#now onto making those character / worldbuilding posts!!!!!! >:)

[beyondmistland]

I read through all your posts about Alysanne Targaryen as Maegor's daughter and am now in a rabbit hole. Thank you. I've been thinking about Maegor's wives and which one of Henry VIII's wives they represent. Ceryse is Cathrine of Aragon and Alys is Anne Boleyn. The others are hard to pin for me since there isn't a lot. What do you think? Would Maegor's reign have been more interesting if his marriages had more similarities to those of Henry VIII?

I think this is where we run into a number of problems regarding the way GRRM wrote Fire & Blood specifically and the way he setup Westeros more generally.

For one, the fairly homogenized nature of southron culture as well as the oversimplification of religious institutions and history means you can't quite get the same dynamism as from real life European history, with its dizzying array of languages, cultures, cuisines, fashions, etc., to mention nothing of the then-ongoing Protestant Reformation. I suppose GRRM could have had Maegor convert to the Old Gods a la Julian (II) the Apostate or the Drowned God (you just know the Ironborn are the one race on the surface of Planetos that would say King Maegor the Good with a completely straight face) or even R'hllor, which would be the best choice in terms of worldbuilding opportunities in my opinion.

Moving on, we run into a handful of problems with Maegor specifically, one of them being the length of his reign. Look, while I can't deny Maegor ruling for 6 years and 66 days is incredibly cheeky, it also isn't anywhere close to Henry VIII's 36 years as king. With so little room timeline-wise, there isn't a lot of flexibility when it comes to telling new stories and fleshing out preexisting ones and all that is before you factor in Maegor himself.

I won't hold back. For all GRRM's talk of moral ambiguity, the human heart in conflict with itself, good men who were bad kings and bad men who were good kings, etc., his Targaryen monarchs are, for the most part, numbingly one-note. Aegon I is a literal enigma, Aenys is weak, Maegor cruel, Viserys I a party animal, Aegon II and Rhaenyra mirror-images of each other in their disqualifying vices, etc. As I've written before with my post reimagining Maegor as more of a Ivan (IV) the Terrible figure there was room to make him a genuinely controversial figure of historiography but instead GRRM doubled down on sensationalism and apathy-inducing slasher porn for lack of a better word. The fact Maegor is also the first and last of Visenya's line just adds more salt to the wound but that's part of GRRM's more general (and for me personally, vexing) habit of keeping family trees incredibly small.

(I do recall another alternative someone once brought up to the late Steven Attewell. Namely, turning Maegor into the Westerosi version of Macbeth by way of Der Untergang.)

This brings me to my semifinal point. GRRM didn't have to write Fire & Blood as Procopius' Secret History on steroids with a dash of Suetonius' Lives of Twelve Caesars and I, Claudius (the entire Saera episode is practically lifted wholesale from the scandal that envelops Augustus' daughter, Julia) but he did, which is doubly disappointing because not only does the final product suck quality-wise as a result but also because there were so many other avenues available to him.

He could have written Fire & Blood as a proper history (with less focus on the sex lives of teenage girls for one) or as a mirror for princes or as a dialogue between two characters or even as a character study. You can even see GRRM struggling with the constraints imposed by his use of Gyldayn in certain sections like the death of Maelor and the entire Hour of the Wolf episode, where you get reams of dialogue and characterization as well as more traditional narrative trappings like build-up, mood setting, etc.

Now, to answer your actual question (lol), I don't think any of Henry VIII's other wives map well onto Maegor's. Tyanna is, more or less, his female counterpart in terms of cruelty and zero redeeming features and entirely a fantasy construct. Elinor and Jeyne are both married to Maegor for only a year (with poor Jeyne dying in childbirth because Jeyne Westerlings, like the Brackens, Peakes, and Florents, cannot catch a break in Westeros) and before said marriage takes place neither appears on the page. As for Rhaena, well, credit where its due, she was a rare (and unexpected) highlight of Fire & Blood.

Thanks for the question, anon

#maegor the cruel #house targaryen #asoiaf criticism #asoiaf meta #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf #asoiaf themes #maegor targaryen #fire and blood #volume 1

[surfclangen]

Good and Bad news

Howdy guys! I don't talk to y'all one on one too much, but I want to keep you in the loop.

To start off, I am so super thankful for the support this comic has received!! This is my first real venture into comic making, I am so incredibly grateful to have such a positive reception.

Onto the bad news, y'all may have noticed my posting speed has slowed. I'm very busy in college (graduating with my AA this summer!) between a radio show, being president of the creative writing club, and keeping up with homework, which means I don't have a ton of time to work on personal projects, and when I do, I try to chase what gives me the most dopamine. This isn't super relevant, however, just a peek into my creative process.

The Bad News

Surfclan is going to go onto hiatus after the next two posts so I can work on the overarching story I want to portray. These two posts will finish Arc 1 of Surfclan, which I am happy with and have ironed out, but the draft I have for the rest of the series is kind of cobbled together and not satisfying, certainly not work I'm proud of. If I'm going to dedicate so much time to something, I want it to be work that I am proud of. As a writing student too, it's not right to put so little effort into the writing.

I went into Surfclan without a plan. I wanted a coastal set of clans to worldbuild with, but I had no idea for plot. I let the generator decide what that plot would be, which is fine! But I wasn't given much besides a clan that grew at a decently steady rate and got into occasional shenanigans. I need to put those pieces together properly and figure out how to best portray the themes I want in a respectful manner (right now, there's a heavy theme of colonialism that I just don't think I'm quite ready to handle tactfully.)

If you aren't using Surfclan, can I?

Absolutely! Please feel free to use Surfclan as background characters or cats to fill out gatherings. I am always happy to organize plots in DMs and weave it into Surfclan's eventual finalized script. As long as my babies are kept relatively in character, I have no issues with making it canon. If they aren't, no worries! It just won't be canon to Surfclan. Think of it like an AU!

When will you be back?

I'm not sure, but I'm always happy to answer DMs if you want to chit chat, and I will make a post announcing Surfclan's return when I am ready.

What's the good news then?

Surfclan was always designed to be a "for fun" project that I didn't put too much effort into, hence the scattered upload schedule and art styles, but now that I've experimented a bit, I'm ready to get into comic making more seriously. While I brainstorm ideas for Surfclan I will be shifting focus towards a new Clangen blog loosely based on marshmallow_cat3's Dark Forest challenge and @gray-thistleclan .

Cottonmouth Clan has distinct win and lose conditions and a solidified plot with mysteries to discover. I'm currently working on world building and character design that will be posted to my main blog, @antlermoss. I will have a post up there when I have my details organized with the rules for the challenge, of which you are welcome to use in your own games and comics!

I will reblog Cottonmouth's starter post here when I am ready.

I appreciate your patience and understanding, and hope you guys enjoy the new project (:

#warriors cats ocs #clangen #warriors cats #clangen comic #surfclan #ooc

[antimony-medusa]

*Climbs up on my soap box again, flipchart presentation in hand*

Hello. I promise this is the last time I'll do this (for this exchange). But let's do ONE MORE TIME.

Fic in a Box! Really cool 18+ fandom exchange that's running now, and I am here to lure you into signing up. You can sign up to until the end of the 3rd (midnight EDT).

What makes this fandom special is four things things

it's a 10k exhange, which is why you have until mid-october to get it done.

you can opt into WILD mediums for your fic— dress up game! poetry! fanvid! in-world reddit posts! spreadsheets! Check out the tag set for the full list, it's honestly hundreds of medium options. You're not guaranteed to get any of the mediums you opt into, but it's a possibility! You can even contact the mods to ask to match on a specific medium if you really want to make a ship schematic, or write a triple drabble, or draw a propaganda poster.

Instead of requesting your fic focus on a relationship, there are also Worldbuilding tags you can request. For QSMP, the WB tags are WB: Any (QSMP | Quackity SMP), WB: Egg Revivals (QSMP), WB: Egg/Code Connection (QSMP), WB: Federation Kidnappings & Cryosleep (QSMP). You could request or offer a fic (or art!) that focuses on any of those!

This part is optional, but you can take your 10k, and go to the mods, and request that you Swap some of your assignment, so instead of 10k for UsernameWaterglass, you have 4k for UsernameWaterglass, 3k for UsernameTissueBox, and 3k for UsernameCinnamonRoll. (Really creative usernames there, drawn from the items around me.) And then you still hit 10k on your gift, but in the form of multiple smaller gifts!

The mods don't promise that you'll definitely get a swap, but the more people in the exchange requesting swaps, the more likely it gets. So that is why I'm here now, looking at you with pleading eyes! I want to do some QSMP swaps, but we only have 4 people signed up for QSMP, and we don't have a huge amount of overlap in characters, so some people are still not matchable. I want us to drop some banger fics into the tag and make everybody go OOOOOOO that looks fun why didn't I sign up for FIAB, and then they weep and wail with joy while reading our fics.

Y'know, normal things to want.

Anyways, you can see the tagset for all the possible tags you can offer and request here (hence why there's ship tags on this post), and you can see all the QSMP sign-ups here, and the event blog and rules are here, and you can sign up yourself here! If you are a multi-mcyt fan, we also have DSMP, Hermitcraft, Life Series, SMPEarth in the tag set, and there are literally over a thosuand other fandoms. We even have a MCYT FIAB discord where you can ask questions and compare notes!

I leave you with some highlights from the QSMP requests so far.

*locks onto you with with a powerful magnet to drag you into exchange* JOIN US.

#qsmp #qsmpblr #spiderbit #pissa #philever #animations family #codebreakers #4halo #slimeariana #qsmp eggs

[mythical-song-wolf]

Wish Rewrite: Some Worldbuilding & Magic (A Chaotic Ramble)

note: probably what I'm saying here will contradict the Characters post I made, but that's because another deleted scene has been found and I intend to incorporate the information from those deleted scenes as best as I can

Wishing Stars & Wishes

Wishing stars gain their power from wishes fulfilled and wishes granted. While granting a wish takes some of their power/energy, the return is more than enough to compensate the loss.

Depending on the age of the wishing star is how far its limits are. Their ages vary specifically on how long they've been wishing stars and not just regular stars. The two oldest wishing stars are the two stars, with the elder between the two being the second star to the right.

Aster is around Asha's age as a wishing star, and thus his power isn't that great. He can't grant as many nor as powerful wishes as his parents. He can't make a wooden doll into a living person. He can't grant blessings to protect people. And something his parents insisted he can't yet with his abilities, is become mortal and then come back to being a star after death.

Now, onto wishes themselves. The wishes that grant the stars power and the orbs Magnifico steal are made from one's true desire deep within the purest part of their hearts. Wishes are made from the strongest magic of them all, love.

When one has their wish taken/given to someone in the case of Rosas' people, it's like taking out their heart. An empty void is left where their wish once was, where their passion and love once was.

In history, people only gave such vital things to them to someone they love and loves them in turn as a sign of their bond and love for each other.

When a wish is removed from a person and they change because of it, the negative magic released from the void in their heart makes others not see the change. At least, not fully. They don't know what causes it, but they also don't believe it to be the wish removal in the case of Rosas, its because of something else wrong with them. For as people have the capacity for both good and evil, the purest wish in their heart is the deepest concentration of that good, and removing it disrupts that balance within them.

Asha has always been able to sort of see how having their wish taken away changes people in ways that others just can't. The only people that were ever the exception were ones who wrote their wish on a Wishing Tree, because the memory of their wish isn't confined and hidden away, it's constantly bathed and seeing starlight. The stars see their wish, but without the magic words, the stars cannot grant them.

Those magic words?

Star light, star bright, First star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, Have this wish I wish tonight.

World building/A History of Rosas???

Rosas is by no means an old kingdom, but nor is it that old. It's 6 generations of Royals looking after, protecting, and offering refuge to all those who seek it. The royals use the magic power they have to better their home and aid their people.

Surrounding Rosas are various hamlets not governed by the kingdom, but friends to them nonetheless through the hard work the royals and their heirs put into fostering good relations with them. Many of the hamlets request that their location be kept secret as both a form of respect and a safety measure should Rosas' crown ever land on the wrong heir.

King Magnus "Magnifico" De Rosas was only twenty when he was crowned king, due the unfortunate passing of his father, mother, and siblings in an attack from one of the neighboring villages.

On that day, Magnifico claimed all those neighboring hamlets as traitors that conspired together to eliminate the royal family. They had come across dark magic that lets them take away people's souls, and without the rest of his family by his side, Magnus has not the power to stand up against them. His people offered their aid in any way, but he insisted that the only way would be something lost to time and never done before. The people didn't listen and insisted.

In the end, that's how the people of Rosas started giving their wishes to the king once they were of age.

It wasn't a complete lie from Magnus.

The magic inherently within those wishes act like wireless charges for him. The more he can use to power up, the stronger he becomes.

The royal family was killed and the hamlets did betray the king.

Magnus was the reason for his family's demise, because his parents saw the darkness in his heart and knew he could never be the heir nor even considered it. Regardless of if something happened to the eldest, Magnus would've been skipped over for his younger siblings. Magnifico didn't like that and orchestrated their death.

The neighboring hamlets are in contact with each other, and one of the villagers who was foraging at the time saw the assassination go down and immediately went back to the village and warned the others. The hamlets are against Rosas' crown, but because the king that wears the title is a false one.

The people of Rosas never had much reason not to believe the royal family, and those who did voice suspicion would be ousted as a traitor and mole. In the end, any who do know better than to speak on it, for there are ears listening in the walls, floor, maybe even in the dresser of that inn you're staying at in an attempt to have a secret meeting to discuss such speculations

It didn't help the fact that more people flooded into Rosas in the following years due to a period of turmoil in the world causing many to flee their homes, and thus the only word and story can they hear of is of the king who's housing and protecting them without requesting any charge.

Lady Amaya was not one of those fleeing, but rather simply looking to move. The daughter of two incredibly successful merchants, who's business ventures have ran dry due to the aforementioned turmoil. She's a well educated woman, skilled and knowledgeable on potion making and alchemy, her family was hoping to find new ventures in the King's court as the royal potion maker.

Magnifico was stunned by the beauty before him when he first met with the wealthy family. He would've rejected their proposition if not for how gorgeous their daughter was. As a show of loyalty, from a citizen to their king, they would give up their wishes. Individually, and in private.

The moment he saw Amaya's wish, he knew that no other woman could ever be his Queen. Thus began their courtship, and while Amaya first did it for the wealth and power that comes with being Queen, she, too, fell for him.

The young couple confirmed their love and devotion to each other in a wish exchange ceremony in private. Magnus gave his wish to Amaya, and she did so in turn. He confessed that he fell in love with her the moment he saw her wish, and when she saw his, she said that it only made her love him all the more. That night, they announced their engagement to the Rosas, only so they can finally tell the world that they have each other's hearts (though the people may never know the true extent of it).

As the years went on, the evil couple destroyed the "traitors" until one hamlet stands. Magnifico would often keep "traitors" for his beloved to use as lab rats for her experiments, and in turn Amaya graciously allows him to hear them scream.

The two would use those innocent people as ways to keep a more youthful look or to power their magic. Children for youth, and those with the ability to use magic as power-ups. Others were expendable, nothing more than chew toys at that point.

Naturally, once the "traitors" severely dwindled in numbers, Magnifico no longer had a reason to hoard the wishes without potential uproar. So he started granting some of those wishes as a thank you from his beloved people, and that became a tradition that lured in more people to come and live in Rosas.

#disney wish #wish rewrite #wish magnifico #wish amaya #magnifico x amaya #(this has been seeing in my draft for like a week because I'm currently distracted by stardew valley 1.6)

[scarlet--wiccan]

How do you think a potential first interaction between Monet and Wanda would go? The potential interactions of the soap opera levels of dysfunction Maximoff/Magnet family and the gothic horror of the St Croix family is a really interesting idea (if Marvel actually decides to keep Pietro/Monet together and not drop them). Monet mentions her father is missing in the recent Black Panther and that magic was involved. It seems like a potential Segway for her to interact with Wanda (outside of the fact she is dating Pietro)

Wanda also got a mention in the first issue of Ressurection of Magneto with Storm using the waiting room Wanda created to bring back Magneto. Do you think Wanda (and potentially her siblings) may be brought up again (in spirit)? It's interesting that Wanda and Magneto's presence is gonna be felt in each of their stories this year (not to mention Lorna is back and paying homage to Magneto) - given Marvel likes to milk this family (which are technically not a family anymore post retcon) is it just me or does it feel like there is a potential reunion on the horizon?

I would be shocked if Wanda, Pietro, and Lorna don't come up again in Resurrection. It is, first and foremost, a comic about Magneto and Storm embarking on a mythical journey through the afterlife. I don't expect anybody else to play a major role, and the number of people who will be able to physically show up is probably limited, but yeah, I'm sure Magneto will, like, talk about them.

Ewing is great at writing Magneto, but it's clear to me that he's not terribly interested in Max's relationships with Lorna and the twins-- and I think that's fine. Those relationships have already been thoroughly explored, and they've been at the center of a lot of drama and several major storylines over the years. To be honest, I kind of chafe at the fandom's insistence on making everything about The Magnet Family™, so I do find it refreshing that Ewing focuses more on other aspects of Magneto's character and history.

Anyways, having said all of that, it does seem strange that Wanda isn't an active character in the story considering she, you know, created the Waiting Room, and is, if nothing else, personally invested in Magneto's well-being. You would think that Storm would call Wanda first, and it feels kinda weird that this isn't even presented as an option. So, why didn't she? Well, because Resurrection is also a spiritual sequel to Ewing's run on Defenders and a finale to esoteric worldbuilding that he began back in the 2015 series Ultimates. And that's the other reason why I don't really expect Wanda or Pietro to show up-- Ewing is being forced to wrap up nearly a decade of storytelling in one miniseries. It's a challenge that has become unfortunately very common at Marvel, but I have faith that Ewing will pull it off more deftly than other writers have done.

---

I expect that Monet and Wanda will need time to warm up to each other. I just don't think their personalities will mesh very well, and I kinda feel like Monet might be one of those people who just doesn't have much patience for magic.

The most important question any time Wanda interacts with an X-Men character is usually how that person feels about the Decimation-- what were their experiences during or after M-Day, what kind of information have they been privy to, what kind of opinions have they voiced, etc. etc. Even now that Wanda's "redeemed," I think it's important to remember that a lot of mutants might still be holding onto trauma, fear, and misinformation. I don't really know, of the top of my head, how Monet should feel about it, and that's partially because I refuse to read a lot of late-2000s X-Men books on principle, especially X-Factor. :)

That said, if Monet works with Jamie and, I assume, is still friends with Rictor. So, if she heard about how Ric got his powers back, then I assume she's not a Wanda-hater.

#resurrection of magneto

[firecoloredwater]

Fic authors self rec!

Oh boy I've been tagged twice now, by @planeoftheeclectic and @denialcity. Thank you both!

(And uh, since I somehow didn't actually get notifications for either of those and just noticed while scrolling, if anyone else has tagged me in... anything, really, and I didn't respond, sorry about that! Tumblr is being tumblr apparently.)

Rules: Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass this onto other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

Going to tag uhhhh @domoz @asukaskerian and uhhh what's a people I've never met a people in my life. what's a tag. I'll go shake discord a bit and come back with more tags in a reblog probably.

Fics!

These are... not in any particular order of preference, I will just make question marks for a year if I try to sort them that way, so this is just the order I grabbed the links in. Which means newest to oldest.

1: Roots Grow Up - Naruto (Founders)

I still don't like the title, but I like basically everything else in this fic (including one detail I've decided on but not posted yet so... can't say). I am planning to add more, but the first chapter (which is all that's posted now) stands alone pretty well, since I wasn't sure whether I'd continue it at all when I first posted it.

The premise is that Kawarama didn't die, but instead lost his memory and has been living as a civilian farmer when Hashirama and Tobirama find him, a few years after founding Konoha. 0 people were prepared for this discovery.

Summary:

It's been fifteen years since Isamu was found, badly injured and unconscious in the forest. He woke up with amnesia, but his origin was pretty obvious, so he doesn't even miss the memories. It's been fifteen years. He's grown up, earned a place in the town that took him in, and even gotten married. His not-so-mysterious past doesn't matter. Not until shinobi wander into town, anyway.

2: Blessed Sacrifice AU - Naruto (Founders)

Cowritten with @codedredalert aka @denialcity, on hiatus while we both deal with Life, but there's a large and excellent chunk up already and so many cool things planned. So many!!!

Also, turns out I REALLY LIKE cowriting. Which is kind of old news because I've been doing forum RP for a decade+, but I wasn't sure if that would translate to fic. Turns out the answer is definitely yes.

BSAU is basically taking the "red eyes blessed" trope and digging into the like... worldbuilding repercussions of that, as shown through Izuna. And also crows.

Also comes with LOTS of fantastic art from Red!

Summary:

Mythology-religion freeform AU where Tobirama is considered blessed by the gods by the Uchiha, but they still need to deal with him as an enemy, so Izuna is ritually disowned from the Uchiha and given a special role responsible for protecting/fighting him.

3: Somebody Else's Dream - Girl Genius

Written as a gift for khilari! I can't remember what the exact prompt was, but I ended up writing an elaboration on the canon detail that Mechanicsburg was founded when a Heterodyne decided he wanted a town, so he just had his people build one.

The main character is an OC who was kidnapped to become a non-military member of the town, and the story is about how he ends up settling in. It's a very weird balance of a "finding your place in the world" story and "this is still kidnapping actually," and I don't think it would work in most fandoms, but since Girl Genius canon is a perpetual balance of heartwarming and "wow that is somehow worse than a war crime" already, I think it worked out really well, and I'm still very proud of it.

Also I suffered over the accents in this. But it worked!

Summary:

Faustus Heterodyne wants civilians for his newly built town. What the civilians want is generally different.

4: Jager Search - Girl Genius

Also written as a gift, this time for sparkagatha. It's the future, *vague handwave* everything is resolved, the OT3 are together and Klaus has accepted that he can leave Agatha alone and the revenants are being cured, happily ever after.

...except that some of the "wild" jagers are still missing. So Agatha sets out to find them.

Not much to say really; I can see spots where I'd write it differently if I wrote it now, but that's mostly things like "would have slightly changed the characterization," not big issues, and overall it still holds up very well for being... close to eight years old.

Summary:

Most of the detached jägers heard of the Heterodyne's return and came home, but a few are still missing. Agatha learns this, and decides to fix it.

5: Didn't Dream This - Death Note

Oh if I wrote this now tumblr would annihilate me. ~Problematic~ yay!

I'm not sure I'd say this is a good fic--if I was writing it now I'd write it so differently that it just would be a different fic--but I was clearly working out something about sexuality and relationships and the stuff (not) in my head that I've ended up labeling "being aro."

Basically: Mello and Matt are straight, and they decide to be together anyway. I'm glad I wrote it, partly because I know I wouldn't think or dare to write it now.

Summary:

Mello doesn't want to die alone. Solutions can exist without working out the way anyone wants. (Psychologically intimate interaction is really a better description than romance.)

#writing #fanfic #meme

[raxistaicho]

Edelgard suggested she might be wrong, though!

Eeeyyy, Strikes (that’s her nickname and it’s a lot shorter than butwhatifidothis, sorry) doesn’t usually make arguments anymore! This’ll be a nice break from Fantasy Invader.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Spoilers for Trails in the Sky a ways under the cut

And uhh, that’s not an argument I’ve ever heard before, honestly, it must be a super old one. Good thing it got dropped, it’s weak.

So because Edelgard said,

It means the devs are saying, “you did wrong, tho.”

So I guess when Dimitri says he’s a monster who deserves death it means we need to ram him into something that can kill him, accept the game over, and start a new file of Three Houses?

When Joshua Bright said he was a broken person with a broken heart, it meant Estelle should have immediately given up on him?

When Velvet Crowe said she was monster and claimed she ate Seres just ‘cause, that meant she retconned reality and changed the circumstances under which she ate her?

It’s almost like sometimes people with trauma and a poor self-image say self-deprecating things that aren’t actually true.

“Which doesn’t mean Byleth is defying destiny by walking at Edelgard’s side. No sir.”

Again, the devs only said Silver Snow was the route that was made first to explore the world, not that the worldbuilding suits SS specifically. Otherwise, what the fuck is Azure Moon there for? I’ve seen it argued that White Clouds best suits Azure Moon because of Lonato and Miklan (setting aside that their respective issues were not about Dimitri’s personal tragedy but the broken state of Fodlan society), but with Strikes’ argument Azure Moon can’t possibly mesh with White Clouds because White Clouds only supports Silver Snow, according to her!

I mean... Azure Moon doesn’t mesh at all with White Clouds anyways, but that’s for very very different reasons.

I’m on to you, you red-headed, red-caped bastard.

I won’t let you invade Nohr, Ryoma >:(

Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but Byleth’s side, whichever side that is, does plenty of mowing down in all routes.

Damn, Fodlan is doomed.

Those poor celebrating commoners.

Oh no, is this Crushed Nugget again?

Now we’re delving straight into, I believe, Crushed Nugget’s Everyone is Miserable in CF set of posts, which is something I’d reeeeeaaaaaally like to dig into sometime, because it’s just a lot of petty and trivial ways to try to demonstrate everybody as being unhappy or less-fulfilled characters in CF.

These can range from the ever-popular “Lysithea doesn’t want to destroy the Empire in CF”, to “Yuri feels overworked in CF”, to “Raphael is irresponsible and happy in CF”, to “Ingrid is sadge in CF”. Yeah, being happy is bad if in CF and being unhappy is also bad if in CF.

It’s basically just her plucking at literally anything she can find to say that CF is bad in that exact moment without any regard for consistent standards. Ignatz’s is especially amazing given you know if the paintings he drew were reversed she’d instead say VW Ignatz is good for wanting to immortalize the horror of war so we never forget what war takes from us while CF Ignatz is bad for trying to cover up the pain with pretty pictures of something.

If you looked at red flags through pink lenses, wouldn’t they still look red?

Hey, you’re the one who said,

Because even the lord of the route is trying to tell the player that uhhh Byleth doesn't belong here, they're supposed to be on the other routes. Which checks with how the devs said that SS is the route the world-building is based on, and how within the game itself CF directly goes against SS' world-building. 

Don’t blame me for arguments you made!

She’s missing the point. It’s not argued that you don’t get to choose SS. The argument is that you do have to choose CF. You can’t default onto CF the way you can SS.

Another important point is how riddled with But Thou Musts SS is.

Who’s in charge of the army here, Seteth!?

So... going CF isn’t about tearing Byleth away from their proper place in SS?

If Byleth is meant to go SS, as Strikes said above, then CF is about defying fate.

If CF isn’t about defying fate, then Byleth isn’t meant to go SS.

So suddenly Byleth is more than a self-insert for the player to glom onto? That’s a bit contradictory to the usual Edelcrit line, but okay.

Since Byleth is now their own character and not a self-insert to represent the player, then Edelgard isn’t trying to date the player and the player demographics have no bearing on whether or not she’s bi, nor does her "gap moe” have any bearing on whether or not CF is a valid choice, because maybe Byleth doesn’t care about all that. Maybe they’re into MILFs.

Technically no, there’s a sequence of options that can have Byleth making no positive choice regarding which side to take.

Miss the coronation entirely, then you have a “I must kill Edelgard,” and “...” option at the Holy Tomb.

Indeed, you can spend basically all of SS being dragged around expressing discontent, and getting But Thou Must’ed into following along with the plot.

Also, again, the argument is not that Byleth can’t choose SS. It’s that they have to choose CF.

Hey, speak for yourself, I usually marry Dorothea.

Strikes is getting real fuckin’ philosophical all of a sudden about the concept of player character agency in a narrative-driven video game.

For real, this is some Bioshock/Undertale-level shit.

You know, I never considered that maybe Corvo would rather just stay in his cell and accept execution as penance for his failure to protect the Empress. He can’t speak in Dishonored 1, how do I know what his thoughts on the subject are? Am I puppetting him to commit mass murder like some kind of revenge-loving cordyceps!?

I am so sorry, Corvo :(

But actually, Strikes, how do you know that Byleth wants to fight Edelgard? Maybe they want to pick Black Eagles every time? Are you perhaps denying their agency every time you join your beloved Golden Deer? (I’m just assuming GD is her favorite route since she professes to love Claude). Are you denying their agency when you click on, “I must kill Edelgard”?

How could you do such an awful thing?

Bonus round time!

Why is she continuing her arguments in the tags??? That sounds annoying as hell.

Also, uhh,

Look at that fucking smug grin. Is that the face of an expressionless killing machine?

I have no idea where this, “Byleth reverts to being the Ashen Demon in CF” argument came from. I guess because they’re killing people the Edelgard detractors would rather they not kill, they have to be doing it heartlessly? That’s assuming a lot.

That’s... more or less exactly what it is, actually.

I know Strikes doesn’t like Edelgard being portrayed as a sad, tragic figure, but uhh... she is. Edge of Dawn is right there, it’s about Edelgard’s sorrow thinking about the future.

#Fire Emblem Three Houses #Edelgard von Hresvelg #edelgard discourse #edelgard positive #strikes #butwhatifidothis #Another thing Edelcrits don't really consider is that maybe Byleth doesn't want to rule Fodlan? Like they get upset about Byleth not getting #to rule the land in CF but maybe they want that. You can't know they don't #don't try to make decisions for them #it's mean.

[ahordeofwasps]

Writer Positivity Tag

I've been tagged by the brilliant @blind-the-winds! Thanks for the tag! I'm going to also steal the idea to put the no pressure tags into one of the questions.

Now, onto the questions!

What motivates you to write?

It's fun! I've always really enjoyed stories, so it's fun to try my hand at making my own. I really enjoy putting a bunch of characters in a Situation and exploring what happens.

But, I'm also more motivated to write when there's a task to procrastinate on. I usually get most of my writing done when I supposed to have a thesis I'm working on.

A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not, maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them):

I'm currently really happy with this bit I wrote for To Not Falling Off Cliffs:

Steve had made many friends over the centuries. He couldn’t help it. Someone entered his life, grew to like them and then he couldn’t imagine it any other way. He had no lips, so Steve could not smile, but whenever he saw them, he felt his jaw shift in way he could not help. Thoughts about his work were drowned out by ones that if were not pleasant, were at least wanted. He found himself making excuses to be near them, his spirits lifting in their presence. He wanted nothing more than for them to be well. It wasn’t falling in love – Steve never fell in love – but it was something more. Something that went without courtship and ritual, something that demanded nothing of the flesh. A simple bond that rang truer than anything else.

Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them, and what are they like?

All of them? Like each one makes me smile for different reasons. I'll focus on the protagonists from To Not Falling Off Cliffs.

Erika is the one human protagonist. She loves music and old movies. She is also trying her best. She's the kind of person who will look upon eldritch horrors and go "Hmm, this is just like math class."

Steve is one of the reaper protagonists. He is a bit of a tragic character in that the souls he reaps were of those who died slow painful deaths of very preventable causes but he's not allowed to do anything about said causes, as that is "altering Fate." But he tries anyways and is willing to risk his existence on it.

Tiffany is the other reaper protagonist. She's the closest thing reapers have to a celebrity, as she wears entirely gold and has a very distinctive appearance. She's super smart and organized, but also stubborn. She's a bit of a stickler to the rules, but when those rules start harming, she'll break them.

What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

The writing part? I'm a pantser, so I get to see the story develop as I'm writing. Something I find enjoyable is seeing a scene go into a completely different direction than I expected as I'm typing it up and then getting to explore that direction.

What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

I have a hard time figuring out what I'm good and bad at, so this is a bit of a tough question to answer.

I think plot? I'm just usually kinda happy with the way the plots of my stories turn out.

What is something in the writeblr community that is most enjoyable?

Getting to see everyone else's writing! I enjoy reading the little snippets that get posted for tag games and seeing how writing styles vary. When available, I also enjoy reading the fully written stories, though I haven't read as much as I would like to due to time.

A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

My keyboard! It is very clacky. Plus I got it setup so that I can swap between American, British, and Canadian Multilingual with just a pair of keystrokes.

A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law, etc)

I had a lot of fun doing worldbuilding for To Not Falling Off Cliffs, so there's a lot I like. I guess my current favourite bit of worldbuilding is that life on Earth got started accidentally; some god decided to knit some amino acids for fun, made the first cell, and then got distracted by a neutron star and forgot about it the same way one forgets about tupperware in the fridge.

Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters:

I love @winterandwords's writing! It has a strong sense of character voice. I'm currently reading her novel, Bridge from Ashes and it's really good!

I also adore @loopyhoopywrites writing! The tone and descriptions are amazing and super well done! I think Trickster is my favourite character, though they're all great.

I also love @spuddlespud's writing! Super fun characters and scenarios! I especially adore the A Worker's Guide to Demonology snippets.

I also adore @emelkae's writing! I read WANNABE a while back and loved it! Love the characters and concept and everything. I get excited whenever I see bits related to it on my dashboard.

I also love @chauceryfairytales's writing! I especially love the descriptions and worldbuilding. Yuni questing to find bees is an amazing plot!

I also adore @blind-the-winds's writing! I enjoy hearing about Mick and Eleanor and all the stuff they wind up getting into.

#writing #writeblr #tag game #writer positivity #To Not Falling Off Cliffs #TNFOC

[waveridden]

i would love for you to give deets on why you disliked those books. i love salt

yessss i love complaining. putting this under a cut because it's long, however i'll say up top that if you found this post because you tumblr searched a book you like... maybe skip this one! because i didn't like these books!

the ballad of songbirds and snakes, if you haven't heard of it, is the hunger games prequel about president snow when he was young and hot. i dislike it on principle but when we did our hunger games book club i decided i was going to give it my best and most open-minded shot that i could handle giving it.

my main problem is actually that i extremely dislike the politics and the worldbuilding implications for the rest of the series. the timeline becomes incredibly fucked. the thematic implications don't make sense. it is so bloated, and so long, with so many names and characters and so relatively few interesting things happening.

also: the hunger games capitol is in denver. the original hunger games were in an old sports arena that was also used for concerts and events sometimes. it is described as having a massive goalpost that is tall and two-pronged. that's right. it's the denver broncos stadium. (the american football team.) once you know that the hunger games were in the denver broncos stadium, it kind of takes a lot of the suspense out.

-

the bromance book club is a highly-recommended romance novel. the basic premise is: a professional baseball player and his wife are on the brink of divorce after he discovers that she has never had an orgasm with him. in order to save his marriage (and learn to satisfy his wife) he joins a top secret book club of Alpha Men who secretly read romance novels to learn about what women like.

i actually thought the premise was cute but where it fell apart is that i HATED the main character. his wife was literally correct 100% of the time and should've left him. it was just unfunny and weird and bad.

-

identitti is a contemporary drama (translated from german) about a german-indian graduate student who discovers that her beloved german-indian advisor is, in fact, a white woman who has been lying about being indian. the book categorically refuses to cast judgment on her - the protagonist feels betrayed, but the advisor just keeps saying over and over that it's actually fine and identity is fluid, but never actually makes a good argument.

aside from the very strong personal reaction i have to this book (i.e. that the advisor was Wrong and that it was weird for this (german-indian) author to present this case) the biggest problem i have is that it used a real life mass shooting to prove a point. there was a hate crime in hanau, germany, that becomes a plot point in the book, but it revolves around people connecting that shooting to the fictional advisor, and i just think that's shitty, actually!

-

small game is the debut novel by blair braverman who is a survivalist and who raises sled dogs which rules. it is about a survivalist who goes onto a survivalist reality show, only for all the cameras to vanish halfway through, leaving the contestants to wonder: did something happen? have they been forgotten? is this all just a part of the show? or is something more sinister going on?

let me spoil the answer for you: the network lost funding, canceled the show, and something went wrong that meant that the contestants were never picked up. now you do not have to slog through ~150 pages of the contestants having that exact debate, weird gross survivalism, incredibly strange and upsetting animal and human deaths, and a really bizarre dubcon-y love story.

-

singer distance has a premise that i really loved: earth begins getting messages from mars that people realize are actually mathematical communications. after a certain point the math becomes too advanced; enter crystal, a genius mathematician who figures out the solution... and then disappears.

this book is not about crystal. it is about her college boyfriend, who feels inadequate to her and feels bad about it. after she goes missing he spends years pining after for her. eventually it is revealed that the two of them had a kid together and the kid finds him and they search for her together. i was really hoping for a fun and interesting scifi alternate history type thing and instead it was just a book about a sad boring man

-

cover is an indie comic miniseries about a comic book artist who is drafted into international espionage. the art was really nice but i haven't read bendis comics in years and i forgot how far up his own ass he gets, especially when it comes to how many words per page he writes. and this was especially navel-gazey, just talking constantly (constantly) (CONSTANTLY) about The Art Of Comics and how good it is. there also wasn't enough espionage.

-

how to give up plastic & how to save the world for free are two different and unrelated books that fall into a category i'm trying to read more of, i.e. the practical environmentally-friendly guide. these books had the same problem: the advice was fucking stupid! how to give up plastic said that if companies send you unnecessary plastic packaging, you should ship it back to them to make a statement (what!!!!!!) and every idea in how to save the world for free cost money.

i think my biggest problem with books like these is that most of the advice is for 1) homeowners, because so much of the advice tends to be like "compost in your yard" or "install solar panels," and 2) people who have never considered buying reusable bags or water bottles. i am trying to find something with advice that is practical and cheap (the climate diet is the closest i've gotten, some of it is ridiculous but some of it is genuinely applicable) but these books just gave stupid fucking advice

#waveridden.ask #cedardivine #THANKS CEDAR HAHA this was fun #do ppl still put long posts under cuts

[fatalism-and-villainy]

I am so tired of the posts about how critiquing how a female character is written, on the grounds of sexism, actually makes you the real misogynist, because clearly it's just a disingenuous cover to weasel out of exploring that character's subjectivity in a fandom context. It's such a bad faith take, and one reason it bothers me so much is that it's premised on the idea that writing fanfic, or activities adjacent to it, is the only valid form of doing fandom.

Fandom right now is, from my standpoint, extremely anti-critique in general. It's very rare to see analysis of the actual execution of the piece of media in question, which is quite alienating to me given that that's one of my primary ways of interacting with media. In fact, that approach is often met with censure, because critical examination of, say, writing quality or pacing is seen as ruining everyone's fun. Most fandom meta that I see is premised on in-universe concerns, such as character motivation, worldbuilding, etc. There's certainly a lot of value to that approach, but too often it seems like it's the only accepted approach.

So this idea that critiquing the writing of a female character is a form of dismissal I think stems from that idea - that all analysis should be centered on expanding on the story that's been given to us, and should be the precursor to fanfic. Any analysis that doesn't take that approach is viewed with suspicion in this context, because clearly if you truly cared about the representation of women in media, you'd be taking a transformative fandom approach. It presumes that more critique-based analysis is lesser, and can't possibly stem from a genuine investment in sexism in media.

Another thing that frustrates me about this discursive trend is people projecting their transformative extrapolations back onto the source material in question as a way to diminish its sexism or de-centering of women's subjectivity. The idea that because you can extrapolate a reading from the source material that allows for the potential to build a richer inner world for a female character in question gets used to argue that there can't be any sexism in the source material - even if there's quite a bit of creative leeway required to get to that reading, even if it certainly isn't the intended reading, and even if the character implications aren't at all realized or explored in the text.

Don't get me wrong, it's fine to take those readings as a starting point to creating more transformative content about female characters, and there's plenty of material out there doing that that I think is cool and interesting. But that alone does not render critiques that the character is not fleshed out in canon invalid - and the idea that it does once again is premised on the notion that "transformative"-based approaches are the only valid or valuable ones, and that analysis of the source material as it is presented to us or constructed as a text is just an excuse.

#yes this IS about the veritable fount of posts about jiang yanli #a character who i do like and who i do think you can do a lot of cool stuff with! #but whose writing i also have a lot of problems with #namely for how much it DOESN'T recognize those implications and that potential #and frankly a lot of the interesting stuff you could do with her is just not in the novel #the show gives her a bit more interiority imo but in the novel she's much more of a plot device #but it's not even just about her; it comes up in so so many contexts #fandom natterings #gender fuckery #my meta #alpha speaks

[sesshy380]

For the writter ask game, 23, 40 & 41!

*rubs hands greedily* I see at least one real good question that's gonna make me wrack my brains lol

Onto the answers!

-23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

I've answered a similar question with the last ask game. It's number 17 here.

-40. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

I am definitely a re-reader. I have so many subbed authors and fics so I can find them easier (Congrats! You're on that list!)

-41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

Now the hard question! I gotta pick just one? I don't think you realize how often I think that when reading other people's fics! And it's not the fics themselves that make me think that, it's the authors that write them!

I envy @x-atlas-x ability to write smut.

@tenderwulf characterization and scene setting inspired me to start writing and posting (I do have this bad habit of constantly comparing my own writing to theirs, but I am getting better at not being such a harsh critic of my own work).

The worldbuilding of @ninjam117 Roleplay AU is amazing, and I can only dream of coming up with something half as good.

Can't forget @crush3dmary poetic flow (I KNOW I'll never be able to write like that)

And then of course I wish I had your ability to make the reader want to hug the characters in the story to death (working on it!)

And those are just a few off the top of my head!

Thanks for the ask! Sorry I couldn't give a straight answer to the last one.

#ask game #answered asks #resuri #there are so many others i could add to the list #i literally think that with 99% of the fics i read lol #the imposter syndrome is strong

[krp1x1finder]

hi! looking for long-term partners. 22+, she/her, and will only write with those 21+.

— i strongly prefer to write on discord in a 1x1 server or on tumblr. — third person only. past/current tense. i try my best to make length, but often write multi-para. will typically match your style, tense, etc. comfortable with one-liners for text threads in between replies and such. i will reply fairly often. definitely a couple times a week, but i do work so maybe not daily. — when it comes to ooc chatting, i am typically most comfortable keeping ooc chatter related to musings, sharing things for our ships, and similar things. we can talk about shared interests, but i am a bit uncomfortable with a lot of talk about myself. if we write for a long time and i get more comfortable, that may change! i promise i'm nice, just a little awkward at first! — adding onto that: i love to talk about our muses, headcanon things, make edits and share playlists/musings. i love worldbuilding and would love to have multiple ships in one universe. — right now, i strongly prefer writing idolverse (oc only). i can do general slice-of-life and some fantasy, but my muse is strongest for idolverse currently. if you don't want idolverse, please don't interact. my muse is strongest there. — i write females. i'm not super comfortable writing male characters. i can do m/f or f/f! i do have some plots right now that work best for m/f, but i frequently write f/f so i would be happy to do a second f/f ship. — okay with dark content. comfortable with nsfw, but it really will depend on how i'm feeling. we can discuss triggers/limits, but i am pretty comfortable with dark content and angst. — i am very open to any faceclaim! used against me or anyone you'd like me to use. however, some of my favorites to use include: yeri (red velvet), yuqi and miyeon (gidle), chungha (soloist), eunbi (soloist), youha (soloist), chaeryeong (itzy), yves and kim lip (loona), winter, ninging, and karina (aespa), yeeun (clc/soloist). — when it comes to opposites, i'm very open. if a faceclaim doesn't inspire something in me, i'll tell you but i have no hard no's other than nobody super problematic. all the fcs i like to use can count as fcs i'd like to play against, and i also enjoy: many k-actresses and actors, joy and seulgi, some bts membes, dpr ian, b.i, infinite, some got7 members, some twice members, some wjsn members. however, this list is not exhaustive and i am very flexible/accepting of anyone.

if you're interested, please like this post and i'll message you 🤍

🌸 !

#krp ad #krp 1x1 #1x1 rp #discord #idolverse #fxf #mxf #soloist #aespa #clc #gidle #itzy #loona #red velvet

[schwender-exe]

The ever expanding devlog #7

Well, well, well. So it's been some time! I nearly forgot to post this month to be honest-- not from a lack of things to post, not by a long shot! You see, somethings have changed since my last devlog and well, after talking with a few people, I now have a small team of sorts!

I'll introduce one of them under the codename they chose: "Hououin Kyouma" (yes, after the steins;gate character!) Their role is basically as a #2 with the game, they help me out with everything outside of programming itself, their texture work with tiles is awesome and their knowledge with worldbuilding is also helping with our current project.

"Why are you working with other people?" you might ask? Well, if it wasn't obvious enough, I have a bit of a commitment issue when it comes to game projects. I'll jump around every other month to a new project and latch onto some hope of "this'll be the one I'll stick with and actually finish!!" However! Now, with others working side-by-side with me, we can hold each other accountable! if I were to try and hop over to another project, I can now get a swift slap to the hand and get told "nope, we're working on this project." and that goes double for deadlines, organization, etc. Since I've gotten the new help, I've dedicated a lot of my time outside of programming to making sure we're all on the same page, organized, and thinking together, rather than apart. I hope that shows through in the final game.

Enough talk! you want a video of our progress so far? Well, I decided to jump back to a previous project simply titled "zelda-like" and from that initial prototype, we've expanded it since, working on a few features while we wait for the other two possible members to get some free time so we can properly work together and brainstorm our story.

Above is the reworked terminal, among many other changes from footage I've previously shown in devlog #4, me and okabe have reworked how it functions, from having certain terminals requiring a reboot on first interacting with them, to a whole new UI look made by okabe himself! I worked on the programming to allow for the text to be displayed how it is and the shader present on the text which helps give it an old monochrome CRT vibe.

We've also been working on other features, but those will have to wait for when they're more polished and able to be shown off! Until then, I hope to keep you all posted as things progress!

#gamedev #godot engine #pixelart #pixel aesthetic #pixel #art #indiedev #gaming #artists on tumblr #devlog

[lizardinkart]

Lizard Reads Ward

Arc 1: Daybreak

Lizard’s Cry Counter: 2

TL;DR: A Victoria-focused arc that dragged a bit in places but ultimately felt like everything we needed to know about her (and more). I wished it’d started closer to the fight but having the fight, the trauma, and the family drama laid out felt like the groundwork that was missing from the prologue, especially with the shifted role of Amy. Wish that we had a little more about the other characters introduced in the prologue tho. 8/10 Aight! Let’s get wormin’!

So in my brain I’ve split the arc in to 3 parts, pre-fight, fight, and post-fight, so I’ll talk about the arc in terms of those mini-arcs. Mini-Arc 1: Pre-Fight (Victoria, not Glory Girl)

Ok the fact that the city is Gold colored is hilarious to me. This is Children’s Hospital Red™ levels of awful design choices, somebody really just said color theory in context is fake. I also appreciate the later indications that most of The City is in fact shittily built but hey shitty shelter is better than no shelter I guess (also relatable as someone looking at apartments). Other worldbuilding things I was thinking about since Wildbow really wants us to see the cool world he built (but it’s not really about the world tbh)- the technology of post-GM is so weird. Like you have dial-up internet but it also works perfectly fine and technology works when you need it to. Like I’m sorry but Reddit-AOL would be so much buggier. But all that being said, it’s really funny to see the irl jump in technology from when WB was writing Worm to when he was writing Ward, because Taylor’s flip phone vs smartphone drama was so real and relatable, and now dial-up internet just works on smartphones...I’m baffled. anywho! Onto Victoria lol. So Victoria is working with the new kiddie PRT- awesome, very cool. I appreciate the focus on her wanting to still feel heroic even if she gets that massive body dysmorphic/dysphoric (yes, both) feeling from actually using her powers. Though I also appreciate the small touches we see when she’s on her way to work with a much better mirror scene than the opening of Worm, her interactions with the one hero during the obelisk incident show that she still gets heroes and feels bad for the shit being thrown their way (idk, it gave me big closeted queer energy, queer-to-queer communication in a queerphobic environment one might say). “Nice response time” really is the dorkiest shit to say tho and I appreciate it. Victoria is a dork.  I also appreciate the setup with her parents, laying the groundwork for what’s to come later. Also that she enjoys working with the disillusioned and directionless kids/teens, cause that really is a thing that is the kind of selfless-selfish pull that I think Victoria is shown to be struggling with (finding the balance in the healing process is difficult!). While I felt like this part really did drag the most in the arc, I think there were some really good parts that make it worth it. And it leads into the first Wildbow fight of the story! Woohoo!  Mini Arc 2: The Fight (The Trauma Hammer)

Oh boy I do love me some Wildbow fights. I felt my little storyboarder brain light up because there were some God-tier moments in here that I wanted to draw sooooo bad. But alas, too many, not enough time. 

Crystalclear is cool as hell and I think he may be one of my faves of the new powers so far, he’s a very Wildbow-concept hero and I do really appreciate the man’s flare for the complex and flashy. Tempera is also cool, and Fume Hood is a snarky bitch and I love her. What a queen. She did not deserve to get shot (maybe a little tho).  

But overall there was some great tension in the ticking clock leading up to the fight, and seeing how shit played out was super fun as always, I was not expecting the 18-wheeler to come out of nowhere but it was a very fun time. I gotta say tho, I know Lord of Loss and Snag are important, but I for the life of me could not keep them straight in my brain since Snag made Victoria feel Loss, but like, that’s LoL’s name lmao. 

And on the topic of loss: oof. I did not call this the Trauma Hammer for nothing lol. This is where things went from meh to great for me in this arc, because since Victoria’s story was so ancillary to Worm, I had 1) forgotten how she triggered, and 2) didn’t really remember too much about the specifics of her story outside of the hospital interlude. But god, just sitting in her shoes through falling in love with Dean, losing him, losing her family, feeling inadequate to the rest of her family, and the ever-present looming threat of Her (that we will get to, don’t worry lol), it was just so helpful in really honing in on Victoria’s entire ish that is rattling around in the background. As someone who does characters like this, esp in TTRPGs, having that context of someone’s thought process really is helpful to have in understanding how you’re supposed to interpret the character, even if you’re already in their head (since characters and people lie to themselves, see: Taylor). But yeah, since Victoria avoids those thoughts anyway, it was clever to give them to us up front. And the fact that it happened while she was being a hero again? Kickass. Loved it. 

Mini Arc 3: Post- Fight (Her)

Oh my god this family is messy. I have essays I could write on Carol Dallon and just the Dallons in general but I think I’ll get the chance to eventually cause this is already too long lol. But oh my GOD I truly was thinking “yeah this is gonna go poorly, maybe some passive-aggressive family stuff, getting overwhelmed, getting pie and then leaving”, but holy SHIT the fact that Carol really just ambushed Victoria with lawyer speak and finessed the entire narrative of what was going on- jesus. Manipulative ass snake, but in such a relatable way. 

Once again, have been in that situation before and the way that Victoria goes from like a 2 to 1000 in 0.2 seconds when all the pieces come together- holy shit if that is not the exact feeling of trauma. I know the “#triggered” discourse is old hat at this point, but man I could feel myself get short of breath and panicky when Vicky got trauma triggered in this chapter (this is the spiritual Cry Point). It was so convincingly written that I wanna hold Wildbow in my hands to make sure he’s good.

But I’m proud of how Victoria handled herself, definitely snaps for that therapy working its magic, but man. The Amy Ambush (an Am(y)bush if you will, yes haha joke away), was so something I did not see coming this early, but I’m glad that it did because holy fuck. Victoria talking about moving on and then her family (mom) “moving on” but in a “forgive with an emphasis on forget” kinda way really does leave Victoria in a place that proves all that feeling of inadequacy right, and it’s crushing. But it provides that big stumbling block for her to overcome esp when she finds her new group. 

And seeing how many times she was forced to confront her worst moments and she still actively avoided Amy... oh baby. As an Amy Enjoyer (less “condoning her actions” more “study her like a bug”) I am highly intrigued in how this is gonna go. This is 7 levels of Fucked Up. 

I screamed with joy when Dr. Yamada showed up, I am in love with her and think she is wonderful, and also a great addition to the central cast of this story (esp in a story about healing from trauma? YES get the therapist in there). Also Crystal is wonderful and a good ally for Victoria, and I appreciate Victoria’s need to scrutinize both public and private Aesthetic (shoutout to me and Crystal vibing as 2 fun ADHD individuals). 

Also a shoutout for Gilpatrick because he’s cool and funky and a good boss. Get u someone like Gilpatrick. 

Bonus: The Interlude!

I would give my left kidney for Moose. I’m kicking Prancer’s ass, and I hope Velvet keeps her truck forever and ever. A better love story than her and Prancer tbfh. Also Nursery is so cool guys, she’s so neat. I love the weird shit being done with powers so far in Ward. 

AND A MARQUIS CAMEO HELLO???? HUSBAND?????? Sorry I really like Marquis lol. 

Final Thoughts

The only things I would criticize this arc for that lowered it a bit in my eyes is that the prologue really didn’t do a fantastic job of prepping us to only focus on Victoria. I wished we had sped things along a bit with getting to the others from PHO, even with little PHO interludes interspersed in to let us know what these guys were up to. Bc like, this really did feel like 3 arcs so I feel like we could have used another interlude or 2, just for spice and to break things up a little. Like a commercial break!

The other thing is Wildbow’s uh... underlying ish breaking through. I know Ward was written in the shadow of Worm for him, but there are some parts of these chapters that just feel very mean-spirited and pointed towards people who enjoyed certain parts of Worm. Mainly stuff that could be construed as “fandom” things, or things that fandom would like, that Wildbow seems to be very overt in saying “hey, fuck you for liking/engaging with this.” I dunno, it may just be me, but that kinda attitude cropping up often enough for me to notice the pissed-off hand of the author was off-putting and distracting from I think the greatest parts of this arc. Because it is a good story, it just feels like the occasional potshots WB takes are more coming from his own bitterness than Victoria’s, and are ultimately detrimental to the story as a whole. Idk, I will try not to bring it up so often, but it’s definitely something that’s running in the back of my head and I hope that it subsides soon-ish. 

But all of that to say, I enjoyed the arc! It was a solid opening that’s got me really excited to read more (which by this point, I have, and I will be writing up my arc 2 thoughts shortly lol), and the Trauma Hammer really hit home in a way that felt earnest and really earned. 

That’s all for now tho! As always, I’m happy to discuss stuff wherever, so let me know what you thought of the arc if you’ve read Ward! 

Until next time: Ward out ✨

#lizard’s ward thoughts #ward #ward spoilers #ward web serial #victoria dallon #amy dallon #panacea #carol dallon #wildbow #live blogging #glory girl #antares #ward arc 1

[bleachbleachbleach]

asdfghjkkjhcxcvbmk,kjhbas just me complaining about writing

I do not like this thing I am writing! But in a completely different way than the things I was writing before.

With the Kensei Chapter, I think the main issue is that there’s a lot of narrative strains that muddle into each other and don’t stick the landing, so eventually what I need to do is zoom out and and do some macro weaving.

With the Hinamori Chapter, I haven’t actually gone back to look at it, but my impression is that it’s problem is that I am trying to write something that’s worthwhile to explore with Hinamori—I just keep writing around or over it rather than actually getting the "it" onto the page. So it’s something that could be good, but only works if it’s done well.

With the thing I am writing now, I think the concept is interesting! I think the plot is interesting! I think the random worldbuilding required of the plot/concept were a lot of fun to come up with!

I think the fic itself is dogggggshit. :(

The writing is not the problem; like, as prose, I think it is fine. It is sometimes pretentious and sometimes braindead, but what else is new. I don’t really know that it fits the POV character, which is a much bigger issue, imho.

But I think the biggest issue is that I feel like the story is not in any kind of relationship with the character that it is about. Like, somehow, despite my best intentions, it doesn’t feel like this story is about her. And if it’s not about her, if she is not here, then there is no point. Like, I don’t know what to call some level of remove even further-flung than being OOC, but that’s what this feels like. And all the character stuff that comes in as you’re writing a thing just makes it feel further and further away from *her.*

What’s even dumber is that at the same time this fic (well, this writing—is it really fanfic) cannot find the character it is about, it’s not even that I’ve gotten too carried away with the concept or world and that’s what’s leading me astray? Because none of that is in here either! I mean, it exists on the page, but none of that is really here, either. I’ve also done that before.

But with this piece of writing, it’s like somehow NONE of the characters, NONE of the ideas, and NONE of the inconsequential but personally titillating details are actually animating this piece. Which is… impressive, I guess is a word.

And I’d say, well, the answer is clear here: Throw it away! You made a pie except you only used 5000 gallons of water and a piepan, gg. Start over!

But whatever this thing is also appears to be the only thing I can actually write. Like, I keep putting it away and then I keep coming back and writing more of it and it keeps growing. So do I just try to get it out of my system? I don’t even want it, though.

I also don’t think that solves the fact that the brain that is attached to my fingers is apparently severed from Things I Actually Like—not just Things I Actually Like done *well* but them in their entirety, even badly. Because, I reiterate, literally none of those things are in the prose. (They are on the page. They are literally the outline. But in the translation from outline to prose, they somehow disappear.) Like, I’m pretty sure if I started over this stupid invasive weed would overrun the flowerbed again.

Do I throw this away and start over, only to be dragged back into this hell once more?

Do I waste my life writing this thing I don’t even want, just to see if it will let me out?

I guess I’ll try to that figure out tomorrow. 

* I’d say "well, self, you could not do any of those things" but I already did that yesterday. I spent an hour walking to the post office and back AND an hour and a half taking/processing photos of birds. This week I also started reading a fanfic I am in love with, and am finishing reading a book I am very underwhelmed by. I remain possessed by the ghost of "literally what is this writing"

I don’t want to take any more bird photos!

[junk-jester]

Transformers: Ashen Wings Information Page

For those curious, unaware or just stumbling randomly, welcome. For a good bit now, I've been thinking about writing my own Transformers AU, where I use the figures I collect as the main way to tell its story.

Having been inspired by this post I found completely at random, I'm now going to compile everything I've written down in one place for future ease of reference.

This'll be a long post, too, so I'm putting all this info under a read more cut so anyone who doesn't want to scroll for an hour or so can go right on by.

[Section 1: List of Characters]

The cast of Ashen Wings is split up into four primary factions; Autobots, Decepticons and Terrorcons.

The Autobots are comprised of: -Earthrise/Kingdom Optimus Prime -Legacy Evolution Commander Armada Optimus Prime -Legacy Override -Earthspark Twitch -Legacy Wreck N' Rule Impactor & Spindle -Legacy Bulkhead -Studio Series ROTB Bumblebee -Legacy Arcee -Legacy Evolution Animated Prowl -ROTB Beast Alliance Targetmaster Rhinox -Studio Series ROTB Cheetor -Studio Series ROTB Airazor -Legacy Evolution Nova Prime -Legacy Evolution Junkion Scraphook -Legacy Evolution Junkion Crashbar -Legacy Evolution Junkion TrashMaster -and Legacy United Windblade

The Decepticons are made up of: -Studio Series Gamer Edition WFC Megatron -Studio Series BBM Megatron -Legacy Evolution Tarn -Legacy Evolution Skyquake -Legacy KnockOut -Legacy Armada Starscream -Kingdom Waspinator -Generations FOC Shockwave -Prime RiD Soundwave -ROTB Beast Alliance Targetmaster Skullcruncher -Legacy United Rock Lord Magneous -and Legacy Jhiaxus

And the Terrorcons are made up of: -Studio Series ROTB Scourge -Studio Series ROTB Battletrap -Studio Series ROTB Nightbird -Studio Series ROTB Freezer -Kingdom Paleotrex -Kingdom Ractonite -Kingdom Wingfinger -and Cybertron Sideways

[Section 2: General Worldbuilding]

-In the ancient past, Cybertron was a rather tribal society, where they worshipped two deities; Prima, Goddess of Light, Day, Order and Life, and Unicron, God of Darkness, Night, Chaos and Death. -Ancient Cybertronians believed the two gods, brother and sister, where locked in an endless war, their planet caught in the middle as the two tumbled around each other in the sky above, each and every sunrise and sunset signaling Prima's small victories and defeats in conjunction with her brother. -One day, this balance was interrupted when the Ancient Cybertronians witnessed their first Solar Eclipse, where the planet's twin moons blotted out the sun. Fearing for Prima's safety, they created a series of super weapons known as The 13 to destroy the moons and bring Prima's light back. -The plan worked and the twin moons were destroyed, but at the cost that Cybertron was tidally locked. As one half froze and the other burned, the Ancient Cybertronians pleaded to their Goddess for help. -Prima seemingly obliged, and The 13 would transform before the people's optics, becoming immensely powerful warriors now known as The 13 Primes. The 13 Primes would then undo the damage, making the planet spin once more, before 12 of their members suddenly vanishing without a trace. -The last Prime left behind, Alpha Trion, sought to grant wisdom to his kin and created The Legacy of The Primes, a contingency plan that sought to pass his powers onto future generations of bots so that his wisdom should never leave their side. -In the modern day, the line has continued unquestioned, with Nova Prime-- a well-respected and publicly adored hero figure-- being the latest to carry Alpha Trion's mantle. -However, as the generations have passed, Alpha Trion's wisdom has been increasingly forgotten or omitted and those that bare the Prime title have not sought to teach his ways to their kin, resulting in the formation of the Functionist Council, which seeks to limit and control Cybertronian society by prescribing roles and jobs to bots based on their natural Alternate Modes. Fast cars become racers adored by the public, Jets are enrolled in Air Force Academies to defend Cybertron from alien threats, Tanks are forced down into Cybertron's underbellies, mining for resources in hazardous environments so that the politicians can build golden cities higher and higher.

[Section 3: Important Plot Points]

The story begins as you all may know it, with the Great War on Cybertron.

-Standard Aligned Continuity depiction of Pre-War Cybertron, with a Miner named D-16 (later rebranded "Megatron" by his admirers) fighting for the equal rights of all Cybertronians from the Gladiatorial Pits of Kaon. -Megatron allies with Orion Pax, a librarian at the Iacon Hall of Records, and Ratbat, a Political Senator working on the Functionist High Council. -The three meet, but while Ratbat speaks of violent revolution, Megatron and Orion want more peaceful means to reform the system, preventing the incitement of chaos. -Ratbat, left vindicated by the duo's refusal, bombs and assassinates the Council, gives himself fake injuries, plants evidence and blames Megatron for the attack. -Megatron is shortly arrested, but he knows Ratbat is the real mastermind. His rage swells and he causes a mass riot, rallying other prisoners (such as Soundwave and Starscream) to his cause and escaping, saying that if Ratbat wanted a true violent revolution, then that's exactly what he was going to get. -Ratbat is soon murdered by this group of prison rioters, dubbed Decepticons by a news media outlet, but the chaos wouldn't end with him and the Decepticons would keep attacking everything in sight, despite Megatron's orders to stand down. -As chaos consumed Cybertron and the remnants of the Functionist Military were unable to hold them back, Orion was approached by the ailing Nova Prime, who had sensed his time was coming to an end and a new successor was to be chosen. Naming him Optimus Prime, Nova would pass along the Matrix of Light-- Alpha Trion's dormant Weapon Form-- and everything he knew or had ever been taught. Optimus, with this renewed sense of purpose, would confront Megatron alone. -Megatron was prepared to fight Optimus, calling him a betrayer to everything they stood for, but Optimus corrected him, telling Megatron that he had lost sight of their goals, and if he wanted to truly make things right, he should truly consider long and hard what should be done next now. Megatron, heeding Optimus words, would fly off into space to begin a long process of soul searching among the stars. -Back on Cybertron, without their leader, the Decepticons were left in disarray and most were re-arrested as Optimus sought to get things under control. -Those remaining Decepticons who avoided imprisonment would make a bot named Tarn-- who Megatron considered to be an adopted son-- be their new leader in Megatron's absence. Tarn tried to lead the Decepticons, but found too much pressure on his shoulders, causing him to leave their ranks and flee into space as well. This would land Tarn on Earth, who hid out on the tropical islands of Hawaii. -Shockwave and Jhiaxus, two bots who had been arrested by the Functionist Council for pursuing careers in science instead of the military as ace fliers, would then end up hiring a team of skilled Bounty Hunters-- the Terrorcons-- to retrieve Tarn. In turn, Optimus would send a small team of his own-- the Autobots-- to do the same, led by his own adopted daughter figure, a famous champion racer named Override. -Upon getting to Earth, the two factions would scuffle a bit as they searched for Tarn. Quickly realizing that his team is outnumbered, Scourge, leader of the Terrorcons, would have his allies dig up some dinosaur skeletons and flood them with a nanotech virus, creating the Fossilizers Paleotrex, Ractonite and Wingfinger, as well as their combined mode, Gravesite. -Eventually, the Autobots would find Tarn first and escort him back to Cybertron. The Terrorcons, enraged at losing a major payday, would reveal their true colors as cultists who worship Unicron and were mutated or enhanced by his dark powers, hence why they could revive the dead. They would then begin to take over Cybertron, using more of Unicron's powers to brutally injure Optimus and create a false clone of Megatron, weaving a conspiracy that Megatron had actually been dead this whole time, murdered in cold blood by the cruel and unfeeling Optimus.

Tarn, Override and their remaining Decepticons and Autobots would work together to form a resistance against Scourge and the Terrorcon-controlled Cybertron, but no progress in taking back the planet could be made up until the real Megatron would return from his soul searching.

During his time in space, Megatron would happen upon The Chemical Lenses, the dormant Weapon Form of Alchemist Prime, a master of manipulation over matter and energy, able to transform any one element into another.

However, the Chemical Lenses were infected by Space Barnacles, and in his attempts to clean them off, Megatron himself was infected. Alchemist's ghost, noticing Megatron's plight, saved them both from Space Barnacles. Megatron apologized for his failure, but Alchemist denied the apology, saying he did what he could and that's what matters.

Alchemist would then bestow upon Megatron a special power, but without telling him how to use it, saying only Prima herself could show him, and only when the time was right.

With this new unknown power in hand, Megatron would return to Cybertron, only to see what the Terrorcons had done to the planet. Enraged by their chaos and discord, Megatron would singlehandedly carve a path of death through the Terrorcon ranks, killing his clone, Nightbird and Battletrap before then moving on to Scourge himself.

Scourge was saved at the last minute by Sideways, but not before Megatron had unleashed the power granted to him by Alchemist Prime. Antimatter leaked from his eyes like tears as he reduced Gravesite to atoms and dust.

With the Terrorcons fleeing and scattered, Megatron would then use his power to repair and upgrade Optimus, giving him a Super Mode.

Optimus and Megatron would then work together to rebuild what the Terrorcons had destroyed and unite Cybertron under one banner. Should the Terrorcons ever return, they'd be ready.

[Section 4: Side Stories]

Beyond what the main plot tells, various side stories also take place at various points in the timeline.

During Tarn's stay on Earth, he would witness the battles between Override's Autobots and Scourge's Terrorcons from afar, where it would quickly become apparent that he had fallen in love with her.

Tarn would initially be terrified of this fact, but after being taken back to Cybertron and leading the rebellion against the Terrorcons with her, his love would be actualized, and he would ask her to be his Conjunx Endura by the time of the real Megatron's return.

Before the onset of the Great War, Starscream was a prominent Military General working for the Functionist Council, but was court marshalled and imprisoned when he refused to fire on civilians. When Megatron escaped and the Decepticon Riots ensued, Starscream was at the forefront of the chaos, guiding fellow Seekers in bombing several buildings. However, his longtime Conjunx Endura, Windblade, had been inside one by mere chance and was injured by debris. Windblade would break up with Starscream and swear revenge for his seeming betrayal, causing them both to grow cold and distant, though they would cross swords several times at several points in time. Windblade would eventually find peace after the Terrorcons occupation of Cybertron was removed by training with Prowl in the art of Metallikato, but Starscream hasn't had similar luck. He now roams the galaxy as a vagabond, trying to find any possible way he could apologize to his lost love.

At some point in time, Tarn is visited by the ghost of his future self, taking the form of a Samurai named Bludgeon. Bludgeon tells Tarn that he hails from an alternate future where Megatron fails and is slain by Scourge, and he has become haunted by the action, unable to pass on. Bludgeon demands Tarn not make the same mistakes he did, to prevent that future from taking place, and Tarn agrees, though without clear instruction. Regardless, Bludgeon vanishes into the afterlife, leaving his sword and skull mask behind. Tarn has since begun taking up both, training day in and day out, waiting patiently for Scourge and Sideways' inevitable return.

[Final Section: Misc. Details & Fun Facts]

-Megatron's Antimatter powers gifted to him by Alchemist Prime mix the jagged spines of WFC Dark Energon with the clouds of energy emitting from his eyes of their IDW depiction, making them extremely dangerous and unpredictable.

-Early drafts of the story had Tarn and Override be Megatron and Optimus' biological kids, but it was changed so they're adopted instead so that the timeline makes more sense.

-There is no Ashen Wings version of the DJD or Damus/Glitch. Tarn has always just been Tarn and, likewise, was never corrupted from being Optimus' friend into a worshipper of Megatron. --There was plans initially for an Ashen Wings version of the DJD, but they would've had different code names and group title, but without Hasbro making any Legacy figures of them, they can't be included.

-The plot of there being a conspiracy regarding Megatron's death and the creation of a clone wasn't the initial plan, but things sort of evolved this way when I wanted Studio Series Bumblebee Movie Concept Art Megatron, but had to justify its existence in conjunction with Studio Series Gamer Edition Megatron when I had just gotten that before BBM Megs was announced. --The same line of thinking also applies to Earthrise Optimus and Legacy Armada Optimus, but instead of a clone, I relegated the LA figure to being an upgrade.

In conclusion, that should be everything of note about Ashen Wings. If anyone has any more questions, I'm happy to answer. This AU's plot is also always updating as I expand my collection, so this post will no doubt be updated in time.

For now, however, this is where I'll leave everything off.

#transformers au #maccadam #transformers fan continuity #transformers ashen wings #long post #word vomit #too many characters to tag