#I would tag people but most the folks I know have already done this!! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

crescenthistory · 2 months ago

Text

i’ll hold your hand through all of christmas day

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Reader

Summary: Based on a DM request sent from this anon. Remus supports his partner through how grief affects their holiday celebrations — or; when everyone stays behind at Hogwarts for Christmas, you plan on sneaking off to visit the family grave. Luckily, you never have to do anything on your own anymore.

Words: 3.7k

Warnings/tags: gn!reader, grief and loss, vague talk of multiple losses intended to be universal (said to be family, but does not need to be biological), talk of a "family grave", visit to a graveyard, reader has a purposefully ambiguous background, feelings of heaviness, found family trope, established and secure relationship, hurt/comfort, lots of fluff, whipped!remus, domestic bliss (even the hard bits), crying and kissing

A/N: i hope this finds those who need it 🤍 you are never ever alone

It required some well-written letters to various homes, some strategic orchestrating and convincing, but eventually James Potter got his desperate wish – for all of his friends to stay at the castle for Christmas in their final year, to help truly commemorate the end of their time at Hogwarts. He even managed to sweet talk Regulus and his friends into joining, despite being the year below most of you. It would be the picture-perfect Christmas.

You hated to feel as if you were ruining that.

With all of your friends having moved into an unusually vacated Gryffindor for the week, making the empty common rooms and dormitories your own, you truly could not be happier. Most evenings were spent gathered around the fire, playing board games and telling stories, loud laughter rippling through the cozy air. You even got to spend most of it cuddled up with Remus under a blanket, presented with the perfect view of all of your closest loved ones finding love and contentment in each other.

You enjoyed the holidays, you enjoyed Christmas with all the snowy, candlelit and toasty atmospheres it involved. You enjoyed it even more when you had Remus softly singing Welsh folk Christmas songs in your ears with that soothing lilt that seemed to reach even your coldest bones. You enjoyed it all – on paper.

Despite yourself, the holidays always came with a certain blanket of heaviness for you; in every room filled with lovely people, you could almost see the shadows of those who weren’t here. The smell of gingerbread brought forth saddening associations before much else, and laughter had residue echoes that never escaped your ears. It was like this every year, the losses piled up by time only weighing you down further. For exactly that reason, you were one of the first people to enthusiastically agree to James’ masterplan, thinking that maybe it would be easier when you weren’t at home, surrounded by natural reminders of loss – but, turns out, those reminders are present everywhere when you’re looking.

And unfortunately you couldn’t help but look.

You hadn’t brought it up to Remus, not from thinking you couldn’t, but just not knowing how to. How do you begin to unpack the layers of grief that live beneath your skin? How do you explain the years of both with and without in a matter of minutes? You would rather hold him close and let him kiss you as you wallow in a solitude that he could certainly spot but deigned not to comment on.

There was only one exception to this, one tradition you refused to let go of, even as you all holed up at Hogwarts – on Christmas Day, you visit the family grave. You have done it every day since the first loss without fault, and you couldn’t bring yourself to break that pattern now, especially not when Hogsmeade is a mere walk away and you have received your apparition certificate already.

The problem there was how to slip away for a few hours without causing concern. With the lively bunch you had chosen as family, it would not be easy.

Around noon, after a hefty shared breakfast in your pajamas followed by Lily reading muggle Christmas literature aloud for everyone, you made the decision to retreat from the common room. By now, there were friends flurrying all around you, preparing to decorate the gingerbread wix you had made yesterday, and you hoped to be able to excuse yourself to get some fresh air in the middle of all the chaos. There would be enough hands on deck for the decorating without you, that’s for sure. Perhaps naively, you hoped you could use the momentum to go off on your own.

Definitely naively.

“Mind if I join you, dove?”

Remus’ voice was soft in that way where you can tell he has been perfectly content for a few days in a row, almost lazy in how he pronounced his words, yet the sentiment remained just as fiercely rich. If James Potter is the epitome of Christmas traditions, then Remus Lupin is the epitome of yuletide calm, and if he already was stupidly in love with you on a normal day, during Christmas there were no words to describe his attachment.

While it sullied your plans, your sad smile shone brightly just for him anyway. “Of course not, my love. Come, come.” You stretched out your hand towards him as you spoke, whisking him away towards the portrait door, fingers intertwined.

There were mumbles of “bye, lovebirds” and “see you soon!” called out behind you, but your heavy mind didn’t register much beyond the steady beat of Remus’ pulse that you could feel where your wrists touched. It was odd how easy it was for you to notice his heartbeat, it was as if you were searching for it at all times, but you embraced it happily, gratefully.

When in the much cooler, quieter hallway, you wandered silently down the halls together, hand in hand. You tried to carefully lead the way, moving your bodies in the direction of the castle entrance, with little to no reaction from Remus. His lips were just barely curled up into a smile, happy in the quiet with you.

Gods, you loved this boy.

Perhaps that in itself was enough reason to be direct with him about how you were feeling, but his serenity felt too holy to disturb.

“Are we going somewhere specific, dovey?” Remus asked lightly once the grand entrance was within sight – and just maybe because you had begun to appear flighty more so than melancholy.

You sighed and came to a stop, turning your body towards him. You bit your lip as you regarded his face, heart soaring at the attentive draw of his mouth, his eyes boring into yours, yet clenching in guilt at the furrow between his brows. With shaky fingers, you brought your hand up to cup his face and bring it towards yours, pressing a sweet kiss against the furrow to smooth it out.

When you pulled back, his smile had settled more assuredly.

“Actually, I have some errands I need to run in Hogsmeade today,” you said, trying to seem absentminded. “Since I needed some air anyway, I figured now was as good a time as any to head down.”

Remus’ head cocked ever so slightly to the left. “Great. What errands are we running?”

We. You felt your lips curl downwards ever so slightly in what you could only describe as a lovesick guilt-ridden frown.

“It’s more of a single-party errand run, love.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, and you found sudden interest in the statute behind his head.

Remus took a step closer to you, reaching out to grab your other hand and clasp both of them together, bringing your knuckles up to his mouth to kiss them soundly. “Dovey,” he said, almost chiding. “What’s going on with you, hm?”

There was no accusation in his words per say, just knowing. His eyes told the same story. You relaxed more in his grip, hands resting trustingly between his and your body slumping against him where you stood in a near-embrace.

Your eyes flicked between his two for a moment before sighing. “I… I have a Christmas tradition. One I can’t forego just because we’re spending it at Hogwarts.” You took a steadying breath. “I don’t want you to think I don’t trust you with it, because I trust you with everything, it’s just – I don’t know, it can be heavy. A lot to put on someone for the holidays. So I thought I could just head off for an hour now, and then we can cuddle up with that book later, yeah?”

Remus gave your hands a light squeeze before dropping them in favour of cupping your face. He engulfed your face in his big hands, tilting your chin up with his pinkies to meet his eyes more steadily. There was a certain sadness etched on his face, but it didn’t look to be because of you – rather it seemed to be for you.

“Whatever tradition you need to carry out, I will be there with you, lovely,” he murmured, stressing every word and chasing your gaze if it so much as flickered. “I plan on spending every Christmas with you for the rest of my time – might as well embrace it in full already.”

You almost felt like fighting back the tears that welled in your eyes; but his eyes begged you not to, and when a couple fell, he closed the minimal distance between you to catch them with his kisses. “Okay,” you whispered, no fight left in you – not that there ever really was any to begin with.

“Okay?” He was smiling now. “Then tell me what we’re doing for the next hour?”

You matched his smile, and it didn’t feel heavy to do so. “Every Christmas Day, I visit our family grave. You know, clean it up, light the candles, the sorts. Say Merry Christmas.”

You felt small as you spoke, but his hands on your face kept you grounded and the love dripping from his every move kept you assured. “Alright,” he said through a melancholy yet knowing smile. “That’s very alright, dovey. Is it in Hogsmeade or will we be apparating?”

That was all – no queries, no judgments, just inquiring about the mode of transportation. You wondered if he knew he was all you needed.

“No, it’s in my hometown. I figured we walk outside the wards by Hogsmeade and then apparate all the way. We can hold hands to make it easier, like in class.”

Remus chuckled, kissing your forehead before letting your face go in favour of bringing out his wand. “Questioning my apparition skills, are you?”

You actually chortled at that, at ease with his banter. “Oh, most definitely. Gotta keep an extra eye on you, Moony.”

He poked your side with his wand teasingly, muttering a quiet “minx” before turning the wand in the direction of your dorms and casting an accio. You quirked a brow at him, but before you could ask, he said, “What, you didn’t think I would actually let you walk out into English December wearing cozies?”

A second later, you saw your coats and scarfs come flying towards you two, and caught them before they dropped to a heap before you. Remus did the same, throwing his scarf over your head to begin wrapping it securely around you, letting no air flow in.

“What would I do without you, hm?” you asked teasingly.

Remus leaned in to give you a quick peck. “We will never have to know. You’re quite stuck with me, you see.”

Despite him pulling away to button his own coat, you chased after his lips for another kiss, bringing him back down to you with a hand to his cheek. “Well, if you insist Mr. Lupin,” you mumbled against his lips.

“I do,” he whispered in turn before circling his arms around your waist and parting your lips with his to give you a proper, confessional kiss. You could feel him smile against you when you began to come apart.

As you put on your own coat and ensured you both looked properly protected, you mused out loud, “Reckon we should warn the others we’re ditching for a while?”

Remus looped his arm around yours and began pulling you with him towards the exit with a rather cheeky grin playing across his face. “No, I think the coats flying past them might have given them an idea that we will be gone for a little while.”

The walk to Hogsmeade was brisk but comfortable, Remus never once straying from your side. When you occasionally in your distractedness didn’t walk straight and bumped into him, he smiled in that way that crinkled around his eyes, holding you even more securely.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Remus asked eventually. “Or them?”

You hummed, genuinely considering it for a moment. “I don’t think so,” you mused. “Not right now at least. Maybe it’ll come to me as we go along with the celebrations, though. A memory or two that I want to share, good or bad.”

Remus already knew the gist of your family and history with loss, and was painfully patient with you at every turn – and he readily accepted that that was enough for now. He let go of your hand only to wrap his arm around your shoulders and bring you closer to his side, dropping a sweet kiss to the crown of your head. “Sounds good to me, dove.”

“When do the apparition wards end, anyway?” you asked, musing through the horizon that was foggy with snow that was so light you couldn’t even feel it when it landed on you. “I’ve never apparated away from Hogwarts before.”

“I wouldn’t have expected you to, seeing as we only learned that earlier this term,” Remus teased, squeezing your shoulder. “You’re not that far ahead of the curve.”

You reached up to pinch his nose, delighting in how it scrunched up. “Maybe I am, what do you know?” you whispered conspiratorially. Then, you pointed to the first line of houses belonging to Hogsmeade that appeared. “Over there should probably be fine, though, I think.”

“Yeah, I reckon so. If not, it will be a good story to try and fail.”

“Always is, with you.” You brought him down for a sweet kiss when you came to a standstill right past the first line of houses. You sighed against him, heavier than you had intended, yet grateful for it to be let out.

He seemed inclined to agree, if the look in his eyes was anything to go by. Your patient, sweet, understanding boy.

“Ready?” you whispered, taking both of his hands in yours.

Remus squeezed them reassuringly. “Very.”

You closed your eyes in concentration, but suspected he didn’t do the same. With a deep breath, you focused your mind on the graveyard, visualising yourself stepping into it – you knew you were successful in the apparition when you felt a tug in your stomach and a darkness engulfed you before there was a distinctive soft ground beneath you, contrasting to the gravel you were on seconds ago.

The smell hit you before anything else. It smelled exactly like your hometown, an odd mix of childhood and the frozen earth. You opened your eyes to see Remus standing before the stonewall lining the graveyard, his head turned away from you to look at the view behind him with slightly parted lips. With his tawny curls slightly covered in the dew of melted snowflakes and his side profile on display, he looked rather angelic, which you thought fitting.

“It’s beautiful,” he commented quietly, finally turning his head to find you already looking at him. While it might have been the cold, you could have sworn a faint blush took over his cheeks.

You took a deep breath. “It really is. Oddly so.” You took a small step away from him, releasing his hands to smooth your own down the front of your coat, brazing yourself. “I’ll lead the way.”

Remus followed your lead both physically and metaphorically, quietly reading your mood and needs, at least as best as he could. He walked right behind you, not touching you and giving you space to take in being in this emotionally charged space, trusting you to reach for him when you need. At the same time, he took in the space on his own terms, letting his eyes roam over the stone structures, the lampposts and the frozen flowers.

“I haven’t been here since last Christmas,” you confessed quietly as you walked a path you knew by heart. “I feel like I probably should go more often, but I haven’t been able to.”

“There’s no right amount to visit,” Remus added lightly, smiling softly at the back of your head. “Only what’s right for you.”

“I don’t really know what’s right for me when it comes to this. I’m figuring it out.” You felt lighter at speaking the words out loud, realising with some coyness that perhaps that is why Remus often urges you too.

“That’s alright, too, dovey. There’s no rulebook, just a journey.”

You looked over your shoulder, allowing yourself to match his smile. “Wise man you are, Lupin.”

“Mm, glad to hear you finally admit it.”

The casual conversation might seem contrary to what you were doing and where you were, but at the same time, it wasn’t really. You tried to view this as visiting your loved ones rather than going to a graveyard – after all, you weren’t here for the graves, you were here for the people. And they would have wanted the easy, light conversations.

When your tombstone came into view, a certain feeling you were never quite able to name settled around your heart. A longing, but also a recognition. Almost a familiar face by now, just not quite the one you wished for.

“It’s this one,” you mumbled distractedly to Remus and made the final beeline for it. When you reached the plot, you came to a stand before it, just staring down for a moment. As Remus walked up beside you, you leaned your shoulder sideways against his, and he lifted his arm to wrap it around you.

Together, you stood there, regarding the names etched into stone, almost a minute of silence.

Once he deemed it safe to move, Remus dropped a kiss to the top of your head and bent down to pick up some twigs that had fallen from a nearby tree at the change of the seasons. Any questions died on your tongue when he brought out his wand and performed a quick transfiguration – suddenly, instead of holding dull and dead sticks, he held a wreath, all decked out with red ribbons, pinecones and Christmas decorations.

Silently, he held it out for you.

You looked between the wreath and Remus’ face, feeling stumped at the rather simple yet incredibly meaningful gesture. You opened your mouth, thank you already forming on your lips when he beat you to it.

“I know,” he whispered with a small smile.

You beamed back at him as you best could, slightly teary, and accepted the wreath from his hands.

Turning around to the grave, you came to a crouch beside it and placed the wreath for safekeeping on your knees as you brushed snow and leaves aside from the plot. You could easily use magic to do it, reenforce the spells you have already placed to keep the grave mostly maintained, but it felt good to touch it with your own bare hands, to do this act of service yourself. Even when you heard Remus hiss at your lack of gloves, casting him a somewhat sly smile over your shoulder to which he flushed once more.

As you went, you murmured quietly whatever you felt like saying to the inhabitants.

When you declared the grave properly dusted, you placed the wreath delicately in the middle of it, careful not to cover any of the writing on the stone. You did bring your wand out to magically light the eternal candles you had placed around the plot, casting extra protection spells to ensure they would burn through at least the rest of the year. If you could call a grave cozy, yours was nearing it, and it warmed your heart, even as a tear rolled down your cheek.

Remus came to crouch beside you, and you took his hand in yours, swallowing your apology for how cold it must be; he didn’t seem to mind.

“I wish you could have met them.” You didn’t think you would say the sentence before you did, but once it was out there, you felt no need to fight it.

“Me too,” Remus said wryly, squeezing your hand and rubbing his thumb back and forth on the back of it. “But I’m glad to be able to do so now, even if it is in a different way.”

You turned your head to smile tearily at him. “They would have loved you.”

Remus leaned his forehead against yours, nose pressing into your cheek. “And I them.” He seemed to turn his attention to the engraved names. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of our shared angel,” he addressed them, in his perfect meeting-the-parents voice. “They’re safe with me, as are your memories.”

You took a shuddering breath, feeling a momentary sense of closure. With a squeeze to his hand as a signal, you made to stand, and he followed suit, steadying you with an arm to your elbow.

His hands came up to wipe determinedly at your face, and you used the opportunity to bring him down to a short but searing kiss. “I love you,” you whispered against him. “Thank you.”

“Nothing to thank me for, my dove. It’s family.”

You brought Remus in close for a hug, your face turned towards the grave in his firm embrace. His hand was splayed over a spot on your back where it felt like he held you together and lifted the weight of the grief – and it reminded you of how much that felt like love. In the drafty graveyard, in the flickering candlelight, you were able to carry it all.

You turned in his arms to give your little family a final look. “Merry Christmas,” you whispered into the void, smiling both in spite of and because of.

“Merry Christmas,” Remus echoed, squeezing your hips.

By the time you made it back to the castle, you were emotionally and physically spent, but lucky for you, so was most of the others from what had been an intensive decorating session. When you walked in to find them all splayed across the sofa seating area, their eyes landed upon your tear-streaked, flushed faces and your loaded smiles, and they did what they do best.

Your friends opened their arms for you.

180 notes · View notes

cozymochi · 19 days ago

Note

Nyoka’s prey is the prefect made me do the spit take thing despite having nothing in my mouth. You could be joking but it just made me think of an idea I’ve briefly entertained.

I had a brief idea that my oc-put-in-prefect/mc’s/role being afraid of Nyoka. Just as a joke since most people thirst over him. Think it would be funny especially plus my character isn’t scared of anyone else.

Though decided lore-wise that’s a bit of a stretch plus I think I saw a post from you saying something along the lines of you not wanting to have interactions from other people’s ocs?

So I wasn’t going to send anything but that tag made me laugh and prompted a question.

How does Nyoka see and interact with Tia?

Also I might as well ask while I’m here, do you tag each of your ocs with their names? I haven’t done a proper dive into them so it would help to know if I could just click on their named tags to see all there is for each one.

Or would it be more effective to try looking through your entire blog? (I do worry of losing my place should some sort of loading issue happen if you have it as endless scrolling.)

I’ll try to address this as best as I can 😭😩🤌

As for the whole “no OC interaction” thing it’s not as strict as that. It’s mostly just… I don’t want people randomly throwing their OCs into my inbox directly or trying to start up some kind of pseudo-RP. Mainly because I don’t know what to do in those situations. It’s as simple as that 😭 I kinda just get blindsighted and wonder what I’m supposed to be doing. Least of all the fact I don’t know who any of these folk are, so it’s kind of awkward. Others might know me cuz they see art I make, but it doesn’t really extend the other way around. I think folk forget that sometimes.

I personally wouldn’t put someone in that position if we weren’t already close.

THAT SAID, I don’t care what people do with already public posts I’ve made or what they imagine on their own posts/blogs. They can add on or make their lil’ in-character comments on those if they felt inclined to. Draw something even and tag me, I’ll probably be down to see it! I get a kick out of that sort of thing and it feels a bit more appropriate 👍 public space begets public space.

But when it comes to trying to do so directly in my inbox I prefer people not do so. I’ll just not answer.

NEXT! I tag each character with their full names. I’m not always consistent about this, and “twst oc” is just a courtesy tag, but it’s not as useful in terms of finding anything up here. Though, it COULD lead you to their names, which is the better option.

Besides, I have no single all-encompassing “masterpost” that links to every bit of info out there. I don’t really have the patience for that. There are some benefits to leaving things open for interpretation. But if someone wanted to start anywhere, the intro post is as close as one will get. It has all their names up in there!

AND ERRRR... Tia kind of interacted with him in this story. Though, imo, it kind of serves more as a general introduction to Nyoka within the context of the universe rather than something Tia and Nyoka specific. She’s just in the MCs place because me and @/oddberryshortcake always use her in that role. There’s a couple Tia specific things in there but it doesn’t really matter overall since it wasn’t the point.

As for how he treats Tia specifically, it’s not a concept I’ve explored too much. If my brain can’t think of a semi-organic situation for them to cross paths then I kind of just! Don’t. 💀😭 But that also just extends to my issue of not freely talking about Tia much up here. I probably will think of something them specific eventually, but right now it’s just generalized. I shouldn’t keep snubbing Tia like that, but I did enough venting about that situation to last the whole week lol

At this point he just treats her as he would any standard Prefect/MC/Yu/Whoever, which is with no regard whatsoever since he’s never around to begin with. He wouldn’t not know who they are given the Prefect/Grim is infamous campus-wide apparently, but I don’t really have anything too specific lined up at the moment. He just considers both the Ramshackle duo as “prey.” Not literal (…i mean…) but more so in that pedantic way in a similar vein to how Leona refers to them as “herbivores.” It’s not dead literal, just kind of… figuratively denoting a position.

They’re prey. They’re mice. They’re not anything to him. He could swallow them whole. (figurative) So in a way, was I truly joking in my tags? 😳 oooooo

#cozy ask #so for all intents and purposes your MC hypothetical is an appropriate train of thought lol #twstposting #i still have yet to fix my blog navigation anyway to include their names

24 notes · View notes

curator-on-ao3 · 5 months ago

Text

fic author q&a

I was tagged by @deadheaddaisy for a fun and great fic author game. Thank you for tagging me, @deadheaddaisy! ❤️ As happy as I am to be tagged, the thing is, y’all, I’ve done that particular game a few times already and, even though it’s a great game, I was in the mood for something different. So, I’ve made new questions — and answered them — and I’ve tagged some folks in case they want to answer them, too.

1. Why do you write fanfic?

Life can be stressful, and writing fanfic can be like a little vacation. It’s not my life, anymore, it’s the characters’ lives.

2. Which of your posted stories do you think about the most, even though the story is “finished”?

I think about Malleable and Unmalleable Orders (Mirror Pikeone, E) probably because it’s so different from what I usually write. I also think about The Light Before Dawn (Pikeuna, M) because, even though it would have bogged down the story, I do think they eventually get married and the details of all that sometimes cycle through my brain.

3. If you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

Enjoy this time of not really knowing fic conventions or expectations.

4. What’s your relationship to fic stats?

I try to avoid them. I love every kudos and comment and bookmark and subscription. But I don’t go looking for the numbers unless I have to.

5. Is there a pairing or scenario or friendship you miss writing? If so, why? If not, why not?

I miss writing Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris. I had a lot of fun with that pairing for a while.

6. What motivates you to write?

If I don’t write the stories down, they get stuck in my brain. So I guess setting them free (in good ways) is my motivation.

7. Why do you write for the fandom(s) that you write for?

I really do believe in the ideals of Star Trek — IDIC and peaceful coexistence and all that stuff. Even though I often write for the spin-off series, not the original Star Trek, creating stories in that universe lets me be part of it, even in a small way. Also, as a bonus, I do think Trek readers are great about comments, kudos, etc., and that helps a lot.

8. If you’re stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

I might work on something else or take a break. The problem will rotisserie in my head and probably work itself out if I don’t push it too hard.

9. What do you wish people knew about comments?

That any nice comment is welcome and appreciated and, if the person doesn’t want a reply to their comment, they can just say so and it’s easy enough for the author to honor their wishes.

10. Maybe there’s a question you wish had been on here. What’s that question (and answer)?

How about, “Do you read public AO3 bookmark notes on your stories?” Yes. Because of bookmarks like these on The Autobiography of Kirsten Clancy (Gen, T):

Tagging with no pressure: @deadheaddaisy, @iamstartraveller776, @fiadorable, @sun-lit-roses, @coffee-in-that-nebula, @grissomesque, @enterprise-come-in, @starrybouquet, @lorcaswhisky, @marymoss1971, @emilie786, @cnrothtrek, @elephant-in-the-pride-parade, @pc-corner, @divinemissem13, @meddow, @missparker, @jazzfic, @the-lady-general, and you. If my tag anxiety got the best of me and I didn’t put your name here, please consider yourself tagged. ❤️

#fic author q&a #tag games #thank you for getting me into a headspace to do this #deadheaddaisy

37 notes · View notes

writefullyrobin · 3 months ago

Text

No spoilers past 2x10 if possible folks!

2x04 – Stuck thoughts

I have a feeling I’ll be saying this a lot but Christopher is seriously the cutest kid! That opening morning routine scene with him and Eddie was so sweet I think it gave me cavities.

I love when drunk people get ideas. They come up with the weirdest, most random things. Like sticking your dead in a truck’s tail pipe!

Athena’s plot was interesting. I think everyone whose been in the same job for a long time can empathise with the career choice dilemma. Do you stay where you’re comfortable or risk some changes? We’re always told to aim higher but sometimes higher isn’t where you’re meant to be and can actually restrict you doing what you enjoy. I think she made a good choice. She needs to be out there doing stuff. Plus, can you imagine Athena with a partner? I can’t.

How did Chimney get his name? I’m assuming an actual chimney was involved in some for or another. Is this one of those pieces of lore that just never get explained and are a permanent mystery because I would be OK with that.

I’m very relieved Chim has no lasting consequences of the rebar through the brain. Hilarious he ran into his ex at this hospital. His very pregnant ex. You could literally see the maths running through his head when he realised that. I’m with Hen though. Chim can be the bigger person and forgive her. I’m going to hold a grudge for her being a cold hearted bitch.

Ah, Chim does remember the accident. I had wondered because he was very, very conscious throughout. Super sad he’s been holding onto all that grief – only word I can think to use that represents his reaction. I hope now he’s started to process though he can move on with.

Like Buck needs to start doing with Abby! I mean, seriously, I liked Abby well enough in season 1 but she’s practically ghosting him now. She sounds like she’s moved on, he needs to too.

Carla’s back!! Oh I missed that sunshine smile of hers! And she’s going to be looking after Christopher? Awesome!!

Do I dare ask this because I’m really not sure if I’m jumping the gun or misreading considering it’s only ep 4 but Buck helping Eddie out like he did with Chris, arranging it with Bobby so he can come to the station for the day, arranging a meeting with Carla… is this Buck stepping into it with Eddie, like he tried hard to for Abby and her mom last season after that chat with Bobby?

And Maddie directly called out Buck for his boy crush! Firstly, that is such a big sister thing to do (I know, I’ve done it myself) and secondly, this is TV. They’re not going to waste a second on pointless dialogue banter if they didn’t want it to be relevant. It’s not a novel.

Screw it. I had my friend look up the ship name for Buck and Eddie (Buddie – I like it!) so I didn’t accidentally see any spoilers and I’m tagging it going forward because its been 4 eps and these two are already ridiculous and living in my head rent free. You don’t want to read me gushing, block me.

#robin watches #911 abc #911 fox #911 season 2 #athena grant #bobby nash #chimney han #evan buckley #hen wilson #maddie buckley #eddie diaz #bathena #henren #911 buddie #buddie

23 notes · View notes

desertforestfic · 4 days ago

Text

i am thirty years late to this but thank you @hephaestiions @citrusses @its-the-allure for the writer interview tag

how many works do you have on ao3? ten! ten fics. ha ha ha

what's your total ao3 word count? 31,294

your top 5 stories by kudos?

where i have to go

horizon

the tie

psychopomp

twirled around his finger

do you respond to comments? you know, i really want to, but it is honestly a lot of brain power to sit down in front of like fifty compliments and try to come up with a genuine response to each - so yes i reply but only in incredibly specific moods, lol

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? DIVORCE

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? probably this one in which it is foreshadowed that harry gets to go be an unemployed stoner in amsterdam (draco has to get a real job)

do you write crossovers? um does a sports au count? then yes, eventually

have you ever received hate on a fic? no and i am honestly taking it as a sign that i need to step my pussy up and write some more upsetting fic

do you write smut? ya

have you ever had a fic stolen? naur

have you ever had a fic translated? no and i am ambivalent about the idea. i have sooo much respect for the folks who put in the work of translating fic for free, but the idea of not having control of what my fic sounds like in another language is a little scary ngl!

have you ever co-written a fic before? no but it's very much something i would like to try eventually!

what's your all-time favorite ship? oh probably drarry just because i feel like these are My People :) i have some pretty near and dear rpf ships but they feel more like old friends than anything i would want to actively read or create for these days

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? ummm one of the first things i ever wrote was like 1,000 words of draco eating a bagel in a park in new york city and then running into harry. i was real hyped about the idea until i remembered that i have spent like ten hours total in new york city and i went down a reddit rabbit hole trying to decide what neighborhood draco would live in and then was like...why am i doing this. it was cute, maybe i'd pick it back up on the off chance i ever move to new york city, but the writing already feels sooo bad to me that idk if i could stand digging it up and editing it lol

what are your writing strengths? descriptions? that sounds broad. i think i'm really good at evoking freeze-frame moments: a sunset, a landscape, a facial expression. physical sensations, too - being drunk, being cold, having a headache. i really like digging out the exact combination of words to describe sensations and emotions i myself have felt. anything like that is likely going to be the most personal part of my writing.

what are your writing weaknesses? making..there be a plot...lol. i think i can write a believable emotional arc, but i was talking to @yiiiiiiiikes25 the other day and was straight up told "i think you need to have more things happen to your characters." read me for filth.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? am i supposed to have thoughts on this? i don't speak any other languages. there's a good chance i'm going to have to throw some Old Norse loanwords into some stuff i've been working on so uhh any Old Norse speakers out there please hmu

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? i'm reading captive prince rn and i'm quite sure i'll have thoughts when i'm done with that :) also f1 is tugging on the hem of my shirt like an eager toddler

what's your favorite fic you've ever written? horizon by a mile :)

i don't remember who's done this due to the aforementioned being thirty years late but uhh tagging @dryrsheet @kamaela @faiell @thehoneybeet @twnkwlf-writes @marrythemonstersao3 @chaos-bear and anyone else who's feelin it

#mine

14 notes · View notes

libraryofneith · 5 months ago

Text

Old Dog, New Tricks - Chapter 3 (Sandor Clegane x Female Reader)

@ladysandorclegane1968 @broadsdrinkwhisky

Series Masterlist

Summary: As Sandor settles in, he wonders what is next for him, what to do with his life.

Tags/Warnings: none really, whole fic is 18+ but this is a very chill chapter. Enjoy it while it lasts, cos it won't, OC has mutism.

Thanks to everyone who's liked, reblogged or left a note. The response to this has been amazing.

When we found her, she was wandering the countryside, filthy and covered in blood. And her eyes – there was a look in her eyes of someone who’d seen something truly terrible.

Weeks past and with them, Sandor found himself healing. With the help of some other friends of Septon Ray’s, he found himself beginning to walk a bit more with each passing day. First across his room, then he ventured outside. That was when he learned where he was. He was with a small settlement of people who appeared to have set up camp in the middle of nowhere and had started building a sept.

They were people from all over: the North, Riverlands, Westerlands, and people from all walks of life and backgrounds. All these people brought together by religion to start their own way of life, a bit like the Brotherhood Without Banners only not so stuck up their arses and with a lot less fire and a lot more sanity.

Once he was able to walk, stretch and lift weights without fainting like a maiden at the sight of blood, Ray set him to work helping with the building. He said they could use a man with the Hound’s infamous strength on their mission. Sandor had given up his identity when Ray told him he already knew who he was.

“Your reputation proceeds you; huge man, and even through all that mess I could see those infamous scars.” Sandor growled, irritated.

He then asked if he’d seen a scruffy looking girl of about 13, might’ve looked like a peasant boy. The septon shook his head and said they’d found him alone. That didn’t surprise him. If he remembered right, the girl had left him on a mountainside to die then left, looking to be heading towards Saltpans.

“Why the fuck did you bother asking my name then?” The man smiled and shrugged.

“Formality, I guess.”

When Sandor wasn’t chopping wood or carrying heavy planks, he spent most of his time alone. The people here weren’t unkind, some of them could even look him in the eye, but they were all happy and decent folk who seemed to be completely un-phased by the horrors in the world around them. He had no place among such folk. Well, except for Septon Ray, he always took time in the day to visit him.

Truth be told, he was growing quite fond of the holy man. He wasn’t like the other septons he’d met, he wasn’t all solemnity and false piety, acting all holier-than-thou. He was happy and he was human, always greeting people with a smile and a joke. He even knew jokes bawdy enough to make Sandor snigger. The man was also completely unpretentious, a trait Sandor rarely found in anyone.

Sandor had snorted and said “You’re in the wrong line of work.” At least he was honest, which was more than could be said for most holy men.

Other septons liked to pretend that they knew the answer to all of the world’s mysteries and that if you just kept quiet and prayed then everything would turn out right. When Sandor challenged him with another man’s beliefs about the Lord of Light, he simply said

“Well maybe he was right, I don’t know much about the gods.”

But then there was the girl, Kyra. He didn’t know what to make of her. A young girl who he’d seen every day while he was bed-ridden, and most days once he was up. When she wasn’t nursing him, he noticed her about the camp cooking, planting vegetables or doing whatever chores needed to be done. She was small for her age and moved so quietly he mostly wouldn’t realise she was there until she was upon him.

He’d approached her one day, to thank her for her skills in nursing him. He'd been unsure of what to say, it'd been a long time since he'd thanked anyone for anything and he wasn't sure what she would say, but she said nothing. She just smiled, nodded, then walked away. He thought that odd but when he thought about it, he realised he’d ever heard Kyra speak. She wasn’t deaf or foreign; he saw her reacting to what people said, but she never spoke back.

“Good girl that.” Septon Ray said, approaching him where he stood. “Should’ve seen her when you were still out of it, most of the men wanted to slit your throat as an act of mercy but the look she gave them would’ve made the bloody Mountain shit his pants” Sandor smiled at that thought.

“Aye she’s a good lass. Why doesn’t she speak?” The septon’s face seemed to sadden at that.

“Fear, I think. When we found her, she was wandering the countryside, filthy and covered in blood. And her eyes – there was a look in her eyes of someone who’d seen something truly terrible. She screamed bloody murder when we tried to bring her back to the village but even when we eventually managed to calm her, she never spoke a word, and hasn’t in all the time I’ve known her.”

“Then how do you know her name, or get her to do anything?”

“She writes things down, or motions them, or sometimes just a look is enough.” Sandor could understand that – the girl had the most expressive eyes he’d ever seen. They’d been the first things he’d noticed about her when he woke up.

The bell rang out, meaning a break for a meal.

“Come, sit with me for dinner” Septon Ray said.

“Nah that’s alright; I don’t want to scare your men.” The man just chuckled.

“If they’re scared of you that’s their problem, I’d have my friend join me for a meal.” That took Sandor aback. Ray was kind to him, but he was kind to everyone. He didn’t think that the man thought of him as a particular friend. He didn’t know if he really wanted a friend.

That got him going.

“If you come now there might be some ale waiting.”

#game of thrones #sandor clegane #sandor clegane x reader #sandor clegane x female oc

27 notes · View notes

twig-tea · 7 months ago

Text

Song Shuffle Game

Thank you to @my-rose-tinted-glasses, @lurkingshan and @hyeoni-comb for the tag! I've been remiss on tag games recently but this one was quick.

Rules: put your music library on shuffle, then list the first 5 songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for the one they like the most! 🎶

I'm glad this turned out to be a representative sampling of what my favourites is like, 8 different languages in 5 songs lolol. I would have trouble choosing from this list tbh!

Tagging some folks with no pressure: @incandescentflower, @italianpersonwithashippersheart, @hallowpen, @telomeke, @thisonelikesaliens

@sollucets @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle [line break for tumblr nonsense]

and if you've already done one LMK! Also anyone who wants to play, consider yourself tagged.

@troubled-mind even though I know for sure you've done one already it feels wrong not to tag you in a music post!

#Spotify #music recs #tag game #typed so that i can stop thinking it

24 notes · View notes

gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan · 8 months ago

Text

Pains that Grow

Author's note: Su'cona's next chapter.

Past =-= Next

Warnings: descriptions of chronic illness and pain. Uh. Let me know if I need to add anything else.

Summary: Su'cona tends to his bonded when they are having a bad pain day.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged continued: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k, @ms--lobotomy @bispecsual @thevoidscreams

You wake up and turn to look at your phone, which you have charging next to you as it rings, waking you up from sleep. You groan and grab your phone, squinting down at it. Reading the numbers on the clock which brightly tell you the time. You set your phone down and rub your face with a tired groan.

It’s been a while since you pushed yourself and helped out at a Soup Kitchen. Part of you had known that doing so would have Consequences, but you liked helping out people who had less fortunate situations than yourself when you could. Besides, volunteer work was not quite-mandatory for your Work.

If you did do Volunteer work, logged the hours, and sent in the hours, dates, times, as well as Proof of doing it, then you’d get extra paid time off. Which could be a godsend sometimes. Your job, which you are very grateful to have is remote work, with once or twice a month you come into the office to have In Person meetings that the Higher ups insisted had to be done in person.

You didn’t mind it. Much. The in-person training days were fine, and you learned the things that you needed to, or the refresher courses. It also helped when new team members came on to have everyone meet face-to-face, rather than over a Video conference phone call. You shiver a little as you feel a burning feeling that has been spreading over your shoulders and down your back, and has been slowly intensifying since you’d finished doing the Soup Kitchen.

There is a dull throbbing sensation that pulses angrily to the beat of your heart. During one of the times you had worked at a soup kitchen, you met Su’cona, a Salamander Space Marine. He’d seemed… lost and alone. Which, as far as what you knew about Marines (which wasn’t much, just what ‘everyone said’ about them) it was unusual for him to be alone.

He’s also hungry, and happy to hand out soup and sandwiches to the very grateful folk who’d shown up for the food and drinks. You hadn’t ever thought about having a Space Marine in your life, sure, as a kid you’d been as excited as most kids about maybe getting a Space Marine, but as you’d gotten older and your life had gotten much fuller and emptier in some ways, you didn’t have room in your life for a pet, or a romance partner, much less a space marine, but one had shown up in your life.

Large, Green, warm, and very affectionate and friendly. You had to move, since Su’cona had decided you belonged to him now (some people would say that the Space Marine’s belonged to them) for some reason, you think that it’s likely more complicated than that.

But, having subsidized Space Marine housing that included housing for you because of Space Marine Stuff isn’t something that you were going to complain about. Grateful that your job was mostly remote, and that it was still within reasonable driving distance to get to and from the office in a car. Su’cona was already quietly puttering about, making both of you breakfast. You slowly get up, and carefully stretch as you try not to whimper in pain. You have a high pain tolerance, usually, because of your condition, but it was feeling particularly bad this morning.

Su’cona comes over to where you are, out of armor and tilting his head down, a concerned expression on his face as he trills down at you in Space Marine Language ???. You try to smile up at the big guy.

“Thanks for worrying buddy,” You say rubbing your eyes, “It’s just a bad morning.”

He tilts his head a different way, his brows furrowing, as he lifts a tray of food that had a warm, tasty looking and smelling meal. It’s one of your favorites, but your stomach rumbles uneasily and the thought of food makes you want to gag.

“Thanks for making breakfast,” You say as you get up, and carefully take the tray from him. “I’m going to do it in a bit, I need to get ready for the day.”

He gives you those devastating fire-bright puppy eyes that melt your heart. Every. Single. Time. Your shoulders slump a little, “Buddy, I need to get ready for work. I get a half day off since I did the Soup Kitchen, but there is an important deadline that the Boss is on my ass about.”

Su’cona rumbles down at his bonded human. They are having a Bad Day, he’d learned quickly that his human had a… condition? Of some kind where they would get pain that would flare up. Their skin would become discolored and warm to the touch.

It had alarmed him when he’d seen the mottled purplish and irregular looking skin. It had Worried him, afraid that they were ill. As they had been so lethargic and unlike their normal self. He’d gotten one of his Apothecary Brothers to make a house call to see what the issue was.

He’ll make sure to get them some of their medication to help ease the pain, swelling, inflammation. If it’s a particularly bad day, their skin could be so sensitive that the slightest touches of wind or cloth could feel like torture to his poor human.

He wondered if this was a curse that beset his poor human from Chaos. But his Librarian brothers had assured him that it was no curse, and his Apothecary brother’s had explained that it was just how their body was made. Which had distressed him greatly, as he’d hoped he, or his brothers or cousins might be able to help ease their distress and pain.

They also could forget things easily, or become frustrated, with themself, or their world around them. So he’d learned how to help them, make sure to give reminders and help them when their brain and body worked against them. They have such a strong soul and spirit. He admires and cherishes his Bonded human dearly.

He’s glad that they were able to have a full night’s sleep, as that could be an issue, with the pain their body had, sleeping was in short supply a lot of time. Su’cona had learned about the symptoms and signs of his human’s conditions, and the ways that he could help them… without being overbearing.

Which had… taken time to learn what they would allow him to help them with and what they wouldn’t allow him to help them with. He knew that some of the Death Guard Apothecaries were willing to make medications that were not available for humanity in this age, for a price, and he’d heard of Apothecary Hura- a Death Guard Veteran and Apothecary who could be… reasonable, for a certain measure of the word with Renegade and Loyalists. Of course, all services come with a price attached to it. He shook his head, banishing thoughts that could go down a bad, dark, ugly road if he wasn’t careful. He’s not met this Hura, only heard of him from his brothers and cousins.

#warhammer 40k #space marine husbandry sentience #space marine husbandry #warhammer #adeptus astartes #Salamander #Salamanders #oc #Salamander oc #space marine oc #oc: Su'cona #poor unfortunate souls

37 notes · View notes

fireflysummers · 2 years ago

Text

Final Thoughts on GO S2

I'm probably gonna pull back on discussing S2, at least publicly, after this. I did actually like a lot of the season, but it's triggering some of my religious trauma and also the fandom is already stressing me out. So here, let's have some final thoughts.

First and foremost: I am not a Gaiman simp. I've read a decent amount of his work: comics, short stories, essays, and novels. Aside from Good Omens, I've liked Coraline and The Graveyard Book the best by far, whereas American Gods just. Did Not Connect with me, even though it's should have, given the stuff I tend to enjoy.

However. Regardless of whether I like a given work (or even like how he adapted it, a la parts of The Sandman TV series), he is a veteran writer who has proven that he does, actually, know how to write a story with consistent characters.

Beyond that, I do actually believe that he's trying to do right by Pratchett, and loves and respects the story and characters they created together. He's generally shown up as an ally to a variety of social causes, and directly and respectfully responds to fans on Tumblr. While no saint, I feel that there is cause to give the benefit of the doubt that things will resolve satisfyingly in S3, and that there is Intention about some of the things in S2.

This, of course, does not absolve it of being "bad," but even here I think we need to articulate better the different types of "bad" that people are reacting to. There seems to roughly be three camps here: 1) People who thought it was "bad" because of how it ended, with the breakup and a lot of unresolved plot threads; 2) People who thought it was "bad" because it struggled on a technical level with its set, lighting, directorial choices, editing, etc; 3) People who thought it was "bad" because they felt the characterization was significantly off and that the internal logic of the series had been violated.

With regards to Point One, the only solution is to Wait and See. Judgement should be reserved until the story is properly finished--easier said than done, especially considering the current media landscape, and the number of series or franchises that fail to live up to their promises.

Point Two isn't something I understand well enough to contribute meaningfully, except that I suspect the pandemic affected this aspect the most and am willing to give it a bit more mercy. That aside, I for the most part I don't find it bad so much as not as good as S1. Except for the parts with epilepsy warnings, surely there could've been a better way to do that.

Point Three... that's the stumbling block for me, and I find it interesting that most of the folks who struggle with this point in particular are long time fans of the book.

I trust that instinct.

There are two different directions to go from here. The first is the assumption that these problems are a result of ego, carelessness, or lack of skill from the showrunners/writers/director. It's cynical but not unjustified. The second is the belief that the breaks in lore or characterization were intentional, building towards a much grander conspiracy. Of course, even in this case I don't think it forgives the lack of signposting that would indicate that this is a choice rather than an accident. It just makes it feel clumsy and poorly constructed, a major risk on a show that hasn't had its third season confirmed.*

However, regardless, it still feels salvageable. I've enjoyed reading a lot of meta on all this, and I've pulled some things from others (particularly That Theory by @ariaste), but I don't really want to put forth a single, defined theory myself. Instead, here's some questions I've got, why those questions are important (to me, at least). Actual theorizing comes after, and anybody who snidely mentions Sherlock in the comments or tags is going to get auto-blocked. Like seriously, I'm aware that some stuff is a stretch, but it's fun??? To theorize????? And I'm here for me and my peace of mind rather than trying to argue a point.

*I have some suspicions here, particularly with Gaiman stating that the decision from Amazon would come much faster than The Sandman's second season (which was four months). I don't know enough though to say if that's actually significant.

Questions

Who the fuck is telling this story?

This is the most important piece, in my opinion. There's this assumption when reading books (or research papers, newspapers, etc...) that the narrator who is writing the words is a non-presence, Neutral and objective. That's not the case, and an important part of literature critique is figuring out who the narrator is, and what their goals are. Oftentimes, the narrator and the author are the same person, but with Pratchett's work, particularly on Good Omens and Discworld, the Narrator was its own unique character.

This is why people struggle adapting Discworld to live action--that medium requires a Reason for having a Narrator, and especially in the age of method acting that's often considered immersion-breaking. Good Omens worked so well because they not only kept the Narrator, but they made Her God.

This added some really interesting new dimensions, such as the scene where Crowley speaks to God about his fall and the destruction of humanity. He doesn't receive an answer, but we're watching from God's perspective, so we as the audience know that She's listening.

Another advantage of making God the Narrator is that it justifies all the goofy little asides we get into the lives of minor characters (i.e. Leslie the Mailman), without losing focus. It helps the world feel like it’s full of people, rather than characters and plot contrivances, and the theme that individual people and their choices are important. The Narrator is such a central character of Good Omens that without it, the story struggles to stay focused.

It also highlights a key difference in the writing styles of the two authors. Pratchett’s work tends to introduce four or five totally unique plot threads that feel completely disjointed until the last act (if not even later), when it turns into a Chekhov’s Firing Squad. Plot twists around secret identities and backstabbing and schemes are relatively rare, as the omniscient Narrator doesn’t lie about the intentions of people or their actions.

Gaiman’s writing is typically not like that, to my knowledge. He buries characters in misdirection and hints, and you never know the true identity or motives until all the chips are down. It’s a perfectly valid way to approach storytelling, but it makes it jarring to see it in S2. The lack of a Narrator is a huge reason why S2 doesn’t feel like Good Omens to some folks.

My gut feeling is that the decision to shift from the original Narrator was highly intentional. It helps to obscure the thoughts and intentions of people, and it also muddles the insights that we’re supposed to take away. (I would have loved hearing God monologue about what’s going on in Jim’s head. I think it’d do a lot to make him seem less.... obnoxiously stupid.)

More than that, it brings up a reasonable potential plot point of: Where did God go? Why isn’t She present in the story? Even in her early appearance in the Job flashback, she doesn’t sound like the narrator for last season. After the first part of her speech (which Gabriel later quotes), her tone turns casual and condescending, which might line up with her being a bit of an asshole, it doesn’t line up with the whole “dealer of a mysterious card game who is always smiling”).

Also, I don’t think it’s safe to assume that nobody is telling the story either. Just because they’re not making their presence known doesn’t mean they aren’t there, and in a story like Good Omens, that’s concerning.

Wait, where's Satan?

Another person I saw while scrolling the tags pointed out that Satan is nowhere to be seen this season. He's really only mentioned in reference to a bet God made in Job, but then Crowley is the one on the ground causing mischief. There's no Hail Satan among demons (like Hastur and Ligur did at the start of S1).

That's might be because the writers didn't want us to think it was important (a la Hastur), but that feels off. Given that Satan speaks directly through the radio to Crowley in S1, complimenting him on his work, it's safe to say that he was at least aware of and involved in the goings-on in Hell. The fact that he wasn't even an worry for Beelzebub in abandoning their post? Feels weird.

(Also if you know where that post is, I'll happy credit + link)

What is Maggie?

Look, I love cute lesbians in love as much as the next queer, but I don't like Maggie. I don’t think she’s a person. Contextually, she’s a plot device, but I agree with That Essay that she might be an actual Plot Device.

Her characterization is simple and relatively shallow—a bit of an airhead, ray of sunshine that’s supposed to remind you of Aziraphale. When she describes her past to Nina, it’s almost robotic (also, her story implies it was Mr. Fell who first rented to her ancestor, not Mr. Fell’s great-grandfather like Nina implied). Her emotions are over-dramatic and seem to be turned on and off at random (scenes with her crying to Aziraphale about her woes had my “manipulator” senses going off for some reason).

When asked about a song, she not only IDs the song, its singer, and its year, but how and on what it was distributed. (Honestly thought this would’ve been something interesting, because she’s been pretty ditzy so far, it’d be interesting if she had like... an insane memory for music history.) And then she’s the one that sets Aziraphale on his little investigation by giving him the transformed records, while also planting the seed about her love troubles with Nina. Later, her advice to Crowley is... not awful, but feels insincere and a bit too forward, given her own self-proclaimed lack of relationship experience.

I don’t know what she is (a demon, hastur with amnesia in disguise, a literal plot device inserted by the current storyteller, etc...), but there’s something not right with her.

(Also the joke of “who listens to records anymore, it’s so old fashioned” just doesn’t land, lots of people buy records, and I’m saying this as somebody who has worked at a record store before.)

What's going on with Aziraphale?

There’s something Off about Aziraphale, and it’s not his choices at the end of the season. That makes total sense if you read him as somebody with severe religious trauma getting dragged back into the abusive system because other people need him and he’s been promised the ability to change things.

But I do think something is happening to his memory. Nearly all the flashbacks are from Aziraphale’s point of view and retelling, which means that they’re less reliable than God’s version of events in the previous season. Many of them don’t make logistical sense (post-church scene in 1941), depict Crowley as meaner or more sinister than we know he is, or frame events... weirdly. The scene with him trying food for the first time feels Really Bad, especially when the series has previously established that he’s a) prim and proper and b) his interest in food is one of the beautiful things that connect him to humanity, not some kind of gluttonous sin. Also he turns down alcohol.

Their meet-cute at the start of the universe also doesn’t line up with their reactions to each other in Eden, or the fact that knowing each other Before has never come up or been hinted at anywhere ever. I don’t know what’s causing this to happen, only that Aziraphale repeatedly looks pensive when coming out of flashbacks, and Crowley is never there afterwards to corroborate said memories.

His actions also seem pretty inconsistent with what we know of him—i.e. I refuse to believe he would ever mistreat his books, even if they’re just old encyclopedias. Also, he feels a bit too...forceful in trying to get Nina and Maggie to fall in love? I mean, he didn’t exert that much direct influence on even Warlock, when he was actively hoping that the boy would turn out angelic rather than neutral.

I don’t think this removes his agency in that last decision, so much as explains how he was in such a vulnerable place at all. He still needs to apologize and fix things, because he messed up, and even if he hadn’t he still seriously hurt Crowley.

What's going on with Crowley?

There’s something Off about Crowley. The most obvious thing, of course, is his memories. At multiple points in the present day, characters state that they remember him or have met him before, only to be met with confusion. This is especially concerning given that he has a nigh photographic memory for faces (something mentioned in the book when he immediately IDs Mary Loquacious, 11 years after a 30 second conversation).

Overall, he seems to be better known by other supernatural entities this season, in ways that often tie him back to his angelic identity (i.e. saying they fought together in the war, Aziraphale stating he knew the angel he used to be, etc...). This doesn’t feel right, because S1 we see that Hell is largely apathetic towards his schemes, and definitely does not defer to him at any point in any capacity.

Then there’s the issue of his power level. It’s always been speculated that Crowley was a powerful angel prior to falling, when he mentions in S1 his involvement with star making, his seemingly unique ability to freeze time, and creating a pocket universe for Adam before the confrontation with Satan. He also has a tendency of breathing life into inanimate objects, like his plants or car. He also has the regular demonic skillset: miracles that can adjust physical appearance; the ability to change inanimate objects (like paintball guns into real guns); the ability to manifest clothing and similar items; and summon hellfire to his fingertips. This, plus the way he monologues to God with a degree of familiarity rather than reverence seems to indicate that he was Somebody Powerful and Important Before.

But in S2, his skills are significantly expanded upon. The miracle he and Aziraphale summon sets off alarms in heaven and hell, and it’s powerful enough to mask Gabriel from the Archangels. He summons a miniature sun to rain fire on Job, which is way bigger and flashier than anything we’ve seen him summon in S1. (If he needs fire, he alters the course of a dropping bomb, without creating one himself.)

Yet he’s able to cloak his presence so well he goes wholly unnoticed in heaven, or in front of heavenly agents on earth (i.e. the Job flashback). Muriel can’t clock him as a demon, or even as another supernatural being, despite their auras usually being pretty significant, such Aziraphale immediately sensing the archangels when they arrive. He’s able to interfere with files that Muriel claimed required clearance (although I feel like that might just be a snark about Obeying Without Thinking? I would really need a Narrator to know.)

I might be misremembering, but I don’t think we’ve seen angels or demons transmogrify living beings before either. In the book, Crowley brings Aziraphale’s dove back to life after the failed magic show, and occasionally sinks ducks, but he doesn’t alter them? Not even Adam demonstrates that skill in S1. But he has no trouble turning Job’s children into lizards, however temporarily. Boy that would’ve been convenient during the flood. Or when the guard stopped then from getting to the air strip.

I don’t have any real issues with his characterization in the present day parts of S2, but there’s something weird happening with Crowley.

Where's all the people?

I really like a lot of the new characters, but how were there only like, 2.5 new humans named in the present day? Flashbacks don’t count bc the humans are all dead and can’t affect the story.

As much as I like Nina, she and Maggie don’t drive the story beyond being an occasional and awkwardly inserted plot contrivance? Both are actively robbed of their agency at several points, forced into situations that they could not have avoided or escaped. I’m not really sure what growth they’re expected to experience other than deciding not to date each other after everything. I literally can’t tell you anything about Nina other than that she remembers her regular’s orders, runs a coffee shop, and has a textbook abusive partner we never see. The only meaningful interactions they have are between those two, or in conversation with Aziraphale and Crowley.

Compare that to S1, where Anathema gets hit by Aziraphale and Crowley, but her primary relationships are with Newt, Adam, and Agnes Nutter (I think that counts as a relationship). We know that she’s got a wealthy family back in Puerto Rico, and that she was literally raised to save the world, and that she isn’t happy under all that pressure. Newt on the other hand is connected to not just Anathema, but Shadwell and Madame Tracy. He never even directly interacts with Aziraphale and Crowley. We know about his hobbies, his struggle to hold down a job, and his almost supernatural ability to destroy any electronics he touches. I don’t necessarily like how their relationship came together, but they were both very, very well fleshed out characters with unique backstories and goals. They weren’t just... waiting around to give Aziraphale and Crowley a new questline.

And while there’s no requirement to include a large cast of human characters that are exerting influence over the story, the lack of it is another aspect that makes this season feel not like Good Omens.

Also, it's just. Really weird to me that the events of S1 aren't really referenced at all? Like, Adam isn't mentioned, nor is Warlock. I don't expect them to keep track of the humans they met on the airfield for 20 minutes, but none of it is ever specifically referenced as far as I can tell, beyond Crowley threatening Gabriel. Like, I get that it's been a few years, but the pair caused a big enough disturbance that you'd expect some kind of ripples in their supernatural communities.

Promised by the Narrative (Obvious Chekhov's guns that I will be legitimately upset over if they do not go off)

A sincere apology from Aziraphale to Crowley that doesn't come with the expectation that Crowley will come back to him, but because he deserves an apology, even if the choices Aziraphale made were done with good intentions. Aziraphale does not expect forgiveness, and is shocked when Crowley grants it without hesitation.

A clear declaration of love from Aziraphale, which can't be rationalized away by either of them.

An "I'm Sorry" dance between Aziraphale and Crowley, but with greater sincerity and gravity. The most important piece is that they end up dancing together, which signifies a mutual apology and dedication to come together.

Since kissing is on the table, I expect an actual joyful, mutual kiss between these two assholes.

A shared cottage in South Downs.

Predictions/Theories (just some fun thoughts I've had)

When Adam declared that Satan was not his father, he didn't make himself not the antichrist, but accidentally crowned his human dad the King of Hell. Nobody knows this, because Adam doesn't have a good measure for "normal" supernatural situations, and Mr. Young because he's so "normal" that he explains away all the magical bullshit that's started going down.

When Adam declared that Satan was not his father, he erased Satan altogether. However, this left a vacuum in both power and reality. The defection of both Gabriel and Beelzebub only widens that crack. In an attempt to Fix things, reality is warping the story. Crowley has become leagues more powerful between S1 and S2, as the narrative is trying to force him into the role of his previous boss. Aziraphale is unknowingly being pulled into a similar version on the Other Side, perhaps to replace Gabriel or perhaps to replace God herself, who has been fairly absent in all this. The alterations to their memories or past have come about to keep the narrative running smoothly.

When the Metatron asks Nina whether anybody has ever asked for death, he was actually referring to Death, the sole remaining rider of the apocalypse.

If Maggie is indeed a Plot Device, it would be a fascinating exploration of Free Will to see her become aware of this (cue existential crisis), and then fall in love with Nina on her own terms, rather than because she was written that way.

Hastur will be back. Somehow.

The reason why S2 focuses so much on the supernatural characters is because S3 will be about how the events in S1 have changed the political landscape of heaven and hell. Angels are questioning their roles, demons are yearning for something more. It's scaring upper administration, and then the two most reliable folks in employment run away to alpha centauri. Recruiting Aziraphale and getting him back in line prevents him from becoming a martyr, control the range of his influence. The series reasserts its theme of choice and agency by highlighting that Aziraphale and Crowley aren't that special, they've just had the chance to live and grow, and that the others have free will too, if they want it.

The reason why they wanted to separate Aziraphale and Crowley, is not to get Aziraphale on his own, but to get Crowley on his own. He literally stopped time and made a pocket universe in front of Satan last season. He's powerful and dangerous and somebody wants to see that reigned in.

Wishlist (stuff I desperately want to see)

Crowley getting an audience with God and an opportunity to ask his questions, only to refuse to do so because he's found his own Answers and he no longer needs hers

Aziraphale and Crowley growing more into their book incarnations. Aziraphale becomes confident in his sense of morality, which he developed the hard way through millennia on earth besides humanity. He slowly learns what it means to be loved, unconditionally, but also is better at asserting and maintaining his boundaries. Crowley, still anxious and unwinding, works through his fear of abandonment, providing him opportunities to be kind and gentle and nurturing--all traits that he's aggressively hid since being a demon.

Hand holding. I know that Gaiman was referring to Ineffable Bureaucracy, but I still feel like we'd benefit from meaningful hand holding, especially since that got cut from the adaptation of the book.

Shifted focus away from the supernatural shenanigans, and back onto the humans that actually drive the story.

Cameos from S1 characters (if not a more substantial appearance).

The Four Other Riders of the Apocalypse.

Cursed Thoughts (why I shouldn't be allowed a social platform)

Ineffable Bureaucracy turns up in season 3 because Beelzebub got Gabriel pregnant somehow.

#good omens #good omens spoilers #good omens season 2 #good omens s2 #good omens meta #good omens 2 spoilers #good omens 2 theory #good omens 2 analysis #long post #text

109 notes · View notes

nocturius8015ficore · 9 months ago

Text

**UPDATED VERSION September 21**

Nocturius: Oh? What is it? A fanfiction on tumblr, how quaint!! :O

I did that one for the 1 month anniversary of my Fi-Core facebook page. I was pleasantly surprise to have the beginning of a community and nice interactions with other -Core pages. English is my second language (after French) so I was very insecure about writing actual fanfiction but after a bit of RP with some of my followers, I decide to try it anyway. It's just fanfictions, not a 5000$ writing contest...

So, I wanted to celebrate that anniversary with my followers, the story is a little bit 4th wall-breaking meta but roughly, it's just a sweet moment between Parja and Fi.

PS: The ''comlink party'' was just a Fi-Core facebook page thingy of us sharing ''glimmik music'' posts and talking osik around it. XD

tagging: @the-rain-on-kamino (tell me folks if you want me to tag you in the next one!)

-----

Fandom: Star Wars Republic Commando books by Karen Traviss

Characters: Fi Skirata and Parja

Rating: Family-friendly ** Fairly accessible to people who don't know RepCom **

Topic: Slice of life, anxiety, romance

Pitch: Fi is missing her wife after a few weeks of busy work. He fear she might be losing interest about their relationship.

It has been weeks since Parja got back from town. She has been busy at her workshop while Fi stayed with the aliit.

‘’ I should have gone with her. ‘’ said Fi to himself.

During winter, there wasn’t a lot of back and forth between locations. Clan Skirata lived in a hidden base called Kyrimorut. This was his home now. A real home. With family and friends. Everything Fi’s ever had dreamt for.

Well, almost. Niner, Darman and Delta squad were still stuck as Imperial Commandos. Still no news of Sev.

Fi was getting nervous, Parja was about to come back in any minute. He made an effort to look his best. Freshly shaved, tooth brushed, combed his mid-long haircut. However, his nervousness turned into actual anxiety.

‘’ Fierfek…What if she is getting bored of me already? ‘’

Parja and him were married since nearly the day the Republic turned into the Empire. But he was still injured back then. Nowadays, he technically didn’t need her to nurse him anymore. Getting better gave him very mixed feelings though. She used to take care of him like a devoted mom when he was in his worst state. Unable to walk, talk nor feed himself. It wasn’t the kind of love story he had imagined for himself. He was torn between his longing for attention and his wish to be fit for her. Be seen as a real man. He didn’t want pity-love, but would have taken it anyway. Clones usually weren’t that lucky.

Then she arrived. In full Mandalorian armor like most Mandalorian women did it for traveling. Fi looked at her and didn’t even try to hide his smile.

‘’ Don’t stand like this, help me with the grocerie’s bags! ‘’ she said, mildly amused, taking off her helmet.

‘’ Yes ma’am! ‘’

He was distracted by the sight of her thick braids and the cute kama around her thighs but snapped out his mind to help her.

‘’ What have you done while I was gone? ‘’

‘’ I’m… I’ve been useless. I only wrote and shared memes on my datapad... ‘’

‘’ No need to worry about it, that’s ok. Did you have fun? Did you make any new friends? ‘’

‘’ Mhh, yes actually! ‘’ said Fi, grinning. ‘’ I didn’t expect much at first, but the Facebook Star Wars coremunity is quite nice! I met other clones, kept in touch with Atin and Scorch on their -Core-pages. Met sweet civilians like Jack, Amanda and Lacy who liked my post daily. I even met friendly Imperials! One of them was kind enough to share a comicbook with us. Another one sent us a barrel of spotchka and did a thingy with my avatar's face and his as a token of friendship.’’

‘’ That’s great! I couldn't be there for your comlink private party you threw the other day, but I brought something for you and your friends. Look in the box.‘’

Fi looked on the table and saw a big white box which smelled very nice.

‘’…Is that what I think it is? ‘’

‘’ Yep. Uj cakes with cinnamon and honey! You may share it with all your followers and the ones who are yet to come when they read that fic.‘’

She took one of the cakes, took a bite and fed the rest playfully to her overjoyed husband. Then she kissed him on the nose.

‘’ Happy 1 month anniversary to your Fi-Core page! ‘’

He kissed her on the forehead as she hugged him. His heartbeats went even faster when he felt her fingers unstrapping his armor plates.

‘’ ...and let’s have that private party! ‘’ she whispered to his ear.''

Fi-Core/Nocturius 5th of February 2024/ updated 21 September

#republic commando #fi skirata #fi-core #repcomm #fi #Parja #Fi x Parja #Parja Bralor #Fanfiction #Nocturius #Coremunity

21 notes · View notes

starflungwaddledee · 1 year ago

Text

alright. look, we're going to go into this because i genuinely want to think you didn't mean harm by this, but it's unacceptable to use this sort of manipulative phrasing. especially with strangers, some of whom are kids.

this is not a call-out. i've hidden all names except my own. i just need to address this post i was tagged in, and don't want to add it onto the end of the original post. i could also have done this privately, but i want this to be here for the other folks who were @'d. i won't @ anyone else who was mentioned in this post, but many of us are mutuals, so if you see this post and you're feeling at all stressed out or bad, i recommend just clicking through because i'm going to go into this.

firstly, and i'm going to make this transparent, person who @'d me: i don't think you're being malicious or did anything purposefully bad. i don't think you intended harm or that you are "a bad person". i don't have a single negative thought about you as a person. i don't make this post to be mean. i truly think you made an earnest mistake that could easily have hurt others, and i am stepping in with the hope this can be avoided in the future! per my usual boundaries on reassurance seeking, i will not reassure about this further.

secondly, the post that you tacked this onto IS important and a helpful resource, and it is great to bring attention to it. we should be doing everything we can to not only defend against, but actively fight back against generative AI. many people cannot access the most commonly recommended tools (myself included), so a resource like this is fantastic and i'm glad to learn about it and share it! i don't speak for anyone else, but i've said before that i personally don't mind being tagged in resources that could help me or others and i'm usually happy to share them, especially if i think the latter

but, assuming that you are genuinely well meaning and don't know better, you need to know that this is not the way to go about it. i don't mean mass-tagging, which is fine in times like this imo, i mean your written add-ons that actively guilt trip every single person you tagged.

"if you weren't convinced by the idea of being a good person" and "I do hope anyone I @'d isn't a bad person" in particular.

you may not have realised, but these are profoundly manipulative and cruel things to say. regardless of how you intended them, they are inciting guilt in the reader, and especially in the people who you actively called to come and look at it. here's what it sounds like:

"hey! you! yeah you! come look at this!! come closer! now, do what i ask you to do, or you're a bad person."

there are a million and one reasons someone might not reblog something. being tired, offline, anxious, even needing to run a specifically professional blog with exclusively your art on it for your own financial survival which makes it hard to reblog important posts like this; none of those are bad.

in this case, only one thing makes them a "bad person", and it's "they're pro-generative AI and did not reblog because they want to hide this information to ensure they can continue stealing from creatives".

i'm fairly confident you don't actually think anyone you tagged here has that point of view, or that you really have any doubts about their stances on generative AI. in fact, of the folks i recognise here, they're all independent creatives, sharing artwork with fandom for free on the internet. they are the victims of generative AI, and like most of us, are facing a terrifying future and are already desperate to find a way to defend/fight back.

you do not need to use manipulative language like this to get us to care about this sort of content! this affects us all, content creators and content consumers alike!

in future if you want to direct folks to something like this, which is super helpful and it was good of you to do!, you can just @ them so they see it. you can even say something like "this is important and some reblogs would sure help to boost it!". this is still a call to action, but without the manipulative phrasing, just in case they cannot act for any reason.

in the end, guilt tripping people like this, intentional or otherwise, is dangerous.

at best it will make them feel like shit and they'll feel forced to reblog + share from you out of guilt rather than just believing in the cause. and sometimes it feels like it's most effective, especially when things are urgent; but in my opinion the risk of harm is just too high. because at worst, you could accidentally send someone into a negative thinking spiral. you can never know what people are going through offline, or outside of your spaces, and how something like this will hit them.

#idk what to tag this.#it's not really anything. glorified response. reassurance to those who were @'d.#i'll reblog the actual post with the tool itself after this because it was certainly useful!#please do check it out if you're in need of a more accessible anti-AI overlay tool!#reblogs are off because that's not the point and because i don't want this to... idk. get bigger.#i trust this was an accident and this person meant no harm. i trust they had good intentions. don't be mean. don't be mean.#i just want others tagged to know that they aren't bad people so i needed to address this publicly. it's hard. augh.#i know how this would have hit me a decade ago. i know some of the people tagged here are Going Through It. i know some are kids.#i just felt something needed to be said and i was willing to say it. if this is wrong or something feel free to lmk.

28 notes · View notes

dipperscavern · 6 months ago

Note

Dipper, I need the wonderful opinions of you and your fellow anons because I feel like I’m going crazy, but I know I can’t be the only one who feels like this. I just finished season 2 of HOTD yesterday because I stopped watching it because I got bored. At that point, I was only watching it to see Jace (and hoping to see Cregan again), but I gave up because it just didn’t seem worth my time to watch anymore.

(⬇️Contains a few spoilers for Season 2 ⬇️)

Fast-forward to today, I got jumped on the interwebs because I said I didn’t like season 2 of HOTD and that I feel like there’s definitely a possibility (maybe not a huge one but still a possibility) that HOTD is going to have a downfall similar to GOT. (This conversation started because of the news that GRRM is planning to release his thoughts on HOTD and we all know he probably has a LOT of critiques to share. I got tagged by a mutual of mine in a post talking about this and they asked me for my opinion in the comments on the second season of HOTD because they hadn’t finished. I stated my opinion, people saw it, and then I got dogpiled.)

I get wanting to be defensive of the show because we love the characters and the actors are phenomenal, but my problem is that the writing was just not it for season 2. It was slow, they had the same conversations 100 different times, most of what happened in this season could have been compiled into like 3 or 4 episodes. Season 1 was action-packed and kept people thoroughly entertained. The writers completely lost their rhythm with the pacing in this season, which is a big no-no in any fictional series (novel, show, film, etc.), especially speculative fiction. You have to keep a similar pace or you’ll lose your audience’s attention or disappoint them entirely (especially if you slow down) because they’re expecting the same pacing.

Also, it felt like fan fiction, tbh. There were so many things that felt out of place and, therefore, felt forced because, just like the GOT writers, the HOTD writers are not developing certain aspects they’re trying to showcase on screen enough for these things to make sense within the context of what they’ve already shown us. For example, Daemon and his mommy’s back-shots of doom vision (did not make sense whatsoever because there was no prior information that would suggest this even needing to happen), Rhaenrya and Mysaria’s kiss (should have been better developed but ended up feeling forced/rushed to most people), Daenerys going mad (could have been done well but was rushed and poorly executed), etc.

I also think the writers are trying to pander to the viewers too much instead of trying to write an actually good show, you know? They’re also trying to hint at things present in the books without fully fleshing them out in any way within the show’s storyline, while simultaneously steering entirely away from the canon events in the books. This did nothing but make it hard to follow for not only the folks that only watch the show but also the folks that read the books because now people are speaking about things that are canon in the books and wondering if they apply to GOT and HOTD. It’s all a mess. (For example: the antlered figure in one of Daemon’s visions. Most people who only watched the show think it’s foreshadowing of the Baratheons taking the throne, but people who read the books believe that it could be one of the Green Men, which is a member of a mysterious order that maintains the Isle of Faces at the center of God's Eye by Harrenhal. This is, of course, something only people who have extensive knowledge of the ASOIAF world and history/read the books, would know.)

Idk, maybe I have a different outlook on this because I am a writer and I don’t just do it for fun. I’ve published quite a few pieces of my own, almost all of which have been speculative fiction (sci-fi and fantasy) and I’m currently writing a fantasy series, so I know what it takes to make a storyline work properly. I tried to explain this to the people who were dogpiling me, but they just discredited my experience because I’m only 18. So, in their words, ‘I don’t really know what I’m talking about’ even though I’ve been writing stories, mainly speculative fiction, since I was in fucking grade school (can you tell I’m a lil pissed about this part?). Anywho, this show just feels like it’s gonna spiral into something that is reminiscent of the catastrophe that was seasons 7 and 8 of GOT if the writers don’t get it together. (I really hope it doesn’t.)

I’m so sorry that this is so long but I really had to get this rant out of my head and I felt like this was a safe place to do that.

please. lets fucking talk about it.

@rise-my-angel made a post about this that really hit the nail on the head about hotd’s main problem -> post here

hotd uses its visuals as a crutch for bad writing. that is its (main) problem. early seasons got was so great in the way it didn’t have half the budget hotd had, but it felt so much more high quality. some of got’s best moments were it’s dialogue, where it was just two people in a room talking (for example petyr & varys in the throne room)

hotd doesn’t have half of the storyline it thinks it does, which, there’s multiple different reasons for this. not letting morally grey characters be morally grey, always having to have a justification for their actions when most of their actions were simply unjustified, delving from being a book adaptation of the downfall of house targaryen to changing everything to become its own stand-alone tv show etc etc. but, as i & mimi said, it’s main problem is it’s visuals.

the dragons, the actors, and got season 7/8 are the only thing keeping the show alive.

in got drogon viserion & rhaegal were three dragons with the exact same design and just different (not even book accurate) colors. the shows main focus was drogon while putting rhaegal and viserion on the back burners, and not really highlighting much about the dragons in general. while in hotd, we get so many different dragon designs, sounds/roars/noises, and personalities. everyone was so interested in the dragons in got, but they just didn’t handle it right, and in hotd, it’s dragons dragons dragons!! all you could ever want, step right up folks & look away from the mess that is this show.. OH LOOK DRAGON FIGHT 😍 hotd visuals are amazing, and we get everything we didn’t get about dragons in got, but that’s literally the problem.

& the actors are wonderful. emma d’arcy, phia sabian, fabian frankel, matt smith, harry collett, etc. they’re all outstanding in their performances, and the butchery is frankly an insult to them and these characters that they’ve grown to love & understand. oh look, olivia cookes amazing performance🙂‍↕️ btw daemon has a piss kink LIKE WHAT

and, the end of got was an obvious disaster. people are still (rightfully) angry and hurt about it, and they want something like hotd. something to sit down and watch on sundays, and enjoy the asioaf universe again. like yeah, season two’s bad, but not as a bad as 7/8 got… so there’s that. got left so much unfinished that people are hoping to consume in hotd, and it’s just not working. but, it keeps people tuned in, because got is finished with an ending thats un-re-watchable. in conclusion, people miss their show, and watch hotd as an attempted bandaid to put on the gunshot wound.

hotd is poopy, and i think (as anon said) over time people will recognize it more & more. but for now, it’s our bandaid, and it’s unfortunately the only one we’ve got.

#dippys asks #game of thrones #house of the dragon #hotd #hotd critical #hotd season 2 #hotd criticism #got #got season 8

12 notes · View notes

mikibwrites · 5 months ago

Text

Fuck It Friday

Hi all, you have definitely not heard from me in a while lol but here is something I have been scribbling on and off for like...an inadvisable amount of time. It might very well be the first FirstPrince work I publish (if I don't finish F&F au first)

Also, this bit will likely not end up in the final fic as I want it to be all Alex POV, but I may end up posting a side/companion fic of Henry things once I'm done. :)

"Only room for one more, sir," the officer says, eyeing Shaan dubiously. It boils Henry's blood to see it, but they don't have time for a righteous overture about how Shaan is a much better man than any of these people could ever hope to be.

He takes a moment to blink, and in the ensuing seconds, Shaan has turned to him with a hand offered, to help him over the gap, his face open and loyal to a fault. Henry's heart clenches. He's never deserved this man in his corner, he thinks.

He turns to his valet, his confidant, who has been with him since his father died because, as Henry found out years ago under duress, Shaan would quit service before he ever worked for Phillip.

"Shaan, go. Go to New York, marry your girl. That's an order."

Shaan's eyes go almost comically wide with shock, and a little indignation. He's already shaking his head, albeit minutely because he remains, as ever, loyal. "Your Grace, I--"

"It'll be the last order I give you. Please, Shaan. My friend, go and make her happy."

Henry watches as the shock bleeds into acceptance, grateful for it because they definitely do not have time for anything else.

"My Lord, I--" Shaan chokes, but maintains his stiff upper lip. "I don't have words for--for the honor it has been to serve you." He clamps his mouth shut, his lip trembling.

"The honor has been all mine," Henry assures him, hand to his heart. He reaches down to clasp both his valet's hands in his own, squeezing them tightly before releasing him. "Now, go."

Shaan goes, to the obvious dismay of the officer in the vessel, and Henry turns back to maybe make the most ridiculous decision of his life. He thinks of the possibility of never seeing Alex again, and then of never seeing his mother and sister again, and then of what options he has left at the moment. He makes his way back inside.

**tagging those who have been relentlessly tagging me (please keep doing it! it does motivate me even tho i'm unable to share most of the time 😓)

@alrightbuckaroo @thesleepyskipper @onthewaytosomewhere

adding more folks that i'd love to see what you're working on: @catdadacd @rmd-writes @kiwiana-writes @bonheur-cafe

and open tag to anyone who wants to share something, i know not many folks are doing it today but i had something and if i didn't post it now i wasn't gonna lol🙃🙃🙃

#my fic #firstprince #rwrb #rwrb fic #time travel au #posting for fuck it friday bc i had to tell myself FUCK IT #to post it lol

10 notes · View notes

amethystfairy1 · 1 year ago

Note

hello internet stranger,

i am in love. you've infected both me and my sister with your brainrot and captivating fics, we've talked about it non-stop the past few days, so naturally we have some questions.

But first, i want to ask what your boundaries are w/ fanart and writing. i've already drawn a couple pieces, are you alright with me posting them, and what should i tag them with? Also, i'm feeling very inspired to write more zed and tango for the travelling thieves au, is that alright if i take your ideas and just yoink them? Im not planning to post whatever i write at this point :P

anyways, moving on, i have a few world-building questions for you, starting w/ traveling thieves:

how does the mercenary guild and hits system work? Can anyone put a hit out on anyone, or do they have to be a wanted criminal? also, how does gem choose her targets? i like to believe she has some sort of moral compass in picking, but knowing the world they live in, i can't be certain

this is less of a question, but i don't see how the world can be resolved. For ttsbc, the obvious solution to the undercity folk living freely is that they overthrow the overcity government or just remove the laws keeping them banned. Sure, it'd be difficult, but from what we've seen, most people don't actually have strong prejudices against the undercity, they just vaguely believe they're evil, which can be very easily disproved. For traveling thieves, it's completely different, because not only is the discrimination in the government, it's in the people themselves; merely changing the laws would not change how people see hybrids, so how can that be fixed? My best solution to them all getting a happy ending is that they run away and found their own civilization where all hybrids can be free, but it doesnt seem like a likely scenario

again, not really a question, but I'm so so so happy in the latest fh piece that they looted the bodies of their attackers. the first time i read it through, i was practically screaming at the screen, telling them to grab the loot and weapons before they continued

next, ttsbc:

4. how do the mobs work? do they act like any normal animal, in that they just kinda exist and happen to be very hostile, or do they follow minecraft mob mechanics and spawn into existence from nothing when the conditions are right? could they theoretically all be exterminated? do all of them dislike light, like the zombies in the cleo bdubs fic? if they do, why are they making their way to the overcity?

5. how did the undercity become a thing? Was it just always there, or was it manmade? did hybrids and mutants always live underground? are the pits really bottomless? and if so, is the world a globe, or is it flat? i understand you might not have thought very deeply about these things before jumping in, but my sister and i were theorizing about different answers. i figured the undercity isnt manmade just like the grand canyon isnt manmade, it just came about through natural processes, and mutants and hybrids just evolved(?) seperately from humans, underground, which is a whole other can of worms with the science behind that. an idea about the "bottomless" pits has to do with physics. at the center of the earth (if it were hollow), you wouldn't feel gravity because it would pull on you equally in all directions. so maybe the bottomless pit really just leads to the center of the earth, and you're not really falling forever, you're just suspended in the center forever lol. not falling, but not hitting the bottom, either

anyways, this was a really long ask (i hope thats ok), and i still have more to say, but i'll leave it there for now. again, i love the angst, and have a wonderful day. im gonna try to get some work done, but it probs wont happen with all the brainrot XD

Hello hello! ✨

I'm so honored that you and your sister are enjoying my AUs and fics so much! That you've been talking about them and theorizing over them is so awesome to hear! Knowing that they've become something fueling discussion is super cool!

I LOVE IT ALL! Fanart/fanworks/fanfic I wanna see all of it! I would absolutely love it if you would post your fanart! Please use either the (#traveling thieves au) or (#through the sky blue cracks) depending on which AU it is for and mention me in the post (@amethystfairy1) so I can see it! And of course you are welcome to write fics based in my AU or using my characterizations, in fact I'd love it if you did! It's the best thing to hear that my writing has inspired someone else to get creative! I know you said you had no intentions of posting it, but if you ever do, please use the same hashtags here if on tumblr, or if you use A03 list the appropriate fic/series as inspiration and please credit me in the notes if you don't mind! I'm looking forward to seeing anything either fanart/fanfic related that you've created!

ONTO THE QUESTIONS 🏃‍♀️

The mercenary guild is basically like the underground/illegal version of the adventurer guild, and they'll take any jobs that the adventurer guild won't. Blackmail, assassination, smuggling, you name it. Gem has something of a moral compass, but it isn't exactly the strictest thing in the world. We learn when she meets Mumbo in Grian's wing preening fic that she is on her way to assassinate a noblemans son, and while that is a bit of a wink wink nudge nudge if you can figure out who that son is, exactly, it's still Gem agreeing to kill a teenager who is guilty of little more than pissing off the wrong person. Cruel world and all.

Perhaps that's exactly point? 😌 With Traveling Thieves, I did not set out to make a world that could be resolved or escaped from...the whole point is that it is cruel and inescapable, and the best you can do is continue to protect yourself and those you care about...and even then, you might fail to do that. You might be set up to fail in a sick system that would never give you a chance in the first place. And the best you can do is try to put the pieces back together in the aftermath. I don't want Traveling Thieves to resolve in any traditional sense of the word...for where that'll lead all our various characters, well, you'll have to wait and see. 🤔

Loot that body LOOT THAT BODY NOW 💃

They're like your typical minecraft mobs, they spawn in places with low light levels! We've also got some homebrew monsters that I've come up with, such as the bird-men, that we will be meeting as time goes on. Certain monsters such as zombies do avoid light, but there are plenty of monsters will go above bedrock just like certain monsters in minecraft can survive in the sun, like creepers and endermen. No, they can never be exterminated because of how they spawn!

The pits aren't bottomless, we've seen the bottom after all, where Pearl, Jimmy, and Grian were in the Depths! It is a natural chasm beneath the bedrock, and the various caves and tunnels stretch are incredibly huge and diverse, so while everything connects back to the main cavern of the under-city that's so huge, there are also other caves and tunnels where other groups live that we will be learning about eventually, such as the blaze-born pyres or where Cub is from in the Deep Dark!

It is completely totally 100% ok! I love getting long asks like this that give me the chance to develop and worldbuild the AUs and mention some details that might never really show up within the fics themselves! So by all means send more questions and thoughts! And I'd also love to see the fanarts you mentioned if you still are up to posting them, I can't draw so anything anyone draws that has anything to do with my AUs makes me incredibly happy! 😆

Thanks so much for coming by! 💖

#traveling thieves au #through the sky blue cracks #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #hermitcraft #traffic smp #worldbuilding #life series #hermitshipping #trafficshipping #empires smp #pearlescentmoon #grian #jimmy solidarity #cubfan135 #flower husbands #scott smajor

46 notes · View notes