#AND IT MAKES SENSE ANYWAY AND ACTUALLY ADDS SO MUCH EMOTION TO THE STORY AND HES REALLY HOT. WHO SAID THAT

[mijlen]

In the wake of Chapter 4, allow me to theorize about The Deltarune Prophecy beneath a spoiler cut.

I'm seeing a metric ton of takes about the final prophecy (the one Susie destroys) which make no sense to me THEMATICALLY. "Susie dies," "Ralsei dies," "all three of them die." it doesn't add up to me why Susie would be (again - THEMATICALLY) portrayed reacting so violently to that news.

Again, the game implies that she reacted VIOLENTLY. I fully believe she is prone to outbursts when faced with difficult emotions, but I think that, were she reacting to a prophecy that involved herself or one of her friends meeting a tragic fate, she would react differently. She would demand answers.

So why the violent reaction? What was our Susie, who showed such fundamental and astonishingly NATURAL growth over the last three chapters, really trying to destroy here? How would it fit the theme of her arc?

I think I know, but let me tell you how I got there. See, what I couldn't stop turning over in my head after Chapter 4 was The Girl. I don't think Susie is The Girl. The stance, the silhouette, the weapon of choice... something doesn't feel right. I think that's Noelle. I think that's a hooded Noelle.

I think Noelle might actually be the true third hero.

We know "banish the Angel's heaven" is the end of the TL:DR prophecy, and Noelle is strongly implied to be the angel at this point. If Noelle's fate is to make a grand sacrifice in true JRPG fashion, that would make sense. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if we're in full "playing with JRPG tropes" territory here, and if "initial party member who is swayed to the other side" doesn't also become an actual thing either, with Susie. Susie, who is feeling unneeded, lesser-than, and who is fast approaching self-actualization. I specifically say "other side" rather than "bad guys," too, because I think the two sides of this story are more nuanced than we ever thought. If Kris is found to be working with the Knight, well... that might make anyone switch sides, especially if they are trying their best to be a TRUE hero.

So... I'm pretty sure the final prophecy portrayed Noelle's death. Noelle's sacrifice. Banishing the Angel's heaven may = killing the Angel. And I'm pretty sure Susie is the one to deliver the killing blow, and that the final tableau makes it clear who is who.

Susie is reacting violently to this version of herself that she wants to keep from ever existing. And I think that would also explain why she doesn't want to open up to Kris about what she saw. She is ashamed, she is probably going to bounce back from the initial shock feeling emboldened. She just wants to change things.

This isn't a perfect theory, of course. It's a knee-jerk one based on what I understand to be Susie's arc toward true Hero. There are lots of things this DOESN'T answer, like why does the original prophecy cutscene look the way it does, with Kris Susie and Ralsei (not "The Girl"?) I actually think this is all part of the plan, that Susie had to find her agency via the Fun Gang first. Besides, how killer would it be, dramatically, to have an updated prophecy cutscene if we finally learn "the truth"? Suddenly it's the Human (Kris), The Prince from the Dark (Ralsei), and the Girl (Noelle). They're both monsters, yes, but Susie is The Monster in this prophecy, literally and figuratively (I'm emotional even thinking about this, btw).

Even if Noelle isn't The Girl, I still think the final prophecy shows Susie killing someone that she cares about in order to "save the world."

This would also explain so much more about both Carol AND Catty's insistence that Noelle be kept away from Susie. Carol knows the Prophecy via primary source. Catty consults with the occult in order to know it. It's not homophobia and it's not necessarily horrible parenting, it's... a really shitty burden of knowledge for any mother to have.

Anyway... uh... heavy stuff... um...

The Jackensteun fight was great (nervous laughter)

(weeping)

In all honesty, personally, I would LOVE for the themes of redemption, learning to love oneself, to rise above, despite what everyone thinks about you and expects from you, to go THIS HARD, to be THIS CHALLENGING.

Survey program: "No one can choose who they are in this world"

Susie Deltarune:

ETA: Watching someone else play Chapter 4, I'm even more convinced, because Gerson (following the Hammer of Justice battle) does say "they called you a hero... whatever you end up being, I sure it'll be tremendous." And like... BRO??? BRO???? Then he even says that, of the Dragon Blazers characters, she would be the Dragon. That may be badass but... uhhhhhh.... sounds bad!

[sunbedo]

Hey guys. Just finally finished watching a playthrough of both The Great Ace Attorney games. (you see me sobbing and crying at the bottom of a ditch)

[angelyuji]

yandere mark grayson

might be a little ooc lowkey... sorry.

tw // stalking, nolan is an enabler, yandere behavior, emotional manipulation, honestly nothing too crazy compared to what ive written in the past

mark grayson x reader

im gonna talk mostly about story mark and not the variants but ill add a couple cutesy little remarks at the end

markie poo is very intense as a yandere, not in the kidnapping sort of sense but like emotionally

you’d probably meet him in college and start off as friends

he’s def the type to fall in love at first sight tho like he sees you and its like some angelic light bathed you

he was in awe

he def uses his powers to stalk you and figure out everything about you

william lowkey encourages it too cause…. he seems like the type to stalk his crushes (he’s a normal person so its like kinda a normal amount)

anyway he doesn’t really realize how he’s following you or watching you until someone points it out (eve) and he’s like “omg im so evil im so bad and evil and i should die”

and he confesses it to his parents cuz who knows better than him? mama y papa!!

“im so sorry, i know i shouldn’t use my powers to stalk (y/n). i know what im doing is wrong. i just like them… so so much.” mark buries his head in his hands, too ashamed to look at his parents.

he hears his mom sigh, “mark what you’ve been doing is-” she stops. mark looks up to see his dad whisper into her ear. she bites her lip before nodding. debbie pulls him into a hug before leaving the room to go upstairs. mark feels tears well up in his eyes, seeing the disappointment in his mom’s eyes.

“mark.” he looks over at his dad. “come here, son.” nolan pats the space next to him on the couch. mark hesitantly, moves to sit next to his father. “i sent your mother away because i needed to explain something to you. something she would never understand.” his father’s voice was low. mark swallows, trepidation building. “when i first met your mother, she had rejected me.” he sits back, “and i loved her more for it. everyday i would watch her, where she worked, where she lived, who she spent time with, everything, mark. i needed to know more about her, i wanted for her to be mine… i was-” nolan barks out a laugh, “i was willing to take her away from everything if she would’ve rejected me again.” he looks over at mark, “fortunately for all of us, your mom agreed for a date and now… here we are.” nolan smiles, wistfully. mark stays silent, processing everything. nolan pats his son on the knee, “what i’m trying to say, son, is that what you’re doing is normal. you are my son, of course you could love like i do.” nolan ruffles mark’s hair before standing up.

“but mom-”

“what your mother doesn’t know won’t hurt her, mark. and what (y/n) doesn’t know won’t hurt them.”

i made up that nolan did all that, but like…. who would be surprised if he actually did lol

anyway, nolan highkey made mark worse becuz why would u say all that, man… (i made him say it but that’s beside the point)

mark doesn’t even have his own place yet, so kidnapping is off the table and with papa nolan in space, he knows debbie won’t be down for him bringing back a gagged you lol

if ur single, he’ll just push and push and push until you’re like omg fine ill go on a date with you

he’ll do everything right just so you won’t think about not dating him

he doesn’t want to tell you that he’s invincible but if it means you’ll trust him to protect you, he’ll do tell u

he’s very very very overprotective

if you’re in danger… everybodys dying he does not gaf

if ur in a relationship, ur partner’s going missing… sorry to them but mark will swoop in while you’re grieving and then bam somehow you guys are dating

he would never hurt you, but he would hurt other people to get to you/make you realize you’ll never escape him

like father like son as they say

anyway some quickie thoughts about invincible war before we move on

the moment those unhinged freaks stepped foot into this universe, they’re gonna find you

similar to that moment in the show where the burned looking mark when home to fake-cry to kill debbie, smth like that except they show up and take you with them

anyway i have similar thoughts but mostly about omni-mark and the other freaked up mark #needthatbad

they’re sooo obsessed with u but its hard to give a generalized behavior headcanon cuz each of my freaks are so different

also before i go, i wanna go back to when i said he’s very emotionally intense

he’ll twist your words and make you feel bad for rejecting him/not listening to him

mark would def use his fears to make you do what he wants

“mark, i need to get to class.” you try to pull yourself out of his grasp, but his hands go back around your waist. the two of you lay naked next to each other in your dorm after he had come back from patrol, you can see his suit peeking out from under the bed as you try to pull yourself away once more.

“(y/n), please don’t go.” you turn to look at your boyfriend, he pouts as he pulls you closer. he buries his head into your chest and you feel your face get hot.

“mark, i have to go to class. i’ve already missed 3 lectures because of you.” you push yourself away and off the bed. you feel his hand clasp onto yours. “mark.” you frown and look back, annoyed, when you see his tears. “oh my god, mark,” you immediately fold, holding him close.

“i just… i’m sorry i know you have to go to class, but i was so worried with everything that’s happening. i had- i had a nightmare i lost you.” his voice was thick as he held back his tears. he presses his lips against yours, rough and needy. you let him; your heart heavy as you feel the weight on his shoulders. “i can’t lose you, (y/n). you’re my… you’re my everything, i can’t survive without you.” you let him kiss you once more, letting him pour his love into you. soon, you find yourself wrapped up in his touch. his lips against every part of you, his hands caressing your skin, his voice whispering sweetly into your ears. you missed your classes once more as mark held you tight. “i won’t survive without you, (y/n)…” his voice lulls you back to sleep, “and i won’t let you leave me.”

[tackykachowch]

Hey guys remember that terrible letter in s2? Well, how about I tell you that it's actually worse than it seems?

Alright. For the purpose of my point being more clear I'll recite it here. *barely held in gag*

"Silco. I've looked everywhere, but it's clear that you don't want to be found. Oh, God, I'm shit at this (THEN WHY ARE YOU EVEN WRITING IT YOU STUPID IDIOT. Sorry). I'm sorry. When she died, I lost my head. I told myself that what I did to you was for the greater good, that you deserved it. But the dirt was on both our hands. Anyway, you know where to find me. Blisters and Bedrock"

So, it is obvious that Vander regrets what he did to Silco and that he doesn't view him as a "villian of the story" anymore, so to speak. His murder attempt was purely emotional rather than motivated by ideological opposition or something else. Great.

Buuuut let's rewind to the very start of the series. Right to episode one. There. Take a look at these screenshots.

So Vander says to Benzo that there's someone on their side (the Undercity) who is worse than enforcers. Not even someONE, but someTHING. This implies quite a big level of resentment if you ask me. While he's saying that, he looks at his right hand and touches his uhh...I don't. Know how this thing's called I'm sorry. Let's call it a leather cover. There's clearly a reason why he wears it now, and this seems to be connected to the "thing" they're talking about. Alright. I guess we'll find out more about this later.

Fast forward to episode three. Heeeeey, what is THAT??

So Silco cut his hand?? Well, that all makes sense now then. Something brought Silco and Vander to a conflict, which resulted in Vander trying to kill Silco, and Silco cutting Vander's hand when he was escaping from him. For now (💀) we don't know what exactly caused such a rift between them, but it apparently was something pretty serious considering that Vander even stopped referring to Silco as a person. While he does later says to Silco that what he did to him was wrong, but nothing indicates that Vander changed his opinion on WHY he did it.

Now, there could be an argument that Silco did something that made Vander hate Silco AFTER the river scene, and this is why Vander thinks so badly of him. But earlier in the same episode we see THIS reaction from Vander when Silco appears.

So here's the question: why would Vander react like that to seeing Silco if he knew of something horrible he did post their fallout? What's more likely, he hasn't heard anything about Silco AT ALL, whether he's dead or alive or what he does. So Vander's opinion of Silco ("something worse than enforcers") formed prior to their falling out and it didn't change over time.

Now that we have all that information let's go back to our dear, favorite letter.

Uhhhh so. Vander is an incredibly awful person???? Either that, or he has an extremely severe case of amnesia. Because why would he go from wanting to reconcile with Silco and not blaming him for what happened straight into thinking that he's worse than enforcers and not even a person?? Or in his mind these things can coexist somehow?? And to add to all of that, apparently he never told Benzo the truth about their falling out, and made him think that Silco is an "animal". What, was Vander so butthurt by Silco never contacting him that he went full 5-year-old-mode "Humph!! I hate you now!!" and proceeded to lie to everyone about Silco?? So much for a reasonable and peaceful leader of the Lanes, huh.

But we all know that's not the case at all. The case is, of course, that writers forgot to rewatch season 1 and made up a reason for Vander and Silco to fight which is not at all aligns with what we knew about them and their relationship before. This is, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, one of the biggest cases of negligence in storytelling that I've ever seen.

[haithhegimp]

hi hi hello i am also abnormal about batman: under the hood (2005). i would gladly talk about it forever and ever. here are some things i think about often that i'd like to hear your perspective on :3

what are your thoughts on jason's getup + gear (the bomb in the helmet, wavy knife, lack of any real symbols on his outfit, etc.)

do you think the batarang was an accident and if it was what do you think bruce was actually trying to do with that thing

how does jason feel about alfred in all this

OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING I LITERALLY LOVE YOU

im gonna put it all under a cut because its super long

Ok im gonna start with the batarang incident because that’s the one i think about the most often haha. I like looking at events from both a meta and an in-universe perspective, and i think the batarang incident is such an interesting product of commercialization, because Batman isn’t allowed to kill– he’s not allowed to be a murderer, but the Red Hood, who challenges him in every conceivable way cannot be allowed to live. So you get the batarang incident which dc tries very hard to convince you is an accident. Anyways!! In-universe i actually don’t have one specific answer! The thing that i love most about the comics is how versatile and flexible they are, so i always interpret the incident differently depending on what i’m doing it for. Whether i’m writing a good dad bruce fic or whether im making an artwork that showcases him being awful or whether im looking at things from his perspective or jason’s, i have the most fun when i can change it up every time! But i think with total canon compliance, the interpretation i like most is that the incident was sort of an accident. By that, i mean that i completely agree with the joker that bruce is a master marksman and he would not miss his shot. I think that bruce was fully intending to hit Jason’s neck, but in the moment of panic, he wasn’t fully aware that he was hitting Jason’s neck, if that makes sense. He’s hyper trained for instinctively attacking and reacting to threats when he’s overwhelmed by thoughts and emotion, but those instincts don’t account for the fact that the threat in question is his son. 

Next up, Jason’s get-up!! First of all, i LOVE IT. as an artist, UTRH is my overall favourite outfit for jay. It’s so distinct despite being very simple and the colour scheme is truly chef’s kiss, monochrome with a splash of bright red is absolutely brilliant. Not to mention that silhouette!? It’s so unique despite its simplicity and i adore it! 

Ok sorry now actual stuff about more than the looks. I think all of it is absolutely brilliant, especially for where his character was at during UTRH. the bomb in his helmet is a triple kill with showing people how skilled he is– how many other characters would be able to get a bomb so stable that they can have it in their fucking helmet– how dedicated he is to what he does, and how insane (affectionate) he is. Also just banger in terms of practicality to have a bomb where absolutely no one would suspect, being combined with the fact that he wears a mask underneath meaning he can take it off and use it whenever he needs to. 

The wavy knife has SO much symbolism potential i adoooooreee it. The fact that he uses a knife that is specifically designed with the intention of injuring and causing more pain than your average knife is so tasty for subtle metaphor of jason being willing to hurt people more than strictly necessary to achieve his goals. I also think it looks great too, very fun design and adds something really dynamic to his silhouette whenever he’s holding it. 

And THE LACK OF SYMBOL AHHHH ITS SO GOOODD!!! Once again, i like looking at things from a meta perspective as well, and GOD the lack of symbol is so fascinating. I think that DC took off the (R) that jay had on his fit during hush because they wanted to distance him from their batfamily cash-cow. They knew for sure that even if in-story, jason was doing it to mock bruce, having a direct visual link between a character that represented and showed everything wrong with their money-maker and the money-maker itself would be Bad for a comic that would definitely be scrapbooked together and summarized and taken out of context by the fandom. MOREOVER, symbols and logos have been inherently associated with superheroes and good guys in general– barring characters that are obvious “evil” parallels of heroes (e.g bizarro)– and making jason lack something thats become associated with heroes subtly creates a visual emphasis on what DC wants to convince us that the red hood is in fact a villain. All very fun stuff, and in-universe is also sooo fun. I think that in canon as well, the lack of symbol is a layer of separation between jason and who he used he to be. I think it can be exemplified wonderfully in his own words, “I am no one’s son.” (i FUCKING LOVE THAT LINE BTW IT DRIVES ME FUCKING INSANE EVERY TIME I SEE IT GRTNJARJHR) jason obviously still wants reassurance that bruce loved him and cared about him but he doesn’t consider himself bruce’s son anymore. Bruce’s son– to jason– was robin, not just jason, and everything that robin meant. So now that jason is a criminal, now that he isn’t robin anymore, now that he isn’t bruce’s son anymore, he chooses (needs) to have that layer of separation between being a hero (being robin), being a bat, and his persona as red hood. I think that as jason transitions slowly from being a villain into being an anti-hero, it would be interesting and fun for him to have a symbol. But not the red bat. I hate the red bat.

And finally, alfred! I am personally of the opinion that jason loves all of his parental figures, regardless of whatever other feelings he has for them as well. I think alfred has always sort of been an enabling abusive figure, and jason can see that, but he still holds fond and loving memories of the man. As in he can recognize that it wasn’t a good thing that all alfred did was support jason in the aftermath of whatever bruce made him go through as a kid instead of actually putting a stop to it, but he can’t resent him too much for it either. I think he definitely does have some resentment towards alfred for the aftermath of his death, though. Jason obviously understands bruce’s reservations with murder, even if he hates that bruce has them, but he also definitely knows that alfred shouldn’t have those, and i think that he resents alfred a little for not doing anything. Honestly im not too sure with alfred, i don’t like him very much and i think i project a little onto jason and can’t fully come up with how he would feel about alfred. 

Sorry about that last answer, but other than that i hope you enjoyed my thoughts!!!! Thank you sooooooo much for asking. I absolutely adore you. And i would love love love to hear all of your own thoughts on these things!!!! What do you think about jason’s fit and the batarang incident and his thoughts on alfred? And Also! What do you think about “I am no one’s son” because it is highkey one of my favourite lines in the entire comic and i want to know your thoughts on it soo bad.

(also sorry for the inconsistent and horrible capitalization i wrote this all out in google docs first and cannot be bothered to edit it all)

[lunarheir007]

My opinions on how to train your dragon: the hidden world (if you liked the 3rd movie, look away):

while there are definitely things I enjoyed about the 3rd film, there are also a lot of problems with it that make me view the 2nd film as the end of the canon content.

First I don’t hate the ending, in fact I like the emotional ending of the dragons leaving (I wish it didn’t end that way but thats a whole different thing). What I hate is why toothless left in the first place. He left for a female dragon he knew for like a day. I’m sorry you’re throwing away a SIX YEAR friendship for a girl you met in A DAY. (Also mind you he literally became the alpha in the last movie to protect Hiccup so…) I don’t buy it. The ending would be so much better if there was no light fury and toothless and hiccup realize the dragons need to leave to be safe. Toothless leaving for the safety of his species is a good ending. What makes it not work for me is the light fury. I would have preferred if the light fury didn’t exist (besides just hating the concept her design is also lazy). If she needs to be in the movie, they should have limited her impact. Too much time was spent on this light fury that overall didn’t add much to the story for me.

Secondly, grimmel. UGH I did not like him. He just was not a good villain by any means. He was set up to be this brilliant and calculated villain but he fell extremely flat. Most of his calculated “genius” moves only paid off because the gang made mistake after mistake. (Truthfully hiccup made so many unhiccup like decisions in this film). Also, I did not like the rehashed “dragons working for the bad guy” trope. Grimmel is supposed to be this masterclass dragon hunter, so why does he need dragons to help him? It makes no sense (and quite frankly having a villain who didn’t need dragons to take down other dragons would be way more scary than what we got).

My favorite villain is Viggo Grimborn because they set him up as the strategic game player and actually back it up. I stand by the fact that Viggo is what they wanted Grimmel to be. Viggo is actually the smart villain they wanted grimmel to be because his wins don’t come about because hiccup or the gang make a stupid mistake. He wins because he is out thinking hiccup. Like hiccup is playing an amazing game and is making good moves, Viggo just makes better ones. Viggo also benefits from being a tv show villain since they have more time to build up his character. In that same vein, I think Grimmel would have been a better tv show villain because for his type of character you need more build up.

Lastly, leaving Berk/the hidden world. First off you could just tell it was such a forced in plot point. Like how was grimmel so much more of threat than Drago and a colossal sized alpha dragon that they needed to leave berk (again in part to the lack of development of Grimmel). I just didn’t feel that there were enough stakes for them to leave Berk.

Don’t even get my started on the characters. Everyone was pushed aside except for hiccup, Astrid and toothless. Let’s not even get into snotlout’s weird obsession with Valka (why couldn’t they have just made her a mother figure for the gang idk). Toothless losing everything that made him a terrifying dragon that was called the offspring of lighting and death itself. Like I get he is supposed to be like tamed and all that but the 2nd movie was a good balance between the two. Why did they have to push it even farther?

Anyway, that’s my rant on the third movie.

[wanderersbelovedwife]

hi, i read your take on how lavenoor completely butchered the point of princess mononoke. thank you for pointing it out, respect for criticizing her

it's weird she claimed the original movie to be "problematic" and refuses to elaborate? seems like she never watched the movie and just went off the general wiki and plot summary which don't contain any nuance. if you're going to claim one of the most iconic, beloved, thought-provoking studio ghibli movies is problematic, at least have some decency to explain it. i feel she just uses the word "problematic" as a buzzword and hopes her readers will agree

also if princess mononoke is indeed problematic, shouldn't there be a ton of video essays, forums etc discussing why it's problematic? shouldn't the japanase be the first ones criticizing the movie? honestly crazy how noor makes these baseless claims and never elaborates

noor claiming ashitaka to be bland is simply... wow. ashitaka is stoic and knows how and when to control his emotions. bro literally got banished from his village and takes it better than most people ever could. he is so strong emotionally, and noor mistakes his personality as "bland." just because he is calm, collected, and stoic does not mean he is bland. ashitka is the literal embodiment of a gigachad

regarding kaya: even the wiki get the facts wrong. sometimes she's referred to as ashitaka's sister, sometimes fiancée. i am pretty sure they are betrothed. no clue how lavenoor thought kaya was pregnant, i don't even think it was alluded to in the movie.

anyways sorry for my rant, it bugs me so much that noor missed the point of mononoke. it's such an L take and honestly really embarrassing

hope you have a nice day, just know that there are people who support you

I want to first say thank you for giving me this , I really appreciate it <3 I wanna answer all my inbox soon

I completely agree with you that if noor finds princess mononoke problematic she should've been specific which part she thinks it is and her calling ashitaka a bland mc is genuinely mind blowing to me at least

If anything sen character's feels more like a s3x appeal, like an oc if you wanna be specific. For example his height, San wasn't even that tall and wouldn't it make sense for sen to not be 6'8 instead close to San's height but taller , she has to be very agile not to mention sen's diet doesn't support his buff body.

Another thing I wanna say is bro never trust wiki for your information 😭!!

Everything about sen feels like he is appealing to the audience rather yk? Like Noor made him just so she can write a make out scene or smut scenes with him

Actually another thing I wanna add from my previous post is that it's ashame Kano's whole character is to be the stepping stone to make sen's character look " better " by default because he asked for consent.

We never even see the effects of Kano's attempt on mc.

Noor is so against writing non con yet is okay writing attempted non con ( for no reason btw Kano added nothing to the story )

This is so rushed I'm sorry

Thank you again everyone for reading and for your time I appreciate it

[highfantasy-soul]

So my friend saw a meme about Osha's saber turning red so quickly despite Anakin's remaining blue all through killing the younglings, choking Padme, and fighting Obi-Wan and as I talked through it with him, the more I realized why the prequels never showed Anakin with a red saber.

To keep with canon, Luke gets Anakin's old saber and the kyber is BLUE not red. The writers probably didn't want to open another canon of worms by then having to retroactively explain 'so Vader's red saber isn't his original red saber and Obi-Wan somehow purified the kyber and made it blue again for Luke' rather than just....not doing that and having the saber remain blue

A red lightsaber on Mustafar? Visiually would have been a terrible choice for that battle, so blue it remained

Vader bleeding his crystal deserves its own story - just like Osha bleeding hers had it's own story. I really liked the comic where Vader bleeds his crystal [not giving more detail as spoilers in case everyone hasn't read the comics - and if you haven't, I really recommend Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, it's only a 4 volume run and I thought it was great]

Anakin had a LOT going on through that entire movie - it wasn't a situation where he'd been repressing his emotions for so long and then was able to point to a singular cause of so much of his pain - his trauma was spread out so it makes sense that one singular act wouldn't be focused enough to bleed his crystal right then and there - Osha, on the other hand, had the singular cause of so many of her emotions right there in that courtyard, and the one who fostered her unjust hate toward her sister is standing right there revealing the truth.

Maybe there is a whole thing where the kyber has to be exposed, not fully in a lightsaber, in order to properly bleed it - in Jedi: Survivor [spoilers] Dagan pulled his crystal out with the force and bled it right in front of us (just as quickly as Osha, I might add), in the comics, Vader holds the crystal and bleeds it, and in The Acolyte, the saber is busted to the point where the crystal was literally touching Osha's hand - as Anakin is a little busy at the moment, he didn't really take the time to take apart his saber to bleed the crystal in the moment.

So idk, people complaining that 'so sabers are like mood rings now and just change that quickly? Guess Anakin wasn't actually all that upset at the end of episode 3!!' just seem so silly to me.

The entirety of The Acolyte's story was Osha dealing with her emotions she had been repressing for 16 years - and the reveal that what she thought was true (which led to the emotions she was told she needed to repress) had always been a lie. The bleeding of her crystal wasn't a quick, easy thing, it took literally the whole season to build up to that point.

And the aftermath when she's collapsed on the ground shaking - holy hell, I love when intense emotions are shown in 'unconventional' ways. Not all of us feel intense emotions and show it through huge, loud, and expansive displays. Some of us collapse in on ourselves and experience it in 'quieter' ways that are still just as intense as screaming.

Anyways, The Acolyte is really good.

[tryingtothinkofabetterusername]

So, while this next idea would be ideally used in the DC Animated Movie Universe, it could work in a new continuity (though, damn do I wish otherwise. lol); nevertheless, it doesn't rely so much on established DCAMU canon as my earlier hoped for projects.

*The Idea*

I think the Titans would have a Christmas break, whenever there wasn't a major threat to address, anyway. I believe Bruce Wayne would invite Damian's new teammates to Wayne Manor, if they had nowhere else to go, plus he understood it was healthy for his son's emotional development and well-being. I think this was a basis for quite a few fanfics, so even though I thought of it before seeing them, I give credit to those who beat me to the punch and with actually comprehensive detail. aha

Raven would go, as she has no other home, and Beast Boy would tag along for fun, to be the little brother who - while a valued friend - would sometimes fail to read the room, so would interrupt what should be more intimate social outings. That lovable rascal. haha. And he'd mess up Alfred's kitchen trying to cook something vegetarian even though he can't prepare food himself yet; might be a fun character moment to have Damian prepare the food for everyone, to be one of those surprise skills that still make sense. Maybe add other Titans, but I don't know, just those three at minimum.

The primary threat would be Scarecrow, since he would be one of the most dangerous Gotham supervillains for them, especially Raven because her emotion-based powers would be violently disrupted by his fear toxin, and more simply his psychiatric expertise; similarly, her empath power would become agony as Scarecrow spreads fear throughout thousands of people, with all that fear crushing her. Hence, why Damian would be vital for her as he is someone who can control his terror better than most, so he could talk her down to focus only on his bravery, rather than on everyone else's fear.

On a tangent, I think Crane would have employed Killer Croc as muscle, who would serve as Beast Boy's rival in the story. Maybe even build a bit of a bond as worthy enemies through mutual understanding about being outcasts due to a condition they can't change.

I feel like a good element for the climax would be a reversal of Damian helping Raven, when Scarecrow's fear toxin actually works on Damian, so Raven can help him keep his sanity with fortitude she had thanks to the support he gave her earlier. What would Damian fear? It could be knowledge about being planned as just a weapon, but I doubt that would bother him yet. Fear of failure? I think his confidence was unflappable at this point. I believe the fear would likely be losing Raven, thus her being there would challenge and help him overcome that fear.

*Closing*

Not sure how the entire plot would pan out, but I'm an ideas person, the structure is done better by others. Still, it feels like it has potential as a baseline. Simply wanted to put this out ASAP while I thought of it.

Anyway, I'm a sucker for a half-decent pun, so the film would be called something like "The Knightmare Before Christmas." It'd be a nice bookend for the teammates to watch the name's inspiration at the start and end in one of the Wayne screening rooms. Might be a legal issue, but I've seen cross-company cooperation before for more than this.

Damian: I'm not afraid of anything.

Raven: I didn't see it as much as felt it, and I've been trying to shake it off ever since.

Scarecrow: Fear reveals the truth.

[imekitty]

I've been reading your Dis- series around the clock this week (genuinely, I've been staying up every night because I was so engrossed!), and juuust caught up on Disillusioned.

I really like the way you don't shy away from exploring a darker or more realistic (imho) side of a lot of the characters. Especially Danny's parents-they feel way more fleshed out than the standard cartoon couple, thanks to the way you portray their relationship and all of the worries/messiness within it.

And while I do like when authors write Maddie as purely scientifically motivated through and through, I found it really interesting that you've been exploring a more sinister part of her that, honestly, would make a lot of sense to exist in a vivisection story like this. I don't feel like I've ever really seen her character handled this way. It's really interesting.

Thanks for writing! It's been fun to read <3

Thank you! I'm so thrilled to get a message like this! :D

I remember when I was a teenager that I wasn't very good at writing adults, but now as an adult myself, I love being able to flesh out adult characters and make them so much more complicated and human than what we see in cartoons aimed at kids.

While I was writing Disparaged, I read a "Maddie experiments on Phantom" fic and I don't remember much about it except that Danny observes that Maddie is cold and clinical with him, detached, nothing at all like his mother who is warm and loving and nurturing. And that intrigued me because I thought, well, what if she were more warm and nurturing even during experiments? What if she were intimate with him during these experiments instead of detached? What if the woman who tortured Phantom really was the same woman who loved Danny? Would that add to the trauma, the torture? That inability to separate the scientist from his mother?

And then it evolved from there, Maddie being very affectionate with Phantom during experiments, feeling straight up arousal during their time together because her work really does turn her on, achieving the results she wants is better than any orgasm. And seeing someone as powerful as Phantom submitting to her will, also better than sex.

I also saw a comic here on Tumblr where Maddie and Jack had successfully captured Phantom and locked him up in a cell and Maddie was conflicted because he was acting so much like a child, like Danny would, and the author commented that they didn't believe Maddie could actually experiment on Phantom because her motherly side would kick in, she'd have too much sympathy. And I thought but what if Maddie sees Phantom acting like a child as just a trick? What if she learned to ignore ghosts trying to act like humans? What if she saw these ghosts trying to play on her motherly sympathies and chose to continue with the torture anyway? Because she is just that convinced that ghosts only imitate human emotion and can't genuinely experience it?

I think fics that portray Maddie as being cold and clinical and other fics that have her showing sympathy to Phantom and hesitating when conducting experiments on him are completely valid and awesome. I just really enjoy writing Maddie as sadistic and obsessed lol.

[doctorweebmd]

Hello! First of all you are insanely talented and your writing lives for free in my head and has probs rewired my brain on some level. Like it's that good tasty soul destroying gut wrenching all encompassing art that physically hurts that it's just concepts and not something you can like squeeze to pieces in your arms, how is it possible to feel all these emotions, ouch in the very best way art (I hope this makes sense lol) Secondly, I wanted to ask what your process is for ideating longer stories from start to finish? Cause they're always so layered and impressive like how do you keep track of everything. How do you weave it all together like that. It's so satisfying to see as a reader but what's it like inside your mind, can you give us a little peek (as a treat)? Thank you for your service❤️

Oh anon you are too kind i could cry seriously seriously seriously it means a lot to me. like, i dont even have words. thank you for taking the time to send this and make me feel like a human being that exists and that those words matter, even a little!

I've actually been thinking about how to answer this question for a hot minute, so apologies for how long this ends up being...

Anyway, click below for an exclusive look at ~*~my twisted mind~*~

I joke, of course. (ish.)

Regarding writing my longer fics... over the years, they HAVE become much more clean and organized and I have tried to at least keep to a central theme, so here is my sincere answer...

Think Yes, AND. All writing is improv. To me.

You come up with an idea. Think about how that idea can work, or how it can be possible within canon. Then explain that idea. Then explain THAT idea. A very bare-bones outline can help with predicting length and help you arrange ideas to assist with telling the story you want to tell.

For example:

First, we start with an idea. The overarching idea that you want to explore in a story. For Zero-Sum it was 'what if when Deku left UA and never came back and Katsuki went a little crazy looking for him?' For tptp it was 'what if Akutagawa got abducted and Atsushi went to rescue him?'

From there, extrapolate, extrapolate, extrapolate!

For me, I make incredibly vague outlines. It helps get an idea of what I want to accomplish in between 'core' parts or scenes. And when I say vague i mean, like, vague. Just put ideas down. Quotes you like. Potential events. Nothing is set in stone. Like, this is a copy of one of the earlier iterations of TPTP -

This part is where worldbuilding and thus the story really starts to develop. The nice part about writing fanfic is you're working in a defined framework, so there's many jumping off points. A particularly fun one is trying to explain canon and filling the plot-holes that are so so ardently bothering you. Researching anything and everything behind the canon itself, how it relates to the real world, how you can make sense of it always spurs ideas.

ANYWAY here are some thoughts that have kept me writing when I want to rip all my hair out and throw myself into a bottomless pit because, well, the only thing worse than writing is not writing. and also the horrors.

1.) If you build it, they will come - wow, it definitely feels super discouraging when you're writing a long fic and no one seems to be reading it. But, remember, you are writing the story YOU want to write. Many readers don't read incomplete works. Others only comment on last chapters. Others are just silent but love it anyway. Long-fics require a lot of internal motivation and love but it is always always worth it!

2.) Kill your darlings - oftentimes, if you're stuck making a chapter/passage work and you just can't, its the passage's fault. a lot of the times just deleting it can help gain some clarity of mind.

2.5.) Save your darlings - When I delete things, I usually either add them to the end of the fic or a whole new document. This is relatively new advice that I've started following and its definitely helpful!

3.) trust the process - goddamn it. you can't force it. you really can't. sometimes you have to sleep on it. think about things in your car. reread it and want to rip your hair out. the solution will come to you. IT ALWAYS DOES. trust yourself. this is your story. sometimes you just need to give it time.

4.) I will not explain my art to the stupidest people alive - there are always always ALWAYS going to be people that misunderstand you. no matter what you write, draw, create, how you speak, how you present yourself, there is someone who will misinterpret and shit all over it and there's nothing you can do about it. and when its something as vulnerable as writing, it might be compelling to overexplain yourself. DONT. do not dumb yourself down to appeal to people who dont give a shit about your art anyway. its not worth the effort.

5.) better done than perfect - one of the reasons i now post on ao3 as i'm writing. if you're a perfectionist like me, no matter how many times you edit something, it will never ever ever EVER meet ideal standards. it won't ever sound like you didn't write it. the nice thing is, this is fanfiction. you can write whatever the fuck you want, be it with too many adverbs and run on sentences or whatever. it doesn't NEED to be pristine. it doesn't NEED to be clean. this ain't the new york times bestseller or a world-wide tv show waiting to be critiqued. you will lose nothing by not making it an ideal. what it DOES need to be is DONE.

...

thank you again and i am sorry and hello :)

[dyaz-stories]

Hey there! Just wanna know, what the heck happened in the JJK manga? Is it already over? Did the characters FINALLY mourn Gojo?! I gave up trying to read the manga after 236, so I just decided to randomly hear from others. But anyways, what happened??

Hey there! BOY AM I HAPPY TO DISCUSS THAT.

(I'm sorry I have so many thoughts and you've given me an excuse to ramble so this is going to be long)

There are two chapters left in the manga, it will end on September 30th. The chapter that just came out, chapter 269, was, however, really bad imo and a terrible use of time considering how little time Gege has left. I get that he had to wrap up quick, but in my personal opinion, it's inexplicable that he'd dedicate a whole chapter to what we just saw.

(More under the cut with spoilers for chapter 269)

Okay, so, the characters spend half the chapter arguing about how they could have done a better job fighting Sukuna, even though at this point, the losses are minimal. Most of the characters who were possibly dead are fine and dandy actually (Yuta, Higuruma, Todo, Kusakabe). Choso is still dead, but he gets a little line about how that's sad (and his death scene was really good and effective, so I'm not that mad about it, even if he's a character I really loved).

It kinda feels like Gege is justifying the way the fight went, which is a bit weird. In story, I think this could make sense if it was fueled by grief and loss and more of a "this person could have been saved! and this person didn't have to die!", but it feels kind of matter of fact tbh, with Maki being pretty much the only one displaying emotions. Even she seems to be arguing about efficiency, not really about saving human lives? Other characters' responses aren't much better. Yuuji in particular looks like he's super numb to everything, which again, yes, that's a trauma response, but it doesn't make for interesting storytelling and it's not going to be explored further, so... what's the point.

Also think that Yuta desecrating Gojo's corpse isn't explored enough. He did something horrifying that turned to not be that useful — going with the manga's message that the end doesn't justify the means — and he seems fine. I guess Maki yelling at him could be explained by the fact that she was strongly against this action, but it's never made explicit, which is a shame. (think it's more implied it's because he endangered himself and she has feelings for him)

The other half of the chapter is spent on a plot point that I don't think had been developed before that, about the new shadow style. This feels like the last arc Gege wanted to have and Sukuna's fight went on for too long so he had to scrap it. The point is essentially that the head of the new shadow style school is trying to become the head of Jujutsu Society as a whole now that the clans have collapsed. There was a binding vow that made it so the head of the school could steal years from people who had learned the style and add it to their lifespan. Anyway, Mei Mei steps in and makes it so the style can become more widely used.

(If you're bored reading that, yeah, so was I)

It's not useless exactly — it definitely goes towards the manga's message of ending the cycle and starting off with a clean slate, so that's a win — but it feels super rushed. It didn't have to be rushed, could have been a decent arc, it just isn't, and again, I don't think that's a great use of pages this late in the story.

Last but not least, Gojo. Gojo gets two mentions in this chapter.

The second one is in passing, when Hakari defends Yuta's usefulness.

And the first one, oooh boy the first one,

is about how this was all Gojo's fault from the get-go anyway 😃

And again, some nuance here. Kusakabe specifically says that the kids have nothing to apologize for — which I agree with. His point is that it was Gojo's responsibility to kill Yuuji. Essentially, the idea is that he was the adult, and in not doing that, he's responsible for the kids having to live with all the consequences of his actions.

Which aaaaah I'm losing it here! Yuuji was a victim of Kenjaku's machinations from the get-go, so would it have been right to kill him? Isn't this just a trolley problem — kill Yuuji and save innocent people's lives? But then, Yuuji, Sukuna and Kenjaku's actions led to the end of jujutsu society as we know it, more or less directly, which could lead to a better future, so was he actually right, in a purely consequentialist approach?

I don't think any of that is particularly interesting to discuss at this point tbh. I feel like that had already been dealt with. I'm just deeply confused as to why we're dealing with this when there were three chapters left before this one instead of focusing on closing the curtain on beloved characters, Gojo in particular.

Anyway! Bad chapter imo. Boring. Bad use of the characters and their relationships with one another. Really questionable use of time. Gojo was not mourned and in fact it's almost like he's never existed or never mattered to anyone. No Shoko here, not a hint of sadness from Yuta either, which I had hoped for.

I'm still looking forward to the last two chapters, and I hope they'll leave more room for the characters to, you know, have feelings.

[muqingapologist]

it’s kind of funny how i put off reading scum villain for so long after reading and consuming adaptations for mdzs and then reading tgcf. im not really a fan of the fan-service sex scenes in danmei because it just takes me out of the story emotionally, and i had a friend warn me that this was pretty much the case with svsss. but like….not so much? at least not the main story.

to back up, my first introduction to any danmei media was watching the untamed. i fucking LOVED the untamed. it consumed my every waking thought for like a solid month lol. it’s actually hard to describe in hindsight just how captivated i was by wei wuxian and lan wangji. and because i loved it so much, i chose to wait for the english translations to be officially released instead of finding unofficial versions online. in the meantime, i “read” tgcf (skimmed) for the first time (bad idea. i finally reread it though last month for real and damn. not quite relevant though). anyway, when i finally got to book 4 of mdzs, well i knew there was the infamous bathtub scene coming, but i underestimated how much this scene would just…cheapen the entire story for me. and this is my own fault, i know, for taking the untamed so much to heart and not being prepared to engage with such different characterizations of the two characters i adored so much. like nothing could’ve prepared me for the fact that lan zhan was actually a nymphomaniac who was determined to have rough sex with wwx every day…it just made the story feel less meaningful to me. it took away the gravity it developed for me.

so knowing how the sex scenes in mdzs affected me, of course i was skeptical of svsss based on what i’d heard. and well maybe it’s because svsss was so tonally different from mdzs and tgcf, and maybe because i knew something very graphic was coming, but shen qingqiu and luo binghe boning to save the world at the end of the main story actually made…perfect sense?? like it wasn’t even really supposed to be romantic at all and yet it felt 110% more earned and necessary than the scenes in mdzs. which was just really surprising to me.

anyway i don’t make this to start mdzs vs. svsss discourse but more so just to discuss my thoughts on the two as someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy gratuitous sex scenes and reads mostly for romance and plot (personal preference!). i still love mdzs and it’ll always have a special place in my heart, but watching the untamed and getting attached to that version of the story first definitely gave me unrealistic expectations for the source material.

im just rambling about this because im curious if anyone had a similar experience with how they read the mxtx novels? also in discussing the novels, im not giving tooooo much weight to the extras.

i’ll add another probably unpopular opinion that the lack of explicit content in tgcf (ik, due to censorship) actually worked in its favor in terms of emotional impact for me.

so yeah i just wanna know what people out there think of sex scenes in mxtx and their gratuitousness and how that affects the novel for you!!!

[emptypencilcase]

you ever just sit and think about sharkboy and lavagirl? yeah, me too.

anyway, here’s a (not very detailed) analysis of those two characters and their significance to max in the movie.

So it’s made very obvious to us as the audience that certain characters in Max’s fantasy world are entirely (and might I add, very subtly) based off of people in his own life:

Except for Sharkboy and Lavagirl, right? WRONG. In that universe they are fictional characters made by Max who (in my opinion) were created by him to cope with his shitty life. The reason I think this is because Sharkboy and Lavagirl are personifications of Max’s own insecurities and imperfections.

Sharkboy, personality-wise, is very much like Max; he’s emotional, short-tempered, emo. He also has experiences that mirror Max’s own life, for example: him losing his father. Sharkboy losing his dad is a direct parallel to how Max feels about his own parents, who are too busy fighting with each other to pay their (obviously struggling) son any attention, and even unload their problems onto him. a nine year old?! anyways, Max’s parents’ negligence of him and his problems is his equivalent to them “drifting away”. (much like Sharkboy’s dad did on that lifeboat!!)

Moving on to Lavagirl!! Lavagirl feels like she’s not a good person; all she can do is harm people, and destroy things. She burns. This is kind of like how Max feels about everything in his life; his parents’ marriage, any potential relationship he could form in school, his dream journal- all ruined because he wasn’t good enough. It’s his fault. And that’s what Lavagirl is supposed to represent, that feeling of not being good enough. 

So it would make sense for Max-a nine year old child-to process the world through this lense of superheroes and supervillains. He feels better about his own problems knowing that there are these “heroes” out there with the same problems. But he takes it too far.

Max is a creative kid, we know this. It was obvious since the beginning!! He started building a robot on his own for gods’ sakes?! He uses his creativity as a way to cope, like we’ve seen with him creating Sharkboy and Lavagirl. But the adults in his life are telling him to stop: stop dreaming, and stop being creative. They say this because they can probably see where this is going.

So this mentally ill child is told to stop using the one and only coping mechanism that seems to be working for him, and he tries. He really does try. However, because no one ever bothered to find/teach him a healthier way to help him cope, he goes the complete opposite direction. All of a sudden Sharkboy and Lavagirl are actually real!! and they need Max, and he’s thinking “finally I’m needed, I’m wanted.” when in reality he’s just FUCKING CRAZY AND DELUSIONAL. But that’s what happens. The End.

Oh and I failed to mention, Max probably also has autism and it helps him to view the world using fictional stories/characters. And his unfinished robot is a metaphor for the pressure that is put on him to stop being creative.

ok bye!

[starshower1215]

Holaaa, que tal? 😁 I'd like to drop by with a CATS questions, haha. I think you mentioned in one of your last asks, and also in your reply to my comment, that you have a playlist for CATS. I was just curious - do you listen to that playlist to get in the mood for writing, or maybe even while writing? And if you add songs, is it because of their lyrics, or more for the "vibe" they give off? Has it grown a lot during the past months? Songs are always very inspiring to me, so that's why I love that you have a specific playlist for your story (or each of your stories?) hehe!

Jaja, ¡hola, Tori! ¿Cómo estás? I shall answer now this in honour of the end of the four month hiatus, lol. I'm so freaking happy about it. Anyway, I do both! If I am about to write, I put the playlist on, sometimes switching to certain tracks based on the scene I intend to write, or which character. I listen to it while writing as well. Most of the time whenever I'm writing, actually, I have a playlist streaming.

To the second question, both as well, but it's hard to say which aspect I allocate more of my attention to. Lyrics, most likely. But for the first half or so of the fic, the tone is quite childish, despite the sadder undertone, and as I am still on the first half of the fic, most of my playlist is filled with the music artist whom I correlate with the same happy tone, sad message concept: Owl City. The most prominent example of this I can think of is "Tidal Wave," if you're curious. You might find something similar in the chorus of "Sunburn" as well. I do add a lot of Owl City songs just based on the mood of the music, though. Outside of his music, most of the songs I've added seem to have lyrics that correspond to the mood. And a lot of times, I add songs with don't exhibit the same scenario or situation that I am trying to write, but which solicit the same emotions I need, if that makes sense.

I don't think it's grown too much, though I haven't been keeping track. It's currently 31 tracks long, and I've added at least five songs since I last updated, "Seven" being one of them, so thank you so much for that recommendation! I listen to that one quite often since you suggested it, particularly for the sadder interactions between Hange and Levi when I'm focusing on Hange's obliviousness. It has served a very specific, very useful purpose, lol.

If you're interested, here's some of the others songs I have in it:

Words Fail from Dear Evan Hansen, sung by Ben Platt.

So Big / So Small also from Dear Evan Hansen, lol, sung by Rachel Bay Jones. It kind of fits the new chapter.

Struck By Lightning by Sara Kays and Cavetown.

Anyway, thank you so much for the ask and your interest! It's greatly appreciated! Also, a very sincere thank you for each of your comments on each chapter as you were reading them. It was a wonderful refresher for me to remember what was happening in the story, and it was such a joy to see random emails of your thoughts of it in my inbox. I appreciated it a lot, so thank you! You helped me out a lot as I was writing.

This is Circles Around the Sun!

[avelera]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. spread the self-love ❤

Ooh, thank you for this! As for tagging onward, I'm terrible at picking people and I hate to impose, so if you see this and want to fill it out just say I sent you ^^;;;

Giving Sanctuary: The Sandman, Dream/Hob, Canon Divergence AU. Basically, "What if Dream and Hob got together in 1689 when Hob was at his lowest and they bonded over the fact both of them have lost their sons?" Probably one of my most emotionally mature works, I poured a lot of my own meditations on life and grief into it, and it has some of the best dialogue I think I've written to date. I'm also quite proud that it's complete, lol, a running theme in this list.

The Only Way Out is Down: Pacific Rim, Newt/Hermann, post-Uprising but in an attempt to make sense of Uprising and add some depth and poetry to the years Newt and Hermann spent apart. Newt is trapped in a coma after the Precursors are destroyed and Hermann Drifts with him to try to wake him up. In the meantime, they pass through a mindscape inspired by Dante's Inferno, in which each of the 9 years they spent apart take on an aspect inspired by the Circles of Hell that they have to disrupt in order to move on to the next one. Basically a Newt Recovery fic that flips the script and explores how gut-wrenching and traumatizing those years would have been for both of them, but with a lot of humor and healing, this is not meant to be an angsty slog and some of my best comedy is in it too I think. Quite proud of how I interwove Dante's "Inferno" into the structure of the story, quite proud of the fact it's finished and novel-length, and I think I grew at writing character voices and sustaining them throughout a massively long fic with this one. I still jump to read any comments I get for this one because I'm so proud of it, you would not believe how much work went into it.

Prayers to Broken Stone: The Hobbit, Thorin/Bilbo, BotFA fixit in a way but we take the long way 'round. Dragon Sickness literally turns Thorin into a dragon and he and Bilbo need to survive being locked up alone inside Erebor long enough to find a cure for him, or else. The story is much more psychological than it may sound, it's much more about exploring Thorin's trauma through the lens of him turning into the creature he fears and loathes most in the world. Very proud of this fic since it's the first long fic I ever finished, it's the one that made me actually attend some highly competitive writing workshops since I finally felt like I had become a competent enough writer to be able to actually complete a novel. Also quite proud of the characterization, voices, and mythology created for this one.

Shanghaied: Pacific Rim, Newt/Hermann, post-Uprising again. Post-recovery fic, Newt returns to Shanghai where he was held captive by the Precursors for ten years and slowly spirals mentally when forced to confront the physical location of his torment once more, all while trying to put on a brave face for Hermann that only grows more manic as the night goes on. Still perhaps one of my most emotionally... sincere? works? It's the most based on personal experience during a bad time in my life but translated into a flavor of angst I don't see as much of in fic, it's probably one of my more literary pieces in that respect? Anyway, I'm very proud of the maturity of emotion in this one so I always race to see any comments that get left on it.

5. Come live with me and be my love: The Sandman, Dream/Hob, alternate 1789 hookup. Dream loses a bet to Desire and must live for one year as a normal human, in this specific case, one year as the husband or wife of a human of his choosing, without almost any of his powers, in order to better understand how humans live. Dream chooses Hob as his spouse, naturally, since Hob is the least unbearable of humans and not mortal and therefore not in danger from him. Hob is only too glad to oblige but unfortunately, this means Dream has to pretend to be a woman in order for them to blend in, so shenanigans ensue. While this is still a WIP I do intend to return to it and I am massively proud of it. I think it's one of the works I've done the most worldbuilding for from scratch, in the sense that I had to quickly familiarize myself to a reasonable degree with early 1800s England, a period I'm not actually all that fond of in history (I'm not really an Austen or Bridgerton fan, to say the least). I think it has some of my most ambitious writing in terms of scope and scale and some of the more clever writing in terms of building tension and crafting original characters who lend realism to the setting without overwhelming the central, more important characters of Dream/Hob and their story.