#I guess my fairy tale ending is a fucked up love story

[blackbutterflypriestess]

Tag Game: 9 Favorite Characters

Every time I escape the hole @pillowfriendly is there to pull me back in. Stole her rules of sticking to one character per franchise.

Daeran Arendae - Wrath of the Righteous

Hedonist. Ethically bankrupt. Walking problematic. I love him. Best romance subplot in an rpg as he actually tries to woo the player. Love doesn't change him but he changes for love. When he ascends to godhood he actively ignores prayers but smites those who talk any shit about his spouse. Has a traumatic backstory as expected but doesn't neuter his character or development.

Bayonetta - Bayonetta

Tells all the gods above and the demons below to fuck off with a combination of high caliber and fem. There has always been a lot of discourse around her but I honest love that there's a female character whose femininity solely for herself and not in-spite of how much ass she kicks. She's an icon and I wish I could pull off purple eye shadow like that.

Raven - Gravity Rush

Goth girl with the power to manipulate gravity's effect on her and the surrounding area. Not super complex as a character but something about her design and dead-pan personality has always stuck with me. Also has a great enemies to not-explicit-but-I-mean-come-on-it's-obviously-sapphic-coded relationship with the main character Kat.

A2 - Nier Automata

Definition of suffering from success. The only survivor of the ill-fated YoRHa Pear Harbor descents and so good at her job that future YoRHa models were based on her. Absolutely lost her shit when her girlfriend died and began a one-woman crusade against the machine beings. We stan a woman with goals. When other characters are blowing themselves (and their skirts) up as their ultimate move, A2 just goes sicko mode. We're introduced to her when she murders a baby but does it count if the baby was also a robot and also super old? I will never forgive FFXIV for not including her in the Shadowbringers raid story.

Balalaika - Black Lagoon

Afghan War USSR Sniper turned leader of the Russian mob in Thailand. Is and always will be my go to template for the "motherly villain" archetype. I believe that scientifically they are known as the "Dommy Mommy." Watching unambiguously evil characters still be humans is always fun.

Leon S. Kennedy - Resident Evil

Our baby boy. Even when he's super-serious-government-agent-man he just serves so much golden retriever energy. Resident Evil is at its best when it treats the zombie survival scenario seriously but adds a dash of levity and one-liners to its characters. Leon embodies that.

Beatrice - Umineko no Naku Koro Ni

Beatrice is the culmination of my weird addiction to characters with unhealthy love languages. Reality warping witch born from the existentialism that comes with trauma that plays horrific death games with the family of the man she loves all as a means to communicate with him where words fail? Yes please.

Faith Connors - Mirror's Edge

Mirror's Edge is one of my favorite games of all time. The use of color, sound effects, and music always made me feel like I was seeing The City specifically as Faith sees it. This connection created a deeper bond and feeling of embodiment than other first-person games, especially at that time. Her story may not be the deepest or most complex but is so memorable. Plus I still really want her tattoo. The King in Yellow/Hastur - Various Horror Contexts

There's something so fascinating about the horror of The King in Yellow. Consumption brought on by enui, the loss of an artist to unreality, the fear that a single, sound, word, symbol, or thought could poison and entire society. Remember! DONT. SAY. HIS. NAME. Honorable Mentions:

The Princess - Slay the Princess Eda - Black Lagoon Monica - Hooky Neon Red - Neon White I have now completed my eldritch bargain with @pillowfriendly. @gunkreads I don't know if you fully comprehend what you have awoken. @iwishtobeafish, @notimpossibell, @crowbandit your ritual sacrifices are required.

[metalandmagi]

Romance Anime Starter List

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick and tired of seeing “Top ___ Best Anime of All Time” lists that are nothing but shounen. So, with "My Happy Marriage" getting a little attention from the anime community, I wanted to put together a list of some romance anime that I consider good “starters” for the genre. Because if I were just now becoming an anime fan, I’d think all there was to offer was shounen action series.

And by “starters” I mean basic stuff that’s not too…out there, and actually involves the characters getting together instead of just harems or using romance as a side plot (sorry Ouran High School Host Club and My Next Life as a Villainess). 

So if you’re new to anime and want stuff that’s not just guys beating the shit out of each other (which is also fun, don’t get me wrong), here are some basics.

Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale- When the pessimistic Tamahiko Shima loses all function in his right arm, his family sends him away to live in the mountains with the cheerful, hard working Yuzuki Tachibana…who was purchased by the Shima family to pay off her family’s debts and basically act as a caretaker/future bride for Tamahiko so they’d never have to deal with him again. It’s a more cheerful version of My Happy Marriage (without the supernatural stuff), except in this one, the guy is the one who has massive self-esteem issues and an abusive family. There are still very serious themes, but ultimately it’s not meant to make you cry every episode. I swear it’s so good, but nobody watched it!

Horimiya- A slice of life in which pretty and popular high school queen bee Hori, finds out her quiet, unassuming classmate Miyamura is hiding piercings and tattoos that could get him expelled. The two gradually find out more about each other and get together in the most realistic way I’ve seen depicted in an anime. It’s also fucking hysterical and genuinely emotional.

Recovery of an MMO Junkie- Another slice of life that focuses on two adults who meet in an MMO game without realizing they also know each other in real life. I don’t want to say much more than that. It’s adorable, and the main character is so relatable it hurts.

Love with Yamada-kun at Level 999- Speaking of MMOs, this is a newer series about Akane Kinoshita, a college first year who’s reeling from a bad break up. In an attempt to get back at her ex, she winds up meeting Akito Yamada, a popular gamer who happens to be in her guild in the MMO they both play at an IRL meetup. The two go from acquaintances to something more as they keep running into each other. Even more relatable main characters and just wholesome relationships all around.

Snow White With The Red Hair- A fantasy in which an apothecary named Shirayuki (meaning, you guessed it, “snow white”) runs away from her home in order to escape becoming the concubine of her town’s prince. While fleeing, she is rescued by Zen, the prince of a neighboring country, and she ends up becoming an herbalist to repay him. It's super cute with some genuinely swoon worthy moments and a couple that just works so well together. I have a habit of comparing this to Akatsuki no Yona, even though the two aren’t really that alike. This is more romance driven while Akatsuki no Yona is more of a serious historical fantasy with romance elements (Yona manga is amazing, but the anime barely scratches the surface, so that’s why I didn’t include it).

Sasaki to Miyano- When the shy, easily flustered Miyano meets Sasaki, a cool “delinquent” upperclassmen, the two end up bonding over manga…specifically BL manga. That’s right, Miyano is a fudanshi, but due to his small stature and somewhat feminine appearance, he’s constantly trying to convince others that he’s not interested in having his own love story where he’d be reduced to a stereotypical doe-eyed uke. But as Sasaki and Miyano spend more time together, they realize that what they have is more than friendship, and they have to come to terms with their own perception of gay relationships. This is my favorite romance of all time. It’s a slow burn, but boy is it worth it. Their relationship is so natural and realistic, just like Horimiya. Just two people hanging out and bonding over things the way people do in real life!

Given: The story of some boys in a band with trauma. Enough said. It's great. Go watch it.

Bloom Into You- Yuu Koito is a high school girl who’s been waiting her whole life for her own perfect romance to start…but when she receives a confession, she realizes she doesn’t know how to respond when she’s just not into the guy. And then she gets another confession…this time from the cool student council president Touko Nanami, who basically jumpstarts her lesbian awakening. Very cute story about how we perceive the concept of love vs actually feeling it. Also has a canonically aro/ace side character, so that’s a win for me. Another show like this is Adachi to Shimamura (but I honestly don’t remember much about it. It just didn’t stick with me as much).

Ore Monogatari- Takeo Gouda is a tall, bulky high school first year with a sensitive heart of gold. He wants nothing more than to find his own true love, but most girls are intimidated by his enormous stature, and they end up falling for his conventionally attractive friend instead. That is, until he meets the tiny, adorable Rinko Yamato. He falls in love instantly, but he’s sure she’s interested in his best friend like everyone else, so he vows to help get them together, even though his heart is breaking. Peak himbo behavior. Pure of heart, dumb of ass.

Yuri on Ice- Yes it’s the gay figure skating anime everyone knows. And yes it’s a fucking romance, okay? I will die on this hill. The romance between Viktor and Yuri is just as important as the plot!

Kaguya-sama Love Is War- Two insanely smart high school students both have a crush on the other, but since they’re…you know…high schoolers, neither of them wants to admit it first. So they come up with increasingly convoluted plans to get the other to confess first. This will go down as one of the best of all time. It’s a hilarious yet poignant modern classic.

Fruits Basket- I’ve talked about it before and I’ll talk about it again. A romance “comedy” that slowly morphs into a drama about a girl named Tohru who finds herself living with the mysterious Sohma family after her mother dies. Little does she know, the Sohmas are the victims of a  (somewhat silly, but ultimately tragic) curse that she must fight to break. Even though I’m more into it for the family drama, the romance is still top tier and plays an important role in the story. This is my second favorite anime of all time, and it’s a classic for a reason. If anyone hasn’t watched it yet, GO WATCH IT! IT WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!

And now for some honorable mentions that didn't quite fit into the regular list:

Ride Your Wave- A movie about a surfer who falls in love with a firefighter……and I’m not going to say any more than that. Go into it blind. If you like stuff like Your Name, this is a good one to watch.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun- A comedy about a high school girl who finds out the upperclassman she has a crush on is actually a shoujo manga artist, and no matter how she tries to confess to him, he just never gets it.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague- A slow burn slice of life that focuses on a guy with ice powers who has a crush on his coworker. That’s it. That’s the show. When I say slow, I mean SLOW. It’s perfectly cute and fluffy, but my god does it take forever to get anywhere with these two.

Skip to Loafer- A high strung, small town girl decides to go to high school in Tokyo, where she meets a variety of classmates, including the laid back Sousuke Shima. The unlikely pair become friends, and soon enough, she starts to feel something more than friendship. The only reason I didn’t include it in the main list is because they don’t get together by the end of the first season, but it’s still really cute (also canonically trans character for the win!?)

So that’s my starter list. And no, I didn’t include Toradora, even though it’s a classic. I know it’s blasphemous, but I like it more as a comedy than a romance. It kinda lost me with the ending. But anyway, maybe someone will find something they like. Or maybe you'll just want to roast me and my picks ���

[loth-creatures]

I’d love to hear your wall of text about the Sion’s voyage!

Aight, so if there's one thing I hated about the show it's that the journey to a whole ass new galaxy felt like it took 5 minutes. So in my star war it takes roughly 7 weeks and it fucking SUCKS

Disclaimer; this is just a huge mess from my head, nothing is set in stone, and I'm only really planning to comicify the last few parts ;)

Also cw for some implied self-harm ideation, terrible coping mechanisms, deteriorating mental health, violence and injuries (just mentioned, not in detail)

To set the scene, they're using the training/rec room as Sabine’s prison bc Wolfbine is too big for the actual brig lol. Much to the entire crew's irritation. The first week or two they just handcuff her in a corner at blasterpoint whenever they want to use it I guess, and find a closet to lock loose equipment in. At least she gets some entertainment. She probably also gets beat up a few times (you should see the other guy) for commenting on people's techniques. But eventually they decide she probably won't try anything and stop caring she's there, so she's left alone for the most part.

She spends a lot of time working out, bc otherwise she is strongly considering bashing her head into the wall. Having to sit alone as a human and pace in circles as a wolf for days on end with the weight of her decision and all kinds of fresh guilt is doing terrible things to her head...She is also spending a lot of time trying and failing not to sob and scream in the shower when no one's around. There is also a viewport in the rec room and Sabine spends an unhealthy amount of time staring into the rainbow swirl of hyperspace. She can't tell whether or not she's hallucinating the strange shapes that occasionally drift into view, singing strange songs that she can feel more than hear. It reminds her of the ocean and she shudders and dreams of drowning, being crushed by the depths. And she dreams of Ezra alone and lost in this void. There's no easy way to break free of such thoughts when she's essentially trapped in a fish bowl.

Meanwhile, Shin hates Sabine even more now for making her a Wolfwalker. She is not adjusting well to turning into a giant beast every time she tries to sleep and on a cramped vessel with little space to stretch those legs. Having been bitten only just before boarding the Sion, she hasn't had the chance to run wild for miles with the wind in her fur; all she knows is that the journey feels twice as long and horrid when she's consious 24/7. Baylan, on the other hand, is like DO YOU REALIZE HOW AWESOME THIS IS?! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING HER. He's not jealous persay, but. Well. Careful what you wish for...

Wolf Sabine and Shin are both getting major zoochosis smh. It's a miracle Shin hasn't killed a random crew member yet. Wolfbine behaves for maybe a week before she starts chewing up the flooring and howling and screaming husky style just to be a little shit. See how long it takes before someone threatens to shoot her, muzzle her, throw her out the airlock (not long). She can't afford to antagonize the crew too much bc there is only one person on the entire ship who wants her there and he has limited authority. Baylan is quick to remind her of this.

He also makes several attempts to talk to her and get on better terms, as he would like to learn more about the wolves. He tells her of the old fragments of stories of Wolfwalkers he found in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and his facsination with them and how chasing such tales lead to his other ambitions. Lowkey info-dumping about all the fairy-tales and mythalogical stuff that Shin never took an interest in. Sabine is deathly bored enough to tolerate it to extent, but she is not forgiving him for 'killing' Ahsoka, for digging in her head, for putting her in this situation, and she is absolutely kicking herself for having bitten Shin. For letting anyone affiliated with the Empire close to Lothal's secrets. Too her it's put a deep crack through her promise to protect Lothal, perhaps not as much as having given Thrawn a way home, but she's going to try her damnest to undo that one, and shoves that looming guilt aside as best she can, instead spiraling about the fact that she made Shin a Wolfwalker and short of killing her there is no undoing that. So most of her conversations with Baylan end with telling him to go fuck himself.

Just now realizing I've never gone into detail about why Sabine bit Shin. It was a complete accident. Split second reaction out of pain after taking another small slice from Shin’s lightsaber during their fight on Seatos, which she was able to heal herself but it slowed her down enough for Shin to escape. With a nasty little nip to the arm.

That all said Sabine does not want to kill Shin, in fact she's just starting to feel sorry for her. Shin might be all MY ARCH NEMESIS SABINE WREN, but from the beginning Sabine is just like ugh can this random chick stop making my life harder 🙄

And if she's this miserable as a wolf rn, she can imagine what Shin's going through as a first timer, which is all her fault :( plus the fact that as wolves they are instinctively drawn to other wolves and each of their suffering seems to exacerbate the other's. They are both so lonely. 2 weeks in and (human)Sabine is bored and desperate enough to try heckling Shin into sparring with her, on the rare occasion she passes by (Shin’s been avoiding that room). 3 weeks in and Shin's gotten bored and desperate enough to accept the invitation.

I hc that during a friendly match, most Force-users will refrain from using the Force against a non-Force-user for the most part. Shin is not interested in friendly and absolutely hammers Sabine unless Baylan is there to remind her to play nice. Sabine is fine with this. She wants Shin to use the Force (come at me bro). If anyone's gonna be holding back it's Sabine. She wants to get as familiar as possible with Shin's fighting skill and habits without revealing the full extent of her own, while also slowly learning to anticipate and work around Shin’s use of the Force. That way she'll have an advantage the next time they fight for reals. It's difficult to impossible to hold back though, while still presenting enough of a challenge to keep Shin coming back for more.

While Sabine is more experienced, with a wider range of techniques and more refined skill, Shin is still skilled and powerful and it's hardly a fair fight without her armor and gear. She gets her shit rocked.

Sabine is very rarely able to beat Shin when she's using the Force. But she can withstand her. Many of their fights don't end with a quick, decisive victory so much as Shin just wearing Sabine down until she physically can't fight anymore though she refuses to tap out or surrender. Because for one, it's pissing Shin off, which is fun. And for two, ending the fight means returning to the hell that is sitting alone and staring out that window until it makes her sick in the head. She would kill a man for a single can of paint.

While Shin is toying with Sabine and using her as a bunching bag on the basis that she asked for it, keeps asking for it, doesn't know when to give up, and totally deserves it 😤, she is no easy opponent and Shin is continuously shocked by Sabine's ability to survive her. She was supposed to be just another enemy to tear through, yet has survived two murder attempts, and Shin is now stuck with her on this godforsaken ship for some reason, and she doesn't even have the grace to admit when she's defeated. Unstoppable force has met unmovable object.

Shin simultaneously resents and admires her, though doesn't quite respect her yet. And she definitely fears her a little (though she would never admit that). I kinda get the vibe that Shin’s never really lost a fight, has never truly been left for dead at the end of a battle, and the thought terrifies her. Either she is invincible or she is dead. Meanwhile Sabine can be coughing up blood and she'll be like 'cool see you tmr'✌️😎 The fact that Shin probably deleted one of Sabine's kidneys on Lothal and she seems hardly intimidated is well. Intimidating. And annoying. And hot.

I feel like at some point Baylan would point out that Shin could probably learn a thing or two from Sabine if she would stop beating the shit out of her for two seconds. Shin is already aware of that but doesn't want to admit it.

Meanwhile Sabine just doesn't care anymore what happens to her as long as she lives long enough to get off this accursed vessel, doesn't care how hurt she gets, as long as it passes the time and distracts her from her spiraling thoughts. She's offered a medic multiple times and refuses each time. She doesn't want them seeing the full extent of her injuries and then finding out she can heal herself with the wolf-magic, bc the Empire doesn't need to know about that. She only heals the worst injuries and then gaslights Shin about it. 'You did not break any ribs lol I'm fine quit flattering yourself.' Shin’s like how the fuck are you still standing.

This routine of brutally taking out their frustrations on each other is gonna get old though, and is completely unsustainable. Eventually Shin’s convinced that Sabine is just using her for pain. Which isn't wrong even if it's not the only or even primary reason Sabine keeps asking. Sabine calls her out on fighting like a coward and enjoying hurting her anyway. Shin goes and sulks for a few days after that (not without punching Sabine in face first).

Ok time out. What the hell is Shin’s deal anyway. I have only some half-baked ideas about Baylan and Shin’s...thing. They're like the closest thing we've gotten to 'grey Jedi?' I guess? I've been operating under the assumption that that's what they're essentially trying to be (though it's not what they'd call themselves), something more than Jedi, Baylan says, and that 'more' is just chasing power. They will inevitably fall completely. Probably need to watch the show again to get a better read on them tbh but I would rather not. It will hurt my feelings again :( Baylan is like the mountain. He's calm, he's steady and the darkness erodes him slowly. He thinks he's successfully toeing the line with the dark side, but his faults are most evident in Shin's training. She is like a hurricane. The Force rips through her, chaotic and volatile and her control is iron yet brittle. She hasn't known inner peace a day in her life. She just taught herself restraint in the sense that she suppresses her power until she needs it to plow through her enemies. She will fall far more quickly than her master. Baylan's teachings follow the Jedi's to an extent but once the darkness is let in, those lessons become skewed and contradicted, and Shin is a mess because of it, only mirroring her master's control on the surface. Baylan isn't the worst teacher but he is not a good one. While Shin loves and trusts Baylan, she is getting tired and frustrated following his mysterious whispers of legends to an end he never explains clearly. And she is afraid.

ANYWAY, once Shin’s done sulking, one of these days her and Sabine are gonna have a genuine conversation or two and maybe agree to an actually friendly sparring match in which they agree to not just blindly pulverize each other. They take breaks and drink water and tend to their wounds like adults. And Sabine is like you know, we could just. Hang out. As wolves at least. It would suck sooo much less if you'd come play with me as a wolf xoxo. They slowly transition into a more definitive Truce.

Shin does start hanging out in the rec room as a wolf. Sabine still isn't volunteering info on the wolf magic but she does talk about what its like being wolfwalker in general. They tussel and chase each other around, often getting too rough but also loud enough that someone will come yell at them to stfu before they really hurt each other. It's much easier to take naps as wolves too after they've had a chance to burn some energy which makes the entire ship more peaceful.

However, you can't just be the first vessel in centuries to cross between galaxies and not have some kind of disaster right? Well it turns out the strange shapes out the viewport were not hallucinations. The Sion is essentially traveling through the cosmic deep ocean and there are bigger, older things than even the Purrgil out there. Nothing has an interest in attacking the Sion, but at some point something very large drifts close enough to jolt the Sion off course and shorts out the entire system. This ends up forcing them to drop out of hyperspace in the middle of absolute fucking nowhere.

It takes a few days to get the ship running again and recalculate the jump. And here's where Sabine gets to be a hero and earn some respect around here, bc most of their mechanics are droids which also shorted out and lost power. Seeing as they are at risk of losing life support, they let Sabine help with repairs and turns out she's one of the best mechanics on board, even considering the newer technology she doesn't have as much experience with. This also allows her to get more familar with the ship and find the best places to hide out when she eventually makes her escape, while simultaneously giving the crew more reason to let their guard down on her. Including Shin.

That first loss of power is the worst but there are several more blackouts along the way. Human Sabine and Shin are almost getting along now. They still don't like each other but they are hooking up (it does not fix them), and playing card games by flashlight and truth or dare. Maybe Shin even scrounges up some art supplies for Bean. Now she can pass the time hiding sharpie dicks all over the place. They are almost friends by the time there are three days left in the journey and Sabine is preparing to make her move.

Baylan was probably the one to initiate letting Sabine have her lightsaber to sparr occasionally. He wanted to test her metal as well. I think it would be interesting if they sparred a couple times. Baylan is much more chivalrous than Shin and also goes into teacher mode about sword fighting. Sabine isn't a novice anymore but he's still far more experienced. Shin is like no no no we are not adopting her Dad NO-

So anyway escape day comes, Sabine almost cronches Baylan to death, and Shin is beyond angry. Mostly at herself for letting her guard down enough to allow this to happen, she didn't really expect Sabine to not pull something like this in the end right? It's stupid to feel betrayed when it was so inevitable. She is still 100% gonna take it out on Sabine though, especially for almost killing her master.

Despite the escape attempt, Thrawn lets Sabine go as he does in the show, in the hope that she'll lead them to Ezra’s human body. He figures if anyone could find him, it would be a fellow wolfwalker who considers him dear enough to risk the fate of her entire galaxy. Everyone else is like you're just letting her go?? After all that??? And Thrawn's just like lol what did you expect from her? That's Sabine Wren. They probably do attempt to scan the ship for sabotage but it's so huge and her kyber bomb is so small and rudimentary that they don't find it.

At this point, Sabine is run utterly ragged. Bedraggled even. Having not slept in 2 days,(no room to wolf in the Sion's walls so she just had to stay awake 💀) suffered a heart attack at Baylan's hand, and got beat up by WolfShin again. She's visibly about to collapse and Thrawn's probably like 'do you...want to spend the night before you go? And a medic?' He knows he's most likely sending her to perish in the wilderness anyway, but was hoping to give her at least a chance at finding human Ezra for them. Sabine says hell no I'm getting out of here before you change your mind.

She rides until she actually does collapse, hides her body as best she can and continues as a wolf. She figures they let her go for a reason, and plans to run in erratic circles all night every night to hopefully throw them off, only later investigating any clues she finds as human for a few sporadic hours in the day. Thrawn does send Shin to track her at a distance. If she happens to find the trail of Wolf!Ezra first, kill her. This hunt through the wild will go on for several days at least, before there's any sign of Ezra.

[ominous-feychild]

I have a Problem in that I love to over-explain things even when I don't need to.

Especially when I don't need to. 😭

On that note! I'm working on my introduction post again (take a guess how many times I've gone to work on it and then stopped) and I went too in-depth when I should really be focusing on making it shorter, haha.

Except... I don't want to get rid of what I've written, and still want to share it.

SOLUTION!

My Obsessions:

✦ Fantasy, horror, mystery, action, and exploration of realistic characters' reactions to the things they go through.

What I write tends to be a reflection of this. My main works are high fantasies placed in what I feel is a more realistic setting--not as in grimdark "realistic", but places that are very used to the existence of magic. Someone who's grown up in a place with magical basically-electricity shouldn't spend five pages fawning over the existence of teleporters. Maybe they'll be surprised. Maybe they'll even be impressed. But unless they have some kind of a special interest in the subject, they'll probably spend more time thinking about how convenient it'll be for them rather than how it works, what it means, and the long, long history of magic... which has been around them for their whole life.

✦ Fairy tales, mythology, and folklore

I called myself "ominous-feychild" for a reason, haha. I like horror, I love fantasy, I adore faeries, and dear god--am I in LOVE with putting them all together! In folklore, faeries weren't cute little pixies that helped everyone around them... or even tiny little pixies that annoyed everyone around them (most of the time). They were the things that went "bump" in the night, that you huddled in close with your loved ones when you thought you might've caught their attention... Or, they made you question if your sister's eyes were always that far apart. Wait, was your bedroom there before? Did... did you even have a sister??? Well, you do now. And you might want to start running.

✦ "Ye Olde History" and language

"Ye Olde" meaning "the further away from modern day, the better." I can appreciate steampunk and actually often implement it into my own writing, but I do not consider Victorian England to be old. Civilization has been tracked back to as early as 4000 BCE, and it's way too easy to google that to think history actually started when Jesus was put on the cross. (Note: I am a merciless agnostic and hate what Christianity did to our world's history. So much was erased just because some bigots thought "stupid people don't think and act exactly like me, they're clearly barbaric! Time to erase their entire culture, massacre their people, and/or destroy their creations! Empathy be damned!!!" Fuck Christianity. To any Christians reading this, I don't mean you--just your religion. But you have to admit, it really sucks.)

✦ DIVERSITY!!!

As I just alluded to, I love learning about things that are unlike me. And, even more than that, I love people feeling like they have a place they belong. I've gone most of my life feeling ostracized, I'm not just going to perpetrate that cycle myself. Besides! It gets exhausting being in echo chambers with the same-old white cishet stories all the time.

✦ Explorations of "evil-coded" characters and abilities--aka, not just showing them as evil. Show them as people (for characters) and tools (for abilities)!

This is actually kind of personal to me. Autism and other disabilities have historically most often been relegated to villains because we're somehow "worse" than everyone else. Even I fell into that trap in the past, accidentally making a villain autistic-coded before I got my diagnosis. Now, I love putting people with questionable traits, powers, and backstories on the good side while the typically "good" things end up as villains. Something something, humans want freedom and freedom is chaos, something something, order is forcing things into boxes they might not particularly fit in because "otherwise, where else would they go???"

✦ Learning!!!

This might be weird, but I have a genuine love for just learning! (Not school, just learning.) I go down rabbit holes researching things all the time--and not just for writing! Obviously two of my favorite subjects are history and language, but I also love earth science and the ways our planet regulates itself to try to maintain balance! (And then we humans screw it up but.) Even in general, I love learning about random things, so if you ever have a weird infodump you really want to share, feel free to tag me in it and I'll check it out!!!

Yeah, by the way, this is linked to my actual intro post!

Divider by @cafekitsune

[pinkboxess]

just want to air this out i guess to like-minded people

it bothers me when people (including the show's own writers) think that people ship ted and rebecca just because they are the male and female leads and that's what we expect out of shows.

maybe that's true for some people, but for me, i'm literally queer and on the asexuality spectrum somewhere. i do not just automatically ship a man and woman because i think that's how things naturally go. if anything i'm predisposed to typically not go for hetero ships.

my reasoning for shipping ted and rebecca is the loads of textual evidence of all of their interactions together. they are just, like, visibly and clearly soulmates to me, and i've always felt that way even from the first few episodes of the show that i ever watched.

it seems crazy to me to write characters that have a connection like they do (think of the september 13, 1991 thing and their experiences with divorce and the way that they fit together perfectly and help each other grow and the way that rebecca is the force who brings ted to england) and then say "oh, no, their relationship is only platonic"

again, as a queer and ace person, i actually really fucking do value platonic relationships and i do not think everything has to be romantic or sexual. but the dismissive attitude and the insertion of "just" in front of platonic makes me feel like people are missing the cosmic connection these two characters have.

honestly, in my mind, ted and rebecca don't have to be "just" romantically involved either. it almost feels like what they have is so big and powerful that relegating it to any label is just kind of insufficient.

they are each other's people. they are soulmates.

(also, as a side note, an additional thing i don't like is when writers believe that writing happy or ideal endings makes for a bad story. like there's this need that people feel to not have the couple get together in the nicely tied up way like a fairy tale, or for things to be "nuanced" and "realistic." i kind of think fuck that. honestly, for me, the truly subversive and different ending would be for everyone to love each other and be happy and get the ending that hopeful fans want for them. i don't always want a lesson in how the world works and we have plenty of that already.)

[regaliasonata]

Also character ask ZIGGY

Character Ask: Ziggy Grover

First Impression

-Definitely falling under the average green ranger stereotype of being the silly but less engaged member of the team, though that is quite alright cause he'll probably give some positivity to the team due to the state they are in via the season

How I Feel About The Character/Impression Now

-.....I love this twink and honestly me and everyone else should love him, the fact that he was in a mafia, managed to escape, gave medicine and supplies from said group to orphans in needed AND GOT OFF SCOT FREE WITH HIS TOASTER BOYFRIEND speaks volumes.

Favorite Moment

-So far has to be that scene between him and the cartel where he's got that serious face, I'll have to go back and fully complete RPM but seeing Ziggy look so cold is amazing.

Idea For A Story

-okay think of this....Ziggy as a Peter Pan type character who was reborn in another world that raises orphans or children who've passed early and they live in this alternate world with magic, at the same time he's an assassin that's teaming up with Dillon and Tenaya(who also have powers based on fairy tales) to steal ancient treasure from a tyrant king in order to rule the rule, Once Upon A Time walked so this can run.

Relationships

OTPs

-Ziggy/Dillon....obviously, can't have a happy twig without his grumpy muscular emo boyfriend.

-Ziggy/Scott, Ziggy/Flynn. Both these work really well in my opinion.

-Crackship idea if this crossover was ever a thing...Ziggy/Jarrod/Dillon/Casey, imagine all that chaos together with those four like(I'd pay to see a one shot of this tbh). Heck not even a crossover needed because JKP exists in the RPMverse and assuming the entire team is alive then this could fly, crazy twinks and the emo duo.

BROTPs

-Ziggy/Dr.K, honestly feel like he understands Dr.K and they are really close when it comes to hearing each other out, plus Ziggy might actually get her to enjoy some hobbies.

-Ziggy/Casey...seriously Disney fucked us over from ever getting this interaction, be happy with marvel I guess but imagine the send off you could've had.

-Ziggy/Tenaya, she needs earplugs every time he talks about Dillon...

Unpopular Opinion

-Kinda wish we got even more of a backstory for him or seen Ziggy encountering other green rangers. I feel like both him and Trip would get along quite well to be honest.

One thing I wish would/had happened in the show

-....We serious? That Jungle Fury/RPM crossover obviously because ALL THOSE INTERACTIONS AND SUCH WOULD'VE BE LEGENDARY.

-Even if he didn't end up with Dillon we should've had Ziggy kissing some guy.

-Imagine a scene of Ziggy hacking Venjix down with his axe after he found out the program's intention for Dillon, or if Venjix succeeded and Dillon died...it would've been brutal like Ziggy would be shown Venjix why the cartel kept him around🗡🗡🗡🗡🗡

Headcanons

-The RPM team technically has sentient zords because in reality they hold secret Engine Souls like their Go-Onger counterparts. This is actually a result of humanity evolving and without the vitality from Earth's nature so their animal spirits evolved into Engine Souls, thing is the team hasn't unlocked them but when they do the zords will be able to talk(a little fib of my JFAU movie arc idea with RPM cause we deserve that crossover).

-Ziggy's fingernails can turn dark green because of Venjix exposure, some humans after being exposed to the virus during their apocalypse developed small traits via their survival(Scott having sharper canines, Summer being able to detect metals for tools, Flynn when growing out his hair has white highlights and can absorb radiation, Gem and Gemma can see people's dreams and Dillon can purify dirty food and water).

-Ziggy sleeps with a huge dolphin as a pillow or just something to hold whenever he's sad. If he can't morph then he'll fill it with rocks and beat down venjix monsters with it.

-Sometimes when he would leave the dome(before the world began to return to normal) he'd walk miles until making it to the ocean since it wasn't fully destroyed and enjoyed watching the waves. Plus that spot is the only one in the world where the stars in the sky are still viewable.

-After RPM Dillon, Tenaya and Ziggy ventured out into the world to see what needed to be fixed, they built a railroad and it oddly began to glow with energy. This led to the team getting powers via trains and soul power with imagination, humanity's will to keep going(ToQger adaption), villains born from the deceased malice of humanity aim to take advantage of this world and others leading to the team having bigger stakes than last time.

[bananaactivity]

i saw the "ask me abt my descendants au" ask button and so i simply HAD to ask about your au--carlos is my fave, with harry being my second favorite (while morgie is my favorite from RoR), so i guess, if anything, i wanna ask abt carlos. whats he like in your au? what exactly happens--and do his cousins exist? love the way you draw him op!!

and abt your morgie and james verse--i'm curious, do harriet and cj exist ? does harry remember morgie at all? does hook ever even talk about him?

sorry if this was a lot!

Naw it’s all good, I’ve been waiting on an ask for forever 🙃 I will say I only consumed the movies back in elementary school (WILD IM SAYING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND NOW IM 18 LIKE TIME GOES BY SO FAST) The only books I read was Mals spell book. Not to say I don’t like reading, I read Ever After high books and The School for Good and Evil, I could just never get my hands on the Descendents ones. And I watched one episode of wicked world… and said fuc no never again.

All that to say I just found out three weeks ago that Harry had siblings, and that Carlos had any hench men or other stuff not specifically in the main movies. I had already figured out a lot of James and Harry’s story and suddenly the timeline was fucked because there was no way for Harriet or Cj or Jane Darling to exist in context. Harry is born as an accident in Neverland and Hook has to return home so he can grow and his mother is a random someone who wasn’t going to come back to take care of her son. Her existence is already shaky but then adding Harriet she’d have to be born first with Jane Darling who I didn’t account for in the slightest either. She’s Wendy’s daughter so now a lot more time will have to pass so she can grow up and come to neverland, which is gross and not in a campy Disney way… and I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it 🥲

That was until I gave Hook a younger brother who can get with Jane at an appropriate age 😈 He’s unarmed rn but he’s a Hook so Harriet and Cj will be Harry’s cousins who he’s estranged from until some events happen…

Harry does NOT remember Morgie especially not with him looking so scary and tryna kill his Stylist and sparing partner. ( Carlos and Jay) Hook only talks about him to Maleficent and Uliana ( Hades still thinks he’s a spoiled rich boy, and Hook still thinks it was dumb for a “god” to attend a four year University with mortals, also At this time Maleficent and Hades are in that bad argue stage right before a divorce) He was okay leaving them all because time is different in Neverland, even tho from his side he’s been gone 12 years, Morgie only missed him for one year and time melds together on Neverland since you don’t age so it was basically nothing. ( that’s why Peter Pan is so unhinged, he’s been there forever and he refuses to keep track) Morgies in the same time zone as them so he’s been gone a good ten years, Harry and his friends are 14-12 now,So everyone is feeling the effects, and Camelot is on lockdown due to Morgie terrorizing them so Hook can’t check up on him. ( I dunno if I mentioned on tumblr but in my au Auradon is the place that’s locked up so the poor and Villians can’t come in on their “superior” society, the rest of the world is made up of lands from other Fairy tales and Folklore) So Hook is worried but he keeps on and Harry’s memory of Morgie comes back after a month of getting used to him being back.

Sad part but I have to share, Morgie and Hook never officially unionize… Morgie knows he’ll outlive Hook by a VERY long time (till the end of time) and he can’t bring himself to finalize anything, his grief about Hooks mortality is slowly consuming him🫠 (also Hook has issues with living forever due to his trauma from Neverland and won’t entertain any sort of immortality shenanigans)

On another note Carlos is also my favorite! I’ve had him down in my notes (before I could brave the internet) as soon as the inspiration from the 1996 101 Dalmatians live action film staring Glenn Close hit me I knew what had to be done. ( and descendents of the sparrow inspired me 😙) Carlos is a very smart man, he’s the analyst, ranged weapons specialist, stylist and bestest member of my Core four. (Jay is a wreck, Mal is a wreck, and Evie is still slay but she has to get wrapped up in Mals mess because she loves her 🙄 damn you Evies demi-god/dragon gf ) but I’d say my Carlos is a little more disciplined then the Og. He hates gross things and hates getting dirty or messy. Hes dorm mates with Chad now because the fairy god mother doesn’t want the four to conspire together so easily ( like they do in the movies 😅) He threatens Chads and his forest friends a lot because Carlos also hates any animal that he isn’t wearing. He grows out of that eventually, but it takes the longest out of all of his flaws because… like did you see him in that tiger skin outfit!?? How could he give up furs?!?

Carlos story intertwines with Harry’s a lot, in a brotherly love way. I was having Carlos love his mom in my first posts about Carlos but since then I’ve changed it. Cruella Hates Hook and Carlos hates his mom for being abusive, so he makes Harry swear that Carlos can style him when he’s older to get back at his mom. It becomes more than that and now Carlos gets even more clients, enough to move out on his own but he ends up staying with Mal and Co. This separates him a little from Harry, Uma, and Gil who he grew close with because Harry’s home was his safe place from his mother. She not only hated Hook but also the sea and its smells and the hustle of the costal territory present on that side of the isle. He still sees them when he goes for meetings with Harry, to Mals agitation. Mal Hates Uma and is kinda scared of Harry. ( Maleficent, Uliana and Hook think they accidentally bestied to close to the sun and made their kids and niece hate each other on accident)

Jay is jealous of Carlos due to his obsession with beating Harry and stuff. I’m not a hundred percent sure if I wanna go Huma or Jarry for this one… leaning towards Huma as Jerry is really toxic and I already have a bunch of other toxic couples I don’t want a million of them fr. For Carlos I’m thinking Aro/Ace like bro just wants to chill and design cool shit. I could see people having him be with Chad based on the context of my au, close proximity/enemie’s to lovers/hhimbo and smart guy, but I’m just not feeling it and Jaylos felt forced during the movies so I don’t want that 🫠

I have more but this is basically a fic chapter all on its own, if you have anymore askes I’ll gladly answer them!! I don’t mind spoiling my story like this, I find my fic interests in the specific conversations characters have and details. So this isn’t something I’m against doing…

Edit: I’m also having trouble on what I want the themes of these fics to be. I want a little bit more then “cool alternative universe!!!” I’m love this au but I’m also using this story to help warm me up for developing a story with my own characters that I’ve had swimming in my mind for years 😭

[fairytale-poll]

ROUND 1B! MATCH 4 OUT OF 8

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Ruby Lucas:

she's cool, and a werewolf!

She's a red/big bad wolf combo, she's bi, she gets tragically underused like so many OUaT characters

She’s a werewolf :)

We first see her as Ruby in Storybrooke where she's initially depicted as a fun-loving flirt who spends her nights most likely in a bar while wearing revealing clothes that her grandma disapproves of (and is all in red. Absolutely everything). She lives with her grandma who runs a diner and that's where Ruby works. When Emma wakes up the sleeping town, she tries to leave Granny's and ends up helping in a case that Emma's working on by following her nose. That episode also has her backstory, but when we first see her as Red in the Enchanted Forest, she's confident and helpful and not afraid to use her lycanthropy. But the start of her story has her being an innocent young woman with a love for discovering the world and her boyfriend Peter (of Peter and the Wolf, I guess). She meets Snow while still living with her Granny in her cabin in the woods and takes her in. She's so hopeful - and then she turns into a werewolf and kills Peter (after they all thought he was the werewolf and had chained him to a tree). She is obviously quite traumatized by this and takes off with Snow. But that and her subsequent adventures gives her the growth she needs to be comfortable in her own skin, whether human or wolf. And, when the curse breaks completely, you can see the change in her - she would absolutely walk through fire to help Snow and the other good guys.

Another version where Red Riding Hood also ends up being the Big Bad Wolf. She eats her boyfriend which is sad but she falls in love with Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz in like Season 5. Her red cloak is what keeps her in human form which I think is neat. When all the storybook characters are transported to the modern world, she runs a diner with Granny.

She's one of my favorite characters from Once Upon a Time. She's a cool Red Riding hood wolf girl who is bi and has seen like 3 of her love interests and her mother die. She slays very hard so I nominate her. (Also I used to have a crush on her as a kid)

VOTE RUBY LUCAS FROM ONCE UPON A TIME. SHE WAS IGNORED BY THE WRITERS SO MUCH SHE DESERVES THIS SO MUCH. QUEER ICON!!!

Ruby Rose:

She has a scythe that is also a high-impact sniper rifle.

She is literally just based on Red Riding Hood and she's such an amazing character holy heck

Red Riding Hood but with a gun. (Specifically a combination scythe/high-impact sniper rifle called Crescent Rose). Also she's gone through so much she deserves it. She's trying to save the world and keep going despite all the people she's lost. Grew up dreaming of being a hero who fights monsters. She knows life isn't a fairy tale and wants to make it better. Just went through a mental health arc where she had depression from trying to live up to her (presumed dead) mom and from her friend dying for the second time. Killed the Big Bad Wolf with her magic eye powers. Her sister is Goldilocks and her friends are Beauty and Snow White. also I love her <3

She’s the little red riding hood but also a powerful fighter with a massive fucking scythe that is also a sniper rifle and she’s so skrunkly and so gender. Also RWBY’s whole thing (well one of them) is that their characters are all inspired by pre-existing ones from older stories and Ruby’s the main character so like, poster child of ‘character based off [insert relevant fairytale here]’ so I think she deserves to at least get pretty far

Aesthetics, themes, meta, personality and raw coolness.

She is the main character of her show. The most common monster they fight is a type of wolf (its been a while since ive seen it). Her job is to hunt them down before they can eat her. this story is very much about failed fairy tales, many of the side character's inspired arcs end in failure, but (having not seen the most recent bits) Ruby is still going strong, and i really like her cape, rose petals, and use of a scythe.

She is THE RRH character of all time. She has a scythe that's also a gun and she has to be the hero because she's got super rare main character powers. She is my happy girl. Also her mom was Sleeping Beauty and her sister is Goldilocks, and she fights to stop Rapunzel from destroying everything on the world, the gods, and then herself.

Ruby as a character is literally based on little red riding hood! She has a red cape with a hood

the Red trailer is better propaganda than I could ever write

She is a badass with a scythe, inspired by her uncle and fueled by her mother's death and her sense of righteousness

She has a giant scythe

[sometimesthatsbetter]

Everything I've read in Jan. 2024

Yona of the dawn

Yona was the first story that i read this year and damm was it the right way to set the tone for the year. It's a story that has all of the elements that I adore in the fantasy genre, its got the action, political drama, the multi-facted characters. I won't be saying much about this manga because i have already have an older post talking about my favorite aspects, so if you want more in depth thoughts you can search for that

Kashoku no shiro

Now here is a fun setting, Taisho era Japan with supernatural elements. Quick run down of the story, people are being affected by a mysterious disease that makes flowers bloom all over their bodies, once the flowers wilt so does the person but there are cases where they recover and become even healthier. But plot twist, the ones who survive will become demons who feast on human flesh. So thats where our protagonist Shiraume comes in, she acts as 'bait' for these demons, essentially luring them out for her master to slaughter

If i had to tell you what drew me to this story, it would be the art style, like it is drop dead gorgeous. Also the design of our heroine is just my type too which is a bonus

Plot wise it does feel a little all over the place, it jumps persecptive quite often. Like it jumps form a detective story, to a josei love story, to Demon slayer which feels kinda jarring for me. But the backstory of our protagonist was done quite well, one thing i can praise is that our heroine isn't a simpering doormat. It's true that she has lived a hard life but she just keep living in the best way that she can manage. Shiraume is never the type to mope around or bemoan her fate, she takes charge and endure, she does everything in her power to live for her loved ones.

Its a good read all in all, but since theres only about 20 chapters that are out i can't really tell if this is gonna flop or not. I'll be keeping on eye on it to see if the author manages to get it together.

Bibliophile princess

The most mediocre otome isekai story i've ever fucking read. Its vanilla, like 'sex with the lights off no kinky shit' vanilla.

Story-wise, it's a very simple set up. Book enthusiast Elianna is in a contract fiancee relationship with the crown prince who i cannot be bothered to remember or google the name of. She is beloved by all of the staff memebers, all the secondary male characters love her and she has a great family but oh no! It seems that the prince has fallen for another woman, which means that her engagement with the prince will be ending soon. Yeah if your an otome isekai reader you can guess where this is going, villainess tries to ruin our heroines rep by spreading false rumors yada yada yada...

Similar to Kashoku no shiro, what drew me in was the art nouveau style. I mean the amount of details in the illustrations are amazing, coupled with the dreamy pastel color palette it creates this feeling that you really are in a fairy tale world

One of my main problems with the first volume is how weirdly structured the story is. Like it begins with the prince asking Elianna to enter a contract relationship with him and them jumps to a four year time skip for no apparent reasoning? Like we don't get to see alot of romantic development between them so now suddenly Elianna is in love? But moving on, i felt like Elianna has like little to no self awareness or agency. The first volumes conflict is about how this noble girl is rumored to be the princes lover and is planning to take Eliannas place. At this point you would expect to see our heroine stand up for herself and assert her place in the court right? Wrong. She was basically left in the dark about whats truly going on until the end of the volume. It was revealed that the noble girl was a villain all along who was trying to frame Elianna for shit she didn't do, also conveniently our MC has a mile long list of accomplishments that we as the reader didn't know about, and apparently she didn't either. So yeah, the male leads basically was protecting her for the whole story and she just wandered around feeling insecure about being replaced

Cold game

Do you like the story of king Henry the eighths six wives? Do you wanna see all six of them do a battle royal for the chance to become queen? Do you like crossdressing heroines? Well look no further than Cold game

Our MC is princess Aruna of the B kingdom, yes i know weird name but bare with me here, who is meant to be engaged to the king of the E kingdom. But here's the sus part, he already has a queen from the S country but he's demanding another wife from the B country? Quite the odd request but since B is weaker than E they had to comply with the demands. Aruna knows she's being sent as a sacrificial lamb but her lord father told her to hang on for a bit, one day he will get her out of that place. So to protect herself, Aruna swap places with her handmaiden and pretended to be crossdressing knight.

One of the best things about this story is the political intrigue. Like from the get go, we are shown that the court is a brutal place where an inconspicuous letter can be the cause of your down fall. People here will always watch your every move, everyone fears one another to an extent. Also the side characters are so fucking cool, like these people can star in their own spin off kinda cool.

[ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa]

Tam Lin Saiou AU

Ves: okay please consider. saiou tam lin (osp link if you're not familiar w the fairy tale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF3O6Xkpscs&list=WL&index=1&pp=gAQBiAQB) i left the prompt vague because i can't decide who should be who. both options are SO funny to me why do saiou always end up pregante in my fairy tale aus i do not know ALL THE BEST FAIRY TALES INVOLVE IT OKAY I STILL CAN'T DECIDE…probably tam lin!kokichi though, i suppose it makes more sense it's not as easy as lindwyrm for me. who tf do i make the queen,,,

Me: the heroine is just like Shuichi going to the love hotel She Knows What She Came Here For [as for the queen] Angie maybe? it's a bit of a step up from asking for blood but Ves: WHY SHE LIKE THAT she's not asking she's giving remember

Hina: See in my head I lean toward Kokichi Janet with the way the video described the two I'm just in my head imagining the hilarity of Kokichi pretending to be all "Oops i forgor" while Shuichis like. "Hold up wait you don't actually. Like. Actually it's fine I can take something else it's fine."

Ves: i tip towards janet shuuichi just bc he's the one i hc as being able to get pregananante Hina: See I was just. Ignoring that. DIDNT HAPPEN I just can't imagine Shuichi being all cool with that if that's the outcome Me: Do it I knew it! You and your anti-children agenda Hina: WHAT DO YOU MEAN Me: exactly what I said, I knew you're going to try to erase the child out of the story, but not on my watch Ves: allister is in hina's walls Checkers: Hina how else would you explain the baby daddy part Hina: Maybe you just have an agenda for children smh Me: that's not mutually exclusive heroine just wanted a hook up, she wouldn't come back if it didn't happen Hina: Easy, Janet was intrigued by what happened and wanted to come back Ves: you'd have to completely cut out the part about the father and the knights Checkers: no the the tam lin can't hurt her bc he's her baby daddy part Dra: Hina has the single father Shu au Defending the bestie and leaving djfjd Me: that's because it's a pre-existing child, alive for narrative purposes, he doesn't let saiou have children together tho and takes any opportunity to get rid of fetuses Hina: If they're mutually each other's firsts that's another way to connect them Ves: i mean, we could have him hurt shuuichi… Hina: OR THAT I FUCKING GUESS Checkers: ves he turns into fire like "can kill people" fire Hina: Fireproof cloak Checkers: how about the red-hot iron Ves: i've always thought the newer versions where she clings to him even though he burns are sweet Hina: Is standing in water when the fire is cast

Ves: but could kokichi manage a reputation as a bodice ripper. i think no actually yes he just lied 'ooooh don't go to carterhaugh or fair tam lin will take your maidenhead' tam lin has never felt the touch of another he's shaking Me: he was just being silly, securing the gifts he actually wants, he didn't expect horny people to seek him out, he doesn't even have a known appearance! Ves: he's a little magpie, he wanted the shinies, he was not prepared OOO new thought. the two headed rose as a metaphor the first thing janet does in carterhaugh is pick a two-headed rose, which is what tam lin shows up to bitch at her for initially. for shuuichi it could be a representation of his curiosity, his fascination with strange and mildly dangerous things kokichi is the rose. i've connected the dots /ref what direction are we heading with the faerie queen? depending on ur adaptation she's treated either like a mother figure or a toxic gf and that affects what character we pick

Checkers: what if she just sees him as more a toy and less a lover? Ves: so junko then? or moogi O MY GOD YOU GUYS DID YOU KNOW THAT IN SOME VERSIONS THEY'RE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS THEY KNEW EACH OTHER BEFORE HE WAS TAKEN BY THE FAERIE QUEEN I- this provides more justification for the baby actually THEY KNEW EACH OTHER BEFORE MAYBE WERE EVEN IN LOVE BEFORE KOKICHI WAS STOLEN…

Hina: What if Nobody was stolen Ves: THAT IS THE ENTIRE CONCEIT OF THE FAIRY TALE?? Hina: Ran away And got caught Ves: no. THAT'S JUST ANGST FOR ANGST'S SAKE, IT DOESN'T EVEN FIT IN THE STORY!! THEY'RE ALREADY GOING TF THROUGH IT WHY MUST YOU CRAM IN MORE Hina: LISTEN Ves: listening. Hina: I just I think it'd be funny (I had an idea but it doesn't work so nvm)

Ves: is it not MORE angsty for shuuichi to think kokichi finally got bored of him and bolted, meanwhile he's held captive as a future sacrifice Hina: I had an idea if Tsumugi was the queen or whatever but I realized it doesn't work with Kokichi Ves: imagine heading into the woods to fuck and meeting your long lost childhood love queen tsumugi still works with kokichi i think? Hina: In general it does but I had an idea hinged on Shuichi and Tsumugi being siblings skskskske Ves: yeah that doesn't work they're different species ndsjghsgf maybe in a tamlin!shuuichi variant? Hina: The idea was kinda Tsumugi snatching herself a brother Ves: TSUMUGI. THAT'S NOT FREE Hina: YEAH BUT SHE WANTED A SIBLING They keep getting sacrificed for being human smh

[tisiphonewolfe]

Author Ask Tag Game

My thanks to @doublegoblin for tagging me here!

This is going to mostly be in the context of The Tectomancy Saga -

(1) What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

I don't know if I can say there's a singular main lesson or message that the story is meant to provide. Different characters will learn different things. I want Releine to realise that she has inherent value and isn't only defined by what she can do for other people; I want Almyra to learn that even smaller goals are victories; I want Jessa to learn that you don't have to be who other people expect you to be; I want Tenacity to learn that your goals, however noble, can't come before the people you care about. And I just want Ellimane to get her shit together quite frankly. I don't know that I chose them so much as that that's where those character arcs seem to want to go. I guess they're things I've had to learn to some extent in life.

(2) What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

I honestly find that very hard to pin down! I guess I owe a lot to certain authors in terms of the kind of things I find fun to think about and write ideas from. I guess they would be: Terry Pratchett, Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell, Garth Nix, and Tamsyn Muir. Worlds full of weird creatures, worlds that are weird shapes, worlds that have an edge you can fall off, worlds that are full of cryptic magic. I think I have at least that group of people to thank for getting my brain going. And of course, I have to pay mention to fairy tales and their long history of putting Princesses in towers and guarding them with dragons - that was the whole thing that made me think "and what if the Princess loves the dragon?" in the first place.

(3) What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

Mostly I think I just want others to love them as much as I do. That's a lot of the fun of reading to me, at least - get attached to someone funky and fucked-up and see where they go. Adore them for their wits and weird quirks, and the things they turn to in themselves when the situation is dire. I want readers to worry for them, post their favourite quotes on tumblr, think about them when they're cooking and cleaning! That's what I do when I love a character.

(4) How many chapters is your story going to have?

Well, MWC&C ended with 47 chapters, and BBS&B is currently on chapter 40 and will probably run longer than its predecessor. There are two more books I can think of in the main sequence, so I'd guess roughly 200+. There are a couple of prequel novels I could write, and I had an idea for a sequel trilogy, but I guess whether I invest in that depends on if I can get anyone reading the original books!

(5) Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

It's original content all the way. I'm hoping to get a chance to publish it (agents, please call me), but if all else fails, I guess I'll try and self-publish somehow. Marketing is not one of my great skills though, so it'll be a challenge.

(6) When and why did you start writing?

November 2021. I've talked about this before, but I lost my love of reading for a number of years, mostly because I was depressed and also trying to read the wrong kind of books for me just because I thought that they were the kinds of things that people should read. In 2021 I finally had to know who the spooky bone lesbians on my dash were and read Gideon the Ninth. Then that year I inhaled a dozen more sapphic books and remembered that as well as liking reading, I loved to write once upon a time (har har) and thought I'd give that another go.

(7) Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

What are words of engagement?! Are we courting, or is it pistols at dawn?! I guess I would say - assuming we're talking about interacting with other writers - don't be afraid to just come and chat with me about stuff. If I say something that reminds you of one of your characters, or something about your world, then please tell me, because I'll probably like that too. We can show stuff off to one another and play with our characters like dolls. If you mean words of encouragement, I'd say this: Even a little bit of writing is still writing. Don't beat yourself up if you don't have the energy to bash out thousands of words in a sitting. Do a few hundred; a paragraph; a sentence. You'll get there eventually. And don't bum yourself out waiting for inspiration - sometimes the best inspiration is just typing a horrifically bad sentence. Doing that makes me want to write the next one better.

I follow too many writers to list, but I'm going to tag some for this game (very, very gently), so - @sam-glade @indy-gray @aalinaaaaaa @comicgoblinart

[gamesception]

lets read rgu, chapter 25

Hrm.  Entering the last volume of the collected paperbacks.  Entering the final battle seems more like where yhou’d want to end a volume rather than start a new one.  66 pages for the next chapter?  I’m a bit burnt out, might not make it all the way through.  And those other two chapter titles...  Black Rose Seal?  Wait, is this the last chapter, and then there are side stories?  Azure.... Ruka maybe?  Eh, one chapter at a time.

So when we left off, Akio was claiming to be Dios, despite having killed him and turned him into a ring five seconds ago.

Yeah, there’s that inward statue again.

Wait, wait, what?  This is implying that Akio /liked/ helping humans, but saving little Utena when she fell in the river was just too much no thank you, if we save one drowning girl we’d have to do too dang much!  So I’ma destroy my other self!  It’s... like, am I supposed to take this as an unreliable narrator thing?

OOOOHhhh, ok.  That makes more sense.  Akio had already rebelled and cast down Dios, and as he faded away he reached out to utena and passed her a part of his power to keep it from Akio.  That...  I mean, it still feels weird that this is something that happened recently, in Utena’s lifetime, in the modern world, and not fairy tale long ago times.

So a part of Dios was left with Utena as her ring, and part with Anthy as the sword, keeping him from fading away.

Ok, so there’s our stakes.  Take out Akio, bring back Dios, save Anthy from turning into seafoam or whatever.

Yup, all the recap and set up is out of the way, and it’s time for rolling initiative.

After fighting back and forth a bit Akio cheats with magic / metaphors.  The Prince’s role is still defined by self sacrifice, suffering for the sake of the princess.  Anime Akio fell from grace and lost the power of the prince by letting Anthy take that pain for him, Manga Akio killed Dios to avoid that pain.  Utena has to shoulder it and fight through it if the wants to become a prince and save Anthy.

And it does come back to Anthy, even if the manga remains a few steps less overt about that than the series.  As it has been about the various sexual themes in the show in general.

Anyway, commitment to Anthy is the magic key to bring back Dios, if only for a moment.

and Manga Utena finally prioritizes becoming a prince who can save Anthy over reuniting with the prince who saved her.

And it’s actually a solid moment to end the fight on - with a meaningful turning point in character development driving the outcome of the duel.  Works really well.  Good job with the conclusion of at least the last and most important duel in the manga.  Very satisfying, ending on a high point.

Of course, the role of the Prince is sacrificial by definition.  Looks like Utena isn’t making it out of the Manga’s climax any better than she did out of the anime.

Fuck you, buddy.  A very nice little moment out outright defiance from Anthy.

Oh, wait, more notably, Anthy isn’t fading away anymore.  She’s already been saved.  I guess she’s found a new love worth living for.

Which also gives Utena one final power up to finish off the already wounded Akio...

Nice inversion of the Akio defeating Dios pose

Ok, so there’s a bit coming up here that’s a bit confusing?

This sounds like she’s restoring the Dual Akio/Dios from before, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, because then they immediately explode and maybe turn into a ring?  I guess she means they’ll be together now in non-existance the way they used to be together in existence, with both personalities faded away and remaining only as the ring and/or sword.

Also apparently doing this kills and/or non-exists Utena, I guess because she was also fused with Dios at this point, so even though her sword wound seems to have magically healed she’s still getting the sacrificial Prince treatment.

Anthy, now entirely out of Princes, rescues Touga and the student council as the castle collapses, and, drawn by Utena’s voice, catches the ring containing whatever is left of her brother/s & maybe also Utena.  If the ring symbolizes the prince, does that make Anthy the prince now?:

Back to the school, and to Touga.  He meets up with the student council, but none of them remember the duels, or the castle, or Utena herself.  Only he does, I guess because he hadn’t been coffined.

But Chuchu’s still around, and even has a little Utena outfit.

And Anthy’s here, too.  and she is doing the whole Prince thing, as implied by catching the ring.  She looks good.

They have a moment where they reminisce about Utena, but Anthy assures Touga that Utena isn’t gone - or even stuck in the ring like I thought.

And that’s where the story ends.  A bit more concrete than the anime’s ending, but still the same core moment of Anthy, now free, leaving the academy and setting out into the wider world to find Utena again.

And while I’m personally more invested in the more abstract and metaphorical stuff the anime was doing in the end, the closing chapters of the manga were still very strong.  Much more so than the middle bits, so yeah, it’s nice to end on a strong point.  I don’t think I have any hollistic overarching comment or thought to sum everything up.  The art was good.  The story mostly worked.  It won’t displace the anime at all in my heart, but still a compelling alternative rendition - not doing as much or delving as deep, but the core between Utena and Anthy is still there.

Glancing ahead, the remaining two chapters are side stories toughing on bits from the anime that didn’t make it into the manga story proper.  I don’t think I’ll do full reacts like this, but I’ll read through them and post some brief thoughts over the weekend.

[sweetfirebird]

Okay, I do not have a formal review of Legend (The Director's Cut), but informally... it's a mess. The structure was odd. It's trying to be a high fantasy story (save the world, true love) and also a Brothers Grimm fairy tale (comical forest creatures, some vaguely Christian background shit with implied Devil) with maybe a dash of Tolkien in there. but idk. Like so much of 80s fantasy it has good moments and stunning moments or a cool idea... and then it just gets weird.

Which I kind of wonder is just a product of the 1980s in general. But I don't have deep thoughts there at the moment so I will ignore that point, and it's just... it's really interesting how the 80s *wanted* fantasy so bad though.

Fairy tales are kind of just tropes? The characters are Types. The stories are Types even. We enjoy them but we more or less know the story before it begins. Fantasy stories can have Types but they have to also be Real People, or the stakes don't matter. (And subverted fairy tales would be something else... like Into the Woods, I suppose. Types becoming Real People.)

Legend doesn't really do either. ?? The hero is... a mystery, and bland. The Princess is sort of a Type... almost a real (unlikable) person... though she gets a moment to shine and actually be someone clever and crafty and a fucking match to Darkness and how anyone imagines her content with the hero I do not know. She might not be destined for Darkness but Jack is not her equal that is clear. Anyway.

So the moments of concern and worry and tension basically just come from... the unicorns being threatened and because whoops the story once again made the Devil's (son) more interesting than the hero. (a recurring problem when evil pops up lol)

Also, there is where you get the problem of... who is this story for? Is it for children or adults or both? The movie does not know. My guess though is it was trying to do fairy tale/high fantasy which has adult themes but is for everyone, and then like, 1980s movie censorship and imagined lost ticket sales made them weaken it. But that's just a guess.

Ugh the movie itself even ends with a "nothing happened and nothing changed really and most of the people involved won't even really remember" which feels like what watching Legend was like.

Except for Darkness, obviously.

Darkness creeping on Lili--who fucking gets in his face! with no defenses available to her! is clearly the best part of the thing. And I am pretty sure The Cell had to be (lovingly) referencing this movie in a few shots but I don't want to watch The Cell to be sure.

[deb-1106]

Forever

Chapter 3

Rating: NSFW  (This Series contains mature themes, depictions of sexual acts including m/m, m/f, and m/m/f, and coarse language)

Pairing: Drake x Liam

Author’s Note: This series is set in an AU where Liam and Drake are in love with one another and there was never a conspiracy against Riley.  This has enough drama without all that Canon nonsense.  :)

Word Count:  2907

“You…and Drake?”  Riley took a deep breath to stave off the sudden wave of dizziness that washed over her.

Liam nodded calmly and took a sip of his scotch.  Now that he’d told her his secret, he felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.  The ball was firmly in Riley's court now.

Riley stood and walked slowly over to the bar.  She grabbed the bottle of scotch and refilled her glass.  With shaking hands, she brought it to her lips and took a long swallow as she replayed their conversation over in her mind, trying to make sense of it all.

“There’s something I must confess before you decide if you truly want to become my wife, my queen…”

“A confession?”  She’d laughed nervously, “Liam, that sounds so serious.”

“I’m afraid it is.  You see, Riley, I’m in love with someone else.”

Riley looked over the rim of her glass, noticing for the first time a third glass sitting on the bar.  The ice cubes had barely melted.

Drake.  His Lover

He’d been in this room with Liam probably only minutes before she’d arrived.  That must’ve been why Liam had looked so flustered when she’d shown up early.

Suddenly the betrayal hit her like a freight train.  

Since the moment they’d met, Liam had been leading her on, romancing her, making her fall in love with him… and lying to her face the entire time.  And Drake…she closed her eyes against the stabbing pain in her chest.  All the heated looks, the accidental touches, the shared moments in between…more lies!

Riley turned to face Liam who had been watching her intently, a look of concern etched on his face.

“You fucking bastard.” She hissed.

“Riley…” He stood quickly and crossed the room until he stood just inches from her.  Her chest was heaving as she fought to control her emotions. Liam reached out for her but she backed away quickly.

“Don’t you DARE touch me!”

“Riley,  please.” Liam’s eyes were filled with sorrow, “Please give me a chance to explain.”

She shook her head.  “What’s there to explain, Liam?  You just told me that you’re in love with Drake!  That you have no intention of ending your relationship with him if we marry.  What more could you possibly have to say to me?”

“None of that changes how I feel about you.  I am truly falling in love with you Riley. Please just take some time and think this over before you make a rash decision.”

“I don’t need time, Liam!” She shouted, slamming her glass down onto the bar, sloshing the contents across the gleaming wood. “There’s no decision to be made. You’re in love with someone else!”

“Riley, be reasonable.  It’s not like I can marry him.”

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Liam.

“Well, there it is.” She nodded her head, as a harsh laugh escaped her lips, “The real truth at last. I’m just a consolation prize because you can’t have who you really want.”

“No Riley.”  Liam ran his fingers through his hair with a loud sigh, “That’s not it at all.”

“Yes, Liam.  That’s exactly it! I give you the illusion of a modern-day fairy tale to hide behind.  An American girl comes to Cordonia and wins the hand of the handsome King.  He sweeps her off her feet and they live happily ever after. Or do they? Because in this twisted version, the King is more interested in fucking his stable boy than his Queen!”

“Riley.”  Liam’s voice held a warning tone.  But she was way too worked up to care.

“I’m sure you’ll want me to pop out an heir or two to make your bullshit story believable, right?  So I guess a couple times a year I can look forward to you flipping me over and taking me from behind while you pretend I’m Drake!”

“Alright, Riley.  That’s enough.” Liam snapped, his patience at an end, “You’re clearly too overwrought right now to have a rational, adult conversation about this so maybe we should just call it a night.”

“You know what Liam?  Fuck you. You bet your ass I’m overwrought and I have every right to be. But I agree. This conversation is over.  I’m leaving before I say something I can’t take back.” 

Riley turned on her heel and stalked across the room, yanking the door open and sending it crashing closed behind her.

*****

Drake stood with Bastien just outside the ballroom.  They were discussing the coming weeks agenda when he heard a slamming door and the sound of Riley’s heels clicking rapidly across the marble floor.  

He closed his eyes and sighed.  Slamming doors were never a good sign.

Bastien reached out to give Drake a comforting pat on the shoulder and excused himself just as Riley came storming past.

“Matheson,” Drake said, reaching out a hand to stop her.

She whirled on him, her eyes wild. “Get your hand off me you…you…LIAR!”

Drake didn’t let go.  Instead, he reached out with his other hand and turned her to face him.

“I’m sorry…”

“You lied to me, Drake!  You both lied to me! This whole time you’ve been leading me on…using me…playing with my emotions for your own benefit!  Neither of you ever stopped to consider how any of this would affect me!”

“That’s not true Matheson…Riley.  I care about you, Liam cares about you.  The last thing either of us ever wanted to do was hurt you. Our relationship has nothing to do with our feelings for you.”

Riley let out a sharp bark of laughter “You’re absolutely delusional if you really believe that.”

She pulled away from him.  

“Riley, wait…” Drake reached for her again.  

The second she felt his hand on her arm she whirled on him, pulling her arm back and swinging as hard as she could. Her fist caught him square in the mouth.  

“Oww.” She whimpered, cradling her hand, as tears of anger and frustration rolled down her cheeks.

Drake reached out and took her hand in his.  He gently curled her fingers into a fist.

He raised his eyes to hers slowly and she could see her pain mirrored in their depths

“Don’t tuck your thumb next time.” he said softly, “You’ll break it.”

He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across her bruised knuckles before releasing her and walking away.

Riley pressed her hand over her mouth to stifle the sobs that were bubbling to the surface as she watched him leave.  

She turned and fled down down the hallway to the safety of her bedroom.

*******

Liam was sitting on the couch, his head buried in his hands when Drake walked in.

“So…” Drake said as he collapsed into the chair opposite Liam,  “I take it things didn’t go quite as expected.”

Liam lifted his head and scrubbed his face with his hands.  “Actually, it went just about exactly how I expected it would.”  

He heaved a heavy sigh and looked up at Drake, his frown deepening suddenly.

“What happened to you?”

“Oh, I ran into Riley in the hall.” Drake’s tongue darted out, touching the corner of his mouth.  He tasted the sharp metallic tang of blood and gave Liam a rueful smile. “She has a surprisingly good right hook.”

“Jesus,” Liam swore as he stood and crossed to the bar.  He threw some ice into a linen napkin and brought it over to Drake.  He crouched in front of him, pressing the ice to Drake’s mouth.

He flinched slightly. “Hey.”

“Sorry,” Liam said as their eyes locked  He reached out to brush his finger lightly over the cut on his bottom lip.

“She got you pretty good.” he murmured.  

Drake nodded as he turned his head into Liam’s touch.  His lips parted and he drew Liam’s thumb into his mouth, sucking on it gently.  Liam’s breath hitched in his throat as Drake swirled his tongue around his thumb in lazy circles before dragging his teeth gently across the soft pad.  

Drake smiled when he saw the unmistakable longing in Liam’s eyes.

“You always do this.”  Liam said softly.

“Do what?”

“Try to distract me when I’m upset.”

“Do I?”

“Yes, and it’s not going to work this time.”

Drake gave him a slow, sexy smirk, “Oh, I think it’s already working.”

He reached out to weave his fingers through the soft hair at the nape of Liam’s neck, pulling him slowly forward until he felt Liam’s hot breath against his lips. Drake let his gaze fall to Liam’s mouth for a moment before lifting his eyes to meet his burning stare.  With a groan Liam closed the gap between them, crashing his lips onto Drakes.

He brought one hand up to tug Drake's hair as they kissed hungrily.  Drakes slid his tongue into Liam’s mouth, caressing his tongue with a heady slowness that only served to increase Liam’s excitement.  

This is what Drake did to him.  Two minutes ago he’d been distraught…worried that he was on the cusp of losing the woman he loved forever.  Then Drake arrived…looking at him in that way he has, touching him the way he does….and suddenly nothing mattered but the taste of Drake’s tongue in his mouth, the feel of his hands on his body, the scent of him filling his nostrils. It’s the way it’s always been with them.

Liam leaned forward, pressing Drake against the back of the chair as his free hand slid slowly up Drake's thigh until the palm of his hand was pressed tightly against his hard cock.  Drake sucked in his breath and sunk his teeth into Liam’s bottom lip, gently tugging on it. Liam felt a surge of white-hot desire course through his body and tightened his fingers around Drake's length until he groaned.

Kneeling between his legs, Liam looked up and they locked eyes.  Slowly he unbuttoned Drake's jeans and unzipped them. He lifted his hips obligingly as Liam yanked his pants and boxer briefs to his ankles.

Then his hot mouth was on him.  Drake threw his head back and groaned as he slid his fingers into Liam’s hair and gripped tight.  After a moment, he forced his eyes open to watch as Liam’s mouth worked him.

He loved the way his cock looked sliding over Liam’s full lips, the way his warm, wet tongue swirled around the head of his dick before he sucked it back into his mouth.

Drake’s fingers tightened in Liam’s hair as he gently thrust in and out of his mouth.

Liam moaned around his cock.  He loved the way Drake felt in his mouth, he loved the taste of him, the smell of him.  

He reached up, sinking his fingers into Drake’s ass cheeks, dragging him further into his throat.  

“Fuck, Li,” Drake moaned, “You’re killing me.”

Liam pulled back and looked up at him, smiling playfully.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Fuck, no,” Drake answered as he pushed at Liam’s lips with the blunt tip of his cock.  “Don’t ever fucking stop.”

Liam felt his own cock swell when he heard the need in Drake’s voice.  Using his hand like a vice, Liam worked the base of Drake's cock with his fist as he lashed the slit with his tongue. He ran the flat of his tongue from the base of Drake’s balls all the way up his length, swirling his tongue around the head, relishing the taste of the salty precome that was beading on his tip.

“You taste so fucking good” He moaned before taking him fully into his mouth until he felt Drake hit the back of his throat

“Shit, you’re gonna make me come,” he groaned.

Liam bobbed up and down on his cock until Drake abruptly pushed him away.

Startled, Liam stumbled backward, catching himself with his hands just before he hit the ground. He looked up at Drake questioningly.

“Bedroom.  Now.” He ordered.

Liam gave him a slow smile as he got to his feet.   Outside these walls he was the King of Cordonia…but in here, when it was just the two of them, he liked relinquishing power.  It turned him like nothing else when Drake took control.

Drake kicked his jeans to the side and was already pulling his T-shirt over his head as he followed Liam into his bedroom chamber.

“Strip.” He commanded.

Liam unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it to the ground.  Then his hand went to his jeans.

Drake caught his bottom lip between his teeth and began stroking himself as he watched Liam slide his jeans from his hips and kick them away.

He’d seen Liam naked more times than he could count, but every time he was taken aback by the pure perfection of his body.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.”

Drake reached out and pulled Liam close, fitting their hips together as they shared hot, wet, open-mouthed kisses.  Liam’s hands roamed over Drakes strong, muscled arms and across his broad shoulders.

“Says the man built like a Greek God”

Drake laughed as he slid his hands down Liam’s back until he was cupping his ass with both hands, pulling him even closer, grinding their pelvises together.

Liam gasped, his breath hot in Drakes ear.  “Please, Drake”

Drake pulled his head back and gazed down at Liam, a sexy smirk on his face.

“Please … what?”

“You know what I want.” Liam moaned.

“Yeah, I do.” Drake agreed, sliding his hand over Liam’s hip, “But I want to hear you say it.”

“Fine.” Liam said breathlessly, “I want you to fuck me.  Happy now?”

“Fucking delirious” He growled as he claimed Liam’s lips in another bruising kiss.

He broke the kiss abruptly and slapped Liam on the ass.

“Get on the bed.”

Liam did as he was told.

“On your knees.”

Liam knelt in the middle of his bed, waiting.  After what felt like forever he felt the hard wall of Drake's chest pressed against his back,  Drake’s arm encircled his chest, pulling him tightly against him. His warm breath caressed Liam’s ear as his throbbing cock pressed against the small of his back.  Liam shivered in anticipation as Drake took his free hand and grasped his dick, running it tantalizingly up and down the crack of Liam’s ass.

Liam moaned and pushed back against him eagerly.  He felt Drake pressing at his entrance and felt a thrill of anticipation.

“Are you ready for me?” Drake whispered, dragging his tongue along the sensitive skin behind Liam's ear.

“God, yes.” He moaned

Drake pushed in slowly, inch by inch giving Liam time to adjust to the intrusion.

“Fuck that feels good.” He groaned as he bucked back against Drake.

It was all the encouragement Drake needed.  He started thrusting deep and hard, setting an unrelenting pace.

He held Liam tightly against him with one arm, dragging his teeth over his neck, nipping at his skin as he pounded into him.  With his other arm, he reached around and grasped Liam’s stiff cock in his hand, stroking it in time with his thrusts

“Yes, oh fuck,  Drake!” Liam cried.  Having Drake's cock buried inside of him while his hand jacked him was pushing him quickly to the edge.  He knew he wasn’t going to last long.

Drake groaned loudly.  He could tell Liam was getting close.  His movements had become erratic as he thrust into Drake’s fist.

“Come for me.” Drake purred into his ear.

That snapped the last vestige of Liam’s control.  Drake’s name spilled from his lips as he erupted into Drake’s hand and onto the bed below them.

Drained, Liam slumped forward as Drakes’ fingers tightened on his hips.  He pumped into Liam furiously until he felt the familiar tightening in his balls.

With his lips on Liam’s throat, he thrust deeply and held, groaning his name as he exploded into him until he was spent.

Drake pulled out and flipped onto his back, throwing an arm over his eyes as he caught his breath.

He felt the bed shift next to him as Liam turned to his side.  Drake could feel his eyes on him.

Drake grinned, “You’re welcome.”

He heard Liam’s low chuckle.  “For what, exactly?”

Drake raised his arm and and turned to Liam with a smirk. “For distracting you.”

“That you did.”  Liam sighed and flopped onto his back, staring at the ceiling.  “It didn’t solve our problem though.”

“It solved one of them.”

“I’m serious Drake.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Riley was on the next flight out of Cordonia.  She was so upset…so hurt.”

“Yeah.” Drake agreed with a deep sigh, “Maybe she just needs some time.  It’s kind of a lot to process.”

Liam nodded.  “Yes, I suppose it it.  I’ll let her cool off tonight and maybe tomorrow we can go talk to her…together.”

*****

After her encounter with Drake in the hallway, Riley headed straight to her room, tears flowing down her cheeks.  She threw open her door and went to her closet, dragging out her battered suitcase. Wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, she threw it open and started tossing her things inside.

“So how’d it go?” said an excited voice behind her, “Tell me everything!”

Riley whirled around to find a beaming Maxwell standing in her doorway.  His smile faded quickly as he took in her red, swollen eyes and tear-stained face.

“Riley…” He said softly, “What is it?”

“Oh, Maxwell…” Riley buried her face in her hands as the tears started anew.  Maxwell stepped forward, wrapping her in a comforting embrace.

“Shhhh.” He crooned, stroking her hair gently, “Don’t cry little blossom”

Maxwell just held her, patting her back, letting her cry until she didn’t have any tears left.  With a final shuddering sob, she pulled away and gave him a small, watery smile.

“I’m okay,” she said more to herself, than to Maxwell. “I’ll be fine.”

Maxwell took her hand and led her to the bed, sitting her down on the edge.  He cast a worried look at her open suitcase.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Riley closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly.  She still couldn’t make herself believe it.

Maxwell sat next to her, taking her hands in his, stroking her swollen knuckles with his thumb.

“Hana told me Liam asked you to his room for a private dinner tonight.”

Riley nodded her head.

Maxwell pushed down a sudden surge of anger.  “Did you argue?”

He looked down at her swollen hand and feared the worst.

He had a hard time forcing the next words past his lips, “Liam didn’t… hurt you did he?”

Maxwell held his breath as he waited for the answer.  He couldn’t ever imagine Liam being anything other than a perfect gentleman, but they’d been all alone in his room and clearly something terrible had happened.

Riley shook her head vehemently, “No, Maxwell, of course not.  It was nothing like that. He told me…He said…”

She burst into tears all over again.  Maxwell reached for her but she pulled away quickly and started pulling clothes from her closet.

“I can’t stay here.  I have to go home.”

“No, Riley!  You can’t.” He picked up the dresses that she’d just thrown into her suitcase and brought them back to the closet, hanging them back up.  Riley pulled a drawer from her dresser and overturned it directly into the suitcase. When she turned around to grab another drawer, Maxwell scooped up the clothes.  He was about to put them back into the drawer when she turned and caught him with an armful of her bras and panties.

“Maxwell, what the hell are you doing?”

Maxwell looked down at the lacy underthings in his hands and dropped them onto the bed quickly.  “Riley, you can’t leave!”

“I have to, Maxwell.  I can’t stay here. Not now.  Not after…”

She trailed off, shaking her head.

“Not after what Riley?  What the heck happened tonight?”

Riley took a deep breath.  “He told me…”

As angry as she was, she didn’t want to expose Liam and Drake’s relationship. She wasn’t sure if it was a secret, but she’d never heard any mention of it in the time she’d been in Cordonia.  

“He told me he’s in love with someone else.”

“Oh, little Blossom.” Maxwell said, pulling her back into his arms, “No.  I can’t believe that.  Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand him?”

“No.  Absolutely no misunderstanding.”

“But I really thought…I mean, everyone thought, that you were the one he’d choose.”  He pulled back, an uncharacteristic scowl on his face, “Is it Olivia?  Please don’t tell me it’s Olivia. He simply can not marry a Nevrakis!”

“It’s not Olivia.” Riley said quietly.

Maxwell fell silent as he studied Riley intently, chewing on his bottom lip.

“Oh.”

There was something in his tone that struck Riley as odd.

“Maxwell?” She said, rising from the bed to face him.  

He avoided her gaze.

“Maxwell!” She said sharply

He raised his eyes guiltily.

“Oh my God.” She said her voice a hoarse whisper, “You knew.  You brought me here to marry him and you knew.” A renewed sense of betrayal washed over her.  “Who else knows Maxwell? Am I the only idiot in all of Cordonia that didn’t know the King was fucking his best friend?!”

“No!” Maxwell said, “I didn’t know, not really.  I mean, there have been rumors for years but I never really believed it…” His voice trailed off

“Well, it’s confirmed now.”  She said bitterly, “Straight from the horse’s mouth.”

“Wow.” Maxwell said, his cheeks staining pink, “That explains so much about all those camping trips…”

Riley let out a frustrated groan and started throwing clothes in her suitcase again.

“NO!”  Maxwell jumped in front of the suitcase with his arms spread wide. “Please don’t go.”

“What’s the point in staying Maxwell? There’s nothing left for me here.”

“But why, Riley?  Why does this have to change anything?”

Riley whirled on him, her eyes blazing, “Are you insane, Maxwell? This changes EVERYTHING!”

Maxwell rubbed her arm comfortingly, “I know you’re upset right now, little blossom.  But take some time to really think about this. I know that you care deeply for Liam…” He gave her a knowing look, “And for Drake too.”

Riley crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to confirm what they both knew was true.

“This might actually end up being the best thing that could have happened to you.”

Riley looked at him like he’d lost his mind, “In what possible way could this be a good thing?”

“Think about it Ri.  You were so torn between them.  But now…” Maxwell shrugged his shoulders, “they’re kind of a package deal.  You don’t have to choose anymore.”

“But Maxwell…They’re together.”

Maxwell shook his head.  “They might hook up sometimes, and they definitely care for each other, but I know beyond a doubt that they both…um…enjoy the company of women.”  He waggled his brows at Riley, “Like really enjoy women…a lot…and often.”

Riley frowned at Maxwell.  “I’m not sure if that makes me feel better…or worse.”

“I’m just saying Riley, really think about this.  I know you’re angry right now, and I don’t blame you.  But don’t make a rash decision.” 

 He put his hand on Riley's shoulder and squeezed gently.  “You could be one of the lucky few who can have their cake…and eat it too.”

[swampsiren-piratefairy]

2023 Reading

I read a lot apparently! Below are my thoughts on the stories I've read so far this year. Also, if you’ve read a book and absolutely loved it, pitch it in the comments! Tell me why I should read it!

January

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick (4/5 stars)

This was a short read and overall I thought it was good. I thought the way the "andys" were characterized was particularly interesting. I think the book, despite being so short, was a filled with ideas and world building and what struck me is that those things didn't make the world feel more real. It felt as though those pieces of world-building served more to characterize our protagonists by way of their reaction to those ideas/religion/machines rather than serving to flesh out the world itself? Which is not necessarily bad, but idk, I guess I just wish the world felt more real or made a bit more sense to me.

The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill (3/5 stars)

I don't have a lot to say about this one. It was fine. Susan Hill is pretty good at atmosphere. I found the ending unsatisfying.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (3.5/5 stars)

This one was also fine. And I know it's nit-picky but I cannot get over the mother letting Beth's pet bird die in order to make a point about the importance of doing chores? Beth is a child and the bird didn't need to starve to death. Fuck you, Marmee.

Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer (5/5 stars)

Look, you have to already like Twilight to like this book. If you don't like Twilight or have never read it, then this book will not be enjoyable. If, however, you have read and enjoyed the Twilight series, then this book is great! You get insight into the world of Twilight, of Edward's character, of his family's thoughts and how they interact, and a look at his dark years of human hunting.

February

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (5/5 stars)

I love this book. I love the drama, the devotion, the camp, the characters. I cannot judge this book objectively, therefore 5 stars. I reread it in honor of my upcoming vacation to the Forever Twilight in Forks festival and I'm so glad I did!

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (4/5 stars)

This is a collection of short stories. Each is a re-imagining of a fairy tale/legend. There was a lot of dark, feminine energy to these stories which I enjoyed. I would caution anyone who want to read the stories to first look up trigger warnings on storygraph, as the tales do get quite dark and gruesome at times.

The Blazing World by Margret Cavendish (3/5 stars)

This is a work of utopian science fiction written in 1666. It's short and not terribly interesting as a story but incredibly interesting as an early work of science fiction by a woman. Would recommend if you're interested in the history of genre fiction.

Beloved by Toni Morrison (3.5/5 stars)

This one was tough. The characters were brutal, their situations were brutal, and it was hard to read about. I did, however, like the narrative style and think it is an important work of fiction. I don't think it should be classified as a ghost story, as it often is.

The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath (4/5 stars)

This was a good book and a realistic depiction of what mental illness can look like. It was very much a downer though, especially with what we know about the author's life.

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor (undecided)

This is a short story. It does a good job of telling a story and allowing you to know the characters despite how short it is. I'm not sure how to rate is as I'm sure if I really "get" it.

Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert (1/5 stars)

My gosh! I hated reading this. I didn't care for God Emperor of Dune either but I felt I'd read so much of the series that I might as well finish it out, after all there was only two more books to go. Well. I won't be finishing it out. I finished this book but I will not be reading Chapterhouse: Dune. I'm so over the weird pedophilia that just gets more prominent with each Dune book. And one of the greatest things about Dune is the worldbuilding, but so much time has passed between the first book and this one that we are no longer in the same world. I cared about that world from the first couple books, but this one? I don't care anymore. I don't care about the characters either.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (3.5/5 stars)

This was a good coming of age story, although, to my relief, not very relatable. I found the story compelling but didn't care for the time jumps. I learned that it is partly autobiographical, which makes certain parts of the story make more sense.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (3.5/5 stars)

This was alright. I get the appeal. It was distressing to read at times.

Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson (2/5 stars)

Look, I just didn't like the book. I understand it's an exploration of childhood grief written for children and so I am certainly not the intended audience, but still, this was just not good. And the ending? Ugh.

March

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (3/5 stars)

This is a stream of consciousness story with a few time jumps back and forth. I liked reading some parts, others not so much. It can get a bit dull at times. Iconic last lines.

The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit and Friends by Beatrix Potter (3/5 stars)

As with many collections, there are some stories I enjoyed and some I did not. A couple that I thought I would not want read to any children in my life, which surprised me because these are such beloved stories.

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (4/5 stars)

Enjoyable but not my favorite. Not something I would revisit I think. Lots of themes here about colonization, military, environmentalism, etc. A bit heavy handed, but that doesn't really bother me when I agree with the message being set forth.

April

nothing. no books here. I read part of Kindred during this month but didn't finish it until early May.

May

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (4/5 stars)

I've always meant to read Octavia Butler's books but I'm not sure this was the best one to start with. Nevertheless, it was good.

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (4/5 stars)

I liked this one much better than the first book in the series, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. It did drag on a bit at times. I also feel like a lot of the tension could have been resolved quickly by characters just talking to each other which drove me nuts.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (3/5 stars)

It's not that this isn't a good book or an interesting work of early science fiction, it just dragged. I was so bored at times. This book took me so long to finish.

A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie (4.5/5 stars)

I can't quite bring myself to give this 5 stars. It was good though. As is always the case with Agatha Christie books, I did not guess the conclusion but feel as though I could have. Like there were probably enough hints, I just didn't pick up on them.

June

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (5/5 stars)

This was a very good read. Great atmosphere. I liked the way things were revealed. If you like a gothic tale or any of Shirley Jackson's other works, then certainly give this one a go.

I watched the movie in October and it was pretty faithful, as far as adaptations go. I did prefer the book.

August

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer (4/5 stars)

Look, is it as good as Twilight? No, but I still like it. I care about the characters and this book offered fun new additions to the world that Twilight introduced.

Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer (4/5 stars)

Second verse, same as the first.

The Knight, the Fool, and the Dead: Time Lord Victorious by Steve Cole (3/5 stars)

This was much shorter than I expected and ended in the middle of the story, which I didn't realize going in. It was fine. It's my first Doctor Who book and I didn't love it, which I am disappointed about.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer (3.5/5 stars)

I do like this book, but it's not my favorite. I particularly liked the character of Freaky Fred and I'm glad I reread this book so that I could be reminded of him.

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (4/5 stars)

I watched a play adaptation as I read along, which I find really useful for me when reading Shakespeare. I have trouble imagining how the characters say a line, what they would be doing as they say it, etc. so watching helps me contextualize. I liked it. I thought it was funny. It wasn't perfect and I didn't love the wrap up but, overall, it was enjoyable.

The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare (2/5 stars)

I listened to the audio book rather than reading the play. I did not care for it. I thought the ending was fascinating but other than that, this was just not my cup of tea.

All Flesh is Grass: Time Lord Victorious by Una McCormack (3/5 stars)

This one was slightly better than the previous Doctor Who book, but I still didn't really care for it. It's hard to put my finger exactly on why though.

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer (3.5/5 stars)

It pains me to give such a low rating to a book in a series I love so much, but this book is just not as good as the others. I still like it okay, but not like I love the others. Maybe she can redeem it in the next book. (That's right. I'm still holding out hope that we'll get another and it'll fix the bits I don't like about this one.)

September

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (4/5 stars)

I thought this one was quite good. I am bummed, as always, that I couldn't guess the killer.

Gigi and The Cat by Colette (3/5 stars)

This is actually two separate stories. I preferred Gigi I think, but both were solidly 3 stars. The most interesting thing was the little biography about Colette at the beginning of the book.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (4/5 stars)

This one was enjoyable. Again, I did a read-along as I watched the play performed. It had some fantastic lines.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (3/5 stars)

Look up trigger warnings about this one before you read. The book was just okay. I guessed the ending pretty early on, which I've been led to understand is not usual for this book. I think is probably the mark of a good thriller writer if most people won't guess the ending/twist/killer/etc but you've included enough clues so that a small subset of the audience will. But it didn't make for a particularly interesting read if you're in the subset that picked up on the clues early. I also was very interested to see how the writer handled the issue of self-harm in the book. Still not sure how I feel about it.

October

Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie (3/5 stars)

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as I enjoyed the last Chrisie book I read, but it was okay I think. I read it because I wanted to watch the movie coming out, and I think murder mysteries are so much more interesting in book form.

Watched the movie and decided there’s no way this should be considered an adaptation of the book. A couple of names remain the same but the characters, their relationships, and the murders are so wildly different than they are in the book that I don’t even see the point of using the same names.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (4/5 stars)

I liked it overall. I liked the characters. I think a little more development of our main two would have been nice. Controversial, but I did NOT like the meme references. Why would Harrow know the “studied the blade” joke? Also, why does Harrow know what a Cuckoo is? And apparently they’re all speaking English 10,000 years in the future because otherwise Gideon’s Sex Pal joke wouldn’t work. The ending made me sad.

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (3/5 stars)

I liked the story overall and I think the AUs were fun, but I think they took up way too much of the book. I especially liked getting to see Gideon again and to hear her thoughts about what’s going on.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (3/5 stars)

Maybe this one’s on me, but I can’t figure out where the conversation with Jod is happening? It takes up half the book and I don’t understand it at all. It just feels like exposition dump. I’m really hoping I like the next one better.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (3/5 stars)

This isn’t a bad book, but it’s not really to my tastes. It’s a period drama and sapphic.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (5/5 stars)

I’ve read this one before and it’s a favorite of mine. It’s slow moving and, when I first read it, was such a relieving break from all the grimdark fantasies that were everywhereeeee at the time. (This book came out when Game of Thrones was at its height in popularity.) this book is just nice and so is Maia.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (5/5 stars)

I enjoyed this book. So much so, that I read the rest of the series and then immediately went back to reread it again. I like murderbot. I also want to face the wall in a corner when people try to ask me about my feelings.

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (4/5 stars)

This one might be my least favorite of the murderbot diaries, but I still like it. (That being said, I think I’ll grow to like it more in time. After all, we get the foundation of MB and ARTs relationship.) It introduces ART, gives us more context for MB’s past, and allows for MB’s sense of self to develop. By the end, we (and it) have a much better understanding of how it feels about humans and what lengths it’s willing to go to. The book also gives much needed explanation about how MB manages to blend in and operate. So all in all, I like it but feel like it’s mostly just filling in gaps.

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (4/5 stars)

Another good one! Really challenging how MB views human/bot relationships. MB is such a funny narrator, it spends so much time being like “I don’t care” and then proceeds to care So Much. Also Miki <3

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (5/5 stars)

Wooo!! The gang is back (partly). MB must face those it’s run away from! Weapons and hacking and emotional stand offs! What more could you want?

Network Effect by Martha Wells (5/5 stars)

This one might be my favorite. I really liked it. I love when a character goes feral because their friend is dead/in danger and this book does it TWICE. It’s so good!

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (4/5 stars)

This one is another gap filling book. It lets us see what MB got up to while on Preservation. Which, if you’re really interested in the character (which I am) then it’s a good read! Also we got to see Gurathin and Ratthi again and I love them both.

[gellavonhamster]

monthly media recap: january 2023

(taking a page from @robertcapajpg‘s book)

read:

Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears (ed. Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling) - a 1996 anthology of short stories based on fairy tales. Many works seemed to me lacking something (and many I didn't like at all), but there were also several stories I really enjoyed, especially towards the end. Favourites include: The Fox Wife by Ellen Steiber, The Traveler and the Tale by Jane Yolen, The Printer's Daughter by Delia Sherman, The Emperor Who Had Never Seen a Dragon by John Brunner, Roach in Loafers by Roberta Lannes (yep, the last one is Puss-in-Boots but with a cockroach, and in modern-day New York)

Issues 4-6 of the Hellebore zine - I am honestly planning to order and read all currently existing issues over the course of this year, because the articles are really interesting - folk horror, archaeology, history, literature, and the intersection of all of these - and the art is beautiful. Also, I didn’t even pay for the first issue in the end, because I ordered it in October and by the very late December I was sure it got lost in the post, so I wrote to the store for a refund, and then the package came after all, I wrote to the store again asking how to return the money back to them, and they said that since the delivery took so long, I could keep it... if it was a clever plan to acquire another regular reader, then it totally worked, haha

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black - good! As always, love how Black paints the faerie world in all its whimsy and violence. I posted some of my thoughts on this book here.

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo - I liked Ninth House, but I kinda forgot it existed and also forgot approximately 2/3 of the plot, so I certainly didn't expect to enjoy the sequel as much as I did! It's been a while since I stayed up late reading like that. I am once again pretty indifferent towards the main pairing, but friendships and teamwork and characters seeing and accepting each other's vulnerabilities and past sins really moved me. Also, loved the helpful ghosts and unexpected [other mythical creatures, spoiler]

+ I am also still making my way through Lancelot-Grail/the Vulgate Cycle; in January I read Part II and III of Lancelot, as well as The History of the Holy Grail (this one I mostly just skimmed through, quite frankly, sometimes skipping a page or two where someone’s just, like, praying or preaching for a very long time. I am probably not very smart and definitely not religious enough for this)

watched:

The Musketeers (s1-3, 2014–2016) - well, you know, what with me obnoxiously reblogging gifs of it, lol. First things first, this is not an accurate adaptation of Dumas's novel, it's a very ahistorical procedural/western combo set in the 17th century France, and it fucking rules. I mean, swashbuckling adventures, the Power of Friendship™, women in stays and corsets, men in those puffy pirate shirts sluttily undone. Catering to my tastes personally. Season 3 was not as good as the first two, but what you're gonna do

Glass Onion (2022) - I think I enjoyed Knives Out more, but this one also was a lot of fun! Guessed some plot twists, but some were a total surprise to me. Love how the pandemic was integrated into the plot and characterization (e.g., a mesh mask says it all)

El vampiro (1957) - a Mexican horror film about a family targeted by a vampire that covets their estate. Very obviously influenced by the 1931 Dracula and weirdly cute in the way old horror often is (must be the toy bats on strings, though here could also be the romance).

The Field Guide to Evil (2018) - a horror anthology based on myth and folklore from around the world. The first two stories set a strong beginning, but then most of them (except the second-to-last, though the last one also is worth mentioning for being perfectly stylized after the classic silent films alone) fail to do something truly interesting with what they’re based on, in my opinion.