#I've read other decent stuff but plotting is NOT the strong point

[ballsballsbowls]

I wanted to ask, since you read a lot of erotica and romance, do you have any recs for people interested in plot-heavy erotica? Thanks in advance!

I know how difficult and frustrating it is to see erotica (especially popular erotica!) that's got plotting somewhere between "shoestring" and "incoherent." In fact, there's a couple of semi-popular erotica authors that I gave up trying to read because they basically can ONLY write sex scenes and everything else is an incoherent mess. If feels as though you can really only write a lot of sex OR a lot of plot.

I'm still not getting as much plot as I'd like most of the time, but stuff that has helped me get a FEW tolerable books is:

I, pretty much universally, don't read books under 250 pages. I'm sure there's a lot of pretty good erotica for my ereader that doesn't meet that page count, but I suspect plotting it not its strong point.

Scifi/post apocalyptic/fantasy/paranormal is almost certainly going to have more plot and contemporary is almost certainly going to have less. Fortunately, I like those genres pretty well, so that's not really a hardship for me.

Obviously, mind the trigger warnings and all of that since I am useless for that stuff. Everything links to amazon because that's where I'm buying things, unfortunately. I've picked all of these up either for free or for 99 cents, so if you have time to wait you can get them pretty inexpensively.

Actually billed as erotica, either on Amazon or by author:

Beyond Shame - Kit Rocha

Post-apocalyptic/scifi with a political/gang plot, main pairing is MF but there's plenty of other stuff including MMFF. The religious theocracy part of it was a bit of a tough read this year, all things considered, but I really liked it otherwise. When I get my TBR a little more manageable, I intend to read the rest of the series, which goes on sale fairly often.

2. Initiation: Sex Wizards 1

Fantasy with mostly M/M and M/F but there's a lot of other stuff, too. I don't know that it has quite enough plot to make it onto the list, but I feel like there's enough worldbuilding to make up for it, hopefully.

3. The Rose Contract - Scottie Kaye

Fantasy political thriller with primarily M/F. This one maybe just sneaks onto the list as I'm not quite sure it has enough actual sex scenes to count in my mind, but it's billed as an erotica. These are also shorter than I normally read. I've read the first three books and do intend to read the others at some point.

Technically billed as romance, not erotica

Dark Deception by Sarah Piper

Paranormal vampire romance with substantially more sex than your average vampire romance and substantially more discussions of art history. Main pairing is MF. I bought the next book in the series.

I also have to recommend Emma Holly again for this, which is a copout as I have already recommended Emma Holly to you, but one of the most universal complaints that she got about Strange Attractions and the Hidden series both (both of which I've read and liked) is that she's got so many B and C plots in them that don't pay off because of the length of the book. Strange Attraction's entire haunting/hallucination subplot is pretty notorious for this.

I have a wishlist on amazon that's mostly 'porn with a decent plot' recs that I am desperately watching for sales, and I mostly got the recommendations from this thread, so I am hoping to have read a lot more porn with plot in the next eight months or so, but who knows. My TBR of dead tree books is about 50 books and on my ereader is about 250, so we'll see how fast I get to much of anything.

I debated sitting on this ask for another few days and thinking a little harder, but I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten about you.

[yellowocaballero]

One of the many things that I've been doing instead of writing are these damn manwha binges and Villain To Kill is literally so funny. The comic premise is straightforward action, think Tokyo Ghoul meets Solo Leveling - local Genetically Superpowered Superhero Cop working for corrupt Hero Organization gets #betrayed and #murdered and is reincarnated into the body of a Genetically Superpowered Villain Teenager so now he has to join up with all the other villain superpower people to get justice.

It's so 5/10. Cassian is extremely OP and the story isn't well-written enough to pull that off well. The worldbuilding is so incredibly nonsensical and weak that it falls apart if you think about it for more than five minutes (tried to write fic for it and failed because I would have had to rework the entire world - which, I could have, but that's a lot of effort for Villain to Kill). The plot is mostly any OP action hero plot where guy gets increasingly powerful by fighting increasingly powerful guys. Cassian himself has almost nothing going on internally, to the point of elegance. And it is somehow the gayest manwha I've ever read.

It's the fucking character designs. And like its narrative but it's the fucking 100/10 character designs. The entire cast's design and characters slam. There's not that much depth but we don't care. You know if we don't like somebody if they look vaguely straight, and you know that we like somebody if they look like they were set to tumble dry in the queerness washing machine. The (great!) women are high femme or hard butch. The corrupt institution assassinated a man Cassian loved and framed & murdered him, at which point he was adopted by a rag-tag bunch of flamboyant homosexuals deemed unacceptable and undesired by society who all teamed up and decided to villainize society in exclusively funny ways and spend most of their time gossiping or hacking the Pentagon. An AFAB character dresses as a man and goes by he/him pronouns half the time for no good reason. Cassian is physiologically incapable of thinking about anything but violence so the heartwarming found family scenario's going over his head, but his Painfully Het Hero Foil Indoctrinated Into Homophobia caught the found family ball and now he's dancing in their gay bars and dressing in drag. There's only a few characters who are explicitly gay but this is gayer than that.

I talked a while back about how important a decent supporting cast is to a good story, and this is yet again good proof. Looking at this, I think I'd go further and say - it's an action manwha, we're reading it for a reason, we don't need character-driven story arcs or really complex characters. I think it's just charisma. A story can go really far on characters with charisma.

TV Shows that are carried on the lead actor (Columbo I love you) - it's because the actor has charisma. You watch it to see the actor hang out being himself. That's way way harder to do in fiction, but I think that "a complex character" isn't necessarily a "charismatic character". I'd rather have a cast of only charismatic characters rather than only complex ones. A story of any genre needs a strong cast of charismatic characters. They can be deep or they can just be chaotic lesbians. Charisma invests the reader in the story and the characters. It's simple but it's really powerful. And it is fucking hilarious how sometimes all you need to do on that front is "Rupaul this shit".

I can't genuinely recommend Villain to Kill and this is not a recommendation. But random stuff always interests me like this, and I really had no idea that I would read 120ch of a manwha bc the designs fuck so hard. Also, like, this is queerest manwha I've ever read. Somehow. Fucking somehow.

[sailoryooons]

Hi Hali! Hope you're doing well 🩷 Do you have any advice/resources you could share on writing decent actions scenes? I'm such a baby writer and have ideas but I'm trying to figure out how to go about this. I know I'll need to find my own way of thing/voice, but other than doing some research, staring at a wall to try and visualize everything, reading some to get an idea, and maybe watching movies/videos, I'm really lost about how to go about it. I know that it's important to not just have action, but to have the character's objectives/obstacles/ personality also drive everything forward...but I'm still just like so intimidated. That was a huge ramble, but I wanted to put it out there to see if you had any advice since I really admire your writing.

HI HELLO. Okay I have compiled a bunch of random stuff in attempt to remotely be helpful because I am VERY PASSIONATE about talking about writing/sharing details and like swapping tips and just in general talking about writing from a technical stand point. I've thrown some stuff I have saved on my desktop in a google folder so please excuse how messy it is but I just genuinely have... like a printed binder of resources/sheets/information that I keep on demand to flip through I'm so serious.

FULL RESOURCES/ANSWER UNDER THE CUT ITS LONG

MY GENERAL TIPS/FEEDBACK:

Have a why for whatever you're doing. Why is that character fighting, why do the feel compelled to do something, why do they feel that way, why is it important for this specific outcome to happen. Having and knowing your why makes things 1) authentic and 2) easier to write. The why can be literally as simple as creates tension and it makes it easier to write.

So for example, I'm going to use my fic Obsidian quickly for reference to an action scene - I have a scene early on in the fic where there is an altercation at the bar that seems kind of random/spur of the moment gang violence, but it isn't. It is a specific machination of another character trying to get someone in the bar to engage in fighting to test how strong they are/see how they react, but it's not revealed until much later. This motivation means a few things:

The person initiating the fighting must fight under all circumstances. They have no choice, which begs the question: are they the person with the grand scheme or a pawn. If they're the schemer - cool, what is the goal of the fight? Now you have an immovable force and a reason it's immoveable, and thus the action scene is valid/moving plot forward.

Gives space for other characters to react - do they suspect the reason for the fight? How do they respond to it - do they show aggression because they're an aggressive character, do they hide because they're afraid? How your character responds is a moment for you to show off what that character is like

Plot development for later. You can reference your fight scenes and action scenes later for any reason at all. Basically any scene that you right is a lived character experience and you can use that as building blocks for how they react to things in the future, how YOU as the writer reference things maybe in comparison to that in the future etc.

Just those three things along make the action scene worthy/advance plot. The why gives context and background, the reaction gives room for characterization, and the scene in general provides a permanent potential call back if you feel like it!

Some additional advice just off the dome is try to make it quick. Keep the pace moving. Think about how TV shows and movies have fast fight scenes that follow sort of a beat - writing them should be like that too. And don't be afraid to change the way you write a fight scene. I am the poster child for making tension with repeating a word over and over again and totally changing the way I write a sentence to make it stand out. I even change the style of a sentence and will purposefully do things like ignore a grammar mechanic or use a run on trailing into chaos to create tension.

Also - make things happen in the background. Sometimes things that are most important to an action scene is something the main characters aren't even doing themselves. It's why in movies you see so much of the background/what's happening as a result of the action. Small details about how the world around is affected by the scene really lend to the setting and tension.

RESOURCES

PLOT:

Folder of random plotting sheets/how to plot stories

CHARACTERS

Folder of random character sheets/how to make characters

FIGHT/ACTION SCENES

Folder of random fight scene tips/how to write a fight/action scene

MY FAVORITE ACTION SCENES IN TV/MOVIE TO REFERENCE

Geralt vs. Renfri - The Witcher

Great example of fast pace fighting/action that has a beat and rhythm to it. They're borderline DANCING and there is absolutely a syncopation to the way they move and fight

Achilles vs. Hector - Troy

Great example of tension and keeping the stakes high. The details here are perfect showing how each character is reacting to the fight and how it's effecting them personally - Hector tripping on a rock and his family starts to panic, Achilles throwing his shield away when he's annoyed. The way they approach the fight is totally different and shows the why and the motivation.

Moiraine and Lan vs. Trollocs - Wheel of Time

An excellent example of fighting in pairs and specifically magic and fighting. Moiraine and Lan tandem fight so well together and move as a cohesive unit and it shows how smart Moiraine is in how she uses her magic and what she choses to do.

Captain America vs. Winter Soldier - Captain America

Great example of what's going on in the background. You see multiple people screaming and running but Bucky and Steve REALLY use the world around them in the fight and engage with the setting as they brutalize one another. The interaction with the setting and the distress of the people in the background and destruction makes it that much more powerful.

Raleigh vs. Mako - Pacific Rim

Example of a low-stakes action scene but is just as intense. Each character has something they're bringing to the fight and there is a dialogue between them and the way they move - Raleigh wants to fight Mako because she's annoying him and Mako wants to fight Raleigh because she wants to prove she's a good fighter - two totally different motivations that we easily get in just a few seconds from dialogue/the way they approach the scene.

I hope this remotely helps at all and is maybe some of the advice/feedback you were looking for. I apologize if none of it made sense or if it wasn't helpful - I'm not always the best as presenting information or explaining what I'm thinking in a way that is cohesive (despite.... my job literally requiring me to do so all the time) but I am happy to expand on any of this or provide WAY more resources in other specifics like world building/creation stuff plotting ideation etc. I'm so serious when I say I have a binder of just... writing resources I printed myself and I use to help me write and then I have massive folders I keep for helping in servers/sharing resources with others when I can!!

[incognitajones]

Fic author interview

Thanks to @sesamestreep and @glorious-spoon for tagging me in this one over the holidays! But between starting the new job and the holidays and the RCSS, it totally slipped my mind until now 😬

No-pressure tagging: @anghraine, @ladytharen, @luciechat, and anyone else who feels like it.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

An even 200 if I include both accounts.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Just under 650K words altogether.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Last Train 

I fought the war (but the war won) 

left-handed kisses 

Fixer Upper 

Chain Reaction 

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

Yes! I want to let commenters know they're appreciated, and I enjoy talking about little details or plot turns. Lately I haven't had the time or energy for much more than a quick thank you, but I'm still trying to respond.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

At one point it would've been the bad ending of I fought the war, but now I think this Whumptober piece takes the crown.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Considering canon, most of them have an unrealistically happy ending! Especially inside the vastness of the galaxy, the "Naomi & Filip get a happy reunion" story.

7. Do you write crossovers?

No. I enjoy writing & reading some fusions (i.e. characters from one canon in the setting of another) but traditional crossovers in which characters from two different canons meet don't generally appeal to me.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not on AO3, but I've been sent anon hate on Tumblr about my writing a couple of times (find a Reylo writer who hasn't challenge).

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

Yeah, a fair bit - in fact it's hard to remember sometimes that I never wrote anything explicit before 2016! It's all pretty vanilla, though, minus a few attempts at kinkier stuff which are deservedly anonymous.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Kind of; someone commented on one of my stories on AO3 to tell me that another story had copied significant parts of it. (They'd already commented on and reported the other fic, so I didn't take any additional action. The plagiarizing story was eventually deleted.)

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Bless the fandom translators, for they are amazing.

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

Nothing posted publically.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I couldn't possibly choose a single favourite! In terms of longevity, it's either Han/Leia or Eowyn/Faramir. And Star Wars ships in general seem to have a strong hold on me 😁

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

The OT3 whumpfic. It's nearly done, but it's far outside my usual wheelhouse so without a beta reader, I can't tell whether it's worth finishing or beyond help.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I think I write decent dialogue, and I'm genuinely proud of the ideas behind I fought the war and pulse to pulse. I can also write a pretty good pastiche of 19C style, although you wouldn't know it from this account.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plotting. Falling back on boring/clichéd beats to flesh out dialogue-heavy scenes.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

A sentence or so? Sure. Can't think of a reason to do much more than that.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

It would be either Buffy or Lord of the Rings - I honestly don't remember - not counting the terrible Shannara-fic I wrote as a pre-teen.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Someday I'd really like to write a Children of Men story telling what happened to Kee and [spoiler] after the movie, plus fixing [spoiler].

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Subject to change by the moment, of course, but looking back at some older stories recently reminded me that I've always been pretty fond of don't go home without me.

[oddeyevibes]

Chapter 10: Dallas, Texas, 1960

Summary

Y/N grapples with the situation and tries to figure out what to do next.

Warnings? Click Here!

A/N: Officially starting season 2!! I have some fun character stuff in mind for Y/N but I also wanted to thank everyone who has been reading up to this point. I ended up moving and for whatever reason, it was just way more traumatic and exhausting than it has ever been for me so I was very much not going to get anything else like fanfiction done which sucked because every time I was like "writing would make me feel so much better" but I don't wanna upload stuff when I'm in a terrible state, y'know.

On April the 1st, 2019, the Earth was destroyed in a cataclysmic event.

Billions of people were wiped out in a matter of minutes.

Ironically, the eight survivors of the apocalypse were the very siblings who brought it on.

——✨——

Dallas, Texas, 1960

Again, unbeknownst to you, you missed out on Ben and Klaus...by two weeks specifically.

As of right now, it's been about...20 minutes since you were literally dropped in Dallas and you still had no plans on what to do and how to do it. There was no way of reaching Five, who would know what to do immediately.

Currently, you were sitting on a bench plotting your next move and hoping that maybe one of the others would show up.

'Why am I so freaked out though? I've been on my own before, right? I can do this. Just breath girly.' You took deep breaths. Ignoring the casual side-eyes your were receiving from people walking past.

You only half paid attention to the elderly woman that sat down next to you.

'Ok, first thing's first: I need somewhere to stay. Like a motel or something. But motels cost money....clothes to blend in cost money...food cost money..................................I need money.'

But you had a strong feeling that a job wasn't going to just drop into your lap. Hell, a "decent" job didn't even drop into your lap last time. No, if you wanna stay above water right now, you have to stay outside the box.

Then you had a lightbulb moment.

"I can just rob a bank."

You literally could. The technology now has nothing on the technology of the future. You and your siblings are all 80s babies so the odds of everyday people knowing about people with superpowers was sitting nicely at maybe....5%?

With your powers, you could....probably get away scot-free. Healing, which would be good in case of gunfire. Shielding which would...also be good in case of gunfire. You could even spin that you're some alien warlord and get people to stand down....nah, that's too much.

You had a massive issue though.

'How can I get out of dodge quick enough?'

You're not necessarily a fast running and you ain't got no blink powers like Five.

You crossed your arms, one of your feet tapping impatiently. 'Would be useful if I could fly...but flying bank robber would definitely make the news. I would need to run like...'

A new lightbulb moment.

'...the speed of light!'

"Holy shit, why didn't I think of this earlier?" You turned to the woman, who jumped at the suddenness of you jumping up from the bench.

To make it all the more awkward, you started pacing around the bench. Now when people looked at the bench, they would see an elderly lady being hovered by....a disturbed woman...pretending to be a....vulture?

"Light travels at like.........a lot of miles per second. It's just PEWWWM!"

You even made a hand gesture and off instinct the tips of your fingers lit up, shocking the old woman but she shrugged it off as just her eyesight messing with her. That and she was getting roped into your excitement.

"Light just goes, so why can't I, right?"

She nodded. Confused but she got spirit.

"What is stopping me from running from one end to another...like that?" You snapped your fingers.

The woman shrugged.

"I never really tried...I don't think." You muttered. "I need somewhere to practice and I have to get it right before I do anything else. I have to maintain it."

You turned to her, again, the suddenness making her jump. But her anxiety was put as ease when she saw you smiling at her.

"This was a good talk, thank you. Hope you have a great day~!"

She watched you walk off with a pep in your step. Once you were out of clear sight, she shook her head at the interaction. "That girl was weird....but...weird girls usually persevere." She then reached into her purse, pulling out a chocolate and happily popping it into her mouth. The woman was speaking from experience, of course.

——✨——

It was late in the evening where you found a track to practice in. You had to wait a bit for the remnants of both its track team and football team to leave.

Once the coast was clear, you began your solo training. It started with thinking. How exactly were you meant to will your powers into letting you run as fast as light? All the times you've run from danger before, it hadn't happen which left with you using your light shield.

So it wasn't some...natural instinct.

You observed your hands, turning them over. "Maybe it's as simple as just running while powered up?"

So you willed your hands to emit your signature white glow and took off...but no dash. Just a normal run. So you went back to your starting line.

"Ok...that didn't work. Then...how would it work?"

You paced back and forth.

"Maybe I have to...visualize going through a wormhole?"

So that was the next attempt. Music videos, movies, tv shows, and comics, you're sure you know what a wormhole looks like. So you stood tall and envisioned a wormhole. Like a visual manifestation but...nothing happened.

Still standing in the same spot you were in before.

"Well, that's not it. Um...maybe...I snap my fingers and do it?"

So you closed your eyes and snapped them, envisioning yourself...somewhere else. Then you opened your eyes...and you were still where you were initially. So that's not it.

You let out a frustrated huff. This was going to be awhile.

And while it was. You tried everything that you felt could be plausible. From shouting which direction to shouting where you wanted to end up. That didn't work.

You also tried snapping and running. That didn't work and you felt like an idiot even though no one else was there to witness you making a fool of yourself.

You also tried snapping your fingers and making it seem like you were going to break into a run but that didn't work.

You eventually took a break. You were getting hungry. Rummaging through your pocket, you managed to find about 25 bucks. That wasn't bad, especially for now, that should get you a good meal so you can keep trying to figure this out.

——✨——

To be honest, you were so used to there being places open really late, you didn't really conceive the idea that so many stores could be closed.

So many of these diners were closed. But so many of them still had different treats on display. Really mouth watering treats. Like some lost orphan child, you couldn't help but stop and just look longingly at.

"God, I wish I could just phase through this glass right now."

It would make you feel terrible to rob a mom & pop establishment though. It would make you feel even more terrible to make a huge mess all for some donuts.

Then you glanced up and saw a "whites only" sign.

"Oh....then fuck'em."

Now you wanted to make a mess out of spite but you would be long gone by the time police showed up and who knows who they'd blame if you did this.

"Still, if I could just..." You snapped your fingers and nonchalantly pointed towards the window, specifically inside the diner.

You weren't prepared. It all happened in an instant.

You pointed and suddenly a aura of white light quickly formed around you and you found yourself smashing into the plexiglass and being sent to the ground.

"Owww, what the fuck?" You groaned.

You rubbed the center of your forehead before the realization set in on what you had just done.

"Did I just--" You slowly stood up, straightening out your clothes. "Holy shit, I did, didn't I?"

Looking down at your hands, you witnessed the white glow fading from your hands. You figured it out. Somehow it seemed like such a basic way to activate it but...it also seemed so goofy but...it worked for you...weirdly enough.

So you tried it again. This time your target was moving across the street. You waited for the lone care to drive by, it's curmudgeon looking driver giving you a stink-eye.

Once he was gone, you snapped and pointed across the street. In an instant, you appeared on the other side without issue. Much like before, it was preceded by a white aura surrounding you. You could only imagine what it looked like to someone looking.

"Oh my god," you let out a chuckle of disbelief. "I can light dash. Have I really always been able to do that?"

Your dad would've probably never entertained the idea of snapping and moving. Probably would've thought it was childish as hell never mind the fact that y'all were children.

But who cares about that right now?

You can light dash now.

And while it's not what you would've preferred (being able to become intangible would've been WAYYY better but you'll take it).

You just have to work with it. You also have to work with finding a good offensive use of your ability which wouldn't be hard. You've just never used your abilities for offense but for support and defense.

Now....you have to make real nice acquaintances with the local bank.

[crehador]

brother crab’s 2023 seasonals in review: fall

most of the fall shows i'm watching are still an ep or two away from being complete but i'm leaving on a trip tomorrow and wanted to get this finished first so here we go

pretty sure none of this will change at this point (though aots and runner-up did just flip like five days ago lol)

FIRST UP. IN A STARTLING LAST MINUTE UPSET. ANIME OF THE SEASON

MIGI TO DALI!!! although for the past month or so i was convinced overtake! would take it, migi to dali has been coming to such a stellar climax that it's shot into the lead

overtake! is still exceptional and i've talked a lot about it this season, it's just a beautiful thing in its simplicity, with characters that are so Weird yet Real

migi to dali is EVEN WEIRDER in an astonishingly good way, it was intriguing right from the start and continued to build and build to a payoff that really blew me away

i don't think uniqueness is everything, sometimes a show that feels like i've seen it a hundred times before can still be my favorite thing of a season, it would just feel like home. but migi to dali's uniqueness is definitely a huge part in what makes it so alluring to me, the way it balances psychological suspense and comedy is so excellent and fresh

and now the sequels! in addition to spyfam, arknights, and dmdp, bpro and hpmi got sequels and hanako-kun got a little tv short

no comment on hpmi it'll get its own post

best sequel probably should go to dead mount death play, the world building is just fantastic to me, and this season definitely feels even stronger than the first (which was already very strong!)

however. i'm giving sequel of the season to arknights just for the sasha and eno ep, they put me on the fucking floor with that one

bpro s3 was unfortunately not really my thing, i want tsubasa happier and more well-rested :( but spyfam is adorable as usual, and some more hanako-kun was great (though we need more!)

quickfire thoughts on everything else:

onmyouji was unspectacular but surprisingly fun! and gay. gay as hell. asnm u have not led me astray this time

dog signal is not exactly High Quality but it's... fine and sometimes fun? i'm forever amused by the fact that it's billed as an educational series, and it kind of is! there's actual information about dog training in here. but there's also "guy walks other guy on leash in public for 2 hours" in here. and that was just episode one

kawagoe boys sing is a hot mess and i love it to bits, it starts out so silly that i'm sure it's an insta-drop for many people, but the club dynamics really come together throughout the series in a way i'm enjoying very much

bullbuster... talked about this a lot already, it was fine as an office drama/tiny business vs giant corporation type thing, but fell short on the mecha side of things

bokuame's shit. more on this later

atarashii joushi wa dotennen FREAKING ADORABLE. MORE OF THIS FOREVER

yuzuki-san chi no yon kyoudai EVEN MORE ADORABLE. MORE OF THIS FOREVER AND EVER

good night world was pretty decent, i overall... liked it, i think? it was very bingeable, so it was nice of them to drop it all at once lol and i liked the general premise and plot and all. but i think the wrap-up just felt a bit, eh, maybe slapdash to me? not Bad, but fell just short of exceptional

hoshikuzu telepath ADORABLE AS WELL as far as cgdct goes i'd say this is one of the better ones, kind of same tier as diy for me, but it's no yuru camp (the gold standard)

s-rank musume had a premise i really liked, and an overarching plot that was less compelling to me. wish we'd seen more of a focus on the family bond rather than like... magic and politics type stuff

watashi no oshi wa akuyaku reijou was a cute fucking yuri, the romance was a delight but as with s-rank musume, the 'plottier' bits were not as compelling to me

kamonohashi ron no kindan suiri feels like a very solid adaptation! makes me even more keen to read katekyo (which has been on my planning list for... fucking forever)

ragna crimson is pretty fun but not that outstanding, but like. really fun actually

shangri-la frontier is also very fun! not terribly high stakes (not really any stakes at all) but hilarious, action-packed in a good way, and probably especially entertaining for anyone who's played mmos before (because some parts are so so so relatable)

undead unluck is SO GROSS but IN A GOOD WAY idk how to explain this so i won't try

and sousou no frieren is anime of the year. no contest. (personally i disqualify my aots shows from winning aoty as well so i can do this. i can do anything i want forever)

as for the music!

we had a queen bee op this season and i will almost always pick queen bee as op/ed of the season when we have one, this is no exception. undead unluck's 01 takes op, and ed of the season goes to kamonohashi ron's lip-sync! just really like the vocals of that one

blorbo of the season MADOKA-CHAN KOUYA ship of the season surprisingly it's a toss up between like. seimei/hiromasa (WHAT YEAR IS IT) and kinjou/aoyama from atarashii joushi. like. momose/shirosaki VERY GOOD but those side bitches... they are in my head

[consumeronionbulletin]

That Winter, The Wind Blows (2013)

This show is not meant to be believable and is about feeling all the feels. It's not worse than other dramas I've finished, but the tricks it pulls to keep your interest are dated, and I've lost patience with this kind of show.

It doesn't help that the premise is a bit bonkers...

There's two guys with the same name. One of them is a con man who is suddenly in deep trouble with the mafia. The other guy is the (disowned) older son of a rich man who is in a coma. And on the day the second guy is about to finally meet his long lost sister and come into his inheritance—he dies in a car accident, and the con man takes his place. That works because his long lost sister is blind and no one has seen the guy for twenty years so they don't know what he's supposed to look like anyways.

I mean, there's a few other twists to it, but that's basically it. And over the course of the series we learn lots of terrible family secrets and have crazy plot shenanigans happening. I stopped watching after five episodes.

The Good:

The two leads are great, both separately and together. Jo In-sung puts in a great performance as a con man who has just enough of a moral compass to get caught when he ends up doing the decent thing a few too many times. Song Hye-kyo put in an amazing performance as someone who is strong outside and in complete emotional turmoil. The sidekicks are fun, too. There's a weird faux-cest plot that kind of keeps things entertaining for awhile. The tragic backstory is suitably tragic and gut wrenching in places.

I'm starting to see a pattern in the roles Song Hye-kyo has been cast in. She starts out playing this coldly competent character that is missing something in her life. And once she finds a good man, then suddenly she'll be complete and all the trauma and bad stuff will finally be healed. She's played that kind of character in every role I've seen her in, and this is where that started. Overall, that's not a bad kind of character, and I enjoy watching her play it, but it seems like the rest of the show has been hit or miss.

The Bad:

The plot doesn't make sense. It will never make sense. From what I've read, the ending won't make any sense either. I can put up with alot of lapses in logic, depending on the show, but just know that going into it.

The Ugly:

Oh Young (Song Hye-kyo's character) keeps trying to kill herself. For reasons that kind of make sense. And Oh Soo (Jo In-sung's character) decides that slapping her is a good idea. I just cannot be cool with that. All the other toxic masculinity BS in the show—stuff that is supposed to be smoldering and show how much the man cares—just feels dated and tired.

I know where the show is coming from—I just can't keep watching when that kind of thing happens in a show. I've got a three wrist-grab limit, at this point (though I do subtract from that count for reverse wrist-grabs; it's a complicated system). I know some of this is cultural, but some of it isn't... and I'm tired of seeing it.

TL; DR:

Don't go into this show expecting logic. Don't expect it to be objectively good. But it can be entertaining for some people. Just not me.

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (08/05/24)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez (10/10)

This book blew me away. It has amazing characters, unique writing, and a plot that may not seem complex at first but is incredibly satisfying and holds great meaning. The way this book plays with perspective is unlike any I've ever read before, and it blends seamlessly with the worldbuilding. The characters are a little larger than life, like heroic figures, which is exactly what they should seem like, but they're also incredibly human as this story often takes time to give voice to people that would usually be forgotten. This story is all about cultural identity, storytelling, and family history, and the framing device works spectacularly well in getting those messages across. It essentially uses an epic legend to depict the process of reconnecting with one's culture, and it's made all the more concrete by the fact that the author's culture (he's Filipino) comes across so strongly. This book took me a bit, a week and a half, but it's absolutely worth the time and I especially recommend for any fantasy fans looking for something new.

Talons of Power by Tui T. Sutherland (8/10)

Coming up on the end of the second arc, this book was decent. I bumped up its rating since it had some genuinely crazy reveals that have been built up to since the beginning of the first arc, but I did find this one a little repetitive. I understand that Turtle obviously suffers from extreme anxiety and it is likely over-emphasized due to the younger target audience, but I swear half this book was him going around in circles. I did like that he didn't just get over his anxiety at the end. He just becomes the poster boy for "do it scared," which is a good message for kids. It was genuinely frustrating to see Turtle enchant all kinds of one-use things when there were a billion different spells he could have cast to get rid of Darkstalker or remove his magical influence from everyone. I will say though, I did love that Qibli and Glory were the only two to pick up on the magic as the two "street smarts" characters in either arc. While I like Turtle and love this series, this book was just frustrating to read at some points.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (CR, 50%)

The dread that filled me when the characters started talking about a magical tournament...I don't hate that trope, but it has been so overdone in modern fantasy that I'm just absolutely sick of it. Luckily, I'm halfway through and the tournament is sort of a background thing and is more of an assessment than a competition. I like the characters, but I don't feel super strongly about them, and the romance feels overall unnecessary. I love a romance subplot, but this one feels like it was added just to cover Bardugo's bases.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (CR, 26%)

So far, this book seems right up my alley. It's full of political intrigue and incredibly thorough worldbuilding. Unfortunately, there isn't really magic; this is basically the real world with a new geographical layout, governance systems, and an empire that is an amalgam of every terrible European imperialist power. I think Dickinson doesn't know how to write children, and things are over-explained sometimes, but mostly I'm enjoying this read and think it could be really strong.

Ash and Roses by N. B. Snook (CR, 7%)

I'm am sick to hell and back of Beauty and the Beast retellings (one of only two retellings available in romantasy, the other being Hades and Persephone), but I'm also dedicated to reading every book I've gotten through Stuff Your Kindle, so here I am. So far this book isn't egregious with decent writing, but it has done two things I dislike. First, the main character's name is Abilene, a suitable high fantasy name, but she is called Abby. Please no. Commit! Second, Abilene is obviously pretty privileged being a princess, but she seems wholly aware of that privilege and completely class conscious, which is not only a boring choice but an unrealistic one as there is yet to be anything introduced that would explain this difference in ideology. Hopefully this gets better.

Only by Rachel H. Drake (DNF @ 10%)

Both Goodreads and Storygraph tell me this is the first book in this series, but it must be a spin-off or something. This book starts off with the main character talking about all these people he knows and his history with them, and none of it is explained or really described at all. WHO IS WILLIAM? I sure don't know. The only explanation is that I missed a connecting series somewhere, but the writing isn't good enough for me to try and hunt that down.

[ace-beef]

You have ocs? 👀👀👀👀👀Tell us about them

Yes! I have so many I don't know what to do with them all sometimes!! I won't go through LITERALLY all of them because I must have at least 40 or something at this point (and that is not a joke, I remember counting them all once and I know I got to a number in the 40s lmao) but I will go through the ones that I do the most stuff for.

I’m also going to add in a read more break because even though I don’t talk about ALL of my OCs, I still talk about a decent amount of them and give somewhat chunky descriptions of the main ones.

First of all, I have an entire page on my blog that gives the run down for all of my DnD OCs, including base stats, backstory, the amount of sessions I've played them for etc. Currently I have 15 of the silly little dudes and I have even written a few fics about some of them! They can be found on my AO3.

Next, we've got OCs that are a part of my main writing project: Finders Keepers. This is a book idea that I really hope to write one day, and it actually spawned from a dream I had one night! I remember sitting bolt upright in the morning and thinking " I NEED to write this down" and then I scrambled out of bed and to my laptop to write it all down before I forgot too much. I will say that I had this original dream back in April 2020 and since then it has evolved and grown so SO much (I have a google doc with literally ALL of the info about the plot, characters, the magic mechanics, the enemies etc that currently is 13 pages long. If you're so desperate to look at this document then feel free to DM me for a link!). It follows four teenagers as they discover that there are dark forces in the world that seek to destroy humanity, and obviously they are the ones that need to stop it all and save the world! The four main characters of this and their sort of “main characteristics” are as follows: 

Faye Harper, 16, she/her; long golden blonde hair that is often tied back in a messy ponytail, pointed facial features, soft green eyes, tall for her age and tallest of the group, appears to be thin but is surprisingly strong, messy and scruffy in general, un-identical twin sister to Ewan, bit of a horse girl, outdoors-y, adventurous, creative, not afraid of much, explores everything she can (sometimes she explores a little too much and it gets her into trouble), brave and determined, works hard to achieve her goals and sticks to her beliefs and opinions, commanding and stubborn, can be impatient

Ewan Harper, 16, he/him; short and neat-ish blond hair the same shade as his sister, hazel eyes, kinda short for his age and the shortest of the group, chubby, acne, quite strong, a lot neater than his sister, has Pretty Boy potential, un-identical twin brother to Faye, animal nerd, also naturally outdoors-y but not as adventurous, has to get dragged into things by the others, the Mum Friend and the voice of caution, can be a tad childish, will be first on hand to help the others if they get injured, stubborn and rooted, anxious

Skylar Murphy, 16, they/them; black hair that’s cut in a sharp jawline bob with full fringe, warm brown eyes, average height, lean in build but still has a little bit of stock to them due to them being in good shape, small bit of acne, can speak both English and Japanese, English father, Japanese mother, both parents are very strict, casual nerd that mainly enjoys video games and cartoons, also really active and enjoys sports and exercise (especially skateboarding), is on the school’s netball and hockey teams, used to bully others in primary school, the Cool Kid, does not like to appear vulnerable or soft, aggressive and confrontational, determined, daring and quick thinking

Kaden Black, 16, he/him; brown eyes that are so dark they look black sometimes, somewhat round facial features, floofy brown hair that’s cut short except for at the front and sides where it parts in the middle into cheekbone-length curtains, acne, short but not as short as Ewan, average in build but a little on the larger side, broad shoulders, large round glasses, biggest nerd of the group and is into literally everything (particularly Star Wars, Bill and Ted), enjoys cosplay, history buff that enjoys researching things, absolutely riddled with ADHD, impulsive, eccentric fashion sense, chill and goes with the flow, can be impatient sometimes, good listener, fun sense of humour 

And then I have to also mention an important side character called The Keeper (real name is Waylon Foster), 56, he/him; wears a grey turtleneck jumper, thin black-brimmed reading glasses, fluffy grey hair, light grey facial scruff that is just a shade or two lighter than his hair, stocky but not exaggerated in build (has a bit of a dad bod), strong but also a little soft facial features, fairly tall, has an Anakin Skywalker-style scar over his right eye, soft and kind blue-grey eyes that don’t look Quite Right, the 'Old and Tired Mentor', Dad Energy, enjoys reading and learning new skills, good at teaching and communicating, soft, kind, caring, gentle and patient, aggressively protects the kids no matter the cost, can’t quite remember How To Human properly, quiet, humble, a little bit shy and reserved, sometimes can get lost in his thoughts

So that’s brushing the surface of Finders Keepers! Next, my other main creative project with OCs: The Van Helsing Project. This I would love to turn into an animated TV show, and this also has a large google doc of everything although it’s only 5 pages long (tbh it’s mainly just character descriptions and basic plot, I need to add stuff to it). This is about the grandson of the infamous Abraham Van Helsing continuing the family tradition of hunting monsters, and forming a team to aid him in this endless mission. I basically like to call it 1930s Scooby Doo but for adults because it has the same sort of format hehe. It was inspired by a couple of my absolute favourite films, Van Helsing (2004) and The Mummy (1999), as well as my favourite TV show, Jekyll and Hyde (ITV, 2015). Anyway here’s the gang and their main characteristics: 

Abdiel Van Helsing, early 30s, he/him; character design and personality is loosely based on Rick O’Connell from The Mummy: shortish messy hair, side parting, thick and short sideburns, ‘Obi Wan Chestnut’ in colour, bright green eyes that are almost unnaturally bright, a fairly strong and square jawline but not exaggerated, short scruff facial hair that’s slightly darker than his hair, thick and scruffy eyebrows but also not exaggerated, large scar diagonally across the nose as well as plenty of others on the body, strong and chunky in build but again not exaggerated, tall, wide grin, complete himbo but has a decent knowledge on a lot of monsters and how to hunt them, no actual superpowers but he’s just naturally talented and well trained, has ADHD, can be a bit too cocky for his own good but in an oddly charming way, care-free, playful and energetic, gets along with most people, casually flirts with pretty much anyone if he finds them attractive enough

Mary Frankenstein, early 30s, she/her; long bright ginger hair that is tied back in a high-ish ponytail with a sweeping side fringe, pale skin, lots of freckles, pale blue-grey eyes, pointed face and nose that is a little hooked in shape, large round glasses, gold cross-shaped earrings as well as a gold cross necklace, thin and average in height, shoulders slightly wider than hips, zoologist and cryptozoologist, wants to find out how monsters tick, how to kill them more effectively and how to cure and rehabilitate monsters if possible, can handle herself in a fight easily, confident, thoughtful and thorough, smart and intelligent, stern and serious, no nonsense attitude, blunt, cold and harsh (especially to those who don’t know her very well), develops feelings for Abdiel but really does not want to tell him about them

Quincey Harker, mid 30s, he/him; character design inspired by Keanu Reeves’ portrayal of Jonathan Harker (as if this version of John was Quincey’s dad): collarbone length straight black hair that is often tied back in a loose ponytail with shorter swoopy bits at the sides and complete with widow’s peak, somewhat pale skin, long and rounded face and nose, thin features, defined jawline, warm brown eyes, three large ‘claw mark’ scars over the left side of his face from the cheekbone to the chin as well as lots of other scars over the body, body is thin and lean but still somewhat muscular, tall and is a few inches taller than Abdiel, Protective Older Brother energy, grew up alongside Abdiel due to the Van Helsings and the Harkers keeping in touch and visiting each other frequently, also continued the family tradition of hunting monsters, quiet, calm, reserved, considerate, chilled out, has the capability to be chaotic and stupid because he’s sometimes enabled by Abdiel, good at picking up on other people’s emotions, good at comforting and looking after others, plays a big part in matchmaking Abdiel and Mary since both of them refuse to believe that the other could possibly like them

Cynthia Lanyon, late 20s, she/her; character design inspired by TGS Lanyon: soft brown skin, average in build but with surprisingly squishy cheeks, round and bright eyes that are a soft dark brown in colour, small and rounded features, dark brown ringlet curly hair that is fairly short and surprisingly well kept, almost always has a pair of goggles on her head (brass or copper in colour with varying colours of lenses), short, hourglass body, makes gadgets and weapons for Abdiel and others to use, knows chemistry, alchemy and mechanics, is autistic, shy and nervous with people to start out with but becomes cheerful and friendly once she gets to know others, very much at home in her workshop, enjoys telling people about the things she’s made, she can manage in a fight but will always be looking for a way out of it, prefers to be The Guy In The Chair, talks rather fast, easily anxious, creative and thoughtful, always tinkering with something 

Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Talbot; this character I haven’t properly developed yet, but her basic concept is she’s the team’s medical professional who wants to help and heal people, but during the show she becomes a werewolf and has to try and deal with these new animalistic and aggressive behaviours that she absolutely hates

Detective Samuel Drake, early 60s, he/him; shortish salt and pepper hair that has a bit of a curl to it, thick and angular moustache of the same colour as his hair, the beginnings of sideburns, bushy eyebrows, strong features including a prominent nose that has clearly been broken in the past, washed out blue eyes, rounded face and jawline, rectangular rimless glasses that are always pushed right up to the bridge of his nose, average in height and build but definitely has a bit of a Dad Bod going on, is not one of the main hunting party/group and works for the British police and is pretty much one of the very few people in the police that know about Abdiel’s unique job so does his best to make sure that Abdiel and his team don’t get into too much trouble, childhood friend of Abdiel’s mother, friendly and witty, focuses completely on the task at hand and becomes stern and serious, has a very good moral compass and makes sure that people know this by breaking the 4th wall and lecturing the audience while staring directly at the camera (the other characters don’t even know that there is a 4th wall to break so they are greatly confused by this behaviour) 

Next I’m just gonna list some OCs that aren’t a part of these main three things, some are independent and some are for already existing media. I’m also not going to go in as much detail as the ones above (because this post is long enough already lmao):

Drew Hunter, an Outlast OC that becomes a werewolf and is admitted to Mount Massive Asylum by his sister Sarah. Turns out the asylum has a whole section for those who suffer from clinical lycanthropy as well as actual lycanthropy. All of these patients are treated by the cold-hearted and oddly soft-spoken Doctor Zachery Baines. I have written one fic about how Drew was sent to Mount Massive on my AO3 and I do have another WIP of him meeting Dr Baines but I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever finish that one lmao. Maybe one day, we shall see. 

Oscar Hart, a BBC Ghosts OC who is a medieval ghost that died during a training accident on the grounds that would become Button House. He desperately wanted to join the next crusade but he was always kinda clumsy and accident prone, so he never made it. I have a tumblr post giving the run down on this sweet boy.

Lucid Dream and Canine King, who are Killjoy OCs. Spawned from my reawakened obsession with My Chemical Romance this year, I decided to finally delve into and understand the Danger Days lore. Lucid Dream actually was a pre-existing OC from when me and some friends played the Cyberpunk tabletop game once (they were just called Dream back then), but that campaign died a year or two ago and since then this OC had been left; they’d gotten dusty. So upon deciding to make Killjoy OCs I went “hold on a second, Dream would fit so perfectly into this universe” so I gave them a makeover and now they’re a Fabulous Killjoy. Canine King is an originally made Killjoy and tbh I haven’t developed them much, but they’re kind of a sona, and also kind of me going “hey what if we added werewolves to this universe”, because putting werewolves into everything is kinda my thing. 

Elizabeth Wolfe, an OC for The Glass Scientists, a lodgersona that I made back when everyone was making funky little lodger versions of themselves. Ironically I’ve kind of fallen off TGS but I do still really enjoy Elizabeth and her tiny reanimated dinosaurs. I have two fics on her becoming a member of the Society and the antics that ensure on my AO3.

Charles Starr, an eccentric mad scientist that basically spawned from me thinking one day “hey Charlie Day would play a really good mad scientist”. So basically he’s a combination of Charlie Kelly and Newt who’s been thrown into that stereotypical mad scientist vibe like Doc Brown from Back To The Future. He’s a flexible OC, like I can put him into different universes for fun, so he’s definitely going to feature in The Van Helsing Project at least once. 

Emily and Gayle, who were part of my original writing project that I had before Finders Keepers. This was actually also based on a dream! The concept was basically ‘Good Omens Except With Vampires And Werewolves’. Emily is a werewolf and Gayle is a vampire, both have gone to university at the same time and have ended up being in the same halls. It takes them far too long to realise that the other is a supernatural creature and therefore hilarity ensues. When they do finally realise though, they decide to team up and become best friends (eventually more than friends) as Emily is no longer in a werewolf pack and Gayle left their old vampire clan long ago. I do still want to write this one day because I think it’ll be fun! 

Max and Kit, two pirates that also spawned from a dream. Max and his nonbinary wife Kit co-captain a pirate ship together, and with their faithful crew they explore the world. They also have a pet hippocampus! 

Canine Anarchy, a band formed of 5 werewolves (hey look more werewolves, I do so much shit with werewolves, everything is better with werewolves), Kyle on guitar and lead vocals, Daniel on base guitar and backing vocals (although he does do lead vocals sometimes), Ash on guitar who does all of the cool and technical riffs and melodies, Amy on lead/backing vocals and keyboard, Ellie on drums and backing vocals. These guys have been bouncing around my head since I was a teenager, because I came up with them during long car journeys. I would stare out of the window and imagine this band playing all of the songs I listened to on these long journeys. In terms of the music they play, well I was an emo teenager so you can already imagine the kind of bands I was listening to. The reason I’ve added them to this list (because I wasn’t planning on adding OCs I came up with before I was 16), is because I recently gave them a makeover. Some of them have new names and new designs and I’ve finally found a name for the band that I actually like! 

So yeah that’s a decent amount of my OCs! I always have some of these funky little dudes spinning around in my head at all times, mostly it’s either the DnD ones, Finders Keepers, or The Van Helsing Project, but the others get turns too occasionally! And obviously I am always down to talk about ANY of them. 

[blackasmidnightcats]

Continued discussion about Sophie's "redemption arc"

Original post from @agathasarmy

@agathasarmy I've moved this to a new post cause I have a lot of feelings and still want to continue this discussion and I hope you don't mind

So anyways...

(this wouldve been also a great way to introduce the concept of legacies, especially with the past vs. present. vs. future theme and it would also parallel tedros’ storyline as they’re both dealing with the fallout of carrying their predecessor’s glory)

YESSSS

All of them have big shoes to fill because of the people who've nurtured and believed in them

One thing I really hated in the camelot years was the lack of mourning that Agatha and Sophie did for Callis and Lady Lesso respectively.

That is the kind of anguish that I was looking for. Just them being children and missing their parent/parental figure and wishing that they could still be someone's child who could look out for them and motivate them when they needed.

Like Sophie remembering that Lady Lesso believed in her the way that Sophie could never do and Agatha remembering how her mother would have wanted her daughter to live out her life with with love and adventure.

Let's not even get with Tedros (that's a whole other meta in itself)

so far all i got was lesso and hester being the best examples of it, but what i also got from them was that Evil wasnt being cruel but serving as the balance to Good like ok???? what exactly does that entail??

Exactly, I'm really frustrated about this because as much as Soman has tried to make us understand that Good and Evil are equals, he has never actually shown us how equal they can be since all the Evil figures that we have are usually helping Good.

I'm really pissed that the Coven's quest involve them finding a new School Master when they have absolutely no need to do that. They should be doing their own stuff instead. It's the one thing I shame Prof Dovey for.

that was what I expected the series would be: Tedros and Agatha as Good because Good always stands stronger together, and Sophie as Evil because Evil is best alone, but not lonely

I stand behind your point about "Alone but not Lonely" quote because if that does not describe Sophie's biggest problem than I don't know what does. She can have all the fans that she wants and build the whole School for Evil in her tribute and pretend that she's a strong independent woman who doesn't need a man but she'll still feel the loneliness seep through if she doesn't have a closure with her insecurities and envy

instead Soman subverted our expectations in the worst way possible since GoT S8 (dont @ me)

I will stand by you with the hate for GoT s8. That was a trainwreck so badly done it imploded on itself. Recently, writers that have big productions have been having a hard time gracefully ending their stories

EXACTLY I JUST KNOW SOMAN’S GONNA BRUSH IT OFF OR BARELY MENTION IT WHEN THIS KIND OF DIALOGUE IS MORE IMPORTANT TO THE MESSAGE OF THE STORY THAN SOMAN RANDOMLY INSERTING DOVEY AS TEDROS’ GODMOTHER OR REAPER BEING KING FOR PLOT CONVENIENCE

I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL. I WILL NOT STOP BEING SO FREAKING BITTER ABOUT IT.

Soman was off with a good start on that one. I would have been more interested with Sophie trying to handle her narcissistic desires vs her need to actually be a decent Dean to all the new students just like how Lady Lesso was for her. Her understanding how to be Evil and be herself would have been a nice read.

if soman had to bring back a trope from the last era, it would be the discussion of dichotomies i.e. Good vs. Evil, instead of the evil lover trope cos aint nobody got the time for that

YESSS

It's still technically the school for GOOD AND EVIL SERIES even if we go to a new era I was hoping that Soman would still have these as the roots but NOOOO.

His obsession with Sophie obsessing over boys that obsess over her is a strong one apparently.

like at this point it’ just really blatantly obvious how much Soman favors Sophie and I wouldnt be that bothered if he didnt sacrifice the plot or the other characters’ brain cells to go along with it cos to this day I refuse to believe that people really would just accept Rhian like that after reading The Tale of Sophie and Agatha

EXCATLY. I HONESTLY COULD NOT UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE DECISIONS OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS ABOUT THIS.

Like did no one still understand that not everything is what it seems?!

I am baffled with how easy they trusted a comeplete stranger over Agatha who has proven over and over and over again that she fights for the good of EVERYONE and is perfecrly willing to sacrifice her happiness for theirs.

Like at this point I'm thinking that her fairy tale propably does not do justice for everything that she's been through cause if the other people of the Woods read her story the way we did, there would be no doubt that we would stand behind Agatha for a lifetime

like cmon people we went through this already?? a random hot stranger coming out of nowhere??? ITS THE RED FLAG

In defense with them, (and I am saying this very, very off handedly) Rhian did come around saving everyone's asses and was a pretty decent guy (NOT).

WHAT I AM REALLY SURPISED ABOUT IS THAT THEY WANT A PIECE OF HIM AND HOW EASILY THEY TRUSTED HIM WITH EVERYTHING

I THOUGHT THE POINT OF THIS SERIES WAS TO SHOW THAT ROMANCE WASN’T THE ONLY HIGHEST MANIFESTATION OF LOVE, BUT A LOVE BETWEEN FAMILY OR A LOVE FOR ONE’S SELF WAS JUST AS IMPORTANT????

One of my biggest beefs with Soman's writing. He highlights romance too much compared to platonic and self love. I want a moment with Sophie like the one in TLEA where Agatha was getting stressed about letting Sophie and Tedros grow closer and Soman managed to pretty realistically portray that; Agatha was being insecure and possessive and jealous but she let herself reflect on her actions. She made peace with it and faced it with bravery even though it really hurts her. Because she understood that she would never have closure for this if she didn't let it happen.

AGGIE IS THE BEST. I LOVE HER

Why the hell can't Soman write something similar like this for Sophie.

WHY SOMAN PUTTING THIS AMATONORMATIVE BS IN THIS STORY AGAIN LIKE WE ARE TIRED

In fairness, Sophie getting into ANOTHER romantic relationship I will PASS SO HARD.

But for everyone else that deserves some romantic love (TAGATHA PLS) I will accept crawling

also I like your ideas on what could’ve happened instead, with Rhian being more proactive towards Tedros and Agatha instead of Sophie - it would play well into the Camelot myths and themes that I was really expecting in the new era

I KNOW RIGHT?!?!?!

If Soman could only just get over his Sophie Obsession, then he would understand that Tedros was the perfect target for Rhian's manipulations and Sophie was the perfect target for the downfall.

I have no idea how the hell did Rhian think (but apparently it worked because soman plot) that seducing Sophie would win him the love of the Woods.

plus it wouldve been a chance for Sophie to actively help them instead of tearing them apart like in the last 3 books?? like she’s kinda doing that rn but it would’ve been nice if she didn’t have a hand in stealing their happiness like she’s always done too

Well...for me she doesn't seem like she's tearing them apart anymore but I stand with your point about her stealing their happiness.

This could have been good, good character development for her. Her realizing that she keeps making tagatha miserable and stealing what belongs to them and the complexity that comes with her inner struggle between her envy vs love for her best friends.

PLUS CHADDICK DESERVED TO LIVE INSTEAD OF BEING KILLED FOR PLOT CONVENIENCE LITERALLY IT’S THE WORST DEATH IN THE SERIES NOT COS IT’S SAD BUT COS IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE AND MAKES FOR TERRIBLE WRITING IMHO

"NOT COS IT'S SAD BUT BECAUSE IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE"

SCREAM IT A BIT LOUDER SO SOMAN CAN HEAR IT AT THE BACK!!!!

Soman, I will never forgive you for doing this to this boy.

You could have made Tedros and Chaddick have a falling out. I mean the last time that they interacted was during AWWP and Chaddick treated Tedros as crap. I know that all of us headcanon that these two are each other's best mates but they've barely had significant interactions for me to consider that a case.

They'd be so pressured about not followong the legacy of Arthur and Lance that a small problem could propably tear these two apart.

also, on another point, you would think Sophie would be more sympathetic to Tedros situation given that they’re both leading populations, essentially

plus Sophie learned to understand Tedros’ mind better in awwp??? where the hell did that relationship development went (even if she was Filip at the time)??

I am honestly more suprised at how viciously Tedros seems to treat her.

Like it wasn't that long after TLEA that Tedros was perfectly willing to let Sophie stay in Camelot and even asked her to visit but come his coronation (which was like less than a day after) he keeps on proclaiming about how happy he is with her out his life and in aCoT his distrust for her was off the roof.

Then there is the Handbook ordeal with Sophie just completely roasting Tedros like what happend to the two of you?

I don't even understand Soman's decision about this. It doesn't even affect the actual storyline in anyway. It's just Sophie and Tedros at each other's throats.

Tedros has been treated the crappiest out of the main trio (let’s be honest) as if the game was built to oppose him, meanwhile Sophie gets major Soman privilege and is given the role ONCE AGAIN that could change the game

THIS

It's the reason why I can't even read AWWP anymore. It hurts too much to have to read at how badly the other characters treat him. Just reading the first line of that book gets me anxious.

And PREACH THAT SOPHIE HAS MAJOR SOMAN PRIVILEGES.

This is why I was actually suprised that Soman shared that he planned on killing Sophie off at the end of TLEA but we'll never how that story went

like if the School Years was for Sophie to realize and accept her Evilness, couldnt Soman have decided to give Tedros and Agatha the deciding roles this time around given that, you know, it’s called the CAMELOT YEARS ERA???

Honestly, I just want Tedros to have the most agency out of all the characters. Like make his decisions actually matter to the plot. Make him the center of the plot and revolve Rhian's plans around him instead of being against him cause that's exactly how Agatha's role in the school years era was for Rafal.

The basic formula goes like this;

Sophie important to the Rafal's/Rhian's/Japeth's/hell even Evelyn Sader's plan

Agatha/Tedros are in the way of that plan so they have to go

Agatha/Tedros saves Sophie's ass

Sophie making the big decision

Like didn't Soman say that he didn't want to be that repetitive writer? That's why he changed the ending of AWWP because it was too similar to the first book?

WTF SOMAN?

she’s still out here wanting someone to look at her the tedros looks at agatha (honestly big mood right there) but I wish this didn’t have to be her main conflict

This is actually why I'm not that mad that Sophie fell for Rhian. Because at the end of the day Sophie will be Sophie.

But I agree I kinda hoped that she wouldn't be as guilible

the girl is smart and knows her worth so I can’t really understand why she decided to get ENGAGED to the next person (Hort obviously cant count cos plot) who tells her she looks pretty???

NOW THIS. THIS IS MY BEEF WITH SOPHIE.

I can understand why she'd date him but MARRIAGE?! That was going a little bit too far.

You'd think after her engagement with Rafal that she'd be TRAUMATIZE for the next one.

And honestly it would have been hella funny if she did feel this way. Imagine Rhian nearly getting all that he needed but Sophie just straight up leaves him on the stage cause she's still got issues with it.

Would have been my favorite scene

And Hort, poor boy, he needs character development of his own. I'm not his fan honestly and currently, he's not winning me over.

ALSO THE FACT THAT SHE ENDS UP BEING CONSIDERED FOR THE ROLE OF QUEEN OF CAMELOT INFURIATES ME SO MUCH COS WE WENT THROUGH THAT SHIT IN TLEA???? WHY ARE WE BRINGING THIS UP AGAIN????

THIS. THIS IS MY BEEF WITH SOMAN

Can he not understand that she would be crap as QUEEN?

A parallel I noticed with Rhian and Sophie is that they both completely remodeled their respective castles in their image. Not even considering anyone else. And they both treat their faculty as crap.

Kinda tells us that she really would be crap as queen.

At least the Camelot citizens had enough braincells not to fall for this crap

Every other kingdom in the Woods though. They better be budgeting gold to Tedros and Agatha once they're back on the throne.

(and im so so tired of Sophie stealing Agatha’s Ever After from her, indirectly or not, like cant she just be happy for her best friend and move the plot in some way other than this???)

I really do believe envy is only one of the things that Sophie needs to sort out. The fact that she admitted at the end of TLEA that she does, in fact, feel envious that Agatha gets to be a queen and her little episode in the Ever Never Roundtable about how she's the one with the official title of queen and that Agatha isn't even a princess says a lot.

I wouldn't have minded if Sophie had a slight blackout and just lost it and saying mean things about Agatha but instantly regreting it because no matter what, deep down in the foundations of her soul, she loves Agatha with everything that she has. And is she has the be in a constant battle with herself about this fact then she's willing to keep on fighting. That would have been satisfying to read.

I mean just imagine if Sophie was there when Agatha was leading her army and Hester mentions that Agatha is Queen in the School, in Camelot, or anywhere elsse in the Woods. They would follow her. Willingly.

Sophie would have had a panic attack.

This girl needs to learn that she can't force people to be loyal and follow her by making every physical reminder of how amazing she is but instead she needs to lead and make some sacrifices of her own because she's doing these sacrifices in the benefit of Evil and its future instead of herself.

Sophie appreciating people?? Not only remembering them when she needs something from them??? Like @ soman im not asking her to be the next Mother Theresa but I’ll take this character development pls and thank u

I am all in for Sophie appreciating everyone. If she can't do it for other people, then she better do it for Evil.

[fancytrinkets]

Here's how motivation works for me — and I'm gonna compare this to track and field because it's the only similar endeavor I've done that holds the metaphor reasonably well.

I've always been a pretty decent runner, but I've never been the fastest. I've never been first in anything. I was in the top three once. That meant I scored for my team at a meet and that was a helluva great day. It took a lot of work to get there and also a lot of strategy, but back to that later.

First: the hard stuff. It's easy to get discouraged when you're never the best and you're pretty sure you're not actually capable of being the best. It's easy to look at that teammate of yours who seems so effortlessly good and start to resent them a little. When it feels that way, the first thing I do as a runner (writer) is remind myself it's a normal feeling. Everyone gets that feeling, even the amazing teammate who everybody adores. The next thing to do is get myself to a good mental place where I can shift the focus away from comparison and back to the PR — the personal record.

That's your best time running a given distance. You're always working with that number in mind, to try and improve yourself. But let me also say, sometimes you run really strong and well, but you don't break your own record. Other times, the whole race is like torture and you think you're doing terribly, but at the end you've somehow pulled off a new PR.

Both efforts are gonna give you something to learn from and grow into. The race where you know it felt great, that was real despite the numbers. Maybe it was a windy day or your cleats weren't adjusted right or something else happened. You still ran strong and well. You know you did. Trust it. Honor it. That terrible race where you pulled off a new PR, well, it wasn't as bad as you thought, was it?

I try to watch how my thoughts go when I think about writing. Do I focus on the worst of everything and deny my achievements? Sometimes yes. And you know what, that's a mental habit. I don't shame myself for it, I just notice it. I try to shift it whenever I can. I give myself permission to fail at it, to go slow. This is work; this is strategy; this is difficult.

Along with the mindset work, there's the physical — the doing (the writing). In running, coaches are the ones who helped me notice my strengths and created training plans to optimize my performance. In writing, it can help to seek out a mentor to point out what I'm doing well and what I can improve when it comes to style and voice and plot and pacing. Good mentors help me grow.

I also just like to read and notice things like structure and tension and other aspects of the craft I wasn't always aware of. And then I try it myself. Sometimes focusing on the techniques and the training is a good way to take my mind off the fact that I'm not the best yet... and might never be. But I am better than I was five years ago.

I wanna post my fics but I'm afraid I'll get disappointed with the result and lose my motivation to write, like the other writers I see. Is there a way to deal with this feeling?

Post your stories because you want to share them, not because you want to get comments. 

If your purpose is being popular or receiving positive attention, you’ll inevitably end up disappointed. If your purpose is to share something you love with other people who will hopefully love it too, you’re more likely to be okay. 

We all wish we had more comments/kudos/etc sometimes. The key to not letting it get to you is to have another reason why you’re doing the thing. I post with my fandom friends in mind and the hopes that they’ll see/like the thing. I also post because any time I finish a thing, I want to share it with anyone who might like it :)

What about the rest of you? How do you keep yourself motivated, aside from comments etc.?

[mysnowdragons]

I'd call my mom a fan, but until S7 she didn't reliably know Arya and Daenerys's names. I had to call them "Murder Girl" and "Dragon Girl." She picked up on R+L=J largely from me filling her in on it, esp once Lyanna was shown onscreen as a little girl.

I really don't think D&D are stupid. I was aware of them as novelists waaaaay before they ever started working on the show (I read Lucky Wander Boy when it came out, for example). I think Troy (David Benioff wrote the screenplay) is a legitimately decent movie, if not a great one, and I think its reputation as a film has improved over the years.

I do think that even in its simplified tv form, the ASOIAF story is incredibly convoluted and complicated and has a lot more named characters than most other series. It's hard for even a lot of fans to follow, and honestly, judging from the amount of tinfoil I see out there and also stuff like A Read of Ice and Fire on tor.com, the books aren't any easier. Book fans are best placed to follow the show, but book fans also complain about adaptation choices the most. I really do think that you're absolutely right here: the show is immensely popular and actually a lot more subtle much of the time than something like, say, Grey's Anatomy or Empire, but sometimes it has to beat people over the head with its major plot points.

Ultimately, my mother, our test case here, knew that Lyanna and Rhaegar were Jon's parents because I shot off of her couch and went YES! I KNEW IT! I HAVE BEEN WAITING TWENTY YEARS FOR THAT TO BE CONFIRMED! But not everyone in the GA buys the DVDs or even knows the History and Lore videos exist, and if they did, not everyone would watch them, or the commentaries (I've seen the majority of the commentaries apart from the technical ones). She has a strong sense that there will be a Jonerys baby, but the reason she has a strong sense of it is that Dany's infertility was discussed a few times during the season. But she was bothered by the incest angle until I pointed out that avunculate marriage is more or less acceptable in Westeros and that Dany and Rhaegar's parents were brother and sister and there was a lot of sibling marriage in the Targaryen line. And that's the kind of thing that the GA will be oblivious to unless they're hammered over the head with it: the subtleties and background details that you have to remember from a zillion seasons ago. (I think GoT is a show that improves a lot on rewatch: for the most part, with a few exceptions, it's tight. Watch a lot of episodes within a few weeks of each other and pay attention and you'll pick up on all kinds of things.)

In general, I understand objections to adaptation changes, although I often think the objections are uncharitable and don't really agree with them. A good example is the way Jon finds out that Valyrian steel can kill White Walkers. Would you rather have him find out from reading a passage in a book, or from going to Hardhome and learning by experience?

I also think a lot of book purists are probably in for a rude awakening if we ever see the last few books. The major story beats are likely to be pretty much the same even if the routes to get there have different scenery. It's a narrative logic thing.

GoT isn’t subtle about feelings

One of the major complaints about Jonerys is how we had to be told repeatedly that Jon and Dany are in love. That apparently their chemistry isn’t enough and we need to be told. I think that people forget that this show tends to hit us over the head with things. If being told detracts from a relationship then none can stand up to that scrutiny, some we have been told about several times. As a reminder with one of the more popular ships:

We’re told Jaime and Brienne are in love over the seasons. If it’s okay for them with no complaints, why is Jonerys held to a different standard? This is how Game of Thrones communicates these things to us.