#I hated writing this chapter tbh its bad

[bugwolfsstuff]

Wine Child chapter 1

Finnally finished chapter 1 and two of this fic. But i will only be posting those chapters here. the rest will be going on Ao3:

Summary: Mr D pisses off Hebe, gets dumped at camp as an 8 year old.

Chiron: Just a quiet day in Camp Half-Blood....I wish.

It was quiet at Camp Half-Blood. 

That alone should have been my first hint that something was about to go very wrong.

It was the afternoon, Apollo was midway through his daily drive in his sun chariot. Campers were peacefully going about their scheduled activities, and Mr. D hadn't turned anyone into a dolphin.

I was at the archery range instructing the Hephaestus cabin: Issac had actually hit the target and not my back, Shane hadn't gotten into an argument with Kayla Knowles from the Apollo Cabin, and Harley had refrained from shooting his siblings (A very big achievement for him. He will be getting extra dessert at dinner.) Everything was going smoothly. 

Of course, in Camp Half-Blood, even the smallest moments of peace never last long.

I was speaking to the head counsellors, Jake and Nyssa, at that moment about adding proper safety measures to their workshop in cabin nine (despite what some believe, we do have some safety standards at camp, just not very high ones) when suddenly the chatter around us got very quiet.

The unusual hush that fell over the children made me pause mid-sentence. Hephaestus's children were usually quiet like their father, yes, but not to this degree, especially not when they're talking about machinery.

I turned to see what silenced them and internally sighed.

"Good evening, Lady Hebe," I said calmly.

"Hello, Chiron," She replied.

As the goddess of youth, Hebe preferred to take the form of a young woman. Today, however, she looked like a little girl with blonde pigtails, and if I didn't know better, I would say she was around seven or eight. 

She was holding a gym bag almost as big as she was...that was also moving...I don't think gym equipment does that.

She was also smiling.

Which didn't bring me any peace of mind.

"Me and Dio got into a little argument." She said, looking up at me.

Of course he did. Why does that not surprise me in the slightest? I thought. I, of course, did not verbalize my thoughts. That'd be blasphemy....However true it is. 

Instead, I smiled and said, "Ah, sorry to hear that. What kind of argument did you have? If you don't mind me asking."

The fact that she was telling me this scares me. Gods can be dangerous when angered, especially when another god is the one to anger them. If Hebe was angry at Dionysus, then she might take it out on someone he cares about.

Someone like Pollux.

"Well, it's a funny story, really." Hebe's 'innocent' smile persisted as she started swinging the gym bag gently back and forth by the straps. Whatever was inside the bag did not appreciate this movement and started to move even more fiercely, like it was trying to escape. 

"Dio had said some extremely offensive words to me about youth, and I simply couldn't let that slide. So, I decided to teach him a lesson about the value of youth."

Campers had started to gather around us. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase pushed to the front of the crowd to see what was going on.

My eyes flickered toward the gym bag, and a sinking feeling settled in my stomach. Whatever was inside, it seemed alive and determined to escape.

Hebe's eyes swivelled around to look at the other campers, her grin widening. She twirled the bag straps in her hand, pulling the bag upwards before tipping it upside down.

"What I didn't account for was how whiney he was. So then I thought, hmm, where was the best place where he could learn to appreciate youth? Nowhere else but summer camp!"

The pit in my stomach settled as my eyes focused on the bag, muffled sounds of protest emanating from it as it struggled. I think I just figured out what was in the bag, and gods did I hope I was wrong.

"Welp, I must love you and leave you, demigods!" She unzipped the bag, dumping its contents on the grass, and my worst fear was confirmed.

Purple eyes looked up at me with pure fear.

"No more monsters!"

-----

Chapter 2 on tumblr here

[ibblescribbles]

Do you think you will ever check out Raincode? It's made by the same people who made DR but with a more focus on mystery. (It has the same vibes and stuff, I feel like you would like it a lot) another thing, the writing is so banger

Yes, I've already played Raincode!! Really enjoyed it, especially for the DR-like vibe and I actually made charms of the main cast:

I have sketches of Yomi and Yakou that I've been meaning to add to this set for ages but haven't been able to bring myself to refine them ;v; Makes me happy when people recognize the Raincode merch at cons tho! I'm really excited for Kodaka's new game too, I haven't played the demo yet!

[bonestrouslingbones]

now realizing that i haven't seen an edgepuff fic any longer than a oneshot since fucking. 2022. and not even a oneshot since 2023. god.

[newttxt]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you @strawhattery for @ing me, even though i do feel like it's a not-so-subtle urge to finish my current wips... (i need the kick)

for reference/those who only see my art, i used to be a fic writer who occasionally drew. that's obviously changed, but i am trying to write more, so you can find me at pseudoanalytics on ao3.

1) how many works do you have on ao3?

44, but only 35 are linked to me (9 are anonymous...)

2) what's your total ao3 word count?

347,773 😰

3) what are your top five fics by kudos?

while i nodded, nearly napping (suddenly there came a tapping) [haikyuu, ushiten]

redacted :/

the inherent romance of classical conditioning (or, the fine art of emotional recognition) [haikyuu, sakuatsu]

you're really pushing it (but you're going much too slowly) [haikyuu, ushiten]

redacted :/ (sequel to the first redacted...)

4) what fandoms do you write for?

most of my fics are so old i can't bear to look at them, but i'm trying to write more for one piece. then i've written a decent amount of haikyuu, pacific rim, and star wars.

5) do you respond to comments? why or why not?

initially? i absolutely do! but as any of my friends will tell you, i struggle to even reply to dms or texts. so alas. i drop off pretty quickly

i LOVE comments though, and i eagerly read and reread them frequently ;__;

6) what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh sheesh. you may only ask once (so be prepared for the reply) which is a bad end for pacific rim 2. or i guess... a worse end. it's also a bit of a role swap au, if i remember correctly.

7) what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i... honestly don't know. i typically write happy endings. i like to write "missing scenes" and post-canon, so things tend to be rather open-ended or to just lead into the next part of canon. my memory is also not my prize-winning quality, so i can't really remember how my fics ended pre-2018ish.

8) do you get hate on fics?

i know i've gotten some ruder bookmarks, but not typically, no. i get more hate on art or in my ask box, but i honestly just delete it all, so it never sticks.

9) do you write smut?

yes, though its debatable if it's "smut" so much as "sex in such an irreverent context that it becomes humor." i cannot take sex seriously, so alas, i rarely write it seriously. i use it more as comedy and a tool for character studies. i do enjoy a stoic character's facade getting cracked open.

10) do you write crossovers?

i don't write legitimate crossovers, with characters from different medias intermingling, and frankly, i rarely do au's either.

but if i have one weakness, it's that i am ALWAYS a sucker for a pacific rim au. yes, i am rotating a one piece version in my head.

11) have you ever had a fic stolen?

i had a sakuatsu one reuploaded to wattpad under someone else's username. they deleted my author's notes and added their own, as if they'd written the fic, too. hilariously they even used my art for the cover.

it got taken down, but idk why. i never reached out about it.

12) have you ever had a fic translated?

yeah! i've had 5 translated, and i've had 2 turned into podfics, which is cool.

13) have you ever cowritten a fic before?

nope. i'd be terrible to work with, tbh. my writing process is a holdover from my journalism days, and the steps are a mystery even to me. i think i'll stick to drawing art for other ppl and their fics.

14) what's your all time favorite ship?

i will hold to the fact that it's asanoya from ao3. they were the first ship i got really invested in, and i see their impact on everything i ship to this day. they were my "blueprint," if you will. i still get smiley when i see art for them!

on the flip side... terezi/vriska was also a formative ship for me. but i won't discuss that.

15) what's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

rip go ahead and start talking (i'll pick up the slack). it's my 1-of-2-chapters ushiten fic that i should just mark as complete, since the first chapter can stand alone.

16) what are your writing strengths?

hard to determine your own strengths, but i think my dialogue/characterization are pretty strong, especially since i still regularly flex those muscles when writing comics. i also think i'm funny.

17) what are your writing weaknesses?

writing.

but seriously, i am so bad at sitting down and just hammering out a fic. don't get me started on outlines or longform works. i'd rather grab my pencil and start drawing, i'm afraid.

18) thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i think there are ways to interweave words or terms in other languages, but overall, i'm a fan of just standardizing everything into one language. if your character understands it, i think all readers should be able to understand it. and i'm not a fan of when you're expected to scroll to the end for a translation; i think it interrupts the reading flow.

this is a generalized opinion though. i think there are ALWAYS storytelling exceptions, so if the other language usage is really important to your theme/intent, i can see why you would do this!

19) first fandom you wrote for?

please don't do this to me. it was maximum ride. yes, the james patterson books about the kids with bird wings. i wrote 4-5 fics, i was in middle school, and — as far as i know — they are still up on ff dot net. no, i won't elaborate.

20) favourite fic you've ever written?

hands down, it's the sakuatsu domesticity simulator. it's not necessarily my best work in terms of writing skill, but i also drew over 50 images for it and html coded it into an interactive story. i'm just proud that i started a big project by myself and i actually finished it!

it's my dream to someday make a whole visual fan novel. i feel like the domesticity sim was the first step.

oh boy i'm bad at tagging but if @syrupfog, @lawsbbygirl, @macabrekawaii , @bmouse, or @cooknumber3 want to go for it... :))

[starlet-orchids]

ok ok eden garden chapter 1 rant and afterthoughts (spoilers for all of the chapter here)

WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN GOD

I def want to write my afterthoughts on this cause it has seriously ruined my whole mind rn

First I did the daily life on one day and the trial on the next so in the middle of the night, I had a whole dream that Diana was the killer and so when the trial said it was Diana I was like: OH WAS MY DREAM RIGHR??? (Ofc it wasnt)

GOD RHE DIANA AND DAMON PARALLELS ARE PARALLEING TOO BTW. I can not describe better than others have but god I cant

I really will miss the damon wolfgang dynamic, I did one of his fte and I found it so admirable how he def did want to help everyone and even if he had a mild dislike for Damon and Eva, he was willing to cooperate ig?? And also how Damon mentioned he challenged him to do better, god I love me some challenge rivals I will miss them

Damon and Kai were also super funny. I didnt like Kai too much in the prologue but I started warming up to him in chapter 1, he is very goofy and just a guy. I cant hate him too much for that

My other fav damon dynamics going on were with Cassidy and Toshiko each. Cassidy and Damon are a powerduo, they bicker but they get stuff done quick. Toshiko and Damon also are so sibs, I died when I first saw the mochi nickname btw. I hope to see them be siblings more, I am grateful for their content.

Now the elephant in the room of Damon and Eva. Ok uhm. Eva had so so much characterization here its crazy. Eva slowly revealing her true self to others after getting exposed, showing how her ult liar front was just a facade in order to not be seen as lower. She def has a bad complex cause of her past (watch her ftes), she hates being seen as low and nothing human so because of that, has become blind to people who do care. She was willing to sacrifice everyone cause she thought no one trusted her at all in any way. I think she targeted Wolfgang cause of how he was the main one who was singling her out from the rest. She was bitter towards him and everyone who followed him the entire time compared to Damon. Damon acknowledged it but subconsiosly allowed himself to build trust with the rest. Why else would he start defending Diana after being the one to start accusing her? He recognized the kindness she had given to him that had no tone of pity. Meanwhile Eva couldnt see the help with no strings attached from Diana and so decided to frame her otherwise.

Eva and Damon friendship is so sweet, they both were excluded and dislike being seen lower/less than their peers. The way Damon cried after her execution even after she admitted to not believing the care and trust she had recieved from them all. The irony on how Eva pointed out the most likely to kill were the ultimates and yet she starts the game.

Hm other stuff I would like to say last now are that the cgs are cute, the grace wolfgang stuff is so crazy and I cant not wait for the next chapters if chapter 1 was willing to pull smth like this alrdy!! The pacing of the daily life and the trial were quite reasonable and the banter was so silly to read, I enjoyed it a ton for sure

Also I could write a whole Eva analysis but I suck at wording stuff, please tell me if I should write one tbh.

ok thats all of it, have a guess at who my favs are after reading all of this. Thank you for reading if you did!!!

[dykekarkat]

your nuanced take on nicky is SO real especially the part where you pointed out that neil literally feels 1000x more violated by getting drugged (by his literally future life partner so clearly people grow and change !!!) than he does by getting kissed nonconsentually. obviously it makes him uncomfortable but he moves on because it’s like that wasn’t triggering for him it was just a bit gross. as long as that doesn’t happen we keep it pushing. on the other hand being forced into losing control and being unaware of his surroundings (the very thing that has kept him alive all these years) is a million times more triggering to someone like neil but everyone likes the sweep the harm from that under the rug. just because neil eventually understands why (disturbingly understanding guy tbh) doesn’t mean it didn’t affect him at the time. i think people kind of latch on to the fact that andrew drugged him but didn’t like do anything to him while he was vulnerable but that’s only bc neil got himself out of there. sure we know andrew would never sexually assault someone but who knows what he might have done if he had his way that night. i read this fic once where it’s neil’s 3rd or 4th year so his life is well established and then he gets in an accident and gets retrograde amnesia back to the night of the drugging and the fallout is crazy. bc all of the sudden he’s right back in that headspace of like if he distrusts one mf in the entire world it’s andrew. and for good reason! and also this is not andrew hate at all he’s my fucked up little guy but we do have to get real here ppl

okay responding under the cut yayyy i love talking about columbia its my favorite chapter in the first book. sorry for writing you a whole essay btw. also obligatory disclaimer that im not saying u have to like nicky / cant be uncomfortable with him and his actions / that sexual assault is okay / etc

i am once again. bringing up academic work. bcus i am in a crit sexualities class rn and its rlly interesting #mynerdinterests. i've actually already brought up gayle rubin's thinking sex when talking about andrew and jean's treatment in the fandom. and i WILL be doing it again bcus even tho the article is super controversial (and i definitely do not agree with everything rubin says) she gives us some really good vocab surrounding the innate beliefs / values that get drilled into us by american society. she brings up this idea called "the fallacy of the misplaced scale" which is basically that we give sex and sex acts an excess of significance, and that any sort of sexual sin is especially heinous or morally reprehensible.

this general idea is why i think people tend to feel fine with physical violations within media (for example neil getting drugged by andrew) but react more aggressively to any kind of sexual transgression (like nicky assaulting neil). both of these actions are Bad. andrew is taking away neil's ability to protect himself, drugging him against his will, and forcing him into an extremely vulnerable state. nicky is also giving neil drugs (on andrew's orders) with the addition of nonconsensually kissing him to do it. but people focus more heavily on that rather than andrew's actions bcus as you said "he didnt actually do anything" and bcus sexual acts are always elevated above others. i would argue this is also why you see people treat jean's trauma more seriously than kevin's. or why people will write neil getting sexually assaulted in the nest rather than just tortured for the extra angst. it adds an extra level of "seriousness" or "importance" to the violation that's occurred.

i also think one of the reasons people ignore the consequences around andrew drugging neil (or even nix it all together in their rewrites) is because andrew IS the love interest so we obviously get much closer and a much deeper look into his character and motivations than nicky. we also get neil's reactions to them which most people would probably consider abnormal, since he doesn't really care about the kissing and remains friendly with nicky p much immediately after (tho he DOES get rlly uncomfortable about the bed sharing. which i personally think is worse than the kissing by nicky) but he does hate andrew and heavily distrust him post drugging ("dont sleep ill kill you", checking the glass when he goes to eden's next). like even when he's like "wow andrew could hold my truth without flinching yada yada" he's still lowkey hating him for it, before it becomes water under the bridge due to neil's ability to let things go (this is a hashtag certified mary hatfordism. its definitely bcus of his time on the run). anyway wow i just wrote you a bonafide essay. sorry this got off track but i love complex relationships and emotions and sexual situations. and also i love andrew nicky and neil literally my top 3 aftg characters. anyway im saying all this in good faith hope you enjoy anon.

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

ao3 author ask game !!

tagged by @starstruckodysseys !!

total number of ao3 works: 16

total ao3 word count: 71,918

fandoms i’ve written for: dimension 20, 911, jatp, hatchetfield, Beetlejuice, stranger things

top five fics by kudos:

like a drum my heart never stops beating for you

the journey from locker neighbors to best friends

I'll find you in the next timeline

forever in our debt

The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known (By the Ghost Attached to You)

do i respond to comments?: not usually, which i feel bad about tbh, but. you know how it is. i do genuinely appreciate each and every one and i reread them constantly, if that means anything <3

what has the most angst ridden ending?: uhhhh probably forever in our debt, and even then idk if I'd count it bc it's also vaguely optimistic in a 'we'll get through this together' kinda thing. I love me some good angst but I hate leaving the characters in a bad place, so, uh, ig the real answer is my unfinished wips 😬😬

what has the happiest ending?: augh like I said earlier it's hard to say bc I like to end all my fics on some form of a happy ending. i suppose the journey from locker neighbors to best friends is the least angst ridden and leaves off on the happiest note, though I feel bad I've only been noting my fics that are in my top 5, I have other fics of mine I like lol

have i received hate?: not that i’m aware of!

do i write smut? if so, what kind?: nah I'm too ace for that sorry

do i write crossovers?: not yet, but I do have a leverage/librarians crossover that's been sitting in my wips for forever, and at some point I think it'd be very fun to write a quangle style fic

have i ever had a fic stolen?: not that i’m aware of!

have i ever had a fic translated?: nope

have i ever co-written a fic?: yea! my one Beetlejuice fic Lydia Gets Vehicularly Manslaughtered I wrote with @wizisbored. its only got the one chapter and I feel bad about it every day, but it's quite a fun and gory chapter 🫡🫡

a WIP i’ll never finish?: fuuuucckkk i really hate to say there are wips I wont finish, there's a reason I don't write many mulitchaps, AND a reason why I made The Legendary Undeaths of the Photosynthekids a one shot in a series, making it a self contained story while also leaving room to write more in that world. i feel really bad for saying this, but prob my jatp wips. i love them both dearly and would love to finish them one day but I haven't thought about jatp in a hot sec, and don't know if I see myself revisiting the series enough to want to finish a wip. i could change my mind one day, but alas, here we are.

writing strengths: uhhhh idk ive been complimented on my descriptions which is nice

writing weaknesses: a weird mash of dialogue and characterization. at the very least it's smth I worry about a lot bc its a deal breaker for me as a reader.

do i like foreign language dialogue?: i mean. as a concept yes? i don’t write it bc I speak a singular language, so.

first fandom i wrote for: first fandom ever was I think a very crappy avengers/pjo crossover I wrote in a notebook I still have lol. first fandom on ao3 was I believe hatchetfield and jatp since I dumped all my fics from tumblr onto a03 once I decided to actually get an account.

favorite fic i’ve written: ooo ok let's see I really like The Legendary Undeaths of the Photosynthekids, my undead (ish) bad kids au and I had a lot of fun with it, plus like I said I'm cooking more in this au. i also like my stobin fics, idk what was in the brain sauce when I wrote those, but smth definitely possessed me to write some good stuff lmao

tagging @brionysea @awigglycultist @thedragonemperess @lucy-frostblades and anyone else who wants to!!!

[mikubilliards]

The Praxis and Theory Post

Ok so I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, because frankly I have been too busy or tired to write anything super long. Then Xenoblade X happened and that’s been eating away all my free hours now. Anyways I know I need to get this out otherwise I’m gonna lose all my thoughts on it, so here it is.

The Praxis and Theory questline in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is basically a microcosm of everything the game does well and everything it does poorly, and I find it super interesting as a result because it reaches so close to greatness, but stumbles in just a few key areas. Even with its faults I still think it’s one of if not the best questline in Xenoblade 2.

The quest line is split into 3 separate arcs, with the first one being the “Core Crystal Hunters” quest that you accept from the informants. Already we are at one of the pitfalls of Xenoblade 2! Wow that was fast! The informants are touted at the beginning of the game as having important information, but the game does not really let you know what kind. For the first 4 chapters, they are practically irrelevant, and nothing of use really comes from them save for their initial use in Chapter 2. If you stop by them, they will only be selling badly worded tutorials on certain game mechanics, a problem this game suffers from immensely (but that’s another story altogether). However, randomly around chapters 4 and 5, the game decides to drop at least 2 blade quests that can only be accessed if you check the informants: one for Kassandra and the other for Praxis and Theory. If you don’t check everything rigorously like I do (since the informants are often out of the way and not on the main path) or simply think those informants are worthless due to how bad they are shown in the tutorial to be (much like pouch items tbh but that’s yet another story), you will never come across this quest.

Anyways, if you did grab the information, you then have to travel to a very specific place in Torigoth in order for the quest to trigger! The game does not tell you this either, so you are left on your own to find it. You also have to have at least 10 core crystals on you but that you usually do have. The place is also somewhat out of the way, but not impossible to find if you just spend some time running around the city. It is then that you will be ambushed by Praxis and Theory, and the quest begins.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about the first arc of this questline, as it’s pretty standard stuff. A quick recap with some of my thoughts sprinkled in should suffice. So you fight them off, then continue to be concerned about the hunters like the JRPG protagonists you are, then you go and talk to the military about trying to stop them. You decide to spread rumors using the Merc group. By the way I hate the Merc missions they feel like mobile game mechanics, and they rely on the gatcha system which also sucks. I could rant about those but that’s not why we are here, so let’s move on. The Merc group spreads our rumors, and then we have to go to the secret meetup spot where we are supposed to ambush the hunters. But WHOOPS! Turns out we’re the ones being ambushed!! In a kind of interesting turn of events, we get played like a book and have to fight our way out. Also I really actually like the VA who did the main villain of this arc. He has some really good line deliveries and you REALLY learn to hate him especially later down the line. Thieving Waldemar, you were peak, bro. So you beat them and then all of a sudden Praxis just dies. Her driver got killed by the support squad and therefore she’s back in her core. Waldemar realizes they aren’t winning this and tells Theory to run as we grab the core crystal. Theory is kinda pissed about it but ends up following through and leaving. The first hints of something deeper, aside from the visual notion that they’re related in some way.

Overall I think the first arc is just fine. It’s a good enough quest and it’s got some intrigue to it, but nothing super special. What it sets up for tho I actually really enjoy.

So you eventually are able to awaken Praxis as a blade for yourself, and she joins the party! Good for you, she’s a decent water blade and fun to use. She’s also lost all her memories of her previous life, and she’s much more peppy and upbeat rather than a murderer! That’s awesome and I’m sure won’t come into play later! So you put her on the team and start grinding away at her affinity chart.

After a few chapters, you’re suddenly at chapter 7! No Pyra, no Mythra, so your party’s looking a bit weak at the moment, and you wanna go get some of your blades powered up. Luckily, Praxis has gotten herself to the 4th level of the affinity chart, and she’s got a quest: Blade Sharp Memory! This is the second arc of the Praxis and Theory questline, and my favorite of the three. Now earlier I mentioned she lost her memory when she reawakened. Well that’s about to come into play! This quest really takes advantage of the way Blades work and it’s super cool.

So you’re just casually walking around in Fonsa Myma looking for the quest, and all of a sudden you get a spear thrown at you! What the heck bro! Who did that! On the spear is a note, simply telling Praxis to do something that she has no clue about. This leads into a normal sidequest objective of collecting an item, then going to Gormott. Once you get to the specified place in Gormott, you are greeted with ANOTHER spear thrown at you! How fun!! This time it’s more sidequests, but Praxis is confused! Who could be doing this, and why are the fixated on her? So the party has to tell her about her past and her time with Theory. Upon learning what she was, she’s mortified, but at the same time understands that that was the old her. She also doesn’t remember Theory at all but the party surmises that they should play along with her game until they figure out what to do next. Just their luck, because they are told to go to Mor Ardain where what do you know, ANOTHER SPEAR!!! This time though, it’s accompanied by Theory herself, who has come to ask Praxis if she remembers anything about her past life. Theory really really misses Praxis, and has done all of this as a way to try and get her to remember her past life, especially her time with Theory. She’s so desperate she’s gone out of her way to recreate exact situations just to try and trigger something that helps her remember. But that’s not how blades work. Praxis tries to tell her that she doesn’t remember anything, and as a result, Theory just tells the party to come to Judicium where they can finally put an end to this.

So we all go to Judicium and, turns out, our old buddy Waldemar was in on this. He was letting Theory try this to get her back, but he never really put much stock in the idea of it working. Instead, he planned to lure us out here and kill is to retrieve Praxis that way, basically doing the same to us what we did to them. That’s a really cool parallel actually. He also seems to think Theory’s been focusing too much on getting Praxis back, but is also USING her feelings to make her fight even harder so that she can be with her sister once again. Hes basically using Theory as a tool for his own revenge and gain, and Praxis tries to get her to see that but she’s having none of it. So a fight breaks out and it’s honestly a really hard fight. The enemy team is built really well and without Mythra for that party evasion buff it gets kind of hard actually. But we do end up winning, and then the cutscene plays out. Waldemar is getting even worse, insulting Theory for not being good enough, and just generally being a bad person like we all knew. The way it’s written is actually really good, because he has a stake in this same as Theory herself. He wants Praxis back specifically for the power she brings, she wants Praxis back because she cares for her. They have differing motivations and the rift over the course of the conversation just grows and grows, as Waldemar just keeps putting Theory down while Praxis tries to convince her not to fight. Even though she doesn’t remember Theory, she knows she was someone important to her, and doesn’t want Theory to be burdened by this man any longer. Eventually, it seems she finally gets through, and Theory decides to take the life of her own driver, thus killing herself in the process. Praxis holds her as she dies, telling her they’ll stay together when she reawakens. This ends the quest.

And yeah that’s my favorite part of the questline. It’s got the highest stakes, the most tension, and it builds on the ideas that Xenoblade 2 tries to explore really well. I especially like the clash of philosophy that’s shown in how Praxis and Theory are treated when they are separate. Theory is manipulated and toyed with by her driver for the sake of ultimately increasing his own strength. Praxis is supported by her driver and allies, and they take on the challenges that Theory puts to them as a team. When it’s time for her to understand where she comes from, they tell her and allow her to form her own judgements on Theory and what to do next. Getting support from and relying on friends, working together, all great things the game emphasizes show up here. The way that the quest ends is really great too. Even though it’s obvious that killing the driver is the only way we are going to get Theory back, the way that it’s executed is super well done and a natural consequence of both the world that the characters are in as well as the development of the characters up to that point. I could nitpick about how this one driver and his two goons are basically so good they can stand up to 4 of the most powerful drivers in the world and Tora, but I’m very willing to ignore that because it is an interesting story.

So then we get to the third arc of the questline. This arc includes a quest and some heart-to-hearts, covering the resolutions to the storylines of Praxis and Theory, and how they move forward.

We nabbed Theory’s core crystal after the end of the last quest, and eventually she’s ready to awaken as well! Welcome back, Theory! She’s still uptight, but has a certain protective air to her manners, especially around Praxis. Praxis is doing the best she can to be close to Theory, because that’s what she wanted before she died. This isn’t really going as planned, though. In the heart-to-heart “Rough Diamond”, Theory is annoyed at Praxis for trying to coddle her, but she eventually comes around to it somewhat by the time of their last quest together.

The last quest, “Theory and Praxis” (great name guys, really good), sees them trying to repent for their crimes they committed in their past lives. I like how this deals with that aspect of the games world, how does it work when blades have a massive shift in personality as a result of a change of drivers? This quest shows us one way it could go. I have less good to say about this quest than the last one though. It’s again more generic sidequest-y stuff with less of a hit at the end than the second quest. The story basically follows Praxis and Theory as they are recognized by a father in Fonsa Myma and attacked by local mercenaries because they assumed they were still criminal blades. They eventually realize the truth, but it leaves an impression on both of them. Theory just kind of accepts this as a label she’ll have to live with, but Praxis (who has been with the party longer and thus would be more proactive) decides to make things right if she can, and have Theory help her. The quest then again gets pretty standard, with that really being the only highlight aside from the ending. After they go and bake cookies for the children of the town, they pause to reflect on the good they’ve done. It’s a nice bonding moment for them, but I feel it would have been better if elements of the last heart-to-heart they had, “Sisterly Love”, was rolled into it. I get why they had it be separate, because it might have felt like it came a bit too fast as a turn-around. I feel like it could have been done with maybe some mandatory change of location to signify that some time has passed.

Oh I should probably mention what happens in Sisterly Love as well. It’s pretty simple as most heart-to-hearts are. Theory finally expresses the same kind of bond that we saw them having under the core crystal hunter’s care, but this time in a much healthier environment. She’s finally come back around to Praxis, and even calls her “sis”, which is something she said she wouldn’t do in Rough Diamond.

Overall, the quest has some really high highs and some mediocre bits that keep it from really being great. I think the second arc really stands out as the highlight of the story, with the first and third being necessary set up and resolution with some interesting parts along the way.

But, what did I mean when I said that it was a microcosm for Xenoblade 2 as a whole? Well basically I a lot of both what makes Xenoblade 2 good and what holds it back in this quest. It’s got a very interesting overall concept, especially when it comes to the bond between the two main characters. This is shared with the game as a whole, where I think the IDEA of what blades are, especially the Aegis, and how they bond with humans is super neat. I also think that the villain has some very interesting qualities too. As a villain he seems pretty standard for a side quest but when you think about it there’s a little bit more going on, even if he’s got a horrible outlook. He’s never portrayed as sympathetic though, unlike a lot of the main villains in the base game, but at least there’s some depth to him that you wouldn’t usually see in a sidequest villain.

As for the ways it falls short, there’s a few. Id like to mention the voice direction being of mixed quality, especially in the emotional scenes. This is a persistent problem in the game itself, especially earlier on but it still certainly exists even into the late game. It really ruins the mood for some of the most important scenes and just barely manages not to take me completely out of the Theory death scene. It got close, though. I also feel like the third quest is rather underwhelming compared to the first two. It focuses less on Praxis and Theory understanding and coming to terms with what they were and more on how they can atone for it. This really lifts a lot of the emotional weight that the second arc of the story had, and while I don’t think it was a HORRIBLE ending by any means, it could have been so much better if they were able to reflect more on what they did and how the world sees blades like them. Maybe it’s just my flair for more introspective stories, but I really wish we got to see more of that than the cookie making. This also is a problem that is persistent for me in the game as a whole. The story takes all of these really interesting ideas, lays them out on the table for us to see, and then decides to not focus on any of them for the time that they would need to truly hit home. I blame this partly on early game not being very good at sticking to a particular tone or theme. With the exception of Chapter 3, the game doesn’t really pick out what it wants to explore until chapter 5, and it feels like a lot of the time it’s introducing new ideas faster than it can keep pace with them. I feel this quest has a few ideas it wants to explore deeper, but only gets to really talk about one or two of them, the rest getting left half-baked in favor of generic sidequesting and THAT STUPID MERC GROUP TIMER I HATE IT.

Anyways, that’s my conclusive thoughts on the Praxis and Theory storyline in Xenoblade 2. I probably have more to say and to be honest my feelings have shifted a bit since I first drafted my idea for this post over a month ago. Maybe if people want to point out things I can talk a little more about them, or if they don’t then that’s fine as well. In the end this is all just really my opinion on the quest, and if you disagree that’s cool, that’s the cool thing about literature.

Oh yeah and I just discovered that I can save drafts (I’m a bit stupid!) so I’m gonna work on some more posts like this, probably about Xenoblade since that’s my autism thing but maybe I’ll do something on another series as well. We’ll just have to see!

(I can’t find the source for this art but I had it saved from like 5 years ago so here it is)

[foreststarflaime]

All 50 “honest favorite character” prompts for Smaug

( @izunias-meme-hole )

1. Do you project onto this character?

More like the other way around lmao

2. Did you always like this character?

YES HE IS MY PRECIOUS

3. What first drew you to this character?

D R A G O N and also I love riddles

4. Did you initially dislike/hate this character?

I loved him instantly. Great villain counterpart for Bilbo, their interactions are so perfect

5. If this character were a woman, would you honestly still like them? Or in reverse, what if they were a man?

If they didn’t mess with his character/appearance the way they normally do in art I wouldn’t but I do not want to see the weird hourglass figure big lips and eyelashes thing they do to Girls tm in art to him. Let female dragons be cool and imposing. Like Zubeia from the Dragon Prince. If they did it like that nah he could still be cool as a woman dragon

6. Do you have any nicknames or pet names you use for this character?

Does it count if I had a crested gecko named Smaug once that I nicknamed Smecko (Smaug+gecko)

7. Does the character’s age matter to you?

In that he wouldn’t have the same imposing effect if he was just a tiny hatchling yeah but further than that not particularly

8. Does the character’s looks/design matter to you?

Yaya he looks so cooool classic dragon look and total banger. Both in what he looks like in the movie and in Tolkien’s own drawings of him. Although tbh I think I might like Tolkien’s drawings a little more, there’s something fairytale about them that is soooo good. But I also do love how you can see the fire moving up his throat in the movies

9. Does this character remind you of anyone you know? Does that affect how you see them?

No lmao

10. Do you see yourself in this character even without projecting?

Not besides a love of shiny rocks and riddles lol

11. How did you “fall in love” with this character?

I was very young and the Hobbit was an early introduction to all my favorite things (fantasy, dragons, swords). I was primed to unleash all my previously unused enthusiasm upon the first dragon in sight. And he is The dragon

12. If you could write effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what story (s) would you write for this character?

Ooo hmmm probably a Smaug pov of events, that would be fun

13. If you could draw effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what scene (s) would you draw for this character?

Him burning Bard to a tiny crisp 🥰 and/or him and Genesis having fun with arson together

14. Are you physically attracted to this character?

No lmao unless you mean aesthetically he is a very cool looking dragon

15. Are your thoughts surrounding this character usually sexual, non-sexual, or a mix of both?

Non

16. Have you ever cried when thinking about this character? Genuinely?

I don’t believe so

17. Have you ever felt physical pain over this character? (ex: physical heartache).

BARD WHY DID U KILL HIM :( not really lol

18. Do you prefer to see this character suffer or know peace? Angst or comfort? Both?

LET THE FOOLISH HUMANOIDS BASK IN HIS GRAND MAJESTY. ALL SHALL BURN BEFORE HIM and no pesky black arrows and pessimistic hater bowmen

19. Does this character serve as a stress ball/ security blanket for you? Something you run to after a bad day to feel safe or happier?

I have gone back to reading the Smaug chapter or watching the Smaug scenes before yeah and it is such an instant :D warm blanket

20. Do you feel affectionate towards this character?

THATS MY BOYYYYYY YIPPEE ARSON

21. Are your feelings about this character platonic, romantic, or familial? All of these feelings at once maybe?

He is my first dragon…that should be its own category

22. Do you think you will always love this character?

YES NOTHING COULD MAKE ME HATE YOU KING (UNDER THE MOUNTAIN)

23. Has this character permanently altered or impacted your psyche in a way you won’t forget?

D R A G O N S he incited my love of them. He was the catalyst

24. Do you ever dream about this character? If so, describe a dream you once had about them.

I’m sure I have but I can’t remember an instance rn

25. What kind of fan-fiction do you read about this character? If you don’t read fan-fics about them, why not?

I actually have not. I have no idea what I would find if I went looking

26. If you look for this character’s name on AO3, what tags are you including or excluding?

Anything nsfw I guess?

27. Do you like to ship this character with other characters or do you prefer not to?

Nah let him live his life in peace with only his beloved gold. Aroace icon tbh

28. Do you get defensive about this character? If yes, then why?

FUCK OFF BARD I WANTED MORE AND YOU ENDED IT >:( (lmao I know it had to happen but I beef with him on principle)

29. Do you affectionately bully this character?

Not really

30. Are you especially sensitive about this character?

Nah

31. Are you ashamed of liking this character?

NO HOW COULD I BE ASHAMED OF SMAUG THE CHIEF CALAMITY OF OUR AGE

32. If you could make this character a meal, what would you make them?

Roast bowman 🥰

33. Are you “blinded by love” for this character or do you accept any flaws they may have?

HE DID NOTHING WRONG DO YOU HEAR ME. AND EVEN IF HE DID HE LOOKED GOOD DOING IT

34. Does this character inspire you with little things in your daily life?

Maybe? Not that I can think of specifically atm?

35. Has this character ever prevented you from sleeping because you can’t stop thinking about them?

Oh I’m sure he did when I first saw Desolation in theaters, I get excited jitters after seeing movies I’m passionate about like that. And I’m counting all the times I’ve stayed up late reading the Hobbit

36. Do you feel a spiritual/soulmate connection with this character?

HE IS MY BOY HE WAS THE FIRST DOMINO IN MY DRAGON LOVING PATH. IT WAS MEANT TO BE

37. Is your love for this character a secret from people you know in real life?

Absolutely not lmao

38. Do you tend to joke more about dying or killing for this character? Both? What causes the distinction?

Killing. Bard

39. Do you feel lovesick over this character?

I don’t think so

40. Are you very empathetic towards this character? When they feel a certain way in the story, do you feel those emotions too?

It’s more of an I am pointing wildly screaming THATS MY SMAUG THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE at the screen/page situation

41. Do you prefer to interact with this character directly via self-insert/reader type content? Or do you enjoy seeing them mostly with other characters in the story and/or your OCs?

Uhh either way ig. But him and Bilbo interacting is probably my favorite

42. If you could, would you write this character a song or poem?

Sure why not

43. What type of weather makes you think of this character?

When it’s really windy and stormy-overcast but not raining. Just the ominous sense of encroaching doom and wonder

44. Which season makes you think of this character?

Winter bc desolation hehe

45. Do you feel as if you are intimately familiar with this character?

I have known him since kindergarten so I should hope so

46. How much do bad interpretations of this character upset you?

Idk what a bad interpretation would be exactly. I’m sure if I heard one I would loudly defend him. But mostly I do so jokingly lol

47. Does this character ever make you laugh sincerely?

He’s more of a jumping up and down excitedly situation than a laughing one. But if crazed giggling counts

48. What’s your favorite physical/design feature for this character?

He’s a classic red-and-gold fairytale dragon and it just hits so good. Classic trope for a reason. Also I love the mental image of his jewel-encrusted waistcoat

49. What’s your favorite personality trait in this character?

Mmmm I love his vanity ngl, he’s a little shit and I adore that. I think we should all speak in riddles about ourselves. Imposter syndrome would be cured instantly. That might just fix Genesis

50. Link your fav song, playlist, aesthetic board, fan-fiction, reference pile, personal artwork, analysis post, meme, headcanon, or quote for this character. Whichever one (s) you are most comfortable with!

Not gonna put a picture of it here bc I’m too lazy to go ask permission atm but I have a lovely painting of his eye in that close up shot from the end of Unexpected Journey where it opens that @/fridgefanatic did for me around the time it came out hanging in the corner of my room

[daisymylove]

Right, so, I'm an acotar hater with all my heart 😍 and don't care for the other sjm books in the least.In fact, it came as no surprise at all that she's a zionist, considering that her beloved ruler not only hoards copious amounts of wealth while his people is segregated, most of them living in poverty, and the marginalized /brown folks being portrayed as inferior, backward brutes and arseholes unworthy of their precious city and time.Did I mention that over half of his people hates him? Fantastic leader 😍👏🏻☺️🥰😘

Anyway I found out recently that there's a crossover between the series, got the context about what nesta did and went to read the extra chapter online to see bat lord's hissy fit first-hand.

Bryce's mom is low key shitty btw, my own mom is far from perfect, but even if she did want to obliterate me, she would never stand by and let some random fucker say that, let alone bad mouth me to said random fucker.Its odd that she seems to stand up more for a boy that she has known for weeks and a woman she just met than her own kid, also I would file for fucking divorce on the spot if my husband had decided to be complicit on a sexist joke about me and our daughter with aforementioned fucker, but I digress

What I did like about her tho was how she handed lavender eyes' ass to him.Someone has to since apparently feyre has been lobotomized and those cult members of the ic murdered Nesta's fighting spirit

And tbh I feel so bad for her, she seems so subdued for nesta's standarts. I wanted to reach for her hand and tell her that 1 if her husband loves counterfeit Batman so much he can go gag on his cock all day, she'll find something better in no time and 2 she'll do it sooner rather than later bc her sister and her are coming with me.If feyrug wants to bring the devilspawn along its fine too

The thing is the average acotar fan is pretty much Sjms trained dog.They'll go along with everything the narrative says, no reading comprehension skills whatsoever.But apparently all characters from CC who have met Rice bowl dislike him and like Nesta, so I am now wondering if she's not planning to reveal later on that Batfae was the villain all along and completely fried Feyre's brain.Again, I don't expect much from a zionist, but its undeniable that it doesn't add up, to the point that I'm wondering if it's the sake person writing the books.I would like someone who actually read the Cc books I would rather lick a McDonald's slider than subject myself to that togive their opinions

[timelesslords]

fic writer twenty questions!!!

I got tagged by the beautiful lovely gorgeous @tapemonkey21 who has written some of my fav star wars fics to date and who got me on the cody/obi-wan/satine train without which my current wip would not exist <333

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

55!

2. What's your AO3 word count?

812,034 😵‍💫

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Rn only star wars with Ahsoka in it, but I've written for TLOU and PJO too!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Under Freezing Stars

have my back, yeah, every day

Violent Heart

invisible string

For Real This Time

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yesssss!!! I honestly love responding to comments just as much as reading them. I like chatting with people and hearing their thoughts and their theories and what they want to happen next!! I think it makes it more fun for everyone but especially for me hehe

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

and the waves come crashing down for sure. I'm really not an angsty ending kind of person except with that fic lol

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

Roman Holiday has the cheesiest mushiest most ridiculous holiday fluff ending ever <3

8. Do you get hate on fics?

haha yea 😭 messed up some niche details in my star wars fic and got absolutely lambasted in the comments lmao i never wanted to post sw again 😭 but then i realized i just needed to find the gay people and it all worked out lol

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I would say I'm retired from smut writing lmao 😭 but idk maybe something will change. i am not typing out the gory details of everything ive written on here I have no desire to get cancelled again

10. Do you write cross overs? What's the craziest one you've written?

No but I do write AU fusions <3 my favorite stupid insane one was a James Potter/Lily Evans Batman universe fusion fic it lowkey ate but I had to hide it because I was embarrassed at the quality and the very just-took-sociology-101 level of social commentary 😭

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so???? back in the day maybe lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but I have had a few podfics of my fics made and that is my absolute most favorite thing ever ever 🥹

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes with my wonderful beautiful brilliant best friend forever who shares half of my brain @captain-jackson

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

all-time...,, whew. rn it's definitely Codywan. Idk if I have an all-time transcendent one that I always come back to tbh. I'm really more into platonic relationship dynamics than ships tbh

15. What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever wilI?

God, I have one re-writing the Zygerria arc where Ahsoka sneaks onto the mission instead of being incorporated into it that i want to finish SO BAD. when the ties that bind is done I'm really going to hammer it out because I do love it but its kind of a monster.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm good with dialogue and characterization and, on occasion, plot twists.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I hate writing filler. I can't do it for the life of me, which means I also tend to have pretty poor pacing. im also bad at ending scenes which is why many times my chapters will end with my characters falling asleep 😭

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

jesus fucking christ it's so hard. doing it for Mando'a is hard and it's not even a real language. Usually I just go for the itallics but sometimes it's nice to have the immersion (which only works if you do it perfectly lol)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I did not stake out the username "timelesslords" back in 2013 for the answer to this question to NOT be Doctor Who

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

cheating and doing my fav from my three main fandoms:

Under Freezing Stars because it was the first long piece of fiction I ever finished, and without it I would not have made three of my best friends in the whole world so its very special and important to me

if you never bleed you're never gonna grow is one where I feel like I did something interesting and innovative with form and perspective and I'm really proud of it. I feel like a lot of times as a fic writer you can feel like what you're doing is repetitive and this one felt really unique to me!

The Ties That Bind is still a WIP but I honestly really love it and have been loving the process of writing it a lot. it's the first WIP I started posting without having at least 75% of the fic completed and it's been really interesting to see what a different process it is pre-writing vs writing as you go! Also, I love the plot contrivance that makes up the premise, I love working out all the little butterfly effects of that decision, I love making it gay and poly and I love writing a million different perspectives!!!

this was so super fun I miss doing tag games like this hehe :3 low pressure tags @bbyannabeth @lena-hills @bookishjules @captain-jackson & anyone else who wants to consider urself tagged by me :3

[davekat-sucks]

You know, I'll admit i'm genuinely shocked Hussie never really made a huge fuss over the Troll-Sona stuff in comic, with Karkat going on about how its the equivalent of [Insert-Race] Face for humans. Having Caliope being on the receiving end of a Trolling the likes of which hadn't been seen since ACT 5 would have been the perfect chance to try and restore some of Karkats proper character. Obviously this was after the interlude so Karkat and Dave were... what they became I.E. Shells of their former selves but I digress. at minimum it would have been a nice fare-well to Karkats rants that actually had a reason to exist, since Karkat had always been a voice of reason and actual understanding for Troll Culture for the Audience and since Hussie is a troll, making good fun of Cosplay with the context of it being actually racist in-universe would have been genuinely funny.

speaking of Karkat Rants, does he have any in the dubiously canon but certainly shit beyond canon? and if so, any that are actually *good*? Whenever someone does a Karkat rant properly, be it in fanfic, for Parody/Impressions, ect. its always a highlight and usually steals the scene its in and for good reason. the only times it doesn't is usually when Jade got legitimately pissed off at him, or he got *too* into his role as leader without actually leading which was rare even if he did get up his own ass at times. But what can I say, its Hu-, Troll nature, right?

also since I saw those Adult/Silhouette versions of the trolls you shared before, I'll comment on that. Why the hell can't we have those instead of the... well, *exuses* that we got for the Beta trolls in beyond canon? Adult Trolls have always been shown in that style, in the same way adult humans were always in the same style, easily distinct from kids of either species. Those designs are so great too, really capturing the essence of the characters. Vriska's having her Glasses is always appreciated since its pretty common for people to forget she actually HAS those aviator glasses (Hussie too, now that I think about it. Where did they fucking go Hussie?! Why did they vanish in the same way you made the Trolls you either couldn't be bothered or couldn't write for vanish?! *sigh*. 'Bugger. honestly if you want a VISUAL representation of the Current writers lazyness, other than the fact they blatantly don't care about characters actually being themselves, or making characters like Terezi or Feferi chubby or downright near fat, its that. not having the Beta Trolls actually get their kick-ass adult sprites. Like sure, anyone who didn't God Tier shouldn't be aging, but MOST of the trolls didn't. in fact, we only have ONE who did. The one who had more than her fair share of time. and While I love her, can the writers please stop making Vriska stop losing character progress at this point? She's long since learned she doesn't need to be the center of literally everything. She's killed THE Big bad. doesn't get MORE IMPORTANT Than killing Lord English. Fuck if they were going bring a Serket back why not Aranea? Give her an opportunity to get some more attention? She died getting kind of shafted tbh, or well. Died x2 combo. Then again, I suppose What Pumpkin and the new-fans wouldn't really care for the Lore-Scholar to return. They (the nu-fans and writers) hate all the actually fun characters, destroy the ones who are left, and shove into the back room anyone they haven't destroyed yet. Something tells me if they got their hands on Aranea they'd just make her Vriska 2.0 again instead of leaning into her more Sylph-related tendencies. Befriendus did Aranea extremely well, so clearly its not impossible but I suppose thats only if you actually give a damn, huh?

Also despite having finished the first couple Acts for Friendsim 2 I stopped right before Polypa (bae) chapter came out and just haven't gotten around to it since. Saw some people complaining about designs and yea... some of the writers Biases are clear in more than just designs though overall up to that point I felt they'd done a good job (for the most part) keeping their... dare I say 'Politics' out of it? Not sure about that any more since I'm out of the loop on that but I hope that continued regardless of Character design stuff. Still that thing about Always drawing people with curley hair as black sucks. I have Extremely curly hair that thankfully basically never knots and I too am a Pasty Mountain Monkey. An American Mountain monkey but a Mountain Monkey none-the-less. Very White. Shit won't dare to grow further than my neck and will Fro out like no-ones business. I'd prefer they not take every character with Adorabubbly Poofy hair and make every one of them black. Goodness knows thats the fate of every ginger in media. We have Black Feferi but where's Ginger Feferi? I demand Balance be brought to Paradox Space! Give us the Aerial Feferi we deserve XD

Closest to Karkat being reactive over people cosplaying/dressing up as trolls would be in early Homestuck 2 that even DIRK agrees what Calliope was trying to share was wrong, but even then his anger is seen as a joke. That Karkat is being overreactive that people are using trolls' appearances and customs/beliefs as an outfit. He's in the wrong. It's fine to greyface like others use blackface as a joke. And that women can't do wrong so Calliope can never be blamed for anything, just like Vriska.

It is strange that Calliope's cosplay as her trollsona would not be addressed by any of the trolls despite the fact Calliope supposedly loves them. Then again, most of her interactions had only been with humans so far within the base webcomic. She never approaches even important ones like Karkat, Kanaya, Terezi, or even confronting her own caretaker like Gamzee by Post Retcon. They were attempting to draw the adult trolls like Karkat and Meeah having darker skin, but not fully black artstyle silhouette like the base comic had done with the other Dancestors and Condesce. Plus, people think they would be unrecognizable if they fully make them black despite said silhouettes of hair styles should be easy to help audiences. But maybe they think their audience is retarded. It seems like it if some of the are retarded enough to still think Dave and Karkat are important when they do dick all in Meat Timeline that they had the girls like Jade, Rose, Kanaya, and Calliope directly say it out loud. Blame not only Andrew Hussie and WhatPumpkin, but James Roach and HICU for thinking their readers/audiences are retarded and not smart enough to think on their own.

Yeah, the nu-fandom has ironically made assumptions of stereotypes despite their claims of diversity. Isn't it more diverse enough for something like curly blond hair on an Asian woman or straight red hair on a black person than just same old curls and afros on one race? At that point, people are losing creativity.

[pynkhues]

Hey Sophie, I hope you’re doing well

You have to be one of my fav authors for this fandom, I reread your series religiously, and can’t wait for the last dogless bone chapter.

I wanted to ask you smth tho

Your Louis is absolute perfection. When I read your fics it feels like I’m in the show, watching the characters. And I love the smut you write, especially how you write bottomstat.

I want to write 4 this fandom too. Loustat fics with a lot of bottomstat. I have a few stories in mind that feel just right. But I’m kind of scared of the fandom. They’re all so awful to bottomstat writers, it’s kinda sad and discouraging me from writing for IWTV. How do you manage these people? Their annoying words, their not requested comments, their bitter hate. Idk if you’ve received much, but I remember an annoying incident and would really like to tell you that you’re too good for them, and ask you how to handle it. I can’t handle harassment well tbh, especially from a fandom so full of people ready to throw accusations around.

So, how do toh manage? Any advice?

Hey, anon! I am doing well, and I hope you are too! 😊

Thank you so much for your lovely words! I really love writing Louis, so I'm always so happy to hear that people think I'm writing him well. He's obviously got such a different context to me, but I feel like I understand him, and so to know that my understanding of him not only translates on a page, but connects to other people's understanding of him too means a lot.

And it's so exciting you want to write for the fandom! Fanfic can be such a fun creative outlet, and getting to share that with others is a bit magic. I can't wait to read what you write!

In terms of the harrassment I've experienced - - mm, yeah, it seems to come in waves? Honestly, it took a long time for me to be harassed at all, which I think in hindsight is probably partially tied to me having a different username on ao3 than I do on tumblr, and not being on Twitter (it really seems to be at its worst there). Like I didn't get any harassment when I posted Hold Me Close and Hold Me Fast or To Your Beacon in the Gloom, and while I got some negative comments when I posted Love Me at the Ungodly Hour, I don't think of them as harassment so much as someone having found my approach to that fic as just not being for them.

It's kind of funny to look back on in hindsight, because I think that a lot of what became harassment started as bad faith asks which I go back and forth on as being about my fic or about my meta or both? I tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, so I think it probably started more insidiously than I realised at the time, and it wasn't really until I started talking about fics I was planning on writing for Kinktober that it became more obvious to me that I was being goaded and harassed. I think me realising that kind of publicly on here made everything get worse, and it was around the time I posted Steady Murmur that I guess the masks sort of came off and the bad faith asks were swapped for outright harassment. Still, it kind of was a bit of a wave then, then it quietened down, then there was another pretty ugly round of it in early December, most of which I deleted, which included the first examples of people making it clear they knew my full name, where my father worked, that sort of thing, and then finally everything came to a head with those dox threats and the ao3 comments and a few hateful anons in mid-January. It wasn't until then that I closed asks for a bit and actually went on a bit of a blocking spree (and I blocked a lot of people), and that has definitely helped it seems (although I guess given the waves, I'm probably on track for another round, haha). I did though also file a report with the Australian eSafety Commission and speak to a lawyer who specialises in doxxing which gave me some comfort (I was less worried about the name calling then the threats to my family).

How do I handle it? Mm, what a question, hahaha. I feel pretty lucky honestly, I don't think I really get that much harassment compared to some other people (it'll usually be a flurry of like, four or five anons at a time, repeated over a few days until they seem to get bored. I think a lot of people reserve their grievances of me for sub-blogging, given posts I've been linked to, although I have had one or two 'call out' posts now). I've also been lucky in the sense that for every one interaction of harassment, I must have had a hundred interactions at this point with people who've ben really lovely.

I also got some really good advice from some of those people too, in particular just around knowing what my limit was, and I think I've more or less worked that out? I do think I'm someone who's naturally pretty stubborn though, and was raised with the ethos of not rewarding bad behaviour, so I'm not inclined to let myself be run off a blog I've had for almost twenty years just because a few people would rather engage with things they don't like - and make it my problem - than engage with things they do.

Ultimately, I guess I'd say block people faster than I did, haha, and don't let other people dictate your experience of fandom or stop you from creating. The world's a really shit place right now to put it mildly, and fandom should be a reprieve from that. It's a sandbox, y'know? And a few loud voices trying to tell you what your sandcastle should look like, or trying to stop you from holding the bucket is the antithesis of what fandom should be. Keep reminding yourself why you like the show and these characters, keep having fun, keep interacting with the people you have fun with, and try and ignore the hecklers.

Also just on a practical level, I find getting outside and doing something physical helps if you do find yourself on the receiving end of some of it. Yoga helps me a lot, but also just going for a walk, doing some gardening, going out to do something with a friend or family member - the sort of stuff that puts you back in your body and in the world - really helps to put things in context too. It's fandom, everyone should be having a good time, and if you're not, you should have a break, and come back with the parameters in place to ensure you do start having a good time again.

[bilightningwriter-writing]

How has your WIP and/or OCs changed since its/their creation? What's something you wished you could keep but just wouldn't work? What's stayed consistent throughout all drafts of this WIP/OC?

Thank you so much for the ask! Needed this today. <3

So, since I've been working on Celestia and Melanie's story, this is going to be very long and very rambling because I've been working on this story for over 10 years. Technically. It's changed a lot. And I mean A LOT. Like, I don't know when I started writing this one other than it was in the later half of high school, so I know the idea is definitely over 10 years old. I haven't worked on it constantly in that time, mostly picking it up and putting it down again when the motivation dies. But it's my most returned to project out of all of them and the only one with a "finished" first draft. A draft which I've now been disecting for parts since then and now are vastly different.

With that being said, putting this under a cut because, as I said, it's gonna be Long. (no spoilers, just long) Here we go!

Going to answer this in parts via the questions so I stay relatively on topic, lol

How has your WIP and/or OCs changed since its/their creation?

For starters, it was a Christian straight couple romance (her love interest was named James; An Arthurian story and I picked James). And they were teenagers, not in their mid-twenties. Celestia was in the modern world for the beginning, with her (one) older brother as well as Lance and Gwen. Arthur was dead, though I originally wanted him maybe alive but imprisoned and everyone just thought he was dead. No Morgana or Mordred, for some reason. It was one of his knights that was a betrayer. Gwen was an abusive mom? Tbh, I completely forgot I made her like that and glad the current version is no where close. Celestia didn't know she was King Arthur's daughter, but her whole family did. Honestly, I kind of hate how I originally wrote her. She's kind of bratty. But then was also the stage of me trying not to write a character that was basically me (quiet, introverted, people-pleasing) at the time. Copy-pasted song lyrics for Christian songs, which was probably my only thing keeping her in the modern world instead of scrapping that idea from the beginning.

Now I've got a wlw/sapphic romance with my own made up religion/gods' pantheon/beliefs. Also since the start and now, I've changed Celestia's name, like, three times before going back to Celestia. Her mannerisms have changed to more dynamic rather than 2D and probably closer to my own. She's autistic now, though tbh, reading the original again, she always was but heavily masking. She's now less-masking autistic, to be more accurate.

Instead of being in Camelot, the story starts there but they end up going to and staying over in the capitol for a majority of the story (no modern world in sight). Which kind of is skewy with how the heck they're going to deal with Morgana (who is now the major Big Bad), but I have some ideas, just not sure how they're going to get from point A to point B. Anyway, Arthur is alive and well, married to both Gwen and Lance, and they're married to each other. Celestia also has two older brothers, rather than just one.

And Melanie is her own character with her own pov, rather than just a love interest, as the original story was 1st person Celestia the whole time. Now 3rd person swapping between Melanie and Celestia when the story calls for it (rather than swapping each chapter, which I was doing in one of my last drafts, but it just doesn't work for me like that; this way it changes when it needs to, even if that means mid chapter or even multiple times in a chapter).

Is the fact that this is now a lgbt romance was decided partially out of spite? Yes, yes it was. But also it just fits so much better. In the original story, Celestia is very close to her best friend (who also knows her background which she forgot and is one of the knight's daughters there too) and they had more chemistry than she and the original LI did. So I just got rid of the guy. Sort of. You'll see, lol

What's something you wished you could keep but just wouldn't work?

I really wanted to keep my idea of them having a secret hide-out and helping citizens of the country under the betrayer leader's nose. Like Robin Hood. But it very much doesn't work in the new plot/setting. So it's one of the things I've taken out and put elsewhere (a lot I've realized has gone into Nate+Ally's story without my meaning to do it, very much not on purpose), just like the modern world start transported to different land has gone into Alex in Wonderland. The OG finished draft was a jigsaw puzzle that was put together wrong, so I've been taking it apart to put the pieces where they should be.

I also killed off a character while they were in Celestia's arms, but now that I've read the OG version again, it was very much for *emotional impact* and not for a good reason (basically a situation of: idk what to do with you, might as well get rid of you for the *plot*). I'd love to recreate it and make it properly impactful, but it's another thing that just wouldn't fit in the current plot. That and I just don't like to write character death when I've gotten attached to them. Pretty sure I've got a story where I do have to do this, though, and I'm dreading it, lol.

What's stayed consistent throughout all drafts of this WIP/OC?

That the main MC, no matter her name, is King Arthur's daughter and the heir to Camelot rather than her older brother(s). And that she's the one who has to take care of the threat to the kingdom, usually in killing the one threatening it. Her appearance has changed, too, but characters rarely have a consistent "look" to me until I mess around on games and get a picture that way. Like, maybe it's because I'm autistic, but while I have a very vivid imagination, people in my imaginations are like, vaguely people shaped, but their appearances stay more in word form than in visual form? Idk why, it's just always been that way. I'd guess it's because I read more things than watched them during the formative years of my life.

It's also a girl-power story, somewhat. Like, I don't really know if I would consider it as such anymore, at least from the fact that since the start of creating this story I've gone from believing I'm a cis girl to realizing I'm transmasc agender, but I still have my past upbringing and insights from that. Actually, to word it better, it's still very much a story of becoming more comfortable in your own skin. Celestia with her neurodivergence + sexuality and with Melanie in her figuring out what being a woman means to her (even though she's cis, it's still a journey).

There's probably other things, but I've had to read the OG version in bits and paces because I keep putting my head in my hands over how just... I don't like reading my stuff from high school, basically. I was very repressed and depressed. Not to mention it was just all over the place and scattered (this was before I realized I don't write in order even if I make an honest attempt to write in order; it's better if I come up with scenes, put them on separate papers, then rearrange the papers rather than just going "I want to do this, this, this" and never actually changing the order from the original thought process order).

Anyway, if it weren't for the full copy-pasted songs put into the story, I'd put the full uncut version up on my Ko-fi and/or Patreon. But it also makes me want to sink into the floor, it's so cringey and awkward. So we're just going to keep that in the folder of shame to be dissected in peace.

[stari-hun]

Under the Oak Tree has this special quality of somehow having no chemistry but having very interesting and compelling characters. It’s Riftan. Riftan is the issue. They want a historical series but they’re ignoring that the core appeal of a historical series is an easy meet cute of an arranged marriage, fancy social etiquette, and most importantly the fashion. Riftan isn’t a historical ML in the way people like it cause he’s not just a gentleman wearing historical inspired clothing and or armor, he’s genuinely a misogynist controlling man and I’m like 😭😟 spooky. It’s giving that one sentient gingerbread man book that was randomly set in like the Victorian era with an extremely abusive husband that’s NEVER warned about in most of the reviews.

Like you come into the series and see a FL who’s neglected and mistreated by her family and ur like dope, this is a trope since the founding fanfics of Wattpad. The trope is ex common but it’s like a Sold to One Direction kinda thing, it’s a core part of the history of modern writing. Angst is such a popular genre and people love whump, like it’s good. ITS COMMON BUT ITS GOOD. People love overdone tropes cause even if it’s done a lot it’s easy to do well. Under the Oak Tree does SO well with Maxi’s trauma and she feels like such a human character. But then Riftan is just like- The appeal of the whump is that someone comes in and comforts the person and saves them from their past life. Riftan fr just comes in picks her up without a word, no communication, no nothing, constantly angry at her because she’s fearful of him and had no idea about their engagement (despite knowing that her father hated him and wanted him dead, so there would’ve been no reason to give her hope that she’d be saved from her household by a man soon to die). He’s just not comforting or appealing outside of sex appeal and smut TT, like he literally isn’t around for the first like what? 80 chapters unless it’s getting mad at her, degrading her and telling her to just be a decoration, or smut. LIKE GIVE US SUBSTANCE. Than her distress with him all the time is so scary and unnerving TT , it literally feels like for the first 2 seasons that she’s literally just having a fawn response around him and that’s why she seems to handle his presence. Not to mention that entire arc where any time she’d try to talk to him and have a genuine conversation as partner, he’d just kiss her and shut her up which was SOOOO weird.

He’s just SOOOO. It’s so weird. They only seem to like being around after 100 chapters. AND EVEN THEN IN THE TRAVELING TO THE SEA ARC HES UNRIGHTFULLY RUDE RUDE TO HER. literally anyone who spent all of their time locked up inside and doing close to no movement besides walking around and collecting plants for close to a year would struggle with a journey like that. In fact Maxi was a whole trooper, I’ve spent a whole day on horseback before and I literally couldn’t walk the next day and I was aching for 2 after that.

The appeal of the angsty insecure protagonist with a past like that is that the new environment welcomes them with full acceptance and love. RIFTAN ISNT LOVING SHIT. HE LIKES THE IDEA OF MAXI AS A NOBLE LADY. Sure we’re likely gonna see a generic plotline later of ohhh I met you as a child and you changed meeeeeeee, forgive all my bad traits and how I hurt you let’s make out ~~~~ but NO???? I REFUSE TO TAKE THAT TBH. He causes her so much more distress and it feels like another “My Husband Who Hates Me Has Lost His Memories” , like just a female protagonist enduring extreme constant emotional distress and trauma at the hands of the male lead but we’re supposed to just support their romance because ohhhh he doesn’t know what he’s doing despite being a full adult with autonomy and the life exp and capabilities to understand his actionssss. Noooo support their romance even though he’s constantly putting her in bad situations and she’s never been as happy with him as she does with women she’s just met in that hour.

TLDR: I wish authors would stop being insane and making their status of in the closet everyone else’s issue in the historical genre. Like pls stop cooking up the most divine wlw then force feed us abusive comphet, I see you, please free yourself babe.

[amargos-tent]

Hi. First of all, good art. I wanted to ask, how do you feel about Arcane and the changes about the Viktor character? Do you follow the new canon? Have a great day.

Hi there! tysm! <3

So...

I hate what they did to the Machine Herald, a lot of this topic has been said and I agree with most of it (about how he was mischaracterized and basicaly erased and replaced).

They didn't care about understanding, reading Viktor's character, let alone investigating his mains who are those who did loved his lore and who are going to play said champion, that was the first and biggest mistake.

Vincent (or 🅱️ictor) is now just another mage in the lore, a mix of many other champs and I see him pretty boring tbh, like a villain out of nowhere that now will work as our mistery mouseketool. This is how Ri0t seemed to treat him since some time ago and they ended up killing him.

This is truly "the curse of videogame adaptations", the difference here is that Fortiche did a majestic job with the animation that a lot of people doesn't care (about its writing problems and all of this lore inconsistencies in general) and they're actually attracting more people to play the game. I have friends who want to play thanks to it (I don't think they will keep playing, but still).

I just wish it wasn't canon. I started playing because I really liked LoL lore and its world building (even if it wasn't perfect) and it's painfuly funny how they started this slaughter with my favorite champion.

I'm devastated, because I truly like Viktor (I'm a main... almost otp Viktor) and everytime I watched a new chapter of the series I was really hoping for Viktor to become who he was supposed to be, and it never came. I feel bad for giving a character this much of importance in my life, idk, I think that I just portrayed myself into him too much.

I won't follow this new canon, because I know they're trying to make it adaptable for series and movies and that means there will be many changes to make the characters more epic, important and relatable.

I always been more into the fandom content than the official one and now it seems that I will continue in the same line according to the circumstances. Project N is officialy my new canon :D

and I also have to learn how to install custom skins...

Have a great day too, anon! <33