#YES this is the third time i'm publishing this to try and get it to show up in the tags and if it doesn't work i'm going to start screaming

[stolligaseptember]

violent thing - a playlist about falling in lust despite your better judgment and falling in love despite all common sense

push up to my body, sink your teeth into my flesh // say you're gonna pick me up, never gonna put me down// made out on the floor, you can blame it on the jack // i feel the blood go rushing miles from my head, so i hope you can forgive the way i'm acting // fucked me over, now you're all i'm thinking of // outside doesn't matter to us, we'll go somewhere quiet and far away // closer than your clothes were, now they're on the floor // i'm losing track cause baby we don't stop, is it your turn or my turn to be on top? // there's always been a disconnect, running from my heart to my head // i'll close every door, every door, if it means i can keep on holding you now // my friends were right, i've been trying to say it out loud, now the secret's out and i will never shut my mouth about it // in my civilization you're the king and the queen, i'm prayin' at your altar if you know what i mean // pay my penance any way i can, gotta let me love you right // even though it hurts, i just wanna be a criminal with you, a criminal with you, we're criminals

[lenneygirl4ever]

PREVIEW

a sneak peak at part one of THE ALCHEMY

pairing: will lenney x fem!reader

warnings & tags: friends to lovers. slowish burn. idiots with tension. also idiots in denial. lots of nerdy football talk + a side of willne.

summary: The two times you were recruited to play in the Sidemen charity match, and the one time you score.

a/n: hello!!! here’s a brief view of a two/three (?) part series i have in the works. it’s not perfect, but i’m much too excited to wait to publish the whole thing. please enjoy <3

…⚽️

The buzz that interrupted your sleep wasn’t what concerned you, it’s the fact that after you had hung up the first and second time, there was a third call. Begrudgingly, you toss your sheets aside and sit up eyeing the phone on the bedside table. To no surprise, it was Simon.

You were no stranger when it came to working with the Sidemen. Starting off as a crew member who was good with a camera, slowly you were incorporated into videos, and eventually had the confidence to create your own platform. After leaving the Sidemen to focus on building your solo career, most of your audience didn't know where you gained your footing, becoming a bigger public figure outside of their work.

Getting a phone call from Simon wasn't uncommon, needless to say. You were always ready to film, to bring in new ideas for them, to be on set. After all, you had been friends with the lads for years.

"Hello?" you croak, trying to smooth down the hair that was knotted in the back of your head.

"Y/n! How are you, mate?" Simon's voice was overly chipper and sweet, too sweet. You eye your phone for a moment before pressing it back up to your ear. It was too early in the morning for either of you to be awake.

"Christ, Simon, I know you aren't just calling me at seven in the morning to ask how I am," you replied. Simon sighs briefly before letting out an airy chuckle.

"Alright, I need to ask you for a favor." That's what you were expecting. His voice hesitant and low, it made you wonder what this could really be about.

"Okay, go on then," you yawn. You weren't sure why Simon was being so ominous; you had done the lad loads of favors in the past. Bringing in extra camera crew, reaching out to other influencers, helping plan out events-

"Would you sub in for Andres for the charity match next week? I know it's last minute, but he had other conflicts, and you're one of my best mates. You-" Simon rambles before you swiftly interject.

"Simon, what are you waffling on about? You can't be serious," you say seriously. The grogginess from waking up immediately disappears, and you begin to regret picking up the phone.

"I know it's mad, but we've tossed around a ball quite a bit before-"

"I haven't seriously played footy since I was in high school! I can't imagine the shit I'd get if I were to even step foot into that stadium."

"I know-"

"And I'm the only girl! That's like a misogynist's nightmare, a woman who can think and compete!" Getting on your feet, you pace around your room like a madman. Your free hand finds its way into your hair, coarsing through it multiple times, stressfully.

"Would you let me finish? Then you can decide if it's bollocks or not," Simon asked finally. You heave out a breath of air and then hum in response. The least you could do is give him time to try to convince you.

"Look, it's the first time a lot of them have played football, and some of them play like it's the first time. It's really about having a good time, " he explains, which admittedly puts some of your worries at ease- and gets a small laugh out of you.

"Also.." he says hesitantly, hitching his breath as he trails off. You roll your eyes and groan. Of course, there's more to it; there always is. You sit back onto the edge of the bed, foot impatiently tapping on the wood floor.

"I may have called Will, and he may have told me to ask you; he promised me that with enough begging.. you'd say yes," he says, almost like a question. There's a small hint of teasing when he says it, and you can practically see the prat smiling through the screen.

Your end of the call goes silent. A flush starting at the tips of your ears and growing at the bulbs of your cheeks.

..

In 2018, the day before the charity match, you met Will in person for the first time. You knew of him through brief passing and mentions of him from Cal and the other Sidemen. Yet you never spoke to him until you were messing around with your camera during practice, getting ready to film the match the next day.

"This is who I was telling you about, Will," Cal smiles, grabbing your attention from the camera. You peer over your shoulder to see a younger lad with dark hair standing beside him. You politely set the camera down on the bench and extend your hand out to him.

"Hi, I'm y/n, I've heard good things about you!" you smile, and he leans down, weakly taking your hand and shaking it.

"Hello," he responds, his once loud chatter with Cal made you assume he'd be much more talkative. But now he is quiet and fidgety, and it makes you wonder if you've already made a bad first impression.

"Y/n is our best camerawomen. I ought to get you familiar with her; maybe you can get some good screen time." Cal smirked. Will shoves him lightly with a chuckle.

"I'm not all bad, I reckon," he insists, and you put your hands up defensively.

"Hey, we'll just have to see on the field, won't we?" you express, grabbing the large equipment and getting ready to move it inside. You stand up, getting a better look at his face. He's tall, his hair short and freshly cut, his jawline is carved out sharply, making it hard to go unnoticed.

"Cheeky," Will commented, crossing his arms over each other. And unknowingly, a grin had worked its way onto your face, your tongue pressing against the inside of your cheek. You shrug,

"I gotta get going, it was nice meeting you Will,"

..

Since then, you and Will have kept in contact frequently. He interacted with you on social media, had you come to feature in his videos, and texted you almost every day. Seeing one another once every few months had become every weekend when you moved closer to London. And you can bet that this didn't go unnoticed by anyone. Sharing clothes, traveling together, posting each other, seeing each other more than your own family— you can only assume why everyone has their presumptions.

Yet, you were great at denying, avoiding, and more importantly ignoring these blistering questions on if they or won’t they.

"So.. you called Will first, before calling me?" you ask slowly, processing it yourself. The pads of your fingers rub against your temple, then smoothing your palm across your cheek hoping it would brush away the pink that dusted your face.

"Yeah," Simon says quickly. "Is it more convincing now? "

"Fuck off,"

"I know it is," he insists. You mutter profanities under your breath before letting it go silent.

Because it is much more convincing knowing that Will had that kind of faith and trust in you. It's more convincing knowing the person closest to you would be right by your side. You weigh out the options in your head. If you do play, you'll get to say you played in front of 30,000 people, raised money for charity, and more importantly, were able to help out some of your closest friends.

"Simon, I don't know.." You mutter hesitantly, biting the nail on your thumb. Sure, you had played footy competitively in high school and tossed a ball around here and there with the lads, but other than that, you hadn't really played in a few years now.

"C'mon, you don't have to be any good, it's for charity y/n! You have to! There will be loads of fans happy that you're playing!" Simon coaxed. You shake your head instantly, knowing that half the boys lived and breathed football.

“You can’t say I don’t have to be any good when you’re probably one of the best players out there.” Countering his argument, you can tell you're at the breaking point. He's cracked you down efficiently, being nice, complimenting you, bringing Will into it- It's working so well you almost hate him for it.

“I’ve exhausted my options, y/n, please, this one time, and I’ll never ask again.” Simon protests. You huff, exasperated, and without letting another beat pass,

"Alright,"

"Alright?" he repeats, the surprise evident in his tone. You gnaw at your bottom lip, and squeezed your eyes shut before speaking again.

"Yeah, okay, put me in." You decide finally. You can hear movement on the other end and a few other voices shout in delight. Of course, he couldn't be alone when he made the phone call.

"Oh my god, this will be legendary, thank you, thank you, thank you," Simon begins excitedly, which brings a smile to your face. Simon, even though he always was teetering on the edge of your limit, was charming and kind and that's what makes it hard to deny him.

"You're playing center, by the way. See you in a week mate!" and the phone call clicks. There, you're left to stare at your phone screen, watching as you get added to a group chat and texts start to roll in.

One week, seven days, to magically get good at football again. Right, well, it’s much too late to turn back now.

"Cheers," muttering to yourself. You fall back onto the bed, checking your messages to see a new one from Will.

"wanna show this novice the ropes?"

Word obviously spreads fast, is the first thing you think. And then you snort, with a quick eye roll, the pads of your fingers drumming against the screen.

"fuck off" you begin to type but instead you text back,

“pitch at 6 sharp"

And almost immediately Will texts back,

“wouldn’t miss it :)”

[moonshineshrew]

VALERIE IS EXPANDING!

Why am I doing this?

I believe women need and deserve a space to express themselves creatively without censorship. They deserve a magazine that isn't constantly trying to sell them things or make them feel bad about themselves. Continuing in the vein of feminist theory and analysis, Valerie will expand to include a much more varied and diverse selection of content. Rather than all content in an issue focusing on one specific topic, each issue will have several pieces of writing on that topic interspersed throughout amongst other general writing and content. We believe women deserve fun and joy in their lives and that we can make space for this while still emphasising feminist analysis and ways of thinking/living. Expanding our reach like this means more women will be exposed to radical feminist theory, and lifestyles/futures they may not have considered before. Some content that Valerie will publish includes

interviews with women about their lives

writing by women in various lines of work, discussing their careers and the misogyny they may have faced getting to where they are today

practical d.i.y advice/ideas/tutorials by women (Home repairs, renovation, car repairs/alterations) This is to help empower women to know they can do things themselves, even things that might typically be considered a "mans job."

Women's own recipes or their family recipes that they would like to share. This is not about being sexist or stereotyping women as belonging in the kitchen. It is simply about the fact that women deserve to make and eat and ENJOY delicious foods, to nourish and feed our bodies and souls.

Women's writing about... anything! Their culture, their hobbies, their art... anything they're passionate about.

Film reviews and book reviews, and writing on current pop culture/trends, of course through a feminist lens.

The down-low on standing up for yourself and your rights in a world that is working against you.

Short stories, poetry, and creative writing, with a feminist slant.

When am I doing this?

The changes will commence alongside the release of the July issue on Women and Disability. May's issue on Male Violence will have the same formatting and style as the previous two issues.

What other changes will there be?

Valerie will remain a bimonthly (as in every other month) magazine - it's only logical, at least for now, considering the production times and the time it takes for each issue shipped out to reach its destination. However, it will hopefully be "sizing up" from a5 to a4, and I also aim to have it printed and bound by a third party printer. This allows me to spend more time working on the actual content of the magazine. It also ensures the colours will be more vibrant, the paper higher quality - and it allows me to make the magazine a lot more colourful in general, since I will not be worrying about using up all the ink in our printer at home. Obviously this will be a bit more costly for me, and as such there will probably be a limited amount of copies available of these issues. I am still working out the costs and budgeting for this, but thanks to your support, I should be able to afford it :). The pdfs will still be free, as usual.

What about my submissions?

As previously mentioned, the issues with a "theme" will still feature several pieces focused on that theme/topic. This goes for the topics Valerie had planned for the rest of the year - Male Violence, Women and Disability, Mothers and Daughters, and the sex industry.

However, we are also welcoming submissions of all sorts of content - as listed before, pretty much anything is welcome! I know this freedom may be daunting - but please don't be scared!!! I would love to hear from you :) If you have an idea you're not sure about submitting, you're welcome to reach out to me at handsomefruiteater74@gmail.com, to ask me if you think it'd be a good fit. I most likely will say yes - I'm always thrilled to receive content for the magazine.

[redgoldsparks]

I went all out for Hourly Comics Day 2025! These took between 6-7 hours to draw across three days, and then another at least hour to scan and edit which I wasn't in the mood to do which is why they are a week late lol. Had a wonderful time at Lumacon though and I'm glad I was able to document it! Transcript below the cut :)

insta / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my books / print store / bluesky

Page 1

7:50am: Alarm goes off

Morning phone: check eSIMs, insta, discord, Spanish vocab 

El tiene pelo largo 

Jonathan Van Ness, is that you…?

Drops App 

8am: My friends gave me a delicious new black tea that’s very easy to over steep 

3 minutes seemed too long, but 2:30 was a bit weak… I’ll try 2:45… 

Honestly, I prefer a tea where I can leave the bag in the whole time I drink the cup… 

For the first time in many years I’m actually doing something cool on hourly comics day! Today is Lumacon! This is the show’s 11th year- I think I’ve only missed 1. For the first time, it’s raining on con day!

Page 2

I’m so glad we had another avocado!

This bagel was so chunky I cut it into perfect thirds. Perfection

It’s so rare that I’m awake before my parents… SIP

Should I write about Larrupin sauce? My friend Alina buys this for me up in Humboldt since it’s hard to find… 

Every object/moment suggests a story when I’m paying attention! 

8 to 9am

Page 3 

Pick up Martina! Very cute raincoat (@martinamonster-art )

Chatting and Ateez on the drive 9 to 9:30

OMG why am I drawing cars :( 

LUMACON! 10-11AM 

My newest zine is a recruitment zine for Authors Against Book Bans (AABB). 

I zero in on folks I know to be authors–

Maia: I want you– 

Author: Me? 

Maia: To join AABB! (info zine)

Author: Oh thanks! I will! 

Maia: This zine is so fun to hand out!

Page 4 

Teen: Thank you so much for writing Gender Queen. I gave it to my mom and she credits it for a lot of her understanding. I came out as gender queer a year ago and she said “I love you.” I don’t know if that would have been possible without the book! 

Maia: Thank you for saying that! 

Different teen: I want to buy a copy of your book but I need to make more sales first. 

Maia: Where’s your table? 

Teen: Behind you 

Look. 

I spot some of the cutest round crochet bois I’ve ever seen including a nonbinary bee

Maia: Can I please trade you a book for that bee?! 

Teen: OMG yes! 

You know it’s a good trade when both parties think they got the better deal! 

12pm 

Page 5

I check in with Anna (@thebeanbaguette) 1pm 

Maia: How’s the con so far? 

Anna: Really good! I love how many furries are here! 

Maia: Oh yeah it’s fun

Maia: I had never seen the skull fursuit head before this show… for the size event it’s impressive furry turn out 

Cute goth/pastel couple 

Anna: To be honest, I’d love to get a fursuit head one day… and the hands! 

Anna: But I don’t know what animal…

(Table is covered in cute rats)

Later, another friend comments 

Cynthia: So many furries here! 

Maia: Yes, the per capita is very high… sign of a healthy ecosystem! 

(we all wore masks all day I just forgot to draw them) 

Page 6 

My friend Nic comes to visit & cover my table during my lunch break- 2pm

Nic: Don’t worry I’ll do my best impersonation of you! I’ll even sign books with your name!

Maia: Okay, great, thanks!

Maia: (Has not had water, snack or bathroom break in 6 hours)

Later we chat with Gio, another friend about knowing when a story is done

Maia: I had a publisher reject a pitch basically saying “this isn’t fully baked yet” which… was true. 

Nic: Unfortunately I’m doing that to myself! I’m on the 4th draft of this short story that just needs to be done. 

Gio: But when it’s a personal project how do you know? 

Gio: When it’s my own work, no deadline, no editor, it’s tempting to just keep putting it back in the oven. But at what point are you like, I’m making crackers. I thought it was bread but it turned into crackers! 

Page 7

3-4pm last hour of the con

My parents came! My Taekwondo teacher came! A trans teen who came to my first Gender Queer event in 2019 came! I saw so many friends & my heart is full! Thank you Luma! 

4:30

Maia: I think I’m ready to go…

Table: EMPTY

Martina: Me too! 

Maia & Martina: LOOK 

Anna- nothing packed, stuff fully out

Anna: Haha, you go! I pack slowly! 

In the parking lot & rain 

Maia: I’m really glad you came! 

Martina: Thanks for talking me into it! 

Martina: You’ve been manifesting this since September! 

Maia: Haha yes, 

(I talked both Martina & Anna into applying for this show; Martina’s first zinefest table! 

Page 8

5pm I drive home 

after all the rain, the ditches & fields are flooded 

Maia (texting): I just got home

Anna (texting): I haven’t left the venue yet

Page 9

6pm I should be unpacking but I’m lying in bed looking at my phone! 

Maia: Wow so many hourlies! I haven’t even started! I’d rather read them on tumblr & patreon later. How is my finch doing? 

Nic incepted our entire friend group into the finch app back in January. I’m pretty hooked. In the finch app you make a little bird persona who travels the world & gains experiences. You give it energy & earn points by crossing items off your to do list & completing self care tasks like stretching or drinking water. 

Maia: To be honest, I don’t really need an app to help me do tasks. But look how cute my bird is!!! Also! You can get pets for your bird! I have five! Owl, seal, caribou, ball of fluff, cow

Later, I pet my real cat. 

Maia: Don’t worry you are my actual favorite pet. 

Page 10 

7pm: Dinner with my parents. Big salad, fried tofu. We talk about clay deposits in odd places. 

My dad: There’s that Bentonite clay at Shell Beach! That’s the kind you want for poison oak rashes. 

My mom: And the deposit at school by the office, some teachers have kids use that for crafts. 

8pm: Formatting my January book reviews

I really like the monthly wrap-ups that Storygraph generates. 

Books: 11 Pages: 2855 Average Rating: 3.91

LGBTQIA: 5 Fantasy: 4 Comic: 4 Contemporary: 3 Romance: 3

9pm: I fall into the trap of looking at the news which I’ve avoided all day. Escape to tumblr where I discover some amazing Ranma ½ fanart. Should I reread it? 

10-12am: I draw the first 4 pages of these comics then go to bed! 

In total, drawing these takes 6 or 7 hours across 3 days. -Maia Kobabe 2025 

[incorrectbatfam]

What would the batfam livestream themselves doing?

Dick: photobombing Gotham's top 10 elite in 1 evening without anyone noticing

Jason: transforming an abandoned building into free housing in 2 weeks with only a pencil

Tim: taking pictures of famous landmarks from all 50 states in 50 days on a $50 budget

Damian: getting a blank piece of paper displayed in the Louvre in 12 hours

Duke: writing and publishing a New York Times bestselling novel in 30 days

Cullen: getting My Chemical Romance to perform at his party in 5 days via a game of telephone

Stephanie: getting invited backstage to a sold-out Taylor Swift concert through only 6 degrees of connection the day of the show

Cassandra: recruiting 25 strangers into a flash mob in 3 hours

Barbara: producing an album and getting 100 downloads in 3 days

Harper: building a full-sized driveable car from scratch in 4 days with only a $500 budget and a toy as the blueprint

Carrie: trying and rating every Gotham fair food in 8 hours without any food waste

Kate: spending 1 week in a foreign country with no money and only packing a water bottle

Alfred: turning the ingredients in Bernard's dorm mini fridge into a gourmet family meal in 6 hours

Selina: entering a cat into a dog show without anyone realizing

Bruce: making a blockbuster movie in 10 days with $10

[grapeyedmania]

♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎

Hello. This is a new account, created; I've had previous, but none were pursued to be fledged into Tumblr walls. Hence why I care little for people's assumptions on my authenticity.

Despite saying this, however, I am not an expert. I'm aware on how to reach people - through the use of reposts, tags, and pinned posts - but I' m not actively social. I skulk behind my screen and like what I favour, and ignore what doesn't appeal to me.

Anyway, onto the reason as to why this post has been published.

Yes, I shift realities. I have shifted, and will continue to.

I am a Law Of Assumption (L.O.A) user, and expectant Permashifter, who has been involved in the spiritual aspect of life since I was a child - though, I disconnected for a while and have recently found my way back onto the correct path.

But, why have I mentioned this?

Well, first and foremost, I would like to have mutuals. TikTok is up in the air at the moment, with the expected ban due in any day now, and ShiftTok was never really a.. comfortable place, shall we say. Don't even get me started on the bullshit 'shifting genetics' circulating right now. Nonetheless, this is an opportunity for myself, and others, to reach out.

Secondly, I would like to start building a platform. I see lots of people, shifters and non, on Tumblr and the communities they create through their posts. That's something of envy, for me; a connection to strive for through appreciation. If I had the opportunity for such experience (s) - which I do - then I will be embracing it.

Third, and final. Because I have been a member of the shifting community for now around five years (is it weird I feel old?..), I find it difficult to ignore the fact that reality shifting is still treated like an enemy, rather than something to befriend. This shouldn't be the case when shifting is a part of you; you are the missing piece to its puzzle. Have fun and thrive on that and, once it's done, you can stand up and see the full picture.

MY JOURNEY:

I discovered reality shifting in 2020, like most, during COVID-19; something which saved but simultaneously ruined my life. It was on TikTok, as expected, I came across a video of a girl claiming to have returned from 8 months at Hogwarts. Now naturally, I was confused and - albeit embarrassingly - assumed she'd stayed at the Universal Orlando Resort.. because, how else could she have been there? And despite me being spiritually inclined, I refused the idea of transcending the boundaries of reality. Now, this is where it gets a bit fuzzy.. I'm sure my brain has blocked out the process which occurred thereafter, as I cannot seem to remember anything beyond confirming that reality shifting was, in-fact, real. But, eventually, I seemed to accept that which didn't seem possible, and began my journey. I was fortunate to have friends - only a couple but they were friends all the same - involved along with me, and so together we helped, cried, and scripted our way through 2020 / 21.

Additionally, on my first try, I ended up partially shifting.

The last shift I experienced was around six months ago, when I shifted accidently to a parallel reality of my intended one. I haven't attempted since, but am now focusing on starting anew. I would really like to share my journey with y'all.

MY BLOG:

It has no direction. Of course, like I'd previously stated, there is maybe a little - reality shifting is a big part of my life. But I'd also like to engage in other areas ( w/ fandoms, moodboards, and writing). This isn't an N.S.F.W blog, but I'd prefer this to be aimed at 18+ as I am an adult.

D.N.I if you are an arsehole (anti-shifter, sexist, homophobic etc.).

❝ If you weren't ready you wouldn't have the opportunity; if you weren't capable, you wouldn't have the desire. ❞

Thank you for taking the time to read this post; even more thanks if any of y'all have interacted. Please feel free to comment, repost, or talk via my ask box.

I will be posting more content.

-- ᏖᏗᏝᏝᎥᏋ x

♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎ | ♉︎ ♌︎ ♏︎

[chocolatepot]

OFMD fandom, consider TGCF

Tian Guan Ci Fu is a Chinese light novel with an English translation published by Seven Seas Entertainment as Heaven Official's Blessing. You might not have heard of it, but chances are pretty good that you've heard of Mo Dao Zu Shi, adapted by Tencent into a tv series that aired on Netflix as The Untamed. ("Sexy Times with Wangxian", yes.) That's by the same author, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu!

For roughly the year before OFMD first aired, I was in MXTX fandom, more focused on MDZS than TGCF, although I'd read and liked both. Recently, though, I've come back to TGCF in a big way - doing a full reread - and a number of parallels to OFMD have been jumping out at me, making me think, hey, maybe my friends would like this?

Canon m/m romance that is the emotional backbone for the story

Lots of humor!

Main character from a high status background ...

... who is derided as a laughingstock by his high-falutin' peers and by people on the ground

Love interest who is widely believed to be the most powerful evil being in existence

Despite the obvious aesthetic differences, the MC and LI get each other on a level nobody else does

Also despite appearances, both MC and LI are very much not young and spend a long time alone before they meet

You could even say there's a "slyly complicated butch/femme dynamic" (a phrase from an old article about OFMD that always sticks in my head)

MC's kindness and attention to people considered "worthless" often help solve the problem

Okay, curious? I'll tell you about TGCF in more detail behind the cut.

(I do want to be clear here, I'm stressing these points of similarity but these two canons are not The Same - I'm just saying, if these are aspects of OFMD that really resonated with you, you should think about giving TGCF a try!)

Okay, if you haven't really heard of MXTX novels before, I assume you might not be familiar with a lot of the genre conventions, so I'll step way back. TGCF is xianxia, which is a type of fantasy where people can gain powers and eventually ascend to immortality/godhood; in some xianxia books, the process of gaining or using those powers is the point, but here it's really just background for the story. These powers are gained through "cultivation", which can be a combo of meditation and martial arts practice. People who die are either reincarnated or turn into ghosts, depending on how much resentment they have going on.

The first volume opens with a prologue explaining that Xie Lian was a handsome and popular prince who ascended at seventeen; when his kingdom was beset with war and famine, he came back to help the populace but was unsuccessful. As a result, they burned his temples and stopped worshipping him, and he was also banished from the heavens with his powers cut off. Having to live as a penniless normal person (but still immortal) was some Real Bad Times, and when he ascended again, angrily, he was banished again. This time, he went back down and lived peacefully but in destitution as a wandering busker and scrap collector for several centuries. And then he ascended a third time.

That's where the story picks up! Xie Lian is now a god again and everyone appears to either hate him or think he's incredibly pathetic. He starts off in trouble by accidentally causing a lot of property damage, and to repay it he's sent to solve a mystery: brides in wedding processions that go by a particular mountain are being kidnapped. Part of his investigation involves dressing up as a bride as bait for the "ghost groom", and this is where the reader gets their first sight of Hua Cheng, taking bride!Xie Lian's hand and briefly guiding and protecting him. After the mystery is solved, Xie Lian finds out that the man who seemed very kind and attractive to him is actually a ghost who defeated and destroyed thirty-three gods - he's the ruler of Ghost City, someone everyone is terrified of.

I'm not going to go further into the plot because there are some big central mysteries that are so fun to uncover as you go, and I don't want to deprive you of that! But as the story goes on, Hua Cheng is involved more and more, and the adorable thing that I think will appeal to OFMD fans is the way everyone else is really concerned by AHH OH NO HUA CHENG while Xie Lian always feels safe with him. (And by the same token, Hua Cheng is always impressed with Xie Lian despite the way everyone else thinks he's obviously the crummiest god that could possibly exist.) There's also a lot of resonance with s1 of OFMD in the way that Hua Cheng, let's just say, has been following Xie Lian's ship before arranging a meeting, and also is well aware of his feelings for Xie Lian while the latter is considerably more confused.

The full translation has been pulled from the web as its translator collab'd with Seven Seas, but you can find some other people's translations of the earlier chapters still online via NovelUpdates. If this all sounds interesting to you but you're not sure about buying or can't find it through your library system, I'd recommend checking that out (although be aware that free translations are sometimes ... real bad, just run through Google Translate).

My last point, not really aimed at OFMD fans: I feel like a lot of people who say that canon queer romance can never match up to the fanon surrounding queerbait need to get into BL! It has a very fanfiction sensibility, all the drama and yearning and sex you could want. (Well, this one doesn't actually have sex in it. But in the MDZS extras Wei Wuxian has a canonical non-con kink, so.)

[ladydaybreaker]

Projects for the Future

Alright so...I kinda got bit by this a while ago but have been mulling it over with some friends. These are by no means going to get published any time soon but with some...questionable...things that have been put out lately I kinda wanted to show my take and how I would have done them.

These are both Role swaps by the way and because I'm me...

That means an absolutely heavy amount of Khori.

(put below the "read more" for mobile people's ease!)

First Story:

Role swap where Uzi had been the one that died that night Nori should have. Now I know what you're thinking, "but lady, you said Khori things..." and you'd be right! 'Cuz Khan's not Uzi's dad in this one. Our DDs are Serial Designation: K, Serial Designation: A and Serial Designation: L (that last one might get changed). Better known as their canon counterparts Khan, Alexei and Liam (again, last one might change). Nori is still the damaged 002 from CFL and Yeva is still 048 as well. What had happened was when Nori and Yeva escaped the labs, Nori was damaged in a way that her memory had shorted out and she barely remembered anything from it...just that there was some dark place that she didn't want to remember and that she had met Yeva there. They had escaped both with two UNNs who became known as Uzi and Doll. At least...Nori came out with Uzi. Her father is unknown (mainly because Nori's memory is damaged) and likely perished in the wake of the collapse trying to get Nori and Uzi out.

Uzi ends up dying as a child from one of the Disassemblers and it absolutely breaks Nori. Nori insists her daughter is ok and alive just...unable to come home. So she waits for a good amount of time every day by the doors until Yeva takes her home or she falls asleep (which Yeva picks her up and brings her back to the apartment). Yeva does not have the heart to tell Nori that Uzi is dead nor does she have the heart to talk about what happened to them down in the labs...about the Solver and everything. Nori's Solver seems to have regressed (but a lot of this is Yeva slipping oil into Nori's drinks and food to make sure she doesn't go into rampage mode). Doll and Yeva's husband (unnammed atm) end up dying to one of the Disassemblers (haven't decided...but it's probably going to be the third one, whether that's L or whatever person I give that swap to). So yay Doll swap is now Yeva.

Nori one day ends up running out of the colony, in a daze probably mourning her daughter and husband when she runs into K. Ends up beating him with a wrench and knocking him into a clear state (or she ends up saving him from a bad hunt where he was injured because she knows that look...and she hates that look of loss and defeat.)

Cue the whole thing of them figuring out what the Solver is yada yada. Ends up going to the labs where K ends up running into (and getting saved by) a very small and grumbly Solver core...Nori was right, Uzi survived. Barely. She's...none too happy her mother's dating a freaking sky demon because "THOSE THINGS KILLED YOUR FREAKING DAUGHTER!" But eventually comes to accept her Mom is...happy. And even more happy with both her AND K in her life...will eventually get it so Uzi gets her own body again. Yeva ends up connecting with A, the big bear of a Disassembler who...may have lost just as much as she did before. Eventually ends up with them having a kid who Yeva names after the daughter she lost long ago.

Second Story

So, this one is also a swap au but...with a tiny little twist. It's an age swap. Yes yes I know this is cringe af and weird but hear me out. I know there's an age swap with Uzi being the Mom and Khan being her son but, imma be blunt, I don't think it...feels like a proper swap. Rather it just...took the original personalities of the person they were swapping with and gave them to the person playing the role. Ain't happening here. The idea is Khan Doorman is the shining star student, valedictorian genius of his class beloved by everyone in that bunker, kinda...weird in the way he's too smart for his own good but he's charismatic. . . and then there's his absolutely batty insane mother Uzi who is a pariah menace to society and everyone fears to get on the bad end of her little 'projects' (she has magnetized people to the ceilings because they pissed her off). Khan and his mother have a strained relationship...mainly because she thinks he's boring and needs to lighten up a bit and he thinks she's a bit...wild...and lashing out ever since his father Emmett Doorman died years ago. But they do love each other and would do anything for each other. Which...is why Khan gives chase to his absolutely insane mother when she sneaks out of the safety of the bunker to kill a Murder Drone. He ends up instead finding Tall, Dark and Pretty Serial Designation (Nori. I haven't quite decided what letter to give her because well...technically it'd be N because first letter). And her squadmates Serial Designation Y(eva) and (haven't figured out who the third one is yet, whoopsies...possibly L for Luke or A for Alice).

Of course, Khan is infected with the Solver, Uzi I haven't decided if she is or not...part of me is like "give her a break and have her just be awesomely crazy and angsty on her own that she made 002 fall head over heels for her". And SD Nori finds Core Emmett in the mines...which would lead to a heartbreaking Nuzi moment later as Uzi actually...breaks the edgy angry persona and shows vulnerability as she hugs the love of her life close to her...as she thought she'd lost him forever. And me being me, Y ends up being enamoured with Khan's best friend and madlad sharpshooter Alexei because you can pry him from my cold dead hands...

I haven't really gotten much on those swaps other than the bits of where Khan, Nori, Yeva, Alexei and Uzi fit in. But I wanted to share them because they've been rattling in my brain long enough...

[is-this-working]

Devastated cause a genuinely very nice coworker, turned out full conspiracy theorist. "X country is now the most corrupt country on earth, well except for Ukraine." Sigh. I'm tired. I can't imagine how much more exhausted Ukrainians abroad must be with this shit. At least, they said Ukraine, instead of Zelensky, didn't pretend to respect the country by only accusing the president.

They also said it was a proxy war, what else is new, I pointed out it was Ukrainians fighting against russia, not the US (especially not now), but it was useless. It was like they couldn't hear me. Freaking scary that what it is.

Have you had similar incidents in which you felt like your support for Ukraine (and Zelensky) could make your interlocutor flip?

I'm so glad they didn't namedrop Zelensky, I had a coworker who was convinced the russian fake-news about him were true and was accusing him of killing his people for his own profit. I kept calm. I don't know how.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians in Ukraine are in drone hell each night. The blitz lasted 43 nights. It's been over 1000 nights for Ukraine. Seems like nobody cares in Europe, seems like they think it's normal, that Ukrainians are made to endure russian sadism.

Rant over. Feel free to not publish if it's a lot, or not aligned with your blog. I just thought you were definitely gonna understand.

Hi there, Anon!

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this, especially at work, and I admire (and envy) your self-control.

The thing I hear the most about the war in Ukraine is "That's still happening?" and it drives me insane. When it comes from my friends nonetheless, it makes me question why we're still friends. And because I don't want to damage our friendship, I smile (a bit psychopathically) and say "Yes, and it's getting worse." I've actually gone from seeing my closest group of friends every week/bi-weekly to once every 3-4 months; they always change the subject when I bring up Ukraine, and so most of the times I would just sit there quietly while they talked about mundane things.

The second thing I hear most often is, as you've described, "Ukraine is a corrupt country though." My answer to that is usually (without patience), "First of all, which country doesn't have corruption? Second, guess which country heavily influenced the Ukrainian government for decades? Hint: it's the one that's currently committing genocide in Ukraine. And thirdly, can you name another country that's simultaneously fighting for their survival and weeding out corruption?"

The third thing I hear is another blood-boiler: "Aren't there like a lot of nazis in Ukraine?" To this one I straight out answer "I see the russian propaganda worked on you." and "Do you think I, a Jew, would go help a country dominated by nazis? Seriously?"

Like I said, unfortunately a lot of this bullshit is said by friends of mine, who willingly put their heads in the sand, because "the war doesn't concern us". They're not against Ukraine per say, but they don't care enough to question propaganda. So while I am seeing red and feeling my blood boiling whenever I hear this from them, I try to stay calm and just explain the actual facts. ...Usually I end up shaking and tearing up anyway, out of frustration and disappointment.

Honestly, I don't know what's worse: Having significantly reduced the time spent with my long-time friends? Or having them say this bullshit when I do see them, when they very well know what I went through there? Or them not wanting to talk about Ukraine at all because it's "scary to think about" and instead talk about the latest episode of whatever reality show?

If a stranger says any of this bullshit though, I have no reason to hold back.

And god forbid anyone, family, friends, or strangers say anything negative about Zelenskyy. I've said it before, I'll say it now, and I'll say it again: I will take a thousand bullets for that man. Do not dare criticize him in front of me (unless you're Ukrainian and you're talking about his pre-war presidency because I can't speak for that (and I'll still defend him)).

Well, I hope that spoke (and made sense) to you, dear Anon, because what you wrote definitely spoke to me. And it reassures me every time I see/hear/speak to someone who is sane of mind and cares about Ukraine and Zelenskyy ❤️🇺🇦

Take care! 💙💛

[rjthirsty]

Fanfic Writer Wrapped - 2024 Version!

I guess we're supposed to post this and let people ask us, but I don't want to mess with that stuff. Mainly because I don't think I'll get much interaction, but also because I just kind of want to answer these myself. Is that really so bad? So anyways, it's based off this post, and the OG author gets all credit for thinking up a million questions for me to answer. Thank you @asirensrage

2024 Fanfic Writing Reflections

What fic did you work on the most this year? Probably Deceit and Decay. It's a dark fic set in the Ikemen Prince world, staring my OC, Dahlia, who was Belle and never met the Conqueror Beast, Gilbert von Obsidian. In other words, he's gone off the deep end. 50,000 words, so far, about 20 chapters. Still a wip.

Did you have any fic writing goals? Did you meet them? Just to write more, so yeah, I met them. I work best with ambiguous, not SMART goals. I tried a lot of different ideas, and I had a lot of fun with them all.

How many fics did you work on this year? 50 published. There's probably another dozen still in my WIP folder, so maybe 60-ish?

How many new fics did you post this year? 49, I think? My long fic was started last year, so that takes one out, but otherwise I don't really know when I started and finished most fics. Sorry.

Did you update any old/previously posted fics this year? What were they? Sure. The Royal Lion is my first long fic (100,000 words, 30 chapters), and most of those were written in 2023. I just finished it in February or something.

Do you have a favorite fic you wrote? Nope. I'm not sure how I'd rate most liked to least liked with my fics.

What’s your favorite passage that you wrote this year? I can't remember what I said to someone yesterday, I certainly don't remember what I wrote over the last 12 months. I often read my work and go, "Wow! I wrote that?!" But I clearly did at some point.

Favorite line of dialogue this year? Nope, can't name that either. Sorry. Maybe I should have read these questions more than just skimmed them.

Favorite POV? (or rather what POV did you use the most this year?) Probably third person omniscient. I also wrote a lot of second person with reader-inserts, so I'm not sure which is more used for me.

Did you find yourself repeating a word or phrase in your writing this year? If so, what was it? Ahaha. Uh... probably something about panting or moaning. 80% of what I write is smut.

Cut for length. Numbers are going to reset. :(

How did you help other writers this year? (i.e. leaving comments, reviews, beta reading, offering advice, etc) All of the above. I leave comments on most things on ao3. I reblog on tumblr. I beta read a few times. I cheerlead. I helped when people requested advice for things. I talk through a lot of ideas with others. I love supporting other writers.

Did you receive any advice that resonated to you this year? Oh, hmm. Yes. "There aren't any rules in fanfiction." It's such a simple idea that everyone knows, but when I was fretting how to end my long fic so it could work with the next in the series I was going to write that didn't need to be connected to the current one, a friend said, "Why is this a problem?" Then she said the rules part and I was like, "Oh. Yeah. That's right." Like, we don't have to do anything at all to make the fanfic consumable commercially. That's not the point of fanfic. It's to write whatever we want and enjoy creating. Who cares if there are plot holes? Who cares if it's crack taken seriously? Nothing has to work between fics. There are no rules.

What did you enjoy most about writing fic this year? Trying out new styles and genres. Finding out what I like to write, and how I like to write.

What did you enjoy the least? Having too many ideas and not enough time.

Who was your favorite character to write for? My OC Emmit from my Ikemen Prince gender change AU. He's a fucking adorable bean and I loved bringing to life my first original character.

Did you have a song on repeat while writing this year? Nope. I tend to listen to a playlist of instrumental stuff, so nothing on repeat except the playlist.

Did you make any playlists for your fics this year? What are they? Oh, no. I'm not that creative. I'm very bad connecting music with characters.

What’s your favorite thing you made for your fic or character this year? (such as pinterest, moodboards, gifs, etc) Huhn. I hadn't considered that. I guess the banners for my fics listed on my masterlist. I like designing things.

What was your most commonly used tag for your fics (on ao3, tumblr, etc)? Ikepri fanfic on tumblr, and Gilbert von Obsidian on ao3.

Did you participate in any fic writing challenges this year? I did! I did a few things for Kinktober. I always go small with my goals.

What was your favorite comment/review you received this year? Oh... There were really too many amazing people that said nice things about the things I wrote about. From just screaming and keyboard smashing, to thoughtful analysis, I really loved reading them all.

What was your top-rated/commented fic this year? Oh! It's the same! "I'm Pregnant" with Ikemen Prince.

Were there any ideas you wanted to work on this year but you didn’t? YES! I wanted to write an IkePri fic about Belle leaving the castle and the king being unable to live without her. I wanted to start my Yves fic for the gender change AU. I wanted to write yandere fics with multiple characters. I wanted to write ships that only exist in my head. Waaaaah.

Were there any new fandoms or genres you explored this year? Yeah! I tried out fluff for the first time. I'm attempting a dark fic. I struggle with crack.

Is there anything you want to write or try to explore in your writing next year? How to evoke more emotion from others in my writing. I want people to fall in love reading about the characters I love. I want people to cry when the story is depressing. I want people to be impacted from my writing, thinking about it for days or weeks later.

Do you have a goal for next year? If so, what is it? Finish at least one long fic. Two are currently WIPs.

What are your hopes and/or desires for yourself and for other fic writers in the next year? To create more. For me that means I hope I'm not sick as often as the previous years. For others that means I want them to care less about what other people think, and just create. It's all beautiful no matter how you see it.

2024 Ao3 Specific Stats

How many people subscribed to you this year? (User subscriptions) 14

What were your total kudos this year? 491

How many comment threads were created on your fics? 54

How many people subscribed to your fics? 24

What was your word count posted on Ao3 this year? 279,255

How many hits overall on your fics this year? 9,803

What are your top 5 fics (in terms of hits) this year? Bonus: If you post fics on tumblr, using Tumblr Top! what fic has the most notes? (in total and that you posted this year) 1. "I'm Pregnant" with Ikemen Prince - 1,048 hits (multi chapter) 2. Deceit and Decay - 752 hits (multi chapter) 3. Between His Teeth - 691 hits (one shot) 4. Banging Birthday - 663 hits (one shot) 5. Belle's Gentle Beasts - 559 (multi chapter) Tumblr Top!: "I'm Pregnant" with IkePri. lol. 330 notes.

Did you discover any new fics or fic authors this year? A ton! I started my tumblr account this year, so I found the entire Ikemen Series fandom that hangs out on here. It turns out I've read some of them on ao3 already, but I met so many more.

What was your favorite fic to read this year? Oh geez. Pass. I can't even begin to make a favorite. I bookmark fics I love, and I love a lot.

Who was your favorite fic author this year? Can I say myself? lol. I probably read more of @scummy-writes stuff than anything else because we're both obsessed with Gilbert, but I did read several other fandoms and characters. @aquagirl1978 got me into Villains. @xxsycamore is an old favorite who keeps creating more IkeSeries stuff. @wistfulwanderingone created a Secret Santa gift that made me tear up. Aaaaahhhh! Just thinking about it again has me wanting to reread it for a fifth time.

What fics or authors would you recommend for others to discover and read in the next year? See above. I'm partial to anything with Gilbert von Obsidian from Ikemen Prince, but I love a lot of Ikemen Prince. And I enjoy dipping into other IkeSeries fanfics every now and then.

What advice would you have for people who might want to try writing or sharing their writing next year? Just write. Write messily. Write badly. Write in bullet points or through dialogue only. Write however works for you. You can always improve if you wish to improve, but you can't improve when there's nothing written. Turn off notifications if they give you anxiety. Don't even look back at the fic and what numbers it's doing if it's going to affect your mood. Seriously. Just post into the void. Let others fall in love with the people you love.

Any regrets? For writing? No. I regret that my health sucks and it keeps me from creating. I regret that I started writing so late in life. But when it comes to what I did and what I'm planning on doing and what I've put out, I'm so fucking proud of myself.

[plothooksinc]

For the WIP meme: 🗣️ 📄 ❔ 🤔

🗣️Talk about your favourite WIP

This is actually super hard. Like I love all my WIPs! (Nobody ask me which WIP I hate b/c the answer is "lol none"). Picking a favourite... well, Infinite Ricochet is the easiest to write currently and I'm looking forward to making readers scream dropping the actual plot, but.

But.

I just finished a reread of The Zaibatsu Project and honestly, cyberpunk samurai? I have so much going on in this and I'm proud of myself for taking a bunch of 19th century characters and going "nope you're all from 2029 now" and realising just how much plot I had on the go and that, actually, the last chapter I put up wasn't so terrible or poorly received after all (and I'm struggling to work out why I ever thought that.) It reminded me where I was going with it and I am very encouraged, and it is by far my most ambitious WIP and if Watsuki hadn't taken a sledgehammer to everyone's motivation to do anything with the Ruroken fandom I might actually write this a lot faster than, uh, one chapter every three years '_' Anyway, yes. Cyberpunk samurai, choc full of The Cure references, chess references, and conspiracy theories that drove people nuts on LJ back in the day back when I was writing it in serial installments. <3

📄What’s a WIP you never finished that you would like to go back and revisit?

All of them. But as I've been asked this one multiple times, let's go with Snowblind. It's the closest to being finished out of all of them, and the last time I updated I got a reviewer in her 70s going "Please don't take another 13 years to update, I probably wont' be here to read it," sob. So I whittle away some time on this one. (On them all, actually. While I'm focused mostly on Infinite Ricochet, I have indeed written 1-2 pages on everything else on my way through.)

❔Choose a random WIP and talk about it.

Infinite Ricochet, unlike its predecessor, is a sprawling take-your-time fic wherein there is a plot and I'm slowly going to keep ratcheting up the tension until people are screaming on the rollercoaster all the way down, but I wanna take time to explore relationships along the way. Like I set up certain dynamics in NRFTW that I want to play with. Literally reconstructed one of the main characters. Gave them all even more trauma! I sort of left off with one open plot thread on NRFTW deliberately which could have been left open ended, but then I thought of a bunch of other stuff and went "...hey, what if." And it's messy. It's so messy here at the start because I'm trying to lay the foundations for everything that comes later, and there's a lot that comes later. So sometimes I'm like "...is this scene really necessary" but also "no I can't jump straight to the plot because pacing let's let them breathe first" but also "oh god, the characters are talking again and I can't get them to shut up." And then trying to get from these personality/foundation-laying scenes to pick up speed with actual plot relevant stuff is surprisingly hard?

My outline for Infinite Ricochet is 8000 words long. And it's only two thirds of the fic, because at that point I went "...and by the time I get to this point the plot will look entirely different" so I stopped. Safe to say I have a lot planned. And if I can get it to work I (and hopefully everyone else) will have so much fun (for a given definition of fun), but it feels a little right now like trying to herd cats so. Wish me luck. 8|

🤔Do you have an WIPs where you wish you had chosen a different fandom/character?

Nope! I'm not a hugely prolific writer, so any time I do start publishing a fic I've already thought long and hard about my choices. Places, everyone.

Thank you!

WIP meme questions here.

[sexynetra]

11. “I’m not fine. I know I said I was but I’m not.” for sashnetra

Idk what this is I finished it tonight as part of my goal to publish something every month 😂 it’s not really hurt/comfort, it’s not really angst, but some secret third thing. I hope you enjoy regardless!

Read on Ao3

~~~~~~

Sasha looked across the table at her girlfriend. Anetra was pushing the food around her plate wordlessly, eyes glued to the table. It wasn’t like her, and Sasha was worried.

“Babe, are you sure you’re okay?” Sasha asked for what was probably the fiftieth time that night.

“Yes, and stop asking.” Anetra said curtly, spearing her fork into a steamed carrot with far more force than necessary.

Sasha sighed, pressing her fingers into her temples and counting to 5 in her head. It wouldn’t do anyone any good for her to snap at Anetra right now, but she was at her wits end trying to get her to open up.

“Sweethea—“

“I’m fine, Sasha. Stop patronizing me,” Anetra interjected, finally tearing her gaze away from her uneaten plate of food to glare at Sasha.

It caught Sasha off guard, and she felt her palms go slightly clammy. All she wanted to do was help, but somehow she’d made an even bigger mess of this. Still, she couldn’t just drop the subject. In the six months they had been together, Sasha had never once seen Anetra like this.

Anetra seemed to notice the minute change in Sasha’s demeanor. That or the weight of whatever was happening became too much.

It looked like Anetra deflated. Her shoulders sagged and her irate expression melted off to something hollow and haunted. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get upset,” she mumbled. Sasha’s heart broke a little. Carefully, she extended her hand, supine. After a moment’s hesitation, Anetra reached out, entwining their fingers and squeezing gently.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Sasha started carefully, rubbing her thumb along the back of Anetra’s hand. Anetra swallowed thickly and Sasha watched, gauging whether or not she was about to try.

“You didn’t– It’s nothing–” She cut herself off to stare at the ceiling in a move Sasha knew all too well. She was trying to keep tears at bay. “I just… I’m not fine. I know I said I was, but I'm not,” she said finally, blinking hard before meeting Sasha’s eyes again. Sasha’s heart broke again.

“Oh, my baby. Come here – dinner can wait,” she said softly, squeezing Anetra’s hand.

Anetra bit her lip harshly, hard enough to leave an imprint. “Can we go to the couch?”

“Of course we can.” Sasha stood up, keeping her grasp firm enough to hopefully be grounding.

They walked, hand-in hand, across the threshold into the living room. Sasha sat down first, pulling Anetra down so she was on her lap, arms snaking around her waist. “Is this okay?”

Anetra just nodded, burrowing into Sasha’s frame. It seemed, from the outside at least, that she was trying to make herself smaller. Sasha’s grip tightened minutely. “Do you want to talk about it? We don’t have to.”

Anetra shifted, nuzzling her face into Sasha’s shoulder before speaking. “I ran into Marcia.” Her voice was muffled, talking directly into the soft wool of Sasha’s cardigan. “At the store.”

Sasha swallowed a lump, trying to keep her own emotions in check. Anetra needed her to be strong right now. “Oh love, I’m sorry, that must have been jarring. Did she say anything to you?”

Anetra shook her head and Sasha could have sworn she heard a tiny sniffle. “She acted like she didn’t even know me… We were together for five fucking years and she acted like I was a total stranger,” Anetra’s voice broke and Sasha held her close, rubbing circles onto her back.

“I’m so sorry…” Sasha felt helpless. She didn’t know what to say, how to comfort Anetra. How could she possibly condense 5 years worth of relationship trauma into a genuine comfort? It felt like an impossible task. Useless platitudes sat on the tip of her tongue. “You deserve better than that,” she tried finally.

Anetra pulled back slightly, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “Yeah. I do. I’m gonna go take a bath.” She carefully unwound herself from Sasha’s grip, standing up and heading towards the hall before Sasha could think of anything to say. Anetra paused at the entrance to the hallway, looking back at Sasha. “I love you,” she said quietly.

“I love you too,” Sasha replied. Anetra gave her a tiny smile before disappearing into the bathroom. Sasha leaned back, groaning and rubbing her face. I love you just wasn’t enough. She needed to come up with a plan to cheer Anetra up, and fast.

[lunammoon]

Words with Friends

Thank you for tagging me @a-mumbling-nerd and @bubblecat-co. Some of the people are a double-tag, but I'm still going to tag them.@teamtakagi @linposter @booksncatsworld @madrabbit014

Rules: Use the challenge word to write a sentence or scene and then tag a few friends. Happy writing!

This week's word: Egregious

1: Exceptional, conspicuous, outstanding, most usually in a negative fashion.

2: Outrageously bad; shocking.

Both Emmrich and Bellara looked up as the door to his study swung open, revealing Rook on the other side holding a book in their hands and grinning with almost manic energy.

"Emmrich!" they looked around, "Emmrich, have you seen- Bellara. Oh you're both here. You have GOT to take a look at this!"

It was a thick book. Covered in hardened paper rather than leather. Rooks fingers excitedly drummed on the cover as they began to flip through it.

"This one's about Eluvians!"

Bellara's eyes scanned the page her partner pointed out to them. Once, twice, and then a third time. She took the book and held it closer to her face as if proximity would make the ink on the page twist out of the phrase "mutlipolar harmonic adjacent" into something that made sense in the context of the rest of the page. Bellara frowned. Rook seemed excited about this but it was nonsense. Worse than nonsense. It seemed like it would cause an explosion if applied.

"Rook. This is-"

"This Bellara, is the Justinian 9:51 Edition of Necromantic Arts and the Fade."

"Don't you mean The Fade and Necromantic Arts?"

Rook smiled wider. "No! Better!"

"Necromantic Arts and the Fade!" Emmrich replied. "Really Rook? Surely you know that it's-"

"A disreputable journal where individuals who can't get their research through peer review or without a rapid retractrion send their work." Rook's smile grew brighter. "Yes!"

Bellara sighed "Oh. Good. This doesn't make any sense, but you looked so excited. I didn't know if I should say anything."

"I went by my apartment because I think I'm close to a breakthrough with Lucanis and Spite and I needed to get my good chalk and I found out that in my absence I had four unread volumes."

"Why do you get them sent to you if they're so bad."

"Because they're not just bad my dear Bellara, they're egregious. And sometimes, when I'm struggling to piece something together, nothing raises my spirits like a paper written by someone who clearly knows less than I do but was confident enough to actually try and get their nonsense published." Rook flipped to another page and pushed the book towards Emmrich, "This one is about wisp development!"

[storymaker14]

The State of The State of Our Union

So my pinned post mentions that I finished the final draft of a novel called The State of Our Union on 20 Apr 2024.

I am writing this on 20 Apr 2025.

So let's recap. When I finished it, my intention was to have a specific person read it before anything went further. Note for anyone who might face the same situation: a person going through chemo may have a lot of time on their hands, but they will have zero energy, even for reading. (They're fine now.)

Meanwhile, while I was waiting, the inspiration for the rest of the Vulcan Fluff series happened, which chewed up months of time. While this was going on, though, I had an interesting epiphany. A character I originally thought I was being entirely too easy on, I realized I was being entirely too hard on instead. So, I made quite the adjustment to certain portions.

By the time the Vulcan Fluff series was rested – and yes, I still mean to do rewrites on them, but later – I decided the time had absolutely come to actually get the ball rolling on getting TSoOU published. So, with the permission (and the unnecessary apologies) of that one reader, I went to Reddit, to the betareaders subreddit, and I offered critique swaps. And I got three nibbles on it.

And then the notes started pouring in… and they were devastating. Not that they were bad or anything; some were quite complimentary. But I'd unfortunately gotten myself into a state of mind where I thought it was done done, and just in need of a polish. But no… it needs work.

Which unfortunately spun me into a depression, and more unfortunately robbed me of one of the best mechanisms to get me out of depression – specifically, writing. I had to shut off the notifications and just try to put it out of my head. I did eventually pull myself out of it, but Jesus that was horrible.

Which, alas, brings us to now. All three of my readers have finished; I have finished two in return and am working on the third. (It's really good, btw. Holy cow.)

So, a year after I finished it, I have to say: it's not finished. I'm not sure how much work it will need, and whether I'll need to bite the bullet and say there will be a fucking fourth draft. I'm going to finish reading the last critique I promised, then see what's what.

I do have an old friend who's a writer. And when I say they're a writer, they've published six or seven novels and are still chugging along. Between my experience, and talking to this old friend, I am now painfully aware of the fact that I should have turned over the second draft to beta readers, or at least been of a mindset that having it reviewed like this was a major step in the development process, not a last minor detail at the end. So if anyone out there is thinking like I was a year ago, take this advice from my own experience. Don't call it done, call it ready to be ready by others.

So that's where it sits right now, and that's all I have to say. Stay tuned, I guess.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🦇 The Matchmaker Book Review 🦇

❓ Are you good at solving mysteries? 🦇 Business has never been better for Nura Khan, a third-generation matchmaker in Atlanta. Her exclusive clientele benefits from her impeccable track record. Thankfully, her childhood best friend, Azar, is willing to double as her pretend fiancé at her clients’ weddings—even though Nura’s feelings for him might not be so pretend. While it’s not uncommon to get the occasional hate mail from rejected prospective clients, Nura is blindsided after a couple’s carefully constructed wedding implodes, the first in a cascading chain of suspicious and increasingly terrifying events. Someone is taking things too far. Can Nura survive a dangerous cat-and-mouse game that threatens her safety and everything she’s worked so hard to build?

💜 What a wild ride! I was so excited to hear that Aisha Saeed was making her adult fiction debut with such an exciting premise, and she didn't disappoint! Let's break it down.

✨ Characters (4/5): Nura is a strong, smart, talented powerhouse; an absolute inspiration. She's not perfect, though, making her a realistic character in a female world. Her lingering feelings for Azar, the familial pressure she carries on her shoulders, and her perseverance all make her too real.

✨ Plot and Pacing (3/5): There were a few moments when the story lagged. I was surprised by what happened at the 50% mark happening so soon, especially since it caused tension and pacing to falter, but it was necessary for the story. Still, there are a few sections that could have been cut to maintain pacing.

✨ World-Building (3/5): I'm currently in Atlanta, so reading a book set in this bustling city is always fun. I love recognizing familiar places, but I wish the descriptive language was a little stronger, so readers who have never been could feel themselves immersed in the story.

✨ Romance (3/5): The story starts off with BIG romance vibes, but the genre veers unexpectedly into a mystery. Though the slow-burn romance is realistic, there's also not a lot of time and attention given to it. It's also blantently clear that Nura misread what happened in college from the very beginning, so the flashback/explanation wasn't a shock. I really wanted more of her and Azar. The story would have benefited from the saboteur trying to break Nura's happily ever after apart.

✨ Mystery/Suspense (4/5): Did I guess who the saboteur was? Yes. Was the explanation worth it? Mostly, yes, though the actual reveal is a little messy and unrealistic. Nearly perfect.

✨ Tone/Prose (3/5): This is what killed me. The Matchmaker is one of the best thought-out books I've read this year, but the prose itself is lacking. Usually, heavy annotating tells me I'm holding a four or five star read, but unfortunately, I didn't highlight a single line this time.

🦇 Recommended for fans of mysteries like Arsenic and Adobo or Finlay Donovan is Killing It mixed with Julian Winters' I Think They Love You.

✨ The Vibes ✨ 🎯 Mystery / Thriller ❤ Touch of Romance 🔍 Strong Female Protagonists 🔍 Slow Burn ❤ Plot Twists 🎯 Adult Fiction Debut

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #TheMatchmaker

[maspers-reads-subspace]

So, as previously stated, before we get truly started on the behemoth that is The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest...

Speedrunning The Bond of Aura

We're going to be covering the entirety of The Bond of Aura, the prequel to Worlds Conquest, in one post, so try to keep up, this is gonna go fast.

First thing's first: this is, unfortunately, not the original version of The Bond of Aura. After being somewhat dissatisfied with the original work and noting the attention Worlds Conquest was getting, AuraChannelerChris decided to start rewriting it, to expand on some scenes and otherwise do some cleanup. His plan for the remade Bond of Aura was 19 chapters... the 17th of which was published in November of 2020. Yeah. I was surprised too, I didn't even know about this until like. A couple days ago. But the fact remains that this fic, like its sequel, is incomplete and dormant if not dead. Good thing that doesn't matter to me!

The Bond of Aura has a pretty simple premise: regular high-schooler Chris is a Pokemon Fan whose DS gets hit by lightning, and this results in the Lucario from his game being brought into the real world. Shenanigans ensue. All the shenanigans. All of them.

An Aura Sphere, the artwork that is cropped to serve as The Bond of Aura's cover image on FF.net. Lucario is on the left, Chris is on the right. This and a ton of other official artwork was made by the author AuraChannelerChris himself, and they all can be found on his DeviantArt page! ...So go check out his art, if it's not a public fic cover I'm not going to repost it for you.

Chapter 1: A Fateful Event

A recurring theme in both Bond of Aura and Worlds Conquest is the narration framing itself as if it actually were a visual medium like a video game or movie, even though it's fully prose. This can be a little difficult to get used to (For example, any time a character has an internal monologue they use parentheses as if it were a visual novel) but once you adjust it's not so bad. Since Worlds Conquest really leans into the video game theme, Bond of Aura is more like a movie, starting with first-person narration as Chris provides the exposition introducing himself, before the narration switches to third person for the remainder of the work.

Chris doesn't introduce himself in full so that later chapters can reveal stuff about him, but seeing as I have the power of knowing all that stuff, I can just tell you everything straight-up. Our protagonist is Chris Garcia Bennett, an 15-year-old lad living in Los Angeles, California. He's of mixed descent (he later explicitly identifies his mother's family as Mexican and his father's family as Native American), and his parents are extremely talented freelance computer technicians. So talented, in fact, that their family is able to own a pretty large house with a pool and other luxuries, at the cost of the parents being away for work pretty much non-stop since Chris was in kindergarten. He was mostly raised by his uncles, and now that he's preparing to start high school he lives completely alone.

Yup. Chris is a lonely rich kid. Yes, it's convenient for the plot (especially that of Worlds Conquest), but Chris's parental issues are one of the main driving features of Bond of Aura. The other two being Lucario's identity crisis and (most importantly) dealing with the fact that Lucario is there to begin with.

Chris is a huge geek, and he's excitedly starting his summer vacation by playing Pokemon Diamond Version on the Nintendo DS. We're given a brief insight as to how his game is progressing, and he specifically makes note of the Pokemon he currently has in his party. Including a Lucario which just received a Burned status condition. Noticing that it's late and stormy outside, Chris saves his game, closes his DS to put it in sleep mode, then goes to bed.

Pokemon Diamond Version and Pokemon Pearl Version: The first set of games in the Fourth Generation of the Pokemon video game series, released in Japan in 2006 and in the US in 2007. Pokemon is a franchise based around collecting magic creatures and training them to engage in epic battles, and is the most lucrative multimedia franchise in the world. Diamond and Pearl were also some of the first games in the series to introduce deeper plotlines into the Pokemon series, with an overarching plotline about the in-universe mythology and what it truly means to have a perfect universe. The enhanced version of these games, Pokemon Platinum, was the first mainline Pokemon game I ever played!

Naturally, what follows next is an epic Pokemon reverse isekai! Lightning strikes through Chris's window and hits the DS, then the DS also starts emitting lightning, and then BOOM. Cue a Poke Ball sitting in Chris's room. He opens it, and out pops his Lucario. The same Lucario from his game. Including the Burned status condition.

The rest of the chapter is tense. Chris is able to help Lucario get better, but not only is Chris scared out of his mind with no clue what's going on, Lucario is also panicking and is also a giant bipedal jackal with magic powers. This does not a calm situation make. Not in the slightest.

Chapter 2: A Fateful Encounter

Eventually, Chris and Lucario are able to sit down and have something resembling a civil conversation. Lucario just wants to know what's going on, and Chris (being the geek he is) puts things together pretty quickly. Lucario is from another world based on Chris's video game, Chris explains, and Chris doesn't know how to send Lucario back, so for now Lucario needs to stay with Chris. This is also when Chris explains his living situation to Lucario, and the fact that Pokemon don't exist in this world. Lucario takes it surprisingly well, considering how much he was panicking earlier.

The two of them (somewhat reluctantly) agree to be friends for the time being, and then the two of them go eat a late-night meal and Chris introduces Lucario to anime. It's sorta fluff, but not quite. The author makes it very clear through the characters' words and actions that the two definitely are NOT comfortable with each other yet, and even when they go to bed Chris's internal monologue is split between "oh gosh there's a Lucario in my house this is so cool!" and "oh gosh there's a Lucario in my house what the heck".

We also get the first glance at Lucario's main problem for this story: the fact that he's from a video game, and the resulting identity crisis. While Worlds Conquest will eventually reveal that the game worlds ARE real to some extent, and Lucario isn't just some kind of artificial construct, Lucario's own understanding of his history in the Pokemon world is primarily based on Chris's own playthrough of the games. Lucario knows all the stuff a Pokemon would be expected to know by default, but he doesn't know his own personal history (since he's based off of an in-game Pokemon egg given to the player) and while he feels intensely loyal to his trainer he can't remember anything about her (since she's not really a person, just a player character controlled by Chris).

Spoilers, but eventually Lucario and Chris will become the bestest of buds, reconcile their differences, and grow to view each other as partners, with Lucario explicitly identifying Chris as his trainer. But for now, he needs to get over his attachment to his previous trainer first.

Lucario, the Aura Pokemon. A Fighting-Steel Type that can and will beat you up. Imagine a monk from D&D crossed with an anthropomorphic jackal and that's Lucario in a nutshell. Their "Aura" powers and the lore connected to them is something that Pokemon fans have taken and ran with (you name it, Aura's done it in a fanfic), but it does have explicit canon abilities. Conveniently, one of those abilities is established to be the usage of human speech, something most Pokemon are unable to do.

...This is taking too long. Time to pick up the pace. Things get much smoother, simpler, and fluffier for a while, so it should be easy to rush through the next couple of chapters. You all should know what a slice-of-life story is, right?

Chapter 3: A Very Calm, Relaxing Approach

After waking up and slowly getting to know each other better, Chris abruptly remembers hygiene exists and very sternly instructs Lucario on how to use a shower. Lucario, being a Pokemon, has no idea what a shower is. Shenanigans ensue.

Once all that's dealt with, the two of them have breakfast, and then go to water the flowers in Chris's garden while discussing Lucario's Aura powers. There's a very deep discussion about the ability to sense life and what it means to Lucario, as well as how cool Aura is in general. I'm beginning to suspect the author is a huge Lucario fan or something.

Chapter 4: A Carnivorous Aura Pokemon

Chris realizes that the animal Lucario's design is based off of is, in fact, a carnivore. So he makes steak! Lucario greatly enjoys the steak. I don't blame him, steak is fantastic. Afterwards Chris remembers ANOTHER aspect of hygiene and instructs Lucario on how to brush his teeth. Something something very wholesome moving on.

Chapter 5: A Gamer is Born

While Chris is asleep, Lucario does some very serious pondering about the posters in Chris's room and the frankly absurdly large video game collection the boy has, wondering if his entire reality was just being puppeted around by human children. But then Chris wakes up, introduces Lucario to his game collection, and explains how much his games mean to him, how he enjoys living vicariously through the game worlds because his real life is so dull.

Then he gets Lucario addicted to video games. VERY addicted.

Chapter 6: An Unbelievable Strength

Okay time to slow down a bit again. This chapter is pretty short, but its contents carry some pretty important backstory that WILL matter in Worlds Conquest. Namely, Chris and Lucario realize that the latter is way larger and way more powerful than a normal Lucario is supposed to be.

Regular Lucario are around four feet tall. Chris's Lucario is 6 foot 7 inches, a head taller than Chris himself is. He's way stronger and tougher than the average Lucario as well, lifting Chris's bed like it's nothing and doing push-ups under it, and chopping wood essentially with his bare hands. His Aura senses are stronger too, being able to detect stuff within multiple miles as well as a couple other tricks that usually fall within the range of psychic powers, such as telepathy or being able to see out of another person's eyes. And as for his Aura Sphere projectile attack... we'll get to that.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it: Lucario is overpowered. Greatly. I find it amusing how the author is very defensive of Chris and OCs in general, adding a disclaimer at the start of Worlds Conquest talking about how he's going to great lengths to ensure Chris doesn't fall into the trap of becoming a dreaded "Mary Sue/Gary Stu", yet he seems to completely overlook how if anyone's going to get accused of being a Sue it's not going to be Chris; it's going to be Lucario.

I don't think either of them are a "Gary Stu", for the record. Not only is the term extremely subjective to begin with, but with a story as massive and multifaceted as Worlds Conquest there's only so much you can really do with raw power. There's plenty of situations where it doesn't matter how strong you are, it won't help you win. If I were to guess, I'd say that the depiction of Chris's Lucario stems disappointment. The idea of the Pokemon Lucario is rad as heck, but when you compare its epic marketing to the actual in-game Pokemon it's rather... lacking? It's cool, but it can't normally go toe-to-toe with gods the way the marketing makes it look like it's capable of. I suspect Lucario's absurd Hercules-level strength in Bond of Aura and Worlds Conquest is a "correction" for this, bringing Lucario back in line with its public image.

For the record, there is a reason why Chris's Lucario is overpowered. His backstory (which at this point is unknown to him) is revealed more in full later on in Worlds Conquest. But hilariously, as of the game Pokemon Legends Arceus released in 2022, there doesn't need to be a reason. Lucario's drastically increased size and strength is a perfect example of an Alpha Pokemon.

An Alpha Lucario positioned next to a human for scale. Chris's Lucario is likely to actually be a bit shorter than this one, if you can believe it. Image courtesy of ShackNews's article on Alpha Pokemon.

Alpha Pokemon are exactly what they sound like: Pokemon that are significantly bigger and tougher than most examples of their species. Considering the existence of Chris's Lucario predates the existence of Alpha Pokemon by over a decade, it's entirely coincidence, but I still find it amusing.

So yeah, Chris and Lucario figure out that Lucario has insane stats. Moving on.

Chapter 7: A Very Odd Team

Chris and Lucario go back to gaming. Specifically, this time they're playing Wii Sports! Annnnnd Lucario keeps breaking the controllers with his absurd strength. Fortunately Chris has copious amounts of wiimotes but it still takes a while before they're able to find a game Lucario can play without getting so distracted he crushes the controllers. Eventually they settle on Wii Sports Baseball.

Along the way they discuss the possibility of Lucario becoming a "Renaissance Pokemon". Like a Renaissance Man, who's good at everything, except as a Pokemon. Spoilers: Lucario is not going to become a Jack of All Trades, Master of All. Sure, at this point he starts aspiring to become one, but once Worlds Conquest rolls around he'll mostly settle into the role of providing raw muscle and being Chris's main confidant, if I recall correctly.

Chapter 8: A Reading Experience

Chris decides to teach Lucario how to read! It's... pretty slow going. While Lucario presumably used Aura to learn how to speak properly, knowledge of reading and writing is entirely different. This poor 'mon is illiterate and does NOT have a brain that adapts to reading easily. Fortunately we have Chris there to help Lucario out in a way that's quite wholesome!

Unfortunately, Lucario's identity crisis acts up and he briefly panics and attacks Chris in the confusion, so they go for a week of things being tense between them before Chris relents and forgives Lucario for it, and goes back to teaching Lucario how to read.

Chapter 9: A Hot Summer Day

Exactly what it says on the tin! It's hot, and it's Southern California so it's dang hot. So Chris and Lucario get the pool set up, and then there's the usual sort of pool party shenanigans that happen in fluff fics involving pools. There's discussion about how a Pokemon with steel literally grafted into their body deals with heat, and cool experimenting with underwater telepathy.

Lucario also brings up the fact that he doesn't know how to use Aura Sphere yet, a move heavily associated with the Lucario species, and resolves to try and learn in. Spoilers, he'll get it down before the fic is over.

Chapter 10: Movie Night

Okay this one's kind of funny. As the title implies, Chris and Lucario watch a movie together. Their choice of movie?

The eighth Pokemon movie, premiering in July of 2005. As part of the advertising for the soon-to-be-released Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, the movie featured the debut of various Pokemon from those games, including Lucario. If you listen closely, you can hear all the Pokemon fanfic writers hurriedly taking notes on everything in this movie that involves "Aura" and "Ash Ketchum".

Rather an appropriate choice, I'd say. Chris and Lucario spend most of the chapter just commenting on the movie and raising questions about the way the Lucario in the movie uses Aura, but eventually all the plot holes are ironed out ant Lucario is satisfied. The movie's Lucario isn't what I find funny about this chapter, though, what I find funny is Chris and Lucario's discussion about Ash Ketchum and Pikachu. Chris describes Ash as "the face of the anime" who will "never, EVER leave the position". He and Lucario also complain about how Ash never wins any big tournaments, and how if the trend keeps up then Chris is planning to stop watching the Pokemon anime entirely. Modern fans know that while it took a while for him to get there, Ash eventually became a Pokemon Champion in 2019, and eventually left the show entirely to give rise to a new Pokemon anime with a new cast.

Lucario also calls out Ash for not evolving his Pikachu, insulting Pikachu for choosing to stay in a weaker form. This is already funny, because at the time this chapter is written, Worlds Conquest has already been chugging along steadily, and Lucario and Pikachu have met and become pretty good allies. Guess I'll have to look into that when we finally catch up on the reread, and see if Lucario and Pikachu actually talk about it at some point.

Chapter 11: A Pokemon Cook

After learning that Lucario doesn't know what fireworks are, Chris and Lucario briefly chat about what Lucario's childhood was like, and what Lucario's previous trainer was like. As I've previously established, Lucario's "previous trainer" wasn't really real, and he doesn't remember them at all. So he makes up stuff and lies about it. Deciding that Lucario needs to have more happy memories to look back on, and realizing that Lucario's going to need to be able to feed himself while Chris is at school once summer ends, Chris decides to try teaching Lucario how to cook.

A knife gets destroyed in the process.

Chapter 12: A Day of Training

ALSO exactly what it says on the tin. Lucario does some more exercise, including doing push-ups underneath Chris's bed. While Chris is still asleep. This leads to a funny moment where Chris wakes up and mistakes the push-ups for an earthquake. A little bit more Lucario angst happens as he realizes how attached he's getting to Chris.

Reading this fic in the year AD 2025, my brain is seeing all these scenes of Chris and Lucario enjoying each other's company and going "wow, there is a hilariously unintentional gay subtext here". Like, the bond between Pokemon and Trainer is completely different from romance for VERY OBVIOUS REASONS, but the way Chris and Lucario are written has hilarious levels of "Does This Remind You of Anything?" in hindsight. Definitely not intended by the author in the slightest, and definitely shouldn't be interpreted that way. But once you see it it's really hard to unsee it.

Chapter 13: An Aura Sphere

Frustrated with his lack of progress with Aura Sphere, Lucario (with Chris's help) decides to focus on honing his Aura detection skills specifically so he can better understand what he's doing wrong. Eventually he's able to get it to work, and since it's his Aura, he's even able to temporarily hand the ball of energy to Chris without harming him! It's a very cool and powerful moment, ending when they decide to dispose of the Aura Sphere by launching it into the sky.

Big mistake. Lucario's overpowered-ness comes back to bite them when the Aura Sphere explodes and the neighborhood is put under lockdown in fear of a terrorist bomber. This would be a hilarious scene, except Chris has to explain to Lucario why everything is under lockdown, which includes a brief discussion about terrorism that... really hasn't aged well. It's a small moment, but it serves as a good reminded that Bond of Aura and Worlds Conquest were primarily written in the late 2000s and early 2010s, with a lot of the unintended biases that come with that era.

Chapter 14: A Day at School

Summer vacation has finally come to an end, and Chris has to go back to school, leaving Lucario at home. Alone. And not coping well. I haven't mentioned this yet, but pretty much every time Lucario has his identity crisis about his origins, he ends up arguing with himself. Lucario staunchly believes he needs to be loyal to his original trainer, even if he doesn't remember them at all, and that by getting too close to Chris he risks "betraying" his original trainer. Arguing in favor of fully accepting Chris as a "new trainer" is an imaginary Riolu that's taken form in Lucario's mindscape and pretty much acts like a very needy puppy whenever Chris is around, trying to annoy Lucario into caving and fully being with Chris. This causes Lucario to react badly and push down any positive feelings he has towards Chris, leading to some of the chaos in earlier chapters.

Riolu, the Emanation Pokemon. A Fighting-type. Look at this precious little baby fella. More huggable than you'd expect! Can also beat you up! Evolves into Lucario, hence why Chris's Lucario's subconscious seems to manifest as one; he WAS a Riolu when he was young.

So now Lucario is trapped, at home, by himself, with Riolu driving him crazy in his mind. He tries to distract himself by using Aura to see the world through random humans within his Aura perception radius, but soon he ends up fixated on Chris again. A couple hours later, Chris walks outside for lunch and finds Lucario in a tree, and gives the latter a very stern-yet-kind talking-to.

Chapter 15: A Birthday

...Oh frick um

[Content Warning: Attempted Suicide and Self-Harm, and discussion of topics????? Skip to the next red text if you want to avoid it.]

Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are. Genuinely! I hadn't read this chapter before! I'm not even sure it existed when I last reread Worlds Conquest, or maybe it did and I just didn't bother to check if Bond of Aura had new chapters. Either way: what the heck?

Well, apparently, "the heck" is "Chris does not cope with parental abandonment well". The main lead-up to this chapter is that Chris's Birthday is coming up, and his parents are planning on coming home to visit. Chris hasn't seen them in over a year. Then a couple days before his birthday, they call to tell him they'll miss it again because another job came up. Chris snaps, yells at his parents, and hangs up, which is extremely jarring because Chris has been pretty much an endless beacon of sunshine up to this point. Lucario even notes that Chris's Aura is WAY out of wack. And it's a good thing that Lucario notices because Chris then proceeds to make a dash for the kitchen knife to try and stab himself in the chest. Lucario stops him just in time, and Chris completely breaks down in tears, explaining how he feels worthless and unvalued by everyone in his life, and that this isn't the first time he's snapped like this, though the last time he tried to kill/seriously maim himself was when he was in Kindergarten and his parents left the first time. Lucario helps Chris calm down and reassures him that his life has value, and that even if his family can't be with him, at least he has Lucario with him instead.

This caught me completely off guard. As you've noticed, the tone of this fic has been pretty light-hearted and fluffy so far. There's been a bit of angst on Lucario's end, but mostly his mental arguments with Riolu have been played for laughs. Suddenly shifting to suicide prevention came completely out of left field. And from what I can recall of Worlds Conquest, this is a pretty jarring contrast to that work too. Don't get me wrong, there are gonna be some dark moments, but... nothing like this. Worlds Conquest usually stays on the side of comedy.

I don't think I really like it, from a writing standpoint, but I don't know if I'm supposed to? The author clearly is trying to handle the subject with utmost seriousness, and it really puts a lot of Chris's behavior both in this story and Worlds Conquest into perspective in a new way for me. This scene will probably be in the back of my mind going forward, when before I didn't even know it existed. But because this is a rewritten version of the original Bond of Aura, I don't even know if I should take it into account. What if it was just added for additional shock factor, or to give Chris some depth the author felt he was lacking? Regardless, it's here. I think the author handled it the best he could, but I genuinely question if he needed to handle it at all. I think I need more context here.

[Okay we're done with the content warning stuff you're good now]

So Chris's Birthday finally happens, and after spending the morning visiting relatives he returns to spend the rest of the day with Lucario... and he brings gifts! Turns out that Lucario's theoretical birthday (the release date of the game he's from) was a couple days ago, and Chris realized that he didn't get anything for Lucario. They then agree to celebrate their birthdays together, Chris briefly calls his parents to apologize for snapping at them (while still respectfully calling them out for their neglect), and then the two of them have tacos.

Chapter 16: A Few Memorable Holidays

And by "a few", I mean "Halloween and Thanksgiving". Halloween has a funny moment come to pass when Chris dresses up as a Lucario for Halloween, and Lucario briefly panics and wonders if the costume is made from authentic Lucario fur. Chris has to once again reassure Lucario that no, the fur isn't real, because Lucario is the only real Lucario in the world. Then they eat a lot of candy. And steak.

Thanksgiving is exactly what you'd expect Thanksgiving in this fanfic to be. Lots of the warm fuzzies, with Chris and Lucario being appreciative of each other and eating some really good food, including Turkey (if you're not from the US and aren't somehow arne't familiar despite us Americans having a tendency to loudly broadcast everything we do, traditionally turkey is eaten as part of the thanksgiving dinner). The fic once again shows its age when Chris shares the story of the so-called "first thanksgiving" with Lucario (I can't tell if Chris being part Native American makes it better or worse) but thankfully they don't linger on it too long.

Chapter 17: A Christmas

It's Christmas! Which, like the Halloween and Thanksgiving scenes, is about what you'd expect from this fic's fluffy slice-of-life vibes. Chris gets to educate Lucario on what Christmas is, and they go about setting up the tree and decorations in a festive manner. There's a bit of a humorous-turned-cool moment when Chris accidentally gets jumpscared by a small spider (big mood, spiders are the worst) and is about to be crushed by boxes of decorations when Lucario manages to use ExtremeSpeed for the first time to catch the boxes. Very nice. Then Christmas proper rolls around and Chris give Lucario a scarf. Lucario doesn't have money to buy a gift, so he just promises Chris his eternal moral support. Which then turns into an absolutely delightful scene of them hyping each other up.

And then there's also THIS:

Mister author are you SURE you know what kind of relationship you're writing here??? Are you SURE??? Please tell me I'm not the only person seeing this, I haven't even gotten to the fic this blog is actually supposed to be about and I'm ALREADY going mad-

The chapter closes with the promise that New Year's Day is coming, and with it, a final challenge that only Lucario can overcome, to determine whether his future will truly involve him becoming Chris's Pokemon or not...

And then that's it. No more chapters. I did warn you! But figuring out what happens next is kind of easy to determine. Considering Chris and Lucario are still best bros living together by the start of The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest, my guess is Lucario has his final emotional crisis where he finally learns to accept that Chris is his trainer (and in a sense has always BEEN his trainer), and they resolve to be a Trainer-and-Pokemon partnership from here on out. Possibly with a guest appearance by Chris's parents so that side of the plot drama can be wrapped up before Worlds Conquest too.

My personal verdict on The Bond of Aura: Eh. It's not bad. The writing is consistent with the general quality of what I recall Worlds Conquest being like. Not necessarily up to my usual standard nowadays, but I've grown to become exceptionally picky with fanfiction I read, especially when it comes to grammar and formatting, to a level that I am well aware is pretty unrealistic. It's probably better than most fanfics, tbh. The story is very good at keeping its focus on the two main characters and only them (unless you count Imaginary Riolu as a separate character), which makes sense. This story is their backstory, at least in part. It solidifies who Chris and Lucario are, and why by the time of Worlds Conquest they've become so devoted to each other. Their relationship is then used as a bedrock for the network of relationships they'll then form with the other members of the Smash Bros. cast, which becomes a self-sustaining engine of character dynamics.

But for me, starting with Worlds Conquest way back then, and then coming back to this, I have trouble getting the vibes, I guess. I really like Worlds Conquest as a kid because it was action-packed, and because it was full of so many characters who would interact with each other and have their own arcs. Just focusing on two of them is a drastic change in scale for me, and while I think the quality is good, I don't think pure slice-of-life fluff is where AuraChannelerChris really shines in his writing. I know it's going to get better than this.

Which is really unfair to The Bond of Aura, which is pretty charming in its own right. That's part of why I've gone out of my way to include a summary of it before diving into Worlds Conquest proper, instead of just going "by the way here's the basic gist Chris is lonely rich kid and he has this extremely powerful Lucario in the real world don't worry about it". Backstories are important, and if I want to judge Worlds Conquest objectively I need to take The Bond of Aura into account. I know you don't have the time to read Worlds Conquest, seeing as you're here, but if you ever do... make sure you read The Bond of Aura first.

Alright. Obligatory predecessor work summary done! Now let's dive into The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest. For real this time.

Starting here.