#I hate hate hate when people characterize her as just “a girl who likes eating”

[comfied-chriterature]

Chisato has the saddest, wildest, most tragic, and honestly most touching backstory ever so HOW is she not a more important character?????

MERA IS SUCH AN UNDERAPPRECIATED CHARACTER FR she works so hard to support her family suffering from poverty and she's constantly hungry cuz she has nothing to eat but everyone else is just focused on making her stop eating so much???? How does no one feel bad for her??? Also she's fricking JACKED HOLYYYYY

[jolenes-doppelganger]

uuhhhhmm hi!! i was wondering if you’d be up to write a (smutty?) story about rose the hat!!! nothing specific but (i assume) you kind of know how rose is… and maybe incorporate that in the fic? and the whole steam thingy? yeah…

anyway! have a great day!!

[Hi! Thank you for the request! I really leaned into her more sinister qualities that were explored in the book, specifically her fascination with blood. She is a dark character, so this fic is reasonably dark. ]

The Debt

Rose the Hat x f!Reader

NSFW 18+- MINORS WHO INTERACT CAN AND WILL BE BLOCKED.

Summary: Returning to the windy city was always a trip Rose dreaded. Not for the drab blocks of concrete, but for the memories that lingered. A child she’d let get away, a meal that had escaped her. The cost of that lapse. What happens when the familiarity of the city converges with the familiarity of a touch?

Warnings: Dark themes (threat of bodily harm, threat of murder, depictions of post-murder situations, etc), graphic sex (oral R receiving and giving, 69, penetration via fingers R receiving, breast worship giving, near smothering of R, light spanking receiving, blood kink, brief bondage, biting), !! Dub-con/coercion !! [Moments of straight M/F interaction between Rose and Crow, allude to nudity, brief touching, but not any more graphic than the novel itself described these interactions.]

A/N: Once again, this fic is not indicative of my moral code, I would NEVER condone someone pursuing a similar relationship, especially if the themes of dub-con/coercion are in any ways similar or amplified. *To be reasonably true to the characterization of Rose is to understand that she is an evil person and wouldn't show up to your door with a bouquet of flowers and a home-cooked meal.*

Word Count: 3.669k (hehe 69)

Rose hated Chicago. Chicago meant traffic, smog, disorder and weird looks. Traditional caravans sailed right by the town, so driving through it with the True Knot's troop of motorhomes would be both a nightmare coordination-wise, most certainly drawing unnecessary attention. The Knot camped out in a trailer park, using cars to drive into the city while a few stayed back to ensure the safety of their caravan; prime members slept in hotels in the city. Rose and Crow were assigned to a suite, sharing a King bed and a bathroom. Sleeping in a hotel meant access to a shower and larger amenities, but the wide open spaces bothered Rose. She preferred the coziness of her Earth Cruiser over the opportunity to shower at any given moment.

"Rosie, whatcha got on your mind?" Crow asked, chest bare, lounging in the bed after their coital affair.

Rose snorted, tits out and unashamed. Her hat was set off to the side, hair tousled from their passion.

"I hate Chicago, that's what's on my mind."

Her lover nodded, trying to remain considerate, but he was really focusing on the curve of her breasts.

"It's temporary. We'll get the kid by the end of the week. And in the meantime..." he smirked, reaching to bring her in closer.

Rose rolled her eyes, playfully swatting away his advances.

"As if you were hard again." she protested.

"What if I was?"

Rose reached down. He was flaccid, predictably so. They hadn't fed in a while. He was like any man in his mid-50s, capable of lasting one round, needing a little blue pill to sustain an erection for longer than a few minutes.

"We need to eat." Rose grimaced.

She got up from the bed, walking into the large shower. She was tired. One look at herself in the mirror and Rose saw just how weak she was getting. They needed that kid. Her crow's feet were growing more pronounced, her belly sagged, so did her breasts. Cellulite littered her thighs, and her upper chest had that ugly scaly look that developed in older people exposed to the sun. It was unbearable. She turned the light off and showered in the dark.

<------------->

It was done. The little girl with the braided pig tails was limp in front of Rose; the child's body had given up. Normally she'd be feeling extra frisky right now, leaning into Crow's advances as he felt her up under her bloody shirt, but she just felt hollow. Giving out cleanup duty was easy. Crow pressed on the child's chest, pushing the last bit of steam into the metal cannister. Rose cut off the friendship bracelet the child had on, tying it around the cannister. Crow sensed something was off, and he followed her into the Earth Cruiser. She put the cannister away, looking up at him with vacant eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Rose walked into the bathroom, using the reserve water to fill the sink, stripping her clothes off as she washed away the blood.

"The kid. The one we lost ten years ago."

Crow sighed.

"The one that disappeared after we followed her into Joliet?"

Rose nodded, lost in her own thoughts.

"I want to borrow your truck, head into the town. I need a night for myself."

Crow frowned. Rose only ever went out alone in dire circumstances. She was upset, and it perturbed him.

"That can wait 'till morning, let's spend tonight-"

"No." she cut him off. "You have a hallway pass, go fuck someone else tonight."

Now Crow knew something was off. Rose was possessive, unreasonably so. If he so much as looked at another woman, he'd hear about it eventually. But offering a hallway pass unprompted? Something was up.

"Rosie, stop. We're going to talk about this." Crow planted his hands on his hips.

"No, we're not."

Rose pulled on a fresh pair of clothes, jeans and a sweater. The topper came with her, obviously. Crow attempted to block her as she left, but he was only a few inches taller than her. With the top hat she had the odd ability of appearing a head taller than everyone atop of her 6' frame.

"Move."

Rose exited the cruiser, Crow's keys in hand. She jumped into the vehicle, speeding out of the campsite. She had one destination in mind, one person in mind.

"Alright you little snot." Rose fumed, focusing her attention on an energy signal she'd been trying to pinpoint for the last decade. "You want to play games? Don't you know what you cost me?"

For the first time in decades, Rose was speeding. The True Knot never violated traffic laws. It drew attention, but in Rose's current state of mind, pushing 80 on the highway was the only reasonable balm to her anxiety. Through the midst of her anger-fueled aggression, she felt it. A little sensation, a prick of energy so damn familiar it made her stomach flop. She slowed down, pulling into the far right lane, focusing her energy on that little bubble of energy.

"Oh honey, you're still here, huh?" Rose whispered. "(Reader) was your name, wasn't it? But that's not what we called you, little minx. You're a Pandora's box."

Rose drove through the suburbs of Joliet, drawing closer and closer, running Crow's gas tank down to the last quarter. It didn't matter, she was close. The little buzzing in her head continued, until finally it was unbearable. Rose grinned, pulling off to the side of the road in front of a cute little red brick house. She didn't do anything, not yet at least. Instead, Rose adjusted the rings and bangles on her left hand. Left for receiving, various 'lucky' charms she'd collected. The right hand she kept bare. It was her dominant hand, she liked it bare. That and it was the 'giving' hand. She didn't need any sort of energetic enhancements, more likely hindrances upon her.

"You're alone in that little house, Pandora." she smirked.

Creeping toward that house like a wanted visitor, Rose waved to a few neighbors who were walking about. The only malicious element that could even tickle the minds of observers was that hat. Tipped at that weird angle, barely hanging onto the crown of her head, like a poorly perched bird. Rose reached for the knocker; she didn't need to try the doorbell to know it was broken. A soft click as the door opened.

"Well, hi there." Rose smiled.

You didn't have time to fasten the dead bolt before she'd forced herself in, towering over you and pinning you against the nearest flat surface.

<------------->

She'd tied you up. The deranged woman with the most certainly semi-cognizant hat had tied you up on your childhood bed.

"Who the fuck do you-"

"Shut up." Rose demanded, slapping her hand over your mouth. "You're gonna listen, you're gonna stay quiet, and if you scream I will sew your mouth shut."

She moved around the room, closing the curtains, locking and barricading the door. Nothing was going to interrupt this, no one was going to stop her from getting that revenge she'd been dreaming of for a little over a decade.

"Three True died because of you." Rose sighed, settling on the bed in front of you. "They starved. We were all starving, but they couldn't hold off. And you? Look at you." she snorted. "What are you, a teenager? No, you might even be in your twenties. I've forgotten how old you were when we were tracking you."

The heinous monologue ended there. Rose pulled out a pocket knife, focusing on digging out the dried blood she hadn't gotten out underneath her nails.

"Are you a cannibal?" you asked, quiet.

Rose snorted.

"I mean, sort of. We don't eat flesh, but we eat. And you... God, you would have been tasty. Now you're grown up. Age ruins all the goodness of steam, it spoils, tastes rotten."

You swallowed, staring up at the woman with the knife.

"So by not being able to find and eat some part of me... People died."

"Not people, dear. True Knot, my family. The most important people alive."

Rose's personal fable was inherently narcissistic, unyieldingly ignorant of the world around her.

"So you're better than me because you eat... Kids?"

Rose rolled her eyes, grabbing your face.

"I'm better than you because I'll live for centuries. The oldest of us have seen empires rise and fall, we've seen society advance, society crumble, all of it." she whispered. "We are the chosen few, the best. You're... A rube. A stupid, forgettable little tick."

She seemed awfully presumptuous, you thought. But your small judgements were out of place with the extreme fear that clouded most of your higher processing abilities. The animal brain was clawing out from it's cage, and you knew that this meant the odd things would start happening. Ever since you were a kid, it had been the same. You were normal, happy, unbothered, and then once someone put you in a corner, it was like something out of a paranormal movie. The ropes at your wrists got loose. Then the ropes at your feet. They were spinning out, moving with every rapid beat of your heart. But your telepathy was no match for Rose's abilities.

Blinding white pain filled your head as Rose pressed two of her fingers into your left temple. Hands reaching up inside your head, hands clawing and tugging at the animal bit of your brain, shoving it down, pinning it into a corner. It was brutal, and it left you groaning from pain.

"Naughty little thing. But talented, so talented. Telepathy? At your age? God you would have been tasty. Maybe you still are..."

In your state of wooziness caused from Rose's rape-like invasion of your head, you hadn't noticed her reaching for the pin off of her hat. And then that pin was being pressed through the flesh of your clavicle, hitting the hollow skin there. It stung, badly. With a horrid scream, vapor sprung from your lungs. The woman inhaled it readily, her eyes flashing bright blue. And then she sputtered. She removed the pin, coughing and hacking violently.

"You taste... Disgusting." she winced, her face screwed up in disgust.

Blood trickled down from the wound on your collarbone.

"God I need to get that taste out of my mouth, it's like spoiled milk." Rose complained, looking around the room for something to rinse out her mouth with.

Her choices were scarce. Half-stale soda, water, (which wouldn't do a damn thing), or... Now that would do.

"Mnm." Rose smiled, licking the blood from your clavicle away.

Her tongue was revoltingly wet, and it stung where she licked you. Rose's face was screwed up in a light smirk, watching with interest as your body reacted against your ever-rational mind. Her tongue was soothing, and there was a degree of sensuality to her movements, the way she leaned down, rolling her tongue slowly over the wound. She was straddling you, a hand on your shoulder, the other behind your neck. And the tongue continued to work, the papillae of her tongue drawing a light friction over the wound. It was... Arousing.

"Did I tell you that you could touch me?" Rose smirked.

Your hands were resting on her back, drawing unconscious patterns.

"... No."

Rose chuckled at this, nipping lightly at your neck.

"You're enjoying this... Twisted little girl."

The bite went straight downwards, causing your pelvic floor to clench involuntarily.

"I'm not. Well, I am, not because I want to-"

Rose's lips crashed against yours, tongue immediately pressing through your lips as you gasped. Claiming, tasting, exploring. She coaxed your tongue out slowly, her hand cradling your head, massaging gently.

"Give me your tongue." a voice sounded in your head.

It was feminine. You obeyed, sticking it out. Rose's lips enveloped the muscle, sucking wetly. The result was immediate. Your hips twitched, your core clenched, and you let out a desperate moan into her mouth. Rose let out a low hum of approval, continuing to suck your tongue in and out of her lips, imitating oral sex. The suggestion was arousing, and when you pulled away, the look on her face said it all. Rose was pleased. She knew she was sexy, she knew what she was doing was hot, and the fact that you were confused, horny and scared, all against your will, it only served to pad her ego.

"Poor thing... Are you worked up?" Rose crooned, stroking your sides. "Tell you what... I'll make it better, but then afterward you and I are going to brainstorm a way to work off your debt."

Your words caught in your throat. You didn't want to owe her anything, that would be very bad, but you had a feeling that it wouldn't matter what you decided. She'd laugh if you told her you didn't want to fuck her, and probably fuck you anyways. But then again, to make the best out of a bad situation... Who would blame you?

"Mhm, you'll come around." Rose hummed, licking a stripe up your neck. "And it will be reaaaaal good."

Your hands were resting on her back again. She didn't scold you this time. She took the topper off, setting it to the side. Her hair was a little frizzy, but it really didn't matter. She looked like a fallen goddess either way. Her hands reached for the hem of her sweater, pulling it off. Pert, large breasts jiggled with the movement, unencumbered by a bra or other garment. You wondered why you hadn't noticed it before. Rose wondered why she was wasting her best window of performance on a rube.

"You like what you see? Oh I know you do." Rose smiled, resting her elbows on either side of her face. "Kiss them. Give them the attention they deserve."

You obliged, angling your head up to kiss one of her nipples. Tentatively at first, and then a little surer. Rose pulled down your bottom lip, silently beckoning you to open your mouth. She pressed her nipple into your mouth, sighing in delight as you obediently swirled your tongue around the areola.

"Beautiful. A little suction, not too much, I'm not a cow." Rose sighed.

Adding increasing levels of suction, you stopped when Rose let out a low moan, her hips bucking against your stomach. You alternated swirling your tongue and sucking, drawing the sweet noises from Rose's mouth.

"The other side now, my other girl is feeling left out." Rose breathily gasped.

As you swirled and sucked the other nipple, she reached up to pinch the previously worshipped breast. Her hips twitched erratically, and judging by the increasing frequency of her little gasps and moans, she was getting more aroused. Finally she pulled back, her nipple sliding out of your mouth with a wet plop. Rose pulled at her jeans, sliding them down her knees and onto the floor in one swift motion. Whether she took off her panties at the same time or was never wearing any, you couldn't be sure.

"Stay put." Rose ordered.

You leaned back against the bed. She put a knee on either side of your face, lowering herself as she spread her labia open. The sight was both daunting and arousing, her inflamed clit pulsing angrily amidst the pink strip of her inner labia. You opened your mouth as she lowered her entrance over your mouth.

"Lick." she breathily moaned.

You licked a stripe up from entrance to clit, tasting her for the first time. It wasn't anything pungent or otherwise remarkable, but it was good. She fisted her hands in your hair as she rocked against your tongue, pushing her clit into your nose.

"Stick your tongue in, fuck me with your tongue." Rose rasped.

Obeying, you punched your tongue in and out of her hole, catching her secretions with your tongue. Rose moaned emphatically, continuing to grind her clit over your nose.

"That's it, just like that..." Rose praised. "Pull me against you."

Grabbing her thighs for support, you pressed her down into your mouth, alternating between licking stripes up her labia and fucking her with your tongue. Her moans grew louder and more emphatic, pressing her clit into your nose until your nostrils closed, preventing your ability to breathe. She worked faster against you, riding your face with reckless abandon, either unaware or unconcerned with your lack of air. In a last ditch effort to prevent suffocation, you pistoned your tongue in and out of her earnestly until she let out a howl of pleasure, squeezing her thighs over your face.

...

"Hey, wake up!" a voice echoed, muffled and unclear.

A sharp sensation, someone shaking you. Things came into clarity, bit by bit. Rose was over you, shaking you and slapping your face. She came into focus slowly, her face flushed.

"Fucking finally." she swore.

Arms pulled you up, stripping you of the sweaty shirt that clung to your breasts. You weren't wearing a bra, who could blame you? It was midnight on a fucking Tuesday. Or Wednesday, you guessed.

"Are you awake now? I'm not done with you."

You frowned, still adjusting to being awake after nearly suffocating to death between the woman's thighs.

"Naughty thing. Lay over my lap, I'll get you awake again."

You groggily obeyed, breathing steadily. Rose's hands caressed your back gently, pulling your pajama bottoms down. You were still uncomfortable, although your arousal had significantly dulled following you passing out. Her hand caressed your panty clad bottom, squeezing and pulling the flesh expertly. You let out a soft hum of contentment.

"Wouldn't have been a bad way to go, you know." Rose teased, continuing to knead your buttcheeks.

You gave an unconvinced hum in response. Rose let out a low chuckle, giving you a playful smack on the rear.

"Let's try this again. This time you can be on top, huh?"

Rose helped you up, after taking off your panties of course. She laid upon the bed, and you moved to straddle her face.

"Nuh uh. Turn around, the other way."

You obeyed, facing her legs.

"Now lean down. Hold my legs open, that's right, princess."

Princess. The name felt more intimate than the other titles she had given you, most were insulting. You found yourself looking forward to tasting her again. Her clit still remained engorged, and you busied yourself with licking at it as Rose drew her hands back and forth over your thighs.

"Pretty pussy you've got." she crooned.

A sharp bite to your inner thigh. It shocked and aroused you, and your core clenched involuntarily. Rose gave a low chuckle at the sight.

"Is she this wet for me?" Rose cooed. "Might need to have a taste."

Her tongue parted your labia, circling your entrance. Your hips bucked into her mouth, and she smacked your butt in jest.

"Naughty."

To make up for your unintentional disobedience, you leaned down, spreading her labia and exposing her engorged clit to your tongue. You circled it a few times before pulling the hood back, sucking softly. Rose's reaction was immediate. She groaned, kneading your thighs tenderly.

"Mhm. Good girl."

Her tongue returned to your entrance, licking lazily, occasionally rolling over your clit. Enough to stimulate, not enough to really please. It was infuriating, but you doubled your attentions in the hopes she would reward you. Taking her clit in your mouth, you sucked it, drawing it back and forth between your lips like she had done earlier with your tongue. Rose moaned, letting out a few words that you didn't understand, a foreign tongue. Then her mouth was at your clit, her tongue drawing steady circles over the nerve. You felt her thighs clenching, and you held them open as she reacted accordingly. Her mouth abandoned your clit, and she moaned out, her hips thrusting against your mouth. Then her mouth was sucking violently against you, two fingers roughly penetrating you. But just as her orgasm subsided, just as a familiar clenching began in your abdomen, she pulled away.

"No!" you whined.

A harsh smack cracked over your ass.

"Shut it."

She pushed you to the side, sitting up. She used your shirt to wipe the mess off her face.

"If you want to come, you'll crawl over here and ride my fingers."

Much to your utter dismay, (and deep humiliation), you saw the truth in her eyes. Crawling into her lap like a discarded puppy, you winced as the pushed two of her fingers into you once more. But that was were her roughness ended. A hand encircled her waist while her thumb rolled gentle circles over your clit.

"Put your arms around my shoulders, princess."

The soft praise and gentler look returned to her eyes. She smiled softly at your obedience, pressing a gentle kiss to your neck.

"You've been good... I suppose I should reward you."

Her fingers moved gently in and out of you while her thumb moved in that soft pattern. It was good, a gentle stimulation to push you up to a gentle climax. You had the feeling that if she wanted you to squeal in pleasure, she'd do so, but this was an allotment, not a reward. Her kisses on your neck turned into soft, tender bites, matching her tone. A slow build up to climax began, and you wrapped your arms tighter around her.

"I.. I'm gonna-"

"-I know you are. Now moan my name, 'Rose'."

You felt your lower muscles slowly starting to clench, and you let out a soft whimper.

"Rose!" you obeyed, feeling your pelvic floor clench and unclench erratically.

It was fulfilling, but not by much. In truth, you'd been most stimulated when you were pleasing her, a truth that made you aware of a darker truth. Rose was toying with you. She wiped her hand off nonchalantly, putting her hat back on. With that one action, she went from uncommitted lover to sinister debt-collector.

"Now. About that debt."

<------------>

A/N: This is really just a one-shot, I don't see a part two or continuation, but I would be more than happy to write a similar story or use a similar template to create a series. Feedback is always welcome. :)

[justsumtransdude2000]

QuillKiller's Easy Beginnings

I know that a lot of people enjoy the internalized homophobia narrative in relation to relationships involving DE's and purebloods, and I often enjoy it too, when done correctly. However, QuillKiller is one of the instances where I think, characterization wise, it simply doesn't work. Specifically, I'm thinking when the internalized homophobia narrative is pushed onto Bellatrix.

Why? Well, what do we know about Bellatrix? She is dangerous, clinically insane, murderous and undyingly loyal to whatever she applies herself to, and canonically that thing is the dark lord, yes, but what else? She is self assured. When she battles people she taunts them because she is sure she'll beat them, when she argues she does it sardonically and with the very distinct air of I'm right, you're wrong, fuck off and die before I crucio you. Everything she does is with a sense of superiority and self respect. She knows who she is, and she wouldn't brush that off (especially in her teenage years, because Bellatrix as a teenager was a spitfire and a rebel in one way or another) to replace it with being who she needs to be.

So, when she realizes she's gay she doesn't think, she knows. She isn't afraid of it, or angry at it, guilt doesn't eat her alive about it, she doesn't dread not being the perfect daughter about it, because she's Bellatrix fucking Black, when has she ever been the perfect daughter, and when has trying to ever been fun? But this, her queerness and being able to weaponize it to piss off her family? That's fun. Bellatrix takes everything about herself and sharpens it until it's the perfect thing to ruin people with, especially when she is filled with teenage rebellion and hate.

Enter stage left Rita Skeeter, the openly lesbian trans girl (because fuck Terf-k Rowling, Rita deserves to be queer and trans and she is beautiful because of it) who is in everybody's business and runs a gossip column for Hogwarts. I imagine it starts 3rd year. Bellatrix has discovered this powerful, sharp thing about herself, and there is someone just as self actualized as her. Rita knows who she is, knows how to prove that to people. She runs smear campaigns against people who are transphobic towards her, and occasionally gets in trouble for hexing students who say nasty things, and she is a bit dangerous because of her abilities and Bellatrix loves it. She loves how being close with Rita is this game, loves how she walks a narrow tight rope of being loves and being smeared, loves the adrenaline rush it gives her (because she is so adrenaline junky coded).

And that love for all that Rita Skeeter is turns into love for her in 5th year.

And Rita Skeeter is intrigued by Bellatrix. By her ideology, the way she thinks and acts and is quick witted. The way she defends her so easily, the way curses flow from her wand with ease that Rita can tell is actually years of training and practicing (she ignores the thoughts about who she has had to practice on). And maybe it starts out as a story, but it turns into something else. It turns into this weird feeling in her hears, and sneaking into Bella's dorm, and learning what she likes to eat for breakfast, and wearing each other's ties on purpose and smearing transphobes together, and feelings.

And it's quite easy for them to fall in love.

[pricemarshfield]

Answer the prime numbers. Do All Tha Prime Numbers 🫵

good lord. okay but i’m putting it under the cut

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

biiiit of both? i know very concretely where i want a fic to start & end, i know the general placement of a few important scenes throughout the fic, and then i have Loose outlines about how each chapter will get me there. but mostly i write as i go; i just have an idea of the endpoint so i don’t wander off into the wilderness (drive my outline wildly off course)

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

well since playing bg3 it’s: become haunted by an idea involving raphael baldursgate, say oh my god no i haven’t even written any of my current wips in months i don’t have time, and then blacking out with 6k of porn that’s somehow not even close to done on my google docs. and this repeats forever

but also. i kinda just do it idk. i sit at my computer and write until it’s done

5. Do you like constructive criticism?

context dependent. if i ask for it, yeah. unprompted in comments, nah. people are much better about this than they used to be, which is funny because i’m less bothered now than i used to be. baby fic author sarah was haunted by concrit; current me is like yeah critique is the only way to improve but i am writing this for funnnn so leaf me alone

(should specify i Just mean in terms of like. technical advice here. if i’m being a bigot in my writing somehow, that is something i want to know and fix asap)

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

vibessss. whoever i wanna write more in the moment unless the specific scene only works from one perspective. this is why talk is getting a sequel (threequel. i guess. bc i’m also doing the two-part “endings”) which is just the same fic but from raphael pov bc i want to write him now

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

only three? damn. can i do four 😭 you sent me over a dozen questions i’m doing four.

of street names & subway wall prophecies by @dalgursbate is SO good. buffyverse au shadowstarion, so well-characterized and vivid and also FUN i LOVE it. i already liked shadowstarion (shocking! girl who multiships everything likes pairing between two of her favorite characters!) but now i rotate them in my mind forever. i want to bind this physically so i have it and am only stopped by having not actually kept most of my bookbinding stuff when i moved. but i need a physical copy so i can Eat It. also everyone should read everything else molly’s ever posted

who will burn who by @pouralaura is so good i’m proselytizing for it. PHENOMENAL fic. professor au raphael and he is SOOO fun; he fits so well in this verse without being defanged into something unrecognizable. and also it’s HOT!!!! SO HOT! fanning myself when i read it! the prose is just soooo fucking nice in this too. all of what i’ve said about this fic is true of all of laura’s fics and once again. everyone should read everything she’s ever posted

Blood in the Wine by @atrueneutral is so fucking interesting that i literally had to lie in bed and just stare at my ceiling and THINK about it after i read the latest chapter today. priest raphael au But Watch Out. i’m so deeply intrigued by the world-building in this, and neutral’s tav is INCREDIBLY compelling. this fic makes me want to paint again and if i had a canvas on hand i probably would have by now. and not to sound like a broken record but everyone read all of neutral’s fics too tyvm 🙏

Cooler Than Me by @wetcatspellcaster has absolutely brightened my day with every update, which has been nice because boyyy am i going through it a little bit. an academic/celebrity modern au with rosalie frostsong, love of my life, as the academic consulting on a film about a historical figure she Hates, and astarion, playing that guy. it’s so fun and funny and fluffy, and i just love seeing how all the different characters are translated to this AU because they’re ALL bangers. fox you are my roommate and know this already but for anyone just reading through, i absolutely cannot recommend all of emma’s fics enough :)

for all of these peep me being #insane in the comments and also know i could have listed like eight more fics even Just sticking with bg3, plus like 10 more if i brought in all the banger d20 ones i still need to catch up on. anyway i’m gonna go reread all of these once i finish answering this ask

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

FOR ME show don’t tell works. because i treat it as a mantra to make sure i’m showing what i’m telling, since my (unedited) writing style is just. so direct. my characters are introspective and love to think “i am doing x because y which results in z” and that’s fun but sometimes less is more. but also i think it’s a tip that’s oft misused and not always helpful hence the For Me

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

i simply do something else 👍 i am past the point of forcing words out of myself. i wrote a 40 page paper in one night bc i procrastinated so badly in my senior year of college and i don’t want to return to the mental state that invoked in me. especially not for Fanfiction, my Hobby

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

post-canon, fluff, and alternate universe - canon divergence are the main three; i should note that these are largely one-off fics under 2k i wrote half a decade ago, and most of my fics now are messy longfics with a lot of smut. the canon divergence one is still real though

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

🗣️ if you’re stuck, go back three sentences!!! oh my GOD did this save my editing process. the fact i finish editing chapters ever is due to this. also write what you want to write when you want to write it; if you’re writing for a self-imposed deadline or entitled commenters, the fun’s gonna get sucked out of it Fast.

also if you get someone who makes a Lot of fic requests that brush veryyyy close to what you’re not comfortable taking just block them. it’s fine. protect your peace

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

finish draft. take a full day away from it. reread. fix mistakes. i absolutely Should do more—reading aloud, probably make comments to myself and then go back—but tbh. i am impatient. i want to Post and see people’s Thoughts right away

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

used to be characters and a Vibe and the plot would come after, now plots complete with characters and themes attack me in the night until a new outline appears in my google docs. i blame raphael

37. How do you choose where to end a chapter?

“okay so this chapter should end at this scene :) oh god why is this other scene getting so long. ah fuck this is already 6k words and i’m not halfway through my plans. oh jesus christ wait a second it’s incredibly self-indulgent additional scene with the steel chair!!” and then i keep writing until i hit whatever is in my outline. don’t do this. you can change your chapter count. i am inflexibly stubborn but everyone else can and should do that. or just don’t commit to a chapter count at first. don’t be like me

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

I LOVE REREADING FICS !!! i guarantee every single fic i recommended above i have reread at least a dozen times times, and i think all three of them came out this year. one i discovered a momth ago. i have some fics i have reread Hundreds of times. i Love to reread fics

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

*poorly hiding a comically large mallet behind my back* i’m sooo nice to my characters actually. ignore the longfic which is just my tav’s bad end. and also the one where i put her in a version of hell she’d hate more than usual. and also all the things i’m gonna do in later knife’s edge chapters. and also that time i posted “this sucks for everyone but me, the writer who loves making things worse”

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

one. two if i’m really motivated. like a quarter of the way through before i give up and post immediately if i’m really UNmotivated. don’t be like me

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

i go through phases of each. i’ve written a lot this month, i read a lot last month. i think probably like 60:40 reader/writer but it’d probably be 50:50 if i wasn’t so committed to leaving comments with my full thoughts (and i love commenting. so i will not give that up)

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

my mom said she’d read my noir au when i told her about it (she has not). my grandma tried to figure out what to get me for my birthday by asking what fanfiction characters i liked right now. my aunt who i don’t even like has my ao3. i have no shame and also my writing fucks so like

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

I Need. To Read My Ideas. I Need Them To Exist. The Words Need To Be Out Of My Head And In A Form I Can Enjoy. also it’s fun and i like the community aspect of fandom

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

i love prompts and challenges but the fics i’ve been most excited to write have been fully independent ideas. still, fics i’ve loved and think are some of my best have come from challenges! so. idk i guess wishy-washy copout answer It Depends

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

i got a note on my phone with bullet points that are not clear enough and that i will be confused about later until at 3am i remember what the hell i meant by a bullet simply reading “jowan” (note: this is a real example. it is not a dragon age fic)

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

i got no clue. i’m so bad at describing my own writing in general, i have no idea how to differentiate it from others’ work. i like it though! i’m just terrible at articulating stuff about my Own writing lmfao

fox you sent this to me An Hour Ago. if there are typos dont tell me. if i missed a prime number for Sure dont tell me. goddamn.

[katshuya]

Lyanna Stark carries some blame too!

Warning: This is not to hate on her, nor I'm denying that she was a young girl and to some degree MAY have been fooled. This is about accountability first and second her genius fans and the shippers

I literally talked to several people here who ships her with Rhaegar and they were ones who have posts that have most likes over discussions about them as I have seen so far and very clever takes that break down every argument as other Rhaegar and Lyanna fans claim. And I swear to god the amount of cope and stupid theories they say is ridiculous. Like all long posts and literally nothing!

My only regret is how I didn't take screenshots of their very clever arguments. All of them ended up deleting my comments when they couldn't reply and was hurt by me saying that Rhaegar could have very possibly liked Elia in Romantic way to some extent and that copmplex realtionship doesn't necessarily mean there was no love or attraction.

Apparently now we are liars and don't care about Elia and just want to shit on Rhaegar and Lyanna and if we truly liked her we'd want her to be a woman who never loved Rhaegar at all.

Not even a little feeling to the man, she agreed to risk her life for him and his prophecy no. We should say according to them that she did that to stabilize her position as future queen and mother of the next heir who eats, drinks and sleeps peacefully and that is more feminist as they MOCKED than her being hurt by Rhaegar (Rhaegar who is said to be very charming to all women but apparently he never charmed Elia according to their little hearts that refuse to accept there might have been something of romance between her and Rhaegar) .

Them: Like, what do you mean she would mind seeing her husband love another girl more after she did everything for him?😡 That's very not good interpretation and characterization of Elia. She should only care about her position! oh! She is the victim of her mother's AMbiTIOns

AND! Her liking Rhaegar and risking her life to give him children makes her weak!

Trasnslation: I can't accept her liking Rhaegar, or this will make the asshole prince I ship myself with as a self-insert of Lyanna more asshole and unlikable to others So Elia must never like Rhaegar in order for my ship to work! Let's work hard on making people believe this is the only possible scenario AND the only way for Elia to be strong good character otherwise she is weak silly girl if she loved her charismatic husband so my ship can sail!

That's the true strong woman and we Elia-fans are just bunch of haters and don't really like her and we are the actual misogynist for not saying she never liked Rhaegar and for not loving their GIrl BoSS lyanan stark.

No, I don't ship Rhaegar and Elia. I'm just stating a very possible scenario. I really don't do ships. I simply like Elia.

As for Lyanna....

Yes, Lyanna carries some blame, too, in case she knew of Rhaegar's plan and agreed to it and went willingly. You don't get to tell me that I shouldn't blame her because most blame falls on men, and she was young?????

Like make it make sense. To what extent could your age protect you from accountability when you hurt others? Since when being young gives you the right to escape accountability? How else do you make sure that they don't turn out nasty?

Her escaping Robert and her eloping with married man EVEN in a scenario where Elia agreed are two different things that don't connect. (Elia would never agree happily. In such a scenario, she has no choice because of the prophecy.), it doesn't delete her mistakes. It simply makes her less guilty.

Reminder! She didn't escape until Rhaegar appeared. This may mean she never intended to escape until she fell in love with this married charismatic prince charming even in a scenario where she was a greenseer and saw her and Rhaegar are a MUst Be. They still ignored many things like others' safety for unsure prophecy.

Her story is so much more than just her age.

You all just ignore everything to make her look like nothing but a victim.

I had one tell me we shouldn't blame her because of the girl's girl and because men take most blame in her story??? Yes, they do, and??? Is that how we deal with women's mistakes now? As long as the biggest culprit is a man and you are young, you are free from accountability?

If this is what a girl's girl means now, then I'm not a girl's girl.

And guess what? Yes, I blame her to some degree and don't hate her. Yes, I definitely don't see her as likable but definitely not evil, and I know many of you don't accept these things mixed, but like or not they do with me and with many others who are silent about it because they don't want to be called ridiculous for disliking young girl. But not me. I don't mind.

[carefulfears]

ohhhh you should talk about the crazy family unit. hank karen becca mia and ... bill? (i cannot remember that man's name lol) or just mia & karen 🥹 whatever you feel ahaha

not you can’t remember the human dial-tone’s name 😭😭😭😭 he’s so absent in that family that he’s defined by it…what stands out to me about bill though is his status as A Father, to the point that we don't see him until he's Mia's Dad. he isn't in the pilot. and hank doesn't know (for plot?? reasons?? i guess??) that he has kids until the pilot, when karen says that becca is out with bill's daughter. even though they've lived with bill and mia for months (a year?) at that point.

by the time the audience sees bill for the first time, he's not just karen's boring "captain fantastic" fiancé- he's mia's dad. and his first scene on the show is annoying hank with parenting advice and trying to relate to him over having daughters.

so in a way, as much as the show wants to portray bill as the anti-hank (and as much as karen wants to latch onto that), they are characterized extremely similarly in a narrative sense...they both exist only in their relationship to the same 3 characters: karen, becca, and mia.

(i'm reminded of duchovny saying on a podcast that the world of californication was run by women)

and they both exist within this family in this odd awkward dynamic, where these kids need to be parented and neither of them are as present as they want to be.

what fascinates me about the relationship between hank and bill is that these are two men who see each other as rivals and who hate each other, but who are ultimately both just fathers and do have to be open to and rely on each other at times...and watch each other interact with and influence their girls…moments like when bill calls becca "honey" at dinner and everyone winces and looks at hank. bill going over to hank's apartment to ask him to please speak at mia's school, because he has to go out of town and can't do it. mia telling becca that it's only fun when she's around to "conspire against the parental units." they have this inevitable presence around each other's children. (hank having passed out at the house, coming down the stairs in bill's borrowed clothes, mia handing him the paper)

and when bill leaves town after the wedding, he leaves his daughter in LA to be effectively parented by karen and hank. and yea that's bonkers crazy and we could talk for days about how dangerously negligent and ridiculous the human dial-tone is but that's what happened

they're regularly going over to the house to check on her, having her over at their family dinners, inviting her to their parties, convening with each other about her behaviors and safety, taking responsibility for the people who interact with her, looking in on her at school

and they're...more attentive and involved than bill was. (look at my parental figures dawg i'm gonna throw myself off a hotel balcony)

and mia eats it up!! she microdoses having a grown-up give af about her!! same girl who told karen that her dad doesn't care about her whereabouts before going out to meet a "significantly older" guy at a bar. she starts going to her teacher's nasty apartment to do coke only after hank tells her to be careful around that guy. she starts a sexual relationship with lew ashby, watches hank and karen lose their shit over it, then tells hank she was just "yanking his chain." in the first vlog she alludes to calling hank and telling him she's in trouble "just fucking with him."

and she did nothing wrong <3

as far as the relationship between karen and mia goes you honestly need another post to unpack All That….it’s hard to mother a dead woman’s baby. then watch her stand up at your wedding and beg her father not to do it. to sit in a courtroom years later and listen to her tearfully explain her anger towards you, how much grief her father was “burying.”

but she did mother her and that’s so difficult, even painful, for everyone...like my post on becca and mia and how kind of tragic it is, the way that they were "sisters" but only for a little while. like searching for protection and comfort in a man who will stand trial for harming you.

there are a few really enduring and reliable constants that this show rests on, and mia just isn't one of them. her family, her stability, her well-being, her home and individuality. it's all kind of fraught and wildly fluctuating. but for a little while, people tried.

[cto10121]

Twilight Clown Takes—Part 4

What is it about YouTube and its breeding ground for Twilight clownery???? Some of it is very basic clownery, too. Also, the fake outrage on behalf of the Quileutes by engaging in racist interpretations of the text is…something else. Regardless, there I came upon the feast, and so I shall eat.

“The Wolves Are Savage” and Other Racisms

What.

You mean those same books that described the vampires in the same way as beasts, who not only growl and roar and snarl, but literally cannot smell blood without going literally crazy like sharks? The same books that described vampires as almost entirely solitary creatures who don’t usually form covens (because then they would turn against each other in competition for their human prey? The same books that had nothing but evil red-eyed vampires (James, Victoria, the Volturi) until the very last book of the series where we are introduced to sympathetic non-vegetarian vampires (Garrett, the Amazonians, etc.)?

Meanwhile the werewolves keep their reason and intelligence intact while they’re in their wolf forms and do not suffer from bloodlust. Their dangerousness comes from their youth and inexperience in shifting—the oldest of the pack is Sam at 18 and he was literally the first and only one to do it without help.

The books adore the Cullens. But it makes it damn clear that they (and the Denalis) are the exceptions that prove the rule. Otherwise Twilight vampires are sociopathic beasts and, as Edward explicitly said in book one, the Quileutes are right to keep their distance. And no, this wasn’t by accident or ~bad writing. Meyer is deliberate in her framing, as well as her characterization of the wolves.

Tfw your accusation of racism is racist

Bella asked Jacob if he could stop being a werewolf because she mistakenly thought him and his wolf buddies were literally killing people. When she learned otherwise, she was literally, “Oh, no, Jake, I’m fine with you turning into a giant wolf. That doesn’t bother me at all.” (This is near VERBATIM, not even joking). Bella is a monsterfucker, after all. She’s just not into that kind of bestiality.

Tfw your accusation of racism is racist

Yes, because imprinting is something the wolves 100% have control over and it’s something they can reject. There is nothing random about imprinting at all.

Otherwise—once again—the wolves have vastly more control over their wolf forms than the vampires over their thirst (the Cullens and Denalis excepted). And of course, their body counts are close to zero—compare them to the Cullens and Denalis. Only Sam has injured another human and that was by accident. Even the hothead Paul has no kills or injuries, whereas his counterpart Emmett has at least three.

MORMONISM OMG

Because Mormonism is the only religion that values and reveres close family ties. Only Mormonism supports the patriarchal family and believes in the organization of society through the familial unit. Only Mormonism is heteronormative and actively homophobic. No other culture or religion gives a fuck.

(Also, the Prodigal Son??? Literally the most common and basic Biblical allusion ever. Literally every major writer has alluded to it, including Shakespeare. It is not just a Mormon thing, oh God 😭😭😭😭😭😭 This kind of clownery eats itself).

Bella Hate Dumb Round ♾️

Bella turned down Mike and told him explicitly that it would hurt Jessica’s feelings if she went with him to the dance. She did go to La Push with him and her friends and was happy that it was “so easy” to please Mike. She rescued Angela from having to answer Jessica’s annoying questions about Eric by changing the subject. She helped Angela and Jessica find dresses and explicitly enjoyed their girls’ night out in Port Angeles. She had zero opinion on Lauren until she overheard her shit talking Bella (literally) behind her back. She listened to Jessica’s date with Mike and was glad it went all right.

Bella being mean to her friends is clownery so easily debunked—at worst, she is not particularly close to any of them except Angela. If she was reserved or distant with them, it was because she hates any and all attention to herself, period. It was her first day at a new school where everyone knew each other, and was already overwhelmed with introductions and learning her schedule and teachers’s and classmates’s names. The behavior Edward notices in Midnight Sun does not go against her character in Twilight at all and is a continuation of this self-abnegating tendency.

Edward literally went to Italy to get himself killed by the vampire elite and explicitly said that he could not live in a world where Bella did not exist. Before that, he basically admitted that when he wasn’t hunting Victoria he curled up into a ball and let the despair take him. Meanwhile Bella did not consider suicide (though ~just barely) because of Charlie and Renée. After her one week coma period she did make an effort at keeping up appearances, which included getting all A’s even in her weakest subject, Calculus.

It’s disgusting, all right: A male character who cannot live without his woman. What kind of a message is that sending to our poor impressionable boys???!!!!!

Didn’t Edward literally stop murdering child molesters and pedophiles because his conscience got to him that it was, indeed, still murder? And didn’t at least one clown still complain about how Mormon it was of him to care for human life? Now the clowns insist Edward doesn’t care about humans and humanity at all.

Even if Edward did care only about Carlisle’s disappointment, it wasn’t because he considers himself his perfect son. If anything Edward suffers from the same kind of self-esteem issues as Bella—in New Moon, he flatly denies Aro’s praise/assertion that his self-control puts Carlisle to shame. Edward thinks of Carlisle because he loves Carlisle like a father and thinks the world of him. He did save him from permanent death, after all.

[ride-thedragon]

My most controversial opinion is that I hope Nettles is feminine. Like dresses and jewelry even before she is claiming dragons.

Why would this be controversial?

Two reasons.

Cultural Femininity and Demonization of Femininity.

1. Cultural Femininity:

If they take the time to give Nettles a distinctly cultural tie on the show, they also have the ability to make her present her femininity differently. In my preferred head canon with the Rhoynar, it's very different from what is allowed in Westeros. The placement of Driftmark as a trading center also allows her to pick up culturally distinctive feminity, think septum piercings, or showing your stomach. Those things are seen in Essos and Dorne not really in Westeros as a culture.

2. Demonizing.

Nettles is described as ugly in the books , so to then just make her dress and act differently from the royal woman does explain a lot of the hate and dislike her appearance and personhood. The whole Witch thing becomes layered if she isn't praying to the faith of the seven or dressing to fit the standard. She's never had to do it before. The idea impacts her relationships and how she would perceive things.

This unfortunately will muddy waters when it comes to people who don't like her character because we experience the show from a Westeros focused mindset, if people are ordering hits on the one distinct woman of colour and accusing her of witchcraft it reads clearer than it does in the book.

Lord knows this fandom does not need a reason to demonize a woman, far less for a woman of colour, I just think that it would be cool to see that because she's never had to conform to a societal expectation of piety or virtue she's picked what she liked and grew up to take and choose distinctive cultural things and made it her own.

Also, cultural femininity eats every time. Sarees, piercings, tribal tattoos, braids, materials, and jewelry outsell everything, every time.

I just wouldn't don't trust any writers after experiencing "you want a good girl, but you need a bad pussy" first hand from Tyene Sand of all people. So I don't think that even if they went this direction with this character, they would do it as good as they should do it.

I will say that GOT and HOTD so far have done a good job at not demonizing cultures before. I was personally rooting for Melisandre a bit too hard before Shireen.

But in exotizing certain cultures like Dorne, they tend to play into fetishization and Orientalism, similarly to the Dothraki, but that links back to the source material and again who we experience the world through.

I do think if they try, it would be a cool way to characterize her specifically because she's such an outsider to the world already, and it easily establishes that she isn't meant to conform to it. It also adds a layer to her descriptions if a lot of it would be things like a tattoo, or piercing or strange jewelry, and perfumes she's collected overtime.

I know a big thing with her character is that she's homeless without parents allegedly, but things like jewelry passed down to her, and odd jobs could explain the small disbelief people would have if they go that route.

I just deserve it as well. I've been a good person when it came to the Rhaena, Laena, and Baela erasure I've suffered through. I hope we can move on and make distinct choices.

I also will say that this happens in the context that we get biblically accurate Baela Targaryen. I refuse to suffer Masc and Hyper Feminine erasure again.

[horizon-verizon]

The fact that there are people who sincerely ship Nettles & Daemon, while bashing Daemyra for being grooming is... baffling. They would therefore find it normal / synonymous with great romance for a 49 year old man to have a romance with a 17 year old girl (I believe that George never positively represented this type of age difference) who does not uneducated and always lived on the street, how to stand, eat, dress, wash, etc. and who Norren would have father/daughter vibes... Like, wtf? That would just seem quite bizarre and unhealthy. Most find it as an excuse that Norren misinterpreted the relationship because he doesn't really know Daemon... No, but lol. Remember, we're talking about people claiming that Daemon groomed Rhaenyra. And these people claim to know the character of Daemon. 😂 Daemon is a gray character, there's no way I'm interpreting him as abusing Nettles, or even having a romantic relationship with her. Literally, what romance?! The things associated with them can be easily interpreted other than in a romantic and or sexual way, between the historical context and even simply the characters and their characterization as well as possible development. It amazes me that so many people are convinced that there is a great love story between these two, when there is not much about them in the end. We have the questionable testimony of Mushroom, the fact that they took baths, in the platonic section, and where Daemon actually teaches Nettles to wash, so well, people are free to necessarily see that as sexual, even if it's a little weird in my opinion... A lot of people argue that no, Nettles was old enough to know how to wash, so it wasn't platonic but uh... We're talking about the girl who lived alone and on the street all his life. How do you realistically want her to have a healthy lifestyle? And the fact that maybe, or not, they shared a bed. But even then, it's not enough to confirm if there was sex between them. And I'm not even talking about that moment when Caraxes breaks the windows when Nettles leaves and everyone sees the proof of an ultimate love when we don't know what Daemon has in mind at that moment. . I always saw Nettles leaving as a breaking point for Daemon after all the shit he's been through since the start of the war. Like, the extra drop that makes it implode. But I could never see them as romantic or sexual.

For me, the Nettles & Daemon relationship was both father/daughter, mentor/student, friends, companions/comrades in war.

They ship Daemon x Nettles because they hate Daemon or/and Rhaenyra for being Targs, having incest and dragons (meanwhile the Westerosi lords have the greenlight to marry first cousins), for being Alicent's enemy (meanwhile Alicent is a misogynist, power hungry person who targeted a 10 year old and never stopped), or for Rhaenyra's nonconformity to gendered codes of conduct within a feudal patriarchy (thinking her a betrayer to her house, a slut, ugly for her weight, refusal to treat her siblings as siblings [Alicent's fault], etc -- misogyny). Meanwhile they do not realize that they are supporting a feudal patriarchal mindset or that GRRM himself writes against patriarchy and bastardry's value through how after Rhaneyra women in Westeros like Jeyne Pool, Alys Karstark, Asha Greyjoy, and Cersei, even Targ women like Maerys, have it much worse than if Rhaenyra had been allowed to rule. I mean, Jon Snow! Have people forgotten that they love him?!

Most do not have knowledge of the nonprivacy medieval people would be used to. Or they do not care because they already believe that Daemon is the groomer and pedophile of the story despite:

a pedophile targets a child with the awareness, mind and knowledge that their target is a child (Daemon approaches Rhaenyra for her position and attractiveness; Rhaenyra was considered an adult by age 16 and inherited the actual right to rule Dragonstone like any other lord with their land and like every other noble girl she would have been married if her father had a mind to it....which he does, seeing as he marries her at 17 to Laenor, who was 20)

many examples of older men marrying younger girls in arranged marriages both in real life medieval history and in Westerosi history: Daenerys Targaryen [15] and Maron Martell [40]: Corlys [37] and Rhaenys [16]; Maegor I Targaryen [13] and Ceryse Hightower [23] --- which shows they know nothing of ASoIaF or how GRRM writes (he usually writes negatively of huge age gaps but he doesn't write negatively of age gaps in general and he always writes the gaps in context of their political circumstances)

so the thought of Daemon possibly not grooming a single girl or going after them for their recognized childhood is inconceivable to them.

Or they believe Mushroom when he says Daemon "taught" Rhaenyra lessons and had sex with her out on the rocks of the Blackwater Bay....meanwhile Mushroom also says that he was there at times with D and R, participating , that he has a huge penis (several times) AND he could never have been at those rocks to witness for himself what D and R were doing....please.

[quetzalpapalotl]

Tf eu #5 rambles under the cut

Obviously, the most important thing is that MY WIFE IS HEEEERE YEAAAAAH. Love how they lettered her name here omg

She's wonderful!!!! Her bait and switch intro was funny (but please don't actually corner The Girl One into a love interest) and her stunt saving Carly was so cool, I'm glad we're establishing her right. I wish she didn't look so much Like That, but at least DWJ is as willing to deform her for action as anyone else. Her buccal fat removal look makes her look like a skull, which would be cool if it were on puporse, but it's not so. I like the shade they picked for her, is more of a lilac but it looks pink with the rest of the color palette and meshes well with the setting.

This series is really good at the appel to the inner child thing, because I'm like genuinely excited to see the Autobots have the advantage for once!! But ofc, they can't really because the arc ends next issue and they're not gonna have a decisive win until that.

Tho, Optimus and Cliffjumper are carrying the Autobots in regards to being the heroes we root for. I mean, Arcee and Jazz are very cool and that has their appeal, but I do wish once things have settled and they can interact in more situations that aren't just life and death, because so far I feel like we only get a good grasp of who Optimus and Cliffjumper are as individuals, their personalities. I want to see what makes each Autobot unique.

Speaking of, still absolutely eating the Carly and CJ dynamic. She is great and when she said that what does if matter if she's at risk when her family is dead and Spike is in a coma, that reallly got to me. It's unwise, but Cliffjumper relating to her and bringing her to give her a sense of closure it's really good. I think that this kind of bringing the kid character into danger would be because Carly sneaked her way, or because Cliffjumper would disregard orders for the hell of it. But like this feeeling of "I know how she feels and I would want come in her place too" works really well.

Also, I care about Sparky now, lol. Not that at hated him before. I'm not a fan of the first page, as cool at it look, because comparing OP to the US military like the later are the good guy is mmmm... but I'm loving his rapport with Optimus. And also there's how he looks when he's told the generator will give them a decade of power. It's not like "amazing tech woaaah!" It's softer like... this isn't an affluent town, these are people who are used to struggle and they just lost their power source. Ten years of power like that is a godsend that he can hardly believe that will do the whole town a lot of good and he cares about that. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but you know.

And ooooh dear, I was already unwell over Optimus getting his Megatron's canon arm grafted, but I understimated what seein him actually shoot the canon would do to me. I need... several moments.... the fight scenes are pretty gone but this one was particulary brutal. Optimus is really fearsome. And given how he has been so carefully characterized as this bleeding heart figure, seeing him decimating his enemies so efficient is quite something. And by something I mean gap moe. We love to see it.

RIP Reflector, your camera jokes will be missed, but that sequence was amazing lmao

Love seeing Optimus hit Starscream where it hurts. But OP saying that last time Starscream was cowering from Megatron's canon brings a lot of questions about the sequence of events in the Ark (which we'll get to see in teh special it seems). And I've been wondering if Starscream had something to do with Megatron falling or dissapearing or whatever, this does make it seem more like it and well, if that's the case I wonder how the rest of the Cons will react.

Man, the Autobots really shined this time and I already forgot what I was thinking about the Decepticons!! But hey!!! Thundercracker is here!!!!!!!! My guy!!! Given that his characterization as per toy bio is the guy that's not so sure about the cause, I wonder how he'll take it when he find out what really happened to Skywarp.

Also, are the Constructicons newly made??

Anyway, good stuff.

[mysteryofvampires]

The character headcanon generator and the heirs of the night characters:

(Let's see how this will turn out...)

(Also a few just in modern AU)

Alisa:

Alisa could easily survive the Hunger Games (yes I can see this. I mean, she's the chosen one hello? )

Alisa is awful with kids (this isn't accurate in my opinion. She's such a loving and kind person and also gets along with pretty anyone so..)

Alisa is a cat person (yess just yes. She is black cat and Lars is golden retriever. Taking no critism on this)

Lars:

Lars crushed a riding lawn mower into his fence (Oh yess! That's the chaotic shit he would totally do!!!)

Lars cracks his knuckles very loudly ( hmhm...maybe just to annoy people but this suits him)

Lars desperatley needs a hug but doesn't know it and refuses to ask for one (if this doesn't characterize him than what does?)

Ivy:

Ivy is a theatre kid (so accurate!!)

Ivy tells dad jokes (also canon! She makes the dumbest jokes but still everyone laughs because they're all idiots)

Ivy has a low alcohol tolerance (yes. She literally Passes out after half a glas)

Inger:

Inger makes your mom jokes ( well...could be but Idk really if that's truly a thing with her)

Inger steals other people's clothes (when people are Ivy then yes)

Inger is very willing to eat inedible things (No. In my head she's a picky eater)

Fanny:

Fanny likes being alone (No! She's the biggest extrovert out there!!)

Fanny had an emo phase (Nah she would be the bully who makes fun of the emos let's be fr)

Fanny cringes at their middle school year book photo (Also rather no...she has the self confidence of a princess, but...maybe?)

Malcolm:

Malcolm only speaks in meme refrences (Hm...yes. Behind that serious facade of his he's a chronically online dumbass)

Malcolm doesn't own a single pair of matching socks. (Also yes, he's chaotic as hell.)

Malcolm has a Roblox account (He's addictet to the game but doesn't admit it so yes)

Tammo:

Tammo does not know how to read. (YESSS!! Just think about the potential this brings. Him struggling with keeping up in theoratical lessons in class and the other heirs finding out and helping him through reading to him. Also maybe a bit of angst because Dame Elina hates having an heir without the ability to read. ) Anyone want a fanfic like this?

Tammo has an incredible long-term memory but an awful short-term memory. (Oh yes! He remembers everything from years ago but can't remember what he wore yesterday)

Tammo watched the sonic movie. (Not only this but it's his favourite)

Joanne:

If someone they knew commited a crime, Joanne would cover for them. (She loves her friends sm, so yes. )

Joanne needs a nightlight to sleep. (Such a cute headcanon for a cute character!! Yess!!)

Joanne has a mary sue oc. (I mean that girl is about 12 right?? Who didn't in that age?)

Luciano:

Luciano sleeps in until noon. (In canon he is annoyed by Alisa who wakes him uo early so pretty sure this is accurate)

Luciano gets bullied on roblox. (By Malcolm?)

Luciano has fallen asleep at their desk while working in the middle of the night. (No. He loves his sleep too much to work over bed time)

Seamour:

Seamour likes to eat straight coffee beans. (Yes. He's a bit crazy)

Seamour is the gay cousin. (In my head he's gay so yes. )

If Seamour likes someone, they will give them a pretty rock. (Headcanon accepted)

Nicu:

Nicu hates being alone. (No he's an introverted king)

Nicu listens to 80s music. (He's a vintage girlie confirmed. )

If the sorce media was a musical, Nicu would be the one character that asks why everyone is singing. ( I mean he's the only human in a vampire friend group, so definitely yes!!) Also this is so funny!

Bonus: Hindrik and Karen

Hindrik gets into Twitter discourse.

Hindrik is a very good singer. (In the book he actually is I think!!)

Hindrik bites their nails. (Because Alisa and Tammo are stressing him out and he worries about them)

Karen is afraid to close their eyes in the shower. (Maybe because she has to keep her eyes on little Lars who Plans the next huge prank on her???)

Karen killed Princess Diana. (Haha slay queen)

Karen is an oldest child.

[k-s-morgan]

Okay, so two questions. 1) How do you think Sebastian feels about people finding him attractive? Do you think he basks in the attention or do you think he only enjoys that kind of attention when it's from Ciel? Do you think he uses it to his advantage/enjoyment? 2) Do you have any specific songs that remind you of Sebastian? I really enjoy your characterization of him so I'm curious as to what songs you associate with him -🖤

How do you think Sebastian feels about people finding him physically attractive? Do you think he gets some sort of dark pleasure out of people being drawn to him, but knowing they shouldn't be? Or do you think he doesn't really notice?

This is totally random, but I have two questions about Sebastian, since I view how you write him as extremely accurate to canon. 1) How do you think Sebastian feels about people that find him attractive, but react differently? Say one person is like Mey-Rin, swooning and blushing, but another is just like, "Sebastian is attractive, I recognize that" and they don't get flustered and all that about it.

How do you think Sebastian feels about little children, like 5 and younger? Do you think he (2) would be good at taking care of them? Would he hate them? Be mean to them? I work with kids so I've been wondering the answer to this question for a while lol. 🖤

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

These asks likely came from the same person - if not, then I'm combining them anyway because they all center on the same topic! Hope that's okay, and sorry for taking so long to answer!

I think Sebastian gets two types of enjoyment out of people's attraction to him. When it comes from anyone other than Ciel, he relishes the fact of his power. Depending on his mood, he might play it up, seducing his victims and watching gleefully how they fall apart from his mere proximity, or he might ignore them. I'm sure it particularly amuses him when the person attracted to him is someone who would be horrified by the real him even more than the others, such as a nun. He's a demon, after all, and watching someone who pledged themselves to God fall for his charms is entertaining. But every time he engages in physical intimacy with someone, he looks like it's a chore, so I think he does it only when his 'job' requires him to. He likely initiated it genuinely just a couple of times throughout his lifetime, and even then, he was driven by curiosity than true interest.

Mey-Rin's feelings mostly annoy him, in my opinion. Sebastian respects her (and the servants) more than he does others; he seems to consider attraction a lowly human feeling and so Mey-Rin should really know better.  

As for people attracted to him displaying different reactions: I think it doesn't really matter to him. Sebastian is not interested in physical intimacy, so he pays attention to attraction only when it's obvious. When it's not obvious, he's indifferent and doesn't bother to dwell on it, but he's also certain that he'll be able to seduce anyone if he has to, regardless of whether this person likes him or not.

Except for Ciel. Ciel is his exception in pretty much everything.

In many ways, I feel like Sebastian idolizes Ciel. He has to face Ciel's imperfections and human flaws time and time again, but he still holds him to much higher standards than the rest of the world. I think he doesn't recognize Ciel's attraction to him because he genuinely doesn't think Ciel would stoop to it. In canon, we see Sebastian tease Ciel about girls sometimes, but he obviously does it just to annoy and embarrass him. He knows Ciel is not interested in these things - he believes it's one of the qualities that relate them together.

Because he's never felt genuine attraction to anyone, Sebastian spectacularly fails to recognize it in himself either. Being a demon complicates things, and his mind often defaults to physical hunger when it's trying to decipher his needs and impulses. Ciel looks particularly good? This must mean that he wants to eat his soul. Ciel's proximity is messing with Sebastian's mind? He's probably gotten too hungry. Etc.

To Sebastian, attraction is just one more tool he can use against humans. He doesn't understand it as a genuine emotion and so he fails to understand his own feelings.

Regarding songs: unfortunately, I have a pretty complex relationship with music and I almost never associate songs with any characters! However, if I had to choose...  Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode. It's odd and somewhat ethereal, just like him. I love this part in particular:

All I ever wanted All I ever needed Is here in my arms Words are very unnecessary They can only do harm Vows are spoken To be broken Feelings are intense Words are trivial Pleasures remain So does the pain

Also, Light Em Up by Fall Out Boy fits both Ciel and Sebastian to an extent. This part reminds me of Sebastian:

Be careful making wishes in the dark Can't be sure when they've hit their mark And besides in the meantime I'm just dreaming of tearing you apart...

You're the antidote to everything except for me A constellation of tears on your lashes Burn everything you love Then burn the ashes

Oh, and as for kids: I don't think Sebastian would like them much, to be honest! He'd probably regard them as extra dim humans that are even more helpless and pathetic than normal. Even taking care of Ciel at the start of their contract, when he was 11, frustrated him - I imagine it would be worse if a child was younger!

[alyssalikestoreadbooks]

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Ned Vizzini

"Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That’s when things start to get crazy.

At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he’s just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. The stress becomes unbearable and Craig stops eating and sleeping—until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, isolated from the crushing pressures of school and friends, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety."

Read Date - May 2024

Length - 444 pages

Genre - Young Adult, Mental Health, Contemporary

Rating - 7/10

Stars - ★★★★☆

Notes - I’m not gonna lie, i was actually a bit put off by the fact that this has 40+ chapter. But once i really got into it, i instantly soared past where i had started reading it in 2017. I absolutely love the way they show depression as a gradual thing. It’s not something that always had one big trigger, sometimes its many small things compiling together, or the tentacles, as Craig puts it. i want to say that, as a trans person, i really dont hate the characterization of trans people. It’s very offensive and distasteful, of course, but it reads off to me as if it’s coming from the perspective of somebody who doesn’t understand. And, Ned may NOT have understood to the fullest extent. Thats why i say i like it. Because i do think that matters. i really like the dynamic between noelle and Craig, and i like how nia isn’t end game. I like how we see them as two different girls, which is something Ned has struggled to discern in the past with BMC. I love the way Ned tied up the ending, and it genuinely moved me to tears to read the ending “verbs”. This is such a fucking beautiful novel and Ned Vizzini will be missed dearly

[cuntyqueerleondraisaitl]

My thoughts on Yellowjackets Season 1

Major spoilers for season one under the cut. Also, long

Okay I'm going to break this up into parts because I'm mentally ill and neurodivergent, need I say more?

Stuff I predicted.

First and foremost, I fucking called it that Coach Ben was gay. I was watching it with my cousins and I announced to the room: "The coach guy is gay, you can quote me on that!" Just for the record, my gaydar is very good.

Jackie's death was extremely sad, but I knew the second hallucination!Shauna let her inside. There's no way she would forgive her or be forgiven that fast, teenage girls are terrifying.

Predictions for the future:

They are 100% going to eat Jackie. Nuff Said.

Javi is dead. If not now, then soon.

There is a 0% chance that Shauna's baby is going to survive. Giving birth is dangerous enough on its own. But a teenager giving birth, in the woods, with no medication, no food, no doctors, under absolutely horrifying mental circumstances. There's no way in hell.

For this prediction, it must be known that I know absolutely nothing about lighters. But during the scene where Jackie was trying to light the fire before she died, I noticed that she was having trouble with the lighter. This could have been because she was shivering, or to further drive home the fact that she isn't good at "outdoorsy" stuff, but lighters do run on a small amount of fuel. And if that runs you can no longer use the lighter, it is also unlikely the lighters were full when they got them (I'm assuming they got them from the cabin, as it would be weird for a teenager to bring a lighter to a soccer game) So if the lighters run out or stop working, will they run out of fuel?

And, we have to talk about my least favourite arc of all time, Misty and the Coach. I hated this so fucking much. Adult Misty slays but '96 Misty makes me want to die. Anyway... I think he gon be outed. Misty fucking assaulted and terrorized this guy for so long, and then he told her that he was gay. She isn't going to sit on this, she's going to tell everyone. I don't think anyone's going to be homophobic, because they were all fine with Taivan, but I do think that this is going to really alienate her from Nat, who is Ben's best friend and #1 supporter.

In terms of whos, the head-honcho with the scary mask is, at this point, I'm almost certain that it's got to be Lottie. At first, I was betting on Taissa because of the whole "Became a leader in her adult life" thing, but now I'm shying against it, and I'm not quite sure why. Lottie is my first choice, not from a character standpoint, but purely from a literary one. She is the only character that has not yet appeared as an adult (next to Van) who has gotten any real characterization. And Van just kind of seems like a prop to be Tai's girlfriend and someone to get injured a shit ton. (I love Taivan, don't get me wrong)

Flight 571

If you don't know, flight 571 was a real flight, carrying a Urgarian rugby team, that crashed in the Andes. It is often known as "The Miracle of the Andes." Of the 45 people on the flight, 16 survived, and they did so by eating each other. It was a big hyper-fixation of mine for a while.

One of the biggest differences between the Yellowjackets vs 571, is the setting. As 571 crashed in the Anes, where there was absolutely no life, and their flight obviously crashed in the forest, where they can hunt. But as winter approaches, the two climates become more and more similar, which will probably lead to more parallels.

There are already a shit ton of parallels, starting way back in episode 2, with none other than Van. Her Flight 571 parallel is, arguably the most famous of the group, Nando Parrado. And although your parallels aren't glaring, there is no questioning that they're there. Nando had a fractured skull and was in a Coma for three days after the crash. At first, he was to be counted among the dead, but at the last minute, he was pulled back into the plane, where he survived and became one of the most important people on the flight and one of the survivors. This is a parallel to the way that Van almost died in the fire, but survived and became a very important figure.

In relation to the whole "eating Jackie" thing. In the real-life flight 571 They didn't eat the already dead, they only ate the people that had consented to be eaten when they were alive. This will most likely not play into it at all here, but I want to see how they handle the morality of the situation

Another thing that came up a lot in the crash of 571, was whether or not they could physically;y stomach the meat. Many passengers, even when dying of starvation, could not stomach the meat of their fellow passengers. Again, I doubt this will come up, but It would be dope if it did.

Rationing horror. I want it. I know I'm a jerk, but there is one instance in 571 that has always stuck with me, and this is the fact that one of the 571 passengers (I believe it was my man Nando) ate one chocolate-covered almond over the course of three days. First the outer layer of the chocolate, and then the two slivers of almond, one at a time. I don't have a reason for it, but I really want this to play a part.

I'm very confused about how the cannibalism wasn't immediately found out when they were rescued. In the real-life Andes flight, people figured it out almost immediately. They were immediately rushed to the hospital, and when the doctors puzzled out that they had to be eating something, it was all out in the open pretty fast. I'm curious how the Yellowjackets managed to cover it up.

Things I Loved

Pretty much the whole show. Even the things I hated (see below) are either so small or made sense narratively that it allowed for a really enjoyable watching experience. It was beautiful to look at. Amazingly acted. Amazingly scripted. And just an all-around excellent show.

Things I hated

The Misty/Ben arc. I hated this so fucking much. Ben is my favourite character, and he was straight-up getting harassed by Misty. She also only stopped when she forced him out. And even then she didn't stop being bitter about it. ("[Ben] tricked me into falling in love with him") She also TRIED TO RAPE HIM??? Even after he said no multiple times during episode nine. It also made me cringe, super hard, which isn't as important but still makes me hate it. This is why I have '96 Misty. I understand that it made literary sense, but still...

The fact that 571 is canon in the Yellowjackets universe. It is mentioned in a throwaway line said by that reporter. I believe in episode eight, It feels like a mistake, like when Hot Tub Time Machine was referenced in Endgame. I have already said that it is clear that Yellowjackets is loosely based on flight 571, which makes me feel weird...

The way that schizophrenia was presented. I'm not Schitzo Spec, nor a medical professional so I'm not speaking from experience, but from the research I've done, it can be pretty harmful to use hallucinations to convey evil things or to present it as a gift. Both of which are done in the show

Character Thoughts:

I am completely separating the '96 characters from the present day. In my mind thus far they are different people. This is in literally no order

Reporter: Literally no strong feelings about her what-so-ever, don't even know her name

Those three random girls: You know who I'm talking about. I don't even know their names so I don't care.

Jeff: I hate him. He makes me want to murder him. He cheated on his girlfriend with her best friend. Then blackmailed her friends for money because people didn't want his furniture. 0/10 do not recommend

'96 Misty: I really hate her, even more than Jeff. She's the only character who I like the present-day version of her more than the teen version. Again, the whole Misty/Ben act made me really deeply resent her

Present-day Misty: I love her. So much. She and House should team up and create the malpractice hospital of the century. I was on the fence about her until the very end when she poisoned the reporters cigarettes. And now I love her.

'96 Lottie: I think that she needs a bit more development, and I can see her becoming one of my favourites. Apart from my thoughts on her schizophrenia, I think that with a bit more characterization she can become almost perfect

'96 Vanessa: I love her. Again, I feel like she is mostly being portrayed as someone to do gruesome stuff too, and as a prop for Tai., but the crumbs of Characterization we get for her are awesome. I love the way that she took Lotties weird bone/good luck charm with her. Is shows that she's really sweet and a good person.

'96 Nat: Yes. Her. Yes. Also, she's definitely queer and no I do not take criticism. I think that, even though she's so broken, her and Travis have a really unique and great bond, even at their worst. I also LOVE her relationship with Wen (Don't worry, we're getting to him) She's probably my favourite of the girls.

Present day Nat: Unpopular opinion, but just eh. She's a very tragic character, and that's important for the story. I think that her grief, and her relapse, are very realistic. I can empathize with her, but she isn't very interesting and one of my favourites.

'96 Jackie: I hate her too. I think she's whiny, and doesn't pull her weight. And her insane amount of pouting is what got her killed. I understand that there was a whole arc about her not pulling her weight, but I don't think that ever got really resolved. She did the seance, but that definitely did more bad than good. I wish she wasn't dead, but she irritates me.

'96 Travis: I definitely think he had some of the best development out of all the kids. During the first couple of episodes, I was team eat Travis first and now I'm team eat him second or third. Still not my favourite, but I don't hate him.

'96 Shauna: I think that she's a bi-disaster and in love with Jackie, but honestly to me she seems a bit one-sided. I don't really have super strong thoughts on her

Present-day Shauna: The worst of the adults. Even if it turns out her husband is blackmailing her, she shouldn't have cheated, especially if she didn't know. She pretty much neglects her daughter and kept those journals even though it meant putting her team in jeopardy.

'96 Javi: I think that at the beginning, he had the potential to be interesting. Especially with the whole, dead dad/gum thing. But we haven't really heard from him in a while, so there isn't much to say.

'96 Tai: I like her a lot, I think that she is the one whose characterization as a child comes through the most as an adult. You can see her leadership come through and strengthen as the season go on, which obviously morphs into her becoming senator as an adult.

Present day Tai: Fine. Just fine. I think that her arc as an adult is quite interesting because most of her reach characterization came through in her marriage/parenting/politics stuff, and not in the mystery. But she's fine.

Ben: Oh my precious. Oh, my baby. This man can do no wrong. he could eat literally everyone else, including Nat and Van, and I would continue to give him cuddles and words of affirmation. My favourite character of all time, the reason I hate '96 Misty. If anyone does anything to him they are dead to me forever. That one scene where he's high on shrooms and screaming at the sky that he's gay. Goosebumps.

TL;DR

I'm a really fucked up person who just spent almost hours writing an essay on a show she isn't even done watching yet.

[franstastic-ideas]

Can I have the entire 50 character ask thing for your favorite sisterhood girl pls I like hearing about them

Ohhhh, don't make me CHOOSE!

I know I've already spoken quite a bit about Akari, but maybe I still haven't enough!

1. Canon I outright reject

Her being fifteen.

Akari's age should be up to interpretation, and I say this is a 21-22 year old woman who happens to be short.

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

Hikari and Akari are one and the same, not separate people with an uncanny resemblance to one another.

3. Obscure headcanon

She has a deep, lovely, womanly voice...

Akari doesn't quite laugh out loud, so much as give a soft, breathy chuckle or snicker. But, if and whenever she does laugh, it sounds like the crowing of a Murkrow.

4. Favorite line

Not exactly my favorite, but it's the funniest in and out of context:

*said in the calmest of tones and with the most serene of smiles*

"Thorton, would you kindly shut your mouth?"

5. Best personality trait

She's extremely perseverant. She would have to be to have endured as much as she has in Hisui, as well as be perceived as a near unstoppable force by the general public.

6. Worst personality trait

Akari is extremely guarded about her softer emotions and can come off as cold because of that.

Due to her ambivalent sentiments towards the possibility of entering a romantic relationship, she either ignores the affection given to her by an admirer or will play the oblivious game for as long as possible (when she's not, you know, actually being oblivious).

7. Age/height/weight headcanon

As stated above, she is a 21-22 year old woman to me who just happens to be short - perhaps 5 ft. 2 in.

As for her weight... she's lost quite a bit since her arrival in Hisui.

8. Unpopular opinion about them

I'm personally not at all fond of her being characterized as this innocent, naive little creature that Volo takes great and perverse pleasure in manipulating and betraying.

9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character

Her mere existence was enough for me to love her.

But Akari possibly being the only protagonist to have embarked on a second adventure depending on personal interpretation definitely caught my interest.

10. Best moment on screen (or in the book)

When she calmly asserts herself against Kamado during the trial that will decide Volo's fate.

No matter how much Kamado raises his voice arguing that he can no longer be trusted to keep his word and needs to be punished severely for his actions, Akari responds to him with a calculating coolness.

11. Faceclaim for the role

Akari has a design already, so I'll share my voice claim for her instead: Kikyo (Willow Johnson) from Inuyasha.

12. Crack headcanon

Akari won't allow herself to show any weakness - but thinking about Wheatley, her Rotom back in Sinnoh, reduces her to such a visibly miserable state, always letting out a deep sigh before saying:

"I miss my Rotom, (name). I miss him so much..."

13. Dumbest thing they’ve ever done

Actually considering for all of a moment eating the only-Arceus-knows-how-outdated Old Gateau she found in the Old Chateau.

14. Most heroic moment

Ask anyone in Hisui and they'll tell you it's when she survived her banishment and managed to quell Origin Forme Palkia's frenzy, thereby saving the entire world.

And then after that, taking down a deranged Volo on Mount Coronet's peak along with none other than The Renegade, a Legendary Pokémon created by almighty Sinnoh/Arceus with a history so violent that it warranted what was intended to be eternal banishment to The Distortion World.

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Akari turning her back on Volo after he lowered himself to his hands and knees begging for her forgiveness.

It's something she almost immediately began to regret. That desperate, tearful expression of his wouldn't leave her mind.

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves

She truly does want someone to love her. A man that will love her and only her to the point of obsession.

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them

Golden Afternoon by Circus-P.

"I'm invincible To all the rage, the hate, the pain of fate I am vulnerable To all my rage, my hate, the pace at which I change"

18. What they’d go to see a therapist about

Every single hardship she experienced in Hisui honestly warrants therapy, but she has too much pride to ever even momentarily consider attending a session.

19. Vices/bad habits

Akari tends to treat others in a similar manner to how she is treated. She won't stoop to pettiness or cruelty, but she will behave more coldly towards those who have wronged her.

20. Scars

Emotionally, her father abandoning her she was still small. He said being a married man with a child wasn't what he wanted out of life after all, so he left Twinleaf Town and never looked back.

Her mother fiercely believed that he would return, but once the realization he wouldn't finally struck her, Ayako stopped speaking for a while and accidentally neglected Hikari. Jun was Hikari's source of sunshine during this time.

Physically, I sometimes imagine she has a small to medium X-shaped scar on her chest from her battle with Lord Kleavor, and a few burns from the one with Lord Arcanine.

21. Drink of choice (not just alcoholic)

Berry Juice, or Razz Berry Tea

22. Best physical feature

Her long, flowing, slate-colored hair has caught the eye of several.

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

Lemon and Lavender~

24. Most annoying habit

She tends to intimidate others with her silvery gaze, something that more often than not isn't intentional.

25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere

Considering Akari did get dropped in the middle of nowhere, nowhere being Hisui, there are a few things she would have liked to have brought with her: her previous team members, but there are six of them rather than three.

26. What they would do if stuck in an elevator with [insert character of your choice from the same fandom]

If she and Volo were trapped in an elevator, there are two drastically different outcomes that may occur:

Volo will try to take this opportunity, since it seems they're going to be in here for a little while, to get some smooching done - since people keep giving them less than appreciative stares when they do so in public.

Or, in the event that Volo doesn't know how elevators really work, despite his best efforts, he almost immediately spirals into a panic and begins blaming himself for this event - because surely this is Arceus punishing him for his past sins and she just happened to get caught in the crossfire.

27. Their guilty pleasure

Volo's obsession with her.

It's secretly everything she's ever wanted, and once Akari has confirmed it's entirely sincere and unwavering, she becomes just as obsessive over him.

28. How they feel about [insert character of your choice from the same fandom]

She holds a deep admiration and respect for Touko, due to her complete lack of hesitance in expressing her thoughts and feelings.

29. Eating habits

Prefers and has a high tolerance for spicier flavors.

She even crafts a new type of Lure Cake made specifically for attracting Fire-types (not that people are supposed to eat those).

30. Sleeping habits

Akari believes that her day begins whenever she wakes up, so she can be an absolute beast when forced to leave the comfort of her bed or futon.

31. If they had a Tumblr Tacklr what would it look like?

Her account is one the Sinnoh League required her to make in order to answer questions for interviews, and that would be the only thing she ever uses it for.

32. Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh

Whenever Sariel, her Alpha Togekiss, slurps someone (gives them a big, slobbery lick).

It takes every last ounce of her willpower to keep her composure sometimes, depending on how extreme the reaction is of the person slurped.

33. Something guaranteed to make them cry

Her wedding day and the morning after.

Akari doesn't quite understand why she would be crying when she's never felt happier before.

34. How they react when they are feeling X emotion (sad, angry, excited, scared, etc.—can specify as many as you like)

Sometimes Akari smiles or chuckles when she isn't necessarily happy.

35. Their idea of a perfect day

An afternoon spent in the arms of her beloved as their Pokémon play together outside - with no annoying calls from the League demanding her presence.

36. Their favorite season

Hisui/Sinnoh doesn't experience any seasons due to having a cool climate year-round, but Akari does prefer cooler temperatures over warmer ones.

37. What they really think about themselves

A strong trainer and someone worthy of respect, but otherwise no one particularly extraordinary.

This is reflected in the first act of 'What Once We Were', Akari is described in a decidedly neutral manner, but come the second act when the story shifts to Volo's perspective, his adoration towards her is so powerful it affects the narration.

38. Favorite holiday

January 12th, the day diamond dust always falls on Snowpoint City.

39. Favorite game

I feel as though Yume Nikki and all its various fangames are something she would enjoy.

40. Favorite book

The Curse of Mankey Island (half-joking)

41. If they could have lunch with anyone in the world (living or dead, from any fictional universe or the real world), who would it be?

Her beloved~

But, if her lover isn't an option, her dear friend and fellow sister Touko.

42. 3 comfort items

Her Buneary Poké Doll, Old Gateau, and apparently Wheatley.

43. 3 favorite foods and 3 they despise

Her favorites are Tamato Berries, Jubilife Muffins, and as previously mentioned Old Gateau.

She dislikes extremely bitter berries, Coconut Curry, and anything Irida cooks.

44. Their happiest memory

Akari doesn't have one in particular that she would place above the others: choosing her starter ad setting out on her journey with Jun and Kouki, becoming the new Champion of Sinnoh, meeting other girls like her at the World Tournament...

Receiving her starter in Hisui from Professor Laventon and finally feeling some sense of normalcy return, followed by her first encountering Volo, who was one of the few to show her kindness and respect without having to prove herself beforehand.

45. Their favorite celebrity

Haruka, current Champion of Hoenn and fellow Contest Star!

46. The person they most admire

Touko, as mentioned above, but she also holds a great deal of respect towards Kotone for her persistent warmth and kindness.

47. Their dream job

She's content with her position as Champion of Sinnoh and one of the strongest trainers in the world.

48. Scariest moment of their life

Volo's betrayal.

That moment was her worst nightmare brought to life.

49. Favorite toy as a child

Her Buneary Poké Doll, Alice, that Jun bought her with his own allowance for her seventh birthday.

50. A memory they’ve blocked out

Akari has forgotten everything about her father to the point that she can't recall his face or even his name.

She's fine with this.

[specialagentartemis]

In honor of Ladies Night (PPLN?) give us your grisliest Sirena Halcyon thoughts.

My best girl who barely exists as a character yet but I love everything about her, much of which I ‘extrapolated’ (made up) based on tenuous evidence!

Sirena Halcyon is fascinating because she’s a jumble of (sometimes overly) dramatic tropes that hit all of my favorite things. She’s been surviving underwater for ten years; she is the last survivor of her crew, trapped in the place where they died, and the only other person alive is the one that killed them. She has been struggling desperately to survive but had also fallen into a tight, practiced survival rhythm with frighteningly efficient skills. She can kill a prehistoric alligator with a knife.

The things she does present fascinating potential. She has buckets of blood available; she must hunt the creatures that Dr. Gharial makes, and keeps their blood on hand from previous kills to lure and hunt more. She remembers English, and can talk without her voice sounding rusty from disuse, so she either talks to herself or to Dr. Gharial, and I would LOVE to know what those conversations are like. What do you say to the man who killed your crew and trapped you here, who you are keeping barricaded in his lab? What does she even SAY to him. However, she was also characterizing Marella’s and Mattie’s and the First Mate’s actions and relationships in terms like “alpha” and “mate,” suggesting she’s also observing the social groups that Dr. Gharial’s artifically resurrected ancient creatures form, and tracking and categorizing them and how they act. And then only talking about that to herself or to Gharial, who probably considers himself the Alpha Alligator because he totally would.

So she hits all my favorite buttons: a very smart, very clever, very driven woman, trapped in a bounded sci-fi vessel suspended in a vast and dangerous void where all her crewmates died, doing wilderness survival and learning to be very efficient about it, having a tense and weird relationship with the guy that killed all her friends that is based equally on genuine and justified hate, and a kind of warped solidarity. All of this is catnip to me.

However. My FAVORITE part. Is that Dr. Gharial indicates that Sirena has done something awful too. “You think I’m a monster? Did you ask her what SHE’S done?” Gharial says, or something similar. He definitely indicates that she’s done something reprehensible, something Gharial thinks that Marella and the captain might turn on her if they knew.

What taboo could be so strong and so horrifying that Gharial thinks it compares with “turning people into crocodiles and sea scorpions without their consent”? Well, what action is commonly associates with adrift/shipwrecked and desperate sailors who are abandoned or lost at sea long past the point where their food supplies ran out?

And what HAS Sirena been eating for 10 years, anyway?

I think Sirena ate her crewmates. I think the horror she committed that even Gharial thinks was a bridge too far was cannibalism.

I think she ate them early on, when the crew’s numbers dwindled as they got attacked and killed by Gharial’s creatures. She has clearly since learned how to be an efficient hunter (and Dr. Gharial clearly keeps making creatures), though she apparently makes an effort to avoid killing the creatures that used to be her crewmates (her quiet “I’m sorry, Nori.”) I think this is BECAUSE she ate her crewmates in the past. When they died and there was no more food because the mission was meant to have ended last year but nobody cane to retrieve them… well, they’re not using that meat anymore!

Sirena was granted enough time to become a fierce, perceptive hunter of fish and sea creatures because the human flesh tided her over while she learned.

I don’t think Gharial thinks this is actually horrifying. I think he just thinks it’s hypocritical of Sirena to be mad at him for turning the crew into sea creatures when she also ATE them.

Sirena thinks it’s horrifying, though. She doesn’t let herself think about anything other than Survival Mode until Marella &co. bring her back to their Tiamat… but once she does and she’s not in emotional lockdown survival mode anymore, Sirena is like, oh my God, I ate my friends.

(She’s so valid and I love her tho)

I’m waiting and hoping for a season 2 specifically for Sirena.