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quitealotofsodapop · 4 months

Note

(resending because it looks like some of my asks got deleted)

[Im uber excited to read more your fic btw!]

I'm glad that you're excited for the fic! I'm going to split up the story arcs into their own fics and turn it into a series! book 1 will feature Wukong's journey and following isolation up to a hero is born.

[...Peach chips at least dont seem to trigger the worst of his food adversion though, the crunchy chip texture seems to cancel it out.]

at least he can still get the flavor through the chips

[...So the idea that MK potientially remembers Wukong from this time is a huge shock to him.] + [MK, clueless: "Umm... their hair was a warm orange-y color. Like the sun. And I think their eyes was this really shiny yellow, or maybe amber colour? Oh! And they had this round stomach - I remember hugging it..." *gets kinda wistful* "I don't know why I'm not with them anymore, but hope they're doing ok if they're still out there."]

upon learning that MK kinda remembers him Wukong def feels guilty about not being able to raise himself, especially with the fact that MK doesn't hold anything against his "birth mother" for giving him up.

but then MK being a monkey comes out of the bag in s4 and MK and Wukong actually get to talk about it. it's a very emotional conversation, with Wukong having come to terms while in the scroll about all of his reasons for not being able to raise MK, and MK just being the sweetest most understanding boy ever, even if he wishes he could have known sooner. they come out of that conversation stronger.

what if after MK learned he was a monkey when he and Macaque go into the scroll to get Wukong they stumble upon a memory of a tiny baby monkey that looks like his monkey form cuddling into Wukong's stomach like MK remembers doing with his "birth mom" and that's how he realizes that Wukong was the person he thought was his mom. when he faced the scroll's curse he got flashes of his life before the noodle shop, but nothing that revealed anything about his birth mom except the small flash of Nuwa, so the sudden, proper reveal still takes him by surprise. he also stumbles upon the memory of Wukong crying as he makes the decision to and give away MK.

[Wukong def was hit hard by Ao Lie's passing. It pains him to give the godparent title to anyone else...]

In a way, giving the title to anyone else probably feels like the final straw of admitting that Ao Lie really is truly gone. but admitting that finally means learning to let go, allowing Wukong to grow and heal from his grief which in turn will lead to him isolating himself less. character development ya'know, and in the end he probably feels like moving on is one of the best things to honor his late brother's memory, Ao Lie would want him to move on and find joy in what he has now.

[...PIF just looks over at Red Son, alive and healthy, and just hugs Wukong the next time she sees him.]

Wukong is def very confused when he and DBK go to tell PIF that they have a plan to stop the bone demon but it involves giving the fire back to Red Son, and before he can even say hi she has him in a bear hug. he isn't used to this, he is very confused.

[And when Yuebei is born having "imprinted" on Wukong's yearning/love for Macaque...] + [Both monkey parents are sobbing, especially when they learn that Yuebei was unconciously trying her best to look like Macaque's baby with the limited genetics available. Wukong has multiple centuries of love to dish out, and Macaque is catching up fast.]

Macaque, as happy as he is that she looks enough like him that he can pass as the baby-daddy, def feels a bit guilty upon learning that the only reason that is is because of how how much Wukong missed him after he left. he loves being a parent to Yuebei, but as much as he loves people assuming that she is his their likeness also serves as a reminder that he wasn't there.

he has a lot of time to make up for, and he plans on getting right on that.

[PIF: *seeing the baby's dark fur and glowing ears* PIF (whispering so not to wake the baby): "I fcking knew it." Macaque: *is too tired/proud to argue with her* "Yeaaah..." :')]

Macaque is honestly just happy he's allowed to be involved in baby's life.

[Red has no idea what to do in response to all this baby talk, so he just; tries to apologise to SWK for setting him on fire a bunch as a toddler??] + [Mei, PIF and Jiuweihuli get talking and soon Wukong is looking at a baby shower akin to a red carpet event.]

hey, it was a delicious cake. though Wukong is pretty sure cakes aren't supposed to be spicy.

the attention Mei and the older ladies are giving him over the pregnancy is honestly a little overwhelming at times due to how unexpected it is. especially from PIF and Macaque's adopted mom figure, he'd thought the two of them would be far more mad about mac dying then anything else. he does apologizes to Jiuweihuli about bonking her over the head that one time when he was hormonal and stressed when they get a proper chance to talk.

[You'd honestly be more afraid of that baby.]

absolutely.

if the infamous "god killer" is set to show up and then you learn that the god killer is the child of the Sun Wukong, menace to the heavens, and earned her title before she was even out if the womb, that is terrifying. imagine what she'll be like when she gets older and starts combat training.

[like turning the Medusa's head into a shield.] +[Her staff being a gift from her parents that has no inate magic ability beyond the fact that she puts her trust in it as her first "real" weapon.] + [I can imagine she uses a glamour/quick magic to put the skull/mask on (like Dr Facillier in "Friends on the Other Side") as a way of saying "You're f*cked" to her opponents.]

the medusa comparison is awesome and on point!

I love idea she puts so much trust she puts into the staff because it was her first proper weapon. I feel she also puts a lot of trust into it because it's from her parents.

I love the Dr. Facillier comparison, I was thinking of her swishing her mask on like a miraculous lady bug transformation.

[I'm excited to see how your drawings go!]

I'll be sure to share soon!

[Wukong and Macaque are def panicking, though its more an excited kind of panicking. Nezha and MK are def screaming. Guanyin is the only one with a cool head the entire time.] + [Pigsy is good at pretending he isn't worried, but he ends up tearing apart the campsight's kitchen in a hurry to make enough food for everyone.]

everyone is panicking, just to different lengths. Wukong for his own sake is trying to keep his excitement to a manageable level, Macaque is notably not, portaling warm blankets and pillows and water and towels to the campsite or wherever the end up settling for Wukong's labor to play out (i like to think Guanyin takes everyone to the south sea). Mei and MK are shaking each other and screaming while Red Son tries to calm them down, Ne Zha is running around doing everything Guanyin asks of him to keep himself distanced from hyperventilating. Tang is torn between trying not to be sick and writing about what's going on, Pigsy is already tearing apart the kitchen, and Sandy is politely calling the Demon Bull parents to let them know where they are, that they're all safe, and that the baby is on the way! while keeping LBD's host preoccupied.

[Especially when DBK and PIF realise what's happening, and are posted incase Wukong's baby causes as much trouble for him as Red did to them.]

the bull family are on their way the second they hear about what's going on. they aren't missing the birth for anything, and they wanna be there for their family. also they need to check in on Red Son

[Guanyin has a secret stash in the Southern Ocean of all the letters and tapes (and even some drawings of what she might have looked like) Wukong ever made for Yuebei, in case he wasn't able to give them to her in person. Yuebei ends up finding them when she's a moody teenager, mad at her baba for something stupid.]

Guanyin is there to go through all them with her, Yuebei is amazed at much her baba loved her well before she was ever born, even if it becomes a little bittersweet after she learns that he could have died for her to be born and was willing to go through with the pregnancy anyway, for the sake of the baby he loved so much he may have never been able to meet. when she goes home she gives her baba a big hug. Yuebei: *walks into to the house* BABA Wukong: *not expecting her back so soon* oh! Yuebei, are you okay, I'm sorry about the fight earlier I was- Yuebei: *tackles him into a hug, muffled talking with her face buried in her Baba's chest* m'sorry, I love you. Wukong: *a little surprised but happy* love you too little one ps: what do you think Wukong would use as an affectionate nickname for Yuebei in this au? also, at what point do you think her name was decided on.

[Pre-series; In absense of any other godparent... I bet Wukong would have trusted Yuebei with Guanyin if possible. The goddess would have gladly taken the infant had Wukong not survived the birth, though it would pain her for many centuries to come.]

they absolutely would, even if looking at Yuebei would always be bittersweet long after it stopped actually hurting whenever she saw Wukong in her. I feel like in the event she was left in Guanyn's care, Guanyin wouldn't hide her parentage, and the first time Yuebei asks about details at like 10yo or something and they spend the next few hours going through the things Wukong left for her (except for anything specifically for certain dates/milestones).

[Once the relationship between Wukong and Mac improves, so does the baby's reaction to Mac's voice (symbolism). She finally starts to associate the "bad" voice with her bama, and soon it's not a "bad voice" anymore. Though there probably is a weird bridge-point where Mac has to put on silly accents/voices when he baby-talks to Yuebei or else she'll get mad at him.]

Macaque def cries at every big relationship milestone between him and Yuebei (and him and Wukong, seeing how much Wukong has changed for the better makes him very hopeful they could have the life they promised each other, but seeing how much Wukong has also been hurting he is very grateful he has the oppurtunity to make things better. ultimately, he is very grateful he made the decision to stay and not squander the chance). but there's def a period of time in there where anytime Macaque and Wukong get in a fight (because healing and reconciliation isn't linear) it sets his relationship with Yuebei back a couple squares.

I always thought that Macaque having six sensitive ears and being a theater performer would make him a killer at vocals, and he can change his voice pretty much at will to something completely random, someone else's voice if he hears them, or mimic the sounds of animals and/or other non-living objects that produce sounds. so he would absolutely nail and accents and voices he needs to do to keep Yuebei appeased. he probably at some point mimics Wukong's voice in order to calm her down, because out of all her "good sounds" her baba's is the most "safe".

[Yellowtusk immediately notices and warns Azure to let the cub down so she can at least crawl and inspect her new surroundings. Peng laughs at the thought of letting "the hatchling" decide the terms of her imprisonment.] + [Then Peng feels a tiny, but powerful, hand grab their wing feathers...] + [Yellowtusk leaves before the carnage reaches him.]

the brotherhood assumes Yuebei is also Macaque's kid like everyone else, and because of this Peng def is not above teasing the already fussy infant monkey. Yellowtusk is looking at his brothers either ignore or "torment" the infant of at least one if not two of their other sworn brothers. he realizes in that moment that the other two aren't who he thought they were, or at the very least they aren't anymore, but most importantly they aren't the type of people he wants to be involved with. the change of heart leads him to not feeling to bad when leaving his brothers to their fate when Yuebei has enough for the sake of his own safety.

(dont worry you asks didnt get deleted, Im just very lazy/bust with college)

referencing this previous Slow boiled au post.

[I'm glad that you're excited for the fic! I'm going to split up the story arcs into their own fics and turn it into a series! book 1 will feature Wukong's journey and following isolation up to a hero is born.]

I wait with bated subscribe button.

[upon learning that MK kinda remembers him Wukong def feels guilty about not being able to raise himself, especially with the fact that MK doesn't hold anything against his "birth mother" for giving him up. but then MK being a monkey comes out of the bag in s4 and MK and Wukong actually get to talk about it. it's a very emotional conversation, with Wukong having come to terms while in the scroll about all of his reasons for not being able to raise MK, and MK just being the sweetest most understanding boy ever, even if he wishes he could have known sooner. they come out of that conversation stronger. what if after MK learned he was a monkey when he and Macaque go into the scroll to get Wukong they stumble upon a memory of a tiny baby monkey that looks like his monkey form cuddling into Wukong's stomach like MK remembers doing with his "birth mom" and that's how he realizes that Wukong was the person he thought was his mom. when he faced the scroll's curse he got flashes of his life before the noodle shop, but nothing that revealed anything about his birth mom except the small flash of Nuwa, so the sudden, proper reveal still takes him by surprise. he also stumbles upon the memory of Wukong crying as he makes the decision to and give away MK.]

THIS WHOLE IDEA!!!

Wukong doesn't want to tell MK the truth cus he think's he'll hate him for having to give him up.

When MK and Mac see the memory of a baby monkey demon hugging (a much more sad-looking) Wukong's stomach, the memories all come flooding back to MK about who he thought was his "birth mother" . Even though he knows the Monkey King isn't really his birth parent (glaring at Nuwa), he knew that the choice to raise MK fell on his heavy shoulders. Even if MK is a *little* upset when he finds out via S4 Memory Scroll-ing with Macaque that he's a monkey demon, MK understands that the Monkey King was simply unable to care for him while he lacked a support system. Wukong wanted MK to have a "normal" childhood that he was denied, and that simply wasn't possible on FFM at the time.

Ultimately MK is glad that Wukong had the good judgement to leave MK with Pigsy all those years ago, no matter how much it hurt.

They find the memory of Wukong standing outside in the city streets, affixing a strong glamour spell to the baby's head, and sobbing as he forces himself to stop holding them long enough to disappear and make a noise that alerts the pig chef inside the shop. It's very Meet the Robinson's esque.

The first thing MK does when he reunites with Wukong, is hug him tight and say "I never blamed you." Wukong is confused until the realisation that MK was in his memories kicks in, and he starts sobbing too.

[In a way, giving the title to anyone else probably feels like the final straw of admitting that Ao Lie really is truly gone. but admitting that finally means learning to let go, allowing Wukong to grow and heal from his grief which in turn will lead to him isolating himself less. character development ya'know,]

Yeah, even if the decision to give DBK the title of "Godfather" was pretty rash in the moment, Wukong eventually hits a point where him and DBK end up having a talk about the monkey's "late younger brother" when Wukong hesistate to make it official.

DBK is understanding of why Wukong finds it hard to move on from Ao Lie's passing. He wouldn't know what he would have done if he'd lost his Xiandi all those centuries ago. DBK is patient enough to let his little bro come to terms with this emotional hurdle. He just wished he had more time to know this odd, horse-like dragon that Wukong adored as a brother.

The convo probably happens at the same time they decide to give Red Son back the Samadhi Fire + PIF giving Wukong's an unexpected hug.

[Macaque, as happy as he is that she looks enough like him that he can pass as the baby-daddy, def feels a bit guilty upon learning that the only reason that is is because of how how much Wukong missed him after he left. he loves being a parent to Yuebei, but as much as he loves people assuming that she is his their likeness also serves as a reminder that he wasn't there. he has a lot of time to make up for, and he plans on getting right on that.]

OH you better believe post S3 Macaque is running up that Dad hill full sprint to be there for Yuebei. Even if him and Wukong take a while to confront their issues, and have a fight or two, Mac ultimately wants to BE THERE for the King who missed him so much, and the cub that changed it's appearance to reflect that.

S4 is Macaque busting on through, resolving any petty fights him and Wukong had in the past, saving his mate and cub, and developing a fatherly attitude towards MK. This is THEIR happy ending, and Mac's not gonna let Azure take that away from them.

Fun fact; since Stone Eggs are able to "steal" the Dao of others, it ws common in Stone Monkey days for widowed monkeys to start the egg-making process while buried next to their mate in hopes that both of their traits lived on in the baby. It's influenced a lot by yearning/want of the parent for their mate (the supernatural "other parent").

[the attention Mei and the older ladies are giving him over the pregnancy is honestly a little overwhelming at times due to how unexpected it is. especially from PIF and Macaque's adopted mom figure, he'd thought the two of them would be far more mad about mac dying then anything else.]

Wukong is def confused but amused by how much PIF and Jiuweihuli are adoring of him, but are shooting Mac the stinkeye. PIF has already declared herself the baby's Godmother in partnership with her husband's title, and Jiuweihuli is treating the situation as if she's expecting a grandchild. Even when Wukong explains that Mac only "started the process", that doesn't deter the demonesses.

Wukong is ofc overwhelmed by the positive attention, and scurries away for a break once the womens' backs are turned. Red Son offering him a confused, but tasty spiced cake is like a breath of fresh air.

[if the infamous "god killer" is set to show up and then you learn that the god killer is the child of the Sun Wukong, menace to the heavens, and earned her title before she was even out if the womb is terrifying. imagine what she'll be like when she gets older and starts combat training.]

Yuebei, aka "The God Killer" toddles into a fancy heavenly party and all the Celestials scatter like they saw a tiger enter the room. The infant monkey just jumps on the banquet table and starts chowing down on the hors d'oeuvres like her baba before her.

[I love idea she puts so much trust she puts into the staff because it was her first proper weapon. I feel she also puts a lot of trust into it because it's from her parents. I love the Dr. Facillier comparison, I was thinking of her swishing her mask on like a miraculous lady bug transformation.]

Yuebei and her big bro MK share the trait of "I believe, so it is", and that includes her super-cool FIRST STAFF that was probably made from a completely normal stalk of bamboo by Wukong and Mac as a birthday gift.

Ooo I like that Ladybug idea for her skull-mask. Magical girl transformation except she's dressed to reap souls. >:3

Oh gosh now Im thinking of little Yuebei being obsessed with Sailor Moon. XD

[everyone is panicking, just to different lengths.] + [while keeping LBD's host preoccupied.]

The campsite is just a warzone of panicking found family members as they scramble to get things ready for the baby's arrival. I love the idea of Sandy having enough sense to call DBK and PIF on the phone to give them a heads-up.

And poor Bai He. Just got over being possessed for x-amount of months by an ancient world-ending demon, and now she's just swept up in the chaos that a baby is coming!? She probably "heard" things while being piloted by LDB, so she knows "someone" is having a baby, she just doesn't understand the context. Especially considering that the monkey demon couple (one's the Monkey King?!) have been tending to her like parents the whole trip home. and- "Is that lady Guanyin?"

Bai He def has a "she's so cute!"-moment when she sees Yuebei for the first time. She's cuter than a kitten! :3

[the bull family are on their way the second they hear about what's going on. they will do what they have to for their family.]

The second that the Bull Couple learn that Wukong is ok after LBD's defeat, they're flying over to see if their Xiandi is ok. DBK has to be reprimanded for almost getting into a fight with Nezha over their protective instincts towards Wukong in this state.

[Guanyin is there to go through all them with her, Yuebei is amazed at much her baba loved her well before she was ever born, even if it becomes a little bittersweet after she learns that he could have died for her to be born and was willing to go through with the pregnancy anyway, for the sake of the baby he loved so much he may have never been able to meet. when she goes home she gives her baba a big hug. Yuebei: *walks into to the house* BABA Wukong: *not expecting her back so soon* oh! Yuebei, are you okay, I'm sorry about the fight earlier I was- Yuebei: *tackles him into a hug, muffled talking with her face buried in her Baba's chest* m'sorry, I love you. Wukong: *a little surprised but happy* love you too little one]

OOOOUHHH!! Yuebei having the realisation in her teens about how much Wukong sacrificed/could have lost to ensure she was born safetly!! Yuebei def stares at the tapes Guanyn provides in silence, tears rolling down her face as she sees and hears her Baba in different eras, telling his baby that they may never meet but that he loves them no matter what!!

Yuebei would feel so guilty for running off after a petty fight with her Baba! Especially if one of the things she yelled at Wukong was along the lines of; "You never do anything for me!"

Wukong is just relieved that his daughter came home safe and sound. Guanyin def did the divine version of a text message telling Wukong that Yuebei came to her island, but Wukong was still worried.

[ps: what do you think Wukong would use as an affectionate nickname for Yuebei in this au? also, at what point do you think her name was decided on.]

Wukong's nickname for Yuebei is "Egg" much like MK in the TMKATI au. Hard to get rid of the moniker when Wukojng had been using it for almost a thousand years. One of the rarer nicknames he had for her was "little moonlight" whenever he was particularly wistful.

Macaque calls the baby cuter things like "starlight" or "sunspot" cus she's "a little Sun" (pun).

The name "Yuebei" aka "Lunar Apogee" was only decided in the later months leading up to her birth. Wukong had wanted to wait until the Egg was born to decide. And ofc with his "moonlight" finally back at his side, Wukong's brain went towards moon-themed names...

[they absolutely would, even if looking at Yuebei would always be bittersweet long after it stopped actually hurting whenever she saw Wukong in her.]

Guanyin would 100% refer to herself as being Yuebei's "grandmother" in the scenario that Wukong had not survived/woken up. Little Yuebei would have grown up on Fragrant Mountain in the Southern Oceans as beloved as any creature under Guanyin's protection. Safe from teh eyes of Heaven. Wukong knows he would have made a good choice.

[Macaque def cries at every big relationship milestone between him and Yuebei (and him and Wukong, seeing how much Wukong has changed for the better makes him very hopeful they could have the life they promised each other, but seeing how much Wukong has also been hurting he is very grateful he has the oppurtunity to make things better. ultimately, he is very grateful he made the decision to stay and not squander the chance). but there's def a period of time in there where anytime Macaque and Wukong get in a fight (because healing and reconciliation isn't linear) it sets his relationship with Yuebei back a couple squares.]

Macaque and Wukong I think would have had a fight just prior to S4, likely over how MK is being trained as Wukong's successor - Wukong want's to be careful and soft on the kid, while Macaque was more the mindset of preparing MK for the worst-case scenarios. It caused the two to be on not-speaking terms, even though they were still both technically co-parenting the baby. Wukong had walked out on the most recent fight, and taken Yuebei to the old stone palace to decompress when MK found the memory scroll.

The subsetquent hours is Macaque fellign like sh*t for making Wukong hate him again + Yuebei crying when Mac raised his voice. He's convinced that he F-d Up Big, and that Wukong would never trust him again- oh hey a text from Mei.

Mei, texting: "Scroll thingy ate Monkey King!! *shocked emoji*" Mac, on an ancient nokia: "WHAT!? Where's the baby!?" Mei: "Being babysat rn. Don't worry, we're on the case!" *thumbs up* + "100 emoji" Mac: "oh thank buddha."

Macaque still goes to Water Curtain Cave to see whats up... only to find no Monkey Kids, and the smell of a familar lion...

[I always thought that Macaque having six sensitive ears and being a theater performer would make him a killer at vocals, and he can change his voice pretty much at will to something completely random, someone else's voice if he hears them, or mimic the sounds of animals and/or other non-living objects that produce sounds. so he would absolutely nail and accents and voices he needs to do to keep Yuebei appeased. he probably at some point mimics Wukong's voice in order to calm her down, because out of all her "good sounds" her baba's is the most "safe".]

Macaque canonically can nail voices and animal sounds! He pretended to be Mo meowing when he split the vans up.

I can just imagine him setting a fussy Yuebei down for sleep and trying to read her a story like;

Macaque, normal voice: "Bustopher Jone-"

Yuebei: *gives him a stank face* >:(

Macaque: "Oh ok, little miss high-standards."

Macaque: *clears throat*

Macaque, now in a goofy falsetto ala Ed Wynn: "Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones— In fact, he's remarkably fat. He doesn't haunt pubs—he has eight or nine clubs, For he's the St. James's Street Cat!"

Yuebei: *delighted giggling!* :D

Wukong: *secretly watching from the doorway, falling in love with his Warrior all over again*

[the brotherhood assumes Yuebei is also Macaque's kid like everyone else, and because of this Peng def is not above teasing the already fussy infant monkey. Yellowtusk is looking at his brothers either ignore or "torment" the infant of at least one if not two of their other sworn brothers. he realizes in that moment that the other two aren't who he thought they were, or at the very least they aren't anymore, but most importantly they aren't the type of people he wants to be involved with. the change of heart leads him to not feeling to bad when leaving his brothers to their fate when Yuebei has enough for the sake of his own safety.]

Yellowtusk is the only one of the Brotherhood trio who recognises that people have changed in the last few hundred years.

The Pilgrims are dead and gone, and their decendants are far different from their originals. Brother Bull is a family man who would do anything for his wife and son.

Brother Wukong is, from what Yellowtusk overheard, has become far wiser and more cautious. And not to say the acts of heroism he's heard attributed to Brother Macaque! (Defying and saving the world from the icy bone demon that resurrected him is no mere feat - it was the talk of the celestial and demon worlds for weeks). Not to mention the tiny dark-furred infant monkey that Azure holds, squirming in his grip...

And he also recognises that his own two companions have changed... but not for the better.

The selfless leadership once held by Azure Lion has become warped into a form of tyrany, one where their new Emperor holds their sworn brothers' infant hostage and openly fantasizes about taking Brother Wukong as his consort.

The curt bluntness he had appriciated in Peng's words have become needlessly harsh and tormenting. Even towards something as small and blameless as the infant they hold hostage.

Yellowtusk recognises that perhaps even he has changed. Being made to relive your mistakes throught the Scroll can do that. He realises that he should have said more to defend his shyer brothers, and wishes that he had the foresight to know that the Jade Emperor would have succeeded in their haphazard coup.

Yellowtusk is Wise because he recognises that the best option is to jump this sinking ship now while there's still time.

He goes to take the hostage infant away from Azure's grasp when the little girl suddenly grabs hard on one of Peng's flight feathers, the gold plating crumbling away in her grip...

Yellowtusk backs out of the throne room as the child of Sun Wukong destroys the two grown warriors like they were toys to be broken. He's thankfull that his calmer treatment of the infant only leaves him with a sore trunk from the little monkey tugging on it to guesture that she was hungry.

Sorry it took so long to answer! I've been very lazy over xmas :3

#slow boiled stone egg au #stone egg talk #pregnancy tw #sun wukong #shadowpeach #six eared macaque #liu er mihou #lmk yuebei #yuebei xing #qi xiaotian #gif warning #lmk the brotherhood #lmk yellow tusk elephant #lmk peng #lmk azure lion

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cellsshapedlikestars · 5 months

Text

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @hilarychuff

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

honestly, I'm sometimes embarrassed by how much I've written in the 3 1/2 years since I started posting. Currently 66

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,350,298. yikes.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

at this point, Jonsa. we do not talk about The Prior Fandom

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

a fairytale ending (by a WIDE margin)

the mating game

take me out

moth's wings

ever fallen in love (on national TV)

(shocker, it's all my romcoms lmao. also, let's not talk about how the top 4 are all fake dating fics. I can't help myself)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to. I used to do it on all fics, but as discussed above, I'm a wordy bitch and at points responding to all comments on, for example, one shot event fics that I would post back-to-back got overwhelming. So I allowed myself to stop responding to comments on one shots. Recently I had quite the mental health dip and didn't respond to any for a while, but I think I'm back.

Part of the reason I like fandom is the sense of community. I started responding to comments on my first fic because I hadn't resurrected my tumblr from the grave yet, so it was the only way to interact with the fandom. Then I continued to because I appreciated the comments, even if they were simple and I had nothing else to say except thank you. I still try to on chaptered fics because, let's face it, without comments and without community, I wouldn't be posting my stories.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

probably my WWI one-shot

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I try to write at least *hopeful* endings for all my fics. I don't know if I can quantify "happiest", because I think that's different for everyone.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

of course. I feel like it's a rite of passage on ao3 to get some shitty hate comments

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

*through clenched teeth* I sure do

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I'm not really a fan of crossovers tbh

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that I'm aware of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope! I don't think I could tbh. I'm sort of a control freak and I even have problems letting people pre-read things, I have no idea why. I think the only people I've let pre-read anything are @hilarychuff (who is my brainstorm buddy) and @greenhikingboots (who is the reason the last chapter of the ghost inside made any coherent sense)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I mean, Jonsa. I honestly don't ship that often

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

sigh. white knuckles.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm very fast at it lmao. Like, seriously. I type very fast. I'm also somehow really good at starting a fic off with only an inciting incident, no other real plans, and somehow coming up with a full plot/ending that I'm satisfied with, while posting it as I develop the story

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

outlines. smut.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I can barely handle English my guy

19. First fandom you wrote for?

hmmm that depends on what the criteria is. First fandom I wrote for was Sailor Moon, I just never posted it anywhere. Harry Potter was technically the first fandom I posted for, but it was one chapter and I never continued it and I genuinely can't even remember what it was called, all I remember is Harry melted Voldemort with a bucket of soapy water like in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

The first fandom I was actually active in and wrote more than just a chapter was... A secret. I'm actually a little embarrassed about it and my fics are still floating around out there and some of them make me cringe sooooo hard. I don't think I've ever admitted to it here on tumblr dot com and I don't think I will now

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

help me out of the shape I'm in

I'm always so anxious about tagging people and leaving people out and making them feel bad, but I'll try to do it anyway. @greenhikingboots @sibyldisobedience @thewolvescalledmehome @esther-dot @periwinkle39 @eruherdiriel and anyone else who wants to do this! (also, no pressure to anyone I did tag lol)

#ask game

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that-within · 8 months

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That’s not how Jane Austen works…

There’s something deeply amusing to me about how fundamentally wrong Aziraphale is regarding the function of balls in Jane Austen’s novels:

“People would gather and do some formal dancing and then realize they had misunderstood each other and were actually deeply in love.”

No ball in any Austen novel works like this. Not one. You know how they actually work? They build tension (dramatic, romantic, sexual, and/or other). But in all of her six novels, there is not a single ball where everything suddenly clicks between two characters, all misunderstandings are cleared up with just a glance and a touch of a gloved hand, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Since Pride and Prejudice is the novel repeatedly cited in the show, let’s analyze the functions of its two main balls:

The first ball is where our protagonists meet. They lock eyes, they get introduced—and almost immediately he calls her a 5/10 and she runs off to drag him with her gal pals. Rough start. We haven’t even gotten to the plot’s true misunderstandings yet (“I meant you were tolerable in a nice way!”), but this ball is the crucial setup for how those misunderstandings will develop throughout their relationship. Tension established.

So far we’re 0/3 for dancing, clearing up misunderstandings, and deep love realizations. Bummer.

The second ball is The Big One. So how do our protagonists come together to reconcile in the candlelight? Spoiler: they don't. Instead, Darcy musters up all his introverted mettle to grind out a dance proposal and Lizzy only says yes because she can't think of a polite way to say “I’d rather eat glass.”

And not only does the dance itself not clear up their misunderstandings, it actually cements those misunderstandings through a series of progressively passive aggressive barbs. It’s wonderfully charged, but in a HIGH-VOLTAGE FENCE: DO NOT TOUCH kind of way.

(For those keeping score, we’re 1/6 because they did actually manage to dance this time. Woot)

And that’s it. No, literally. There are no more balls in the whole novel (at least attended by our protagonists). So how doth our heroes fall in love without the eldritch horrors making them do it delicate pluck of a fiddle in a crowded room?

Well, first there’s the catastrophic marriage proposal where Darcy basically negs Lizzy for a solid minute before Lizzy spends a solid five minutes telling him where to stick it. Divine.

Crucially though, this is where the “realize they had misunderstood each other” stuff actually begins. It’s only when one of them is pouring their heart out to the other that the giant gaps in information, misinterpreted actions, and fundamental differences in worldviews start to make themselves known (anything here ringing a cathedral-sized bell?).

And of course, this still doesn’t magically make everything better. They both go off to lick their respective wounds for a while, but, slowly, they begin to process this paradigm shift and change their thoughts and actions accordingly.

There are many reasons why Pride and Prejudice has lasted the test of time, and a big one is that it never pulled a “ball” deus ex machina. Lizzy and Darcy both put in actual work to improve themselves and to reconcile their differences. It’s slow, it’s imperfect, it’s messy. And, very importantly, it takes them being brutally honest with themselves and each other.

It's only after all of this that they finally get to the "were actually deeply in love" part.

Aziraphale must know this. He’s read Austen. Hell, he probably read Pride and Prejudice the year it was published. So where is he getting this bizarre idea about balls being a magical cure-all for everything?

Maybe it's as simple as an angel who's spent 6000 years teetering on the edge of something with a demon devising a cunning plan to teeter them just a little bit closer.

Maybe it’s as complicated as an angel who can convince himself that if a human relationship might be “fixed” by a ball, maybe a cosmic relationship might be “fixed” by undoing a fall.

And, to quote Crowley, “now, that’s unbelievable."

#good omens #good omens season two #aziraphale #crowley #ineffible husbands #this is not an aziraphale bash post so get thee behind me with that shit #bleh I hate that the last paragraph rhymes but I’m too lazy to change it

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nicoline1998enilocin · 7 months

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"Friends/coworkers to lovers" with rdj x female!reader, you decide the path, just fluff or fluff/smut... but like my nonnie friend, "I want to live the cliche of cliches" with the most precious, kind and gentle human being in the world 🥺

Precious

PAIRING | Robert Downey Jr. x Assistant!Female!Reader

WORD COUNT | 3.1K

SUMMARY | Your girl's night turns unexpectedly when you accidentally butt-dial your boss, Robert, and he hears you confess your feelings towards him. Ever since that moment, he's trying to impress you every chance he gets, and when you finally talk about it with him, your life just turns out perfect.

WARNING(S) | This is your official trigger warning. Do not proceed if any of these topics upset you. RPF, coworkers to lovers, mutual pining, swearing, accidental butt-dialing, jealous RDJ, smut ( a little bit of teasing, fingering, protected sex ).

A/N | Thank you for this sickeningly sweet request Nonnie, because I believe I've pulled almost all of the clichés out of the closet for this one heheh, but my goodness, was it a fun one to write! I hope you will enjoy what I did with this one 🖤

A/N 2.0 | I want to give extra special thanks to @buckys-wintersoldier for helping me develop ideas for this one! It's always great to work together; this one turned out amazing because of you!

Likes, comments and reblogs will be very much appreciated 💚

Divider is made by @firefly-graphics | 18+ banner is made by yours truly

Main Masterlist | Robert Downey Jr. Masterlist

''Here you go,'' you say to your best friend, Avery, as you hand her a glass of white wine. Tonight is your night off, and you plan on having an uninterrupted girl's night with her.

''Thank you! I needed this after the week I've had,'' she groans as you let yourself sink into your couch, your glass in hand. She tells you all about her breakup - the reason she visited you in the first place.

''So, is there anything new in your love life?'' Avery asks, and you sigh as you shuffle in your place a little bit, and unbeknownst to you, you accidentally butt-dial Robert.

''Precious? Is everything okay? You know it's your day off-'' Robert says, but of course, you don't hear him, but he can hear everything you're saying though.

''So... you know my boss, Robert. Who doesn't know him?! But that's beside the point. Well, I've been in love with him for the bigger part of a year?'' you phrase it as a question, even though you know damn well it's true.

''But...?'' Avery asks.

''But I'm afraid that if I tell him, he'll fire me, and I'd be left without a job,'' you sigh. Robert feels his heart hurt slightly at the thought that you'd even think he'd fire you. You're the best assistant he could ever wish for, and he would never find anyone better than you. Not that he'd want to, of course.

''I'm sure he would never do that; you've been his assistant for nearly a decade!'' Avery says, and you know she's right, but it still doesn't change your thoughts.

Robert feels a little twang in his chest as he hears the way you think, and he's already planning on ways to make you feel better and make a move at the same time.

You sigh softly before taking a big gulp of your wine and closing your eyes for a second so that you can think about your options.

''I've been thinking about talking to him since I practically tell him every single thing, but telling him I've been head over heels with him, that I can't fucking think straight, and all I can think about is him bending me over the back of the couch and just rail me like there's no tomorrow,'' you say, and Avery just nods.

''And the worst of all is that he invited me as his date to a charity event, and my stupid brain somehow can't comprehend that it's just an evening of work and not an actual date,'' you vent.

''Babe, you should talk to him about this because this isn't healthy! I am one hundred percent sure you won't lose your job if you do; he's a reasonable man,'' Avery says, and after hearing those words, Robert hangs up, feeling guilty that he kept listening for so long.

If only he kept listening...

''You're right; it's just that I'm afraid of losing him more than my job. I can easily find another job anywhere else, but I will never find another Robert...'' you say before throwing back the rest of your wine and quickly filling it up with more.

The rest of the evening is spent gossiping until you're both too tired to keep your eyes open, so Avery decides to sleep over at your apartment just to be safe. She doesn't tell you she doesn't want you to be alone right now.

''Hi, Precious!'' Robert says as he's walking over to you, as you're seated in a coffee shop where the two of you are taking some time to catch up about non-work related things.

''Hi Robert,'' you say with a big smile as he sits down, and you push his coffee order towards him, together with a pastry for the two of you to share.

''What would I ever do without you?'' he says, and the smile he gives you has the butterflies in your stomach erupting into a frenzy, and your heart skips a few beats here and there as you take in his praise.

A smile tugs on the corner of your lips, and you can't stop commenting.

''Let's hope we'll never find out!'' you say as you shut your laptop; you can continue looking at dresses for the charity event Robert has invited you to attend alongside him.

He gives you a smirk as he looks at the same bit of hair that constantly falls into your face, and when Robert leans over to tuck it behind your ear, your brain shortcircuits for a few moments.

Your mouth is slightly open as you feel his fingers on your temple and behind your ear before softly sliding against your neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps.

When you snap back to reality, you gasp softly and blink a few times, unsure of what just happened, and you're pretty sure Robert noticed, but he didn't comment on it. It was not like he did it on purpose or anything like that.

''So, anything new in your life?'' Robert asks, and you quickly shake your head, maybe too soon for your liking.

''Still the same things, same people, same stress,'' you sigh as you try to give a small smile, hoping he's convinced and not as weirded out as you are.

''Been looking at dresses for the charity event though, so that's exciting,'' you quickly add, and your mind immediately wanders to a few beautiful dresses you've seen.

''Anything interesting so far?'' he informs because he plans to match with you for the evening, mainly because he's thinking about confessing his feelings to you that night.

''I've seen some nice ones, but nothing that stood out yet, actually,'' you say, though you can think of one dark blue dress that you can't get out of your head despite it being way out of your price range, even with the ungodly amount of money Robert pays you as his assistant.

''Can I see? I'm just curious what you're thinking at the moment,'' he says, and he gets up, only to slide onto the bench next to you, letting his thigh touch yours in a move that's innocent enough.

''A-Are you... sure?'' you ask, and he nods, so you grab your laptop and show him some of the dresses you've been eyeing, expertly avoiding the blue dress.

''Hm, I don't think I've seen the perfect one yet,'' Robert says, and you show him more until you need to use the restroom so when you're gone, he opens the tab you've been avoiding this whole time and snaps a quick photo as a reminder to order it for you, later.

The rest of the afternoon is spent catching up, and before you know it, it's time to go home again and go to bed early since you have some stressful days coming up.

Robert drops you off at home, and as soon as you set foot in your apartment, you sigh deeply, glad you made it through another day without completely embarrassing yourself in front of your boss.

Today's the charity event day, and you're in the shower to prepare for tonight. After a short run and a call with Robert about everything going down tonight, you're finally letting the warm stream of water calm your mind.

You opted to go for a silver floor-length dress so Robert will always look gorgeous no matter what color he chooses to wear, and he notified you he would be going for a blue outfit, which would fit beautifully with your dress.

After an extensive shower and an excellent hair and face mask, you're getting ready to grab a late lunch, so you won't have to worry about having dinner later than usual.

When you're about to make yourself a nice BLT sandwich, your doorbell rings, and you head over, unsure what to expect when you open the door.

When you swing the door open, there isn't anyone in front of the door, but instead, your gaze falls onto a large package on the floor, sporting a small note on the box saying ''Precious''.

You pick up the package and take it inside, placing it on your dinner table before opening it. You don't need to wonder who it is from because only one person calls you that.

As you lift the lid, you're greeted by the dark blue dress you couldn't afford and a shoe box with the Louboutin logo on the box. Your heart starts racing, and you immediately grab your phone to call Robert.

You decide to FaceTime him, and before he can even get a single word in, you're already talking and thanking him endlessly.

''Robert, how did you even know this is the dress I've been wanting so badly? And combined with these shoes, it's honestly too much; I don't deserve this...'' you say as you fight back tears, even if they're from enjoyment and happiness.

''You deserve to be spoiled occasionally, especially on a night like tonight. There is a huge chance not a single person will be able to take their eyes off of you, and I would love to show you off to everyone tonight,'' he says, and after some more convincing, you agree to wear it.

Robert will be arriving at the party before you, so he arranged for a car to pick you up and bring you to the party before going to his house after the party so you can sleep over there.

Your hair is done in a big bun to show off the dress, and the make-up look is in a similar shade of blue to compliment your clothing without looking like you're overpowering on the blue.

When the car arrives, you grab your silver handbag to finish the look, and you're off to the charity event, where Robert will be tonight as one of the guest speakers.

Your timing could not have been better because when you get out of the car, you see Robert on the red carpet as he's giving an interview, but he stops in the middle of his sentence when he sees you.

''Oh wow! She looks beautiful! That's my amazing assistant, everyone, and without a doubt, the most beautiful woman to walk this red carpet today,'' he says, and you can't help but feel a blush creep onto your cheeks.

''Hi Precious, you look gorgeous tonight,'' he says before pulling you to his side and kissing your cheek.

''You look amazing, too, Robert. If we didn't know any better, we would think you two matched on purpose!'' the interviewer said, and after that, the interview carried on as it was supposed to.

After the formal part of the evening, you walk over to the bar, ready to get a drink, and get stopped by a handsome man you recognize as Sebastian Stan.

''Hey, are you enjoying yourself tonight?'' he asks sincerely before ordering a drink and getting yours.

''I am! What about you?'' you ask, and you two get wrapped up in conversation for a while, so you don't notice Robert keeping an eye on you.

When Sebastian comes closer to whisper something in your ear, Robert suddenly appears by your side, ready to whisk you away right that very second.

''Can I talk to you for a moment, Precious?'' Robert asks impatiently, and you're immediately worried that something went wrong.

''It was good talking to you, Sebastian,'' you say before following Robert, and he said his goodbyes before ordering another drink and moving on with the rest of the evening.

''We should get out of here because I want to tell you something, and I'd rather not do it with all these people here,'' Robert says, and you nod in response, afraid of what's coming next.

Robert just walked you into his house, and you're sitting on his couch, impatient for what's to come. He grabs both of you a drink before sitting beside you, and you turn to face him.

''So... uhm-'' he starts, flustered before he even tells you about his feelings, let alone how he knows you share those with him.

''I'm just going to get it over with. When you were having girls' night with your best friend, you accidentally butt-dialed me, and I could hear you two talking. That means I heard your confession and must tell you I feel the same. I have felt the same for quite a long time, and when I knew you felt the same, I tried to go above and beyond to make you feel nothing short of special. I hope you will at least have one night with me, where I can show you how much,'' he says, and your mouth has fallen open after ''butt dialed''.

''A-Are you... I mean- Really? This isn't some sick joke, right? Because I would love nothing more than to spend the night and show you how much I love you, how much I've loved you for such a long time.''

After downing your drink in one go, you put your glass on the table and sit closer to Robert, and you let him cup your face with his big, warm hands as he pulls you in for the softest, most loving kiss you've ever shared with another human being.

When he pulls away, you keep your eyes closed, and your lip is pulled between your teeth to temper your excitement slightly.

''Want to move this party to the bedroom?'' you ask softly after you open your eyes, and you look into Robert's sparkling brown eyes as he nods before getting up.

When you're in the bedroom and seated on the edge of the bed, Robert turns on some slow jazz music to set the mood, and oddly enough, it's very calm instead of the heated night you expected.

''I want to make tonight special, Precious. I don't know how many more nights together we'll have, so I want to make the most of the one we have now,'' he says as he grabs your hands and guides you up so you're standing before him.

When you're up, his hands glide into your hair as he pulls you closer, his mouth finding you effortlessly and molding them to yours as if they're made for one another.

Your hands wander from Robert's chest up to his shoulder to take off his jacket, and when he pulls away, he shrugs it off, followed suit by his shirt that you've unbuttoned as well.

''Turn around, Precious,'' he whispers in your ear before placing a soft kiss beneath the shell, his scruff tickling you ever so slightly to make a giggle escape.

''You like it when I kiss you, don't you?'' Robert teases, and you nod swiftly while his hands glide down to the zipper of your dress, making you smile wide as he reveals the dark blue lingerie you're wearing.

You spin around slowly as he looks you up and down, and you pull your lip between your teeth again.

''That's my job now, Precious; I'm the only one who gets to bite this beautiful lip of yours,'' he says before capturing your lips again and nibbling softly on your bottom lip like he said he would.

After both getting completely naked, Robert guides you onto the bed, ensuring you're comfortable while littering kisses all over your chest and around your nipples, letting his hand glide over your thigh as he gets settled between them.

''You're perfect, Precious, and I can't wait to find out what it's like to come home,'' he whispers as he reaches over to the nightstand, grabbing a condom.

It's rolled on quickly, and after a few swipes through your folds, he finds your clit, rubbing it in short circles, which makes your breath hitch.

''R-Robert, please,'' you beg softly, and he listens without teasing as he's lining up with your entrance and sliding in slowly, letting you adjust to him.

A deep moan leaves your body, and your back arches off the bed as he slides in every so perfectly, and you're feeling somewhere north of heaven right now.

''I wish I'd told you years earlier... We got a lot to catch up on, Precious, because I'm not letting you go after tonight,'' Robert says as his warm breath ghosts over your lips before placing them on yours as he makes such slow, sweet love.

It doesn't take long for both of you to fall apart around each other, and if it were any other night, you'd have taken the opportunity to keep going until there's no more time, but this feels perfect.

When he's cleaned both of you up, he pulls you into his arms, and you talk for a little while before you fall asleep, still naked, but you don't mind. You've never felt more comfortable with Robert than you do now.

The following day, Robert slipped out of bed a little earlier and ordered some flowers from a local florist before preparing breakfast for you.

When you wake up, you notice Robert's not next to you, but you grab the shirt he wore last night and put it on with your panties before heading downstairs, where the smell of breakfast fills your senses.

''Mornin', Precious,'' he says as you walk into the kitchen with messy hair and his shirt, flashing his biggest smile as he recalls last night. It was nothing short of perfect.

''Thank you for everything, Robert. Yesterday was amazing, and I can't wait for more moments like it,'' you say as you pull him closer for a kiss, something you wished you could have done long ago.

Just as he's about to respond, someone rings his doorbell, and he goes to answer the door with a little jog, getting a big bouquet of red roses from the delivery man and tipping him generously.

''I got you a little something this morning because I wanted to show you just how much you mean to me,'' Robert says as he walks in with a bouquet of nearly 50 red roses and hands them to you.

''Oh my god, these are amazing! Thank you so much,'' you say before leaning in for one more soft kiss, and then it's time for breakfast and a meaningful conversation.

''This may be odd, but... what are we now? After last night, after our confessions, I don't think I can go back to just being your assistant,'' you say as you cut up some pancakes with maple syrup, putting them into your mouth as you look expectantly at Robert.

''First of all, I'd love for you to keep your job, so please don't worry about that, but I was also hoping you would be my girlfriend because there's not a single chance I'm ever letting you go, Precious,'' Robert says with a sweet smile, and your heart feels like it's going wild.

''I'd love to be your girlfriend,'' you say, and you seal it with a kiss.

#robert downey jr #robert downey jr request #robert downey jr one shot #robert downey jr fanfiction #robert downey jr fanfic #robert downey jr x female reader #robert downey jr x reader #robert downey jr fluff #rdj #rdj request #rdj one shot #rdj fanfiction #rdj fanfic #rdj x female reader #rdj x reader #rdj fluff

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lover-of-mine · 2 months

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seriously, the buddie nhl au written outside pov deranged fangirl liveblogging style is something that would be interesting?

i have like, 1k words in girl with a special interest language, I don't know if that's actually something interesting. Og post here, random snippet below the cut. The plan would be to start with an exposition dump when Buck gets drafted and build from that.

Random context: I have no idea what team they are on yet, Buck is a goalie, Eddie is a star centre, Buck plays with jersey number 50, Eddie is number 13. I also need to figure out formatting lol

anonymous asked: *Bestie I thought you were being dramatic, but Buckley's draft was the happiest I've ever seen Eddie with a camera pointed at him, now I have fallen down a rabbit hole and I need the lore. GIMME THE LORE*

buckleydiaz13: Me? Dramatic? About those two? Nah, never (lying)

AND I KNOW!!! Who knew the only thing you needed to get Eddie smiling through an interview was to give him back his 6’2 blue eyed bestie?? It's not like I spent the past 2 seasons saying that the only thing Eddie is missing is Buck or anything.

But welcome to the madness, let's get you all caught up on the buddie lore so you know what you're getting into lol

So, they were on the usa development team together and they were inseparable. Like, everything we saw about one, the other was close by. And Eddie was already being looked at closely, talked about as if he was going to be a great name on the nhl at 16 and he would bring up Buck for absolutely no reason, talk about them practicing late, hanging out, when he got drafted he talked about how Buck was one of the things that helped him get through the stress, it was crazy. And Buck is a goalie, so the expectation was not for them to be running drills together, yk? But they were. And when you look at it, you won't think it makes sense, especially if you know Eddie as Mr broody, because Buck is a golden retriever trapped in a human body, a complete wall on the ice, yeah, but out of it? That dude is a teddy bear. I know he has to take things seriously, he wouldn't have made it to the league if he didn't, but he's the embodiment of carefree and Eddie is just…not lmao. It was ridiculous, they had a very elaborate pre game ritual, that included a secret handshake, Eddie was seen wearing Buck's hoodie multiple times (oh Eddie in the #50 hoodie not realizing it and blushing all the way to his ears when he noticed I will never forget you), there's this one video of them showing around the arena for their last game before Buck went to college that they just keep bumping shoulders with how close they are walking, like, just hold hands already, it will be easier.

#i legit feel crazy #i typed that first post out just to get the idea somewhere #i didnt expect yall to like it #so tell me oaksasokassokasas #buddie nhl au #thoughts thoughts thoughts #writing

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utilitycaster · 6 months

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idk if you're still doing the unpopular opinion thing. Feel free to ignore if you're not. My unpopular opinion is that, because the romances in C1 happened without any planning from the players, it set the precedent to the cast and the fandom that if they talk about the relationships out of the game, it's gonna make them not as organic or "earned". Laura just teasing Travis about fj already made people disregard the ship as "planned" (ignoring the 500+ hours of development) and treating it as if it was bad because Laura "planned it" in advance. But honestly, Imodna is a ship that would've benefited A LOT from some out of game conversations between Laura and Marisha and I think it would've been better if they had planned for them to become a couple from the beginning, so maybe they could've focus more on developing it in game

I'm not still doing it per se but I'm not not doing it, but also to be honest I agree with you on which of these ships are good and that Imogen and Laudna needed considerably more planning, but I actually disagree that this is how this played out for other ships.

I didn't watch Talks for campaign 1 nor watch Campaign 1 as it aired (and Talks didn't start until after the romances had begun), but from what I recall from other conversations Liam did at least float the idea of playing romance out of game to Marisha and Matt - the surprise was when and how he revealed it, which is really no different from Fjord and Jester. I think (and as with all thoughts re: the fandom in C1 I might be wrong because I was not there; it's educated guessing) it was simply more surprising to the audience in that campaign because there wasn't a talkback show, because the fandom was smaller and less romance-focused, and because Vax and Keyleth particularly was very early since some of the development was pre-stream.

I think this post, which I made about a month and a half ago, about talking about the relationship in-game and in-character, might be relevant, as might this post about defining the relationship from yesterday. I think talking out of game is good and useful (and I think the fact that Matt, on 4SD, essentially said "do not try this at home" re: Imogen and Laudna is worth keeping in mind) but also I think that having the characters communicate in-game is arguably more important. Like, I don't know how much Taliesin and Laura talked about Percy and Vex out of game, nor can I say how much was necessary, but the fact that Vex, while Percy is dead (but Taliesin is watching from backstage), says that her heart belongs to him is the equivalent of a green flag conversation. Like, I don't think the cast typically plans out "my character is romantically interested in this character", and even if they do that doesn't mean it will remain the case or that anything will come of it; but a lot of the conversations happen in-game, but in a place where action is not immediately required from the other party (this is important) and that's just as valid a place to talk as out of game. It even serves as a reason to talk out of game; if Taliesin heard that and Percy was not interested in Vex (or if he as a player was uncomfortable playing romance), that's a chance for him to say "by the way, here's where I'm at" out of game after the session.

With Fjord and Jester specifically...look. A lot of people just don't like that relationship, which is their right, but the arguments against it have always been incoherent. As I was around during Campaign 2 I can say that the criticism was essentially ever-changing with each episode, which is usually a sign that it's baseless. It went from "Travis doesn't do romance so this isn't even on the table" to "Jester isn't even interested in him" to "wow Travis didn't plan this at all lol he doesn't care" to "wow this is too planned and inorganic and fake" to "well Laura blinked twice in Liam or Marisha's direction this episode [and also Fjord and Jester made out mid-combat] so I'd say we're winning, folks!" to "we popping the BIGGEST bottles in the finale where they break up" to "this campaign was a FAILURE and I hope Jester is eternally miserable" to "how DARE we have a Fjord-centric two-shot, prayer circle for Fjorester divorce" to "[incoherent sobbing, incorrect use of the term 'comphet', rage-quitting the fandom, and/or creating an entire Essek Hate Block Evasion sideblog]."

Anyway my point in all this, in addition to having fun, is that haters gonna hate and in the case of the Campaign 2 ships, which are all incredibly well-developed throughout the course of the campaign, they are going to make shit up. We don't need to pretend like it comes from a place of anything other than illogic and bitterness; too much planning was just one of the many things they threw out to try to justify a dislike that was, imo, barely related to what was happening onscreen.

But yes: especially because Imogen and Laudna were, out of game, intended not to be romantic, it desperately needed some kind of conversation that defined boundaries and indicated a change, and it's telling (and obviously I'm biased, but also, my blog archives speak for themselves) that the tenor of the conversation among those who ship it has drastically changed over the course of the campaign whereas the criticism has been remarkably consistent since roughly post-gnarlrock fight. But the fix could have been a conversation either out of game or in-game with other characters. Like, FCG and FRIDA, or Deanna and Chetney, are actually a perfect model of how you can handle this primarily in-game.

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag #opinions rating ask meme

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raayllum · 9 months

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I remember starting the show because my friend told me about Callum and Rayla and how cute they were together. But after binge watching all 5 seasons, I just feel like the writers don’t really give a damn about them, in many ways, compared to other couples. But, to be fair, I have lots of issue with the writing. But, to me, the primary idea was to make Callum and Claudia a couple (no, I don’t ship them together), because they actually have a background, development, even chemistry too. So, I don’t understand why the writers changed their minds on this (please, tell me if they ever addressed this issue). I just think that him moving on from a childhood love, like that, out of nowhere to Raylla was again a bit odd and out of nowhere. Because nothing indicated that in the first 2 seasons. Same goes to Rayla too. And, in S5 they have acted more as friends than anything else. It’s just weird. What’s your opinion about this? And again, I don’t ship Callum with Claudia, it’s just my opinion after watching all seasons.

Thank you for sharing your feelings, I definitely have been in fandoms where the Big Ship (canon or fanon, in show or in fandom) have just not been things I could click or with or understand, so you have my sympathies. The crew has gone on record saying that Callum and Rayla being a couple was not originally the plan (we don't know if there were any endgames being considered for either of them as alternatives, but I lean toward no) with Janaya and Ruthari presumably being the main couples. This changed in 2x04 with the lightning flash and moment the two share on the boat, "everyone in the room saw it" (legit quote from showrunner) and they began to write and develop it. It is unknown if they went back to add or shift anything in S1 (we know the crew works on seasons simultaneously) but it wouldn't surprise me given the vibes

I definitely can't promise to change your mind (I'm obviously a big Rayllum shipper and I have been since S1, so I'm clearly coming at it from a different perspective) but I do have some metas that do address what you've brought up, I'm gonna link them below and then do a quick summary in case you understandably don't wanna read all that!

Rayllum and Loneliness (Post S3): a meta about how it is likely (now confirmed in supplementary material) that Rayla grew up pretty friendless and a deeper dive into how Rayla is/was the first person Callum had who was unequivocally his peer and his friend (as Soren bullied and Callum's crush - as well as other things - made him and Claudia have a fair amount of distance.)

Callum and Claudia: You Already Did (Post S3): On what appeal the ship has, why it may not appeal to others, and why I don't think Callum and Claudia were actually that close pre-S1, the various factors why, and why they were doomed to fall apart since 1x02.

How/Why Callum's feelings for Claudia and Rayla Were Overlapping (Post-S3): Exactly what it says on the tin, mostly because he is obsessed with Rayla lowkey in S1 (trying to get her to laugh three times in 1x05, taking a flirty tone with her when they aren't arguing in 1x06, etc) and then outright devoted in S2, trusting her over Claudia in 2x03.

Rebuttals to Rayllum Reservations (Claudia, Pacing, Etc) Post-S3: Pacing, emotional intimacy, platonic development and romantic feelings, etc. Probably the simplest meta and the most on brand for what you're (presumably) looking for, but the other metas I think uh do contribute nicely to explaining why Rayllum is what it is and som of the reasons it appeals to people.

It's also honestly not surprising to me that in S5 they just feel like Friends (hopefully best friends) given that a decent chunk of the Rayllum fandom, myself included, are on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums, and don't really care if they're Romantic as long as they're Life Partners. (Aspec Rayllum tag here) Callum and Ezran are two of the, if not the, most important people in Rayla's life, and Rayla and Ezran are two of the most important people in Callum's life. To me, romance / devotion / whatever you want to call it intermingling makes sense. One of the things I've loved most about S4-S5 is the fact that whatever they are, they have each other's backs, and they care for and protect each other, no romance required, which hits different since they do both also have romantic feelings for each other. It's just not a pre-requisite for them and a lack of it is never something they'd hold against one another. In other words:

Chemistry is also something that's hard to pin down sometimes - like all shipping preferences are subjective, but evaluations of chemistry tend to be in particular (for example, I don't really think Callum and Claudia have chemistry in that way, but that doesn't mean that they can't or they don't).

That said: platonic Rayllum tag here and foils Rayllum tag here, and I hope whatever parts of the show you do enjoy, well, give you joy.

#rayllum #thanks for asking #anonymous #shipping

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blackjackkent · 3 months

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OK, took a long rest before resuming Hector's adventures; a couple of interesting camp developments:

First of all, there was no cutscene, but when we woke up, Jaheira announced, apropos of nothing that I could discern, "Turned to mist. The spawn share in some portion of their master's power."

I'm not sure what to make of this. Was there a cutscene that got bugged out? Or am I supposed to interpret this to mean that Cazador's people were hanging around our camp and got spooked by the sun rising? Perplexing.

Second, I just noticed that Volo hasn't been around since Act 3 started, and apparently he left a note!

LOL. I'm not surprised he finally bailed. All he ever wanted to talk to me about whenever I tried to interact with him was his ocular surgery plan, which Hector was never going to go for. I guess this means we'll run into him again somewhere in the city though.

Third, a brief dialogue option with Jaheira. Hector said, "You mentioned there might be another way to find Minsc," and she answered, "There might be, but... it is not a path I'd tread until we must. Let it wait until the city proper. Perhaps I'll have had a better idea by then."

Apparently my assumption that we were in the city once we got past that first watcher at the gate was incorrect. Sadly this also seems to mean we can't immediately boot finding Minsc to the top of the priority pile since I don't yet know where the entrance to the "city proper" even is yet.

Fourth, a VERY interesting conversation with Astarion:

Hector: "I want to discuss the Astral-Touched Tadpole."

Astarion: "We both know what it is capable of. But I'm not touching it."

Hector, more than a little surprised by this: "Unlike you to be so unwilling to receive a new power..."

Astarion: "That was before I knew the cost. Before I knew it meant transforming into some grotesque beast. I remember how it hurt when I turned into a vampire. My body writhed and warped while I was utterly helpless, the grip of death owned my heart as it beat its last. I-- I don't want to turn into anything else. I can't do that again. I can't watch my body be taken over."

He looked, and sounded, SO incredibly upset, the poor guy. :(

Hector, to be honest, was more than a little relieved because he has considered Astarion the most likely to want to indulge in the illithid powers (and control the elder brain, later) no matter the cost. But he also feels terrible for having gotten him so upset, and of course quickly backed off. "All right, I will speak no more on the matter."

"I had nothing for so long. Nothing. Not even my own body. I will *not* give it up, now it's mine again."

Poor guy. :(

Also had a quick chat with Wyll about Stelmane. He doesn't believe that she was actually willing partners with the Emperor, just that it must have made her an offer she couldn't refuse. He also mentioned having met Stelmane twice; that she was lively and beautiful when he first met her as a boy, but weaker and struggling when he met her later. He said his father explained it as her having suffered a stroke. Hector had enough insight to gauge that Wyll questioned this story somewhat, but not enough persuasion to pursue the discussion any further right now. So we'll tuck that away for later.

Finally, Gale had an exclamation mark over his head. According to the dialogue history screen, he had a whole speech here: "So the devil himself is pursuing the Crown. As for whether it's truly the Crown Karsus forged? Well, I think it's safe to assume we shouldn't take anything Raphael utters at face value. We *must* claim the Crown of Karsus for ourselves, before anyone else does."

Which is a perfectly reasonable bit of dialogue, but the speech glitched out and so all that happened when I clicked on him was that he stared directly at Hector and snapped, "We *must* claim the Crown of Karsus for ourselves, before anyone else does!" without any other context. Which was pretty funny. XD

Anyway, back to city explorations!

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle

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theambivalentagender · 11 months

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I love your comic!! What inspired you to share Zekes story?

There's a lot to this answer so buckle up.

I've always been a writer, ever since I was a little kid telling stories has been my entire life's goal. But its been a struggle, and for a long time I've felt kinda lost in trying to survive taking soul sucking desk jobs. It honestly destroyed any desire I had to create.

And then at the beginning of 2022 I got abruptly fired (for what I don't think are honest reasons but that's another story). And then I found myself just not being able to land a new job no matter what I did - I worked in a tech-adjacent industry and know others in similar positions also have had these issues. Weeks turned into months, and my mental health took a nosedive.

That summer I noticed one of my long time close friends kept popping up on steam playing Stardew Valley at odd hours in the morning. I'd heard of the game before, I loved farming sims, and I really needed a distraction. So I finally bought it.

Long story short, several hours into the game this motherfucker hits me up with this line:

So you can imagine what that did to my psyche. I got so god damn invested in the game. Like I do with any game, I started modding the crap out of it, mostly to add more lines for Shane. And then I found myself imagining my own little story with my farmer.

For a good while this was just a dumb headcanon story I had every time I played Stardew. But then I found myself actually plotting things out, connecting different aspects of SDV that were "unexplained" or "implied" with the story I was developing in my head. And then I realized - I was making a story again. I was feeling the exact same way I used to feel when I would plan out and write a play, or a short story, or one of my many unfinished novels. It was such a good feeling, and I started coming around to the idea that I shouldn't just keep this story in my head.

I dealt with a lot of self doubt over it of course. The last time I wrote anything like fanfiction was when I was 10 and it was a HP fanfic where I misspelled Slytherin in five different ways. Some part of me felt like it would be wasting time because I wouldn't make money off of it. Another part of me worried I'd be mocked for writing an entire self-indulgent story about a borderline self-insert character romancing a grumpy pixel man, when I was nearly 30 living in an apartment with a long term partner and shouldn't be doing such *childish things*.

I lurked around the SDV fandom for a long time before actually posting anything, and seeing other people, often people close to my own age, doing exactly what I was afraid of because fuck it, we're adults and we get to decide what that means, really helped. It also helped to see a positive community praising and supporting creators of all skill levels.

As for the money thing, I ended up "justifying" it to myself that if I made myself draw just about every day working on the comic (since I had decided to make it a comic rather than a fanfic), that would help me bring my art skills up to par with my writing skills. And, well, it would probably help my mental health if I had something productive to work on while I still looked for a job, because there's only so many times you can rotate between various video games.

I honestly didn't expect the comic to get as much attention as it has. But I told myself even if nobody cared about it, I'd make it for the one person who wanted to see this story play out - me.

#personal #asks #valley echoes asides

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tobiasdrake · 29 days

Text

We're on a mission to FIX THIS. With forty minutes to spare so this will not go smoothly.

Yuki. It's gotta be Yuki. Yuki's the one who ate Haruhi. Yuki's morally ambiguous enough to eat Haruhi. It would make sense for her mission if she ate Haruhi. She has the intelligence to pull off this weirdass alter-history-retroactively-but-in-a-way-that-doesn't-change-the-past-somehow scheme.

It has to be her.

That is definitely Yuki's silhouette.

I still have so many questions about what the hell Yuki did and why.

She's tired. She ate Haruhi because she's tired. Yeah. Okay. 15,000 time loops will do that to a person. I can believe that.

I still sympathize with her intentions moreso than the actual plan to put things back to normal. I know we're gonna. But. Like.

From a story writing and drama building perspective, the original world is better. But from a person-who-lives-in-this-world perspective, there's basically no reason to choose the original world.

The movie tries to sell us on it nonetheless, of course.

But to be honest, this feels tremendously unearned. It's the obligatory climactic conclusion to this one movie, but it's a lot like the forced kiss back in the world-cramping.

Kyon doesn't undergo character development over the course of the story; He just sometimes is a different character for the sake of the climax. If he was actually written as someone who enjoys all of Haruhi's bullshit and wants to live in her world then this would make sense.

Maybe it works better in the light novels, since I understand those are written from Kyon's perspective so we probably get a lot more of his innermost thoughts and feelings. But here in the anime, it's a lot like Future Mikuru's "No really I actually super enjoy being molested all the time HONEST!" bit. It feels like retroactive revisionism.

This was obviously where the story was going to end, and we knew this was going to be where the story ended, and they leaned on that to get out of actually writing an organic journey that would lead to this ending. It happens because it's what was always going to happen, and not because the character has ever been written like this. It's relying on familiarity with Manic Pixie Dream Girl genre conventions in place of writing a dynamic character.

It's also supremely self-centered to decide that we should have city-destroying horrors and Yuki should be miserable purely on the basis that Kyon was having fun, but that part is completely earned. It fits perfectly in with the same warped protagonist-centric morality that gave us Haruhi in the first place.

I can't buy Kyon abruptly deciding that actually he was enjoying all of this for the entire show and only pretended to be miserable all this time. But I can absolutely buy that the fate of this universe turns entirely on one person's selfish interests, made with zero regard for anybody else's safety or emotional wellbeing.

Oh holy shit THAT'S what "She's been born anew" meant!

Newfound Sentimentality Yuki wanted Ryoko back!? I love that. Obviously she wasn't intending for Ryoko to stab Kyon but the idea that she binged Ryoko back to life but forgot how fucked up Ryoko is? I get that.

Meanwhile Future Mikuru's hanging out offscreen watching this happen.

Useless as ever, Mikuru. Thanks. Could literally end this in a moment by picking up the Tetanus Shot off the ground and sniping Yuki with it while Ryoko's distracted. But sure. Deer in the headlights works too, I guess.

I don't know why they wrote Mikuru if they're never going to let her do anything.

Two Mikurus and nobody's trying to shoot Yuki with the Thing That Makes This Stop Happening.

It is right there.

Come on.

Really.

We don't even see the end of the conflict? A brand new character, implied-to-be-Future-Kyon, shows up and fixes everything offscreen? I feel robbed.

#the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya #the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya #drake watches haruhi suzumiya

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jaythelay · 2 months

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I feel like TF2 had a really bad time in development hell for a while and the devs are just sick of it at this point. Stuff not working out, not making it to release, and simply put, not wanting to maintain any new ideas.

They had a medieval 2Fort and for the life of me, the only conclusion I can come to is they didn't want to maintain 2 separate experiences for the same game. MvM being a departure they...basically stopped work on eventually too. Hilariously, it being a horde-type game probably being what kept it going, much like with L4D from Counter-Strike.

Feels like alot of stuff at Valve just didn't work for a decade. and I think it's because nobody was forced to finish their work. And unfortunately that's just a simple aspect of creation that not everyone can handle, no restrictions. I imagine this also lead to people who did a lot of work, not getting full credit, or having their ideas superseded by essentially leaches who contributed nothing before, but have Their idea on how it should be.

That also would explain how the FUCK they canceled L4D3. What the fuck company doesn't get that shit finished one way or another? I can appreciate the freedom that Valve allows, but I think THAT should've been the moment an adult spoke up and said "This shit hasn't been working for literal decades."

I heard they stopped having as much freedom, and while on paper it was great, you HAVE to have restrictions in creation. Otherwise nothing gets done, nothing progresses, and nothing really even gets started past the initial planning process. The thing is, all we've seen is the broad end of both spectrums. One that doesn't work enough to get stuff out the door, and one that doesn't work either, but garbage at least gets out the door every week.

I'd like to see Valve just move a bit on that spectrum, not the opposite end in any way, just force people to Finish The Work they started. Like Left 4 Dead 3 for example. I can't imagine most people in the division that grew were happy that some idiots fucked all their work up entirely. I also, would have fired the idiots who wanted to move L4D3 to fuckin' Unreal or whatever. God damn morons don't know what company they're working at. Want to know the answer? You keep it on Source 2 because I wouldn't fucking buy it if it was on another fucking engine. No confidence in your own engine also paints a VERY poor image of literally EVERYTHING about the company, their engine, their work culture, god what an embarrassment.

Seriously though, I think people should probably chill on the "savetf2" stuff. I don't think that's gonna inspire anyone there to work on it anymore. Just kinda...annoy them that they can't say "Guys this was HELL to work on and almost nothing got out the door but cosmetics, failure after failure to get anything else out the door. We're tired, it's nearly been 2 decades. We aren't planning on shutting down servers or anything. Just keep playing if ya want to."

I'd much prefer a TF3 because I'm curious how they'll handle it. But I severely doubt we'll ever see another Valve big name title again. Which sucks shit, but what can ya do. The credit we can give, is outside of taking down TF2 clones they really don't need to take down, is that they at least allow people to do whatever the hell they want with their IPs. Do you think Valve was ever gonna make HL2VR? Honestly. Doubtful. The only reason Half-Life got an update is because of the SteamDeck, otherwise, that update would never have happened. They aren't interested in going back to Source anytime soon, they're jumping to Source 2.

Now there is a possibility they come back to other titles to give it the SteamDeck treatment, but I have high doubts of that either. HL was a blatantly obvious choice and Valve not having it work well for their own hardware is actually unconscionable. L4D is the embodiment of that meme with the skeleton under water, Portal doesn't really need much.

So I put forth a question I've pondered: Why is there even a Valve? It's not called ValveVR, nor ValveDeck, it wasn't a Valve Machine, or Valve controller, and Valve hasn't released a (good/playable) game since the 360 era. An update/total revision for Counter Strike is simply expected when it's their only real game success in years. So, otherwise, why is there even a Valve? Seems like they'd just morph into Steam by now. I also think it'd quell the fires of people wanting more games and updates.

I'd rather them NOT quit making games outright, but...like man, I've been playing L4D since I was at least 12yo, Half-Life since I was 3-4. I've been waiting. They've had the time to tell us what they're doing and thinking, them not telling us, feels like it's because they themselves don't even know or it's a total shit show. But when they do actually know what they're doing, they come out with confidence. Hardware and Steam has been their only confidence in decades. I'd rather have an answer to whether or not these IPs are genuinely dead, than have that carrot hanging in front of me anymore. Sure, I can ignore the carrot, but it's still there.

I think nearly 20 years is enough time for Valve to comment on...just...anything people have questions for anymore. I'm kinda sick of guessing what is even going on over there. This isn't a hate-post or anything, just a grouchy old man yelling at the sky sorta thing you've seen a million times before, just probably on the opposite spectrum of the main discussions. I don't want an update for TF2, I want an update on Valve. Not Steam, not their hardware, not specifically their IPs, Valve themselves, what the hell is going on over there.

#Valve #Steam #Half-Life #Portal #Left 4 Dead #IP #savetf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 #l4d2 #l4d #HL2VR #Half Life #Half Life 2 #Half-Life 2 #I have more to say but the main point is of all the things Valve has left us totally in the dark about #it's been Valve #we're pretty sure about everything else in comparison

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jamiesfootball · 5 months

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2 & 14

2. How did you get the idea to write this?

oh god, you're gonna get it (you have not been given love) - Dissatisfaction with the Jamie's dad thing between Mom City and the finale started it, but then Roy going to therapy and becoming the new manager sealed it. There was just so much to explore. Plus, they gave my boy canonical depression in the second to last episode. How am I supposed to not do something with that?

From there it turned into a fun tetris puzzle of 'hmm, here's EVERYTHING THEY DIDN'T USE. FAIR GAME NOW.'

I still feel like the same person I’ve been - aside from really really wanting to dig into the between moments of certain episodes, I've always liked the concept of a character who goes through tons of emotional development but when they look back at it they're like 'so why am I still me? why don't I feel like I've changed?' By tying this together with the pavlov thing, I thought it added an interesting echo. You are the same, but you've changed. You are still the habits you've learned, and they'll happen to you over and over again. Things will repeat, but that doesn't mean they have to stay the same. (I like themes)

the vacant house behind our home - I got a prompt from an ask game: “I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.” I liked the peril of it, the lingering threat out of eyeshot bracketed by the pretense of a buy-in. But I had nowhere to put it. The easiest idea was to give it to one of the players, but that felt too easy and didn't spark any good brain juice. Then I was re-listening to some of the first episodes of Welcome to Night Vale and the idea came to me of Ted, the talker that he is, having to walk someone through this horrible nightmare of a place. From there the investigator, the journalist (scientist) Trent fell into place as the one who would remain calm enough to ask the right questions, and a dialogue was born

you're gonna go far kid - an old idea that I got from someone else who suggested that what with his stunt as an Amsterdam tour guide, Jamie would make a fun travel host. At the time I read that, I had just cracked on this backstory for Isaac that he's actually really into archeology. From there it was easy to slot into place - Jamie, Isaac, and Colin doing a mini travel show. Isaac with the old history and the archeology and Jamie with the culture and the latest things to do. Colin there, basically just hanging out. Occasionally Isaac and Jamie will disagree and he'll be the tie breaker. He really is the deadpan third wheel who has people going 'why the hell is that guy there?'

Mostly Colin is just grateful that he gets to go on holiday and didn't have to do any of the planning. He's living the dream.

Then someone popped up in my ask box and was all 'oh what about a fic where Jamie wins an award and everyone is proud of him?' and my brain for some reason went 'you have the travel thing loaded. give him a webby.' 'but that would have to be after he retired.' 'yep' 'so wouldn't that also be a really sad time?' 'yep'

Oh. Oh.

So now i have a fic where jamie copes with the death of his career by starting a tiktok recipe channel and becoming a mini Anthony Bourdain, and many people are proud of him. Comedy!

14. Is there any unwritten/unpublished fics you planned on doing, but now you're feeling like you're gonna scrap those ideas?

I don't think I've scrapped anything ever in my life. Either they'll get written, or they'll sit around in my drafts taunting me, or they'll slowly morph into something I can use somewhere else. Ideas are made for keeping, I think

#ask game #ask box is always open #thank you for asking friend!#writing stuff

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haleigh-sloth · 1 year

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Hello again shigaraki expert! Hope all is well. Forgive me if you’ve answered this before, but what do you think people get wrong about him the most often and why? Both by viewers as well as the characters in the series. Thank you for always being so open to questions!

🤯 What a question. Also I have no idea how to react to being called that askdfasg. I think I kind of went on a little tangent about that here, but there are actually a lot of answers to this question.

There are a LOT of things about Tomura that I personally feel get mischaracterized by fans--but a lot of these takes come from multiple different subsects of the fandom. So I have to like...break it down I guess so it doesn't come across as a disjointed point I'm trying to make. And then in canon, god, there is also a lot of misunderstanding of him but that's because Tomura doesn't say anything out loud.

I'll break it into sections asghasf

Some takes are just not worth engaging with imo, like the ones talking about how he "actually wanted to kill his dad", or was actually born evil. I mean.....if that's the conclusion you've come to when reading the manga, there is nothing I can do to help you lol.

Takes I feel are skewed but not without justification to some extent though:

Man-child who throws tantrums: I mean yes, in the beginning when you didn't know the character well, you saw this behavior. And you hear the protagonist side characterize him this way. I get where this idea comes from, it isn't based off of nothing in canon. But supposedly people latched onto this characterization and never let it go. Now I personally don't see this a lot because anybody who thinks this is not someone I'd engage with in fandom anyway, but apparently in fics? I guess it's an issue. But yeah, needs to be let go. His reactions in early chapters have been explained to us as serious stress responses as a result of his life circumstances, not him being spoiled and unhappy that he didn’t get what he wanted, similarly to a toddler. The scratching at his skin and severe emotional irritation? It’s a panic attack.

Making his entire personality out to be nothing but a gamer nerd. Again, this isn’t without some justification. But it’s a little weird that so often he gets reduced down to…just that. It’s not even prevalent enough in his personality to have been put in his manga profile as something he likes, like it was for Spinner. It’s just weird that…that’s all he gets out of people sometimes.

The more complicated mischaracterizations (imo) are as follows:

“He has his own goals that he came to on his own.” Well, there is some evidence to back this up, if you ignore another key aspect of his character. He hates society, yes. He was abandoned by the common population and by heroes, yes. But his resiliency from this fact is completely tanked, because the real reason behind his goal to just get rid of everything is because he hates himself and sees no possibility for a future where the current world will ever accept him. But notice how in recent events we’ve been shown that despite the fact that he sees no future for himself in the current society, he still keeps hoping and holding out for someone to help him and accept him anyway. His self-hatred is not something he came up with on his own—that’s AFO. Society sucks, he hates it, and he has a hatred for it based off of personal experiences. But that’s not what he needs saving from. He needs saving from the hate he holds for himself and his own existence.

“He was liberated from his past.” He wasn’t. The proof is current chapters, but also if people would take like ten minutes to go back and really look at MVA, they’d see it for what it was. It was insanely negative development for Tomura and the shackles his past have around him only tightened their grip, as did AFO. Arguments over whether the possession plot line being planned from the start aside, MVA was never an arc about him being set free, or letting go, or moving on. It’s really really obvious if you look at it without being held up on the nice idea of Tomura being an independent thinker.

“He wants to make a change for the better.” I don’t know that this even really needs much explanation. I know it’s a common idea that he’s “fighting for a change”, but there’s a reason the manga doesn’t uphold his actions as something positive. Decaying cities with random bystander people in them is not positive nor is it fighting for any kind of change. And the manga doesn’t even try to frame it that way. So I find this take to be a result of people not letting go of past characterizations when we had less info, and not letting go of fanon Tomura. I talked about this here and here.

“He’s this selfless and compassionate person who prioritizes others (namely the League) above himself.” Honestly, I don’t see any indication of this, but it’s a popular idea people have of him. His desire for the LOV to live how they wish and HIS desire to destroy everything are 100% mutually exclusive. In a way both ideas might point in the same direction, but in that sense both of those things point in the same direction as AFO’s plans too. But they don’t enmesh well do they? On another note, he’s definitely self destructive, but he’s not sacrificial. He’s not out there thinking of the League’s well-being as a result of any sacrifice he makes. He operates rather independently (separating and going into a coma for four months). And the proof of this is, well, currently. When two of the remaining members of the league who have some sort of independence in their actions willfully turned a blind eye to his situation and pretty much abandoned him in the AFO situation, and have shown no internal conflicts to AFO taking over their operation. It just tells me that Tomura never set the bar for the League members to sacrifice themselves for each other, including himself. He doesn’t. What Spinner, Compress, and Twice do in their arcs is a different discussion altogether. But if we’re talking about Tomura specifically, he is not sacrificial for others. There is not really any evidence for that imo. I do think he is a compassionate person deep down, at his core. But that’s Tenko, who he really is, who he’s always been. That’s an aspect he’s always had outside of AFO that gets clouded over by his current personality that is nothing but trauma responses.

I think those are my biggest things that I feel get misconstrued, misread, mischaracterized about him by fandom. In the manga itself, there isn’t really a single soul who knows his true self (yet). So to answer that I’d say….everyone misunderstands him to great extents. But that’s intentionally done. Nobody is supposed to see how much he really hates himself and blames himself for his family and for how he turned out as a person. (Yet)

#bnha #boku no hero academia #anonymous #bnha asks #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #bnha meta

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