#i've had them for years and there's honestly no reason why i haven't yet
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A Little Closer
pairing: Steve Harrington/Female Reader
summary: There is a time and place to proclaim your love for somebody, and being injured and trapped in the Upside Down is not one of them.
warnings/extra tags: cursing, reader and steve arguing for no reason, and some kissing tm. >>>SPOILERS FOR ST4<<<, not beta read i edited myself but can't be trusted either.
note: I haven't written an imagine for him in a hot minute, and I say this because I have an ongoing series so check out my masterlist ;) Anyway, I wrote this with a dream my friend had about him in mind (she knows who she is). Thanks in advance for reading and please enjoy!
✧ ✧ ✧
You liked Steve Harrington, a lot. And have since you first met in that junk yard years ago when you were introduced to the creatures of this other dimension they called ‘the Upside Down’
Only then you just liked him, because these days you were pretty sure you were hopelessly in love with the guy. This didn’t mean he couldn’t get on your nerves though, especially when he treated you like you incapable of doing literally anything.
"No, you're not going down there."
Steve's voice was firm as he spoke, his words directed at you as you were starting to unbutton your Hawkins Letterman jacket, preparing to dive into Lover’s Lake and see if this gate was down there like Dustin theorized.
"Says who?" You bit back as you were pulling the jacket off, "Robin said Nancy was in charge, not you, Steve."
"Yeah well, I was the co-captain of the swim team and have had life guard certification for 3 years, so logically, it should be me," Steve stated as he too began to undress starting with his shoes all the while Eddie, Nancy, and Robin just watched. You scoffed at him.
"And I was the Captain of the girls swim and water polo team, and have had my certification for 3 and a half years,” you replied, “Can someone tell me which is better?"
They looked awkwardly at each other until Robin began to speak.
"I mean...technically speaking you both had similar responsibilities as a captain and co-captain, but I mean…” her eyes went to Steve who was looking at her with raised brows, “She doesn't have the co in front of hers and didn't have to share responsibility, and uh…her certification beats yours by half a year…so...I would say hers is better."
Steve shot a look at Robin as he was taking off one shoe as fast as he could.
"Gee. Thanks for taking my side Robin," he told her with a scoff while Robin shrugged and claimed she only said so because you asked, "It's just dangerous alright? There could be a gate down there, or worse Vecna could be there- and I don't think you should-"
"Look, out of everyone here I feel like I've been the most useless, and I'm taking the chance to do my part," you explained briefly, "Let me do this because I can do this."
"I know you can, but that doesn't mean you should-"
“And why not? No matter who goes down there the risks are all the same,” you said tearing your t-shirt off now, leaving you in just a tank top and your Hawkins gym shorts.
Steve was untying his other shoe now, trying not to become distracted by your sudden loss of layers, and argued, “Yes, but I don’t want you to take the risk-”
“So anyone but me can?” You gave him an odd look, one that made Steve shake his head quickly.
“No- No I didn’t say-”
"Okay. Are you two seriously going to argue who gets to swim to a possible underwater gate to another dimension where yet another thing is trying to kill us?" Robin was asking, successfully making you and Steve finally go quiet, “Is this a regular occurrence? Arguing over who gets to do risky shit? Because I think this happened last time too.”
She remembered how when coming up with a plan to infiltrate what they thought to be a simple stock room at Starcourt, Steve argued against pretty much any plan that involved you risking your life. Many valuable minutes were wasted with arguments like this with you two going back and forth.
It was almost embarrassing honestly that Steve didn’t realize how into you he actually was or how into him you were because for everyone else on this boat, and on the shore line, it was pretty obvious and has been for quite some time. This was just more evidence of it.
“No, we’re not arguing because we all already decided I’m going,” Steve said, making you laugh and toss your shirt at him before he could even think about taking his other shoe off. It hit his face and momentarily blinded him.
“We decided? No, you decided. Are you implying this needs to be voted on Steve?”
Steve took your shirt in his hands, and looked back at you, “Well maybe it should be- Robin who do you think-”
“I think the one who is already ready to go should go, you still have one shoe on and she does not,” Robin replied quickly as she was shoving the flashlight in the plastic bag Eddie had handed to her.
Steve groaned, “Are you never going to take my side or something Robin? I’m getting hurt over here.”
You were twisting your neck side to side, a pleasant smile on your lips that Robin chose you, but it hadn’t compared to when Nancy finally spoke up.
“Let her do it," Nancy told Steve, then cringed as her eyes went to yours, "Not because I think you're useless or anything, but I've been to enough swim meets for the paper throughout the year to know she's damn good…and she does hold the Hawkins High record for how long she could hold her breath...she can do it, Steve."
It was always nice to have Nancy Wheeler on your side, especially when it was Steve on the opposite side. He always seemed to listen to her and take her words to heart and while other times in this friendship of yours he seemed to drop everything and listen to her it made you feel a tad bit jealous, this time you felt satisfied.
“And like I said, I know she can, better than me, and certainly better than the rest of you, but what if-”
“Dude I’m about to dive down there just so I don’t have to hear you argue for another minute,” Eddie interrupted for the first time since your argument started, “I mean, I’m not going to, of course, but the fact that I was tempted to says a lot. You just gotta trust your girl, Harrington.”
All eyes went to him besides yours at his statement. You kept your gaze trained on Steve, seeing his expression turn from grumpy to confusion then to what you confused with amusement rather than nervousness.
“What? My girl? She isn’t…” he laughed, and you hated how a small part of your heart cracked, “She isn’t my girl, if anything she’s all of our girl-” he cleared his throat as he realized how weird that sounded, “I mean, she’s nobody’s girl, but definitely, definitely not mine-”
Nancy cringed at Steve’s words, and Robin had rolled her eyes for you while Eddie just raised a brow. You were frowning now, turning away from all them after you snatched the flashlight from Robin with a little too much force. Her eyes snapped to yours, being the only one to see your aggravated expression and understanding why.
While Steve’s concern was appreciated and not exactly unwanted, you were starting to get annoyed with him. Sometimes it really felt like when he was with you and the kids…he just saw you as one of the kids he had to keep an eye on and not as… something else.
Well, he didn’t get to tell you what to do, especially now when everyone was on your side and not his. So, without much of a warning, you dived into Lover's Lake.
The splash of the water had captured their attention, especially Steve’s and when he saw you were no longer in the boat. He cursed and looked over the edge and saw nothing but the darkness of the water.
“Dammit! I should’ve known she’d do that!” he said as he gripped the edge of the boat.
Why did you have to be so reckless sometimes? It seriously stresses Steve out, from you throwing him out of the way from that Demodog and getting smacked by it yourself despite it being your first encounter with one to you flirting with the guards at Starcourt and to now jumping into the lake to see if there’s a gate down there. One obviously was more dangerous than the others, but he wished you would just stop.
He was taking his shirt off now, obviously going to dive and swim down after you until someone's hand hit the back of his head just as he got the shirt off.
“Ow, hey-”
“Don’t be dumb, Steve!” Robin told him, “She’s going to be fine. Nance, how long can she hold her breath?”
Nancy answered, and it was more than a minute longer than Steve could, and it was obvious when he sighed.
“See, we’ll just time her and if she doesn’t come back up then you can valiantly dive in there and rescue her, maybe even give her mouth to mouth since you want to kiss her so bad-” Steve’s eyes widened slightly and he scrunched up his nose.
“Woah what? I never said-”
“Please, it’s obvious, so, so obvious that our new pal Eddie here thought you were together.”
Eddie looked at the both of them, "I thought you were like…an overprotective boyfriend or something with how hard you were trying to take her place.”
“Man, what do you know, you barely got here…”
“I’m just saying, man, I don’t think you would’ve fought that hard if it were one of us,” Eddie stated, making Steve scoff because he wouldn’t even hesitate to do the same with Robin and Nancy at least, but it was the fact that you could very well make this dive better than him was enough to prove to them at least that there was something more to it. And maybe a little to Steve too.
“Oh you don’t even know the half of it,” Robin said while Nancy half-smiled in amusement as she looked down at her watch, being sure to keep track of the amount of time you’re down there, “One time she flirted with a secret Russian guard, and lover boy here looked like he was going to explode-”
“What!” Steve’s cheeks were heating up at the mention of that, “We remember that very differently.”
Sure, he was a little annoyed but not because he thought you were trying to hook up with him, because it was risky. It didn’t matter if it kind of worked…and he was a bit jealous...not explosion jealous, but still in the spectrum of jealous.
“And the way they’re always around each other? We had no room on this boat and Steve insisted she come with…”
“Yeah, it is a little exhausting having to keep you two apart to be honest,” Nancy stated, “We could’ve used her at Pennhurst.”
“Hey, that is different, you guys are making it sound like I tell her what to do or something- first, I didn’t want her to be a babysitter again and second- she wanted to stay behind with me when you went to Pennhurst.”
“And I wonder why that was…” Robin hummed. Steve bit the inside of his cheek, not understanding was Robin was getting at, “You like her Steve, just admit it and things will feel better. I swear.”
Steve sighed, “Okay yeah, so I like her, but she isn't into me and I don't see why it's important right now-"
“Oh Steve, I thought you were a pro at this,” Robin said, and he shot her a little look as she grinned back, “I’m just saying, after all this is done, and your only problem is finding the ‘one’ maybe look at her, yeah?”
Steve swallowed a lump of spit, and laughed, “You’re just trying to mess with me so I'll ask her out and you can laugh when she says no.”
“Am I really that cruel?" Robin questioned, but was met with silence, she scoffed and continued to say, "Like I said, just look a little bit closer.”
Robin was finished speaking then, and Steve shook his head in disbelief before deciding to keep asking Nancy how much time had past.
✧ ✧ ✧
You hadn’t resurfaced yet, and the time you usually could hold your breath underwater was inching closer and closer by the second. Steve was getting nervous, eyes flickering all over the lake to see if you had maybe emerged elsewhere.
Already, he was moving to stand, “That’s it, it’s been too long, I’m going down there-”
“Steve-”
Suddenly, you were bursting out of the water with a loud gasp and splashing water all over everyone. Steve nearly fell over as it was where he was about to dive into. You looked up at him as your vision readjusted and saw him staring at you with relief.
And then he started to speak.
“Were you trying to beat your own record down there? Why did it take you so long? Were you sightseeing or something- I was about to swim down there and-”
“It’s there,” you interrupted him before he could blast more questions your way, “I saw it, Dustin’s right- there is a gate right beneath us.”
Steve went quiet, and the other three all shot shocked looks to one another and Robin quickly relayed the information Dustin on the walkie-talkie.
“It’s really down there?” Nancy asked more so in disbelief. You were nodding.
“Is it snack-sized, or like the one we saw at Starcourt?” Robin asked.
“Definitely not as big as that one was, but still pretty big,” you replied breathlessly as you began to climb up. It was Steve who was offering you his hand, and you ignored the fact that he was no longer wearing that yellow long-sleeved shirt that made you forget for a moment you were annoyed with him.
“That’s insane,” Steve was saying as your hands met. He was about to pull you up when he was suddenly jolting forward and nearly falling into the water. Your eyes had met each other, and it dawned on you that something was wrapped tightly around your ankle and pulled.
In one breath you said frantically, “SteveDon’tLetMeG-”
The rest of your sentence was drowned out by water as you were suddenly submerged once again, but this time it was very much against your will. Whatever that was coiled around your ankle was forcefully dragging you back down to the bottom of the lake.
Your hand had unfortunately slipped from Steve's grasp as you were pulled under, and he was calling your name. He didn't think twice, diving in after you while leaving Robin, Nancy and Eddie behind. In fact, Steve went after you so fast that for a moment they thought he was dragged down with you.
“What the hell was that, man! What the hell was that!” Eddie was shouting.
“What do we do?!” Robin shouted moreso at Nancy because she trusted her with decisions more than herself or Eddie. Nancy was already standing at the edge of the boat, ready to dive in after you and Steve.
It was hard not to panic as you were being dragged further and further from the surface. The water of the lake filled your lungs, and you desperately swung your arms upward in an attempt to swim back up, but it was to no avail.
As fast as you were underwater though, before you could possibly drown, you were suddenly gasping loudly and being dragged across rough terrain. You were shouting, water spilling from you lips.
Just seconds after you were pulled through the gate, Steve was coming through it too. His eyes frantically looked around for you until he heard your shouts. He called out to you, already beginning to run as fast as he could toward you.
You called out to him too, "Steve! Help!"
Your hands desperately tried to grab anything that could anchor you, but everything easily slipped from your grasp. It was only when you hit something particularly large the thing let go of you, and the sudden force of the stop caused you to roll a couple of times before you were burrowed in a bunch of sticky vines.
Steve called out your name again as he was by your side. You were too winded to comprehend what exactly had just happened, your eyes blinking rapidly at Steve and your new surroundings.
You were breathing heavily, gazing up at him with wide eyes as his hands grasped shoulders and making you face him. His eyes flickered all over you, making sure you were okay while asking you if you were hurt.
"I-I don't know, what- wait- where are we?" You said between pants as Steve eyes fell back onto yours. You were moving to stand, and Steve helped you.
After catching your breath with Steve’s arm wrapped firmly around you, you finally had taken in your surroundings. It was Lover’s Lake, yes but not your Lover’s Lake, and there were the same dust-like particles floating all around you.
The terrain was covered with the vines, and the sky was permanently cloudy. What really had you staring in awe was the flashes of red in the distance that came with cracks of loud lightning and thunder.
“Steve…are we?”
You looked at him now, and he was staring at the sky too, “Uh yeah…yeah I’m pretty sure.”
You were in the Upside Down.
✧ ✧ ✧
Steve was mad at you, though you couldn't really understand why. Because after he killed that bat-like creature that once had you by the throat by slamming its body repeatedly on the ground, he wasn't mad then, at least at you.
But, now he was and you thought maybe it had something to do with your newly sprained ankle that you were struggling to walk on. You knew the thing that had dragged you all the way down here was to blame for that.
After being dragged into this god forsaken place, these bat creatures had surrounded attacked the both of you. You were so high on adrenaline that you hadn’t even realized you could barely even walk on your ankle until you were able to catch your breath under Skull Rock.
"You shouldn't have dived down here," Steve said with a shake of his head, "It should've been me putting myself in danger. Not you."
You were leaning against Steve, who insisted despite his own injuries that he'd be the one to help you walk on your faulty ankle.
You rolled your eyes, "Again, it doesn't matter! We're all down here now, trapped and with no way of defending ourselves yet. The only way it changes is you being the one dragged and us coming after you."
"You went before we even properly decided who's going to go, at least you wouldn't be hurt or almost strangled to death-"
You huffed and began to try and move away from him, "You know what, I think I'd rather walk by myself."
Steve scoffed at the idea of that, "I'd hand you to Robin before letting you do that."
For some reason, this made you finally snap.
"Steve, seriously, what the hell is your problem? Why do you always treat me like I'm a kid who’s less than capable of doing literally anything? You treat me worse than you treat Dustin, an actual kid," you claimed in an irritated tone.
Steve seemed taken back by your words, stopping the both of you from walking (you limping) any further.
"Woah hey, I don't treat you like a kid-"
"Yeah well it sure feels like it," you interrupted with a deep frown now, "I just don't get it, do you not trust me or something? Is it because I'm a girl? Because you don't treat Nancy like that, or Robin-"
"What? No! It's not because of that, also I thought I made it pretty clear that I do trust you!" Steve argued back to you. You laughed in his face.
"Pretty clear? We wouldn't be having this lovely conversation if it was 'pretty clear' like you claim," you mocked slightly, Steve frowned too then.
"Well...yeah, I thought it was pretty clear how much I trust you and how much I..." he suddenly paused in his sentence, before sucking in a breath and saying, "...care about you, enough to not want you throwing yourself into danger and getting hurt," he explained, you pressed her lips together as you stared at him, "Seriously, you do it all the time-"
"For the same reason you throw yourself into danger all the time!" You exclaimed, this time loud enough for the other three to hear your back and forth, "I care about you too, maybe more than you actually know, so do you think it doesn't...affect me when you throw yourself into these situations too?"
Your voice was shaking slightly as you recalled him getting into a fight with Hargrove when he tried to attack Lucas, or when he was tortured and drugged up by those Russian soldiers. And how, more recently, you had to listen to his shouts of pain of the bats biting and chewing on his sides, being reminded of how helpless you felt.
Steve paused then, and furrowed his eyebrows.
"It does?"
"Yes Steve, it does because you're my friend. In fact, it terrifies me, Steve, when you do that because I'm also absolutely in love with you," You rambled on, "But I still trust you, you know? I trust that you know what you're doing and you'll just be okay. And I really, really wish you'd do the same for me."
Any words Steve was going to say had been wiped from his mind as he took in what you had just said. It seemed that you hadn't even realized what you said as you stared up at him with your eyebrows taunt and eyes meeting his directly.
'I'm also absolutely in love with you'
Steve's breath hitched gently, wondering if he actually hadn't of heard that and he was delirious from the blood loss.
"Shit, seems like he doesn't have to look closer," Robin muttered to both Nancy and Eddie who watched with raised brows that you'd just admitted that out loud.
"Uh hey, I don't think we have time for this-" Nancy called over to you too but was promptly interrupted by the ground beginning to aggressively shake beneath all of you.
Deep rumbles echoed from all around you as the tremors caused you to fall forward onto Steve. He caught you, but ended up falling backwards and hitting the floor with a thud.
You landed right on top of him with a short yelp, hands clenching the denim jacket Eddie let Steve borrow and your face pressed into his bare chest.
Despite the circumstances, Steve couldn't let go of your confession that he was now sure he actually heard you loud and clear. You were in love with him? Did everyone see it but him? You just had always seem to be this untouchable girl to him, even before you became friends, like you were there but never within reach.
When the floor had finally stopped shaking, you looked up to look at him with wide eyes that probably realized you'd just confessed your secret love for him. You looked ashamed, embarrassed even, and he could tell you were already thinking about ways to change what you had just told him before.
Steve realized in this moment you were always within reach, but just like Robin had said...he wasn't looking at you and just assumed you weren't interested when you very much were.
He prided himself in being able to capture the signs someone is into him, even called himself a pro, but clearly that title is wrong if he couldn't even tell if the girl he was in love with as well for almost a year returned his feelings.
"Steve I didn't-"
"It scares me too for the same reason," he suddenly told you. It took you a moment to process what he was getting at, "For the exact same reason."
You tilted your head, about to ask him if he knew what he was saying, but it was cut short by his lips meeting yours. It was a short kiss, but one that took your breath away in the few seconds your lips were touching.
“Are these two serious?” Eddie asked out loud.
“Oh yeah they are. This is not the time!” Nancy called from her spot, but her words fell on deaf ears as you and Steve kissed. Robin scoffed out loud and began to make her way toward her friends who were (finally) in a lip lock.
“Hey! I’m happy for you two to realize you have soft and fuzzy feelings for each other! I really am! But does it have to be right now!?”
Neither of you listened as you kissed, too engrossed with each other and the fact that these feelings you’ve both had for a year were reciprocated. It didn’t matter, at the moment, that you were in the Upside Down and would always remember your first kiss being here of all places.
You kissed him harder, pushing down onto him the way you always dreamed of kissing him and he returned with the same energy.
The kiss was brought abruptly to an end though when someone was grabbing you and making you stand. You blinked a few times in your stupor and saw that it was Robin.
“Like I said, I’m happy for you, but we seriously have to keep moving,” she told you. You looked back at Steve who was being helped up by Eddie. His eyes found yours, and so did a winning smile on his lips.
You laughed softly, still in a bit of a shock of what had just happened. Your fingers went to your lips that still felt tingly from his lips that were on yours.
“I better not wake up in my bed and realize this was just a dream,” you suddenly said to Robin.
She wrapped an arm around you, determined to be the one to help you walk now and replied, “Nope. This is real, we’re trapped in another dimension, and you just kissed Steve Harrington.”
You leaned against Robin now, a laugh escaping your lips.
Meanwhile, Steve was standing on his own, and gently placed a hand over his lips like you had, still feeling like he could feel your lips there and tasting you.
Eddie had cleared his throat, "Now you're really an overprotective boyfriend."
Steve coughed into his hand now as if to hide the fact he was touching his own lips, and stood up more straight. His eyes had found yours again, catching the smile on your lips as Robin helped you turn around and he grinned to himself as well.
He couldn't wait to kiss you again, preferably in your own world and on one of your first dates.
#please enjoy this im shy about posting again for some reason#steve harrington x reader#steve harrington x you#steve harrington imagine#steve harrington#reader insert#stranger things imagine#stranger things 4#st 4#st 4 spoilers#imagines#lys writes again
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Belladonna Nightshade - Halloween Dark Fairy
Base Doll: G3 Twyla from Monster High
Clothing Pattern: Dollightful's Asymmetrical Dress (read to the end, I have notes about this)
Happy Halloween everyone! Since becoming a doll customizer, my Halloween dolls are usually related to my favorite indie horror game, Bendy and the Ink Machine. However, seeing as I've completed two Bendy dolls already this year, I felt it was time to give myself a break and try something a bit different. My friends over in DollyAnna's Discord server wanted to do a collaboration, so we decided to all make some Dark Fairies for Halloween!
Belladonna Nightshade is a mischievous fae that loves to play tricks and tempt mortals. That said, she's easily bribed with a sweet treat or two, and will usually let you be if you have a little candy or pastry to give her. I haven't decided what I want to do with her yet in terms of a story, but there is a part of me that would love to have her in my Equinox story.
When you consider the fact that most of my other Halloween dolls are black and yellow, it's no surprise she ended up super colorful. XD Would you believe this is my first doll with rainbow hair? Yeah neither did I, but she is! Part of my style is having really colorful and vibrant dolls, it surprises a lot of people that I've never done a rainbow before, but honestly? I'm glad to have finally tackled one! I'm also glad to have worked with another G3. Twyla is very near and dear to my heart, and I was so psyched to work with her mold! You can't see it in any of these photos, but I used glow in the dark varnish on her eyes and neon markings, so that her eyes still glow like the original. I will say, this doll has a lot more acrylic paint than my others, just by the nature of I don't have any pencils in neon colors. It was nice to get the practice in, I feel more confident than I did before in my brush skills. It was also nice to have a doll with dark scleras for a change! I haven't done that since I made Dreamer, it's surprisingly fun to draw on!
I was inspired by a LOT of different things with this one, and I went back and forth on my concepts a lot. Black light skeleton make-up, butterflies, fairies with non-traditional wings, candy, jesters, these were all sources of inspiration, and I think most obviously of all, Dollightful herself. This wasn't intentional, but I ended up using a doll of one of her favorite characters, with a lot of saturated colors which we know she loves, and even her dress pattern! I've been wanting to make this garment for ages, and finally I had a reason to try it!
So those of you who know how this pattern works are probably asking "Kat, how did you make this fit a G3? This dress is supposed to fit a G1 Monster High doll!" Believe it or not, Requiem Arts has a method for easily adjusting G1 patterns to fit G3 bodies. It's as simple as scaling a pattern up to 104% and printing it that way. It's meant for her garments, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work for other doll patterns. So I tried it with Katherine's dress, and I'm happy to say it worked out just fine! I think I probably should have adjusted a bit more on the skirt though. This outfit is essentially two pieces, and the skirt with all the ruffles is a little tight around the booty, it could have used a little more sizing up. So if you own this pattern and want to try this yourself, do keep that in mind!
Do let me know what you think! I had so much fun working on Belladonna, she's so vibrant and fun, I wanna try more fairies like her someday. I also need to try using props more. I got these pumpkins and hay bales on sale, and it was fun using them to craft a little temporary set for photos.
#dollblr#doll customization#doll repaint#ooak doll#halloween doll#doll custom#custom doll#monster high g3#monster high g3 twyla#monster high custom#monster high g3 custom#monster high repaint#doll photos#doll photoshoot#doll photography#ooak#monster high ooak#longpost
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i'm basically racing time at this point just to post this before 7th ep of Ahsoka is out because i LOVE my rebel children and want to express this love.
i've shipped SabEzra since i was 13-14, so now when i'm kinda grown, i can finally show it and give it what it deserves.
so here's my little exploration of this ship (and subtle depression/PTSD hints in Ezra's behavior because OF COURSE HE'D HAVE THEM)
it can be interpret both platonicaly and romantically
Can you do something with my hair?
Standing in front of the mirror, Ezra carefully pulled his skin, examining his beard and face. He had done his best maintaining his apperance back in his time out of the galaxy, but there were far more important things to think about.
Ezra sighed, looking in the mirror in front of him, and pointed every detail he could find. What he was not prepared for is how much he reminded himself of his father. It was weird. He had to say "This is me. I am Ezra." for it to sink in, but it was still wrong. It felt like he was looking in the past. The past was long time ago - ten years ago - and today was still new and unfamiliar. Ezra felt like he was stuck in this bizarre limbo between times and the way his face looked didn't really help.
Door slid open. Ezra looked at his guest (or was he a guest in these quarters? he didn't know yet) and was met by Sabine's eyes and smile.
"I brought you clothes to choose from," she said, putting her small cargo on the table. Ezra smiled and thanked her, but Sabine didn't seem like she was going to leave. Ezra was good with it. "Are you not gonna see?"
Ezra shrugged, turning back to the mirror.
"A bit later, I guess."
"Those're new."
"Clothes?"
"No. Scars."
Ezra looked back at Sabine and blinked, confused. She was looking at him closely, and it was this moment Ezra realized he was half-naked.
"Oh," he breathed, looking at his torso and arms like he was seeing them for the first time in his life. "Yeah. They're not really new. Some are ten years old."
"Which ones?" Sabine asked, pushing herself from the table and closer to Ezra. He let out a thoughtful hum, looking for something on his body.
"Oh, there it is." Sabine tilted her head, watching as Ezra rose his left arm up. There was a long thin line from his armpit to his ribs. "This one's from the hyperspace jump. Y'know, glass broke and cut me up a bit."
"When you left Lothal?.. That jump?.." Sabine's fingers traced the scar, making Ezra shiver - it tickled. He smiled, lowering his arm back down.
"Well, I haven't been jumping much since then," he laughed a bit, and Sabine gave him a little smile.
"I've got some new ones too," she said, lifting up her shirt to show her torso too. Ezra looked at her, surprised and a bit bashful, and then she pointed to the round scar on her right side.
All shyness faded away, changed by concern, when Ezra saw it. He lowered a bit, furrowed and touched the scar, and Sabine didn't even flinch.
"A burn?.." he said in low voice, trying to understand what he was looking at. "A blaster?"
"A lightsaber." Ezra's eyes flicked up and Sabine could see horror in his gaze. She shrugged. "Not a big deal."
"It is!" Ezra protested, straightening up. "How did you even..."
"Doctors said I got lucky and it didn't really touch anything important, and the bleeding was stopped almost immediately, 'cause y'know. Those things're hot."
Ezra let out a nervous laugh and shook his head.
"Unbelievable."
"Hey," Sabine smiled and pointed at him. "If you can survive the hyperspace jump and ten years in another galaxy, why can't I take a little lightsaber to the gut?"
Ezra lifted his hands, surrendering to her reasoning.
"It wasn't MY lightsaber, I hope?" he turned back to mirror and the reflection took him aback once more. The only thing he was sure was his were his eyes and scars.
"Nah, some pretentious girl's", Sabine said, and then she furrowed a bit. "You good?"
"Dunno," Ezra answered honestly. He touched his chin and turned his head from side to side. "Don't you think I look a bit too much like my dad?"
"Wow, I wonder where this resemblance came from. Like you're blood related or something," she crossed her arms with a smile. But there was something in Ezra's voice, something a bit too serious, that couldn't let her relax. "Does it bother you?"
Ezra lowered his arms and turned to Sabine, a bit bashful once more.
"Can you..." he hesitated a bit, like he was too embarrassed to ask. Sabine arched her eyebrow. "Can you do something with my hair?"
Sabine blinked in surprise and took a few steps towards him.
"Something?" she echoed, raising her hands up and touching his dark locks. Ezra was surprisingly comfortable with it. He shrugged.
"I trust your artistic vision." Sabine smiled slyly, looking into his eyes.
"Does it mean I can dye it?"
Ezra closed his eyes and raised his hands in surrender once more.
"Do your worst."
It took Sabine about ten minutes to go get what she needed and then she put Ezra down on a chair and started doing her magic. Ezra relaxed, lulled by movement of her hands and the feeling of her focus. His state was close to meditation, like he was sitting there, and could feel Force move and swirl around them, in the room and the building, he could feel so many living creatures it was a bit overwhelming.
"You tensed," Sabine's voice was quiet yet for Ezra it sounded like thunder. It was hard not to flinch, but he managed to keep his peace. Who knows, what would she chop off with those scissors in her hands...
"Meditating," he answered simply.
"Aren't you supposed to be relaxed then?" she asked, pulling his hair slightly to detangle a couple of little knots.
"Ideally, yeah," Ezra smiled. "But it's been a while since I had so many distractions around me."
"Distractions?" Sabine echoed, looking in the mirror to see Ezra's face expression. His eyes were still closed and he looked peaceful, but she could feel that slight tension he bore in his posture and mimics. His lashes quivered for a moment, when he began his explaining.
"It's the Force," he said, flapping his hand on his lap lightly, gesturing around, "It was different out there. Muted, I think. Or just... Distant."
Sabine froze for a moment, but then continued grooming Ezra's hair without saying anything.
"It's way more present here," Ezra continued, tilting his head slightly, following movement of Sabine's hands. "I feel like I can touch every single thread that connects everyone and everything around me. Like I can tap into Force without even thinking about it."
"Thought you could do that before," Sabine said quietly. She could see Ezra chuckle silently.
"Yeah, well... I had to meditate my ass off just to feel someone around me back there," Sabine swallowed a bit. The thought of Ezra spending days straight on meditation out of pure hope to not be alone was very uncomfortable. "I'm a pro now."
"Oh, well I'm very flattered to tend to your holy hair, oh master-jedi," Sabine spoke so dramatically it inevitably made Ezra laugh.
"Come on," he said, choking on laughter, "Right now you have much more power over me than I have over you. It's not me holding the scissors."
She clicked said scissors loudly and Ezra chuckled again.
"What're doing, by the way?" he said, looking at Sabine's face in the mirror.
"Trying to align that wavy bush you got up here," she said calmly. "Then I'm gonna braid or gather it, I think. Not sure yet."
"So, no dye?"
"You said do my worst, not my best," she raised her gaze and met Ezra's eyes in the mirror. He was looking at her, and was so calm and relaxed, Sabine felt a quick pick of guilt in her stomach. He trusted her to do his hair, but she knew it meant so much more. She knew, Ezra would trust her his own life without hesitation. He already did, in fact. And it took her ten years to finally get him home. She should've realized sooner, found him sooner.
"Sabine?"
She shivered, clicking on air. Nervous smile crawled on Ezra's face.
"You good?"
"Yeah, yeah," Sabine quickly shook her head, regaining her composure. "I think we're done with cutting for now."
Ezra blinked slowly, like he was falling back into his meditative state while Sabine was taking care of his hair. She hoped he couldn't feel slight shiver in her hands while she brushed his hair with her fingers, but chances that Ezra didn't notice were slim. He would always point details quickly and now, after so much time spent in hiding and surviving, he must've been even more perceptive.
However, Ezra was silent, lost in motions of Sabine's hands and feel of being cared of. It felt nice and Ezra remembered how a long time ago Kanan would help him with his hair when it got too long, how he would teach him to shave, couple months before Malachor. Memories washed Ezra, like a gentle tide, and he could not help but snort from laughter, making Sabine hum, questioning what was on his mind.
"I used to have a buzzcut," he explained, raising his hand to cover his eyes and dumb smile. Sabine chuckled.
"It suited you," she said, tying his hair in a knot of the back of his nead. "But it doesn't go with your beard."
She lowered from behind him, looking at his face closely. Ezra looked up at her, watching her eyes inspect him.
"Wanna make me shave? 'Cause I haven't done it in, like, ten years," he chuckled nervously, but then Sabine straightened and for some reason Ezra felt in danger.
"I'll do it," she said, rubbing her hands and smiling with such sly Ezra thought she would make some crazy design on his face. Well, he told her to do her worst...
So Ezra just gulped, braced himself up and trusted Sabine's vision. They were silent for a bit, while Sabine lathered his face and beard and started to shave him little by little. She was still behind him, and Ezra was looking in the mirror, watching movement of her hands and the focused expression on her face. It was this moment when he started to recognise himself in the reflection. It took him a good couple of seconds to realize that he was looking at his own face. It was no longer the past, it was something else - it was HIM. Not that boy, who survived in Lothal's sewers, not the kid from Ghost's crew or a young officer of Rebellion, no, this was all a long-long time ago. But it was him, Ezra, he could see it. He could see how his eyes burned a bit brighter upon this realisation.
"Wow," he breathed out, making Sabine stop.
"What is it?" she said, concerned.
"Nothing, I just," he chuckled nervously. "I recognised myself."
Sabine blinked, confused.
"What do you mean?" she asked, looking at him through the mirror. He hesitated a bit, feeling like saying his thoughts out loud would be foolish.
"It's a bit dumb," he confessed, but Sabine only rolled her eyes.
"Go on, stop mushing around," she said, picking up the wet towel to wash lather off of his face.
"It's just," he looked up, raising his chin so Sabine could wipe his neck with the towel, "back then, when I took Thrawn away, I was completely out of the fight. I could not do anything. Literally, I had no ability to help you guys or even to know what was going on."
Sabine's jaw line tensed, but she was silent, still taking care of Ezra's face. His gaze was distant and she was thankful for that.
"I spent ten years, living by hope," he said quietly. "When I thought that I might end up stranded forever or that I might die without ever coming home, I simply assured myself that wasn't the case. I was waiting, and making myself useful in the process. Meditating, helping locals, learning their language and making sure Thrawn would stay there with me."
Sabine put the towel down and put her hands on Ezra's shoulders, watching his face in the mirror. He was speaking quietly, yet for her it was the most important thing in the world, so she listened like her life depended on it.
"I used to entertain myself," he continued, "thinking about what would I do when I get back. I wanted to go fly with Hera, wanted to spar with you, wanted to chill with Zeb and Chopper, as we used to do back in the old days. Wanted to find Ahsoka and finally find out where the heck I was when I pulled her out. Wanted to go back to Lothal and watch it rebuild. But now I feel like..."
Sabine clenched her fingers a bit, watching as Ezra look away and furrow in confusion.
"I feel like I missed so much I don't even know where am I anymore. I know I'm home and I'm happy, I really am," he looked up to the mirror, and Sabine didn't know if he tried to convince her or himself. "But I don't know what to do."
He looked back down.
"I think, I'm scared."
Sabine took a deep breath and moved, sitting down in front of Ezra. He looked at her, still lost, and it felt like guilt and sorrow gripped her heart with its cold claws. She couldn't bear seeing him like this.
"Hey," she whispered, putting her hand on his cheek. "It's okay. It's been a long time, I know. It's okay to feel a bit confused."
Ezra looked her straight in the eyes, like there were answers, and Sabine only smiled. He opened up to her. It was only fair to open up back.
"You know, I was so afraid, that I would be late," she said, brushing her thumb over his face. Tears stung her eyes, but they were still hidden. "But even more so, I was afraid to find you and realise that you were gone."
Ezra blinked, not understanding what she was talking about. Sabine chuckled. Even after all these years, he looked like a silly pup of lotho-wolf, when his eyes had this questioning look in them.
"I was afraid," she gulped, still caressing his cheek. "That the boy I grew up with was gone, but his body would still be alive. I was afraid that all those horrors and unknowns would've done to you."
Ezra furrowed and out his hand on hers, catching her attention.
"I was afraid I would find you and not recognise," she whispered in strangled voice.
"But you did," Ezra whispered back, caressing the back of her hand with his palm. "And I'm so happy you did. I knew you would."
Sabine shook her head slightly and pressed her forehead to Ezra's. It was so important for her to feel him, to know that he was around and to show him she was as well.
"We'll figure it out," she promised, still gripping his face. Ezra watched her, but Sabine's eyes were closed. "We will figure it out, 'cause you're alive and you're here. Everything else will come around. We'll get you fly with Hera and Jacen, we'll spar, we'll get you to Lothal and you'll see the memorial and your home. I'll go catch some lotho-cat for you to talk to, we'll go anywhere you want, do whatever you want."
"Sabine," Ezra called quietly. "I can't make everything about me."
"You should."
"What do you want?" he asked, nugding to her head, gently petting the back of her head with his free hand.
"I want to make sure you're never alone again," she said and her voice was so full of pain and guilt. Ezra smiled gently, letting her snuggle even closer.
"I'm not. I never was." he whispered, touching her nose with his own. "I always felt you. We're connected. Force unites all of us. All of us who cross the galaxy and who stays low. All of us who's breathing and who's not."
"Since when did you become so wise," Sabine smiled, ignorring a tear running down her cheek.
"Dunno," Ezra smiled back. "Somewhen between learning how to ask for water and using woodstick as a weapon to spook howlers."
They laughed quietly, still sitting close, forehead to forehead, hands of back of each others heads. And it felt right.
"Okay," Sabine whispered, pulling back from Ezra. His eyes followed her movement, yet he looked calm and relaxed. She wiped the tear from her face and shiffed, and looked like she was completely okay with the fact of Ezra still holding her hand. "Let's see that you think."
She moved aside and let Ezra look in the mirror. He blinked in surprise, when he realised that she was done.
Turning his head from side to side, Ezra smiled in awe.
"Wait," he squinted, looking back at Sabine. "Did you copy Kanan's goatee?"
Sabine chuckled.
"It looks good!" she protested, taking his chin and making him look back in the mirror. "Looks like you."
Sabine was right. Of course, she was right. Ezra huffed a laugh. He could try to argue, but she would always win. And yeah, the reflection looked like him.
A tapestry, carefully weaved from memories of old and hopes of future. It suited him.
"Thank you, Sabine."
She smiled.
"Anytime. Now, lets get you dressed."
Ezra blinked and looked down, once again realising he had only his pants on.
"Yes, please..."
#ahsoka series#ezra bridger#sabine wren#sabezra#star wars rebels#fanfiction#i love them so much my heart's dying#this i want this in my life#hurt/comfort
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WIBTA for writing a story? ✨ (emoji so I can find this easily)
So around a year and a half ago, as part of a drama exam me and a group of four others had to devise a piece to act out for the exam.
Me and two others who were the actors (the other two did the set and music) ended up really liking the story and characters we were creating for the project and all wanted to expand on the story we'd created for the exam.
The three of us me (currently 16 NB) and the other two who I'll call Alex (currently 17 M) and Rowan (currently 16 NB) made a discord server for the three of us to talk about the characters we'd made together and share ideas for how we'd develop them if we turned the performance we were writing into a story/book series.
This was a lot of fun and at first I really enjoyed discussing ideas about the characters we'd created but after a while I started to find myself disliking some of the others' ideas more and more and wanting to write the series on my own.
I never acted on that though because the three of us were all passionate about our ideas and the characters so the idea of writing my own version felt wrong when the others wanted to write the story too as a group.
Now since then, Rowan has stopped talking to both me and Alex. I haven't heard from Rowan since May and honestly I don't really want to hear from them again because since we stopped talking I realized our friendship really wasn't very healthy for either of us. During this time they deleted discord but their account was still in the server.
Alex had disappeared offline since January but recently returned five months ago. We caught up and at first we talked about our ideas, the characters and how we wanted to turn it into a book series again, during this we kicked Rowan's account from the discord because neither of us spoke with them anymore. After a while we stopped talking much about the characters and our ideas and just started talking about random things. But last week Alex left the discord unannounced and I haven't heard from him at all since.
Now, I know Alex might return sometime like he left and returned before and I know this is pretty soon but while he's gone and since I'm no longer in contact with Rowan, I've found myself wanting to try writing the story myself with complete freedom to write the story I want to write and not have to use the others' ideas that I don't like.
It wouldn't feel so wrong anymore since they're not still there discussing their ideas or talking about how we should all write it together as a group but I do feel a little unsure if this would be an assholeish thing to do. I mean, I'd be writing about the characters we all created together, using the base story idea we all created for the project and I don't know if Alex will return or not yet.
So, would I be the asshole if I wrote the story by myself?
Additional info.
Idk if any of this is relevant but it might help with the judgement/I feel like people would ask for info about this stuff if I didn't add it.
The ideas I disliked were mainly to do with the development of a certain character, a ship that really would not make any sense and Alex wanting to add in a talking magical dinosaur to the plot of what was meant to be a story set in the modern day real world.
We never actually tried to write the story as a group before, we just talked about it.
None of us see each other IRL anymore.
I have got ADHD and autism.
There wouldn't be anything nsfw in the story.
None of the characters were based on any of us.
There are a lot of reasons why mine and Rowan's friendship wasn't healthy for either of us but to give a few reasons we didn't really care about each other's interests (like fandoms), would consistently cancel on hangouts with each other or would get into arguments over stupid stuff and not talk for weeks only to go back to being clingy with each other when we started talking again. Looking back, it was definitely an unhealthy friendship for both of us.
What are these acronyms?
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An Ask Game for Writers to Procrastinate Working on Your WIP(s)
Thank you to @theearlgreymage and @wellbelesbian for the tag. I haven't done this one before
(Original Ask Game)
1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s):
I'll go with TikTok dancer, because it's one of only two I haven't published yet, and the other is my COBB so I can't give too much away on it.
2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___”
Simon Snow + the Pacific Ocean = Dancing Sea Lion
3. 🌍What tags or warnings will your / one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it?
It is very very explicit. Simon is a slut in this one.
4. 🧭An alternative title to your/ one of your WIP(s)?
Honestly? This is the only name I've come up with for it. I may change it, but I tend to be fairly resolute when it comes to my titles.
5. ⚠️Which WIP your most likely to finish or update next?
Probably Cupid's Shield. I'll be updating Cupid's Shield and Saving Simon Snow in the next few days. The next chapter of Stars, Flowers, and Children ought to go up by Wednesday.
6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)
I always save my docs under their title once I have the title. Before that, I call it by a descriptive phrase, like "cobb 2024" or "Tiktok AU"
7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP.
Simon Snow is standing above me, looking at me with a perplexed expression. I quickly get my own expression under control. “Hello?” I say coolly.
“Baz,” he says, and my eyes widen. I wouldn’t have thought he’d remember my name, given the many similar encounters he must have had over the years.
“Snow,” I say, neither encouraging nor discouraging this discourse.
For some strange reason though, his eyes light up at the sound of his name and he beams at me. “What?” I say sharply, confused.
He shakes his head and his curls fly about with the motion. “Nothing. It’s just, I like it when you call me that.”
That’s distinctly odd. Don’t people generally prefer to be called by their first names?
8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP.
I originally had this ending two different ways, and one of them was mpreg. I shifted away from that idea before I started typing though.
9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?
My friend denticles (sorry, forgot your Tumblr user) gifted me an idea that involves Baz being a fanfic writer during the Watford years. I'm excited to start it, but I am determined to finish The Heart in The Well first.
10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on?
lol, you know me. Too many. 8 at the moment.
11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?
Not currently. I'm more fighting with deciding how detailed to make upcoming scenes.
12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send.
🥰
I'll tag most everyone I know who (I think) has a current WIP, why not?
@iamamythologicalcreature, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @chen-chen-chen-again-chen, @palimpsessed, @frjsti, @fatalfangirl, @melodysmash, @onepintobean, @tea-brigade, @messofthejess, @larkral, @confused-bi-queer, @mooncello, @j-nipper-95, @facewithoutheart, @best--dress, @nightimedreamersghost, @thewholelemon, @youarenevertooold, @cutestkilla, @artsyunderstudy, @ileadacharmedlife, @hushed-chorus, @prettygoododds, @whatevertheweather, @angelsfalling16, @noblecorgi, @bookish-bogwitch, and @blackberrysummerblog
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how do you have the time to write all this stuff /and/ play video games etc etc at the same time? Is it just that you write insanely fast after all these years? I have a lot of hobbies, writing being one of them, and i have such a hard time juggling them lol.
Hi anon,
So, real talk -> The reality is I don't have the time to write and play video games at the same time most of the time.
I haven't written anything since the 17th. I haven't started the next Palmarosa chapter. I'm on day 8 of not having opened a new document and writing anything.
I've edited a whole two chapters (which I suspect I have to go over again) and I've responded to some comments and asks, and that's it. No writing, no growing wordcount, I've been stagnating / not doing anything due to burnout since the 17th (I know the date because I have a giant whiteboard of completed chapters next to me).
Honestly, most of the time I don't actually have the time to read, play video games, watch television, or movies. I am too busy writing/editing/sleeping. With Toby in the mix, the small amount of media I was consuming has vanished.
Sometimes I can play certain video games while writing - these are usually low stakes video games I can endlessly put on pause and then play for five minutes at a time, like Dorfromantik and Garden Galaxy. Any kind of idler video game, like Havendock is also good for this.
Anon, you can't have a lot of hobbies and actually keep up with them and write the way I do, and therapist/s wouldn't recommend you drop all of your hobbies to write the way I do anyway. Trust me.
I had two things I wanted to start learning this year, and I haven't started learning them yet. I don't have the capacity. I had a therapist gently point out to me that if I was always at 100 in terms of output, how can I have any energy leftover for self-work and processing? The answer is: I don't. (That's actually why I've spent a week playing video games, and if anything it's just reminded me that my capacity is still at 100 and this is going to take a bit of concerted decompression).
Most of the time it's not normally quite this overwhelming. Toby has just maxed me out because he's a high energy dog who is also a puppy with Separation Anxiety, and there's no quick or easy fix for that. But most of the time it's still very intense. The list of shows I really want to watch, and books I really want to read, is very long. But I often don't have time to indulge in those things because I'm too busy writing.
A lot of the time I don't actually have the time to reread my own fics anymore, outside of editing.
This year was meant to kind of tackle that more decisively but you know then we got a puppy so... not so much.
But yeah anon, there is no 'how do you do this and do this' - you don't do one of those things, or you do it very haphazardly, in small amounts.
I do write very fast (my wordcount is 120-150wpm), but I don't edit fast (I'd tender that editing fast for most people is a bit of an oxymoron), I don't answer asks fast (some of the longer ones take me an hour to compose), etc. And even then, writing fast is not the same as the time it takes to think out the chapter, to figure out what's happening, letting it percolate etc. A lot of my life is also just resting. I lose about 2-5 hours of every afternoon to sleep or rest for example, where nothing productive happens. And I think one of the reasons I read so many manwha atm is that they're so easy to read comparatively, and so quick, and that's the only way I can really consume stories these days.
#asks and answers#what folks think they're seeing on the surface is often not is what is actually happening#those who track my wordcount on discord (where i update it)#will notice it's not been updated since the 17th#will i write anymore chapters between here and the end of the month?#i don't know#and if i don't#i will have to work even harder next month dsalkfjasfas#anyway yeah no most of your hard working creatives around you#cannot actually find the life-work balance that allows them to enjoy their lives and leisure time and their hobbies#even if they're writing about characters who are learning how to do those things#part of it is capitalism - it's hard to take a break when your antidepressants went up in price#(which is a broader ironic analogy to life in general)
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The FF14 community has a sarcastic saying along the lines of "great community btw", which is used in cases whenever someone or some group of awful people pop up doing something shitty and which I find annoying.
I think it is really obnoxious because having a great community does not mean there will never be any awful people in that community.
Especially when you get an award for stuff like having a great community – something that in many spaces is usually based on popularity or earned via nebulous committee vote.
That's just not how people work. And putting that strange standard on every single person in that community is really unrealistic.
In fact, I think it would be creepier if occasional assholes didn't pop up. Actual cult behaviour entails a situation where nobody is frustrated, critical or says anything bad about each other ever.
And this is doubly so for stuff that is popular.
We have 30 million accounts in the game now. Do you honestly expect not one of them to be made by an awful person?
The second frustration I have is tying social media with the community. Yoshi-P and his team, don't, even in fact, straight-up can't really, moderate what happens on social media, on Twitter, Reddit, Discord etc.
And as far as I know their official accounts keep it pretty basic and chill.
So, a lot of the bad stuff is just the nature of social media and the internet.
Now, this actually does not mean the dev team bears no responsibility because what they can do is minimise the poison within the game itself.
FF14 is probably the cleanest multiplayer community I've been apart of ever. The most I've gotten is generic insults in French.
The lack of gamerwords in my 3 months of time surprised me the most, and so did the occasional actual compliments. We just either talk about the game or what issues there are with us doing the mechs or disband when stuff isn't working out and time is getting wasted.
But I also know many haven't been as lucky and some of the security features were dated even by the time the game re-released back in 2013.
The friendlist is a mess because it doesn't block properly, and I know stories of people who had to go to another region to escape their stalker.
The GMs, while preferrable to any automated moderation, still don't catch everything, sometimes for years, especially whistleblowers who signal stuff in specific codewords and technically aren't breaking the rules.
Unjust massreportings can happen.
Reporting can be clunky and from what I've explored is hidden behind some menuing instead of just being an open option like in many other online games.
So they kinda can't control Twitter or Reddit at all and they can't change human nature, but I think they can modernise a bunch of the social tab.
I also haven't experienced the game as a non-sprout/at endgame yet, which I'm told can make a difference. Part of the reason why I find the game so rewarding is because you find so many different experiences and opinions in just Duty Finder and you just sometimes get to talking with them about the game and then various other things.
Recently, many gathered to honor Akira Toriyama in many of the data centers and people were just kind of talking to each other about DB and other series.
And I've never seen anything like this in any other MMO or any multiplayer games. I know it happened for Kentaro Miura, too, when he died.
So clearly, the social element is a huge part of the identity of an MMO, so if they mean they're improving the MMO in the MMO, I hope this also includes the social tab features.
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*+_THEATER AND OG DAYCARE AU!_+* (PART 1)
(OK. THINGS FIRST, DO FORGIVE ME IF YOU SEE SUDEN STRANGE CHANGES IN THE ART STYLE, I swear to my mama I made all of these, just that I've been drawing this concept idea for the past 2 years and I somehow completely changed from my own art style for these sillies towards the cardboard cutouts that the game has us to offer. So if there's any confusion, the first image up there is the latest from a few weeks.)
So I had this concept AU idea where I wanted to explain WHY the Sun and Moon can be completely separate while Eclipse is just cast away from the whole 'brotherhood' the fandom has created. And BECAUSE I haven't seen anyone do this back when I had this idea, I decided to make it my own!
AU LORE:
Eclipse in this AU appeared way back when the pizzaplex was being built. Small variations of iconic attractions such as a smaller version of the atrium, a half-cut area of Rockstar Row and Bonnie Bowl which was, at the time, the biggest attraction at the in-construction were all located within the upcoming glamrocks with their beta versions. Back at that time, Eclipse was somewhat of a prototype for the present-day daycare attendant we all know and love. They began to work around a smaller version of the daycare, being introduced to the children with both daytime and naptime protocols to ensure their safety and fun in Superstar Daycare.
Eventually, though, the pizzaplex began to grow bigger and bigger, to the point where more clients of all ages started to watch the early performances of the beta Glamrocks. Due to funds increasing and higher-ups becoming much more daring, a new attraction was set up near the daycare, this being known as the present-day Theater where Sundrop and Moondrop were introduced as its performers. Working as entertainers and jesters for comedic acts, especially for the adults who dropped off their kids and went off for a bag of popcorn and a soda to watch the sillies on their performances.
Sun and Moon as Jesters:
Sun back at the time was his usual joyful and happy self, yet one full of ego and quite self-centered if you must say. As Sun was given the role of the main character in the majority of his performances, he kept the idea that everything must be according to what was planned. Perfect, clean and nicely done, he thinks that the smallest mistake could ruin his "character arc" and much rather be scrapped on set in front of all his fans than admit that sometimes you just have to get off your fantasies and set yourself in real life.
Moon on the other hand, oh boy, that guy wasn't any less good. As the antagonist of the majority of the performances, he grew a 'villainous wanna-be' personality. Where he tries to prank you, trick you, and make pathetic yet silly obstacles before laughing away in an 'evil' laugh. I mean... what would you honestly expect? This is Moon who we are talking about you guys, there's no way this guy can be a calming presence to be around, not even before the virus situation.
FAMILY BONDING:
At first, Eclipse seemed a bit shocked and wary about how there were suddenly two completely identical modelled animatronics that resembled a lot of him living just near his daycare. At some point, they didn't want to be involved in whatever these two jesters were.
But as time went by, admittedly Eclipse grew attached to the twins. Having an older sibling bonded with them as they were the ones making sure those two imbeciles wouldn't go at each other's necks for dumb reasons like a scrip, a mistake in their performance on stage or even just a simple argument. Which they had. Multiple times.
Things were always a ruckus with the jesters. They hung out on their after-hours, helped each other with their usual routines for the day, and even there were rare occasions when Sun and Moon were invited into the daycare. That, of course, was where Sun learned how to adore arts and crafts. Seeing the beauty of art from his own viewpoint. As for the Moon jester? Well, he learned about disciplinarity, the need for perpetual rest and most wholesomely, he grew to like naptime due to Eclipse's soft lullaby that they would spread to every kid alike. Although too proud to admit, he is slightly jealous of Eclipse's calming nature. In a good way.
ANYWAY, ILL UPDATE ALL WITH THE 2ND PART SOON BYE-
#fnaf moon#fnaf art#fnaf sb#fnaf au#fnaf fanart#fnaf security breach#fnaf#fnaf sun#fnaf superstar daycare#sundrop#moondrop#moon#eclipse#fnaf ruin#ruin eclipse#brotherly bonding#art#I LOVE THEM SO MUCHHHH AAAA
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September 27th, 1996
Dear diary,
I fumbled.
I fumbled and almost made the wrong turn and I could have died.
I could have died on the spot and it would have been less awful.
It's so embarrassing I can barely think back on it, but I can't stop. It keeps playing through my head again and again.
Everything started so great - the gymnasium was loud and colorful and bright, and everything I love about game days.
The gymnasium was crowded too - every student and teacher, and even some of the girls that graduated last June. Hell, mom and dad were there. Of course they are there when I mess up! I wanted them to see how good I was getting, not fumbling around like a complete idiot!
I really don't know what happened; I've never made a mistake like that ever. I'd been so looking forward to it, working so hard to make sure I knew the routine by heart. I should have been able to do it in my sleep.
I just managed to keep it together until the game started up again and I could sneak out into the hallway. I'm sure at least one of the girls saw me leave, but they know I usually do this when I fuck up so they let me be. I haven't needed to since Freshman year - I've been working so hard exactly so this wouldn't happen again.
I still don't know why I do it. Obviously it's better to hide, where no one can see me until my skin stops itching and I stop feeling like everyone is staring at me. But I also know it's counterproductive. I know it just makes me sink deeper into my failure, know that I'll just be miserable and alone if I run away. But I can't stop it - I just can't stand being around that many people anymore.
The last time had been at an away game - some school closer to Chicago that I can't even remember. The best I could do there was some alcove in a dark hallway. At home I knew where to go. It had been a while since I had gone out there, but the bench on the far side of the building was still there, far enough from the gymnasium that it was always quiet and empty. No one wandered far enough from the game to find it.
It was starting to get dark, the sky a deep purple, which was nice but also strange. Usually it's already fully dark out, and it feels like there's more cover. I still felt too exposed now, even sitting there curled up with my arms wrapped around my knees. I'd forgotten my jacket.
"There you are." I jumped at the sudden voice, not expecting anyone to have followed me. Even if I had, the last person I would have expected to see was Mike. He was slightly out of breath as if he'd had to run to catch up to me. I hadn't even noticed he was at the game, though it stood to reason he wouldn't have sat with the other teachers just yet.
He came to a stop in front of me, suddenly slightly awkward as he looked me over. "Hey."
I honestly didn't know what to say so I just stared at him, baffled he was there in the first place. No one ever followed me. And suddenly Mike had appeared out of nowhere, blipped into existence when I had spent the last few years trying to forget he even exists. He's not supposed to exist - just a negative space in the last seven years of my life.
"I know you're not a fan of me but-," he started, fumbling over his words as he inched closer to the bench. "I just wanted to check up on you."
"I didn't even know you were here." I frowned, swallowing against the knot in my throat, my voice shaky even to my own ears. I wanted him to leave. I didn't want to be alone. "I thought you had plans this weekend."
"Uh, yeah - the party's back in town. Well, everyone except Dustin because he has some conference or whatever, but... uh, yeah, we were planning to come to the game. We wanted to come see your show. El and Max are here too. Lucas tried but he's not really a fan of basketball anymore so he left early..."
He rambles a lot, I noticed, sounding nothing like he does when I overhear him talking to just Will. In class, he rambles a lot too, but at least there he's doing so with purpose, knowing what he's saying and when to stop. It made him look awkward and out of place, as if it's me that's making him nervous. As if I'm not just the little sister that's nine years too immature for him, shoved into the corner of the room with a pile of dolls so I'm out of the way.
"Great," I told him, my misery finally making me cave and scooting over to make space for Mike on the bench. He seemed surprised, hesitant still to join me, which I had to admit was kind of funny. Still, I sobered up again quickly enough, a shiver running through me at the memory. "At least one person that didn't see me completely humiliate myself."
"Come on, Holzie." Mike nudged my shoulder, and I was thrown off guard by the new nickname, pulling my attention away from my spinning thoughts. "It really wasn't that obvious. I noticed at least two girls that were out of step the entire routine - you made one tiny mistake that no one will remember."
"It's that I made the mistake at all," I corrected him, and to my dismay and complete mortification, my voice cracked. "I'm not the best if I make stupid mistakes like that. And if I'm not the best I'll never make cheer captain and I'll just be one more girl on the cheerleading team that no one really-" cares about is what I was going to say, but luckily I cut myself off before I could finish. I know it's stupid. Know everyone is important. There's not a girl on the team I wouldn't miss - but that's because they're my friends.
For once I want people to notice me for me. I want to make a mark to people that don't know me at all. Want people to see me, notice me, because of me, not because they already know about me.
Worse, I started crying in front of the last person on earth I wanted to cry in front of. The only person in the world who I've spent my entire life trying to convince I'm not a baby anymore. There's just something about Mike that always makes me feel younger than I am. Inadequate.
"You will," Mike assured me, "no one works harder than you."
I was confused what made him think that. How he would know. It's not something I like to advertise, and it only made me cry harder. Because that's the point - I have to work twice as hard to be half as good as everyone else. Everyone else gets it with the six hours practice we have a week - they're flawless, make no mistakes at all. It's just not fair.
And I'm so tired of trying to catch up.
I desperately tried to wipe my tears away as quickly as possible as we sat in silence for a while, Mike leaning closer and handing me a tissue he pulled from his pocket. For some reason, it always helps me stop crying once I can wipe my face dry, physically putting myself together, so I was grateful even if I was completely embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, I used to be good at this," Mike chuckled, trying to lighten the mood as he nudged my shoulder again. "It's been a while."
If he were, I don't remember it.
I told him we should get back inside, even though that was the last thing I wanted to do. But Daniel was still playing, and I couldn't stay gone from the team forever either, so I sucked it up. I just hoped I could stop by the bathroom to make sure I didn't look like a complete nutcase - which was a terrible idea because of course I did, now I just knew exactly how fucked I looked.
Before we entered the gymnasium Mike stopped me.
He told me he'd seen me practicing on the field sometimes.
After everything I seriously couldn't be any more embarrassed so I just shrugged and confirmed it, even though I was confused as to where he was going with it. I also hadn't considered anyone showing up early being able to see me, so it was good to know for the future.
"I know I can't tell you what to do but... please don't practice without the team - at least not the crazy gymnastic jump things." I blinked at him in surprise, perplexed at his request. It's not like I was in anyone's way or bothering anyone, but he explained it was dangerous and didn't want me to fall and get hurt with no one around to get help. And it didn't feel like a scolding - I mean I felt stupid for not having thought about that myself, but for some reason i didn't care about any of that.
I promised I wouldn't anymore, and as we entered the gymnasium I automatically searched out mom and dad. Dad was watching the game, but mom is usually bored by the game itself, so it wasn't a surprise that she'd been looking out for me, immediately noticing us by the door. It stood to reason she'd already deduced Mike had been at the game too, but she seemed content to wait for the dinner to talk to him again because she just smiled at us before looking at the game now she knew we were okay.
Mike asked if I wanted to come sit by him and his friends for a bit. Now I knew to look for them I found them easily enough in the left top corner of the bleachers on their side of the court - Max was the most obvious with her bright hair, and from there it was easy to find Will and El sitting on either side of her. I know El the least out of all of Mike's friends, which I've always found strange because I'm pretty sure they dated at some point and before Mike and Will had moved back, she'd been the one hanging around Hawkins the most often. Even from that far away I could see her expressive features, and she hadn't had those pink streaks in her hair the last time I'd seen her. They suited her.
I'd like to talk to Max again, thank her in person for helping Mike pick out my birthday present, but of course, even if I wanted to take Mike up on his offer, I couldn't, having to go sit with the rest of the team. I could already see Dylan smiling at me and beckoning me closer, so I just dismissed Mike. I thanked him though, because even though he hadn't been much help in making me feel better, it had been nice that he'd followed me. That he'd sat with me.
Maybe tomorrow I'll get my sense back.
For now I'm too worn out to be angry.
At least I think writing has helped me calm down enough from my embarrassment to sleep.
Love, Holly
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Twenty Questions for Fic Writers
i've had so much fun reading other answers to these questions over the last few weeks!! thank you @nv-md and @sweet-s0rr0w for mentioning me in your posts!! i fear my answers drifted much too far into self-indulgence, but what's new for this blog eh??
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
22, but one of them is 11 separate drabbles/microfics in a 2k-word jacket
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
293,865
3. What fandoms do you write for?
i'll only ever write hp on this username!
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
all drarry:
the four doors (legilimency healer draco + memory loss)
adventures in truth and texting (advent texting fic)
all i have to do (draco thinks harry is a magical fantasy but whoops he's real)
eight o'clock, tomorrow evening (four doors sequel)
two to lie and one to listen (8th year fake dating, sort of)
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
i respond to everything on the final chapter of a fic! sometimes very kind commenters will say something at the end of every single chapter, which is SUCH a joy to receive, but i haven't yet figured out a way of saying "thank you!" 26 times over without sounding insincere
(i also don't usually respond to comments on fics i've co-written bc i don't feel like i have? the right? feels like i'm taking credit for something i did not really do!)
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
also drarry: for lack of wanting, wherein harry thinks it's sexy when draco acts like an evil dick again, and draco is too in love with harry to tell him that makes him feel weird
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
man i think all the rest are pretty happy, all things considered? tho i guess two to lie and wrapped are the only ones that end with explicit i-love-yous?
8. Do you get hate on fics?
i've been quite lucky, actually! i've had the occasional demand to change an angsty ending, or comments that have been quite mean about a character who isn't supportive of drarry. oh and i've had a couple of people get suuuper mad when draco malfoy, death eater and snotty spoilt brat, makes mildly immoral decisions. i've found all of those quite funny tho, which i'm sure i wouldn't if they were legitimate hate, so i don't think they count!
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
yep! the vibe of two characters wanting to fuck but knowing they shouldn't for some reason (uneven dynamic, magic stuff, they simply haven't had a fucking conversation about it) is my absolute favourite. will read it every time, will write it pretty much every time too 😅
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
the closest i've come to writing a crossover is say no to this, a fic vaguely based off the storyline of the song from hamilton. it was the first drarry fic i'd written in about 10 years!
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
yep! not any under this username (that i know of), but someone re-uploaded an old drarry fic of mine to wattpad – and honestly, i don't mind at all. i don't think the fic is very good lmao, if someone else wants to take the blame for it, that's totally fine by me
(the wildest thing about it is the combined ff.net + wattpad views of that fic now top 2 million i think?! but despite that u have almost definitely not heard of it!! i've only seen it mentioned, like, maybe 3 times since i properly re-joined fandom spaces in 2020)
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
yes!!!! it's SUCH an honour!!! the four doors is in german, chinese, russian and spanish; thirst (drarry vampire fic) is in chinese; and all i have to do (the not-fantasy-harry fic) is in russian 🥰
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
yes!!! well, sort of – officially, i co-wrote per my last letter (i hope you choke on it) with @lastontheboat, but i really do think i was more like an alpha reader with knobs on. the workload split was at least 25/75, with j shouldering a great deal of the burden (and all of the brilliance)!
14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?
this is going to sound silly given that i'm definitely a drarry writer and only really hang out in the drarry sphere – but i don't have one! for hp, i gravitate towards ships with harry in them, but even that isn't a hard and fast rule for me
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
nothing that i've posted! but i have tons that are never going to see the light of day. three recent-ish hp ones i've written the most for:
a fic i call The Opus, which is a drarry auror partners fic – i have 16k words written; it was going to end up a solid 100k. i love the concept i have for this fic so, so dearly, but a 100k casefic is not happening.
a harry/ginny established relationship smutty oneshot that is really nothing more than ginny being fun and sexy and harry being horny but, like, self-deprecating about it.
a drarry little mermaid au that i wrote for nanowrimo in 2019. like i MIGHT come back to this one day? but it's unlikely. pros: i do have 50k of it written already and the first draft isn't too far off being complete. cons: i have almost exactly 50k words of it written bc i hit the nano goal and stopped in the middle of a sentence bc writing it was SO stressful (that november i had two jobs + one volunteering role, and also i was moving house, so. a lot going on.)
16. What are your writing strengths?
god knows. dialogue and characters come easiest to me, ig? and i tend to cut a lot in editing, so i don't think my stuff is? overly wordy? so it doesn't require much brainpower to read? that could be a positive or a negative, depending on how you look at it!
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
i suck at caring about anything other than character dynamics, so my fics never have plot outside of something vague to put the main pairing in the same room
similarly, i'm not very good at describing locations – describing anything, really
bc i tend to focus on the "oh we want to but we shouldn't!" moment, i'm pretty bad at actually developing feelings in longer fics – that part always feels too rushed to me, but fuck if i know a way of fixing it that isn't just, like, write another 20k
i think my endings usually feel like a bit of an afterthought and often quite forced
the more i write, the more i realise i know, like, 5 ways of phrasing anything, and i just repeat the same things over and over
i'm trying to fix my lack of skills with plotting + pacing by planning extensively before i start drafting, but i think that takes a bit of the spark out of the final version? it becomes a bit predictable and samey?
em dashes every tenth word
i'm convinced ppl i respect are in group chats talking abt how annoying and bad at writing i am, and also lowkey (…highkey) i agree with them – so actually getting myself to write anything is super hard!!
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
yeah man! i mean, i personally am not sufficiently confident in my skills in any other language to do it without help (and i'm not sufficiently confident in my skills in asking for help to do that), but it's fun to read imo
19. First fandom you wrote for?
i've dabbled in a few over the years, but the first was hp – it was a marauders era snape/lily/james love triangle fic that i posted on a forum on a hp roleplaying site – this was before deathly hallows came out, so i was very smug when my pairing theory (that i undoubtedly stole from someone cleverer than me, because i was 13 years old) turned out to be true
20. Favourite fic you’ve written?
god. @decaflondonfog recently told me that drabbles don't really count, so i? don't know? perhaps still the pine-woods scent the moon (guilty remus/harry) or taste of țuică (established drarry bringing ron in as a third) are the ones i like best, but i don't love either of them enough to be able to confidently declare them my favourite!
u know the drill: i got too sad and anxious and unfollowed everyone so i have no idea who to tag. if u made it this far please know i do love you very much, i want to kiss u on the cheek at LEAST, and would love to know any thoughts u have about the things u make ❤️
#as if i said 'a strength of mine is that i'm not too wordy' in this post#have u SEEN the length#fluxweed shut the fuck up challenge#my fic#tag game
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Hey! I'm back! I'm mostly hoping for a direction to be pointed in, because I don't actually know where to start. So I've got my very large world that I'm working in, and a few plotlines are looking like they're going to have professional mages in Europe during WWI / WWII. While I'm not super interested in dedicating entire novels of story to answering the question of "and how does magic change this" because honestly, the answer goes in the range from "secret mages change ultimately very little about the results, but there was magical fighting there too probably" to "it never happened thanks to magical intervention and now I need to figure out how the modern day is different without two very major historical events".
That being said, I'm likely to at least have to give a broad-strokes answer to it. I don't have much knowledge about WWI/II, since it's never been a period of history I've been interested in studying - I'm vaguely aware of the broad strokes of the Holocaust and also Canada's involvement, since that made it into highschool education several years ago. So I've got some serious knowledge gaps I'd have to fill. But if I do have to sit down and figure out how magic would change things, where should I be looking for examples / inspiration?
(I haven't answered the question yet on if mages were well-known to most non-magical societies at the time, and if so to what extent. I know that'll majorly affect what I can do, but not exactly how or in what ways. ^^; )
There's a lot to unpack here, so let's start with one of the most basic parts. The first and second world wars were extremely different conflicts. Technology, strategies, and attitudes towards war were completely different between them. You can't, really, transplant events from one to the other without dealing with serious thematic shifts.
Beyond this, there's a some real world mysticism associated with both conflicts. The first World War came in at a time when then the Spiritualist movement was gaining traction. If you're unfamiliar with this, it's probably simplest to describe this as a new age religious movement that mostly died out in the early 20th century. To the best of my knowledge, this never really penetrated into decision making regarding the war, but it was an element of, “life back home,” during the war.
The second world war is a lot better documented in this regard. The upper echelons of the Nazi party were particularly interested in creating a, “mythical basis,” for their ideology. This included forays into pseudoscience, faked archaeology and anthropology, and outright mysticism. There's a very real, historical, reason why you'll frequently see Nazis tied to the supernatural, and it has a historical basis.
Unsurprisingly, some of the German Spiritualist societies directly transitioned into the Nazi party, either directly or by supporting them. So, there is some continuity between these points. If you want a slightly more extensive primer on this, Wikipedia does have a pretty decent article on the actual history (including how it is frequently over-represented in popular fiction.)
Now, if you want to know what the world would look like without the first world war, I don't know. As in, that changed so much more than you realize. Don't even take this as a complete list, because I'm scratching across the surface from memory.
The first world war changed Europe's attitude towards military conflict irrevocably. Prior to this, European powers had viewed war as almost a diversion. Military hardware had been advancing rapidly in the late 19thcentury, but outside of a few border skirmishes between African colonies (I think it between was the Dutch and British), there hadn't been any serious armed European conflicts in over a century. Even early military officers who realized the destructive potential of machine guns were frequently punished and disregarded when they warned their superiors of what these new weapons were capable of. Before the outbreak of war, the expectation was that the first World War would be fought similar to how the Napoleonic campaigns had played out. Obviously that didn't happen, and by the end of the war over twenty million had died, with another twenty-one million wounded.
World War II was a direct consequence of the first World War. Germany was forced to sign crushing reparations in 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles. This started the resentment, and anger, that the Nazis exploited in their rise to political power over the next two decades. Again, the interwar period is something you want to look at in more detail.
The First World War created the Soviet Union. Specifically, the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a direct consequence of the Imperial Russian mobilization against the Axis powers. There were more factors, but if Archduke Franz Ferdinand didn't soak a bullet in in 1914 Sarajevo, there would have been no Soviet Union.
If there's no Soviet Union, there's no Cold War. If there's no Treaty of Versailles, there's no Nazi Germany.
And we're not even done.
Woodrow Wilson's speech on Self Determinism to (if I remember correctly) the League of Nations gave a lot of smaller nations the belief that the 20th century would be characterized by greater respect and autonomy to them. (It's seriously a very hopeful speech.) For many colonized powers, they were under the impression that this meant they would granted independence (or at least, granted dignity) under the new world order that was being ushered in. This included powers like Algeria and Vietnam who were under French Colonial control. (This will come up again later.)
It's easy to remember the Germans. Germany was one of the Axis powers in WWI, and of course, again, in WWII. Do you remember the other major Axis powers in WWI? Because most of them don't exist today. The Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires were carved up between the Allies as spoils of war. This directly lead to the creation of the Balkans, and of course the conflicts there in the 90s. But, it created the modern Middle East.
Similarly, the French and British laid claims to swaths of the Middle East (which were previously part of the Ottoman Empire), with little regard for the indigenous ethnic groups. Setting the modern borders for Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey (and I'm probably forgetting a few more.) Also creating problems (like the instillation of the Pahlavi Dynasty in Iran, which set the stage for the modern, Theocratic State, after the 1979 Iranian revolution.) Again, without the first World War, and specifically without the Treaty of Versailles, modern Iran would be unrecognizable, as it was part of a major Eurasian power. Similarly, without the Treaty of Versailles, there would have been no Iran Iraq wars, and probably none of the Iraq wars as we recognize them today.
The carving of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires also created a bit of resentment from Russia. Russia formally withdrew from the war after the 1917 revolution. As a result, they were completely cut out of reparations. So, while France and Britain were carving up the Middle East and helping themselves to Germany's economy the Russians were told to kick rocks. Historically (going back to the middle ages) Russia struggled to shake a reputation of being the, “backwoods,” of Europe. Technologically, socially, and economically, they struggled to keep up with European advancement. Some of this simply comes down to the distances, the harshness of their climate, and the difficulty of effectively governing such a massive nation. It's not an indictment of the Russian people. However, in the aftermath of WWI, the newly founded Soviet Union found itself in a particularly rough situation. They suffered heavier casualties than any other allied power (coming in second behind Germany for overall dead throughout the war.) (For reference, the Russian military mobilized more troops than any other power in WWI, their casualties were in line with other allied nations.) This was part of the political atmosphere that lead to the revolution, but it also meant that their exclusion from the Versailles reparations was particularly stinging. When I said that without WWI, there would be no cold war, it's not just because the Soviet Union wouldn't exist. Imperial Russia was an ally of the British.
If this wasn't bad enough, the Russian Revolution of 1917 also resulted in a six year civil war, in which Allied powers intervened on the side of the Czarists.
As a quick aside, Allied powers and Axis are the WWII terms. Technically, if you want to be precise, the contemporary terms were Entente Powers, with the UK, France, Italy, Russia, and so on, with the Central Powers referring to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, The Ottoman Empire (also sometimes referred to as Turkey at this point), and Germany. It's also a little like referring it to World War I. No one in 1919 would have referred to the conflict as, “The First World War,” or, “World War One.” No one was expecting a sequel to get pumped out less than twenty years later. The contemporary term was, “The Great War,” or, sometimes, “The War to End All Wars,” which was unfortunately too optimistic.
In a quick admission, mea culpa, I can't remember exactly how the First World war affected China. There was continuity between the Treaty of Versailles and the rise of the PRC, but I don't remember the exact cause and effect beyond Mao's trips to Moscow.
In the case of Vietnam (at the time, referred to in Europe as, “French Indochina,”) Wilson's speech on Self Determinism, followed by the deliberate exclusion of minor powers and colonized (or, if you prefer, subjugated) nations from the Treaty of Versailles sent some very mixed messages. In particular, Ho Chi Minh was actually in Paris during the negotiations, with the intention of representing Vietnamese interests. (There are a few stories like this, though I can't remember the full roster.) Though, somewhat obviously, the French were not interested in recognizing one of their colonies as an independent state. It's a little more reductive to say that, “without WWI there would have been no Vietnamese war. Vietnam has a strong history of throwing off foreign, occupying, powers. They expelled the Chinese multiple times, they stopped the Imperial Japanese ground campaign during WWII, they threw out the French and then did the same with the United States. Most of those are events that would not have happened if WWI didn't occur, but expelling foreign powers is part of their cultural identity. In this specific case, it's worth knowing that US involvement in Vietnam came at the behest of the French, invoking a now debunked political concept called, “The Domino Theory.” The fear was that a Communist Vietnam would (through simply existing) inspire communist revolutions in adjacent countries, and policy makers at the time feared that failing to contain the spread of communism from China to Vietnam would see a, “domino effect,” of revolutions producing Soviet friendly states across the entirety of southern Asia, from Indonesia, across India, before reaching Iran. Typing this almost 75 years later it seems laughable, but that was the political calculus of the day.
In the case of US politics, the 19thcentury, and even into the early 20thcentury, the US maintained a somewhat isolationist stance. Wilson struggled to get the US involved in WWI, and the Senate only declared war in 1917 (three years after the war had started.) After the war, the US withdrew back into a mostly isolationist stance. The biggest event in the 20thcentury that affected US foreign policy was the Japanese attack on December 7th1941. That single moment gave Roosevelt the “political capitol,” to completely redirect American foreign policy, and lead to the much more internationally aggressive America that we see today.
If you're expecting me to, once again, say, “this wouldn't have happened without WWI,” in this case, I'm not sure. Imperial Japan's campaign in the Pacific is part of WWII, but it's one of the very rare pieces where the instigating events (and, even some of their military campaigns) predate WWI. Japan had already won a skirmishing war against Russia in 1904 and 1905. Imperial Japan had annexed Korea in 1910. In 1931 they invaded Manchuria, and by '37 had nominal control over the province. Even in the absence of WWI, Japan's military ambitions were seriously ramping up.
So, in the simple question of, “how much did these events affect?” A lot. And, I'm going to stress, aside from looking up dates, this is all off the top of my head. There is a lot of fallout from one nineteen year-old Serbian Anarchist with a pistol.
If you just want a historical breakdown of the events of World War I, in excruciating detail, I'd suggest The Great War on YouTube. From 2014 to 2019 they did a weekly ~10 minute news video covering the events 100 years earlier. So, if you want a detailed chronology, this is probably the place to start.
So, the thing I don't quite get when you're talking about the mage conflict not mattering might just be a communication issue. This isn't really an indictment of you, but you may want to reconsider any pitch that runs along the lines of, “my characters don't do much to affect the world.”
What you're probably looking for is a fairly reasonable, “secret war,” structure, where your characters are confronting an unconventional threat that runs in parallel to the rest of the war. This is your normal, “save the world,” plot. While these can be a bit cliché, they are pretty easy to write. The stakes are easy to grasp and articulate. It's not incredibly creative, but it is effective. Really the biggest danger with this structure is simply audience fatigue.
If you intend to expand the story into a series, you've already put the biggest threat you can on the table. Doing that again can feel repetitive, and stepping back from that into smaller threats can easily disappoint the audience. The problem with escalation is “the line goes up,” and once you've threatened to destroy the world, you can't really get the same results from doing that again.
You can build a series around dismantling a plot to destroy the world a piece at a time, though if that's your goal, you might want to start smaller and build your way up. While it's not the only option, one structure for serialized meta-stories like this would be to start with some independent, small-scale stories. As you progress your characters might realize that they're dealing with a greater threat, so the natural progression is for them to start trying to gather information about the foe who is orchestrating the threats they're seeing. This can include trying to determine what their foe is doing, and a lot of minor stalling actions, where they try to deny their foe various necessary resources. (This could include eliminating individuals supporting their enemy, it could include capturing or destroying artifact MacGuffins.)
As your characters discover more about their foe, and cause more problems, they're going to come under more direct retaliation. This could be simple situations where your characters are being literally hunted. Or a character who's operating undercover might be exposed and captured. Alternately, a cunning foe might try to implicate members of your characters as double agents, they might assassinate secondary characters who are helping your heroes. If they have the authority, they may even order conventional military forces to pressure your characters.
As a quick aside, it can be very easy to find yourself writing heroes who primarily focus on maintaining the status quo. Even the basic, “save the world,” concept is rooted in the idea that you don't want to see the world changed into something unrecognizable. When you have your characters on offense like I'm suggesting, it can do wonders for making them feel like they have actual agency, and and less like passive participants in your story. Similarly, a villain who retaliates based on your heroes actions can feel like an active participant in the story, even if they have yet to appear on the page. It can be very threatening to have your characters facing off against an enemy they can't even identify.
Ultimately, this structure would tend towards a situation where your characters (or at least your surviving characters) would be able to assemble a plan to finally eliminate their foe. As a general rule, for tension, you want your characters to assemble the best plan they can with the information they have, however, the more risky it is (especially when those risks are unavoidable), the more tense the situation will be. If you're willing, this would be the time to start killing characters without warning. Forcing the survivors to adjust the plan on the fly, and quickly find replacements when characters with critical skills are suddenly gone. (In general, the shock value of killing main characters has severely diminishing returns, however, this is a genre element for commando stories, and that's basically what you're looking at here.) Structurally, most of your characters have played their parts by now, and the series is ending once the mission is over, so you won't need those characters for something later. All that is left is to finish it go home, or (if you really want to twist the knife), scratch off the last characters and close the story.
I suppose, another approach would be to argue that the fantasy elements are ultimately a meaningless attempt to avoid the horrors of war, that your mages have no meaningful effect on the outcome of events because they're effectively LARPing in a warzone. It's unpalatable, brutal, and thematically perfect when looking at World War I. And there is some historical truth to this. A number of mystics and self-proclaimed mages tried to influence the outcome of both world wars to no effect. There is room for scathing indictment of fantasy as a genre when intersects with the entirely real horror of the war. Somewhere between Tolkien and Aleister Crowley, there is usable material to light up both both of them. Now, having said that, this would not be easy to write. You'd basically be working with the magical realism genre, though I don't think I've ever seen it used quite this viciously. If you really want to set the world on fire and walk way, this would be an option.
The obvious place on where to start your research would be with history books. Again, The Great War has that very detailed chronology and from what little I've seen, they've been branching out into other topics, including a few things I mentioned in passing.
For World War II, I'm not sure what I'd hold up as a definitive primer. Wikipedia is not a terrible starting point on this reference. In the case of World War II there was an entire cottage industry of documentary production companies that focused on World War II content back in the mid-to-late-90s. There are probably tens of thousands of hours of documentaries on the subject. Including a lot of very specialized documentaries. You can find full multi-part series on the historical context Nazis and the occult. I don't have any references on hand, but, I've run across more than one over the years.
-Starke
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#howtofightwrite#Starke answers#writing advice#writing reference#writing tips#writing historical fantasy
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Qna Answers!
Ever since you mentioned that you do darker art besides stardew I've been super curious! Is there anywhere we can follow your work?
NOPE! this is more or less the first time I had much of a social media presence, I did make an Instagram when I was around 12 but I lost the password to it, and honestly... It's best I never find it...BUT I would like to post my other art somewhere! Let me know what social media I should use If you have ideas and I'll go make one! :D
I could use Instagram again but I haven't heard too many great things since I left.
What’s your favorite thing about Stardew? Do you have any other games you’d like to make comics about?
I love the fishing and mining aspect of the game! that and the mini-games. You'd think it be the socializing aspect with what I make but there's just something satisfying about making progress in the mines or getting that impossible to catch fish.
I don't usually have a lot of money to spend on games so I tend to go indie but I also never expected to be making art about Stardew so not really. If I like the characters, I might make comics about them but this is the first time I've done comics about games ever so maybe in the future.
Who is your least favorite bachelor and bachelorette
This was a really hard question to answer, I don't have a least favorite bachelor or bachelorette, I just have favorites. The main reason why is because I've either met people who are like the bachelor's or I can relate to them on a personal level so it's hard for me to dislike anyone BUT THATS A COP OUT ANSWER so I really pushed myself to find something to not like.
I'm gonna get torched but Elliot- gifts are super expensive to get, I know I can just give neural gifts but it's a bad habit of mine of going for the loved gifts and my guys got EXPENSIVE tastes or gifts that aren't easy to get BUT It fits his character as it implies he came from a more luxurious lifestyle. (if the Victorian clothing wasn't a big enough hint) but again, I don't dislike him, he has a lot of comedic potential!
I'm gonna get MURDERD for this one, Leah- I CAN NEVER FIND HER. Her pathing and my pathing NEVER collide and I keep forgetting she goes to the beach to draw sometimes so I never go there and I go to the wiki to find where in the WORLD she is at and 99% of the time is in the cortege but I can't get to her because I don't have 2 hearts yet because I don't run into her unless I remember to look in the saloon IF shes there BUT again, I do not dislike her...I dislike her pathing and that's on me for not thinking ahead. Plus this problem goes away once I DO have 2 hearts.
Whats your favorite crop and who’s your favorite bachelorette?
Coffee! (gee what a surprise 😅) I just love it when I can get one seed, grow it, and then harvest it and multiply my coffee crops by a huge amount! It's not worth much but it's just a satisfying crop to have.
Maru- not exactly a popular pic but I had a lot of friends who were 10X smarter than me growing up so Maru just naturally reminds me a lot of my closest friends, THAT and she's easy for me to bump into in the clinic.
(I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT 💀 but I think it said-) What software do you youse and what do you recommend?
I use Krita, and couldn't recommend it more! (scroll down more to the archive and there are more details about it)
and a UGEE tablet BUT I got it as a free gift. So far I haven't had to replace it yet and has lasted a good amount of time (my old ones lasted a year until I had to replace it) so Idk if I can recommend it and it's kinda expensive. (for me anyway) I'm honestly dreading the day something happens to it and I have to get it replaced :(
It costs about $60usd right now
Question Archive! - stuff I was asked before here for you to find :D
(some of it, the rest is tagged with #ask)
Whats your chickens name (the chicken in your pfp)?
Tudee-chi or Tudee for short!
Got any advice for perfection?
This website apparently! That and the Stardew Wiki
Okay I have to ask: favorite Bachelors and Bachelorettes?
Alright! Here's a tier list from Favorate to I'm chill with them!
Do you think that the male and female farmer can co-exist as a pair of chaotic twin siblings with joint ownership of the farm?
And I don't see why not! It's more fun that way
Sorry to bother, but can i ask what you use to draw?
Not a bother at all! I love answering questions!!! I use Krita
Who is your favorite stardew Bachelor?
Harvey! and for the dumbest reasons...Harvey ended up being my favorite bachelor for 2 main reasons
Sorry to bother but do you happen to have any tips/advice on drawing bodies and heads??
I ABSOLUTELY DO!!! it's no bother at all
What you need to keep in mind is that a lot of my advice is a suggestion and what I'm comfortable with-
For the future, this will be a question archive of things I'm asked to keep it easy to find once the Mega pin post is ready!
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Get to know me better game—2 in 1 because I'm 6 months late
Tagged by: @baratrongirl and @missmewachu
Thanks for being so patient while I was figuring out how Tumblr works again and why I had a blue dot beside "Activity" (as in, notifications about tag games I've been sent 6 months ago. Better late than never 🤦♀️)
Thankfully the tag games you sent my way are very similar so it won't be hard to do 2 in 1!
Last song I listened to: Chipzel - Courtesy - YouTube
The 1st track of Super Hexagon, composed by Chipzel. Chipzel's music has been a pick-me-up since 201...4 I think? And since I fell back into Super Hexagon around a week ago, the music has also found its way back into my work playlist.
Currently reading: Trick question! There is what I am MEANT to read, and what I am ACTUALLY reading.
What I am MEANT to read is To Shape a Dragon's Breath, by Moniquill Blackgoose, which has absolutely all the elements I need to love a book. The problem is that my brain absolutely refuses moving further than Chapter 1, and I've been stuck for MONTHS. The good news is that when it happens, I usually struggle until the moment my brain finally snaps and I read the whole book in an afternoon. Wait for me, Moniquill Blackgoose, I'll soon be raving about your book.
What I am ACTUALLY reading is... well, it's more re-reading, but I'm going through Happy Hour by Inkflavored and Keep the Light Shining by Clydeside, two Yu-Gi-Oh AUs that have been incredibly healing for me in the past months, for very different reasons. I wanted to re-experience them to see if I could turn them into fanbinding projects (if the authors give me the authorisation of course, but I haven't reached this level of confidence yet, let's give it time.)
Currently watching: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS.
Do you believe me if I tell you that it was an accident? It kinda was though! I wasn't the one who played the first episodes I just kept going afterwards. That said, I have fully adopted Yusaku. I kind of wish he could meet Philip from Kamen Rider W. Things would go so well.
Currently writing: this one is plain cruel, because after a drought spell of almost 2 years, I finally feel like getting back into writing (thank you, current obsession.)
I have 3 WIPs, one PWP because I like a challenge, one backstory of a character that has basically become my OC, and one AU that @wisyhana created and that I'm using as a wonderful sandbox. I am between 2k and 5k into each, nothing is complete, I'm losing my mind.
But at least I'm writing again, right?
Spicy/sweet/savoury: Okay yes no it's cruel again and you will not make me pick just one.
If you've followed me these past years you know that I have completely lost my sense of taste between 2020 and 2023. I was lucky enough, and honestly even the specialised doctor said it was a miracle, to have most of it come back to me abruptly in March 2023, after 3 years unable to enjoy a bit of chocolate or a nice gratin. Some tastes are lost forever, but so few compared to what came back that I just can only be very very grateful and very confident in saying SPICY SWEET SAVOURY I'LL TAKE THEM ALL. I LOVE TASTES. ALL OF THEM.
Relationship status: I have been told polyamory looks good on me.
And I am lucky to have the most patient and tolerant lovers ever. EVER.
I love them so much and I'm so bad at showing it because I am a mess. There isn't a day where my heart doesn't overflow with gratitude that they are in my life and agree to putting up with my bullshit.
Current obsession: Listen, Mew put it SO ELOQUENTLY I can help but quote:
mentally ill traumatised japanese teenagers and their ancient egyptian guys who hang out in their jewellery all playing card games.
So, yeah, current obsession is Yu-Gi-Oh!, and with it Duel Links, and everything children-card-game-adjacent. I am currently trying to figure out why everyone in this kid's show is so hot and delightfully traumatised. Characters after my own heart, all ready to be projected on and used for cathartic writing purposes.
Other obsession is MEW'S FAULT TOO ACTUALLY since it's my newly founded Clan in Flight Rising. Ask me about my dragon Atem.
Favourite colour: I like my colour like my wine—burgundy. (I actually like all sort of shades of purple, violet and red, but I don't know how to list them.)
Tagging: Wow uh who do I know around here who is still active?
@twilightknight17 for sure (although I'm sure you already did it), @wingsonghalo maybe? Uuuh, I think @the-wanderer-of-thoughts and @istadris? You know, considering how inactive I am here, I think it's already a lot, but if you're not in the list and want to do it too, be my guest!
#lia blabla#tag game#it's been weeks and i still have no idea what i am doing#why is formatting such a nightmare#and sorry this is so long wow#do people really actually read these things or are they here for the writer to pause and consider how they'd answer#lia in fandoms#i promise next time i figure out how to insert cuts in posts i thought it was something that was automatic
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20 questions for fic writers
Tagged by @milkteamoon thanks for the tag milk <33
1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 28! Which isn't that much but I never thought I would write that much to begin with :D!
2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 115,038 I wish to write more this year since I was in a slump last year 😤
3. What fandoms do you write for? Most of my fics are JSHK, but I've written a Hyouka fic for a zine and an (unexpectedly) x reader fic for The Ssum. I have two original works there too though!
4. What are your top five fics by kudos?
..Everything? (地縛少年花子くん | Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun | Toilet-bound Hanako-kun (Manga)) (1,695 words) kudos: 113
Two Lips, with hues of cherry and honey. (地縛少年花子くん | Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun | Toilet-bound Hanako-kun (Manga)) (4,936 words) kudos: 102
Reason For Another Tomorrow (地縛少年花子くん | Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun | Toilet-bound Hanako-kun (Manga)) (14,236 words) kudos: 89
Just Like Us (地縛少年花子くん | Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun | Toilet-bound Hanako-kun (Manga)) (3,797 words) kudos: 79
Bright as helios, Beautiful as anthos, a True Helianthus (地縛少年花子くん | Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun | Toilet-bound Hanako-kun (Manga)) (10,055 words) kudos: 67
Honestly speaking, '...Everything' isn't my favourite and isn't my best either, so I have no idea why it's there 😂 The others are probably because they're long enough to be there, but I do like seeing Tulips, Just Like Us, and the Bridge fic being there.
5. Do you respond to comments? I usually do! and I, myself love to leave comments! Most of my inbox are filled with replies to the comments that I wrote instead! I like interacting with both my readers and other writers :>
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? The only thing that came to mind is Tulips. The first chapter ended hopeful and the second was sad xd Though, I wouldn't really say it's angsty! It's more to bittersweet I think. I have another lesser-known fic that has, not really angsty, but the ending was a little messed-up xD
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Most of my fics have happy endings since I usually write fluff.... I think...
8. Do you get hate on fics? Never yet! I was a bit scared when I posted tsunene fics and even moderated the comments xD but no one ever left anything mean there!
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Very very mildddddd in my opinion. And I rarely write smut because I'm shy (pfftt) The only ones I have was for tsunene and they were only making out;; another one is something that I just posted yesterday as a ficlet. If I ever want to seriously write one day though, maybe something sweet like vanilla. I'm a simple person u_u . And I like it when it involves feelings <3
10. Do you write crossovers? I never thought of writing crossovers :0 they aren't really my thing. But I do think they're fun for crack though!
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, i think?
12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nopee I don't think my fics are widely known to have them translated Xd but who knows, maybe one day!
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Noooooo someone co-write with me someday :);;;;
14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Hananene, of course!!! You won't really get any other answer from me u-u I do wish to be more diverse in the future though! And I did entertain in the idea of writing threesome like hananenetsuka or hananenekou but never actually did it ;;;
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Everything in my never-ending wip list u_u Some of them are big fics that I'm itching to write but never have the time.
16. What are your writing strengths? I'm good at writing feelings, I think? I haven't done any self-evaluation lately. Oh but I really love metaphors!
17. What are your writing weaknesses? I usually have a hard time to make my writing more descriptive. Sometimes they feel too bland u_u and since English isn't my first language, some of the dialogues don't sound natural and casual like I wanted it to be.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I never thought of this before and don't know if the fics I'll ever write have the settings for this xd
19. First fandom you wrote for? JSHK is what really got me into fanfiction. Before that I always have this impression that fanfics are usually /reader only, which I'm not really fond of (Should have discovered more!!) I started as an avid jshk fics reader, and never thought of writing my own to be honest! Love the fact that I tried <3 it's why I'm here.
20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Wahhh I think my most recent favourite is A beautiful heart like yours (is mine to hold), which is a fic I wrote for Tsunene Week 2023. I think it's my most well-written piece :') it's the only one that I don't get icky feelings when rereading it. Others are 'The Reason for Another Tomorrow', also known as codename: Bridge fic, and the first ever fic I've written for the fandom, If I Were The Moon, Would You Be My Sun?, which isn't my best writing but has a really special place in my heart <3
Thanks for the tag Milk <3 I'm just tagging whoever I have in mind so don't feel obligated to do it! This is just for fun <3 @voidjelli @insipidenvy @miss-sternennacht @thatsrightdollface @doughnutboii @krispyt @wingsonghalo @etheralisi @kawff33 @kinkymoonaf
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Chapter 104 thoughts
I'm back from posting purgatory and have rewritten, more or less, what Tumblr deleted, so now it's time for my favorite game: Ina Tries To Figure Out What The Fuck Happened In The Latest Noragami Chapter. Spoilers under the cut.
So at the beginning we see trash dad cut himself free from Fujisaki and revert to his original form, while Fujisaki wakes up in Yukine's old house, far from home. I'm really interested to see how much he knows, which I said last time--whether he was aware he was being used or if he's basically been unconscious for the past year. I think he has to be aware on some level, because he knows Father's true name and has to invoke it to summon him from Yomi, but it would also be funny if he flies into a panic, follows the newly created lake, and ends up with the main cast. How far are they from the house, anyway?
Come to think of it, I've been reading Alive since last month (Adachitoka's first manga, which was written by their mentor while they drew the art) and while I'm not done yet, the north of Japan features prominently as a setting for that story and as the final showdown for this one. I'm not sure why, maybe they're from there, but it's interesting.
I'm so glad Yato slammed into trash dad after he insulted Mizuchi. It shows he does recognize her as a victim, and is willing to let things mend between them, since she's had her own character arc since Yato released her name. Don't get me wrong, that was still the right choice for him at the time--but they've both changed since then. And I always love the character development in this manga so this had me bouncing in my seat.
YATO ALSO SAYING HE'S NOTHING BUT A DEAD PERSON LIKE YESSSSSS GET HIM GET HIM KILL HIS MISERABLE ASS
Ahem. I wish Yato had been able to land at least one punch on this horrible man, but it's time for a shounen powerup.
Using the koto no ha on himself grants trash dad access to Izanami/Izanagi level powers, which I think is a temporary powerup that will end with Izanami taking him back to Yomi, because of how he can "feel her breath" on his neck. He plans to then escape again, and possess another body.
This new power is an ass pull as fast-moon put it, but it's also not the first of its kind in Noragami. Think back to Yukine getting cut in half and becoming a hafuri, Amaterasu appearing out of nowhere to give Hiyori the hint that saved Yato's life in Yomi, and how the main characters were saved from the covenant which provided the entire basis for the current arc (due to unresolved tensions between them and the rest of heaven). Basically, in Noragami these things happen with good reason and/or hugely impact the rest of the story, so I think it's best to wait and see how this trash dad development plays out before making judgments on how it affects the writing quality.
There's an old Noragami theory that Father is Izanagi, or stole his power, and it's been mostly dismissed in recent years (but there's an echodrops post about it here if you're interested in the points it made) and even more so since we got snippets of his backstory, but I think it's worth bringing back up now. Izanagi has been suspiciously absent from the manga, and I'm not sure he's even been mentioned, so I wonder if the koto no ha ties into that somehow. Honestly if Izanami killed him in this version of the story and used his power to make the koto no ha, good for her.
Anyway, trash dad reveals he's not just some human who came back from the dead. He can use these powers of creation; it's unclear whether he's used them before, but Yato has never seen him do so--Mizuchi seems to know what he's doing, but it's also unclear whether she's seen it either. I said years ago I don't think it was easy as him just returning from the dead and being granted godlike powers, but I haven't been insistent on it so much because I did a reread of the official translation two years ago and that version heavily implies the only thing trash dad did to get his powers was come back from the dead. I wonder how they'll reconcile that when this volume gets translated (please hold for another 2 years, lmfao).
Is this Izanagi's power, or Izanami's? Did he steal Izanagi's powers next after he paid Izanami a visit? Did he know what using the koto no ha on himself would do? Was it an educated guess based on Izanami's power? Is it still possible he could be a reincarnated Izanagi that believed himself to be human? I don't know if I'd like that last one, but these are the questions I hope to have answered.
Taking a brief detour to discuss that Kiun and Mayu have joined forces to look for their gods, and Ookuninushi is alive but has with him three freshly reincarnated gods--Yatagarasu, Kagutsuchi, and Shinatsuhiko. I'm shocked he lived and they died, but it may lead to an interesting change in heaven where he has to reconcile how they threw away their shinki lives even after they were explicitly told not to use them. The way heaven (and most gods) treat their shinki as not people but disposable tools has been a long-running theme of this manga, and it's been clear larger-scale changes need to be made.
So back to the main event, trash dad creates a biblical sort of flood, but one that brings images of the past. Alongside the tree where a young Yato named Sakura, we also see a cottage and a multi-level house. The cottage may be where Yato and Hiiro were raised, or it might be the one from the Father flashbacks: Check them out side by side:
(103-2; page 1 [Father and Kaya village]; 104, page 21; 45, page 33 [Yato, Hiiro, Father cottage] if you want to check for yourself)
Next, there's that multi-story building, which could be the place where Yato made his first kills, or Hiyori's grandmother's house. There isn't much visible, so it's hard to tell, but here's another side by side:
(46, page 9 [where Yato made his first kills]; 104, page 21; 85, page 42 [Hiyori's grandmother's house])
If this enchanted world functions similarly to Hiyori viewing Yato's past while he's asleep, Hiyori will get to experience trash dad's past as it really happened. I've mentioned before it bothers me how the gravekeeper has been narrating the events even though he wasn't present for any of them, so it's entirely likely Father manipulated the facts of his history, or they naturally changed over the course of a thousand years.
I also think Hiyori could find out trash dad's weak point, his true name, if/when she witnesses his past. She could then become his lifeline and decide to let the secret die with her. Or he could possess her, but I'm being optimistic.
The tree she sees is the tree where Yato named Sakura, but it could also have some significance to Father and Kaya; if the cottage where he raised Yato and Hiiro was in the same general location as that village, he could have some memories there.
So if we get Hiyori and Sakura interaction I will cry. If we get Hiyori and Kaya interaction I will also cry.
Next few chapters I'm really excited to see where this enchanted lake dimension thing goes. Yukine could also be caught up in it, depending on how far it has spread, and it'll be interesting to see how Amaterasu reacts to it too.
I don't normally say this, but reblogs are appreciated. This post required a lot of skimming older chapters to tie my thoughts together, and my original draft got half erased when I was just finishing it up so I had to rewrite a lot of it. Plus it seems like everyone was pretty confused by the events of this chapter, so a reblog would help to spread it around and hopefully shed some light on the events. Thanks!
#Noragami#Noragami manga#Noragami spoilers#ngl I am sad it's not a full chapter but did yall see the new springtime lottery art. I cried#I might be back with more thoughts later cause I feel like I couldn't recall everything I had written previously#it is time to create a master doc of my thoughts I suppose. fun project#live update
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tagged by @stickers-on-a-laptop!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
107 (2 are wips)
2. What is your AO3 wordcount?
849,849 (that's really true. kind of spooky huh?)
3. What fandoms do you write for?
whatever hits the feels and gives me ideas. the majority is bl. right now it's Bad Buddy and Cherry Magic Thailand. The fandom I've written the most fics for is the Cherry Magic jdrama.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Up the Ante, Bad Buddy
Logical Syntax, Semantic Error
a boyfriend demo with premium features, Semantic Error
Be a good hyung, Semantic Error
one week is long enough to dream - Kieta Hatsukoi
5. Do you respond to comments?
always! sometimes it takes me a little longer than others but I always want to acknowledge when someone comments because they are such a boost.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
I don't usually end in angst but I wrote something for a 1K challenge and it definitely was the angstiest ending I have ever written - before you go in Bad Buddy fandom.
7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
The overwhelming majority of my fic have happy endings and I don't really know how to determine the level of happiness. I do think angst with happy endings feels more cathartic. I have 8 fic in that tag.
8. Do you get hate on fics?
I only once got full on hate on a fic. A reader said they wished they could take their kudos back. It was top/bottom drama and I don't engage in that bs.
9. Do you write smut? If so, which kind?
72/107 fic are rated E or M. It's always for smut. I once had a reader tell me that I am the master of the comfort smut genre. I am very pleased with that. :)
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest crossover you’ve ever written?
I have never written one, but lately I've had some ideas churning
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
not that I know of
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
yep! many times. I'm very honored when someone does that. Same goes with podfic or art.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Nope, haven't been able to yet. It's hard for me to find the time to dedicate to something more complex like that.
14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?
I don't like to choose favorites. All my ships are beloved for various reasons, but wangxian is the one that first truly set my brain on fire.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
I don't have one. If I want to finish it, I will finish it. I'm stubborn like that. It might take some time. I've had a few where it has taken me a couple of years to complete, but I still completed them.
I have had a few fics I've given up on because I didn't want to write them anymore.
16. What are your writing strengths?
I'm not sure. My writing is led by character emotions and I think people enjoy that. I've been told I am good at characterization.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
I love clauses, give me all the clauses, who needs to end a sentence... we can just go on forever.
Long plotting and story structure is often overwhelming for me too.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
This feels like something strange to have an opinion on, honestly. If it fits the story then why wouldn't you? You just have to keep in mind what it tells the audience who are reading in the primary language.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
The Raven Cycle - a wonderful YA book series if you have not read it. It's my favorite book series.
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?
Oh no, more trying to choose. I honestly don't think I have one. If I wrote something long, it's because I had an idea I loved. And sometimes my short fic get to the crux of what I love about a show and distills it in a way that lets me roll around in it for a while. I think usually my favorite fic (and also my most hated fic) tends to be the one I am currently writing.
tagging @galauvant @dimplesandfierceeyes @sunshinedobi @bestbuds55 because I've seen you all writing lately, but no pressure! Feel free to pass if you don't want to do it.
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