#and any fanfic trying to erase this part don't work out

[boxingcleverrr]

Popular Hades & Persephone "retellings" are, rightly, getting dunked on all over the socials right now and, as a Pagan who has an altar to the Queen, I could not be happier. But also, I feel like a lot of people miss WHY they're bad - aside from just plain bad writing and lazy tropes. Which are, yeah, also REALLY bad.

Pretty much all retellings try to wave away, or excuse, or twist the whole kidnapping bit. And I actually do have sympathy and understanding for why, when speaking from a modern perspective.

But honestly...you gotta get over it. There are other stories to play fix-it with, not this one.

The Abduction is The Thing.

Were I a little more sober I could bring up chapter and verse of the Hymn to Demeter but frankly, if you know even the middle school mythology curriculum version of the story, you SHOULD know the themes. The story of Persephone was one mothers and daughters in the ancient world held dear, because it was a reality: you will, one day, be swept away from your home to go cleave to a man you most likely know nothing about. You will miss your mother, but chances are very good that he will be a good husband, once you get to know him, certainly better than Zeus or Ares, and he will make you a queen of his home.

Leaving home to marry was often scary, and violent (look up the history of the tradition of Bridesmaids, if you don't already know it - they were originally decoys on the marriage road). Centuries later we'd have tales like Beauty & The Beast serving the same function: comfort, hope, you are leaving your safe loving home to figure life out with a (often older, powerful) stranger. Your trauma over this sudden ending of your childhood made manifest in a Beast, or a God of The Underworld.

It's wonderful that we don't NEED stories like this anymore to comfort us (here, at least, in this culture). But if you try to force them into modern vernacular it just will not work, not really, because you're gutting out the whole point just to have a more tidy romantic male hero.

I have read MANY very good ...novelizations? fanfic(? however you would frame them, but they're certainly not "retellings"), etc. that simply take advantage of the blank spaces in the myth, and there are many!

It's not explicit that sexual assault happens - "The Rape of Persephone" as a title was coined in much earlier eras, when the word was just as often used to simply refer to abduction.

"She was starving!" the gods didn't need to eat. So it's easy to read her eating the Pom seeds as a deliberate choice on her part. Like, shit, people, scholars have written whole papers on the symbolism of this moment, between marriage rites and even yeah, Seph choosing both worlds with her husband's knowing consent.

And that, I think, is the real heart of the thing. People want an utterly mundane, spelled-out story here, as opposed to what it really is, has always been, just like any other myth or religious parable: IT'S A METAPHOOOOOOR.

They don't need to be destined, or meet at a goddamned BALL and then CONSPIRE to fake her kidnapping, or shit, I once saw one where Hades got MIND CONTROLLED by Zeus?! Jesus.

Persephone was yoinked into the Underworld against her will.

That's how it went.

I don't mean this in a "stay out of my belief system!" way, shit I'm a white American chick with delusions of witchery. I mean this in a "stop stressing yourself out trying to make things palatable" way:

This is a very real, very precious myth to many people, BECAUSE for at least that one event, Persephone had no autonomy, BECAUSE for thousands of years most women had no autonomy. Erasing that, sanitizing the fact that a girl is ripped out of the spring, from her mother's arms, is erasing the thing that gave comfort to women for centuries. And people can and should still find power and healing in it now!

Fill in the blanks the story leaves in whatever manner seems fit to you, there's plenty of room, but. Come the fuck on.

#blathering #truly had a ramble bubbling for weeks #just pagan things

[mar-im-o]

I think the reason so many ppl draw/write Scar without his wheelchair is because c!Scar isn't disabled.

It would be difficult in some cases to imagine scenes or events if Scar was in a wheelchair. In Hermitcraft, it's less difficult, but in the life series, a lot of events simply don't work if Scar is in a wheelchair. I don't think it's impossible or anything, but some things have to be changed in order for Scar to be in a wheelchair during the life series especially.

Another contributor to Scar outside of a wheelchair is the presence of Hotguy. A lot of people give him some sort of leg braces or another solution that allows him to move like a superhero needs to when he's Hotguy, and give him some sort of mobility aid outside of Hotguy. Again, I don't think Hotguy needs to be separated from the wheelchair, but Scar's own depictions of Hotguy are able-bodied.

And I think one more reason is because ppl are scared of messing it up somehow. People are neevous to try and draw a wheelchair but make it look bad. I've seen posts from other disabled ppl saying that giving Scar a cane instead of a wheelchair can come across ableist. I think because of this ppl don't draw him with any mobility aid so they can avoid doing it wrong.

I'm gonna be very harsh here. Know it comes from a place of wanting people to understand better.

I am disabled, and I am utterly, horribly, grossly tired of this argument. This argument that disabilities cannot exist within exciting stories. This argument that wheelchair users can't be superheroes or villains or red menaces or whatever else Scar does.

It's an excuse. Nothing other than that.

We are all making fanart and fanfics based on a game of cubes. Every part of this world that we, collectively, as a fandom create are born from our imagination.

If you can give Grian wings, if you can make Doc a cyborg, if you can make Mumbo a vampire, then you can give Scar a wheelchair.

The stories you all adore, this character you are obsessed with, is created by a disabled man. A man in a wheelchair. Acknowledge that.

This is a medium that is based on a video game. There's magic and monsters. There can be a wheelchair user.

Figure it out. Consider giving Scar a wheelchair that turns into an elytra. A wheelchair with mechanical legs. A steed he always rides. Anything.

Disabled people belong in your stories. Stop erasing us.

#disability rights #disability activism #gtws #goodtimeswithscar #scar #discourse #hermitcraft #trafficblr #life series

[withacapitalp]

How come "books are books, shows are shows, do whatever you want w characters" doesn't apply to B*lly? Not trying to start drama, just genuinely want to understand. Is it because he's a bad guy I can't reshape him into something I'd like and ignore what's "canon?"

Oh boy Nonnie okay I'll try to be really clear but it probably won't come out super legible. I'm putting it under a read more because I don't wanna clog up my dash w a long explanation (which knowing me it's going to end up being) I also want to say that all of this is MY opinion. I'm no one's ultimate judge, I'm just a guy on the internet who writes stories.

All that to say, this is why I think that fundamentally the idea that Eddie's sexuality and Billy's racism can be manipulated in fandom on the same level is really flawed.

Overall I think that the point of fan fiction is personal enjoyment. Ultimately you're creating something with yourself as the audience in mind. If not, then I don't really get it. So, for you, maybe it can mean that. Do I personally agree? No, but I can't stop anyone from creating something and putting it online. That's the whole point of ao3, no bars, no barriers. When you start putting that kind of wall in place, a slippery slope starts to form, so even if I would never personally partake in some forms of fanfic, I get why it's important to have a place where any kind of fic can exist. Back button exists for a reason, block button exists for a reason, curate your own online experience.

I'm not gonna be the person who says like if you like Billy you're a garbage person, because like that just isn't true? The two aren't automatically associated. Do I think that people who want to erase that part of Billy should maybe examine that urge? Yeah, but I think we all need to look inside and see where systematic racism might make us think things are more acceptable than they should be. I also can't understand people who want to give Vecna a redemption arc, or the people who think Sn*pe was just misunderstood. Regardless, we're all works in progress, and 90% of people to me are capable of learning more and growing and seeing where they might be working with a bias. I know I definitely have my own too.

I personally just will not give him redemption of any form or reshape him, because to do so seems to be disrespectful from my point of view to real life people. I'm not a person of color, Billy's racism is at the forefront of his character, so for me to reshape that and erase it in a fanfic feels like I would be ignoring a serious thing and pretending like that never happened, when it exists in our society in a major way. There isn't a point where Billy's racism ever gets resolved. In fact, the whole thing gets dropped completely in s3 which seems like a really terrible oversight by the Duffers. It's used as a plot point when it was convenient, which is messy and wrong.

But All of that is just background to your real question here which I believe is this-

Why is it okay to change a character's sexuality, but not their bigotry?

For me, I don't really like to equate the two? I think that the idea that someone's sexuality is a 'flaw' that needs to be reshaped is kinda problematic, and we also don't actually know Eddie's sexuality. Everyone can say what they think till the cows come home, but at no point did we get 'Eddie is confirmed gay, straight, bi, etc. etc.' EVERY single interpretation of Eddie's sexuality is someone shaping canon as they see fit right now.

With Billy he is confirmed racist. He is 100% undoubtedly a racist. Not even someone who used to be racist who learned and repented. He was always racist and tried to commit a hate crime against Lucas (I would argue that he did, because holding a twelve year old up against a wall and threatening to kill them because they're black and they dared to want to get to know your sister feels like a hate crime to me) The only reason he didn't seriously hurt Lucas was the fact that Steve stepped in. That's it. He was going to assault a child for his race.

To compare ignoring that to playing with a character's sexuality feels....mm I just strongly don't agree. I don't exactly have words to explain, but I really don't.

I think there are things you can change about characters easily. You can change their sexualities, their ages, their genders, their backstories, but to fundamentally erase something like that just doesn't line up for me.

No call out here Nonnie, I appreciate that you wanted to ask and be open, but this is my question for people who want to change Billy that way- What is it about Billy that is so compelling that it feels necessary to change that part of him? Why is Billy the character you *need* to write for?

Jonathan is a fantastic big brother who has a ton of issues and was abused by his father. If you're having the hankering to try and examine a flawed big brother, he's right there.

Eddie is an outcast (and strongly implied that he comes from an abusive home) and if you're looking to try and write about that, he's right there.

Steve is the character that has actually GONE through the redemption people always try to give Billy. He said slurs and did bad things, and almost immediately went to make amends for them when he was able to acknowledge he did the wrong thing.

Billy never even apologized. He hadn't changed by the time he died, and no I don't think sacrificing himself was some major change. I think that a villain can be tragic without needing to retroactively make them a better person. Billy is a flawed and broken person. Yes that probably relates mostly to the way he was raised and the fact that his family was violent, but that doesn't excuse it. The Byers have an abusive home, and at no point does Jonathan act the way Billy does. I think they're really good foils to each other on what can happen with a big brother.

Anyways this was a really really long answer nonnie, but I hope I got it across why I really disagree with that stance. If anyone was offended or upset, know that wasn't my intenion, and feel free to let me know.

#tw racism #tw homophobia #tw abuse #tw child abuse #asks #anon #answered #I don't wanna tag him but also #yeah guys this is about B*lly #Anyways I was hesitant to answer this at all so #hopefully this doesn't bite me in the ass lol

[flowers-in-bloom13]

Another pjo fanfic I made and posted on AO3. This one is still being continued. Here are all the 3 parts of it!!! Btw it is Valgrace. And hurt/comfort<3

------------

Chapter 1. lonely hearts club

''--and then I said 'he's literally just a guy. hit him with your car' but it turns out she doesn't have a car so--'' Piper said, retelling an old story from the wilderness school. ''huh?'' Jason said. ''sorry I didn't catch that..'' Piper looked at him with a concerned expression, her eyebrows furrowed. ''you okay, Jase?'' she said. ''you've been zoning out a lot recently..'' ''yeah...yeah I'm fine'' Jason said trying to reassure Piper with a smile. ''if you say so..'' Piper tried to erase the concern from her face.

~~~~~Later that evening~~~~~

Jason was laying in his bed , starting at the celling contemplating his feelings...his feelings for Piper. ''do I really love her?'' he thought.

''oh no...why......why am I questining this? of course I love her!'' but did he really?

his heart felt lonely.

Chapter 2. Jason's google search history: Am I gay, Am I gay quiz, how to know if you're gay.

Notes:

SOMTHING IMPORTANT: in this fanfic Leo made phones and tech and things that don't attract monsters. why? because plot. ALSO: this goes for the whole fanfic but I'm really sorry if/when any of the characters seem ooc.

also a note to all my friends: if I ever get isekai'd you better be coming with me.

--------

Jason was understandably confused about the situation. ''I don't know what to do anymore...'' he thought. ''I should- I do like Piper...right..?''

why was he so confused. It's his feelings he should know how he feels, it's what he thinks. if only it where that simple...

Jason sits up and takes out his phone and goes to google. ''am I gay'' he types.

he's far too scared to press search, so he deletes it. he lays back down. staring up at the celling again.

contemplating his feelings. ever since the bitch Hera erased his memory he's not known which of his feelings are real and which are not.

does he love Piper? he's been wondering that for awhile now. he keeps ''zoning out'' because of it. Jason decides to google it anyway. ''how to know if you're gay'' he types but he's too scared to actually look at anything that comes up.

he types ''Am I gay quiz'' he clicks on the first result, its a buzzfeed quiz. he takes the quiz. he gets his result. ''Traditional labels are meaningless!'' he reads the description. ''"Gay," "Straight," "Male," "Female"... There's a lot more to the world than those blunt terms encompass! You get to define yourself, and you're free to celebrate your sexuality — or lack of — however you choose! Hurrah!'' Jason reads it, his heart beating, ''oh.'' is all that escapes his mouth. he hears a thump -the Stolls summoning a demon again, probaly- and gets scared and closes the tab and deletes his search history.

'Maybe I should go see Leo in bunker 9'' Jason says aloud.

~~~~~At bunker 9~~~~~

'Hey, Leo...I hope you don't mind me barging in here..'' Jason says closing the door to bunker 9. ''oh hey, Jase!'' Leo says with a grin on his face while he works on fixing the argo 2.

''sooo.....'' Jason doesn't know what exactly to say. he can't just come in here and say ''oh hey, man, I'm not sure if I like my girlfriend anymore, oh also I might like men.'' well...technically he can...

''soo...erm....I need to talk to you about something'' Jason says hesitantly

''oooo got a secret?'' Leo teases. ''you could say that..'' Jason replies.

Leo realizes that this probably isn't the time for teasing. Jason and Leo sit down on the floor next to each other.

''I...I'm not sure if I liker Piper anymore...'' Jason explained. ''In fact...I'm not sure if I ever liked her at all..'' ''hm...well that's a....problem...'' Leo replies. Jason looks down toward the floor. ''yeah...it is...''

''This might sound crazy but.. maybe you should tell her?'' Leo explains. Jason looks back up at Leo. ''but...I.. she'll be sad or mad..'' he says. ''She'll be happier if you do tell her'' Leo says. ''you think so?'' Jason asks hesitantly. ''I never think, Jase'' Leo replies.

~~~The next day~~~

Piper is enjoying the picnic her and Jason are having in the strawberry field. Jason...not so much...he's dreading telling Piper that he may not love her. ''It's such a beautiful(Selina beauguard much?) day, the clouds, the blue sky, the birds chirping, Clarisse threatening to kill Percy..'' Piper exclaims. ''yeah...it is...'' Jason replies ''you okay, Jase?'' Piper asks. Jason takes a shaky breath and looks down. ''the truth is, I'm not fully sure if I....If I like you'' ''Romantically I mean! I do know that I like you but only...as a friend, maybe? I'm still not sure yet...'' Jason explains ''oh...that's...erm....'' Piper says ''I'm glad you're figuring yourself out, Jase'' ''you're not mad?'' Jason looks surprised, maybe even a little shocked, ''you're not mad?'' Jason asks in surprise. ''No. I'm not'' Piper said. Jason starts to tear up. ''I love you, Pipes, I'm not sure if it's romantic or not but I love you'' Jason says. Piper pulls him into a hug. ''I love you too, Jase, I'm glad you're starting to figure out who you are after...Hera'' Piper smiles lovingly at Jason.

Chapter 3.

----

Jason was laying in his bed, wonding, how Piper was so kind and supportive of Jason maybe not loving her romantically - until he heard a knock at the door of cabin one.

Jason got up and opened the door. It's the Stoll brothers. ''Hey, Jasie!'' said Connor...or Travis. it was impossible to tell. ''erm...'' Jason exclaimed ''what are you doing here? and so late as well, It's what 10:30?''

The Stoll's looked at each other and laughed, then looked back at Jason.

''well we're having a...'event' over at the Hermes cabin!'' said one of the Stoll's. ''and we're here to invite you! trust me, there's alcohol!'' said the other butting in.

*so that's why they where laughing...* Jason thought, *wait...Alcohol...*

''uhm...I think I'll have to skip this one..''

''but...!'' the one on the left said, ''You can't skip itttt!'' the other one sarted to speak, '' yeah! you can't! come on Jasiee. stop being such a party-pooper!''

Jason sighed, ''fine. I'll come to your party...'' ''Great!!'' exclaimed one of the Stoll brothers.

Jason wasn't enjoying the party all that much so many...drunk people.. It remined him of his mother. she was always drunk

-----

I'm obviously not the best at writing...also for the "am I gay" quiz result,

I took an actual "am I gay" quiz and answered how I think Jason would and copy/pasted the result... Also I'm sorry it's so rushed- I just really want to get to a certain part. Also my username on AO3 iz "W_itch_With_A_B" if you want to find me on there. Also I wrote the fic in the early rif the morning...it's currently 00:23 rn actually!

#riordanverse #rick riordan #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson fandom #percy jackson fanfiction #percy jackson #pjo #pjo fandom #pjo fanfic #hoo fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #pjo fanfiction #hoo fandom #hoo #valgrace #leo valdez #jason grace #piper mclean

[iluminaughter]

Well, honestly, I was having an AU idea since a pair of years buuut I've pretty busy with college stuff that I could only write ideas and some sketches, but now that I'm a bit free and seeing the GF AU proposals that were coming out, I was able to develop better to finally present to you! Well, here it its...

Fleshbag AU!

"but...what the hell is this about?"

Dipper, in a attempt to stop Weirdmaggedon, makes a deal with Bill to let out his family. But instead it was actually a trap to get rid of him through the memory eraser, a trap that goes totally wrong because the fight between the two entities (Dipper and Bill) cause an Interdimensional Collapse between the three universal planes (Real World, Mindscape and Nightmare Realm). All this the total annihilation of that universe. TOTAL. ANNIHILATION. (jsjs i'm dramatic xd) No mortal survived... except the Henchmaniacs and a being formed (both body and soul) from the remains of Dipper and Bill, called Bips. It retains diffuse memories of thier ancestors but inherited the negative aspects of both, givining them a constant insecurity. All the years go by and after a few years, They meets Axolotl, a powerful extra dimensional deity, watcher of all realities, but at the same time is a relaxed and wise being. Making a lil' deal with Bips, they embark on an edventure to explore different realities, fix thier problems and solve mysteries, in search of a posible cure to restore the Bips's Desolate dimension. As Bips tries to find his identity amidst the "duality" he was formed.

-----------------------> I'm soo sorry it's soo long, I tried to summarize it as best as possible and traslate it (yep, english is not my first language xdd) ^^'

Welp, a final extra things! :D

My main inspiration on aaall this minddump was:

"Hawaii: Part II" from Miracle Musical

The game "The End is Nigh" from Edmund Mcmillen (GOOD *clap* GAME)

....aaand a bunch of surreal stuff that I liked it! (Albums, Internet Stuff and parodies!)

2. idk how can I tell the story, whether to make it into a comic, a fanfic, or just do it with sketches, there maybe I can do something but I really don't want to stress about this, It's a big but caaalm project that I could publish regularly apart from my other stuff. 3. About that, do you think I could make another Tumblr dedicated exclusively to the AU? More than anything to separate the content from my personal (and another fanart sjjs) work. 4. As I said earlier, it will take me time for post due to Language issures, I will try to make it as accurate as possible so you can understand. Any feedback will be very well received! And with that, I also learn apart from Duolingo (A.K.A evil green owl mwehehee) 5. And yeah, any feedback in general will be heard! I would love to read your opinions and all that xdd.

If you read this, thank you for coming to my ted talk ;)

P.S The art is some "concept/key art/ print" thing? Idk how it has the main idea xd

#gravity falls #gravity falls au #gravity falls fanart #fleshbag au #gf au #au #art #update #dipper #dipper pines #bill cipher #axolotl #i cant believe that I did all this listening to a simple album

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1171: The Diary of Beartrap (Epithet Erased)

Dear Diary,

It's been a while, hasn't it?~ I'm sorry it took too long for me to write to you. Quite a lot has happened to me as of late: Some hectic, some exciting, a few rough patches and there, but I promise you there's a lot good after that. In fact, my life has gotten a lot better since it ever been, but I'm getting way ahead of myself already, so let's get started , shall we?

To get the bad and obvious out of the way, my relationship with my family hasn't improved at all unfortunately. Lorelai's still as lazy and self-centered ever while always constantly butting heads with me every chabce she gets, dad-no, Martin, is too investing in his own little world to even care about anything anymore, and I always had to spend the last few years of my life, watching over the toy store and keep it up float while cleaning up THEIR messes on a daily basis! And yeah, I HATE every second of it and EVERYDAY!!

.....But it couldn't be helped. The day mother left has been really rough for all of us since then, so it's not too hard to understand why our relationship became so....distant, hollow, dysfunctional and so.....messy. I should've realized sooner that things would turn out the way it did and be more prepared, but even then, I doubt it would've been any less stressful and draining than it was now and after everything Lorei put me and my friends through in her fantasy world of hers that night, I decided enough was enough and leave everything behind me: the toy store, the people I used to call my family, and.....my previous life up to this point..........

And I'm happy I made that choice, because like I said, my life really turned around for a whole lot better since then. I'm doing a lot better in school, I get to spend more time with my friends stressed-free, I even did a few other things I've never thought i would ever get to do in whole life: like being a part of school plays, attend football amd basketball games, and making these suuuuuper yummy cinnamon apple raisins waffle in cute cub head shapes~

To tell you truth, I don't think any of this would be even remotely be possible if it weren't for the two people who are working their butts off into looking after me as of late: Crusher, the biggest teddy bear of a sweetheart I have ever met (Which is pretty ironic considering he actually went as a teddy bear for Halloween last year. So freaking adorable!~ i should really remember to him again when he and the others come back), and my one and only boss: Giovanni Potage.

I honestly don't think I have the proper words to express how much he means to me or even how thankful I truly am for everything heaven done for me so far. He taught me how to be more confident in myself and become more assertive, he goes out of his way and beyond to try to help me with stuff in general, and he even went out of his way to take me our of my miserable home life and does his very best to look after me to this very. He sees a lot more value and importance in me than I even realized I have any myself. He did all of this is.....because he cares about me. Because he loves me. And......I love him too. So much that.....I wanna do whatever I can to help him out: with our new villain group, any of his newer evil schemes, and everything else in general. It's the least I can do for everything he have done for me thus far.

To this day, I still don't think I have a clue as to what the future will have in store for me or what to expect going forward, but I won't let it scare me off that easily. I won't let my past life take a hold of me any longer. I am going to live rest of my life to the fullest by my own accord and with the people I truly love and cherish. And if anyone has a problem with that, they can go screw themselves right off to the blazing sun, cause I'm not stopping one bit!

Giovanni: (In the Other Room) Ohh Beeartraaaaap!~ Dinner's finally ready!~

Crusher: And we finally return with SNACKS!

Spike: Annnnd a good amount of decent quality movies we can all watch!~ None of which were chosen by Ben thank God!

Ben: Dude, seriously!?

Car Crash: Hey, we're not the ones who brought tickets to that knock off Ice Age movie that one time, didn't we?

Ben: ('Let's Out a Frustrated Scream')

Molly: (Giggles Softly) Coming! (Finishes Up Writing on her Diary)

Okay, as much as I would love to stay and wrote, I gotta go now. We're having lasagna and a whole movie night tonight. They said they'll be a lot a movie to watch through this time around, so fingers crossed for at least a few of them to be decent. But until then, I'll try and write to you more often. It is one of my many New Years Resolutions after all, might as well make the most out of them.

Love,

Molly Blyndeff A.K.A. Beartrap

@aprilbrowines

#epithet erased #molly blyndeff #giovanni potage #crusher #spike #ben #car crash #martin blyndeff (mentioned) #lorelai (mentioned) #diary entry #sweet family moment #new year's resolutions

[moku-youbi]

Starker plot bunny

So I've been having all these fandomy dreams lately. And like, don't get me wrong, it's sort of awesome, because they're like full-length fanfics playing out and it's just great. But on the other hand, some of them are for ships I don't even ship? And I'm like I don't even go here, but this is really good?? And maybe I should write it?

Like this Starker dream I had where hand-wavey magic happens with Dr. Strange and Peter at some future point. Where Dr. Strange feels like there's something really shady going on with Peter, but can also tell that HE, himself cast whatever spell is causing it, so he's not going to poke at it. But then Peter made a wish to go back in time and somehow forced Strange to do it? Look, it was a dream, okay. I'd have to work on that part of it. Because I'm actually on planing on writing this *facepalm*

But Peter ends up transmigrating back before Endgame/Infinity War. He doesn't know HOW, but he's going to fix everything, and he's got all the time in the world to figure it out, because it turns out Strange's spell permeates time and space, so everyone still has forgotten him.

So he still it starts doing the Spider-Man thing, although with far more sophistication than his original sweats and goggles, with all the knowledge of Stark's technology from the future. Of course he doesn't have access to all of that but he is able to slip around the edges of society finding bits and pieces of what he needs to construct his suits. Also he obviously isn't posting about himself on YouTube this time around (like, I could see him doing it just for the ad revenue but he has no identity in universe, so how's he gonna get paid??)

Stark still takes an interest in trying to figure out who this person is but is particularly frustrated when he can't find any sort of trail. Peter is way more savvy with age, aware of surveillance and staying under the radar so has not to draw attention to himself. He's having a difficult enough time as someone who is in a 14-year-old body with no family or friends, no identity, trying to earn enough money to get by getting paid under the table for various jobs. The last thing he needs is someone whether the police or shield or whoever noticing what this kid is getting up to and/or knowing Spider-Man's identity.

For Stark that means never being able to catch the transition from Peter to Spider-Man anywhere on video, so he has no visual of Peter to go from, he's also tried showing up at Spider-Man's battle scenes after the fact gathering what clues he can. Partial fingerprints from torn gloves get him nowhere. He does find DNA that eventually leads him to Ben Parker as the only living relative to him, and a close one at that. However there are no records of any other member of that family living. He considers that it could be Ben's brother faking his death, but the DNA would indicate a nephew, and his only brother died never having children.

It's a mystery that is really driving Stark insane. What started as curiosity and wanting to reach out to Spidey to see if he's interested in joining The Avengers has now turned into a bit of an obsession. (Especially since spidey always manages to disappear when Stark tries to confront him with Iron Man) Part of this is due to how Strange's spell works. In my dream, the way I conceived of it is that it doesn't actually erase memories or physical evidence of Peter, it just makes everyone forget he was there in the first place. Like, memories with him are still there, but the mind just slips over the parts with Peter. Photos of him are still there, but it's a sort of Westworld-esque "that doesn't look like anything to me" reaction. They just don't see all the places where he is or was in their lives.

And we all know Tony will not leave shit alone, this is like an itch in his brain. So the spell itself is actually fuelling Tony's obsession. It's a puzzle he needs to understand. The more someone tries to focus on those gaps, however, the more the spell fights back. So Tony is getting these awful headaches and occasionally reality goes all blurry, and he keeps getting what he thinks are hallucinations but are actually memories overlaying the gaps in reality that the spell has caused.

This is where the dream got to weird so that when I write it I'll have to figure out my own solution. Because in the dream Tony and Peter had been lovers in universe before Tony's death, and one of the biggest clues was him finding love letters they'd exchanged, and I'm just not feeling that at all. Peter would have been way too young for Stark to even consider it, and I don't want him cheating on Pepper, and I am trying to keep the original timeline close to canon.

So IDK how exactly Tony figures it out, which is one of the bigger hurdles on face when I actually start this fic. I think it has to come to a head when Spider-Man is forced to approach Iron Man for help with some mission and being in that close proximity, hearing Spider-Man's voice, his jokes, something familiar about the way he talks and moves is going to cause a serious mental break for Tony at the worst possible time.

Of course Spidey saves him and is sort of frantically checking that Tony is okay after the fact crying and babbling about how Tony can't die again about how Peter needs him, about how the world needs him, just losing his shit. Tony can hear the cracking of his voice, can tell how young he sounds now when he's not affecting a deeper register. And he's also picking up on all the little clues and what Peter is saying that just confirm his suspicions that somehow Tony should know him. Pulls off his mask, and sees his face, and doesn't know where the name comes from, but whispers, "Peter?"

Anyway, I woke before it could entirely be resolved. But I imagine with Tony in his corner, Peter explains as much as he can about what he knows is coming and the two of them start working together to prevent Thanos from ever having access to the various stones. And over the course of it falling in love. I mean Peter was pretty much already there, but Stark is having a hell of a time with it. He knows intellectually that Peter is an adult and really tries to acknowledge that and treat Peter with the respect he deserves, but he also has trouble getting past what Peter looks like in his teenage body. And Peter struggles with it knowing that if they do this, Tony is never going to reconcile with Pepper and Morgan isn't going to be born, which is a lot of angst I'm not prepared for right now. IDK. Maybe I could go for some sort of poly ending, or Pepper being a surrogate and coparent??*shrugs* (like I said, I don't go here--im all about the Spideypool, and I love Tony/Pepper, what was my brain on??)

Also trying to decide where to set this in the timeline of the past, because I really want to save Ben, but it fits better for the storyline if he comes back post Civil War and Homecoming. Because then Stark has memories of Peter that have been affected by the spell.

So, obviously it needs workshopping, if anyone wants to help, lol.

#starker #tony stark x peter parker #my fic #Fic ideas of my dreams

[frickin-sumi-from-persona-5]

i need to get p5r post-canon headcanons (some of these aren't really headcanons they're just me making my own b plots lmao) off my chest. i finished royal last night and i have so much i wanna talk about. its headcanon dump time i guess

(obviously huge spoilers for persona 5 royal)

fyi- these are all super unorganized and some of them don't make a lot of sense without the others. Sorry this is a mess lmao i just wanted to throw my thoughts out there.

also! i named my mc Ren

- akechi didn't die that's not canon. when the wish star thingy turned mona into a helicopter it did so because of ren wishing hard enough for all his friends to be safe. this extends to akechi & maruki and both of them made it out alive

- when he goes into the velvet room after grabbing maruki, ren thinks akechi geniunely did die and starts having a full on breakdown and then akechi just says something to the effect of "you never change" and ren turns around to see akechi leaning against the wall in the velvet room and ren is relieved

- meanwhile akechi is just like "well. i'm alive and i have to accept the consequences of my actions long term now. what the fuck. i hate this guy" but is secretely happy ren cared that much

(fwiw i ship ren/sumi/akechi as a poly trio but they aren't together as of the end of royal, just ren/sumi with akechi kinda third wheeling from time to time)

- after maruki's palace, he still has azathoth as his persona but decides to discontinue any further research.

- on that note, the metaverse wasn't erased. lavenza hand waved that well enough the first time. it takes a little bit for it to get back to normal though. the new path in mementos is still there and mementos just kinda changes gradually over time anyhow

- ren actually did let maruki go through with his plan originally, but lavenza was able to help him go back and make the right choice. because of this ren deeply wants to see a future where him and all his friends are alive and happy

- after the battle with maruki he begs sojiro to let him stay at leblanc and sojiro really does try but ultimately joker has to leave

- Akechi being revived after everything went to normal means he's basically homeless, ren makes sojiro reluctantly agree to let Akechi stay in the attic.

- Akechi has to work at the cafe at first but he can't make coffee for shit so Sojiro just lets him off the hook.

- Ren is heartbroken on his return to his hometown (somewhere close to but not specifically Inaba, maybe Okina?)

- Futaba and Sojiro make a good case for him to come back, and Shujin academy actually backs this up because of his performance last year (also Kawakami)

- after a few months away Ren moves back to youngen. The metaverse has kinda settled and it's back to normal, and the phantom theives resume business as usual

- im. basically just writing fanfic here lmao

- Haru and Makoto move in together to save on costs. Is this gay? time will tell

- Ryuji transfers to a different school due to the move but still hangs out with the gang

- Ann does study abroad after all, and she's sad to go but she wishes the theives luck from wherever she goes (maybe Los Angeles?)

- Haru keeping Okumura foods never happened either. She was able to mostly dissipate the company in an effort to try to distribute the wealth better. Of course, this didn't actually work completely and there are still many powerful ex-okumura foods executives out there, but Haru is happy she did her part.

- Around the time or Ren returning, the phantom theives go through a big transformation of trying to determine their values (as well as who they are).

- Ren makes Akechi stay around with the phantom theives and the entire team kinda hates him except Ren and Sumi, although eventually people start warming up to him.

- Ren convinces the Phantom Theives to let Akechi stay around because he thinks that the phantom theives of all people should believe in letting people change. They agree on the condition that they check if Akechi has a palace. He doesn't and so he stays around. He does come to geniunely regret his actions and tries and makes up for them.

- After spending YEARS not dare letting anyone see any flaws with him, Akechi becomes just kinda burnt out. He's just a pathetic little failboy now and he knows it and hates himself for it. He's not good at asking for help

- Also Akechi 100% has some kind of trauma disorder/personality disorder. I don't know too much about it but from what I know i wanna say i headcanon akechi with npd

- ren is transmasc. there's not much of an in-universe explanation that would make sense here but he's trans. he has tboy swag.

- ren is kinda fucked up but has grown used to the horrors(tm) and doesn't give a fuck anymore.

- there's no good headcanon i can make with ryuji. like he's just a guy and we love him for it

- ann absolutely has a crush on shiho and i ship them. ann thinks she's "just an ally lol" until one day it hits her and she's like. oh. i'm gay.

- yusuke is probably bi or something. you cannot tell me he doesn't like men in some capacity. actually wait maybe he's aro/ace spec. i don't even know with him i just think my man's funky.

- also yusuke is 100% autistic. i think most of the phantom theives are kinda neurodivergent in some way, but Yusuke & Futaba stand out as being the Autistics of the bunch(tm)

- Makoto wanted to be a police commissioner but kinda comes to the realisation that won't do anything so she kinda just has a crisis. Both hee and Haru spent their lives accepting oppressive systems and they're kinda just recoiling at what they'll do now.

- Futaba doesn't make any new friends in school but she's happy things are back to normal. She's in the same class as Sumire.

- Haru has no idea what to study in college and neither does Makoto. She ends up taking Psychology and Makoto ends up taking intro to law even though neither of them are sure what they want for the future.

- Akechi ultimately resigns from going to school but helps Ren & Sumi out with homework when they ask

- Sumire and Futaba get Kawakami's class as their homeroom. Futaba calls Kawakami a "milf" and it annoys Sumi. Futaba knows it annoys her and she does it on purpose.

- Sumire is trans. Kasumi isn't. Sumire looked up to her sister and wanted to be a girl so when she finally got the chance to be someone she looked up to and erase her guilt of course she took it. A big part of the reason why she didn't want to stop being Kasumi was gender dysphoria. Sumire wasn't her name prior to this I can only assume she had a deadname. Maybe she chooses Sumire to honor her sister.

- Hifumi becomes a phantom theif eventually. I've speculated about this too much and now I want it to be real.

- Akechi and Sumi have a showtime attack. I'm not sure exactly what It would entail but I can picture Akechi saying something like "I can be elegant when I want to"

- After Hereward forms, Akechi is no longer a wild card. As Akechi grows and recovers as a person, his metaverse outfit changes, and eventually it looks like something along the lines of his White Suit, but with a different color palette. The top mask part of his helmet/mask is the only part that sticks around, now my boy has his hair out and can breathe (and take off his mask dramatically like the theater kid he is)

- The Royal Trio probably become a proper trio like sometime in the early fall (after ren comes back to yongen). Akechi and Sumi are initially very jealous of the time they spend with Ren but come to realise that the time spent with the three of them is the time that matters most of all.

- The Phantom theives ultimately decide that because of the money and treasure they get from Infiltrating Mementos/Palaces, most of them don't need jobs. They spend their money cautiously so they don't like. Fuck up the economy and/or tip off law enforcement.

- Eventually members who were undecided with their lives ultimately resolve to be one of the phantom theives and just do that full time. Sumi, Yusuke, and Ann are exceptions right now, with Sumi chasing her dreams to be a Professional Gymnast. Somewhere much later down the road I think the phantom theives decide to follow these goals as a team. Sumi and Ann traveling for work could probably make a great cover for the Phantom Theives.

(although i'm not thinking about their characters beyond ren graduating high school. this is more their POV and what they aspire to do for the future)

- I imagine the phantom Theives kinda just become like Tokyo's superheroes in that they have threats come up from time to time and just kinda deal with it as necessary

- People can talk to their personas at any time, but can only summon them in the metaverse. A lot of Personas have things to say throughout the day that they make some commentary on. Most of them are fairly reliable for advice, but don't technically know any more than the person they're apart of.

- Joker is a bit of an exception to this rule, due to having more than one Persona. If he wants to talk to them he kinda has to tap into his mind and see them all. It's not particularly difficult it just requires a little bit of focus, and there's usually not much of a reason to do it.

- Also his personas manifest physically in the velvet room as well.

- At a certain point Mona just kinda comes into the velvet room too and just fucks around while joker is working his ass off to fuse the most overpowered persona

- i don't really know anything about strikers but quite frankly if i ever get around to playing it i'm gonna disregard half of it as not canon and then just take the most important story elements and also sophie and just incorporate it into my perception of persona 5

- Maruki considers teaming up with the Phantom Theives, and ultimately decides against it, although he helps them out every now and again.

- Personal favorite. Maruki was able to manipulate mementos to his will and create a whole new path, and The Phantom theives are curious in seeing if they can do the same thing. After a bit of work, they end up creating a safe room that takes on the appearance of theives den. This has the effect of the cognition believing the Phantom Theives are safe and out of the way, making it easier for them to slip by the radar.

- If Futaba is ever really busy Lavenza subs in for her and does the navigating.

It's kinda funny how canon-divergent all of this is. Because I'm normally someone who religiously sticks to canon and doesn't like it when fanworks stray too far from the established canon. That said, Persona 5's ending felt kinda sad and I want some copium. not me casually rewriting their reality in my mind the day after beating dr maruki

anyhow now i gotta play strikers :3

#persona 5 #persona 5 headcanons

[rjalker]

no, actually you are not allowed to hide my fucking reblog telling you you're being a bigot. I'm not letting you people pretend you don't know you're being bigots.

Murdernot said:

One thing I love about Murderbot is that it is such a delightfully complex character that it can be so relatable to so many different people.

Like, I recently recommended the series to two friends who are very different. One I think will like it because of the aro/ace/agender-ness and the more existential "what defines a person" aspects of it. The other I think will like it for the exploration of trauma and the horrors of capitalism and the sense of humor.

Like any good story, it has some very specific things that only some people might relate to, but also some more general, more universal aspects, and we all like it for some combination of it.

And I think even more so since Murderbot is such an unreliable narrator when it comes to its own internal experience. We have to read between the lines to see how it really feels, and everyone reads between the lines slightly differently based on our own experiences and viewpoints.

And like, because Murderbot is on a character journey where it is discovering itself, we all interpret the steps on the journey differently. Like, a lot of it is Murderbot figuring out its boundaries. There are some parts where it pushes out of its comfort zone and widens its boundaries (being out of armor/being observed, which doesn't seem to bother it nearly as much in later books), and other parts where it asserts its boundaries (like with hugs). Both of those things are important for its character growth.

And someone who is trying to assert their own boundaries might latch onto the importance of Murderbot doing the same and enjoy discussions/fanart/fanfic of people respecting those boundaries. But someone who is trying to break out of a defensive, potentially maladaptive comfort zone might really appreciate the way that Murderbot becomes more comfortable with certain things over time and might enjoy discussions/fanart/fanfiction of it learning to enjoy some things it has expressed reflexive distaste for. Both are wonderful ways of interacting with the work.

The important thing for me is that Murderbot is a (beautifully written and complex) fictional character who means different things to different people. We all connect to Murderbot slightly differently and I think that's beautiful.

My response! Because you people do not get to fucking pretend you care about aroace and touch averse people and then silence us at every turn!

The problem is there are hundreds of stories where characters are touch averse and learn to enjoy being touched because they secretly enjoy it and didn't want to admit it to themselves.

Aside from The Murderbot Diaries, there are zero stories of characters who are touch averse and do not feel any desire for touch, and actually have these boundaries respected.

I don't think people who are not solitaremit understand how absurdly ludicrously rare it is that Murderbot has its boundaries with touch respected with this series.

It is in fact ableism for people to look at this character who is touch averse and has no desire for touch, whose boundaries are always respected, and to then insist that that has to change. That it has to open up and remove its boundaries and admit it secretly enjoys being touched.

We aren't talking about vague "Be more comfortable with yourself" things here. We are talking about touch aversion. We are talking about aroace.

Do I need to explain why erasing the fact that a character is aroace and repulsed by relationships is bigoted? Do I need to explain why erasing a character who's solitaremit and has that respected is bigoted?

Apparently I do, since everyone in this fandom keeps insisting on watering these issues down into just "differences in interpretation" and "learning to be more comfortable"

Would you be okay with people writing about Murderbot learning to accept and be normal about eye contact?

Do I have to explain that being touch averse is something adults try to beat out of autistic kids?

If the issues at hand here were anything but aroaceness and touch aversion, if they were more "serious" things being erased, like being gay or if people were removing all of Murderbot's other autistic traits, would you still say they're just a minor, beautiful different in opinion?

Aroace people who are repulsed by all forms of relationships have no representation. We are demonized even in our own communities, let alone the rest of society.

Solitaremit people aren't even given shelter in the rest of the touch averse community.

Erasing the fact that Murderbot is aroace and repulsed by relationships of all kinds is bigotry. Erasing the fact that Murderbot does not enjoy touch or have any desire for it is bigotry.

Listen to aroace people when we tell you something is bigoted. Listen to touch averse people when we tell you something is bigoted.

Just because it doesn't impact you personally does not mean it's not a problem and that people literally opppressed by it should just be fine with it and let everyone continue to erase our very existance.

These books are actually doing everything right in respecting aroace people and solitaremit people.

Why is it too much to expect the fandom, who claims to love this character, to do the same?

Do you actually care about people when their experiences are not the same as yours, or do you just see our existence as internet discourse that begins and ends on tumblr.com?

If you actually give a shit about aroace people and touch averse people, then stop making posts like this that coddle those who erase us. Actually pick a side instead of trying to play the middle.

This is literal real bigotry we are talking about here. You cannot create representation by taking it away from other people.

The whole main theme of this series is that you need to respect people even when they're different from you. Why is that so hard for people who claim to love this series to accept?

Why is it okay to erase people's sexualities when it's about aroace people?

Why is it okay to overstep and overwrite people's boundaries when it's about touch averse people?

Stop fucking pretending you care about nonpartnering aroace people and solitaremit touch averse people when you fucking hide our reblogs on your post. Either fucking actually support us and stand up against bigotry or stop pretending you care.

A character that is explicitly aroace and sex repulsed, touch repulsed, platonic repulsed, and nonpartnering and is nonbinary and uses it/its pronouns and touch averse and has no desire for touch at all is not a blank slate for you to erase. Murderbot represents real living breathing people. When you erase everything that makes Murderbot who it is, you are being a bigot to the real people it represents.

[Plain text: "A character that is explicitly aroace and sex repulsed, touch repulsed, platonic repulsed, and nonpartnering and is nonbinary and uses it/its pronouns and touch averse and has no desire for touch at all is not a blank slate for you to erase. Murderbot represents real living breathing people. When you erase everything that makes Murderbot who it is, you are being a bigot to the real people it represents.". End Plain text.]

#Murderbot #The Murderbot Diaries #TMBD #SecUnit #TMBD fandom athiktomisia #TMBD fandom aroacemisia #TMBD fandom exorsexism #TMBD fandom ableism #exorsexism #athiktomisia #ableism #aroacemisia #long post #Murderbot fandom bigotry #you fuckers do not get to sweep this under the rug. #you fuckers do not get to plug your ears and pretend no one's criticizing you

[emjiroki]

I love your theme by the way and the header is so cute KJSDNgjer also I copied and pasted the whole list then erased some lmaooo so you have a bit to answer but I hope you don't mind <3

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

I definitely don't mind!!! (Thank you for the compliment on my theme btw! I just LOVE valentines day and all it's pretty colors 🥰)

I'll put this under a cut so it doesn't get too long 💕

😅- well honestly I deleted my cringest story about a year ago and it is now archived somewhere deep in my Google docs. It was a Hawks x Reader x Endeavor fic that was three parts. The title was cringe and the whole thing just wasn't planned out very well

🦅- I try my best to outline! Trying to have some organization helps me keep things in line but most of the time the characters and scenes have a mind of their own, I'm just along for the ride.

🤗- advice I would give would be don't limit yourself! Write whatever you want and don't put yourself in a box. Writing something you enjoy truly is key to having a successful story because you put your all into it. And it's not all numbers, just because something you wrote and posted didn't get a lot of likes does not mean it wasn't good! Don't be discouraged!

💞- oh wow I have so many lol Shoto, Mikey, Enji, AngelDevil and Aki and lots and lots more. (Um also Simon "Ghost" Riley from COD but I don't talk about him that often)

😍- Favorite Character to write is probably Enji. I got labeled as a top Enji writer pretty quickly (and unexpectedly) and he's just fallen into the muse category. I feel alot of freedom writing his character and hopefully don't make him to ooc lol

🤲- Hmmmmm well I guess I could.... Knight Enji WIP it is

 Enji had a direct view of the door to the chapel from where he stood posted to the King's left beside the window, and he thinks he might have been the first to see you in the doorway. It was suddenly very hot underneath his heavy armor and he was thankful that he didn’t need to wear the helmet because he might have fainted. Was that his heart hammering behind his eyes, through his fingers tips, and toes? He was sure he died and somehow made it to heaven, broke down the pearly gate, and clawed his way through the clouds to get a glimpse of the angels as you walked through the held-open doors and seemed to suck the air from the room. The closer you got to the alter the more dry his mouth grew, the more his big hands shook, the more his stomach knotted. The stained glass of the church windows glimmered against your skin. Red, Blue, Green, He traced your features in every color, etching your beauty into his memory as a keepsake forever. He would crave it into his flesh if he could, down to the bone so after he’s dead and gone even the worms would know his devotion.

🤯- Genre I struggle with is any sort of mystery. I really don't know why I can't think of good plot twists to save my life. I usually have to talk out my plots with my husband

💔- an old Levi fic I wrote that I never released and is still archived in my docs. It's bittersweet and I just love him so much it hurts (also Oni's Heart pt 3 after readers been taken and Enji is depressed for a bit. Sad.)

🤭- em writes ✍️ is my go to tag for my fics so I can organize and em talks 👄 is my most often used I think

🥰- I LOVE reader interaction!!!! It makes me so happy! And YES PLEASE ASK ME THINGS! I'm always open to questions! And love discussing characters and plots and stuff! MY INBOX IS ALWAYS OPEN 💕

#ask games ‼️ #ATTENTION KNIGHT ENJI LOVERS THERE IS A WIP SNIPPET UNDER THE CUT #knight enji todoroki #enji todoroki #thank you for the questions!!! #em talks 👄

[delku]

useless opinion time (afo-flavored)

people who write about afo are nuts not because they're making stuff up, but because the stuff they're making up is the most uncool and mischaracterized nonsense. no one making him unapologetically evil is doing it in a way that feels realistic and no one trying to humanize him actually gives a rat's ass about literally a single thing that has ever happened in canon (and while i am FULLY AWARE that canon is a shitty nightmare, completely recontextualizing the arch-antagonist to erase every single one of the few established character traits he has and the atrocities he's committed (that are genuinely evil, particularly what he's done to tomura) makes me think maybe you should find some other piece of media with characters better suited to your weird fantasies (particularly dfo). because you're bending and breaking every single facet of that canon by doing this, and it doesn't read as functional fanfiction, it reads as original fiction/original characters you've slapped familiar names onto and it's a shitty permutation of fanfiction - if you're going to veer away from canonical characters, USE OCS LOL. not that fanfiction is a high art form or anything but shit like this is, in part, where fanfiction's bad reputation comes from).

afo brainwashes and kidnaps vulnerable children. he had hospitals dedicated to "locating talent" or whatever, and completely destroyed tomura (a 5-year-old child) by fracturing (and attempting to eliminate... or whatever you call their fusion of personalities) his identity from the inside out... for petty revenge on an adversary he killed years ago. the way canon presents this man is as an evil (and likely extremely wealthy, somehow) overlord whose main goal is to establish global fascism under his rule, whose biggest and very explicit weakness is his own hubris. afo is not exactly what i would call "well-written;" he's very clearly based on other comic book villains but without a clear defined motive for pursuing what he wants besides being a manchild fantasizing about a comic book series he only read half of (i suppose one could draw a comparison to elon musk, but i digress) - we don't know anything about the shigaraki brothers' backgrounds, we don't know anything about yoichi himself besides how he and his story relate to afo, nothing.

fanfiction that attempts to show how deranged he is doesn't usually touch on how infantile his established motives are and usually make some up, and that bleeds into his characterization. they make him out to be an evil mastermind, the ultimate manipulator, an unstoppable force of malice with untouchable strength and no weaknesses.

wouldn't it be more interesting to explore how/why he became the evil that he is, and i mean that he is, not whatever "headcanon"*-driven gobbledygook nonsense comes up when people write about him? as in, the descent into that fantasy of his, the lust for absolute unquestionable power that is so overwhelming that any semblance of morals the man may have once had have been overwritten by the need to be in control and on top of the world, by any means possible? i would write him like a billionaire with an ego problem failing that, personally, because that's how i perceive his character. most fanfiction i've read (that characterizes him as an irredeemable villain - the better of two evils here) makes him into a sort of cartoon caricature of a villain or a diabolical trickster in a way that just... doesn't hit, lol. they usually play into making him a creep a little too heavily, with no payoff. if you're going to delve into that part of his character, do it for a reason or you end up looking like the creep.

fanfiction that humanizes afo is... i've never read a good rendition of it, let's put it that way. most of the time when i see this it's dad for one (dfo), aka the "afo is midoriya hisashi" theory that i went from thinking was stupid (and only worked in fanfiction - but at the time, only one fanfic had done it well. this is still the case; it was more of a psychological thriller about deku finding out about it than afo as an individual character), to thinking eh maybe it'd be cool, to thinking is stupid again. they woobify his character and try to make him sympathetic, which reads as bizarre at best and in fucking awful taste at worst (tomura).

i wrote at length already about people ignoring canon, but i'll say it again: pay fucking attention to the things you're re-appropriating for the brainless trope aggregate you call your fanficiton. turning a heartless and petty dictator-wannabe into a spineless malewife stand-in is mind-meltingly stupid. afo would, at his most husband-ly, demand inko return to the kitchen and make him a sandwich. this would still be a more profound humanization of him than making him a weak-willed "#1 Dad" mug-carrying string-bean salary man.

anyways the neat thing about terrible people is that they are, at the end of the day, still people. when you write about terrible characters, it's fine to humanize them - hell, i think it's good to do so... but you look like such a fucking moron (at best) writing a power-hungry fascist as a sympathetic character, and yes, that can be a fine line to tread. afo is a pathetic son of a bitch and that's fine to write, but do you really want people to think you believe his motives and actions are in any way conscionable?

*"headcanon" is in quotes here because mischaracterizing a character to the point of unrecognizability under any standard but name is a bastardization more than anything remotely resembling any sort of canon lol

[wincestisasincest]

I try to comment after reading ff as much as I can but idk why sometimes I struggle to write a good comment, part of it is because english isn't my native language and I'm really insecure with the way I write. And I just don't want to comment something simple like "I loved it" and I can't find a way to really describe how much I appreciate someone's work. I start typing and erase it, typing and erasing, get frustrated and just leave a like.

hi anon! sorry this took me a million years to answer kjhrktjhe but thank you so much!!!

honestly, i didn't even consider that someone's native language might not be english, but you're absolutely right. i know we have a lot of people on here who speak english as their second or third, and lots of people who are still learning as well. in fact (correct me if i'm wrong here because english is my first and only language, i'm just going off of what others have told me), i think a lot of people learn english through the internet and other fan communities.

while i can't say that my frustrations are due to the language, i definitely know what you mean about trying to comment the right thing on a person's fic. that's why you see people like me going nuts in the tags, because there's so much that we want to say and we can't figure out how to say it succinctly.

one thing that's helped me with this is keeping notes/writing down thoughts while i read. i do this for analysis purposes, as it's an extension of how i annotate when i read books, but it is very helpful when it comes to commenting as well because you already have a list of your thoughts on the chapter right there.

literally just take out a post-it note or open your notes app and jot things down as you think of them. it doesn't need to be understandable, as you're the only one who will be reading it.

and then, at the end, you just bring them all together into one comment, so you're not trying to write something amazing and analytical on the spot.

but also (i know writers say this all the time but it's true) literally any comment is beloved. if you were to just say "i loved it," my heart would melt.

and also also, you can leave a comment and come back and add more later! i do that sometimes lol. but yea! there are no rules!

for anyone just coming here, anon is answering the question:

if you are someone who doesn't comment on/reblog fanfics, why?

judgement free, ask box is open, and anon is on.

#the confessional #wince says a lot of words

[signofthestriking]

Lore dump of Three Musketeers cause I'm bored, part one of whatever lol

Aka I'm about to ramble incoherently about a dbz fanfic for a little while.

TLDR: Universe Seven got reset. Everything starts over on Earth, with a pair of friends trying to find the Dragon Balls. Their wish? To learn more about the Saiyans.

Just completely scrub your mind of canon storylines I'm kinda doing my own little thing lol

The setting: Universe Seven has been erased and remade, in the cycle of creation and destruction. Many of the places remain familiar, but the people and the events have changed. And in usual fashion, the story starts on a relatively peaceful Earth, where most Earthlings live oblivious of the supernatural.

The OCs: Konnie Sai, Maize, and Prism Lockwood. They don't call themselves the Three Musketeers but that's who they are lol

Konnie Sai: A Saiyan-Earthling hybrid living in Central City with her parents, Serenity and Okkoro. Cheerful, sweet, and notoriously bad-mouthed. Everyone's surprised when someone as sweet as her turns out to be so short-fused. Stubbornly defiant. Lover of cardigans and knit sweaters.

Maize: A teenage hermit Saiyan that lives alone on an island not far from Penguin Village. Has barely interacted with people aside from her mentor, who left her 3 years ago and hasn't come back yet. Training to avenge her dead dad. Would spend all her tournament money on fantasy books if she could.

Little bit of background about Earth in this AU:

Prism Lockwood: The sole student of a disgraced warrior. Due to a condition they inherited from their mother, they have split their body into six separate "facets" of themself. Not a man, not a woman, but a secret third option.

There's a Guardian known as Zither. He's been there for nearly 450 years, and although his active presence on Earth has diminished, he still patiently awaits any warrior that might find him.

There used to be different martial art schools on Earth, but they were all wiped out by someone. More on that another day.

The background between Maize and Konnie:

Konnie and Maize met over a chance encounter on the Internet, that Maize stumbled upon by sheer accident. Konnie wrote an angry vent post and forgot to remove a part where she talked about her Saiyan blood by name, and it was the only thing that popped up when Maize typed the word "saiyan" into a library computer in Penguin Village. They got to talking, and despite initial distrust from Konnie, they became friends.

This was quite literally the only working computer there. Maize later used winnings from a World Martial Arts Tournament championship to buy her own laptop, with Konnie's help.

Konnie's father Okkoro refuses to train her. He taught her a few basic ways to defend herself, but nothing more. This is a sore spot between them. He also refuses to tell her anything about the Saiyans, and Konnie stubbornly doubles down. After finding a Dragon Ball buried in the ground behind her school, she decides to hunt down the other six.

Oddly enough, her mother Serenity approves of her doing this behind Okkoro's back, even going so far as to design a prototype Dragon Radar for Konnie to use. There's a reason why Serenity does this, but Konnie doesn't learn about it for another few years.

Maize, who is also a Saiyan, doesn't know a whole lot about them either. Her mentor, a Namekian named Limax, never told her much about her people. In fact, she recalls that he "didn't really like Saiyans and never wanted to talk about them much". She speaks nothing but praise for her mentor, at first.

When Konnie first got the Dragon Ball, she initially didn't connect the dots between the five-starred ball and the old myth. Since I figure the normal Earthlings would at least have a few stories about things like Dragon Balls. After a bit of searching, they realize that the Dragon Balls are real, and Konnie has the idea of finding the rest.

They decide to use the wish in order to learn more about the Saiyans. After all, they also want a chance to meet each other in person. Konnie decides to consult her mother, who surprisingly agrees to help. There's something Serenity knows that Konnie doesn't, but we don't have time to unpack all that.

Konnie has to wait until the school year is up, and Maize wants to go after the tournament. It's June, Age 718, when they finally hit the road. But as it turns out, they aren't the only ones after them.

Tune in next time, maybe I'll try to explain Prism's side of things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#this has gotten out of my control atp I’m just here for the ride #[au] spectrum verse #[story] three musketeers #[oc] konnie sai #[oc] maize onigiri #dbz #dbz fanfiction #dragon ball z #dragon ball #dragon ball z fanfiction #dbz oc #dbz ocs #dragon ball z oc #dragon ball oc #dragon ball fanfic #dragon ball fanfiction #dragon ball z fanfic #dragonballz fanfic #dbz fanfic #db fanfic #db fanfiction #dbz au #fanfic writing #fanficiton #fanfic #oc fanfiction #fanfiction

[amerasdreams]

I have been writing every day this month. But now it seems I will have to erase the last few thousand words bc they're not working. I cannot build on a foundation I know is faulty. Building for this long.... perhaps it's all bad. I mean what am I making this for. People aren't reading it, aren't enjoying it. It's in a very niche fanfic realm.

I need to finish it. But. Won't matter if I just rus through it.... bc I may not like the last part but the whole thing of 350k words is probably no good anyway. Like my other writing. I've written over 16 novels/novellas (some fanfic some not) and self published 3... which have few reviews and I took 1 off bc it had 1 review and that was bad.

I had 2 short stories published 7 years ago and when I told my grandma she said, you're 30 aren't you? Shouldn't you have accomplished more by now?

Um. Yes. And here I am.

13 years post college and 0 to show for it.

Still living with parents.

I had an internship I was fired from. I did temp and very minor jobs-- babysitting, crossing guard, simple office tasks with moms office. Wow. Data entry. Couldn't stand it but that's all I was capable of. Many interviews I failed bc. I can't hide my nervousness. I'm just incapable of pretending to be something I'm not, to hide any feelings plus I'm a loser who cannot suppress any feelings of terror.

I caused 5 car accidents, totaled my parents car once. Bc I couldn't learn how to drive. My reaction time is like half the speed of others. I'm I'm ridiculously slow compared to others. At everything. Can't figure out simple instructions like the internship. Like the restaurant job-- they kept having to tell me how to fold a wrap and I couldn't get it! How much of a loser is that!

Pet sitting for 10 years. Wow. Dont need any skill for that. Couldn't do more than a few a day or I get exhausted bc of driving, b irregular schedule. Stayed at other houses sometimes.

I think, I want to do something more. Work for myself but move toward what I want most, what I believe in and love doing.

But maybe someone like me isn't capable of achieving their dreams.

I took like 5 years (13 really...flailing around) to figure it out. Looking around for what I'd like, trying...

Oh. I find out I like creating things. After 4 years making stupid crafts none of them are any good. I have ideas but can't execute them.

During covid the world slowed and I figured I could catch up. Lol. I took some classes. Some I didn't like, like proofreading and gift baskets. Some I did like, like research and dog treat bakery. And printables

Flop around several more years, world keeps moving in while I stand still. I have to figure this out. Move out. This year. This year. This year. (I looked at houses since like 2015. Not being able to afford. I did get approved for a loan in 2020 and looked at a house and applied for it but then thought... no I can't afford it with my other expenses incl horse board. On $1200/month. So I dropped out. And lost most of my pet siting income in 2020 so. )

Finally I'm like, I have to figure out now and move forward. (I write notes, and I think this often. Trying to organize in right way... find right focus... don't want to for instance waste money on a degree that will get me nowhere. None will get me anywhere bc I'm not capable of anything)

An interlude, Feb 2022 Ukraine war explodes into my mind. I do nothing for several months (besides neccesities) other than follow developments. Then I'm like, I have been looking into this anyway, I'll do OSINT. Research and help them. But in practice-- I can't figure it out. Well... I'm just so unfocused. Don't know what I'm doing as always. I have desire to but my mind doesn't work this way. Looking at extreme details. And I am deeply affected by any sort of people on distress AND looking at harsh words... with this mental health...well.

I figure I had better try to earn some money. I can send more to Ukraine anyway . And other places (since that's about all I can do. Which is almost not worth doing its so insignificant) I need to move out. Well.. who wants to be associated with this anyway. I should probably just move to a cabin and not bother anyone.

Only when reality doesn't hit me can I focus on ideas and moving toward my dreams!! Which is every day! Till they get dashed again! Til I try to do something and it fails! Ad infinitum. Bc I have 0 capability. To do anything. Nothing normal and nothing I long to do

I figure I'll make some printables. Small digital products... start w that so I can get passive income going. I have an idea. Novelember. Lol. Bc nano didn't work for me so I'll make an alternative. I work on some free printables (well I have to make it free bc nano is also they're simple. But I can practice here and get ppl coming to my site, perhaps getting my books ...lol). What happens? It takes off? No. Fizzles. Like everything. I was all motivated and working on those stupid things for hours. Now what

I think oh I'll sell some crafts. For Christmas etc. I work on one yesterday. Oh this is a good idea.

Then I look at what people have made on pinterest and etsy. They. Actually know how to do art. I... like my printables... know how to arrange things in a simple order like any kindergartener can do.

I want passive income and non computer jobs so I can work on writing and research the rest of the time. Things I'm passionate about, not just like. Do creative things for my own business. And write... make my blog and research to help people, consolidate Ideas (idea person. Big picture. When I can't do even small things lol). And get a masters degree. Move forward. I can do it! Yesterday I'm like, I will do psychology, help kids who were abused, have a farm with therapy with animals and art... write and research (intellgence!) Get osint.... get media psychology to counter propaganda... I can do all of this! My own business Creating things... raise animals, grow plants and mushrooms, rescue animals. Adopt.... board animals, have trail rides. Petting zoo, cat catfe...camps... volunteer and travel...

Until I actually try to do things.

I have to move forward, move out

I long to achieve my dreams and work for what I feel strongly about and create .... something worthwhile and write something amazing and impactful

But my dreams are jokes bc I am. Completely hollow and a failure-- born like this incapable.

#me #writing #entrepreneur #job #global events #intelligence #create #and here i am in my little toom #r #looking st this stupid screen #no motivation #bc the last thing i tried didn't work #but when has it ever?

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1072: Anime Binging Night (Epithet Erased)

8:45 p.m. at STEM's Headquarters' Living Room.......

Yoomtah: (Smiles Brightly at her Boyfriend Beside Her) Alrightly then, Naven!~ What sort of anime you wanna binge through tonight that isn't One Piece related? Shonen, gorey, slice of life....(Gives Naven a Seductive Look on her Face) Maybe something more explicit to spice up the room if you know what I'm saying~ (Starts Moving her Eyebrows Up and Down)

Naven: (Smiles Sheepishly) H-How about we watch some more light-hearted this evening. Like that lovely Spy x Family show. I never had the chance to watch for myself as of late, but I have heard great things about from peers.

Yoomtah: Oh yeah, that show is a banger. And hella cute to boot, you'll love it!

Naven: I wouldn't deny that possibility. It'll be nice to take my mind off of things for once. Especially everything work related.

Yoomtah: Hell. YES! I am so tired of doing people's paperwork 24/7!!

Naven: You and me both, my dear. But at least we have the night to ourselves. Do you think Mr. Shades will be alright with the girls this evening?

Yoomtah: Oh he'll be fine! Our Ricky-Poo is a very strong wizard boi after all.

Naven: (Starta Snickering a Bit) Ricky-Poo?

Yoomtah: It's a nickname I came up for him. He calla me Yoomy all the time, which I for one adored a lot, so why not give him one of his own, you know?

Naven: I think it sounds lovely.

Yoomtah: Thank you!~ But enough about nicknames! Let's just focus on you, me.....(Hugs Naven While Having a Blanket Covering Around Them) And nthe nightly hours of cuddles you owed me~ (Starts Kissing Up on Naven's Cheeks)

Naven: (Chuckles Ticklishly by Yoomtah's Affectionate Kisses) Yes, yes~ Let's commence anime binging night, shall we?

A Few Episodes of Spy X Family Later.......

TV: LOIDDDYYYYYYYYYYY

Yoomtah: Hey, Naven?

Naven: Hm?

Yoomtah: Are you.....still thinking about that Molly kid in any way? You would always get sad whenever her name get brought up in any conversations. (Gently Pokes at Naven's Cheek) You're even making that cute frowny face every time something's bother you, which is pretty easy to tell if you ask me.

Naven: (Frowns While Sighing) Well....I suppose your observation of me isn't....too far fetched I'm afraid.

Yoomtah: (Softly Snuggles onto Naven) You wanna talk about it? I'm a fairly decent listener.

Naven: (Chuckles Very Lightly) You're a wonderful listener, dear. (Slowly Went Back to Frowning) But to answer your question, I have been thinking about Ms. Bylndeff as of late and thinking if.....not taking here with me was ever the best decision on my part, especially after everything that happened on that day.....

Yoomtah: You mean that whole dream bubble fiasco?

Naven: The very same, yes. I always figured she would trouble in her home life recently, but to witness how problematic it truly was at first hand....('Sigh') Well, I guess I can't say I know how to describe it really......

Yoomtah: Crappy, sucky, guilt-writtenny

Naven: The last one's not even a real compound word and I still find it accurate to my current feelings to the situation. I really wish I could be of more help to her on that day, but I knew I couldn't just....adopt her right off the bat. Especially given the excruciating work hours I have recently and the potential rumors journalists and the paparazzi would spread.....

Yoomtah: (Groans While Rolling her Eyes in Pure Annoyance) Ohhhh God don't even get me STARTED on those......Yesterday, some wise guy from the Sweet Jazz News Daily made a two page article on how you're completely out of the league you are to me and that I'm only dating you for money. Like.....THE HELL DO THEY MEAN YOU'RE OUT OF MY LEAGUE!? You're way more of a man than any of these brain dead morons would even try and DREAM of being! And did they REALLY think I would be that shallow enough to date you only for your riches? BULLSHIT! My limo driving career is paying me enough already, I ain't a shaneless gold digger! I swear, if I see ONE MORE journalist, paparazzi, or who the fucks starts getting into our business again, I am going to find myself a bat and shove it SO FAR UP THEIR-

Naven: Yoomie Dear....remember our anger management sessions and not raising your stress levels high.

Yoomtah: I AM CALM DAMNIT!

Yoomtah starts whimpering like a sick puppy as Naven soothes her anger away with his gently comfort and embrace.

Naven: There, there. It's alright. I agree with every word you said.

Yoomtah: (Looks Up at Naven With Sparkling Eyes) You do?~ Truly?~

Naven: (Chuckles Lightly) Of course. Molly is a timid girl and the last thing I want for her is to deal with these kind of nonsense on a daily basis, among other things.

Yoomtah: Yeah, I hear ya.....You said she was taken away by that Vincent Murder guy before I arrived at the toy store that night?

Naven: That's correct. Despite the name and villainous demeanor, he seems like a nice, passionate fello once you get to know him a little. Molly seems to hold him in high regards due to him being her boss in some capacity.

Yoomtah: Really now? So like what? Is he gonna try and look after her or something?

Naven: Given the care and support he gave her during that time, I'd say the possibility of that is above average. (Grabs his Chin While Thinking) Perhaps I could arrange a lunch date for the three of us sometime in the future....(Turns Back to Yoomtah) You're more than welcome to join us, dear.

Yoomtah: Hmm...Tempting, but I'm probably gonna have pass on that offer. I feel like I would get bored too easily in these kinds of meet ups, ya know?

Naven: Very well. The offer still stands if you ever decide to chance your mind.

Yoomtah: You got it. ('Sigh') But listen, Navey, you can't let what happened that day keep you down forever. That little girl still looks up to you despite everything, right?

Naven: Well, I mean....I suppose so, but-

Yoomtah: And does she feel any sort of malice or resentment towards you in anyway?

Naven: Well, no, not really, bu-

Yoomtah: Then you got nothing to worry about, bug doof!~ You may never be an ideal parental guardian, but that doesn't change the fact that you're still her teacher. And you and i know damn well that a teacher's job is to educate and guide them into being decent citizens of an overly obnoxious society.

Naven: (Smiles Sheepishly) I wouldn't exactly say that they're all obnoxious. But you're right. It won't do me any good if I keep dwelling on the incident any further. I will do better as a teacher and mentor for now on, that, I can promise you.

Yoomtah: (Happily Snuggles onto Naven Some More) That's the spirit, Navey!~ You're making your cute girlfriend proud here!~

Naven: Oh I wouldn't say you're cute exactly. You're more of the line if being beautiful and breath-taking all things considered.

Yoomtah: (Snorts in Laughter) I'm really flattered, babe!~ But I am FAR from being the most beautiful girl out there.

Naven: (Smiles Softly) Perhaps to some, but I beg to differ. (Gives Yoomtah a Kiss on the Forehead) It's one of the many reasons why I love you after all.

Yoomtah's heart flutters like a sound of a roaring car engine being turned on for the first time in minutes, as she begins to kiss all over her boyfriend's face again in a cuddling position. As surprising as the sudden affection was, Naven was more than happy to welcome it given how stressful today truly was for him earlier.

@aprilbrowines

@cyber-wildcat

#epithet erased #naven nuknuk #yoomtah zing #rick shades (mentioned] #molly blyndeff (mentioned) #giovanni potage (mentioned) #anime night #cuddling and snuggling #date night #cute romance #naven x yoomtah

[transienturl]

Um, so, this post turned into me psychoanalyzing myself, and so I'm putting in a readmore. I don't know if I have any content warnings for it, but like... it seems appropriate? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if writing - fiction, nonfiction, persuasive essays, video scripts - came as easily to me as solving problems with code does, instead. If I would prefer it that way, or if I would simply be making this exact post right now with bits of the sentences swapped.

Certainly I am not, in my opinion, good at either. Or, I guess, *capable* of either - I think that I have the potential to be quite good at them, once in a while, in short and uncontrollable bursts that usually end before I accomplish any of what I want, and without any idea how to connect together any of the fragments (code, at least, I can edit later; writing, I never learned how). I do, I suppose, probably need medication, and I don't know how to ask for it. It's not like this doesn't occur to me, but I am a coward and have grown very good at erasing things from my thoughts when I am reminded so.

It is probably the editable-ness of javascript that makes it easier. You can tell when it's wrong, and more importantly you can tell when it works but clearly isn't good enough, and then when it's right. I can't have the thoughts that go into writing things more than once, over and over, with different variations, and figure out which ones give that perfect feeling; the thoughts and the spaces they live in are too large. I think maybe by doing some exercises, like the predefined fanfic categories that have helped so many, I might be able to start making small enough chunks to do that, a little, but it's never as modular as a line of code, I bet.

I thought of writing this post when I thought, maybe I wish it was? Maybe I wish that writing a web extension script was too big to comprehend, but while I wasn't going to write a novel any time soon, I could have an AO3 full of bits and bobs: my own little XKCD 1414 to think, hey, maybe someday I could do this.

But then again, you know, probably not. Because the writing I care about the most and would most want to create, things like A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, are solutions to the problem of saying something you know is true and that people would be enriched by understanding. All the things I love, I think, fall under that umbrella. And I don't think I have a story I want to tell, like that, not yet, and it would bother me to no end until I did. Sure, I have so, so many notes about cool setting ideas for original fantasy stories, and I should try and work on them to get the practice, but they're meaningless until I actually have anything I want to tell.

Wheras, with code, the problems to solve can be so small. "Make the posts different colors on the dashboard." It doesn't matter, in the slightest, but it's good practice and you get to actually ship it and call it a contribution to society. People get paid for this stuff, paid a lot, often. And you know, if I'm ever going to hate myself any less. You know.

(It's funny. I've read a bunch of fiction lately, and my mind autocompletes the next sentences in that regard. It doesn't autocomplete it with she/her pronouns, actually, but it's a fun chance to try.

Character 2 looks at her sharply. "You don't... you've never said that. You don't say that."

"Well... no. Of course not. It's not—I mean, I don't have to say it for you to know it. Right? But it doesn't do any good to say it. Or... maybe there's a part of me that's telling me that even though I don't know if it's true. Logically, there's no reason to think... that saying nothing is ever better. But saying nothing... doesn't hurt. There are so many things I could say—putting aside, for the moment, can we, which of those things are ultimately true or false—but of *everything I could say,* there are so many things that would hurt. Mostly insofar as they would hurt to hear, and then I would feel what it's like to say something that hurt someone I care for, and that's—that's really how you get to me. And yes, yes, of course I know that saying nothing is worse. Everything meaningful that I have ever lost, really, is from saying nothing when I knew better. On some level. But... I mean, doing something logically irrational from the fear of pain is... I don't know, is that trauma or normal?" Her voice sounds... too even, maybe? Or maybe not. Character 2 can't tell if it's some sort of emotional... thing, or if that's just how whatever part of her is talking really sounds like.

"It... doesn't have to be one or the other, right?" Character 2 says slowly. They put a hand on her shoulder experimentally and she tilts her head to the right just a fraction, the motion she does when she's sorting through her initial thoughts about something, not yet responding positively or negatively to the touch. "I mean, you wouldn't blame someone else for being skittish around expressing stuff like that, and you would also tell them to go to therapy to help make it easier and that it's something they do need to do. You'd say it's normal for it to be hard, and that they shouldn't expect things to be either easy or a personal failure. Right?"

"I... yeah. Yeah. Of course. Man, like... sometimes I forget that just because I know that what-if-you-were-someone-else trick, doesn't mean having someone else do it doesn't make it work differently."

Character 2 smiled wryly. "Hah, well, imagine what it could do if it really were coming from someone else, and not a clone of yourself. Oh, wait... neither of us can do that, can we. Pity.

...I guess at that point there would be some plot-related discussion about how character 2 is actually their own person despite being a clone of character 1, and I would have to go back in and edit in the joke I was planning on making about how talking about normalizing being open about the things your emotions make it hard for you to do makes you sound like a podcast ad for BetterHelp (which, by the way, I have heard is not a great company, though only through reblogs).

Uh. This post got weird.