#If you write a prequel to something you have to take into account what was written before character wise

[msfbgraves]

Let it stand alone

Saw "Wonka" with the nieces way too late, because I thought it was a cash grab franchise milking faux nostalgic manipulation move, and I guess it was, and I still had a good time.

Now, if I were Roald Dahl, I'd likely object to this sweetheart of a Wonka. Wonka's a mad borderline dangerous maverick in Charlie. But this isn't the book, it's an adaption. If you don't know Wonka isn't a sweetheart, him being one doesn't ring false in the film. And books get adapted all the time - various adaptions aren't necessarily a commentary on one another.

So why tie this so deliberately to the Gene Wilder version? It isn't the same Wonka, and that's OK! It isn't Dahl's Wonka, and that's OK! It's another take on Wonka that works fine for what it is. Do they really think audiences would not have gone to watch a lovely romp about a sweet chocolatier anyway? That Oompa Loompas aren't fun without green hair? Look, this setup could have worked as "The Corruption of Willy Wonka" too, but that isn't what it wanted to be. Tying it too closely to another film for the parents' sake is the only thing that suddenly creates plotholes and ooc moments when there weren't any before.

[olderthannetfic]

Someone recently left a comment on one of my fics that they were disappointed I wasn't addressing any of the criticism or comments I got on Goodreads. After all, I reply to comments on the actual fic. Why am I ignoring the Goodreads commenters?

Well, 1. I didn't know there was a Goodreads page for my fanfic 2. I think if they wanted a reply they'd say it where I'm known to reply to every single comment without fail and 3. the kind of dumbass who treats 800k of free fanfics in a series like something they paid for is not the sort of person I want to engage with. If 800k of stories, with main stories, tie-ins, prequel asides, missing scenes, etc. for free wasn't to your liking, just... go read another? We have stories in this fandom whose whole series clock in at over a million words. We have stories where people have done fan songs and fanart and fancomics tying into their main work. We have stories with multiple timelines. You have so many options, all of them totally free and easy to access. If my stories, which I fully admit ares flawed and show some of my weaknesses as an author, don't do it for you, you have options. You have wonderful options.

If I had an editor and a publisher and my stories were actual books, I wouldn't have this reaction to this comment. But these stories have one person working on them total. I'm not making income off of this. This is what I write while working two jobs, for fun. As much as I do view writing fanfic as something that helps me learn the ins and outs of writing and put my all into it, it's going to be rougher than if I'd had help with it or had time to do more drafts than the three I normally do.

And if I was known for ducking criticism, I would get having comments on another site. There are authors in my fandom who delete anything that's not praise. But I have had long conversations with my haters in which I take everything in good faith and explain my writing choices, word choices and ideas. I have my tumblr which is just about my fandom stuff listed in the AN of every chapter. DMs are open and anon is on. My Dreamwidth account, also under the same name, also has DMs open. I have publicly stated when I have made shit narrative choices and owned that yes, sometimes I have genuinely dropped the ball. This has influenced later chapters where things go off of the original outline in order for the shit choice to have consequences in a way that makes sense and feels true to the characters in the story.

So "why are you hiding from the Goodreads commenters?!" feels like the most baffling thing I've ever been asked. I tried to be nice about it, but all I could think was, "why didn't the Goodreads commenters who wanted a reply post their comments where they know I 100% would've responded to it?"

--

Madness!

(Also, lol, half the pro shit with a lot of comments on Goodreads is barely edited. Maybe they were bitching about content? But if it was whining about craft, the bar is in the floor and they have nothing to complain about.)

[sprinklenoodles]

Okay!

This one is going to be shorter since I am trying not to stay up late! (Future me. I lied but I made it! It's not 12 this time! WOOOOO!!!) 'Tis 11pm rn instead of 12 or 1am. Decided to read And Then I Go And Spoil It All By Saying Something Stupid Like "I Love You" Did more art today so I didn't have a lot of time to read that much! Also, it's Jin and Kijo! The doomed gays!! I had too! Also, sliding this in. Hope you had good celebratory time!!! I'd say more but I forgot how to use more words. Yay for celebratory noises! As for my vaguely silly comments for the fic, it be good. Short, sweet, got the TUMI lore in there. So, pretty neat! Not crazy or anything since it's a little oneshot into the lives of Kijo and Jin in their youth, but still!! Makes me think more about these two. Mostly Jin because I never even cared about him much other than "HEADMASTER" and "KYOKO DAD". That kinda stuff. Never even took account like... his personality and what he likes, dislikes, or even how he was in his youth. Guess he kinda just existed in my mind before so it feels nice finally thinking critically about his character a bit more. With Kijo, I always had that intrest because he's so much of a mystery. In the game, there's only the allusion of his preseence cus "Duh! Byakuya came from somewhere. Not some money hole like some money mole" (heehee that rhymed) And like, the only stuff of Kijo IS his name. So I already was in that mindset to wonder about him. What kinda of guy would be responsible for the creating of Byakuya. Which, honestly, maybe I just need to one day go and just... look into the depths of Jin lore. A Jin Journey. Cus I know nothing and it is a crime. Realized this didn't have much fic talk in it and more just me blabbering about Jin and Kijo so I hope you don't mind! Also, since why not add some out-of-pocket thought, I must say this cus it's true and happened yesterday on my end and it's a wild realization. AHEM. I think Byakuya Togami made me realize I might be aroace or like, on the aroace spectrum. This sounds so dumb but it's true. Also think your headcanon for him helped me realize that. I thank you for good fics, interesting ideas, and self-actualization somehow. Like, no one could have guessed that to be on the bingo card. So, by the time of your reading this, it'll be like, 2 days since I had that realization which I'm still shocked about! I digress though. Thus, to end this off, take this MS paint doodle I made in like... less than a few minutes.

The way I drew Kijo is so freaking funny to me. He's so head empty. You bonk that head and he just doesn't react cus there's nothing in there. Also, would their ship name be Jijo or Kin? Kijogiri? Jingami? Also, I will give Kijo better hair some day. I promise!

That little one-shot is one of my favs. It's both recent and is just a nice little addition to the TUMI universe, which I always love to do.

It was also just time for Jin and Kijo to get something that focuses just on them, even if it was just a prequel... but who knows, that might become more...

But I really liked writing it and I'm glad u liked reading it :D

Loved the little doodle too! Poor Kijo's hair tho 😔 And I dunno what the ship name should be... Maybe something ✨creative✨

As for what you've realized, congrats! I'm glad my fics could help with that, though I'm not that surprised that they did. One thing I've noticed is that quite a lot of my readers are aromantic.

Also, I recommend watching this video by JaidenAnimations! It's her coming out as aroace and was quite eye opening for me back when I watched it the first time!

But congrats on figuring that out! If you ever have any questions or whatever, you know where to find me!

[antianakin]

I think something a lot of fans of Anakin tend to forget about him is that his story is told and looked at in reverse: the effect of his actions (Vader and the Empire) were shown an written before the cause (him being a Jedi and then falling). Vader, the irredeemable monster, being forgiven by Luke, is supposed to be a statement on Luke’s character, not Anakin’s. Vader isn’t post Anakin, Anakin is pre-Vader. Framing him like that, it’s suddenly clear just how flawed and terrible Anakin was even before he took a nosedive off the diving board of common sense (if he was ever on it)

The redemption that so many fans want to give Vader, then, is framed in film less as Vader realizing he’s wrong and doing a 180. It’s Luke recognizing how close he is to becoming Vader, choosing a better path, and getting tortured for it. Honestly, as far as Vader’s actual redemptive moment, it’s a fairytale moment of “death equals redemption” that holds up in the narrative of Luke’s story, but wouldn’t actually accomplish anything for Vader.

All that to say… Anakin should be recognized as being Pre-Vader, and if someone wants to do a fixit good ending story with him they either need to kill him off or spend a LOT of time getting him to actually recognize his failures and then turn away from them.

(Unfortunately, that’s a LOT of *work*, so most people just woobify him and call it a day. Thank you for your work of correcting this misunderstanding, and sorry for the long ask 😅)

In fairness, Lucas had a pretty good amount of the story from the Prequels WRITTEN already, he just ended up having to make the story in reverse, which is why there's references to Anakin having been a Jedi who fell and the Clone War. But most of it is just that... references. We ARE focused on Luke's story and so Anakin's background is there to, as you say, highlight LUKE'S choices and struggles and triumphs. We never find out why Anakin did the things he did in the OT (aside from Obi-Wan's comments about his own arrogance in trying to train Anakin which the Prequels retconned anyway), so Anakin's choices are a reflection on Luke more than anything else because Luke is the character we actually know.

And... yeah. Anakin's redemption is difficult for me because I get why it happened the way it did in the OT. Anakin's biggest crimes within the context of JUST what we see in the Original Trilogy are against Luke himself (chopping off the arm, killing Obi-Wan) and so the fact that he dies by saving Luke means he's fairly directly addressed those crimes and made amends for them. He can die having fixed those mistakes and forgiven by the person he's hurt the most. It works. But adding in the Prequels means now there's the Tuskens he murdered, Padme who he manipulates and betrays, the Republic he's dismantled, and the Jedi Order that he betrays and genocides (and adding in TCW means we can also include the clones that he betrays and enslaves). And now all of the sudden there's a LOT more that we have directly seen him do that needs to be redeemed and a lot more amends he needs to make and a lot more people whose forgiveness he doesn't have and will likely never get. There's a lot of things that killing Palpatine can never and will never fix or undo. It doesn't directly address almost ANY of those sins. And so this sudden redemption via death stops feeling so satisfying because it just... doesn't actually mean anything in the face of what we've now seen him do.

Like you say, it holds up if you just look at Luke's narrative, but it falls apart when you look at Anakin's own.

Redeeming Anakin while taking into account everything he has done over the Prequels, TCW, Rebels, the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, and anything else that's been written for him in other media would be a difficult story to write. It WOULD take a lot of time, he may never actually completely redeem himself for what he's done because he may never truly be able to let go of some of those fears or some of his guilt and grief. He may never quite lose the instinct to react to things with violence. It SHOULD be messy and complicated, but that's not always the most satisfying story to write or even to read, so that's where we end up with woobified Anakin who just gets to do one slightly goodish thing and call it a day.

[greentrickster]

Hello! Huge fan of Saturation, it's basically become a bimonthly read for me.

If it's not too personal to ask, do you also write more conventional fiction, or are you more of a fanfic writer?

Hello! Also wow, I'm flattered to hear you enjoy it so much! Also a touch intimidated, where do you find the time?

Nope, not too personal at all! As it happens, I actually started out writing conventional/original fiction, then shifted into fanfiction over the years (and always have and still occasionally do write original poetry). Actually wrote a short novel from sixth grade to tenth, it's complete but no one online will ever see it, it is very bad and there's stuff in it I don't agree with or find appropriate anymore, but hey, it taught me that I could start something big and finish it, which has been a lesson that's come in handy since. I didn't even get into fanfiction until my last year or two of high school, so I came to it relatively late in life.

The thing is? My favorite pieces of original writing that I've done have always been fanfiction in a way, because I'm very fond of retellings of myths, fairy tales, and folk lore. I like slipping into a pre-existing narrative and doing my own thing with it, whether it be weaving in extra lore or reformatting the entire story. And, honestly? These days I don't see much difference between fanfiction and original fiction, just because I own and know of a lot of what is technically published fanfiction. I've got a Peter Pan prequel about Captain Hook's childhood, a lot of the Dragon Ball manga (which was originally based on Journey to the West), and I'm quite familiar with novels like Wicked, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, and the like. As far as I'm concerned, the only difference between stories like these and stories like Saturation is whether copyright law says the writer can officially publish and profit off of them or not.

Technically speaking by everyone else's standards, however? Fanfiction all the way, baby! I take so much more pleasure and satisfaction in it than in more original pieces these days. Like, maybe the odd piece of properly original fiction slips out every now and then, but transformative works are where it's at for me, and I feel no need to change that, now or ever! ^U^

That said, if you'd like to see some of my writing that isn't posted on AO3 and I could technically make money on if I put some effort into it, I have some pieces up on my kofi account for free, it's just in the posts section. There isn't as much up there as I'd like for there to be at the moment, but, like... (gestures at the entire mess that is AI at the moment) I'm really proud of my writing, original or not, and I don't want someone coming along and stuffing it into a generator. :/

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

Do you think that HotD creators are trying to recreate certain moments, quotes and even characters from GoT? I've seen this mentioned many times and I cannot say I disagree in general . For example, Daenerys imagery through Rhaenyra, Daemon being introduced in a Jaime Lannister style, sitting on the throne, too cool for the rules... Then smallfolk riots in KL with Helaena and Alicent in Sansa's role, certain one liners, the dagger and the prophecy ... There are many examples, really. I also saw a great analysis here about which characters (don't remember the creator now) from GoT they're trying to revive, e. g. Ned Stark with Viserys, Jon Snow with Jace, Dany with Rhaenyra, Jaime with Daemon, Littlefinger with Otto... I don't think these people are wrong, there is definitely certain aspirations from hotd writes to try and imitate some aspects of GOT because they see it as a recipe for success, and that's not necessarily a bad thing but is something they need to be careful with. The Dance should be be a whole new and different story and not a bunch of callbacks and references to another show. Anyway, have you noticed this or you disagree? Are there storylines and characters in hotd that seem to be types we already seen in GoT (some of the most mentioned are Daemon-Jaime, Rhaenyra - Dany Otto - Littlefinger, Larys - Varys, Aegon - Robert and Joffrey, Aemond - Ramsay (especially if they go with book accurate version from s2 onward). I disagree with most of these comparisons and I believe they are more fan inventions than necessarily something that the writers wanted to convey, but there are reasons for these parallels and I would like to hear what do you think.

Love your blog btw.

Hello! Thank you for the ask - and for the compliment:) And my apologies for the delay with answering.

In my opinion, HotD is definitely making callbacks (and a lot of them) to GoT - and the main reason for that is, as you said yourself, their reliance on the fame (and overall success - even taking into account the significant decrease in quality in later seasons) of the original show. And they are not alone in this: today a lot of ambitious media projects are sequels, prequels, remakes etc. of some successful, or even iconic, media created in the past years. I am definitely not against this on principle: for me the problems begin when a project is clearly being designed to either evoke a feeling of nostalgia or simply milk the popularity of the original media while lacking the actual quality itself.

As for the Rhaenyra - Daenerys parallel, I think that HotD is definitely going there intentionally in their desire to "atone" in some way for the way the latter was treated in season 8 of GoT after getting tons of fanhate for making a villain out of a female character (and not realizing that at least half of the complaints were about how poorly it was done and not even about the fact itself). And this is how we got a Rhaenyra who can't even order Vaemond's execution herself.

As for the other parallels - well, the imagination can run wild there. IMO Otto resembles Littlefinger just with the general scheming thing (he has always seemed more Tywin Lannister-ish to me) - and ASOIAF world definitely doesn't lack schemers. Aemond and Ramsay? Once again, the similarities are extremely superficial, as in both of them committing acts of cruelty - but Aemond wasn't a sadist, for starters, and, once again, there are A LOT of cruel characters doing cruel things in that universe. Aegon - Joffrey comparison doesn't work for me either (I addressed it in one of my earlier posts). The most ridiculous one, as I see it, is the Ned Stark - Viserys one. Comparing a man whose life was basically all about making hard decisions (which he did based on what he deemed to be right and honorable) to one who never had the guts to make even one and allowed his selfishness, weakness and self-pity to guide him which basically led to civil war that laid the foundation for the fall of his house? Nice try, guys.

Are the showrunners going for all the above mentioned parallels intentionally though? It seems to be the case with Aegon if we go by their own words; it might be the case with the rest of them judging by some of the official HBO Instagram stuff dropped earlier this week. Although, between HBO SM accounts messing up Vhagar's gender and posting a photo of Beyonce in all-black outfit with a caption along the lines of "Queen Bee has chosen the side", I don't even know what kind of professionals even run these accounts anymore.

Once again, thank you for the interesting ask, and all the best to you!

[oonajaeadira]

State of the WIP Address

Okay, y'all, I've been in a really weird place where I've been avoiding...pretty much a lot of stuff. Dunno if I have to talk to my doctor about upping my meds or what, but this is why I actually went on them--my depression manifests not in laziness, but avoiding things I need to do and things I actually WANT to do. Then I don't do them and it all starts building up. And then the to do pile feels insurmountable, like I'll never get to finish all these wonderful things. So I just...freeze up and roll over. Like a fainting goat. You'd think I'd be like "yay! lookit all the things to look forward to! I have years ahead of me full of things I really want to do! I should never be bored again!" But no. Can't do them Right Now? Fainting goat. It's weirdo. We've all got our weirdo and this is mine.

I only mention it here because I do State of the WIP Address to be accountable. Now, the weird thing is, I don't actually expect anyone to read these posts--they're boring and personal and totally for my own motivation. I just know myself and know if I put something out there, I'll feel bad if I don't do it and that should motivate me to actually do it.

But here's the thing....it doesn't work anymore. I'm no longer fulling for my own snake oil. The placebo has run out. If I know it's inconsequential, then my brain tricks me into thinking that I'm accountable to no one. And, in reality, it's true that I'm actually accountable to no one so the trick doesn't work.

Anyway. Welcome to Adira's brain where she finds her own thought patterns a fascinating psychological study and the lab results are inconclusive.

So I'mma try to twist the experiment a bit. Rather than list the things I know I can't get to right this second and feel bad about it, we're gonna let promises go and do it this way. It's not interesting to anyone but me and anyone who nerds out on process. But rather than listing the things I'm not working on, I'll talk about the ones I am, how it's going, what's in my craw about it, and maybe in my ramblings I'll clear the gears to start rolling again.

This isn't interesting to anyone but me unless you really wanna see how seriously I take my fic writing. Cringe if you want. I'm just being honest with myself. My fic isn't high art, but as with anything I create, I can't half-ass it either. It's "be satisfied with it on my terms" or bust.

STATE OF THE WIPS

I have one million projects happening, but these are the pieces I'm actively thinking about and working on at the moment.

SECRET SANTA Where it's at: I'm writing for someone I think is a wonderful person and want to do right by them, so the pressure's on. But at the same time, it's not. Because I know how accepting and lovely the person is and they gave me a lot of prompts and options and like a lot of the things I do and seem to like a lot of the types of things I like to write. I also know that this doesn't have to be over-complicated, that I can write my heart and it will please both of us. While I haven't actually opened up a doc to start, I know that it's the type of thing that if I have a little uninterrupted block of time, I can just sit down and it will flow. I won't say much about it here, but I will say that while it can 100% be read as standalone, it hits on a character/series I'm currently writing and acts as a kind of prequel, a reason for loving the reader as he does. It's something that is kind of missing in the planned series and I think this would be a nice opportunity to explore it before moving forward (and maybe helping propel that series a little) while also touching on one of the characters my giftee likes, a genre they are interested in that I hadn't considered with this character, and it will have a tone I think they'll appreciate. So while it's for them and being written with their likes in mind, I thank them, because it's also a little gift for me and my yearnings. What's stopping me: Time constraints and general anxiety.

TROPE FIC: MODERN DOM!PERO Where it's at: This one got a little sloppy and I'm working on it. I've been following @max--phillips' entries about what defines certain types of kinks and while my thoughts on dom!Pero started as true dom, they swung wrong when I started working on this, and now I'm just thinking myself back to the definition of dominant. And while I may still be missing the mark, it's helping me to think more about how I want to explore and frame this dynamic. It's also giving me a little trouble in that it's not coming out chronologically which causes me to waste time jumping around and retrofitting things. What's stopping me: I put this one on hold to start prioritizing the Secret Santa piece.

TROPE FIC: SEX POLLEN!OBERYN Where it's at: This piece is flowing chronologically. It's going to be longer than I anticipated and the first draft is about 1/3 done. I already know that after the first draft I'll have to do some shaping and I think maybe I got overwhelmed with the task I set for myself and that triggered my avoidance. I know where it's going, I'm excited for it, it will flow easily if I let it, I just have to do it! What's stopping me: I put this one on hold because I got distracted by tasty Pero thoughts. I blame @perotovar for the thots, but not the stopping. That's all on me.

TROPE FIC: ALPHA!JAVI Where it's at: I'm about 1/2 done with the first draft. Again, this one will be longer (and also more angsty) than I anticipated. I love love love where it's going though and reader and Javi's history is beautiful and sad and complex; I really love that half. I'm just now switching into the modern day section of it and have to make a few decisions about how I actually want it to go. My mind is over-complicating the story and I'm trying to wrestle it down a softer path. What's stopping me: I got distracted by the Oberyn story which is why this one's on hold and now this is all Inceptioning on itself.

GOOD. THINGS. TAKE. TIME. Where it's at: The asks are all sorted, there are only a few more sessions left before chapter 4. I just have to write it. What's stopping me: Here's the thing about PATS. If I was out for notes, I'd be pounding on this series, because it's my most popular one. But... really, I'm just here to dream up stories I like to tell. I put PATS down not consciously and not because I don't love him, but I got excited by other ideas. I want to finish it because I don't like having a bunch of unfinished projects lying around, but I also don't want that to be my #1 motivator for writing him. I want to enjoy it. I did enjoy putting the latest installment out, but I also don't feel like I'm letting anyone down if I don't hurry it, just because engagement is low. Again, I'm not here for the notes, I truly love the connection and the squeeing and sharing a yearn. We're all so busy now that it's tough to get to everything and the mutual timing is a bit off. That's okay. It's planned out, it'll get done, I just have to do it when I'm feeling it.

LEAVE OFF YOUR WANDERING: WINTER Where it's at: Finished plan. Yet to begin writing. What's stopping me: I was wrestling with this one for a bit because I had two directions it could go--soft and fluffy without much meat, or weaving all the details together and serving a story that gets rather dark, a little sad, and serves as a fix it. On one hand, I felt like I would be betraying readers by not keeping the euphoric escape. But I would also feel like I built this whole backstory that needed to manifest itself in a test for Joel and Meadowlark, as well as the fact that--other than backstories--there hasn't been any canon hardship or violence displayed. It's like I'm missing a huge chunk of who Joel and Meadowlark are. In the end, that's where the story wants to go, so I'm going there. And I have to not think about what anyone else wants, just me. Not just for selfish reasons, but I know that's when I do my best. It doesn't mean there won't still be fluff and a happy ending. It just means I have to write darkness and perhaps it will serve me better to do it in the season in which it takes place.

[waitmyturtles]

CW: MAJOR SPOILER ALERTS FOR THE MOVIE “THE PORNOGRAPHER: PLAYBACK.” LONG POST!

I feel like there’s been something humming in the wind lately around the franchise of The Novelist/The Pornographer. We’ve seen a cameo by the incomparable Izuka Kenta in Candy Color Paradox, Yoshida Munehiro is about to cameo in The End of the World, With You, and The Novelist’s Twitter account has been buzzing with news about new DVDs and theater showings of the last installment of the franchise, The Pornographer: Playback. Miki Koichiro, the screenwriter and director of the franchise, has TWO shows out at the moment, the aforementioned TEOTWWY, as well the sessy-sessy Raise de wa Chanto Shimasu, the three seasons of which I am dying to watch as soon as there’s a solidly bad season of QL sometime in the future (which seems like will never happen in my lifetime, bless all these amazing QLs for coming out every season!). Couple all of this with recent reviews of the OG Novelist and Mood Indigo series by the fabulous @gillianthecat (here) and @respectthepetty (here), and I was happily reminded of good times of watching all of these parts way way back when I first discovered QL/BL in 2019/20. 

When the amazing @lurkingshan commented on a stray thoughts post by @bengiyo that she had seen The Pornographer: Playback, I was VERY intrigued. With HUGE thanks and big ups to @lurkingshan, I watched it over the weekend, and here are my thoughts! I’m going to put up a break to keep y’all from getting spoiled if you want to avoid it.

First off, let’s make sure we know what all the installments are, and that we’ve watched what we’ve needed to get to the movie. We have:

1) 2018 -- The Novelist: the original meeting between student Kuzumi Haruhiko and adult author Kijima Rio

2) 2019 -- Mood Indigo: a prequel depicting the sexual engagements between Kijima Rio and his classmate, Kido Shirou 

3) 2021 -- The Pornographer: Spring Life: a very short vignette set 2 1/2 years after Kuzumi and Kijima first met. They’re now in a long-distance relationship, and Kuzumi visits Kijima in the countryside at Kijima’s sister’s house, where he’s living as he continues to write.

(The first three works are all available on Viki.)

So I was BEYOND THRILLED to get to watch the movie and see all of this wrap up. If most of y’all only watched up to Mood Indigo, you saw Kijima re-meet with Kuzumi. Kuzumi, at that time, was just becoming a successful employee in the advertising business. 

Spring Life hints that things are still going well for Kuzumi, and that he was looking forward to spending a summer break with his long-distance boyfriend. Most notably, the piece ends with Kuzumi jumping from honorifics, by asking Kijima if he (Kuzumi) could call Kijima “Rio-san,” which we know indicates intimacy. Kijima’s like, whatever you’d like, and the smile on Kuzumi’s face takes up the whole screen, it seems.

So then we finally get to The Pornographer: Playback, which begins during the same summer break. Continuing with the theme and mood that I like to call melosexual (the music alone of this franchise is SO INTENSE, let alone the heaty sex scenes), the guys head to a love hotel and do their thang. At the end of the night, as they’re getting dressed, Kijima finds a business card in Kuzumi’s wallet for a hostess club that Kuzumi is forced to go to with work colleagues. 

Without divulging a tremendous amount more about the plot at this moment, the movie is basically structured around the push-and-pull of Kijima’s inability to move authentically closer to people -- not just Kuzumi, but also his sister, who Kijima disappoints repeatedly by backing out of family events. 

Kijima’s essentially paralyzed by fear and insecurity that he is a terrible person -- one that is not worthy of love. His sister is so overwhelmingly angry about it that she essentially kicks him out of the house, and blames their mother for never calling him out on his namby-pamby bullshit (at least, that’s in her eyes). At another point in the movie, he frustrates Kuzumi so much that Kuzumi walks out on the relationship and heads back to Tokyo, a surprising move for the otherwise always-devoted younger companion. 

It takes a serious scolding by a hospitalized and flirtatious owner of a karaoke snack bar (you read that right) for Kijima to get his damn head back on straight and fight for his relationship with Kuzumi. (And, HILARIOUSLY, I was cackling -- in the process of this, Kijima has KIDO -- KIDO OF ALL PEOPLE -- call Kuzumi on Kijima’s behalf, to get Kuzumi to talk to Kijima to reconcile. KIJIMA used KIDO to call KUZUMI. Lord.)

Okay, so what I’m really getting at here is that the movie showed that the whole franchise was missing two KEY elements that the first three parts did not have: comedy and authentic emotional connection. There was actually a little comedy in this! Besides the whole Kido thing (which I’ll get back to in a minute), there were a couple of bumbling moments that were designed to elicit some lightness, mostly with the snack bar owner, a flighty gal with a lovely son who tries to hook up with takes Kijima under her wing.

About the other element: we FINALLY, FINALLY SAW KIJIMA SHOWING SOME EMOTION ABOUT SOMETHING. He really regretted letting things go to shit with Kuzumi. Kuzumi called Kijima out for wasting Kuzumi’s time to leave work in Tokyo and visit the countryside. Kuzumi felt like Kijima wasn’t taking him seriously, and was constantly pulling back. I mean -- Kijima was living away from Kuzumi.... for what, exactly? It’s not ever clearly explained. And Kuzumi got angry and left.

This is a great time to mention the excellent post by @emotionallychargedtowel on pursuer-distancer dyads, because the Kijima-Kuzumi push-and-pull in this movie perfectly defined this dyad dance. When Kuzumi got fed the fuck up and pulled way back -- Kijima finally stepped into his emotion and owned his desire to be with Kuzumi. 

Honestly, in the first three installments of this franchise -- I felt like Kijima really didn’t talk too much. I felt like he was far more defined by his brooding, his letting the winds take him to where he was at any given moment, ragingly sexual and lonely all at once. He simmered -- he was flinty, defensive, and used his sexual energy to dominate and burn the emotional energy all around himself. 

The movie showed a TOTALLY different side of him. To me, the movie showed that his relationship with Kuzumi, long distance as it was, HAD a softening impact on him -- even to the point that Kijima dropped everything he was up to in the countryside to head to Tokyo and fight for the relationship. Kijima needed to be rendered totally alone, one last time, to come to realize that the connection he had with Kuzumi was worth fighting for.

And, yes, in the process of it, he brought back Kido in the mix -- which was also seriously poignant. 

REALLY SERIOUS SPOILER HERE, y’all, especially if you love/hate/gaaahh that awful devil, Kido!

. . . . . .

Kido asks Kijima if they could have ever had the same kind of relationship as Kijima is fighting for with Kuzumi! AAAAAHHHH! AND! AND! KIJIMA SAYS, no way. We’re too similar.

WHICH IS TOTALLY TRUE! They’re both self-indulgent, selfish assholes! I mean, after that insane sex scene in Mood Indigo, Kido just fucking LEFT -- he just LEFT, and GOT MARRIED, and HAD A KID, and was like, peace the fuck out, I can’t actually be my honest queer self with you, Kijima, because I think that’s actually abnormal (oh, Kido, you internally messed up piece of shit, AAAHHH). 

Whereas, as beautifully analyzed in @respectthepetty‘s review, Kuzumi represents honesty and openness -- the kind of traits that Kijima doesn’t have, but is aspiring to, in order to be with Kuzumi. AAAHHH. 

I was seriously like, WHOA, WHAT AM I WATCHING HERE, at that moment. AND, AND? At the end of that scene? Kido wishes Kijima good luck. And says: “You better keep Kuzumi-kun. He’s a valuable asset.” Of course, what a Kido thing to say -- that humans are assets, commodities. But -- he sends Kijima off with good wishes. 

And then.

Kijima reunites with Kuzumi. He called Kuzumi by Kuzumi’s name, Haruhiko. AND -- holy shit, y’all, my mind was blown. He tells Kuzumi that he loves Kuzumi by saying ichiban aishiteru.

I tell you, I was FLOORED. All throughout the movie, I’m like, “dang, Kijima keeps talking and talking, and I just don’t remember him TALKING all that much before in the other three series.”

And then he DROPS the ichiban aishiteru! And I think BOTH me AND Kuzumi are BOTH LIKE, WHAT THE DAMN, DUDE!

I’ve spoiled a LOT, but I won’t say more after this, except to say the following:

The ending was one of the happiest, LOVELIEST endings of a drama/movie I’ve seen in QL. Oh. my. god. Talk about SATISFYING. EVERY. CHECKBOX. MARKED. Takezai Terunosuke and Izuka Kenta were MAGNIFICENT. I had SERIOUS tears. They got in everything -- they got the heat, they got in FAMILY, LOTS OF FAMILY, GORGEOUS shots, FEELINGS. ALL OF IT. 

@bengiyo made an excellent point recently in one of his reviews of TEOTWWY that it seems like Japan lately has only been doing high heat in stories about death. It’s an accurate point: all of the pieces of The Novelist came out well before TEOTWWY and Eternal Yesterday, the two most recent shows about death that had heaty elements. I kind of wonder about something. I wonder if other directors and screenwriters are like.... The Novelist did it the best. We can’t mess with that standard. 

Because -- Takezai’s and Izuka’s acting in those scenes is BEYOND EXCELLENT. It was NECESSARILY EXCELLENT to end this franchise on such a warm, happy, COMPLETE high note. 

Now that I can look back on all four parts of the whole franchise, what Miki Koichiro did for us by way of Kijima was to show the whole-scale growth of a man vis à vis love. This guy, Kijima -- a brilliant writer who was influenced by a sexually provocative teacher, someone who was left inexplicably behind by a tormented, internally homophobic lover/benefactor -- felt he was deserving of nothing. And then he found his something in Kuzumi. He nearly destroyed the relationship, multiple times. And as he fell and slipped while climbing the hill of happiness, he was able to get a stronger and stronger grip each time he tried harder. And he was supported by people around him, including family and random friends, to give him lift. 

This movie was a lot more straightforward than I had honestly expected. I 100% expected more of the melosexualness of the first three parts of the series. Instead, what I got was a WHOLESOME (I can’t believe I’m using that word, but it’s true!), complete, and uplifting story of a man finding his true happiness in his lover, his companion, his chosen family. All of it certainly laced with heat, for sure, but also very deep, very convincing love. 

It was utterly fabulous. It might be too emotional, maybe too family-oriented for some who preferred the dark heat of the previous installments. But Playback, in my eyes, was a perfect closing note for a man who honestly deserved happiness after the work, and the SELF-CHANGE he put in, to get love in the first place. If you are a fan of this whole series, and can get your hands on the movie, I beg you to watch it, even just for one of the best happy endings you’ll ever see in QLs.

[septemberrie]

fic asks

Thank you for the tag @junkshop-disco!

How many works do you have on ao3?

44!

What's your total ao3 word count?

560,688

What fandoms do you write for?

At this point, just Fate: the Winx Saga but I have a smattering of other fandom one shots on my ao3. Call me a serial monogamist, I guess? It takes a lot for me to be possessed enough to write, so it rarely happens for multiple fandoms at once.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Tempting Fate

Battle Lines

Point of No Return

A Man Plans a Tree in Whose Shade He May Never Sit

En Garde

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always mean to! but sometimes the Anxiety gets in the way. I made a concerted effort like a month ago to reply to some out of date comments and I'm hoping to continue.

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have a history of writing one-shots of whump prompts, so some of those have quite punchy endings. Fate is a very dramatic show and so it's not a far leap to be cruel sometimes. But of my longfics, It Was Just Red is definitely the angstiest, but to be fair it's a prequel story to one with a happier ending.

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

I've written quite a few I would consider happy, one that comes to mind of late is A Lady's Guide to Fools and Fortunes, the Rivusa Bridgerton AU I wrote with Val.

Do you get hate on fics?

In a previous fandom I received hate for a twist ending to a longfic. To be fair to my audience, I didn't lay much groundwork (at all) for the twist; I was still a young author who thought it was fun to pull the wool over the eyes of my readers. After BBC Sherlock showed me how awful that was (plus general maturity), I have since learned my lesson.

I've also gotten a comment or two criticizing my characters' choices and I steam over them but ultimately ignore them. A character making a bad choice doesn't mean I'm endorsing that choice. I don't want to read a story about perfect people who never do anything wrong, and I'm definitely not going to write that either.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Are there different kinds of smut? Tropes, maybe? I have written everything from fading to black to fully explicit group sex. At this point I tend to fade to black except when I consider the detail important to the story (for example, choosing to break a vow of celibacy…).

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have never really grokked crossovers, I don't think I have that kind of brain where I can reconcile separate worldbuilding. It's never grabbed me as a reader, either, but I am a bit envious of those with the imagination to do it!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yeppers.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I had one fic translated recently, with permission, and I'm glad I did because a hilarious catfight erupted in the comments, involving the anonymous aggressor informing my translator that her father, the owner of ficbook, was going to delete the fic, and co-opted a sock account to validate Anonymous Aggressor's paternity.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yessss my usual partner in crime is Val who is fantastic at motivation and bouncing off ideas. Mo my usual beta who provides amazing enough feedback I sometimes feel like I should list her as co-writer.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I'm a multi-shipper; I tend to fixate on one character and I'm happy to explore their dynamic with a variety of ships.

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

In general if I start posting something then I'm going to finish it, no matter how brutal it gets. But starting to think that The Last Resort, my Rivusa fake dating AU with Val, might never recover from Fate S2.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I am pretty good at conveying characters' states of mind, through their internal thoughts and what they're physically doing. I think my writing has dramatically improved in the last two years since I got into Fate and most of that has to do with being thoughtful about showing what characters are thinking/doing and why, instead of telling.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Listen. I amn just a litle creacher. Sometimes I just completely miss certain things in canon and their implications, so off I go writing away my own interpretation that's "incorrect" (yeah yeah I know, fuck canon, but it matters to me! Sometimes!). I can be very guilty of projecting qualities onto my most fave and least fave characters that are a stretch when reconciled with canon.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Sure? I have learned not to treat your readers with kid gloves. They can figure out meanings from context.

First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, on my neopets.com petpage because I didn't know about LiveJournal or fanfiction.net

Favorite fic you've written?

This is just cruel to have to choose! But I always circle back to Point of No Return. Rereading it now there are a lot of improvements I would make to the writing, but a) it's the fic that got me back into writing after a 5ish year dry spell, b) it hits pretty much all of my fave tropes/whumps, c) it led me to connecting with a new community that I now speak to daily and have even visited across the ocean! and d) it absorbed so much of my life (I wrote 60k in a little over a month) that I finally had the guts to share my writing hobby with my partner, who is wonderfully supportive. That fic changed my life for the better in so many ways.

I tag @whenshesayshush @faytalepsy @blue-aconite and whoever else wants to do this!

[pixelchills]

Okay so, I've been discussing this thing for the future of 'My dear Daffodil' on my second twitter account for a couple of weeks now, and I'd like to hear all of my readers thoughts on it now :>

Tldr at the end.

MDD = My Dear Daffodil

ANSSW = A Not so Sunny World (both, the main story and the prequel)

So, for the record: MDD was never fully planned the way A Not so Sunny World was. I have constructed the story arcs, dramas, character deaths and relationships way before I even started writing ANSSW. Even though some small changes were made, most of it stayed the same according to my original plan.

However, since MDD is an alternative universe mostly created in the means of humour, domesticity and non-zombie related drama, and especially to include Solar in the universe where he would be loved and given the place to heal, rather than being send to the death row.

So the question I've had hanging around has been mostly about Sun and Solar, and the fact they're going to spend 9 years together before the locations merge. What would you think their relationship will become once Moon joins in and eventually starts dating Sun?

In ANSSW, the couple of encounters Sunrise had with Solar gave Solar a very "forced brotherhood" -vibe, where Solar would insists Sun being his little brother due to the fact Dr Weston was their supervising doctor. Sun always said no, he was not his brother, he had no siblings, and was shown to be very uncomfortable around Solar and his weird fixation on familyhood with someone he had only seen once.

Now, in MDD universe, Sunrise was created to complement Solar's personality, and fix the problems and mistakes Dr Weston had made with Solar. Due to this, Sunrise is technically "made for Solar" just like Solar himself seemed to think about it.

So this is where things get tricky; a seemingly lot of people wish to Solar have a second chance in love. And in this universe, it could work in many ways. But since the story is still mostly focused on Sun's POV, I am interested to hear what do you think could happen in this universe?

The nine years Solar and Sun are gonna spend together will not change no matter which approach I take with their relationship later. Solar is gonna take Sun under his wing a bit too literally and cause the similar "innocence" stay with Sun until the Megaplex arc by babying him and channelling the 'caretaker code' solely towards Sun.

But after Sun and Moon meet again and start their relationship, there is a chance to let Solar join them in a polycule.

Again, this is why I need to know it this early, so I know which way I will write Solar's feelings towards Sun;

Is he gonna take the role as a forced big brother like he seemingly teased Sun in ANSSW, or,

Is he gonna try to protect Sun from love despite thinking Sun was "created for him" and surpressing his own growing feelings for years just because he doesn't want either of them to get hurt?

If the story would go with the latter, Solar would still take some time to join Sun and Moon in a polycule if that's what you're up to. There's a possibility to make them form a throuple, where everyone ia dating everyone, or a simple V polycule where Moon is dating both Solar and Sun but Sun and Solar are not dating each other.

The main reason why I am asking this is because now that I think about it, Sun and Moon dating while Solar just watches them as a third wheel feels a bit cruel, since his own love ended so poorly and literally destroyed him.

So that's why I'd love to hear your opinions this. Which way would you be interested to see the story go?

I do not want to cause confusion, and I originally planned to keep the 'Solar and Sun are brothers' -thing as something that would make Sun feel uncomfortable and forcedbly too close to Solar in Sun's mind, but since MDD is set a bit differently I wouldn't mind taking another approach to their relationship.

But I will not write brothers to lovers sort of thing because that's just a big no. I do not write or draw or support incest or incest ships at all.

So... Your thoughts? Would you want Solar to end up with Sun and Moon (or only with Moon) in a polycule (after he learns to shower again), or should he stay loveless in the means of romantic love?

In any case I'm gonna keep Sun and Solar's relatioship as co-workers and friends instead of the siblinghood in this story, because it was sort of my idea all together after I came up with the 'Sunrise was created to complement Solar' thing.

Sorry for the long ramble, I have a lot of thoughts I need to get out of my head but I do not want to confuse people or make anyone think I support incest, by writing Sun and Solar as brothers and then as lovers. Solar's first thought of Sun was that he was his girlfriend/boyfriend in MDD (and it was supposed to be like that in ANSSW too, but since Solar was sure about his own upcoming death I don't think he would think that Dr Weston created him a partner so...)

Please tell me your opinions, or any sort of discussion in comments, reblogs or to my ask box or DMs.

As I said, MDD was never planned the way ANSSW was, so there's a lot of plotholes and storylines I need to decide on, and I do like to think of them early enough before writing so the story connects and flows from the beginning to the very end somewhat flawlessly :>

TLDR; Should I write Solar as a later lover to Sun and Moon instead of a 'big brother' -figure in MDD?

[glittercake]

If you don't mind the question, what are some of your favorite works on AO3? Because let me tell you, no joke, I check your account -at least- once a week to see if you're working on something new. Even if the SamBucky fandom got quiet after the series' end, I'm really glad you're one of the good ones still around <3

Hey, Anon! I'm actually glad you asked because it gives me an opportunity to share the links again😅 I always feel weird just randomly sharing my own works- which we should all do all of the time anyway-but you know....

Also, I assume you mean my own works? Lol.

So firstly, Ain't no Grave is a recent one which didn't do as well as I'd hoped. It has lovely art, too, and was an idea that I personally never read before so I was super excited about it. I had an absolute field day writing the story and discussing the art with Yav.

Another one that I'm super proud of is Kings of Everything. It's also a little different from the usual sambucky fic/au. I know I have at least 3 hardcore fans for this story, lol.

Neverending is another one I love so much. Loved what I did with it in so little words, loved how it turned out. Still a fav.

My most recent one, The First Gentleman is also a huge fav of mine and I'm so glad I bit the bullet and started it because I sat on it for so long wondering if it would be worth it. Had so much fun with it!

And then Lighthouse. This was my first very long sambucky au, and it explores some really difficult subjects. Initially, I was so afraid of writing something a little darker, but people really liked this. So yeah, I'm very fond of it.

As for new things I'm working on: I'm taking a small break from writing right now. I do feel like writing, I'm not burned out or anything, just giving the word pit some time to refill, and awaiting some fresh bts footage as inspo since they've started filming 👀

BUT I am actually amped to start some Sam/Joaquín fics because we know the dynamic is fire! I am also very eager to start the prequel to Kings, mentioned above, I've got the outline ready, and I think for me and those 3 fans, it's gonna be a real treat!

Thanks for the ask allowing me to blabber about my fics!

[dadfuckerfest]

Look what we found in Dad’s journal!

Weird.

Anyway, the Man writes like Yoda, but here is what we figured out:

1. What the fuck is a “Dadfucker Fest”?

It’s a weekend dedicated to the “fucking” part of Dadfucking.

2. How can someone contribute to this most wonderful and noble cause?

Give us porn! Remember, Dad wasn’t exactly a monk, and Dean gave him everything he’s ever had. All you have to do is write (or draw or edit) some dadsex and mention @dadfuckerfest and/or tag #dadfuckerfest (mentions are preferred, for consistency and notifications). We’ll reblog it to this page to share with your fellow dadfuckers and to save for posterity!

3. Wait, is it just John/Dean? What about [other canon/original character]?

Characters and ships other than John/Dean are most welcome! However, your work still has to be about J/D to some degree. This means threesomes, gangbangs, third-party POVs, role-play, J/D by-proxy, unrequited fantasies are a-okay. You can find some examples here. If you’re still unsure if something is allowed, feel free to ask for clarification. (Though to be honest, we’re not very picky over here.)

4.When is this dadsex going down?

When is it not going down?! Feel free to start working on your daddycestuous fic/art and sharing it as soon as you like. However, works will be reblogged to this blog on Friday, July 28th through Sunday, July 30th.

5. What’s with the day-by-day break-down?

Think of the day-by-day break-down as our reblog calendar, to help us categorize your works. Or if you like, think of them as very optional, not-at-all-serious “themes.” They are as follows: * Friday July 28th: (Pre-)Canon — i.e. the m/m J/D of our main timeline. * Saturday July 29th: Alternate Universe/Curses/Other Weird Shit— incl. genderswaps, John survives AUs, no-supernatural AUs, fuck-or-die, possession, Huntercorp, time-travel, monsterfucking, omega!verse, prequel AU, whatever your sicko heart desires! * Sunday July 30th: Kink — what it says on the tin: give us some kinky shit. As you can tell, the line between canon and AU is very blurry, and J/D can be kinky in any world. So don’t worry too much about sticking to themes – chances are, your work will fit in at least one of these days.

6. What about prompts?

Flip over to pg. 10 for instruction, and pg.11 for the list.

7. I don’t like any of the prompts and I want to freeball and/or rawdog it.

We see what you did there! Submissions need not be in response to a prompt. This is your chance to finish (or start!) some wips, to distill a story idea to its sexy essence without worrying about plot or worldbuilding, to turn a DFF ask into a little scene, etc. etc. Once again, as long as it’s J/D and porny we will take it!

More lore under the cut!

8. What is the desired porn-to-plot ratio?

As long as there is (a little, a hint of) fucking, we’ll take it! If you feel like you need plot to make your story work better/more enjoyable for *you*, please inject as much as you’d like.

9. How long should a fic submission be?

As long as tickles your pickle! You probably won’t get a lot of fucking done under 500 words, but feel free to prove us wrong.

10. I want you to reblog my stuff but this event name is very cringe and I don’t want to mention it.

A. Fuck you! B. You can notify us in other ways of your desire to share your filthy disgusting porn (e.g. dms, mention us in a reply, carrier pigeon, etc.)

11. John/Dean is so very sexy, but I’m shy and I don’t want to post on main. (This is NOT Jensen Ackles, by the way.)

They are the sexiest! You can post your work anonymously on ao3 and send us a link. You can also create a new tumblr account using a new email address and use that to share your wonderful daddycestuous creations. (If need be, we can also discuss email submissions).

12. Can my fic/art be used for another event?

Sure! As long as it hasn’t been published before.

13. Is non-con allowed?

Yes, but please give some heads-up in the tags or in the beginning of the fic.

14. Is under-age allowed?

See above.

15. I really want to participate but the timing doesn’t work for me.

No worries! a) Remember, you have two weeks from today to post whatever your heart desires. b) The point of this event is that it’s low stakes and there isn’t a lot of prep work required, which means theoretically we can have more than one round! If enough people want to participate again, we can definitely have a repeat later this summer/in the fall, etc. (Also, we always take late submissions!)

16. Who is the fucker behind the curtain?

Hi, it’s @egipci! Please feel free to send me any questions here or on my main blog!

17. We haven’t talked before/we don’t follow each other/I don’t like you. Can I still participate?

(Un)lucky for you, I love J/D about 1000x more than you don’t like me. As long as I can reblog your work to this blog, I will!

18. Your graphics suck! Our eyes are bleeding! Are you making this shit on a toaster?

Actually, I’m making it on an DIY busted-up Walkman-cum-toaster. If you got some better nerd instruments and you want to put them to good use, hit me up!

[princess-of-the-corner]

One thing to note about RWBY is that it REALLY "grew the beard" over the course of its runtime.

Volumes 1-3 were animated in Poser (software that wasn't intended for use in animation), with rougher backgrounds and more simplistic writing related to complex themes. They were also only ever intended to be an extended prologue to the ACTUAL show, with the Big Twist of the Volume 3 finale being that the climax was actually just the inciting incident to the show's ACTUAL conflict.

Starting from Volume 4, the crew switched to Maya (software that's intended for use in animation), got better at writing more complex topics (the White Fang is treated more sympathetically than in the "Beacon Arc"), and Jaune was actually an interesting character for the entirety of the "Anima Arc" that lasted from Volumes 4-6.

Volume 7 is probably the best season of the show (I don't have a Crunchyroll account and so I haven't had the chance to watch Volume 9 in its entirety yet, even if I know what happens there). It deconstructs the whole "America Saves the World" trope with Atlas, and has some pretty good political satire that wound up being eerily prophetic. Also, Robyn Hill is one of the best characters the show has ever introduced.

Volume 8 contains both the best and worst moments of the series. V8C1-V8C11 features some of the best storytelling and most tense action from the franchise ever, but V8C12 has the overall message of "Okay but, the people who dehumanized Penny over her mechanical body KINDA had a point, let's fix what isn't broken!", V8C13 is a pretty descent villain episode, and V8C14 is by far the most offensive piece of media I've ever been subjected to. But still, up until those last three episodes, it was basically flawless.

I've heard Volume 9 is pretty good, but I'm side-eying everything involving Jaune because I honestly DESPISE the direction they took his arc in. But if we ignore EVERYTHING related to Jaune's role in the Volume, I like basically everything I've heard about it.

RWBY: After the Fall is a very good spin-off novel focused on popular side characters Team CFVY and shows what they've been up to since the Fall of Beacon in Volume 3. it also has a really interesting gimmick, as every other chapter is a flashback to something that happened in Team CFVY's past, further fleshing out their minor roles in the show.

RWBY: Before the Dawn is actual garbage. Sun's character arc (wherein his hypocrisy from the show is actually acknowledged and challenged) and Coco's and Velvet's shiptease are probably the only redeeming qualities. Taking this book into account actually makes Ironwood's reluctance to call Vacuo for help look REASONABLE. 2/10.

RWBY: Roman Holiday is a prequel novel focused on Roman and Neo, but Neo is the true protagonist here. The first few chapters leading up to their first meeting alternate between their perspectives, with the book being largely Neo focused after they finally meet.

RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant is an anthology of in-universe fairy tales. You can read it at any point in the series, but the further into the series you are when you read it, the more hints to RWBY's overarching plot you'll notice. While all of the Fairy Tales are works of fiction, some of them are dramatizations of actual events in the shadow war that RWBY's plot revolves around.

RWBY x JL: Super Heroes and Huntsmen is a 2-part film series wherein Team RWBY teams up with the Justice League. Part 1 features the Justice League visiting Remnant (kinda) during the events of Volume 7, and Part 2 features Team RWBY visiting DC Earth after the events of Volume 9.

There's also some ambiguously canonical comics published by DC, as well as 2 explicitly non-canon RWBY/DC crossover comic series. One features alternate versions of the Justice League cast who were born on Remnant, another features Remnant and DC Earth fusing due to Salem tricking Lex Luthor into helping her by playing off of his hatred of Superman. Neither of these crossovers are in continuity with the crossover movies.

Fascinating actually

[fandomsandhappiness]

Shrike, Gilgamesh, and the golem

“What are you for?” asked one boy at last, pushing to the front of the crowd. Shrike looked down at him. He pondered a while, thinking of something Dr Popjoy had told Anna. “I AM A REMEMBERING MACHINE,” he said. (ADP.532-533)

The machine is shaped and wrought to purpose, but Shrike’s determination of his own reason for being is very much a recurring theme throughout the quartet. Perhaps this is why his self-identification as such caught my eye. He has shucked off all other purpose but to remember, which he proceeds to do by telling a story that begins with the opening lines of Mortal Engines. He assumes the role of a framing device—another sort of remembering machine, perhaps?

Dredged out of the past and put to new purpose—rather like Shrike himself—this technique has been used before. I am thinking of the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which the eponymous hero gives up a life of adventuring, accepts the inevitability of his own death and, as I read it, goes on to write the tablets that almost make up the text. I don’t think it's a one-to-one equivalence in either case: neither Shrike nor Gilgamesh would tell the stories quite as we read them, but I think the texts can be read as echoes of the stories they claim have been told.

According to the text of Gilgamesh, the story can be found in the city of Uruk, written on lapis tablets, but the tablets on which this is written—the tablets we have today—are made of clay. What role does the tablet play for Gilgamesh? A framing device? A remembering machine?

Memory, history, archaeology; all these are central concerns of the quartet, driven home frequently by Tom Natsworthy, the would-be historian, and his fictionalising counterparts Valentine and Pennyroyal, each of whom attain a level of renown that Tom never does. Much of the series’ humour derives from pieces of more-or-less contemporary culture filtered through hundreds or thousands of years of post-apocalyptic life. What is the truth? What is history?

“For a somewhat sensationalized but passably accurate account of London’s momentous push east in 1007, see Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve.” So says The Traction Codex, listing Reeve’s work alongside those of Nimrod Pennyroyal (Predator’s Gold) and Sathya Kuranath (A True History of the Wind Flower, “generally regarded as unreliable”). The Codex formed the basis for The Illustrated World of Mortal Engines, for which this particular line was removed. Like the multiple recreations and translations of Gilgamesh, and the conflicting accounts of various histories given by different parties in the quartet and the prequel trilogy, the past is not straightforward. From Janis Dawson: “Reeve’s novels are an eclectic, sometimes bizarre, blend of genres and forms punctuated with scores of parodic references to classic texts, histories, popular literature, film, and advertising blurbs. They are, in effect, literary Jenny Hanivers”. (p. 143)

Clay constitutes the tablets of the Gilgamesh epic, but within the text, it is from clay that the goddess Aruru forms the wild man, Enkidu. Rival, companion, perhaps lover to Gilgamesh, Enkidu is a formidable warrior and loyal friend. The body of the wild man and the material on which the text survives; clay is the substrate of life and words. A parallel can be found in Jewish folklore: formed from clay, the golem was brought to life by writing one of the names of God on a piece of paper, which would be placed in the mouth or forehead. In various tales, the golem is both protector and threat. Terry Pratchett plays with this idea in Feet of Clay: the words in our head make us who we are. We are the material upon which history is written.

Perhaps fittingly, no one conclusion jumps out at me. The histories we create, or remember, make us who we are? There is no escaping the past? What we choose to believe, about ourselves or about history, matters? Shrike is a futuristic take on the golem? The remembering machine, whether clay (juncture of life/writing and earth) or cyborg (juncture of human/data and machine), is a letter sent forward into the future, as deadly and implacable a technology as any Slow Bomb?

Variously, Mortal Engines is claimed as a 2001 fictional children's novel, as Shrike’s remembering, as Philip Reeve’s sensationalized but passably accurate account of events... Perhaps it is necessary for these histories to co-exist with each, not in spite of but because of their differences.

Note: The Traction Codex doesn’t have page numbers, but it’s ebook only, so it should be easy enough to track down any quotes. For Gilgamesh I’m referring to Benjamin Foster’s translation (Second Norton Critical Edition), and for golems I’m relying on Wikipedia. Let me know if you want a copy of the Dawson article, though I think the line I quoted is the only bit worth reading.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

For the unpopular opinion meme, positive edition, can you touch on Forces and Infinite in particular?

Ooooooh okay okay

So starting with Infinite himself, I gotta start with the immediate stuff. His design is cool, his powers are sick, his themes (the vocal track and boss battle themes) make me insane, his English voice is 👌👌

And difficulty aside, the choice of his powers/attacks are actually pretty cool in my opinion. It's pretty wild the way he can change the stage around the player both from a gameplay standpoint and from an in universe standpoint. The fact that his illusions can even affect the environment and deliver physical consequences to those caught in them or attacked by them is something that (from an in universe standpoint) has the potential to really impact and mess with anyone caught up in them during Forces' story. It's a really fun concept to play with, especially if you take it a step further and indlict it on some of our main characters (i.e give them the struggle to determine what exactly is real at this point, even after the events of the story)

With his character too, the different accounts from the game, episode shadow, and the comic prequel make for a fun bout of crafting an interpretation of Infinite as well (no sarcasm here! I actually had a lot of fun drawing all his threads together in my mind and coming up with a reason he's the way he is)

And speaking of the way Infinite is, I can't understate how interested I got in his character just with the simple fact that he doesn't seem driven by his own goals in the base game of Forces

(One of these days I've got to write that essay of him that's part character study/interpretation part extrapolation)

As for the game itself, I actually really like the concepts the game throws at you to start with

"Killing" Sonic off really early, showing tangible changes in the landscape (especially with the desertification of green hill), other characters dealing with Sonic being gone, Tails completely splitting on his own parallel journey to the player, the player character starting out as some nobody Infinite happened to spare, Eggman just taking almost the entire world over after Sonic is removed from the picture, Classic Sonic just showing up because he happened to be with the Phantom Ruby as it began to shift through time and space. There were a lot of initial choices like that that were very interesting to me or surprised me, but compelled me nevertheless.

ㅤ

Thanks so much for the ask, anon! 🥰

If you have any other topics for the reverse unpopular opinion meme or anything else you'd like to ask, feel free to shoot it at me!

Reverse unpopular opinion meme

[sunshineandalittleflour]

Writing Patterns

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 fics and see if there’s a pattern!

WHOOPS sorry @onetwistedmiracle this took me a billion years (9 days) to do, the passage of time is simply not real to me. See twisted's post here and read her stuff, it's good. I will follow her lead and also pic ten fics that I wrote by myself, just to try and keep things easier lol

I'm bad at tagging people because this account is a side blog and I really only talk to twisted on it (is this an invitation to talk to me? Maybe! But please don't be offended if it takes me 9 days to reply), but if you want to examine your own writing style, consider this a lazy tag.

The last ten fics I wrote were for Critical Role and Star Wars (I miss you Check! Please, eventually I work work more on mine and twisted's collab fic and see you again)

1: You could be the one that I love, And now I'm standin' here, hopin' it gets to you

Molly had the feeling that so long as Caleb Widogast’s hand was on the small of his back, he could do anything.

Part 9 in my Molly/Caleb/Essek threesome fic, spicy but they're IN LOVE. I do love to start with a character thought/name.

2: I'm in new territory, somehow, it kinda feels like home

“What?” Padme said, her voice feeling hollow in her own chest.

A rare gen fic for me, I usually write explicit, but this was a fun prequel AU because I love to turn tragedies into opportunities. I also love to start with dialogue, just get RIGHT into things. It's also a short sentence, idk why.

3: Oh, if it's real, if it's sweet

“I’ve made a mistake,” Anakin said, and Luke sighed.

Another teen rating, can you believe I built my AO3 page on writing porn? More dialogue, I just think it's funny. And a short sentence!

4: Wherever you are, we are seeing the same stars

The day after Anakin left, Shmi almost sold C-3PO.

Surprise, it's dialogue AND a short sentence. Am I a two-trick pony? Maybe! Check out this kick flip!

5: Feeling like a face in the crowd

What Molly liked most about Essek and Caleb’s house—besides the fact that they lived in it and he, like, loved them—was just how many nooks and crannies it had.

This is the longest starting sentence thus far, maybe the longest starting sentence ever for one of my fics LOL I usually leave the run-ons for a third of the way through. And it's not dialogue! Shocker! This is also part 8 of my threesome purple wizard series, so the foundation has been laid and I could get a little weird with it?

6: All we got is us now

Ahsoka hadn’t spent a lot of time with Leia Organa.

We're back on the short train with a character driven statement. This is also part 5 of my pretty places series, so, again, there could be something to the already established aspect of it, or nothing at all!

7: Look how you made me

“Jester has questions,” Fjord said with a sigh.

Dialogue, but this time it's not from the POV character. I'm not doing a very good job analyzing things, but I am having a good time.

8: A message in a bottle is all I can do, Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you

Caleb Widoghast and Essek Thelyss lived very different lives from Mollymauk Tealeaf.

Character driven thought! Writing is hard, okay, and you gotta start somewhere. Definitive statements and dialogue are nice jumping off points.

9: I'm reaching for you

The first time Molly had sex with Caleb and Essek, he called himself an Uber right after.

This one is earlier on in the threesome series; timeline-wise it's like...the second story? 1.5 technically, since it happens mid first story? But I wrote it fifth, so. Establishment theory does or doesn't gain traction here, I don't think I know what I'm saying anymore.

10: 'Cause you could be the one that I love, I could be the one that you dream of

“What’re you thinking about?” Caleb asked, drawing his thumb across Molly’s temple, winding a purple curl between his fingers.

And we're back on our dialogue train! Dialogue starters, my beloved.

I don't know that we (I) learned anything, but it was fun to wander back through my most recent fics. Hopefully this will inspire me to write more fanfiction, but right now I am DEEP in the trenches of my own dungeons and dragons character, so. It's gonna be a minute.

XOXO