#Also the concept of it having the potential to get longer than the original story I wrote (~50k) is funny

[solradguy]

I'm almost done editing chapter 4 of Interlude but I'm coming up on the part I wanted to flesh out more so it might be posted before the end of the weekend if I don't get possessed by the ghost of writing and barf out a billion words like I did when I first wrote this fic haha

A couple people have mentioned wanting to see it go further than where I planned on stopping at the beginning of Begin's epilogue and I've gotten a lot of really nice comments/feedback on it and am quite inspired. It very well might go beyond that.

[wilcze-kudly]

If worked for the team who made Avatar TloK. How would you rewrite TloK?

To be completely honest, rewriting tlok wouldn't fix all it's issues. Tlok just needed to have longer seasons, an actually established amount of seasons so they weren't pressured to make every single season a complete story for fear of not getting more time.

But let's say, hypothetically that I murdered mr Crabs or whoever is in charge of Nickelodeon and removed any studio meddling from the show.

My perfect world would include:

More filler episodes that focus on a singular character. Think Sokka's Master or the Painted Lady. The Krew are all fascinating characters with a lot of potential, however, due to the runtime of the show, their storylines are rushed... or completely nonexistent. Give me more details of Mako and Bolin's childhood. Show me emore of Asami struggling with her father's arrest.

I'd try to cut down on the westernisation of the show. I can see why these foreign aspects slipped in, since the closer the Avatarverse inches to our modern times, the more blurred the lines become. At least to my whiteass. I'd try to lean towards silkpunk, rather than the much more west based steampunk. It would be a fascinating endeavour to imagine what a world with mostly eastern influences would look like.

I'd make Vaatu the overarching villain/final boss of the story... it would require a bit of moving around of the timeline but I think I'd structure it as: Red Lotus> Kuvira> Amon> Vaatu. However I'd blur the timeline more. Make Amon a background threat in the eariler seasons, only for him to rise in popularity and power after people see what benders like Kuvira are capable of, for example.

This would also allow for certain villains to become redeemed or at least helpful in some way, later on. Mayhaps Amon and Kuvira team with the Krew to defeat Vaatu in some way.

Also, instead of destroying Vaatu completely, I'm leaning towards Korra absorbing him, in a way. Yes Vaatu is a dark spirit, but 'darker' urges are necessary for humans' survival and happiness. Korra embodies the duality of man very well. I think it would be a fascinating idea to see the Avatar become the embodiment of both light and darkness.

In general, making Vaatu and Raava more morally ambiguous, rather than the simple good spirit/bad spirit thing they had in the og show would be a fascinating concept.

I'd do my best to pull away from the show's original centerist narrative. Have Korra learn from the villains and make active changes to the world, showing her growth as an Avatar and person. Perhaps she's reluctant to see the Red Lotus' point of view at the beginning of the show, but sympathises with Amon at the tail end of the story.

Make the entire Krew queer. And talk about queerness more, in general. Have the characters have open conversations about queerness in their respective enviornments and cultures. Tlok already has a very queer undertone to it, even before korrasami became canon, but touching on this subject more overtly would provide great opportunity for characterisation and worldbuilding.

Have the story span several years. Watch the Krew grow up. Tlok works very well as a coming of age story even in its original form. Have Vaatu and his darkness and chaos symbolise the uncharted waters of maturity at the end of teenagedom. This especially works if Korra merges or accepts him like i suggested.

There... that's some basics. I think that most of my criticisms of the show could mostly be solved if the studio wasn't being a bitch but well. We can't have nice things, can we?

I took a while to answer this ask because it was genuinely such an interesting, but overwhelming question.

Also now I have wayy too many ideas about a potential tlok rewrite, so feel free to ask me about that if you want to hear me ramble.

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

W5 critical: Absence is not inclusivity

Critical of Werewolf the Apocalypse 5th edition, please don't read if you like the edition.

Few weeks ago, I saw a post stating that the removal of the cultural ties from (almost) all of the tribes is a good thing, because it means anyone can now be a member of any tribe.

What this mentality misses, however, is that the absence of culture is not the same as being inclusive. Sure, everyone can be anything, but from my experience, that freedom does not result in actual diverse depiction. After all, we have data that you can be as diverse as you want in your character creation options, most players will still make a white brown-haired cismale character.

In the same vein, all of the released adventures for W5 have been set in the US. Even though anyone can be anything, we have fallen back to treating the US as the default setting. Paradox is a Swedish company and Sweden has plenty of stories that fit WtA. This is no longer the case of a US company writing for a US audience.

What is worse, now that there are no specific tribes from Turtle Island, they don't have to be included in the stories set on their own lands. Instead, all characters can be white and the ST doesn't have to consider how the native people of the land see the white characters.

Even though the Legacy books often fell on their face when it came to depicting anything not a WASP American, the presence of cultural ties had a purpose.

Garou are creatures of community, they are people who band together not out of desperation or survival but because they like to have people around them. Unlike Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse is about honesty. Garou want friends, they want allies and a family without ulterior motives.

What this means is that each tribe was not just a group selected by a specific patron. They were communities of shifter and kin who all shared a culture and had for generations. A tribe is a garou's support network, their source of history and so on.

Of course, Werewolf the Forsaken's tribes aren't culturally tied. But the difference between the W5 tribes and those of The Moon is that there are only 8 or so base tribes and even then three of those are the 'bad guys'. The tribes in Forsaken are archetypes, werewolves of similar goals. But the game has always made a point that there are cultural differences depending on the country and there are plenty of lodges that are local to a specific area.

In W5, you have 11 tribes that were originally built to have ties to certain culture or broad concepts. Now, with most of the context removed, there are multiple tribes in W5 that could be cut and the setting would not change.

More than that, the tribes of W5 (aside from Cult of Fenris for some reason) are alone. Even the Uratha in Forsaken need to have contact with their potential tribe to join one, but in W5 the tribe patrons simply choose a fitting garou with no input from others of the tribe. This loneliness is further shown in how little thought is dedicated to a pack having a patron. Unlike every other WtA book, W5 does not come with a list of patrons. Instead the book, in a sidebar, recommends picking a tribal patron among the tribes of the pack. With an added mention to do contrition to other patrons who did not get picked. Even then, each PC is still expected to follow their tribal patron's ban on top of their pack patron's.

Meanwhile, in Legacy, the ties to various real life cultures give direction and community to the garou. When the pack chooses a patron, that patron is often not from any tribal brood. The pack, in Legacy, is important.

In W5, community, pack, family and all that are not only gone but also treated as the source of the garou's evils. Better be alone, better be without roots, it says.

No person is an island, yet that is what W5 wants things to be.

[linane-art]

GF's AUpocalypse 2024 - Cinderella AU

Bonus fullsize Fili

MY OTHER EDITS

There's also a bit of a story to go with this one, some 5.2k of it. I've been sitting on it since April 2017.

However, before you read it, you should know that it's not great, in fact, I consider it to be sub-standard writing for me, and will not be publishing it on my AO3 or anywhere else. It's also unfinished and will not be getting finished - you should also know that.

Fundamentally, I wrote as much as I did and had a major disagrement with the concept of 'love at first sight'. You see, to my mind, it doesn't work for FiKi as a pairing (or possibly it just doesn't work, full stop). What my heart wants is about 80k-100k of a slow burn, covering the span of about 6 decades where they get to know each other, heaps of mutual pining, construct proper personalities for both Fili and Kili, unpack the blatant inequality of power between them etc. etc. I want to flesh out and develop plot-lines for Dis, Thorin and the Ri-brothers, and figure out how the magic works in this universe.

But the original Cinderella fairytale doesn't allow me the space for all of that. It's all: ball > marriage > happily ever after. Which to me, frankly, is utter nonsense. *Shrug*

But it fitted perfectly with the photoset I came up with and I'm glad to see it aired out and of my Writing Folder, so here goes nothing:

---------------------

Prince Fili’s Third Coming of Age Ceremony took place at a tender age of 65.

It was early perhaps, but then these were perilous times: the Prince was not only battle-ready, he’d had some practical experience of it, having taken part in a number of skirmishes with orcs around the kingdom’s borders. He was a fierce warrior, a cunning diplomat and a hot-headed idiot in turns, which in the common folk was met with a mix of disgruntled admiration and exasperation. But he was liked well-enough and easily acknowledged as King Thorin’s heir both within the kingdom’s borders and outside of them. He’d inherited the position; but he made it truly his own with charm, charisma and hard work.

Had he fully understood what the Ceremony entailed, Fili himself would have perhaps resisted, but he was young and confident and used to getting his own way. Besides, the Third Coming of Age meant far greater freedom and independence from the Crown and, like any young dwarf, Fili pounced at the opportunity of having a longer leash.

The celebrations were planned to befit the grandeur of the House of Durin: there was to be a great ball of course, guests from the four corners of the world, tables laid full to the brim with good food and drink, music and entertainment, and even a firework display at midnight.

Once again, Fili graciously agreed, happy enough to share his own joy with others and delighted to have some merriment within the walls of a usually restrained palace.

The trouble started when Thorin let slip that he’d be looking for a bride for Fili during the ball. It was important that Fili was married as soon as possible and would be better yet if he had a bairn on the way not long after. Succession was paramount to kingdom’s stability and Thorin was nothing if not determined to have not only an heir, but also a spare.

There was a meticulously planned and researched list of eligible princesses, all lined up to be whisked away onto the ballroom floor, in appropriate order of course, sized up as potential brides, and romanced just enough to become an enthusiastic fianc��e or an un-problematic rejection. The ball was now less than a month away and all invitations had been sent, with folk pouring into the mountain day and night, all excited to boot at this excellent opportunity to get utterly plastered at someone else’s expense.

In short: it was too late now to back out.

Luckily, Prince Fili, who at that point had 65 years’ worth of experience in dealing with his King and uncle, kept his cool.

“Yes uncle,” he agreed with a grin just wide enough to suggest to an ardent observant that mischief was brewing in that clever head of his.

Luckily, King Thorin, was not the most ardent of observants.

Fili bowed with just a touch too much charisma and left the Council chambers to the respectfully low murmur of voices.

And then he did what any young dwarf would have done in his place: he hatched a plan.

---

Kili gave a triumphant little grunt, as he finally managed to remove a particularly stubborn patch of soot from the inside of the fireplace. He’d been scrubbing at it for the past 20 minutes and had to admit that it felt good to be finally getting somewhere.

“You’ve missed a spot,” Dori supplied behind him helpfully, pointing to the opposite corner with a poker.

Kili sighed and crawled in that direction. When it came to cleanliness, Dori was a tyrant.

He started scrubbing anew.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that Dori was being mean per se. He himself had been polishing all the wooden furniture just feet behind Kili, which might have been a cleaner job, but no less labour intensive. It was simply that Dori had really high standards when it came to cleanliness of a respectable dwarven homestead. Higher even than Kili’s own mother and that was saying something.

Still, could be worse, Kili supposed: Ori had been relegated to cleaning the outhouse.

He sighed and attacked the stonework again. At least Nori was nowhere to be found, which meant that Kili couldn’t get into trouble. For now.

---

It took Prince Fili a while to weasel the right info out of the right people. It was important though that he got this right, and Fili took his time. He only had one shot at this.

It was only a week before the party when he finally managed to get away from the Palace for long enough to make the trip.

He pulled his hood tighter around his annoyingly-recognisable golden head, before stepping confidently into the light.

“Are you the one they call the Fairy Godmother?” he addressed the dwarrowdam by a cart, who was overseeing it being loaded with some heavy-looking casks by three burly characters.

She turned away from the wagon slowly, giving him a measured once-over. The scrutiny chafed somewhat, when directed at the royal heir without an ounce of respectful deference, but Fili stood his ground and offered what he hoped was a friendly smile.

“That depends on who’s asking,” she said and tilted her head curiously. Behind her, three sets of hands produced an array of heavy and sharp objects indicating that there was a correct answer to this question.

Fili held out his empty hands, hoping that the pommels of his daggers weren’t showing. “A simple, unarmed traveller, who has use of your… services and will pay for them handsomely.”

He produced a heavy purse of coins and offered it on his outstretched palm.

She arched an eyebrow at him, as if to say ‘that’s what you’re going with?! Really?!’, but took the coin and gestured for the other three to stand down and get back to loading the barrels.

Fili attempted his best friendly smile once more.

“And what is it that you want from the Fairy Godmother? Fame? Fortune? Both?” her voice was dripping with sarcasm.  

Fili took a deep breath. “I wish to marry the one person in all my life that I will truly love,” he demanded. “And soon. Like… in the next week or so.”

The woman snorted. “Honestly, lad, in your position that’s hardly a sensible wish. Fame and fortune would have been easier.”

“Sensible or not, is it possible? Men in taverns all the way from the Mountain to the very ends of our lands swear by your name, so I understand you have the power equal almost to that of the wizards. Unless this simple wish is beyond you?”

Flattery, sprinkled liberally with a hefty dose of goading. He’d honed that particular technique on the Elven delegations.

“Son, I sell spirits,” the dwarrowdam deadpanned. “Spirits happen to be exactly what men in the taverns wish for more than anything. Sometimes they call me the Fairy Godmother for it. That is all.”

It was an unfamiliar feeling, as if he had lost his footing all of a sudden, but Fili recovered quickly. “Fine spirits too, as I see. Is that blue absinthe seal that my eyes see on those barrels already loaded?”

“What’s it to you?” the sorceress’ eyes narrowed and, as if by some unspoken command, the sharp implements behind her manifested themselves once again.

“Nothing,” Fili took a step back in a minor tactical retreat. “Only if I am to have my heart shattered, I should very much like to purchase one of those. You know, to soothe the pain.”

“They are not for sale. Already paid for and going to the Ceremony,” she gave him a Look that was more of a threat than the blunt tools she indirectly controlled.

Contrary to the popular belief Fili did have a self-preservation instinct. He just wasn’t very good at consulting it.

“Oh, I see! Only, I happen to know that the royal requisitioners are out of the invoice forms for these,” he said. “Something to do with the printing presses and a mucky contingent of ink, I believe. So that would make this little operation of yours technically… um, black market.”

The sorceress glared and Fili had to admit that the glare was rather impressive.

Still not completely sure he had the upper hand, he gave her his best dimpled smile, the one that made people drop things sometimes.

Finally the Fairy Godmother sighed, rolled her eyes, unceremoniously grabbed Fili by the elbow and pulled him away from the others. “There may be a way, but it doesn’t work well on young, hot-headed fools,” she hissed ominously once they were out of the earshot.

Fili nodded seriously, reassured that he was at least eligible. “Excellent.”

“The Spell of True Love. It will work regardless of whether you agree with your heart’s choice or not. People often overlook that last point.”

Fili nodded again.

“There is a price to pay.”

“I was expecting that.”

“For every moment you spend with your love when you first meet them, you will spend years and decades apart before you can finally be together.”

“… Years or decades?”

“A long time!  It’s not exact science!”

“Right, right. And how long do you consider to be a moment?”

“Seriously?!”

“This is quite important,” Fili protested.

The sorcerers spun on her heel and made to walk away.

“No, wait! I accept!” he decided on the spot.

The dwarrowdam stopped.

Turned.

Looked him up and down.

Fili, once more, withstood the scrutiny.

“Alright then,” she said finally and the Prince breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, truly. Now what do you need for your spell?  Some of my blood? A lock of hair? A black chicken to sacrifice at midnight?”

She stared at him again. It was getting unnerving. “Your heart is young yet, but kind and likeable enough for someone who might find that cockiness of yours charming somehow,” the sorceress said finally, making him feel strangely flattered. “But you’re also an idiot,” she finished.

“Er…” Fili was not used to this kind of treatment. “Thanks. Mostly. Now, about the contract –“.

“No contract,” she threw over her shoulder, now almost back to her wagon.

“No contract?!” Dwarves felt strangely unnerved when they didn’t have a piece of parchment in their hand which clearly defined each party’s roles and responsibilities. “But then how will I know?!”

“You just will.”

“But when?!”

“Soon.”

“How soon?! It would have to be at the ball at the latest, otherwise I fear even your magic won’t be able to make my uncle change his mind.”

Fairy Godmother calmly climbed to the seat of her cart full of contraband booze. “You’re going to have to trust me,” she told him by the way of goodbye and clicked on her ponies to walk on.

---

Dis got back home later than she expected.

By then the house was mostly asleep, including Kili, who had somehow slotted himself, legs and all, into an armchair in front of the fire. He’d clearly been waiting for her.

She paused to watch her son for a moment. He had a smudge of soot on his cheek and dark stains, probably of the same nature over the knees of his trousers. He looked exhausted and his knuckles were scuffed.

She sat heavily on the sofa opposite from him and stared into the fire for a moment.

This was not a life she had envisaged for her son. When she and Myori fell in love, both of them widows – she, once, Myori staggering three times – it looked as if life had finally slotted itself onto the right tracks.

They both had families of their own of course, but with all four boys between them grown and close to leaving home, it seemed like they could make it work. Dis finally took over her father’s brewery full time and Myori dived head-first into her fledgling alterations business.

It felt like they were living once again and there was laughter in the house even if every now and then teenage boys sparked into some new drama.

Little did she know that they only had three short years together ahead of them. Illness took her love and there was nothing Dis could do about it. It was then that she promised herself never to dabble in love magic again.

Love – she couldn’t remember any more why people craved to be loved so much. 

And now she was the only mother the four of them had left.

There was no backing out though, not when they all depended on her, not to mention all the families the brewery employed.

She wasn’t spending nearly enough time with Kili, and if she was honest with herself, that was the one thing that was eating at her the most.

He must have felt like an orphan at times, but he smiled for her all the same and did his best to be useful around the house. She knew he worked hard, perhaps harder than he should have, if Dori was involved. Dori, who was a perfectionist and had his own home for a time, but returned now to help her look after his two younger brothers.

Kili deserved better; they all did.

Dis sighed and licked her thumb so she could try and wipe the soot off Kili’s cheek.

“Wha -?” he blinked at her owlishly and stirred in his seat.

“Hey, there, Grasshopper. You should be in bed,” she smiled at him.

“Cooked you dinner. S’ on the stove,” he mumbled and returned the smile when she kissed the top of his head.

“Thank you. Now scamper off to bed.”

“No. I’ll sit with you.”

“Kili.”

Her son sighed dramatically in that peculiar way all teenage dwarves seemed to have, but obediently padded towards the stairs.

“Night, mum.”

“Good night, Kili.”

Dis didn’t move immediately. Instead she sat back for a moment longer and pondered the dubious problems of a princely life.

And then she blinked, as a terrifying thought gained momentum in her mind like a fully loaded cart with no breaks on.

---

Prince Fili made it back to his chambers just as the steps sounded on the corridor outside his door. Thankfully, this was hardly his first time sneaking out, so Fili kept a cool head: he kicked off his boots, ran his fingers through his hair and in one smooth move rolled under the covers.

“Fili?” his uncle peered into the room before approaching his bed.

Fili performed his best snore and tried to slow down his breathing.

Bed next to him dipped a little as his uncle and king sat on the edge of the mattress and moved to stroke Fili’s soft, golden hair away from his face.

“You must be exhausted from all the preparations,” his uncle’s low voice sounded in the spacious chambers. “Don’t you worry, sister-son. We will find you a worthy bride, I have taken all the right steps. In your position there will be times when she’ll be your only source of solace, so we’ll be sure to get it right,” he whispered, then tugged Fili’s fur-lined covers up to tuck his shoulder in.

Fili supposed that it must have been difficult, not having a child of your own, or a consort to share your life with. Thorin had had plenty of offers back in his time, but he’d always put the affairs of the kingdom first, until eventually the offers stopped coming. Fili was going to do it all in reverse: consort first, affairs of the kingdom second. Not because he was selfish, but because he thought that a good consort made for a brilliant king.

Blue eyes opened just as the door closed once again. “I have taken steps too, uncle,” Fili informed his chambers, before setting about pulling the rest of his clothes off and making himself comfortable.

---

Dis cast her runes.

She squinted, peering at the answer they formed.

“No,” she huffed, gathered them once more and cast them again.

Yes, the runes insisted.

Dis rolled her eyes and lit another candle. “Give me another option,” she demanded and cast again.

This time all of the runes bounced straight off the table, landing in a complete gibberish on the floor.

“Absolutely not,” Dis insisted with emphasis, focussing all her energy and causing the six candles around her to burn blue for a while. “Tell me.”

The runes, perhaps fed up with the stubbornness of dwarves, bypassed the subtle hints and suggestions and simply lined themselves into neat, straight lines of a name:

KILI

---

A lazy Saturday morning, some 6 days later found Kili fighting with his tunic.

“This is way too fancy, mum!” he whined, when his hair caught in the elaborate lacing around the neck.

“Nonsense, you have to look your best. It’s the Royal Palace, Mahal’s sake!” she snapped and helped him find the edge of the collar only to reveal the desperate state of his hair.

“Fancy clothes or not, I’ll be standing out like a sore thumb,” Kili huffed, but finally managed to fit all his various limbs into the right holes. “I don’t belong there! They probably won’t even let me in.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! The posters clearly invited everyone who wished to attend ‘with good will in their hearts and best wishes for the Prince’.”

The rest of the household was still asleep when Dis slipped into her son’s room with a little parcel in her hands – which was just as well, since they only had the one set.

The clothes had been made by Myori, as one of her most lucrative orders ever, and then returned for some petty reason or another. The tunic was a beautiful navy blue shade, embroidered in real silver thread, free-flowing from the waist down. The trousers were made out of fine, dark fabric and had a flattering cut.

Thank Mahal, although Myori would have wanted to alter it here and there, for the most part the clothes suited Kili great.

“But why do I have to go?!” Kili whined for the umpteenth time and attempted to sort out his hair, which only made everything worse.

Dis huffed and took a brush to it yet again. “It’s fate,” she told him once more, matter-of-factly, like the previous five times. “Besides, there will be free food and drink for all. All the high society, the great and powerful of our kingdom. Who knows, you might even find the love of your life there!”

“Amad…” he gently caught her wrist and half-turned to look her in the eye.

“You’re going, and that’s final,” she told him sternly, ushering him out into the corridor. “Come on, your carriage awaits!”

“My carriage?!”

“You’re taking the cart.”

“I can’t take the cart to a Royal Coming of Age Ceremony!! I’d rather walk!”

“Which I would approve of normally, if we had about 2 days to spare. But since we don’t, you’re taking the cart,” she practically shoved him up onto it. “Now then. Mind your language and manners, always remember who you are and – oh. You must return the cart by sunrise. My other orders do not stop just for a fancy dress party.”

“By – sunrise?! But that’s -”

“You’ll need to leave at midnight at the latest.”

“Mother!”

“Don’t you ‘mother’ me, young man!” She gave him a look, which seemed just a tiny bit too harsh to be believable. “Now off with you.”

After that she slapped the pony’s rear and suddenly Kili went from naught to twenty in no time at all.

It wasn’t until he made it to the next town over that Kili realised that with all the ushering, grooming and cajoling, he was still wearing his comfortable, worn house slippers.

---

Prince Fili was certain that his legs were going to fall off any minute now.

He’d danced twenty dances straight. A lesser dwarf would have thrown in the towel by now, grabbed the nearest fair-bearded, highly-accomplished, delightfully charming, brilliantly-intelligent, exquisitely-well-connected beauty and called it a day.

But not Fili.

Fili could, and would out-stubborn Thorin, who was widely regarded as the most stubborn dwarf in the land. It was a point of personal pride, honed over long decades of his childhood. So instead he stomped towards the ale station and poured himself an entire tankard of whatever happened to be on the tap.

He’d chugged down about half of it in one go, which deprived him of a view of one excellently-dressed, yet utterly befuddled dark-haired youth stumbling in through the main entrance.

Fili licked his moustache and threw a desperate glance at a hall heaving with excellent opportunities.

Then blinked.

His heart beat faster and if Fili believed in such nonsense, he’d swear that the room fell silent in that moment, the candles twinkled around them a little warmer, the air smelled sweeter and –

The lad, with an unerring instinct of his young and thirsty dwarven blood, zeroed in on the drinks station and strutted purposefully towards it, with every intention of drinking the house down.

He was coming towards Fili. For Fili. To save him from a love-less life.

The lad reached for an empty tankard, and Fili, like a seasoned battle commander that he was, made his move.

“Would you do me the honour of a dance?”

The dark-haired dwarf jumped and turned to look behind himself. Then to the sides. “What, me?!”

“Yes, you.” Fili cringed and then slapped himself mentally. “Forgive me, I’m being rude. I would have addressed you by your name, but I’m afraid I’ve missed it upon your arrival.”

“It’s Kili, actually,” the lad replied, head cocked to one side curiously. “And you are –“

“Prince Fili of the House Durin –“

Kili dropped his tankard.

“Excellent, now you have free hands!” Fili decided for both of them, practically threw his own tankard at the nearest servant and swept Kili right onto the dance floor.

---

“Oh, hell no!” Dis groaned, watching as a delicate silk ribbon, which up until a moment ago peacefully occupied one of the drawers of her dresser, now tied itself into a perfect, triple bow.

She yanked at one end, but it held. Beside her a candle flame turned blue.

Dis narrowed her eyes and breathed deeply. She supposed if she got her son this far, she’d have to get him the rest of the way too.

---

“You… look uncomfortable,” amused, but not unkind blue eyes watched him as they sailed across the sea of swirling couples.

“I wasn’t exactly planning on dancing with a Prince.”

Fili arched an eyebrow at him and Kili wondered if he’d said the wrong thing. “Would you have danced with any other dwarf?”

“Depends on the dwarf.”

That got him an incredulous smile and Kili stared at the dimples which peeked from behind a neat, honey-coloured beard.

He wasn’t prepared for the easy charm, strength and intelligence he saw. Something else underneath it all, quiet, but hopeful. He wasn’t prepared for the normality of it all. It didn’t feel like he met a Prince; it didn’t feel like he met any other dwarf either.

It felt like he met someone special, someone who might have been a friend if they had enough time together.

Kili swallowed, torn about what he should do next. He didn’t want to joke and flirt and try too hard to keep their conversation casual, when it simply wasn’t. Equally, he couldn’t very well plunge into any meaningful conversation, when they only likely had a few moments together.

“You look like you have questions,” Fili guided him gently, the same way he guided the movements of his body. “You should ask, even if only a couple. Otherwise you’ll forever wish you had.”

---

Thorin did a double-take.

Fili’s partner was beautiful and dressed in a way that spoke of pedigree, wealth and class. She was grace and poise itself, as they glided across the dance floor like they belonged together. They were also deep in conversation, real conversation, which was more than could have been said for any of Fili’s previous partners.

His nephew had been nothing if not courteous to all of the various assorted princesses and duchesses and ladies of appropriate breeding, and he’d danced with all of them in the pre-prescribed order, until Thorin was beginning to feel kind of guilty about the whole affair.

He knew Fili and he knew when he was being polite, but not invested. If he was honest, Thorin was expecting much more of a rebellion, so when Fili continued on his best behaviour, Thorin started to wait for the other shoe to drop.  

But now… now the whole thing was beginning to look like it had been worth it.

He watched as one song came to an end with Fili swirling his partner in a wide arc, which landed her in his arms, with her rich, dark brown hair sweeping around his neck like a shawl.

Their eyes locked for a moment, their chests heaving as they held on.

And then Fili disregarded his next ticket and guided the mysterious lady into another dance.

Thorin allowed himself a single smug grin and then ordered another shot of the excellent blue absinthe they were serving.

---

“I saw a fire moon once. It rose over the pass near Dunland. Huge! Red and gold it was, it filled the sky.”

Fili was drowning in expressive brown eyes. Right in that moment he wanted to see the fire moon too, with Kili. He could have listened to him for days, describing the smallest and biggest of adventures.

Then the clock chimed midnight and the magical tales stopped abruptly.

“Oh shoot, I have to go!”

“What, now?!” Fili whirled them to gentle stop around the edge of the dance floor.

“Yes, right now! Mum will kill me if I don’t return with the – ah, carriage – on time!”

“The – what?!” Fili blinked. That sentence didn’t make any sense.

“I’m sorry!” Kili threw him a pleading look and took off back towards the entrance, promptly disappearing in the throng of other guests.

“Kili!” Fili tried to follow, but was hampered by all those who spotted that he was finally free to engage once more. By the time he’d made his excuses and got outside, all he could see was Kili at the very bottom of the staircase –

- Tripping over his own feet and very nearly face-planting into the gravel of the front drive.

Kili waved his arms about and, through sheer witchcraft it seemed, managed to find his balance once again. Something flew off his person and he stopped to search for it briefly, but whatever it was, from his position Fili saw that it wedged itself high in a nearby hedge and got stuck there.  

He tried to run down to help, but he was too far away.

Kili threw a few choice words in the general direction of the staircase, which would have impressed the Mountain’s mining community, turned on his heel and stomped away, somewhat unevenly.

Around Fili, who was only half way down the grand stairs at that point, a thousand brilliant fireworks exploded, making him duck automatically and try to take cover.

And somehow in that moment Fili just knew.

But Kili was gone. For several dreadful heartbeats Fili felt horribly alone, left with an array of princesses, all of them completely disqualified by the lack of the right laughing brown eyes.

And then he remembered that he had had a plan. A brilliant plan, which so far had been executed flawlessly.

Fili moved. He had a shoe to find.

---

Thorin rolled out of the grand banqueting hall as soon as he realised that he couldn’t see Fili and his lady dancing anywhere.

This proved to be a bit of a challenge, since the floor decided to resist him, what with the copious amounts of blue absinthe he had ingested during the course of the evening.

Thorin snarled. He was the King, damn it; he had people for just such things! He called for Dwalin and together with his best friend and a loyal companion of many other such battles, they defeated the evil forces of gravity just enough to make it outside after his nephew.

---

Fili sat on the stairs and stared.

The shoe was – there was really no other way to put it – a worn, falling-apart, slipper. It was stretched, discoloured and if he was honest with himself, it didn’t smell too good either.

He held it cautiously at arm’s length and debated his options.

In all fairness, Fili wasn’t paying enough attention to Kili’s feet to be able to identify if it was the same sort of footwear as he had been wearing right from the start. He was certain however, that the brunet left sans one of his shoes and the slipper happened to be the only shoe available.

Perhaps it held some sort of sentimental value, like a treasured family heirloom, to be worn only on special occasions, Fili tried to reason with himself, when his uncle and the Head of is Personal Guard both barrelled down the stairs towards him in a slightly life-threatening manner.

“Well, where’d she go?!” Fili’s King and uncle demanded.

“She?!” Granted, Kli’s beard hadn’t grown in properly yet, leaving him with an adorable stubble, which made Fili want to run his fingers all over it, but that was an uncalled for remark.

“Oh, don’t play coy with me now, it doesn’t suit you. Your lady! Dark blue dress with silver bits. Dark hair – we are taking that one, I hope you agree. Now, what was her name? We shall send for her within the week.”

Fili hesitated. He wasn’t sure he wanted anyone being sent for on his account. Perhaps Kili didn’t want life in the palace at all. Perhaps he preferred his fire moons and the freedom that came with them.

“I don’t know. I didn’t catch it when she first arrived, and it seemed silly to ask for it later, when we danced” he lied smoothly, without batting an eyelid.

Thorin gaped.

Fili stood his ground, metaphorically. If he was going to marry the person he loved, he was going to do it because they loved him back and not on the orders of a King, damn it. Somehow. This was going to happen. He just needed to… aid his spell a little.

Thorin sat down heavily next to him on the stairs. “Do not fret, nephew. We will find her. At least we have this –“

He took the slipper from Fili’s hands and stared, mesmerised, at an exquisite, petite crystal pump which seemed to fracture the moonlight like a diamond.

Fili stared too, at a shoe which changed between one glance and another, and silently kicked himself for not having insisted on a proper contract when he’d had the chance. With a Sorceress no less!

He had no idea what the terms and conditions of this romance were.

---

Dis’ son arrived with the first rays of sunshine and missing one shoe. He looked exhausted.

“Well, how was it? Did you get to meet the Prince?” she issued a quick-fire round of questions.

Kili threw her a Look and in the warm, golden rays hitting his face at a low angle, he looked like nothing less than a King himself.

“Like I left a piece of me behind,” her son told her and slipped heavily off the wagon, throwing her the reins.

---

[aufi-creative-mind]

Updates about what I have been up to.

Things that are in progress!

Currently, my main focus is on completing the LU Spirits series (Formerly known as Farore's Spirits). It is my most ambitious personal project - 9 (12) part series - that I am undertaking by myself. I hope to finally fulfill a 5 year long promise to myself to give this series the artistic glow up that it deserves.

I am also part of the upcoming Denouncement of War: A Hyrule Warriors zine. So do check this out if you are a fan of the OG Hyrule Warrior games!

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Things that I want to work on.

I plan to shift more focus towards my BotW-TotK Family and Legacy series. I have a lot of stories that I want to show to you all about Link's family and their individual character stories, Pre-Calamity, Post-Calamity and even present day BotW-TotK events. That includes fan fiction stories, including one I have started - Getting to Know You. You can read the first two chapters on A03 and HERE on this blog.

Chapter 3 is slowly being written out with a potential Chapter 4 planned as well.

I also have three folders worth of other Zelda concepts and stories that I want to show as well. Such as the pre-TotK Zelink sketches that I had impulsively made in the lead up to TotK's release last year. I might release them as soft sketches rather than fully rendered pages.

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Things that are put on hiatus...

I have been asked by several people about my LU: Sword's Reveal comic pages and whether I am continuing it. And unfortunately, I will have to put it on hiatus until further notice.

This is because I started that comic long before TotK's release. Specifically when Nintendo made that delay announcement with that teaser of the decayed Master Sword. And the hype that created. So I was originally running on that hype energy of the unknown then. And the other reason was that....I lost the original script for the comic. And what notes I was able to retrieve no longer reflects on what I now know from completing TotK and what have in mind for the story.

So I'm not abandoning the LU Sword's Reveal comic! But it will be some time until I am able to come back to it and rework on the script and the draft pages.

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Things that I am thinking of doing...

For those who may not know, I work as a liasion officer in medical accommodation for families with sick children. And as such, it does take up a lot of my time and energy - physically and especially emotionally - that I am unable to dedicate as much time to making art as I wanted.

I have been considering opening a Ko-Fi or even a Patreon account, but still unsure on how to go about it. I would love to hear your suggestions or feedback on this one!

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So if you've been able to reach this far into this update. Thank you so much for taking your time and wishing you all the good vibes!

[laurasimonsdaughter]

Hello!

Would you happen to know where the idea of not giving your true name to fae originated? I've seen it many places, but I can't quite nail down an origin on it.

Hope you're doing well, thank you so much!

Hi! The short answer is, no I don't. The long answer is mostly me speculating, but I'll do my best:

As far as I can tell the concept that fae will "steal" your name if you "give" it to them is a modern one. It's funny, it's unexpected and a fun play on the "be careful who you give your full name to". But I've never seen it in folklore or fairy tales. What does show up in folktales is fae making people forget their names when they steal them away to fairyland. It doesn't always happen, but sometimes they forget their name, who they are, and where they belong, until they are released.

The idea that names hold power is very old, probably as old as names themselves. As far back as the Mabinogion naming or not naming a child (Lleu Llaw Gyffes) or creation (Blodeuwedd) is very significant. In various Catholic traditions it was important to have someone's full name to be able to pray for them. But that importance can also be negative. In the Odyssey the cyclops cannot curse Odysseus until he knows his name.

The concept that knowing someone's full, true name is significant and potentially dangerous is very present in Western folklore. But it's usually more like "general folk wisdom" than a plot in a story that gets explained. It's closely linked to concepts of bad spirits and evil witchcraft. I think it's more likely that the fae got lumped in with them, than that they had a particular focus on names in their own right.

A good example of the power of knowing names in fairy tales is actually the other way round. The rumpelstiltskin type. Once the human knows the name of this being, they can no longer be harmed by them. There are a lot of variations on this theme, you can find some in the online collection The Name of the Helper by D. L. Ashliman.

So, if I had to give an educated guess. I'd say guarding your name against the fae is no different from guarding it against trolls, witches, or anyone else who might meddle in human affairs.

[box-architecture]

which are the aus You have more on your ming latetly?

A mixture of them!

I'm staring at the Dreambur AU I have (Strangers Vassal) and wondering if I should post what I had planned for it to look like. I'm struggling a lot with writing it, partially because I don't have a lot of people to bounce ideas off of, partially because it's an AU that would have a lot of fight scenes, something I don't have a lot of experience in and am unsure how to proceed with.

I really enjoy the concept of it, and I want to write for it, but it might once again turn into a bunch of shortfics in a series rather than the longfic I originally wanted. It's disappointing that I can't seem to consistently write longfics, but if I don't accept the limitation I might risk not getting anything done at all, and that's potentially more disappointing.

The Communication Knife AU is almost always on my mind. It's evolved from just pure demons and rotations to being a huge comfort that I can just idly think about throughout the day.

It's really neat, because I started out as a Dream-centric multishipper who wasn't sure if I could vibe with Punz and Sam closing the triangle, but after marinating in the idea, it's now really important to me that they become something too. They grow from two people fighting around their relationship with Dream to something based on trust and blunt honesty and Forgiveness Withoit Forgetting. They can be deeply affectionate with each other in a way thats different from their relationship with Dream. Not bad, not in a way that excludes him, just different.

The AU has also tentatively opened me up to exploring 2nd Gen characters, something I've literally never been capable of before. I have a lot of vague ideas for who gets together post-main story, and how those relationships works and why. Ponk/Foolish/XD is a ship for example, and I've designed a possible child for them? As well as designed Fooshs Totem children? It's always a maybe for if I actually want to give people kids, and it's not really the point of CKAU, it's just really fun to explore the rest of the smp in this sort of fix-it au and how it impacts their lives in the After of it all.

It's also helped me expand my Minecraft Lore and Worldbuilding Bible (how in my headcanon the mineacraft world works and its history/lore, including tying other media's like Hermitcraft and Maricraft to the dsmp to make everything part of the overall world.)

Writing CKAU post-story had also, ironically, made me enjoy benchtrio more, as I get to talk to my friends about their interpersonal dynamics and how they work and how they end up finally at peace. Especially considering Tubbo and Ranboo are bitterly divorced for a long time.

I had a lot of small ideas for a DNB Mass Effect AU in a similar vein to To Tear Asunder being my Dragon Age AU, but I feel really guilty getting into that when I haven't even finished the Philza fic or the Techno fic I have for the latter. I have significantly less people to bounce ideas off of for To Tear Asunder, which is why I struggle with it sometimes.

A lot of my writing in the beginning was done through utilizing my manic moods, but now that I'm better medicated/no longer constantly manic, it's led to me going a lot slower with writing. Demons (PWP stuff) are a lot easier to write, because they require significantly less scene set-up when I can use the sexual act as a template, and being horny-brained isn't particularly difficult.

(Also. No Plot Nessecary. Hence the Porn Without Plot. Plot is really exhausting to write sometimes.)

Obviously it's a lot better for my health that I'm no longer manic, but it's still disappointing that I can no longer work myself into a tizzy and write 30 pages of something (before collapsing and being unable to do anything at all for the next several days.) Give and take and all.

I briefly was very insane about Benchtrio fucking Dream in various ways. I made a whole Teacher/Student AU about it that's in my drafts, god willing I get my new laptop and can finish that up. I really enjoy CNC and bodice ripper type stuff, so it's pretty fun to explore crack AUs where Dream is just trying to be normal and the 3 most abnormal people in the world come into his life.

I'm not really a fan of the Tommy/Dream dynamic where Dream is preying on the Poor Helpless Child, especially because it has a habit of taking itself Very Seriously. I'm not looking for serious and dark and the villainization of Dream. It's a lot more fun for me to explore a strong, confident, and very tired 20-something desperately trying to figure out how to deal with the 17-18 year old being horny on main. Also it's just really interesting to me when the younger character takes advantage of normal social and power dynamics and subvert them so they can have the older character sub.

^I'm not sure if the explanation there is perfect or makes sense but I'm always happy to try to talk more about it if you'd like.

I have a little more of the Warden Hybrid!Dream type stuff in my head that I wanted to write out, mostly just a lot of Porn With Minimal Plot for purely kink reasons. I also have a Dream/Ravager fic I'm supposed to be posting, but God only knows when I can finish it. I need zoomies.

[thenotebookwizard]

She-Ra | Defiance (Thoughts and Rambles I: Convergence)

(Am I going to use roman numerals for every ramble about this fic? Probably not, but at least for the first few.)

A lot of the ideas and concepts for the fic are born from fanon - but a lot of fanon and my fic also come from this episode.

Somehow, it wasn't until after I started posting the fic that I realized who the writer was.

J. Michael Straczynski (JMS). He's done a lot. Comics. TV. Movies. Streaming. Books. He's the executor (inheritor?) of Harlan Ellison's estate.

He's the creator of Babylon 5.

If you want to talk about stories and media with significant effects on me as a human, you cannot avoid talking about Babylon 5. Star Trek and Star Wars came first, sure, but without Babylon 5, I don't think I would appreciate either of those as much or as a deeply as I do.

Babylon 5 came out when I was in middle school. I didn't get to see as much of it during its initial run as I wanted to. Only later, when a friend videotaped it and loaned me those tapes, did I get to really dig into it. I loved it. It was everything I wanted in a story and then some.

Learning to appreciate Babylon 5 made me dig deeper into other media. Into other stories - and shaped how I look at narrative. How I examine characters and the potential of characters. JMS created something with Babylon 5 that defied the genre of sci fi, causing me to figure out what space opera and science fantasy are.

I own Babylon 5 in several formats, and I rewatch it at least once a year.

Finding out JMS wrote the episode of the original She-Ra that helped create and define so much of the old canon that created the fanon that gives us magicats and all of the lore we have built up around Catra - because the new show didn't have the time or space to give us much.

- it was a revelation. It was the convergence of the old fandoms that shaped me and the new fandom that inspired me.

I have no idea how much JMS really created in terms of that lore or those one-off characters, but I can assume a few things based on what (little) I know about show-writing back then. He would have either been given the basics of the script and then told to flesh it out, or he just handed someone a script, and they said 'cool. Here's some lunch money. We'll get someone to draw this.'

Either way, he wrote the dialogue. He wrote the characters. He wrote the way the lore was presented. He had a hand in it.

That has meaning, in that JMS was writing and creating things that have affected me far, far longer than I knew and he has been showing me how to tell stories just as long.

[ladyandherbooks]

So Castlevania Nocturne is amazing, I think they've done a really good job at establishing this new time period, characters and the themes for the show as well as introducing some really cool concepts for upcoming seasons.

First up we're finally going to see what a newly turned vampire is like and with Tera being a powerful sorceress I can only imagine how powerful and formidable she'll be. And unfortunately I think that in the future Maria will be the one who has to finally kill her when the time comes.

Next I think it's really interesting to see this Castlevania being a coming of age story for our new main trio. They're so much younger as whole than Trevor, Sypha and Alucard and it really shows. It will be very interesting and exciting to see how they grow, change and become stronger.

I also really like that this show has a good chance of covering a longer period of time than the original show, especially since Richter and Maria showed up in 2 different games set 5 years apart. And with the show focusing on the French Revolution, which still has a few years to go, including the Terror in 1793 I'm definitely excited to see everyone grow and change over a 5 or so year period.

I also really liked that Maria doesn't really know much about her powers and that she hasn't summoned her dragon yet. I've never played the games but I do know that there are some variations to her beasts and that may mean that her beasts might get bigger and more powerful as she gets older. Plus the dragon is something you want to hold off until the right moment because you can make that first summoning and battle really epic. I also suspect that Alucard will be the one who will teach her about her magic, it's origin and what she could one day do and be.

I also really love Maria and Richter's relationship, it was peak sibling behaviour every time they interacted. And of course Maria swears like that, it's the Belmont effect, the same thing happened to Sypha and she'd only known Trevor for a few months. She's lived with him for almost a decade, so of course she speaks like that.

I also really loved Annette, her powers and everything about her backstory. She's descended from not one but 2 gods and she's harnessed that power in such an amazing and imaginative way. Plus she has so much potential to grow and expand those powers, especially once she manages to master those healing spells.

And Edouard, such a beautiful voice that can help his fellow night creatures remember their past and reclaim their humanity. I can't wait until he breaks himself and every other night creature from the Abbot's control with his incredible voice.

Richter is also great, a little sassy and cocky, you can tell how young he is. And I'm glad that he wasn't so traumatised by his mother's death that he couldn't smile, have fun or enjoy his life. I'm glad that he has so much joy, love and light inside of him. And his blue fire is so cool.

And Alucard, his return right at the end of the season was the best moment so far. And I love how absolutely terrified every vampire was when he revealed his identity. They serve an ancient vampire who they believe to be their messiah but the moment he turns up they run away with their tails between their legs. I do wonder what Countess Bathory knows about him and if she'll see him as a threat (probably not but that's her mistake) and just how much of a problem he's going to become for her, especially since he just killed Drolta without breaking a sweat.

And finally (at least for this post) Olrox and Mizrak. So much sexual tension from the moment that they met and so many complicated thoughts feelings and emotions that they have, especially for one another. Mizrak hates vampires and yet he couldn't stay away from Olrox from the moment that he invited him to his bed. And Olrox, so composed controlled, really fell for Mizrak so quickly. It's not love just yet but he was and is still falling for him. I just wonder how they're going to be next time they meet and what they'll become to one another. They both need to change and grow in some very big and significant ways of they're every going to truly find their way back to one another.

[soildmud]

reading inky mystery

good morning y’all, it is currently 3AM right now and i have developed some very strong opinions about inky mystery that i need to projectile vomit onto the internet. this is gonna be like a book review so i have some disclaimers/warnings:

#1: this “review” is not intended for the author, TAP, or anyone directly involved with the writing of IM. this is readers-only!

#3: i will most likely say very few positive things about the fic so if you don’t want to see negative remarks about your fav fic/story, maybe don’t read this. and also if you can’t handle strong language.

#4: i have not read all of IM, and there is a reason why. i will explain later on but i don’t need anyone to try and avoid spoilers. i don’t care for this fic enough to worry about that. talk to your heart’s content, i want to hear what y’all have to say!!!!

#5: i still enjoy inky mystery and its concepts and the overall story ideas. i think it’s fun and a cool spin on the original qftim au (an au that had so much potential and such shitty execution) and love how the fic has created an entire community around it! don’t get this twisted, i got nothing against IM or TAP.

now i’m gonna put the “review” (more like a rant) under a cut so as to not take up space on people’s dashes more than i already have lol—have fun!!

with such an interesting and promising premise, inky mystery has so far been a frustrating disappointment. i started reading it a while ago (had to stop because of school) and picked up again last night, hoping to get further into the fic and reach the parts that seem to be much more compelling than the exposition. i’m only on chapter 20 and already want to just stop reading it altogether. the more i progress through this the more i think to myself, “is this fic even worth reading 2.5 million words and 335 chapters?” as i’ve come to the beginning of chapter 21, i’m starting to think it most definitely is not.

obviously the biggest criticism is the length. there is absolutely no reason for why this fic is like 3 times longer than the fucking BIBLE. twelve “books” for what? to leave us in the same spot of the plot for the fifth time in a row when the conflict could have been resolved in almost half a chapter? the over-explanation of everything and the placement of practically useless dialogue is excruciating. i don’t understand how having chapter long bits of the warner shenanigans was necessary; i get it was meant for comedy but i don’t think they should dragged any longer than like a paragraph. their dialogue gets old incredibly fast, and it’s just a hinder to the fic’s flow. and before anyone says anything—I HAVE WATCHED ANIMANIACS BEFORE. in fact, i used to be obsessed with them and watched every episode until it stopped airing in 2014. i know they’re supposed to be the way they are in the fic but Holy SHIT DUDE. SHUT THEM THE FUCK UP ALREADY.

listen. i know this was originally written in 2017, but if you’re still updating this into 2024, at this point you need to remake the whole fic and shorten it. the way the author is updating the fic with basically filler makes me feel like they care more about creating content for their readers rather than actually writing a coherent narrative. you don’t need to take down the OG fic but there has got to be a way to shorten it so it doesn’t take literally a week straight to finish the fic in one sitting.

anyways. apart from that, i need to say that the writing style is so juvenile in a way that feels aggravating. i read the most recent chapter to see if anything changed and while it certainly improved in small ways, i feel like TAP still hasn’t learned how to not make sentences like four words long and dialogue sequences that don’t make up half the chapter. i also feel like the narrative is just…holding the readers hand and explaining every little thing like they expect the reader not to have any media literacy at all. i don’t need to know explicitly that boris and bendy are tired from walking for hours, i knew that from your narration mentioning their legs aching and them getting mucky from clambering in the forest.

next, i hate the random inclusion of unnecessary characters. the way the two detectives seem to only show up when it’s convenient and how the warners were used basically like a deus ex machina is frustrating. don’t introduce so many characters with so much detail and then have them show up like twice. i don’t know how to explain this because it’s almost 4AM now and my brain is foggy but god. when those two fox characters were randomly introduced at the end of idk what chapter to have a completely useless conversation with the detectives i felt so annoyed. i don’t know if they have any real significance later on in the story (and i don’t mean that they show up to say hi later) and honestly i cannot be bothered to find out if they do, but if they don’t, that entire section of the chapter was fucking stupid. let your MAIN CHARACTERS learn information from other sources for the love of god.

in the end, i don’t know if i’ll ever finish Inky Mystery, at least not anytime soon. i had fun at the start and now i’m just annoyed and frustrated. also, to the wiki people, PLEASE MAKE CHAPTER SUMMARIES AND SHIT—IT WOULD BE A DREAM FOR THOSE OF US WHO DON’T WANT TO SIT THROUGH 2.5 MILLION WORDS FOR PLOT AND STORY!!!!

also, i am not claiming to be a better writer or have superior knowledge to TAP. i think TAP is good at writing, but has some flaws that really limit their full potential. i myself am an amateur writer with no training or anything, but i am a reader, so that’s why i’m yapping.

ALSO ALSO, i am not doing this to shit on TAP or IM or anyone who likes this story and everything. like i said, i actually like IM and really want to get into it so i can make fanart and everything, but it has been a struggle and i want to voice that because this is my blog and i use it like a virtual diary. i will continue to skim and push through IM, and will most definitely use it as a learning tool for my own au, SITP.

again, this review was made with zero malice in mind. however if anyone wants to say anything i’m 100% open to conversation, and if this reaches TAP’s screen somehow, please know i’m not trying to be a hater!!! i love your ideas and the community you’ve created, promise!!!! i’m done now cus i’m tired and need to sleep so bye to anybody who read through this beast of a post lol plus i don’t have the energy to write all i wanted to say. sorry if there’s any mistakes i’m falling asleep as i write LMAO

bye!!!!!!

[prismasartworks]

Johnny Test: Power Up! - Show Concept

After seeing @mrultra100 's post about his rendition of the JT cast for Primal Eternity and @rominadrawsart15 about Ultimate Showdown, I decided to do a long followup/post about "Johnny Test: Power Up!" I've already explained about the characters, the new world and the settings of this spinoff in 5-6 posts, but now with lots of redeveloping and brainstorming, I'll give you the redefined concept of the spinoff!

But before I reintroduce the stars as well as the whole concept itself, I wanted to explain the reason on why I came up with the spinoff idea and why I wanted to make it official. My opinion is that Johnny Test has A LOT of potential to shine, but executive meddling from the studio, cutting the budget and overall the infamy from the Internet severely dampened the spark and ultimately became dead. And don't get me started on The Lost Web Series, where the animation looked stiff and cheap. Hell, even when the Netflix revival did some things right (though the theme song was not good), lack of attention and exposure basically sealed its fate indefinitely and extinguishing the spark forever. Which is honestly pretty sad for me, because it had some potential, that needed to be expanded. And this is why I came up with a rather BIG change to shake things up and reinvigorate the series with a cosmic bang!

What's the premise of the series?

So, here's the premise for "Johnny Test: Power Up!":

After a mysterious incident, which involved about a powerful machine and a big mistake, Johnny, Dukey, the sisters and many of their friends, loved ones and enemies, as well as a few strangers get teleported to an unknown galaxy very far away from theirs, inhabited by aliens, anthromorphic animals and a few mystical ones in a futuristic environment. For the main team, it will be in the planet, Lumina, specifically in a futuristc and colourful city, named Starfall City. From there on, the team have to go through (mis-)adventures to find the others, the lost memories and a way back home, while encountering new friends, who would help them along the way and fighting off bigger threats than they would ever imagine. All while forming a new bond, that would last through the cosmos and the chaos, while trying to survive in this new world.

Unlike the last iterations, it'll be a mix between serialized and episodic, striking a balance between the comedic Johnny Test side with some anime slapstick mixed in (i.E., making the characters even more expressive) and the more serious and dark ones, with emotional moments, plottwists and so on. The episodes will be longer though, somewhat between 16-22 minutes of each episode, with the exceptions being specials and movies, which are longer. The series will also take two years after the original and the revival (there has been debate about their ages in the revival, until I talked to Ultra about it), which means the characters will be older and since they will be in a new world, they would be redesigned to fit in the adventurous and stylish vibe. There will be also an in-universe explaination on how they got the redesigns. So, while some familiar elements will be there, an overarching story and a new coat of paint will provide some fresh air.

Let's meet the main stars!

While the cast will be a good mix between returning veterans and newcomers, the show will be mainly focused on the Test siblings, their pal Dukey and finally THREE new characters. The group of seven will be the heart and core of the show, with their own personalities, backstories, flaws, character arcs, etc. So, let's meet them!

Johnny Test (voiced by James Arnold Taylor) - The hyperactive and bright leader of his own team. When he was a kid, he just wanted ot have fun by any means neccesary, despite of how irresponsible he can be. He may be a lazy jerk sometimes, he does have a big heart and courage, which will later be very useful. As the years went on, the usual shenanigans bored him out of his mind, but one day, when he saw a video of some sick parkour moves, he was so amazed, that he and Dukey decided to train themselves some parkour. At the beginning, he struggled without any invention, but as time went on, he became better and better, to the point that he is known for his very quick moves, but also for his cocky attitude. Little did he know, that by the time, he would be mysteriously teleported to Lumina, he would face even more dangerous threats and bigger challenges, this fiery boy would ever imagine and even changing his life forever. On the bright side, this new world allows him to hone more of his parkour skills, while exploring the galaxy, meeting new friends and learning things along the way, which would change his perspective in a new way. However, that means, he had to let go of his old habits and mature, in order to be on par against his new and powerful enemies. When the situation is tense, his demeanor would change into a more serious fighter, willing to go even further beyond to protect his friends, his loved ones and his new home. And together with his best friend, Dukey, his sisters and his three new friends, they'll push through the danger for a better future.

Dukey (voiced by Trevor Devall) - The voice of reason and the sidekick of the team. An anthromorphic dog, mutated by Susan and Mary, acting as a older brother figure to Johnny, going along with him during their crazy adventures and many activities, with the recent activity being lots of parkour. Despite their close bond going for years, Dukey still freuqently expresses his concern and distain towards Johnny's less intellegent and more dangerous antics and is especially concerned about his health, when it comes to the latter being used as a guinea pig for the twins' experiements, either for finding a way back home or just out of curiousity, due to Luminian technology. After being teleported into Lumina, not only he and the others have to adapt in the new galaxy, but the situation made him even more stressed and anxious than ever. Didn't help, that one of the new friends, he made, is such a impulsive hot-head, who also goes through even more dangerous antics, which means he had to watch out for that. His friendship towards the Tests and the new ones will be tested time after time, as the threats would become bigger and more dangerous while trying to survive in this new frontier. But in the end, if the situation is tense, the mutt will swallow his fears down and stand up against the enemies, together with his best friends, while also learning important lessons along the way.

Susan Test (voiced by Maryke Hendrikse) - One half of the team's brains and a talented scientist. Always seen inventing stuff or swooning over Gil, along with her twin sister. She is known to think a lot more rationally and logically than Mary, but also less open-minded. So imagine her reaction, when not only she gets sent to a different galaxy, along with the others, but one of her new friends being a magical fairy (leading to Susan often being at odds against Serena, due to their beliefs and the latter not approving of her using Johnny as a lab rat, which is the reason, why the fairy dislikes the sisters) , one being a robot with a happy personality being built in and one being a teenage, alien snail, whose rage would make her look like a rational and calm person. On the bright side, the advanced technology allowed her and Mary to experiment on it, trying to emulate it, while also trying to find a way back home. Most of the times, they would fail spectaculary, but they're slowly learning. At one point, after seeing her little brother and Dukey doing some parkour, she and Mary decided to train themselves, in case if they have to take the situation themselves, not knowing that it would happen sooner than she expected, with bigger threats and higher stakes. Armed with smart glasses and many gadgets, this headstrong girl will make sure, that any bad guy wouldn't get away.

Mary Test (voiced by Emily Tennant) - The other half of the team's brains and also a talented scientist. Much like her twin sister, she posesses a high IQ and does everything with her sister together. Either inventing stuff, using Johnny as a lab rat or swooning over Gil. However, unlike Susan, Mary is more open-minded, empathetic, but less outspoken. Also unlike her sister, she is more open to more hypothetical sciences such as extraterrestrials and cryptids, which caused her to be at odds with Susan, but at least one of her new friends, Serena, likes her a bit more than her twin sister. After getting sent to Lumina, seeing the aliens and making friends with a fairy, as well as the advanced tech, made her more determined to recreate Luminian technology for more groundbreaking results. But because she is less outspoken, Mary is often in the background, while the others shine. This makes her yearning for the day, she would be in the spotlight. Unbeknownst to her, the day would come sooner than she expected. Fortunately, with several gadgets, smart glasses and a quicker pace, Mary would do anything to protect those, she loved the most and defeat the enemies.

Schalot (voiced by Brian Doe) - Despite him not really buff lookng (his body type is slim btw), this teenage, pastel pink snail is the strong and fast fighter of the team, ready for a fight. Described as a impulsive, sassy, moody, introverted (as well as chaotic), yet tough and direct individual, this guy is not afraid to show and speak up his opinions, in form of roasts and shouts to almost anyone. Always armed with a scepter, which has a plasma blade insjde that can pop up with the push of a small button and several throwing blades, he is known for his fast moves and devastating attacks. Heck, instead of running away, he wouldn't go down with a fight (though when he's too overloaded with panic, he would simply faint). His biggest character flaw is that Schalot is so sensitive and hot-headed, that even a slight annoyance would tip him off and he has trouble managing his emotions, due to a traumatic event (which was an alien invasion) at a young age, which lead to losing his parents (He would later find his siblings). In other words, outside of his tough shell is a very vulnerable and damaged person, yearning for comfort, company and happiness. But on the flipside, he is not a full blown jerk, as this snail is loyal and caring, like a big brother to the team, who's willing to protect them at any cost, despite him being the youngest of the pastel siblings. In the free time, he would be seen browsing on his phone, adoring cats and overall minding his own business with milkshakes and sweets.

Serena Rose (voiced by Shannon Chan-Kent) - A shy and timid, yet sweet and kind girl, who's at the same age as Johnny. She just moved to Porkbelly with her dad, when they were mysteriously teleported into a new galaxy. Feeling scared, she tried to find her dad, only to meet Johnny, Dukey, Susan, Mary, Schalot and Ziffy instead. (She will later reuinite with her dad) The amber/yellow eyed girl serves as the heart of the group, taking care of her friends and attempting to solve conflicts. During battle, she moves with so much grace and fluidity, because she did take gymnastics classes before. While she may sound like an average sweet girl to some, Serena is far more special than anyone else: She is in fact, a fairy! Inherited from her missing mother, she has magical abilites of flight with her pink fairy wings and casting spells, with a special necklace. Her biggest flaw is, she is too afraid to use her magic, due to an event, where after being corned by some bullies, her fear lead to an unintenional blast, which also hurt a few innocent people as well. Thankfully, after hearing her story, Johnny and the others will help her overcome her fears and embrace her fairy side, inspiring her to train her skills and use them for good. But be careful! If you commit crime and/or hurt her loved ones, be prepared to be the receiving end of a magical punishment.

Ziffy (voiced by Andrea Libman) - A small robot assistant with a very lively and happy personality, ready to help the team out on (almost) any situation, while also making new friends with a bright smile. So much so, that even in the most dire situation, they never give up hope and keep looking out to the light. They're also the glue of the group, often approaching with a neutral perspective and making sure, the team wouldn't break up, while also acting as a n assistant to the sisters. (Fun fact, they and the robots created the T-05 multipurpose communicators, that houses a special plasma tether, known as the Neolink, which allows the user to latch onto targets to pull them in, throw them around and so on. It can also be used as a rope or even a whip. The users can even combine their Neolinks to make a longer beam, a bungee cord or even a net for example. It's a very versatile tool for exploration, combat and utility.) . Despite their small size, they pack a lot of stuff, like many weapons, gadgets (ranging from practical and useful to outright ridiculous), etc, in case they would protect their friends in a dire situation, when they need their help. However, they have the tendency to overload to stress out and being too emotional, due to the programming and the AI not being perfect. Especially, when their friends, including their best friend, Schalot, would cause chaos. This would result in Ziffy taking breaks and recharging themselves during the night. Regardless of their flaws, if you are down, expect Ziffy to cheer you up with a smile and lots of fun!

Meet their allies!

Our heroes will not go through those adventures alone, as several allies, both new and old will assist them throught the journey. The newcomers will also serve to help the others develop, while also having their own arcs. So, let's meet the allies!

Mr. Black and Mr. White (voiced by Scott McNeil and Deven Mack) - Two undercover agents working for the General. While they try to do their jobs, most of the times, they fail out of incompetence, which leads to Schalot calling them "Agents Dumb and Dumber". But when push comes to shove, they will put extra effort against the enemies. The General (voiced by Lee Tockar) - The general in Lumina's Area 2.1. Being appointed out of pure luck, he would do his usual thing, which would make him at odds with his second in command, Cynthia, who is more serious. However, when the situation becomes serious, he wouldn't hesitate to go all out with the fight, even though most of the times, he and the army would fail against the most cunning villains. Cynthia (voiced by Nicole Oliver) - The oldest sibling of the pastel snail siblings and the second in command in Area 2.1. Unlike her peers, she takes her job seriously with her massive experience in combat and cold and strict demeanor, with some paranoia sprinkled in. One that, even Schalot himself is afraid of her on a bad day. On the flipside, the pastel green snail is a very protective and mature person, willing to sacrifice herself for her loved ones. Especially her young siblings, though she is protective towards her youngest brother, who is more reckless and impulsive.

Sky (voiced by Vincent Tong) - A pastel blue snail, who is the older twin of Melody. He is a very creative and generous being, who works really hard in form of his artworks and masterpieces. Sky is also protective to Melody, who can be a bit reckless, but not as much as his youngest brother, Schalot. However, being an artist would also leave him anxious and somewhat of a control freak, but despite all of this, his loved ones and friends would help Sky overcome his fears and bring out more inspiration. Melody (voiced by Kelly Sheridan) - A very lively and energetic woman with an eye for talent and fashion, since she is a musician and songwriter. This pastel yellow snail is known for her melodic voice, fashionable looks and positive personality. Being the youngest twin of Sky, they would often collaborate each other for many projects. Despite for being a drama queen, her heart is in the right place and truly cares for her siblings. Even though she is not a fighter, when the situation is tight and it involves her loved ones, she wouldn't hesistate to try her best to fight.

Sissy Blakely (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) - Johnny's old rival(/possible love interest?) and an incredibly confident, yet sissy girl. Often seen competing with Johnny, along with her dog, Missy, but this time, they would also often compete in parkour, since she saw Johnny and Dukey doing some sick tricks, before they were sent to Lumina, so the ladies decided to take up parkour as well. When she is not competing, she would try her best to adapt in this new world, until she finds a way back home. In the meantime, she would also have a mutual respect towards Serena, though she would (rarely) comment, if the two have a crush on each other, when the two are together, which both Johnny AND Serena vehemently deny out of embarrasment. Speaking of the latter, Serena would be confused on why they are fighting and would try her best to solve the conflict, even though the situation is far too complex to understand. She does come in a pinch to help them out every now and then.

Gil Nexdor (voiced by Andrew Francis) - A tall teenager with good looks and charm, that even girls and even boys would be fawning over. He's slightly smarter in the show and would even interact with the teenage residents in Lumina, after he got teleported there. He is still friendly towards Johnny and meets his new friends at the same time, though Schalot isn't impressed, due to his stupidity. But unlike his past iteration, he would have more depth to his character and be more interesting.

Herbert Rose (voiced by Brian Drummond) - A middle aged man, who is Serena's father. He is described as a quiet, yet smart and empathetic man, who tries his best to take care of his daughter, after his wife, Delia, went missing under mysterious circumstances. Prior to the incident, he and Serena just moved to Porkbelly and he was about to take a job as a teacher, as Herbert learned about education and psychology. Ever since meeting the Tests, everytime when there is conflict, especially that Serena became friends with the Test siblings, he would act as a mediator, trying to solve the conflict. Mind you, this doesn't happen that often, due to a busy schedule. But despite the new chaotic situation of them adapting in a new galaxy, he hopes, that maybe, Delia would be out somewhere, alive and well. Oh and he is aware about his daughter being a fairy (due to Delia also being a fairy) and is okay, but he is concerned about her safety. Bling-Bling-Boy (voiced by Lee Tockar) - A rich and snobby genius, who also got teleported into the new galaxy. As soon, as he learned about Luminian technology, he started researching about it and even incoorporate elements with his own inventions. Despite being Johnny's enemy, who is deeply in love with Susan, he does like his presence and even hang out with him and Dukey for fun times, even occationally teaming up with them against the other enemies and villains. In other words, he has a hidden soft spot for them and even Schalot, Serena and Ziffy, despite them interfering with his plans. Also despite the fact, that Schalot is not afraid to show his dislike towards Eugene, either by roasts or even attacks, which really annoys him.

Jillian Vegan (voiced by Maryke Hendrikse) - A very closed off and rebellious girl, who wants to build her own image and become independent, much to her dad's dismay. Arriving in Lumina away from her family would allow her to follow her dreams and later reuinite with Johnny and Dukey, while meeting their new friends at the same time. When Dark Vegan returned, tensions will grow, as Jillian tries her best to grow up and become more independent. Only time will tell, if she can achieve her dreams. Orion (voiced by Ian Hanlin) - A really wealthy, yet hard working, courteous and chill, lilac snail, originating from Nox, who is never afraid to show his kindness and generosity to the less fortunate. At a young age, he and his mom fled from his greedy and mean dad, who was running a company and went into hiding out of fear. Unfortunately, she became seriously ill and without any money for healthcare or even some form of help, passed away. From this point on, Orion decided to help the less fortunate and with the help of his friends, opened up a company, focusing on wellness products. At one point, he met Schalot, who was haunted by his own guilt, after his berzerk form nearly destroyed Starfall CIty and hurting his friends and loved ones and helped him heal and overcome his demons. His efforts worked, when the pink snail managed to stop Orion's father, exposing his shady tactics and saving the employees and other people from his grasp. Ever since then, he's been in touch with Schalot and became very close friends. But maybe there's more to this, than it seems... There will also be other characters, the heroes are interacting in Lumina, ranging from Spritz (voiced by Cathy Wesluck), an owner of a milkshake parlor, to various Luminians and other aliens. Most of them will be one-offs though, with some exceptions.

As for the villains, I already made a post, right here. All my points about them will still stand, apart from Terios being more chivalrous and noble.

What are the themes and goals?

As I mentioned before, the main goal of "Power Up!" is to flesh out the series in a new way, making complex stories and themes, while also keeping the good things about the series and eliminating its weakpoints, both the original and revival had. It also needs much more needed improvements, like better written characters, a more exciting and fantastical world or in this case, a new galaxy for them to explore, having mature storylines with higher stakes and lessions throughout the way, a connected storyline (i.e, finding a way back home, remembering about the past to improve themselves, etc.) Aside from Dukey, most of the characters are quite bland in the two official versions, so another goal is to flesh them out even more, learning more about the new frontier, while also slowly growing up, having more depth and having different morals and goals. This is also a reason, why I introduce those new characters. They'll help them flesh out even more with their interactions and stories for them to listen and learn. For example, Serena would help Johnny to be more considerate to his surroundings with her kindness, Ziffy teaching the sisters to be more optimistic and Schalot helping Dukey to overcome his anxiety. On the flipside, the veterans would also help the newcomers overcome their hurdles in their lives and mature, as the series goes on.

Also, it needs to be better paced, like even when the action will be fast paced, other times, it should be slown down, so that character development would blossom. Not to mention, remove the toilet humor, make the writing more mature and we have something, that can be enjoyed by everyone. That being said, in order to escape from the low-budget past, "Johnny Test: Power Up!" will have better and stronger writing, with three themes being symbols of their new mythos:

Unity - No matter the race and identity, everyone deserves to work and stand together for a better future. Friendships and famiies, as long as they're healthy and really connected, will stand strong against the odds.

Love - Whatever it is self-love, love towards your loved ones and many more, everybody had to embrace themselves to be unique and proud of who they really are. Not to mention, building up confidence and happiness.

Dreams - Even when the world is against it, never give up following for your dreams and keep fighting for it.

On top with those themes, the characters will be alot more fleshed out for this new frontier, with those inspirations for their looks, personalites, etc. listed here:

Johnny - Sonic The Hedgehog (Sonic Prime), his s1 and reboot versions with a few shades of the later seasons, several design elements from Sonic Boom, Luffy (One Piece), Michelangelo (both TMNT 2012 and ROTTMNT)

Dukey - All of his versions in the entire series, Luigi (Super Mario), Yuunagi Tsubasa/Cure Wing (Hirogaku Sky! Pretty Cure)

Susan - All of her versions in the entire series, Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball Z), Donatello (ROTTMNT), Musa (Winx Club)

Mary - Same thing for Susan, Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedeghog), Timmy (Winx Club), Sunset Shimmer (Equestria Girls shorts)

Schalot - Raphael (both TMNT 2003 and 2012), Escargoon (as a design inspiration) (Kirby: Right Back at Ya!) , Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Boom), a few aspects from myself (being an awkward introvert, a phone addict, sensitive side and being the youngest), Batman (but only for parts of the backstory), Strider Hiryu (Strider), Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)

Serena - Flora and Roxy (Winx Club), Nijigaoka Mashiro/Cure Prism (Hirogaku Sky! Pretty Cure), Cream the Rabbit (Sonic the Hedgehog), Clawdeen Wolf (Monster High G3), Liko (Pokémon: Horizons), Akimoto Komachi/Cure Mint (Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!)

Ziffy - Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Navi (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger), Frankie Stein (Monster High G3), Auriana (Lolirock), Smash (Power Rangers: Beast Morphers), XJ9/Jenny Wakeman (My Life as a Teenage Robot)

As I said, the premise of the show will take place mostly in Lumina. There will be times, they had to travel to other planets and galaxies for finding the others, doing some errands or just to take a break (Although evil wouldn't let them rest so easily of course, so they have to watch out.) The team will reside in Starfall City, a futuristic and eco-friendly city, filled with skylines, hover vehicles, glimmering fauna, elevators connecting ground and sky level, sleek buildings and many more, all connected with a combination of highly advanced technology and magic. Inspired by mega cities, like Tokyo, Zenith from Winx Club and the Y2K aesthetic, this city will be the new hub and playground for some parkour and extreme sports. Its residents are incredibly diverse with anthomorphic aliens and mythical beings, all with their own mythos and culture. As for Lumina itself, it'll have luscious and sparkling fauna with jungles, seas and so on. It also has a vere breathable atmosphere.

The show will be inspired by Sonic Synergy (basically a very early version of Sonic Boom), Sonic Prime, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sonic X, Ratchet and Clank, Rise of the TMNT, Power Rangers, Winx Club, Danny Phantom, Glitch Techs, TMNT 2012 and several shonen elements, all while being influenced by the first season of the original and the revival in some aspects.

In conclusion, the themes, ideas, stories and mythos would help the series evolve and adapt to modern times, removing its weaknesses, while keeping the good things about it in a fine balance. This has been a dream project of mine, I really want to make it fully offical and have to keep fighting for it, in order to shine brighter than the stars.

More concept info coming soon and Happy New Year, everyone!

[tactician]

yesterday i managed to hatch a shiny horsea in my copy of emerald version!!!!!! this shiny is one that means a WHOLE LOT to me for so many reasons and i am absolutely gonna start up what will hopefully be a saga of posts related to him.

the gist of it is that this little one is, first and foremost, a nod to my beloved dnd oc, reides. secondly, he is gonna be my first earnest attempt at the ribbon master challenge!

the ribbon master challenge is a really fun - yet really difficult! - challenge which consists of trying to get as many marks/ribbons on one pokemon as possible (basically, from their origin generation to the current one). there are many resources related to this challenge, my favorite one being athis' ribbon handbook. you can see a lot of people talking about this challenge on the pokemon ribbons subreddit as well as in random places online (like this post right here LMAO). there are also quite a few videos about ribbon master challenge attempts on youtube, too; again, my personal favorite one is the story of toast the scizor.

anyway, i talked about potentially attempting the challenge back when i successfully manipulated gen4's rng for a shiny of my fav mythical pokemon, manaphy - which i also named reides, as i associate manaphy with him. i eventually strayed from that idea, however, because i really, really want my first ribbon master to have the gen3 ribbons; most importantly, the hoenn contest ones. (this is 100% just a personal thing - ribbon masters that are from gen4 onwards are obviously still incredibly awesome and i still wanna try the challenge out on my beloved manaphy at some point. i just have a lot of nostalgia associated with gen3's ribbons so i want my first attempt at the challenge to include the grind for them.) that being said, i didn't want to stray from the initial concept of putting it on a pokemon that i associate with reides, so…

that's where this horsea comes into the picture!

i've associated reides with the whole horsea line for a loooong time - longer than i've associated him with manaphy, tbh! i even have a post mentioning that i hatched eggs for a shiny one - also named reides - in ultra sun. i struggled a lot with if i wanted to evolve that horsea fully or not, ultimately deciding to keep him as a baby. but i always wanted to catch another one which i'd evolve fully. i mean... look at this thang.

shiny kingdra absolutely rules, and the royal theme that it has going on is, again, very much up reides' alley. it seemed like my procrastination re: actually hunting for that second shiny horsea actually paid off, in this case, because i realized it'd be sick if my ribbon master was a shiny kingdra. that way, my other shiny horsea can remain as a unique hunt, too.

beyond my shiny requirement, i wanted the horsea to be male, like reides, and for him to have a nature that suited reides' personality. since i already have a brave manaphy, i was torn between quirky or bold for him, but i ultimately decided on bold. so... a shiny, bold, male horsea was the goal. this isn't an impossible shiny hunt by any means, but... well... <3 let's just say i wasn't in the mood to phase on tons and tons of different shiny horseas that didn't meet my somewhat-specific criteria. frankly speaking, it would sour the entire experience for me. add emerald's wacky rng to the picture and it just... wasn't fun to even think about. so i figured that i'd take yet another page from my manaphy's book and that i'd rng manipulate for my ideal horsea. furthermore, i decided that i'd try to hatch my horsea in a cool spot - hence the 'seafloor cavern' met data. (sadly, since i'm transferring him up through the generations, this data will eventually get replaced with a blanket 'hoenn region' line - but i still wanted to do it!!!)

once i had a general Plan of Action, it was time to execute it. a few weeks ago, i made a post about learning how to rng manip in gen3. in that post, i showed you guys my shiny treecko, ivy, and vaguely mentioned in the tags that having the means of shiny hunting in emerald opened up a lot of ribbon master challenges... but i didn't mention my true goal of learning the inner workings of gen3; namely, reides. LMAO. by shiny hunting for that treecko, i was able to deduce my tid and sid combo, which would aid me in my future rng-based shiny hunts in that particular game file.

i then had to play through the entirety of emerald's plot. at first, i dreaded this, since i wanted to grab my horsea asap and get right into the challenge - but it was a TON of fun! i kept practicing different rng hunts and ended up getting four more rng-based shinies in addition to my shiny starter and reides. plus it was just plain nice to re-visit gen3's storyline after all these years. once i got the super rod in mossdeep city (since horsea is a super rod-specific encounter) and my seventh badge (since i needed to be able to use dive so that i could get to the seafloor cavern), i caught a male horsea and a female horsea, popped 'em in the daycare, and - through MUCH trial and error which could, in itself, end up as a huge post - managed to hatch this perfect little horsea.

given all of the setup that went into getting reides, i knew that i wanted him to be on my very first team that beat the hall of fame. it was only fair, considering that the team pretty much existed because of him! and, while this post is focused on reides, trust & believe that i still developed a TON of fondness for the rest of my lovely storyline team! i couldn't have possibly gotten reides his first ribbon without the help of ivy the sceptile, popsicle the cradily, metal the aggron, chimney the camerupt, and miku the flygon!

next on the emerald agenda is ev training reides. i am going to be training him alongside a latios named albatross, a beldum named origin, and a bagon whose name is currently pending as i try to think of something! i've never ev trained in a gen3 game before, so... fingers crossed that it goes well and that i can keep count of the encounters without fuckin up! ;LDFSGKD;FKG i'm ev training so that i can get the effort ribbon on reides but ALSO so that we are at full power for taking on emerald's battle tower afterwards. i'm SUPER nervous about doing this, as i have never attempted the battle tower before, but i'm hoping that it'll go okay!

in addition to aaaaall of this chaos going on in emerald version, i dusted off my good ol' wii and started a replay of an INCREDIBLEEEE game called pokemon colosseum, since i'll need to send reides over there eventually to get a ribbon for clearing 100 battles in a row over on mt battle. (luckily, i still have the necessary hardware from my childhood for doing that.) mt battle is going to be seeing a lot of me, as i'll also need to grind for pokecoupons there so that i can buy special berries which will help him in becoming a contest pro back over in hoenn. colosseum's plot also gave me the chance to soft-reset for a bold-natured suicune that will probably get ev trained too, and who will likely join reides in all of his future battle tower endeavors. i named that suicune after reides' in-universe god, 'persana.'

so... yeah! the setup for this challenge alone has been A Lot but i can honestly say that i've been having so much fun with it. i feel like i'm interacting with like... every single aspect of gen3 at the moment. it's totally revitalized my love for pokemon as a whole and i'm really hoping that i can stick to it and complete the challenge in its entirety!

[sheikah-simp]

Exile//Vilify, One Year Retrospective

Well folks, as of May 31st, 2023, it has officially been one whole year since the last update for Exile//Vilify was released, and it simultaneously feels like way longer than that and not very long at all. But, in celebration, I wanted to take some time to look back on my thoughts and ideas and processes that led up to the creation of this story, and share some appreciation for all that’s happened since then.

First of all, this book is massive, and it was way more massive than I thought it would be when I set off to write it. It is almost as long as Tolkein’s “Two Towers” and other similar novels—not what I was expecting when I went in to write an origin story about a character completely lacking in personality with no backstory. But if there is one thing I do, and do well, it is commit to the bit. And here, the bit was doing justice to a character I saw having so much potential but was, quite literally, doomed by the narrative, and built to be a throwaway character for a spinoff game consumed by his own hubris and never developed or mentioned again. And I thought to myself, “Man, that sucks! What would it be like to be him?” And the answer is: it would suck a lot, actually. But also in that vein, I still wanted to portray how his life was still a life worth living, and his story, one that was worth telling. Even if it is one that doesn’t “matter” to Nintendo or the LOZ franchise as a whole, even if it’s one I had to entirely make up grasping for straws, it is one that mattered to us. And that’s kind of the thesis of the entire book.

Many of you know I’m a Pokemon writer (hence username) and I never really intended to write in other fandoms, but I dont know what I expected. Something about this character just fucking gripped me, and I couldnt let myself stop until his story was out of me. But the thing is, I wasn’t super interactive within the Pokemon fandom. I had actually just ended a huge general life hiatus for mental health and had made a resolution to get back to what I love. The result of that was the completion of The Devil and the Dead Sea and the start of my hardenshipping series. But I just kind of dropped that book on AO3 when it was complete and then didnt interact with anyone. I wrote it and then uploaded it all at once, which didnt give me a lot of time or opportunity to develop a community and discuss updates. I had a few people who reached out, but nothing close to the type of community I’ve felt now.

I have been so full of love and blown away by the support I’ve received from this small but mighty niche in the community. So first of all, I just want to say thank you. I'm so glad that I could bring this story to life and so blessed to think of how many people it's touched. So now I just want to take a moment and look back on the book and how it started, what things changed, and where it's going and what's happening in the future.

Exile//Vilify's conception

Does it feel like a trial? Does it trouble your mind the way you trouble mine?

The band, The National, has inspired I think all of my fics to this point. After playing Age of Calamity, Astor had been swimming around so much in my head, especially since so much of his mysteries were unanswered. And one day blorbo was on my brain in just the correct way at just the correct time when I happened to be listening to a completely unrelated song from Portal 2, Exile Vilify. The book, of course, has nothing to do with Portal, but on that particular day, the lyrics really spoke to me of Astor and his potential struggles, and I became fascinated with the idea of him and his ideological square-off against the king: a man who was so set on defying prophecy and the man who, well, prophesied it.

So Exile//Vilify was born, to me, actually in the concept of a butting of heads between King Rhoam and Astor. I saw the song lyrics as a dialogue between the two of them, mutual antagonistic (but also troubled) feelings shared between them. So King Rhoam was actually going to have a much bigger role in my original vision for Exile//Vilify. In fact there was a toss up in my mind between whether or not he'd have an odd homoerotic rivalry thing for the king, or his crush on the queen, but--

But the simple fact of the matter is I found Rhoam super unlikeable and sadly couldn't find a good way to get into his head in a way that would be sustainable for a novel. So while the concept is what initially gripped me, Exile//Vilify ended up going in a different direction, although the inception of that concept is definitely still there. The closest I've gotten to writing my desired dynamic between Astor and the King was in "Prophecies to Waterfowl," a one-shot in my short stories compilation Stories from Exile. ("Prophecies to Waterfowl," aside from "Voe and You," is my favorite of my stories in that compilation).

Other things that were cut/changed in the writing process

When I realized the fic was getting as massive as it was, I wanted to streamline its focus and decided to cut down on some plotlines. I could have just left it was it was, because fic writing is about being self-indulgent, but I want to challenge myself to be a better writer than that. (Not that there is anything wrong with just writing to be self-indulgent, but I use my fics as my place to practice and get better, so I need to.. actually practice).

One of the biggest things that was therefore cut was the relationship between Astor and Ganondorf, and the implications of Astor's past lives. How Astor became the one selected by Ganondorf. Because in the fic, it just ended up seeming random, which was intentional. Fate is merciless and random and does not pick and choose, while also picking and choosing.

There were going to be more Astor and Ganon dream scenes planned, and a plotline of Astor's "awakening" somewhere along the line where he unlocked visions of his past as a different kind of royal seer--the seer to Ganondorf. There are hints of this in the dreams, but nothing concrete.

Still, the idea of what "could be" still fascinates me, and I love the idea of exploring the idea of Astor as Ganondorf's reincarnated seer, and I have a one shot that I am currently working on that explores this very concept, and can be considered canon (or semi-canon) to Exile//Vilify. I hope to have that out... soon. Ish. Eventually. I have a lot cooking right now.

Other honorable mentions:

Astor was going to have more blatant romantic feelings for Rose.

Astor was going to have more blatant romantic (or complicated) feelings for Rhoam.

The contention between Ganondorf trying to push Astor into evil and Thelem agreeing to block Ganon from Astor in the meantime was also going to be explored more, but Ganondorf got his last laugh on that eventually.

Even more fucking Order of the Seers stuff (culture, rituals, etc)

Chapters of Astor stalking Link and Zelda leading up to the awakening of the Calamity

More Yiga scenes (my little teen Kohga gives me oxygen) and Astor building a cult following of people who worship Ganon

Astor having basically a weird prophetical drug addiction to the "high" of witnessing the Great Calamity in his visions (this is kind of implied in the book, but not expanded on)

All of these things, ultimately, were great ideas, and things I'd love to explore and maybe will some day if I'm ever inspired enough on any of them to write anything concrete. They were just things that slightly detracted from the story I wanted to tell. But that's why I keep Stories from Exile around.

So What's Next?

As I mentioned, I have a few things Exile//Vilify related still in the works. The first is that Astor/Ganondorf one shot I was talking about. (Likely going to be called "Prophet to a Gerudo King.") I also have a secret surprise fic commission that is also Astor/Ganondorf related and involves an AU and the Stories from Exile universe ;) (that one will hopefully be out soon).

I have a lot of things on my Stories from Exile list that were not out yet, and I may revisit them if I'm feeling or have the time. I'd love to keep updating that one every now and again, now that Exile//Vilify is complete, just to keep the world alive.

I also am planning on doing a limited, hard-cover release of Exile//Vilify to celebrate its publication. I have a great team of people who have been slowly helping me copyedit this massive beast so I can get it printed from a self-publishing company. It will not be publicly listed for sale, as it is illegal for me to sell or make money off of it. This hardcover will only be available to obtain for those who contact me on tumblr during a specific time frame. That time frame is not now. When I have a more clear set date for that, I will circulate posts. You will have to cover the cost of shipping and maybe some of the printing depending on what the cost is on my end, but the book will be free. It will likely be 500+ pages. It will likely happen by the end of the year.

That said, as the book nears being printed, if you would like to lend a hand proofreading, there is still time!! Please just DM me. You will have the option to be credited in the hardcover if you'd like.

And finally, you'll still be able to find me here, and updating in my other writing. I still really love receiving asks about this book, so please never be a stranger to my inbox. Sometimes I have more energy and power to reply than others, but every ask always makes my day.

I have planned "Trouble Will Find Me," which is a Thelem and Azelphir prequel that will detail some of the stuff that I didn't have time to develop about the Order of the Seers, and Thelem's origin story. This one I might just release all in one chunk - uncertain right now. At that point though... isn't that kind of just original fiction.... set in the BOTW world???? Unsure.

I'll also be returning to my Pokemon series, The Dead Sea Trilogy, if you have any interest in that fandom or my other writing.

That's all I have for you! Thank you all so much for an amazing year (really more than that, since I've been posting about this big honkin' thing since December 2020...) and thank you so much for being such a great community. I can't wait to see where else this journey leads.

[mdhwrites]

What Would Corrupting Die (up to the end of character creation) Look Like Without Input?

Someone suggested that I potentially do a rewrite of the whole story that was my take if it weren't a Choices story once I was done. That is actually a compelling question though, uh, looks at how long the story already is Yeah, that'd be a lot of work for not a lot of point sadly. It did make me want to talk about how making it comment driven like this does change things. After all, while these sorts of stories absolutely exist, they're the minority for a lot of reasons. So, how much would change?

A lot. Like... A LOOOOOOOT.

Or maybe not?

If that sounds weird, it maybe shouldn't. A comment driven story is something you genuinely have to treat as different than a regular story. That malleability and openness to being influenced is going to inherently change a lot of things you do so even if two stories follow a similar concept and structure, there will be marked differences just by the fact that how the two are setup. The demands of one sort of story versus another.

As an example: I probably wouldn't have done these character creation chapters. Or they would have been a lot more awkward. Jacob still needs those early, corrupting roles to prepare him for play after all but I've used the structure of Choices to get around a LOOOOOT of talking. Jacob doesn't have to tell each girl about the races, classes, etc. because those happen between chapter/choice breaks essentially. You see the outcome, not the setup because then choice is the setup. I can have them have an idea before coming and that's what they discuss but then they focus more on the upcoming character rather than revealing more about themselves and who they are. I can of course mix the two but it also could become even more routine than these character creation chapters already were without a hook of the different decisions being made to keep people invested.

It'd be a problem I'd have had to tackle in a vastly different way just because the inherent pacing of the story is different. Because my tools and needs are different. After all, the choices on the characters here allow for a cascade effect into the game itself. What situations any character gets into is going to be dependent on the character they're playing. That makes it so that these early chapters will be all the more satisfying for the audience in a way that is just not a thing in a traditional story because you know I chose all the classes, races, etc. It's less important so spending THIRTY THOUSAND WORDS on this makes literally no sense. Ten thousand at most would be right for my style so as to get to the real meat of things.

And mind you, even with these justifications, I have been SWEATING BULLETS about these chapters. That they are causing too much focus on this element and the core thrust of the story might be lost. That it's maybe too much time gamifying things. That it's too much build up so the payoff can never measure up to it. Etc. Etc. People seem to be enjoying the pacing, especially helped by me using the time to present compelling characters who interact with Jacob in different ways, but will that make the transition to the smuttier, sillier times of the actual game harder because it's no longer what people want from this story?

This is why this question is hard for me to answer without just doing the original version. These are things I could only figure out by feeling out each potential option and seeing what feels natural or satisfying. It'd be a rare time where I could easily see myself having to rewrite a large swathe because whatever direction I take just doesn't cohere into anything that makes sense. It's almost like writing stories, and especially ensemble stories like these, are hard and so many choices you make about them affect just the inherent pacing required for your story at a fundamental level.

It's a mess, just like this blog is. Sorry about that. See you all next tale and I hope you all enjoy Corrupting Die as we finally get to begin the game.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[scarlet--wiccan]

Gillen’s original plan involved 3-5 more issues of Charles chilling alone on Krakoa I don’t think giving him more issues would have fixed the ending…

I used to like Gillen but hated how xmf ended and I feel like the art alone carried this issue. I still don’t really get what Enigma brought to the table for the overarching story. It was an interesting concept but at no point was I actually invested beyond the twist with Doug. I feel like it caused more issues than it solved wrt the Phoenix lore

Well, I didn't say I wanted the Fall period to go on longer, I said I wished that the Krakoan era could have continued for another year or two before ending. I said that another year or two of material set within the Krakoan context would have made this period feel more substantial. My concern, with Krakoa barely lasting five years, is that it won't stand the test of time the way other iconic X-Men eras have done. And I don't even like everything about Krakoa, I just feel like if something is gonna take this big of a swing and have this much potential, I want it to have a truly lasting impact on the way X-Men is understood. Right now, with From The Ashes it doesn't feel like that's going to happen, and I wonder, if we'd be able to stay in this era little longer and explore more of what made it interesting, could that have been avoided? Could we have reached a more satisfying conclusion?

I found the Sinister(s) and Enigma stuff really intersting. When it was clever, it was the type of clever I really enjoy, which is pretty much the relationship I have with Gillen, but I agree that most of those characters have reached deeply unsatisfying resolutions. I'm not a Phoenix expert, but I thought that Gillen did a suprisingly elegant job of weaving so much of its history and mythology into a clean cycle, and it reaches a conclusion that, to me, felt thematically resonant to what both Jean and Hope have been striving for throughout the Krakoan era. Unfortunately, the road we had to take to get here was kind of a slog-- I have also found it difficult to maintain interest and investment over the last few months, and I really don't like the decisions that have been made with Krakoa and the WHR.

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (04/22/24)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang (5/10)

This book was a huge disappointment for me. It's flaws are many, despite the interesting concept, and it ultimately lays in how underdeveloped this book is. It could have used so much editing when it comes to the writing, which is repetitive and trying far too hard to be flowery. The main character and the love interest had a lot of potential in the set-up, but the main character is just sort of bland and blank with an easily manipulated moral code and the love interest is...a manipulative asshole but it's okay because he likes her? The worldbuilding grabbed my interest, but it's inserted in such awkward ways and not explored nearly as much as I'd like. If you'd like to see more in-depth thoughts about this book, check out my full review here.

Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross (4/10)

Half this book is marketing for other franchises. Get this woman a sponsorship with Marvel and Star Wars stat. There are only so many times you can reference pop culture and have the main character gush about her favorite ship (Reylo) or superhero (Wolverine) before I start to feel completely detached from the story since more time is devoted to pitching other media than plot or character development. This story is far too drawn out and obviously has just the barest semblance of plot just to keep the main characters from happiness for a bit longer, which leads to a contrived and boring twist. There are a lot of scenes devoted to obviously setting up all the other couples in this series, and there's just really nothing original about the story. At least the leads had some chemistry.

The Summer Queen by Rochelle Hassan (9/10)

This is the sequel to The Buried and the Bound, and I definitely enjoyed myself. As usual, the dynamics between the main three are really good, platonically and romantically, and I think getting each of their perspectives really contributes to that. I loved how much direct faerie interaction there was in this book, and we got to learn a lot more about how magic works, especially Aziza's. I thought the Hunt would be a much larger part of the book than it was---it felt a little rushed---but other than that this was a strong novel! It also has more of a direct line into what will eventually be the third book, giving it more of an overarching plot.

Island of Graves by Lisa McMann (CR, 18%)

I haven't touched this in a week :D

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (CR, 10%)

I'm trying with this one, I really am, but I'm not sure if it's the writing or that I'm still not sure what the actual plot of this is, but so far this book is astronomically boring. I probably would have DNF'd it by now if it weren't for a book club.

The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic (CR, 1%)

I've just barely opened this one, but I'm really excited. My relationship with All for the Game is a complicated one because I both love it and think it is horrendously written, but one thing I love about it is the characters, so I'm ready to see them again! I can't wait to learn about Jean and get his story.