#maybe none of this is original

[laplacesbeetle]

Okay so I don't know where I heard it or where it came from (it might be canon for all I know idk Homestuck was long as shit I don't remember) but supposedly Knights lack whatever their aspect is within their session. For example, Dave's session, as the Knight of Time, was only about a day long and then Karkat, as the Knight of Blood... well, I don't really know but I assume it's because he hid his blood colour? I'm not really sure... Anyway, I think this is interesting for two reasons.

First of all--and this one holds no bearing on the narrative or anything, I just thought it was interesting--Time is associated with music, and while the beta kids' session is supposed to lack Time, each kid knows an instrument (or is otherwise musically inclined cuz idk if turntables are considered an instrument exactly lmao). John plays piano, Rose plays violin, Jade plays guitar, and Dave plays(?) turntables. I mean, I guess they already lack Time in the most literal sense of the aspect, so I guess if the theory is true it might stick to something more literal rather than encompassing the whole of the aspect or something like that idk. And actually, come to think of it, Time being associated with music may just be fanon as well that I've taken to be true solely because it's been hanging around in my head for so long.

But I digress. Long story short there is their session is apparently supposed to lack Time, Time is associated with music, each kid knows how to play an instrument, and therefore they don't lack that aspect of the aspect (lmao). Which doesn't mean anything, it's just interesting.

Anyway, second of all. And still operating under the assumption that Knights lack their aspect in their session here btw. I think it's probably more like they lack their aspect until they don't. Because for Dave their initial session is only about a day long until he, Rose, and the (remaining) trolls have to hang around in the Veil(?) for 3 years waiting for John and Jade and stuff. I.e., they're lacking Time until they got a whole hell of a lot of it. Similar goes for Karkat, I think, with the whole bloodbath Gamzee situation. I.e., they're lacking Blood until there's a whole hell of a lot of it.

Though I guess maybe that bloodloss is supposed to be the lack in the first place? Whatever man. That's just what I've been thinking lately k thx bye xoxo

#homestuck #knight class #dave strider #john egbert #rose lalonde #jade harley #karkat vantas #gamzee makara #time aspect #blood aspect #claspect #is this even anything #maybe none of this is original #maybe i'm just making shit up #posting this scares the shit out of me #if you see this be nice to me please and thank you

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

Honestly there's no one I'd rather be on a forced saving-the-world road trip with than the origins gang. Sorry kotor companions sorry bg3 companions but no one does it like the origins gang. They are a family they are insane they are not to be fucked with they never would have been friends if they were given a choice in the matter. The perfect road trip squad.

They consist of the best dog in thedas, the worlds most royal himbo, a demi-god shapeshifting witch, a bisexual assassin nun, a bisexual assassin orphan, a powerful spell-slinging grandma living on borrowed time (who is bffs with a spirit), a giant spy man who doesn't know how to function by himself, the worlds grossest dwarf, and a giant statue that has a life goal to kill all birds.

#dragon age #dragon age origins #barkspawn #alistair theirin #morrigan #leliana #zevran arainai #wynne dragon age #sten #oghren #shale #i just want to travel with them ok #i realize none of what I said about their dynamic is something kotor/bg3 companions lack #there's just something about the origins group that makes them especially compelling to me #maybe it's the setting idk #the fact everything around them is dreary and grey #they're like all just trying to hard to simply eek by #and if none of them ever met each other they'd all still be nobodies #and they hate each other and they need each other and they love each other

[maulfucker]

So fucked up that obimaul is a rarepair. What do you mean not everyone is obsessed with enemies to lovers with a Force connection, where one side is completely obsessed with the other who barely acknowledges him (but is just as affected)

#hm i should make an original post tag #obimaul #like. say what you want but obi-wan saw a random dathomirian zabrak and immediately went 'maul?? alive??' #he DOES care about maul he just doesn't actively seek him out like maul does #post prompted by this song that makes me think about Maul in his crime lord era‚ all the luxury of the world within his reach‚ #but none of it satisfies him because what he really wants is to find (and kill) kenobi #'another night up in the best suite; everything's gone wrong already‚ my body admits; dreaming so high the floor is the limit; #once again i got lost.. [...] another night i give myself‚ top of a skyscraper; i'm the king of the world‚ dreams for rent; #and when i look at myself i sigh with a low voice‚ 'i don't feel bad i just feel nothing'' #(<- song is são paulo‚ 2015 by jão) #it's a song about feeling dissatisfied with the life of fame because there's an emptiness he can't fill with sex drugs or luxuries #and from the context of the album it's likely he's thinking about a past lover he's still not over #so. imagine with me. #i might make something out of this. maybe. #but like. posting about songs that make me think obimaul thoughts. not very productive. almost no audience. #... and while making this post i've been attacked by yet another song with a very obimaul words #'lie to me‚ run from me‚ we swear it doesn't count‚ in this way of ours‚ but it's not because i hate you that i can't kiss you anymore' #<- pilantra by jão and anitta

[unpretty]

Hi, I just learned about fuckbot9000..... And read your entire fuckbot9000 thread. You really have a way of writing the most ridiculous (complimentary) stories that pull me RIGHT in. I really enjoyed biffany harassing the host, it fept feral in ALL the right ways

god. perhaps in this era of dropout gamechanger and locking contestants in a room with no explanation, fuckbot9000's time has finally come

#original #writeblogging #fuckbot9000 #unfortunately i would have to rewrite THE WHOLE THING because none of the bits i wrote are salvagable #maybe snippets of bits but nothing with actual like. plot or substance. i fucked that all up like i did with the bear shifter.

[maudiemoods]

His little found family that he RUINED

Some of them got little redesigns!

#none of them are in a relationship #maybe some were in a talking phase but didn't go anywhere before eclipse killed them all #beings made of stardust #beings made of stardust au #maudiemoods art tag #original characters #ocs #he as in eclipse #for context jdmdksks idk wkjsj #i love them so much

[mispronouncing-michaelangelo]

"It was always stuck on the happy color," he gave a dry chuckle. "Even at the hospital. That's how we knew it was all bullshit." 

okay but like,, what is he WAS happy,, what then huh xue yang,, what if he was able to find peace and happiness knowing that his family was there with him,,, what about that??

based on the fic the thread that binds us by @wifiwuxians

#song lan #xiao xingchen #a qing #xue yang #okay this took so fucking long #and tumblr has decided to eat the quality #but thats none of my business #im stopping this before i overwork it and over think it and look at it too long #but yeah idk i just like to think that maybe xxc was at least sometimes happy #when they were there with him and they were just sitting around as if they were still at home #and he felt so so loved and cared for and all that stuff #even though he knew he was dying they were still with him and for a few moments at least he was still able to be happy #idk i just want him to die peacefully for fucking once haha #anyway great fic 10/10 loved it so so much #it was legit so good #anyways some details that i wanna shoutout; xy is an itachi kinnie; a-qings crop top was originally xxc's; two headed calf plushie #gift from sl #dis meh #my art (??)

[angelsdean]

imagine if spn were an actual soap opera. imagine like 5000+ episodes. rewatches would take forever

#it would be. so much worse. but HIGHLY entertaining #absolutely no consistency. constant retcons and timeline shifts #characters soo ooc because none of the current writers have watched the first decade of eps #sam's been recast 10 times already. there's only so many times he can have a face-altering accident !! #ketch DOES have an evil twin #destiel went canon with cas in a female vessel but then they brought misha back and just have not acknowledged it #many amnesia plots #more of john's secret kids coming out of the woodwork #that one post that was like. kelly kline as one of john's kids. yea exactly #jo would've been one too like kripke originally planned #birth order would go: dean kelly sam jo adam #possibly ben braeden also john's #just. SO many secret babies #also maybe mary had a secret baby before meeting john. would give dean so many complexes and disorders #who could be mary's secret kid? maybe asa? she gave him up for adoption but kept tabs on him #ok new birth order for all the winchester / campbell kids: asa dean kelly sam jo adam ben #this is insane why did i think of this afdkfkdk #if anyone reads these tags i'm sorry / ur welcome #vic.txt #soapoperanatural

[front-facing-pokemon]

#taillow #i do believe this was the first “normal/flying route-1 bird” pokémon that i ever saw. probably. i still don't know which pokémon game was my #first one between colosseum‚ diamond‚ and sapphire. all of which i still have the physical copies of to this day‚ but none of which still #have their original save files remaining on them. so i can't check the dates‚ otherwise i would #but my first pokémon game was One of those three. maybe i could ask my mom. like‚ hey‚ which one did i get first. maybe she'll remember #‘cause we always played pokémon colosseum together. she ended up thinking that that was the core series and the ones on handheld were #spinoffs because she thought the core series would be on home console. oh how naïve she was…… #ok i've texted her and asked her. i'm gonna add this one to the queue and start writing the tags for swellow while i wait for her response #and i'll come back and edit this one with the results. see you then #hi! i'm back. final verdict is that i got the game boy much sooner than the gamecube. i didn't know that but now i do. she got it at #a yard sale‚ so it came with a bunch of games on it‚ which is how i ended up with pokémon sapphire. thus‚ i played that first #however‚ i didn't get very far in it because the game i liked playing the most as a kid was tony hawk underground‚ which i also had #from the yard sale. and thus i remember pokémon colosseum much better‚ because i probably didn't even get to the first gym in sapphire #so that means this IS the first normal/flying route-one bird pokémon i ever saw. we did it #now i will take my meds

[stillunderyourbed]

kagome n sango this time, i’ll put sango’s swatches up later

#inuyasha #my art #fanart #fashion cycles wild #like looking up refs for womens fashion and seeing something that i’m pretty sure i’ve seen someone wear #at the mall last week #and that pic was taken like 40 yrs ago #maybe its the bootcut jean resurgence #none of us are original huh

[yunmeng-jiang]

Thing that kind of frustrates me about mdzs modern AUs, as someone with chronic illness: Jiang Yanli (pretty much always) and Wen Ning (usually) are written as totally healthy. In canon, Yanli almost passes out from the exertion of... throwing a flower (mdzs), and Wen Ning needs to spend time in bed recovering after a night hunt (cql, I'm not sure about mdzs) because his soul got damaged when he was a kid. They're both sickly, with weak cultivation and much less physical stamina that other characters. But in modern AUs, Yanli is bustling around the house with a kid balanced on her hip, making food for everyone with a smile, and Wen Ning is generally quiet and socially anxious but still active and up for every wacky escapade that might be happening. I'm not saying every fic has to focus on their health issues, but it would be nice to have it mentioned once in a while. Maybe Jin Zixuan is taking care of the baby because Yanli is too exhausted to get out of bed, or maybe she has to duck out of a party early because she feels a migraine coming on. Maybe Wen Ning keeps painkillers and an inhaler in his backpack because he needs them so often, maybe he has to check his blood sugar before deciding whether he wants dessert because he's diabetic - just some little thing like that.

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #jiang yanli #wen ning #if you diagnose wwx with adhd and make him afraid of dogs and have lwj be officially autistic and wq a doctor/in med school #and nhs some kind of artist and my/jgy anxious to please his asshole rich dad and jc with an inferiority complex #but jyl and wn have no health problems at all or at least none that affect their daily lives #then you're wrong and annoying and i don't want to read your fic. sorry #maybe it's petty but i want accurate characterization and i also want to see myself in characters sometimes. idk #interestingly enough i do see their health conditions touched on a good bit in fics set in the original setting #i wonder why that is

[torgawl]

okay, i was reading "the pale princess and the six pygmies" and this book really consolidated my belief that paimon is a seelie and that the traveller and their abyss twin are shade of phanes, more specifically traveller being the shade of life. i swear, it feels so right!!!

the description of the people from the moonlight forest sounds oddly familiar to a little flying lavender melon we know of. their monarch (the pale princess) and her people are symbolically very tied to the moon, much like paimon. i'm not trying to say paimon is the pale princess, but there's a lot of similarities between this story and the liyue tales about seelies seen in "records of jueyun".

seelies are known to be remnants of a bygone race that once held beautiful forms (common characteristic between the moonlight kingdom's people and seelie ancestors) and immense wisdom which they used to guide mankind; travelling alongside them and teaching them languages (as paimon does to traveller) and philosophies of nature.

but more interesting, the ancestor of the seelie from the liyue tale is said to have once met a traveler from afar, whom they swore an oath of union with. something that was witnessed by the three moon sisters. thirty days after the union, a calamity struck; the seelie and their lover fled into exile, but the disaster eventually caught up with them. as punishment, they were separated, and their memories were wiped. the seelie and the moon sisters' previous form, voice, and wisdom were then lost, leading them to offer only small treasures to those willing to follow them.

this tragic ending for the seelie ancestor is actually a bit similar to the end of pale princess' story, in which the pale princess and her people are cursed by the night mother to linger forever in a point between life and death. the pale princess also ends up separated from her lover (who's a prince of the kingdom of light from the other side of the world, someone who can calso classify as a traveller from afar), who dies by the ends of the pygmies that betray them. but the night mother also proclaims a prophecy: her greatest foe shall descend in thousands of years. he who wields a sword that heralds the dawn and wears armor that can reflect the shining sunlight will destroy her kingdom and bring the prince back to life. the princess will then be free from her eternal torment. i will comment more on this prophecy later on but for that to make sense, i need to contextualise something else.

do you know how the elemental gemstones are named after hindu deities? the hydro gemstone is called varunada lazurite, after the deity varuna. remember nara varuna, the golden nara who aided the aranaras during a calamity hundreds of years ago? yeah!!! so varuna is actually a hindu god associated with the sky, oceans and water and until this point everything fits perfectly with the hydro archon which isn't weird for the hydro stone, but there's a catch.

varuna often appears twinned with another hindu god, mitra. in the rigveda, the oldest vedic text, mitra is mostly indistinguishable from varuna, together with whom mitra forms a dvandva pair and it has essentially the same characteristics as varuna alone (doesn't that sounds like twins?). mitra-varuna are considered protectors of the righteous order of rta, the principle of natural order which regulates the operation of the universe and everything within it. now, get ready for the juicy part. mitra-varuna are also addressed as devas, meaning "shiny", "exalted" or "heavenly being", and they're called sustainers of mankind. yes, like the title "sustainer of heavenly principles", also known as the unknown god!!! but it gets better. mitra is heavily associated with the light of dawn and the morning sun, while varuna is connected with the evening, and ultimately the night - morning star and evening star, respectively. which is funny considering the traveller and their twin appeared like shooting stars in the opening cutscene of the game (traveller being the one associated with the morning star and mitra).

we know that in genshin, the shade that took the heart of the primordial sea to create egeria, the first hydro archon, was the shade of life. so it wouldn't be that weird that the stone would contain a reference to them. it's just extremely curious that it simultaneously connects this idea to the twins.

in adittion to all the light motifs around the traveller and the abyss twin, like their names which mean light and clear sky, lucifer is also known as lightbearer and the morning star. he's also associated with the idea of falling from the sky and in poetry, he's referred to as herald of the dawn. what makes this even better is the fact paimon also has a demon name. paimon being the 9th spirit of the ars goetia and the king of hell that is the most obedient to lucifer. and, isn't it fun that paimon is such a faithful travelling companion of the traveller?

going back to "the pale princess and the six pygmies" and the prophecy proclaimed by the night mother, it's curious that the prince from the kingdom of light is described as able to make life flourish around him. it's even more interesting that the one who's prophecised to save the princess and revive the prince wields a sword that heralds the dawn (lucifer's title) and wears armor that can reflect the shining sunlight. can we agree not many descriptions scream traveller so much as much as this one? the fact they started their journey hundred of years after their twin has travelled through teyvat and they're reconstructing their steps in hopes of reuniting with them could also be paralleled to the scenario. especially if the the kingdom of light is supposed to represent the abyss and the prince, by extent, the traveller's twin. this could also fit with the theory that the twin is actually the third descender and someone wants to revive them using the gnosis, but i guess that's a theory for another time.

the books in genshin are often told in allegories or metaphors, or are simply very embelished versions of reality. i don't expect these texts to exactly portray what happened with the seelies or the characters in "the pale princess and the six pygmies" to relate in a super straightforward way to actual characters in the game, but i think the connection between the two books and the repeated themes that point to the traveller are pretty convincing.

#one abyss mage also said the pale princess book contained an important secret for the abyss. something something about kingdom of light and #the characters who could symbolise the traveler and their twin seem relevant #also the 6 pygmies!!! like six of the seven archons? i can't push off that idea #i had an thought about venti but maybe i'll save that to another post ghsfah this is already too big and confusing #it's hard to single out a 'different archon' i think venti is connected somehow to traveller's original identity besides the fact he's #aware of the samsaras and has met traveller before in the webtoon. zhongli is zhongli. he's just mysterious. and the tsaritsa seems to be #against celestia or at least she's trying to get her hands on the gnosis (yes the descender theory!!!) for unknown reason so 🤔 but also #none of the archons seems particularly interested in keeping their ties to celestia anyway #there's also the theory that venti gave a false gnosis to signora and that he gave dvalin his elemental powers (dvalin being a sovereign #in this scenario) #so i guess food for thought #lumine #aether #paimon #genshin impact #genshin thoughts

[jackobbit]

I got a lot of requests in my ask box about Eclipse going to a cat cafe so I thought I’d just go ahead and draw it out!

Went ahead and used the kitties from that old cat ask again so they can be like, reoccurring characters, in their own little way! :]

[ID: A digitally drawn image of Working for E.V.I.L. Eclipse in a small, but heavily decorated cat cafe with mostly pink and light brown theming. Disregard all that was previously said, the actual image is of a blue to blue-green gradient that only shows up when a photo isn’t loading. /End ID]

#working for e.v.i.l. au #working for e.v.i.l. eclipse #my art #I lowkey love making the cats reoccurring background characters #maybe I should name them #ok the tags are cut off now #HAH #GET FOOLED #I AM GHE APRIL AND U ARE THE FOOL OR SOMETHING #idk this is a really low effort prank but I don’t have enough time to draw anything silly lmao #I was originally gonna like #draw Solar Flare as a fax machine or printer and Eclipse in a cat maid costume but I couldn’t choose so I chose: none of those options #and then just did this on a whim

[mandaloriandragontrainer]

65% of the time I'm happy TDP has such a small fandom because it keeps things relatively drama free, but watching it get decimated in virtually every poll tournament because no one has seen it is very OUCH.

#the other day I saw the original tumblr post from early 2018 announcing the show #it had OVER 100K NOTES #ONE HUNDRED. THOUSAND. #did none of you watch it? #then again people in the notes were hoping the 'two princes' would be a couple and the 'elf' would be a hot dude #so maybe that's why? #the dragon prince #tdp fandom #mando ramblo

[hyperfixated-homo]

y’know it kinda feels like psychological horror is kinda perfect for Leo, but i still wanna hear your reasoning

Psychological horror is my favourite genre to read. Maybe it's because I'm so intrigued by understanding how others think, but it just really hits the spot for me.

There's such a heavy focus on our mental and emotional states in psychological horror that you don't get as much with other genres. That's part of the reason that I chose it for Leo, because it's not based on any real, tangible fear, but rather what is going on inside your head. It works well for him because Leo internalises literally everything! And represses the hell out of it! He's literally the perfect psych horror protagonist. He wouldn't trust himself- much less the people around him- with what he's thinking, which would lead to spirals and inevitably more dangerous situations.

I also think that Leo wouldn't be scared of that many other genres unless it was a very specific sort of fear caused by a phobia. I can imagine him maybe having a fear of death, or of losing his family, but neither of those fears have a full genre based on it (like Raph's fear of the paranormal). Both seem more likely to be used as plot devices in a psychological horror story.

#ty for the ask! #tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt horror au #tmnt leo #forgot to say if you have a different idea for each character. id love to hear it #or just thoughts in general #people probably wont see this because its in the tags but! im saying it anyways #none of these are really set in stone. you could assign any given trait to any given character and make it work #because its all up to interpretation! #i actually had a bit of trouble choosing who should have what genre in the first place #i thought about maybe making donnie paranormal horror. raph was originally going to be slasher and i was REALLY stuck on what to make mikey #this makes more sense to me? but there are other options im sure i havent thought about #anyways. #apologies for my bad explanations and incoherent rambles im not a writer /lh #shadow rambles #psych!leo

[camels-pen]

(i haven't read Whole Cake in a while, and i never really watched it, so bear with me)

I'd love to write a fic with Usopp on Whole Cake. it'd be sooo fucking long and i'd need to refresh myself on the entire arc, but god i'd probably be so satisfied when it's done. specifically for having brought a single moment in my head to life, but we'll get to that.

On Zou, he insists to be taken along on the Sanji rescue team and has worked himself up with a whole bunch of very good reasons as to why he should go there instead of helping in Wano, but of course Luffy just immediately accepts with a "yeah sure"

With Whole Cake, I think he'd be flipping between having fun as part of the idiot trio/quartet (Luffy, Chopper, Carrot), and being terrified with Nami. There wouldn't be that many differences in the arc as a whole, though; some things would be easier/better and some things would be worse- I don't necessarily think Usopp's presence would be overall an advantage or disadvantage, just different. Like, major events would stay mostly the same, but little details would change and maybe those little details would build to a far more drastic change-

for example, maybe one of Big Mom's kids considers themself a great sniper and wants a match with Usopp, or is motivated to work harder because Usopp is around and they want to take him out and boast about it. Maybe it means Sunny takes more damage than canon, or maybe Usopp's help means less damage to Sunny. (idk if i'd really do smth like this, but it's just an example)

skjdhf fuck i'm really not equipped to try and figure this out when i don't remember shit from Whole Cake aaaa

I do know that, despite his penchant for talking and rambling, I'd probably have Usopp be dead silent after his initial shock when Sanji fights Luffy. Everything about that is the same, except Usopp is just watching Sanji the whole time- not panicking, not moving, and not speaking. He doesn't say a word the entire time, doesn't even make a sound, and that, along with Luffy's words and Nami's begging, stick with Sanji.

(Usopp is thinking of his own fight with Luffy in Water 7, he's partially wondering if this was what it was like- if it was this painful to watch from the sidelines- and partially knowing he doesn't have to say a word, because he knew, like he knew back then, that it didn't matter what was said. It wasn't quite the same, but he could tell in the way Sanji moved, in the way he spoke and held himself, that he was putting on a front, trying to be brave in all the wrong ways. Usopp didn't say a word to Sanji because there was nothing he could say that Sanji himself didn't already know. Should've known. And his quiet, direct stare, was more than enough.)

the singular moment i really wanna write, is a scene where Sanji is apologizing for dragging them into his mess- either during the big meeting in Bege's castle or some other time- and Usopp's like "I'll do what you can't, you do what I can't, right?" and Sanji pauses, a little confused, until he remembers Enies Lobby and a stupid mask and cape and-

and tears are gathering in his eyes now, fuck, but he laughs a little. It sounds wet and his face is itchy and they're surrounded by tentative allies, but he- he laughs again and he says, "Fuck, you remembered that?"

Usopp shrugs, a little smile on his face. "They were some wise words from a wise man."

Sanji laughs a third time. "You think I'm wise?"

And they banter a little more before Bege tells them to quit it since they're on a time constraint or something. Quietly, Usopp will ask, "It-it helps. On bad days. And I figured, 'what's a worse day than this?' Ah, not that you getting married would ever be bad per se-"

"Usopp," Sanji says, looking more relaxed and settled. He smiles fondly and grabs his friend in a one armed hug, crushing him to his side. "Thanks."

And yeah, don't remember much beyond that, except the whole "hiding and then busting out of the cake" bit, which would mean Usopp in a cute little tuxedo or smth- maybe with a fedora aaaaaa <- loves fedoras- helping out with the fighting and eventually sailing with everyone to Wano.

He would be so distressed about fixing up Sunny now that the whole thing with Whole Cake is over. Maybe there'd be a gag about him promising Franky to take good care of Sunny while they were gone and being confident, after being Franky's tinkering partner and learning from him over time, that he could handle minor repair work much better than he did the first time around with Merry. And so when he finally takes in all the very-not-minor repairs he has to do, he's certain Franky is gonna strangle him for not keeping his promise. Probably also try to write in some nostalgic 'repairman Usopp' vibes from pre-Water 7.

Also something something, Sanji, wanting to do more for the crew bc he still feels guilty about Whole Cake, decides to take it upon himself to help Usopp not fall into a whole anxiety spiral about the ship. In turn, Usopp ends up helping Sanji not feel so guilty- usually by handing his own words back to him on a silver platter. And, yknow, having the two of them bonding and being buddies again like they so rarely get to be in canon nowadays qwq

#one piece #usopp #whole cake island #nemotime #that bit in bege's castle isn't exactly how it would go. just kinda. trying to get the vibe. also it's wayyy too short lol #the sanuso bit can be platonic or romantic. originally when i was gonna write out this idea a while ago i was thinking romantic with my #'they get engaged/married b4 dressrosa' au but tbh platonic works just as good #im- these guys man. i hate them so much (affectionate) #i'll get to rereading whole cake and finding a way to put him in there but for now. this. #if anyone's got other ideas im all ears #edit from like march 7: thinking about this again #maybe usopp being silent is an indicator for sanji that usopp's really fucking disappointed or shocked or w/e #but for usopp himself it's like being back in water 7. he doesn't even mean to be silent. he's got words built up on the tip of his tongue #but none of them come out. and despite sanji being Right There all he wants to do in that moment. is run. #at the very least he stays and watches the whole confrontation through. but afterwards he probably feels like shit #because he's the guy who's great with words right? he's the guy that can relate the most out of the group who went to WCI. he should be abl #to make a significant difference and help convince sanji to come home. but he feels like he failed. like he's going to lose another friend #and it's going to be all his fault. (again) #[not really. we all know merry wasn't his fault but we love old insecurities rearing their head in this house] #later he'd probably end up saying the words he wanted to say. and maybe it's better that way. that he ended up waiting #until luffy's had a proper shot at scolding sanji first. because then usopp can act as support and reinforcement. which. yknow. #a sniper's duty and all #anyway i got other shit to do so i'm cutting myself off here #wci usopp

[frodo-of-the-nine-fingers]

mdzs, and especially the cql, sit at such a unique place where they are both the prequel and sequel to themselves which makes it such a uniquely cursed work. like it has all the trappings of both in all the best (see worst ways). it starts at the end but also the end is only the beginning. half the characters that we meet (especially in the cql where the flashback starts and mercilessly does Not stop and there's this Growing Sense Of Dread the longer it goes and the worse things get) are dead from the start-they were dead before we even met them! there's no fixing what happens, no changing it-and yet because it's also a sequel to itself there is a new beginning and the story does keep going after it's done and I just think that's neat

#i do think nmj especially gets the most dead from the start character award aside from maybe jyl #like his death is Literally the inciting incident and none of the sequel stuff would have happened without it #there's no fixing it no changing it because it has to happen or wwx doesnt come back and i think that's really hot #and so are prequels!! #cql has a lot of problems but it does do this balance between prequel and sequel especially well and especially cursed #it's a ghost story!! #anyways #mdzs #the untamed #i just love prequels ok!! if you know what you're doing and where they're best used they're almost always better imo than the original work #the untamed is just extra Weird about it because there is no original work it's just All Together