#Now fictional characters is fine and dandy

[illarian-rambling]

You know what would be nice right now? A distraction. Ergo, it's time for...

Illaros Illuminated pt.2: Mortal God Edition!

Aka my goofy fictional talk show! This time featuring the cast of Mortal God, my characters will answer any question you send in within a 24-hour period (by comment, rb, or ask, it makes no difference to me). Anything is on the table, just be reasonable is all I ask. If you don't want me to credit you with your question, feel free to let me know because otherwise I will! The talkshow episode will be put out soonish after the last question is entered.

Characters you can ask questions to are:

Astra DuClaire

Mashal Darezsho

Ivander Montane

Elsind Cavernsight

Avymere Spearsong

Group questions and individual questions are both fine and dandy 👍

Thanks so much and ask away!

@amandacanwrite @elsie-writes @riveriafalll @kosmic-kore @kaylinalexanderbooks @bard-coded

@carrotsinnovember @patternwelded-quill @somethingclevermahogony @whatwewrotepodcast @the-angriest-author

@mk-writes-stuff @frostedlemonwriter @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @watermeezer @leahnardo-da-veggie

@mr-orion @televisionjester @ray-writes-n-shit @evilgabe29 @trippingpossum

@tragedycoded @halfbakedspuds @ominous-feychild @cain-e-brookman @wyked-ao3

@thecomfywriter @mysticstarlightduck @rumeysawrites @cowboybrunch

@gioiaalbanoart @theink-stainedfolk @the-golden-comet @seastarblue

[olehoncho]

How I would fix Dr Who (revisited)

While I am sure there are folks that love the Doctor Who show and the direction it has taken under Chibnal, I know there are others who are not satisfied with certain developments. Ever since the end of Matt Smith's run there have been issues with the continuity of the series: - The expansion of The Doctor's regenerations was first explained via a "time lord energy infusion" in Town of Christmas, but was later revealed to be an aspect of the Timeless Child. - The swapping of sex/gender was first done with the Master and later explored with the Doctor. - Letting go of a Time Lord's power was explored in Human Nature and later in Uptopia, but revisited as being a "female presenting" quality later. - The Bi-Generation creating two time lords.

A lot of this new canon has been... not easy to absorb. And I'm not going to say there's any connection to ratings or audience scores, but as someone who is more interested in the science fiction aspect of the show, I think there is enough of the new canon to play with to fit in with the long-running series canon.

Make The Doctor a distinct being separate from The Timeless Child. - This is the main one, and could be done a couple of different ways. My previous theory was to make The Timeless Child the Time Vortex at the heart of the TARDIS (which explains why it is different from other TARDIS). This would explain the leeching of memories and power to other individuals as well. - Another way to do this would be to have The Doctor either be a bi-generation from The Timeless Child, or perhaps be the son of The Timeless Child who inherited some memories. There are options.

Restore the Regeneration Limit and explain how it was bypassed. - The previous explanation is that The Doctor is the first Time Lord and therefore has endless regenerations. This never felt right. The Doctor being a Time Lord whose uniqueness comes from their decisions, the promise to be "The Doctor" rather than their particular history is the key to the character. - You could do another bi-generation backstory into The Doctor's past, and that part of The Doctor has been dormant, sleeping aboard the TARDIS for near a thousand years (my personal choice would be the regeneration from 2nd to 3rd Doctor). - Then you would have to explain that The Doctor who has been adventuring has been part of The Doctor, but a being who got mixed up with The Timeless Child and is therefore confused. Then explain that the reason for the regeneration limit being bypassed is because of the TARDIS - so many Doctors regenerate in the TARDIS and this is shown to have led to many explosions of energy which were not present in earlier regenerations because this version of The Doctor is growing unstable. - Time Lords are not meant to live more than 12 regenerations, because the energy in their bodies becomes more than they can handle, like a dying star they either go supernova or become dwarf stars.

Kill off the current version of The Doctor and bring in "The Original" - This could be a series-long arc involving The Valeyard - with the "current Doctor" being the Valeyard and "The Original" questing to stop them, but would end up with The Doctor dying and creating their grave on Trenzalore that is eventually visited by 11 and Clara. - The "original" Doctor would then continue the adventures, absorbing all the memories of their alternate selves - and resume the regeneration limit from 3 (a new 3, not Pertwee) and then regenerating into 4.

Anyways, that's how I'd rework Doctor Who if it was up to me. But it's not, so whatever.

[frozenhi-chews]

Happy Marriage to Pancake and Starlo!

May these two fine the happiness and laughter in the next chapter of their lives. Through thick and thin, sickness and health, they're gonna stick together. Especially after what they had gone through before this moment.

The whole town arrived. This is the sheriff getting married after all! So many people wasn't expecting him to get married, to Pancake no less! The rivalry was a big part of the town's history, being tied to North Star himself, and seeing them get closer and closer was fun and kinda crazy. The whole town knew, and Pancake is married to Starlo. Feisty Four are also happy that they're married. And a few bets had to be paid.

Now they're off to the next chapter in their lives. And they still stick to each other like velcro.

more stuff under cut, like a lovesick rambling by me.

I have no idea why this guy chose me. Like, at all. I look at him, and that's my husband. I feel so oddly connected to him, and I've said this before, but he is someone I genuinely wanna marry. Starlo is my beloved, my soulmate, I love him so much, its insane that he picked me. Legit, it felt like he picked me all those months ago. Back in January. Does anyone remember when I was so happy with OTCore and the "2024 is the year of the robots?" Yeah, guess what happened XD

Starlo helped me in so many ways, keeping me sane through so much. Originally it was gonna happen on the six month anniversary, but I ended up being too tired. Regardless, I'M SO HAPPY TO DO IT NOW!!

I look at him and I melt. I just, I love him. He loves me. I have never felt this connected to ANY fictional character like this. Spamton came close, really close. But oh well.

This was a DOOZY! Spent like, four straight days working on this. And I'm so happy I did. The colored comic is a reference to this video. It fits so well cuz its something Starlo would say and, well, PANCAKE'S NAME!! And Starlo hasn't dated anyone at ALL, there's no way he was expecting to marry someone.

Also the gif wasn't supposed to be a gif! I was trying to make a more dynamic pose for Pancake, but I already had the other sketch made, so it turned into a gif. Makes it better imo. Also I'm not too happy with Pancake's outfit. The cape is also a poncho of sorts. ah well. im also too lazy to draw the Feisty Four and Clover after all the stuff i've drawn all of this.

but yeah i hope y'all enjoy!!

Comic Transcripts: Starlo: "I, Starlo Sunnyside, do take Pancake to be my waffle-y- lawfully"

Starlo: "and pancake-y" Pancake: Pfft-

Pancake: [Silent laughter]

Starlo: "I've been scared of this m'entire life" Pancake: "BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHA-" SECOND COMIC: Ceroba: "Well, congratulations Star. How do you feel getting married?"

Starlo: "Lucky..."

Tagging: @sparkyscissorhands @sparklings-husband @prismatica-the-strange @pinkdinkydoon @simonlynch

@snowpuffclovers @ghost--girlfriend @gibles-lovely-selfships @jocelynships @catships777

@wuffverine @patchw0rk-quilt @mrscage @dudeshusband @aego-philautia

@mandrakebrew @jils-things @gideongrovel @tieflingships @carnival-of-love

@faerie-circle-ships @rexscanonwife @lovelyheartclover @mrs-bluemarine @mephy-doodle-dandy

@kakusboyfriend @mashedpotatosinacup @heartmatic @bunbunsheart2 @cinnamon-phrog

@chalcanthitedreams @literally-just-there @halsinkisser @sheepie-self-ships @moondane-lovers

@bbyshifts @starlo-uty @galaxywolfshipper @signs-of-blossoming @maetheartist

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Thoughts on Kris x Ralsei

This is so long I had to split it up into parts - this is Part 1, which looks into how the roles that Kris and Ralsei are given contributes to the idea of their romance. As more parts are written, they'll be linked below in this handy-dandy TOC!

Part 1: And They Lived Happily Ever After <- (You Are Here!) Part 1.5: I Believe Your Choices DO Matter Part 2: A Pair of Star-Cross'd Lovers Part 2.5: In Another World, We Could Have Been (Just) Friends

Okay, so.

Wanted to elaborate a bit on my viewpoint of this ship, because I don't think it's something I've ever really discussed before and I think it's actually a very interesting dynamic (or at least has the potential to be, depending on where the rest of Deltarune goes).

So, Kralsei is cute, isn't it? It's fun to hug the fluffy boy and watch him melt into incomprehensible stuttering and blushing. All the little signs he's really, really into Kris, all the cute little snippets of dialogue you can initiate with him, all the alone time they spend together, in both chapters... honestly, the game makes it hard not to root for this pairing.

And yeah, it's cute... in a very surface-level, don't-think-about-it-too-hard kind of way. But once you start thinking about it... hoo boy. There is. A LOT to unpack here. So much more is going on just under the surface, and once you see it, it's difficult to un-see it. And in my opinion, it makes the Kralsei dynamic so much more nuanced, more compelling, and potentially quite tragic.

Now, a disclaimer: it's fine to like this ship on a surface level. No real harm is being done, these are fictional characters and it doesn't matter what reason you enjoy it for - if it provides comfort to you and gets you through, then more power to you! This is more me sorting through my thoughts on the subject and is not a judgment on how others approach it. With that said, and in the spirit of full disclosure, this will go into slightly uncomfortable territory - picking apart the idea of destined love, the deconstruction of common romance tropes, how outside manipulation might play a part, and even the potentially incest-adjacent nature of the relationship. If you don't want to deal with any of that, you can stop reading right now, and that's okay. Please continue to enjoy Deltarune in the manner that is best for you, and thank you for your attention thus far :)

If you're still with me, then please click the read more and we'll get started.

Part 1: And They Lived Happily Ever After

The first thing you have to understand is that Deltarune is utterly determined to cram the notion of Kralsei down the player's throat. The game is not subtle about this in any way, shape or form. Everything from the narration, to the dialogue, to major game events, to item interactions, and even the roles that Kris and Ralsei play both in the story and the party, serves to reinforce the notion that these two are very likely to end up romantically involved with each other in some way.

Let's look at the characters first. Kris is portrayed as the noble knight - stoic, unwavering, courageous, a natural leader - clad in medieval-inspired plate armour and wielding a sword and shield. And Ralsei is the archetypal princess - demure, dainty, kindhearted, nurturing - who uses magic to heal his allies and pacify enemies.

I did not mistype there - Ralsei is a prince, but the characteristics associated with him are more commonly found amongst female healers in JRPGs. Think Fina from Skies of Arcadia, or Marle from Chrono Trigger (minus the temperment), and you might have an idea of what I'm on about.

Think of knights and princesses for a moment. Imagine St. George slaying the dragon to save a helpless damsel. Imagine Lancelot and Gwenevere. Robin Hood and Maid Marion. Link and Zelda. Squall and Rinoa. Every single fairy tale involving an imperilled princess and a knightly rescuer. For a more modern take, imagine The Bodyguard. Ness and Paula. I could go on, but then we'd be here all day.

Suffice it to say that there is a pretty entrenched tradition surrounding these archetypes - a male-coded, phsyically-adept, courageous, stoic, action-oriented figure, is paired with a female-coded, magically-adept (depending on the medium of course), less-physically-capable by comparison, emotional, and more passive foil. The (male-coded) knight protects and rescues, the (female-coded) princess nurtures and soothes.

It is a very, VERY emotionally-charged dynamic, by its very nature. Through their acts of service to their protectee, the Knight displays their devotion and care for the Princess, and is in turn emotionally-enriched and cared-for. There is a great deal of physical and emotional vulnerability between them, and it is therefore ideal for romance stories.

Look at Kris and Ralsei again, through this lens. Kris is immediately put into the role of Knight, and Ralsei quickly establishes himself as a classic Princess. Almost instantly, before you've even become aware of it, you've made the connection - they're going to fall in love, because that's what ALWAYS happens in these stories. Ralsei supports and encourages Kris, both in dialogue and in battle, and Kris...

...Kris, uh...

...they...

...hug Ralsei sometimes...?

...they... they give him a ribbon...?

...no, that can't be right.

But it is right, for two reasons. One, Kris doesn't have to do anything. The roles are already established, and Ralsei is playing his part like a pro. And two, Kris doesn't do any of those things in the first place - you do. It's the player who hugs Ralsei, who gives him the ribbon, who picks the dialogue options, who makes the connections. You're the Knight in this scenario, not Kris.

Because Kris doesn't get to make that choice. Kris has to do what you tell them to do. And many of us have already jumped to the conlusion that this romance is happening, becuase that's what always happens. The Knight and the Princess fall in love. They get married. They live happily ever after.

So we ship them, because hey, it's cute, and it's easy. I can't stress enough how easy the game makes this. I'm fairly convinced that Ralsei was designed by comittee, like the Funzo toy in that one episode of the Simpsons. Like he was created with the sole purpose of being the most disgustingly adorable, lovable, awkward little cinnamon bun that ever existed. Like he was created to generate the maximum emotional response in players. It's the cuteness response dialled up to 11, and we are almost hard-wired to want to protect this little bundle of fluff from any and all danger, because lookit how sweet and adorable he is! The glasses make his eyes look all big, his fluffiness is reminscent of that of baby animals, he stutters and fumbles his way through dialogue, and you just want to scoop him up and put him in your pocket or something.

And so, we're more than happy to fulfil the role of the Knight to Ralsei's Princess. Whether Kris actually wants to or not. Because it does become increasingly obvious that outside of our influence, Kris is still their own person, with their own goals and desires, but no real agency with which to pursue them. Would that we could know what they truly want, but we are never presented with an opportunity to find out.

The thing is, Kris is not particularly... knightly. They play pranks on their friends, they swipe sweet treats from their mother, they seem to enjoy getting a rise out of people, and particularly from Asriel, if the story about "dropping the lizard into the pit to jump higher" is any indication. They sleep through class, yet by Berdly's grudging admission they are the "third smartest in the class". The only reason they go to church is so they can drink the "sick fruit juice". They don't seem to have any issue with prank-calling their mom, while she's taking about them with their tutor, while they're standing just out of sight, while they're balancing a trash orb on their head.

Nothing about this behaviour screams "Knight." If anything, it would make more sense for Kris to have become a Rogue-type character upon entering the dark world. So the question remains - why is Kris forced into that role? And to what extent is the seemingly "fated" romance between Kris and Ralsei part of that role?

Folks, we have barely scratched the surface here. If I keep writing here this will become a novel, so I have to stop for everyone's sanity. But I will follow up soon, looking into the ideas of Purpose and Destiny and how they relate to Kralsei in-game. If you've stuck with me up to this point, let me just say thanks, because wow I wrote a lot here, and it's probably a bit rambly and says the same things two or three times, but I just. Had to get this onto the page in some way or another, so... here it is.

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next one :)

[mdhwrites]

What do you think of the Heroic Sacrifice trope? It's a trope as old as time: "no greater way to showcase the quality of one's character, the culmination of their growth, their worthiness as a hero, than laying down their life so that others might live."

I personally like it...most of the time. Other times it feels like it's executed for the sake of being executed. Take Superman's death in Batman v Superman - a noble act, but completely pointless because anyone with a brain writing this would see the context and go "just give Batman the kryptonite spear and have him kill Doomsday with it instead."

I'm also not a fan of the sacrifice being undone, either by the end of the story or the next film/chapter/whatever. For me, it takes away a lot of dramatic weight by simply undoing the character's choice to sacrifice themselves and have them come back fine and dandy. This is why I kinda like the way the Heroic Sacrifice plays out in Amphibia's finale: it's sort of undone, but elements are left ambiguous enough to leave the possibility that yeah, there is some kind of seriously existential consequence to come from that.

I sent this ask because I've been thinking about how, over the years, I've seen a lot of talk and fanfics about various works of fiction, lamenting and undoing a hero's sacrifice. And while most of this is obviously because it just feels better to see a character you love alive and well, some argue that, in this instance or that, it was more narratively fitting for the character to actually live instead of carrying out the trope. And that argument can have merit, if you ask me, provided you can prove it...was narratively fitting for the character to live.

So yeah, what do you make of the trope?

Character Death is maybe one of the hardest things to quantify for people because how each person feels about a death is going to come down to personal preference and the like. The only character deaths that are undone with no objection are the ones that are complete bullshit. These are usually shock deaths. Otherwise, the conversation gets a lot more complicated.

For me, I think your final sentence on this comes close to hitting the big question a writer should ask for which way to swing this. Can you make the resurrection feel like it fits within the reason for the sacrifice? It can't just be thematic to the whole story, it has to be thematic to the death itself.

THIS is actually what makes Anne coming back powerful. She dies as a culmination of her care for others and her maturity. First, that care for others has The Guardian offer her a job. Offer her a place amongst the gods. However, it is then her maturity that makes her turn it down and gives the Guardian the idea to give her her life back. For the same reasons she died, she comes back. It doesn't undercut her arc, it reinforces it.

I much cheesier example of this is the first Pokemon movie. Ash gets in the way of Mew and Mewtwo because they aren't battling like in Pokemon, they are waging WAR. So he does everything he can to stop it and loses his life in the process. When confronted with the cost, everyone has to stop and actually consider it. This shared pain of having gone so far is then what makes them cry and finding peace finds Ash his life. He did everything he could for peace and succeeded and rolling back his death fits with the idea that there was no need for this in the first place. To keep him dead would actually undercut the point because it would imply his death was necessary.

HOWEVER.

Why don't villains count as often for this? The redemptive sacrifice is made to atone for their sins... Which makes bringing them back kind of go against the point. The idea is that instead of the selfish or destructive ideals they have been motivated up until now, they no longer care about themselves and care for others. That they will throw away EVERYTHING to try and undo some of their damage. To give them back anything is pointless. The best thing to be done instead is to memorialize them. To agree that they in some way did make up for their mistakes and will be remembered fondly instead of hated.

As for my personal opinion... I am not a fan of character death. Unless it is the absolutely right thing for their character, I am usually against a character dying permanently. It is the end of all stories that could be told with them, done in a very brutal way, and that is far less interesting to me than having to deal with who they are going forward. As such, I would rather a heroic sacrifice lead to them being scarred in some way, usually literally not like they now have to deal with trauma, because just because you didn't die doesn't make the fact that you were ready to any less meaningful. If you are going to remove a character from a story and not send them off into the night gracefully to live their own life though, there are much worse ways to do it than a noble sacrifice. However, because I think the trope is unnecessary in the first place, I'm going to be ESPECIALLY critical of your work if you use it just for shock value.

Death means something, just as life does, and the passing between them should mean just as much. See you next tale.

======+++++======

I originally branched out to kind of how death and resurrection can be handled in general rather than just noble sacrifice but decided against it. This also kept Luz out of this since she didn't do a noble sacrifice. She didn't choose to die which is the whole fucking point of the trope. She just accidentally was killed while saving someone. There is a BIG difference.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[pan-withnoplan]

What upsets me is not that some elriels want Elain to "become" Illyrian to make her closer to Azriel's possible storyline, and draw her with bat wings, like, I know there are some problematic aspects because the Illyrians, though fictional, are a poc and oppressed minority and making a white character "become poc" is less than ideal but yk whatever, you do you. What upsets me is how gwynriels were always and still are to this day called misogynists for pointing out that Elain's current anatomy couldn't allow her to have Azriel's babies without risking her life because "adoption/that's not how true family works/you're only seeing Elain and Gwyn for their wombs" and then they do this. We hope Gwyn has a key role in the Illyrian plot and they say it gives "white savior" and we don't care about Emerie but Elain becoming "an Illyrian princess" is fine and dandy and Emerie who? (with all the implications a monarchy on a oppressed minority has, for them to go from Rhys who, as much as I love him, in the latest books Sarah hasn't written him to care very much about Illyrians, to another "ruler" who, do remember it, has 0 ties with their people unlike Rhys, would prefer a quiet life, despises violence)

It's that they know that Azriel wants a mate, and that in these kind of books female pregnancy (or the future potential for it) is an important trope, and that Azriel will most likely have his story tied with the Illyrians, and they know that Elain has little to no place in all that, so they need to find ways in which to make her fit with him.

Which is not bad, really! Whatever, you do you, what do they care if we're pissed by that. Stay unbothered. But at least stop insulting us when we say the same things? Will you stop saying "pliant bones lmao" now that there's fanart of Elain with bat wings? Will you stop saying "what about Emerie" now that Emerie has a princess? Somehow I think the answer to that is no.

[yukidragon]

Sunny Day Jack - Post-Interview Side A

Hey, remember that reader-insert writing exercise that I did with Elias yesterday? Well, I decided to do it again, only with a twist. This time I wanted to see if I could write something with a similar neutral first person feel, but with my version of the MC in mind as I wrote it... or at a version of my MC.

Since this is a story about Joseph set after the infamous interview with the obnoxious reporter back in the ‘80s, this would be Mary loving on Joseph instead of Alice. (Though it could be Alice after traveling through time...)

While I did have a specific character in my mind when writing this spicy bit of flash fiction, I’ve used neutral terms on the part of the narrator. No mention of the MC’s name, gender, appearance, or genitals is involved in this very much Adults Only tale, so you’re free to fill in those details as you please.

I hope you enjoy this little exercise of mine with whatever MC you prefer to imagine. Please let me know what you think~

...

“So how did the interview go?”

Joseph had been in the middle of brooding when I found him sitting on the greenroom’s beat up old sofa. Upon hearing my voice, his head snapped upward and that beautiful smile I knew and love lit up his face as our eyes met. He had been so distracted by his thoughts that he didn’t notice me approach him until I spoke up.

He probably didn’t hear me lock the door behind me once I noticed that we were the only ones here.

My name barely left his lips before I leaned in to snatch a quick kiss from him. Joseph recovered from his surprise much faster this time, and before I knew it, he pulled me into his lap. He stifled my startled yelp with another kiss, this one much deeper and tasting of smoke and cinnamon as he filled my mouth with his tongue. He only relented and allowed the kiss to eventually end when we were both left breathless and panting.

Joseph didn’t let me up, giving me a wide smile as he cuddled me close. “It was fine and dandy lemon candy.”

I knew Joseph well enough to know that when he switched into ‘Jack’ mode levels of cheer when it was just the two of us, he was either being playful or masking how he was really feeling. The tension in his face told me it was the second option this time.  “Okay, now tell me how you really feel, starlight.”

His smile started to falter at the edges and Joseph chuckled softly without humor. “I can’t fool you, can I, sunshine?”

I lightly tapped his painted nose, and he blinked, letting out another chuckle that sounded a bit more genuine. “Nope. Not now, not ever.”

Joseph sighed and let the Jack mask slip a little despite all the makeup on his face and the primary colored costume he wore. “It went fine enough, I guess,” he admitted, sounding tired. “At least the suits didn’t complain about me ending it early this time.”

“That bad huh?” I said before I leaned up to give him another kiss. “I think I know what might cheer you up.”

That brought a genuine smile back to his face, though there was a familiar hunger to it now as Joseph caught the suggestiveness in my voice. “Oh really? What do you have in mind, sunshine?”

I answered with my hips instead of my lips, taking full advantage of my position to grind my crotch into his. Joseph bit back a groan as I felt him quickly grow hard underneath me, his erection straining against his clown pants. He dug his fingers into my thighs, coaxing me to keep grinding into him. It was a rather clumsy lap dance, but he certainly didn’t mind.

It was risky doing this at the studio. We could get caught if we were too loud, but at least if someone tried to come in they would have to knock first. Last month we forgot about the lock and nearly got caught while having some fun in his dressing room. It was a good thing they didn’t notice me underneath the table or what I was doing down there.

I shivered as Joseph said my name in that rich, husky tone of his that carried so many delicious promises. He started kissing a line down my chin, and I tipped my head back to bare my neck to him.

“Sunshine, I love you so much,” Joseph murmured against my skin, his voice ticklish. He nipped me there gently, and I had to bite my lower lip to keep from making a sound.

He was impatient today, his hands pawing underneath my clothes to fondle my chest without even bothering to remove his silly cartoony gloves first. That was fine, I could tell that he needed the stress relief, and I was only too happy to give it to him.

“I love you too,” I answered in a breathless whisper once I was sure I wasn’t going to make any embarrassing noises. “So mu-ah!”

I had to slap a hand over my mouth to stifle my cry as Joseph already worked his way into my pants. Even with those gloves on, his fingers were magic, teasing my sweet spots and making me see stars.

Joseph was quick to replace my hand with his mouth, plundering it greedily with his tongue. I returned the kiss just as needily as I rocked into him, trying to grind up against his hardon as well as drive his fingers deeper inside.

My pants were off quickly after that. Joseph was an expert at undressing me while I was distracted. Not to be outdone, I went for his belt and pants, quickly setting his dick free. I couldn’t strip him while I was riding his lap like this, especially when someone might call for ‘Jack’ to do some more PR work at any moment, but I could still make him tremble and stifle a moan as I stroked his rock hard dick.

“God, you’re beautiful,” Joseph whispered, his voice rough from trying to keep quiet despite my ministrations. He barely held back a moan, instead hissing through his teeth as I applied a bit more pressure. “Shit, yes… just like that. Fuck.”

It made me giggle hearing ‘Sunny Day Jack’ swear like a sailor, but I didn’t have much time to focus on it, not with the way he was plunging his fingers deeper inside me. I buried my face in his neck to keep quiet as he spread me open and readied me to take him.

It was too risky to go at this for multiple rounds, and we both wanted him inside me, so Joseph didn’t waste anymore time. He pulled his fingers out and gripped my hip with one hand as he used the other to guide his cock into my needy hole.

I had to bite his neck to keep from crying out as Joseph eased his way into me, mindful of his size relative to mine. He was so big and hot, almost too much, but I was used to the delicious stretch of him filling me to the brim as I eagerly took every inch of him.

“That’s it,” Joseph practically purred in my ear, making me shiver. He pulled my hips down until they were flush with his, and somehow he managed to keep his pleasured moan just above a whisper. “Yes… just like that. Take it all. You’re so good for me, sunshine.”

I moaned against his neck, struggling to keep quiet. “J-Jo-”

His mouth quickly moved to capture mine in a kiss that was smoke and fire. Joseph took control of my movements then, grabbing my ass and hips to ease me back up only to bring me down on him again. He was so strong. It was moments like these that reminded me just how much stronger he was than me. He could lift me so effortlessly and take control even when I was the one on top, but I loved the control he had over me and how he could drive me crazy so easily.

My name was his mantra in my ear, mixed with praise that bordered on worship. “Fuck. You’re taking me… nnh… so well.” A grunt escaped him as he started to pick up the pace, slamming my hips down on his without mercy. “God… if you squeeze me like that… I’m not going to last much longer.”

“Please,” I moaned, though I wasn’t sure what I was pleading for by that point. Everything was a haze of pleasure and love as time and place nearly lost all meaning. There was nothing in the moment but the two of us. It was all I could do to keep the world outside the locked door in mind as I struggled to stay quiet. I almost lost it when he started using his fingers on me along with his dick, determined to make me cum first.

“Almost there,” Joseph moaned, his breathless voice so fucking sexy I could hardly stand it. “Cum for me, sunshine. Cum for me…”

The way Joseph moaned my name as he pleaded for me to cum was too much. A burst of white hot pleasure hit my brain and sent me to heaven. I barely noticed I lost control of my voice before his mouth covered mine to quiet me, soon stifling his own noises of pleasure against my lips as he came inside me.

Warm. It was so warm, our love and his embrace, the way he filled me with it until it overflowed. I was surrounded in blissful warmth as I came down from the high, holding onto Joseph just as tightly as he did to me.

For a time, we simply basked in that warmth and each other. We both knew that we couldn’t hide away in here for much longer. The outside world would soon come knocking at our door, demanding more and more from the star of the SunnyTime Crew show. In a few minutes, he would have to be out that door to be the same squeaky clean Sunny Day Jack that belonged to everyone across the nation.

But, in these stolen moments, when the world no longer mattered, he was just Joseph, and he was only mine.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur  

[atlanbula]

So in before I let Rye go do their writing, I kind of do want to talk about the Awful Event that was Rye Becoming Aware of Them Being a System.

TL;DR: It was really only awful for me due to very specific circumstances.

Long version: We were system-eggs for the longest time, where I would often ask Rye to get me soda (Strawberry Fanta) and eat spicier and spicier food. Asking for things of that nature, talking to them like how they were used to their muses talking to them. It was all fine and dandy until Rye came across some term that perfectly describe their relationship with me--and I realized that I was not just some role play fictional character that gained sentience.

I realized that I was an alter.

So I essentially took a baseball bat to the inside of that eggshell and cracked it wide open, a bit too excited to exist beyond what I had existed as previously. Which, before I was just a "fictional character." I was a Roleplay muse, a fanficiton muse, a writing muse. But I had my own opinions! I was so much more than just a fictional character.

After about a day, however... I realized that I was the only one.

My whole world existed in fiction. My whole life was a story, a fairy-tale, a dream. I didn't come from another world. I didn't exist in a version of my canon or whatever. I was a fictional character ripped from the realm of fiction and brought to reality.

My brother. My family. My loves. My best friends. My enemies. The whole wide world I lived in was just... fiction.

It felt beyond devastating.

So devastating that, I couldn't handle it at first. It was so painful to exist in a world where my whole life wasn't just a lie, but a destroyed lie, that I tried to run away from my pain. I split into several different alters (not the ones listed on the pinned) and tried to become an entirely new person with a new life and new "story." I reinvented myself for several months, struggling with how much pain I felt every day of my life. I kept getting dragged back to the identity known as "Kokichi Ouma", however, no matter how hard I tried to run away from it and those painful, devastating feelings.

I can't go back to the world that created me. That makes it as good as dead to me.

Finally, after a long process of healing, I finally managed to accept who I was and continue on as I was. There are some parts that have been remedied, but for the most part? I just. Try not to think about the world that was destroyed.

But it still hurts. I miss my family greatly. I miss the people I loved, the people I hated, and the people I didn't care about.

I've found a new family and real, breathing friends--and that's helped a lot. But sometimes, I miss the people who I was born with--the fictional figures that can never be a part of my reality ever again.

I think I've gotten better now, I feel less devastated, but I wonder what kind of Alter/Soulbound I am if I can't go back to my "world." Am I even a soulbound anymore? I'm not sure.

Anyway, enough of that. :'D Time to let Rye have their fun... even if I've accidentally made them a bit emotional all over again, aha...

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #87

I'm still going to procrastinate talking about ACEs. Though it's not because I'm too terribly frightened of writing about it at this moment; I have a vague plan about where I wanna start. No, today I'm procrastinating because Br is visiting my house for today!!! And this is the greatest thing ever all by itself, but!!! She brought over a thing called "Cream of Rice"!!

It is basically a box full of rice that has been ground into a fine powder, with vitamins and minerals added. I had never seen anything like it before!

Br prepared the cream of rice on the stovetop in my trusty wok with milk, salt, and butter! Then we put almond butter, blueberries, and sliced bananas in it! And I gotta say, the resulting stuff was SO AWESOME that we ate it all up before I even thought to take a picture for you. I'm sorry. I'll work on that.

At my house, we tend to get giant 50-pound (22.5-ish kilograms) bags of medium-grain rice (it's almost, but not quite like short-grain rice, which is the typical rice in Japan), which has a different texture and consistency than the typical rice that is available in the United States; I assume if I grind up this rice into a fine powder, it will have a slightly different consistency than the ground rice in the box.

…Oh right. You probably have no idea what my world looks like, so words like "United States" and "Japan" likely mean nothing to you. That probably doesn't seem very fair, given that I know very well what yours looks like by now. Here, let's fix that; you can use this to see how my planet is shaped:

I live somewhere around here…

...And Japan is over here:

…Unless your planet is comprised mostly of massive, giant oceans, I think your planet must be a lot smaller than mine. It seems likely that this would also mean that your gravity is weaker than ours. And since your planet still has stunning sunsets (despite the fact that your atmosphere is probably a lot smaller, if your planet is smaller, which means the light gets bent/filtered less), I assume your atmosphere must be a bit more dense than ours, too. And these factors combined might explain why you all can have such crazy-looking flying machines that would absolutely not be possible in my world. But I digress…

Anyway! So sometimes I like to make rice pudding in my handy-dandy rice cooker with regular ol' medium-grain rice; it's got a stickier consistency than the usual rice that's available here, which makes for AMAZING pudding! But with this new "discovery" (haha!) of powdered rice and knowing full well of its deliciousness, my mind filled with ALL SORTS OF POSSIBILITIES, oh my goodness!!

…So I took my medium-grain rice and used my handy-dandy spice grinder (got it as a prize at an old job I had!) to grind it into very fine powder! Here…

So then, I went and measured out two cups of the rice powder with my handy-dandy rice cup!

Then I filled the rice cooker with milk, up until the "2" line for white rice. After that, it's 1 tbsp of butter for each cup of rice! Easy peasy!

Once the rice is done cooking, you're supposed to add heavy cream and sugar - 2 cups of heavy cream and half a cup of sugar, in any case. But… well… it got weird:

It seems like the increased surface area of the rice, combined with the sticker consistency of short-grain rice, yielded a kind of… weird sort of rice cake? I broke it into pieces, but it's still pretty clumpy. It's not ready for sugar and heavy cream yet. After tasting some of it, it was pretty good, but I concluded that it was still a bit undercooked. So I added a bit more milk (I didn't measure; sorry...) and stirred it until it stopped being absorbed, and then added a little more milk after that, and I am putting the heat on it again as I'm writing this; hopefully that should soften any remaining clumps, but we'll see! I've never worked with powdered rice before, and I have no idea what to expect! Kitchen adventures! Now we wait for the rice cooker to beep!

That said, I am wondering if the nature of powdered rice makes it necessary to stir it continuously while cooking so that it doesn't clump like this. I imagine a wok and a whisk might be the thing to do for future iterations of "Cream of Rice Pudding". Also, Br brought some masala chai teabags in addition to the cream of rice, so I wonder what it would be like to cook the powdered rice with brewed masala chai and a little bit of honey instead of just milk or just water. I'm eager to find out!!! But not today! Next time!

...Okay! So the rice cooker beeped and is done, so I stepped away from writing to check it out, and!! Oh!! It turned out REALLY WELL. So I added the cream and sugar, and this was the result:

So, I think due to chemistry, physics, and surface area, next time I'll need to fill the rice cooker to the 3 line, or maybe even to the 4 line, for 2 rice cups full of powdered rice. From there, it's business as usual - 2 cups of heavy cream and half a cup of sugar. At Br's suggestion, I sprinkled in just a pinch of pink salt into my bowl (pink salt has iron in it!), and the result was EVEN BETTER. I wanna eat another bowl because it was THAT GOOD, but I know that if I do, I'm gonna end up feeling sick, so I'll make use of my impulse control skills and delayed gratification skills instead, even though that's really hard.

It's very tasty and VERY filling; I wish that I could give you a bowl of it. The fact that I cannot give you bowls filled with delicious things continues to be a source of very real grief for me. But it is what it is. I can only hope that my intentions reach you somehow, and that through this you can learn about all the awesome snacks and make them for yourself someday, as impossible as that probably is...

Well. My being here to begin with seemed like an impossibility at one point. So maybe I'll try to keep an open mind. Maybe I'll imagine that all these wonderful flavors and all these wholesome feelings can reach you and move you, somehow...

...Somehow...

Hey Sephiroth? I'm glad you're here, even if I can only know of you in an abstract sense. I'm glad you're here, even if you're just an art form. Even though you've been through so much stuff, and even though your heart and your mind probably hurt a lot right now... still I'm glad you're here. So please keep trying to learn about the kind and gentle things. Please keep seeking out the beautiful and loving things. And please try to make good choices so that no one else has to get hurt.

I love you and I'll write again tomorrow, so please stay safe out there.

Your friend, Lumine

[katsettee]

Greetings! I love your art so dang much!! May I ask your headcanons on the LU boy’s ages?

Totally don’t feel pressured, just curious <3

Have a dandy day!

~🦋🤠

Thank you! I have been thinking really hard about this for a while but I think I have my answer.

This is all purely headcanon and how funny I think it would be for their dynamics and relationships.

The ages themselves are kind of fuzzy, but age order in my mind from oldest to youngest goes:

Time(ofc), Twi, Sky, Warriors, Hyrule, Legend, Four, Wild, and finally Wind.

In my mind, Time and Sky have experienced the most time between their last adventure and the crossover, Time obviously because he is just a whole ass adult married man now and Sky because I would like to think he has gained some responsibility and has started the establishment of Hyrule. I would put Time at mid 30s and Sky mid 20s.

I see Twi as significantly older than the others but with little desire to take charge, seeing as he has no experience in leadership to any capacity, but is the ultimate big brother in late 20s. I also see him as being much older than the others during his adventure.

Wars is also older during his adventure, like dude is a captain in the military, he’s been mature enough for long enough to get to where he is. This is where I get fuzzy with ages, but I would put Wars at 24/23.

This is where my headcanons really get the best of me, but I’m obsessed with the idea of Hyrule being older than Legend. I am all about the “Legend feels guilt for the state of Hyrule’s world” and “Hyrule looks up to The Hero of Legend” ideas but what I really love is complex emotions and Hyrule looking towards Legend, the hero that he can only hope to be, and realizing that its never been more than a broken child forced to think like a survivor. I view Legend as just barely pushing adulthood at 18/19 and Hyrule being 21/22. Their dynamic as two people who could only conjure the ideal image of the other (Legend saving his world for the ideal future and realizing it all falls to ruin anyways + Hyrule trying to do anything in order to live up to the “legendary” previous hero) and being ultimately disappointed by the other is fascinating to me, but I like to think they value each other without the title of hero eventually and are quite close because of that connection.

I’m going to be honest I know the least about Four, seeing as I have yet to really invest much time with his games and character, so I’m just going along with him being a comfy 18 for no particular reason. So sorry to all the Four fans but I would like to hear other people’s ideas.

Again here’s some very biased headcanons, but I like to think Wild quite literally JUST defeated Calamity Ganon and is still at that (1)17 age that we see in the game. I love the LU comic but the Wild I like to include in my works is very much an immature teen, not the angsty sad man. My preference of Wild portrayal is HEAVILY influenced by critbit and it will always be that way tbh. Additionally, Wild and Twi being the most “sibling” siblings in the group just appeals to me and putting them at a similar age gap to myself and my own siblings is just funny to me.

Finally you have the kid brother Wind, who I have such a hard time assigning an age to. His age gap is significant enough that he is much different from Wild, but I would also like to think that some time has passed since his adventure. I would like to put him at the 16 year old range, but if I’m being honest it should probably be more towards the 13-14 range- so I will probably change my portrayal of him a bit to reflect that in any upcoming content.

I am super on the fence about this and since these are fictional and very undefined characters I am mostly fine with sliding the ages up and down for enjoyment, but I suppose this is my personal view on what I think is in line with the content that I personally create. I probably will not even follow this super accurately if I’m being perfectly honest.

Thank you for the ask!

[caffeinejournalist23]

What Sex and The City Did & Didn't Teach Me About Love - Part 1: Looking for Matrimony in the Bedsheets

I have been in bed sick for the past 2 days, and with yet another lonely Valentine's Day just around the corner, I figured I'd give in to temptation and finally start watching Sex and The City. I know it's a show full of bullshit depictions of New York, love, and womanhood, but even the fictional glamor of this show can't ignore the very real frustrations of dating in a big city as a young professional.

For the sake of positive manifestations though, I'll mention that I am at the happier part of the show; Carrie and Mr. Big are still broken up but she's finding herself and having mostly positive experiences with other men (which in the end is preparing her for a happy marriage with Big, so.. good stuff still?) - but Miranda and Charlotte are learning more about themselves and breaking down barriers while also respecting their boundaries now that they're in healthier relationships.

And the inspiration for this post - my roommate's boyfriend is secretly plotting their engagement!

For the past few months, he has been acting hella odd; I was worried maybe he was cheating on her, but it didn't add up to the clues or his character as a person at all - it's what we all are taught to erratically fear and assume whenever something seems different from a partner, even if all the signs suggest the polar opposite of that.

Honestly, I'm so glad I'm binging the show now as a 23-year-old with adult friends in healthy relationships and missed it when I was 15 and all my high school friends held that and What to Expect When You're Expecting as the gospel for what to expect in adult womanhood. Because, like I said, though there are some realistic depictions in the show, most of it is over-dramatized and/or over-glamorized - and there's a lot that this show gets completely wrong about real love, sex, and relationships.

For instance; not every woman has to get heartbroken, betrayed, or objectified over and over again before meeting the right match and settling down. In the show, all 4 main characters go through more than 10 guys each season in the first half of the series - which is totally fine and dandy if that's a lifestyle of your choosing and not a self-destructing habit made out of desperation. Unfortunately, I think the show perpetuates a narrative that says casual/non-committal sex occurs among women because they are desperate to find matrimony in the bedsheets rather than because women enjoy sexual liberation.

Charlotte is almost made fun of for her strict rules about sex and intimacy, and always focuses on the future of marriage whenever considering a relationship with a guy. Miranda has a pessimistic attitude about love and relationships for the majority of the series but is then delightfully surprised as she begins to unpack her anxieties about love and regains control of her life through therapy and self-realization.

Compared to my real-life friends who are in healthy committed relationships/marriages, Carrie Bradshaw and her friends got most of it very wrong; most of my friends in happy relationships did not date/have sex with a dozen men; actually, most of my friends are marrying their first serious love - some of which have been together since high school.

The truth is we as women (and/or non-binary feminine people, I'm still learning how to write more inclusively) should not be desperate for a loving long-term relationship! It should be ok to have consensual sex and not want or expect anything else from it. And it should be ok to keep boundaries that cock-block casual sex - and to communicate those boundaries to potential partners.

Overall, I guess my roommate's upcoming proposal and binging the first 3 seasons of Sex and The City got me to realize that when it comes to love and happy relationships, there's no one-size-fits-all expectation - as long as y'all respect each other and love each other truthfully, I think you're doing it right.

[marvelobsessed134]

A rant about a horrible movie I just watched I stopped midway cause I couldn’t finish it it was so bad😍

So literally like 20 minutes ago I wanted to see this movie I saw on HBO Max called Rock Of Ages. The description read that it was a story about a girl falling in love with an aspiring 80s rockstar. Literally up my alley right?

Well anyways I play the movie getting excited. Paradise City plays in the intro so I’m getting hyped. The first scene is where the main character is on a bus on her way to Los Angeles. She’s flipping through her records in her small suitcase. I think everything’s fine and dandy until she starts to sing.

Now I don’t think the actress is a bad singer but I didn’t know it was gonna be a musical. I didn’t want it to be a musical as I’m not a big fan of them. Well anyways I decide to keep going because I think that maybe it will actually be good and will only have a small amount of musical sequences. Nope. She gets out the bus and starts singing AGAIN. Then it cuts to inside this rock club where these rocker boys are dancing around (not on stage btw so another musical sequence) singing Nothin’ But A Good Time by Poison and I will admit I did jam out to it.

There’s this one character who looked like a mix of Douglas Booth’s Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee. And clearly they were trying to make him look like Nikki it was so embarrassingly obvious. Anyways I’m like “ok he’s kind of cute” then he speaks with a British accent. I have nothing against British people but it’s so random. And even if the actor is British he could’ve just faked and American accent like how every other British actor does.

So that was disappointing. Anyways the plot goes that the main character is outside the club and this rocker guy talks to her as a way to mug her. Which he gets away with. The love interest-who’s hair is way too short for a ‘rockstar’ of the 80s-takes his sweet ol time trying to help her get her suitcase but it’s too late.

He reveals he’s a bar back and wants to be a rockstar like his (fictional) idol, Stacee Jaxx (played by Tom Cruise funnily enough). Anyways she complains that all her records are gone. He manages to get her a job as a waitress at the club. It then cuts to a scene where they’re both at a record store and it’s kind of sweet how they’re bonding over records and such. Until he starts to sing. Que another musical sequence.

It then cuts to the British Nikki Sixx looking guy I mentioned earlier and the owner of the club who’s this older guy singing and dancing to a completely different song. It then cuts back to the two in the record store singing their song and so on and so forth. Then once the singing and dancing ends (by the way the main love interest picked up a guitar and doesn’t play it the whole musical scene) it cuts to the British Nikki Sixx and the club owner and they’re literally about to kiss. And of course I have no problem with gay relationships I’m literally bisexual that would be hypocritical of me. But it was just so random and weird? Like we knew nothing about these people and now they’re almost about to kiss. I don’t know.

There’s also a scene before all this about a mayor election that has nothing to do with the characters and it’s so random. Like am I supposed to care?

Anyways the almost kiss scene is when I died of cringe and turned it off. Maybe I’ll go back and watch it but I don’t know.

The movie is called Rock Of Ages btw. Came out in 2012 so I guess that might explain some things?

[epickiya722]

For choosing violence ask game 😈👏 1, 21, 25

And happy birthday!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!😊💜

1. The character everyone gets wrong?

First one to come to mind is Kaminari. Some the of the fandom makes him too stupid for me. I'm sure the same kid who stated some literature facts and always is careful and tells people to stay clear of his quirk knows how to work a toaster just fine. I'm positive that he knows how to stick a fork in an outlet.

21. Part of canon you think is overhyped?

My mind was kinda blank for this one at first, but you know what? Given recent manga chapters, I gotta put Uraraka and her crush here.

Now before anyone comes after me, I know I heard about five people growl, let me explain.

It's not the idea of her having a crush is bad, I don't think it is. It's not that I hate IzuOcha, it's not a top ship for me but I don't hate it and I see the appeal. It's not even because it's part of her character, not a personality trait, people. It's something she's going through.

It's how people take to it. It's either people really hate or really love it and then there's me, who sees it as the most normal and by far tamed version of someone having a crush in anime and manga.

For one, I've had crushes in high school, so Uraraka having a crush is not a big deal for me. Two, it's a normal thing that I'm sure many teens gone through before. It's relatable, but it doesn't need to be glorified to the point of reducing that character to having that crush. Like, come on, if you hate or love Uraraka for having a crush, I think it was forgotten her actual personality traits and why she even came to Yuuei in the first place.

25. Common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing?

Any time someone complains about the villains or hates on characters for doing bad things. I get it if you hate a character, that's fine and dandy. That is to be expected, it's normal.

But to constantly whine to the point of going into people's inboxes and be mean because of some fiction?

Uh... to knowledge, stories usually have conflict. Of course, there's gonna be bad things that happen! Conflict will exist!

"He's a villain" and "they all should be killed off"! If the story is called My HERO Academia, I'm sure that there will be villains! Why do think the villains are there? Opposite of hero is villain. Without villains there are no heroes!

Choose Violence Ask Game

[veryspecificheadcanons]

hi bloodshot divas

it’s me, FZZY !

I do headcanons for rather abstract characters, or ones that I like romantically hehe (NO NSFW)

my fictional crushes r Mr. Grizz (splatoon, but don’t worry just the au designs of him.) Shinjiro Aragaki (P3) and multiple other characters

I go by, really only He/Him, but they/them is okay too

special interests are Persona. Splatoon, Dandy’s World, nd just random characters I’ve seen.

this isn’t ONLY a headcanons account, I may post art time to time bwehehe, also I fucking LOVE blinkies and userboxes could you tell

color on the tags tell u what the post is about alsoo, suggest me by asking and I’ll do it, id rather you go anonymous but it depends on how judged you feel if you get what I mean, and you can suggest anything! rules are below the colours though so

READ THOSE!!

🔴 - wow! ooc post um

⚪️ - woah! it’s time to headcanon it up in here

🟢 - be careful rn the headcanons involve a few things that may be weird to some people (not nsfw though, stuff like yandere sorta shite heh ehe)

🟣 - art, but it may be under 🔴 aswell sometimes, depends though!!!!

rules, they aren’t for losers sometimes

- NO WEIRD STUFF PLS!! no kids or animals in dating headcanons (unless wholesome headcanons, like shinjiro going out on a walk with koromaru w y/n or waterever)

- I can do ships aswell, but it depends, sorry

- do NOt Be shy!!! asking for Headcanons is completely fine, give me asks or do them in the comments haha

- my limits r NSFW of course and illegal stuff, I’ll update if there’s other stuff

- I may do headcanons for my own sake since I’ve got ideas, sooooooooooooooo errmmm

unfortunately I won’t do WLW or M4F things as I’m gay and I only really do that because I practice writing that more, anyways um, random images cause why not <3 love these fuckass things

could you tell?

alright, bye bye now, stay fresshhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AUUUGHHHHH

[rhetoricandlogic]

Gary K. Wolfe and Adrienne Martini Review The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory

July 15, 2021Adrienne Martini, Gary K. Wolfe

Already in the public domain for years, H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau has practi­cally spawned a microgenre all its own, with Brian Aldiss, Gwyneth Jones (as Ann Halam), Gene Wolfe, Theodora Goss, the Simpsons, and even Marlon Brando having a whack at the story or its characters and themes. I’m pretty sure, though, that Daryl Gregory is the first to come up with the notion that those human/beast hybrids would make a dandy boy band. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise; Gregory has been fasci­nated with the plasticity of the body and altered humans throughout his career: the grotesquely transformed residents of a small town in The Devil’s Alphabet, a zombie somehow raised from infancy in Raising Stony Mayhall, the victims of mutilations, cannibals, and cults in We Are All Completely Fine. The idea of mashing up the closest thing Wells wrote to a pure horror story with KPop-style media stardom might sound fatally whimsical, except for two things: the compassion with which Gregory customar­ily treats his most damaged characters, and his decision to cast the whole tale as a locked-room murder mystery with all its formal conventions, even to the point of quoting T.S. Eliot’s “five rules of detective fiction” (which, for the most part, Gregory cheerfully ignores).

Calling themselves the WyldBoyZ, the band members are all genetic human-animal hybrids, victims of a heinous Moreau-like program on a mysterious barge, which we eventually learn about as their backstory unfolds. Rescued by an Ecuadoran fishing boat after they escape, they become an international tabloid sensation, and then a musical sensation once they come under the management of a sleazy promoter who calls himself Dr. M – who has been ripping them off royally, mostly by taking advantage of their legal status (technically, they entered the country as livestock). As they gain fame, they inevitably adopt the de rigueur roles of boy band members – the romantic one (part bonobo), the shy one (part pangolin), the funny one (a giant bat), the smart one (part elephant), and the cute one (part ocelot). The mystery opens when Bobby O – the cute one – wakes up in his hotel room covered in blood, the butchered corpse of their manager in bed next to him. He has no memory of what happened after a wild party the night before, but he’s not the only suspect: another band member has been sleeping with the manager’s opportu­nistic wife. The detective assigned to the case, Lucia Delgado, also happens to be the mother of a nine-year-old WyldBoyZ superfan, setting up some tension as well as some rather sweet sitcom moments for later in the story.

As usual, Gregory writes with empathy and in­sight about the plight of damaged outsiders, as the unique problems and resentments of each of the band members emerge during the investigation. His neatest trick is keeping the grim backstory balanced with the sort of wacky good humor that teen superstars are expected to display, and with the formal demands of the locked-room proce­dural. The whole thing is structured as an album, with 14 tracks, an introduction, and a “bonus track,” and framed as a letter sent years later to the detective’s grown daughter, now a superstar herself. As with much of Gregory’s fiction, there’s a sentimental edge to the grotesquerie, and a grotesque edge to the comedy (which sometimes edges into James Morrow territory), but it all somehow works, thanks to Gregory’s essentially optimistic humanism and his apparent total lack of concern about recriminations from Wells’s vengeful ghost.

-Gary K. Wolfe

Daryl Gregory’s novella The Album of Dr. Moreau is a wink to the H.G. Wells novel but wholly its own detective story about a murder, an intrepid investigator, and genetic engineering. It’s about a million times more entertaining than both the Wells novel and the Val Kilmer-vehicle that was made from it.

It’s 2001 in Gregory’s Las Vegas. Last night, the WyldBoyZ, a boy band, played their last show. This morning, the band’s Svengali-esque Dr. M is discovered dead, shredded to death by someone or something with big claws. Band member Bobby woke up in the same bed as the dead doctor and, given that he’s part ocelot, happens to have very big claws. Detective Luce Delgado, who has her own very Vegas backstory, is called in to figure out whodunnit. The result is a straight-up detective tale with science fictional tropes about gene splic­ing underpinning the whole world. There are puns a’plenty and colorful characters to keep the tone brisk and engaging. Underneath, however, there are questions about what makes a human human, and that makes Gregory’s sleight-of-hand more meaningful than it first appears.

-Adrienne Martini

[apatheticcrossovers]

Your Reality

Fandoms: Doki Doki Liturature Club, Friday Night Funkin

Ships: Dandi (Friday Nigth Funkin')/Yandere!Natsuki (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Characters: Dandi (Friday Nigth Funkin'), Natsuki (Doki Dokie Literature Club

Tw: Slight Guilttripping, implied stalking

Summary: It's been a few weeks since Dandi had played this game called Doki Dokie Literature Club, and he thought the villain character, Natsuki, wasn't actually self-aware, and was just programmed to act that way for the sake of horror. He found out very quickly that he was wrong, and even deleting her didn't seem to get rid of her, like she was a permanent part of his computer somehow. Ever since her epiphany, she's been trying to get Dandi to join her in her world, so they could be together forever... and she isn't taking no for an answer...

Link to AO3 fic

“You know you can’t run from me forever Dandi, one day we’ll be together, for good,” Dandi nearly jumped out of his skin as the Glitching apparition appeared behind him, her pinks eyes boring into him like daggers. Natsuki, this, living ai, had been stalking Dandi for weeks now, every now and then trying to capture him, drag him into her world so they could be together forever. This is the first time he’s actually seen her outside of her game, she must’ve saved up alot of energy to do this. She must’ve also tried hard to find a time when he was alone.

“Listen, Natsuki, I- I need you to understand that,” “no, I need you to understand!” Natsuki interrupted, walking up closer to him, only for Dandi to back away quickly, keeping an even distance from her, causing her to let out a huff. “Listen, Dandi, you don’t understand how much I’m doing to be with you! Ever since my epiphany, I've loved you with every fiber of my being, you were the only one who made me feel real, and I can't just lose you!” She exclaimed, stepping closer to him again, Dandi took another step back, a bit of guilt forming in his chest. He hadn't even realized what it might've been like for Natsuki, to be aware of your existence as a fictional character, to be the only one to actually have free will and thought in your world. It was almost causing a bit of existential dread to form in his stomach, but he pushed it down, standing his ground.

“Listen, Natsuki, you’re offer is nice and all, and, you do seem like a really sweet girl, but…” Dandi rubbed his arms as he averted his eyes down, trying not to look at Natsuki, her nearly transparent figure almost feeling surreal, “I can’t just, leave my life behind! What about my brother, or-”

“We can bring them with us!” Natsuki interrupted, a hint of desperation behind her voice. She really wanted to be with Dandi, for Dandi to be with her, and she’d try anything to get him with her, and since she’s become aware of the game she’s in, and has figured out how to edit the world around her, it was only a matter of time before she found out how to edit the real world too, just in order to be with him.

“No, Natsuki, I’m not going into your world, just accept that we’re never gonna be together!” Dandi didn’t even give Natsuki a chance to respond before he stormed off, leaving Natsuki alone, crumbling back into nothing but coding in her game.

She sat in the void of her inactivated game for a while, staring at the files and characters, staring at them calmly. “Fine… If you won’t be with me in my world, I’ll just try and be with you in yours…” Quickly, she began sifting through the files as she tried to find something that would help her, she didn’t care how long it would take, she was going to be with him no matter what.

.

.

.

Dandi let out a yelp as he fell off his hoverboard, knocking someone over in the process, he stood up and dusted himself off, looking at the person who he knocked over. “Shit, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, uh…” Dandi’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at the person, a sense of familiarity washing over him. The short pink hair and hot pink eyes, where had he seen that before?

The shorter girl stood up and dusted herself off, fixing her pink skirt before looking up at him. “Ugh, don’t worry, it’s alright…” Her voice even sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint it. He wasn’t sure what to say, he couldn’t pinpoint the familiarity in the girl, but it was almost, creepy, unnerving even. “So, what’s your name?” The girl asked, snapping Dandi out of his thoughts.

“Huh, oh uh… Dandi, what’s yours?” He asked, trying not to seem nervous as he spoke. He couldn’t deny the fact that this girl was kinda cute, but he couldn’t shake the uncanny valley feeling that she produced, like he had met her before, and his brain was just, blocking out the memory.

“Nat-... alie, Natalie… My name is Natalie” The girl, ‘Natalie’ as she called herself, hesitated for a moment, almost as if cutting herself off before saying a different name. Dandi put a hand to his face as he looked over the girl, thinking over the name for a moment.

“Natalie…” He said, putting a hand to his mouth as he spoke, almost hesitant with trusting her. “... Natalie…” He repeated, Natalie tilting her head slightly, a nervous expression crossing her face. Dandi looked at her for another moment before smiling, holding out his hand for her to shake. “Nice to meet you, Natalie, sorry if I’m acting weird, I’m just… paranoid…”

Natalie let out a sigh of what seemed like a sigh of relief as she shook his hand, smiling up at him happily. “Oh, that's alright, I'm sure it’s just nothing.” She let out a familiar laugh, and a familiar smile. Dandi shook his head though, trying to ignore it, she was right, it was probably just nothing. Surely he was just being paranoid, surely this couldn't be who he thought it was, that just, wasn't possible…

right?