Y'all

I need y'all to hear me out for a sec

LISTEN

Anyways the post that started it all

Aaaand a little extra context pff

Oh, the balloon squad suggestion anon (me) wasn’t the journalism anon. Idk it was just a desire on my part, And I probably overstepped. I like how you write a lot and I just had the idea... I think I though about that because your evens, they tend to be rather sociable (not always though), but somewhat distant of the people they hang around with, minus Isak. I’ve always thought of even, because of the balloon boys presence and their interactions in the video and on SM and so on, as someone who..

Is not sociable and friendly but distant, but more involved in his fiends life’s. But then again, I’m overstepping because everyone interprets the characters they use and recreate differently and every representation is valid. As to writing Muslim characters... why shouldn’t you? You don’t have to be a member of the community to write them as characters. You’re not a Norwegian gay man. As long as you’re respectful and willing to learn and take feedback into account...

you didn’t overstep, and i appreciate your interest. and i did ask for guidance; i just want to make sure i know who i’m talking to in case i get conflicting suggestions for the same story.

and that’s correct, my evens are polite and charismatic but they have kept people at a distance, whether it’s because of something that’s happened in the past or because he is trying to protect them/himself from pain he might inadvertently cause. because we saw it in canon and because i identify with it so completely, it’s a challenge for me to write him otherwise.

but that’s the point of my writing i suppose, to challenge myself and improve on it, in order to graduate to my own characters and worlds. and it just so happens that this challenge, adding more prominent friendships for even, fits the very vague plot for magic eight ball. i need to be able to show even outside of their work environment, show how he interacts with people who are not isak nor isak’s friends, who might influence even’s behavior and isak’s interpretation of it. at some point isak needs to be able to see even as an independent human being, even in his own environment, so isak can see how he can be part of that too (the whole “friends” part of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers).

so, like, there is room for your suggestion here. and there’s always room to expand on what canon seemed to gloss over or sideline. not that the fallout and development of even’s friendships was reduced, since it made sense to me, but with the AU i can figure out how i might want to expand on that evolution or ignore it completely and put a more steady relationship in its place.

as for understanding, interpreting, and writing muslim characters, i don’t think i’m in a place where i can do that respectfully and in-depth. in this case, since it was a requested character inclusion, i knew the expectations for the character were higher than usual, which is why i was asking for more details. it’s certainly easy enough to keep a character vague, relying on a common understanding, to avoid misrepresenting them, but i couldn’t do that with the balloon squad because so little of that was done in the first place. i’m more comfortable writing sana because the work was already done to define her relationship with her culture, religion, and norwegian society. i know less about the balloon squad and would have to build that with very little knowledge (and thus much more...room...to fuck it up).

i’ve also noticed that even though i constantly ask for feedback, i rarely make changes based on it unless they are pointing out factual/grammatical errors. i ask for feedback and then don’t respect it. i am very worried that i would write something offensive and be called out for it, but because i’m so defensive about my own work, so insecure with my worldview, i would then reduce someone’s criticism to merely a personal preference and ignore it.

i mean, i’ll certainly try to write them. it’s important representation and an interesting dynamic. but, my own insecurities aside, i’ve also been paying attention to the #ownvoices movement, an attempt to have marginalized characters written by people who have experienced that marginalization in a quest for accurate representation and authenticity. it’s a slightly flawed movement, with rules that end up policing the very voices they intended to empower, and a publishing industry that is painfully white, but that, combined with the skam remakes fandom’s pursuit of realism in their story retellings, makes me feel like i should not risk telling someone else’s story if i am likely to do it incorrectly. i do not want to make the muslim representation that skam established even worse. this has obviously already happened and people are very vocal about these issues, so i am afraid of making the same mistake that i’ve already made in that arena.

so to sum up this long-ass disclaimer: thank you for your suggestion. i will attempt to include some of those characters as friends of even. i consider it a great responsibility, so clearly fear is my number one motivation at this point. but i’ll try.

and as a sidenote: everyone can tell a white man’s story because their story is the one we have all experienced for most of...history. a white man’s perspective is the default so you are born qualified to tell it, until further notice.

Some doodles of my silly little au,,

Sooo how's Dexter doing in Friendly Fiends? I'm assuming he's still human/not happy fella'd but does he know who Skid and Pump are at all?

A: Yep! Dex is fine in this AU! Y'know, since Moloch never had a reason to possess him...

A: As for Skid and Pump... he's probably seen them around town! I can imagine the kids talking to him from time to time!

Fun fact Skid's dad is alive in the Friendly Fiends AU!! I had a silly idea with him that kinda involves one of my theories with him/the cult, and a lot of weird time-related stuff.

I mean he's an antagonist so he'd count right? Plus I just like the idea and think it fits the more lighthearted and silly tone of the AU

a question about your sm friendly fiends au, did moloch find father Gregor? did Gregor try to exorcize him?

OH I'm surprised people remember that AU,, I haven't touched it in a while (I should probably return to it,, I had so many ideas)

In this AU Moloch doesn't have any personal vendetta against Gregor or anyone for that matter. In fact, he doesn't know Gregor at all (I kinda just assumed that, canonically, Moloch knows Gregor's name because he's a demon and he can do that). However I imagine once Gregor sees the kids hanging around the demon it will provoke an exorcism by which Moloch would try to escape (with Skid and Pump trying desperately to convince Gregor to leave Moloch alone).

Moloch would probably manage to escape or at least hide until the threat subsided. (As a side note, Moloch can go to and from Hell or wherever it is he comes from via the Ouija Board because in this AU the initial summoning was successful, not botched. He'd likely use this to his advantage and take to the Ouija Board to escape until Gregor left.)

In the long term, Gregor would mainly be an obstacle for Moloch to avoid. Maybe over time they'd gain a rivalry? I think it'd be an interesting concept...

"Dad?! I thought you were dead!"

"Maybe in some timeline!"

I am tired and this just popped into my brain, apologies

HELP YES

Skidad with the omnipresent knowledge of other timelines (therefore knowledge of other AUs perhaps 👀)

Okay but now I'm imagining an alternate version of Hollow Sorrows where Moloch has already fled in the Ouija Board when Father Gregor arrives at Lila's house, so Skid and Pump try to scare him off themselves and. fail at it kdjnksjn

They ultimately end up hiding the ouija board in Skid's room because they don't want to chance Gregor finding it and taking it, and right before Gregor checks Skid's room, Lila comes home

OHH OMG ur a genius for this actually,, I never considered alternate timeline-ing the eps but I love that idea pff (and now I'm getting more ideas)

BUT YEAH!! It's the whole chase sequence from Hollow Sorrows minus the random possessions but let's be fr Moloch would still end up destroying a few things in his path,, he's a pretty bulky and strong guy after all (RIP Pelo he still gets crushed under the Candy Club wall)

Also in that one scene where Moloch's like 'let me hide in your bodies', instead it's Skid and Pump (while being aware of Moloch's ability to possess people) suggesting he possesses them. But Moloch refuses because he doesn't want to hurt the boys. With Gregor closing in he gets desperate and runs for the Ouija Board. Skid follows Moloch and grabs the Ouija Board while Pump stays behind to distract Gregor til Skid gets back to join him and the sequence goes as you say.

I can just imagine Lila getting pissed that Gregor tried to break in and look through her shit while being completely unaware of the situation, but this would still end in Gregor scolding Lila for being irresponsible and leaving her son in the care of a demon while she was out drinking. (Though I imagine Lila still left Skid with the Wonder's. In this instance, Skid and Pump probably left to grab the Ouija Board and summon Moloch and maybe they went out looking for Bob on the way too? I'm still tryna figure out if Bob is dead or alive at this point in the AU but I'm leaning toward him being alive,, Except he'd prolly be at work and unable look after the kids pff)

ALSO I was thinking of Devilworship in the context of Friendly Fiends and Skid and Pump would ADORE Mortis

HOUGH this has been sitting in my inbox for ages I'm so sorry for the late reply qwq

BUT YEAH DEFINITELY!! I just know they'd love learning about what Mortis does,, just don't tell them he doesn't get along well with Moloch pff

Though Mortis definitely would have to draw a line in what he can/can't show Skid and Pump. He wouldn't want to traumatise the poor kids with an exorcism, though they would enjoy it more than Mortis would think

As for Devilworship in the context of the AU,, I think Bob and Mortis would babysit the kids sometimes, as much as both of them dislike kids. But y'know they make an exception for the spooky boys. Skid and Pump would definitely see them as parental figures!! Like uncles or smthn