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dana-chan-the-control-brain · 3 years

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Hey, did you saw the film theory on Invader Zim on Membrane that Low-key makes sense

NO. IT. DOESN’T!

Okay, maybe this is my personal bias shining through, because I really don’t like Mattpatt sometimes... No. Okay, I have nothing against the guy personally. More frankly, I don’t like his fanbase or the way he structures his videos.

The way Mattpatt words and structures his videos acts like he’s the first person who thought of this idea, it’s the main contributor to why I stopped watching his videos a long time ago.

He speaks in a lot of rhetorics and strawman arguments rather than just saying what he wants to say. Like “If you don’t believe me... look no further then...” and that’s the one thing I ABSOLUTELY HATE on theory videos.

And some of Mattpatts own theories he doesn’t take seriously, but this is what you get when you base your INCOME off of youtube ad revenue and browse the reddit forums for new ideas. A completely monopolized way of theorizing. (and this is why there are several paragraphs in my current chapter of Tech Support of Zim’s Computer complaining about the concept of youtube entertainment in general.)

Sure, I don’t think Mattpatt will run out of theories... but I really hate the structure of his videos follows along strawman arguments, acting like he’s always arguing with an imaginary audience for entertainment value rather than just say what he wants to say.

That, and people will often cling to theories of someone with good editing software and a youtube channel then Their own opinions.

Something that I learned was incredibly dangerous to do. I learned my lesson with “That Guy with the Glasses dot com” and I don’t plan to act like I know something or am better than someone else cause I agree with someone who said something on youtube once.

I do watch Internet reviews and theory videos for entertainment, but that’s all they are to me. I don’t like to watch youtube videos to give me opinions on how I feel about things. And I seriously think a wide margin of his subscribers lack critical thinking skills at times, as well as a majority of the youtube audience, or from what I’ve seen in the comment section.

However, remember... These are just my thoughts on the matter... My thoughts are not law and I never claim them to be.

Like when I first joined the fandom and posed my GIR analysis questions... I even said:

“I don’t know if the fandom has talked about this in depth or not... I just got here... or if someone put it into this many words before but...”

Also... the thing that bothers me about his Invader Zim theory...

A lot of Mattpatt’s sources are just..... Wrong...

(for the next few minutes I will be talking about this video, feel free to watch or don’t)

Okay.. “Membrane is an Irken” this has been a popular fan theory since before I even entered the fandom and there are old fics about this. I have read Irken Membrane stories before.

It’s not personally my cup of tea, but it’s fun to think about.

But the straws Mattpatt grasps in his video.... Really upset me because there is some thought to the theory back in the day.. ... Like back in 2002??? but like.... NOW?!

Okay, I’ll pick apart this a little... bit by bit...

He says that Membrane takes a hard stance against anything paranormal.

Kinda... but no.. Membrane never outright denies the existence of aliens. (except in ETF... which he mainly says out of frustration...) This is what Membrane says about “there are no aliens” in the show:

Membrane just says that there are no “intelligent” aliens...None that are able to travel the massive distance to Earth, anyways... If aliens existed at all, (like the cryptoids Dib talks of) they would have traveled the distance to the planet and communicated with them by now.

However, this is a nitpick of a minor issue. One that a majority of the fandom tends to overlook when viewing Professor Membrane and Dib’s relationship in general.

And I do find it weird that he used this for evidence when he cut out the most important snippet from the full lecture he gives Dib here.... JUST to support his claim... as if he’s intentionally leaving that part out.... hmmmm

However, I can let this slide, because it’s a nitpick and really doesn’t change anything that Membrane is very dissuasive of Dib’s alien-hunting hobbies. (I have a theory as to why and I explain it here in my own way)

The point is, Membrane is dismissive of anything alien... maybe because he’s an Irken...okay, good, yes. fair.

A lot of Mattpatts claims from then on are pretty solid, and I won’t bunk them with “But in my headcanon/Fanfic verse...” Because what he is saying is all true.

Membrane denying the existence of aliens even after being taken to space jail doesn’t have much of an explanation and is played for comedy and there are many ways you can go with this, and I am not going to bring up my fanfics or my own headcanons to argue with him here.

Because there is no explanation, and he is going with the “Membrane is Irken” theory... So that’s very solid when he’s talking about Membrane denying the Hallucinations.

Mattpatt claimed that Membrane wore his face covering at all times and had been dressed this way since he was a child.

I will not deny this. This is true.

However, isn’t bringing up Membrane’s childhood kinda put a hole in your own argument?

MEMBRANE WAS A CHILD.

He had been shown to have childhood memories in the comics and the show.

Irkens don’t really have a “Childhood” per say, at least not in the way that humans do. They are a smeet, then elite, then Invader..

If he’s claiming that Membrane came to earth as an Irken SMEET....How, why, and when?

That kinda raises more questions than it answers.... What are you proving by bringing up Membrane’s baby pictures on Earth exactly? It kind of works against your own argument?

Saying that they’re Irken because they all have the same hair.... that’s just stupid... and he’s citing the Invader Zim wiki on this .... oh boy.

Yeah, Like before I watched the show I thought Dib and Disguised Zim were the same character or brothers...

But I don’t think character design here is a solid enough reason in this case... At least not when it comes to the hairstyles... That’s a stretch.

“Hmmm Membrane’s hair forms an M shape... What could the M stand for? Mirken?! SUSPICIOUS!” (this is just a joke)

Also... the lack of ears thing... He did say it would be hard for Membrane to hear if his headpiece was covering his ears, but not necessarily... The entire thing is a headset and he is the man of science, he can really do whatever the fuck he wants cause Science is like magic in a show like this. So if Membrane wears a headset that doesn’t obstruct his hearing at all, I can buy it... Also.. it’s equally possible his ears got blown off in a chem lab accident or he’s legally deaf and that headset acts as a hearing aide and HELPS him hear...

Actually, I always noticed how in Membrane’s original design from the show, the headset looked a lot like a hearing aid. Specifically one with a head clip, It’s one of the things I first noticed about his design in the show.

And it’s just something I always assumed because he’s a scientist who deals with explosions in his face on a daily basis... (in fact he experiences one in episode 2B) So on first viewing, I thought that his headset served as a hearing aid as well as prescription glasses and a communication device.

I’m just throwing out possibilities because the “lack of ears” is also kinda a stretch.

Mattpatt complaining about “lack of nose” however... Okay, yeah I’ll give him that one. It’s a character design choice that is a little odd for Professor Membrane, but it does fit with the Irken theory, since a majority of human characters, in fact, all have noses. So, Yes the “lack of nose” does fit more into the Irken theory.

However.... Florpus anime Membrane DOES have a nose...

Meant to be drawn in a more semi-realistic artsyle, you can clearly see the bridge of his nose here.

And he looks very similar to anime Dib... Sooooo... Shrug-city...

It’s likely that Membrane not having a nose in the show is simply a stylistic choice than anything else. Basically, the bridge of the nose is there... we just don’t see it.

Especially since Nightmare Membrane has a nose as well..

Membrane is like Home Improvement’s Wilson. We will never see his face, and that’s part of the gag. The man probably sleeps in his labcoat honestly...

I also find the voice pattern thing a bit of a stretch. Membrane and Zim are just eccentric characters who yell to emote or emphasize a point or emote stronger. And Membrane’s inflections are never the same as Zim’s.

Remember, no other Irken TALKS like Zim. Professor Membrane doesn’t really go around screaming: “I AM PROFESSOR MEMBRANE” either.....

If anything... it just kinda proves both characters have auditory processing issues or hearing problems more then anything.

And there is a lot of screaming on this show.... Screaming from Dib, screaming from Membrane, Screaming from GIR, screaming from Zim... Screaming is funny... and characters scream so much that the characters with their mouths wide open is somewhat a staple of the show.

This is more because of Johnen Vasquez’s voice direction...

Especially since no other Irken really talks like Zim..

Zim’s manor of Speach is strictly a Zim thing and not an Irken thing.

Professor Membrane’s manner of speech is simply a Membrane thing and not a human thing.

I will give Mattpatt that. That a lot of tech in the show looks similar to Membrane’s. I feel this is mostly a stylistic choice, but it really does fit in with the Irken theory.

Like that Zim just so happens to use the same operating system as Dib is played off as a joke. But it does add some small credence to the theory here... I need to point out when he does get it right... some pats on the back.

These are very good points and does follow through with what he’s trying to prove by the end of the day.

(even if Membrane was lying about the destruction of all mankind with the beans thing, but that’s a minor nitpick here)

But his entire paragraph comparing Membrane’s tech to Irken tech is a really good one. Props there.

This whole paragraph about there being only Tall or short irkens cause their society is height based and there are no “medium-sized” irkens....cause they were “dealt with”

Okay.

....

Sure Mattpatt. Let’s just entirely ignore the existence of the Frylord and this entire character even though you mentioned it in the synopsis at the start of your video... Showing that Taller irkens are in positions of power against the shorter, also... Zim is a tiny irken... there are many Irkens that stand taller then Zim.

Being tall in Irken society is a rarity, and Almighty Tallest Purple said that he and Red “became” the Tallest. How? We don’t know, but we do know at one point the current Tallest looked like this:

How do Irkens get that Tall? Body modifications? Maybe... it’s never explained, but considering the Frylord is super big and probably eats a lot of snacks might have something to do with it. We don’t know.

It’s safe to say that being Tall in their society is a rarity and Tallests are either born or made special from the cloning chamber from the get go.

Not to mention, Membrane is Taller than the current Tallest are already...

and you said earlier in the video that Membrane would have gone to Earth as a child...

When he was no taller than a wrapped Christmas box of socks...

So why would Membrane take refuge on Earth at this point? Mattpatt says that Membrane was sent on a mission to Earth because the Tallest felt threatened by his rule...

BY MEMBRANE’S RULE?!?

HE’S THE SIZE OF A CHRISTMAS BOX OF SOCKS!

What do they have to be threatened by?

Because... Mattpatt DID bring up Membrane as a child earlier in the video... meaning Membrane came to earth when he was about the same size as Zim.

SO THEY HAD NOTHING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT AND HAD NO EVIDENCE TO BELIEVE MEMBRANE WOULD GROW TO BE TALL ORE EVEN VIEW HIM AS A THREAT

You bunked your own argument. Congradulations.

Membrane conquered the world through his inventions. In a way, sure. Membrane Labs does own a lot of stuff. But he doesn’t own everything. A majority of the Corporations that keep the population stupid usually don’t have anything to do with Membrane Labs and aren’t affiliated at all.

But this does fit into the “Membrane is an Irken” theory so I will give him that one.

However, Membrane being an evil corporate dictator is a hot take I never really appreciate at all and I can never get behind it.

It hits too close to home in the real world, and I always like to view Membrane as a self-made man and a World loving hippie at his core who just wants to make the world a better place, much like his son, but he actively does something about it. (which can also be why he encourages Dib with real science so much cause he knows Dib wants to save the Earth as much as he does)

Just calling Membrane a capitalist billionaire that doesn’t care about the little guy kinda seems disingenuous towards his character for me.

Especially when Membrane in “Ten Minutes to Doom” created a machine (foodio) that completely end world hunger... which was in BETA in the unreleased episode...

but by the time the movie rolls around... Foodio exists... past his BETA, meaning that he’s probably no expensive than a common household microwave and can materialize food from nothing:

Yeah. Membrane completely ended world hunger off-screen. thanks. (something no capitalist would ever do...)

Membrane also does appearances for charity (in the comics), and often takes funding for sponsorships when he is low on funds and he had to find a cure for pig mouth.

Sure “Membrane conquered the world” fits the Irken theory...

But I never appreciate that take on his character and that is admittedly, very personal bais.

I just wanted to say my peace a little bit here about how I 100% don’t vibe with the “Membrane capitalist/billionaire scum” especially since he ended world hunger...and invented a cure for the un-common cold.

Works for the theory, so good on Mattpatt for that one, but I personally don’t vibe with it.

Mattpatt compared Zim and Dib’s head shape as something to argue... Like because Dib has a similar head shape to Zim... that Dib has to be an alien... Okay... But If you look at the Invader Zim artbook (which I own)

The show has a very distinct look on how they draw characters’ heads. It’s a very distinct stylistic choice and there are pages upon pages in the artbook describing the style and how it looks in motion, and many revision notes to the Korean animators.

There are lots of pages on the artbook describing in detail the differences between the main characters’ heads, what to do, and what not to do.

It’s a difficult style to replicate, and Dib having a big head was mostly a joke from the showrunners to the showrunners, cause they kept drawing Dib’s head slightly bigger to make him look more appealing.

A majority of the audience doesn’t really notice because all the children in the show have big heads. All the kids are like 3-4 feet tall and have huge heads.

Also... Dib’s head is far more rounder then Zim’s in the comics and the Movie... comparing their head shape as an arguing point, when Dib’s head shape changed midway season 1 when the designs got slightly more streamlined is just... bad form..

Dib and Zim’s heads never really look the same from the early episodes as they do later on.

Comparing this character design similarity just because of the artstyle is really stupid.

This is the most infuriating thing about the video... because Mattpatt disproves his own argument with his own footage not a few seconds earlier.

He claims that Gaz sarcastically mentioning she has a squeedly spooch is a canon fact...... but ... hmm.. Mattpatt... can I rewind the footage of your video, please?

Where’s her squeedly spooch?

IS IT BEHIND HER CLEARLY HUMAN ORGANS?! I DON’T SEE IT?

And this isn’t just a stylistic choice... here’s a picture of another human’s organs for comparison.

Mattpatt literally disproved his own argument and ignored the fact that we saw an X-ray of Gaz’s organs in the very same episode...

Gaz doesn’t have a squeedly spooch and she literally was being sarcastic.

and the whole thing is disproved very easily.

Everything Mattpatt says in between those two points, about Dib being taken aboard an alien ship as a baby, and that there is no mother, and the Clone theory... That is all good stuff and this is what the theory video should have speculated and focused on, because there is some digging to be had here... I feel he focused a lot on the wrong points in his video...

And this is the most outrageous point he makes in his video. It’s the thing that pissed me off the most... and lead me to write this essay in the first place.

He claimed Eric Trueheart himself confirmed the clone theory and had story plans where Dib would discover his clone origins.

HE DID NOT!

IN FACT, Eric Trueheart himself published Volume One of the Invader Zim script book AND THIS IS WHAT HE SAID:

Eric neither confirmed nor denied the rumor.

But for Mattpatt to blatantly say that Eric said that Clone Dib was a planned thing by the screenwriters?!

He is BLATANTLY putting words into a Screenwriter’s mouth! Something that you should NEVER do.

Because it is 100% a lie.

He had no source for this claim. He probably just read the same rumor on the wiki and has no source.

This is the reason why I don’t trust videos like Mattpatt. The truth is often stretched for entertainment value, or information is just made up to prove “they were right” about whatever the topic of the day was. He doesn’t even bother to cite the source he got “Eric Trueheart’s word of mouth” from... because it was wrong.

Sorry if this whole thing is more hostile than it intended to be... But Mattpatt was looking at the ENTIRELY wrong evidence for this show....

Irken Membrane is a fun theory... but Mattpatt picked the entirely wrong topics and points of discussion, even to the point of hiding the truth and straight-up lying to his audience about his sources.

It’s kinda like saying “Birds eat ghost peppers because they’re part dragon and dragons can handle spicy food”

While, yeah, Birds are descended from dinos, it’s kinda missing the full story there and it’s not the reason why birds can eat spicy food.

Irken Membrane is a fun fan theory... do what you want with it. I am not here to dissuade Irken Membrane headcanons...

I’m just here to encourage critical thinking, and perhaps NOT put words into content creators' mouths when there is no credible source for it just because it benefits your argument.

#Invader Zim #Film Theory #Mattpatt #danachan's rants #lol sorry i went off but he really needed to cite his sources more on this one

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b612sunsets · 3 years

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Ahhh I’m happy to see someone else loving The Devil Judge - it truly is amazing 😭😭🖤✨ I love Yo-Han and Ga-on’s relationship I swear let them be destructive together!

I hate waiting for new episodes so please tell me one of your theories, it can be about anything! 🥰

Right?! I love it so much, it's really good to have our lilttle fam getting bigger, can't wait until it airs on Netflix, we will have even more people going crazy about it in here! (at least I hope it will become a Netflix series after the show ends like Beyon Evil - another love of mine) and yes, lawful husbands can be destructive together but only to the bad people pls 🥺

It's tough waiting for new episodes every weekend and at the same time I wish for it not to end so soon. It hasn't finished but I already want Jisung and Jinyoung in a second season or working together in another drama. Their chemistry on screen is too good to stop there

About the theories, there's a few I saw on reddit/twitter and I make my own based on it and after watching every episode, but I think it's too early to talk about them. However, since you requested it, there's some that come to mind as interesting enough to mention.

The fire and the story behind it narrated by Yohan

1- Some people think Yohan did start the fire because he found out about the dirty politicians real intentions and decided to destroy them all in the same place before Isaac could donate the money bc he is "a devil" and capable of that since he was a kid as told by the priest with the school incident and the nanny with the maid and dog thing. side note: not for pranking some kids who bullied him because that's all it seems like, right? But in terms of observing, thinking strategically and being one step ahead when needing to punish the whole classroom who wronged him even as young as he was and feeling satisfied while watching the result and staying out of it. A type of mentality probably encouraged by Isaac and the books he gave him to read, unlike a regular kid who would just fight back or endure it. And we still have to see if it really was Yohan that contributed to the maid's death or if it was something/someone else and the nanny thinks it was him.

They think that Elijah even saw him in front of the door right before the fire started and smiled at him instead of smiling at her parents, like she did in the gates of the cathedral in the previous scene, so that's why she hates him so much now because she can remember seeing him as the responsible for it. But Yohan didn't intend to kill/hurt Isaac and the rest of the family, thinking he could save them or something, and felt guilty that he couldn't do so. Some even said that Yohan delayed too much in trying to save them after entering the church and seeing Elijah getting her legs hurt, that it may have been shock but why would he remember everything and everyone so clearly if he was in shock?

It's a good theory but I have my own remarks: why wouldn't he tell Isaac about the politicians himself if he knew the dirty about them then? They had a close relationship and Isaac gave him books about punishment and everything, it wasn't like Isaac was too naive and wouldn't believe his half-brother. He wouldn't have donated if Yohan told him. "Oh he was being the devil and finding a way to punish them instead of just letting is slide and not donating" still, Yohan wouldn't risk Isaac and Elijah with such a dangerous plan if he could avoid having Isaac and Elijah at all in the destruction scene by telling Isaac about it. It could have been shock and Yohan wanting to look and commit to mind everyone's face in that day responsible for hurting his niece and not caring about anyone else but themselves, pushing him away and delaying his attempt to get to them in time, leaving Isaac and the family behind (after they almost donated them their money) and things like that. So he can avenge them now, like he did in the school with the kids. That's why as soon as he could, he canceled the donation in the most easy way by saying his brother wasn't sane enough to make that decision before dying.

There's also the theories about Isaac being the insane/evil one, which wouldn't surprise me because I've considered it since episode 3 but at the same time I'll not be touching that topic now and I don't know if I ever will unless proven otherwise in some other episode

2- The other theory I have and saw people discussing (the one I'm most inclined to believe because I'm Yohan biased but again it's too soon to be sure) is that the story Yohan narrated is mostly if not completely true and he experiences extreme guilt for not coming back and saving Isaac when the church collapsed on him, as seen in the character introduction by tvN translated in this tweet that we now know it's about Isaac:

The last words Yohan said to Isaac was that he was going to come back for him, so he experiences nightmares like the flashbacks we saw in episode 1 and that's why we don't see any scene of Isaac in the middle of the church after the fire staring at Yohan or during the fire and turning to stare directly at Yohan when he narrates it. Because they're dreams and his guilty conscience and he remembers them when looking at Gaon. The flashback of Yohan kneeling down and touching Isaac with Elijah's bear close to him could be after he got Elijah out from there and he went back to put the bear next to him kinda like a "Sorry for not coming back in time", a reassurance that his daughter for whom he died for is safe and will always stay with him, a "Goodbye". He wouldn't just let Isaac's body lying there, he would go back even if it was too late.

Another thing is that when Yohan is showing Gaon his scar after telling the story, there's a book fallen at his feet. I think it was the thing that fell when Yohan standed up from the table and choked Gaon (trying hard not to comment on that choking scene as a 🔥 Gahan moment for our delight and imagination bc that's not the point right now lol)

This is the book:

And the first page of this book says "Never again will a single story be told as though it's the only one." - John Berger

I searched about it and it can mean that never again will a story be told as if it's the only one that matters. It could also mean that never again will a story be so encompassing of the elements it tackles that no other story need be written about these elements. A story has many perspectives that cannot be understood by just a single viewpoint. Isn't that what this kdrama is all about?

One of the translations of what Yohan said after Gaon left was:

But there's also another version:

The meaning of what he said changes a bit depending on which translation is more accurate, more so when we add the book quote to the equation.

Kim Gaon and his connection to Kang Yohan

People think Gaon could be Isaac's relative in some way or just a look alike (I think it's just a look alike to contribute to Yohan's obsession/curiosity and their proximity from the start, that's why no one really comments on it, not even Gaon when he sees Isaac's picture). Dear God, let them not be related because it would make shipping our lawful husbands really strange, to say the least.

What I'd like to say and almost everyone is forgetting is that in the tvN character introduction we already have Gaon's past and know he wasn't always a goody two shoes, the man was a juvenile delinquent and can even fight (the rebellious phase he said he made the tattoo in episode 3?). He too sought revenge for his parents when he was 16 because they committed suicide after losing their money and being deceived by multi-level con artists posing as social service workers. But the teacher and Soohyun were able to hold him back.

Yohan's father could be one of the reasons for their death. He was a loan shark and might have lend them money after they lost it all and it caused them to have a great debt, that's why Yohan did a thorough research on Gaon and was interested in him (not only because he resembled his half-brother). They shared one enemy in common and maybe even a place (churches, Yohan's father tended to confess his sins in a church when his debtors killed themselves). Or Yohan might have researched about him at the time he knew Gaon was chosen to be the associate judge sitting on his left side instead of way before, because it's important to Yohan to know who he is dealing with and the dirty of their past if they have any. And then Yohan discovered everything and saw his picture and resemblance to Isaac.

The thing is: they have the same distrust/repulsion of powerful people who deceive the world and had a painful loss because of that. Both of them think they have the other exactly where they want but they get more confused about what it is that they really want from the other and get closer (as said in the summary of episode 5 that tvN released) while figuring it out. They will come to an understanding and probably join forces at some point. We saw it in the end of episode 4, the scene of episode 5 when Gaon says he can understand Yohan's pain but can't trust him if he doesn't tell him everything and then Yohan says Gaon needs to decide if he will get in his way or stay by his side. Gaon might go back to his rebellious days and stay with Yohan to seek revenge together while distancing himself from Soohyun and Jungho who prevented him from doing so

And that's about it! Thank you for your ask and hope my answer is satisfying enough! 💙 The hardest but also most awesome part is having to wait to see.

#the devil judge #answered asks #the devil judge theories #lawful husbands #gahan #analysis #the devil judge analysis

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alyblacklist · 3 years

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Hey!!

I am new to your tumblr but I read your fics all the time (and reread them more often than I should admit lol)

I think you’re really amazing!

I’m so relieved that you answer asks and discuss speculation because I really need someone to talk this through.

So, I have watched a couple of other thriller series along the same lines where the makers don’t have any issues killing off major characters off the show.

There are a couple of things that are happening in this show which I think (and I honest to god hope I’m wrong) are building up to them killing off Ressler.

They get together, they partially admit their feelings (which we’ve been waiting for too Damn long) - so they get closure. Ressler is in the hospital, they show him deteriorating, he goes into v-fib.

And all of this is not that much of a game changer but hear me out. The task force is being dismantled and they need to give the viewers sth that they won’t expect. And bring some new spice in s9. With Liz going full time into crime, it seems a lot easier for them to kill off Ressler.

My only counter debate to my point is that they would have killed him off the moment he got shot (like they did with Meera) rather than show him being treated.

I really need to know what you think. Please tell me he’s not gonna die cause honestly who on earth will watch the show then?

Hi there! I have to say a special thank you to you, @alrightygirl, and to my anon (above) who I have lumped in, for the shoutouts on my stories. I came to Tumblr in the first place during the hiatus between S2/S3 in part because I realized some of my fav fanfic authors (@aussieokie !) were here so I am especially happy to read this.

I'm not sure people realize how much we fanfic writers thrive on feedback, and especially on the multi chapter works we invested so much time into. So thank you, and I have to say I really am looking forward to the end of the season so I can step away from the BTS hunt and my inbox and get back to just creating. Hopefully the writers will leave things in a good place in 8.22 so there's plenty to work with. Ok, on to the substance of your ask and I'll put in a jump because I can already tell this is getting long.

I really do NOT think Ressler will die. I didn't think so before 8x19 and I still don't think so after the "medical drama" of 8x20. Because that's what I think they're doing - they're creating drama because it's the end of the season and they want people freaking out and guessing over who will survive. Call it the curse of cable, or thrillers or whatever, but we as audiences have been conditioned to believe that major characters have to die every year, even if it's pointless.

The thing is, The Blacklist has never been that show. They have killed three "main characters" in the life of the show. Meera in S1 (and I later read Parminder only had a one-year deal), Tom in S5 (with huge fanfare and foreshadowing and an entire "hero" arc following a failed spinoff with a new series eagerly awaiting him at NBC), and Samar in S6 after the actress specifically requested to be released from her contract after S5 and gave them time to write her character an appropriate conclusion arc which also had huge foreshadowing.

Could they go a different route this year? Sure. We're late in the life of the show and twists and cliffhangers and budgets all come into play but the thing is - I just still really don't see it when it comes to Ressler.

For me, the characters' perspective is always paramount. What purpose would Ressler's death serve? It would make Liz more upset (because, you know, Sam, Tom, Katarina, her sister, her whole team weren't enough?). And other than that......?

The audience already knows the gravity of the stakes. So does Liz. So does every other character. The only purpose Ressler's death would serve that I see (and to be clear, I am focusing only on the characters in the show not the irrational fandom hate for his character) is to "punish" Liz more, to make her feel worse about what she's done, to deal another body blow on top of all that she's suffered already.

I don't think Liz needs that. (I'm positive nearly all of Reddit disagrees).

She turned herself in to Cooper because she recognized the bloodshed needed to end after she FEARED losing him. She stayed by Ressler's side and spoke her entire speech in the hearse and by his unconscious side because she can't handle losing him too. This is exactly the scenario the writers teased when Eisendrath teased all those months ago that maybe he would use her feelings for him to get her to come back.

Source (X)

He didn't overtly "use" her feelings in the end because that is not Ressler. He is not that guy. But in the end, her feelings for him were EXACTLY why she turned herself in.

I don't think Liz doesn't need to be punished further or suffer more in anyone's eyes except those who still can't come to terms with her war against Red. I don't think the writers feel that way about her character. To the contrary, they introduced a hallucinated Kaplan to try to give her a pass and also had her give lengthy explanations to both Ressler and Aram defending her behavior. I think from all I have read and seen that the writers view Liz as a victim of circumstances caused by Red - something Cooper has also articulated to Panabaker along the way in defending why Liz has done what she's done under extraordinary circumstances. We can all agree or disagree on the why and the method and the extremes but the bottom line is that I think the writers still view Liz as more "victim" or "forced criminal" than diabolical villain so killing Ressler, on top of everyone else Liz has lost, is just another deep blow on top of all the blows that have turned her into who she is. I think we're past the point that that is necessary and we'll be even further past that point after 8.21/8.22 when Liz learns some truths.

This has gotten crazy long so I'll just add these final thoughts which I have also articulated in prior posts:

- I think if the writers were going to write out Ressler - an original character from the Pilot - they would do so with more hype and fanfare and story than what he's gotten this season. Sure he was present in 8x19 a lot but it was really Liz's story. She was the heroine saving him and moving them from place to place while he suffered. I think the writers have enough respect for Diego to give him at least as much substantial story as Tom and Samar got in their sendoffs if this was really the end. He's a good guy and a good character and he deserves more than for his final moments to be a quiet fade to black in Vfib in a hospital with only Park present (or even Liz present for a final, vague, goodbye). A show that can't do that isn't a show I'm interested in watching, you know?

- his agents congratulated him on the S9 renewal back when it was announced. Hardly an indicator that a major character is getting jettisoned.

-You'd also think, if he was leaving this season, that he'd be doing more to elevate his profile on social media like he did at the end of Homeland to gear up for a new gig. He's done NOTHING.

-Finally, there has been literally nothing in JB's recent interview with The Blacklist Exposed, any of the BTS, the press, the episode descriptions, the crew photos, or anything else to date to indicate that a major actor/character is leaving. I know people can hide the ball but usually in this show, something slips through. So far - nothing. (No, I don't take Megan's thank you's or wrap party photos that way).

Anyway, hopefully we'll all be here at this time next year (or a few weeks earlier if things are back to normal), analyzing S9 and all that has happened. Thanks for the ask!

#alrightygirl #ask #anon #Donald ressler #spoilers and speculation #8.21 #8.22

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arsenicpanda · 3 years

Note

coming from an amateur writer, do you have any tips on writing smut?

ngl, I’m an amateur myself, having not finished much smut and still not written the actual act of sex from the perspective of one of the people experiencing it. So idk why you came to me, but I am flattered. I'm not great at advice on the act of writing, but I’ll do my best to talk about process and shit.

1. Read smut. Read lots of it, read varying qualities and varying lengths and as soft-core and hard-core as you’re up for. Read it for fun, just taking it in, and then read it with a critical eye. What works? What doesn’t? Are there any tropes (general, character-specific, or ship-specific) that you like or dislike? Why? What’s especially hot? What makes you cringe? What kind of language do you like? And so on and so forth. Ask questions and answer them.

2. What’s your setup? Like, which characters, which ship, which universe? If it’s an AU, how does the AU change things from canon (especially important if you’re doing ABO, which is its own can of worms I’m not getting into here)? What’s the relationship between your characters and what’s the situation in which they fuck?

3. How do your characters feel about sex in general and with respect to the ship you’re writing? How horny are they in general, for the other character(s) in the ship, and in this specific situation? What are they into and not into? What are their previous experiences (or lack thereof) with sex and romance? What experience do the characters have with each other? Are there specific experiences they might remember and use or is there certain knowledge they do or don’t have about their partner(s) (For established ships, I like to mention previous experiences and knowledge of what the POV character’s partner(s) are into as a way to show that there is real history there. For unestablished ships, I like to include that figuring out process some and the reactions to experiencing stuff for the first time, either in general or within the specific ship, to show that newness of the relationship. Maybe there’s mention of a certain preference the POV character already knows about, or maybe the POV character makes note of a preference they learn during the fic. Stuff like that.)? How loud are they during sex? Are there any sex acts that this ship would engage in no matter what (e.g. I maintain all smut with Jughead that isn’t a quickie should include him giving some amount of oral sex)? How many times can they orgasm? How sensitive are they? What’s their refractory period? And so on, and so forth. Note: once you come up with answers for this section for your ship once, the next time you write smut for them, you’ll really only have to make adjustments according to the universe you’re in, so that’s nice.

4. What kind of fic are you writing? Is it pwp? Smut within plot? A character or relationship piece? Basically, are there any arcs to get through, what are they, and how are they going to relate to the smut? How explicit is the smut? What language do you want to use to refer to genitals and orgasms and such? What POV are you writing in? How much do your characters talk? How “realistic” are things? Are they practicing safe sex, including safe oral sex?

5. What’s actually happening? I like to plan out a smut scene ahead of time so I know how it starts, where they are physically, what the characters are doing (hand, mouth, genital, etc location and movement), how one sex act moves into another, what can be seen/heard/felt/etc based on POV, what’s physically possible at all times, if there are any accessories or toys I need to explain them owning and where they’re kept before the smut, and how it ends. It also helps me make sure the smut doesn’t significantly overlap with something I’ve already written or am planning to write. I also write an outline, which you don’t have to do, but does help if you ever go weeks or months between working on it because then when you come back you don’t have to strain to remember what the plan was. You can also just go with the flow and just write, but definitely keep location of body parts and what the POV character can actually see/hear/etc (for example, if your POV character is blindfolded or bent over, they can’t describe their partner’s face) in mind as you do.

6. Write it. Vary your sentence structure. I find good smut includes not just physical action, but emotion and especially sensation, but you might disagree. If you're struggling with repeated words and shit, maybe look for lists of words to use when writing smut. Probably look up tips for writing smut in general, ask people for advice (which you already are, so good for you!), etc. Draw upon your own experience if you have any, and if you don’t, maybe look into people’s accounts, sex tips, etc and check if any questions you have about sensation have been answered online anywhere, e.g. on reddit. But don’t try and make it perfect all at first; just write it. One approach that’s often effective is to do writing "sprints", that is, sit down for fifteen minutes and just write; you can continue for another fifteen minutes when you're done if you want, but you'd be surprised how much you can get done in fifteen minute segments over multiple days. Also, I recommend writing in google docs with the setting of “Add space after paragraph” (go to Format, then Line & paragraph spacing) for ease of transferring to AO3. Actually, here's a good guide on working from google docs an moving to AO3; look at it before you start. Google docs is also useful for when you have a beta because it lets them make suggestions instead of straight-up changing things themselves. Also, take note of where you use italics and non-italicized punctuation together (this will be useful when you need to publish to AO3).

7. Read it carefully and with a critical eye like you would someone else’s fic up in #1. Make sure that you can follow the action based solely on what you wrote and that nothing impossible or contradictory happens (e.g. teleporting body parts, a single hand in two locations at the same time, people twisting or reaching in physically impossible ways). What do you think is missing, where, why, and how might you fix it?

8. Revise it.

9. Repeat 7 and 8 as much as you desire until you’re satisfied, or at least as satisfied as you can be without peer review.

10. Send it to beta. Like, seriously, send it to beta because, if nothing else, your beta won’t know what’s supposed to be happening in the scene, so they can tell you if you’ve successfully conveyed what happens. If you have anything in particular you are uncertain about or want help with, ask your beta to pay close attention to it. Seriously, betaing is going to be much more effective if your beta knows what they should be focusing on most.

11. Repeat steps 7 and 8.

12. Title it and write a summary. Feel free to ask your beta for help here.

12. Congrats, you’re done! Transfer it to AO3 from google docs and save it as a draft. AO3 by default puts a space between italics and non-italicized punctuation, so go through your list of those combos and manually delete the extra spaces. Now add your title, tags, and summary. Don’t tag side pairings/pairings the fic doesn’t focus on in the relationship section; if you need to warn readers of them, put them in the additional tag sedition. If you’re writing an ot3+ that isn’t an established, feel free to tag the pieces of the ship involved (e.g. Betty/Jughead/Tabitha would also tag Betty/Jughead, Betty/Tabitha, and Tabitha/Jughead). But if the ot3+ is already popular within fandom, only tag the ot3+. Don’t tag characters who aren’t central to the story. Tag all warnings and kinks involved especially.

I think that’s it? I guess I might have overly walked you through, but that’s the process I recommend. I mean, I don’t always follow all the steps (While I get the gist of character/emotional arcs before I start plotting the smut, I often really nail them down after I’ve decided on the events of the smut because the latter is generally what has me writing the smut in the first place and I tend to get ahead of myself. Things would probably be easier if I didn’t do that though), but they’re good guidelines, I think? Regardless, I hope this helps!

#asks #anonymous #writing #smut

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3d-wifey · 3 years

Text

The Academy ❧ Part 1

Pairing: Reader x Multiple

Synopsis: Given the chance to rewrite your life for the better, how could you say no? Of course, it helps that the ones presenting this gift are crazy hot.

Word Count: 7.6k

Warnings: Nothing yet.

A/N: If this feels hastily thrown together, that's because it is. It does help that Reader's relationship with the boys is meant to feel rushed tho. So, the lack of relationship building between the three seems intentional 😋. Reader's personality switch-up is also intentional. I promise the quality will get better after this. Happy reading!

You liked coffee shops. One would argue a little too much. You were like an addict and you typically got your fix at Komori's Delights.

You liked coffee shops, solely, because of the people. You would sit at the same corner booth you've been sitting at for the past five years and listen in on their conversations like a creep.

You led a pretty basic life. Once you turned sixteen, the adoption agency helped you get an apartment. And then, when you turned eighteen, a job in customer service. Yet, since it mainly involved doing online chat services from home, you rarely interacted with anyone. With no family that you knew of, you were pretty socially isolated. And you weren't doing too well on the friends front either.

People didn't exactly line up to hang out with quirkless orphans. Loneliness stuck to you like a shadow.

The only thing you honestly looked forward to when you opened your eyes was hearing about other people's lives. You could admit to yourself that it was pathetic.

It was just something about watching "normal" people interacting with each other. Their stories, their conversations, how they responded to and handled everyday situations. All of it, all of them, thrumming with life. A simple passion you dreamed of having, but sadly, didn't possess.

You were able to quench a burning thirst within yourself just by watching them. Living through them. At first, you wondered what that thirst was. What did you gain from being around other people that you couldn't achieve in solitude?

It took you a few years to figure it out. You spent many restless nights in your cold twin bed at the group homes, then in the equally cold queen bed at your apartment, trying to understand what you were missing.

You were around seventeen at the time and a fresh-faced graduate. Instead of going to any of the graduation parties that many of your former classmates were throwing, you were sitting at your booth. The same one that protected you from the cold fall winds and overlooked the entire shop.

Two women were arguing in the corner about something or other. The conversation didn't seem interesting enough to listen in on until the shorter of the two shouted something.

"Nobody had seen you in over ten hours. We were all scared something had happened. I was scared something had happened."

You vaguely remember them hugging and making up after that. It seemed strange to you at the time that someone could be so worried about another person. You never really found yourself worrying about anyone. Especially not to the extent of being scared for their well-being.

It occurred to you later that night. With just three sentences, you had your answer. You wanted some type of connection. To be seen. You wanted to be somewhere where people would know your name, know your face, notice if you weren't there. You wanted to be wanted. Something to tie you to humanity.

Now, here you were three years later. In the same weathered leather booth, working the same reclusive job, still hungering for that connection. Nothing had changed in your life.

You wrapped your hands around the mug and brought it closer to your chest, sighing at the heat it provided. The smell of cocoa and cinnamon wafted under your nose, making you relax further into the booth. You had mainly ordered the hot chocolate to warm your cold fingers, but it did pair well with the sugar cookies that came with it.

The temperature had dropped faster this year with the coming of winter and you were oftentimes reminded of how lucky you were to even have a home to escape the cold in.

With the winter winds, came the mass of people who sought out the café to hide from the chilliness outside. Now, Komori's wasn't what you would call exceedingly popular, so it rarely saw the same person more than once.

But, over the past five days, two people came to the shop roughly around the same time every day. They usually came with four or five others, but it was never the same people. The only constants with the groups were the two men.

And what men they were.

They carried themselves completely differently; the only thing they had in common was being absurdly attractive. The first one was tall and built like a football player, with big blue eyes, bright hair, and an even brighter smile.

It was obvious he had many admirers if the way his friends hung onto his every word was anything to go by. Based on how often he steered the conversation, you could tell he was a natural-born leader with charisma to match. His allure was sunny and encompassing, but carefree.

The shorter male was just as handsome, but his appeal was subtle compared to the blond one. You wouldn't notice if you just glanced at him, but you got the feeling that that was a conscious decision on his part. He didn't seem the type to like attention, going through great efforts not to be seen.

He typically didn't add much to their conversations unless he was reining his partner in. Messy, indigo bangs casted a shadow over his nervous eyes and long, pointed ears twitched whenever his group got too loud. He had a swimmer's body, but, again, you wouldn't notice unless you stared at him long enough. And you've done a lot of staring.

You sighed again, taking a sip from your mug. It was completely on-brand for you to over-analyze some random men. You looked over to one of the circle booths across the room. They were here again. The two men and five more strangers. Well, they were all strangers to you, but for some reason, you felt like you knew them, at least a little.

Maybe because you had been listening in on their conversations for practically a week, but, that was neither here nor there.

You had lost all interest in anybody else that came in; all of your attention was focused on them and them alone. You would wait hours at a time for them to come in with new people and watch as they talked. Their conversations always pulled you in. Especially when they talked about a place called Yuuei.

The blond one would talk animatedly about the place to the others to the point where they got excited too. It happened every time with every group.

You had gone home with your curiosity peeked the first time you heard them mention it. You spent the entire night hunched over your laptop, scrounging the internet—again, like a creep—for anything relating to Yuuei.

You looked everywhere, but it couldn't be found. It wasn't on any maps. There were no Google links about it. As far as you could tell, it wasn't some kind of slang or anything. The only mention of it was on a Reddit conspiracy theory thread about a cult that shared the same name. You tallied your loses and suspected that it was just some type of club and the two of them were probably recruiting new members. And, technically, you were right.

You were brought back to the present when the hairs on your arms and neck stood up. But the shop door hadn't been opened and there was no breeze inside the café. You weren't cold.

Your gaze swept over the expanse of the shop; eyes, not so subtly, hopping from table to table. Finding nothing but people locked in conversation, until you glanced at the circle booth. Narrowed (E/C) eyes met bright blue. Instead of becoming embarrassed at getting caught and looking away, like most people did, the blond held your gaze and grinned.

He smiled at you.

Not a condescending smile; not an angry borderline-sneer; not even a half awkward half fearful kind of smile that you often got from strangers after you stared at them a little too long. Just a warm upturn of lips that felt like open arms welcoming you back home.

You looked away in hopes that it would be the end of the interaction, but not before seeing the blond elbow his friend and gesture over to you. All while still wearing the same smile on his face.

You stared down at the light brown liquid in your mug, telling yourself the steam wafting up from the hot chocolate was the reason your face was so warm. Yeah, that's why. That's the only thing that made sense.

Every other sound blurred in the background until the only thing you could hear were twin footfalls. Confident footsteps leading the way with reluctant ones following close behind. Getting steadily closer and closer. Each step a metronome to your ears. Were they coming towards you?

The muscles in your arms flinched with every sound of shoes hitting the linoleum floor.

Step, step, step, until—

"Hi! I'm Mirio. And this here is my buddy, Tamaki." He introduced, reaching a scarred hand out towards you, probably expecting you to shake it. You stared up at them with wide eyes, dumbfounded at the turn of events. No one in this café had ever approached you before, not even the staff. His voice was accented, which was surprising considering you never heard it when he was talking before. Maybe it was just hard to pick up on from across the room.

You weren't sure what prompted them to come up to you and if you took a glance over their shoulder, you could see that the people they were with seemed just as confused as you. Not wanting to appear rude, you paused before reaching out and shaking his hand. His palm was rough from the buildup of calluses, and It dwarfed your own. It was warm.

"I'm...Y/n." You introduced yourself cautiously, watching them as they moved to sit down in front of you. Tamaki on the inside, Mirio on the outside. You wondered if it was normal for him to just walk up to a person he didn't know and strike up a conversation like an old friend.

"We saw you sitting by yourself—"

Jesus, how sad of a picture did you make that they felt the need to come over just to end your suffering?

"—and came over to see if you wanted to join us." You? Join them? Honestly, you would love to sit with them and finally be included in the conversation instead of just listening to it from the outside. But, something told you that the feeling wasn't mutual.

You glanced back to their booth to find their friends staring at you. Or, at least they were before they noticed you looking at them. Diverting their gaze before you could meet any of their eyes head-on.

You knew if you sat with them, all you would end up with were judgmental glares and badly concealed whispers about you. How fun.

"No pressure, of course!" Mirio was quick to assure, taking your silence as unwillingness. And his assumption would be right.

"I, uh, don't think I'd fit in with your friends." He looked at you with a confused tilt of his head, resembling a puppy who didn't know what you were saying to it.

"Oh, I mean them," You gestured to the group of five people talking amongst themselves and sneaking occasional glances your way, "plus the other people you guys usually come in with."

Although the statement sounded innocent to you, you couldn't help but feel like you fucked up somehow. Their faces didn't change, but there was something about the way Mirio's hands twitched and Tamaki's shoulders tensed that made you feel...uneasy. Paranoia creeping up on you like phantom hands.

"Other people, huh," Mirio paused before giving you a boyish grin, "So, you were watching us." He said not unlike a lawyer who just caught the defendant red-handed. You could feel your heartbeat pick up as he leaned over the table towards you, hands laced together, but your face remained blank. Despite his playful tone, the glint in his eyes made you feel like you were being trialed for murder.

It struck you then just how creepy that might sound to them. You probably seemed like some kind of stalker. A weirdo that's been watching their every move for the past five days, which, of course, you were. He had every right to be suspicious of you.

"Mirio, ease off of her." Tamaki interrupted, face practically buried in the wall. That was the first time you heard him speak, and, God, were you thankful for his timing. It sounded like he had the same accent as Mirio, but, for the life of you, you still couldn't place it.

"Heh, I'm just goofing." He laughed, big blue eyes colored with mirth as he leaned back from you in favor of picking up one of your cookies. But his relaxed posture felt too tense for that to truly be how he felt. It seemed forced.

"Anyway, I wouldn't really call them friends. Just people we've met in passing while we visited. Do you...know any of them?"

You leaned back, unconsciously mirroring him. Your nails tapped against the table to the beat of the music playing softly over the speakers as you took your time quietly examining the two men before you. Your brain ran over the people they brought into the shop. Dozens upon dozens of faces and none of them were familiar.

"No, I can't say I do."

There was a moment of silence before any of you talked.

"Um, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you're a pretty intimidating girl." He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. Blond strands falling out of his ponytail to frame his face. You held in a sigh. He wasn't the first person to tell you that and he probably wouldn't be the last.

You weren't sure what it was about your appearance that everyone found so daunting; it could be how hard you stared at people. Or how silent you were. Maybe you had a resting bitch face, but you couldn't be sure, since nobody was ever brave enough to tell you. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't doing you any favors.

"Is that why he's so quiet?" You joked humorlessly, peeking at the man to your right—Tamaki, you reminded yourself—to find him already looking at you. Piercing purple-blue eyes made the hairs on your neck stand straight as he stared at you without turning away from the white walls. It threw you off to see he was staring at you so intently, considering you didn't think he was even paying attention to the conversation.

"Oh, you mean Tamaki? He's just a little shy around new people. Ain't that right, bud?" He elbowed his friend a little sharply.

"Uh, y-yeah."

"So, where are you guys from?" Your gaze shifted between them, yet again changing the conversation.

You focused on the twinge of pain coming from your finger as you picked at the skin around your nail, a nervous habit you took up when you were a child. It was how you developed such a good poker face. Keeping your emotions off your face and instead directing them to the poor skin of your nail beds.

"Is it that obvious we aren't from around here?" The blond—Mirio—joked, putting his on the back of the booth behind Tamaki's head.

"Your accents kind of gave you away." You joked back. It felt nice to do that. To have someone to joke with.

"Okay, well...It's a little...town called Yuuei," when you perked up, they shared a quick glance before Mirio continued, "It's really small, so you've probably never heard of it. We're actually heading back pretty soon."

"What's it like there? It's still in Japan, right? I assume it is, considering you both speak Japanese like it's your native language," you tried to reign in your excitement, but the prospect of getting some kind of information on this place was too much to pass up, "Do you have any pictures I could se—"

"She's really pretty. Don't you think, Tamaki?" he cut you off, asking the other boy like you weren't just talking, "Sorry if that was random." He laughed. You weren't an expert on social cues, but something about his smile made you think he wasn't really sorry.

You froze and you glanced over at Tamaki with wide eyes, finding he looked more embarrassed than you felt. You kept your face perfectly blank, hopefully not giving away how off-guard that caught you.

"Yeah," he agreed sheepishly, slouching in on himself, "She is." He sounded certain in his answer, which struck you as curious considering how unsure he seemed about literally everything. Almost like it wasn't his first time saying it. For some reason, you couldn't see Tamaki going around complimenting random people like a playboy.

Mirio? Sure.

But, Tamaki? Not so much.

"Oh...thank you." You mumbled, rubbing the tip of your nose and picking at the faded blue fabric of your scarf. You prayed the booth would open up like a Venus flytrap and swallow you whole. You were just rambling a mile a minute to two guys you just met. Was that his way of polity telling you to shut up?

Not only that, but you were at your wits' end here. The conversation kept changing so quickly, touching on topics you had no idea how to navigate. You felt way out of your element.

How sad was it that getting complimented was where your mind drew the line?

"You're welcome, Sunshine." He pointed down to your scarf, cookie still in hand, answering the unasked question in your furrowed brows, "Your scarf. Really cute, by the way." You looked down at the offending cloth wrapped around your neck.

A baby blue woolen scarf with little patterned suns grinning and wearing big green sunglasses. You hadn't really thought much of it when you grabbed it on your way out of the apartment this morning, but here you were wearing a children's scarf in front of two of the hottest guys you've ever seen in your life. They say hindsight was 20/20, but you'd say it was just a bitch.

The fact that they didn't answer your questions didn't go unnoticed, but maybe it was deemed inappropriate in their culture to ask someone about that kind of stuff if you weren't close. You decided to drop it, not wanting to give the impression that you were disrespectful, but kept it at the back of your mind.

___

You still had no clue why it happened, but this...arrangement continued longer than you thought it would. You didn't really know what to call it, but, whatever it was went on every day for the next couple of months. You would wait at your booth, they would come in with new people, talk with them for a little, and then split off to come talk to you.

You know you shouldn't have, but you felt kind of special knowing that they wanted to come spend time with you. You didn't comment on how fast you guys were moving. Choosing to, instead, push the uncertain feeling to the back of your mind.

It was becoming an unwelcome habit.

You didn't bring up the subject of their home again, weary of another awkward conversational lapse on your part. You often felt that creeping uneasiness come up whenever you turned the spotlight on them. You were just trying to make the small talk that you often saw in other people's conversations, but Mirio's eyes would always develop a certain...look and even poor Tamaki would tense up with every question. You decided it was better not to push for information about them at all.

That was your second mistake.

While you didn't ask them much, they seemed to want to know everything about you. They—mainly Mirio—asked you probing question after probing question about your life. About your job, where you lived, who you lived with, if you had any family, etc. The constant stream of questioning seemed odd to you, but you were more than happy to bask in the attention like a lovestruck teenager talking to her crushes.

That's how they made you feel.

Maybe you were just excited to finally partake in those conversations you watched everyone else have. To finally have people want to listen to what you had to say. Frantic to form a connection, no matter how weak the foundation was. The red flags were obvious, but desperation tended to make you colorblind.

You were very hesitant to inform them about your complete lack of quirk at first. You've seen how people react to that and you weren't too eager to lose the only people that could be considered your friends. However, it couldn't be hidden from them forever. Especially, since both of them were so quirk oriented.

They, surprisingly, reacted better than you expected when you told them. In fact, they almost seemed happy.

After you told them that, they wouldn't stop talking about Yuuei. Even Tamaki would jump in on the conversation to tell you things about their home. Alternating between demonstrating their quirks and explaining the wonder that was Yuuei.

It made you apprehensive to be around people with such powerful quirks. It always had, especially in high school. You hadn't known them for long, but you were sure they wouldn't hurt you.

They strived to be pretty accommodating to your anxiousness, which no one had ever done before. And, like a stupid puppy, you were getting attached to their kindness. They and their compassion were like a balm to that scorching thirst that you endured for the past twenty years.

In the short two months you knew them, they had somehow become a solid fixture. They had dug out a divot in your life and laid in it like they've always belonged there. It got to the point where you would call in sick to work just to stay with them a little longer.

Your fall from grace wasn't instantaneous. It happened gradually; inch by beautiful inch. You started falling the moment they came to sit with you. No, the moment they walked into the café was your first step towards oblivion. You were plunging to your demise and you only had yourself to blame. You allowed them a permanent room in your life, despite knowing their stay was temporary.

You're confident they had no idea how important they were to you. Nevertheless, no matter how sorry it sounded, you grew dependent on them. They plagued your thoughts like a disease: that brief period you experience between sleep and consciousness filled with thoughts of them, the moments of long silence at home were spent thinking about your boys, and even when you were with them, ironically, you couldn't stop thinking about them.

How did Mirio get all those scars? I wonder if Tamaki is eating enough? Where were they staying in the city?

You actively worried about them for some reason that was completely lost on you. You were so used to them being there, you weren't even sure how you used to live without them.

"We leave this Sunday."

Turns out you were gonna find out sooner than expected.

"S-so soon?" You choked out, setting your mug down. He had caught you so off guard that you started choking on your hot chocolate. After calming down and assuring them that you weren't dying, you were able to think.

You knew they were just visiting and they'd have to leave eventually. But, for some inane reason, you thought you'd have more time. More time to prepare. More time to...more time with them.

They had walked into the shop by themselves and headed straight for your booth like they had just been drafted for war, which set off emergency lights in your brain. You should have known they were delivering bad news.

"We've actually been here way longer than we were supposed to." Mirio laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"They had to call us back this time," Tamaki's soft-spoken voice imputed, but it seemed like he was talking to himself, "They've never had to call us back before."

"Called back? By who?" You looked between them expectantly.

"Uh, by our leaders. It's a small place, you know? So everyone is basically family. It only makes sense that they'd be worried about us taking too long." The blond explained, rubbing his hands together to get rid of the cold.

So, they were leaving because they were told to? Their leaders had that much sway over their lives?

"Couldn't you guys just...stay a little longer?" Now you were begging them to stay. But what else could you do? By the way they were talking, you could safely assume that they wouldn't be visiting you any time soon.

Mirio frowned, placing his big hand on top of yours. Big blue eyes a lot duller than usual. No matter how hard you looked you couldn't find that spark they typically had.

"I-Sunshine," he sighed, like a man passive to his fate, "it doesn't work like that. We have to go home."

You looked over at Tamaki who was already facing you, a huge improvement from when you first met. His head was down and if his pointed ears could droop like a sad puppy, you're sure they would. They didn't want to leave you just as much as you wanted them to stay.

There was no music playing in the shop to fill the silence between the three of you and the shop lacked the usual chatter. Seems like your earlier comparison had some truth to it. They may not be heading off to war, but they were still saying goodbye like they were. Like you'd never see them again. You felt lucky you even had the luxury of saying goodbye.

The sound of your heart beating against your ribs flooded your ears. Realistically, you knew they couldn't have drastically changed your life in a little over two months.

You could feel saliva collect in your mouth as your stomach gurgled ominously. Before them, every day you would wake up, work, go to the coffee shop, and go home without truly being awake. It felt like you were sleepwalking through your entire life. Living, but never alive. Never really there.

No one to see you. No one to hear you. You were nothing more than a ghost.

Your chest burned and your throat tightened. You couldn't go back to that. You'd be alone again. You couldn't be alone again.

You took a deep breath and schooled your expression, but you were sure that Mirio felt you shaking under his hand.

"What am I—" you swallowed the lump in your throat, "—What am I supposed to do now?" You whispered. But, who were you even asking: them or yourself? They were leaving your life just as fast as they came into it.

Mirio was quick to stand up and the leather booth squeaked under him as he slid into the seat beside you. The weight of his arm was comforting and heavy on your shoulders. His pointer finger and thumb closed in around your chin, turning you to face him.

"I don't..." His voice drifted off when he met your eyes, his lips twitching downwards into a frown. You could see the gears turning in his head before he nodded to himself. An internal conflict coming to an end. Something filled his eyes as he searched your face. It wasn't the spark that you were used to seeing, but a fire.

"Come with us."

Tamaki's head shot up, anxious indigo eyes looking between you before saying, "M-Mirio, are you sure she should come? She, um," his right hand moved to grip his left arm, "our culture is pretty different. S-she might not be able to...adjust."

"That won't be a problem. I'll look after her."

"That's what I'm worried about." He whispered loud enough for you to still hear, but the blond didn't seem deterred. He never looked away from you.

Mirio called you, pulling your attention back to him. You were pretty sure this was the first time you've heard him say your name.

"Look, Yuuie is...it's filled with people like you—like us," he gestured between the three of you, "A lot of people were looking for the same things you are and they found them in Yuuie." Every thing he said was filled with unwavering certainty, an unavoidable conviction that seeped into your bones. It was clear he honestly believed every word.

The conversation was moving too fast for you to fully understand what he was saying. One second, you're on the verge of a panic attack, and the next, you're being persuaded to run away with them? Crazy enough, you were actually considering it. It seemed like such a simple solution.

"You wanna be seen, right? Admired? Understood?—"

Were you that obvious?

"—Well, there's no better place to be seen than at Yuuie! Our leaders strive to provide a place where every single person is appreciated for their contributions. There's always new people coming along. People who desperately needed a home—a guiding hand. Right, Tamaki?"

"Yeah, I guess." Tamaki agreed with a resigned shrug of his shoulders, eyes downcast.

"See? I'm sure everyone there will love you! What do you have to lose?"

What did you have to lose? Your minimum wage job? Your one-room apartment? Your complete and utter lack of companionship?

If you did go with them, what would happen? You never really believed in all of that mumbo-jumbo about fate, but this seemed destined. Every solution to your problems is wrapped up in one big bow laid out in front of you. How could you say no?

So you didn't.

"Okay," you picked at your fingertips under the table, "I'll go with you." The corners of his lips twitched upwards before spreading into a grin. Thin lips moving to show off pearly whites. Even Tamaki looked happy, if not a little reluctant.

And at that moment, as they gazed at you like you were the only thing lighting their way, you never felt more sure of anything in your life.

"I swear you won't regret it, Sunshine.

___

You regretted agreeing to this. No matter how much you liked them, you never should have said yes. This whole thing had felt off-putting since you left.

If you were being truly honest with yourself, something didn't feel quite right since you met those two. Ever since the first time they walked into Komori's Delights, you knew there was something about them that caught your attention.

You originally thought it was because they were new and exciting...and hot. But, it was clear that from the start, your subconscious could tell something was off. Too bad you didn't listen to it.

The fact that Mirio and Tamaki came to pick you up was more than a little surprising, considering they didn't tell you they were coming beforehand.

Instead of taking an Uber, like you anticipated, they both were very insistent on taking the bus. Not one for needless confrontation, you agreed. You figured they knew more about this kind of thing than you did anyway. And they paid for the bus fare, so you couldn't complain.

The bus drove you about an hour out of the city before Mirio requested to get off; another thing that struck you as weird, but you didn't say anything. The three of you walked to a secluded point in the rode that led to an opening in the tree line. Well, you couldn't really call it secluded considering all the people gathered there.

The sheer amount of people waiting for you had stopped you in your tracks. Logically, you knew it was stupid to think there wouldn't be others coming with you, but a small part of you had hoped that you were the only one they were taking home with them.

Your hands gripped the straps of your backpack, sharp nails digging into taut leather. The weight loosening as you adjusted them on your shoulders. The trek so far had been strenuous. Your right ankle hurt from getting it twisted in a hole and mosquitoes were everywhere. Putting the physical strain traveling like this had on your body aside; the girl next to you had been talking your ear off nonstop.

You were all for making friends, but there should be a time and place to start talking about your fucking life story. And, considering your shoes were wet with mud and the humidity of the forest made your shirt cling to you like a second skin, now definitely wasn't the time. You didn't understand how someone could be so chatty in your current situation.

"—you quirkless too?"

"What?" Your neck snapped towards her so fast that if you were any quicker, you could have given yourself whiplash. What did she say?

"What? Are you deaf or something? I asked if you were quirkless too. As in, do you have a quirk or not?" You let the childish jab slide and focused on digesting the sentence. The grass tickled your throbbing ankle as you worked to keep pace with her long strides.

"You're quirkless?"

"Not just me. Every person I talked to is quirkless and I'm pretty sure I talked to, like, everyone here." Your eyes sharply swept over the group, keeping a headcount as you went.

If one out of one hundred people in Japan are quirkless, what were the odds that over twenty of them were gathered in the same place?

"Hey, it's supposed to be winter, right?"

"Yeah." You agreed absently, more focused on trying to get a glimpse of Mirio's blond hair at the front of the group or Tamaki's indigo hair somewhere at the back. You needed to talk to one of them. You needed to know what the hell was going on.

"So why the hell is it so hot?" She asked, pulling her brown hair into a low hanging ponytail. Her roots soaked with sweat, a true testament to the sweltering heat.

"I don't know." You stopped in your tracks, acutely aware of the people passing you, but remaining still. A rock thrown in the middle of a lake, but the stream still flowing nonetheless.

Too many things were happening for them to be a coincidence. You weren't a mathematician, but even you could see that the parts of this equation did not add up. Mirio and Tamaki showing up at your apartment, the number of people without quirks gathered in one spot, and the muggy heat in the forest combined to form a sizeable pit in your stomach.

It was a mistake to come here.

"Y/n? What are you talking about?"

Tamaki's quiet voice startled you out of your thoughts. You hadn't realized you were talking out loud; you hoped he hadn't heard much. You didn't even hear him approaching. His lithe frame stopped beside you as you readjusted your grip on your backpack.

Perhaps you were overreacting; Just being paranoid. And, if something actually was wrong, it wouldn't be wise to tell him about your concerns. Either of them, a small part of your brain whispered. Probably the logical part. For now, you'll keep your suspicions close to your chest. You started forward with a limp towards everyone else, Tamaki close behind you.

"Y-you shouldn't stray too far from the rest of the group. Are you hurt?"

"Um, my ankle is sore and it's only going to get worse the more I walk on it," you looked over the treetops as you walked by them. No birds. No squirrels. Nothing, "Which brings up a question: How long until we get to Yuuei?"

You watched him stumble over his words before answering.

"I-uh, I'm not really sure. But it...shouldn't take too long now," you watched from the corner of your eye as he pulled a plastic baggy full of small baked balls out of his backpack, "Here, it's takoyaki."

You paused.

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"We've been out here for a while, I-I thought you might have been hungry," a flush settled on the apples of his cheeks as he stared at the ground, "You don't have to eat it, o-of course. I was just worried about you."

Worried about you? You stared down at the small ball of dough and meat he placed in your hand and waited. You half expected him to tell you what he wanted in return for the food, but he didn't. You were quick to accept, alonst forgetting to say thanks in your haste, especially considering he was right about one thing.

You were starving. It felt like you hadn't eaten all day, which couldn't be right since the sun was still where it was when you began to walk. You could just chalk it up to the incredible heat and humidity in the forest. And your job definitely didn't make you the most athletic person, so you got tired easily.

"Why aren't you up front with Mirio?"

"I have to stay back here to make sure nobody gets...lost," his shoulders hunched as he pulled out more takoyaki, "Besides, I-I don't really like being front and center like Mirio. I'm not brave enough to lead people." It was just a hunch, but you got the feeling that this was about more than just your current situation. His words were weighted like they had some type of double meaning behind them.

Sure, Tamaki wasn't the most confident guy you met. And, yeah, he could barely get through a conversation with a little old lady without chickening out. But, you were able to read people; you were so good at it that it was basically your quirk.

"Brave? I think bravery is relative. Each person is brave on their own terms," the group's chatter became louder as you got closer, "You left your hometown for the first time and came to the city, right? Don't you think that's brave?"

"No," his voice was so soft you could barely hear him, "not really."

"Hmm," you finally bit into the ball of bread and octopus, "You shouldn't try to measure yourself based off of other people's limits. I think you're brave enough as you are." You could feel his gaze trail over the side of your face like he was trying to use his eyes to crack you open. You decisively decided to ignore it.

"Thank you, y/n."

___

With the help of Tamaki, you were finally able to find Mirio. Actually, once you pushed through the throng of people it wasn't exactly hard to find his broad figure. That's another thing you noticed about him; just how much he stood out. Even Tamaki, who tried his hardest to blend into the shadows, easily grabbed attention. Demanding the focus of any room they walked into, if not with mere presence alone.

Despite that, they weren't what you were thinking about. The temperature was high and the morale was low. The group's overall excitement had dimmed considerably since you started traveling and there were more than a few people grumbling and whining. But, really, who could blame them?

The sun bore down on all of you with an oppressing heat and it was only getting hotter. The air was heavy with the evaporated rain, making it feel more like you were wading through an impossibly deep pool instead of hiking through a forest. Every step you took felt weighed down as if the air had wrapped itself around every limb like a heavy blanket.

You weren't the only one feeling the effects of the journey. You picked up bits and pieces of conversation as you walked, more like limped, next to Mirio. Protests from the group grew louder the longer you went. Surrounded by heat and with no break in sight, the crowd got antsy.

"It's so hot—"

"...long are we gonna keep walki—"

"All the trees look...same."

"—we're in a forest, dumbass."

"You know what I mean, man! I swear...passed this one before."

You were running on fumes yourself, but they didn't see you complaining. You dragged your eyes over to Mirio. Fluffy, golden hair bounced in its ponytail with every step as he marched forward. The sun set a glow on his peachy skin, but there wasn't a single drop of sweat on him. Considering he lived here his whole life, you assumed he probably was just used to the crazy heat. He kept his eyes forward with a placid smile on his face. If he was bothered by the groups growing grievances, he definitely didn't show it.

You stumbled until your shoulder hit the nearest tree, bark scratching harshly against your sweaty skin, but your ankle throbbed so sharply that you didn't even care. It was so hot. You brought a shaking hand up to wipe at your forehead. You all were walking for so long, but it felt like the sun's rays only got more intense.

"Okay, I think that's enough. You're pushing yourself way too hard. You're practically dead on your feet," he put his backpack on his chest and squatted down in front of you, "Hop on, Sunshine."

Your eyes widened. Was he serious?

"Wouldn't it make more sense to take a break? I'm sure I'm not the only person tired here." You panted, growing conscious of the eyes on you.

"If we stop now, we won't make it before nightfall. Come on. I'm not getting up until you get on. Just think of me as your noble steed." He smiled at you like he had no clue how embarrassing he was.

It was a thoughtful gesture. He had offered to let you get on his back earlier when he saw you stumbling around, but you declined, which proved to be a dumb decision on your part. And the thought of walking on your bum ankle anymore made you queasy, even now it throbbed despite you resting.

You gave a quick glance sideways at the group and, of course, they were all staring, staring, staring with their judgy little eyes. You guys hadn't even been out here that long and they somehow formed a group that you clearly weren't welcomed in.

You sighed.

There was no use being unnecessarily difficult. You were holding up the group as it was, and you had a feeling that he actually wouldn't get up unless you got on his back.

So you buried your pride and hobbled over to him. His big hands grabbed the bottom of your thighs and hoisted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist. You weren't sure where to put your arms and just draped them over his shoulders.

His cool skin worked wonders for the extreme heat you were feeling that you couldn't help but cling to his back further. Was it inappropriate? Probably. And your clammy skin was likely getting sweat all over him. Did you care? Not at all.

However, you couldn't help but think of yourself as an annoyance. Sure, everyone else was complaining, but they were still on their own two feet. And here you were, forcing Mirio to carry you in his back because you couldn't handle the journey when he was probably just as tired as you.

"Hey, you wanna hear a joke?," he suddenly asked, pulling you out of your thoughts, "What did the man with two left eyes and two right eyes tell his doctor? He had double vision! Ha!" He laughed, a little too proud of his joke. Maybe it was because of how he said it completely out of nowhere or because of how utterly stupid it was, but it made you smile.

Then Mirio beamed at you from over his shoulder and his vivid blue eyes seemed like they shined even brighter when you chuckled at his corny joke.

Did he tell you a joke in hopes that you'd relax?

"If you thought that was funny, there's tons more where that came from. Heh, I really have my mentor to thank for this A+ material. Now, what do you call somebody with nobody and no nose?"

But you didn't hear the punchline as the heat and the vibration of Mirio's voice swayed you into a restless sleep.

Voices shouting, shouting all around you. Intense heat. Being carried through a dark purple cloud and then...nothing.

___

When you awoke, you were still on Mirio's back, but you weren't in the forest anymore. Instead, all you saw was a wall. Your eyes lazily swept over the great expanse of cement, muscles straining as your neck craned towards the sky. The sunlight hit your eyes, blurring your vision as you tried to see the top. The wall was taller than any of the buildings you saw in the city.

Was this another dream? Had to be. But it felt so real. Too real.

You tried to climb off of Mirio's back, but your body felt like it was being weighed down by the air alone. And Mirio's tightening grip definitely didn't help. You could barely keep your eyes open as you blearily looked around, but you couldn't make out anything but shapes.

"Don't worry, Sunshine. Just go ahead and rest those pretty, little eyes. I'll take care of you."

"M...irio...wh—" You could hardly keep your eyes open enough to finish your sentence. Darkness seizing your vision as Mirio's movements lulled you back to sleep. Your hearing was the last thing to go.

"How long did this group last, Sir?"

"Two days."

"A whole two days?! Pretty impressive, all things considered. Right, Sir?"

"Yes, Mirio..."

#boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #mirio togata #mirio x reader #tamaki amakiji #tamaki x reader #cult au #yandere au

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falsegoodnight · 3 years

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hi! not sure if you’ve ever talked about this before, but do you have a specific writing process you follow when you write fics?? i’d love to hear about it if you do :)) love your fics so much!!! (p.s. feel free to ignore this if you don’t want to/don’t feel comfortable talking about it!)

hiiii! first of all, i’m really glad you like my fics! thank you for reading them :) and for my writing process: i think i have talked about it a couple times but i do plan on making a thorough and detailed post describing my writing process but i’m lazy so it keeps getting put off! for now, i’m copy & posting what i said for an old ask where i split it into stages and described how long each one took (+ new notes!!)

(under the cut because i ramble)

1) idea/brainstorm

i tend to get ideas from other subject matter such as books, tv shows, movies, music, etcetera just like most people but i also get a lot of fic ideas in dreams. those actually tend to be the best ones, in my opinion. and once i get an idea and it won’t leave my brain for a bit, i open up a notebook page or my notes app and write down everything i can about it (the general gist, anything specific i dreamt/wanted, etc). sometimes i’ll even write out a scene if i can’t stop thinking about it. in fact, i’ve based an entire fic around one written scene more than once in the past.

if i’m super excited, i usually end up blurting out the idea to a friend and there’s just something about explaining an idea to someone else that has you fleshing it out and building upon it and then suddenly you’re even more excited than before--

2) outlining

this actually tends to be a relatively quick stage for me! for the most part, once i get an idea and i get inspired, the story just comes together! there may be gaps but i don’t worry about them yet - i just start my character profiles and a scene list! my outlines tend to be pretty detailed but they can range from around 1k to up to 5k depending on the complexity of the story, characters, and whether any worldbuilding needs to be done. and every story is different - some i just have fleshed out in my head already so i don’t need to work it out on paper (or, on screen, i guess) and others i need to plan out every last detail or else my brain gets too muddled trying to sort everything out. and in my experience: the longer the outline, the longer the fic.

i’d say typically this takes around a couple hours (for the basic outline) but i always come back to my outline frequently even when drafting, changing and tweaking things or adding/cutting things. outlines are fluid! they’re meant to change and alter with new ideas and different directions :)

[edit: i’m just quickly going to add a:

3.5) research

this isn’t for every fic but sometimes a story i want to write involves something i don’t have a lot of knowledge/experience for and so i always make sure to research the topic as best as i can in order to portray it as accurately as possible. of course, this is fanfiction and no one is going to grade you on how credible everything is (and they shouldn’t!! this is all for fun!!) but i personally really enjoy the research aspect of writing and getting to learn about things i normally wouldn’t ever get the chance to. i’m currently writing a fic that’s required so much research (i have pages of notes; it’s ridiculous) and i’ve been having a lot of fun with it!! i also want to make a post about this but the main thing i try to do is find experts, whether that be from expert sources or from experts themselves on platforms such as youtube, specific websites, or even reddit and quora. the best way to learn is to learn from someone else who knows it well]

3) drafting

as expected, this stage definitely takes the longest. i’d say my average for writing days (as in, only counting days where i write) is around 2-3k or maybe 4k. on a really good day, i can write 6-8k (edit: haven’t done that in a hot second haha). the biggest streak i’ve had was when i wrote 40k in 4 days (ie: before we knew, which i posted the same day i finished, of course) but that is very uncommon, obviously.

so it all depends on the length of the fic and the type of story for how long drafting takes but i’d say majority of my fics were written either in a week (these are the shorter ones, just to clarify) or in a few weeks depending on length. one of my 50k+ fics was written in exactly 25 days (that sounds a bit like Nanawrimo but it was october) and then on the other hand, a fic that ended up at 30k-ish took me months to write - part of that was just that i wasn’t prioritizing it, but i also just struggled a lot with it.

(edit: so just to elaborate a bit more with challenges that are typically faced in this stage - there’ll be times where i get stuck on a scene or lose motivation and then i typically jump around and move to a different scene that i feel more excited about. that’s what’s so helpful with outlines: they let me switch between different points of the story without getting everything jumbled or creating hordes of plot holes and inconsistencies. for more on things i do to help me write more, i answered this ask a while ago. also if i get stuck plot-wise, then i often consult a fellow writing friend or go back to my outline to work it out)

4) beta stage

i have two very lovely people who beta for me: @soldouthaz and my friend chelsea who does not have a tumblr :( (edit: she does now!! @kittenlouis :D) i’d say they’re both pretty fast, finishing in a couple days when i need them to! but again, it depends on the fic/length/other circumstances. they’re really good at catching my embarrassing typos and giving me feedback when i ask (edit: i tend to leave questions in the form of comments on google docs if i want specific input or feedback and it’s really helpful)

honestly i really don’t reread/revise my own work (i actually sort of did for my second blff though since i had the extra time so we’ll see if it pays off!) (edit: i think it did!) but when i go through the edits from sarah and chelsea, i do typically end up skimming scenes and making changes that i deem necessary. i do highly suggest self-editing to anyone else though because it only ever makes the story better, never hurts it. i need to get better at it myself.

i hope this gives you some sort of idea of my writing process even though it’s sort of a mess. feel free to ask more questions if you want me to extrapolate/elaborate anything. i wish you all the best!

#asks #writing advice #my writing tips #writing

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simping4ukai · 3 years

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how i think hq characters would be on snap! pt1? idk let me know if you want a part 2! this is just what i think so it’s okay if you see them differently :)

ukai- he’s had a snap account since before it was cool tbh. the kids tried to introduce him to it without realizing that their coach had been on there for a few years, and you honestly wouldn’t know he had been because his snap score isn’t very high. doesn’t post much on his story, maybe if he travels, but that’s it. doesn’t have his own private snap story, but honestly enjoys watching everyone else’s. also will never swipe up and reply to your story. he only adds the karasuno boys once they’ve graduated, wouldn’t even add hinata back when he added his coach the morning of his graduation, he waited until the ceremony was over.

tanaka- still sends streaks but not boring streaks. it’s probably him and his friends messing around at practice, dumb pictures he takes of himself with random filters, a video of hinata sleeping in class, etc. surprisingly good at keeping streaks, they’re all at least 200 days. posts on his main story at least once a week, definitely the kind of guy to post about game day and making sure people come out and support the team. saeko recorded her waxing his legs on his main story because he lost a bet but she lied and said it was his private. he nearly cried when he saw that kiyoko viewed his story and saw him yelling and tearing up :’)

noya- definitely posted himself doing rolling thunder, at least a few times. actually, it’s almost routine at this point for him to give his phone to hinata and make him record it for his story. you can 100% hear hinata hyping him up in the background. also posts whenever he gets his hair dyed or has a good outfit, definitely captioned with something about “this drip” or “the fit”. has a private for when he and asahi hang out because asahi felt anxious about having so many people see him on noya’s main, because short king has a lot of snap contacts! goes through his quick add daily, always adding new people and will either snap back in 2 seconds or in a week. there is no in between.

tsukki- has a snap, but never posts on his story. not even for nationals. doesn’t have a private. he also only has 20 people on snap, and even his brother barely made the cut. he also really doesn’t watch people’s stories. you would think it’s because he doesn’t care, but he would actually rather have people tell him about stuff in person, plus social media is meant to only capture the good moments. he doesn’t care that much about too many people, but he also appreciates when people are genuine. he will snap back yams decently fast, but that’s about it. has the third years on snap, but refuses to add anyone else from the group chat. adds hinata and kags back after 3 years, and almost immediately regrets it.

oikawa- has so many snapchat notifications that it’s not even funny. girls are always adding him and snapping him, but he’s one of those people who doesn’t add back so you end up subscribed to his story. posts occasionally on his main, not an obnoxious amount, but if he’s out, looks good, or sees a nice sunset. okay, so at least three times a week. but that’s nothing compared to his private story. there are always at least 20 snaps on his private, and every day is different. the kind of person to vlog about things, whether it be him ranting about how the store was out of milk bread or recording himself annoying iwa. the guys on the team clown him, but he’s a big reason why their team gc stayed alive even after they graduated. doesn’t watch other people’s stories that often and doesn’t do streaks unless they’re accidents, because this man is busy being successful as he should be.

suna- honestly didn’t even have a bitmoji until recently and even then he barely changed anything except his hair and his clothes. will open your snap and not reply, or give a 1-2 word answer. doesn’t really care about posting, but if someone else takes his phone to post on his story then he really doesn’t mind. generally unbothered, doesn’t reply to people’s stories and doesn’t reply to anyone’s replies to his stories either. will purposefully leave people on read because he knows it annoys them lol oops. i see him as more of a reddit user tbh he just gives me those vibes.

tendou- posts almost daily on his story but it’s usually something cute or interesting! adds back everyone who adds him, and is really good about snapping people back within the hour. will usually reply to someone’s story with something positive, loves to give compliments! the occasional selfie with ushijima, especially on game days. 100% posts himself baking idk he strikes me as the type who would enjoy baking. doesn’t have a private because he’d rather just send those snaps to people directly. changes his bitmojis clothes with the season.

#haikyuu #haikyuu hcs #oikawa #hq ukai #hq noya #hq tanaka #haikyuu tsukki #lish writes?

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megashadowdragon · 3 years

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coldhands identity is brave danny flint

Could Coldhands be Brave Danny Flint? It sounds crackpot, and very likely is, but the more I thought about it the more it appealed to me. I've done a quick search, one or two people seem to have floated this before but it's never had much in-depth analysis. This is my first meta, so please be gentle and C&C welcome.

The Gender Agenda To start with, I'll start with the elephant in the room - Danny Flint was a girl, Coldhands is male. Or is he? Gilly, Meera, and Bran all refer to him as male, but they have no idea who he is, so would see Night's Watch clothes and assume. He wears a scarf over his face, and while they can see his eyes and that his face is pale, it took Bran's gang a decent amount of time to work out he was a walking corpse, so I'm not sure I trust them to figure out niceties like gender. Leaf's "They killed him long ago" is more of a problem - she's a colleague, she would probably know. My best defence is that maybe Children of the Forest don't do gender in the same way as humans? This feels like a reach, but we have had another magical species with sexual fluidity leading to trouble with pronouns in the series. Otherwise, Leaf tends to hang out in the cave, Coldhands can't get in, maybe they're just not that close. Finally, the main person to ask - Coldhands his or her self. The only other post I could see on reddit about this theory had someone respond with the quote "Once the heart has ceased to beat, a man's blood runs down into his extremities, where it thickens and congeals. His hands and feet swell up and turn as black as pudding. The rest of him becomes as white as milk", but I'd point out this is in third person and a generalization - "a man", not "me, Coldhands, the man".

Okay, now I've convinced everyone my theory is terrible, let's get into the meat of it.

Hands cold as stone This was what got me into this rabbit hole in the first place - House Flint's sigil is "A grey stone hand upon a white inverted pall on paly black and grey". A stone hand would be pretty cold, right? In point of fact, when we first met Coldhands, the final line of the chapter describes "fingers hard as stone." On top of that, the white and black background seems to fit the Night's Watch blacks, pale face, black hands, white snow, etc.

Who the hell else could it be? This has always been the weird thing about Coldhands for me. Honestly, there's a very good chance this is a non mystery mystery, he's a zombie Night's watch ranger riding an elk, do we really need a secret identity? However, "who is Coldhands?" is one of the most commonly asked questions in the fandom, so let's assume it's getting an answer. We know: a) night's watch member b) killed a long time ago, as reckoned by a 200 year old, c) not Benjen. There are essentially 3 historical periods where we know any specifics about the Night's Watch: 1) the long night/age of heroes, 2) Targaryen era, 3) recent history. If we work through these backwards, we can pretty much rule out the recent era for not meeting the criteria of "killed a long time ago". The Targaryen era didn't have much Night's Watch drama, a few kings sent to the wall at Aegon's conquest, Raymun Redbeard's invasion is wall related but the whole point of that story is that the Night's Watch failed to really get involved... the only strong contender from this period is a mysterious magical Targaryen bastard who went to the wall and went missing... but he's the other mysterious good zombie wandering around up north. The long night has a lot of Night's Watch focus, but it was 10,000 years ago. Allowing for this being in-universe exaggeration, it's still ~2,000 years ago, and if Coldhands were that old, I'm not sure he'd be in elk-riding mutineer-killing form, or at least not look passably human to Bran and co. This rules out specific timeline characters, which leaves more folkloric characters like Danny Flint, who isn't associated to any one point in time. There's a song, and she's treated as a well-known tale, which implies a fairly long time, but overall could be whenever. This works for any of the folkloric Night's Watch characters, but the Rat King is already otherwise occupied with a different cannibalistic pseudo immortality, leaving Mad Axe, who does have the massacring fellow brothers down pat, but doesn't feel thematically right to me. This section really grew in the writing, but TL;DR - assuming Coldhands is someone we've heard of before, no specific historical figures seem to match up chronologically, leaving figures from folk tales and songs, which there are only so many of.

Mutineer Massacre For a character we've all obsessed over so much, it's easy to forget how little we've seen of Coldhands. His role in the story has effectively been "transport Sam and Gilly to the wall, transport Bran and co to Bloodraven, massacre the Night's Watch mutineers". Hold up, one of those things is not like the others. During his quest to get Bran to Bloodraven, to awake the messiah and save the world, Coldhands takes a break and makes a detour to kill the Night's Watch Mutineers from Crasters. This is explicitly noted to be something they slow down for, when time is critical. Admittedly, it secures the party some delicious Long Pork when supplies are low, but even in aDwD it seems like there are other ways to get meat than to hunt humans, besides which he kills not one but five mutineers. He claims it is because the mutineers are following them, but Meera points out they've been circling for days - it seems Coldhands deliberately sought the mutineers out. The brutality of the kills also suggests more than utilitarian pragmatism - there are entrails slung through branches and severed heads! All of this to say, Coldhands is deliberately shown as both a member of the Night's Watch, and willing/going out of his way to punish Night's Watch brothers who break their vows and harm their fellow brothers, something Danny Flint might take personally. Basically, it's a classic exploitation movie with an elk-riding zombie as the wronged woman hunting down wrongdoers. Someone call Tarantino to direct this.

A True Night's Watch One of the big themes GRRM loves is the idea that outsiders to an institution can be the truest embodiment of that institution - Dunk and Brienne are the truest Knights, Davos is the truest lord, the Manderlys are the most loyal northerners. Coldhands already seems to tie into this - the Night's Watch are tireless defenders from the Others and their Wights, so ironically the staunchest ranger is undead as well. It would only emphasise this theme if this ultimate Night's Watch ranger was someone who was barred from entry, had to sneak in, and was murdered by their brothers for not belonging. There also seems to be a thematic tie in that Danny Flint had to essentially infiltrate the Night's Watch and keep her cover in hostile terrain, much like Coldhands in the Others controlled north.

Bonding over being murdered by your brothers Coldhands has so far been very much one of Bran's cast, but it's worth noting characters can switch storylines, and we have someone else in the North who can soon relate to being a back-from-the-dead Night's Watchman fighting the Others - I'm hardly the first to note the Coldhands/Jon parallels, but Coldhands being another character who was murdered by the Night's Watch due to their conservatism and hatred of outsiders would add another layer.

Miscellany A couple of quotes I found while researching for this: “Did Mance ever sing of Brave Danny Flint?” “Not as I recall. Who was he?” (ADWD Jon XII) - Tormund and Jon talking, Tormund mistaking Danny Flint for a man, this feels like one of those throw-away lines GRRM likes to include to make a little double meaning once the truth is out, or just seeding the idea of mistaking Danny Flint for a man. “The ranger wore the black of the Night’s Watch, but what if he was not a man at all?" (ADWD Bran I) - again, I could see GRRM giggling as he typed that if this theory were true.

Conclusion Honestly, there is every chance this is absolute nonsense, and I've just lost it waiting for TWoW. I tend to lean towards Coldhands not having a big identity reveal, he's an undead ranger co-opted by Bloodraven and that's enough. However, if Coldhands is to have an identity reveal, I think Danny Flint deserves consideration: there aren't that many viable candidates, her story is emotionally intense enough and has been referred to often enough that a casual fan could be expected to go "oh!" instead of "...let me google that", and it would fit with existing themes of the story. The angle of Jon parallels even gives an opening for the reveal to be natural and facilitate character and thematic arcs, which is what I look for in a theory.

comment on reddit

Yeah, the Flint (of Flint's Finger) sigil literally being a Cold Hand is what sold me on this when I started looking into it. There's also some other intriguing textual stuff about it...

The weird thing about Danny Flint is that she is only mentioned three times in all of ASOIAF. Three! Bran recounts her tale in Bran IV, ASOS; Theon hears Wyman Manderly demand her song in The Prince of Winterfell, ADWD; and Jon discusses her tale with Tormund in Jon XII, ADWD.

This was kind of shocking to me. Danny Flint is a pretty recognizable name to, I’d figure, the majority of attentive readers. I thought she must have been mentioned before the third book, at least, but… nope. Her tale is first introduced to us in Bran IV, ASOS, the Nightfort chapter… Oh, what’s that? Wait, isn’t that… the very same Nightfort chapter where we first hear about Coldhands? (Well, no, actually, he appears at the end of Samwell III before that, but this is the first chapter where he is identified as Coldhands.) Chronologically, Sam meets Coldhands, Bran thinks about Danny Flint, and then Sam introduces Bran to Coldhands, in fairly quick succession.

So it seems GRRM came up with Danny Flint and Coldhands around the exact same time. Interesting. Danny Flint is then not mentioned again until ADWD, when the Coldhands mystery is developed further. Double interesting.

Also, the Bran chapter directly preceding the Nightfort chapter– our first introduction to Danny Flint– is the one where Meera tells him the story of the Knight of the Laughing Tree, another tale of a northern warrior woman dressing as a man and hiding her face in service of some greater goal. Stretch? Maybe.

And why would Coldhands' face be covered at all if there WASN'T some big reveal upcoming? What utility would that have? That scarf clearly seems like a setup for SOMETHING. He doesn't need it for warmth. He's likely hiding a face that would make him recognizable to Bran/Meera/Jojen (and the readers), but died long ago... the only way that reveal could work without a ton of laborious exposition is if he took off the scarf and it was obviously a 'female' face, making it obviously Danny. It also seems likely Coldhands will interact with at least Bran and Meera again, both of whom are somewhat connected to Danny Flint’s story– Bran via his love of stories and legends, and Meera via the breaking of gender roles. So there's thematic levels to it as well.

source www . reddit . com/r/asoiaf/comments/llwm8m/coldhands_identity_spoilers_extended/

#asoiaf #A Song of Ice and Fire #asoiaf theories #asoiaf theory #asoiaf coldhands #danny flint

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lickingyellowpaint · 3 years

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Alright, because at least one anon was curious, here are some thoughts based on, admittedly, a very brief foray into the world of sales. I'll speak only to what made my gut instinct do a confused puppy head-tilt, and obviously this is opinion, from someone on tumblr, and therefore not the end-all, be-all of advice on this...

Red Flags of Possible Scam Employers and/or Services

1) The first red flag was that the company threw me into the internal chats - chock full of pep and others' successes - before I was actually physically at work and able to understand their utility. Perhaps it’s easier from a tech perspective to fling new employees into every digital system at once. And sure, there was useful information and good insight into how the company uses those chats - lots of newbies asking questions and getting relevant good answers whilst on the floor, which IS nice - and if you're like me and unfamiliar with the tech or apps being used, it's great practice.

For the most part, though, two of the main chats were just hyping up their salespeople as they met their goals. I suspect they want you to see how much money everyone's making, how they're meeting their goals, and make you want to succeed similarly. There was already a little too much constant enthusiasm bouncing around the place for my goth ass, but hey, can't say the culture was negative! Still somewhat a nefarious psychological move, though, imho. The intent is likely to boast, dazzle, entice, overwhelm and make you envious enough to be competitive, as much as it is to inspire and inform. Just a guess.

2) The second red flag was similar in nature. In a lot of the e-meeting training sessions, there was a LOT of time spent on praising the success of those present in video meetings, a LOT of time spent on explaining the tier system of salespeople, the incentives, the commission system, cool trips you can earn... and I get that, to a degree, okay, you have a job, you wanna know how much money you can really make. Fine!

But if as much or more time is spent on those types of things than the actual training on what you need to learn to do the job... hm. Hm! I suspect more headgaming. (And no, this wasn't an MLM targeting suburban moms to employ and get all their friends onboard. This is a big company with good stock and trusted affiliates.) Anyway, this is about when my gut started to do that quiet hrrrr-uff dogs do when they wanna bark but aren't sure about it yet.

3) Language and words are key. Obviously, most people are sharp enough to know that phrases like "no out-of-pocket upfront cost" is a codeword for We Can't Legally Say It's Free But Want You To Feel Like It Is, and means there'll be payment involved at some point. It's one thing to know that, and quite another to parrot the phrase at an elderly potential customer, or one whose grasp of English isn't quite perfect. Could you, in good conscience, do that for a commission and feel good about it? Turns out I couldn't.

And that's not necessarily indicative of a scam company altogether - sales is sales, and sales language has probably been a little deceptive by nature for as long as it's been around. But could you do that for a paycheck, while being new to the job, thus not being entirely sure what it's gonna cost that little old lady or that immigrant family down the line? Could you? You may not really know for sure until you hear yourself say it, and your gut starts barking in earnest, because you don't know what their next step - that you just convinced them to take - will be.

4) I didn't know, so I tried to find out. While my followers here know I was pretty diligent with my required training stuff, you can see from points 1 and 2 that those materials weren't really meaty and informative enough for me. I tried to seek further clarification not just on my tasks, but the next steps - could someone explain them to me better, in a way that assured me I wasn't pitching a scam? Could someone send me videos or content relevant to the next step in the process, just so I understand it better for my own edification and peace of mind?

Well... maybe they tried to. I was sent a link to a video of one of the next-step-in-the-process sales guys at work... only to be denied access to that video, and though I requested access, nothing in the system ever granted it to me. A glitch? Perhaps. But when I mentioned wanting access, wanting a few more questions answered until I felt right with things, most of what I heard was:

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that."

"Don't overcomplicate things for yourself."

"That's a little above your role. Keep things simple, say you don't know, and it'll add value to the expertise of the next-step sales guy!"

"We tend to save that for more advanced training, since not all of our new people have your emotional intelligence, and might not have as good a brain-to-mouth filter, and say more to the customer than they need to."

Well... I wasn't asking in order to answer a customer's questions, I was asking to answer mine. I won't speak to what I don't know to be true, and I won't sell what I'm not sure is legit, no matter how much I'm paid to do so. And that gut-dog? Now it's a pack of dogs, and at least one of them is starting to howl.

5) It's howling kind of loudly, actually, and my (delightful, friendly, funny) managers aren't helping me quiet it down. So if they can't answer my questions to my satisfaction, I have to seek answers elsewhere.

Arguably, obviously, I should have done this from the start, but - that's when I sought out customer reviews.

And I don't mean clicking Google Reviews and just reading those.

I mean spending most of an afternoon on a deep dive into the following search terms:

"[Company Name] reviews" "[CN] scam" "[CN] Better Business Bureau reviews" "[CN] reddit" "[CN] class action/lawsuit" "[CN] Yelp/any other well-known review site you can think of”/Twitter tag/FB search

You get the idea.

Now, of course some bad actors (rival companies, annoyed ex-employees) can write bad reviews to make the company look bad. Equally, anyone who felt like it could write good reviews to make the company look good. (I wasn't about to search every good reviewer's name in our email database to see if any matched up. But a couple did include words or phrases that might be included in customer-facing marketing and mission statements and thus parroted naturally, but were definitely included in internal training vids. Just a very slight few, but they popped out at me.) Another thing to keep in mind when wanting to take all reviews into account equally is that when people are happy with a product, they don't always remember to leave reviews, so most reviews are written by the vaguely-to-deeply dissatisfied to begin with, and may not be an accurate representation of what's really going on.

Let's be fair here. As a thought experiment, look up the reviews for a company/service/product you truly love, and see if the bad ones reflect a concern you can understand, or one you'd brush off, or one that just doesn't reflect your experience at all. What works for one person/locale/reason for another, might not for someone else, and that’s understandable.

Also ponder:

Out of, let's say, 200 reviews, how many would need to be positive to get you to buy something, especially if it was something you wanted? Would a lot of negative ones make you second-guess the product or service?

How would you gauge the seriousness of the problems presented in the negative ones?

Would a company responding to the bad reviews with apologies and customer service numbers, on that same forum where all could read their empathy and solutions, be enough to convince you that the company had handled the issue by the time you're reading them?

Ponder, ponder, ponder...

aaaand, moving on.

Let's say that out of 200 reviews from a plethora of sources, 40-50 are five-star happy with the company.

Another, eh, 30 or so are two- or three-star, because something went wrong, wrong enough to leave an iffy or downright bad taste in the reviewers' mouths.

The last 110-120? One-star reviews. With at least 10-20 of those saying they'd have left zero stars if the review forum allowed it.

Some of those one-stars may be several years old. Some may have since had their issue truly resolved, and never bothered to update their review or add to it. Some have issues that boil down to, "Okay, the customer clearly didn't understand the terms", or, "That's a crazy problem but I can't relate to caring about it because [insert personal preference/reason] here."

But if a whole load of those one-star reviews tend to speak up about the same types of problems, serious ones, ones you'd find bothersome or downright tragic, ones that would cost you money in some way or another, ones that make you further doubt the integrity of the company altogether, and many of them are as recent as the last few months...

Do I need to finish that sentence?

Hold up, BRB, I have to let the gut-dogs out, they're going absolutely batshit crazy. Must be a full moon!

Or just a disorganized, neglectful, or possibly purposely deceitful company.

The old saying says there’s a sucker born every minute.

Would your conscience be cool with being paid to be one, or to prey on them?

Advice:

My advice is pretty basic: before joining, signing, buying important things, do your diligent research and trust. your. gut.

I hope the above list of experiences helps guide you in doing both.

#if you wanna play it super-safe just ignore salespeople and don't go into sales to begin with lol

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frobin · 4 years

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I can totally understand the Jinbe/Robin ship, it does make sense. But can someone tell me why people ship Zo.Robin? Like... they barely seen to interact with one another and Zoro refers to her as the "creepy lady". Like... is it as simple as they're two attractive people who don't talk much?

Hello once more (?) anon,

after all these years I still try to understand Zo//Ro//bin.

Same with La//wbin. If anything I see both ships rather with Robin being a big sister to the men. But well. That is for another day and another time.

What I felt like it simmers down to is that Zoro Fanboys want the hot girls for him and they prefer Robin to Nami because Nami has a more violent personality while Robin seemed more submissive.

But then that is only my impression by skimming over fanworks. And we all know the most vocal fans are not always the best examples... so I googled and found a reddit post from 2018 ( “Why is everyone against robin x zoro”) that hopefully gives some insight (I want to add, that OP who started this thread said they don’t ship but then go full Zo//Ro//bin in the comments so...): User 1:

The only reasons why I think that shippers like to have zoro and Robin together are:

- Both are The serious type, calm, collected, are more mature.

- Both are hot

- Both are fan favorites, nobody really hates on each of these two.

Seems legit.

OP:

Also robin and zoro both relate to being killers and hard people.

They both have had their hearts warmed by luffy after he saved them and both want to protect him and each other at all cost

...??? 1. it’s not clear if Zoro really ever killed someone? And neither is it clear about Robin but it’s much more likely? 2. like everyone else in the crew? Everyone had their heartwarming moment? ... I’m ?????

OP:

Robin is gentle and deadly which really complements zoros brash but silent vibe.

Yeah I guess that is why people enjoy it? But it’s basically the same with Franky. But Franky is brash and loud with complements Robins calm and collected better? But that is about taste I guess?

OP:

Their both logical and practical strategist

... I love how someone immediately answered “Zoro? A strategist?” Because same. Zoro is many things but not the sharpest tool in the shed. His swords are sharper than him. I love Zoro but he is kinda dumb.

OP:

And know how to keep the crew back in reality. And not allow them to act like kids in serious situations

>User 1 (again):

>That would be Nami who's actively shutting down the bs of the silly crew >member

>>OP:

>>No im talking about actual serious situations.Like how zoro wouldnt allow >>ussop to just cone back to the straw hats without apologizing

To be honest, after all these years I’m still not sure if Zoro reacted correct. I can accept it but I’m still not sure... but well that is my opinion. Has nothing to do with Robin though. She probably hoped for Usopp to join them again but ultimately didn’t dare to defy the crew that just saved her? I don’t know.

Well... weird reason but okay I guess. The example is just bad?

(okay so far only OP argues pro Zo//Ro//bin because the theme was a question and people give reasons as to why people might not like Zo//Ro//bin. No real hate though. Most just don’t want to see romance between crewmates.)

OP:

But the thing is if zoro and robin got together it wouldnt change their characters. Their personalitys complement so well already

okay I guess? If people see it like that???

User 2:

One of the only reasons I wouldn't ship Zoro x Robin is because there's a lot Franky x Robin interaction and that's just a better ship. But again, it's not a shipping series... other than the pirate ships!

Shipping it if FRobin wouldn’t be a thing is a good reason XD

... okay that is all I got from that thread and even a bit more makes my head hurt... I have never once found an essay about this ship that made me go “yeah okay that makes sense!” because in the end it’s always the same two or three scenes and character interpretations and... I guess in the end it’s just preference and taste? And quite often, to me, just seems like people see the characters different than others. But... as I said before that is just a very general impression I got.

So in conclusion... I still don’t know. I just can’t see it? But okay ship and let ship if people enjoy it it’s fine... anyway...

Sorry I couldn’t help. Maybe someone else can?! Feel free to add!

#FRobin #text #anon #ask #defense #OTP feels #I still don't get it #defending #please don't attack #this is just for trying to understand #I really would love to know #fandom #shipping #kon #Anonymous

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everlarkficquestions · 4 years

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Sunday Stumped Day 29

It’s another Sunday Stumped Day!

Sometimes we straight out get stumped. So every few months we will pick a Sunday when we’ll post of a list of asks that we need your help on.

This time around we have focused on Asks that are looking for specific fics.

If you know the answer to any of these asks please shoot us a message/ ask/ with the Post number and the fic details and we’ll add it and give you a shout out with our thanks. Any links you can provide will also be super helpful.

Thanks!

Post 1 , Post 2 , Post 3, Post 4, Post 5, Post 6, Post 7, Post 8, Post 9, Post 10, Post 11, Post 12, Post 13, Post 14, Post 15, Post 16, Post 17, Post 18, Post 19, Post 20, Post 21, Post 22 , Post 23, Post 24, Post 25, Post 26, Post 27 and Post 28 can be found here - and there are still fics we need your help with.

495. theman189-blog said:

Also looking for a growing together fic where peeta and katniss are painting a room ar one point and they get in a paint fight, at the end when peeta has katniss over his shoulder she draws a heart in paint on his lower back

494. theman189-blog said:

Hi there, just read a fic where katniss and peeta were peacekeepers and fall in love called protect and serve, and I could have sworn there was another one where they're peacekeepers and fell in love but had a more concrete ending and I cant remember it... any thoughts?

493. breakmeaswitchson said:

Hi! So I posted asking about this on a sub in Reddit and got directed here, it's not specifically an Everlark one (I don't think) but if you could help I'd be so thankful! Basically, it took the characters from the 74th Hunger Games, but the twist was that they all had to work together in designated groups? And (I think) weren't allowed to turn on each other until nobody else was left. I'm pretty sure Rue and Clove were on a team together, and I think the setting involved abandoned buildings.

492. jayana90 said:

Hi! I'm looking for a specific fic from Peeta's POV. I read it about a year ago & now I can't find it. It begins at his house in 12 with his family, then traces nearly all of the Hunger Games trilogy. It ends with a chapter with Peeta & Katniss living in 12 years later with their kids and a bakery. I think they loved cheese bread? It was really long and so good, I hope to find it again. V smutty.

FOUND! The Sexual Frustrations of Peeta Mellark by PeetasAndHerondales, which has sadly been deleted. - thank you, mistressnightshade!

491. allflowerscatchthesunlight said:

Fic name needed: I recall Peeta was taken by the capitol and then there was trackers embedded into his skin or something and he was found by the squad while in the capitol to kill snow. They cut it out of him. Also katniss was pregnant, but miscarried.

Found! Secret Wishes, Secret Kisses by @katnissdoesnotfollowback -- thank you KDNFB!

490. jsth2obooks said:

Hi I read this fix a while ago and now I'm trying to find it. It's Modern day Katnisss and Peeta have to go to a high school reunion an they pretend to be either together/engaged. At the end they end up with a child. Thanks in advance

FOUND! Somewhere That’s Green by Jlala. Thank you, @fangirlingoverquotes

489. uglydora15 said:

I read this fancition about Katniss and Peeta post mockingjay and Katniss was pregnant I think for the second time and Peeta has a flashback and Katniss caught him kissing someone else in the bakery and he had to beg for her forgiveness

Possibly There Are Still Worse Games to Play- The Second Part of Our Journey by panskiss123. Thank you, @sunsetsrmydreams

488. bad-fad said:

Hi so I think there’s a fix where mr. Mellark like takes in katniss when she’s young (I don’t think prim existed in the story but I could be wrong) and she grows up with the Mellarks but I can’t remember?? If not maybe some recs along those lines

Possibly - “Kinship” by Misshoneywell - thank you @endlessnightlock

possibly Star by HGRomance - thank you @nightlock-89

Possibly the deleted Lion’s Tooth by Alexabee

487. craftydiva0828 said:

Looking for a story where after the war, Katniss rides the trains searching the districts for Peeta; people search for loved ones by posting their pictures at the train depot bulletin board.

FOUND! when the far-gone dead return - writingforhugs (Thanks, @ladymurphyevermore!)

486. bookworm06 said:

I was wondering if you guys know about a fic where Peeta woos katniss slowly, they dare secretly for a long time i think. And then Katniss comes out in this beautiful orange dress(peeta’s favorite color) to announce their engagement. She’s dressed up for a feast or party in the district or something! I loved this story but can’t even remember the name 🤦🏻‍♀️

FOUND! - I Knew This Would Have Happened Anyway by @abk1973 - thank you, @litharalen

485. cowrintimrousbeastie said:

Hello! This is actually the first time I'm posting a question, I usually enjoy doing the detective work. This time though, I've looked high and low and can't find it... it's a drabble posted on tumblr in several parts. Peeta is living with his girlfriend Delly but during one of his baking workshops discovers that this longtime best friend Katniss is in love with him (she has him as her phone screen saver). She works at the library? He confronts her and she says forget it as he is happy w/Delly..

FOUND! By @cowrintimrousbeastie herself! It is How Long by @ra3lynn3. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 , Part 4 and Part 5.

484. beautiful-harmony1 said:

Hello! Thank for your great work. I am looking for a fic I read a while ago. Post-mockingjay. Katniss is really sick and Peeta comes homes a realises. He takes care of her. On her “death bed” she talks about this that would have happened between the two. I’m pretty sure some bursts in and say “we found a cure”. Thank you so much

483. thehopefuldandelion said:

So I’ve been craving to read this fic that hopefully I didn’t make up and I’ve been trying to remember it’s name. All I remember is that Katinss and Gale(I think) are dating but when Gale would go to sleep Katinss would text Peeta. I’m pretty sure they were coworkers and couldn’t date bc of this. I know that she broke up with Gale but that’s all that my brain can remember. I’m sorry if this is vague or you can’t find it. I just wanted to read this again. Thanks for all you do for the community❤️

FOUND! This is After Hours by SoThere -thank you, @mendontprotectyou!

482. redhoodhungergames said:

I’m looking for a fic where peeta goes to this hotel (or something) and finds Katniss who works there as a singer. I remember when talking we hear that Katniss is from Virginia

481. just-absolutely-super said:

There’s a pre-epilogue fic I read about Katniss and Peeta growing back together. I can’t remember all the details but I think in the fic Katniss finds out Peeta painted Prim and it upset her? Toward the end she’s outside his bedroom door and confesses to him that she loves him. Thank you!

Possibly - The List of Words by MyKonstantine - thank you, @jennagill

480. peetniss27 said:

OK i must be going crazy, but this fanfic is about panem being a bunch of islands and they all do a computer session and are matched with their spouses after being “reaped” and Katniss was dating peeta and ended up with gale. It was called the islands but idk the new name please help!!!!!

FOUND!

Are You Leaving Me? - iloverueforever (*Thank you, @superchocovian!)

479. uniquepizzacollectionblog said:

Hi, i"m looking for a fic where katniss and peeta and best friends and have slept with each other in the past and now the sexual tension is coming back, maybe you guys know of this story?

478. xgetawaycar13 said:

Hiiii so I’m looking for a fic in which Katniss and Peeta get married in catching fire by order of snow and they are also forced to have children but I remember that at some point someone told Katniss about how all the girls at school liked Peeta so she got jealous and have him a blowjob Thank youuu I already look through your master list about marriage in catching fire but I couldn’t find it:(

FOUND. This is Have Heart, My Dear by monroeslittle. Thanks @finestunicorn.

477. ochri said:

Hi i'm looking for this fic from fanfiction It's a post-MJ fic and there's this one chapter where katniss peels? her skin off her fingers and then Peeta takes her to hospital. That's all I really remember :/

476. nikki-pondtheauthor said:

hey im curious if there are fanfics in which peeta learns how to use a bow and shoot arrows (taught by katniss). bonus if he does this in hunger games. im sure ive a read a fanfic before, that was awesome in my opinion because it is a bit out of character for him but highlighting the fact that he is a survivor too and can handle weapons even if he is more a friendly persona

475. white-dandelion-seeds said:

Hey, can you find me this story- Peeta helped Katniss to escape when her family was being killed. But he got captured and was made a slave. Later he helps Katniss to take revenge of the death of her family

474. chippedcupsandbrokenhearts said:

Ok do you know the name of Fic where Katniss finally gets away from her abusive marriage with gale and goes back to her family. They didn’t know she was being abused. She falls in love with Peeta and I remember at one point gale found her and her family drives him out of town. I read this YEARS ago and now I just randomly had the urge to reread it but can’t remember the name. Thank you!!!

Possibly - A Safe Place by HavishamWard,but this fic has been deleted. Thank you, @endlessnightlock

473. jillpill55 said:

Hi, I love your page and have read probably a hundred fics because of it. I hoping you can help me find this fic I read a couple of months ago. Peeta was captured and when he came back he couldn't kiss Katniss because of a implant snow had put in peeta's leg. I would be a mutli-chapter and may or not be finished. Thanks

Possibly - Rekindling by ShiningCity. Thank you, @sunsetsrmydreams

472. svmn14 said:

There was a story about Peeta suffering from an undetected hijacking attack timed 10 years after the last Games where he was designed to hurt Katniss

FOUND! This is Broken: Scenes from the Sequel by MockingJayFlyingFree. Thanks @sunsetsrmydreams

471. hiyosakura said:

Hello! I was wondering if you could help find this everlark fic. I’m not sure if it’s completed or not but it also has hayffie in it a bit I think. So the story is that k and p fall in love before their games and they meet at their tree in school or something but then they get reaped and I can’t remember what happens after that but during the quarter quell Katniss is actually pregnant and Peeta and Katniss are able to communicate with their lips touching.

FOUND! That’s 74th Hunger games Challenge: We Always Were - Jamie Sommers(*Thank you, @superchocovian!)

470. ptx-holic said:

Hi, i’m looking for a fic where katniss is in a relationship with gale and then she met peeta and they are in a relationship but they caught katniss having two relationship and katniss move to somewhere and then she came back few years later and met peeta again. I’m sorry if this is confusing for you but i can’t find it. Thank you :)

Do any of these fics ring a bell? Please let us know!

#SSD #sunday stumped day #compilation #mod post

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residentevilforeverr · 4 years

Text

Uhm... Hey!

I'm totally new to this thing so... I'm sorry of anything is wrong or something.

So this short story is about y/n being streamer and youtuber, who happened to be being abused by her father. There is Jacksepticeye and Markiplier in it...so.

Something about 1200 words.

Take care!

I opened my twitch account, called t/a/n same as my YouTube channel. Quickly looking if someone was online or something but getting kinda sad when no-one did so.

Putting on the timer and starting stream, while adding some music for the ones that would wait, mostly some soundtracks from the games I did lots of lets plays on, like Resident Evil, Last of us, The Evil Within or just something normal like Fortnite/Pubg, but mostly because of f/g (favourite game) people know me because of that one mostly. I had merch of it too..

After some time setting it all and letting some of the fanart be on the screen, a lot of people started to come around, right now there were almost 89. It was a lot for me, of course, but my channel has 137 and we are really getting close to 138, which is great and made me the 'queen of the Youtube'. I just thought about my community for a second, remembering all of those kids that go and take photos with me when I just leave my /house/apartment/flat/other/ for buying ice-cream or something.

Moving my microphone a bit I sat timer on, 10 minutes would do. It started to count down and I slowly nod my head, satisfied. Chat was already blowing up, about things what will we play and so. I went to my kitchen and grabbed my /drink/ from the Starbucks and some leftover /food/ warming it up the microwave. Then I went with it to my room, glancing at the time. 6:34. I went to the bathroom and did my business, going back and just checking everything, turning off my notification on the computer and clapping my hands to synchronise the sounds. 3:09. I turned on my colourful lights, looking at my background.

Od all looked good so I just checked chat and saw them counting from 15 down. Glancing at the timer I saw that it was only 11 seconds. I checked the camera again, saw it recording so I got ready and when it came to zero I started the stream.

Looking at things, seeing the camera working I sipped from my /drink/ looking at the keyboard and then looking up at the camera, waving.

"Hey, guys!"

The whole chat started to send their hi's and I smiled at them doing so.

"So. I am really glad that there is quite a lot of you here, more like really lot of you! That's really great! Anyways, I hoped that someone would have an idea what to play or something, I didn't really though. Only thing I am not having actually have mood for is Minecraft and Reddit."

I watched chat again, a lot of them said Evil Within or Outlast. I smiled. "Alright so Let's play outlast," I said as I put on my headphones.

"Hey it's Jack I'm gonna go for a minute, will be right back. Sorry." I said as I exited the studio and picked it up right away.

"Hello?"

As Outlast strated to load, my phone started to play /f/song/ I quickly take look to see one of my best friends Jack or Sean, or for others mostly known as JackSepticEye. I blinked and picked the phone up, standing.

"Hey, y/n!"

"Hey, Sean!"

"Yeah, I was just thinking if you wouldn't want to play with me and Mark, something like for the stream!"

"Yeah, I was starting one."

"Great, so wanna?"

"Sure, why not. I will just add you to Discord or something."

"Great see 'a there!"

"Yeah."

I said as I hung up, going back into the studio, seeing the game loaded already. I switched to my discord but ended the screen sharing so they could only see my web camera and nobody would try to spam me or heck me or shit. I found Jack and started to call him, be picked up immediately and I decided that it would be good if I would use his camera too, so I add it to the stream, putting on the sharing when I jumped back into Outlast.

"Hey, lass!"

"Hey, Jack. What do you wanna play, I was about to go for Outlast but oh well... Just not Minecraft."

"Awww why not."

"I don't know, just don't wanna go and mine all day. Even Pew did a song on that..."

I heard him laugh his goofy laugh and I smiled with a sigh.

"Yeah, that's kinda having its point. How bout Overcooked?"

"Yeah, that's great! Can you add Mark please?"

"Sure thing lass!"

After like minute or so while I ended the Outlast and started Overcooked while thanking donations, I heard ding as Mark was added to the call.

"Hey, Mark!"

"Hey, guys!"

"Hi, we are playing Overcooked, you coming?"

".... Yeah, sounds good!"

As we started to play, having fun, right as we ended another level my phone started to ring, again. I peeked at the screen quickly, seeing the name I feared the most.

'Dad'

So I added him to the stream, all of our heads on the left side, with our names and Twitch, Instagram and Twitter account.

Ring...

"Hey lass don' you wanna pick it up?"

"Yeah, we will just wait for you."

"....yeah."

I whispered and stopped my microphone on the stream but let it be in the call, putting my headphones down I stayed in the chair, not caring.

"Hello?"

"Dad I'm at my /house/apartment/flat/other/ at /country/. I am home."

"Where the fuck do you think you are?!"

"No, dad-"

Before I could say more the call ended and tears rushed to my eyes. I started to sob harder, not realizing I turned around in the chair and setting the phone down. I pulled my knees to my chest and covered them into my oversized hoodie. I tried to wipe the tears away but they just came back again, even more of them.

"And what do you think you are to just run off like this?!! Don't make me go there, you useless bitch!"

I slowly with shaky hands looked up at the camera as my chin shook, and tried to wipe my tears away again. Hesitantly I put the headphones back on my head.

"Y/n?"

"Y/n is everything alright?"

I just shook my head and started crying again.

"Hey, hey, hey calm down there, ok? Just take deep breaths."

I did as Mark said and slowly calmed down a bit, my crying turned into soft, hitched breathing, my eyes were puffy and red, same as my nose. Looking at the discord call I saw their worried and concerned looks.

"Lass?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"What happen'?"

"I-I... My d..dad is coming to my place and-d h-h-he will..."

"Hey calm down. Where does he live?"

"Fin-land, Jÿvaskÿla."

"Alright, alright... Maybe you can go and stay at mine or Jack's house until it will be fine..?"

"I don't know Mark... I just started to renovate my whole place and payed rant and-d I don't know if I have money to buy ticket, hotel, food, and-d-d"

"Hey it's fine lass I can buy it for ya, and I'm definitely fine with you staying at mine house! You don't need to think 'bout money it's fine!"

"Sean I don-t want to be-e bother-"

"Hey don't ever say that!"

"Yeah, it's not true, ya never can bother me! I will buy it all for ya, don't worry! And I don't take no as an answer!"

"I- thank you so much J-Jack I-I... Than-k you Mark I- I don't have word-s.."

"Hey it's fine, 'k? Don't worry we got you."

"Do you wanna finish the stream?"

"I don't really. Maybe later?"

"Yeah, same here lass."

"You and your timing..."

We all laughed at it and then I ended the stream quickly saying I need to go that it's fine and they don't need to worry.

"Fine I will tell them. How bout 3 hours? About... 1. am? There doesn't need to be that much guys..."

#markiplier x reader #markiplier #jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye x reader #reader #reader insert #youtuber #gamernerd

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unpopularly-opinionated · 3 years

Text

My friend shared with me this reddit thread where someone outlined a list of features they claim are “missing” from CP2077, and because I’m me and like to rant, I wanted to go through it and agree/disagree based on what I think should or shouldn’t be in the game.

So probably spoilers below, at least for gameplay.

- Walk toggle for keyboard.

Agree.

- Key re-mapping for certain elements.

Agree. The game has some rebinding functions, but not enough to be honest.

- Accessibility features missing (ie: text scaling for menus).

Agree.

- In-game benchmark feature.

Personally, I think this is somewhat extraneous and I wouldn’t knock a game for not having it since most games don’t, but sure if they add it I wouldn’t complain.

- Dash should be a separate key and not a double press of walking key.

HARD agree. It’s beyond me that they thought it was okay to have that as-is, honestly. It makes moving around while sneaking a huge pain because you accidentally dodge which puts you into a standing position which can reveal you easily. At the absolute least, they should disable dodging when crouched, but ideally allow it to be rebound to something else.

- Crouch and skip dialogue should not share the same key.

Again, HARD agree. It’s possible to rebind the key (I certainly did) but something I noticed is that, while the dialogue no longer skips when I press crouch, it doesn’t seem to register the crouch button at all while in dialogue, meaning you can’t uncrouch if in dialogue.

- The minimap is too zoomed in to be helpful in many cases.

I only noticed this as an issue while driving, personally. You’ll be going 90mph down the freeway and not know that your turn is coming up until you’re already 90 miles beyond it. Outside of that, I’m not sure why you’d need the minimap zoomed out but hey if it fixes it while driving, I’m for it. Agree.

- Missing a toggle aim feature.

Quality of life, sure. I won’t use it, but agree.

- Ability to respec attributes (Note: Existing item respecs perks only)

Personally, I disagree with this. I think respeccing perks is fine because some of the perks are kinda lame so I can understand wanting to undo that, but I feel like respeccing attributes would sort of negate the purpose of developing a character a certain way. It makes multiple playthroughs more valid, forcing you to develop your different characters different ways. Sooo disagree.

- Ability to disable objective marker.

Agree. Mild nuisance to be sure, but still a nuisance never the less.

- Ability to lower ADS sensitivity.

Quality of life, sure. Agree.

- Add proper ultrawide (21:9, 32:9) support.

Quality of life, sure. Agree.

- Add loot by area or/and autoloot feature.

Eh... I don’t know. I think there should be a “scrap item” button when looting added but I’m unsure about a loot all or autoloot feature. It’s a change that I personally think falls under “optimizing the play out of the game”. Disagree.

- Add “stash all” feature.

And then some. Inventory management is atrocious in this game, it’s actually unreal how they thought it was okay to ship it like that. You can only manage one item at a time, and the UI needs to completely reload each time you do. It’s obscene. Hard agree.

- Add transparency option for HUD elements.

Quality of life, sure. Agree.

- Add way to remove mods from unequipped weapons.

This was actually sort of news to me. I’ve just been scrapping weapons I unequip with the mods still attached, assuming the mods were just going back to my inventory. Evidently that’s not been the case, but I haven’t actually noticed it as an issue because mods are so frequently found. A bit arguable, to be sure, but I don’t see why guns couldn’t return their mods automatically when dismantled. So agree, I guess.

- Add toggle mouse acceleration.

Quality of life, sure. Agree.

- Driving markers and onscreen trajectory (alternative GPS).

I don’t actually know what this means. Does this mean have the line leading to your objective be in-world as opposed to the minimap? I can maybe see that being a thing, I guess. If that’s the case, agree.

- Body slider customization (height, weight, muscle mass).

Eh...I’m ambivalent on this one. It seems extraneous in that it’s unnecessary and just something someone wants rather than something the game strongly needs, but at the same time, with as much marketing that went into how customizable your character is in this game, it’s sort of depressing how poor the character customization really is. Because of that, part of me wants to agree with this, on the grounds that the game was sort of sold to us this way. So I’ll say I tentatively agree.

- Very few options for some of the character creation features (hair colour, tattoos, skin complexion, scars, etc).

See above.

- Animations for eating and drinking (excluding scripted ones).

The problem with adding animations to consumables is that not only would you need one for each type of consumable but that the animation would then need to completely play out each time, which can give players burnout. Going to have to disagree with this one.

- Unable to remove underwear outside of inventory.

I assume this means giving the player the ability to run around stark naked as opposed to in your underwear, and weirdly enough I have to agree. Much like the character customization, a significant amount of attention was paid to the fact that this game has nudity, and yet nothing is done with it. Even in the areas where you’d expect nudity to play a part (I.e. having sex, showering, etc.) it doesn’t, so it begs the question why even implement it?

- Vehicle customization.

This is going to maybe sound odd given my next answer but I kind of agree with this one to an extent. You can buy a fair amount of vehicles in the game, but you can’t customize any of them. At the very least, changing it’s colour and/or design I think is warranted.

- Apartment customization.

This I disagree with, again, to an extent. This isn’t Fallout 4 or the Sims, I don’t think there needs to be a fleshed-out feature to decorate your apartment. I do however think that some changes to it would be nice, even if they’re just preset changes. Like maybe the layout of misc. objects in your apartment changes as time goes on. Shit moves around, I don’t know. Or maybe you can pay for preset additions, like buying a lamp or poster or something that always goes in the same spot, but lets you feel like you live there I guess. Ultimately though, this is completely extra and unnecessary. Disagree.

- Cosmetic slots or transmog feature.

Hard agree. Again, customization of your character was made out to be a big deal, so let us wear the clothes we want to wear. The number of times I’ve had to run out in a skirt that says “Bitch” on it and a bra as a man simply because they’re my best clothes is unreal.

- Very few actual merchant stores in quantity and variety.

Quantity, I somewhat agree. The map could do with a few more of each type of merchant, although the map does sometimes already feel cluttered so perhaps not. Variety however, I disagree. I think there’s plenty variety in terms of merchants, I’m not sure what else you’d need. There’s merchants for guns, clothes, hacks, cyberware, resources, and consumables. What else is there.

- No garages or parking lots.

I assume this is related to owning multiple vehicles which I don’t yet so I’m not sure I understand where this argument is coming from. There is a parking garage at your apartment, so I don’t see why that couldn’t be a garage you can use, but ultimately I can’t weigh in on this without more information.

- Crowds have low level of reactivity and awareness to the game world.

This one bugs me because it’s like how much reactivity do non-interactable NPCs need? They run away from cars and violence. They say “oh shit” lines when you’re driving into them or shooting near them or they see a body, etc. What more do you need? Gonna have to disagree.

- Very few interactive NPCs outside of missions with meaningful dialogue.

See above and literally every open world game ever.

- Very few options to meaningfully construct a personality to V. You get to choose mission endings, but not an actual persona.

I disagree, I think you can pretty comfortably pick a persona for V. I mean it’s not the most advanced system in the world, no, but every game is going to limit your options. You can choose to be an asshole, a scumbag, a nice guy, honest, a liar, competent, incompetent, etc. It all depends on your attributes and what dialogue options you pick really.

- Lack of non-action oriented stories and quests about meaningful themes of cyberpunk dystopia.

This one I sort of agree with, but then again I’m a huge philosophy nerd so I generally can’t get enough philosophy in my games. I want every game to be as deep as Bioshock. I still have a long way to go in CP2077, so perhaps the quests get better, but many of them I’ve not found super interesting. Some have been memorable, sure, but very few, and of those not many are memorable for fitting the Cyberpunk theme explicitly.

- Player cannot smoke.

This one is just funny to me because, yeah in an RPG it’s not ideal to railroad the player, but because of the way the story goes, V doesn’t smoke. All so they can have a few funny lines of dialogue in the story, but w/e I’m okay without smoking.

- Weapon mods and skill trees largely irrelevant outside of marginal and mostly numerical improvements to combat.

I kind of agree with this. To be honest, I don’t even look at any of the stats outside of DPS and I get along just fine. I am playing on normal, so perhaps at a higher difficult these things matter more, but I can’t imagine how much more. So sure, I agree.

- Lack of emergent gameplay events in the game world (ie: dynamic and random triggers).

This falls under “how much is enough”, similar to the bit about the NPC interactions. From what I’ve seen so far, the only in-world ‘events’ that transpire are shootouts between cops and gangs that aren’t marked on your map as predetermined events. Could there be more? Sure, I guess. Does there need to be more? Eh, not really.

- Unable to alter character’s appearance (barbershop, tattoo parlors, plastic surgeon).

Agree. One mission I did, one of the rewards I received was a tattoo which made me think I was going to frequently unlock new customization aspects like that, but it ended up being a piece of cyberware for some odd reason. I think it would be neat if you didn’t have every bit of customization unlocked from the start and could change your appearance as you go unlocking more things.

- Lack of character reflection outside of the few mirrors available. This furthers the disconnection between the player and the character.

This was something I was thinking about genuinely, when standing in front of a mirror. A mirror has to be ‘activated’ in order to start showing your reflection, which I thought was odd, but I assumed it was because of performance issues which makes sense. At one point, even though my PC can’t run the game at ultra graphics, I switched over to it to see if mirrors would reflect all the time but they do not. I don’t however think we need to see our character all the time but more would certainly be better.

- No ownership of items (you can rob NPCs under their nose).

Yeeeeah, this bit I find kinda odd to be honest, especially because the UI for looting items is red which is commonly the colour used to denote “this item is owned and picking it up constitutes as theft”. Part of me thinks that the reason items don’t have ownership though is because of how clunky the stealth system is. There’s no way of knowing if an NPC can ‘see’ you or not. I feel like this is also why when you break a glass bottle or something, it doesn’t alert enemies because that would be so broken in this game because things explode all the time for no reason at all, you’d never be able to steal period. So I feel like no item ownership is because the developers know their game wouldn’t be fun with it.

- No prison or lasting crime system.

The lack of a prison is sort of explained (very briefly) in-game. The prisons are just way too overcrowded, and the police are basically a paramilitary organization who shoot on sight anyways, so there’s really no need for prisons. That said, committing a crime doesn’t have lasting consequences but again I think this is because the game knows that it’s too clunky to punish players for that. Driving is so wonky in this game, imagine if running over an NPC punished you beyond the small threat of police intervention? It would be unbearable.

- Wanted system is largely underdeveloped, with cops spawning out of nowhere and disappearing shortly after.

Yeah it is a little scuffed how cops just appear, that I will agree with.

- Cybernetics lack variety in meaningful choices that alter gameplay (except for limb weapons). Deus Ex has far more impactful mods that actually change the way you approach combat.

While I do sort of agree with there being a lack of variety, I feel the comparison to Deus Ex is a bit unfair. Deus Ex used cybernetics as it’s skill tree/progression system. When you leveled up in Deus Ex, you installed new cybernetics. That’s not the case in CP2077 though. I do however believe that outside of the legs, arms, and hands, not much really changes. I’m not sure what else they could do, but more would certainly be nice.

- The lifepaths are frustratingly brief and have little impact other than dialogue choices. V is essentially the same character regardless of path.

I can’t speak much to this because I haven’t even finished my first playthrough yet, but I will admit that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot that comes from your lifepath. I’m playing as a Street Kid, and as someone who supposedly grew up on the streets, running with gangs, getting to know everyone, etc., it seems like there should be a bit more maybe. Like maybe Street Kids start with more gang rep because everyone knows who you are because you grew up together. The game tries to explain this away with “you went away for two years and have just recently come back” but right off the bat you meet one of the fixers who you knew and worked for before you left as if you were old friends, and two measly years is not enough for everyone to just forget who you are.

The traffic AI is lackluster and there are too few cars driving around for a large metropolis.

Disagree. There are plenty of cars for a reasonable driving experience. I don’t know if this guy was expecting bumper-to-bumper LA traffic or what, but there are plenty of cars to make the world feel alive and full while not being obnoxious and make driving impossible.

- Trains were obviously cut, even though the whole infrastructure is visible.

I genuinely don’t even know what this is referring to so I won’t comment on it.

- The world interaction is quite minimal. Among items that should be interactive: chairs, benches, toilets, stools, sinks, gym equipment, light fixtures, restaurant menus, smartphones, taxi, trash bins and dumpsters, most merchant stalls, microwaves, dancing floors, gaming tables, arcards.

This is a lot but some of it I agree with. You should be able to sit down on a lot more chairs, but at the same time I kinda understand why you can’t. The world is littered with places to sit, so much so that “Press F to Sit” would be on your screen 99% of the time. Taxis I was actually extremely disappointed were not in the game. The game literally sets up from the beginning that being a passenger in a car is a thing which gives you the impression that it’s a thing that can happen often, and that you’re able to either sit through the car ride or skip it altogether. I thought for sure that fast travel was going to constitute you hailing cab and it taking you to wherever you’ve marked on your map, with the option to sit through the ride or skip it at-will. It’s actually a huge disappointment that that’s not the case (I even had my friend who is playing as a Corpo test whether Delamaine was specific to Corpos-only but alas, it didn’t work).

- You cannot preview wardrobe and weapon purchases.

I’ve not actually bought any guns or clothes so I can’t comment on this.

- There is no reliable cover system.

This one is odd because there is a cover system, but it’s only a weird hint of one. If you’re crouched by a low wall and you aim your weapon, you will peak around the wall, but it’s very finicky and poor. I think the game could do without one altogether, but the fact that there’s a hint at one already implies it’s intended, so it needs reworking.

- Loot system is overdone, invasive and distracting. You are constantly showered with redundant and marginally better items and have no attachment whatsoever with your fashion and weapon choices. (Dear god, I hate this one).

Hard agree. This seems like somewhat of a repeat to an earlier one about not being able to really customize your character out of necessity to wear whatever is best. Loot is prevalent, but hardly ever relevant.

- Enemies are too spongy and level design forces frontal assault way too often.

This one is interesting because I almost agreed with it until I played the game a bit more. In fact, I might’ve made a post about this before, I can’t recall, where I said that it didn’t feel like stealth was always an option. In many cases, I stand by that statement. The stealth gameplay specifically isn’t always an option, which is frustrating. If you’re like me, and you’re using stealth with quickhacking, then it becomes way more relevant. Being able to breach into a camera network and kill everyone with quickhacks is amazing. However, the game seems to somewhat punish this style of gameplay for some odd reason. I will go through and systematically kill everyone via cameras from outside the building, but the moment I step into the building, more enemies will show up out of nowhere. It’s not just that they’re hiding in areas outside of the cameras view, no they literally spawn into existence the moment you go inside. It’s really jarring, odd, and kind of unfortunate. Oh and as for sponginess...eh, yes and no sometimes. Weirdly my quickhacks sometimes one-shot enemies, and other times it takes like 8 quickhacks to kill one enemy. It’s seemingly random, or a bug, or something. I’m not sure.

- Robotics and drone control largely absent (outside of scripted missions).

Hard agree. I was genuinely shocked to find out I couldn’t control turrets when they started popping up more frequently. Drones I can let pass because they’re mobile and therefor a bit more complex to code properly I guess, but turrets are child’s play to code. They’re literally the same as cameras but with guns. It’s really odd that you aren’t even given a perk that’ll let you control them.

#random rant #cyberpunk 2077 #holy shit this is long #I'm sorry #don't read this if you aren't ready lmao

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