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#and yes i do already know that fanon and canon are very different- that's exactly why i'm watching
nymphaeya · 8 months
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just started watching evo for the first time and how they introduced all the watcher stuff is actually really cool. i can def see why it has such a chokehold on the fandom now. like mysterious symbols made out of bedrock? hell yea
watcher grian fics and martyn's life series vids are about to make whole lot more sense lol
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redfish-blu · 1 year
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yes yes yes yes hiiiiiii!!!!! any thoughts on zone lore? personally, I feel that there’s of course, the main deities, but I feel like they have a lot of folklore! sitting by a campfire at night, telling tales about the first killjoys to make it to the desert, what the colours in the sky mean, etc, etc.
(I wanted to ask earlier lol, but I can’t seem to switch to my danger days blog so I was trying to figure that out and then forgot lol :,) )
have a great day!
This is a great question, very expansive as well so I’ll do my best to address my take on all of it.
Quick disclaimer: my interpretation of the zones deviates from canon as well as general fanon, so some of what I say might not align with the knowledge of the average Danger Days tumblr user. I’d be happy to explain my own thoughts in a separate post if anyone should be interested though!
Like you said, we already have Destroya and the Phoenix Witch. I feel like Destroya is more of an inner-zones vibe. You hear about him more when you’re still on the power grid, killjoys who don’t originate from the city or the grid aren’t into Destroya as a figure of worship like they are with the Phoenix Witch. The two definitely coexist, but in the way of popularity, the inner zones take Destroya. Purely because Destroya and the Graffiti Bible are are pertinent to the inner zones’ issues. Oppressive regime, surveillance, androids, etc. On the wall separating Battery City from Zone 1, the side in the zones is covered completely with murals and quotes and imagery from the Graffiti Bible. The other is constantly being pressure washed.
The Phoenix Witch (on top of the fact that she’s a tangible being unlike Destroya for most of his existence) is popular among older killjoys for the most part, who pass her stories down to the younger ones. There’s no point of origin for the Phoenix Witch, everyone has a different story of her conception. Some believe she’s just a reclusive human, some believe she manifested from some higher power to watch over the Zones and give them faith to defy BL/ind. Some even say she and Destroya come from the same cloth and are working together, or something. And some just think she’s b.s, even if they do believe in her.
Moving on to less household Zone Lore, it’s no debate that every Zone is haunted as fuck. In the scary way and in the “that’s not normal but it’s not hurting me” way. If you spend enough time with the right crowd of ‘joys you’re bound to get a handful of campfire stories. Or you’ll be the one telling them.
Obviously there’s the iconic Zone Fridges that just appear out of nowhere, fully functional and stocked with exactly what you’re looking for even if it isn’t food. This also happens with toilets, just make sure to watch your back while using them. You learn not to question those. Whatever causes the phenomenon seems to be benevolent anyways. Perhaps it is the same thing that keeps the car running when there’s no gas, or causes that blaster shot that definitely should have hit to fizzle out harmlessly.
There’s UFOs, of course. They never get close to the ground. Usually just lurking over the hills or skittering off when you try to get a picture or approach them a la Nope (2022). It’s become a sort of good luck charm to encounter one, especially in Zone 3 and 4. You have to wave to activate it though. UFOs became super common after the last Helium War, maybe they’re more interested now that humans have bigger problems than proving they exist.
And then there’s the things you can’t explain. The things you just have to accept as they are because they’re too damn weird. Like people you saw dead two days ago showing up alive, or Zone 3 just disappearing into thin air. The latter usually happens before a big BL/ind sweep is scheduled, which is quite convenient as they are almost always canceled afterwards. Nobody really knows where Zone 3 goes when it disappears, everyone who has a story of being in it when that happens says it’s just like normal Zone 3 but it doesn’t end.
There’s plenty of wives tales to keep kids from exploring dangerous places and staying out after dark. Run of the mill boogeyman shit, a third of which might actually be real. Freakish monsters roaming the desolate hills of Zone 4, haunted caves out in 5, never stepping over a grave, and believing in bad omens are common superstitions. Hearing a pack of coyotes at night, disembodied music or whistling, and circling vultures are all considered signs of warning for the future.
Killjoys make Bad Luck Beads, carved with symbols of luck and protection to ward off any unwanted creeps and bad energy. Being gifted a set is a huge sign of admiration from the giver. People paint eyes around their homes, typically on windows or doorframes as a symbol of being looked after. And creating art with crow feathers as a nod to the Phoenix Witch is popular as well. It’s hard to feel truly safe in the Zones, so killjoys turn to habits and ritual to soften the blows.
I just noticed I forgot to talk about the mailboxes. There’s a few “official” ones floating around, mostly in Zone 3 and 4 because that’s where most people get dusted. But any mailbox works for the Witch. ‘Joys decorate them with bright colors, candles, flowers, jewelry and messages for the dead so the Witch will see them and know to check for letters or masks. November 3rd is Mailbox Day, which is sort of a blanket holiday for Halloween, Día De Muertos, All Saint’s/Souls Day, and Thanksgiving. Killjoys write letters and poems, dress up, make artwork, and tell stories around the mailbox to remember the dead and let them know they’re still thinking of them. It’s a very popular occasion, as it’s generally a festive event rather than one of mourning or sadness.
I’m gonna call it there! I hope that blurb satisfied your curiosity. I really do enjoy discussing it :D
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thyandrawrites · 1 year
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hi! i'm sorry if you've already answered a question like this (i couldn't find anything but, well, the tumblr search is broken so that doesn't mean anything). i was wondering how you view aizawa. the way he's represented in fandom makes it seem like he's someone who cares deeply for his students and feels highly responsible for their well-being and who doesn't really respect the law or the police. so, if his students get into trouble he would also rather take care of that himself than get law enforcement involved.
but i was wondering if this is supported by anything in canon? because i can't really remember any scenes where this fanon-ascribed attitude comes across. and if this is just "made up," how would you characterize aizawa instead?
anyway, i hope you have a lovely day, take care <3
Hi! I hope you're having a lovely day, too.
First off, you'd probably have more luck asking this question to an aizawa blogger. I actually never liked him much, I have a strong negative opinion of his fanon version in particular, and as such my thoughts on him are very colored by that bias. If you're okay with all of that, then go ahead and check out my response under the cut. If not, please let's just let the topic die here because I don't really enjoy discussing him any more than I have to.
So. I think the fandom got attached to some of his early characterization traits, and sort of built off them, popularized them over time, and then never really updated their reading to fit with later manga developments. I find fanonzawa a very idealized and #dad material version of what he could've been, but isn't really, not entirely at least.
Aizawa does indeed care a lot about his students. I don't want to deny that. But he's never actually challenged authority to protect them, canonically. In fact, he's very much lawful and a stickler for the rules. Often to a fault.
Even in early arcs, when he does protect his students, he always does so within the law and the rules, but never in opposition to them. This is shown in many subtle things. When summer camp is under attack, and Deku breaks the law once again by using his quirk without permission, he authorizes all students to fight back to legally shield them from repercussions.
Even when he consciously knows that the UA entrance exam is flawed and enables discrimination and elitism, he doesn't fight against it but simply limits himself to grumbling about it. He's a teacher. He has sway to bring up the issue to the school. Yet his solution is once again to act within the existing rules—bending them to achieve what he wants, yes, but still acting within them. So he trains Shinsou on the side, and gets him to transfer to the hero course by exploiting the existing regulations instead of changing them to be fairer and preventing future students from running into the same issue.
This is written as his main character flaw, how logic and rule-abiding are his go-to, and his main obstacle to character growth. After losing Shirakumo, he hides away behind pragmatism instead of believing he has the power to change things, to make a difference himself (=idealism). Shirakumo believed in saving a stray because it was the right thing to do, Aizawa left it to die because he didn't think he could take care of it.
But rather than building off from that disconnect between logic and feelings, I find that the fandom kinda... runs over any flaws Aizawa has to paint him as an idealized dad figure who always does the right thing and always saves the day by defeating the big bad and going against authority. Which... doesn't really align with his character that much imho.
Canon Aizawa was fine using one of his students as bait for All for One. And sure, he might've rationalized it as a plan designed to give Aoyama a chance to prove himself, but that's exactly the root of the issue. How Aizawa is too rational, too pragmatic, often to a fault. His trauma blind him to how he's literally putting children in the line of danger by dragging them to a war. Because he doesn't think he has what it takes to keep them safe, he defaults to pragmatism, to authority, and attempts to protect his students within the existing rules, even if this isn't actually in their best interest. Twice now he got the order from above that there would be a war and that students would be on the frontlines to thicken their ranks, and yet we don't see him struggling with this at all. You know, despite the fact that his best friend died young by fighting in a battle he wasn't prepared for. But because Aizawa isn't idealistic, and doesn't believe in himself, he doesn't challenge this at any point, and instead defaults to trying to make the most of adverse circumstances.
I would find him much more fun to read about if he was actually allowed any complexity. But as none of this seems to find much space in fanworks, and then it creeps its way into how people read canon as well, his character really isn't for me.
(sidenote, if you disagree with any of this that's fine. Please don't try to debate me tho because I really don't care about him enough to entertain any discourse. I'm aware my reading of him isn't popular and I'm fine staying in my lane and enjoying content catered to other characters indead. Thank you)
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SDC Month - December 2022 - Wednesday #2
We are back with another what-if scenario! Before we do start, however, I would just like to add something that I think I failed to make clear last week — much like the theories from June, these scenarios will be solely based on canon information from the books and website both (and anything from online chats with the author, if relevant). They will not take into account any (further) development of/headcanons relating to any characters, events, worldbuilding, etc. (especially the first) from fanon.
(Cut for length (trust me, this one definitely needs it) and some spoilers here and there.)
A Daughter Can Oft More Fates Decide
(This title, is, of course, a reference to the epigraph from the chapter "The Conclave".)
As you might have guessed from the title, my concept for today is: what if Azurea had given birth to a daughter instead of a son? (And, yes, @suth-sardian, I know, I know, we already explored this particular concept through our own discussions, so this week's installment is not exactly exciting new material, but I feel it isn't exactly rehashing pre-existing content either. After all, this scenario is getting introduced to a wider audience via this project, which is always a plus, no?)
Getting back to the core concept at hand: nothing else changes in this scenario. Azurea, unfortunately, still dies in childbirth, the exile deal between Sardian and Ykoriana still happens, and so on. The only difference is that we now have a Carnelia* (and yes, I do imagine Carnelian could perfectly serve as a unisex name, but I like Carnelia, it is sort of a portmanteau of carnelian + the existing name Cornelia, so I'm going to use it for this post from here on) instead of a Carnelian as the child decisions must be made about.
As @suth-sardian pointed out when we initially had this discussion, it is very possible a significant change would be at play here, that being the fact that Sardian would be legally unable to take his baby daughter with him in his exile (that is, if that was even his intention in the first place; having a young daughter and having a young son would be very distinct situations for a Chosen lord to deal with). Little Carnelia might still be an infant who would not be subject to confinement in the forbidden houses for many years, but the fact the exile was (for all anyone knew at the time) meant to be permanent would mean this young lady would eventually find herself reaching the age of menarche in circumstances under which she couldn't be properly confined as the Law-that-must-be-obeyed dictated. So, what would Sardian do regarding his young daughter?
One would assume he would just leave her behind at Coomb Suth, being comforted by the fact that she would still be growing up around her grandmother Urquentha, and so would not be entirely bereft of the presence of Chosen members of her paternal family (and lineage). And yes, given what their society is like, I imagine that even under more normal circumstances, where Sardian was never exiled, he would have never been particularly close to a daughter, but being a distant figure in her life would still be quite different from not being around at all. Plus, we know Sardian is an atypical Chosen lord in many ways; he might never have been a doting father to Carnelia regardless of circumstance, but he would still feel fondness and (perhaps more importantly, given his values and strong sense of honour) paternal responsibility for her. She would likely even be safer among the Suths than her male canon counterpart, given that, unlike him in the same circumstances, she would have posed no threat to Spinel in terms of his plots for usurpation of the Ruling Lordship.
There is, however, Ykoriana's offer to consider still, which would — seeing as she made it prior to Azurea's death — still be in play. I think that Sardian, knowing how close Ykoriana had been to her sister, would at least give the idea some thought and try to figure out if his child would ever be remotely safe around her aunt. While personally, I do think Ykoriana would feel more favourably towards Azurea's daughter than she ever would towards Azurea's son, and I don't think that would be a thought that would never cross Sardian's mind, at this point, he would still be acutely aware that Ykoriana loathes him (and who knows if that hatred might not eventually bleed into her view of his daughter) and that the birth of Carnelia caused Azurea's death, and it is surely not impossible Ykoriana might resent her to some degree for it (as she does regarding Carnelian in canon). In addition (another point @suth-sardian made when we originally had this discussion, as I recall), while a son of his growing up in the Masks would still be living in the world of men for the most part, and could be far more easily protected by Kumatuya if needed, a daughter would mainly be under Ykoriana's sphere of influence. And so, Sardian might just not want to take that risk at all; he'd know that his daughter’s safety would be far more assured if she was left at Coomb Suth.
I will not speculate at great length about Carnelia herself, and what she would grow up to be like in terms of personality, since the circumstances are too different from canon to keep any speculation from getting too fanfiction-like if it goes on too long. But considering she would be growing up with Urquentha as her main adult Chosen influence, I believe it's quite likely she would develop a personality similar to that of her grandmother, and be more of a typical haughty and blood-proud young Chosen woman, lacking the compassion and kind heart that characterises her male counterpart. Children, real or fictional, mainly learn compassion and empathy from the adults in their lives, usually parental figures, and Carnelia would just lack the key circumstances (and individuals) conducive to Carnelian turning out as he did.
What about Sardian himself, and how would he fare in his exile in this alternate universe where he did not have his son with him? We do know Carnelian's presence was incredibly important to how his life in the Hold played out, from what he says in the chapter "The Blood-Ring":
When we came here, this place was a perfect mirror to my mood. That first winter was terrible. Many died. When they did not know I heard them, our people whispered that I had brought them across the black water to the Isle of the Dead. I almost shared their belief. As bleak and colourless as the Underworld is said to be, this island was worse. If you had not been there, swaddled in Ebeny's arms, I might have let it remain always so. For your sake, I let the household improve the Hold.
Now, it is impossible to guess with complete certainty if what-if!Sardian's mindset would have ever improved, or if we would find the Hold and the people living there shadows of their canon selves by 15 Kumatuya (that if they were even still alive). But I do believe it is not a total impossibility this Sardian could have eventually reached a point where his mental state did improve somewhat, even if it took much longer and it never reached the same levels of contentment it did in canon. Sardian is nothing if not a very resilient man, and in the absence of Carnelian, it is possible he might have developed a deeper bond with (some of) the members of his household earlier (it's not like his atypical attitude towards his slaves originated during the exile years even in canon, after all, we do know he genuinely loved Fey and considered her his favourite sister, which probably went back to when were both children, or close enough). On that note, one could wonder if the composition of the household Sardian takes along would be changed by Carnelia's existence and the fact she would likely be staying at Osrakum. I imagine Sardian choosing to take Crail, Brin and Grane along would almost certainly be unchanged — he seemed to have had significant trust in them and valued their competence for a long time, and it is not like the roles they would be playing would be affected by Carnelia's presence or absence. The same would, I'm sure, be true of others like Naith, Krib, Poal, Rale, Mari, and so on. It is when it comes to Ebeny and Keal in particular that I believe we could see a change — if Sardian is not taking his newborn child along, he does not really need any specific household woman to be serving as a wet nurse, be that Ebeny or any other, now does he? In my view, whether Ebeny and Keal stayed or left would depend more on Sardian's feelings regarding Ebeny then, and his reasons to have Keal (only a child at the time, remember) be part of the household in exile. If Sardian already had some fondness for Ebeny at the time (and didn't just see her as a random concubine), and that wasn't more of a development occuring during the exile years (which isn't made completely clear in the canonical material), then yes, I do think he would still want her to go. As for Keal, it would come down to whether Sardian was taking him along more for his own sake (Keal maybe being a marumaga son he happened to have some fondness for even then, which we also have no idea was the case or not) or for Ebeny's, so that she wouldn't have to suffer being separated from her child.
So, the years pass, and assuming everything still goes as it did in canon, and Kumatuya lies dying by the 15th year of his reign, a trio of unexpected visitors arrive. I think that, barring Sardian dying earlier for whatever reason (but let’s assume he does not), this is still going to happen regardless of Carnelia(n)'s sex or location — as I mentioned in the last what-if post, I feel like bringing Sardian back would always seem like a good move to Aurum, and, of course, Kumatuya would relish the chance to see him one more time no matter the universe. In fact, I think that this scenario might give Aurum added investment regarding convincing Sardian to return, and in the absence of Carnelian’s clear parentage as his main argument, he would play up the fact that Sardian had not seen his daughter in 15 years, wouldn't he like to have that chance, might even work in (feigned) affection for his own daughters as a comparison, etc. (And while I don't want to make this point into too long of a tangent, since Aurum just had a what-if post focused on him last Wednesday, Azurea's child being a daughter is incredibly fortunate for him in this scenario — remember, he is still actively looking for a third wife... Carnelia would be young (all the better in terms of a greater chance to eventually produce a son), particularly pure-blooded as ladies of the Great go, a niece of the current God Emperor and a cousin to the future one... he would likely find no better potential match short of Ykoriana herself.) And yes, I do think Sardian would return, even in the absence of Carnelian and thus the danger posed by Aurum deducing his parentage. What-if!Sardian would likely be less attached to the Hold than canon Sardian, as discussed above, he would still absolutely want to have a last chance to see Kumatuya, and I do think he would be curious about his daughter, what she would be like, how had she been doing for all these past years. So, once again, the "Baran Bunch" sets out on the way to Osrakum, only this time as a group of four instead of five.
(*While I don’t want to go too deep into the rabbit hole of what would Sardian name a potential daughter, I feel that in more realistic terms, Urothre would be a fairly plausible possibility, since it would probably mean something along the lines of “little carnelian” (from “ur”, “lesser, little” and “óthrá”, “carnelian”) and the original Urothre would be an ancestress of this child, and even one that was actually from the Great and not the House of the Masks itself. Depending on Chosen society’s view on necronyms, especially those concerning the recently deceased, it is also possible Sardian might at least consider naming his daughter after her late mother. If he did so, he might have the intention of endearing Ykoriana to the child via honouring Azurea... but then again, it is possible that Ykoriana would just see it as an insult to her sister’s memory and it would just make matters worse. Seriously, this could probably be its own post.)
And this is where I'll put a stop to my speculation within this particular scenario. Yes, there is so much more that could be speculated about, especially when it comes to Sardian and Carnelia's thoughts and actions after the former's return to Osrakum, and how the events from then onwards would be changed from canon... but this post is far too long already, and fellow fans, friends and companions, bear with me, I don't want to fall into the aforementioned rabbit hole, or any other, and have this reach novel length. Who knows, maybe a continuation of this particular what-if scenario can even be part of a future SDC month?
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communistchilchuck · 8 months
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tim
Sexuality Headcanon: bi of course! canon, which is why it’s also canon in my head.
Gender Headcanon: cis guy but i could also see him as some flavor of nonbinary or transfem.
A ship I have with said character: you already know what i’m gonna say. timlonnie. i’ve gone over my thoughts on it so many times but i enjoy the ways in which they exist as separate characters and also foil each other and the way that their histories are intertwined. i think that the precipice of mutual understanding theyve existed on since they first met is super interesting and if they stepped over it it has the potential to be good for the both of them as they possess characteristics the other lack yet are also the same in certain ways. they make a good team when they work together and… it’s just fun. tim grows to care about her and understand her ideals, the most important thing to her. for someone like lonnie who is so isolated, i think that counts for something. AND he saved her life twice.
A BROTP I have with said character: can’t go wrong with tim & kon, which needs no introduction, but i also love his relationships with his eldest siblings (dick & cass) and of course. of COURSE. cassie sandsmark.
A NOTP I have with said character: aside from the obvious (batcest) do not breathe the same air as me if you ship him with jpv. which should go without saying but you’d be surprised!
A random headcanon: brown eyes babyyy. my mind refuses to register him as having anything else. also i think he is italian-irish american jewish and i’m stickin’ to it.
General Opinion over said character: where to begin. tim is one of my favorite DeeCees but if he isn’t yes he is no he isn’t ❤️. he’s genuinely compelling to me both in-universe and out-of-universe as one of the catalysts that brought the Bat Family as it develops together, being a part of events and teams that left such a huge impact on the dcu and what he represents symbolically wrt robin in the bat mythos, as well as generally knowing a little bit of everybody which makes for some great dynamics but i think his perception tends to get caught up in such a convoluted web of fanon and counter-fanon that it can be hard to tell, unless you… yknow. read his comics. just exactly who he is. i like his trait of being someone who knows his role very well and knows what he does not want to become and developing just how he differs from both of those. i do not understand why people latch onto him so hard though and think a large chunk of his fans tend to find it hard to accept that the dcu does not revolve around him and that he has flaws and it can come at the expense of people’s perception of a ton of other characters. also he’s a car guy over being a skateboarder… remember this and update your headcanons accordingly (/joke).
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the-s1lly-corner · 1 year
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Creepypasta au ramblings
Including some ideas, headcannons, potential plot stuff, ect ect
Gotta get the brain juices flowing and written down somewhere
Okay so. Admittedly, I haven't really been working on the au that much, due to my hyper fixiation on the owl house taking up my brain. And that'll likely still be the case with the upcoming finale so.. yeah!
Anyways, with what I have now;
I already know this is going to be a written collection of various connected stories; as opposed to a comic <\3
If my experience with making comics in the past says anything to me, is that it'll crash and burn before any of the juicy stuff happens.. and I'll get burnt out incredibly fast
Only downside to sticking to a written format is that a lot of these characters have redesighs <\3
Not big ones, most carry their basic look that just about everyone knows
Save for Kagekao and Laughing Jill
Good news is, Kagekao, as of now, doesn't have a role.. yet.. maybe.. again, I'm still figuring out the overarching story
Bad news: Laughing Jill is actually a huge roll in one of the side plots (more on that later). She still holds the same basic design elements as her canon design has: black and white clown gal
Only difference between the real design and my take is that Laughing Jill is a funky ragdoll; and she's small because.. yk, she's a doll. Can literally fit inside a decent sized backpack (again, will elaborate on this later)
Though of course I suppose I could just
Describe her as small
(I'm dumb and writing this as I think)
Moving on
I also want to do different plots and side things that all either connect to larger story, or show different perspectives and such; maybe each chapter switching from one characters POV to another
And I already have a long term plot! For... two specific characters
I want there to be a side thing where Jane is trying to hunt down Jeff and put an end to him for
Well
You know
Offing her parents
Along the way she stumbles into Jill, and the two team up to find the dude; along with Jane trying to balance her goal and everyday life. Because unlike most of the other characters, she lives a very normal life otherwise... when you don't look at her past. She has a job, she lives in her own apartment, she's gotten her education. Other than gunning for Jeff, she has no interest in taking the lives for others. So with Janes chapters it'll likely follow both settings/sides of her life
Speaking of settings
Locations
I don't know where exactly it would take place; country/town wise.. it may be spread out across different areas since itd be odd if all these creatures and stuff were living in the same place; gotta dispurse them or people will just. Leave the area
Yk?
But as for like
Actual places that the characters will be interacting in will be anywhere from towns, woods, eft ect
And yes
Because this is a mix of fanon and canon
The slender mansion will be in this au
Although probably not in the way most people interpret it; it won't really be a safe house for every creepypasta character buuuuut im still working on the way i should execute it
Probably make it a hotel of sorts; for most characters its not a permanent home. Be it they dont wish to stay, or they arent welcome there
Moving on, Im gonna write masky/tim and hoodie/brian the same way i do in my silly imagines and hc posts; treat the proxy as a separate personality from the person. Each having their own set of morals, behaviors, and memories; not too dissimilar to how MH shows them off IIRC
Though these versions of them are a mix of MH and CRP since I enjoy both renditions, as a fan of both materials. Plus I feel like if this did become something, a few of yall would be upset if i didnt have them... plus theyre fun to write
Speaking of characters that 100% wont be in the au, for various reasons, are:
Ticci Toby: because I just don't really jive with him like i used to, and the character has more or less been ruined for me by others.... though theres a chance he MAY appear, its just HIGHLY unlikely
Clockwork: she just makes me uncomfortable
Off*nderman: do i really need to elaborate on why I'm not adding him?
Really those are the main 3 I have beef with, but
Yeah
Anyways
Yeah idk what else to type but
!!
Hopefully I'll have more ideas cooked up soon
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baronfulmen · 1 year
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Conefession: Discworld is one of the fandoms that I stumbled across fic for without ever having read the source material. And I still haven’t gotten around to doing so. Although I’ve read a ton of fics. As such, my perception of Discworld is entirely shaped by fanfic fanon. And, believe it or not, Vimes/Vetinari is the most popular ship in fanfic. It’s number 1 on AO3, Vimes/Sybil is number 2, and the OT3 Vimes/Sybil/Vetinari is number 3. All of which I enjoy.
After your post, I can’t help but be reminded that I just LOVE fandom and all of its randomness. I love that people will take a single piece of art and using that as a base they can make a billion different random artistic things with it like they’re just throwing paint at a wall and seeing what kind of Rorschach Test-esque work of beauty they can make of it. Like “does it make sense in canon, I got no clue, but I know it makes for some beautiful art and some fun fics that can make me smile, so Why not?. Y’know? Why not?” 😄😄😄😄
It's beautiful, isn't it? Yeah, for sure I love that people will just latch onto whatever and run with it and make more art whether or not they know what's going on or if it makes sense or anything.
I'm a little surprised that Vimes/Vetinari is so popular because as I said I just... I can't wrap my head around it. On paper you could have some fun friction there because one is the self-proclaimed tyrant and the other has an anti-authoritarian streak a mile wide. Sure, that dynamic could be fun. It's fun in the books, to the extent it's explored.
But in the actual books they don't spend a lot of time together - Vimes gets called into Vetinari's office at the start and end of most of the books with him in them but it's basically this:
Vetinari: "Vimes, I need you to do this thing that sounds simple when I say it but which we both know is actually very complicated. Don't get into trouble, don't anger anyone important." Vimes: "Sir yes sir, I would certainly never want to upset (insert super thinly veiled insult towards the aforementioned important people)" Vetinari: "See that you don't." ... Vetinari: "Well, you seem to have caused widespread panic and destruction of physical property and everyone is demanding I have you executed." Vimes: "Yessir. But I did that simple thing you asked me to do." Vetinari: "I suppose I'll have to take your word for it since everyone involved has fled the city." (quietly checks everything Vimes did off his 'to-do' list since he's a chessmaster that always planned for all this to happen)
It's fun! But as a relationship of some kind? Vimes isn't smart enough. Don't get me wrong, he's very intelligent and even devious when he wants to be - but Vetinari can't be in a relationship with anyone that's not also a mastermind. It would instantly be a super unhealthy relationship, because how do you have a healthy relationship with someone you can manipulate so easily? Vimes less easily than most, sure, but he still knows exactly where to apply pressure. Worse, Vimes is smart enough that he'd be watching for it! Every time something went Vetinari's way would he be thinking "wait, did I agree to go out to dinner because I want to, or because he made me THINK that I want to?"
Honestly, that would maybe be an interesting fic. Write it from Vetinari's point of view, and have the whole thing be him realizing that even when he decides NOT to manipulate Vimes he's already planning sneaky ways to let Vimes know that he's not being manipulated which is, itself, manipulative.
Anyway.
So as I said, no judgement to anyone even if it's something I have trouble picturing. Just threw me for a loop.
And if you DO start reading Discworld, good luck dealing with the many many conflicting guides to where to start.
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toujourspur13 · 3 years
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The Black family / Walburga Black / canon.
As I said before I do not care that much about canon/fanon/headcanon because transformative works by definition include a wide variety of different interpretations. However, I am forever perplexed when I see uncompromising opinions on the Black family - particularly the unwavering certainty that Sirius Black’s parents were psychotic abusers. All personal opinions aside - why is this so popular?
I mean - it’s absolutely ok to headcanon this version and to play with it - but saying 'don’t you dare say they did not physically and emotionally abuse Sirius' is a little strong, isn’t it?
This is a mystery to me. So…let’s discuss my favourite subject…Again.
Let’s stick to the facts. The frequently cited things proving the abuse in the Black family are as follows:
Sirius said his parents were awful maniacs (pureblood ideology)
he ran away from home
he was severely depressed in OoTP
Kreacher
Portrait
So…when you say that Sirius’s parents were abusive…you mean exactly what? These people got cold feet when they saw the real nature of Voldemort - I guess it somehow implies that they did not share his methods…that they were against violence as a tool to get purebloods in charge.
But then it usually goes this way: ‘well at least he was verbally and emotionally abused by his family’ - but is it so? Is this based on the portrait of Sirius's mother? She insulted strangers who took over her house and her runaway son - how does this prove anything about how Sirius and Regulus were raised and treated when they were kids? I agree it’s rather impolite - jkr did a good job showing how purebloods perceived others ( those below them) -but in all honesty, this has very little to do with Sirius and his childhood.
Why to make Sirius a victim at all? - c’mon he was tougher than this, he spent 12 years in Azkaban; are you actually saying that a portrait throwing insults at everyone is worse? I doubt that. And is it such a surprise that a mother who lost her son (that said son actually ran away and abandoned his duty) would be that furious at him when seeing him again...even if it’s only a portrait...I believe it to be a rather unpleasant experience for a parent when a child runs away.
We already talked about the portrait a lot - I don’t even want to mention it here- - I feel we should rather pay more attention to the fact that Sirius himself was not an angel.
I am not saying the colourful vocabulary of Walburga Black should be used…but Sirius himself upon seeing Snape  immediately  recognised his weakness and went for it without any hesitation …we are talking about Sirius who in fact was quite a renowned bully ( I mean - we know for a fact that from time to time Sirius and James got carried away)…
And it was Sirius who sent Snape to meet and chat with a real werewolf (yes, I agree - he was not thinking this through - he probably was just vexed and fed up with Snape and thought he wouldn’t go there, would get cold feet or idk run away…But it actually changes nothing. If a drunken driver hits someone it will be 100% his fault whether he means it or not. Whether he is in a fragile mental state or not - such situations are definite. It’s the same with Sirius - even if he did not mean anything bad he should have understood the cost of his mistake - all teenagers make silly things but not all of them send their classmate to meet a werewolf - James thought it not a very good idea as I recall… -
So we see that Sirius was not an angel from the start and I can hardly believe he was a victim by nature. His behaviour loudly manifested that he used to get what he wanted with no thought of the consequences.
And all those pictures of bikini-clad girls on the walls in his room prove that he was quite a spoiled boy who had nothing to fear from mum and dad. Harry himself noticed «Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents». All this shows that Sirius was not afraid of his parents at all. What kind of masochist would suffer for motorbike posters? That would be ridiculous.
Let’s move to Kreacher: If Sirius’s mother had been a monster why even mention her heart?  JKR wrote this for a purpose and this heavily implies that Sirius's situation was never meant to be ‘the abusive heartless parents vs the poor helpless victim’.  
The fact that Sirius ran away and hence broke his mother’s heart says against the popular idea that he was not loved by his family, that he was always the second one, that they abused him. I’m 100% certain that Kreacher told the truth in that scene. Why would he say something like this if it were not the truth - something like…that his beloved mistress having been so upset over Sirius running away that it broke her heart. Just tell me one reason that would have justified such a lie - why to say this at all?
Then this: “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that’s him.”…. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”
I’ve already said it before - this ‘better son than me’ is exactly what insecure 14-year old kids like to say. Well...he’s a bit older but it’s not as if he had a life and a chance to mature. Moreover, I don’t know if it comes as a great shock but a lot of teenagers like to badmouth their parents…usually, it involves something like ‘those bloody uptight retrogrades know nothing of the real world’ (it fades away when they get closer to thirty).
To be serious, I find that it’s just another example of similarities between Sirius and his mother. They clearly did not know what it means to be composed, polite, and respectful. Yeah…I think that, on the whole, parents are owed their children’s respect (unless they are completely inadequate - somehow I don’t believe this was the case). Someone should teach both of them what mutual respect means. Anyway, there is nothing in this quote that says that Sirius was subjected to any forms of abuse - it’s about how Sirius justified his running away,  how he saw the situation.
There’s also the fact that Sirius was incredibly unhappy because he was back at his childhood home and having to spend time around anything that reminded him of his family: “Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters — about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded”.
Here it comes…the severe depression that makes people question the severity of his abuse… I have thought a lot about this because it is the reason why some consider ‘the abusive blacks' canon while others believe it was more of a tragedy of the family rather than the banal brutality.
Of course, Sirius was upset in that house - but I don’t think he suffered the memories of his unhappy childhood - I think he suffered from the strong feeling of guilt. Being in that house meant an everyday reminder that he was a failure. And it’s not even a lie. If you look at his whole life you’ll see that he literally failed everyone in his life: he failed James and Lily - they were dead and he unwillingly became the reason. It was his plan that turned everything into a tragedy.
And, to some extent, he failed Harry- he was not around him like James and Lily would have wanted. Sirius did not give him the real family - he only promised they'd be the one «when it’s all over».
And finally - he failed his parents, his brother, his own family.
Is it possible to live with so much guilt in your heart?
I don't think that Sirius completely forgot who he was born to be. If the family keeps traditions and can trace its existence back in centuries you can't shake it off even if you want. I doubt Sirius switched it off just because he had griffindor friends. He was the last Black - it is tragically poetic that he was once the hope of his family and then this family died with him. If Sirius had heart (and I truly believe he had a heart) he knew exactly what it meant to be trapped in the house that represented the death of his family. A constant reminder  that he was the last one.  
“The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person”. 
I think that the scene when he threw his father's ring away - he threw it away because it was all over for his family. It was the end of the dynasty - and for him it was all over long before he met Bellatrix for the last time.
Well, I admit Sirius' situation is open for wide interpretation but I don’t think the abusive black household is a canon thing - of course, it’s fanon. It makes Sirius a hero who broke the chains when in fact he ended up being a victim of his own life.
You know, it always seems strange to me that fandom when discussing Walburga usually overlooks the simple truth of life - that even if you are clever enough and mean good for your loved ones it is still possible to end up on the losing side, on the dark side.  However, mistakes don't automatically turn humans into monsters.
To some extent Sirius’s story represents the consequences of war.  No-one is protected; the whole families could be wiped off the face of the earth. It’s a simple yet profound idea. It correlates with the main idea of hp books far better than the ‘abusive psychopaths’ (there are already Voldemort and Bellatrix - there is no-one who can beat them in this department).
All I say - it’s okay to imagine them bad if you want- your right - but don’t write everywhere that it’s canon because it is not.There is no need for such inflexibility especially when it comes to the fandom - a place where everyone should be welcomed and their views on the books be respected.
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yeahhiyellow · 3 years
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19, 22 and 23? :^)
19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?
Tbh there are a lot of things I hate, although by this point it's only very certain parts of the fandom that have these problems, since most of the shitty people have lost interest by this point. If I had to choose just one thing though, it'd be the overwhelming focus on white, male characters over female and/or characters of color. And there are a lot of areas where this shows up. One major example is that a lot of people like the idea of Connor, Hank, Gavin, and Nines (all white, male characters, mind you) staying at the DPD even after:
The DPD was the one (along with Cyberlife) responsible for the deaths, arrests, and brutal treatment of androids, the main oppressed group in the game's world
Connor and Nines are a part of that oppressed group, and at least Hank is shown in game to support them
Connor has already worked at the DPD and was routinely called an "it" (which as someone who is nonbinary and has been called "it" knows how insulting that can be and understands the need to get away from situations where that happens), was allowed to be sent to his death by, and was routinely harassed and nearly murdered, or in some playthroughs actually murdered, by workers at the DPD (*ahem Gavin ahem*)
Hank (if he is your friend) risked his career just to cause a distraction for Connor to keep him alive
Just because the android revolution was successful doesn't mean the DPD was going to follow that. I mean, the androids were heavily compared to African Americans in this game, and we all know how the current police system treats them (and if you don't, pay attention to the news, like, ever. Also read Jim Crow as that book is very informative on the oppression of blacks in the entire incarceration system as well as before and after that)
So I hope it would be pretty obvious to any sane person that suggesting these characters would join/remain in the DPD after everything is offensive on all sorts of levels.
In addition to that, you also have some people saying that they only cared about Connor's story, or that his was the only good one. The female protagonist that risks her own life several times to save that of a child (no matter if she is human or android)? Not important. The (half) black protagonist who is shot by police, has to rebuild himself, and leads his own people to freedom? Who cares? The only important story to these people is the white, male, cop android who spends most of his time hunting down the good guys. And if some people honestly prefer Connor's story because of their own reasons, that's fine. And yes, Kara and Markus's stories have lots of problems. But Connor's does too, and none of this gives people an excuse to ignore the other characters, especially since they are the minority characters. Then, there are also the people who say Connor's machine path was better than his deviant path, or that him being replaced by Nines in the end was unfair. And... what the fuck??? I mean, I get it, it's fun to play through different options, and Connor is hella badass in the machine path. But he is also hella badass in the deviant path (killing the guards in the elevator, possibly the team at the bottom if he doesn't catch the security camera, fighting Sixty, walking in front of all the androids he freed, like, come on), and he also, like, has morals and isn't oppressive??? In the machine route, he kills his own people, including those who just want to be free and might have been completely pacifist the entire way through. So I'm sorry, anyone who thinks his machine path is better is just looking for an excuse to be oppressive without openly admitting it.
Then there's the Gavin apologizers. While fanon Gavin is awesome, some people have way overstepped the line of redemption and allowing oppression. I've seen posts defending Gavin's in-game behavior, just because he refers to androids as "he" on occasion. This is despite:
Suggesting "roughing up," or being violent to Shaolin (the HK400 in "The Interrogation")
Insulting his partner, Chris, when he doesn't forcibly move Shaolin against Shaolin's will
Pointing a gun at Connor after Connor rightfully says to stop touching Shaolin for both succeeding the mission and for Shaolin's sake, and only stepping down after Hank points a gun at him and even after insults Connor
Punching Connor right in the thirium pump regulator and then pushing his head right where his LED is in the break room if Connor refuses to get him a coffee
Insulting and threatening Connor in the same scene even if Connor follows all of his demands
Insulting Hank's alcoholism in the Eden Club "it's starting to stink of booze in here"
Purposely pushing Connor to the side in the same scene
Trying to literally murder Connor and admitting he'd wanted to kill him ever since he first saw Connor, sometimes successfully
Both physically and verbally assaulting Connor
I forgive very easily and strongly believe in redemption, don't get me wrong. But trying to excuse Gavin's behaviors is so inexcusable, especially when most of his aggressions are towards androids, the oppressed minority.
Now, let's look at Ao3, shall we? Let's see how many fics posted there are with each of the "main" (including Gavin and Nines since even though they are not main characters in canon they are in fanon) characters... (also, keep in mind, I gathered this data about a month ago so it might not be completely up to date):
Connor: 16,150
Markus: 5,395
Kara: 1,504
Hank: 13,135
Nines: 9,807
Gavin: 9,939
Amanda: 1,177
Chloe: 1,521
North: 3,056
Simon: 3,192
Josh: 1,965
Alice: 1,098
Luther: 848
Rose: 193
This means that certain characters get unequal amounts of attention:
White: 59,042
Black: 9,578
Male: 60,431
Female: 8,549
White, Male: 52,223
White, Female: 7,179
Black, Male: 8,208
Black, Female: 1,370
Well, this says a lot. Now, some people reading this might realize that there are more white and male characters to begin with, so it could be fair even with their numbers being higher. So, okay, let's see the average amount of works a single character in each of the above categories would have (so divide each of the values by the number of characters in that category) (also I rounded to the tenth place aka first decimal point):
White: 6,560.2
Black: 1,915.6
Male: 7,553.9
Female: 1,424.8
White, Male: 10,444.6
White, Female: 1,794.8
Black, Male: 2,736
Black, Female: 685
If anything, these are even more telling. And if you don't believe me, look on Ao3 and calculate these yourself, because you'll get the same thing.
To be clear, I don't have anything against Connor, Hank, or any of the white and/or male characters. I even like the way that the fandom has redeemed Gavin. But the fandom has not done the same job of redeeming other characters, especially the minority ones, and pays way less attention to them, and that needs to be called out with evidence by someone.
Anyway, I spent a LONG time on that first question, so I'll try to make the next answers shorter!
22. Popular character you hate?
There aren't any popular characters that I thoroughly hate. The only characters I hate are ones that are already highly unpopular (Todd, Zlatko, Perkins). If we're talking canon characters, I do hate Gavin with a flaming passion. I mean, he is meant to represent police brutality. But fanon Gavin is cool with me, so I'm not sure exactly how much this counts.
There is one semi-popular character that I dislike though, and that is Kamski. I'm half-counting him again because within the fandom there are very mixed opinions. I personally dislike him mainly because of his treatment of one of his Chloe's: he is willing to let her get shot in the head and killed just to find a dumb answer to his Kamski test just because he feels like it. If Connor doesn't shoot Chloe, he tells Connor he's deviant, knowing full well that Amanda and Cyberlife are watching being the one to design the program, endangering Connor. While he arguably is responsible for deviancy and wants androids to succeed, that doesn't make up for those facts.
Another character that half-counts is Daniel. There are mixed opinions within the fandom on him as well, with some arguing that he is only wanting to not get replaced and protect himself. However, since his first response was to kill the dad, and then he proceeded to shoot at least 3 more cops, killing 2, and hold Emma, the young girl he had been friends with for years hostage, even though she had nothing to do with his replacement. You can't argue that he didn't want to kill Emma and only used her as protection for himself, either, as there are multiple endings where he tries and sometimes succeeds in killing Emma, even when he is also killing himself. I'm not closed to a redemption arc for him, but his in-game actions are inexcusable. He's the one deviant who truly has no valid defense for his actions.
23. Unpopular character you love?
There are a few. I absolutely adore North, Josh, Adam, and Alice, even though the fandom has conflicted opinions on them. Then again, none of these characters are really considered unpopular, just not as popular as others with a select few that don't like them. With North, I've been in this fandom since a few months after its release, when there was a lot of North hatred, and was actually in a group called the North Protection Squad lol. However, now most people like her, and she's really grown in popularity. With Josh, it's less that he's hated, and more that he's ignored. People say that Simon was the peaceful option when he was really the neutral, and recently I've seen more people against Josh's opinions on the revolution. While I don't always agree with Josh being so passive and undemanding (neither do I agree with North's violence), he's still an awesome character with some very valid points. Then, I do understand why some people dislike Adam, as at first he's against androids and almost reveals Kara and the others. However, if you meet him at the border crossing, he apologizes to Kara and changes his mind, promising to help androids. While he may start out scared and not on the right side, he does have a good heart and ends up making the right decisions in the end. With Alice, I haven't seen many people hate her, either, although I have seen some saying she's annoying and lacks a personality. I agree that she lacks a personality, although I argue that's the writers' faults rather than her character's (as are problems with other characters, I mean David Cage wrote this so what were we expecting). I also don't think she's annoying, as after all she is only 9 (in human terms), doesn't admit she's an android because she's scared Kara will reject her (and Kara actually can reject her for being an android, leaving her completely on her own in a world that wants her dead. Also, living her whole life with Todd can absolutely not help her feel more secure with who she is or make her trust Kara to still love her for it), and she is only cold and feels sick because her model of android is literally designed to replicate human sickness and discomfort (and it's clear she doesn't know how to turn them off, because even after Kara knows she's an android Kara still has to help Alice not feel cold anymore. Also, this is November in Detroit, in which the average temperature is 42°F (5.6°C). There are also scenes where it is snowing, meaning the temperature is below freezing. Still, despite the temperatures, in some scenes not having a coat, and feeling sick, she says Kara and Luther can't stop because of her, risks her life to save Kara's if you fail QTEs, and says she's "fine" even when she's cold to comfort Kara. So if you think she can be annoying, yeah, all 9-year-olds can be. But if you think she's annoying enough to actually hate her, idek what to say).
In terms of characters that are really unpopular, I actually like Leo. His actions at first are inexcusable. I mean, accusing Carl of loving an android more than hin, insulting Markus and treating him as less than human, threatening him, breaking into Carl's house and attempting to steal his paintings for drug money, and framing Markus for Carl's death leading to him getting shot and nearly killed are obviously not okay things to do. However, he is clearly on drugs, specifically red ice, the most dangerous drug in the world. Also, if you decide to push Markus leading Carl to still be alive, when you return to Carl's house, you can find a message Leo sent to Carl in which he apologizes for everything and promises it won't happen again. In the extras section, you also find out Carl missed out on Leo's whole childhood, only first meeting him once he was much older. Given that Carl spends all of his days pleasantly conversing with Markus while ignoring Leo, not calling him, only talking to Leo once he comes around himself, and doesn't even argue when Leo says Carl doesn't love him, it's almost fair that Leo thinks the way he does. Since he's also high on drugs throughout the story, at least up until Markus gets shot, we also know that the Leo we see isn't the real Leo. Later, if Carl is dead and Markus visits his grave, he encounters Leo again. This time, when Leo sees Markus he is only shocked. Now, off of red ice, not only is he going to see Carl's grave, expressing love for his father, he also doesn't try to hurt Markus, insult him, or anything mean or dehumanizing. His expression lacks any signs of aggression. It was only when he was high that he was such an asshole. Although that doesn't excuse his behavior, it does give a reason for it, and by the end I consider him redeemed.
~~~
Wow... that was a long response to a very short ask. No need to read all that (although I would highly suggest reading my first answer, at least, since that does contain some very relevant points). Although then again, if you've made it here, you've probably already read all that. In which case I would love to hear your opinions if you're willing to share (as well as anyone who sees this!) I guess I just had a lot of opinions that I needed to put out in the world lol, so thank you sm for the ask!!!!! 💛💛💛
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so because @bananasofthorns told me to talk about my god au!hels and ex thoughts despite already knowing all of them because he is an enabler (affectionate) i will do so!
ex and hels were made in the same basic way; a god looked at a part of themself which they didn’t like, or thought was wrong or bad or evil in some way, and tried very hard to remove it. in a mortal, this would do nothing. for gods, this can, with enough desperation, result in a being who isn’t quite a god in their own right (though they may become one later on, if they’re independent enough from the god they’re made from) but who is nonetheless a reflection of those parts of a god’s divinity which were considered undesirable.
it’s important to note that this never actually works- you can’t just remove a part of yourself like that. hels and ex are still people, not just a bit of someone else’s godhood, and xisuma and wels still have the things that they were trying to get rid of. they’re just a product of desperation. in nearly every case (at least these two) trying to cut out flaws just makes things worse.
in hels’ case, he was essentially born of wels’ perfectionism. i leaned pretty heavily on angel/demon imagery for wels and hels, because i like using angel imagery for things it’s not supposed to be used for, and also i am a good omens fan at heart so the flawed angel thing speaks to me lol. wels is the god of honor and justice, and he takes it very seriously; anything that does not fit that he tries to repress or ignore or, in the case of hels, turn into a foe which he can defeat.
as such, hels is the manifestation of every part of wels that is “bad-” his selfishness, his bitterness, his anger, his resentment, his fear. he is the manifestation- but not the god, at least yet- of dishonor and injustice. he is very, very angry at wels for creating him from his own issues and inability to deal with them.
ex’s creation is different. during season 2, xisuma was overwhelmed and scared and desperate; he’d been handed a server which he was now scrambling to lead, a godling (mumbo) who he was expected to care for, and he didn’t much know what he was doing with either. x is the god of guardianship and protection, which made him suited for the role, but when he was young he was scared of being too much, and crossing the line into being possessive, and forgetting that hermitcraft belonged to all of them rather than just himself, and that mumbo would one day outgrow him.
as such, he did the only thing he could think to: he tried to separate himself from the impulse to hold on too tightly, and ended up making ex as a result. this ended up... very messy; x was not at all equipped to deal with both his existing responsibilities and the whole entire person he had just created, so he basically ignored ex as much as possible.
the whole thing, understandably, gave ex kinda, uh. a fucked up perception of love! he’s the manifestation of xisuma’s, and because of that, was told that he was evil. not great!
by season 7-8ish, though, ex is a fair bit older and more settled, so he’s evil largely in name only, landing somewhere closer to morally gray. he’s also become a proper god by that point, as he’s spent a long time growing separately from xisuma and becoming his own independent person. i don’t know what exactly he’s the god of yet, but he definitely is one!
(if any of this does not align with canon yes it does <3 /lh. but more seriously, i’ve only watched the s8 stuff with ex and hels, and the rest of what i know has been absorbed from fanon so some of the finer details might be wrong!)
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kateanthnys · 3 years
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Dumb Dramione arguments and rebuttals because it’s about time we talked about it.
This is taken from @/hermione.s_butterbeer on Instagram and @hermiones-butterbeer over here on tumblr, who constructed the basis for this, I added my own thoughts with theirs. I haven’t learned how to put things under a cut yet so if you’re not interested in this and have to scroll past it I’m sorry :/
Hermione would forgive Draco
Hermione is not a forgiving person. She holds the toughest grudges. She will attack you with birds and stop talking to you for months for getting a girlfriend, she will keep you in a jar for writing incriminating shit about her, she will scar the hell out of you for betraying her. Let’s say she grew out of this in her adult years, it’s not a stretch right, she seems to regard malfoy with contempt in the epilogue? Barely a glance, but then again she never really gave him the time of day as a teenager either so who knows? Even then, as an adult, Draco doesn’t need her forgiveness. Hell he probably doesn’t even want it. Couldn’t care less about her. Nor does he even deserve it from her or any of the golden trio. He surely wouldn’t get it from me but I digress. He bullied her for years and was very openly and vehemently against people of her kind. And again, even if she did somehow forgive him, they would definitely not fall in love.
Hermione would change Draco
It’s definitely not her job to “change” Draco, he is a grown man, not a baby in diapers. Nor is it her job to fix a man that bullied and harassed her for years simply for having muggle blood. Anyway, didn’t Astoria already have that covered? She was a pure blood who changed her views about muggleborns. It was probably much easier for Draco to connect with her, someone who understands him on a level Hermione never would be able to, than the ones he hurt most.
If they were together they would break stereotypes
This one is the biggest laugh of them all. Not only are there multiple couples throughout the Harry Potter universe that breaks the stereotypes and normalcy of the wizarding world, these couples didn’t have to suffer each other’s company like Draco and Hermione would. Because to break them they’d have to have love, which was nil in their case. What’s the point If they don’t even like each other. Draco probably could’ve broken some stereotypes himself by not being a blood purist but once again I digress.
Ron didn’t deserve Hermione followed up by a Draco would’ve appreciated her yk the usual shit that don’t make sense
Love isn’t about who deserves who. Who is more deserving than who. How does one even come to the conclusion about who is more deserving than someone else? Money? Power? Blood status? Who cares about those things, Hermione sure doesn’t. Love is about love, and most important of all, choices. She fell in love, made a choice, acted on it and by god she never regretted it or looked back. And you won’t find any textual evidence saying otherwise (fck u Joanne). And if she did I doubt Draco would even factor into one of her choices.
Draco never made her cry, Ron did
Yes, Ron did. Multiple times. Taking away the fact that Hermione is an emotional person, is it really the end of the world if you once in a while make the person you love cry? Ron was her friend, a friend she had feelings for, she cared about him and his opinions, of course she’s gonna cry when shit hits the fan. Draco is another person on the street walking past her, she doesn’t dignify anything he does or says about her with a response. Now talk shit about Hagrid and get smacked tho. Anyway, my family has made me cry more than any random person or people at school have. Does that make them the worst possible people on the planet? Does that mean these random people love me more than my family? No, it does not.
Ron was dumb, Draco was her intellectual equal
This is one of the ones that’s probably fanmade. News flash fanon Draco isn’t canon. There’s no textual evidence to support that he was close in class with her or matches her wit. When Lucius made that comment in CoS, it didn’t mean Draco was RIGHT under Hermione. You can assume everyone was beneath her in marks, doesn’t make him second best. Oh but the vanishing cabinet, the one he had help with. But the mead and the necklace, once again not his ideas. But Legilimency. Yea he learned to blocked his mind. But Hermione didn’t? And we still know she’s the smartest in her year, certainly smarter than Draco? So really does it matter? Guess not. And on Ron’s intelligence. Books and academics aren’t the only forms of smarts either. If anything books will only take you so far, especially in the wizarding world. Back to Draco, who started failing potions as soon as Snape was gone. Favoritism? Not a stretch at all.
Hermione was worried about him and he warned her about the death eaters
Yea, but no? If you read the text with context you’d know she was worried about Hagrid’s job in 3rd year, fourth year, she was right, a teacher doing that to a student was dumb and he could’ve been harmed, and they could’ve lost another DADA teacher before the school year was even over, this is Hermione being logical, Not being caring. And when Ron made the “amazing bouncing ferret” comment, she laughed. Pretty broken up about it isn’t she?Caring is her reaction that same year to Neville and the cruciatus curse. 6th year, do I even have to explain this one? She was NOT DEFENDING HIM. She was being skeptical and reasonable, there’s a difference. She and Ron had every right to be iffy on the death eater thing, they were already proven wrong in 2nd year when they jumped to conclusions about Malfoy, they didn’t want a repeat of that. And the warning thing, my god, if you think that’s a warning, you need to work on how to identify a warning, it might help you later in life.
Jkr said she wanted to make them canon and date in third year and that Draco bullying her was hiding his crush
Source? And don’t say tumblr. Anyway atp what the author says doesn’t matter to most fans so your fighting a losing argument if you use this.
My last thoughts on this is that you will see that most of these points are about Draco. Well that’s because Dramione seems to be all about Draco. What Draco wants, what Draco needs, Draco’s forgiveness, Draco’s redemption. A relationship is a two-way street of equals, give and take, not Hermione giving and Draco taking. What exactly does Hermione get out of a relationship with Draco? Oh, an Intellectual equal, good to know she’ll have him to recite the periodic table to each other at bed time after she’s worked herself to death at work because thats what she wants and needs. Well, at least she’ll have her books to keep her warm. Every girl’s dream amiright. *sarcasm*
The End.
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the-littlefangirl · 3 years
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TFATWS episode 1 rewatch commentary
The first scene was so beautiful. I loved that we didn't start directly with the fight sequence. It feels way closer to the quiet beginning of CATWS and I love it so much.
The title is also SO NEAT, music's on point too but hey it’s Henry Jackman the one thing I’m sure it’s going to be great overall is the score.
The choreography is AMAZING, really well shot. Sam shielding himself with only one wing was MA-JES-TIC.
“WHAT'S UP” EXACTLY SAM EXACTLY
I did feel so uncomfortable in regards to the military aspect of it. Not that I was expecting anything else, but both here and in Captain Marvel the military we're good guys < 3 propaganda is so blatant and ugh:/ At least there wasn’t a literal recruitment spot like with CM. 
The yellow filter in the Tunisia scene BYE please stop with the yellow filters 2k21
"I've been working with the Air Force for six months now" So, did Sam even catch a break at all after Endgame? Or did he just throw himself to work like SOMEONE did after being iced for 70 years. Hmmm? Sam????
"Essentially, these people, they want a world that's unified without borders" OH NO! HOW AWFUL, how evil of these bad guys smh
Joaquin: SO about Steve
Sam: :)))))) nope
"Moon stuff" SAAAM
#1 cry with Sam's speech, full on chills.. Fuck. Me. His voice about to break before saying thank you bYE.
Shady politician: "It was the right decision" (FUCKKKKK YOUUU)
Rhodey: *press any key to doubt *
I need someone to analyze the different curation of the two exhibits pretty please
NOT THE PHOTO POST-AZZANO JFC. That photo is my weakness, Bucky sweetie (also I find hilarious that usually when there are articles about Stucky and/or #givecaptainamericaaboyfriend they aaaalways use that photo LMAO)
In case someone wants to read the transcription of the texts about Bucky: "In 1944, while on a mission to thwart a Hydra weapon transport in the Alps, Barnes was thrown from a train and believed to have been killed in action. It wasn't until 2014, over seventy years later, that it was revealed that Barnes was alive, having been found by Hydra operatives. Captain America himself (i can't read) the effort to bring Barnes in only to later aid in a escape from custody having been convinced of his innocence. Steve's loyalty to his old friend, coupled with his refusal to sign the Sokovia Accords, led to the dissolution of the Avengers and drove the Captain into hiding with other like-minded Avengers including Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, and Sam Wilson. The current whereabouts of Barnes remains unknown, habing been labeled a fugitive following his escape from custody."
"current wherabout unknown" but not the government, interesting. Also, pretty good summary of CACW from the public's perspective, although one of the things I always wanted to see explored was the public's reaction of the fallout of them going into hiding after Civil War (which I'm hoping we'll get to see a little bit of in Black Widow).
Interesting point about the 70 years without having Captain America. Clearly the sacrifice play wasn't enough this time to fuel the nationalism so they went with a squeaky clean John Walker instead.
Sam saying the shield belongs to Steve I'm going to cry now excuse me. Sam. Sam sweetie.
The No. 1 Captain America comic in the display ugH fuck yes
See this is how you do a cameo that has actual meaning. Thank god for Malcolm Spellman being a competent writer. That scene was so well written.
HAVE YOU PRAISED ANTHONY MACKIE'S PERFORMANCE TODAY?? Holy shit that last shot fucked me up.
I'm loving the use of the wide shots, especially in the flashback. The camera movements are in synch with The Soldier's state of mind and mission focus, so good.
EVERYONE STAND UP FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM aka The Winter Soldier theme composed by Henry Jackman.
Without a doubt the most brutal TWS fight scene there has been, People involved in Punisher and John Wick are involved in this and it SHOWS. 
For the record, still stands that the only time we've seen him chocking someone with his right hand instead of the metal arm remains the Maria Stark assasination. I know it's probably because of blocking and the way the shot was composed but the implications are still bone chilling. God.
Uhhmmmm I'm very ambivalent about the "Hail Hydra". On one hand, it was 100% fanservice and the internet is probably going to go insane over it, and the dead way Sebastian Stan delivered the line. Good shit. Buuut what I love about CATWS is the way Bucky never, ever ever, mouths Hydra rethoric, and even when Pierce tries to gaslight him with it, it's just an empty effort. The Winter Soldier isn't doing anything because of ideological loyalty to Hydra, even if it's product of brainwashing, it's just sheer dehumanization. They don’t need him to say the words because he’s just An Asset. There are people who have put it more eloquently but yeah, I rather go with the fanon interpretation of that aspect.
The music growing louder with the shot of the keys. GOD.
I'm fine this is fine.
#2 cry with the therapy scene of fucking course.
The government monitoring Bucky is noooot going to end well lmao.
"We need to know that you're not gonna * slowmo stabbing motions *
Bucky: * nodding along slowly * 
I laughed out loud.
"It's passive agressive" I love him.
The way this scene just sucker punched me in the face, made me weep and then had me cracking up. Amazing.
Therapist: You can't do anything illegal
Bucky: yup yup check checkity check. What IS considered illegal tho?
*aggresive tablet finger pressing *
"Then why isn't it rule number one?" Bucky your Steve is showing.
I love the close up shot. I'll keep saying it. It's so good.
"I'm James Bucky Barnes" yeah you are🥺
That smile is nightmare fuel LMFAO I love it.
Uhm the way I'm kinning Bucky it's not funny anymore damn
That whole “are you lashing out at me” rambling is really reminiscent of the bar scene in CATFA and how he lashed out at Steve after Peggy left. Uhm yeah fuck.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" "Peace"
"That is UTTER BULLSHIT" "You're a terrible shrink"
yeah ugly crying to ugly laughing speedrun for me
"You're free" "To do what?" jesus. That entire scene. #3 and #4 and #5 cries for moi.
Ugh that Brooklyn shot. Someone needs to do a gifset compairing it to the one in CATFA asap.
"It's like Monique but it's got a "U" in there for uniqueness" "That's absurd" LMAO
"You can't keep fighting with your neighbors" uHM * redacted redacted i'm shifting into 1940s mode abort abort *
"Nobody passed 90" "So young. Such a shame" FGADHGA
🥺🥺 yes flex those flirting skills good for you
"It's a dance to this things. You can't… you gotta warm up and I haven't danced since 1943. Feels like." #6 cry I completely broke down into tears with that.
This Yori storyline is going to punch me in the face with a metal fist. Great!
The TWS theme when he looks at Yori fuuuuuck.
GREAT LET'S GO TO LOUISIANA THAT WAS GETTING HEAVY.
Those shots of Sam in the car. Immaculate. Showstoping. Yes.
Marvel, what if instead of promoting the military industrial complex you put a lot of publicity about cars?
"Uncle Sam!" LMAO subtle.
Everyone trying to have the wings lmao same.
I've only had Sarah for a day but etc. Brooklyn 99 meme
Good mirroring about Steve and Sam family's legacy. Good shit. Goooood shit.
Sam is trying so hard ouch my heart. I can't imagine how painful the scene with them reuniting must have been. He 100% still feels a lot of guilt about being gone for those 5 years (and even longer before that).
"Maybe it is time for us to move on" uuuuuuuuuuh
"To the rescue" "Always" 🥺🥺 i love them so much already
That shot outside the restaurant is so beautiful. Can't wait to see the night scenes in Madripoor tbh.
"I tried the whole online dating thing. It's pretty crazy". Uhm well that is something that Bucky Barnes has now said. In canon. Damn.
"It's a lot" "You sound like my dad" LMAO
Every Bucky fanfic trope speedrun with this scene
"Wow you really can drink" OH you have no idea
Just realized we don't even know her name, well.
"You have any siblings?" "I have a sister" THE WAY I SCREECHED. We're definitely getting Becca
Well that escalated quickly. The important thing is to try?
I can't deal with this BUCKY SWEETIE #8 cry right there fuck
The wardrobe department is KILLING IT, there's such a difference between the outfits of the shows vs how ugly and generic it usually is.
"ThEre is NO such thiNg as on time. You're either EARLY or LATE . picK One" lmao the way he delivered that line
At first I thought the flag smashers had thrown two cars out of a window LMAO
"I don't know how jurisdiction works here, but I'mma have to place you under arrest" uhm yikes. The way they changed Joaquín Torres backstory to just random army nice guy #1 is not sitting well with me, what can I say.
Sam's wings motions I LOVE HIM YOUR HONOR
Fuuuuck this guy.
"Funny how thing's always thighten around us" "Look, I'm on your side. After all, he's a hero". This script is C R I S P as hell, great fucking job.
"I don't care, I'm not gonna quit" "What are you trying to prove? And who you trying to prove it to" SHIT HSIT SHIT!!! UGH amazing. Look it's not necessary to say the show's questions out loud but how they flow between the conversations is still very satisfactory without feeling in your face about it. Inner conflicts have been set up fucking perfectly everyone * claps *
Ugh here we fucking go.  I knew this was how the episode was going to end but my stomach still dropped like a rollercoster. God.
The score is on point. Damn. Damn.
God, Sam.🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
The captain america franchise's visuals in the credits are always so amazing.
Also, does anybody know why Mackie isn't first in the billing?  Uhm what's that about?
ANYWAY CONCLUSION THAT EPISODE WAS SO FUCKING GOOD LIKE HOLY SHIT. I love them so much. The balance between the personal conflicts and the political aspect (although the military aspect is still very much yikes) was on point and it was overall a joy to watch.
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mcytbdamofficial · 3 years
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A strange question. If the official DSMP lore of (a) character/s ever heavily changes from what you wrote it as (in example, if c!Velvet turns out to be long dead or the velvetisegg theory is true, or any of the major characters- that their canon lore starts being majorily different), how do you come up with things that would make them "fit in" again? I am just genuiely curious about that
usually a good way to go around things like that is to fall back on what i've already established and try to spin it in the right way. a good thing to use is the nether lore as well as everything with the memories - things like that are unpredictable and pretty much anything can come to light at any point.
(this answer went on for a while longer than i expected so i’ll put it under the cut in case there’s someone scrollin who doesn’t want this whole thing clogging up their dash)
a good example would be the sbi family canon - when phil first shouted the words "you're my son!" a lot of people instantly thought that techno, wilbur and tommy being his sons had been basically canonized (obviously this got debunked later with only wilbur being his son, but at the time that was the canon i went with and had to somehow push in). until a part of the story i wasn't planning to make the sbi family canon, so i had to think of something fast. so i considered how phil, for whatever reason, supported techno's reign during the antarctic empire days. why did he just outright follow him when his acts were universally regarded as evil? initial ideas were he, himself, was rather bloodthirsty, but this new issue came around and i used this blank in the story as a way to explain it - of COURSE phil would support techno unconditionally, he's his son, after all. later on, i managed to strike a balance in the story between phil supporting techno because of them being family, as well as him, himself, having his own agenda in the empire itself (bringing along the bloodthirsty nature of techno, which in turn i later explained with the voices, once those were canonized. that solution to a new canon was practically handed to me, with how i wrote the bloodlust as a voice beforehand. i just had to change it to “voices”).
for your example, i have one idea that could work! if velvet turns out long dead, i could quickly explain it in a simple way. ant WAS getting letters from velvet, but at one point they stopped and he received news velvet had died. ant has been lying about getting letters after some point because he didn't want other people who knew him to get hurt, and maybe he's even in a certain level of denial.
if velvet IS the egg, that could be more complicated, but still doable. tie it all into the source/nether lore, make him some sort of god or symbol of chaos, just play around with the rules of my own world until things fall into place. usually, somehow, i will find a way out just by stepping back and analysing what i already have prepared and thinking of how it can help me insert a new idea into the story without disturbing what's already there. 
this is basically how wilbur being a source came into fruition! initial ideas were him and schlatt decided themselves to not enter the bunker and escape the flood on their own, but how would that make sense? oh yeah, what if one of them IS the flood? then i rewatch the video, and who other than wilbur is putting the commands in to make the water rise! it was too perfect not to somehow include it, yknow? and then boom, i have this cool lore about sources. why not use it? and yes, initially sources were JUST gonna be a passing mention in the captain’s journal. they weren’t ever planned to go this far. and before you know it we have wilbur, kristin, foolish, hannah...
so yeah. what i’m saying is. when in doubt, use nether lore. and that’s how i’ll go around whatever comes of the egg, in the end.
a lot of it also comes down to very careful storytelling and knowing what to change and what to leave alone. when the story started there was a set amount of people that i knew were involved in the roleplay and others i knew would NEVER get involved (keep in mind the story started being written before even the festival happened live, HELL, even villbur wasn't a thing back then), and separated them into small groups based on what i could and what i couldn't play around with. for example;
i could easily change callahan, alyssa, etc around... they're people who barely appear who aren't involved in the storyline. i gave them small appearances to show they're there and mostly kept them to the back.
people who i KNOW will never join the smp can be mentioned, referenced or even included! minx is probably the prime example of this. and if she ever DOES join the smp, by some magical chance? there can always be some magical book in the library that can reverse her from a dreamon to a human. so nothing to worry about there.
future major characters like dream, quackity, niki, etc didn't have much at the start but needed something to push them into their future arcs. in these characters i changed their start but made sure it left space to be moulded into anything they become later - i made niki kind but i also showed her early critisism of wilbur, already sensing she may have a villian arc coming in the future. when season 2 came around, i was proved right so i went in on those small hints more and more.
for characters who have an established arc, start to finish, who it's hard to change in any way, i change nothing - but i look at their past. the obvious people for this are schlatt and wilbur. on the smp they were characters start to finish, their arcs started and ended in the story and had nothing else. so i focused on the past, instead. and boom, suddenly we have 35 smplive chapters of completely original content.
with every character i live small hints of SOMETHING coming in the future. i leave small holes to be eventually filled by canon, and if canon gives me nothing, i fill them myself with something minor. another good thing is to trust fanon - with a fandom like this, where the creators listen to their fans and canonize a lot of popular fanon, it's good to go in on small fanon knowing it will eventually be canon, or even knowing it will make readers happy and will never impact the story, no matter how much it changes (think tubbo having horns, puffy being a pirate/sea captain of some sort, stuff like that)
there are, of course, times when i can’t avoid changing things from canon. phil not knowing who schlatt is, wilbur not knowing schlatt, etc... but i think in those places, those changes serve to improve the story in some way, and i think it’s a welcome change in the end. this story is definitely leaning more into AU than RETELLING, but i don’t think it’s such a bad thing. while faithfully retelling every major plot point, it adds its own elements and creates a somewhat new and exciting story people can enjoy anew. i think that’s what i strive to do the most in this fic - not retell the story word for word. you’ve already seen the videos. you don’t need that. what i DO want to do is create an engaging read for both avid fans who have seen every stream and casual fans who want the lore to make a little bit more sense to them. and that’s that.
god that went on a while didn’t it haha...
okay so to summarise - whenever something major changes in the canon lore, i have various ways of going about it. usually for some characters i would have left behind hints of SOMETHING and will just try to fit them into whatever change has showed up, or try to at the very least explain them with the new development so it doesn’t seem out of nowhere.
if that is not possible, i look back on all i established and think how i can use it to my advantage. could someone have been forgotten in an old world? is there some sort of nether anomaly that could have caused this? is this character a reliable narrator and have we gotten the full truth? there are a lot of ways to change things around with it being completely out of the blue but seeming fitting for the audience - you just have to really think it through, plan it, and make sure you know exactly what you want to do before going into it.
and finally, if there truly is no way to change a thing, shift canon completely and make sure it doesn’t change the base story. allow me to use the sbi as an example again, since i think they’re a good tool for this;
techno will take tommy in and help him recover from exile, same as canon, because he is his brother, as bdam canon states. at first he’ll just do it because phil wanted him to, but soon it will become a matter of family. when tommy betrays techno, it will hurt him more deeply BECAUSE they’re brothers. when he comes back to phil and tells him what happened, even phil himself will become enraged. the two themselves have been shown to have a history of resorting to violence and aggression in the story (look back at the antarctic empire), so doomsday wouldn’t seem out of  character, or, at the very least, out of the question, when two men like them are pushed to their very limits by a betrayal like this. still, it would be unfair on tommy, but on both sides there would be something justified and something they did wrong - and that’s how you balance a good conflict in any story.
so yeah. i hope this long ass essay made sense. a lot of work goes into making sure this story flows naturally, so i’m glad someone finally asked something like this where i could reveal just how much work goes into it!!!
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branchofcinnamon · 3 years
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so far as i know (i don't know much ''^^) Damon said ALL gorillaz are family. noodle has said that 2d was like a brother/pet to her asa kid so why would fans think he raised her? I know murdoc has called noodle as his daughter but hasn't he also adopted 2d? And murdoc said Russel is like their big brother. Don't they all see each other the same way??? I am seriously confused :<
So, yes I know Damon has said they’re all like a family. The popular opinion is the band raised Noodle because they met her when she was like 10 years old after she was shipped from Japan (literally in a box) to their studio. They took her in and Murdoc discovered she could play the guitar, so she became part of the band.
I’m not sure if you meant to say why “wouldn’t” fans think he raised her, but in that case the main thing with Noodle is when she was like 13 she got separated from the band, and they didn’t see her again until she was around 20 years old. That’s like, a big chunk of time during an important stage in life. For this reason some fans agree that it hardly means the guys raised her, more like Noodle had to raise herself.
I’m not so sure about Murdoc “adopting” 2D? This is the first I’m hearing of that lol. Murdoc has kidnapped 2D plenty of times if that’s what you meant haha. I don’t think they ever “officially” adopted Noodle or anything either. That doesn’t even sound like something they would do. It was probably more like, “Well I guess we live with this 10-year-old now.”
I think it’s one thing to take all the “interviews” and what the creators say at face value, on the surface sure it’s like they’re all a family, but that doesn’t mean fans still can’t play around with “fanon” ideas if they want to. Gorillaz is not exactly a linear story that is followed like a tv show after all. I always saw it as having room for interpretation. Some people can view it like they’re a tight-knit family, or instead that they're all more like roommates. I personally have a hard time seeing them like a “typical” family because in earlier music videos/shorts they don’t get along very well (2D, Murdoc, and Russel at least). Like I know, families always bicker and stuff too, but it’s hard for me to see for example 2D and Murdoc like “brothers”.
I am by no means an expert on the “lore” either but I think Gorillaz is weird enough that it’s one of those pieces of media that allows for more interpretation by the fans. I could read Damon saying they’re family 100 times but I still can’t look at them and be like “Ah yes… a happy family. 3 brothers and 1 sister.” I’m not really sure how to explain it but that's what I feel.
I assume this ask was brought on because of “2nu”?, like “Why do people ship 2nu if they’re family?” (if not I apologize, but that’s where my mind went when I first read this lol). But just like the lore I think all their relationships are up to interpretation as well. Like, in canon Murdoc is pretty nasty to 2D, but people still ship 2Doc, and I’m sure they have their own reasons/headcanons for it. 2nu is a weird case, but as someone who didn’t “grow up” with the band and instead learned about Gorillaz when they were already in Phase 3 (When Noodle is over 18) I thought they looked cute together, so 15-year old me didn’t waste time shipping them haha. Like I know, I’m sure it’s weird for people who have seen Noodle as a toddler and then see people shipping her with her ""brother"" - I’m sure it would gross me out too. But like I said I had a different experience learning about the band. I didn’t even know their ages for a while when I first got into it - it’s not like they plaster it on top of their heads. At one point I thought 2D and Noodle were the same age haha.
I know it’s a popular opinion for 2nu fans that the time they’re separated and then meet again when she’s older can be like them seeing each other in a different light and their relationship changing. It’s not the worst thing in the world. Something I also like to say is, canonically Noodle is 30 now? She can date who she wants lol.
Anyway… sorry I went on a bit of a tangent there haha, But I hope I make some sense? I’m sure other people will say otherwise but I think it’s okay if you want to see Gorillaz as strictly a family, or if you just see them as bandmates that live together sometimes. It’s all for fun anyway.
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ayellowcurtain · 3 years
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Would you mind giving a description of the type of character sander is pls? I can't get a handle on him. At times he was inconsistent in s3(this is partially bc of the writing and partially) bc he was trying to conceal parts of himself from Robbe and exaggerating his personality to impress Robbe. The source material was a huge crutch in parts of this storytelling, then sobbe lost some spark in parts of wtfockdown, fanon help fill the empty spaces and now the transmedia is evolving him too. Help?
I’m gonna try to help you, anon but I guess what I’m gonna say is basically my opinion and so it might differ from what’s canon or what other people think of him and also gonna link you to some prior posts I already made talking a little bit of him: 
- Sander’s similarities with Eliott about how sometimes they struggle to deal with emotions 
- Sander and his parents, his home life and his relationship with them 
- Why was Sander going back and forth with Britt 
Now onto your real answer: 
I think Sander, as a character, is a solid one. He as a human being in some universe is imperfect, has his flaws and maybe his bad judgment at times, of situations and of people. 
Is not because he’s a fictional character that he needs to be perfect, to always say and do the right thing. 
If WTFock did him (and Robbe) dirty was mainly because of their complete lack of understanding of what pacing is. I don’t think season 3 was that badly written. It does has some horrible pacing at times, yes (OHN being on a Monday can only be a joke!!!!). 
I don’t think he was purposefully exaggerating his personality. I’m sure the Sander we now know isn’t exactly as loud and out there as we saw during the supermarket clip, for example. But he was freaking out, and being obnoxious without meaning to.
To me, it felt like was mostly freaking out, not sure what to do with himself because the boy he saw once during a random night was there, all alone with him, accepting to go out to go grocery shopping. 
That’s just an example but it’s the same behavior I see when he says they won after he shot Britt during the paintball scene, when he sings Bowie to Robbe while they see the girls walking away after the Noor x Robbe fight, or when he goes to Robbe’s place the next day and tries to kiss him. All this moments, to me, feel like a boy that doesn’t know what to do with himself, how to behave when he’s around someone he’s falling so deeply and hard for. 
We often see the Evens as these cool creatures, confident, sweet, chill. But we have to remember that’s just the first impression (and from their Isaks’ POV), and after they get to know each other, the Evens are often shy, insecure, kind of lone wolves to some degree. 
So what I thought could be seen as “inconsistent” of Sander was just him probably freaking out he was spending time with Robbe, the boy that the moon was shining on him and that Sander knew was the one. 
That’s why I assume putting “original” characters after two seasons feels a little bit like crutches (with their background stories) because if you think about it, we always know most of the characters in Skam since season 1, so even when they’re not main characters, we got to know them in the background at least, to get some information throughout the other seasons. 
We feel more connected to Robbe (and every Isak), and his background story because we’ve been hearing about it for two seasons. 
We know he has a messy house situation, we know his relationship with Jens is kinda platonic but also very brother like (with slaps, saying rude things to each other, etc), we know some people think he’s gay, we know he’s a caring friend because of the way he was with Jana during her season. All this information we got before his season. So when he was main, there was no need to build background around him because we already had most of these informations before. 
Sander is a complete stranger to us. And WTFock even gave us two episodes of just Robbe, to get to know him even more but also leaving less time for us to connect with Sander. So what we got of him was mostly WITH Robbe and ABOUT his feelings for Robbe. We know where he studies because Noor told this in ONE line.
The fandom often falls deeply in love with Even because of what we see through their lovers eyes and for how soft, caring, and representative he is (with being bipolar and pan) but I feel like we get more of who he is and his background in Sana’s season. We learn more about his past, his friends, his MI, his beliefs or curiosity about faith, etc. 
Even if we barely see him with the balloon squad, watching them we see the type of people Even (or Sander) would like to be surrounded with. 
I know people are not the biggest fans of Sobbe during WTFockdown, but I said this before, and I’ll say it again: I think I love them even more after. Even the cybersex part because I thought it was cute, the way Sander was saying he shouldn’t have pushed Robbe into doing it the past week, or how they look at each other and the things they say and how clearly they’re still trying to find the middle ground both of them are willing to experiment with. 
Anyway, I thought it was cute, and I thought it was necessary, with the conversations about the attack (WTFock made a horrible writing decision not letting this happen during the season, but at least they gave us something), about Robbe’s traumas that are still very much alive, about his mom and how well she’s doing most of the time, how Robbe is still trying to help her in any way he can. And also about boundaries, about Robbe, that same boy that was calling Sander the F word is now so out and proud, asking Milan about cybersex, talking to his friends about it (because he did tell the boys what they did or Aaron wouldn’t be trying to have cybersex with Amber and the boys wouldn’t be taking their clothes off for Sander’s bday). 
I think WTFock would use Sobbe for as much content as they can because they know that’s their golden couple. The Willems have a unique chemistry that’s out of this world, they’re both amazing actors and WTFock knows they’re solid, that the fandom will watch, engage in whatever these characters are involved in and that they boys will deliver every time, no matter how odd the circumstances are. The WTFock team knows they can give these boys a few lines and let they create a scene out of it and it’ll still be good content.  
After this long ass post I’ll have to tell you that Sander is:
Mostly private, reserved, some would say shy but I think he just saves himself the energy and the trouble so he only really engages with who he really wants. In this case, Robbe, and the people that are important to Robbe because, again, Robbe is the most important person. I really think (and hope) that when Sander keeps saying “it’s you and me, always”, he really means it. Like they’re one, a solid team that works so well together to tackle any and everything. 
A natural flirt. I mean, look at him, you know? And he doesn’t even have to try. And when he tries, it’s over for anyone else because he’ll be eating a marshmallow in that way he did with Britt, he’ll be kissing his girl like he wishes he could be kissing Robbe, he’ll be licking your ear, and dragging you out of a bar, purring please say at yours like no fucking other. 
He’s a full on artist. He loves any type of art, he loves talking about art, he loves doing art, painting, drawing, taking pictures, listening to music, thinking about all the intense colors. I’m sure he’s a very visual person in his brain too. If you ask him about how he’s feeling, it’ll be probably easier to draw what he fells than write. 
Again, nobody likes talking about this but Sander is a horny one. And he knows how to tease with the stepping back before Robbe can kiss him, he knows what to say, how to look at you with those shiny lips, wetting his lips with his tongue all the time, asking to have cybersex. And I’m also sure he’s really good at sex and enjoys it so very much. 
When you’re not Robbe, and when you’re not involved with Robbe, when Robbe doesn’t care about you, Sander can be hard like a brick. He’ll scream at you with no shame if you get under his skin because he really doesn’t care. He’s finally fully happy, with the guy he thinks is the one and he doesn’t want to spend a second of his energy with you so he won’t even try. 
I think he has a really small filter from what he thinks and what he says. Like when he says Robbe can bribe the teacher, or when firts with Robbe while Britt is taking a shower, or when he says they need to put some better music instead of making out with his boyfriend during the last episode. 
His “all the way or no way” line is basically words he lives by and he’s also a taurus, like myself, so he really means those words with any aspect of his life. 
He forgave Robbe so easily after the F word scene because 1) he’s a teenagers, he won’t be thinking as hard as the fandom did about it 2) again, it’s Robbe and he can get away with anything because Sander is completely gone for this boy that he won’t be able to stay mad even when he knows he should because he wants to be with Robbe, that’s it.
He and Robbe are very close, not only as boyfriends, I feel like right now, after everything that happened between Robbe and the boys and Sander with Britt (and probably the ballon squad) they’re very picky with trying to start new relationships, and they know they’re solid with each other, they have similar taste and opinions. Robbe softens Sander’s edges a little bit and Sander makes Robbe a little more confident in being himself, picking himself first. 
I hope this very long, ridiculous answer helps you a little bit, anon, don’t mind me getting carried away talking about characters I love :’D
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So I recently went a little... Red-string-cork-board-wild for a very minuscule reason. Namely, I wanted to try and figure out if there was any evidence to back up the fanon of whether or not Graham Folger & Oliver Banks had ever been in a relationship for... Reasons.
To start with, I decided to relisten to MAG 003 just for a lil refresher on who the hell Graham even was (emphasis on the was, lmao). Now, the statement was first catalogued in 2007, but the actual events of the statement take place on 2005; first possible hole in the theory, because, in MAG 011, Oliver, under the alias of Antonio Blake, states that his relationship with "Graham" ended 8 years previous to when he gave his statement to the Magnus Institute, which was given in 2015; which means Oliver's relationship would've ended in 2007.
Why do I point this out though?
Mostly because during MAG 003, when Amy Patel has to chill in Graham Folger's flat due to being concussed, and in an attempt to reassure her, all Graham Folger says is "no worries, I'm gay ✌️" which, okay, that's reassuring, sure... But wouldn't it have been more reassuring to say, "Not only am I hella gay, but I'm also seeing someone." Now, sure, maybe because this is '05 and they don't really know each other that well, he probably thought that would be a little TMI, but then again I feel like "oh I'm seeing someone" is significantly less TMI then just flat-out coming out to someone. Either way, later Amy spends essentially weeks or months watching this dude, and he's always. Alone.
And when she described Graham Folger's flat, it didn't sound like a place TWO (2) people were sharing, it barely sounded like there was one person living there. (And Oliver mentions that he'd been in a SIX (6) YEAR relationship, with a shared living space). A little sus, but... Amy does also say that Mr. Folger spends an awful lot of time outside of his apartment so... Double life maybe? Perhaps.
-- Impromptu read more because this got longer than I intended! So the rest is under the cut --
But now let's take a long look at MAG 011, where Oliver, or Antonio if that's easier for anyone? Nah, let's keep it as Oliver— anyways, MAG 011 takes place in 2015, 8 years prior is 2007; but then.. 6 years prior to that, when Oliver's relationship with "Graham" would’ve started... That would've been in 2001 🤔 now why does that particular year ring a bell? Well, that's because in 2001 is when Graham Folger's parents passed away; which would MEAN THAT, if these two had ever dated, then either it would've been just after Graham Folger had lost his parents, OR, the accident would have happened during the start of their relationship. And I do hear that stuff like that either makes or breaks a relationship, so; hey, maybe they would've had problems from the start. Doomed to end before it began, y'know.
But this is what actually made me go back and relisten in MAG 003, again; because I wasn't 100% on that because for whatever reason I had the year 2003 stuck in my head, IDK. Anyways, it was while I was relistening to MAG 003, again, that I realized my timeline... Wasn't entirely correct. Because Amy Patel, yes she first met Graham Folger in 2005; but it was in September 2005; and the real meat of the statement doesn't start until about 4 months after that initial encounter— which means Amy would've started Graham-watching in Dec. 2005 or Jan. 2006.
You know what else I found rather interesting? In the closing comments for this statement that the Archivist gives us, the apartment under Graham Folger's name was sold in... Early 2007. I wonder... How closely that might actually line up with whenever Oliver Banks apparently ended his relationship with "Graham".
But let's loop back to the "Dec. 2005 or Jan. 2006" bit, because in the supposed timeline given to us in Oliver's statement (MAG 011), he and his "Graham" started having issues a year prior to the official break-up. Maybe that's why Amy never would've seen Graham Folger's partner, in the assumption that he had one, because they was havin' issues, so if Graham Folger had a partner, maybe they weren't hanging about too much.
Alternatively, maybe the real kicker, the Real end to this, alleged, relationship, was because things just started being Different around the start of 2006; say maybe around April? April 7th of 2006 if we want to get real specific. Maybe it was after that day that the relationship got just a bit too much.
Maybe, in the last year of this alleged relationship between Oliver Banks and Graham Folger, maybe Oliver tried to make things work, but there was just something so off about "Graham" so... Not-him, and yet this is still the man that Oliver looks at and remembers spending almost 6 years of his life with. But maybe things get just weird enough that, Oliver just does some digging, maybe he's looking for some excuse some reason for why Graham seems so different but so familiar. Maybe there was an update on the accident that happened (either before or after they got together) and it's having an affect on "Graham". Let's say he does this little research deep-dive while at work too. So he's just sitting at his desk, scrolling through old news, etc. etc, maybe checking new stuff, who knows. (And assuming that even digital scans of polaroids are also untampered) He comes across an old picture that, sure enough those are the Folger Parents, but who the hell is that dark haired teenager in the picture?
Now why would this be happening why Oliver is at work? Well, because in MAG 011, Oliver states that he had a breakdown at work that required him to take leave and supposedly helped to fuel his breakup which then left him on a friend's couch. Obviously it could actually be the other way around; that the break-up was the catalyst for the breakdown at work, but this is no longer a post about why Graham Folger and Oliver Banks weren't a thing, but rather a post on why it would hurt so much if they had been.
Because we're gonna switch gears now and take a peek from Not-Graham's perspective. Because what does Not-Graham, the Not-Them, want? Well, we know they like scaring and upsetting people, but Graham Folger isn't exactly a socialite and apparently didn't have enough of an outstanding presence that made him particularly rememberable. But you know what he did have? The table. The same table that the Not-Them really wanted to have smashed up in... MAG 039, I think (IDK main plot is just an entrée for me right now, not super important y'know). So, sure Graham Folger doesn't have a lot of people in his life, but he's got this partner that he was already having a rocky relationship with, so why not make that relationship even more unbearable on the other party? Just make it absolutely intolerable, in the hopes that the partner might just get fed up enough to do something irrational, like smash a table that apparently means just so, so much to "Graham". But in the end that doesn't work, because the partner just ends up dippin' out (side note: love the idea that Oliver is petty in the way that instead of destroying something that he knows his partner is fond of, he just like, sells the fucking table off instead, send the Not-Them on another wild goose chase to find it again, because that would be funny as fuck).
Regardless, around the beginning of 2007, the two will have broken up, and Not-Graham no longer has a reason to keep that flat so it gets sold, because the Not-Them either has the table and fucks off after that, or they gotta start all over again trying to find it, and Oliver cuts ties and starts crashing on a friend's couch.
It's circumstantial, sure. But when you really look at it... The timeline does actually match up pretty well, and I think that's pretty cool.
Anyways, that's all for now. Whether or not Graham Folger & Oliver Banks ever actually had a relationship in canon, who can say.
But if Oliver's "Graham" isn't Graham Folger, then who is it? Well, not to mix podcasts, but anyone here ever listen to The White Vault?
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