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captainmera · 4 months

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Hellu!! In the latest chapter of tgb you spoke about hunters political power as the golden guard, and I would love to hear more about that if you would like to share !!

Sure! :)

This is super long, though. Because context of why I conclude these things are important to know!

Enjoy..!

This is just me being a history buff, though. And if you've read my webcomic In Blood we Rise, you know I like playing with the social-culture of a society.

So from the bits and pieces I've picked up from the show, either via how characters treat one another (Ex. Boscha, Amity, Willow, Gus) and the use of titles (coven heads, Emperor, "prince" - aka Golden Guard) I expand upon those clues and apply what I know of those titles, or the human equivalents of them.

The Golden Guard is, although mockingly, referred as similar to a prince title. Whatever it actually is or not is up to anyone's guess. But given that the GG is the Emperor's right-hand man, and the Emperor is a sort of religious leader/dictator.. I concluded that the GG is somewhat similar in nature.

If "Emperor" is a leader, with religious implication (as Hunter himself used the words such as "sacrilege" when invading Belos' mind) and is commonly known to know the will of the Titan (their god and nature).

Then, I think it is fair to say, that the GG most likely has similar roles but on a smaller scale.

Hunter was raised into this role, not unlike how a prince is raised to become king one day.

- If Emperor = Pope. - Then GG is = King, a military general, priesthood. - The Coven heads = Gentry (Earls, Barons, Marquesses, etc) - People like the Blights are = Gentry (Lords, Ladies, etc) - Maybe people like the Clawthornes are = Middle class? (Merchants?) - And people like the Parks or Porters are = Peasants (lower classes up to lower middle class). - And people like... *shrug* ..? ... Steve? = Peasants (Lower working class to upper working class)

This hierarchy is similar to the English one, Philip Wittebane was English. I am going on a limb here that Philip conjuncted his own application of the hierarchy he knew of onto an already existing system.

So we got the previous hierarchy system (shown and told by Boscha, mostly, and Amity in season 1). With whatever Philip could layer ontop. So it's not accurate-accurate, but a bit to the left.

We know power is important. And we know they talk about important FAMILIES. The Blight's "Dont associate" with weaker witches. Implying that some families with better magic and power have a higher status, and it is even encouraged to impose your status on those beneath you.

The teachers don't intervene when Boscha bullies Willow, they even celebrate her for her superiority. However, they do allow Willow to show her worth through POWER too.

So you can raise in social ranks by being better than others. Hence why other witches were so eager to take advantage of Gus, too. Gus is from a lower or middle class, but his illusionist powers are superior. He could easily rise to become a coven head one day. If recognised for this, others might want to hitch a ride for as long as he can carry them.

We know nothing of the Boiling Isles culture before Belos took over.

We do know a bit of traditional cultural things; like Palismen and the bed-nests. You could even say that Eda is a traditionalist in that sense, as she wants to use Wild Magic like they used to do on the isles.

We also know that The Titan's children used to be running around plentiful, that there was a subgroup of Witches that were Hunters too! (Hunter's name being Hunter has so many layers, man.. Not just Witch-Hunter-General but, like, hunters hunting Titans - the literal, kind of, devil imagery of this realm. Maybe Belos knew? Maybe he met the titan hunters? Maybe that's how he knew how to find the not-broken-mirror of the collector? What else did he know? WHO KNOWS.)

But the Titans has been dead for a very long time. But in that time in-between, we know people did exist. And where there is people, there is structure and culture. And back then, in the Deadwardian times, we know they knew they lived upon the Titan. It would not be so farfetched if they had some sort of priesthood similar to.... The greek temples?

The illusionist graveyard statues are... Coming to mind. I struggle to believe that illusionists were supposedly always considered the lowest and most useless group of magic users. It is heavely implied that Gus talents were meant for greatness. Especially in regards to the human realm.

I think, with the stone portal being as Hellenistic and temple-looking, that there might've been once-upon-a-time where witches frequented into the human realm more often. Perhaps with the use of illusion magic. Perhaps, back then, being an illusionist was a great thing to be.

But time changes things. What used to be a useful skill falls out of style. And whatever else (like Abomination slime) becomes more useful to the contemporary culture, that's what will be on the rise.

Speaking of abomination, I think it's meant to represent a sort-of industrial revolution ordeal. And that's where the Blights took a big shine in power.

... AAAANNYYWAAAAAYY~~~!

You had to read my thoughtprocess on that before I can go into your actual question.

SO..! The Golden Guard!

First, let's figure out what the heck a prince does and typical life could look like. Let's look at the real life prince of England at the time! Charles the first.

Charles was born on 29 May 1630. In August 1642 (twelve years old), the long-running dispute between Charles I and Parliament culminated in the outbreak of the First English Civil War. In October the same year (still twelve years old), Prince Charles and his younger brother James were present at the Battle of Edgehill. And spent the next two years (so fourteen years old at the end of that) based in the Royalist capital of Oxford. In January 1645 (so now fifteen), Charles was given his own Council and was made titular head of Royalist forces in the West Country. By spring 1646 (so now ca sixteen years old, like Hunter), most of the region had been occupied by Parliamentarian forces and Charles went into exile to avoid capture. Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646. (sixteen)

Right! So uhh... Surprisingly similar to Hunter's current situation with Wild Witches and rebellion brewing.

The thing about royals, yeah, is that they are given this birthright to lead the people "by god". Being king, queen, whatever, is a deeply Christian religious occupation.

We are talking about a time when people who were rich were just inherently deemed more morally superior. Because god let them be born into privilege. Of course, humans are humans and we are critical beings. There's a reason why the French chopped the head off their royals: People don't always agree to the status quo, no matter how religiously influential it is.

Philip Wittebane would have this bias too, though. At least somewhere in his consciousness.

Back in the days, being a "Gentleman" actually meant something. It was not just a title given by birth, it was something you had to live up to. That is why it was such a dramatic offence if a gentleman did not behave like one. When you are born into a leading position, you are expected to lead with the people in mind. Corruption, of course, happens anyway and people don't do what they're supposed to. Either because they don't want to, never asked for it, or simply take advantage of it.

Either case, a title had purpose. Just like a prince. It doesn't matter if you're twelve years old. If you're a prince you are taught, raised and told to behave a certain way to impose both courage and confidence in the people.

If you say shit like "I THINK I know what to do" nobody will trust you. You're twelve, but you're supposed to be a better breed than everyone else, after all, God appointed you into being a royal. You must be special. If you're not, then God made a mistake. If God makes mistakes.. Well, then God is flawed.

God cannot be flawed. Everything rides on the belief that God knows all, is all mighty, etc. God is absolute. You were supposed to trust God. So a twelve-year-old prince is expected to just... Pretty much be the same as a 30-year-old man, intellectually. They could speak four languages, they were already reading military tragedies, and so on.

But they're just twelve and, will, in secrecy (as we know) enjoy things that twelve year-olds enjoy. Like fairytales.

Back to the Golden Guard.

We know that Hunter has no respect from the Coven heads (parliament of sort), lol. They don't think he has the knowledge 'nor wisdom to lead. He haven't even raised the ranks in such a visible way, presumably the way they have.

Darius, whom we know nothing of, could either be like Gus and be an extremely talented abominationist regardless of his class. Or he's like the Blights; from a rich background and worked hard with the good cards life handed to him, and was expected to rise high (like Amity) and did so.

Meaning, the coven heads are peers out of respect. They aren't competition to one another, they are experts in their fields of magic. It is people trying to rise to their position that they need to put a foot onto to keep them beneath their own rank.

Supposedly, Raine outshone the previous Bard Coven head. Either the old one died, or Raine was just better.

All of this, though, means that the Coven heads resent Hunter. He's above them, but haven't "fought" through the classes like the others. He was born above them, and now rose above them. There's no reason to believe he is better. Especially without having any magic.

Hunter has a lot to prove as the Golden Guard.

The way Darius speaks of his mentor, the previous GG, we can assume that that GG had proven himself even without magic. He had respect. Darius is comparing them both.

Hunter might've been raised sheltered because the previous one might've NOT been raised sheltered and that went horribly wrong.

SO.. AGAIN....... WHAT CAN THE GG DO?

Priesthood slash general, in a royal sense!

So basically he's a pirate captain, yar harr. Or at least in the fictional sense, Captains weren't actually capable of wedding or divorcing people.

Priesthood,

because Belos is implying he's got a religious connection with the Titan. So pressumably, Hunter can do cermonious things like.. Weddings and divorce, knighting someone into Covens with a glove or in other means, spiritual guidence like taking confessions/forgiving-or-offering consolance on the behalf of the Titan.

We don't really know much about the B.I. culture before Belos, other than wild magic and the previlent use of Palismen and Titan Blood.

We also know portals were a thing, and supposedly that there are forgotten portals where Human Garbage slips in now and then.

Presumably, on my part anyhow, I think there were priests not too unsimilar to the Coven heads, but rather so they were experts in their fields (like Illusionists) but weren't hindered from using other magic too.

Perhaps the highest priest(ess), were someone who was fluent in all magics (like eda). True wild magic. The Golden Guard, being at the top of the ladder, most likely is supposedly an equevalence of this.

So, the ironic symbolism here then; is that Hunter has no magic. It is a false system.

General,

because the Golden Guard went through scout training and is the highest rank. He would be expected to know battle stragedy, history, how to fight and be leading in battle. As well as take the risk of losing his head if captured.

He would speak to others like his words are definite and absolute. Like he is above others, whatever he believes himself to be so or not.

He can't say shit like "I think we should do this" it doesn't make an army trust him with their lives. He has to be more confident than them, that he is willing to die with this move, too, with them. "This is how we win." <- no matter how insane the plan is, if he sounds confident they trust him. The same way I would trust my teacher during a fire alarm. I know where the fire exit is! I still turn to my teacher, incase they know something I dont and want me to take the window instead.

You trust authority who has gained your trust in their ability to lead you in a crisis. The Golden Guard, supposedly being the title that describes THE BEST OF THE BEST witch on the isle... You may not know how they got there, but you know they did. You may trust it, you may not. But the average citizen might.

Hunter can't show that he doesnt know what to do. He cannot surrender. Because if HE don't know what to do, they're all fucked.

He has to make decissions based on logic and stragedy alone. And sound confident about his decissions, regardless of his true feelings. He can be terrified, and stand with his head high and order the palismen around to ensure the house is secure.

His fear comes out as a general taking charge. Because that's hat he knows. The same way a K-Pop dancer 's muscle memory kicks in on certain songs, Hunter's muscle memory is to step into his GG mask and hand out orders.

Until his friends call him out and he drops the "mask" and reveals that he's just a teen like any of them, wanting to roll under a bed and hide.

Prince,

he is Belos' nephew and Belos has the title Emperor, not pope. Although the GG is a title you can rise to, Hunter's specific situation of having been born and raised in the castle gives him a bit of a royal edge.

This means, most likely, that most if not all of the citizen would assume that.. Once Belos dies of old age, the one to take "temporary" seat as emperor is the right-hand man. And, possibly, just take the seat all together as a succession.

No wonder Belos made his nephew the GG, it secured his only remaining family a good position after his soon-passing and.. Politically, it would assure that the power of the throne remains within the family. Furthering the suspicion that Hunter hasn't earned his role. it is all a game of political chess.

He's the highest rank after all, why not just take the seat and be in charge once Belos passes away from age or illness? (I believe this is why Kikimora wants to be the GG and sucks up to him even if she knows he's cruel, by the way. Belos is old, it's just a waiting game.)

He could also make supreme court decissions. Forgive a crime, decide something is a crime when presented a case, and sentence people.

We see him threathen Luz with this when he steals palismen.

He is quite entitled, and I don't really blame him for it. He's been isolated and brought up to believe it is his right to be entitled. He has also proven it to himself, through hard work, that he has earned the right to be absolute and the final word.

SO, WHAT ABOUT POLITICAL, CONVOLUTED, CONTEXTS?

It also makes him a political target.

Kikimora wants him dead, to take his place. Perhaps so she could become empress once Belos dies off.

Had the show been allowed several more seasons, I'm confident we might've had a longer arc for Hunter to change sides. Maybe even be kidnapped by Darius-or-Raine before or after Hollow Mind happens.

Raine might know Belos wants him back, Darius might want to keep Hunter hidden and away. Both cases makes Hunter a chess piece. He still represents things for the people of the B.I. for better or worse.

For Darius - People who believe in the GG might, after Belos being overthrown, want Hunter to take his place as a "kind prince". With Darius as right-hand and mentor. As, perhaps, Darius would consider that a suden change in culture and power might be too shocking and difficult to adjust for the people. Something similar, like a pinnce, might be easier than a sudden NO MORE ANYTHING AT ALL. That would lead to civil divide and maybe even war.

For Raine - Hunter could be used to exchange a prisoner (maybe Eda?) and, or, be kept until after the rebellion to serve for his own crimes. (of course, this is only before they would discover Hunter's just as much a victim as everyone else, if not more). They could also consider that Hunter knows A LOT about Belos and secrets he might've kept. Perhaps even discovering that Hunter is a grimwalker and things develop from there.

The people - Hate him or love him. No plan is really a good one of what to do with him post-war. All ideas have conflict of interest or consequences. Honestly, putting Hunter in any position post-war might just stirr up unnecesary opinions. But leaving him totally be might make people upset and discontent as well.

There is also the question of HIS CRIMES. Because yes, he did "just do his job", and that might bode less on other coven heads, but Hunter? Hunter wasn't doing just his job, it was his life. The context of him being a grimwalker and manipulated, abuse and brought up with a sole purpose.... Does put some different lights on his after-thought crimes in Belos' name.

Because AT THE TIME, they were not crimes. Harvesting the palistrom forest, imprisoning wild witches, forcing conversion into covens, sentencing people to prison or petrification is... You know. Things he was supposed to do as the GG. He also had no choice but to become the GG. He didn't chose it. Belos did.

So debate would undoubtfully come up on whatever he deserves punishment or not.

I think, to satisfy everyone. He might get a very low sentence, slap on the wrist. Forbidden to participate in politics, perhaps? Who knows.

I'M JUST PUTTING FROSTING ON THE CAKE HERE, I DON'T KNOW. I'm just a storyteller with an oh-la-la~ for drama and the clashes of people of different backgrounds and lives. I personally enjoy bringing people together in crisis from all spectrums of a society, and boil them down to what makes them human and connect with one another.

So... Take all of this with a grain of salt from someone just... Enjoys convoluted mayhem like this. Where a straight-forward answer is never quite that simple.

But there is always a way. :)

Just gotta turn on the light, and finding one another wont be as difficult as running in the dark fighting demons.

#toh #tgb ask #tgb #toh ask #the golden guard #THIS IS LONG

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rainbowsky · 3 months

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Hiii! Just a question of faves. What's your favorite part of both of their faces/bodies?

For GG, I swear I'm obsessed with his doe eyes. I find it very ethereal, that it brightens me up instantly whenever I look at those. Especially when he gazes or blinks at something 'innocently'. Also his endless legs, that I wish I could've 🥹 I'm tall, but not really on the legs, aish.

For DD, I like his smile. It's very puppy-ish, and the way his cheeks rise up when he smiles. Add to that his smirks (yep, gremlin). Also his 'boxy' hands. For reference, DD and Lisa of BP have these boxy hands that I like. His body proportion is good, btw.

Hi Anon!

Any excuse to examine photos of GG and DD for science, I'm totally up for.

Obviously GG's eyes are unparalleled. I honestly don't think there's a human on the planet whose eyes are as beautiful. And the lip mole is also just so endearing. Anyone who's not obsessed with that mole has got to be blind. Fan fiction writers know. 😅

But I would have to say, face-wise, it's the smile that absolutely kills me. He has the deadliest smile I've ever seen.

Body-wise... SORRY EVERYONE. It's the ass. I mean... the man has got an amazing booty. I can't apologize for being honest. It's just out there showing itself, what's a guy to do?

If I was trying to give a more socially acceptable answer I'd say his chest and arms. He's looking pretty buff these days. Although his back, as we've so recently discovered, is also pretty damn nice. And don't let me fail to mention his leg hair. Ugh. he has the best leg hair.

DD is beloved for his cheeks and I do think they're great - especially stuffed full of food - but to me DD has an amazing jawline and face shape. I wholeheartedly agree with GG when he was freaking out over DD's small triangle face.

Body-wise, I'd have to say his overall proportions are absolutely perfect. I would not change a single thing.

#bjyx #yizhan #favorites #ask

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shuttershocky · 5 months

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Everyone needs to give Carnelian clout this instant. She's getting a 2nd module in the same patch as Goldenglow and Reed Alter getting theirs. This is stiff competition and especially so with Goldenglow and how much Namie fights literal cage matches for her imo.

I'm fully expecting Goldenglow's module to be the strongest one in this next batch. Both of her talents (drones can crit for 300% damage, GG's attacks ignore 15 RES) are both so powerful conceptually that they're idiot proof—even boring number buffs will be a great improvement to Goldenglow.

Reed the Flame Shadow has one talent that can be vulnerable to Boring Modules Guy, her second talent that heals herself for 50% of what she heals an ally for. Even boosting that to 100% (far too big for Boring Modules Guy), while a decent increase to her survivability, will ultimately not really change anything for Reed in 90% of situations. But she's also already good and one of the best Casters in the game hiding out in the Medic class, so even if nothing were to change about her, she'll be perfectly fine.

Carnelian actually needs help, is a DPS Caster in a game with Eyjafjalla in it (fun fact, while Carnelian's S3 ramp-up and mark effect means her S3 DPS eventually surpasses Eyjafjalla's S3, it only having maximum damage ramp up for a short duration means they still do roughly the same total damage anyway), and worst of all, Ebenholz introduced the concept of being able to get 3rd modules which means there's no pressure whatsoever to make Carnelian's second module actually good.

As much as I hate to say it, I'm pretty sure our girl is doomed to the dumpster for a second time.

I hope I'm very wrong!

#Arknights

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godsplatter · 6 months

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Hey, just wanna dop in and tell you how much I LOOVE your coffinshippibg art❤️🫂

Especially how Mark and Peter are both buff, but Mark is more chubby buff and Peter is more lean buff. It works so well to differentiate those two and is true to both their actors. (Rememver that joke a while back that Mark and Peter looked like bad clones of each other)

thank you!! sometimes i have a hard time finding the right balance bc patterson is like. Way Wider in gilmore girls its shocking. after gg he shrunk i guess

#ask

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childlikegoblinqueen · 8 months

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Chapter 88 Writing Notes.

I REALLY hope I didn't lose you all with the last chapter structure!

I like to play with formats to tell the story outside of Hunter's POV and feed the reader clues as to what has been building.

88 Chapters of emotional build up, political intrigue, peppered with lore has been A LOT to keep a handle on.

I also can't help but mess with the audience sometimes -- I just hope this wasn't TOO weird for you all... I like to torture myself too.

Thanks to @unniebeans who gave me a heads up as to how to use the weird text in Ao3.

A few more notes for spoilers below but I am working on an in universe One Shot from Vee's POV based on one of @yayay0827's ridiculously angsty comics.

And next chapter we will finally (mostly) see an appearance of someone who has been teased throughout the story.

So the In-Between Realm is REALLY intriguing!

I am a big mythology buff and am DYING to play with some of that lore, but maybe in another fic (or a follow up I might do?)

Either way, when Luz made her deal with Papa Titan she was MOSTLY DEAD, and she had traveled there before when visiting her mother.

But how do the rules work there, and are there other ways to open that gate?

This is the third time (I believe) that Hunter has had a brush with the In-Between Realm -- and the first where he seemed immersed in it.

There's a common link between the times it's happened which I am not going to spoil -- but it does tie into everything.

Any theories on who the voices were that Hunter heard as he lost his ability to exercise free will?

The importance of music is a running theme in SCOM and this felt like the right time to bring back the initial riff of "Sweet Child O' Mine."

As I think the TOH community universally agrees that Hunter is prone to dissociation, I wanted to bring Raine's use of music therapy into the story.

Hunter is no longer a child, but the kind of trauma he'd lived through casts a long shadow. Healthy coping skills are key here.

Raine teaches him to use music to pull himself out of a dissociative episode, so Hunter uses these tools here.

There's also several callbacks to in story events from previous chapters -- but one of the locations that Hunter visits in the vision is a TOH canon location.

Did anyone catch it?

Anyway, Hunter appears to be losing his grip on reality.

His bond with Willow and their child is intensifying as she enters the last trimester.

There's an "unauthorized biography" of his life on the horizon with a movie tie in.

He's being stalked by the False GG who has finally maimed one of his loved ones.

A major political candidate is calling for an opening of the market on resources such as galdorstones and palistrom wood.

He's going to have to face Kiki, Adrian, and Terra to avoid a new Inner Circle Trial -- who are claiming he's a liar.

And he's NOT. But he did massage the truth in order to keep Vee safe.

And he's also supposed to appear for a big interview and do something he's never managed to do in public -- seem SANE.

So, yeah, throwing him into a trippy interlude between realms was totally cool!

SorryNotSorry.

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vongulli · 1 year

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If you enjoy jojo (buff fashionable people) and splatoon (game with great music and gay tones) Then may I recommend GUILTY GEAR

ever since i got this ask, guilty gear related things have been coming up on my timeline/fyp???? mysterious...

YAH the designs for gg are super cool, i LOOVE Testament, they're everything BUT im totally poo at fighting games haha!!

i do play the jojo ones, ASB and EOH but thats purely so i can see my meow-meows fight.. i main diego on ASB he's sooo kitty cat its funny.. love him

#ask #ask reply #vonchatty #i also love how you formatted this anon #i feel like you spoke to me through a megaphone from far away

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renren85105 · 5 months

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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Thanks for asking me, Tee!

This was a lot harder than I thought it would be and it took me a lot longer than I expected it to! These are not in any order after the first one, because I cannot rank them lol.

Houseboat of Love

I’m weak for exes to lovers and second chance at love fics, so when the prompt came up in the 2022 BJYX Week, I knew I had to try my hand at writing one. And it’s turned out to me my favorite of my fics, or maybe my favorite of my favorites, and based on stats alone I think it’s most people’s favorite of mine. I wanted to start at the new beginning for them, have Xiao Zhan unwilling to see Yibo again because he was afraid of his own remaining feelings and for Yibo to have never stopped loving Xiao Zhan, but he hasn’t been allowed to for some years and how he’s had to get on with living and making space for this love that doesn’t have anywhere to go. I know this makes the fic sound really angsty, but starting at the new beginning I think keeps it in the background, a hum of angst that pushes the story but isn’t the point of the story. And I loved writing tattooed buff Yibo doing the bat crunches and Xiao Zhan being so obviously thirsty for his ex-husband, I let him get goofy with it and it was so much fun to write. The whole fic was a joy to write, honestly. And I’m glad Tash told me to bring back the bit of what happened between them, even though she then (lovingly) yelled at me for what happened between them, because I think it really did make the story more well-rounded. This one was partially inspired by the Sweet Home Alabama movie, where the main character finds out her ex never filed the divorce papers - but I couldn’t bear to have Xiao Zhan be with anyone else in my version so that part of the plot is all I adapted to this story. My sleepwalking/sexsomnia fic was technically my first exes to lovers fic (it came out over a year later) but I feel like this one was my first real “break them up and get them back together because they love each other still” fic. And I’m glad so many have loved it as I have.

Love the Simulation I’m Dreaming In

I love this one because it is so much fun. It was so much fun to adapt this Golden Girls plot to Yizhan, I made several changes from the Love, Rose plot so it fit a) modern times and b) so Jackson & Yixing weren’t knowingly setting up Xiao Zhan to fall in love with their creation. In the GG episode, Rose finds her fake man in the phone book, and so I decided that a good update for that would be a hookup app. I loved making Xiao Zhan so damn dramatic (swanning around in a Shut Up robe and cooking stir fry for one despite the other two roommates being home, all because they weren’t there for his big announcement) and I made myself laugh with the ostrich feather conversation and so much of it. I’m just glad my humor comes across and other people find it funny too! Also Yibo is hot as fuck in this, if I do say so myself. And that’s always fun 😂

You Can't Rush the River

This one was my first ever gift exchange fic, and it was for my dear friend Elisa. I had seen the first season of the Witcher and read a couple of chapters of the book, but I’m largely too squeamish with gore to have played/watched the video games. I knew I could write it though, so I did my research and rewatched a couple of episodes and watched my husband play through a bit of the third game. The prompt asked for rivals to lovers, and I love that it turned out as a one-sided Yibo thinks they’re rivals, hated rivals, while Xiao Zhan has been flirting the whole 50 years they’ve known each other. The emotions after what for one was a hate handjob and for the other was the culmination of *decades* of dancing around each other was very satisfying to write. This one is special to me because it was crafted for someone else, but I also learned a lot about what I can accomplish if I want to do it.

Fireworks in the Stars

I’m extremely partial to this fic. Mostly because it’s a bit of an experiment with a world I’d like to write a full novel in (will that happen? I have no idea but it’s a goal!) So when the set of prompts from a server challenge fit the world I was playing with, I knew it was time to try to write something in it. I’m really happy with how that turned out, and it helped me figure out what worked in that world and what didn’t. I think it’s maybe my most sensuous story, with all the textures and the body paint. But I love the idea of breaking all the rules to find your love again, of meeting your special person in a situation where you're never supposed to see them again and how you can heal from that -- except the other person finds you before you can. Love it!

You Belong in my Arms & ad astra:

This feels like cheating, and maybe it is but i suppose you’ve read this far and will be okay with it, haha! So I think everyone knows that I love tentacles, and tentacle stories, so it was finally time to write my own. And guess what, as of this writing, there are still no sexy tentacles, but these boys have found each other and have yet to learn that they are each other’s fantasy. I have outlines for one last chapter, though if it gets long in the writing it may become two. I’ll write it all before publishing; I love this fic a great deal (octopus!Yibo has my entire heart) but publishing it as a wip without it being completed or at least a couple of chapters ahead has hung over me in a way that I don’t like. Each fic teaches you something about yourself I think, and that’s what I learned from this one. For ad astra, it is a Star Trek AU, which like the Witcher, I knew enough to be dangerous but also because I’d written You Can’t Rush The River I knew I could write this one too. And it was a joy, I’m in love with it still and I think I’ve read it the most out of all of my published projects.

So there we have it! Many, many days later you have my top stories I’ve written, though I do love them all and this was a bit like having to choose a favorite child. Do you have a favorite of mine? I’d love to know! Tell me about it here or on the awful site 💖

#ask #yizhan #my fic #fanfic writer

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cerastes · 1 year

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Hey I was wondering, who do you use as your core starting group for Iron Carrot and Toron to get to Depth 8? I can only get as far as Depth 5 before I get overrun. My main strat is going 3x Sniper, 1x Caster with Goldenglow, 2x Vanguard, 1x Guard, 1x Defender with Mudrock, and then whoever else I can get put into Thorns, SilverAsh, Chalter... But eventually, the big units get too beefy and I can't kill them in time...

Listen to me carefully. Listen. I am grabbing you by the head and making very aggressive but somehow comforting eye contact right now, like an orangutan. You need three units to start with.

Mudrock S2. Suzuran S2. Goldenglow S2. “Don’t you mean S3 for the glo—“ Listen. Goldenglow’s S2 has infinite duration. Once it’s set up, it’s a permanent buff with permanent upkeep. You don’t have to time shit. You don’t have to deal with downtime sans the period of time it takes for the skill to go online. Suzuran S2 is the same, plus it allows her to attack three targets at once (with at least M1, get M1), and targets that are Slow in her range get slapped with Fragile 20% (23% with Potential 5). Mudrock S2 spins to win.

The rest of your starter team is a couple of Vanguards, a handful of Supporters, a bunch of Snipers, a Defender, and a Medic. Their names do not matter. Names are immaterial and superfluous in the Mines. They are tools to be used in order to strengthen our main stars. Their purpose is to be chewed and masticated and digested so they may make them strong. History will remember them as nutrients, if it feels merciful.

Goldenglow and Suzuran must be given Sniper stacks. Ideally 5 each but make do with what you can get away with in each map (4 is enough sometimes) because remember you need to account for the time it takes for their skills to online after deployment. Mudrock is to be fed one Defender and as many Vanguards as possible. This will make her spin. This will make her win. Supporters are there to help you go through your deck faster, like Pot of Greed.

When forced to add more cards to your deck, Snipers are the top priority, Supporters after that, Vanguards after that, Defenders after that, Specialists after that (they can help with building stacks in a pinch with A-Equipment, especially Shifters since they have no tile restrictions), and anything that’s not those, go with your preferences.

The idea is that GG and Suzu with blast the life out of anything in their range, with Suzu slowing and putting Fragile on three enemies at once while GG hits them very hard and procs her Talent’s AoE explosions. This is very effective in killing pretty much everything even without damage stacks, you just need Sniper stacks. Mudrock will be your main line holder, ideally spinning perpetually like the love child of a ballerina and a bulldozer.

Skadi the Corrupting Heart and Gnosis are useful to build after these three are online. Corrupting Heart’s buffs and healing are effective, while Gnosis is an excellent controller. Raise equivalents if you don’t have them. Having another Defender is good, for when multiple lanes must needs be dealt with. Your Medic is there for the latter half, when ranged tiles start taking damage. Personally, I got a lot of use out of Weedy (S3 with Vanguard stacks), as pushing people really far out and having them go through the Suzu Zone again was very useful to stall for time when RNG was bad to me and I couldn’t get GG online fast enough. A Pusher is a good idea. I personally like Angelina and Ling as well to Control in a pinch. Ranged Vanguards like Blacknight or Beanstalk are useful in giving units like Corrupting Heart or your Medic faster SP charge.

Prioritize getting GG online first on the first four maps, prioritize getting Suzu online first on the last four. Control is much more important early later on. Feel out each map to know when you should be placing Mudrock.

This isn’t a comprehensive guide, this is a gameplan that worked for me (based on Yanfly’s method of dealing with SSS) and that hopefully works out for you. Make pew pew go very fast, make enemy go very slow, rake in profit, succeed in front of the girls.

#prince of space #dreamknights #arknights

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stelladess · 3 months

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I dont know why people get dissapointed that very strong operators get a module that is only a decent improvement instead of like trippling their power. Goldenglow and Shu both got big upgrades from their modules but ive seen lots of dissapointment because the buffs were not *even bigger*. (Shu has about as high sanctuary with her module as Quercus with her module does, 1% difference, and also gets about twice the HP regen per second as Skalter gives, GG gets massive damage increase on her explosions, higher starting damage for her drones and a pretty sizeable atk+ from the stats relative to her own atk)

#arknights

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svtminji · 10 months

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❪ 🫂 ❫ MINJI’S RELATIONSHIP with 97 LINE ->

minji + seokmin + mingyu + minghao

❪ 💛 ❫ seokmin ❪ dokyeom ❫ & minji -> dokmi

❪ popularity rating: 90% + type of relationship: WHERE HAVE U BEEEEN ALL MY LIFEEE ❫

THE cutest pair may i add. sunshine + sunshine protector vibes. minji just adores this man. he will be just doing anything and she just stares at him lovingly. both of them are super passionate about their hobbies and interests which leads them to understand their way of thinking.

#scaredasf pair. the gose episode when they had to escape from three horror based men? yep, they are YELLING. these two are just loud in two different fonts: dk and minji. out of all of the children minji raised, dokyeom is number three out of ten children who is really thankful for minji. mizuki would take care of the more younger members and made sure that they ate properly whenever she received her small allowance from her parents. occasionally mizuki finds herself stuck between dokyeom and wonwoo; this is the part where she realizes that she can be both of them at the same time. they share a few phobias together and they bond over the fact that they’ll die before even jumping from a high altitude.

sometimes you just need someone to hold, to talk to, to love, and to appreciate. whenever theres an occurrence where he’s not in the best mood, she always opens her arms and invites him so he can let out anything he’s feeling. she does this to every single member but everyday may not be all sunshine and rainbows to the designated sunshine boy of the group. same thing goes for minji whenever she has her days.

one small thing seokmin does subtlety is putting gg songs whenever it is possible so mizuki feels comfortable enough to be girly due to her position in a male dominated group.

occurring moments between them include: joining seungkwan to sing gg songs, never accusing eachother of being the mafia ❪ #”minji is too sweet to be the mafia!” + #”how could YOU accuse my flowerboy of being such a heinous person!” ❫, he wants to go to the park? ok! minji will tag along~~

a song that represents them: tell me - fifty fifty

❪ 🧡 ❫ mingyu + minji -> mimi

❪ popularity rating: 97% + type of relationship: side chick gyu & frat boy minji ❫

oh man.. these two have smashed before, i’m sorry i had to say it. minji found him EXTREMELY attractive in 2020 after her break-up and she told him no-no words when she was drunk. smash number? i think they lost count tbh! before she announced she was dating jeonghan, many carats thought mingyu and minji were dating due to her ideal type being buff men ❪ she was 20 when she said her ideal type❫.

when these two first met, it was awkward but they later became close. mingyu’s parents took her in as their second daughter and still think of mizuki as their foreign daughter. many fans point out the obvious height difference whenever she stands next to him. it’s honestly cute, but this difference led to nights that must be never named ❪ nda <3 ❫. adultery aside, mizuki protects this man like he is her own flesh and blood because she’s going to take the fault for him, aka she’s tired of seeing him bullied. whenever it occurs, he pouts and she’s on her way to comfort him fr. clingy ass man and somehow jeonghan doesn’t bat an eye ❪ he’s lowkey jealous but he can’t do anything to his member but jeonghan knows minji goes home with him ❫. when minji was single/available, he would cling to her side when he had the chance.

since they used to be roommates ❪ w/ wonwoo ❫, many of the times she would go into his room and chill with him instead. thus her room would only become her work & gaming space and his room would be sleeping courters. did she once get sandwiched between the both of the roommates..? yes…

both of them cook for the group and when they combine their food palettes, it somehow becomes a massive feast that can last for two days. the earliest memory of mingyu she has is when she would wake up early and prepare his schoolwork and school food for him and the rest of the youngers to take.

occuring moments between them include: extreme use of the word “noona” from him, working out together!! gym bro mentality, clingy mingyu and sane mizuki, piggy back rides idc! it’s cute for them, big gyu and small mizu, brand ambassador TWINS, rich man + rich woman = 🫄, mizuki spoils mingyu the most ❪ he’s her fav but she would never admit it ❫.

a song that represents them: pyramids - frank ocean

❪ 💛 ❫ minghao ❪ myungho / the8 ❫ + minji -> myungmi

❪ popularity rating: 87% + type of relationship: b-boy & ballerina pair ❫

combining both their sense of dance and style = seventeen. i strongly believe these two are what seventeen’s dance style can be. both of their careers started with them beginning dance at such a young age, only for them to find each other at an agency for producing kpop idols. minji holds minghao extremely close to her heart and she always makes sure he puts in some dialogue into the conversation.

she understood minghao from an early start from when she first met him; both of them were foreigners with absolute no sense of fluent korean and mostly communicated with their hands + a bit of english. as they are part of the performance unit, they try to bring their ideas to the choreography room and demonstrate it to their abilities. mizuki has definitely learned a bit of b-boying from him and uses it when she gets reminded.

minghao, a younger member, was still is pampered by minji and would refer to him as her second cariño, the first one being chan. although he does not receive the same treatment like mingyu does, he appreciates everything minji has done for him. he likes to see her as an older sister and she has lived up to the name for the past ten years. since they are both artists and express themselves using art, mizuki keeps a room dedicated to art in her house and she gave minghao a key that he can access to.

occuring moments between them include: painting huge projects, combining their talents together, their calm auras spreading to the rest of the members, when minghao jukes mizuki.. she is left shocked and doesn’t speak to him for the rest of the day, “cariño!” “yeah, what do you need?”, real frog lover mizu + cartoon frog lover minghao.

a song that represents them: cariño - the marias

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