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shady-tavern · 5 months

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A little poll to help me decide

Just so you know, I will still write both, but you guys get to decide which one gets to be finished and published first!

Little WIP excerpts for both stories under the cut (subject to change, these are still rough outlines, so be aware that the final product might look different):

Fantasy Story (currently only titled "nyeh!"):

You had once heard that being cursed was the worst thing in the world. To be twisted into something else, to no longer be capable, to lose your youthful beauty, your voice or whatever else you valued. To be forced to hide in the dark and stare longingly at people going on about their day.

How happiness was leeched away, food tasting lackluster and smells itching in your nose and nothing felt right anymore. Like looking through cracked glasses.

But curses weren't anything you had to content yourself with. They were about as important to your life as distant kingdoms and great battles with heroes slaying equally great foes, of dragons nesting on top of mountains and fae princes stealing away mortal women to make their queens.

That hadn't always been the case for your family, however. Your ancestors had been great mages and adventurers, people with big names and bigger legacies. People who had awed and charmed and impressed the populous to the point where they were still spoken about, their portraits found in history books.

There was even a portrait of one of your great-great-grandma's in the local library, painted by someone with magical powers, for it looked like she was going to leap straight out of the painting on her horse.

She was a gorgeous woman with a kind face and a brave set to her shoulders and she had protected the entire barony you lived in against an ancient evil. She had been the first to make a name for herself and all her children followed in her footsteps.

Well, until your grandparents and their children. Every time you walked past her portrait on your way to class, you wondered if she was disappointed. If she had known that the greatness in her bloodline would run dry like a river.

Your parents certainly thought so, the bitterness and fear over being mundane well instilled into them by their already magic-less grandparents. Family gatherings were a tense and somber occasion and you hated them. Every time you were asked if your magic had shown already. If you were, finally, at long last, the one to break the streak of misfortune.

As though they could claw their way up to greatness through you. Even at a young age, you realized you didn't want that. Their expectations felt like boulders being strapped to your person and then being told to go climb a mountain.

Looking at the painting, at the regal woman portrayed who had saved so many and had been humble all her life, using her skills to better those around her, you decided that she would not have been disappointed in you.

Sometimes you imagined her voice when you sat curled up at your desk, eyes heavy from studying and your parents voices echoing in your head, telling you to look at more magic tomes. As though they could will magic into your veins by tossing as much spell theory at you as possible.

You imagined that your great-great-grandma would gently pat your head and tell you that it was alright. You had done well and should go to sleep, she'd take care of things. You imagined her saying all the things history books had written down and that bards sang about even to this day.

How she would cradle the week, encourage the cowardly and shelter the injured.

Your other ancestors were just as impressive, but...she was always seemed more present than they did. It was probably because of the painting, though. You knew your family's history well enough, you had studied everything trice over.

Sometimes it frustrated and hurt you, that your parents and grandparents couldn't just be happy. They had more money than they could ever need, the people still spoke highly of your family and they were welcomed warmly. Your uncle was even advising the king despite having as much magic as a dresser drawer.

"I'll leave when I'm old enough," you told the portrait in a whisper. "I'll go somewhere no one knows me and I'll be happy."

If a painting could look encouraging, this one did. Or, so you imagined.

*.*.*

Hero/Villain Story (currently titled "Heart Song"):

The world was full of music and to you, that was beautiful. Everyone you met was surrounded by a melody, some louder and some quieter, some sad and some joyful, some struggling and changing tunes as they tried to find themselves and others marching forward, no matter the mismatched tones and half-broken sounding lyrics.

It had been a struggle, growing up, to not get lost in the music constantly. Your parents hadn't understood what was going on, dragging you to doctors and trying out different medication, until you had been old enough to find the words, the proper explanation, to tell them how you saw the world.

A gifted child, your lot were called. People born with abilities that showed as early as when they were infants or sometime late in their adulthood. But the powers always revealed themselves and very, very rarely were not put to use.

You had found yourself responding to melodies that had wanted to be heard and seen and recognized even before you understood what they were, singing back at them clumsily until they had lost a hurt edge, until they had found meaning, until the song surrounding a person's heart rang like clear bells with the sounds of hope-relief-healing.

Becoming a hero had, in a way, been the only sensible conclusion. You wanted to help and you could help, so why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you help sand down rough edges, help people over a bump in their road, help someone hurting to find the strength to reach out?

Your parents had thankfully been the sensible ones and had cautioned you against accepting just any hero gig, any contract that was extended to you. You had been so excited you had nearly accepted the first offer without question.

But...hero contracts, as you had quickly learned, were rather intense. There was so much red tape surrounding everything and your parents really hadn't liked some of the wording of some of the passages and with great reluctance and perhaps a couple of tears, you had tossed the offers for a job into the trash.

Right up until Redemption & Recovery had reached out to you. They had been a comparatively tiny organization back then, doing their best to help others with the funding they got. Almost all members were volunteers and they offer they extended had, admittedly, looked pitiful compared to the promised salary of the big hero offices.

But their offer had been just what you had looked for. Next to no red tape and your values and their aligned. The moment your parents gave their tentative green light you had called them straight away, telling them you wanted to work with them.

In the years that had followed, you had made quite the name for yourself and the organization, which had grown in members and funding until it was one of the biggest. You were so proud of everyone and their hard work.

While you had become the face of R&R, fighting and going to interviews and fan meetings and doing your best to be present online, everyone else had been hard at work behind the scenes. Networking and outlining and signing contracts and keeping the unyielding desire to make the world better alive, no matter how big the organization got.

Redemption & Recovery focused heavily on not only offering recovering villains all the tools to keep healing and improving, but they also offered services to the public to help people stay away from the villain business in the first place.

You still didn't have much of a salary compared to other famous heroes, but that worked just fine for you. You rather donated as much as you could feasibly give to R&R, to help finance the services they offered, the therapists and doctors they had on the payroll, as well as housing aid and financial advisors to help people get back on their feet.

You still received offers from the big offices, who hoped to poach you from R&R and the latest offer had you choking on your breakfast when you had seen the salary and other perks they had offered. It had still gone into the trash, because the red-tape situation had been as bad as ever.

Besides, you were perhaps a bit...unique, among the heroes. The big offices would probably find working with you rather headache inducing.

You raced around a corner, heart in your throat at the sound of hurt-terror-helplessness that filled the air ahead of you as thickly as the dust and smoke that had yet to settle. You leapt over rubble and debris, your breath catching when you heard another bit of building crumble somewhere to the left.

And among the injured civilians, the panicked people, one melody rang louder than the others. Loud enough to drench everything in agony-hatred-despair like a wailing siren.

You had heard bits and pieces of this particular melody in the past and you knew exactly who it belonged to. Eclipse, a high-level villain known for laying waste to entire city blocks whenever he appeared.

He was one of the villains who broke heroes left and right if they weren't strong enough to stand up to him and who had endangered many a civilian carelessly. No death count yet, but he was getting closer and closer to it every time he appeared.

Official sources weren't sure if he even had full control of his powers, considering the often haphazard destruction and his at times visible frustration. Whatever was going on, however, everyone agreed that he needed to be stopped before he ended up killing, no matter if it was intentional or not.

Eclipse's focused face turned into a mask of fear the moment he noticed you from the corner of his eye, head snapping around to stare at you.

#my writing #pol #wip #heroes and villains #villains and heroes #fantasy #stories #you're welcome to vote or not #just thought it might be fun to give you guys the option

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mejcinta · 9 months

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Maelor The Missing.

Interestingly, they never pan over to Maelor in the opening sequence of episodes 9 and 10. The focus is just on the twins' (Jaehaera and Jaehaerys') symbols.

Which makes me think, by that choice, that they mean either Maelor's his book age and not a focus of season 1, OR (crack theory) that he's just been conceived and can't appear onscreen to be of focus yet.

House of the Dragon has been inacurate with timelines and character ages, so if Maelor is unborn I wouldn't be surprised lol.

Although I really do want to see him older on the show so that B&C will be accurately portrayed. Please! I can't stand the prevalent idea circulating since early this year of Helaena being made to choose between her twin boy and twin girl even though Maelor being picked out was just as sad. 😭

Maelor obviously won't be cut from the story so that leaves us with time to speculate about where he is before the new season airs.

#incoherent thoughts #hotd speculation #leak wars #maelor targaryen #helaena targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #blood and cheese #jaehaerys ii targaryen #jaehaera targaryen #aegon ii × helaena #helaegon

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teamdilf · 30 days

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In Hushed Whispers

Potentially unpopular opinion but In Hushed Whispers is my favourite Dragon Age quest, period. It offers such an incredible introduction to Dorian (the inquisitor is forced to rely on a man they don't really know, who is from Tevinter, the big, bad, scary magocracy!), but it also shows us a version of Solas who full-on recognizes that he's the classic "high intelligence, low wisdom" character. He sat for a year in this nightmare future simmering in the consequences of his screw-ups and actually has the ability to recognize that even with all the knowledge he has, he was always going to make those mistakes.

You get this incredible insight into how Solas must view contemporary Thedas. His people are sundered, contemporary elves have lost much of the truth of their history and are treated with contempt and prejudice, and magic is widely feared. The inquisitor and Dorian roll back the clock a year, ending that nightmare future for good and it's viewed widely a positive thing and it feels like it could be a parallel to the way Solas is thinking/what he's planning. This is a guy who literally caused the apocalypse the first time around, and is apparently going to take a second crack at it (I love you Solas but you're such a dumbass).

Nowadays, I mostly just run through the game as my Lavellan, Iris and romancing Solas instead of creating new inquisitors, but when I do branch out, it's always kind of disappointing when I opt to take my character on the templar route.

I just love the angst of Lavellan watching Solas die, and then after she learns what he's up to, has to stew in the realization that she's very well going to have to watch him suffer that same horrid fate once more, on account of the fact that Solas has the red lyrium idol and may be using red lyrium to thin the veil. But, that's veering into theory-crafting and my own personal post-canon fanfiction.

After enduring what they did together, that Dorian and the inquisitor become such close friends makes a lot of sense. They survived something none of the others have any comprehension of and the horrors of it still remain. I have a lot of Dorian & Lavellan friendship feelings that are constantly making their way into my Dragon Age fanfiction, if anyone is interested in the exploration of a platonic friendship between two snarky mages.

#In Hushed Whispers #solas #solavellan #dorian pavus #dorian dragon age #solas dragon age #Iris Lavellan #solas x female lavellan #inquisitor lavellan

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laurelsofhighever · 11 months

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I was inundated by one person (@1ichen) in the tags wondering about my (crack?) theory that the Second Orlesian Invasion of Ferelden was basically a way for the Chantry to have an exalted march on Ferelden without getting its hands dirty. And really, that’s as much of an excuse as I need

To set the scene: It’s 8:24 Blessed, Ferelden is recovering after a lengthy civil war (details murky) because Arland Theirin, in addition to being a tyrant, left the nobility in chaos with no clear line of succession. Across the border, Emperor Reville is 3 years into his reign and looking for some way to make his mark. Is Ferelden an easy target? Considering it takes a full two decades to conquer, and rebellion springs up almost immediately... no, not really. Is it a sensible target? Well... also no. Even two years after Ferelden is won, there is still enough of the army engaged in keeping the Fereldan people subjugated that Nevarra feels safe enough to invade Orlais and claim territory. It says quite a lot that even at reduced strength, Orlais can beat back Nevarra (admittedly with mixed results), but it takes two decades of full force to defeat Ferelden.

So what does Ferelden have that makes it worth 20 years of war? Why not go straight for Nevarra? Ferelden is rich in resources, true, and has surface access to Orzammar and therefore the lyrium trade, but does it really have anything valuable enough to be worth the effort of conquering it? As far as the codexes and WoT tells us, Ferelden didn’t offer any great insult to Orlais (like Orlais did with Nevarra), and it wasn’t waging war against any of Orlais’ allies, either. What’s left is a clash in ideology, but what about Fereldan beliefs could be so objectionable? They have a lot of shared history and they’re both Andrastian nations (this will be important later).

My theory is that it wasn’t Emperor Reville’s idea to specifically target Ferelden, he wanted to pick a fight anyway and it was the Chantry who nudged him in that direction. This is all speculation and based on a vision of Fereldan culture that we have very little evidence of except by its absence in the Dragon Age - and its contrast to contemporary Orlesian society - but hear me out.

Fereldans, as a whole, are portrayed as downright uncivilised by the rest of Southern Thedas, which is interesting given that the civilising influence that unites the region is adherence to Chantry doctrine. Rivain, for example, is often considered in similar terms because of its cultural tradition of seers and other practices that don’t outright condemn magic. Interesting. That’s a tangent for another day. From what we see in Origins, the majority of Fereldans - at least in the Dragon Age - hold far more conventional views about mages, but it’s not universal. Anders’ mother doesn’t want to let him go to the Circle, Wilhelm seemed to live quite openly as a mage in Honnleath after taking part in the Rebellion, and there’s a specific conversation in The Stolen Throne where it’s stated that the reason mages are driven away from the rebel army is so that the Orlesians don’t get to OTT with their retribution. Similarly, elves in Ferelden, while not treated well, do seem to be at least marginally better off than in Orlais: there is at least mild shock when the Warden reveals Loghain has been selling the alienage elves into slavery, and again, during the Rebellion elves were an active part of the rebel army appreciated for their abilities (though their existence tails off towards the end of the Stolen Throne so we don’t know what happened to them afterwards).

Why am I bringing this up? Well, given the century of occupation, there are two main explanations for the difference in treatment for mages/elves in Ferelden and Orlais: either they were both the same and after the Occupation Ferelden got better very quickly; or the Ferelden we see in the Dragon Age is what you get after 100 years of their culture being eroded to be more like Orlais. Given what we see in The Stolen Throne and in the remote parts of the country that the Occupation likely didn’t touch (like the village in the mountains with the heretical dragon cult), and the fact that cultural genocide is pretty much colonialism 101, I’d argue the latter is more likely. Which, if you follow this line of logical fallacy to its conclusion, means that before the Invasion in 8:24, Ferelden was a more progressive place for mage (and elf) rights.

At this point, Ferelden is still a fairly young country. It’s pretty much several Alamarri tribes in a trenchcoat, and has just gone through some Wars of the Roses level shit that has presumably left the poswer structure a little wobbly while everyone sorts out what side they’re on. While there is a Circle of Magi at Kinloch Hold and the country has been nominally Andrastian since Calenhad united the tribes, it’s also fair to assume that there were isolated areas that held older views, including less draconian views on magic, and more equitable views on elves owing to the influence of Alamarri culture and perhaps the preserved history of Shartan’s role in defeating Tevinter (which is known to the chantry sisters in Denerim, so it’s knowledge that doesn’t completely die out by the Dragon Age).

So imagine it: the dust settles after the Fereldan civil war and from it emerges a culture growing strong from its Alamarri roots - tolerant of magic, allowing freedoms to elves that would never be given in Orlais - and the Chantry sees chinks in its hold over the people. They don’t venerate the Chantry like they do in Orlais or Kirkwall; their cathedrals are humble, drab, doctrine an afterthought to practicality. It’s not enough to be called outright heresy, but one day it could be. This puts the Chantry in a difficult position. Does it sit by and watch heresy continue to spread, and maybe infect other nations until it creates a schism? Does it intervene with an exalted march like it did for the Dales, and bring Ferelden back into line? Both options run the risk of shattering the Chantry’s power base. The first because a schism would divide the faith (and therefore the clout, and the spoils) and leave the whole of Southern Thedas open to a power grab from Tevinter. The second because invading an Andrastian country for nebulous reasons is likely to make all the other Andrastian countries nervous, if not downright rebellious, because what’s to stop them being next.

Getting Orlais to invade Ferelden is a perfect solution to this quandary. It nips Ferelden’s heresy in the bud without drawing attention to it, and as a bonus, it doesn’t have to expend its own resources to do it, and only has to sit back while the tithes roll in. This is why Chantry propaganda declared the Occupation as the Will of the Maker, why they didn’t intercede to stop the shedding of Andrastian blood when Ferelden offered no real provocation for invasion, and why Orlais decided 20 years was an acceptable time frame to annexe one (1) province.

Even if that’s not true it would make an awesome tv series.

#dragon age #dragon age meta #ferelden #orlais #the chantry #fuck the chantry

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wangxianficfinder · 2 years

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Crossovers & Fandom Fusions pt.1 (not including SVSSS, TGCF, WOH, Guardian)

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Crossover

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All the Fox I Give by cinder1013 (T, 1k, Aziraphale/Crowley, WangXian, Good omens Crossover)

🧡 Of Ghosts and Heroes by The Silverfish (ZephyrAndTheSilverfish) (T, 51k, AS & WWX, AS/YH, WangXian, BNHA/MHA Crossover, Dimension Travel, POV Outsider, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Angst)

Come by it Honestly by ladyshadowdrake (M, 25k, Geraskier, WangXian, The Witcher Crossover, Crossover, Adventure)

Visit by a God from the past by I_am_she (Not Rated, 28k, Stuckony, WangXian, MCU Crossover, BAMF WWX, Time Travel, Science Experiments, Insecure TS, YL WWX, Handwavy Science, inaccurate science theories)

❤️ More Questions than Answers by tiniestawoo (T, 2k, Sterek, WangXian, Teen Wolf Crossover, Curses, Curse Breaking, Modern with Magic, (alternate for CQL I GUESS?), Full Shift Werewolves, Beta DH, Demonic Cultivation, Crack Treated Seriously, Crack Crossover)

Light Bearing Lord and The Patriarch by Anonymous (G, 3k, WangXian, Rise of the Guardians Crossover, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Relationship Reveal, Established Relationship, kind of crack, Crack Treated Seriously, WWX and LWJ are Guardians, but not just of Childhood, Implied Sexual Content, WWX and LWJ being Shameless)

A Long Road by Vathara (T, 175k, WangXian, Valdemar Series by Mercedes Lackey, Fluff and Angst, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Scheming NHS, Necromancy, Fire, Ghosts, Accidental Child Acquisition, is it an accident if the ghosts keep bringing them?)

Darkness shrouded in light by MomImBusy (T, 68k, WIP, WangXian, AS/YH, BNHA/MHA Crossover, Canon Divergence, MM Doesn't Exist, WWX is a Little Shit, WWX is here to fuck some shit up, mentions of abuse, Courtesy of the entire mdzs cast, Parental AS, Parental YH, Angst, probably, BAMF WWX, Necromancy in a quirk world)

"What's High School?" by peachygreentea (G, 9k, WangXian, XiCheng, BNHA/MHA Crossover, Established Relationship, Crack)

WangXian by MissCellophane (G, 2k, WangXian, WWX/XY, Legend of Fei Crossover, Canon Divergence, Post-Canon, Reincarnation, XY is LWJ, WWX is immortal, somehow don’t ask I didn’t plan anything, Relationship is very background mostly hinted, POV Alternating, Timeline What Timeline)

Diplomatic Incidents by Ariaste (M, 35k, WangXian, IB/DP, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Getting Together, Linguistics, Translation Spells, canon-typical borderline alcoholism, Fluff, a touch of angst for spice, being in love but not admitting you want to sleep together, Versus, sleeping together but not admitting you're in love, Post-Canon, post-canon for MDZS anyway, during-canon for DAI)

Queer Eye for the Bisexual Guy by Hopeworldiangirl777 (T, 8k, WangXian, Queer Eye, Modern AU, Makeover, WWX is a Mess, Fluff, I think?, Mild Swearing, WWX is a good dad, JYL is a good sister, Short Chapters)

For a Mountain by esama (T, 24k, Crossover, Resentful energy, 琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire (TV))

Unheard Voices, Open Ears by vamprav (M, 31k, WangXian, Harry Potter, Fusion, YLLZ WWX, Ghost CD, HP Gets Therapy, Trauma, Healing Rituals, Horcrux Destruction, HP is a Horcrux, HP Has Nightmares, HP Has a Crush, Immortal LWJ, Immortal WWX, WWX Has No Golden Core, Sentient Burial Mounds, Nonbinary MXY, MXY Lives )

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Fandom Fusion

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live from new york by varnes (E, 87k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, This is a SNL AU, however the juniors are featured and there are lots of shenanigans!, slow burn, friends to lovers, pining, getting together, happy ending)

Wizards of Yunmeng Place Series by chatonnerie (G, 38k, WangXian, SangCheng, Modern AU, Wizards of Waverly place Fusion, Halloween Wei Wuxian's Birthday, Getting Together, Magic, Urban Fantasy, Fluff and Crack, Vampire Lans, Wizards Jiang family, Wizard WWX)

phase boundaries by chinxe (T, 6k, WangXian, Modern AU, kind of a buzzfeed unsolved au, Pining, Humor, accidental wingman jc)

critical path analysis by chinxe (T, 14k, WangXian, Modern AU, Police, Brooklyn Nine-Nine AU, Pining, Misunderstandings, wwx and lwj are simultaneously the smartest and densest detectives)

turn towards the sun by Ariaste (E, 21k, WangXian, Kushiel's Legacy Fusion, The Night Court (Kushiel's Legacy), Kink Negotiation, Courtesans, Intimacy, BDSM, Consent, Wangxian's canonical fetishes, roughly Cloud Recesses-era, Extracurricular Kissing, Impact Play, Kink Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, (aka Madam Yu being canonically willing to hit WWX) )

and having a marvelous time by varnes (E, 108k, WangXian, Yúnmèng Siblings, Sound of Music AU, (i know!!! i know. stay with me on this.), Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Family Feels, spies to lovers???, Protective Siblings, Sometimes You Just Want Your Dads To Admit They're Your Dads, Angst with a Happy Ending)

only the deepest love by occultings (microcomets) (T, 40k, WangXian, Pride and Prejudice Fusion, Canon Divergence, Jane Austen Fusion, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Epistolary, (briefly), Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, [Podfic] only the deepest love by papercliptiara)

🧡 shoot your shot -- hot or knot by defractum (nyargles) (E, 51k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O Dynamics, Reality Show, Hunger Games Setting, Canon-Typical Violence, Extremely Dubious Consent, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Humor, Additional Warnings In Author's Notes)

not unspectacular things by taizi (T, 14k, WangXian, The Parent Trap Fusion, Unconventional Families, Adopted Children, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Getting Back Together, Happy Ending, the kids are alright, Families of Choice, Modern AU, Meddling Kids, Unreliable Narrator, Good Sibling JC, Protective NHS, One Big Happy Family, POV Third Person Limited)

new york, i love you by Yuisaki (T, 7k, WangXian, Modern AU, Identity Porn, Making Out, Underage Drinking, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Gossip Girl Fusion, Childhood Friends)

I will be chasing a starlight by feyburner, sundiscus (E, 71k, WangXian, Star Trek Fusion, Vulcan LWJ, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Eventual Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending)

Among Us by misbehavingvigilante (E, 50k, WangXian, Among Us (Video Game) Setting, Alien Sex, Breeding, Eggpreg, Tentacles, Consensual Non-Consent, Dubious Consent, They're both into it but yeah, Cannibalism, The dove is dead but in the Addams Family type of way)

the rivers start to sing by fruitys (M, 27k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Tangled (2010) Fusion, Fairy Tale Elements, Strangers to Lovers, True Love's Kiss, or something like that, Sharing a Bed, Wound Tending, Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Humor, Implied/Referenced Torture)

hurricane by gdgdbaby (E, 5k, WangXian, Star Trek Fusion, Pon Farr, Alien Biology, Porn with Feelings, Yuletide Treat)

among the stars by plonk (E, 61k, WangXian, Space, Science Fiction, Firefly Setting, Courtesan WWX, Courtesan LWJ)

The Lives of Lan Wangji by azurewaxwing (T, 14k, WangXian, Fusion, Dianna Wynne Jones - The Lives of Christopher Chant, Temporary Character Death(So Temporary the Character Doesn't Notice), Rated T for Corpse-Eating Cats, Sentient Burial Mounds, Getting Together)

Of Hats and Flutes by FixaIdea (G, 6k, WIP, WangXian, Discworld Crossover, Humor, Witches, Fluff and Humor, Necromancy)

Call me out by your name by Asparmagus (E, 51k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, Reality Show, Paradise Hotel, First Meetings, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, First Kiss, Blow Jobs, Semi-Public Sex, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Pool Sex, Oblivious WWX, Rough Kissing, Biting, Bisexual disaster WWX, Unnegotiated Kink, Handcuffs)

Hide Away by sassybluee (E, 19k, WangXian, Modern AU, Modern: No Powers, Compulsory Heterosexuality, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, straight boy WWX, straight boy LWJ, everyone's convinced they're straight tbh, LWJ FUCKS, WWX fucks, referenced but not shown for both of those, Reality TV, Love Island, Slow Burn, Getting Together, Drunk kiss, Shower Sex, Ambiguous/Open Ending, POV Alternating)

🧡 After the Final Rose by azurewaxwing (E, 55k, wangxian, modern, reality show au, secret relationship, fluff & angst, happy ending, bachelor LWJ, cameraman WWX, smut, The Bachelor)

The Great Chinese Cook-Off by aubreyli, cafecliche, etymologyplayground, mme_anxious (G, 20k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, The Great British Bake Off Fusion, sort of; it's more of a cooking show, because most Chinese people use their ovens for pot/pan storage, Collaboration, Screenplay/Script Format, Humor, Baking, Cooking, Stress)

🧡 don't threaten me with a good time by livinginaworldofnoise (G, 60k, WangXian, Modern AU, Great British bake off AU, Script format, Fluff and Crack, Reality TV, Social media)

🧡 I Don't Want to Debut! by countingcr0ws (G, 56k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reality show, Idols, Actor LWJ, Forced Contestant WWX, Tencent's 2021 Idol Producer)

❤️ Welcome to the Great Gusu Bake Off! by BlackWiresOnHerHead (G, 60k, wangxian, modern, college/university au, the great british bake off au, humor)

Falling to the Rhythm by Selenay (E, 128k, WangXian, Modern: No Powers, Dance, Strictly Come Dancing Fusion, Ballroom Dancing, Dancer!WWX, Violinist LWJ, Pining While Dancing, Oblivious WWX, Gratuitous Costume Descriptions, Gratuitous dancing descriptions, Slow Burn, [Podfic] Falling to the Rhythm by semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona) )

all my secrets safe by wincechesters (E, 12k, wangxian, mr & mrs smith au, modern, hitmen au, pining)

Castle in the Wastes by ailuridae (abigailnicole) (T, 41k, wangxian, Howl’s Moving Castle fusion, personified Chenqing, canon typical violence)

my place beside you by lilacevergarden (alittlemorecreative) (T, 15k, WangXian, Modern AU, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Boomer LQR, Crazy Rich Asians Fusion, Romantic Comedy, Angst with a Happy Ending)

Something Good by boxoftheskyking (T, 43k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Teaching, Sound of Music AU)

some lovely, perilous thing by varnes (E, 24k, WangXian, Inception Fusion, Criminal Associates To Lovers, Heist Case Fic)

mountains, we met by fruitys (E, 79k, WangXian, Historical, The Handmaiden (2016) Fusion, Enemies to Lovers, Misunderstandings, Secret Identity, Touch-Starved, Sharing a Bed, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Mental Health Issues, Emotional Manipulation, Blow Jobs, Rimming)

burning up a sun (just to say goodbye) Series by besanii (T, 11k, WangXian, James Bond Fusion, Spies & Secret Agents, Reconciliation, Presumed Dead, Quartermaster!LWJ, Double-Oh!WWX)

Nanny Wei by Odae (T, 31k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, Single Parent LWJ, Kid Fic, The Nanny AU, Nanny!WWX, Composer!LWJ Slow Burn, Slice of Life, Fluff, Domestic, POV WWX)

Circlet of Death by cinder1013 (E, 20k, WangXian, XiYao, MingYu, Star Wars Fusion, scum, Villainy, Pirates, I make up Jedi stuff, Gender Fluid Character, Genderfluid MXY, Misgendering, BAMF JYL, Tantric Sex, Badass QS, Sexual Violence, Anal Sex, Wedding Night)

Who Ya’ Gonna Call? by cinder1013 (T, 7k, WangXian, XiYao, Ghostbusters Fusion, WWX is a chaos gremlin, so is MY, jgs is his own warning, So is wc, but only briefly, real ghostbusters fusion)

Heretic by Speechless_since_1998 (T, 13k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Pre-Slash, Pre-Relationship, Crossover, Multiple Crossovers, Crack Crossover, Percy Jackson Fusion, Percy Jackson References, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Angst, Hurt/Comfort)

The Weight of the World by KouriArashi (T, 67k, WangXian, XiYao, Pacific Rim Fusion, Robots, Monsters, robots fighting monsters, Family, Romance, Developing Relationship, Angst, (but not about the romances), Hurt/Comfort, Politics, Happy Ending)

The Altogether Ooky WangXian Family by FluffyHippogriff (T, 57k, WIP, WangXian, 3Zun, Modern AU, Addams Family AU, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, mostly because death can be overcome with the help of a little necromancy, Kid Fic, Comedy)

Wei Wuxian Makes a Wish series by natcat5 (M, 119k, wangxian, major character death, underage, madoka magica au, modern w/ magic, time travel, high school au, body horror, self-harm, angst w/ bittersweet ending, time loop, mental instability, suicidal thoughts)

❤️ kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight by AlfAlfAlfAlfAlf, tardigradeschool (T, 75k, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Eventual Happy Ending, Getting Together, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Inspired by The Parent Trap (1998), Kid Fic, teen shenanigans, two a-yuans, Fluff and Angst)

Extraordinary Attorney Wangji by PaidSubscription (T, 57k, WangXian, ChengQing, NieLan, Modern AU, Fluff, Slow Burn, Getting Together, Autistic LWJ, WWX Has ADHD, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Angst with a Happy Ending, Lawyers, Wholesome Wàngxiàn, Extraordinary Attorney Woo Storyline, Lan to the Wang to the Ji, LWJ Loves Rabbits, Neurodivergent Love)

Wei Wuxian is the Actual Bogeyman (no, really) by chatonnerie (T, 57k, WangXian, Rise of the Guardians AU, Crack, not gonna lie, i mean they literally call wwx the bogeyman my poor brain could not resist, TW:Death, I mean, Jack Frost cannonically dies)

Like a House on Fire by KouriArashi (T, 82k, WangXian, Modern au, Paramedics, Firefighters, Light angst, Mutual pining, Kid fic, Past drug use, Past child abuse, Families of choice, Domestic fluff, 9-1-1/9-1-1 lone star fusion)

A Journey in the Making by DawnCloud (G, 6k, WangXian, Pokemon AU)

of ghosts and graveyards by DiRoxy (T, 10k, WangXian, Pre-Relationship, Pokemon AU, Case Fic, ghost!WWX, Happy Ending, LWJ and JC Work Together, Depictions of Science Experiments on Pokemon, Shadow Pokemon, Clone Pokemon)

an armful of warmth by Alaceron (G, 3k, WangXian, Harry Potter Setting)

to this day, in your veins by HeylookGiraffes (G, 1k, LSZ & LWJ, WangXian, Harry Potter Setting, Hogwarts, Grief/Mourning, Father-Son Relationship)

Fire-Eyed Fury by NevillesGran (G, 6k, MDZS Cast Ensemble, October Daye Series - Seanan McGuire, Ballad 39: Tam Lin, Book 3: An Artificial Night, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, bullet point fic, An Artificial Night but (mostly) MDZS Characters)

our reflections as seen (when the water stills) by chatonnerie (E, 121k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, Tokyo Ghoul, TW:Blood, This is a ghoul au, but everyone is also in university, so dumb energy is peak, Gore, Body Horror, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Biting, both the gory, and the horny, WWX's inability to Shut Up)

what else is there? by mme_anxious (T, 12k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Swan Princess AU, Everybody Lives, who isn't already dead, Magic, Animal Transformation, Curses, Angst, Humor, Happy Ending, Kissing)

who cares when you're gone by camellialice (M, 22k, WangXian, Hades (Video Game) Fusion, Canon-Typical Levels of Self-Sacrifice, Canon-Typical Levels of Spitting Up Blood, Canon-Typical Levels of Pining)

The Untamed Effect by thievinghippo (T, 70k, WangXian, Science Fiction, Mass Effect Fusion, Giant monsters, slight body horror, It's the end of the world, and yet wangxian is still going strong, Happy Ending)

🧡 Song of Suibian and Bichen: Or, the Greatest (And Only) Furby Master of Demonic Cultivation by moonwaif (T, 64k, WangXian, Fix-It of Sorts, canon adjacent, The spiritual weapons are furbies, Angst with a Happy Ending, The parent trap but make it WangXian with furbies, Mutual Pining, Taking my favorite parts of every adaptation and smashing them together)

sempiternal | 但愿人长久 by auberjing (T, 12k, wangxian, post-canon, curses, curse breaking, animal transformation, shapeshifting, temporary character death, modern setting, angst w/ happy ending, animal crossing fusion)

Yiling Laozu's Moving Castle by Eleanor_Fenyx (T, 2k, wangxian, MXTX reverse trope fest, anti-deaging, howl’s moving castle au)

swinger of birches by astronicht (M, 23k, wangxian, modern w/ magic, Practical Magic au, grief/mourning, canonical character death, angst w/ happy ending, witches, necromancy)

Avatar: The Untamed Waterbender by KouriArashi (T, 181k, wangxian, JC/WQ, JC & WWX & JYL, Avatar fusion, action/adventure, families of choice, light angst, developing relationship, hurt/comfort, pining)

🧡i walk through your dreams and invent the future by TooSel (G, 21k, wangxian, major character death, time traveler’s wife fusion, canon compliant, time travel, friends to lovers, getting together, fluff, hurt/comfort, grief, angst w/ happy ending)

💖 I’d be the one to hold you down (kiss you so hard) by AlfAlfAlfAlfAlf & tardigradeschool (E, 85k, wangxian, JGY/LXC, NMJ/LXC, modern, leverage au, canon-typical violence, unhealthy relationships, depression, heists, found family, murder, hurt/comfort, angst w/ happy ending)

💖 The Eternal Recurrence by countingcr0ws (E, 51k, wangxian, time traveler’s wife au, underage kissing, time travel, romance, fatherhood, family, poetry, coming of age, getting together)

the cow says moo, the chicken says squawk, and the demon beast of yiling says by Dragonskye (T, 57k, wangxian, animal transformation, angst w/ happy ending, beauty and the beast fusion, falling in love, hurt/comfort, secret identity, pining)

far longer than forever by jaws_3 (G, 8k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Animal Transformation, Curses, sort of not really swan princess au, there's angry birds and love confessions)

It's not a fairytale by underwaves (M, 16k, wangxian, fantasy au, red riding hood fusion, war, grief/mourning, curses, animal transformation, angst w/ happy ending, animal death, temporary character death, hurt/comfort, fluff)

climb the sky, make the flight Series by exmanhater (E, 26k, WangXian, Dragons, Mating Flight (Dragonriders of Pern), Pern Fusion, First Time, Riding, Anal Fingering, LWJ is a service top, Fire Lizards, Established Relationship, 5+1 Things, Threadfall (Dragonriders of Pern), Telepathy)

change by antebunny (G, 16k, WangXian, WWX & JYL, LWJ & LXC, Star Wars Fusion, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff, Telepathy, because...the Force, Non-Graphic Violence, The Power of Love™, BAMF WWX, JYL is a queen, wwx is a little shit)

So You Accidentally Kidnapped A Qilin by Mikkeneko (T, 83k, WangXian, Juuni Kokki | Twelve Kingdoms Fusion, yzy's a+ parenting, Identity Issues, Cultivator Politics, Yin Iron Poisoning, Most people live, by 'most people' i mean xy lives, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Feels, JC & WWX Reconciliation, Mutual Pining, Miscommunication, Getting Together, Temporary Character Death, Happy Ending, Pacifist WWX)

Child Surprise by Ariaste (T, 4k, WangXian, The Witcher, The Law of Surprise (The Witcher), Canon Temporary Character Death, Fluff and Angst, but only a teeny bit of angst, they're married, they have a son)

Magical Mishaps by Theladyofravenclaw (T, 96k, WangXian, XuanLi, ChengQing, SangNing, Harry Potter Setting, Modern with Magic, Hogwarts, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Just something light, pure shenanigans, Mutual Pining, background 3zun, Misunderstandings)

Half Agony, Half Hope by queenklu (T, 105k, WangXian, XiYao, ChengQing, XuanLi, NieLan, Jane Austen Fusion, persuasion au, Pining, Broken Engagement, Secrets, Espionage, Child Injury, Terrible Parents (YZY and JFM), Past Child Neglect)

🧡The World We Made by updatebug (T, 80k, WangXian, The Old Guard fusion, Immortals, Immortal LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Reincarnation, Modern AU, The Old Guard AU, Temporary Character Death)

Lan Wangji vs. The World by huxiyi (E, 21k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Scott Pilgrim References, Scott Pilgrim fusion, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Crack, Crack Crossover, fucking while pining, or is it pining while fucking, with a soundtrack!!!!, idiots to lovers)

We Wish You A Logical Christmas by little_ogre (M, 9k, WangXian, Star Trek AU, Mutual Pining, Happy Ending, Going to Vulcan for Christmas, WWX is Vulcan, LWJ is human, what could go wrong, Pon Farr)

Season of Resurrection by Pyrrti (G, 1k, wangxian, pre-relationship, reunions, sky children of the light fusion, multiple POV, LSZ pov, LWJ pov, WWX pov)

his heart, unhaltered by starlistic (M, 26k, WangXian, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, Winter Soldier AU, Brainwashing, Torture, Recovery)

hold you like a victory by Fleetling (T, 13k, wangxian, LXC & LWJ & LQR, The Scorpio Races au, horse racing, tenderness, promises, getting together, first kiss, oceans, storms, celtic mythology & folklore, sharing a bed, literal sleeping together, wound tending, discussion of death)

south of somewhere, north of nowhere by silversshadow (T, 25k, wangxian, BSSR/LY, SZH/XXC, JYL/JZX, xxxholic au, modern, canon divergence)

我拿青春赌明天 / I’ll wager my youth against tomorrow by tombenough_and_continent (T, 37k, Wangxian, This is How You Lose the Time War au, scifi au, historical au, time travel, love letters, enemies to lovers)

By Sun and Candle-Light by tangerinechar (T, 15k, wangxian, modern, Good Omens au, pining, roommates, fluff, misunderstandings)

still breathing series by northofallmusic (tofsla) (M, 11k, wangxian, Dishonored au, past character death, outsider WWX, hopeful ending, mild gore, the void, and being in love with it, dubcon, body horror)

And I Think It's Gonna Be a Long, Long, Time by sketchyscribbles (M, 21k, WangXian, ChengSang, XuanLi, Science Fiction, the martian!au, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Mutual Pining, wwx attempting the impossible, Happy Ending, Minor Violence, minor 3zun, Minor Injuries, Outer Space)

The Return Of the (Yiling) Sith by Zephyr (ZephyrAndTheSilverfish) (T, 23k, WangXian, SongXiao, Star Wars Setting, Hurt/Comfort, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Canon-Typical Violence, POV Alternating, The Force, Kidnapping, Pining, IN SPACE!)

~*~

#Wangxian Fic Rec #The Untamed #wangxian #MDZS #wangxianficfinder compilation post #long post #crossovers #fusions

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distinguished-slacker · 1 year

Text

Please ignore this post I am just creating a checklist for when Mitsuba will get screentime so I will know how many of the facts (including silly ones) I brought up these past years about her have been addressed:

☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️

Mitsuba’s demon debut (I hope it’s not another child-looking one…)

The mitsudomoe tattoo on her demon’s chest (does the tattoo imply the demon is Mitsuba’s or the Sangū clan’s possession? does Aoi’s demon have it too?)

Both fanbooks and the Bloody Blades game saying Mitsuba’s axe’s ability is to manifest an infinite number of demons (yet we only see her manifesting three at most so is she perhaps not using her cursed gear to its full potential or is it just Yamamoto not wanting to draw all that?)

Fanbook 8.5 stating there is no difference in strength between the demons of first to third rank (so Mitsuba’s demon shouldn’t be weaker than those of her squadmates)

What the hell was that time when some of her arm was sliced by Crowley, there was blood but then the next chapter she was surprised that there was no injury?

The similar names of Mitsuba and Aoi’s demons (note: Tenjiryū “Heaven-shaped dragon” and Chijiryū “Earth-shaped dragon”; are their demons perhaps related too? siblings? twins? halves of each other?)

Why is Mitsuba’s demon named after the sky and yet her manifestations come from the earth she cracks?

Why is Aoi’s cursed gear golden?

Why does the hilt of Aoi’s cursed gear have three-leaf clover symbol and drawings? (note: Mitsuba’s name means “three-leaf clover”)

Mitsuba backstory flashback chapter when?

The Sangū clan curse making all of its members blonde (note: the LN mentioned both hair colour-related curses of the Jūjō and Sangū clans but only the Jūjō’s backstory was explained)

Parents (were they good parents and why the hell did they appear out of nowhere?; judging by Mitsuba’s reaction to seeing them I feel like they were good…at least to her)

Did their parents name their daughters that way for a reason or was it just them being silly? (note: “Aoi” refers to a two-leafed plant while “Mitsuba” refers to a three-leafed plant yet they are the first and second daughters; is there perhaps another one?)

Why Mitsuba has such a bad relationship with Aoi?

Her feelings for Aoi

Did Kagami intentionally make Aoi start serve Kureto the same year Mitsuba was born? (Aoi was 7 at the time, the same age gap she has with Mitsuba, suggesting that Aoi was never around since Mitsu was born)

When did Mitsu join the army and how long did it take her to join the Vampire Extermination Unit?

Why did she join the army? (nepotism? forced to? had a desire to prove herself?; note: in one of the CD dramas Shinoa had to ask that question to her squad and Mitsuba was the only one who didn’t answer because she was too uncomfortable to say it)

How was her life with her previous squad?

How was her life after her squad died?

Why is she not loyal to the Hīragis?

When and under what circumstances did she meet Shinoa?

The weird stares she gives at Shinoa when she is with Yuu (I am placing my bets she is not jealous of Shinoa and rather she is just intrigued by her sudden emotional moments when she is with Yuu because the Shinoa she knows has always kept everyone at a distance…maybe she was also hurt that Shinoa appreciated more Yuu worrying for her in chapter 99 than Mitsuba worrying about her since Shinoa kinda half ignored her in chapter 86…also read a theory saying she fears Yuu and Shinoa getting together and leaving her behind just like Aoi did with Kureto)

Her feelings for Yuu (please don’t let her have an ‘officially confirmed’ crush on him)

Her feelings for Shinoa (note: in the fanbook 108 she said she worries for Shinoa the most and that Yuu comes second; it would be so good if she tried to get knock some sense into Shinoa for um…well, you know)

Her inferiority complex towards her squad

How she felt when abandoning the army

How she felt after failing to prevent Yuu from getting kidnapped

How she felt after being left alone when the war broke out

How she felt when she did was the only one of her squad to not contribute in the defeat of Shikama Dōji

If she is aware she is never contributing during conversations

Her view on the resurrection plan (is she actually going to resurrect her parents?)

Mitsuba’s desire

✔️: if the point is partially addressed

☑️: if fully addressed

✅: if one of the possibilities/theories mentioned becomes true

I hope that by the end of this year at least 2 of these points are addressed🤧 A lot of years ago Kagami said there is something awaiting Mitsuba and in the autograph session last Autumn he confirmed he has plans for her. So let me hope🥹…

#I will tick these as the months go by #but tbh even if she gets screentime I doubt some of these will be addressed #some are quite silly after all #I hope I am not missing anything #most hardcore *self-proclaimed* Mitsuba stan ever #come on Kagami you can do it #don’t ruin her for a man #or for ships in general #it would be kinda embarassing if she got ruined after all I’ve written #owari no seraph #seraph of the end #mitsuba sanguu #mitsuba sangu #mitsuba sangū #sangu mitsuba

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misty-zzz · 9 months

Text

BROKEN TITANS AU

my msm au lol, 🤩🤩

Just some things I wanna say:

Some parts maybe similar to the fs AU, this au is inspired by the fs au. But most of the time, I thought of those parts before I got to read the similar parts.

ANYWAYS, plz enjoy 😋😋

Tootoo is literally a self insert, I swear

🌈☁️🌈☁️🌈☁️🌈☁️🌈☁️🌈☁️🌈☁️

Tootoo wasn’ t the happiest today, a party for Sky Painting was going right outside the castle. She didn’t exactly like the fire works, or just being at a party in general. “I wish the party could just end…” complains the Tootoo. The party had been going on for hours. The door opens, Sooza enters the room, “ I hope the party isn’t too loud,” she says locking the door. “It’s alright Sooza, but how was it for you?” Asks Tootoo. Sooza plops onto the bottom part of the bunk bed they shared. “It was alright, mostly hanged out with pluckbill.”

Tootoo gets back to what ever they were doing before. “Whatcha doing anyways?” Sooza climbs to the top bunk. “You’re making a lot of noise, and I can’t read my comic!”

“I’m putting up these posters I drew,” drawings of Tootoo’s original characters hangs on the wall. “I forget that you’re a really good drawer.” Sooza gets up onto the bed. “What’s their name?” She points at an almost hoo-man like character. “That’s Delta, she’s a mix of a hoo-man and what the hoo-mans call, I think they’re called a dragon..?” It responds. “Well that’s very cool, but I think we should both go to sleep.” Sooza climbs back down, and gets to bed.

Tootoo wakes up. Everyone in the castle wakes up. Everyone on the island wakes up. A shift within the titan made everyone awakened. “Sooza, what was that…” Tootoo hangs off the edge of the bunk bed looking at her sister. “I don’t know, but I don’t want to check it out.” Tootoo thinks for a moment, “Well… you keep on being a Snooza, but I want to check it out.” Tootoo climbs down, with the soft bells from the shoes making that soft noise. “Be safe, dont die, or get lost…”

Tootoo walks outside, to see many more monster on light island crowded around trying to figure out what just happened. Monsters all spoke about their theories. Most monsters were convinced it was an earthquake. Even if it was a small one, Tootoo wasn’t fully convinced by this. “But Light island isnt on top of any tectonic plates…” mumbles Tootoo, remembering their lessons from school. So they go off away from this crowd. It was too loud anyways.

She goes to the edge of the island. Near the eyes of phosphorus. She sits on the edge, they like to have her legs dangle, but was also scared that she might fall off into the endless ocean below. Tootoo’s hands feel groves and cracks. “This island is one of the younger islands. It shouldn’t have this many cracks at this age…” She traces the cracks, which seemed to form from the eyes, and they where opened…

I hoped you like this au im working on!!!

sorry if there’s any mistakes

#msm #my singing monsters #msm au #fanfic #alternate universe #Uhh an au I made #Broken Titan au #Msm Broken Titan

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navree · 2 years

Text

the misfortune of house of the dragon brainrot is that i remember shit from game of thrones and then i get mad and i was recently reminded of “robert’s rebellion was built on a lie” which makes me so unambiguously furious i’m finally gonna crack down and enumerate that fury to the rest of the populace in what may be my longest ramble to date.

so, first things first, i’m gonna be so very brave and ignore the emotions and everything behind rhaegar running off with lyanna, ignore the skeeviness of this man in his midtwenties pursuing a young teenager and the skeeviness of doing it while married and how much of a dick fucking move that is to do to elia who didn’t deserve any of that from her shit husband, ignore whether or not rhaegar and lyanna were in love or if it was kidnapping or whatever, because that’s not important.

what’s important is that the crown prince, the heir to the throne, next in line to the seat of power, committed an egregious offense against three major political powers. the foundational building block of robert’s rebellion isn’t about whether or not rhaegar and lyanna were “in love”, it’s about how rhaegar insulted house stark by taking a member of their family into custody in a way that puts her reputation at risk, he insulted house baratheon by taking someone who had been promised to a baratheon (it sounds awful to phrase it like that but this is how it would be seen in westerosi society), and he grievously insulted house martell by publicly shaming and humiliating a martell princess in a deeply embarrassing way. robert’s rebellion is built on rhaegar looking at his house’s allies and friends and essentially spitting on their faces.

and even then, that’s not what kicks off robert’s rebellion. what the rhaegar and lyanna situation does is kick off the starks going to the crown, to the legal head of the country, and wanting the situation dealt with. brandon, though somewhat brashly, is well within his rights to go to his king and say that he and his family have been dealt a grievous offense and that it needs to be addressed and rectified in some way. aerys’s response to that is to kill two members of that family, brandon and rickard, in an unseemly and brutal way, all for using the proper channels available to them to try and find a way to address a problem, an insult being done to them and their family, and then after aerys murders them for it because the idea happens to offend him, because he’s nuts, he then demands that two people who haven’t done anything at all yet, another stark son and lyanna’s baratheon fiancé, be handed over to him to also be executed.

what happens to brandon and rickard isn’t the only thing that’s seen as morally bankrupt in the eyes of westeros, it’s also aerys ordering that jon arryn break faith and hand over two teenagers who haven’t done anything or started any conflict themselves because they are also part of the wronged parties from his own son’s apparent fuck up. that is what causes jon arryn to summon his banners. that is what robert’s rebellion was built on, aerys’s actions following rhaegar’s. because aerys has, in modern parlance, broken the social contract (for anyone who isn’t as big a dork as i am about historical politics, the social contract is a theory/model that argues that individuals consent to be ruled by an authority and trade away certain freedoms in exchange for the remainder of those rights being protected in a safe and maintained social order, and that when a ruler breaks that promise by becoming too despotic or creating a breakdown in the social order, the populace is no longer beholden to uphold their end as well in consenting to be governed).

now, westeros doesn’t have a solid concept of the social contract because that’s something that only became a talked about thing during our age of enlightenment (mid 1600s to early 1800s AD) it’s a pseudo-medieval society, roughly equivalent to, like, the 800s AD (given that the doom of valyria is meant to be this world’s equivalent to the fall of the roman empire, which happened in 400 AD, while the doom happens about 400 years before the events of asoiaf). but there’s clearly some element of “we will allow ourselves to submit to your rule on the condition that you be good to us as a ruler, or else we will no longer allow said rule”, because that’s the entire basis for northern independence in the main books. the northerners believe that joffrey, in executing ned so suddenly and unceremoniously, on what are largely viewed to be trumped up charges, has broken the baratheon line’s social contract with the north, and thus do not need to uphold their own end of the contract, thereby declaring rebellion and fighting against that regime. and that’s what happens with robert’s rebellion. the arryns, starks, and baratheons have decided that, through the actions of it’s head (aerys) and it’s second in command (rhaegar), house targaryen has broken it’s side of the social contract, which means they no longer have to consent to be ruled by house targaryen, and will fight against house targaryen’s actions against them at that point.

robert’s rebellion was not, and never had been, built on the idea that lyanna wasn’t in love with rhaegar. that might have been robert’s own personal motivation, but that didn’t factor into the rebellion at large. robert’s rebellion was built on the really bad decisions made by prominent political actors in westeros, and how everyone responded to them. the main issue was that a group of powerful people saw that the other side of the social contract had violated that contract, decided to react, then everyone else chose sides based on who they supported in that decision and promptly duked it out for a year until one side ultimately won.

and man does that one line really encapsulate that season 8 gets the brunt of the backlash for being unbearably awful but basically everything that happened from them taking main control away from the books onward was just the height of stupidity, in every way.

#personal #asoiaf #anti game of thrones #i should have a tag for the specific moments when i write mini essays on here about shit i know none of you care about #but yeah i despise that line fuck that line #like whether or not the fifteen year old and the 25 married guy were in deep unconditional love doesn't matter #(even tho rhaegar is a huge asshole and elia should be allowed to hit him with a hammer)#(and then lyanna can borrow the hammer for robert who also sucks and will always suck but that's not the point here)#robert's rebellion started when aerys acted like a monster and essentially made the executions of brandon and rickard #the straw that broke the camel's back #also rhaegar's an idiot for knowing for a while at that point that his dad is unfit to rule and not doing anything about it #but that's it's own thing #really aerys and rhaegar are a textbook example of how birthright monarchy is just a giant fucking scam

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dynamite-derek · 6 months

Text

Super Mario RPG: An effective trojan horse

In 1992, a game called Final Fantasy Mystic Quest released. Despite being a Japanese game developed by Japanese developers, it had an English language target audience. Role Playing Games, specifically of the turn based variety, were all the rage in Japan. Dragon Quest in particular was so popular that kids would skip school to pick it up. You see, back in the stone age, there were no digital games. If you couldn't secure a physical copy, you were out of luck. So what does a young man who wants to fight slimes do? Skip school. According to an interview with Game Informer, police asked Enix to release their games on the weekend to avoid this. So they did.

But this sort of hysteria for role playing games was not seen in America. Yeah, there were definitely people who would camp out and try to snag a copy of Super Mario Brothers 2 or something, but there wasn't a bunch of nerdy kids trying to bum rush the store to see what the hell Cecil and Kain were up to. So Squaresoft wanted to fix this and their solution was Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It was supposed to be a trojan horse into the genre. Instead of being overly complex and dense, it was simple and easy to approach. You get a small taste...but you still crave more. Yes, JRPGs are crack cocaine.

While RPGs would eventually find a foothold in the states, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest wasn't exactly successful in its mission. Whenever you hear people reminisce fondly about Super Nintendo RPGs, you very rarely hear someone wax poetically about Mystic Quest. In fact, I would argue it is one of the more 'obscure' Final Fantasy games despite its mission to act as an entryway for children. Square's intended trojan horse was a dud, but there's one other game a suspicious number of people think fondly of. It also goes for the same 'simplistic approach to a complicated genre' thing Mystic Quest went for.

That game is Super Mario RPG. I speak of it in a similar 'trojan horse to the genre' way as Mystic Quest because that was quite literally the case for me. I had never heard the letters "RPG" together before. I was an eight year old and all I knew about the game was that it starred Mario and the screenshots in gamepro looked cool as hell. I remember playing this game for the first time vividly. My eyes had just gotten dilated because they were testing my vision and my dad decided to rent me a game to make my suffering less apparent. I saw Super Mario RPG and the choice was obvious. Everything about the world charmed me.

I loved the music and the quirky dialogue. I felt there were a lot of mysteries in the world to see that were just beyond my reach. For instance, I spent hours trying to figure out what Toadstool's "???" was. I tried to figure out where Toad's bazooka was because if he mentioned it, that must mean he has one somewhere and maybe he could join my party! Hell, some kid at school told me about a weird glitch in the beginning of the game where if you pressed a bunch of buttons in some sort of order you would trigger three hidden characters who would join your party. I spent hours trying to figure out how to get Yoshi to leave Yoshi's Island and come with me. Things like hidden treasure boxes and the lazy shell actually existing in game helped propel these wild theories.

Basically, if you experienced the Pokemon phenomenon of the 90s, you know where I'm coming from. It was impossible to be on a school ground and not hear about moving the truck for Mew or learning about Bill's Secret Garden or Pikablu. Mario RPG was that for me on a much smaller scale. I had never seen a game with such a fleshed out story before. In short, I was hooked.

This discovery led me to many other video games I might not have tried otherwise. It led me to renting Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV (2), Final Fantasy VI (3) and basically anything that I thought had turn based combat. Basically this simplistic game featuring Mario fighting a scary blacksmith kicked off my lifelong fascination with a genre. My excursion to a rental store as an eight year old probably led Squaresoft (now Square Enix) to profit thousands of dollars from me alone. And given the reverence surrounding this game, there's just no way I'm alone.

If you go back and play Super Mario RPG as an adult, it's still a really good time. As someone with a great deal of nostalgia for it, it's hard for me to look at it objectively. But when I compare SMRPG to its contemporaries, I really don't think it measures up. The gameplay is simplistic and laughably easy - the game's super boss Culex would probably be seen as a mid tier boss in Final Fantasy IV - there isn't a whole lot of depth to how you build your characters, the item inventory is extremely simple and easy to manage and the game's stages are very easy to navigate. SNES RPGs could feel labyrinthian at times and that's before I get to stuff like Shin Megami Tensei, which released in 1992.

This isn't to say that SMRPG is a bad game. It absolutely isn't. While it is simplistic, I think there are four things that carry it a long way. The things that make it a game that hooked countless children and made them RPG addicts.

First is the undeniable charm of everything. Super Mario RPG is bursting with personality. The story does not have a lot of depth, but the character dialogue is all interesting and quirky. If you compare it to the NPC dialogue of something like Final Fantasy IV, I think it's a lot more interesting. Children's media tends to be brightly colored and loud and I would suggest SMRPG fits in with that. Even the volcano world is full of personality and color. Who could forget the Axim Rangers? I remember thinking it was hilarious that you had to sleep on the boxes at the volcano Inn.

Second is the music. As is typical with most Squaresoft RPGs of the 90s, the soundtrack is excellent. If you pull up a random youtuber's videos, odds are you will hear a Super Mario RPG track at some point. The music is distinct and memorable. Honestly, as far as SNES RPGs are concerned, I think it hangs with Chrono Trigger and Earthbound in the sound department. This is insanely high praise and if this is your first experience with a game like this, you will remember these tunes.

Third is the fact that it is a Mario game. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest's main character is Benjamin. Not exactly a memorable name like Cloud or Cecil. His Japanese name was Zash though, I guess that's kinda cool! This game stars Mario. As a child, you could slap that plumber's face on anything and I would instantly buy it. Recruiting Princess Toadstool (before everyone knew her name was Peach) and Bowser into your party was just the coolest thing. This wasn't the first Mario spin-off, but it was probably the first one that didn't make you shove your head in a history book. People love those characters, so sticking them in a quirky and colorful world is going to make for a beloved game.

Lastly is the difficulty. It's no secret that RPGs used to be a lot more grindy than they are now. It's something you either love or you hate. SMRPG does not require a grind at all. You certainly *can* if you want to, but you don't have to be anywhere near the max level to finish off the game and even then, I think on my most recent run everybody was fairly close to it anyway and I assure you I did not go out of my way to fight goombas. This is a game that was designed to be beaten. No matter how much a kid runs into a wall, they will probably find a way to come out on top. So you leave this beautiful colorful and quirky game feeling good about yourself because you beat it. There is maybe one non-Culex boss that could be defined as 'that boss' and it's a monster wedding cake. ...Ya see what I mean about a world full of personality?

The things surrounding the actual game take what could have just been a ho-hum average experience and elevates it to the next level. You will see RPG snobs turn their nose up at this game because of its simplicity, but I think SMRPG accomplished exactly what it was trying to do. It created a horde of people invested in RPGs. Even if they didn't stick with other games in the genre like I did, they probably tried at least one or two others.

Whether intentionally done or not, Super Mario RPG achieved what Final Fantasy Mystic Quest set out to do. While I don't think there's any chance the remake will be able to capture that same magic, I would bet that a lot of 30+ year old men and women will be sitting in front of their televisions this weekend feeling that they've gone back in time. Cursing Sakurai for not placing Geno in Smash. Feeling like they need to figure out how to get Luigi to join your party because that one star in star road was clearly written by him and god dammit he is probably stronger than mallow at least right?

It's not the best game. But it is a beautiful one.

#Super Mario RPG #video games #nintendo #nintendo switch #retro games #gaming #jrpgs.#rpgs #Geno

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chipmunkfanno1love · 2 years

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Ellis vs Queen Aanya: Who Could Win Ezran’s Heart?

As we can see from the Season 4 trailers, our little boy Ezran is growing up. He really grown from that plucky, jelly-tart stealing young 10 year old into a wise and belevolent preteen king.

Since our young king is heading into his teenage years, I’m sure he’s going to experience all the struggles of puberty, e.g. voice cracking, hormones, etc. While it may not be the focus of this coming season considering the young king has other priorities, I have a feeling that it won’t be long before Callum eventualy has that “Peanut Butter Talk” with his younger half-brother, i.e. the talk about romantic crushes and falling in love. There is certainly no rush for Ezran to have a love interest as he’s still got a bit of growing up to do, and I’m not saying Ezran even needs a love interest...still...the possiblity of our young king developing his first crush this coming season and eventually falling in love and starting a romantic relationship in future seasons is just too adorable of a theory to pass up in terms of discussions. 😁🥰

There is a possiblitiy that they could introduce a totally new character to be his future love interest, but so far I’ve already met two characters who I believe could possibly have great romantic chesmistry with the young king of Katolis.

Those characters are Ellis, the peasant girl who guided Ezran, Callum and Rayla up the Cursed Caldera to find the mysterious healer.

The other is Queen Anaya, the wise and snarky child queen of Duren.

Here I’m going to discuss why I think either of these young ladies could make a good romantic match for the young king, and you can comment on which of the two you think would make a better match for Ezran.

Ellis:

I personally love this as a potential ship, mainly because I think that Ellis is one of the few children close to Ezran’s age that he’s actually bonded with. In one episode and even the official website description have stated that Ezran has had difficulty making friends with other human children around his age, so seeing him get along so well with Ellis is a good sign.

Both children seem to have such a strong bond with animals. Ezran has a particularly special bond with his pet glowtoad, Bait, and of course the Dragon Prince, Azymondias aka “Zym”. Ellis of course has her special and unbreakable bond with Ava, her pet wolf that she rescued from a hunters trap as a cub. Through their special bond with animals, I’m sure these two cuties would grow a mutual bond and sense of empathy with each other as well. Both would feel it’s important to treat animals like they’re people too.

They both have similar couragous, adventurous, and optimistic personalities, and always stand up for what they believe is right, even if it means risking their own lives in the process.

I definitely believe Ellis would encourage Ezran to follow his heart and do what is right for the kingdom of Katolis. I imagine she’d be very supportive of his pacifism and possibly has similar beliefs herself as shown in her disgust in traps being set for animals. She’s good for Ezran in that she’ll encourage him to be true to himself and will encourage him to have fun when he needs a break from royal duties.

I personally think that Ellis shares a similar quirky, stubborn and kind personality to Queen Sarai, who herself came from a lower class background before she became the queen of Katolis. They also have a similar playful sense of humour. Though Ezran was too young to remember his mother, perhaps he’ll find “something fimilar” about Ellis’s demenour and therefore grows to be quite attracted to her emotionally because of that.

If Ellis marries Ezran, Ellis will have the means to provide for her poor family, and Ezran will not hesitate to care for his in-laws out care for them and love for Ellis. Like Sarai, Ellis may struggle with royal life at first, but in time I believe Ellis may herself will grow into a compassionate, brave queen of Katolis and perhaps in time become a loving mother to Ezran’s children. :D

Overall, I think that Ellis will make a wonderful romanctic match for Ezran in that she’d be a kindered spirit to him and a best friend, which is exactly what Ezran needs in a future wife and queen. Still, just because they’re very similar and seem to have a great bond both together and with animals, is that enough to make good romantic chemistry, or do you prefer them just to remain good friends? Perhaps someone more opposite to Ezran could give them better romantic chemistry.

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Aanya:

Like King Ezran, Queen Aanya had to grow up quickly and take up the throne of Duren at such a young age due to the tragic death of her parents. Like Ezran, she never knew her two mothers, so she could empathise with Erzan’s pain in not being able to remember his own mother.

Aanya could also relate to Ezran’s struggles with trying to taken seriously as a child monarch, and being the more experienced ruler, I’m sure she has a lot of wisdom to pass down to her slightly younger and less experienced ruler.

While both Ezran and Aanya are very similar in their situations in that both are orphans and child monarchs of their respective kingdoms, in their personalities and points of view they are extremely different.

While both are compassionate and peaceful rulers who want to make the best decisions they can for their respective kingdoms, Ezran is a ruler that makes decisions with his heart. While this makes him a kind and just ruler, it also makes him naive and overly trusting of others to the point where people could take advantage of his merciful demenour and use his trusting nature against him.

Aanya however is a ruler who prefers to make decisions with her head. She is cautious and not quick to make judgements until she has all the facts. While this makes her a wise and sensible queen, it may also make her cynical and supicious of others. Due to the many assassination attempts on her life, it’s not suprising that Aanya is not so quick to put trust in others, still it is also doesn’t help her in making deeper and more intimate connections with others.

I believe that both Ezran and Aanya have a lot to learn from each other, both as monarchs and as individuals. Aanya being a more cautious individual would encourage Ezran to think through all his decisions and would encourage him not to jump on the first option that feels right. She’d encourage him to consider all the pros and cons of each decision, and therefore she would help Ezran make wiser and more rational decisions in his leadership. She could help him grow not just as a king, but as a person as well.

Ezran on the other hand could bring out Aanya’s less serious and more playful side. He could help Aanya to laugh and have fun and remember that while she is leader of a country, she is also a person - and a young person at that. Ezran could help Aanaya to embrace the more playful side of herself, and perhaps with time he’ll soften her hard edges and bring out the more emotional, vunerable side of herself. The young king of Katolis may find Aanya’s snarky personality amusing and as a result the two could have laughs together and develop a deeper bond and trust with each other that they didn’t realise they could have.

When it comes to decisions like going to war, Ezran is a firm pacifist who refuses to put the lives of others in danger and does what he can to avoid violence and war at all costs. Aanya on the other hand is more pragmatic when it comes to war. As we’ve seen from the Season 3 finale, she’s obviously a skilled warrior who can handle herself in battle (as shown when she took down the mutated Kasef with her impressive archery skills) and therefore is obviously not against going to war if she feels there is no other choice. Out of care for her people and perhaps to save resources and men, she’ll obviously avoid going to war if it’s possible and try to rely on her diplomacy skills instead. Hopefully Ezran and Aanya would come to a respectful compromise when it comes to war. I believe both of them would want to do what’s best for protecting their people and would come up with a clever solution to create peace with their political rivals. With Aanya’s strategic mind and Ezran’s optimistic attitude, I’m sure they’d make a great diplomatic team.

One big plus about them forming a romantic connection opens the possiblity that they could marry in the future, and as a result unite their two kingdoms of Katolis and Duren together. It could be a great political decision for both of their kingdoms, but I certainly hope that their decision to marry would be made purely out of love for each other and not simply a political match.

I see a lot of opportunity for them in terms of developing a romantic relationship, but I could also see them simply as supportive allies and perhaps even friends. Either way, I certainly would love to see more interactions between these child monarchs in the future and see for myself which direction I think their relationship is heading. If they do fall in love though, I could see them having a similar romantic relationship to Astrid and Hiccup from the "How to Train Your Dragon" franchise.

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One thing that Ezran has common with both girls is his love of sweets and baked goods. While his favourite treat is obviously jelly tarts, Ellis’s favourite treat is winter-berry pie and Aanya’s is peach and pear cobbler. If he does date either of these two girls, I wonder if he'll invite either of them to a picnic of sweet treats and perhaps even go on a tart stealing adventure with one of them in the kitchen. Adorable, funny and delicious, lol. 😆🥰

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What are your thoughts? Which of these two pretty young ladies do you think is a better romantic match for Ezran? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

#THE DRAGON PRINCE #ellis the dragon prince #king ezran #ezran the dragon prince #queen anaya #the dragon prince shipping #the dragon prince season 4 #the dragon prince future seasons #tdp ezran #ellis #aanya #the dragon prince

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