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#also i made this meme before i came up with the crack ship
pan-gya · 1 year
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burgers-in-anime · 11 months
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The lack of burgers in Witch from Mercury is giving credence to my theory that burgers are not so much a calling card for Gundam as they are a calling card for Yoshiyuki Tomino. Stay with me here.
Burgers most prominently feature in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, in Zeta Gundam and in Gundam ZZ. Each of them have multiple episodes with burgers, and in many cases, those burgers are explicitly addressed — not incidental details. Zeta Gundam, famously, has Bright chowing down on a burger while Emma drops some psychoanalysis of Kamille on him, but it also has Bright being told off for eating a burger on the bridge. Burgers are all over ZZ, including a scene where Judau hands them out to the crew from a basket. And MSG has a burger as Sleggar Law's death flag, but also an entire episode dedicated to Bright trying to procure salt to make the ship's burgers taste better — both of which were iconic enough to become meals in the Gundam cafe.
And one thing these three shows have in common is that they were all written and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino.
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Four examples of burgers in early Gundam works. The top two are from MSG; the bottom two are (L-R) Zeta and ZZ
Tomino doesn't feature them as prominently in other works, but they do still appear. For example, Victory Gundam still includes a scene of characters eating burgers, and Gundam F91 has a burger on a sign in the background. That second example doesn't seem like much until you remember that F91 was originally planned as a full TV series before being compressed into a movie, and has little opportunity for characters to have downtime — so that one appears at all feels very intentional.
You can also see burgers on display in another Tomino work from the period, Space Runaway Ideon.
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L-R: Victory Gundam, Gundam F91, Space Runaway Ideon
Meanwhile, when Tomino was kicked off the franchise, the burgers went with him. In G Gundam, Domon is offered a pizza, and there is no sign of burgers. In Unicorn, Banagher takes Mineva to get some fast food, but they visit a hot dog stand. In Gundam Hathaway, Hathaway and friends get fried chicken. And in Witch from Mercury, the only food on display — aside from the tomatoes — is cafeteria grub and, uh, slabs of ham.
Really, the only instances I know of burgers appearing in a non-Tomino Gundam are in Wing, and all that has is a burger on a billboard and a Wacdonald's sign — both blink-and-you'll-miss-it background details. While on the surface, this may seem comparable to F91, it really isn't: when you have forty-nine episodes and a movie to work with, you can do a lot more than a sign.
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Gundam characters pointedly eating something other than a burger
And what happened when Tomino returned to the franchise with Reconguista in G?
The burgers came back too!
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Reconguista in G
There is a single exception here: War in the Pocket, not directed by Tomino, does prominently feature burgers (and I don't mean the meme). But that, itself, may be telling. War in the Pocket was the first Gundam series to be made without Tomino's involvement; were the creative leads perhaps inspired to add a gratuitous burger scene to evoke the spirit of Tomino?
All that said, the reason this is still only a theory, and not a master's thesis, is that I don't have all the data yet. I haven't seen every post-Tomino Gundam series (though, frankly, I have no real drive to see what I've missed), and the only one of Tomino's non-Gundam works I've seen is the aforementioned Ideon. If burgers show up in Xabungle, L-Gaim or King Gainer… then I'll really know I've cracked the code.
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tiktowafel · 9 months
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Hey, I love your art style and your work on class 1B. I was just wondering if you have any recommendations for fics that are 1B centric, maybe even stories with someone like Setsuna as a main character. I love the MHA fandom, but it's sometimes hard to find those good stories with all the fan generated content, an I was hoping another 1B lover would know what's what.
thank you, and sure! i don't actually read that much fanfiction (my taste is rather narrow), but here are a few ones that i read and enjoyed! i'll put it all under the cut because my summaries ended up making this list kinda long lol
'Class 1-B' is Trending #1 in Japan - 9k words and absolutely hilarious crack oneshot with a lot of chatfic/social media elements. Tsuburaba accidentally turns one of Monoma's rants into an international meme, which results in 1-B becoming incredibly popular and the League of Villains being defeated in the dumbest way imaginable. the fic is restricted to AO3 users, since i don't have an account there i can't check if the link works but i really hope it does :'D
Adrift - long (13k words) and extremely angsty space horror oneshot with Setsuna as the main character. AU where class 1-B are a space crew and a mission goes terribly wrong, leaving Setsuna, the sole survivor, floating hopelessly in space and thinking about everything that happened. 10/10 made me feel extremely uncomfortable for the rest of the day
Mindfucker Has Closed the Chat - 9 chapter 17k words long very chaotic Monoshin chatfic (with one non-chatfic style chapter) where Monoma texts the wrong person and ends up befriending Shinso without knowing who he's talking to. the fic is tagged "attempt at humor" and i gotta say that the attempt was 100% successful, this thing is hysterical and i audibly laughed several times while reading it
Picture Perfect - i know i hardly ever talk about Kosen on this blog despite the fact that it's one of my favorite ships, but one day i'll post something about them i promise- anyway this tiny 2k word fic is pretty much what made me ship them. it's just... very good and very sweet yknow
Unlikely and Unusual - a oneshot collection made for one of those rarepair month events. it's not specifically a 1-B fic, but some of the oneshots feature 1-B characters and the ones i read are very cute :)
the one and only The Heart of a Hero - 345k words and recently updated after a long hiatus, basically a 1-B fandom legend. It has everything: drama, epic fights, romance, slice of life, character backstories, it's pretty much what BNHA would have been if it was about 1-B. A lot of things in it are inaccurate to canon because it was first written before the joint training arc even came out, but that just makes things more interesting in my opinion (dude i actually wish Reiko's quirk was like this in canon)! it's actually one of the main reasons why i got so invested in 1-B in the first place, i couldn't recommend it more!!
The author of THoaH has also written many other, shorter stories about 1-B, so their entire profile is worth checking out! my personal favorite out of these fics is I Want to Break Free, a 6k word oneshot focusing on Setsuna and her family.
and now for what is probably my personal favorite:
When Die Rolls Differ - 294k words and counting, canon divergence/butterfly effect fic where class 1-B is the class who gets attacked at the USJ instead of 1-A and becomes more involved in the main conflict of the series as a result. honestly i don't even have the words to describe it, it's so good, the character interactions and backstories, and the fights, and the humor, and the way 1-B students fit into the events that originally only featured 1-A characters, and the everything!! just!! dude!! it's amazing!! and there's so much love and thought and creativity put into it!! please check it out because this fic has my whole heart <3 it's also on a break right now, so you have time to catch up
aaand that's it for today! there are probably more fics that i like, i just can't remember them rn, so i'm planning on updating this post every time i remember a nice fic or find something new!
sorry this took so long i may have procrastination issues
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aiyexayen · 2 years
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35,36,38,39,42,43,49,50,55,59,68,69,79
35. What’s your favorite fic you’ve posted? that's such a hard question to answer--i have a lot of favourites in a lot of sub-categories (favourite character portrayal, favourite au, favourite prompt response, etc.) but i guess if i have to pick one i'll go with Qiuth, my cql/pern crossover. i'm not only still tickled by the concept and in love with that crossover world and pleased with the fic itself, but more importantly i feel like it's gotten the most unique and joyous responses and probably brought readers the most unexpected pleasure and delight of all my writing.
36. What fic are you proudest of? for an individual fic i'm...torn. i'm really ridiculously proud of how See The Day turned out. it's very simple and i know the execution of the concept isn't even perfect and it's such an indulgent rarepair but i can still see that whole little scene so crystal-clear in my mind and it still makes me ridiculously happy to reread. it's like my own personal love letter to both liu qianqiao and luo fumeng and is very dear to me. i'm also currently really proud of Sex Pest, which i wrote as a treat in a fic exchange. i don't have a lot of smut in my portfolio and i feel like this one came out really well; i'm proud of the characterisations and dialogue (the banter between wenzhou was so much fun) but especially feel like i made a lot of progress on my prose and descriptions.
38. What is your most self-indulgent posted story? very difficult to answer; you'll almost never catch me writing stories anymore that aren't also something i really want to read. i think i'll go with Wish You Were Here, because i literally just came up with the dumbest little meme scenario and then was attached enough to it to turn it into a fic before any of my actual serious ye baiyi/wenzhou concepts, and it still makes me cackle to this day. honorary mention to The More Things Change because it's the qingxian nonshippy rarepair canon compliant post-canon quasi-fix-it that nobody asked for but me.
39. What’s your most self-indulgent wip? even more difficult to answer because a lot of my wips that never see the light of day are even more self-indulgent than the ones that do. it's probably either the cql wip i have where wei ying teams up with lan sizhui and lan jingyi post-resurrection and those three are the ship in it and that ot3 is the self-indulgent part. or the shl wip i have where chengling ends up in wen kexing's charge instead of zhou zishu's in episode 1 because it involves The Boat and you know how much i love The Boat. oh, or possibly an old wip from my kingdom hearts days that was a ridiculously rarepair (olette/namine). come to think of it the kh stuff probably has a lot of self-indulgence in it in general, posted or wip.
42. What’s your favorite title that you’ve come up with? basically all my titles are just scraps of song lyrics or song titles so "come up with" is a bit of a stretch. but i think one of my favourites is Statues Of Ourselves which is an in progress jedtavius (night at the museum) ficlet trio for my bestie. the title is actually from a more obscure source than google would indicate, an enter the haggis song called "up in lights." and it was in my fic titles list and just tickled me as soon as i saw it while i was looking for a title that day. the way it still evokes the figurative nature of that language well, and yet it is also almost absurdly literal. it just wraps all the way around and idk it cracks me up.
43. Is there a trope or idea that you’d really like to write but haven’t yet? lots and lots. right now some favourite ideas that are pending: - cql canon rewrite with main character swap - shl canon rewrite with crossover main character swap - more canon crossover rarepair shenanigans unfortunately these are lower priority right now because i'm in the middle of plotting a fic for a fandom bang and also wrapping up some old wips to post.
49. What fic of yours would you say is the best introduction to you as a writer? hm. if you want an introduction to the kind of rarepair or crossover bullshit i get up to then my any of my Ficlet Collections are a good place to start--a lot of tumblr/twitter prompt fills or games and indulgent little things i've spent more time on per quantity of words, making it a nice kind of tasting sampler. if you want something more cohesive that demonstrates my taste in fix-its, the fics in my Qin Jiuxiao Lives 'Verse (ongoing) are good and also contain some diversity in style.
50. How would you describe your writing style? inconsistent. constantly evolving. i'm always trying new things or experimenting with new tones or leaning into new vibes. sometimes i try for something funnier and sometimes i indulge in the drama. sometimes i spend ages crafting something concise and poetic and evocative, sometimes i just dump words all over the place like a buffet. who knows.
55. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc? a pretty common theme in my writing is "actually everyone was Fine i don't know what you're Talking About i don't even need to explain Why OR How they just Are we all Agree On This, Correct?" common settings tend to be, right now, siji shanzhuang or lotus pier, and have always been wherever feels "home"iest. i definitely have a Thing about home and i will not be taking constructive criticism at this time. i'm sure i have a lot of repetition in words/phrases/expressions but if i started analysing my writing that closely i'd get paranoid and nothing would get done.
59. Have you participated in any fic events/writing challenges? If yes, what were they and did you enjoy them? i have! last march i participated in polyship week which was really fun and resulted in one of my more unexpected popular fics Glitter & Gold. i also did pridewrite this last summer, which got me the On Wings Of Pride collection full of obscure but delightful rarepairs. i've also been introduced to the glorious world of fic exchanges (for which i wrote The Moon Is Crumbling, But That's Okay) and i had so much fun that i immediately went out and signed up for another fandom event (the lld big bang) which i'm working on now (well not right now. right now i'm on tumblr. T_T)
68. Are there any fics that influenced you to write the way you do? so many. so fucking many. kjdfsljk any fic i read and like influences me in some way, especially fics/writing from friends i aspire to be more like.
69. (nice) What are your favorite fics at the moment? well, you asked. Stay And Break My Heart by rustycreekspoon Song by withbroombefore Letters by withbroombefore Please miss postman by shamelesscooper you're the trouble that i always find by sundiscus leisure, unfettered by brawlite The Boundaries of a Body by k_lynn The Kalends by praiseofshadows
79. Do you have any writing advice you want to share? yes. go look at other people's writing advice and then try all of it, one after the other. advice from all kinds of writers in all kinds of fields. author interviews and tumblr posts. even the silly sounding things (especially those). don't try anything that sounds like it would kill your soul, though, probably. everyone is different and different methods or pieces of advice may work or not work for you than anyone around you. you'll only know what does or doesn't once you try things and eventually piece together whatever system works for you out of spare parts.
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youreaclownnow · 2 months
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O, P, and X for the Fandom questions! 😃
Oversharing for the askbox meme prompts tonight!! Without further ado, here is a huge block of text
(*^▽^)/★*☆♪
O: for a ship song I am choosing edge by reol bc it is just so domasia to me. Ofc I had to choose one for my truest OTP of all time here. https://youtu.be/FpwYVKN4w2U?si=vkRnHqOu_gIXBMUO
This was the first song that I came across after starting to ship it that made me really go "holy fucking shit... my otp"
Also I just really like reol
P: au time! I have done this in the form of the crackerbarrel posting but as far as non mostly a shitpost aus go I've been seriously considering a cracked out idea that is, combining the lore for fire force and g gundam and making some fucked up combo world where 90% of the events of each stay the same.
I really think it could work. The idea came to me like a vision when super stoned one day it was like I got a visual overlay of the events of both shows but overlayed above the other appearing in my head and it clicked into place.
X: 3 otps from 3 different fandoms
Gundam
THE otp of ALL TIME: domasia
I've been going fucking insane over them for the past 7 months. Hundreds of drawings, an even larger amount of screenshots, I've watched ep 45 over 100 times at this point and ep39 around 50 times and the full shinjuku arc (12-17) at least 20 times, not to mention the fucking gunpla and other assorted merch I've acquired. Legit I've been sent into an autistic frenzy over this ship like I've never known before. I think about them so much it could qualify as a full time job. The unforseen consequences of finding a pairing that checks literally every box on your list.
Special mentions
Charmuro (I like it best when they are divorced and or at least can't stand eachother. Kissmesitude or bust TBH its really just funny to me.)
Charma (not really heavy into the actual shipping itself anymore, but I was last year. Now it's more of a cultural curiosity for me, it has a rich history that I can't really compare to any other ship I've seen. I find it really interesting and still do love seeing fanworks and such. The cultural impact goes crazy)
As far as actual char ships that I like to think about romantically I gotta say I like char/q- *I am pulled off the stage by my PR team*
Yu yu hakusho
Not in any particular order here
Kurahi (I love hiei and kurama is gay as hell. They have height gap also which I adore immensely. Cute ship and a fun dynamic. Their designs also play really nicely off the other, so whenever I see them next to eachother I get supremely hype)
Sakyo x toguro (I don't think they fuck but I think they have massive unresolved tension that I want to see explored. I think they WANT to fuck, I just don't think either of them would confess it prior to their deaths. Also I do enjoy when elder toguro joins them and acts like a creep. I don't directly ship him with either but I do think he's a freak enough to try some bullshit with both of them anyhow, and I do want to watch such an event)
Yusuke x literally anyone in the show (I don't need to say more about this he's just so extremely shippable it's super funny to me. I've yet to think up a truly awful pairing that includes him)
And for the grand finale!
HOMESTUCK ITS APRIL BITCHES WTF ELSE WOULD I CHOOSE *screams and dies and flops on the ground like a fish out of water*
DAVEREZI (Red hot power couple ngl sickbeatsmaxxed and candypilled)
Stridercest (redacted)
Vrisrezi (now THAT is what I call toxic yuri🥰)
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thefanficmonster · 2 years
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Corpse Husband x s/o (GN!) who wears floral fishnets
Warnings: None
Genre: FLUFF, Headcanons, Humor, RPF (Real Person Fic)
Enjoy 💕
- You’ve always been a big fan of fishnets however you rarely could find any to match your soft style and personality
- Your fairy/cottagecore aesthetic didn’t allow for regular fishnets to fit into your look and so you had to go digging further
- That’s when you found floral fishnets that you didn’t think twice about buying and ask for an overnight delivery
- You were so excited you went to wake up your boyfriend to tell him about it
- Luckily for him, he was still awake and was able to accept and celebrated the news with you while simultaneously taking mental note of this new addition to your style
- That’s probably why you found two extra pairs in the package that got delivered the following noon
- The happiness you beamed with is still till this day an image Corpse cannot remove from his mind and will forever remember that moment
- To be fair, you also made his job a little easier when it came to gifts for Valentines, birthdays and Christmases
- He’s always known the perfect gift but now he just bought you different designed floral fishnets which you were more than happy with
- You’d tell him not to waste so much money on you which would always be counter-productive and end with him buying you something to go with the fishnets, whether that be an article of clothing or another accessory 
- That’s how you learned not to complain and let him be in charge of how many fortunes he chooses to spend on you
- But it’s around this time you blew a hole in his ship because you started DIYing your own fishnets
- Luckily for him and his quick thinking, coupled with a Google search, he patched up that hole and continued sailing, figuring out the new perfect gift for you
- Materials for your DIYs
- Eventually, out of boredom more than anything, he sat down to watch how you did it and how you could possibly be so patient all throughout the process
- By the time dinner rolled around he had made a slightly below-par but a solid first try of a pair of his own
- You begged and begged for him to model it for you but he refused
- Don’t worry, it only took a day before he cracked and complied
- It was so worth it for the picture you took and refused to delete even after he chased you around the whole apartment and tickled you to death
- You still have that photo on your phone, it’s a real prized possession of yours
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hivequest · 3 years
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Taking a Risk » Mallek Adalov/Reader
Wordcount: 2.3k words
Warnings: Swearing, fluff, stressed out reader, chillboy Mallek. TYping quirk only used when texting cause I could not be bothered lmao Originally posted on AO3
A/N: One of my favorite things that I’ve written, ever. I love Mallek and he’s for sure one of my favorite Friendsim characters. When I wrote this I was really feeling those Quarantine Woes
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You didn't know what you were doing here. You felt out of place in the worst possible ways. It was a weird, squidgy feeling like stepping on wet grass. But not like the fun kind where you were running around in a sprinkler on a hot-as-balls summer day. No, this was the bad kind of wet grass that you stepped on without knowing it was wet. Why weren't you wearing shoes?
This analogy is stupid. The point is, you're feeling bummed out.
And what better way to not have to deal with that than hang out with someone you knew wouldn't push you into talking about all the ways crashing on this planet sucked! The point is, you're on your way to see Mallek. Mallek is absolutely the kind of friend who can tell when you just need to sit down and veg out. You had been so caught up in everyone else's bullshit that you weren't looking after your own damn self. So now you were doing that.
All it took was a quick text, asking Mallek if he had any company. He texted back only a moment later with a no, obviously not. You asked him if he wanted any. Not really. You ask him if you can come over anyway. Obviously.
You smiled at the palmhusk in your, well, palm. You could already feel the chill vibes of your hacker friend. Friend? Was that the right word for it? You didn't know anymore. When you first met there were definitely some sparks there. You could still feel them now and it made weird butterflies flutter around in your stomach. When you slapped his phone out of his hand and he sent you ass over applecart into the slimy depths of sewer water and he saved you, tits out and all.
You shook off the weird wistful feeling of maybe possibly crossing the friendship barrier and told him you'd walk to his hive. You'd been moping in some bookhive, not your usual hang-out spot with Tagora or Tyzias. This was some upper caste bookhive with purple bloods and some indigos and definitely not where you were welcome if the looks you were getting were any indication. They ranged from snooty to downright murderous. Yeesh.
Your phone -palmhusk, stupid troll names- beeped again. You got another text from him and those cheery fucking butterflies were back. God, you had it bad.
yeah were not doing that lmao;
im not going to let my robobuddy walk out in the sun
do you even know what time of day it =
just stay put ive already got your location ill pick you up;
And like a good little friendsimp. You park your ass on a chair and wait. You hadn't released your moping had taken up most of the night. But with the quick look around, yeah, no, this place was nearly empty by now. Just some older bluebloods trying to cram before their Ordeals and get shipped off-planet. Again: Yeesh.
You kept your ears open for the telltale sound of Mallek's limo. It was a sound you were getting used to these days. He always seemed ready to drop whatever coding shit he was working on to come to see you. You tried not to think too hard on what that might mean. No need to get your hopes up now. It's probably just your bad mood making you imagine some context where there's nothing. Yeah.
Damn, that shit hurted.
Just as you were about to add that to the reasons you were considering just screaming your lungs out who cares whose listening? you heard the wonderfully familiar sound of an approaching elongated scuttlebuggy. If that wasn't enough of a clue as to who the ride was for the quiet of the bookhive was very abruptly disturbed by a series of rhythmic beeps.
Holy shit was that the Tetris theme?
You shoved your palmhusk into your hoodie pocket and yanked the hood over your head. Even if the sun was only out a little bit you didn't want it anywhere near your freshly healed skin. You had no kind cowgirl to nurse you back to health right now if you got your asscheeks baked by the flaming death orb. You peeked your head out and even with the blinding light of Alternia's suns you could Mallek had opened the door and was waiting for you.
Aw. No, shit. You're in a bad mood don't get all heart eyes at him. Don't make it weird.
You took a few steps back into the bookhive, ready to make a run for it. You turn to a sitting indigoblood, who is just staring at you disdainfully for keeping the door open. You give her a two-fingered salute. Godspeed young cosmonaut. She gives you a one-fingered salute. Close the door you insufferable bulgebiter. Fair.
Taking a running start, you book it out into the heat of the Alternian sun and dive for the open car door. It's then that you realize he's halfway parked on the sidewalk to lessen the amount of time you'd have to spend in the sun. Aw. That also means that you came barreling like a cannonball at something that was like two feet out of the door. FUck.
Your face meets carpet and you can already feel the rugburn starting to set in. You hear a startled wheezy laugh from above you, a sound you know better than anyone else on this planet. You smile. It's not like you had any dignity to begin with.
You say hello to him as you peel yourself off of the floor of his car.
"Hey, there robobuddy. You stuck the landing this time," He smiles down at you as he reaches over you to shut the door, closing the space out from natural light and leaving you both lit by his colorful LEDs. You shrug and tell him you've been getting a lot of practice landing on your face these days. The look he gives you is still smiling but there's some level of disbelief at the dumbassery that is your whole existence.
"I know you can get yourself into it. Nothing too bad this time, though, right? No drones or broken bones?" He sounds concerned which is nice but he doesn't drown you with his concern. He leans back on the bench of his limo, keeping an eye on you as the vehicle begins to move on its own. You've been staying out of big messes but the little messes are starting to mess with you. He makes a sound of understanding the sounds as it comes from deep in his chest. Whoa. "Believe me, I've been there. Glad you're not cracking under it though."
He smiles and you can see his little fang and you can feel your heart melt a little. And also you're getting a bit teary-eyed and now Mallek looks alarmed. Shit. You try to quickly explain that you're fine, just, alien allergies am I right? He must be using some new air freshener to mask the musty smell of his limo. Since doesn't use it enough. Ha ha?
He isn't buying it.
With a rare show of cerulean prowess, he lifts you up off of the shitty car rug and sets you on the seat beside him. He feels uncomfortable and you can tell. Ah, goddammit you made it weird. You didn't mean to. Fuck. Fuck now you're feeling even worse. You thought you were starting to balance out. You're with Mallek now, shouldn't everything start to quiet down like it always does? Fuck. He doesn't say anything at first, just leans back against the seat and stretches his arms across it, letting you lean on him if you choose to.
...You choose to.
Your head finds itself somewhere between his shoulder and his collarbone, and you just. Shove your face there. Then scream.
To his credit, Mallek doesn't even flinch. He doesn't wince or shy away from you as you let out every bit of anger, sadness, and frustration out against his sweater. He just sits quietly, staring straight at the blacked-out windshield. You get the feeling he's needed to do this more than once.
Screw this planet. Screw everything about it that makes all of your friends suffer. Why can't you just get them away from all this bullshit?! Why do you have to deal with everyone's bullshit! You love them, you do but holy fuck they're looking to you like you can undo all the damage this place has done to them when you've got literally no god damn idea what's happening at any point ever!
And then, just like that, it fades into the background. Your throat hurts. Your head hurts and you think you might be crying. But it feels lighter. Better now that you've gotten some of that aggression out. You aren't like the trolls on Alternia. You can't kill people when you experience an Emotion™. But that doesn't mean you don't get pent up with rage.
Mallek realizes that now. He lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and his left hand slowly moves down from the back of the seat the rest against your back. His thumb brushes against your back, the claw drawing little patterns against the fabric of your sweater. His sweater. He tries not to think his sign your chest. This isn't the time.
"Feeling any better?" He asks and you don't know how to answer. You kinda don't want to. But you nod anyways, and you feel some tension leave his body. You knew he was worried about you. You apologize for making him witness your meltdown but he just makes another deep-chested hum. "Nothing to apologize for. I got the feeling you weren't feeling great. I could tell from the texts, you didn't use nearly enough ugly emojis."
You scoff and smack a hand against his chest and once again you hear that wonderful laugh from him. Hey! Your purrbeast emojis are adorable, thank you very much! And you'll not hear another word of it or else you'll send him pictures of rocks and rocks exclusively. No more memes.
"Jokes on you I'm into that shit." You laugh and thump your head against his collarbone. You thank him for being with you when were needed it. And picking you up to make sure you didn't deal with it alone. You don't want to make it weird but...yeah.
He doesn't respond this time, just letting you both enjoy the silence and the comforting sound of the engine. You should almost be at Mallek's apartment by now. It's as you're settling in for the last bit of the drive that you notice that the limo isn't moving. And hasn't been for a while. Your head pops up in confusion and the little GPS display on the back of one of the seats says... yep.
You're already at Mallek's.
But then why is the engine still on? That can't be good for the environment. Do these things even run on gas or is it bugs? Bug gas? Gross.
You notice then that the rumbling is coming from behind you. Like. From where Mallek is sitting. He doesn't look away when you turn to him, just kind of tilting his head to the side with a little bit of a cerulean hue to his cheeks. Oh. Oh, the sound is coming from him. He's purring. That's.
That's adorable.
You feel yourself soften even more when he lifts his arms, silently offering a hug if you want it. Is this platonic? Is this more? You've never had too much trouble identifying what people wanted from you. (Debatable.) If was overtly flushed you could shut it down or divert it to something very much friends only. (Like your every exchange with Zebruh.) But did you even want to do that to your hackerman? You could feel yourself screaming, no, absolutely not. But at the same time, you didn't want things to change. You didn't want to make his issues any worse than they already were. He didn't have too much longer on the planet and you knew it would tear him apart.
But then he turned those blue eyes to you. He looked just as unsure as you were but he was willing to take the risk. He shoved himself so far out of his comfort zone for you and was asking you to be selfish. To want something for yourself and do something for yourself. Not put him or anyone else's wants first. Just your own. And so you did.
You crawled up into his lap, pressed yourself as close to him as you could and clung to him. His arms didn't hesitate to wrap around you and you could feel a shuddering breath from above you.
"We don't have to put a label on this... not yet. Or ever. Either way is chill with me. I just... yeah." He gave up with a little shrug of his shoulders but you knew what he meant. Unless you could find a way to fight fate he was going to go off-world. He was going to leave you and you doubted you'd be able to go with him. You'd probably get gored by a drone for even trying.
But even if it was just for now, just for a moment, you were going to take it. You were going to let yourself have something, have someone who would care for you no matter how long or short your time was. You'd take it. You had stomached some of the most horrible things on this planet but Mallek had always been a constant. And you got the feeling he thought the same way about you.
So, you'd take it. Whatever comes next, you'd take it. You listened to the sound of his purring, in no hurry to move to get inside the apartment. Mallek felt the same.
You exhaled.
You would be okay.
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lunar-wandering · 3 years
Text
100 kilometers left to travel
so me and the ~discord~ came up with a MK clone (not a hair clone, this one was created by science! how fun!) and I kinda. went a little wild so now I’m Making A Fanfic for him-
Word Count: 3.4k
Read on Ao3
He knew something was wrong the instant he woke up.
The ground was hard and cold, he could feel tiny rocks digging into him as he slowly became aware of his surroundings. He could faintly hear water dripping in the distance, the sound of a car driving overhead. The soft click of somebodies shoes hitting the floor as they approached him.
He moved his hand to the side, trying to find a better position to push himself up and off the floor. His hand landed in something wet, and he hurriedly pulled it back. His eyes were still closed. He couldn't see what he had touched.
He hoped it was just water.
Taking a deep, wheezing breath, he slowly pushed himself up, trying to stand, before stumbling, sitting down and leaning against the cool metal behind him. His limbs ached, they felt like they hadn't moved in ages.
Now that he was thinking of it, had he ever moved before?
....Who was he?
A flash of some kind of memories danced in his mind. A hint of pink, the taste of something good, a book being placed in his hands, a flash of green, a dash of red, the warmth of tea, a touch of gold, a tint of purple, and something blue.
Blue.....
His head hurt. He couldn't make sense of any of the colours within his mind, the emotions they brought with them coming and going like the tide, vanishing before he could even begin to decipher them. He didn't..... he couldn't understand.
"Ah, I see you've survived."
He'd forgotten about the footsteps.
Something about the voice sent shivers down his spine, making him curl up, every inch of him shouting 'protect yourself! you're not safe!'.
"Oh, well we can't have that."
A hand softly ran through his hair, before harshly pulling it, moving his head out of the curled up position he'd put himself in. It didn't hurt a lot, but it still made him whimper in fear.
"Look at me."
He didn't want to know what would happen if he disobeyed. Slowly he tried to open his eyes, the colours of real life swirling almost as much as the colours within his brain. He closed his eyes in response to the sudden stimuli, before remembering the voice's demand and forcing them open again. Despite this, he couldn't make out who was in front of him, his eyes incapable of focusing.
He could only see blue and white.
"Hm..... I suppose you'll have to do." The voice let go of his hair, but he didn't move. He had a feeling curling back up, despite how every instinct was screaming at him to do so, would be a bad idea. "You certainly didn't melt like the others."
Melt? What did they-
"Tell me, Experiment Number 7, are you ready for your mission?"
He didn't even know what his mission was.
But he knew, down in his bones, that saying 'no' would have consequences.
"Y-" He tried to speak, but his voice cracked, breaking off into nothing. He coughed, trying to speak again, only for the voice to huff in irritation.
"You needn't continue. I suppose I should give you a bit longer to adjust before I send you out....this must be perfect in order for destiny to come to fruition."
The footsteps clicked again, and he waited until they had faded away and he couldn't hear them anymore before he slumped, curling in on himself again, letting out a wheezing breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.
Alone, he listened to the sounds surrounding him, colours flickering in his mind again before, inevitably, he fell back asleep.
-
"MK!"
MK jolted, leaning back and falling out of the chair he'd been sleeping in. On his way down, he knocked the table with his head, sending a bowl of broth (there had been noodles, but MK had already ate them) flying down to splatter on the floor beside him. He groaned, rubbing his head as it ached.
He felt like he'd dreamed about something important....
MK blinked, and suddenly Mei was leaning over him.
"You alright?" She asked, holding out her hand to help him up. MK took her up on her offer, standing up and dusting himself off, before looking at the shattered bowl and liquid on the floor, and sighed.
"Guess I'll have to clean that up...." He mumbled, before switching gears and turning to Mei with a smile on his face. "Anyways, I'm fine, but Mei, what are you doing here?"
"Did you seriously forget already?" Mei asked, "You promised you'd come with me to the arcade today!"
"Oh. I didn't forget I just, I didn't realize so much time had passed, I must've been asleep for longer than I thought...." MK said, stretching a little to get the last bits of tiredness out of his limbs. Mei watched him with a look of concern.
"Have you been sleeping enough lately?" She asked, looking him up and down, searching for any sign that he wasn't taking care of himself like he should.
"Yeah, I just...." MK paused for a moment, before shrugging. "I keep having these weird dreams. They feel important, but I can never really remember them."
"Is it a side effect of your monkey powers?"
"Monkey King doesn't have prophetic dreams Mei." MK said, walking out the door, Mei keeping in time with his stride. "Or well. It's never mentioned in the stories."
"You'll have to ask him when he gets back from his vacation then." Mei said.
"Yeah, I guess I will......"
-
He took a deep breath, leaning against the wall of the alley way.
Glancing out, he could see his original, walking beside the green girl.
(He hadn't bothered to learn her name. He felt like he should know it, but it would be fine. He could learn it later, it wasn't important for his mission yet.)
Right now, what he had to do was simple. Grab his original, bring him back to the lair, and then, once he'd gathered his information, replace him.
Simple. Easy.
He looked back out at the fairly crowded street.
Simple. Easy.
And then suddenly there was a crash, his original shrieked, and then red was there too, the green girl holding him back from attacking the original.
When has anything ever been easy?
He turned and started heading back to the lair.
The Lady wasn't going to be happy about this, but there was no way the plan was going to work today.
-
Two weeks later, MK leaned against the railing on the deck of the ship, while Wukong sat on the railing, swinging his legs off the side.
"....Monkey King?"
"Yeah, what's up, bud?"
"Have you ever had like, prophetic dreams?" MK asked, and Wukong's legs paused mid swing.
".......No." He answered, slowly, "Why? Did something happen?"
"Well, not exactly." MK said, thinking of how best to explain it. "I've been having these dreams, but it's like I just can't remember them once I wake up. I know they happened, and I feel like they're telling me something important, but what actually happened in them just keeps...slipping out of my grasp."
"And you're sure they're not just regular dreams?" Wukong asked, sighing when MK shook his head yes. "....Okay. I can't say that I've experienced anything like that, but I can look into it if it really concerns you."
"Thank you." MK sighed in relief, before giving Wukong a smirk. "On another note, you should probably run, I think Pigsy's finally noticed that you stole all the snack food."
"Oh n-" Wukong scrambled off the railing, causing the spoon Pigsy threw at him to just barely miss. Hurriedly, he turned and ran back into the ship, Pigsy chasing after him. MK gave a little laugh as he watched the both of them disappear through the door, leaving him alone on the deck.
It was almost...nice to be able to relax like this. Sure, the Lady Bone Demon was after them, but it wasn't like there was a demon attacking every other day. In fact, thus far into their journey, they hadn't been attacked at all.
So of course, it was immediately after he had that thought that something hit him in the back of the head, hard, causing him to pass out.
-
MK woke up to a dark room.
No, not a room.
A cell, as evidenced by the bars.
He shivered, as a cold breeze blew through the cell. His jacket was missing.
Recognizing that this was probably not good, MK quickly sat up, grabbing hold of the bars and pressing his face against them, trying to tilt his head to see the surrounding area better.
"Hey you, you're finally awake."
MK bit back a shriek, startling and hitting his head against the bars with a clang. He let go of the cell bars to hold his head, crouching down as he hissed in pain.
"Woah, don't go knocking yourself out again so soon, I need someone to talk to around here."
MK knew that voice.
Looking over to the side, he could see someone sitting in the corner, half enshrouded in darkness.
"Why are you here, Macaque?" MK asked, rubbing his head as he stood up again. "And also, did you seriously just quote a meme at me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Macaque said, amusement in his voice. "And I'm here because I wanna be."
"Bullshit." MK deadpanned.
"If Wukong was here you'd get smacked." 
"Well yeah, but he's not, so-" MK said, smirking, before looking back out through the bars again. "Where are we anyways?"
"One of the Lady Bone Demon's lairs." Macaque answered, standing up and walking to also glance out through the bars. As he entered into the slightly more lit area of the cell, MK could see that his clothes were torn, dried blood staining it, and a torn piece of his scarf wrapped around his arm. MK barely bit back his concern in favor of a different question.
"She has more than one lair?"
"Apparently." Macaque shrugged. "This is a different one from the one I first woke up in, so I can only assume it's a different location."
"...How long have you been captured? Actually, wait, better question, how long have I been captured?" MK asked, panic starting to grip him. What if he'd been gone for too long, and something had happened to-
"I don't think it's been any more than a few hours for you." Macaque said, alleviating at least some of MK's worries. At least he hadn't been passed out for 3 days or something.... "As for me....I don't know."
"Wh- how could you not know?" MK asked, "Have you seriously been in here long enough that you can't remember how much time has passed?"
"I think it's been a week."
"You think!?"
-
In the end, it had been rather easy to escape.
Scarily easy, to be honest. There hadn't been a single guard, and they hadn't encountered the Lady Bone Demon so much as once the whole time.
Macaque had, in return for MK not telling Wukong that he had helped out, personally gotten MK back to the ship via shadow-teleportation. MK had to admit, traveling through shadows was a weird experience, but it was kinda thrilling in a way, a bit like a roller coaster. The two of them popped out of the shadow of a tree beside a forest clearing, where the ship had landed on the ground.
"This is as far as I'm taking ya, kid." Macaque said, falling back into the shadows. "......You might want to mentally prepare yourself before you get back on the ship by the way."
"Prepare myself for what?" MK asked, but Macaque had already vanished, leaving MK alone.
MK sighed, then walked over to the ship, going to climb up the side of the ship and onto the deck, but then paused, one leg over the ship's railing as he took in the sight before him. He slowly blinked, wondering if he was just seeing things, but nope, Mei was holding another him at sword point, the others standing behind her in a defensive position.
"Who are you and why are you doing a horrible job at pretending to be my friend!" Mei asked, leering over the other MK in a threatening matter.
"Hey, I thought I was doing a good job at pretending to be MK!" The other MK yelled.
"Evidently not!" MK said, fully climbing over the rail and dropping down onto the deck, drawing the attention over to where he was. "Seriously, who the hell are you?"
"Who the hell are you?" The other MK shot back, before realizing what he said. "No, wait that was a stupid question, I know who you are- why did I say that?"
The others ignored him, in favor of staring at MK in suspicion.
"Are you the real MK?" Pigsy asked, causing MK to sputter in offense.
"Wh- of course I am-" MK said, before cutting himself with a yelp, as Wukong suddenly appeared beside him, lifting his arm, picking him up, basically checking him all over before placing him back on the ground, seemingly satisfied.
"Yep, this one is the real deal." He confirmed, before glaring at the other MK. "That one, on the other hand-"
They turned back to the other MK, who had, in the moment of distraction, begun to slowly inch away from Mei's sword, and now was halfway over the railing, about to jump off.
"Oh no you don't." Mei hissed, grabbing onto the back of the other MK's jacket (and oh, so that's where MK's jacket had went, not only did he have a double, but said double was a jacket thief-) and pulling him back onto the ship, letting him fall backwards and slam down on the metal deck. "You're not going anywhere until we get some answers out of you, KM."
"KM?" The other MK asked, everyone else looking at Mei with the same degree of confusion.
"I needed something to call you other than MK." She said, shrugging, before getting right back to business. "Now. Who sent you?"
"What, like I'm just gonna tell you that-" Mei's sword poked closer to his neck. "The Lady! The Lady Bone Demon! She's the one who sent me!"
"Well. That certainly explains why I woke up in one of her cells." MK said, and was immediately met with various looks of concern. He threw his hands up in self-defense. "Hey, don't look at me like that, she didn't even show up, like seriously, it was ridiculously easy for me and Macaque to escape-"
"I'm sorry, you and who?" Wukong interrupted, looking like he was about to breakdown then and there.
"Oh, that's the shadow guy, right?" KM asked, ignoring the glares the others sent him. "I talked with him a few times. Or, well, we didn't so much as talk, more like I walked past him, but like. Same thing, right? Ha ha, yeah, uh, anyways, can we put the sword away now?"
"Depends." Mei said, "What're you gonna do now that we know? You going to go ham, no offense Pigsy, and kill us all?"
"What? No." KM said, "Well. Is that what I'm supposed to do?"
"No, no, no-" MK hurriedly said, rushing forwards, pushing Mei and her sword to the side in order to be face to face with KM, which, wow, that was weird seeing his own face not on him and not on a hair clone- how does KM even exist if he's not a hair clone- wait he's getting distracted- "It is not what you're supposed to do. You are not going to do that. Right?"
"....Right." KM said, slowly nodding. There was a moment of awkward silence, then Mei was back up, shoving MK over as she pointed her sword at KM again.
"That didn't sound like a very confident answer." She said. KM glanced at her, taking in her threatening expression, looked over her shoulder, seeing the expressions of the others-
"If I give you the staff, will you not kill me?" He asked.
That made everyone pause.
"....What, exactly, do you mean by that?" Wukong asked, and KM, in response, hurriedly removed his jacket, shaking it out a little-
And the staff fell out, clanging and slightly denting the deck.
There was a moment of silence.
MK slowly reached over, grabbing hold of, and lifting the staff, feeling a familiar warmth rush through him.
"Why did you have this?" He asked, and KM rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Well I mean, you had it in the videos I watched, but I couldn't make a realistic replica, so when I saw it in the Lady Bone Demon's lair I just... took it?" He said, carefully watching the other's blank expressions. "I-I figured it'd make it easier to pretend to be you if I had it-"
"So what you're saying is you stole it." Pigsy said, "From the Lady Bone Demon."
"I don't know, maybe?" KM said, and Mei slowly lowered her sword, before finally putting it away.
KM watched on as the group all looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation via eye contact.
(They were, in fact, having a real conversation, as Wukong was astral projecting to everyone, and thus basically opened a telepathic connection.
"We could just let him stay with us." MK said.
"Kid, are you crazy? Do you know what he is?" Wukong asked.
"No actually." MK said.
KM, not being in the loop, had no way of knowing this.)
"....So uh, KM was it, what exactly are you?" Tang asked, and once again all eyes were on KM, who shifted nervously.
"Uh, a clone? Like- like test-tube clone. Created in the science goo and all that." KM said, making jazz hands as he said 'science goo'. No one looked very impressed.
"She knows how to do that?"  Wukong whispered under his breath, sounding almost horrified.
"Are there any others like you?" Sandy asked.
KM thought back to the wetness he'd touched when he was first created.
"....No." KM said, "The others failed. They.....they melted."
There was another moment while the others had a silent conversation.
( "Look, he's all alone, we can't just leave him be!"
"But-"
"Look, we know you don't trust him Monkey King, which to be honest the rest of us don't really trust him either, but we can't just leave this kid alone!")
Wukong gave an irritated sigh.
"Fine." He said, marching over to KM, grabbing hold of his arm and pulling him up so that he was standing. He grabbed MK's jacket out of KM's hand, tossing it over his shoulder, where it proceeded to land directly on top of MK's head. "Look, kid, the others have decided to trust you, and I've been outvoted, so listen. We're going to let you stay on the ship. But if I catch any sign of you being up to no good, I will not hesitate to throw you overboard. Clear?"
"As crystal." KM said.
"Good." Wukong said, "But, just in case-"
And then KM's bandana was gone, replaced with a golden circlet. With nothing to hold up his hair, it flopped down, almost completely blocking the new circlet from view. KM reached his hand up to feel it, instantly recognizing what it was.
"....Why." He asked.
"Like I said, just a precaution." Wukong said.
("I have always wanted to do that to someone else-"
"Monkey King."
"Oh. Oops, forgot this connection was still open-")
"You don't have to worry though." Wukong continued, "It won't hurt you or anything, you just won't be able to get more than a kilometer away from me or MK."
"Okay??" KM said, and, well, that was that.
KM was officially a member of the ship.
-
"Out of curiosity, what was it that made you realize KM wasn't me?" MK asked, later that night. Mei immediately broke out into a wild grin, while KM groaned.
"Well first of all, he didn't call any of us by our names." Mei began, "He called me Green Girl, Sandy was Tea Man, so on and so forth. But the real thing that made us realize was that-"
"Don't say it-" KM started, but Mei wasn't going to listen.
"He referred to himself in the third person." She said, "Or, really, he was referring to you, but since he was pretending to be you-"
"Look, I just got used to thinking 'MK smiles like this' and 'MK moves like that', okay?!" KM said, covering his face with his hands. "It just became the default y'know?"
"Understandable, but really?" MK asked, "You didn't once train yourself into talking like you were me?"
"Look, I've only been alive for one month-"
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Text
Laughter is my Love Language
Summary:  Logan doesn't laugh much when Virgil first meets him. Eventually Virgil learns when Logan is truly happy is when he opens up.
Warnings: food mention, some self deprecating humor. If there are more please let me know!
Ships: Logan x Virgil, Analogical
WC: 1, 664
General Taglist (ask to be added or removed): @im-an-anxious-wreck @logans-library @janus-is-an-adorable-snek-boi @ace-in-a-shopping-cart (you had asked to be tagged in this a while ago, I hope it’s still okay)
Logan doesn’t laugh much when they first meet, which is somewhat of a problem for Virgil since he often relied on laughter to fill otherwise awkward silences. The problem was that Virgil was funny in the stupid way- which he blamed entirely on his dad’s humor that fell over to the punnier side. Crack a pun, reference a meme or as a last ditch effort self deprecating humor was usually relatable enough. Logan fell for none of those and more or less was just left confused by them- or he took the self depreciation too seriously and Virgil ended up with a heartfelt lecture on how important he was. Which, as sweet as it was, wasn’t the point of poking fun at something at his own expense.
--
“Boy Logan that sandwich is jam packed!” said Virgil sometime during their freshman year of high school.
Logan had looked at his sandwich in confusion. “There’s peanut butter there too- but yes it’s Crofters.”
Virgil fought to keep the smile on his face. “Yeah I know, it was a joke.”
“But it is packed with- oh that was a pun. Clever.” 
--
“Here comes dat boi!” Virgil cringed at his own voice as the meme reference fell out of his mouth. He hadn’t seen Logan smile once that day and all attempts at conversation had fallen flat so...memes. Why not? Logan was on his laptop often enough he had probably seen what he was referencing at some point. Plus Logan was gliding very confidently on his skateboard and Virgil was suddenly feeling very tense and wanted to break it. Logan, unhelpful as he was, merely stopped and kicked the board up to tuck underneath his arm.
“‘Dat’?” He questioned.
“I-it’s...a meme. I was- referencing a meme.”
“Ah.”
“...yeah.”
Nailed it.
--
“That’s just me being dumb though- you know how it is.” Virgil let out a defeated huff of laughter and settled his chin on his arms. It was their senior year and he was talking to Logan about his current grades. Everything else was straight A’s other than gym. He didn’t like changing in front of others and the bathrooms were blocked off for whatever reason so he just didn’t do it. He took the fail but still needed the credit or he’d have problems getting his diploma, which was completely stupid and unfair but he knew it was his own stubborn fault and-
“I don’t know.” Logan hadn’t laughed at the “joke”, of course he hadn’t. Virgil sighed, opening his mouth to say something else completely stupid and worthless but Logan beat him to it.
“You aren’t stupid. Lack of participation doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it means there’s some other problem that needs addressing if you’re willing to take a failing grade instead of confronting it.” Logan turned to him with a serious look. Always so serious. “So, if I may ask, where’s the problem?”
Virgil blinked. “It’s stupid.”
“Virgil.”
“I just...don’t like…” Virgil turned into his elbow, cheeks reddening at how dumb the problem really was.
“I didn’t hear you. Can you please speak up? Or write it down if that’s easier.”
Snorting he decided to take him up on that, tearing a scrap of paper off his notebook and writing it down.
There was a pause and then: “Is this all? If you take the make-up class there won’t be nearly as many people and if you get there early you can be changed before anyone sees you.”
Peaking around, Logan’s face was so genuine, like he actually wanted to help. Virgil almost didn’t have the heart to say why that was also a problem but he needed him to understand. “I won’t know anyone in the make-up class.”
Logan screwed his mouth to one side trying to figure out why that would be something Virgil would worry about. His face brightened somewhat as he looked back to Virgil. “If it would ease your anxiety I could take the class with you. While I may not have to make up for the credit, it is open to sign up for extra if anyone so chooses.”
Virgil bit his lip. That would- actually really help, but he couldn’t let Logan do that could he? “You don’t have to.”
“I am aware. But going would be a nice routine and I would be very happy to do it if it meant you would be more comfortable.”
“You’re serious? You would really do that?”
“I’m always serious, Virgil. Of course I will.”
Maybe sometimes Logan not getting the joke was a good thing.
--
“L, it’s three in the morning. Go to bed.” They were in college sharing a dorm, and though Virgil could fall asleep with the lights fully on so Logan’s lamp wasn’t keeping him awake, it was the fact the other man was still awake that was bothering him.
Logan let out a short, humorless laugh and waved hi hand. “I’m almost done.”
Virgil hated when he laughed like that. No happiness behind it, only stress and exhaustion and irritation. Sighing Virgil reached over and plucked the pencil from his hand, shooting him a warning look when it seemed like he was about to protest. He closed the book and stacked it neatly with the couple notebooks he had and placed the pencil and calculator on top. Turning to his dorm mate he pointed to the dresser in the corner. “Pjs. Now.”
Slightly concerned when Logan only stood up to do as he was told instead of arguing he shrugged it off and sat back down on the bed. Logan came over a moment later, plain black tee drooping over one shoulder and sleep shorts slightly rumpled. They really needed to do laundry. Before he could say as much, Virgil was suddenly on his back, Logan’s head on his chest with his legs sticking straight over the side. Laughing softly he ran his fingers through the others light red hair, combing out the tangles gently while Logan relaxed into him.
“Logan buddy, I love you so much but if we fall asleep like this we’ll never get up again.” The other grumbled but took a breath and rolled off his chest, swinging his legs over to turn on his side and nearly kicking Virgil in the head in the process. Smirking, Virgil crawled up behind him and flopped with his arm slung over his side. He laughed again when he realized he was already asleep, arms askew and already drooling on the pillow. Snuggling into his back and hugging him tight he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep himself.
--
Logan sat at the table with a book flat on the surface, notebook close by as he made careful notes for the next curriculum. His brow was pinched in thought and his third mug of coffee was cooling beside him, untouched for nearly an hour as he fixated on his work.
Virgil looked back out the window as he finished drying a glass. Gray clouds were rolling in and it was already starting to drizzle. Good,  they needed a good rain for the start of summer. Tuning in once again to the furious scratching of a pencil behind him he set the glass down and whirled around, racing over and catching Logan’s hands in his own to tug him up and towards the door. 
“Virgil what are we- it’s raining! Virgil!” Virgil stopped for a moment to look and see if Logan was actually distressed but upon seeing more fond annoyance than anything else he grinned and stepped out into the downpour. He took away one of his hands and led Logan in a spin down the porch, feet slipping slightly in the wet grass as he maneuvered them around. Logan was smiling now, stress lines gone from his face as wet hair flopped into his eyes and obscured his vision. Virgil’s own hair was slicked flat to his forehead, emo fringe he would never cut hanging down to his lips before he shook his head hard to dispel the water. Logan yelped and flinched away before laughing low at himself, grin turning mischievous as he reached up above virgil’s head to take a hold of a tree branch. Yelling as what felt like gallons of water soaked him he stood there thoroughly soaked and shivering slightly before letting out a howl of laughter, Logan following right after. He was sure the neighbors could hear them but he didn’t care. Logan was laughing so hard he was clutching his sides, shaking with the effort of holding himself together.
This was what Virgil loved most. Logan didn’t always laugh easily, not understanding the joke or understanding what was meant to be a joke but making sure the person was okay first. When he did laugh, it was one shared with others over whatever dumb, stress free thing they were doing. It was unplanned and in the moment, something Logan and Virgil were usually both averse to. But here in the rain, or getting icing everywhere on their wedding day, or the shared laughed when they woke up together after yelling at each other the night before to go to sleep it rang out; it was clear and joyful and carefree- a language all on it’s own that neither of them needed to “get” in order to join in .
When they first met Logan didn’t laugh a lot, which was somewhat of a problem for Virgil since he often relied on laughter to fill otherwise awkward silences. But when he opened up he began laughing all the time, each one precious and kept close to the chest. Virgil collected them, hoarded them even, storing them like coins in a jar in exchange for the happiness he felt each time he was the one to cause such a beautiful sound. And as they giggled still through slight coughs under a blanket that night, he couldn’t be more happy he could speak this language with Logan.
This work is also available on AO3!
If you like this please reblog! reblogs help creators get their work seen!
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fangqueen · 3 years
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Fic Rec Tag Meme
@sitp-recs, I’m terribly late, but this looked way too fun, so I had to join in. Fair warning, y’all, not everything here is Drarry, or even HP (I am a prolific rarepair shipper/multi-fandomer, and Dron is my OTP 😂), so I’ve added the fandoms and pairings below as well. All of these (and many more!) can also be found on my ficshelf! It was so hard to pick these as it was, I couldn’t help but point you in the right direction for all the ones I (sadly, unfortunately) had to cut from the list, lol.
Anyway, thank you so much for running this tag meme, @sitp-recs! It’s been amazing seeing everyone’s recs and discovering new fics! 🖤
• A fic you love without knowing the source material: He Was a Punk, Pete Did Tabletop Roleplay by @mscaptainwinchester Marvel | Peter/Wade | NC-17 | 7.5k
• A fic with a premise that shouldn’t work but it does: Anthony J. Crowley, Retired Demon and Airbnb Superhost by @theoldaquarian Good Omens | Hints of Aziraphale/Crowley | G | 3k All fics are valid and work!! That being said, I had no idea just how much I was going to fall in love with a fic about Crowley being an AirBnB host when I first opened it. 😂
• A fic you’ve reread several times: Department of Magical Creatures Case 62637 by @mscaptainwinchester (under RonsPigwidgeon at the time) HP | Draco/various, Ron/OMC, Ron/Draco | R | 121k How could I expected to only pick ONE?! 😂 I’ve reread everything you’re seeing here - I’ve reread nearly every fic I’ve ever recced at least once. But I couldn’t make a favorites list without this fic, so might as well put it here, haha!
• A fic you still remember many years later: Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by Sushi HP | Severus/Severus | NC-17 | 8.9k I remembered it so well (and fondly) that after 12+ years, I went scouring the Wayback Machine to find it. And yes, the pairing is correct. Don’t look at me. If you’re still interested in reading after knowing that, hit me up, ‘cause it takes a bit of instruction to find it now.
• A comfort fic: You and I by @shiftylinguini HP | Scorpius/Albus S. | NC-17 | 32k
• A cathartic fic: The Conformity Conspiracy by shrink South Park | Michael/Pete (or Ethan/Dylan, as this was written before they had names in canon) | R | 71k I really struggled with this entry. I came to the realization that...I don’t know if I’ve ever actually felt catharsis from a piece of media before??? Well, I have with music, for sure, but not really with anything else. Anyway, I chose this fic for this slot because every time I read it, I’m transported back to being a goth teen. I can feel every word, every action, like I’m going through those years again with them...Which isn’t necessarily what cathartic means, but fuck it, it works for me, haha. ***As always whenever I rec this fic, I do just have to warn that it’s not properly tagged on AO3, and there is definitely some potentially triggering content in it. If you’re interested in reading and would like to know more (so you can be better prepared), feel free to DM me!***
• A fic you’d print and put on your bookshelf: In Flight, Two Boys by lobst_r HP | Marcus/Oliver | NC-17 | 29K Again, how I could possibly pick only one for this one?! I would print out ALL of these fics if I could, and many more! But this is such a beautiful fic, it definitely deserves a spot on the list, and what better spot for it than this? There’s actually a sequel currently posting as well! I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, but I’m sure it’s just as amazing, if not more so.
• A fic you associate with a song: You Do Your Body Work, I Feel My Pulse Working Overtime by @veelawings HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 1.6k I mean, it’s in the title. 😜 But also this is just a truly inspiring fic that I absolutely had to include! (I realized I somehow haven’t queued a rec post for it yet, and I will make sure to fix that soon!)
• A fic that inspires you: dirtynumbangelboy by @magpiefngrl HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 39k
• A fic that brought you onboard a new ship: Lumos by birdsofshore HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 41k Some people may be surprised to know that Drarry was, uh.......once my NOTP. Yes, really. 😂 You wouldn’t suspect that nowadays, would you??? LOL. It’s all because of this wonderful, beautiful fic. I saw it getting recced everywhere at the time and said fuck it, I’ll give the pairing another try - and I never looked back!
• A fic you wish could be a movie: Midnight in the City of a Hundred Spires by @shiftylinguini HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 25k
• A fic that led to you making friends with the author: A Weasel in the Hamptons by @peachpety HP | Ron/Draco | NC-17 | 15k I don’t quite know if this counts, because I believe we’d already been speaking before this??? 😂 But of course, being that I’m the mod for Ron/Draco Fest, I knew who was writing for this prompt of mine, and thus we dispensed with the formalities in private, haha! It was a great experience, and I was so overjoyed to see the results in the end. So happy to have met you, love! 😘 Hope you’re well!
• Free Space: The Pizzaria: A Sordid Tale of Destiny, Evil and Garlic by Mad_Maudlin HP | Ron/Draco | PG-13 | 36k A Dron/crack!fic staple, honestly, and I just couldn’t make a favorites list without it!
• A fic you’ve gushed about irl: Runway by @candawrites HP | Ron/Draco | R | 15k
• A fic you associate with a place: Archipelago by Mad_Maudlin HP | Ron/Draco | NC-17 | 18k I just have a very distinct visual memory of reading this fic for the first time: sitting on the couch in my mom’s living room, the sun setting outside. (I was visiting for her bday, I believe???)  I think of that moment every time I see the title.
• A fic that made you gasp out loud: clutched your life and wished it kept by @glitteringvoids HP | Ron/Draco | R | 110K
• A fic you found at the right time: Howlr by @partialtopotter HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 47k I got really sick in summer 2018. I know I’ve talked about it on here a million times at this point, so I won’t dwell. But I ended up finding and reading this fic the following March, and it reawakened my love of fic and fandom that had been lost over the previous months while I was dealing with everything. I hadn’t been reading or writing at all in all that time, and I ended up reading this whole thing in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down! It just made me feel so good, after a long time of not feeling anywhere near good.
• A fic that you would read fic of: In the Garden After Dark by @the-starryknight HP | Draco/Harry | R | 3.5k I just need more of this universe and Draco’s Illusion magic. 😍
• A fic that made you laugh out loud: Why Parvati Patil Must Die by hull1984 HP | Ron/Draco | PG-13 | 39k
• A fic with a line (or two) that you’ve memorized by heart: Hail to the King by Mad_Maudlin HP | Ron/Zacharias, Ron/Zacharias/Draco | NC-17 | 5k
• A fic that gave you butterflies: The Electric Fizzing Prick Pistols, or Whatever by whitmans_kiss HP | Sirius/Remus | PG-13 | 3.8k
• A fic that embodies something that you value in life: Luna Lovegood: Wank Coach for the Long-Since Deceased by yrfrndfrnkly HP | gen | PG-13 | 9.8k This was another difficult category to choose for. Not that I don’t think any fics I’ve read display good values! Of course they do! But I have this weird issue where I don’t, like...project? at all??? So sometimes it’s hard for me to recognize these things in what I read. But eventually I realized it had to be this fic, because I just love the carefree way Luna lives her life here, her job helping people (well, ghosts who could use some sexual release, specifically, but you know), and the wonderful friends she surrounds herself with.
• A favorite AU: Quibbler Unsolved by Leontina HP | Draco/Harry | PG-13 | 17k More of a fusion than an AU, but it’s just fantastic!
• A fic you stayed up too late to finish reading: Grounds for Divorce by @tepre HP | Draco/Harry | NC-17 | 122k
• A fic that made you feel seen: Taste the Rainbow by @maraudersaffair HP | Ginny/Pansy | PG-13 | 639
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Random bits of Lorien Legacies fandom history I remember:
- Everyone thinking Five was going to be a girl before The Fall of Five came out and people living their truth writing all those self inserts and oc girl fives who always ended up smooching Nine (who didn't love a good self insert?)
- all those anti Five memes after TFOF which were like "i am number four fans counting to ten 1 2 3 4 not you 6 7 8 9 10"
- that facebook game about mark james that may or may not have been a fever dream
- everyone calling setrakus ra mousetraps for some reason. I don't remember why.
- the fandom making Eight's sole character trait pizza because he referenced it one time. Also whitewashing him with Robert Sheehan edits.
- that time I was really into crack ships and someone took one look at a Nine/Marina fic I wrote bluescreened and did a whole essay on how ridiculous ships made them quit the fandom and everyone called them out on it
- Sam/Six ship being named Stormchaser
- When John/Six/Sam love triangle was going on and everyone went out of their way to hate on Sarah (and also that time everyone thought she was a traitor?? I forgot how that worked out my brain is telling me Setrakus shapeshifted into her but i haven't read it for ages so idk)
- the iconic fic I read once where the fic author didn't like Sarah so they included a scene where her head exploded and she was secretly a robot the whole time to get her out of the picture go bold or go home
- the time everyone started liking Sarah and making critiques of John's character and the series shitty writing #SarahHartDeservedBetter
- the time @officialpittacuslore rocked up, pointed at John and Nine and said "yes, I'll have some more of whatever those two have going on", dug a pit, labelled it 'Stohn' and everyone jumped in overnight (gay alien pit throwback uwu)
- astohnymous sending everyone in the fandom incorrect quotes on anon
- Six/Marina rising in popularity. Sirina supremacy. There is no heterosexual explanation for dreaming about seeing a girl on the beach that's soulmate energy right there.
- sandor/devektra/crayton/lexa fics and edits were a big thing for a while and devektra was always taylor swift
- the period before the revenge of seven was released where there was a countdown centred around celebration of fan content creation where everyone wrote fics and did art and edits for a certain theme!
- the time I got so annoyed by this random guy named Devdan just disappearing and never being mentioned again I made a whole detailed theory involving alternate timelines to make it so Devdan is Eight from a bad!future. I still think this is a cool theory and better than the actual explanation, bad and lazy writing.
- one time I ran a secret santa for the fandom and legend says I still haven't removed the page from my blog because I just forgot to for years. Literally. It's still on my blog. Wth?? Shameful 😔 my blog is terrible but what do you expect i dont get paid
- the shittacuslore and setracrapra RP blogs
- also I have a Malcolm roleplay sideblog I hardly ever used don't know if that counts as a significant moment of fandom history but I just find it funny how out of all characters I could have RPd I chose him. Could have picked a character with cool powers and telekinesis but I pointed at the local traumatised amnesia dad and was like "yes, I will be him", made 3 posts and never used it again.
- I've been an Adam stan since I first joined this fandom and the first thing I contributed to this fandom was a coloured pencil drawing of One wjth a surfboard, and it's been glorious watching Adam rise from 'character people are vaguely aware of but most haven't read the side-stories so they don't know about him to care enough' to 'fan favourite who deserves everything in the world and also look at him he's depressed and queer' (no I am not projecting ok maybe i am but can you blame me) anyway shoutout to Knave for all the Adam content over the years it feeds me
- The time people were coming up with shipnames for fun and I said Kevy for Kelly/Five and everyone rolled with it but it was actually a typo the whole time and doesn't even make sense when you look at it but it was too late to go back no i don't remember why we were discussing shipping kelly/five
- That solid week and a half everyone aggressively shipped Malcolm and Henri
- when legacies reborn came out and there was a resurgence of energy and theories around all the new characters
Anyway I joined the tumblr fandom ~2013 but I've been in this fandom since 2011, before The Rise of Nine was even released. Also what the actual bleeping heck it is 2021 and 2011 was TEN YEARS AGO?? A WHOLE DECADE????? Help
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morkofday · 3 years
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#10YearPromise - pingxie blabberings
bc i wasn’t able to answer these questions throughout the week (as i’ve been traveling around while being extremely busy), i decided to just collect all of my answers under one post! i never tire talking about pingxie so this was extremely enjoyable ♥ am also practicing some very shameless self promo in this so be prepared!
thank you for @laireshi​ for organizing this event (i take it’s you alone? am not sure, sorry for my laziness) and being amazing in general ^^ i won’t be able to join as i am still very busy and summer is always pure chaos for me, so i can only hope that other ppl have fun! if you are not aware of 10 Year Promise Pingxie Exchange, you can find the original announcement post here. join in if you have the time and inspiration ^^ 
and then to my answers which i will be placing under the cut bc i don’t want to flood anyone’s dash with me going bonkers over these two idiots. enjoy tho if you decide to read this :’D ♥
I. What made you ship pingxie?
Back when I got into Reboot bc of ZYL (as has happened to many ppl probably) and then saw stuff about pingxie once I started going through that drama’s tag on tumblr, my first thought about them was that they had to be a crack ship. The way Reboot portrays them as well as their actors and their huuuge age difference affected this a lot, and I was actually cackling at them bc all their moments in Reboot made me just go “oh, socialist brotherhood at its best” in my head. But then I finished watching Reboot’s 1st season (as the 2nd one wasn’t out yet) and started reading some fics. I learned more about them and the canon storyline. I learned how damn devoted they are to each other, and after that, many moments in Reboot gained new meaning in my eyes. So, I think what made me ship pingxie was a mix of Reboot (especially the hallucination moment where Xiaoge dies and Wu Xie loses it bc that’s my jam as I later on became to notice) and then the amazing fics I dug out during that time. After that the love grew stronger as I watched the other dramas, and these days I’m a lost cause. I feel like I spend most of my awake time thinking about these two and their love. They are amazing. I cry rivers for them.
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II. Which pingxie version is your favorite?
After finding pingxie, I fell in love with them properly during TLT2. There is just something about that stage of their relationship for me, the stage where both of them are still very tentative about everything but they have deep down accepted that they’re tied now. Wu Xie is figuring out so many things, coming to terms with being betrayed by his uncle and slowly realizing that something bigger is going on behind the scenes. Meanwhile, Xiaoge is learning how to trust Wu Xie and how to accept that he cannot leave this naïve boy behind. It feels very fragile, and I have so many emotions about TLT2 bc of this. Xiaoge is so soft and feels very multilayered. Wu Xie is still his naïve self but is slowly gaining some sharper edges as he comes to face the cruel world. I like how Cheng Yi and Hou Minghao have portrayed this dynamic. Also, TLT2 is just very extra with all the pingxie scenes, who would be able to resist loving them? So, I have to admit that my favorite pingxie is these two, tho Ultimate Note comes very, very close.
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III. What’s your favorite pingxie headcanon?
Headcanons are a bit hard for me as I don’t know enough of the canon. I have not read the novels so most of the story I’ve just patched together from all the bits I’ve read from somewhere (here, on twt, in fics) and through the scenes the dramas have shown me. I feel like the whole world is lowkey made of headcanons for me :’D But hmm, my favorite pingxie headcanon… I’d say there are two and then one bonus bc it’s more a Wu Xie related headcanon than just pingxie. The first one is that the pingxie confession happens after the Bronze Gate. It feels like the only moment when they’re both ready for such a thing. I’d say Xiaoge comes to realize his own feelings a lot earlier and he might tell something to unconscious Wu Xie before leaving for ten years, but he will not actually leave Wu Xie with such a burden. He doesn’t want to ask anything when it sounds like he doesn’t even believe that Wu Xie will be willing to wait for him, and I’d say that for him, his feelings are going to be fine even if Wu Xie never learns about them. He might even wish that Wu Xie never learns about them bc he’s not able to promise much as an immortal and amnesiac being (he outlives Wu Xie, most likely forgets him). For Wu Xie however, I’d say he needs time. He really is way too naïve and I’d say that he needs those ten years to realize that he’s in love with his best friend. I dunno who confesses first after Xiaoge returns but I think that only after that decade their relationship is “mature” enough to hold the weight of a confession (even if I also love to play around with the thought of them getting together during the events of Ultimate Note bc that drama offered many good chances for that). Another headcanon for me is that Xiaoge will find a way to die when Wu Xie does. After learning about them more, I feel like Reboot implies this too. Xiaoge is very accepting of Wu Xie’s death but in the last moments, when he really thinks that this is going to be it for Wu Xie, he hesitates. We see a spark of desperation there, and I’ve come to think that his initial plan, the plan he came up with once he got that call from Wu Xie and knew he would join Wu Xie on his last adventure, was to see this through for Wu Xie’s sake and then leave and die alone. I don’t know how much there would be left for Zhang Qiling after Wu Xie is gone. I feel like this is also what Wu Xie fears. But would he really resent Xiaoge for joining him in death after living such a long and hard life? I’d say no and I’d say that even Pangzi accepts this as one of the most likely outcomes. The bonus one then feels very personal to me. I don’t usually talk about this bc I feel so unsure of even mentioning this but I’ve seen others with similar thoughts so am sharing! I’ve never before gotten any vibes about a character’s sexuality in a drama I’ve watched but Reboot Wu Xie looked at me once in the eye and all I could hear was my brain yelling “asexual”. So, that is just my personal headcanon for Wu Xie. He’s ace and proud of it. He can flirt etc. but sex makes him go naah. He doesn’t need it or want it. He can appreciate beauty and hot ppl without wanting to sleep with them and I think his relationship with Xiaoge fits very well into this. I don’t have any personal experiences with being ace but I feel like Wu Xie has read the name once, shrugged and gone, “guess that’s me” and continued on with his life. He’s badass like that and I love him for it. (take a very relevant meme lol from this post)
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IV. What’s the ideal pingxie date?
Ah, christ. I dunno if I’ve ever thought about them going on a date? In the middle of tomb raiding, hospital trips and fighting against powers bigger than themselves, I’ve rarely seen any time for them to do something like that lol. But after Ultimate Note, I’ve thought about star gazing a lot. Just them, the infinite night sky and some lonely hilltop. They would probably take a blanket with them, huddle together and talk about things in hushed voices. Wu Xie would go on a ramble about all the constellations and their meanings and mythology behind them and Xiaoge would just nod at him and watch Wu Xie talking. Maybe he would offer some tidbits in the middle of the rambling, making Wu Xie smile brightly. It would be relaxing and comfortable and loving. They would make out a lil bit. Would maybe lie down and play with each other’s hair. All their worries would feel insignificant. Wu Xie would fall asleep for a moment and Xiaoge would wake him up with a kiss to get him moving again so that they don’t need to sleep on the cold ground. They would return home and drink something warm and then go to sleep, cuddled together and happy. relevant edit x
V. What’s your favorite pingxie getting together scenario?
I guess I already talked about this a bit but let me elaborate then! As said, I’d see it happening after the Bronze Gate. I am not sure if it would be right away (they’re both going through so much trauma at that point) or if it would happen after Reboot (maybe we would still need Wu Xie almost dying for them to get their shit together), but I’d say it happens in a rush either way. It’s one of those “I have to tell you something before it’s too late” -type of moments. Or one of those “Bc I love you, you idiot!” -type of moments. I feel like I keep thinking that maybe Wu Xie would have to confess first bc as said, Xiaoge wouldn’t like to burden Wu Xie with his feelings when there’s so little he can give in the sense of normalcy. But then again, I have written a oneshot where Xiaoge is the first one to confess and that always feels better for me. That at some point Xiaoge feels secure enough to tell Wu Xie about his own feelings. That he feels confident and comfortable enough to say it out loud while still expecting nothing in return bc he knows that Wu Xie won’t abandon him either way. But no matter how that happens, I always see it as this dam breaking. The emotions finally become too strong. Something happens that reminds them that life is too short. Something happens that makes them finally talk it out and ah, Pangzi can finally take a break, what a joy
VI. What’s your favorite pingxie moment?
Every adaptation has its own good moments so let me make a list (like I saw someone else do too):
The Lost Tomb:
Xiaoge rescues Wu Xie from the shibie
Wu Xie worrying over unconscious Xiaoge plus taking care of him in the hotel room
The Pingxie MomentTM aka Xiaoge saving Wu Xie from falling and then cradling the boy to his chest while thumb rubbing his shoulder
The Lost Tomb 2:
Xiaoge revealed to be Baldie and Wu Xie yelling at him about it
Lowkey the whole underwater tomb arc bc holy shit that’s gay
Wu Xie losing it when Xiaoge doesn’t come up from the underwater tomb, diving after him and then almost dying himself + Pangzi getting angry at him for being stupid
pingxie ft. magical skype in the bronze tree cave (and Xiaoge being emo about the 1000yo warrior guy right before that)
Xiaoge rescuing Wu Xie from drowning (they shared air, you cannot convince me otherwise) + Wu Xie giving Xiaoge his watch in the hospital (relevant edits x x)
Wu Xie’s face when he sees Zhang Buxun in the coffin bc I love pain :)
Xiaoge not shooting Wu Xie despite not remembering him in the mountain village
Wu Xie grabbing Xiaoge’s jacket after being kidnapped and the Iron Triangle reunites in that old Chen guy’s cabin, asking, “Is that you?” from Xiaoge to make sure that he remembers again while looking like the biggest puppy (relevant edit x)
also some relevant memes x
Ultimate Note:
The hand over mouth reunion in the Golmud Sanatorium
“Xiaoge will ignore anyone else but you”
Xiaoge pretending he isn’t Losing ItTM throughout the whole time Wu Xie is in the Devil’s City with A-Ning
more hand over mouth with the gigantic snake
“The goddess has ascended”
Wu Xie protecting Xiaoge after he returns from the jade meteorite 
“Do you remember me?” “Wu Xie.”
Wu Xie promising to help Xiaoge find his memories no matter what bc Xiaoge’s business is Wu Xie’s business 
“Maybe you can return home with a wife today.” Wu Xie: proceeds to stare at Xiaoge, horrified
“Take me home.”
The sword gifting scene (especially Xiaoge denying the possibility of him killing Wu Xie or them harming each other, relevant edits x x)
other relevant edits for ultimate note x x
Reboot:
Wu Xie telling Xiaoge about his sickness and then Xiaoge coming back and promising to join Wu Xie on his trip (relevant edit x)
the death hallucination bc am a masochist 
Wu Xie’s death dream where Xiaoge calls to him but then accepts his choice to move forward bc am a masochist pt. 2
pingxie reunion in the Thunder City forest where Xiaoge saves Wu Xie & co. from the poisonous gas 
the moment in Thunder City where Wu Xie sits outside at night, eating the peanuts Pangzi gave him and then notices Xiaoge, offering him the peanuts and smiling 
when Xiaoge leaves for the last time and then gets reunited with healed Wu Xie against all odds
the train scene and their softest smiles to each other  
Time Raiders:
Wu Xie being the best bean and just wanting to befriend this mysterious man while seeing right under his skin and making Xiaoge baffled and fall in love in approximately 0.5 seconds
Xiaoge, catch! *proceeds to save only Wu Xie when they fall into that shibie horror chamber*  
Xiaoge’s desperation to save Wu Xie from the crumbling ground 
their death waltz at the end of the movie plus Xiaoge’s sacrifice
+ Sand Sea: 
“Don’t you dare call him Xiaoge!” 
Wu Xie offering his friends and then himself as comfort to Li Cu when he’s scared while smiling very softly at the memory of Xiaoge 
“But isn’t his surname Wu?” Hei Xiazi: You have seen nothing yet, you sweet summer child
Wu Xie talking about Xiaoge’s past in the temple (aka the Tibetan Sea Flower story bc I just adore how pretty they’ve made those scenes) 
VII. What is the best gift Wu Xie and Xiaoge could give each other?
I haven’t really thought about this type of stuff either bc we have already seen a ton of gifts being exchanged! I love the watch Wu Xie gives to Xiaoge in TLT2 as mentioned (it’s so silly but also so sweet) and I love it that Wu Xie gifts Xiaoge with a new sword in Ultimate Note. Also, I feel like I can count the food Wu Xie leaves for Xiaoge in Ultimate Note and that one moment where Xiaoge offers his knife for Wu Xie as a “pen”. They would give anything for each other as long as the other asked (which they never do) so I dunno what type of gift would matter the most. As it’s so hard to say, let me talk about one more headcanon that I’ve been thinking about ever since the infamous Bazaar photoshoot for Ultimate Note/XYL & ZSX. So, we see them having matching rings and necklaces in that photoshoot. I think jewelry would be kind of difficult for Xiaoge to wear when he needs to fight, as jewelry could be a hindrance in that type of situation But my brain won’t shut up about “pingxie married!!!” when I ask this question from it. To be honest, I do not see pingxie getting married in the traditional sense. They don’t need something like that after everything they’ve gone through. But I like to play around with the thought of promise rings. Just them exchanging rings for fun, for their own sakes, to have something concrete that reminds them of their promise to each other and of their feelings. Maybe even Xiaoge could wear that ring under his gloves idk. But am a sucker for that thought so my answer to this is then simply: a ring. relevant edits x x
if you read this far, thank you so much! I hope this gave you something and thank you once more for organizing this and allowing everyone to share their love for pingxie ^^ ♥
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I’m a little late for this, but 11. What’s a fanfic idea you haven’t done yet? And I have a slightly modified 6. Is there a detail you’re waiting on bated breath for readers to notice, and if so could you give the vaguest of hints in the correct direction? I want to take a crack at it, which will give me a good excuse to reread, lol
Hmm well there’s the post-canon first time fic, which I did start writing but it got waylaid by Hail Mary, whoops. And another fic set in the same universe as that one, Solidarity, and The Sting in My Eyes (a loose series) where they go up to Prime’s ship and Catra finds her mask. And... is now a good time to announce that I’m working on Satisfaction sequel? ;)
As for 6, I honestly can’t think of anything right now, I’m super tired. It kinda changes chapter to chapter anyway. Instead I’ll give you a few random facts that have yet to show up in Hail Mary but are established in my head:
Lonnie’s last name is Williams and her jersey number is 23
Catra works at Denny’s (and yes I tried to work in a joke about a free birthday meal in chapter 4 but none of my attempts fit)
Catra’s father was of Puerto Rican heritage (his parents moved to the States a few years before they died), and her mom was mixed European. (I’m thinking primarily Irish and Welsh, possibly some German thrown in there, but she wasn’t really aware of her heritage as her great-grandparents immigrated in the 1800′s. She was basically from a generic impoverished white family.)
Adora’s mom was a mix of Norwegian, Welsh, and Scottish, and the last name Grayson came from the Scottish side. Her father is an unknown entity but I headcanon him as still alive and unaware of Adora’s existence, or at least unaware of the fact that she’s his. Her maternal grandparents are still alive and aware of her existence, but she was born addicted to heroin and they didn’t feel they could take care of her and their troubled daughter (who got clean and relapsed several times and eventually died of an intentional overdose when Adora was 14), so they gave her up to the system hoping a better family would take her. They were, of course, unaware that she’d turn out to be autistic and that would torpedo her chances of getting adopted (along with the drug history, obviously).
On a less heavy note, the green-haired and brown-haired side cadets are named Devon and Alycia in this universe, and they’re dating. Devon grew up in Thaymor and knows pretty much everyone there, and this leads to some interesting social encounters at Entrapta’s party. (Yes I’m bringing back my hot OC, shhh...)
EDIT: Oh! And yeah, this is in the tags of the fic and I think I’ve mentioned it on my blog, but it’s only been hinted at so far in the body of the story: Catra has undiagnosed ADHD. She kinda half-assed self-diagnosed it and is bitter that Adora gets accommodations for her ADHD because she’s officially diagnosed. Adora got diagnosed for several reasons:
It was more obvious with her because she struggled a lot in school, while Catra was better able to compensate for the scattered focus with her genius-level intellect
Adora was already diagnosed with ASD and they’re known to go together
*hurk* white privilege, i.e. hyperactivity is more likely to get written off as a behavioral disorder for POC
Weaver wanted to get it looked into with Adora because she’s the one that matters to her, while she just saw Catra as a brat (mostly because she’s a dick who writes people off, but also because Adora was a pretty even split of the inattentive and hyperactive types, while Catra skewed more hyperactive).
Related, Weaver put both Catra and Adora in gymnastics when they were 5 because they were bouncing off the walls and driving her to drink (more). Adora was clumsy af but had fun jumping into the foam pit and goofing off. She did it for a couple years because she liked spending that time with Catra, but gave it up when it started to get more competitive and she found other sports she liked better. Catra was much more coordinated and took to it easily, which was the only reason Weaver put any effort into her for the next several years. She quit as a pre-teen because the emphasis on feminine presentation made her really uncomfortable (i.e. triggered some serious gender dysphoria) and she hated the pressure to stay skinny, as she wanted to bulk up.
So yeah, if you figured out Catra has ADHD without seeing it in the tags or on my blog, you’ve already done some great detective work. ;)
Fanfic Day Meme
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coralcatsea · 3 years
Note
pruk for that ask meme thing!
1. When I started shipping it:
At least by 2015 (based off posts I've made on other sites) if not sooner. I was roleplaying England on Chatzy when someone's Prussia muse randomly started flirting with mine, and that was what put the idea into my head.
2. My thoughts:
Quality ship. One of my top two. Their personalities go well together, they have shared interests, shared history, AND official interactions. Most of them are in the manga, but there's also stuff on Prussia's blog, and the Hetalia musicals are an absolute gold mine of PrUK content based on the various YouTube clips I've seen.
3. What makes me happy about them?
Just...everything. 😭 I'll try to list some stuff and hopefully it will be coherent enough.
-The famous Wedding March has PrUK origins. I made a post on it before if anyone wants to know details.
-They both harbour annoyance towards France and it amuses me.
-Peeps has yellow chicks and bluish-green bunnies. Think of the joke potential.
-Despite a few rough spots in history (which I'll describe under the next question), they managed to make up.
-In an older strip, Prussia was fretting over a war, spat out his drink when he received a letter from England saying he'd join him, then expressed immense relief.
-In modern day, they're on good terms, as shown in Prussia's blog when he goes to try England's cooking and not once insults him. Later, England expresses a desire for Prussia to visit again, invites him back over, and reminds him to bring an umbrella.
-In the strip about the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia held an exhausted England in his arms and acted worried. There was also a random canon picture where Prussia showed concern for pirate England and a random canon picture of the two excitedly looking at something in the distance while Prussia rested a hand on England's shoulder.
In the musical:
-England expressed his decision to ally with Prussia by jumping into his arms.
-Prussia somehow identified England's butt through touch alone (he couldn't see it). Makes me wonder if he's touched it before.
-Prussia was cracking random jokes and England practically collapsed from laughter. When they had an actual contest to see who could make the other laugh, however, it was Prussia who couldn't hold in his laughter while England maintained a straight face the whole time.
4. What makes me sad about them?
The way the Anglo-Prussian Alliance ended. England stopped aiding Prussia once they got what they wanted, and when they were interested in allying again Prussia refused. Prussia then helped America become Independent, but fortunately England and Prussia made up and allied again during the Napoleonic Wars. Aaand then later on Prussia was dissolved. (Thankfully Himaruya came up with a reason for him to still exist. It's implied in his wiki bio.)
5. Things done in fanfic that annoy me:
People making content of the ship solely because someone asked them and then not putting any effort into it. If they're just doing it for the sake of getting it done, it's not really pleasant for the writer or the reader.
Another thing that kind of goes along with this is when people use the most basic of character traits to write them even though they're both very detailed characters. I understand not everybody will know everything there is to know about a character, and some people haven't been in the fandom long, but regardless of reason I'm still not going to find it fun to read fics where the two members of the ship have to be practically forced to interact and then the only thing they know how to talk about is like...beer.
6. Things I look for in fanfics:
Believable characters and interactions. You can stick completely to canon details or take some creative liberties, I don't mind – as long as the characters are interesting, recognisable, and not bizarre exaggerations of one or two surface traits.
7. My kinks:
Hahahaha. I assume this is asking for the kinks I think would be explored in this ship? Plenty. Mr. Erotic Ambassador is open to a lot, while Prussia might take a little longer to get used to kinky things considering how he was in the past, but I imagine it wouldn't be too hard for him if he's with someone that makes him feel comfortable. Plus, he was shown eyeing some questionable magazines when infiltrating the American camp with Germany, so he might not be...100% innocent.
8. Who I'd be comfortable with them ending up with, if not each other:
For England: America, Germany, or Belarus, preferably.
For Prussia: Hungary, Romano, maybe Lithuania.
9. My happily ever after for them:
Prussia lives on as the representative of the present region of eastern Germany, and though he isn't as powerful as he once was, there at least may not be as many complications in their relationship as there would be if they were both full nations. The two admit they were both in denial about being lonely and come to realise they are now much less so. Additionally, Germany can't decide whether his brother dating England has made him easier or harder to deal with. On one hand, he's happier and at least England keeps him occupied, but on the other hand, they're probably plotting to hold a punk rock concert in front of Austria's house again...
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contraststudies · 3 years
Text
Thank you for tagging me, @tawnyontumblr​! I’m very bad at doing these writer meme things, so here goes nothing.
1) How many works do you have on AO3?
45 and counting!
2) What’s your total AO3 word count?
376,429. Holy moly that is a fuck ton of words (I only properly started posting on AO3 last May iirc).
3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
Four: Critical Role, Good Omens, Hades, and Kill La Kill.
4) What are your top five fics by kudos?
This list is bookended by two PWPs, which I find hilarious given that I seem to have misplaced my smut brain cell sometime in the last couple of months.
On The Matter of Traffic Violations (Good Omens, E)
“Officer Fell,” Crowley says, and leans forward, enough to give Fell a good view of his décolletage. He tilts his head in the way he knows people find deliciously coquettish, glad that he’d had the foresight to apply some mascara before heading out. “I’m so very sorry about this,” he says, looking up at the officer through his lashes. “It’s late, you know, no cars around… Didn’t notice how fast I was going, that’s all.”
[Or: Crowley flirts his way out of a traffic violation.]
Unbinding (Critical Role, T)
This is a great honor, Essek reminds himself, trying not to recoil as fingers run through his hair, working through the tangles. A braid is made of three strands, symbolizing the inextricable bond between the soul, the den, and the Luxon. A recognition of an achievement by the drow who bears it. With each braid, the soul is bound ever closer to its den and to the Luxon.
It is a lesson Essek learned long ago, but one he is never permitted to forget.
[Or: the story of why the Shadowhand wears his hair cropped short.]
No Church In The Wild (Good Omens, E)
The stem of the wineglass in Aziraphale’s hand snaps cleanly in two, but no one seems to hear it—every eye in the room is trained on the redheaded dancer sashaying to the gleaming silver pole, centre stage for all to see.
Oh, Aziraphale thinks faintly. Good lord.
[Or: the one where Aziraphale gets assigned to the red light district.]
abide gold with me (Critical Role, T)
“Okay, Cay-leb,” Jester says, stretching out the syllables affectionately. “You sit right here so we can watch you and Essek try an orange for the first time.”
The Primal Scene (Good Omens, E - a collab with @lookitsstevie​!)
Harriet notices that there’s a crack of light at the end of the hallway coming from the door to the library, and her mood brightens considerably. Perhaps the tutors are still here, putting together their lessons for the next day before they leave for the night. She leans down to pick up a piece of cloth that’s fallen on the rug. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes what it is – a necktie with a familiar tartan pattern.
She nearly drops the tie in shock at the unmistakable sound coming from the closed door of the library. A sharp, quickly stifled moan.
[Or: Harriet Dowling accidentally bears witness to divine ecstasy.]
5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?
I try. I really do. My friends (and maybe some of my readers) know that this is difficult for me, mainly because any sort of recognition reduces me to a gibbering pile of tears. I’m working on it though, even if it does take me a million years to respond to anything on AO3. 
6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
God, which one do I choose. I have been referred to as an angst gremlin for a very good reason. I’m gonna go with The Remains of the Day, a Good Omens fairy tale AU I wrote loosely based on Bluebeard.  
7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?
I HAVE. I wrote philtatos, a crossover of Good Omens and The Iliad/The Song of Achilles. It’s the only crossover I’ve ever written, unless we’re counting Variations of an Arrangement, which could loosely count as a crossover of the book/radio/TV versions of Good Omens.
8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?
I have not. And hopefully never will.
9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?
I do, and it’s usually of the angst with a happy ending variety.
10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Hm. How do we define stealing? Just kidding. The short answer is no.
11) Have you ever had a fic translated?
Nope!
12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Got one in the works for Critical Role!
13) What’s your all time favourite ship?
Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes was actually the first ship I ever really got into, and they’ll always have a special place in my heart even if I never wrote anything for that fandom. Crowley/Aziraphale from Good Omens of course, and more recently Caleb Widogast/Essek Thelyss from Critical Role.
14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
Variations of an Arrangement. I loved writing it, and I still want to finish it one day, but it took a lot of brainpower to write and keep track of the plot and I feel like it’s beyond me, at least right now.
15) What are your writing strengths?
I… hmm. Judging by the way people are always yelling at me in their comments, I guess it’s that I can write stories that make people feel things very deeply.
16) What are your writing weaknesses?
I repeat words so often, it’s embarrassing. I use too many “-ly” adverbs. Also, I find myself using the same turns of phrase across several fics lmao.
17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
Language is a tricky thing. I don’t want to bore you with discourse. I try not to write dialogue in a different language (especially if it’s not one I speak myself) unless it’s absolutely called for, or if they’re just basic phrases and I’m 100% certain I won’t be getting it wrong. I have read fics where this was done very well though, and I’ve found that it really adds to the atmosphere in those cases.
18) What was the first fandom you wrote for?
It was for this old anime called Princess Tutu. I danced ballet when I was younger and loved it so much – I believe I was only twelve at the time?? But I think the fic may still be floating around on FF.net somewhere.
19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?
I wrote philtatos in a four-day fever dream. It’s not the most technically perfect fic I’ve ever written or anything like that, but I think it’s the one that reveals the most about who I am as a person. That is an incredibly cheesy thing to say, I know. I always joke that posting that fic felt like offering my still-beating heart on a silver platter to the void, but there you are.
For Critical Role, surprisingly enough it’s this ficlet I wrote called sinners, a small bite of Shadowdrei where I was parsing my ideas on Astrid and Eadwulf’s dynamic and where they stood when it came to Bren/Caleb and Essek. I didn’t realize how fully formed my thoughts were until I wrote that. Fascinating what your own writing will show you about the things that are in your mind.
Tagging with no pressure whatsoever: @naromoreau @jenanigans1207 @saretton @theseedsofdoom @musegnome!
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demonfox38 · 3 years
Text
Okay. Made it through the last season of Netflix's "Castlevania" interpretation. Thoughts are below the cut.
I've often thought of this series as the exploitation version of "Castlevania," and hiring Malcom McDowell confirms that.
Although, I find it hilarious that both Malcolm McDowell and Patrick Stewart have ended up voicing the same character. I'm sure there's a "Star Trek Generations" joke to be made in there, but I'm not Mike Stoklasa.
Also, I was cracking up a bit when Varney's plot twist happened. Mostly, because it came off a bit Skeletor-esque in vocal performance.
Also, also—laughing that the final boss went the "Castlevania: Lament of Innocence" route despite barely touching on that game's plot.
Animation had its ups and downs with this season. It seemed like there were some frame issues (not enough inbetweening.) I do appreciate how they incorporated more of Alucard's SOTN animations into his fights, however.
Additionally, some of the fight scenes' pacing seemed to have issues, particularly regarding weapon recovery.
The whole bit with St. Germain was off. Like, he's a weird asshole in "Castlevania: Curse of Darkness", but he's more of a weird asshole there in the same way that casually encountering "Doctor Who"'s Doctor would also be strange. Not a straight up villainous boob. Kinda makes sense thematically to have another character who is willing to do horrible shit for their lost loved one, but the series honestly did not do a good job establishing her. Like, did she even have a voice actor? Or a name? All I'm saying is it was much easier for outsiders to get the Lisa revenge thing Dracula had going.
Also, how dare you joke about not being deaf and then have a villainous monologue, TV show.
Greta's a good girl. Well, outside of being an occasional homewrecker. Point is, she's competent and trying her best to save people in a bad situation, and anyone having issues with her is not to be trusted in the same way that you don't trust people who don't like Rochelle from "Left 4 Dead 2."
Look at me. Do not trust people who do not like Rochelle from "Left 4 Dead 2." Yes, her writing could have been better, but she's still a viable character. Let people Thunder Child their ships on the rocks of your better self. Got me?
Also, y'all really need to embrace more polyamory. Or understand the fact that Alucard's not going to love just one person in his life. Dude lives to be at least 600 in the game's timeline. For a dude who loves humans, constricting him to just one who may live to be 100 at best is cruel.
There are some interesting philosophical dialogues going on here, but I can see where some people may lose their patience for them. Considering one of Castlevania's most popular memes is a philosophy debate, you're just gonna have to suck that up. My personal favorites included the topic of acting versus reacting, as well as having agency in one's story.
Striga's battle theme was cool, but otherwise, the music was forgettable. Yes, that is a sin. Punishable by Death? In this series, maybe!
The gore's still over the top. Which, okay, fine. There's a bit of that in game. It's just generally a bit more reserved with it or uses it in crucial boss fights.
RIP doggie.
The Targoviste plot's a bit of a wash, but it doesn't feel as useless as Trevor and Sypha's previous plot predicament. It's just nothing of a surprise, considering how many times the writing has played the "authority figures are useless" and "dark secret surprise" tropes in this series. Like, Greta being reliable is actually more surprising than anything with this plot.
I cannot emphasize enough how boring I found Carmilla's interpretation and plot arc. You guys could have had a giant, naked lesbian riding a skull and spewing magic at people while her cat-eared girlfriend jumped them for extra damage. But no. Vanilla lady with a scarlet sword for you. So long. Farewell. Auf Wiedersehen. Good night.  
Gotta say, as much of a deviation from his source character as he is, Isaac really turned out well in this series. He's definitely evidence that you don't always need to stick to source material.
His Abel is fucking sick, dude. Way to go, king.
Also, I was expecting more violence from Hector this season. Oh, well. At least he got a teeny bit of a spine.
Look. I'm not an alchemist by any means. I'm just a bit baffled by this season's emphasis of obtaining a Rebis. Like, any time the game series has talked about the Magnum Opus of Alchemy, it's more been in pursuit of making a Philosopher's Stone (or at the very least, a Crimson Stone, as seen in "Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.") Pulling a Rebis out of the aether is…well. Could have been more interesting than it was. I mean, it was a bit nightmarish, but it really didn't do much.
Sypha's really never getting back to her family, is she?
Love the idea that the cross subweapon is basically a fancy chakram.
GERGOTH. BUDDY. FRIENDO.
Really appreciating the monster variety in these last two seasons. I mean, that's a big selling point of the "Castlevania" games. Not so much vampires standing around and bickering in dick-waving contests.
Breaking out of the bullet points to hit on the big subject of this season—that is, the ending being surprisingly happy.
There's been a lot of shit that's happened over the last few years. Obviously, a pandemic. Konami's run by pricks. Then, there's the situation with the allegations of sexual coercion with Warren Ellis. Additionally, the terrible ending of "Game of Thrones" likely impacted how this season was developed, considering it seemed to be chasing its progression in construction. (I mean, look at Carmilla and Daenerys.) I don't know how many people were happy with the last season of "Castlevania," but from my POV, it double-tapped itself in the foot with the way it pushed simultaneous sex and violence in its last two episodes. My point is, there was little taste for additional darkness, considering everything that has been happening. Society is drained.
A happy ending was what people really wanted. And man, did this pull through, in that regard. But, there's a conversation to be had in if this swerved too far or if it violates some artistic integrity to give people what they want. So, let's have it.
Look. Man. Have you seen a "Castlevania" ending? When you do it right, it's crumbled castles and rainbow-colored skies. If you do it really right, it results in a pretty girl holding the main character's hand. There is happiness in these games. Hope. Forgiveness and redemption. If this is supposed to be any bit an accurate interpretation of these games, it absolutely should end in such a joyful fashion. (Okay, maybe giving Dracula and Lisa a second honeymoon at the end was a bit much, but I get where people would want that.)
Did some items need to be addressed more? Absolutely. Alucard staking people and Hector getting sexually coerced into servitude are some pretty big topics to just wave away. (Oh, shit. That second part is even worse now with what Ellis was allegedly doing, isn't it?) I suppose I'm just glad the series didn't go full Sephiroth with Alucard. And at least Hector finally took some stand in his situation, even if it wasn't the bombastic, hateful revenge I'm used to seeing from this character in other stories.
I think the creators of this series were trying to save this show from the fate of "Game of Thrones." (To some extent, perhaps the "Voltron" re-interpretation as well.) There's so much media out there anymore that if a production team doesn't nail the ending, their creation gets wiped out of the collective consciousness. To that extent, I think the creators were successful in saving their series. Did it do damage to itself in yanking out of its construction and themes? A bit. But, in doing so, it pivoted back to being more like a proper "Castlevania" product. (And of course, by proper, I mean anything ignoring "Lords of Shadows." God, people need to stop chasing other products when developing "Castlevania" stuff and just let the series be as it is.)
I am very curious as to how much of this season was part of an original draft and how much was revised in backlash to everything that has happened. It doesn't seem like Trevor was intended to survive, but to some extent, Sypha had to. (I mean, until she has a kid, anyway. See "Lords of Shadows" series for dickery regarding that.) I'm also wondering if there was more intended for the Carmilla subplot, as much as the series was banging on about her invading locations. I'm not even sure St. Germain was intended to be a villain all along. Getting into a bitchfight with Death? Sure. Doing what he did here? That's a weird arc, dude.
If you come away from my POV with anything, it should be this: GO PLAY THE GAMES.
Do it. Do it, you ghouls. Go to the Steam store and download the "Castlevania Anniversary Collection." Boot up your PS3 or 4 or 18 or whatever and get "Symphony of the Night." Throttle Nintendo's stores until "Aria of Sorrow" or "Dawn of Sorrow" or "Harmony of Dissonance" or whatever rattles out of their moldy pockets. Find a ROM. Find an ISO. Just play a game. Especially, one of the ones made before 2010.
"Castlevania" as a game series isn't about hordes of vampires dick-waving at each other or edgy swearing or being grim and dark. Some of that stuff's there, sure. But, at its core, it's what game developers created when they looked at Universal Monster Movie creations and went "That's cool. Let's fight that!" It's a series about pushing technology in MMC chips to make rich, vibrant music. It's about flourishing artwork and layers of sprites dripping particles and gore onto players. It's sober and goofy and very pro curry.
The thing is, "Castlevania" players have their own unique connection to the series. We're the weirdos you see clapping their hands when a mutilated dinosaur shows up on screen. It's not because the monster alone is cool. It's that we've fought and struggled and bodied that thing through several floors like a goddamn "X-Men: Children of the Atom" stage. It's kicked our asses. We've kicked its ass. We've got a connection to it that you just don't get from passively watching it barf lasers through a computer monitor or TV screen. Like, you know how people go, "Well, the movie wasn't as good as the book?" It's obnoxious, sure. But, those who read the source materials have to go to the effort of constructing their own sets and people to understand what's happening. In a similar fashion, game players build up their own skill set to reach that next rung.
Maybe you don't always get a payout when you invest your resources into something. But, there is a sense of accomplishment, seeing what you can do.
There's a reason this series got an adaptation. I mean, outside of Konami's head executives wanting easy money. "Castlevania" is a fantastic video game series. Has it got a few problems? Oh yeah. Especially after outsourcing and pachislot machines became all the rage. But, there's a reason Simon and Richter Belmont are playable in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate." There's a reason I spent a significant amount of time playing these games and writing or drawing fanworks for it. These games are wonderful. Beautiful. Difficult, but inspiring. Reasons I will still bang on about them decades years down the road.
When I get exasperated by layers of angst and edge lord content this Netflix series generated, I want you to know why. The roots of this show are good games held captive under poor management. Some people on staff know this. I wish they had more scenario and writing control. But mostly, I don't want to shit on them or their work. (Well, other than perhaps the obvious target.) I just want you to see what I love in these games.
And also to watch Crashervania. Because that's legit.
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