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bp-zb1fics · 1 year

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hi! i love how you write bp trainee!reader fics and i was like ‘omg imagine jay x g group trainee!reader’ so i came here to request something. i wanted to request jay chang confessing to g group!reader during the boys planet finale, or something a long the lines of that. i wanted to see your take on how he would confess to someone, you can always switch up the plot or even ignore this ask if you don’t want to write it! <3

If this was a movie

pairing: jay x g group reader

genre: canon, fluff

tw/tags: lots of pining, confessions, a kiss or two, some swears, jay kinda dramatic and very in denial, kamden, matthew, ricky best wingmen, a lil hui vs jay action but not really

wc: 1731

summary: it’s the sleepover night before the finale and jay has something to tell you.

a/n Hi! First of all thank you so much for this lovely request, it was an utter pleasure to write and I really enjoyed it and I hope you will too! I'm always a sucker for canon fics because it's so fun to take the show we all know and love and hate sometimes bc mnet kinda shady and write about it. I've lifted lines directly from the sleepover segment from episode 12, just be citing my sources. I definitely would have included reader/ mc/ y/n's pov but ended up keeping it to jay's pov for some reason, idk maybe it's like writer brain. If anyone wants a "your pov" version, do let me know~ that would be a fun part 2

Check my pinned for more fics~

Italics mean it’s spoken in English.

Jay tips his head back and exaggerates his cringe, laughing along with everyone at Gunwook stealing Junhyeon’s aegyo. Only he can’t help but let his eyes linger back to you giggling quietly from where you’re leaning against Hoetaek, the elder playing with your hair.

And even if he knows that Hoetaek is a little more familiar with the former Cube trainees like you and Matthew and Sung Hanbin, he can’t help but feel the smallest twinge of jealousy. He wanted to be close to you like that, to mess with your hair until you pout at him and he can’t help but-

“By all means, keep staring, we might as well get a neon sign that says I LIKE YOU and put it on your head.”

Kamden mumbles from beside him, effectively snapping him out of his maladaptive daydreaming.

“Oh my god dude, shut up.”

He hisses, still keeping one eye on you as you lean into Hoetaek’s touch. Think positive, Jay. Even if you're also a fellow English speaker, at least you’re far away enough that you probably won’t overhear them. Ricky snickers from his other side.

“You’re so subtle, man.”

He levels them a look. It’s their last night, can’t he get a break?

“It’s our last night Jay, you know, you should tell them.”

Apparently not.

He looks up and Kamden manages to look even more unimpressed than he usually does, head tilting a little more than 45° for emphasis.

“Nah, it’s cool, besides, they’re definitely not into me.”

Jay deflects, ignoring the sinking feeling that begins to take hold.

“You don’t know that.”

“I’m pretty sure I do.”

“Just try.”

“You’re being very persistent today, Kam, I dunno, it’s kinda sus.”

Before Kamden can fire back, the whole conversation about memorable first impressions turns around and bites Jay in the ass because the universe loves messing with him.

“So who was your best first impression, Jay-ah?”

Suddenly everyone’s looking at him expectantly. Kamden and Ricky look like they already know and Jay knows that they know that the answer sitting at the tip of his tongue is just across the room, Hoetaek’s arm around their shoulder. Still, Jay hesitates.

He’s had a crush on you ever since the Star Level test. You had immediately caught his attention walking in. Sure, there were perfect visuals like Jiwoong and Hanbin but you were the most attractive person he’s ever seen. And you were talented, Jay could swear your performance was one of the best but Kamden’s convinced that he’s just biased.

But even though you’re both from G-group, you’ve always ended up in different teams, leaving Jay with not that many opportunities to talk with you. When he does end up around you, he just can’t, defaulting to his usual over the top expressions for laughs. While he’s always thought of himself as a confident person, he just finds himself fumbling around you. It doesn’t help that you seem to stick to Hoetaek or Sung Hanbin or one of your team members. You’re friendly with each other, sure, but nothing more than that.

Right, back to the question.

“The person I remember the most is Yujin.”

He immediately feels the collective disappointment that emanates from his corner of the room as the rest of the trainees react, Matthew even sitting up to hit him with some bombastic side-eye. He pretends he doesn’t hear Kamden sighs, doing an impression of Yujin which looks more like a possession honestly. The others laugh. Jongwoo’s comment is the crutch he needs to limp away as he holds Yujin in check as competition.

Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy.

“For me, as soon as I heard Jay sing, I felt like I was in trouble.”

Hoetaek speaks up and Jay forces himself into another exaggerated look of surprise and shoves down the ugly feeling that jumps out at the way you hug one of Hoetaek’s arms.

“Your competitor?” One of them jokes.

Not just in singing, Jay thinks.

“But you did watch Love Me Right, hyung?” Jongwoo asks. Jay really wants this conversation to move on.

“It was so hard to watch Love Me Right.” He watches as Hoetaek shifts so that you can lean more comfortably.

“That’s not the only thing that’s hard to watch right now.” Ricky breathes out. Now Kamden and Matthew are snickering.

Just smile, Jay.

“Honestly, I wanted to give up when I saw you, hyung.” He manages to grit out without giving himself away, hopefully.

Everyone laughs and Jay desperately sends a prayer to the universe to let his pain end. Ironically, it’s Kamden and Matthew who come to his rescue.

“Actually, I’m curious about something. Did I give off an American vibe?”

The conversation swerves towards Matthew’s imitation of Kamden, the apparently routine mispronunciation of Jiwoong’s name and Kamden’s impressive first impression of Ricky’s hair.

By the time they move on to Keita’s first meeting with Zhang Hao, Jay thinks he’s in the clear.

He's not.

Kamden proceeds to smack his arm and he meets eyes with Matthew whose usual bright smile was beginning to border on shit-eating grin territory.

“If you didn’t notice, they’ve been looking at you the whole time we were talking.” Kamden says lowly, Matthew nodding in agreement.

“Nah, you’re capping.”

“No, for real, Kam and I were literally right here giving some top-tier content and all they could see was you.” Matthew insisted.

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“It definitely means something.” Ricky counters because he was apparently listening in on them the whole time while everyone else watched Jiwoong wax poetry over Hao’s violin playing. Jay shakes his head.

“It really doesn’t.”

Kamden looks like he wants to jump on him and start shaking some sense in. Matthew sighs. Ricky just shrugs and lies back down.

“Ah well, we’ll have to see then. I didn’t let Kam slander my hair and my catchphrase for nothing.”

After having to spectate the absolute trainwreck of awkwardness that is Zhang Hao and Kum Junhyeon, there’s the slightest chill that goes down Jay’s spine that he ignores, figuring it must be the weather.

It was definitely not the weather. He should have run while he still had a chance.

“Actually, there’s another pair I want to see.” Matthew speaks up. Suddenly he feels Kamden and Ricky both watching him like hawks as if he’s going to bolt any second now.

After Matthew names you and him, Jay actually wants to bolt. Kamden and Ricky are extremely helpful in explaining to the others the minimal interactions you two have had as the “least close trainees in G-group.” You look like a deer in headlights as Hoetaek gently shoves you towards the middle of the room, whispering something to you before he goes back to his spot.

“Wah they’re both so red.” Jay becomes acutely aware of how much his cheeks are burning as he sits across you. You don’t seem to be any better, making eye contact before looking literally anywhere else.

Well, might as well get over it so he can go back and die of embarrassment.

“Uh, the first time I saw you was during the Star Level test. I thought you were very talented.”

Damn, when did Korean become so hard? Maybe it was the way your hands were holding his, can you feel how fast his pulse is racing? Okay Jay, you can do this, just speedrun it.

“And I really liked the song you performed, it really fit your voice. Your stage outfit was also very pr- very noticeable, it made you stand out. And I really wanted to get to know you more but we were in different groups all the time which really sucked and you don’t know how many times I wished you chose Home so we could perform together or the Star Creators would put us both in Over me and I understand, you’re really perfect for the concepts of your songs and it’s crazy how much I like you, seriously so crazy.”

Pin-drop silence. Three things, in order, that Jay realises.

Speedrunning this might not have been the best idea.

Switching to English midway through the conversation is a skill that he didn’t know he was capable of considering his level of Korean would definitely be more byelingual than actual, intelligent multilingual like Matthew.

He might have confessed his feelings to you. No actually, he did. Fuck, now would be a great time to get on the next plane and fly off to the States and cry to Beomhan for a month. Forget debuting, he’d settle for a nice normal life without the evil editing and the screen time robbing and the utter stress of eliminations.

But before Jay can actually bolt, you speak up.

“Uh- uhm…” You look so unsure that it freezes him there, seated in front of you, holding your hands like it’s his last lifeline.

“I really like you too.”

Everyone gasps and begins murmuring quietly.

“Wait, my English is bad, what are they saying?”

“Finally, they’ve confessed, I knew it.”

“Wait who confessed?”

“That was like an American romance movie, wow.”

Then the clapping starts. Jay tears his eyes away from you for one second to look at Kamden in utter disbelief. His co-conspirators don’t miss a beat.

“Congratulations, you finally did it! Thank fuck.”

“Be happy together, you two!”

And because Ricky apparently wasn’t satisfied with the slander he had put himself through.

“Now kiss.”

Which turned into a chant because even the trainees who didn’t speak English fluently knew what they were talking about. Someone even helpfully throws a blanket over Yujin to protect his eyes.

Jay turns back and finds you giggling. While it looks like embarrassment, now he could feel the way your fingers interlocked with his, your eyes flitting to his lips. The chanting becomes background noise as he leans in, pressing his lips against yours firmly.

Fireworks explode in the background as you pull away.

Everyone applauds with the occasional whistling, oohing as Jay tugs you to sit between his legs, Ricky graciously scooting over to make space.

Kamden claps him on the back and Matthew flashes both of you a thumbs up.

God, he loves hates these guys.

As the conversation settles back down and everyone decides to actually sleep, you sneak another kiss before cuddling up to his side.

Jay smiles. Maybe this is a movie.

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animeomegas · 2 years

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Oh my god Im not sure if you have written this before, but Royal AU headcanons where (sasuke, neji, shino, naruto, and itachi) are super scared to meet emperor/empress alpha after finding out they’re engaged, but the alpha takes the omega out on a date and it’s super cute and now they are excited to get married ?

Cute request! So, I decided to write the moments each of them figured out that their royal future spouse wasn't as bad as they were worried about :D

I didn't do them all because it got a bit long, hope that's okay!

Sasuke:

"So, what hobbies do you enjoy?" you asked lightly, taking a sip of your tea.

This was it. This was when you were going to realise that Sasuke wasn't the perfect little cookie cutter mate that you might expect from a family like his. He didn't care though; he was going to be himself no matter how much shit you gave him for it. No alpha was going to control him.

"I like training with swords," Sasuke said, voice firm and with a hint of a challenge in it. He looked you dead in the eyes as he spoke, watching your reaction. "Although any kind of blade is something I enjoy as well."

Sasuke wasn't expecting you to brighten.

"That's great!" you said. "I was asking to see if I needed to bring any new hobby things in to the palace before our wedding, but the palace already has a state of the art training facility with plenty of weapons and grounds to practice."

Sasuke blinked at you. Was this a joke?

"And hey, I used to train with swords as a kid, it would be fun to spar, if you're okay with that."

"You... want to spar... with me?" Sasuke felt like his brain was malfunctioning. Were you really okay with his 'alpha' hobbies?

"If you're okay with that," you rushed to say. "And I doubt I'd put up much of a fight if you've been training a lot, but it could still be fun anyway!"

You not only seemed to have no problem with his hobbies, but you wanted to do them with him...and you admitted that Sasuke would probably beat you with no hurt ego...

"Hnn," Sasuke agreed, embarrassed. He picked up his tea cup to give himself something to do.

Maybe... maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

Neji:

"This is the final date before your wedding," one of his family's elders whispered in his ear, tightly gripping onto his shoulder. Neji didn't give him the satisfaction of flinching though; he was more than used it. "If you mess this up, I can guarantee you will regret it."

Neji kept his face impassive. He'd heard this speech four times since this morning. So far, he'd only met his future alpha in group settings but today would just be them (and a chaperone of course.)

"You're hurting him."

A voice suddenly interrupted them. It was your voice, coming from the doorway where you had appeared as if by magic.

The elder let go of Neji as though he were burning, laughing awkwardly. Neji rolled his shoulder gently, encouraging blood flow where it had been cut off by the tight grip.

"Ah, my apologies, sometimes I forget my own strength," he laughed nervously. "It comes with old age."

You only hummed, clearly unimpressed, but you let the matter drop and turned your attention to him.

"Come darling, let's not delay our date any longer," you smiled at him and held out your arm for him to take. "I'm most anxious to give you your gifts."

"Gifts?" Neji asked bashfully, walking with you and away from the elder.

"Yes, after our discussion last time on the books you wanted to read but that your family did not allow, I took the liberty of ordering them for you," you spoke easily, as though you weren't shattering his whole entire life into pieces in the best possible way. He didn't want that life anyway, he would hardly mourn for it.

"You didn't have to do that," Neji said politely, trying to keep his strong emotions off of his face.

"Of course I did," you denied, squeezing his arm in yours lightly. "You are to be my husband, spoiling you is my job. Now then, how would you feel about a stroll in he gardens?"

Yes, Neji thought, following you into the gardens, his old life could shatter, because for once, he was looking forward to the future.

Naruto:

"How are you enjoying the boat ride?" you asked him, jolting him from his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, it's great! Thank you for taking me!" Naruto wasn't lying, the lake was truly gorgeous, but he had to admit his mind was elsewhere.

Before arriving, he'd been worrying nonstop about meeting you and making a good impression, but the journey here had made him realise how far from home he was going to be... Would he be lonely here without his friends? How often would you let them visit before you had enough?

"What's on your mind, Naruto?" you asked softly, taking his hands. "If you don't like the boat, it's no big deal, we can head back and spend the afternoon doing something else."

"No... it's..." Naruto hesitated. He could feel his etiquette teaching crying at what he was about to ask. "When I move in here..."

"Yes?"

"When can my old friends come to visit?"

You blinked at him as though you found his question confusing.

"What? It will be your home too, Naruto. You can invite whoever you want, whenever you want, as long as you let the guards and staff know in advance so they can prepare."

"Really?" Naruto asked, feeling his heart swell.

"Yes, of course! As long as you avoid massive parties close to other big events, there's no problem with you having guests."

Naruto grinned and, again hearing his etiquette teacher crying in his mind, threw himself at you for a hug. The boat rocked slightly at the movement, but you caught him easily, and although you seemed shocked for a moment, hugged him back before long.

He really had the best future alpha ever!

#au theme #omegaverse #hcs #a/b/o #headcanons #alpha!reader #naruto #reader insert #sasuke #neji #neji x reader #sasuke x reader #naruto x reader #royalty au

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ronearoundblindly · 1 year

Text

Sneak Peek

Threadbare, Steve Rogers x fashion designer!Reader

Excerpt: Steve is excited to meet a menswear designer from your brand 'Tovarich.' No warnings, just banter (you know how I love my banter 😉) Wait! Very mild suggestive language. WC 566

They’re doing this thing.

It’s called the Hellfire Gala, and apparently, it’s a big, big deal. Steve’s been told everyone goes all out, that he’ll need to be dressed to the nines, and he realizes this is his opportunity.

Tony’s elated to make the arrangements for him with the Tovarich atélier. Tony plans to go with him, grumbling about how awkward Steve might be, raving about how he can’t have Steve making a bad rap under Tony’s clout, so Steve shows up nervous.

Tony’s sent a text saying he’s running late because of course he is, today of all days.

Steve shuts his eyes and lowers his head in gratitude that there are only two seamstresses when he first arrives. The ladies (one older and one younger) offer refreshments and ask a few questions about the event and what styles he might be interested in. He explains the getup needs to highlight the Cap persona since the gala is a celebration of their work as Avengers, but other than that, it’s the sky’s-the-limit for Tovarich.

The younger seamstress smiles at that and calls it ‘fun.’

Sure. That’s one word for it. Steve would also call it daunting.

He stands on a small platform while the ladies bustle about speaking quietly to each other. Steve hears Tony ring the reception bell before any measurements have started, and he heaves out a sigh of relief.

“In time for the good stuff, am I?” Stark winks.

“Always perfectly welcome, Mr. Stark,” you, the younger woman say politely. “Would you care for anything to drink?”

“Uh,” Tony smooths his hand down his current suit front, eyes flickering to Steve, “have you met me?”

Your smile widens. “Dominica, please,” you signal to the elder woman. Between your fingers, you’ve folded a scrap of paper, something you scribbled while Steve stood awkwardly on the pedestal (which isn’t to say he has stopped standing awkwardly), and Tony snatches the paper from your grasp.

Steve huffs and glares at Tony, praying his friend doesn’t start hitting on Tovarich’s employee before the man even shows up, but Stark simply unfolds the paper and makes a challenging, inquisitive look before taking Dominica’s proffered tumbler of brown liquor.

You are a ninja with the tape measure, gentle hands sliding over his chest and waist and—Steve swallows—his hips, all while rattling off numbers…which no one writes down. Steve moves his arms and legs when told. When you’re kneeling on the edge of the platform, eye level with his crotch, Steve decides to distract himself and get some answers from Stark.

“I’ve been looking forward to my first meeting with Mr. Tovarich. When might he arrive?”

Tony clears his throat. “Not possible, Cap.”

“I thought that—“

“You can’t meet him for the first time.” Tony holds up a hand before Steve can move. “You already did. She’s measuring the distance between your balls and the floor.”

Steve startles out a ‘what,’ snapping his legs shut with your hand between his thighs.

“Captain Steve Rogers, please meet your favorite designer,” Tony beams, shoving his tongue against the inside of his cheek and hiking his eyebrows.

He looks down, face burning.

“Hello, Captain Rogers,” you introduce yourself, “I will need my hand to make your suit, sir.”

His open-mouthed impression of a fish is cut short by standing at attention, releasing the seal of his thighs. “Yes, ma’am.”

#preview #upcoming #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers fanfiction #fashion designer!reader #threadbare

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jeannereames · 1 month

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Reading the Wikipedia articles of most Ptolemaic kings, there's a note right at the beginning: "Numbering the Ptolemies is a modern convention. Older sources may give a number one higher or lower. The most reliable way of determining which Ptolemy is being referred to in any given case is by epithet (e.g. "Philopator")".

I did not find a similar note in articles about the Argeads, Seleucids, or any other Hellenistic dynasty, for that matter, even if their members generally had epithets. This made me look into the list of Ancient Macedonian monarchs, as it occured to me that, besides Alexander the Great, I could not name a single pre-Alexander monarch with an epithet! The only ones I could find were Alexander I the Philhellene and Amyntas II the Little.

Hellenistic monarchs seem to have had all sorts of colorful epithets - Soter, Nicator, Epiphanes, Euergetes, Philopator. Even Macedonian kings had them, but most post-Alexander - Poliorketes, Gonatas, Keraunos. Is there a reason why the Macedonian monarchs from the Argead dynasty do not generally have epithets for which they are known?

Tl;dr answer: as the world widened and certain names became increasingly repetitive in ruling families, epithets were an easy way to separate them. The “numbering system” is recent and largely European. It was retrofitted to the medieval and ancient worlds when writing histories about these eras (and sometimes non-European regions too, such as Japan and China).

Epithets, or “nicknames,” became useful when identifying individuals outside their usual sphere of reference, especially if there might be more than one famous person from (say) Macedon named “Alexandros.”

Thus we get the most famous Alexander (III) Magnus/Megalexandros [the Great]/Alexandros ho Anikētos [the Undefeated], but also Alexandros (I) ho Philhellenas [the Philhellene]/Alexandros ho Khruseos [the Golden]. The first name listed for each is the one used by posterity, the latter was the name used in their own lifetime. So no, Alexander III was not called “the Great” until a while after his death. 😉

Identifying Individuals in Ancient Greece

We find a two- or three-tiered identification system:

Given Name

Father’s name in the genitive = [son/daughter] of ____ (patronymic)

Place of origin (also in the genitive = “of ____”)

The first two are all-but-universal, and the third is a common addition, but may be omitted in cases where the place of origin can be assumed. “Place of origin,” however, can vary. It may be a city-state/nation, or within a city-state, the phratry (clan) or tribe.

So, if you were to travel from, say, Eretria (on Euboia Island) to Athens, you’d identify yourself: Myron Apollodorou Eretrias = Myron, son of Apollodoros, of Eretria. You wouldn’t get specific about a phratry because you’re not home. Nobody cares.

Just like when I travel to Greece, I rarely say, “I’m from Omaha.” I usually just say, “I’m from the States,” and if they ask which state, I add “Nebraska”—which solicits confused looks. LOL If I were to begin with “I’m from Omaha,” they’d really be confused! It’s only inside the US that I say I’m from Omaha, Nebraska. Inside Omaha, I may give my neighborhood. So that’s a good referent as to how specific they might get, and under what circumstances.

Another fun fact: it was typical (if not absolute) for the first son to be named for his paternal grandfather, the second for his maternal grandfather, and then by various other male relatives. So, for instance, Perdikkas III, the first of Amyntas III’s sons to have a son, named the boy Amyntas. Ergo, Philip named Alexander for his elder brother, who didn’t live long enough to marry and procreate. Yet, again, it’s not absolute (unlike in Greece today); e.g., Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes; Aristobulos, son of Aristobulos … Alexander (IV), son of Alexander (III).

As for women, they’re identified by father or husband (or son or brother). It’s much rarer to see a place identifier, in part because women were assumed not to travel much. We get exceptions: the famous Aspasia, Perikles’s mistress, was identified (in Athens) as “from Miletos.” Also, in royal marriages. So, Olympias was daughter of Neoptolomos, of the Molossoi (ruling clan of Epiros): Olympias Neoptolomou Molossou.

When we get to these upper-class families, with their clan designations, we get closer to what, today, we’d call a “surname.”

Athens had several aristocratic clans, but the most famous/notorious were the Alkmeonidai, of which Kleisthenes, Perikles, Alkibiades, and Plato were all members (some via their mothers). Another Athenian example were the Philaidai (Miltiades and Kimon).

These aristocratic families took their name from a mythical forefather: e.g., Alkmaion, great-grandson of Nestor (yes, from the Iliad). This pattern was true all over Greece, not just Athens. These are largely the descendants of the old kings (basileis) and nobles (aristokratoi) of the Greek dark age/archaic age (e.g., Late Iron Age).

But in some areas, royal families persisted, such as Epiros, Macedon, and Sparta, who also kept the royal clan designation: Molossoi (Epiros), Temenidai (Macedon), Agiadai and Eurypontidai (Sparta). Thessaly’s main cities also has a semi-ruling royal family, such as the Aleuadai of Larissa, traditional allies of the Macedonian royal house.

While you’ll often see me refer to the Macedonian royal family as “Argeads,”* the clan name they’d have used was “Temenidai,” as they believed themselves to be descendants of Herakles (and thus, Zeus) through his great-great-grandson Temenos. Outside Macedonia, however, they’d use “Makedonon” (of Macedon). We find Alexander referred to on an ancient Roman bust (the Azara Herm) as Alexandros Philippou Makedonon

Non-royal Macedonians would use Patronymics (+ origin place), so Hephaistion is identified in Arrian as Hephaistion Amyntoros Pellais (Hephaistion, son of Amyntor, of Pella). Krateros, however, is identified only by his patronymic in our texts (the most common pattern), so we’re less clear on where he was from: Krateros Alexandrou (Orestidis?).

In the pre-Philip/Alexander era, it’s usually possible to untangle Macedonian kings by patronymic if employed, but even that doesn’t always work. The first Alexandros (I) was the son of an Amyntas and so was the second, Philip’s older brother. Fortunately, we find them referenced in such a way that we usually know who’s meant.

Usually.

Yet take the fragment from Anaximines (FGrH 72 F 4) that says simply “Alexandros” created the Pezhetairoi (Foot Companions).

Um… WHICH ONE?! Arguments have been made for Alexander I (Wrightson), Alexander II (Greenwalt), and Alexander III (various).

Welcome to the Wild, Wild West of ancient history. We write entire articles arguing “which Alexander” because the ancient sources didn’t identify him beyond a single name.

In any case, once Macedonia emerged onto the “world stage,” so to speak, it became critical to find better ways to identify the various Successor kings (Diadochi) of the Hellenistic era. All the more so as they frequently reused names (Ptolemies) or alternated (Seleukos/Antiochos). Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy isn’t very meaningful! Epithets became an easy way to identify which Ptolemy.

——————

* “Argead” is a modern usage for reasons I won’t go into or it’s Rabbit Hole Time about the putative Greekness (from Argos) of the Macedonian royal family. Suffice to say Alexander would be mightily puzzled to be called an Argead.

#asks #ancient royal designations #epithets for ancient kings #alexander the great #macedonian royal house #ancient greece #ancient greek naming patterns #ancient macedonia #classics #temenidae #naming ptolemies #naming seleucids #tagamemnon #royal designations

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sarahreesbrennan · 10 months

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i am rereading unspoken (one of my favourite book trilogies when i was younger!) and i had to tell you that 1) i still super appreciate so many of the themes and characters in these books, and 2) jon/lillian 4 life. this was a weird conviction of mine when i was 14 where while i love claire, i was Sure jon and lillian had sooo much chemistry and i would have read a whole book about them. not sure if you support this or not but <3 still love the books regardless

I’m so happy you’re re-reading! I find re-reading to be one of the greatest compliments a writer can be paid: I loved your world enough to come back, and feel like your characters are friends I want to hang with again.

Jon and Lillian were fun for me, because their relationship was a such product of collaboration and not ivory-tower writing. One of my critique partners was very firm that Jon and Claire (my heroine’s parents) must break up because HOW COULD YOU EVER TRUST HER AGAIN? (Claire did a spell under duress that affected her kid, and hid this and the existence of magic from her partner for 17 years.) And her reaction made me think more than I would have about the precarious place this adult relationship was in and the possibilities that might arise. I love it when avenues of new thought are opened up to me.

Lillian (my hero’s aunt) married her cousin in a gothic and aristocratic fashion: she was the heir (the elder twin) but Rob (my hero’s uncle… or father. Gothic Incest is the name for one of the great literary academic books on gothic fiction for a reason!) was the boy. Lillian never felt anything romantic for Rob and indeed looked down on him in a benevolent familial way, as she did with her twin. (But she loved her twin more.) She saw herself as the patriarch and her husband wanted to usurp her place, so she intended to kill him and his followers.

But of course, the structure of aristocracy itself is rotten. Lillian had to join forces with Jon, recently aware of magic and his kids being in danger and his wife’s betrayal. Jon married young because his girlfriend got pregnant, but he’s a modern guy, he has a very modern job, and he perceived his marriage as a partnership of equals. He’s always been an outsider in his tiny, isolated English town and he hasn’t absorbed their artificially-prolonged-by-magic feudalism - he was born there but gets startled looks because he’s visibly a man of colour yet has their English countryside accent. He just has No Time for Lillian being a magical aristocrat at him. This Is Ridiculous! But also, she is a grownup and they have to interact to take care of the kids in a dangerous situation: they have the same priorities. And so he treats Lillian as if they’re equals and she is being silly when she acts as if she has any authority over him. Lillian shows there’s hope for her because she becomes comfortable with them being equals. She wants Jon to think well of her: she accepts him teasing her by pretending to forget her name. When Lillian’s enemy husband assumes Claire fancies him, in a very No Doubt the Peasant Women Eye Me fashion, Lillian is like: ‘You are a loser. That woman is married to JON GLASS. Have you hit your head.’ But for the majority of their insular, always living in the castle even when far from the castle lives, she would have agreed her husband was superior to non-magical men. So Jon facilitates Lillian’s moral redemption, and when you’ve profoundly influenced someone, that makes your relationship important.

I don’t know that Jon and Claire’s marriage is irredeemable. Claire was forced by her literal overlord to put her kid in danger and lie to her partner, and without that pressure wouldn’t have done it. Many terrible things can be forgiven, if people keep choosing each other and keep trying to do better. It depends on what Jon personally can bear. The books end with that uncertainty. If I’d written more books, Jon and Lillian getting together might have opened up more avenues of story. As it is, it’s Schrödinger’s relationship, where several paths lie open to Jon and he can choose with full information this time. But for what it’s worth, Lillian had a crush. TLDR: your ship is valid, and thank you for your kindness.

#the lynburn legacy #Gothic fiction #writing #sarah rees brennan #gothic incest

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jemgirl86 · 10 months

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So, in the past 2 days, with 2 different friends, I’ve discussed actors being asked questions about shipping. And I’ve come to the conclusion, probably because I’m an elder millennial lol, and can remember before the words “shipping” and “fandom” were tossed around in casual conversation, and also because I’ve watched a shit ton of tv, that I might have a fairly unpopular, or at least different, opinion about the whole thing.

Quick note: I’m not picking on anything or anybody. This is just my two cents…

Okay, so, I think my main problem with this whole thing is twofold:

1. I’m sick of how these questions are being asked.

2. I’m sick of all parties involved acting brand new.

When I say I’m sick of the framing what I mean is, I’m tired of “fandom” and or fandom shit being brought up by interviewers and being used as a scapegoat/reason for them to ask questions they were always going to ask anyway, and have been asking about couples on various shows since FOREVER lol.

What do I mean? Well, at its core, the Syd/Carmy dynamic - the way it is presented and written, whether anyone wants to admit it or not - is a “will they/won’t they” relationship, in the most classic sense. Now, “will they, won’t they” might not have have been the original plan when the show was developed, which is often the case. They might’ve gotten to set and the actors just had natural chemistry together. However, at this point, the writing and direction has fed into it, also whether they intended to or not, at least to a certain degree, and no this isn’t a “men and women can’t be friends” thing, lol, they’re already friends on the show, and that doesn’t have to change, but their friendship isn’t stopping the other tension from bleeding through.

It’s a tale as old as time… Sam & Diane… David & Madelyn… Fran & Maxwell… Kyle & Maxine… Jim & Pam… Mulder & Scully… Janine & Gregory… etc etc, I could literally go on forever, especially if I started counting soap opera couples lol. These “we work together, or spend a lot of time together, it’s kind of antagonist, but in a fun way, we could be friends, or even enemies, sometimes we might legitimately fight, but also, sometimes it looks like we might kiss” relationships between the male and female leads have always existed, and interviewers have always discussed them, and questioned the actors about them, and it ain’t got shit to do with anything fandom posts online.

Which is why the following excerpt annoyed tf out of me:

She’s also been made aware of the (seemingly) sizable group of Carmy-Sydney shippers that have appeared, rising from the Twitter mist to declare their allegiances to an imaginary romance. These fan theories are something of a pain point for Edebiri, who says she is grateful that people are so engaged with the show, but that it’s “frustrating.” She adds: “It’s really not our thought process when we’re making the show, and I understand it can be part of a show’s culture — but I don’t think they’re going to get what they want.” Gordon told THR that while she also doesn’t subscribe to the shipper theories, she believes it’s a testament to the work of Storer, White, and Edebiri that they’re able to create something so passionate. “I think it’s incredibly cool to have this dynamic onscreen that isn’t romantic, but that feels charged and sexy,” she said.

Narratively speaking, Edebiri isn’t actually sure that Carmy should be in a relationship with anyone (“It’s TV, do you want to see Walter White go to therapy and then reunite with his family?” she asks with a laugh), but admits that she can’t resist falling — platonically! — for the character’s complicated charms. “I love this little fucked up guy in the kitchen,” she says before quickly self-editing. “Or wait, this messed-up guy.” (The more she reads her own interviews, the more she sees her own explicit language: “I think I do it when I’m telling a joke, like I’m putting a swear in there to let you know I’m saying a joke — it’s something for me to reflect on.”)

At this point, I remember — and bring up — a tweet I saw recently, that drew a line between the many years that Succession fans spent caring (deeply) about the show’s (deeply) damaged men and the way they were able to quickly jump to the stage of “babygirlifying” the men of The Bear. She looks aghast, the parasocial implications a step too far even for someone from her inherently online cohort. “That is so Internet,” she manages, her expression a flash of the face-acting that has become a hallmark of her Emmy-nominated performance.

That entire passage was weird and not because of “fandom,” or because a fan got out of pocket, but because a journalist working in the entertainment industry forgot how to do their job, and it made an actress not give the answer (I’d like to think) she’d give if she’d been asked the standard question.

Whoever the hell worked at Entertainment Tonight back in the day: “So are David & Maddie finally going to get together this season?”

Bruce Willis, in 1986 probably: “Well, ET anchor, you’ll just have to watch and see” *winks at camera*

Is that a real quote? No. Is that exactly like something I’ve heard before. Yes. Like… this is not rocket science lol. I have seen a version of that question asked (and answered) hundreds of times throughout my entire life about various tv couples without making it a big weird thing, whether they bring up fans or not. Hell, the journalist could’ve said: “Will Syd & Carmy ever get together? Viewers are dying to know.” And it would’ve been fine, totally normal, but instead they wrote all that and made it as weird as possible, to what? Throw fandom culture and shipping under the bus I guess…

But, see, my beef with this, and situations like this one in particular is, this isn’t a shipping issue. This isn’t an interviewer springing a question on an actor about a fanon relationship that no person with a functioning brain or any sense of reality could ever think would go canon. This isn’t someone asking about something impossible, some MCU fanon ship that only the most delusional 12 year old in the world would think they were ever going to see date anywhere other than their own Google Doc.

Whether you like Syd/Carmy or think they have all the chemistry of a wet paper towel, realistically, you still know that them getting together isn’t something TPTB at their particular studio will never allow… they’re just something that hasn’t happened yet, that might never happened, but still, at this point, just hasn’t happened yet. Something that one of the leads refers to as a “charged and sexy” dynamic.

I don’t know how to break it to the interviewer or the segment of society that seems to have gotten amnesia, and forgotten one of the oldest tv tropes around, but a “charged and sexy dynamic” between two leads on a show that hasn’t yet ended is a… ding ding ding, you guessed it folks, a “will they, won’t they” dynamic.

And here’s the thing, most of The Bear’s viewers and probably most of the people who think Syd & Carmy would be cute together NEVER stick a toe in fandom, will never ever read a fanfic, might not even know what all fandom entails, they’re just like the boomer guy I see at the coffee machine sometimes, they enjoyed the show and think “Carmy & Syd would be good for each other” lmaooo. They watch it the way I watch The Good Wife lol. They don’t ship Carmy/Syd - they’ve literally never heard that word used like that before. And they’re definitely not about to engage with other fans online in any significant way, it’s a water cooler show for them… much like Cheers actually.

Soooo leave fandom and fans, and the tweets you saw on Twitter, and the fics that got posted on ao3 out of your questions… and out of your answers too, tbh. Because at the end of the day, if everyone was honest with themselves for five fucking seconds, Syd & Carmy don’t fall into the “will they, won’t they” category because some people involved in online fandom, in any capacity, posted anything on ao3, Tumblr, Twitter, or anywhere else. Fandom as we know it could have never existed, and an entertainment journalist would still be asking Ayo & Jeremy something related to the potential of their characters’ having a romantic relationship, and anyone who’s ever watched a television show before damn well knows it. So, stop framing it as questions you’re bringing up because of shipping nonsense from a crazy fandom, frame it the same way you would’ve in 1986, before Twitter, and leave fandom out of it. If people want to be pissy they need to save it for the fans @‘ing actors with nonsense, and the fans ready to riot over fanon ships they knew were never going to happen. But being mad at someone who sees the possibility of a Syd/Carmy pairing at this point would be like being mad at someone in 1993 for thinking Maxwell Sheffield and Nanny Fine might end up together…

Ijs… if you wouldn’t frame that person as crazy because they saw an “imaginary romance,” then maybe look deeper lol.

It seems like I’m picking on The Bear in this rambling mess lol, but they’re just a recent example, so I used them because I’m tired of people conflating two issues. Yes, asking actors shipping questions is weird… when you’re doing it about two characters, you, me, the milk man, the lady down the street and the man on the moon, all know will never get together. But… ummm no, a reporter asking Cybil Shepherd in 1985 if her & Bruce Willis’ characters would eventually be together actually wouldn’t have been weird, and I think everyone knew that back then, so I’m trying to figure out why people are pretending not to know it now.

Yes, some people in fandom are unhinged: acting nutsy bobos because their ship that truly was just a ship didn’t go canon, even though even the Scarecrow could’ve told them it wasn’t going to happen; seeing queerbait where there was never queerbait; contacting writers/actors/etc. directly with their thoughts, opinions, and fantasies 🤢, instead of DM’ing that mess to their cousin/sister/friend or sharing it on their blog (lol) like a normal person. However, sometimes, really, a lot of time, it’s not the fandom at all. In fact, the fandom be minding their own fucking business, and the journalists (and actors) wouldn’t even know about fandom stuff if they didn’t go poking around.

And other times, times like this one, stuff gets framed as being nutty shipper shit, when it’s just regular viewer shit. Because, again, no reporter ever waited until Niles and Daphne kissed on screen to ask either actor if their characters would ever get together, so I need this journalist and others like them to please spare me the bullshit of acting like the only reason they fixed their mouth to ask Ayo about the possibility of Syd/Carmy was because of some “shippers” and “their allegiances to an imaginary romance.”

There is only one reason I could see any entertainment journalist back in the day, pre-internet, not asking about the possibility of a romance between these two characters in particular, and it ain’t got shit to do with their dynamic.

But that’s another long ass rambling post for another slow work day lol.

Idk how to wrap this up other than to say, fans and fandoms as a whole are more visible now than ever before. And lately the behavior of some fans has been off the hook lol (though realistically I’d argue that some of that behavior is sometimes encouraged, in one way or another, by TPTB), but that doesn’t mean we have to overcorrect by blaming fandoms for things that they aren’t responsible for, and it really doesn’t mean that we have to start acting like online fan communities created things that have existed, long before the online fan community in question. Folks are so mad at all fandoms and all fans, they can’t even tell the difference between the musings of an obsessed stan & the general curiosities of a casual viewer, and it’s got honest to god journalists conflating rabid shipping discourse with “oh I think they’d be cute together,” and forgetting that casual viewers even exist and still have opinions, and it’s very very weird.

Bring Back Normal Interviews 2024 lol

ETA: You want to know what’s funny? As I’ve said before, I don’t even want them together lol. Syd is my fave, and I think Carmy is about to (unintentionally) ruin her life. But, still, I couldn’t bite my tongue, so to speak, because it really grinds my gears when a bunch of people expect me to sit back and pretend I don’t see the same themes and dynamics I’ve seen countless times, and pretend that I’m only seeing certain questions being asked because of fans on Twitter… even though we all know that’s not true 🙃

ETA Again: Since I referenced it more than once, I feel like it’s only fair to mention that Moonlighting is actually infamous for being the reason that a lot of times even when the chemistry is off the charts between two leads on a popular show, TPTB will refuse to put them together. The episode of Moonlighting where the two main characters finally got together was the most watched episode… but it was all downhill from there. It ruined the show according to everyone and their mamas lol (though that’s not entirely fair). Anyway, the tension and chemistry and buildup was suddenly gone, and the show was no longer fun. The story goes that viewers gave up on it, and it became a cautionary tale about how you should always make the “will they, won’t they” of it all last as long as possible, or your show might die lol

#the bear #sydcarmy #syd x carmy #i will probably delete this later #of course shipping questions are weird #but this was only a shipping question because of the interviewer #in general asking an actor about the romantic future of their character on a tv show isn’t weird… and it’s not a question of shipping #TYPICALLY #it only gets weird if the interviewer makes it weird

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xaeyrnofnbe · 2 years

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hmmmmm i continue to think about my bitb good ending au.

what if, after a while of traveling around to clear their heads, they settle down somewhere. maybe kian has a place in california. he may not have made it as a musician, but he did well for himself in other ways.

maybe they share a room because they’re too paranoid to sleep alone. maybe they share a bed, idk. though, it might be a bit of trouble to find a sleeping situation with enough space for all three of them + barc, since he’s there too. and he’s gotten used to rolan at this point and has stopped trying to maul him.

they probably keep to themselves for a while, but eventually they start rejoining society. sometimes kian puts on shows at little venues. not a lot of people show up but it doesn’t matter, because rolan and rand are there, and they’re his biggest fans in the whole world. hell, maybe they join in every now and then. the two may not be as musically inclined, but it is what it is. they have fun and they do it together. it’s not just them though, either. they start making friends, and after a while have their own little community.

it’s hard at first, but they make things work. and maybe a few years down the line, once they’ve all come to terms with what happened to them, one of them (rand) gets an idea. maybe what happened wasn’t a one-off thing. maybe it’s happened before, or maybe it’ll happen again.

and they do their research. they find out all they can about anything similar that’s ever happened, and look for disappearances and other strange unexplainable things for signs of something bad happening again, and they set to work.

back in galloway, they had defeated the queen/elder brain/heart and saved the town. they may have lost rand’s sister in the process, but her sacrifice led to enough good to make it worth it. and the most important thing is, they found out how to deal with these monsters. and now fast forward a few years, (they haven’t been back to galloway but they’ve gotten plenty of grateful letters and phone calls from the survivors. the town is rebuilding, and they may or may not be known as The Heroes Of Galloway. anyway,) they have to again. this time, on their terms. and they also may have very briefly used rolan as a bit of a guinea pig to test any potential weaknesses these bugs may have. (it was his idea, so it’s fine.)

so they gather up the friend group they’ve found wherever they’re staying, and they explain what happened. people are pretty freaked out when rolan reveals his less human features, but that’s more than enough proof that the boys aren’t screwing with them. and they gear up, and set out to stop new hives as they happen. and maybe they discover more extra-dimensional occurrences, and they do their best to deal with those too.

and idk maybe they become this wacky team of mid-thirties polyamorous monster hunters who protect people form monsters, and maybe even monsters from people sometimes. they write down everything they learn, too, since they’re not gonna be around forever. and maybe over time their group grows. and by the time they’re old and retired, there’s a whole secret organization doing the thing.

but that’s just an idea. maybe an offshoot of my good ending au. in the main version of it is this but they don’t start hunting monsters, they just vibe and recover. this might be cool too though.

#bitb good ending au #jrwi bitb spoilers #just roll with it

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bookofmirth · 9 months

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I’m not sure if Aelin/TOG gang will show up in CC3 or the next ACOTAR book(s), but if the rumors are true about sjm’s next series, Twilight of the Gods, then I absolutely think she will incorporate TOG into it. I think Sarah might be brewing up something big. I once had a theory that Koschei, the Valg (a part of me believes they’re actually the Princes of Hel) and maybe the Asteri might be working together or the characters from ACOTAR and CC somehow travel to the TOG world because of a new threat. Something maybe like Avengers Endgame. I would like to see the TOG characters again. I feel like we should have a novella on them, especially Manon and Dorian.

I don’t think Sarah having Aelin fall through Prythian where she saw Rhys and Feyre was for nothing. Also, I feel like the Valg might be making a reappearance. Orcus and Mantyx are still alive somewhere. I want to know just how powerful and dangerous Orcus (some believe he might be Prince Aidas) is since he’s the most powerful Valg King. Same with Koschei, just how bad is he…I think we might get major a character death(s) in the crossover. Random, but do you think it’s possible the Rhys might have Valg blood in him? I think he’s supposed to look like Dorian and Manon has Valg blood in her, but there’s others who think Rhys might be related to Maeve. Also, Erawan can create & control darkness, use darkness to teleport and cannot be sensed by others, kinda sounds like Azriel. Not saying that they’re the same person, but I don’t believe Azriel is fully Illyrian, I think somewhere in his bloodline he has High Fae blood. So sorry for the long ask!

I actually wouldn't mind if the Valg show up again because they creeped me out and the villains in ToG felt way more convincing and effective than anything in acotar so far, or cc. The Asteri have potential, I will admit. But the Valg, Maeve, and the other dudes from her world actually felt like a formidable threat.

I think that regarding Rhys having Valg blood or being related to Maeve, anything is possible, and maybe it's just my deep desire to NOT have the series that closely connected, but it would depend on the timeline. Are these series happening around the same time? The signs point to yes, since Rhys saw Aelin. It's possible that ToG happened in the past, but even if that weren't the case, Maeve is super old, and potential for offspring leading to Rhys isn't out of the question.

It honestly all feels like we are shooting in the dark until we get some of these issues resolved in HOFAS. Like I could say, "perhaps Orcus is the elder brother of Koschei, and we will find out that all fae in the acotar world are the result of Maeve having sex with an Illyrian and *genetics*" and no one could prove me wrong? haha it's just... the options are endless.

I think that - and this is my honest opinion - whatever sjm needs to write so that certain characters bang, that's what she will make happen. If Rhys being related to Maeve means that Bryce and Hunt get reunited, then that's what she would do. If Orcus showing up in HOFAS helped her get another pair screwing and mated, she would do it. It seems like she is having fun with this, but not taking a super intellectual approach. And that's fine! It's not a criticism, just a comment on her style. Like you mentioned Avengers, and she's mentioned that as being fun and a cool moment she wanted with the crossover. I personally don't think it's any deeper than that, than her thinking "this sounds fun, I'm going to do it". I think that this fandom thinks about these things more than she does.

I do wonder if re: similarities between characters in different series, it's more a question of sjm just having a style and us starting to recognize the patterns. it would be super easy for her to make connections between these characters after the fact, but I'm always a bit suspicious of the idea that she's being intentional ahead of time, especially when she herself has said in interviews that she doesn't outline and lets the story take her where it will. imo people attribute a lot of intentionality to her writing that just isn't actually there.

#acotar #tog #ask #anon

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batteryrose · 2 years

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Based on this post, but i dont want to bother the op. Yes instead of on Violence update im doing this with Adam instead!

What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/restaurant)

-Adam wish he could just order tea--an entire big jug of tea, not those fancy little cups of tea--without it being a conversation starter every damn time.

-For religious reasons he's not actually supposed to drink any alcoholic drink However, if someones buying for him, that's just a whole other story.

What is their grooming routine? (how do they treat themselves in private)

- He's used to waking up during dawn, washing his face and arms and feet (typical wudhu routine), and then shower if he must. With cold water. (not sane)

- shaves because this guy cannot grow any decent hair

- likes smelling awesome

- most hygienic man in a medieval european setting

What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go? (Gets you thinking about socio-economic class, values, and how they spend their leisure time)

- He's generally more privileged where he came from. His most expensive (personal) purchases is always of clothes

Do they have any scars or tattoos? (good way to get into literal backstory)

- The scars on his back is mostly from one incident where the (Obsidian) military made an example of him. That's his entire driving force baybeeeee

- not gonna get into it too much because I think it's rather tasteless without proper context

When was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.)

- this guy only cries during sex!!!!

- not negatively though it's just the one time he lets all guards down

Are they an oldest, middle, youngest or only child? (This one might be a me thing, because I LOVE writing/reading about family dynamics, but knowing what kinds of things were ‘normal’ for them growing up is important.)

- He's a middle child, with quite some gap between him and his older sisters (two).

- causes a lot of envy because his dad favours him the most despite him being pretty unremarkable as a kid

- everyone also smells the queer in him

- closest to his younger sister who he takes care off since she's a baby

- also his youngest brother, but the kid is in that phase™ where he pretends to not like anyone

- quite abrasive relationship with his one-year-younger brother and respectful but distant one with his elder sisters

Describe the shoes they’re wearing. (This is a big catch all, gets into money, taste, practicality, level of wear, level of repair, literally what kind of shoes they require to live their life.)

For indoors and official wear it has to be these

For riding and on the fields he wears some tailor made boots. No more traumatically uncomfortable standard military boots!

Describe the place where they sleep. (ie what does their safe space look like. How much (or how little) care / decoration / personal touch goes into it.)

- Back home he gets a small homey building of his own, made of wood, handmade ornate carpet and fabric art hanging on the walls. But he spends time here less often. His hiding place is his friend's small cottage in the middle of nowhere.

- just a bed and noncohesive decor everywhere because this is where he stores all his emotionally important stuff (gifts of wood carvings and ugly fabric art from his sister).

What is their favorite holiday? (How do they relate to their culture/outside world. Also fun is least favorite holiday.)

- love-hate relationship with Eid (because family gathering)

- he seems to enjoy sightseeing in any Rhodolite festivals

What objects do they always carry around with them? (What do they need for their normal, day-to-day routine? What does ‘normal’ even look like for them.)

- a well hidden unexpected KNIFE

- box of tobacco and rolling paper plus matches

- some fragrance sometimes

Shout out to @kissmetwicekissmedeadly for showing me the post with this set of questions!

#Actually i got quite sick this week but i am as stronk as ever #oc #Ikepri Adam

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solacefruit · 2 years

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So so so so in MAMS catching a hawk is a huge thing and grants status, it lets you fast track to both senior warrior and elder equivalent- like you get to sit in on the council and help make decisions even tho you aren’t elder age yet

(I haven’t reread in awhile forgive my misremembering)

And and in canon Tnp there’s an offline where crowpaw catches a hawk in the old forest using what he learned from the tribe (after the sun drown journey but before the clans leave:

So if your canonlore was to be applied here, would Crowpaw get a rank/status boost? Even tho he’s still an apprentice?

(And would that possible high rank effect later plot, like how clan views him leaving w leaf pool?)

((if you’d rather not talk about crowfeather please talk about some lore that interests you instead)

Hello! Thank you so much for asking, and for your patience while I got around to answering! It’s been a really full-on couple of months between work, moving house, etc., and I haven’t had time for fun things like chatter on this blog.

First of all -- I love this question! It’s always so delightful to me when people dig into these little worlds I’m making and put pieces together without my guidance.

Regarding Crowpaw, yes, you’re basically correct with this guess. If we’re working from a canon where he’s part of the group that journey to meet with the cats of the mountains, and he applies the skills he’s honed when he returns home, I believe he would be able to strike down a hawk.

However. A fun fact about the clan territories as I’m writing them is that there’s actually several species of birds of prey that Windclan would classify as “hawk” (for the purposes of the hawk-killer custom), and they’re not all given the same weight and prestige.

Not counting eagles, which according to Windclan lore no cat has ever killed, the (consistently) largest “hawk” variety is the buzzard -- which you might remember is the kind that Tallstar killed in m.a.m.s. A hawk-killer who brings down a buzzard is guaranteed the sort of significant status + rank boost that Talltail received -- although it’s probably worth mentioning that cats that go out of their way to hunt for glory, especially to the neglect of their actual duties, are scolded, and not celebrated. Hawks (i.e., birds of prey) in the mind of Windclan are symbolic of chance, spontaneity, and destiny, so trying to manufacture success in that way is a bit blasphemous.

After buzzards come goshawks and red kites, but as both species are reasonably uncommon -- and red kites are typically scavengers who avoid the adult warriors where possible, it’s not often that a justified chance to kill one comes along. If a cat does, it’s still heralded with fanfare, praise, and respect, but this instance is rare because of the scarity of these birds and their swift-to-flee nature, rather than the genuine danger presented by a buzzard.

All this to say, in my canon, if I were to write about Crowpaw’s experience, he would have killed a sparrowhawk, or perhaps a kestrel. These are the most numerous kinds of hawks after buzzards in and around Windclan territory.

Given their significantly smaller size and the dimished/non-existant threat they pose to adult warriors (and even apprentices, depending on the size and ferocity of the bird in question), sparrowhawks and kestrels aren’t really viewed in the same way as the others. It’s still an outstanding display of technique and ability, and will guarantee the cat who manages it the -feather (or perhaps -whisker, if that was the preference) suffix without hesitation, as well as the status of such an achievement.

But it’s not going to fast-track an apprentice to senior warrior, or even just warrior if the rest of their training isn’t complete. Whether or not the cat would even be called a hawk-killer for this feat is debatable too, much like how a cat who killed a leveret and not an adult hare wouldn’t be titled as hare-killer.

In Crowpaw’s specific case, I don’t think he would be called hawk-killer -- but I do think that this aspect of his youthful exploits puts him in high favour of the clan elders and Windclan warriors in general. I suspect the forgiveness he experiences after the whole run-away-with-Leafpool situation is definitely granted earlier than it might have been, and in no small way influenced by this event (and also the shelter he’s granted via his father, mother, and mentor’s combined influence as well).

So tl;dr -- Crowpaw caught a sparrowhawk, was praised and lauded for it, and probably given some additional leeway that the average apprentice/young warrior definitely would not have gotten without that feat to their name -- and in his case, literally his name! I feel that -feather was granted to him to reflect his abilities, rather than in memorial of Feathertail. I hope this answers your question!

#crowfeather #reply #warriors #make a mighty sound

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lightlycareless · 1 year

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sooo can we get a sneak peek 👀👀

Heya anon!

Was planning to do a post for that, kind of like "if I get one like I'll post a sneak peak" and then like it myself lol but you won me to that!

Anyways, here's the first page/segment of the next chapter :) I hope you enjoy it!

WARNING: spoilers for chapter 33🤭 also, some words might change. Gotta give it that last proofread if you know what I mean.

“Dear Hinata—

I hope this letter finds you well.

I’m still not used to writing that, the whole dear Hinata thing. It reminds me of those really old letters, like from the Victorian Era or something, or those during the war, when people used to be very polite and stuff, super formal even with their own friends and family! I don’t know how to describe it… I hope you get what I mean.

But yeah, reading back through my letters after I'm done writing them always makes me laugh because I think I’m being melodramatic.

In my excuse, it’s all because of those etiquette classes we were forced to take since, I don’t know, we were born? Ugh, and only because of our roles in the clan! Which I don’t mind! Really… but sometimes the elders tend to be very weird about it, and it makes me feel like they don’t deserve to be treated respectfully at all! I know that you, more than anyone else, would understand what I mean.

Ah, well, I’m not writing to you to complain about my preferences, I’m doing so because… there’s no other way to put it: I miss you.

It’s been a while since I heard anything from you, or at all. And I’m not writing either to complain about that! I don’t want you to feel guilty, if you ever get time to read my letters, for not responding because I know for a fact you’re very busy with work.

Last thing I heard was that the crisis was getting worse. It was already bad during my last mission, so I can only imagine how it is now.

Either way, even when I understand why you can’t respond, it’s still… painful to not hear anything from you. I wish I could at least get one letter from you, a call, even a smoke signal for god’s sake, I don’t care, just to let me know how you, Ren, dad, and everyone else is doing.

I hope Satoru isn’t bothering you too much, Sumire too. I know very well how annoying they can be on their own, so I feel even worse knowing that I can’t help you ease the burden of their antics ^^; hang on, Hinata!!

As for me, life here has been… ok, to say the least. The life of a married woman is surprisingly boring, but I think that’s mainly because there’s so many new things I now have to take care of that I ever thought of before! Mom and dad sure made it seem so fun… or that’s what they wanted us to think?

Anyways, now that I’ve experienced a bit of the “married life” I now feel confident to tell you that you did the right thing in not marrying Satoru. Being a wife is boring, you’re expected to keep most of the time in the house, tending to it and its inhabitants… So yeah, definitely boring. Although I think Satoru could’ve managed to also make it irritating.

But yeah, being a sorcerer is much more exciting, totally.

That kind of makes my life sound terrible, right? Like I’m locked or something. Please, don’t worry. I’m ok, busy, but ok. Just missing you, and Ren.

I hope dad is ok too. He worries me the most. I… hope he hasn’t taken up on drinking again. You know how bad he gets when he spirals… please take care of him if you can.

From there, I don’t really have anything new to say. My ladies, Mariya, Haruko and Hitomi, have been quite calm nowadays, and that’s a bit eerie if you ask me! Anyways, I hope you can meet them one day. Or Mai and Maki, I think you’d find them adorably funny too! And mischievous. They kind of remind me of us when we were younger. Oh, but they’re definitely way nicer, we used to be our parent’s nightmare, remember?

But all in due time, I suppose.

Well… I guess the main point of this letter is to tell you that I miss you, very, very much. That I hope you’re ok and… don’t worry about me. Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll be here.

Take care, and give everyone a big hug from my part.

Yours truly, Y/N.

P.S. Don’t let Satoru get the idea that just because I’m not there, my things are his. They’re not. And please, please, please don’t let him delete my save files. I do intend on playing them again when possible”

#ask #ask series: first it hurts—

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noxtms · 2 years

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* 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐃 : asking for a friend (the friend is me, irrationally afraid to dm cherry myself) but i'd love to hear how cherry sees astoria & daphne's relationship?

me, fawning over you ???? yes. yes i am. please know that you can always come and vibe in my dms either on the hellsite itself or on discord, & i will share so many godforsaken thoughts that you’ll wish you never asked.

anyways, i’ve thought a lot about astoria & daphne over the years, & they’re a very unique brand of fraught. daphne has big middle child energy to me ― the elder yeşilçimen took his pride of place as the prodigal son early, & astoria has always been a sickly child in need of more attention ; daphne, sitting in the middle of all that, has to have some kind of pent-up, swallowed-down resentment towards both her siblings about that. on astoria’s end ( which i’m much more confident to speak on, because i never want to godmod the way you might be building daphne’s feelings & all that ), they’ve got a real jealousy there. astoria looks at daphne, their brilliant, beautiful older sister, & sees all the time she has ― of all the things astoria is brutally, irrationally jealous of, it’s that daphne has a long, leisurely life ahead of her, through which she can take the time to consider her decisions, weigh them up, find out which is the best one for her in the long run. astoria’s well aware that they’re doomed to make wretchedly young bones, that all their snap decisions & rushed loyalties are all they’re entitled to, because they don’t have time. astoria’s oriented with dumbledore’s army, & makes no secret of it ; daphne, to me, remains conflicted & doesn’t entirely agree with how fast astoria made their loyalties clear. ( edit: should mention that i’ve said the yeşilçimen family, broadly, were very sympathetic to the death eaters / blood purity / all that unconscionable funky shit. erol was a mid-tier de who lent a lot to the cause, & expected his family to follow blindly. that astoria made such an open defiance of that has gone down like a shit in a swimming pool. ) their relationship is probably best summarised by that two lines from fleabag: ‘we’re not friends, we’re sisters.’ / ‘the only person i’d run through an airport for is you.’ they’re messy, & complicated, & astoria likes to think of themselves on some moral high ground some days, but there’s still a fierce love & protection there. in astoria’s eyes, daphne will always be their daft, misguided, attention-seeking, ridiculous older sister, who they’d still take a curse for any day. they’ll be snide, & awful, & completely reject her at times, but there’s a lot of love there that can’t & simply won’t be shaken. does astoria prefer their older brother ? yes. is daphne the only person they ever want to call when they wake up feeling awful in the middle of the night, because her presence is still one of the biggest comforts they know ? yes.

this is all to say, pls bring my angel darling daphne & let me go in six different diatribes about the complexities of the yeşilçimen household & the relationship these siblings share. this is also a shameless ploy to say please bring any of my wcs because i had a lot of fun writing this & would like to shamelessly send u chunks of musing shit like this !

#hp rp #harry potter rp #oc rp #mumu rp #magic rp #dark rp #literate rp #i HAD to reply to this the min i saw it im so sorry #wrote so much n now im sitting here like 🧍🏻‍♂️ bring her 🧍🏻‍♂️#admin c.

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bokkiedoke · 4 months

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Cards of Alara - Elder Dragon House-Ruler

Very weak wordplay I know. If you can even really call it wordplay. In this edition of Elder Dragon House-Ruler, the series about cards people should really just let you use as your Commander already, we’re going to go over the Mythic Creatures from Alara. Not all of them though, just the 7 (or 8 including my honorable mention) creatures I actually find interesting enough to build a deck around. Sorry if you’re a big Sphinx of the Steel Wind fan, I also think the card is neat and historically interesting but a keyword soup Commander doesn’t really get my motor runnin’.

"Think of all the things you could do! Like play Voltron and...well…”

Now directly after insulting a beloved card let me put in my honorable mention.

Honorable Mention (Aka #8) - Thornling

This entry is less for Thornling itself, which is a fine card I really like. This entry is really about the whole cycle started by Morphling, which I’m just gonna call the Superman Cycle to be both a dweeb and confusing.

And it only took 20 years to finish the cycle! Also only took ‘em 20 years to figure out that they could just make the two power-swapping abilities one single ability. I know there is probably some weird rules reason for one being technically different and better. I really want all the Morphlings to get their own special Commander. We actually did get a really interesting “activated abilities matter” legendary creature recently in Tazri, Stalwart Survivor but I need that art of all the members of the Superman Cycle on one card and just an absolute mess of weird color specific activated abilities. Anyways, onto the list that will actually be about the creatures themselves and not a weird brainworm I’ve had for years about a cycle most people probably didn’t even know existed or was finished recently. NUMBER 7 – Apocalypse Hydra

I’m putting Hydra in the lowest slot because while making a very big dude and having the ability to ping down everything is interesting, there is also a play pattern I see coming from a mile away. “So my Commander has X in the cost, and an activated ability that both costs mana and is really good if I can spam it. Well, time for infinite mana!” And while I am a combo enjoyer, if I see your ass untapping and tapping the same handful of permanents more than like, twice in a single turn I am pulling out a nightcap and going full-on 1930’s comic strip character taking a well-earned nap. I will honk, shoo, and even mi-mi-mi-mi-mi. Just wake me up when you have lethal.

NUMBER 6 – Dragon Broodmother

“You can’t have dessert until you finish your goblins!”

She ain’t too fancy, and she might be way under-statted for her mana value in 2024, but she is a nice little engine for getting some big boys on the board.

So what do you do with a repeatable way to make a pretty chunky little dragon? Well we just have to find a benefit to having big creatures enter the battlefield in Green and Red, if that exists. Let me just put in a quick Scryfall search for cards with the text “when” “enters the battlefield” and “power” in Gruul...

Which brings me to our Number 5 pick. NUMBER 5 – Godsire

"Just a hungry little guy."

So I will NOT make the same mistake twice. Now I know making a big token with a Green and Red commander is pretty good! Also the tokens this big fella makes are always at least 8/8, and you can do it for free if you just had some way of untapping him. Now if only there was a way to do so in these colors. Oh and perhaps some way of giving the creatures haste as well, or even an extra combat step. Oh yeah, we’re in Red. Just order every card that says “untap” and “extra combat”. Or perhaps don’t, you’d be blowing $100+ on a house-rule deck that’d probably get annihilated by a single piece of removal or any Ghostly Prison effect. Just order a couple of the cheaper ones. They’re fun to have around. NUMBER 4 – Defiler of Souls

While writing this very article, I got to Defiler of Souls on my rough list and went “This dude is super simple and most of the time they won’t even do anything. And the rest of that time the person with the really good mono-color creature will just hyper-focus you out of the game for making them sacrifice it. Why is that all the way up at Number 4?” Then I looked at the art again.

Have we had a Muppet's Universes Beyond yet? Why not?!

NUMBER 3 – Maelstrom Angel

Now if you have played Commander for awhile you may have been in the midst of a discussion about using this card already. Back when we had like, 6 five color legendary creatures and two of them were freakin’ Atogatog and Cromat, any five color creature would have just about everyone begging for them to be usable as Commanders. And this one even more so because that ability is so interesting and potentially powerful. That ability’s potential power does make it a bit harder to argue for it’s inclusion as a Commander though. People are gonna read that and go “Absolutely not!”. I would ask them to consider a couple things though. One, it has to hit a player in combat to use it. Two, it has no built in protection. Three, you have to have something powerful in your hand. And Four, well my friend it is 2024 and you are worried that a five mana value commander might do something really powerful with a bit of set-up? The ship has sailed so far away that it has looped back around the globe and hit you in the back of the head.

NUMBER 2 – Prince of Thralls

“Maaaaa, don’t come in when I’m crushing my thralls. It’s embarassing.”

Now I know I was just saying “Hey with that much mana you can do much stronger stuff!” and this guy costs functionally a billion but wow, the potential ceiling of that ability is bonkers. Put some protection on this Prince of Maine and play one of the many cards in his colors that blow up most if not all permanents. Proceed to make your opponents either pay 20+ life or give you the most ridiculous boardstate you've ever seen. Though to calm down a bit and not be alarmist about an 8 Mana Value creature from 15 years ago (yes I know we ARE very old), I think if you spend the nearly 20 mana to do something that powerful, you deserve it. And honestly any reasonable person would just concede at that point unless they had a clear way to claw a win back. And 20 mana I win the game is like, more than fine by my measure. And at least it’s flashy without also taking 20 minutes off of my life.

NUMBER 1 – Empyrial Archangel

Am I honestly saying that a creature with Flying, Shroud, and a built-in Pariah is more interesting that all these other creatures? Yes. Why?

Now since they do have Shroud it is a bit harder to set up the “You will never touch this.” situation you can get with other Pariah-style effects, but it isn’t monumentally difficult to give a creature Indestructible without targeting it in Bant colors. And while the Shroud makes it harder for you to buff ‘em up, it also makes it much harder for your opponents to do something about the Archangel after you get them set-up. Indestructible, Shroud, throw in a way for them to not be sacrificed and you have basically made yourself immune to damage. Is there easier ways to do so? I’m sure. Are those ways as cool as setting up this big Angel that’ll help you end the game instead of just stalling forever? Absolutely not.

Aaaand that’s the list. Once again any recommendations for future cycles or just groups of cards I should cover here are welcome. I’ve got quite a few knocking around in my head currently, but a fresh perspective is always nice. If you would also be excited by a Morphling Cycle legend, let me know. Or if you’d like another “[Random Cycle] Matters” Commander reply below with your favorite cycles and what you think a good leader for their deck would be. And let Wizards of the Coast know too, since they can actually make the cards. I suppose I could too but I doubt anything I make will ever be tournament legal.

#magic the gathering #gaming #commander #edh

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secret-diary-of-an-fa · 1 year

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Resolve to Read this Blog!

So, it’s New Year. 2022 has done it’s song-and-dance routine and fucked off to the backstage area for a fag and a crafty wank, leaving us in the as-yet-untested hands of 2023. And you know what that means, don’t you, children? That’s right! It’s time for my annual New Year’s Resolutions Blog, in which I suggest resolutions that might get you killed, arrested or covered in gunge for my own sick amusement, and you lap it up like the culture-deprived fucking content junkies that you are. So, without further (or indeed any) ado, here’s this year’s crop. ‘Enjoy’- a word that is here used incorrectly.

Dare to be Square You know what I’m fucking sick of? ‘Geek chic’, or whatever the fuck we’re calling it nowadays. You know the look I mean- the sexed-up nerd look with the big glasses and not-really-a-suit that people are still, inexplicably, wearing to cash in on the still-quite-recent credibility of geek cultural IP. And do you know why I’m sick of it? Because it’s missing the fucking point. Being a massive pulsating nerd isn’t about looking ‘chic’. Proper geeks don’t choose clothes with the intention of announcing to the world that they’re geeks- they choose clothes for the number of gadgets and gewgaws they can fit in the pockets. So here’s my New Year’s challenge to you- if you want to dress like a geek, dress like a real fucking geek: a buttoned-up white shirt, abysmal plaid trousers, a pocket-protector with three different coloured biros and a pocket calculator on a chain. Oh, and a haircut that you can do yourself with a washing up bowl and safety scissors. Feel chic? No? Fucking good! That means you’re doing it properly! And yes, before any of you say anything, I’m aware that I’m the most overdressed man on the planet. It’s not hypocrisy because, while I am a geek, I’m not just a geek and my clothes are chosen to reflect completely unrelated aspects of my identity. My waistcoat and tie I chose to reflect my dandy-ish sense of British self-assuredness, and my Geoffrey Dahmer-patterned underpants I chose to reflect my love of cannibalism.

Admit that Fanfic Isn’t ‘Cultural Mythmaking’ Look, I love a good bit of fan fiction as much as the next man- especially when the show, book or property on which it’s based is being run into the ground by the last company to buy its rights (usually either Jeff Bezos or Mickey Mouse- he’s not just their mascot, he’s secretly the evil mastermind behind the whole horrific enterprise). By all means, keep writing fanfic. I encourage it! But a lot of you are in your forties now and your pretence that you’re doing something noble and important (as opposed to daft and fun) is getting creepy. It’s like if a man brought his anime body pillow on a double-date and introduced it as his girlfriend. Wait, wasn’t that the plot of an episode of Crackanory? The point is, it’s time to let it go. Admit that what you have is a hobby and that that’s fine. Cut the pseudo-intellectual bullshit about cultural artefacts being shaped as much by the fanbase as by the creators. As an actual now-published writer, I can assure you that I don’t even think about you randos when dredging a new story or setting from the filth at the bottom of my flinty little heart: I’m too busy channelling my mental illness and snorting powdered Mars Bars like fucking cocaine.

Contact a More Diverse Range of Great Old Ones We all love summoning Cthulhu to issue in the end of the world, but has it ever occurred to you that he’s not the only Elder Being who waits dreaming beneath the minds and lives of men? Well, it should have! How do you think poor old Nyarlathotep feels, getting snubbed at every fucking cataclysm? Or Hastur, the King in Yellow- that guy practically invented the concept of spreading suffering through the slow, infectious patterns of cackling madness. Then there’s the Goat of a Thousand Young (whose true name I can’t actually post online because it contains an incidental racial slur). You all bang on about female representation but where’s she when you’re etching your sigils and runes of unspeakable power? Yeah. I bet a lot of you are hanging your heads in shame right now. Don’t be so fucking thoughtless next time.

Set Fire to Fancier Places Every time there’s a riot, people set fire to the local MacDonald’s or KFC or whatever. And I sympathise- I really do. I’ve only ever been into a MacDonald’s twice in my adult life, but both of those times did leave me with a powerful desire to commit arson. The thing is, setting fire to a Macky Dee’s is just white noise at this point. It doesn’t make much of an impression. I think it’s time to aim higher: ignite Claridges or set a Fortnum and Mason ablaze. Maybe a burn down a John Lewis. Because if the goal is to make the rich and powerful sit up and take notice, you’re not going to do it by gutting a burger joint they don’t go to. You have to deprive them of the ability to buy fragranced tea-bags and fiddly little kitchen implements that only come in handy when you’re cooking a really specific brand of artisanal Burmese peach cobbler. You know- shit richos actually care about.

Make Friends with a Crow I feel like this one’s pretty self-explanatory, but in case you need me to list the incentives, they are 1) You’ll have a bro who can peck your enemies’ eyes out for you, 2) You’ll never be short of a nest and 3) Whenever your crow friend is around you’ll automatically look like 20% more of a badarse just by proximity. So yeah: befriend a crow. It’s not just a New Year’s Resolution, it’s the best decision you’ll ever make.

Find that One French Pharmacy With the Time Travel Drugs So, the last time I was in France on a family holiday, many years ago, my mother got a cold and went to the first chemists’ we could find. What she thought she was buying was a painkiller and flu-suppressant. As it turned out, it was an immensely powerful hallucinogen that made her see giant insects and fucked with her perception of time so thoroughly that to her it seemed like it was running backwards. Isn’t that a drug you want to try? I know I do, so let’s resolve here and now, you and I, to go on a magical odyssey to find the amazing French Abstract Time Dilation Drug and use it to bring the plot of the film Tenet kicking and screaming into reality!

Go on an Epic Quest for the Shimmering Sword of Cothroptar Okay, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but the dimensions are aligning and soon the realms of Checkor and Tarton will spill over from their respective realities and into our world. Earth shall become the battle-field of two mighty armies, equipped with hyperreal battle-scarves and heat-seeking throwing-sporrans. The only hope to win the war and bring peace and justice to the weft and weave of tactile other-space is to journey to the land of Cothroptar, which lies across the Sea of Singing Absinthe. There, you shall meet a triclops in a three-piece suit, who sees things all to clearly, and will have to best him in a contest to see who can write the dirtiest limerick. If you succeed, he will give you the Sword of Cothroptar, which can unite the Berbury Tribes and force a peace between Checkor and Tarton, thereby sparing Earth the ravages of another Great Fabric War. So, you should probably resolve to do that.

Re-Read that Last One Because it might take a couple of goes to sink in.

Make Love to Patrick Stewart Beneath a Starry Sky Look, I know it’s a daunting challenge, but it’s probably your last chance. He’s an old man, folks. He’s not going to stay compos mentis or continent for much longer, is he? I’d get in there while you still can.

Reinvent a Dive Bar I love the concept of a dive bar; absolute shit-holes where the strange, unsettling and menacingly surreal is allowed to happen simply because everyone inside is either weird themselves or too burnt-out to stop the weirdness. But I’ve always been slightly disappointed that you can’t actually dive in them. Thus, I give you perhaps the finest resolution on this list: I ask you to go forth and reinvent a dive bar… by flooding it. I don’t care if you do it one cup at a time or just connect a pump to the nearest swimming pool and a run a hose to the place- by the time you’re done, I want that shit-hole to be a swimming pool. A swimming pool where I can buy beer and where cocktail olives float past on their way to a better life.

Stop Reading this Before Your Fucking Brain Melts You know, I could probably keep adding more and more and more of these, but I’m going to stop now because if I don’t, I might actually kill one of you through sheer force of strangeness. Plus, I kind of need to go get a cuppa.

I don’t have a witty round-up paragraph, so instead allow me to leave you on the following soul-destroying, robotic note: END OF BLOG.

#Secret Diary of a Fat Admirer #new year #happy new year #new years resolutions

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