#It wouldn't be serious fic

[blorbocedes]

Age difference marriage for your choice of hornstappen or nico/mika please!!!!!

When Mika proposes, it's with the latest 2010 Mercedes sportscar model. Nico jumps into his arms, and then immediately reaches for the key. It's better than any ring, he tells himself.

"Did you know I used to have posters of him on my wall when I was a boy?" Nico wiggles his brows to the strangers at the Ibiza party lounge. Nico knows why Mika wants to get married in the party capital with no one else in their distinguished motorsports circle around. He's embarrassed. 42 year old, second marriage, pretty young thing on his arm. It all screams midlife crisis.

Well, Nico doesn't need to make it easy for him.

"Mouse." Mika's voice is warning, hand on his shoulder. Nico immediately turns to Mika, smiling, and crawling on his lap.

"What, it's true," Nico toys with Mika's collar. Mika's blonde hair falls over his eyes, hiding the carefully botox'd crows feet when he frowns. "You remember."

Mika's hand rests on Nico's hip. "Don't be trouble." Nico grinds down on him.

The strangers now look away from their public display, embarrassed, and Nico takes it as a win.

A GP2 crash shattered Nico's motorsports dreams, and he kept his word to his father, did 3 years at Imperial, graduated with flying colours with an engineering internship at Williams waiting with his name on it. Nico opted to instead chase after rallying and endurance races, cheering for Mika and waiting for him. It wasn't even hard, after Nico decided his favourite Finn was his white whale. Slipping into the hotel sauna where they were alone, and not wearing much. Mika objected weakly, the flimsy excuse for his conscience, and gave in anyway.

Nico grew up like a little prince so it's hard to spoil him. Mika does, anyway. A short fling of a childhood infatuation turns into something akin to whirlwind romance, it's dangerous and fun and a little bit taboo, and Mika leaves his wife for him.

Nico knows his father would disapprove. Mika knows it too, even as Nico shows up beside him more often than not. But it's nice, Mika's a large, protective figure behind him and always has a sweet name for him: mouse, pigeon, pet, darling, something in Finnish Nico can't quite decipher.

When they're in bed together, Nico can think of how neither of them are going to F1. Yes, Mika's technically on 'sabbatical' but everyone knows. The slight swell of his gut gives it away, but it's okay Nico will be fit enough for both of them, breaking up his croissant so it's harder to notice he hasn't touched it and feeding Mika. He likes that Mika has that touch of vanity of him, that keeps dyeing his hair blonder and is susceptible to the Monaco lifestyle of keeping everything looking young, tight, tucked in procedurally. It makes Mika not the dashing hero from his childhood dreams, humanizes him. And when Mika calls Nico beautiful, it is both a fact and tinged with envy.

"Pigeon, we have to go to the F1 paddock this weekend." Mika tucks Nico's long lock of hair behind his ear.

"Why?" It's technically their honeymoon.

"Mercedes are trying to get Lewis. Hamilton-Schumacher lineup. Ron called me to convince him to stay."

Lewis... Lewis Hamilton, 2008 world champion. The wonder rookie. Nico knew him once upon a time, when they both promised they'd make it to Formula 1 together, childish promises of becoming World Champion. Only Lewis kept up his end of the bargain. The thought of seeing him again makes Nico feel funny, like he wants to hide away. Nico hasn't even gone to Monaco in years.

At the British Grand Prix, Mika Hakkinen enters the McLaren garage with relative fanfare of a Formula 1 World Champion. Nico stays out of the cameras, doesn't have to field any interviews -- people generally don't know him without his dad around. The smell of the rubber and engine fuels and screams of thousands of fans, it's all reminiscent of his childhood. Nico idly thumbs the car keychain in his pocket, waiting for Mika.

"Nico? No way, is that you, man?"

#mika/nico #so you fucked your childhood hero that your dad wouldn't approve of and now you're in a serious adult relationship in your early 20's #I looooooove complicated relationships #f1 rpf #my fics #mika's sugarbaby nico is my strongest headcanon

[quickhacked]

Of course Aubrey had heard of the Council before. I mean– who hadn’t? They didn’t necessarily rule the streets, or Night City’s underworld for that matter, but they sure as hell loved to rub their asses all over it at any given opportunity and never in his years of being a fixer himself had he felt the need to associate himself with any of them. He understood why it was necessary, sure– the agreements they made and the city-wide gang activity they monitored and reported to one another were a vital part of ensuring business stability as well as their own survival– but he knew the biz well enough to not trust the feigned kindness and so-called sense of community they supposedly aimed for. Everyone always had their own agenda. None of it was simply out of the kindness of their hearts, to ensure the safety of the innocent citizens of Night City– it would be naive of him to think so and by then he knew better than to let wishful thinking cloud his judgment.

taglist (opt in/out): @shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @hibernationsuit, @stars-of-the-heart, @vvanessaives, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman, @celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister, @dameaylin, @killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose

#cp2077 #edit:aubrey #nuclearocs #nuclearedits #SEB AND LEON BELONG TO RED REAPERKILLER BY THE WAY IF YOU EVEN CARE #the writing is from a work in progress fic in which aubrey meets vitali!! it happens all the way in 2083 LMAO #aubrey as a fixer is so interesting to think about because he's essentially as good of an employer as vitali is #but his methods are SO different. he's a lot less serious and it's all about a good atmosphere for him #whereas vitali is a lot more professional and likes a more serious approach so he's able to keep his mercs fully safe and secure #aubrey also values their safety but he accepts death as part of the job description a lot better than vitali does usually #mercenaries know the risks and aubrey can do his best to give them the means to protect themselves properly #but if they die they die y'know. not much else to do about that. it can keep him up at night but he wouldn't spiral like vitali would #also the affiliations slide was like trench warfare to me but i won are you proud of me. it looks so FUN

[fiepige]

Since we're approaching the holiday season I have a very important question:

If Hobie was to wear a santa hat as Spider-Punk would he wear it like this:

or like this?

Or maybe even like this?

#this is very important and serious research #the image wouldn't leave my mind so now I'm sharing it with you guys as well lol #did I make this instead of editing my fic? maybe... yes... #but look at this amazing image editing(?)! it was totally worth it! #the idea of hobie wearing small santa hats on each individual spike is just hilarious to me so I had to add it #hobie brown #spider punk #across the spider verse #atsv #spiderverse #please reblog for bigger sample size it's crucial to my important research #my post #my poll #don't know if I've tagged my previous polls but I guess I will from now on at least

[dipplinduo]

A Sweet & Sour Abridged fic would be absolutely HILARIOUS!!

Oh no, it's encouraging that part of my brain that wants to do the thing O_O

#help?>! #i think im gonna end up doing this LMAO #it wouldn't be serious in the slightest tho guys #or long #just #silly little recaps #that meme the entire fic #do you REALLY want that knowing this cause...if so #I'm down

[jouska-the-deer]

People still suck at writing Sonic the Hedgehog

Interpretations of Sonic outside of media made by Sonic Team often seem either unable or unwilling to reconcile the fact that Sonic is both kind-hearted and intelligent, but I think I've noticed a recent shift in the way writers try to reconcile it.

In general, there seems to be this belief that smart people are inherently more pessimistic toward the world and that kind people are inherently more naive towards it. So, when writing for a character who's both smart and kind, less knowledgeable writers end up flanderizing them in one of two ways:

The first way, which is how Sonic was interpreted in Sonic Boom and prior, is making the character act like a jerk who knows best. At worst, they'll be outright rude towards their closest friends, but any criticism they get for it will be ignored because their opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative. At best, they'll sometimes make mistakes and learn lessons about being nicer to other people, which is something their non-flandarized self wouldn't have struggled with.

The second way, which is how Sonic is interpreted now, is making the character a saint who solves everything with friendship. At worst, they'll give absolute tyrants a million chances, but any criticism they get for it will be ignored because their opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative. At best, they'll sometimes make mistakes and learn lessons about certain people being unwilling to change, which is something their non-flandarized self wouldn't have struggled with.

You may have noticed I straight up copy/pasted a couple bits of those last two paragraphs. Well, that's because those bits reveal a bit of truth in how Sonic is portrayed by Sonic Team. Sonic's opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative, because of the lessons he no longer struggles with. Sonic already learned to balance his desire to give people a second chance with the fact that some people just have to be stopped. When? Since the very beginning. Sonic has always been trying to defeat Eggman for good while also giving second chances to people who he thinks deserve it.

But how do you deal with people who are causing so much harm when you still think they deserve a second chance? Guess what? Sonic answered that straight up in Sonic Adventure 1.

Do me a quick favor and if you can listen to Open Your Heart, specifically the Sonic Adventure 1 version (Click here). You may notice that there're two distinct sets of vocals; One clean and high pitched, and one distorted and low pitched. (And if you're wearing headphones the audio will even pan during the chorus.) For context, this is the song that plays while Sonic is fighting Chaos.

You can figure it out yourself from there, but if you want me to really dig into the topic, feel free to keep reading.

So like, I shouldn't have to say this, but the dark negative voice is Chaos' view and the light positive voice is Sonic's. But notably, they sing together during key points, specifically those related to the anger, sadness, and hopelessness that Chaos has been feeling for ages. Sonic has recognized that 1. imprisoning Chaos as suggested by Tikal wouldn't solve anything because, 2. Chaos is only acting this way due to being blinded by hatred for those he perceives as selfish monsters, and 3. he's still very much currently destroying the world and won't change his mind because he's lost hope that there's anything worth holding on to.

What does Sonic do then? Sonic may be an unstoppable force but Chaos is a seemingly immovable object. Well, he literally uses the positive energy from his friends and within himself to stop Chaos' rampage and prove that there are still good people in the world that want to maintain peace. After he loses the fight, Chaos is able to calm down and see that the cute defenseless chao he'd been protecting ages ago had survived, living among the very people he had assumed could only be power hungry monsters. He's able to let go of his hatred and live a peaceful life understanding that good people still exist and the world is still worth protecting.

And that's where the question is answered. How do you deal with people who are causing so much harm when you still think they deserve a second chance? You do everything you can to stop them, and if they're still around afterward, show them that they didn't need to fight in the first place. But that only works if they had a good reason behind why they were fighting, and would have chosen peace otherwise.

Sonic wanted to give Chaos a second chance because he knew that violence was not truly in his nature. Had he not been forced into those specific circumstances, Chaos would have chosen peace.

And that's what separates characters who have done a lot of harm but Sonic still gave a second chance to like Chaos and Merlina, from those who have done a lot of harm but Sonic wouldn't give a second chance to, like Eggman and Erazor Djinn. The former wanted peace but became convinced that it was impossible, and the latter only wanted power and were willing to hurt others to obtain it. The characters who Sonic won't give another chance to have proven that when dealt a better hand, they'll still chose to hurt others solely for their own gain, because that's what they want. To stop them peacefully, Sonic would have to convince them to give up their true dreams.

And that, is why Sonic's opinions get to always be treated as right in the games, because they are right. He has an absolutely kind heart, a nuanced understanding of morality, and the integrity to never give in to selfish desires.

None of this means Sonic is always right, though. Most people already know of his impulsiveness, which is his greatest weakest, but also one of his greatest strengths. Sonic never waits to act, which is great when innocent people are seconds from mortal danger... but not so great when a situation looks to be one way but is actually another. He teases Eggman for pleading for a second chance in Unleashed and he kicks the Cacophonous Conch from Eggman's hand in Lost World, and both of those were massive mistakes.

But, despite making those mistakes, his mindset wasn't the problem. How was he supposed to know Eggman was a shockingly good actor leading him into a trap? How was he supposed to know the people Eggman was controlling with the conch were equally as evil? (Yes Tails tried to warn him but literally if he didn't Sonic wouldn't have looked stupid and it just shows how poorly written Lost World was overall.) Had Eggman actually been pleading and the Zeti good people, Sonic's actions would've been justified.

Still, those were mistakes, and Sonic always wants to do what's right, so he does what he can to fix his own messes. He restores the planet Eggman broke apart. He stops the Zeti from sucking the life out of the planet. Sonic always makes things right in the end, and so he has the right to be so confidant in his beliefs. So confidant in fact that he doesn't care about looking like the bad guy if it means doing the right thing. Oh look, there's a song about that too. From Sonic's fight with Merlina in Sonic and the Black Knight. (Click Here.) Don't be fooled by the feminine vocals, if you paid attention to the themes of the game, the song is clearly from Sonic's perspective.

So yeah, Sonic is kind but he's also smart. He won't let anyone change his mind on anything, but he doesn't need to change his mind because he follows his kind heart and compassionate soul. He doesn't worry about looking like the bad guy because he and his friends know his true nature. When he gets angry he lets his rage fuel his desire to save the day. He'll never shed tears of despair because he knows that if he keeps fighting he'll make things right in the end. Sometimes his impulsiveness gets him into trouble, but it also helps get him back out. No matter what happens to him, he'll always make it out in the end either through sheer determination or the help of his friends.

Sonic is absolutely silly; He makes dumb jokes about his enemies and talks to himself when there's nobody around. Sonic is completely serious; He's willing to kill someone if it means saving the world and has felt multiple friends die before his eyes and in his arms.

Sonic is literally just some blue hedgehog who can run really fast.

Sonic is a god, and could kill god, and there is not a difference!

But most importantly, Sonic is all of those things at once. He is a wonderfully balanced character who's been right from the very beginning and has spent all his games sharing his wisdom with others simply by being himself. He isn't perfect, but that's not due to some personality flaw he needs to correct, but because nobody can always have all the answers and know how to avoid all potential mistakes.

The problem is, writing a character like this is hard. Writing conflicts for a character like this is hard. Most writers rely on making their protagonists work through relatable flaws to create an emotionally compelling story... but you don't need to do that. Sonic's conflicts are mostly external, but we care about him succeeding anyway because he's a good person who's just trying to live his life.

So really, if you wanna write Sonic well, you have to just let him speak for himself.

...By the way I mean that literally. Dude listen to his character theme it's all right there! (Click here.) Even when his theme was altered in Sonic Adventure 2 the only thing that changed was how confidently the same ideas were delivered. (Click here.) But seriously listen to literally any of the game themes, final boss themes, and ending themes. (I'm not linking all that.) No matter the quality of the games, if Sonic wanted to teach you something he was gonna teach it... through the power of having a music department detached from the nightmare that is game development time crunch.

And that's why Sonic Lost World is the worst Sonic game. Because it was so pointless that Sonic didn't have anything to sing about!

Wait... what was the point of this post again?

#Sonic the Hedgehog #StH #Sonic #Writing #Characterization #Flanderization #Jouska's Thoughts #Tag Ramble #BTW just so we're clear I like Boom!Sonic and Movie!Sonic. They're not Game!Sonic but they're decent interpretations of Sonic. #Boom!Sonic was often snarky but he was still mostly a nice person. Movie!Sonic is widdle and is getting better just give him some time. #I dropped off of Prime from boredom but it annoys me solely due to people thinking it's canon when you can tell it's not just by watching. #You can also tell because game Sonic would've totally said 'I love you too Shadow' and it's honestly gayer that he didn't. #Game!Sonic screams 'in my hands I hold the ones I love' meanwhile Prime!Sonic is too chicken to say he loves his friend even as a joke. #Huh? Too scared to say you love Shadow? Wouldn't want him to think you're serious? Why? You could just say you don't. Would you be lying? #Okay but seriously there was a WIP I wrote years ago where Shadow chewed Sonic out and he responded by saying 'I love you too Shadow'. #Sure it was a ship fic but that scene wasn't romantic. Sonic nearly got himself killed by being dumb and Shadow was just worried and pissed #And now if I actually used that scene for anything people would think it's a Prime reference and that annoys me too. #Anyway it's almost 5 AM for me so I should stop typing about hedgehogs and go to bed already.

[gentrychild]

will the Coat™️(Izuku ver.) be making an appearance in Villains 2? (i really hope so, if only for that "AM in denial" factor hahah)

No, unfortunately, Izuku believes that villains should wear comfy clothes instead of trench coats.

#Also let's be serious Izuku is already extremely OP #The class wouldn't survive if Izuku brings the Coat Charm #villain contest fic

[derangedthots]

feeling some type of way about user simpofnegan's new cowboy jacemond fic in the tags and by some type of way i mean desperately trying not to scream in my dorm room @ 2am and wake my roommate

#jacemond #GOD THE UNRESOLVED TENSION OF IT ALL #the way the angst SUCKERPUNCHED me like oh they're ao cute wait wdym it was a dream wdym they're not together anymore wait #AEMOND WHAT DID YOU DO WHY DID YOU LEAVE HIM BABY LOOK AT YOUR BABY IN THE FACE AND COME BACK #THIS ISN'T YOUUU #jace telling him to get gone ugh amazing wonderful spectacular i love me a scorned man who makes his dumbass exlover work for it #AND OUTLAW AEMOND?? SHERIFF JACE?? FERAL I'M FERAL I SAY #simpofnegan making my whole week with this masterpiece i'm being so serious it's lethal and they haven't done anything yet #ABO TOO AND OMEGA JACE ICING ON THE ABSOLUTE CAKE!! #godddd but their bodies reacting so intensely to proximity that they each go into rut/heat GENIUS the yearning is INSANE #((i'm so sorry to anyone reading my tags that hasn't read the fic yet bc these are all spoilers but it's so good pls)) #listen i probably should've looked at the fic tags closer so i wouldn't have been caught so offguard #but also it all worked out and i got destroyed either way🥲😭

[elvenbeard]

Without any context whatsover (except for the fic I'm currently writing): love is stored in the olive jar.

#otp: to bad decisions #cause you know... reasons #had kerry not done xyz #vince wouldn't have done xyz #and then everything would have been completely different #fucking olive jar turning into the main reason why they're getting their happy ending smh #in this fic at least #yes I'm 100% serious #they're called 'to bad decisions' for a reason #writing stuff #also yes I'm losing my mind about my own writing sssshhh #I'm excited how this is developing is all xD cause I didn't see it coming either

[mountinez]

you know what? ferrari is literally sabotaging charles and i don't trust anyone on that team apart from fred. mattia binotto might be gone, but his philosophy is still there.

#i can't believe i wrote a fic about it and it is happening #i'm sorry i'm not dumb and it ain't normal #i wouldn't say anything until the end of this race but the race doesn't need to end to notice #the way everything went downhill since baku #<- where charles and charles only made an excellent job #you think i'm dumb of not seeing his car is good at practice and bad at quali #i'm serious i'm about to lose my cool with this fucking team

[unclekaz]

there isn't a tag for tongue kissing im ending it all

#vigilante.txt #ofc not serious #but still how do you fuck up this bad #god i hate ao3. this wouldn't be an issue if mobile users could add tags onto their fics without having to filter for oremade keyword tags #fuck dude MOUNTING isn't even a tag option for me

[littleladymab]

"read I, Jedi," they* said.

"it'll be fun," they said**.

well tell that to me and my several "AND ANOTHER THING" rants in the chat and also the 2k words i've written because if you need to know one thing about me it's that I will always commit to the bit***

(* = @starwarsbookclub)

(** = no one actually said that)

(*** = writing a 'jedi summer training camp' fic in which Ezra meets Corran)

+++

"What's your real name?" Ezra asks that evening, grinning. 

"Kieran Halcyon," Corran answers. And then, because it is a joke that he doesn't quite know the scope of, he asks, "What's yours?" 

Jabba the Hutt was the first answer, given when they met. They were never properly introduced because Luke allowed himself to be distracted by Ezra's teasing. 

This time Ezra answers, "Hondo Ohnaka, pirate." He keeps smiling like he knows a secret, like he is revealing his real name to someone worthy of it. “Would you like to join my crew? We’re always hiring.” 

It becomes a bit of a game after that.

Any time they cross paths Ezra will give him a studious look before asking, “What’s your real name?” 

And Corran will always reply, “Kieran Halcyon,” because that’s what he’s going by. That’s the Corellian Jedi with a legacy of Corellian Jedi behind him that has been making friends with the others. “What’s yours?” 

Ezra strikes a pose and lifts a hand to his beard. “Lando Calrissian,” he answers in a passable attempt at Lando’s accent. 

Corran wonders if Ezra knows that he knows Lando. He wonders how Ezra knows Lando, because he doesn’t recognize the Jedi from the war despite Luke’s familiarity with him. 

(“An original member of the rebellion,” Leia says when Corran asks her one day. She also has a degree of familiarity with Ezra, though he doesn’t ask for their history and she doesn’t provide it.) 

 “Hey!” Ezra calls two days later when he finds Corran just parting from a training session with Kam and Streen. “What’s your real name?” 

Corran feels something clench in his chest and he looks around to check that no one heard. The last thing he needs is this game of Ezra’s to start sowing seeds of doubt. “Kieran Halcyon. What’s yours?” 

This time, Ezra’s grin vanishes and he lifts one skeptical eyebrow as he looks down his nose at Corran — using the full height difference to his advantage. “I,” he intones in what he must think is a decent Core World accent, “am Commander Brom Titus.” 

Corran waits a beat, then asks, “Who?” 

Ezra huffs out a breath and the illusion is gone. “No, you’re supposed to say, what, but, I’m Brom Titus. It’s a whole thing.” 

“I don’t even know who that is.” 

He waves a hand to dismiss it. “Never mind, it was only really funny to me.” 

Then, the next day as they cross paths in front of the dining hall: “What’s your real name?” 

Corran is ready for the question this time. “Kieran Halcyon. What’s yours?” 

“Sssseevor,” Ezra says in a strained, scratchy voice that catches Corran completely off-guard. “Captain of Crawler 413-24.” He emphasizes random syllables and punctuates them with too-long pauses to produce an altogether unsettling effect. “Want to work for the Mining Guild?” 

Then, when Corran finds Ezra with Leia and the Syndulla kid: “What’s your real name?” 

Leia passes a confused look between the two of them but Corran ignores it and answers, “Kieran Halcyon. What’s yours?” 

Ezra has a hard time controlling his smile but straightens his posture and says, “I am Lieutenant Lyste.” 

There’s a peel of laughter from Leia that she fails to smother behind her hands. 

So it’s another Imperial that Ezra knows and this time Leia is in on the joke. This frustrates Corran more than it should, honestly, because he knows that Ezra sees this as nothing more than a game. “No full name this time?” 

Ezra grins, still preening from making Leia laugh. “It’s Lieutenant.” 

“I think it was Yogar,” Leia corrects. 

“No, I’m pretty sure it was Lieutenant.”

#i worked on this instead of my swbb and it's still not done #to be fair to i jedi while I wouldn't say I'm enjoying it i don't hate it #I just hate the jedi order not sorry about it #I have four more nicknames and a serious conversation for them to write #things i shouldn't be doing in general #a lil miss fic #i'm not tagging this for fandom it can wander lost through the pages of my archives until it's done #and even then I am just sharing this for the bit #i don't think anyone else will read any of it except for kaite #or if you all ask nicely #i guess

[butwhatifidothis]

I think the thing that's getting me the most about TEatG's take on "fighting against fate" is that is the fate it's fighting against is like... the good ending.

got long lol under the cut it goes

Like - take Awakening for a second, another story that's about fighting fate. What exactly is Lucina fighting against? What's her fate? Well, her fate is to have her father be murdered by the one person he trusted most due to that person succumbing to their fate of being a vessel for the harbinger of the apocalypse, ushering in unfathomable loss for the entire world that Lucina has quite literally no hope to win against, to the point where her genuine only hope of rescuing anyone is to travel to a different timeline set before everything went to ruin to save everyone there instead.

Lucina, as well as pretty much everyone involved, of course did nothing to ever deserve such a horrific fate to befall them, and so it makes the audience sympathetic to her plight and understanding of what she is almost/full-on willing to resort to, even though that includes murdering someone who could potentially be her own mother and thus preventing the birth of her own brother. We feel the larger scale suffering Lucina is trying to prevent for others while also seeing the smaller scale personal suffering Lucina is trying to stop for her own personal peace of mind through the death of her father and how it affects her. The stakes are extremely high for her and the audience can thus feel the pressure she as a character is going through, and we're able to see that yes, despite what Lucina is willing to do she is genuinely only doing this because she feels she must.

In contrast, what is Woobiegard fighting against? What's her fate? Well, her fate is to... be defeated. After being the cause of immense suffering and torment of, in her own admission, thousands of people, and after working with people she knows are hurting even more innocents, and for reasons that are never properly shown to be justified. Even when her enemies do her work for her and say that they are totally evil, nothing is ever shown in the story to actually show off why or how that is. 

Unlike with Lucina, where we as the audience can very visibly see what it is she is fighting against, nothing of the Church's supposed oppression is truly on screen. We are told all the time that it’s the Church’s teachings that is the cause of suffering, but nothing in the story of the fic ever proves that to be true; even without the game, it seems more like bad apples opportunistically and deliberately misinterpreting the intention behind the Church’s teachings to do nefarious deeds more so than it ever feels like actual indorsement from the Church to commit these acts - this indorsement which would be an essential key in making Woobiegard’s methods in toppling the Church as violently as she does at least understandable. This is not the case with Grima, whom we see is the direct and nearly sole cause for the horror and destruction Lucina’s world falls into.

Having the context of the game makes this even worse, as that shows that the fic is deliberately leaving out details of the Church’s tenets in order to make them appear worse; not once has the “Dare not abuse the power gifted to you by the goddess” tenet ever been referred to in any way, and it is coincidentally the only tenet that is never mentioned in some way in the fic. It criticizes the Church for involving itself in the affairs of the three nations without ever mentioning that it was the three nations that asked for the Church to intervene. It also - paradoxically, mind - accuses the Church of never stepping into the affairs of the three nations when they’re in trouble, without realizing that the Church doing so would actually be them trampling across the sovereignty of the three nations. It thus makes it seems as though the Church hasn’t actually done anything to deserve all of this hatred and degradation thrown at it and it’s just Woobiegard hating the Church for simply existing, despite the Church’s existence never actually negatively impacting Fodlan as a whole. Again, unlike Grima, who proves time and again that did they not exist, the world would be at peace; the Church doesn’t come across as a suitable threat to justify the actions taken to bring it down.

On top of that, Woobiegard’s personal suffering of the loss of her family, narratively speaking, isn’t to give her a grounded presence for the audience to better get a feel for her character and understand why she does what she does; it’s just another of a nearly endless slew of Tragic Sad Boo Hoo Wah Wah’s to make the audience overlook the horrible actions she’s performing because She Was Sad Once. With Lucina, her pain and trauma are an explanation for her morally dubious actions, but not an outright justification for them; she isn’t suddenly completely right to try to murder Robin in cold blood just because of her experiences, since Robin is still an innocent at the time Lucina decided to attempt to murder them. With Woobiegard, her pain and trauma are so integral in justifying her character it is interwoven throughout the entire prose of the entire fic. The reader is bombarded with how Sad and Lonely Woobiegard is, and how that is why she is right and just to do the things she does, and everyone who is deemed good (enough) is always convinced of Woobiegard’s righteousness once they hear how Sad and Lonely she is. 

Or, to tie it back to the comparison: Chrom doesn’t give Lucina the thumbs up to murder Robin just because he knows how much trauma and horror Lucina has seen, whereas Ficleth would have murdered Robin herself with no hesitation or regret were she in the same position for Woobiegard.

Moving on from that: What did Grima do to have Lucina be so desperate to kill them? Literally end the world. How do they do this? Resurrecting the dead and forcing their bodies to attack and kill the living, as well as being a Holy-Fuck-sized dragon that will casually just destroy everything in their path, legit because Why Not Lol. Boom, Lucina's words about how awful her fate is has now been properly showcased to the audience, it is now an indisputable fact of the world, we can now properly understand her motivations, and the evil she is fighting against is solidly and decidedly evil.

What did Rhea do to have Woobiegard be so desperate to enact war with her? Well, uh, you see, some nobles hold Crests to be very important and used that to be assholes. Ignore all of the nobles that are nobles without Crests, or all of the Crested individuals that aren't nobles, or all of the nobles with Crests whose lives are just fine, some nobles are badly affected by Crests therefore Crest system therefore Bad. And how did Rhea do this? Nemesis and his Elites ruled over Fodlan with their newfound Crests for over a century before the Church was formed- *AHEM* sorry, tickle in my throat, it's actually totally strictly and only because the Church said that Crests were gifts from the goddess. Ignore that it also said not to abuse these gifts which means that anyone doing so is not doing so with backing from the Church and would thus just be selectively cherry-picking from the Church's tenets to thinly veil their shitty actions as righteous even though they know they're being shitty, Rhea made Crests bad because she totally directly made people think having a Crest made people better which means she totally needs to be gotten rid of for any change to happen even though she doesn't actually ever indorse the beliefs Woobiegard is fighting against and thus killing her will do literally nothing since the shitty nobles doing shitty things will just switch the reasons why they're doing shitty things since the actual root cause (basic human greed and cruelty that must be dealt with on an individual level and doesn't have Kill Rhea as a one-size-fit-all solution to it) has been fundamentally misidentified.

Hooray.

This lack of a proper showing as to how bad the situation actually is makes it nearly impossible for the audience to get a good grasp as to why the protagonist is fighting so hard and going to such desperate measures. With Lucina, it could not be more clear cut; her words, her actions, and what we the audience physically see with our own eyes all fall perfectly in line with each other. We can see that Lucina's fate is bad, and thus we root for her to fight against said fate, and thus we understand when that means taking actions we as the audience most likely wouldn't take ourselves. With Woobiegard, it's all over the place; nothing in the world - especially 3H's, but even the fic as a stand-alone entity - reflects why Woobiegard believes anything she does or takes the actions she does. It's just told to us, and nothing is ever grounded by physicality so that we the audience can get a feel as to the weight of everything going on - which is then made infinitely worse when Woobiegard herself performs the very actions she claims to be fighting against.

Lying to her allies when it benefits her, always - and I mean fuckin' always always - casting blame to others while trying to keep herself morally clean, manipulating those around her to follow her, performing blatant and repeated acts of hypocrisy - which includes being overly violent to those who stand against her and allowing Petra to force her people to bend to her whim under threat of death, two of the biggest things she lambasts the Church/Rhea for doing - utilizing her Crest(s) to better violently invade sovereign nations and assert her control over them. And the list goes on and on and on. Suffice to say that Lucina, uh, doesn't do this lmao.

So Woobiegard's goal in the fic - fighting her fate - isn't one that an audience that isn't already willing to overlook her actions can relate to. She is the one to directly cause immense suffering across all of Fodlan for half a decade; even by Woobiegard's own logic, Rhea is only at best an indirect cause, with the nobility that are willing to make others suffer being the true direct cause of Fodlan's current state. Meaning that going by Woobiegard's logic, she is the worse of the two of them. Commoner rebellions quelled by threat/use of lethal force, violently invading upon the sovereignty of other nations, blatantly disregarding morality whenever it doesn't let her get her way, all while justifying everything she does to herself as being for the greater good - her fate is her not being able to do this. That is what she is fighting against.

She wants to be allowed to do this - not necessarily that she actively wants to do these things, but that she is allowed to get away with doing all of these things. She wants to be the Hegemon while having the cute child-like lover, and the ever-loyal side-piece, and the mindless friends that always do what she wants and believes what she believes, and the nice peaceful life in the cottage with her art supplies, all without ever having to face a single consequence for her actions - because that'd be fate “undeservingly” making her life just oh so hard.

And the absolute kicker? Chapter 36. 

It shows the results of what happens if Ficleth were to follow fate and kill Woobiegard... and it leads to peace. Sure, she’s not happy, and the Black Eagles aren’t happy - well, some of them at least, who knows maybe Caspar and Whohardt are just livin’ it the fuck up in the background - but Fodlan as a whole is at peace. The people are safe. The day is saved. And the direct thing that led to that is the defeat of Woobiegard. Even when Ficleth leaves her position and takes up that cottagecore life, Flayn takes up the mantle and then also goes on to lead Fodlan to peace. Again, directly because Woobiegard was defeated. Like I said, the fate that Woobiegard and everyone on her side is fighting so hard and so desperately to prevent from happening in the CF timelines... is the one where Fodlan is saved and freed from Woobiegard’s actions.

So like. Uh. Yeah. Not exactly as compelling as past examples have shown to be able to be

#exqueuese me princess #o captain my captain #using Lucina because she's a good example of genuinely fighting fate that's already in the FE series who is likely recognizable #but yeah like this fic is so weird to read? like with a serious critical lens #since so much of it is fundamentally wrong and yet it's being taken as seriously as it is in this fandom #like fuckin' like. imagine right #if in FEA there was a scene that showed what happened if Lucina did nothing and didn't fight her fate #and it shows everyone singin' Kumbaya holdin' hands and dancin' a jig #IT WOULD FUCK UP THE IDEA THAT HER FATE IS ONE THAT IS BAD ENOUGH TO FIGHT AGAINST WOULDN'T IT #if the results of not fighting fate are inarguably better than the results of fighting fate #then why should we as the audience root for the one fighting fate? why are we rooting for the bad end? #Chapter 36 outright shows that it's not actually about trying to make Fodlan better but about making sure Her Majesty gets her toes sucked #even at the expense of thousands of innocent lives

[peninkwrites]

.

#i never make vent posts or anything like this but I am just. so torn up about all of this #please don't take this too seriously this is my personal ramblings not a statement on some important part of the situation #ok? my feelings are my problem when there are people out there being tangibly hurt and harassed for coming forward about a serious thing. #i don't think finishing my fics would be supporting him as a cc. that isn't really my concern? #but right now i am disgusted by his very name. i can't write right now. #i don't know what to do. #i wish i had started the Mafia AU sooner. That fic is over 6 months in the making and I had/have so much story I wanted to tell. #it would be easier to cut him out of that series #but the community is so torn up who's gonna read it? I know I should write for my own sake too #but the people I met #the damn server I set up #it's because of this. #this fandom existed so independently of the ccs for so long in reference to their characters #i don't know why we have to lose that #but at the same time I understand people's discomfort. I both can't blame people for leaving and wish they wouldn't. #I don't know where I'm at comfort-wise too and maybe we're all just waiting to feel less horrified #but i already miss people just writing meta and random days with the whole dash rambling about a specific character #i know it hasn't been long. #but I guess I'm more worried it's gone forever. #i didn't feel like what we did had anything to do with him until his presence ruined it. #the cc had been on thin ice for me for a while i just. ignored his presence and focused only on rp characters. #like. why should I abandon talking about c!Wilbur and c!Quackity etc etc because one motherfucker turned out to be terrible? #this stuff is not a priority right now of course considering the reason this is happening is a matter of justice and accountability #which is why im sort of just rambling here instead of making a proper post #i've wrapped so much of my life around this fandom for the past two years. probably an unhealthy amount. but i don't know how to let go #i didn't realize that the running backtrack of my brain has been my fics. these characters. CONSTANTLY #i literally don't know what to think about. I've been writing almost nonstop about this stuff for 2 YEARS. #I've lost my joy of creation. my emotional crutch. hopefully temporarily but my god. #dream situation #vent

[your-ace-cousin-clover]

Anyway remember when I said I'd post more in depth Silicon Valley-Succession meta? Well, the time is now.

And honestly, I have to thank @tomwambsmilk for this because she understands Silicon Valley far better than me and we have had multiple conversations about this. I will probably end up making a prettier gif parallels post about this stuff, but this is the base stroke I wanna establish.

But essentially while I have been watching Silicon Valley, it's fascinating to me how some of the specifics are very similar to Succession. Like Brenna mentioned to me, some parallels and arc of certain characters closely resemble that of Succession.

Specifically, I was thinking of Dinesh x Gilfoyle (Dinfoyle) in regards to Tomgreg, and for me, it's about how DG close mirrors TG. Aside from one obvious difference where Tom has an obvious power dynamic over Greg and as a result, Dinesh has the position to retaliate more because Gilfoyle is his equal. There, however I would argue, is a subtle power dynamic that gets established between Dinesh and Gilfoyle in the early days where Gilfoyle is able to far easily able to outmatch Dinesh.

Also similarly, there is almost an instant pairing of both of these couples as soon as the show begins which lasts till the end of the show (for Succession, I obviously talk about the S3 ending) and funnily, none of these couples realise that they are part of a pair until it gets pointed to them by a third party.

("I think you're each other's best friend" vs "... a tom sundae with a greg cherry on top")

It essentially comes down to the fact that TG is borne from almost the same stuff that makes DG, but is worse somehow. They go through the same rounds to trust, betrayal and understanding and it's interesting to go through the curves.

(There's also the individual coding of characters in the ship as a duality of Tomgreg and it's funny to get into but I won't yet)

Another notable similarity is Richard and Kendall. (and Logan). For me, Richard is the more competent version of Kendall (as Brenna put it) where he has a specific vision for the company that gets closed to being bulldozed as he keeps changing over the seasons. In certain points, he turns into Gavin Belson despite vowing to start a company completely different from Hooli. That's extremely similar to the Loganifiction of Kendall. There's a ton of more meta that could be thought off when I'm not incredibly sleep deprived.

So that's it folks, two of my HBO shows are showing themes, symbolisms and motifs and they are interesting as heck.

(also if this does not make sense, I am sorry - I wrote this while being incredibly tired)

#Do you think I'm still lovable after I wrote all of this meta sleep deprived? #also yeah I just wanted to say Dinfoyle is like Tomgreg to me #:)) #also please please watch Silicon Valley - I need more people to have the same fixation as me so we can all talk about this #if there are typos I am not responsible #(also I need to stop reading the same few dinfoyle fics and start writing some) #anyway more of this is half serious half joking-ish #I wouldn't say succession notably takes from SV or something #but there are fun parallels #alllllso #toga party dialogue vs nero sporus #succession #tomgreg #tom wambsgans #cousin greg #Kendall roy #succession hbo #I will make a better post - but I needed this to get out #also Brenna is a MVP #Silicon Valley #Dinfoyle #dinesh chugtai #bertram gilfoyle #richard hendricks #Pied Pieper #meta

[stellamancer]

my brain throwing multiple proposals for more gooj fic at me and me constantly saying ‘no no no’ LMAO

#nikuniku spam #it's mermay give me some mermay fic ideas because u were being a bitch and wouldn't let me write anything you dumb brain #it's also because i'm personally torn on what i want to write #i was having this kind of dilemma before with &hiaa #so like i'm just torn between feel good slice of life romantic comedy #and a more serious plot driven work

[aparticularbandit]

please understand that in at least one of these multiversal variants i’m tempted to have them all be dinosaurs.  or unicorns.  or rainbows.

just because why not.

#musings #bandit writes fic #ff multiversal variants #SOMEONE SHOULD BITE SOMEONE'S HEAD OFF #they should all be vampires #i could recreate twilight with wanda and agatha #...actually that wouldn't even be that hard #agatha would be edward and wanda would be bella like #that's not HARD #it'd be really interesting to flip that #BUT ANYWAY #SERIOUSLY WHY NOT #like yes there are some serious considerations of variations on things in the fic #but also why not crazy shenanigans while i'm at it?