#Also I'm sorry if this isn't super concise??

[literaticat]

I’m really really sorry to ask a WC question and I told myself I wouldn’t send this, but… I’m losing sleep over word count woes. I sometimes dream about word count. I’ve read your dracula post, where you write that anything up to 90k in an Upper MG fantasy might be okay. Is this STILL accurate in 2025, particualrly given the slumping MG market/new trend toward shorter titles?

Do you think an 88k Upper MG fantasy will be an instant reject for many agents? My story is tightly paced (I’ve spent months mercilessly line editing/killing my darlings/deleting what scenes I can w/o breaking the story… it was originally 120k). I think the tight pacing will be clear if the agent makes it to the pages/even just the first scene. The query/first 50 pages has been reviewed by an ex-agent turned freelance editor on Reedsy who said the pacing was solid and that the story moves right along (judging by the first 50). But she also said MG should top out at no more than 50k words. There’s just such a huge range/so many mixed opinions. So I’m worried most agents will read “88k” and auto-reject before reading the blurb/pages. Should I put my ‘housekeeping’ paragraph beneath the blurb for this reason? But it won’t make a difference for QM.

Is it ever acceptable to just leave the word count out of the query? But I feel like that might be a worse red flag if it makes them assume its like a 250k doorstopper. But again, if the agent uses QM, it wouldn’t be possible. 

Is it ever aceptable to ‘round’ to say 85k from 88k? How much rounding is acceptable? I’m assuming an agent probably expects some flunctuation if a writer continues revising a manusript after querying. But I also don’t want to straight up lie. I just want them to look at the first page.

I could get the story down to 79-80k by removing a significant sub-plot and I have a version where I did that. But I truly feel it hurts the story, so I don’t necessarily want to send that version. But if it actually would make a difference and increase the already small chance of getting ANY version of my story out into the world, maybe it’s worth it. Would those 8-9k words make a huge difference to the eye of an agent?

(Feel free to toss this if you just can’t with another WC question. I get it. But I felt compelled to type this out. It was oddly therapeutic. Maybe the dreams will stop.)

I was going to roast you mercilessly for asking about word count in the LONGEST QUESTION OF ALL TIME, but then I realized that would be hypocritical since half my answers are the longest answers of all time. Looks like we BOTH have a problem with keeping it concise. ;-)

I hope typing all this got it out of your system.

I do get why authors worry about this. The Word Count guideline is one of the only things that seems firmly within the author's control -- you can't really help it if an agent likes your book, but at least you CAN make sure you've followed every instruction to the letter!

The problem is, I'm afraid there is wayyyyy too much emphasis put on this poor little guideline in author circles. There is ZERO reason you should be stressed out or losing sleep here. Over 3k words? 8k? Come ON. Do you really think an agent really cares about 3k-8k words more or less in a novel-length work? If I'm loving the book and zipping through it, I wouldn't NOTICE 3k or 8k words.

Please snap out of it and listen to me.

I'm going to be super blunt:

NOBODY GIVES A SHIT WHAT YOUR WORD COUNT IS IF YOUR BOOK IS GREAT.

AND IF YOUR BOOK ISN'T GREAT -- IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR WORD COUNT IS.

We don't ask for word count because we care about word count. For the most part, neither editors nor agents really care about word count! Surprise! (The exception being certain publishing imprints that have extremely specific guidelines, such as leveled early readers or certain kinds of educational books or certain kinds of category romance, which you would know if you were writing a book like that, if you don't know, that means you aren't!)

We don't ask about word count because we are looking for a reason to auto-reject. It's not a test. Really!

We just want to make sure your thing is *the length of a book* -- it would be a red flag if your word count was so high or so low that it wasn't within shouting distance of the "normal" range, because that tells the agent that you really don't have a firm grasp on what category you are writing or the realities/norms of publishing.

But the "normal range" is very large. And you are firmly within it. So relax.

As to the other part: FWIW, I don't mention word count in my pitch or put it on the front page of the ms when I am sending to editors. It's actually fine by ME if you don't do either of those things, either, as I can see your word count in the QM form. But other agents might feel strongly about wanting it in the query itself , so... whatever. Just round it and put an "approximately" sign if you are worried about it. After all - it's not going to be the same length when it is published, right? IF anyone asks, which they almost certainly will not (because they don't care), you can just say, hey, always revising, exact word count fluctuates, but it's around this. Which it is.

[happiness-of-the-pursuit]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks to @kiwiana-writes for the tag!! I did this back in like... October, and a LOT has changed since then lol

How many works do you have on ao3?

29

What's your total ao3 word count?

299,988 (though this includes 110,000 from the co-written PJO AU and 2,000 words from Manu's fic that I podficced to)

What fandoms do you write for?

Only RWRB for now, though never say never to others. I recently read Check, Please! and I've had some thoughts, but I have far too many WIPs for RWRB to write them rn. Also I have some ideas for The Pairing, but again, I have... so many RWRB wips...

Top five fics by kudos:

Longer Than Most | 26K, trans Henry accidental pregnancy (also this is how I found out it had become my top kudos-ed fic AH)

The Super Six Take a Lie Detector Test | Vanity Fair | 7K, YouTube interview

Let Me inside (I Want to Get to Know You) | 6K, epistolary roommates

Claremont 2008 | 28K, canon divergence where Ellen gets elected in 2008, childhood friends to lovers

(Dil)Do It Yourself | 17K, meet cute at a DIY dildo workshop

Do you respond to comments?

I really try to. But. I have gotten quite behind recently. I would love to catch up but it's just a bit overwhelming at the moment.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't really have any angsty endings?? but a fic @affectionatelyrs and I are working on is going to have an ambiguous ending and my joke is that someone should the version of it where things take the angsty route

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I mostly write happy endings, but I am going to say that Let Me inside (I Want to Get to Know You) is the happiest because it's kinda the tropiest

Do you get hate on fics?

Not hate, but I've gotten one or two weird comments, or comments asking about updates.

Do you write smut?

I do! (this is one of the things that's changed since the fall)

Craziest crossover:

The closest I've gotten to a crossover is the PJO AU, but that's not even an actual crossover.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes!! Super Six and the Siren's Call with @inexplicablymine and @read-and-write- was the first, and then I wrote Let Me inside (I Want to Get to Know You) with @affectionatelyrs. I also did the podficcing of the voice notes for love has a voice (and it's yours) by Manu. I've also got a couple more projects coming up with Jamie also.

All time favorite ship?

Well that I've written for, FirstPrince :)

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Unfortunately I don't know if I'll ever finish Baby's First Pride because I've grown a ton as a writer since then and I would want to redo the old chapters and that just isn't all the compelling to me anymore...

What are your writing strengths?

I fucking hate this question. But I am going with dialogue and humor (and humorous dialogue) which has been co-signed by others so I feel less weird about saying this.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I would like to be able to keep smut more concise at times, because it always turns into a Big Scene but it doesn't always need to be a Big Scene. And I've been trying to work on a particular style of writing which is a bit more uhhh snappy? I don't know how to describe it. But that's still a huge work in progress, because I always get more rambly than I want.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I definitely try to include it for the characters in RWRB who speak other languages, and when I do I lean on my friends who speak those languages as a native speaker.

First fandom you wrote in?

Officially: RWRB. For myself: HP.

Favorite fic you've written?

Honestly it's always whatever I'm working on at the moment, which is a couple of WIPs: Fire Island WIP, Parasocial Relationship AU with @affectionatelyrs, and my Big Bang fic come to mind.

But really I want to know what y'all's favorite fic of mine is!!!!

I'll tag 20 people, sorry if anyone's done this recently, but in case anyone wants to go again: @mainstreamelectricalparade @14carrotghoul @anincompletelist @littlemisskittentoes @gay-flyboys

and @songliili @gayrootvegetable @leojfitz @welcometololaland @rmd-writes

and @bigassbowlingballhead @eusuntgratie @captainjunglegym @cactusdragon517 @cricketnationrise

and @violetbaudelaire-quagmire @bribumblebee @nocoastposts @magicandarchery @itsmaybitheway!!!

[chronocrump]

Hello Chronocrump, I recently stumbled upon your art the other day, and I couldn't stop staring at your gallery.. It makes me realize there is so much thats lacking from my art that I really want to improve on. I felt desperate to contact you, but wasn't sure if it would be rude. I wanted to try to ask you, how do you approach drawing? Do you structure it first, or start with a gesture drawing? Focus on the form or perspective first? Etc My other question might seem strange, but I wanted to ask how do you hold your pencil? Ive learned that different pencil grips can drastically change the quality of someone's art. Thank you for your time. I'm sorry if my message is to long, or you don't want to respond back. I wanted to atleast try, but also let you know that your work has been very inspiring for me to keep trying.

I'm glad to answer your questions, it's seriously no problem. I wanna start by telling you how amazed I was when I checked your profile to see your work. I know you have a huge lack of confidence in it, but your art is genuinely beautiful, and frankly, looking at it, I found it hard to believe that you would be asking me for advice...from my perspective, you're way ahead of me. You're certainly better with color; you might notice I really only post sketches lol. I really don't want to dismiss or downplay your feelings about it, but I have to let you know how I felt looking at it. To me it seems like your brain is telling you your art isn't good enough when it very, very much is.

Anyway, enough gushing from me lol. On to your questions.

Usually when starting a drawing, I very loosely and lightly sketch the overall form of the pose I wanna do. Very rough basic shapes/forms to get everything in its right place before I start really drawing it with confident lines. Even then, all the lines are subject to change; nothing is sacred. To be honest tho, I usually mess up the proportions and have to fix them a bit lol. I try to sketch cleanly and concisely, meaning I try not to draw a lot of lines in a spot that could really be done with just one or two. I'm not super strict on that tho, at the end of the day while I try to draw efficiently, I also want to draw comfortably. So with something like a big circle for example, I'll draw that pretty sketchy. In terms of perspective, I'm trying to get better at it, but when considering how I want to use it in a drawing, it's part of the initial image or idea I have in my head, so I lay it out from the beginning. I do also draw structure lines on the face, just a simple cross to plan where the center of the face will be. Lately I've also tried taking more pictures of myself for pose reference and it works well.

Most of my practice comes from studying my favorite artists and trying to emulate the specific ways they structure their drawings. I should actually be doing dedicated practice sessions with that, but I digress. Recently I've been trying to practice from photos first thing in the morning, tho I'm finding it hard to commit to doing it daily. I just go on pinterest and find cool poses, then draw them, trying to get down the basic shapes and prominent features more than focusing on minute details. I've posted some of these practice sketches on here but there's a few more on my twitter if you wanna see what I'm talking about.

In terms of my pencil grip, I'm not sure...since I was little, I've always had an unusual grip. Looking it up, I guess it's like the "dynamic quadrupod" grip, but with my forefinger farther back. Really the most I try to do is draw less with my wrist and more with my forearm. Some say you should "draw from the shoulder", and that sounds right...I guess it's all about avoiding straining your wrist and getting carpal tunnel lol.

Anyway, I'm flattered that you would ask me for advice. To be honest, it makes me feel like I should have more confidence in my own art. And you should too! I can say that, objectively, your art is very good. I hope my advice was actually helpful and not generic stuff you've heard before lol. Good luck in your art journey.

[pyr0cue]

Feel free to answer privately if you'd like- i know the Longlegs discussion is getting a bit muddled up in the notes and i'm actually really interested in people's takes on the film, especially when they bring up things i'd never consider, like Longlegs being a bit of a touchy subject when it comes to being potentially transgender, or just repeated (typically negative) stereotypes in horror in general. i find this type of stuff really fascinating!

(i apologize if i get a little lengthy in this lol)

while i don't particularly see Longlegs as trans, with the idea of Buffalo Bill being in a lot of peoples heads as a reference for Longlegs can definitely nudge them in that direction, and ill never fault anyone on their interpretation on a character in a film, it's kinda what makes films art to begin with. tho i also think (personally) that it may be a bit unfair to a character who, throughout the movie, is not a Buffalo Bill character other than the fact that Bill and Longlegs are both murderers. Bill is regarded as feminine because of who he kills and why he does it, where as Longlegs is sort of guided more towards the 'epitome of evil', to the point where Longlegs isn't even killing anyone directly, because its simply his influence with Ruth, the orbs, and the dolls. the through-lines are surely there, especially in terms of the ambiguity of gender, the cliches, and the harmful stereotypes associated with them. i'm just under the impression that the more you pick at it, the more the similarities kinda dissolve- but that's just me!

not to get long winded and annoying but i perceived Longlegs as not a human at all, but a rendition of the "Beast" itself, with Ruth being the other, forming the triangle that Longlegs seemed to be obsessed with, or less satanically accurate (i guess?? im no where close to religious so hoo boy if im wrong consider me a silly goose) , maybe a portrayal of the Antichrist itself. Longlegs is unnerving to look at and listen to because its desperately trying to be something that it perceives as 'beautiful,' when in actuality, is horrifying, like a 'demon' would present itself (if we want to pretend we know what a demon would do, but its fiction, so wooooo!) there is of course issues that are going to spike up with that- the 'feminine' presentation can set off alarm bells for a demographic that's already viewed in an (unfair, of course) 'evil' sense. but i think that unfortunately makes things more interesting- Longlegs can be perceived as anything, but at the end of the day, is evil, nearly on a cosmic level because we truly dont know what the hell Longlegs even is.

i super apologize for this being long and probably obnoxious but i personally love having discussions when it comes to interpretations of films, ESPECIALLY horror. Longlegs is bringing up a lot of different ideas and concepts for things that i havent seen in quite a while and i think thats really neat.

thank you again for humoring this ask! :) one thing i will fight you on is saw 5 being picked over saw 6, how dare you! the shotgun carousel was a masterpiece!

You are all good!! I also love discussing film and don’t mind long asks at all!! In fact this made my day!!! I just didn’t want to answer rude anons lol) I…also just typed a giant response so I’m sorry for not knowing how to be concise

I actually love your analysis! It’s a lot of things I hadn’t really considered! I think my personal gripe with the movie is that I just don’t find satanic motivations in film scary, I was so much more frightened and intrigued when longlegs was just a killer with an odd obsession with the 14th, when he was untraceable by his own power and not ‘the devil.’ Longlegs wanted you to be scared of both longlegs (the killer) and supernatural aspects, and I just lost all fear of the killer when he started being all ‘hail satan,’ it immediately made the character and their motivation entirely uninteresting and overdone. I spend a lot of time watching bad horror movies just to see if the reviews were wrong (sometimes horror gems were so poorly received and written off), and maybe I’ve just seen more horror about the devil than other people and I’m too jaded about it to find longlegs refreshing or new :/

I do love the idea of longlegs not being human and I can totally see that in the film, it could recontextualize the scene where he smashes his face and his nose falls off as an inhumanity rather than like…hey look at how bad plastic surgery is, which is what it came off as to me at first!! I love that line of thought actually!!

I like the idea that longlegs is portrayed as someone who lacks a gender is less with interpretations like yours which are so fun and interesting to examine is there’s JUST as much, if not more room for bad faith interpretations about trans people. I think my gut reaction of ‘oh no this is about a trans coded killer,’ comes from, both the actor confirming they were portraying a character who doesn’t follow traditional gender roles, and also the social climate rn that is SO violent towards trans people. While I love the idea of a killer who embodies evil, I just think a lot of people are going to walk away with the image of another ‘androgynous’ devil worshipping child killer in their heads, which I think was a dangerous choice on Oz and Cage’s parts. I wish they’d gone in a different direction to show inhumanity, maybe make the killers limbs unnaturally long, get rid of the lipstick and make his lips barely visible, instead of big cheeks have bulging eyes. There’s so many directions they could’ve gone that would’ve led me to immediately think “inhuman” and not “trans stereotype,” on my first watch, but I definitely think there’s a lot of room for interpretation and I loveee the idea of longlegs potentially being infected or changed internally/externally due to close contact with evil and the devil, it’s something to think about!

Ok forgive me for yapping about things you didn’t even mention because my other issue with the film was that it dedicated like 5 whole mins to explain, in depth, exactly how the dolls and Lee’s mom work with longlegs. Like. Ok I can give them the devil worshipping, I wish they’d been more creative but that’s not the ultimate sin, I just WISH they’d let me decide how that supernatural element worked for myself, I don’t want you to explain it to me. Same with Lee’s psychic abilities: you just dedicated a pretty creepy scene to showing that Lee could perceive things others can’t, I don’t then need you to tell me ‼️she’s psychic‼️‼️don’t forget‼️just in case you forgot in the last 2 mins ‼️ our main character is a psychic. This is a movie that held my hand because they were so obsessed with what they wrote that it ruined the horror of the unknown, at least for me. But on the other hand, there’s so many plot holes and issues with the story that don’t really fit in the ‘crime horror’ genre. Idk, this movie left a lot of contradictory thoughts in my brain and I think a lot of why I didn’t like was that I’ve just seen so many better horror movies that do all the things this movie does and more. I don’t think it’s bad but…it didn’t live up to the hype. Whoever was in charge of marketing for this movie needs the biggest raise possible lol

(Ok look the traps in saw 6 are so much better but I love Hoffman and Strahms dynamic in 5 they’re so silly goofy…glass coffin…but ur so right shotgun carousel is one of the best traps in the entire franchise)

[youremyheaven]

I agree, and yes both of my parents are hoarders lol and that was a bit of a nightmare since we already had a teeny tiny house, I shared a room with both of my sisters and we had no room to even walk on the floor lmaoo, but hey I like that we were close. Whenever I feel bad I always remember that in a tribal setting we would've been doing golden lol- close knit, very safe since if something happened to any of us we're literally right next to each other.

I'll say my Naks but it might expose me lmao because I talk about stuff on here too, but that's okay. I'm not trying to be too secretive. I'm Jyeshta Sun, Rohini Moon. I do have Mars in Uttarabhadrapada which is interesting.

My upbringing was kinda weird, kinda beautiful in some ways but by modern standards it was rough- I have a hard time saying it was bad because I know I was loved in a lot of ways too and that's more than some people can ask for. Just abusive shenanigans, but abuse can be weird because abuse isn't always as simple as someone just being terrible- like it's never okay but I mean, the same person who abuses you can also be the person who throws you birthday parties and makes them super magical and genuinely loves you. My mum in particular had a rough life herself, at 6 years old she immigrated to Australia and not long after was put into a children's home run by nuns because her mum was deemed unfit or something. She's Bharani Moon of course.

I went a bit wild when I was around 14 because I wanted to do anything I could to escape from home, so I would hang around a lot of strange men and drug people since they're aaalways out- after school, 2am, 12pm; there's always a group of a few of them around the area just messing around. So I could simply sneak out and go hang out with them lol. I guess I craved the adventure too, but most of all I just didn't want to go home. Even though we were not well off, we lived in a very wealthy area so I didn't relate to most of the kids around, I think that's part of why I gravitated towards the 'junkies'. They understood rougher conditions a bit better.

I ended up getting taken advantage of a few times which made me veer away from that scene for good, stop smoking weed, etc. but I was still looking for some way to get away from home.

I ended up in a relationship with a 30 year old man when I was 15, I stopped going to school much and started living with him. It was ghetto lol...

My mum passed away, so my sisters and I had to move states to be taken in by a relative. I was about to be 18 by that point so I had a choice on whether or not to come, but I was like bruh I'm not having my little sisters in a different state to me, that's madness- so I came along. Our relative was really strict and religious. She's lowkey rich but not the kindest person. She told me that I had to either get a job or study, or I'm not allowed to live there. I tried working and stuff but everything was just too fresh, I couldn't do much without crying :') so I was a dumb dumb and I decided maybe if I became a *dancer*, I could make money fast so that I could move out. I didn't end up doing it, I realised I'm too shy and sensitive for that kinda thing- I got on the stage for like a minute and had to get off because it was so spooky. The eyes of all the men, yikes.

Anyway, I got kicked out for the dancing thing and just in general being scandalous (by a religious rich lady's standards lol- bless her), and that's how I became homeless since I was in a new state and had nowhere to go that I knew- but it was for the best!!! I got taken in by a refuge, and they were so kind to me. I got so attached to the workers, they cared for us and treated us with such kindness.

Eventually I got a place on my own within the system. Then I met my partner & moved in with him to be freed from my ghetto life (jk I kinda love my life).

Sorry if this is very erratic, I'm never sure how to tell the story in a clear cut concise manner. I feel like it's going to take me a lifetime to sort out how I feel about a lot of things, but at the end of the day I'm not sure it even matters.

Just gotta keep making art, keep learning and loving, life is good- and people are strange, lol 💓💓

sorry for the delayyyyyed response but thank you so much for taking the time to tell me about your life's journey 🥺💛 you've lived a very tumultuous life and I'm glad you're in a more stable place now, it makes me hopeful about my own journey<3, so tysm <3

May your mom's soul rest in eternal peace 💛

"Just abusive shenanigans, but abuse can be weird because abuse isn't always as simple as someone just being terrible- like it's never okay but I mean, the same person who abuses you can also be the person who throws you birthday parties and makes them super magical and genuinely loves you."

this is the most Lunar thing ever

but also I will say as someone who has been in multiple abusive situations with very "loving" people, it can be very confusing to wrap your head around why someone can be so sweet, loving and kind one minute and tear you apart over nothing and yk...be aBusiVe the next minute. the truth is nobody irl acts like a textbook villain, the people who are capable of immense cruelty are the regular seeming people all around us. it took me so long to cut off toxic people because i always tried to justify it with "oh but they're also sooo kind and generous...." yada yada yada but its unhealthy to be around someone who is unpredictable.

My toxic ex bestie would imply I'm a whore today and then bring me muffins she baked at home tomorrow, if someone praised me in front of her, she'd stop talking to me for the rest of the day, sometimes she'd skip classes the next day and switch off her phone and i'd feel sick to my stomach with anxiety over her unpredictable behaviour and then she'd bring me earrings she bought for me??? and take me out to lunch?? crazy times but i think a lot of abusive people kind of overcompensate for their meanness with loving actions. they feel guilty so they overdo it and then the cycle continues. i've always felt bad about labelling certain experiences as "toxic" bc like you said i feel like it could be worse or that it wasn't so bad but at the end of the day "loving abuse" is still abuse.

[hehimdykesrock]

Hi. I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit on your reasoning for encouraging the “Bi/Mspec Lesbian” label? I’m not a fan of the label but at least want to try to see where you’re coming from??

Bc as a lesbian who previously identified as bisexual, I honestly find the “Bi Lesbian” label invalidating to both identities. For context, I identified as Bi for quite a while bc I had been told that Lesbians don’t include nonbinary people or trans women. Which is not true!!!

Mspec sapphic people already have the terms Bi and Pan (and Queer, Sapphic, etc.)- Lesbian is the ONLY one that doesn’t include men. Adding it to the Bi label just caters to the fear of not being ‘gay enough’ that society drills into mspec sapphics. Bi women/enbys are still queer. A feminine gender preference can be described just as easily with the term Sapphic. The “Bi Lesbian” term just reinforces the harmful idea that Lesbians ‘jUsT hAvEn’T mEt ThE rIgHt GuY yEt’.

A personal anecdote: in the past few years, I have begun to actively avoid telling men I’m not close to that I’m a Lesbian. Because they frequently want to take it as a challenge. To “convert” me. The “mspec lesbian” idea actively puts Lesbians in danger by just repackaging conservative ideologies under the veil of being *progressive*. (Invalidating the validity of sapphic identities/relationships, and that ‘ALL women are attracted to men/can be converted’. I have also seen mspec lesbians say Lesbians are terfs as a justification for the new label- while the justifications themselves sound transphobic??? The jist of it usually is- ‘Lesbians are transphobic. The identity is defined by not being attracted to men- So why can they like trans women but can’t like binary trans men! Even though I totally believe that trans women are women and trans men are men!!!’)

Sorry this is long and repetitive. I wanted to try to put as much of my reasoning as I could. While I can empathize with why the bi lesbian label was created (bc I identified as Bi for a very long time + thus became heavily aware of biphobia within the LGBTQIA+ community. Even from Lesbians.)- it ultimately implies that Bisexuality isn’t considered “gay enough” and unintentionally perpetuates the idea that Lesbians can be converted into liking men.

My first thought is this sounds like some radfem Gold Star Lesbian bullshit lol. And yeah this is super long and repetitive, so I'm not gonna worry too much about the quality/conciseness of my response. Guess ill try to just take it peice by piece. I usually don't entertain shit like this but I'm bored today so let's try it.

Why do you find someone else having a different experince than you invalidating? Have you considered that this may be a personal insecurity more so than the responsibility of the people who's identities you're uncomfortable with?

The bisexual label has bever been exclusive of trans/nonbinary people, and the misconception that it is is itself transphobia in action. You say you changed your mind about that label after learning that it isn't exclusive of trans people, congratulations. That doesn't mean that everyone else using the bisexual label just hasn't come to that conclusion yet.

Lesbian has historically included bisexuals and etc. It's never been exclusive, but there have always been exclusive people in every queer community.

Do you think there is any true distinction between bisexual history and gay/lesbian history? Why can't we share words? Why are we all obsessed with being unique? Why does it matter so much if we overlap? Isn't that the point of community? To share and to be different and have overlap, to take joy in each other's experiences? Why are you so intent on defining exactly who can be what? Is the point of queerness not to acknowledge our inate and complex humanity, to say "I am unquauntifiable"? It is to me. But maybe that's philosophical, in which case my practical down-to-earth questions are: who gets to make the rules about who gets to be what, who is going to enforce these rules, and what tool of violence are you granting them to do so? Is it you? Is it the government? Is it an organized elected council of queer elders? Are the freaks who don't follow the rules exiled, shunned, imprisoned?

As for these other words we "already have" like sapphic, have you considered that we "already have" lesbian? Lesbian has historically been a word for women(etc) who are attracted to women(etc). Why did we need to make new words to separate each other? Why did we need sapphic when we already had lesbian? I don't feel that making and using new words is wrong and I support anyone who wants to use these labels, I'm just demonstrating that the logic behind that point of yours is identical when flipped. Lesbian has always been here for people like me, it was the only word we had for a long while, so who are you to rewrite its history?

Your personal experience of queerness is not universal. Words mean slightly different things to everyone, that's how languages and humans work. And that's a good thing. That's the point of all this!

The kind of people who harass and assault lesbians don't care about this shit. Are you seriously trying to blame a whole group of queers for ... queers being harassed and assaulted? The straight cis guys who are chasing and trying to "convert" lesbians already don't think of women and lesbians as people. They're not gonna sit there and debate the finer points of someone's identity before they decide if they want to assault them.

The bigots don't care about our labels. They don't even respect whether someone is actually queer or is just someone they perceive as queer. Outside online discourse like this, a faggot is a faggot is a faggot.

I do not have any patience for anyone who believes certain types of queers make the rest of us look bad. Like seriously why are we still doing this? Also you personally right now with this ask have just repackaged dangerous conservative ideologies under the veil of being *progressive*! This is some seriously puritan stuff you've said here! You say it yourself that you have been a victim of being sexually pursued against your will and that you take certain precautions in life to prevent that from happening, and then you turn right around and blame a whole demographic of people *with that exact experience* for bringing that experience onto themselves *and onto you*! What!

Literally nobody is saying all women have the ability to be attracted to men. I have literally never seen or said that apart from this very ask right here. I guess it could happen, someone could be saying that somewhere, but in that situation I'm gonna call them a misogynistic ass and consider them to not be speaking for all lesbians everywhere. And I don't think it's too much to ask that others use the same level of critical thinking skills in that situation.

And as for the people you have seen saying "all lesbians are terfs" those people are lesbophobic. Those are lesbophobes. I don't know what else you want me to say about that, I don't really see how some people being lesbophobic should impact whether or not a whole bunch of other people are morally correct (?) in using the word lesbian.

Ask rating:

4/10 for nonsense and contradiction

[spookyserenades]

I’m not much of a commenter (which is super hypocritical since receiving comments is my kryptonite lol), but I just felt like I needed to. I cannot describe how much I enjoy your work; I’m absolutely floored by the sheer word counts you dash out so consistently. Nothing ever feels choppy, and the scenes flow nicely into each other! Your funny moments are funny, your sad ones are crushing, and everything else in between is iconic.

I guess I was wondering just how you manage to stay so consistent? I write chapters that usually range between 13-17k myself, but I can’t seem to stick with a consistent updating schedule. How often do you write? Do you sit down daily and write just a little, or do you sit down occasionally but manage a few k each time?

Also, I cannot stress this enough how natural everyone’s relationship in Trouvaille is. I feel like it’s realistic that none of the boys would be immediately too keen with the mc but that they also wouldn’t stay distant forever? It felt special being able to gradually read about their developments, and I feel like once the mc gets with more of the boys eventually, it’ll be so rewarding? Idk, but I just cannot wait. The latest chapter ending scene with Jin has me so on edge; I can sense the angst from here—

Regardless, (and sorry for my rambling) I love your work!

—M

Hellooo love! I'm so happy to hear from you, thank you fro reading Trouvaille and sending me some love, I'm glad to have you here 🥺💕

Thank you for your sincere compliments, too 😭❤️ I haven't had someone mention the length of the chapters in a while-- they're big bois!! The last two chapters have been a bit shorter, but sometimes you say all that you need to without necessarily hitting the original wc estimate. I'm so happy to hear that the flow is smooth, and that you're enjoying the humorous moments (loveeee sneaking in things my mom have said before, her one-liners kill!) and I'm eeeeee you're too sweet thank you thank you 😭💕

As for consistency! I love this question, because I might have pulled the wool over your eyes. I started writing Trouvaille summer of 2022, and wrote up to Chapter 6 before I ever began posting on Tumblr. Between July 2022 - July 2023 I had chapters on "reserve" so really I'd just edit them before posting them.... Now, not so much the case. I write each chapter (since 8) each month, which admittedly can be a bit stressful, but it honestly forces me to write consistently and constantly. I think that can be a potentially good thing for writers who struggle to actually put pen to paper, having a "deadline" monthly, but every writer is different!

Additionally, I'm not the best person to ask about writing schedules,,, unfortunately I am a procrastinator so OFTEN I binge-write for hours on end. I recommend setting aside an hour or two a day to write if time allows you to do so, rather than type nonstop for 8 hours the day before an update LMAO!! I definitely want to become the writer that does bit by bit every day to cut down on the stress. I also want to say that once I stopped pressuring myself to make EVERY update 20k+words, things flowed a little more easily. It's better to have a shorter update that's concise and has everything you want to say, rather than bulking it up with filler.

Thank you so so much for loving all of the character's relationships so far, too 🥺 I know slow burn isn't for everyone, but it always felt more natural for me to write the hybrids as slow-to-trust, considering the world they live in in Trouvaille. I agree with you, when everyone starts to grow closer and closer over time, the sweet moments will seem even sweeter after all of the angst and growing 💕

Thank you again for reading, M, and I'm sending you so much love (and energy to keep on writing!!)

[fyrerainy]

typos and stuff!! will be pretty in-depth, sorry in advance lmao

@strawbubbysugar hi!! ily!! Here's some stuff I've found. This is gonna seem super rude and if you want me to stop, I'll stop!!

[keep in mind, I'm not an expert, though I have read through a textbook on how to write, edit, and get published. Feel free to discard as much of this criticism as you wish /gen]

When editing a manuscript, the experts say to try and cut 10% of your word count, so be sure to keep that in mind. Anything in your book that you feel icky about, or wasn't worded or written in the best way, needs to be addressed. The first draft was about what you wanted. The final copy will be about what the readers want.

Chapter 1

The key to hooking a reader in is to start with a bang. You want to draw their attention from the first sentence. At the moment, "Busy. Busy busy busy, always so busy," isn't seeming like the optimal use of your first paragraph. It's not making me feel intrigued, or making me want to read more. A chunk of this chapter (or the whole thing) may need to be rewritten.

This sentence is confusing me, it's not very concise. Maybe something like "This place was designed to mimic the unfinished amusement park, which proudly reached several floors above its head," would make it easier on the brain.

moment's

Unsure if 'loaded' is the right word here. Perhaps uploaded would work better?

Also, you can probably get rid of "it was advanced", as it's not needed here.

I'm feeling like this sentence doesn't make a lot of sense. In a nutshell, it's basically "An AI, now holding onto a toddler." It would work better if you exchanged 'a' with 'the', 'and' with 'was'.

Also, "now with one hand holding onto the seam etc" needs to be changed to "holding onto the labelled seam of a toddler's pants with one hand"

I believe this sentence is contradicting itself as you'd just told me that it didn't have straining core muscles, but then said it was straining. You may need to add a sentence or two about how its gears were grinding, and/or its legs shaking to keep it in place.

Also, "...attempt to not drop either child" needs to be "....attempt not to drop either child".

You may want to change the second "calculated" to "found" so you don't repeat words.

It's not a ball pit anymore bubby X3c

This needs to be changed. Either the first sentence needs to be "it caught the little one with time to spare" or "catching the little one with time to spare, the fluid etc etc". If you choose the second option, you'd have to edit the rest of the sentence to avoid it running on.

"The" needs to be lowercase, and ITS needs to be IT'S

Since we've switched focus from Hello to the kids then back, you may want to establish that this is Hello we're referencing when we say 'it'. Maybe, "The robot gently patted"...?

Also, if you want to be super professional and fancy, you could remove one of those question marks. You don't have to tho!

Wrong its! Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive form of it, so it means “belonging to it.” “The cat ate its food.” It's (with an apostrophe) is a contraction (shortened form) of it is or it has. “It's almost Christmas.”

You repeated the word down twice, maybe change one of them?

Dialogue needs to be in a separate line from the rest of the paragraph.

again, if you want to be fancy you could remove one of these

It needs to be '...with its face "-Hello Lolly!"' bc the '-' needs to be on both sides

The "but only for a moment" could be removed to make the sentence flow more easily.

Aaaaand dialouge needs to be in a seperate line.

*error buzzer noise* wrong its!

Not sure what the "at least" is doing there. Feels like it doesn't fit

from "both children seemed" to "opposite directions" doesn't make sense. Try something like "...end result- they both had a toy and a piece of candy. They ran off in opposite directions."

Again, we're switching focus, so we may want to re-establish that it's the robot we're paying attention to at the end there.

it's a foam pit, silly!

foam, not ball

wrong its!

remember we're not using he/him for Hello yet 🤫

lowercase pronoun after dialouge

not balls! foam! X3

Along doesn't seem quite right. Around, maybe?

New line for dialouge!

"A mischievous grin wormed its"

Needs another gap in between the last two paragraphs

For conciseness, consider "Lukas was, at this point, sticking out his..."

For conciseness, 'for it' could be removed.

Put off from purchasing

pathfind is probably not the right word to use here. Maybe just use find?

that's what it was here for - to play! (new line after this)

golden rule! new line for dialouge! (also the 'it' after luukaass needs to be lowercased)

for conciseness, you could remove "in any bit of it's coding"

the needs to be lowercase

it's not not peaked, it's peeked!

Clarify this is Hello we're talking about with the warning signs

it pronounssss

There's so much more editing to be done (including in this chapter) but this process of screenshotting etc is taking up spoons. Perhaps you could allow me editing access to the manuscript so I can highlight the changes to be made? Or do them for you, if you prefer? /nf

I'm tired QwQ

[frogsat]

Some more about this because it's been wILD yall. This is like discovery of the century type of stuff and there's been DRAMA. But first some background. TL;DR, Superconductors are materials with 0 electrical resistance. But if you want more details...

In electronics/electrical engineering resistance is a fundamental concept. Basically, it is a measure of something's opposition to electricity moving through it, aka current. Electricity wants to go through thing, thing says "no" to varying levels of extremes. Current still goes through, energy is then usually lost to heat. It's why computers heat up when doing extensive tasks. A bunch of components with resistance -> energy lost as heat -> thing gets hot. Pretty much anything we use in consumer electronics have some non-zero resistance. Rubber famously has very high resistance which it's why the usual "rubber suit to avoid shocks" shows up a lot.

Now resistance is important in some cases. Heaters are usually effectively a giant resistor, but when we want to use our electronics for stuff other than heating, it gets in the way. A lot of energy that could have been spent doing stuff (like computation or charging a battery) gets lost to heat. which isn't great. In crazy complicated electronics like particle colliders, though, we've made/used things called superconductors.

Superconductors are materials that have 0 resistance, which is great! That means no energy is lost to heat. The problem is that for these superconductors to work, they need to be extrEMELY cold, like less than -100 degrees Celsius cold. So it's been a goal for the physical sciences to find a superconductor that has this "superconductive property" at roughly room temperature so we can use them in normal electronics. A few years ago, a team claimed to have made superconductors at room temperature, but under a metric buttload of pressure. So that's cool (or warm, pick one), but not very efficient. I don't know about you but I don't want to put my computer under ~1.7 million atmospheres of pressure.

So recently, a team in Korea claimed to have created superconductors, called LK-99, that work at room temperature, AND ambient pressure (~1 atmospheres) which, if true, is incredible! and nobel prizes will definitely be awarded. Imagine GPUs that don't heat up when running, or a battery that is super duper efficient. They also have some neat magnetic properties (useful for things like fast trains) that I'm not going into because I've spent too many words on background already.

The Tea

Okay technical information is done. Now the tea. I'm going to try to put this as concisely as possible because frankly, I can't follow it entirely. And I might miss stuff so sorry if I do.

Okay first we meet Lee and Kim, who are PhD students to an advisor who comes up with a theory on how one of these superconductors could theoretically work. They both do work on this stuff, and discover a trace of the material in 1999 (thus the name LK-99) but ultimately the work didn't pan out super well and they move on. Lee and Kim graduate and get jobs, as graduate students do. Then their advisor, on his DEATH BED, calls them back and is like "I've got a good feeling about that idea. Prove me right."

Eventually Lee forms the group Qcenter which works on superconductivity. Fast forward to around 2018, a physicist name Kwon joins. In 2020 they have more results and submit to Nature. NOW, off to the side there's this other guy, Dias, who claimed to have made room temperature superconductors, was caught faking data, and had his paper retracted. Now the journals are like "No more fake claims, guys, we're not playing" and are now on high alert. Lee and Kim submit their findings and are rejected due to the controversy with what I like to think of as "pics or it didn't happen". They go "ok fair" and continue working to make their method better since they were struggling to replicate it. They make the process better over time and then we come to a few weeks ago.

Kwon publishes the paper on Arxiv (a non-peer-reviewed website for early-draft papers or papers under review) that has the three on the paper, Lee, Kim, and Kwon. Then Kim goes online and starts badmouthing Kwon and is like "this dude was fired 4 months ago. These papers weren't ready." Lee and Kim release new papers with other people a little later, but conveniently leaving Kwon's name out. Now the news is broken though and the manufacturing is reasonably simple enough to replicate, theoretically.

SO everyone across the world is trying to replicate this. A guy at Varda, a space manufacturing company, decides to STREAM HIS FURNACE ON TWITCH in what is probably the largest audience of the chemistry-equivalent of watching paint dry in the history of twitch. Ultimately though people are struggling a bit with replication with mixed successes and failures. Lawrence Berkeley National Labs says "we have supercomputers" and provides a simulation that confirms the material's properties too.

Meanwhile this biologist on twitter, @iris_IGB, is like "skill issue" and recreates the thing in their own house just casually. As any good twitter user with an anime pfp, absolutely DRAGGING the scientists in the process. Finally a group in China managed to replicate it as well, providing a video of the material demonstrating the magnetic properties a superconductor should have.

So yeah. Lots going on. Still more to do for an official confirmation. But all fun.

It's still under work. Refinements are happening, and there's still some skepticism, but I'm optimistic. Link to a summary article

[asrisartarena]

What would happen if one of the egos went missing? (I'm guessing the reaction would change depending on who is the one who goes missing?) (Also, I don't mean certainly permanently missing where everyone is already grieving. More like no one's seen them in a worryingly long while) - Kata (one fic and one drabble later I've ran out of buffer so here I go torturing your inbox again)

Oooh that’s interesting! This might be long, so get ready for that!!

Robbie

PANIC. SO MUCH PANIC.

He’s the baby of the family he can’t be out there alone wHERE IS HE.

[Marlin voice] HaVe yOU SeEN oUR brOthER?????

Anti is glitch teleporting all over the place and panicking like crazy trying to find his brother.

Marvin is just as panicked and using his magic to try and locate Robbie.

Jackie’s searching the skies while Chase, Schneep, and JJ stay home in case Robbie somehow makes his way back there.

Turns out Robbie just went out for a walk and lost track of time, and when he gets back home everyone practically overwhelms him with hugs and affection and make him promise to never wander alone like that again.

Anti

No one’s really super worried bc it’s Anti and they know he can take care of himself just fine, but Robbie’s very anxious.

He doesn’t like his big brother being gone for so long and he’d be nervously fidgeting a lot and making worried whining noises until either Anti came back or someone found him.

Eventually Robbie’s worrying gets to everyone and someone (usually Marvin) tells Robbie that they’ll look for Anti if it’ll make him feel better, which it does.

It turns out Anti was out doing God knows what and being a little shit out in the world, and Marvin practically drags him back home by his ear, scolding him for worrying his little brother like that.

Marvin

When Marvin’s gone for a worryingly long time, that usually means he’s either holed up in his room hyperfocusing on a new spell, or he went somewhere else to practice magic and lost track of time.

Jackie would be the one worrying the most next to Robbie, and while everyone else would try and contact Marvin via texting or calling him, Jackie would search everywhere he thinks Marvin could be, and would not stop until he found him and knew he was okay.

Marvin, once found, would be fussed over a lot by Jackie, and Robbie would cling to him for the next few hours.

Once or twice they’ve found Marvin passed out in the middle of the forest while practicing a big spell bc he overworked himself, and it’s why Jackie always worries so much when Marvin’s gone for longer than he usually is.

Jackie

He’s a superhero, so he’s bound to be gone for long periods of time.

When he doesn’t come home at night, though, that’s when everyone starts to worry.

Especially Marvin, bc oh God what if Jackie’s injured, or worse?

Marvin being a natural worrywart and also being the Mom Friend doesn’t help his anxiety about the situation, either.

Everyone’s kind of worried, but nowhere near as much as Marvin.

He will search high and low and will not rest until he knows where Jackie is and that he’s okay.

He gives him lots of kisses when he finds him, and Jackie’s just “Babe I’m fine don’t worry so much about me I’m okay” and Marvin’s like “Fuck you I’ll worry as much as I damn please” and Jackie just rolls his eyes and laughs.

Schneep

I imagine Schneep to be a very punctual person who’s never really late for anything unless he’s very deep in his work, so when he’s gone longer than he says he will be, everyone’s concerned.

They’d try and contact him, and when he doesn’t respond, they get even more concerned.

They figure he’s just caught up at work and can’t get to his phone, but that doesn’t stop everyone from worrying until he eventually answers them.

Chase

Everyone’s second quickest to start worrying about Chase if he’s gone for a long while due to…past experiences.

More often than not, he’s only ever gone for a long time if he’s having a really bad depressive episode, and they worry greatly what he might do if on his own for too long.

So they go out and search for him, and they usually find him standing near a lake or in the middle of the forest or near a bridge, blank eyed and like he’s in a trance.

Whoever finds him just gently grabs him by the shoulders and talks softly to him as they guide him back to the house.

Jameson

I think with Jameson, since he’s mute, the egos lose track of him more often than they’d like to admit.

I also like to think Jameson is a tad forgetful, so half the time he’ll forget to tell the egos he’s going off to do something, and later on he’ll find them freaking over where he is, and he always feels bad about it.

Anti’s joked about putting a bell on him like you would a cat so they could keep track of him easier, and it always results in Jameson glaring at him while the others either groaned or laughed.

Angus

I honestly think the egos would be the least worried about Angus if he was gone for an exceedingly long time, since he usually disappears out of contact for weeks and months on end due to being out in the wilderness and all that.

He usually does say when he’ll get back into contact with the others, and he’s one to keep his word, so like with Schneep, when he doesn’t contact the egos around when he says he will, they worry.

Especially Anti, since Angus is his closest and oldest friend.

Angus just ended up losing track of time and getting way into nature, so after that, Anti had Marvin enchant Angus’s phone so that he could call/text the egos whenever, no matter how bad the reception is.

Shawn

If he’s hyperfocusing really hard on his work, he’ll forget to contact the other egos for up to a couple weeks, which always makes them worry.

Especially Jameson, since Shawn is his best friend.

Jameson will be extremely antsy and fidgety and frantically sign to the other egos that they should check up on Shawn and see if he’s okay, which they comply to, and they have found Shawn passed out at his work bench with dark circles and very messy clothes and hair more often than they could count.

This has also resulted in Jameson visiting Shawn more often and making sure he’s actually taking care of himself. Marvin does too, but Jameson does it the most.

[technoskittles]

“Adora is one of the First Ones” Theory

Okay this is a tad later than I meant to make this post but I got busy (finals week is upon us and I am....dying).

But here it is: my “Adora is one of the First Ones” theory

There’s been a lot of speculation on what exactly Adora is (including one really interesting theory that she’s not even human) and personally, I think she’s one of the First Ones.

Disclaimer: I don’t think she’s over 1000 years old. That’d be kind of cool, but would involve a lot of time travel nonsense that I doubt Noelle and the rest of the She-Ra crew want to make that convoluted 

(I’m looking at you Fairy Tail)

But I do have reasons that I believe she is a descendant/part of the group of people that the rest of Etheria calls the “First Ones”.

We’ll start off with something simple. During Adora’s interactions with Razz, one thing in particular stood out to me: their conversation about the stars.

Notice here how Adora is the first one to point out and name the stars. Quickly following, Razz mentions how her and Mara (the previous She-Ra from 1000 years ago) used to look at the stars together, but that they’ve disappeared. 

I’ll go ahead and add a disclaimer that this one is based on a lot of loose theorizing and assumptions because we’re not actually sure how long the stars have been missing or whether or not the rest of the Etherians are even familiar with stars. For this theory, I’m going to go ahead and assume that the stars have been gone quite awhile - for a thousand years in fact. The rest of the Etherians likely don’t even know what stars are, hence Adora’s slight confusion upon being able to recognize them at all.

Clearly, Razz is able to identify them because she’s clearly over a thousand years old (as evidenced by the fact that she was alive during Mara’s time and was familiar with her enough that they would often hang out it seems). Razz is this sort of connection between the mysterious past and present-time. However, Adora, not only someone who is young and been sheltered by the Horde all of her life, knows about stars.

Granted, this one has some leeway in the sense that you can argue that maybe Etherians, even if they don’t have stars in their sky currently, may have some sort of written history or text on stars somewhere. A completely plausible argument, except that this comes next:

Adora’s seen the stars. She remembers them. She just can’t place how or where. Probably because she was too young to remember them. We’ll get back to this just a little more later, but first, a bit more on a possible theory of when and how the stars disappeared.

So as we all know, Mara, in a brash decision, stranded Etheria in the closed-off dimension of Despandos about a thousand years ago (as told by Light Hope).

Notice how all the stars disappeared around Etheria? (Please ignore the single star in the third screenshot I did my best to capture this screenshots as fast as possible lol.) A direct result of Mara stranding them in Despandos. This is also what resulted in her breaking the She-Ra line (as you can see from the screenshot above). It’s also safe to assume that large planet is Etheria (which will come up in just a minute).

But first, let’s move on to something else real quick: Adora can read the First Ones’ writing. As far as we’re aware, no one else can. Because, as Glimmer states:

No one has spoken that language in a thousand years (approx. the time that the First Ones supposedly “vanished” and also around the time Mara stranded Etheria in Despandos). There might have been some people who’ve attempted to translate the language surely, but it’s not a language that is commonly used or known. Certainly no random person can read this dead language.

Now, one of the arguments that could easily be made is that Adora magically learned how to read the language once she made her connection with the Sword of Protection, which would just be the easy way out (and not applicable at all to this theory). 

But where else would Adora have learned a language that’s been dead for over a thousand years?

Maybe in a place where it’s still commonly used.

Which....we’ll get to in a minute (gotta keep that suspenseful build-up haha).

For now, let’s move on to another point. 

This one has to deal with the planet itself. Glimmer and Bow mention at the beginning that Etheria was settled by a civilization that they call the “First Ones” over a thousand years ago before the “suddenly vanished”. Supposedly without a trace. The only thing left behind were the ruins filled with what they call “First Ones’ tech”. 

Entrapta even theorizes (correctly) that the entire planet is made up of First Ones’ tech. However, during Adora’s conversation with Light Hope, it’s revealed that it’s not quite “tech” but more of a “life force”. (Not in exact words but that’s kind of the gist that I was getting.)

The princesses are connected to their runestones which stabilizes the planet so-to-speak. Disrupting the runestones throws the planet into chaos and as we saw in Glimmer’s case, if a princess’s connection to their runestones is disrupted, it affects them personally as well.

But Glimmer isn’t the only one we’ve seen whose connection to her runestone become disrupted.

It’s important to note here that while Glimmer’s disruption was caused by power from another runestone (Shadow Weaver and the Black Garnet), She-Ra’s was caused directly by First Ones’ tech. 

Another important thing to note is that when the robot was screaming or, as Entrapta endearly put it “trying to talk”, She-Ra was the only one noticeably affected by this.

This leads me to believe that Adora has some sort of special connection with First Ones’ tech that the other princesses (or anyone for that matter) do not. What exactly that connection is is a little harder to pin down and I admittedly don’t have a solid answer to it, but I think it’s an interesting thing to consider regardless.

For my last point, we’re going to also briefly consider the original 80s cartoon in relation to the Netflix reboot. 

Both iterations of this universe start with Adora being taken in by the Horde when she was very young. In the original, she was specifically kidnapped by Hordak from her original dimension to be raised into a Horde soldier.

However, in the reboot, Shadow Weaver states that she found Adora as an orphan and took her in.

What isn’t mentioned is how or where Shadow Weaver came across Adora. That part of her history is still a mystery - both to us and Adora herself. Given what we know of the Horde and Shadow Weaver however, it’s a safe assumption that Shadow Weaver didn’t just “find” Adora. 

Now, this might be me getting nitpicky, but also notice how Shadow Weaver says she found Adora as a child, not a baby like she was in the original. This could mean that Adora was young enough to not remember much of her actual past, but still older than an infant (and even if she did remember where she was from, we’re all now well aware that SW has the capability to erase memories).

So what does this mean?

Glad ya asked because the moment is finally here:

Adora is from another dimension where the “First Ones” still exist. In fact, she’s part of the group of settlers who travels the universe settling on uninhabited planets.

As Light Hope mentions, the First Ones are a group of settlers who journeyed to Etheria to settle there.

Explorers. 

Translation: They traveled from place-to-place. From the wording here, they were probably nomadic. Of course, there are groups who completely stay together and explore different uninhabited places to settle, using up the resources before moving on (like the Native Americans). 

However, some nomadic peoples would settle in an area before a newer generation would set off to settle another place, leaving behind the people who’d originally settled that location (think Moana...except I don’t have screencaps for that).

The First Ones probably settled a bunch of different planets, Etheria included, leaving behind a group of people in one settlement to go and explore more places to start up a settlement there.

So....what does that have to do with Adora?

Adora was a part of one of the settlements on a different planet. Let’s list how and why:

-She remembers the stars. Personally. But where would she have seen stars when she currently lives in a dimension where they don’t exist?

Perhaps when she was younger. 

Shortly after her conversation with Mara, Adora seems to have a series of flashbacks of a world with different scenery, including something that should seem familiar.

The Crystal Castle, before it became a ruin, complete with a sky full of stars

The stranding of Etheria

A portal that’s in a very...familiar field

And it all ends with what looks like a window looking out onto a landscape, the planet of Etheria in sight and a baby giggling.

Baby Adora giggling.

-Adora can read First Ones’ writing when no one else can.

This could probably be because, once again, she grew up in a place and a society where it’s still commonly known and used. As a child, it’s something she would’ve grown up learning to read. And after being transported to a dimension where it’s been out of use for a thousand years, it’s odd that she somehow knows a dead language....unless it’s something she’s encountered before.

So, tl;dr Adora is a part of one of what might be many colonies of First Ones settlers and is from another planet in another dimension where she was born and raised, learned the language, was able to see stars, and has a special connection to the technology from being around it firsthand (rather than being an indirect descendant over the period of a thousand years) but was somehow taken by the Horde to Etheria that’s stranded in the empty dimension of Despandos.

[glaivenoct]

would dragon au be nyxnoct?

if so how do you think introducing nyx to nocts dragon would go? or would noct help the kingsglaive as a dragon rider?

[Previous Dragon AU ask]

ngl any AU I ever indulge in Ever is automatically destined to be NyxNoct lmao. My NyxNoct goggles have been on since 2017 and they're defos not coming off now.

Hmm honestly the thought of Noct helping as a dragon rider is so fun and epic to think about. I think it'd be super helpful in those instances where the glaives get overwhelmed by some sort of wild Nif weapon - like Diamond Weapon. Where the glaives had to retreat in that instance, having Noct's dragon to counter it would be such an advantage for them.

I think that would also bring up some decent conflict between Noct and Regis, because say it's something that's brought up by Drautos and Noct wants to do it. Regis would be against it. It's too dangerous. It doesn't matter how much they've trained or how familiar Noct's become with some of the glaives and their tactics as a result. Regis won't allow it, and Noct's pissed about it. But maybe there's an instance where Noct doesn't listen anyway, ends up diving into the heat of a battle with his dragon and ends up saving a lot of lives. Nyx being one of them.

Ok ok I'm kinda getting ahead of myself on this, I nearly skipped the whole introduction part there lmao. But I mean... I feel like this lame? But I want it to be through training, because I've always held on to the idea that glaives helped a lot with Noct's magic training. And I kinda want Noct's dragon to pick up on Nyx's flirting. And the glances/shared looks between them. And, tbh, I want Noct's dragon and Nyx to kinda have this funny love-hate relationship. If that means sometimes Nyx gets thwacked on the back of the head or tripped by a tail so he looks A Little Less Cool in front of Noct, so be it.

Dragon is v protective of his Prince ok? What did you expect? Jk jk sorta, it's not really That Deep. I do like to think once the dragon pal gets the idea that Noct likes Nyx back, it'll ease up. But for now it's funny to think about the dragon messing with Nyx. Crowe thinks it's hilarious, and FYI Noct's dragon adores Crowe. Crowe is the dragon's Fire Pal In Crime.

((Another cute little thing to imagine: say Noct wants to admit to Nyx that he likes him and wants to grab dinner or something. He's ranting to his dragon about the whole dilemma/crisis. Now he's the one that's getting thwacked on the back of the head with a tail because Get It Together Kid. Noct's also gonna get pushed forward into Nyx by his dragon's tail and he's Not gonna appreciate it. Meanwhile the dragon will think it's amusing.))

Sigh. It feels like I'm going off on tangents here, but Hear Me Out - I know it's kinda been established having dragons is this Caelum Thing. But there's part of me that wants to mix Galahd into that. Somewhere way in the past history of dragons there's a connection with dragons and Galahd. Maybe back then, when dragons were an abundant thing, they originally came from Galahd. I don't know, my brain isn't quite clear enough to come up with something more coherent or concise. But I like the idea of there being some sort of Galahd connection with Dragons in general.

Gosshh this got so rambly and long, I'm sorry lol. BUT circling back to the dragonrider thing. That would so be what they call Noct, too. The Dragon Rider. That's so cool to me. And I really, really love the thought of the glaives being forced into retreat out in the field. Nyx, being the big dumb Hero that he is, puts himself in a position where he saves someone but Will Not Make It himself. I want there to be that moment where there's some big, humongous mechanical daemon coming straight for him; He closes his eyes and just waits for it because he knows This Is It, This is How He Dies. Just make it quick. And then right at the last second, in the nick of time, there's that fierce and mighty dragon ROAR. There's the wave of FIRE barreling right into the mechanical daemon and throwing it off course.

Granted, Nyx is so damn flabbergasted and just "What the hell do you think you're doing!" Noct's not supposed to be here and if the King finds out it's going to be someone's head.

But Noct doesn't have time for that because "Get the others and get out of here, we've got you covered!"

"Noct -"

"Just TRUST ME! Get out of here!"

And then Noct and his dragon kick ass. The End.

Jk not the end, there would be so much fallout from that stunt probably, but I think I've over rambled on this one ^^; TLDR: Mix NyxNoct into the dragon AU? IT'S A BIG FAT YES FOR ME. If you've made it to the end here I thank you for your time and attention <3

[whathappenstotheheart]

(Nota bene: I am still kind of new here and not entirely sure what constitutes appropriate interaction, especially in terms of I-agree-but-also-this-thing type of notes, so if this is some kind of faux pas I apologize. /sincere)

So I actually really love this analysis! I think it fits really well with her behavior at certain points, and I'm always a fan of takes that support a reading of Scully (or Mulder) as ND (however accidentally that impression was created).

I'm only on my first watch through and maybe I'll change my mind with repeated watching, but I've always felt that Scully and Mulder's bond is more complicated for her than for him. It feels like Mulder leans into it more naturally, and it only causes him pain when Scully is directly hurt by her proximity to him, while for Scully it seems more complicated and fraught regardless of what's going on. This read adds an interesting dimension to that: it is more painful to her, through no fault of herself or Mulder but simply because of how she emotionally responds to these otherwise trivial situations.

I also like that this view works whether you prefer Scully and Mulder as platonic or romantic or Secret Third Thing or whatever else. RSD isn't exclusive to romantic feelings, after all. And while I totally get why MSR is such a popular ship, I always appreciate theories or headcanons that work equally as well in those early seasons where an ambiguous read on their relationship is a bit more common. (In fact, it has given me some good ideas for extra complications in a noromo/Secret Third Thing fic I will eventually write).

And as far as Diana is concerned, I think it adds some interesting complications there too! Because even with RSD as an explanation for Scully's reactions to perceived competition, she has good reasons to be suspicious of Diana and that leads to the difficulty of figuring out where one thing stops and the other starts.

Plus, this framing has the added benefit of being more interesting and textured than the sort of trite "oh but women are naturally jealous and territorial" trope, which always made me a bit annoyed with those scenes in the past. I think I'll have a new appreciation for those moments with this frame.

(Sorry if this wasn't super coherent or concise, I'm not used to writing these kinds of posts).

i become more and more convinced that Scully reacts like a person with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria when Mulder shows signs of being interested in spending time with people who are Not Her. Starting with prime plagiaristic schlub Jerry Lamana, former partner, so it's not just a romantic jealousy. The Lone Gunmen are exempt from this somehow, probably because the guys always support Mulder but also don't monopolize his time. But anyone else, especially a female someone else, makes her spiral painfully.

Yes, there's an element of protectiveness. Everyone around Mulder seems to take advantage of him, he practically goes barrelling out asking to be misused and misled. But it's really, clearly not just that, because she goes into big distress and starts doubting her place in her life, regardless of the rationality of it, or what Mulder has shown or communicated to her about his feelings for her in the past.

It's endearing, but it's not, despite what collective fanon plays on to enhance angst scenarios, grounded in the reality of mulder's actual textual behavior and sentiments towards her, i.e. that he's ever given any indication that there's any way he'd accept someone else as his partner or give anyone else the majority of his attention. Rationally Scully know this, to the point that she was worried that he wouldn't survive if she died of the cancer. But RSD isn't rational, it's a maladaptive reaction, and one that makes a lot of sense with her being some flavor of 'quirky 90s character' ND who's always been socially just as much an outsider as Mulder has.

I don't think it's an intentional portrayal of that specific type of reaction, but i don't think Scully's jealousy/fear of being unseated is meant to show that her place with him is in actuality tenuous. And i personally believe that within the parameters of their indirect communication style and via all the massive gestures and risks they've taken for each other, the security of their bond actually is mutually well established. It's just those reaction flashpoints for her, where he pays attention to another woman in the course of an investigation/crisis incident and despite the fact that they've gone to the ends of the earth for each other, she starts thinking, 'well maybe he's done with me, maybe this is the time he's found someone more interesting he likes better, it's all over.' But even with Diana I don't think this is grounded in Mulder's actual behavior or level of interest in any ~interlopers. It's a reaction that she's having but it's disproportionate.

And I do love some yummy angst fic and love triangles and playing Diana up to the ultimate wedge issue! But I do also think it would be interesting to dig into Scully's jealousy/possessiveness/disproportionate hurt. I think Mulder sees it, at least somewhat, he's not ~afflicted with masculine feelings blindness or just being a self-absorbed ass (as some have accused lol), I think he's just bewildered, and doesn't seem to feel able or even allowed to approach these kind of personal emotional issues with Scully -- and she does also get very defensive about things in this vein so. It's hard to find the inroad to get them to talk about it.

But I do think it would be interesting to see, confronting the actual issues inherent in Mulder having/displaying professional or even casual personal interest in other people/women that he doesn't see as serious or impactful long term in his life, and Scully feeling as though she's in a love triangle, which is a very unsettling, even terrifying feeling even if it's not representative. It would be interesting to see Mulder see and confront that, have him saying, basically, nothing about us has changed and I don't plan for it to change, but i see you catastrophizing this and I don't get it. Why do you even think you'd need to compete?

Though i also don't see Scully being able to respond to that beyond deflection or getting emotional to the point of being unable to articulate anything. But it is something she needs to wrestle with, especially as she and Mulder head deeper and deeper into their relationship.

[nerdasaurus1200]

Angry and Red/Rapunzel and Cassandra analysis part 2!

"I don't want to! Maybe I like being the Wolf! Maybe-Maybe I'm tired of everyone telling me what to do! And I'm sick of people assuming I'm okay just because I won't say I'm not! And another thing! I don't even like the name Red! I only went along with it because everyone expected me too! What if I wanted to be the angry one! Just once, I wanted to be the one to call the shots! Being the Wolf lets me do that!" "Hehe, SISTERS?! My own mother chose you over me! My whole life, I've been cast aside for YOU! No more." "NO! This has to stop now! This thing where you think that you've been my friend, and don't even hear how you condescend the way you've always done!"

Once again, this is same character different font. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if some parts of Catalina's speech was deleted Cassandra dialogue that they just decided to actually use for this scene. Another resemblance that's really striking is that even though both girls are clearly very hurt and very pissed, they're still able to concisely explain what the problem is. They clearly state "You are not listening to me and I don't like it". Also, there's a slight visual parallel here too. Both Catalina and Cass kinda distance themselves from the rest of the group, speaking to the group as a whole. There's even a similar shot from just behind each of them in each scene? The only difference? Catalina has the high ground.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so bossy. We can figure this out together."

However, Angry succeeds where Rapunzel fails. Angry takes full accountability for her actions, apologizes, and says she will do better. Meanwhile, Rapunzel assumes that Cass isn't saying everything (even though she is) and tries to emotionally manipulate her, except it doesn't work.

I think a large part of the reason Angry succeeds where Rapunzel fails is simply because of how much younger she is. Young kids are much better at directly communicating, and therefore there's no need for any complicated underlying issues. On top of that, Angry and Catalina have always relied on each other from day one. There's no super huge status difference or power imbalance that they ignore. They are a team, and they work together.

[hylialeia]

sorry but do you really think sansa and viserys are parallels from that post about jon and deanerys? it feels very anti-sansa to pit them together and i didn't think you'd go for that.

Anon's referring to this post for anyone wondering. To be honest, I'm a little :/ when people send me questions about posts I'm not even the OP of and ask for clarification, but I guess this is specific enough to me (do I think these characters are parallels?) that I'll go ahead and answer it for myself.

First, that post is focusing on a similarity between Jon and Daenerys, two heavily-paralleled characters whose respective arcs intentionally mirror one another's in many ways. Sansa and Viserys happen to play similar roles in this specific situation as a sibling that is caught up in their own romanticized perception, and therefore who does not notice what Jon and Daenerys do, respectively (i.e., that Joffrey's pompous and that Illyrio is mocking).

Now, do I think Sansa and Viserys are parallels based off that? No; I think they have a single parallel, and that single parallel is the romanticizing nature of their characters. I don't think they mirror each other to the extent that Jon and Daenerys do, for reasons that should be obvious (age, characterization, story arcs, general context, etc).

Second, I feel the need to discuss this sort of defensive, bad-faith reading of things that assumes discourse-related motives from everyone involved, which is the vibe I'm getting from this ask.

I think it's fair to say this was a short, concise post. Could we dive further into the parallel and pick it apart, go through every difference and similarity with a fine-tooth comb? Sure, but the post didn't need to; not everything needs to be a thesis length analysis, and certainly not one that has disclaimers that it's not trying to secretly insult another character. Sometimes people can just see a parallel, point out why it works, and go "isn't that cool?"

Also, look at my other ASOIAF posts. If my blog gives off the vibe of not being anti-Sansa (or anti-Arya or anti-Dany or what-have-you) that's probably because I'm not. If I reblog a post about Dany (and Jon) that really says nothing about AGOT Sansa except that she--an eleven-year-old girl who's been sheltered her whole life--was not yet as observant as her older half-brother, I think you can continue to safely assume that I like Sansa just fine, and furthermore that I meant nothing bad about Sansa in reblogging a post someone else made about a different character.

I think we need to put away the strategy of assuming everything we read is a super-secret-subtle piece of pro/anti [insert character here] propaganda and maybe just go back to typing posts and enjoying a well-written series with a lot of nuance and complexity.

[theharrowing]

What was your inspiration for Dollhouse and Collateral? How did you come up with those ideas 🤯🤩

Ashley’s Random thoughts…

this is a great question and probably one that i do not have a short answer for, but i will try my best to be concise lol.

i'll start with Collateral! i saw yoongi's outfit in That That and i joked about him being a mafia boss, and then enough people (like 6 bc i cave quickly to peer pressure) on twitter and tumblr were into the idea, so i decided to make a fic. i honestly have never really read mafia fics, so i just kinda started winging it (i've read a few chapters here and there since, but haven't had as much as i would like to dedicate to anything.)

as for Dollhouse! i created Dollhouse and The Hooksborough Demon at the same time, and they were originally just one story, so the inspiration for Dollhouse starts with THD. and since that is way more interesting, i'll explain it even tho you never asked! lmao. this explanation will be kinda lengthy...

back when i was writing boy blue, i was reading a fic (that seems to have disappeared, sadly) called daylight saving (or daylight saving time?) where two people would meet in their dreams and have to fight monsters and if one was injured or died, they were both similarly injured or died in the waking world, and the two of them would have a sort of physical bleeding over experience after a while where they would feel what the other feels, because they were connected in some special way.

and it was tense and sad and incredible and i really liked the idea of characters meeting in their dreams and having certain aspects of the waking and dreaming worlds affect each other. and i actually had pretty intense dreams/nightmares at the time that became most of the plot of The Hooksborough Demon. (there are also some things that i borrowed from a book called house of leaves, where there's a mysterious space that shifts around and grows/shrinks on its own, and if you leave something behind it disappears.)

(HBD side note: i also get night terrors & sleep paralysis, and as a kid i would "wake up" in my room and see an overwhelming black mist hovering over me, and at the time i couldn't differentiate it from reality and genuinely thought my room was super haunted. i'm still not 100% convinced it wasn't lmao. but i couldn't resist including that in the story, too.)

soooooo, at the same time, i also really wanted to do something with the mental bleeding over, specifically with smut, and i felt like i couldn't also fit that into THD (since it's a found footage/"ghost" story, i wanted that one to be more scary than smutty) so then i decided to take a sci-fi approach and create an entire universe solely around the thought of 2 men mentally and physically experiencing the same thing (which i think finally happens in chapter 10 lmao.)

so i had to create dollhouse. there's a film called the possessor by brandon cronenberg where, basically, the lead is a hired assassin who enters bodies the way hoseok does. i did my best to let similarities mostly end after the first chapter, but the basic vibe for the story itself was influenced by that film.

i think it just clicked one night while i was laying in bed fretting over how to make my one grand idea split up into two more manageable stories. i liked the idea of having a cis character body swap with a trans character, and then the cis character has an identity crisis. i was originally going to focus more on jungkook and less on yoongi & namjoon but i let all of that carry me away when i discovered how fun it was to write.

this.....isn't concise at all. i feel like i just babbled a lot about nothing much, but long story short: i have an overactive imagination and i like to pick inspiration from stories that really resonate with me. it is my hope that my work is always way more different than that which inspires me, but i do it to silently pay homage too.

sorry for writing a drabble-length answer to your question lolol.