#actually never mind everything i just said. i feel like the 'plot twist' concept is just that fic where yao steals from the peddlers cart

[yonaioana]

Okay first of all! I loved that request where is God reader from ennead! So!

What IS relationship with Egypt Gods with reader? The God of festivals and happiness but real role is the God of freedom? So as I read that request it says that he DID have good relationship with them(I think) because he was in Egypt but not anymore? And they never talk anymore as he moved from Egypt where all god mostly where, why did he move away from them? Did he knew what will happend?

So my request is about male reader God of festivals and happyness/ God of freedom.

How would they react to seeing reader once more? But there is plot twist! The reader is not kinda happy about seeing them.( I love angst, dont mind me)

That all!

Heeey im back, im sorry I was gone all this time I moved, finished highschool and now im struggling to finish my first year of college but im back and im trying to get through my entire inbox and write for everything I missed, I will also update the masterlist with a few new fandoms. This is a short one i still had in my drafts. Kisses!!!

I guess that as the god of freedom and happiness ennead is not the best place to live. Since all the gods have to obey Ra and her kinda liking the suffering of everyone else cause she sees it as entertainment would not sit well with a god who's entire concept is boring to her.

I dont think that you would have beef with any of them other than Ra and maybe Osiris if you try to call out his bluff of being the victim and all that. You could have some trouble with Seth if you tried to opose him in his early years when he ruled Egipt but i dont think he is the kind to try and hurt other gods. Cause he tried to hurt Isis and Horus only because of some prophecy not because he really hated them. So my guess is that you either tried to vouch for someone who was in trouble or did something to upset Ra but she just pushed you aside and continued as if you were not there. Or you found out about some of the things Osiris did to Seth and you tried to tell everyone but because nobody really liked Seth they only listened to what Osiris said and called you a liar, ultimately pushing you aside. So you got sick and tired of them and left.

Anyway back to the present Horus and Anubis actually like you cause they're not as old as the other gods so either they were not born when you left or they were too young to remember. If we take the first route Ra will not be verry pleased to see you but if we take the second one Isis and Osiris are the ones in a sour mood.

Lets say that after you left you found yourself a village on the other side of Egipt where it was like a port so there was a big mix of cultures and instead of asserting dominance as a god you just lived among them helping out and being nice to everyone. Of course horus while searching for Seth could happen to accidentally find your little comunity and asks Isis about it wich leads to the others finding you and dragging you back to explain yourself and interogate you on the "where is seth" matter. While at first you were happy thinking they came to visit it was auickly shut down when chains apeared around your neck, wrists and ankles and you were being dragged away from your home and people back to ennead. If you knew about what happened to seth osiris will try to keep you quiet one way or another, gods forbid you helped him escape or helped him while he was on the run with resources and hiding from the others, in the I feel like horus will try to take you with him against his mom's dissaproval to help him heal seth emotionally with your powers

[erikiara80]

About Will

Last year the Duffers said that in S5 Will takes center stage again, and now they're even telling us how the season starts, with the flashback of Will in the UD. That's why I think the reveals about him should be huge, like the ones about Henry and El in S4.

This makes me happy. Will and his story are my favorite thing, and I have so many questions.

Was Will really just in the wrong place at the wrong time, a random victim who later became the brother of Vecna's actual target, Eleven?

Maybe. But I'll be honest, I think this would be disappointing. Most of the audience already believes that. All these years, all the mystery surrounding Will, and in the end it was just to hide Vecna, who was introduced in S4, so when we see S5 it's not even a plot twist anymore? Hm.

There could be an interesting parallel with Henry winding up in Dimension X tho. Wrong place at the wrong time. But Henry developed powers. What about Will, who ended up in the UD? Also, if he was just in the wrong place, why did they make his abduction so different from all the other attacks? It's just because it was the first one and they wanted it to be cool? Again, disappointing, imo. And if the reason was just "make the scene cool", I don't know why in other seasons they kept making parallels between the Demogorgon opening the Byers' door, something it only does in 1x01, and El opening a LOT of doors with telekinesis.

I think it's more likely that Will's flashbacks in S5 will be like El's flashbacks in S4. They made us believe that Eleven killed all the other numbers, only to reveal later that it's not what really happened. I expect something like that for Will too. Maybe at first, everything seems to confirm that he was just a random victim, and then we find out that it's not true. Or he was a random victim, but then, like Henry, he developed psychic abilities.

Speaking of that

Does Will have powers or not?

I am a Will-has-powers truther, this is not a mystery lol. But does it make sense in the story? (some thoughts here) Does he have powers like Harry Potter, or the Turtle (here), or Bastian, or he's like Peter Bishop, Marty McFly and Frodo Baggins? Noah said that Will's superpower is his heart, but you know, you can have that and also powers. Plus, in S4 they connect the concept of time travel to emotions, so if there's a timeloop or something like that, and Will's name is on the grandfather clock...

Maybe his abilities are different from anything we've seen. Maybe something more connected to the UD. I'm just saying, why making him a wizard/cleric, if he's just a normal kid?

For example, they never really explained why he's still so connected to Vecna and, I suspect, the UD (because he is also like Radagast, and the kid in Poltergeist, who gets kidnapped because of her powers) Yes, Max seems to have answered that question: when Vecna makes a psychic connection, you are marked. In fact, at some point she even says that she can still feel him. But when she's in his mind lair, she doesn't feel his thoughts. She says that he was surprised and didn't want her there... but he actually says that. Also, they would really answer the questions about the big mystery of Will's connection to Vecna like that, when he's not even the focus of the scene?

That's why I think the answer is more complex for him. Max can't feel Vecna's thoughts or feelings, Will can, like Harry can feel Voldemort. Could the reason be that he was connected to the hive mind? We can't be sure, he's the only one who survived a possession. There are no particles left in his body (as far as we know) or he would've died in S2. So, why is the connection still there and so strong, that the moment he's back in Hawkins, he can feel that Vecna is hurting and wants to destroy everything?

Why in S2 Will knows that the evil wants to kill everyone but him? And why would Vecna/Mind Flayer want to kill everyone but a random kid with no powers, whose only ability was to hide from a monster for a week? Henry Creel considered all the lab kids, people with powers, inferior to himself and Eleven, but for some reason he wanted a sensitive child who's just good at hiding? It doesn't make sense to me.

In the game, they seem to give us the answer. Well, they don't explain if Will was just in the wrong place at the wrong time on Nov 6, but they say that the reason he is the key and Vecna wants him, is that he wants to use him to find Eleven.

Ok

If this is true... Henry/Vecna needed Eleven to open a door, so he makes her make a psychic contact with a Demogorgon. When the gate opens, he lets the creature kidnap/kill random people. Then realizes that he can find Eleven, if he uses the only victim he is letting hide in the UD because, reasons. But when she finally is in the void with Will, instead of killing her, he interrupts the contact with Will, goes to Castle Byers, takes him to the library, and impregnates him with a little Demogorgon. And then? What would've happened if Joyce hadn't found Will? We still don't know if the tendril was killing him or giving him oxigen, like the facehugger does in Alien (the parallel with Sarah could be a hint tho), because we don't know what happened to Barb. If she died in the pool and then was taken to the library, or if it's the tendril that killed her.

If Will was actually dying, then the answer in the game doesn't make sense. If Vecna just wants to use him to find and kill Eleven, he wouldn't have tried to kill him. Unless that whole process was supposed to turn Will into Zombie Boy, a creature of the UD, similar to Vecna, who could find Eleven. That's a bit complicated, tho.

Not to mention the whole possession in S2. Again, let's say that Vecna didn't want to kill Will in the library, but just turn him into a monster. He failed. So, when Will is home, he makes him have visions, then possesses him, with the intent of killing everyone but him. Because he wants him to find and spy Eleven. But in the 1959 flashback, in TFS, and in the game, we see that Henry can read any mind. So, sorry but why does he need Will, specifically, to find Eleven?

Also, if the particles can just possess you in a vision and then appear in our world, why didn't they possess more people? Easier to find El, and even if you lose Will, you still have the others. It's what the Mind Flayer does in S3. The big difference? In S3 the particles are already in our world.

So I wonder if Will is the only one Vecna/Mind Flayer can possess like that, because they were already connected before the possession

Ok, in S3, the Mind Flayer takes a guy named William because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And then he uses him to build a monster that finds Eleven and takes her powers. So, maybe the 'wrong place, wrong time' is true, but the rest... is interesting. Jonathan says that they built Castle Byers the way Will drew it, and MindFlayer!Billy tells Billy to build what he sees. Also interesting that there are two Billies. It reminds me of If I go there will be trouble, and if I stay it will be double (different timelines, twin imagery, Henry and Edward, Richard and Martin. And Will and Eleven?)

So, my theory is that Will and El are more connected than it seems, and that's why Vecna needs Will. And maybe he is also using him to "build" his army, and make the UD spread? I don't know.

But for all these reasons, I think it would make more sense if Will wasn't just a random victim, or at least he's developed some ability.

Will has parallels with Cerebro (here) and Nancy says that the lights came to life when he was in the UD, a parallel to what Steve says in S3, (Let there be light) after Will senses the Mind Flayer for the first time at the mall. When he's watching a zombie movie. There's also that beautiful theory (I don't remember who posted it, sorry) about Will being connected to the light particles and using them to destroy the black particles of the Mind Flayer.

Light particles that look like fairy dust -> Will being called fairy. Lights that come to life -> a battery

I think I've found some big hint that this theory might be correct. Anyway, it seems that Will is connected to the very existence of the UD. Not saying he created it, but if lights came to life when he was there, maybe if they interrupt the connection, that place, whatever it is, will cease to exist.

[domini-porter]

Hello, as someone who is no writer but an avit reader of your stories I kind of have a question.

Have you got the plot all drafted out in your head before you start writing or does it come as you go? Cause to me it feels like extremely difficult to write towards something you don't know the ending of. But again not a writer but very curious how your mind works and comes up with these brilliant stories.

Hi hello!!!! Thank you for asking!!!

Short answer: it’s both!

Usually I have one strong image or scene or concept and go from there (Maura doing taxidermy in a fancy dress kicked off the whole thing, for example, or knowing I wanted to do something partly set in an asylum). As for the plots—my approach to how I write the books is kind of changing as I write more of them. The first couple were really me discovering what was happening in real time—sometimes it’s literally like I’m experiencing the story as a reader too, except in order to keep reading I have to type the words first, which probably doesn’t make sense. But it’s super-exciting!

Sometimes I’ll be cruising along and then a character will say something totally unexpected (to me) which sends things in new or different directions, or sets up a whole big story beat I really didn’t see coming. This happens to a lot of writers—it’s incredibly fun! An analogy (from a life-long West Coaster) might be surfing—you’re the one sort of controlling what you’re doing, but mainly you’re just trying to hang on while the ocean (ie, the world of the story that exists only in my head) determines exactly where you go and how fast.

I’m not a disciplined writer, in that I don’t keep notes or outlines or anything. I am disciplined in that the cohesion of each part of the (inevitably super-complex) story is the most important thing, so I constantly (constantly) re-read; by the time I’ve finished a chapter I’ve usually re-read everything up to that point at least once or twice, and the chapter itself way more than that (I write in the notes app so there’s probably more scrolling back up and re-reading than there is, like, writing).

I’m fortunate in that my brain simply maintains this entire universe at all times, like a movie playing in my head, so it’s more like transcription a lot of the time; also that I am both a (literally) compulsive writer and have a lot of time and space and support to do it. So I’m just allowed to spend 10-14 hours a day daydreaming or typing or staring blankly while I try to remember that word I like. I know how lucky I am for sure, but also that these books would be way way way harder to write, and probably less densely detailed and complex, if I wasn’t able to devote so much time to thinking about tiny little intricacies of the plot, or history, or characters.

But back to plots! Like I said a bunch of filler words ago—I don’t usually plan them out in great detail; they sort of just fall together, after I’ve set up enough little twists and Easter eggs. Or (more often) when I’ve laid out a bunch of things that sounded cool to me, and now they all have to make larger sense, because that’s how plots work. There have absolutely been times when I’ve inadvertently written myself into a corner, and it takes me a while to write myself out again. But I guess that’s part of the fun—it’s like putting together a puzzle, even if it’s one I cut myself.

All that said! For this latest one I actually sat down with my best friend/research assistant and talked through the entire plot, which I’ve never done before. I’m not sure if I like now being obliged to write a book where I already know the ending, but what good writerly discipline, I guess.

Ugh I dunno I feel like I did not answer this adequately. But I hope sort of? I mean the other part of it, the part that feels kind of shitty and secret, is I just . . . can do these things, and I really don’t think too much about how or why. But of course a lot of the how and the why is practice practice practice; it feels like these things come naturally because I’ve gravitated to writing and storytelling my whole life, and have been practicing for decades. I guess that’s the short, annoying answer that feels cheap but turns out is frustratingly correct: a brain that loves puzzles, and practice.

Anyway. Sorry for another wall of text that probably doesn’t even get there, but thank you again, sincerely, for asking! And for reading!!!

[sallysellsseashellssundays]

Disclaimer: This post is going to be Anti Moffat for anyone who’s reading and is a fan you’ve been warned.  

“The Wedding of River Song” is the thirteenth episode and aside from being a boring episode it was, unfortunately, also my least favorite season finale.

The Good: I haven’t watched Classic Who, but I do know the Brigadier is a very important person in the Doctor’s life and I saw his character in one of the episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Having his death in the show to reflect that of the actor’s was incredibly beautiful, and I liked that it seemed to be the moment the Doctor realized it was his time reminding me a lot of Ten and Wilf. The different settings where time is happening all at once looked really cool, and there were some funny jokes especially with Emperor Churchill.

The Bad: I think the reason I feel like I don’t know Amy and Rory that well is b/c instead of developing them as characters for two seasons now we keep getting fake/different versions of them, there’s always a plot twist of “oh actually that wasn’t the real version of them” and frankly it’s tiring. This finale felt like a rehashed poorly done version of previous concepts. All the “voices” saying they’ll help reminded me of everyone thinking of the Doctor at the end of S3, and the different realities reminded me of the end of S5. The Doctor leaving Dorium’s head again in that place was horrible, why not take him to his home or at least some fancy hotel? 

The River storyline being the absolute worst:  That comment about how River spends her days in prison and her nights with him was disgusting, if she didn’t really kill him why on earth is the Doctor making sure she’s serving time?? The fact that we’ve seen her slip in and out of prison easily so many times leads to the horrifying implication that the Doctor just takes her out whenever he pleases like she’s some sort of...idk but that was awful. I genuinely did go into Moffat’s era trying to keep an open mind when it came to her character b/c I was under the impression it was going to be an interesting love story with their timelines not matching. But this has fallen apart in the most horrible ways with everything regarding River seemingly being tacked on w/o any actual thought. How in the world did River convince Ten to trust her in the library? He said that she knew his name, but here he didn’t actually tell her his name...unless later he tells her to fulfill that paradox. But even then I really thought that he would grow to love her in his own way, but the way he treated her here was awful “I don’t want to marry you” and “you embarrass me”. The fact that she loves him when he acts like that with her is probably my least favorite thing Moffat could have ever done. On that same note River saying no one loves the Doctor more than her would feel far more impactful if we actually saw them interacting more in a healthy way, instead we’re just constantly told that they are going on trips and we’re to assume they enjoy spending time with each other when on screen I’ve never once gotten the sense that he actually cares for her. She wanted to rewrite time itself instead of killing him which I suppose I could understand her doing if they’d had a more believable love story, but her relationship with him seems more obsessive and toxic than anything. She knew them touching would cause time to move forward and fix itself, but she wouldn’t allow it until he married her essentially blackmailing him. And Eleven only marrying her to whisper his escape plan seemed horribly manipulative as well, it’s obvious it matters far more to her than him and for him to play into that obsession seems really dark. And I’m not even sure if that counts as their wedding if he didn’t tell her his name? I don’t know enough about the lore, but I was under the impression from the library episode that it was a requirement. 

The Unresolved: Apparently there’s a bigger story to tell with the Trenzalore stuff.

Overall I feel disappointed, I have now watched six series of DW and my biggest concern is that I was so unbelievably bored during this episode and several others in this series. The Doctor telling Churchill how everything played out felt like someone was reading the script out to me instead of me watching things play out on screen. I had a really rough time getting through these episodes, but I’m still staying optimistic that it was a dud and next series is better. I think the thing I feel the saddest about is that I don’t find myself loving the characters as much as I used to in the past, Amy has really grown on me, but even then I don’t feel the same attachment I do to the other companions I’ve seen.  

[noellevanious]

Hey so I  just finished TAZ: Amnesty, and I have a lot to say about it!

to summarize: I really liked Amnesty, actually! If I were to rate both Balance and Amnesty on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being perfect, Balance would be 8, and Amnesty would be 9. Also, spoilers (of course!) 

The Story - The Bureau of Balance vs. Amnesty Lodge and Sylvane 

So the biggest reason I like Amnesty more than I liked Balance: the story, IMO is just way better and more interesting.  

The pilot/pitch episode right after TAZ ended gave the series a serious Gravity Falls vibe (especially from that first season where it was episodic Monster stuff, it was almost exactly like “The McElroys Do Gravity Falls”), but there were definitely interesting tidbits (Duck’s entire character was excellent – more on that later), and as it went on and the world(s) were fleshed out, I think Griffin hit a really nice balance of ideas that were clearly based around existing concepts but with his own, interesting spin on everything. 

Obviously, this point is imbalanced (pun intended) for Balance – A goofy DND 5E session with a pre-made campaign, turning into arguably the most popular Actual Play fiction podcast in recent history, vs. 5 years later when the creators set out to intentionally make a story-rich plot-driven epic – but I still feel it’s a valid point. I’m not relistening to Balance any time soon, if ever, because I just was not interested in the plot at all.  

I like Taako, and I like the goofiness that occurs in TAZ, especially in the one-shots, but I just never got on-board with the story. It’s almost definitely personal preference, though, so if you enjoyed Balance’s story, I’m glad! But it just wasn’t interesting. The contrast of Justin/Travis/Clint doing their own thing and constantly killing people was a lot of fun and carried a lot of the episodes, especially later. Off the top of my head, I liked the following beats – the Davenport revelation, Taako’s entire story, and the Red Robe twist – but pretty much everything else bored me at best, actively annoyed me at worst (I DO NOT like Lup, see the NPC section). 

But in Amnesty, I was constantly at the very least intrigued, if not enjoying the experience, and I generally had no issues with the story’s set-up or pay-off, at least until things got a bit… weird near the end.  

Again, Balance was Griffin basically writing a story every episode, so I understand the story isn’t perfect, but Amnesty to me is the culmination of his talents as a fiction writer.  

There was always a sense of intrigue, the setting and plot were both very well contained, nothing felt like it contrasted too much. The city of Kepler is a charming city, all the additions made over time such as H2-Woah That Was Fun had the goofy and odd spin that kept a nice flow between the comedy and the tragedy, and NPCs like Indred, Billy, Momma, and Minerva felt original, engaging, and appealing. Perfect marks all around from me. 

At least, until the final arc, where things just kind of go a bit crazy. It seems like Griffin really can’t avoid wanting to do a Big Blow Out the Barn Every Loose End Tied Up Finale for his works, which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but came out of nowhere to me. The entire Aliens pitting Sylvane Citizens and Earth citizens against eachother in a Scorched Earth tactic to get rid of both populations makes sense but just comes completely out of nowhere to me. It does genuinely feel like Griffin heard Justin as Duck say “it’s aliens” and go “wait…. What if it was aliens?”, even though Sylvane had already been fleshed out a great deal, and there was a lot of potential and unexplored aspects of that world.  

All that that being said, Amnesty’s story over-all is great, and while Balance’s characters work better for one-offs (as I’ve said before, the best Balance episodes are all the live one-offs – if you can ignore the audience losing their mind because Merle read what the spell he’s using does), Amnesty’s story feels more compete and full.  

 

The Characters – or, the Excellence of Duck Newton 

This is the biggest damnation I have against Balance – I didn’t like a majority of the plot-relevant characters. At all. 

I’ll start with what I’m sure most people are interested of/mad at me for – as I mentioned earlier, I hate Lup. 

I don’t care what anybody else says. To me, Lup is just transfem Taako. I have no issue with the LGBT rep in the series, and appreciate Lup being transfem, but it just felt weird that, so far into the story, Griffin introduced Taako’s sister, who was basically just Taako, and then formed a romantic relationship between her and Barry Bluejeans without really developing it at all. The umbrella plot point was good, but that could’ve been done with literally anything. 

 It’s nothing I’ll lose sleep over, I just…. Don’t like it! It didn’t add anything to the story to me. If Lup was gone, Taako and the plot would have barely been affected, at least IMO.  

Taako is a great character, and Justin does a great job fleshing him out, making him feel real, fun, and creative. I’m not as big of a fan of Merle or Magnus (though I appreciate Travis’s commitment to Magnus’s core personality), but I still like them more than most any serious or important NPC outside of Davenport.  

The one-off NPCs that show up for a single arc, and maybe make another appearance later for fanservice, are fun. Garfield is fine. The kid that helps Taako save the universe is fun. But It’s really hard for me to articulate why I dislike every other NPC outside of that clash between the goofiness and Real Play aspect and the Narrative-heavy Seriousness, and just not being interested by them.  

Anyway, back to Amnesty – I enjoyed basically every single character. 

The Player Characters – Duck Newton, Ned Chicane, and Aubrey Little – were, IMO, muuuuch better than the entire cast of Balance.  

As a person that loves to rag on Travis, I actually didn’t mind his Aubrey – I’ve heard people take issue with her being bisexual and having a lot of Travis-isms, but to me, that’s almost kind of sweet – it’s like if Travis was a bisexual Pyromancer girl. Her personality felt solid, she was enjoyable, she didn’t do anything that made me feel like Travis was just pandering, he did a good job! Would’ve loved to see more of Dr. Harris Bonkers, but small potatoes. 

Same with Ned Chicane – Contrasted against Merle, it’s no contest. I never liked the half-bit half-real thing where Merle’s entire gimmick is he’s bad at what he does. It’s not interesting, it’s annoying and creates this weird feedback loop where, if he does anything right, it apparently deserves a 5 minute applaud break or mocking by Justin. Those always grind the episode to a halt and they happen CONSTANTLY.  

But in Amnesty, Clint does a GREAT job with his characters. I think Ned is very interesting and appealing – a Con-artist that’s genuinely kind of a shithead, who’s trying to do right but has let his past control him too much, and his death is one of the more powerful moments of the series to me. Now, maybe I missed an episode or something, but it  also felt very sudden, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if Aubrey didn’t literally bring another character back from the dead earlier in the series, but even so, it’s a fitting, melancholic end to a character that, in a way, had gone too far off the deep end. It was really well done.  

After that Clint does an EVEN better job as Thacker. He was just excellent, I enjoyed every scene Thacker was in. 

And, of course, the star of the show to me, Duck Newton.  

Justin has proven that he’s easily one of the best, and funniest, actors and personalities on the internet, at least to me. Somehow, he went from Taako, a narcissistic, pacifist gay elf wizard, to a goofy forest ranger that’s awful at lying, and excelled at embodying both characters. Duck was my favorite character in Amnesty. He added so much to the levity, his bits with being awful at lying were always incredibly funny, he was just awesome. His story of being a Chosen one that doesn’t Want to be chosen was a bold choice, I loved his dynamic with Minerva and Beacon, everything was 10/10.   

Getting to the Amnesty NPCs – Everything was great about them! I can’t think of a single NPC I took issue with or groaned whenever they started talking. They all contributed to the plot, they all had their own reasoning, and characters that didn’t get a lot of develop Griffin explained – the players just didn’t interact with them much, so it’s understandable, not necessarily a flaw. 

 

The other stuff  

So I don’t end up typing another 1000 words, I’ll just run through some other points that jump to my mind about Amnesty. 

Didn’t like all the sudden relationships after the finale. Aubrey’s could’ve used a bit more developing, it felt like they crushed on eachother, halfway through they kissed, and then suddenly they’re dating at the end was bleh. Duck and Minerva make sense, but I don’t think it’s necessary to have EVERY character fall into a romantic relationship, especially after the same thing happened in Balance. They just seemed like unlikely allies, which was fine. 

I really enjoyed the contrast in Actual play, how in TAZ it feels like every story is “These three overpowered doofuses cause chaos, kill whoever they want, and literally can’t die”, and then in Amnesty, “these three charming idiots can do nothing properly, and it’s insanely lucky that they even killed the abominations”. 

I really like the music in Amnesty, the main theme is really charming, it sounds like a song off of an original trilogy Spyro game. 

Monster of the Week seems like a fun TTRPG, but I don’t think it worked well for the story. It wasn’t bad enough to impact my experience, but…. It DID feel like Griffin had to do a LOT to make sure they didn’t die during every single abomination encounter (and hell, the PCs literally did NOTHING to stop that last abomination causing the final arc). 

Conclusion 

Amnesty is great. If you want a good story with a bit of actual play TTRPG charm, I’d recommend listening to it before Balance. Balance is a classic and will go down in TTRPG podcast history, but I think Amnesty is WAY more deserving of the adaptations and TTRPG game (it’s still fucking wild that Balance is getting that, by the way). 

Thank you! 

[papirouge]

i am afraid asking this is going to come off as “what aboutism”/calling out but full disclosure this is not my intention! it’s genuine confusion on my part. i agree that we shouldn’t look for christian messaging in secular media when it’s clearly not intended to be there. however, don’t you watch and consume secular content since you reblog it? do you just enjoy it and ask God if it’s okay and to protect you from any bad intentions it might contain? because as proven with The Chosen and Narnia, even content made by Christians can be questionable (it’s a kinder word because I don’t want to go OT lol). i’m just confused because while i understand we as Christians shouldn’t not be part of the world, is the line we cross is only when we become obsessed with secular media that we forget about God? consuming media as a hobby is definitely doing that and i wish Christians would get that when they make fandom accounts and engage in problematic behavior like looking for Christian messaging to make themselves feel better, especially when said stuff is intended to turn us away from God by showcasing sin as something admirable. do you find that consuming secular media here and there as long as God doesn’t give you a sign that it’s not what He approves of and you are not blinded by the messaging is what is okay? i know He speaks to us differently, so i’m curious what do you think He has said to you about your interests?

hopefully this is all makes sense. God bless you and your blog!

"don't you watch and consume secular media since you watch it?”

Nope, because don't have TV, Netflix or any streaming service 👀

I very seldomly watch movie. I don't play video games but YouTube walkthrough are very handy way to see what a game is really about to make an educated take on it. But when I do, it's only a one timer, and I don't engage in fandoming and shit like that. For a matter of fact, I'm extremely interested in the Five Nights At Freddy lore because there are a bunch of plot elements & subliminals pointing towards the pro life fight and calling out (ritual) child sacrifice (Scott Cawthon the creator of the game denied it ofc he's not stupid - he got canceled for being a registered Republican so I can't imagine if publicly he admitted being pro life lol). That being said, I'm not stupid to the point of going to watch the movie adaptation (a horror movie). And more importantly, I'm not posting FNAF shit everyday saying the lore is aKtcHualLy about God....🙄 See the difference? There's a fine line between entertaining stuff for objective interest....and full on entertaining evil.

If anything, it's not Christians watching secular media making me 'irk', but rather them desperately trying to shoehorn Christian theme into it. Not every secular activity is evil (there's nothing wrong doing sports, playings or reading newspaper - for example I LOVE watching documentaries), but projecting God into stuff that's absolutely nothing to do with holiness is very twisted. I also don't understand the concept of shoving Christianism into medias openly promoting paganism and middle eastern religions such a Star Wars...

Mind you, they are the same one complaining about how everything is too woke but somehow they'll never stop watching the same shows and streaming on the same website pushing for that trash. That's the cognitive dissonance for me...

I definitely think that God can show us that things are definitely not done for us, but this warning can also come in the form of other Christians. I myself super glad I stumbled upon videos from Christians warning against horror movie, worldly music, braids, make up, head covering, etc. Jesus isn't going to appear to you to tell what to do or not to do - he may also use actual Christians (his body) to lead you to the right way.

God speaks to us differently but He will not contradict Himself. He won't say to every Christians to not entertain foreign gods, wear the veil, and not wear makeup....and then allow Western Christians to see movies glorifying paganism, wear make up and whatnot.

The snowflake complex of western Christians is really annoying.

[owlixx]

CoD Notes: Ghosts Beat

Yep, another whole game start to finish since my last notes.

Going in, I wanted to like this game. I was hoping it would be a real hidden gem. I knew this game had a bad reputation but a few staunch defenders and I was ready to keep my mind open. I ended up tolerating the game and agreeing that it is underrated, but I’m not head over heels for it.

Positives: I like the graphics, the feel of the guns, the UI. I like the idea of a story about a future war where the US is an underdog. I liked the space stuff and more sci fi elements. I liked playing as one character from start to finish and being told an actual story.

Negatives: first thing I noticed was no hot markers in the campaign. I prefer having them. Actually even before that was the bizarre opening cutscene where the Ghosts are first explained to be a military team who one time hid under some dead bodies and killed all but one guy who said they must be “ghosts”. No relation to Simon Riley Ghost aside from the name of the dog which seems bizarre. The next thing I noticed was how boring and samey a lot of the guns are. Half the guns that drop are the SCA and SA or something like that and I can’t tell them apart.

More negatives: The main thing wrong with this game for me personally is the nothing-plot combined with the goofy tryhard writing. Making the villain faction “all of South America banding together” seems odd but I’d have rather focused on that rather than focus so heavily on a guy who used to be a Ghost being the main villain. Rorke sucks as a character because the writers clearly want him to emulate villains they’ve seen in other, better fiction before but have no idea what makes him tick or what his motivations are. He seems to be upset that Elias dropped him, but any stereotypical military leader (as Rorke seemed to be in that flashback mission) would’ve told their squad to do the same thing. But that’s not the real issue. The issue is that he ALSO got supposedly tortured and brainwashed by the South American military offscreen and with zero proof of work of exploration of this concept. Which one is it? Is he brainwashed or betrayed? It would’ve been an amazing twist to have him reveal that they never did torture him, he just went along with all this of his own volition. But that would’ve ruined the other twist of our player character being teased at getting brainwashed right at the end, which is hilarious now knowing this game will never get a sequel.

More bad writing: it’s so funny that IW wanted to tell a more personal story this time but still didn’t want to make the player character speak or visible or do anything interesting, so they gave us a brother so that somebody here would actually be able to be seen interacting with our dad. It’s not a terrible way to accomplish what they were going for but it has the side effect of putting up a mirror and showing that there’s nothing in our reflection, so to speak. It’s one thing to have a silent player avatar in isolation but with our brother there, it makes our character feel weirdly mute by contrast.

The worst writing: the worst of it though is everything relating to the Ghosts. Maybe this is just because I had a mission crash and had to rewatch this one cutscene like four times, but the perfect example of this is the cutscene where Hesh (I think) talks about how “I’ve seen soldiers bury their dead before, but not like this”. BROOOOOO calm DOOWWWN. We are told that everything the Ghosts do is cool and good and awesome but then they just die and get captured like any other character. There’s literally nothing special about them. Rorke is obsessed with killing all the Ghosts but that’s just because they used to be his coworkers. That’s the only thing special about them. And the twist that our dad is the leader is painfully obvious because he won’t shut up about how cool and totally real they are. There is zero significance or weight to the player and our brother becoming Ghosts. They didn’t even have a little ceremony or anything.

Anyways, the last big negatives are the glitches and the signposting. I had a mission hard crash and make me start from the start of the whole level which isn’t a dealbreaker but isn’t great and hasn’t happened before. Then also I had to restart a checkpoint once because the helicopter I had to kill wouldn’t spawn in even though I could hear it and wandered the whole map trying to get it to trigger. And by “signposting”, I just mean that I got lost in this game more than any other CoD because of the lack of objective markers. They still have those tacky golden glowing objects to interact with though.

I did a tiny amount of multiplayer. Got the castle map, which I remember from being a kid but it was far too big to have any fun on. The whole “squad” concept is fascinating but ultimately feels a little flat. Why do I need 10 soldiers if the customization isn’t that deep? I am kind of happy to see currency return from BO1 but with contextual camo challenges that DONT require a million headshots before you can even start working on the rest, which I think even the later BO3 suffers from. “Field orders” are a fascinating weird addition that I think only make sense against bots, but also I love that bot matches can grant XP since it’s hard to find a regular match now. I just wish they had a separate set of challenges for facing bots.

Also played a little of extinction, including the DLC1 map that I had to get as part of the “gold edition”. Its…fine. I do appreciate them trying something new, and introducing meta progression. I would’ve played plenty as a kid but now it just lacks the nostalgia factor of other classic Treyarch zombies stuff, and it seems like an uphill battle for solo players. The DLC1 initial boss fight destroyed me and my one online companion which seemed unfair. I do also like the idea of the random challenges on each hive but they seem a little unbalanced.

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

YEA indus catching them and throwing yao out... go queen! keep your child away from bad influences (even if it fails and your child is a terrible influence himself) also OF COURSE aditya begins lying to continue hanging out with yao lmaoo though idk how much indus knows about this because parents have an uncanny ability to Sense lies Iike these... aditya i hope your plots are airtight! it'll only take one change in indus' schedule for your plans to be discovered otherwise! and then she will be SO MAD oh my god

nyo china's neighbours must hate her lmao.. their impression of her is like "woman who is never home and has a feral brat who hangs out with other feral brats" which is so bad for neighbourly harmony 😭 and YES she would like india! indchu are so similar.. together they're a bit loud but that's nothing that soundproof walls and headphones (that also muffle the noise of the destruction they cause) can't fix!

nyo china's first solution to anything is to chuck money at it lmao this is what happens when you a) are too lazy to convince people to bow to your will in any other way b) have too much money on your hands 😔

and YES your reason for why they like each other is spot on!! i think that out of all chinas (1p, 2p, nyos) nyo china is the worst parent because her morals are nonexistent AND she's the most checked out? like she's very focused on herself and her wants/needs and her inner world which doesn't bode well for child-rearing lmao.. so a hyperindependent brat who only needs money and a superlative education, both things she would want for herself and her children? perfect. they both get to have fun and do what they want, to the detriment of everyone around them. a functional dysfunctional family dynamic. but also can you imagine them at extended family reunions lmao like. yao is such a brat but aside from the utter lack of qualms and morals and respect he's literally a 别人家的孩子 can you imagine how jealous and angry all the aunties are going to get? also he's going to cause a giant scene and it's going to be gossip forever and ever but nyo china isn't going to care because he's still top of the class

also do you think that after a few years the teacher just gives up like the third year of parent teacher meetings there's just no more mention of behaviour like "yeah his grades have been consistently excellent and he won three spelling bees plus a regional art competition now get out of my sight both of you"

YEAH Indus would totally be someone who’s extra-sensitive to Child Lies lol. She quickly notices Aditya’s change of heart and almost thinks it’s sincere.... but there’s something rather fishy about it.... hmm....... she doesn’t have enough evidence to prove he’s lying, just little flashes of suspicious activity, but. when she finds out what he’s actually doing it’s going to be WILD (she seriously entertains the thought of writing a letter to his teacher asking them for advice on how to train this problematic streak out of him lol)

And fffff I would hate her too lol do they live in an apartment or house? Either way it’s chaos. I feel like nyo china has enough money to buy a separate house and stop annoying her neighbors, if only a little, but she doesn’t want to go to the trouble ��� “there’s nothing wrong with the apartment! I might need to get a storage unit for all the things I collected on business trips though, but the apartment is fine for human beings!” and yeah moneybags lol just give gifts to your neighbors to appease them (she’s also very attentive to neighborhood gossip so she knows exactly what each of them like lol, plus she has the connections to get all of it). Problem solved. (bonus that she hands out fistfuls of red packets to the other kids at lunar new years, so all the kids like her even if their parents have a love-hate relationship with her lol)

I WILL DIE he is 100% a 别人家的孩子 (but also 90% of him is a 熊孩子) I hate him so much for that oh my god. UHGHGHHG everyone and their mother whispers about this smartass, rulebreaking, back-talking, “my way or the highway” kid, day in and day out, as well as his rather anti-social moneybag caretaker. He will be the talk of the town (or at least the very large extended family) for the rest of his school days and probably even after that. Think about how much all the other kids envy him 😭😭 their parents tell them they should follow Yao’s example, but when they point out that Yao is literally a feral delinquent the parents just say “you should follow his example in the things he’s a model at, not in things he does badly” sksksksk. And yeah they are a functionally dysfunctional family lol; they think they’re just vibing with each other but actually they’re causing the world to burn, they just don’t know it :)

Also that’s exactly what I was thinking lol. I don’t know if y’all switch teachers from grade to grade (at my school we did) or not but if not, 100% yes at the scenario you described. If Yao gets a new teacher each year, his previous teacher always makes sure to tell the new one not to even try reforming him lol. There’s a little note in his file that says “not worth the effort” and he becomes the most hated legend in the teacher’s break room. All the teachers sympathize with whoever has him this year and the teacher’s who’ve had Yao form a little club to complain about him. They have a welcome party every year for the next teacher to have that headache of a child :)

(Bonus entertaining plot twist: a random substitute teacher who came in once to fill in earns Yao’s respect by arguing with him in front of the entire class instead of telling him to be quiet when he objects to some mundane instructions. The sub outlogics him (somehow) and finally Yao thinks he has found an adult who’s not insufferable. He also gives the kids lollipops, which might be another part of why Yao likes him, and when the sub manages to land a job at the school, Yao asks nyo China to bribe the school into getting him as Yao’s teacher. His problematic streak slowly decreases, but he’s still got most of his spirit. The sub also gets introduced to Aditya and Iran, and they make fast friends. The other teachers are jealous of the young 20-something sub who tamed the feral child nobody else could.)

[baku-bowl]

broke 1,000 followers (the fuck? I don't even make content people), so decided to write up a list of some (but not all, I'll make other lists later) of my favorite Bakugou-centric fic recs. my tastes run towards hurt/comfort, as you'll probably figure from the list. if there are some Baku-centric fics that you've enjoyed that aren't on here, please add them - this is definitely not a complete list of the ones I've read and love, but I'm always up for some recs. <3

fair warning, most of these are wips.

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

Social Media 101 by WindsChild8178

Part 1: Survival Guide to Fucking Up

[Solely Bakugou’s point of view]

Katsuki Bakugou doesn’t have a gentle bone in his body. He’s aggressive in everything he does and does everything with 100% of his heart in it. After the Sport’s Festival, Katsuki starts to get harassed by strangers for his unheroic demeanor. It starts with letters but it doesn’t end there. The moment Katsuki realizes the harassment has entered dangerous territory and he needs to tell someone, it’s already too late.

Part 2: Post Traumatic Life Disorder

[Point of View opens up to Bakugou, teachers and classmates]

When the Dorms are finally built, everyone is settling in well, but things become tense as people begin to realize something isn’t right with the recently rescued Bakugou.

[Cannon compliant right up to after the License Exam]

hands down my favorite fic in the fandom right now. it’s the one that converted me into a Bakugou lover. if you have any fondness for Bakugou as a character then it’s likely you’ve read this one already, but if not, I can’t recommend it enough. incredibly depressing, but with the hope that comfort is coming soon in the next few chapters.

The Kids Will Be Alright, Eventually by NotWithThatAttitude

Bakugou is spiraling in the aftermath of Kamino and his friends are starting to notice. He's stubborn, aggressively independent, and less than willing to dig into his past, but after a breakdown that ends with a painful secret revealed, he starts to get help.

Whether he likes it or not.

Meanwhile, a new kind of villain threatens an uneasy peace following the loss of Allmight. Whispers build as a new narrative slowly takes shape:

Hero society needs to change.

Feat. Therapy, Dadzawa, best boy Kirishima, dysfunctional families, healing, growing up, and the mortifying ordeal of being known

guys.. the medical accuracy of this fic is just... *chef’s kiss*

I rarely see mental health genuinely handled well in fics, but this one goes above and beyond. kudos to the author for doing such excellent research into psychology, and making the application of it in here not-boring. also, while this one does have abusive!Mitsuki, it’s done in a way that feels realistic, and how I usually will see it occur in real life, rather than just for the hurt/comfort feels.

fair warning, the fic can be incredibly triggering (themes of severe depression, PTSD, panic attacks, rape survival, abuse survival, suicidal ideation/attempted suicide, among other things), so be safe and heed the tw’s if you decide to read. legitimately one of my Top Favorite fics in this fandom.

Lock and Key by autochorystalize

Bakugou made a choked, gravelly noise before croaking out a low, “You can’t be serious.” His fingers ached to blow up everything in the room.

“I’m sorry, young man, but you can’t change reality! This sometimes happens.” Recovery Girl clicked through his file, adding a new symbol in a previously empty slot.

- - -

A pair of eyes discreetly locked on to an explosive blond plowing his way forward, parting people in his path. He recognized the kid, of course. Anyone in the underbelly of society would recognize him, after the publicity of both UA’s Sports Festival and the events leading up to All Might’s fall. The uniform he was wearing cast away any doubts about the young man’s identity.

It was a bit of a surprise that the little firecracker presented as an omega.

- - - - - - - - -

Or: there are certain types of evil that seemed too distant, archaic violations and perversions that would never actually threaten bright-eyed heroes-in-training in the clean, modern world...but sometimes those evils aren't as distant as one might think.

remember when I said that I love a/b/o fics that are full of plot and world-building and gender-induced tension? that’s this one. the OC’s are fabulous and you love to hate ‘em. also, it’s the fic that made me fall head-over-heels for the TodoBaku dynamic, so it’s got a special place in my cold, dead heart. 

be warned, there are rather explicit non-con scenes between an adult (OC) and a minor (Bakugou) in this one, but the author warns for them in advance, and you could likely skip those parts without missing too much if you need to.

Never and Always, Eventually by Wawa_Boonliang

"Katsuki can remember the exact moment that he and Deku…that he and Midoriya Izuku became friends. He can also remember the moment he and Izuku became fierce rivals, a time when they were almost enemies.

However, what he remembers most clearly about their relationship is the moment that they moved passed rivals and became something more close than mere friends. Something more like brotherhood, something forged in fire and secured in the middle of a battlefield or in the midst of natural disaster where the number of the dead was climbing ever higher. And then it was torn from him."

Katsuki is given a second chance. A chance to save everyone. A chance to change everything.

But should he?

y’all. I’m a slutty, slutty whore for time travel fics. a time travel fic with autistic!coded Bakugou? it was love at first read.

Lessons Learned by Sif (Rosae)

Rather than the police station, Katsuki's friends bring him to a hospital after rescuing him from the villains. His wounds were minor, but it didn't make having them treated any less important. As it would so happen, Best Jeanist was also brought to this hospital after the attack.

Sometimes, small choices have a big impact on how a story plays out.

classic Bakugou hurt/comfort. this fic opened me up to the potential that could be a genuinely good Best Jeanist & Katsuki mentor-mentee relationship, and I kind of dig it and search ravenously for it in other fics now. I’m also a huge fan of the behind-the-scences Pro Hero Chat group.

Slope by sunfleurmoon

“I’m not a hero. Or a good person,” Katsuki says, giving Aizawa a pointed look, “So leave me alone. I don’t care about the League or UA, or you—” The two years he’s been away have been fine, more than fine, fucking fantastic actually if you ignore the bi-monthly near-death experiences. He doesn’t need this place. He doesn’t miss this place.

And yet, longing, a childish desire to tear up, or maybe blow something to bits, they all twist in his chest like a band of traitors regardless. “—I just want to go home.”

Or: the one where Katsuki and Izuku fail the first term exam, Aizawa discovers their pasts, and Katsuki is booted from UA. Featuring questionable descriptions of villain organizations, a slightly illegal moving shop, and your favorite emotionally constipated badass in distress with a newly discovered penchant for collecting strays.

paaaaaaiiiiiiiin. the hurt is ALIVE in this one. lots of tortured, angsty exploding child goodness. the OC’s are excellently crafted, and the Bakugou & Eri relationship? beautiful. definitely deserves a read.

Ground Zero by WindsChild8178

In the wake of Kamino, Katsuki is tested more than anyone could imagine. Bound by a villain’s quirk to keep his silence or die, he lives each day knowing it might very well be his last. He continues to work towards becoming a hero, keeping his secret from his classmates and teachers, focusing on making it through each day and trying not to allow the panic or depression to get the best of him. When the villain finally corners him with demands in exchange for his life, there is really only one answer Katsuki Bakugou can give.

honestly don't know which I want updated more - social media 101 or ground zero. this author's fics are amazing, and I really wasn't expecting the twist in this one. can't wait for windschild to come back to this fic some day.

The Defect by LadyGreenFrisbee

"Why do you want to win the Sports Festival so badly?" 

Because I want to see if the defect could usurp the masterpiece.

(In which Endeavor holds a terrible secret and Bakugo has to suffer since childhood for it.)

a great concept, and I adore the shouto and Katsuki sibling interaction here. hoping the author will come back to this one some day.

A Name That You'll Remember by Heronfem

Kirishima Eijirou is a Hero. Bakugou Katsuki... is not. Trapped in his toxic workplace and increasingly desperate to get out, Red Riot's days are only brightened by a new villain known as Caution, who's not exactly villainous and keeps accidentally doing good deeds. But when a real villain appears, a threat from the past that demands that Red Riot make the ultimate sacrifice to keep the public safe, Bakugou is forced into saving the day... and eventually, Red Riot himself.

sob story good guy villains are my weakness, this fic is a gem, and I'd kill for the sequel.

Our Hero by AnonymousTwit

He felt everything jerk to the side and throw his balance off before he saw anything, dust clouding his vision and irritating his lungs as the earth itself opened up to swallow them whole. For a single moment, in a millisecond's time, his wild eyes locked with Raccoon Eyes', hers alight with fear and adrenaline-fueled desperation. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that it was the first time she'd looked at him with something other than long-deserved hatred in days.

And then he was free falling.

Or

After a particularly nasty encounter between childhood friends, the class learns about Bakugou and Midoriya's dark history and practically ostracizes Bakugou while trying to defend Midoriya. An earthquake during an outing has all sides regretting their decisions.

just fucking tear apart my self-sacrificing faves in every way imaginable while their loved ones watch on in terror. 💖🥰💖 this one is heavy on the Bakusquad and Class-1A feels, and VERY heavy on the Mina & Bakugou relationship (platonic).

Running back the tape, watching it replay by Faralyne

For someone ripped from their time, ripped from the few but strong relationships built by time and personal development, by self-reflection and swallowed pride, ripped from the one thing that made him feel worthwhile and needed and put-together, and forced to forge everything over again—Katsuki thinks he is handling it pretty fucking well.

Or

A villain’s quirk sends a 29-year-old Bakugou back in time to his middle school days.

am I a sucker for time travel? yes. am I a sucker for vigilante!bakugou? also yes. am I a sucker for this fic? literally refreshing the page in wait for an update as we speak.

Liability by sandelf

After All-Might dies rescuing Bakugou from the League, Bakugou is determined to prove it wasn't for nothing.

But the world is against him, his grief is overwhelming, and his stability is splitting at the edges.

very self-indulgent bakugou angst. tw for harassment, severe depression, and suicidality.

Special Mentions:

How To Win The Sport Festival: A Step By Step Guide by mhwright

Short re-imagining of the Sports Festival Arc if Shinso had planned a little better and worked a little harder to win the Sports Festival and if the match-ups had been slightly different. Self-indulgent fic of watching him succeed.

this is completely Shinsou-centric, not Bakugou-centric, but I love and adore it and am dying for a sequel. Shinsou is Best Boy here and you'll be rooting for him the whole time.

[oswinsdolma]

Yes, it's nearly 2.00am (because that's apparently the only time I have inspiration to write essays) but I've been thinking a lot about this lately and wanted to get it off my chest, so here you go:

The main goal of Merlin becomes disturbingly fractured along the way, which opens up the gaps for the prophecy to seep through instead of following the expected channels, but it can essentially be boiled down to three key elements 1) build albion; 2) decriminalise magic and 3) save Arthur, but when all is said and done, we never really see any of those objectives achieved.

Now, there are a few reasons for this, both from a writing perspective and a plot perspective. The first, and one of the most obvious, is that this show loves irony. I won't go into a lot of detail here because I've already written a whole ass essay in this very subject, but in a nutshell, you can look at this from two perspectives: firstly, it's important to establish that this technique is purely about the angst: it's the writers' way of provoking a reaction from an anguished audience, but it's foreshadowed just enough to make it more painful than it is shocking. Alternatively, there is the more plot motivated irony in that it genuinely makes a good story. Irony is a technique that has been used for thousands of years, not just because it provokes a reaction from the audience, but because it allows you to explore your characters in greater detail than before, riddling them with hidden juxtapositions and internal conflicts that are never resolved quite in the way you expect. The irony in Merlin is the epitome of this, with the whole motif of Arthur needing to die for his reign to begin. It is a classic example of the simultaneous despair and hope that mocks you from the shadows.

Following this, there is another force at play that deals with half truths and seemingly imperfect contradictions, and that's prophecy. It's not really a secret that I have very strong feelings about prophecy and its effects on all the characters, Merlin in particular, and the fact that fate and destiny are such key themes in Merlin both makes perfect sense and wants me to smash my head into a brick wall. Prophecies are another common trope that often go hand in hand with irony (think Oedipus Rex, Macbeth, The Iliad, all that doomed hero shit that I inexplicably adore), the key to their influence over the plot often lying in how they usually come true in the most unexpected of ways. This links back to that initial theme of irony, but this isn't what makes me angry: what is infuriating is that prophecies tend to come true, no matter what, and most of the characters seem not only to know this, but to let it take their autonomy over their respective fates, driving them to disaster.

Let me elaborate: especially in season five (I'm assuming just for the added fall at the end), Merlin talks a lot about how "one day, things will be different". He tells sorcerers that one day they won't have to hide. That one day, they won't have to live in fear of who they are and what others think of them. And Merlin is right: while it is not explicitly stated, it's generally established that this is one of the things Merlin should actively be working towards. But here's the kick: except for a few specific circumstances, when has Merlin ever actively tried to change Arthur's mind about magic? Yes, he has taken a few opportunities, like with Dragoon saving Uther's life, or with the Dolma's final request, where he has encouraged Arthur to rethink his choices, but otherwise, his support has been lukewarm at best. Instead, his primary concern was always saving Arthur, so he can become the king the magical world hoped he'd be, but he left out a crucial part, trusting in the prophecy to fill in the gaps. He knew it would come true, but it was, almost predictably, in the one way he never dared to expect.

And in a twisted way, there's that thread of irony again: Merlin thought he was saving Arthur so he could one day become the king who would see magic as a force for good, but instead, he created someone who was merely a survivor. It was Kilgharrah who said it first, and he who would mention it last: they are two sides of the same coin. But as willing as Merlin was to give his life for Arthur, and vice versa, he was never really ready to give him his mind.

Another interesting thing to note is Merlin's fixation on the "Saving Arthur" lens of the prophecy over the "Restoring Magic" part. Now, there are a ton of ways you can look at this, depending on how far along the scale of Queer Analysis you are, so I'm going to try and address a couple. At one end of the scale, you have the fairly simple and very believable "merthur" take. This basically boils down to the fact that Merlin and Arthur may or may not be deeply in love with one another, and that drowns out any voice of reason that may unfold. This is actually fairly canon compliant, particularly looking at incidents such as the Disir, when Merlin chooses Arthur over his and his people's freedom, though that choice was clearly, in hindsight, misadvised.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is the idea that it is the work of Kilgharrah, Gaius and other responsible figures in Merlin's life when he was new to his role in destiny, who reiterated at every occasion that Arthur must be protected at all costs. This may have ingrained into Merlin's thoughts and influenced his decisions from here on out.

Between those two points, there is a grey area, and I am of the personal opinion that neither extreme entirely satisfies the situation. For me, I think the characters in question are far too complex to have such simple motivations, and that the true reason lies somewhere between the two: Merlin undoubtedly cares for Arthur, and while at the start, his actions in protacting Arthur may have been driven by other (largely superficial) motives, over time, their mutual affection blossomed to the point where certainly the more personal quests were motivated not by need, but by love. However, there is a divide here, and while the line in the sand smudges from time to time, it never really disappears: a lot of instances in which Merlin is trying to help Arthur are entirely overshadowed by destiny, and in time, Merlin comes to accept that Arthur and Destiny are, in fact, one and the same, and this is where that ever-present tragedy lies. For all he truth in here, Merlin doesn't get everything quite right: he sees Arthur as a balance that needs to be protected, without fully realising that he doesn't just have to keep the sides of his equation in equilibrium, but he actually has to start solving them if he wants them to endure.

Having just said all that, sometimes I decide to fuck over complexity for a few hours purely because I am a shameless merthur hoe.

Also, can you take a moment to please note that this last section is highly subjective and it is completely up to you as to what you decide!! This is just my opinion and you're welcome to agree or disagree at any point.

So, aside from the Angst Factor™ and twisted character development, why was the main goal never fulfilled? Unfortunately, that is a question far cleverer people than me can only speculate, as the writers alone know the answers, but I'm going to give my opinion a shot. Honestly, there is something beautifullly poetic about something that never ends, or ends when there could be something more. Humanity has struggled with endings-and beginnings- since it learned truly how to think, because that kind of finality, that inkling that there might have been nothing before and after something else is incomprehensible. In leaving Merlin in a place where the next point was uncertain, the writers left the story open for us. In depriving us of that catharsis, they effectively made sure that the story would never be over, not until we want it to be. And yes, it was painful. I can't think of an ending that was more heartbreaking than that curious mixture of closures and openings all at the same time (hell, I could write a whole essay based on this concept alone!), but it was also a gift, ironically like that of the prophecy itself in that we can choose what we want to do with it, safe in the knowledge that there will be a happy ending again, one day.

In summary, we might not be left with catharsis in the way we wanted. We might not have got the happy ending that could also have stretched on and on indefinitely. But we were left with something else, something equally beautiful as closure, but in the complete opposite way. Amongst the remains of allwe had hoped to build, Merlin left us hope.

[clumsy-hood]

obey me! demon brothers + realizing they’re in love with mc

prompt: the order in which the brothers would realize they are in love with mc (sooner → later).

word count: 1,277

a/n: i know i said this in an earlier post, but the goal going forward will be to (hopefully) post my writing—commissions included—on weekends. i have quite a few concepts and rough drafts sitting in my notes that i still need to finish writing and editing. so far, it’s just a matter of finding the time to actually do it. but if anyone has any prompt lists they want to throw my way too, i’m open to finding additional inspiration!

1 → Mammon

Outwardly, yes, it would take him a while to drop the instant denial front he constantly threw up whenever someone accused him of having feelings for you. But inside? He knew he wanted to spend as much time with you as he possibly could and shower you with gifts he’d try to save up for or earn. And if it was possible to get a matching gift, then he’d splurge a little extra because it meant something more connected you to one another and was a special thing shared between you—and ONLY you two. Hell, with your permission, he even left the occasional t-shirt or jacket in your room—and even secretly stashed his toothbrush in your bathroom due to passing out after too many late-night movie marathons. Sure, his brothers’ constant teasing annoyed him to no end, but even Mammon couldn’t deny he was greedy for your time. He loved you so soon and suddenly, wanting to hold your hand and never let you go. 

2 → Asmo: 

Without a doubt, Asmo knew he was attracted to you from the moment he laid eyes on you—although it wasn’t your physical beauty that snared him but rather the aura you exuded. Of course, the physical attraction was undeniable to him as well so he couldn’t help the showering of compliments that rained from his lips; he is, after all, the Avatar of Lust, and actions such as those were completely second nature to him. It started with the lingering touches, though, when he realized something was amiss this time. His skin warmed unnaturally wherever your brushed against his—even if for just a moment—and lingered on him throughout the day. It never truly hit him until he’d regularly seek out your company for seemingly platonic or romantic reasons—without desiring any future sexual gratification. Obviously, those thoughts occupied his mind and the flirting with you never ceased—unless you asked him to, of course—but after centuries of experiencing lust and adoration, love consumed his heart, and he merely wanted you to feel the same for him in return. 

3 → Satan: 

With all his knowledge of fictional romance in TV shows and books, Satan was convinced he would truly know a romantic love—if he were able to experience it—by the excitement and explosive emotions it carried. However, he was quick to discover it was quite the opposite with you: The rage he carefully concealed with polite smiles and intellect was blanketed in warmth and peace whenever you were around. It was a sudden shock to him, the first time he realized he wasn’t consumed with anger, and all because he was in your presence. The demon regularly sought your company, adoring your attention—whether it was listening to him discuss the plot twist in a mystery novel he was reading or showing you his favorite spots in Devildom he never shared with his brothers. He was never in denial about his emotions for you; all he knew was that a human saw kindness and good in him, and he wanted to prove—at least to himself—he was worthy of such good. 

4 → Lucifer: 

It wasn’t so much that Lucifer would ever be in denial of these feelings—once he’d realized he was in love with you, it was like every nerve was set on fire—but rather he was concerned hi emotions would compromise Diavolo’s goals. Every moment you spent laughing and smiling with his brothers rather than with him left the demon frustrated and hopelessly hollow believing he couldn’t keep you as close as he’d like. Even the slightest graze from you, however platonic or intentional, left the spot blazing from your touch. You were meant to drive him crazy in the worst possible ways and yet all the traits he wanted to despise were only found endearing. Your stubbornness, your kindness, and your curiosity—all attributes that should have maddened him to no end, he noticed, came from a place of love as well. The demon may struggle to consider a human to be his equal, but he’ll never question his love of your presence, your smile, your touch, your damn—well—everything. And as much as he wouldn’t want to jeopardize Diavolo’s plan, loving you makes him doubt every other thing. 

5 → Belphie: 

Even if his hatred towards human quickly faded upon the discoveries of Lilith and her connection to you, opening himself up to the idea of being in love with you was a genuinely jarring concept to him. Especially if you found it in yourself to forgive him for, you know, killing you, Belphie wanted to prove himself worthy of your forgiveness in the first place—even if he tended to be a little shithead going about it. Like most of the brothers, he was rather needy for your time and attention, but where they often showed you their favorite spots in Devildom, he sought quiet areas around the House of Lamentation where the two of you could be alone. Something about you was so soft and warm to him. Honestly, most of his dreams were filled with visions of your smile and laugh, your body pressed snuggly against his. Maybe he wasn’t the most forthcoming with his love, but he never shied away from telling you how much he wanted to live with only you and Beel forever. He’s a demon with some regrets—hurting you being at the top of the list—but being the reason for your smile eased the guilt bit by bit. 

6 → Levi: 

An overwhelming sense of confusion and denial would leave him on the fence for a long time until he’d come to terms with his feelings towards you. And honestly, you couldn’t really blame the demon—Levi’s main loves for years have been 2D characters so suddenly developing such strange emotions or an attraction to a real human would be damning to him. It couldn’t be helped, though. For all he had tried to push you away or disregard your norm opinions, he couldn’t help how giddy he’d get whenever you’d agree to watch a new anime with him or introduce him to a new idol band. He was wholeheartedly convinced you must clearly be doing this out of pity or something—no matter if your heart was truly in it or not—because even his brothers never seemed to give his interests the rapt attention you offered him. He could be alone in his room and only think of how it’d be better with you there; or how he wanted to keep you so close, your fragrance would linger on his clothes so it was as though you were always with him. 

7 → Beel: 

Unlike some his brothers shacking up in a state of denial, Beel took longer to realize he was in love with you simply because he could never put his feelings into words. He knew he enjoyed spending time with you—rooming with you while Belphie was “away” was one of the initial highlights of your first stay in Devildom—and he was one to admit he considered you family to him, caring for you as he does for his brothers. Except, it was different. Maybe because you weren’t his actual family but his chosen family? He was never sure for the longest time. And yet, you were the only one he offered any of his food to and went out of his way to invite you out for dinner—which, in his mind, was a completely normal and friendly thing. But it’d strike him down like a bolt of lightning, realizing all of these feelings, once you’d offered to make him human food, and boy was he a goner. 

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Oh man, your last post on the “JC sacrificed more than anyone else” take. Reading it made me lose brain cells. I genuinely do not understand how you can get to that conclusion?? When I was first starting out in MDZS, I admit I didn’t mind JC at first (this is before I read the novel). I was pretty ambivalent to him but gradually grew to dislike him more and more as I moved past fanon portrayal of him. I don’t want to say I hate him but I kinda do. Anyways, ignoring my ramble, I really want to know if that was satire. Like are they joking? Cause I really don’t know how you could get even get to that point. Some JC stans takes I can get where they’re coming from even if I think they’re very misinformed but this one just made my brain buffer. Everything they said about JC is literally WWX’s personality. Even ignoring what was said about JC, how do you even decide WWX was seeking glory or some crap like that? I’m not even going to go about the novel at this point but did they even watch the live action or donghua? No matter your opinion on these adaptations, it’s very obvious in the story that WWX is literally selfless. That drives the main plot point! How do you conclude all that BS when WWX was villainized by the cultivation world for saving the Wens? Sorry for the long rant. I’m just frustrated at this point. I feel like I might need to start muting Jiang Cheng on Twitter. It’s driving up my blood pressure lol

I wish I could say I was joking, but that is a true and tried take from JC twitter standom. They all seem to love to paste Wei Wuxian's traits on him, to make him more palatable I guess, all while hating the main character. I suppose it is because they enjoy Jiang Cheng's family problems, but that is a very common trait among all the characters and Jiang Cheng is one of the worst that came out of it all. Why they pick Jiang Cheng to sue up, the world will never know.

I mean hey, I enjoy Jiang Cheng for the trash fire he plays next to Lan Wangji as a literary mirror. They make wonderful parallels for each other, and that is one thing that carried over rather well into CQL. I adore the stark contrast of that kind of dynamic in plots. And between these two through Wei Wuxian's eyes it is marvelously built up for him to realize who is actually selfless, devoted and shares his ideals on equal standing and always has.

Wei Wuxian is a deconstruction of the usual anti-hero concept, in the end he was always the selfless hero that did mean well for everything he did and was villainized by political play. There is no twist to it other than him being fairly innocent next to the Jianghu leaders crimes and ignorance. Fanon portrayals love to actually add on to the lies Madam Yu, the Jins and eventually Jiang Cheng started to believe and promote. They say he got off easy while ignoring the plot very much follows the idea of the karmic cycle and how dues are paid through that for Wei Wuxian. He learns sides of Lan Wangji and the other Lans he refused to see in his first life as well as acknowledging the Jiangs themselves were only human, especially Jiang Yanli very easily in his revived life. His acceptance if it all is all very admirable seeing as so many he used to know were filled with bitterness or resentment despite having what they wanted. He is surprisingly humbled after his death and has learned it is okay to not always put up a front, especially when that front was always for the sake of protecting others with his confidence.

[theopolis]

Extremely long, extremely salty Kindred criticism post

Yk the thing about the Kindred storyline is that it failed at being everything it was trying to be.

It wanted to be like DeMatteis' Goblin Junior arc while simultaneously inverting every concept from that arc. Harry is a gentle soul going down a dark path and hurting not only others but himself in the process? No, he's the comically evil mastermind who would throw his friends - Gwen and MJ, who even by his own standards have done him no wrong - under the bus to get revenge! Norman is the looming influence that follows Harry and motivates him to bend himself into who his father wanted him to be? No, he's the repentant, permanently dewey eyed reformed Norman who we're supposed to feel bad for when he gets dismissed and punched around by evil Harry/his demonic clone vessels/whatever the fuck. Peter is the best friend who, despite of course feeling angry and betrayed, believes in Harry's softness and their love and wants the best for him? No, he's immediately and with zero explanation ready to believe Harry is a literal demon all of a sudden and, I quote, "through with helping him". And I don't even think this (later clumsily backpedaled on) change of mind in Peter isn't justified in-universe - Kindred did uh, dig up the skeletons of Peter's loved ones and put party city wigs on them and also smash him with a big rock a couple of times, so there's that. But that's exactly the problem - Spencer set the stage for a story that doesn't actually involve Peter, or Harry, or Norman. He created mostly completely different dynamics between mostly completely different characters, and decided to project that on the the three of them. While also periodically inserting hamfisted callbacks to the DeMatteis stories, as if he didn't just take a giant dump on everything they established.

And here's the thing, even if I did enjoy the idea of Harry forgiving Norman, or the idea of Harry returning to villainy, or the idea of Norman becoming a character we're supposed to root for - which I cannot stress enough how much I don't - the execution of all these ideas was perhaps the worst it could have possibly been. Rushed, convoluted, and hollow.

Norman's sudden goodness is the result of a supernatural, vague process that apparently "freed him of his sin", whatever that means. Like, how do you quantify sin? How can you take it out of a person when it's their moral ideology and conscious choices that make them sinful/bad/evil? What happened to Norman simply reads like brainwashing to me. He is aware he's done something really bad, but he hasn't actually learned anything, and that impression is only backed by the way he talks about his past actions. It's always "oh it's my fault you're like this Harry" and "oh I can never make it up to you" etc etc but does he ever actually recognize his mistakes for what they were? Recognize where the errors of his past convictions lie? Of course not, because Spencer has zero reading comprehension and therefore no clue about the intricacies of Norman's character, his abuse of Harry, or what motivated it, or what he demanded of his son. It's funny how these four panels from a recent What If issue managed to paint a more compelling, if brief, picture of Norman as an apologetic father than Spencer has in a year worth of comics:

Harry's sudden villainy and the way it evolved throughout this story is just a train wreck. He has not had a substantial role in the comics for a long time now, but suddenly he's back AND he's evil! Who cares about complexity? Who cares about how Harry's feeling? Why he's doing what he does other than some extremely vague idea of revenge on apparently both Peter and Norman? Even though he was neck deep in denial about Norman being a horrible father and person at the time he supposedly launched the whole (checks notes) "create clones from Norman's and Gwen's DNA to stick it to his old man AND Peter in the future" plan, which he concocted because he somehow (????) knew his father wasn't gonna stay dead, which begs the question why he was so torn up about it in the first place, and- Look I could sit here all day trying to decipher the whole Gabriel and Sarah Stacy twist. It's impressive what an inconsistent, incomprehensible mess it is considering it was only introduced two issues ago. ASM 74 sort of hinted that Harry was being piloted by Mephisto when he created the clones so they could later become his hellish lackeys? I uhm, think? It's impossible to tell because no part of that retcon makes any sense to begin with. It doesn’t want to make sense because it was written - most likely on a whim - with the sole intent to garner good will for undoing Sins Past. Harry, for this entire arc, was not a character but merely a tool to bait us with an OMD reversal and ultimately do a Sins Past one. And of course, there's the fact that post OMD Harry - one of the only good things to come out of OMD in the first place - was just a clone all along, putting into question how valid all the amazing and inspiring development he went through since his revival was. Thanks a lot.

Lastly, I don't think I have to say how insulting it is to not just use Harry's character as a cheap plot device, but eventually force him to sacrifice his life for the very man who ruined it in every way. The man who abused him since birth, betrayed him on every level, attacked and murdered so many people Harry loves, including almost getting Harry's son killed. Why? Because he’s had a suspicious sudden onset of goodness that Harry has no context for? Norman and clone!Harry have not even interacted for this entire arc, but the sole act of Norman offering himself up to the rabid Kindred twins makes Harry instantly forgive everything he’s ever done. There was no build up to this whatsoever. It’s bad writing. And I don't think the abuse apologism implications of all this are intentional, I think Spencer just thought up the groundbreakingly subversive concept of "what if Norman good and Harry bad" and ran with that. But those implications are there nonetheless, because Harry and Norman's relationship has pretty much always been about abuse, about being mistreated by your parents, about not feeling good enough for them and eventually realizing that you were wronged and you don't owe them anything.

Spencer had Harry, a man who fought for years to rise to his best, most authentic self and fully turn his back on Norman and his legacy, die to save the father who never valued him for that self. And to add insult to injury, paralleled that with Harry dying after saving his best friend who loved him unconditionally. The latter mentioned death being a direct consequence of the actions Harry took to fit the expectations said abusive father had drilled into his head. I feel like that ending explains everything about this plotline.

[thefairyletters]

✨ Spooky Recs✨

I read a lot of fanfictions... More than I am proud of. I thought I should recommend as I go before I lose sight of their existence among the sea of my favorites.

Since past few days I have been craving for some creepy, unnerving fanfics that will keep me restless and awake at night. I remembered my favorites and wanted to read more of the kind so I looked up, patiently going through each story that sounded compelling. I also revisited old stories for nostalgia's sake.

Of course, rare as they are, in Naruto fandom no less, it's even harder to find a horror and mystery fic that is well written, not dropped under 2 chapters, and really keeps your attention.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Comedy

I've rated 4 aspects of the work -

Writing – I don't judge writing based solely on the grammar and vocabulary. I also consider how the author expands upon a subject, if they are consistent with the facts, if they are able to keep the attention of the readers regardless of their creative writing skills.

Characters – If the characters are well-developed, in their given character, if OCs have any real significance to the story.

Plot – How gripping is the storyline, if the story sticks to its original plot, the structure of the story, plot holes.

Flow – Mother-of-slow-burn, slow-but-steady, steady, fast, I-am-speed

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When the flowers cry : TCOOKIES777 || M || AO3/FFN || SasuSaku || Goth Horror || Post-Canon, set during Blank Period || Ongoing

When one of the greatest medical-nin in the world goes missing in what should have been a simple delivery to the Land of Spring’s Hidden Snow Village, the rest of Team 7 must reunite to find her. But even the most powerful team of shinobi will find themselves challenged in a battle against the supernatural. With Sasuke's return, vengeful ghosts of the past will test him and his love.

My thoughts : One of the best stories I've read in a while, and top tier SS stories. I read this in one sitting. I never listen to music while reading, preferring silence, but for this one, I suggest you do as the author says. Also, keep some tissues and food with you. This story is major in mystery and minor in horror but otherwise full of SS fluff.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 9/10

Flow: Steady, if a bit confusing (but that's why it's mystery)

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Kyuro : silver_shot || T || AO3 || SasuSaku || Mystery || Post-Canon || Complete

“Oh,” says Naruto, “well, its sort of like that. Except in this village, the story has a way more darker ending – it basically goes like this: the girl and the guy plan to run away together. The guy steals a bunch of treasure, and stashes it away. But then, when he goes to get the girl at her village, he kills her and decides to run away with all that money. But then he is killed by the guards of the girls village and now they're both dead and the treasure is hidden away somewhere”. Sasuke stares blankly at the blond, “that story makes no sense”.

My thoughts : I know you must be thinking the same thing as Sasuke – "makes no sense". I did too, but it's a pretty cool short story. It lies on the funny, creepy side that slowly starts to lose its funny touch. SS makes stupid mistakes later on but it could be because they are MCs. The ending is very ambiguous. It's not my favorite mystery but it is something. Enjoyable read but not something I will pick again.

Writing: 8/10

Characters: 8/10

Plot: 8/10

Flow: Fast

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Moon stuttering in the sky : xfrinz || T || AO3 || Gen || Mystery || Pre-Shippuden || One-shot

Kakashi is suspicious of many things about Haruno Sakura. Too many things about her don't make sense, with too many incongruous explanations.

My thoughts : Author of this story just summarised Pre-Shippuden in less than 4k words and made some tiny changes to it. Not much though. One of my favorite gen fics yet. Read it if you haven't yet. You'll feel more sad than thrilled tbh. But worth it.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: I-am-Speed

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Breath mints : silver_shot || T || AO3 || SasuSaku || Comedy-Mystery || Post-Canon || Ongoing (maybe)

Their home no longer exists with the life it once had – in fact no settlement thrives anymore; they exist only in a snapshot that contradicts time itself. Families within their own homes sleep in a slumber that they cannot wake from. Those that were chatting on the street prior to the event simply drop their heads and remain unresponsive.

My thoughts : I picked it up for Mystery but I stayed for Comedy. But of course that's not to say supernatural elements in this story is not it, but it sure pales in comparison to effortless humor in this story. Lee and Kiba pair is something you don't see often but they get along too well here. Charactisation is on point as well. SS angst! + NS angst (but it's downplayed)

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 9/10

Flow: Steady

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The Curse : sincerelyLen || T || FFN || SasuSaku || Horror || Post-Canon || Ongoing

Team 7 is unexpectedly assigned an S-Ranked Mission involving an unsolved mystery of 10 years. An eerie adventure that will test their teamwork, strengths, and greatest fears. Do you believe in Curses?

My thoughts : My all-time favourite horror Naruto fanfiction. To me, this sets the standard of how mystery and horror elements should be handled. I have never been able to get this story out of my mind even it's been years. Perfect charactisation of Team 7 with Smart-yet-Stupid!Sakura, I-can-fight-aliens-and-reanimated-corpses-but-keep-ghosts-away-from-me!Naruto and I-dont-get-paid-enough-for-this!Sasuke. I especially love OCs here. They kinda reminds me of Pillars from KnY. You must read this story, loosely based on Zombie apocalypse + curse concept.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Slow-but-Steady

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Silent High : Istoria || T || FFN || Gen || Mystery || Post-Canon || Complete

A bit of the Silent Hill series mixed in with Naruto. Trapped in an illusion whose rules are unknown, they struggle to find answers before darkness consumes them.

My thoughts : One of the best mystery fanfictions I've read. I especially loved how this story handled Genjutsu in the best possible way it could without it turning into some cliche, ghost story. Though really, this story has shown what my greatest fear actually is. I will never be able to leave my back open to a wheelchair. This story has simple writing yet it gives you creeps with the twists and turns. A must read one because it is unlike any other in this list.

Writing: 9/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Steady

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Silence of the Damned : Daystar Clarion || T || FFN || Gen || Psychological Horror, Mystery(?) || Pre-Shippuden || One-Shot

When Naruto wakes up to a dead body in his bathroom, he begins a quick spiral into madness.

My thoughts : Listen to Halsey's Control while reading this. Quite chilling, deals with mental issues and morbid but in a fascinating way. It gives a new meaning to Dark!Naruto, but one that actually makes sense. I never saw the ending coming... I had something else in mind and I was convinced it would be, but nope. Here's a sequel to this One-Shot (Uzumaki's War) which I never picked up.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Plot: 9/10

Flow: Slow-but-steady

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To the Victor : Letta || T || FFN || NaruSaku || Psychological Horror || Shippuden || One-Shot

Naruto loses the fight and Sakura is a trophy of war.

My thoughts : A very twisted NS, if you squint. It's not horror but it might as well be... it is still a disturbing story to see from the eyes of Sakura. Quite chilling to be in Sakura's shoes. But I love this because it is one shot and I loved the ending.

Writing: 9/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 8/10

Flow: Steady

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Under the Skin : BukkakeNoJutsu || T || FFN || Team 8 || Body Horror || Pre-Shippuden || One-Shot

Your actions don't make you a monster. Your reasons do.

My thoughts : There's a reason why Shino is my favourite team 8 member. In my opinion, Shino is also one of the strongest Shinobi of his generation. His clan techniques are just that horrifying. This story is testament to that. He is so terrible.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Slow-but-steady

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Instant Message : Keelah || T || FFN || SasuSaku || Murder mystery || Modern AU || Incomplete

She gave him names to kill, in order not to be killed herself. But having blood on her hands was turning out to be much worse than dying. "…There's still round 2…3…4…" When does this game end? She asked. "Don't you see, Sakura?" He said, "It never does."

My thoughts : I read this story a long time ago and have read this twice. Personally, it has the most interesting concept of all stories in the list. It reminds me of Vocaloid series, "Bookmark of the end". Kind of. To those who are thinking of picking this up, go ahead! It's a great book and has one of the best suspense I've read in Fandom. BUT, it has been stopped in mother-of-all-cliffhangers and Author is MIA for 4 years now. But, all things considered, it remains to be one of the best stories I've read.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Steady

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Monomoth : Ohtze || M || FFN/AO3 || SasuSaku || Horror || AU || Incomplete

Everything ends, eventually. Eight years after the war, Sakura's unhinged and Sasuke's obsessed. The fields are filled with corpses.

My thoughts : I read this story right after "The Curse", my favourite. From what I remember, Sakura and Sasuke are both mentally deranged, in different ways. Lots of death and gore to stomach, so not for weak readers. There's no speak of fluff in this one. Zero, Zilch, Nada. I wouldn't call it your classic 'Horror', but it is very disturbing, so psychological horror is more like it. Don't eat food while reading this one. Did I mention how Sakura is mentally disturbed beyond help in this one? And Sasuke is obsessed. If these suit your tastes, go ahead.

Writing: 10/10

Characters: 9/10

Plot: 10/10

Flow: Slow

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I hope you enjoy this list. Let me know your opinion in comments.

[thedeviljudges]

Do you think Yohan always planned to fake his death and join Elijah in Switzerland, or did he originally intend to really die with the rest of the 'villains'? Part of me thinks that would fit with his pre-Gaon conception of himself, as a monster, not deserving of love, not necessarily seeing a role for himself in Elijah's life beyond getting revenge for her/Isaac, and financing an opportunity to help her recovery. Or do you think regardless of that, he'd still never plan to leave her on her own?

i didn't mean to put off this ask for so long. i was busy, but i also wanted to wrap my thoughts around this before i tried answering. not bc i didn't have an answer to begin with but yohan and death is a subject i'd like to approach, but i'm not entirely sure how i'd like to make the analysis of it, and i'm not sure i ever will.

so that leaves me to answer it here in the best way i can because point blank: i do believe yohan intended to die by the end. i do think he had two plans in place since the beginning (dying or not dying and helping elijah), but of course, until that final moment, he wasn't ever going to know the truth. that end scene of him blowing up the court was a 50/50 shot. he had a plan to make it out, but it wasn't a guarantee.

but lets also back up a bit because before we get to that point, i think it's necessary to point out that the reason yohan gets away and does all of the shit that he does is because he knows that he might not make it out alive. it's why he's reckless. it's why he bends the law the way that he does. yohan's actions prove, over and over again, that he does not care for himself. he does not care to live except to protect elijah. there are so many small moments of this. we call yohan unhinged out of fun, but i think there is truth in it because i've mentioned this casually before (and part of my words above in terms of not necessarily knowing how to approach this just yet) is that yohan is almost...... suicidal himself.

he's reckless. he's said that he does not care about the actual law. his goal has always been getting revenge for his brother, especially for his niece who grew up without her parents. yohan never truly cared about the bigger picture until gaon came along. if we leave out gaon and think of the plot as such, yohan would've been able to prevail much quicker, i'd say. he had a plan and was going to follow through with it no matter what, regardless of the ending. and he knew going into it that there was a chance he wouldn't make it out alive.

which is why i think he partially also allowed elijah to blame him for her parent's death because if she hates him, it will be so much easier for her to forget him. she won't mourn him or miss him. she will be able to move on with her life and live it any which way she wants. but because yohan doesn't really understand kids, let alone elijah, what he fails to realize is that elijah doesn't actually hate her uncle. she's looking to get rid of all of the pent up hurt and frustration bc she never had an outlet to let all of that out. yohan fails to see that elijah cares for him and would miss him, to a degree, if he died.

so now, if we think of the plot with gaon, it twists everything on its head bc gaon has no need to be there within yohan's plans. yohan doesn't need gaon to do anything bc everything was already planned from the beginning. if anything, gaon came in and crashed some things, leaving yohan to pick up those pieces and continue pushing forward. biggest case in point, gaon's stubbornness and his arguments against yohan with the law and what he's doing.

see, gaon eventually comes to realize yohan's reasonings for doing what he's doing for his brother, but i feel like gaon thinks that even if that is part of yohan's plan involves revenge, how much does he think yohan is also doing this for the greater good and wanting to fix society? we know that yohan has no intention of that, but does gaon? and so no wonder gaon protests because if he thinks yohan is trying to fix a broken system (plus get revenge all in the same plot), no wonder gaon continues fighting yohan - he's under the belief that yohan is trying to make things better. but he's NOT.

which circles back to the idea that yohan had every intention of either making it out alive or dying. gaon opened his eyes that yes, maybe things could possibly be good. gaon made yohan question a lot of things along the way, especially his own humanness and realizing that he is worth something and not the monster he let himself believe he was, and what others told him he was. that wasn't part of the plan either, which is why it made it so much harder for yohan to go through with bombing the court because yohan's at a conflicting place of finally understanding gaon's hope but knowing that he only ever had revenge as an intent.

yohan's plan is derailed a bit by gaon being hope and introducing concepts yohan has lived without for so long. before then, yohan lived isolated with one clear goal in mind until gaon showed him he had a reason to live. i also said in another post that while gaon stopped yohan because he didn't want to see yohan going down a path he couldn't come back from, it was already too late at that point. yohan had already set his path long before gaon came into the picture and nothing he said or done would've changed that. but it DID given yohan more perspective and more heart, possibly being at peace even more so with dying knowing elijah would have gaon.

but instances within the show - of course, his two fake deaths. him steering gaon and himself off the road on the middle of the highway. him chasing after the minister's son. yohan asking soohyun to save gaon despite him literally bleeding out.

yohan does not care for himself. he does not care whether he lives or dies, as long as his plan is completed. we can talk til we're blue in the face about how yohan was wrong manipulating the law like he did and various other things, but the reason why? is because he did not care. and it wasn't because of him being a sociopath by any means. it was because he numbed his emotions, lied to himself, and used his love for his brother and elijah to propel him to a desired end with the possibility of his death involved. and quite frankly, that speaks volumes about who he is and just how much he actually cares, how much he actually has emotions.

yohan, to love his niece so much he decided to manipulate the law, to serve his own agenda and purposes for an outcome that wouldn't actually give them that much peace, but would at least position the country in a way they could grow and give elijah a life where she wouldn't have to grow up into that kind of destruction. this is why yohan "leaves" gaon behind and why gaon is the hope of the show because in going along with his plans, yohan realized that if gaon wasn't going to follow him through til the end, if he was going to do everything in his power to stop yohan, then the biggest apology yohan could give gaon was the world - the entire judicial system to make things right, to do better. that was yohan's gift to gaon and his apology because yohan had no intention of making it better. but maybe gaon could with him gone.

i've seen a few comments about how if yohan was someone in irl, we'd all steer clear of him, well, there's a lot of characters out there like that, but i wouldn't stay away from him for the reasons everyone typically lists (like the choking and manipulation) because they think he's that way just bc. yohan's actions mimic those of someone who simply doesn't care because they're depressed and not because they're psychotic. there is a DIFFERENCE. like yes, are some of his actions shitty? and his gaon right to mistrust the things he does sometimes, also yes.

but understand that there is a difference in people's behaviors depending on the underlying mental health issues involved. i don't fully believe yohan had any intent to hurt elijah or gaon maliciously. it's part of yohan being oblivious and not recognizing his own actions mixed with the entirety of his plans to be followed through til the very end. we've seen how oblivious yohan can be (the classroom bird story is a classic example; they all thought he was the devil when in reality, this kid only hurt the bird because it was scaring the girl he sat next to. logically, that mean eliminating the threat. he didn't purposefully kill the bird and enjoy it. it was a practical response within his own personal world).

i feel like i'm missing parts of this discussion, which is why i said this was a difficult topic for me to approach just to get all of my thoughts about it out there. and long story short to answer your question: i think yohan intended to die (just like he had a plan in case went to jail, for example). that possibility couldn't have been ruled out. but i think he had the plan to escape with elijah so that she could get better. either way, whatever happened happened, even if he died. elijah would be taken care of regardless.

gaon throws a wrench in his plans just a little bit, makes him realize his emotional capacities but gaon's not enough to stop yohan from seeing his plans out until the very end, even if that means losing gaon, too, because even if gaon has shown yohan that he is worthy of love and family and affection, it is not enough to forgive everything he's done, and he needs to make right what was wrong. yohan's death in that courtroom, if it had happened, wouldn't be the thing everyone needed to forgive him for his actions but it would be a start in eliminating himself as part of the problem.

another thing to keep in mind, is that we know yohan is not a sociopath, even if that's what everyone wanted us to believe. everyone thought he made sunah jump out the window, but what he was actually doing was protecting isaac and his mother's necklace. sunah made the choice all on her own, set up yohan and framed him despite yohan reaching out time and time again. isaac didn't even understand what had happened and focused on the fact that this girl jumped because of yohan without listening to the truth of it. yohan has always been shown to be fiercely loyal to the people he loves. he's never directly done anything bad (at least as a kid) unless he was provoked.

what people need to understand about yohan as a character is INTENTIONS. and i hope i'm making myself clear on this. everyone thinks he's born a devil, but that has never been the case. yohan's actions just come from a place from blind revenge. if he never needed to get revenge in the first place, if isaac was alive and well, would yohan make these same decisions? would he still be this kind of person who needed to use these methods to work around the law? i don't think so.

i think i remember getting an ask awhile back about whether yohan would eventually turn into who he is now had isaac lived because we see him livid and upset during that flashback to one of his earlier court cases (where we find he's ripping the paper with the pen) and whether or not isaac's death just fast forwarded the process. i don't feel like trying to go dig that post out, and i can't remember what i said on it either, but i feel yohan would have his family as a moral compass to keep him in line, and he wouldn't have succumbed to his present-day tactics. i think he could've worked his way up into the system and made real change. i think his heart could've been there all long, but again, was derailed by isaac's death and of course, plans changed.

this was a mouthful, and i hope what i'm saying makes sense because you can probably see what i mean about how difficult it is trying to organize my thoughts about this subject. but i am under the full belief that yohan had every intention of dying at the end or even before that. i think he's a depressed individual who learned to slowly open back up with gaon's help, but gaon is no doctor and no amount of his kindness would help someone that depressed either. it helped, certainly. but yohan saw himself as a monster/devil until the very end, and was more than willing to kill himself to make gaon and elijah's life so much easier. as penance. as justice. as love.

[taegularities]

Rid i loved TOBH so much 😭😭😭 i know i'm late to the party but there were so many meaningful, beautiful things you wrote or that were so spot on that i've got like a whole list of them now that i thought i'd share instead of just saying how much i adore you and this story 😭🧡

the way you described coming back to town and how the feelings hit the oc (so spot on and so real👌)

"Yes - you're right. Everything pretty deserves to be looked at, precious throughout, inside and out. And while nature lives and breathes undoubtedly astoundingly, you're downright blinding to him." (so beautiful 😭🧡)

"Despite any man who crawled his way into your bedroom, you never fully encountered the feeling that the term love defined and consisted of. Although Taehyung has become a distant presence, the memory of him was always more alive than you’ve ever felt - and with this ideal in mind, love soon became a mere noun. Something that exists; never something you can experience." (spot on x2 😭👌)

EVERY SINGLE TIME TAE SAID "I KNOW" and how loving and focused on the oc he was when they were intimate (🦋🦋🦋 left me shaking)

"Will you have me?" "Even after all these years?" (crying tears filled with love 😭😭🧡)

"You wish you could be what he wants, stay as he wants you to; actually walk around as the person he admires so much. You want to be so much more for him, someone he actually deserves - but you aren't, and you're so scared to burst his bubble. But maybe it's enough that you're perfect in his eyes." (spot on x3 😭😭👌)

"It's so frustrating to think that you make him believe you're doing something to him instead of just flowing with the current that your life has become." (spot on x4 😭😭😭👌)

""Because love isn't always enough, Tae!" Not enough to overcome the trauma this town has brought you. Not enough to fully heal. The scent and atmosphere of this place are only bearable as long as his touch is here; but past ghosts can only stay away for so long." (spot on x5 so so real 😭😭😭😭👌)

"For you, time is a concept that stopped existing long ago, and now you're not going through the motions of days anymore but through life. The words written in your calendar are just there, no meaning behind them and no particular urge inside you to make sense of them." (spot on x6 😭😭😭😭😭👌)

"You're not certain what he's thinking or feeling, but he can feel his insides turn. Every shred of him is breaking and healing; pieces falling apart and coming together; words stuck in his throat and yet threatening to fall out." (how beautifully captured with words 😭🧡)

""He admires your glow for a moment, catching his lower lip between his teeth as he realises that age has made you even prettier. The face he remembers is still there, the smile the same sweet one he's kissed so many times. You're truly something formed in heaven, and there is no way, no way in this or the next life, that he could’ve forgotten anything about you, ever. "It's easy to keep you in memory"" (the most glorious and sweet thoughts about someone ever 🧡🥺🧡)

"You might’ve waited forever - but this eternity is nothing compared to the one you feel approaching." (ohgawd 😭😭🧡🧡 HOPE)

"Tales are only finished when you decide that they are - as a writer of your own, you influence and twist the plot, work towards the ending until you're satisfied or not. But an ending feels like an ending after all. And while the one two years ago left the story open and blank, everything right now feels like the beginning of a new one" (THE MOST INCREDIBLE ENDING 😭🧡👌 HOPE HOPE HOPE)

i loved EVERYTHING, but those parts made me stop immediately and read again and again or instantly cry or downright whine because of how amazing they were 🧡 thank you Rid for this story and everything it brought, you're so amazing 💕💫

C, OH MY GOODNESS, THIS IS CRAZY 😭

okay, honestly... i was in the backseat of a car when i read this ask, and i kid u not, i teared up a little. rereading those quotes and ur thoughts on them hit such a vulnerable spot, and just the whole fic is so :(((( and to see that u loved it so damn much? i don't even know what to say except thank u so fkn much, i'm absolutely devastated 🥺

THANK U SO DAMN MUCH FOR POINTING OUT THE NOUN/VERB QUOTE !!!! and gosh yes the hope. all the damn hope. the ending was entirely different from what i'd planned when the fic idea came to me, but i'm proud of the one i settled on. SO I'M HAPPY U ENJOYED IT !!!!

no U are amazing for reading and sending SUCH A LONG ASK HELP, i adore u so so much, genuinely. thank u for all that, it's so motivating and super sweet of u oh gosh 🥺 <333333 !!!!