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#like what were they even doing with lotr like genuinely
carterthefrog · 3 months
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listen. in theory, i know that the hobbit was published in the 1930s and lotr was published in the 1950s, but conceptually, that's never fully sunk in. people were talking about bilbo baggins while world war ii bombs were flying overhead. discussing their favorite characters merry and pippin alongside the news of the brand new polio vaccine. making jokes about mordor between fireside chats. like that's absolutely crazy to me. unreal
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acridid-s · 1 year
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I have underestimated how much life Shadow of War's main theme/title music would give me, not just because of all the great memories of the game being my hyperfixation some years ago, but also because it's just. so. good.
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allyriadayne · 3 months
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will someone explain to me what the deal is with asoiaf lore? i'll see someone talking about something and it will come from martin responding to a fan letter from the 90s? and this is canon?? like who found and compilates all of the stuff he has said besides released books and interviews i guess. i've never been a fan of a series like this, is this common?
this has me genuinely in tears sorry 😭😭😭
okay serious now. i genuinely don't know if this is normal or expected in fantasy book series, at least i don't think it's that common in modern fantasy where the fashion has gone other ways from the expansive sword & sorcery type from the 20th century. i could not tell you if other fantasy authors are as involved as grrm is because i haven't been involved with any other fandom like this either (maybe lotr fans can say something different), but considering the years between publications (let this one be the last 🤞), the massive fanbase and fame of the source material, i think it's normal that his interviews, comments, and fanmail has been archived in the internet.
strictly speaking, everything outside asoiaf (books 1-5), fire and blood, and the dunk & egg books is not considered canon. BUT if the info comes from people like elio and linda like twoiaf book, or like the calendars, cookbooks, official art etc it's considered semi-canonical, just like anything grrm says /outside/ of the books. famous example, it's like when jk rowling said dumbledore was gay /after/ the books were done. it's semi canonical bc it comes from the author themselves, it doesn't affect the main body of work so it can be taken or discarded.
the thing is, martin has done A LOT of interviews and answered A LOT of fanmail and worked closely in answering doubts from the westeros dot org site for their rpg games set in westeros (girl, the dream) during the more than 30 years since the publication of agot. all this is considered semi canon and this archive is called "so spake martin" (SSM), which i think was started by elio & linda in the 90s and it's still collecting info. if you go to the awoiaf wiki, esp in the main series characters you'll see this citation (from tyrion's page):
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most will be things like "martin has said tyrion has similarities to richard iii" (i mean duh) but other will be really neat like saying tyrion has been trained in arms, which while not something new (he does fight more or less ably during the blackwater battle) it's interesting to point out when it's a detail that may be lost in the series. it goes from character trivia to how casterly rock is different from the show. most fans take what he says seriously but i know there are people that only consider what's in the book and that's it, which is fine. in any case, most of these is used to enrich theories or character analysis, it's why you will see trivia from a fanmail from 1996 or whatever. i myself haven't read SSM completely one by one but i do like to peruse the wiki often, even if it's not complete.
i've seen a few blogs on here who also "collect" grrm's words like nobodysuspectsthebutterfly's "so spake martin" tag (mostly analysis but really interesting read if u don't want to go thru the westeros org page) or georgescitadel that has specific info about characters or themes in asoiaf.
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It is not even that Mlvns are homophobic. I mean, many of the toxic ones are. We’ve all seen them and interacted with them and received hate anons from them. When Noah’s article officially confirming Will’s sexuality dropped during the summer, people were literally tweeting slurs and fantasizing about him being hate-crimed or dying from AIDS. (It’s probably unfair to group Mlvns in with these people, as lots of them weren’t even Mlvns, just bigoted GA members and trolls). But still. It was bleak. There’s a deep darkness within the ST fandom undeniably.
But I’m sure many Mlvns/Byler-antis are the types of people who genuinely have no problem with queer people in real life. When we call them out on their bigotry and homophobia, they get confused and say, “But I have gay friends! How am I homophobic for not liking Byler?” And they mean it 100%. They really do have gay friends. They probably consider themselves allies and yada yada.
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The issue is that A) they are deeply heteronormative without realizing it, and B) they simply aren’t the target audience for the show, and as such, they don’t really understand or connect to the themes of the show. The thing is, lots of people, many Milkvans included, are simply normies. Now I love Steve as a character, so this is literally no hate to Steve, but lots of people are Steves. And people who are like Steve: popular, straight, attractive, used to dating the types of people they want, into ‘normal’ interests like sports (not that Steve is hyper into sports, but you know what I mean), likely to go down ‘normal’ paths and live fairly conventional lives like their parents, etc. are simply not the target audience for the show.
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Obviously, the show centers on outcasts, nerds, queer characters, characters with disabilities, black characters, etc. Most people recognize this on some level, but they recognize it in more of a general sense like, “Of course the protagonists are nerds/outcasts, just like all the classic 80s teen protagonists. I just love how nostalgic ST is!” And they leave it at that. Because they are normies, they don’t really connect to the themes of the show other than a surface-level, power of friendship sense. They don’t see how Byler is more aligned with the show’s message than Milkvan at this point. They don’t see that the outcast status of most of the characters is more than just a throwaway personality trait… its deeply integral to the point of the show itself and closely connected to the supernatural storyline.
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This is because nerd culture is somewhat mainstream now, and lots of “normies” like it too. Star Wars, Marvel, LOTR, Harry Potter, etc. These are all major parts of society and billion dollar franchises, even more so than they were in the 80s. Because of this, people don’t realize that in the context of the world of the show, they wouldn’t have been friends with the Party most likely. It is far more statistically likely that they would’ve rolled with Angela’s friend group or joined Jason’s human hunting squad. Or even if they weren’t outright bullies, it’s far more likely that they would’ve been one of the nameless background characters in Hawkins High, just kind of floating by in a conventionally comfortable existence, entirely oblivious to government lab conspiracies and alternate dimensions. The characters in ST are outcasts in a deeper, existential sense. Society is against them.
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And so many people can’t relate, especially to the queer themes. They can’t even see the queer themes. Because the show is not for them. That’s why you see so many baffling takes on the show:
“Will is so whiny all the time, and I don’t like him!”
“Mike was right in the rain fight! S3 is about growing up, and Will was acting like a baby.”
“Tbh I don’t care that much about the Party dynamics. My favorite part of the show is Steve and Dustin being funny together. And my second favorite part is Hopper being a cool action hero.”
“B*lly is overhated! I mean, he’s so hot and misunderstood! He could’ve redeemed himself.”
“I don’t get Byler. It barely seems like Mike and Will are even friends.”
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To be clear, it doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy the genre of the show. Being horror/sci-fi, its core fans are a smaller pool of people than, say, fans of The Office or Friends or other popular sitcoms. So the Mlvns who watched it since the beginning probably do have some avant-garde tastes in terms of genre-preferences, since lots of people wouldn’t touch horror with a ten-foot pole. But it does mean they don’t pick up on the themes of the show and the arc of the characters.
(Of course, many newer fans now are just watching it cause it’s popular, regardless of which genres they typically prefer. This opens the show up to lots of people who don’t connect to anything about the show, not just its themes but also its darker content. A lot of newer fans sound like this: “Like, I just love that Mike was in love with El from the day he found her in the woods, and it’s so cute that El is Mike’s superhero, and Eddie is so cool and badass; I wish he could’ve told Chrissy how he felt, and I’m anxiously awaiting S5 to see who Nancy chooses but I hope she chooses Steve… Stancy 4ever!” This is because Stancy is like every other conventionally attractive couple in media).
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I’m rambling, but a lot of people are into Milkvan because of their expectations that “pretty boy and pretty girl go together,” and that’s all there is to it. Finn is attractive and Millie is attractive, and they play the protagonists, so of course Mike and El are endgame. Why wouldn’t they be? This is true for the girls who project themselves onto Millie and see Finn/Mike as a dream boyfriend, and it’s true for the guys who project themselves onto Finn and who would want nothing more than to have a cool, superpowered girlfriend.
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This is the way of nature. In a normie worldview, there’s no deviation from this path. A lot of fans basically take The Kissing Booth/To All the Boys I Loved Before and slap a sci-fi/horror filter on it, and they think that’s what Stranger Things is. It’s a cool show where kids fight monsters, and there are normal, heterosexual romances like Mlvn to root for, and there’s a badass superhero main character at the center.
Oh, there’s a gay character too? Well, that’s weird. I mean, y’all already have Robin, but whatever. I’m not homophobic! I’m cool with Will being gay… as long as he stays over there. Oh, he’s in love with Mike? Well, that’s even weirder. Why would the writers do that? I suppose that’s fine, as long as it’s just a little crush, and as long as it doesn’t get in the way of “the main storyline” and my OTP. I’m not homophobic, I swear! I have gay friends!
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And they do. And they might not actively be against LGBTQ+ people in real life. They may really be telling the truth. But because they are Steves, this is where heteronormativity comes into play and blinds them. Main couples in shows are always straight, so the cool sci-fi, monster show they love must also be. They’re fine with Kevin Kellers, but queer Mike doesn’t fit the box that they allot to gay characters. So Mike must be the straightest character of all time to fight back against “weird delusional Byler theories” that would “come out of nowhere.” It’s not that they’re actively anti-gay; it’s that they are profoundly closed-minded and have a very myopic view of sexuality/storytelling/their favorite characters/their favorite shows. This is very similar to the XO, Kitty situation and people who were upset that Kitty was ‘suddenly’ bi and had a crush on Yuri.
WHAT?! Where did this come from? I thought I was watching a normal rom-com! I was fine with the gay characters on it who were clearly televised from the beginning! But Kitty? No! Kitty’s my self-insert. How can she like girls too? It must be a phase and be “less real” than her male love interests. This isn’t Heartstopper. The same weird energy is present in the ST fandom.
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Byler being semi-canon isn’t seen as confirmation of a love triangle; it’s seen as a disruption to the norm and the foregone conclusion that Mike and El will be together forever and get married and have telekinetic children because the show owes that to them for all they’ve been through. “But why is Will inserted into their scenes?” we ask them, begging them to see reason. “Idk, but he should know his place and stop being a homewrecker and go find a new boy to like. Just leave the soulmates alone. Mike has already made clear he’s straight and that Will is nothing more than a friend. He said it in the roller rink!” This is how heteronormativity works.
That’s why Byler endgame will be so important because it will shatter preconceived notions and open people’s eyes to the beautiful tapestry of humanity. And they will see that this powerful, queer, coming-of-age, love story was right there, under their noses, in their “fun sci-fi monster show” this whole time. *Mind Blown*
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'Ruined' domesticity - e.m. x gn!reader ft. Uncle Wayne (dad💗)
Summary: You and Eddie are both cuddling in bed after a long day full of all the usual bullshit and just as you reach your threshold consciousness, Uncle Wayne comes home from work and you 'ruin' the moment by launching out of bed to give him a hug. Uncle Wayne would later call it a 'flying tackle', but you won't care. All you ever want is the Munsons home together with you, and they're here. This is just another favourite part of your day, but it always happens right at the end... as Uncle Wayne comes home, you and Eddie come home to yourselves. Home is where the heart is.
A/N: Inspired by a conversation @thefreak0fhawkinshigh and I have had a few times. I couldn't get this little daydream out of my head. If you spot the LOTR reference, I'm giving you a forehead kissie.💗This is self-indulgent as all hell, I just wanna attack Uncle Wayne in a hug and call him dad and feel him hug me back. I just want to be loved by a parent since my own do not care.
TW; this is just fluff but in case it's triggering to anyone, there's swearing in the narrative, Eddie is a squeezer and I describe his hugs as being held by a boa constrictor (positive, affectionate, I adore snakes and Eddie), mentions of unspecified stresses in your lives, reader calls Uncle Wayne 'dad'; there is no familial connection but he's a definitive paternal figure to Y/N, mentions of reader's parents not taking good care of them so Uncle Wayne is very much their father figure and fulfils the role perfectly because of course he does!😭🥺
Gender neutral reader & no coded language.
People who wanted to be tagged: @ali-r3n @jslittlebirdie
Word count: 2, 080.
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Finally, finally, you were exactly where you had wanted to be even before you had dragged yourself out of bed this morning.
Wrapped up in Eddie Munson's arms, and he in yours.
Limbs tangled together, heads sharing the same pillow, your arms around one another so tightly that you could feel his heart pounding against the safety of his ribcage and fluttering against your own. You could feel your own heart racing, too, your blood singing in your ears even as you laid there waiting for Morpheus to embrace you.
The 'you' was singular but it included you and Eddie, for nowhere would either of you go where the other couldn't follow.
Eddie hummed contentedly as you pushed your body into his, curling your arms tighter around his shoulders as you nuzzled the cool tip of your nose into the crook of his neck.
"Love you so much, Eddie," you mumbled, carelessly pressing kisses to whatever part of him was nearest, "don't know what I'd do without you."
Eddie had a feeling that you had more to say, so he squeezed you even tighter into him, until not even a sheet of paper could have been slid between your bodies, and awkwardly moved so that he could kiss the top of your head. "I love you too, sweetheart." No matter whether you were mid-intense discussion or half asleep, you and Eddie always said those few words back to each other. Even if such a 'rule' hadn't already been in the Munson Doctrine, you would have made it an addition; Eddie knowing how important he was to you was always a top priority. The thought of Eddie not knowing how loved he was made you feel genuinely sick.
"I just miss you all the time," you sighed, "even when you're right here." You squeezed Eddie and he playfully groaned, pretending to be in pain from the strength of your grip. "Want you around all the time. More I have, the more I want of you. Don't wanna let go."
"Whoa, hey," Eddie grinned a megawatt grin which left your heart aching, giddy was he to know just how loved he was by you, his eyes soft with all the love in the world because he never thought he'd ever have this with anyone, let alone with you, "you don't have to miss me, okay? I promise. I'm right here, sweetheart." He tightened his arms around you again until you felt, for a second, like you were being held by a boa constrictor (and you loved it when Eddie held you like that). It was a silent reciprocation of everything you had just shared, and a mutual need to have you as close to him as possible. In turn, you pressed kisses where you could reach. With you and Eddie, the more affection which was shared, the more the love grew. Your hearts were so big anyway but they were limitless and timeless when it came to each other.
You could never get enough of Eddie; your heart squeezed so much that it made your chest physically ache with the force of all the love you held for him. You both laid there, wrapped up in one another's embrace and not willing to let go for even a second. Little more was said as the both of you wound down for the night. Just holding each other, breathing and thinking and finally finding peace in one another's company after yet another crazy day full of too much to do and little time to do it in, mixed up with all the usual bullshit which life liked to throw at you like you weren't already busy enough.
You and Eddie were creeping closer and closer to your respective threshold consciousness, but just as you allowed yourself to properly settle down with the intention to sleep, you heard the roar of a van coming down through the trailer park, tyres crunching on gravel, and then the sound of a car door opening and closing. Boots bit down on gravel and then concrete, and you froze as you realised that the steps the feet were ascending were the ones outside the trailer. Which meant only one thing:
Uncle Wayne was home.
There was the familiar jangle of keys and before you even realised what was happening, your body was wriggling out of bed. Now that Uncle Wayne was home, there was no way you would relax enough to fall asleep without being able to say hello and give him a proper hug.
"Mm?" Eddie sleepily shuffled around, his hands patting around for you. "Wassit?" It would have been enough to make you get back into bed at any other time, but this was Uncle Wayne. You could cuddle Eddie any time you wanted, but Uncle Wayne was only around for limited hours every day and you always made a point to seize every opportunity for a hug that you could. He was more of a father to you than either of your parents had ever been, and he had only been too honoured the first time you had told him. He was used to you greeting him excitedly and always with some sense of urgency. You had been waiting for this moment all night and now he was here.
"Dad!" You hissed, shaking Eddie gently, "dad's home!" you were desperately dodging Eddie's grabby hands as you tried to untangle yourself from the hot bedsheets which you and Eddie had been sharing for several hours. Finally, you got yourself free, hopping awkwardly on one foot to make sure that you didn't trip over the sheets wrapped around your toes. You moved much faster than your sleep-heavy mind could comprehend as you were already in the hallway by the time your mind told you that your limbs were cold from being in bed for so long. "Dad's home dad's home dad's home!!!!" Your words quickly became nonsensical as your excitement heightened and you ran down the hall, just catching a blur of red and blue flannel closing the front door behind him, a hand deftly locking it, before you launched yourself at it. "Dad!!!"
Uncle Wayne was very used to being attacked when he came home from work. Anyone who knew him, though no one knew him better than you and Eddie, knew that he adored being attacked when he came home. It meant that he was home, that he was safe, that he was loved. Eddie had been throwing himself out of trees and vans and into his Uncle's arms for as long as he could remember, but now you did the same thing... it had been just over a year since you had begun to date Eddie and you were well and truly a Munson now. Honourary, at least. But still... a Munson.
And that meant that you were 'allowed' (encouraged) to indulge in the luxury of doing what Eddie liked to do every morning before school after setting up the trailer so that his dad could reheat dinner, shower and then collapse into the bed Eddie unfolded and set up for him - throw yourself at Uncle Wayne in a hug. But more than that, oh, more than that... you would be caught, held tightly, and feel yourself coming home just like Eddie did, when he did the same.
If anyone other than a Munson tried to do to Uncle Wayne what you and Eddie loved doing, then woe betide them. Being loved by a Munson as a Munson came with a different set of rules, a different way of expressing and sharing love. The only exception to that may well have been Dustin... everyone loved Dustin, and for good reason. He, too, could score an Uncle Wayne hug, but he would not have been allowed a moment of flight beforehand, unlike you and Eddie.
Uncle Wayne's arms were already open for you; he had heard you almost yell Eddie out of his threshold consciousness and then bound down the hallway, through the living room, and then -
home.
Uncle Wayne grunted, a gruff oof as you collided with him in that red and blue flannel you loved so well. He didn't stumble, he didn't falter. No, he merely adjusted his feet, caught you in his arms, and held on tight. "Well, it ain't a proper homecoming 'less someone throws themselves at me." Uncle Wayne's greeting was saturated with laughter, his ocean blues deeply creased at the edges and alight with tender affection. He squeezed you in his arms and you nuzzled in, smiling to yourself as your body took a natural deep breath of its own accord. "Hey there, darlin'," Uncle Wayne ducked his head down to press a kiss to the top of your head; it was all he could see of you. You moved your arms so that instead of being over the top of his flannel, you moved them down and then under his flannel, where it was warmer and closer to your dad. "Take it you missed me?"
"Even when you're here." You squeezed Uncle Wayne around the middle, letting yourself sink into the hug with the man who was more of a father to you than either of your parents had ever been combined. You didn't want to let go but you knew that you would have to eventually. "How was work?"
"Miss you too, darlin'. You and our Eddie." Uncle Wayne sighed between greeting you and answering your question; the exhaustion in his voice made your breath get stuck in your throat. "Oh, same old, y'know." You had the feeling that Uncle Wayne was going to elaborate a little, but before he did, there was a loud and overdramatic sigh from behind you. You gave Uncle Wayne one final big squeeze before you stepped away from him. You stayed close, though, and waited to see if your Eddie would join you in greeting his dad.
"Would you quit stealin' Y/N from me, man?" Eddie's words were harsh, but his tone was soaked with barely restrained laughter as he bounded across the trailer. He skidded to a stop in front of his dad, thought better of it and then jumped at Uncle Wayne, throwing his arms around his dad's shoulders as he pulled himself in.
Uncle Wayne chuckled. "I did no such thing! Y/N attacked me!" He held onto Eddie like if he let go, then Eddie would slip through his fingers like the sands of time. "I ain't gonna complain about that, you know I ain't." Just like with you, Uncle Wayne let himself both sink into his hug with Eddie as well as be the strong wall for Eddie to melt into. The hug between the Munson men went on for longer than the hug you had with Uncle Wayne, but that was okay - you could have a hug from him any time you wanted, all you had to do was ask. And sometimes, you didn't even have to ask; just one look at you, when you were in a certain mood, and Uncle Wayne knew that you needed to be sandwiched between him and his boy for an undetermined amount of time. Uncle Wayne tried to let go of Eddie, but the boy whined and Uncle Wayne smiled to himself and squeezed Eddie tighter. "Easy, son, that's it. You know I ain't lettin' go 'til you want me to. M'right here."
Eddie sniffled and mumbled something like, "never gonna want you to let me go, dad," and your heart melted into a puddle on the floor, right along Uncle Wayne's. You weren't supposed to hear it, only Eddie's dad was, so you let Eddie keep his secret. Finally, Eddie literally wriggled his way free and found his way back to you as Uncle Wayne turned to look around the trailer. He saw the pull out sofa ready for him with the duvet pulled back and the pillows fluffed up, he saw frying pans and dishes on the draining board next to the sink and suspected that dinner leftovers were waiting for him in the fridge (he was right), and that the shower would be ready for him as well with pyjamas and his usual products (it was). His kids had made sure that all he had to do was eat, shower and then sleep, and warmth bloomed in Uncle Wayne's chest like flowers in a garden.
An eternal spring day, deep inside, forever.
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spookyscarydemonbabe · 7 months
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Beauty of the Blue Pt. 2
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A/N- i genuinely didn’t expect that fic to get so much love 🥰 thank you all for your feedback on it, i really do want to write more for him, but for some reason he’s a very tricky character for me to get down correctly. BUT, i’m glad that so many of you have been sending in requests so i get a little more practice for writing him 🖤 I may or may not turn this into a 3 part fic but i haven’t decided yet 😅
Summary- After a week of being on Buggy’s ship, you need to know why he’s been treating you so differently than you had imagined.
Genre- Fluff, Light smut at the end
Warnings- Reader has female anatomy, Buggy being a little bit of a pervert, hinting at smut near the end
Tag List- @lotr-got
(tag list is always open, let me know if you’d like to be added 🖤)
Word Count- 3.6k
If you’d like to read Part 1 you can find it here 🫶
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You woke up to the sunlight shining through the window of your room, the gentle rocking of the ship awoke you further, easing your way slowly out of bed.
Your arms were stretched up over your head as you yawned, and a smile slowly came to your lips as you looked around the room.
It was small, but cozy.
Buggy had kept his promise, and he had given you nothing but the best since you’ve made your deal. Your bed had the softest blankets and pillows you’ve felt in a long while, he’d given you plenty of clothes to survive on for the next few months at sea if need be, and of course you were given as much privacy as you needed, only calling for meals as you lay in bed all day if that’s what you wished.
It was an easy life, and to be honest it was quite nice not having to ask for much anymore. You had been given every little thing you had asked for, and if his crew couldn’t get you what you wanted, Buggy would send them off on one of the lifeboats to return with what you needed and more as an apology. Out of everything else you had gotten out of your deal, Buggy was the thing you were most grateful for.
Even the crew had never seen him so eager to get up in the morning to greet you.
Each and every morning you’d woken up to him at your door, already fully dressed and ready for the day, wishing you a good morning with some breakfast if it was ready and tell you of the ships plan for the day. Thus far it hasn’t been too much of a journey. The Big Top was headed to the Grand Line, slowly but surely, and up until this point you hadn’t been asked to use your beauty to get them much of anything.
Every stop you made, Buggy would ask if you needed anything at all while they were stopped, and it felt nice to not have to be the one doing the work to get you what you needed. It was strange, having someone always doting on you rather than the other way around.
Buggy had been nothing but kind and respectful to you since you came aboard his ship, and he made sure the crew had been giving you the same treatment. You couldn’t be more grateful. Only a week in, and your life had already been changed for the better.
Though one thing had been on your mind since that night at the bar.
You figured that Buggy would’ve wanted something from you in return by now, and yet he had not asked for one thing. No intimacy, no private time together, nothing. Each and every time you had been given an offer by another captain they always wanted one specific thing from you, they made that clear, and you didn’t give it up that easy. Buggy won you over because you knew that if that was what he wanted, you wouldn’t be opposed to giving him a little something extra in return for giving you such treatment aboard his ship. And yet, he was always so respectful.
Giving you his arm to guide you wherever you went together, letting you have your privacy when you changed or bathed, and though it was nice to be able to not expect him to come into your room every night and leave after getting what he wanted, you started wishing he would.
You had caught yourself sneaking longer glances over to him, smiling whenever his gaze met yours. His touch would linger on you for a few moments longer than normal and you never wanted that sensation to leave your skin. You’d lay in bed at night wishing that you had someone warm laying next to you to hold you in their arms. You wanted it to be him.
He had already shown you another side of him, the side that could be caring and compassionate if need be, but you wanted so much more. You came onto this ship agreeing that you would be his, but now you wanted him to be yours.
Your legs hung over the edge of your bed and you smiled when you heard that familiar knock at your door.
“Come in!” You said in between yawns.
Buggy had entered with a smile, his captains hat off, a small tray in his hands with your breakfast.
“Good morning.” He said with a smile as he placed the little tray next to you on the bed, “My, my, that beauty sleep really does wonders on you.”
You giggled and looked at your hands in your lap to try and hide your blush. You had heard the way he spoke to his crew and to the islanders he had come across when going in for more supplies, and he had never used that tone with you.
“I’m glad you think so.” You reached out and sipped the tea he had brought you, “What’s on the agenda today, captain?”
“Not much more than what we did yesterday.” He approached you and sat on the other side of the tray, “No islands around, the nearest one is around a day away, so we’re just going to sail and see how long it takes us.”
You nodded and quickly grabbed the fork, picking at the little plate of fruits you were brought,
“Anything for me to do today?” You asked him, but he shook his head.
“Not a thing my dear.” He smiled and stood back up, “You just do whatever it is you always do, and i’ll take care of the rest.”
He placed his hand onto your shoulder and pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead, making sure none of the red on his lips transferred. He smiled down at you for a moment before clearing his throat, looking to the floor. His gaze left yours and the smile on your lips slowly faded. For some strange reason, everything felt so right with him there.
You didn’t feel alone.
“Wait!” You said to him, quickly grasping his hand and lightly pulling back, giggling as you saw it pop off of his wrist as it held yours, “Sorry…” He stepped forward and you held his hand back up to his arm, feeling the slight stretch at his wrist as it reattached itself to the rest of his body, “I still forget sometimes.”
“It’s alright,” He smiled and slowly removed his hand from yours, moving it to the side of your head, petting your hair back as he looked down to you, “I forget too sometimes…”
You shared a comfortable silence with one another, and as you looked into his eyes you could see his gaze wander and linger onto your smiling lips. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t do the same. Though covered in red makeup, you always admired how kind his smile was.
“Would you…” You started, your train of thought being interrupted by him again. Damn him and his pretty blue eyes.
Your hand moved from your side to rest on top of his as it rested at the side of your head so tenderly,
“Would you stay? I just…” You took a deep breath, collecting yourself as he sat next to you once more, your breakfast tray being moved to the side to give himself more room, “I need to know. Why have you not asked for…” You wracked your brain, trying to find the best way to ask without blatantly having to say it, “more, from me?”
He carefully cocked his head to the side, unsure for a few moments as to what you could’ve possibly meant. When his eyes moved to your lap, watching your thighs slowly and carefully rub together beneath your nightgown, he smirked.
“Is that what you want from me?” He asked you, his gaze returning to your eyes.
You could feel the heat rising to your cheeks, and you looked down to your lap to hide any emotion. You weren’t sure how to feel.
As much as you wanted to be able to give Buggy everything he needed, it seemed like he was treating you so much better than any other captain at any of the bars you had gone to ever had. He didn’t expect anything from you in return for him taking you in, and you adored how kind and respectful he was, but you were the one who wanted more. You couldn’t help it.
You shrugged, his finger moving to your chin, tilting it upwards to face him once more.
“Talk to me (y/n),” he said softly, “tell me what thoughts are racing through that pretty little head of yours.”
You took a deep breath and he sat there patiently waiting for you. He wanted to be able to make sure you were living your life to the fullest, anything you wanted you got, and he would make sure of it.
“You treat me differently than everyone else on your ship. You treat me differently than any other sea captain i’ve interacted with. I’ve seen the way you are with your crew, you’re demanding and you’re strong, and a little scary at times.” He chuckled and nodded, agreeing that his behavior with his crew could sometimes be less than rational, “You treat me better than anyone else. Every other captain that’s offered me a deal would always expect something from me in return, and i think you know what that is…” You quietly trailed off, and he could see that this was something that had been on your mind for a while.
You didn’t know why you wanted him so badly, but the way he was treating you was so unusual. At least to you it was. You were fully willing to give yourself to him whenever he asked for it, you figured it was part of your deal, but as the days had gone on he had given you your privacy and alone time, and it was lonely being by yourself at night.
“And you want to know why i haven’t asked for that from you yet, hm?” He asked.
You pursed your lips and nodded slowly. You weren’t sure what to say. Even without being able to fully finish your words, he understood exactly what you were implying.
“Well, a few reasons i suppose.” He moved his hands to hold yours gently in your lap, “The first one being, i respect you more than to just use you as my little pawn. You’re someone who has what so many other people want, and you’re someone who deserves to be shown that you’re more than a beautiful face.” He was talking sternly, seriously, he meant these things truly and deeply and you could feel him tense up as his hands held yours, “I didn’t want you to think that this partnership that we have means that i get to use you as i please, that i have the privilege of letting you be my little plaything and discarding you until you’re needed. I meant what i said in that bar (y/n), when i’m king of the pirates, i want you to be my queen. But that means nothing if it’s forced onto you.” You gave his hands a gentle squeeze, holding onto every word he was saying, “Your safety, your comfort, and your needs are more important to me than this deal we have, and i would never overstep a boundary just because i knew i could.”
You knew exactly why he hadn’t made any moves before.
It wasn’t because he only wanted you for your beauty to get him closer to the One Piece. It wasn’t because he only wanted you to be a pretty little pawn sitting at his side. It wasn’t because he didn’t think you were beautiful enough to warrant those kinds of advances. He had been giving you the time and the space you needed, everything you had asked for.
You were given your own room because you hadn’t said you wanted to share Buggy’s. You were given as much privacy and alone time as you wanted because you hadn’t said you wanted him there. You were always given nothing but the best from him and his crew, and you were more than grateful, but you hadn’t realized just how much control you had with your new found partnership.
Buggy was in charge of the ship and his crew, but you were in charge of Buggy. He would do anything your heart desired just to keep you happy.
“I’m sorry that you misunderstood me at the bar, but i want to make sure you understand this relationship clearly…” He turned his body to face you, the soft fabric of his gloves softly moved as he brought your hands up as he held them, looking into your eyes, “Whatever you want, you get. All you have to do is say the word.”
His gaze never left yours and you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. He was just waiting for you to say the word and he was ready and willing to do anything you asked.
“Whatever i want?” You asked, seeing his lips curl into a smile.
“Whatever you want.”
You softly smiled, not caring wether or not he could see how he was making you feel. So warm, so comforted, and though you could still hear the noises of the crew outside your door as they did their work for the day it felt like you were the last two people on earth. He made you feel like the only girl in the world.
“Even if it’s you?” You whispered to him, your eyes finally glancing down at his red painted lips.
He chuckled, and you thought you could see a bit of pink beneath the makeup on his cheeks. It was nice to finally see him flustered for once.
“If that’s what you wish for.”
You enjoyed the silence for a few moments, just basking in one another’s company like you had wished to since you arrived on the ship. Since you came aboard you hadn’t been able to be alone with one another for more than five minutes before one of the crew came rushing to find Buggy to tell him about a new island spotted or if another crew mate wasn’t doing the work that was expected of them. He liked the silence. He liked it with you.
“So…” You trailed off, the silence moving from comfortable to awkward, neither one of you knowing what to do next, “how do we go about this?”
“Well, for starters, i’ll have you and all of your things moved into my quarters. I see no point in leaving you all by your lonesome anymore.” Your eyes got wider and your smile was bigger just at the mention of not having to be cramped up all by yourself, “And of course you’ll get all the same normal treatment, but there will be a few changes with me.”
“Changes?” Your thumbs brushed over the soft fabric of the gloves on his hands, “Such as?”
“You’re going to be seeing me a lot more often than have been my love,” He lifted your hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, slowly working his way up your arm, kissing it after each new change, “we’ll share my bed, and you’re allowed to be as far away or as close to me as you like,” Your lips curled to a shy smile as he gently kissed your wrist, just imagining the warm feeling of getting to wake up in his arms each morning, “i’ll be at your beck and call, waiting to fulfill every need you have,” His lips moved to just below your elbow and a shiver ran over your body as he moved further upwards, “you’ll always be close to me, i’ll even have my freaks build you a throne so you’ll always be sitting pretty beside me,” You perked up at the thought of being able to sit and watch over the crew next to Buggy, everyone’s eyes on you just watching and waiting for you to make your rule, “and of course, every second you’re with me my dear, every waking moment that you’re here with me,” One gloved hand moved from yours to your chin, keeping it tilted up, making sure he had every ounce of your attention, “you’ll be getting every ounce of love, adoration, and worship that i have to offer.”
You were speechless.
Countless times, again and again, you’d have pirate captains and marine admirals profess their love to you. Crew mates and marines, even fish men and countless others had offered your their undying worship, but this was the first time you believed that someone wanted more than just the ability to say that they were the ones loving you.
Buggy knew you were more than that. And you could see that he really truly meant everything he said.
He didn’t want you because of your pretty face, he didn’t want you because you’re the most breathtaking creature to grace the earth on both land and sea. He wanted you for you. Everything that you had, he wanted. He loved you for more than your body, but for your soul, and he would spend hours, days, weeks, even years if it took that long to show you that he wanted to be the one worthy of having you want him too.
Your hands moved from his and for a quick moment the smile faded from his lips, only to return once he felt your soft fingertips graze his cheeks as you held him close,
“I want your love Buggy… Please?…”
Your breath was cut quickly by his lips pressing into yours, catching you so off guard that you nearly fell back onto the mattress, quickly catching yourself with your arms at your sides.
His lips were dry, yet soft, and you smiled at the gentle tickling of the stubble on his face as it grazed over yours. You couldn’t help but let out a small, needy whimper, finally feeling the rush of electricity run all through your body. And it was just from one kiss.
He pulled away from you slowly, a smile at his lips, and he couldn’t help but chuckle from seeing the little bit of red staining your lips from his makeup.
“I’m sorry,” His hand snaked behind your neck, holding it gently as he leaned down to you and pecked your lips, “I just couldn’t help it.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Your hands did the same, your fingers interlocking behind his neck as his body carefully adjusted over yours, “it’s exactly what i wanted…”
The position you were in was nothing short of provocative.
You arms around him while one of his hands held you close, the other holding him up on the bed as he was leaned over you, your bodies so close to one another. The nightgown that draped over your body had been pulled up to your thighs, and you were wishing he would just get it over with and rip it off of your body, but he was too gentle with you for that. He treated you like your body was made of glass, handling you so delicately like you would break at the slightest hint of pressure. It was actually quite a talent.
His hand slowly moved from your mattress to your thigh, the glove on his hand making you shudder as you felt the corduroy fabric slowly stroking over your thigh. Though you hadn’t even noticed it, your leg had slowly moved upwards, laying just over his hip. A smirk came to his lips as he looked at your lower body, and though he had the opportunity to take a peek between your legs and see the little wet spot on your panties that was entirely his doing, he had no interest in it. He was looking down at your legs, watching them slowly moving back and forth, one at his side and the other laid against the mattress. He was making you writhe, just from a few kisses and his hands on your legs, and he loved it.
“Buggy…” You pleaded with him, just needing him to touch you. He made it so sweetly unbearable to have to wait.
A chuckle escaped his lips and he slowly looked back up into your eyes, giving your body a quick once-over just to fully take in the sight before him.
“All in good time my love.” He leaned forward once more and placed a gentle kiss to your forehead, “First, i want you to get all settled into my quarters. Why don’t you change and put on one of those pretty outfits i have for you, i’ll grab some of the crew to move your things around.”
He fixed your nightgown back down your legs, taking your hand and carefully pulling you up, his glove wiping away the little red marks his lips left behind.
You took a deep breath, trying to push the feeling of want back down, knowing that he’d give you what you needed eventually. You stood up from the bed and wandered over to the small wardrobe, glancing over to Buggy who had moved himself into one of the chairs across the room. His legs were spread, he was leaned back comfortably, and his eyes never left your figure as a smirk came to his lips.
“Well aren’t you going to get some of the crew?” You asked him, sifting through the hangers in the wardrobe for the perfect little outfit to wear.
“And miss the show?” He chuckled, “I never said i was leaving sweetheart…”
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undercat-overdog · 26 days
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Do you think out of all the people in silmarillon, sauron got to live his best life as he actually almost succeeded in doing whatever he wanted and was even enjoying watching his enemies fall to ruin?
Thank you for the ask, anon, I always love them 💙
And lol! There weren't many people in the Silm who got to lead their best life, were there...
But I don't, actually. One thing that comes up in a lot of places is all the negative emotions that he experiences. You could argue that something like black anger can be grimly satisfying - and it can be - but fear is also one of the main emotions. It doesn't pop up all the time, but it's a common one. In LotR, he's said to be afraid of his enemies' plans.
I talk about fear with him less than I might in meta because. Hmm. Because I think it doesn't come from deep personal insecurities? He's not afraid all of the time and when he is it's often very rational. Like he's right to be very scared when Luthien beats him. He's right to be afraid of the Numenoreans, because their army genuinely can beat his (canonically why he surrenders to Pharazon; it wasn't his preferred choice but the better ones - diplomacy that let him stay ruling in Middle-earth and/or militarily defeating the Numenoreans - weren't possible). And yeah, he's right to be afraid of Gandalf too (he doesn't understand Gandalf nor what Gandalf will do, which makes him more dangerous).
Fear and rage and bitterness and anger that others are living well are there, and those emotions generally aren't fun to experience. Then there's his longing for the Ring.
Which isn't to say he's not confident (if anything, his self-esteem is far too high). He came very, very close to winning the War of the Rings.
And, well, he did lose. Multiple times. Loser 🥰
But I do think he had fun too! He definitely enjoys himself from time to time and watching his enemies fall to ruin was likely enjoyable. I headcanon his emotional state as quite mercurial, and amusement is definitely part of that.
Haha maybe "living his best life (thwarted)" is how to describe S.
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annoyinglandmagazine · 8 months
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Just a random thought that occurred to me on a reread of lotr is the sheer amount of arguing with each other the orcs do. Like I remembered it being there but it’s really just constant, every time we see them, they do most of everyone else’s job for them with how much this must deplete their numbers.
And I think if we take this and compare it to the sons of Feanor it’s really interesting. Because a big distinction we see there is that while they commit many evil acts, constantly and repeatedly throughout the book, they don’t really seem to do all that much arguing amongst each other. While orcs killing their supposed friends seems to be the most common cause of death for them no matter what I really can’t see a circumstance under which a son of Feanor knowingly kills their brother.
And maybe that’s what separates them from being pure evil, that they have a capability for love and loyalty that the orcs genuinely don’t. Also worth noting that in the Silm itself Sauron is acknowledged as having been slightly less evil for serving another even if his deeds were the same and not done under duress. So clearly the very fact of caring for one other than yourself makes some form of moral difference and the Feanorian’s definitely tick this box considering that everything they did was because initially of love for their father. Just thought this was interesting.
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incomingalbatross · 2 years
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My favorite arc in LotR is actually “Gandalf & Pippin’s Questions.”
The core of this relationship is that Pippin likes asking questions and Gandalf only sometimes has the leisure to answer them:
'What are you going to do then?' asked Pippin, undaunted by the wizard's bristling brows.
'Knock on the doors with your head, Peregrin Took,' said Gandalf. 'But if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will seek for the opening words.'
(“Undaunted” is such a good word for Pippin re: Gandalf. He’s clearly never feared an authority figure in his life. Meanwhile, Gandalf is like “Pippin is a good kid but if someone doesn’t squelch him when necessary he’s going to do something REALLY stupid.”)
Later, the continuing saga of “Gandalf doesn’t like unnecessary questions” returns as soon as he does:
'Then Gandalf came back to us, and he seemed relieved, almost merry. He did say he was glad to see us, then.
’"But Gandalf," I cried, "where have you been? And have you seen the others?’
'"Wherever I have been, I am back," he answered in the genuine Gandalf manner. "Yes, I have seen some of the others. But news must wait."'
Note Pippin’s tolerant familiarity with “Gandalf giving useless answers.”
After Isengard and Pippin’s first sight of the palantir, we see its influence showing itself in Pippin’s stronger and angrier irritation at Gandalf's uncommunicative ways:
'You had the luck, Merry,' said Pippin softly, after a long pause. 'You were riding with Gandalf.'
'Well, what of it?'
'Did you get any news, any information out of him?'
'Yes, a good deal. More than usual. (...) But you can go with him tomorrow, if you think you can get more out of him--and if he'll let you.'
'Can I? Good! But he's close, isn't he? Not changed at all.'
'Oh yes, he is!' said Merry, waking up a little (...)
'Well, if Gandalf has changed at all, then he's closer than ever that's all,' Pippin argued.
We all know how that ends. Boy steals rock, boy looks into rock, boy gets his mind filleted by the Enemy, Gandalf evacuates with him to Minas Tirith.
But then! While Gandalf is quite clear that Pippin should have known better/talked to him before resorting to stealing (and he’s right, obviously), he also responds to this incident by changing his own behavior. He starts talking more.
'What did the men of old use [the palantiri] for?' asked Pippin, delighted and astonished at getting answers to so many questions, and wondering how long it would last.
And he seems to make it clear that this IS in response to the palantir incident, and is him attempting to take Pippin’s desire for information more seriously.
'But I should like to know--' Pippin began.
'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?'
'The names of all the stars, and of all living things, and the whole history of Middle-earth and Over-heaven and of the Sundering Seas,' laughed Pippin. 'Of course! What less? But I am not in a hurry tonight. At the moment I was just wondering about the black shadow.'
(I love that Pippin laughs and says “If I have the option, I want to know everything, obviously,” partly because he’s making a joke so soon after that nightmare incident and partly because it’s the first time we see Pippin expressing a desire for real, comprehensive knowledge. Even if it’s a joke, this is also the point in the narrative where—having lost both Merry and Frodo—Pippin’s horizons start being forcibly widened, and we’re about to see him taking in an unfamiliar world by himself.)
Despite Gandalf’s “How much more do I have to say?” protest, Gandalf keeps talking and telling his passenger stories, even when Pippin’s falling asleep. <3
Pippin became drowsy again and paid little attention to Gandalf telling him of the customs of Gondor, and how the Lord of the City had beacons built on the tops of outlying hills along both borders of the great range, and maintained posts at these points where fresh horses were always in readiness to bear his errand-riders to Rohan in the North, or to Belfalas in the South.
After we get to Minas Tirith, they both have less time and less peace, but we still get a glimpse of Gandalf trying to balance Pippin’s questions with his other, weightier duties:
'There are evil days ahead. To sleep while we may!'
'But,' said Pippin.
'But what?' said Gandalf. 'Only one but will I allow tonight.'
(I don’t remember the exact question, but it was after they’d seen Faramir, and Pippin was disturbed by the fact that Frodo and Sam were traveling with Gollum. He wanted Gandalf to give an explanation, which Gandalf didn’t really have.)
Finally, two notes on the subject after the destruction of the Ring. Firstly, there’s this exchange when Frodo and Sam are first reunited with Merry and Pippin in their knightly armors:
'But I can see there's more tales to tell than ours.'
'There are indeed,' said Pippin turning toward him. 'And we'll begin telling them, as soon as this feast is ended. In the meantime you can try Gandalf. He's not as close as he used to be, though he laughs now more than he talks.'
And later in Minas Tirith (when Aragorn is keeping them around for his wedding, but he and Gandalf both refuse to tell them that’s why) Frodo teasingly recalls that line.
'Pippin,' said Frodo, 'didn't you say that Gandalf was less close than of old? He was weary of his labors then, I think. Now he is recovering.'
(Frodo, of course, also has a great deal of experience in “Gandalf not answering your questions even when he thinks he IS.”)
I don’t really have a point to this, I just love the shift in Gandalf & Pippin’s relationship over the course of the books, and I also love the change from Pippin’s sulky “if Gandalf has changed at all, then he's closer than ever >:/” to his merry, affectionate “He’s not as close now as he used to be, though he laughs now more than he talks.”
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tanoraqui · 1 year
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I COMPLETELY FORGOT A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF CROWNLESS (the Young Aragorn show that lives in my, and apparently many of your, hearts): Each season opens with the framing device of middle-aged Sam Gamgee sitting by the fire in Bag End, telling his kids stories about the King. If you don’t have a (historical inaccuracy-excusing) narrative frame in a Middle Earth story, wtf are you even doing?
Also, the theme song in my mind is "All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter" by Clamavi de Profundis, but I'm open to some other group doing their own arrangement of the poem.
so, key elements of season 3 (s1 and 2 here):
A couple times in s2, including notably in the season finale?, Rohirrim were involved…so at the very end of that season, King Thengel invited Aragorn to come serve in his court/armed forces. That’s right, it’s time for UNMITIGATED HORSE GIRL!ARAGORN HOURS!
(confession: I could be persuaded to combine s2 and s3, with some elements of s3 going into s4)
(and clarification: Aragorn isn't deliberately using a false name, but he's also not presenting himself as anything more than a random northern Dúnedain ranger, son of nobody in particular.)
The show starts to shift in this season: in addition to/in place of some monster of the week episodes, we get political drama of the week, and more ongoing plotlines. Also, I realized it’s as much ‘location of the week’ as ‘monster of the week’—that continues, centered around Rohan (which means we’ll retread some locations from s2)
First trip to Minas Tirith, on some diplomatic excursion!
fun canon LotR info: Thengel, Theoden's father, was a total Gondor stan - he lived there from his teens until he had to come home to take up the crown, he married a woman from Lossarnach, as King of Rohan he spoke Sindarin and Westernesse and not Rohirric...
so I'm gonna say that teenage Theoden is kind of resentful of that? He was born in Lossarnach, came to Rohan at age 5...but Rohan is his home and he loves it, and he wonders if his father is too enamored of Gondor to be the best king of Rohan. He's skeptical of Thengel recruiting this random Ranger to be a captain of the Riders. On the flip side, Aragorn is SO COOL, and superb with horses. and Theoden wants to be him when he grows up. It's hard, being a teenager and a prince, with 4 sisters. It's hard and nobody understands
Sauruman is there for an episode, being genuinely helpful but his vibes are faintly rancid. He's about to start building up Isengard as an armed power. If the season finale involves something like a proper battle again, he might pitch in.
Halbarad and Dúnawen might actually stay in Ithilien? Or they come along to Rohan but they just join the Riders without getting involved in court stuff at all. Aragorn is going to start doing more things on his own. They presumably have their own B/C-plot character arcs btw, I just don't know what
Roddis definitely stayed behind in Ithilien/Gondor. New in the cast, however, not from quite the start but maybe like ep7/22, or the midseason onward? Is a perfectly normal human woman with dark hair and grey eyes...
Arwen. It's Arwen.
Aragorn: Why are you here? Arwen: I am the daughter of Elrond Half-Elven. My grandparents include the Evening Star, White-Winged Elwing, and Galadriel, student of Melian who on separate occasions told both Fëanor and Eonwë to fuck off. Everyone who met her agrees that I look just like my great-great-grandmother Lúthien Tinúviel. The distant echo of the Doom of the Exiles runs in my veins, as do the Songs of Lúthien and the Light of a Silmaril. I know the weight of Fate when it settles on my shoulders like a mantle, as it did when you called me 'Tinúviel' beneath Imladris's twilit trees—but the Choice of the Peredhel remains mine and mine alone. So I have come, Elessar, Isildur's heir, to see if I actually like you. Arwen: Curiosity. Aragorn: [vividly remembering how in s1 his mom said, "She's way out of your league" and Elrond said, "You won't get married until you're king." (Aragorn: "...married to your daughter?" Elrond: "To anyone. Period.")] Aragorn: Cool. Curiosity is cool. I'm gonna be so normal about this.
(Spoilers: he was not entirely normal about this.)
(Spoilers: they super do like each other, though)
Idk what the backup rangers are doing overall, but I do want Aragorn and Dúnawen to still have some sort of romantic Thing in s2, maybe off and on again, as Aragorn thought Arwen wasn't interested and was trying not to just be moping about it... Then Arwen arrives and Aragorn is So Conflicted for like 1 episode, before Dúnawen comes to him like, "Aragorn, I love you as a friend and comrade-in-arms and I love you as my chieftain and king-to-be, and I could probably love you as a wife if we really tried...but you clearly have not just a crush but some sort of Destiny thing with Lady Arwen, so I'm going to go back to Ithilien for a bit, maybe get drunk and laid with a handsome barmaid, and get over you. While I'm gone, you should try, like, talking to her."
A thing that Aragorn and Arwen...do bond over, but more it's there to demonstrate their compatibility to the audience, is: ...So, we (the writers/producers) don't have the rights to The Silmarillion, right, just The Lord of the Rings and its Appendices, and The Hobbit. These do periodically namedrop people, however, with dashes of elaboration mostly in the Appendices...and Aragorn is established from the start to be a bit of a history nerd, because that's what happens when you're raised by Elrond...so periodically, Aragorn and his friends will be in a Situation and Aragorn will whisper, like, "This is just like when [Fëanor/Túrin/Tar-Minastir/etc...]—" and Halbarad or Dúnawen hisses, "Does that actually help us right now?" and Aragorn will say, "Sure!" and start doing something that Silmarillion nerds can recognize is inspired by whatever the person in question did in a similar situation (note: sometimes Aragorn deliberately does the opposite of what the historical figure did, and it works much better.) The writers very carefully do not explicitly reference anything not explicitly in the permitted texts. If they need/get to elaborate on a historical figure, they'll toe a careful line of Silmarillion canon and blatantly made-up things.
That happened more in s1, when the show needed to make good with the old fans, but also in s2. Aragorn remains the only one referencing this stuff. Then in s3, he and Arwen are...let's say captured by bandits, and Arwen murmurs in his ear, "I have an idea. You know in the Lay of Lúthien..." Aragorn's eyes widen. "Beren and Lúthien or Beren and Finrod?" Arwen: "Finrod." Aragorn nods, and they proceed to bullshit their way out of being captive with flawless teamwork and yes-and-ing (and maybe fight a wolf on their way out, just to be thorough).
No idea what this season finale is. Like I said, you could probably weave parts of most of this season into s2 and s4? But that would ruin the "a different significant geographical area every season" thing we've got going on.
[s4 here!]
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heraldofcrow · 4 months
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Ok, I need to say something and get it off my chest while I actually have some energy.
I know what I want to change for the new year…even though normally I don’t really care for the idea of resolutions because to me there is no guarantee that the turn of a year implies change. I just think everyone should grow at their own pace and transform when they are ready. But my current catharsis just happens to be taking place now, so I’ll make it a resolution. A resolution about creativity.
My energy as a fandom creative has been incredibly low this year, which is weird for me. I have been in quite a few fandoms over the years, but the ones I actively decided to participate in were always fun outlets for me to improve things like my writing and actually make room for my energy. I used to write absurdly long analyses and metas in other fandoms for my own enjoyment and get into in-depth discussions with people about lore, story, themes, or whatever else would come up because that’s where I thrived. I was always the essay spammer lol. I miss the energy that was fueling me then. Something happened to it, and I wonder if it’s because I changed from “writing for myself” to “writing for the fandom” at some point.
Don’t get me wrong, I always loved supportive communities that help you grow and develop in some arena of art. I need that as a person because as isolate and introverted as I can be about my interests, I do have this side that craves the thrill of sharing passion and excitement with others. I love when I create something and other people like it too…I mean, who doesn’t?
That’s a huge part of fandom and of course I am here for that support system, but I don’t want to make my goal to be about supplying content for a fandom.
Just about a year and a half ago I started messing around with drawing for the first time in my life. I had attempted to doodle and scribble as a kid, but it was stick figure stuff. I never was serious. But the urge to depict specific pictures in my head was overpowering. I had to buckle down and watch some tutorials to get anywhere, but I did get…somewhere.
I don’t draw even slightly near the level I want to yet, but I’m glad I practice and learn new little tricks every so often. I just need to break down walls, especially the walls I have been hitting recently. These walls stop me from getting better. They kill my interest in writing. I have trouble responding to people and their conversations with me in fandom…when people express interest in my opinions, I shut down and hide. I don’t put the effort I used to into analysis or research. I am stuck and it is smothering my creativity.
My drawing and writing won’t improve until I stop being scared about challenging myself or being willing to branch out.
That’s my resolution. I need to stop doing stuff for a fandom. I need to smack myself upside the head and genuinely draw whatever the fuck I want and not to create content like a YouTuber. The reason I used to write metas or get into long lore convos with people so confidently is because I was passionate about it and not because I was trying to put something on a platform.
It’s not necessarily that I have been doing this YouTuber thing all year, but I know for certain that the stupid fandom idea of “having a role” or “being The Guy for a certain character” has craftily snuck itself into my head. I adore Bloodborne, I love my Bloody Crow, but I also fucking love Dark Souls, I love Demon’s Souls, I love Elden Ring, I love LOTR, I love Arcane, I love FF7, I love dozens of other films, books, shows, stories…
…I love so much and I want to draw stuff for all of it, I want to write for all of it, I want to express my thoughts on it. I am a subtle participant in plenty of fandoms if they aren’t too toxic, but I have restricted myself to Bloodborne because I felt “safe” about “creating content” here. I also felt a necessity at times.
But truthfully? I am going to suffocate if I force myself to restrict my creativity to one fandom forever. No, I don’t intend to leave it, because I do love it here and I want to still enjoy the community. I also still want this blog to be Soulsborne oriented while my sideblogs are for other fandoms, but that’s just for the sake of my own interest in organization, not because I have to. That’s because I fucking love Soulsborne and its fandom and I want to stay here to share and create. Not because I have to.
I have been hanging around the Soulsborne community for over ten years now…it’s just an infinite vat of creativity and inspiration. I want to contribute because it’s fun. I need to stop limiting myself to the ONE game though. It’s killing the ability to improve my drawing because I don’t truly always want to draw everything from this game. Sometimes I just want to draw knights from Dark Souls.
Sometimes I want to practice drawing armor and not Bloodborne style get-ups. I just want room and space to explore. There is plenty of variety in Bloodborne yes, but it has to be variety I am passionate about or I will half-ass it. I need that option.
It’s the same with writing. My writer’s block has been horrible this year because once I actually started sharing my fan-fiction for the first time, I felt that pressure of having readers and I wanted to make sure everything I put out was perfect. This kills my motivation. It’s utterly deadly. I actually am fine with my writing normally and am very comfortable with improving it through practice, but whenever I succumbed to the likely nonexistent external pressure, I suddenly couldn’t finish editing to save my life.
I need to be free of this and be able to enjoy my fandoms. I need them. 2023 was one of the hardest years of my life. I was so miserable so often, and it’s during those times when I really want a safe space to run and create. It helps me “regenerate.” But if I’m polluting my own safe space with pressure and worry, then what do I have left?
And so yeah, that’s my goal for this next year and the years to come. I want my old energy and passion back, to use this little online outlet to grow and learn more about drawing, writing, and whatever else catches my fancy. I won’t pressure myself about this either, but I hope it comes naturally if I take it slow and try to unlock my brain from the narrow way of thinking.
No more playing into a role. I just need to be free and enjoy myself.
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moonylantsovs · 4 months
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RULES | 2.02: INCLEMENT WEATHER
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summary: gabriella kane and what is left of the hundred get separated from the dropship camp after the battle with the grounders. people who gabriella buried and mourned join them on earth. when she finds out most of her people are missing, she is ready to go through whatever she has to in order to get them back — even if that means making a truce with the grounders
pairings: john murphy x fem!oc, bellamy blake x fem!oc (slowburn)
warnings: best friends to enemies to lovers, enemies to allies to lovers, swearing, daddy issues, blood and gore, murphy being annoying, trauma bonding
taglist: @lotr-got
series masterlist
Walking into the newly named Camp Jaha, made an unsettling feeling appear in Gabriella's stomach. She always considered The Ark her home. A twisted and miserable home but still a home. That was until she got sent down to Earth and the hundred became her family and their camp her new home.
Camp Jaha did not seem right to her and the sight of Alpha Station on the ground made her internaly cringe.
Marcus made a couple of guards escort Gabriella and Bellamy inside, leaving them locked up in a room on their own.
"You doing alright?" Gabriella heard Bellamy question and opened her eyes, turning around to connect their gaze, seeing a concern expression on his face.
"About which part exactly? Seeing John's annoying face after everything he did, seeing my dad for the first time in what feels like years after I thought he was dead or having no idea where our friends are?" The blonde asked, the last words leaving a bitter feeling on her tongue.
Before she got sent to the ground, the only people she had considered friends were Murphy, Jasper, Monty and Raven despite the fact that she was more of a co-worker. After landing in Earth, it felt like she had eighty kids that were her responsibility.
"All of it, I guess." Bellamy shrugged as if it was not a big deal, but Gabriella could still see genuine worry on his face.
And yet another surprising thing that happened, she considered a guard turned janitor turned fake guard turned rebel a friend. Not a close one but still a friend. He was her co-leader and a big part of keeping the delinquents alive. They shared the same priorities now and kept the hundred alive together for this long they knew they needed each other if they were gonna keep doing so.
"Well I'm feeling kinda overwhelmed with emotions right now." Gabriella admitted, shrugging as best as she could with her hands tied behind her back "I feel betrayed and a bit...sad, I guess. But I'm mostly pissed."
Bellamy let out a breathy chuckle. "You can only feel one emotion at a time, Bambi. Otherwise you'll most likely explode.”
"If I do explode, I'd prefer to do so straight in my father's face, thank you very much." Gabriella joked, throwing a small grin over her shoulder at her co-leader.
He cracked a small smile and muttered under his breath, "Cute."
After a few moments of silence, Gabriella frowned at the sight of Bellamy's free wrists and pointed out, "Why am I the only one that gets handcuffed?"
"Because you don't think before you act." Bellamy stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Gabriella scoffed instantly. "Oh, you're the one to--"
Her words were cut off by the doors opening and her father stepping into the room with a rifle in his hands. A from immediately settled on both Gabriella and Bellamy's faces.
"How long are you gonna keep us locked up in here?" Bellamg asked with an annoyed scowl, a complete contrast to his amused expression from a moment ago.
"Until I'm confident you're no longer a threat to others." Marcus stated coldy, his words making Gabriella scoff.
"The only person I'm a threat to is John Murphy and I'm pretty sure I'd be doing you a favor by kicking his ass out of camp." She sneered, her piercing blue eyes narrowed into a glare and cutting through her father's soul like a knife.
Marcus simply ignored his daughter's words and took a hold of a chair, sitting on it a moment after. "Let's continue. Now you said there were hundreds of grounders attacking. Two hundred? Three hundred?"
"We didn't count." Bellamy snapped, his frustrated tone mirroring Gabriella's frustrated expression perfectly.
"Why do you think they attacked? What provoked them?"
Gabriella rolled her eyes at her father's words and replied in a snarky tone, "What do you think made them attack? The fact that your exodus ship didn't land where it was supposed to and instead of landing in Mount Weather where there was supposed to be supplies, we landed on someone else's territory."
Bellamy nodded in agreement, adding, "We were here. That was enough. We're wasting time. The others didn't just vanish into thin air. They were taken, and we need to go after them."
"Yeah, I second that."
"Search team is preparing to leave but not before we've gotten the untel we need from you." Marcus said, trying to keep his tone stoic but Gabriella still noticed a hint of amusement that just pissed her off even more.
"We need to be on that team." She exclaimed, almost desperately.
"That's out of the question." The new chancellor instantly declined. "You're not trained. It's too dangerous."
Gabriella felt her eye twitch slightly as she raised her voice, "Bellamy was a literal cadet! We both know how to shoot a gun well. Those are our people out there!" A bitter scoff escaped her lips. "You may be the chancellor now, but you are not in control. Not completely. I mean, do you really think the hundred will listen to you if you find them? News flash, they won't. You sent them down here to die but Bellamy, Clarke and I were the ones that kept them alive. They listen to us, not the council."
"Those are our people out there. We are the ones who are supposed to keep them safe." Bellamy added, running a hand over his wounded face.
"They're my people too. You want to help them? Tell me what we're up against...grounder tactics, their numbers, what kind of weapons they used..." Marcus said, trying to sound unbothered by Gabriella snapping at him.
Bellamy hesitated, his eyes briefly flickering to Gabriella's before he sighed and answered "Arrows and spears, axes, swords...their teeth."
"No guns?"
When both delinquents shook their heads, Marcus tilted his head curiously. "You had guns."
"Yeah." Gabriella sighed, making the messy hair move from her eyes a little. "We found those at the aid depot. It leveled the playing field but more of us would survived if we had more bullets--"
"There were more bullets." Her father cut her off. "Search team just returned from the bunker, they found two more barrels full of rifles and a third filled with bullets."
"Shit." Gabriella muttered, resting her tied hands on her knees and burrowing her face in the palms of her hands.
"We should have looked harder." She heard Bellamy mutter with a mix of regret and guilt.
"Keep walking."
Both Gabriella and Bellamy scowled simultaneously at the sight of two guards bringing Murphy into the room.
"What's he doing here?" Bellamy demanded, glaring at the boy.
"Excuse me, Sir. Dr. Griffin cleared Mr. Murphy out of medical." Major Byrne explained.
Marcus tilted his head, as if thinking out his options in his head, before he got up and looked from his daughter and Bellamy to Murphy. He sighed and pointed to a corner. "Put him over there, Major Byrne."
The blonde woman motioned for two guards that carried Murphy in to tie him up while another tied Bellamy down to a metal column by his wrists. In the meantime, Major Byrne grabbed Gabriella by her forearms and did the same thing with her, but on another column.
"Wow." Gabriella scoffed in disbelief. "If you're gonna start locking us up with the biggest psychopaths of the hundred maybe you should go look for Dax's body in the woods, I'm sure he'd really appreciate that "
Murphy gave her a puzzled look while Bellamy briefly rolled his eyes at her poor attempt to lighten up the mood.
"Well, this should be fun."
-
Gabriella squinted, biting her bottom lip in frustration as she tried to hear what the commotion outside camp was about, but could not make out anything: just her father and some people yelling. When the arguing stopped, Gabriella tried to listen for a few more moments until she realized she was not going to pick up on anything and let her head fall against the metal column she was leaning on with a loud thud.
Only ten minutes later, when she was finally starting to enjoy the peace and quiet, a loud scream of pain echoed through camp and made her eyes snap open. Raven.
Now that Abby was there, she was able to perform surgery on her from the bullet wound but she did not think Raven would be in this much pain, or even awake during the surgery. Gabriella screwed her eyes shut, desperately trying to block out the sound of her friend's desperate screams of pain.
"Yeah. That was me at the grounder camp." Murphy said, his voice sounding as bored as it could get as he rambled. "You know, I did everything I could not to scream, but eventually--"
"But eventually, you broke and you told them everything." Bellamy cut him off, his voice dripping in venom.
"And you wouldn't have because you're better than me." Murphy drawled out sarcastically.
"Damn right. I'm not a traitor. I didn't tell them where they could find us." The Blake responded, not even looking at the younger boy.
Murphy grinned without humor. "And I did." Hia face suddenly turned serious as he let his gaze settle on Gabriella. "Yeah, I did. After they tortured me in their prison camp for three days," he looked back at Bellamy with a glare "but go ahead. You just keep believing, even if you are both in here just like me." When he did not receive an answer he turned his head to stare at Gabriella pleadingly. "Come on, Ellie. You must have stuff to say to me. Scream, yell at me, insult me just say something."
"I really don't have anything else to say to you." The blonde said, refusing to let her walls down in front of him again. "You had two choices, you chose wrong and now you have to deal with the consequences."
-
Gabriella could see the night sky through the small windows in the room they were locked in, a sign the sun has set and that they've been there for almost eight hours, without any food or water.
"Get up." Wells ordered, barging into the room unannounced, Finn right by his side with a backpack in his hand and Monroe staying by the doors to keep guard.
Finn threw the backpack in between Gabriella and Bellamy and announced, "We're going after them."
Gabriella's eyebrows shot up in surprise, almost overwhelmed with Wells' change of morals. A month ago, he would not have dared to go against the chancellor's orders.
Wells must have noticed her surprise and smiled slightly. "You didn't think we'd let you rot in here with Murphy while our friends are out there, did you?"
"Well, it's about damn time." Gabriella grinned back at Wells, before he bent down to untie her from the column she was tied to, while Finn did the same with Bellamy. As soon as her hands were free, Gabriella sighed in relief and rubbed them to get rid of the brief pain. "If I get tied up for this reason one more time this week, I'm going to kill myself."
Bellamy snorted at her insinuation and followed her, Wells and Finn towards the door where Monroe was waiting for them in a hurry, when Murphy called after them, "Wait, wait. What about me?"
Gabriella was quick to shake her head with a humorless chuckle. "As if. You think we would let you loose after everything you did? That's hilarious." Clearly, Bellamy had other plans, as he brushed past his co-leader about to untie Murphy, only to have her stop him with a hand to his firm chest. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Bellamy?"
"He knows where the grounder camp is. He's coming with us." Bellamy simply explained, before shrugging her surprisingly warm hand off of him and untying Murphy.
"No way." Finn shook his head, clearly just as furious about what the boy in question did to his ex-girlfriend.
"Bellamy's right, okay" Murphy said, wincing at the tight grip Bellamy had on his shirt. "I can bring you there."
"Hey, Sterling just signaled. Someone's coming." Monroe called over her shoulder, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.
"Just a second." Wells told her, before chiming in on the argument. "Finn, stay out of it. They're the leaders here, it's their choice if they let him come with us or not."
Both Gabriella and Finn let out a simultaneous defeated sigh, before helping Bellamy drag Murphy out along with them.
When Wells, Finn, Sterling and Monroe led the three prisoners outside of Camp Jaba and they were sure they were out of sight and earshot, Bellamy finally spoke up, "You don't think anyone saw us?"
"Shh." Finn hissed, lowly. "Keep it down."
Gabriella rolled her eyes and was painfully aware that Bellamy was probably doing the same. Their dislike for Finn did not falter the slightest in the last few weeks. They might be on the same side about the situation at hand, but they both knew the only thing he cared about was finding out what happened to Clarke.
They were just not aware of how far he was willing to go just to find her.
After a couple more minutes of walking further into the woods and farther away from the safety of Camp Jaha, a light blinded Gabriella's vision. She blinked a couple of times and recognised David Miller (Nate's dad) staring at them expectantly.
Gabriella was ready to tell the rest of the delinquents besides her to make a run for it, when the woman behind David revealed herself, coming to the light. She raised her eyebrows at the worried expressions on Gabriella and Bellamy's faces and the slightly shaken up Murphy in Bellamy's hold.
"You're late."
"Bellamy decided to bring company." Finn explained bitterly.
Said male shrugged in slight defence. "He's the only person that's been in their camp."
Gabriella rolled her eyes momentarily and swore she saw the corner of Abby's lips twitch into a small smile at the action, before the female doctor reached into the waistband of her pants to pull out a gun. It was smaller than the rifles Gabriella was so used to using by now, but it was something. The youngest Kane reached for the gun and took it in her hands, letting it rest in the waistband of her own pants with a satisfied look on her face.
Abby pulled out one more gun and passed it over to Finn while David pulled out two rifles and gave them to Bellamy and Wells, the latter still being a bit hesitant in using guns but he still accepted it gratefully.
"Here." David nodded, looking between the two leaders. "Find my son. His name is Nathan Miller."
Gabriella saw recognition flash across Bellamy's bloodied features in the dark and both of them nodded at the older guard in understanding.
"Bring them home."
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fili-urzudel · 5 months
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Fifty(-One) Follower Celebration
Oh my goodness, 50 followers?! Thank you so much! I never expected this blog to get too much attention and the fact that fifty of you out there like my writing enough to follow me really means a lot. I am currently working on answering my first request, but I'd love to have more! As a little celebration, here are fifty-one prompts I've come up with (and a few I borrowed with credit).
Guidelines:
Can be platonic or romantic--platonic scenarios can involve multiple characters
Will only be PG-13
Any character from LoTR or The Hobbit is fair game, but for romantic scenarios I prefer male characters
Don't be afraid to combine prompts!
Physical Affection
1. Hugs that last a little longer than they should
2. Palm kisses
3. Hair ruffling
4. Play wrestling
5. Hair washing
6. Cuddling in hot weather
7. Sleeping in a dog pile
8. Pinky holding
9. Forehead touches (please please request this one)
10. Piggyback rides
11. Kicking each other
12. Dancing
13. Sitting together/saving seats
14. Hand holding
15. Sharing a blanket (potentially violent)
Dialogue prompts
16. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep after that."
17. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?"
18. "You always end up looking like you're going to fall asleep when I play with your hair." / "Yeah, it's relaxing." (These first three were from a post by @thelonelyempath)
20. "Don't you know who I am?" or "I don't even know who you are."
19. "I can't sleep without you next to me." (I've seen ones like this before, but I think the concept with other characters would be quite interesting)
21. "What do you have behind your back?"
Activity Prompts
22. "Is it so hard to believe that I genuinely want to hear what you think?"
23. Friendly breaking and entering
24. Shopping together
25. Teasing over fears/phobias
26. Crafting together
27. Taming feral cats/other animals
28. Pajama party
29. Battle training
30. Tree climbing
31. Stargazing
32. Swimming (lessons?)
33. Fake proposal
34. Walking into the wrong tent/room
35. Board/card/road trip games
36. The iconic trapped in a snowstorm
37. Getting matching tattoos/jewelry
38. Cooking together
39. Playing instruments
40. Staring contest
Meet-cute Prompts
41. Considerably less friendly breaking and entering
42. Not having enough money to cover the bill
43. New horse rider is Bad at riding horses
44. In need of medical attention
45. Boots are falling apart (reader is a cobbler)
46. Weapons are dull (reader is a blacksmith)
47. Stealing food from a field
48. I work retail and begged Gandalf to let me come along on an adventure
49. Throwing rocks into a body of water and didn't notice until too late that there's a boat
50. Need a fake partner immediately
51. I'm an artist you hired to do a mural/mosaic/stained glass window
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lovelybrooke · 1 year
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Brooke, if you died and got isekai’d which anime mom/dads would you want as your new parents?
I took a lot of liberties with this and decided to choose characters from a wide range of media. I also chose some that would be good platonic yandere siblings. (Also, this ask made me realize how little anime I've watched).
Catelyn and Ned Stark:
There aren't that many good parents in Game of Throne and House of the Dragons. So, if I had to pick one it would be them. The were definitely the best parents and had a very genuine love for their children. Personally, I think the Stark family with a child who was transported to their world would be very interesting. I think at the beginning, Catelyn wouldn't really like you since, like with Jon, she sees you as some random kid trying to ruin her family, but after a while she grows on you. Ned would love having another child, even if he pretends like he doesn't. I view Ned as a caretaker at heart and would love the opportunity to take care of someone, regardless of if they were "his" child or not.
Marc Spector/ Steven Grant and Layla El-fouly:
I know technically they're divorced, but I still think they would be great parents. I like out of the three, Steven would want a child the most. He loves taking care of the children at his museum job and would secretly want a child of his own. Layla would love the idea of a child but wouldn't really warm up to it until she spends time with you. She would teeter on being a strict mother, while also being a fun mom you want to spend your time with. Marc doesn't like the idea of children due to all he's been through. He doesn't think he'd be a good father, but regardless, I think if he happened to have one, he would do everything in his power to be the best dad possible.
Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen:
Another Game of Thrones one, but I had to mention them. I feel like, compared to the greens, their children are the most well-adjusted. I think both of them, regardless of if they are Yandere or not, would be extremely protective of their children. However, if they were yanderes, their protectiveness would be ten times greater. They are both very controlling but would work hard for you to have a great life. It also doesn't help that their children also inherit their yandere tendencies.
Dracula and Lisa (Castlevania)
I think they would be amazing parents. While it's been a while since I watched the show, I know they would care deeply about their children. I can see Lisa finding you, a sick child unable to take care of themselves, and nursing you back to health. During this, her and her husband become deeply invested in you, and can't possibly let you go once you get better. Dracula despises the idea of you growing old and dying, so he does whatever he can to prevent it. He would definitely encourage Alucard to be just as protective in you as him and Lisa are.
Honorary mentions:
Literally any character from LOTR/ the Hobbit
Nearly any Marvel character
the Grayson Family (Invincible)
I'm really sorry I couldn't come up with more. I haven't watched a lot of anime since I don't really have that much time, and because they're all so long. So, I apologize if this wasn't what you wanted.
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So I just finished Dungeon Meshi. The manga.
I am yet again blown away by the amazing story. I am also blown away by the fanfiction fandom and it's incessant need to ship anyone and everyone. I get it. You think some of the interaction are romantic. They aren't. That's not what any of this is meant to be. But I get it. Romance ships have their own place in the ecosystem and any healthy community has a dedicated group that really likes to ship anyone and everyone.
It becomes less healthy when I go to AO3 and you can go through pages and pages only finding like two or three fics that aren't ENTIRELY "Two random characters have the sex" with occasional romantic undertones. Of those three that aren't just that, two are instead "cleverly crafted AU but the focus is still on the secks". People I get it, it's nice, it's got, and by god everyone is horny for the Faligon x Marcille ship. I get it, I do.
But the story has so many interesting aspects to it! I'd go as far as to say it's a modern day Lord of the Rings! I really fucking would, and I love LotR like no other story on this fucking planet! I'm barely holding back from gushing about it right fucking now. I'm taking deep breaths.
Look, my point is, it's an amazing story about friendship and genuine camaraderie, the sort of thing that sends the message of "people can forget extremely strong bonds without having the hots for one another." The story, beyond it's generally tasteful comedy and the repetitive but reliable skits, is chock-full of meaningful messages, pondering and it has some of the most beautiful and tasteful conclusions to story arcs I've seen in a while! I'd go so far as to say it's fairly innovative as well, not unheard of but you don't see something this good all that often. You really don't. I usually obsess over just sticking FromSoft protagonists into everything to have them fuck around and mess with everything but for once I'm genuinely unappreciative of the idea. The conclusion to the story is perfect if very traditional in a certain sense and all in all it's got very few real flaws. In the end, a very simple, kind and good lad alongside his party of misfits saves the day and everyone gets to live happily ever after.
So why the shit is almost everyone only ever thinking about hot ladies or hot men fucking each other? No, actually, forget the distinction, it's irrelevant! Why is sex with a side of corny romance the only thing everyone is doing?! Fuck, make literally anything else! I get having a niche but for Christ's sake expand your horizons or something! FF doesn't even have the damn tag for the setting yet, AO3 is just porn and SpaceBattles only has Vs discussions and one single story ideas thread that I myself also sperged out in while I was only halfway done.
Christ, there are so many ideas in my head it's actually hard to focus! What about a serious setting examining the end of the story and how it could have gone on? Remake it into a tragedy, or just a feels-good epilogue that's only slightly longer than the story. How about tossing someone you KNOW would mess up the story into the story, but have it be so messed up it loops back around to the same end? Why not just do something really stupid and see where it leads? What if Laios and Kabru switched places? What if Laios and Falin were in Utaya when they were young (they're still the same people inherently just with a more tragic backstory) while Kabru is just some country schmuck that no longer has a tragic story to spur him on to the Dungeon? Does Kabru actually become even more of a textbook hero type? Would the Touden siblings let their past bog them down and make them gloomy or would it only make them more aware of the world around them and thus more willing to look at the other? The story establishes that they're inherently selfish people - they are of course also selfless, but the initial drive for the story is a selfish one for pretty much everyone. Laios just wants to look at and eat cool monsters. Falin wants to tag along and experience new things. Marcille wants to research ancient, forbidden magic. Chilchuck... Uh... Wants to make money and not be constantly scammed at best and backstabbed at worst, I think. Senshi just kind of wants to vibe. Izutsumi wants to stop being a beast-person and is by far portrayed as the most openly selfish in everything she does and decides.
The whole story is really about people being selfish and realizing that's no good, realizing that the people around them are PEOPLE and they should maybe consider each other more. That's how Laios learns to take responsibility, for instance. Oh sure some characters end up not ACTUALLY bring selfish at all, some of them right from the start even, but narratively until told otherwise we start off thinking everyone in the main group are first and foremost in it for themselves. The unifying moment and first instance of selflessness comes when they decide to immediately go rescue Falin - well, Shuro and Namari didn't but we don't know that right away.
Look what I'm saying is there's so many fucking themes in this story and what everyone is focusing on is sex. My argument isn't "sex bad", in fact. It's that the porn with plot - or even the tasteful romance stories - would be even better if you had some other nice fics alongside them. After all, if you eat the same thing the whole time it's bound to become boring eventually, but have a good spread and every part of the meal will be all the better in combination with other parts. If I just ate soup I'd be kind of disappointed, but make some simple rice and cook some simple meat for AFTER the soup and now both the soup and rice and meat feel so much better based on the other things I ate alongside them. Fics are the same. Please. I beg you. Give yourselves some diversity.
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deadboyfriendd · 2 years
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I have this silly little time traveler!reader AU in my brain and I think that Eddie could not handle it. For reference, TT!Reader is from our time and got shot back to the 80s unexpectedly. This is also assuming that the whole time paradox thing and serious implications of time travel don’t apply here.
Eddie tries so so hard to teach her how to drive stick. He’s also mean about it and you and Eddie end up wanting to strangle each other after you stall his van for a third time.
I’m sorry but I was born in the era where VHS tapes were being phased out and I had more DVDs than VHS’s. I can imagine Eddie handing you one and telling you to rewind it and getting absolutely flabbergasted when you look at it confusedly.
He is equally as confused when he asks you about your Walkman and you just hold up your lil iPhone with your AirPods in. He thinks you came straight out of an episode of The Jetsons and cannot fathom how Bluetooth works. You then have to explain to him that you can also use the internet and it sparks a whole conversation about the societal impact of social media and you basically have to do an in-depth thesis about modern life to him. (I’m also aware that there’s no cell towers yet so nothing would probably work but he’d be like a baby with an iPad. Just so intrigued that it can scan your face and that you can TOUCH GLASS AND MANIPULATE IT LIKE WITCHCRAFT)
Sorry but I don’t think anyone from Gen Z would be all that phased by anything happening in the upside down. We’ve lived through several major historical events in our lifetime and an alternate dimension isn’t even that scary.
What would be scary, however, is his reaction when you explain the state of the world today and “HOW can people just leave their kids unattended to run amuck around town with no means of communication?”
Arguing with Eddie about metal would be absolutely hilarious though. Like just getting on his nerves like, “You think Dio is hard? Wait a couple years. You get Cannibal Corpse.” And he goes absolutely nuts.
In the same turn, you would also get under his skin by arguing which album is better. “The Master of Puppets album is the best album yet” he would say, to which you reply, “I don’t know… Garage Inc. was a pretty solid one” and he would stomp and do his shimmy and throw his tantrum because “IT DOESN'T COUNT IF IT'S NOT OUT YET.”
Arguing with Eddie about what music to play and he calls your music stupid and just tearing him apart by calling Metallica “divorced dad rock”.
Constantly having to remind him that you’re not from that far into the future and his belongings are not ancient relics and you’re not entirely clueless about life in the 80s. He’s genuinely surprised you understand his music and pop culture references.
Dropping cryptic little tidbits just to freak him out, like watching something devastating on the news channel and going, “hm. Bradbury was right.” And going about your day while him and Wayne look at each other in the most terrified way possible.
Being CONSTANTLY bombarded with questions from the entire group. You feel like a human history book most of the time. Eddie almost has to drag Dustin away from you. “Yes DnD is still a thing. They have a classroom curriculum for it now.” “Yes I’ve heard of LOTR. There’s movies now.” “All of the drugs Ozzy did are catching up to him now.” “If you think an Atari is cool just wait until you see an oculus”
No one understand a singular vine or tiktok reference ever. “What do you mean they were roommates?” “Wait you took HOW MUCH Adderall?”
I 100% have a lot more to this and maladaptive daydream to this scenario constantly. If this does well I’ll probably write more about it.
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