#let’s also recognise that show canon and book canon are likely different as with the main series | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

soulmatebracket · 1 year

Text

Soulmate Bracket: Round 1 [Side A — Part V]

Provided reasoning under cut:

Wei Wuxian & Lan Wangji

They are canonically called soulmates!! In the live action this is platonic due to censorship and in the book it is romantic but the term actually used is zhiji (知己) of which soulmate is the closest english translation but is more literally like. the mirror to your soul. your own self in another person. i am not good with translations only wei wuxian dies but lan wangji mourns him for thirteen years (despite wwx being hated and despised by the world) because he can never love another. when wwx is brought back he recognises him instantly despite being in someone else’s body. they literally would find each other in any time or place

Oh boy. Ok. They're not explicitly called "soulmates" in the show/book but Netflix does use that categorization in its description of "The Untamed". Nor are either of them technically reincarnated BUT Wei Wuxian does get resurrected in another man's body through some shady necromancy, which is pretty darn close. They've got a fascinating relationship journey (basically enemies/rivals to lovers) Mr. Follow-All-Rules-To-The-Letter Lan Wangji meets Mr. Break-All-The-Rules-In-The-Name-Of-Fun-And-Showing-Off Wei Wuxian at teenage exorcist summer camp, they go through some sh*t, Wei Wuxian dies, Lan Wangji spends over a decade trying to find any sign of his lost soulmate while raising his adopted kid, then the shady necromancy happens and Lan Wangji IMMEDIATELY clocks that this guy simultaneously solving exorcist issues using slightly questionable means and causing shenanigans is Wei Wuxian. He might be in a different body pretending to be another crazy man, but HE KNOWS it's his guy because he acts the same and he knows the secret love song Wangji wrote for Wuxian that he shared one time in a cave during one of their near-death bonding experiences. Then history starts kind of repeating itself, only this time they stick together and make sure EVERYONE knows that they've got each others' backs, and they are absolutely legendary. Also Wei Wuxian is INCREDIBLY dense and it takes him just about until the end of the story to realize they're both gay and in love. They're complex and fascinating and tied to each other by the red string of fate so tightly that they are incomplete without each other. That's destiny, baby. They're soulmates, always and forever. (Possibly literally as the proper practice of exorcism (called "cultivation" in this world) can lead to immortality, and you know Mr. Follow-All-Rules-To-The-Letter Lan Wangji has the potential, and he will drag his guy along with him so they are never separated again.)

Okay so I feel like it could be argued if they count but the Netflix description of the show calls them soulmates and WWX *did* get reincarnated and then almost immediately run into LWJ who had been mourning him for 16 years. LWJ composed a little musical theme for them that ties them together and WWX playing it on a super out of tune flute is what let LWJ fully recognize him. Their magic which comes from their souls is very compatible and neither of them have ever been normal about each other in their life even though WWX spent a long time being extremely dumb and repressed about his very gay feelings (they are romantic soulmates, just takes them a bit to get there). Big "you and me against the world" vibes once WWX becomes the number 1 wanted guy in the entire universe due to dabbling in dark magic even though WWX was like "lan zhan if someone has to kill me i want it to be you" (LWJ did *not* want it to be him and did his very best to keep WWX alive even though it meant betraying his clan and the world as a whole). They got fake married as teens back when LWJ didn't even like WWX. There are multiple moments where they parallel other soulmates/soulmate-coded characters (song lan and xiao xingchen, baoshen sanren and lan an). They're the only two characters who get to be happy at the immediate end of the story and that's because both of them being alive and together and getting to wander around fighting monsters and playing music and being grossly in love is all that they both need.

Utena Tenjou & Anthy Himemiya

[SPOILERS] at the end of the series, it is revealed that they weren’t living in the real world this entire time. Utena was sent somewhere else. Anthy goes to find her in the movie, and Utena has lost all of her memories of Anthy in that world. At the end of the movie, they end up escaping to the real world

Utena falls in love with Anthy on first sight and makes sure she becomes her prince without even remembering who she is. They're stuck in a timeloop and eventually find themselves together near the end escaping from the horrors theyre trapped in. (Spoilers kinda) Anthy is hinted to have came back to life after being burned st the stake for being seen as a witch so the reincarnation exists,,,(they're in love your honor vote for my silly sapphics)

Every version of RGU is the narrative repeating itself. Devouring itself again. The serpent eating its own tail. Utena fights for Anthy again and again. Anthy betrays Utena, or lies to Utena, or cannot save the both of them quick enough. Anthy escapes, or they both escape, or they both get trapped again, and the story repeats, and Utena is winning the hand of the rose bride, and Utena cannot escape the narrative. Each time the story is told again Utena cannot quite remember how she got here, but it gets more familiar each time. RGU is a time loop that the characters can hardly escape. In every version, Anthy and Utena find each other. Betray each other. Find each other, again.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #revolutionary girl utena #soulmatebracket #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #utena tenjou #anthy himemiya #utenanthy #id in alt text

85 notes · View notes

innerchorus · 7 months

Text

It's a very similar expression, isn't it? There's even a little tear in Bahman's eye, too. (Bahman from Chapter 43, Zandeh from Chapter 59.)

I can't help it, my thoughts are so addled right now that I keep thinking of Bahman as being part of Team Hilmes. But he could so easily have been, couldn't he? I would have loved to see him interact with Zandeh (see: the old dog and new puppy discussion of it here, and I also love the thought of Bahman taking Zandeh under his wing and teaching him in military matters).

The moment in Chapter 38 where Hilmes encounters him in Peshawar... The way he's hesitant, yet as he realises he's tentatively reaching out for Hilmes's proffered hand... If that moment hadn't been interrupted, if they'd been able to talk for a little longer, I wonder what would have happened?

And I keep looking at that expression on Hilmes's face (not that you can see all of it, which highlights Bahman's inability to recognise him and that it's not solely because he thinks he died 16 years ago, it's also because his face is covered by a mask). That panel focuses the attention on his smile, and the hand he's offering to Bahman, and I just... honestly, it makes me really sad, because here is someone who knew him before the palace fire, who must have been fond of him, and trusted by him as a child. Bahman is someone whose support Hilmes needs on a practical level, but isn't it more than that, too?

And though it's not evident in the manga, it's worth remembering that in the novels, seeking Bahman's loyalty is the whole reason Hilmes enters Peshawar Fortress in the first place! His encounter with Arslan was entirely unexpected!

I think having Bahman's support would have been good for him. And realistically I know Bahman would have remained just as torn up by the conflict as when he was with Arslan, but wouldn't it have been nice for him to reunite with Hilmes, who he thought was dead, and see him grow into a fine Shah?

Tanaka made some comment in the Reader's Guidebook that amounted to it essentially being merciful for a character like Bahman who is torn between two choices to be killed off. I don't think he's wrong, especially with the trajectory that canon took, but just as he gave his life for Arslan's sake in the anime and manga, I feel he would have done exactly the same thing for Hilmes under different circumstances.

Actually, let's look at Bahman's death scene, because it's something I've been wanting to discuss for a while now. The relevant manga chapters are 51 and 52.

I think everyone's aware that the anime and the OVAs both made the same choice regarding Bahman's death, in that he is inadvertently killed by Hilmes when protecting Arslan in Peshawar Fortress. (And I liked this change, personally.) But I don't think it's as commonly known that Arakawa also made some changes?

The event itself takes place similarly in Sindhura, but in the novels:

Bahman's inner conflict doesn't feature in his death, and

Gadhevi's spear was aimed at Bahman, so Bahman did NOT take a blow meant for Arslan as he did in the manga.

'“Your Highness Arslan! Please hurry up and go!” Before he could finish his words, Bahman unsheathed his sword and cut down the attacking Sindhuran soldiers in a cloud of blood and smoke. Although he was already over sixty years old, his skillful swordsmanship showed no signs of decline. However, just as he cut down two more enemy soldiers, Gadhevi picked up a spear, aimed it at the old general, and threw it. The spear made a whistling sound as it flew towards him, stabbing hard into the area between Bahman’s left shoulder and chest. Bahman let out a short groan and fell down.' (Book 3, Chapter Three, Part v)

We don't get any of his internal thoughts before he dies, either.

By contrast, in the manga, when Arslan's life is in danger? Bahman hesitates. And honestly to me this change is just so masterful that I really ought to have included it on the list of my favourite differences between novels and manga.

Yet even as he acknowledges that thought, his body is already in motion, moving to take the spear that was meant for Arslan. So here's why I like this scene so much:

It feels as though Bahman's conflictedness may well be the very reason he dies. If he hadn't hesitated then, if he had called out instantly to warn Arslan, would Arslan have dodged? Would Bahman or Narsus have instead cut down the spear before it reached him? Bahman's death didn't have to be the outcome, whereas in the novels it feels like there was no way for it to have been avoided.

The fact that his conflict doesn't just stem from being undecided who he should give his loyalty too, but because he recognises the turmoil that having two candidates for the throne will bring to Pars. His concern is for his country; out of Arslan and Hilmes, who will be the better ruler?

And as usual, Arakawa shows us so much. That panel of Hilmes that Bahman sees in his moment of indecision, the way it's sort of shadowed and his eyes aren't visible, because even though Bahman knew him when he was a boy, he doesn't know him in the same way now. What does he know of Hilmes? He is clearly competent in matters of war, and on the surface more equipped to lead than a boy of Arslan's age. And he has royal blood, which Bahman knows that Arslan does not.

But he must also know of Hilmes's involvement in the Lusitanian invasion, and his brutality in trying to kill Arslan. I think Bahman's decision to give his life to save Arslan's comes not just from being unable to stand by and watch Arslan to die before his eyes, but because although he worries about whether Arslan is right for the task, he has misgivings about Hilmes, too. It would have been easier, after all, to do nothing. To let Arslan die. In making the active choice to save Arslan, I can't help but see it as him hoping that Arslan will be better for Pars than Hilmes would have been.

And yeah, it does feel tragic that he'll never be able to see for certain that he made the right choice, worrying about the softness in Arslan's nature (as evidenced by his refusal to leave Bahman's side even when it endangered him). Yet that same softness that can be seen as a weakness is also a strength, isn't it? And there is little of it to be seen in Hilmes.

I also appreciate that it's clear he's not just worried for the fate of Pars, but for Arslan's individual fate, too. Surely it's the time he's spent with him in Sindhura getting to know him on a personal level that has resulted in this moment where he opts to give his life to save Arslan, effectively choosing him over Hilmes. And when I think about it like that, while in both cases a change was made so that Bahman gave his life for Arslan's sake, ultimately I prefer this over his death in the anime. The angst potential of Hilmes being the one to accidentally kill his old teacher is good though.

Personally, I like that his death ends on a hopeful note. Despite his worries, he is able to place his faith in Arslan due to the fact that he has companions such as Daryun and the others who will lend him their support and strength and can offset his youth and inexperience as he grows into the good king that Bahman implores him to become before he dies. It feel like he's made peace with his decision.

One more thing I like from Bahman's death scene:

Bahman's recognition that he's about to die coming as he looks up at Azrael, named for the "Herald of Death" (an angel in Parsian cosmology) and thinks of his already departed friend, Vahriz.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #bahman #hilmes #arslan #azrael #bahman: 'durian denka is not soft inside'

22 notes · View notes

aeuriyi · 2 years

Text

what could’ve been.

pairings aemond targaryen x helaena targaryen

synopsis in the midst of her own wedding, helaena sneaks away with her odd-eyed brother.

warnings typical targaryen incest

notes based off the show, i haven’t read the books so this oneshot may seem very out of place and doesnt make sense timeline wise lol, not canon compliant

i do not give anyone to translate or republish my work without my permission.

it was a magnificently decorated place.

a wreath hung from the ceiling, above the guests seated at the long oak table placed on the upper foundation in the room. the many candles riddled on the other tables within the room illuminated the room elegantly, though the biggest and most intricate candle sat on her table, just to the left of her.

she thought it symbolic how the biggest candle of them all rest on her table, the other candles were lesser in size, just like how the others that were invited to her wedding were ‘lesser’ than her. but she couldn’t feel less than a human right now.

suddenly, she feels the wrinkled palm of her father lay on top of her hands that rest on the clothed table, she fiddled with an eating utensil.

“my girl? are you alright?”

she flicked her gaze over to her dear father who stared back at her with an air of concern, it was only then helaena realised how sickly her father had looked, she thought for a moment that it should have been her asking him that.

“i am fine, i am just-”

she spots a glint of sapphire.

“i am not too fond of dancing.” she responds, viserys seems to nod and looks off to the guests who are entertaining themselves. the two in particular noticing aegon disappearing into the crowd.

“much like me i suppose, not that i am able to.”

a comforting silence followed, helaena was well aware that her father seemed solemn over his last daughter marrying, though she would still be residing with him.

moments passed and soon she watched as her mother helped her father retire to his chamber, his days were becoming shorter and the nights longer. and then there she was, alone.

the princess, the soon to be ‘queen consort’ once her father would pass and her brother husband, aegon would succeed him. all alone, on the table, though there were others that sat on the same long table as her, she had never felt so alone.

she locks eye with none other than the odd-eye prince, her brother, aemond.

it was a rare sight for them to be together, to ever be near eachother despite their blood relation.

they were good at hiding it.

slipping from the room and intertwining fingers with aemond, helaena knew that no one would notice aegon’s bride missing from her place, nor the disappearance of the odd-eye prince.

aemond took her to the closest servant room, knowing that it would be empty for all of the servant’s would be busy with the wedding.

it reminded her of all the times she and aemond snuck off together. she would allow him into her space and she into his. as a child she talked to him about bugs and the different kinds, her observation of them and how nature was such a beautiful thing, how it could create so much diversity.

when she was ten and two, she sat on the still of the window in her chamber, watching as the centipede crawl across her fingers.

aemond charged in, confidently presenting to her a new bug she had not recognised. behind him was a trail of mud and grass, his green clothing was covered in mud and his skin marked with redness that would eventually become bruises.

she remembered softly thanking him, cooing at the new bug. however before aemond could respond, their mother stormed in, dragging aemond away, muttering to herself something about aemond acting like a pig.

however, she didn’t only let him into her mental space, she had also let him into her physical space.

it had started with a few hand holds here and there, but it wasn’t shocking to her, they were siblings after all.

however as she reached the age of ten and four, it progressed. his hand would no longer shyly grasp onto hers. his touch lingered for too long.

at the age of ten and six, helaena laid beneath aemond in her chamber. her hands by her head, intertwined with aemond’s fingers and she looked upward, a dazed look.

“you are my muse helaena, i want you, and only you. all these years i have suffered in silence, not able to reach out for you, to touch you the way i want to. i want you so fucking badly and so tell me, do you yearn for me the same way i do for you?”

that was their first kiss.

and now at the age of ten and nine, she is sat on top of the table in the servants room, leaning against the stone walls. a golden ring embellished her ring finger on her left hand however, she held the hands of another man. erotically kissing the lips of a man who was not her husband.

the hands of her lover dropped from above her head and slowly made it’s way around her waist, rubbing up and down her sides. he pulls away, staring deeply at her, his expression was filled with happiness and she had felt the same way.

but she knew, it was momentarily.

because as soon as they would leave this room, helaena would leave as the wife of aegon ii targaryen, and aemond would leave as the odd eyed targaryen.

but for now, all helaena could do was indulge, drowning herself within aemond, experiencing what could’ve been.

notes i’m still new to tumblr helpfldpv anyways this wasn’t proof read so i hope u don’t mind the potential errors.

#helaena targaryen #aemond targaryen x helaena targaryen #aemond targaryen #aegon the elder #aegon ii targaryen #viserys targaryen #house of the dragon #hotd #aemond x helaena

248 notes · View notes

msjr0119 · 1 year

Text

This Life

The majority of characters belong to Pixelberry from The Royal Romance/Heir.

Series warnings ⚠️: Adult language, sexual.

Based on the Netflix series- Sex/life. Some situations are based on canon.

Tags: Because I’ve been gone MIA in like forever I don’t know who’s here anymore 🙈… so I’m not tagging specific people.

****

School psychologists aren't supposed to write books or diaries about sex. Doing so would be considered 'unethical' and 'a fireable offense'. Lucky for you, ethics was never my strong suit.

****

January 3rd

New year. New start? No. Same shit, different year. It hasn’t always been ‘bad’ though.

There was a time in my life where I was; wild, fun, happy. I was living the time of my life. As if there was no tomorrow. No worries. Anxiety- what anxiety? No sleep. It didn’t matter to me. Caffeine was my best friend as well as Liv. Both getting me through each day. Thinking back to those days- I was vulnerable. The reason why… HIM.

The man who has not been named ‘out loud’ in nearly a decade. However, just recently the memories keep flooding in my mind. I’m not sure why? As much as I try to erase them, they return immediately. Today I spent the afternoon vacantly staring at my child as he caused chaos around me. Typical toddler, some may suggest. My boy- he was…is, a blessing. To begin with, I wasn’t sure if I could be a mother. Half of the time, I’m surprised that I’ve managed to look after myself all of these years. Motherhood- that was never a high priority in my future when I imagined my fairytale life in my adolescence. Honestly, my only goal in life was to achieve my PHD in Psychology. Oh, how that went ‘tits up’.

My husband- he was my saviour five years ago. Most of our close friends and family assumed that Nate was just a rebound. Deep down, I probably believed that too back then. However, he proved everyone wrong- including myself. For the last five years he’s provided for me but for also for Preston. Most people would think that I sound ungrateful for the life that I have. Maybe I am?

The majority would dream for what I have; the wonderful house outside the city. The opportunity to not have to work for now- the life of a typical housewife. The privilege to own nice yet expensive cars due to Nate’s promotion. And not forgetting the support from Preston’s nanny- Ioana. Why isn’t all of this enough for me? I often think…What if, I had never agreed to that coffee date with Nate on our first meeting? Would my life have been any different? Could I have rekindled with the man who made me feel invisible- electrified? The intimacy with him. God, I miss it. I miss him. Back then, I was caught up in the euphoria of the moment. ‘For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and cherish, until parted by death’ I keep reminding myself about the vows that we made- ‘I am happily married’. But, is that true?

“Shit!” Looking at her watch, Riley realised that the day had rapidly disappeared. Nate could be returning home at any point.

“Mommy, you….”

“I know, Preston. I’m sorry I said a naughty word.” Scrutinising the mess surrounding them- Riley deleted all of what she had noted down, before rushing around like a headless chicken in her night wear still. Hearing the door open, she panicked slightly before recognising the familiar face. Phew.

“Excuse me, Miss Riley- but your sister and Mr Liam have just got here. I can take Preston for his bath if you’d like?”

Shit.

“Erm, Ioana- let them in, I’ll quickly run upstairs and make myself decent. Preston, honey- why don’t you show Ioana the train track that we made earlier on? It’s amazing isn’t it?”

“Okay, Mommy.”

“I don’t know why they are here?!” Ioana provided a soft smile towards Riley as she mouthed this and guested that she would be one minute.

Running back downstairs dodging the washing and stray toys, Riley realised that she had two missed calls and voicemails.

Hey, girl.

Sorry I didn’t return your call earlier on. It’s been a busy crazy day. I’m back in the city- you sounded a bit upset on the voicemail. Meet up, tomorrow? Let me know.

Hello beautiful,

Just to let you know, I’m running slightly behind tonight. Emergency meeting with Katrina and ‘the big boy bosses’. I hopefully won’t be too long. I will grab some food at work- just see to yourself and Preston. Love you.

“Nothing new there, then. Working late again wasn’t expecting that at all- oh silly, me. He’s probably so far up her arse…..”

“Riley.” Lindsey shouted interrupting her sisters negative thoughts regarding her husband and his new boss.

“Hey guys. Sorry about the mess. Erm… it was Nate’s first day back at work and myself and Preston are still in the holiday mood. We still need to get back into the normal routine… anyway…. What are you doing here?” Lindsey and Liam gave each other a look- they both didn’t know how to ‘sweet talk’ the discussion that they needed to have with Riley.

“Well… we haven’t seen you since Christmas. So we thought that we’d pay you a visit.”

“It was less than two weeks ago, we’ve gone months without seeing each other before.”

“Erm…” Lindsey stuttered which encouraged Liam to continue the conversation. “Well we know that Nate is working longer hours now- we know that you have Ioana for company but if you wanted a different change of scenery…. We are here. Always.” Focusing her attention towards her sister instead of Liam - Lindsey provided a sheepish smile towards Riley.

“Linz you’ve always been a rubbish liar. What’s the real reason as to why you’ve spontaneously shown up here?”

“Ioana, are you okay looking after Preston for a couple of extra hours whilst we take Riley to the city? Mommy’s night off. I believe she deserves it?”

“Of course, Mr Liam. That is no problem. I agree, Miss Riley should go and enjoy herself.”

****

New York is a city of diversity and dynamism. As well as a city of politics, economy and culture. Even though I don’t live within the city anymore- this is home. The natural feeling of ‘home’ occurs every time that I enter the city. Each corner has a different story to tell. Mixed emotions. Memories both bad and good that will last a lifetime.

To begin with- Riley kept looking over her shoulder in the bars that the trio had entered. Was there some hope that she could see him? If there was to be an unexpected meeting she wasn’t quite sure on how to react. Due to anxiety and nerves - Riley began to take advantage of the alcohol as well as the child free night. The last known location for the man in question was California. Because of this she began to let her hair loose - something which pleased Lindsey but also worried her at the same time.

“Liv’s flat is literally next door. I’ll just go and surprise her and see if she wants to join us, okay?”

“Okay, we’ll get you both a drink. Gin and tonic?” Liam asked.

“No, make it two JD and cokes. It’s what myself and Liv always had during our… fun… days. Nights. Mornings…. I’ll be two minutes.”

“Liam- JD and coke, minus the JD for Ri.” Lindsey whispered to her husband, as they watched Riley enter the flat safely.

“I think she will need a coffee rather than fizzy pop to attempt to conceal the alcohol consumption from Nate. When Riley returns with or without Liv we are telling her the truth, Linz. Olivia will be the extra support that she may require.”

****

“Surprise!”

“Ri… what are you doing here? I suggested to meet up tomorrow on the voicemail.”

“Yeah I know, but….” Stumbling against the wall, Olivia stepped out quickly shutting the door quietly.

“Are you drunk?”

“No! Maybe. Only, slightly.” Shrugging her shoulders, she knew that Nate would berate her for being in this position. However, she didn’t care for now.

“Anyway Linz and Liam sort of dragged me out to the city- because I can never get out, I thought you could join me- us. Like old times…. But obviously old times were just you and I. It’ll be fun though…. I need to talk to you anyway…. I’ve been having these weird dreams. Memories keep rushing back of me and him….” Before Riley could continue with her word vomit - Olivia prevented her from continuing.

“Now isn’t a good time….I’m still jet-lagged from Paris. Tomorrow would better, honey. For me. I can come to you… or you could come back to the city with Preston. Whichever is easier….”

“Who’s Preston?” Standing frozen as if she had seen a ghost, Riley’s brain began to shrivel and not function properly. “I’m assuming he’s the new lucky man in your life?” Not responding to the questions- Riley couldn’t distinguish reality from fantasy.

“It’s good to see you, Brooks.”

#the royal romance #Riley x drake #riley brooks #drake Walker #Liam Rys #trr fanfic #trr au fanfic #tw swearing #tw mention of sex #theroyalromance #choices trr

23 notes · View notes

sapphire-weapon · 9 months

Note

I think the problem with a lot of RE fans (and in many other fandoms too, RE just happens to be the current topic), is that there's a belief being upheld, that whatever appears in canon material has to be free of criticism, just because it's canon!

To backup my point, I'll use Game of Thrones as an example. The show literally became infamous because of the backlash caused by its last season. It's not an exaggeration to state that the vast majority of fans and casual viewers (which are worldwide!) criticised it. Am I not allowed to point out Daenerys being out of character, just because the showrunners went ahead with that arc? Is the global viewership simply "just wrong about it", because hey, the showrunners made that decision. Leave it alone. It almost entirely killed the franchise. With books becoming a lost cause, HOTD has just about saved it.

My point being, just because something's canon, it doesn't mean it's good, nor is it free from negative opinions and thought pieces. That's what gets me about certain ship arguments. They have nothing of value to add to their stance... it's just "well, this and that canon storyline happened! So you're not allowed to say it's bad or try to analyse it from a different perspective!" Genuinely, how does someone like that even finish school?

It's unfortunately quite a popular opinion to have that worms its way into every piece of popular media. Just normalise questioning, analysing and constructively criticising the things we consume. That's supposed to be part of the enjoyment in my opinion. Also to add, it's important to recognise that franchises worth millions of dollars are much bigger than your curated twitter corner. Just because you and your friends bully people online, does not mean you're the spokesperson for RE (and others) consumerism. That is a toddlers perspective of the world, lol.

>it's important to recognise that franchises worth millions of dollars are much bigger than your curated twitter corner.

this is the single most important thing to keep in mind when trying to analyze a text and/or predict where a series is going to go, imo

it's so easy for your perspective to get fucked up when you sit in an echo chamber like that

that's why when cordial!aeon anon first came into my inbox, i was like "i need you guys to play video games that aren't RE" bc like

there was absolutely zero understanding of how the games industry actually functions and/or how Joe Average, who makes up the largest majority of consumers by MILLIONS, looks at the games he plays.

i worked at gamestop for eight years and let me tell u it is actually against capcom's best interest to develop their games around appeasing shippers, because shippers are responsible for only around roughly 10% of game sales -- and even that is being extremely generous. it will come as an upsetting shock to learn that a good portion (i estimate about 30%) of people who play video games skip the cutscenes entirely. the other 60% are people who just want a game that will hold their interest and make sense as they're going through it/not be embarrassingly stupid (like RE6 was).

like. no one has a more overinflated sense of self-importance than shippers who only talk to other shippers and engage with the medium in no other way.

#sry i wish i had more to say about this #but you've said it all tbh #i got nothing more to add that's worth adding

7 notes · View notes

blackink-onpaper · 11 months

Text

The Descend and the Resurface

Damian Hart (Beyblade) x OC

Summary: OC comes from a complex background, and in the midst of trying to save it all and help her family she enters a strange arrangement, which will change her life forever.

Masterlist 🖤

Tags: Beyblade, Beyblade Metal Masters, Ryuga, Jack, Damian, Zeo Abyss, OC, Gingka Hagane, team Starbreaker, team Gan Gan Galaxy, dr. Ziggurat, Hades Inc.

A/N: (ambience suggestion) this chapter and the next will go along with the canon storyline, for this chapter watch Beyblade Metal Masters episode 93 if you like, it’s available on youtube! Also, at one moment I mention Damian’s worried expression, which you can see on the last photo :) Enjoyy~

Chapter 16

I tried getting backstage a few more times, but the crowd kept being too difficult to get past from. ‘Well, time to find something to do for half an hour’ I thought to myself, as I pulled out my phone for a scrolling session. I had social media, but really hated it ever since Julian and I had started dating because of all the nosy, toxic people trying to get into my life just because of him. If I was qualified to write a book about anything, it’s definitely on what it’s like being an “uninportant” girlfriend of an important man. And it seems I did it again, ironically, but at least no one knows for now. Checking if I had any messages, I saw an ad for a summer dress in the same blue colour as Damian’s hair, with white stripes on the hems, and I gasped in excitement. I immediately checked the availability and ordered the dress, so that I would have it for a celebration with Damian once all of this was over. Reflecting on my previous relationship again, I realised I did everything completely different this time around and how liberated I actually felt: to be able to say things I should’ve kept hidden, to have sex before having a date first because there is no one who would gossip and make a story out of it, and of course, my biggest cliché of all: to fall in love with a ‘bad boy’.

After ordering the dress, which would probably make Julian throw up if he ever saw it, I remembered I had some polaroid photos in my phone case I had completely forgotten about. My phone case opened with a loud crack sound, showing me a few memories from my past: there was a picture Sophie took of me when we were all invited to Julian’s summer house at lake Como, and one more from the same day of me and Julian together. Everyone told us we were an amazing couple, and I agree we certainly looked the part, but looking back on myself then I was feeling nowhere near complete. I wondered what people would think of Damian and I, would they love us as much as they did the Konzern-Casilarghi combination? The last picture was that of my garden, with my mom and I eating cherries in the sun; I took a picture of it and sent it to my mom with a text that I’m at the championship. She replied back almost immediately:

“My darling ❤️🍒 Enjoy the match, any luck with Julian?”

I was struck by a wave of mixed feelings; I felt as if I was lying to her by not telling her I completely let Julian go and had fallen for someone new, especially because I am not sure what they would think of Damian, and Damian of them. However, I’m sure my parents would easily get over any hard feelings if they considered Damian rich enough, which is comforting in it’s own way I guess.

The match began again. Just as the presenters announced the Gingka vs Jack battle, a literal meteor fell from the sky right into the stadium. For a brief moment I thought this was the end of the world, as the fire swept over everything, and loud thuds and cracks echoed from the walls carrying the whole construction. Opening my eyes, I saw most people had the same idea, because some even hid under the seats or shielded themselves with their bags, but we were all unharmed. However, there was a distinctively recognisable figure standing in the stadium.

The Japanese presenter stuttered: “It-it’s Ryuga, everyone!”

I’ve only ever heard of this guy, but he looked the same as in the pictures I had seen some time ago: platinum hair, tanned skin, angry eyes. But from what I’d heard, he is the strongest and most fearsome Blader out there. Seeing as he was standing on the side of Gan Gan Galaxy, it occurred to me that Gingka might have lied about not having a third member, but I then realised how bewildered the three members of the team looked and discarted the theory entirely. However, Ryuga’s choice of standing position might mean trouble for Jack.

“You do remember what you said to me, don’t you?” Ryuga asked Jack

“No, what?” Jack blurted out bluntly, without his usual pompousness

Apparently, Jack had told Ryuga at some earlier point that he would paint him a picture of Hades, and Ryuga came to collect his comission. But it seemed Ryuga also had an agenda against Ziggurat, as he looked up at him several times. I darted a look at Damian; while Jack accepted his challenge, seeming enviably and surprisingly confident, Damian seemed quite worried - I would dare say perhaps even scared as he stood a few steps behind Jack. But his facial expression was hard to read, so maybe he was just being more serious than I’m used to.

As the battle began, I had to admit I was also becoming worried both about the match and Jack’s wellbeing. I mean, Ryuga is really not the kind of guy one would like to mess with, especially because I know Damian would not break the tournament rules for Jack like Sophie and Wales did for Julian - and rightfully so, because if Jack loses Damian can still win the final battle, whereas for Excalibur the tournament had already been decided before the intervention.

The start of the battle must’ve been one of the most explosive ones I’d ever seen. No time was wasted by Jack and Befall, who just kept hitting Ryuga’s Bey without a break, and Jack was evidently enjoying himself. After a couple of more attacks, Jack slowly descended into an insane laughter:

“Sorry, Mr. Ryuga” he began, after he calmed down from that weird laughing spell: “Earlier I said I’d make this match into an amazing work of art, but allow me to correct myself. This will be my greatest masterpiece! Yes, and the completion of my work of art will mean your total and definite defeat!” Jack proclaimed loud and clear as his hair started to levitate, and a glow in different shades of gorgeous pink colours surrounded him like an aura. I mean, I have to be honest and say I was not nearly as confident about this as Jack, but I was absolutely blown away by his bravery. Many experienced Bladers would not even have half the personality Jack held up against Ryuga.

But I need to be equally honest that Ryuga’s demeanour was nothing short of imposing: Jack slashed him with his special move, appropriately called The Ripper, and he didn’t even bother to move. I darted a look at Damian, who had a curious look in his eyes and a small grin to support Jack’s attack. Curious with a reason, as Ryuga’s L-Drago was spinning as if nothing had happened:

“You really are stimulating the right side of my brain now! How stimulating is this!” Jack announced yet another special move - Slice and Dice - as Befall began to literally carve out the stadium to his will and whim. I pulled myself closer to see better, but ended up almost slipping of my seat because I hadn’t noticed how close I already was to it’s edge. After checking left and right if anyone had seen me, I continued watching to see what image Jack was aiming to create:

“One more stroke, and my greatest masterpiece will be complete!” Jack waved his finger around as L-Drago was being dragged around by a lethally slicing Befall: this was looking good for Starbreaker, but something just didn’t sit right with me about this. As the camera display on the televisions across the stadium panned out, an elegant body of a peacock emerged from the flat stone of the dome stadium.

“So Jack is drawing an image of his muse: Befall” I chuckled to myself, he was really something else entirely. Befall struck L-Drago right into the eye of the illustrated bird, and his spinning was slowing down almost to a stop:

“L-Drago is almost out of power now!” The presenters gripped the handrails of their positions, while Gan Gan Galaxy looked pale as three sheets of paper from the stress. At least this seems to be an imminent win for Starbreaker; I guess I was just overthinking Ryuga’s strength, his mysterious reputation probably playing up his fame.

But then he made me question both my vision and my sanity by increasing his rotation with simplicity and out of nowhere. Gasps arose from the audience around me:

“But how?” Jack blurted out, more confused than shocked or outraged, to which Ryuga measured up to with:

“You call this your greatest masterpiece, do you? Heh, are you sure you’re all done?”

“No way” Jack gasped in a half pleading tone: “Don’t tell me… Don’t tell me the entire battle up to now has just been to measure my power?!”

Then, Ryuga called his special move, the name of which I did not catch because of the gust of fire, heat and wind that swirled over the stadium in a burning red glow. Very reminiscent of Damian’s Hades Drive, but inexplicably multiplied. A long red dragon, stretching out at least two kilometres into the air appeared, and even though Jack put up one last brave stance against him by sending Befall into a defending flight, it was completely clear it’s an immediate defeat.

An explosion shook the entire stadium, making a crack in the floor from underneath my feet as people’s hats, pamphlets and random small items just flew away over their heads. Jack’s loud, piercing scream was the only thing I heard over the explosion itself. Befall was now the pink ruby centerpiece imbedded within the eye of the peacock that stood for a minute until the entire dome collapsed, the image now forever lost and forgotten. Jack whimpered about his work of art, hugging himself as if to calm himself down as he fell to his knees. Ryuga stared at Ziggurat’s room overlooking the stadium, and L-Drago launched into a flight, breaking his window.

“Woah…what the…” I uttered to myself, there was something seriously foul in the history between Ziggurat and Ryuga if he acted this way. As Ryuga was walking away, some paramedic that are unmistakeably from Hades Inc., given their dark grey lab coats, helped Jack up to his feet again and into the backstage, while Damian was nowhere in sight. I got up immediately, and grabbed my bag and water bottle to run to the backstage door, before noticing all of the water from my bottle had evapourated from L-Drago’s fire.

“Unbelievable…” I gasped before making my way past the security guards and into the Starbreaker wing.

4 notes · View notes

homeofjonicles · 2 years

Text

The Jonicles - Entry 20

It is currently the 31st of July, 2022 at 2:49 pm. Yesterday night, I went to go see an awesome school play that a friend of mine was in, and it's based off a movie about a shoe salesman taking his uncle on a trip to Monte Carlo for $6 million. It was a great time! It is also day #73 of my Jon Arbuckle hyperfixation.

Wow, my 20th entry in this series! That's... pretty impressive! But it's pretty shocking that there's only 20 so far, it really feels like there's been a whole lot more considering we're almost halfway to day fuckin' 80, Jesus! But it's exciting, and it's right in time for quite a special topic (i swear i say that in every other entry)...

You see that strip I have displayed up there? It may looks unremarkable to you; it's just a regular old Garfield strip. You may recognise the time it was published, and you may even have some memories associated with this strip, whether you grew up reading it in Garfield comic books or have simply seen it before. And those observations are all fine and dandy, but there's something else about this strip that I want you to focus on. Got an idea?

It's about the man. Not Jon, but the man standing right beside him. That unfamiliar yet also familiar looking man who can be seen petting Garfield incorrectly. He kind of looks like a member of The Beatles, but he also kind of looks like... someone else. Someone that I've definitely seen before many times... But this person is different, way different.

That person, fellow reader, is known simply as Frank, and this strip, published on the 23rd of January, 1980, is his first and only* debut in the Garfield canon. He looks pretty unremarkable, right? Just a normal one-off character created specifically for a punchline that would never been seen again.

Or, at least, that's what he'd like you to think, for I have a theory, a very dark theory that this man is the culprit. The culprit of what, you ask? This man is the one who KIDNAPPED Lyman and caused his tragic disappearance, FRAMING Jon by controlling the media to say that it was HIM who had Lyman locked in his basement and getting away with it! It was all him, I tell you! HIM!!

So you're probably thinking "That's fucking insane, Jeremy, what the fuck". Some of you may even have your finger hovering threateningly over the call button for the Funny Farm. But hear me out! I have some reasons for why I think Frank is at least suspicious at best, and a cold-hearted kidnapper at worst! But before I get straight to the crazy bits, let's at least start by providing more context, yeah?

Lyman, God bless his soul, has been missing for 30 or so years, his last regular appearance being in 1983 before he stopped appearing in person altogether in 1998, only seeming to exist in the memory of the ones who were compassionate and worried enough to remember our fallen hero, lingering solemnly in the fog of our brains like a troubled ghost. From then, he's been mentioned from time to time by Davis, one time even providing funny reasons for Lyman's disappearance. Keep this list of reasons in mind, we're going to need them later.

For years, Lyman was completely absent, as if he never existed in the first place, and slowly over the years, more people started to notice, and more people began to ask why, with the worst of them possibly being Jon himself, as without Lyman, Jon's descent into mental instability became more and more apparent. Then, on the 14th of September 2012, after years and years after our beloved mustached fellow slipped away from between the panels of the strip, we got an answer, and it was called 'Long Lost Lyman', a four part special episode of 'The Garfield Show'.

You've probably seen the episode by now. Jon watches a show about this cryptid called the Zabadu, he and Odie reminise about Lyman, then they go on a search for him and eventually find the bloke. So problem solved, right? We finally got the answer we've all been waiting for. Lyman is perfectly fine and dandy, he's just been lovingly cosplaying as a creature on some place in my home country for years, and we finally got to see our boy again... right?

There's a theory many Garfield fans have about this episode, and it's that the Lyman seen in this episode of The Garfield Show... isn't actually Lyman. And listen! The two of them look COMPLETELY different! I went onna tangent about this in Entry 17, but I SWEAR, that man isn't Lyman! And the most telling thing is the eye shape. There's no way in Hell that you can fool me into thinking that this "Lyman" fellow is the man we knew and still love to this very day, no! You cannot convince me! That man is a FAKE, a PHONEY, an IMPOSTOR! That's not Lyman, that's... That's Liquid Lyman!

What does any of this have to do with Frank? Well, probably nothing, but I have my suspicions...

We all know Lyman disappeared in the early 80s, and guess who decides to show up three whole years before Lyman stopped showing up? Frank. And there's something about him that, you could say, "rubs me the wrong way". Look at how similar he looks to Lyman! If you took away Lyman's facial hair, he would look pretty darn close to ol' Franky here, wouldn't he? Frank looks so similar to Lyman, in fact, that when I remembered reading this strip as a child, I had completely forgotten about Frank and replaced him with Lyman in my head. And maybe you could chalk that up to a simple misremembering, but that really says a lot about Frank's similarities to Lyman, doesn't it? Almost as if he was trying to... replace him?

Oh yeah. I'm going there. Frank, you are mighty suspicious. Why else would you just casually show up unannounced and just happen to also be Jon's friend? You know that spot was already filled, yet you waltz into Jon's living space with your suspiciously Lyman-looking haircut. But you made one mistake, and that was laying your hand on Garfield in the first place. You made one crucial mistake that not even Lyman could make: petting Garfield incorrectly. And that brings me into my next point!

I have a sneaking suspicion that Garfield had a sneaking suspicion about Frank's sneaking suspiciousness! You see, the punchline Garfield lays on the strip, that last yuk Davis often relies on to get a chuckle of out of a reader, is a message. Frank not only pet Garfield wrong (choosing to stroke Garfield near the tail, a place of discomfort and irritation for many cats), but there was something so undeniably wrong about him that Garfield felt endangered. Cats typically will only attack people like that if they feel incredibly threatened, endangered or afraid, and compared to how Garfield beats up Jon, only really giving him a slap or a couple of scratches, Garfield REALLY fucked Frank up, proving that Garfield felt really threatened by Frank's presence. So, "Some people rub me the wrong way" could be seen as a... zeugma? Do I have the right word? Wait, is it a zeugma or a pun? Probably actually a pun... Or maybe it's neither of those and I have no idea what I'm talking about and you should ignore me. But regardless! Garfield's statement has two meanings, and he knows something's up with Frank. And right he is. All you'd have to do is to look into Frank's eyes to get the answer.

No, seriously. Look at Frank's eyes in the last panel! They're completely different! Do you see how they have a bulging circular shape like Jon's? How they have white bits? Something funny's going on, and it's with Frank's eyes, man. And I'm ruling out the possibility of Frank's suddenly changed eyes is simply an expression of pain or suprise, look at the second panel. That is the expression characters with dotted eyes make when they are shocked, and just look at Lyman or Irma, they do it too! Oh yeah, Frank does do this, but that doesn't explain how the biology and shape of his eyes completely shifted and transformed! Garfield must've fucked Frank up good to do THAT amount of damage that Frank's eyes changed completely! Eyes don't just... do that! Which means that Frank was either scratched up so badly by Garfield that his eye shape changed, or Frank was wearing a disguise!

I mean, there is a butler in the August 20th 1981 strip who looks suspiciously very, very close to Frank, say for the hair being slightly different. In fact, this bit of info is even referenced on the Garfield wiki in a list of minor characters, Frank being one of them! And considering the eerie, borderline inhuman anomaly that is Frank's eyes suddenly shifting, I'm willing to bet that the butler is actually Frank, and that he has been stalking Jon and Garfield on their way to this random unnamed vacation spot. I bet he doesn't even work there officially, he just showed up one day to get back at Jon by poisoning that burger he's eating. Scum.

So... With all that said, you're probably still wondering what all of this shit has to do with Lyman being kidnapped. Well, remember when I mentioned that Jim Davis provided comedic reasons as to why Lyman disappeared from the strip? Well, this has a lot of importance, because the very last one mentioned is, and I quote, "Don't look in Jon's basment!". This is quite a popular line that a lot of fans like to attribute to Jon kidnapping Lyman and trapping him in his basement, and while Jon indeed does have a basement (he even tripped down its stairs once in a strip), Jon wasn't the one who trapped poor ol' Lyman down there! No, Jon would never! Jon may be a little off the deep end when it comes to his mental state, and Jon does indeed have a kill count from when he ran over that mime, but Jon going as far as to kidnap his own best friend and keep him trapped in his basement? Absurd! In fact, I'd like to briefly talk about another piece of Garfield media that many have cited when it comes to the topic of Lyman, and that's a flash game called Garfield's Spooky Scavenger Hunt.

In this game, you play as Garfield to retrieve donuts from a spooky mansion for a prize. Right outside the mansion, you can find poor Jon shivering outside in the cold, and he looks to be in a near catatonic state. He's sitting in the fetal positon, and his face is one of both fear and absolute shock. His eyes are wide, unblinking and almost listless, and you can tell the poor guy has seen some shit. And what shit has Jon seen? Why, he saw his own best friend Lyman trapped inside the basment, of course! When you interact with Jon, he'll give you some tips, including the fact that Lyman likes muffins. From there, it can be inferred that Jon was terrified out of the mansion and sits outside, afraid of what lies beneath... And what lies beneath is FRANK! And you know why!? Because Lyman can be found in several different states thoughtout the game! Alive, held captive, and then DEAD, his decapitated head stuffed in an oven! And ON TOP of that, I'd go as far as to say that this game secretly hides the story of Lyman's dissappearance caused by FRANK HIMSELF! First, Frank kidnapped Lyman and took him to a spooky scary mansion, luring him in with his.... manipulation and DRUGGING him, starving him and cooking him! The man's a cannibal! The man's a FREAK!

But how did he escape detection! Well my friend, Frank, in a twist of pure backstabbery, went and FRAMED poor innocent Jon Arbuckle! Frank was still in that mansion, which is why Lyman ended up dead so quickly and why Jon was so scared of going in there, because he was afraid of FRANK!!!! FURHTHER MORE! Frank got that misinformation out to Jim Davis himself and spread the lies and anti-Jon propaganda, then fled to Australia to become the Zabadu to cover up Lyman's disappearance! It- It all makes sense!! Too much sense!! And there is no reason I should have my doubts, I mean- I mean- HOW do you explain Lyman's eyes??? in the cartoon????? That's not Lyman!!!! How would that ever be Lyman!?!?!? But unluckily for Frank, people found out about the Zabadu, and when Jon finally found """Lyman""", Frank had to act like him in order to FOOL poor Jon, poor manipulatable Jon, and we've never seen the bloke since. Even now, Frank could be planning his evil scummy plans to KILL Jon and finally obtain Odie and Garfield!! I'm onto something, I KNOW I'm onto something! Frank, Frank, I know what you did, and I won't let this information go to waste. Frank, you are a monster, a freak, a cannibal and a murderer. You will face retribution for your actions eventually, and Lyman will finally see the light...

Alright, alright, that's enough. All stupid corny jokes aside, I really do find Frank quite suspicious. The way his appearances have always been quite mysterious to me, his eye shifting thing, and how Liquid Lyman exists are all very suspicous, but because of a lack of evidence, it's inconclusive. But who knows, maybe Frank did do it, and maybe Davis is sitting shaking his fist at his desk yelling "Darn! I thought he'd never find it out!", but that seems pretty unlikely. I think we all just miss Lyman that we come up with all these crazy stories as to where he went, and really, we all just want closure.

Feel free to adopt this silly Frankspiracy theory of mine. I like thinking about it just because of how silly it is and how weird Frank seems. I've got my eyes on you, Frank...

Last edited at 5:48 pm. Still don't know what a zeu-whatsit it.

Local idiot goes insane over fictional character, creates new conspiracy theory and ends up in an asylum

Cheers,

Your Local Jonnoisseur

Posted on the 31st of July, 2022 at 6:06 pm.

#jonicles 20 #went crazy oops #frank is mad sus though #i got my eyes on you FRANK #gosh #and no it wasnt a pun either

2 notes · View notes

amuseoffyre · 2 years

Text

While there’s a lot of celebration of the inclusivity and queerness of Our Flag Means Death, I need to take a moment to have bucketload of emotions about the neurodiversity of the show as well.

Specifically, I want to talk about the fact that Stede Bonnet, our leading man, is autistic-coded. Not in the usual TV show way of being a sauvant or a cold, emotionless robot-man (I see you TV shows. I judge you) but in a realistic way that made me go “oh no. it me.” multiple times.

And since this got unexpectedly long and babbly, I will show mercy. (Warning - here be spoilers)

Let’s begin with Stede’s special main interest: pirates. He loves pirates. He loves them a lot. He had a model ship built, then scaled it up to a real one. Whenever he played with his kids, it inevitably turned to games of playing at piracy. He’s fascinated by it and tries to share this special interest with his neurotypical wife who gets increasingly frustrated with his fixation on this thing she doesn’t like or understand and lack of interest in her, the family or their shared life. Moreso because - to Stede - this hyperfocus is an absolute fundamental thing when it comes to him being happy.

The same can apply to his wardrobe and his library on the ship. These things are seen as wasteful and useless, but Stede - at this point - believes they are fundamental to his happiness and comfort. Yes, he wants piracy, but he likes some things to stay the same: his books (all his favourite ones he’s read before), his various favourite seasonal clothes, his non-scratchy blankets. Our boy even went so far as to replace a good portion of the ship’s gunpowder with his favourite marmalade because he couldn’t go without it.

We’re shown several times that he likes to maintain his routine, even if he’s doing it somewhere that isn’t with his wife and family and home, even extending as far as taking meals at a table at a set time. Between the regular and fancy breakfasts with Ed and the dining table scene in episode 10, I have The Feelings.

In both episode 1 and 10, Stede does try to mask and fit into a place where he has never quite belonged, following the social codes and rules as far as he can see them. He comes back, he does the Correct Thing and tries to make things right for everyone - if he’s where he started, his family won’t be broken and Ed won’t be ruined and everything can go back to the way it was before he wrecked it by trying to do the thing that made him happy. Only it’s too late, because he’s experienced a world where he can fit in and be accepted exactly as he is, idiosyncracies and all. It just takes him forcing himself back into that rigid little box to realise that he never fit there to begin with.

And to go back to the dynamic with Mary (and also other people of their class/rank), in their interactions before he leaves the first time, there’s a clear mismatch in their modes of communication. He is doing his duty to be a husband and a father - and based on his dad as his role model, it’s not surprising he doesn’t do it well.

She asks him to do things but when he doesn’t do them (asking someone if they can do something is very different than telling someone to do. Two very different modes of communication which can be taken differently depending on whether the listener is atypical or not), she descends to using passive aggression and sarcasm to insult him, which he recognises to a degree, but doesn’t understand why.

The way he describes passive aggression rings of someone who has spent many years trying to mask and to fit in, but never quite managing to do so and having his so-called failings and flaws pointed out to him. He can play the part, but he doesn’t feel comfortable and will lurk at the edges of formal social gatherings because of past experience, waiting for them to turn on him because he’s not doing something ‘correctly’. He described the rich as using words like weapons and we are shown the canonical evidence that his behaviour, his sensitivity, his gentleness and his special interests have made him a target of both physical and verbal abuse.

When he describes his favourite horse as having kind eyes and Mary says “and what’s your favourite pig?”, you can see he knows he’s being insulted - years of experience - but there’s a real sense that he doesn’t understand why she’s being mean to him when he answered her question about his favourite horse.

He doesn’t realise that she’s unhappy or angry with him until she actually raises her voice and is visibly angry. When she does start shouting, he shrinks in on himself, saying “I’ll stop it” because he didn’t realise he was doing something wrong. Likewise, there are a number of interactions with the crew and enemies that show that he is really not very good at reading a situation unless things are stated in a direct manner.

It’s very telling that when Mary and Stede finally start communicating directly instead of her trying to passively nudge him into a social mode of behaviour he isn’t aware he’s meant to follow, they actually click and for the first time, they understand each other. The scene when they talk to each other is so beautifully done (even if it started with an attempted murder XD)

Also, while he has learned to identify the verbal jabs of the upper classes, when he does run away to sea his lack of self-awareness of the entirely different kind of danger he’s putting himself in is another big sign. That was a bit of a revelation when I got my diagnosis, especially in hindsight, given some of the ways I have travelled in the past (how am I not dead? sweet christmas no wonder people panicked when I went places solo o.o). He’s so excited to be where he is that even when he’s stabbed by the Spaniard, he asks “did you mean to do that?”

There’s probably more, but right now, I am drowning in emotions and I love them your honour.

(Also, Ed is my flavour of ADHD. I too would spot something seemingly random and odd and weaponise it :) That is all)

eta: and since I can’t stop my own hyperfixation, here is my little Ed is ADHD essay too :)

#our flag means death #stede bonnet #neurodiversity #here be spoilers #ofmd meta

1K notes · View notes

j4gm · 3 years

Text

TOGETHER AGAIN SPOILERS

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything! This is adapted from my original Twitter thread.

Keep reading ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands".

2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence.

3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode.

4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate.

5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate.

6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right.

7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life.

8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine.

9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place.

10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line.

11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons.

12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later.

13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements".

14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination.

15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair.

16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina".

17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny".

18. This goblin guy is an unnamed background character from “The Silent King”.

19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn.

20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode.

21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds.

22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". And, of course, the gate guardian himself from “Death in Bloom”.

23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination.

24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale.

25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo.

26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife.

27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul.

28. Boobafina, the goose who Mr. Fox was in love with in his debut episode “Storytelling”, apparently reincarnated into a tugboat. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly".

29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean ;)

30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him.

31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three.

32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly".

33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began.

34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom".

35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman.

36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon".

37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations".

38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now.

39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode.

40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time".

41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm.

42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death.

43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess".

44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name.

45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty.

46. Lots more cameos in this scene: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more.

47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series.

48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations. It’s not clear whether Finn and Jake were expecting to find Princess Bubblegum or Peppermint Butler, since both have the initials “PB” and both could be going by the title of “Princess”. Perhaps Peps and Bubblegum share the princess duties now that PB is living with Marceline more of the time.

49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian".

50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds.

51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation.

52. A translation of Life’s angry French dialogue by Shado: “After all I did for that boy. After all I did for him. No, it's not possible. It's not possible no, that... that makes me so mad but it's not possible.”

53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now.

54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. I wonder whether Finn has gained the memories of his past lives now that he’s dead.

55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image.

56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power".

57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes.

58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode "Reboot”.

59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned.

60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about.

61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn".

62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season.

63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn.

64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space".

65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference.

66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace.

67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit".

68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from “Dad's Dungeon” for banishing demons.

69. That appears to be President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks’ other lovers.

70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief.

71. Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom".

72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary.

These are sort of out of order at the end because I was adding stuff to the Twitter thread as it got discovered. That’s all for now!

#adventure time #together again #finn the human #jake the dog #lorepost

472 notes · View notes

your-brilliant-lady-m · 3 years

Text

Part 4 - Basic Concepts of Miraculous Ladybug: Glamour

You can call it however you want: kid's show logic, superhero disguise logic, magical girl show logic, cartoon laws, suspension of disbelief, etc. But the fact that nobody recognises Marinette, Adrien and others when they are suited up IS NOT BAD WRITING. It's one of the main laws of this genre. That's not because characters are stupid, okay? So, being frustrated that everyone in the show acts stupid about this "wearing a mask that covers only eyes" trope is strange. This criticism is not valid or fair.

But, this trope has to make sense in-universe as a worldbuilding and narrative element.

Miraculous doesn't give us much direct information on how glamour works. And in this case, I think we need both SHOW and TELL. Because if you don't establish the glamour rules clearly, you are going to run into problems and create unfortunate implications with your storytelling choices.

Appearance

Miraculous obviously gives our heroes magical glamour. In "Lady WiFi" we find out that masks can't be taken off. It's magic. No other explanation is needed.

Miraculous can slightly change the appearance of users (eyes, face shape, height and hairstyles). People can identify and notice the hairstyles of heroes (numerous Ladybug wigs, statue in Copycat). Jagged Stone points out the change of hair when he mistakes Chloe for Ladybug ("Antibug"). But it's just a costume. There is no magic that prevents Jagged from understanding that Chloe isn't Ladybug. So, how does it work? But it's forgivable because it's cartoon logic. Suspension of disbelief works here, I suppose. I won't judge this too harshly.

Glamour also obviously prevents people from making a connection that Marinette and Ladybug have identical hairstyles. So people know that Ladybug wears her hair in pigtails, but magic does not allow them to notice similarities.

Another important question. Does glamour work on Kwamis? Can they see who is behind the mask?

New York Special makes it clear that magic does not affect robots and they can see through glamour. Does that mean that Markov, AI built by Max, knows the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir? And it's never addressed.

Plagg in "Frightningale" says that holders can subconsciously choose their superhero appearance. This is actually pretty interesting and I like this idea a lot. Except the show is not consistent with this. The transformation of Master Fu looks identical to Nathalie's. And we have seen how different from each other Ladybug and Black Cat holders looked in the past. At the same time, Master Fu and Nino have different takes on Turtle superhero suit.

Age Glamour

Does age glamour exist? Do people see Ladybug, Chat Noir and other heroes as adults even when they look like teenagers to the audience (their height and build are smaller even when they are transformed)? Is that why no one ever questions the fact that children nearly die on a daily basis?

I mentioned unfortunate implications earlier. Well, this is where they come into play. Let's talk about "Copycat". A lot of people discussed it before me, so I won't bore you with details.

When I watched "Copycat" for the first time Theo's crush on Ladybug didn't bother me, because I thought that he sees Ladybug as his peer, a girl who is about 20-23 years old. Theo is an artist, his character design is that of an adult. He has his own studio, its appearance indicates that he did serious commissions in the past. The guy has no idea that Ladybug is like 13.

But then we get "Heroes' Day" and "Ladybug". And Hawkmoth calls them "kids", which means that there is no age glamour. Others see Ladybug and Chat Noir as teenagers. Perhaps, other Miraculous users aren't affected by age glamour. Therefore regular people see all heroes as adults but other heroes are able to guess their age more or less correctly. But you must spell this thing out because the audience can interpret "Copycat" differently. If there is no age glamour, then Theo is crushing on a teenage girl and he is fully aware of this fact. And this doesn't look good for your show.

The "No Age Glamour" theory is further confirmed in "Sapotis" where Alya just straight up analyses voice recordings and says that Ladybug is a girl their age. If glamour exists then it should also cover technology. Kwami can't be photographed. Face and voice recognition software shouldn't be able to analyse transformed superheroes and detect their identities in any way.

Besides, after "Sapotis" Alya should definitely be sure that Ladybug is not 5000 years old (also not an adult), especially after she wore Miraculous herself and was one door away from detransformed Ladybug.

SEASON 4 UPDATE! There's no age glamour after all.

In "Furious Fu" Su Han calls Chat Noir a child without knowing his identity. It means that everyone knows their superheroes are teenagers. "Copycat" can't be saved from that, uh, subtext anymore. No one questions the danger of their job or the balance of their lives outside of the mask. No one doubts their competence after "Origins" ever again. No one becomes annoyed after being bossed around by two teenagers in spandex. You had many opportunities to drop these details into the narrative. Someone could have been akumatized over this (I will not be ordered around by some magical kids!).

I don't know why writers decided not to use at least this idea and slightly adjust "Copycat" if they got rid of the age glamour completely. It can be explained as kid's show logic, but unfortunately, I'm reluctant to do it. If many characters sympathise with akuma victims on-screen, why not with the teenage superheroes who must fight them?

New York Special had this weird focus on collateral damage out of nowhere (the damage done by sentimonster Robostus) and yet it has 0 effect on the main story. No one in Paris is pissed that their 2 teenage protectors weren't there.

Ironically, "Furious Fu" and that one remark made by Su Han also created unfortunate implications for other moments in the show. Just hear me out. Apparently, Jagged Stone wrote a "thank you" song for Ladybug knowing that she is 13-15 year old child back in "Pixelator". Fandom is more than happy to roast Lila for lying about saving Jagged Stone's cat and him writing her a "thank you" song. Fandom claims that Lila's tale could harm Jagged's reputation, when he wrote a song for teenage Ladybug several weeks prior. Meanwhile, in-universe this lie is 100% believable.

If we put on "realism glasses", then both this whole song situation and Theo's crush in "Copycat" have uncomfortable implications. However, the show's canon can't be viewed and criticised through "realism glasses". I admit that bits and pieces of my criticisms are affected by these "glasses", but, ultimately, I'm trying to be fair and concentrate only on things that can't be justified by "cartoon logic and worldbuilding".

Could the existence of age glamour solve this problem of unfortunate implications and other concerns mentioned above? YES. Is it better for the narrative? YES. Is essential for the story? NOT QUITE. Could the absence of age glamour be called an irredeemable storytelling flaw? NO.

Disclaimer: On a side note, only older audience can notice these implications. Children, the target audience, most likely won't understand this subtext simply because they don't have enough experience. So, perhaps, this criticism is unfair, because these moments only look weird to me as an adult. It's like an adult joke in a cartoon that you don't get until you reach a certain age.

There's nothing technically wrong with adult writing a "thank you" song for a teenager. It's just an expression of gratitude. However, unfortunately, we live in a world, where adults normally wouldn't write songs for teens to express gratitude only. In real life similar actions would imply pedophilia and would be actively scorned by the public. No one would risk their reputation like that even if their intentions were genuinely pure and sincere. But this show can't be viewed through "realism glasses", because it's a cartoon and in certain cases we as the audience must use suspension of disbelief and pretend that certain things are possible for plot to happen.

Su Han also wants to give Ladybug and Black Cat to adults. Why didn't Master Fu do this then? Writers don't give us any explanation. Throughout the show we never question this up until the moment it's revealed that adults don't have time-limited powers. Then comes "Furious Fu". Story suddenly becomes self-aware here. Because apparently nothing prevented Fu from giving the most powerful Miraculous to adults who won't have time limit and will be more effective against Hawkmoth (see part 3 for more details).

I have a very good example of Age Glamour done right. It works in the story. There is no confusion or unfortunate implications. There is like one plothole connected to the glamour (it's been years and I still can't forgive them for Cornelia and Caleb) but otherwise, it's a pretty solid example of both show and tell. Clearly, writers wanted to avoid uncomfortable implications which are present in "Copycat". I am talking about W.I.T.C.H. comic books and animated series.

If you are not familiar with it, I'll give you a brief explanation. The story follows 5 girls, the Guardians of Kandrakar who are chosen to protect their world and parallel ones from evil. They receive magical powers from the amulet known as the Heart of Kandrakar. Their powers are based on elements: fire, water, earth, air and energy. Our main characters are about 13-15 years old. In the animated series they are younger and they attend middle school, making them 12-14 years old. But the transformation makes them look 18-20. They look like young women to each other and to other people. At the same time, people can recognise them, their looks and voice don't change. Most people don't know that they are really teenagers when they are not transformed and these people don't know that magic can make them look older. That's why everyone treats Guardians like adults when they are transformed. Comics establish this fact in the very beginning. In first issues characters state that they look older, we are also shown this multiple times.

In fact, one of the first side plots revolves around the fact that Irma uses her powers to sneak into the disco club to meet up with her crush. Irma is 13 at the beginning of the series, she is a high school freshman. Her crush, Andrew Hornby is a senior guy 17-18 years old. Irma has liked him for a long time and wants to impress him, so she decides to be clever about this. She transforms into her Guardian form of the 18-year-old girl, hides her wings, sneaks out to the club after her parents are asleep without any problem, and meets Andrew, who obviously doesn't recognise Irma in this girl who looks about his age. Smitten Andrew offers her a ride and 13-year-old Irma doesn't understand the implication of that offer, so she accepts. And, obviously, he decides that she is interested in more than just a ride home, since she agreed, and the comic implies that he fully intended for them to have sex in the backseat of his car. But Irma understands the implication only when Andrew tries to kiss her. She panics and turns him into a frog. And she actually pulls this "I need to look mature" trick more than once over the course of the series.

It's not the only situation where this age difference is handled well and makes sense. People who know the main characters in everyday life remark on their older appearance during transformation. Sometimes people flirt with Guardians when they are transformed. In one of the side-novels centred around Cornelia, she is worried that the prince of the realm they helped to save from famine would try to marry her. That never happens, but Cornelia actually brainstorms with her friends about how to tell the prince that she is really 15.

There are many other plot points where this happens, but I think that you got the idea. I really like how "Age Glamour" was handled in W.I.T.C.H.

How do we fix this? Create the situations where people offhandedly mention "Age Glamour" in the presence of Marinette or Adrien, use Kwami for this.

"Don't worry, dear. Chat Noir and Ladybug are adults, who know what they are doing. I am sure that they will handle this. "

Theo could say: "Oh, I wonder which university Ladybug goes to?"

"So, does that mean that other people see us as grown-ups, Tikki?"

A few words and boom, problem solved. Then allow the "show don't tell" rule do the rest.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #miraculous analysis #miraculous meta #ml meta #ml analysis #miraculous transformations #miraculous critical #miraculous ladybug critical #miraculous glamour #superhero glamour #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir

65 notes · View notes

larrysballetslippers · 3 years

Note

Hey, I saw you write fictions. Could you help me understand how to go about writing fictions and what are the basic steps? I want to write a larry fiction but english isn't my first language and my vocabulary isn't advanced. I, however, do want to give a try maybe a short fiction. How do formulate a fiction? I have some ideas but I can't divide them into chapters and generate enough scenes. I have tried to write sometimes but it's always a dead end and I don't know to proceed.

Personally I like how read story where there's seeding in every chapter with some backstory which gradually gets revealed. I am into a/b/o phase right now and want to write a good story with basic yet great plotline which keep my readers hooked.

I have so many questions to ask. Sorry for this long ask and Thank you if you respond.

Hey sweetie. How do I say this without sounding self-deprecating? I'm still a beginner, I technically wrote two fics. I'm currently working on my first "advanced" fic, which means I'm still learning, A LOT. I can't really be a teacher right now, but I can give you some tips. I can help you with what I learned since I started writing and link some good blogs/posts. This is going to be long, so cut.

First, some tips.

1. There are so many superior writers out there, but everyone has to start somewhere.

You can't start writing with the idea you're the greatest writer on the planet. I wrote down my first story when I was eight. Did it have a good plot? No. Did it have well thought out characters? Absolutely not. Did I make a story inspired by my favourite superhero show? Yes. It was probably 300 words max and with horrible grammar. I'm a very imaginative person, so I make stories up in my head, but that was the first one I wrote down. I haven't written much since then, just some school projects and little things here and there. I only started really writing in April, I think. It was rough, but fun. It was a canon-compliant story, so it didn't need that much planning out, I thought. When I finished, I was so proud. Then I started my second fic and I realized my first wasn't the best. I was so sad when I read it back, disappointed it didn't turn out the way I had in mind. But I shook it off, realized it was my first fic, EVER. So I shouldn't put myself down. You have to start writing to get good, you can't expect to be Jane Austin without putting one word down. Don't COMPARE yourself to others.

2. Plot is never truly original.

Like music, there isn't somsthing like an original plot. Everything is taken from something else. Every plot in the world has taken inspiration from somewhere else. You can write an a/b/o fic with a spy theme, it's very clever, but not original. You've taken an a/b/o plot and combined it with a spy plot. Don't be afraid to write a cliche plot, it's about the way you write it. That's why no two fics are the same, the writer is different.

3. Find a beta you trust.

When I first started the first part of my fic (it was a series), I didn't know what a beta really did, so I asked someone to correct my grammar and that was that. In the second and third part of that fic I didn't even do that, I tried to correct everything myself. Part 4 of my series I asked a beta to help me, it was wonderful. It's the best part of my whole fic and I'm forever grateful for that beta. We weren't the best match, so we couldn't continue working together. The fic I'm writing now is much longer than anything I ever written, so I needed a good and available beta. I found one, the angel of all angels. You need to find someone that will help you with your story, but also encourage when you feel like complete trash. Believe me, you will. It's important you have someone to brainstorm with and laugh with over your your character's dumb jokes.

4. Your English is better than you think.

I'm not a native English speaker, shocker right? No, I'm joking, I'm not the best. BUT I'm understandable, right? That's important. You don't need to have fancy words to write a story. Use the words you know and if you want to improve your vocabulary, do that, with time. You don't need to be an native speaker in a day, it takes time. I'll link some good sites for vocabulary.

5. Read more fics

A good way to improve your vocabulary, read more fics. You clearly enjoy it, use it to improve yourself. Not only for vocabulary but for the plot, characterization, world-building, etc. Take in the things you want to remember, forget the rest.

6. Copy and paste

Maybe a bad thing to say, but copy and paste things you like. If there's a sentence in a fic or book you like, copy it. Of course, don't just paste it in your fic, but take inspiration out of it. Why do you like it so much? Why does it come over so good? Any words you want to use? Is the structure of the sentence appealing? Think about it, so you can improve your fic. Especially with areas you struggle with, take a look at other works.

7. Smut is scary, but don't be scared to try.

Is smut something you want to write? You don't have to, but if you want, don't be scared. As someone who wrote two smut scenes in her life, I'm struggling, but I'm trying. Take all the tips above this and just try. Things may go terribly wrong, but that's why you're practising.

8. Research research research!

Things like smut, fantasy, minority groups. You can't just write about it without any knowledge, research it. Articles, youtube videos, blogs on tumblr, etc. A simple kiss scene can be difficult if you have no knowledge about it, read people's first kiss stories or something like that. Want to try and write BDSM, read about it on a BDSM blog. Research the heck out of it.

9. Just to say it again. DON'T COMPARE YOURSELF WITH OTHERS.

Just to summarise, you're you, don't try to be someone else. You're writing style isn't worse than someone else's, it's just different. It makes your work recognisable, your text original, your hours of writing easier. Someone told me I can write young people really well, I owned it. Find what you're good at and own it.

Now that I have given you some important tips to start, I'll answer your question. How to go about writing fiction?

Everyone is different first of all, so please don't take my word for it. This is my routine, I just made up.

1. What do you want to write?

Is it your own idea, a prompt, a fic fest, an exchange?

2. What universe does take part in?

Does take place in the real world or a fantasy world? The past, present or future? Realistic or supernatural? Which country?

3. What is the goal?

Are they supposed to be lovers at the end? Do they have to defeat something/someone? A quest? Where do you want to end the story?

4. Where does it start?

Where does your story start? At the birth of your characters? In the future and you work your way back? In the middle? When your important characters meet each other for the first time?

5. What does it take to get from start to finish?

What happens in the story? What developments happen? Is it a road trip and your characters need to get closer, how do they do that?

6. What are some subplots you want to add?

Are there things that don't really matter for your goal, but you want to add? Friends to lovers but maybe they help someone's mom out one day.

7. Who are your characters?

Their personalities, appearances, quirks, relationships.

8. Who is the protagonist?

Who is the story about? Who is the main character?

9. In whose point of view is it?

Who is telling the story? You, the protagonist, the love interest, a random bystander, etc?

10. Outline.

Write down what you want to do with your story. Every scene needs to be written down. You can always change it of course.

11. Write, write and write.

Take all the tips and write.

I want to give you some links I always use. I will also recommend some blogs.

This tool lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept: https://www.onelook.com/thesaurus/

This article about body language: https://www.writerswrite.co.za/cheat-sheets-for-writing-body-language/

This tumblr post about body language: https://badassunicorn2016.tumblr.com/post/145725344712/writing-tip-june-4th

This article for alternatives for 'said': https://owlcation.com/humanities/400-Alternative-words-for-said

This tumblr post about writing smut: https://larryficsvol28.tumblr.com/post/660062510531182592/smut-101-a-tutorial-for-beginners

This tumblr post about how to make smut sound sexy:https://larryficsvol28.tumblr.com/post/658604597068365824/making-smut-sound-sexy

This tumblr post about turning ideas into a story: https://larryficsvol28.tumblr.com/post/659430707796557824/i-get-lots-of-ideas-for-stories-which-are-just

I have some blogs you can follow that talk about writing.

This podcast blog @roseanddaggerpodcast

This blog has a podcast too and some good fic recs @allwaswell16

These writing blogs @ficsex @writingquestionsanswered @bhficfest https://wordsnstuffblog.com/

Some veterans writers and also have some good fic recs @twopoppies @justalarryblog @kingsofeverything @louandhazaf @hershelsue @lululawrence @pocketsunshineharry @fearlesslysweetcreature @indiaalphawhiskey

I hope I could help you a little. In some weird way I helped myself, hehe. I hope you can finally write the story you want. If you ever have any questions, just come by. I don't know if I can always help you, but I'll try!! Good luck!!

#writing tips #mine #I'm so honoured someone would ask me this #I hope I could help #anon asks #asks #I hope there are no typos in this thing #look at me giving advice 😌😌

39 notes · View notes

toujourspur13 · 3 years

Text

The Black family / Walburga Black / canon.

As I said before I do not care that much about canon/fanon/headcanon because transformative works by definition include a wide variety of different interpretations. However, I am forever perplexed when I see uncompromising opinions on the Black family - particularly the unwavering certainty that Sirius Black’s parents were psychotic abusers. All personal opinions aside - why is this so popular?

I mean - it’s absolutely ok to headcanon this version and to play with it - but saying 'don’t you dare say they did not physically and emotionally abuse Sirius' is a little strong, isn’t it?

This is a mystery to me. So…let’s discuss my favourite subject…Again.

Let’s stick to the facts. The frequently cited things proving the abuse in the Black family are as follows:

Sirius said his parents were awful maniacs (pureblood ideology)

he ran away from home

he was severely depressed in OoTP

Kreacher

Portrait

So…when you say that Sirius’s parents were abusive…you mean exactly what? These people got cold feet when they saw the real nature of Voldemort - I guess it somehow implies that they did not share his methods…that they were against violence as a tool to get purebloods in charge.

But then it usually goes this way: ‘well at least he was verbally and emotionally abused by his family’ - but is it so? Is this based on the portrait of Sirius's mother? She insulted strangers who took over her house and her runaway son - how does this prove anything about how Sirius and Regulus were raised and treated when they were kids? I agree it’s rather impolite - jkr did a good job showing how purebloods perceived others ( those below them) -but in all honesty, this has very little to do with Sirius and his childhood.

Why to make Sirius a victim at all? - c’mon he was tougher than this, he spent 12 years in Azkaban; are you actually saying that a portrait throwing insults at everyone is worse? I doubt that. And is it such a surprise that a mother who lost her son (that said son actually ran away and abandoned his duty) would be that furious at him when seeing him again...even if it’s only a portrait...I believe it to be a rather unpleasant experience for a parent when a child runs away.

We already talked about the portrait a lot - I don’t even want to mention it here- - I feel we should rather pay more attention to the fact that Sirius himself was not an angel.

I am not saying the colourful vocabulary of Walburga Black should be used…but Sirius himself upon seeing Snape immediately recognised his weakness and went for it without any hesitation …we are talking about Sirius who in fact was quite a renowned bully ( I mean - we know for a fact that from time to time Sirius and James got carried away)…

And it was Sirius who sent Snape to meet and chat with a real werewolf (yes, I agree - he was not thinking this through - he probably was just vexed and fed up with Snape and thought he wouldn’t go there, would get cold feet or idk run away…But it actually changes nothing. If a drunken driver hits someone it will be 100% his fault whether he means it or not. Whether he is in a fragile mental state or not - such situations are definite. It’s the same with Sirius - even if he did not mean anything bad he should have understood the cost of his mistake - all teenagers make silly things but not all of them send their classmate to meet a werewolf - James thought it not a very good idea as I recall… -

So we see that Sirius was not an angel from the start and I can hardly believe he was a victim by nature. His behaviour loudly manifested that he used to get what he wanted with no thought of the consequences.

And all those pictures of bikini-clad girls on the walls in his room prove that he was quite a spoiled boy who had nothing to fear from mum and dad. Harry himself noticed «Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents». All this shows that Sirius was not afraid of his parents at all. What kind of masochist would suffer for motorbike posters? That would be ridiculous.

Let’s move to Kreacher: If Sirius’s mother had been a monster why even mention her heart? JKR wrote this for a purpose and this heavily implies that Sirius's situation was never meant to be ‘the abusive heartless parents vs the poor helpless victim’.

The fact that Sirius ran away and hence broke his mother’s heart says against the popular idea that he was not loved by his family, that he was always the second one, that they abused him. I’m 100% certain that Kreacher told the truth in that scene. Why would he say something like this if it were not the truth - something like…that his beloved mistress having been so upset over Sirius running away that it broke her heart. Just tell me one reason that would have justified such a lie - why to say this at all?

Then this: “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that’s him.”…. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”

I’ve already said it before - this ‘better son than me’ is exactly what insecure 14-year old kids like to say. Well...he’s a bit older but it’s not as if he had a life and a chance to mature. Moreover, I don’t know if it comes as a great shock but a lot of teenagers like to badmouth their parents…usually, it involves something like ‘those bloody uptight retrogrades know nothing of the real world’ (it fades away when they get closer to thirty).

To be serious, I find that it’s just another example of similarities between Sirius and his mother. They clearly did not know what it means to be composed, polite, and respectful. Yeah…I think that, on the whole, parents are owed their children’s respect (unless they are completely inadequate - somehow I don’t believe this was the case). Someone should teach both of them what mutual respect means. Anyway, there is nothing in this quote that says that Sirius was subjected to any forms of abuse - it’s about how Sirius justified his running away, how he saw the situation.

There’s also the fact that Sirius was incredibly unhappy because he was back at his childhood home and having to spend time around anything that reminded him of his family: “Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters — about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded”.

Here it comes…the severe depression that makes people question the severity of his abuse… I have thought a lot about this because it is the reason why some consider ‘the abusive blacks' canon while others believe it was more of a tragedy of the family rather than the banal brutality.

Of course, Sirius was upset in that house - but I don’t think he suffered the memories of his unhappy childhood - I think he suffered from the strong feeling of guilt. Being in that house meant an everyday reminder that he was a failure. And it’s not even a lie. If you look at his whole life you’ll see that he literally failed everyone in his life: he failed James and Lily - they were dead and he unwillingly became the reason. It was his plan that turned everything into a tragedy.

And, to some extent, he failed Harry- he was not around him like James and Lily would have wanted. Sirius did not give him the real family - he only promised they'd be the one «when it’s all over».

And finally - he failed his parents, his brother, his own family.

Is it possible to live with so much guilt in your heart?

I don't think that Sirius completely forgot who he was born to be. If the family keeps traditions and can trace its existence back in centuries you can't shake it off even if you want. I doubt Sirius switched it off just because he had griffindor friends. He was the last Black - it is tragically poetic that he was once the hope of his family and then this family died with him. If Sirius had heart (and I truly believe he had a heart) he knew exactly what it meant to be trapped in the house that represented the death of his family. A constant reminder that he was the last one.

“The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person”.

I think that the scene when he threw his father's ring away - he threw it away because it was all over for his family. It was the end of the dynasty - and for him it was all over long before he met Bellatrix for the last time.

Well, I admit Sirius' situation is open for wide interpretation but I don’t think the abusive black household is a canon thing - of course, it’s fanon. It makes Sirius a hero who broke the chains when in fact he ended up being a victim of his own life.

You know, it always seems strange to me that fandom when discussing Walburga usually overlooks the simple truth of life - that even if you are clever enough and mean good for your loved ones it is still possible to end up on the losing side, on the dark side. However, mistakes don't automatically turn humans into monsters.

To some extent Sirius’s story represents the consequences of war. No-one is protected; the whole families could be wiped off the face of the earth. It’s a simple yet profound idea. It correlates with the main idea of hp books far better than the ‘abusive psychopaths’ (there are already Voldemort and Bellatrix - there is no-one who can beat them in this department).

All I say - it’s okay to imagine them bad if you want- your right - but don’t write everywhere that it’s canon because it is not.There is no need for such inflexibility especially when it comes to the fandom - a place where everyone should be welcomed and their views on the books be respected.

#the noble and most ancient house of black #hp meta #harry potter #sirius black meta #walburga black #orion black #regulus black #harry potter meta #Order of the Phoenix #Sirius Black

333 notes · View notes

thanks-mike-stamford · 3 years

Text

Fics that inspire my writing - Part II

This is Part II. Read Part I or Part III

Continuing the discussion, I grouped these fics together for something they have in common: author style! It was actually a bit hard choosing them because they are all written by authors who have a distinct style. Something in them that makes you recognise the author right away, that makes you think - oh yes, definitely is a story from this person. When you have a bunch of stories with the same kind of feel, it's hard to choose one to illustrate my point. Tip is: binge read the authors below!

Part II

I Used to Live Alone Before I Knew You by etothepii Back when there wasn't even s2 yet I was already reading stuff from this author. I absolutely love their fics. This one is super interesting, a Good Omens fusion book version - beyond numerous screaming posts on the internet I'm not really familiar with this universe.

Something I like in all their fics and it's worked beautifully in this one is that there's more than it seems under the surface. The characters are not an open book even to the reader, and the narrator (close Sherlock POV) doesn't give all the information. The narrator sometimes doesn't even explain the information we are given. The facts are presented piece by piece, building the layers of a character, making it clear that even if right now, for this story, it's not relevant, this person is a complex human being (or angel. Or demon) that doesn't exist solely for the purpose of the plot. Two factors help with this: the non-linear narrative, that permits we only know a part of someone when it becomes relevant; and the sort of omniscience of Sherlock. I say sort of because yes, he's a demon and he has access to the core of someone. He's able to fish for stuff that happened in someone's life and how they feel about that as a way to build their vulnerability to sin. However, this is not necessarily mind-reading or future prediction. He makes deductions based on the soul, let's put this way. But because he can't use it to predict exactly what is going to happen, he still gets surprised. Because the characters are layered, they are able to be consistent with what we know and yet unexpected, up until the end.

The combination of giving powers to the narrator and using non-linearity is brilliant, working to enhance the themes behind the plot, which are about the complexity of the human soul. I'm working on a WIP that has similar themes and I try to play with these aspects to make it smooth like this story, instead of a philosophical essay using voices of characters. I've tried the non-linear narrative in a published fic, but it didn't have the same level of success in serving the story. Let's see if it goes better when I try again.

What It Is by toyhto This author has two main things going on in their fics: the type of angst that makes you question yourself, and the type of humour that is not really about trying to make you laugh, it's a very weird type of humour. I love weird stuff.

This fic is not Toyhto's best angsty one or best humourous one, but it's one that creates a good mix of both, like a tragicomedy (but without a tragic ending). You have John not knowing how to feel about Sherlock, and Sherlock gambling possibilities on how to fix the situation. It's the narrative that fascinates me. The story keeps its cards close, the reader is often a bit uncomfortable, a bit wrong-footed. You don't know where the story is going (hell, sometimes you don't even know where a scene is going), so you keep hanging up until the end. There's an underlying panic in how characters interact, but it's never hysterical, it's never loud or obnoxious. And then you find yourself snorting in situations that shouldn't have been funny. Life is usually not one genre or the other, so why literature should be? I love that the story never tries to be something (sad, funny, intriguing), and yet it is. It's not easy to pull something like this.

I have a WIP currently on my drive folder where I try to play with this tragicomedy narrative thing. This fic inspires me in trying to keep the reader on their toes all while looking effortless.

Borrowed Ghosts by DiscordantWords DiscordantWords has been out there since 2016 showing how there's more than a way to fix canon. In fact there are multiple ways. This is the author you want to go if you watch the show and think eeh this should have gone a different way. There's probably a story in here which takes the same premise you thought about.

This one is just too incredible. Because it picks up right from a crucial point in canon and said - ok, what if everything still happened, but they actually make sense? For this story consistency is key, and if canon gave us a John Watson making bad decisions while nursing an unreliable brain work, that's what you get. But make it make sense! This is what happens when you are on a roll of bad decisions, this story tells me. This is what happens when you're isolated from what before kept you on track. This is what happens when on top of everything your mind is playing you tricks: they don't just stop because you decided to. That's not how it works. This story acknowledges the bad stuff, but to fix them it doesn't propose miracles, and it definitely doesn't ignore them. We get the consequences but we also get the process of change that is necessary for things to be good once again. Like John says: there's a difference between wishing something happened differently and wishing it hadn't happened at all. But it did happen, so now what?

Make it canon divergence but character consistency and twist it to fix it, it's what inspires me in this fic.

The Ancillus's Tale by Chryse I reiterate that everything by Chryse is a must, but everyone that follows me on twitter had to deal with me constantly gushing about their most recent work for months, so it will be this one here. I just have a lot of feelings about this fic. Oh, yes, omegaverse again, inspired by The Handmaid's Tale.

The one aspect that comes to my mind when I think about Chryse's works is dark themes. If I want to read about fucked up stuff happening, I will go to them. And this particular fix has fucked up stuff from the first to the last chapter. And it's very immersive: you get inside the head of whoever is POV at the moment, Sherlock or John. You get their physical reactions, their thoughts, you know what they know. And the world building is on point: detailed enough that is totally credible, you can see reality becoming that way, but it's not described to exhaustion. We are presented the info about what we need to know, and rest is there, somewhere at your peripheral vision where you know it exists but it doesn't become a nuisance to the plot. But more important than that, it's how the dark themes are treated. It's never on black or white situations, surprisingly, despite the universe setting. The characters especially - they are allowed to have conflicted feelings, they are allowed to misbehave even if they are supposed to be on the good side, they have nuance and complexity. And the cherry on top: just because it has a dark premise, it doesn't mean it can't have a super satisfying happy ending that even brings comfort to the soul after letting it being hurt. We get snippets of comfort, the promise it's going to happen all along the fic, to compensate the extreme suffering the characters are going through. It's glorious.

I have been toying with the idea of writing something on the dark side. In fact my next multi chapter is super fucked up (but as always, with the certainty of a happy ending), and I hope it can see the world soon. I'm writing with this premise in mind: characters are allowed to have conflicted feelings, and they are allowed to misbehave, that won't make them the bad guys.

This was part II! If you missed part I, just click here. Part III is up!

#johnlock #sherlock fanfic #hoverseas talks about fic

48 notes · View notes

bakubabes-and-ramble · 3 years

Text

Headcanon: The Gundalian culture is based on individualism, the Neathian culture is based on collectivism

Race interpretation part one: Neathia

Summary: The Neathian culture is built on the core values of communities and collective thinking. While conformity within the society is of a high level, they pursue a 'closed gate' diplomacy towards other races - resulting in a 'bubble' phenomenon and becoming vulnerable to losing their sense of belonging. Centralised urban system, with regional reciprocity and redistribution, whereby the Queen plays a coordinator role, and exists as a unifying symbol along with the military.

(Wall-of-text warning ; with block-breaker illustrations, but a huge amount of information ahead.)

Okay, this topic is something I was thinking about for a long time, and I finally hit the point to collect my thoughts and write them down. I've seen a lot of people trying to build up/further and enrich the cultural and social-political features of the alien races we've seen in the series (namely Vestals, Neathians and Gundalians), and I felt some inspiration to put my take on these things into words.

It's not only intriguing to try one's hand on the world-further-building, but I felt, I have to explain how I imagine the build-up of the Neathian and Gundalian culture and society to make the story of the 'Neathian Special Squad' ('NSS') more understandable 'symbolically' and from the aspect of a 'cultural clash'. /For those, who follow the NSS: This is something that definitely happens later on, you just don't know about it yet./

I have to put a small disclaimer here: This entire piece of writing was conspired out of fun and passion towards the series. It was not meant to be a 100% professor approved scientific research, but a seemingly logical untangling of my personal train of thoughts concerning the fantasy creatures of the third season. And this means, there is going to be some personal opinion mixed in as well (especially at the rewriting parts).

I wish the readers to enjoy reading it regardless. You are always free to disagree or not to take it seriously. :) To me, headcanonizing and imagining things always meant to be fun.

Side note: I'll add canon elements as examples or refer to the events of Gundalian Invaders, although I have to admit, I'll do this mostly from memory. So If I get anything wrong, or just remember incorrectly, you are welcome to add-in or correct me! :)

Season: Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders (and Mechtanium Surge)

Language: English dub

Okay, let's go!

Gundalian Invaders - Slightly rewritten

The first and foremost reason I actually started writing this post, is because I had some issues with the characterisation of the Gundalians and Neathians in the third season. One side is depicted blatantly, purposelessly and one-dimensionally evil, while the other is portrayed to be the goodie-two-shoes victims with no backlashes. I wanted to swing over this simplicity and make an attempt at explaining, how I imagined these races to function. These interpretations were explored with the intention of both keeping the main features of the races, staying canon-compliant where possible, but change canon elements/propose ideas to turn the races into interesting (and on a theoretical level functioning) societies.

For these added or assumed ideas to work, some lore elements have to be changed or removed: For example the way Bakugan got to be on the planets. For this explanation see: a further point below.

This post discusses only Neathia for now. (Gundalia will probably get it's own post, as there is much more canon-divergence to be talked about.)

Neathians

1. The beginnings and core values

Due to the power of the Sacred Orb, almost the entire planet have relished in a lush fertility since the beginnings. (And this is why there are huge plants in their jungles. The wildlife also experienced a great upsurge by the life-force of the Orb.) This prosperity quickly enabled the Neathian race to organize into a peaceful and sharing society, because the wars over resources became redundant and unnecessary. The established racial mindset reallocated the focus from the individual needs to the communal efforts, and gives a ground for the Neathian values and collective thinking up to even the days of the season.

Neathians think mainly in groups: Let those be pairs (e.g. Fabia and Jin as fiancés; Linus and Neo Zipperator as brawling partners), teams (Neathian Special Squad; Friendship circles), communities (Castle Knights), and the biggest of them all, their entire race. These are all bigger or smaller communities within communities, and they play a major role in how Neathians perceive the world and themselves. Being in these relationship structures defines their place, grants them their basic mental frame, which they are able to think in, and not only their resources, but also their goals are shared with each other. This kind of goal assimilation is what makes them really efficient team players, and also provides them a strong social support from a mentalhygiene perspective. This important role of the sense of belonging makes Neathians both empowered while being in close social constructs , and extremely susceptible to losing these connections.

Thinking like this, when Fabia lost her fiancè or Linus lost Neo, their grief extended further than their deaths or the traumatic events. Losing strong bonds like these put Neathians in a technical identity crisis, as it is a part of their personal perception and mental frame which were dismantled through these events. We have seen Fabia going to extremes to retrieve Aranaut - and to retrieve that part of her, which was lost with Jin. Just as when Rubanoid was handed to Linus, a new connection was formed to either replace or continue the old one in a different form. Fabia's communal bonds were successfully restored, when she also became a member of the brawlers.

The Neathian society is based on caring and cooperation to achieve a collective well-being. This is why communities play such a major role in their self-perception and world-perception.

2. Open-sources, but enclosed diplomacy

For most part, I've always imagined the Neathian race as an although proud and generous, but closed society. They share commodities with each other - within their society -, but it is very important, that only within it. The outside world (meaning outside of their habited planet) is fundamentally shut out of these transactions.

I often refer to this phenomenon of enclosedeness as the 'Neathian bubble':

Not only their mindset operates in closed communities, but their diplomacy too. They are generally passive towards other races, missing trust and a reason to pick up the communication /Up until the Gundalians came and the war started/. This perspective could be applied to understand, why could they be more insistent on and better at operating defensive mechanisms (layered shield generator), than initiating communication with the rest of the universe (Unlike Gundalians, Neathians have no ships or bigger means of transportation. Yes, teleportation is accessible for them, but I don't think they use it that often outside of Neathia.)

I treat this as an explanation for why Neathia had only asked for outside help after the second shield generator went down - the situation became desperate and already being involved in the conflict, it was time to try and reach out for aid. According to these headcanons, I also think, Serena wasn't putting - or at least shouldn't have put - faith in the Brawlers so easily. The reason they weren't tested to prove their trustworthiness further than one question, is because she trusted Fabia's judgement. Without the support of a Neathian, outlanders are almost automatically dismissed. Their (or their Queen's) empathy and compassion may overwrite this code, but even by then they have to be made certain by proving the cause.

Just as when Fabia accepted Ren, because she had seen how much he tried to prove himself. Winning Neathians’ trust is supposed to be a big and determining moment, because they ‘internalise’ you into their scoiety.

Neathians are capable of empathy and kindness (this is something they actively practice among each other), even towards outsiders, they just need time and proof to accept them. Trust is just not automatic towards them, and even so they keep their distance until they get used to it.

3. Personal paralel counterparts - Night elves and the Highborne of WoW

When I think about Neathians, I often put them into paralel with the Night elves and the Highborne from World of Warcraft. For most part, I use their artistic motives, architecture, fashion and cultural approach as an inspiration for Neathians, as they are recognised as 'The pretty space elves' in my book too.

Beside the above mentioned, what could be imported from their WoW counterparts is a rather matriarchal social apparat. For example, Neathians traditionally having a Queen, and women being present in the military or in higher positions, playing important roles. //Just as by the Night elves leadership, religious and military roles being traditionally occupied by women (priestesses, wardens, sentinels).//

Another elven impression, which is more or less universal, is their sense of pride (I like to say it as the expression of 'Neathian pride '). Highborne in World of Warcraft are a quite prestigious race and are usually said to be a little 'aristocratic'. I can imagine the Neathians being lightly less, but somewhat similar on these terms, when it comes down to interacting with their own or other races: For example being proud of their appearance (Emphasizing their unique V-shaped forehead with adequate clothing and accessories), structuring buildings and constructs based on aesthetic instead of real functionality (using diamond as the main material of construction, structuring buildings with elegant but futuristic shapes), or being confident and showing immovable standing and opinion on things (towards outsiders).

As far as I know, the Warcraft elves used to be similarly passive and uninitiative - even mistrusting - towards other races too. And in this, it played part, that they also had exclusive access to a powerful source of power and prosperity, the Well of Eternity (an almost one-on-one counterpart to the Sacred Orb).

While the half-tribal connections of the Night elves derive from their ancient bonds with nature and druidism, the Neathian society feels more likely being based on a futuristic envisionment of these social relations. A civilisation that perfectly blends technology (teleportation technology, communication devices) with classic fantasy elements (knights), while still remaining tribal in the core (shared communality is just put into a modern environment). /Although I like to lean more into the fantasy setting, the technical advancement is undeniable there./

4. Overall economy

If we wanted to negotiate about their economy, I would say reciprocity and localised redistribution are the dominant mechanisms of it. The basic definition of economy builds on the premise of distribution of scarce resources. In this case, resources are not scarce, in fact, due to the Orb they are very much prosperous and renewing. This accessibility discounts the value of the traditional market trading, and supports the establishment of semi-centralised recollection and redistribution. The semi-centralisation here means regional production and consumption, whereby the accomodation of the population happens mainly territorialy, but these regional centres still have a connection to each other and the capitol. This economy is based on caring and well-being, and the high level of conformity and trust within the collective society results in a lack of currency usage (so, my headcanon is basically, that they don't use money).

5. Urbanisation and territorial layout

The reason we talk about a more physical apsect of the planets, is because the core values of the races both play a role, and mutually affect how I imagine their civilised hubs being developed. Communities form hubs and cities with strong connections - just like their society!

When I mentioned localised redistribution, I was also refering to the urban structure of the Neathian planet. Important to note, that Neathia is not just a city, or a country - just like Gundalia, it's the entire planet. What we've seen in the show is the capital of their urban system - which makes sense to be technically built around / in the immediate enclosure of the Sacred Orb, for it's the source of the relishing power. Assuming this, along the capital there could be a centralised territorial layout with rural areas (cities, villages), and untouched wilderness (due to the overflourishing flora and fauna; the urbanisation doesn't affect the entirety of the planet, there are a lot of uninhabited/uncharted areas).

Here is a simple schematic illustration of the above.

The rural hubs not having physical connection with other centres due to the dangerous and untamable wilderness (see: Giant plants in the show) could have lead to the advancement of the teleportation technology. The cities are connected through this port-system, and also with the capital, which serves as the centre of the network.

6. The role of the queen and the military

The main purpose of the current Queen is an overall governance with the direct help of a council consisting of the local leaders of the hubs. The queen bears not only a political, but a symbolical importance to the people. The concept of the Queen is a unifying symbol, someone who watches over the nation. The Neathians can stand behind her and being represented by her. But it's important to note, that her status is not as glorified as to be a despotic being, and her power is not extending much further than overall policies, diplomatic representation and helping the transactions of the local leaderships. There is much more power and independence shifted into the regional governance, rendering the Queen's position to be an effective coordinator between them and unifier, who keeps the nation together. /Still thinking about the way the queen is chosen/comes to the throne, but I had the idea of the next Queen being elected by the current Queen, so the order of succession is not based on the Queen’s family, nor being a community vote of the people./

The peace-oriented existence in itself doesn't require a military to exists, therefore I treat the Castle Knights as a mainly defensive organisation. This military serves as Neathia's defenders, bearing symbolic and community building purposes. Among the Castle Knights - just as the name itself suggests - the traditional medieval knight values show up primarily, such as loyality, humility, courage, faithfulness and the act of mercy. In their comprehension, being a Castle Knight is an act of service towards their country and the Queen, and is not mainly for warfare reasons. (To some extent, I assume martial arts and other forms of fighting - even brawling - is essentially a spiritual activity, which they pursue in order to keep their inner- and physical balance.)

As we've seen it the show, I assume the Palace also functions as the military's operation base. The head of the military is the current commander (formerly Jin, recently Elright), and under them operate several divisions with captains as division leaders. The separate divisions are Physical Fighting (both with weapon, like those defensive shock-sticks the guards are using - formerly offensive melee weapons until the fall of NSS - and hand-to-hand combat, e.g. used by Fabia), Technical staff (operating the shield generators and overseeing their areas) and Bakugan Brawling (this headcanon part is still under construction, but Elright used to be the former leader of this, and the reason he was promoted to commander after Jin’s death, is because the Neathians' realisation of the war swinging in favor of the Bakugan fights, so it was logical to put him as the next 'general leader'). /There may be other divisions outside of these, I just put out some ideas here./ Every guard receives education to some extent in all of these fields, but they end up specialising in something.

//The Neathian Special Squad (NSS) had it’s own divison under Captain Pyrehart, they were a special strike team with a unusual task: Staggering, forcing back or just divide the Gundalian leadership’s attention from focusing on their assault. Basically poking them with melee weapons until they either go away, or can’t concentrate on helping their Bakugan on the field and their monsters get defeated. According to the story - made up by me of course - after a tragedic mission this unit wasn’t restored, and the war effort shifted onto long-range fighting with Bakugan, Gear and Bakugan Assaults.//

7. So...where are the Bakugan?

They have been mentioned here and there, but I'm sure, whoever made it this far into this theorising information dump, may wonder at this point: 'But what about the Bakugan?'

My simplest answer is, that I firmly want to believe, both Gundalia and Neathia had a civilised and established culture before the Bakugan appeared there.

According to the original lore, Bakugan existed on the planets since almost the beginnings. Now, this is part of those lore bits I would definitively change during a rewrite: I want to believe, Bakugan only appeared in their very recent history, almost as recently, as on Earth and Vestal itself.

Perhaps a Bakugan lore- and GI rewrite explanation deserved it's own post, but for the further understanding allow me to explain here a little: A similar event of raining cards - what the first season started with - occured on Neathia and Gundalia too, caused by the dimensional boom of Michael Gehabich and his transporter. The twist on this - and the effective solution to the problem of possible timeline inconsistencies - is that although the explosion caused this interference at one point in time, across cosmos and universes time flows differently. So technicaly the result of it - the raining cards and Bakugan being transported into the particular worlds - could happen at different point of their relative times - even years earlier or later! On Neathia and Gundalia it could happened a few years before on Earth, which covers most of the questions of the timeline-consistency /such as Ren being assigned to watch over Linehalt as a child etc./

Bakugan coming to these places has only an added effect: Just as on Earth, they are not (yet?) integrated into the society and culture of the planets so deeply to be any kind of pillar of their existence or basic civilisation. There could be a start (as having specialised researches, technology revolving around Bakugan, taking part in the war,..) regarding this internalisation process, but it still runs on the surface, and not in the 'veins' of the culture.

I hope this breakdown made sense in some form or another. I just felt an urge to pour out the content of my head. Looking back,this became longer and more detailed, than I originally intended, while also surely missing things because there is no worldbuilding without holes or further questions. The attempt to lay down the basics was made regardless haha!

As always, feel free to disagree and follow your own visions concerning the races and worldbuilding. :) This post was made to reflect back my personal interpretation of Neathians - just for fun and thinking out loud.

For the very end, I leave a disclamer here, which was supposed to go at the beginning, but it felt redundant to put there, so here it is:

I tried to approach it from a more sociological side, as focusing on a bigger, overall picture, common features, than create exact statements. (I would rather call this a speculation regarding the features of the races themselves, their core values, common attitudes, mindset - and this doesn't mean other questions are fully out of the picture. We are just discussing things, which can be derived from the features of the society itself, and make up a more or less coherent chain of thought for now. Other 'for fun' or miscellaneous headcanons, like fashion or physical traits will be covered another time.)

Thank you for coming to this TED mambling!

#bakugan #gundalian invaders #neathia #gundalia #headcanon #long post #text #bumblispeaks

58 notes · View notes