENE GUT PUNCH

“And this could all be a lie, a distraction, there was no point in Milligan getting his hopes up when he had a mission to fulfill, and… if Kate was his then he…he wouldn’t have abandoned her, he could never have forgotten her…could he?” Oh, hello. Thank you for ripping my heart out again

I do really love how you worked the bit about Milligan’s hair being short in

(Also because I cut my hair and donate it every couple years, so that was kind of a neat personal connection for me :>)

“Milligan’s eyes began to fill with tears, realizing just how much he might have lost. A daughter who grew up without her mother or her father, a love he had lost and couldn’t even remember. A part of him didn’t want so much tragedy to be real. And…it might not be. These memories still felt so far away, it felt like he was remembering a dream he’d had once. But to another part of him, it felt right. Like was the truth that he had been searching for all along, and whether it was unpleasant or not didn’t matter because it was real. It was his life.” There are too many absolutely majestic snippets of your writing. I’m sorry for copy-pasting so much of your own work, but it’s driving me up a wall.

Oh!! OH!! And she gives him memory revival tricks!!!!

But they can’t help him.

AND HE CAN’T JUST LEAVE. BECAUSE HE STILL CARES ABOUT HER.

BUT. BUT GARRISON STILL THINKS SHE’S IRREDEEMABLE. 

“ “No one deserves this,” Milligan insisted, “including you.” ”

AND THEN YOU BRING THE DREAM THING BACK AGAIN

And it’s in Isaac’s little speech!! And Jeffers!!! Oh man, I don’t know if I’m reading too much into it, but you and your metaphors and your themes and your motifs and just your writing

Poor Garrison somehow always ends up alone. Oh, I want Milligan to be able to talk to her!!!

Also can you please stop causing my molecules to disintegrate because your fic is so good? I’m going to freeze every butterknife you own in a block of ice

Bods!!! So, so good!!! I know I completely skipped over Isaac and Lindsey and the kids and everything, but this was already, like, five pages long and that particular scene sends me into such a state of elation that I can’t articulate a coherent thought at the moment. I am so happy that I had the time and ability to read this chapter as soon as it came out, and I thank you once again for sharing your genius ideas and beautiful writing skills!! It made my whole week, and I just cannot get over how talented you are :)

#My friends are so talented :D #Alright going to go cry in a corner now #s.o.s.

[straight-to-the-pain]

What’s your first memory of whumperflies?

I’ve been into whump my whole life, even before I knew what that meant, or that there were other people who enjoyed it. It’s hard for me to tell you what my first memory of whumperflies is, because even in my earliest memories I remember being fascinated by pain and violence and it’s portrayals in media.

I think the first time I felt whumperflies and realised that it was something special was when I was about 7-8 and I was looking at a horrible histories book about crime and punishment. There was an illustration of someone being tortured on the rack, and I remember just feeling so funny about it, that I told my grandma because I felt guilty somehow for looking at it, and she basically told me that I was probably just scared or horrified. I remember feeling frustrated that she didn’t understand.

Even in primary school, I wrote a lot of stuff that was quite whumpy. I was fascinated by the concept of endurance trials, like the selection to be an astronaut, and also military battles. I wrote self insert fanfic of the Battle of Trafalgar because I wanted to watch Nelson die dramatically. I wrote about an Aztec sacrifice being led to their death, terrified yet honoured to be chosen. I read the Count of Monte Cristo and thought about solitary isolation and escaping from prison.

And later, when I was 11-12, I chose a free book upon entering secondary school and the book I chose was called Heroes. It was narrative non-fiction about heroic acts throughout history, and there was a story about a female spy who was tortured by the Nazis and refused to give in. I read that story over and over, and that’s when I was first introduced to the concept of fingernail torture. I used to imagine myself in her place, wondering how I would react, how I would hold up in her situation.

And then I found more historical fiction, starting with Code Name Verity, and reading more and more, seeking out scenes of torture and violence, and never stopping to wonder if other people also felt that brilliant joy, that tingling warmth in their stomach at contemplating pain.

And eventually I found you lot! So here I am! ( @whumpmasinjuly )

#s talks #wij22day2 #whump community #whump meta #I was also like really into the idea of being a tank driver in our russian school play but that’s separate #also when I was a kid I was really into ace Ventura pet detective #I used to want to pretend to be ace Ventura #this makes it sound like I was mostly into lady whump but #I did also read Jules Verne and like really enjoyed the whump #I’ve just spent my whole life being into whump

[shrug-em0ji]

had not intended to readmorepost but this is long and rambly and has some sensitive stuff i think?

i mentioned to my coworkers the other day that my mom was a pathological liar (it was relevant, i promise) and neither of them dug for further details but i got caught in this loop of wanting to explain and justify it, probably because its a thing that i used to do a LOT and have only recently gotten better about. but i was thinking about like. why people lie. and my mom and i in particular. and about how when you are hurt profoundly, especially over a prolonged period of time, in ways that people cant see and often dont acknowledge as being worthy of consideration, it becomes really easy to just. fudge the details a little bit. add in an extra pinch of violence. make it sound just a little worse so that when people react their response is proportional to how you felt rather than to what happened.

i have a story that i have often used as an example of the things that happened a lot when i was growing up - i was supposed to be cleaning my room, but i was a kid, and i was bored and overwhelmed by the mess, so i sat down on the floor, on a pile of clothes, and spent 45 minutes daydreaming about my toys coming to life and helping me. when my dad came upstairs to check on me and saw that i hadnt cleaned at all, he got really angry and picked up a little armchair that i had in my room and threw it at my wall hard enough to leave a decently big hole.

for a long time, when i told this story, i said that he threw the chair at me and missed, that i didnt hear him come in, that i had been working and he just wasnt happy with how far id gotten. and i used to get really angry at myself for lying about it - obviously, if im lying to make it sound worse it must not have been that bad, im making a huge deal out of nothing, theres no reason for this to even be a thing that i tell anyone ever. but it was the opposite. i was on the floor, in the only place that i felt safe or like i had any modicum of control over, and someone who was supposed to care for me came in, towered over me, made me feel small and helpless, and then intentionally picked up a large heavy object and threw it across the room because he knew it would scare me. he wanted me to be very very aware at all times how big and strong and angry he was, and how helpless i was to stop him. "even in this safe quiet space that is yours i can break your stuff and hurt you, you are not really safe here at all, i am always in control"

but like!!! i was a kid!!! i didnt understand the concept of subtext! now, when i tell people that my dad threw stuff a lot when i was a kid, im usually talking to people who understand that throwing things is inherently threatening. it is a thing that abusive people do to scare you and let you know that they want to hurt you and they can hurt you if you make them. but when i was growing up this was very much not the case! if i told an adult my dad threw stuff their response would be "well you didnt get hurt so you're fine, nothing to complain about"

so i lied about it, because i was terrified of him and needed people to believe that he was terrifying.

i was reading a book recently - one of the big abuse books that everyone recommends, though i dont recall precisely which - and i got to a bit about incest and immediately felt so unbelievably guilty. i never accused anyone in my family of sexual abuse but i wanted to so badly, and i never understood why. i just felt like id been taken advantage of, like my body didnt belong to me, like i was tainted and ruined somehow, but no one had ever really done anything so i had no reason to feel that way.

and then i kept reading and the author specifically started drawing attention to specific behaviors - not illegal behaviors, not behaviors that get you barred from having custody of your kids, just... weird stuff. a parent drawing attention to their kids body, making sexual innuendos about them, commenting on their imagined sexual activity. stuff my dad did. "you'll probably be really good at sex someday, just make sure you dont end up a whore like your mom" "i miss when you were a little kid, now youre ready to start popping out babies" "people will say anything to make me look bad, i bet theyre spreading rumors about us sleeping together" "youre almost like a wife, theres just a few really important things you cant do"

it made me feel....... gross. and i didnt know why. i didnt understand it. i wanted very badly to not feel that way, but not as much as i wanted someone to understand that i felt that way.

i stopped showering regularly in middle school, when i moved back in with my dad, because i didnt want to be naked in the same house as him and my brothers (for related reasons) but i could never explain it to anyone. i spent a lot of time in the guidance counselors office being questioned about what the problem was and utterly unable to find the words, or really understand it myself. so it got chalked up to being lazy. and i just spent several years absolutely hating myself and not understanding why i felt the way that i did. i wanted to lie to explain it and could never quite get there. and then the other thing happened and gave me a plausible explanation so i ran with it, and have continued running with it for years now, despite the fact that the worst symptoms predate it by 3 years.

im not.... entirely certain why i wrote this out. i think its just been stuck in my head for a while now? and i wanted to say it. i wanted to be able to say "here is a real thing that happened to me and here is how i felt and feel about it and actually i dont care if you think my feelings arent proportional to the events, i need to be able to accept this as a thing that happened if im ever gonna get over it"

so fuck it.

#probably dont read this

[aiyexayen]

Ship ask: Xie-wang/Wen Kexing

1. What made you ship it?

this moment. just this. i don't typically give an excess amount of thought to shipping on my first watchthrough of something, especially something i'm so captivated by. but this moment popped on my screen and i was like "HELLO?!"

i'm still entirely lukewarm about the necessity of the scene but i am all here for over the top unnecessary dramatic tension between these two murder babies villains.

2. What are your favourite things about the ship?

the contrast between the things they don't have in common and the things they do.

they're both orphans, they were both raised to be killers, they're both very good at what they do, they both desperately need to be genuinely loved and both have the capacity for intense and terrifying and consuming devotion. they're both leaders in their own right.

but for one, their lives were so different. wen kexing grew up in hell, with no one to take care of him--he had no one to really rely on, even luo-yi. we know about the beatings and we can guess about more. xie'er ostensibly grew up in luxury, with servants and his yifu. with the way he reacts to yifu slapping him, it feels likely that's never happened before. but it's also like--whew, is that a fucked up relationship. manipulative and horrifying. two entirely different types of fucked up, one because of isolation and one because of, well, zhao jing. which puts all their hard and sharp and soft edges in different places, all their hurts in a different order, all their expectations for relationships and concepts of self and their needs.

they both have style, education, an appreciation for refinement and fashion and such. xie'er's grew out of having been raised around luxury and his deep and abiding desire to simply be furen, i swear, and to be seen and accepted and enough and Pleasing. and kexing's grew from obsessively learning about the outside world, about other kinds of people and life and plunging himself into these constructs of importance that had no bearing on any of his lived experience but creating a self that fit into them regardless because he needed something.

and in spite of xie'er growing up more pampered and with access to more people, i think wen kexing has the advantage of him when it comes to caring for someone else. he had a-xiang, after all, and part of the point was that they kept each other human even in a place of ghosts. i think xie'er still has a bit of a journey ahead of him where that's concerned. wen kexing did, too, when he came out of gui gu, but i think he had the advantage.

their motives/purpose also differ considerably in a lot of ways. wen kexing has been consumed with revenge his whole life, with his own plans--and xie'er with his yifu's plans. xie'er has always deferred to yifu, while kexing made a point of becoming gui gu guzhu so he would not be accountable to anyone. they have kind of opposite journeys they need to take where that's concerned. xie'er needed to figure out how to value himself outside of zhao jing, how to see himself as a complete person, how to figure out what he wanted out of his life and where his own ambitions would take him and what kind of leader he was without a leash. kexing needed to figure out how to rely on someone, how to see himself as a human at all, how to accept what he actually wanted out of life and allow himself to have it, even to the point of learning a different kind of leadership as a partner and a subordinate.

these things could lead to such an interesting ship dynamic. it could be chaos and fire and explosions or it could be soft. thinking about where in their stories do they meet, what struggles are they currently having and how do they clash or overlap? in what ways can they help each other or hurt each other? xie'er could be expecting yifu and instead he gets someone who is so straightforward when he's mean and genuine when he's soft and who doesn't hide his sarcasm behind sweet lies or turn any moment of concern or care into a subtle transaction. kexing could, to his complete bafflement, experience the full weight of someone's obsessive jealous devotion. they could make each other so much worse. we just don't know.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i don't know any opinions about this ship at all. that seems to be a general thing with me. my opinion is that they should kiss.

#wen kexing #xie'er #word of honor #my meta #shipping meme

[sourapplesauces]

Bot Boy Idea 5: Vanessa sees ghosts

I didn't think I'd be doing more of these, but here we are.

An idea that I've seen exceedingly few fics try and cover is Vanessa encountering the ghosts of the people whom she (as Vanny) murdered after the 3-star ending.

I am unsure as to how one would make this situation happen. Maybe it could be a dream. Maybe Vanessa would see them at their graves during her weekly trip to them and feel unending guilt. Or possibly some other situation that includes Gregory.

I really like it because there are a lot of things you could potentially cover, including:

How would the ghosts react to seeing the freed Vanessa? Would the children be enraged? If so, what would they do?

Or would they be able to see that the person in front of them is not really the same as the one who murdered them, not mentally, at least? Maybe (relating back to idea 2: "Vanessa is good with kids") the children who were taught by her would be able to convince the other children of this.

How about the therapists? They would likely be more willing to listen, being adults trained in understanding psychological conditions.

One could discuss how Vanessa has been dealing with having 2 sets of childhood memories, a fake abusive one (put there by Glitchtrap for reasons of being a dick) and her true, standard, evidently normal one.

And, of course, we can't forget Vanessa. What would she do? It is most likely that she would curl up into a ball and await the punishment that she thinks she deserves (she doesn’t). After all, it is HER fault, right? (No, it’s Vanny's.)

If you include Gregory in this encounter, he, being the "no fear" gremlin that he is, would probably try and start to defend his… uh… paternal guardian of unspecified rank in some way, either by trying to explain that Vanny is no more, or try and actually fight the ghosts.

As you can see, there are many ways that I think someone can make a mini story out of this concept.

If ghosts are terrifying on their own, imagine seeing the ghost of a child whos murder you witnessed! I think initially the children would feel distrust towards Vanessa, especially if they saw her face leading up to their deaths. But im sure with time, forgiveness ensues and their spirits are able to move on. Getting over the guilt sounds like a hard time for Vanessa but im sure with the forgiveness of the children she can learn to love herself more. Keep it up with the awesome concepts!

#fnaf #fnaf vanessa #security breach #fnaf security breach #vanessa fnaf #halogenrobotics

[hymnoftheinca]

Update 2.14.23

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Totally unrelated to my update, but I don’t have a better time to post one. I’ve only got 2 free days this week to work on the game, but I have been doing a lot of designs and worldbuilding for Chapter 2. The maps were almost completed last week and I just wanna make every map going forward better.

I’m excited for the first “summon dungeon”, a water temple dedicated to Mama Cocha. I incoorperated the legend into the plot at Chinchero, which also features another legend, although more loosely incooperated. I really want to showcase all these wonderful myths and stories.

I won’t spoil more, though!

So, art wise, I’ve designed a few of the upcoming important characters and worked on the plot. One thing I’m trying to keep in mind is “How do the trio react to this?” because they’re very different people. Inka’s reaction is especially important, as the lead. This town is the start of big changes for his way of thinking, so it’s a delicate thing.

Enemy designs are also something I’m working on. I’ve designed a few. I like to keep the puns in the names, when I can; or reference something fun. I don’t recall if I included it in the demo, but the Silver Monkey is a Legends of the Hidden Temple reference. He appears in 3 parts. He rewards a lot of good loot. (I also want to say I am aware that LotHT is Olmecian not Incan, but.. 90′s kids will understand.) The idea behind him is similar to Golden Hands (Persona) or Metal Slime (Dragon Quest / Warrior), but maybe closer to the Mitama groups (Shin Megami Tensei) since there are several parts... I also look at the region to see what kinds of ghosts or animals reside there, maybe even smaller gods. I’m incooperating legend even into the enemy design, when I can. In the demo, we saw the golden Condor, which Condors are very respected. I tied this in with a general Incan legend featuring a condor for the puzzle in Sacsayhuaman. To make the player curious, to create awe, that is what I’m aiming for.

I will show off more of the designs soon, once they are finalized... and some other random concept art I’ve drawn that isn’t related to anything in the game inparticular, just a “mood” style sketch. I’ve got to clear out my phone; it’s been yelling at me for a month to “make more space!” but I’m lazy with transferring everything and my scanner is buried under notes and folders and books for the game right now... I keep my research close. I’m terrified I’m going to lose my reference and research sometimes!

Speaking of, I watched a new special on TV. I learned a lot about the chullpas (funeral towers) and how the Inca built on top of the civilizations they absorbed. The man leading the expedition also used drones to see under the brush and found an older site the Inca claimed. It was really interesting! (Side note: Since Titanic [film] had it’s anniversary recently and we saw it for V-Day day this past weekend, there was also a special for that where they basically used underwater drones. Drones are the future, I suppose! Also, I’d love to make a game about the Titanic next... similar to SOS / Septentrion on the SNES but without the bad controls... Yes, I am a fan of Poseidon Adventure [the original and the novel], too...)

I haven’t started the CAMP System yet... I need to make my take on Private Actions (Star Ocean) / Skits (Tales) for these, which I can’t do until the story is done (to program around the plot flags required--one thing I admired about the Lunar series on Playstation was how NPC dialogue changed ALL the time... it made it feel so alive. I would love for the CAMP System to replicate the feel of that.) The player can also cook at the CAMP. I can’t recall if I kept that ability portable after a certain point, to cook anywhere you want... at one point that was what I had, but I think adding to the survival of the game, it’s more appropriate to have it in set locations. Of course, resting at a Camp will also fully restore the party. You just need flint and hay, which are fairly common. So, these stations are like inns. You are generally on the run from the current Sapa Inca most of the game, so many towns don’t take kindly to our trio until later. This was a good resolution for inns and there are many options for the player. You can just rest, or cook, or talk with your party about the events currently going on. There isn’t a relationship system, although the game did start out that way. I decided this was a more linear story and it would only be bloat. However, the little interactions help characterization (similar to the menu bubbles in Final Fantasy IV DS or Active Time Events in Final Fantasy IX). They are not required. Some people hate all the fluff in JRPGs... It makes me sad, you picked up a JRPG but don’t want to read? So, these scenes aren’t required. You don’t even have to use the Camp system if you want to make the playthrough more challenging (no full heals outside items/food). I hope this system makes challenge runs and replays more exciting.

What else to discuss... is there anything from a developer’s standpoint you want to know about? Send me an ask! I would love to hear your thoughts.

#hymn of the inca #jrpg #dev log #worldbuilding #game mechanics #inca #incan empire #turn based rpg #rpg maker #rpg maker mv #star ocean #dragon quest #shin megami tensei #legends of the hidden temple #lunar sssc #final fantasy ix

[captainshadowshifter]

NO I'M NOT MAKING AN EDGY 'UNFAIR' BUT IT'S AU VEX NONONO I'M NOT

Damn you @kiwipikazz this is literally all your fault

#I PROBABLY WON'T EVEN POST IT. #BECAUSE I AM TERRIFIED OF THE CONCEPT OF PEOPLE REACTING TO THIS STORY #like. genuinely. #i've said it a million times... #this shit gets twisted af #but like #i made a super cool art earlier #i posted it on my vent blog because i didn't want to hurt anyone on this one #and it sucks because nobody will see it but also it's freat because nobody will see it #if that makes sense #anyway idk if anyone actually reads this far down in my tags but like #shit dude i wanna not be like this #i'll shut up sorry for bitching again lol

[kthstrawberryshortcake]

BTS Reactions: Their S/O is Inexperienced Yet in Their Mid 20s

A/N: Here it is, my first post after my long-ass hiatus :) I hope you guys enjoy it! Requests are OPEN, please send some over! <3

PREMISE: OT7 reacting to finding out that their s/o is physically inexperienced relationship-wise / that this is their s/o’s first relationship despite them being in their mid 20s

A/N: I think a lot of people won't understand why this is a reaction in the first place (lol) but it can be super uncomfortable / awkward to have not dated / had any experience at that age, and a lot of people react badly to finding that out about someone. It's definitely an insecurity for a lot of people (myself included).

warning: mostly unedited due to my status as a trash gremlin

Jin:

Jin was completely shocked when he found out that you had never dated before him. Without thinking, he let this incredulity show on his face, total surprise evident and eyebrows raised. He was briefly silent in disbelief. You took that to mean that he thought you were weird now. You certainly felt that way.

Involuntarily, tears welled up in your eyes and Jin finally registered your distress. “What’s wrong?” he asked in concern, gently brushing away a stray tear from your cheek. You stared down at your feet, murmuring “You probably think I’m super strange now.” in explanation. Jin shook his head insistently, imploring that he didn’t find it weird at all.

“Honestly I was just shocked because I don’t know how you didn’t have people practically lining down the block to date you.” He explained, bringing a small smile back to your face. He pulled you into a hug, assuring you that he was in no hurry as long as he got to spend time with you.

Yoongi:

You and Yoongi were having a cozy night in and catching up on dramas. In the show you were presently watching, there was a character who was in her mid 20s that had never dated or even kissed anyone. Yoongi scoffed, rolling his eyes at this. “This is so unrealistic. Like come on, seriously? How do you get to be that age having never dated, having never even kissed somebody? It’s a completely absurd concept.”

You started to curl in on yourself, looking down with a tortured expression on your face. You were scared to explain the truth, fearful that if he knew he wouldn’t want you anymore. After a few minutes like that, Yoongi finally noticed your body language. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” He inquired gently. How were you going to explain this to him?

“I, um… I guess I kind of freaked out when you were talking about the plot being unrealistic… You were so sure it couldn’t happen that you were annoyed by it. And then I really didn’t know how to tell you that the plot line we were discussing is literally the same as me. I’ve never dated before, you’re the first… And when you kissed me for the first time, that was my first kiss.” You took a deep breath, having exerted a lot of energy to force out your words.

Yoongi’s eyes lit up in recognition, then guilt crept onto his features. “Baby no, I’m so sorry, I completely overreacted about the show. I shouldn’t have said all that. I never wanted to hurt your feelings.” Yoongi admitted sincerely. He could tell that you felt a little bit better after that reassurance.

"It’s not a bad thing to do things on a different timeline. Plus, I got the honor of being your first boyfriend because of it. Maybe I’ll be your last.” He said the last part quietly, smirking softly before pressing a kiss to your forehead.

Hoseok:

One of your favorite things about Hobi was his open and energetic attitude. He was truly one of the friendliest people you’d ever met, and it had felt easy to become close with him. You hadn’t been dating long at all, but the ease of conversation made it feel like you’d known each other for years.

On one particular day, the two of you were chatting over a dinner of your favorite delivery food. Hoseok was in the middle of a funny story about one of his exes, never one for unnecessary social boundaries or conventions, which was fine because you were laughing like crazy at the ridiculous tale he told. Then he continued, though, to tell (admittedly hilarious and absurd) stories about some of his other exes. You were entertained, certainly, though the number of people he seemed to have dated was a bit intimidating to you.

When he finally finished, he asked about *your* exes, and that was where the issue really started. You deflected, not wanting to directly bring attention to the fact that you had never dated before him. He became oddly persistent, seeming frustrated that you didn’t want to share. Not wanting him to misunderstand why you weren’t telling him what he wanted to know, you sucked it up and told him that he was your first boyfriend.

He was extremely surprised, but seemed to understand now why you had been reluctant to answer his questioning. He apologized for going on about exes for so long, and for inadvertently making you nervous. You assured him that it wasn’t a big deal, especially since the only important thing was your relationship moving forward, not either of your pasts.

Namjoon:

When you and Namjoon had only been together a few weeks (after a much longer friendship prior to your romantic relationship beginning), you were spending a nice chill evening at home, eating takeout and chatting. The two of you seemingly never ran out of things to talk about, one of the things you loved about being with him.

You don’t even remember what had led to it, but partway through the evening, he made some dumb joke about virgins and you visibly froze. You had yet to tell him about your lack of experience, and now you were terrified to. Was that really something he’d be bothered by? You hadn’t thought so, but his joking around about it made you doubt that. You did your best not to show your panic, paying unusually close attention to the glass of water you were drinking.

Unfortunately for you, your discomfort was completely apparent, and Namjoon asked you if you were okay. You nodded with a forced smile, making him frown, easily able to tell that you weren’t. You were afraid to tell him now because if it really bothered him that much, maybe it would disappoint him. Maybe it’d be a dealbreaker and he would lose interest in you. Unsure what to do, you stared at your hands, tense and worried. Namjoon lightly rested his hand on your shoulder, staring at you in concern. “Please tell me what’s wrong.” He implored gently.

At that moment you could no longer hold in your emotion, your fear, and tears began to leak from your eyes as you sniffled, starting to shake a bit as you cried. You let him pull you into his arms, holding you close as you tried to stop crying. After a few minutes of you trying to calm down, aided by Joon’s sweet behavior,  he asked again what was wrong, insisting that you could tell him anything. Your chest felt tight, but you didn’t see a way out of sharing what had upset you.

When you explained what had happened, Namjoon felt horrible, cursing himself for having said something so dumb. He told you that it was just a stupid joke, not something he actually cared about, apologizing for upsetting you with his thoughtlessness. He made sure to assure you that it wasn’t a problem for him in the least, and that he was in no rush. Afterwards the whole situation seemed a little silly, though you remembered how genuinely panicked you had been only minutes before and shuddered. But things were immediately made better, the two of you snuggling up on the couch to watch a movie.

Jimin:

Your blossoming relationship with Jimin made you feel like you were walking on a cloud. He was incredibly sweet and so much fun to spend time with, you felt very lucky to be dating him now. Just to be sweet, you had picked up food from his favorite lunch place and were bringing it to him at the BigHit building, where he was currently busy at work in a practice room.

When you arrived, the door to the room was open, but you heard voices coming from inside. You only paused when you heard Jimin say your name. You didn’t mean to eavesdrop, and you were about to announce your presence until you realized what he was saying. “You know I really like her, man, I just feel so unsure right now. There has been like, zero physical affection up to this point, nothing beyond hugs and holding hands.” Jimin grumbled, sounding irritated.

Tae hummed in acknowledgement, pausing before inquiring “So obviously you’re frustrated, but what are you thinking about it?” Jimin sighed. “Maybe she just doesn’t like me as much as I like her. I don’t want to think anything bad about her, but what if she’s playing me? Like, she doesn’t have actual feelings for me.” He sounded very down, clearly hurt by the mere possibility. At that moment you were so shocked by what you were hearing, you accidentally dropped the bag of takeout, hurrying to pick it up, but you’d already drawn attention to yourself.

Jimin and Taehyung looked beyond shocked to see you, and you realized you were crying. Taehyung excused himself to let the two of you talk. You walked farther into the room, approaching the boys. “I thought we could have lunch… I know you don’t take enough breaks, and I really wanted to see you…” You admitted quietly, unable to actually make eye contact.

“I just feel so horrible, it’s all my fault that you don’t even know how crazy I am about you. I can’t believe…. I let you be unsure of how much I care about you. It’s my fault, I’m so sorry Jimin.” By the end of what you were saying, you were holding back full sobs. Seeing how distressed you were, Jimin wasted no time in rushing to you and pulling you into his arms, hugging you close.

When you’d finally calmed down and stopped crying, you thought you owed him an explanation. “The lack of physical affection isn’t because I don’t like you. I like you more than I’ve ever liked anybody. I’ve just… never done anything. I haven’t even been in a relationship before now, it’s all new to me.” You admitted, feeling Jimin stiffen in your hug.

When you pulled back to look at him, tears were welling up in his eyes. “Oh, I’m the worst…” He muttered, feeling so guilty. “I was just frustrated, I was feeling insecure. Now that I know, I don’t mind one bit waiting for anything until you’re ready.” He assured you, planting a quick kiss on your forehead as you nodded understanding.

Tae:

It had only been a few weeks since Tae had confessed his feelings to you and the pair of you had started dating. Long before that, you’d been close friends, so you had spent a lot of time together over time. During one of your first few movie nights as a couple, things slowly began to escalate between you. You were sitting close together, seemingly focused on the film, when Tae moved to put an arm around you, pulling you closer so you were snuggled up beside him.

His eyes never left the screen, but there was a telltale little smirk on his face. You rolled your eyes a little, but you certainly didn’t mind. Despite it being such a small thing, at this stage in your relationship, this was a little bit thrilling. Soon you could feel him staring at you, and you turned your head to look back at him. His face had gotten much closer to yours than you’d expected. “…Tae?” you whispered, seeing both affection and mischief in his eyes. “Yes love?” He replied quietly in his gorgeous low voice, making you shiver just slightly.

You shook your head almost imperceptibly, and before you knew it his lips were on yours. You froze, all of this being completely new and foreign for you. Feeling you stiffen and fail to reciprocate the kiss, Tae pulled back to look at your face, wearing an expression of concern. “Um, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have just… assumed you felt the same way…” He muttered nervously, not making eye contact. “No!” You exclaimed a little louder than you meant to, quieting your voice to a near-whisper before speaking again.

“No, Tae, I do feel the same way! I really, really do. I love you. I have since we were just friends. I… I want you too. Just, um, I don’t know what to do…. That was my first kiss just now and I kind of just panicked and froze.” You confessed, watching the surprise and then recognition cover his face. That was all it took to take his unsure expression back to a smug smirk. Knowing the power his voice held over you, he leaned in close to you to speak in your ear when he said “in that case, I think we need some practice, don’t you?” Oh boy.

Jungkook:

You had been seeing Jungkook for a couple of months now and it was more than apparent that he was smitten with you (and vice versa). He complimented you frequently, his heart eyes for you always clearly on display. The only problem was the way you practically jumped away from him any time he got close to you. He had definitely noticed your weird behavior, and though you didn’t know what to do about it, you knew it was only a matter of time until he brought it up in conversation.

When that moment came, you had just clammed up and pulled back from him when he tried to put his arm around you while watching a movie. When you saw his expression in reaction, you felt immensely guilty, seeing the hurt on his face. After a moment it shifted to extreme irritation, him clenching his jaw in annoyance. “What’s your problem? I can’t get anywhere near you without you freaking out and moving away in a hurry.” You couldn’t make eye contact anymore at that point, feeling the tears well up in your eyes as you were filled with the fear that you had ruined things with him.

“I… I don’t really know why I keep doing that, it’s just all new to me. I’ve never dated anyone before you so I kind of don’t know what to do with myself most of the time.” You confessed, trying to mask the sniffle that you gave as the first tear rolled down your cheek. Now it was Jungkook’s turn to feel guilty. He approached you slowly, asking you to look at him in a gentle voice. When you did, you saw that the irritation was completely gone, replaced with remorse and fondness. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I could have just asked like an actual adult rather than how I behaved. I guess I was just insecure, afraid that you don’t like me in the same way I like you.” He explained, and you nodded slightly in understanding.

“That’s not it at all! I really *really* like you. A relationship is just totally uncharted territory for me and I handled it wrong. I should’ve just told you.” You sighed, the heaviness leaving your heart as an adorable bunny smile grew on his face. “Uncharted territory, huh? Well let me be your travel guide. We can be explorers together.” You rolled your eyes at his dumb joke, but smiled in spite of how silly his words were. You felt like now, with it all out in the open, things could be good with the two of you.

a/n: Feedback please! <3 I love to hear from y'all!

#bts reaction #bts reactions #bts scenario #bts scenarios #bts imagine #bts imagines #bts drabble #bts drabbles #bts fluff #bts fic #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #bts ot7

[ieattaperecorders]

let me just say that I am in LOVE with your post-canon concept, I've practically accepted it as my own canon at this point. it's got the best of both worlds: the tragedy of our jmart dying as mysteries, and the hopefulness of the two of them being able to live on (sort of) after the apocalypse. and how it still sets the scene to allow most characters to meet despite the fact the institute doesn't exist? ugh it's so good. I'm excited to see anything else you produce for it!

thecreepybunny:

please please please please make your post canon au into a fic please please please i love it so much i need to know where it goes

I’m not planning to really write a full on fic for it, (but anyone who wants to write/post/make content etc for it is more than welcome to!) If you want some closure on where this concept might go, here’s my take:

After the convention, Jon, Martin, Melanie and Georgie form an unofficial club based on the mystery.

Slowly, as more tapes are restored, more of the canon story is revealed to the four of them. But it’s all very strange and out of order. Chunks of random statements and supplemental notes are thrown in alongside tense confrontations at gunpoint. It’s confusing on several levels.

The four of them try to research places and hunt down people who seem to be involved, with mixed success. Some people they can’t find at all. Others are easy enough to find, but have no interest in going any deeper with it. The only three who show any real interest are Sasha James, Jane Prentiss, and to a lesser extent Oliver Banks (who works in the same new age shop as Jane.)

(Yes the worm woman is one of the most active participants in this search, and no Tim isn’t. It’s just what makes sense to me with their respective lives and personalities.)

It eventually becomes a little group that’s ostensibly centered around this one paranormal subject, but is kind of just a nice social circle. Melanie and Georgie really hit it off and eventually start dating. Martin gets a lot out of having an actual friend group, and it gets Jon out seeing people more, which he likes.

(Maybe Tim pokes his head in here and there for the social aspect, because I like Tim.)

They slowly piece what seems like more of a coherent story together, getting plenty of things wrong and reacting amusingly and/or painfully to various developments.

Obviously Jon and Martin fall for each other over time. But neither of them can stop thinking about the bodies and what it all means. Time travel is still the prevailing theory in the group, and it’s hard not to wonder if this is their future.  Both of them have too much anxiety about the possibilities and about each other and themselves to act on their feelings.

It’s less of a “mutual pining because I don’t think the other person likes me” situation, more of a “mutual pining because we both have a thing for each other but we’re terrified of the idea of us dating for existential reasons” one.

Eventually the group has assembled audio clips that piece together about a quarter of the canon story, but there’s very little tape left (a lot was completely burnt up or otherwise missing.)

By this point, they’ve passed the hat and gotten the remaining tape at some weird paranormal auction. Georgie and Melanie use their connections to get some equipment, Oliver and Jane learn tricks for restoring magnetic tape.

Eventually, Oliver calls both Jon and Martin up and asks them to meet at his flat. When they arrive he gives them a single cassette and a handheld tape player. Explains he’s finished restoring all the remaining audio, and he made a copy especially for them. He’s very vague but says that it’s pretty heavy, and he wants them to be the first in the group to hear it.

(Yes it’s Oliver who gives them this tape, specifically for maximum doom-prophet appropriateness.)

They leave feeling ill at ease . . . they’d have expected Oliver to be excited about something like this, but he’d seemed grim and uncertain when he handed over the tape. They make some excuse to listen to it later, say they’ll take care of some errands or something then go back to one of their places and listen afterwards, so they can give it their full attention.

They run their errands and oh, look, there’s a street festival or something why don’t they just go look at that definitely not as an excuse to put off listening to the tape they’re afraid to listen to, etc, etc. The day goes by with them going from one distraction to another. Moments of enjoying each other’s company laced with the anxiety they’re both pushing down.

Eventually they end up in a park. The sun’s going down. It’s getting harder and harder to put this off.

Martin points out they could just get rid of it. Throw it in a bin and walk away. Jon points out that Oliver will doubtlessly still share it with the others, and whatever’s on there will be hard to avoid forever. They sit for a while in silence. Finally, Martin’s like -- well, if we’re going to do this, let’s do this.

He’s about to hit play when Jon reaches out and grabs his hand, stopping it before he can press the button. He talks about how strange and frightening and wonderful the months since they met have been, and about not wanting to let fear rule him anymore. About how whatever is on that tape, or in their future, he wants them to face it together.

Music swells, kiss, etc. They both press play together.

IT’S THE ENTIRETY OF MAG 200, FROM START TO FINISH. KER-PRANKED!

In one fell swoop they learn 1) it isn’t time travel 2) what caused all the nightmarish events they heard about on those tapes 3) that those same forces are now in their universe 4) that their alternate selves brought them there, and 5) the emotionally heartwrenching end those alternate selves reached.

They look at one another, and grip each others hands tightly. They look up at the night sky, which suddenly seems deeper, darker, and more foreboding than it ever has before.

And for a moment, both of them swear it’s looking back.

#harbingers au #tma harbingers au #tma spoilers #tma finale #tma #atlas-of-galaxies #thecreepybunny

[true-blue-megamind]

What Makes Hal a Great Villain?

Okay, I’m saying it upfront: this one is going to get a little dark and very real.  Potential triggers for harassment, stalking, sexual predation.  Nothing graphic or heavy, of course, but if these are especially highly sensitive subjects for you, please proceed with caution.

Also, SPOILER ALERT for anyone who has not yet watched the animated awesomeness that is Megamind.  (If you are that person, the DVD is on sale on Amazon, and the movie is available to stream on NowTV.  Go watch it.  I’ll wait.)

We all know Megamind is an awesome protagonist--multi-layered, relatable, and surprisingly complex-- but, truthfully, his antagonist is just as interesting.  In fact, when compared with other animated villains of the early 2000′s, he’s by far the most memorable... and the most terrifying.

Many may question my assessment.  I mean, let’s be honest: this guy doesn’t exactly look like the face of evil.  But make no mistake: Hal, who later becomes Titan, is an extremely scary person.

I don’t want to leave readers with the impression that this character is one-sided, however, so before we get started on just what makes this fellow complete nightmare fuel, let’s look briefly at a few of the other reasons that Hal makes a fascinating Bad Guy.

One of my favorite things about Hal’s character arch is that it defies expectations.  Superhero comics have a long tradition of Average Nobodies who somehow receive extraordinary powers and go on to save the city.  Or the world.  Or the universe.  You get the idea.  Many comic book fans, upon watching Megamind for the first time, probably expected Hal to do the same, but he doesn’t.  In fact, he goes rogue, choosing to use his newly-obtained gifts for wanton destruction.  Thus the film inverts the established trope.

Like the protagonist he faces, (and is thankfully conquered by,) Hal is complex, and his true nature reveals itself slowly.  I’ve heard some people say that they actually felt a bit sorry for him in the first scene he appears, as he awkwardly tries to express his feelings to reporter Roxanne Ritchi.  At first he seemed like nothing worse than a socially inept and sexually frustrated nerd.  Only as the move progressed, and the aforementioned viewers saw his creepiness more clearly, did they begin to revile him.  One of the many clever things about the movie is that the gradual development provides audiences with the experience of slowly getting to know the characters.  While Megamind is the somewhat anarchical Goth who worries you a little at first, but whose heart of gold has you loving him once you really understand him, Hal is that guy you really, really regret talking to at a party.  You know, the one who quickly starts sending your internal Creep-o-Meter off the scale and persistently follows you around for the rest of the night.  This is, indeed, part of what makes Hal disturbing; just like real villains, he hides in plain sight, wearing the guise of an ordinary fellow.

Which brings us back to the scary part.  Even before he gets superpowers, Hal is bad guy deep down.  He’s a creep and a stalker.  He harasses Roxanne at work and keeps pestering her for a date no matter how many times she says no.  Either consciously or unconsciously, he assumes that she’s shallow, and that once he has a muscular body and a bevy of godlike abilities, she’ll fawn on him.  The idea that he himself might be the problem never seems to occur to him.  In fact, he seems to feel that she will then owe him her affection.  This is because, even before becoming Titan, Hal appears to have an overblown sense of self-importance and an unrealistic concept about what he deserves.  (I go into detail about that in an earlier post, Megamind and Identity, which you can read here.)  The fact that he doesn’t get what he feels is his right seems to have created a deep-seeded bitterness in him that rises to the surface once he obtains power.

But Hal really is the problem.  His combined possessive harassment and complete lack of empathy are exactly why Roxanne neither likes nor trusts him.  And she’s right to feel that way.  Almost immediately after gaining his powers, now feeling that he is above society’s rules, Titan begins revealing just how terrible of a person he really is.  He uses his supervision to spy on Roxanne while he and Megamind (disguised as Space Dad) are in the park, and that must not be the only incident because he later tells Roxanne: “I know everything about you.”  This is just before he grabs her off of her balcony, without her consent, and begins throwing her around like a rag doll, terrifying her and putting her life in real danger because, apparently, he thinks she’ll be impressed.

Yeah.  This guy is pretty much human garbage.

Once he finally understands (more or less) that Roxanne really means it when she says she’s not interested, Hal/Titan reveals himself to be a man-child.  He  begins by using his abilities for selfish and criminal reasons, essentially stating that he doesn’t feel heroism is worth his time.  When he learns that Megamind has been dating Roxanne, (albeit in disguise,) he reacts with violence.  This is because Megamind, like Hal himself, is an outsider: unpopular, unwelcome, and considered unattractive by most of the population of Metro City.  In Hal’s mind, this revelation highlights the fact that none of these factors were the cause of Roxanne’s rejection, leaving only he himself to blame.  (In fact, the movie contrasts Megamind, who, although imperfect, respects Roxanne’s wishes and intelligence, with Hal, who basically views her as an object to be won.  Again, you can read more about that in Megamind and Identity.) Hal can’t handle that.  He can’t accept it.  So instead he turns his rage on the city as a whole.  (This is despite the fact that, deep down, Hal knows he is the problem, hence why he rejects his identity as Hal and fully embraces the new one as Titan.  That’s illustrated by his final line before abandoning Roxanne on Metro Tower: “It’s Titan, not Hal!”)

Hal abuses his power, and society suffers as a result.  Even then, however, Hal/Titan still tries to lay claim to Roxanne.  He accuses Megamind of “stealing his girlfriend,” and later tells Roxanne: “Let me guess, after seeing how awesome I am, you’ve come to your senses.”  All the way to the end, Hal still can’t quite seem to accept that reality is not following his design.

If the idea of a man who lets power go to his head, objectifies women, won’t take “no” for an answer, and reacts violently when denied what he feels he’s owed sounds familiar, that’s because it is.  Humanity has a huge problem with these sorts of behaviors, ranging from sexism and sexual predation to unfeeling abuses of power.  The Sarah Everard case in London, and the fact that several officials essentially blamed the victim, asking why Sarah was walking home alone rather than asking why some guy felt he had the right to attack her, is the most recent well-known testament to this, but it’s sadly far from the only one.  A.J. White said it best in his YouTube video, The Terror of the Incel Superman, when he expressed that news archives are full of stories about women being murdered by the sort of overgrown boys who can’t accept their refusals.  And although men of that sort do not have the ability to fly or shoot lasers out of their eyes, some of them do rise to social and political power.  They are Hals. 

That is exactly what makes this character so especially scary.  Unlike more farcical supervillains, he is based upon something that truly exists.  Preternatural abilities aside, Hal is terrifying because he is very real.  Let’s just hope our world will see more Megaminds willing to stand up to them. #BeMegamindNotHal

#Megamind #Megamind movie #villain #antagonist #Hal #Titan #bad guy #assessment #analysis #film #movie #Roxanne Ritchi #Be a Megamind Not a Hal #Metro City #Defender of Metro City #hero Megamind #Roxanne #Hal is a Creep #Incel #Be Megamind Not Hal

[thebigqueer]

Ok, here we go. Dark!Bianca idea. Shortly after the events in the desert, a severely injured Bianca is found by agents of the Titans who were shadowing the quest party off-page. She is brought back to Titan HQ and is convinced to join their crusade against the gods while her friends and family think she's dead. Jump ahead to BotL, instead of Kelli the Empousa, it is a mysterious masked assassin who attacks Percy and Rachel at Goode. The events mostly play out unchanged until Geryon's (1/8)

ranch, where instead of Bianca, it is the ghost of Maria di Angelo who is revealed to be sending Iris messages to Percy about Nico, while also strongly hinting that Bianca's still alive. Jump ahead to Mt St. Helens, Percy fights the assassin again, and during his stint on Ogygia, Percy begins to put two and two together after the assassin demonstrated skills similar to the Hunters. At Antaeus' Arena, the assassin is finally unmasked to reveal a still-alive but scarred Bianca, replacing (2/8)

Ethan Nakamura as the demigod enforcer. Percy is convinced that Bianca is being mind-controlled and goes to Mt Tam to rescue her as well as stop Kronos. However, when he confronts her, Bianca reveals that she's operating of her own free will, feeling vengeful against the gods for robbing her of her life and having pledged her loyalty to her new Titan master. Kronos intends to make Bianca the prophesy kid, promising her the free will she craves so badly as well as promising not to hurt (3/8)

Nico. Going into the Last Olympian, Percy and Nico are both determined to convince Bianca that she's making a mistake, and this time Nico's duplicity is not to simply learn about his mother but to try and summon her spirit to get through to Bianca. At the same time, Kronos gradually starts treating Bianca as less of an ally and more of a tool, and the Titans' actions cause her to have doubts even though she dosen't know what else to do. It all comes to a head in the final battle.(4/8)

Nico returns from the Underworld by himself early, giving Hades an ultimatum to come and fight or hide. Just before the final attack, Kronos sends Bianca to infiltrate Olympus to disable the magic defenses, but Nico arrives to intercept her and make one last bid to save her. They fight, with both begging the other to stand down even as they slug it out. Finally, just as Percy arrives to chase Kronos, the battered siblings' duel ends when Nico gives another ultimatum. He throws down his (5/8)

sword and gives Bianca, now reduced to fear and frustration-induced tears, the choice between perusing her grudge and allowing herself to continue being Kronos’s slave or doing the right thing. Finally able to make a legitimate choice of her own, Bianca chooses to turn her back on the Titans. She still ends up wounded, but unlike Ethan in canon, Nico manages to save his sister while Percy and Kronos have their final battle. After everything ends, Percy petitions for Bianca’s pardon along (6/8)

with the rest of his list, though Bianca turns it down, realizing the harm she almost caused to the person she loved more than anybody else. She is given a reduced sentence in service to her father, and though she does not properly forgive any of the gods that hurt her, she does recognize that the spite and anger she felt would only lead to more death. Nico gets to visit her occasionally, and she starts a road to redemption that Luke never got the chance to take. In HoO, Bianca is (7/8)

more of a background character, but it is she that finds Hazel in Asphodel and alerts Nico to her. Overall, dark!Bianca is an anti-villain who’s affiliation with Kronos is clearly drawn from her pain and grief over the gods’ interference in her life, but her saving grace is her brother. Nico manages to pull her out of the darkness and save her from becoming the same monster Luke became. What do you think? (bear in mind, this is my rough draft) (8/8)

Okay, WOW. Anon, I am actually going to start a petition to make you the new Percy Jackson author because that was such an interesting plot to read.

First of all, I love that you replaced Bianca with Ethan. As interesting as he was in the series, and as much as I loved his character, after reading through your rough draft, I feel like Bianca would have been a much better character to use throughout PJO. Her arc could have been expanded upon and completed thoroughly, and it could have made a lot of sense. Ethan felt more like a representation of "demigods turned to the other side," which I get is the point, but I loved the way you used Bianca because with your plot, her character could have been used so well to properly show how easily the Titan army manipulated kids.

Furthermore, I feel like your plot with Bianca could have been a much better way to use her character throughout the series. From my interpretation, in canon she seemed more like a stand-in tool just to enhance Nico's own character arc and his motives, but your plot for her would have actually given her some kind of foundation and an actual arc for her to go through. You've given her such an interesting character and I think it really provides more justice to what she could have been.

I also love the way that not only did you give her a better arc, but you also enhanced Nico's own arc and the plot, too. Her death in the books seemed more symbolic to him and a turning point in his character, but with her character in your AU, it's both important to Nico and Bianca. You've given her an actual character, and you've set up such an interesting conflict between Nico and Bianca.

Additionally, I love the divide you've created between them. I think that - based on what we know about her in the books - as much as she loves her brother, Bianca also feels very limited with him because of how she's been forced to grow up and be his savior. She understands that he's only a child, though, which I think could also play into her own hatred for the gods - they've not only destroyed her family, but now they're forcing her to take the role of an adult when she's a mere child, too? She was never angry at Nico - she was only ever mad with the gods.

Maybe that's something that Nico also feels bad about, and maybe he tells her about it when they're standing each other down. Maybe she lets him know that she never hated him or felt that he was bringing her down.

Also, I want to add that I adore the way you put them on opposite sides. It sets up such an interesting dynamic to their relationship because here you have two people who love each other so much, but they're on two different sides of a large war. They're both too stubborn to go onto each other's sides, and Nico knows Bianca's only going to get herself into more danger. I just love the potential that has for both of their characters.

I know Percy had a large fear about Nico being another kid to join Kronos' army, so I bet Bianca being on his team would have left Percy incredibly terrified for Nico, too, because he knew how much Nico loved Bianca. Would he have been nervous for Nico's ability to change his mind? Nico knows he'd never join Kronos, but would Percy have known?

And, knowing that Bianca's now on the Kronos side, how would Percy react? Because he felt pretty guilty about her death in TTC, right? Would he feel guilty that she's on the other side now, too? Would he try to reason with her, only to push her further away? I'd love to see how Percy would deal with knowing that Bianca - an important child of the Big Three - would react to her being there. He was already nervous about Nico joining sides, but having Bianca there would have really scared him.

And the part about Bianca finding Hazel instead of Nico? That was mind-blowing. I love everything about that situation because now that introduces Hazel into the narrative of Nico and Bianca's story. My question for you would be how does Hazel's character change now? How does she fit in with Nico and Bianca? Because in Heroes of Olympus she's clearly very insecure about her relationship with Nico and how he views her, but if she actually knew Bianca, how would she feel? Would she feel more left out (knowing that Bianca and Nico have known each other much longer and have a stronger connection with each other)? Would she be distrustful? And how would the three of them adapt to this additional family member? I have high hopes that by the end they would all love each other very much, but I'm just really curious into how Hazel's addition would influence the dynamic of all three.

And, essentially, it all ends into a somewhat win-win situation. Bianca's still living; Nico's got two new sisters; Hazel now has a new family.

I think this is such an interesting concept, and I'd love to read it. If you ever post it anywhere, please do share the link! This was such an intriguing plot to go through and, again, I think this could have been a much better use of Bianca's character.

Thank you so much for sharing it with me.

#WOW #I seriously wish you had a Tumblr because I just know you would post the most interesting takes #anon tag #asks #pjo meta #nico di angelo #bianca di angelo #hazel levesque #rick riordan #riordanverse #nico di angelo headcanon #bianca di angelo headcanon #hazel levesque headcanon #riordanverse headcanon #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #hoo

[the-dandelion-days]

My current listings for the CR Campaign 3 favorites (as of episode 1)

From least to most:

8. Bertrand. I never watched Search For Grog so I don't know much about him but he gives off very shady vibes which is very fun to see everyone else react to. He is also very entertaining and I love the way Travis plays him so far. I don't like him much as a person but I think that's the point and he's really amusing to watch.

7.Fearne. I really love her quiet demeanor paired with her thirst for chaos. She is down for stealing and murder without hesitation but looks and sounds super sweet and naive and It's endlessly amusing to see such a stark contrast between expectations and reality with her. She's only ranked low because I haven't formed much of an attachment yet but that could easily change.

6.Imogen. I don't know how to feel about her yet? She's hiding something and is very persuasive and stubborn which I love and I really want to know how her and Laudna met and why she's so intent in getting into that school. I'm very intrigued by her and Laura has been playing her very withdrawn. Something is definitely going to come from that.

5.Orym. I love how he is a simple and tired man just trying to do the right thing but is surrounded by chaotic neutral people. It's an amazing contrasting vibe. Also I really love how in combat his mechanics fit so well with his selfless and protective nature. Just the way he puts himself in front of squishy characters and directs attacks onto himself so skillfully is really fun to watch and gives a good sense of him as a person. I want to know more about him and his story before all this because he could easily rise in the rankings.

4.Fresh Cut Grass (F.C.G). The fucking name. Sam knew what he was doing. I love this super sweet robot who is just endlessly caring and supportive and is also going to make me so sad. They physically take other's people pain for them. They get hurt to protect people which speaks volumes about their selflessness but also is a weapon Sam can and will use against our emotions. I hate how I'm kind of attached already, knowing full well that's part of Sam's master plan.

3.Dorian. I love this bard man so much. He's such a thinly veiled disaster. He looks and tries to portray himself as put together with honor but then falls apart almost immediately. He's extremely withdrawn and adverse to answering personal question and I love it a lot. He's not a bad person and is actually very nice, just extremely untrusting. I'm so glad we get to see more of him and explore that more.

2.Ashton. I'm surprised by this??? I did not expect this when I was making my list?? It's hard for me to rank because we don't know them very well but so far I love the way Tal has been playing Ashton as this dude who clearly grew up without a lot and has been making the best of it. He's clearly not above trickery and thievery to get by and is distrustful of others but he doesn't seem cruel or mean either. I also really love their relationship with Fresh Cut Grass. Again, I don't know much but I am very intrigued by what is being set up.

1. Laudna. I love her so much already. Easily my favorite. The only one that was not even a question. I really adore her terrifying looks paired with her just sweet personality, what an inspired concept. Also I'm really curious to find out her backstory and why she seems (and probably is) a reanimated corpse. It will probably be very sad.

All of these are very tentative (Except Laudna) and subject to change as the game progresses but these are my initial thoughts.

#cr spoilers #critical role #campaign 3