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visenyaism · 2 days

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Sorry if you’ve been asked this but what do you think of all the rot in asoiaf? Obv some of it is related to the problems with monarchy but I feel like a lot of it isn’t and it just leaves me curious. Like cold hands or people killed by the others idk what that symbolizes there. Jon is in a land in which rot is in stasis from the cold and it’s creepy as shit. And then there’s stuff that could have multiple interpretations like dany by proxy of selmy experiencing bio warfare with the corpses like I know some people see it as the fall of old ghis but I wondered if maybe it was a sign to dany about breaking the wheel and doing as her ancestors did. Idk I know it’s a nasty series and sometimes grrm is just doing stuff so that it’s gross but I feel like rot comes up SO much and I people are usually talking online about like Tywin when it comes to rot.

Oh one of my favorite things about the asoiaf series is how heavy-handed george rr martin is with the rot symbolism. and (at the risk of sounding like an mfa vomited on my keyboard) the way that the political, pestilential, societal, and climatological aspects of the rot symbolism all interconnect.

In a society founded on so many feudal evils that has perpetuated for centuries, something has to give. It is a recurring theme in these books that violations of human decency under feudalism cause cataclysmic societal collapse represented through literal and metaphorical pestilence.

There’s the sociopolitical collapse in the riverlands caused by war of human decency and norms like guest right and prohibitions on kinslaying or cannibalism just dedicating away as times get hard. broken men. bodies left to rot in the sun for the crows to feast on. There’s the fermenting wildfire under every major street in Kings Landing. There’s the familial/relational decay of incest especially the targaryens and the lannisters. The people who hold power and that society rot, despite everyone’s best efforts at keeping up appearances: Robert Baratheon the “war hero” dies of a very nasty festering stomach wound he got in a drunken hunting accident, Tywin gets shot on the privy and his corpse putefies in the sept.

The climate stuff is also very salient. The series starts during late summer and as things get worse and worse in the world declines into the autumn where the summer fruit and all of the abundance is literally rotting through the hands of the characters. (see: renly’s peach vs doran’s blood oranges!) The cold up at the wall keeps the rot at bay for a while, but it does not entirely stop it. Coldhands’ hands are still blackening. Things are still unraveling at the hinges of the world. that’s pretty representative of the way that the violence of the border wall and the penal colony stationed there to patrol it are not sustainable. The decline of the night’s watch from a once proud order to a penal colony full of cruel and often impoverished convicts dropped off there by circumstance is a symptom of the society that sends people up there. But something still has to give. The wall will fall down and the existential crisis will come, it’s just slowed.

Critically, there is also the forgotten parable of Old Valyria: a society founded on extreme cruelty and slavery which eventually experiences cataclysm coming up from the very tunnels they send the enslaved into to die for the empire. A lot of what Daenerys experiences in Essos is an extension of that commentary on slave societies to me. Like. as the slavers try and reconquer places dany has liberated, people fleeing the violence, bring disease like the bloody flux with them. The rot creeps back. (important: disease and rot in the series is not always something people get for being morally bad. it often happens to people who just have no choice but to live in these places.)

But that’s why I think the way Volantis is described really ties a lot of those elements of the rot symbolism together. This is a society that has founded itself up from out of the corpse of old valyria. The city maintains some veneer of old glory, but the fountains are dry and the paint is chipping. The people there eat food that is so sweet it literally causes your teeth to rot out if you were to consume it every day. In terms of climate, I think it’s relevant that it is described as extremely, almost disgustingly, humid, and everything is excessively perfumed to cover up a tangible smell of decay.The air is quite literally cloying and difficult to breathe. You feel dirty after walking through it. The evil of slavery is rotting the city to its core in the same way that the evil of feudalism and the wars for the iron throne is affecting the city of king’s landing.

To wrap allllll this up. Rot is a signal that obviously societal collapse is coming, but it’s also transitional: the empire of old ghis brought about its downfall, and then valyria found itself on the same principles which brought about its own downfall, and then the Targaryen went to westeros and engineered their collapse in Kings Landing while the freehold did the same essos. I think the climatological and disease aspects of it are really heavy-handed symbolism that something has to give in the societies and we’re at the point in the series where that’s about to happen.

I think the ultimate arc of the series ends in some form of significant societal collapse, but instead of building upon a rotten foundation again people are going to have try and hope for something new and gather the courage to build that.,quite literally dreaming of the spring.

#asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #okay this is LONG. sorry #idk if you were around summer 2022 when my mired in grief and newly in grad school ass was posting abt this but this used to by my shit #yes the yuckydisgusting symbolism is load-bearing. we gotta stop letting disgust win

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saintobio · 10 hours

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plagiarism.

trust me when i say, this is the last thing i want to write on here. but i really, really want to stress the difference between being “inspired” by an existing work, to outright copying the plotline, the characterizations, and basically just rewriting the story overall.

i myself have so many inspirations when i write my fics, and i disclose what they are if i know that the plot will flow in the same way as a specific movie, or book, or manhwa i like. but word per word? plot per plot? i would never dare. and i try not to take inspirations from other fanfic writers, because i don’t want them to feel uncomfortable or that i am trying to take a piece of their hard work and transforming it into mine.

you know who you are. i don’t need to expose you. and i would never, ever wish to send hate your way.

but i saw a series that has the same exact formula as sincerely not, and that i had not been reached out to ask if it was okay to take “inspirations” from my series.

i understand that similarities can naturally happen between two fics. after all, there are so many existing fanfiction in this space that it’s not impossible to see the same ideas being executed in a story.

however, when you write a fic that follows the exact same flow, same themes, and same format as another fic, especially after saying you were inspired by “fanfic x”, then that tells a different story.

THAT IS PLAGIARISM.

arranged marriage? normal trope, sure. ceo gojo, again nothing new. but writing your first chapter the same how sincerely not went, writing their “first night” the same way i did, writing their “bora bora” trip the same way i did, creating a character exactly like sera, even down to eula and yuuta, and gojo’s abuse from his father, is no longer just being “inspired”.

that is stealing someone else’s intellectual property.

i have spent sleepless nights writing that series, building my plot, and molding my characters, only to see someone else write their own story using my ideas and it pains me that i have to keep writing about this here, and that it’s a recurring issue that keeps happening not only to me but to other writers on this app. please, all we want is for our hard work to be respected and appreciated without being stolen. this has become such a taxing issue to deal with and i am hoping, begging, that this be the last time i ever talk about this.

so please, respect the author’s work and do not steal.

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twilghtkoo · 3 days

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lunch notes

pairings. jungkook x reader (f)

genres/aus. fluff, established relationship, college au

notes. happy pride month to the lesbians, i hope u have an amazing and special month babes !! was inspired and had to quickly write this down bc i miss writing and i had the time. likes and reblogs are vv much appreciated and again HAPPY PRIDE MONTH <3

masterlist

—

“so what did your man write you this time?” your friend and classmate teases, nudging you lightly with her shoulder.

you roll your eyes and grab your bento out of your bag. silently excited to see how jungkook curated the food he cooked himself and especially, to see the note. if he left one.

despite his busy schedules and his late nights at the company, he still manages to pack you lunch when he can. of course, it’s not everyday but you cherish the days he does.

the zipper pocket inside your bag holding all the little sticky notes from him.

eat well before your exam baby ! i’m proud of you no matter the results… love you jungkook <3

cooked your favorite last night…kimchi fried rice :D have a good day baby, love you x jungkook <3

i knew you were gonna wake up late this morning, good thing i woke up earlier before u and packed ur lunch in ur bag already u even left the house in a rush without giving me a kiss, but i’ll forgive u if u eat all the food and make up for it tonight ( ◠‿◠ ) love you jungkook <3

i messed up the smiley face on the rice silly me, stupid scissors :( have a good day baby love you jungkook <3

yes i put extra carrots in here bc ik you hate them but u need to eat them hehe (￣∇￣) don’t be mad, eat them pls have a good day baby! love you jungkook <3

i think im doing a pretty good damn job making characters out of food now huh? u can praise me when u get home ＼(^ω^)／ love you jungkook <3

bet u gasped when u opened up ur bento huh ? cus i made ur favorite cus im the best boyfriend in the universe ;) spam onigiri !! made this with love, enjoy ur day baby love you jungkook <3

ooo something different than the usual, think i did pretty good for cooking western food as my first time:P enjoy ur cajun chicken pasta sexy love you jungkook <3

u were with me while we cooked this together and i was singing to you in the middle of the kitchen enjoy ur meal baby & have a good day love you jungkook <3

#twilghtkoo #jeon jungkook #jungkook fluff #jungkook drabble #jungkook fic #boyfriend!jungkook #jungkook oneshot #jungkook imagine #jungkook scenarios #bts fluff #bts drabble #ahh i love jungkook and i can picture him as the bf who packs his partner bento and leaving little notes D: oh dear help me

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deedeeznoots · 2 days

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Can we please get some hcs of Sukuna and reader in the fairytale AU 🥹🥹

Absolutely amazing writing I loved every single thing of it!💖💖

Cottage Life

Characters: Ryomen Sukuna, Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Genre: Fluff, Mentions of Smut

Content: MDNI, Established Relationship, True Form!Sukuna, Princess!Reader, Swearing, Mentions of Murder, Mentions of Smut

A/N: Hi Anon! Thank you for the kind words and the request, I’d love to do this. I’m so glad that people enjoyed my Sukuna Fairy Tale AU so I’m 100% going to explore the idea more. On another note, this is also my first ever request🥹 I’m giggling and kicking my feet at the thought of people enjoying my writing enough to want to request specific things for me to create so I just want to take the time to say if you have an idea for me to write anything specific please do not hesitate to ask! Thank you all very very much. :)

Synopsis: Small glimpses into your daily life with Sukuna in the deep woods. While not fully necessary to understand these little snippets, reading the beginning of your story with Sukuna would certainly enhance the experience. <3

ꨄ Pre-Relationship: Secret Meetings ꨄ

➼ When you first began meeting with him regularly he was pretty mean to you and ignored you most of the time when you tried to talk to him. Despite this, he always kept you by his side anyways and didn’t deter you from meeting him.

➼ One time you straight up asked him why and he said it was because you brought food to him. While you accepted that answer, you knew inside that wasn’t really the case because he would still keep you around even after you both ate.

➼ After warming up to you one of the things that you two bonded over was the nature in the forest. Sukuna would explain the wildlife to you since you were unfamiliar for a long time and he was to your surprise, a really good teacher.

➼ He was able to answer any questions you had and went over every detail that he knew about the woods and was able to keep things interesting.

➼ When you both spent that night under the stars he was serious when he tried flirting with you but quickly realized what he did so he tried to play it off as a joke (he couldn’t be caught being too soft, after all).

➼ Since he’s so much stronger and bigger than you (and literally everyone lol) he makes sure to be extra cautious and gentle around you because despite what he seems like, he doesn’t want to genuinely scare people, especially you.

➼ Speaking of, he has no idea why you aren’t scared of him and doesn’t understand why you act like the way he looks is no big deal. He doesn’t complain though and never mentions it to you.

➼ One of the reasons you’re not scared of him is because he has saved your life more times than you could count, and why would you be scared of someone who continually keeps you alive, most of the time at his own expense?

➼ “No, don't eat those berries, they’re poisonous…wha-what do you mean you already had five?!”

➼ He had to do some poison control that day… and it wasn’t very fun.

➼ Every time he saves your life he always tells you that he’ll just leave you next time but you know that’s not true at all.

➼ You would also always get injured for stupid reasons so he’d take care of your wounds like he did when you both first officially met (he’d laugh first though)

➼ One of the days you visited you realized you had a talent for making flower crowns so you would spend a lot of time with him doing it while you both talked and walked around the woods.

➼ You mostly gave yours to him as a gift

➼ He would grumble and act like he hated it but he would keep them on anyway and he kept all of them. After a while it grew into a small collection that he secretly cherishes.

➼ Sukuna secretly (though, it wasn’t a secret to you) loved these meetings, and your visits were the highlight of his day every time.

ꨄ Early Relationship: Locked Away ꨄ

➼ Sukuna was confused at first when you stopped visiting him after sleeping with him.

➼ He thought he did something wrong and you didn’t have a good time, or that he hurt you in some way.

➼ He tried to put on the tough guy act at first and tried to convince himself that he didn’t like you all that much anyways.

➼ Obviously, it wasn’t true and he’s a big softy on the inside so he gave into his temptations to see you.

➼ When he saw the guards by your bedroom window, he realized what happened, and remembered that you always had to sneak out to see him.

➼ Once he realized what actually happened he chastised himself for being so pouty and feeling sorry for himself instead of going to see you sooner.

➼ To make up for this he goes to look at you every day as you stand by your window.

➼ Eventually, you noticed him and you both would spend the whole day just sitting with each other from afar.

➼ Sometimes he would see you cry when he visited and his heart would break because he couldn’t wipe your tears away.

➼ He has resisted the urge to attempt to fight the guards by your window more than he can count.

➼ Only reason he didn’t was his fear of making things worse for you if he did.

➼ On the day of your wedding, he noticed that you weren’t by your window like usual.

➼ He learned his lesson about giving up on you too soon, so he decided instead of leaving you be, that he would go around the castle and look for you to see if you were okay.

➼ Too invested in finding you, he didn’t realize that he stood a tad too close to some of the guards of your castle, leading to him getting caught by them.

➼ That turned out to be a happy accident however, as they led him directly to you and gave you both the chance to run away together.

➼ He was secretly proud of you stabbing someone so easily, but he’ll never tell you that directly.

ꨄ Long-Term Relationship: Cottage Life ꨄ

➼ When you both first found the cottage in the woods, it was in very rough shape.

➼ It was dirty, barely had a roof, and there were broken windows everywhere. It was obvious that no one had lived there for some time.

➼ Well… one man’s trash is another one’s treasure, and you both worked day and night to fix the cottage after first finding it.

➼ You weren’t used to any physical discomfort at all, so it took a while for you to get used to these types of conditions. However, Sukuna always made sure to help you feel better.

➼ For example, one time it rained and you two got super wet inside your home due to the roof not being 100% secure.

➼ It was tough for you. Not only were the two of you wet, but the inside of the home you both spent tons of time fixing up was flooded now as well.

➼ Thankfully, Sukuna always found a way to turn unfortunate situations upside down.

➼ “Come on, let’s go play in the mud, you didn’t eat enough dirt as a kid”

➼ You both immediately felt better once you played in the rain together… especially when Sukuna would be ever the romantic and lift you up to kiss you as water droplets fell on both of you.

➼ After months of sweat and tears, the cottage was finally fixed and cleaned.

➼ It quickly became the love of your life, second only to Sukuna, and you both quickly settled into your humble abode.

➼ You would always wake up first which would give you a few moments where you could stare at Sukuna’s sleeping face

➼ This was your favorite thing to do every morning, because you loved his calm expression more than anything.

➼ Sometimes he catches you and as he opens his eyes he would sarcastically go “Don’t stare. It’s weird” and laugh at your blushing face.

➼ When this happens you would just lightly hit his chest and jokingly tell him to fuck off.

➼ You would always give him a nice long kiss first thing every morning though.

➼ Despite you no longer being a Princess, he always makes sure to pamper you like one anyways.

➼ For example, whenever you have a craving for something that can’t be found in the wild he would make sure to get it at any costs.

➼ This includes traveling hours to the closest villages and sneaking in to take their stuff.

➼ You always get mad at him for doing this because it could put him in serious danger, but he laughs and tells you it’s fine and that in all his time living near humans he was only caught once and it was because of you.

➼ To this, you roll your eyes but you thank him anyways for caring so much about you that he’d work so hard to satisfy such a small craving.

➼ Whenever you’re busy doing something, he makes it a point to catch you off guard and hug you from behind with his four arms.

➼ You’re never actually caught off guard and can sense him from miles away (he has very loud footsteps), but you pretend anyway to get him to keep doing it.

➼ Most days you both spend your time walking around and exploring the nature around you both. However, on particularly lazy days, you two spend most of the day just cuddling together.

➼ One thing that stays the same is that every night both of you look at the stars like the first night you two spent together.

➼ Unlike that first night though, Sukuna would always make it a point to go down on you while outside.

➼ Also unlike that first night, there was no pressure to rush home so you two would fall asleep outside under the stars.

➼ One time though, you woke up screaming when you found a giant bug crawling on you. Sukuna took the bug away but would always make fun of you for it whenever you both decided to sleep outside.

➼ Sukuna would tell you he loved you in the most random of times: Walking around, eating dinner, anywhere really. He would just look you in the eyes and quietly say “I love you”.

➼ This is always paired with small kisses all over your face that make you giggle because of how ticklish they are.

➼ Sometimes when you two are cuddling in bed he would randomly lick your back with his stomach mouth to make you jump.

➼ “What the hell Ryomen!?”

➼ “Hehe, sorry”

➼ You both discovered your hidden talents while living together, and Sukuna realized his talent happened to be dress making. He realized this after he made a little makeshift dress out of your wedding attire when he carelessly ripped it away.

➼ He was able to make you some pretty good dresses with the most random of cloth that he found around the woods. They weren’t the most formal, but they were certainly the best dresses you’ve ever had, being handmade by someone you loved.

➼ You once again tell him he doesn’t have to do all this but he makes you stuff anyway.

➼ “Who said it was about you? This shit is fun as hell!” which made you laugh.

➼ He now has to pay extra mind to not completely rip your clothes off during bed because you two no longer had an infinite void of clothing choices.

➼ In fact, he actually swung a little too far in the opposite direction…

➼ “Wait. Take it off carefully, I worked hard on this one. I SAID BE CAREFUL IDIOT–”

➼ Despite this, accidents still happen and sometimes he would rip them off in the heat of the moment anyways.

➼ Living together, you had to learn to do a lot of things related to maintaining a home like cleaning since you weren’t used to doing this stuff yourself.

➼ Sukuna told you that it’s fine and that he’d do it but you insisted that you should learn how to do things on your own now that you’re independent.

➼ Being the good teacher that he is, Sukuna would go on to teach you basic chores.

➼ He would still tease you sometimes while teaching you though. Such as one time when you accidentally burned yourself by the fire trying to make dinner and he laughed when you kept flailing your hand everywhere.

➼ He didn’t bully you for too long though, he was still worried of course. So, he made sure to heal the burns and help kiss them better.

➼ You’re still able to make those flower crowns like before, so you guys would make flower crowns for each other all the time, and this time Sukuna didn’t hide how proud he was of them.

➼ Everytime he gave you yours he’d give you a small kiss on the forehead before placing the crown on your head.

➼ You would try to do the same and would go on your tippy toes trying to reach him, but he’s hella tall so it doesn’t work.

➼ “Jesus, you are 9 ft tall”

➼ “Is that what they tell people? That’s not true at all” He would smile, crossing his arms as you attempted to jump up to place the crown on him.

➼ “Well whatever you are I can’t fucking reach you”

➼ He eventually lifts you up by your hips and lets you place the crown on him and give him his little forehead kiss.

➼ Whenever you two are together, he always has his hands on you (he has four of course, and he needs to put them to good use). Whether it’s placing your hand on his, or having an arm around your waist, one hand always had to be on you.

➼ You both have every meal together, from breakfast to dinner. They’re mostly quiet and you both just take the time to bask in each other’s presence.

➼ From this, you learned just how much Sukuna LOVES to eat.

➼ You noticed this already before of course, since your relationship started with you bringing him food, but you really notice it once you begin eating together

➼ Sometimes when he’s eating his food too quickly you tell him to take it easy in order to not upset his stomach

➼ In response, he’d point to his smiling stomach mouth and go “Does he look upset to you?”

➼ You’d just laugh at this point lol and leave him be with one last comment about how he seriously shouldn’t eat so fast

➼ He listens for a bit and takes smaller bites, but he goes right back into it after a few minutes.

➼ You weren’t great at cooking at first, but Sukuna didn’t really care and ate your food anyways

➼ “Don’t worry I eat anything, this is trash though” he’d say with food in his mouth, only half joking.

➼ Once you got better at the skill, he always insisted for you to cook or for the two of you to cook together since it tasted better when you did it (when you knew what you were doing, of course).

➼ Speaking of together… At first, you two tried to take baths together at the nearby river.

➼ Emphasis on tried, because Sukuna always got too excited seeing your naked body and you two weren’t able to get clean at all.

➼ Due to this, you decided it was best to bathe separately, to Sukuna’s dismay.

➼ Occasionally you still allowed him to join you, of course.

➼ Sukuna made love with you every time like it would be the last time.

➼ In the back of his head, he always remembers the time you were taken away from him right after you both spent a night together.

➼ With this in mind, he always makes sure to make each session one you’d never forget, and he always delivered on this promise, of course.

➼ He would always take care of you after of course, and always made sure you were okay.

➼ You were fine, but you passed out 99% of the time so he would wipe you down and make sure to cuddle you.

➼ He’s always worried about you being in danger again, but whenever he sees you asleep next to him he can’t help but think of anything but what he ever did to deserve you

➼ Of course, from the moment you wake up to see his sleeping face, you can’t help but think the same thing about him.

➼ Your life is a lot different now. Not only do you no longer have the title of Princess, but you’ve traded in your castle for a tiny cottage, and a crown for dirt-covered feet. Yet, you wouldn’t change it for the world… because for every painful burn and disgusting bug on you, is his smile, and that smile is worth more than any title.

A/N: Enjoyed seeing Fairy Tale!Sukuna? Just a reminder that if you haven’t read it yet, please feel free to read the story that these headcanons are based on!

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so-that-was-okay · 24 hours

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Tips for younger Bucktommy fic writers who're looking to write an accurate characterization, especially when it comes to Tommy (and this post is also for the people who think everything goes too fast with no build-up between Buck and Tommy):

Dating when you're in your 30s and 40s is very different. When you meet a decent person you're attracted to and with whom things go (very) well the first few times you meet, things can go very fast in a very simple way. You know yourself better and you know others better too. So the dating phase can be very short and things can move on to being a real couple and moving together quite fast (if that's what both want). Also, things go even faster when it comes to queer people. In short: less bullshit, more straight to the point.

Love != passion. Of course, it's a generalization but the "passionate" phase of the relationship doesn't last as long as when you're younger. The passion is still there but it's not burning hot, explosive, in the face of the world, "look at us how we loooooove each other", it's more tender. You can have a passionate relationship but it doesn't show the same way as when you're 20. Passion becomes like a slow cooked dish with rich and deep flavors, instead of the rush of an energy drink and 5 coffees in your 20s. Also, it doesn't mean Buck and Tommy can't fuck nasty.

We care less, about a lot of things. Again, it's a generalization and I'm also writing this with what we know about Tommy and Buck. Unless Tommy is hiding his game very well, his personality is pretty clear to me. Look at the date. It was a failure for Tommy, as a gay man who fought his own demons, and others, for years. Yet, he decided to be kind about it. Because in the end, it's not the end of the world. It hurts, sure, but that wouldn't be the first time and he didn't make it only about him. It was also about Buck not being ready. The coffee date was also a good scene. Tommy is almost nonchalant, open. I'm borrowing Ryan's words when he said "whatever happens happens". Tommy went through enough shit to not give this situation the drama that can be easily avoided. And it paid off.

Pouting, sulking, active display of real jealousy, acting like a child (and I insist on the "like a child" because adult can sulk, obviously) = NOT CUTE. AT ALL. I get that the infantilization of adults is very common in fandoms so younger people can relate, and because fic writers often write older characters with younger people in mind as references. But it's not a thing in real life, and when it happens, it's not "normal behavior". Of course they can sulk and pout, but not the same way as a young person would. It's a lot more subtle. Also, in the case of Tommy, he's been shown being very good at communicating what he wants and doesn't want. Buck will dance around the matter more, his frustration would probably show with him being agitated or anxious, being reckless too, because he's just like that, but not Tommy. Make them talk about their issues, even if they go through a period of frustration and miscommunication. Tommy should be the kind of man who will encourage Buck to grow and be better at sorting and understanding his feelings in a mature way but without treating him as a child.

Again, all this could help for an accurate characterization. Anyone is free to write the characters the way they want, go full OOC if you want, it's your fic. This post is just giving some tips!

#bucktommy #tevan #kinley #tommy kinard #evan buckley #good characterization is very dear to me #it's what will make me read a fic whatever the story is #and good characterization is really not easy to nail #also i'm not the authority of good characterization and how adults as a whole behave #so if anyone has anything to add to this please do!

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angstigone · 2 days

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𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 (𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩)

the title is a lyric from 'enter sandman' by metallica

𝗥𝘆𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗸𝘂𝗻𝗮 𝘅 𝗙𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲! 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 (𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗔𝗨)

(A/N): hello there, lovelies!

before going any further I'd like to tell y'all that this might be turned into a series if I feel like it and if you'd like to see more, pls don't forget to comment and reblog especially. such a thing always has me reading and writing faster and better!

(also this is based on a low key true story - not having an hot neighbor - but me being unable to sleep).

have a nice day!

SUMMARY: there's something sketchy from the apartment beside your own, with a child constantly wailing. when you finally get to confront your neighbor you find that he's tall, big and especially... hot.

«… I am your… neighbor». «I could have gathered that» he commented grumpily and flashing you a sharp smile. Shit, his canines were… quite sharp. You wondered briefly whether he went around ripping people’s throat with those, as dread set in your gut. Maybe he was just a serial killer who used children’s cries to prey upon his victims and you were there - sleep deprived and in a Mermaid Melody pajama - looking death in the face. «… saw you around».

WARNINGS: suggestive (sukuna makes some sexual jokes to reader), this is just banter, I had such a fun time with them bantering, modern au, afab character, she/her pronouns, pre-relationship, getting together, baby yuji being the fussiest baby ever, slight angst towards yuji's family situation, sukuna is a wrestler.

To say that sleep didn’t come easy to you would be an understatement.

As a light sleeper living in a crappy apartment complex on the middle floor, you were either startled awake by the early morning maintenance work or the crazy lady one floor above you who didn’t understand that she’d have saved up on neighborly glares if she had only finally gotten some hearing aids instead of blasting her TV at full volume either late in the night or early in the morning.

As if this situation wasn’t traumatic enough, somebody moved in the apartment next door and while the previous inhabitants had been students with a poor taste in music and too little money for good alcohol, you were by now sure that the fussiest baby in the whole world had moved in their place.

Everytime you came back home, he’d wail for a few hours - preferably late in the night - till you heard an ushering voice cursing underneath his breath in a clear indication of frustration.

Well, if his father was frustrated, you were ten times more and a bit worried: what could make a child cry so much?

Was it possible that despite the good reputation of the neighbor, somebody a bit… sketchy had moved?

The thought had you shuddering but your common sense was definitely weakened by the lack of sleep you had gotten since the wailing child had moved next door and you thought to confront the situation.

If anything to assure herself that you had at least tried.

You struggled with confrontation although - on the card at least - you were a fully grown adult and such an action would get you so many points with your therapist, although you needed a good pep talk and the reward of a steaming cup of hot cocoa in the morning before you brought yourself to knock on your neighbor’s door at one a.m. in the night.

You heard a curse and thought for a moment to bolt and blame it on the musician a few floors above who’d come late through the night from his ‘concerts’ - a pitiful ensemble of ten people, half of which his family, in a less than proper bar - but you eventually thought to hold your ground.

You were in the right: a few days of crying were normal especially with a younger child but it was by now a few weeks not to talk about the fact that it was past twelve and according to the apartment’s reglementations - which you hadn’t ever read but searched out to assure yourself you’d be in the right - it was by far an infringement of the laws against loud nois…

«What is it?».

You shouldn’t have been so taken aback by the rudeness with which you were greeted as a mountain of a man showed up, opening the door only halfway and regarding you in the - less than flattering - light of the hallway.

You realized only then that maybe showing up in your comfy pajama hadn’t been the best idea but it’d have been weird if you showed up fully clothed for work, wouldn’t it?

«Ahem… good… good morrow…» where was the whole discourse you had rehearsed while staring at the roof of your bedroom while the damned child kept on crying in the room right next to your own.

Or so it seemed.

«… I am your… neighbor».

«I could have gathered that» he commented grumpily and flashing you a sharp smile.

Shit, his canines were… quite sharp.

You wondered briefly whether he went around ripping people’s throat with those, as dread set in your gut. Maybe he was just a serial killer who used children’s cries to prey upon his victims and you were there - sleep deprived and in a Mermaid Melody pajama - looking death in the face.

«… saw you around».

Well, you hadn’t, and you doubted that you wouldn’t have noticed a man that was past six foot, with bright pink hair and a body that had you feeling things, that weren’t just fear and unease.

At least, you’d die horny, you had to admit.

«Oh» you shifted awkwardly thinking that it wasn’t too late to simply move back and pretend such a conversation hadn’t happened.

He might be thinking it was a whole dream when the cries quadrupled in intensity and you inwardly cringed as a buddy headache pressed on your temples.

Still, it had you regaining your strength and determination: this dude might be a serial killer, but you’d have committed a murder if he didn’t quieten the piercing noise.

«… listen, I don’t mean to… prod into your business…».

«Then don’t» he said, crossing his arms over his chest for a brief moment, before his hand went to the handle of his door, obviously intent on closing it «… it’s one a.m. in the late night. Some people do intend to sleep».

The slightly haughty tone - as if you were the one that made it impossible for this entire floor to sleep - was enough to send precaution to the wind as you adjusted your posture and came closer to the threshold of the apartment to block him from closing the door.

«Listen, whoever you are, I fucking need you to send that baby to sleep».

You expected, once your crass words left your mouth, to be at the very least flipped off because if this man seemed true to his own nature - a tatted body and crazy light in his marron eyes - he’d have at the very least cared little about your comment.

Still, it had you feeling lightly although it didn’t help with the noise in the slightest as the cries went further.

And yet, the man didn’t usher you away - nor threaten you - as a slight tired light shone in his eyes while he ducked his head low but for a moment of weakness, pushing his hands from the crossed hold over his chest onto his hips and squaring up, defensively.

«… if only it was that fucking easy».

«I do believe that it can’t be, but…» but had it been you, you’d have tried everything in the book - and on the Internet - to quieten a fussy child, while weeks were passing by and the sole improvement you got was wearing your noise canceling handcuffs throughout your nightly routine «… if I go another night without sleep, I swear that I’ll finally kill that bitch of Mark from accounting».

Although you were sure you might have sounded like a crazy person to anybody else, the man in front of you cackled at your bluntness and you should have definitely taken this as a sign that he wasn’t mentally stable.

«You think you are the only one who hasn’t been sleeping, sweetheart?» oh not the condescending petname that had you lightly clutching your thighs, and hadn’t you been sure that it was a trick of the light, you’d have believed he had noticed it much to your shame «… you don’t fucking live with the little screecher gobling».

«I live right next door and the walls might as well not exist» you protested not wanting to transform this into a pity competition.

«… well, they do exist or things would be funnier».

Had this arrogant asshole had the audacity to check you out?

In your Mermaid Melody pajama?

You were unable to fluster at the intensity of his gaze although you were quick to pout for his further amusement as he added.

«… I know that you won’t believe me, but… I have fucking tried anything. It’s like that fucking goblin has been set into crying mode since birth with no button to switch him off or lower the volume».

Well, if that wasn’t bad news and probably noticing your less than enthusiastic face the potential serial killer shot you a bawdy look:

«Want to have a go at trying to pacify him?».

«Well, it can’t be worse certainly».

You had meant it sarcastically, although again the lack of a filtering system between your brain and mouth due to your sleepy mind was enough was enough that the man grabbed your wrist - much to your protests, although you were aware that you were the soles ones on this floor and you doubted that anybody would have heard you in the floor above as they were all sleeping soundly - and brought you inside, closing the door behind you.

«Hey!» that’s how you died, because you had been a noisy neighbor. It seemed like the start of an Agatha Christie book and that was your sole consolation «… don’t… don’t fucking manhandle me!».

And you were far more startled when he was quick to release you at once as if burned by your genuine fear as he huffed lightly waiting for you to follow him as he set his marron eyes upon you with an hand on his hip, as a bothered mother waiting for her uncollaborative toddler. It definitely felt insulting and it did work in goading you to follow after him as you took notice of a tiny but cozy apartment.

Serial killers weren’t definitely ever what you expected.

«… maybe he needs a woman touch» your neighbor muttered as he came to an halt to a second bedroom - you had passed by his own on the house tour, noticing no dark walls nor altairs to some forgotten divitiny to which you’d be sacrificed later - as he opened it to reveal an actual child sleeping in an appropriate crib with also a fish-shaped lamp holder still lighted up as the child fussed around.

Although that little shit was the reason why you hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep in the past few days, you couldn’t help but feel your heart clench at the sight, as he obviously looked at discomfort and then an idea passed your mind while you turned accusingly towards your neighbor:

«Did you… did you kidnap him?».

It was the sole solution, although you did notice that the baby and him shared the same soft tuft of pink hair.

«What?!» he seemed so offended that you thought you’d be pushed out of the house with a single shove «Fuck no!».

«That’s what a kidnapper would say!».

«If I had to actually kidnap a child, it wouldn’t be the one that can’t keep his mouth shut» well, that wasn’t ominous in the slightest although the man’s quiet rage turned into something different as he passed an hand on the back of his head as if to pacify himself «… it’s my brother’s child. His wife is… she is not doing well… gave birth to the child and is now in the hospital. He’s staying with her and he, obviously, had me babysit it!«.

«That’s now an ‘it’» you felt offense on the child’s part «… that’s your nephew!».

«Tomato, tomato» your neighbor promptly shot back «… alright, want to have a go or are you just satisfied with having cleared up that I am not a child kidnapper?».

«The jury is still out on that one» you humored him although you did believe this weird stranger with arms that could easily choke you was the child’s nephew since as the baby was within your sight you could see the similarities «… can I… can I pick him up?».

Although he might not be a kidnapper, you still thought it’d be rude to pick up the sweet child - when he wasn’t busy wailing he was quite cute - without the adult’s consent, although you received a simple grumble of assent as the sole answer and you moved to gently cradle the child in your arms, startled by the sudden realization that you hadn’t ever hold a baby.

Professionally.

Cousins and siblings had been passed around to you but you hadn’t ever taken care of a baby with the closest being when you had babysat a few neighbor children through a date their parents had gone on ‘to save the marriage’.

Code for they were swingers who needed a night out and for their children not to know.

So, you couldn’t help but tense up immediately as you reminded yourself to hold the frail neck, while your eyes shot out to the one of the other adult in the room who didn’t seem to have any sarcastic comments for you especially as the child’s loud waning seemed to become far stiller till it became a soft breath.

«How the fuck…».

«Don’t curse in front of the child» one moment with that child and you were already feeling protective of his scrunched up eyebrows and sweet nose «… and I have no clue! I haven’t ever taken care of children that are so little!».

«… well, for a first-timer you are a miracle worker» the pink haired man commented, as he looked down at his nephew «… he never went under that swiftly».

A moment of silence - an awkward one - passed that you took as your cue to leave and go to your bed now that the little threat had been subdued, thinking that it had been a simple chance. Still, the moment that you made to lay down the baby in the crib it started fussing again and threatened to use his powerful lungs again.

«Shit» you cursed as the other man sent you a slight smirk before mouthing “don’t curse in front of the child” «… what… what are we going to do?».

«You have to hold him still he falls further asleep» well, thank you captain Obvious.

«I can’t» not only your arms would have fallen asleep but eventually the child would have realized that you weren’t… well, you weren’t his mother nor an angel. Or a miracle worker.

«Don’t tell me that you have plans right at…» and he shot a look at his watch «… one and half in the morning on a lovely Tuesday night?».

«Aside from being in my bed and sleeping without a wailing baby?» you shoved back the sarcasm as you also cringed at the realization that already half an hour had passed in what you had perceived as being such a little time «… not really, no. Thank you for asking, though».

«Listen…».

Although he had been but a cocky arrogant asshole, your neighbor finally broke his pretense as he pushed his hands in the hair promptly mushing it all up in an adorable mop that mirrored the one on the child’s head.

They were relatives without a doubt.

«… this is… this is the first time… in days… that he stops crying so… I’d… I’d appreciate it if you could stay… at least half an hour. The morning coffee is onto me».

«I don’t drink coffee» whether it was true or not, you were delighted in his surprised expression although you quickly surrendered to his idea.

Not that you were any eager to spend the time with him, no matter the fact that past the threatening appearance he was quite handsome, in a ruggish way that was simply aided by the fact that he took care of his nephew.

«… but alright. I guess… not that I have much choice».

«If your arms fall asleep, let me know, I’ll switch you for a bit» well, wasn’t he thoughtful and also quickly sufficing you with a chair as you adjusted the child swiftly in your arms to be a bit more comfortable and he hadn’t yet stirred «… by the way… not that this can’t get any more awkward, but I am Ryomen… Sukuna… and this is Yuji, my nephew».

«Lovely to meet you, Yuji» you acknowledged just the child while a light huff of annoyance appeared right on his face «… I am…».

«Nice to meet you, neighbor» it was probably the nicest he had ever been, although the asshole held out his hand quickly daring a look at you holding his nephew as if he expected you to do the two things at once «… saw you around».

«You have already said it, and it doesn’t make you sound any less creepy» you ushered back «… do you make it a habit to lure women into your cave with your cute nephew?».

«Not really» again that shitty smirk that made him at least ten times more attractive «… you are the first one falling for it».

«Haha».

«… in all truth, he is more of a huge cockblock» he went onto adding «… can’t bring women home if he’s all whiny».

«You shouldn’t bring women home at all, with a child!» you were probably the least proper person to give indications about being a parent, still, it felt quite obvious «… please tell me that you have other relatives that can take care of Yuji».

«Obviously if the burden has befallen onto my shoulder it can’t be that way» his grin was slightly more grim and bitter and you did feel a bit guilty at the suggestion «… my grandpa is a bit too tired to raise another child after my brother and me, especially»,

«Can’t blame him».

«And my brother’s wife’s family isn’t that near to Tokyo, so I am forced to take a break from fighting till Kaori gets better or that spineless of Jin gets a grip» he added harshly, as your mind zeroed on a thought.

«You… you fight?» oh that was definitely going to go well.

«Professionally, sweetheart» oh the patronizing petnames how little you had missed them «… you have in front of you one of the best wrestlers in all Japan. Used to be the champion of my category…».

«And then what happened? Broke a leg and that’s your villain origin story?» no way you’d have stroked this man’s ego, although this explained his huge muscles.

«You are a smartass, aren’t you?» he shouted back less amused «… maybe that’s why you get along with the shithead in your hold».

«Would it kill you to be nice to your blood relative?».

«Would it kill you to chill out?» he shot back as you simply regarded him with sarcasm.

«It’s the lack of sleep».

He grimaced letting you have the last laugh.

For the moment.

An awkward silence filled in as you couldn’t help but feel like maybe the banter - and the patronizing pet names - had decidedly been better than the awkwardness that spread especially as Yuji lightly fussed in your arms, turning onto his stomach adorably as he smushed himself into you.

«He tends to sleep a lot on his stomach, like Jin» you were startled by the slight fondness that filled Sukuna’s voice as you saw a tiny bit of affection «… this also means that when he farts and you are nearby to check onto him you get hit by a deathly gas».

«You are downright horrible».

«Ever been farted by a baby?» you shook your head «… then you can’t talk».

«I am holding your baby» and then swiftly realizing what you had said, you added «… I mean… well, I… oh well, I mean your brother’s baby».

Another silence threatened to loom onto the two of you as he begrudgingly spoke again.

«… what… what about you?» and at your confused look he added «… what do you do?».

«Research» you explained briefly unsure whether to give the story of your life to this weird stranger who got you flustered and annoyed «… library systems and such and before you say, I am - indeed - a nerd».

«I was going to ask whether you were a sexy librarian or a regular one considering what I have seen you wearing» you risked jostling poor Yuji at the startle due to his bold words.

«I am a boring librarian» you shut him down promptly, although he had by now noticed your embarrassment and was smirking openly «… and don’t try to make fun of it, full-time nanny».

That got him exasperated.

«… I told Jin it’s only temporary! A few months!».

«Whatever makes you sleep at night» you said without thinking at your words and lightly laughing at them, alongside Sukuna, only realizing right now that throughout this conversation your whole body had relaxed and although Yuji was starting to become heavy in your arms, your hold on him felt… natural.

«By the way» you were startled by the terrifying news that you were starting to fall for this ‘concerned uncle’ facade «… are you sure you never held a child? I… I’d say you are a natural».

«Is that you way of recruiting me as your personal nanny?» you retorted, a bit flustered by the praise.

«I could pay you good» he went onto commenting as you raised an eyebrow.

«I don’t take payment in nature».

«It shows» your ears felt heated as you fixed him an angry glare «… what? Just saying you are so wound up, pretty girl. I wouldn’t be surprised if you just needed…».

«Little ears are listening to us!» you protested promptly, going to gently cover Yuji’s ears «… God, he has no chance with such an uncle».

«I am actually the fun uncle, I’ll have you know!».

And your whole night proceeded like this, and although you were tired, slightly irritated and with a heavy baby - what did Sukuna make him eat? - in your arm, for the first night in weeks you fell asleep right on the chair with your neighbor plucking Yuji from your arms to set him in the crib again.

By now the child had fallen deeply asleep and he didn’t startle.

Neither did you when Sukuna adjusted a blanket around your shoulders as he wasn’t sure whether you’d be able to walk back home although your apartments were one against the other.

And you looked far too peaceful in your slumber, compared to the harshness that marred your features through your verbal spar.

Not that he minded, though. If anything, it was almost… reinvigorating to talk with somebody who could hold up his barbed wire, after having to deal with his nephew for the entirety of the day.

He gently shot Yuji one more look as he went to go to his own bedroom not wishing to startle either of you.“You scored a cute one, nephew” he muttered amusedly “... can’t believe that this is what I have been brought to do to get a girl’s attention”.

credits for dividers: @/saradika-graphics

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another-random-paradise · 22 hours

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Listen, I found your account by coincidence and it was the most beautiful coincidence.... Your writing is very wonderful and I am happy that the rq is open

so can i rq a hc about twst? Where the reader loves agriculture and have a garden in ramshackle where they grow flowers and some vegetables as a hobby, which impresses their friends?

Honestly I don't have any specific characters in my mind so you are free to choose any 4 characters or less (I love everyone, so I'll be satisfied with anyone.)

And of course you are free to accept my request or reject it🪷🪻🌻

Grown with Love

So sorry about the long wait!! School has been a lot recently ;( But thank you for the request and the kind words!! I don't have the greenest thumb, so the garden details are kept very vague-

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

Agriculture loving reader with a garden

Characters: Ruggie, Azul, Malleus

Format: Headcanons

Warnings: None that i can think off

Ruggie

-When he first hears about it, he doesn't care all that much; it's just a hobby to him. But because he cares about you, he listens to you talk about it!

-When you mention that you also grow food in your garden, that's when he gets interested! He's pretty curious about what kind of foods you grow, what kind of care they need, ect...

-He comes visit ever so often and watches you work, he likes how concentrated you look! That, and the scenery of your garden with all the different flowers and plants is a very pretty and relaxing sight, perfect for whenever he needs a break from Leona

-If you ever make him a meal with food from your garden, he will very simply adore you- He wants to eat it slowly to truly enjoy it, but also scarf it down because of how good it tastes

-Eventually, he tries to make a deal with you: He helps you out around the garden in exchange for some of the food you grow! If you accept, you best believe he'll give it his all, he makes sure to help you let your plants thrive! (Not that they don't already under just you're care <3)

-If you agree to the deal, he'll keep some of the food to bring home to his grandma and the kids of his slum during the holidays, so that they have something fresh to eat for once

-All in all, he really enjoys the scenery, and would love to help out!

Azul

-As you could have possibly guessed, even if the two of you are close friends, his first thought is money.

-He asks to sign a contract with you; you give him fresh food from your garden in exchange for proper payment and/or free meals at the lounge. Once again, your choice if you want to accept or decline!

-Aside from that, your garden does genuinely fascinate him! He grew up in the sea, he most likely hasn't seen most land plants, let alone the way they grow, so most of things in the garden are completely new to him

-He likes simply relaxing in your garden, watching how your different plants develop and grow, your garden becomes a bit of a save haven for him, whenever the twins or work stresses him out

-He often compliments you, wether on how good your work ethic is, how great your plants are doing, how beautiful your garden is, ect. And he does genuinely mean every one of them!

-He says he is at your garden so often, because it's a good getaway from his stress, but really your garden and all the unfamiliar land stuff just fascinates him

Malleus

-Your garden will permanently become part of his route for his night walk, if you allow it

-He is genuinely fascinated by your work, he loves the way your garden looks, and isn't afraid to praise you for it!

-If you have a flower or two that's native to briar valley, this man has stars in his eyes. He may give you a tip or two about how to get to thrive as greatly as they can, should you ask. they are definitely one of his favorite flowers in the garden!

-He'll take the food from your garden, or meals cooked with it, over any other meal any day of the week! especially if the other choice is lillia's cooking

-He says he can taste how much love and care is put into growing something, so your food logically tastes better to him than something grown and cooked as a job instead of as a hobby.

-During shared nightly walks or really just whenever the two of you hang out, it'll be a mutual understanding that both of you can freely talk about your interests!

-He'll tell you about gargoyles and you can talk as much as you want about agriculture

-If you mention having a favorite plant, or that you have one that you've been wanting to grow but just haven't been able too for whatever reason, he'll definitely get you the seeds and whatever else is required for it!

This was such a cute thing to write!! Did struggle a bit because i don't know much about agriculture despite living next to at least three different farms-

Feedback is welcome!! just be nice!

Hope you have a nice day/night <3

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ceaselesswatchersspecialboy · 1 day

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It’s incredibly disturbing to hear the characters talk about the idea of being watched through technology, of the computers listening to them. We knew it was happening, but hearing it acknowledged, especially when we are put in the place of those unwanted listeners, just as we were with TMA… it’s got a different feel to it.

I think there’s even more emphasis on it now.

In TMA, the feeling is certainly there, we are the things beyond the tapes, listening in, invading conversations. We are akin to the eye; we are the voyeurs. However, here, it goes beyond that. It isn’t just tapes, it’s the computers they work on, it’s their own personal devices, it’s a very intense invasion of their privacy, and the fact that there’s even a sound to indicate when they lie? That has some pretty fucked up implications.

The characters are starting to become aware that we are listening, if you think about it.

It’s one thing I love about the Magnus Series. By consuming the horror, we become it too.

And we will continue to do so, because we are horribly curious to see what comes next, even though TMAGP often puts emphasis on curiosity being a good way of getting yourself killed or put in harms way.

#tmagp #the magnus protocol #tmagp spoilers #tmagp 19 #tma spoilers #<- vague stuff about the tapes #but I know some people are listening to TMAGP without having listened to TMA so!!

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allthegothihopgirls · 3 days

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boy wonder #2. thoughts? (and prayers)

...i'm enjoying this series SO much, juni ba is seriously incredible.

i really love when we get a series that branches out from the usual art styles, like how they've also done with batgirls, and harley quinn. especially the colour palettes (which the boy wonder's one is BRILLIANT) like, that's what makes me really remember a comic series.

i also just LOVE juni ba's design for jason... i want to hold him in my hand and scrunch him up like a fresh piece of A4 paper.. he made him weird and gross and i LIVE FOR IT. other dc artists need to take notes. make him strange and fucked up more often!!

damian's KILLING ME.. going on about how much he relates to jason + sees his own story in his, i've been SAYING this!!!! i love seeing my own thoughts reaffirmed in the comics.

also the little details in jason's apartment, the grime and filth, the little "breathe slow" etched into the door, the cockroaches, the room with his 'past life', the implication that he has no life but his past life, and that he's nothing without what he was etc etc. SCREAMING

no matter how many times i see the same retellings of jason's story in different comic books... i devour it every time. i do love how he's being portrayed as still having somewhat severed connections to the family though, obviously refusing financial aid from bruce, living on his own, resisting the 'no guns' rule, and trying to repress everything he once was with them. not a fan of dc pushing the 'happy family' thing with jason just for the sake of the plot.

also the lazarus pit depiction, holy SHIT. giving full frankenstein, rotting corpse, decomposition, MUMMIFICATION. lab experiment gone WRONG. "like the torture started all over again" ARRRGGFFF

also the cigarettes and empty bottles on the floor, the scratching, the joker trauma + panic response to damian getting shot.. the people's jason honestly (i'm the people).. this comic's done more for his character in one issue than what dc has been able to manage in YEARS.

#at least there's one comic doing him right atm #don't even want to talk about batman 148.. that was so stupid #jason todd #red hood #the boy wonder #the boy wonder spoilers #damian wayne #robin #dc comics #dcu #dc #asks #where-that-old-train-goes #!!!!!!#gothihop speaks

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visenyaism · 17 hours

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the thing about preemptive hotd season 2 doomerism is 1) The leaks seem wacky, but there are so many conflicting ones and they all inherently exist without any of the context and setup that might make those decisions make any lick of sense and 2) fire and blood is simply not that good. It is straight up bad in some portions. deviations from the source material are not inherently bad especially when it’s mid. House of the Dragon is inherently better simply by being an actual story with actual characters instead of just bones.

#hotd #asoiaf #i’ve gotten like 100 asks about how season two is gonna be terrible #my goal is still have fun if I’m not having fun I’ll just stop watching it

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canonizzyhours · 2 days

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I'm a professional screenwriter. I know nobody reading this has any reason to believe that, and I work pretty hard to keep my fandom activity separate from my professional identity, so I'm not going to offer any proof that would doxx me here, believe me or don't. But it's true and I don't just mean I'm trying to get hired as a screenwriter, I mean I am pretty well established in the industry and I've worked on some stuff big enough you've probably heard of it. I've also been active in OFMD fandom for about two years now, since nearly the beginning.

The canyon really freaks me out because seeing it up close makes me worried I've drastically underestimated audiences' empathy gap around characters of color and tendency to sympathize with and excuse the actions of white characters. I've always tried to be conscious about that sort of thing in my work but now that I'm seeing the whole process up close it's so much worse than I always thought.

I think a lot about what I would have done during season 1 of OFMD, if I were in the writers' room and I'd wanted to make sure it would be clear to the audience that Izzy was Ed's abuser and wasn't acting out of secretly sympathetic motives and we're supposed to be genuinely horrified by his actions. I'm in writers' rooms workshopping issues like this all the time. I know the kinds of suggestions I'd make.

Like, if we were worried that the audience would think Izzy's hostility toward Stede was about class instead of homophobia, I might have suggested we make sure Izzy's dialogue never has any reference to Stede's class at all, and that we might do a subplot in one episode where Izzy is equally hostile toward Lucius, since Lucius clearly isn't rich but is extremely gay. But that already happened, and it didn't help.

If I wanted to make sure the audience understood that Izzy is bossing the crew around and screaming at everyone to work harder because he's a petty little bully on a power trip and not because the work actually needs to get done, I might have suggested a scene where Izzy deliberately makes a mess on purpose just so he can order the crew to clean it up. But that already happened, and it didn't help.

If I wanted to make it clear that Izzy has always been awful toward everyone around him -- especially his colleagues of color -- since long before the show started, I might have suggested we repeatedly emphasize throughout the season that while Fang is willing to work with him, he doesn't like or respect Izzy and this is because Izzy has always treated Fang very badly. Have him pull on Fang's beard for no reason and have Fang explicitly say he hates that but knows it wouldn't help to complain. Have Fang tell strangers jokes about times Izzy humiliated himself in public. Have a scene where everybody unanimously VOTES TO MURDER IZZY and someone explicitly stops to ask Fang if he's cool with this and Fang explicitly says yes this is absolutely fine with me and then he actively participates in the murder plan while smiling. But all of that happened and I still see the canyon insisting that Izzy was a much nicer person before the events of s2 when he wasn't under so much stress and has always been liked and respected by the PoC around him, including specifically Fang!

If I were worried that the audience might take seriously the idea that Izzy is motivated by "loyalty to your captain" -- well, honestly I don't think it ever would have occurred to me to worry about that, since he says that in a scene where he's in the middle betraying his captain and I'd probably assume people are capable of picking that up and understanding that when someone says they're abusing you for your own good you should not believe them. But if someone else insisted we address the concern, suggestions I'd make would include: make sure some of the first interactions we see between Ed and Izzy involve Izzy complaining about how he doesn't want to do the job Ed just gave him, then half-assing the mission and lying to Ed's face about it. Show Izzy deliberately undermining Ed to the crew by telling them he's half-insane, then insist to Ed that he's the only one keeping the crew loyal when they're worried about his judgment. But they did that stuff and we still have people thinking Izzy's central motivation throughout season 1 is selfless devotion to Ed.

The show did every single thing I would have suggested, and none of it worked. So what does it say about all the stuff I've already worked on, whenever I've written a scene where a white guy was being a dick to characters of color? Have I just been embarrassingly naive this whole time? Have I undermined my own work by not getting this?

You can't control audience reactions, I know that, that's part of what's great about art, you have to let go and accept that people will interpret things in ways you never intended, I get it. But if it's THIS impossible to choose words that will create the kind of feelings you meant to, what's the point? Is it even possible to write about the kind of abusive relationship Ed and Izzy have, where the white guy thinks he's entitled to control a brown man's life "for his own good" and that the brown guy is obligated to be grateful and reciprocate his "love" and not have a huge group of people creating elaborate justifications for the white guy? What else could they have done? What else can I do, when I'm writing about characters of color? I'm seriously asking. If anybody reading this has advice I want to hear it. What could I do?

#408.

#ofmd #izzy hands #edward teach #fang #lucius spriggs #fandom critical #canonizzyhours

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kdinjenzen · 1 day

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There are aspects of fandom culture that bewilder me to a wild degree sometimes.

One of the biggest of these is “Loving/Believing A Headcanon So Much That You Treat It As Fact”

I love headcanons, have a lot of them myself, but I never push them to the point of “this is an ultimate truth and anyone else is just wrong” level of things.

And yet I see that a lot and it makes me wonder what people whom haven’t experience that particular media and are excited by these “Spoken As Truth Headcanons” feel when they start a particular series and are ultimately let down because the “Truth” turned out to be Headcanon and the Reality is so unlike what they were sold.

A recent example of this would be the insistence that Falin from Dungeon Meshi is fat.

I’d love it if she was. I’d be screaming from the rooftops at how amazing that would be.

But she’s not fat. Even in her Chimera form, she retains her skinny anime girl waist.

And, I dunno. If I hadn’t already read everything before the anime showed up and the fandom space for it exploded, I may have (at face value) believed that she could have been fat by all the posts about it and gotten really excited. Especially with how many “Falin is a perfect cosplay for fat/larger trans women” posts there are. Only to be entirely disappointed the moment I actually saw her for real.

Anyway. This is why I can never trust when someone says “it’s a queer story” or “it’s about (an important subject matter)” or “the main characters body types are so diverse” to me. I literally don’t trust blind recommendations and haven’t for over a decade now because every time I DO blindly trust it, I get hit with the “oh it was just their headcanon, not the actual text” brick and, no matter the quality, immediately drop the thing out of disappointment.

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2sw · 2 days

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hey guys. I don't mind people reposting my gifs on other sites to express their own love for sam, I love to see it actually, but please do not use mine for archive/gif accounts. thanks xx

#you might wonder what's the difference but it actually is different #especially when the archive account is for the show not just one character #the thing is. I don't like that I can't choose who can or can't access my gifs #I know it's inevitable when you share things online but at least I can block people or hide their tags here #which I rarely do but still I'm holding onto that illusion of control. please let me have it😭😭😭#the things I've seen in my notifs... and how some people talk about sam in general...#I just have serious trust issues with this fandom sorry 😭#also there are reasons why I decided to post gifs on tumblr even tho I'm more used to twitter #so pls don't give me more things to worry about. this website alone is already too stressful lol #slowly realizing I'm not made for this shit...... I sincerely admire all sam stans who's been around here longer than me #it's only been like a year and a half and I'm already falling apart... :)

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exhausted-archivist · 2 days

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Common Fanons That Are Confused As Canon

Through my time of collecting lore and learning things about Thedas I've come across a couple things of fanon that leaked into lists of canon elements. Which was an interesting little thing to follow the rabbit hole of where they even originated. While making this list I did ask others for any that I might have missed or not seen because I wanted to be thorough as I could when even making this list. I haven't been in the fandom long enough to see all the things that have come up.

To be clear, I thought it was neat to see what became so pervasive in the fandom to become easily mistaken as canon or misunderstood. I'm also not discussing whether canon as it stands is "good" or judging the fanon or anything like that.

I just wanted to put it all together in a list, especially as I have had friends who were getting into the series and ask about certain things; as well as Dragon Age Summer hitting us soon and new interest in the series abound.

General

Mages can sense other mages The closest source I can find to this is the fact that Anders states that he can "feel the power in you". No other mage states anything similar and could likely be attributed to the fact that he is possessed. Much like how Cole can sense your magical connection as an Inquisitor. An outlier is how Keiran can sense your magic regardless of if he has the Old God soul; but he is also not confirmed to be a mage as of yet.

All Saarebas always have their lips sewn shut/horns cut off This seems to originate from da2 specifically, with the model of Ketojan having the scarring, the other saarebas missing horns, the concept art, and then boils down to BioWare being inconsistent with their lore/depictions. Most of Thedas fixates on the fact that the Qunari have saarebas with their lips sewn shut, the Seer's yarn tale denotes that tamassrans tell the story of a saarebas with their lips sewn shut, the tarot art for Saarath, and the flippant joke between Sera and Iron Bull. But, the lore specifies that it is in extreme cases or in general that it can occurs but it is not the standard. [WOT p. 103 & 128] Much like tranquility, it is used as a form of punishment - one that we know can and is abused by certain factions. We also see saarebas characters in Inquisition who do not carry either of those traits. Specifically Hissera (multiplayer), Saareth (Trespasser), Heroes of Dragon Age models, and some Qunari in da2.

All Saarebas have their tongues cut out This is seperate from the previous point due to the different source of this fanon. It seems to be an exaggeration of one particulare line from Sten. In dao, Sten will state during the Broken Circle quest that "This is why we cut the tongues from mages, in Par Vollen." He is very general with the statement, but contextually it is reasonable people took this to mean all mages. However, since dao it has been made clear that it is not a universal practice throughout the Qun.

Elves are shorter than humans This one does have a clear point of where this started, though it is never stated in lore, back in Origins elven models were universally shorter than humans. But from DA2 onward, male elves were only shorter than their human counterparts of the same sex while female elves are shorter than both human sexes. Fenris is taller than f!Hawke while both forms of Hawke are taller than Merrill. Solas, Abelas, and a m!Lavellan are taller than female human characters but all human characters are taller than female elves (except Sera who has a female human model).

Dalish are illiterate This is a little less clear to me where its origins started. Perhaps based off of medieval period history (which da isn't necessarily medieval in time period) or due to the fact that most common folk in certain regions in Thedas are illiterate and reliant on pictures over written words. But we know from the Witch Hunt dlc that the Dalish keep tomes of their history and of the ancient elven empire. They also actively translate ancient elven script for their own records. Whether this is role restrictive or not is unclear, but we do know that the Dalish are literate in both Common and semi-literate in ancient elven script.

Dalish and City Elves don't have contact This seemingly comes from a misunderstanding stemming in the city elf origins in dao where some npcs will comment on how Dalish might be myths. However, in dao, da2, dai, the comic Knight Errant, and the novel The Masked Empire, that elves from both sides do semi-regularly trade people with each other if not visit certain alienages, as well have other points of contact with each other. Pol, Zevran, Coran (Vaea's uncle), and potentially Feynriel are all city elves that join Dalish clans. Merrill and Arianni are known Dalish who join alienages.

City elves are genetic/physical differences from the Dalish elves This one I have seen around a lot, most stemming from the idea of the previous one that the elves in the city are generations apart from the Dalish, implying they have no contact with each other. Which could be true for certain alienages. But as far as lore is concerned there isn't any example of this, not even as being a point of reference for the Dalish to consider any of the aspects as to what makes them "less of an elf" in comparison to Dalish.

Elves pass on their elven traits Most seem to know this isn't canon, albeit one of the less popular canon elements; but new fans don't always know this. It is popular fanon to give half-elven children the reflective eyes, smaller stature, more angular features, straighter nose bridge, and/or pointed ears from their elven parent.

Only elves can have mixed kids with other races This seems to come from the fact that elven traits aren't passed on to their kids when mixed parentage is involved. However humans, dwarves, and vashoth can all have mixed kids from the other races. According to Patrick Weekes, this decision was made consciously to avoid very racist and harmful rhetoric. We know of many elf/human mixed kids: Alistair, Eiton, Feynriel, Gestan and Thale (residents of elven area of Halamshiral), Kieran (conditions), Michel de Chevin, Rinnala, "Sabina's Brat" (son of the elven prostitute Sabina at the Blooming Rose), Slim Couldry, Tainsley (Potentially. Is described as a 7'(2.13m) human, though he references a Dalish uncle.) While mixed dwarf children are rare simply due to dwarven fertility issues we do know of two dwarf/human kids: Keiran (conditional) and the child of Tyrdaa Bright-Axe(Avvar) and Hendir (dwarf).

Elfroot leaves get you high/is Thedosian marijuana This is another Origins era thing, due to an easter egg that made a play on the American "This is your brain on drugs" anti-drug campaign using elfroot. This was then repeated in 2015 when Patrick Weekes said that its medicinal properties were rediscovered in 4:20. [Source] Elfroot hasn't been shown to get anyone high in canon, it is the roots that are primarily used as medicinal. In World of Thedas (WoT) vol. 2 the recipe for Dalish Deep Forest Comfort says you can substitute elfroot for spinach making the leaves more vegetable in quality. That said, marijuana leaves are edible and rather nutritious. They just don't have the chemical make up to induce a high. Those lie strictly in the buds. According to Origins, elfroot does flower though.

Red lyrium is completely different and more dangerous from blue lyrium This one is all on BioWare in regards to this misconception. Because while yes, it is more dangerous than the blue lyrium, they aren't two seperate substances. More that red lyrium is a branch off. To cover the generals of the written lore of lyrium it breaks down like this: Blue lyrium in it's raw form innately toxic to just be around to all but dwarves, however it will kill a mage who gets too close in proximity. That proximity being within the same room while non-mages would have to touch the stuff. It also has a pension of self-combustion without warning or a clear cause. When it is refined down for templar use it is "safe" for non-mages to come in contact with and consume. Whether this level of refinement is the same level as what is used to make various cocktails and liqueur is unclear. But we do know that getting too close, being in same room as lyrium refined to this level, is enough to make a mage sick. Finally, we have the most refined and diluted stage of lyrium, this is used by mages to make potions, certain alchemical work, and other things. This isn't enough to kill a mage, make them sick (without extreme over use), and infact can result in positive outcomes for a mage. Red lyrium overlaps with most of that, with a couple key differences. First off is that red lyrium doesn't seem to self-combust. There is some contradiction on whether or not non-dwarves can mine it as due to game mechanics you can destroy it, but the only ones we see mining wild nodes are dwarves. But if the red lyrium is grown from a living creature it seems accessible to all races? In codices about the various types of red templars, we learn that a small vial around a templar's neck is enough to make all the mages in the area around him sick.

Character Specific

Alistair

Alistair is a dog person I couldn't track any clear origins for this, it seems to be a case of overlap with the stereotype that "all Fereldan's love dogs" and a mix of building off of a line of dialogue about him being raised by the hounds and them being his family. However, he doesn't seem overly one way or the other. He mocks dog at times, talks down in not such a playful way, and at times seems to treat dog with the same attitude he does Morrigan though not as blatantly. This could be chalked up to his joking nature though.

Alistair's obsession with cheese While he does admit to an obsession to cheese, it is often cited that Alistair makes a ton of cheese jokes in dao. When in truth he only makes four through out the entire game. Given his joking nature it is up to personal interpretation of how much he actually loves cheese.

Alistair and Cullen knew each other before Origins This is more specifically that the two went to the same monastery for their templar training. There is no canon evidence for this though. That said, there is a possibility due to not knowing much of anything about how the Templar Order trains its recruits nor the amount of monasteries they have in Ferelden for training.

Alistair collects toy soldiers This seems to come from the gifts he can be given during the Feastday dlc. Canonically he is given runestones and carved statuettes of various types stone. These statuettes are described in a manner closer to effigies than toy soldiers.

Alistair's mother is not Fiona This one is a bit funny as it has multiple origins and is dependent on the player's experience with the series. From what I have gathered there seems to be one of three sources: - People who never read the Dragon Age novel The Calling - People who read The Calling after playing dao and feels like it is a retcon (though The Calling was released prior to the release of dao, same with the novel The Stolen Throne) - People who take a "chuck the baby with the bathwater" approach to the lore The funny thing about this is that the cover story in dao for Alistair's mom is based off a combo of things; the hypothetical scenario Fiona told Maric and answers she gave Maric when he asked what to tell Alistair if he asked about his mother. The hypothetical was that Fiona would not return to the Circle and would hide from the templars and pretend to be a washer woman. When Maric asked what to tell Alistair of his mother, Fiona said to tell him his mother was human as she did not want him to deal with being half elven and all the stigma that comes with that as well as to tell Alistair that she was dead.

Avaline

Aveline is straight She will kiss Hawke regardless of gender and ask them if they ever considered her and them. Though it is clear she never had romantic interest in Hawke in particular. An easily missed aspect I think given the general opinion of Aveline as well as most people seeming to not choose the flirtatious option with her.

Blackwall

Blackwall doesn't have a sense of humor This one genuinely surprised me considering he jokes with Sera, The Iron Bull, and Solas. His banter shows as much that he does have a sense of humor and tells jokes. But it does seem pretty common of a fanon characterization for him.

Dorian

Dorian paints his nails His model doesn't have painted nails in game, but it is a popular fanon. There is nail polish in Thedas though. It's mentioned in the novel Masked Empire as well as the novel Last Flight. It seems to be of Anderfles origins, but given the Last Flight is post Orlesian occupation, it could originate in Orlais.

Lady Mantillon said, tapping an elegantly lacquered fingernail on the polished wooden arm of her chair, “we will fail, or we will be killed. Neither is acceptable.” - Masked Empire, Chapter 17 p. 362 Every one of her fingers glimmered with a jeweled ring, and her nails had been freshly lacquered. - Last Flight, Chapter 13 p. 144

Fenris

Lyrium can be drawn from Fenris' tattoos There is no mention of this being possible in da2 or any of the subsequent media. There isn't even mention of others being able to sense the lyrium in his tattoos or even mages getting sick around him as they sometimes will dependent on the concentrations and/or purity of lyrium.

Fiona

How Fiona was cured of the taint This comes from The Calling novel, where it isn't ever clarified what actually removed the taint from Fiona. The common fanon is that it was either the mentioned brooch, or that by having Alistair. That it was by having Maric's son who has Great Dragon blood due to being of the Theirin bloodline that cured her. However, in the novel she is very clear that the mages at Weisshaupt aren't sure what cured her. She only offers one explanation that the Grey Wardens theorized and trails off before saying what the second one was.

“It’s gone,” she said flatly. “The mages at Weisshaupt weren’t sure if it was because the First Enchanter’s brooch sped things up artificially, or... at any rate, all the corruption vanished. They don’t think it’s going to come back, either. There was test after test, but they think I may be the first Grey Warden that never has to endure the Calling again.”

Hawke

Hawke is stabbed by the Arishok This fanon likely came into being due to one of the moves the Arishok has where it will leave you almost dead. So a bit of canon as it is in his move set, but fanon in the idea it is something that always happens in canon.

Unable to confirm if Fanon, Canon, or a mix of both

Teagan marries Bella, the barmaid from Redcliffe This one goes back really far and is hard to tell if it is a case of mistaken identity and association, or a really buggy option for the epilogue, or isn't actually a possibility. What I can confirm is that Teagan does have a woman he can marry given certain conditions are met in dao, but it is actually Kaitlyn, the sister who's brother goes missing in Redcliffe. If you properly compensate her for her grandfather's sword she'll open up a foundry in Denerim and will marry Teagan after having known him for a few months. According to this thread, you have to get Kaitlyn to move to Denerim with her brother, make Bella the maid to Teagan and in the ending slide Teagan and Bella will get married. Though I haven't been able to confirm that this is possible. (If you have a screenshot/video of this slide and know how to trigger this please let me know) This is also not an option mentioned in the Keep, however neither is Kaitlyn's. Which isn't surprising given some of the ending slides that were not direct player choice (ex) choosing Orzammar's king) are mostly cut from canon.

#dragon age #meta #dragon age fanon #dragon age origins #dragon age 2 #dragon age inquisition #the calling #dao #da2 #dai #Let me know if you have any you think I should know about #I thought it was interesting to collect the fanon I kept seeing and put it all together while tracking down it's origins.#This has been sitting in the drafts for ages but I will keep collecting others in a separate post

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