#I'll do more full book reviews for these eventually I promise

[totallynotreadingatwork]

Mini Book Review Dump

Ahahaha so as with all things I'm hopeless at keeping up with updating stuff. Too busy reading to blog about reading, you know how it is. In the time I've been forgetting to post I've read the following books:

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern - I really really liked it; it felt (now bear with me here) like a kind of spiritual successor to Alice in Wonderland. Not with the plot or the characters, but just in the sense of wonder and exploration it evoked.

Slither's Tale by Joseph Delaney, book 12 of The Wardstone Chronicles - It was weird to follow a completely different character to the ones the rest of the series focuses on, but it was interesting to see a new place and meet new species of dark creature. And Grimalkin showed up so I'm a happy gal.

The Sisters of Reckoning by Charlotte Nicole Davis, book 2 of The Good Luck Girls duology - I cannot actually express how much I loved this book without giving away the plot in major ways. Just know that it was a perfect sequel in that all the things that you wish would have happened in the previous book happened in this one, and it was glorious. I love it. I'm going to have to actually buy myself copies of these so I can have them forever (I got both from the library so don't own them... yet)

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, book 1 of the Heroes of Olympus series - This one is a re-read; I originally read them as they were coming out and just kinda felt like revisiting them since I only read them through the once. I, like everyone else, just adore Riordan's writing and characters, and you don't need me to tell you it was good.

Near the Bone by Christina Henry - Honestly not her best work. I was kind of disappointed; the characters felt a bit flat, there was a lot of repetitiveness to the writing that was more annoying than anything, and the ending was very sudden and didn't really give much closure or any answers. If you're new to Henry's books, don't start with this one (start with Lost Boy).

The Fever Code by James Dashner, book 5 (or 0.5, or 2, depending on how you like to order series) of The Maze Runner series - I would say this is the worst book in the series, but that's only because all the others are so good. This one was decent, but we ultimately knew the fate of the characters and WICKED from the previous books so a lot of the stakes just didn't feel real. We knew Thomas couldn't be harmed or die because he needs to survive for book 1 to happen. Still, it was very enjoyable, and I think if you read it before The Maze Runner then you'd enjoy it a lot more.

The Foundling by Stacy Halls - There was so much nothing that happened in this book oh my goodness. Bess's parts were good, because things actually happened in them, like her working and trying to get her daughter back, and then obviously the escape and all that jazz, but when it's Alexandra's pov you may as well just nap through it honestly that woman was so boring.

Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons - Another letdown honestly; I know people are entitled to interpret literature however they want, but 'Romeo is a paedo' is... a bit of a stretch to me. Thing is, I don't think I would have minded if it was done well, but it just... wasn't. I spent most of the book counting the pages until it'd be over.

So yeah, I've been busy, just not busy posting lol. Also work has been a bit manic because it's the summer holidays so I'm running children's arts and crafts groups and those are very mentally draining to me. Hopefully I can post more now though if I put my mind to it!

[j-trow-95]

2024 in review

Thanks for the tags @artsyunderstudy and @nausikaaa

Wow. 2024 has been ... a year.

I've spent this last year flip-flopping between periods of intense creativity and intense burnout. I've barely posted anything on here, and even less over on AO3, but I have been writing, and the plot gremlins have been working overtime when it comes to planning out where the WIPs are going.

Object permanence and keeping timelines straight in my head are things I struggle with, so I can't remember exactly when I actually achieved any of these things, but I did, and that's all that matters.

Huge thanks as always to Ashton for the incredible artwork in this fic, and for the beta help along with my editor Zoë, @cutestkilla and @iamamythologicalcreature

I posted one chapter of The Trails We Blaze, my 2023 @carryonthroughtheages fic, which is a SnowBaz/The Road to El Dorado au.

Simon and Baz have been through a lot together. Growing up as criminals on London's streets; surviving the Great War; dealing with a lot of repressed feelings. But after their latest con goes wrong, they're left with nothing but an ancient map, a signet ring of unknown provenance or value, and promises of a city that doesn't even exist.

Thrust into a world of adventure with danger at every turn, they're forced to decide how far they're willing to go for a myth, a fortune, and a chance at love.

This fic is going to be a real labour of love and I have big plans for it going forward. If you haven't started it yet, here's what to expect:

adventure across post WW1 England, France, and Spain

exciting action

political machinations

idiots in love pining for each other

epic romance (when they eventually get their shit together)

I know roughly how this is going to end, and I have a first draft up to the 'It's Tough to be a God' sequence (if you know the original film), but I'm currently trying to rewrite a large section of that draft. Discovery writing has been a massive learning curve for me, but I'm excited to get back to this fic and the characters.

Again, massive thanks to Ashton for the stunning artwork of Lauren. I never stop geeking out over the fact I get to call this incredible woman my friend, and that I get to actually look at my chaos gremlin MC anytime I want!

Most of my time writing this year has been spent on approximately the billionth rewrite of my original novel, A Survivor's Revenge.

I am desperate to get this story into the hands of readers, whether that's though trad or indie publishing, and so far I've had good feedback from my editor and alpha reader on the previous draft. But me being me, I couldn't leave it at that.

So now I'm rewriting the book and completely changing the way it's written. The shift from 3rd person/past tense to 1st person/present tense has finally got things moving in terms of developmental edits; the plot flows more smoothly, character interactions and growth are coming more naturally, and for once the villain motivations and plans are becoming clear! Praise the chaos gods.

Lauren Atkins is many things. Student. Daughter. Friend. But at her core, she’s a survivor. And she has one thing on her mind … revenge.

For the lovers of genre spanning sci-fi, morally grey main characters, full spectrum queer identities, and found family, A Survivor’s Revenge will have you asking, how far are you willing to go to protect the ones you love?

I went back and looked at some super old drafts of ASR a couple of months ago; after a conversation with my alpha reader decided to reinstate an old plot line that I'd shelved, and I am super excited to get back to this one. Lauren has become even more morally grey since I last handled this plot line, so things are going to get very bloody very quickly.

So the last two months have been spend sporadically rewriting this behemoth, and I'll be continuing that into January. Originally I was doing this as part of the PaWriCo writing challenge, but I don't think I'll manage to finish the full draft by the end of January. Currently it's sitting at 27.3k words, and if I wanted to hit par I should've been at 65.2k. So, likelihood of hitting 100k by 31st January is minimal.

This little floof is largely the reason for me falling behind.

Benjamin has been back in the vets consistently since the end of November for scans and surgeries, and now for an ongoing infection following the most recent surgery. It's safe to say my nerves and wallet are strained to the maximum, but he's 100% worth it.

So yeah. 2024 may not have been the most productive year for writing, but things have been happening behind the scenes, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to share more in the new year.

I've missed interacting with people on here, I'm tired of just lurking. This chaos gremlin is back, baby!

Tagging (sorry if you've already done something like this):  @aristocratic-otter @blackberrysummerblog @bookish-bogwitch @cutestkilla @emeryhall

@hushed-chorus @iamamythologicalcreature @ic3-que3n @ileadacharmedlife @letraspal @orange-peony

@shrekgogurt @skeedelvee @theearlgreymage @you-remind-me-of-the-babe 

[amelias-zelda-calamity-quintet]

My card progress and TBR for @expanding-hyrule's TBR BINGO challenge! I'm not actually entering because I'm running the challenge, but including this here to spotlight the works I've done so far.

Because all of these I have already left reviews for, I won't be rehashing my notes, but I enjoyed all of them, and I'll be doing my best to keep this updated until I get that full card.

Card Challenges

The Sea's Prophecy by @cherrysalsa - Recommended by a friend

The King's Lament by @transmascgerudo (A genre I don't normally read)

Divine Gemstones by @divine-gemstones (Caught up on a work)

Cycle of the Stars by @daeyumi (An incomplete project)

A5 - I made an Original Legends work!

I did, multiple! Goddess of Secrecy is complete on Wattpad and currently importing to AO3. Mark of a Hero is wrapping up book 1 on Wattpad & AO3. My other three projects are currently on hiatus, but they will eventually be imported and continued on AO3 as well and are currently on Wattpad.

The Triforce Awakens by @sillylildude - Updated this year

The Hero & The Princess by @mistresslrigtar (Less than 5000 hits or 500 notes)

All That Hurts Us by @karama9 (Picked because of the synopsis)

Alternate Triforce by @alternate-triforce (A comic)

The Mage's Lantern by @loz-untold-myths (Subscribed to an ongoing work)

Hero by @karama9 (A familiar creator)

KeyChain AU by @mirensiart (An Original Legends work not in the archives*)

*was not yet in the archives when I read it

C3 - Show Us Your EH TBR (See below!)

Uneasy Lies the Chosen of Farore by @drsteggy (By a mutual or someone I'd like to be a mutual)

C5 - Multiple POVs (Not yet done)

The Princess's Heart by @loz-untold-myths (A new favorite)

D2 - A reread (Not yet done)

No More. Not One Single Time More by @karama9 (A fic)

On My Honor by @pelicanpig (A genre I love)

Captain Link Araki & the Harbinger of Destiny by @mistresslrigtar (Picked because of the title)

Too Old To Keep by @ladyhoneydee (A compete project)

Stone Fate (both parts) by @loz-untold-myths (Last updated more than a year ago)

Void's Grasp by @the--voided (A new creator)

Remnants of the Past by @justapixelthing (Less than 1000 hits or 100 notes)

Guarding Zelda by @railtracer30 (Left a review in EH's Story Spotlights)

Fic TBR

The Hero of the Dunes

A Crossing of the Stars

Princess Link

The Golden Chain

ALTTS

Unbroken

Legacies and Bloodlines

Make a Wish, Make it Count

Break The Wheel

Path of the Infinite

Song of the City

Blooming in Adversity

The Promise

The Hunt

And the Clouds Parted

Depth of Darkness

In the Blood

Comic/Art TBR

DadLink

Triforce of Power

The Curse of Demise

Untold Myths

Strings of Fate

[phantom-of-the-ruckus]

A weird crossover nobody asked for

Ok, I am nearly done with the mutuals stuff but I am taking a break and sketching Freddy. The context may not be as bonkers as what I'm going to tell you all but how I found about this film is literally a story full of casualties and an event let to another and now we are here.

I have zero idea how that even happened but I guess the stars were aligned and it was destiny to make this (IDK how my friends keep inspire me to do this stuff-)

Long text ahead and a bonkers story...twice

TW: for small mentions of gore, scars, and burns

There is no romance in this, and there will be no romantic feelings outside already established couple

Before we start, some of you intellectuals might go "Phantom/Iva, isn't this Christine from Phantom of the Opera but if she was older?"

(Those who saw the post on Twitter could already tell this is going to be wild-)

And my response is basically:

That is actually Nancy Thompson from the first "Nightmare on Elm Street" but dressed up as Christine from the POTO. Now, everyone will, might start to put the dots together and go "ARE YOU MAKING A CROSSOVER OF NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET AND PHANTOM OF THE OPERA?!" and realized "Don't...Don't tell me Freddy is the phantom..."

And here is where I step in with the context story and an explanation to all this mess because in technicality, Freddy Krueger was indeed an Erik Destler!!!

Yes. That is a fact.

I am not kidding. Robert Englund was a Phantom but not precisely to the Musical but to the movie...which was more adapted to the book but in all sense is basically the same story but with some changes. Nevertheless, he is a Phantom in my standards and the movie he starred in will appear if you type Freddy Krueger phantom of the opera, or type Freddy Krueger of the opera (but it will lead to different results)

Now, how did I even found about this fact? Here is where the bonkers story and unrelated events led to this. I suggest that you get your popcorn because this is one hella comedic ride. I'll make it into sorta "How the Grinch stole Christmas" narration because why not, this is slowly descending into madness so why not embrace it?

How the hell did I found about this?

Once upon a time, Phantom was in her living room waiting for a ride. They were accompanied by their oldest sister, who had some peculiar film playing around. Phantom got curious and decided to watch as the dumbass kept forgetting her promise to look the name up. Eventually she remembered what she had in mind. She search the name up and it turned out to be a "Stepfather III" movie.

"Wait...that movie has sequels?" Phantom asked herself surprised as she stared at the Wikipedia page.

The movie "Stepfather" was no stranger to our Phantom, because she already heard it before thanks to watching reviews of awful movies all out of her hatred of "Prom night 2008." She did found out that other sequels unrelated to the first one were make and she went.

"Oh that's cool. I guess that is the end of this."

Or so she thought. Eventually she got curious to see if the main actress who played the protagonist had a fruitful career. She did, after Phantom checked the filmography list. Eventually she left the page after giving it a quick scan, but later she returned when she found a familiar name inside.

"Wait....The Phantom of the Opera?" Phantom asked.

Indeed, it was a "Phantom of the opera" movie much to our dear protagonist's delight. She decided to look up the story but obviously not reading the cast name, as this would be foreshadowing for this part of the tail. Eventually her delighted turned into

"What. The. Actual. FU-"

It turned out the story was...well not bad...but clearly mad. It involved time travelling Christines, no broken Chandeliers, immortal Phantoms who sold their sold to Satan, and some guy named Richard who is meant to be Raul. Oh, and I forgot to say Christine's last name is Day now too?

Yeah, the story was bonkers, but Phantom was oddly curious to see what it looked like, so she search it on YouTube. So, she carefully watched the clips and trying to understand what the fidgety fuck was even going on in Phantom of The Opera 1989. So she kept watching and start to realize.

"This Phantom looks familiar?"

So, instead of searching the movie and checking the cast like a normal person would, Phantom decided to read the comments to see what they would say. The first thing that she was:

(yes, this is a real comment XD)

And then it hit our little Phantom. Robert Englund was an Erik on this peculiar tale, but also obviously someone had to roast Gerald Butler too-

So, Phantom searched up the movie again, and in fact the Original Freddy Krueger was there! Now people would say "but it's the same actor playing two different characters!" Yes, I am aware, but OMG just look at unmasked 1989 phantom and try to tell me otherwise not to mention this phantom wears a wig because he is also bald.

Now, Phantom is aware both are characters played by the same actor, but since Englund is the OG Krueger, she cannot unsee this now and so will you. Not to mention this Erik is also an immortal being too (i...I guess.)

To end this tale, the movie is hard to find as Phantom have tried but not even Tubi wants this mess and YouTube will recommend you nightmare on elm street as a suggestion, so yes even YouTube agrees

Freddy Krueger is Erik Destler.

The end

(Take this as humor.)

How the hell did I even get the idea to make a crossover? (Surprisingly not a bonkers backstory, but there is no correlation into how the hell did the idea even happened) + Concept!!

Now, how the hell did my mind went "Phantom of the Opera x Nightmare on Elm street 1"? Surprisingly, this is actually a normal story but how I even got there is already weird. Basically, I texted my friend (who also loves POTO) to ask "did you know the OG Freddy was a phantom? and she went "That's interesting and yet Heather langenkamp does look like the OG Christine. So I wouldn't be surprised if the films are connected" (she said this in the sense of similarities of POTO. Not in a ship sense btw.)

So....what did Phantom did?

Make a damn crossover based on that comment because the idea of Erik from 1989 threatening Christine! Nancy via "Go to sleep, angel of music" could not leave their mind. This is all in the sense of a nonromantic story because "eww" and "Nancy in the first film is a teenager" as one would do.

So, now you guys are probably asking "Phantom, are you even ok?"

I'm probably insane at this rate, but let's get down to the rambling about this idea because I swear it's not as fucked up as it sounds like. It is a crazy idea, but I promise Freddy would not be precisely as closer to Erik Destler as a character, but rather more focused on...well himself.

You will see what I mean

How to summarize this bonkers idea?

Somewhat around in the mid 1900s, Frederick Krueger was an inspiring artist who wrote many operas, songs, but found himself wishing for a long-lasting legacy as people aren't fond of his gothic tales. In his desperation, he makes a deal with Satan himself for people to adore his music and for his legacy to remain forever under the curse that Freddy wouldn't die unless he founded a worthy successor to carry out his legacy so he would be remembered.

With this task, Freddy slowly falls into madness and desperation as he becomes a piano teacher at his studio but finds no one of his students worthy to carry out his legacy. So, after a group of teens attempted to steal one of his pieces, he begins a blood rampage as he believes neither of his students are worthy of listening to his songs.

Eventually the parents around Elm Street to get furious and are led by Marge and Donald Thompson to take justice in their hands, so Freddy and his studio is burned down as he swears revenge on their parents and taking away what they love the most. The parents make a pact to keep this a secret, and Marge Thompson starts to rely on drinking to help her cope with the guilt of committing murder, not to mention she also started drinking due to her messy divorce with Ronald (who has becoming protective of their daughter)

After a few years, Nancy Thompson is started to have recurring nightmares of a mysterious man chasing her with intents to murdering her as he claims she's the main actress of his newest Opera (which I don't have a name as for now, but it indeed is about her demise) After she wakes up, she realizes that the injuries in her dream has transferred into reality.

So, after some teenagers mysteriously died in the night. Nancy and her boyfriend Glenn along with their friends Tina and Rod, decide to investigate who is the mysterious Phantom that appears in their dreams and is trying to trap them in his Opera House of Horrors as they embody the main characters of his most recent play with Nancy playing the lead role (who intends to have the goriest death in his play)

What changes did I make into this au?

The biggest change is that the Phantom is NOT in love with Christine (Nancy) but rather knows she is the daughter of the duo that led to his murder, so he will want to give her the worst fate possible. I do think about implementing some aspects of what I read from the third movie by having Nancy having some control of her nightmares, which could lead to Freddy finally finding the Protégée he was trying to find for so long which would add to a dynamic of Freddy trying to convince Nancy to join him in exchange to protect what she loves the most but with the catch that she'll follow Freddy's footsteps. (Still, the only romance would be just between Nancy and Glenn as they are already an established couple)

The other change, is obviously Freddy Krueger's backstory, which is a merge within his original story and Erik's backstory of the 1989 film. I wanted to play with the whole Opera aspect of well...the phantom of the opera but also Freddy's nightmare nature from the original films. So Freddy's main and latest story is a reflection in his death as a human and how he intends to kill the legacy of those who claim it, which would explain why Nancy would be played as the main lead.

I did change Freddy's nature as he is more like an under dead creature that has a physical form in people's dreams and nightmares and can shake shift, but his form would reflect his burns he, and of course the opera house would be based on his abandoned studio.

Also Freddy Krueger's appearance will be based into Erik's appearance as I actually love to take on the Phantom's mask on this. I won't spoil a bit but it does add to the thriller aspects of the 1989 POTO film. You can search for the clip that contains his backstory, so you guys can see what his mask actually is. I will eventually reveal it later when I finish his sketches. Anyways, Freddy would hide his burns with his clothes and other ways 1989 Erik hides his appearance in the film

Would this be correlated to the Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise?

Most likely no. I am mostly familiarized with the original Nightmare on Elm Street 1, and this is precisely the only film in the crossover that I would be referencing too. I might do some small nods to the franchise as some small Easter eggs, but please keep in mind that this crossover will be treating both stories as a Stand-alone film as this version of Freddy is not the same as the Freddy from the franchise.

If you have questions, curiosities, or simply want to ask me "why, phantom, why?" Ask box is open for y'all.

I'll try to get the mutual's drawing by tomorrow and maybe the Phantom Krueger sketches too.

[sourestlemon]

So. I made a bet with my friend that I could get through Omegaverse Haikyuu fanfiction because he says I can’t so if I read https://archiveofourown.org/works/13330632/chapters/30514041 that I’m going to get free icecream and twenty bucks.

But still, Bokuaka! Bokuaka is beautiful, I should rant about it more actually

This is me talking about this fic as I read, so it’ll be updated until I finish

Note, I’ve finished and it’s very very long. You’ve been warned

There’s my review and meta at the end of this as well as some critiques

Spoilers ahead.

“The Jewel of Seijou”

THE WHAT NOW

IWAOIIII

Bokuaka is so fucking cute dear god.

Oh. It’s sinful now

Ushijima better stop throwing shade at my boi’s

“"I can't believe you all think that you can go against the crown and live!" Ushishima says silencing them all. The alpha was slowly emitting his pheromones wanting to show them all his superiority. No one said a word against him. "Toru! I didn't know you'll be as lowly to use your family name to gather us here!" The alpha seethed to the omega that could have been his wife. Iwazumi hackles raised and bared his lips at the beginning of a growl. "And you!" Ushijima turned to Bokuto full on emitting his pheromones making the rest of the alpha's shoulder hackle cautiously and Oikawa to cling at Iwazumi. But Bokuto meet Ushijima calmly, unfazed by the bloodlust while Akaashi was frozen to his spot but didn't show any emotion.”

So what we get out of this paragraph is

1) Bitchy Ushi. I love Ushijima don’t get me wrong he’s precious but like. This fic Ushijima? Son of a bitch walking up in here like “Toru! How dare you be so lowly—“ and fucking trying to dominate everyone.

2) Protective Iwaizumi. Protect the precious Seijou Jewel. Do it, fight for him, protect him he’s scared.

3) Is Ushijima salty because Oikawa didn’t choose him? Oh god, he is isn’t he.

4) Akaashi’s go to emotion isn’t emotion.

5) Shits about to go down, Bokuto is gonna flip eventually, if Ushi threatens anyone—it’d probably be Oikawa or Akaashi seeing as they’re omega’s—I can see Bokuto and Iwaizumi just flipping their shit.

God I’m way to invested. Why did I read this

USHIJIMA IS A COWARDLY LITTLE BITCH IN THIS FIC, STAB HIM HINATA

D O I T

Awww Kageyama cares, Tsukki cares

OH MY GOD TENDOU!

More people came surrounding them. "What the hell," Akaashi recognized Iwazumi's voice.

Iwaizumi’s reaction is the only respectable reaction.

Wait this has major character death in the tags

Fuck

Everyone has decided that Oikawa and Akaashi must be defended but just once I want them to flip their shit and kill someone. Just once.

Bokuto, Lev and Iwaizumi all want to protect Oikawa but Iwaizumi doesn’t even fucking trust em.

Why does everyone act like Nishinoya not wanting to move on so quickly is a bad thing? It’s perfectly reasonable and I hate how everyone is like “What’s wrong with you, do you not like us?” And getting super standoffish or snappish simply because Nishinoya loves Asahi so much and doesn’t want to feel like they didn’t need him.

I really don’t like how Nishinoya/Tanaka/Ennoshita became a thing in this fic. It would be cute if it didn’t just happen because Nishinoya was desperate and if he wasn’t he wouldn’t have fucked Tanaka.

Oh dear god I don’t want Kenma to die.

Oh thank god it’s okay.

Fuck I forgot they had boobs

Did Bokuto almost name the Kuroken baby Oya but changed last minute?

BO ISN’T COMING BACK IS HE?????????

I’m feelin a little sniffly. I might fucking cry over an Omegaverse fic. Oh how the mighty have fallen

Oh my god the stars. I don’t think Bo is coming back y’all. I’m so nervous

The fuckin royals aren’t getting Keiji. No. Nuh-uh FUCK THAT SHIT

THAT’S BOKUTO’S MATE STAY AWAY FROM HIM

-cue mac worrying about oikawa because seijou is allied with fukurodani and an easy way to tear seijou away from the alliance is to kidnap oikawa and iwaizumi might split to keep him safe and ushi fucking knows this and possibly tendou also oiks is pretty as fuck-

BOKUTO IS OKAY!

Iwaizumi making Bokuto promise to save Oikawa if things went to shit makes me so worried but the same time his lil speech made my IwaOi heart so happy.

Suga bby...

BOKUTO JUST KILLED A FUCKING CHILD

Tendou, Ushijima I never thought I’d say this but I fucking hate them right now. They better not hurt the other best Boi’s.

Ushijima is salty as fuck confirmed.

"You truly are a piece of art," Ushijima said gently ...."But not as beautiful as him," the alpha muttered as he threw the omega to the floor.

So, this little snippet sent disgusting shivers down my spine for two reasons.

1) Ushijima just yeeted Akaashi, my son and

2) Any reader knows who the ‘he’ Ushi is talking about is, the only person in this book who is said to be as beautiful as Akaashi. You guessed it, the boi who rejected Ushi-fucking-jima, Jewel of Seijou himself Oikawa Tooru.

The thing that grosses me out the most about this paragraph just on its own is that Ushijima is either guessing about what Oikawa looks like, or he actually knows which overall just gives me the heebie jeebies because Oikawa definitely didn’t want that. What makes my skin crawl in this little snippet is what Ushijima would do when if he got his angry little hands on Oikawa—or Iwaizumi, but Iwa would probably be killed or used as a bargaining chip.

Hmmmmm, I’m pretty sure Ushi is in love with Tendou but the beauty statement still stands possibly???? Unless specified otherwise, because Akaashi and Oikawa are canonically considered the most beautiful people in the fic.

Also this entire chapter just makes me feel so gross, fuck Ushijima man. Fuck him.

My Ushijima loving heart hurts reading this fic.

I just want Akaashi and Oikawa to straight up kill someone. Please, anyone who I don’t care about

I FUCKING SEE THE MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH WARNING AND I DON’T LIKE IT

FUCK

FUCK

FUCK

NOT BOKUTO

WAIT IS HE ALIVE

I WANNA SEE MY LITTLE BOY

HERE HE COMES

I WANT TO SEE MY LITTLE BOY

"I came right on time," Bokuto forced out his voice cracking with emotion. "Now I can engulf you in my arms and brighten your days despite the absence of the sun. You will no longer have to endure the cold winters alone. I'll be with you, I be there for you and our child," The alpha vowed his hands itching in need.

"Are you going to leave us again?" Akaashi needed to know. The omega already knew that he wouldn't be able to survive being apart from the alpha. He knew that he wouldn't win the battle with the overwhelming loneliness.

"The seas could dry up, the mountains could turn to pebbles, the trees could die and the whole world could be on fire and I still won't leave your side."

That was all Akashi needed to hear as he leaped into his alphas arm and let go of all the pain he has held in

I’m not crying I swear

They walked together side by side and Akaashi finally faced them. They were both beaten, bloody, and torn butinstead of feeling satisfaction he felt remorse. They both looked at him with soft, wide eyes, and he realized that this was the moment they were waiting for. They wanted to see the child that they both desperately wanted and Akaashi decided to give them a parting gift.

Akaashi had won, he had won from the very beginning and he held his trophy who was a small babe with golden orbs, with mutant white and black hair. He hadn't lied to Tendou when he had said that the baby looked exactly like his father.

OH MY FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOD I’M SOBBING DON’T TOUCH ME

Meta and Review

So I just read A/B/O for the first time and I knew absolutely nothing about the entire trope that Mpreg existed and to stay the hell away from it. Please remember this in the meta and tell me if there way of dividing characters is ever specified or if it’s just decided by top-bottom dynamics.

Wow.

The story was pretty good outside of what I’m about to talk about. I liked the ships and most of the buildup, the worldbuilding seems solid, the war and UshiTens situation was really interesting to me and it made Ushi and Tendou a bit morally gray and could’ve talked about how people could do bad things for what they thought were the right reason and everything was clean cut.

Overall? Eh. Could’ve been done better

Not onto the rest

This doesn’t seem as toxic or inherently bad as most fics I’ve seen, I didn’t really like how Omega’s are always inherently feminine—the dresses, jewels, how they’re seen as inherently weaker and sometimes helpless, how they’re always referred to as “my lady”—and aren’t really given another choice because they might have the ability to reproduce in A/B/O but they aren’t women. It’s okay if a man is really feminine but for all of them to be? It rubbed my the wrong way.

I wish that the power structure was handled different in A/B/O in general. Omega’s seem to be treated like they’re helpless and I just...don’t like it? Omega’s might be submissive but that doesn’t make them physically weaker and if it did, I would’ve thought they would have picked up some other useful skills like diplomacy or strategy.

As usually, my example of how a character could’ve been handled better is Oikawa.

He’s my favorite character and I adored him but he just didn’t really deliver. It felt like he was being treated like a kid throughout this entire fic, it didn’t seem like he was doing anything during the war. Even if Omega’s don’t have a lot of physically prowess and abilities, what happened to Oikawa’s strategic and analytical nature? Why was it never mentioned in any of Bokuto’s POV sections because out all the leaders of the Allied Kingdoms, Oikawa is the best strategist—Kuroo is the exception, not the rule and I thought they should’ve been working together because smort boys—but he was simply hidden away.

Now I have no problems with all the protective IwaOi scenes when they’re in immediate danger—it makes perfect sense if Omega’s are physically weaker but have other usable talents that are taken seriously—and Oikawa simply can’t talk his way out of said problem.

I do however, have a problem with cowering Oikawa. That feels so OOC at the beginning of the first scene I cited, where is all of the quick wit and worthless pride from the show? Now, it makes sense for Oikawa to start getting scared and simply slip behind Iwaizumi once Ushijima tries to dominate everyone and all the Alphas start freaking out if Oikawa is at an actual, physical disadvantage—I feel like the alpha’s their have similar frames, or at least most of them do. Bokuto, Ushijima, Kuroo and Iwaizumi are jacked and beefy, everyone but Iwa is relatively tall too. Now, Oikawa’s tall too but he’s much thinner and leaner. I’d be scared too if everyone could break me like a twig if it came down to it—but no ??? Apparently at the first sign of any conflict he just gets scared??? He doesn’t know what’s going on in his own fucking kingdom ???

This is not Oikawa.

I didn’t like how they treated most of the Omega’s actually, it felt like they were just reverted to helpless damsels in distress. What happened to Kenma’s observation skills? Nishinoya’s everything?

More importantly, what decides Alpha’s and Omega’s? Is it up in the air like gender is? What are Beta’s then? It can’t just be who’s top and who’s bottom, that would mean the alpha-beta-omega- status wouldn’t be decided until you had a mate

From what I’ve seen in the fic, it goes by ship dynamics but what if the characters who had more strategic, cunning, observant traits and weren’t as buff and muscly would be Omega’s and had the brain power while characters who relied more on physical prowess would be Alpha’s and dominant in a purely physical way sometimes while characters who were an odd combination of the two would be Beta’s.

Going by my logic, instead of the top being the alpha and the bottom just being an omega without any personality it would be...

Bokuto- Alpha, like he was in the story. He’s definitely more physically inclined then Akaashi.

Akaashi: Omega, same as in the fic. Not to say he isn’t athletic but he relies more on his mind.

Iwaizumi- Alpha, like in the fic but from a purely physical standpoint and because he can rein Oikawa in when his friend starts going nuts.

Oikawa - Beta, he’s quite powerful but he’s also manipulative, strategic and his mind is scary as fuck.

Kuroo- Beta, he relies on his physical prowess and dorkily perfect brain a lot so he’s also a mixture of both.

Kenma- Omega, physically he’s a twig but his mind is what makes him the brain of Nekoma

Hinata- Alpha, he doesn’t use his brain a lot and has a lot of physical power

Kageyama - Beta, he’s pretty smart when it comes to volleyball and he’s also physically strong

Suga - Omega, he’s quite clever and his brain power out ways his physical prowess by a landslide

Daichi- Beta, he firms strategies and relies on his brain, plus his killer thighs

Tsukishima - Beta, he has his hue fur and athleticism but his brain power is also strong as fuck

Yamaguchi - Beta, he seems to be really people smart and eventually his serves are pretty good.

Can Betas get into a relationship with other Betas? I don’t know or care, we stan Alpha-Alpha, Beta-Beta and Omega-Omega ships here

I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS HOW IT WORKS THO

do I have to read more