#a character can oppose you. you might need to fight them.

[genshin-obsessed]

Him as a husband | Honkai Star Rail

✩ ‒ It's been a while since I've wrriten anything for star rail, so I decided to make these cute lil hcs. I'm not branching out to the newest pretty boy yet, I don't know anything about him. I avoided saying Valentine’s Day cuz they're not on earth or whatever.

✩ ‒ I'm also trying to butter y'all up a little for something else I'm planning lmao

✩ ‒ Characters: Caelus, Dan Heng, Jing Yuan, Blade, Luocha

✩ ‒ Caelus

He's not vocal about being married per se, but people usually know he's married. Other than the ring, he's very unresponsive to flirting. If anyone attempts to flirt with him, he'll just act like he doesn't get it. It makes things awkward and people often leave after.

He's very attentive to you. If you're having a bad day, he'll know pretty much immediately and will do anything and everything to get your mind off of it if you don't want to talk about it.

He loves to celebrate holidays for couples. They're super special days because every day with him is special, but he does go out of his way a little bit to surprise you with something. Could even be food, as long as you're surprised and smiling.

Cuddles are a must. You better hope your rooms are cold at night because he cuddles up to you every single time. He'll either lay his head on your chest or hug you against him, so sometimes it feels really hot in the morning.

Caelus prefers outdoor activities as dates, but isn't opposed to staying in. Movies, snacks, just being with one another isn't so bad. But going to a new planet and fighting baddies is also pretty enticing. More on that, Caelus has near heart attacks when you get hurt- like he saw you get hurt badly once and almost cried. Ok, no, he cried a little.

Children are up to you. He doesn't have much of a preference.

✩ ‒ Dan Heng

"Are you two married? You don't act like it." This has and always will confuse Dan Heng. What the hell does it mean? Is he supposed to be all over you or something? He has class. Though... he will hold your hand more often. Maybe the ring he'll get you for your anniversary might have a ginormous gem so it blinds everyone or something.

He's also pretty attentive to your needs and emotions. The second he thinks you're upset or hurt, he's at your side. He may or may not be a little clingy but he's so terrified of losing you. It's actually changed him for the better a little. He's less quiet, more expressive, and a lot more open to communication. That could also be due to his recent transformation...

He's not overly fond of those "couple days" because he's usually loving all year around. Why have a dedicated day? He has a hard time seeing the point in days like those.

Dates for Dan Heng are usually stay at home. He likes the more intimate activities at home- cuddling, watching movies, making out- yanno. Intimate.

Dan Heng likes kisses. Cheek kisses, neck kisses, shoulder kisses, hand kisses- don't matter. He loves them all. Usually done behind closed doors, Dan Heng never forgets to kiss you. Like, ever. He will also make up for lost kisses.

Um... he prefers no children, but it's something you can talk about later on.

✩ ‒ Jing Yuan

You have your hands full with this one. Everyone and their courier birds will know he's married to you. This man just can't stop talking about you. Like, he'll be receiving a report about something or other and just somehow manages to drop your name in the conversation. It's cute and all, but Jing Yuan, focus!

Sadly, he's a busy man. He comes home to you every single day, don't worry, but he does need to be away for most of the day. He's not the biggest fan of it and has suggested maybe trying to find a position for you to keep you close by. Other than being down right addicted to you, he worries because he's got enemies.

Jing Yuan DOES take time for those fancy couple days but they're not overly different from the usual dates. He used to make it all fancy, with giant bouquets of flowers and expensive jewelry, until he realized he was showering you with love on a specific day and not every day like he should. So, he's toned it down a little, but every now and then, he'll get you something fancy.

There isn't much time for dates. They usually include visiting him during his breaks and enjoying some tea together. Maybe spending time with Mimi or something. But on his days off, he tries really hard to set up something for you.

He kinda likes to hold you. There's nothing wrong with it, its just constant. Like, you're so cute and he just wants to hug you all the time. He does try to control himself in public to avoid making you uncomfortable.

Children? Why? Isn't Yanqing enough?

✩ ‒ Blade

Some people still have a hard time understanding that you actually married him. In your opinion, they're small minded and don't actually know Blade. Blade, himself, doesn't actually care what anyone else thinks. Though, they should mind their manners around you.

Blade can be attentive, but doesn't always know how to help. He's got his own problems, so he usually tries to use them as a reference point. When he feels depressed or lost, what would he do? He tries to help you that way. It doesn't always work, but it does help him learn more and more.

He'll forget any special "couple" days are coming up. Kafka or Silver Wolf mention it and he's always confused about them. He will try to get you something just so you don't feel left out. "Oh my husband didn't get me anything because he doesn't care about today". Never.

Blade likes cuddles, but they hurt. He's got a lot of wounds on his body so he can't hold you the way he likes. Not to mention, the mara, his personal discomfort, lack of understanding. You assure him that it's ok, but he still feels guilty often. You deserve the world, but he can barely give you himself. He does try to hold your hand a lot. You both share the same bed and he sleep extremely close.

There's not many outdoor dates with him other than going on missions which aren't dates. Usually, you two train together and just spend time with one another. Blade is willing to attend an event with you... but he's attached to you. He doesn't know anyone there.

No children. He'd be a terrible dad, sorry.

✩ ‒ Luocha

Now aren't you two an interesting couple? Luocha has a way with words. He'll let potential flirters know he's married way before they can even start flirting with him. He won't even give them the time of day, especially if they're disrespectful toward you.

Of course he's attentive. He's great at recognizing your emotions and understanding what may or may not make it worse. For example, if he attends an event, he'll know what type of people might be too forward for you. Or may know when someone is beginning to make you upset.

Not a fan of those "couple days". He literally rolls his eyes at them, like why would he hold himself back to let it all out on that day? He's all over you, every day. BUT! He does get you a flower or a small box of chocolates... or something else in the bedroom. Idk.

Luocha likes to schedule dates per week so that you can clear up time for them. Just because you have a day off doesn’t mean it needs to be a date night. Maybe you want that day to yourself, who knows? He likes to find a day or two within the week dedicated to actually going out to a restaurant, a picnic, maybe fighting some baddies- who knows. Whatever works for both of y’all.

Luocha likes being close to you, whatever that means to you. He can hold you, hold your hand, just sit close by. Generally, he finds peace around you, so it doesn't matter what you two are doing as long as he can be close to you.

Uhh kids? Are you sure?

#honkai star rail #honkai star rail x reader #hsr x reader #hsr caelus #hsr dan heng #hsr jing yuan #hsr blade #hsr luocha #dan heng x reader #caelus x reader #jing yuan x reader #blade x reader #luocha x reader #honkai star rail x gender neutral reader #🖊─ pocky’s writings

[nateofgreat]

"What's wrong with the Acolyte being Jedi critical? It's okay to criticize them since they have a monopoly on the Force don't they?"

Okay, let me break this down.

1: The Jedi do not have a monopoly on the Force.

Say, remember the Nightsisters of Dathomir? The dark side cult that the Jedi tolerate. They even go there to negotiate in the Clone Wars without making any threats to their continued existence. The only time they ever come into conflict is when they leave Dathomir to mess with someone else.

They're not the only ones either. The media doesn't focus on it much, but there are dozens of different Force-based organizations in SW (Legends and Disney canon) that the Jedi Order coexists with. There's also the simple fact that the parents of Force sensitive children can simply decline the Jedi's offer which would indicate that there are people in the Galaxy with the Force who live independently from the Jedi.

As it happens the only organization the Jedi are constantly fighting are the Sith and for darn good reasons.

2: What's wrong with being critical of the Jedi?

Let's not split hairs here. The "criticism" the Jedi get nowadays almost always seems to end with, "and that's why they deserved to be exterminated down to the children via Order 66." So, pro-Jedi fans are a bit on guard when they hear that a project is "Jedi critical."

Now, in theory, there's nothing wrong with characters in-universe having disagreements with the Jedi way or having criticisms of them. However, despite the show's claim to not be about "good vs evil" I think it's VERY likely to posit that the Jedi are wholly in the wrong and to blame for the conflict in some manner. While downplaying the actions of the villain on account of them being a victim.

Why do I think that? Because the trailer.

3: "This isn't about good or evil. It's about power and who's allowed to use it."

Right at the climax of the trailer is this line. Which spells pretty clearly that the show is saying that just, doesn't matter if the Jedi are good, because they're also powerful and influential in their own regard. So in the show's mind that means they're the problem.

They might offer a halfhearted condemnation of the serial killer murdering them for no reason but chances are they'll suggest that they're not really the problem: that the Jedi are for being powerful. I've even seen quotes floating around saying that show will ask the question "what if the Sith are really just the underdogs?" when they go around blowing up planets.

As for the question itself. It's likewise silly as the Jedi don't actually persecute other Force traditions or force everyone to join them. They don't even force you to stay once you've joined. So it doesn't seem like they're attempting to control the Force at all. Meanwhile, the Sith want to dominate the Galaxy and either exterminate or enslave any opposing traditions.

So the question itself is self-defeating.

Oh and while I'm here...

4: There is no "endless cycle"

Slightly off-topic but it comes up a lot as a defense of the anti-Jedi mindset. It goes something like, "The Jedi perpetuate an endless cycle of war because the Sith keep coming back!"

First off, it's not the Jedi's fault that some lunatics keep popping back up to try and control the Galaxy. All they do is stop them every time they do.

Secondly, the "cycle" only exists because new books keep getting written. Stories need conflict and thus the Sith are revived over and over again.

Thirdly, please someone try to tell me that this could be avoided if the Jedi let their members marry or something.

And fourthly, the cycle's honestly not that bad because the Jedi just win every time and restore peace to the Galaxy for a long period.

#anti the Acolyte #Acolyte critical #the Acolyte critical #Star Wars #The Jedi #Pro Jedi #In defense of the Jedi #the Sith #the Acolyte Trailer

[em-dash-press]

How Authors Write Fictional Wars

Some of our favorite novels include wars. They might stretch over a trilogy or build within a single book. Writing one might seem staggering, but it just takes a different planning approach. Use these tips to write a fictional war for your next story and make your readers feel like it really happened.

Foundational Factors to Consider

1. Your Opposing Sides

Wars always have at least two opposing sides. Start there and develop them before deciding if you need a third or fourth side involved. Cover details like:

What does each side want?

What would each side settle for?

What is each side’s worst-case scenario?

What is each side’s hard no? (What wouldn’t they sacrifice or do to win their cause?)

2. Who Supports the Opposing Sides and Why

As a war progresses, each side loses resources. They start running out of money, soldiers, and whatever public support they had when they started the war due to citizens losing their loved ones or sacrificing for the cause.

Your protagonist and antagonist will need to ask for help eventually. Who would support them and why?

There are numerous reasons why someone might pick one side of a war over another. Politics and economics are often the first things leaders consider. The morality behind each side is another factor.

Consider the American Revolution. Many historians believe America would have lost without France sending money, troops, food, and supplies. Why would France support a budding nation over Great Britain? People argue it was because the French:

Wanted to humiliate the British king

Wanted to hurt their British military rival by partnering with America

Wanted to weaken the British kingdom by ending the colonial taxes they benefited from

Wanted to gain power on a global standing by overcoming Great Britain and rising as America’s first ally

These reasons are great examples of what your novel could include. Another country, kingdom, or group could rise in sudden support for your protagonist or antagonist, ultimately throwing chaos into the determined path of war for better or worse.

3. The War’s Terrain

People can break into battle almost anywhere, depending on your fictional world. Your characters could fight:

On land

On sea

In space

In the air

Underground

Online

Some terrain also comes with other considerations. If your war happens on an ocean, will storms and hurricanes affect battles or the ultimate outcome? How will the soldiers and leaders on both sides deal with the weather?

Note these possibilities as you plan your novel. You can add them in as background or crucial plot devices once you have a skeletal structure in place for your story.

Need help remembering everything you’ve imagined? Try making a map and keeping it wherever you write.

4. What Would Make Each Side More or Less Powerful

There’s always something that could give one side an advantage over the other. It’s often in an unexpected way, although you could make the advantage a goal. The bad guys might feel confident in their ability to win, but they have a secret mission to develop a new weapon just to give them a greater advantage.

Other factors to consider would be one side or another doing something like:

Discovering or enacting a magic system

Eliminating a crucial resource their enemy depends on

Removing funding that makes their enemy able to fight by befriending or overcoming their enemy’s financial backers

Changing the positive or negative public perception of the other side’s reason for fighting to change national morale

Doing something that makes one side’s leaders more or less moral (which could change public perception, the soldiers’ vigor, the leadership’s advisory team together, etc.)

6. What Kinds of Conflict You’ll Write

There are two types of basic conflict you’ll likely write when navigating a fictional war. You may not need both if your story is shorter, but adding both makes the plot more realistic.

First, there’s external conflict. You’ll have at least two opposing sides on some kind of battlefield, sneaking around on spy missions, planning surprise attacks, etc.

Secondly, there’s internal conflict. Soldiers might start fighting amongst each other, people in leadership positions could lose trust in each other, citizens might turn on their country’s cause for one reason or another, etc.

7. What Weaponry Your Characters Will Use

The weapons used in your war depend on numerous factors. It will draw from the genre you’re writing, the time period your story takes place, the advancements made in each civilization’s weaponry prior to the war, and any advancements made while the war goes on.

Examples of these could be:

Guns

Swords

Bows

Bombs

Drones

Armed ships

Armed space ships

You should also consider if one side’s weaponry is more likely to change during the course of the war. That’s more plausible if your story or characters change locations where regional cultures use different weapons. Also if the war spans years, people will naturally develop new weaponry during that time.

If you want extra details to daydream about, think about which weapons will become outdated during your story. Some will prove less useful due to complicated usage or cleaning. They also may not work, like if your science fiction characters follow their enemy underwater, but their laser guns require a dry atmosphere to function.

Include Emotional Plot Arcs

Writing always involves some kind of emotional work that results in a plot arc. It keeps the reader engaged by evoking their core feelings. That’s what makes a novel different from a textbook (in a very basic sense).

Work on details like these to find what emotions will be most present and relevant to your story:

Your overall theme

Your characters and what they experience

The action your characters will go through

How the above action will change your characters by affecting their loved ones

What your characters’ goals mean to them emotionally

If your characters’ will undergo things that change their perception of their world, leaders, country, or themselves

You don’t need all of these things to have an emotional plot arc, but they’re relatable human elements that can drive your plot right into your readers’ hearts.

Avoid Some War Story Tropes

Tropes have a bad reputation that I don’t think is entirely deserved. People recognize them as overdone stereotypes, but sometimes they’re useful.

When you’re writing a war, you’re going to have necessary tropes like:

The hero

The unit or squad

The antagonist

What they undergo and who they become is how you make them fresh concepts for your readers.

Some tropes aren’t helpful because they’re what readers expect from every story. If you give them what they expect, your story isn’t as engaging (unless you get the occasional reader who exclusively reads war novels and never tires of overdone tropes).

Keep these in mind as things to avoid, unless you have an ingenious way to make them a brand-new experience:

One soldier dying in another’s arms

A character dying by going out “in a blaze of glory”

Characters using guns in ways that are obviously wrong (i.e., firing more bullets than the gun-type/model holds)

Getting military rank incorrect (if your characters exist in a real-world, already existing military structure)

Injury-proof characters (even your protagonist will eventually encounter some physical harm, whether it’s illness in bad weather or getting shot on a battlefield)

You can check out this great resource to discover more tropes to avoid/consider as you draft your plot outline. 

-----

If it feels like writing a war over the course of a book or a series is challenging, you’re not alone. There’s a lot to consider to make it have an engaging flow.

Keep notes on things like these to develop your story as much as possible before starting your first draft. You can always go back and add or edit things out as needed while developing it. Writers do this all the time—you don’t need to get any manuscript perfect on your first try.

#writing war #writing warfare #writeblr #writing advice #writing tips #writers of tumblr #creative writing #writing #writing inspiration #writing community #writing help #writing resources #writing action #writing conflict #writing batlles

[evilbihan]

Bi-Han is an honorable man

I can't believe that I'm making yet another post pointing out the obvious but every time I go into a Youtube comment section I'm starting to question whether me and the rest of the Mortal Kombat fandom have even played the same game.

1. He shows opponents mercy

Sub-Zero: You want peace? Let us be. Liu Kang: The Lin Kuei's sins aren't easily forgiven.

Sub-Zero: Surrender and Shao will show mercy. Mileena: If you believe that, you're a fool.

Sub-Zero: Walk away while you can. Raiden: I'll never give up, never surrender.

Sub-Zero: I won't hold back, Brother. Scorpion: Do your worst.

Sub-Zero: We have no cause for dispute. Kitana: You aided Shao's attempt to steal the throne!

These dialogues honestly speak for themselves already, they don't even need explaining. Compare that to actual villains like General Shao who sends Reiko after Bi-Han to kill him simply because he "doesn't like loose ends" even after Bi-Han saved him or Shang Tsung who killed Reptile's family out of nothing but sheer cruelty.

The fact that Bi-Han is willing to let people walk away from a fight, that he gives them a chance to walk away alive, speaks volumes about his personality. He warns his opponents in his intros and even during his end of round taunts ("Flee now and live."), he tries to solve things peacefully and without violence if possible. He's not bloodthirsty, malicious or eager to kill anyone, but will do so if given no other choice.

Despite Bi-Han's flaws, a man willing to show an opponent mercy is an honorable man. SPOILERS AHEAD: May I again remind you that Kuai Liang is not willing to show a defeated and dying Bi-Han mercy when he gets turned into Noob against his will? Not only that, but Kuai Liang wouldn't have hesitated to kill Frost who is probably around Hanzo's age at his own wedding if Harumi hadn't stepped in to save her. Harumi had to beg Kuai Liang to show someone mercy, while Bi-Han grants it without a second thought. Like it or not, at least in that one aspect, Bi-Han is the better man.

I don't know why some people think of him as this aggressive guy going around trying to pick fights with everyone when all he wants is to be left alone? It's wild to me how people think he's the problem here.

2. He respects/admires their fighting skills

Sub-Zero: You will surely test my might. Ashrah: I will overwhelm it, Sub-Zero.

Sub-Zero: This fight I will long remember. General Shao: Who says you will survive it?

Sub-Zero: I'm pleased to fight Outworld's foremost mage. Rain: Will it also please you to lose?

Sub-Zero: I hear your skills are formidable. Li Mei: As are those of all who have been Umgadi.

Can we also talk about how respectful Bi-Han is towards his opponents? He compliments them on their skills as opposed to Kuai Liang who even talks down to his own allies. Yes, Bi-Han is arrogant, but he can still acknowledge other people's strengths and respect them, even if they are his foes.

3. He admits when he's wrong

Sub-Zero: I was wrong to trust you. General Shao: Yes, Earthrealmer. You were.

Sub-Zero: I wasn't aware of Shang Tsung's experiments. Liu Kang: Had you known, would your choice have been different?

Sub-Zero: Your mother's death is regrettable. Kitana: I consider you complicit, Bi-Han.

You can say what you want about him, but he certainly takes responsibility for his actions and even shows regret over some of them. Bi-Han might not be the most compassionate character, but he does express some sympathy towards others. Compare that to Kuai Liang who tells Havik it's his own fault that his face was burned off as if he had nothing to do with it. Yes, Bi-Han doesn't show much sympathy towards Baraka for his condition, but neither does Kuai Liang. Why Kuai Liang is still considered the more honorable brother regardless of that and his very obvious ableism, is beyond me.

Bi-Han's good traits are all too often overlooked. I don't know if it's because people don't pay attention to intros, but it's so easy to see he's not a bad person deep down. It's just the media comprehension skills of most MK fans that are seriously lacking.

#bi han #bi-han #bi han sub zero #mk sub zero #mk bi han #kuai liang #mk scorpion #mk kitana #mk li mei #mk ashrah #mk liu kang #mortal kombat 1 #mk1 2023

[perpetual-stories]

Tension vs. Conflict: What’s the Difference?

Good morning everyone! It’s my birthday today and because it’s my birthday I thought I’d post today (that’s kind of an obscure reference to Star Wars Guy and his girlfriend lol)!

Conflict and tension in literature help build drama and keep readers engaged through the end of the book. Learning the distinctions between conflict and tension will help elevate your writing and make your storylines more engaging.

What Is Tension in Writing?

Tension in a literary context is the sense that something ominous is right around the corner. Building a large amount of tension as a writer keeps your readers engaged up until the end of the story. Mystery novels are full of tension and foreboding, and they generally feature tense scenes from beginning to end. Working within the genre of mystery writing is a great way to learn how to layer tension into your narrative arc. Good use of tension makes a story worth reading and keeps readers guessing.

3 Tips for Using Tension in Your Writing

Learning to build tension is no easy task. Even the most seasoned professional writers have trouble maintaining tension from beginning to end. Here are a few tips for using tension successfully in your writing:

Foreshadowing: An important part of building tension is using foreshadowing to build dramatic tension and keep readers on the edges of their seats. In Harry Potter, author J.K. Rowling uses flashbacks and backstory to foreshadow the eventual major conflict that will unfold between Harry Potter and the villainous Voldemort.

Inner conflict: Sometimes inner conflict and self-doubt can be layered in through character development and used to build levels of tension. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character wants to avenge his father’s death but is beset by self-doubt, paralyzing indecision, and mental strain. As an audience, there is a sense of tension in every scene as we wait to see if Hamlet will act on his inner desire for retribution or remain stuck in a place of indecision.

A time limit: One great way to build tension in your story is to place a time limit on an action your character has to undertake. By adding the element of a ticking clock, you build tension and increase stakes. This is a common technique used in thriller novels and films as well as action and adventure stories.

What Are the Differences Between Conflict and Tension?

While tension simmers under the surface, conflict is generally out in the open—it's tension realized. Tension might be present an unspoken rivalry between the protagonist and antagonist or in the audience’s awareness of an impending disaster.

Conflict, on the other hand, involves an active clash; maybe the protagonist and the antagonist engage in a firefight or a heated debate, or maybe a character fights off a pack of animals or works to prevent climate catastrophe. Even if the conflict is interior—a character battling low self-worth, perhaps—it still involves opposing forces struggling for supremacy.

What Is Conflict in Writing?

Conflict can come in many forms. Conflict in a story can be a physical fistfight or a passive-aggressive war of words. All that is required for conflict is a manifestation of disagreement or incompatibility between a character and something else. Characters can be in conflict with other characters, with natural forces, or with society at large.

Another type of conflict is internal conflict. Conflict is one of the fundamental principles of narrative and creative writing. In order to write a story worth reading, you need characters whose point of view is in some way challenged and to whom bad things happen. Without conflict, you won’t have a narrative or any meaningful character arc.

4 Types of Conflict and Tips for Using Them in Your Writing

The kind of conflict you use depends on what your plot and subplots are centered around and what your main character wants and needs. New plot points generally introduce conflict or advance existing conflict. Here are some types of conflict to employ in your writing and a few tips about when and how you migh

Person vs. self: An internal conflict is a kind of conflict that only manifests within a character’s head. Though we may see this conflict dramatized through narration or dialogue, or play out in the protagonist’s actions, it is an internal struggle within a character.

Person vs. person: The simplest and most common form of external conflict is when two characters are in conflict with each other. The first stories we are told as kids generally have a clear good guy and bad guy. These stories are early introductions to person vs. person conflict. Person vs. person conflicts are very common, and it’s rare to find a narrative without an interpersonal conflict present at some point in the story.

Person vs. nature: Conflict between a person and forces of nature is a good example of external struggle that can raise the stakes in a story. Some notable stories that included conflict between a person and a natural force include The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Consider using person vs. nature conflict if you’re interested in writing a story with one main character and few, if any, supporting characters.

Person vs. society: Conflict between a person and society at large is a type of conflict often found in science fiction. Some notable examples of this type of conflict are found in The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games series. In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen finds herself contending with a dystopian and oppressive United States government that pits citizen against citizen in order to keep dissent down and quell rebellion. If you’re interested in science fiction or narratives about social justice, you might want to consider exploring conflicts that pit an individual character against society at large.

#writing #writing advice #writing tips #original writing #writers on tumblr #writersconnection #writerscommunity #short story #storytelling #writersupportingwriters

[sodasa-was-taken]

Romantic foils done right: How G-Witch uses romantic foils

Or why none of the characters who showed interest in Miorine and Suletta ever posed a threat to them getting together.

So, after the unexpected response to my last analysis and some recent discussions, I felt inspired to make another one. This time about romantic foils, a frequently misused but great tool in romances. I hope you enjoy it.

As far as I can tell, G-Witch has five romantic foils: Guel, El4n, Shaddiq, El5n, and Sophie.

In romances, when a character is in contrast to one of the main characters as a romantic option, they're a romantic foil. Having romantic foils in a story can be a great way to show what the principal characters see in each other. This is done by showcasing what the characters like and dislike about characters with contrasting attributes to the one they'll end up with.

Sometimes, it can feel like a romantic foil is just there to create cheap drama, often when they're a romantic rival, i.e., actively trying to get in the way of the main characters becoming a thing. Other times, when one of the focal characters isn’t the best person, an author might have a character who’s a romantic rival be even more of an asshole to make the character look better in comparison. This doesn’t make the character look better; it just creates a pick-your-poison situation. Furthermore, jackass and even more of a jackass ain’t foils since there isn’t any contrast. That isn’t to say that romantic foils can’t be antagonistic. Many of the romantic foils in G-Witch are also antagonists. In cases where a romantic foil is an antagonist, they emphasize the virtues of the characters they’re a foil to by being everything they’re not.    

Guel, foil to Suletta – At the beginning of the show, Guel is everything Suletta is not regarding their treatment and intentions towards Miorine. Suletta is apologetic to a fault, while Guel pushes Miorine around like he owns her. Guel is abrasive, while Suletta is considerate. He’s ostentatious, and she’s shy. Crucially, Suletta’s shyness doesn’t prevent her from having pride in herself. She just doesn’t need to show off like Guel.

Miorine grows fond of Suletta for the same reason she dislikes Guel. He’s the embodiment of everything Miorine hates about her predicament, and Suletta is the opposite. Although Miorine sees them as two sides of the same coin at first, both are out to insert themselves into her life, just in different ways. Except as Miorine soon enough learns, Suletta had no intention of doing so but just couldn’t stand by while seeing someone in distress. Side note: It’s ironic how opposed Miorine is to Suletta interfering in her life when Miorine later follows Suletta around like a lost puppy and insists on helping her any chance she gets. 

Attributes Miorine likes about Suletta that Guel notably lacks include, but are not limited to, her humbleness, her upbeat nature, her gratefulness, and her commitment to doing what she thinks is right. Also relevant if you think Miorine is a Lesbian; Suletta is a girl.   

When it comes to why they become the Holder, Guel is doing it for himself, and Miorine is simply a prize to be won. Suletta, on the other hand, ends up as the Holder unintentionally, dueling to help out Miorine rather than to have her. In fact, when she learns that being a woman does not exempt her from being Miorine’s groom, she goes full blue screen of death. 

Guel, foil to Miorine – Straight from one character’s romantic foil to the other. Guel is Suletta's foil until he catches feelings for her and shifts to become Miorine's. After being the first demonstration of Suletta's extreme discomfort with someone coming on too strong Guel denies his affection for Suletta. This happens shortly after Miorine has Suletta donning the uniform which shows the two are engaged.

In episode nine, while Miorine does everything she can to guarantee they win the duel against Grassley House, Guel won’t even fight because Dad told him he wasn’t allowed to duel. He doesn’t want Earth House and, more specifically, Suletta to lose, but not enough to disobey his father.

At the backend of season two, Guel becomes a regular foil to Miorine instead of a romantic foil since he’s no longer interested in getting with Suletta or, as he puts it, there are more important things than whatever feelings he might have for Suletta. This means he isn’t being motivated by those feelings the same way Miorine is by her love for Suletta and can, therefore, look a bit more objectively. It also means that he doesn’t stop Miorine from doing something he sees as fruitless because helping her break Suletta’s heart is a prize he’s willing to pay to save Jeturk Heavy Machinery.            

Side note: Guel does his job as a foil quite well, but because he’s a foil, his prominence is completely unwarranted. It might’ve been a little more reasonable if he was the only romantic foil, but this story has five. Giving this much attention to a romantic foil in a romance about a straight couple would be unthinkable. Still, because the story is about a same-sex couple, they can’t be the image of their own story.     

El4n, foil to Miorine – El4n is the only romantic foil in the story, highlighting the flaws of the one he's a foil to. His function in the show is to get Miorine worked up and showcase that Suletta isn't the type to pine. Side note: Suletta appears to be quite binary when it comes to others having feelings for her. Either they like her romantically, or they never will.

From very early on, El4n shows a fondness for Suletta, which Miorine is having none of. Later on, El4n asks Suletta out to get to Aerial. Side note: Gotta love how Miorine compares Suletta and El4n to Romeo and Juliet, considering that if any characters in this series have their budding relationship sabotaged by the feud between their families, it’s Miorine and Suletta. 

When El4n learns that Suletta isn’t an Enhanced Person like himself, his demeanor towards Suletta changes on the spot. The progression of Suletta’s relationship with El4n is an inversion of her relationship with Miorine. Where Miorine had to overcome a misconception about Suletta for her fondness for Suletta to grow, a misconception about Suletta is what El4n's fondness for Suletta initially sprung from. Additionally, El4n asks Suletta out because he wants something from her, while Miorine pretends she wants something from Suletta, but in truth, she wants to prevent Suletta from becoming the one who got away. Girl didn't pass up the chance to go to Earth in order to save Suletta because she needed a shield. 

Despite Suletta having an interest in El4n, spurred on by him showing an interest in her and El4n eventually reciprocating, a relationship between them would never work as their goals are diametrically opposed. If El4n wants to keep his life and be allowed to live his life as he pleases, he needs to win a duel against Suletta and take Aerial away from her. Something she can’t let happen because, for one, she wouldn’t even give up Aerial for the person she’s excited to marry, and two, losing would be letting down Miorine, someone she cares deeply about, and Suletta’s not about that.

When Suletta wins the fight, she also wins back El4n’s heart, but their relationship is doomed before it starts because El4n fails to secure Aerial for the Peil company and has to die for his failure. El4n accepts this and doesn’t fight to stay in Suletta’s life, instead thanking her and letting death take him.

In the last episode, El4n apologizes to Suletta for standing her up to which Suletta basically tells him not to sweat it as she’s come to learn that the person for her wasn’t him.           

Shaddiq, foil to Suletta – Here’s someone who starts out coming off as approachable but who’s revealed to be more and more deranged as the series goes on. Shaddiq is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants all the while keeping his friendly appearance and calming smile.

Throughout episode nine, it becomes clear that while Shaddiq and Suletta are both upbeat go-getters, their views on Miorine couldn’t be more different. Shaddiq does, to some degree, care about Miorine, but what he thinks is best for Miorine is at odds with what Miorine wants. He justifies his attempts to control her with her being stubborn and unreasonable. She doesn’t know what would be the best for her, and Shaddiq’s been nothing but kind to her, so he doesn’t get why she keeps turning him down. This guy sure is tipping his metaphorical fedora.

The epitome of Suletta and Shaddiq’s conflicting views is shown when Shaddiq runs into Suletta after being at the greenhouse. He fails to reason with Miorine, so he tries to get Suletta to talk some reason into telling her that as Miorine’s groom, it’s her responsibility to talk some sense into her. Suletta doesn’t agree with the sentiment and instead thinks that her role as Miorine’s groom is to stand by her and support her. A very how the spouge of a woman should aim to protect and provide for their wife vs. they should treat their wife as an equal and encourage them to do what they want schools of thoughts. As Miorine seems perfectly content to be the primary breadwinner in the relationship, that first idea has less than no appeal to her.

Suletta ultimately turns out to be right, with the show taking a shot at the whole strong man who’s the sole protector of what’s deemed to be his mentality. After his defeat, he tells Miorine that he should have offered to fight for her, which most likely would have gotten him nowhere. Before Miorine met Suletta, she wouldn’t let anyone fight for her, and a good part of why Miorine rolled with Suletta becoming Holder was because she had no intention to. There’s no way of having the intention to become Holder and do what Suletta did. The intention is there, and that’s the problem. It cannot be overstated how little Suletta would care about being the Holder if Miorine hadn’t wanted her to be.

When Shaddiq learns that Miorine will be at Plant Quetta, he callously shrugs off the idea that he should try to stop her from getting hurt and leave it up to fate if she makes it out alive. This becomes somewhat vindictive when he probably justifies this kind of thinking by making it Miorine’s own fault for rejecting his protection. She doesn’t want him to keep her safe so he will do no such thing.                            

El5n, foil to Miorine – There’s not much to say here. El5n  showcases Suletta’s aversion to someone coming on too strong and her commitment to be with Miorine, as by the time El5n first makes a move on Suletta, she’s already hopelessly in love with Miorine. He and Miorine are also opposite extremes when it comes to their interactions with Suletta. El5n insists that Suletta should get with him while Miorine rejects that she has any veto over who Suletta can be with.

Sophie, foil to Miorine – Mostly qualifies for acting antithetically to Miorine and self-identifying as someone who sees Miorine as an obstacle to getting to Suletta. Although Sophie technically doesn’t express interest in being with Suletta romantically, since she goes full Yandere mode at the mention of Suletta being with someone else, she might as well be. One of a romantic foil’s main functions is to demonstrate why a relationship with them wouldn’t be in the best interest of the person they’re interested in having a relationship with. Declaring that she’ll have to kill Miorine to get the relationship she wants with Suletta makes Sophie succeed with flying colors in that regard.

Being a Yandere, Sophie doesn’t understand what would be offputting about telling Suletta she’s going to kill her loved ones. In her mind, she’s setting Suletta free to become a ruthless killer, which really shows how much she’s misjudged what Suletta is like as a person. As the cherry on top, it turns out Sophie’s obsessed with Ericht and not Suletta.  

This is another case of a character being the opposite extreme of Miorine. Concurrently with the event involving Norea and Sophie, Miorine is at the point where she’s blaming Prospera for Suletta’s actions, as she can’t see her little ball of innocence killing people unless she has been manipulated. 

            

From a meta-perspective, El4n, Guel, and Shaddiq are also the antithesis of what a romance protagonist should be due to their inability to fight for love. They’re defeatist and, at points, almost deterministic. After one major setback, they turn back to the person of their affection in the sense that they leave the person’s well-being up to fate. Something Suletta and Miorine never do to each other. Even when their insecurities get the better of them, they still have the other’s happiness and well-being in mind.

Furthermore, having the romantic foils display philosophies associated with determinism is a sort of social commentary in a sense. A part of Japanese culture is the acceptance of bad things happening and a willingness to make the best of an unfavorable situation, sometimes expressed through the word shouganai and similar words. This is a perfectly wealthy mentality until it gets used in situations people can and, more importantly, should be doing something about or, at the very least, be less accepting of. Case in point: whatever is up with Japan being behind on queer rights despite its several partnerships with multiple Western countries. So, having characters that act like their hands are tied and just shrug it off makes them foils to Suletta and Miorine, where needing to do something about a bad situation is a major part of their characters. The fact that the characters in question are products of the elite and two queer people who keep getting screwed over by the system is quite reflective of the contrast between activists in Japan and the country they live in.         

As the show is now, pairing these guys with the heroines reeks of heteronormativity. It doesn’t matter whether or not that’s the intention; it still does. Two female characters can go through thick and thin together, always having each other’s back whenever possible, and some people see their relationship as equal or even inferior to their barely existing or one-sided relationship with a man. The level of hypocrisy is astounding. It feeds into the idea that guys are entitled to have their feelings returned just by existing. That’s a big part of the reason there are guys who feel threatened by sapphic couples. It messes with their indoctrination that a woman would rather be with another woman than them.

It’s almost amusing how any of these characters come across as having a chance with either Miorine or Suletta when they’re never presented as such in the narrative. Unless the series was going to do a storytelling faux pas, Suletta and Miorine getting together is an inevitability by episode three. Having all this build-up just for them to end with someone else would be narrative nonsense. Good thing that didn’t happen.

#mobile suit gundam: the witch from mercury #g witch #the witch from mercury #suletta mercury #miorine rembran #guel jeturk #el4n #shaddiq zenelli #el5n #sophie pulone #sulemio #suletta x miorine #welp! here we go again

[ayyyez]

hello!! I hope you are feeling well!! can i ask for headcanons madara and tobirama with f!reader who is a very strong kunoichi, equal in strength to them? but at the same time she is very affectionate with them. thank you in advance!!

A/N: I am having a good energy day today so I am good thank you! I hope you are well too. Oh absolutely! This is actually my favourite kind of s/o to write for them. Not that I can't imagine them with a non-fighter s/o it's just this is my favourite kind of dynamic to write for these two. Including the affection too haha. Thanks for the request.

TAGS: relationship headcanons, fluff, general dynamics, shinobi reader, affectionate reader, flirting, kissing

CHARACTERS: Madara Uchiha, Tobirama Senju

MADARA UCHIHA

This gremlin? ohohoho. Alright here we go.

For him strength is quite the turn on. He sees you kicking someones ass or taking someone down and that's the moment he's down bad. Madara is attracted to you immediately.

Bonus points if you can banter with him too THAT really gets him hooked. Strong AND can hold your own against him with your quick wit?

Be still his beating heart. Probably says that out loud.

Chases you from the moment he sees you if it's village timeline. If it's pre village he's internally suffering over the "enemy" he's longing for into the late evenings.

You might be on opposing sides but his nights are filled with your interactions.

He's tossing and turning constantly.

Those interactions run through his head and he's tormented by the fact you'll never be his but still he longs for you. He craves you. He has to have you~

The interactions the two of you have are heated.

Fights where the two of you battle for dominance, cutting each other with honeyed words in a cloud of lust.

It was hard to tell if he was fighting you or flirting with you. Injuries were had but none dyer or ever resulting in serious consequences.

Then came the day you forced him onto his back, weapon kicked away and arms pined beside his head. Both of you panting. The tension palpable.

The way you to stared at each other, pupils dilated—it couldn't be seen as disdain or hate but something else.

That's when the two of you kissed.

You weren't really sure who leant in first. The two of you met in the middle. Both of you wanting this from the beginning.

Your lips sweet on his. He couldn't help but wanting more as he pushed, pushed, pushed further into the—oh his hands were in your hair now—when did your hands release him?

The two of you together are a couple of insatiable gremlins. He's just as affectionate although he does attempt to keep it in check in public.

The second his jealousy is kicked into gear though or his possessiveness kicks in so does his physical affection.

If you are in anyway the same it only spurs him on too.

You kiss him in public? He's smirking like a show for the around onlookers after.

It's to say 'Yeah this is my s/o.'

Always pushing into your touch the second you're reaching for him.

Take his chin in your hand and pull his face (tug that bitch) toward you. Make him wait (he's not patient but make him be it's fun) and gently brush you lips against his to keep him wanting.

It's a good way to make him melt and rile him up.

There's also the gentle moments. The absent minded touches. The two of you always seem to have a hand on each other. Resting on a thigh, the small of the back, head resting on a shoulder.

Physical affection in private can be a little more playful. Just bite his shoulder and he'll not even think twice about it. 'May I help you?' or 'And what do I owe this pleasure?' Yes, biting his shoulder amuses him, ergo pleasure lmao.

Kind of gets an ego boost seeing all the different sides of you.

TOBIRAMA SENJU

Honestly? Tobirama NEEDS someone who can kick his ass. Whether that be verbally or physically it doesn't matter as long as you call him out on his shit.

The fact you are on the same physical level as him as a shinobi is just a bonus (and he won't admit it in a hundred years but he's turned on~)

You've got to play it smart with the affection and not come on too fast too soon. Honestly, in general with all things with Tobirama you can't come on too fast.

He's like a gentle current, flowing steadily along the stream until suddenly he's a powerful waterfall crashing down (yeah that's him falling for you–steadily then all at once)

At first the affection is going to be a point of discomfort for him.

One, because he's not used to it and two, he's not sure why he keeps thinking about it. The feel of your touch, wondering about the meaning behind it.

It makes him so frustrated because you've become a distraction and somewhat a fixation for him–pulling him from important priorities.

it's not long before he pushes that logic aside though.

He starts longing for more of your touch, expecting it and seeking it out. More and more. It's all he can think about.

Those small touches of affection are things that get him through the day and the warmth he begins to crave.

He tolerates them now.

Tobirama runs cold and by nature seeks out warmth. Finds his hands soothed when yours envelop his. The same when your hand finds his cheek. It takes everything not to press into it. Sometimes he lets himself (just a little) and mostly when he's exhausted.

Craves physical affection.

Touch starved.

Will almost never seek out your touch so you intiating physical affection is the perfect balance.

Just kind of leans into your hold whenever you reach out. Like a magnet to your warmth. Whole body presses against you when he's exhausted, that's your cue to pull him close and gently stroke your fingertips up and down his back.

Put each hand on his cheeks and stroke them. When he relaxes thats the time to catch him off guard (not really he's always on guard but he's more relaxed) and pull him in and kiss him. Long drawn out kisses that leave him longing.

These moment give him a little more energy. They allow you to see those rare small smiles.

Tobirama also really values your opinion on things regarding shinobi life and village life in general.

Will ask your input on things and involve you on village matters (sometimes just to spend more time with you) other times simply because its important to him.

Post policy discussion make outs at home once you come to a conclusion of how to strengthen the village. Holding him tight and kissing him hard.

Tobirama is very into you in these moments.

It may take a little time for Tobirama to adjust to the affection but it is something he grows to not only love but take comfort in. He appreciates your strength and affection in equal parts.

#naruto request #naruto x reader #madara uchiha x reader #madara uchiha headcanons #madara headcanons #madara uchiha hcs #madara x reader #madara x y/n #tobirama x reader #tobirama senju x reader #tobirama senju #tobirama senju headcanons #tobirama senju hcs #tobirama headcanons #tobirama x you #tobirama x y/n #madara uchiha #madara uchiha fluff #tobirama senju fluff #madara fluff #tobirama fluff

[waxingrunes]

I’m seeing too much of this across all channels and I need to write a little something on my humble blog with my humble amount of followers, because how else am I going to get this off my chest.

Some of you need to remember that this whole world we created is pure, fiction. It’s based off fiction and we are building off fiction, forking off in different directions with characters we love.

The canon vs fanon debate is ongoing and quite honestly, mind numbingly pointless and you all consistently contradict and overlap one another with whatever discourse you’re riding that week. You lot wanna argue a point by saying, “these are my hc’s and I can do what I like with them stop taking everything so seriously teeheehehehe” then uno reverse that the next minute by screaming, “that would never happen *insert name* is this or is that” but fuck canon right? Fuck JKR? Or is it more, fuck the parts of canon I don’t like and I’ll take the parts I do so I can shove them down the throats of creators who represent these characters in an opposing light. The amount of posts I’ve seen floating around these sites that are people preaching to their audiences about how dumb they are (unless it’s meant to be satire, I’m not a brainless sensitive lump with no humour bone) for liking certain things, or enjoying certain things, or preferring certain aspects in a character is astounding. Take pause before jumping on your high horse over a fictional character and shaming people for moulding them into what they enjoy. Is this not the beauty of fiction, imagination; the ability to twist and turn over different traits and appearances within our palms and make them into our own little dress up dolls?

Here’s my two cents as a WOLFSTAR artist, not a Marauders— if I want to make Sirius into a teacup and Remus into a sea slug and have him curl up to sleep every night in his bowl, then I’ll do that with fine china detail. If I want to make Sirius someone who refuses to wear nothing but a specific shade of tangerine and Velcro strapped trainers, I will. One day I might throw Moony into a boxing ring and have him be a middleweight champion, stained by the blood of his opponent whilst his wolf is chomping at the bit to come out just before the full moon threatens to take centre stage. If I want to make Sirius 6ft tall and Remus 5ft1, I will. Why not draw an AU of them as the rocks from Everything, Everywhere All At Once? Maybe, they can be something as simple as a boy and a boy who look the way you want them to look, fuck the way you want them to fuck and fall in love and fight, and scream, and cry, and make up a million different ways.

Let’s get more specific as the seal’s broken. Why not make Remus plus sized and give him a beard or a dad’s bod at age 23. Or maybe because he’s lighter haired he doesn’t have dark hair like that and only has a smattering of it across the ugliest of his scars. Consider this— moony with softer hips but fuller sturdy shoulders. Or long, slender limbs with a deceptively hidden strength owing to his wolf, stronger than James though he doesn’t look it. Onto Sirius, try to tell me I’m not going to put him in thigh highs and fem the shit out of him whilst he holds a bat in one hand covered in the blood of someone who tried to disrespect his Moons. Alert the press when someone erases every single one of his tattoos only to replace them with hyperpigmentation. What about giving him a beater’s build and a long thick trail of naval hair that he likes to call his ‘seeker’s delight’. What about a hairless Sirius who has a soft life and likes to make herself pretty for her 6ft 4 boyfriend every weekend when he gets on the train to visit.

How about, I stick with my personal holy take on the boys and present you with a harmless middle ground where Moony is whatever the fuck I want him to be physically, emotionally, or characteristically but always a wet fucking cloth for Sirius. A grape, under a thumb, you could say. And a Sirius, who is too whatever I want him to be physically, emotionally, or characteristically but will always be Moony’s biggest cheerleader.

Stay with me whilst I offer you the brain stretching, risky, taboo thought for you to ponder on: stop trying to please people. Stop absorbing all these takes that pressure you into thinking you’ve got to include every fucking thing that shaves you down and boxes you into their squeaky clean little creator! Indulge in what you like. Make it public, make it known and make it as loud as you want. Feels good on this side of freedom.

Lastly, quick (none of this has been quick) circle back to myself being a Wolfstar artist, not a Marauders one. I will not be shamed into drawing the women in this fandom, I will not try to even out my art with equal parts women and men, in fear of being called misogynistic. I came here for Wolfstar and I stay for them; I get 95% of my muse from them and enjoy drawing these idiots nearly every single day when I can. I’ve a busy life, a job, the luxury of a family that love me and a couple friends I’d like to keep too. If and when I draw, it’s going to be what I want to draw and want to indulge in, not to check off your boxes of inclusion. I am not going to defend my choice of indulgence to you. I am not going to refute women or wlw ships and in fact, eat up stories or art where they’re prominent. Will I have muse or will to do a piece on them? Probably not. If I do, I will and if it’s not done to a standard deemed appropriate enough by the council, well shit I hope I get an honourable mention in one of your hate threads on Twitter.

Grow up. I am the type of person who has a more or less rigid taste on these boys and what I, enjoy representing them like and you runts will run your throats hoarse before I turn an ear. I am not the type of person to see someone who doesn’t like what I prefer and start slamming my keyboard and slap them with a red card. I’ll move on but appreciate the take in silence. Some of you really, come across like you’re stomping your feet in a tantrum, some of you sound like you’ve never been told to shut the fuck up a day in your life and some of you, some of you, really think you’re a messiah.

Fuck your canons, fanons and righteous attitudes towards people who are quite literally, not real. You are not a deity of the Marauders, you are a fucking loser offline just like the rest of us.

#mad you think this place can be schooled into your desires #I’m going to read this over and find six thousand errors #this is why I hate being online #but that’s where the good stuffs at too #a paradox of pain #the emotional intelligence #the intellectual buoyancy in general around here #slim pickings #midday and a migraine is heading straight for me I can tell #what do I tag this #remus #sirius #wolfstar #the usual then #remus lupin #sirius black #marauders era #marauders #atyd #roman you’re rubbing off on me

[ponett]

I see you cite Final Fantasy as one of SLARPG's inspirations, but I'm curious which FF games in specific you're referring to.

I would specifically cite:

FF1 - The GBA version was the first RPG i really sunk my teeth into as a kid, so this is basically my Rosetta Stone for What A Turn-Based RPG Is. Arriving in a new town and buying new gear and spells so you can go back out and fight monsters better. That sort of thing. As I explained in a Patreon post a while back, a certain character is also partially an homage to Bahamut's role in this first game

FF5 - The job system here very heavily influenced the direction I went in with the Spellbook system. Spellbooks were initially envisioned as premade "decks" with different combinations of spells, sort of like the premade chip folders you sometimes receive in Mega Man Battle Network, but playing FF5 inspired me to make all of the Spellbooks more thematically distinct and treat them as a subclass system

FF3 - On a completely different note, I can't stand how FF3 handles its job system, which also influenced Spellbooks. I hate how certain bosses all but require certain jobs, and if you don't have that job leveled up already then you just have to stop and grind. So I made it so that Spellbooks have all of their abilities unlocked by default with no need to level them up, and no point in the game explicitly requires the use of any one Spellbook. Your build is up to you

FF6 - Pretty foundational to my understanding of how to tell a story in a top-down 16-bit RPG, with the little sprites all running around and emoting for the audience sort of like it's a stage play, and the battle system often being used as a storytelling device. I'd also cite the relics (along with Paper Mario's badges) as the inspiration for SLARPG's Charms, and there's probably a little Kefka in Javis

FF7 - Again, this is just a foundational game to my understanding of JRPG storytelling. I might point to FF7 as the first RPG I played growing up that was focused on the dramatic arc of a single predetermined main character who already has relationships with most of the other main characters when the story begins, as opposed to either a silent protagonist, a customizable character, or a protagonist who isn't particularly supposed to stand out among the ensemble cast. (FF4 also did this with Cecil, but I haven't played as much of FF4.) A lot of things in FF7's story remain kind of the gold standard for me, like how the bombing mission is still one of the best intro sequences to any game ever, so I refer back to it a decent amount. You can definitely see some influence from Cloud's story in Melody. And Anthony and I also compared a certain set of optional bosses to the Ruby and Emerald Weapons when we were planning them out

FF9 - Maybe some broad aesthetic influence. I haven't played as much of 9 as you'd probably assume

FF14 - I had yet to make it all the way through ARR before SLARPG came out, but I'd tried making a White Mage multiple times, which led to Gridania being an early influence on what I wanted Greenridge to look like. I don't think the influence is that recognizable in the final product, but you can kiiiiiiiiiinda see it in some of the architecture if you squint

#springdayautumnmoon #ask #slarpg asks

[queenvhagar]

It seems like a lot of House of the Dragon's writing issues in the first season stem from the disastrous final season of Game of Thrones, specifically the rushed implementation of Daenerys' Mad Queen arc. It feels like the writers and HBO are hyper aware of Daenerys' ending being fumbled and the negative audience reaction it garnered, and now they're trying to correct the mistakes of the main series through the prequel series and specifically its characterization of Rhaenyra. Both Rhaenyra and Daenerys are Targaryen dragon riding queens motivated by their perceived birthright, but the similarities between the two characters are surface-level. In reality, Daenerys and Rhaenyra are not the same character, and the story of the Dance of the Dragons is not the story of the War of the Five Kings.

Daenerys is the last Targaryen (as she knows it), a former slave who seeks to use the power of her dragons to reclaim the throne and in the process abolish the institution of slavery as it exists in the world, a true revolutionary who seeks to transform society through fire and blood if need be (and if a Mad Queen arc appears in the books, it will undoubtedly be because the existing Lords in Westeros would likely oppose a restructure of society - after all, they are the primary beneficiaries of the feudalist society - and this could lead to conflict with Daenerys, which would escalate).

Rhaenyra is the named heir to the throne. Her position is "quite comfortable" - she enjoys her privileges (which is very fair of her). However, her privileged position above others leads her to act according only to her own desires and not her duty as heir. She fights only for herself and her own (although the show added the prophecy to obscure this motivation), and despite having the power and influence as the most powerful woman in the realm to promote "a new order" as she once envisioned a child, she repeatedly reinforces existing structures to further her own power (like defending Lucerys' illegitimate claim so her own looks stronger with her son as Lord of Driftmark instead of advocating for Baela to inherit as Laena's eldest daughter, something that ironically could have really supported her own claim of "eldest child inherits" in the process - and she could have sidestepped the bastard issue). Rhaenyra wants to be the exception to the rules; she doesn't seek to rewrite them for anyone else. Rhaenyra is a "rebel" only in the sense that she's breaking the law and then using her privilege to avoid facing the consequences of her actions at all costs.

You can argue that both Rhaenyra and Daenerys are breaking ground when it comes to becoming queen of Westeros, and both are motivated by their beliefs in Targaryen supremacy and their perceived birthrights to the throne. They might both be known as a "Mad Queen" - Rhaenyra's arc will come, and when it does, I'm really hoping it will be because of the reasons it was in the books: her suspicion and distrust leading her to isolate herself from her allies, eventually turning on them, and her disregard for the commonfolk leading to her being driven out of the city and the death of dragons (though I won't be surprised if the writers shy away from this, in fear of repeating any aspect of Daenerys' portrayal). But fundamentally, trying to write Rhaenyra to be Daenerys 2.0 so that they can fix the mistake of the Game of Thrones ending kind of ruins the Dance.

The Dance wasn't written as just the tragedy of a heroic girl taken down by sexism and misunderstandings, which is the story the show seems to be trying to tell. It's the tragedy of a family tearing itself apart, of the cultural conflict between Westeros and their Valyrian conquerors, of the desire for power and the lengths one will go to in order to get it.

But the writers are more interested in trying to tell a largely black and white story where they can make up for what they did with Daenerys' arc. Unfortunately for everyone, Rhaenyra is not Daenerys, and the Dance is not the War of the Five Kings.

#hotd critical #anti hotd #hotd meta #anti rhaenyra targaryen

[hiso03]

what makes you ship halbarry, mine is the amount of symbolism and moments they manifest about them being compatible with each other and even the main lore knows theybare one😭😭

sometimes I wonder why these two aren't together yet since they are basically soulmates 😭😭

This is probably the question I have been waiting for the most and for which I have to have the longest possible answer. I will try not to go too far, but I will also try not to miss any points that I consider important.

I think I can start by saying that I love their dynamic, I've always liked it. To start Barry is a more serious guy, shy and introverted, always thinking about some situation and planning. And Hal is more outgoing, noisy and confident, he NEVER plans and is too impulsive.

They are opposing poles, not radically opposed as with other characters in the league, but they remain opposing enough to provide contrast to the relationship. There's also the fact that the two of them are fully aware of those differences, and even though they don't like some at all, they've never tried to change anything between them. Even when people constantly point out how different they are and how no one understands how they are friends. (Even they can't understand how they're so close if they don't resemble each other at all)

(Personally this panel is one of my favorites, as I love how Hal immediately jumps up to Barry's tastes, making it clear that while he doesn't like to do the same things Barry does, he doesn't find it as bad or boring as some might think.)

In general, the series of “The brave and the bold” I like because it allows you to take a close look at their relationship and give us lots of interactions of them, allows us to see a little more of their real character and their friendship.

There is also the fact that in that series they constantly show how well they know each other Hal and Barry manage to combine their skills to help each other. They always take advantage of each other's ability to resolve conflicts, and even when they fight or argue, they resolve them quickly. Another of my favorite numbers is the last volume of the series, when Barry falls into a terrible and painful depression and Hal is the only one who supports him.

Literally Hal tries to have some stability in his life to let Barry stay with him, helps him like Barry has always helped him and says one of the phrases I love the most.

“The poor man needs something to hold on to, so he will stay with me, maybe our friendship will be a comfort to him, he will always be able to count on that until the day we die.”

In this same comic is where Barry tries to sacrifice himself and Hal stops him, to that I add that in a previous issue we also show that one of Hal's biggest fears is losing Barry. The thought of seeing him die or get hurt is something that scares him.

Hal's not afraid to die, he's afraid that Barry will die and it's his fault, that I can't save him. And that point added to everything that's going on with Parallax and Crisis on Infinite Earths feels like a stab for both of them.

It's fucking tragic.

Generally in many moments of Hal as Parallax or The Wraith, Hal talks about Barry, continues to talk about how amazing he was as a person and a hero, talks about how he remains his best friend even though Barry is still dead. (That reminds me a lot of when I'm with my friends and some of them start talking about their boyfriends even though they're not there and we didn't talk about them originally)

And when they both revive, Barry constantly lets him know that everything that happened with Parallax wasn't him and tries to support him, try to be there for him for as long as he couldn't help him when his friend needed him the most.

We also have the fact that Barry has canonically been a blue lantern, and well, hope and willpower isn't exactly two opposing poles, on the contrary, it's likely that both entities are reciprocal forces. That they stick together and support each other, just like Hal and Barry do.

I also like to think that they had a somewhat similar childhood.

Both lost a father or mother, and that led to the loss of the rest of their family and childhood, they had to grow up faster than the other children, became more independent, and soon discovered that the world was cruel and unjust.

Although we also have other universes like:

The universe of Injustice where the two of them continue to support each other and remain together despite the mess that is around them, and there is even a panel where Hal as a yellow lantern is going to rescue Barry after Constantine abducted him.

Or we also have the fact that red and green in the chromatic circle are two opposite or complementary colors that are usually used when you want to create a harmony on a visual level. That is, from the choice of colors we can know perfectly well that they are opposite poles, but they complement each other so well that it creates a visual harmony when you see them together. (For some reason Christmas usually uses these two colors as its main ones).

There's also the fact that Hal and Barry met before the league was formed, and even when they met Batman and Superman, Hal wanted him and Barry to work it out on their own. (Barry refused because someone has to put prudence on their duo)

And we have the fact that in the story of how they met, Hal calls it his “first date”. (Let's pretend he didn't say that when he and Barry weren't literally on what looked like a date, where they went to dinner at a restaurant where there was live jazz music and Hal actually had a good time sitting on Barry's cell phone).

(Hal hates jazz, but he's still there with Barry at a dinner party while putting up with music he doesn't really like. That's pretty.)

I think it was also in this comic where Hal lets Barry use his ring to get you both out of there.

There's also universe 36 where we have two variants of Green Lantern and Flash that canonically speaking are couple. It is worth remembering that the two of them did not stay together, since in an event they participated in, the Flash of their universe dies. (It seems there can't be a crisis without a sprinter dying) Luckily at DC Pride they made the green lantern of their land look for their Flash, and they revived and were happy.

(They're supposed to be neither Hal nor Barry, but the truth, their designs and even their names feel like very inspired by them, so I scored it as a little extra point although I don't know if you can consider it).

We have DC vampires that although in that universe, Hal kills Barry because they won't let him turn him into a vampire because he would end up killing everybody. Hal finally gives us that line where he admits that he REALLY wanted to conquer the world with Barry, which kind of fuels his tragic gay romance.

Anyway, I would like to go longer, but I can't find some panels that I was looking for to explain me more, plus I feel that this is already long enough and meaningless to make it clear that I love them both. I just want to add that I think probably the thing I like most about them is that they both admire each other. Both their heroic parts and their civilian parts, and I think that's very sweet and nice, added to the fact that they're always there trying to support each other or show off parts of their personality that you can't appreciate with all their friends to the same extent. I like that they always have symbolism and like many times in the comics it refers to some moments that they have lived together. This makes me have the theory in my head that maybe some cartoonists and writers also like them in a sense beyond friendship, but since NOBODY dares to take the leap of faith and make them canon, they let us drop some crumbs so as not to lose faith.

(If anyone got here, thank you so much for reading all this even though it doesn't make much sense in some parts, I apologize for that and make up for it with some panels of them two)

#hal jordan #barry allen #green lantern #dc comics #halbarry #i love them #sorry for the bad English #Mentions to 80s comics #Mentions of parallax and some comic book or comic book events #sorry if this doesn't make sense in some parts #but my brain has been a little fuzzy lately and I'm having a hard time thinking clearly. #but I really wanted to answer the question because I am very excited to talk about them. #maybe later I will take up some of the ideas I mention or redo this post with more clarity and detail.

[everythingisblue-if]

“Everything Is Blue” is a modern fantasy set in an alternate universe. The game revolves around a fantastical world and romance. This game is currently in development (wip).

CONTENT WARNINGS: The game includes mild language, depiction of war, sexual themes, death, blood, minor gore. The current age rating is intended for players 17+.

~

Ending a war is not the easiest way out of this.

New Hampshire—your home, where everything you love resides. However, everything is going to have to wait, when you’re suddenly plunged into the middle of a forest by a hotdog vendor who might’ve hurried along your future death.

The forest is not one that you can trek out of so easily; known as the Cursed Forest, there are no willing participants to help you from your doom unless they’re the soldiers who are fighting to have you. Two opposing Kingdoms of this new world you were pushed into see you as a gift from their absent Gods. You wouldn’t have believed it until you realize that they were fighting over the all-powerful ring on your finger, and not you alone.

Figures. You were never one for being special.

Found by the Kingdom of Blue, they’re all too happy to claim their prize and end an ongoing war with their enemies: The Monarchy. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be that easy, as you play a major role in that future that might or might not come. But you have to try, as it’s your only way home.

FEATURES

Customize your character; choose your gender (female, male, and non-binary, pronouns (she/her, he/him, they/them, xe/xem, ey/em, zie/zem), and appearance.

Your choices will shape your personality, friendship, and love life, leading to different and expanding scenes.

Learn about the Kingdom that claimed you, and the land that’s drastically different from you.

Strategize with your new peers on how to end the violence before everything turns for the worst.

Use your chosen one status to gain an upper hand during the war, so you’re able to return to your world.

ROMANCE OPTIONS

There are six romancable characters who will either stand by your side or you will stand alone. Romance The Sovereign, The Hunter, The Prince, The Commander, The Noble, The Protector, and The General.

“The Sovereign”

Lane is the Sovereign (King) of the Kingdom of Blue. Appointed Sovereign after his father had passed, he had to grow up quickly and assume responsibility. He has no extended time for any relationships, and often finds himself alone with his thoughts, with no one but himself to rely on. Ensuring the safety of his home is his utmost responsibility. He's labeled as broody and serious, and this war has amplified his reasons for no nonsense.

male; he/him

“The Hunter”

Henery is the designated hunter for the Kingdom of Blue. His role includes being an unofficial member of the Blue Army, targeting certain enemies-and with his quick agility, he's valuable during the war. A former mercenary in the Kingdom of Black, he finds himself being the topic of discussion, on whether or not he's trustworthy. He has to prove himself, but at a cost? He's insulting and withdrawn, but always calculating. He's not going to let anyone destroy the home he's come to love.

male; he/him

“The Prince”

Simon is Lane's younger (half) brother, the Prince of the Kingdom of Blue. Stepping up into the spotlight, he's no longer a rowdy teenager, but now, a rowdy young adult. His fun and flirty personality makes him a popular royal, but also an unreliable one. He's living his best life with no regards to the war, even though it might end his lavish lifestyle.

male; he/him

“The Commander”

B is the Head Commander for the Kingdom of Blue's army and the right-hand of Lane. They’re on edge from the current conflict, and it will only get worse as the war progresses. A hard commander, but a soft person, they will not stop until their land is free from tyrants. Discouragement will not show through their cracks, but all they need is reassurance and they will claim their victory.

male, female; he/him, she/her

“The Noble”

Samara is a noble from the Kingdom of Red, and she's known for her diligence and blunt honesty. Because of her traits, she's a front-runner to become the new queen of the Kingdom of Red, seeing as the present queen has not produced an heir. She will do anything to claim that title, knowing that she will bring Red to become a prosperous kingdom, as it once was. Traveling to the Kingdom of Blue, she plans to assist in the war efforts, hoping something comes from it.

female; she/her

“The Protector”

M made their name by becoming the youngest knight to join the Blue Army, and their skills brought them up the ranks. Second in command to Ben (now former), they're appointed to become your Knightly Protector by Lane. Similar to Simon, they're always quick to flirt, as it's the only way to distract you both from the impending doom they're always in. A good fighter, but a loyal friend, M protects, especially when it's their duty.

male, female, non-binary; he/him, she/her, they/them

“The General”

Knox is the General of the Black Army in the Kingdom of Black—The Monarchy. They are seen as dangerous to outsiders, as they’re a ruthless leader. However, their credibility goes head-to-head with Blue’s Commander, due to their tactical and strategic abilities. Even though their exterior is hard and nothing to undermine, their heart flourishes with love for the people of their kingdom. They have done whatever it took to claim the power they needed to make their home a better place, and they won’t stop now.

male, non-binary; he/him, they/them

-

RO's Appearance

Knox's Appearance

~

Alpha Build

Last Updated: July 3, 2023

Demo Content: Prologue, Chapter One

Word Count: 36,000+

Availability: Patreon

-

Public Build

Last Updated: July 19, 2023

Demo Content: Prologue, Chapter One

Word Count: 36,000+

~

Demo

Patreon

I will accept and answer asks if you’re interested. Thank you!

#everything is blue #interactive #interactive fiction #fiction #if wip #twine wip #romance #fantasy #upcoming #ro #if #interactive novel #novel #wip

[childrenofthesun77]

Assuming that the whole 'mahiru is the vessel needed to bring back the count and the 9th servamp will be the servamp of vainglory' theory will be correct, it's interesting how both mahiru and touma can be accused of this sin even if the way it applies to them is opposed.

What touma wants is to be acknowledged and to that end he was willing to become the villain who destroyed the world before mahiru and tsurugi managed to change his mind:

Mahiru's way of being vainglorious seems a lot more positive at first because he wants to be a hero who saves others, but it's self-destructive and encourages laziness in others:

But thankfully we see mahiru starting to let go of the need to make other people proud of him and to prioritize making himself proud in his conversation with tsurugi:

and later when mahiru has a meltdown because he fears his uncle might be dead and suggests sacrificing his life to save the world kuro rightfully yells at mahiru for acting hypocritical and not listening to his own advice:

(I want to mention here that I really love how horrified kuro looks as he realizes that mahiru's reckless hero behaviour comes from a very self-destructing place:

because not a lot of manga I know really acknowledge that maybe the way a lot of their protagonists try to be heroic is actually pretty unhealthy and shouldn't be encouraged? Like Sigurd pointed out at the C3 meeting, it's kind of shameful that the children have to save the day)

Which is why I love that mahiru decided to trust kuro to handle tsubaki without him going with him:

He decides to stay back with everyone else, showing that he has learned that he doesn't need to be the one to do everything and can stay back with the others to buy kuro time.

Interestingly we see touma doing something similar. Opposed to his old need to have the whole world acknowledge him he now wishes for everyone to believe he's dead and he's helping to protect the city by creating a huge barrier without making it known that's he the one doing this:

He's helping the protagonists seemingly with no intention of earning acknowledgement for it.

I think in a way it could be cool of servamp to subvert the shouned trope that for the finale battle the only one able to defeat the big bad is the protagonist while everyone else just watches on from the sidelines, not allowed to do anything because this is the protagonist's moment of glory.

What if lily's plan when he put kuro in mahiru's path was that if kuro tried to stop tsubaki at the gate surely his eve would need to be there with him, right? Because of course he needs his eve to fight and then there's also the distance limit. So why not make the vessel you need at that gate for the ritual to work kuro's eve? Then the vessel would be at the place where you need them without you even needing to do something because naturally they would be thinking they are doing the right thing by going with kuro to fight tsubaki together. And surely someone as vainglorious as mahiru would never pass up the opportunity to be the hero who stops tsubaki. It's foolproof!

Unless of course before the ritual the vessel learned to let go of their vainglorious nature, accepted that it's okay to take a step into the background and trust in others. And additionally also found a way to break through the whole forced proximity thing that the servamp and eves had going on.

I don't know, I feel like it would be a neat bow on mahiru's character arc and a unique way to thawrt the antagonists' plans if the creation of the servamp of vainglory failed because the 'it has to be me' guy they wanted to use as the vessel decided against glory and stayed back to let his partner handle things with tsubaki alone because he trusts him. Kuro on the other hand wants to make up for his past regrets and resolve the conflict through communication this time. Learning to trust in himself again by managing to talk tsubaki out of going through with the ritual on his own would be a logical conclusion to kuro's arc.

#servamp #mahiru shirota #taishi touma #This started as a short post about both touma and mahiru being vainglorious just with one wanting to be villain who destroys the world #While the one wants to be the hero who saves the world #because they both want to be acknowledged #And then it escalated into a post about how the two of them letting go of their vainglory might end up saving the day in the end #As for lily and mikuni I feel like that needs to be resolved by misono #He has to deal with lily to get out of the chess game and tell the others about what he has learned or to confront his brother #Mahiru doesn't really have a deep connection to lily or mikuni #He barely knows them and they see him as a pawn #The one who needs them to understand that he's not a child in need of protection to the point that all they did was lie to him is misono #Lily destroyed mikuni's and his kiriko's lives as well maybe misono can work with that? #Or maybe mikuni is playing 5d chess anyway and all he does serves his end goal to get revenge on lily by making sure his plan fails idk #It is weird that his best known spell has people get hanged if they killed other humans in their life #And now he wants to kill the people of tokyo for power? That doesn't make much sense doesn't it.

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic recs for 2023: 2K - 5K Words

So I’ve been going through and adding particularly good fics I’ve read throughout the year. Only Complete fics, of course. Enjoy!

An uncaffeinated Marinette makes for an easily misunderstood Marinette.

Luka’s a ghost. Naturally, he does some haunting. He didn’t expect to fall in love along the way.

Nathaniel keeps trying to confess his feelings to Ivan. Marc keeps trying to sabotage those attempts in order to confess his own feelings. Why does it seem like things never go right?

Cat Walker’s under orders to fight Ladybug. That doesn’t stop Adrien from helping his girlfriend.

Zoe and Kagami discuss the intricacies of relationships while being mildly inconvenienced by zombies.

Kagami awakens to find herself in a house with a zombie. This is less of a problem than you might think.

Sabine keeps having nightmares about Ladybug and Chat Noir killing Marinette. She has some basis to worry.

All this and more below the break!

---

They fill you with the faults they had. And add some extra, just for you by @unecoccinellenoire 

The thing is, Adrien Agreste isn’t a sentimonster. That’s the problem.

It’s left ambiguous exactly what’s happening, but... instead of the characters who’re canonically sentis being controlled, it looks like another method’s been used to keep them under their parents thumb. Basically, that what we thought were the kids amoks’ were actually used to brainwash more generally. Which leads to some complicated ethical questions for Adrien, since he now holds the rings. Especially since he can now use the rings on others the way they were used on him. 

---

what if we got married in the park by my house in the middle of the school year by @wooawi

Marinette comes up with an ingenious plan to take Adrien away from Gabriel's garbage parenting.

This was just fun. Of course Marinette’s immediate plan to get Adrien away from his garbage family is to make him part of her own. It’s hilarious and adorable and Adrien rocks the wedding dress!

---

Slip of the Tongue (And Not Enough Caffiene) by That_WildChild

Marinette is tired. Marinette is also uncaffeinated. This is not a good combination.

A sleepy Marinette accidentally suggests that she shares her bed with Ladybug. At least she's protecting her identity?

Pure Crack.

Ah, sweet, sweet crack! I giggled during the story. Marinette is “fucking Ladybug” indeed. At least her classmates are supportive! 

---

See This Chance by @19thsentry-blog

Luka died in 2016. Yep. Crushed by the Arc de Triumph when Mayura’s Robustus slammed into it. It was kind of a big deal, but once you’re dead, you’re dead—especially when there’s no Lucky Charm to bring you back.

Luka’s been dealing with it in the typical ways.

Written for FeLuka week 2023.

Yes, this is FeLuka. Not one of the typical ships I read, but I ain’t opposed to it, and this is a nice foray into the pairing. I love ghost AUs! Luka’s just fumbling around, unsure what to do with his incorporeal existence, until he starts haunting Felix. It’s an intriguing plot and I gotta admit, I wish it was longer so it could be fleshed out more, but what’s here is good.

---

Confession Plans of Questionable Sanity by yellow14

Nathanael Kurtzberg has a confession to make. He's in love with his big classmate Ivan. With the help of Marc, Marinette, Adrien and Nino, he's going to confess, using increasingly complicated schemes.

Marc meanwhile, is busy coming up with even more complicated schemes to sabotage those schemes so he can confess HIS feelings for his redheaded friend.

Nothing could POSSIBLY go wrong with this, right?

Written for the March 2023 gift exchange on the Miraculous Fanworks Discord forum for CassieTheweirdWolf.

This fic’s just really funny. These kids love to make things waaaaay harder than they need to be. But hey, everything ends up working out in the end, even if it’s not the way they planned!

---

at our wedding by @anna-scribbles

“Chloé,” Adrien said slowly, “At our wedding, are we gonna have to…”

“No!” Chloé shook her head firmly. “We don’t have to kiss. We can do whatever we want. It’s our wedding.”

“Oh, good,” Adrien sighed.

“You have to kiss at a wedding,” Félix argued.

“I don’t have to do anything and you’re not the boss of me!” Chloé shouted.

“Yeah!” Adrien grinned. He grabbed Chloé’s hand again. “Yeah, it’s our wedding.”

//

Adrien and Chloé, wedding planning through the years.

Despite what the summary sounds like, this is NOT a Chloe/Adrien fic - this concentrates on their platonic relationship (and a bit with Felix, he shows up a few times) throughout the years. I especially liked seeing Chloe’s reaction to Adrien coming to school and making friends besides her, being jealous and feeling abandoned, and how she finally had a breakdown over Adrien somehow staying nice despite everything, while she... hasn’t. It’s a great character study!

---

Showing Love by @generalluxun

After the fiasco of Queen Wasp is over, Marinette knows what she had to do. If she just brings Chloé and her mother together, all will be fixed. A mother's love is just the thing to turn Chloé around, and it all must really just be a misunderstanding right?

Nothing else makes sense.

Marinette's mistake was forgetting that life never has to make sense, but she's Ladybug, and when one path closes she finds another.

I love Marinette really comprehending how little Audrey cares about Chloe here, and taking Chloe home with her to show her what a family should be like, reaching out to her even after everything. It’s just really nice.

---

the legend of the firefly by @agnes-writes

“She’s… beautiful.

If he were to describe her, he’d say that they bottled summer in her eyes, and painted the night sky in her hair. Her lips are curved into a wistful smile, eyes trailing the thicket of trees where Adrien stands.

Her gaze sets his heart stuttering in his chest as it softens, and Adrien almost believes that look is meant for him.”

OR: A pair of lovers create a romance that transcends time, and leaves a mark like no other.

This is an incredibly well-written folk tale, one that I highly recommend anyone who loves mythological, folktale, fantasy, etc AUs for Adrienette to read! It’s on the shorter side, but woven so perfectly that it packs an outsized punch, and feels like it belongs in one of those collections of folk tales and myths I read as a kid! 

Adrien’s a god, gifting prosperity to those under his protection, but never interacting with them... until a farm girl catches his eye.

---

The Cat’s Out of the Purse by The_Rabbit42

Adrien just took the ring off to be safe.

Plagg just got bored and wanted to annoy Tikki.

Rose just opened her purse and SURPRISE!

Ladybug just wants to get the ring back to her partner.

This was a fun fic, never seen Rose and Plagg interact like this before! It’s a treat getting more Rose and Plagg focus in general of course, but I really like their relationship here. Plagg’s really good with his wielders in general, and I love how he emphasizes that while he needs to get back to Chat Noir, while Rose is transformed with him, she’s as much her own wielder as he is. It reminds me of how he acted with Zoe, Plagg’s just a treasure XD

---

home is where the fight is by @rosie-b

Nadja Chamack’s voice greeted Adrien as he sat up straight, wiping his clammy hands on his pants and ignoring the black kwami floating by his shoulder.

“—shocked to see our heroine fall in battle today, taking a direct hit from the akuma just as she detransformed. Parisians are torn between blaming Hawk Moth and Cat Walker for their roles in this tragedy, which ultimately revealed the civilian identity of Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Adrien turned off the TV and lowered his head as his vision blurred.

Written for Ladrien June Day 7: Injured

I adore this fic! Which shouldn’t be a a surprise, it’s no secret that I love Sentiadrien Enemies AU. Adrien’s so worried about Marinette getting hurt, and wishes that he could help keep her safer, could tell her what’s really going on or get rid of the ring or something, but he can’t. Still, he IS able to find clever ways around some of his father’s more problematic orders. Loopholes for the win!

---

Attack of the Crystal Zombies by @trainsinanime

Kagami had spent more and more time hanging out with Zoé, talking about things like families, expectations and crushes on Marinette. It was only natural, probably, that she would help Zoé practice flirting. That was definitely a great idea.

Granted, the deadly Akuma battle around them was a bit of an issue…

Quality Zoegami fic here! I loved how Kagami kept thinking she was bad at flirting, but it was sure working on Zoe XD. The akuma attack going on around them, interweaving with their conversation, added a bit of spice to the whole affair!

---

Closure by @bisexually-finger-guns

After the events of “Trust”, Alya tries to find closure.

I love this. A lot of the time, only the effects of Lila’s lies and manipulation on Marinette is explored, with the feelings of the people she tried to trick and use, with the Miracuclass and Alya in particular, ignored, downplayed, or even used to just rail at the kids for being gullible.

Not so here. Alya gets to go to a school counselor and talk about her feelings about Lila manipulating her, using her. Ladybug even gives her the Fox Miraculous to try a Burn-letter therapy technique on, telling an illusion of Lila everything she wants to say to her in order to get some closure. 

---

Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite! by 55Anon

In which Hawkmoth is defeated by a strike.

So basically, Parisians get pissed at Hawkmoth and decide that hey, maybe they can’t stop him themselves, and they can’t just stay entirely positive at all times, but they sure as hell can direct every bit of their hatred and anger at him so that if he akumatizes one of them, they make a beeline for his lair. Hawkmoth didn’t stand a chance against the contempt of Paris!

---

All Of Them? Every Single One? by @liiinerle

It turns out that Marinette loves a lot more people than she'd initially thought.

This is hilarious and adorable. Tikki lays out how Marinette has a crush on basically every girl she’s met - and even girls she doesn’t know are girls yet XD. 

---

Anchor by @liiinerle

“Marinette. Please take that sabre out of your neck.”

“Right. Thanks. I forgot it was there.” She grabbed hold of the guard and pulled; the blade slid out like it had only been run through butter. After dropping it on the floor, she picked up one of the teacups and picked up a biscuit from a tin she’d brought in; she placed the biscuit on the saucer plate and handed the whole thing to Kagami, who could only really resign herself to accepting it.

-----

Marinette has raised Kagami from the dead, and also happens to be dead herself. It turns out some bad choices were made in the past. But that doesn't mean they'll lead to bad outcomes for them now.

I love this, Marinette’s incredibly blase about being a zombie - which makes sense, given how long she’s had to get used to the idea. And she’s waited so long, tried so hard to bring Kagami back as well, though if she didn’t WANT to be back, she’d accede to that request. Luckily, Kagami doesn’t seem to mind as long as she’s with Marinette XD.

---

safe and sound by Lady_Bryght

A crazed fan is stalking Adrien with violent intentions, and Ladybug is determined to protect him. When the school goes on lockdown and Marinette can't transform, she does her best to keep him safe without the use of a miraculous.

So this is a bit of a suspenseful thriller with a twist ending - well, sort of an ending, it’s a oneshot so far with an ambiguous ending that reveals what’s going on, but not how things actually resolve. It’s the sort of story where, after you see the ending, you look back through the story for foreshadowing. Can’t really go much more in detail, without spoiling the twist.

---

Worth Your Time by @pearl484-blog

After the events of the Season 4 finale, Adrien leaves a series of voicemails for Felix after learning he is missing. Just because Felix is out of sight, doesn't mean he's out of mind for his cousin.

Entry for Adrien AUGreste prompt: Rings

I’d honestly forgotten about Adrien being told by Amelie that Felix was missing, and how that might have affected him. He doesn’t know that Felix is okay - he just knows that Felix disappeared after giving the Miraculous to Monarch, and that not even his mom (supposedly) knows where he is. So naturally, he fears the worst, and after awhile of leaving voicemails and not getting replies, he almost starts using the voicemails as a diary of sorts about the various events of season 5 - up until Emotion that is, for obvious reasons.

---

the less I seek my source for some definitive by katrinette

When the akuma manages to smash a hole in the hull of the colony ship that's supposed to be unbreakable, Ladybug has to take drastic action to keep everyone safe.

This is an interesting sci-fi AU! Ladybug and Chat Noir pilot the last few fighter ships of their colony ship, the only defense against the akumas that keep on appearing and attacking the ship. But when one of the akumas smashes a hole in the ship, well Ladybug is willing to go to extreme measures to make sure everyone doesn’t die from the depressurization - measures that do not include any regard for her own safety, much to Chat’s displeasure.

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Guilty by Association by @rosie-b

Marinette respected Adrien’s strength and courage more and more every day. No matter how many times people threw nasty words or literal tomatoes at him; no matter how many companies refused to work with him anymore; no matter how clear it was becoming that he would never be forgiven for his father’s crimes, he chose to greet new people with a smile and hope that this time, someone would recognize the kind heart hidden behind his hated name.

She wished she’d had the chance to meet him before she’d accidentally ruined his life.

Written for the Ml Writers Guild September event 'back to school'

I love how Marinette keeps reaching out to Adrien, trying to protect him, even if it doesn’t always work. To let him know that she’s in his corner at least. Hawk Moth had to be taken down, but the consequences for Adrien... she never wanted anyone to get hurt in the process. 

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The Supreme Movers by PearlO_O

Continuation of Tales of Shadybug and Claw Noir.

Adrien and Marinette battle with the emotional aftermath of meeting their alternate selves.

This was an excellent follow-up to the Paris Special! To be clear, the Adrien and Marinette here are Claw Noir and Shady Bug, not the ones from the show we’ve been following all this time. I really liked Adrien and Marinette reflecting and recontextualizing how their parents have been acting in more positive ways, and getting more positive responses in turn, along with them reassessing how they’ve been acting and reaching out to Alya and Nino. There’s this theme of “it doesn’t matter who we were or what mistakes we made, but who we want to be and that we keep moving forward”.

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Keep Me Safe Inside by RoFair

Adrien Agreste, formally known as Claw Noir attempts to get to know the girl he admires behind the mask of the reformed Shadybug. He has a plan, but it is derailed by a blonde bully.

I love how smitten Adrien is with Marinette! He might have a lot of bravado as Claw Noir, but he’s kinda shy as a civilian. Of course, that all goes out the window when Marinette needs help - like when she’s being bullied and is nearing a breakdown.

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delicate in every way but one by katrinette

When Marinette finds a wanted ad that provokes just enough questions in her mind that she can't help answering it, the reward is sweeter than she could have imagined.

I love the little bit of worldbuilding we get here about vampire society, and Adrien’s usual awkward adorableness in asking Marinette for a certain necessary favor. It’s always neat to see such familiar characterization in a supernatural setting like this.

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Lost Feather by @a-flaming-idiot

Sabine has always liked and respected Ladybug and Chat Noir. They've always been wonderful heroes and inspirations to all of Paris and she wouldn't trade them for the world. But that isn't to say she didn't begin to get worried when the heroes of Paris made it their mission to destroy all sentimonsters in their path. Though she knew they never would, it was hard to not worry for the safety of her daughter.

I liked this glimpse of what might happen if Marinette was a sentimonster as well! Poor Sabine, of course she’d have nightmares about the Heroes of Paris killing her daughter. While she likes and respects the Heroes and understands why they’ve been killing sentimonsters, given that the ones Shadow Moth spawns often don’t even seem sentient and are wreaking havoc, she’s still afraid for Marinette, that Ladybug might purify her Amok without ever considering that Marinette might be an actual person.

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Partners in [Chaos] by @aidanchaser

Griffe Noire's needs no excuse to crash a fashion show competition, but when he sees the baker from his favorite bakery is involved, he decides to shift from spreading destruction to a different sort of chaos. He's not ready for her to see through him better than he knows himself.

Remixed from Partners in Clown by MiaBrown

I love Adrien’s portrayal here, how he lies to himself about how bad the cracks are getting, while also relishing them in a way, feeling like he’s living because of the self-harm he’s inflicting every time he unleashes a Cataclysm, it fits with his portrayal in the special. I like Marinette here too, you can see a bit of her vulnerabilities in this piece, though it’s not in her POV so she’s out of focus.

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Perfect by @deinde_prandium

It’s Adrien and Marinette’s wedding day! On site to ensure the event goes perfectly is their friend and famed wedding planner Kagami Tsuguri, and so far all has been going according to plan. There's just one problem: no one ever told her about Adrien, Marinette, and their struggles with automatic doors. Add to this the fact that Marinette’s determination to play matchmaker between her and a certain wedding singer…

Needless to say, Kagami is not pleased.

This is mostly a Kagami-centric fic, with a touch of Lukagami at the end. I loved the callback to Adrienette’s automatic door troubles, and Kagami and Luka being sneaky XD. 

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Patrolling with a friend for Christmas by @seasofsilver

Adrien just wanted to gift his Lady some time off and hang out more with Marinette during the festive season - it didn't exactly go to plan, but somehow ended up... better?

This was adorable! Chat Noir tries to give Ladybug a break by recruiting Multimouse to replace her on patrols for a bit, and Ladybug returns the favor by recruiting Aspik to replace Chat. Yep, it’s Snekmouse!

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Far-Fetched Plans by @cravingcraze

“While that’s true, and I was going to bring that up, I wanted to talk about… when Wishmaker hit you,” he sat up and looked at Felix with… concern? Why was he concerned for him?

“You only care about my secret identity,” Felix deflected. No, there was no way fucking Viperion, Luka Couffaine of all people was worried about him.

(It was hard to imagine anyone working with Ladybug worried about him.)

So this is an intriguing prospect. Gabriel’s forcing Felix to work with him to try and get Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s Miraculous, something Felix isn’t thrilled about. But Luka finds out Felix’s secret identity, and decides to try and help him to break free.

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Life with a Stolen Slime by RustyAce

Sharp, dagger-like stabs from his stomach made the small creature whimper as they curled into himself. Hunger. A frequent state he should be used to by now, but a painful one nonetheless. His gelatinous form was nearly a ball as he tried to self soothe himself, with just portions of slime forming ears and a tail that stuck out of his main body. Usually this worked, but the slime made a distressed moan as they pressed their forehead against his glass prison.

Oh, how he wished he could escape this jar he was in. The humans never came often enough to give him enough food, or even to let him out to stretch his legs. No, instead they carefully opened the jar’s lid just enough to slip some disgusting trash into it with some forceps. They, it seemed, did not appreciate his surprisingly sharp bites or scratches when they first brought him here. A shame.

The slime let out a small sigh, their eyes closing in an attempt to fall asleep to ignore his hunger. Perhaps if he fell asleep, he would wake up to them bringing him food.

So this fic is based off the Reverse world presented in the Paris special. Claw Noir’s a small cat-slime that’s being held captive in a jar, until Marinette eventually rescues him and puts him in a bigger container and feeds him better food at least. It’s cute, and it makes me curious about the setting of this story (like where he came from and why humans were keeping him captive, along with how Marinette stumbled across him), and where the story might go from here (this is a oneshot, but I’d love to see this explored more, if you can’t tell).

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Changeling by @unecoccinellenoire

Gabriel makes the Wish believing that he regretted everything with Adrien. The results suggest that he in fact regrets Adrien

So this is interesting. It’s giving a glimpse into a universe where Gabriel and Emilie never found the Peacock Miraculous, and they (along with Amelie and Colt) just adopted. Which unfortunately meant that Adrien and Felix as we know them never existed, and Gabriel finds that he misses his original son, which is especially acute when interacting with his new adopted son and knowing how much he’s NOT Adrien.

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Here for now, but I can see the better days by @nirby-wirby

Now, laying on his bed with only the soft light of a bedside lamp illuminating the room, he felt guilt eating at him from inside his chest. His miraculous burned on his finger, a reminder of what he’d given up. Of what had somehow led to his father helping Ladybug and dying in the process. The guilt was suffocating, building more and more until he felt like all that was left of him was guilt.

———— Or: Adrien deals with the grief and guilt of losing his father with some help. Set post-s5 finale and written for the ML Secret Santa Exchange of 2023

I love the support Adrien gets here, both from Nathalie in a more motherly role, and from his friends. He even tells Nathalie his secret identity, which gets her thinking about how badly Adrien got screwed over. Especially with him feeling guilty over Gabriel’s fate, when she knows he has no reason to.

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Under the Umbrella by @fruitdragon1a

Almost everyone has a soulmate. What are Adrien and Marinette supposed to do when they meet theirs?

ML Secret Santa gift for Mei! Merry Christmas!

Thank you to Now Loading and Rewan Demontay for beta reading this fic!

So this is a version of soulmarks I haven’t seen before. Around age six, soulmates get a soulmark that shows what their soulmate is thinking when they first meet them. Though I guess it doesn’t register while transformed, since it only counts for this one when Adrien and Marinette meet as civilians, and not when they first meet as superheroes.

[5eraphim]

Yandere Heavy is an untapped well of infinite content! Can you do something with an S/O who's really sweet and gentle but doesn't like seeing Heavy be, well, so violent and brutal all the time? Like a pacifist! How would Yandere Heavy act around them? Would really love to see it!

Character: Heavy 🐻 (Team Fortress 2)

Rating: M (MINORS DO NOT INTERACT GO PLAY OUTSIDE)

Content Warnings: HEAVY forced domesticity, infantilization, yandere, TOXIC RELATIONSHIP, fear tactics, gender neutral reader,

Word Count: 1.5k

MASTER LIST

TIP JAR

There's a decent chance Heavy would struggle to understand the concept of pacifism. War and fighting are such a massive part of his lifestyle; imagining someone opposing this, embracing a path of complete nonviolence, this way of life baffles him.

Furthermore, Heavy might fear your opposition to war extends to himself as well and fears you think less of him for his violent ways and how he was practically born to fight. Heavy might feel a bit embarrassed about getting loud and physically rough whenever he gets excited and couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious around you because of it.

Unlike some of the more sadistic yanderes (like literally anyone on the support team), Heavy takes a little pride in seeing you scared, much less afraid of himself. While he's never been great at noticing or understanding the feelings of others, the look on your face when you see him returning home after a particularly nasty battle says it all.

Consider the relationship starting with Heavy developing feelings for a new team member, specifically another defense class member. Assuming the feelings are mutual, you couldn't help but feel a little horrified learning his primary role in the team is to soak up as much damage from the other side as possible to protect the rest. If anyone were built for such a task, it would be him, but it hardly makes watching him fight any easier to bear.

Assuming you were an honest-to-God pacifist, your position on the team wouldn't last long. (And momentarily ignoring how on earth a pacifist managed to find himself contracted into mercenary work.) After a day of senseless death and fighting over virtually nothing, seeing people you care about being brought to the brink of death only to be thrown right into battle was a living nightmare. You simply weren't cut out for mercenary work, and you were gone the day your contract was over.

A part of you wanted to stick around longer with Heavy, maybe even beg him to consider heading out with you, but what was the point? Even if you loved him, there was no way you could change his mind about abandoning the fight, especially not while he's got a family back home to provide for.

Saying goodbye would hurt too much. Instead, you left without a word.

Heavy was devastated the day he found out you were gone and refused to accept the idea that you were lost for good.

Realistically, his first course of action would be contacting Administrator or Ms. Pauling to try and obtain your contact information, and considering you're no longer under contract, either woman would turn the documents over to him without a second thought.

And by God, if you thought you felt guilty for walking out without telling Heavy anything before, you were downright mortified to see the look of concern and hurt on his face when he managed to find you.

Despite high emotions as well as your own shame for being caught trying to run away like this, Heavy would force you to sit and tell him why you left so suddenly without saying anything to him and being his blunt self, would want to know right away if you ran away because of something he did.

While Heavy wanted to make sure you were safe first, but when you confessed how it pained you to see him getting brutalized every day as the human meat shield, he failed to understand what you meant by this. Heavy was praised all his life for being the strong man who could soak up as much damage as he needed to in the name of protecting others. Heavy never considered why someone wouldn't want him to do what he does best.

An unhappy reunion turns into a sweet unofficial date, Heavy offering to help you unpack and settle down before he decides to move in with you full-time. (While he knows this is the right thing to do, a part of him hates granting you this, fearing you'd realize you preferred life alone than with him and go back on your request for him to move in with you.) 

Likes to pop in uninvited when you're alone for a little one-on-one time. It really gets Heavy going when he comes after a battle, thinking about the look of worry on your face when you greet him. Even though he's been patched up, the bandages frighten you, and you do your best to ensure everything is in place correctly and if there is more you could do for his injuries. If you were a pacifist before you joined the mercenary group, your time away from all the conflict has made you even softer.

Heavy is about to call you a baby as a joke when he realizes that's exactly what happened to you when you left the team.

You were making it so easy for him to infantilize you for wimping out of the war, then moving out to the shoddiest little room you could afford to look for extra money until you could really get back on your own two feet again made you look so desperate and needy. Even if you weren't begging Heavy to help provide for you and keep you company, it's what you desperately needed. Confessing your affection for him when he found you; it made perfect sense in his head.

When he eventually does move in, he starts acting differently right off the bat. He insists you let him cover finances and rent so you can focus on finding a better place to work. You want to disagree. Sure, his job pays well, but it's wrong to leech off him like that, even if you were in a relationship. However, you don't say no for too long despite good intentions. Heavy's offer is too good to refuse, and he knows it. 

If the guilt of accepting such support from Heavy wasn't bad enough, things would worsen when Heavy would insist on taking baths with you, reading to you before bed, and cooking for both of you on top of working. You hated feeling so impotent and passive in your own life, but when he was already doing so much for you, wouldn't you deny his request to care for you however he wanted?

Little by little, life with Heavy changed in ways you couldn't understand and despised. Heavy felt distant like the two of you weren't talking like you used to. He withdrew in the bedroom, and things never progressed past kissing or cuddling. You were frustrated and felt like Heavy's overly gentle and smothering behavior made you feel like his child, not his partner.

You officially snapped when Heavy proposed a new rule: you weren't allowed to leave the house while he was gone. Claiming this was for your safety, he didn't like the idea of something happening to you, and he wouldn't find you. Breaking down into tears, begging him to stop babying you, and you were a grown adult, and this wasn't healthy for either of you. To your horror, despite all but begging on your knees for him to do the right thing and end the relationship, he smiled. As though grimly satisfied you finally realized precisely what was going on here and asked if you needed to rest since you were getting so fussy. And from that moment on, you knew your fate was sealed.

Any fleeting thoughts of trying to escape were crushed when you were not so subtly reminded. Heavy kept a copy of your personal file and private information he obtained from the Administrator, and if you were to try to escape, he would know exactly where to go looking for you. And at best, find you quickly and take you back home, and at worst, take out his wrath on whatever poor family member or friend happened to answer the door.

The only person he would trust with information about harboring you like a hostage is Medic. Primarily because if something were to happen to you, Medic is the only person he would trust to take care of you. Medic might get involved physically a few times but is more curious to observe than anything else.

Despite a great deal of indecision and inner turmoil over struggling between wanting to make you happier and proving he's not some violent monster and knowing this is how he has always been, odds are he'll choose to stay true to what he believes to be his genuine nature. To embrace living as he was meant to. Even if he's not entirely happy with us, it's just how it's meant to be.

Heavy is a mother bear to his core and protecting smaller, less able people is what he has to do. There's nothing you or even he can do about it at the end of the day.

#anonymous #x reader #yandere #self ship #request #forced domesticity #conditioning #captivity #forced intimacy #yandere x reader #yandere tf2 #tf2 x reader #yandere team fortress 2 #tf2 heavy x reader #headcanons #toxic relationship #smut #yancore #gender neutral reader

[howtofightwrite]

This may be a stupid question, but is the "folk bandit who steals from the rich and gives to the poor" trope ever realistic? Isn't the gig up as soon as the people in power start putting the screws to the people you're helping, until enough of them crack and decide they're better off turning you in?

The short answer is, “maybe?”

One of the staples of a Robin Hood style character is the idea that they're fighting back against an oppressive regime. This that detail is critical to keeping the whole thing ticking along. When you take that away the situation you're describing becomes far more likely. So, if your bandit king is harassing the local lord, but the lord is a fairly reasonable individual, then the resulting security clamp down, and even temporary abuse of the peasantry, will be viewed in the context of a response to this bandit.

Central to the Robin Hood myth is the idea that Prince John is already crushing the peasantry, and Robin Hood wanders in to oppose that tyranny. John ramping up his abuse of the people isn't perceived by them as collective punishment for Robin's rebellion, it's viewed as him continuing to abuse his authority.

The irony is, these kinds of characters are far more vulnerable to villains who offer incentives for cooperation. A Robin Hood style rebel is unlikely to be sold out by peasants who view him (or her) as their defender. However, an oppressed peasant who is plied with, “enticing,” incentives, might flip. This may even be effective to flipping members of the bandit's own team, or even friends. How many offers of amnesty, titles, and treasure would it take to convince a member of the Merry Men to sell Robin out?

To a certain extent, you could can view this situation as a kind of social, “path of least resistance.” If someone is hitting you and the other is feeding you, are you really going to bite the hand that feeds you, in pursuit of pleasing your abuser? Now, in the real world, that answer is sometimes, “yes.” And this is a threat to this kind of a character. As much public support as they may enjoy, there's likely to be some who would still turn them over to their oppressor on the hope that it will alleviate things, (even if this hope is entirely unrealistic.)

Even in the specific case of Robin Hood, putting a price on his head is more dangerous to him than ramping up the oppression and hoping it erodes his support; because it won't.

Similar to the point above about how oppression is a critical component, if the local leader is viewed as a basically reasonable individual, if they start talking about needing to employ extreme measures to deal with a bandit preying upon the kingdom, they're going to have a lot more room to build public support against the bandit. They'll even have a lot of room to frame this as attacks against the peasantry, as they're part of the kingdom.

So, why doesn't this happen with Robin Hood? This hits some details of British history that I'm a little fuzzy on, but the very short version is that when the story was originally being told, it's possible that the nobles didn't even speak the same language as the peasants. Go back far enough and Britain was less ethnically homogeneous. Robin Hood, in it's “modern” narrative context, is about an ethnically distinct king (a Norman) abusing the people (Anglo-Saxons), with Robin as (or at least passing for) an Anglo-Saxon. (Note: This is an element that becomes a lot harder pick up on when you're looking at a version of the Robin Hood story that recasts him as a disgraced noble. Outside of historical context, it seems like a good way to give him some  motivation, and could work if you push the story back a couple hundred years so he's dealing with William the Conqueror who was the great-grandfather of our villain, but, with King John it actually moves Robin over to being a Norman, thus also an ethnic outsider, and more prone to being betrayed by the peasants.)

Ironically, we can still see some remnants of England's diverse ethnic history in the language we speak today. In particular, there are a lot of animals where the animal itself uses an Anglo-Saxon derived word, while the word for the meat is derived from French. (For example, “deer” and “venison.”) In very general terms, the Anglo-Saxon speaking peasants interacted with the animal, while the French speaking nobles were the ones consuming the meat. (I'm scratching the surface of a very deep rabbit hole with regards to the development of modern English as a language. This is far more complicated than this example would suggest. Also, there were a lot of other languages getting put in this particular blender.)

If you specifically keep an eye on the ethnic groups involved, and view Robin Hood through the lens of an invading ethnic minority ruling and abusing the, “native,” people, (I'm putting native in scare quotes because the Anglo-Saxons were not, strictly native to England either, they emerged from a mix of native Britons and migrating Germanic settlers from mainland Europe sometime in the fifth century) then the idea that the peasantry would be more loyal to this bandit king than their actual lord starts to make a lot of sense.

It's also important to remember the most realistic element of Robin Hood, the, “modern version,” of the story, (that is to say, the version that has survived), was written as a political hit piece on King John. King Richard spent most of his reign happily away crusading. As a result, he wasn't around to collect taxes from his nobles. In contrast, when King John took the throne, he was suddenly close enough to start looking at his nobles, and asking them where his money was. They were, less than amused by the prospect of having to actually pay their taxes. So, while the story is about a tyrannical ruler oppressing his peasants, the reality was it was written by some landed nobility whining about having to pay rent for the first time in a decade.

Now, the actual folk story of Robin Hood predates this version by a fairly significant margin and we're not sure when because no one ever wrote the original stories down. There's all kinds of versions of the story out there, including some where the early version of Maid Marian duels Robin Hood in the forest. Maid Marian being an action hero is, actually, canonical. Most early versions of the Robin Hood myth involve Robin Hood being a prankster/trickster who mocks the nobility and steals their stuff, and usually, eventually, gets caught. He then escapes through his wits, going on to mock and steal again. Or, he's brutally murdered. It's a toss up. It really depends on who is telling the story. The “giving to the poor” part is more recent, as is the “being a noble” part. A lot of the early versions of Robin Hood is just him performing the medieval equivalent of pantsing... rich merchants? The sheriff is also a later addition to the story.

Robin Hood is like King Arthur. People just kept adding new stuff as they went along. The English probably also stole them both from the Welsh. So, you know, feel free to follow suit.

-Starke & Michi

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#How to Fight Write #Starke answers #Michi answers #writing advice #writing reference #writing tips