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laurabwrites · 1 year

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Plotting out loud, because I can. Glimmerglanger/Star Wars edition.

I read a fun smut Padmé/Obi-Wan piece from @glimmerglanger (another author I will read basically anything they write) that had a an interesting author end note:

....and the galaxy is saved because when Anakin tries to flirt with Padmé she goes, "Sorry, kiddo, not interested," because she's busy trying to arrange a time and place when she, Obi-Wan, and anyone else who wants to get down can all meet up.

And being me, I decided to plot out how this AU changes the timeline/plot. Because I can. And maybe if I do, it’ll stop knocking around my head.

So, relevant ‘plot’ points to this exercise for those who don’t want to read smut:

In Attack of the Clones, Anakin took a minor injury chasing Zam Wesell and went back to the Temple for treatment.

Padmé and the handmaids had crushes on Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace.

Most of Padmé’s sexual experience up to this point has been with her handmaids (and they with each other).

Padmé initiates; the sex is very good; Padmé’s reaction is “I should see if he’s up for an orgy with the handmaids, they deserve something this nice.”

So! How I would plot out what comes next:

1) Anakin still tries to flirt with Padmé. It’s just as embarrassing as in the movies. Padmé decides to bring one of her handmaids with her to Naboo, hoping she’ll act as a buffer with Anakin. Let’s pick Dormé.

Dormé tells R2 to hang around Padmé when Anakin is there & don’t be afraid to use his arc welder/taser if he gets too pushy

2) The sojourn on Naboo is going to include fewer picnics and more Anakin bugging Padmé while she’s working with Dormé on Senatorial work. I see this leading to at least one argument about political structures.

Dormé totally yells at Anakin that he’s proposing fascism

How can a former slave think the scaled up version of what he suffered is a good idea?!?

Well the Chancellor could get so much more done if—

Dormé slaps massive history tome down on table

3) Padmé has good memories of Shmi, so they still go to Tatooine once Anakin shares he’s having nightmares.

4) Anakin does a Mass Murder™️ out of Revenge™️

5) When Anakin has his little ranting confession to Padmé (because he’s thinks they’re closer than Padmé feels), R2 starts pretending to be shutdown in the corner and gets a recording of his confession. Because Padmé is not interested in Anakin romantically, her little “anger is human” part of the speech also includes a “and I’m going to be very careful not to trigger the anger of this person who can throw things with his mind and has a sword that can bisect people easily.” mental clause. It’s a textual medium instead of a visual one. I get to include internal thoughts.

6) MEANWHILE, Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan got a nice dose of happy brain chemicals before starting his hunt and has gotten a decent amount of sleep while bouncing around the galaxy chasing down this attempted assassin. Obi-Wan digs in a little further at Kamino compared to the movies canon. He gets a copy of the contract from the Kaminoans. He ducks meeting Jango until after talking to some of the Alpha class (who introduce him to a couple of their proteges). Jango cannot hurry luring Obi-Wan to Genosis because he cannot find Obi for a couple days.

When Obi-Wan does talk with Jango there’s a lot more “why are you building an army for the Republic” and more paying attention in the Force to his answers.

Obi-Wan has concerns™️

Obi-Wan sends his concerns to the Council and Anakin with instructions to boost his signal to the Council and make sure it gets there. Also DO NOT COME.

7) Genosis. Obi-Wan sneaks around Genosis for a little bit longer before getting caught. He gets a little more information back to the Council. When Dooku says “there’s a Sith in the Senate”, Obi-Wan says “evidence or I think you’re lying to sow discord and ignore you.”

8) Padmé and Anakin get caught on Genosis just as fast as in the movie. Dormé and R2 do not get caught. They feed technical info about the droids and on the ground tactical information to the arriving Jedi and clone rescue force. The rescue force tries a more diversionary attack expecting Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé to get themselves out of the arena. Fewer clones and Jedi die. It’s still a shitshow with terrible numbers of casualties. Just fewer than in the movie.

9) Anakin still goes after Dooku. He still looses his arm. Dooku still gets away. Padmé and Anakin do not kiss, and do not sneak off to Naboo to get married.

10) Anakin is brought back to the Temple to start healing and doing PT for his new space-future prosthetic arm (see recent writing advice re:arm amputations and why they’re portrayed unrealistically). Obi-Wan is sent off on a mission with Alpha-17. Padmé, Dormé, and R2 speak with the council about Tatooine — the council diverts a Shadow to Tatooine for more evidence to back up the decision they know they’ll have to justify to the Senate.

11) Obi-Wan’s mission goes badly. He and Alpha-17 are captured and tortured by Ventress. Word of this reaches the Council and Anakin...

12) After his mother’s death, Anakin has slotted Obi-Wan into the ‘must not die, will burn down the Galaxy’ slot that Padmé occupied in movie canon. Padmé has made herself unavailable for the role since they’re not in a romantic relationship (although Anakin would like to and plans to continue pursuing her). So Anakin subconsciously choose the other parental figure in his life, instead of the female person he cares most about.

13) Anakin freaks the fuck out, runs off to Kamino, grabs the 212th being assembled for Obi-Wan’s return from this mission (which includes Rex and Cody), says he’s the General’s Padawan/Commander, and they’re going to go rescue Obi-Wan.

14) Anakin did not have an assignment to do this. Anakin is disobeying direct orders to come the fuck back to the Temple. Anakin takes the 212th and runs silently. No one in the 212th knows that they’re not in communication with the rest of the GAR and are in danger of being declared AWOL.

15) Obi-Wan or Alpha escape long enough to send a transmission to the GAR before getting recaptured. The 212th pick up the signal and rescue Obi-Wan and Alpha. Obi-Wan contacts his superiors (the Council and GAR military) and gets informed of the situation with Anakin. Obi-Wan orders them all back to Coruscant.

16) The dressing down of Anakin is a) in the medbay before Obi-Wan is dunked in a bacta tank and b) EPIC. Phrases used include “My life is not worth all of these men!” and “Do you have any idea what happens to AWOL clones?!” Obi-Wan has to arrest Anakin for fear the boy will accidentally start a mutiny by ordering the ship NOT to go to Coruscant.

17) The Jedi Council. Anakin and Obi-Wan think they’re there for Anakin’s punishment for absconding with the 212th and disobeying order. Nope. Surprise. You done did a mass murder. Into Jedi jail you got to go Anakin. “It’s not fair! You need me in this war!” excuse me? “They’re just animals” excuse me? “The chancellor didn’t think I did anything wrong?” ex-fucking-cuse me? say that one again.

18) So yeah, Anakin goes to Jedi jail, the Jedi Council decides to hide that fact to figure out the Chancellor’s involvement in that and prevent him from ordering the Jedi to release Anakin, Shadows start investigating the Chancellor (plus keep an eye on the Coruscant guard who have to interact with him), and sad Obi-Wan goes back to war while trying to investigate his concerns™️ about the Kaminoans and the clones (which is where I want the discovery of the chips to come in, but like, later. In a different story in the series. One where Ahsoka is Obi-Wan’s Padawan.

And yes, Padmé and crew do occasionally meet up with Obi-Wan during the war for some mutually fun sex.)

#writing #am writing #fanfiction #writeblr #star wars #plotting #wip #plotting out loud #long post #good grief #how do other authors make those pithy 5 point bullet posts that are hilarious and outline an entire story #believe it or not I see the series ending with Padmé/Sabé and Codywan

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syncopatedid · 4 months

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Since the anime's airing, I've also been catching up on the manga of The Apothecary Diaries and I am absolutely smitten with these two. Smitten, I tell you! A low-key simp + high-key romantically-blasé protagonist is the kind of dynamic that will mean we get the whole nine yards of slow-burn development from "antagonists" -> friends -> confidants -> something more? Maomao certainly isn't oblivious to Jinshi's beauty nor his attempts at cringe teasing/flirting with her, even though she has a natural immunity against his shenanigans and remains ever cautious about the whims of people within the palace.

Maomao is also an inspiration as a strong female character who manages to navigate a world that is not kind to people of her class and gender. While it does feel like the story skims through a lot of unspeakable things Maomao had witnessed growing up, to me, it does serve to perfectly emphasize Maomao's "detached" character and her perspective of the world. She is a reluctant protagonist in this story, just trying to survive the best she can given her circumstances. And while she's certainly more educated and street smart compared to other girls in her situation, she's also realistic about her place in the world and knows her own powerlessness, merely finding her own way to co-exist with it and minding her own business (the girl just wants to be left alone with her rare poisons man). Being thrust into palace politics and catching the whims of one Jinshi, however, means inevitably putting herself in dangerous situations. Yet she's also really lucky and very loved and protected by those around her, including those who are in power to effect change, and that is the ultimate power that our Best Girl Maomao wields like a Mary Sue, but a well-written one. Still, her barriers are way up high when it comes to her feelings, and it will take a lot for her walls to come down. It's been 65 chapters into the manga, but the relationship goal post between her and Jinshi feels as if it's moved one step forward and two steps back (*throttles Jinshi with a stale baugette*), but you genuinely do want to root for these two to be more than servant and lord, romantic or otherwise, because their circumstances are a lot more similiar than they are different, as are their complicated feelings about each other. There's also something to be said about this gremlin of a girl who is so desensitized to the world of lust and romance but you know she absolutely owns a PhD in kink studies thanks to her sisters' upbringing. If Jinshi ever learns the extent of her knowledge I think Jinshi.exe will shut down for good and I just want to follow this series and be there for that eventual punchline.

#the apothecary diaries #kusuriya no hitorigoto #thinking out loud #Best new watch this season #so shojo it hurts #Anyway kudos for securing Takeo for the simp role of Jinshi after the og had to go it couldn't have happened to a better Seiyuu #I watched it because his name was on it but now I'm totally sold on the entire plot so him being in it is just a nice bonus lol #Please do not drop the anime after one season I am begging I have a mighty need for later chapters to be animated you don't understand

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hauntedpearl · 8 months

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what convoluted lies would dean tell himself to justify giving cas a ring in later seasons but like it's not like that it's not it is but it's not also cas will totally not know. what kind of things does cas believe about himself that he might actually buy whatever dean is selling that it's not like that that it's just sort of a gift. like the mixtape. which also didn't mean anything. obviously.

#like. im just asking talking out loud maybe if i write sth i might i have so much. FEAR lmao. but a ficlet yk. no plot just vibes #doe is talking again #thinking about destiel

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batfamhyperfixation · 1 year

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Jason: *just vibing, thinking his thoughts*

Bruce: What?

Jason: What do you mean what?

Bruce: You were smiling

Jason: Am I not allowed to be happy?

Bruce: You are, but that was just, like, an evil smile

Jason: *offended, turning to Dick* Bruce thinks I have an evil smile

Bruce: I don't think you have an evil smile, just that particular smile looked evil

#neither were smiling after this #based on the exact same conversation i had with my mother (ft. my brother in the place of dick)#incorrect batfamily quotes #jason todd #bruce wayne #dick grayson #idk why so many adults have a mistrust when it comes to me being silent #they all think im plotting something like dude im just thinking about hyperfixations im not doing anything #like my mom and my grandma both say to my face that they get uncomfortable when i stop talking for a while #ive had my brother come home saying past teachers apparently used to say that they could never tell what i was thinking cause apparently #they thought i had an evil smile too but dude you all were the ones that told me to shut up and the ones that got me in trouble for talking #so i dont know why you get upset when i stop talking like dude i got adhd i have 2 modes 'say every thought in my head' and 'dont say any #thoughts im having out loud' like adhd means I cant filter my thoughts so it is all or nothing so you cant be mad at both states #sorry for that rant #anyway thought that this interaction would fit well with bruce and jason

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ducktracy · 1 year

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what a fantastic transition

#as much as i absolutely adore LT with all my heart there are no cartoons out there that give me such a CONSISTENT sense of raw visceral joy #than the Fleischer Popeyes #they are the epitome of fun. that’s such a vague word i know but i think it perfectly encapsulates these cartoons #not too gaudy or self absorbed. despite the fantastical nature of some plots and the gags and visuals there’s a down to earth humility as #well. it owns its simplicity very well. hearing that ‘30s jazz reach a climax as the visuals and gags and tactility and emotions get #stronger and faster in the climax of these shorts literally #gives me goosebumps! it’s an adrenaline rush #i also adore Olive Oyl. i mean i love them all. Bluto is the greatest cartoon asshole of all time. i love the nobility of Popeye. but i #really love that Olive gets to be just as loud and mean and weird and ‘ugly’ as the rest of the guys. she can throw a punch too. she’s not #just there to look pretty or be coquettish. she has a really natural charm and doesn’t feel forced like ‘oooo look at the cool LADY #participating too!’ which i feel is an issue with cartoons of both the past and present #she’s just another facet to these cartoons without calling much attention to herself and i really like that and wish there were more #like her #popeye #seasin’s greetinks #kneitel #vid #the lack of regular woman characters outside of thin tropes in golden age cartoons doesn’t bug me as much as it really should #because as a kid i was so used to watching ‘boy’ cartoons and connecting with ‘boy’ characters (i thought liking girl characters would make #me ‘girly’) and so it’s something i’ve always been sort of used to #but with that said Olive is one character i feel very strongly about and am glad she exists for those reasons #i don’t know why i’m getting so deep on this 10 second post? but anyway you should watch Popeye if you haven’t

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whumpfish · 8 months

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Conditioned whumpees who respond realistically to being on the outside

Whumpees who display appeasement or avoidance or incessantly apologizing or fleeing when they think someone might be upset with them

Whumpees who are afraid of the punishment they've become accustomed to

Whumpees who recreate lesser punishments to reassure themselves that they will not get the worst option

Whumpees who yell and berate themselves loudly when they make a mistake because in their mind, as long as there is yelling, the consequences end there

Whumpees who inflict small violences on themselves, hitting and pulling so that their caretaker won't have to

Whumpees who hide all the knives/potential instruments of torture if they suspect someone will be angry when they come home

Whumpees who take the initiative to try to influence or control how people respond to them and what they do

Whumpees who push boundaries, who test the waters by doing things that the whumper would have punished them for

Whumpees who keep pushing, for whom life becomes about doing the most terrifying thing they can think of just to see if no one will hurt them for it

Whumpees who do this to the point of self-detriment because their concept of what constitutes dangerous behavior is completely fucked

Whumpees who are people thrust into a world with rules they no longer know with people whom they can no longer read

Whumpees whose stories are about them and their journey into that world, not about their caretaker's shock and horror at their condition

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cattoru · 9 months

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MY BABIES 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

#i rly enjoyed that three part episode and the plot progression actually #when shinichi told ran to wait outside and he'd get her handkerchief for her even though he thought it was a waste of time to look for it 😭#i give shinichi so much shit but he rly does try to be a gentleman 😭#AND RAN REMEMBERING OUT LOUD THE MOMENT WHEN SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH SHINICHI IS SOOOOOO 😭 *CLENCHES FISTS* MY BABIESSSSSS #cattoru's #detco #detco288 #detco anime #shinran #ran #shinichi

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compacflt · 10 months

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idk if this question has already been answered or not but idrc, would your ice have considered it "talking about it" to admit his physical attraction towards mav? like calling him beautiful or genuinely complementing him. this goes for mav too

i do feel post debriefing ice would call mav beautiful openly or some sappy bs like that

love your writing 💌

anon i need you to know this ask was so cute it made me physically nauseous. i was sick all week thinking about how cute this ask was. thank you for sending it.

i actually had a couple drabbles where yes ice both pre- and post-TGM mission is like yeah im physically attracted to you, but it’s less like “oh my god you’re so hot 😍” and more like “i mean, yeah, you objectively look like tom cruise so it’s not like i really have a choice.”

but “beautiful” specifically i had not thought of, and it has knocked me off my feet and made me go feral/rabid/undomesticated for a few days straight, so i will be writing something about this. thanks.

#the reason there is very little of maverick in ch9 of wwgattai is because it would all be 100% fluff.#that’s the whole reason i started writing the drabbles.#i had to play up the ‘oh no we’re still not really together’ bit for the plot but #by the late aughts/early 2010s these are two old men who are extremely consciously in love #& just can’t say it out loud because it might change everything/have an effect on their careers #something that Should Be Done before they die but they both know so they don’t really HAVE to talk about it #I still don’t think i hit that feeling exactly which is disappointing but whatever #cutest ask ever anon. ill be thinking about this for months.#i clearly didn’t give their pre-2000s sex life a ton of thought but im sure ice was calling him ‘pretty boy’ in bed from day one #jsyk #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #icemav #top gun #top gun maverick #asks #edts notes #ANON!!! You sent this ask two months ago & this has just been sitting in my drafts sorry sorry sorry #first 3 are pre-tgm and last one is post-tgm (mav retiring ❤️)#anon—i just want you to know how seriously i took this ask; two/three months later. i wasn’t planning on writing out their wedding night #at all #this ask was what made me write their wedding LMAO

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laurabwrites · 1 year

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Plotting out loud, because I can. astolat/GoT fanfic edition.

So I’m going to do some plotting here, because if I can’t build a sequel plot to an AO3 fanfic on Tumblr, where else am I going to build it? My head? I’ll never finish it that way!

Right so, Winter’s Crown by Astolat, which is fanfiction of Game of Thrones. This thing consumed me for the 4 or 5 days it was being released. It’s a damn good thing Astolat posted two chapters a day because I was refreshing my email waiting for those chapter notifications two or three times an hour and then injecting several thousand words into my veins the second that notification hit.

Just as a programming note. I’ve read the first third of the first book in Game of Thrones. Most of my knowledge of the series has been absorbed by osmosis from my partner and general pop culture saturation. Moving on.

I loved Winter’s Crown.

I also took one look at the ending and said “well, they’re going to be in a civil war within the year.”

Again, to be clear, the ending was perfect for the story. I’m just also sure that if the story continued we’d be into a war for the Iron Throne, like the main series is actually about.

Here be spoilers for Winter’s Crown.

So, our set-up for the sequel is that Robb is still the King in the North, with all the magical power that crown from the Children of the Forest invested in him. He’s promised/engaged to Shireen, Stannis’s daughter and only heir. You know, the niece of Robert Baratheon, the King of the South/Seven Kingdom (except whoops Robb declared the North independent, so I guess it’s Six Kingdoms now?). Robb is also currently fucking Jamie Lannister. Jamie Lannister who was Robert’s Hand before uh... declaring? taking service? with Robb. (There was magic involved.) Who also probably didn’t actually explicitly break up with Cersei before following Robb out of the throne room on Robb’s orders after the declaration of independence.

ALSO, Stannis has already said to Robb that he intends to declare Robert an oathbreaker as the Protector of the Realm. Which from a strict reading of the situation, Robert WAS. Which Robb has already lain on Robert with the force of magic behind it. Here, I’ll quote: “I name you false kind and false friend, oathbreaker and coward, and may you end your days in the shame and misery your treachery deserves.” Which, as far as I can tell the only witnesses who aren’t Robb’s people are Robert, Cersei, the children, Margaery Tyrell, and a small handful of goldcloaks/Kingsguards. So, I doubt that bit of information is getting publicized by anyone in that room. Which Stannis was not.

Basically, I see war coming from two fronts. One, Stannis declaring Robert an Oathbreaker, which is politically tricky because either Stannis has taken himself out of Robb’s service and is making a play to be the king himself? OR he’s calling Robert an Oathbreaker as one of Robb’s sworn liege lords. Which, yikes. Plays right into the narrative that Cersei has built up for herself: that Robb wants power and will march on the South with the Wildlings and/or Stannis’s men at arms and/or the Lannister men (answering to Jamie).

I think if Cersei left the North alone after the Long Night and Stannis was very clear he was not one of Robb’s lords, Robb and the North would be happy to sit out a war and just work on recovering from the Long Night. Because, again, yikes, about half the population that survived the initial rise of the dead froze to death. The North is not in any shape to be going to war.

But I don’t think Cersei can put herself in someone else’s (Robb’s) shoes and believe they won’t act like a politically duplicitous cunt after power and only power. So she’s going to want to go to war to strike first and protect her own power. And also to pay back the “betrayal” of her brother/lover (Jamie) abandoning her. Also Stannis’s betrayal of swearing to the King in the North. But I think she’ll care about Jamie’s more.

And I think Robert isn’t strong enough, morally, emotionally, etc. to stop her.

So... I tend to think that Stannis at least wouldn’t kick off a war until he could secure his supply lines. Supply lines which after the Long Night freezing a significant portion of the country would be in terrible shape. Especially since the largest supply of excess grain is the Tyrell’s and Cersei has that on her side since Margaery Tyrell is married to Joffrey.

End result is that I think Cersei will kick off the war and Stannis will lay the charge of Oathbreaking as a response. To you know, weaken/divide her forces as much as he can.

What Cersei may not have is a competent General. Robb, Jamie, Stannis, and Tyrion are on the side of the North (whether or not Jamie and Tyrion can stomach fighting their sister and niblings/children, those two at least aren’t on Cersei’s side). Tywin is MIA from Winter’s Crown except as a brief aside in the past tense and may or may not be dead in this iteration of the world. The best General we can reasonably project to be on Cersei’s side is her Uncle Kevan. Who did see the dead with his own eyes, so that might change his thinking on if the charges of Oathbreaking are true and who that means he should fight for.

Meanwhile, Robb/the North has six direwolves, at least 3 giants, Brienne of fucking Tarth, Jon Snow, Jamie Lancaster, Tyrion Lancaster, AND, most importantly, every single hero and every foot soldier of the Long Night who survived who’s willing to be called to arms again (they’d probably all like to just go home and recover, but damn, if their king is calling, these are the people proven to show up when called). A significant portion of that army are Wildlings who are now released from their oaths and will most likely head back home over the Wall. But! There will also likely be a significant number who stay (*cough* Tormaund making eyes at Brienne) and can function well as a scouting force.

So the North has an army that trained and trauma bonded through the Long Night together. Morale/belief in each other and their leaders is going to be high. The Boltons are all dead due to events in Winter’s Crown and the Freys are possibly all to mostly dead, so Robb is not going to be stabbed in the back by traitorous liege lords this go around (no Red Wedding here!). What the North doesn’t have is food.

So, what they need is to get the intelligence of Cersei attacking quickly and to haul ass South where they can pillage food.

As a side note, I am assuming that Danerys does NOT show up with dragons at any point to turn this into a three-way fight. She is not mentioned at all in Winter’s Crown, not even the aside Twyin got, so I’m working off the assumption she’s dead or busy on her side of the sea and will not be appearing in a relevant time frame to this completely hypothetical sequel fanfiction of fanfiction.

So, questions I would need to answer, for myself, before writing: 1) What does Varys choose to do? In GoT, he is canonically more loyal to the realm and thus the people living in it than whoever is on the throne. We know he’s still the Master of Whispers in the Winter’s Crown iteration of the world and was able to slip a number of spies/potential assassins into Robb’s camp. Assassins who were routinely thwarted by Brienne and Tyrion, but all it takes is once. And people might be more willing without the magical terror of the oncoming Long Night/Night’s King. Robb still has the magic invested in crown however, so maybe not. Essentially, I think Varys would be a strong asset for Cersei if she utilizes him (she didn’t earlier because he was telling her information that didn’t fit her world view). And therefore what he choses to do would be important. Tyrion at least knows Varys is the spymaster and to work to counter him.

2) Is Joffrey enough of a cruel bastard to still get offed?

3) Does the accurate parentage of the royal children come out?

Well, this is a lot of thinking about the state of the board at the beginning and not much thinking about ‘plot’ isn’t it? Maybe thinking about a theme would help me out here.

The theme(s) in Winter’s Crown is(are) oaths, the costs of them, being a ‘worthy’ person, and when to adhere to an oath. So I would want this hypothetical sequel’s theme(s) to flow naturally from that. Meaning... the consequences of adhering to your oaths when your opponent doesn’t. Good job brain, the theme is the Prisoner’s Dilemma and what shame and misery is the natural consequence of treachery.

Okay, cool, now I have the overall arc of my plot: a sudden swift victory on Cersei’s side (she seizes the first mover advantage) followed by the slow build to victory of Robb’s side. I picture this slow build to be Robb focusing on the smaller battles and alliances that builds a solid alliance to suddenly at the end sweep Cersei off the board. I’d focus on getting smaller lords on their side and peeling away minor but consequential logistical goods from Cersei’s side (armies march on good boots kind of thing) while Robb keeps his army out of direct confrontation with Cersei’s, nibbling away at their numbers in hit-and-run tactics, or swaying the men to withdraw their oaths to their lords and take up service with Robb, or just picking the terrain a battle happens in very carefully.

Too bad I don’t trust my writing chops to write a drawn out war story complete with military campaigns yet... Ah well, into the ideas pile it goes.

#writing #writeblr #amwriting #plotting #WIP #fantasy #really good fanfiction #plotting out loud #world building #I'll read more or less anything astolat publishes

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the-knife-consumer · 10 months

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"Yona was just added bc Nintendo wants people to stop shipping sidlink!" Literally what the hell are you talking about

#yes nintendo is homophobic. no they do not give a singular shit about what their fanbase does??? what are you talking abouuuutttt #they literally dont care what people do as long as they get money??? like what #listen im upset abt yona having so many unanswered questions. mainly she came from another zora's domain #meaning she came from outside of hyrule. so that leads to a lot of questions.#but howww do you come to the conclusion that she was just added as a 'no homo' indicator #dont even get me started on the people genuinely unironically calling this queerbaiting. what are you onnnnnnn #'and oh but sidon said he used to see her as a sister! so its gross and wrong!' sidon literally thought out loud to links face abt how #had things been different and link had gotten married to mipha he would be his BROTHER IN LAW. SAID THAT OUT LOUD TO HIS FACE. so shh #imo. yona was added for one 'ohh wow exciting new character look at this' and two. as a way for sidon's trauma to be acknowledged #bc it was veeery briefely shown in botw. for like. a singular second if you snuck up on him at mipha's statue #but yona's defining scene in totk was her forcing sidon to confront that he wasn't being himself because of that trauma. and that #he needed to let go of the fear around it. if only temporary. because his people needed him.#so tbh?? sheis very important to the plot. she new mipha. admired her. knows why sidon still struggles with this and #how difficult and frightening everything becomes when he views the world through the lens of 'what if i lose someone again'#like. they added yona for his struggles to be spelled out to the audience even further #so to just boil her down to 'ewww woman gets in the way of my gaybies 😡😡😡'. hello. did you play the game.#do you even know who these characters are. quick gimme ten facts about sidons character that you didnt make up for shipping purposes.pronto

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dribs-and-drabbles · 11 months

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Colours in Our Skyy 2 Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars ep 3

In which I get a little bit more meta than I usually do...

So as we know, this ep was spent mostly in the forest on a few days during which the characters couldn't change clothes, which means there are less colours/clothes to comment on. That being said, the red and blue pairings were provided in all possible places.

Tian's plaid shirt from the night before also has thin red stripes to accompany the blue, and kampung's jersey and Pran's tote bag offer another pairing. I think there's also blue, red and yellow in Kampung's t-shirt. I love that Pran brought his bag with him - despite being lost in the forest, Pat is still metaphorically with him. I think it's also interesting that Pran's shirt looks almost camouflage, and that he mostly wears it when he's taking the lead - looking after Tian on the way to Bull Camp and then accompanying Phupha when Kampung goes missing. Knowing that Pran ends up portraying Phupha in the play - and despite Pran playing Tian in his and Pat's role-playing of the other couple - it's a clever choice in this ep.

Pat, on the other hand, does get a change of clothes at the start of this ep, and with the brown, green, and cream he looks like he's trying to imitate the rangers' uniform to be included in the search party.

Plenty of people have commented on how Pran and Tian have been made to look very similar, especially with their hair, but in the below scene it's so clear how the show is trying to have the characters 'imitate' each other. Pran and Tian are in the same colours, only the white and yellow are reversed in their clothing. Pat and Phupha, as already mentioned, also sporting the same colours. But the mixed-pairings also have similar shoes - Pran and Tian in canvas lace-ups with cream toes/soles, and Pat and Phupha in leather boots. The show is really drilling into us, 'look how similar these people are!', but as we learn from their interactions it seems Pran and Phupha are more alike, as are Pat and Tian (hence why they end up playing those roles in the play).

Once Pat and Tian have made their way back to the village, Pat changes into his teal shorts and a brown shirt. I haven't offered much colour-interpretation yet in this post but in general brown and olive green feature quite heavily this ep, especially with all the camouflage. I think this partly comes more from the atots side of this crossover and the use of earth tones in the original series, but it's incheresting that there's been so. much. talk. about sacrificing arising from this ep. I won't go into it all but they're all dealing with something (or multiple things) they have to yield on or sacrifice.

But Pat here, below, has a moment - a mini-Oh! moment - where he realises he has to yield to himself. Having this 'nonsense' fight with Pran and going through their experiences in Pha Pun Dao has made Pat confront and admit to himself something which he either hasn't realised or has been repressing for a long time - that he can't live without Pran. Yes, Pat has always wanted to be around Pran, he always wants to help him, and he's been depressingly lonely without him...but being unable to live without Pran seems heavier. And this realisation goes beyond acquiescing on the fight with Pran, because it has consequences for the bigger picture of their lives and hiding from their families. And that's scary. So no wonder he's perhaps repressed this from himself, instead feeling easier to tease Pran about him always needing Pat, to bicker about who needs the other the most, and to sit in the nonsense fight rather than acknowledge what it really means.

Incidentally, I like that Pat pulled the watch out of his shorts pocket - the object that Pran links to Pat and the teal that seems to symbolise their union as a couple.

Someone (sorry I don't remember who) mentioned that Pat wears a lot more stripy shirts now than he ever did in BBS, which is potentially an influence from Pran, but I love that they're both wearing their love and happiness when they reunite back at the village. I also sat up at seeing Tian's brown t-shirt with the yellow rectangle over his heart - reminiscent of Pran's long-sleeved top in ep 8 of BBS. Tian is ready to sacrifice himself and his health again to go into the forest to look for Kampung and Phupha, with his love for them driving him to do it. (In ep 8, Pran's love for Pat took him away from drinking with Wai to comfort a sullen Pat).

And then on to that final scene with Pat and Pran and we get Pat in Pran's red and cream/yellow shorts, and Pran in Pat's dark blue (or their teal)...and an ominous dark green. They're finding a resolution to their little fight but it's bittersweet.

Coming back to what I was saying about Pat's Oh! moment above, I think him asking Pran to apply the bruise cream was a way for Pat to admit to himself and Pran, albeit subtly, that he does need Pran, and for Pran to understand that admission. (And I'll quickly say that I don't think Pran needed to be the one to say it first but I'll come back to that below). When Pat gives Pran's watch back, however, he reverts to the teasing "Like I said, you can't live without me", he's trying to keep things jovial. Tian has already told Pran about Pat's realisation though - not to aid any teasing or to bolster one side of the fight, he doesn't seem that type of character (he's not a gremlin like Pat and Pran). No, I think he sees that Pat and Pran need this knowledge open between them and facilitates a way for it to happen. In true PatPran fashion, Pran goads Pat into saying it and Pat's soft look to Pran shows his gratitude to have the opportunity (below). Pat needs to admit it out loud to himself and to Pran - the person to whom it means the most for him to hear it. His sigh before he says it is a relief, it's releasing the hold he's had on his fear about what it might mean for them, and Pran's reaction helps alleviate that.

Pran's "Neither can I" isn't as big and dramatic as Pat's statement, but that's because it's not revelatory, not for Pran (who's known it since he fell for Pat in high school and couldn't get over him even after being sent away and pushing Pat away once they had reunited at Uni), and not for Pat - there was always some truth in Pat's original words, "without me, he can't do anything" and they both know that. Pran wasn't the one who needed to admit to Pat that he needs Pat because it's been known all along. But Pran repeating now, in his own way, that he can't live without Pat helps to strengthen their bond.

This moment is bittersweet because of their situation - there is no option to not be together, they've known this already but now it's been explicitly said, so until their parents can be comfortable with them together they will always be hiding something, making sacrifices. This is their life. They're able to understand that on a deeper level.

With this understanding, Pran, unable to do or say anything else, takes his focus to something tangible: The watch, and what it represents - Pat, his time with Pat, their history and connection from childhood, the gaps when they were separated, and their reuniting in Uni. @btwinlines started off a great thread about how time stops for Pat and Pran when they're apart, but the watch also represents how time might make things easier in the future and that all they can do is hope. And, in the meantime, love each other the best they can through all these little fights they have. It's not a grand resolution for them, like Phupha and Tian get later in the show, because they're not in the same place as the other couple. This is just a snapshot of their journey towards where we see them at the end of ep 12 in BBS, so if it feels like they're in limbo when we leave them, they are, but with a renewed perspective of each other and the poignancy of it all.

I'm almost certain this will be a coincidence, but I love that when Pran puts the watch on again it's almost at the same time as when he reset it at the end of BBS ep 1. I love that it's ten minutes later though, because it symbolises how time has moved on for them - i.e how much has changed - since they got together, and therefore how much more will change as time keeps moving forward. And that's something they can trust in.

[ep 1] [ep 2] [ep 3] [ep 4] (<- I was right to be hopeful!)

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