#It is that fandom does it just so badly. Like just sooooo badly

[bright-hope-spot-19]

Yeah, Gaara got boring in Shippuden. It's always been a personal thought of mine that the reason we never get to see anything of his development process and it's all completely offscreen, is because Gaara was meant to be like..... the standard Naruto should aspire to. He's the paragon of what Naruto aims to be. For Naruto to look up to him and be reminded of what his end goal is. Because yeah, Gaara's change was too...... I don't know how best to put it into words. It just doesn't make any sense. He goes from an unstable, bloodthirsty child to a mature, respected, and collected leader in the span of less than 5 years. We're never told how any of that happened, either. We're just left to assume.

Another thing is just his practically nonexistent bond with his siblings. I've already mentioned it once before, and I'll say it again: it really makes no sense for them to be siblings when their bond sees practically no development? I imagine that maybe it also wouldn't have made sense for him to be the only son of the Kazekage put into a team with two random dudes. Also, because I assume if they weren't his sibs, Kishi probably wouldn't have had any issues killing both of them off in the chunin exams. Maybe he thought that by making them sibs, Gaara's change would be more poignant and emotional? But again, he never fucking does anything with them. Legit, we never see Gaara even thinking about them in canon. Sparing them a mere thought. Meanwhile, you have Kankuro and Temari getting 5 different panic attacks and risking their lives every time Gaara's hurt. From Gaara's side, there's 0 sibling development. It's very one-sided cause all the care comes from the elder ones, and he never reciprocates.

This is also just surprising because I'm pretty sure if I haven't missed anything, the main point of Gaara's character was to form bonds with those around him. Bonds he'd previously rejected cause he saw them all as useless, unnecessary, and he lived thinking they all existed to satisfy Shukaku's bloodlust. Despite all that, we only ever see him worry and care about Naruto. Why not have him start by bonding with his own sibs who literally live with him? In the Kage meeting arc, he literally has a line of dialogue affirming that "if it's Naruto they're talking about, he knows him very well" or smth. In the war arc, he has this grandiose speech to the alliance about protecting his friend. He freaks out when he sees Nart show up on the battlefield. But does he, through the entirety of the war, think bout his sibs and their well-being a single time? No, of course! Why would he do that! He never once stopped to even ponder whether Tem and Kank might still be alive or not. Naruto is all that matters to him! At one point, when the tailed beasts were gathered and Gaara was also given a moment to speak with Shukaku? He literally tells the beast he was glad to have been a jinchuriki cause it was thanks to that he got to meet Naruto. No regrets or mentions about how yeah, he met Nart. But he also had to ruin his siblings' childhoods in the process. Honestly, at this point, I don't even think Gaara cares that Tem and Kank had to suffer a lot for him and because of him. Honestly, if you asked him, I'm sure he'd be pretty fucking willing to drag his sibs through Hell itself, if it ensured Naruto's safety. That's not good development.

Kankuro and Temari were done dirty in all this. They give and give and never get anything back in return. Tbh, Kishi kinda tried developing a brotherly bond between the two boys? I'd definitely say that despite being underdeveloped, Kankuro at least saw some slight change and development in his bond with Gaara. But that was all flushed down the toilet cause why make Gaara care about anyone not named Naruto? Temari sees even less development with Gaara (as I've also said once before: she was just a peacekeeper. Once Gaara wasn't crazy anymore, she really wasn't needed). There's also barely a bond between Tem and Kank, even though these two practically raised each other. Kishimoto honestly, never cared about the sand sibs. Gaara got development completely centered around Naruto and nothing else cause he's ridiculously popular, and seeing him gush bout Nart, I suppose, made the yaoi fangirls happy. Temari's popular mainly because of Shikatema, and that's how Kishimoto saw her: another love interest that could potentially pop out another child for the Boruto sequel. Poor, unfortunate Kankuro, who's honestly the most appealing and interesting of the three, only existed to get some cool scenes every 100 chapters or so cause he's not as popular as Gaara, and not a love interest like Temari. A tragic existence, that one is.

Gaara was so boring in Pt 2. He should have stayed a murderous little psychopath. Instead of becoming emotionally stable he should have screeched at people whenever they tried to touch him and killed Deidara for fun

[mediumgayitalian]

4 and 7 for will, percy, nico and jason!!!

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

will:

sitcom. easy.

the very real way that i want a summer camp sitcom of will and his big siblings at camp.

dude if i had infinite money to fight cease and desists and copyright claims i would just hire actors and artists to make tv shows of every fic idea that has ever come into my head

percy:

i genuinely think percy is so so perfect as a first person narrative.

so i wouldn't change that.

BUT i would LOOOOOOVE to see a the office style mockumentary about percy and annabeth in new rome.

like that would be THEEEE funniest thing of all time

"and how do you know that x monster can be defeated in this way? what is your source, mr. jackson?"

*office stare of misery*

nico:

nico needs to be in a video game so badly it's ridiculous.

now i dont even like video games. never have cared never will. cant get into them.

BUT a video game with nicos bajillion side quests would be so goddam cool. visuals would go INSANE.

it would also be sooooo funny for him to have an inventory of weird shit and its just infinite

jason:

i need on on stage play hamlet style and it needs to be so haunting and lonely

imagine that. for a second.

the pain of jason's life

with jason as the character watching

lemme articulate this better.

we are introduced to jason, the adult character

this calm, quiet, kind, happy man

and then he dies

and he wakes up on stage alone

and he asks, aloud, what is going on

and no one answers

because he is a character

and then he watches every day of his past, hazed in smoke

and he is horrifed

the entire play is just the audience watching in complicit horror, not answering as jason demands, with increasing desperation, "why? why did she give me up? why was i alone?why did no one come for me? why did no one help me? why was i alone? why did i lose? why did my heart have to be the one to break? why was i alone? why did no one stop my sacrifice? why did i have to be sacrificed? why was i alone? why was i alone? why was i alone?"

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

will:

looooove Deaf/HoH will.

love that will has No fashion sense.

love southern accent will.

love will who has been burning the torch for nico for one hundred years.

percy:

love when he has an obvious and shyly embarrassing crush on annabeth.

love when he is incredibly emotionally mature.

actually i will be real i dislike a lot of fanon percy. i feel like people try really hard to make him dislikeable, like stupid or mean or thoughtless and i hate it

nico:

whipped nico my beloved.

nico is a little closer to percy in terms of fanon dislikes for me actually. hate hate hate how he is treated like a little meow meow that everyone has to protect.

jason:

LOVE Black jason. like he is Black to me i get jumpscared every time i see White jason or thalia.

love sweetheart jason like he is i love him

[dialecticaldimensions]

Hello to any x files fans out there, I think I am finally ready to start my season 8 journey. Had to pause because I knew what was coming and as someone that was freshly experiencing grief about a year ago, I could not bring myself to continue… 

But!!! After a year of religiously consuming fanfic and reading many many msr/x files think pieces (shout out to @randomfoggytiger @thursdayinspace & @deathsbestgirl, I love scrolling your blogs & reading all of your thoughts!!) and also living vicariously through juni’s (mulders-too-large-shirt, not gonna tag her in case this is spoils something about s8) live blogging, I think I am finally ready to jump back in. 

I am so looking forward to the episodes I haven’t watched (despite already being irked with some plot lines), but I do like to watch source material for myself!! And the x files is truly some source material!!

For a show that was written in the 90s, the way I am sooooo drawn to Scully as a complex,well-rounded female character that I think even the more modern shows sometimes fail to fully capture. Because she’s just so complex and layered and multi dimensional in a way that I relate to and in the way that I see so many of the women in my own life. 

The way Scully is determined and strong and wants to be a boss-ass bitch, but is still sooo kind and empathetic and soft and girly (even though I think she wouldn’t really like to be associated with that term). 

Ugh, just ugh!!! As someone who also constantly struggles with wanting to be feminine and also wanting to be taken seriously!! I get it!! I get her!!! And gillian played this really well imo. There is so much depth to the way scully is portrayed even in times of shitty writing or less than compelling plot points. I have never been so drawn into a female character the way I have with her! 

And Mulder, my beloved. Definitely one of my all-time favourite male characters. He really is very kind and always willing to empathize with the victim. And the way he carries everything that happened with samantha and wraps it in layers and layers of dumb-ass humour, collapsing into his work and falling into his need to save everyone and everything around him. 

What I really like is how he is sooo determined to make the world better in the ways he knows how. And god, the way he claims the need to not trust anyone and be suspicious and question everything but never actually does that at some critical moments!! Because he so badly wants to believe in the goodness of people and wants to believe that he is worth the help, that they see what he’s fighting for and are willing to fight that fight. I want to scream about this so often. There is so much beauty in the subtle vulnerabilities of Mulder’s character and the way that he carries all that!! Again shout out to david for really playing to that in how he acts as Mulder. 

And then you put these two complex, flawed, unhinged individuals together and I have never known peace since!!! In the absolute best way. I have to say in the 15 years of being involved in a whole range of fandoms, I have never been quite as taken with a ship as I have been with msr. The way they fall into each other truly has me clutching at my heart. 

Because it really really is a meeting of minds and values and essences and an inherent understanding of what it means to exist in this world. They both have their own journey with that last one, but I think the way they move through that journey is soooo complementary to each other and that they could have only undertaken that journey once they met. 

… did not mean for this to be an essay haha, but this is what happens when I get started. This was mostly just a post to say if anyone wants to keep me company as I navigate s8 onwards, it would be v v welcomed! Periodic thought posts on the episodes will show up eventually ✨👽🛸

[sephirthoughts]

Unpopular opinion ask game: 💛

(from this ask game)

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Oh there are ever so many. i usually keep my mouth shut because i don't want to yuck anyone's yums or draw aggro from crusaders, but this is an unpopular opinion game sooooo

WARNING: UNFILTERED OPINIONS UNDER THE CUT

The one that i think burns my ass the worst is Cloud/Tifa, mostly because the game and fandom tries so hard to shove it down our throats. In the FF7 games, there is this blatant assumption all through the narrative that "of course the player is into this girl" which instantly makes me rebel against anything in any game, especially when it's heteronormative bullshit.

cyberpunk was the worst, when they tried to force me to like that leatherfaced blow-up-doll panam, who was so egregiously written by misogynist cismales, that i nearly quit the game. the grossly overt assumption the game made that i the (obviously cishet male) player would automatically be into her led to me abandoning her dirt nomad questline and never going back. i checked later, they just stand around in the desert waiting forever if you don't go back.

the problem with tifa is very similar. hetshippers always like to try and carve out a moral highground for their "canon" ship, by acting like it's misogynist not to like the female love interest in a game. i have news for you, babes, i don't have to eat garbage just because it's labeled organic.

a female character designed and written in a lazy, misogynist way is the same. consuming that fictional relationship uncritically is not something i am required to do, nor will i. the women in final fantasy games, for the most part, are badly written, terribly designed artifacts of a time when women were just objects and that was ok to say out loud. they're hardly even trying to hide it, now, but at least they are a little.

my theory on tifa's design is that the otaku devs had never seen a girl irl and when they tried to make one, what they came up with was a pair of massive tits and the personality of a wad of dryer lint. then they gave her some tossed together martial arts to justify why she's following cloud around taking up a party slot, instead of staying at home minding the children and elderly like a good girl.

also the business with her and aerith seeming to get catty and jealous over cloud several times (which they mercifully cut from remake) is such revoltingly juvenile and misogynist writing, it's almost funny. almost.

honestly the whole romance they are pushing between cloud and tifa is revoltingly juvenile and misogynist, since she's a personality-free prize for the male hero, not to mention homophobic, since it primarily seems to function as a beard, so sephiroth and cloud don't seem too gay (MISSION FAILED).

Cloud Strife is a character with whom i deeply connected and fully inhabited, and he is not a heterosexual neurotypical male in any way whatsoever. and yet i'm supposed to like seeing him shoved into the blandest wish-fulfillment, 'winning the titted-up tomboy hometown girl as a prize for being awesome' fantasy that some chuuni would've written in the back of their school notebook when they were 11. please.

examined fully, there's literally no reason for the pair to be romantically interested in one another, outside the pervasive and poisonous heterosumption of boy+girl=love. and i know what people are going to say about them being friends, but she doesn't like him. she never does. she likes the idea of the person she thinks he should be, and persistently tries to force him to become, throughout the series. she thinks the way he is needs to be fixed, because he's wrong somehow. we can still see it happening in advent children.

that's fine though, because he doesn't like her, either. he kind of remembers her from the past. that's all. he does not have the capacity to form that kind of attachment, when they first reconnect, and by the time he could form a meaningful connection with someone (circa advent children), he's already been fully railroaded into the domesticated role everyone has decided he's supposed to be in, and she is reduced to a nagging wife, by the writers. he is very clearly unhappy, and it's not because of sephiroth.

last but not least, is the lack of any kind of romantic tension between them. there is more chemistry between cloud and biggs, than cloud and tifa. hell there's more chemistry between cloud and those alley cats. it's very clearly a manufactured relationship for the sake of gratifying the decreasingly cishetmale player base of yesteryear.

in conclusion, cloud x tifa is the cold oatmeal of ships and i just want to spit it out yack

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

im a shuake truther through and through but i wish the fandom could entertain haru x akechi for like a second. i just think they share a lot of parallels and sort of foil each other sometimes and it’s really cool (shitty dads and the pressure they feel to perform based on their status, haru’s forgiveness and grace in that situation and akechi…lack of that, etc.). i get why they don’t talk much in canon lol but i want some au’s or smthn. anyways, thoughts?

I must apologize because you sent this immediately before I posted the other ask about akeharu akfbejbf anyway you are SO CORRECT. I still maintain platonic akeharu is my preferred dynamic but god I am so mad at how much the fandom sleeps on them. Everyone insists that Haru would never speak to him when that's just...not at all supported by canon, actually, she speaks to him the most of the Thieves in Mementos iirc. And she's always SO kind. And she doesn't need to stay angry and hateful forever, that isn't strength, and that isn't how Haru has decided to heal, and that's valid.

Anyway, I have many metas I've written about Haru's perspective on Akechi out there, but it's also true for Akechi....there are so many things that Haru could teach Akechi, and vice versa. He can teach her to get in tune with her inner rage, teach her that it isn't something to be ashamed of. And she can teach him that it's okay to be kind and let go of past hurts, that he doesn't have to let his anger define him. Their anger is a part of them, but it isn't them. They are more than their fury, and I want them to discover that together sooooo badly.

Another thing that gives me major brainrot is the way that as children, they both fantasized about becoming heroes. But in the end, neither of them were able to become the idealized heroes of justice they pictured in their heads. That's the whole reason Haru calls herself Noir, to remind herself of the dark path she's chosen for her own personal sense of justice. She knows people will disagree with her path, but she's chosen it. Meanwhile...Akechi never does reconcile that ideal sense of self and the truth of reality the way Haru was able to.

Anyway. Haru and Akechi have so many parallels and there are so many ways they could help each other grow and I will die mad that fandom refuses to explore it. But, as I said before, become the change you want to see in the world. I'm so hyped to write their dynamic in my Palace AU... hopefully I will manage to do them justice.

[charrfie]

Ok, still salty over Two Realms (it SUCKED) so gotta ask you, how would YOU have done a third drawn to life game (I've kinda wanted one with wilfre seemingly being the antagonist at first before him either being dethroned or he was actually trying to help and fumbling it BADLY)

Ohhh I'm just so excited that people are so interested in my thoughts to the point I keep getting asks related to the topic!!!!! ^_^ Thank you it's very exciting to be able to talk to everyone like this. I don't often publicly interact with the fandom because of some bad experiences I've had in it some years ago but it seems like the environment of it has changed a lot... maybe I should be more vocal about my interest in the series? Everyone who's being so nice about it has been such a big help. That's unrelated to your question, I just wanted to express appreciation!

Now, to actually answer you lol.. I put this under a read more again since it's a little lengthy, but not NEARLY as long as my previous ask

-

Fellow two realms hater 🤝 It was just such a letdown idk where I would even start. The glaringly obvious answer is the actual gameplay itself what with the level design/lack of stylus being how it was but I think my personal biggest problem was the story itself. It seemed to retcon or at least gloss over a lot of the plot from previous games which not only felt clunky but overall lowered the stakes to such a degree... it made me not care about the character drama nearly as much. Which is such a shame! Drawn to life and drawn to life: the next chapter are genuinely my #1 most favorite video games to ever exist. I mean this with no exaggeration. Even if they're kind of bad. Lol. But!!! The potential that the story and characters have in the original two games completely reels me back in!!! There's SO much there, even if it's not put together with the most grace. The subject matter is so serious and something so rarely talked about, ESPECIALLY for the age demographic it was aimed towards. These characters feel so real!!! So fleshed out!!!! It's endlessly compelling!!!!!!!!

All this being said, I think what I would do is make dtl:tr a lot more character/story driven since thats such a major appeal for me in previous entries. While it's even more evident in two realms, both dtl and dtl:tnc do have levels that tend to be a big of a slog to get through in comparison to the 10 seconds of story the player might get as a reward; there would need to be more balance.

As for what this story would actually contain.... I'm a little conflicted. While I'm not the biggest fan of aldark as a villain (he kind of came out of nowhere just to fill a necessary role of "evil"), I *do* like the idea of wilfre being replaced rather than coming back again, and I REALLY REALLY REALLY like the concept of the shadow that controlled wilfre garnering the strength to present itself as a physical manifestation rather than a conduit. I don't even mind if it functions as a solely evil entity! There's something to be said for that just as there's something to be said for wilfre being more morally gray anti-hero than pointlessly evil villain. I'd love to do something in this vein, though probably leave the human world out of it? Or at least keep it very vague. The raposa world gives us as the viewers enough plausible deniability to accept ridiculous/strange events without question.... it's only because the human world is so painfully realistic that the ending of dtl:tnc has the effect it does. So needless to say that's a no on keeping it as the main storyline.

I really like your idea of wilfre trying to help and then fumbling. That's similar to what I wished for when two realms was first announced actually! I sooooo badly wanted to see him trying and failing to adjust to normalcy again post him being freed of the shadow's influence, which I talked about VERY briefly here following the games announcement. I'd love to see him trying to make amends with those he had hurt (a la "ice king apology tour" from the marcy & simon comics), rediscovering who he even is as an individual again, or parsing through what his relationship with the creator has become. It opens up for some pretty interesting conversations. Especially considering how much shit other raposa might give him when he fails to help in the way they expect him to. At the same time, I'd love to get some more dialogue on where jowee and mari are at in their lives. How mari handles leadership (as she actively struggled with it in dtl and dtl:tnc), if jowee has allowed himself to exist outside of the scope of others and their judgement/expectations, etc. The fact that those two get married at the end of two realms threw me for such a loop.... because even when nothing was actively threatening them in dtl:tr they still bickered so much? I'd really like to delve into how people can naturally grow apart as they age and come to understand they may not be right for those they grew up with, as painful as that realization may be. A remake of two realms could also be a cool way of having circi introduced into official canon since she's way too interesting of a character to be constainte to the non-canon wii game.

These are all the story changes I know for a fact I'd like. But it's hard to say definitively what the plot would be other than designating an antagonist concept and the general themes which would be at play. I'm not quite sure what or how a manifested shadow antagonist would again threaten the safety of the raposa world! I figure any retconning necessary for the raposa world to even exist in the first place could be as simple as "oh I knew we could trust the creator to establish a new world for us," which would also heavily contribute to wilfre's character struggles in a very interesting way. So that's not too big of a problem. Drawn to life has bullshitted more complicated things away than just that. I'll have to keep thinking! Maybe I can work up a proper dtl:tr rewritten au alongside the other two aus I have.

I'd love to hear other thoughts about a potential remake of two realms if anyone has them!

[ember-owlet]

whistles innocently

so. idk if this counts as a request bc I'm requesting something though it's not a request for content from you... butttt!

if you were to, say, want a gift of some medium, of a character from arcane or resident evil, which characters would you like the most and what's ur preferred hc for them... and what type of content would you want for said character(s)....

mhmm, i have about 80% confidence that i know who this is /lh /silly

and not to worry!! this isn't counted as a request, while they're closed i love to chat! regardless this is such a sweet ask thank you so much for asking me firelight (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)♡

to answer, from either arcane or resident evil here are my faves, i hope i don't sound too greedy with this list, but here are some of my favorites from each fandom with some extra rambles:

(and please don't hesitate to reach out if you need clarification/additional questions, i was so excited i typed through this without much proofreading,, and if you need any other ideas the #ember's babies is that tag that i use for my fictional blorbos ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚)

arcane:

caitlyn:

flip! w/ a pretty balanced lean except for when she's with vi, then she's mostly the caregiver in their dynamic!! my girl forever n ever n ever. never knew it was possible for a character to be so mama and babygirl coded at the exact same time.

gosh. anything made with her i eat up in seconds!! mama, baby, give me all of it!! though if possible, i'd love to see her with more paci edits/regression content. let my girl be baby!!

vi

flip! w/ a regressor lean around caitlyn. that's her puppy!!! i think we can all agree that she takes care of the people around her so much that i need to see a reverse of her feeling safe and taken care of. i love her so much and honestly? her upcoming spiral to wet dog pipeline is valid get that girl a paci STAT. vi gives me so much cuteness aggression its unbelieveable.

this is just for me and incredibly niche but i'd love to see more content of vi with a softer/warmcore canine aesthetic. specifically with larger breeds of dogs.

hear me out: caitlyn in a sweater drinking a warm cup of tea while she runs her hands along her pups hair while vi rests her head in her lap??? oh i'm ill (/pos) she always puts on such a brave front it makes me wanna wrap her in a warm blanket sooooo badly.

ekko

regressor. and he's scar's kid. a baby boy through and through. i almost never talk about him but i really want to with upcoming posts because he's honestly one of the best characters in the series. i love his desire to help people and the way that he takes absolutely no nonsense from anyone around him and calls them out for it is everything, and i REALLY hope he gives caitlyn and vi a wake up call for their actions. so far he's truly done no wrong in the series so and i stand by it!!

anything with him being a regressor would make me happy, he's such a cutie patootie. and ekko with solar punk/core aesthetics>>>

cassandra

flip! with a caregiver lean!! i made an entire post about her but its honestly not enough. she has been my mama and will continue to be my mama despite canon. the reveal that she had helped to create the filtration system in zaun to help the citizens breathe?? and seeing caitlyn use her mother's wishes against them? man. that hurt.

i've been meaning to write headcanons for her but i think she barely regresses around anyone that she doesn't have complete trust in and even then she rarely does it out of embarassment. however, she is a baby to me.

that being said, any caregiver content with her i owe you my life. /lh

resident evil

donna beneviento. that's it that's the post /j

a flip! through and through. she is one of my most beloveds and i think most of the immediate people in my life have heard their fair share of rambles with her.

honestly anything with her i will be an absolute puddle, especially when its related to fics with hurt/comfort or her just being a caregiver since most of my personal daydreaming scenarios involve her in some way.

again, this is just me but i love activities with her where we're cooking/dancing in the kitchen together so if you're alright with that i would be over the moon to see it.

the dimitrescu sisters

do not separate them!! ever!! /lh /j

all three are my big sister cgs and i wouldn't trade that for the world. they are my goofballs and i adore them!!

if its ever possible (and i know it is because i am manifesting a genius out there to do it) i would love to see content of all three of them taking care of a regressor throughout different periods of the day (ex. in the morning they're taken to bela to practice piano, then with cassandra for practice with hunting, and then to dani to work on academics with alcina since you both need it /lh)

[lggy]

iggy my friend iggy we haven’t talked in ages and ages and ages but i just wanna say like. fuckin shout out to you for all you’ve done for the aphmau community with the wiki stuff like. it was a CESSPOOL last time i ever went on there, when i was a Wee Little Child, but you are running that thing hella good. this is incoherent oki just wanted to let you know cause i needed to ref something there for the first time in forever anyway :] live laugh love

WAHHHH THANK U!!!!!!!

I'm trying my best 😆💛 Idk if they have tumblrs but theres a few other mods that help out especially Thatsnice1 does a lot of the super tedious edits like adding/removing templates on every single character page (theres HUNDREDS)

right now I'm learning how to insert css to customize the FUCK outta the wiki its gonna look so good when im done with it. have you noticed that when you scroll over a citation it pops up with a little bubble now it's so cool. also I'm stuck writing boring stuff like rules and guides and site policies Wuahhhh

I've been trying so hard to fix and rewrite all the character bios... Aaron MCD is the only one of the major characters that's nearly at full completion (missing his bio from s3 rn). that's only because he had like a tiny handful of lore drops and didn't talk much. Currently in the middle of working on Aphmau MCD's page. completing her bio/summary may be a nightmare

Whenever I fix all the character bios I'm gonna start adding a proper "featured articles" widget so it's more fun to browse !!! but thatll be a long way from now since they're massive

Theres TTTTOOONNNNNSSS of stuff that needs to be revised on the wiki but it's just taking forever to get to 😭 if anyone has read this far... you are very welcome, encouraged even, to contribute to the wiki especially if you see something incorrect or badly worded. consider it helping out the community and fandom as a whole :3 there is a page named Site Projects with a massive list I made of stuff to work on.

if I ever burn out of working on the wiki I'm gonna be devastated cuz I fuckin love this hobby sooooo much

[schneereggen]

Hello, I hope you are well, since you have not been active for a long time, I came to ask your opinion about the current story of Seraph. I really like your deep analysis. But before that, I wanted to express my opinion that I was badly disappointed. Why doesn't this story have a real and true and normal villain? Villain is a main pillar in the story and we don't really have such a thing now, and it is clear that Kagami intends to cover up Shikama's crimes. While Shikama has not failed to do anything bad that we don't want to call him a villain. He even wants to create a dark world and destroy humanity, is it reasonable to call him a villain and close our eyes to all his crimes? In the first place, Shikama committed the forbidden (Mikaela's creation) and caused his own punishment. How can I feel sorry for someone like that? I think everything is very illogical and ridiculous. I feel like Kagami doesn't even know what he is writing anymore and he is writing everything for the sake of Mikayu fans. what's your idea?

Hey, thanks for checking. I'm doing well, my priorities just shifted over the last months that's why I'm not that active on Tumblr anymore. I still hop in and hop out of the fandom from time to time. But yeah, the story is tiring at the moment. That's why I don't have not much to say about it.

Still, thank you a lot for asking me. I love analysing the story. But the deeper you dig, the more frustrating it becomes to know what the story would need and what we aren't getting for years now. But I still want to properly answer your question because it interests me as well, what's wrong and why I feel sooooo over bored with the story.

You are totally right, the story by this point has no villain, not in the traditional sense and not even in the meta sense.

As I explained in another analysis, the villain mustn't necessarily be a person. But there needs to be an antagonistic force. Something that prevents the hero from achieving his goal. This can be a person, the limitations of the world or a bunch of characters. Nevertheless a good story needs an obstacle. In case of ONS, the antagonist had been Shikama and other characters for a long time.

But with the characters kind of working together or not being a real threat to Yuu. There was only Shikama left as a villain and when there was the moment for him to appear and show he's a threat he was weak af. He wasn't even an obstacle because other characters already "defused" his powers. On top we are now getting his backstory. Which is fine by me. But do I really bother if I don't know the characters? Sure, they are supposed to be previous versions of more well known characters. But they aren't these characters. So why should I bother?

So now, we are left with no antagonist, no villain, no obstacle to overcome. Maybe god? But that's too vague.

In general the story had always been about Mika and Yuu wanting to save each other. But at the moment it's not even defined how. We only know, Mika will be smart enough and figure out something. But that's it. That's nothing concrete. No Goal to achieve.

Moreover, what's currently happening seems to have nothing to do with that goal. How does it help to know the backstory of Shikama of the goal is to revive and safe Mika. Plus, we all know Shikama failed doing it for thousands of years already.

So having his backstory now indeed feels misplaced. I also feel that kagami wants to give him a reason and a backstory. But why now? Usually the best place to but a tragic backstory would be the point in time where a character is at his lowest. In the case of ONS that would have been the moment Shikama was captured. I could have understand that a glimpse of tue backstory could have been placed there.

But getting it now, where I rather want to know how Yuu's going to figure out something like a plan, it's not the right time to dump the story with lore that (currently) has no connection.

To me it also feels like Mila and Yuu had to be in the story now to serve the fans. But they aren't even necessary. They do react in a minimal way, making it easier for the reader to understand what's going on.

But they aren't actually reflecting or putting the story they are witnessing into a bigger picture or drawing conclusions themselves. Witnessing what's happening has no effect on them, they are only there for the reader. And that's plain boring.

Back to Shikama himself. The story never has judged characters before and left it to other characters and the reader themselves to judge them. He almost never made anyone explicitly evil (except for Tenri) and left them mostly grey.

In that sense, the story at least thinks the readers are smart enough to put what they know about a character and what they learn new in a context themselves. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. In my personal opinion, the story at the moment desperately lacks characters with different options. If the story doesn't judge, let other characters judge.

Let Yuu and Mika remember that Shikama was said "terrible monster" that possessed the Hiragi or let some other character remind them about it.

It's the same with every other potential villain in the story. None of their crimes is ever brought up again as if everyone was a saint now. Guren, Ferid, Saito and most of all Mahiru.

I miss the time were characters were cautious, were every character was against the other because of different goals. It's all too harmonic. And the main reason is that there is no real obstacle, no threat, no clear plan towards the goal.

Even though the story that is told in general might be not as bad. It just doesn't feel like the same compared to the previous storyline which always had that threat, a clear goal and an obstacle to overcome.

Kagami better pick up the right writing books to make the story match his themes again. I feel like a structure had always come to him naturally to him in the past because he had been writing a lot and with passion. But now that he had been struggling for so long, the passion and the flow is gone and he has to do some hard structuring to get it back. I really hope he remembers what made the story enjoyable in the first place. And that it wasn't only Mika and Yuu to begin with.

[allbrodennis]

not dvkt, but currently obsessed w/ Brodennis!! any fic recommendations???

YESSS AHDHHA this ask made me so happy to receive omg

ok so the deal with brodennis is that there are 4 fics of it on AO3 so far, all are written by @laurasauras and all of them are freaking FANTASTIC.

if you haven't read her stuff in general, oh boy you are missing out!!!! she is one of the most talented fic writers in our fandom and YES she's one of my besties but i totally was a fan before i ever got to know her ok!

she is the queen of rarepair fics and she has this superpower where she can write any ship and NOT ONLY sell me on the merits of it, but ALSO make me wish i could read a million more fics of that ship. it's honestly infuriating and i love her to death.

here's a link to all her brodennis stuff bc it fucking slaps and also i sooooo badly need more brodennis content in the world! i cannot shill this ship enough. i need it like air.

if you want more specific info about fics...

No Homo

Summary: "Bro is just a dude who didn't plan on having kids, but is dealing with it pretty okay. Dennis falls into his life and doesn't leave. They're bros for life. Bro has no idea how it could be considered anything more."

THIS GODDAMN FIC makes me completely fucking feral and it owns my soul. i have this obsession with like frat boy dude bro ships where they jerk each other off and justify it as "not gay" somehow and this fic hits every single thing i love about that trope.

Road Trip

This is a DirkJohn-centric fic that features the first appearance of BroDennis in the Laurasauras canon!!! They're very much a background feature here but at the same time they totally steal the show in the BEST way.

The Evil You Know and The Evil You Let Go Of are an excellent and HILARIOUS superhero/villain AU.

from laura's author note: "so this started as a dramatic estranged brothers thing and then idk dennis happened and suddenly it was adorable. you are extremely welcome!"

dennis exhibits a delightful amount of himbo behavior in this series, and honestly so does bro. they are both so stupid and also so smart and talented and in love with each other 😭 also D is there HAHA sorry dave i love you too <3

i hope you enjoy the fics and i extra ESPECIALLY hope that more people catch on to the magic of brodennis and give me even more food to eat 🥰

[butchtwelfthdoctor]

Hi! 13, 18, and 25 for the fandom ask :)

ohhhhhhhh hohohohoh thank you hehe

13 - worst blorboficiation

crowley good omens 😭😭😭 like guys i love him too i think he's a great but he is not a perfect little cinnamon roll who fell for no reason and ohhh aziraphale treats him so bad and ohhhh little baby demon so sad uwu ITS JUST HGNSHANGSHANSHAN i think he should do something actually really properly demonic and awful in canon so people stop doing that 😭😭 sorry thats harsh i know. like there so much good analysis of his character out there but then there's also A Lot of people who just immediately rush to smol bean him. and like yeah he does have it pretty bad but like. i think fandom tries to portray it as A Whole Lot Worse for angst value. and he's either super sexy or cartoonishly grumpy???? like??? idk man. sorry this is really mean hopefully i dont actually offend anyone i love crowley guys i promise i think he's fantastic.

18 - it's absolutely criminal that fandom has been sleeping on...

DOCTOR WHO NEW SERIES ADVENTURES these books are sooooo goooddddddddd there so much Extra Lore! i love doctor who and its Extra Lore!! the new series adventures are so much fun and a lot of them have the character dynamics done so well - i can reccomend a few specifics if you like, a lot of them are on internet archive or i can send you a drive link lol but the character writingggggggggggggggg ALSO the novelisations!! again, its the extra bits and lore that couldnt really have fit in the episode that gets added in, and what they were all thinking. the one for rose is really good, and the one for the waters of mars

25 - common fandom complaint you're sick of hearing

hmmm the first thing that came to mind was people tacking on 'she deserved better' in the tags of Every Single Post About Martha Jones Ever cos i think its stopping people engaging properly with her character? like she did deserve better but you can still like her. she's still super cool and her character is very interesting. but i think the main one is people saying thirteen was badly written or they didnt like the timeless child or the flux was badly made, respectfully I DONT CARE :D. I LOVE THIRTEEN I THOUGHT THE TIMELESS CHILD STUFF WAS FASCINATING AND COOL. the flux was kinda confusing i will admit but I STILL LIKED IT. THIRTEEN IS COOL OK I LOVE HER SHE'S BRILLIANT. i dont care if her writing was a bit weird i know in my heart she was so much more than we got to see. and thasmin was perfectly fine. they could've kissed yeah but i think it fits their personalities that they didnt. so yeah.

[castlebyersafterdark]

this might be a corny question but would you consider yourself to be in love with the show/byler? sometimes i feel mildly alarmed about how much i am invested in this pairing, even though ive been very intense about certain stories before in my life, and even though i already adored the show pre-byler-awakening.

i remember this published author once saying he was 'in love with their love' about his own characters, and i loved the honesty of that. its different to loving a real person who you can have a two way dialogue with, but if i think back on my life theres definite large periods where i was artistically consumed with a certain story/artwork, usually just one at a time while enjoying other art forms/stories casually, and i look back on them all fondly even though some phases caused pain or ended badly, or i've just moved on from them. it just sounds so much like a string of lovers lmao

and i also can't ever choose between mike and will as they just come as a pair to me now.

Yes, it is corny but I am VERY corny. Such a sap. I think it's why my escapism into fiction is such a big part of my personality and brain, that I've always been a closet romantic and overly sensitive. Gosh, who does that sound like in the show, oh fucking geez 🫣 Anyway. Always liked the show and I've said before, it was a favorite show but not 'fandom level' favorite until season 4 shook me to the core and made me Pay Attention. I just connected with the show all the sudden and the possibilities fascinated me. Plot theories AND shipping. I was captivated.

It's just my brain. I've always been all over the place. Maybe inflicted with an imagination that's almost too vivid, to my gain and detriment at times. I call myself scatterbrained but that doesn't even begin to explain it haha. I'm ok. No worries. But it's almost like. Media and movies and books and shows are just things that center me. Pull focus from the hurricane in my mind. This silly show just grabbed me under the right circumstances and the right timing. I think I was also sooooo disheartened and untethered in between fandom interests too, since that's how I've always operated, fixating on something parallel while navigating my life. ST snatched me up! And combine it with the fact maybe because there's love in my real life for a while now, for the first time, and there's so much love in this show and for this show that it's a tangled web of strange emotions. I don't know. I'm tired and rambling. Hate to overshare, but oh I do also enjoy it now and again...

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

ari should i watch the apothecary diaries? i've been kinda interested in it for a while + you keep hyping it up... today i woke up with the opening playing in my head

i agree with what you said about jinshi, his behavior reminds me a little of cult leader geto's antics... he's so pathetic... (my all time most favorite genre of men after motherly). he's also so so beautiful and the lining of his outer thing (sorry i don't know what it's called... fake chinese moment) is really similar to the sash on geto's gojo kesa... which i think is sooooo beautiful as well

n my friend said i'm realllllyy similar to maomao so this will probably be a self-indulgent watch for me... read her backstory and it's making me so sad but she comes across as so strong... i'm already so attached to her it's not even funny. also i didn't know your whole family was into anime!! that's so wholesome and cute..

about the kenny plushes, they don't sell very well (especially in the jp fandom!) so you can get them for sooo cheap. you can use a proxy if you really want to! i use sendico and the shipping isn't bad! i know they ship to a lot of smaller european countries too ^ ^

i can NOT believe they got lost at sea. omfg i am fuming for you that is so very sad. we should track down the ship. that lost it. it's negligence.

are you talking about these? https://jp.mercari.com/item/m92282289388 i actually have the cat plush one that's fairly similar! https://jp.mercari.com/item/m20944297256 N ABOUT THE MERCH I JUST.......... ORDERED A LOOK UP.... finally found geto's for a reasonable price :( now i just have to wait for golden week to end for it to shipp,.w;...... AND THIS ONE https://jp.mercari.com/item/m89522427367 where he looks so hot that i'm literally about to die

thank you so much for listening to my rambles!! :D <3 🌖🌖

🌖 ANONNNNNNNN

YOU SHOULDDDD YOU SHOULD!!!!!!! it’s super duper duper good!!!!!!!!!!!! it’s so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the plot is amazing and the animation is gorgeous and the characters are so so charming…. JINSHI IS LITERALLY CULT LEADER GETO just. less evil. and more flirty. he’s kinda like…. if you mixed cult leader geto and teen toru in one big bowl. BUT HE’S GENUINELY VERY SIMILAR TO HOW I PICTURE CULT!GETO BEING W A CRUSH…. like….. in an au where there aren’t any complications and you’re on his side. i think he’s soooo silly and bratty and pouty. but he wants you to lean on him so badly.

he makes me insane btw motherly/pathetic men are the actual standard ANYWAYYY MAOMAO. i adore her!!!!! just as much as jinshi!!!!!! 🥺 AND WE’RE TWINNING SO HARD 🌖 ANONNNNN i see myself as super similar to her too 😭😭 just. the way she acts…. but she rlly is so lovely and funny and soso strong!!!! she’s a wonderful character……

AND YES KINDA PHDKDJ … honestly it’s mostly just. me and my two older brothers. but my mom likes manga!!! i think she’s still caught up on detective conan to this day…. the amount of chapters are frankly really silly i can’t believe it’s still ongoing 💀 BUTTT i do force my older sis to watch anime w me sometimes :3 yesterday i made her binge dungeon meshi w me!!! i’m still not nearly finished w it (and all the episodes aren’t out yet!!) but i recommend it SO strongly it’s so feel-good but also so???? idk. it’s special. and i adore laios like nothing else…. mr puppydog…….

BUT WAHHHHHH :((((((( kenny being neglected…. sniffle……… i tried using that site but it does Not work for me lmao it won’t let me register my credit card :’3 and i’m worried since i can only write my name and adress using english letters…… the kenny stuff rlly was so cheap grrr i’m mad. but oh well!!!

AND YES EXACTLY IT’S THOSE CATS!!!! 🥺🥺 wahhhhh i need the goken set so BADLY just look at them…. the meowmeows ever…….

all the merch you linked…. GRRRRR you are tempting me so hard rn 😭😭 THAT ONE OFFICIAL GETO ART. need him so bad. he looks soooooo fucking good it should be illegal…… i’m also sooooo jealous you found geto’s look up!!!!! i need to hunt him down!!!!!!!!!!!! but i can’t spend any more money on merch this month…. sobs…….. I’M ALWAYS VERY HAPPY TO HEAR ABT YOUR MERCH ESCAPADES THOUGHHH i hope your sugus reach you safely!!!!! pls send pics once he comes home plspls 🥺🥺🥺

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

cactus, daffodil and mahonia for the ask game? :D

Hello, friend :D

something you’re currently learning (about)?

Honestly, outside of school stuff I can’t think of anything lol

However, I want to learn ASL sooooo so badly augh

do you have siblings? if yes, in what ways do you think you’re similar to or different from them?

I do! A sister and a brother, both younger than me :)

Me and my sister are pretty similar; we’re into a lot of the same fandoms (Star Wars/The Clone Wars, Loki, Spiderverse) and we’re the same flavor of Weird. We can be absolutely random to the point of making absolutely no sense. We get each other.

We’re different in the sense of music taste though :0 We both like indie, but we like different types of indie; I adore AJR and Lovejoy, she’s into Jack Stauber, Lemon Demon, and Tally Hall. I’m all about the lyrics, and she’s all about the sound. We’re very different when it comes to music.

Me and my brother have less in common; he loooves video games and watching YouTubers (which I honestly don’t enjoy much lol) and playing board games and being outside. I, on the other hand, like reading fanfics and watching tv shows and playing instruments and listening to music and I hate board games. We get along for the most part though.

what place, thing, activity inspires you most and how do you express yourself when it does?

GOOD QUESTION!!!

I’d say maybe music inspires me most? :0 I’ve gotten inspired to write sooooo many things based off of music—just within the past week or so I’ve started writing two different one-shots based on songs!

In most cases, I’ll write something when music inspires me, but a lot of other times I’ll listen to something and then get inspired to learn how to play it on my ukulele or guitar :) So it inspires me two ways!

[izzy246girl]

putting this under a cut but for 2 of my stories:

— —

CRESTAS

What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?

i didn’t really set out with a lesson per se? i suppose bc i was like, 12 when i first started making the ocs for it but i do think it kind of evolved into a “living under a system of classism and monarchy fucking sucks and will doom everyone who even slightly steps outside the lines and those who don’t” kind of thing and also like, this idea of generational trauma and how as long as the system exists even if you try to escape you’ll live punished and haunted under it (re: thalia & waverly & sloane). + i do think the past is a major theme bc everyone wants to return to it so so badly (besides sloane, but i do think thats one of the reasons i struggle w her). like waverly thinks about her mother’s past All The Time, andromeda has spent 23 years hung up on her ex gf who to her symbolizes freedom and what she gave up to not end up like her sister, etc etc. they’re all really hung up on the past and love and under the shadow of their matriarch they can never ever have it. tragic!

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

[redacted][redacted][redacted] fandom is what it started as next gen fic for so kind of that, but it’s drifted away a lot over the years - id say rn its more like vaguely historical kind of setting but i can make stuff up about characters? i still haven’t figured out the magical system too well - i think that’s this problem i have a lot with fantasy, where im not really invested in the magic so much as i am ‘wow these characters fucking SUCK’ and ‘ooh pretty historical dress’ and magic is like,,, this other thing that exists on the side so i can call it fantasy rather than having it be this weird genre where it is in a made up world where its kind of pseudo-medieval but i do not have to adhere to actual history and can just make characters that suck so bad ❤️ but there’s also no magic so what genre even is this. tbh i struggle with the time periods too, i originally chose 1700s on a whim but now its drifted off into pseudo-medieval but i literally know nothing about the medieval times so. struggles for real…

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?

ik this just said mc but i like outlining each character’s goals so—

waverly: she wants to be loved sooooo bad and it manifests in a desperate want for societal approval/her estranged grandmother (rich powerful adored)’s love/what she THINKS would make her grandmother love her. this does tend to get tangled a little bit bc it manifests in kind of silly ways where waverly is actively being ridiculous about it but in the end she wants to be loved!!! she’s been lonely all her life and she knows no one but her family, and her tragedy is that she yearns for a love and approval she will never ever get while pushing the people who do love her away

andromeda: she wants her mother’s crown, she wants her ex-gf’s love, she wants her sister off the throne that she was meant to have, she wants her nieces DEAD, she wants. a lot of things. all her goals are ultimately tied a bit to her past, and the feeling that she can’t have given this all up for nothing. she’s spent 23 years of her life in a miserable lavender marriage pining over her ex-gf but comforting herself with the knowledge that this is so she can have her mother’s love and besides she wouldn’t want to end up like thalia (exiled off to an island somewhere). but then her mother dies and instead of getting the crown she was promised for all the years she spent at her mother’s side, her older sister fucking swoops in and takes it and well!!!!! andromeda didn’t sacrifice everything just for thalia, who got to abandon her and their family and have everything she ever wanted, to take their mother’s throne.

thalia: still figuring her out a little but id say what she wanted when she was younger was freedom from her mother, and she tried to get that by eloping and got slapped in the face with insane irony (exiled to an island where you are “free” (your mother is gone and you’ll never speak to her again) but you’re also trapped (your mother is the entire reason you are here and you will never speak to her again!!!). and now shes back in the house she’d left behind 23 years ago and - well. she cant lose this again she cant go back to the island she cant she cant. so she clings to her mother’s throne and she ends up losing her head for it

sloane: majorly still figuring her out bc the thing about most characters in this is that like, they’re fixated on the past and they want love and power and they are caught up in this system of lies and love and the terrible bonds of blood. however sloane’s original characterization was that she wanted nothing to do with her mother’s family and was loyal to her own family which,,, you know she’s right! but also she’s Right and that’s boring as HELL be like your sister and have a massive desire to be loved and a longing for your mother’s past why dont you!!! rn her characterization is more leaning towards like a kind of perspective where the hatred of her mother’s family and clinging to her parents is more of a coping mechanism bc she might be exiled from the outside world but its ok bc her family is there and they love her, they are all she needs and the outside world is horrible anyways. but then again this also leads to kind of less fulfilling interactions with other characters who are not her parents bc she doesn’t want their love as horribly as waverly does. sad!

How many chapters is your story going to have?

no idea lol

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

started off as fanfiction but turned into original content — im thinking of publishing it? idk it feels like it could be a series/trilogy ig. v tragic v intense everyone who I’ve shown it to irl says the lore is a lot which i take as a glowing recommendation ❤️

— —

LILIBET & ANYA

What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?

when i was writing i wanted to explore this kind of idea of like a chosen one -> evil queen pipeline, where its like that revenge is taken too far and you become the evil you once despised; anya becomes an evil queen to be overthrown just like her uncle (who she doesnt really care about but i digress) did, and lilibet supports her tyranny unquestioningly because she idolizes her and wants revenge sooo badly that she loses sight of the actual meaning behind it and like why its bad in vengeance + idolization. also grief is def a big part of it - anya turns to tyranny over her grief for her family and her lost self, everything lilibet does is out of grief and a desire for revenge, sage thinks about his dead twin sister all the time and ultimately he can’t save a girl who’s just like her fr and ends up dead at her blade for trying. love that turns into grief and evil and hypocrisy ❤️

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

not really worldbuilding so much as plot but servant/daughter of evil was a major factor! obviously they’re twins in that and this is like, toxic yuri but i liked the undying loyalty to evil factor a bit and i took it and i was also feeling in a toxic yuri mood so. + the setting is like kind of tudor england but only really in the fashion, the general vibe is more of a fantasy chosen one archetype story

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?

lilibet wants revenge, and she idolizes anya for being prophesied to carry it out for her. and past the revenge the anya-is-god mindset still lasts, where she’s loyal to her even as anya turns into the tyrant she once despised bc lilibet has lost sight of what actually was like. bad about cops/tax collectors killing her parents but rather is insanely hypocritical and enables anya’s grief-driven tyranny because she’s god and lilibet could never say a thing against her. she sucks soso bad i ❤️ her

How many chapters is your story going to have?

not really sure but it is going to be a one-novel deal unlike crestas which could be a series, i think for it to work the tragedy really needs to be wrapped up in one (1) book

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

original content! publishing, maybe?

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

not much - i think im kind of still young and dont know that much, but i guess dont lose hope? and i follow cream-and-tea and a few fic writers :)

author ask tag!

i was tagged in this a while ago by @writinglittlebeasts and @theskeletonprior and WOW this was so much fun when i l got around to doing it! filled it out for Lay Me Down of course bc everything is temporary but self indulgent horror/fantasy you’ve been drafting since 2020 is FOREVER

What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?

i don’t really think of what i write having lessons in the sense that im trying to “teach” the reader something but the gravespeaker trilogy as a whole does have a pretty major “living in and for the past whether its out of guilt or nostalgia will rot you from the inside change (for better or for worse) is inevitable no one is really the same person at the end” thing going on that probably counts in that direction lol. it’s something that basically all of the characters have to grapple with in different ways and the more cut-and-dry villains (the director, issac belmont, pallas in the first book) i’ve got are all the people who cling most violently/obsessively to a past they can’t ever return to. but of course this all just a distraction from the real central message which is that being 17 temporarily makes you evil <3

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

*cracks knuckles* okay so settingwise the Hello From the Hallowoods podcast, the Wildwood books, and Over the Garden Wall have informed much of the vibes (post-post apocalypses and freakyweird magic forests that operate on their own internal logic) but i’ve also spent so much time in the woods (my favourite biome) that i’ve always wanted to write a story set primarily in some + that combined with my love of buildings that are malicious and don’t make any sense informed the rest of it. i also have had the idea for a kinda dual magic system (different people using two different types of magic drawn from the same source) bouncing around my head for a while and the life/death dichotomy is an easy one to reach for and build out when it comes to that (i was also reading tlt for the first time very early into the drafting process which i think inspired me to make the magic a lot grosser and more horror adjacent then it was originally). in general i think post apocalypses based in magic are woefully underwritten for how creative you can get with them and i wanted to make something that has room for truly fantastical crazy stuff while still feeling a least a little familiar. familiar but also Wrong, you know?

this may be tangential but i also wanted to incorporate some shades of like. fairytale logic? into the world especially in the interludes between each part. idk if ive been very successful with doing that in the way i want to yet but it’s definitely informed a lot of the way the story is written and put together

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?

keeping this to just lmd pallas’s goal is broadly to help the director achieve HER goal of saving the world no matter the cost and on a more personal level to never examine their own thoughts or feelings or the gaping wound of loss and self hatred and bubbling suicidal ideation in the middle of their chest ever at all ever. when agnes enters their life they also gain the goals of first just teaching her bc they’ve been told to as punishment and then keeping her with them (they’re good at this part) and keeping her safe always (they’re pretty bad at this part) ❤️ i guess in this first book im trying to really put myself + the reader in their head and kind of set a baseline of Just How Bad Things Can Get. bookone really is rock bottom for pallas and they spend the entire rest of the trilogy working very very hard to never be that person again so i want people to understand why that is

agnes’s bookone goal is to stay ALIIIIIVE oh my gosh she literally just wants so badly not to die and that informs every single one of her decisions. obviously she also wants to do other stuff (learn more about her magic, find her dad, help nina figure out how she died) but all of that kinda depends, very critically, on her Not Dying for it to happen! unfortunately her method of staying alive involves attaching herself to someone who is the human equivalent of a bird slamming itself into a window over and over and over and over again so now things are all Complicated and she has to worry about keeping pallas safe and happy as well as herself. what i’m trying to Do with her character is a like. hadestown “go ahead and lay the blame/ talk of virtue/ talk of sin/ wouldn’t you have done the same?/ in her shoes?/ in her skin?” black sails “i did what anybody else would have done when confronted with the same impossible circumstances” kind of beat 👍

How many chapters is your story going to have?

as of now it’s currently outlined at 33 plus an epilogue but i have to admit that it’ll probably end up being more bc every chapter ive finished so far has been SO LONG godbless ❤️

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

original! and tbh right now i have no idea what im going to do in terms of publishing. everything ive heard about traditional publishing lately sounds Pretty Bad but also i love this thing im making and want it to exist in the world sososo much. maybe i’ll try self publishing or maybe i’ll just get it edited and post it on a website for people to read but i really do have to finish the book for any of that to happen lol. gonna try to focus on that part for now!

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

i wish i had more solid stuff re: craft to say here but im still learning and don’t feel very comfortable with the implication that what works for me will automatically work for another person. so in kind of that same vein: embrace all the ambiguity you can. i know especially, ESPECIALLY, if you’ve just started out doing writing it can be really tempting to explain every aspect of your story to make sure your audience will Get It the same way you Get It. but it’s honestly never really going to work bc no two readers will engage with the text the same way and none of them will engage w it the same way as you. i really wish someone had told me sooner that the urge to completely dissect and explore every worldbuilding detail or character motivation or moral question brought up will do your art a lot more harm than good. you’re never going to be able to appeal to everyone and that’s a good thing! sometimes things are more interesting if you just let them live entirely in the background or never say them out loud and trust the readers to put the pieces together (sometimes the pieces they put together are really not correct but at least it shows a willingness to think about the writing). ofc this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be critical of your own work or listen to feedback but stories don’t actually need to follow a certain structure or specific rules or impart any specific morals or messages. they just need to be interesting and for better (and worse i can admit lol) lots of people have lots of interesting things to say.

i follow so many incredibly talented people it blows my mind but some of ones i want to interview by proxy are @saltwaterbells @encrucijada @carnivalls @catchingbigfish @tragicheirs @izzy246girl and @kudzucataclysm (no pressure obviously!)

[rotzaprachim]

Y are u so specific about your hatred of the intersection of loss of fics with some intersection of a/b/o soulmates and loss of reproductive autonomy/baby fics and it’s like well well well do I have some specific shadow and bone related stories to tell you/