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beatledumpster · 9 months

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Blur interview - 'Nothingness Generation' (1991) translated from French.

Or: how Damon is full of seemingly contradictory theories that sound very interesting but also mostly unintelligible to me for lack of context.

Thanks to the Damon Albarn Unofficial Archive (x)

Nothingness generation

Everything is there in the name, Blur, meaning: hazy, confused. Hazy like this music that feeds on itself, kaleidoscopic view of a thirty-year-old disco. Confused like this talk, chattier when it comes to selling oneself to an English press that is hungry for cardboard sensationalism. Hazy and confused like this lost generation, shouting as loud as it can its total lack of message and beliefs, disoriented and yet rotten with certainties. The children of disorder.

I don’t know anyone in the world who has never dreamed of becoming a pop star. There’s nothing more outrageous in the world than a pop star. I for one would keep changing heroes, one day I wanted to be Albert Camus, Arthur Lee the next... We wanted to look like them. Graham, our guitar player, collects heroes. He’s fascinated by those sixties blokes that went mad, Syd Barrett or Arthur Lee… Bowie too, he was the 1970s champion, but today he’s completely unnecessary. Pop culture is, more than ever, an intrinsic element of our generation. We grew up imitating it whereas back in the day, the people and the culture would grow together. We came when everything was over already. All our ideas, we stole from videos, records, photos from pop culture. We have no other reference point that precedes it, this culture encompasses us totally. In the sixties, people could refer to events that predated pop culture. Well, we have nothing but this crazy religion. We are only nourished by pop culture but at least, we have understood it. This is what makes us more necessary than any other band. We can see this result inside us, therefore we can celebrate our own futility… Every band feeds on this tureen of spiralling debris anyway.

Why, under these conditions, are you still fascinated by pop stars?

My definition of a pop star is very different from what others may mean. I like their childishness, their futility. I find it extremely difficult to explain why I do certain things rather than others, I’m incapable of justifying myself, of making a case. I can’t even claim that I’ve wanted to be a pop star from childhood, because actually, I didn’t want to become anything (silence)… Everything happened without me knowing. I’ve been carried along, as everyone has in my generation.

Still, I have rarely seen a young band as professional and organized as you. You don’t seem like you were carried along, on the contrary you look like you’ve been working hard.

We have the advantage of being more intelligent than the other bands. But we hadn’t planned anything, I’m simply incapable of it. I just waited… At school, the future didn’t look particularly bright. It was the early 1980s, the CND was telling us that we were in mortal danger. Many people have forgotten this, but the CND was a huge influence on a whole generation of teenagers. We all thought that the planet’s days were numbered, that we were going to get blown up any day now. We never thought about our future because we were sure we wouldn’t have one. Twenty years from now, once our generation rules the world, the difference will be enormous. We are very nihilistic, empty-headed… We have no ambition, no motivation. At a time where we should have been terribly excited about life, we were frightened by this ominous cloud hanging over our heads. It was even worse than the last world war because then, at least, people were united by patriotism, you had to stick together, they were dreaming of a better world that was yet to be built. We were born in this better world only to be told that it was going to disappear very fast… So no-one cared about their neighbour or their future. Nothing really interested us, we didn’t see anything clearly or articulately. We merely floated, vaguely moving forward. We are, on a global scale, the vague generation.

Did life in a small provincial town heighten this feeling of oppression and powerlessness?

I never felt trapped in Colchester, because I knew I was going to leave one day. It was just terribly frustrating, London was on our minds, we had to go there to do something. We didn’t know what it would be, but we had to do it together. We made a deal with Graham: the first one that would manage to get in the music business would have to find ways to involve the other. And in the end, we did everything together: forming the band, getting signed, going away… There, I felt totally isolated. But it was more or less by choice. I’d walk down the street and feel like I was playing in a movie… My life has always been very cinematic, another result of pop culture. The boundary between reality and imagination was getting increasingly blurred, and everything got mixed up. Unlike Graham, I’ve always been a loudmouth, and had a lot of self-confidence. I couldn’t stand the apathy of everyone in our town, but I could clearly notice it in myself. But I allowed myself to express the reasons behind it, to explain why we are in this state, hoping that (silence)… This generation passively accepts having to go to the office every morning, whereas our elders were quite happy to go. There was a spirituality in their lives that completely vanished. To them, work was an honourable activity, there was no need for all those accesories that keep us going. However, before I got to this point, I’ve tried plenty of terrible jobs, but I just can’t think with numbers, I’m totally dyslexic. That closed the doors to 99% of jobs on earth for me.

This generation seems much more open to the rest of the world than the previous ones: young people travel a lot more, they realize that there’s more than just England. It shows everywhere: clothes, behaviour, even the way they drive…

(Laughs)... People are finally starting to understand that you can’t shut yourself off from the rest of the world any longer. England has lost its spirit, its identity, which is a good thing in itself. The English have too many hang-ups and taboos. They’ve been told that they’re a great nation too much. We think we are living off the inheritance of colonialism and there’s nothing left in the coffers… But don’t expect me to insult my country. The time has come for my compatriots to care a bit more about Europe. Because next year, we won’t have a choice… Do you know where this English fear of Europe comes from? People think they’ll have to learn foreign languages.

Your generation is also the first one to have not received any influence from punk.

At the time this was going on, I was more interested in dolls or Action Joe than in the Sex Pistols. The only possible influence is through bands: we are influenced by bands influenced by punk. But all this punk ‘fuck off’ attitude, this complete rejection, I find old-fashioned, very passé. Bands nowadays are much more scandalous than they were. We are more outrageous than all the bands of 1977, more dangerous and subversive. Because with us, nothing is on display. To me, punks are as ridiculous today as hippies were to them.

EMPTY WORDS FOR EMPTY PEOPLE

I feel responsible for the first time in my life. I have to be careful about every move I make, every word I say, because some people are listening… I’ve always considered Top of The Pops to be something very important. You have dozens of millions of people watching you, and if you’re clever, you can have a lot of fun with it, go right to the edge of censorship. I definitely don’t want to be The Cure or The Smiths, it’s too easy to tell the teens what they’re expecting from you. I don’t want to limit myself like them and become all pompous and preachy. I shit on preachers and piety.

Most of your contemporaries – Ride, Charlatans, Happy Mondays – seem unable to articulate any political opinion, as if society was totally foreign to you.

Wait… The Happy Mondays don’t have anything to do with our generation. They’re at least ten years older than us and that’s a huge gap. Ride is probably the only band whose attitude is similar to ours. Although they are much more romantic than us. I also feel close to World Of Twist. I’ve never spoken to them, but I feel like we have things in common, even though I find them too mannered (silence)… I don’t think bands are allowed to be interested in politics. All that we can offer is empty words for empty people in an empty world. If you're concerned with politics, it's bound to be to the detriment of other topics. I prefer to look at other issues, like my ties to the cosmos. It's much more interesting than right and left. I don't want to talk about the poll-tax, I prefer to be a non-person on that kind of subject. I pay my taxes because they are necessary. Whether the government is Conservative or Labour will make absolutely no difference to my day-to-day life. All the infrastructure will remain the same, so I don't want to be interested in changes that wouldn't affect me in the slightest. I'm not interested in the outside.

No-one, especially a band in your position, can live in total isolation like this.

We do. We live in a cuckoo’s nest, very far away. And it’s not even the drugs that get us there. Our world is coherent, but apart. I know that deep down, I have a talent for public speaking. But I don’t want to use it for politics, I don’t want to mix with society. I refuse to lecture those who are listening to us, no one is asking politicians who their favourite bands are.

A few months ago, you posed shirtless for Melody Maker. How much of that was narcissism, and how much of it was a joke?

It was just to tease the girls, both sexual and ironic. Only Alex, the bass player, was a flirt at school. As for me, being manly was never a major preoccupation. I've always felt equivocal, somewhere in between... None of us are macho.

Yet your posters have often pitted you against feminists.

Graham has always wanted to sleep with feminists, he loves being dominated. We are horrible perverts. As for narcissism, I can’t deny it. Our job is the best job for narcissists.

ALL GOOD-LOOKING

Ever since ‘There's no other way’ became a hit, not a day has gone by without us giving an interview or doing a photo shoot. Thirty days of non-stop interrogation... Everything sped up for us, but for months, I really felt that it was taking forever.

Even ten years ago, this rise you found so slow would have seemed very short. Bands had to wait for years to reach this stage.

It all comes from record companies. They’ve changed, they know how to manufacture hits, they learnt the rules of the game. What they want is quick money, push a band to the top, get as much as they can from it and then murder it when it’s not profitable any more. They have this power over life and death. So you have to be very careful not to let yourself be smothered, to keep enough space to grow. Because it’s so great to be so famous after only two singles, you can be tempted to play the game and close your eyes. But we care too much about our music to let it slip away, we want to stay here for a few more years.

Your music has evolved very rapidly within a year. What caused this accelerated maturation?

The sound became more sophisticated, because I didn’t want to be trapped by any particular style. I didn’t want Blur to be just another noisy band. Everything comes from the way we record: in the studio, we give a lot of importance to details that disappear as soon as we get on stage. Live, all that's left is a bass, drums and guitars... You don't have to worry about embellishments or space. On the record, it's necessary to be more complicated, otherwise our songs would sound hollow. On stage, we don't need to fill the space, the energy makes up for it.

Your reputation comes mainly from this energy. Aren't you afraid of becoming trapped by it, of being nothing more than stage actors?

Fortunately, we are still capable of playing bad concerts. I could never fake the energy… But I do feel completely trapped by what people are starting to expect from us. This energy has become our brand image, it’s alarming.

Aren’t you afraid that show business is going to suck you in and devour you?

For this album, we had to play along with show-business and accept all the offers. But for the next album, we're going to take a step back. It's become necessary for us to go back to our music, to recharge our batteries... The problem with this business is that it ends up ruining my health. I'm constantly drained, I can't sleep and my throat hurts terribly. But we were lucky enough to get drugs and alcohol out of our system before we became successful. We could be high all the time, it would be so easy. Everything's free, everything's at our fingertips, but I'm not interested in that any more. Drugs are already out of fashion, it's no longer cool to get high.

Do you fear a backlash from the press?

It will be inevitable, but I can’t worry about that, I know it won’t depend on us. All we can do is make a good second album. But I know that won't be enough.

Were you prepared for such success?

We hadn't planned for everything. Certain aspects of my life weren't ready. I didn't expect to have to work so hard. It's difficult: we want to stand firm on our positions, but meanwhile we have to devote a lot of time to the people that revolve around us. It's become an art in itself, you have to juggle and modulate all the time. And we never rehearsed for this role, we had to improvise. But the success itself, I was waiting for it, I was sure it would come one day. If you're convinced you're good, if you're sure that you're right, you don't doubt yourself.

How could you have such confidence in your music?

It's to the point, it's full of very simple references... What's more, we're all good-looking, full of energy, we've got good taste... We're everything a band should be. We're very fond of Blur and we've put a lot of ourselves into the band over the last two years. I wanted this band but... One thing you need to know about us is that we don't have a clear idea of what we're about, I can't tell you why I wanted this band so badly. The generation before us had very clear ideas, those people had ideas, they had ambition... And then, one day, all their ideas were tried, all the roads were built. Eventually, after climbing, they ended up stuck at the top. And we are their children.

Success usually comes with pressure. Has it brought you together, do you feel more united, or defensive?

You have to defend yourself every day. Otherwise, all our lives would be splashed across the press and certain aspects of mine would not be very glorious, printed in a newspaper. There are limits to this giving of yourself, people offer themselves all over the place, they end up as caricatures of themselves. We've always tended to withdraw into ourselves, we've always been a gang. A gang that decided one day to make music. When faced with difficult situations, we form a unit and become a hideous monster that devours our opponents.

Are you a gang with a lot of enemies?

A lot of people are jealous of us, we attract that kind of feeling. They think we're too perfect: we play music that's both loud and melodic, we write good songs, we're consistent, we're good-looking and we're successful... In England, people don't like that. Here, we don't like people who get their way. I can't stand that mentality, people are much less jealous on the continent. And yet, I wouldn't want to be anything other than English.

Can the enemy sometimes be within the group?

(Laughs)... We yell at each other a lot, but tensions mostly arise when there are people around us, when our girlfriends are with us. But otherwise, when it's just the four of us, the group is really stable and united. We talk to each other a lot, we can make things right when one of us is causing problems... "OK, now shut the fuck up, asshole" (smiles)... And then, we have a drummer, he absorbs all the tension, he's the one who takes all the blows. One of us has to pay the bill.

After just two singles, you find yourselves on the cover of every British magazine, acclaimed and adored. Don't you feel you've been overrated?

(Laughs)... We've been ridiculously overrated. Anyway, I'd rather be overestimated than underestimated. It's not a problem, we know how to be honest with ourselves. We know what our role on earth is. In fifteen years’ time, people will remember us as a whole. To them, Blur will represent the nineties.

#damon albarn #blur #what does he mean...

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johndeerequeer · 1 year

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Chapter 13

Respite

Masterlist

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x Original Female Character

Warnings: none

Read on Ao3

The air was brisk when they stole away in the wee hours of the morning.

It was quiet, the quietest she’d ever seen Saint Denis. A sprawling metropolis in comparison to her hometown, with a lively nightlife to boot. Dawn seemed to be the only time of day when there was truly nothing to be heard.

Mads and Arthur had only exchanged a word or two since they’d awoken entangled in her bed. She found herself positively sheepish every time she met his eye, like a giddy schoolgirl.

Once they cantered over the bridge she finally worked up the courage to speak.

“So…I think last night went okay.”

Arthur turned his head and met her with a sly smile. She flushed a soft pink.

“The heist, I mean, the heist,” she added quickly.

“Yeah, we made out okay,” he replied, “I’m just sorry things got messy. I was hoping your first heist would've gone more… smoothly.”

“How do you know it was my first?” she teased.

“Well, pardon me, ma’am, I shouldn’t have assumed,” he teased back.

She chuckled. They were quiet for a bit.

“And the rest of the night went okay?” she asked him, just barely making eye contact.

He chuckled lowly.

“More than okay, darlin’.”

She couldn’t contain her grin.

“Good.”

It was still too early for the rest of camp to rise yet when they arrived back.

“I’m gonna change, I’ll be back,” he told her as they hitched their horses.

“Arthur, wait.”

He turned on his heel. She all but sprinted to cross the distance. As she reached him at full speed he scooped her into a warm embrace and swung her about. She giggled as her feet momentarily left the ground and smashed her lips against his. A surge of energy passed between them like a static shock. He kissed her like a man starved and her lips were the only sustenance he'd ever need; like she was all he’d ever need.

They broke apart only when breath was required.

“Let’s go somewhere today,” she whispered against his lips, “just the two of us.”

He pulled back to meet her eyes and let out a sigh.

“I don’t think I can, darlin’, I gotta check in with Dutch. He’s been hounding me about this trolley station and-”

“Dutch can wait.”

He opened his mouth to protest. She brought him in for a tight embrace before he got the chance.

“Do something for yourself for once, Arthur,” she whispered into his ear, “spend the day with me.”

He laid a sweet kiss on her temple.

“Jesus, you’re too godamned tempting.”

She smirked as she pulled away.

“You’re not too bad yourself,” she mused, “now go get changed.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They took off shortly after they had both gotten into fresh clothes. The weather was perfect. Clear skies, shining sun and a glorious breeze.

After several attempts to assess where they were going which Mads refused to reveal, Arthur quieted down.

“Just enjoy the ride, cowboy,” she teased him.

They approached the outskirts of Valentine where Arthur was told to wait. She made her way through town collecting a few things for a surprise. When she returned with a rucksack slung over her shoulder she was met with a wary eye on Arthur’s behalf. She beckoned him to follow.

She led him to a ridge overlooking the heartlands near Twin Stack Pass.

“Now your gonna stand here with your eyes closed while I set everything up.”

“Mads, I-”

She tossed him a stern look. He closed his eyes.

She worked quickly to lay out a woollen blanket, some canned fruits, a loaf of bread and a cut of prime rib pork bound in butcher's paper and twine.

“Okay, open.”

He looked over the makeshift picnic with a soft smile.

“I realized I never got to repay you for what you’ve done for me,” she told him, “you saved my life again and again and… I wanted to say thank you.”

“You don’t gotta thank me, darlin’, I know anyone would do the same.”

“We both know that’s not true, Arthur,” she replied, “there are more people in this world that want me dead than would stick their neck out for me. So I'll count my blessings and cherish the ones that do.”

Something in the way he looked at her turned her insides to mush; a gaze as warm as the sun. She cleared her throat.

“Now, be a dear and build me a fire to cook this.”

He chuckled.

They basked in the afternoon sun while enjoying their meal. The view was perfect. They sat side by each as they munched away and gazed over the heartlands.

Thoroughly full and satisfied, Mads laid back to watch the clouds and Arthur joined her. They were both quiet for a while.

“Arthur?”

“Hmm?”

“There’s something I gotta ask you, and I want you to be honest with me.”

He turned his head to her.

“Shoot, darlin’.”

“You said you were trying to make up your mind about me, that I was making it difficult” she began softly, “what’s been holding you back?”

He sighed.

“It’s hard to explain, Mads.”

“I got nowhere to be.”

He took a deep breath.

“Things like this haven’t worked out for me so much. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, to start somethin’ with ya.”

She kept quiet, willing him to continue.

“There was a woman, years ago. We were gonna get married.”

He sighed, slow and heavy. She could hear the pain in his voice and it broke her heart.

“But she was a lady and I was an outlaw, so you can guess how that went.”

Mads nodded.

“But you loved her?’

He swallowed hard.

“I did.”

“And she loved you?”

“I thought so.”

Mads thought for a moment.

“I think if she did then none of that would have mattered.”

He shrugged while keeping his gaze trained on the sky.

“The people that love you will stick by you. No one else is worth it,” she added with a small smile.

He turned to her and met her smile with one of his own.

“Can’t argue with that.”

She turned her focus back on the sky. She couldn’t help but think of her mother. Sorrow filled her features.

“What's wrong, sweetheart?” Arthur whispered, his gaze having been glued to her.

“Just thinkin’,” she whispered.

“About your mum?”

She nodded as a tear escaped her eye. Arthur shifted over and brought her into his arms. She stifled a few sniffles. He didn’t say anything at first. He didn’t need to; his touch was enough.

“What if I took you to see her?” he asked.

She turned to him.

“Aren’t you wanted in Blackwater?”

He shrugged.

“We’ll be careful.”

“But they know where I live, they still have my address.”

“They’ve ought to have came and when already.”

She stared at him as she considered it.

“I’m willing to risk it if you are,” he added.

“Why?”

“Because I know what it means to ya.”

Something ached in her chest. A thousand more tears threatened to spill. She hugged him tight before he could see her cry.

“Thank you, Arthur.”

#arthur morgan x original female character #red dead redemption arthur #arthur morgan fanfiction #arthur morgan #red dead fanfic #red dead redemption fanfiction #red dead redemption 2

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warmglowofsurvival · 1 year

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In a rather swanky tour bus, I sit opposite to Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, the pair that make up twenty one pilots. Our encounter comes just days before their third album is released; BlurryFace.

Trying to define what the self-taught American pair do will result in concussion, but the part-rap-part-electronic-part-indie-part-pop-part-something-completely-undefinable act, are back and bigger than ever following two extremely successful albums.

Seeing the two across the table from me, it’s amazing how far a cover of Christina Perri’s 'Jar of Hearts' can get you.

“It’s nice to be back in the UK,” Josh begins.

“We’ve played a couple of shows the last few days and it’s been good for us because we haven’t played for a while. We’re in this weird phase just after recording our new album. We’re ready to play.”

Crowds seem to love Tyler and Josh, knowing every song inside out.

“Crowds are strikingly similar when you travel the world and play music”, Tyler explains.

“The surprising thing is how similarly everyone reacts regardless of language or location. That’s the main thing I take away from it. Each crown has its own little quirk. They like chanting their own things. In the states we have to encourage a little bit more than over here. Every territory has a different chant and I get such a kick on it.”

For those theatrically aware among us, you’ll notice that the band took their name in reference to Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. Tyler explains while he was at college, “you call it university here”, he was studying the play during a time of indecision between school and starting a band.

“What twenty one pilots means in that play can be applied to everything in your life. There’s the right way and the wrong way to everything and sometimes the right way takes longer and you earn your scars, so that’s what we really wanted to do as a band and we got touring our own state there, keeping it local”, we wonder if that was a reference to the first single off of their upcoming third album, Blurryface, “and organic.”

From humble beginnings to taking to the world stage and supporting Fall Out Boy with MS MR, Josh explains the importance of live shows for the duo.

“We both speculate, I don’t know how to really prove this, the reason we are where we are now is because of people grabbing onto our live shows and will come to it,” he tells me.

“The way we talk about it is that people sharing our experiences with our band and performances is the biggest form of marketing for us. The fact that we’ve been on the road for the past three to four years has helped us develop this connection with people and their connection to the music.”

“Everyone responds to music in a different way. I could listen to the same song as you and have a different thought to it. That’s what’s cool about music, for everyone to come together in a live setting where everyone has these ideas, thoughts and emotions to our music, it’s a special thing.”

“These are people who have listened to the same music and arrived here for certain songs. Live shows are something special whether you’re spectating, enjoying it or on stage.”

An evening with Tyler and Joseph is an unforgettable and pretty moist evening, expect sweat physically splashing off drums as the pair crowd surf in their final song. Every song is played with complete confidence and character.

We ask Tyler his favourite song to perform is.

“Erm,” he begins followed by a pause between us all, “we have several new songs and play a song called Stressed Out we like to play is turning into one of our favourites to do live.”

“For me, live, it might change now because there’s new songs coming out, but it’s always been a song called Trees,” Josh adds.

“We both walk on stage for the first time in the night and we get into this mind-set of performing and putting on a show and Trees is usually one of the last songs we do and by that point we’re worn out. That song I play for myself, it’s the only one, and it’s a refresher and feels like the beginning of the show.”

“There’s not a song I don’t like to pay its like choosing a favourite kid. I probably will have a favourite kid, one day, maybe,” Josh jokes.

“How many kids” Tyler instantly asks back. The bond between the two is so sincere and full of fun. Watching such a friendship and dynamic of the two is even more prevalent in person.

“Probably ten, I dunno,” Josh pokes back almost as instantly. “I gotta get a girl first. I’d name a girl like maple or something.”

The setlist on this specific tour, the Blurry Face Tour, is trialling new tracks on the duo’s third album. What strikes as amazing is that fans seem to already know every syllable of every rap, two weeks before the songs have been released. Twenty One Pilot’s fans are something else, armed with balaclavas, littered in merch and usually drenched in sweat from the amount of jumping.

“I think, live they are enjoying it all so far. That’s our main area where we like to gather information about songs. We try not to focus too much of what people say online,” Tyler explains as Josh murmurs how he likes them.

“That’s all I was worried about, making sure Josh likes them,” Tyler laughs.

The duo share a lot of messages in their lyrics regarding to human psyche and in cases, mental illness. It’s admirable how open the both of them are and how many fans relate to the lyrics. Tyler explains how important the relatability of some of the lyrics is.

“Ultimately what we’re doing on stage is visually manifesting what that song is saying.”

“So for people to move with you with lines of songs is a moment I love living over and over again. When people are moving and singing with you live, you realise how important it is to have the strength to talk about the things we talk about. You worry and wonder what people are going to think but we’ve had so much feedback hearing that they understand what we’re saying.”

Recently married Tyler Joseph explains that married life is “cool”, before jokingly putting his arm Josh.

“We’re pretty happy”.

Previously described as “schizo-pop”, the band’s sound is not only genre defying, but confronts what shouldn’t be done in music, and make it sound amazing. The pair explain how hard it is to pin point what they do.

“We’re breaking out of this in music culture but there’s a sense of genre and classification of what you play and that’s tough. I think for us, we started out writing and playing what we really enjoy and that gets all confused in each other. I like hearing people’s interpretations.”

Tyler explains that he explains his music through their live performances.

“There’s pianos, drums and running around.”

#twenty one pilots #twentyonepilots #josh dun #joshua dun #tyler joseph #2015 #may #may 2015 #may '15 #blurryface #interview #dean eastmond #the national student #archive #archive.org #may 19 #uk

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girddlepatchilles · 1 year

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So I’m responding to this post, but I’m not reblogging because I’m really not interested in Lily coming after me, but I just wanted to gush for a moment.

So, to the point: isekai/portal fantasy/whatever you want to call it, have been around for years and the fact that the genre shows up in many different places is just so damn cool! The theme of a “normal” person going through a portal/doorway/whatever to go into another world shows up in plenty of myths and legends. Many stories about the fair folk talk about mortals being taken away to the fairy realm through portals and the like. In Japan, the story of Urashima Taro involves a young fisherman travelling to the Dragon Palace and staying there for what he perceives as three days before returning to his village. Upon his return he finds out it has been three hundred years! Again, this is a theme that also shows up in stories regarding the fair folk in parts of the UK and Europe, this shit is universal.

The Urashima Taro story is believed to be the forbear of the modern Isekai genre in Japan. Interestingly enough, an animated adaption of the story made in 1918 was one of the earliest anime created. What I also find quite interesting is many modern Isekai don’t seem to include the “when I return so much time has passed” aspect of the original folklore. In fact, it’s fairly common for the protagonist to just remain in the fantasy world and just not leave. Part of this is due to how the protagonist got there (here’s looking at you truck-kun), but from what I have seen, there aren’t that many Isekai where the protagonist goes home in the end.

This, of course, is very different to many of the portal fantasies in English language literature. The first instance of what would become portal fantasy comes to us from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland written in 1865. In it, the titular Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole and into Wonderland, where she experiences a strange world quite unlike our own. Unlike some of the more well known portal fantasy books, Alice’s adventures end when she wakes from a dream. The sequel Through the Looking Glass continues to explore the theme of dreams. Jules Verne would later produce Off on a Comet (Hector Servadac) in 1877, while Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court would come out in 1889. A Connecticut Yankee is also an early example of time travelling appearing in speculative fiction (H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine would come out in 1895). One of the most well known portal fantasies is of course C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia which saw the plucky protagonists being transported to Narnia through wardrobe, painting and various other means. Ironically enough, the final novel in the series The Last Battle involves several of the previous characters being allowed to remain in Narnia because they had died in a train accident on earth (an early example of truck-kun?).

Portal Fantasy and Isekai are both great forms of escapism, especially if it’s the kind of story where the protagonist ends up in a fictional setting they had previously read. I was a big fan of the Narnia books as a kid and another of my favourite books was a series where a group of Aussie kids ended up in Arthurian myth and tried to change how things turned out. I’m pretty sure I got rid of those books at some point, otherwise I’d be tempted to re-read them to see if they hold up. I’m not much into Portal Fantasy or Isekai these days (I read more fluffy romance, domestic fluff, speculative fiction, queer romance and fiction, fantasy, sci fi and gay cooking manga), but I can still see the appeal to a lot of people. I get a little side-eye-y when I see characters use their modern knowledge to “improve the lives” of the people in the fictional world they inhabit, but some authors and show runners have managed to do so in a way that doesn’t seem too bad. If I had to pick an Isekai I’ve seen that I loved, it would probably be The Devil is a Part-Timer! which is an example of a reverse Isekai. (It’s really great, go watch it!)

So... yeah. Just a little gushing from me.

#random thoughts #meta #genre meta #portal fantasy #isekai #quollity thoughts #i like gushing about book stuff #i didn't even mention one of my fave early portal fantasy books #john carter of mars #john carter is such a white saviour but god do i love watching him fuck around and find out on mars #deja thoris deserves better

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nurisiliel · 2 years

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A Zouxie Week

fandom: Tales of Arcadia

characters: Hisirdoux Casperan, Zoe Ashildr, Archie

Summary: Eight sequential short stories from the lives of Douxie and Zoe in Arcadia Oaks for the zouxieweek2022.

warnings: Day 8: /

disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Arcadia (Trollhunters, 3Below, Wizards and Rise of the Titans) or any character which you may recognize from the shows or the movie. They belong to Guillermo del Toro and DreamWorks Animation. However, everything else is my own creation.

Day 1 - 7 - Read on AO3

Zouxieweek2022 prompts, Day 8 - Rock Concert

Life had become quieter. Gone were the days when people were afraid of demonic witches who were in league with the devil. Nowadays, she was able to work regularly for years, precisely because people no longer believed in magic and she could always adjust her appearance a bit thanks to a simple illusion spell. Thus, she had been able to pursue her current vocation as a climatologist for years. Her colleagues in the various stations in Antarctica didn't suspect anything, had just celebrated her 38th birthday for her, although in truth she didn't get older than 25.

With a smile, she thought of her colleague Leo who had provided the background music for her party as an amateur DJ. That was when she had heard him for the first time in a very long time. It had taken her a while to recognize his voice, because it was more mature, fuller, more confident. But after listening to several songs from his band she finally had his image back in her mind's eye at the end of the party.

Oh, how young Hisirdoux Casperan had been when she had seen him last. So innocent, and looking up to Merlin Ambrosius with an enthusiastic and life loving expression.

That innocence had faded from his gaze. Instead, Caralyn saw an unshakable determination which was more than underlined by his clear words about the matter with which he had come forward to the council. Visually, he had changed as well. With a smile she remembered how, as an errand boy and apprentice to Merlin, he had always stood slightly hunched over, but that had been understandable to everyone in Avalon at that time. If she had had to live in the court of Arthur Pendragon, she most likely would have tried to make herself smaller and more inconspicuous as well.

There was nothing of that in the wizard before her now. Instead, his very well controlled magic made his aura really shine!

After audibly sighing because of the old memories, she noticed how Chaka looked at her with a disapproving frown. But she didn't care. Caralyn had always delighted in seeing her young brothers and sisters find their inner balance and blossom in the use of their magic. And she thought very little of the childish quarrels of some council members and didn't hide it. Whoever demanded respect and decency had to give it in the same way. Sometimes the present master wizards seemed to forget that...

"What do you suggest we do about the matter, Aspirant Casperan? Shall we risk the discovery of our guild for the sake of a few forest trolls?"

"With all due respect, Master Chaka, the big picture shouldn't be ignored in the long run. We are concerned not only about the 35 who are currently residing not far from Arcadia Oaks, but with the last hundred remaining forest trolls, who are increasingly being deprived of their homes all over the world because of humans, and are thus unable to fulfill their important contribution to the preservation of the green lungs in this world. We should all remember that we wizards also need air to breathe. We--"

"You use strong words," Chaka interrupted Hisirdoux, and this caused not only her sister Zoe but herself to frown. "But even if we agree that something must be done about it, the question remains, what? We can't show the mortals our magic. Or do you two want to be responsible for another inquisition?"

Caralyn didn't even need to look at him to hear his scornful tone. But before she could launch a counterargument, Akane was already speaking.

"I agree with you, Chaka, that we should be careful about revealing ourselves. But we wouldn't stand alone should it come to that. I know the First Three are very interested in reviving magic in this plane. Caralyn, aren't you in contact with the Creator of the Primal Cold?"

With a nod, she turned her gaze to Akane. "Do not involve the First Three lightly. Yes, Skrael is connected to me in some way about the fact that I work in his natural habitat. But you shouldn't forget the strife between the three that tore them apart. However, we don't need them to address this issue. Yes, I too believe that the people as a whole aren't yet ready to see and understand magic again. But I myself have been practicing unnoticed in their midst for many years, and frankly it's not hard." With measured steps, she then approached Zoe and Douxie. "As a guardian of the old knowledge of Avalon, I thank you both for bringing this matter before us. For yes, the situation is serious and I see it every day in my work. The council will continue to look at how to help the forest trolls and other magical creatures in the long run."

Immediately, she felt the piercing gaze of Chaka which apparently wanted to drill itself into her head. But she didn't let herself be disturbed by this. "However, what you can already organize, Sister Zoe and Brother Hisirdoux, is a concert."

"Come again... A concert?"

"Don't look so surprised, Brother." Caralyn smiled at Douxie, who exchanged a puzzled look with his companion. "You reach a lot of people with your music, and if you host, say, a rock concert, you can dedicate it to a certain theme. You said that the problem doesn't only affect the magical creatures, but also the indigenous peoples. Address that, call on people to do something about it, to protest, to start and sign petitions, to approach the authorities and politicians…"

And with the satisfying feeling of having already pushed a small stone in the right direction, she saw them grin at each other all at once and then nod.

"Honestly? That's a great idea. Why haven't we thought of that ourselves yet?" Hisirdoux muttered before smiling, shaking his head. But Caralyn also saw all emotion drain from his companion's face, quickly eyeing each of her brothers and sisters on the council with slightly narrowed eyes. With an inward sigh, she quickly stepped in front of them and turned to the rest of the council at the same time.

"I have decided to make a short trip to Arcadia to see the situation on the ground and speak with the trolls as well. I know that as chairman, this task normally falls to you, Brother Chaka, but since I know you are very busy with your own project right now, I would be happy to relieve you of this task if you agree."

"Very well," he spoke between clenched teeth, and before he could utter anything further, Caralyn bowed her thanks and, without further ado, opened a portal with a twisting hand gesture that quickly grew in size.

"Come," she spoke over her shoulder to Zoe and Hisirdoux, then stepped through her portal directly into a dimly lit room that instantly smelled of books.

Behind her, she heard them arrive as well, and closed the portal again as she turned and gave Zoe a prompting nod.

"You can safely ask your question now, sister."

"Question? What question, Zoe? I think I'm missing something here?"

"That's not a problem, old friend," Caralyn placated him, choosing an older-looking little couch to sit on.

"Since when does the council know we're in a band? Are you spying on us? If so, why?! And since when do you guys know where Douxie works? After all, this is the back room of the bookstore where he works! It's protected from being penetrated by magic. Opening a portal here should be absolutely impossible!"

"Well," Caralyn began, smoothing out her dress, at the hem of which she suddenly saw two cat's eyes flashing. Inevitably, her lips twisted into a wide grin. "I greet you, Archibald. How have you fared over the years?"

With a disgruntled exhale, Zoe made it clear what she thought of the fact that Caralyn had just changed the subject, but she could live with that. After all, there weren't many dragons left - especially not encountered in civilization - and when one confronted you, polite conversation simply took precedence.

"Caralyn of the Green Hills, second confidant of the last High Priestess of Avalon and Keeper of Ancient Knowledge." Archibald bowed his head in greeting, then jumped onto the table that stood next to the couch. "It has been a long time since our paths have crossed. Too long to share all the noteworthy stories my familiar and I have lived through since. But I would be interested to know why you grace us with your presence, milady."

"Of course," she agreed and became serious again. "It was right of you to bring the matter to the council," she began, looking at Zoe and Hisirdoux in turn. "But the council is not what it once was. Almost all of them live in prosperity and physical and mental peace these days. They have forgotten or successfully repressed how it once was, and they don't want it back. They have become, so to speak, politically tired politicians who are no longer really capable of acting, but at the same time they don't want to lose the status that comes with the seat in the council. My little stunt with Chaka? In the past, he would never have let himself be walked over like that, would have considered it an affront to his righteousness, if he himself hadn't pursued the duties of council chairman," Caralyn told them with clear bitterness in her voice.

"You asked if we were spying on you, Zoe. No. We don't have time for that. Everyone has his and her own more or less luxurious life to live. The meetings of us council members nowadays take place only every five years, if at all. But maybe you shouldn't tell that to the others of the community. Many older of our sisters and brothers still live by the old values and trust the council to protect them."

"Then wouldn't it just be better if they knew the truth? After all, if something were to happen, it would be important to know that they are on their own."

"In principle, yes, Hisirdoux. But please believe me when I assure you that it would never come to that. Both Raven and I answer every call, and there are others behind us who originally had their home in Avalon... But I digress," she changed the subject with a smile and looked at Zoe. "The reason I know you two are in a band is because your music was played at my last birthday party by a colleague. I told you before that your music reaches people, even in a god forsaken and blizzard shrouded station in Antarctica."

Laughing softly, she stood up and stepped to the only window in the room. "Isn't it beautiful how the light makes the tiny little dust particles in the air visible?" she spoke to no one in particular. "Life is precious, but fragile. So so fragile. That they even consider turning to the First Three should be proof enough to you that they aren't as they once were. For they know full well that without Nari, the balance of Warmth, Cold, and Life is also disturbed. So don't expect much help from the others. I myself won't be of much practical help if you decide to organize the concert, since I'm neither musically nor good in organizing such large events. But Raven will contact you if you wish to do so. Her better half has been a bigwig in the music business for some time and she was really taken with my idea."

"And you know this how? She hadn't commented on it at all."

"Not verbally, no." With a grin, she turned back to the others and leaned against the windowsill. "As you are connected to Archibald, Hisirdoux, I am connected to Raven. We not only took our oaths together as priestesses of Avalon quite a long times ago, but also became blood sisters. That's why we don't need newfangled cell phones to communicate with each other... But enough about me. Provided I've assuaged your concerns, Zoe, I'd really like to talk to the trolls now."

"A little less conspicuous garments wouldn't go amiss, though, milady."

"Archie is right. Zoe has made her garden opaque for human eyes as far as it goes, but your... appearance," Hisirdoux gestured with a sweeping hand movement from her head to hem, "would still make you shine in the forest like a firefly in the night."

"How poetic." She couldn't help but laugh. But then she nodded, and after a muttered spell, stood there with not only her hair black, but her dress in camouflage.

"Okay, that's really cool. You won't be able to stop me from looking like that, Douxie!"

"Excuse me?" Caralyn asked in confusion, not understanding the eyes of the young Hedgewitch flashing with interest.

"Eh, inside joke..." Hisirdoux grinned, tapping his index finger against his leg in rapid succession. "If you don't mind, I'd like to send you to the trolls alone. I've got the first ideas for new song lyrics buzzing around in my head right now, and I don't want to lose them! Archie?"

"Your sheet music is in the cabinet next to the cash register, on the right, middle shelf."

"Thank you!" he threw back over his shoulder, already storming out of the room.

"Well then, seems like it's just the two of us now. We--"

"Oh no, Zoe, you're not leaving me here when Douxie is just slipping into another chaotic creative phase. I'm coming with you! Meow."

"You just want to get back to the catnip..."

"Oh please, like I can't control myself when a Priestess of Ancient Knowledge visits us."

"We'll see, Archibald, we'll see..." Zoe muttered, pointing out the location of her garden on a map. "Just outside my garden you should be able to open your portal to. And when we get there, you'll explain to me how you were able to bring us here to this room in the first place," Zoe growled lightly at Caralyn.

"With the greatest pleasure, sister," she agreed, opening her palm to call the shadows.

@moppetwithamanbun @emsprovisions

#zouxieweek2022 #hisirdoux casperan #zoe ashildr #archie

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lewismonochromepepper · 2 years

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Dear diary,

There was certainly an adjustment. When it came to the weavers, Only a few of them seemed to relax enough to be around me, including Greg. Jamila was still angry, which… i wasn’t particularly happy about it, but I couldn’t blame her. The siblings - Oscar and Lila - were less than pleased too. With Lila keeping a distance. I think she was trying to protect her baby because she kept cradling her stomach. I don’t know when she got pregnant, but if she had a husband he wasn’t there. Oscar seemed more distanced mentally. He didn’t talk much, besides asking a few questions. His wife was a lot more curious about it all, mentioning that she thought she saw him a few times while she went to work. We used to be coworkers, the three of us.

I couldn’t help but blush whenever she commented on one of my features, and how it was so much different than the picture that was stationed in the kitchen. A small memorial was put up In the corner, and she explained that the cooks and staff members missed him dearly. So while there was already a small memorial in the family home in the livingroom, there’s a few more Tucked in various parts of the restaurant.

I’ll admit, I felt selfish. The fact that it took so long for me to come back, only to find out how much people missed me… I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I was out having adventures myself, but I should have. It’s been weighing on me.

The kids were a mixed bag. they were stationed around the living room, watching him like a hawk, but only a few of them were actually willing to talk to him. The rest of them were mainly quiet, and when they did speak it was about how he changed and such. It was obvious that they were trying to be polite, which hurt a little bit, but I’m trying not to let it get the best of me. I have been gone for about two years, and now to suddenly show up being so different…

Anyway. Other things have been happening as of late. Nothing too drastic, but my clothes have been losing color steadily. And it’s become even more apparent in my world than an Arthurs. As well as the decor in my room. When I first arrived it was bright and the pinks were pigmented and the stuffed animal seemed lively. Maybe it’s just my own skewed perception, but it feels lonesome and tired now. When I step into the room I don’t feel comfort in the brightness of my childhood room, instead I feel… I don’t know.

But I do you know, is that Arthur has been on my mind a lot. I can’t help but miss him, since he was my roommate for so long… And my feelings for him… I don’t know how to feel about it right now. All I know is that I miss him and I want to message him, but it feels too soon. He was injured when I left, it might be a startling change for me to suddenly be gone. I… I feel like I abandoned him.

there’s a few more sentences of words that are in the end scribbled out.

Mono forgot how twitchy his own Arthur was. The man was sitting beside him in the backyard of the restaurant. Which was just a little fenced off area with some patches of grass to the fence to block it from the parking lot. Rose bushes and flowers masked the fence so that way there was a semblance of privacy.

The air felt tense, although mono couldn’t tell if it was because of his own anxiety or if there really was tension between them. But there was for sure an awkwardness. The two would keep glancing over at one another and then promptly looking away. Arthur looked like he had something to sat, opening his mouth and then closing it. Opting to clear his throat

Mono hums lightly. His fingers sliding along the metal tail of the cat pendant that lays over his button up shirt. The special charms ensure that nothing would find him… But Arthur still had a reaction to him.

Mono chews his lip, studying the underside of a bush as he rakes his mind for things to do. Things to talk about. There was the obvious small talk, about Arthur’s van, and his job. Then there was the awkward, of what was happening while he was gone… That was sure to bring up some bad memories considering how the weavers responded to his appearance. He could bring up the others that he had met… Salena and Arthur, Frenzy and Lament, all the Vivi’s and all the Lewis’. Talk about the beach and the cave and… Reverb.

No…. That… monos frown tightened as he tried to imagine how Arthur would respond if he brought any of them up. Maybe he would be upset that mono was being well acquainted with multiple people while they were still here in mourning. Mono would have to bring up like he didn’t return any sooner, and how he was scared and how he was selfish, and how-

“Nice charm you got there.“

Mono bobs to attention and turns to him, his brain scrambles to catch up and understand what Arthur was talking about. Arthur’s face, a little stony, softened the smallest bit. His eyes dipped down to monos chest and then back, and it finally occurred to him. Mono pinched the metal in between his fingers and he held it out a little bit, so that way both of them could get a better look at it.

“Thank you.” He says quietly, a little too quiet. “A friend made it for me. “

“It looks cute. Suits you.”

“Ah-! That’s sweet of you.” Mono smiles softly, thankful for the break in silence as the gears in his head turn as fast as they could. Latching onto this new conversation starter, mono leans his head back and hooks his fingers under the chains of other charms and amulets that were stashed away under his shirt. Unlike his clothes, they still glittered finally with the colors it adorned. The cat charm, a second warding charm, the amulet he was given by a mysterious animal, and a stabilizing charm. Mono holds the centerpieces over his hand so that Arthur can get a good look. Mono smiles with pride as Arthur twists around to peer close. There’s a small question on if Arthur could inch closer, that mono accepted without thought. Now Arthurs leg was now brushing against his own thigh. Butterflies picking up in his chest.

“Mind if I touch them?” Arthur asks, his eyes dropping to something else, “oh, cool ring.”

It’s a shock that he was so surprised by the things that Arthur noticed. Why?? He couldn’t tell. The metallic rainbow metal ring that made his heart skip a beat. His face darkened a little.

Something that Arthur noticed almost immediately. He lets out a soft chuckle that was a mixture between clearing his throat and projecting his voice. “What? You got engaged already without us?” His voice was anything but malicious. But mono’s face dropped and he quickly shook his head.

“No!" Mono haphazardly covers his hand and the other charms. Fidgeting a little with them as he tries to think of a way to explain that could banish the thought from Arthur’s head. But all the damage was already done, and his quick movement has Arthur scooting away a little bit and sitting up straighter.

“Hey, it’s alright? “

“… I’m sorry. But they were just - gifts. Um. Look, see?” Mono holds out his hand and flicks the ring, causing it to spin. Arthur watched with the smallest flicker of fascination, but his movements were stiff.

Mono cursed himself. He didn’t want Arthur to put his walls up, and yet here he was hurting him regardless. Maybe this was too soon of a meeting. Maybe he should’ve rehearsed it a few more times in his room. Maybe-

“So, who made it? “

Mono swallows, flicking the ring twice until the hollow sound was louder than his rampaging thoughts. He needed to calm down. Now.

Deep breath. Deep breath.

“.. Lewis.. breath buddy.” without meaning to, mono stiffens under the hand pressed to his shoulder. It’s secure and firm, and mono focuses on the pressure for a minute. Counting to ten and counting his breaths.

The panic subsided, and Mono's head sinks forward as he calms. “Sorry.” He’s quiet again. It’s almost familiar, acting so rash and being so - messy with his feelings.

“It’s fine. No- no, it’s okay.” Arthur says firmly, eyebrows furrowed together with worry, making a face all too similar to Lance. “It’s - it’s a big change, right? Passing and then - well, moving back. It can be like that sometimes, so - take your time.”

That’s right. Arthur would know better than anyone how uprooting yourself would cause problems, considering how many times his family moved and how he was constantly sent to lance and then taken back, he would know. Mono also knew, even though he only moved once- twice now - but it was the biggest shift he had ever experienced at the time.

Mono frowns still, wanting nothing more than to fall onto his crux of chrome. It used to be so easy, back when he was alive and even a few months ago.

“Thank you. I’m still sorry. I was hoping I wouldn’t be like this. But I-“ mono chokes out a soft laugh, “I guess I’m still getting used to everything.”

“It’s - it’s okay, Lew. Really. You… well you died, so your temperament changed.” It did. A lot changed.

“.. I’m glad you’re here right now, Arthur. I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Lew.”

#hiatus writing #mono #wow hes a mess aint he

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govindhtech · 5 months

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Epic GTA 6: Explore the 8 Wants Great NPCs, Less Sprawl, and Mod Magic!

Epic GTA 6

8 desires for GTA 6 Improved NPCs, less sprawl, a well-written female character, mod support, and more.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming

Rockstar Games calls it “The next Grand Theft Auto” and will release the first trailer in December.

Some big GTA 6 leaks in 2022, including video clips, revealed a lot about the game. It appears to be set in Vice City in modern times (after GTA 5) and will have two protagonists to switch between, a man and a woman.

After that, anyone can guess, and we love guessing. There are 8 GTA 6 features we want.

They have enjoyed GTA Online for years, but he will wonder what it would be like without the mess. The multiplayer branch of GTA 5 exceeded Rockstar’s initial goals, and it shows every time you log in.

Different actions are tied to different menus depending on whether they were envisioned when the game was first made or added later. The inconsistent reward structures of different releases make older content feel unrewarding and unwanted. Groups are forced into weird ad-hoc corporations, which must be swapped out during the session if your friends want to be rewarded for their business investments.

Rockstar has a chance with GTA 6 to create an online mode worthy of GTA Online’s popularity and systems and structures that can support an evolving world. GTA Online could have been amazing, but it allowed for great moments around garbage mountains. If Rockstar fixes the infrastructure, GTA 6’s multiplayer could be unstoppable.

A strong female protagonist

Lucia appears to be one of GTA 6’s protagonists, based on leaks from last year. Even before the leaks, this seemed like a safe request for Rockstar’s next mega game. she want more than bare minimum an interesting woman who holds her own in the story and contributes to GTA’s satire of American culture without being the butt.

Maintain stereotypes. If Lucia is Latina, as rumored, she shouldn’t be femme fatale. If she’s bilingual, let Rockstar hire bilingual writers so she sounds like a person, not a sitcom.

Features Producer Mollie Taylor: After years of playing GTA Online as a woman, he want a strong, well-written female protagonist in the next mainline game. They love beating guys as her biker gal OC, and he think GTA 6 needs a badass woman. he want the ensemble cast trend to continue with a strong, smart woman who terrifies the other playable characters.

People say a female protagonist wouldn’t fit in with Rockstar’s universe, but that’s nonsense. Women can be criminals and gang leaders. Now give.

Mod support official

GTA has always been heavily modified, but the steps modders have to take to create them and the challenges players face when trying to run them are absurd when official mod support would make it so much easier.

The top GTA Online streams on Twitch are always heavily modded roleplay servers. Why not give streamers and fans a big set of modding tools since players and viewers love them? However, Rockstar tolerates mods (Take-Two does not), but tolerance is not support. When GTA 6 launches, she will hope their mod philosophy changes.

Those who enjoy non-violent activities enjoyed Red Dead Redemption 2’s sometimes irritating focus on treating Arthur Morgan as a human. Even though my Arthur kept saying “heeeey miSTER” too often, pulling left trigger to bark a few basic greetings at people going about their day was a good way to give a Rockstar protagonist some verbs other than run and shoot.

They enjoyed making bullets and polishing Arthur’s revolvers on long horseback rides. Grand Theft Auto could use more world interaction like this, and GTA Online’s roleplay servers show that players like mixing mundane tasks into chaos murder games.

She don’t mind the occasional five-star police escape, but she would like more non-violent activities in our next coastal city. Rockstar learned this in GTA Online. Creating a wardrobe or custom cars is a major draw. Rockstar added an official car meet mode last year (which players farm for XP). she had fun playing GTA5’s triathlons and golf courses, but GTA 6’s life sim would be better with work and leisure.

Euphoria-like NPC interactions

GTA 4, a technical leap from GTA: San Andreas, started the modern Grand Theft Auto. Rockstar North heavily featured Euphoria, a third-party physics technology, and made the world’s NPCs react more’realistically’ to events. Driving slowly near pedestrians who put their hands on the bonnet (and sometimes floor it and cackle) still thrills me.

Since Rockstar’s NPCs are still the best, Grand Theft Auto 6 must change how we view them. Video games still repeat, use inappropriate lines, and ignore the world’s atmosphere and your character’s actions.

A simple woman with a customized apartment worth billions. He like building. Build things in the Sims. Building in Valheim, Minecraft, and any game that lets me. He fight to unlock tat and trophies for that space.

GTA Online and Red Dead Online give players limited control over their space through themes they can buy and apply to their properties. If they are making the biggest and best GTA 6, they want to design and tweak properties in its online and singleplayer modes.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

#gaming #NPCs #GTA6 #Sprawl #technews #govindhtech #technology

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soul-dwelling · 2 years

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With the whole question on "if the prequel thing was planned from the start", I think good evidence against that notion is how the actually connections turned out a lot lamer than a lot of people imagined. If he would have planed it from the start I think things would have more organicly turned into aspects of Soul Eaters world. Like even Shinras whole smiling thing - him turning into the sun would seem to be symbolic with the fire of life and never giving up hope. but nah didnt happen, he god.

I will not use that disablist language and instead say, yes, the connections disappoint me compared to what we could have gotten.

My opinion keeps changing. At this moment, I think, based on Shinra’s name, Ohkubo planned for him to create a world–whether re-creating the old world, or making a new one. I’m not yet convinced he had in mind to have Shinra create the Soul Eater world. There are definitely details that could have made it obvious that was going to happen–but each time, they were undermined by a competing understanding. For example, if you see Arthur Boyle wielding a sword he calls Excalibur, there is nothing there that means absolutely, “This is the Arthur that Soul Eater Excalibur talked about, and eventually Arthur will get a sword that turns into Soul Eater Excalibur.” Or, if you see Maki, maybe you think, “Maki will be a witch,” but then the manga finale never has that happen–I’m not saying it should have, as that would be weirdly forced, but it’s odd that of all things that didn’t happen, in lieu of Inca, just because she looks and acts a bit like Kim and is destructive, is now suddenly a witch in the new world. Or, if you see Akitaru and Vulcan enjoying the skull motif, nothing there screams, “This will inspire Shinra to make Lord Death.” These are such tenuous connections and feel forced.

If it was me, and I was writing Fire Force, and I knew from the beginning that this manga would be a Soul Eater prequel, I couldn’t afford to make it too obvious–you spoil the ending–but I would make it something that, by the end of, say, Chapter 1 or an early chapter, if you went back and re-read from the beginning, you would say, “Oh, I can’t believe I missed this, it was so obvious from the beginning!” Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood showed Father at the end of Episode 1 and made references to Xing to make it obvious, yes, this will be a faithful adaptation of the manga. The CW The Flash, whatever its flaws, set up an adaptation of Crisis from Episode 1, strongly hinted who Wells really was–then did marvelous subversions and tricks to make you think Wells wasn’t the Reverse Flash, then maybe he was, then how come he doesn’t look like Thawne, before giving a believable explanation that all helped build the world and have pay off later.

So, if it was me? Don’t have Arthur be revealed to be the Arthur of Soul Eater. Maybe show that he is wielding _the_ actual Excalibur of Arthurian legend, don’t explain yet how he got it, and you can still have it be King Arthur’s weapon that somehow this goofball got his hands on. You can still play out the rest of the Fire Force manga as is: Excalibur indeed becomes the first demon weapon, and he still belonged to the King Arthur of legend, and we’re not suddenly retconning what we thought we understood in Soul Eater and had “King Arthur” actually be “Arthur Boyle.”

And make other connections more obvious. People loved thinking Akitaru was going to be revealed to be Eibon or Free, given similar appearances. Make Akitaru the inventor guy so that, when we see his Eibon mask, maybe something clicks for us and think, “No, there’s no way he is Eibon.”

But really, as I’ve said, I never wanted Fire Force to be a prequel, so it it was me, I wouldn’t have done that to begin with: Fire Force would have been its own thing. And it just shows how empty that ending was. If the ending was always going to be that Shinra just re-makes the world, who cares? Something more significant needs to happen, beyond just a happy ending. (I have similar thoughts about how another prequel, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, just wrapped up, but that’s another discussion.)

Yes, Shinra becoming the Sun could be such a significant moment–and would mean that he is still in Soul Eater and has an actual obvious presence. I don’t think that’s what I would do if I was writing, given that it is such a bizarre transformation and, while keeping him present, doesn’t answer for me some message–aside from some potentially obvious ones, like, “The Sun shines light onto the world and feeds life on Earth, just as Shinra shined a light on what the world is really like and brought back life on Earth with his sacrifice.”

Honestly, there is so much Fire Force could have shown that actually set up the Soul Eater world–and adjusting the physics wasn’t it. Rather than wait until the very last arc, why not introduce the witches earlier? Or the werewolves? Or death weapons? Any of this could have been cool to let the audience get to know these characters and concepts more than we got to know them in Soul Eater. Instead, all of it is shoved into the last arc–more like the last five chapters or so–so that nothing is developed beyond, “Shinra and Inca probably had a witch child, Excalibur is now here, death matters less, Hibana and Iris’s old church is now suddenly Justin Law’s church, and somehow Lord Death takes away fire powers and, despite being made to be more familiar with people, just fucks off to make his own city, because Soul Eater said he made his own city.” It’s all like that–”because it happened in Soul Eater, it has to happen in Fire Force.” That’s bad storytelling: you’re letting this Soul Eater end point dictate the world building, rather than making the plot and the characters of Fire Force lead you to that end point.

Really, I don’t know what the ending should have been for this series. It felt like a journey that just ends with, “Re-make the world,” admitting that this world the characters lived in sucked and needed not just radical change but a complete re-making.

#dwells whines about fire force #long post

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keister-meister · 3 years

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I'm currently watching the Bohemian Rhapsody film and it's got me thinking about how silly it is that this whole 70's rock aesthetic has become practically inseparable from the popular Marauders era fanon.

Like... we all know what the Marauders era looks like in a lot of fanon. Everything is kind of sepia, the Marauders wear nothing but bell-bottom jeans and t-shirts and denim and leather jackets, they rock those fluffy, shaggy 70's 'dos, light up a cigarette like every five minutes and maybe most importantly, they spend their free time listening to whatever the author's/OP's favorite popular 70's band is on a muggle record player whenever they're not busy participating in muggle protests for gay rights.

What's up with making the Marauders basically muggles in all but name only? Aside from projection? We know at least two of them were pureblood wizards, the third was a half-blood who grew up in the wizarding world (Remus had to hide being a wizard AND a werewolf – what are the chances that his parents would have allowed him to hang out with muggle children?) and the fourth was most likely either pureblood or half-blood. Point is... they all grew up in the wizarding culture, as far as we know, and whatever muggle influence Remus as a half-blood would have had from his mother would certainly not have included current fashion and popular music – those are things youth get from peers.

The boys likely wouldn't have had much contact with muggle culture until Hogwarts... but from what we know from canon, there doesn't seem to be much muggle culture in Hogwarts either. The kids from wizarding backgrounds just stick to their own things, and the muggle-borns seem to mostly adapt to the wizarding world. Also, muggle technology doesn't work in Hogwarts, so that's it for music records, movies and TV-shows being shared.

We also know from canon that the wizards as whole just aren't keen on integrating or adapting aspects of the muggle world into theirs, even if it was possible. They still write on parchment with quills and ink, FFS. Arthur Weasley was apparently the most notable connoisseur of muggle culture, yet he didn't even remember the word "telephone" correctly. While Harry's generation of wizard youth is said to dress in muggle clothes outside Hogwarts (which I assume was Rowling's way of making Harry's generation in particular more relatable to the reader), we are shown that adult/older wizards are mostly clueless about muggle clothing... to the point of old men wearing floral night dresses (no judging tho).

All I'm saying is... if the wizard society as a whole – not just the few pureblood fanatics – wasn't pretty much unreceptive of the ways of the muggle world, there's just no way they would have that medieval/victorian thing going on in the late 20th century. They would not wear robes and cloaks as everyday clothes. They would have debit cards instead of carrying gold around, they would write with mechanical pencils and they would definitely use some magic-powered version of a cell phone instead of... sending an owl or putting their head in a fireplace. Dumbledore would not be seen as the progressive icon he apparently is just because he thinks it would be evil to kick muggle-born magical people into concentration camps to be executed. IDK, the bar is pretty low.

The fact that the wizards haven't adopted many modern muggle inventions and ways of doing things even when they would be more convenient suggests that valuing tradition is something that is implicitly taught to all wizards. They either see their own ways as superior, or just don't feel compelled to change what is familiar just because something else might be more efficient or convenient. And it makes sense because isn't this how humans work a lot of the time when it comes to new, unfamiliar things, although maybe less extreme? Like, how America as a whole is still mostly averse to bidets, despite the fact that rinsing your ass with water is obviously a better way to clean up than just smearing around with a dry piece of paper? (Sorry for the shitty example.)

This is why I feel like the Marauders wouldn't be anywhere near as "muggle" as they are usually portrayed in fanon. I don't see any reason why they would be so different from Harry, Ron and Hermione – none of whom were into muggle things in canon, despite being "progressive" and despite two of them actually having been raised in the muggle world before Hogwarts. Teenagers don't tend to become invested in popular culture like fashion and music until after the age of 11, and these kids spend all but two(?) months a year at Hogwarts surrounded by wizarding culture. Since the expectation is that they stay in the wizarding world, why would they be interested in keeping up with the trends of the muggle world? I can see this being important enough for someone who is muggle-born and maintains close relationships in the muggle world, but for purebloods? No way.

Anyway, we know there are wizarding musicians (although maybe two were mentioned), wizarding games, wizarding fashion, wizarding literature, wizarding magazines, wizarding sports... so why not get creative and expand on that, instead of making everyone basically muggle? Like, it's interesting that most fic writers don't take the chance to explore the possibilities of wizarding youth culture beyond what is shown in the books. What if there was a wizarding band that had the same vibe as Queen or ABBA or the Sex Pistols or whatever band you want the Marauders to like? What if instead of everyone just smoking regular muggle cigarettes, there was some different habit that was popular with the wizard kids? Wizard drugs?

I guess people love the idea of Marauders being the definition of cool, but we forget that what is cool to us is generally stupid or insignificant to wizards, and what is cool for wizards is just... silly fairytale nonsense to us. The Marauders who wear like... high-collared Diricawl feather cloaks and smoke Purple Pixie grass or whatever through a nostril pipe while listening to some band called the Bad Goblins, or whatever whimsical things Rowling would probably come up with, just don't scream "cool guys" to us like the Marauders smoking cigs and wearing leather jackets do.

IDK, let's just be real, the canon Marauders would be scoffing at bad-tasting muggle cancer sticks, laughing at how silly muggles look in their bell-bottoms, listening to weird wizarding music... what's so wrong with that?

#the marauders #marauders fanon #marauders era #pro snape #<that one is because i know a lot of frequenters in that tag will agree with this

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kohanayaki · 3 years

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.:Time and Time Again:. (Marauders Era x Reader) Ch 5

Harry confronts you with a familiar piece of suspiciously folded parchment, and you tell him the story of how you helped create it (mostly told through flashbacks taking place in the Marauders era).

LINKS: CH 1 CH 2 CH 3 CH 4 CH 5 CH 6 CH 7 CH 8

___________________________________________________________

Ch 5 .:Narrow Spaces and New Alliances:.

Your eyes drifted open slowly, the bright streams of sunlight coming in through your window strangely unbecoming of 12 Grimmauld Place. It took you a moment to get your bearings as you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes and remembered where you were. As you sat there, looking around Sirius' guest bedroom, last night's events all seemed to flood back to you at once. You groaned into the comforter, feeling your face burn as you recalled blatantly staring at his lips just minutes after crying into his shirt for at least half an hour.

Come on, get it together, you thought to yourself, you're here because Dumbledore summoned you, stay on task.

However, as soon as that memory left your head another replaced it, this one weighing heavier on your chest. You found yourself thinking back to your encounter with Severus. Well, as much as you could call it an 'encounter.' Even when you couldn't see him, you could feel him when you reached out to him with your mind. Severus was good at blocking legillemency— too good, in fact, because you would know the familiar force of his mental shield anywhere. You'd never felt it as powerful coming from anyone else. You almost laughed at the irony of it; the very thing he was trying to use to keep hidden was exactly what had given him away. That, and the smell of him, which took you back to the moment you'd first smelled that damn amortentia potion. . .

You tried to shake off the thought as you properly got out of bed and changed into some casual clothes. The next Order meeting wasn't until tomorrow afternoon, so you had the day mostly to yourself, but you knew the next time you were all in a room together you would have to address some things privately if you had any hope of working together efficiently. You gently padded down the wooden stairs, the door to Sirius' room still closed. He never was an early riser.

As you reached the kitchen you began to put a pot of coffee on when you heard someone approach the room, stalling in the kitchen entrance. You turned around to see Harry in the doorway.

“Morning,” you grinned, turning back to the counter and using your wand to bring some water to a boil, “Coffee? Tea?”

“Oh,” Harry said, a bit embarrassed you'd caught him in mid-thought, “no, I'm okay.”

“What's on your mind?” you asked.

“Um, I was wondering if you could tell me, I mean, if you have the time. . .” he trailed off, reaching for his back pocket, “well, the thing is, a few years ago I found—”

“Kreacher heard sounds coming from the kitchen and did not expect (Y/n)'s return,” Harry jumped at the house elf's sudden arrival, but you seemed unphased.

“Though master's half mudblood godson remains here,” the elf muttered to himself, “How many more days must it be?”

“Hello, Kreacher,” you greeted him, “nothing nasty about Harry, now, alright? Don't forget he's my godson too.”

“Of course,” Kreacher said, thickly sarcastic but with respect for you in his tone nonetheless. His permanent frown seemed to deepen, however, when he saw you next to the coffee maker. “(Y/n) of house (L/n) should not have to be using the kitchen. Mistress Black would have wept to see a pureblood use muggle equipment. If (Y/n) requires refreshment Kreacher will have it ready.”

“There's no need for that,” you said, “Besides, it's done already, see? You can go on now.”

Kreacher squinted at the cup you poured for yourself. “Always peculiar,” he grumbled, stalking away at your request and muttering to himself all the while.

“He's oddly. . . nice to you,” Harry said, green eyes quizzical behind his round-framed glasses.

“He is,” you chuckled.

“But, well, you're—”

“A blood traitor?” you gave him an easy smile when you saw his expression, easing his fears that he'd actually offended you. “I know,” you said, “he's been through a lot, it's complicated. Trust me, he wasn't always like this to me. It takes time. And it doesn't hurt to be nice to him either.”

Harry decided against bringing up that the nicest person that he knew to the house elf was Hermione, who Kreacher regularly called a 'mudblood wench,' but decided to focus on the 'taking time' part of your statement, wondering just how long this kind of progress took with the spiteful elf. Besides, you seemed to have some sort of history with him.

“Anyways, what was it you were saying?” you asked Harry.

“Oh, right,” he said, reaching back around him, “um, my friends Fred and George, you've met them?”

“Molly and Arthur's twins, of course,” you smiled, “little imps, they are. Those two could give your father and Sirius a run for their money.”

“Right!” Harry said, “well, that's sort of the point. They're the ones who gave me this.”

As you turned around to face him you stalled mid-stir, nearly dropping your mug as you did. Even as a piece of blank parchment you knew what it was, the distinctive accordion folds that met in the center giving it away.

“How in the world. . .” you trailed off as Harry handed it to you, “but Filch—”

“Didn't do a very good job of hiding it, apparently,” Harry finished, “I thought you might want to do the honors?”

You nodded wordlessly, a pang of unexpected emotion hitting you as you pressed your wand to the map's center.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

The faded, brown ink showed itself as its protection charm was washed away, revealing the nostalgia-inducing inscription scrawled in your respective handwritings:

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Fangs are proud to present: The Marauders Map

“Do Remus and Sirius know you have this?” you asked Harry, who nodded.

“Professor Lupin gave it back to me third year before he left Hogwarts,” he said, “but he never told me anything about it after that.” he seemed deep in thought for a moment before looking up at you. “If everyone else is who I think it is, you're Fangs, right?”

It was your turn to nod now.

“I always wondered, how did you do it?” Harry said, hardly containing his curiosity, and you couldn't help but think how much he looked like James in that moment. “How does it work? What sort of magic did you use? All the secret passageways, how did you find them?”

“Alright, slow down,” you laughed lightly, giving in, “I suppose there's no harm in telling you.”

Harry brightened at that, bounding into the living room and taking a seat on the couch as if to say 'we've got all day,' which you did. It warmed your heart to see him so excited, this was one of the only ways he could get to know his parents— through the stories that remained from the people who loved them. If you could help the picture of his family in his mind become a bit clearer, you would tell him any story he wanted to know. He deserved that much after everything he'd been through.

You took a seat opposite him, still nursing your cup of coffee.

“Well,” you said, “it's a long story, starting with how bad those lot were at keeping secrets. . .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1974 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Run!” James half shouted half laughed as Filch hobbled after the four of them. Sirius nearly bit his tongue trying to keep in his laughter as the Caretaker slung insults and promises of punishment their way, cat ears and a tail freshly sprouted from his body.

“I can't believe we actually did that,” Sirius cackled, keeping easy pace with James.

“I can't believe you dragged me into this,” Remus panted, his current body not lending itself well to physical activity. For once he actually wished he was a werewolf right about now.

“I don't know if I can keep up,” Peter wheezed, falling behind.

“Oh come on,” James said, grabbing his sleeve and helping him run, “we can out run a gummy-legged old prat like him.”

“I don't know, he's faster than he looks,” Remus pointed out as Filch rounded the corner behind them.

“Damn,” James cursed under his breath, “we'll lose him if we can make it to the one-eyed-witch passageway.”

“We'll never activate it in time,” Remus countered.

“The hallway behind the third floor tapestry?” Peter suggested.

“No, Filch knows about that one now,” Sirius said.

“Why the hell didn't you bring your cloak?” Remus huffed.

“Well getting caught wasn't supposed to be part of the plan, but someone had to let out a laugh before we could get out!”

“Just save your air and sprint!” Sirius hissed.

The extended run time was starting to catch up to all of them now, and when they'd made a wrong turn to a blocked off corridor they thought they were done for.

“Hey, morons, over here!”

Four heads snapped towards the sound of your whisper, but you were nowhere to be found. Suddenly, one of the light pillars began to shift, revealing a large crack in the wall just big enough for them to fit sideways.

No questions were asked with no time to waste, and the four boys clamored after one another so they could fit inside. Your magic moved the pillar back in place just in time, and you watched from your hiding spot as Filch reached the walled-off passage in surprise, grumbling as he looked around for the culprits behind you. You had to stifle a snicker as his cat ears lowered; was that growling coming from the back of this throat or did you imagine that? Eventually he stumbled off in frustration and you sighed.

“Alright, the coast is clear,” you said.

“Why did you help us?” James rose a brow, that signature shit-eating grin back on his face like it never left, “you haven't fallen in love with me since our truce, have you?”

“Dream on, Potter,” you rolled your eyes, pushing him out of the crevice and smirking as he tumbled to the floor.

“It seems like I'm always saving you nowadays,” you said, stepping out of the wall yourself with the rest of the boys following.

Remus was thoroughly confused, looking pointedly between you and Sirius. He knew you and James were pretty much friends now, but he also noticed that the hostile air that always seemed to be present with you and the elder Black had diminished. He'd even seen you two talking in the halls lately. Sirius gave him a look; he would explain what happened in the forest with Lucius to Remus later. Mostly he didn't want to admit that Remus was right about you not being so bad if he gave you a chance; you had actually been getting on pretty well since that night.

“You do realize it's no fun winning the house cup when you four practically make Gryffindor ineligible every year with all the shit you get up to, right?” you chuckled, “some competition would be nice for a change.”

“We'll see if you're singing the same tune when Quidditch season rolls around,” James said smugly.

“You're right,” you said, squaring up against him, “guess that's a new competition we've got going for us.”

It had recently been announced that you and James had both been selected to play Seeker for your respective houses next year. It was an arrangement that had the whole school talking, your rivalry turned (mostly) friendship now infamous, even if it was a recent occurrence.

“Hold on, how did you know that was there?” Peter asked you, pointing to the moving column, “even we didn't know about it.”

“Oh?” you crossed your arms, “and are you four supposedly some kind of all-knowing secret masters? Because clearly there's things you don't know about yet.”

Sirius slapped a hand over Peter's mouth before he could retaliate and give away what they've been working on.

“Yes, well, apparently,” he said, ignoring Peter's muffled protests.

You looked at them curiously, all four boys looking suspiciously nervous.

The next day at breakfast, James had brought up the idea of 'hiring' you to help them finish the map.

“I'm telling you, I think we can really make progress with their help,” he pitched, “they clearly know what they're talking about, and we know they can pull a hell of a prank from all the times they've gotten me.”

“How do we know they won't tell anyone?” Peter countered, “I don't know what's up with you, but you're trusting them too fast, James.”

“They're not the type that would tell,” Remus admitted.

“Oh, not you too!” Peter whined.

“I'm just saying, they'll likely appreciate what we've gathered so far and have a fair bit to add,” Lupin insisted, “it could be worth a try if you really want to finish it before we graduate—”

“Finish what?”

The four boys jolted upright, turning to see you and Lily.

“Are you guys okay?” Lily asked, concern written across her features.

“Of course!”

“Never better!”

“Why wouldn't we be?”

Remus just groaned at his friends' panicked answers. This was hopeless.

You and Lily shared a knowing look off the the side.

“Alright, whatever you say. . .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry laughed heartily,

“Wow, I mean, I know you said they were bad, but that bad?”

“For being expert pranksters who hardly ever managed to get caught, they were remarkably terrible at hiding things,” you said, chuckling along with him, “It didn't take us long to figure out they were up to something, although they seemed to think they were brilliant at covering it up, Remus had to burst their bubble eventually.”

Harry shook his head, smiling fondly and imagining all the scenes in his head as you continued your tale.

“So that was when they were first starting to put the map together,” you continued, “but that wasn't even the biggest secret they were hiding. Of course, I wouldn't find out about that for another year, but we'll get to that part of the story later. . .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1975 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This tastes awful,” Sirius complained, trying to ignore the plant prodding the under-side of his tongue.

“Well if you were expecting treacle toffee I'm sorry to disappoint,” James rolled his eyes, equally nauseated by the bitter tinge of the Mandrake leaf in his mouth.

“There's no way someone can do this for an entire month,” Peter said, “How do you brush your teeth? What if you accidentally swallow it when you're eating?”

“You three have fun with that,” Remus chuckled, flipping through an old library book and his mouth gratefully leafless.

“How about some gratitude, Moony?” James said, “We're doing this for you.”

“Please, you just want to see if you can turn into a dragon or something,” Lupin chortled, “and you don't actually have to go through with all this. Who knows if this animagus stuff will actually work.”

“Well, a dragon would suit me,” James mused, “but of course we're going to see this through, mate. You know we'd do anything for you.”

Remus smiled to himself, not responding and not needing to. He knew.

“Hey guys,” you grinned, walking up to the Gryffindor table.

Peter gulped suddenly in surprise as you came up behind him, and his eyes widened in horror.

“Shit!” he coughed out, “I-I swallowed it!”

“Your. . . food?” you questioned, glancing over at the boys who all had that same, vaguely panicked look about them.

“Okay, it was funny at first, but you guys have been acting weird since last year and now it's worrying,” you admitted.

The four looked between themselves and came to a sort of silent conclusion. Maybe in this scenario it was better to tell one secret to keep the other. And so, later that night, they told you to meet them after lights out so they could tell you what was really going on. You snuck out of your dorm room and made your way through the secret tunnel to the Gryffindor common room, a route you'd taken plenty of times to mess with James.

You pushed a loose panel of wood open, coming into the warmly lit space through one of the cabinets. You pushed an armchair that was half blocking your path out of the way as you crawled through the space.

“Blimey!” Sirius jumped, “give us a heads up, would you?”

“Sush,” Remus scolded him, “you really don't understand the concept of an inside voice, do you?”

“Alright, well I'm here,” you said, brushing off your robes, “now what's this big secret? This better not be a trick because I've been working on a new hex.”

“Nothing like that,” James assured you, “we've been working on something we think you might be interested in, if you're willing to contribute.”

He stepped to the side so you could see the floor where they'd been huddled around and your eyes widened.

“Merlin,” you said. The red and gold carpet was covered in at least forty different pieces of parchment. Pages upon pages overlapped with each other, each messily detailing a different part and level of the castle in scribbles of smudged ink. “This is. . .”

“The entirety of the Hogwarts castle and surrounding land,” Sirius said proudly, “complete with secret passageways.”

“This is our lives' work, (Y/n),” James said, “be impressed!”

“What impresses me most is how none of you have any sense of scale,” you said, sifting through the papers, “you should really condense this. Kind of hard to make any use of a map if you have to flip to page thirty-three to find the kitchens.”

“Point taken,” Remus said, “it could do with some reorganization.”

“And probably a bigger piece of paper,” you mentioned.

“Right, that. . .”

“That's not all there is to it, though,” Peter said, “Sirius?”

The curly haired boy stepped forward, pressing his wand to the center of the floor.

“Revelare Popularis,”

You watched in wonder as hundreds of names suddenly appeared across the pieces of paper, all students and faculty you recognized. They were scrawled in Sirius' handwriting, as if he'd written them himself.

“This spell shows where everyone in any location on this map is at this very moment,” he said, “It's not exact, and we've been working on variations.”

“So you can plan ahead without getting caught,” you mused, “how'd you learn something as advanced as this, Black?”

“I get around,” Sirius shrugged, unabashedly showing off. Peter rolled his eyes.

“So, the only drawback, of course, is that the spell doesn't work in real time,” Remus said, “so by the time you get where you need to go. . .”

“People will have moved,” James finished, “we're willing to share this little trove of knowledge with you if you're willing to give up all the secret rooms, passages, and hiding places you know.”

“And we thought you may have a solution to our timing problem,” Remus said, “I could tell from our study sessions you quite enjoy learning ahead of your year.”

Your eyes scanned the pages, and you were admittedly impressed. There was ton of stuff on here you had no idea about, but you knew a fair amount was missing as well. It seemed like a fair trade.

“I'm in,” you said.

“What?” Peter blinked, “it was that easy?”

“This is a useful tool you've got,” you said, “I think we can all benefit from it being improved. And now that you mention it, I actually do think I've read about a similar spell to that paper charm. It was in some Gaelic tome in the restricted section on ancient magic. I'm not even sure it used a wand. It was called the Homunculus charm. From what I read it sounded like it acted as a live feed for people in any given location, clan leaders used it to plan ambushes and keep track of citizens. If we could link it to the entire castle. . .”

“We'd be able to see where everyone is—”

“And what they're doing—”

“—At every hour of every day!”

“True, albeit a bit stalkerish,” you quipped, “you let me in on this if I add in what I know, and you got yourself a deal.”

James put out his hand, and as tempted as you were to turn it green or make all the bones in it disappear, you reached out and shook it.

“I do believe this puts us in a formal alliance, Potter,” you said cheekily.

“I believe so,” James smirked.

“Terrifying,” Remus chuckled, “This school won't even know what hit it.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” James said with a cheshire grin, “let's steal ourselves a book, shall we?”

Read chapter 6 here!

Taglist: @sleep-i-ness, @blackpinkdolan, @parker-natasha, @ornella0910 @undertaker1827 @thatwierdo-koemi @nxstalgicnxbxdy @calaryssia @aleksanderwh0r3 @mialupin1

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hopeyallenjoy · 3 years

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An eventful birthday

Did he want to make love to you?

Pairing : Young Severus Snape x Fem!Reader

Warnings : slight smut ; little bit of swearing ; caught during sex ; teasing in public

Wordcount : 3, 712 words

Request : Maraudeur era Severus x reader’s first time

I think I got a little too excited about this order so here is the resume. I did two different version with the same base “ severus and reader’s first time.” Don't hesitate to tell me if you like it or not.

Resume : Severus and Reader have been together for a while but have never had sex. Reader is getting impatient and decides to invite her boyfriend to her house for the vacations. With Lucius' help, Severus takes the invitation as an implicit request for sex, so he spends the beginning of the vacation educating himself on the subject, until the big day. D-Day, which turns out to be Y/n's birthday... !

Severus waddled from one foot to the other, in front of the blue door of a small country house, wondering if he should enter or not.

That blue door was yours. You and Severus had been dating since the beginning of your sixth year at Hogwarts. You were the one who made the first move, asking him via owl if he would like to go out with you. To your surprise he agreed. In the early days, your relationship had been tedious, Severus having trouble showing you affection in public and even being unpleasant at times, but you knew him well enough to know that he didn't want to hurt you. He was just a little proud. It had to be said that the rumors that were circulating about you didn't help. Some said Severus had used dark magic to make you fall in love with him, others thought he was using you. In short, the rumors were far from reality, making Severus a despicable man when he was only afraid. Personally, you didn't care what people said or thought, but that wasn't entirely true of your boyfriend. So with all the patience you had, you managed to make him more comfortable, to make your relationship evolve so that it lasts. Taking all the necessary first steps, erasing his doubts one after the other. Yes, your sixth year had been an emotional one.

And you were not at the end of your sorrows, already another obstacle was standing in your way. A few months before the end of the year, you had started sleeping with Severus, either in your dormitory or in his. Of course you only did this, out of respect for your respective roommates, but mostly because every time you tried to exchange more than a kiss with Severus, he found an excuse not to. This behavior had annoyed you a little and even hurt you but you didn't give up and ended up inviting him to spend the vacations at your place knowing that he would have no excuse and would have to explain what was bothering him.

Severus was surprised that you invited him so suddenly, he had been disturbed by your behavior for a few months. It must be said, he was not very good with women and had gone to his best friend, Lucius Malfoy, to ask his advice. He had described to him, the changes he had noticed in the way you dressed, the way you spoke to him, and all the weird phrases that just didn't make sense to his ears.

Lucius had laughed at his explanation, confiding that you wanted to have sex with him. Severus was taken aback.

"Don't look so surprised, my friend. You told me she'd had other boyfriends before you, right?” he nodded “So, it's only natural, your little Y/n wants you to fuck her. You want that too, don't you Sev?"

Severus thought for a moment. Did he want to make love to you? The answer had come to him naturally ; of course. You was the smartest girl he knew, you always understood him, you always seemed to know what to say to make him feel confident, he wanted to confide in you all his problems, to hold you until morning and he understood that now, he would love to see your naked body and feel your warmth against him. But he was not reassured by the idea of you seeing him naked, he was afraid of disappointing you. Lucius then set out to teach Severus what he called the basics of a good fuck. He took his role as a teacher so much to heart that he spent most of the night before the vacations making a book for Severus.

The book was read in one night. Although he wasn't sure if you would like most of the practices described in Lucius's manual, Severus was a little reassured to have a minimum of knowledge before taking action. He would never have thought that sex was a subject that required so much knowledge. Severus didn't have time to continue thinking as the door in front of him opened, revealing a jovial looking woman, whom he recognized as one of your mothers. Because yes, you had two mothers.

"Severus, my boy, come in! Y/n is in her room. You can join her if you like. We'll call you when the food is ready. Oh and you should take your suitcase up with you."

He didn't have time to put one in before your mother had already joined your other mother in the kitchen. Just starting to get used to so much kindness as he had been coming to your house as a friend for a while, he stammered a slightly embarrassed thank you before running upstairs to find you. You was sitting at your window reading,when he enter your room. When you heard him come in you looked up from your book and smiled at him with a smile that would warm the coldest heart.

You were about to stand up and greet him when to your surprise he came up to you faster than a flash of lightning and kissed you fiercely. You kissed back as he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him.

"Severus" you breathed between kisses.

"Y/n" he replied as he pushed you towards your bed without breaking the kiss.

"Y/n, the boys have arrived, they are asking where they ca... Oh!"

Severus turned around and came face to face with Lily Evans leaning on Y/n's bedroom door. Her gaze darted back and forth between your two faces and the position she had found you in.

"I think... I better go ask your mothers," she disappeared down the stairs, closing the door behind her.

Severus stood up in a bit of a panic as you burst out laughing. He questioned you with his eyes as he thought you had gone mad.

"By Merlin, I've never seen you this enterprising and Lily had to come in.

"Repeating the facts doesn't make them any less dramatic, you know Y/n? What are we going to do now that she's seen us? And what is she doing here anyway?" he said with a frown.

"Well, just like you and pretty much my entire group of friends, she was invited home to celebrate my birthday." your smile lost a little of its luster as your boyfriend broke down before your eyes.

Your birthday. He had forgotten your birthday. Severus felt like the biggest idiot in the world as he stammered a "yes, of course" while trying to avoid your gaze. You could tell by his demeanor, but you didn't have time to get your head around it, as someone knocked on the door. A few seconds later, your other mother's purple head appeared in the doorway, letting you know that the meal was ready and that all the guests were there. You and Severus walked downstairs with your mother to the dining room, decorated with colorful lanterns and holiday streamers. Around the table chatting were your friends, Remus,Sirius, Lily, Dorcas, Mary, Arthur, Frank, James and Marlene. All of them came from different groups of friends but were willing to mix for you. Since only the ends of the table were left, you and Severus sat away from each other. But it was all right, your mind was still on the revelation he had made to you indirectly a few minutes earlier. James and Sirius spat at Severus, who didn't react, just sat at the other end of the table, staring at the plate in front of him. Severus' string of bizarre behaviors reinforced the idea that something was wrong.

Normally, Severus was one of the sweetest, most caring men you'd ever met, and because of his family history, he was so desperate for love and affection that he found it hard not to look at you, or give you compliments, awkward ones, but still compliments. But the last few weeks before the vacations, he had insisted on sleeping alone, and now he had forgotten your birthday, there was definitely something wrong. You did your best to focus on the moment and not think too much. This allowed you to have a nice meal, surrounded by the good mood of your friends and family. When the meal was over, the lanterns went out as your mom came into the dining room with a huge cake of your favorite flavor in her hands. All your friends began to sing around the table, wishing you a happy birthday. That was it. You were finally 17, you couldn't help but shed a tear or two after blowing out the candles. The cake was cut and served and then it was time for the gifts. One by one the gifts came to rest in front of you as you tore off the wrapping paper that wrapped them. You received a broom set, sweets and many other gifts that filled you with joy. Each of the guests pointed to themselves after you opened their gift for you to thank them.

"And you, Severus? Where is your gift for Y/n?" Mary asked innocently.

All eyes turned to Severus as his cheeks turned crimson. He felt terrible for forgetting your birthday and now he was paying the price. He was going to have to admit that he didn't have one in front of everyone. What kind of boyfriend could forget such an important day?

"I don't..." he began.

"Severus was giving it to me as soon as he arrived, he's still in my room," you answered to avoid an affront to your boyfriend.

For the first time all evening, Severus looked up at you with hopeful eyes. You'd had time to digest the news, and while you weren't mad at him yet, he had better have a good excuse. You knew your friends well enough to know that Sirius and James would have been happy to put Severus down again, so you didn't give them the chance. The rest of the evening was spent in a calm and good mood, the small group of teenagers having moved into the living room to play teenage games like Monopoly, truth or dare etc. Once your mothers were in bed, Severus slid in beside you on the couch and shyly took your hand. Your eyes met for a moment as he squeezed your hand gently. Despite the annoyance of his behavior, you melted a little at the look on his face. You smiled at him and then gently let him know that you too would need to have a chat later. He nodded and moved a little closer to you. With a smile, you turned your attention back to the game on the coffee table and slid Severus' hand over your butt. He gave you a panicked look but you were already paying no attention to him, or so it seemed, just pushing your buttocks to meet his palm. Severus took this as an invitation and pressed his hand to your bottom trying to remember what Lucius had taught him. As quietly as possible, Severus began to knead your buttocks, waiting for a favorable reaction. This created a fire inside you that made you close your eyes for a moment. Then remembering where you were, you opened them again and gently slid Severus' hands away from you. He thought he must have felt bad or that you didn't like it, but your buttocks came to rest on his legs and quickly changed his mind. His hands had only touched your buttocks through your dress, but that wasn't enough, you wanted more. You stuck to Severus by slipping in his ear a few words.

"Touch my breasts, please.

He nodded, not sure how he was going to please you on the one hand and not get caught on the other. He started by pulling down the zipper of your dress, just enough for him to get his hands under the loose fabric. A grunt escaped him, which was thankfully covered by Sirius's protesting cries that he was in no position to win. That growl in your ear felt like a bomb in your body. You weren't wearing a bra and he could see that. That was the reason for his groan.

His fingers eventually found your nipples and he began to knead them in the same way he had kneaded your ass. You bit your lip to keep from letting all the pleasure Severus was giving you out into the open.

"Are you okay, Y/n? You're all red," Arthur said, worried about his friend.

Severus stopped his movements as all eyes were now on you.

You nodded, wanting to reassure them and avoid getting caught.

"Yes, yes. I think I'm just a little tired. Do you mind if I slip away now?"

All of your friends nodded and wished you a pleasant night as the smart ones figured out where the redness in your cheeks really came from. After Severus zipped up your dress, you took him by the hand and got up from the couch, dragging him behind you.

When you got to your room, you closed the door, this time with a key. Then you turned to face him, arms crossed.

" Go ahead. Can you explain to me why you forgot my birthday ?”

"I'm ashamed,I’m so sorry you know ? " Severus fled your gaze as he reached into the back pocket of his pants but unfortunately you notice and asked for it.

"What are you hiding ?”

You weren't totally mad, but seeing Severus so secretive left your imagination free to invent far-fetched scenarios that almost always ended with Severus admitting to cheating on you and that broke your heart. You joined him on the bed, trying to keep your composure as he sheepishly pulled a book from his back pocket.

"That's what did it. That's what made me... forgot your birthday." You took it from his hands.

"What's this?" you asked as you began to flip through it quickly.

"It's a book about sex. Lucius gave it to me, and incidentally wrote it as well, when I told him about us.”

Severus explained everything in detail, so much so that by the end of his story, you couldn't be angry anymore. On the contrary. Severus did all this to make sure he would be ready for his first time with you. It was adorable.

"Remind me never to give Lucius a chance if we ever break up " you said with a laugh.

"D-Does that mean that's not how it works ?" questioned Severus confused.

"Well... In fact... I don't know about that, Sev. I'm a virgin too." you confessed making him even more confused.

"You are ? But I thought that... What about your ex’s boyfriends ?"

You settle down a little better on the bed, not knowing how to explain it to him.

"So... Yeah I've had a bunch of boyfriends but none of them have ever touched me. And if they tried..." Severus sits cross-legged in front of you, all ears "... I break up with them. First time, you only get one. I didn't want to give it to just anyone. I never felt safe enough or in love with them enough to take the plunge." your hands find Severus', you intertwine your fingers gently. "But with you, everything is different, Severus."

"Wait Y/n... You mean you..." begins Severus, his eyes sparkling.

You smile softly at your boyfriend, your cheeks turning a little red as he moved closer to you without really realizing it.

"Yes, Sev. I'm in love with you," you finally admit.

"Oh Y/n..." he melts on your lips in a tender but passionate kiss "I think... Me too"

Your heart misses a beat. Since the beginning of your relationship, it was you who took the lead and for the roles to be reversed, it often took a few days or even a few months, so you would never have thought that for such an important confession, he would say it so easily. You could not be happier.

Severus gently flipped you over onto the bed, towering over you as you deepened the kiss. Awkwardly, you undressed each other, urgently seeking each other's lips as quickly as possible. You were the first only in your underwear, at least in your panties, and Severus was speechless. The sight of his fiery gaze titillated your pussy, which had not yet recovered from Sev's caresses in the living room. Instinctively, Severus directed his hands towards your breasts, bringing you out of your dream. He began to knead them again as he had done in the living room, but replaced one of his hands with his mouth and then his tongue, wrapping it around your erect nipples with desire. Small moans came out of your mouth in front of all the attentions of your companion.

"Does it feel good?" he asked, gradually gaining confidence.

You nodded knowing that your voice would break before you could finish your sentence. He seemed to understand as a sly smile came to perch on his lips. He wanted to taste your body, to hear your little moans again, which he found adorable and which excited him more than he wanted to say. His lips went down along your belly to land near your panties asking you for access silently. For all answer you did not delay to pull down your panties wanting desperately to feel him inside you, or at least it was as you translated the sudden heat and tingling that rose from your crotch. Severus in front of you couldn't stop his sex from growing even larger as exotic scents wafted up to his nose.

"Severus," you breathed in a prayer.

"Anything for you, love" he replied.

Within seconds, his tongue met your clit, warming it and covering it with kisses. A few minutes later he was already moving his tongue down to visit your already moistened pussy, making you moan louder than before.

"Please, Sev'. I think I'm going to cum."

"Do you think you can wait for me?" he asked as he lovingly stroked your hair.

You nodded slowly, catching your breath as Severus' tongue left your folds.

"Are you ready? Lucius told me it can hurt the first time for girls, so tell me if I -" his sex in his hand he placed it in front of your entrance as he towered over you.

"It's okay, Sev. I trust you." your smile encouraged him.

He nodded, not totally reassured. So far, it had been easy, he had been content to trust his desires and the reaction of your body, but now it was going to be harder. He could feel it. But encouraged by your love, he ended up pushing his erect member little by little into your dripping sex. An electric shock went through both of your bodies. He didn't move right away, feeling your walls tightening dangerously around his sex. Then you motioned for him to move, which he did, slowly pulling his sex out of yours before moving back in again, keeping a slow pace. The first few trips in and out were painful, but soon it was pleasure that took over. For Severus, it was pure pleasure and moaning, he loved being inside you, but was still afraid you wouldn't.

"Is that good for you, love? Can I speed it up a little?"

"Yes...; please."

So he accelerated his comings and goings, always focused on the reaction of your body to his. Your breathing became more jerky as his change of pace allowed him to perfectly match your pleasure points. It was the first time he felt like this, he felt like he was too far away from you even though his whole body was married to yours and he wanted to be one with you all the days of his life, to feel your body pressed against his forever. It didn't take long for you to tighten your grip on your lover, feeling your deliverance coming.

"Severus... I-" your sentence was swallowed up by the wave of pleasure that engulfed you.

Severus joined you in your orgasm a few minutes after yours, prolonging it as he continued to go back and forth.

"Y/n, Y/n, Fuck, Y/n!" he moaned in your ear.

Breathless, he pulled out of you and immediately took you in his arms, thanking you for your patience by covering you with kisses. He had been a little rough with you but you thought it had been for the best.

"Perfect," you sighed.

"I couldn't have said it better," he said between breaths. "Do you think we could do this again?" he questioned.

"That was our first time, remember? So there's no reason why it should be the only one." you kissed him tenderly, laughing "We can do it again whenever you want.”

"Even... Now?" he asked with an innocent look but flame of desire in his eyes.

You bit your lip before nodding.

#severus x reader #smut #snape content #snape love #snape community #snape x reader #severus snape #pro snape #snape fandom #snape fanfiction #my writing #first time #i love u

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inawickedlittletown · 3 years

Text

Queerbaiting and Buddie

(word count: 1,900)

I keep saying that I don’t want to spend any more time on 9-1-1 meta or fic, but the events of this weekend made me open up a document where I had some unfinished meta and in light of the S4 finale airing tonight, I thought I might at least write this:

“Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ representation. They do so to attract a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion of relationships or characters that appeal to them, while at the same time attempting to avoid alienating other consumers.”

That is how Wikipedia defines queerbaiting. And I really feel like everyone needs to read that and then read it again and realize that what is happening on 9-1-1 with Buddie is NOT queerbaiting.

I don’t want to go into the long history of queerbaiting because we would be here all day and anyone that wants to do some research should go and do so. There are a lot of resources out there. Use them.

But the short of it is this: queerbaiting has a lot more to do with the way a show is promoted, with the way that anyone involved in the show talks about a queer ship, and with the show deliberately scripting scenes that hint at a relationship without any intention of following through. Expectations and wanting a queer ship to go canon and those expectations not being met do not alone equate to it being queerbaiting.

For any of us that have been around a long time there are a lot of perfect examples and if you compare Buddie to any of them, they are very different. I’ll name a few:

Merlin/Arthur

John Watson/Sherlock

Emma Swan/Regina

Derek/Stiles

Castiel/Dean Winchester (though they did go canon...barely)

Lena/Kara

Buck and Eddie do not fit into that list. Which isn’t to say that someday they could belong there, but I just do not believe that they will even if Buddie never becomes canon. And this all lies in how Buddie as a ship has been treated both on screen and off. I’ll break it down by season.

S2:

Eddie is very clearly introduced as a new character, a straight Army veteran with a disabled kid and family drama. He and Buck have immediate chemistry. We can’t deny that, or deny that from that first episode there are immediate sparks. Unintended sparks, but sparks nevertheless. And it is easy to tell that no one on the production team expected that and the story reflects that.

Yes a foundation for their friendship is formed and yet the season long story focuses on Eddie’s relationship with his estranged wife and Buck is dealing with his own growth after being left by Abby. Their friendship shines and their scenes are great but none of them suggest romance and there are actually a lot of episodes where Buck and Eddie barely interact in S2 aside from in the background or for small work related moments (this mostly happens after Shannon returns).

S2 does give us the first acknowledgement from the powers that be aka Tim Minear that they know what the fans have seen. This is why the elf scene exists, but it exists in a space where it’s a nod to the fans and not meant to do much more than that. The other moment is during the call with the livestreamer. But S2, places them completely and without question on a strong friendship.

S3:

We see a lot more conflict for Buck and Eddie in this season and we see how close and important they are to each other. Those are the two main things. That can be read as friendship easily and it’s a season where both Buck and Eddie deal with their pasts and in one way or another start to get closure while their friendship remains intact.

Yes there are some scenes that make us squint and go huh, wtf? (I’m looking at you kitchen scene), but narratively we also know that neither of these boys is ready for a real relationship with anyone, let alone each other. But we can bask in how close they are as well as how Christopher fits in into all of it.

But in S3 we are also introduced to Ana and we see the return of Abby. We also get to see that Buck and Eddie have become closer than ever and that the lawsuit only serves to highlight the importance that they both feel about having the other available to them. I’ll also quickly mention that Eddie Begins worked hard to highlight Buck’s devotion to Eddie.

S4:

Without considering the events of the finale (I am avoiding spoilers and know nothing about it or the speculation), we’ve seen Buck and Eddie both grow and get further closure on their past. This season has paralleled them well and their friendship has not faltered, they’re as close as ever.

The beginning of the season was heavily focused on Buck and we saw him grow as a person and begin to work on himself in a healthy way and we’ve seen Eddie be supportive of that.

We also have Ana to consider and her relationship with Eddie as well as the return of Taylor and yet the appearance of these women has not changed the Buck and Eddie dynamic. And I find it fascinating that Eddie beginning to date Ana, is the thing that prompted Buck to start dating. The parallels are all over the place but it is the strength of the friendship and the way they care so deeply about each other that remains whether that becomes romantic is still to be seen, but it could still go either way.

Off-screen by the end of S2, Tim Minear had already addressed Buddie by throwing in that elf scene in a wink/nudge fashion that said “I see you” and in the scene with the girl with the livestream with the comments. During S3 he tweeted about being frustrated by the fans demanding and being hostile and thinking that that would make him more likely to do what they want (I’m paraphrasing what I remember seeing). Tim has never once said that Buddie will happen or shut the door on the ship entirely, but he did say he did not want to engage in conversation about it because he doesn’t want to get into arguments with fans.

Oliver has always been enthusiastic about Buddie and has even said that he would be perfectly fine with it happening both a while ago and more recently in promo for S4. Conscious of queerbaiting and not wanting to give fans false hope, he has specifically said that he does not know if it will or won’t happen and that he wouldn’t speak on that as he’s not the one making that decision. His support for it happening does not mean he has any sway one way or the other. He’s said this a few times and even wrote a letter to the effect to make it clear to fans that the last thing he wants is to disappoint someone due to something he’s said.

All in all, it just isn’t a constructive environment for anyone working on the show to interact with fans on this topic because any time that they do, they get attacked by overly enthusiastic buddie shippers that in many ways are making everything worse.

In all of the interviews from Tim that I’ve seen, he has always been very quick to hint at what was coming up on the show in a way that at times has been misleading on purpose. The number one thing that comes to mind is early in S4 where Buck was said to get a new woman in his life. Tim absolutely made it out to seem like it was a girlfriend while knowing fully well that it was a therapist. This is an excellent example of what promoting and hinting is actually like. No one from this show has done that in regards to Buddie.

No one has gone out of their way to hint that it may happen in a way that excites the fans. And this is one of my main reasons for knowing that Buddie is not a queerbait. At no point in the life of the show so far has anyone used Buddie in a promotional way to bring in viewers. Because THAT was the whole point of queerbaiting in the past.

It was a way that some showrunners found to bring in a lot of viewers when they needed to up their numbers in order to show networks they were worth keeping around. Someone figured out that LGBTQ people wanted to see themselves represented so much so that they would tune in to anything that promised an LGBTQ character in some fashion. It was a tactic that worked well in the landscape of tv where there was so little LGBTQ content on mainstream media that anyone wanting it would latch onto anything. And then they just wouldn’t deliver on those relationships or characters. In 2021, that is not the world we live in any longer.

In today’s tv landscape there is so much to watch and so much to pick from and diversity has grown, it is celebrated. Queer characters are well represented as are queer relationships and queer stories. The times are different. A while back I was listening to a podcast (Bait: a queerbaiting podcast) and something I found interesting was how the hosts both agreed that in today’s tv landscape there is no more real queerbait and that we won’t easily find anything like the ships I mentioned above. I think I agree more with this than I expected to, because I do think that it exists in some spaces, but it definitely isn’t what it used to be. This is a good thing.

Specific to 9-1-1, this is a show that has that diversity and that isn’t afraid of tackling that diversity and giving us interesting and nuanced perspectives and stories embracing that. We have characters of color, women in positions of power, a F/F relationship, two multi-racial relationships, a disabled character, other queer characters including a M/M relationship. There is so much in this show that embraces diversity and that embraces the reality of what the world looks like. To call it queerbait is to disrespect everything else that this show is and has done and the hard storylines that have been tackled that we would not have seen on tv ten years ago.

And I get that Buddie would be another breakthrough. It would be a novel way to tell a queer story, and it would be amazing if it were to happen. The set up is there, but it isn’t fully realized, and Buck and Eddie can still be read as just friends if we take off the shipping goggles. But it also isn’t queerbait or likely to become queerbait and people have to stop calling it that.

What Buddie resembles is one of the many unintended slow burn ships that have frustrated viewers in many forms across fandoms and we just have to go along for the ride and maybe it will happen. Or maybe it won’t. But if we know anything about relationships on tv, it is that a lot of the fun comes from the journey, even if the destination is good too.

#911 fox #buddie #911 meta #911 on fox #buddie meta #buddie is not queerbaiting #long post #this is almost 2k long

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