#I'm focusing on the good because I got some solid writing done

[guqin-and-flute]

OKAY--I wrote ~2,000 words of happy(ish) A-Fu and probably ~2,000 words of super-angsty JGY birthday fic. A little bummed because I was really really aiming to try to get something out tonight, but if all goes well, I should hopefully (🤞🤞🤞) have something out by tomorrow night!

[acis-arts]

Hello everyoneee, I got super busy recently, but I was still able to do some art and writing in the meantime! Here's all my Cult Leader Designs as well as mentions of the AUs I have!!

Some of these will probably change over time, if I feel like it. I just wanna info dump on my AUs and I also think it's good to post how they currently look instead of waiting for too long.

Down below is the info dump on my AUs:

(Before you start reading: "Kali" is the name of my Lamb)

Lost Crowns AU (/Forgotten Lands of the Old Faith):

This AU was called "Forgotten Lands of the Old Faith" at first, but I refer to it as "Lost Crowns AU" mostly because that name fits too and is shorter.

This is my main AU! In it, the entire story of the game is pretty much unchanged, this AU focuses more on what happens after the events in the game. I haven't finished the game yet and I'm assuming after getting all Bishops, the game is pretty much done. (update because I wrote these notes some days ago: I got Shamura in my cult today so I finished the main story at last)

"A few days after freeing all the Bishops, Kali wakes up and something is missing. The Red Crown is gone, all Crowns are gone. They run to find Narinder and the Bishops, but none of them are behind it. Together, all 6 of them try to confront the Mystic Seller next, but upon arriving at the gate they were always situated in, they find nothing."

The Mystic Seller left the Lands of the Old Faith for good and took everything supernatural with them. I haven't thought about a solid reason for that yet, because my main idea behind this is that Kali and the others are now forced to live without all their supernatural powers. They can't perform Rituals, they can't resurrect, they can't summon weapons and none of the Follower necklaces work anymore. The only thing that was left is the immortality of Kali, Narinder and the Bishops. They won't age but the risk of dying permanently is there.

I have no idea if I want to keep this idea or if I want to scrap this, but I also thought about Kali finding a gateway into the lands of the Gods and together with Narinder, they try to find the Mystic Seller to get answers. The reason Narinder comes along is because he's more familiar with that place and Kali would need someone like that. The second reason obviously being that I want to pair them up and have them develop their relationship over this adventure (with a proposal at the end of it perhaps). Third reason: it's fun to have the Bishops take care of the Cult without Kali and Narinder around.

I have so much more stuff for this AU, but this is already so much text. Let's hope I get to post more in the future!

Swap AU:

This is pretty self explanatory and the majority of what I posted on here so far. As a short summary: Narinder is now the Last Cat remaining, becoming the Vessel of Kali as The One Who Waits

No Mercy AU:

This is based on the second save file I have in COTL, on which I'm trying to do an "evil route". In this AU, Kali isn't kind and optimistic, instead becoming a callous, cruel cult leader after receiving the Red Crown. Up until that moment, they were at the bottom of the food chain and upon receiving the power of a God, they were finally the one in control for the first time in their life. They decided to never let go of the Crown and their Powers.

Orange Crown AU:

This AU is pretty much just my close circle and me inserted into Cult of the Lamb. So far my partner and me are inserted as NariLamb and my brother is the Mystic Seller because he looks like them. This one is probably uninteresting to most of you, as you don't know any of us. I won't be posting that much about this and keep it private mostly, but maybe some of you are still interested in the art, so let's see.

As always, Thank you so much for reading up until this point!! I hope you all had a good week!

[exhausted-archivist]

Early Game First Impressions

I have some thoughts and critiques about it from at least an early point.

So far, being 28 hours in (and I just got my 4th companion so the time I've been in the game isn't really indicative of my plot progress) I have some general thoughts. None of them are spoilers, but to be safe, I will keep them below the cut.

Please note, these are my first impressions. I'm doing a mostly blind playthrough and I'm mostly sharing to start a dialogue but also document my feelings. Please be respectful of that and others who may comment. Also my comments on armor/clothing is going to be a whole seperate kit and kaboodle.

My main focuses based on priority to me:

Combat

Flashing accessibility issues

The Bloom effect

Character creator

Photomode

Writing (General)

Dialogue and Banter

Maps and Quest Guidance

Food Lore

Combat, Accessibility, and Bloom Render

So far my biggest complaint is related to the combat. In terms of general enjoyment, this is one of the most enjoyable combat systems in the series for me. The flow is nice, I like the UI, overall a solid 7/10 for me. Except for one thing: I hate button mashing, I cannot handle it for too long, it is a large part of the reason I've never played through dao again. I found that da2 and dai really found a nice middle ground with it. But with datv, the issues are that if I press and hold, it will charge attacks and not continuously fire them off like in the previous two games.

I also don't like how frequently my companions bark at me in combat. Lucanis yelling "Move Rook!" while I'm stuck in a corner or something has thrown off my timing and is also just kinda annoying at times. Something I also don't like when I'm trying to explore but more on that later.

Additionally, I find the rebinding of keys is way too restrictive. It is hard to find a calibration that works, it doesn't solve the button mashing, and it isn't any better for mouse and keyboard. The fact that (at least last time I tried) I couldn't rebind the keys from ASWD to the arrow keys is a huge miss to me. So, while I find combat engaging and fun with a nice flow, button mashing and the key rebinding for combat are a big con. Particularly from an accessibility standpoint.

Speaking of accessibility, while the accessibility for the game is robust (but for some features an okay attempt for a first attempt) not being able to adjust the flashing rendering is the second biggest. That is a major accessibility thing and one of the bare minimum features I've come to expect in most games. Now while at present it hasn't been too bad for me since the prologue, I do not know if it will be an issue again later on. The flashing paired with the way the bloom renders, makes the game very migraine triggering if I'm not careful.

So on the note of the bloom, it is another big con for me because it messes with my eyes. While I can remove it in photomode and see what it looks like without it, I think it could have done with less bloom and still looked good. I do like how it has an almost Dishonored texture rendering to the people. I am curious if they pushed it a little harder if it would be more interesting visually and make the bloom more effective. Not only that, but I see the vision, I appreciate it, but not really friendly to me. Which is okay, to be clear. This is one of those things where the vision is great, the execution might not be universally loved, but it is good. Sort of like Arcane (though not to that level), I will never be able to watch it because of the flashing. But I know it is still an amazing show.

Character Creator

Now, in terms of the character creator I think they could have pushed things more. I'm over all very impressed and I love what they did, the variety and extremes you can push are amazing. From a technical standpoint it is gorgeous, and I overall rate it 8/10.

On a minor point, I do wish we could adjust eye size/shape independently of the head morph as well as change the mouth shape. I also wish there were more extreme limits to the body morph. While there is an okay range for what we have, I do wish I could make a heavier set character than I have, whether they're more muscular defined (think Bull and his almost barrel chested build) or someone who is just heavy. But I also wish I could make someone who looked like Isabela in da2 proportionately. I do get some of the criticism that cropped up, though I think the way most of it was presented/worded was exaggerated because the bust and glute sizes weren't "hollywood" style.

But my biggest issue with the cc is there is not any true dark skin tones. They do not go dark enough, they get close, but I couldn't make anyone who looks like several of my family members or oc skin tones I have. This is a major con for me, because they were heading in the right direction and then fell disappointingly short. I think it likely has to do with lighting, to which I seriously think they need to work on learning to how to light darker skins. I think they also need to learn how to make and layer darker skins. They have the basics down, now they need to push it further.

I also have to speak towards the fact that it seems with the bloom rendering and this art style, they did not push things hard enough to allow us to play older characters in appearance. And because all non-important npcs are made with the same cc as rook, we are pushed to having a very small visual age range for the game. Wrinkles do not appear well or strong, and it is disappointing to say the least. It has always been a weak point in Dragon Age.

Connected to these two points, but on a much more minor note, I think having complexion cover skin texture, freckles, dark circles, birthmarks, and acne was too much. They should have had 2-3 selectors for that - and this might be a rendering, technology issue. But not being able to be freckled and wrinkled or have dark circles, falls short, and it especially impacts being able to create an older Inquisitor. This also touches on the imbalance of which they aged femme presenting characters vs masc presenting characters, but that is another post.

Moving onto the last point I have thoughts on, is the hair. While they definitely improved in the hair options, they still lean heavily one way or the other. Especially with the offset of non-qunari getting 88 hairstyles and qunari getting 33. While we no longer have 50 shades of bald, and they heard our thoughts on hair and horns being connected for qunari, the large gap between the two categories is unfair. Especially given the fewer textured options for qunari and the even fewer length variations. It also looks like some were removed from what we saw during marketing. I've also seen the call for bangs, while they aren't something I usually desire I do agree the few bang choices are a notable.

Photomode

I'm going to be blunt with this one as it is the most cosmetic of them all, I feel like there could have been more options. I love we got it, but it's pretty bare bones comparatively with others we get.

I think looking at Horizon (Zero Dawn and Forbidden West) would be a good reference for a strong photomode. CP77 if they went further. Being able to add different effects/filters or even remove some depending on where you're photomoding would go miles. Being able to remove dead enemies (that you didn't kill) would also be nice. But I think the biggest thing is the limited range that the camera can be from Rook. It likely has to do with rendering range, but I think they could have pushed it more. That's all. I've been living in photomode though, using it near constantly to be honest. Just a qol thing.

The Writing: General, Dialogue, and Banter

Off the bat, I find the writing of this game to be the most Dragon Age between Inquisition and The Veilguard. The series has always been campy and quipy. It is the same semi-serious stuff I've expected from BioWare. I do think they have improved in some areas, stayed the same in others, and got weaker in some.

One of the things I think BioWare, especially the da team, has always struggled with is hitting the sweet spot that doesn't isolate new players but also doesn't aggravate lore nerds or long time players. DA2 I think is probably the best of the series at that. But with datv, I find points of aggravation with the wording, just like I did with Inquisition when I went to replay it after having started the series from The Stolen Throne and playing all the way through to Inquisition again. I cannot decide if they have gotten better or what, however I do think the glossary is an excellent addition. Even if I argue with some of them haha.

A clear point of improvement for me so far is the line summaries. I find they are better than dai, though there are some misses.

In terms of banter, I think I'm starting to see what people have been talking about in terms of its substance. However, I don't think it is unique to datv. Rarely has banter effected anything outside that moment, especially for da2-dai. I've only played dao once so I don't know if they tied banter into main story more or not. For me, banter not having substantial effect outside the moment isn't surprising, and I don't know if that is something I was hoping would change or not. This one I think might change as I play.

I also get what people are saying about the banter erring on the side of toothless, but I only see that in like comparison to da2 where companions were brutal with each other. I would say it is the same level/as close to dai. But I'm still early and don't have all the companions. So another thing that might change when I play further.

Maps and Quest Guidance

They did a really good at fixing the dai overcorrection of maps from da2. They're compact, relatively easy to navigate, and so far a distinct lack of bears!

Though while they pulled back on one overcorrection I feel in turn that they overcorrected on the guidance/party direction banter in response to the loud feedback of dai not having enough guidance. This touches back on the companions yelling at me while I'm exploring, or the persistent markers and pop ups. While turning off some of the UI/setting elements greatly helped, and I have heard that it gets less demanding further in, it is a con for me.

Delving into maps though, as someone who is fixated on maps I have thoughts and feelings over the area maps as well as the map texutures the display as setting design. So far, I'm dissappointedwith the set design ones. I haven't seen any new ones, they reuse the map released with the Tevinter Nights and then the first Thedas map they've used since dao. Now those aren't inherently negative, but I like maps and I was hoping for more, especially at the beginning.

Food Lore

Okay, I know this is last and I said I listed these in like priority, but this one was a HUGE point for me and I wanted to end on a positive note. The food lore so far is rich, it is clearly done with some thought, there are more varieties, and I am thrilled with what I've seen. It is rich, indepth, they've added a lot more than I thought they would. So far, the location I've found to have the most rich lore is Treviso. With a nutrition specialist and Julia, the fruit merchant who's husband is allergic to alubia carilla (black eyed peas). It is something so small comparitively that makes the world so rich. I've been compiling and collecting, and I have been flooded with people sending me screencaps and dialogue snippets (without spoiling anything) and I am so overjoyed and appreciative.

[irisbleufic]

@eidetictelekinetic, I'd like to follow up on something we keep discussing in comment threads to my Devil's Minion stories, because I've found the paper trail in my archives. There's indeed something I wrote as an undergraduate ca. 2005 that I had forgotten about that underpins a common theme (namely: Daniel and Armand wondering what might've happened if they'd met when they were young in Armand's time and place, when he was still mortal) periodically haunting the dialogue across my various unconnected stories. I'm somewhat in disbelief that I can prove this exists, and I needed a spark of joy like this in an otherwise bleak, snowed-out week.

This is a ghost story in that the work I'm discussing here was written under my deadname, but I don't tend to shy from people knowing it. Still, it's times like this when pieces resurface that I realize I block facets of my former self so thoroughly at times that I do my writing history a disservice. This felt like knocking down a wall, and I'm really startled at what's sitting covered in dust on the other side. Mindfuck your characters long enough and you might even mindfuck yourself.

In the spring of my senior year at Wellesley, I took a poetry seminar with Frank Bidart. He didn't like my work much, which was a source of amusement to me; if somebody doesn't like my writing, I just dig in and crank up the annoyance factor by being even more myself. The number of professors and editors that I've gone out of my way to irritate in my higher ed and writing careers is vaguely embarrassing at this point, but that's another story for another time.

At the same time as I was in this poetry seminar, I had also overloaded my schedule with Medieval literature seminars. I'd done that for about four consecutive semesters, actually. The Early Modern and Medieval course offerings at Wellesley, at least at that time, were so numerous that you really could do about two years solid of nothing but that type of coursework. I was fluent in French at the time, so I was able to pull some unhinged shit like reading La Chanson de Roland in Anglo-Norman with minimal dictionary assistance while reading it in English in one of the courses, and then I started haunting the used bookstores in Harvard Square and digging up volumes of lesser known Anglo-Norman ballads and fragments, and there was this one book that focused on early surviving trobairitz poetry, songs by women from that period. There was one fragment that really, really haunted me. I don't know if I still have the book, that's the one piece in the documentation chain I'm still hunting down, but I have my translation of that fragment because I found the poem I wrote around my translation. That poem got published twice after I graduated; that publication history is neat in its own right.

So, the poem I wrote for the seminar is really the thing I want to talk about here. I had this short 10th-11th century trobairitz ballad fragment that I translated out of Anglo-Norman, and I was very excited about it, because it was very gay. I thought, hmmm, I'll write a narrative poem about a couple of nobodies set in that time period. Who are my nobodies? I'm picturing teenagers, just a couple of boys. They can't be more than sixteen or seventeen. Where are they? I'm also taking a class on crusader states at this point in time, and I'm extremely interested in various cultural migrations in and out of Italy and Spain (the good, the bad, and the ugly). So I just go, okay, I'll have them fleeing a noble household in Italy, heading for Spain. My head's entrenched in those places thanks to a history class; it gives me something to hang onto as geographical starting and endpoints. Why are they running away? Kid attached to the noble household has fallen in love with a stonemason's apprentice from somewhere a lot further abroad; they don't speak the same language, but since when has that stopped people from falling in love? Stonemason's apprentice wants to save the kid in a bad situation in the noble household, get him out of there. Yeah, let's do that. And I'll cover just the journey, not what happens before they leave or after. And I'll show what they run into along the way, and they'll hear someone perform that piece of the song, and one of them is able to translate it for the other as they gradually learn enough pieces of common languages to communicate with each other.

This poem was never going to be long; the poems in our portfolios for this class couldn't be long. The concept work behind it was much longer than the poem itself, as was the work I put into the fragment translation. This kind of storytelling in lieu of confessional poetry was going to annoy my professor. I knew exactly what I was doing with all of this: satisfying a storytelling itch, letting myself practice translation, being the inveterate fandom writer I already was by that point, just being generally obnoxious in my early 20s. It's a living.

I wrote the poem. It got workshopped in class; classmates loved it, Frank made faces and was barely polite about it. The written feedback in it on my final portfolio called it "pseudo-medieval pastiche," and I was so happy I could've framed that shit. I put the poem away for a few years and didn't think about it. I moved to the UK and started an MA program in Medieval Studies. My poems started getting published in SF/F/Spec publications. In 2009, I learned about a call for poems for a 10th anniversary special issue of a magazine called Mythic Delirium, and something about the themed call made me remember my pain-in-the-ass, labor-of-love portfolio poem, which was called "Journeying." I submitted it.

"Journeying" was published in Mythic Delirium Issue #20, which, (in)famously, also first featured a poem by the now-disgraced Neil Gaiman called "Conjunctions." If I'm honest, it's bizarre to have that as a major point of memory in this poem's first printing. Here's how "Journeying" looks in that issue of the magazine:

The italicized portion at the end is my translation of the trobairitz ballad. It's all that survives of one particular song that happened to be written down. It always amazes me that so few lines can express so much longing across so many centuries.

Flash forward a few more years to when I learn about Erzebet YellowBoy's brilliant Papaveria Press hand-stitched limited artbook editions of poems. One of my oldest friends, Paige (@dreambreathing) and I decide to collaborate as we've done so many times before: they did a set of two watercolor illustrations for the poem conceived as a fold-out frontispiece and backplate, and we pitched it as an artbook. Papaveria said yes. In 2012, "Journeying" was released as an edition of 18 of these little books:

You never see the boys on the road or under the tree overlooking those ruins (those ruins, those fucking ruins, I forgot) until you pan in. Don't get distracted. Look closer. Imagine me, @eidetictelekinetic, getting more and more spooked every time we talk about this recurring thing in the dialogue I'm writing across stories. Why am I doing this? Why is it familiar? And by the time we get to "Guard Your Heart," why do I have the feeling it's hit peak hilarity by the time Daniel's looking at those Talamasca photographs?

This is an awfully long punch line, but it's here. I wrote it, some version of it, some version of them, in another life. And for me it was another life, too, a life with the name of a girl I now barely recognize. Who is Adrienne? I know that Adrienne wrote this poem, but I no longer know her as well as I would like. However, I do know that she gave up almost everything she had to give me what I have now, and I'm the writer that I am because of her. I carry these characters with me because of her; she's the one who first read them.

(Also, here's another shout-out to @dreambreathing not just for being one of my best friends through all of this and one of the most talented artists I've ever known, but also for being the namesake of my current biggest troublemaker in Caldera. Love you, Paige.)

[wimbledon2008]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

@semperama also sent me this ask! thanks for the opportunity to promote myself guys 😘

Have We Met Before? (Tennis RPF, Roger/Rafa)

what can i say, the old man tennis yaoi fucked me up. i had so many ideas i wanted to incorporate into this fic and it all came together kind of exactly how i wanted it to. i love angst and this is probably the saddest fic i've ever written, but the tone was solid and made the love confession hit just as hard as i hoped it would. i always wanted to write an amnesia au, and the trope ended up being perfect for fedal. i've read this one back a lot and every time i'm like damn, i wrote this?? during the busiest months at my job??? who knew she had it in her

Buck Diaz and the Missing Kiss (9-1-1, Buck/Eddie)

maybe not my "best" or most serious work but man, i had a lot of fun with this one. buck's pov is so much more enjoyable to write than eddie's, which is what my other 9-1-1 fics are. i'm a slow writer and typically can't stand a fic by the time i'm done with it, but i had to write this one in a hurry and it turned out even better than i thought i was capable of in such a limited amount of time, so i'm proud of that. it's also got some good jokes and i love playing with all the domestic details that make a slice of life fic feel warm and lived-in <3

Occam's Razor (Tenet, Neil/The Protagonist)

since the protagonist doesn't have a name i decided to write this one in second person, which was a fun challenge. i also thought my solution to nolan's little time loop crucible was clever, if not entirely compatible with the script. i like how sparse this one is, and it's more character-focused than plot- or romance-heavy when compared to most of my other works, so it feels fresh and different

Ten of Cups (Captive Prince, Damen/Laurent)

honestly i'm really proud of all my captive prince fics, but this is the first one i wrote and i still love it. i've always connected with c.s. pacat's writing style and i feel like i'm able to replicate it decently in fic. i've also spent so much time with the source material that damen and laurent's voices and personalities come very easily to me, which makes capri fic a lot of fun to write. all i ever wanted was for someone to give laurent a hug, and i was so glad i was able to give him one here <3

These Three Worn Words (Figure Skating RPF, Tessa/Scott)

this might be cheating because it's technically a collection of standalone works all under one banner but every single one of them slaps tbh. tessa and scott's wicked chemistry and beautiful lifelong heterosexual love was such a rich vein of inspiration that i managed to churn out more fics for them than i have for any other pairing before or since. for whatever reason they were very easy for me to write, and it was great fun putting them in all these different scenarios. i still think about some of the turns of phrase i came up with in these fics. like bitch, who was she? anyway, rpf forever!!!

[felonytaxevasion]

Glad you enjoyed pact!

I'd love to know your thoughts on the magic system and diabolism in general, also what did you think of Black Lambs Blood?

Also if you actually want wildbow long windedness in his supernatural setting, then I can say thats Pale's biggest weakness, so if you are okay with that I can heartily recommend it

Diablerism/Black Lambs Blood was my favorite part of the Pact magic system by a long shot actually. I wouldn't say there were any parts of the magic that I didn't like or enjoy to some extent but the best part of Pact for me was the character work and I feel like diablerie was the most realized supporting metaphor for the relationships between those characters.

For example, and I promise arent critiques so much as comparisons to illustrate just how good the diablerie is, the DuChamps enchantress magic system is pretty solid. They manipulate connections and in the process the connections within the family lose the authenticity within their relationships with each other and only end up being connected through magic and false promises. Pretty well realized metaphor for how focusing on a family's position rather than the family unit itself will weaken the unit to disrepair. Mara for all of the side eye worthy racial politics of her character, also has a fairly realized metaphor about family dynamics. The parent draining the life of the child to prolong her own youth only to ultimately fail to realize any new goals as youth was never a requirement necessary for change in the first place.

I will say where pact starts to lose me is the other Jacobs Bell Powers. Mags works to an extent. The representation of how violent trauma affects a person who then carries that violence forward and inflicts it on others. My main critique with that is that Pact is such a family focused story I wish we got to see more of Mags and her dads and how the metaphorical violent trauma separated her from her family. Padraic being the one to sever the connection rather than Maggie's specific individual practice hobbled the thematic resonance of goblins for me, personally. I also won't lie, I'm fairly confident that there IS a strong metaphor within the Behaims chronomancy. However, said metaphor went completely over my head. Chronomancy was a super cool magic and I loved reading about it and the Behaim family dynamic was also interesting, but since I couldn't see the correlation between the two it weakened both elements impact on me as a reader.

So with all that said. On the other hand: Diablerie. Honestly incredible work in terms of landing a metaphor. There's a lot with passing on karmic burden as the cycle of abuse that's great. What really hits for me though is the idea of Permanent Damage. Society really supports the idea of family as the strongest most unbreakable bond in the world. So writing a family then explicitly filling it with the power of completely unfixable never able to be undone damage is really good. Pact doesn't play around with the idea that the Thorburns could ever completely fix their family to have a normal or entirely healthy relationship ever again. Rose Sr broke them in a way that can't be fixed. There's no amount of family therapy or Wanting to be a family that can undo what's been done.

I think part of the reason Black Lambs Blood is such a good side story about diablerie is because it also centers a family unit and how a demon can destroy it.

What I really love about dark urban fantasy compared to standard fantasy is that there's no escapism present. Like I love escapism but I love magic as a storytelling tool to tell human stories about inhuman characters. Which is very much the core of pact and why it works for me.

In terms of Pale though. Eeehhhh? I'm going back and forth on it because like you brought up, length in and of itself is not something that bothers me. However, how that length is used IS pretty critical. Worm and Pact both like to put the protagonist in an unwinnable situation where Taylor/Blake try several strategies that fail before either finding the solution or suffering a great loss. I think this style can bother people because the failures, especially in large numbers, aren't necessarily adding new character development or plot elements to the narrative and they would much rather just skip to the loss/solution. But personally I love when things get drawn out in this way because it helps hammer home the emotional feeling of victory or tragedy. The reason I'm apprehensive about Pale though is that I do not think that Ward used it's length well and that's when I started to get bored. Victoria would have very long fight sequences where she wouldn't need to find new creative solutions so much as continue through waves and waves of goons before she could reach the final boss and either win using the same strategy she did in the beginning, or lose using the same strategy. And like the things I like about Worm and Pact this definitely CAN work for people, it makes her victories via punching very hard feel earned. For me though it just felt like a slog and I've heard from some friends that Pale can fall in to this category in its latter half as well. Also frankly, the idea of pulling the magic outside of a family narrative and into a Magic School sounds like the least interesting possible choice to me. So while I'm sure it's more interesting than I'm imagining it is a steep barrier to entry for me.

[cerise-grenadine]

Hello!

For the Snapedom AU Ask game, can I get your answers to 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, and 26?

1.) Do you have a name and/or a tag and/or a master post for your AU (so I can peruse your blog and admire your creativity)?

2.) What is the premise of your AU (one sentence summary, tropes, your big “What-if” question, etc.!)?

5.) What are the major divergence points in your AU?

6.) Is there any part of the canon narrative you really like to build off of or interrogate with your AU?

9.) How and why does your AU!Snape differ from the canon!Snape?

26.) Does Severus have any major interests (mycology, astronomy, sci-fi, baking elaborate puff pastries, art forgery, etc.) in your AU that we never got to see canon!Snape indulge in?  Do these interests play a major narrative role?

i'm sorry, if you ask me about my AU, i will infodump 😔🙏🏻

1.) Do you have a name and/or a tag and/or a master post for your AU (so I can peruse your blog and admire your creativity)?

Yes! SlythenclawAU!Snape. it's quite meh but i never really took the time to think of one.

2.) What is the premise of your AU (one sentence summary, tropes, your big “What-if” question, etc.!)?

A long time ago there was a teenager in boarding school who got tired of waiting for the 5th Harry Potter book and decided to make a Snape-centered sequel herself (it's not particularly focused on anything but the ✨ fluffy romance 💖).

5.) What are the major divergence points in your AU?

Honestly, it’s easier to point out the parts in common 😅 It’s only canon-compliant up to Goblet of Fire (with some parts of OOTP included now), meaning Severus was pretty much a blank canvas. We knew he was a smart skinny bastard who disliked the Marauders and was about to resume his job as a DE spy, that was it. As a result, his background is completey different. He has a different family, a different childhood (still terrible), different motivations, different traumas, and Lily was never even a thing.

6.) Is there any part of the canon narrative you really like to build off of or interrogate with your AU?

Not so much one part in particular, but there are themes I like to think about (I won’t say write, I haven’t written a thing in years). Everything that has to do with guilt and forgiveness is interesting to explore with Severus, because he’s both a victim and a culprit: how to forgive, should one forgive, how to make amends, isn’t asking for forgiveness selfish and placing the weight of the pardon on the victim, how to live with guilt when some things can’t be forgiven... In the same vein I like to explore his guilt towards Lucius, who is a genuine friend and a genuine Death Eater; he feels guilty for betraying his friend, and feels guilty for still considering the man a friend.

9.) How and why does your AU!Snape differ from the canon!Snape?

I think the major difference (apart from no Lily) is that he’s more adjusted as an adult. It’s not necessarily visible to the Hogwarts staff or students 😬 the teeth incident or his breakdown at the end of POA are still a thing and the British wizarding world really brings out the worst in him. But he actually has a solid support network in the form of siblings and adoptive parents he met when he was 21. They live abroad and he keeps them secret to avoid DE retaliation so they don’t meet often, but still they are very supportive and it has helped him a lot sorting things out during his late twenties/early thirties. Having this one anchor, being loved and loving them back, has really done him a lot of good and he strives to better himself (at least in private). By the time his love interest appears, some things have healed enough that it’s not her job to fix him, she merely becomes yet another support to help deal with the rest (and the first one in the Brit WW). Don’t worry, he still has nightmares, and tons of guilt, and petty tantrums, but overall he’s in a better place than canon!Snape and has hope for the future. Also I don’t usually include Occlumency/Legilimency. Ho and he’s very French (sorry not sorry)

26.) Does Severus have any major interests (mycology, astronomy, sci-fi, baking elaborate puff pastries, art forgery, etc.) in your AU that we never got to see canon!Snape indulge in?  Do these interests play a major narrative role?

Yes! he’s a huge nerd (the kind who solves equations for fun when he can’t sleep), so he likes to study a lot of things.

Apart from normal magic things, he’s very knowledgeable about human anatomy and medecine, it makes him a better brewer and practitioner of healing magic (also his brother studied Muggle medecine for a while + his brother’s adoptive father was a heart surgeon). He is also an exellent cook (who doesn't eat much), because what’s the difference between Wolfsbane and mayonnaise, you just put stuff in a big saucepan and stirr dutifully it’s the same thing really.

Both those skills are pretty much background stuff; but there is one big hobby that is very important in his life, for several reasons: playing the piano 🙌🏻✨

He is very attached to it because his mother taught him (and she died young) and it’s his one pastime and antidepressant. He will focus on fast-paced pieces when his anxieties keep him awake, will hammer away his anger when he’s had a row with someone... it helps him calm down and clear his mind, and sometimes he will learn complicated parts just for the fun of it simply because he enjoys himself. He is a selfish pianist however. Music is very private to him, he is not a performer and will only do it sometimes for very close people he loves. He owns two pianos, his mother's grand piano at home (which has been through some stuff and is his most prized possession), and a baby grand at Hogwarts gifted by his siblings when he started teaching (it was needed for his mental health and the not-murdering of students). He’s learned how to tune his piano the Muggle way (the only true way, it sounds better, and yes of course he’s pedantic about it) and can talk about the links between mathematics and music for hours. Also +30 years of piano training have given him an acute sense of rhythm and very precise motricity skills that are highly valuable in potions work.

His lover being a musician herself (of the performer kind), music is very important in their relationship and has been central in their getting together. In fact, she first kissed him as they were playing together, so his sister jokes he would never have gotten laid if not for the piano she gifted him (she’s right)(his entourage also jokes sometimes about the kind of fingering skills a pianist with decades of experience has)(he hates it)(because he’s a giant prude)(they’re also right)

[ravenstargames]

✦ Lost in Limbo Devlog #3 | 03.31.23

Almost April already, huh? Time does really fly when you are busy. If February promised to be a stressful month for me and the team, March has been hell let loose. Our second trimester has ended as of today and our plan of action is to do as many things as we can during April, as we will hopefully have less workload from our master.

Without further ado—let's see what we managed to do this month!

Fixing sprites has still been one of our priorities. Truth is our master is doing a good job at teaching us how to do things better, and the eyes that once did those sprites are not the same watching them now. One of our bigger struggles is the lack of personal—we are literally four people doing our best with our daily lives while also being in charge of whole departments, and that is a bit crazy sometimes because there's a lot to do. I hope we can hire some help for the full game, because I don't want us all to crunch forever :').

Following the character art train of thought, this month we will also be giving priority to finishing at least one of our key art / promotional art pieces. Raquel is already working on polishing the sketch and we hope we can finish it soon to really start having a solid package of key art to represent us and our game.

Final piece will include bodies attached to heads, mind you. Unless...

Ahá! Remember last month when we said Raquel and I were working on some LiL backgrounds for a master assignment? Well, they are looking pretty good! We got rid of one forest background during the prologue outline process to alleviate some workload, but we seized the opportunity to bring it back! We won't be showing that one yet as we want to finish it and make an individual post for it, but you can have a look at this one instead!

Taking a stroll through Limbo's woods seems like a good idea...

Not too many news from the writing department this month. I'm going full speed with the fixes and editing the demo script like I planned, and I hope to have everything ready next month, but we'll see how things go. The changes to the script are being very beneficial to the general pace of the prologue. We want to get to the juicy part as soon as possible and have as much content of the LIs as we can, right?

The main lore document is still on the works too, but, dare I say it, I'm very happy with it! I'm secretly hoping we can offer the lore book as a physical reward for our future kickstarter, but that's still far away in the future. The artbook is our main priority!

This month we have also focused on something really special and important that sadly we won't be revealing until it's done because, well, it's in the making, and no one wants to see it all ugly and in progress, right? But we are working very hard and are very excited to be able to show it soon! Agh!

Also, our GUI is almost, almost completely finished! Only the title screen is left, so we are leaving you a preview of another screen right below. Our designer is once again doing an impeccable job.

Yep, you'll have a compendium with all the important bits and lore pieces you discover. Only in the full game, though.

It has been an okay-ish month for us. Very stressful because of our master; there's definitely a lot of excitement we have been bottling up as we found ourselves unable to work on LiL like we wanted to. I hope that April, or at least the beginning of it (before the last trimester of our degree starts getting serious and unhinged, which I'm afraid will happen) proves to be productive and enough to at least tie up some loose ends. The team needs a couple of days to rest, but we are ready to get back on track and do as much as we can this next month.

Thank you all so much for your unending support and for your patience, it means the world to us :') 💜 We hope you all are doing alright!

[nin-jay-go]

HIIIIII

Do you read fics? If so, you got any good Jay fics to share? (Better if there are no ships, but I don't mind ships :D)

(If not, may i suggest 'Illegal Elemental Masters' series by Universe_Traveler on AO3?)

oh i read fics ALLLLL the time :0 ive got some good ones for you >:3

*notes down your recommendation* tytyty this looks fun 👀

first off. i have have HAVE to give a glowing recommendation to once bitten new life by northamericanjaguar for all snake jay fans!!!! it is fantastic and VERY VERY good :D it does have jaya, but its early season jaya, so take that as you will

while this one isn't on ao3, i'd be remiss not to mention the fantastic mr walker by shinyshiny9. while it's uh. on hiatus, let's call it, it has one of the best character writing i've seen in a while. reader discretion is advised, as it touches on some pretty heavy topics, but it is worth the read if you can handle it

if you're looking for dragons rising jay, here's strength and survival by orange_sunsets! spoilers up to s2p1, so none of the recent leaked stuff, as it takes a divergent path. amnesiac jay just trying his best out in the world ✌️ and getting adopted by dragons

PLAY TO WIN BY SADISTHETIC. i love this one SO MUCH. if you want skybound angst and jay and cole beating the shit out of each other, read play to win it makes me SOOOO UNWELL <3 it is tagged as cole/jay but it can be read as gen just as easily

been a while since i last read this one, but i really liked enchanted opportunities by arco_harrison03. jay gets the powers of a djinn and has a BAD time about it. it does have jaya as it's directly post skybound, but its more focused on jayngst than jaya. oh also pixal's there because she can be <3

if you want a bit of a fucked villain jay arc, take a bluejay in an electrical storm by internallyscreamingdaily. it's not done (and unfortunately might not get its last chapter :[ ) but it tickles my brain juuuuuust right with all the tasty tasty angst >:3

and to finish off my list of recs, current hunger by achillightning. also a darker fic, soooort of a villain jay, but, in the words of the tag, "villain arc but in a kinda pathetic kinda whumpy cringefail way." it has jaya (a lot of fics do end up being shippy) but i also dont remember there being much ship content last i checked? it's been a while though aaa >_>

actually i lied bc i realized that most of these fics are heavy angst SOOOOO here's a funny fluff fic of kai and jay bodyswapping. walk a mile by storiesaremagic is short and cute if you like bodyswap :0 completely gen

there's probably more that i'm just forgetting rn but this is a pretty solid list of recs! have fun :D

[macawritesupdates]

Writing Update Time! <3 (7/14/2024)

The new chapter of The Yuuji Files is up and ready to read and only ten more chapters left in that series, hard to believe! But I feel it is close to that ending point. Got the ideas mapped to the end at least!

UPDATES FOR JUJUTSU KAISEN FIC UPDATES

Lessons in Accidental Seduction: Working on this chapter to get it out, it has just been fighting me for some reason BUT I have also pinned down what each chapter after focuses on so baby steps!

Mirrored Lives: Going to try and speed run some updates on this one as the chapters are shorter so easier to get out, just got upsetti when the word program ate the latest chapter and it takes me a solid few weeks of angry glaring before I can sit to write a fic again after that XD;

Broken in Ways No One Sees: Updates have been regular as the chapters are shorter and the plot of this fic is very straight forward to the end. Working on next chapter now!

Historically Inaccurate: The outline is complete and next week I'm going to start writing it, so the next update is now coming!

Malevolence of Love: Chapter outlined and work started on writing the next chapter! So far the story is really coming together to the end, so updates might get faster on it!

Careful What you Joke About: On a brief break as I work out the story going forward. It is a bit weak/not really planned out, to the next big event, so want to take the time to work out the kinks before starting next chapter!

Can't Help a Cuddle: A sukita one-shot with omega! Yuuji and Alpha! Sukuna to mix it up a bit that is a cute little thing for readers to eat up!

My Hero Academia Fic Updates

What Sacrifices Heroes Make that Go Unsung: This fic is on my mind 24/7 just because I have been itching to write a story that is less the ships and more the dramatic and exploration of villains. The next chapter is in the works as this fic is HEAVILY planned out and outline, so it is going smoothly! I'm so excited to write the next few chapters...

A Rut Time of It: Chapter two is outlined and being written and just having fun with the trio of dumb fools trying to sort out their lives and oh....is that angst I see? Is that the start of bad coping skills I see? It is taking a bit of a right turn into angst hehe...

Jealousy is Not a Good Friend: A two chapter little thing that is spicy and focuses on Kirishima and Uraraka. Just to get it out of my system as I wait for that slow burn in Sacrifice to FINALLY start to move.

Untitled One-shot Poll winner: Whatever couple wins the poll, going to write a spicy little one-shot for it! I'm in the mood and want to give back to my lovely readers <3

FICS IN THE WORKS

Who's a Good Boy: it is ready to get started once another long fic gets finished. I feel I got enough fics to update on my plate right now lol

Law Meets Disorder: Still working out the subtle parts of it, but work on it will start when I finish up a few of the long fics

Forget the Tropes, We Die Like Heroes: Where Uraraka had high hopes of a most romantic mission filled with all the tropes with Miyadori or Bakugo falling in love. Instead she gets Kirishima and no tropes will save how awful this mission keeps getting. A short chapter fic slowly in the works!

FIC REQUESTS

Going to be working on requests today as I feel it has been TOO LONG since I posted some! I still got...90? left to do, so back to the grind on getting them done! Going to aim to get three out today!

I got two MHA fic requests done, BUT have decided to hold off on posting that until I clear out the metric done of other requests to keep from being overwhelmed BUT they and a few others will be posted this month for sure!

[la-hannya]

Trying to get some space from things but seeing the sauceribs constantly trying to warp the truth by spouting lies on posts focusing on other sessh-ships in places like Reddit or trying to downplay things for the sake of trying to make theirs look good as possible is insane. I gotten told to ignore it but it's becoming a plague. These Lolicon fandoms are known to move parasitically from fandom to fandom, slowly wrecking them. The current state of this fandom says it all. Tbh, all I see left of the HnY part of the fandom is mostly those same shippers pairing the 14 year old twins with Kirinmaru, same character that actually showed disgust of the fact of pedomaru marrying a kid (and no, it wasn't just cause of the prophecy shit that later became irrelevant like all the plots they tried to do and dropped because the studio had the writing all over the place). Really, don't even get me started on things the Sesshomaru's seiyuu and the director said.

This mindset has become an infestation. And no, I'm not afraid of saying it. Or them.

And I think people shouldn't be afraid to say it, especially if they want this community to live on for years to come.

Most pals I knew here left cause they feel done. And it's thanks in-part mostly to this shit. It's actually heartbreaking really... Currently feeling the same too.

Yashahime is an official product; yes. No, it's not a true continuation of it. In other words not "canon". It's just an official product. The movies, ovas, cd dramas are also all official products; even the og anime. The only thing that will be "true canon" is the manga the author wrote starting in November 13, 1996 in all black & white glory. And yes, that manga does not have saucerib nor ever implied it. The author stating he's her paternal/legal guardian figure makes that pretty solid. Anyone, who thought otherwise that— well that was just you 🙃

Her attitude towards the sequel, merch of Inuyasha refusing to even promote saucerib as a couple and her latest opinions with interviewers trying to push the idea of sequels for her other works says it all. The minute the spin off was over, it was like hny didn't exist and the only thing that did was Urusei Yatsura. Plus all the info we got here showing what actually went down with hny it's enough.

[samd1o1]

A Short Review Of Knuckles; No Spoilers

Hello, I am a random Sonic fan that none of yall care about but I'm gonna write my opinions on the new Knuckles series anyway!

Just to start off, I liked it! It wasn't ground breaking by any means, but it wasn't meant to be. It's a fun little comedy.

Now the main complaint I've seen is that it was too focused on the humans and not Knuckles. And I can agree but also still enjoy the show! Pretty much no show has the main character for 100% of the screen time. So Knuckles not being in all scenes shouldn't surprise anyone. But I will say yes the humans had a lot of screen time, but that's pretty common in the movies.

The movies are obviously going for an esthetic from games like 06, Unleashed, and SA2. All of those games heavily feature humans. And this setting appeals greatly to both the kids and parents that take their kids to see the movie. I know that may not be what you want, but that's what you get. And honestly I think it's pretty smart. But even then we could stand to have some more anthro characters. Like wouldn't it have been cool if Rouge was working for GUN in the show? It would give Knuckles his usual counterpart while also setting her up for Sonic 3.

But alas we got random GUN agents. Who tbf were pretty funny. And then obviously there's Wade and his family. Wade was a good choice I think. He plays off Knuckles well. He's the comic relief to Knuckes more no bullshit attitude. And he teaches Knuckles to let loose a bit more; but more importantly he teaches Knuckles about family and home. Something he hasn't had in a long time. And I just think that's a really cute dynamic.

Did it feel more like Wade was the main character and Knuckles the secondary lead? Yes. Was it probably a budget issue? Also yes. So while I wish we got more Knuckles, it's realistic what happened.

All in all it was a nice, cute, little show. Just a bit of fun before the emotional and edgy fest that will be an SA2 adaptation in Sonic 3.

I just wanted to share that it's possible to like a show while also having a few criticisms. I just think it's better to be constructive about it. There's people on twitter saying they have a "gun to their head" because they hated the show, and I just don't think it's that serious. If you have some opinions on what the show could have done better, then write about it! Let the creatives who worked on it know what you liked, and what you didn't! It's the best way to be heard.

All in all a solid 7/10. Completely average goofy fun, but that isn't always a bad thing. Here's to hoping Sonic 3 delivers on what everyone wants!

[deerflowerme]

half the fun is surprising you, love, how would you make sure you're prepared if you don't know i'm coming? but after i meet you after you're done with work and take you apart at the movie theater, we'll make sure to stop by a sex shop to get some fun toys, sweetheart. i'm down to get us whatever you want, and i absolutely need to fuck you with a strap-on as soon as possible 😘

the first thing i'm gonna do to you when we get to wherever we're staying overnight is pull you onto my lap, put your little bell collar on, and kiss you till you don't have any thoughts left in your head and the only thing you can think of is me and my mouth. only after that will i let you go down on me, princess, and teach me whatever you'd like to. i'd wrap one hand in your gorgeous hair and stroke your cheeks and the rest of your face with the other, and i wouldn't be able to stop praising you and telling you what a good girl, what a good kitten you're being for me

i'd be very tempted to let you make me cum, but i think i'd far prefer seeing you fall apart first, kitten, so i'd shift the hand on your face down to your collar and pull you back up to me with both your collar and your hair, and kiss and lick your face clean of my mess

and then i'd take you and flip us both over so you were under me instead of over me, and kiss my way down your body, focusing especially on your boobs, till i get to the top of your sweet little pussy, and then skip right over it down to your knees, and kiss my way up your legs until i get to your inner thighs, and stay there till you're whining and begging for my mouth on your clit and my tongue in your pussy, and only then will i move to where you want me

i'd lick and suck and kiss until you were cumming, and then keep going to try for a second time. i want to make you overstimulated and sensitive, and then i'm gonna get the strap-on and fuck you until you're a crying, whimpering mess for me

and when i've sufficiently wrecked you, my love, i'll spread you gently out on the bed, and clean you up with a damp towel, telling you what a good girl you were for me, and how well you took what i did to you, and how proud of you i am

and i'll kiss you gently all over, and then lay myself down next to you and pull you into me and cuddle you as we fall asleep, so we're both well rested for the fun things we'll do in the morning

-🥰🥰🥰

Oh god I wrote such a long response to this and then lost it so here is long as fuck response take 2 aaaaaa I’m sorry angel, I missed you so much btw ❤️

This made me blush so much and I got so wet writing a response my brain basically melted like that’s how I accidentally deleted it so… You’re so perfect. I really don’t think you need too many lessons from me I think we could just let you experiment on me and I’ll just be there for support because your ideas are really good 😵‍💫 A+

The teasing! I’m the only girl you’ve done this to and yet you’re already this good? You’re going to be such a menace to me what am I going to do? I just love when you praise me with your hands as much as when you use your words, it’s so hot idk how to explain. And then once you go down on me I’m not going to have a thought left in my head for a minute solid because your tongue and the way you look? And calling me kitten like that? You know I preen every time you do it, it makes me so shy, but also proud and I love it.

And yes, please, fuck me. We’re going to get an ejaculating strap on because that is very important for the image I have in my head.

It doesn’t take you too long to get the hang of it and then I’m just a flushed and overstimulated mess beneath you. I’m moaning things only a little slut that has lost her mind can say at this point. Just “yes”, “fuck me”, “please”… etc

You use the best feature of the strap-on to spill cum lube inside me and every time you do I have another orgasm that makes me start to cry. It gets me even messier because every time you fill me up with it everything becomes even more slippery and messy, just making it so much easier to fuck me stupid.

I’m begging you at this point, saying it’s too much and to wait, but god baby do not listen to me. Im so overstimulated, but it’s also so good and I need you to keep going until you think I’ve had enough. And you do keep going so I pull you down so I can kiss you and the way it changes the angle makes my eyes roll back and my legs come up to wrap around your hips immediately pulling you down so you’re fucking me even deeper. It feels so good, you’re so good. That’s definitely the hardest and the deepest you fuck me and I’m blushing so much thinking about that little bell on my collar. It has not stopped making noise this whole time because you’re just giving it to me so good. You’re so sweet and eager to make me feel good and I think you definitely succeeded.

One last thing, you have to have an amazing orgasm before we settle down. I beg you to use my body one more time to make yourself cum. There are so many ways you just have to pick one and I’ll make sure you feel so good. I can’t wait to talk to you privately about all the ways you could use me to make yourself cum 😘

Anyway, I can’t stop thinking about how I’m going to wake up in the morning and climb over you first thing so I can line my pussy up with yours because the lube that was left over is still slowly dripping out of me and it makes the glide so easy as I start scissoring with you and moaning softly. I just go slow until you eventually wake up and flip me to bend me in half going at whatever pace you want. Once you have me pinned it’s so easy to push me into a perfect position I want to cum watching you use me like a slicked up little toy to rub against 🥺❤️

I’m so tired I can’t even read over all that and the first time I wrote stuff was definitely so much better and more coherent I’m so mad at myself lol But thank you for writing me an ask in the first place, my love. They’re always so good.

[flimsy-roost]

Run-on Review Anthology: Algernon Blackwood

Wake up besties, new fave early 20th century horror/weird fiction short story writer just dropped~

~Algernon Blackwood~

Fig. 1) This guy right here

As someone who was introduced to the genre via HP Lovecraft, here are several reasons why the work of our boy Algernon could be considered better than his contemporary and/or worth your time to read:

-Runs the literary gamut between truly horrifying and joyfully awe-inspiring. Scary not your thing? Al's got you covered!

-Writes in many different formats: short stories, longer novels, even plays! Entertainment for every occasion! (In this post I'll be focusing on short stories because that's my favorite format, but I'll be reading some of his novels in the future!)

-No commitment that I've seen to far to an internally consistent world (a la the Lovecraft Cinematic Universe), allowing him to explore many different themes, settings, and source material

-Absolutely gorgeous and immersive descriptions of place and vibe

-Actually usually describes things very well, instead of leaning on the cosmic horror trope of "oH nooOo it'S TOOo indescrIBAble"

-As far as I can tell so far, is not particularly racist or xenophobic for the time, especially when compared to HP "Hyper-pRacist" Lovecraft

(sidebar; I don't think it's correct to write off the works of long-dead authors due to things that are considered problematic today; however, it's hard to get around that some things are just plain uncomfortable to read with modern eyes. I think that providing context and disclaimers is important, but given that these people are too dead to profit from their work, I don't generally feel bad discussing, recommending, or purchasing their writing)

---

Run On Reviews of Algernon Blackwood Short Stories

The Touch of Pan (originally read in The Moons At Your Door, pdf version linked here): Really really love this one, first one I read by him in a multi-author anthology, it's a comfort read that I keep coming back to, definitely on the joyful/awe end of the spectrum, does refer to idiocy/lunacy but in a way that vibes with me personally neurodivergently and spins it as a neutral-positive thing misunderstood by society at large, lovely lovely lovely, 10/10

The Empty House (originally read in The Algernon Blackwood Collection, it's the first story in the linked pdf): Very solid and intimate ghost story, told through the emotional state of the characters as much as the actually environment and goings-on, spooky but not extremely scary, 7/10

The Damned (originally read in the ABC, pdf link): Excellent haunted house/something's real weird around here story, ever so gradually increases the tension and unsettling feel of the place in inventive modes of discovery, the ending peters out a bit for me but all in all a good read, 8.5/10

The Willows (og ABC, linked): Holy shit yeah this is what I'm fucking TALKING ABOUT this is atmospheric horror done so so right, moody and isolating and creepy and scary, this is the one with the gay subtext you may have heard about, there's a good reason this one is included in so many anthologies, if you can only read one read this one, 10/10

The Wendigo (og ABC, linked): Closest to a "classic" wilderness monster story I'm reviewing here, it's the longest read but well worth it, you can see where it's going pretty early on but it somehow still gets creepier and weirder and worse and oh god kill it, you'll either love it or hate it if you've binged creepypastas and greentext horror stories like I have, this one does have some problematic racial language (reference to an "N-word bar" in describing a black bar, referring to the native american character as "red" and in some "noble savage"-esque ways), as well as colonial-ish "ahaha we're men going on an adventure to unspoiled land pip pip cheerio," but if you can stomach that it's a truly unnerving story that will make you never want to camping ever again in your life, 9/10

Ancient Sorceries (originally read in the Ancient Sorceries anthology, pdf linked): I so badly wanted to like this one more, the setting is absolutely magical and the buildup is excellent, but it kind of runs out of steam for me with the reveal (which isn't super fair bc this story predates all the works that make the reveal a tired trope in my mind), still would recommend a gander, 10/10 up until part IV, 6/10 after, overall 8/10

The Listener (og AS, linked here): If there's one to skip in this whole list it'd be this one, another ghost story but not as good as others mentioned here, I think I may be missing historical context that would add weight to the horror (I wont spoil, but if you read it and know more about the subject of the reveal, please enlighten me), still a nice little mystery with some interesting characters and a creepy ghost, 5/10

The Sea Fit (og AS, linked here): Finishing out somewhat strong, extremely compact yet very dense, no wasted words, but paints extremely clear characters, setting, and events, somebody please make this a short film I will throw money at the kickstarter, spooky and unsettling but slightly more on the awe-inspiring end of the spectrum, 9/10

[futurequibblerjournalist]

right fuck you here's a bunch of questions from fanfiction writing asks game: 4, 20, 23, 29, 35, 41, 46, 51, 57, 68 & 75. Enjoy answering these you bastard < 3

Damn okay, sounds like a fucking threat fknbjgnbjg I will happily answer this threat for you, you little shit < 3

4. How do you choose which fics to write?

Pretty much just vibes, honestly. I come up with most of my ideas very sporadically, so it's all about what I'm feeling at the moment. I wish I had a more interesting answer, but I usually just look through this little notebook I've got that I write all my ideas in and randomly pick something for whatever ship I'm feeling at the moment. Tho I will also say that if a fic I'm planning is getting hyped by others there's a good chance it'll get prioritised lol, I'm a simple man

20. Do you prefer writing AUs or canon fics?

That's,, a hard question?? I think with the Marauders fandom there's still so much to discover and interpret when it comes to canon fics, but also there's not exactly a whole lot of,, canon??? It's fun to explore different takes and I do have stuff planned for canon fics but I think my own ideas appear easier when it comes to aus. If you look at my currently published fics this is pretty clear too. I'm personally really into incorporating "canon events" into aus or at least partially in some sort of au translation if that makes any sense lol. Sometimes it's fun when aus mirror canon (partially or fully) but I also find it very fun to just,, go ham with whatever really lol. That was a lot of words for me to realise that's it's probably aus lmao

23. Is writing the beginning, middle, or end of the story easiest? Hardest?

I don't know if there's any part of the story I find the easiest to write? It depends a lot on how solid my outline is lol. If I have too little it'll all become a struggle because then my brain suddenly has to spend time coming up with ideas instead of focusing on writing and those two seem to come from two different places in my brain. Hardest, however, will probably always be the ending. I think especially if it's something longer with multiple chapters or a high word count. The more time and energy I spend on a project, the more I struggle. I love so many of my projects, especially the longer ones, and the fact that they're gonna be done and over and I'm not going to work on them anymore is something I struggle with and my brain just sort of blocks me from finishing things sometimes. I've got a 25k story that I started writing almost two years ago that's literally only missing the ending, but I can't bring myself to finish it quite yet vjnfjbngj

29. What’s something about your writing that you’re proud of?

I had to think long and hard about this vjnfjbngjb I'm not sure if the people would agree lol, but I feel like I've got a pretty good grasp on how to portray emotions. Whether it's through subtle body language, interrupted speech or general involvement with the environment and setting a mood for the scene that way, it's probably one of the things I think I do best? I used to struggle with it, but I put a lot of work into trying to improve and since it (at least to me) has been successful, I'm quite proud. There's also just nothing better than when I get told I've captured a character accurately, especially when it's someone you thought you were doing a shit job at (Yes, James, I'm looking at you lol)

35. What’s your favourite fic you’ve posted?

I think it's going to have to be A Very Merry Christmas Cliché. Which honestly doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I'm insanely proud of it, both for it being my first time writing Jegulus, it being my first fic posted on a schedule but also the fact that I wrote an outline, just short of 71k words and published all of it in under a month. It was such a passion project and all the lovely comments I've gotten on it has only made me fonder of the whole thing.

41. Who’s your favourite character you’ve written?

It changes constantly honestly. I love writing Barty, Regulus, Remus and increasingly James?? He's so unlike any other character I enjoy writing, but hearing continued praise for how I write him has only made me more fond and proud of my portrayal of him somehow? I mean, it makes sense, praise breeds that sort of thing usually, but James isn't exactly a character I find myself relating to a whole lot, or so I thought? I don't know if I'm realising something about myself or something like that haha, but my desire to write him has skyrocketed recently.

46. If you could only write one type of AU for the rest of your life, what would it be?

It feels like cheating to say a muggle au lol, but it's an answer that allows for a lot of different aus to be added as like,, secondary aus?? I don't think I lean towards any more specific aus than that? Also!! When I say a muggle au I don't mean a modern one!!! Not necessarily at least lol

I'm trying to think of any more specific aus and all my brain can come up with is tropes?? So yeah, bonus answer to the question I guess, if it was one trope for the rest of my life it would probably be hurt/comfort or MCD

51. Does what you like to write differ from what you like to read?

Not a whole lot, honestly. I'm a sucker for romance and queer stories and that's pretty much all I both read and write? I write significantly more smut than I read tho, I will say that lol

57. How conscious are you about including symbolism or foreshadowing in your fics?

SO CONSCIOUS!!!! Like???? I can happily spend hours thinking about that shit, I am an English teacher's dream. Yes, I made the curtains blue on purpose, yes he's looking out the window for a reason, oh there are flowers in the fic? You can bet your ass those have some symbolism behind them. I fucking love symbolism, I'm such a sucker for them and I will happily spend hours googling and double checking and all that shit to make sure they're accurate and fit well. I spent so much time researching symbolism for that previously mentioned 25k word story I need to finish, but there's definitely also some of it in other stuff I write.

I plan out fics quite far in advance, I usually don't start writing until I have the whole thing outlined, both to be able to add a bunch of foreshadowing (but also to avoid plotholes lol)

I can't say it's as much of a conscious decision in some of my smutty works, but there's some stuff in there too. I can't wait to share more of the work that features more symbolism vjfnjbgnjb,, I really need to finish that fic, even if it's not a Marauders fic

68. Are there any fics that influenced you to write the way you do?

I can't say there is, not consciously at least? I admire a lot of other writers and I'd say their works certainly inspire me, but I don't actively feel influenced by them. If I do it's little things like terms and phrases and perhaps actions (thank you Katie for inspiring the little dick pat on Barty's tongue, it's getting a feature in the sharpshooter fic lmao)

I do find myself influenced by the writing styles of traditionally published books. I don't know if it's because I sit with them physically in my hands, but some books that I've really liked the writing styles of have been Carrie Soto Is Back and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo both by Taylor Jenkins Reid, as well as A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (though I'm still currently reading that one). It's perhaps not as noticeable, but I like the sentence structures both authors use and their use of inserts (news clippings, interviews, etc). I don't know if this is how the question is supposed to be answered but oh well, this is what you're getting haha

75. Is there a particular fic that readers gravitated towards that you didn’t expect?

110% a losing game. It's only my second "jegulus" fic and even then this was "just" a solo fic with Regulus. It was the first fic I wrote after A Very Merry Christmas Cliché and I was surprised to see how fast it got hits in comparison, not that I'm complaining. But damn, people are horny for Jeggy lol

Thank you for the question, this took me literal hours to answer lmao < 3

[aotopmha]

Final Fantasy XIV thoughts:

Elidibus.

(Spoilers for the entire story.)

When I first got to the point in the story where Elidibus became the central antagonist (5.1-5.3), I actually felt like he wasn't as good as he could've been.

I liked his character, but I really felt like he needed more time.

But after many revisits, he has grown on me a lot.

The central conceit for Elidibus is that the goal he is chasing is without substance.

He knows he has a duty, but he doesn't actually remember what that duty entails.

As such, I think the body of each person he inhabits has an extremely strong influence on him. This connection isn't necessarily made in the story, but I feel like it can at least be looked at this way. Whatever the case, bodyhopping seems to affect his personality.

So when he inhabits the body of Zenos, he's a lot like Zenos and when he inhabits the body of Ardbert, he gains aspects of the personality of Ardbert.

I do think him inhabiting the body of Zenos and the potential inner conflict arising from that situation is absolutely a missed opportunity for exploring him earlier than his intended focus patches, though.

But on the other hand, I think everything done with him in the body of Ardbert is fantastic.

Because just like Ardbert, he is a shade, living past his time. Just like Ardbert, he is looking for all the sacrifices of a long struggle to mean something.

Just like Ardbert his tragedy is related to a very single-minded focus on his goal.

And just like Ardbert he has suffered in loneliness.

They are the same.

And his plan to manipulate the people of the First to get back on track with the Rejoining is equally fantastic.

I'm a sucker for villains that use the human aspects of people, their humanity, to get what they want. In this case, Elidibus uses the people's wish to actually want to do good to get what he wants.

This even includes the idea of using Hydaelyn's methods against her – using the imagery of the Final Days to awaken the Echo to create Warriors of Light for the purpose of bringing back the past via the Rejoining, rather than paving a way to the future.

And to once again bring even stronger attention to it, he does all of this in the body of Ardbert.

The one who originally wanted to save the First.

It's horrid disrespect towards Ardbert and all he fought for, just as much as it is thematically meaningful to him and his character-specific struggles.

I think him putting you through the expansion gauntlet also goes under this: wanting to point out just how much you've used violence to get what you want, but not really being able to point the lens inward.

It's such solid character writing.

And the fact that he is originally relatively young only adds to this. I absolutely read him as a teen or at least young adult because I think there is interesting commentary to be had there.

Not just in the sense of how impressionable young people can be, but also from the most simple perspective of how this situation can be read like a very typical story of the young hero rising to the occasion to save the world.

That's why him becoming the original Warrior of Light is such a strong piece of imagery. By all means, he was a hero, a Warrior of Light, to his faction.

And then for him to essentially create the bridge that leads to Elpis and thus to the actual path to save Etheirys is just the cherry on top of everything.

Despite the relatively little time he gets focused on, it's all very substantial.

Finally, I just really enjoy the dignified aspect of his character. Even his simple ARR and HW self always had that aspect to him.

Emet is theatrical, but with some measure behind it. Fandaniel is insane, but with no restraint at all. And Lahabrea is an obsessive scientist.

He still has elements of all of the above, but I feel like the dignified aspect is something very strongly unique to him, so to me Elidibus is another unique addition to the list of all of the distinct antagonists of the story in this specific way.

And I really like how this aspect of him is combined with the heroic and dutiful aspects of him in Paendemonium, to show all of his good traits at his best because just like with all of the other ancients, it serves as an interesting contrast.

But I also feel like Paendemonium could be doing more with him. Something tells me the strongest substance will be in the third wing of the story, but I still feel just a little bit more time could have been dedicated to him as a character even in these first two wings. He's been in the role of exposition a little too much in my eyes.

(But stuff like the "Say my name" moment is definitely fantastic. Powerful, restrained, yet dignified. He is the Emissary, so he must lead with grace and duty.)