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yuurei20 · 4 months

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I've noticed Epel keeps adding 'kana' to the end of his sentences. What does it mean?

Hello hello! Thank you so, so much for this question, I have always wanted to mention this.

“Kana” can be a multitude of things in English, such as “probably,” “I guess,” “I think,” “I wonder,” etc. A basic explanation would be, “a word used to express uncertainty,” but like most things when it comes to language, that is not the only thing it does.

A quick review of Epel: from his first day at NRC he has been under order from Vil to “speak more politely,” as he tends to use informal speech with his senpai.

As you point out, Epel often adds “kana” to what he is saying, and that is because one of the things that it can do is ‘soften’ something that you’re saying in order to make it sound less direct, and thus more polite.

Examples: Epel telling Kalim that his assumption is wrong, telling Vil that he disagrees with him, saying that his Phantom Bride look is weird, etc., these are all sentences that he is awkwardly gentling via “kana,” often after several ellipses or a comma, as though it is not a part of his normal speech pattern.

This gets into cultural differences: When Ace assumes that Epel is dedicated to a certain brand of apple juice, for example, an English-speaking Epel could probably respond, “That’s not actually the case!,” without sounding rude. But that could be interpreted as a little brusque in Japanese.

In order to soften the expression Epel adds “kana” at the end, which sounds more like, “That might not be the case,” “I’m not sure that is exactly what is going on,” etc., in English.

Even though he knows for 100% certainty that he is not actually dedicated to a certain brand of juice, he is still using “kana” in order to not sound too straightforward.

(screenshot from maggiesensei.com)

(This can and does cause issues when moving in between languages: a Japanese learner who only knows that “kana” means “I think” might not add it onto sentences where they are certain about something, and thus risk annoying their Japanese-speaking colleagues, for example. In contrast, an English learner may say “I think” too often, leading their English-speaking colleagues to wonder why they don’t seem to actually know anything. It’s all part of the joy of language and culture!)

While there are several words in Japanese that can be used to soften your phrasing, Epel seems to have latched onto “kana” in particular, possibly because it is an easy word to add on to the last part of what might otherwise be a rude sentence in an attempt to avoid a reprimand from Vil.

Other times Epel will belatedly add “desu” onto his sentences, also in a bid to sound more polite than he is used to speaking.

If you are a language learner I would not recommend using Epel as an example of when to use “kana,” as he will sometimes shoehorn it into places in an unnatural way (as a part of his character).

EN is doing its best to recreate Epel’s “kana” by including things like “kind of,” “not sure” and “maybe” in his dialogue, but as sounding uncertain doesn’t necessarily mean you sound polite in English, this may not be having the same effect. And I have no idea how they would go about recreating this habit of Epel’s in a way that can properly portray what is happening in English—it might just be one of those things that gets lost in translation :<

Bonus: The Japanese language has four different alphabets (kanji, katakana, hiragana, romaji), and katakana is the alphabet used for foreign loanwords.

Whereas other characters who use honorifics have “-kun” and “-san” written in hiragana in their dialogue, Epel’s dialogue uses katakana. This is possibly meant to symbolize how using honorifics in these situations is foreign to him, and he is not used to it.

(When he does shift into using honorifics in hiragana, it is only when he is talking to people from his own village: people he is used to!)

#twstask #Epel Felmier #twisted wonderland

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ozzgin · 8 months

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Hey! Could you write a Yandere Hector Doyle with a reader who is trying to escape him? And she maybe get caught by him and gets punished for this? This would be so cool! Thank you in advance :DDD

Ooh, I’ve been wanting to write something about the death row convicts and I think you picked the perfect yandere for it. Doyle is my favorite.

Yandere! Hector Doyle x Reader Headcanons

Featuring Hector Doyle and his escapee reader that should know better. Warning: Dubious consent/non-consent, violence

Doyle likes to think that life has a certain degree of determinism to it. But not in the romantic, fateful sense of higher meaning waiting to plan out. Rather a mathematical logic, a Markov chain that takes its course based on what the current state has to offer. So what begins to unfold with assumed probability might only need a little push in order to derail. Look at him, for example. He came to Tokyo so he could taste defeat and ended up absolutely smitten with you instead. Which, in a way, could be considered as the fulfillment of his initial goal. All of his intentions have been crushed within the second he laid his eyes on you.

And what’s so special about you, anyways? He doesn’t know himself. Maybe it’s the way you stopped when he asked you for directions, so innocent and oblivious to the fact that a death row convict stood before you. He could’ve ended you in an instant. You just smiled, browsing your phone for the location. Not a single tense muscle, nor the faintest suspicion of the immediate danger. Utterly defenseless, at the mercy of his disposition. He briefly pictured his protracted blades soundlessly puncturing your throat, followed by your pretty little face twisted in asphyxiated panic.

Tsk, no good. If you were this unconcerned with him, how long would it be until someone actually acted on these perverted thoughts? You’re pitifully vulnerable. Once the idea of foreign hands having their way with you settles in, it becomes apparent to him that he must interfere. Why it would bother him so much is beyond explanation. As rational of a man he is, Doyle also doesn’t mind giving in to his vices. Otherwise he wouldn’t have landed in prison. Or on a plane to Japan.

Oh, what corruption you’ve brought into his very soul. Obsession has seeped into every sulcus of his brain, throbbing with demands. He must have you, and most importantly he must keep you away from others. A wild rescue that has failed to show their survival capacity is condemned to a life in a fenced sanctuary. You’re no good outside. You have no sense of self-preservation, otherwise you wouldn’t have willingly embraced his presence without any attempt of guarding yourself.

Therefore, it should be rather obvious that remaining with him is the best case scenario. You no longer need to worry about outside threats under his fail proof protection. Spending time with you has also shown him that you’re not dumb by any means. Quite the opposite. So why are you acting so foolish right now, (Y/N)? Running away from your guaranteed safety and well-being…ludicrous.

What’s even more preposterous is thinking that you can actually escape. It should be clear to you by now that everything you’ve done wasn’t a mark of your volition, but of his benevolence. He has been allowing you to do things. Don’t mistake that for freedom. It seems you’ve forgotten, and as always he’ll be so kind as to remind you where you belong.

His kindness, however, seems to have led to your misdemeanors. Perhaps this reminder needs to be in the form of a punishment. Hah, forced discipline was a favorite toy of prison guards. Doyle, unfortunately, is not someone that easily bows down to authority. You, on the other hand… He can see it in your wide, frightened eyes, just how much power he holds over you.

An involuntary shiver crosses your back once you discover his approaching figure. You’ve been caught, and Doyle might not be as forgiving this time. You feel yourself becoming smaller in the shadow of your captor, pondering on your possible sentences. Like the helpless body being torn apart in Goya’s “Saturn devouring his son”, the only thing in front of you is blackness. The entrance of a starved, hungry mouth, ready to swallow you whole. Don’t ever leave him again, (Y/N). You know his only mistake is loving you too much.

#baki #baki the grappler #baki hanma #baki x reader #baki headcanons #hector doyle #hector doyle x reader #yandere baki #yandere hector doyle #yandere x reader #yandere

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renata-has-thoughts · 1 year

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I've never done an ask before so this might suck

There is little to no narrator x readers and your writing is the best I've ever seen!!!!

If you have spare time could you pretty please possibly make another narrator smut where he's all pent up desperate and whiny but then fucks fem reader as rough as he can?

Kinda friend's to lovers almost?

If it's stupid or embarrassing please ignore this request all together!

Outlet

Pairing: Tyler Durden (Narrator) x f!reader W/C: 1.6k

Includes: NSFW!Friends to lovers, rough sex, penetrative sex, mutual orgasm, and, as requested, pent up Tyler.

A/N: Stupid? Embarrassing? Anon, we have nothing to be ashamed of. The Narrator is hot, this is indisputable fact.

“So you’re telling me…you have a club…where you fight. That you’re in…” you muttered, punctuating your words by tapping the table between you two alongside your disbelieving words.

“Yeah.” Tyler nodded without further explanation, taking a sip of his drink as if he had said enough. As if this were a normal thing to say.

“Y’know, when you told me you couldn’t hang out because you had ‘a club meeting’ all those times, I thought it was something stupid-or more importantly, normal, like a book club…or chess club, or something. But here you are willingly going to get your ass beat every week.”

“Why are you assuming I’m the one losing the fights?” Tyler asked, a tinge of hurt in his voice.

You paused, and shrugged. Granted, he has become a lot more toned over these past few months. More prominent muscles, a bit more confidence, the like.

“Right. Well, to each their own, but…try not to get too hurt, alright? Don’t expect me to nurse you back to health.” You sighed, staring at your drink.

“I wouldn’t burden you with something like that.” Tyler said, finishing off his own drink. A moment of comfortable silence passed. You two were good friends, had been for awhile, so it never was awkward anymore.

“Why?” You asked suddenly.

“Hm?”

“Why do you fight? Why are you in that club?”

Tyler ran his finger along the rim of the empty bottle for a second, then replied, “it’s helpful, I guess. It’s an outlet.”

“As in, therapeutic?”

“Yeah. I mean, everyone has their ways of getting out that anger. Getting an adrenaline rush.” He explained, his eyes leaving yours, and added, “I guess some with actual therapy, yeah, or healthy things like writing or sex.” He didn’t look up, especially at that last part. You noted that he hasn’t had a girlfriend, or otherwise, in the whole time you’ve known him, which was a good amount of time. Then you realized, neither had you.

“I feel like there’s a difference between things like therapy, writing and such, and sex.” You said, and put your drink aside, with your final swig. Usually by now, during these afternoons where you’d meet up at your house for drinks, Tyler would say his goodbyes, but now he merely shifted back in his chair.

“Depends.” He mumbled.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, as in, it depends on the sex.”

“Why? Is fighting for you a substitute for sexual frustration?” You laughed, but partly a genuine question, too.

“Well it’s not like fighting gets me going or anything, but they both relieve a similar thing.”

A silence simmered yet again.

For once, it was awkward.

“How long has it been since you’ve had sex?” You questioned softly.

“…I dunno. …maybe a year by now.” He responded, meeting your eyes again.

You thought, and recalled that it had been the same amount of time of celibacy for you, too.

“Same here.” You admitted, and caught his gaze.

Yes. You were very much attracted to him. It’s no secret you two had flirted playfully, but it was nothing more than banter, right?

By the way he looked at you then, you could tell it was never that casual for him.

Suddenly, he looked away again, clearing his throat as if catching himself.

“Thanks for the drinks, as usual. Uhm, I should get going.” He said, rising from his chair.

You mirrored his actions, but then rounded the table to stand before him in a swift action.

“I haven’t been entirely honest with you, Tyler.” You stopped him, grabbing his hand.

Something flashed in his eyes when you said that, like a prediction of your coming words.

“Fuck.” He whispered under his breath when your other hand grabbed his waist, pulling him closer to you.

“Tyler, I-I think you’re-“

“Say I can kiss you. Tell me to kiss you. Right fucking now.” Tyler interrupted, intertwining his fingers with yours. His eyes widened.

“Please.” You whimpered.

He tilted his head, eyes closing as he pressed his body to you, along with his lips to yours. It started small, drawing away for a second for him to breathe in before returning, open-mouthed this time, his tongue sliding next to yours. He moaned into the kiss, and soon so did you when his hand slid to slowly knead your waist.

You began shifting back, tugging him by his shirt while you broke the kiss, guiding him to your room.

“Tyler,” you explained as you headed to your bed, “get it out on me.”

“W-What?” He gasped as you let go of him to slide off your shirt.

“The tension. All that’s pent up in you.”

“Oh, fuck,” he whined under his breath upon seeing you now only in your bra. “Yeah, yeah, I…I can do that.” He nodded, swallowing down his nerves.

“I can take it, Tyler. Whatever you give me. I can take it.” You promised, staring into his eyes.

“Really?” He murmured again, still in that whiny tone.

“Yes.”

His breathing halted, then sped up, like a racehorse when the gun fires, he fumbled at his jeans, stripping them off. He pushed you down onto your bed and climbed on top of you, keeping a hand pressed down on you after he threw off his shirt.

“God, you’re so hot. I’ve always thought that,” Tyler rambled, tugging your pants off.

“Do you know how many times I’ve touched myself to the thought of you?” You moaned while he rid you of the rest of your clothes, bra and all.

“Fuck, holy shit-don’t even-don’t even tease me like that. I don’t think I can g-get any harder than I am.” He exemplified this by taking off his boxers, leaving you both naked and panting already.

“Please, please use me,” you cried, gripping onto his shoulders.

“Want me to treat you rough? Huh?”

“Yes!”

Two fingers dipped down into you, smoothing along the wetness you had ever since he had mentioned the mere idea of sex.

You moaned loudly, not just by the feeling, but the fact it was Tyler. It was Tyler, of all people, fucking you. Finally.

His fingers left you to grab himself, pushing him into you steadily, groaning at the feeling of pressure around his cock, you easily inviting him, warm and slick.

“I knew you would f-feel so good. I knew it.” He whined, both hands groping your waist and pulling you down along into him.

Your nails dug into his shoulders and your head rose to mouth desperately at his neck. That was his final breaking point.

He began thrusting into you, using every inch of his cock through your impossible tightness. It seemed like every part of you went numb except for the places he was hitting.

It was euphoric. It was Tyler fucking you. And he was fucking you good.

His breathing occurred through grit teeth and growls, his pace unyielding. The spots in which he was grabbing your waist to shove you into him while he thrusted would surely bruise in the morning, and your body got hot just by thinking about that.

Tyler shot one hand up to your neck, just under your jaw, and you gasped in surprise, although it was quickly drowned out by stuttered whimpers as he continued his abuses. His fingers prodded into your mouth, with his palm firmly on your neck. You took them in hungrily, licking and sucking on them, making him moan. His reaction was enough to make you shiver.

“You f-feel so good.” You managed through the obstruction of not only his fingers but the overwhelming pleasure.

“Yeah?” He promoted, removing his hand placement on your neck in favor of slotting his damp fingers above your clit. “You like it rough?” He growled, proceeding to change his quick thrusts to hard slams.

From the combination of everything he was doing, you felt sweat form on your brow.

“Tyler, I-I’m gonna cum,” you moaned.

“Yeah? Hm? Cum for me.”

“Don’t stop! Please, fuck, don’t-“

“Baby, I don’t plan on it.”

There it was. Your orgasm approached you with the same raging force as Tyler’s pace. Hot and dizzying. As he vowed, he did not stop, staying at the same speed despite the mumbling of curses under his breath, stammered ramblings of ‘so tight’, ‘yes, fuck yes’.

You couldn’t help but bite his neck as you let the remnants of your orgasm finish onto him. He groaned loudly as your teeth found purchase in his skin, and he pulled out just as your orgasm faded to grab his cock and guide himself through his orgasm, cumming onto your stomach with breathy whines, his composure shattering with each small sound.

You left a kiss on the mark you made on his neck, letting your head fall back onto the bed to look into his eyes, drained but still transfixed on you.

“Tyler? You there?” You smiled.

“Y-Yeah. Fuck.” He replied, catching his breath. “Are you alright?”

“That was the best sex I’ve ever had, Tyler.” You were saying that genuinely. “Of course I'm alright.”

His eyes seemed to light up, despite his exhaustion when you said that.

“Thank god.” He mumbled, lowering himself to lie by your side, running his hands through his hair to collect himself. “That was definitely the best for me, too.” His eyes fell closed.

“Could I ask you one more favor?”

“Sure, anything.” Tyler responded, opening his eyes again.

“Uhm…” you began, and gestured to your stomach, where he just came on.

“Oh! Right! Shit, sorry.” Tyler laughed, getting up from the bed and heading to your closet, grabbing his boxers along the way and sliding them back on.

You felt content in that moment. You first regarded your attraction to Tyler as frivolous and one-sided, yet now you watched him leaning down beside you, wiping you off with a washcloth and kissing your forehead.

#the narrator x reader #fight club smut #tyler durden smut #tyler durden x reader #the narrator smut

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atarathegreat · 1 month

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Fatgum, that's enough slices, we've discussed now make

Late night phone calls, lmao

Taishiro Toyomitsu had always visited the same bakery, at least once he seen the really cute girl that worked there. Day after day he went in just to see you before work, before he had to get bigger for work. He didn't want to feel like you wouldn't look his way, he was a hero and he had better things to worry about. But here he was, visiting without his uniform and waiting as you made his order.

"So, busy day today?" You turned and put the coffee on the table, "You don't usually carry a bag in, so I'm a little curious."

Taishiro didn't want to lie about it, but he also couldn't just tell you the full truth. "Somethin' like that." His mumbling had always drawn you in, mainly because you couldn't hear him, but he didn't mind. "I, uh, kinda have an important job."

Your laughter was part of the reason he kept coming around. "Ah, alright. I won't dig too much." And the way you had to crane your neck just to make eye contact. Taishiro was aware that he was tall, how couldn't he be when he dodged doorframes, but for some reason it felt like an achievement when you looked up at him with that sugary sweet smile. You didn't pry, didn't ask too many questions or for too much detail. Whatever came your way, you simply let it. Taishiro grabbed the bag of cupcakes you handed him, thanked you, and went about his day. With you on his mind.

As was the routine, until he grew brave enough to ask you out on a date. Taishiro was nervous about having you in his home, but he could get used to the view as you cooked. He thought you had nice hips. The way you hummed as you cooked was even cute and had his complete attention. "Do you enjoy cooking?" Taishiro moved to lean on the counter next to you, eyes never leaving an inch of your skin.

"I do. My grandmother taught me to bake, and I picked up cooking regular meals pretty quickly. I guess it helped, since my quirk ended up being food related." Crows feet, you smiled a lot and he just had to notice it. If there was anyone who would smile so much they developed early crows feet, it was you. "Your quirk is food related?" It caught him a bit off guard. Of course, he wasn't sure what he assumed, maybe that you were simply quirkless, but that thought made him feel silly. "My emotions change the taste of the food, along with how well the food energizes and fuels anyone who eats it." The explanation was simple enough, and probably explained why you didn't work on some days. You couldn't risk feeding someone food that wasn't proper to eat.

"And... are you happy right now?" Taishiro needed to know if he made you feel anything good. He really, truly hoped he did. "I'm a little nervous, but otherwise, yeah, I am happy with this." The way you replied was special to him. Vulnerable and still oh-so true to yourself. It made him feel less awkward about the first date being in his home. "I hope I don't make you uncomfortable." Taishiro wanted to reach out and touch your arm to put you at ease, but something told him that wouldn't help.

"No, no you don't. I just don't normally go to people's houses for a first date." He loved that your smile was hidden in his house instead of out in the open at the bakery, "And, if I'm honest, I am a little worried..."

Taishiro felt his stomach drop all the way to his toes. "I hope I didn't do anything wrong to make you feel in danger."

"No, no." Your pretty hand waved him off, "I just... I feel like I don't know you, y'know? Like, either of us could be anyone." It was a reasonable concern; Taishiro knew he wouldn't hurt you but you had no idea who he was to feel as secure in that information. "Can I show you something?" Taishiro took your hand, "Just for a second?" Of course he had to word it like a serial killer. He truly only meant to show you his hero uniform. Maybe that would put you at ease. You'd only ever seen him in his skinny form, so there was the possibility that you didn't believe him regardless.

He led you, to your confusion, to his laundry room where he dug out the jacket and handed it to you. "Why are you showing me this?" You asked, unfolding the article of clothing. It was shocking when you opened the giant hoodie to find the F-G-F on the front. You stretched the material, finding that it stretched, and the logo didn't warp. Regular merch distorted. The real proof was when he pulled out his hero license. "Whoa..." You mumbled, taking the piece of plastic gently, "Why didn't you ever ask for more baked goods?!"

The change in your atmosphere was crazy. You didn't seem to really care that he was a hero, but that he hadn't bought more? Taishiro was confused. "I'm sorry?" He scratched his neck. "You're a pro hero and you went into work like this!" You waved at his smaller form, "What were you thinking? You must've borderline gorged yourself to get into the right shape to use your quirk!"

Yeah, that made more sense to him. You didn't seem to be the type to want money more than anything, so you looking out for his wellbeing was a whole lot more wholesome and truer to your character. And you didn't even give him time to respond before you were out in the kitchen already planning out several different things to put out in the shop. "I'll have to stock up! Do you like chocolate chip or something else? Does coffee also work with your quirk? I can make something else!"

Your rambling was adorable, Taishiro couldn't help but lean against the wall and watch you as you planned and planned. Having someone care about him and his work was endearing. There was never anyone like that for him until now. Part of him enjoyed it a lot, the other half was worried about how fast she was going. Taishiro could practically see the smoke coming from her ears with how hard she was thinking.

"You don't have to worry that much about it." The pro hero chuckled. Yet you still walked and paced as you cooked for the inside date night with the man you just learned a ton about.

#anime #manga #boku no hero academia #bnha #mha #my hero academia #mha x reader #bnha x reader #taishiro toyomitsu #fatgum #fatgum x reader #taishiro toyomitsu x reader #ask me stuff #ask #ask blog #send asks #ask away #inbox #answered

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orionchildofhades · 7 months

Text

steddie swapping soulmate au part 9

---

the fist thought in Eddie's head as he awakes is finally.

this is not his bed.

he swapped again.

the last months were painful, the idea of being left alone without the soulmate he was promised like a burn in his heart. with that and highschool going terribly as always, it wasn't very fun.

What he realises quickly is, even if this is not his bed, it's also not his soulmate's. At least not the one he woke up in the first time. The room is even emptier than the previous. White walls, white ceiling, white wardrobe. It feels even less personal than the first time around.

Everything is a bit fuzzy around the edges when he sits himself on the soft sheets. At least the bed is very comfortable.

He doesn't have much time to put everything together when the door on his right beeps - beeps? - and burst open. A tall and honestly, even for Eddie's gay heart, gorgeous woman enters. Caramel hair fall like around her face in waves, her skin porcelain and gently decorated with beauty marks under her eyes, above her lips, on her hairline. Her eyes are a shade of brown strangely familiar. What's not is the feint twitch of it when her eyes land on Eddie.

"What are you still doing in bed? We are leaving in ten minutes, I told you to be ready at half past!" She huffs and goes to open the wardrobe as Eddie watch in bewilderment. A glance at the clock above the door shows 10:18. "Come on, get up." A pair of jeans and a polo are shoved his way and the woman hurries him toward another door, on his left. He ends up very quickly in a bathroom, as white and clean as the room, and she constant rummaging of the woman pushes him to speed up any process. He throws his pajamas - his soulmate's pajamas - off with blushing cheeks and gets out of the room in the process of putting on a shirt.

This is not how he intended to meet any of his soulmate's family.

"Oh, honey." There's a hint of fondness in the voice this time as Eddie is dragged in front of the woman, dare he assumes the mother of his bonded soul?, and she starts working with his hair with strong but gentle fingers. "You are such a mess this morning. Be thankful your father is busy today."

And soon enough Eddie ends up outside, at the very bottom of a building that is far too tall to be safe if anyone was to ask him his opinion.

And he's in New York.

That comes as a surprise and a logical explanation as to why the room was different.

It's called a hotel Eddie, comes Frank's sarcastic voice in his mind.

This is the first time he has the actual chance to roam around a big city. And not any big city, but New York. That's just too cool.

The woman, the mother really, it would be weird otherwise, gets them a taxi and takes them for brunch before another taxi brings them to Time Square.

Eddie cannot believe he has such a chance.

He ignores the slightly disappointment remarks coming and going from the woman and happily enjoys his day.

A fleeting feeling of guilt rises in his chest at the thought of his soulmate missing such a day but he shrugs it off. There is no reason for him to feel bad, he can't change any of it. He'll just have to keep every detail in mind and recount everything once he meets his soulmate.

on a different note, i'm looking for a potential beta reader for a harry potter fic, if anyone has a bit of time, likes the fandom, would be willing to check some texts and ideas with me don't hesitate to comment, send a text

on another note, the second part of a mha fic i wrote is out on ao3, if anyone likes this sort of stuff it's villain!traitor!deku and people seem to think it's not too much trash so it's there if you are looking for a fic in mha

#steddie #steve x eddie #eddie x steve #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #orionwritesthingies #i just learned how to write pajamas guys!#yey

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thecoramaria · 5 months

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How to foreshadow without predictability?

Thanks for your ask, Peratrice!

So first I'd like to say that a fanfic (or any story really) being predictable doesn't always mean it's bad. I think the frustration people have with predictable storytelling is when the story still expects you to be surprised, which makes the reader feel like they're being talked down to. That's why, if you feel like your story is too predictable, it's better to repackage a plot twist as dramatic irony instead.

But of course, sometimes you want to foreshadow a plot twist or reveal, and that can be great too! As I'm sure we all know, foreshadowing is important to prevent a plot twist from feeling contrived or coming out of nowhere. We all want it to be the moment where the reader smacks themselves on the forehead and goes "Oh my god, that's what this all was!" Unfortunately, it's impossible to write a plot twist in such a way that every reader will have that reaction, but I'll get more into that later.

So when it comes to plot twists and foreshadowing, other resources will talk about things like hiding your foreshadowing in plain sight, using red herrings, or having your foreshadowing also seem to serve another purpose in the narrative, all of which are great techniques that you should research.

But since this is a fanfic writing advice blog, I'd like to focus on one big advantage our medium has:

Readers come into each story assuming canon is the default.

Yes, even in AUs to a degree, though I will admit this tip is best applied to stories that are still rather grounded in the canon world as opposed to, say, a coffee shop AU. That means you have a full banquet of pre-existing expectations that you can twist and subvert. Unless you tell them or imply otherwise, the reader will always assume that two characters are besties like they are in canon, or have the same powers and abilities, or the world is mostly the same.

That means a great way to foreshadow in fanfiction specifically without giving anything away is to allow the reader to believe those default aspects of canon, while also sprinkling in some hints for your twist. You reader will be so sure that you're sticking to a canon element that when you don't, they'll be gobsmacked in the best way!

To use an example from my own work, I have a story that is presented as diverging from canon after the first cutscene, but is still very much grounded in the canon world and lore. Therefore, readers expected me to follow said lore instead of change it. It was the perfect set up to have my OC villain awaken a sacred power that one of the heroes would typically awaken in canon.

Now, I still primed readers to my divergences from canon by having a princess already be crowned queen and married (the canon hero and the OC villain respectively), and I employed red herrings and made sure to provide a detailed explanation of the lore this story was abiding by (since canon is also pretty inconsistent so I needed to set things straight), but my readers were so sure that the canon character would awaken this power that when my villain did instead, they were shocked! But it also made sense.

Now, no matter what, no one is going to react to a plot twist the same way. Some people are better at picking up on foreshadowing. Some people have read so much that they know all the tropes and clichés. Some people have a greater understanding of storycraft: they can spot the Chekhov's guns or they know what needs to happen next to jumpstart the tension or fulfill a character's arc. I had one reader predict another one of my subverting-canon plot twists and they explained how they knew with such a great understanding of storytelling that I was really impressed, and guess what? They still loved that twist! They had the satisfying moment of "I knew it!" which to me means that even though the twist was predictable for them, it was still executed well.

So yeah, there's my answer. Hope this helps!

#cora's original posts #cora's ask box #just fanfic things #foreshadowing #fanfic writing #creative writing

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evilkitten3 · 2 months

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Hey, thanks for the reply! Also sorry for using comments instead of reblogging, I own only a blog with goofy fancomics and I don't want to mix plot discussions into it. I hope you don't mind. If you want, you can cite this whole reply in another post, but I'm ok with anything.

When it comes to narrator reliability, I go for "reliable unless proven otherwise" approach. I agree here, that picking Obito's statements was not the best way to prove things because he had been proved to talk nonsense before. On the other hand, with how few glimpses of Madara's PoV we have, they are consistent with Hashirama's tale except for VoTE fight where Madara intentionally tricked Hashirama about his goals and the outcome. So I'm going to consider Hashi mostly reliable, also because his account is the last one we get, so if Kishimoto planned it to be false, not showing Madara's contradicting PoV (or at least hinting at it, which we don't get either) would be plain bad writing (still doesn't give 100% certainty, but I'd take this over the "God of the gaps" approach).

Even if we don't consider the info on Izuna's dying words true, Hashirama says that Madara had claimed that Izuna had been killed by Senju (also states it as a reason for not being able to trust Senju enough to make a truce), and Madara later confirms that Izuna had been in fact killed by Tobirama (the "Tobirama pin cushion" scene in War Arc). Also, we were never given an explanation for Uchihas turning their backs on Madara other than

prolonging the war

Madara allegedly stealing Izuna's eyes. Both these things trace back to Izuna's death. One can try to give other reasons, but this would be entering headcanon territory at this point, so something that the reader wants to be true rather than something that the reader has actually been given.

As for Tobirama, he plays a way bigger role in his and Madara's paranoia than Madara, and his prejudice is largely ungrounded (however understandable because of his own traumas), but here are some things Madara did that could rile him up:

refusing truce for so long, stemming from Izuna's death (according to Hashirama)

pulling off the whole "it's either me or him" stuff twice (first one is when Tobirama calls Madara a lunatic, so this had started before the founding of Konoha): this also fits thematically with Izuna's death, because having no living brothers left would have put Hashirama and Madara in the same spot

attempting to nuke Konoha with Kurama (even if we assume that Madara didn't want to do it, he intentionally made this impression to lure out Hashirama, so Tobirama can't be blamed for believing it) which had been partially caused by Uchihas rejecting Madara which had been caused by… etc. Tobirama explicitly says that his persecution of Uchihas was to avoid the rise of another Madara, but this is Tobirama we are speaking of, so take this with a grain of salt. Also, through grooming Obito, Madara played a significant indirect role in Uchiha massacre, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it intentional on his side (we can't tell to what extent Obito was guided by "Madara's will"). So in the end, his actions do bear characteristics of a self-fulfilling prophecy, although I admit that it's debatable how much Uchiha opression could have been avoided without Madara fueling every bad stereotype, because the prejudice didn't start with him. No Obito and no Kurama attack could have at least remove a convenient pretext for the massacre from the story, but it's absolutely possible that Konoha elders would have found another one.

I'm not saying all of this to prove that Madara wouldn't have pursued IT with Izuna alive (in fact, it would be interesting to see BZ sway Madara without killing Izuna). My point is that there are too many factors that more or less directly trace back to Izuna's death to confidently state the opposite.

entirely fair! and don't worry, plenty of people prefer commenting for various reasons; no offense taken

honestly, i tend to be more or less the same, although i actually think hashirama's story was probably pretty solid; he doesn't try at all to make claims for the stuff he wasn't there for. he doesn't even say "madara was definitely standing outside the window" he says "tobirama looked out the window and i found a leaf that looked like the one madara looked at the village through"

having said that, from what i remember, at some point kishimoto did end up pressed for time, and that seriously affected the quality of his work (and... let's be honest, the war arc was never naruto's best writing. the war arc wishes it had what the wave arc had)

i think the reason we never heard hashirama's take on why madara's clan distanced itself from him is bc hashirama can't really,,,, comprehend that? like madara explicitly says "no one in my family likes me :(" and hashirama goes "i don't believe that" like he has any way of knowing XD

personally, i'm fairly certain that tobirama killed izuna, and i have no reason to think otherwise (i guess it's possible that black zetsu personally snuck an infection into his wound somehow just to make sure he kicked it and madara got his eyes, but like you said that'd just be headcanon territory, and also it kinda doesn't matter since neither madara nor hashirama would have any way of knowing that, so neither would we)

frankly i personally like the idea that tobirama was just scared shitless of madara, but it's also possible that he held a grudge over the whole "kill u or ur bro" thing. probably not the other stuff tbh, since tobirama never seemed all that invested in the idea of a village before it was founded (probably just. didn't think it could happen), and madara trying to nuke the village didn't happen until after he'd left, so while it may have affected tobirama's relationship with the other uchiha, it didn't really affect his relationship with madara.

obito's role in the massacre was,,,, really badly handled tbh. and also part of why i suspect that the original concept of "tobi" (from a meta perspective) was meant to be madara's ghost possessing obito's mostly dead corpse. madara had a reason to resent the uchiha clan (although i don't think the character we meet in the war arc would've done that, even if the character we met after tobi's "reveal" might have), but obito never really got one. there were fan theories, but not a lot of solid canon evidence. it might've happened, since both obito and madara were justifying everything they did with "well they'll all be fine when the infinite tsukuyomi kicks in, so whatever"

if you keep izuna alive and don't remove black zetsu from the equation, then it's less of a "would madara still do this" question and more of a "how long until black zetsu manages to cause izuna's death and lead madara to do this" question. zetsu needed madara to get the eternal mangekyou sharingan, after all. if it was possible to do that while keeping izuna alive then that'd certainly be interesting, but it's not something zetsu would particularly care to pursue, especially when izuna dying makes it much more likely that madara will take his eyes. but black zetsu is black zetsu, so i'm sure it could figure something out.

if you take out black zetsu entirely, then it's hard to say if madara would've come up with the eye of the moon plan on his own, but i do still think he would've seen the village as a failure and left in the end. like you said, it's hard to say for sure, though.

#naruto #naruto shippuden #uchiha madara #meta #long post

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johannestevans · 10 months

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Hi, this is the anon who was asking about the afab term stuff 👋

Firstly thanks for the longer explanation, I hope it wasn't too frustrating for you, I really don't mean to bother you, so if this is too many questions feel free to ignore it

Secondly, this has actually kinda explained a couple things about my own experience with the terms, like how people asking if I'm afab/amab (which doesn't really apply to me in a binary/dyadic sense) has always felt a little like someone asking my deadname. So thanks for making me consider that more from a different perspective

Thirdly, my experience from having my identity heavily medicalised (intersex healthcare in the UK is a mess) and from being raised by a doctor is that female sex vs female gender were two separate things, and that one doesn't always correspond to the other. I never really approached the idea that female/male sex weren't useful/real categories because their meanings to me were entirely anatomical definitions of a collection of parts that are usually found together. To me it would be completely the same to refer to them as Sex A and sex B, with the understanding that there are people who fit neither category. Intersex anatomy is often talked about as if its the crossover in a Venn diagram of characteristics, between the two categories of 'male sex' and 'female sex'. For this purpose having those categories for communication purposes, is somewhat helpful, e.g to say that an increase in my testosterone will cause my male characteristics to become more prominent. The categories serve a purpose for communication more than anything else.

If the categories weren't using the words female/male do you think it would be any better of an experience for you? Aka if the terms used to describe them had no relation to any gender identity, but there was still two prominent categories.

Of course I can see the issue with when people assume that you fall exactly into one category or another, so regardless of name/language no number of categories should ever be assumed to be a universal set, but that doesn't mean that the terms don't have positive uses. Our language exists for us to communicate, so if terms to describe a category of anatomical parts help us do that, surely they still have meaning/usefulness?

Nope, don't worry about it, Anon! If anything bothers me so much that I don't want to answer it, I'll say or I'll just delete the ask.

I absolutely think that some people do ask after ASAB because they want to just find out what people "really" are and whatever, have just internalised the whole gender aspect and do think of some trans people as being female (good) and male (bad), and there's so much transmisogyny baked into it, but also just... misanthropy, you know? Like a real distaste for the variety in humanity and a desperate desire to force everyone into particular categories.

The thing about current medicalised perceptions of intersex identities is that there are dozens of so-called "intersex conditions", but we literally have 0 way of knowing how many people are the "pure" standard of female with the exact female anatomy and the "pure" standard of male with the exact male anatomy without like, MRI-ing and later dissecting massive swathes of the population and comparing them all, and we don't do that because people want the male/female divide to exist when like.

It doesn't, not in the way people want to imagine it does.

These are broad categories people have projected onto people, and while I agree that medical professionals knowing someone's physical anatomy is valuable, I actually think that the M/F binary actually is more likely to harm them than otherwise.

Many doctors will meet someone who they assume was AFAB, and therefore they must have all this anatomy, and then they'll just put any abdominal or even chest pain down to their period, on top of not really caring how much pain they're in - and then they won't even check for shit like appendicitis or gut problems or even more significant uterine problems like endometrioisis, but also like... testicular torsion.

I frankly don't agree that "female sex" and "male sex" are genuinely useful categories. They're just weaponised too much for me to believe that - I think we should do away with M/F categorisations on birth certs and medical records, and that doctors should have to fucking, God forbid, examine people to see what their problems are.

I'm so sorry that you've received shitty treatment for intersex medical issues, several of my friends are intersex and experience just roadblock after roadblock - even as a probably dyadic trans dude with a few chronic issues it's just painful to navigate, and I just get pissed off because it's complicated by doctors religious devotion to a cis medical binary that's not nearly as important as they desperately want to believe it is.

#musings #anonymous

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39oa · 7 months

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hi! i’m slowly getting interested in f1 but i don’t really know how to start. so i was wondering if you had any content to recommend (except for the races of course) to get into the fandom, or anything else that could help, really.. thanks :)

oh anon i would love to help!!! are there any drivers/teams you're already particularly fond of or things you want to learn more about? i feel like it'd be easier to narrow down content if i understood your interests better since it's really something you can mold entirely to your own tastes and there are a million different ways to Enjoy and Consume the sport LOL. tbh i call myself an f1 fan but i mostly just rep oscar and in reality enjoy junior formulae more as a whole because i find the process of getting to f1 more intriguing than actually being in it... so it's really whatever you make of it! i'll try to divide my notes categorically so hopefully that helps a little bit but lmk if there's anything specific you're looking for :') and as always apologies in advance for my rambling 💔

getting into the actual sport

having a baseline understanding of the sport is obviously useful but i'm not sure how much you already know so i'll assume you can find super basic info about how seasons and points work! if you want to delve just a Bit further then:

i think chain bear is a decent youtube channel for easy explanations on some technical aspects and little things you may not have picked up on yet that will help when watching races

drive to survive is of course Not Great but it can be a nice and quick window into learning names and faces, even if a lot of it is ridiculously simplified or overexaggerated. it's basically like using duolingo for learning a new language in that it should be regarded as a semi-reliable supplemental material readily packaged for convenient consumption. if there are specific drivers you're interested in you can always pick and choose eps to consume decent Background Lore for, e.g. you can just watch s1e8 if you're a sharl fan

honestly not to shill for official f1 media but i do think f1tv is a pretty decent streaming platform when getting into the sport... definitely not saying you should subscribe to it (if it's even available in your country!) but just as an aside and maybe for future reference i do believe it's very friendly for new watchers because live races have different feeds that let you track race data (gaps, tyre usage, granular sector data during quali, etc.) and it also lets you switch between driver onboards which can be cool. moreover it has pre-race/post-race shows, technical analyses, archives of past seasons, all the f2/f3 content, documentaries, etc. so it's a pretty complete package! although a good amount of stuff gets x-posted to the official youtube channel so it's not a big deal

if you like podcasts, i think beyond the grid is cool because it has a fun variety of interviews (current drivers, retired drivers, tps, engineers, etc.) about both past and current events so you can basically seek out whatever you're interested in learning more about. otherwise i don't really listen to f1 podcasts regularly because i have weirdly low patience for them compared to hockey, but my friend told me that shift+f1 does yearly primers so that could be something useful to check out! (here's the 2023 season preview, i haven't checked it out but i thought i'd link anyway)

keeping up with news

obviously an important part of fandom is trying to keep up with current affairs, so if you haven't already then i would of course follow the f1 youtube channel + twitter account (or whatever other social media you use), f1 nowadays is extremely effective at marketing itself so it's not like hockey where you're fighting for your life waiting for the unfunniest puck personality video in existence to drop every 8 months. not that all f1 driver content is necessarily funny but there's probably a touch more investment in maintaining the illusion! anyway.

if you use reddit then r/formula1 is honestly probably the best aggregate source of f1 news and up-to-date info, i don't read everything there but it's pretty useful and easy to navigate. plus sometimes when i want to cause myself irreparable psychic damage from something that already pissed me off i can venture into a 500-comment section to get my blood boiling even more... 10/10 would recommend

other than that it's really like — follow official channels for any other drivers or teams you're fond of tbh, i do have a few motorsports journalists in my twitter list but since i respect the fact that some people don't enjoy endless news spam i'd maybe just recommend chris medland if you want a succinct live feed during races for the moment? f1 journalism is kind of godless so you don't *need* to follow that many reporters on a whole.

driver personality content

unfortunately i'll be showing my age when i say i don't have a tiktok account but now that i think about it that's probably a great source of information because it seems like f1 fandom is thriving over there!!! regardless the official f1 youtube does have a lot of little driver personality videos you can watch to get to know them more, and again i'd recommend checking out official team + driver channels for more tailored longform content. for ex just from very recent mcl fan pov they have an unboxed series with behind the scenes of select races and also loads of fun minigame content; every team should have at least SOMETHING to nibble on but certain teams are definitely more marketing-savvy than others (aka big 3 + mcl) 🥲

official f1: f1 has a yearly series called grill the grid with just mini quizzes that all the drivers compete in, some are less interesting but it's overall not bad content. the channel has a playlist for the 2021 gtgs which includes the iconic sebvettel world champion video LOL... actually if you sort the f1 channel by Most Viewed there are probably some fun classic videos in there (looking now it's a lot of crashes but you can ignore those lol), like press conference highlights and other convenient top 10 lists. for a random rec i was just nostalgically revisiting the 2019 rookie of the year video and it was getting to me a little bit!

sky sports f1 will also occasionally have good interview/inside content that you can check out, a lot of it is geolocked though (same with canal+ content in france). but for example i felt so much experiencing this random alex interview from last week... he is truly guy of this world

fan compilations: again if there are any drivers you like then you can just search up their names and there will be a ton of comps with Funny MomentsTM, sometimes it helps to just pick a guy and see how you feel about him as you consume content because your true interests will organically develop and surface eventually... sorry i feel like i'm writing a manifesto on fandom in general which is definitely not what you asked for LOL. but like twitch quartet (aka charles, george, alex, and lando) have a ton of silly streaming highlights you can find on youtube, lando has a gaming company called quadrant that he does videos with which can be uhhh hit or miss depending on how much you enjoy Lad Culture, etc...

really it's so easy to get hyperspecific with content once you pick a team or driver so i'm not sure what else to recommend on a general level but that's what i've got off the top of my head! fandom definitely skews a lot toward rb/merc/fer/mcl so it's easiest to consume both video content and fic for them, but if you're willing to go trawling for interviews then you can really get invested in anyone... fandom culture also varies so wildly depending on how you follow the sport and which drivers you invest in emotionally. my closest friend is a "chirlie" as they say and it really is an experience rife with organizational trauma and TFW You're Beholden To The Stranglehold Of Your Legacy so that's always a great pick if you're craving maximum narrative evisceration, or if you're in it for the fic then you could literally just get really into maxiel, but i'm basically chilling in my land of rookie stonks and sit down to watch non-mcl content maybe once a month.

honestly i only follow like 3.5 f1 fans on tumblr because i'm objectively terrified by the size of the fandom HLSHDFLKH so i mostly consume things in a vacuum and talk to like one friend 😭 but there loads of cool creators out here and you can always find a few gifmakers/fanartists/etc. and just follow the rabbit hole from there!!! best of luck and hope this helps >__<

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ninjakk · 2 years

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Hello. Your blog really amazing and I love it very much.!!!

Soo there is something which is bugging me for a while. When WWX is in Jiang sect and is given very horrible punishment for even littlest things. Where are the elders of the sects?? Why are they not interfering?? Are they afraid of authority of YZY as a sect madam??? There are not mentioned in the novel, correct me if i am wrong. Do they even exist in Jiang Sect or is that position not there in teaching of breaking restraints and freedom.

And Wei Changze was second in command of Sect leader. Doesn't anybody have any kind of lingering affection for him. And correct YZY when she is spewing hate about him.

The classism of this makes me want to cry and pull my hair.

Hi Anon,

Thank you for the sweet comments. It's lovely to hear my blog posts are appreciated 🥰

This is a hard one, because there isn't really that much to go in the novel that can outrightly answer your question as such. We can summarise what we do know, and come up with a plausible explanation - but it would be purely postulation of course.

With that in mind, let's have a look at what we can gather from the novel 😊

Firstly, the Jiang sect is one of the Five Four Great Sects. They are one of the most prominent sects in the MDZS universe, competing alongside other major sects such as the Jin, Lan and Nie sects (and of course the Wen sect prior to its annihilation). Even though the sect claims to be "unrestrained", there is still a sense of hierarchy within it. So I think it's safe to assume the Jiang sect does have some form of senior/elder structure, as well as numerous adults present within the sect. As the narrative is somewhat influenced by WWXs POV, it's most likely they are just unimportant to the story and have not had much of an impression on him.

So we've established there most likely are senior cultivators within the sect. Now let's look at a snapshot of what we know about Madam Yu:

Madam Yu came from the prominent MeishanYu Sect. She was ranked third in her clan, so was also called Third Lady Yu. In the cultivation world, she went by the name “Violet Spider”. Just bringing up the name could scare quite a few away. Ever since she was young, she’d had a cold personality and never came off as likeable when conversing with others.

Chapter 51 ExR

We are first introduced to Madam Yu in the above chapter, where the reader is given a clear indication of her personality. She is well known in the cultivation world and it sounds like she is feared by many. From the text, we can gather she is quite formidable and has a fiery temper to match! As such, MXTX is intentionally giving the impression of a very unapproachable woman. We get further evidence of this whenever we see her shout interact with others throughout the novel. She is very argumentative and unreasonable. It seems even her own husband and children can't make her ratiocinate when she is abusing WWX - only hindering or postponing her abuse instead.

I think the general impression we get from the novel, is that Madam Yu has a rather imposing presence at Lotus Pier and no one would dare stand up to her. There may well be people within the sect who want to help WWX and stop or at least impede the abuse he suffers, but they might be too frightened of Madam Yu's wrath to do anything about it. That being said, as we don't have proof either way - perhaps others in the sect have stuck up for WWX before, and we aren't aware of it. Although sadly I very much doubt it, Madam Yu's reputation alone makes me hesitant to think otherwise.

Madam Yu is the mistress of Lotus Pier. She sees herself as someone with almost unparalleled authority - so we can safely assume she most certainly commands the respect it deserves amongst those at the Jiang sect.

Madam Yu, “What am I doing here? What a joke that I am asked of such a thing! Sect Leader Jiang, do you still remember that I’m also the leader of Lotus Pier? Do you still remember that every inch of the earth here is my territory?...."

Chapter 56

With that in mind, who would dare oppose their sect leader or the mistress of their sect - especially one with such a volatile personality. If anyone dared to stand up against her, she would most likely kick them out for disrespecting her and her position, or punish them severely. Unfortunately Madam Yu's status awards her the right to punish the subordinates however she sees fit - even if we know it is completely unjustified and excessively cruel.

As for WWX's father WCZ, as far as I am aware, his status within the Jiang sect was referred to as JFMs "most loyal servant", not second in command of the sect. We also know WCZ was a cultivator, because he became cultivation partners with WWX's mother CSSR and left to travel the world together.

Both Jiang FengMian and his wife, Yu ZiYuan, were quite familiar with Wei WuXian’s parents. Despite this, Jiang FengMian never reminisced about his old friend in front of Wei WuXian and, moreover, Yu ZiYuan never spoke properly to Wei WuXian at all. It was lucky for him if she didn’t give him a few whips and send him to kneel in the ancestral hall so that he’d keep his distance from Jiang Cheng. Other people told him most of the things he knew about his parents. He really didn’t know much more than what everyone else knew.

Chapter 29

So we can see JFM does not mention WWX's parents in front of him - whether this is because he feels he might upset WWX or if there is another reason behind his lack of reminiscing, is of course all up for interpretation. But WWX does mention that "others" have spoken to him about his parents, which I think hints that some of the disciples from the sect might have spoken about WCZ, although it seems not very often. Perhaps others are worried they will upset WWX by mentioning his parents also. Or maybe there could be lingering feelings and animosity around WCZ leaving the sect. Unfortunately we don't really know much more with regards to WCZ, as he was only mentioned very briefly on a few fleeting occasions, so we can only speculate. Either way, even if others remembered WCZ fondly, I think the fear of going up against Madam Yu would definitely eclipse such feelings.

You're right Anon, the classism in the novel is both frustrating and incredibly tragic. It has to be said though, that although Madam Yu is very classist, it seems the sect itself was already so way before she even arrived. Given the fact that the Jiang sect already had servants and WCZs status is constantly brought up - it's evidently the case. It's quite telling that a lot of people in the fandom overlook WCZ was also a cultivator, and only remember him as JFMs servant. Tragically, even in death WCZ never escaped his status as a servant, which is surprising considering he died a free man and a rogue cultivator with no affiliations to a sect. Yes, he seemingly left the sect without any consequences. But the prejudice against him was so strong, so ingrained in society and the sect he left, that it was passed on to his own son in the end nevertheless.

MXTX has a constant theme of classism running throughout the novel. Overall it plays a major part in WWXs fall from "grace" and the crumbling of his very fragile and superficial status, that was bestowed upon him so easily and taken away even more so. Fortunately for WWX, he is a lot happier without such restraints and can live his life how he wants to, now that he is not bound by obligations and an ostensible status. WWX is free to live happily ever after, with his loving husband LWJ 💕

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #mdzs novel #wei wuxian #wei changze #madam yu #mdzs classism #jiang sect #anon ask #answered ask

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brightwanderer · 1 year

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Hi helen, thanks for the explanations. Sorry for bothering you but can I ask,

Does locking fic next time I publish really help? Don't they have a way to breach Ao3's data since it's an AI? I also assume this isn't just sudowrites. Other AI writing services are probably doing so too, right? Like NovelAI

I'm afraid we're at about the limit of my knowledge here - I'm neither an industry expert on AI learning nor do I have the spoons for more research than I've done.

With that caveat, my understanding of the situation is this.

There is a "natural language" algorithm called GPT-3, which can be used by anyone to power their own apps (via subscription model) and has been trained on data from Common Crawl.

Common Crawl is a non-profit dedicated to archiving data from the internet and making it freely available to anyone. GPT-3 is the work of OpenAI, which also created the DALL-E visual art generator.

Sudowrite and other "novel generator" sites like it are using the GPT-3 base to generate "natural sounding" text. The stated goal of Sudowrite is to assist writers with their own work, by generating a couple more sentences when they're stuck, or new brainstorming ideas, or names for people and places.

One thing I do want to stress: this is NOT really an AI. There is no intelligence, decision-making, or independent action going on here. To explain it as simply as possible, what it does is a) look at what it's learned from ALL OF THE INTERNET, then b) look at a sentence you have given it (e.g. "it was a dark and stormy night"), then c) spit back out some content that, statistically, fits the patterns it has observed in all the other times someone has written "it was a dark and stormy night".

Given that you have to "train" GPT-3 towards whatever you specifically want it to do (fiction, news, chat bots, etc), and given that Sudowrite produces so much fandom-specific content so easily, I would guess that the Sudowrite version of GPT-3 has been given additional training using freely-available fanfiction, from AO3 or otherwise - but I do not know enough about the nuances of this technology to be sure.

So to answer your questions as best I can:

Locking your works on AO3 should protect them from being included in Common Crawl and similar datasets, I believe. This means they will also not be archived by the Internet Archive or appear on the Wayback Machine, will not appear in searches etc going forward, although anything that has already been archived will still be in those sets of data.

This may or may not do anything to keep them out of the pool for future generative algorithms.

This may or may not do anything to stop people specifically using fanfiction as additional training for creative writing AIs, depending on how they are obtaining that training data in the first place. (E.g. if everything on AO3 was locked tomorrow, someone could still just create an account and laboriously download a ton of random fic to use. Whether they would bother is another question.)

My personal take: we are long overdue a big conversation about data, and what is and should be freely available, and how content-creating AIs are being deployed and monetised. This is something that needs regulation and oversight, and we should be making a fuss about it.

(Not least because if you search the internet for "how to" articles on pretty much anything at this point, you will get a LOT of results written by this sort of AI generator. They look like real human text to start with, but as you read on you notice that there are weird little glitches, and then the instructions for making papier mache suddenly tell you to boil an egg, and you realise you can't actually trust anything you just read because it was auto-generated and may not work or be safe. True story.)

However. I am not myself concerned about the possibility that my writing has been used in this dataset. I don't like it or approve of it on a general level, but I don't believe it does me any harm or even meaningfully translates into "someone else profiting off my work". As far as I understand the technology, it will not be plagiarising any of my actual text. My biggest concern is with how readily it puts together context based on exisiting works. It's very obvious with something like Harry Potter, but if someone is looking for "names for magical items" and end up with three unique things I put in one of my stories and uses those in their work... yeah, that feels like a mess waiting to happen.

I'm also not concerned about AI "replacing" writers (or other artists). There is a lot more to creating art than putting words together or making brush-strokes. The AI can only spit out what was put into it, and it's always going to pick the most statistically likely option. That means in terms of storytelling, you will get cliche after cliche, empty dialogue that sounds good but doesn't mean anything, repeating the same themes with occasional nonsensical diversions for "variety", a general sense of hollowness and lack of actual human input...

... wait. Did anyone check whether Marvel's already using this thing?

#long post #ai plagiarism #sudowrite #asks #gpt-3 #common crawl #openai #writing #fanfic #ai art

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tobiasdrake · 4 months

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B&E in a necromancer's lair. We're here to crack some skulls and we don't care whether they're animate or not. I got the looting bag. Grab whatever isn't nailed down.

Coffins and books. All the walls decorated with coffins and books. I don't know how she keeps them all organized.

"Shit, I need Archaic Fortunes of the Ill-Contented. Was that over with Johnson, Miller, or Woodkip?"

There's no way in hell she actually reads these. Cataloguing them this way would make keeping track of them next to impossible. These books are purely decorative. She's doing that middle- and upper-class thing where people buy books just to put on their shelves to make them look smart.

Oh, and the keys are alive. That's convenient. Living skeleton keys make for a nice show of force. Very intimidating, probably helps out in negotiations. But a door that can be opened by hitting something in the room with a stick is nonetheless a door that is not very well secured.

But enough about that. We have a nice, roaring fire so let's take a break for story time.

Ohh, that's how we become a Solstice pair. A bird flings us onto that prison of an island as a means of containment. Gotcha. I'm following along.

Hold up. That's an option? I can actually become God-Empress? Is there any way you could stop telling this story and instead explain more about that because I am fascinated by the implications.

This is why Serai was nervous about pitting us against the Necromancer, then. The Three Sisters are the same kind of thing that we are.

What an asshole thing to do.

So Roro was literally born evil. Okay. That calls into serious question how morally culpable she even is for all this necromancer business. If the Three Sisters are morally compelled by the forces of their birth then they aren't even really sentient. She is no more making a choice to do any of this than Garl is making a choice to go get eaten by the Dweller.

Oh, Momo's one of us. I wonder if she has any relationship to Moraine. Their names are annoyingly similar. Hmm.

Was she a sun or moon warrior? I'm going to assume moon on the grounds that it's the better of the two.

Yoyo decided to go be the creepy swamp lady who emerges out of the darkness to tell your fortune. It's a vibe. I get it.

Yeah, you can't really be metaphysically compelled to absolute neutrality without being an irritating centrist. She is magically blocked from being able to form opinions on things. That must suck.

What must their childhoods have been like?

Roro: Hey, for lunch do you want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a soggy leaf covered in mud? Yoyo: Either is acceptable. Momo: HEY. NO. STOP THAT. Roro: But she said it's fine!

Green fire.

Like the green lantern by the fireplace or the green candles just a short way to the northeast. Man, getting a green flame for our return passage is going to be a piece of cake. How convenient.

Until otherwise noted, I'm going with that latter one. I've chalked them up to "Sometimes weird shit happens". Life is strange, and when you throw magic and destiny and gods into the mix, it gets stranger. The universe owes you no explanations for the wild shit it does sometimes. We could all die tomorrow and never even know why.

They're a weird thing that happened one day. One of them's dead now and another one's probably going to be soon, if this burglary-turned-robbery continues to snowball. Then the world will continue to turn as if they were never here.

...

Thank you for being here to read us stories, Teaks. I appreciate your existence with me in this moment.

Gross gross gross gross gross gross gross I hate this island so much gross gross gross gross

Honestly, I'm impressed with her corpse horde. Do you think she killed all these people herself, or has she been raiding graveyards? It can't have been easy to stockpile bodies on the same island where the Dweller's cattle-ranching villagers.

Unless whatever the Dweller's doing to them doesn't damage the body too much. Hmm. They could be friends or business associates or something. Roro gets the bodies once the Dweller's done doing whatever to them? Like letting your dog chew on your steak bone.

You don't need to be so formal; This is just a robbery.

Hands in the air. Bring out the soulstones and nobody has to get hurt. ...well, I broke a lot of kneecaps getting here. Left several zombies in pieces. Roughed up your duke.

Else. Nobody else has to get hurt. Specifically you, I-I'm threatening you and...

...

You know what, I should have rehearsed this. Can I get a do-over?

Oh, sorry, I'm legally prohibited from accepting that offer. See, I'm already enlisted in a morally ambiguous paramilitary organization and they made us sign non-compete clauses when we were enrolling in the Academy. Hands are tied.

...wait, wasn't your sister Headmistress? Oh, that's probably why the non-compete clauses were in the contract. Huh, the more you know.

Roro's coyly trying to reframe the narrative and call us out for our "RPG adventurer" plundering. And me, I'm over here like "I know what I'm about. Stick 'em up and give me the goods."

There's that ascension thing again. You gonna give us some more context on what that means or....

Fuck, I know those names. Solena and Luan. Solena and... I think the villagers back in our prison town were talking about them. They are actively worshipped as sun and moon deities where we come from.

So that's a no on context, then. Everyone's gotta be a cryptic fucking asshole about everything.

Fine. You know what? Drip-fed lore teases always makes me want to break someone's nose, so let's go.

Choke on my staff you cryptic bonebag. I'm gonna use your phylactery to mark my place in one of the books you never read.

That's what I thought. Consider yourself mugged, Roro. Give up the rock and this can all be over.

Mission accomplished.

I gotta say, I'm proud of everyone. We did a fantastic job here, each and every one of us. Truly admirable performance; Heroic, even. I'm sure Momo must be looking down on us, beaming with pride for what her legacy has become.

Today, we have truly exemplified what a Solstice Warrior can be.

#sea of stars #drake plays sea of stars

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sharonisthebettercarter · 3 months

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If Homelander was so smart he himself and fans claim him to be, especially believing Supers are superior to average humans, Why Becca a lesser, weaker human? He should be smart enough at the time to realize mere mortals break easily and don't last very long. If he wanted a heir (I mean, he's gonna start liking the idea of having a legacy, a respectable lineage), he would've done it with supe women only, since they don't break that easily and last longer. If he's that impatient and desperate to have a superior offspring, I think it's safe to assume he's gonna start forcing himself on them repeatedly at this point because at least that said heir will ensure he's respected and more perfect than Ryan, since that offspring won't be half mere-mortal and a full-blooded supe. Then again, it's possible he'll be too tired to continue trying regardless, and force Ryan and the supe wife shitlander chooses for him bear him grandchildren, when they're sexually mature.

ew... anon what the fuck. ya really had to go and ask this question, didn't you...

ugh, ick, okay fine, i'll answer it, but what the fuck, and uh... what the fuck

it's because homelander didn't *care* about having an *heir* when he assaulted becca. he didn't even know he *could* have one so that's not why he did it.

on a side note and please for the love of fuck do not actually answer this because i'm only asking so you take a moment to consider what you just proposed

but why do you think a rapist would rape to 'procure an heir' anyhow??? maybe if they're in a relationship with the victim, but if it's a random stranger that gets convicted, it's a 5% chance they succeed and they're not gonna get rights to a kid born from that. pregnancy isn't as much a simple 'one and done' thing or as easy as people seem to think it is to get there. (a healthy couple that is legit trying has a 30% chance to succeed in the first month)

there are a number of reasons rapists will rape.

if we asked homelander specifically why he assaulted becca, his very bullshit answer could be as simple as 'she smelled nice' or 'she was pretty' or 'her husband insulted me' or 'why not' or 'because it was a fucking tuesday'

because even tho the correct answer is 'i'm a fuckhead who wanted to hurt someone', the reality is that in his head, he is a 'god' and he can do whatever the fuck he wants, so if the mood struck him, WHY THE FUCK NOT (ew, hate framing it this way but...)

this is the reality of that situation.

something something about that quote that ends with 'but for me it was tuesday', occam's razor.

homelander didn't give enough shits to put any thought into what he did nor did he think it would amount to anything, so boredom is your best bet for an explanation there

and this also has next to nothing to do with intelligence, this would be a matter of his own self perception (due to upbringing) and lack of understanding/care for consent (which is an educational issue), but thanks for the whole... eugenics rationale i guess??? (ew why and still what the fuck)

homelander has also stated that he wouldn't force himself on his own kind, more specifically, his exact words to maeve are:

"i respect what you are even if you don't, i would never force myself on you."

before he proceeds to tell her that he will harvest her eggs, so the whole eugenics mindset is there, but only *after* he learns that he *can* in fact have kids (see s1 ep7, the perceived sterility is briefly mentioned in his conversation with vogelbaum)

otherwise, and as gross as this is, i would say that homelander probably has the same if not similar mindset that zeus (greek god) would have... which is not great, but probably the most realistic outlook on this shit.

but again.

WHY?????

#rape #tw sa #homelander #becca butcher #ew #gross #anon why #zeus #eugenics #apparently #occam's razor #can we please not #like why is this even a question #you literally asked me 'if he's so smart then why didn't he think to do this really weird statistically unlikely messed up thing i came up'#ANON.#WHY????

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askthechronoverse · 10 months

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So I heard that archive of our own is down. I offer all of you looking for a fic to read this one shot. Originaly written as an anniversary fic for my first year with this AU, I hope this tides you over until you can read your regular stuff.

It was dark by the time Rex got to the castle. He held his breath and looked for a way to enter. No time to be afraid. Nothing to it but to do it. After jogging around the castle's shadow, he found a broken window. With all the stealth he could muster, he sprang through the opening and walked around in the darkness of the unlit castle. It did sting to think that the others weren't as willing as he was to clear out the castle, reclaim the gems, and look for Richard. It made him think that maybe he was wrong about them again. He shook those thoughts out of his head. They were just scared. He would have to be the brave one, that much is obvious. Otherwise, they all would be cowering in the cabin.

It was far too quiet as he headed for the throne room. By now, surely someone would be there. As he passed a nondescript door in a forgettable hallway, he could hear soft sobbing coming from beyond it. He leaned against the door and the sobbing was louder. Rex tried the handle. It was locked and the sobbing quickly turned to a dead silence. Whoever was behind the door was a prisoner. There couldn't be any other explanation. He could hear the sobbing get more intense now. This emboldened Rex further.

"I'll build ya another door later, Princess." He whispered, looking around. He raised his fist, but stopped when the voice on the other side of the door whispered back, just above the sound of Rex's breathing.

"Please, try not to alert the Doom Lords of your presence." The voice quivered. "They appear more organized and focused than last I saw them. We can't risk your capture."

The voice had a point. As Rex thought about what to do, a lone paperclip slid from under the door.

"I would have used this myself, but the door locks from the outside. I'll walk you through using it as a lockpick." The paperclip gave away that this was Richard, which caused Rex to release some nervousness with his breath. He picked up the paperclip and began to follow the brick's uncharacteristically and breathtakingly expert instructions on the improvised lockpicking process. Someday, it was clear that he was going to need to ask how Richard knew how to pick locks like that. The door eventually was open and Richard's large eyes were half closed, but still visible.

"Thank you, RJ. I… I was worried I was going to never see you again." He tried to float to Rex, but faltered. Rex picked him up, which caused him to blush. "Do the others know you're here?"

"Nah. I had to do something. I can't just sit still and let these guys do… this." Rex pointed to the heartbreaking amount of graffiti on the walls like a game show co-host showing off an unwanted prize with a frantically freed hand.

"RJ…" The tone held was a muddy mix of disappointment and something a lot softer, something Rex didn't expect from the monotone brick. Richard closed his eyes, looking more tired than he would have wanted to admit to.

"You good, ba…bro?" Rex wasn't sure why he almost said what he did, but he turned red as he caught himself. The brick nodded slowly, brow furrowed with general anxiety. "Ya sure? Ya looked unsteady."

"I'm just exhausted. I haven't had anything substantial to eat in a while. You don't have anything by any chance?" Richard nestled himself into his rescuer's arm and kept his eyes firmly closed.

"I have…" Rex dug through his vest and pants pockets. "Some bubblegum and half a granola bar. We ain't too far from the kitchen. I could-"

"It's bad enough you came here to-"

"Punch that Lord Business wannabe in the face." Rex affirmed this, unintentionally cutting Richard off in the process.

"... Right… I assume you came without backup and with no one knowing you came. I am not letting you do anything to further compromise your position. Give me the granola bar, please." Rex offered the granola bar and it floated shakily in the air. Richard finished the bar unceremoniously and placed the wrapper in Rex's pocket. "I'm staying with you. Much as I don't feel safe, you're going to get yourself killed like this. I can't allow that."

"Oh? And why not?"

"I just cannot allow it. The princess likes you. I have a duty to her to keep her happy." Richard said, but the brick spoke in a tone that made Rex lift an eyebrow.

“Fine. But if ya feel scared, ya need to go. Trust your judgment. I ain’t gonna see ya get hurt.” Rex pressed his back against the shadow cloaked wall and looked around. “Wait. Why were you trapped in the closet? Can’tcha go through walls?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He spoke quickly, wishing he could become invisible. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Ya got it. Let’s get Doom and save the day before the others know we’re gone.” Rex looked down at his rectangular companion and began to inch his way toward the throne room. The way Rex looked down at him made Richard’s heart flutter a little. What was this? Why does he feel like his heart was a butterfly hatchery and all the cocoons finally hatched? No. He couldn’t think like this. He needed to focus on his surroundings, because Rex sure wasn’t going to. The flutter made it so hard to do that. It made him want to remain in Rex’s arms forevermore. He looked down for a moment to ground himself, then snapped his focus back to the area around them.

They somehow managed to get to the throne room undetected.There appeared to be no one around, but it was hard to see in the absent light. Rex held Richard close and the brick questioned why that felt so right. No, no. This man was reckless and bold. He couldn't see himself… being held softly in his big strong arms and being told everything would be just fine and he wasn't going to leave him. By the time Richard regained focus, Rex had placed him on the throne and was trying to pick the lock on a chest.

"What are you doing?" The words came out of Richard slowly and unsurely.

"I'm looking for the gems. Locked chest? Important room? Good place to start." Why did Rex always sound so sure of himself? Why was he so confident? It was almost infuriating… but also endearing. The confidence made him feel confident too, even if the situation they found themselves in was grim. He couldn't believe someone could be like that.

"I suppose. Do I assume you want me to be a lookout?"

"Yeah, Richie. I gotta focus on this. If someone comes, distract 'em." His back was turned to Richard, but the brick couldn't help but imagine the human's tongue was sticking out as he concentrated on picking the lock.

For Rex's sake, Richard kept up some silence. While he did this, he let his mind wander again. He had overheard that this man used to be the hero of TAKOS Tuesday known as The Special, a far more cautious man who still managed to save the day. How? The Special was a public figure at this point. Everyone knew him and he was nothing like Rex. They appeared to be total opposites. Richard knew very little about the specifics and this wasn't the time to ask for more info.

"Ya good, bro? You're super quiet." Rex's concern cut Rick's concentration.

"Oh. Yes, I'm just thinking." The brick bobbed, letting himself take some altitude.

"I like that aboutchu. Ya're always thinkin'. What were ya thinkin' about?" Rex finally finished picking the lock and dug through the chest.

"Nothing. It's none of your concern." Richard looked away for a moment. Why did he want to tell him everything, to talk for hours until dawn? No. He couldn't do that. They were in enemy territory and… oh no. He had been concentrating so hard on his own train of thought, that he hadn't scanned thel area for enemies in a while. He looked around and gasped. He saw a dark shadow on the opposite side of the room. Rex was oblivious to this. He squinted. The yellow face was unmistakable. Master Frown. He cleared his throat to get Rex's attention. Rex couldn't hear him. Richard cleared his throat louder. This made both Rex and Frown pause. The cloaked teen shrugged as he inched closer to Rex, who could see a green twinkle from the corner of his eye.

"They let kids have the gems? Sad. Your boss is makin' things too easy for me." Rex did not turn around.

"OK, I know this is gonna seem like a weird ask from the guy about to kick your butt, but could you sign my cloak? You're kind of a big deal around here and I need something to show that I met you." Frown, despite his name, had a bright grin on his face and a sharpie in his hand, which he spun.

"You know the reason I'm a big deal, right?" Richard was surprised: Rex spoke with such patience in the face of danger.

"Yeah! You're the Master Breaker! The destroyer of worlds! Doom has been wanting us to do that for as long as any of us can remember and you just did it all by yourself! You may have said no to the big boss, but you're a rockstar around here!" The twinkle in Frown's eyes was disturbing to Richard. His mind and gaze went to Rex, who's left eye twitched.

"I am trying to not be that guy anymore. I would have thought sayin' no to your boss would have signaled that. I wish ya said that you were just a fan of my podcast or somethin'." The man got to his feet and shook his head. "No. I ain't signin' anythin' for ya if the reason ya want it is because of that."

"Come on, man! Don't be such a buzzkill! I'm a fan!" The snotty voice made Rex's eye continue to twitch. The frown on Rex's face was sharp and made Richard's heart freeze.

"Yeah. A fan of my work during a time I want to put behind me right now. I'm not signing anything for you." Rex walked toward the teenage Doom Lord. "Give me the gem, kid."

"No way! You won't even give me your autograph! I'm just gonna kick your butt!" The junior Doom Lord held the gem tightly in one hand and rushed at Rex with an open hand in the other. The slap connected with Rex's unshaven face and Rex stood still. Richard called out to him, but the man said nothing, his gaze set somewhere far away from this time and place. Frown turned to face Richard now.

Frown shrugged. "I'm gonna call for backup, but I probably should stop you from getting help." He came as the brick with his hands, but was pushed away by an unseen force.

"No. Let him… let him go, Frown." Richard looked to Rex, who stood like an unsettling statue. The human's eyes were glazed over and saucer like, his face pale and frigid looking. The brick floated over the thone, attempting to make his plain form look more threatening.

"Let him go? Last I checked, I'm not Princess Unidork. I don't take orders from you." Frown tried to move forward, but he was pushed again by the invisible force. This force got stronger as Richard moved.

"RJ! Please snap out of whatever hold he has on you! I can only hold him off for so long!" The brick floated to Rex and brushed hair out of his face with invisible hands. "Please, Rex." The brick bit his lower lip.

"I don't know where he is right now, but man his screams are… well, I love screaming usually, but I wasn't expecting such a scared little voice from the great Rex Dangervest." Frown tapped his chin and laughed after a moment at something unheard. He brought the gem out again and shook it by his assumed ear. "Maybe the gem the boss gave me is broken?" The comment and the fact the gem was out in the open was lost on Richard, who kept calling Rex's name to get him out of whatever hold Frown had on him.

"Rex? Please come back." The cold and fearful state his companion was in chilled Richard to his core. Maybe he should get help. He looked around to see that Frown had left, possibly to get help of his own. His companion's voice made the brick jump, both because of how it sounded and the fact that it could be heard.

"Run." This was all Rex was able to choke out before he froze once again. The voice was soft and kind, but that just made the order more chilling. From the distance, Richard could hear two different people giggling. That was very much his cue to get out of there. His body acted before he could say any objections. As he flew, he could hear a woman laughing and telling Rex that the pain in his eyes would look so much better with bruises. He went through the wall of the throne room, but stopped just outside in the garden, covered in the safety of the blueberry bushes.

Why did he run? Rex needed him, though he did say to do just that. He turned to face the castle. Maybe he needed to go back. Something glued him to the spot and made that thought impossible to go through with. He needed to at least get back to the others. He was sure Rex could handle himself, right? It was the only reason that Rex would have told him to run, right? That had to be the thought he settled on at this point. They couldn't afford to lose him, but Rex was strong. You'd have to be strong to be able to do all of the things he's done, good and bad. The fluttering in his heart had yet to abate. Maybe that was because of his fear, or maybe it was something else. There was too much going on in his head for him to know for absolutely certain. He headed for the city in a slow and cautious way, knowing that Puppycorn probably ate them out of house and home and he would need to return with supplies.

#ao3 #the lego movie #lego au #lego movie au #Unikitty #unikitty au #the newspaper isn't antiquated •||• written works #ao3 fanfic

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