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dankdungeonsrpg · 8 months ago

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Magicians in The Raven (1963)

Have you ever listened to the Sword Breaker podcast? You should, but more on that later.

Recently…

Spencer of the Keep Off The Borderlands podcast hosted a Movie Monday call in episode.

The idea behind these episodes is that once a month the podcast host picks a movie and all the listeners watch it. Then they call in to the show to share their thoughts. Since this is primarily a gaming podcast there’s an optional topic of how elements of the movie can inform our gaming.

Spencer is, I believe, the third person to take up the mantle of Movie Monday. With the previous host being Jason of Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast.

This month’s movie was Roger Corman’s The Raven from 1963.

I adore this film. It’s fun and full of petty wizards…also has nothing to do with the Poe poem, but that’s okay.

The Renaissance Wizard

One of the things that strikes me about the film is that it’s set in 1506, which is in the renaissance rather than the middle ages as I would have expected for the subject matter.

This allows the movie to do two very interesting things:

We get all the trappings of the middle ages fantasy, like castles and magic

Magic gets to be viewed as a science, or more specifically, a leisurely academic pursuit

To further drive the point home that wizards are rich academics, each magic-user in the film has a doctorate.

Boris Karloff plays a dastardly sorcerer opposite Vincent Price’s kindly magician. They’re both excellent in the film and their motivations are perfectly mundane.

Price just wants to “practice his magic quietly at home”. Whereas Karloff, the head of a brotherhood of magicians, is envious of Price’s magical powers. He doesn’t want anyone to be a threat to his position in the brotherhood and seeks to coerce Price’s knowledge.

There’s no global conquest or ancient prophecy. The Brotherhood of Magicians and Sorcerers seems to be little more than a social club. Peter Lorre’s character (also a treat in the film) even mentions how wizards meet each other at conventions. It all conjures up images of an academic society or elks lodge.

So Karloff’s character is willing to do horrible things so he can…stay president of a social club? So he can get speaking invitations to conferences and have his academic papers peer reviewed. Probably good money in being the keynote speaker at the college of alchemy’s commencement.

This is peak petty wizard comedy to me. Very reminiscent of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth, specifically Rhialto the Marvellous.

Never Let Writing Go To Waste

Now I love silly wizard stuff, particularly organizations. The absurdist bureaucracy really tickles me.

This brings us back to Sword Breaker. In this all-killer no-filler podcast Logan generates lists around a single topic per episode. It’s all incredibly usable stuff. Wonder if he’s ever published it somewhere…

Anyway, for the gaming aspect of my Movie Monday call, I decided to create a table of magical societies in keeping with the mood of the film. Here they are, for your amusement:

d6 magical societies

1 - The Hermetic Order of Psychonautics

A loose knit collective of high level magic-users seeking to transcend the physical world. Meetings take place in total silence on underground lakes which are used like a giant sensory deprivation tank. Magicians then project their spirits and “sail” on metaphysical yachts in the astral sea, where they discuss enlightenment and free-form jazz. Members often dress in bright colors and carry tuning forks.

2 - The Grand Priory of Illuminates

Chaos magicians who seek to undo their alignment’s negative public perception. Specializing in happy accidents, this group uses subtle magic to alter the course of events in positive but unexpected ways. To become part of the organization, applicants must successfully add to an ever more complex Rube Goldberg machine.

3 - The Society of Reformed Diabolists

Demon worshippers, dread necromancers, and blood magicians trying to turn over a new leaf banded together to form this support group. Members meet regularly to share their experiences with foul sorcery and celebrate monthly or yearly mine stones of being evil-magic free. They also speak at local magic colleges about the dangers of dark rituals.

4 - The Brotherhood of Neptune

These far-seeing astrologers wear blue robes, are excellent swimmers, and perform divination through use of tide pools. They revere the number 8 and as such must spend 8 days a year in meditation, meet every 8 months in groups of no more or less than 8, and establish headquarters 8 blocks from any coastal city center.

5 - The Ancient Order of Pseudepigraphas (soo-di-pig-ra-fa’s)

If you’ve ever wondered how magical knowledge stays so hidden and confusing, it’s probably because of this secret society. Its members spend their time placing errors into magical texts, thwarting efforts to translate or catalog arcane information, and misattributing manuscripts. The extreme secrecy of this sect prevents meetings but they still communicate through scribbles in returned library books.

6 - The Unseen Eye

The least secret secret order you’ll ever see. These occultists are typically high society ladder climbers who seek to manipulate global events from the shadows. However, their attempts at subterfuge are undone by their need to be recognized. Meeting fliers are often posted everywhere and initiates are sent home with all manner of branded merchandise, including wristbands, tea cozies, and hats.

#osr #rpg #indie ttrpg #roger corman #vincent price #boris karloff #peter lorre #film #magic #fantasy #renaissance

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thessalian · 2 years ago

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Thess vs Yet More Overtime

I should have checked in on the weekend, or at least on Monday...

I mean, technically I should not have done that because I am not working at those times, but fuuuuuuuuuck today.

Logged in, and yep, the doctors were in over the weekend, and we had a few left from Sunday and everything from Monday. And trying to keep track of anyone doing anything is a nightmare with the mess the transcription software is in. But two things I do definitely know:

Temp is picking and choosing so blatantly now that we're (or rather, I'm) still left with all the stuff she doesn't want to do, even if it was dictated yesterday morning, in favour of the bits she's not too adverse to doing; and

I got to a point today where I was asking myself if Temp had to leave early or what because nothing was getting touched at all. Typing queue started at about 350 reports and was at 415 when I logged out just now, no matter how hard I worked.

And to add to that last, I worked fucking hard. But it wasn't enough, because with a minimum of a half-dozen people reporting and only one me, it could never be enough. And the others are working too slow, too selectively, or not at all. For at least an hour this afternoon, it was "not at all".

So now I have to go out and run some errands, mostly to restock painkillers because dear gods I hurt ... and then if I can muster any kind of energy at all, I will do some more overtime. Not because I'm particularly interested in extra money and certainly not because I'm invested in saving the other secretaries' collective arse (because I figure the email listing having had to work several hours' overtime combined with the amount of stuff that still requires typing will have Scruffman taking a very close look at what people did while he was away - or at least I hope so). Just because I cannot bear the thought of logging in tomorrow and finding 450+ bits of typing waiting for me. My anxiety cannot take it.

Also I should probably eat something. I imagine half this headache is having skipped lunch again because too busy. I may also have spent a lot of time yelling, "What the fuck are you people doing?!?" at my laptop, because seriously ... where are they? Why did they leave early? I'm halfway wondering if they were in at all today. And all of this falls on me.

Gods, I hope this doesn't put Scruffman off taking his annual leave. He's owed it same as the rest of us, but if this is the shit that happens when he takes any significant amount of time off...

Oh, and on the subject of time off - I miscalculated and my week off isn't next week; it's the week after next. So even after I survive this week, I have a week of so-called 'normal' before I can have any time off. And honestly, it's getting to a point where I'm having to say "if I survive this week".

Right. Errands. Fuck.

#Thess has a day job

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rawk-chikk · 17 days ago

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I do love how there's still a slow but steady trickle of notes on a bunch of my TDF posts.

I still have a bunch of TDF projects on my to-do list, and I still fully intend to get round to them. I have been slowly working thru a backlog of...well, everything, for the last 16 months. Lego Titanic is still staring at me from its box across the room, so it's not even like I've been shunting the fun stuff to the top of the list 😇.

In other news, I've just recovered from the mother of all gallbladder attacks that had me laid up for the better part of 2 weeks. I was *this close* to dragging my sorry carcass to the hospital, but then my fucking period decided to add insult to injury and there was just no way I could cope with both outside of my own home and bathroom, so I decided to hold off temporarily, and everything eased off around the same time because of course it fucking did 🙄. I really should talk to my doctor about getting a scan at least. I expect I'll no longer have the fucker by the time I turn 50. My gallbladder, not my doctor 😆. Tho you never know, state of the NHS.

Cats are good, Harley's still kickin'. Was a bit concerned for her over Christmas coz she became quite subdued, but we think she just overdid it on the turkey coz she perked back up after a few days. Thinking of switching vets, coz our local surgery has been snapped up by one of the big companies and standards have gone down the shitter. Harley's vet has moved to the last remaining independent surgery in town and it's very tempting to follow her. The cats will probably stay with the meh surgery for now coz they're all young and healthy and only really go in for jabs, but Harley's ancient and on a boatload of medication, and we trust her former vet to provide compassionate care at home when the time comes for Harley to leave us. Corpo-vet, meanwhile, doesn't particularly care about providing Harley's meds in a timely fashion 😠.

So yeah. That's what's going on in the world of Polly Pocket. Hope you all made it thru January in one piece. I really need to catch up on my dash, sorry. January lasted an *age* didn't it.

Laters!!!

#rc's random ramblings

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parentplus · 1 year ago

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MORNING SICKNESS HELP

Congratulations!!! Your creating a new life... Your body is putting in some major work and alot of changes are happening inside of you very quickly. One of the side effect of this beautiful and exciting time is the not so glamourous morning sickness. Constantly leaning over the sink or toilet reevaluating your life choices every 30 minutes. If you are lucky enough to be one of the 30% of women that this doesn't effect then count me super jealous... lol... I am currently pregnant with my second child and it's just been the worst. Every morning, most afternoons and half the night i'm nautious or sick but some of the methods I cover here help me out alot. In this article i will be going over several different options and techniques that did and didn't work for me. Make sure to keep in mind that just like every person is unique so is every pregnancy. Some of the things that worked for me may not work for you, and vice versa, some of the things that didn't work for me might be just what you needed. The good news is that for most women the morning sickness gets better as the pregnancy progresses. Before you try any of these options always consult with your doctor about it first.

Lets begin with what I have noticed that makes my nausia worse... The fact that im having a girl I believe is a large contributing factor and so do alot of other people. Most likely because the levels of the pregnancy hormone HCG tend to be higher in mothers that are carrying girls than mothers carrying boys. There is no definative proof that this is the reason for it and anyone can have intense and severe morning sickness. As I mentioned earlier every pregnancy is unique and there is no guarantee that if you have terrible morning sickness that you're carrying a baby girl. Even though it's not a proven fact all but two people I know (including a female doctor) said that for the most part women report that their nausia was much worse with a girl than a boy. I guess it could be classified as an old wives but some of those tales end up being true in the end.

Another thing that makes me sicker was my prenatal pills, more often than not it's the iron in them. The iron can sometimes cause stomach irritation and make you feel sicker. Also iron gets your blood flowing and can sometimes clog up digestion. I suggest trying these methods below, make sure you eat first before taking them (even though it's probably very difficult sometimes) and to drink more water. Never skip your meds as it is vital to the babies development and health, as well as your own.

The next on this list is laying down just after eating, laying down after eating can cause gastric juices in your stomach to rise, hinders digestion and can cause you to feel nautious. This is a little difficult for me because I feel a food coma coming on after I eat sometimes and desperately want to lay down. I would recommend eating small frequent meals throughout the day, avoid greasy ones as this might make you feel worse. Drinking herbal tea with your meals, preferrably ones with ginger in them should also keep your nausia at bay. Not all teas are safe for pregnancy so consult your doctor on this as well.

There is a rather large list of things that can worsen nausia and i'ts very important that you stay hydrated. If you are having to much trouble keeping fluids down make sure your doctor knows because dehydration, especially in pregnancy can cause very real problems to rise. Drinking stuff like pedialite and some hydrating sports drinks like gatorade will help keep you hydrated and improve nausia as well. Plus, on a positive note they taste very good and arent that expensive. If sports drinks are not available to you immediatly then my doctor told me to add a little salt and sugar to some water and try that for hydration as the salt causes your body to absorb the water faster.

Now moving on to the options that did and didn't work to ease my intense sickness, some of these might be very helpful and other may not. Remeber to listen and pay attention to your body and always make sure your health professional approves.

GINGER:

It has been proven that ginger reduces nausia and can help immensely. Even though I believe that alot of natural remedies can be very effective I was extremely sceptical of this one. The main reason is because my constant sickness was so bad that it made me feel like this wouldn't be strong enough to help .There are two types of compounds in ginger, gingerol and shogaols. They are thought to act on receptors in the digestive system and speed stomach emptying. My doctor recommended ginger ale or ginger candies, so of course the first thing i reached for was the ginger ale. Getting liquid into my system was always easier than getting food in there. After sipping on a couple of cans, and it actually helping me, i dove right into it and overdid it. I started drinking them all the all the time...This turned out to be a very bad idea as i all of a sudden got very sick again. I leaned out my car door and basically begged it to stop. If done correctly and in moderation i think this is a very good option and could bring much needed relief. GInger did seem to help some so I decided that ginger candies were worth a try. The only thing I could find around here was crystallized ginger candies. It's baby ginger root covered in cane sugar and it worked. I couldn't stand chewing on root of ginger because it kind of felt like it was burning my mouth for a second. The kind I tried was "REED'S craft ginger candy, all natural" and I recommend trying this option, or some kind of ginger candy, it's not that bad and you might enjoy it, I just couldn't aquire a taste for it. Ginger tea is always a good idea though. It's relaxing and easy on your stomach, extremely enjoyable and very soothing.

KEEP SOMETHING IN YOUR STOMACH:

The best way to stay ahead of your morning sickness in alot of cases is to always keep something in your stomach. I was told to eat every 2 hours, i've never found a task more difficult for me than this but probably 8 out of 10 times it worked. I have to be careful not to overfill myself tho or food wont even stay down. Even if your just snacking on crackers until the nausia goes away and you can eat something substantial it's a huge help. As it turned out a little salt (Saltine Crackers) actually worked and have worked for pretty much everyone I know. I think keeping some crackers by your bed on the nightstand and snacking before you get up is a must.

7-UP or SPRITE:

It usually settles a stomach pretty instantly anyway and has been an answered prayer for me on many occations. This for me is also a must, a couple drinks here and there during the day usually does the trick and has been a serious lifesaver.

VITAMIN B6:

This works best of all because it helps our bodies process certain amino acids (proteins) and significantly reduces nausia. My doctor told me about this and tried to prescribe it to me. My insurance wouldn't pay for it because it can be bought over the counter so i had to go to walmart and pick up a bottle from there. It wasn't expensive like I thought it was going to be and I take it every single day in the morning. This has helped me more than anything else on this list and I don't know how I could ever live without it again.

In conclusion, I would just like to add that you know your body better than anyone else. You know what is working and you know what isn't, so listen closely to it... This is a beautiful, exciting time and you should really be enjoying every second of your pregnancy. I hope this article was helpful and useful for you and that your morning sickness gets better. Good luck on your new journey mama.

#parenting #family #babies #nausea #pregnancy

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thewadapan · 9 months ago

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(Man, I still don't get tumblr etiquette. I want to add my own little review onto this post, but it's also kind of a reply to the original post, so instead of referring to Wales in the third person, should I just be saying "you"?)

Although I've read and enjoyed practically everything Alexander Wales has ever published, a lot of his works interest me more as proof-of-concepts, thought experiments, or simply enjoyable well-written fantasy—good, but lacking that ineffable quality which compels me to go out of my way and recommend them to other people.

The exceptions to this are Worth the Candle, which I view as probably being an artistic achievement on the level of something like Watchmen; the Star Wars short story Instruments of Destruction, which is synonymous with my personal understanding of the Star Wars universe; and The Metropolitan Man.

I think, looking over his bibliography, it feels to me like most of his work falls into two categories: virtual-doorstopper webnovels (>90,000 words), or r/WritingPrompts-esque snippets (<5,000 words). The former always suffer from a lack of editing and focus, while the latter are almost purposefully underdeveloped.

Curiously underrepresented is the novella, particularly in recent years, which I think is down to the economic incentives that drive Wales' writing. (I remember hearing arguments that the novella itself is unnaturally unrepresented in literature generally, again due to the economic structures.) You've got The Case of the Sleeping Beauties, a fun but flawed little detective piece that really feels like it wants to be a series. You've got Terminator, Frozen, and Christmas fanfics, which are so heavily mired in the rational lens that they become almost incomprehensible to traditional readers. You've got Contratto, the best of these works, which I remember thinking was a fairly tight piece of writing. These stories all have a very strong sense of direction and pacing, with very little meandering.

The Metropolitan Man comes from this era of Wales' writing, where his output is almost equally split between original works and pre-existing IP, and he's not really doing long-form web serials yet. It's quintessential "rational fic", on some level doing the same thing as Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. To my recollection, like many of the novellas listed above, it is a spartan piece of writing, with minimal description, an impatient attitude towards pacing, and an edge that's maybe just a little bit too sharp. In Branches on the Tree of Time, this stylistic aesthetic feels more aligned with Skynet than with Sarah Connor; in A Bluer Shade of White, it feels nothing like a Disney movie, and in The Last Christmas, it doesn't feel very Christmassy. You can argue that's the point, if you like, but I perceive a certain friction between what the story is and what the story is about.

In The Metropolitan Man, Wales' "house style" finds the perfect narrator in the form of Lex Luthor. A supposedly perfectly rational mind, Lex sees everything from a detachment. The vision of 1930s America presented in the story to me evokes the Randian aesthetic of stuff like Bioshock: men toiling in a dark pit to reach the sun.

Superhero deconstructions are hardly new, but the tonal dissonance with Superman's "Golden Age" stories takes on a slightly different form here. Thinly-veiled Superman pastiches typically take the form of Doctor Manhattan, Supreme, Hyperion, Scion, Omni-Man, Homelander, Brightburn, and presumably a bunch more I haven't heard of and don't care to: characters who all, in some way or another, start from the premise of "what if Superman went bad". Even Superman's most recent official outings in cinema, from perennial hack Zack Snyder, have twisted him into a barely-human Olympian-godlike entity. What The Metropolitan Man does is have a character ask this question—"what if Superman went bad"—while presenting a version of Superman who does not, for the most part, go bad.

While I don't remember ever thinking Superman is written perfectly in-character, I also don't remember anything that made me sit up and say "he would not say that. he would not fucking say that". I think readers who felt strongly that Superman was behaving "out-of-character" should shut up and write their own Superman stories for me to complain about. That said, the observations Wales himself makes about moments which struck him as egregious in hindsight seem reasonable to me—but I guess I view those as cases where the work failed to perfectly execute on its intention, rather than moments which reveal some fundamental flaw in Wales' view of the character.

I think the mistake most Superman deconstructions make is to focus entirely on the "super" part and forget about the part where he's a "man". He always ends up rendered into a cartoonishly omnicidal villain, some incomprehensible alien, and it's meant to be shocking because it's different to what Superman actually is. As betrayed by its title, The Metropolitan Man is instead almost entirely preoccupied by the idea of Superman as a human, as just some guy. He fumbles his way through a romance with Lois Lane. He tries to behave the way his parents raised him to. He loses his temper and makes a mistake. He has no ambition to dominate the world. He is genuinely anguished to see people suffering. He's extraordinary, but it's almost less the fact that he's an alien that makes him extraordinary, and more the fact that he's a small-town American. I think all of this is in concert with my understanding of who Superman is in the official canon—or mythology, if you prefer.

Again per his canon depiction, Lex thus represents the opposite kind of extraordinary man. To me it feels like it would be no surprise at all for a man like this to be a physically-impervious flying death machine. He is already barely human. In fact, the most human thing about him is his irrational fear: he is terrified of Superman, obsessed with him, for basically no reason except the existence of the fear itself. His fear blinds him absolutely to the truth of who Superman is, something which anyone who knows Clark Kent is able to understand.

It's Lois who embodies that understanding, as she comes to know Clark better than anyone. Her conspiracy with Lex is absolutely gripping, especially in how it colours her entire relationship with Clark. She can't forgive Clark for the intrinsic deception of the Superman/Kent double life, but I felt that by the end of the story, she felt she'd been wrong to ever fear him—even if it had seemed reasonable at the time.

Skimming over that final chapter again, I'm struck by how every single sentence serves a purpose. The very last scene, the image the story closes on, is something you could never see coming, but once it happens, it's impossible to imagine the story ending any other way.

I'd definitely be interested to see a remastered version of the story, so long as it wouldn't involve significant padding. Moreover, though, I'd like to read another novella from Wales: something written to exorcise a very particular idea, with a precise outline, unrestrained by any kind of schedule; I want a story that I can sit down and read in a day, holding the whole thing in my head at once. And yes, I'd also like a Superman comic.

Book Review: Metropolitan Man

[content warning: sexual violence]

It's been 10 years since I wrote Metropolitan Man, and last night I read it for the first time in almost that long. Since writing it, I've written over 4 million words, and hopefully, grown as a writer. I've also forgotten parts of the story, so was looking at it with as fresh of eyes as possible. These are my overall thoughts.

I should say, before I start, that I've read tons of comments and discussion on this story over the years. I don't know how many of these thoughts are my own, or how much I've internalized things that people have said.

Writing Style

There were lots of changes I thought about making while reading, but people hate change, and this story is about ten years past when I wanted to be making editing passes on it. In many places I kept thinking of little extras I would add, things that would make the dialogue pop a little more, or provide characterization. I had this idea for a line where I describe Lois typing out two letters like she was letting loose with both barrels of a shotgun. There's dialogue to clean just a bit more, a few places where words are repeated or something is just a bit awkward, and where it could have been tighter or more clear.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was how little time got spent on scene setting and how short some of the snippets were, just five paragraphs to get a scene across before we're onto the next thing. I might have webserial brainrot, but those are definitely places where today I would give a little more breathing room and maybe use the same amount of words to describe something in a more oblique and stronger way. One that stood out as a clear example was a private investigator going home with Jimmy Olsen even though she was done pumping him for information, which could have been twice as long and benefitted from it. Another was a brief little thing about a Superman spotter on the roof, where I'd now describe everything he was doing, and only get to the conclusion of "he was a Superman spotter" at the end of the section to let the reader have this mini mystery of what they're being shown and why.

I would describe things more if I was writing this today, trying to get those nicely tight and evocative descriptions and ditch the stuff like "she wore a white blouse", but I often feel that way about stuff that I'm revising from last week, so it's not surprising.

The plot is very tight, which is good. I tend to prefer my plots tight, but it takes work, and webserials aren't conducive to it because it's difficult to know when you're writing a scene whether it's really pulling its weight as far as moving things forward. The initial idea for MM was to move as cleanly as possible through a series of events: Superman -> Superman is invincible -> Superman is Clark Kent -> Clark Kent grew up in Smallville -> the ship is in Smallville -> the ship has a Kryptonite power source -> Kryptonite can kill Superman -> Superman is dead. The only thing that would make it any faster would be if we dropped the Lois Lane subplot, but that's like half the novel.

Superman is OOC

I've gotten tons and tons of comments on this story over the years. If I hated myself, I would go back through my email and count them up, but there are some death threats and "kill yourself"s in there, and I prefer not to reread them. The major thing that people hate is the ending, which I don't care to talk about, but the other major thing is that Superman isn't Superman.

In this, I largely agree, but then, I'm pretty sure I've always agreed. That said, Superman has had a ton of interpretations over the years, and there's a wide range of acceptable behavior from "a Superman", even if we're not counting the really out there variations like Red Son or some of the alternate timelines.

... but I still would probably make him more like a canon Superman if I had to do it all over.

There are a few things that raise red flags at the beginning, which is where I think they're inexpertly placed. Superman takes Lois off the roof and flies her around, making her very afraid, and this is fine, I think, a misunderstanding that might be stronger if we got his insight into what was happening before we got hers to help bridge some of the disconnect there and characterize them both better. But there's a little note after that, where Clark makes a joke about "Superman's girlfriend Lois Lane" that I think is a HUGE red flag, and which probably comes too early in the story. It would be better as a joke someone else made that Clark laughs along with, which raises the red flag to half mast.

The other major moment I would change is when the bombs start going off. Superman pulls back, unsure whether he's actually immune to mustard gas, and I think this is one of the moments that most goes against the character of Superman. Canon Superman would just say "welp, guess I gotta find out whether I'm immune to mustard gas in a hurry". Superman making the argument that he doesn't know the bounds of his powers and so should exercise caution reads as either cowardice or as him being way too bitten by the rationality bug.

This would then obviously have to change the plot of that section a bit, because in the novel as it stands right now, Superman is convinced by Lois Lane that he can't just sit on the sidelines for game theory reasons. Better to either scrap that section or have Lois convince Superman that for game theory reasons he should offer to have testing carried out against him in a way that doesn't harm civilians, which canon Superman might submit to if it saved lives. Then the rest of the plot can proceed as normal, because Superman is immune to everything and that's the whole plot beat anyway.

I'd definitely clean up some of Superman/Clark's dialogue to nail the character voice better, but I don't think it's that bad, and it's mostly a few places where the wording is off. I think in particular the points where he's feeling anger go too far, and are not how someone internally conflicted about the anger might talk.

And then, oh yeah, Superman punches a guy's head clean off, which I think is the biggest sticking point for most people.

I've thought about that scene a lot. I personally like it. But if I were ever trying to sell this story to DC, it's one of the things I would almost certainly change. Superman doesn't kill, except in that one movie that came out just before this story was published where Superman snapped a guy's neck.

The change I am most happy/comfortable with is that Whitman, the governor whose children were [REDACTED], is the one to kill Calhoun. This happens just outside the courthouse with Superman watching and not intervening in the slightest, or maybe catching the bullets as they go through Calhoun so no bypassers get hit.

I don't know, as I type it out, it doesn't have the same weight to it. It's not cool. It's not a watershed moment. Maybe there's a plot thread to pull there, where Superman has tacitly endorsed other vigilantes, and it would be a great time to pull in other mundane street-level heroes ... but that's an entirely different story at that point.

Another option is for Superman to simply fly off with Calhoun and put him away, but that lacks punch too, and gets talky, and ... it's about the rage, right? The feeling of injustice, not just at Calhoun, but at the entire world, and it's not just an unhappy side effect that there's blood everywhere, all over the clamoring press, that's part of the point.

Social Justice

I really enjoy how wide-ranging the novel is, and how many things it touches on. Good job me. There was a line I had completely forgotten about where Lois asks "Why doesn't Superman stop abortions?" that I had completely forgotten I had ever written, and which brought a big smile to my face (but no wonder some Superman fans hate this story).

There are a few other things that I raise my eyebrow at a little bit, at least sitting here in 2024. There's a particular line that Superman gives when talking about this whitewashed mural of the past they're walking by, and he says "It's easy to forget that slavery ever happened, you know?" Now, I will grant you that this is a part of a conversation where he's saying that maybe he should have been a better student of history, and is saying this as a white guy in 1934, but I wanted him or someone else to tear that statement apart. It never really happens.

"It's easy to forget that slavery ever happened [if you and your people have not been affected by slavery]". The novel takes place ~70 years after the end of the Civil War, which means that when Clark was growing up there would have been freed slaves who were in their fifties, probably many of them in Kansas, though Smallville is (notably) small. I don't know, it wouldn't have been historically accurate for them to have a discussion of privilege, but there's way more meat on that bone, and it's all left as subtext.

Also probably the case that if I were writing it now, I would pay more attention to race in general, but that I'm less sure on, because it would mean some major structural changes to be done well. There's a single black guy in the whole thing, who is barely a character and has no speaking lines: the farmhand Ma Kent has before he gets lured away with the promise of being an actor. I have never felt that any novel needs racial balance to it, but if you're going to be talking about slavery and whether Superman would have done anything about it, you start to make black people look like props, which is not a good look.

I mean look, I think it's fine for a given story to not actually take a stance on political issues or have a diverse cast, but this story goes from abortion to the Equal Rights Amendment to Prohibition to Nazis to the death penalty, and then despite being set in 1934 sort of talks around the subject of how shitty race relations were. As a white guy, I never feel comfortable talking about race, but I think it would have been appropriate to have here in more than the cursory way it was handled. But the cast is just not that large, and the way that modern Superman stories handle that is usually making Jimmy Olsen black and then not actually talking about the fact that he's black so it's just a palette swap, which I don't think would work here, especially since Jimmy is such a bit character, and also it's 1934.

Sexual Violence

Alright, I will say it: there's too much sexual violence.

Chapter 7 is when the two Whitman kids get kidnapped. Their driver gets his throat slit, the boy gets dismembered, and the girl gets raped. I knew it was coming and I was still horrified by it.

I would not remove this part. I would foreshadow it better with a few scenes with Calhoun, the brutes, etc., and I might change some of the details to be a bit less awful and gruesome, but I don't think I would remove it. There are a few core ideas here that I think all work:

The better class of criminal has left the city now, and all that are left are the worst of the worst, the people who will not respond to incentives or symbols or rational thought.

If you cannot strike at Superman's physical self, you strike at his mind instead, and one of the ways to do that is psychic damage. In Calhoun's case, this is irrational, a pure desire to hurt Superman in any way possible while his empire collapses.

The amount of evil in the world is enormous. The pain and suffering cannot be comprehended. I love what Superman says, that this isn't really unique, that these things happen to children all the time. He's upset about not being able to save them, but they're a drop in the bucket.

I think you have to be careful with sexual violence, whether it's depicted or hinted at or just briefly mentioned. There are tons of people who are not on board with that in their media, and even of those who are on board, it has to be handled carefully and can feel very cheap, as though you're just going to the worst and most transgressive thing you can think of for the shock value. People will see it as lazy and trivializing and making entertainment out of this horrible thing.

I think the world is shit. I think terrible things happen. I have always felt both oppressed by the weight of evil in the world and powerless to stop it. I think that's the thing that I'm gesturing at here, and it feels weird to me that sexual violence would get put on a pedestal as the one thing too horrible to mention, even though we're mentioning all the most horrible things.

How do Superman comics and shows and movies deal with this? My impression is that they don't. Surely Superman must be stopping rapes from happening, but I cannot think of a single time I've seen it happen. I'm actually having trouble thinking of a time it was implied to happen. I think this is probably a good idea on the part of the people who make these bits of media, but it's absolutely not realistic if you're thinking about how Superman would operate in the "real world". Sexual violence happens, child abuse happens, and I guess we just sort of assume that these things are dealt with by Superman off-screen.

Though ... I mean it impacts the characters, right? Does Superman not have a trauma response? Does he have a superpower where he can bottle it all up? He's definitely too late to stop certain crimes, and he definitely can't make things better for some of the victims, and I guess in the comics when he shows up to a burning building he generally has a 100% success rate and people come out with only minor injuries, but ... alright, this is definitely the sort of thing that led me to write this fic in the first place.

It's a question that the fic doesn't have an answer for: how do you go on living when you know that there's so much evil in the world?

I think dialing that particular scene back is, maybe, fine. But it's the sort of thing that would feel like I was being less authentic in a way, as though I wanted to grapple with the big questions but not that one, wanted to consider ethics and morality but silo myself away from things that actually are on my mind. I see the point of blunting that scene, and I rebel against it because I don't want to be blunted, I want to be sharp.

I would, however, remove a lot of the earlier references, or blunt those, because they didn't need to be sharp. There are, before the Whitman stuff, about five references to sexual violence, and maybe even just using "sexual violence" would be enough, rather than "rape". One of these references is to what crimes Superman is statistically most likely to stop, another is to a plot to besmirch his name, both can be massaged or they can go.

I don't know if I think about these things differently because time has passed or I've had a bunch of discussions about these issues, or whether it's just having the outside view. It's weird to think about what a conversation with myself would look like, if we were working on the story together.

Retrospective

I understand why Superman fans sometimes hate this story. There's the Superman OOC stuff, sure, but there are also a lot of questions about Superman that apply to canon equally well, and people hate that. Superman is a fantasy, maybe the ultimate comic book fantasy. He stops crimes and bullets bounce off him! You're not supposed to think about his stance on abortion rights. You're not supposed to look at the Clark Kent mask and say 'huh, that's strange'. I mean it's media, you can do whatever the hell you want, but if Superman is a fantasy, then there are a lot of questions that are fantasy-ruining.

I stand by the story as written about 80%, which is higher than I thought it would be, though there are certain things that I stand by more than others. There are certain structural changes and many line-by-line changes, and I'm glad that I didn't have the story open in edit mode, because it would have taken me three times as long to read and when I hit "save changes" people would grumble about archives or bad changes or whatever, because you can't please people.

About five years ago, I started writing A Common Sense Guide to Doing the Most Good, which was meant as a companion piece to MM. It ended up being all mechanics, no plot, and the plot that I wanted it to have was divorced from the center questions it wanted to answer. It didn't feel as grand, I guess, and the cats were out of their bags a little too quickly.

One of the Answers that MM gives is that the thing you should do in the face of overwhelming evil is to grind relentlessly, grind until your bones are scraping the grindstone and there's nothing left of yourself. The story does not believe this answer, but it's one of the places I ended up ten years ago, and am still sort of at now. The other answer is to live as best you can, be aware of the evil and do what you can against it without letting the idea of it (or the battle against it) consume your soul.

When I was finished reading, I kind of wanted to write an uncritical Superman comic. Something where Superman can be as his most loyal fans see him, someone who is Good and doesn't often have to grapple with what Good means, where the thorny edges of moral quandaries never come to light and the hero is always there in the nick of time. Where Clark Kent is a bold and noble expression of humanity rather than a deception and a mask. Maybe I will go do that.

#superman #fanfic #book review #metropolitan man #web fiction

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handelplayssims · 2 years ago

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We return to the Fletcher household to find Cameron voting for NAPs! On the list is Foodies Unite, Juiced Community, Power Conservation, Rock Your Body and Mind, Self-Sufficency, Support the Performing Arts and Water Conservation. While I think Cameron will pull his resources to add in Fun Loving Community, since he likes Comedy and Mischief, he’ll also throw in votes for Self-Sufficency. He is good at handiness and his wife likes to garden as well so win win! Meanwhile, Lara’s throwing a few more votes behind Self-Suffiency, bringing it to a substantial lead.

Lara’s whim is to fish but alas, work in four hours. Also the waters are frozen. But at least we can yoga to focus ourselves! As for Izzy, it’s time to be social! ...if it weren’t for the fact that I want to leave the lot first before going off to be social. But yoga and then we’ll head off! I noticed the sun was super bright and then I realized something. Even though I don’t have Eco Benefits active, the game somehow still counts it and over the course of playing this household, this neighborhood actually moved up into the Green ecosystem. Hooray? And Izzy got a pretty sun picture from the observatory before I headed off with her elsewhere. It makes a nice wall décor for her room even!

Anyway, enough with the snows, it’s time for the sand! We’re heading off to Oasis Springs to meet with Lorenzo Caliente at the nearby park! The call for Lara to work comes as we go. Normally, I would have worked from home but we’re away! Elsewhere! Our child Izzy needs the spotlight! Chatting with Lorenzo, we find he’s very uncomfortable. Probably needs the toilet, perhaps. But then he was fine after chatting? -shrugs- Leaves us free to chat about other things at least.

Anyway, the two became friends over what else would a nerd bond over, other than chess? It is now I suddenly realize that we skipped over the third stage of the aspiration because we already had a BFF because she’s already someone else’s BFF. Kamalani Kahananui, daughter of the Sulani couple that lives in the rich area! ...I should at least find out her initial trait and pretend this is a mutual BFF relationship. It is here that Izzy gets sleepy and so I decide to bring her home to take an afternoon nap. Cameron...still has low energy need and has work in eight hours! GO TO BED! Anyway, Izzy took her nap and now it’s 7PM. We’ve done enough social, what does she want to do? Solve Hard Problems! A thing which as a Genius she could theoretically do but actually can’t at the moment! So it’s logic boosting time.

Lara returned home from work as well, sad, gloomy, and feeling like she’s stayed in this career for far too long. That fear of dead-end job is back. While I empathize with the crushing rat-grind chase, you’re at the top of your career! I don’t want you to move! Bah. Anyway, she’s also exhausted so she needs to go to bed. The problem with swinging your focus elsewhere is that needs get very much out of balenced.

You know what else I’m thinking of? What Izzy wants to be when she grows up! And thinking about a degree! With all of this chemistry stuff, I’m thinking she might be into the biological side of science. The study of the body and what effects on it. Unfortunately, we only got a few options for the Biology degree. Doctor, Biologist, Marine Biologist, Athletic Bodybuilder. What I was thinking of was the Scientist career but that’s more on the Physics side of things. With Handiness, Robotics and Rocket Science. Hmm. Things to think about. Things to think about. Anyway, everyone’s a snoozing now! For a moment and then Cameron woke up at 10PM. Two hours until work! Enough time to manage needs and get in a focused mood. And so off he goes! And now it is time for!

Neighborhood Watch!

Marcos Rushing in the Rushing household has started a job as a Daycare Admin in the Babysitter career.

Forgotten Hollow: The Okada household has moved in.

#sims 4 #liveblogging #fletcher household #cameron fletcher #lara fletcher #izzy fletcher #lorenzo caliente

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marsipain · 2 years ago

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Hey I hope this isn't rude but when you reblogged that post about prosthetics, that post was about how more media should have character who Don't use prosthetics since irl they're bulky and most people do t use them except to make the abled people around them feel confortable (:/). But all the characters you tagged it with All use prosthetics besides the last one who has a wheelchair? I get Misako trying them since she had arms b4, but Lloyd was without them. He'd probably be more comfortable without.. even if in the future theyre better than now that doesntmean every disabled person is gonna use them

Hi! Thank you for sending these asks anon! When I reblogged that post with the tags about the cyberpunk AU, I really only used it as an opportunity to list the physically disabled characters, and wasn’t thinking of writing much about the specifics of what contexts each character uses their prosthetics for (for all the ones that use it) and was more noting it down for later, which honestly, is my fault! You’re right, it was very tone deaf of me and very inappropriately placed. I shouldn’t have brought it up on a post specifically about how physically disabled people feel pressured to use prosthetics by abled people and how it’s pushed to be the norm, and at LEAST provided the information on the characters specifically and how it was relevant to physically disabled people using prosthetics and how abled people around them fit into that picture. I did not provide a nuanced description that does the topic justice, so thank you for pointing it out!

I’m going to attempt to write fully into detail about it here, but with that being said, I am (for the most part) an able bodied individual and will not be able to do as well justice to this conversation as it deserves. I have done my fair share of research on the topic and also got @hiddensneker (who is hard of hearing) to read over this for me and give me a few pointers, but it is still nowhere near the experience and knowledge of all physically disabled people, so if you’re a physically disabled person reading this I would love if you corrected and criticized me on whatever I get wrong and add anything to the conversation you feel is important !

I want to start off by pointing out with that, yes since this is a sci-fi esque setting the technology is much more advanced, and stuff like prosthetic limbs are able to be connected directly to the brain through artificial neurons in the prosthetic limb and to the rest of the nervous system. Like you pointed out however; not all people with missing limbs use prosthetics and that STILL very much applies to this universe regardless of its cyberpunk setting and does show in a couple of the characters in this AU, as I’ve attempted to write a range of different physically disabled characters with different relationships to their prosthetics and/or their lack thereof.

I will be going into depth on all of the characters mentioned in the tags of the post and their relationship to their physical disability and/or their prosthetics separately, and then put some final thoughts and reasonings at the end!

First off Misako! Misako lost both arms (right under the elbow for the right arm and above the elbow for the left arm) in a racing accident in her early 20s. For context (because I haven’t spoken much about her publicly yet besides briefly mentioning her here and there) in this AU Misako does professional racing using the alias Lady Iron Dragon, and is considered one of the most skilled racers to ever live (if not the best) and a legend. She had already significantly built her reputation by her early 20s, so the accident really took a hit on her mentally; racing was her passion, would she still be able to race without her arms? She DID eventually recover, for a while she practiced using temporary prosthetics for racing, but after an eventual full recovery a couple years later and permission from her doctors, she got permanent prosthetic arms installed. This was because she’d lived all her life with both arms already and so she feels more comfortable living with them full time. With how advanced the technology is in this universe, it was always clear to her that this was what she wanted, but I want to acknowledge that if this wasn’t set in such a technologically advanced universe, she would not (and probably could not as flawlessly as I described here) install permanent prosthetic arms.

Now for Lloyd! In this au, Misako gave birth to lloyd in her early 30s, which is around 10 years after she herself lost her arms in the racing accident. He was born without his right arm (right below the shoulder and down.) When growing up, Lloyd was mostly kept away (but not forced away) from prosthetics, mainly because both Misako and Garmadon did not want him to think that he needed them to properly function in society (because he doesn’t) (and also that they would love him regardless.) When he grew a bit older he started becoming more and more interested in certain hobbies, starting with ring fighting (but mostly just training with his dad) which he had a prosthetic arm specifically designed for and later racing, which he also got an arm specifically designed for. When he grew a little older he developed a love for music (especially electric guitar and keyboard) and got a prosthetic designed for that! Outside of that he doesn’t use prosthetics very much (if at all.)

Now for Pixal. Pixal was born with a rare heart disease that there were no known cures for. Her father (Cyrus Borg) was distraught and desperate; none of the doctors knew what to do, no medical professional had any idea of how to help his daughter. With nowhere else to turn, he took on the task of helping his daughter himself using cyborg technology (his profession) together with his coworkers (?) He was eventually successful in helping her, and although it doesn’t show much on the outside (unlike her father) she is a cyborg! The purple markings on her face and arms (and perhaps other parts of her body) are simply aesthetic choices; glowing tattoos, if you will (there are a couple other characters with this that aren’t cyborgs, for example Skylor and Cole, as well as any Anacondrai Ring member who have a glowing snake tattoo on their back.) As you can see, while Pixal does not have any prosthetic limbs per se, she does have prosthetic parts inside her. This is not the same as Misako, Echo/Mr. E, Kataru and Lloyd’s situations however, because she cannot live without it.

Zane’s situation is similar but not identical to Pixal’s. He was discovered by his (later adoptive father) Dr. Julien as a young child in critical condition; barely able to move his body due severe chronic pains. This happened due to not having the resources as a homeless person to get treatment for his chronic pains (that were caused by injuries sustained living in the shadier parts of ninjaglow.) Dr Julien helped him by taking him home and altering parts of his body using prosthetics, completely getting rid of his chronic pains (at least for a while, he may have needed updated parts when he got older due to his body growing but his prosthetics not growing, as well as additional fixes and updates from now and then.) As you can see, it was not a choice to get the prosthetic parts; for he would have to either live every day in pain and unable to do basic tasks (for his chronic pain does not have a known medical cure outside of cyborg technology) or simply die due to how extreme his chronic pains had become. I also feel that it is important to note that Zane completely consented to becoming a cyborg, and that he and Dr. Julien had several in-depth conversations about it. (PS. No his face is not a screen built into his face, that is a mask.)

Echo/Mr. E is quite similar to Zane’s story. Dr. Julien found him abandoned in an empty alleyway (age 6-7) with a large slash on his throat. I’m not going to get too carried away with the specifics of his story (mostly because I have content planned around it) but just know that the injury was caused by another person and was not an accident. Dr. Julien took him in (this was a few years after he adopted Zane) and discovered that the slash had severely damaged Echo’s vocal cords, and that he was rendered mute. Echo begged Dr. Julien to help him, to find him a way to speak again because he loved speaking, he loved being vocal and it was a big part of him! Dr. Julien caved and started working on a device for him, and after many years of hard work he finally managed to create a voice box that Echo could strap to his throat that would make him able to speak (he was around 11-13 at this time.) Through the years of not having a voice, Echo used sign language with Zane and Dr. Julien (and everyone for that matter), and discovered that there were other ways to express himself without having a voice (facial expressions, body language, signing etc) and that he would be able to live a fulfilling life whether he ever got the voice box or not. He also continued to use ASL (or NSL? Ninjargon sign language? lmao idk) to communicate even after getting the voice box, and remained even more bodily expressive as a result of his time completely without his voice. It is important to note that this voice box is not a prosthetic (since it isn’t an artificial body part) but an assistive device (proving similar use as a hearing aid for example.) But was still mentioned because being mute (from any cause that isn’t self-afflicted regulation) is a physical disability.

Last but not least we have Kataru. Same as Echo I have yet to talk much about their story before meeting Zane, and that’s because I do have plans to make content surrounding it! So I wont be going into what happened before they met (and were adopted by) Zane. Kataru and Akita were homeless and barely scraping by. Kataru has lumbar spinal stenosis (which is basically a narrowing of the spinal canal, compressing the nerves traveling through the lower back into the legs), and due to being on the streets without treatment for [insert time between 1-2 years] it drastically increased in severity, causing complete paralysis of his legs. Because of this Akita had to act as their provider. They were barely scraping by with what they had, and without any money to treat Kataru’s LSS, things were looking bleak. Eventually they were adopted by Zane after meeting through [redacted], and were then able to treat his LSS. IRL there is no cure for LSS, only treatments, but in this universe you get it cured using mechanical parts (aka becoming a cyborg,) but Kataru chose to not do this, 1. because he doesn’t really mind using a wheelchair as transportation and 2. He doesn’t really fancy becoming a cyborg at all. He’s just fine the way he is (kind of like the star trek character you mentioned in the second ask!)

This AU is very important to me, and it’s also important to me that the characters and concepts I choose to include in it are done well and done justice. I’ve read articles about cyberpunk 2077 (reminder that this au isn’t directly connected to this game, I’m just bringing it up because its very relevant to this topic) and how it handles cyborgs and artificial body parts. I want to make sure that this AU does not follow the same mistakes as cyberpunk 2077 (and its predecessors in the genre) as a fellow cyberpunk themed universe.

Director of cyberpunk 2077, Adam Badowski, made this statement during E3:

“This is cyberpunk, so people augment their body. So the body is no longer sacrum [sacred]; it’s profanum [profane]. Because people modify everything, they are losing their connection to the body, to the meat,”.

In the wonderful and insightful article “Disabled Representation in Video Games and the Cyberpunk 2077 Problem” written by Elizabeth Rogers, she replies to this statement with

“And this is what insults me, as a disabled individual: the implication that we are less than human, that the relationship to our bodies is now profane, because it contains artificial parts. For many of us, the choice to include said plastic and metal bits and bobs is not really a choice at all. PICC lines and portacaths, insulin pumps and feeding tubes. You could argue that choosing to get an artificial arm or leg is a choice, but for many, it’s between not being able to walk and regaining movement and freedom. These are devices that allow us to achieve a degree of normalcy, one that we couldn’t before their implementation.”

This is what I’m trying to do in the Ninjago Cyberpunk AU. I’m attempting to show that these augmentations to the character’s body’s are directly done so that they can live out their lives to the same extent as an abled individual; to follow their passion, to persue their hobbies. And yes, it’s also partially to explore how a more technologically advanced universe would look like, but not for the spectacle like cyberpunk 2077, but to truly show how much it could help people physically disabled people, and to show the nuance in how people would or wouldn’t use that technology to express themselves without directly romanticizing the concept. The body is not profane because one adds “non flesh” to it, and it does not make it less sacred to do so either. While I understand that often in the cyberpunk genre it simply explores how humans in general would implement cyborg technology into their bodies and how that would affect society as we know it, in the Ninjago Cyberpunk AU I am specifically using it to explore how it’s an opportunity for a normal everyday life for physically disabled people, not only through a more advanced technological standpoint, but also in a society more accepting and respecting of the physically disabled people themselves. (And I hope to be able to casually implement that into content I will create surrounding this AU in the future.)

These are all important details I definitively should have mentioned in the tags of where I originally brought all of this up (or better so, made its own post about it in the first place) and it was never my intention to make it sound like I was completely disregarding the contents of the post in which I added the tags in. It was an unfortunate and unintentional misstatement, and I see now how easy it is to interpret the tags of the post as directly offensive. I was never aiming to make it come across that way; I never considered how bad it would look without all the information I held about the characters and their individual relationships to the prosthetics they use, (and while this isn’t an excuse) I was just excited to share with you all these sides of the characters that I had yet to mention, but failed to notice how bad it truly sounded without knowing the full context I guess? I hope that makes sense. I’m trying to create a narrative with multiple physically disabled characters, all ending up with a range of different stories and different connections to their prosthetics or their lack of thereof. It’s now very clear to me that when you read out the list of characters that I tagged in that post, it comes out looking like the complete opposite of that, and that’s completely my fault.

I hope I managed to explain it well enough anon! If you still have criticism, feel free to send in another ask (as many as you wish for that matter) and that also goes for any physically disabled person who has thoughts on this!

#hahabdhvdhdbsh i’m so anxious #i hope this is good enough #ninjago cyberpunk au #long post #marsipain speaks #marsipain asks

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crusherthedoctor · 3 years ago

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I’ve seen it.

After two and a half weeks, history has been made: I finally saw Sonic 2 instead of seeing 75% of it through screencaps and gifs that have watermarks on them. I was arguing as to whether I should even bother bringing it up since everyone's already given their own thoughts by this point, meaning a latecomer like me will probably have nothing interesting or meaningful to add that hasn’t already been mentioned... but I might as well.

Anyway, after being really excited for it, and seeing all the screencaps, it pains me to say that I honestly found it really disapp-PFFFT, just kidding, I loved it even more than the first one. :D Was there any doubt? There's way too much to go over thoroughly this early on when I’m still pulsating with hype, so as I did with the first movie, I'll list the biggest bullet points that come to mind.

- Once again, Ben Schwartz delivers as Sonic, and this time he takes it a step further. While Movie Sonic is still his own being, you can tell that he's becoming increasingly more like Game Sonic, which is exactly what I predicted would happen long before Movie 2 started showing itself, and I'm glad to see the gears in action. Whether it's action, comedy, emotion, or just plain Sonic, Mr. Schwartz hits all the beats perfectly.

Also, after the fandom's fears about Sonic having too much of a superhero mentality with the Blue Justice stuff, it seemed that didn't have much presence past the start of the movie... which I ALSO predicted correctly. Where’s my betting money, Sonic fans.

- Once again (again), Jim Carrey as Robotnik is one of mankind's greatest achievements. I loved the shit outta this portrayal in the first movie, but now that he has the look, and a certain iconic giant robot, my appreciation is now at 200%. He continues to balance humor and menace without even trying, and if there was any doubt that Carrey understood the doctor's character before, that doubt has no reason to exist now.

I know some fans will gripe about him not being fat, but I honestly don't care (and I don't think it counts as fatphobia either... I really can't wrap my head around that in this particular case). An Eggman who looks different but gets the character at his core, is a lot better to me than an Eggman that looks the part, but drops the ball at every turn... Guess which one I’m thinking of.

Naturally I'm hoping with fingers crossed that he does indeed return for Movie 3 and/or beyond, as it just wouldn't be the same if he was a no-show for future installments. But regardless, if that fall towards the Death Egg Robot's wreckage is the last we see of him, then at least he went out like a badass. (“Later, hater!”)

- Once again (again-again), Tom Wachowski is in no way a Chris Thorndyke, as James Marsden continues to make him far more likable and helpful, and all without stepping on the other character's toes and stealing their moments. Maddie also continues to be a welcome face, and they both once again manage to feel important without taking the spotlight away from the character the movie is named after. I'm glad they've continued to be part of this franchise, despite the vocal idiots who claim that any non-Eggman human is automatically bad. (Spoiler: a Sonic character should be judged by their actual character and what they do, not their species.)

- Idris Elba leaves an incredible impact as Knuckles. When he first said those now iconic words, we all went “Wow!” more times than Owen Wilson, and since then, he's proven to add a lot of depth to his initial antagonistic relationship with Sonic, yet his turn to the hedgehog's side is equally organic and believable. You know Robotnik's betrayal is coming, it's a matter of when and not if, but you still feel bad for the guy when the penny finally drops, though that's certainly helped by how the movie is aware that there's a difference being gullibility and full-on stupidity. THIS Knuckles is not an idiot, rather he's simply not used to Earth customs, which Robotnik gleefully takes advantage of.

The moments where he shows vulnerability never feel out-of-character either, and his humorous moments are genuinely funny without sacrificing his overall dignity ala Sonic Boom. And although the context surrounding the echidnas and why they all got sent to the Shadow Realm is a little different from SA1's interpretation, it works well for this universe. I don't mind deviations from the source material as long as those deviations work to the adaptation's advantage, and aren't completely stupid (or try to retcon the games themselves, like with Sonic Chronicles and its take on the Knuckles Tribe), so I'm fine with this. And besides, Ken Penders got his panties in a twist, so everyone that’s not him wins in the end.

- As a Tails fan who has suffered through a decade of fans constantly shitting on him for his recent controversial outings (because clearly no other character has had their fair share of bad portrayals...), I am EXTREMELY happy to report that this portrayal is a triumph. Worried about him cowering without reason? Throwing a bitch fit? Being stuck in a clunky mech the whole time? Worry not, because Tails gives it his all here. Sonic makes friends with him almost immediately, and yet it doesn't feel rushed at all thanks to how effortlessly endearing and deceptively capable the fox is. Like many fans, I'm glad that good ol' Colleen managed to nab the role, and the credit she's received is wholeheartedly deserved.

Speaking of, since it's something of a controversial topic, I should note that I personally have no beef with big name celebrities taking the roles of animated characters so long as they're actually suited for it, which this franchise has thus far gotten perfect marks for due to the talents of Schwartz, Carrey and Elba. But with that said, if Colleen's success as Tails inspires more opportunities in general for voice actors to get their kudos on the big screen, then I'm A-OK with that.

- Agent Stone continues to be an Egg Simp, so he still earns my good side. You can easily see Lee Majdoub's enthusiasm shine through, and his chemistry with Carrey continues to be a thing of beauty. It helps that they were able to have Robotnik justify keeping the guy around without softening the doctor up ala Sonic X. One favourite moment of mine is when Stone praises his master's brilliance, and the doctor simply says “Thank you, sycophant! Your admiration is inevitable!” THAT'S how you write an in-character Eggman, folks. He only acts surface-level nice to his robots and other minions if it's a roundabout way of praising himself.

Outside of his direct interactions with Robotnik, I do enjoy how Stone is hinted to be suitably devious when dealing with other matters, which makes sense since there'd be no reason for the doc to bother with a minion - let alone a non-robotic one - if they were incompetent. After all, we did see him listening in on a certain game-changing discussion towards the end... will his overhearing of it pay off in Movie 3? Not sure, but if there's another reason why I hope Jimbotnik sticks around, it's because it means Stone can stick around too.

- The humor is more or less what I said about it in the first movie. One or two eh moments, but extremely funny overall. And why does the humor work? Because much of it is character focused, and works with them instead of against them. Sonic's humor works for Sonic, Knuckles' humor works for Knuckles, you get the idea. No one is ever warped beyond who they are for the sake of the joke, and in a character-focused franchise like this, that's when the humor is at its best.

- Super forms! As someone who isn't the biggest fan of Super Sonic - at least, when it's overused to the point of losing its sparkle and making every finale feel like the same cheerleader routine for everyone else - he was executed perfectly here. You really do feel the power radiating from him, and even before he did The Move™ that served as a direct callback to it, I was already reminded of Sonic X simply with the way it was filmed alone. And don't think I didn't catch the '06 reference where he tippy-tapped the robot... cause I did. :P

But as we all know, it wasn't just him. I won't mince words here: Super Robotnik was a masterstroke. It could have went wrong very easily, and reduced him to a standard comic book supervillain, but instead they remembered what he's best known for - his use of technology - and made the super form and its capabilities revolve around the character instead of the other way around. This ties in nicely to the often forgotten intricacy of how the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds actually work, how thoughts are converted into power. Just as well then that Robotnik himself quotes the first half of Tikal's famous quote, “Chaos is power”, but tellingly ignores the second half, “enriched by the heart”... instead, it's Sonic who honors the spirit of the second half.

- And it's for that reason - as well as the action itself and the fact that Tails and Knuckles also have plenty of time to shine despite Super Sonic's involvement - that makes the final battle an instant classic worthy of the robot they're facing. I loved the final battle in the first one, but this is how you raise the stakes in a natural, non-Ian Flynn way. And the Death Egg Robot itself? Fantastic, utterly fantastic. It has the realistic detail to be sure, but is otherwise the colorful robot with the 'stache you all know and love, no Michael Bay Transformer treatment necessary. It was also nice that Stone got to have some presence this time around, rather than mysteriously disappear halfway through the movie again.

- If I had to nitpick (not counting the aforementioned one or two eh jokes), I'd argue that the wedding sequence went on for perhaps a bit too long? I'm glad Rachel got some time to show a nicer side and help Maddie out, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't funny or plot-important, but maybe it could have been a couple of minutes shorter. That's just me though, and it's really not that big of a deal anyway. If that's the biggest critique I can think of, then you know it must be a good movie, and a good adaptation of a longstanding IP.

- So... Shadow. I figured the cliffhanger would be either him or Metal Sonic, so I wasn't too surprised to see him. While I will admit I would have preferred Metal (in part because I'm very curious as to what his design would look like), I'm fine with Ow the Edge, and as someone who has never exactly considered the Ultimate Lifeform a favourite per say (I don't hate him, I just prefer other characters in the series), I'm actually more excited about his inclusion than I thought I'd be. I wonder who they'll get to voice him... “I gotta fevah, and the only prescription is Maria! Ohhh!”

Of course, I'm sure his backstory will be something of an elephant in the room for the developers. I trust that the crew are all too aware that Shadow is a character that requires context to who he is, what he is, and why he’s the way that he is, so I doubt this will be a Boom Shadow scenario. On the other hand, his backstory isn't exactly divisive for no reason whatsoever, and anyone who follows me will know that I'm personally beyond sick of beat-for-beat SA2 adaptations. So with that in mind, I hope they manage the delicate balance of doing something interesting with it, while still keeping true to the overall theme and intended aesop that pays tribute to Shadow for the right reasons.

BTW, I've made this joke before, but wouldn't it be funny if there's a flashback to Gerald, and it's just Jim Carrey with a white moustache?

- Mario, buddy? I like your games, but I think you're gonna have to wish for a miracle if your upcoming movie is to be on-par with this one. Sure, your movie might be animated... but it's Illumination. Does anyone actually like Illumination beyond merely tolerating them at best?

I could go on for much longer, but I'll stop here for now. Love the first movie, still do, but this is undoubtedly the superior of the two, and isn't that what you want from a sequel? Words can't describe how relieved I am that it's been doing even better than the first one, despite the efforts of the initial “critics”. I’m sure they'll continue with what they did with the first movie - “It wasn’t THAT good!” this, “It’s no masterpiece!” that - but who cares what they think. I can think for myself, and I think that this movie is excellent. A great time if you're not a Sonic fan, and even better if you are. In my humble opinion, of course. :>

Oh, and one last thing...

Trudy confirmed baybeeeeee

#Opinion #Sonic Movie 2

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davekitties · 1 year ago

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putting under a readmore because it's a long, rambly, rant.

I need to remember how upsetting these past 4 days of not having meds has been. I get that it was over the holidays, but I was doing everything correctly, and people were still treating me rudely. I literally can't refill my meds until the day they run out/maybe one day before, and all these different people I called were like "you should know we are closing 2 hours earlier than listed online and that we are gonna be closed extra days too sweaty," while I was literally following their stupid rules. I called them Friday morning, no one answered, so I left a message, and then I called back around 2:30 (they close at 4pm) because no one called me back, and they were fucking closed and the lady on the line was condescending about how I should have known they were closing at 2pm that day. so I wait till fucking today, Tuesday, since everything was fucking closed yesterday for new years day, and call and they're like yeah, we can write your meds for a different MG, just tell us what pharmacy to use since there's tons of adderall shortages. I call my pharmacy, and they have fucking NONE. I call around a few places and find one that has some. Call my psychiatrist back, leave a message saying to send the script to the new pharmacy, wait a few hours, call them again to confirm they got my message, and the nurse goes "oops, I sent the info to the wrong doctor, sorry, lemme send it again, tehe," (SO LIKE IF I HADNT CALLED AGAIN IT WOULDNT HAVE GOTTEN DONE RIGHT). I wait a few hours, and then get a text from my psych's office saying they sent meds in, so I wait an hour and call the new pharmacy (that I had to completely switch all my other meds over to in order to get this one), give them my new insurance number (love medical stuff early January 🙃) and they tell me they JUST got the script in the system, and it'll take 20 minutes to fill. my bf, who's off today, went and got it and delivered my meds to me.

okay, that was fucking long, sorry, probably gonna add a read more higher up, but like, holy shit... from the first lady Friday laughing at me and telling me that not having my meds doesn't count as an emergency to talk to the on call doctor, to the incompetence at my psychiatrist's office. I'm going to switch psychiatrists I think uhghh but, anyways, my point is that the american healthcare system is fucked and especially fucked for people with ADHD or other developmental issues like I almost gave up and was just gonna go without adderall because this was such a fucking hassle from the phone calls to being treated like a criminal for needing adderall to function. the only reason I persisted was because I just got promoted at work, and I can't be slacking right now, and I was slacking without my meds!! I was sleeping 12-14 hours and got jack shit done (even in video games, if you can believe that).

so, yeah, im going to remember my rage, my anger, my frustration and stress and anxiety, over this. the only reason I kept trying was out of pure, indignant, rage, and I know it's not healthy, but without my medication I felt like a shapeless blob, bobbing around randomly. my motivation to do anything was fucking gone, and I knew the only way to solve that was to get my ass into gear and start harassing (nicely) people on the phone until I got my motivation back.

just... be kind to people, okay? even if you don't understand, be kind in any way you can, and shout out to the lady at the new pharmacy that was so helpful and sweet

out of my medication and I can't even call and get anyone to fucking fix it because the pharmacy is out of my mg and my pysch's office didn't answer my fucking calls and everything is closed until Tuesday and apparently not having my medicine doesn't count as an emergency to the on call doctor!!!! Im fucking screaming

#long and angy #davekitties rambles

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janeyre · 2 years ago

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17 for the Doctor Who asks :)

oh hello!

17. do you read dw fanfic? if so, do you have any recommendations?

oh my GOODNESS okay wowowowow. well, first of all, i have 470 doctor who fics bookmarked on ao3. so. i have a few favorites. genuinely if i like anything i'll bookmark it. easy beans. then when i want stuff to read later..... i have sum.

first of all i want to say that it was almost impossible for me to put together a list of my top faves because there are SO many that i absolutely ADORE. so this list, i have decided, will be JUST the ones that i have read over and over and over again. if these fics were physical books, the spine would be cracked and there would be pages falling out from how well-loved and well-read they are.

second of all, i wanted to give a shoutout to some of my favourite authors, because it seems unfair to only list some works when i feel like every single thing they write is a true work of art. my faves are: @loupettes @lastbluetardis @chocolatequeennk, among many others, and i would first recommend everything by them before recommending something specifically.

buuuuuuut due to the nature of the ask i will get it together and list a few faves here (they are all doctorrose because i am Like That):

one crowded hour by @allegoricalrose: absolute favorite fic of all time. holy toledo. i have read it countless times and i am thinking about it always. truly one of the best pieces of writing i've ever read, regardless of fanfication status! it's beautiful prose and evokes such strong emotion. forever a legend.

dreams of another life by @veritascara : i have read this one countless times. the YEARNING. the fight against hope. i'm absolutely obsessed with it.

the bonds of love by @lastbluetardis : LOVE a bond fic, LOVE a doomsday fixit, LOVE that for once the doctor isn't the one who has to suffer.

the lame shall enter first by @lastbluetardis : a CLASSIC. a mastery of love and hope and hurt/comfort. this work has 8.7k hits and i am 8.6 of them

to bring them home by @chocolatequeennk: the tragedy! the heartache! the yearning! and then, when it's all fixed !!!!!

to make much of time by @chocolatequeennk: another fandom classic, and for such good reason. one of my all-time favorites. (if i ever did a ranking, this would probably be second or third). i reread it every year or so and every year or so it's worth it. SO GOOD.

2.09.01 by @loupettes: everything loupettes writes is beautiful, and to me this is one of the prime examples. a sheer delight to read. so incredibly warm and fuzzy.

marylebone to king's cross by @loupettes: so touching. the best part of loup's writing is how she masters the banter between the two of them while still making it so deeply meaningful and heartfelt is just.... everything.

you know what..... i'm just going to link my bookmarks page on ao3 because i have so many fics that i love and they all deserve recognition. i could talk for hours about all of them. maybe this is a sign i should put together a rec list...?

EDIT: one that i just possibly couldn’t ignore is no touch, which was only posted as a secret santa in 2016 but is one i have reread so so so many times because it is just so precious. i had to come back to add it because i wasn’t sure how popular it was, but it deserves to be another fandom classic!

thank you for this ask, nonny! i hope you find something you enjoy :)

#shoutout to all of these incredible authors whose work i consume endlessly and am always grateful for #you guys are heroes and make such beautiful work #truly so grateful #otp: if i believe in one thing i believe in her #you know i really should make a rec list..... hmmmm #a project for later to be sure #fic rec list #fic

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psychadelickate · 4 years ago

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NCIS: Gibbs - Stakeout

Title: Stakeout Word Count: 1154| Fandom: NCIS Pairing: Gibbs x Reader Rating: K Gif: Not Mine Requested: @ilovemark1951 Prompt: Hello, I would love if you could write something with Gibbs. He is following a suspect, when they look around so Gibbs grabs Reader and kisses them so he doesn't get caught. Hopefully you like this idea.

You didn’t think this was how you were going to be spending your Friday night. You cussed under your breath, not for the first time this evening. Of all the things you could’ve been doing, your mom has asked you to go shopping for a family get together. While that in itself hadn’t been an issue, the fact that you had to tag along with two of your least favorite cousins was. It’s not that you hated them, but given a choice, you would’ve opted to watch paint dry. It would’ve been less painful for you.

The topic once again focused on how your biological clock was ticking and that soon you wouldn’t be viable for marriage and… you drowned out the rest of the conversation, knowing how it was going to go.

As you placed another jar of pasta sauce into the cart you cursed at your long-time friend, Timothy McGee, for cancelling at the last minute. Granted, you knew work was always the priority, but you couldn’t help it. You were in hell, for the last half hour. Friday evenings usually meant dinners with the NCIS Agents; if you could weren’t working on a case. That you weren’t NCIS but rather FBI didn’t matter to any of them, it was more than a decade of friendship with them and you were sure when it came down to the nitty-gritty of stuff, the NCIS agents would always have your back.

Even if the FBI only existed to annoy NCIS. Tony regularly reminded you of that, often repeating his Boss’ words. It was fortunate for DiNozzo that Gibbs rarely joined the group at these dinners, preferring to spend time in his basement building a boat.

The first time Kate had mentioned the boat-building in the basement, you’d thought she was kidding but, months later, when DiNozzo and McGee confirmed Gibbs was actually building a boat there, you had no choice but to believe them. You have yet to see the boat, or the basement…

You hadn’t had much interaction with Special Agent Gibbs, even when agencies were forced to work together. He was wary of ‘head doctors’ and profilers and Behavioural Analysts’ and preferred to go with his ‘gut’ feelings on things. The most you’d shared with Agent Gibbs was maybe a quick ‘hello’ in the hallways of NCIS or wherever the meet was. Even at the dinners, Gibbs was not much of a talker, preferring to listen more. He was always polite, though.

Thinking of the man, you’re somewhat surprised when you see Agents Bishop and DiNozzo who are grocery shopping. That makes you somewhat suspicious. Why would Tony and Eleanor be shopping, together? And that’s when you notice their body language. They seem more alert than they should be for just shopping, and then you note that their attention is focused on a man closer to you in the same aisle. The man in question seems nervous, but there’s something else that troubles you about him, something that raises the hairs on the back of your neck.

It takes a second before you recognise the man – he’s the lead suspect in the case Team Gibbs is working on. McGee had asked your opinion on this Mr Donnelly and what you found scared you – just enough to warn McGee to be careful with this one.

Neither of the agents acknowledge you but you do see Eleanor say something into her sleeve. Probably updating McGee on the new development of you being present in the store.

And then your attention is diverted by your nagging cousins.

“(Y/N), Are you even listening to me? It’s not as though your Mr Knight in Shining Armour, is just going to show up. You need to put some effort into dating, looking for him,” your cousin Myrtle tells you.

“Did it ever occur to you, that I don’t put any effort into dating, because I don’t want to date anyone?” you ask, your tone acerbic. You’re still trying to figure out a plan if Donnelly catches on to the fact that he’s under surveillance and what he’ll do when he does figure it out.

“Then you’re going to remain a spinster…” you miss the rest of her sentence because your attention is diverted when you feel a hand gently close around your upper arm and spin you around.

To say you’re surprised when you come face to face with one Special Agent Gibbs is an understatement of the year.

You try to keep your expression neutral; it’s a monumental task, but there’s also no need to alert Donnelly of anything just yet. Also Gibbs doesn’t give you time to process anything.

The only thing you’re aware of is Gibbs’ mouth slanting over yours, his lips pressing softly against yours. You feel his hands on your waist, gently pulling you into him and you can’t stop the moan that escapes you.

He pulls back, slowly, eyes pinned to yours. It’s a three second reprieve before he melds his mouth to yours once again, but not before whispering “Rule 27” in your ear. You try to remember if you’d heard DiNozzo or any of the other agents talking about Rule 27 but you can’t think straight because this time, when he kisses you, he’s not gently at all, fusing his mouth to yours, his tongue asking for entrance. You’re caught so off guard but you don’t deny him, granting him entrance. The kiss is hot and frenzied, and nothing like you’ve ever experienced before. When people had told you Gibbs could be intense, they certainly weren’t lying.

Gibbs only breaks the kiss when the need for oxygen overrides everything else. He pulls away, reluctantly, but doesn’t let go of your waist. By the time you get your bearings back, DiNozzo and Bishop have already cuffed Donnelly and DiNozzo is leading him to a group of other NCIS agents to be taken back to NCIS to be interrogated.

“Hi,” he offers you a shy smile and you can’t help but return it.

“Guess not all FBI Agents exist to annoy him,” you hear Tony stage whisper and a laugh escapes you without your permission.

“Don’t let Fornell know,” Gibbs growls and more laughter follows.

“Wait, you’re an FBI Agent?” Myrtle asks you. “I thought you’re an Analyst.”

“She is. A Behavioural Analyst, for the FBI,” Tony says, the annoyance prevalent in his tone.

“Look, we’d love to stay and chat, but there’s still a suspect in custody and right now Agent (Y/L/N) has to be debriefed, so if you don’t mind, we’ll be leaving,” Eleanor adds.

She and DiNozzo don’t wait for your response and turn to leave with the rest of the Agents.

“How about a literal debrief after interrogation?” Gibbs asks you and you can’t help the blush that rises in your neck and cheeks.

“Only if you do the debrief,” you respond once your face stops flaming.

tag list: @messrvpadfoot @diaryofafan17 @iwritetoavoidmyproblems @stanathanxoox @ladyzombiielove @mahc1562 @eve-lyn @anycsirp @kittenlittle24 @manicmarsupial @cameronmonaghantrashaf @fullmoonshadowwrites @kettnerjanea @dressed-up-just-like-z1ggy @yourdailymemedelivery @ilovemark1951 @xxbeckybeexx-blog

If you’d like to be tagged, let me know Masterlist here Character list here.

#ncis #ncis fic #leroy jethro gibbs #special agent gibbs #gibbs x reader #reader ask #reader request

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shanastoryteller · 4 years ago

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Questions about outlines: How detailed are they? Are they the same level of detail or do they vary? How do you make your outlines? Chronologically scene by scene? Or do you come up with the scenes that call you and then come up with smaller filler scenes to fill in the gaps? Do you have outlines for each chapter? Or just for the larger general plot points? Do you try to complete the outlying before starting the fic? Or do you add to the outline as you go? Sorry if this is to many at once

lmao okay i got several asks about outlines but i’m just going to answer this one because it’s ~comprehensive~

every writing teacher i’ve ever had has hated my outlines. my friends find them incomprehensible.

if people are going to look at my answers as ways to do their own outlines, i have to say: that’s probably not a good idea

i don’t write outlines a majority of the time

i don’t write outlines to plan a story i’ve already decided to write

i write outlines primarily as a way to exorcise story ideas that i want to write but don’t want to actually commit to writing (answer prompts are another way i do this lol)

now, some things do get outlines as a way to plan and organize. survival is a talent has an outline because it’s 400k and spans six years. child king had an outline. needy’s body had an outline.

b u t

i’m currently writing rotten work without an outline

lynchpin didn’t have an outline

hope is the thing with feathers didn’t have an outline

never grow a wishbone only had an outline for the first couple of chapters

an invincible summer didn’t get an outline until like. chapter 4 of 6.

i just. uh. think about what i want to happen and then hope i remember to write it down. even when i do an outline, i’ll deviate from it wildly, and not update it to reflect that, because i know what i’m doing (ha!)

so! with that in mind, let’s go!

How detailed are they? Are they the same level of detail or do they vary?

they vary! but honestly - not very. sometimes i’ll write out a paragraph or bits of dialogue that are important to me, but most of the time it’s just broad strokes of what i want to happen, or a mechanism of how something complicated happens. like i have several paragraphs in my siat outline dealing with necromancy books, but like. two sentences on how they actually occur in the story because that’s just something i’m trusting myself to figure out when i sit down to write it.

How do you make your outlines? Chronologically scene by scene? Or do you come up with the scenes that call you and then come up with smaller filler scenes to fill in the gaps?

I try to put them chronologically, although sometimes that’s a little hard (in siat i have several scenes that i know will happen, i just don’t know when). that is something i will go back and edit on my outlines, is if i’ve changed the order the something happens i’ll go back and copy and paste until my outlines is in the right order. but only if the outlines is something i’m actually using to write and the story is longer than a couple of chapters.

because my outlines are so very not detailed, i just write down what it is that i want to write, like the reason i’m going to write this or want to write this, and figure out the rest later. i’ll fill it in later - or i won’t! because most of the time i don’t use my outline to actually write the story, and i use it more as an idea list, so if i don’t know what happens between scenes or i find it boring i just won’t write it down

like, for example, here is my “outline” for won’t even plant a garden in it’s entirety

weep as a woman

“you weep as a woman weeps.” “and how is that?” “as if the future rests on your hips, and you must walk it forward.”

crowley and eve were friends. cain killed abel with the flaming sword, and crowley begged them to say it was with a rock instead

crowley was raphael the painter and fucked michelangelo

crowley was there the night yeshua was born, was friends with mary, helped raise yeshua?

ghosts

crowley and anathema and joan of arc

i ended up dropping most of this and crowley ended up sleeping with both eve and yeshua as the major plot points. i don’t explain stuff, really. i know what i mean so i just don’t bother to get very detailed most of the time.

Do you have outlines for each chapter? Or just for the larger general plot points?

siat i divide up by year, and i think i did it by chapter for the last two chapters of build your wings on the way down, but otherwise it’s just one long list. i do my chapters based on words counts rather than content, so outlining by chapter doesn’t really make sense for me (siat is always around 15k a chapter, and everything else i do these days thats multi chapter is around 8k because that’s the best, but ngawb was 5k a chapter and i think for child king it was around 11k a chapter)

Do you try to complete the outlying before starting the fic? Or do you add to the outline as you go?

I’m constantly adding as a i go! my outlines are never really “complete” they’re just abandoned. i write down what i think will help me and tend to ignore the rest. sometimes i just. talking to myself in my outlines when i’m trying to think something through.

my outline for child king is under the cut because that’s one that’s a good mix of stuff i kept and stuff i threw out. DON’T JUDGE ME!! bad ideas don’t get written because they’re bad!! it’s part of the ~process~

child king

Summary: “A child king is still a king,” Deaton says softly. “A child king is still a child,” he snaps, but he knows this is an argument he’s already lost. – Stiles is a born alpha, and after the Hale fire, things get real complicated, real fast.

Stiles’s mom is the last remaining human from a pack that was destroyed by hunters. John is the one that helps her after, so he knows everything. When they move to beacon hills she doesn’t feel the need to say anything to the hale pack, because as far as they’re concerned she’s just a human, and she doesn’t want to get involved in pack business. But then stiles is born with red eyes. The doctor is quiet and scared john and Claudia freak out, but it’s because he’s a werewolf, which is a relief to parents because they thought something was wrong with their kid. Maybe they don’t know he’s an alpha, only that he’s a wolf? Or they know and they keep it a secret on purpose

Claudia is the one to approach mrs. Hale. She tells her that her son is a born werewolf, but that she’s not interested in joining their pack. Her husband is a new deputy and they just bought a house but they’ll move if they have to. “he’ll need a pack one day. It’s safer,” she says. “if he wants to join you one day, I won’t stop him. But that’s not a choice I’m willing to make for him.” Mrs hale agrees that they can say separate as in exchange for the sheriff smoothing over some ruffled feathers no and again. They agree. Claudia to sheriff “we’re going to have to move one day. Our son is an alpha, and he’ll need to make his own pack.”

Stiles is seven the first time he snarls at his mom, eyes flashing red, and she freezes. She’s got the pack instinct, it doesn’t matter that hes her kid, hes still her alpha, so its hella awkward. John can see how this will quickly spiral out of control if they can discipline their own kid. But stiles is the one to back down first, apologizing and doing as he’s told. There are careful power structures here, and this is the beginning of differentiating between stiles the human and stiles the wolf.

When his mom gets sick, stiles offers to turn her. Hale offers to turn her. She refused for Reasons that I have to figure out. Maybe the politics of it? Wanting to protect stiles and not wanting to become part of the hale pack

The fire happens. John ships stiles the hell out of dodge, because there are hunters about. He snoops around enough to figure out it was kate argent, but theres not really anything he can do about it

Scott knows about everything, and tries to tell his mom in a really akward way that they should trust stiles if they’re ever in danger, but she just laughs it off. Except when someone breaks in and threatens her with a gun, and she manages to make a phone call, it’s not 911, not john, but stiles, and she doesn’t even know why, regrets it as soon as it happens. But then stiles shows up and breaks both of the guys, eyes glowing red, and then calls his dad and scott to take care of it, because they’re humans, so they get human punishments. Melissa is told everything.

Scott has a bad asthma attack and, and Melissa asks about the bite. Scott is itching for it. He wants it so badly. Stiles has already promised to turn them when they turn 18, and Melissa knows that. She asks if theres a reason to wait, and the answer is nah, not really. So he gets the bite. Stiles being like uh psa punishments cant include scott staying away

After hale fire and stiles gets back, he’s shocked that hey just left, and that they left peter behind. He starts visiting peter several times a week. He tells his dad that they should pay for his medical care. They have a fuckton of money because his mom inherited all the pack wealth, and john doesn’t touch it because that’s stiles’s money, that’s werewolf money. But this is a werewolf thing, so he agrees. “his pack left him dad.”

Stiles bites Erica when they’re 14. Some point in middle school stiles wises up to the Isaac thing and tells his dad he needs to arrest his dad, or stiles is going to kill him, and he’s not even a little bit joking. Stiles hears Isaac crying while going by the house? In johns squad car. Makes them pull over, then bursts into the house. John goes with it because his son’s eyes are red.

Some point after the hales leave, things start trying to move into hale territory. Some wolves? Stiles smells them, and ends up at 10 years old telling them to fuck off. This how scott finds out? He’s with scott and his dad. Deaton is facing off against something? Panics when stiles intervenes, but stiles goes wolfy and red eyes and is like. This is mine now fuck off. Looks at the hale house, and finally says, we have to take care of this. We have to. But they don’t own the house or the land or any of it. They do … something

Stiles ends up having to deal with a lot of crap real young

Stiles has scott and Isaac when peter wakes up. Stiles is there, and peter isn’t crazy because he wasn’t abandoned to die alone. Stiles says he can stay, or he can go, not trying to pressure anything. Peter chooses to become part of stiles’s pack, because his family is either dead or abandoned him. Peter ends up moving in with them as he finishes healing and to get used to being in a pack and with stiles. It’s very strange for john, but it’s a werewolf thing and he’s trying to be supportive. After a couple months, stiles tells his dad that having peter is a relief, that there’s finally someone who knows things, someone older who can support him as a werewolf. Peter acts as his second, and he finally has some degree of authority that age has lost him. Stiles has peter take care of the hale house. Peter and stiles have the conversation, where peter is like the hale land is your land now. You’re the alpha of beacon hills. He does what stiles directs him to.

Isaac is living with scott under stiles’s direction ish. But lots of Melissa. Isaac like I don’t wantto be afraid anymore, I don’t want to hurt anymore, and stiles is like. Okay. We’ll fix this. But he doesn’t bite Isaac until he goes to a shitton of therapy and has mostly sorted himself out. For isaac’s fifteenth birthday, he bites him.

Erica is spur of the moment, it’s something that all instinct and very little thought. OR they’re dating and it happesn? Erica’s parents suck. Stiles doesn’t want the balancing act of being boyfriend and alpha.

Jackson is so fucking desperate to belong to something. He nags and nags and nags and finally stiles bites him at least half to shut him up.

“dad can I talk to you about something weird and uncomfortable and a little creepy” talks about crush on Lydia, and how he’s not sure if its because he has a crush on her or if it’s bc he thinks she’ll be good for the pack. Lydia joins before Jackson, and she’s the one that pushes stiles into it. Lydia and stiles are not dating, but she’s clearly high in the hiarchey.

Boyd? Just like. Shows up. Idk.

So by the time laura and derek show up, stiles’s pack is: john, Melissa, peter, Lydia, Jackson, danny, Isaac, boyd, Erica, deaton (who’s acting as emissary but is training danny). Maybe bring in some later characters, like malia and kira and cora. Ooooh maybe the twins show up before they became alphas, still run aways and looking for something else? Stiles takes them on. Stiles finds malia early on after the fire

Peter is willing to forgive derek but he has a lot of shit with laura. Stiles agrees to let laura and derek stay and not be part of his pack, although laura insists she doesn’t need his permission. She snaps at peter to come home with them, and he looks at her like she’s insane. He says there’s no hale pack, and if there was, he’s not interested. He’s a stillinkski wolf now. Cora too maybe? Double blow. Peter owns the hale land, and he makes it clear the day stiles turns 18 he’ll be signing it over to him. Stiles is known by the surrounding packs.

Stiles has to somehow defend the surrounding area, has to make it clear he’s his and that he’s not willing to give it up. It’s valuable land. People are going to come looking for it once people figure out it’s abandoned. When deaton finds out stiles is an alpha, he goes around as an emissary to the surrounding packs. Saying that its under stiles now. He’s known to them so it goes mostly uncontested. This is when he and the sheriff have the child king conversation.

Stiles tries really, really hard to be a good alpha. That means controlling the territory, and working with other packs when members go rouge or something goes wrong. He’s thirteen the first time he goes to lend a hand in a fight, and it’s young, it’s too young, but he’s an alpha. He has to do this, to maintain the peace. And the thing is – stiles is good at this, good at not pushing, at not using his status as a crutch or an excuse, instead as a tool.

Maybe this is why no one cares for laura’s excuses. As much as laura wasn’t ready to take on the responsibility, she was an adult, if only barely. Stiles is a literal child, and in her absence shouldered it all. So even if she does technically have a claim, none of them are willing to honor it. “if you kill alpha stiles, you won’t have allies, you’ll have enemies.”

Allison and argents. Stiles brings his pack to kill kate. Gives peter the chance to do it himself, and is so very proud when he says no. but instead of letting her go free, stiles crushes her throat. “revenge would have been trapping you all in here and setting the whole thing on fire. Justice would have been making you watch as she burned alive. This was mercy, and don’t you forget it.” Scott is hella in love with Allison, but he knows this comes first. Her mom is full of hatred, but stiles more than makes it clear that he has no problem with killing her too.

Stiles sees derek soon after. They’ve already gone back and forth a lot. But he and laura weren’t there. Stiles tells him what he did. They have a ~moment~

Derek wants so very much to join stiles’s pack, but he doesn’t want to lose laura.

Something finally convinces laura to take the plunge and the stillinksi pack is one happy family

#asks #anon #writing advice

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fleetingpieces · 4 years ago

Text

My One in a Million Chapter 8

Hiiiii! I'm back from the dead and finally got back to writing again <3

Sorry it took ages—and sorry it's not a great chapter— but thank you so much everyone for the patience and support, it means so much!

Thank you @inloveoknutzy @donttouchmycarrots and @knittingdreams for beating, love y'all! <3

Tag list: @whataboutmyfries @justdyingontheinside @heyoitslysso @sunflowerfox87 @hereforwolfstarr @potterlocked24-7 @ttylfedora @domesticatedbeetlenamedjorge @lovemeleo @im-lana

CW: Mentions of food

Ao3

Masterlist

Chapter 8 - The morning after

Remus woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. He blinked a few times to get the tiredness out of his eyes—which seemed to want to stay glued shut—and stared at the ceiling for long moments.

His first thought was that, for a second, he thought he could hear Padfoot’s laugh. Vague images of a dream he’d had came flooding back to him; long corridors, empty beds and his gaming console. The sound must have been a remnant of that.

The second thought was that the ceiling of his room was weird. He couldn’t quite pinpoint where the bugging sensation came from, but something was off and he was way too tired to figure out what it was. Maybe he should just go back to sleep. Groaning, he turned around to do just that, and that’s when he got a good look at the rest of the room.

He sat up with a start, regretting it instantly when nausea hit him like a wave. Closing his eyes, he stayed still until the feeling ebbed away, then opened them again slowly.

This wasn’t his room. There was no sign of any of his stuff; instead, he saw a big mirror, a dark wood chest of drawers, and a trail of scattered things that either belonged to different people or to someone with diverse tastes: a blue hair tie, a black snapback, t-shirts that at a glance he could tell were of different sizes, with stamps that varied from Disney to Strand.

One by one, memories from the night before popped up as the fogginess from sleep left him completely. That’s right, Sirius had offered his home to him after he’d found Remus outside of his flat; he’d come in to take a shower and had sat on the couch as they watched a movie and drank. Things were a bit hazy from that point on.

Had he really pouted and asked Sirius to stay with him like a little kid? Fuck, please let that be a part of the drunk hallucinations. He turned around slowly, glancing to the other side of the bed with his heart beating fast in his throat, but the spot next to him was empty.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Remus threw the blankets to the side and planted his feet on the floor to get some resemblance of stability, but frowned when he stepped on something. Looking down, he noticed a pillow and a blanket lying rumpled on the floor, next to his side of the bed.

A pang of guilt made its way to his chest when he realised Sirius must have slept on the floor while Remus was on the bed, covered from head to toe and warm. Sirius had been so careful with him. Every touch had been gentle, not invasive but rather trying not to overstep, trying to comfort. So, so very careful.

Remus felt slightly ashamed for thinking Sirius would take advantage of him. Not to mention for the way he'd bawled his eyes out in front of the man. He’d made a fool of himself yet again, something that kept happening a lot as of late and to which he wasn’t used to.

“Oh, God.” He remembered how he’d felt his mother’s hand brushing his hair before he fell asleep and he desperately hoped he hadn’t called out for her in his dream. Bringing a hand to his forehead, he could almost feel that phantom touch, tracing fingertips over his hairline.

He rubbed his face in embarrassment. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to face Sirius after all that, but there was no way he could fall asleep again and a quick glance at the clock on the opposite wall told him it was barely eight in the morning. It was still too early to call Leo or go back to the clinic, plus he didn’t know how everything had panned out.

Remus glanced at the bedside table where his phone was lying face down and stretched over to grab it. He flipped it from hand to hand, back and forth, the small thing weighing him down every time it fell on his palm with a soft thud.

He could call.

He should call.

But what if something had gone wrong? What if Cocoa had had a complication during the night? Would they have notified him already if that was the case? Did he want to find out like this, far away from him and helpless to do anything? He didn’t want to show any more weaknesses in front of Sirius, he’d already shown more of his vulnerable side than he’d ever intended to.

Nodding to himself, Remus got up and threw the phone on the bed. He took two steps towards the door. The doctor had told him to go in the afternoon; he could wait a couple of hours before going back to the clinic and then he would know and—

A huff escaped him as Remus hurried back and dialed the number, plopping down on the mattress.

“Thank you for calling Mercy Animal Clinic. This is Jennifer, how can I help you?”

“Yes, hi, my name is Remus? I brought my dog in last night for chocolate poisoning and I—I was just calling to check on him?”

“Of course, Sir. What is the patient's name?”

“Cocoa,” said Remus, gripping his phone a bit tighter. Jennifer hummed and asked for a few more details to confirm his identity, to which Remus replied on autopilot, his mind going blank in a subconscious attempt to protect himself.

“Just a second, please.”

Remus busied himself counting the floorboards while he waited, trying to calm his nerves, but it had the opposite effect as he became very aware of how long Jennifer was taking to find what he wanted to know. He’d started tapping his foot when the receptionist finally came back on the other end of the line.

“Yes, everything was ok during the night and Cocoa will be ready to go home after lunch,” they said cheerfully.

Remus’ breath stopped completely and then he exhaled loudly. He could have sworn he felt his heart unclench, invisible fingers letting go of their painful grip and allowing blood to stream freely again. His shoulders dropped, releasing all the pent up tension that had been building there since he’d stepped into his apartment the night before, and he laid down, covering his eyes with his free arm.

“Sir?” Jennifer said hesitantly.

“Yes. Ok. Ok. Thanks, I’ll be there.” He hung up and let the phone fall at his side.

The silence of the room was an echo of his own head as Remus tried to let the words sink in. He peeked at the ceiling from under his arm. Cocoa was fine. The phrase repeated itself a few times until Remus took a deep breath and swung himself up.

The hall was quiet outside of the room, but he could hear some noises coming from ahead. Remus bunched the sleeves of the jumper he was wearing, not too willing to admit how comfy and warm he was in Sirius’ clothes. Especially not when he was assaulted by memories of Sirius helping him walk through this same corridor the night before and Remus almost gave in to the embarrassment. Sirius probably thought he was pathetic.

Groaning, he steeled himself as he padded the rest of the way, but his step faltered before going into the kitchen, a hand rising to settle on the wall. Something smelled amazing in there. Like melted butter and Saturday mornings back home, with his mom humming as she stood by the stove and the sun streamed in through the open windows. The sound of the sizzling pan was accompanied by a rock song playing in the background, a cool guitar distortion filling the room, followed by a gravelly voice singing a capella.

And there was Sirius in the middle of it all, moving around the kitchen gracefully, head bopping and singing into a ladle. He slid across the floor like Tom Cruise in that old movie as he moved to the fridge and a chuckle bubbled out of Remus’ chest, taking with it most of the heaviness still clinging to him.

Sirius jumped up, accidentally closing the fridge door with a bang, and turned to face Remus fully. It was only then that Remus realized what he was wearing: he had black ripped jeans and a black tee, his hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail; and on top of all that, he had one of those aprons that had a buff man printed on the front, that read “Kiss the chef”.

Remus stared for so long that Sirius followed his gaze and looked down, only to look back up quickly with a blush. “It was James’ idea of a joke.”

James, as Remus was quickly learning, took special pleasure in teasing his friends, although Lily claimed he always failed when it came to her. But Sirius clearly treasured anything that came from his best friend, no matter how silly or awkward.

Clearing his throat, Remus stepped into the kitchen and peered at the stove. “What are you making?”

“Pancakes!” Sirius exclaimed, seemingly glad for the rapid move of the subject. “I thought you could use some hangover breakfast,” he added with a shrug before turning back to the mixing bowl on the counter.

“Oh,” Remus said dumbly, taken by surprise. He scrambled for something to add. “Did you get the recipe from the same place as those cookies?”

Sirius spluttered and threw an offended look over his shoulder. “Mon Dieu, I’m never going to live that down, am I? I’ll have you know, these are my speciality. But I won’t give you anything if you keep that attitude up.”

Laughing quietly, Remus breathed a sigh of relief that Sirius wasn't looking at him with pity or mentioning his sorry state from the night before. So much had happened between them in just one day, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act anymore. He shuffled awkwardly to the island and, as he leaned on it, the name of the song Sirius had been dancing to dawned on him.

“I can’t believe you’re actually listening to Black Dog,” Remus said, covering his face, not sure if he wanted to laugh or cry.

“Hey,” Sirius turned to point at him with the batter-covered ladle, “Plant speaks to me on a spiritual level. I’m sending good vibes to Cocoa.”

Remus raised an eyebrow, making an effort to keep the corners of his mouth down. “You do know that the lyrics have nothing to do with dogs, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s the feeling that counts,” he waved his hand dismissively, sending a few vanilla-colored drops flying, “and the song title.” Smiling at that logic, Remus shook his head—as weird as it was, he found it reassuring. Sirius peered at him as he flipped the golden pancakes easily. “I’m glad you look better. How are you feeling?”

Remus tensed up, but it didn’t look like Sirius was making fun of him. Focusing on some point by his feet, he rubbed at his neck. "Yeah, um. Thank you for your help. And sorry about...everything. I guess it was one thing after the other and it was just too much.”

“We’ve been through this, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Sirius smiled tentatively. “Have they contacted you from the vets?”

“Actually, I called just now.” His heart rate picked up as excitement coursed through his body. Saying the words aloud made them even more real, allowed them to settle in and gave way to tiny pinpricks of impatience. “They said everything’s good. I can bring him home after lunch.”

Sirius turned to face him fully and his hand went to grip Remus’ forearm, his smile turning so bright it was almost blinding. “Remus, that’s great.”

Remus smiled too, staring straight at him. “Yeah,” he breathed. After a second too long, he coughed discreetly and moved back. “I just feel like I won’t be able to relax fully until I see him, you know? I wish I could go over now.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Sirius said as he leaned back too, fingers moving to play with the strings of his apron. “Just a few more hours, eh?” Remus hummed noncommittally and, sensing that he needed a bit of a distraction, Sirius turned his attention back to the food. “In the meantime, can you get the plates from over there?” He pointed at a cabinet as he got the pan out of the stove.

Remus did as he was asked and brought them over to the counter, where an array of toppings were waiting. His stomach grumbled as he watched Sirius cutting up some strawberries to place over the pancakes and then drizzling chocolate on top of everything, singing under his breath to the next song on his playlist. It was all oddly domestic. It was nice.

They sat in the living room to eat, though instead of sharing the couch like they had last night, Sirius—now without the ridiculous apron—sat across the coffee table on one of the armrests. Remus took a bite of the fluffy sponge and closed his eyes with a hum. “Ok, you were right. These are awesome.”

Sirius had just taken a mouthful himself, but he beamed before he swallowed and licked some of the chocolate off his finger. “Glad you like them, Re. I don’t think my reputation could have survived another fiasco.”

“Are you sure this wasn’t just a lucky mistake?” Remus joked, if only to ignore the way his stomach jumped at the nickname, prompting Sirius to throw a napkin at him.

For the next two hours or so, the conversation was light and easy while the music kept playing at a dim level. But, as time went on and the plates got piled up on the coffee table, Sirius started getting distracted.

He kept glancing at his phone like he was checking the time or waiting for a call. Remus would have thought that he was overstaying his welcome—Sirius had a life to get back to, after all—if it weren’t for the fact that the man kept the conversation going and going, asking questions and gesturing excitedly when he was telling a story about how he and his friends had once managed to get a flock of pigeons inside a train full of passengers. At this point, Remus was pretty sure that Sirius was not capable of lying.

A lazy breeze drifted in from the open window, bringing in the smell of morning dew and ruffling Sirius’ hair so that a few strands fell in front of his face. As he brushed them back, he raised his eyes and pinned Remus with a look that was slowly becoming very familiar. That look that said he wanted to say something but he was choosing his words carefully.

Remus was pretty sure he knew what that meant. So far, everything he’d blabbed about the night before had been skillfully avoided—mostly by Remus averting his eyes every time Sirius looked at him like that. He wasn’t looking away now though. Wasn’t sure he could, honestly; not with such intensity and thinly-veiled concern directed his way. Sirius opened his mouth, the words starting to form at the back of his throat when Remus’ phone pinged.

He jumped slightly and went to quickly fish it out of his pocket, holding on to the getaway it provided. Talking about his behaviour or the few hints he’d let slip about his past was not something he was ready to tackle. A quiet sigh dropped from Sirius’ lips as he got up to take the plates back to the kitchen, while Remus stared at the notification flashing on his home page. “Oh, Padfoot just uploaded a new video?”

The sound of ceramic banging in the sink startled Remus into looking up. “Um...you ok?”

“Yes! Too much soap,” Sirius’ voice came back, muffled slightly by the running water.

Remus snorted and got comfortable on one end of the couch, resting his back on the side and pulling his knees up. He wiggled his toes as he waited for the page to load, digging them into the plush sofa and then tapping his feet when the video finally started. It began like usual, with the starting screen of a game and Padfoot’s cheerful voice.

“Hello everyone and welcome! You’ve all been nagging at me to play with Prongs more often, so I hope you appreciate how much effort it took to get his ass out of bed.”

“That’s so not the introduction I was expecting,” another voice complained.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want to do it?”

“Why, yes, thank you. Hello y’all! By popular demand and because I know you like me more than this silly goose, I am here to play some games and have fun! Mostly at Padfoot’s expense.”

“You’re the only person in the world who could say ‘silly goose’ and not have everyone laughing at them.”

“I know, it’s a skill I honed for years.”

“What the hell,” Remus laughed, shaking his head fondly.

Sirius came back into the room, drying his hands absentmindedly on his pants as he took his seat back. He sat at the very edge of the cushion, leaning slightly forward with his hands clasped between his knees, eyes down.

Remus made a questioning sound, waving the phone in front of him. “Do you mind?”

“No,” Sirius croaked, gesturing with his hand for him to go on as he cleared his throat.

A small line of confusion pulled Remus’ brows together. Something was definitely going through Sirius’ mind. Deciding to give the man some time, Remus focused his attention back on the video and made a note to ask later if something was bothering him.

Padfoot was talking about the game they were going to play and Remus could feel his energy even through the screen. He always got like this when he was trying something new. Remus pictured him bouncing on his chair, waiting impatiently to start playing, tapping the buttons in anticipation. “He’s like a kid on sugar, isn’t he?” he said without thinking.

A cough came from Sirius’ spot. “Well, I… I think it’s...nice? He sounds happy.”

The corners of Remus’ lips tugged up in a small smile at that. “Yeah. That’s good.”

“Huh?”

“He didn’t seem his usual self in the past few streams. I’m just glad he’s ok, is all.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw how Sirius’ hands gripped his knees tightly, slipping through the holes in his jeans. Remus watched in silence but, just when he was about to ask what was going on, the video changed. A small square appeared on one of the corners, showing a man sitting in a chair, not much to see in the background, his face covered with the black dog that was his signature logo. Remus sat up straighter. It wasn’t often that Padfoot appeared in his videos and he couldn’t help the interest that sparked inside him whenever it happened. He scanned the small image until something caught his eye.

“Huh? ...Wait. That’s—” Remus froze for a second before promptly throwing his phone to the other end of the couch. “Oh my God.” He covered his mouth, feeling the pull of his mouth as a grin lit up his face, his wide eyes not leaving the small device lying innocently face up. “Oh my God, oh my God.”

“What happened?”

Remus turned to see Sirius looking at him with a confused little smile, probably wondering if he was still drunk or just bonkers.

“He...he’s wearing my merch. My merch.” And one of his favourite hoodies from the collection, at that. “How—How does he even know about me? I know he likes to keep in shape but…”

The faintest blush crossed Sirius’ cheeks. He rubbed his hands together, looking down at them and then back up at Remus’ still astounded face. He took a deep breath and exhaled in one go. “You know, I’m...” He trailed off, mouth opening and closing a few times.

Remus tried to bring his thoughts back to the room, to the man in front of him and not the one on the screen. He bent forward to grab the discarded phone, his mind still reeling as he paused the video. “Yeah?” he prompted Sirius to go on when he straightened back up, smile still in place—he wasn’t sure he could wipe it off even if he wanted to.

Sirius’ grey eyes roamed his face, then went to the phone in his hands before they finally settled on his bright expression and he sighed, smiling and shaking his head. “No, nevermind.”

Remus tilted his head, but Sirius simply shrugged. “Are you sure? You can say it, whatever it is.”

“I don’t think it’s the right time,” Sirius admitted, letting his head fall back as he worried his lip.

Curiosity flared up, dazzling and hot, and Remus tried to water it down, unwilling to trespass Sirius’ boundaries. Instead, he looked down and tried to organise his whirring mind, eyes going to the clock on his phone. “Fuck,” he muttered. He really wanted to finish watching and keep talking with Sirius, but it was getting late. “I should probably get going.”

“Oh,” Sirius blinked as he raised his head up. “You can stay if you want to.”

“No, I…” Remus stood up. “I should go get the key from Leo. I will probably see both his mom and mine, which means it won’t be a short visit and I’d like to be at the clinic as soon as possible.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

Stopping midstep, Remus turned to look at Sirius, eyebrows raised. “Come with me?”

“Yeah, to the clinic? You are not too fond of them.”

It wasn’t a question, but Remus replied anyway, surprised that Sirius had caught on to that at all. “No, I’m not,” he said, dumbfounded. He shook his head. “But it’s ok, you did a lot for me already.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Remus, anyone in my place would have done the same.”

No, they wouldn’t.

“It’s fine, really. Leo will probably come with me,” he said. He wasn’t sure how Sirius could think that everyone was that selfless, that any person would have helped an almost stranger without thinking it was too much effort. Remus chose not to say anything about it, knowing fully well that was not the case.

#my one in a million #moiam #fanfic #remus x sirius #siriusxremus #sirius x lupin #wolfstar fic #wolfstar #remus lupin #sirius black

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