#It has very angsty moments and is overall great

[kawaiitail-chan]

hazbin ship reviews part 1!

C H A G G I E!

Chaggie is ok for me, kinda cute, a little too bland, tho i might be able to ship if they gave them a moment LIKE THIS

[hotpinkstars]

Yeah yeah that last angsty Boothill oneshot was great and all.

Now make it fluffy.

Pull out the single dad Boothill hcs

SINGLE DAD - boothill headcannons

- boothill as a single dad. pretty self explanatory

- higihihihihihih sorry i disappeared for like a week i'm back now and i have motivation so HERE WE ARE. anyways i wrote smthn super similar to this but i'll elaborate on his end cus i did it with sunday encorporated anddddbyeahh... enjoy!

- pre-cyborg boothill, no tragic endings his kid lives a good life gn. wc 447

I need this man to be happy hello.

He’s a wonderful overall father, taking care of his child and valuing their life more than his own.

He’s so that one dad on the block that’s just super fucking awesome. He raises one hell of a child (in a good way) who’s definitely going to be the life of everywhere they go.

Boothills not a helicopter parent, but he is protective to an extent. Considering he’s the only one raising this child, he can set his own rules into place without having to worry about a different opinion, which is a nice thing in his opinion.

He becomes less strict with his children's age. Every year older they are, the more freedom they get. In his eyes, it shows them a sense of freedom, and that they can find ways to prove that they can handle it.

First girlfriend/boyfriend. Whew. Poor guy has a heart attack.

He’s also got a lot of harsher rules put into place about a relationship like that. No closing the bedroom door, nothing inappropriate, all of the standard parent-of-a-teenager rules.

He loves spending time with his kid! He believes every moment should be cherished, and he knows their youth years will slip between his fingers super fast if he doesn’t watch out (which, he believes they already have. Time is flying by too fast).

He’s always at his child's defense unless they did something really bad. Missing assignments in school? They’ll get done soon, don’t worry teacher. Fight at school, but the other side hit first? Man is defending his kid until the very end (maybe even throwing hands himself if it gets bad enough. Not with the kid, with the ignorant parent of said kid).

He will lecture his child if they do wrong, though. No, nothing about grades, missed curfews, etc, mostly just if his kid picked a fight, participated in bullying, or had police involvement, or just in general did something people frown upon.

God don’t even START with his kiddo’s accent omg. They take over that same country slang and his way of speaking (his kids first word besides ‘dada’ was fuck). He was so proud but he soon said that was a bad word and not to say it anymore.

His kid has a great sense of style don’t play. If he’s got a girl, she’s totally got frilly and glittery cowboy hats, jeans and jean shorts, and stuff like that. With a boy, he’d dress him similar, but without the frills and the glitter.

He’s so proud to be a father of such a cool, compassionate child, and he’s so proud of how he’s raised them.

[mango-yoyo]

you have really good taste in fanfics in the tag game so was wondering if you would mind sharing so more of your favourites?

oh my god YES

i would love to thank you for asking <3

because i have no self control, i'm going to restrict myself to 3 5 10

1. the condominium community committee by @jusst-you-race . it's funny, it's light-hearted, and it has all the good feels. honestly it's the chat fic of chat fics, where the grid all lives in the same apartment building and have different lives, but are still super close! if you're feeling a bit down or if you want something fun, this is a great fic to read! status: WIP. word count: 28K+

2. crash landers by @janinaduszejko . carcar omegaverse my beloved, where oscar is an alpha and carlos is (secret) omega. a little bit angsty, a lot bit smutty, and overall delightful. it hurts a little bit, but it feels so good, and there's a happy ending! status: completed. word count: 57K+

3. i’m going back to 505 (if it’s a seven hour flight or a forty five minute drive) by julodinae_sunsets. another omegaverse (my weakness) but this time it's maxiel, where daniel is an alpha and tries to court max by accident, but stops himself because OBVIOUSLY max is an beta and doesn't want that. well. he's wrong. but second chances exist for a reason. it's really enjoyable so far, and it's made me grin stupidly way too many times, so. it's a win! status: WIP. word count: 19K+

4. Don't Want Your Sympathy (Just Your Company) by @1425fivefive . landoscar, where oscar is outed via blurry photos of him kissing another guy at the club. to get his mind off it, lando offers to have him stay at his place for the summer. a very cute teammates to friends to lovers, with a little bit of hurt but a lot of comfort. and smut. also, logan is best friend goals, honestly, and the little pockets of humor make you laugh when you least expect it. status: completed. word count: 64K+

5. Sunlight by @onboardsorasora . an absolutely delightful magical realism au (my other weakness) with a dewis pairing. they're one of the authors that got me into the pairing in the first place! people are touched by the elements in varying degrees. some people aren't touched, while others are touched by rare elements (like sunlight). daniel doesn't think he's touched by any. it's whumpy and a bit angsty but so, so sweet. honestly a lot of fluff too, with a sweet ending. status: completed. word count: 10K+

6. Loud and Clear by @oscatmeowstri . race engineer oscar with driver lando au, landoascar. it was wonderful. the formatting was so cool, and their relationship developed really well, from colleagues(?) to friends to occasional kissing buddies to lovers. some angst, but it's resolved pretty quickly, and there are lot of fluffy moments. status: WIP. word count: 48K+

7. cheap wedding (sticky pretenses) by @wormeo-and-juliette . i know i've mentioned the strollonso work by her before, but this is also so, so good. honestly, all her works have got me in a chokehold. it's lesteban, with a marriage of convenience (that eventual turns into love!). lance shows up in rural France, meets esteban, decides they're both lonely, and proposes marriage. absolutely delightful, and there's even the public coming-out which had me squealing. status: completed. word count: 12K+

8. champagne problems by @brocedesmadhouse . it's a love story to brocedes, and it's beautiful, heart-wrenching, and utterly amazing. toto gets replaced with a new team principal — who happens to be nico rosberg. it's set during the 2024 season, and it made me both cry and laugh — sometimes at the same time. absolutely wonderful. status: completed. word count: 60K+

9. empty streets, it's only you and me now by @the-ships-to-rule-them-all . intriguing and sweet, it's an exploration of Jewish folklore and golems, with sweet, sweet strollonso. lance has a golem, who happens to be incredibly protective of fernando. lance also happens to be in love with fernando. it's very cute and has the perfect plot-to-smut ratio. status: completed. word count: 5K+

10. k19tog (knit 19 together) by @nobrakesdown . really sweet and lovely, it's set in the 2022 season with seblance teammates. lance is a knitter, and seb convinces lance to teach him — and eventually, the rest of the grid. really heartwarming, and it has serious grid-as-family vibes that had me smiling like an idiot when I read it. also got me interested in the fiber arts, and it's really cool! status: completed. word count: 7K+

there are so many more fics that i could rec, but the sake of this post (and my need to study) i will limit it to just 10. please let me know how you like these recs, and feel free to rec for more (and if there are any particular pairings you're looking for)! this was a lot of fun, thanks for asking!

[pacing-er]

The Krakoa Era Reading List Cherik Version (PART 1):

(In order of timeline)

1. House of X/Powers of X

Tons of Cherik interactions with a lot of emphasis put onto their relationship. Moira/Charles is mentioned but very minor and in the end Charles chooses Erik over her. Highly recommend reading the whole thing since it establishes the universe and has a lot of ship bait.

2. Dawn of X

Some cute moments but overall they do not play a huge part in this series. A majority is dedicated to world building and other characters. Worth reading for the small parts they are in which are unfortunately dispersed throughout 15 volumes. I recommend skimming through it since the moments they are in are good but it is overall skippable.

(Highlights: Charles is assassinated and revived. There are a few angsty scenes with Magneto and their reunion is a little lackluster but sweet. Charles and Erik go to speak at an international meeting and it's cool. Logan gets Magneto drunk so he can steal his helmet, Magneto is a cute chatty drunk. I recommend reading that part at least bc I love it sooo much.)

3. X of Swords

Most of their appearances are in silent counsel meetings and Charles is shown several times in the resurrection chambers. Again they play a much smaller role in this series. The most noteworthy things to come from this series are the cute co-parenting moments between Erik and Charles. Since this one is much shorter (5 volumes as opposed to 15), I will include the moments I personally enjoyed. Aside from these moments I think this series is skippable.

Erik and Charles co-parenting an angsty Polaris (Magneto's daughter):

Erik and Charles being proud of their son Cyclops:

And I just really loved this scene XD Someone hatched from their egg mad as hell and Charles was NOT having it

I am planning to make a series of posts as I read through the Krakoa Era, so for now this is only Part 1. My memory isn't great and I pretty much just scroll until I see Erik or Charles and only read those parts so I'm missing some major context LMAO but I hope this is helpful to anyone

[thetiredstuff]

This is just mostly a handy little post for me but I asked people to rec me some destiel AU best friends to lovers fics and this is what I got:

Recs from ltleflrt:

okay, cupid. by orange_crushed On Air by wincechesters Just Turn Around and Go by @porcupine-girl Version 2.0 by Elizabeth1985 aka @cocklesheadboop Ignore the Butterflies: Best Friend Advice from Dean Winchester by impatient14 A Match Made (and Misunderstood) by surlybobbies More Views. More Money. by herbivoredinosaur Remember When by VioletHaze aka @scones-and-texting-and-murder When In Vegas by Dmsilvis & TobytheWise

Recs from doctorprofessorsong

One of my favorite fics of all time is Evangelist by @valleydean. It's really enemies to friends to lovers but the enemies part becomes friends pretty quickly because they are deeply obsessed with each other. One of the classics if you haven't read it is To Build a Home. Childhood friends who broke up and find themselves back in each other’s life. It is very angsty but they have a lifelong friendship so you get a lot of childhood and teenage friendship moments. If I may self recommend, I just wrote Can't Fight the Moonlight in which they are in this post canon partnership and both want to add sexual intimacy but the partnership is soft so you get some really fun platonic intimacy. It's not AU, obviously, but may have something of what you want. Seraph by @dothraki-shieldmaiden is a superhero au where they are friends and roommates to lovers. It has great world building. More than Kisses by @friendofcarlotta is a friends to lovers epistolary romance. Dean and Cas are pen pals and they share an absolutely gorgeous emotional intimacy. Tiamatv has a few that fit the bill. I'm gonna mention Marchen because I love the world built in that one. Dean Winchester is a prince locked in a tower. Feel free to also skim my fic recs. @riversrecs

Recs by castiellesbian:

tiamatv's "It's the End of the World (As We Know It)" is a friends to enemies to lovers if that counts? They were childhood best friends in that one "A Midterms Night's Dream" by Englandwouldfall is an au where they're roommates (oh my god they were rommates). "In Some Sacred Place" by schmerzerling is a good one where they're friends throughout most of the fic, but it's kind of depressing overall

Recs from porcupine-girl

Just Turn Around And Go (roommates-slash-best-friends): https://archiveofourown.org/works/4228830 Like four weddings and a funeral but without the funeral (Sam POV, Sam is clueless and doesn’t realize they’re together): https://archiveofourown.org/works/6225625 Go Down With This Ship (online fandom besties, don’t realize they know each other irl): https://archiveofourown.org/works/8023642

Rec by trampledundercas

#i thought of ‘ready to fall’ by lemonsorbae on ao3

A whole bunch of recs from dean-you-assbutt-cas-loves-you

A Tale of Two Tropes by Amelia_Clark (E, 7k) As You Walk On By by MercyBraavos (E, 23k) Are We Any Different? by LeviathanBlue, SerpentCountess (T, 41k) More Than Kisses by  FriendofCarlotta  (E, 29k) things i knew when i was young by stormwarnings  (T, 16k) Alright  by  turningthepages  (T, 46k) To Build a Home by intothesilentland  (M, 383k) When In Vegas  by  Dmsilvis, TobytheWise (E, 16k) The Ocean Between Us  by  noxsoulmate  (E, 27k) Room for Two (The Mattress AU) by  almaasi  (E, 14k) Honey-Baked  by  mishaminion69, sydkn3e (E,  89k) The Ones We Choose  by  lightmyway  (E, 82k)

EDIT: MORE:

Recs by bexfangirlforlife:

The Graveyard Shift by riseofthefallenone. PurgatoryJar Evangelist by embrancsxx0 Stay with me Sweetheart by Mandalarose We are what we pretend we are by tricia_16 Tricks of the Trade by Trenchcoat_Impala

Recs by impaledbeetle:

okay, cupid by orange_crushed Seek to Know You Better (E) by ahurston Après (E) by Imogenbynight Here's a couple aus that i really really enjoy that aren't necessarily best friends to lovers: spirit of the west (M) by teen_dean Parachutes (E) by chaoticdean (this one literally changed my life it is so good) And This, Your Living Kiss (M) by opal_bullets (again, this is life changing) Roll With It (E) by saltnhalo (this is a The Proposal (movie) au) Shut Up (Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is) (E) by kototyph

Recs by butch--dean:

spirit of the west by teen-dean (everyone should read this 90's horse girl dean au where he befriends cas, a local veterinarian) I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart) by unicornpoe (I am a sucker for all "cas using dean as a vessel" fics) Après by imogenbynight (surely everyone has read this? dean and cas in paris what more can you ask for) under the midnight sun by northernsparrow (dean is the caretaker of a research station in the arctic and cas is a mysterious bird researcher) (I also rec you can keep holding on by this author but be warned that it is very grief-driven - but it is an in-depth study of the way they care for each other) though the course may change by imogenbynight (fake dating AU at a couple's retreat - another one that everyone has probably read but is so worth mentioning in case you haven't) there's no cell service in the afterlife by screamsintothesun (cas gets back from the empty and his phone blows up with dean's voicemails & texts) Gold in the Edges of Our Vision by SewingNatural (dean and cas eat peaches together on a hot summer evening. The writing style on this one is really really lovely) these are just a few from my bookmarks but also there is a really good rec list here & here (this one has a link to a specific friends to lovers list here) that I refer to often when looking for new fics/authors to dig through!!

Recs by mercurialkitty for some reason tumblr won't allow me to add them to my post so just click on their name to go to their post!

These are all the ones i've gotten up til now but will def edit if I get any more. If you see this post and think of a Destiel AU best friend to lovers fic that isn't on here or just a Destiel AU (no abo) fic that isn't on here: PLEASEEEEEE GIVE ME ALL THE DESTIEL AU FIC RECS (no abo)

Also i didn't tag the people who recommended it cuz I don't wanna annoy them but I linked back to all of their original posts or comments!

A hugeeeeeeee thank you to everyone who replied to my annoying messages for fic recs cuz I really really appreciate it. thank you all so so so much!!!!

[multimilliepop]

Papyri collage AU ramble list:

(I so sorry to my followers, Iv become mentally ill for the papyrui as of late)

Undertale papyrus: Kinesiology major 🦴(He did it because he was told people who like working out go to that major, but enjoying the actual learning portion as well)

Underswap papyrus: Aerospace engineering major 🚀(Getting C in classes, not because he’s bad at them, but because he’s so good at it he can pick the wrong answers to avoid being forced to join some human space exploration program)

Underfell papyrus: Communications major 📓(He says he’s just in it because he’s being forced to be there and the moment human military lets him in he’s jump on that. He’s a liar and wants to be a teacher or counselor. Lots a emotional baggage behind that decision)

Swapfell papyrus (the purple one): Business major 💵(He gets C’s in his classes, he doesn’t want to be there. All he wants to do is get zooted out of his skull but he’s the only papyrus not receiving financial aid from his brother so he works on top of his classes. Bro is not thriving. But he makes great latte art!)

Fellswap papyrus (Red): Ecology major 🪴(Having a great time with classes but cannot communicate for the life of him. His taller statue and generally angsty outfit style allows him to seem cool without trying though. Is basically the opposite of a flirt, will just talk to you about why the concept of alphas and omega in wolves was a lie and is very passionate about it. Swap and Swapfell stopped inviting him to parties. Has a sister, not a brother)

Fellswap papyrus (gold): Undeclared ✏️(He’s the youngest and also the least inspired to do anything besides play video games that his brother just throws money at him for. Mute for the most part involuntarily but enjoys the company of others, think parallel play. The mental health service department know. While they are concerned for him, they also see him improving everyday and it’s a great thing for everyone.)

.

Horrortale papyrus: Dropped out 🍎(Works within a small local farming community and has great relationships with a lot of different people in the area. He can *physically* be the loudest, but around people and monsters he’s very soft spoken. Got braces, makes enough money to afford renting a house, tries to do some self help therapy, overall wouldn’t trade his current life for anything. Will not speak with his brother, hasn’t spoken with him in months)

[farshootergotme]

i wanna start reading abt dick / robin / nw / why does he have so many names. do you have any recommendations..... ;;; ??

Well, yes!!

If you want to start with what's important, I recommend:

Robin v2 Annual #4: One of the many versions of Dick Grayson's origin and my personal favorite.

Robin - Year One: I think it's a great comic since it's short and a good introduction to Dick Grayson's Robin once he's settled into the role.

The Brave and The Bold v1 #54 & #60: First introductions to the Teen Titans!! This origin hasn't been changed much nowadays, so you'll be good starting from here to learn about the team.

Teen Titans 1966 #53: Teen Titans origin and break up. Their adventures in this comic are all fun to read, so the full comic is recommended, but it isn't something essential to read, so you can skip it if you'd rather do that.

New Teen Titans v1 #1: Introduction of the new Teen Titans! After this issue you can read the rest of the comic, but that'll be up to you.

New Teen Titans #39: Robin leaves the mantle. In newer comics it's Batman who fires Robin and forces Dick out of the costume, but originally it was Dick's decision to stop being Robin and become his own hero. However, if you want to read the "Batman fires Robin" version, for that you'd have to read Batman v1 #408 or Nightwing v2 #101 (the latter being much harsher than the prior).

That's what I'd recommend to read about Robin Dick Grayson if you're just starting. After that, you can begin exploring any comic you want.

Now, moving on to Nightwing:

Tales of the Teen Titans #44: Nightwing introduction!! This would be the first time we get to see Dick in his new costume.

Nightwing - Secret Files and Origins: More about how Dick becomes Nightwing and the Kryptonian origin of the name, plus some other stuff that happen in this short comic.

Batman #416: Dick Grayson meets Jason Todd, the new Robin! Can't miss this one. It's nice to see how Dick confronts Bruce and ends up getting along with Jason.

The New Titans #55: Dick finds out Jason died and confronts Bruce about it. It doesn't go very well, and it's probably one of the moments that strains their relationship the most.

Batman #436 - #441: 5 issues in which you'll get the first look at Tim Drake's character, lots of Dick and Bruce angsty interactions after Jason's death, a new version of Dick Grayson's origin and then some more about Tim's character.

Robin v4 #0: Dick & Tim, Robin Dick Grayson flashbacks and finally Dick taking on the Batman mantle just as Bruce goes away for a while.

Nightwing 1996 #1 - #3: Nightwing and Bludhaven. Not my favorite issues, but they are important to learn more about Bludhaven and why Dick decided to stay and protect the city.

These are the comics and issues I recommend to start reading about Dick Grayson. Anything more you want to learn will be up to you, and you can start with whatever you like, this is just my personal suggestion.

A few extra recommendations I'd give you are:

Robin & Batman 2021: Beautiful art and a very nice approach to the start of Bruce and Dick's dynamic. And since it's a short comic, you can read it in one evening, which is always convenient if you don't have a lot of time to read comics.

Flash plus Nightwing: Dick and Wally have one of my favorite friendships in DC, so I recommend this comic about one of their adventures together during one of their annual vacations.

Secret Origins v2 #13: Dick in this one basically retells many things that's happened to him over the years while talking to Jericho and it's, overall, a very enjoyable issue.

Teen Titans 1966: I know I said it earlier, but it really is a very fun comic. I recommend to read when you're in the mood for something lighthearted. Each issue has it's own plot, so you can read one and then leave it until you're in the mood again.

Hope this helps you, anon!

[cryscendo]

For the fic ask, can I request one you wanted to write and weren't asked? Klaine, please! ♥

oooooh boy, you really opened up the floodgates with this one. I decided to go super angsty because i just really needed to get this out there. this takes place around the time of “the quarterback” and i went with the prompt “things you didn’t say at all”

i hope you enjoy and sorry in advance for the heartbreak :’(

Pairing: Kurt Hummel/Blaine Anderson

Word Count: 1599

Rating: T

Prompt: 5 - things you didn’t say at all

Warning: mentions of canon character death as a main plot point (references to The Quarterback)

if you would like to request a prompt, you can do so here.

Fic can be read under the cut

Finn’s death was hard on Kurt.

Make no mistake, it was hard on everyone. After watching Santana break down in the middle of the choir room, Blaine was truly able to see just how much this was taking a toll on his friends. Grief was shared amongst everyone who knew Finn, and it made it difficult to even pretend to be okay.

But Kurt… Kurt was suffocating with it. Every moment since his arrival back in Ohio for the funeral had been filled with this poisonous cocktail of emotions.

Kurt didn’t discuss this situation, at least not directly. He more so just tiptoed around the issue, and his words were like a children’s game of telephone where the original words get completely altered and warped, but the overall message is understood.

Blaine watched Kurt as his fiancé tried on no less than twelve different outfits for the funeral. They ranged from black to gray to navy, and he even tried his hand at adding a bit of deep plum. He looked gorgeous in all of them. None of them were good enough for Finn's funeral.

“This isn’t right either,” Kurt said, already moving to undo his tie. It was a sleek thing with very subtle, barely there gold-stitched accents. “Too flashy.” It really, truly wasn’t, but Blaine wasn’t about to argue.

“Maybe do the black suit with the plum sweater? Just forgo the tie completely.” Blaine knew that the problem wasn’t a tie. But Kurt wasn’t talking about what the actual problem was. “I’ll match to you.”

Kurt gave himself a long, hard look in the mirror before him. Blaine didn’t think that he would respond at all. That was until he eventually sighed and turned back towards Blaine. “Let’s try it, then.”

And so it goes.

The funeral ended without incident. Kurt actually agreed to Blaine’s outfit suggestion, which only further proved to Blaine that Kurt was, definitively, not doing well. Because if he was, there would’ve been a bit more scrutiny on Blaine’s choice of textile combinations, as well as how it affected the overall silhouette. He looked great of course, but it was also clear that he wore it not because he was actually in love with the outfit, but because he needed to pick something and allowing Blaine to make the decision took some of the pressure off of him.

Kurt didn’t talk much during the service. He did stand up and give a brief speech, which Blaine was grateful for — even if it felt a bit like Kurt was saying only a fraction of what he wanted to say.

They sat in Kurt’s bedroom a day or two later. Burt and Carole weren’t home, having needed to take care of a few things. They offered for Kurt and Blaine to join them, but Kurt turned the offer down on both of their behalfs. This seemed to disappoint Burt, but Blaine wasn’t interested in going against the wishes of his clearly grief-stricken fiancé.

So they stayed home. And Kurt once again did not speak much.

Eventually though, dinner came around, and Blaine had to make an effort to at least get Kurt to eat something (he has always been on the smaller side, but ever since Kurt moved to New York, Blaine got the sense that he prioritized things like work and school over eating). He brought Kurt a bowl of pasta up to his room — it was left over from the reception catering; Blaine wasn’t exactly the cook in the relationship.

While Kurt accepted the food, he made no move to actually eat it. Instead, he wordlessly spun his fork around inside the bowl, picking up noodles only to let them slip back off the utensil uselessly. He repeated this motion for several minutes until Blaine finally stopped him.

“Not hungry, honey?” Blaine asked, dragging Kurt’s attention back to reality.

Kurt’s eyes flickered up to Blaine’s face for a moment before peering back down towards the pasta, which up to that point had been virtually untouched. “Oh, yeah, I guess not.”

“You really need to eat.” Kurt hadn’t hardly eaten anything since the reception, and even then he grazed more than actually ate. That wasn’t entirely his fault, though. It was hard for Kurt and his parents to get much time to eat when people kept approaching them to express their condolences directly. It was well-meaning each and every time, but Blaine could see that it was taking a lot for Kurt to not tell people to ‘please leave me the fuck alone’. He was wound so tight that one wrong word could’ve easily made him snap.

“I know,” he confirmed. But rather than actually take a bite of his food, he set the bowl down on the mattress between them. Okay. Food wasn’t going to happen right now. That’s fine.

“Kurt, are you going to be okay?” He asked even though he sensed that he already knew the answer. Kurt was strong, powerful, resilient. But beyond that, he was still human.

“Yep,” Kurt responded directly. “Gotta keep on keeping on, y’know? Work and school aren’t going to wait for me forever. So I have no choice but to be okay.”

It was a reasonable enough answer, but Blaine knew it wasn’t what Kurt was feeling. This brave face that Kurt was putting on wasn’t him being honest with himself. Kurt has dealt with more loss than someone his age has any right to. His mother was first, and now Finn. And all the while, his own father was still in a balancing act with his own health and Blaine knew how much that worried Kurt.

Blaine knew he should’ve just left well enough alone, but that wasn’t really his style.

“It’s okay to not be okay, Kurt,” Blaine gently reminded. Kurt clearly didn’t want the reminder.

“You’re not going to lecture me into discussing my feelings. I won’t. I’m fine. And even if I’m not, that’s not going to bring Finn back, now is it?” Kurt put in great effort to make his words come out collected, but his own emotions worked to betray him. “So I’d be wasting my time weeping over something like this when it’s not going to change a single thing.”

“I know that, but please just listen, okay?” Blaine didn’t hold Kurt’s emotions against him. Asking someone to be entirely pleasant after undergoing severe loss was an unreasonable request. All he wanted was for Kurt to hear him for a moment. And with the way that Kurt fell silent, it seemed like he was willing to try.

“Nobody’s asking you to be fine,” Blaine began, moving both of their bowls to Kurt’s nightstand so that he could sit closer to his partner. “All I’m asking is that you be honest with yourself. Everyone can see how hard this has been on you; it’s not exactly a secret.” In response to Blaine’s words, Kurt looked away from him, instead choosing to examine his fingernails. It was artificial distance, not making eye contact. Blaine continued on regardless. “You don’t have to tell me what’s going on inside your head, but just know that whatever it is, you’re allowed to feel it.”

Kurt didn’t respond, but the way that he bit anxiously at his lower lip told Blaine that he was at least listening. That was good at least, that he was attentive to what Blaine was saying to him.

Blaine continued, reaching down to hold Kurt’s hand in his, his thumb swiping instinctively over Kurt’s engagement ring. Kurt watched the motion and sucked in a shaky breath. Kurt didn’t need to say what he was thinking at that moment; Blaine already knew — Finn was never going to be able to see Kurt get married, or even be married himself.

“I don’t think you’ve let yourself feel much of anything since it happened. You didn’t even cry at the funeral.” Kurt tensed, but didn’t pull away. Blaine continued. “I’m not saying you have to talk about it. I’m not saying you have to pour your heart out to the first person who is willing to listen. All I’m saying is that you need to let yourself be not okay. If you go back to New York and pretend nothing’s wrong, I’m scared it’s going to eat you alive. I don’t want that for you.”

Blaine fell silent after that, now only watching Kurt’s face as he continued to stare down at their joined hands. Seconds bled into minutes of wordlessness, and Blaine was beginning to worry that everything he had just said was going to be discarded.

That is, until Kurt’s eyes turned glassy with tears.

“Kurt?” Blaine asked and was immediately followed by silent tears streaming in heavy drops down Kurt’s face. “Shit, Kurt…”

Blaine hugged Kurt close then and Kurt didn’t even try to turn it down. Kurt’s arms were tight around Blaine as if he was afraid that if he let Blaine go, he’d disappear. The room was silent save for the soft sounds of Kurt’s broken gasps as wept quietly into Blaine’s shoulder. It tore at Blaine’s heart, hearing those sounds come from Kurt, his one true love, who somehow unjustly is regularly the victim of tragedy.

Kurt never did end up saying all the things that he had locked up inside his head, but that was okay. He didn’t need to. His actions were loud enough that Blaine understood them as if he were reading them from a book. If Kurt never discussed this again, that would be okay too.

The message was already clear enough.

[butmakeitgayblog]

I shouldn’t speak on anyone else’s behalf, but I’d like to hear about the new angsty not-fake-dating au idea please

Ok 👀

Gonna preface this by saying Clarke's overall character in the first half is... questionable. But listen just, set that aside for a minute and think of Clexa and also endgame 😅

So I was thinking something along the lines of Lexa gets recruited by a friend of a friend of a friend/distant classmate/ad in the college paper? Idk, whatever. But anyway, someone she's not at all close with or really has any ties to, and she's basically hired to pretend to be this girl's girlfriend for a group vacation her and her friends are going on (She's a nice girl, but a lonely gay/bi in a group of party girls/ habitually dating girls who always have Someone™ dangling off their arm, but this girl does not. Always looked over, the eternally single friend, etc. You get the gist.) And Lexa's hot. And kind of intimidating. Has that whole smokey eyed badass, femme fatale aura about her. It's... a reach, but also kind of perfect because it'll make this girl look fantastic to her friends in the street cred department and also possibly give her confidence the little boost that it needed. And considering Lexa grew up the only gay in her town, and didn't grow into her very gangly and awkward body until senior year of high school, she gets what it's like to always be the one passed up. Plus she could use the cash. So she's more than down for this. Everything's great, right? Right.

Except for the fact that one of said girls on the trip is in fact, Clarke. Who does have her own date. Now, I can't quite decide if Clarke would know about the arrangement or not, but regardless, Clarke has always been the main one in the group who is this girl's cheerleader. Very "you're better than how you treat yourself. You deserve everything, and it's not fair that people don't see it. The right person will fall in love with you in an instant, believe me. You're worth it." Very that supportive friend. She's ride or die until the end.

Now, Lexa's technically "on the clock" so to speak the entire trip, which means she is laying on the charm thiccc af. It's not exactly a stretch by any means because she is naturally a doting girlfriend in relationships (when she has one), but ya know, she's giving this girl her money's worth. She wants her feel like a princess for the entire trip. Yes it's a job, but it's also nice just making a girl feel special when she's not used to it.

The only problem is... Clarke is also seeing all of this. All of Lexa's sweetness and all of her thoughtful actions. Her attentiveness and her softness beneath the edgy exterior. The little presents Lexa surpises her friend with, the way she remembers her friend's little quirks. Always remembering her food preferences, her favorite drinks. Lexa's got this girlfriend thing down to a science. She's just so goddamn thoughtful and charming to boot. And also hot. Can't forget hot. Like really, unfairly hot. But mostly it's the way she's so gentle and sweet.

The other issue is, Lexa sees that in Clarke too. She sees that out of everyone, Clarke is pretty much the only one who actually treats this girl with kindness and respect. Never talking down to her or placating her, never just treating her like an afterthought. Clarke is so damn sweet and thoughtful, beautiful and fiery sometimes to a fault. She's funny, and warm, and just... the entire package. She understands why Clarke is never single.

But. It quickly becomes A Problem™. Because it's in the moments that Lexa is trying very hard to just focus on her "job" that she constantly finds herself in Clarke's orbit. In the mornings when she's up early making ~her girl~ her fancy coffee, late at night when she's tinkering around in the kitchen making her a lil snackie snack so they can watch a movie before bed. Those stolen interacting becomes moments of them just talking, Clarke on the counter as they chat while Lexa feels her eyes on everything she does. Them lounging by the pool while the others run into town for supplies. Dinners out with Clarke sat close on one side,,, while the girl sits on the other.

And there's flirting. Way too much flirting whenever they're in private. Effortless flirting that Lexa isn't really aware of until it smacks her in the face that they're both just idiots smiling. But it's all very cloaked in joking and throwaway moments because, technically, they're both supposed to be attached.

And as most things are, everything is fine. Until it's not.

The whole situation comes to a boiling point when they just get lost in one of those moments. A night of too many drinks and way too much flirting, finding themselves entirely too close in their villa's bathroom. It feels dangerously like the period on the end of a sentence that was written the second they'd layed eyes on each other. Before they realize what they're doing, Lexa's hoisted Clarke up onto the bathroom counter, her fingers pumping between Clarke's legs. It's a heated rush of moans and licks to sex-sweetened skin, both grabbing at each other through messy kisses meant to leave bruises. Both way too far gone into the release of all the tension to realize that... Clarke's being kind of loud...

It's a fucking catastrophe after that because yeah, well, Clarke definitely just cheated. In front of everyone. Including her "boyfriend". Though granted she'd only been seeing the guy for like a month so it's... it's not as earth shattering for her as it could be. But the real issue, the real vomit inducing kick in the moral gut is that she's just ruined the entire facade for het friend. Made her a look fool in front of everyone. Basically fucked the entire thing up for this girl who had only wanted to feel like she fit in. Just once. It honestly makes her feel awful. It's not like she just accepts it and feels ok with it, she is thoroughly disgusted with herself.

Obviously Lexa returns the money, letting herself be branded a homewrecker and cheater rather than embarrassing this girl further with exposing the truth that they were never actually together. She can carry that stigma as long as it means she's not doing anything to hurt this girl worse. She's caused enough problems as it is.

In the end everyone goes home. Pissed off or hurt or with a new bit of gossip to tell. Clexa going their own separate ways, without a single other word to each other.

The girl never talks to Clarke again when they get home and despite Clarke's efforts to try and make amends, she doesn't blame her. It was the single worst fuck up she'd ever made in her life. Which is why she takes the time to stop dating altogether and start really working on herself. Because she didn't like the version of herself who would do something like that to anyone, much less her friend. Feelings or not. Tipsy or not.

Lexa also never hears from the friend again, though that is not even remotely a surprise after everything. But she still wishes she could have done something to make things right. Some gesture or, or... something to fix what she'd fucked up so royally. It's a guilt she carries with her for a long, long while.

Eventually though, a few years down the line when it's more just a distant memory that still stings but doesn't burn quite as bad as it used to, the friend reaches out to Clarke in the form of a very opulent and beautiful wedding invitation that says she's... getting married to the guy Clarke cheated on that weekend. Clarke doesn't want to go, at all, but kind of feels obligated because not only is this the first olive branch she's ever gotten from her old friend, but also like,,, tf??? You're marrying that guy?!??! What the hell happenesd??? So she's gotta go. She has to, just to make the final amends for what she did.

Which works out well because the girl is all smiles and that bubbly laughter that comes from real, true happiness. She seems so easy and free when she tells Clarke that she is total over it. That they'd found the love that they'd been searching for in each other while commiserating through the pain of that trip. "Eh. Burnt toast theory and all that," is how she puts it with a lift of her champagne in response to Clarke's very thought-out apology.

So it's good. It's not great, and it doesn't make up for what Clarke did, but at least she now knows that her friend is at peace with what happened.

And then aND THEN Clarke catches a glimpse of Lexa at one of the tables across the room. Looking awkward and unsure and still disrespectfully hot in her formal wedding attire. And her friend, in all of her wedded blissed out glory, is like "Oh right. So. Speaking of blasts from the past. I invited another old friend... You should go say hi."

With the bride's blessing, she does exactly that despite her absolute terror at the prospect of seeing Lexa again. They have drinks and reminisce over wedding cake about that fucking shitshow of a vacation, catching each other up on where they are in their lives now and how they've been. They talk about how stupid they were. How awful and, honestly, immature. But through their embarrassed commiseration and disgust with their past selves, they both carefully (and not so carefully) toe around the subject that while they both do regret the way it happened... neither actually regret that it did. Because the sex had meant something. Because the feelings were entirely real. Those late night talks and time spent together still mean something today. Even through the messiness and the people hurt in the aftermath, the connection had been real, and in the end it had always sort of felt like the other was 'the one who got away'. So, drinks turn into dancing, which turns into Lexa catching a ride home with Clarke in a designated cab. And before either of them know what's happening, it's Clarke that Lexa is making breakfast for in bed 👀

[mermaidsirennikita]

what would you say are the biggest trends when it comes to romance novels getting published nowadays and how do you feel about them?

Oh gosh, that's hard to say. In part because I am both deeply NOT on trend in what I seek out, and on trend in that I read a lot of ARCs from trad publishers? Who aren't the only trendsetters by any means, but are the ones with the most $$$.

(This got long so some of it goes under the cut.)

—Romantasy. Obviously. I hate the term romantasy, I think it's literally just made by marketers

(digression: I don't care if a random TikToker came up with the name, the nebulous thing that it IS... pure marketing, there is no definition, and I truly think that genre has to have DEFINITION to be a genre or even a subgenre, it can't just be what one random person thinks it is; you can genre-bend, play with it, but the people you are directing your product to needs to know SOMETHING about what they're buying; I'd compare it to selling a necklace and calling it jewelry without telling the buyer what the stones or metals ARE)

but undoubtedly this is a huge trend. There seems to be a biiiit of paranormal romance making a return with this—see: Kresley Cole's IAD rerelease books being marketed as "romantasy" when there's very little romantasy about that series.... But overall you see the connection to shows like Game of Thrones, etc, within them. Tons of dragons.

—Romcoms continue on. Lots of low stakes romcoms. I do not like these. A lot of the time they blur into women's fiction. The women's fiction blur I think has something to do with Colleen Hoover (though most of her books aren't intentionally funny) but also just publishing trying to capitalize on romance without committing to romance. Emily Henry is a good example of this. Sally Rooney is a more ~literary example. Jasmine Guillory. Etc etc.

They're impossible to really figure out, imo. Are they gonna be hot? Are they gonna be funny? Are they gonna be emotional? Yulin Kuang's How to End a Love Story is a great example of a book that is, to me, near-perfect. It's ABSOLUTELY a romance novel. But is it a romcom? Not really. It has funny moments and a beautiful HEA, but it's a VERY angsty book. Yet I saw it marketed as such.

—Kickstarter campaign books on the indie side, plus other ways to sort of circumvent the tradpub issue while also not... losing as much money. Several big time authors (in and out of romance) have seen huge success with Kickstarter; obviously, it's harder for small-timers, but still possible! I also know of authors who've written chapter by chapter on Patreon and given their patrons special goodies before publishing the book.

—Genre diversity for authors. A lot of authors in the past wrote under one genre or subgenre, then had to use a pen name for anything else. Amanda Quick was Jayne Anne Krentz's historical romance pen name, for example. Now... I don't think people are as strict. Sierra Simone has written erotic historicals, contemporary, dark romance, monogamous, poly, m/m, m/f, f/f, m/m/f, f/f/m, romcoms, etc. Sarah MacLean is dropping a contemporary (not romance) novel soonish. I see this as a good thing all-around. Pen names are cool, but I don't think they should be a MUST.

—Less angst, more fluff. THANKS I HATE IT LOL. I'm gonna say something controversial (apparently) but this is my honest opinion: It is not a story if there is no conflict. What you wrote was a scene. Perhaps a very good scene! A very long scene, maybe! But there is not a STORY unless there is CONFLICT.

Now, I don't know if I've read a book with ZERO conflict. But I've read many lately wherein the conflict was so thin... I felt the story had little substance. Not every conflict has to be ANGST ANGST TRAUMARAMA. A book I recently didn't LOOOOOVE but whatever, I'll accept it as an example, is Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. The heroine and the hero are not in danger of losing their lives. Their conflicts are internal. She loves him but doesn't feel like he'll ever genuinely love her, he's a dipshit who essentially doesn't want to accept that she's the one because he a) has a hard time trusting women in general b) has a specific idea of what his life is going to be that was disrupted when his career ended unexpectedly, and he's still working through some shit on that.

Nobody is at gunpoint, nobody is cheating, nobody is doing one last job. They're just... struggling with their feelings and their senses of self. (If the hero hadn't crossed ONE LAST LINE, I think I would've rated that book higher, but it's a testament to SEP understanding conflict that I can dislike the book and still say "solid conflict".)

I just see a lot of authors shying away from serious conflict, and I wonder how much of it is because readers keep complaining about it. And yeah, bad conflict... sucks. But conflict does not inherently suck. I don't want to read 800 pages of PWP or pointless slow burn. I need PLOT. I need ACTION. And I think we can have low-conflict books and high-conflict books in the same market! But it feels like publishers (and perhaps some authors) don't feel confident in that.

Which is why your girl has realized that a lot of the books she loves are like... 10+ years old.

—Historical specific... the unproblematic 1800s white people. I want to make it clear: You can absolutely write politically progressive people of bygone eras well. The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe has a heroine who's outspoken about women's rights and reproductive freedom. Joanna places this against political occurrences of the time to make it flow easily, AND I think is actually pretty real about the heroine having to give some things up to be with the hero (a duke) even though he supports her and doesn't expect her to be a conventional duchess. Some sacrifices are inevitable. Adriana Herrera's An Island Princess Starts a Scandal has a great portrayal of semi-openly queer women in 19th century Paris... and that's something that totally existed and again, flows well.

It's not that I'm a stickler for accuracy at all. See: my love of Alexis Hall's Something Fabulous series. But I think that you either have to lean the fuck in to not being super accurate like they do, OOOOR you have to make it flow. When we suddenly have a duke being like "AND BTW I'M A FEMINIST" I don't fucking buy it lol. I need to see growth, and I need to understand why he has these views. I think there's a lot of low-effort shit being done to make historicals appear more progressive. And while I do think HR has a lot to reckon with, if that's the only way it can continue to exist... It feels as if that subgenre has to exist within a structure that we don't necessarily expect from other subgenres. Not a lot of billionaire romances (and that's still popular, despite what some may tell you) have the hero going "LET ME STOP AND EXPLAIN HOW I'M AN ETHICAL BILLIONAIRE".

I think that romance needs to be aware of its environment and progressive; I also think that romance requires some suspension of disbelief, and I think we're seeing a lot of white guilt driving some newer historical romances.

Because to go back to Adriana Herrera... That's a woman of color writing very politically aware historicals, while at the same time FULLY diving into the escapism and wish fulfillment and all the things people should be able to get out of a romance novel.

(And btw: All the things marginalized groups should be able to get out of romance novels! A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell is an amazing romance novel with a trans hero, and I've gotta say, the book confronts transphobia, sure, but there is such fucking delicacy and it BY ZERO MEANS drives the fucking book, and I find that really important. That the hero is existing. That Adriana's heroes and heroines exist. And so on.)

[syn0vial]

I am loving all your takes on Boba Fett! Do you have recommendations for 'required reading' about Boba in Legends? I have the Legacy of the Force books on my TBR pile, but I would love to add more if there are any you think are great 💚

thank you so much! :D i'm glad you enjoy my rambling. as for reading recommendations, i would suggest reading boba fett: a practical man before starting legacy of the force, since it provides a lot of background for several of the character relationships in the series and is overall a lot of good, angsty fun. it covers the beginning of the yuuzhan vong war, in which fett (along with beviin) are basically forced to play Big Damn Heroes against the vong.

two other favorites of mine are the last one standing and a barve like that, both written by the same author (the latter is written under a pseudo-name of his, from what i've heard). these books were written well before release of the prequels so a lot has been retconned from them backstory/characterization-wise and they're honestly weird as hell but both have some absolutely killer character moments. bits and pieces of the last one standing would also be reworked into fett's backstory by later writers so it can be interesting to see how it all began!

speaking of weird pre-prequel boba fett novels, the bounty hunter wars series by K.W jeter are also very entertaining, esp if you just want to see our boy kicking ass in the most unhinged of ways. his characterization here is a bit idiosyncratic (he can be much more verbose, which i find weird, and is even more emotionless than usual) but again, it has some great moments. if you read this one, keep your eye open for d'harhan, whose interactions with fett are my favorite in the series!

finally, if you don't mind reading children's literature, boba fett: the fight to survive provides some good, angsty background for boba's childhood pre- and immediately post-geonosis, and miiight have totally fucked me up as a nine-year-old who barely knew thing about star wars when i first read it. it's also a good jumping off point into the rest of the junior novels if those are of interest to you, though the quality of the rest of the series varies wildly between books. boba fett: hunted is another very fun entry in the series and covers how boba fett became involved in jabba's court at the ripe age of uh, maybe 11.

and those are my recommendations! i hope you find stories you enjoy among them!

[nompunhere]

YEAH IM OOMF HAI IM HAPPY UR WATCHING THE SHOW Also... biology for j0hn siIv3r.... I must know... AND THE CROSSOV3R?? You have my full interest

YIPPEEEEEE HEMLOOOOOO

oooooo yee Silver biology,,,,, hmmm (not gonna bother censoring his name for this since it's. a noun)

okay, so, he's an alien, so it should stand that he'd have interesting biology, pretty different from a human's. he does strongly resemble mammals, though, so there might be some overlap, even if it's not one-to-one. maybe like, similar overall systems, i.e. circulatory, nervous, skeletal, and what we're all here for, digestive, and some similar organs, like a heart (or hearts), lungs of some sort or another, aaaaand a stomach

or, heck, he could have multiple stomachs, maybe. he's an alien, why not? I imagine his digestive system works differently from a human's, at least in some ways, even if his mouth looks similar. slow metabolism, perhaps, to suit a somewhat more carnivorous diet? not entirely carnivorous, but more meat-heavy. and different enzymes? different fluids entirely? different organs that produce different fluids?

okay okay I can make this more interesting, lemme give it a shot

I'd like to think he has some built-in way of doing safe noms, such as a storage stomach, or a way to temporarily shut off digestion. more fun than just handwaving it to work. maybe it's a conscious decision, or maybe it's entirely subconscious, and he just has to hope that his system does what he wants it to. could make for a great trust exercise, hehehe

and one can't ignore the cybernetics. obviously we don't know, in canon (at least as far as the movie goes), how deep they go beyond the limb replacements and the prosthetic eye and ear(?), but I'm sure he could, in theory, have needed some organs replaced or like. bolstered? I'm thinking of stuff along the lines of a pacemaker, basically.

so maybe he's got some bits and bobs in there. nothing in his stomach, probably, but perhaps you could see some blinking lights through the flesh if you looked closely enough, or hear the devices running in the background, like with his prosthetics, maybe even feel them if you go poking around enough (though he probably wouldn't like you doing that very much sdgnshjfs)

this was a lot more than I anticipated having to say on the matter lmao so I'm gonna chuck the HK crossover stuff under a cut

--------------------------------------

okay ! so ! Hollow Knight/Treasure Planet crossover time! (good gog this got long too, whoopsie)

it's effectively a 1-to-1 character swap for the most part, with HK characters taking up TP roles, and not too many changes to the canon TP plot. however, there can always be little scenes of those in-between moments we don't see in the movie!

now I. don't actually have permission to talk about the version of the AU I made with my friend, so there's gonna be some improvisations here to make a version that's more my own

Oro takes John Silver's role, no question about that, he's one of my favorite bois and I think he'd do great as a space pirate with a hidden soft side. he did not take the fight with his brother well, and he ended up going down a much darker path than he'd ever anticipated, but he holds his current place in life with pride. maybe people in the past called him heartless, but you know what? fine. he can be heartless.

Ghost is the most obvious choice for Jim's role, but I also think Broken Vessel/Lost Kin would suit it pretty well. angsty adolescent vibes, y'know? plus, Oro being parental towards them and all. but Ghost is still perfectly viable as well

either way, Mato has Sarah Hawkins' role. a very loving dad to his adopted child (or children, even? possibly?), tries his best to keep on a smile, but he is so tired. and maybe he runs a training hall instead of an inn? that's what he'd want to do, at least. maybe he runs an inn at the start, but it gets rebuilt into a training hall at the end of the plot, once he gets the money to actually follow his passions

now, Quirrel seems like the most obvious fill-in for Doctor Doppler. or perhaps Lemm? maybe Lemm, actually. Quirrel's physically capable and can hold his own in a fight, whereas Doctor Doppler is not. and nor is Lemm, probably! Quirrel has more of a wanderlust and would probably be more willing to go out and search for the treasure, but Lemm would take more value in the artifacts themselves.

in the original version of the AU, Quirrel was actually Oro's first mate (so technically taking Turnbuckle's place ig? and also. Morph's, by virtue of actually being plot-relevant (unlike Turnbuckle I mean)), and was very close to him, sort of acting as the diplomatic face of the crew, smoothing out his rough edges. despite his soft and friendly appearance, though, he's perfectly capable and willing to commit crimes

I kinda wanna keep that version of him, even if it might not make the most sense..? mainly because of my. my rarepair :>

Tiso is also there, because I say so. he's a member of Oro's crew, chills in the background, along with like. phuckin, I dunno, Leg Eater. Leg Eater matches the vibes of Silver's canon crewmates perfectly lmao. maybe Little Fool-? nah the Fools are probably their own crew. ...oh rightrightright Xero's there too, he's also on Oro's crew. possibly Markoth as well, but don't ask how he ended up keeping company with pirates. it's Xero's fault. maybe another warrior dream or two? Galien? sure why not

and Scroop is Hunter >:3 I mean sure someone else could probably take that role, and not turn the Hunter into a villain, but phuck, it would be so fun

now for Captain Amelia... I guess Hornet would make sense? I think Hornet is who most people would think of. and yeah, she's strong, she's capable, she was born to lead, and she's certainly agile. I'm sure she could fill those boots. however, in the original version of the AU, we picked Dryya, and phuckin hells. she's so cool, and it makes sense for her to have experience leading others, possibly in a military capacity

also if I went with Hornet for Captain Amelia, I would probably feel compelled to have Ogrim be Mr. Arrow (this makes sense because of Certain Other Headcanons from Other Friends okay trust me), and phuck, man, I can't kill off my boi Ogrim

no, for Mr. Arrow... Hegemol. this is because of an unwritten fic I have, actually, which involves Hunter and maggot!Hegemol, which goes about as well as you'd expect, and if the events for that particular scene of this AU go anything like how they do in my fic, well... there could be a way for Hegemol to survive, while everyone else thinks he's dead, and he's still taken out of the story. won't go into any more detail than that, though ;>

I don't really have any strong ideas for B.E.N., but I had thought that Emilitia might be pretty fitting. I may not like her too much, but I think she'd fit the role. the whole "eternal" thing, outliving her peers, going more than a little crazy, holing herself up alone somewhere...

in the original version of the AU, a past iteration of Grimm was Captain Flint, with his troupe as the pirate crew. I still think that could be cool. alternatively, Soul Master could take up that role, with his soul scholars. I think either one would work

okay is that all the important characters? I think that's all the important characters

so I don't think the Captain Amelia x Doctor Doppler ship is happening in this AU but you've got whatever homoerotic nonsense Quirrel and Oro and Quirrel's Two Other Boyfriends have going on to make up for it lmao

some aspects of the plot may change plus there'd be noms because I say so but it's mostly the same. Oro and Mato will definitely have to have some sort of confrontation. Mato might even recognize his brother from the start, if he gets a good enough look. not exactly enough time to act on it right then, though. also Quirrel and Oro take turns being mentor figures, with Oro taking longer to open up, but Quirrel also takes a while for his friendliness to be genuine and not just him playing good cop.

I did make art of Quirrel and Oro's designs for this AU like a year ago in a magma session but it kinda sucks. maybe I'll redo it someday, add some of the other characters in if I feel like it

if anyone actually read all this, hope you enjoyed my ramblings lmao. time for me to disappear into the ether for like another 3 months! /j (.../hopefully j) (....../possibly srs)

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

The Sign - final thoughts

I want to start by reasserting what I've said before about companies like Idol Factory. Having production companies being willing to try new things and push the genre is always going to get points from me, even if I don't absolutely love the end result. Much better that than yet another university series that doesn't even attempt to be coherent.

So I am grateful that this show exists, even if I did struggle to maintain my enthusiasm the entire way through.

We'll start with some very solid positives.

Pros:

Idol Factory is so good at identifying talent. The acting was overall great, with some genuine standout performances (Nat as Art, I mean c'mon, just incredible). Heng devoured his role. Gap was an utter delight. Billy swings between horny and angsty like no one else. Babe did amazing for his first series, and I look forward to seeing him develop as an actor.

The talent behind the camera was really strong in some arenas too. The production quality was high, and we got some genuinely beautiful cinematography.

Even characters in small roles were memorable and well-characterized.

The action scenes were pretty solid, for the most part. The underwater stuff looked really, really good.

The sex scenes. Idol Factory knows we are thirsty bitches, and I appreciate that about them. And they were so pretty!

The cast chemistry. It was fantastic.

The premise - I am a sucker for the reincarnation trope, Until We Meet Again has a firm hold on my heart.

Some genuinely interesting ideas around karma and fate and determinism.

Getting to see more of Thai culture and mythology.

Cons:

This part hurts, because I really was so obsessed with this series in the beginning. I think it was mostly a writing issue, but there's some big flaws in the story construction that became apparent as we got further along. The interweaving of the past & present, the cop storyline with the mythology storyline...it got a bit clunky.

There were a number of planted seeds that never bore fruit. The Abott being set up as a powerful ally to then be completely nerfed in the last episode. Chalothon being set up to be punished for refusing to give up his quest of vengeance, but that never happening. Tharn being told multiple times he needs to learn to fight for his love, and then he just...doesn't. (Unless you consider talking to Chalothon for a year "fighting").

Really clunky setup at times - we've spent almost no time with Khem and Tongthai, and then suddenly a ring, and then suddenly he's shot, and then suddenly he's fine.

Relatedly, I genuinely can't believe that for their final scene, they had Tharn run in and just tell Phaya that Chalothon had entirely changed as a person and was now in support of them. Why wouldn't you have at least one scene of Tharn & Chalothon talking? I get that show don't tell is not universal for every situation, but it was hella important here! That was a genuine wtf moment. It would have been so powerful to see Tharn finally break through to Chalothon, after centuries of hurt.

The flashbacks. I get that they had to use a ton of the budget for CGI, but I rather wish they had either done the flashbacks in the green screen space they used for Phaya being unconscious, or just used a black stage. It just felt like the cast in costumes running around in the woods, which, admittedly, it was. But it took me out of the immersion, and made them less impactful.

I will still watch anything Billy does, and I'm excited to see where Idol Factory goes from here. And someone needs to do a Gap/Yoshi series stat.

[kc-drama-fanatic]

Love Between Fairy and Devil (2022)

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Wuxia

Main Actors: Dylan Wang, Yu Shu Xin, Zhang Lin He, Xu Hai Qiao

Plot: Xiao Lanhua, a weak flower fairy and the disciple of the Arbiter of Fate, accidentally frees the Fairy Realm's #1 wanted prisoner, the Moon Realm's Supreme Leader, Dongfang Qingcang when she attempts to meddle in her crush's fate--the Fairy Realm's God of War, Changheng. Lanhua and Qingcang unite in self-preservation and find their fates far more entangled than anyone could have expected--even the Arbiter. Along the way to achieving their goals (Qingcang: destroying the Fairy Realm and freeing his frozen-for-30,000-years-army, Lanhua: stopping Qingcang from destroying the Fairy Realm and getting Changheng to look at her), the two learn about love, life, and their entwined fates. 9.4/10

Relationship: The main couple are everything I could want. He's reluctant and cold but also is way too tsundere touch-her-and-die and she teaches him how to love, she's sweet and kind but has no problem calling him out (only she can do it without repercussions), they're a power couple like never seen before and would do anything for the other. The side relationship deserved way more screentime but what we got was incredibly interesting, two characters with similar backgrounds but very different approaches to life learning how to navigate a romantic relationship. 10/10

Characters: The characters were complex and nuanced and really enhanced the drama. I would have liked more backstory for some of the supporting characters, but overall the lack of backstory did not affect the storyline or plot. There were some women vs women moments, but also women for women moments, we love to see it. Also, a ton of character development for everybody (except the Fairy Emperor). 8.8/10

Favourite Quote/Scene: When Dongfang Qingcang arrived in the fairy court and saved Xiao Lanhua from Yunzhou. 10/10

Final Thoughts: A great drama that I would absolutely rewatch. Funny, fluffy, and angsty, all in one great package. Despite C-dramas being known for their long lists of episodes, the show went by quite quickly and didn't really have any lagging parts begging to be skipped, the plot and relationships always advancing. 9.5/10

[wollemi-whump]

A List of My Favorite Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, & Helmut Zemo Fics + a few Matt Murdock fics

and from his bones the hills by bartonbones & LadyCharity ( @bartonbones @mykingdomforapen ). this rec goes out to my medical whump enjoyers, youll definitely get some here. really well written fic about bucky and sam getting kidnapped! :)

and the old linger by LadyCharity is GOOD FIC VERY GOOD FIC. i love the format of the three different characters confronting Bucky. the descriptions and dialogue flow so nicely into each other, it's really a wonder it wasn't written with old wizard magic (at least that i know of).

chance meeting by MedicBaymax. what an awesome crossover! macgyver and the winter soldier! this fic is short, sweet, and highly captivating. captures macgyver's wonderful resourceful antics and the winter soldier's seriousness and meshes the two characters very well together.

witness marks by bartonbones. a beautiful mixture of domestic and angsty moments and some lovely Wilson family! the emotional moments in this are wonderful.

irreplaceable by LadyCharity. this one is actually a Zemo fic! beautiful character writing in this and a really touching story. the writing flows gorgeously.

True Believers by scioscribe ( @scioscribe ) is another (mostly) zemo-centric fic that i love. i really love zemo in this fic, i think its a very good take on his character after the events of tfatws, and the plot of the fic is creative and serves the characters well. good fic!

I've got red in my ledger... by undertalefa. oh I love this fic. wonderful mix of emotional and physical whump! i love me a good beatdown :)

talking is overrated by undertalefa ( @undertalefa ). great writing in this short fic about Bucky and some trauma about the Winter Soldier he's maybe not dealing with so well.

Machines by novelti. wonderful! pure whump, this one. very angsty and dark. i love torture :)

Homecoming by Face_of_Poe. OH I LOVE THE SPUTNIK PART. I wish it would be used a million more times very awesome. Many good lines in the actual fic but I just have to share one from the author notes because "I just really like to rip out my own heart and stomp on it with the possibilities" is an incredibly funny and appropriate phrase for us writers.

Try To Do Something New by Red_Tigress ( @redtigress ). good fic with some hurt Bucky and hurt Sam! I loved the concept of the conflicting injuries too. very nice to read!

the prison disappears by LadyCharity. this fic has a certain feeling of comfort and domesticity to it that really makes it such a pleasure to read. the mood setting and descriptions work together in great tandem and the story is just so sweet. very lovely fic.

Rusted by Face_of_Poe is a fabulous collection of missing scenes/alt-pov scenes from tfatws. the character writing in this is phenomenal and the writing flows so easily. I love the Zemo POV he really is such a bitch (affectionate) thank you for your writing service.

straddled cooperation by VIKAN. ( @mustangst ) fantastic character dialogue in this, especially for zemo, and some very funny moments (ESPECIALLY for zemo lmao) the character interactions are so so enjoyable and well written. overall just a fabulous fic with some tremendous writing.

True Quiet by betterthanworse ( @betterthanworse ) A fantastic fic in which Bucky survives the war and encounters Zola. I loved how this fic explored the trauma that Bucky experienced specifically with Zola and his initial experiementation. I don't often see a lot of that in either fic or canon so it was very satisfying. and I also loved the emotional whump of course very good :)

Wrong About You, Wrong About Me by betterthanworse. In my reviewing of this fic, I accidentally read literally the entire thing again, so you know this fic is good lmao. 30k words and it literally flew by I was so immersed in the story. and boy does it have WHUMP. one of my all time favorite fics <33

open the door to heaven or hell by chaosy. one of my favorite crossovers, Matt Murdock and Bucky Barnes. exactly the scene you wanted to happen in canon but never did. well no matter! this does the job very well!!

Bandaids Don't Fix Bullet Holes (But Punisher Does) by our lovely @whumpdoyoumean !! (221Browncoat on Ao3) An awesome Daredevil fic with plenty of whump and plenty of Frank!! :D whumpy, touching, and very funny. fantastic read! :)

Witness by ysande. A wonderful bit of Matt whump and angst. Paints very well the relationship Matt has with Stick and provides a rational perspective (thank you, Foggy) on how messed up it is.

[riverxsong-ao3]

20 Questions (for fanfic writers)

Thank you @theonceandfuturequeenoftarts for the tag! I don't know who else has been tagged/answered, but if you see this, this is your prompt to answer (if you want)!

how many works do you have on ao3 7

what’s your total ao3 word count? 366,485

what fandoms do you write for? Harry Potter and Phantom of the Opera

top five fics by kudos: Horcruxes, Death Eaters, Treasure, The Knights of Walpurgis, A Woman Out of Time

do you respond to comments? I… try. I was very particular about responding when I first started posting regularly, but fell out of the habit. I’m trying to pick that back up again now and am actually going back to some older comments to engage!

what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Hmmm… I don’t really write angsty endings, but I have a feeling Pity the Living is going in that direction. It’s either “Harry goes mad due to Voldemort living in his head,” or “Voldemort comes fully back to life and takes Harry away against his will,” so. Not great outcomes on either front.

what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Well, these are the endings I go for, but… I think the Vitae Redux series is leading towards the happiest — I mean, uh, spoilers?

do you get hate on fics? Nothing bad so far. A bit of constructive criticism, but overall it’s mostly positive.

do you write smut? Sometimes! Treasure definitely started out as a PWP oneshot, but I tend to focus more on the emotional side of relationships, with some added smut as an occasional treat.

craziest crossover? I haven’t really written any crossovers, though I do sneak in references to other works. The closest would be in the final instalment of Vitae Redux, not yet posted, when Tom and Harry end up hiding out for a bit on a cluster of magically hidden islands which are a direct element taken from the Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier

have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I’m aware of. I did however once find someone trying to sell a short story I wrote on Amazon as an ebook, and that pissed me off to no end.

have you ever had a fic translated? Someone went through and translated a few instalments of Vitae Redux, and that was very cool!

have you ever co-written a fic before? Not precisely, but I do bounce story ideas off my friends and rework things based on their suggestions!

all-time favorite ship? Tomarrymort, hands down <3

what’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Ugh, if I’m being honest, probably Treasure. That’s subject to change, though, at the moment I don’t know exactly where it’s going but who knoooows?

what are your writing strengths? Dialogue for sure, particularly in weaving in what’s happening in the story around the dialogue. I tend to play out scenes in my mind ad nauseam until I know exactly what, where, and why the characters are doing and saying things long before I ever put digital pen to paper.

what are your writing weaknesses? Worldbuilding? I’m actually pretty thorough with this, it’s weaving it into the narrative seamlessly where I struggle. Aaaand endings. Fuck endings lol

thoughts on dialogue in another language? Love it. Try to add it in as much as I can when I know enough of the language in question. I think it can go overboard, though, and have found it most effective when it’s short, to the point, and easily translated by another character so as not to leave the reader floundering.

favorite fic you’ve written? Vitae Redux, hands down. This story keeps me up at night. OTOH, I have a backlog of writing of favourite fics I can’t wait to get back to once I’ve finished up with this one!