#“Would you still love me if I was a worm?” “In that case I'd also be a worm so probably”

[chill-vibes-but-rainbow-panic]

Sure this is Apple Cousins why not (/lh)

[vaguely-concerned]

Romanced Taash has an energy I can only describe as like…

Rook: …Taash would you still love me if I were a worm? 🥺

Taash: What? Why? Has anyone told you they’re gonna do that to you? ‘Cause that’s real fucked up. That’s Not Cool. I’ll beat them up for you if you want to so they can’t do that. Just tell me where they are. Oh shit. I gotta ask Emmrich if he can turn me into a worm so I can be a worm with you in case it happens anyway so you won’t be alone. He’ll probably need my blood or something and it’ll be real creepy and corpsy but that’s fine that’s a small price to pay. Wait. What do you mean would I still love you. Of course I'd still love you. With my whole also-worm heart if it came to it. Why would you even ask that.

[wonuwrites]

ot13’s reaction to “would you love me if I was a worm?” 🪱

Tbh idk what this is either but i got inspired after eating a cheesy gordita crunch and watched a bird look for food a few days ago so here ya go LMFAOOO

Warning: nothing really. blame taco bell.

also randomly putting songs on that came on for the people in case yall wanted new music to listen to <3

🪱 S. Coups: (Song Note: this song is so Seungcheol coded and I can't even tell you why lmaoooo)

"A worm?" "A worm," you said before taking a sip of your beverage. One of your favorite past times was asking Seungcheol stupid questions you'd see on tiktok and see his reaction. He always entertained them and you were thankful because both of you knew the answers meant NOTHING and that your relationship was solid. Or so you thought. "Well, if you were a worm I guess I would be a bird." "Excuse me!?" "Yeah, I'd be a bird." "Baby, birds eat worms though..." "Yeah and? Don't I do that every night anyway?" He asked while raising a cheeky eyebrow before taking a sip of his drink. You couldn't help but blush at his crude joke and hit his chest softly which caused him to laugh before pulling you close.

🪱 Jeonghan: (Song Note: im feeling nostalgic today~~ lmfaooooo)

To say you caught Jeonghan off guard is an understatement. You would be in the car with him listening to the radio in a comfortable silence when you just sprung the question on him. He half tempted to pull over and give you a genuine "what the fuck" face but instead he just scoffed and started to laugh. "Where did this question come from, (Y/N)?" He would question you. "Just answer, baby. Would you, Yoon Jeonghan, love me if I was a worm?" The use of his full name made him laugh before he just rubbed your thigh and glanced over at you. "Baby, I love you even when you act like a clown. I would love you no matter what."

🪱 Joshua: (Song Note: I got nothing but like yeehaw lmfaoooo. sorry Shua.)

Sometimes, Jisoo and you would give each other "silent treatments" when you were both play fighting and today, it was Jisoo's time to give you the treatment. Why? Well, you ate some leftovers he was thinking about for the last two hours and it killed his pride lolol. While he wasn't mad because truth be told, he was happy you remembered to eat, but still you should've known he was thinking about it because y'all were 'soulmates' or whatever. You rolled your eyes when you realized he was giving you the silent treatment as he started to make Ramen. You started to just playfully annoy him while wrapping your arms around him and just doing the yapping for both of you. He was close to cracking once you started but he finally lost it when you asked him "would you love me if I was a worm." When he didn't say yes right away, you then gave him the "silent treatment" and then it would be his turn to try to annoy you into talking to him.

🪱 Jun: (Song Note: ooo should I do a "sour" version of this? Someone tell me yes pls)

You honestly caught Jun off guard when you asked him. He would just stare at you confused before slowly nodding at you. When you laughed at his reaction it would make him even more confused. You would drop it shortly after you asked but he would think about it for awhile. Shoot, he might text some of the members for advice because well, you really stumped him hahaha. Before you both went to bed, he would roll over and whisper, "So... would you love me if I was a worm?" You would just roll your eyes before kissing him and telling him of course you would.

🪱 Hoshi: (Song Note: Stan BamBam for clear skin. This shoulda been the title imo.)

Soonyoung and you had a really goofy love life for the most part. Sure, you both had your "serious" moments but there was no questioning that you both knew how to be unserious. Today was one of those days. You both were laying on the couch together watching Spongebob. Soonyoung was mindlessly playing with your hair before you decided to hit him with such an important question for him. "Soonyoung?" "hmmm?" "Would you love me if I was a worm?" His hand would stop massaging your head for a minute while he thought about it. You fake gawked at him because he didn't answer as quick as you thought he should. Before you could scold him he would give you a smirk before wrapping his arms around you tight, "why be a worm when you can be a tigress, (y/n)? Let's be tigers forever and ever and ever." You would groan at the 'tiger agenda' but would laugh as he started kissing you all over your face.

🪱 Wonwoo: (Song Note: literally one of the most underrated songs to EVER exist.)

Wonwoo thought he would be safe from this question when it came to you. You see he had already been hit with this question from several members of the maknae line. *cough cough* Mingyu, Hansol, Seokmin, and Chan. *cough cough* so when y'all where getting ready for bed and you asked him he couldn't help but laugh which would make you so confused. He would just smile at you and find you so precious, "of course I would love you if you were a worm you lil cutie." He would give you a soft kiss before pulling you into his chest while you smiled stupidly and contently at his answer.

🪱 Woozi: (Song Note/Rant: If you are still sleeping on Ian you need to reevaluate your life because OMG.)

To be completely honest, I can see Jihoon just giving you a blank stare because his brain just went ???? he didn't know the trend and the question would break his brain. He didn't know what to say so he would just go "uhh sure?" You would fake sulk at his answer and he probably would text one of the younger members to ask for help. I can see Hansol being like "the answer is always yes!!! omg." LOL

🪱 DK: (Song Note: why do I want Seokmin to sing this to me to help me sleep at night? omg)

You would be sitting next to Seokmin on a park bench watching birds just be birds. You were both waiting for Soonyoung and his partner to meet you for a double date and were currently in a comfortable silence. That was until you asked him, "Seokminnie, would you still love me if I was a worm?" As you asked that, a bird had grabbed a worm from the ground and flew away. You both were flabbergasted at the timing and just broke down laughing together. Once you both calmed down he reminded you he'd always love you no matter the life time but for the rest of the day he would lovingly call you "bird food" as if it were a pet name which left Soonyoung and his partner hella confused lmaoooo.

🪱 Mingyu: (Song Note: Nelly will always be that girly for me <3)

One of MIngyu favorite errands to run with you was going grocery shopping. Just spending time with you while planning meals to eat with each other or grabbing snacks with his favorite snack just fueled him with so much happiness. You loved it too because when you were with him, you could turn your brain off and just be yourself. That's why Mingyu wasn't too surprised when you looked at gummy worms and deadpanned asked him, "Baby, if I was a worm would you still love me?" You couldn't see the loving smile he had on his face before he wrapped his arms around you from behind. "Of course, baby. You would be the prettiest and nicest worm to exist."

🪱 Minghao: (Song Note: ngl this might be a future song reaction thingy for my ot13 series I do.)

When you asked Minghao if he would "still love you if you were a worm" he would giggle at your question because duh. He's in this for life baby. He would tell you he would find the BESTEST dirt for you live in and would fight any birds that would try to eat you. It would honestly be just a giggle fest between the both of you.

🪱 Seungkwan: (Song Note: CLC deserved better.)

Seungkwan and you were staying in for the night and were both just hanging out while mindlessly scrolling on your phones. You then crossed a meme that reminded you of the "would you still love me if I was a worm" question. You decided now was the perfect time to make your lovable stud muffin to answer your question. Once you asked him he gave you a stank judgemental side eye before *respectfully* ignoring you. You kept scooting closer and asking him before he couldn't help but laugh and just saying "yes."

🪱 Vernon: (Song Note: When the remix is better than the original... Red Velvet wins always.)

To be real, Hansol was READY for this question. He had seen it on his fyp and knew it was only a matter of time before you would waddle over and ask him if you would still love him if you were a worm. He would be doing whatever Hansol does and just say "yes, I would love you if you were a worm." and also "yes I promise." He would find it very funny when you were pleased by his answer.

🪱 Dino: (Song Note: this song has no business being as much of a bop as it is.)

Chan could go two different ways lmao. He would either laugh at the question before saying "of course I would, but would you love ME?" Or, he would overthink it. Were you an Earthworm? A gummy worm? A pinworm that would be a pain in the ass? He just had to know. Soon you both would be ranking worms and would forget about the question hahaha.

btw just wanted yall to know how committed to writing Chan's part I was:

I forgot what they were called LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Anyways, which one was your favorite? Mine personally was Seokmin's. I feel like I've been writing so many sad things for him lately so it's been nice to write something super cute like that. <3

Hope yall enjoyed <3 if yall were worms, I would love you all :)

[frankingsteinery]

i mentioned victor's delusions in brief previously (here), but because of the inherent complexity (and almost contradictory aspect) of their nature i decided it warranted its own post!

victor, alongside other psychotic symptoms, experiences delusions of guilt and persecution. a delusion is an involuntary belief that isn't rooted in logic or evidence; a person experiencing a delusion is fixed in their belief, and they can't stop believing it even if they know it isn't true and/or despite contrary evidence.

while victor's delusions–specifically regarding those that revolve around the creature–by in large turn out to actually be true, i.e. the creature actually harmed his family and victor by extension, during the point in the novel when he was experiencing them, he has no evidence to suggest that this was the case, and within the context of the rest of his symptoms, they'd still be considered delusional ideas.

for a variety of reasons, i'm still on the fence on whether i'd categorize victor's mania and grandiosity during the creation process as constituting delusions of grandeur. and to what extent is this sense of grandiosity justified, because he DID discover the secret of life itself… does that not almost warrant the feeling of being superiorly intelligent, this sense of infallibly, and the belief that they should be lauded for their achievements, in almost anyone who could have made the same discovery? it's tricky because i’m not sure if i just have an aversion to the "victor had grandiose delusions during the creation process" take simply because the vast, vast majority of those who make that argument also make the argument that delusion of grandeur = arrogance = evil = victor sucks (and that line of thinking is a whole separate can of worms in of itself…), or if i actually don’t wholly agree with it; for this reason i won’t touch on this here yet

with that out of the way–

like i’ve stated before, victor’s psychotic breaks are either triggered by the stress of the creation process or the death of one of his loved ones. this results in delusions of persecution, which is defined as when the affected person believes that harm is going to occur to oneself or those close to them by a persecutor, in this case the creature, despite a clear lack of evidence. initially, this starts with paranoia:

“Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree; the fall of a leaf startled me, and I shunned my fellow creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime. Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I perceived that I had become…”

“With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet”

this paranoia develops into a delusion as victor’s belief that the creature means him harm, despite having nothing to support this idea, becomes fixed. this comes to a head after the creature’s animation: 

“I beheld the wretch…He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs…where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life”

“I issued into the streets, pacing them with quick steps, as if I sought to avoid the wretch whom I feared every turning of the street would present to my view. I did not dare return to the apartment which I inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on”

delusions can often feel like a sudden truth (the false belief) has been revealed to you. victor himself notes this sudden, extreme shift in perspective within himself:

“...dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell to me; and the change was so rapid, the overthrow so complete!”

as victor recovers physically, this delusion becomes less present as the acute phase ends, and victor’s fears regarding the creature fade into the background as he enters the recovery phase. he stays in this manner until psychosis is again triggered by the stressor of william’s murder–then, victor’s delusion of persecution returns. however, this time, he believes the creature is not only going to harm himself, but was the murderer of william. once more, this starts with paranoia:

“Fear overcame me; I dared no advance, dreading a thousand nameless evils that made me tremble, although I was unable to define them…The picture appeared a vast and dim scene of evil, and I foresaw obscurely that I was destined to become the most wretched of human beings.”

and then develops into a fixed belief:

“I perceived in the gloom a figure which stole from behind a clump of trees near me; I stood fixed, gazing intently: I could not be mistaken. A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch…Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the murderer of my brother? No sooner did that idea cross my imagination, than I became convinced of its truth… He was the murderer! I could not doubt it. The mere presence of the idea was an irresistible proof of the fact.”

while it turned out that he was actually correct in this assumption, what’s important to emphasize here is that victor has absolutely ZERO proof that the creature was involved with the murder of william, apart from seeing a shady-looking outline outside of geneva after walking in the rain all night. victor is not thinking clearly here, which he himself acknowledges in a phenomenon known as double book-keeping. double book-keeping refers to a mental process where an individual maintains two conflicting beliefs or realities simultaneously--where a person might experience delusions or hallucinations while still having moments of awareness that these perceptions are not grounded in reality. here, victor holds two realities (believing in a delusion while being aware that this belief would not be shared by others):

” My first thought was to discover what I knew of the murderer, and cause instant pursuit to be made. But I paused when I reflected on the story that I had to tell. A being whom I myself had formed, and endued with life, had met me at midnight among the precipices of an inaccessible mountain. I remembered also the nervous fever with which I had been seized just at the time that I dated my creation, and which would give an air of delirium to a tale otherwise so utterly improbable. I well knew that if any other had communicated such a relation to me, I should have looked upon it as the ravings of insanity…”

and, in fact, the only evidence he has is (seemingly) proof to the contrary i.e. the locket found in justine’s pocket. yet victor holds this belief with the intense conviction characteristic of delusions, as well as the incorrigibility of a delusion, as he’s continually resistant to his family’s logical counterarguments, as ernest recounts the events to victor upon his return home:

“This was a strange tale, but it did not shake my faith; and I replied earnestly, “You are all mistaken; I know the murderer. Justine, poor, good Justine, is innocent.”

he goes on to make the same assertion to his father and elizabeth, without once questioning the validity of his previous belief. 

victor develops delusions of guilt surrounding the trial of justine, the delusional belief of one's personal guilt for an event, real or imagined–it is an extreme and unwarranted feeling of remorse or guilt that someone has done something terrible. people with delusions of guilt may also believe they are "evil" or have committed an "unpardonable" sin and deserve to be punished forever. despite having no hand in the results of the trial, and again, no proof that the creature was even involved, victor is convinced of his guilt to the point of agony. for example:

”My own agitation and anguish was extreme during the whole trial. I believed in her innocence; I knew it. Could the dæmon who had (I did not for a minute doubt) murdered my brother also in his hellish sport have betrayed the innocent to death and ignominy? … The tortures of the accused did not equal mine; she was sustained by innocence, but the fangs of remorse tore my bosom and would not forgo their hold.”

”During this conversation I had retired to a corner of the prison room, where I could conceal the horrid anguish that possessed me. Despair! Who dared talk of that? The poor victim, who on the morrow was to pass the awful boundary between life and death, felt not, as I did, such deep and bitter agony…But I, the true murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom, which allowed of no hope or consolation.”

  The blood flowed freely in my veins, but a weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart which nothing could remove. Sleep fled from my eyes; I wandered like an evil spirit, for I had committed deeds of mischief beyond description horrible, and more, much more (I persuaded myself) was yet behind… I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe.

delusions of guilt are often accompanied by low self-esteem, depression, and sometimes suicide (attempts); victor experiences all of these following the trial. this delusion is maintained throughout the rest of the novel.

lastly, during the chase at the arctic and on walton’s ship, victor experiences delusions surrounding his family. in his final attempt to hold onto those he lost, victor becomse unable to distinguish between reality and the delusions that sustain him:

"During the day I was sustained and inspirited by the hope of night, for in sleep I saw my friends, my wife, and my beloved country… I persuaded myself that I was dreaming until night should come and that I should then enjoy reality in the arms of my dearest friends. What agonising fondness did I feel for them! How did I cling to their dear forms, as sometimes they haunted even my waking hours, and persuade myself that they still lived!...I pursued my path towards the destruction of the dæmon more as a task enjoined by heaven, as the mechanical impulse of some power of which I was unconscious, than as the ardent desire of my soul."

Yet he enjoys one comfort, the offspring of solitude and delirium; he believes that when in dreams he holds converse with his friends and derives from that communion consolation for his miseries or excitements to his vengeance, that they are not the creations of his fancy, but the beings themselves who visit him from the regions of a remote world."

ultimately victor's delusions evolve throughout the novel; what starts as paranoia becomes a fixed belief that the creature means to harm him and his family, which eventually develops into a certainty that he's responsible for the deaths of his loved ones. by the time he reaches the arctic, he clings to delusions of his family still being alive and that they're talking to him.

i'll probably make yet another post dissecting what this all means in context, i.e. like avo said; the implications of the treatment of victor as a character due to these symptoms of a "weird" "scary" illness... buuuut. again. another time!

[trans-queen-administrator]

Worm Fanfic Recs

No rankings at play here, just my favorite fics that I think other are really good. There are fics I like that aren't listed because I have a bad memory, but everything here is something I really really enjoyed. I have biases obviously, this isn't objective.

The Fics

Our Private Crises - A nailbiting murder mystery with unique and well done POVs from a different character each chapter. The mystery and reveal at the end were stellar, and it got me attached to characters I never thought I'd care for. 29k words. Complete.

It's Cold Out There Every Day - Missy is trapped in a time loop on her birthday. Genuinely stellar characterization, it has the best Missy and Aisha I've ever read and its such a creative and well executed premise. 41k words. Complete.

Tilt - Unpowered homeless girl Taylor fakes a thinker power to get in the Wards and secure housing. She's even more self destructive and self deprecating than in canon. 10/10 characterization for a slew of POV characters including Taylor, every ward but especially Sophia, Rachel, Lisa, and a ton of other characters. Despite not going through all of what canon Taylor went through, this fic nails her character better than pretty much any others. 220k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Tear Apart, Stitch Together - Taylor triggers with Shatterbird's power and kills thousands. Short and sweet, everything that's there is great and it wraps up well I think. 13k words. Complete

Memories of a Simurgh Victim - The Simurgh attacks Brockton Bay. Has two storylines, one following Taylor and one following Amy and Vicky. Among the most fucked up things this fandom has to offer, a terrifying showcase of the Simurgh and her power. 62k words. Taylor's story is incomplete but the Amy and Victoria story is done.

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Pleasures - Cherish altpower Taylor tries to consensually fix Amy's incest fetish. A trainwreck I can't look away from, the worlds first psychological horror romcom. It's so fucked up and so amazingly funny, and has good well written characters. I don't like Pillbug and I'm not a big fan of altpowers, but this fic is still one of my favorites because it's so damn compelling so definitely check it out if you actually like either of those things. 211k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Roots - The Slaughterhouse Nine attack a small town with a roster of OC capes, but something is very off about the place. POV shifts every chapter, and the OCs are interesting and unique. The S9 are also wonderfully characterized here, I've never had a fic make me sad for Crawler of all people. 67k words at time of posting. Ongoing. Criminally underrated.

Roma Fade - Ciara and Fortuna both try to grow past who they were as capes and find themselves as people in a small town post Gold Morning, having found common ground posing as moms to a recovering Taylor. I'm sure fake dating would never end in real attraction, that would be absurd. Incredibly gay, incredible characterization for everyone, the best post-GM fic around in my opinion. 87k words at time of posting. Ongoing but currently on hiatus.

Case - Lisa and the Simurgh start a detective agency. It's just great humor and a lovely story and wonderful despite being short and deceased. 14k words. Dead.

Silence is not Consent - Taylor intervenes and saves Victoria from Amy and gives her a place to stay, Victoria massively struggles dealing with what happened. Amazing characterization, Victoria's POV is unique and incredibly well done, and her seeing Taylor from an outside perspective is interesting. Be warned that this is a very heavy fic emotionally, but it's really fucking good. 212k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

A Word - Altpower Taylor is obsessed with writing a story. I don''t know how to describe this fic honestly it's hard to do justice, but it has perhaps the best conclusion to Gold Morning I've seen in a fanfic. 11k words. Complete.

Scarab - A fantasy AU where powers are thought to be magic, and the Faerie Queen takes an interest in Taylor. Filled to the brim with creativity and passion, this fic is teeming with fresh ideas and interesting depictions of canon characters. The worldbuilding is great as well, no other fic on this list has a map, so this is clearly a cut above the rest. 139k words at time of posting. Updating consistently.

Swallowtail - Ok I lied this one has a map too. Taylor with an incredibly interesting stranger power joins Faultline's crew. There is a truly astounding amount of AU elements and alternate powers for canon characters, it feels like a new world while still being recognizable and distinctly Worm. Has a large amount of alternate POVs and the first arc can be rough, but it's creative and amazing. 360k words. Ongoing but currently on haitus.

Soliloquy - Ex-Slaughterhouse 9 Taylor is in prison, bitter at the world and herself and especially her clone who saved the multiverse. A heavy fic about someone slowly recovering and becoming a better person when they're convinced it can't be done. Made me cry. 71k words. Complete.

TWNY - Post-GM Taylor finds herself in the world of RWBY with a pair of moth antennae. Multiple POVs, all very interesting despite me knowing nothing of RWBY. Probably the best characterization of Taylor in any post-GM crossover fic, she's heartbreaking in the recent arc, and it feels like the fic has barely scratched the surface of what it'll eventually cover. Also it's very gay. 136k words. Ongoing.

The Great Escape - Eidolon is struggling after his reputation is destroyed and Cauldron is revealed, and then the Birdcage opens. Amazing use of seldom seen characters, great POV with Eidolon, well done and interesting fights, has String Theory. 107k words. Ongoing but currently on haitus.

Happiness Is Inevitable - NSFW. The only damn erotic mind control Simurgh smut in the fandom somehow. Besides the porn (which is a lot of the fic, who woulda thunk it) the story itself is actually pretty interesting and has a lot of creative parts, and it has better characterization than most fics. 29k words. Ongoing?

Oneshots

Break me so that I can be whole - This accursed fandom is tragically bereft of QA / Taylor fics, but this one shot is great, love an eldritch take on shards. Probably fucked up but I'm not actually a good judge of that so be warned. 1.8k words.

Book Worm - Dragon helps teach Taylor how to read and speak and understand language post-GM. Bittersweet and lovely. 2.5k words.

Defiant Didn't Dox Saint For Nothing! - Taylor goes back in time and the first thing she does is kill Saint because he sucks. Cracky but I like it, fun little oneshot. 1.6k words.

Ruling Ash - Glory Girl flees Brockton Bay during the Slaughterhouse Nine and ends up living with Damsel of Distress. Cute, and Starsong before Ward is very interesting. 2.8k words.

My Sunshine - Leviathan goes worse and Brockton Bay is destroyed. Taylor and Victoria survive. Very somber, but well executed. 3.4k words.

Cherry on Top - A character study of Cherie Vasil, showing how she went from running away from Heartbreaker to joining the Nine. Extremely well written, absolutely incredible depiction of her character. It depicts abuse and actions typical of Heartbreaker and Cherie, so be careful reading. It's a lot emotionally. 12.7k words.

Devil in a New Dress - NSFW. Shatterbird / Reader, I'm not explaining myself on this one. Neat Shatterbird characterization, hot, pretty fucked up so be warned. 1.7k words.

[vividiana]

AO3 tag game

thank you to the lovely @khywren for the tag 💖

how many works do you have on ao3? 7

what's your total ao3 word count? 83,785

what fandoms do you write for? bg3 is the one that got me interested in reading and writing fanfiction in the first place. since then, nothing has wormed its way into my brain quite that much

top five fics by kudos?

the blood on my hands (scares me to death)

what a wicked thing to do (to make me dream of you)

she's an undiscovered element (either born in hell or heaven-sent)

could barely tear my eyes away

the light we shut out

do you respond to comments? yes! every single one, they bring me so much joy 🥰

what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? OOF. definitely the pre-canon one-shot about Astarion's worst memory. it's hurt/no comfort, so I think that's pretty self-explanatory

what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I already have the ending scene of my post-canon longfic outlined and that certainly will be the happiest ending of them all, but I don't think that counts yet 😅 so I'd say the act 2 confession one-shot, I'm quite proud of that one in general but the ending is especially hopeful

do you get hate on fics? nope and idk how I'd react if I ever do

do you write smut? occasionally. the middle chapter of "the blood on my hands" is mainly smut and I quite like how it turned out. it took me AGES to write though, bc it was my first ever attempt at smut and I had to push past a lot of internalized shame around sex to get the words down on the page. I would love to write more though. I have three ideas for smut one-shots floating around in my brain that I'm very excited about

craziest crossover? I'm not really interested in crossovers

have you ever had a fic stolen? I mean, not to my knowledge? I wasn't aware that was something that happens tbh. not sure what someone has to gain from stealing a fic but maybe I'm just naive

have you ever had a fic translated? no. I've briefly considered translating them myself into Polish, which is my native language, but there's a reason I wrote them in English in the first place. unfortunately, in my case at least, being fluent in both doesn't mean being good at writing in both

have you ever co-written a fic? no, but I think that could be a lot of fun!

all time favorite ships? Astarion/Durge and Lae'zel/Shadowheart

what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I only have one wip at the moment, which is my post-canon longfic, because I've procrastinated writing the next chapter by finishing everything else I had started 😅 I don't doubt that I will finish it, I just think it will take a very long time and I hope I don't lose motivation somewhere along the way

what are your writing strengths? I think my dialogue flows quite well and by now I've gotten Eve's, Astarion's, and Lae'zel's voices down (I'm still figuring out Shadowheart.) I also like the way I write internal monologues/introspection/the characters internally grappling with their feelings

what are your writing weaknesses? basically anything that's not dialogue or introspection—specifically descriptions and moments that involve more action (including smut.) the first attempt just always comes out as "she did A. he did B. she did C" and it takes me a lot of work to get it to a point where it doesn't feel repetitive

thoughts on dialogue in another language? I pepper in some Gith into Lae'zel's dialogue and I have a chapter planned where Astarion will teach Eve some basic Elvish—that's pretty much the extent of it. I like when authors find a way to incorporate other languages into their fics, but in mine it doesn't really play much of a role

first fandom you ever wrote in? bg3, first and only babeyyy

favorite fics you wrote? my absolute favorite is "what a wicked thing to do (to make me dream of you)", which is a one-shot set in act 2 with alternating POVs and lots of mutual pining, ending with Astarion's confession. it's my comfort fic tbh and I have reread it many times bc I am the target audience of my writing lol. the fic I'm most passionate about and that occupies the most space in my brain on a daily basis is "the light we shut out" which is my chill domestic post-canon longfic that vaguely follows some overarching plotlines, but mostly it's just me putting Eve and Astarion in ✨situations✨

no-pressure tagging: @nerdallwritey @funniestbitchinfaerun @xxnashiraxx @verbenaa @roguishcat @obsessedwhyyes (sorry for any repeats!)

[taro-jpg]

Out of pocket Batfam fic quotes

"Duke could not overstate how much calling on Tim Drake should be a last resort. If you have Plans A-Z, asking for Tim's help should be Plan Ampersand. He was, simply put, ride or die. As in, you ask for a simple favour like a ride, and Tim might drive you off a cliff as a shortcut."

...

""Hey, Tim. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he said, turning back around.

Duke had a laundry list of questions: did you mean it, when you said you adored me? Would you forgive me if I hurt you? If I changed, would you love me anyway?

What came out of his mouth was, "would you still love me if I was a worm?"

"Are you kidding?" Tim scoffed. "If you were a worm, I'd design something to turn you back into a human. Unless you liked being a worm, in which case I'd design a state-of-the-art terrarium and you could live with me here. I'd also invent a machine so that we could communicate. So that I could say yes, idiot, I love you, every single day if I have to.""

...

""Who—who's there?" Gareth squeaked.

Everyone at the table drew their weapons, a varying assortment of guns, knives, and baseball bats. Duke shifted some of the light to Tim, bathing him in a ghostly, unnatural aura.

"Robin!" The man in the boxy jacket stepped forward. "We don't want to fight."

"Me neither," Tim said, voice breaking. "I just got yelled at by Batman. Nobody loves me. I just—I just want to be loved ."

He crumpled, sobbing into his hands. Tim was scarily good at faking a breakdown. Duke added that to his growing list of Concerns About Tim Drake."

- the robin declaration by waterunderthebridge12

[barracuda-shark-games]

Q&A - The Advisor (Jocosa)

In case you missed it, on Friday (9/27) I posted a sneak peek into Jocosa, the Chief Royal Advisor to the Dawn Empire and one of six romanceable NPCs for Bethroned. She will make her first appearance in Chapter 1.

As promised, here are answers to some of the questions I have received since then, presented below the cut. The answers are free of story spoilers and mostly pertain to fun details. That said, questions that contain lore spoilers will be preceded by a warning.

Enjoy!

Spoiler-free answers:

Do you have a face claim for Jocosa?

Not exactly, but imagine Nicola Coughlan but taller and with long, naturally curly blonde hair. She wears dresses like this. Posts that remind me of her are tagged as #insp: jocosa.

Where would Jocosa fall on the McDonald's Alignment Chart?

She would firmly be on the "We have food at home" corner. (But she has a soft heart and would eventually cave and get herself a fish fillet sandwich.)

What's her D&D alignment?

Lawful good in practice, chaotic good at heart. <3

If Jocosa was an animal, what would she be?

A lioness: fierce, protective, regal, and nurturing.

How does Jocosa show affection?

Her favorite way to show her affection is through acts of service and gifts. She's by far the best gift giver you'll ever meet; she really does her research and has connections so she knows how to get high quality goods and services.

Minor lore spoilers:

What would romanced Jocosa say if the MC asked her, "Would you still love me if I was a worm?"

Her eyes would soften with fond amusement and she would say, "Of course I'd still love you, darling." Then her gaze would suddenly harden as if deep in thought and she'd pardon herself to go work in her office, poring over texts and her own research notes to ponder the possibilities of transferring one's consciousness to an automaton's.

What does Jocosa like to do to unwind after a long and stressful day?

Jocosa is big on self-care and likes to pamper herself (and her loved ones) in traditional ways, with hot baths and spa days and indulging in sweets. Sometimes, though, what she needs is to keep her mind busy, which she does via alchemy and tinkering. She always has a personal project she's working on, with the current one being building her own automaton.

Where is Jocosa from?

Jocosa was born and raised in the Dawn Empire. Her family roots can be traced to the icy tundras of the south. The entire southern part of the continent was folded into the Empire over 100 years ago at this point.

Has Jocosa ever been in a relationship or had prior experiences in romantic relationships?

She has! Most of her dating experience comes from relationships that just didn't pan out due to conflicting schedules (she's a very busy woman); her last relationships was also her longest and lasted two years. It will definitely come up in her story...

[missholloween]

👻 Trick or treat!! 👻

HELLO. I've decided to translate some of my frantic fanfic fics (done with the lovely @samuelandthesun) for this ask game, BECAUSE THEY'RE SO GOOD! It's such a shame yall don't know Spanish, you're truly missing out.

This one is one of the most recent ones, but also one of my all time faves. These fics either go two ways, incredibly dumb or really ansgty. This is one of the dumb and fluffy ones.

It was a Saturday's afteroon and the sun was hiding behind the city's buildings. Curt and Owen had decided to stay home that day, doing something unheard for them: rest. Owen was continuing with one of his books, while Curt had spent most of the noon half-asleep. They were both enjoying the day.

However, in a moment of clarity, a life-and-death question popped into Curt's head.

"Hey... Owe?"

Owen didn't get his head out of his book. "Yes, love?"

"Would you love me if I was a worm?"

"Love, could you repeat that question?" Owen said, blinking perplexed as he closed his book.

"See? You don't even pay attention to me, always with your books!" Curt whined as he crossed his arms and bit his lips. "If I were a worm, you'd step me without thinking."

"Curt, you're not a worm, you're a human being– What is this all about? Is it really about the book? Curt, you've been sleeping all day, I–"

"But what if I was?! What if I suddently became an insignificant and soft and disgusting being that could barely move and was just bird's food? Would you love me then?"

For a moment, Owen believed he was dreaming. Was that another way to show trauma that he hadn't heard about? Or was it one of those hidden camera shows Curt loved so much? Whatever it was, Owen knew he had to take it seriously, but when he looked at Curt's eyes, he couldn't help but let out a genuine laugh

Curt's tantrum only grew, pushing his fiancé. "See! You don't take my problems seriously."

Owen's laugh only grew, being close to tears. He cleaned his eyes. "Curt, I–"

"No, no Curt! Curt doesn't exist anymore! There's just a sad, lonely, partner-less worm."

"Okay. Worm," said Owen, "of course I would love you."

Owen then hugged his partner from behind, gently caressing his body.

"Even if you couldn't move or if I had to deed yoy. Even if you stopped talking, and you were just a little pink worm with the viscous skin in the world, I'd still love you with all my heart."

Curt curled up in Owen's chest, hiding his face on hid neck as he surrounded him with his enormous arms, trying to reach Owen's heart and hide there from the world. "... And would you protect me from the birds?"

"Yes, little worm, I'd protect you from the birds. And from other worms that wanted to steal your food or say that your hair is ridiculous."

"No, it's not, they just don't know about style! And they also have that shitty hairstyle like– Oh."

Curt had raised his head from Owen's arms, and was now looking at his partner, his eyes filled with love and tenderness.

"That's my Curt." Owen said, booping his nose and making him blush. "Besides, you can't just be a worm. You're more like a cat: one of those bug ones who only want to be pet and be held and who don't really understand why some doors are closed."

"Hey, I'd be a really intelligent and elegant cat- A pageant cat. You, on the other hand, would be a dog. One of those big ones who look like they could rip your arm off but who are the best thing in the world..."

Owen started laughing, bumping his head against his lover's, blushing too. "But what would we do as a cat and a dog? Lie down all day without doing anything?"

"Actually, yes, and we should try it now. You know, just in case we woke up and we were..."

And thus, between laughs and tangled limbs, both lovers rest for the day, being the best kind of animal they could ever be.

[hauntingofhouses]

i think fandoms can be soooo ridiculous a lot of the time (see: all the nonsensical fan wars, discourse, etc) but i cannot understate how much i actually love fandoms.

like yeah it may be super nerdy and even cringe and outsiders look at it like "why tf do you care about these fictional characters so much?"

but 1) my field is literally..... literary studies..... in which all i do is study fiction and analyse it like an insane person, and 2) even if that WASN'T my field, thinking about the stories we consume is important even for any person to do, because thinking about stories exercises our brain to think critically!! why do you think our ancestors used stories as a medium to share knowledge, to propagate moral values and lessons? stories—telling them, thinking about what they're saying, and caring about the characters within them—are all inherent to the human experience!!!

so that brings me to fandom. because we are literally just making these little communities with each other based on our shared love for a particular story, and for a particular character or theme within them that resonated with us, or whatever. we're all here because we loved a thing so much that we built connections from it!!!

like yeah my irl friends laugh at me when i tell them i write fanfic, cuz ha ha what a nerd what a loser etc, but dude. i made genuine real friendships from fandom alone. from just obsessing over two characters we thought were cute together, we've gone to sending each other gifts and postcards and having voice calls and confiding in each other and sharing parts of us and our personal lives and our cultures (cuz we're all from different countries) with each other! like now i don't even share a fandom with most of my old fandom friends anymore but we still stick by each other and that's amazing???

also like, i cannot emphasise enough how amazing and encouraging it is to share your craft (art/writing/etc) with others in fandom. because for example if i make my own personal art or write my own original work, i'd have no one to share it to, no one interested to see it, and thus no one will be there to provide feedback or encouragement.

but if i post a piece of fan art or fanfic, people actually do see the work i post and care about the craft and the content it's depicting and even share their thoughts on it and that ??? is so motivating and lovely ??? because even though i make art for myself, art is still meant to be shared and seen at the end of the day—even if only with one person. so to be given the means of sharing our art in such a way, to have such a community that fosters so much creativity, it's amazing. i don't really get that anywhere else.

and especially to have this in like, a casual setting, you know, where you can just be yourself and do things according to your own time and energy without the pretenses of professionalism and a perfectly curated resume or portfolio, and all the confines of a rigid work schedule, which would all make the process of creation less fun and less genuine, and instead just more taxing and chore-like.

because fandom is essentially meant to be about doing what's fun for you! it's about sharing your creations and enjoying what others share with you. you make friends and you go ham with it.

and also it's why it's more frustrating when people take things too seriously and legitimately get upset over assumptions of other people's beliefs and hold the most minor grievances that could only be felt if you're like, chronically online.

but on that note, there are definitely still honest-to-god bad people in fandom spaces too (see: racists, TERFS, homophobes, groomers, harassers, etc). but that's the case with all communities, because bad people are always going to exist, and thus statistically speaking, the bigger a group or community is, higher chances are there's gonna be some awful people in there. but honestly that is its own can of worms and also that's not what this post is about, but i felt it necessary to address because i don't want to paint fandom as like, the best thing ever in the world, because fandom spaces are incredibly flawed, as everything is.

but i've always been one to appreciate things despite its flaws. and though this may be very personal to me, when i love things so much, i am still willing to stick around and try to change the culture around it in the ways that i can (like promoting internet safety measures, creating safe spaces for thoughtful and polite discussion, raising awareness on harmful stereotypes and fandom depictions or opinions, etc).

so regardless of the bullshit that online fandom spaces tend to perpetuate, i do very much still love the way that fandom allows me to connect with folks over something as silly as our little blorbos, and from there end up making life-long friends, or at the very least new acquaintances. insert reinforcement of my thesis statement about stories fostering human connection here. the end. send post.

[piece-of-hweat]

Little Nightmares... but flowers?

Okay so there's this thing in OMORI where each main character has a flower that correlates to their personality. Kel being a cactus because he's resilient, Hero being a rose because he's universally loved, etc.

Now what if we were to assign flowers to each Nightmare Kid?

Like Noone, Low, Mono, Six, Cici, Raincoat, etc.

I've left a whole essay on this topic below, so you can look at that if you really want to--

NONETHELESS! I really wanna hear yall's thoughts on this- Feel free to reply your own ideas!

-------

Ideas/flowers I assigned are listed below:

I think Mono would be a crocus or a forget-me-not. They're both colours I think he'd like, and I've always imagined Mono to be a winter-birthday kid. Crocus are flowers that bloom in late winter, and I suppose that also represents resilience in a way??? Not many flowers bloom in the winter because of the cold. As for forget-me-nots... I think it's easy to explain? Forget-me-nots usually symbolize faithfulness and remembrance, and Mono just... radiates that stuff.

Six would either be a poppy, dandelion, or a bleeding hearts flower. Poppy because they actually have two meanings! In western culture, it represents death, because of its blood-red colour, while in eastern culture, they represent success or passion, if I remember correctly. Dandelion is... self-explanatory? It's yellow, like Six's raincoat, and it's a weed- just like Six- (/hj /hj) Bleeding hearts is also self-explanatory. It's literally a flower that looks like a bleeding heart. Plus they're cool, and I think Six would think so as well. I rest my case.

Noone is probably the easiest? I mean... she did have a flower in the podcast so my homework's already done for me. I think Noone would be a chrysanthemum or a poppy. Poppy for the same reason as Six, it means death and success Chrysanthemum because it's the flower that her parents left her before she was taken under Otto's "care"

Raincoat would probably be a hibiscus or a carnation. Raincoat was a pretty short-lived character, just like how hibiscus have a short life-span. They also mean "gentle" or something of the sort. Since Raincoat radiates gentle older-sister-energy, I'm giving this to her. Red carnations are a symbol of love (both romantic and platonic), protection, and passion. Raincoat feels like a very loving character, and a passionate one at that. She feels like she'd do anything in her power to protect anyone she loves. She just... feels like a carnation.

I don't have much to say about Runaway, but he feels like a periwinkle person. Reason 1, it means hope (apparently), and Runaway seems to have a lot of ties to "hope"? I'm not sure where or how we got there, but... nonetheless it's still there. Reason 2, it's blue. That's it. It's blue, just like Runaway. I would say the typical "water lily" or "lotus", because Runaway has a lot of connections to water... but... That's basic. Plus, lotus and lilies mean like... "purity" and "calmness" and all that jazz, and the Runaway in my head is the pure and utter opposite to "calm" and "virtuous". The only lily-flower I'd refer him to would be pink or yellow water lilies. Pink because they apparently mean friendship and joy, yellow because they mean energy and new beginnings.

Low and Alone are their own can of worms that I can't even open. We know next to nothing about these two, so how am I supposed to assign a flower based on their characteristics if I have no characteristics to work with? The only thing I can offer atm is Alone being a tiger lily and Low being a Birds of Paradise flower. Tiger lily because they remind me of Alone's silly goofy hair. And Birds of Paradise because... um... bird-boy.

[goldenteaset]

What in Hell is Bad? (Belated) First Impressions

...AKA "This Hole Was Made For Me (But Oh God There Are Worms In Places)" XD;

Before I get into this, let me preface by saying I love otome games and have never played a Tower Defense game before. That is to say, I'm intrigued by the gameplay but am still in the "learning curve". With that settled, some bullet point'd impressions!

I've only able to actually play properly since yesterday, when all the crashes were finally fixed. (I do hope they fix the shop for the people who want to pay, though)

The quiz at the start immediately got me hyped! I knew I'd be having fun when I got to the "You've been trapped in an Angst Novel as a side character" question and one of the answers was "Create a 21+ romance out of it that's lewder than the original". My language, WHB (mostly) speaks it! XD

Actual R18 harem romance in an mobile otome game that isn't the Ikemen series('s non-canon events), truly incredible

STORY IMPRESSIONS

It's funny, I'm aware that the translation is very literal in places and does need to be fixed, but there are also lines I genuinely adore and hope stick around. (Gabriel's introduction, for example. Gorgeous, ethereal language that perfectly fits an angel.)

On that note, I'm an absolute sucker for stories that deal directly with (Fallen) Angels, Devils, and what love and free will means for them. The plot so far is such catnip for me it's not funny

I also have a fascination with fetishes and what they could add to characters, and most of these I've only ever seen in research papers. Having them be this integral is like a dream...

...I'll cry in frustration if there's another hand fetishist who chops off people's hands again though. JUST BUY A MANNEQUIN'S

Minheok is way more interesting than I thought he'd be. Hearing him speak Korean compared to everyone else's Japanese (or "Celestial/Devilish" if you will) is really fun. :D

I'm loving the MC, even as I'm also adjusting her (in my case) for "OC with some self-insert" purposes. Love that she's so horny, love that she has a wide-range of tastes as a cute nod to the "MC gets along with everyone" trope, and love that she wants to make Gabriel cry!!

After Beelzebub (quiz starter) and Sitri, the third Devil to have my heart was Valefor. He's my MC's big teddy bear who protects everyone ;v;

GAMEPLAY

The Secret Shop truly is secret, I haven't seen it yet

I'm loving being able to buy gacha currency with in-game money (pancakes) to better hoard. Please keep this, devs!

The level up etc. items keep making me hungry, it's genuinely great

I'm less keen on how hard it is to grind for certain items, but if I soldiered through FGO for five years I can survive this (I think)

That said, I don't think characters level up when you fight. That is ridiculous and would stop me from playing if the leveling costs became too high

Please let us play with the S- and A-Class Devils in Secret Club? :(

The chats are fun and cute, but I wish we had more...

Justice for Valefor let me put him in Secret Club he's been working so hard

Why don't the A-Class Devils have the boards like the L- and S-Classes? I want to learn about everyone!

The music is kind-of quiet? But I like what I can hear

I like the Day and Night-cycle on the home screen, very cute

Being able to have one of the Demon King's "assets" take up the whole home screen is both sexy and hilarious XD

The most YMMV opinion of them all: I wish the story segments were longer and that there was a way to do a kind of "Last time, in Chapter 1-(X)" to keep story info from being lost in the stream of battles

But in the interest of keeping things optimistic around here, I have one more impression to make:

GABRIEL

Instantly makes this GOTY for me and I wish I was kidding

One look and I fell in love. And then I saw his potential L card/scene in the final trailer and fell even harder!!

I would feel dislike toward him re: Minheok and the Devils, but as far as he's concerned the sandwich that he rang up (MC) keeps yelling at him. I'm satisfied

My excitement at his L card reached such insane heights I started writing something starring him. That is a sign if nothing else!

...So yeah, I'm cautiously optimistic and will hopefully have even more to say soon. :D

[therealeagal]

Baldur's Gate 3 - companion ranking.

Decide for yourselves whether my list is accurate or not. Whichever you decide, please do @ me, bro. I'm interested to know who your favorite character is!

I switched up my usual intro. What do you think? Anyway. Let's begin. This is a list of the companions in Baldur's Gate 3. I think I got all of them. There's so many. They are enumerated from best to worst.

Wyll Ravenguard, the Blade of the Frontiers. Really got a stick up his ass. I try to romance him and he starts throwing out disapproves whenever I talk to someone else. Motherfucker I'm not the one flirting with them I just want to know what they're up to. Stuck up piece of shit. Also I guess he's a hypocrite that literally sold his soul for power (he says he had a good reason…) But mainly I'm mad about him being a fucking diva when other people flirt with me. Fuckin' Wyll… Wyll stans got pissy at me because they didn't get the joke. Well, his placement at the very bottom of the list was a joke. Don't tell the stans, but my review was completely accurate) What? I didn't say anything. I mean, Wyll Ravenguard is Ao's gift to humanity. There exists no person in this world that is better than Wyll. I could wax loquacious about all the ways in which Wyll is perfection beyond perfection, but I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that no matter what Karlach's entry may suggest, Wyll is truly the greatest of the great.

Scratch the dog. Maybe it's just because I'm a dog person, but there's no way you can convince me that Scratch isn't the best.

The owlbear cub, for much the same reasons as Scratch. Although I can't say I have any strong feelings one way or the other about owls or bears...

Karlach. No question that Karlach would take the top spot if Scratch and the owlbear weren't around. As she is the first companion that is both A: a good person and B: not a prick about it on top of being irrepressibly cheerful and kind, there is no question that Karlach is the best official companion (Scratch and the owlbear are more pets/familiars than companions). I mean, Gale is also a good guy too and he's not an asshole about it, but he's kind of a tool. Karlach is a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

Editing this one in, because I FORGOT WITHERS! Rookie mistake. Sorry, Withers!

Jaheira. I never played the first two Baldur's Gate games, but I understand that Jaheira is a returning character. Either way, she's a fuckin' badass. A regular in my final party.

Shadowheart/Lae'zel. It's hard to choose between the two. They've both got excellent storylines, which are actually quite similar in a lot of ways. And they're both badass chicks. What's not to love?

Boo, the miniature giant space hamster and his human familiar, Minsc of Rashemen. Also often a fixture in my party, because he's funny.

Gale Dekarios. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about Gale at first. Kind of pretentious. But he's grown on me. Yes, he is kind of a tool, but at least he generally likes it when I'm nice to people, unlike a certain vampire who shall remain unnamed... also he eats three of my magic items. Not that I was using them but it's the principle of the matter!

(this is Wyll's true rating, but ignore it because obviously he belongs at the top of the list. PLEASE LIKE ME!)

Halsin. Ever wanted to fuck a bear? In every sense of the word? Well, have I got news for you!

Astarion. WHY DO YOU HATE IT WHEN I'M NICE TO PEOPLE, ASTARION??!?!?!?!?!? IT'S SO ANNOYING!!!

The dirt.

The worms inside the dirt.

The stool of the worms inside the dirt.

Minthara. A giant asshole. Which I guess is to be expected. Still better than Solas. Yes, I know they are from two different games. Shut up. Fuckin' Solas...

The Emperor. He of the gaslighting and the tentacles.

The Absolute. Yes, the main bad guy. I'd rather hang out with the main bad guy than...

Oh, lemme edit this in. Just in case. If you, for some reason, get your dander up about the contents of this list, please refrain from reblogging this to just whinge about what a terrible person I am. Not that I am opposed to someone challenging my ideas, but the death spiral does get tedious quite fast. If you really really got an axe to grind, try the PMs. Please and thank you. :)

[thesoftboiledegg]

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about "I Know What You Did Last Xmas" because the holiday episodes were some of my least favorites from the original run. They're not bad; I just didn't care for them and figured this would be Evil Santa Part 3. But nope--this is easily my favorite Futurama Christmas episode.

What first struck me was this episode's cuteness. The whole crew getting their own stockings with tiny stockings for Amy's kids and Nibbler's worms was cute. The Planet Express armor making the building look like a gingerbread house was cute. Fry sitting with Amy's kids and looking at Amy and Kif with teary eyes was adorable, and showing his childlike nature is a good contrast to the "Haha, this guy is so dumb" jokes.

When everyone left for the holidays, I thought "Really? Fry just forgot about Bender?" But then I thought "Well, this is still Futurama, the characters are going to be a little dismissive of each other."

Nope, that wasn't the case. Fry and Leela realized their mistake, and the whole crew came back to Planet Express to surprise Bender and Zoidberg.

The Fox and Comedy Central runs could be cynical and mean-spirited--which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the popularity of wholesome shows, such as Bob's Burgers and Ted Lasso, shows that audiences are tired of "edgy" TV. People want to see characters being nice to each other.

So, the Futurama writers adapted to the times. The series still has dark humor so that it doesn't get cutesy, but the Planet Express crew isn't a group of coworkers as much as it's a found family. Leela helps Amy raise her kids and Fry hangs out with them; Fry, Leela and Bender all live together; the whole crew is sad when they think Nibbler's about to lose his intelligence; even Bender and Zoidberg start liking each other.

One thing I liked about the Comedy Central run was the unusual pairings (Bender and Hermes, Amy and Nibbler), so I enjoyed seeing Bender and Zoidberg getting in trouble together. I never thought about the fact that neither of them has a biological family. That and the fact that they're both "losers" (one a sad loser, the other an angry loser) gave them something to bond over.

Their personalities blend together so well that I'm surprised it took them this long to team up. I loved their crazy schemes to get rid of Evil Santa's body, like trying to flush him down the toilet--yeah, good luck with that one.

I also LOVED the Disenchantment cameo. I don't get all the lukewarm reviews, but that's another story. It's the freshest show I've seen in a while.

Overall, this is one of Futurama's best "feel good" episodes. The characters still argue and tease each other, but the writing hits emotional notes even while Bender and Zoidberg are killing Robot Santa and trying to hide the body. Bender let his guard down around Zoidberg of all people. If he can do that, maybe the rest of the crew can be a little more open and affectionate, too.

[beameized]

Cyhaino Short Fic

Pairing: Alhaitham/Cyno

Prompt: Would you still love me if I was worm?

"Would you love me if I was a scarab and you were a wenut?" Cyno asked while carefully nestled in Alhaitham's arms.

"Why would you ask that?"

"I heard quite a few young scholars discourse on the matter and it piqued my interests."

"You and I aren't one for conventions. There's nothing to gain from this kind of discourse."

"I know but I still find it fascinating and I would very much want to hear your earnest answer."

"Your query breaks my heart. Scarabs are said to live only for two years at most while wenuts are eternal creatures of legends. If a wenut were to love a scarab, they would be forced to face eternity without their beloved."

"It has been said that scarabs are also legendary creatures. They were once humans cursed by the Scarlet King, doomed to an eternity of guarding him and his temples. Records of scarabs dying after one to two years have only occurred in controlled environments within the walls of Sumeru City. Who can say? Perhaps, they really do live forever if they stay in the desert. And as a scarab, I would want to stay in the desert with you."

"In the book of Lay of Al-Ahmar, the wenut was said to have eaten the Scarlet King's living corpse and merged with the king's consciousness. If that were the case, it would mean that I would have doomed you if I was a wenut and you were a scarab."

"Then, you have doomed me to an eternity with you."

"You have convinced me. I'd love you even if you were a scarab and I was a wenut."

END

(AO3)

[willowmckinley]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

@love-leah said it was a tag for anyone who wanted to join, and I did!

1. How many works do you have on ao3? 46! 34 for of which are for Justified-- that's 74%!

2. What's your total ao3 word count? 364,850... oh my god... girl... that's too many... I blame Justified completely... it's the brain worms........

3. What fandoms do you write for? Justified! I mean. Yeah. I also wrote for Succession and The Last of Us. I want to write more for The Last of Us, to be honest. I should do that, after I write my fic for @skelingtonsderek and my bingo board and and that other bingo board and..........

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 1) Falling in Love with Every You I Meet (The Last of Us), 2) Sweet as Honey, Sweet as Pie (The Last of Us), 3) Before Rome Burns (Succession), 4) Hotboxing Sex Smells (Succession), and 5) Like a Sleepy Blue Ocean (The Last of Us). I'm not surprised three of the five are The Last of Us, while the other 2 are Succession! My top five fics by Kudos for only Justified are 1) The Opposite of, 2) swiped the fire in you for myself, 3) The Raylan to English Dictionary: Translation Notes Included, 4) Two Drakes in a Pond, and 5) The Body of the Beast

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes! Every time, as long as they aren't rude, in which case I delete them. I just love reading what people say on my fic and answering and talking about the thing I love so much! I love this thing! I get to talk *more* about thing!? For free!?

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't write a lot of angst! If anything, I write a lot more bittersweet. I think if I had to answer, I would say Like an Incendiary Device. While the ending is more bittersweet for Zach, who has his whole life ahead of him, who has his mom and best friend, who gets to move on, Raylan's ending is still so fucking devastating. Boyd is still gone. He has irrevocably ruined something for his daughter. He is still not processing his grief and still not confronting his life. I'm so fucking sad for him, even after writing him hurting the people he loves most in this one.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I think I'd have to say The Opposite of. This is a Raylan and Boyd who have had 20+ years of working their horseshit out and having each other and making each other better and worse in turn in the oddest of ways. Nothing is ever really "resolved" since it's so difficult to really get over deeply ingrained insecurities, but it's a Raylan and Boyd who have each other to see it through them. I think it's happy to have someone who makes you happy, even when you're making each other the most annoyed you have ever been and will ever be in your life.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Ohhhh my god, no, but I did have one really weird commenter who said awful shit about the pairing I wrote for and then went a condescending, several paragraph long rant about how i personally am the reason their rare pair naruto fics don't get any comments and i just. blocked them.

9. Do you write smut? Yee :P Also, thank you bingo boards for my life, I write so much better now, fr fr.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Yessssss :D I've written a few! Justifed x Over the Garden Wall, Justifed x Howl's Moving Castle, Justified x Cabin in the Woods. I'll give special mention to my Justified x Stardew Valley fic, It's Strange, but the Taste Reminds You of Vanilla Ice Cream

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, thank GOD. The person I'd become....

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but anyone is welcome to, as long as they credit me!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but @gaylanrivens invited me as a co-author for their series watch a few movies, take a few notes after allowing me to play in their sandbox :D

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? All time? All time, all time? How am I to choose??? I have RaylanBoyd, which I'm most obsessed with at the moment, but It's impossible to pick anything for all time.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Probably.... teeth fic? Man, I've written and rewritten and edited teeth fic over and over again. It started as its own fic, and then I tried reworking it for masqball, and then a bingo... It's got a lot of fun conceptual elements (*chanting* teeth teeth teeth teeth teeth!), but I started it before I really decided how I see Raylan, and now the characterization for him just doesn't make the fic seem feasible anymore

16. What are your writing strengths? I'm... not sure? I mean, I know I have some, but I feel on the spot. Um. I think, writing captivating and dark and intriguing romance? Can I say that? Does that make sense? Maybe??? Imagery????????

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I've answered this one before, in other asks!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I can't speak much more than English, so I'm not writing in multiple languages. I might have it translated to English and then in italics to signify other languages. When I write for anime/manga or Chinese/Korean novels/comics, I try to match the, how do you put it, sentence structure? It was once said that a good translation doesn't sound like it was always in English, but it gives you a better idea of how another language flows. I try to match that.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Naruto when I was like. Ten. I shipped Naruto with Hinata, because I hadn't realized she was a lesbian yet.

20. Favorite fic you've written? Noooo, how could you ask me that!? Um, Cherry Compote! What's not to like about cannibalism and Stockholm syndrome!?

I'm tagging a bunch of people, but no one feel pressured, and if I missed you, I am adding you mentally: @itookyoudown, @skelingtonsderek, @dyinglikeastar, @gaylanrivens, @cheerupghost, @wildglitterwolf, @sublightsleeper, @empathieves