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anxiousnerdwritings · 1 year

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okay but Wayne!sibling!Reader being a villain?? one day she steals Wayne Enterprises from Bruce when he gets too caught up in Batman stuffs hoping it would garner his attention but he happily signs off on it and it irritates her cause she just wants his attention she won’t admit it but she feels Bruce put her on the back burner in favour of Batman and that burner only got colder with every child he adopted so she becomes a straight up villain just to spend time with him. not doing anything super illegal that the company couldn’t shell out some money to fix but enough to garner his attention. and he has absolutely no idea it’s his baby sister beating his ass on a weekly basis. all the Bat Kids know though and are just grinning like madmen in the background.

I love the idea of Wayne!Sister!Reader taking up being a villain but she’s a baddie who does good. Like she steals from bigger more corporate businesses only to give to smaller and harder working businesses, especially local family owned ones. Or she goes after people and places that are pretty terrible themselves whether it be a testing facility that does its testing strictly on animals or an abusive parent/foster home/orphanage.

It would also be kind of funny if the Reader fully divulged themself into villainy only to just mildly inconvenience Batman/her brother. Like she doesn’t really mean to do good, it’s not their #1 intention, she just wants to put a damper in Bruce being Batman but instead they inadvertently do really good and beneficial things in the process. Like, oops she accidentally destroyed an entire apartment complex, luckily no one was harmed in the process but fortunately it was also not up to living standards to begin with and is now being completely rebuilt with everything being like and working how it should have from the start.

Bruce actually finds this new up and coming villain quite amusing and dare he say that he enjoys their interactions with each other. At first he wouldn’t be any the wiser to his new foe being his sister because of course that would be in no way, shape, or form a thought in his mind that his own beloved baby sister would be out causing ‘havoc’ on the city, on their home. Hell, he probably doesn’t even think his sister has any idea about him being Batman. He didn’t even think twice when they took Wayne Enterprises right from under him, he didn’t see it like that at all. I could even see Bruce being delusional unsuspecting enough to believe that the Reader was only taking up the company as to give him a break and allow him to do more of his own thing (i.e be able to protect the city and do his Batman responsibilities without much more to hold him back or take up his attention). So of course he wouldn’t think much about his own baby sister taking on the company from him, if anything he kinda thought it was cute. Especially seeing his precious baby sister taking on the role of CEO. He’d totally have Lucius take discreet photos or videos of the Reader being a girlboss in meetings and whatever business dealings, all just to see his sister be a strong businesswoman and run the company all on her own.

I also really love the idea that even though the Reader felt left out on the back burner she was still a prominent figure in the kids lives and adored them to no end. Of course she loved seeing her brother be as much of a father to the kids as he could be, putting much necessary time and attention into them that was taken away from her. Like, she didn’t resent them or anything like that for coming into the picture and ‘stealing’ her brother from her but instead helped be something the kids needed and could trust when they felt they couldn’t go to Bruce. But as much as she loves and cares for her nieces and nephew and vice verse that did that keep her from still feeling abandoned by Bruce.

I could definitely see after becoming Batman that Bruce and the Reader’s relationship changed. The Reader certainly felt the change, the two used to be inseparable and so close but now it felt like there was a void between them. At least that’s how the Reader felt. Bruce doesn’t think anything is any different, he hasn’t picked up on any change. When the Reader does try to spend time with him and he turns them down in favor of crime fighting or something else, he always promises to make it up but he never does, probably due to forgetting but the Reader remembers and it weighs them down each and every time he turns them away for something or someone else. She’s kept her hurt to herself but it only got worse until she decided to move out of the manor, away from the kids and away from Bruce. She didn’t even tell Bruce, she just up and left without breathing a word of it to him. Hell, she may not have told anyone except Alfred that she was moving out. Alfred was only told because the Reader didn’t want to worry him, out of everyone in the family he was the one she didn’t want to be concerned about her. I also don’t doubt that Alfred is very well aware of the Reader’s feelings of being unwanted or uncared for regarding Bruce and he’s tried to help the Reader in his own way to get Bruce to spend some kind of time with his sister only for him too to end up waved off or turned away.

I could also see the kids having started paying less attention to the Reader once they took up fighting crime with Bruce, especially the older ones who moved out and were doing their own thing now. It would only add to the Reader’s feeling of being abandoned and left behind leading them to just leaving the manor and everyone else altogether.

If things weren’t so serious and this whole thing wasn’t a detrimental way to try and save/rekindle the Reader and Bruce’s brother-sister relationship in itself own way, then I could see the kids finding some amusement in it. But they would all still be very worried about the Reader, sure Bruce as Batman isn’t going off on her like he does with his rogue gallery or other criminals but that doesn’t mean that the Reader still can’t end up hurt or in real peril. The kids would try their best to help the Reader in their own ways but I think eventually someone would just crack and tell Bruce that he’s been fighting his own sister this whole time and giving her reason for it too. Bruce needs some time to process it but then he puts thing together himself and it all makes sense. He feels awful knowing that his baby sister felt like this was the only way she could spend time with him or have more of an interaction with him then he’s given her outside of this. He honestly feels like complete shit and a terrible brother, especially when he’s reminded of a promise he made her when they were younger after their parents died about always being there for each other and that she could count on him over anyone else. And he’s gone and fucked it all up.

I can’t help but have the idea that Bruce was slowly pulling back from his sister because he caught on to his obsessive tendencies and he didn’t want to turn into something much darker when it came to his beloved baby sister. He wanted her to be able to exist and thrive in the world without him holding her back, but now that he knows his baby sister went to these lengths for his time and attention he feels justified in indulging in his yandere behavior. And leave it to the kids to follow suit, especially after finding out the Reader felt abandoned by them too.

#anxious answers #yandere bruce wayne #yandere batfamily #yandere dc #yandere batfamily concept #yandere dc concept #yandere concept

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blackcat419 · 4 months

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Pros and Antis in HotD and aSoIaF Fandom: the breakdown around grey storytelling

I think I know why TB people struggle so much for understanding why TG is liked by people and it’s because fandom discourse has been so rotted away by “pro shippers” and “anti shippers” discourse that we’ve entered into a puritanical view of consuming media.

They see the media you consume as a direct reflection of the type of person you are and thus the characters you like must be similar to who you are as a person.

To a certain extent I get it, looking at a broad portfolio of media consumption can reveal a bit about a person. For example, I consume a lot of horror media. You can discern that I like being scared and the adrenaline that comes from it. But that’s only in a safe controlled situation where I can turn off the tv or monitor when it gets too much. I don’t like haunted houses, being alone at night, or even the dark.

Media is a safe place to explore different sides of humanity in a controlled setting where the only thing at risk is our own enjoyment. People can find that they like things in media that they wouldn’t like in real life. But this distinction is lost on a lot of fandom puritans. To them, media consumption is a political act. You reaffirm that you are a “good person” by watching the “good shows” and rooting for the “good guys”. To look upon a morally complex character or even the villain with interest and sympathy is thus to condone and support every action that character will be written to take.

But this idea of assuming moral righteousness from the characters you support in media because even harder to understand and justify when applied to stories like HotD and aSoIaF where every character possesses both good and evil. So how does a puritan fan reaffirm their belief that they are morally good in a series such as these? The fan will assign the idea oh moral correctness and superiority to the characters they like. Any bad, morally questionable, or straight up evil act the character commits will be justified as righteous no matter how the story frames those actions to the audience. The same is applied to characters these fans do not like. Every bad, morally questionable, or evil action is amplified to become the main character trait while any good, just, or morally righteous act is off written as either an evil act in disguise or any good to come out of the act should be attributed to another character. Any harm committed again the character is then down played as not that bad or actually deserved.

In HotD and aSoIaF, this fandom Puritanism mainly affects female characters.

In aSoIaF, we have characters such as Dany and Arya being framed as the morally righteous and just while characters such as Catelyn and Sansa are painted as villains. Weirdly this does not apply to actual villainous female characters likes Cersei. This could be because the books and show are very clear that her actions are evil and cruel, puritan fans do not feel insecure liking her as they feel secure that the story and thus other fans know she is a bad person and won’t assume liking her means viewing her as a good person. Characters such as Margery Tyrell and Arianne Martell are viewed with more complexity than other female characters but I bet once they come into conflict with beloved female characters, they will be viewed as villainous.

In HotD we see the same thing happening. Puritan fans see Rhaenyra as the perfect hero with any negative action being just or not her fault while Alicent is painted as more evil than the step mother from Cinderella who, despite all evidence to the contrary, wanted to be queen and this deserves everything that she gets.

This is why so many people have to explain to puritan fans that liking characters like Sansa, Catelyn, Alicent, Aegon, or Aemond does not make one bastardphobic, a rape apologist, or anti feminist. I also think it explains why these fans can’t except that their favorite characters have done wrong and hurt people. They can’t accept criticism or critique of their favorite character because to them it’s not another person’s reading of a fictional character, it’s someone judging them on their morals.

Puritanical fans interlock their identity and sense of self with the characters they like and struggle to separate criticism of those characters as criticism of themselves as a person.

#house of the dragon #hotd #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #hotd discussion #asoiaf discussion #hotd discourse #asoiaf discourse #Puritanism in fandom #puritanical fans

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amerricanartwork · 5 months

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RW Headcanon: Goodnight, Moon

AHHH YESSSS, now that that Lilypad essay is done I can FINALLY share these—!

Hey, @ghostlycoze! So you remember a few months ago how I made that drawing acting on the Moon beepsnort headcanon, and how in my last reblog I eluded to the possibility of drawing out some of your headcanons again? Well, it looks like that time has come, and this time I've got not just drawings, but lots of additions to another headcanon of yours!

This time, it's from your tags in these three posts, which I also saw a while ago! Yet for some reason I began thinking about it again recently, and as is my nature with ideas I like, I decided to develop it further, and even draw it this time!

Also, just to preface, you'll see I did a bunch of notes beside the actual drawings as well. I'll share the picture and roughly type out the notes (in case my handwriting is a bit hard to read) as well as whatever info I couldn't fit on the page. Some of the text also just says "robots" rather than "iterators" because some of these ideas are stuff I actually imagine applying to robot characters in general! Maybe I'll make a post on that someday...

With all that out of the way though, the actual headcanon is under the cut! Hope you like it!

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What are iterators like when they’re sleepy? Do they even get “sleepy” the way we humans do? This headcanon answers that question with a focus on the iterators’ puppets. Much of this info is also framed in the context of a hypothetical “worm-off-the-string” scenario, since I believe that’s the main situation where sleep and getting tired would actually matter to the iterators.

Firstly, when iterator puppets are low on power, until they find a place to recharge they usually enter a power-saving state where, to conserve what’s left of it, their energy is temporarily redirected away from some of their less-important processes. The side-effect of this, however, is that iterator puppets show symptoms of drowsiness kinda like humans! Whereas humans may yawn, stretch, or rub their eyes when sleepy, iterators will often make sloppier/less precise movements, close their lenses a little, and may even have a harder time thinking, since they sometimes shut off some processors and other cognitive functions until they can recharge. The most common symptom, however, is slurred speech, coming from less power given to their speech-forming software.

Another very-common sign of iterator sleepiness is frequent beeping, often in place of words. This is because, like slurred speech, beeps take much less energy and processing to make than analyzing data, formulating a complex response, then vocalizing it clearly. Beeps are thus far more efficient for conveying simple emotions and reactions than words. Looks to the Moon in particular gets super beepy when she’s tired because she and other early models relied more on beeps for communication — they were made back when things like vivid emotion weren’t as taboo in Ancient society, and iterators were meant to be more friendly and openly interactive with their citizens — so she’s more used to beeping to easily express her emotions.

As a side-note and mini-headcanon (wow, real headcanon-layering action here), while even the newest iterator puppets can beep, the older iterator models, as a result of this design influence, also have a much greater “beep-vocabulary” with a wider range of sounds that shrunk with the generations. Their beeps are thus a lot more expressive as well, with some sounds even being similar in nature to animal noises or regular speech! I imagine the entire range of their beeps would closely resemble shorter versions of the “droidspeak” sounds of the astromechs in Star Wars.

But, back to sleepy iterators.

When it’s hibernation time, iterators enter a “sleep-mode”, where almost all of their systems are shut down and recharging becomes the primary objective. However, compared to how I imagine other robots, iterator puppets have a unique way of recharging. Rather than shutting off completely and absorbing power from an external source, iterator puppets have a few key systems within them that remain on even during sleep-mode. These systems, just like those in their superstructures, are capable of converting nutrients into power directly. They emit a soft, rather comforting whirr while the puppets sleep — the only sound iterators make while sleeping, and comparable in nature to stomach sounds during digestion. Otherwise, though, the only other systems remaining on during sleep-mode are a few basic senses, and a program that decides when to “wake up”. The presence of this program also means, uniquely to iterators again, they can wake up on their own, rather than having to be powered back on by someone else like other robots. Overall, these systems are yet another aspect of iterator designs that make them far more biological than many iterators (*cough* *cough* Pebbles *cough*) would like to admit. And in my imaginings of a “worm-off-the-string” AU, systems like these are one of the main sources of both physical and internal conflict for these characters.

Also, since most of their systems are off during sleep mode, iterators sleep, both figuratively and literally, like statues. Whatever position they fall asleep in is the position they remain in the entire time unless a.) someone moves them or b.) they wake up and move on their own. This also means (unfortunately, if you thought these ideas would be cute) that iterators do not snore, shift around, sleepwalk, sleep-talk, or dream while in sleep mode.

That’s about it for this headcanon as it applies to iterator puppets overall. Now, I’m gonna get into how I imagine Looks to the Moon specifically likes to sleep.

In addition to getting very beepy, Moon also gets very cuddly when sleepy, though some of this comes from her affectionate personality. However, it's also due to a lasting trauma from her collapse. Of course she's learned to tolerate the rain over time, yet after spending so many cycles being rapidly drowned over and over in her can — with endless disorientation and senses so out-of-control from being disconnected from most of her superstructure, no one around to comfort her save for the occasional wandering creature, and the knowledge that her own beloved brother was responsible for this — it’s still left a fair amount of bad memories with her, especially from those cycles most recently after her collapse/revival, and this general unease often resurfaces with the sound of the rain. Therefore, whenever the rain comes, this trauma serves as another, more internal reason Looks to the Moon always wants to fall asleep holding onto/being held by someone, or at the very least while sharing the shelter with someone she loves.

On a more positive note, since I’m now officially a Lilypad shipper, I imagine that No Significant Harassment is Moon’s default choice of cuddling partner! It can be a little hard to get in position — I imagine Moon always likes to be the little spoon despite her being slightly taller than him — but they manage! Moon pretty much always falls asleep first, because, as the oldest model of the group, and having sustained the most damage post-collapse on top of that, she simply doesn’t use power as efficiently as the others do and therefore gets tired much more easily. In some ways, the poor thing even feels a little guilty about it; she’s supposed to be the leader of this group, and yet here she is, tiring out after less travel and growing drowsy before the rain even starts! Luckily, Sig makes an effort to ensure her she’s more-than worth keeping around, because after every awful thing the world has thrown at her kindness, the least she deserves is some quality guilt-free nap time! And sometimes, if they want a little alone-time (or if Pebbles gets too fed-up with their lovey-dovey gestures), it’ll be just the two of them, and perhaps their slugcats, cuddling together in the shelter.

And speaking of slugcats, Moon’s second choice of cuddles is Rivulet! Being very soft, warm, and equally cuddly, she makes another good source of cuddles for Moon. And sometimes, if Hunter’s also around and willing, the two join forces with Sig and Hunter for a big, soft, cuddle-filled slumber party!

Still, though, Sig is definitely no. 1 provider of snuggles for Moon. But he loves her dearly, so for the most part he doesn’t mind! Since she falls asleep first, some of his favorite moments each cycle are from just watching her and holding her close as the rainfall echoes from outside; she always looks so beautiful when she’s relaxed, and having her in his arms makes him feel like he can protect her no matter what. So he never really minds when Moon, slurring her words, tiredly asks for him to hold her while she enters sleep mode.

That is, except when this happens and he’s stuck in that spot for the next several hours…

A few more ideas to this headcanon:

Moon’s third choice of cuddles is Five Pebbles. It’s a bit interesting, because in basically all other scenarios Pebbles insists on sleeping alone in a separate shelter, even though he’s actually rather touch-starved (though it'll be a while before he admits it). Moon is one of the only people he’s actually willing to sleep with, besides occasionally Artificer (in which the feeling is mutual and no one else must be in the room). If I someday decide to ship Pebbles with someone, I imagine he’d also be willing to sleep with them, again, only if no one else is around to see it.

To elaborate on the last point and shift to Five Pebbles’ perspective, the reason why Pebbles always wants to sleep alone is because, as I imagine the worm-off-the-string story so far, Pebbles’ biggest internal conflicts are learning to accept all those “worldly attachments” the Ancients so strongly rejected, and overcoming his god-complex and fear of relying on others. And one of the main ways this manifests is him being so deeply embarrassed to be dealing with these basic survival needs — like yet another one of the savage beasts roaming the world, after having been a vast mechanical god so far above those primitive creatures — that he refuses to let others, even his friends and family, observe him in such a “pitiful” state whenever possible, and resolves to try and overcome it alone.

To further continue this idea, this is why Moon sometimes insists on sleeping with him. Even though he’ll have to overcome these conflicts on his own, it doesn’t mean he has to be alone while he does it. She makes an effort during these and other moments in this scenario to assure him that it’s okay, no one’s gonna judge or punish him for living this way, and she’ll always be there if he ever decides to accept some help. Pebbles always falls asleep with his head buried in her chest and holding onto her very tightly.

The iterators often like to sleep with their slugcats, who in the AU also stick around a lot to help guide them as they figure out the ins-and-outs of organic survival.

Both Moon and Pebbles tend to sleep in a curled position. It's actually very similar to how slugcats generally sleep!

Pebbles is quite the workaholic in general, but it also means he has a hard time falling asleep — not because he doesn’t get sleepy, but rather that he often denies it or its significance in an attempt to get more done that cycle (and because, again, he’s “too advanced” for animalistic things like sleeping). The group often has to literally drag him to bed to get him to sleep, and Sig often teases him when his lenses start drooping and his syllables begin to stretch.

In extreme cases, where almost all of their power has been exhausted, iterators won't just slur their words anymore, but their speech will often lose coherency overall, like a spoken case of very drunk typing .

When sleepy, Moon not only slurs her words, but has a tendency to say rather strange and very silly things. It’s another side-effect of less power being used to actually think through her words. There have been many instances where the whole group erupted in laughter after Moon made a really out-of-left-field comment!

Oh, and here's one last quick doodle based off one of the ones above:

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Aaaand that's all for another headcanon! Even though it took me a whole week to do the drawings, it was SO fun getting to develop this idea, especially since sleepy Moonie is such a cute concept! I am so glad that you shared that little idea, Ghost!!

And speaking of which, if you've made it all the way down here, Ghost, may I invite you to add any more ideas to all this, if you want? I'd especially love hearing ideas for the other iterators' sleeping habits (how fast they get tired, what position they like to sleep in, who they usually sleep with, how they wind down before bed, etc.)! I mainly focused on Moon and a bit of Pebbles at the end, since I'm still trying to get a read on Sig and Suns's personalities (especially Suns), so it'd be fun to even further expand on this idea in that regard! Of course, you don't have to, but it's a proposition!

But regardless, I hope you and anyone else who made it to the bottom enjoyed my contributions to the idea! And be sure to keep the adorable headcanon ideas coming!!

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Bonus: Here are the full sketchbook pages, in case anyone was interested in seeing the completed layout! I think I'm gonna be making more of these kinds of drawing/explanation combo artworks!3

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silentcryracha · 10 months

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❍ ‗ What type of songs Skz would write about you ‗ ❍

Pairings : Stray Kids x reader

Genre/warnings : headcanons, possible use of swear words, mentions of intimacy, mentions of sad feelings and breakups

Summary : What type of songs I think Stray Kids members would write about their relationships

Word count : 1.7k

A/n : these are general headcanons that are described more in a technical way than a fictional one, so yeah

ps: There could be errors. Do NOT repost on other socials. Leave feedback if you feel like it, otherwise enjoy! ♡︎

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Chan ‗ ❍

Holy trinity: agsty, fun, horny

Chan seems like the man who would gain inspiration from strong feelings that he may experience.

The man has range and is talented af so of course he'd be able to write anything, BUT

My idea is that he'd be more inclined to write about angsty feelings ranging from sadness, maybe regret. He wouldn't specifically write about you or describe you as a person or your features, those are for him only to appreciate, or in this case, to miss. I think he'd write down his feelings, whether it's plain sadness and longing, or something stronger like regret, or unspoken things.

But he could also be really inspired by the thrill and 'primal' feeling that comes with the start of a relationship, or even a little earlier when it's the 'chasing' moment before getting together. He'd write about how he's absolutely whipped and stupid in love for you, but in the 'fun' way, not in the 'sad' way.

Both the angst and the fun could (and probably would) be mixed with some horniness, absolutely. He could write about how mad you make him and how fucking desperate he is for a taste of you. Again, this could be applied in a more fun and lighthearted song, like a honeymoon phase, or to a darker more 'toxic' context.

Minho ‗ ❍

A delicate story about romance in all its shades

I feel like Minho would keep the lyrics very vague, but still mainly focus on the other person, more than write about this own feelings. While Chan seems more the type to write a 'letter' type of lyrics, I think Minho would be more of a 'storyteller'.

He'd probably write more chill lyrics, never being raunchy or explicit, but could very well imply intimacy in a more subtle way. In a poetic way, if you will.

I do think that he'd give his best with romantic songs, though. He may not look like it at first glance, but Lee Minho is a romantic and you will not change my mind.

I could see him writing lyrics with a lot of artistic/literature/media influence. Which ties back with the whole 'storyteller' thing. They wouldn't be overly complex as in words choice though, they'll need to be simple and delicate with a perfect melody to accompany them. Maybe some technical or production related tricks (like the 'suspense' at the end of limbo)

The same exact style would apply for more angsty or sad songs. I find him similar to Chan in this aspect in the sense that he'd write about sad, depressing and heart wrenching feelings more than angry or vengeful ones. He'd also probably do it in a 'therapeutic' way, like writing down the last chapter of a story that will be finally be closed and locked away in his memories.

He could also write some more 'fun' songs but I think that they wouldn't be necessarily about romantic relationships. But who knows?

Changbin ‗ ❍

About you, about me, about us

Changbin is another master in the craft of composing and writing, which means that he'd be able to switch povs pretty easily in whatever story he wanted to tell, or even change the style of the narration itself.

He could write about any topic he wanted to be honest, and his rapping and freestyling abilities are probably a big help in that sense, but let's focus on romance now.

Bin looks like someone who cherishes a lot his personal life and feelings, which is why it would be harder to find lyrics in which he directly puts himself as the narrator. But it does happen sometimes, and it's usually a cry for help. May be a pleading to someone that left him, an apology to someone he hurt.

Usually though I feel like he's more the one to pick a specific feeling/situation and elaborate on it. Might be a specific argument, the way that a breakup happened, the mistakes that led to said breakup. In this case he would write openly, like he wants the person in question to hear him out through his music.

His lyrics wouldn't be adorned with pretty words or poetic comparisons, but only with real and raw feelings that will pull at your heartstrings for how honest they sound.

Hyunjin ‗ ❍

Straight out of a literature piece

Hyunjin *say it with me*, is a romantic. Yes, that's the key to understanding him, pretty much.

He is a lover, through and through. A lover of art, beauty, emotions, memories, of love itself. This is why I think that any lyrics that he may write will be almost like a dance of words, melodies, instruments, and feelings. He wants to put his feelings down because they overwhelm him.

With each of his songs he seems like he wants to curate every aspect to the T, almost as if he was creating his own little work of art. He wants it to be evocative, to make you feel what he does, and will do it with different tools such as poetical lyrics, a particular choice of instruments, and even the tone of his voice.

Ironically, I think that the more he'd have to 'hide', the more complex and embellished the lyrics would be. He could do a song with quite simple but direct lyrics, and sing it in an energetic way, almost desperate way, like he can't wait to shout out to the person he loves. Almost like a movie/book scene in which the love interest finally confesses their love.

The thing with Hyunjin seems to be that he enjoys writing about angsty feelings. Something that could be a problem of communication within the relationship, or confusion by getting mixed signals from someone, or again with a dangerous attraction for someone who isn't right for him but still manages to 'lull' him into this toxic relationship.

In both cases I think that he'd use a lot of artistic or maybe visually eliciting comparisons in his lyrics, playing with words and the emotions that those elicit in people.

Jisung ‗ ❍

Let it out, angsty boy

I really feel like Han writes when he doesn't find any other way out, so whatever it is it's likely to be explosive.

He's gonna write lyrics that scream how much he's wrapped around your finger, how your love is essentially all he needs to live and that you could do whatever you wanted with him because he's yours. Would be very smart in writing a whole story about it, mentioning mundane things and then ranging to use metaphors and abstract comparisons to let his explosive emotions through.

I feel like he could write out of frustration too, which would bring lyrics with a different tone to them. Whatever he feels must and will be reflected in the song. If the sentiment is cold, sharp and toxic, the producing part of the song will reflect that as much as his own intonation. If it was a cry for help, a prayer almost, you'd be able to feel it through the melody and the whole structure of the song, not only the lyrics.

He's another one who desperately wants and needs for his music to be honest and to elicit the same feelings that he felt while producing it in complete detail, similar to Hyunjin.

Felix ‗ ❍

A lot of feelings and honesty

Felix has range in what he writes, but what I noticed mostly in the projects that he's been part of, is that he uses his voice a lot to set the tone of the song.

Whatever are the lyrics, his extremely adaptable voice with automatically make you understand what he was going for 'emotion' wise. This also applies to the choice of the instrumentals.

I feel like he could be writing about more romantic and wholesome feelings, in this case with lyrics that sound really clean, pure and almost dreamy, but still simple.

But he could also be writing about more gloomy feelings, mainly of sadness and 'mourning', and would probably treat the narrative as something that is already in the past but with which he still has to let go completely. His main goal I think is honesty, which is why the lyrics would be quite simple but hurt where they should.

Seungmin ‗ ❍

Dreamy and emotional

I feel like he's truly someone that could make a listener go 'Oh, so he is in love LOVE' while listening to one of his songs.

The things that would inspire Seungmin the most while writing is the feeling of being in love. He'd probably be quite poetic, dreamy and transfer these vibes to the lyrics and music as well. His voice too, which is adaptable and very expressive.

He's also someone who tries to give a 'narrator' vibe to his songs, almost like he was telling a story that had a beginning and and end. He can write about pretty much anything if it has to do with love. Unrequited love, longing for someone, looking back on your shared happy memories with a hint of sadness. He is also someone who is quite honest and wants the song to represent his feelings in an almost 'dreamy' way.

Jeongin ‗ ❍

Delicate, warm and comforting

Jeongin is someone who seems more comfortable writing about delicate feelings, whether they're positive or negative. A delicate love, almost like a first love, or on the other end a sad ending to that same love.

They lyrics would be quite easy, not overly complex and aim to be as honest as they can in eliciting the same feelings that the writer felt as they thought them out. But there would be a factor of comfort and relatability to them that would pull at your heartstrings.

His voice can also be quite expressive and he knows is, which is why the intonation along with the instrumentals would be fundamental, even more than the words themselves maybe.

He'd like to take a specific feeling and make a song about it, it doesn't necessarily need to be a whole story, moral, or context. He just wants to be able to express his feelings as clearly as possible, without necessarily giving it a background. I feel like those actual moments would be very precious to him and would want to keep them private in his memory.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

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specialagentlokitty · 11 months

Text

Eddie/Buck x Teen!reader - the light returning

Hey could you do a Eddie x buck x teen reader where they get called out due to what looks to be a suicide and it’s reader and when the boys get up their the R is in the middle of self harming and they try get her to shop and to not jump after? Like comfort angst. They end up getting them down and some more comfort I guess? I love comfort fics about what I struggle with? It’s cool if you can or want to change it I really don’t mind. - Anon 💜

TW: mentions suicidal thoughts and self harm

You don’t know why you were hesitating, sitting on the edge of the roof of your apartment complex, feet dangling over, looking down at all the people below staring up at horror.

They seemed more disturbed than you did, and you were the one sitting up there.

But you just felt numb.

Even the cuts on your arm didn’t seem to have any feeling, you couldn’t feel them.

You just sat up there, watching as the fire engines rolled up, and they looked up at you, and you stood up.

The police officer behind you took a step forward but she stopped and hesitated.

“Hey, hey okay, okay. We don’t need to make any rash choices.” Athena said.

You glared at her and looked around, shuffling across the ledge behind one of the water tanks to make it even harder for them to reach you.

And you sat back down, reaching into your pocket you pulled out a pocket knife and opened it, taking a deep sigh.

The whole 118 ran up the stairs, and they stopped in front of Athena, while down below another team set up an inflatable landing mat below.

“What do we have?” Bobby asked.

“Teenager, her names (Y/N) (L/N), resident of this building and that’s all we know. It’s all the landlord could give us.”

“Parents? Family?” Chim asked.

“We’ve got no idea.”

Bobby nodded his and Athena pointed behind the water tank.

“Right, Buck, Eddie, I need you both to go on either side of that tank, try get her to keep talking, keep up updated on her condition. Hen you stay up here, she might feel more comfortable if you treated her, we need to get down there and try find a way up to her.”

Everyone went to do their tasks, Buck and Eddie walked around either side of the water tank, and Eddie sat down, back against the large empty space and Buck did the same thing.

You didn’t even look at them again, you simply dug the knife into your skin and dragged it across before removing it.

“Hey (Y/N), I’m Buck. That’s Eddie. Do you mind if we talk?” Buck said softly.

You looked at Buck and looked back down at the ground.

“Why… what’s the point…?”

“Well, there’s a lot of points. Like you’ve still got your life ahead of you, your whole future. Dreams.” Eddie said.

You shrugged a little bit.

“I… I don’t have dreams…”

“That can’t be true. Everyone’s got dreams.” Buck smiled.

“My dream is to jump. I… I want to jump.”

“Woah, Woah we can’t let you do that.” Eddie said.

He shuffled a little closer while you weren’t paying attention, resting his back against the water tank, and Buck went to update everyone on the situation.

“So, why do you want to jump?”

“Does it matter?”

Eddie reached over, taking the pocket knife while you weren’t paying attention and he set it on the other side of him.

“It does to me. Talk to me, tell me about what’s going on.”

Buck walked back over and did what Eddie was doing, they both dangled a chord behind him, and hen and Athena crept over, tying them to the water tank.

“What makes you think jumping from this building is the only solution? You know there’s loads of other ways you can make things better.” Buck said.

“It’s.. it’s hopeless…”

“It’s not hopefully (Y/N), nothings hopeless.” Buck said.

You sighed, glancing at them both, and you decided there was no point in hiding this from them.

Maybe it would make the whole though of jumping a little easier, so you decided to confide them in what was going on.

“You know… people say the devil takes the best of us… and … and I guess that’s true.. if I could I’d trade my soul for a better life… a happier life. One where I didn’t have to worry about anything…” you mumbled.

“What do you have to worry about?” Eddie asked.

“Everything… literally everything… I have to worry about the whole world… my whole life… and I don’t want to do that…”

Buck looked at you, trying to get his attention away from the long drop below.

“I’m so tired… you know..?”

“Let is help you carry this burden. Let us help you (Y/N), it’s what we’re here for.” Eddie smiled.

“You can’t help…”

“We can help more than you think. You just gotta give us the chance to help. If you jump, no one will ever know what a great person you could’ve been.” Buck smiled.

You looked at the two smiling firefighters.

“We all fall down sometimes.” Eddie whispered.

You looked down, and you were finding yourself still hesitant to take the jump. To take the final step.

“We’re going to be with you…” Buck whispered.

You looked at him and he smiled, slowly holding out his hand towards you.

“It’s not too late..”

You could sit up there all night, but you knew you wouldn’t be able to bring yourself to go through with it.

“Take my hand, trust us.”

You slowly reached out, and you took Bucks hand, and he smiled, carefully helping you from the ledge.

The moment your feet touch the roof, you fell to your knees and he dropped down beside you.

“You’re alright.. you’re alright…” Eddie whispered.

The other fire fighter crouched beside you, and he gestured for Hen to come over and she did.

“This is Hen, can she looks at your arms?”

You nodded and let Hen looked at them, clean them and temporarily bandage them until you were taken to the hospital.

Athena walked over and crouched down in front of you.

“You understand for your own health you’ll be sectioned for 72 hours, right?”

You nodded your head.

“And they can possibly keep you there longer?”

You nodded again, and you looked at Buck and Eddie.

“Will you two come with me..?”

“Of course we will.” Eddie smiled.

Buck and Eddie walked you to the ambulance and they sat in the back with you along with Hen, and you were taken to the hospital.

You were all taken to the hospital and they stayed with you until you had to be taken away.

“Here, call us whenever you need us alright? Or come down to the station at any time.” Buck smiled.

“Thank you…”

You looked at them both.

“You’ll be okay.” Eddie said.

You were escorted away, and for nearly two weeks you were in there, and you mainly kept to your room.

But after the third week, after nearly a month in there you were finally allowed to leave, and it was Athena who was taking you home.

“Do you need to go anywhere first? Shopping?”

“Buck and Eddie, where do they work?”

“You want to go to the 118?”

You nodded and Athena smiled.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Can we make a stop first?”

“Absolutely sweetheart.”

And you did, then she took you to the 118, and you walked inside a little unsure with Athena next to you, two large boxes in your hands.

“Oh hen! Where’s Buck and Eddie?”

“Upstairs I think.”

Hen poked her head around the corner and she smiled at you, walking over.

“Hey sweetie, are you doing better now?”

“A little, Uhm here..”

You handed the boxes to Athena and took one of them back, holding it out to her.

“A uh.. a thank you to you all.”

“Thank you. Come on let’s find those two.”

She led you upstairs and you found them standing in the kitchen talking to one another.

“You two have a visitor.” Hen smiled.

You took the other box from Athena and the two men turned around, both immediately smiling when they saw you and you held the box out.

“For you two..”

“Oh yes! What is it?!” Buck asked excitedly.

He took the box and set it on the table, opening it to see a load of little chocolates.

Buck grinned and looked at you, walking around the table.

“How’re you doing kid?” He asked.

“I’m better I suppose. I just… I wanted to come and thank you both..”

Eddie smiled and walked over.

“You don’t have to thank us. We’re just glad you’re doing alright, do you want to stay for a bit?”

You looked to Athena who nodded her head.

“I ain’t got anywhere to be today. Stay as long as you need.”

You smiled a little and turned around, nodding at Eddie.

“Can.. I hug you both…”

“Course you can, bring it in.” Buck beamed.

He walked over and hugged you tightly, and you hugged him back, then you hugged Eddie and you stayed at the station for most of the day.

They were smiling from ear to ear, hearing you talk about what you had been doing, and how you were doing and what you wanted to do.

They saw a glimpse of hope inside of you, a little bit of light return to your eyes

#911 fox imagine #911 fox x reader #911 fic #911 fandom #911 fanfic #911 x reader #911 fox #911 fox x you

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general-cyno · 5 months

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Hey hey have you ever thought about how zoro breaks his body again and again for Luffy gaining scar after scar loosing eyes and shit trying to keep up with Luffy and his devil fruit and sanji with his genetically modified body. Do you think zoro wonders what will be the thing that tips him over the edge into death??? Do you think Luffy does???

well hello to you too, anon! sorry that it took me a while to answer but I love this and ended up typing a lot. so, I also apologize in advance for the long-ish read.

but yeah! actually I was sort of thinking about it thanks to some twts I saw discussing thriller bark again. I gotta say, perhaps I have a bit of a less angsty view? because the thing is... zoro's a pretty straightforward and single-minded character, which doesn't mean he's flat or lacking in depth, but his overall thought process isn't extremely complex.

though zoro treasures his life (just like his swords, both which he needs to achieve his goals), he's not naive. he knows death is a real possibility, more so in the pursuit of his dream. zoro says as much to sanji back in baratie:

zoro doesn't seek death, the opposite actually, and he refuses to die in situations he finds dishonorable or out of his control, but he's come to terms with the idea of his own death. aside from that (or additionally), zoro's most prominent traits are rooted in his deep sense of commitment, devotion and loyalty to what he wants and believes in - namely his dream and his promise to kuina. this aspect of his character doesn't change imo, rather it broadens to encompass luffy and the crew as well.

all this to say that albeit I've called it a sacrifice myself, I don't think what zoro chooses to do for luffy or the crew would count (for him) as such. it's just what he believes he must do - to achieve his personal goals as much as to ensure luffy gets to fulfill his own and to protect the crew as a whole, because they've all become intertwined with zoro's dream to begin with. especially where it concerns luffy. what good is ambition if I can't even save the life of my own captain? indeed, for someone whose end goal is to become the strongest, what's the point of doing so if his strength doesn't allow him to protect those who are important to him? the person who is most important to him?

so when zoro chooses to keep pushing himself to train harder/become stronger, to do the exchange with kuma, beg mihawk to train him or agrees to do crazy stuff like take the drug that will help him recuperate enough to fight but will worsen his injuries/pain tenfold the moment the effect wears off in wano - they're not sources of regret or decisions he sees as tragic sacrifices. he's quite like luffy too, who's made similar choices along the story.

the angst of moments like "nothing happened" for me lies more on the implications of what could've happened (zoro dying for real), what eventually did (almost getting killed in sabaody, the crew's separation) and what luffy's reaction would've been if he'd found out. I do agree luffy would ultimately respect his decision, what I don't usually agree with is that he'd be immediately okay with it. the last thing luffy wants is to lose someone he loves, less so if they get hurt trying to protect him. points at his backstory, marineford and post marineford. this is exactly why sanji insists on not letting him know.

on the other hand, imo, zoro's not trying to keep up with luffy per se... how I see it, it's more like meeting him halfway. when you're faced with how powerful luffy's become nowadays, it's easy to forget he's not infallible. luffy has weaknesses and shortcomings too. post TS zoro is even more aware of both of their limitations (he's the one who's literally experienced luffy's pain as if it were his own) though he's also become more confident in their strength and the crew's as well. zoro will do his best to stand by luffy's side and protect him/their crew, but luffy has to measure up! zoro has no qualms about reminding and demanding him to get his shit together. zoro might not reach luffy's levels of raw strength (and I'd argue he doesn't need to), still, there's other ways in which he makes up for what luffy lacks or can't do in certain circumstances. so if you ask me, it's not about keeping up - it's meeting each other in the middle and striding forward together.

as for sanji, a similar thing applies. for all their petty rivalry and their roles as crew combatants, it's important to remember sanji's more of a nurturer (he is the cook, after all) and his dream of the all blue has little to do with strength, unlike zoro's. his genetic modifications don't really become an issue (for the crew) until wano and if anything, rather than this setting him above zoro in terms of power/abilities or turning into something zoro has to catch up with, sanji relies on zoro to keep him in line if he ever endangers the crew because of it.

all in all, I don't think zoro's the type to wonder what's gonna make him kick the bucket, though he knows dying is a realistic possibility. plus, he's not the only relatively Normal Guy who's ever become crazy strong among DF users and other enhanced characters. rayleigh is a very good point of reference as to what zoro is capable of becoming or achieving, and it's no coincidence they share a bunch of a similarities too.

AND FINALLY LUFFY. I rambled about this in the tags of a post a while back but luffy is a bit of a more complicated case imo. the manga doesn't exactly provide insight on luffy's inner thoughts/feelings (he voices most of them anyway) and though he's not naive in this aspect either, especially not post TS, the story rarely lets him witness situations in which zoro's vulnerable or in real danger of dying. this leads to him sometimes coming across as insensitive or being unfair (by having almost unrealistic expectations wrt zoro) but part of it is that he sees zoro bouncing back from the seemingly impossible more often than he sees him down.

however, the way he loses his goddamn mind when mihawk hurts zoro at baratie, when kizaru almost kills him and as kuma sends him away in sabaody, is a very good indicator of how he handles the idea of losing zoro which is - not well. at all. OPLA also gave us a more blatant example of this with the near dissociation, panic, losing his appetite and actively refusing to eat etc when zoro's wounded and unconscious after his duel with mihawk.

whether he thinks about zoro dying or not is probably more headcanon/fanfic territory, since it hasn't come up in the manga itself. even so, I do believe luffy's the type who... deliberately does Not ponder about sad or potentially upsetting things. one very brief moment that stood out to me while reading was this:

luffy not wanting to remember when garp left him on his own as a kid and straight up getting mushroom-high after being separated from his friends? man.

despite his cheerfulness and confidence, luffy is at his innermost terrified of losing the people he loves and hates the idea of being alone, ever since he was a kid. he begged ace not to die, has fought time and time again to rescue his friends and bring back those who've left. zoro's not just his first crew mate but he's also been the most long lasting and steady throughout the story. as some people have pointed out - zoro is the only one of the east blue gang who's never left the crew, even if the rest all had very understandable reasons for doing it each time. so on a more speculative note, after all the losses luffy's suffered, I'd say wondering when or how zoro will die is something he'd very much avoid. the thought's likely pretty devastating. instead, it's easier to put his entire trust and faith into believing zoro will pull through anything, like luffy says in dressrosa, and zoro would accept no less than that imo - because that's the kind of trust/faith he places in luffy as well.

lastly, about the scars and such... this is where zoro and luffy's similarities are highlighted. when it comes to all the choices they make wrt their dreams or protecting their friends, those luffy understands well. he's pretty much the same as zoro in this regard. that's why he refuses to let buggy interrupt zoro's fight with cabaji and stops johnny and yosaku from interfering in his duel against mihawk, even if seeing zoro get hurt upsets him greatly. zoro and luffy match in many ways, their dreams and determination to fulfill them is one of them, no matter what they have to do or how many scars they collect along their journey as a result.

#tp #replies #long post #zolu #kind of #I hope this is somewhat coherent AJDJD #this is more about canon discussion btw. I do enjoy the idea of like....zoro and luffy having some complicated feelings abt their scars #the one on luffy's chest and zoro's eye #both which they received when they were apart from each other and could do nothing to help prevent either #I mean. I kinda wrote a wip about it #though it's never too late for oda to just come out and reveal zoro got his scar in the dumbest way possible so #there's that #anyway thank you so much for the ask I like discussing this stuff a lot

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the-owl-house-takes · 8 months

Note

So I think the worst take of the fandom is that all of the problems of the show would have been fixed had it gotten a full S3. That literally any problem the show had merely came from the shortening. This is... Well, just blatantly shows that the fandom not only doesn't understand how the animation industry works AND doesn't want to actually look at the narrative they did choose to focus on post the shortening call that were just... baffling.

So first let's establish how much of the show was affected by the Shortening. As a fandom, we found out about it during the hiatus between S1 and 2. This was at earliest, August 2020 since the S1 finale came out late August 2020. Dana has claimed two things that are important to this timeline. 1: The shortening was decided on shortly before the finale came out and 2: That the first episode affected by Covid, which would have been back in March/April, was Looking Glass Ruins. So we EXPLICTLY know that the shortening didn't affect the show until after S2 Ep 5.

BUT then we get into production schedules. Before S2 even BEGAN airing, we were told to stop campaigning for a full S3 because they had to get started on storyboards for the season and that was effectively the firm deadline. This means ALL of S2 was effectively done in script and storyboards by the time S2 aired. This makes sense to keep a weekly schedule and the like and most animation professionals will tell you they work MONTHS in advance of release, bare minimum.

This means, AT BEST, S2B was when the shortening really kicked in. And yes, S2B has pacing issues. It has issues in general and is when most people think the quality of the show dropped. The problem is that... The signs were always there. There's a reason why there's been a backlash because as people become disillusioned with the show, you have to ask what was driving so much before.

And a lot of that was potential. S1 is so good when you first watch it because it keeps teasing the idea that it's going to tackle things in a complex way. That it will explore concepts like Amity's abusive family, magic, fantasy vs reality, etc. like that. It's why the fandom was at its strongest during S1.

Unfortunately, the problem with presenting good ideas and then not executing on them, or completely gutting them is that those old parts are a lot harder to enjoy. As Willow was effectively not a character for half a season and then just suddenly was a jock, people began to realize the fact that she in the show is much more a plot device than anything else. They claimed "We're not doing the one kind act into friendship and forgiveness thing with Amity and Willow" and then literally did NOTHING with it until S2B and eventually DID just do the same trope anyways but now with less resonance than it would have had in Understanding Willow.

Not only that but even S1 didn't give a single shit about its worldbuilding. The First Day has Dana Terrace as a lead writer on it. If anyone knows the worldbuilding best, it should be her... So why is it that no one talks about multi-coven things being illegal? It's literally just used as meta commentary and so they entirely ignore the worldbuilding they have. Reaching Out is exactly the same, with Dana as the SOLE writer of that where Amity and everyone else treats joining a coven like going to college and not literally the word of the law.

But S1 couldn't even keep Wild Witches consistent. Half the time Eda can chill and not worry. She can go to a place funded by the EC like Hexide and not flinch for a second that Bump might call the guards on her despite that being kind of the ONE real rule to their society that makes it not just our world but with teeth. Then again, the show gives NO FUCKS about its own stuff, willing excising portions of itself that it finds cumbersome. Escaping Expulsion is BEFORE Looking Glass Ruins and yet it murders Luz's magical potential in its sleep and also discards Amity's family as easily disposable, despite how much the show claims her mother's influence is the reason why Amity behaved the way she did for all of... Three appearances? Because Amity's arc isn't actually good.

It shouldn't be surprising S2 would do this though when the writers already struggled to do anything with Luz's magic. If she's supposed to be learning and growing... Even S1 is shit at this and is repetitive. Not just with the at least three times we do "King has a minion!" B plot that isn't funny and doesn't do anything but also with its lessons. Luz theoretically learns to listen to Eda in the third episode and arguably the second as well. Then she gets her first glyph with the lesson, in theory. of not trying to take shortcuts to do magic and to not steal. And then in Adventure in the Elements, not even to impress Amity but because of her impatience, she steals something to take a shortcut to stronger magic. That is THREE episodes of the first TWELVE of the series. It usually takes most kids shows at least a LITTLE longer to be that bad at retreading its own lessons.

And the final part of this is that... S2 actually had to be effectively the exact same as it was for s3 to happen. You need the foreshadowing of the Collector for the Day of Unity. You need to FINALLY do something with Belos for the revelations of the Human Realm to happen and to do Luz's angst arc. You need Hunter to be at least 90% redeemed so he's there on their side during The Day of Unity, etc. like that. Then you get half a season in the human realm before coming back to the Isles for half a season, just like Amphibia did because returning home is the best mid-season finale you can have there. So any argument that a full S3 would have actually fixed issues with S2B is just... Wrong. The problems with S2B come with the fact that S2A wastes a FUCKTON of time on elements that don't matter.

Oh, and lest we forget that The Collector could have been cut. He had one appearance in a dream, that also doesn't make sense with his characterization, before S2B. In the fact, the crew has admitted as much. He was added AFTER the news of the Shortening because they always wanted to include a character like him so now that they didn't have the time for him... Cram him in anyways.

Could a show have EVER been saved when that's how they treat one of their two final antagonists? It's the sort of statement that just solidifies the idea that TOH didn't want three seasons. It wanted five... If not just to go on forever. To be the next monolithic show, even as it repeats character arcs, lessons and shrinks characters rather than expands them.

So no, the show isn't bad because of the shortening. The show is bad because the writing is bad.

#the owl house is one of my favorite shows ever #but it is not immune to criticism #sure the shortened season messed a lot do stuff up #but a lot of the bad stuff was the result of poor writing decisions #the owl house #toh #toh critical #long post

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traegorn · 6 months

Note

i say this with as much openness as im capable of. why is everyone so eager lately to defend christianity. i dont actually need to have a history degree to be able to see that christianity is Bad For Everyone. i can see it when i look out the window. the great commission is colonialism writ large.

the GOAL of christianity is genocide, eliminating as many other religions as possible in the pursuit of mass conversion. HOW are people deciding that *this* of all religions needs some kind of "well not ALL missionary work is physical violence" hedging. what is going on. im so frustated because i have seen up close and personal the death cult that it is and to see so many people screaming "nuance!!!!" about the closest thing to a full blown Sauron Level Religion Of Evil makes me feel like im in a twilight zone episode

So I disagree with your fundamental principle that all Christians have that goal. Certainly a large potion, including the politcally powerful Evangelical movement has that approach. And I'm all for calling it out and pointing at it when it happens. And I usually have no problem with people saying "Christianity does [X-Horrible Thing]" when we're really talking about "[Major portion of the politically powerful right wing Christianity] does [X-Horrible thing]."

But here's the fucking thing - what I'm here for is being fucking accurate.

You want to talk about how awful the crusades were? Great. How missionary work is colonialism? Of course it is. But people have just made shit up, and guess what -- I'm going to fucking debunk it when I find it, and I have no patience for misinformation just because it lines up with an ideology that makes someone "comfortable."

Deal with it.

And the reason some people scream "nuance" (not all, I'm sure some are just looking for a way to excuse something) is because NUANCE IS FUCKING IMPORTANT. Black and white thinking is never helpful. Understanding that things can be both positive AND negative at the same time is important. Understanding the world is complex is important. Because guess what, some day you might find that something you find is good and has value is actually bad. But black and white thinking could prevent you from recognizing it, because you're incapable of understanding the good parts don't justify the bad parts.

Like say a missionary does tangible good in a community. They are also doing real harm there too. How do you convince someone who only sees the good that they're harming people if they're just looking at it in black and white thinking? How do you make them understand if they can't see the nuance of the situation?

Likewise, if you can't see nuance, you can't make incremental change in society. Not all changes are sweeping, and sometimes making something a little bit better is more progress than doing nothing. But black and white thinking leads folks to rejecting the ideas that could make things better right now.

Sometimes you need to build the well to keep people from dying of thirst, and evaluate where that well came from afterwards. And sometimes you need to see that what's being offered has consequences, and you might not know to say no unless you look harder.

Life is fucking complicated, and if we don't recognize that, we fuck everything up.

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thumpersdae · 1 month

Text

I Am once again asking for season 3 Dndads to be about adults <PLEASE>

specifically my adults here that i have already made!

WELCOME, Folks!!! to my Cyber Punk Nursing home Dndads Pitch!!!

DNDADS PRIDE

(pride is a brand of a motorized wheel chair)

[straps activate on you chair you are stuck here you must read!]

So the idea is that Grandkid's (Scary, Link, Normal, Taylor) Grandkids (shown above) are the playable characters, but there are all seniors who have been placed in a Long Term Care Facility (a better name for "nursing homes" btw). But the world has progressed enough that things are cyberpunk!

maybe all of the PCs loved one's all stop showing up on the same visit day. The PCs combine their efforts to try to find out why, and then they run into a big mystery or conspiracy through that.

themes that could be in season 3 just because we set it in a care facility and have senior Characters.

Normalizing a variety of disabilities and dreaming of how accessibility devices can advance

humanizing people over 50, [Please please please, we've done it to the middle aged, we sexualized the heck outta those dads. ive seen what people have done with Omega Daddies in certain circles (my circles) we have the Power to let retired people be more than a punchline. i want something to look forward to in my older years! let them be silly complex sexual full people PLEASE!!!]

community building!!! alot of care facilities in my area Have social and communal activities they do because their residents get together and demand/them. groups -just like the one ive drawn- get together, out of boredom and loneliness (often people who have better mobility and memory) and then make it their job to work with staff and people who have a harder time advocating for them selves. to make sure social needs and wants are being fulfilled. and now that we have (what i perceive to be) a younger audience. it would be great to show them how that sort of work is done and how it can make a big change to quality of life. [the 3rd character (who i designed for Will) seemed like the type to start one of these groups. just look at her with that big purse and cool jacket. thats a move maker folks!]

the way that older/disabled people are often overlooked, and therefore people often forget to keep secrets away from them. [the second character (i designed for Matt) i wanted him to look as unassuming as possible, for this exact reason]

Interesting Villains and Problems that aren't often shown because people font write about older folks.

an exploration on how technology can help people (and how corporations will make people have to pay for medically necessary things)

the way nurses and care staff can be very helpful and empathetic. and how others are assholes who are at best just here for a paycheck, and at worse actively hurting people for amusement.

Elderly abuse, not just actively hitting people. there are countless examples of people taking advantage of people who are disenfranchised (like an older people or people with disabilities). often we see and talk about financial abuse. [my idea of the first character (hopefully played by Freddie), was someone who seemed oblivious to a deadbeat family member using them for money maybe because of a memory issue. (potentially there could be a twist about the PC knowing the whole time, and deciding to go along because they think its funny that their kid has to sit threw a marathon of daytime television to get 50$ a week instead of just outright asking for a lump sum)]

#dndads #my art #dndads season 3 #please please please #let them be adults at least #dndads Pride #dungeons and daddies

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thydungeongal · 6 months

Note

Hey, your romance post about systems that actually support it got me thinking, any advice for handling romance as a GM?

I'm running a Blades in the Dark game and at least 2 players are expressing romantic interest in NPCs. It's super out of my comfort zone for trauma reasons but it's something I'm interested in getting better at and this group is one I feel safe trying it in, but I just am unsure of how to even begin to approach it.

I've bought a few of the romance systems you've mentioned and am reading through them for ideas and tips but still pretty nervous about it.

So, having sat on this post overnight (thank you for your patience by the way), here are some of my thoughts informed by various readings on the subject as well my own experiences

First of all, this does very much sound like a safety and boundary issue for you, so I think my first piece of advice is to just remind you to take care of yourself and not put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. In your place I would start with a candid and open discussion with your group about how you want to get better at this because you want the game to be better for them, but you also want to be mindful of your safety and comfort.

I would then suggest familiarizing yourself and the rest of your group with the various safety tools that exist out there. This is a good article I found that discusses many of them, and I think in your case lines and veils would be the best thing to start with. These basically give you a way to announce before the game which topics are off the table (lines) and which topics are not off the tables but should not be referred to explicitly (veils). I don't know what your specific level of discomfort with romantic topics is, but you could use this to announce that, say, flirtation is okay, but anything beyond that should just be faded to black. You should also have some way of signaling to your group when things are getting out of your comfort zone sooner than rather than later, and the aforementioned article has some tools for that as well.

Now, for a bit of personal editorializing: as a GM I have found that it's actually easier to play out romance as a player instead of a GM: as a player if you find some NPC catching your character's fancy or you think it might be fun to play out a romance between your PC and another player's PC, it feels easy because you always have full agency over your character. As a GM I feel it's more complex because while the GM does have agency over NPCs, their agency can feel somewhat limited both by the rules as well as group expectations. I think it's mostly down to social contract, but as a GM it may feel harder to have an NPC reject a player character's romantic advances than when both characters are player characters. While I'm not sure how useful this is to you, I think it deserves to be mentioned because it may open up new venues for this conversation.

Anyway, that's my answer. I hope other people feel willing to share their advice and experiences as well. Also, the aforementioned link is not the only resource on safety tools there is, but I feel it's a good primer. Remember though, your comfort matters, and it's 100% okay for you to tell your players that you are not comfortable broaching those topics in your game if that's the conclusion you wish to draw. I think it's commendable of you that you're willing to try, but ultimately you shouldn't feel like you have to do any of this. :)

#thydungeongal answers

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kaelio · 1 year

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A few points for YA Authors:

1. People can have sex that they later wish they hadn't had, in the complete absence of any kind of abuse. I've ordered meals that I ended up not liking (or where I'd have preferred something else) and the restaurant did not wrong me or treat me inappropriately. Sometimes it just didn't work out with someone and sex was something you did in that relationship.

2. Things like colonialism and imperialism are complex and multifaceted, with many stakeholders with many different values. If you have an idea that will "solve" them, I recommend writing an academic paper so you can be showered in Nobel prizes instead of a story about a witch who works at the candy store.

3. If you are going to take a real stand, that means real consequences. You can't be like "But because Bopper's values were so good, it was actually fine to cede all agricultural land in the world of Frigno back to the singing butterflies. Grain fell from the sky now!" If you mean it, if you REALLY mean the stuff you're saying, your point is stronger for your willingness to show real consequences of that decision. Take your position seriously, or the readership should not be expected to take it seriously.

4. If you insist writers can only write "what they know" and anything else is problematic, you imply people should only really write autobiographies (dumb). However even a lesser version would make books whiter and more upper-middle-class because that's the commonest writer demo. This is true for a few largely unfair structural reasons, but it is true. If YA Writers were to only really write themselves for fear of overstepping, the genre gets less representative of the world because writers, as a group, are not representative of the world. Learn more and research more, talk to more people, and encourage other authors to do the same.

5. If you claim that it's super important that you research other cultures before writing about them (and I agree!), you must concede it is equally important to research business and economics and other things that affect the validity of the claims you are making.

6. Your characters' uniqueness should come from their personality and character not from demographic checkboxes. Tokenism is not just limp but indefensible when you control the entire narrative.

7. Let your characters make actual mistakes that are the result of their actual decisions which logically flow from their actual values. A character who is never really making decisions is basically just that art project robot that got its ass kicked in Philadelphia.

8. You don't have to always do a "twist on" a recognized thing. You can write werewolves that do not in any way challenge the normal perception of werewolfdom. Whatever you've landed on needs to serve the story first, not prove how clever and special you personally are.

9. If someone hates you personally, they will find a way to use your book as a conduit for that hatred and as an excuse for that hatred. You can't write a book where this isn't the case, so don't write your book with that expectation or as if you have any way to prevent this. Focus on writing a good book.

10. Whether you can use a fantasy/sci-fi element as a stand-in for a real world issue relies entirely on the competent execution of that idea. I know this sounds obvious, but yes, something might be outside your capacity to pull off (or in that story), but that is not inherent. In some cases it might be much harder, or too challenging to justify the attempt, but symbolism works to the extent that you make it work based on your capabilities as an author.

11. If half your book is basically just a thinly-disguised rant at how much you hate your parents... rip off that disguise! Don't be coy about it! If that's what you're writing about, just write about that. Why play games? If you think your parents could now read your book and not realize it's about them, you've also obscured your feelings for your audience. Do it or don't do it, but for the love of all things, don't half-ass it.

12. You do not solve any of the problems in your story by making your lead characters so pathetic that you can claim it's mean or unfair for the readership to "judge" them.

13. The only perfect metaphor for a thing is the thing itself, so test your metaphors and make sure they work, but do not hold them to the standard of translating perfectly, because they can't. That they are not 1:1 the thing is because they are metaphors for the thing.

14. Similarly, no fictional relationship can be held up to the standard of representing all relationships. You have to let this expectation go. People also need to be able to have relationships that are not framed as "lessons".

15. If you include warfare, research warfare enough that the conflicts are credible. If you don't want to do that, then the simple answer is don't put warfare in your books. It's YOUR book, YOU made that choice.

16. Overall, remember: your book exists to be a book first and foremost. It is not a treatise on you communicated via your book; if you want your book to be about yourself, write an autobiography. Otherwise, focus on telling a good story.

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otdderamin · 1 year

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Fiction C2 Post-Campaign Essek’s Mobility Aid

I appreciate that Matt didn’t want to make Essek disabled and fall into the disabled villain trope, but as a disabled person I love the idea that Essek’s floating is a disability aid and that ableism played a role in isolating him and pushing him into over-achieving at all costs. Essek’s such a complex character, I don’t think he falls into simple tropes like that.

Story

After Essek goes on the lam, he often has to walk without magic. He was partly lying about floating being a trick he got stuck with as an expectation. It was also that, but the real reason he learned to do it was the debilitating joint pain he developed in early adolescence. Having to walk again rapidly exacerbates it again, with an extra century of age on top.

He tries to keep it to himself since he was accused of faking it as a kid, punished for it, pushed harder, or excluded for not keeping up. Especially compared to his athletic brother. The doubt in his overall ability was one of the things that had pushed him so hard to prove himself at every turn, and ultimately led him to some really awful behavior he didn’t want to return to. But eventually, it becomes so debilitating he can't hide it. At least not from Caleb.

He'd get to Caleb’s house and more than anything just need to sit down and rest. The pain was cascading into general nerve pain that made all touch into an over-stimulated agony. A silent internal war from nerves that want no sensation, and a heart that wanted the soothing grounding of being held by this man who somehow loves him so deeply. But the pain in his face and the flinching he can’t stop eventually give him away.

Caleb is gentle with him and understanding. He opens up about the torture Trent put him through with the embedded residuum. Going to class with long sleeves pretending to be fine when he could barely hold a pen. Sometimes the scars still have a stabbing ache. How lonely it was when touch of the only people who knew and cared was too much. They talk about inadequate pain scales. There is comfort in that shared understanding.

They brainstorm what Essek could do. On the road alone he can still float. It's cities that are the problem. For his safety he already tries to stick to solitary remote research but supplies and contacts are always needed. They consider different mobility devices. Essek's only hesitation is that the ones that meet his needs would be expensive, custom, and distinctive, making them more identifiable even as he changes disguises and personas and could give him away. The same reasons why he's had to give up the sleek and fashionable clothes he loves for plainer ones people don't notice.

That leads them to the idea of modifying Essek's floating magic to essentially function like a series of braces. He could still look like he's walking without aid, but the magic would take the actual weight off his joints. It proves trickier than just floating, with more concentration and more exhaustion, but it’s harder to detect and easier to disguise to keep his cover. It’s harder to keep his balance this way and does find a plain cane makes it much easier, even if it rarely supports his weight to protect his arms.

Caleb asks for Essek's help with a second kind of slower cover. Now that he knows the floating was a mobility aid, can Essek teach it to him so that Caleb can teach it to his disabled students and others in the community? It could help many of them with quality of life (especially the Academy's inaccessible buildings). And over time if they teach the technique and encourage it to be retaught, it will be less unique and identifiable. One day it will be safe for Essek to float in public again, and he'll get his best mobility tool back.

Slowly things get easier. Essek is able to travel more easily again with fewer bad pain days and come back to the house of green beans without wanting to collapse. The brace magic gets easier for him to manage over time. It’s still a little easier to use a cane, but he can forego it for short periods if he needs the extra stealth. Caleb and Essek teach both the floating and the bracing and find each works for different disabilities and injuries better. It takes some decades for it to be widespread, but his floating technique is eventually widespread enough as a mobility tool that it’s safe to use. While he still prefers floating, he uses both with different personas to throw off the trail.

Every time he comes across another disabled person using this magic he developed in his room, alone in pain and trying to hide through an impressive trick, and now commonplace, it’s a reminder that for all the lives he hurt causing the war, there are now many others his magic has helped to live fuller more accessible lives. And that is a great comfort through the rest of his life.

#critical role #critical role fanfiction #Essek Thelyss #Caleb Widogast #Shadowgast #Disability #Disability Fanfiction #fanfiction #critical role C2 post-campaign

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stxrvel · 10 months

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what is it with all these secrets? (6)

series summary: you woke up from a long coma with no memory of a part of your life only to be told by your teammates that you're married to the man you hated seven years ago. even though that seemed to be the only problem, as time goes on you're realizing there's a lot more history and mystery behind the accident that left you in medical care for months. blackouts, more memory loss, mistrust and a strange man who seems to be connected to everything. every day it gets harder to trust anyone around you, but you won't stop until you can finally uncover the truth behind the accident.

chapter summary: everything starts being suspicious when everyone in the complex dissappears. but just then, you learned some things that may be or not connected to something from your past.

pairing: bucky barnes x f!reader

words: counting

warnings: just some bad words.

note: hi guys. i can't believe i got this out in one night, but i hope it is as good as i think it is inside my head. im really tired rn because i got sick and my whole body's just exhausted. so here it is for you guys! hope you like it and see you next time 💜

masterlist | next | series masterlist

You hadn't seen Bucky in two days. You had gone through and tossed and turned every room in the Complex, but he seemed to have simply disappeared. He'd been swallowed up out of the ground, as if he'd never been there at all.

And, being honest, at this point in the game you had no idea what to think. There was a jumble of thoughts and emotions inside your chest, all so crazy and frantic that you couldn't quite conjecture. That Bucky really hadn't existed would make as much sense in your head as the reality of that strange voice you'd heard out of nowhere in the middle of astral travel less than five days ago.

What the fuck was going on? Why couldn't you find Bucky? Why'd you had those memories when they weren't even yours? Whose voice was it? Why did it make you so suspicious of the team? Why did it seem like you were agreeing with it…?

Being alone with your thoughts wasn't the smartest choice of all, but Dr. Cho was done with the exams for the day and you had absolutely nothing to do. Probably by that time you had memorized every path, door and room in the Complex and were close to learning the color of every wall on every floor. The boredom was extreme and the ignorance did not make up for it.

Oddly enough, you hadn't met any of the team either.

It just seemed that every person you knew had disappeared from the Complex.

Alone with your luck, you wandered through every corner of the huge building until your head completely consumed you. You had in your mind only the memories of the last two weeks and that anything further back than that had disappeared. And you had tried to force the memories to come out, to give you answers and explanations, because no one around you seemed to have them or didn't want to give them to you. You had meditated, done grounding, watched hypnosis videos on YouTube, but you only got weird dreams in response. You tried everything, but it seemed like you simply hadn't had a life before the last two weeks. Were it not for the fact that it was impossible, you'd even doubt the few memories Bucky and some of the team had shared with you.

Like when one of the afternoons of the first week after several studies when Natasha and Steve came to keep you company and, among some of the things you were able to get out of them, they told you that you had once donated hundreds of dollars anonymously to several animal shelters that were about to close due to lack of funds across the country. Natasha also shared with you that one time when you were out on a girls' night out with the other girls on the team, you got so drunk that you bought five rounds in a row to everyone in the bar. The club gave you a membership after that.

Another day, Clint told you that you had rescued the two dogs that lived with his family in the field and for that alone his children considered you a real hero. He also told you that you had picked out many of the tattoos he had on his arm.

You also got Carol to tell you some things the first and last time you saw her. She told you that you two met in the middle of a fight and that you had beaten her. At that moment you remembered that you had laughed and asked her genuinely surprised how it was possible that someone with your physique and little fighting ability had been able to defeat one of the most powerful avengers, and she had only told you that you had caught her off guard. You didn't know it before, but you should have.

Tony was the one who shared one of the best memories with you. Your wedding day with Bucky. You hadn't even been able to get that information out of your own husband. He told you minute by minute what had happened that day, as if it had been his own. He told you how you had been nervous but confident since the morning, between hair and makeup, accompanied by your bridesmaids and him. He described the moments from the time you finished fixing your dress until you walked down the aisle and when you and Bucky said yes. He laughingly told you that Sam Wilson had gotten drunk on Asgardian liquor and gave the craziest and funniest speech of the night; he assured you that one of those days he would show it to you.

Between those and a handful of other stories, it was the only thing you had that assured you that you'd had a life before. And you were glad to know that you seemed to have lived it to the fullest, but that joy was mixed with a sour uneasiness in your chest that increased within you the desire for everything to go on as it had been before. But life being as unfair as only it could, you could only settle for imagining those memories that at some point you were able to evoke so vividly in your memory.

You also tried to ask questions about the blessed accident, about what had happened that day, but you never got a concrete answer. It seemed that every time you asked about it everything lined up around you so that the people you were with had to leave or simply left on their own with excuses that were too lame.

So, even though it seemed like you had maintained a good relationship with the team members and you had been a part of their lives and they had been a fundamental part of your life, you didn't trust them at the time. None of them. They never gave you any reason to trust, other than to talk about things in the past, and that maybe gave them the benefit of the doubt, but they hadn't done much on your behalf, so you weren't going to do it. You preferred to cling to doubt because it seemed to be the only certain thing among so much darkness.

Bucky seemed to be the only person you could really trust, that's why you had confessed to him what had happened in that hallway. But seeing now how he just disappeared, what were you supposed to think? In a situation like that, being the person you thought you were, you couldn't afford to trust just anyone. Especially when you didn't remember anything about anyone. Maybe you knew them well before, but what about now?

You went back to the control room when your feet started to hurt, the place where you started to spend more time those almost three days, mainly because you had magnificent view of all the cameras in the Complex and because your footprint was still registered with free access to the room, for some reason. It was past noon and you got tired of searching for answers in that meaningless labyrinth.

There was always a TV in the background on mute. You didn't know why. Maybe the person who should have been there instead of you liked to watch the news on mute. That seemed rather strange to you, almost suspicious. That every time you walked into the room there was no one there. You didn't even know if someone came in after you left or before you came in because you never saw anyone near its vicinity. But that didn't hold you back enough not to satisfy your curiosity.

You were watching that little screen when some familiar people started to appear in a corner of the newscast.

It was Steve and Carol.

With a frown you reached for the TV remote, which wasn't too far from the camera panels. You unmuted it and the words began to come fast.

“… the Avengers seemed to be having trouble with it. It's been over a year and it looks like this is a threat we won't be able to get rid of.”

As the presenter finished speaking, videos of the Avengers, many half-recorded with lousy cell phones and others with aerial views, took over the big screen. They seemed to be in different parts of the world, but the panorama was always the same: destruction and total chaos. Another voice began to narrate over the videos.

“October 27, 2022 is the day everyone remembers as judgment day. The sky turned purple and darkness surrounded the planet for seven whole days. Although scientists searched for answers, they did not think to look outside this planet. One man, an extraterrestrial, with immeasurable powers of destruction, has unleashed chaos on the planet ever since. He has not been credited with a name, but people call him-”

The screen went black and all you could see was your own stupefied reflection.

“What are you doing here?”

That voice stunned you.

You'd never heard it before, nor had you ever tried to get close enough to do so. For some reason you always preferred to stay away. And to have her show up now, right at that moment…

Still, even though she was the person you trusted the least on the team, and only because she had turned the TV off on you when you were discovering something that everyone had surely kept hidden from you and that had generated quite a bit of annoyance, you turned around and faced her.

“Who was that man?”

Wanda Maximoff didn't seem surprised by your question and your coarse tone of voice. She had indifferent features on her face, an unflappable seriousness that a person could only maintain after years of disappointments and suffering. At that moment you wondered if it had been the right thing to expel completely from your memory the fact that she had been one of your bridesmaids.

“A very bad man.”

“I'm not a child. Who is he?”

“No one you should care about.”

“Then why the hell did you turn off the TV? And why did you show up just then? Were you spying on me?”

Wanda didn't answer you, only focused on the control of the device she had levitating with one of her hands surrounded by that reddish mist so characteristic of hers. A shiver ran through your body, because you didn't even realize the moment she took it. Her eyes never left yours, and though you tried to keep your composure, she was too intimidating.

“Stop asking so many questions.”

Her open palm closed and with it she shattered the control. Its pieces fell noisily to the floor, interrupting the heavy silence that followed her words. If you had any doubts about taking that as a threat or not, you were left with none when you looked up from the floor, from the shards of the control ruined by her telekinesis, to see her face enserrated with eyes so dark you felt they could devour you.

Wanda wasn't playing around. For some reason she didn't want you to know anything about that man on the news.

Regardless of what she did or said, one thing that was certain was that this man was diabolical. The pictures and videos of the disasters, massacres and general destruction spoke for themselves. And even more so the fact that it seemed that the Avengers, united, had been unable to defeat him. The mere thought of his power, such that an entire group of super people couldn't stop him, made you shudder.

“Who do you think you are to say such things to me?”

Wanda rolled her eyes, and you saw her determined to turn around and head for the exit at once, as if that conversation with you wasn't even worth the effort, so you raised your voice:

“Does he have anything to do with what happened to me?”

You saw her stop on her feet, face inscrutable but her eyes glinted slightly. A small glint of surprise that gave her away. You almost pointed your index finger at her. It disappeared as fast as it could, but it had been there, you were sure. And her defensive stance didn't help her to maintain her nonchalant posture. You had hit the nail on the head. You didn't want to say you were right, but….

“It does have to do,” you mused.

“No,” Wanda spoke up, but too late for her liking. She had already changed and now looked like she wanted to rip her tongue out just because she had set out to answer your questions in the first place.

“Why is he related to me, is he to blame for me not remembering anything?”

“Stop it. That man has nothing to do with it.”

“You are a very bad liar.”

Wanda's eyes suddenly looked surprised, as if your words had been the answer to a problem she'd been searching for a solution to for years. Suddenly she didn't look terrified but… hurt. You couldn't help but compare that expression to the one Bucky wore the few times he had talked to you about things you didn't remember.

But her mask came back quickly and with a scowl she pointed accusingly at you.

“Stop asking questions and shut up.”

That time she left the room without you being able to think of anything to stop her.

You didn't know what to do anymore. You had spent hours thinking about what you had discovered and Wanda's expressions, but you couldn't find a connection that was big enough to justify the drama everyone was making about the accident. If she had tried to hide it from you like that it must be related. That, or maybe it was simply someone who had hurt her deeply and she couldn't bear to see him or talk about him.

Mmm…

So, if what had happened to you was because of him, that man personification of chaos, there was only one way to put it together: being an Avenger, you were sent on a mission to fight this great villain, but in the course of the fight you couldn't defeat him and he left you so wounded that you had that memory problem.

That's it. That must have been it, right?

But… it sounded so small compared to the fuss that seemed to surround the accident.

No one ever mentioned it, nor did it ever escape their attention, even if they were distracted. They were trying to avoid the subject at all costs and run out of your reach as fast as they could. That they did those things, that they avoided the subject like the plague, didn't fit so well that in the end that was the simple explanation. It had been a fatal accident in the field, surely it had happened to them before. It was an occupational hazard. So why were they hiding it from you like that?

There must have been something else going on, and you had no way of finding out about it, because you didn't happen to have a cell phone or internet access. You'd never questioned it before because it seemed like the logical thing to do, seeing what you were recovering from and they didn't want you to have information overload, but now it just seemed too suspicious.

With so many things inside your head, you decided to leave the Complex. You had never gone farther than the distance of the parking lot within what you could remember, but you knew that the back was full of trees and surely green trails that your peace of mind would enjoy very much in those moments.

There, as you walked away from the building, your mind went back to Bucky.

He was the person you least wanted to stop trusting, but for him to disappear from your sight after what you said to him was so strange. And that the others weren't present either was also suspicious. Bucky had done nothing but support you during that short time you remembered and all the memories you had of him only focused on his kindness and understanding. There was no way to paint him as the bad guy in the story.

Then, there was the other thing you really didn't want to think about…that voice… what it had said…

Whoop, wait.

What's that?

You stopped in the middle of the trees.

You didn't know how far you'd walked, but it couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes since you left the Complex. You had been so focused on distracting your mind that you narrowly missed the strange thing that seemed to be in front of you.

An iridescent glow appeared a few feet away. It appeared and disappeared. It appeared somewhere else and disappeared. It was like bubbles. Or like the light that caused refraction when the sun rested directly on a clock or a mirror.

They weren't very powerful, you could barely notice the colors. But it did seem to be everywhere at the same time.

As you got closer, you noticed that your vision started to get a little blurry. Even though you touched your eyes, it wouldn't go away.

When you finally got close to it, to that kind of anomaly, you could notice that indeed the colors seemed to be everywhere because of the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees.

You also noticed that the blur did not disappear. But with a quick glance back and sideways, you realized that that strip stretched the length of the forest, and seemed to curve a few miles into the background.

What the hell was that? Your head was hammering for an answer, but you really couldn't understand what you were seeing. You could only process surprise and fear.

You raised a hand to reach through the blurry blanket and…

And…

You couldn't.

It was hard.

Too hard.

You moved your hand again, this time with your palm extended forward, and as soon as you made contact you could see ripples move from where your hand was upward.

That was a barrier.

And seeing how it extended sideways and upwards…

It had to be a dome.

But why was there a dome surrounding the Complex?

Your mind had barely begun to ask the important questions when you felt it. Everything happened very slowly.

An electric current passed from the barrier to your fingertips. You saw it coming from above. From your fingers it moved quickly to your arms and suddenly seemed like shock waves. You felt five currents, there gawking and dumbfounded, until the sixth electric current was so strong that it sent you flying a few meters back.

Surprised, you couldn't even react. You felt the emptiness of a fall as your body moved backwards, until you finally hit solid ground making a loud, elongated sound. You had crawled a little on the grass. In pain, you writhed on the ground, letting out slight groans. What was that supposed to be? Why had it thrown you like that? You hadn't even gotten out of a few questions and you were already entering another pile of questions.

When you sat down on the grass expecting to see the dome a few feet away, you were struck dumb when you saw that you were a long way from the trees. And several of them looked like they were cut down, very specifically they looked like they were cut in the direction you were thrown.

Without taking your eyes off that long path you stood up. It seemed to be that the current from the dome had thrown you so hard that you had gone all the way through the trees back to the entrance of the path. Even in the distance you could still glimpse the iridescent glows of the dome.

You were too surprised that you felt pain, but not too much. How could you not be in tremendous pain after crossing through fifty or so trees that fast?

But before you could continue thinking about the unreal situation you were going through, you heard a commotion in the back. In the parking lot. Being that the entrance to the trail was relatively close to the parking lot, you didn't have to walk too far until you began to make out faces.

They were the faces of the Avengers, especially Bucky.

You started walking faster when you spotted him and he wasn't far behind. It looked like he'd seen you sooner because he was already trotting towards where you were.

“Where were you?” you spoke quickly when he reached your side.

He didn't respond, just kept his gaze fixed on you. You barely noticed the dirt smudges on his face, and with a quick inspection he didn't seem to have any serious injuries on his body.

“Bucky?” you spoke again after several seconds with no response.

His body seemed frozen with his longing gaze fixed on your face. You missed his attitude, but at that moment you had important things to ask.

“Bucky, did you know there's a dome over the Complex?”

The aforementioned shook his head slightly. That question seemed to snap him out of his trance.

“And I saw someone on the news today. A man. Very destructive and evil.”

Bucky discomposed his face more and more. Suddenly, it looked like only fear and confusion made his expression. You didn't know if the right thing to do was to press on with asking or wait for him to say something.

The rest of the team, instead of entering the Complex, stood behind Bucky. You barely glanced past everyone because you really didn't want to see them, and you didn't want to have that conversation there either.

“Why don't we go inside?” you asked Bucky with pleading eyes as you grabbed his wrist to make him walk.

“There wasn't anything you could do, was there?” Bucky finally spoke, and you wondered for a moment if he was really talking to you or to what was going around in his head, because from the look on his face you could almost swear he was lost in thought.

His eyes were shining, emotions were passing too quickly across his face to identify them carefully. But one stayed with you: heartbreak. He looked like he had just been told that the love of his life had died. You thought for a moment if that was the expression he'd had when he found out about your accident.

The accident.

“Bucky, we have to-”

He embraced you. Hastily, he took your hand that had gripped his wrist and pulled you until he had you contained in his arms. His grip was so tight you feared he might bury your clothes in your skin. Still, his embrace felt like a welcome. Maybe that's how he would have hugged you if you had awakened from your coma with your memories intact. But you also felt desperation pouring from his pores, with the way he moved his hands over your arms and the way his breathing quickened and wouldn't calm down, even though you were so close. It seemed he feared you would disappear, that you would be gone again, out of his reach.

His thumbs caressed your skin, but it felt rough, hard, desperate. Bucky seemed to want to remedy something with that embrace. Maybe his guilt, maybe your pain. Maybe the time together you had lost. His touch almost surrounded the abuse, but his ragged breathing seemed to make up for it.

You wanted to push him away so you could go inside. You wanted to tell him what you had discovered in such a short time, the things you had surmised, but you couldn't find it within yourself to push him away. Not when it seemed he would faint if a millimeter of his skin didn't touch yours. Not when it seemed that your breathing near his ear was the only thing keeping him sane.

“I'm sorry. I really am,” was all he said, after several seconds.

His grip didn't lessen much over time. Rather, it stopped being a little desperate, but it was still strong. He didn't want to let you go.

And, for a moment, you decided to share his feelings. You hugged him back just as hard and also decided not to let go.

You hoped you were making the right decision.

Taglist: @cjand10 @yallgotkik @ruffdog921 @coracal @its-just-kayy @pono-pura-vida @vampiresarezombies @kaz11283 @vicmc624

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes angst #bucky fic #bucky x you #bucky barnes #bucky fluff #james bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x you #stxrvel talks #calmly remember

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vmures · 4 months

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Thoughts on Fandom Peer Pressure via Shaming and Bullying

There is a very loud subset of people in fandoms that are incredibly frustrating and hard to deal with--those who seem to think the best way to get what they want out of fandom is to harass, bully, shame, and intimidate others who do not interact with fandom in a way that matches their own. It's hard to know if their goal is to drive all other points of view out of fandom or to shame people into only interacting with fandom in a certain way, whether that's only writing certain pairings or tropes or only agreeing with their meta takes and headcanons.

You may notice that I kept that statement very broad, and I did so intentionally. Many will read this and go "oh great another anti/proshipper discourse take" and honestly, I think the problem is much broader than that because I have seen examples of the above that don't necessarily fit under the typical anti bullshit.

For example, fans of a canon character who dislike other's interpretations of said canon character's actions and bully and harass anyone who dares write their favorite in a way they disagree with. These folks will often co-opt anti tactics because they have seen how effective those tactics can be in driving people out of a fandom. So they'll label those with takes they can't stand as problematic in some form or fashion. Call them racist, ableist, sexist...insert -ist of your choice regardless of whether or not there is anything to support their claims. They'll bend over backwards to create support for their claims and twist the words of those who disagree with them and push back on their bullying.

But there is an outcome they don't consider, which is that they are actively making it harder for many in fandom to like that character because of their actions. There are plenty of studies that show that shaming is an ineffective method for changing behavior. Additionally, we know that shaming and bullying about a topic can lead to complex relationships with that topic. Shaming and bullying someone about their weight frequently leads to disordered eating issues and a rocky relationship with food and body image in general.

Being bullied and harassed over something that brings you joy can lead you to lose all interest in that thing. And if it is tied with a certain aspect of a thing, like a character in a fandom, it can lead you to hate that aspect more than anything and to associate that aspect with the bullies themselves.

When it comes to fandom, this plays out in many ways. Some will leave the fandom entirely, and, eventually, this will cause the fandom to shrink or die out completely. Some will just keep on keeping on and ignore the haters. Some will find themselves hating the character(s) and/or pairings that the bullies love to the point that they can no longer write those characters or pairings in a positive light. And the more they get harassed and bullied, the more they hate the character(s) and/or pairings. And even if they manage to block and mute all the bullies, the negative feelings about the bullies' favorites continue because those favorites are forever chained to the bullying they endured.

Even just seeing others abused and harassed in the name of defending a favorite character can result in people associating that character with bullies and abuse and thus cause them to form a negative opinion of the character. Fandom is a very social culture and the way fans act impacts the way other fans feel about the fandom and various aspects of it. Our fandom creativity is fed off of each other's ideas and takes. So if all we see of fans of a specific character or pairing is utter nastiness, then people will come to dislike it just because they associate it with that ugly behavior.

TLDR - If you bully others over a topic, you'll eventually cause them to associate the take you love with bullying and harassment and probably make more people hate that thing as a result. If you really want to encourage people to interact with fandom in a similar way as you do and to create fandom works that you love, you'll be a lot better off using encouragement and compassion.

#v's musings #fandom discourse #fandom meta #fandom wank #fandom is a social hobby #your actions within it affect how people view the fandom #stuff I've been thinking about a lot lately

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yellowocaballero · 1 year

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Styles of Storytelling Structure

OK love of God I'm so embarrassed that every post I make gets insane long. I tried to match this explanation up with the previous ask but it got so long, so this elaboration gets its own post. For reference, these tags are referencing this post. Read that one first if you want.

I hope I can find a way to explain this succinctly and non-judgmentally. I do mean it extremely nonjudgmentally. I write both kinds and they both have their own merits.

For me, there's two kinds of fanfic writing. I call 'em Fic Style and Novel Style. This isn't about tropes or content, but about how the author composes the story.

Novel style is the 'traditional' way of writing a story. It has a three act structure, rising action/climax/falling action, tight pacing, every scene does five plot/character/theme related things. It reads like a published short story or a book.

Fic style is often reliant on the source material to make complete sense, and its plot or characterization is usually scaffolded onto the main material. For many of these stories you use the pre-existing canon structure. The story isn't as structured or tightly written, scenes are more likely to be there for vibes, and there tends to be more worldbuilding and a slower pace in general. It's worth noting that fic style can often really resemble soap opera, comic books, long-running manga, Dr Who, etc. Anything serialized, meant to continue on for a long time with no definite end point.

(If you're a frequent flier, to give you some idea: New Wave and Good Luck Jake were novel style, Hope Etc and Listen 2 Ur Heart were fic style. Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge was novel/short story style, reel to reel was fic style.)

Neither is better or worse than the other. They can be both equally enjoyable. One of my favorite fics is 'a simple thing' by iridan and it's fic style. Case fics are more likely to be novel style [I suck at case fics]. Shortly, fic style is easier to write, more likely to be enjoyable, and harder to make very good. Novel style is really hard to write. Super hard.

This is because novel-style writing just requires more skills. You need to lock down story structure, plotting, tension, connecting physical/emotional/plot/theme, pairing story beats with character beats, and dealing with a lot of different plot threads at once. I think of it as braiding, kind of: weaving three character arcs, a plot arc, growth of character relationships, and development of the themes and messaging. A scene should ideally do all of these things at once. Everything needs to be perfectly matched together so it all moves as one. The longer the story is, the more content of all of this you have to deal with, and the more difficult it is to do well. You're just juggling more balls. I had to write one bad 100k story and another mediocre 100k story before I got to a kinda-good 100k story. Forget about how long it took me to get to a decent freaking 60k story. I wrote really enjoyable 60k fic style stories before an actually good 60k novel style story.

This is why skills have to scaffold. I think a lot of beginner writers are constantly trying to fight those level 60 boss fights at level 20 and they get frustrated when they lose. You have to figure out how to write decent dialogue and decent prose before putting together a good scene. Then you have to figure out how to string a series of scenes together in a way that makes sense. Then you have to figure out how to put those scenes in the right order to make some kind of coherent and interesting story with conflict and character arcs. Then you start tossing one ball in the air and figure out how to write those 20k short stories. Then you add more and more balls as your stories get longer and more complex. You have to develop a lot of different skills individually to put together a well-structured final product that's fun to read.

Stop getting so frustrated when you can't beat out a 60k story that's Barnes & Nobles worthy when you're a beginning writer! Stop dreaming big! I know how frustrating it is not being able to put what's in your head down on paper. It's not going to be perfect. Of course you're having issues writing longer things, you're still figuring out how to put longer things together.

Pick something to work on. Figure out what skills you still need to develop. Figure out how stories work and what makes a good story, and then try and build it yourself. You do not need to write a traditional novel style story to develop your skills in dialogue, prose, characterization, tone, tension, POV, etc. You can get that stuff down first. If you're interested in working on story structure and pacing you'll have to practice doing things traditionally. No, you're not going to be happy with it. Be proud of yourself that you improved and developed a skill. Be proud of yourself that you're writing. Writing is hard. It's fun, but hard. If you aren't having fun then you're just left with the hard.

Writing isn't about the finished product. It's not about if you wrote something that people enjoyed or said was good. It's about enjoying writing. Everything else happens naturally from there.

#i am kind of speaking assuming that you're really invested in skill development and not just vibing and fucking around #the ppl fucking around are more valid than i am tbh #they're the geniuses here.#writing #writing advice #I guess.#i think it's hard to understand that skills need to scaffold if you haven't sat down and parsed out how stories work #so maybe that's step 0?

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