#also refer to that “sometimes it's a love letter to canon sometimes it's a strongly written letter” post

[lurkingteapot]

Reblogging this to add: I feel like "they must be canon" or "must have strong potential to become canon" is valid, but also incredibly limiting. For folks who, like me and the majority of ao3 users, primarily ship queer ships, that option basically excludes 99.9% of pre-2000s media, and a good chunk of present-day media still. The most common basis of shipping as I've come across in 20+ years of fandom is "if canon won't provide, we'll have to make our own", and it continues to serve us well.

Hey, I wanna talk about how we do fandom! I've come to realize that I, personally, tend to differ from many others in that I highly prefer to only engage with a text as it's written, so I don't tend to really like fanon/extremely ooc characterizations and I find it hard to get invested in ships that aren't canon. My way of doing fandom isn't better or worse than anyone else's, but I am curious about how much of a minority I'm in! So:

*We've all seen ships of characters not from the same media and stuff like shipping the concept of ennui with the color blue, okay, I'm asking what you, personally, find compelling!

[remythologise]

Hello! I found your blog via you amazingly summarizing all that's going on with the spn drama. Due to my schedules, rl stuff, some of the arcs that didn't vibe with me, my availability to find a place to watch...the rollercoaster I was used to with this fandom was more me binging it in a weekend to going months to over a year without watching it. I still haven't watched the last season(but with a fandom this big it's pretty impossible not be spoiled so I more or less know what happened) BUT oh great one I ask of thee for more information if you have it...other than being busy and whatnot, I'm not really one to keep up with the actors as well. So could you also maybe do a summary of all the stans? I'im seeing terms I haven't seen before. Who is Kelios(sp?)? Hellions?? probably messed it up but like...I guess what are the name of each legion? Who do they have alliance towards? What was their desires? Que paso?!?!?!?

Hi there! 'Some of the arcs that didn't vibe with me' me emotionally quitting Supernatural in Season 7 after they killed Castiel 😂 Anyway I totally get it, I went through the same culture shock mid-last year when I got back into SPN and tried to find where fandom was at! There's really a LOT of lore and content after 15 years though so I'll just do the broad brushstrokes based on my impressions and personal stereotypes PLEASE remember this is oversimplifying groups and individuals to tendencies and I'm very biased! Also important that there are sub-factions within sub-factions - again, I'm simplifying here!

I've also linked to the 'Super-wiki' in terms of some definitions because the Super-wiki has pages for them where the Fandom-wiki does not. Great introduction actually - only in the Supernatural fandom. There are two Supernatural wikis. One, through curation and twitter activity, supports BiBro/Wincest factions and does not support Destiel users. One is more neutral or Destiel-friendly (I don't know that the Fandom wiki has a personality/social media presence per se). You cannot make this up. There is a factional war... within use of fandom wikis.

Destiel faction

People who primarily ship Dean/Cas, love Castiel and (often, although not always) Jack, and the 'found family' of Supernatural as well as the brothers, and like the post s3 seasons too. Hated 15.19 and 15.20 for killing Dean and ignoring the other characters/narrative arc of the show. Nicknamed 'Destihellers' by the Wincest faction as a derogatory term, 'reclaimed' and shortened as 'Hellers', a nickname they use affectionately to describe each other. See more info on nicknames here.

Sometimes also ship ‘Cockles’ (the ship between Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles) although generally speaking they're more respectful of the wives of the actors than J2 shippers, who are notoriously responsible for... a vast series of insane-fan misdemeanours. Historically most were also good at keeping RPF to themselves and not harassing celebrities with it directly, although recently, particularly with younger twitter fans, that has not been the case.

Sub-factions:

The ‘Desticule’ or ‘Destiel tumblr’ - general grouping of Destiel-shipping tumblr users around 20-30 years old, usually LGBT+, most who came back to the show post-15.18 after leaving it for various reasons including getting sick of the queerbaiting. Funniest bitches alive etc. and responsible for the best text posts you’ve ever seen. Can also start stupid discourse and in-group drama when they’re bored.

'POLOL' - People of Lots of Letters, a discord group (of tumblr and twitter users) that ran on the assumption Andrew Dabb was playing a hugely intricate game of 3D chess to do with gnostic symbolism among other things, and would make Destiel canon. Have since had their own factional sub-wars and fallen apart a bit. Some of their meta was and is good and interesting! Some of it was wildly off the mark. Now generally insist that Dabb/the writers were all pushing for Destiel canon and the network is entirely to blame.

Twitter fans (TikTok edition) - younger fans around 18 and younger who (FOR REASONS BEYOND ME) started watching the show around 2018-2020. Definition of 'stans'. Tend to be very loud and aggressive on twitter when Events Happen, which like. I do get, because they've grown up in a completely different media environment and this kind of Dinosaur Politicking around LGBT+ issues is beyond them. Fancam central. Anyway stream #CASTIEL for clear skin!

Twitter fans (AO3 edition) - older fans around 30+ who kept going with the show but either don't have a large tumblr presence or just prefer twitter. A lot of fic writers, GISH-ers, and BNFs in this group. Some of them are very cool and reasonable in their opinions, some of them act like the younger stans. Some of them too accepting of what happened wrt 15.19-20 in my opinion, because, in contrast to the younger twitter stans, they grew up expecting Destiel to NEVER be canon or respected. 'Can't believe we got this far' etc.

Multiship faction

Multishippers or shippers of things not as large as the two main behemoths . Sub-factions based on shipping, e.g. Megstiel and Sastiel. I don't think these groups are very large though, and seem to have very little influence in the Discourse.

Wincest faction

LARGE overlap with the 'BiBro' faction and their opinions, which I'll get to. Ship Sam and Dean romantically. Often pretend to be BiBros on places like twitter and reddit in order for outside groups to take their opinions more seriously. 'Wincesties' etc. are derogatory nicknames given by the Destiel faction.

Sub-factions:

Multiship fans - ship Sam and Dean but respect Castiel/the 'found family'. Politically overlap with the faction of multishippers, I think. I don't have a lot of insight on this group of people honestly, but I know they exist.

Bronlies - the typical BiBro and 'Wincest' shippers most people think of, twitter user 'Kelios' is one of the would-be ringleaders of this faction - typically tend to be older white midwestern women. Historically have been pretty nasty on twitter (leading to Robert Berens, writer who made Destiel canon, occasionally subtweeting Kelios). Also tend to ship 'J2' - and take it very seriously as a legitimate thing that is really real. This is called 'tinhatting'.

BiBro faction

People who think the show should JUST be about the brothers, love Supernatural s1-3 and everything after it should have been just like Supernatural s1-3. Hate Castiel, Jack, and the 'found family'. Largely loved 15.20. Go to literally any comments section on any Supernatural article and You Will Find Them complaining about how the show should just be about the Brothers. Tend to be older, straighter, and more conservative/Republican (and male) fans. (I am aware that the definition of 'BiBro' used to refer to people who just liked the brothers but there's no definitional difference now in the discourse.) The Wincest and BiBro faction are generally much more wealthy than the Destiel faction (they being younger and more diverse/queer/left-leaning in general) and would be the biggest revenue generators at conventions etc.

Sub-factions:

Reddit bros - literally anyone who visits r/supernatural. Well, that's not fair - there are people who post reasonable opinions on there, but it's pretty rare and they get downvoted a lot. Like to talk about 'toxic Destiel fans' 'ruining the show' and how Dean is a straight man who is straight and could never possibly be gay. Might even think the confession was platonic despite all evidence to the contrary. I'm Not Homophobic I Have Gay Friends, But No Gays on MY Show!

Old Guard - group of older fans who overlap strongly with the Wincest faction, but might not necessarily ship Wincest.

GA faction

'General Audience' - These are the group of audience members that aren't 'online' so to speak; most watch the show on TV as a Casual Viewing Experience (are therefore also sometimes referred to as 'casuals'. Mostly their opinions tend towards BiBros, but they have a vast range of baffling views thanks to being Not Online and usually Not caring about Supernatural that much or thinking that deeply about it.

Sub-factions:

People who simply watch Supernatural on TV and then don't think about it very much after that.

I said they weren't 'online' but that's not entirely true; I'd probably classify people on Supernatural Facebook Groups as GA, along with friends of friends who post statuses about how 15.20 was a neat finale that wrapped up the series.

Conclusion

Supernatural is famously the show that appeals to both Republicans and Democrats, literally All Orientations, so there's a WIDE range of factions. However, most warring online boils down to Destiel vs. Wincest/BiBro - the war that started in Season 4 and has simply never ended. In terms of the 'actors' and their stans, in general, Wincest/BiBro fans love Jared, like Jensen, and dislike Misha. Destiel fans love Misha, like Jensen, and dislike Jared. Of course as with everything, there are variations and this is just a generalisation. But that's the summary of it, from my perspective!

This didn't even get into Sam girls, Dean girls and Cas girls. God. Anyway.

Hope that answered your question, anon!

[starlightshore]

Is there any evidence that Chara is an abuse victim? It's a very popular headcanon and I want to understand why

hrm. ok let me preface this with a couple of things: one, i actually answered this same question a couple weeks ago (week ago? time means nothing to me) on AFR but i got triggered by continuous use of the topic and people wouldn’t stop talking after i asked multiple times for us to stop. (no bad blood to anyone involved) this is only relevant because its the same question, and I want to make it clear I am fine with talking about this topic, and I will say if or when it’s stressing me out. I am not against talking about dark themes, and at the moment I am calm and fine.

I want everyone to know that this is a triggering topic and i specifically am susceptible to this and it’s surrounding themes, so please try to read the room I’m creating on this topic and give me the proper space.

i say that all ahead of time because I do not want to get triggered or talk about child abuse/death/suicide at length. this ask is fine. maybe a couple more if it’s brief and not asking me to do further research.

secondly, I want to talk about UT canon real quick. UT, for the most part, relies on text to spell out it’s history and world. characters don’t walk on screen and say: I’m Chara Dreemurr. I was born on September 15th 2003. I’m nonbinary and use they/them.” like no, characters live in the moment and yes their past define them, but they got bigger things to worry about and talk about current things. maybe they’ll refer to past things, but never bluntly.

--putting under read more. discussion of child abuse, self harm, and other ingame dark topics. This is mainly a character analysis

So, either you infer from what’s available or you search the wiki/playthrough/text dumps. The very act of playing no mercy route has lore in itself, if you account for player theory and other factors I’m not getting into here. Anyway, Undertale is a very Deep and loaded game with lots of world building built into every nook and cranny. (just spend 5 minutes on semi-frequent undertale facts if you’re curious to this rabbit hole)

Anyway point being, Chara is the narrator. this is fact. “it’s me, Chara.” They outright say it. I hate when people call it theory when it’s more explicit than most things in game.

anyway, the main flavor text i want to point to is this:

* "Faded Ribbon" - Armor DF 3 * If you're cuter, monsters  won't hit you as hard. 

So here’s a couple things I want to talk about first. Yes, monsters fight and that is normal.

* But they will never know  the joy of expressing  themselves through magic.* They'll never get a bullet-   pattern birthday card... 

It’s 10000% likely that Chara dealt with monster fights when alive. And that most likely lead to culture shock and confusion, but with Toriel (lmao, she outright scares off a froggit from Frisk) by their side and being a royal, I highly doubt they were in any danger in that household.

point being, yes, monsters could of hurt them, I would think this mindset is more directed to humanity, rather than monsterkind. You can read it more bluntly that it’s about monsters after all, t does specify monsters here. My counter point is that is to foreshadow how monsters are weaker beings who are more in-tuned with their magic-based bodies and are susceptible to intent, and likewise their magic reflects their own intent.

So yeah, I think it reflects to Chara’s general history and mindset to wanting to appear more tolerable to avoid pain, be it physical abuse or fear of being human. Chara, who calls themself a demon and hated humanity passionately, would be fully aware they are human. When welcomed to a very loving monster family, they didn’t want to ruin the prophetic angelic image they placed on them. They knew with their own imperfect behavior, that they were doomed to fail them.

This can be inferred from how both Toriel and Asgore wear the deltarune (Toriel’s robes, Asgore’s armor makes the wings and their homes in both games have the symbol). Gerson talks about how either the Deltarune Angel (someone who has seen the surface and returned) would either free them or destroy them all. Chara, who the underground believed to be that Angel, was put on this huge pedestal that clearly both parent’s believed in.

We know Toriel represents Integrity,

* someone who sincerely  likes bad jokes...* has an integrity  you can't say  "no" to. 

(along with being refereed to in the blue color of text)

and by both (points in DR’s direction) and this line from her when allowing Frisk to go past the ruins:

My expectations... My loneliness... My fear...For you, my child... I will put them aside.

Toriel says expectations first. It’s clearly a huge part of her motivation. I absolutely see how this pressure not only was put on Chara, but Asriel as well. This isn’t a hate letter to Toriel btw, but rather an examination of her parenting that led to the main tragedy of the game. It’s a cautionary tale. Toriel was not prepared for adopting a suicidal preteen.

speaking of which! back to the whole point of this post.

* I know why (Chara) climbed the mountain.

*(Chara) hated humanity.* Why they did, they  never talked about  it.* But they felt very strongly about  that.

 Now I want to say that Chara hating humanity enough to run away to kill themself doesn’t strictly mean they were abused, but wow! Chara is seriously mentally ill (and frankly, yes, children can be are suicidal) and I don’t think that level of suffering happens for no reason.

* The ends of the tools have  been filed down to  make them safer.* Seems like gardening tools.

* Where are the knives.

The gardening tools in Toriel’s home are dulled and there are no knives in the kitchen. These are actions one takes when their child self harms, this isn’t precautions based in them being literal infants. Chara I imagine was closer to 10/12 age range than Baby. (what baby knows what a tsundere is?)

All these paint a picture of a child who self harms, who violently hates humanity and wanted to kill their (likely) abusers. I’ve also seen someone suggest the fact that FIGHT is your first option in the game in itself reflects how Chara’s first instinct is to Fight first. Both Frisk and Chara are heavily influenced by the player’s actions (both literal and in a parental/guardian like influence) and we see this thru Chara’s outlook changes depending on LV, as well how Frisk feels about violence. (dogfood bag being half full/empty, punching mad dummy in the dump)

Using the themes of the game and backstory/context, we can see how Chara has been taught violence as a viable option. I’d link that more to their pre-underground as Monsterkind as a society preaches mercy and uses bullets not as a murderous tool, but as self expression.

Again, I don’t want to say that just because a child is mentally ill and self harms, doesn’t mean they were abused but I don’t think it’s out of line as a reasoning for it. Yes, sometimes you’re just born with such mental illness, but I choose to interpret the faded ribbon dialogue + their own desire to fight/kill as something taught by example. It fits the themes. It’s more realistic to see Chara as someone who’s been hurt and has learned to hurt in return. (AND that does not mean abuse victims are therefore doomed to become abusers! chara is a child first and thru the pacifist route they’re just as merciful as Frisk! It’s a character arc)

and just to be absolutely clear because I KNOW how tumblr handles nuance sometimes, I am speaking as a former abused and suicidal child. Making that clear that when I say this is how I read the text, it’s not just me speculating on the game’s content but on a real life knowledge of how this shit works. Chara very, very much reads an abused and depressed child who just wanted to fulfill the prophecy for the sake of their family’s freedom.

With almost killing Asgore on accident, Chara realizes that they are an evil human and the only way to free their people is to die violently. (don’t look up buttercup poisoning side effects, it’s bad.) Chara didn’t need to die to escape. They could of killed any of the dreemurrs, but they chose to die horrifically. It’s common for those who are suicidal that they’ll want to die before people see them in a negative light.

also couldn’t really fit this earlier but hell, this is long anyway so I might as well say this here. I think we can also infer Chara’s hatred for humanity grew with learning the history of monsterkind. The books harshly say human souls are different and it’s possible they may not even naturally have compassion and love, or at least, are not required to have it. Humans sealed monsters underground and commited actual genocide against them. (and i don’t use that word lightly. the no mercy route isn’t a genocide, please don’t use that term for that. esp don’t lighten such a heavy and real-word term to a frickin video game route oh my god)

We have this repeating theme of society’s influence on children and how cycles of pain continue. What is “in this world, it’s kill-or-be-killed“ but a statement on society? I’ve discussed before that I think it’s very likely Chara said those words to Asriel as they were being murdered, and how the very system that put Chara into this path was human society that both failed Chara and monsterkind all those years ago. The game’s message is that you must not kill, and you must not be killed in return. That there is a third option, and that even in dire circumstances if you use 7 virtues and are determined enough, you can avoid war and make peace. This isn’t to say self defense is bad, Undyne the Undyning is framed as a hero, and cruel/corrupt rulers should be disposed of (king spade)

this got a little off topic but I thought it was fun to write about. The game’s main theme is built around that phrase, it’s Asriel’s character arc of him learning thru Frisk/Chara/Player that in this world, despite everything, you don’t have to kill or be killed.

TLDR; Chara is implied to hate humanity so strongly they were willing to die horrifically to free monsterkind and fulfill the angel’s prophecy. the game depicts them as a very mentally ill child and with the addition of the faded ribbon text + desire to FIGHT, Chara likely learned this mindset before falling underground. looking at the themes of the game and chara’s backstory, we can infer and take a guess at who they were and what the game is trying to say. Undertale is a good game and has a good moral. That’s my TedTalk

[authenticcadence18]

For the sending you a character thing could you maybe do Candace Flynn please? :)

Hi anon! And of COURSE!!

Favorite thing about them: I love how relatable she is! Candace being overwhelmed with life and feeling stuck/discouraged and frustrated is just, a big ‘ol mood, especially as I’ve gotten older. “The Universe is Against Me” is very therapeutic to sing for those reasons! I also love the moments when she is genuinely a kind older sister, like in “Dude We’re Getting the Band Back Together” or the end of “Summer Belongs To You.” I also love her friendship with Isabella (especially in the later seasons), it’s just really sweet! Candace helping Isabella out with her crush on Phineas (or just reacting to it in a deadpan way) is so so soooo so great! (Basically big sister Candace. Yes.) Candace is also just, SO FUNNY. Both with her dialogue and physical comedy. She’s a great character. (On a personal note, I also relate to her struggle with not wanting to drive right away! I was the same way, and thinking about Candace made me feel better about my own struggles!) Also her SINGING. YES. I love Ashley Tisdale. ...Ok, now that I’ve said lots of nice things about Candace...onto the next question😅

least favorite thing about them: sometimes Candace is just, very unkind. Like, I KNOW she has her own struggles and I’d never want to invalidate those.....but she is just so MEAN to Phineas and Ferb sometimes for no real reason (particularly in earlier episodes). Like, in the Christmas special for instance, she continuously laughs off Phineas and Ferb’s desire to write letters to Santa (but then USES this idea in a scheme to figure out what gift Jeremy wants, so it’s hypocritical on her part) (EDIT: i wouldn’t change the “letters to Santa??” bit, btw, it’s pretty funny!! but it illustrates my point) and THEN puts the thought in Phineas’s head that he might be the reason all of Danville was deemed naughty, which DEVASTATES him. I think the saddest part is that, 95% of the time, Phineas and Ferb are nothing but kind to her. It makes her occasional spitefulness towards them seem so JARRING. (And again I KNOW she struggles with her own issues and feeling inferior, CATU especially made that apparent, and I get it! But that doesn’t make it okay for her to be mean to her brothers, you know?). Also scenes where she says something nice to Jeremy and then rude to her brothers...idk, it just rubs me the wrong way. (I also dislike it STRONGLY when she is condescending to Isabella. I think this only happens, like, twice...but Isabella is my fave so I’ll never forget, LOL)

Favorite line: oh MAN how do I CHOOSE??? She’s got so many iconic lines. Maybeeee: “It’s SO not fair! I mean why am I still on sock detail when Gladys from accounting got promoted to commander and she doesn’t even know hold to hold a blaster!!! No I mean, really, she failed that part of the exam three times, she held it backwards AND upside down but she’s a second cousin to some mid-level darth and so SHE gets the promotion?? What about ME??? If they would just open their eyes, they’d see that I’ve got everything it takes, I COULD BE THE STORMIEST STORM TROOPER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!” Oh i also like (in reference to lumpy tables) “it’s the new hip-thing, it’s so European!!!” And also “Though I’ve often thought of you as just a nuisance and a bother, today I can’t imagine havin’ better little brothers!”

BrOTP: Candace and Stacy, 100%!! I love them and their friendship SO much, it really feels genuine (especially as their characters develop more). Their subplot in “Canderemy” is one of my favorite Candace plot lines in the show, it’s so funny and so sweet at the end (and a welcome distraction from a certain OTHER subplot in that episode.....yes I’m still mad about the ending🙃)

OTP: CANDEREMY! I’ll be honest, when I was younger, Canderemy kind of annoyed me because Phinabella was my fave and I always got mad when Candace had better luck with love than Isabella (because Candace was mean and Isabella wasn’t and I identified with Isabella and like, I’m just trying to give y’all a picture of younger me😂). But now that Phinabella is canon and I’ve gotten older, I really, REALLY appreciate Candace and Jeremy. Candace doesn’t have to act a certain way for Jeremy to like her: he likes her just the way she is and actively DISCOURAGES her from changing her identity just to appeal to him more. That’s so refreshing and wonderful to see in media aimed at kids/teens. I love that, for the majority of the show, they’re either “talking” or in a relationship and it’s just, a healthy relationship! No multi-episode arcs about them breaking up, no love triangles, no petty arguments (sometimes the show leans into these tropes for an episode, but that’s it. And it’s always resolved). They genuinely care about one another, and I think it’s really sweet. (Plus a Canderemy wedding is RIFE with possibility for pre-relationship Phinabella moments👀)

nOTP: I don’t have any specific nOTPS for Candace, so I’ll just say I’m fine with any ship between her and someone her age (that she isn’t related to, obviously. AND THAT GOES FOR ALL MY SHIPS. I don’t want to say that on every one of these character posts so like, just know. That is where i stand.)

Random headcanon: Candace and Jeremy adopted Fred. I just think it’s a sweet headcanon 🥺. Alsooooo ok this doesn’t specifically revolve around Candace, but when she and Jeremy got married, Isabella and Phineas were both a part of the wedding party and Candace made SURE they were paired together to walk down the isle💕. And Candace continues collecting Ducky Momo memerobilia well into adulthood!

Unpopular opinion: Candace isn’t a terrible, irredeemable character.....but she’s not a purely amazing character who can do no wrong either. I feel like some fans either despise her fully or love everything about her. I’m in the middle. I see her as a flawed character who was written by numerous people and thus is somewhat inconsistent in her characterization. I like it when she is characterized as kindhearted but easily overwhelmed and longing for validation, so that is how I choose to portray her in my own writing/headcanons.

Song I associate with them: look Candace sings so many FANTASTIC songs in the show that I can’t associate her with any other music. Like I guess Ashley Tisdale’s “Kiss the Girl” because there’s fics of her singing that to Phineas and Isabella and I think that’s adorable? (I know I wrote one of those waaaaaaay back in the day, LOL). But in general, every Candace song is great. “The Universe is Against Me” ESPECIALLY.

favorite picture of them: you know what Y’ALL GET FOUR PICTURES BECAUSE BIG SISTER CANDACE IS THE BEST OK

Thank you so much, anon! As you can see, I’ve got quite a few thoughts on Candace😅. At the end of the day, I think she’s a great character and I relate to her a lot! I had a ton of fun writing all these answers out.

This is the last ask I’m going to answer tonight, but I’m looking forward to answering more tomorrow!!!! 😁

[nunonabun]

Can I ask what's your favorite headcanon for the CTM characters? Like with or without any real basis in canon, favorites. I love your writing both fiction and show discussion, and your takes on them, so I'd love to know yours.

Sorry I know you asked this ages ago but shit’s wack so I’m just getting to it now. My apologies.

I’m not sure I really have a favourite headcanon for anyone, and I don’t even know that I have particular headcanons for everyone. Headcanons I like can vary a fair bit. That being said, here’s some that I enjoy for the current main characters and yes I am counting Valerie Dyer shut up.  Under a cut for length.

Trixie - Not sure if this is properly a headcanon, but my favourite idea for her character is that her most profound and meaningful relationships throughout her life are with her friends. She seems to me someone who values found family especially highly and cares strongly about being there for friends. I think she’s often the glue for present and past secular Nonnatus midwives and I that she’s quite good at keeping in contact with folks and organising get-togethers.  

Val - Never loses contact with Lucille, though their relationship goes through several different phases. Along with several members of her extensive family, her relationship with Lucille is the most important relationship in her life.

Lucille - Her mother is able to come visit her in London, helping the city truly feel like a home to Lucille. She particularly enjoys that in future letters, she is able to reference people and places that her mother had become familiar with during her visit. 

Phyllis - help all of my favourite headcanons for her also involved Barbara  She develops a strong friendship with Miss Higgins. Millicent is one of the only people she feels able to discuss and process the losses she has suffered with (and vice versa). They enjoy the relaxing company of another person who has made similar choices in life, particularly given that the choice to remain a spinster is socially under-appreciated. 

Shelagh - She speaks Doric and, though she didn’t use it for many years living in London, she has had the opportunity to use it with patients and uses it more as she gets older, especially with her grandchildren. Bonus 2nd HC: She wasn’t an ingénue before she became a nun. She was always quite a reserved person, but she grew up fast and processed events and emotions in a variety of ways that she sometimes struggled with as an adult, though she came to accept her early life in all its complexity.

Patrick - Remained celibate during the war solely due to this moustache

Timothy - He’s bi or gay and that is accepted by his family. Has a lovely partner with whom he also shares a medical practice.

Sister Julienne - Though she finds the shift in calling from nursing to hospitality that Nonnatus undergoes difficult, but ultimately embraces it as a new way to learn from and serve the community she has come to care for so deeply (against everything she initially expected as a young nun arriving in Poplar from the country communities she had previously known).

Sister Monica Joan - Always feared growing old as she worried she would become stuck in her ways and unwilling to learn, as her parents were. Elements of aging do still cause her anxiety, but she has also found that having a long history can help her to imagine all sorts of new points of view and possibilities for the future, having lived through so many herself. 

Sister Frances - Like Sisters Bernadette and Mary Cynthia before her, she leaves the order. She cherishes her time there and keeps in contact, but the questions she has clash with her vow of obedience and she eventually feels she can’t sustain that vow. This departure, however, does bring her closer to her family and she too feels she understands their point of view and her upbringing better after the experience of being a Nonnatus nun.

Sister Hilda - Covertly visits art museums and writes in to newspapers commenting on various collections. She feels justified as the museums are free, therefore she is not breaking her vows, nor spending the Order’s money. And what harm is there in being very knowledgeable on the subject of classical and modern British art?

Fred - His get-rich-quick schemes never quite work out, but he takes over Val’s aunt’s dancing school and it does surprisingly well. He becomes quite well known for his dance skill and for his patience and good nature as a teacher.

Violet - Maintains her position as counselor for Poplar for quite some time. She particularly enjoys going toe-to-toe with counselors from more well-off boroughs and shutting down their ignorant arguments.

Reggie - Becomes quite well known in the community, much in the same way his surrogate father Fred is. He and his wife are well liked and neighbours often stop in to consult with him about gardening.

Mother Mildred - Practices witchcraft on the side

[pk-rockinly]

;;   Allow me to explain why my Ness doesn't hate Porky   ( and also a little about my thoughts on Porky in general )   . Note that this is all based through the Mun’s point of view and none of this is canonically true unless otherwise stated.

Ness is soft at heart. He has a kind and forgiving soul. He can see a sign of changing in a person through one glare, and he strongly believes in one’s strength — he strongly believes that someone can change for the better if they really want to.

Porky was … a rollercoaster of these feelings. Ness had never really learnt how to read him or roll the way he did. He could be petty, perhaps— he could make your head spin in ways that you wouldn’t believe were possible with his insistence and humour. Porky was a question mark for Ness because he’d change like the wind changes direction everyday. But Ness knew that Porky wasn’t a bad person at heart. He could piss him off some days, sure. Ness would crinkle his nose very often in his company — he’d often find himself talking under his breath when something didn’t fit his senses. But he never really thought of Porky being a bad person. To be frank, he mostly felt like the bad one for feeling mixed feelings around him and towards him. He learnt to accept him although it always felt like climbing an endless staircase that led nowhere — or sliding off mirrors, at worst.

There were ups and downs with Porky but it didn't mean that Ness didn’t enjoy the time spent together. It’s difficult to explain but he really did feel affection towards him. They grew up together and met when they were kids. Porky was not just his neighbor, but also his childhood friend and best friend. Perhaps the hardship between his family and the Minches didn’t make it any easier : his own mother, for example, felt a certain contempt towards Porky because of his parents still holding a grudge after that the loan was returned — but Ness knew that her contempt wasn’t towards Porky specifically. It was mostly towards the fact that Porky's parents treated Ness like a nuisance when he visited their mansion. It's always Ness to invite Porky over for lunch, homework or to just have fun.

Ness is aware of Porky’s conditions. He knows that he doesn’t have a loving family — at least not like his own. Ness is often seen as a bad influence in Porky’s life — he’s aware of this, too. But he thinks that Porky, in his company, feels a bit more free, if so can be said. And seeing the smile of someone who doesn’t show it often is probably one of his favorite sights.

— — — — — —

Now, from the way I see it : Porky is a problematic kid, he’s selfish, childish and egotistical. He’s petty and his heart is made of stone   ( of which Itoi explained that he was this way probably because of his parents )   ; if you listen to his themes, you can hear that they’re pretty fu*ked up in a sense   ( when I make this example, I always refer to this one in particular, which in my opinion has a lot going on … )   . However, deep inside Porky wants a friend. I even like to think that he is aware of the way he acts or how he behaves in public ; since Ness sticks up to pretty much everything and endures most of his temperament, he is baffled that someone could be friends or even like someone like him. Ness is sincere, he genuinely likes Porky : his feelings don’t lie and he really considers him one of his best friends. And because of it, I imagine that Porky is in between disbelief and appreciation. I say   ‘ disbelief ’   because I think Porky had a rough time accepting the truth — the truth about Ness genuinely liking him, and he would often think that he lies, that he spends time with him out of pity. At some point he’d also feel that Ness is forcing himself to be his friend or even like him. ‘ Appreciation ’   because he is glad, happy, flabbergasted, that Ness consideres him one of his best friends. He would tell him anything and, wow, Ness would actually listen!

Porky is extremely possessive, from my point of view. Jealous and possessive. Because I assume that Ness was the only one who actually put up with him without lying to his face ; so, he’d feel great admiration towards him but also possession. Porky would face countless of breakdowns if he ever ends up fighting with Ness. Porky wants to always be the tougher one and he often shows his competitive side. Sometimes it looks like he doesn’t give a damn about anything but, in truth, he does care about everything and is scared of everything falling apart. He doesn’t want to ruin his friendship with Ness but at the same time he doesn’t want to show himself as the weak one.

Now, I kinda have a theory about what moved Porky to become the Porky everyone knows, so … to make it short and simple — as stated before, since Porky always wants to be the tougher one, when Ness was told to be the chosen one to save the world from Giygas' attack, he knew that something big was going to happen. And of course it was Ness the chosen one! The kid with a happy and loving family, born with psychic powers (ah yes, Porky knows about them) and with such a great optimism that makes everyone want to be his friend. And because Ness was leaving to save the world and make a name of himself, Porky knew that he had to do something or he would forget about him for sure. The fear of being forgotten, replaced and moved aside led Porky to side against Ness. If Ness could make a name of himself, why couldn't he? "You're saving the world? Cool! I'll make it mine!"

— You see, Porky was aware that during his journey Ness would've made new friendships. He would go through memorable events with them, events of which Potky wanted to be part of, too. Despite Giygas' influence on him, Porky was aware of his antagonist role in Ness' adventure and decided to humiliate Ness in front of his new friends just so they could hopefully see him less as a friend and more as a pig's butt! He didn't mean such words; his only objective was to get in the way, so that he could have Ness back.

— Siding against Ness had made Porky horrendously sad. His breakdowns would often make him think that his subconscious was right, that Ness had been his friend out of pity and that their friendship had never been a real one, that he was a problematic kid from a dysfunctional family. Despite Porky always telling his subconscious that it's wrong, deep down he agrees.

— Porky didn't mean it. He had been blinded by power, thinking that the more power he owned, in the end respect would come his way but little did Porky know that with power came responsibilities, of which he ignored. It was also a way to show Ness that he could be cool too if he really wanted, that Ness will always stand on a pedestal way shorter than his own, that he will always be #2.

— When Porky has Picky deliver a letter to Ness saying to come find him, his intention was genuine: he merely wanted to silence his subconscious once and for all and prove that Ness did care about him. And, if he did, he would come find him. In the meantime, he grew stronger and lost track of time. He set up an army, combined creatures and had airships built for him. All of this to prove Ness how cool he could be, how high he could reach by just wishing for it. However, with time he turned old. His childish attitude and pettiness stayed. Ness never went on a journey to find him, which only led Porky to thinking that no matter how powerful and cool he became, he would never impress anyone, not even Ness.

With his eternal life, Porky will see the world through to its end, until everyone who doesn't like him is gone.

[terramythos]

TerraMythos' 2020 Reading Challenge - Book 3 of 26

Title: Shriek: An Afterword (Ambergris #2) (2006)

Author: Jeff VanderMeer

Genre/Tags: Weird, Memoir, Historical (like... in a fictional world lol), Horror, Fantasy, War, Mushroompunk (yeah), Postmodern, Female Protagonist, Disabled Protagonist, First Person, Unreliable Narrator.

Rating: 7/10

Date Began: 1/19/2020

Date Finished: 1/29/2020

Shriek: An Afterword is a pseudo-memoir by a woman named Janice Shriek about the troubled lives and relationships of her and her brother Duncan Shriek in the strange, fungus-riddled city of Ambergris. While Janice believes Duncan is dead, he's apparently found her manuscript and makes extensive edits and commentary throughout the story. (This is indicated in parenthetical sentences, like this one.) 

The closer I get to the end, the closer I get to the beginning. Memories waft up out of the ether, out of nothing. They attach themselves to me like the green light, like the fungi that continue to colonize my typewriter. I had to stop for a while -- my fingers ached and, even after all that I have seen, the fungi unnerved me. I spent the time flexing and unflexing my fingers, pacing back and forth. I also spent it going through a box of my father’s old papers -- nothing I haven’t read through a hundred times before... On top, Duncan had placed the dried-up starfish, its skeleton brittle with age. (I kept it there as a reminder to myself. After your letter to me -- which, while reading this account, I sometimes think was written by an entirely different side of your personality -- I wanted to remember that no matter how isolated I might feel, separated from others by secret knowledge, I was still connected. It didn’t help much, though -- it reminded me of how different I had become.) 

To qualify my rating, I have to be honest. This book is officially separated into two parts, and I found Part I -- which makes up about 60% of the novel -- pretty boring. On the other hand, Part II is brilliant, and everything coalesces beautifully in this second act. Is it worth it? I thought it was, but I understand anyone who tries and gives up. 

Even though Shriek is technically a standalone, I would strongly recommend you read City of Saints and Madmen (#1) first. Both Duncan and Janice are key characters in two of those stories (The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of Ambergris and The Transformation of Martin Lake, respectively), and there are references and connections all over the place. I’m not sure if Shriek does a great job introducing Ambergris to new readers, so people starting here will be pretty lost without reading the first book.

Just to clear the air, I really liked this book... overall. As I said, the first half-or-so of the book was pretty rough, but the second half redeems it in a lot of ways, even justifying certain writing/plot decisions that didn’t gel with me at first. However “it gets good eventually” is not really an excuse for the rough first half. Hence the mediocre rating. I was close to giving this book a 6/10, but I found that I appreciated the first half much more by the time I got to the ending, so that bumped it up a little. Maybe I’ll enjoy this book more on a reread when I can see the patterns and know where they’re leading ahead of time. 

Before I dive into my issues with it, I’d like to discuss the strong points of this novel. 

At a base level, VanderMeer is a great writer. He has a mastery of the English language that always delights me when I read his stuff. So even when I struggled to like this story in the first half, his wordplay and prose were entertaining and thought-provoking. 

I loved the format. The story basically has two protagonists, since you see things from Janice’s point of view and then Duncan’s interpretations-- but it’s in a very postmodern way, not just a perspective switch like most novels do. Duncan’s commentary often brings much needed humor or heartbreak, depending on the situation. 

In particular, any scene in which Janice and Duncan interact directly is brilliant. Janice recalls a scene, but her memory is faulty (like anyone’s), so sometimes she forgets what they talked about, or interpreted an interaction in a certain way. Then Duncan dives in with his own commentary, supplying information Janice didn’t include or forgot, or correcting something she said, or offering an alternate interpretation... these scenes were fascinating to read and some of my favorite parts of the novel. 

There’s a lot of fun revelations and Easter eggs for people who read City of Saints and Madmen. In particular: 

My favorite story in the first book was The Cage, which is a work of fiction  within the universe of Ambergris by a man named Sirin. In particular there is a very creepy and distinct monster that plays a pivotal role in the story. However, since it’s technically fiction within fiction, that monster and the events didn’t really happen in canon... right? Imagine my surprise in this book when Janice encounters and describes a very similar monster. This struck me as odd, until I got to epilogue/afterword at the end... written by Sirin, and everything clicked. He got the idea for his “fictional” monster from Janice’s account in this story. He doesn’t state this outright, but it’s the only explanation that makes sense. I loved that. It was like putting a puzzle together and it would have been so easy to miss. And there’s the extra horror that something like that really exists in this world. There was other stuff like this but this one stood out to me, and I’m sure there’s other things I missed. 

This mostly concerns the second half, but the war sequences and memories are horrific and brilliant. It's very World War II-esque with a unique twist to it (the awful fungal bio weapons one of the sides uses). In particular, the war is introduced with a chapter about a ceasefire opera staged in the broken city... without spoiling it, it’s an excellent and intriguing self-contained story. 

And the horror chapter about the Festival, which is conspicuously absent in the rest of the story? Just so goddamn good. VanderMeer strikes just the right chord with me when it comes to horror. It’s always fresh and intensely creepy. 

If you told me this during the first half, I wouldn’t believe you -- but I ended up loving the characters and finding most of their relationships fascinating. This is a heartbreaking story and it really hit home by the end. 

With that lofty praise, what’s my issue with Part I? The simplest way I can put it is that the struggles Duncan and Janice face are so mundane. They would maybe be interesting in a generic work of fiction, but here they felt out of place. For example, Janice’s arc concerns her rise to fame, which leads to success, which leads to lavish parties and orgies, which leads to excesses and a drug addiction, which leads to a suicide attempt, which leads to rehab, which leads to a diminished life of poverty. Yes, these can be interesting and harrowing problems in the right context, but the strongest point of these books is the setting, and there was nothing that tied these events to Ambergris. You could easily go through and change the character/place names and it wouldn’t seem off. 

Duncan is a little more interesting in this regard, because his is a story of obsession. In particular, he’s obsessed with the gray caps (strange humanoid mushroom creatures that haunt the pages of these books), and it takes over his life until he becomes totally discredited as a historian. But even he falls into this trap when he becomes a college professor and has an affair with one of his much younger students (Yikes! Though it is treated as creepy within the story, at least). That takes over most of his character’s emotional core from that point. 

Said student -- Mary Sabon -- is a core antagonist in the story. Janice in particular obsesses over her and her personal vendetta against her, and honestly even with the second part I was never really sold on this or cared about it all that much, so I was disappointed it took up so much of the story. 

All of this would be one thing, but there’s all sorts of tantalizing hints about more interesting things. The gray caps probably have some ulterior motive that no one knows! There’s this crazy eldritch Machine hidden underground! Duncan is sort of turning into a mushroom! But these are only teased before the story pivots back to something comparatively uninteresting. Rather than encouraging me with the cool foreshadowing, it just got grating because it meant there were more interesting events and stories going on that I didn’t get to see for some arbitrary reason. Janice also rambles and goes back and forth quite a bit. This is clearly intentional (after all, you learn in the end this is a mostly unedited draft -- at least in the fiction of the story), but even so, it can be hard to follow at times. 

Part II justifies a lot of this because these hints do pay off. You DO get to see a lot of the interesting stuff in detail at this later point of the story, and it’s not always what you expect. There’s overt and subtle dramatic irony and contrast between what characters go through in the first half versus the stranger, more profound traumas of the second half. You learn Janice is suffering from some severe PTSD and it explains a lot of the manic style in the first half. But again, is it worth 245-ish mediocre (to me) pages? I think that probably depends on the reader. I had a problem with it-- but clearly a lot of people don’t, based on reviews I’ve skimmed. Many put the book down and don’t finish it, but that’s true for any book. Hell, lots of people preferred the first half, so who knows. 

Ultimately, I’m glad I read this book. For me it really does come together in an amazing way toward the end, and I found myself really caring about Janice and Duncan. If you read City of Saints and Madmen and want more of the characters and the world, then definitely give this a try. But it is a pretty niche book as these things go, so I can’t recommend it to everyone. 

Anyway, I’ve come this far -- so I’m going to read Finch, the final (for now?) installment in this universe. 

[teenytinyapprentice]

(same headcanons anon) honestly i'd die for that kind of long post sdhfbsjhgbjfd but how about the main cast? layton, luke, flora, and emmy (and perhaps others you'd consider as part of the main cast), i'd really love to hear your thoughts!

GhKdjsfhds UH sure I’m not even sure how to go about organizing any of my thoughts so how about I just give you a whole bunch of random thoughts about the puzzle family + co  in jot note form (sorta)  and you can take from it what you will … disclaimer: Im sure some of these contradict canon and I’ll forget I even came up with them/said them in this and contradict myself but also I am just having fun here and don’t care sfdhkjfhskjglgf

Hershel has an unusually small appetite and prefers lighter dishes to anything heavy or too rich

Emmy and Desmond are both pretty artistic. Emmy mostly focuses on her photography but also enjoys drawing while Desmond actually enjoys painting (mostly water colour) although he’d loathe to let anyone but Raymond know about his hobby until he’s much older - Hershel on the other hand can’t draw For SHIT.

Desmond hair turns totally grey pretty much overnight when he hits his mid 60s while Hershel’s hair doesn’t turn white (slowly but surely) until he’s almost 80. It’s a sore spot.

Luke has his picture on walls of restaurants pretty much everywhere he goes from winning those “eat this giant meal and get it for free” competitions - he wins them on accident most of the time and has forgotten about a lot of them

The Puzzle family will spend at least one major holiday in Monte d’Or with Randall, Angela and Henry - it’s always a huge event and they all look forward to it

Emmy reunites with Layton and the rest of the puzzle family shortly after the events in Unwound Future having heard about the attack on London and realizing delaying seeing the Professor again might mean she just /never/ sees him again (considering his preoccupation for danger) - she just misses Luke leaving but does get to meet Flora and is a huge influence on her becoming more independent and standing up to the Professor

Desmond reunites with the Puzzle family partially on accident after Diabolical Box. He sort of planned to drop in on Hershel and give his little brother a heart attack but it ends up being less smooth and more awkward and difficult than expected… he drops in on occasion but doesn’t make a habit of sticking around too long until much later (influenced by rebuilding some kind of fragile relationship with Lucille and Roland)

Alfendi grew up in orphanages - he’s aware of his biological mother but has no relationship with her. He meets Layton and Flora as part of an investigation (no I haven’t put much thought into exactly what) - he and Flora strike up a funny friendship and when Layton hesitates to have Flora really join in on the investigation Alfendi and Flora do a mini-investigation of their own. They both end up proving to be formidable investigators, but mostly really befriend one another… which in turn strongly influences Hershel to ask Alfendi’s permission to foster and eventually adopt him

Flora does learn to cook later in life but excels more in baking - Katrielle helped her often in the kitchen growing up which is why she loves sweets so much

Flora has a growing interest in robotics that really kicks off when Gizmo (the robot dog from Curious Village) first breaks down when she’s home alone and she has to repair him - Desmond specifically encourages this and helps teach her, Hershel signs her up for a robotics camp upon her request realizing how much she enjoys it

Hershel thinks it’s HILARIOUS that Lucy calls Alfendi “Prof” and literally never stops giving him a hard time over it 

Flora and Alfendi learn to fence, Flora is the better of the two of them. Luke takes up karate inspired by Emmy’s fighting style (and is a terrible, terrible fencer. Just plain awful). Katrielle tried a variety of sports growing up (acrobatics, track and field teams, soccer, floor hockey, variety of dance classes etc.) but never really stuck to anything

Alfendi used to smoke but quit after Forbodium and was never able to get back into it

Emmy used to sneak Alfendi and Flora into horror movies against Hershel’s wishes before Flora was old enough to sneak Alfendi in herself

Flora hit a major growth spurt bout a year after UF and towers over Hershel (and most of the family) at 6”0 tall. Alfendi is a bastard and stole her thunder by matching her height by the time he was 15

Hershel and Flora are both autistic

Flora still visits St. Mystere on occasion - more so when Bruno passes to keep an eye on the residents of her hometown. Her and Lady Dahlia have a complicated but still loving relationship

Luke writes a LOT of letters when he first moves to America to keep up with his friends in England (and all over) - this dwindles down over time but he sends monthly letters to Hershel, Flora, Arianna and Crow until he eventually moves back

Alfendi used to dye his hair black as a teenager but had terrible upkeep and lots of roots showing so he grew out of it in a year or so

Alfendi suffers from chronic migraines and pain exacerbated by Forbodium, which is why he really hates leaving the house/office unless absolutely necessary (he also just isn’t a people person) 

The amount of people the Layton’s refer to as their aunt/uncle is confusing as hell. Lots of the Professor’s old friends get aunt/uncle status (for example Uncle Randall, Uncle Henry, Aunt Angela, Uncle Desmond, Aunt Emmy, Uncle Wright, Aunt Maya, Uncle Andrew, etc.) - specifically confusing around Luke who’s referred to as both brother and uncle

Raymond and Alfendi are actually very close

Luke moves back to London to officially work as Layton’s assistant after he graduates high school in America but also travels independently more often

Raymond has been Desmond’s primary caretaker since his pre-teens. He’s the closest thing he has to a father-figure but they’d never call it that, but it certainly a strong familial love and loyalty - and Des did end up adopting Raymond’s last name “Sycamore” and keeps it post canon when he officially hangs up his persona Descole for good

Flora works a variety of odd jobs before she follows through on her passion of robotics and electronic design

Hershel and Alfendi both have terrible fashion sense

Hershel eventually does tell all of his children (and Desmond, Emmy, Randall) about Claire. It doesn’t get much easier to talk about, but he’s always relieved when he says it

Hershel still has some kind of relationship with Dimitri and Clive. It’s… complicated. Real complicated. But present.

Emmy doesn’t have a relationship with Bronev after the events of AL - she does try but ends up needing to cut it off for her own sake

Luke writes stories inspired by his and the Professor’s adventures - but he tries to keep it a secret while he’s writing, too self-conscious to think of letting anyone let alone Layton read them just quite yet

Desmond actually really likes working with children, finds their presence refreshingly honest (even when they’re little shits) - and really only remembers this when he’s surrounded by Layton’s children in the future

Flora calls Hershel “Dad” or “Professor”, Luke alternates between “Professor” “Hershel” (occasionally “Dad”), Alfendi calls him “Father” or “Hershel” (occasionally “Dad” as well) while Katrielle almost exclusively calls him “Papa” 

Hershel actually once genuinely almost forgot his name was Hershel because of how many people in his day to day just call him “Professor” or “Layton” and its a little jarring hearing his first name sometimes 

Flora was homeschooled while Alfendi and Katrielle attended classes at public school - Alfendi and Katrielle were both notorious trouble makers but for very different reasons

All of the Puzzle kids (Luke, Flora, Alfendi and Katrielle) are trans and are like the perfect sliding scale of The Type of Name You Choose For Yourself When You’re Trans from exceedingly normal to obscure

Luke’s full name is Lucas but literally no one calls him that 

Alfendi’s two personalities go by “Al” and “Fendi” (the latter being the post-Forbodium personality) respectively, but will respond to “Alfendi” regardless of who’s fronting 

Hershel, Emmy and Katrielle have lovely singing voices. Alfendi cannot sing at all.

Luke and Flora both learn to drive while Alfendi and Katrielle never do - Luke learns to ride motorcycles but will still scream the whole time if Emmy takes the wheel of ANY vehicle

Luke in all sincerity owns hiking heels and its the worst thing he owns probably

AND OK. thats all I feel like writing right now but sure take that hopefully some of these are at least a bit funny or interesting to read fhdskjghsd

[femslashhistorian]

Supercorp AU Fic Recs Part 2 - Hope and Despair

In this SuperCorp (Supergirl) Femslash Fanfiction Recommendation, I have collected 21 excellent Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor Alternate Universe (AU) stories.

Supercorp AU Fic Recs Part 2 - Hope and Despair: of Lighter and Darker Worlds

In all of the included stories Kara is Kryptonian, but she is not always Supergirl. I will collect no-power AUs in a separate post. However, what I have included as AUs are either stories that change a basic premise of the show or diverge strongly from canon. None of the stories is primarily driven by an action or villain/alien of the week plot, in most this is not even touched at all.

This post and all of the stories were written before season 4 started airing. Most Stories were written before or are (mostly) ignoring Season 3.

Overview of the 21 Kara / Lena stories

Detailed recs and links after the cut. My favorites are marked with *

A) Stories in which Kara is Kryptonian but not Supergirl / Stories without Supergirl

Cooking class with Kara Danvers * by ramonaflow: The One in Which Lena Learns to Cook and to Love

You don't get me * by shes_cured: The College Roommates AU

A Ribbon at a Time * by abcooper: The One in Which Kara Had Been Hiding from Cadmus for Years When She Meets Lena

B) Fluffy/Happy Close to Canon AUs

Something Borrowed (*) by janewithawhy: The Three Weddings and a Supergirl Reveal AU

Swipe Right for a Super by eluigih: The Tinder AU

Charity by cautiouslyoptimistic: The One in Which Lena and Kara Meet Doing Charity Work in a Soup Kitchen

In Plain Sight by MsSirEy, sten06: The One with the Quickest Supergirl Reveal Ever

C) Angstier / Angsty AUs

And I'm waiting for the sun by ifyouresure: The One in Which Kara Fears That She Has Ruined the Danvers’ Lives

Lifestyle Choice by kellsbells: The Ultimate Mon-el Hating Fic

D) Fake Dating / Fake Relationships

I'm with you no matter what * by spacemanearthgirl: The Ultimate Fake Marriage / Witness Protection AU

A fiancée for Christmas by kellsbells: The Fake Dating AU with a Dash of Amnesia

E) Unconventional Families

Listen closely and the stars will sing * by celaenos: The One in Which Instead of Mon-El a Small Girl Came to Earth in the Pod

The Fifth Wall * by Black_Tea_and_Bones: The One about Wishes Coming True, with a Dash of Groundhog Day

F) AUs in Which Lena Is Tempted by the Dark Side

Lena Luthor, Evil Overlord by Rhino (RhinoMouse): The Evil Overlord List AU

The Birth of Venus by lostariels: The One in Which Lena Is an Art Thief

Real by cautiouslyoptimistic: The one in which originally Lena is willing to help Lex and Lilian

G) Stories in Which One of Them Dies (Most have a Happy Ending)

Lena dies on a Wednesday * by karalovesallthegirls: The Brilliant Fic in Which Lena Dies - a Lot.

Destruction (sometimes means rebirth) by BloodInTheFields: The One in Which Lena Does Not Actually Die (but Has Powers)

I Blame Myself by Chazene: The Really Sad Reverse Black Mercy Fic in Which Kara Grieves for Lena

Fallen Hero by Chazene: The really sad fic (with happy ending) in which Lena grieves for Kara

Remember me, and let the love we have live on * by civilorange: The brilliantly sad fic about love, living and dying (actual death!)

This series includes

Supercorp AU Fic Recs Part 1 - Distorted Realities: of Time Travel, Amnesia and Black Mercies [tumblr] [WP]

Supercorp AU Fic Recs Part 2 - Hope and Despair: of Lighter and Darker Worlds [tumblr] [WP]

Supercorp AU Fic Recs Part 3 - Complicated Realities: Weddings, One Night Stands and Friends with Benefits [tumblr] [WP]

Supercorp AU Fic Recs Part 4 - Different Realities: Actors, Baristas and Other No Powers AUs [tumblr] [WordP]

A) Stories in which Kara is Kryptonian but not Supergirl / Stories without Supergirl

1. The One in Which Lena Learns to Cook and to Love

Cooking class with Kara Danvers by ramonaflow

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

1 Chapter, 17k words (completed)

Published: 2017

Lena takes a cooking class and gets more than she bargained for.

After being nagged by Jess, Lena (who is the CEO of L-Corp) enrolls for a cooking class. The instructor is a joyful, slightly clumsy and very cute young woman - Kara Danvers, and thus Lena meets Kara before she becomes Supergirl.

This is a perfect Supercorp romcom. Romantic, cute, funny and very well written. I loved it. There is also a very nice Cat, Lena, Kara lunch scene.

Favorite Quote:

"Sometimes I think you are flirting with me." Kara finally said in a whisper, shoulders slumped, not daring to look at Lena. Oh. Retreat ? "What if I am ?" Kara looked up, lips parted and eyes wide open. "You are ?" Lena laughed again. "Is it so surprising ?" "I don't know. Maybe. You're the first... the first woman to flirt with me." Kara stuttered, not even losing her pink colors. Did it mean she was straight ? Lena falling for a straight girl, what a heartbreaking feeling of déjà-vu. "I doubt that. Maybe you just didn't notice. But do you want me to stop ?" Kara played with her hands. "I don't know." "It's alright. I can leave if you want." "No ! Don't leave."

2. The College Roommates AU

you don't get me by shes_cured

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe); difficult roommates to friends to lovers

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

12 Chapters, 74k words (completed)

Published: 2017

Rating: Mature

Kara had plenty of daydreams about college, but none of them were anything like reality. Lena Luthor is cold and impossible to get along with, but maybe Kara is just what she needs. - A college AU where Kara and Lena start out as roommates and their journey through navigating their first four years of independence together.

 This is a bumpy ride, especially as Kara thinks she is straight at the beginning of the story, but overall this is not this is not a very angsty story. That they don't fall in love right away and their journey to each other are some of the aspects I enjoyed the most about this story and I loved their banter.

I liked that while we get some glimpses into Lena's unhappy childhood, this is not a focus of the story.

While this is an AU, in some respects it feels like it could be very close to canon: this story is a very conceivable take how lonely, standoffish and socially awkward Lena was in college before she met Kara (or Sam). Kara is a Kryptonian and has powers, but she is not Supergirl (yet) and this does not play a major part in the story. This well written story is my favorite collage / university Supercorp fic.

 Favorite Quotes:

It suddenly hit her that the version of Lena she’d been seeing, the girl she viewed as uptight and anal, was actually the relaxed version of Lena Luthor. What a terrifying realization that was.

“You can’t seriously be blind enough to miss how they look at you.”

“We’re friends,” she shrugged. “People never like me like that, trust me. ...

“Everyone likes you, don’t kid yourself,” Lena laughed, still blatantly not addressing the invitation Kara was giving out. “You’re preppy, bubbly and pretty - guys eat that shit up.”

Kara looked down with a smile for a moment. “Complimenting me isn’t an answer, but thank you. Don’t do it again, though, it’s weird coming from you.”

“It’s going to take you out of your comfort zone.”

“Kara, that could be anything,” Lena deadpanned. “I have a pretty small comfort zone. I need a better hint than that.”

To that, Kara just smiled, ignoring Lena’s crossed arms and attempts at intimidation. “If I gave it away it wouldn’t be a hint, now would it?”

3. The One in Which Kara Had Been Hiding from Cadmus for Years When She Meets Lena

A Ribbon at a Time by abcooper ; @abcooper

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

5 Chapters, 28k words (completed) Enemies to lovers (sort of), Kara is an alien refugee

Published: 2017

Rating: Mature

After Lex Luthor defeated Superman, after the courts declared him innocent, after CADMUS rose to power, 16 year old Kara Danvers went into hiding. Five years later, a chance encounter with L-Corp CEO Lena Luthor throws her back into everything she's been running from.

 Kara is a refugee. Not enough that she lost Krypton, she is also the sole survivor of her (foster) family - except for Alex, but she has not seen Alex for years.

There is a satisfying ending when the story has been told just enough. There are hints what will happen next, and the story could have been much longer, but it ends in a satisfying place to feel enough, to feel complete. What I loved about this story is that despite the very bleak premise and sad moments, it can also be very funny - with a dry humor that I really enjoyed, and it can be very sad. This story is a great AU, brilliant and very well written. I loved it.

 Favorite Quotes:

She gets the job, she finds out a few days later, but she’s pretty sure her amazing interview skills have nothing to do with it. They give it to her because her last manager wrote her a reference letter in which he described her as, “ridiculously strong - you can send her to deliver cement bricks and she’ll just hoist them onto her shoulder and go,” and because when they asked if she was willing to use her own car for deliveries she said yes.

Joke’s on them. Kara does own - and currently live in - a car, but it’s not what she’s planning on using for deliveries.

It slowly dawns on Kara that maybe she hadn’t just been blowing Craig’s question off with a joke earlier, that she might have stumbled across the right answer to it. It’s becoming clear that Lena didn’t invite her into a trap - she might actually have invited Kara back into her office just to show off her ass.

Well. That’s unexpected.

B) Fluffy/Happy Close to Canon AUs

1. The Three Weddings and a Supergirl Reveal AU

Something Borrowed by janewithawhy ; @janewithawhy

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

3 Chapters, 50k words (completed)

Published: 2017-2018

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Three weddings and the two women who attend them.

  Kara attends two weddings with Lena and one she attends as Supergirl. I loved the scene in which Lena rescued Supergirl from dancing with an obnoxious drunk guy. We also get to see some a glace into Kara's time at middle school and Lena's time in university

I liked how Kara and Lena dance around the SG reveal for two weddings and then this culminated in one of my favorite - maybe my favorite Supergirl reveal scenes. (I did not include it in the favorite quotes below, because I do not want to spoil it).

A very well written story. Domestic and fluffy, with some very funny moments

 Favorite Quotes

“Auntie Joannie says you’ve met Supergirl,” Carla said, ignoring Kara in favor of Lena. “Is that true?”

“Yep,” Lena answered, popping the syllable a little. She needed Kara to stop fidgeting, except that it was… hilarious. Supergirl’s Identity Outed by 9-Year-Old Flower Girl. Lena had no plans on seeing that headline in the paper anytime soon.

“Is she tall? She looks tall on TV. Is she nice?” Carla sat up, focusing intently on Lena.

Lena chuckled, almost too amused by the situation. She put a finger to her lip, thinking in that exaggerated way people do while talking to children. Kara was wringing the tablecloth between her hands and Lena was almost sure she heard the linen rip.

“Well, we shared a glass of wine and I just found out Kara is Supergirl; and it’s only half past 2.” Lena quipped.

Eliza’s eyes went wide and she put a hand to her chest, clutching slightly.

“Kara is Supergirl?!” Eliza asked, incredulous and breathless, bracing herself against the countertop.

“Oh shit.” Lena felt her face heat up immediately and then Kara was bursting with laughter and Eliza’s face returned to a small, knowing smile, and Lena knew that she’d been had.

“Have you been sitting here waiting to make that joke?” Kara asked, halfway to crying from laughing so hard.

“Only a little,” Eliza said.

2. The Tinder AU

Swipe Right for a Super by eluigih ; @cheddarlight

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

5 Chapters, 13k words (completed)

Published: 2017

Lena Luthor matches with Supergirl on tinder and she’s convinced that she’s being catfished.

Lena decides to try tinder - just to relax. For fun...

Wonderful and hilariously bad Super pickup lines. Sweet and funny. Very well written. I enjoyed this story a lot.

Favorite Quote

She shudders when she stumbles across her secretary’s profile, swiping left as fast as humanly possible. As much as she considers Jess a valuable employee, perhaps the most loyal, she just can’t bring herself to go there. She needs someone forgettable, she needs a face she’s not going to see every morning as she walks to her office and Jess definitely doesn't fit the bill.

3. The One in Which Lena and Kara Meet Doing Charity Work in a Soup Kitchen

Charity by cautiouslyoptimistic ; @forlornlyoptimistic (deleted old link)

Charity by cautiouslyoptimistic (new link, reposted)

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

1 Chapters, 6k words (completed)

Published: 2017

for someone so skeptical of others, lena can't seem to shake off the inconvenient way kara makes her feel or, lena finds her trust issues just don't extend to kara

A great, sweet and fluffy fic. Not very Supergirl centric.

4. The One with the Quickest Supergirl Reveal Ever

In Plain Sight by MsSirEy, sten06 ; @mssirey  @stennnn06

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

1 Chapters, 10k words (completed)

Published: 2017

What happens when Supergirl inadvertently blurts out her real name when first meeting the sister of Earth's most notorious alien hater? Fluff, friendship and deeper feelings, of course.

One of the least angsty Supergirl reveals. A well written, lovely and sweet story. I liked it a lot.

Favorite Quote

“Oh for Rao’s sake, Kara! What are we doing?” Lena exclaimed, her frustration bubbling to the surface before she could process it. Kara froze, her eyes wide, before a huge telling smile broke across her face.

“I….what did you just say?” Kara asked with a bemused expression.

“What are we doing?” Lena snapped, eyes flashing in a panic, desperate not to have to repeat herself. She didn’t think she had the words to explain this beyond vague intentions.

“No...I thought I heard…” Kara raised her eyebrows curiously. “Did you just say Rao?”

“Oh…” Lena bit her lip and paused. “Yeah, I guess I…. did…” She felt the blush creep along her cheeks as she processed what she had done. It was just another way Kara had crept into her life and made herself at home, and Lena hadn’t even noticed. She stifled a grin, before shaking her head. “Anyway, that’s not the point. Kara, seriously, what are we doing?”

C) Angstier / Angsty AUs

1. The one in which Kara fears that she has ruined the Danvers’ lives

And I'm waiting for the sun by ifyouresure ; @ifyouresure

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe); diverges from canon after 2x08

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

1 Chapters, 24k words (completed)

Published: 2017

Kara doesn’t tell her about the hologram of Alura, about the spy beacon she keeps hidden in her night stand, perpetually glowing, waiting for the touch of its twin, but she says, “Sometimes, I talk to them. My mother and her sister – my aunt. Just about my day, my job, my friends and family. It’s ...” “Cathartic,” Lena supplies. Kara was going to say ‘comforting’, but doesn’t correct her. “Sometimes,” Lena whispers, “I talk to Lex.”

(Much later, Kara will think of Lex, still alive, sitting in maximum security, and wonder what Lena meant.) or A lot can happen in the space of a year; Kara and Lena know this better than most.

 Apart from Kara and Lena moving from friends to lovers this story deals with several heavy themes: in particular loss and grief - and the meaning of family.

Lena is struggling with her, family which she had so desperately wanted to lover her, a brother and Mother who are trying to kill her and the obligation she feels to atone for their sins.

Kara who had already felt abandoned and now is deeply troubled after finding out that her father was responsible for the genocidal Medusa virus. In addition to the loss of her entire planet she feels the weight of being the last Kryptonian.

But most of all the central focus of the story is that Kara fears that she is responsible for ruining the Danver's lives. After she came back from earth one - where she found no Supergirl, no Kara, but a happy Danvers family (with Jeremiah alive) and an Alexandra Danvers who is living a normal and happy life as a doctor - without her - she fears that the Danvers and especially Alex would have been better off without her.

Considering all of these heavy themes, there are pretty undramatic Supergirl and Guardian reveals.

Despite these themes and a Kara who is a bit less of a ball of sunshine as she is portrayed in many other fics, for me this did not feel like an overly angsty fic. I enjoyed this well written fic.

 Favorite Quote

“Lena said you and Maggie are sweet together, by the way,” Kara says. “I guess she could tell.”

Alex hums. “Funny, Maggie said the exact same thing about the two of you.”

Kara splutters incoherently.

“There isn’t a single person in this city whose life I haven’t disrupted simply by existing, by being who I am. Believe me,” and here Kara laughs a little, “believe me, I know. I’ve seen how their lives panned out when I wasn’t there to change them, I’ve seen how happy and fulfilled my foster family, my own sister, are without me.” Kara doesn’t explain how, and Lena doesn’t ask. “And I can only believe Krypton exploded with me on it, or maybe it didn’t. Maybe I’m still there, with my own family. Maybe I’m on Earth, ruining the lives of another.”

“They’re happier, for having you in their lives,” Lena says with conviction, leaning forward. Kara almost smiles.

“Tell me something,” Lena says, and Kara remembers the nightmares she had as a child, how Alex brought her back to Earth every time.

“Shrimp legs freak me out,” Kara says instantly, to a crazed little laugh from Lena. “I wanted to study astronomy once, when I was younger. I haven’t had a real conversation in my own language with another living person in years and, sometimes, I worry that I’ll ...” Kara doesn’t say anything for a time. “I paint portraits of home.”

2. The ultimate Mon-el hating fic

Lifestyle Choice by kellsbells

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

8 Chapters, 34k words (completed)

Published: 2018

Rating: Mature

Warning: Homophobia from a friend, Gaslighting, Emotional Abuse (read the intro and the full tags on AO3)

"I'm sorry, Kara. Are you implying that because I am attracted to women, that I deserve this kind of intrusive attention?" Lena asked, incredulous. Kara gaped at her for a moment. "No, but... I mean, you must be used to it, with your lifestyle and all?" Okay. This conversation was definitely over. Lena squeezed the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb. Lifestyle?

From nowhere, Kara comes into Lena's office complaining about a magazine article which portrays the two women as a couple. Apparently her recently-returned boyfriend, 'Mike', is incensed at the implication and pushes Kara into talking to Lena about it. This leads to a rift between the two friends until some new information comes to light, changing both of their lives forever.

 This is probably the ultimate Mon-El hating fic.

I am not really sure why I enjoyed this story, why I could not put it down. This story deals with a lot of topics and themes that I usually don’t like / enjoy reading about. But I think the way the author managed to achieve this is by stopping at the place, by moving on exactly the right moment. When more would have been too much (for me).

The conflict and rift between Lena and Kara is difficult to swallow, but the author pulls it of. Kara starts losing faith in Mon-el at the moment where it would have been intolerable had she stuck with him longer.

It is well written story. It is angsty and a bit dark, but I did not feel that it was that angsty. But do mind the trigger warnings.

 Favorite Quotes

“Could I?” Lena asked, pointing at Kara’s stash of potstickers. She didn’t normally eat this much, but it had been a really long day. Kara handed them over absently, and Lena ate a few before she realised that Kara had just voluntarily given her potstickers. She was eating potstickers that Kara Danvers had given to her.

Kara nodded, head dropping, and then she left. Lena stared at the door for an eternity after Kara left, wondering how she was supposed to handle her own feelings for Kara along with the pain that Kara had caused her personally, and the shit that Mon-El seemed to be pulling. She was worried about Kara, worried about how much Kara could hurt her, and worried that Mon-El was going to completely destroy the sweet, caring person that Kara had always been.

D) Fake Dating / Fake Relationships

1. The Ultimate Fake Marriage / Witness Protection AU

I'm with you no matter what by spacemanearthgirl ; @spaceman-earthgirl

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

14 Chapters, 46k words (completed)

Published: 2018

"Lena’s life is threatened and the DEO urges her to go hide in a small town (in or out of the country) where the name Luthor won’t mean anything, and Kara of course goes with her bc that’s what (superhero) friends are for. So that’s how they end up fake married in a small town and fall in love for real. Or realize they’re already in love?"

 Embedded into a few Lex is trying to kill Lena elements (nothing too graphic) this is a very light, fluffy and domestic story. Apart from the Lex pieces not a Supergirl centric fic. Winn arranging their fake identities as a married couple, including the rings.

This fic has everything: Witness protection / protective custody, fake marriage, friends to lovers. And my favorite trope: Kara listening for Lena's heartbeat. Bonus: Lena worrying that Kara might hear her heartbeat spike. 

A wonderful, very well written story. Loved it. I especially loved the rings thing

 Favorite Quote

Kara is well aware that this look usually works on Lena, it’s kind of embarrassing how easy one look from Kara can make her fold, make her change her mind about what takeout she wants or what movie they’re going to watch, but running is where she draws the line.

“That’s not going to work this time,” Lena says, reaching out and lightly tapping Kara’s cheek with her hand.

She watches Kara deflate in front of her, pout firmly set on her lips in a last ditch attempt at what Alex calls her “kicked puppy” look.

“Go have fun with the kids, I’ll watch you from here.”

Being alone doesn’t help, it only means the extra brain power she was using to look like she was listening to Jess can be used to think about Kara instead.

This is bad, her company is important to her and she’s not going to be able to get any work done until she talks to Kara.

2. The Fake Dating AU with a Dash of Amnesia

A fiancée for Christmas by kellsbells

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

11 Chapters, 44k words (completed)

Published: 2017-2018

Rating: Mature

Alex is, as always, being hounded by Eliza about Kara's life. In particular, her personal life. Alex blurts out a lie on a whim, pretending that Kara is engaged, and begs Kara to go along with the lie. Kara mentions the situation to her very platonic friend Lena Luthor, who offers to step in. Hijinks ensue. A gift for the lovely Ganewhoo.

 Fake dating AU with a twist, little bit of unconventional amnesia (they sleep together relatively early - drunk - and Kara cannot remember because alien alcohol). There is a good bit of background Sanvers, also we see more of Alex than Maggie. Also nice Lena and Eliza bonding.

This is a well written story that I enjoyed. A it but not a lot of angst

 Favorite Quotes

“I don’t think Lena is oblivious,” Maggie said, shaking her head. She turned to the side again, rubbing her lower abdomen. “Kara has no idea, but my god, the heart-eyes!”

“I know! Every time they do that staring thing, I get this urge to play spin the bottle or seven minutes in heaven, you know? Like, wake up and smell the gay!” Alex said, snickering.

“I’m proud of you, Danvers,” Maggie said. “You’ve graduated from Lesbian Academy with top points in gaydar and detection of unresolved sexual tension.”

“You know, dear, I think we should bring back the practice of carrying handkerchiefs around. That way, I wouldn’t have to see you drooling like that over my daughter’s admittedly impressive musculature.”

“Oh my god,” Lena said, hiding her face in her scarf. Yes, she was wearing a scarf, and Kara was wearing a tiny two-piece bikini. “You are way too okay with embarrassing me, Eliza.”

E) Unconventional Families

1. The One in Which Instead of Mon-El a Small Girl Came to Earth in the Pod

Listen closely and the stars will sing by celaenos ; @banrions

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

14 Chapters, 119k words (completed)

Published: 2017

Lena casts her mind around for the last time she felt this unmoored, this off-balance, by a woman, and can't come up with anything. Kara Danvers is unlike anybody that Lena has ever met; the sweetest, bubbliest person Lena’s yet to come across, and simultaneously one of the saddest, who is probably lying to everyone that she meets. It’s an impossible contradiction to wrap your head around, and Lena should probably stop hiding in this bathroom and trying. (Or, Kara and Lena get parent-trapped into a relationship by a goofy little alien.)

As with any AU there is a "what if". What if Mon-El was so many things he was not on the show. An interesting character? A girl? What if instead of Mon-El we got a sweet nine year old girl in Season two?

Thankfully apart from the final showdown that takes some elements from season 2’s final episodes, there is little retelling of the show.

I love how Lena deals with her suspicions that there is something not quite right about Kara and Myka. The interaction / dynamic between Lena / Kara and Myka is wonderfully written, heartwarming and often funny. Their relationship develops so naturally and sweet.

There is a very nice Supergirl reveal and the story has a meaningful and satisfying end. There is nice background Sanvers and Alex plays a relatively big supporting role in this story. She is also written superbly and her interaction with Kara, Lena and Mayka add a lot to the perfection of the story. In fact there are some of my favorite Alex & Lena scenes outside of Alena/AgentCorp fics.

This is a wonderful, long and very well written story that I loved. The relationship between Kara and Myka and food plays a central part in the story and it is very cute.

The author has already used by favorite quote in the "official" summary (above) but I have one more to share:

 “We should have ice cream for breakfast.”

“No,” she laughs, reaching for her phone. “We should not.”

“Kara will say yes if you ask her,” Myka whispers, looking over and realizing that Alex and Maggie are still asleep.

“Kara, is not a good role model to base your relationship with food after,” Lena counters.

2. The One about Wishes Coming True, with a Dash of Groundhog Day

The Fifth Wall by Black_Tea_and_Bones ; @blackteaandbones

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

28 Chapters, 109k words (completed)

Published: 2017-2018

Rating: Mature

Kara goes to bed with Mon-El, and wakes up with Lena Luthor.

But it isn't Kara’s bed, and they’re not in Lena’s apartment, and that is definitely not their baby... Right?

 What if your wishes come true? Even wishes you had never spoken, not even admitted to yourself? What if powers beyond Kara and Lena‘s comprehension had conspired to push them together, to literally marry their fates together. And to throw in a little girl for good measure, a girl that is apparently their daughter. But all of this can’t be real, or can it?

There is a suspense arc that concludes satisfactory, some canon compliant violence and a bit of angst, but overwhelmingly this is a beautiful love story and a kid fic.

We slowly see Kara and Lena’s relationship developing I loved every minute of it. This is an epic and beautiful story that is very well written.

While Mon-El is mentioned in the author blurb, thankfully he plays practically no role in the story: he has only one or two scenes (in one of which we get a good laugh on his expense).

While there are a few scenes with the Superfriends, this is a very Lena and Kara centric fic.

 Favorite Quotes

Lena shrugged. “Well, I may not have much experience with children, but toast and juice are well within my capabilities. Though I have to ask...  What are sucks, and why aren’t we having any of them?”

Kara took a minute to catch up. “Oh, socks.” She snorted. “She refused to wear any.”

“Stubborn,” Lena noted with a smirk. “I wonder who she gets that from?”

She was alone.

Any lingering doubts Lena may have had about how little she actually wanted her old life back died a sudden and inevitable death in that moment. 

It wasn’t the worst thirty seconds of her life, but it was close.

That was about how long it took her to realize she was overreacting. Nothing had changed. She was still in their bed, in their bedroom, in their apartment. The half-empty glass of water Kara had left on her bedside table last night was still there, and when Lena sat up she saw Kara’s pyjamas hanging over the side of the laundry basket. The only thing missing was Kara herself.

F) AUs in Which Lena Is Tempted by the Dark Side

1. The Evil Overlord List AU

Lena Luthor, Evil Overlord by Rhino (RhinoMouse)

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe); sort of but not really evil!Lena

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

10 Chapters, 23k words (completed)

Published: 2017

Warning: read the author’s intro

Somebody has to take out the trash and Lena decides it might as well be her. If the hero's won't do what needs to be done she will, after all she is a Luthor. And if turning to the dark side involves separating Kara from her douche of a boyfriend? Well that's just a happy coincidence. But if she's going to be evil she's going to do it right by following some simple rules. No insane laughter and impractical super weapons for her. No she's going to avoid the pitfalls of lesser villains and she'll do it with style.

 This AU is a bit different than most SuperCorp AUs. It features a slightly alternate Lena that is written very believably. Jess is done well and gets a slightly larger role than in most fic.

A well written and funny AU that I enjoyed. It is probably more a comedy than it is a SuperCorp romance story.

Note: If you do not know about the Evil Overlord list, then look here. Highly recommended.

 Favorite Quotes

“But Lena’s never cared about her safety and suddenly she does?! And what if she gets hurt!” Kara protested.

Alex held up her hand. “You think Lena might be going evil and your concern is that she might get hurt?” She stared at her sister incredulously.

“Well obviously she could never be properly evil, it’s Lena. But what if she tries to become a megalomaniac like her family?” Kara pointed out. She put her hands on her hips, she needed to protect her friend and they just weren’t getting how serious this was. “Her latest project is laser attachments for sharks!”

2. The One in Which Lena Is an Art Thief

The Birth of Venus by lostariels ; @lostariels

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe); sort of but not really evil!Lena

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

3 Chapters, 13k words (completed)

Published: 2017-2018

When Supergirl finds herself in Italy after an earthquake, Kara decides to take a detour to Florence to see the famous painting the 'Birth of Venus', before returning to National City. At the Uffizi Gallery, she catches the eye of another visitor at the gallery, a fellow art lover who's at the gallery for more than just looking. The next morning the Birth of Venus is reported to have been stolen, and no one knows who took it, until over a year later when Kara finds out why her girlfriend just so happened to be at the gallery that day.

 What if Kara (who is Supergirl) falls in love with a Lena who is an art thief? This is a very interesting take how Kara deals with the fact that her girlfriend is a criminal. Not (really) Evil!Lena, but rather a lover and thief of rare paintings.

With this theme it could have easily been an angsty fic, it is not. It is a well written AU that I enjoyed.

 3. The One in Which Originally Lena Is Willing to Help Lex and Lilian

Real by cautiouslyoptimistic ; @forlornlyoptimistic (deleted old link)

real by cautiouslyoptimistic  (new link, reposted)        

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

1 Chapter, 10k words (completed)

Published: 2017

lex and lillian recruit lena in their plot to end the supers, but lena finds herself more preoccupied with kara's smile than she is with her family's plans or, lena falls in love with the one person she wasn't supposed to

 At first Lena is willing to help Lex and her mother, after all this is how she was raised. Lena's struggle between supporting her families' plan and falling in love with Kara is a different take on SuperCorp but done very believable.

An excellent story that I liked a lot. Very well written from Lena's POV

G) Stories in Which One of Them Dies (Most have a Happy Ending)

1. The Brilliant Fic in Which Lena Dies - a Lot

Lena dies on a wednesday by karalovesallthegirls ;  @karalovesallthegirls

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe), angst with happy ending

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

1 Chapters, 18k words (completed)

Published: 2018

Rating: Mature

Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Lena is trapped in a loop, reliving the day she dies over and over again. She just doesn’t know it.

 Yes, there is angst and suffering, but considering that Lena dies many times in this fic it is not super angsty and this is not primarily an angsty fic.

There is a unique blend of angst, drama, romance and humor: The author manages to put all of this together brilliantly and on top of that a somewhat absurd and crazy plot that is consistent and polished.

It somewhat reminds me of Groundhog Day and the brilliant Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Cause and Effect, but with substantially more punch - there is quite a difference form seeing a ship explode and experiencing Lena’s death several times from her own point of view.

Brilliant and beautifully written, fast paced, concise and polished. There is nothing that could be cut away. It’s a full novel plot in less than 20k words. Amazing - one of my favorites. I knew there would be happy ending, but otherwise I never expected where the plot was going, got surprised again and again.

 Favorite Quote

The only word to describe the look Kara gives her at that is ‘devastation’.

“I’ve watched you die a hundred times, Lena,” she whispers.

Lena can practically see the weight of guilt pressing down on her dearest friend.

“Is that why you wanted us to run away?” she asks, instantly struck by the horror at what she might have done before on those other Wednesdays.

2. The One in Which Lena Does Not Actually Die (but Has Powers)

Destruction (sometimes means rebirth) by BloodInTheFields ; @blood-inthefields

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe); Lena has powers; Angst with happy ending

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

20 Chapters, 36k words (completed)

Published: 2016-2017

There’s not much that she can do. The heat, she doesn’t feel. She walks through the flames and uses her x-ray vision to spot any survivor, but there’s nothing. Only devastation. or, in which Kara loses Lena, but does she really?

Lena is presumed dead after a bombing of LCorp tower and Supergirl couldn’t save her.

There are angsty chapters, miserable Kara is done very well and I really felt with her pain and grief. There are some very nice, romantic and fluffy chapters at the end - and also some funny scenes.

I was a bit worried that Lena's abilities were too much and made her overpowered, but the author handled it well. I enjoyed this well written story a lot.

 Favorite Quotes (spoiler: Lena is not a shape shifter)

“What the hell is going on? Who is this,” Alex hisses, pointing toward the bedroom door that Kara has closed behind them.

“This is Lena Luthor, Alex. You’ve seen her before,” Kara deadpans, arms crossed against her chest.

Kara, where did you find the shape-shifter? This isn’t healthy for you! I didn’t even know you were into Lena Luthor like that!”

3. The Really Sad Reverse Black Mercy Fic in Which Kara Grieves for Lena

I Blame Myself by Chazene

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

1 Chapters, 5k words (completed)

Published: 2017

Rating: Mature

Warning: fake suicide

Kara goes through trauma like no other.

 Kara is grieving for Lena in a kind of reverse black mercy.

This is a very sad and angsty, beautiful and powerful story - with happy ending. A well written short one from Kara's POV.

 4. The Really Sad Fic (with Happy Ending) in Which Lena Grieves for Kara

Fallen Hero by Chazene

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp) (f/f)

1 Chapter, 13k words (completed)

Published: 2017

Rating: Mature

Warning: Major Character Death

Lena goes through tragedy, one she'd never thought she'd experience.

 Lena is grieving and coping with Kara's death. A sad, well written and angsty story - ultimately with happy ending.

 5. The brilliantly sad fic about love, living and dying

remember me, and let the love we have live on by civilorange ;  @civilorange

Setting: Supergirl TV 2015 (DCU), AU (Alternate Universe)

Relationship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor (Supercorp); background Kara Danvers/Cat Grant (SuperCat) (f/f)

1 Chapter, 9k words (completed)

Published: 2018

Rating: Mature

Warning: Major Character Death

You close your eyes and pretend it’s tomorrow. “Promise me you’ll be okay?” “Aren’t I always?” There's nothing glad about it, nothing happy. // or: Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor through the years.

This fic is basically Lena’s life in 9 k words and it will probably make you cry - It is amazing that one of the shortest stories has the broadest scope. This story also deals with the fact that as Kryptonians live very long, Kara will outlive her lovers.

There is SuperCat in this fic, but as the fic is told exclusively from Lena's POV we do not really see it.

There are two things that I usually not that fond of in stories: second person narrator and Major Character Death. But this is a brilliant, very well written story that won me over. Highly recommended.

 Favorite Quotes

“Telling you I’m Supergirl isn’t—it isn’t just telling you I’m Supergirl. It’s telling you I’m Kara Zor El, it’s telling you I’m the last of my kind because my cousin doesn’t even remember Krypton, it’s—it’s—I liked being just-Kara around you.” She’s crying—but not—they’re in the lashes of her blue, blue eyes and you don’t know how you never noticed that they’re the exact same shade. Blue, on blue, on blue—with a little bit of stardust in the black of her pupil.

You’re angry, you are, but you like being just-Lena around her, too. You like pretending that you don’t go see your brother every Thursday, you don’t like reading every death threat sent to you in the mail—you don’t like being an idea before you’re a person. You’re angry, but you understand.

“You don’t beat time, sweetheart,” you tried, damn did you try, but there was only so much your human body would allow. “But we had a run, didn’t we?”

Ninety years together in one way or another—forty more than you probably should have had, but you are Lena Luthor after all. Reality was fifty percent what you made it. Ninety years, sixteen planets, three universes, and a pretty epic story—if you do say so yourself.

 You have reached the end of part 2, but Lena and Kara will return in Supercorp AU Fic Recs Part 3 - Different Realities: of No Powers, One Night Stands and Friends with Benefits (I will include a link once it is published).    

updated links in April 2020 for re-uploaded fics by cautiouslyoptimistic

If you liked this, you might enjoy more of my SuperCorp / Supergirl femslash fanfic recs:

9 Great and Long Kara / Lena Fics - SuperCorp

10 More Great and Long Kara / Lena Fics (SuperCorp)

Supercorp AU Fic Recs Part 1 - Distorted Realities: of Time Travel, Amnesia and Black Mercies

Or all of them

or my fic recs only sideblog @femslashhistorianficrecs​

[lovely-dream-still-it-seems]

Newsies & Poetry (1/?)

Hi so these are some poetry/literature related newsies headcanons I barely know what I'm doing let's go

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Jack - Jack will read any poem with a story to it. He doesn't mind if it rhymes or not, but it sure as hell better have a plot or an adventure. So naturally, Jack absolutely loves Mark Twain. When they were younger, Jack got a hold of Huckleberry Finn and the assorted works of Mark Twain, and would read them to Crutchie before bed on the rooftop. He shares Crutchie's love for Robert Frost, and will listen to Davey read Shakespeare from time to time. He also tends to like the adventures of Homer's epics (The Iliad, The Odyssey) when Davey reads them before bed at the Lodging House. Jack also dabbles in writing his own poetry, inspired by Davey and Crutchie I'm sure, but just as he is with painting, he doesn't think they're very good. He muses about far off lands and Santa Fe, and has written numerous sappy love poems when he feels particularly smitten.

Davey - You could probably call Davey a Basic Bitch for liking Shakespeare, but man, it's hard to be the bard beat Sonnet 18, ok? As previously mentioned, it's not uncommon for Davey to read aloud short stories, poems, or chapters of books before bed in the sleeping quarters of the Lodging House. He'll usually read anything requested (Shakespeare, Twain, Homer, etc) as long as it's appropriate for the youngins. Davey is probably one of the most well-read newsies (amongst Katherine and Sarah), so his interests spread far and wide. He enjoys anything with a clever rhyming scheme or a thought-provoking message. He loves poems that twist his brain because he finds fun in the puzzle of trying to figure out the true meaning. A sort of lesser known poet that Davey likes is A.E. Housman, whose poems he introduced to Jack. They both like Housman for his descriptive poems of the English countryside, and his patriotic poems on soldiers and war. (Shameless plug to my Javid fic Remembering You, which will eventually feature an A.E. Housman poem ;)) Davey likes to write his own poems as a sort of coping mechanism for whatever strong feelings he has at any given time. It’s a solid way to vent for him, without having to talk to anyone. Davey has also admittedly written a few love sonnets for a certain someone. He and Crutchie conduct poem trades all the time, where they just sit around and read each other's poems, giving compliments and suggestions.

Crutchie - He is in LOVE with Robert Frost and anything he writes. He loves the rhyming schemes and shares the affinity for adventurous poems with Jack. In a modern timeline, Jack and Crutchie fell in love with The Outsiders during school, and were thus introduced to Robert Frost through his Nature's First Green Is Gold  and "stay gold, Ponyboy." (which Crutchie quotes very often in reference to Jack being Ponyboy) I also strongly agree with this post by @butmemostly on the fact that Crutchie writes his own poetry, and sometimes unintentionally starts to rhyme when he's writing (i.e. letter from the refuge). No matter what kind of poem Crutchie is writing, it has to rhyme. He likes the structure it gives, how it makes him think about the words he puts down, and how nice it sounds when read aloud. Sometimes after his and Davey's poem trades, Davey insists that he read some of Crutchie's poems to the boys. After Crutchie reluctantly agrees and Davey reads his poems, the boys are all over it like, "Wow Crutch, you wrote that??" and "Crutchie you're a genius!" and tons of sweet, supportive comments that have Crutchie red with embarrassment and gratitude. Even the boys who know squat about poetry acknowledge that Crutchie is a true master poet.

Katherine - Ok to be honest here canon era Katherine loves any woman poet/author, because there just aren't enough at the time. Specifically though she enjoys Elizabeth Barrett Browning, especially her How Do I Love Thee? sonnet, because it makes her think of Sarah. She also likes thought provoking works that make her think, similar to how Davey likes to work out the puzzle of the meaning. She'll read a lot of activist works for civil equality all around the board, and she likes historical poems as well, which means Maya Angelou is right up her alley. A little off topic but Katherine likes things that challenge her morals, so stuff like Lawrence Kohlberg's moral dilemmas (see: the Heinz dilemma). This is mostly because she likes to argue, but she also likes to see how other people think things through. This is mostly where she and Davey bond; they like to discuss the ins and outs of certain moral dilemmas, as they talk about what they each believe and debate their position.

---

This is only the first batch! I have a few planned for a part 2 but shoot me an ask or write in the tags who you'd like to see. Suggestions are more than welcome!

[fantroll-purgatory]

I hope TR is ok! Of all the things i expected as an intro that was the most concerning :[ Anyway with that out of the way, I’ve decided to rope this guy in lieu of Lutifi’s revision.

I’m doing okay-ish! I was dealing with repetitive stress injuries in both wrists and those are moooostly on the way out but now I have sprained my ankle because I am a comic relief character in a cartoon lmao.

World: Alternia

Name: Haneul: meaning “heaven/sky” in Korean. and Caeles surprisingly having no meaning when I looked it up but it it could be a variation of Caelestis, a late latin term which meant “of the sky, heavenly”.

Hmmmm. I find it really, really interesting that you have a sky-themed Blood player. Especially when so many other aspects of his character have to do with limiting freedoms.

If I may suggest a potential alternate name, perhaps Haneul Catena, the last name meaning “chain?”

Age: Possibly around 6-7 sweeps

Theme/Story: Originally, he had no real theme until I sent in Serena, the purple blooded mafia boss. That is when he became her brawn, getting things done that Serena herself can’t do. Then with Lutifi’s revamp, this gave him the perfect opportunity to act as a co-regent for Lutifi when he is out and about with his surfing. So now he is an agent for Serena as well as a consultant for ruling with Lutifi like how Louis XIII of France heavily relied on Cardinal Richelieu. In light of this co-regency, Haneul has also thwarted several assassination attempts on Lutifi during his surfing competitions. Later in his session, he would eventually snap and cause a bloodbath nearly wiping out the entire session, destroying the bonds of all the players. Yet the Seer of Time survives and goes back and warns the past Seer about that timeline.

I am curious: what does the Seer of Time do differently to ensure he doesn’t cause a TPK?

Goals: Mostly a check if everything fits together narratively and such. If a re-design is needed, then sure design away!

Specibus: I would go with Hookkind, like roadhog’s hook

Fetch Modus: Prison: Basically when you capchalogue something it is closed off by bars. To retrieve the item, you must captchalogue another item. Below the area labelled “Required”, either the item’s name is written or the item is pictured. When nothing appears, you have to give it money, which is why this modus is a complete ass sometimes.

Nice! So it’s a bribery system, almost? Perhaps you could have particular important items set “bail,” meaning they can leave if they provide the requested item and will give them back to you when the important item is recaptchalogued.

Blood: Violet, It was a bit brighter at one point, then I changed it to be closer to cannon.

Given the strong themes of imprisonment/freedom binaries I may possibly suggest making him teal.

Symbol: A bit swirly compared to the other violet signs…

Handle: thonicAcidaemia

Quirk: ᔕ SurroundS hiS SentenceS with theSe weird S thingS ᔕ

Ehhhh as far as I can tell that’s just a letter from the Canadian aboriginal alphabet and doesn’t seem to contribute to any kind of theme. How about he:

§ Open§ up hi§ §entence§ with §ection §symbols?

It’s frequently used to reference sections in legal code and T B H at this point I am very strongly advocating that you make him a tealblood.

Lusus: Possibly a Sea Snail of some kind

If you wanna keep him violet I’m not sure a snail would be appropriate unless he is very very slow. Given his need to be adaptable in situations, may I suggest maybe a ligerfish, with the spines of a lionfish and the teeth of a tigerfish? Beautiful, ethereal, fulla teef.

If you make him teal, I would suggest a flying squirrel! It works nicely with his dual grounding/freedom themes.

Interests: He keeps most of them a secret but has a soft spot for the equivalent of extreme sports are on Alternia. Every now and then he likes to build model hives but they always end up as if a hurricane swept through them due to his short temper outside of his work.

Personality: A Rough ‘n Tumble sort of guy. He mostly keeps a stoic “don’t give a fuck” sort of facade during his odd jobs.

Dream Planet:  Derse; Honestly i’m not certain on the whole dichotomy on how the sways work.

If you’re looking for a guide, CD wrote an excellent one right here, but based on what you’ve given me I’m unsure, and I think it’s up to you! Does he resent having to babysit Lutifi, or is he delighted to have purchase on this kind of power? I think the latter would be a Dersite and the former a Prospitan.

Title: Bard of Blood

I agree that he’s a Blood player, but given what you’ve written in the bio I have no way of determining if he’s a Bard. If he invites destruction through bonds, is it because he enables poor ruling decisions through his friendship with Lutifi? Is it because he uses people’s bonds against them to rip his session apart?

Land: Land of Sulfur and Brimstone: Now that I look at this, it sounds like Hell II: Electric Bugaloo

I like it! I would kinda love it if you had a gag where he walks around his land with a clothespin on his nose.

So here’s a redesign for if you re-spec him to teal! If you wanna keep him violet I still gave design notes you could incorporate.

Horns - gave ‘em a little S-curve!

Hair - Hair in Alternia is rarely as neat as the one on the left, so I sprited it messier

Face - the face was looking a little ripped from canon sprites so I wanted to edit all of it to look more unique. Also I added teef because I like them.

Coat - I removed the hood because it looked awkward and didn’t really seem to add to the flow of his design?

Symbol - I just used the section symbol on its side since it already looked similar to the symbol you sprites

Shorts - Equius’s shorts, to show off the…

Boots - which are adapted from fan-troll, which I meanly wanted to use to again contrast the flowiness of the cloak to the groundedness of the shoe.

That’s about it! Thanks for your patience with the review.

-TR

[kinixuki]

Answers for the “Questions about creating your ocs” thing, as a read more because it got REALLY LONG. There’s some AU rambling too because why not. The first time a character gets mentioned their name should be a link to their tumblr tag, just to keep track of who’s who because there’s a lot of them :v

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? 

Kal – Kal came from a dream I had, he was an angry guy with muscles and 0 chill (this never really changed), I think the first conscious thing I did myself was trying to make a small backstory for the dream because I felt pretty strongly about it. I tried to get the look down at the same time but my drawing skills were terrible at that time, so the backstory got more attention. And then it turned into Fisher along with some other dreams I had!

Umbrella – Umbrella is originally from a dream as well, a different one but it had Kal in it too, so it tried to fit it into the story.

Shetla – she happened when I started writing shamans (which had no plan at all at first), I needed someone who would talk with Kwiri so I made her

Oqooto – Oqooto was born as random fish kid for a small comic, so they got a bit of backstory and appearance for the comic. I liked what came out of it and kept thinking about them :>

2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Moru – I want to say Ishke, but other than trying to not have them look too similar not really. Maybe Yixi the bird, Moru used to have a hood with a nest, now she has falconry equipment.

3. How did you choose their name? 

Kal – playing with random letters, after he was nameless for a year or two. I think I first wrote it down into a German textbook when I was bored during a class :v His name is also one of the Czech words for mud, which I didn’t realize for a while, but it fits sort of.

Umbrella – in the dream he came from he was basically a ghost that came out of an umbrella, so he got to keep it, both as an object and as a name, because it sounded silly and he’s weird. It’s more of a nickname in the actual story, he so old that no one remembers his name and telling people would spoil the fun for him, and because he always carries the umbrella with him it’s how a lot of people refer to him.

Teeku – playing with random letters again. I think his name just popped into my head when I was writing and was like “hey, this shaman guy needs a name”. I wish this happened more often, I’m terrible with making names :l

Bronze – I had hard time understanding how naming characters with actual words one can understand works, so I tried it myself with Bronze. I don’t remember why I picked that anymore, but it had something to do with him being Fisher and Narya being gold in my head.

Oqooto – I think I saw something close to that in random word generator? It looked super weird, but also felt like an instant fit after like a year of not knowing what name I want.

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts? 

Oqooto – it’s mostly based on the comic idea I had – a kid living in marshes that goes fishing, then I expanded from that. It’s technically part of Ishke’s world, but I haven’t really connected those two yet. There’s a lot of spirits in that world though, so after a bit Oqooto turned into something that’s closer to a shaman/medium than just a fish kid.

5. Is there any significance behind their hair color?

Narya – for a long time there wasn‘t, other than me thinking it’s nice, but now it’s an ethnicity thing along with the ashy skin color. I’ve been playing with the idea of that being the sign of a pureblood Fisher, but it makes some story mess with how easily they would be identifiable in the city. So it might be more general group of people, but still with them being known for their Fishers being crazy good. Bronze is another of those people, but not really directly related to Narya, despite the appearance. Most of them live in the forests outside of the city.

9. Are they based off of you, in some way?

Kwiri – ummmm yes a bit…. I started writing his story as an angsty teen with zero friends, and having a character dealing with similar problems felt nice because hey, finally a friend. It wasn’t really a conscious thing like “it’s me, but in another world”, just a character I wanted to understand and write well. After a while of writing I was probably more based off him than the other way around to be honest. For some reason Kwiri is also pretty close to how I look irl though, which wasn’t intentional at all xD

10. If they have an LI, how much of their character is tailored to be compatible to that person? 

Moru – I wanted her and Ishke to have fun together, so they’re both kinda rebellious, but Moru is still there to explain all the human and social stuff to Ishke. She doesn’t understand much either, but almost anything is better at it than Ishke. And she gets to learn about spirits/forest from him!

12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 

Kal – other than waiting few years for a name he’s tricky to draw for me, first he was the muscle guy when I didn’t know how to draw muscles at all, now it’s drawing him properly during fights and all the cool action scenes. He’s surprisingly easy to write to though.

Umbrella –having him not turn the entire plot upside down. I changed the entire thing at least three times because of him, he’s always been one of the major characters but having him fit into the story in a way that worked well was hard. He’s hard to write as well, it’s easy to get carried away and turn him into the carefully planning villain stereotype because most of his role in the story is watching from behind the scenes, but he’s supposed to be super chaotic. Well thought out plans are literally the last thing he would do.

Moru – I am. Really bad. With female characters. Guys? Cool. Nbs? Super cool. Girls??? Seriously I made her to have a girl character I would be comfortable with, it’s still not 100% it and I still don’t know what to do with her, so probably that. She needed over 5 years for a name too.

13. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

Shamans – I wrote down a short story about how some late story events turned out differently and keep thinking about a lot of what ifs. Then I have a lot of things from when Teeku was younger figured out, some of them are important, some of them are just fun to think about, most of them don’t get enough space in the actual story though.

Then there’s several AUs, including one where Teeku is a grumpy farmer with an old smelly tractor and a straw hat. Kirta hates him there because of the hat, he’s a rich farm guy and has been looking for The Perfect Straw Hat™ for months. When he finally saw it across the street and fell in love, Teeku came and bought the first straw hat he saw, which was this one. There’s also a modern AU where Teeku owns a tearoom and his visitors are my and Sari’s characters from the other stories. There’s a lot of fun stuff happening there and it has quite a bit of stuff thought out, I wanted to draw some of it during the summer but didn’t get to it D:

Bronze – I have a ton of stuff from when Bronze was younger and didn’t live in the city, but that’s deep in the spoiler territory. In the tearoom AU he lives in Umbrella’s flat and works in his sushi restaurant, but kind of wishes he didn’t, especially when Umbrella (who despite owning the flat doesn’t really live there) decides to visit, eat every single thing in the fridge and then talk about all sorts of vaguely illegal stuff Bronze doesn’t really want to hear about before leaving again.

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 

Isidor (the grandmaster of the Order who has no tag atm) – he’s elegant as heck, and his behavior is kinda human but also not really, he’s young for what he is but he doesn’t age/die naturally and is already older than normal humans get, so he’s pretty detached.

15. What is something about your OC can make you laugh?

Siva – okay so. At one point a friend asked what kind of food they eat in the Fisher universe. Part of the reply was that they also probably have some of the food we have here, like schnitzel. And the friend asked something like “so there’s gonna be someone coming to Siva and asking ‘Hey Siva, do you want some more schnitzel?’”. It’s Siva’s fave food now, because he’s a super srs person and this totally doesn’t sound super silly.

ALSO THE TEAROOM AU, Siva is a head doctor of a local hospital and Narya is a student with training there and Siva overseeing it. They don’t really like each other, it’s the same as the canon story. They both visit Teeku’s tearoom though, Narya because he either has a part time job there few days a month or just uses that as a study place, and Siva because he’s a tea connoisseur and Teeku’s tearoom is the best tearoom in the city when it comes to tea quality, but there aren’t many visitors because Teeku is super grumpy.

So Narya and Siva sometimes meet there. Siva comes in a pretty bad mood, because “this one student was supposed to do all this work at night and he didn’t and just kept talking back, I need some good tea to drink”. 5 mins later, Narya comes late for his shift, because “this one idiot doctor wanted me to do all this stuff at night, can you even believe it what a jerk, I didn’t even sleep”, and he gets to make Siva’s tea without knowing who is it for and then he brings it to him and they’re both like “YOUUUU”

Minghe – the main idea of his story is that he got stuck with exactly that one person he can’t stand at all (Sheon) and is forced to cooperate. It’s the sad kind of funny.

16. What is something about your OC can make you cry?

Siva – @sariannearies saying bad things about him and wishing terrible things to happen to him >:

Minghe – the fact that I still don’t have a single colored artwork with him except one speedpaint. He’s one of my faves D:

17. Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story? 

Kwiri – I’ve been rewriting his story for years and deleting thing I didn’t like, so not really?

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

Kal – he really really REALLY hates Siva, the doctor. It’s mutual, but Siva is way better at hiding it, though he sometimes “accidentally” forgets to give Kal painkillers and so on. Sometimes Kal regrets that he wasn’t successful with what he tried to do at the end of Roommates.

Bronze – he’s super obsessed with being independent, but because of that he ended up as the opposite and it took him forever to realize. With no real way out \o/

Moru – she likes birds. That was unexpected, right?

[bananannabeth]

Your book looks fun, but do you worry sometimes that it looks like a YA paranormal romance, which might be outdated? Like maybe I just haven't read enough about it yet, I'm sorry if this comes across as mean, I'm genuinely curious. Thanks for all the fic your write!

Okay so my goal when writing Not So Shore was to take all the tropes I loved from the done-to-death ‘mortals meet’ genre of fanfic (the fun of the reader having information the point of view character doesn’t, dropping subtle references to the canon characters’ powers and experiences, having everyone be in awe of how cool the canon characters are) and write them without any of the horrible negative tropes that always seem to feature in those fics (over the top jealousy, slut shaming, unnecessary violence, no subtlety anywhere to be seen). I had so much fun writing it, and the response from all of you suggests you had fun reading it, too.

And I’m basically trying to do a very similar thing with my novel. I grew up riding the wave of popular Paranormal YA. I was there for the publication of Twilight and the thousands of series inspired by it. I’ve read most of them, because as a child I adored the stories of people like me visiting magical lands (Alice in Wonderland, HP, PJO, Narnia, LotR [in which the people like me are the hobbits lol], etc.) so it seemed a natural extension that as I entered my teen years I would follow this genre to its teenage equivalent.

It was supposed to be like the fantasy I loved reading, but darker and more mature, with slightly more graphic violence and more adult risks and consequences. But in its hormone ridden angst, Paranormal YA/Urban Fantasy lost a lot of the things that made me fall in love with fantasy in the first place.

Gone was the focus on proving yourself worthy by doing good deeds and helping others; Instead you had to be snarky and “not like other girls” and worry more about your love interest than the fate of the world.

Instead of quests completed by fire-forged friends, the only relationships developed (and I use that word loosely, in some cases) over the course of the books were the romantic ones. Friends were always pushed aside, no one ever understood the protagonist, but the protagonist never tried to get anyone to understand, because they were dark and moody and needed to do things on their own -

Except, oh, no, they can’t do it on their own, because they’re a girl, and so they’re just going to sort of dither about before their big, strong male love interest comes along to save the day with physical violence. The protagonists rarely had the power, even when they were ‘the chosen one’ or when they should have had the opportunity to grow over the course of the novel. Or if they did have power, it was often so poorly developed that it just read like a massive deus-ex-machina invented purely for the finale.

Their male love interests were rude to the point of abusive, had no sense of appropriate personal boundaries, and treated the protagonists as idiots who had to be talked down to at every opportunity, rather than people who were discovering entirely new worlds and were entitled to ask some questions.

Protagonists no longer had strong morals; instead they flipped back and forth between choices (often between two love interests, hurting both in the process) and were reactive to circumstances changing around them, rather than forces for change.

Dialogue was no longer inspiring, something to repeat to myself on dark days, to remind myself that there was always some good worth fighting for. Instead, everything was one of two extremes: It had to be sassy and referential, or it had to be so pretentious and faux-philosophical that no teenager alive would ever dare utter it for fear of eternal ridicule.

(This is not so say, of course, that the fantasy books I had enjoyed as a child did not have their own faults. They were overwhelmingly cast with straight, white men, or straight, white women who weren’t anywhere near as well developed. Any other diversity was hard to find, and women as romantic interests were often treated as props or rewards. Trouble was, these problematic aspects carried over into Paranormal YA/Urban Fantasy without bringing most of the good stuff with them.)

Obviously not every single Paranormal YA/Urban Fantasy was as disastrous as I am describing them here. But enough were for it to become a well known fact among the industry and readers that Paranormal YA was formulaic to the point where if you had read one you’d read fifty. I still loved the concept of the genre, obviously, or I wouldn’t have kept reading it, but the execution was letting me down.

So in my novel I’m taking the things I love about it - the mystery, the magic, the overlap of our world with something so entirely new and different hovering just beyond our perception, characters and things from that new world crossing over to ours, the dark overtones and the threat of real danger and violence - and I’m adding all the things I adored from fantasy back in, and putting the emphasis on female friendship.

YA has taken great leaps forward in terms of representation of marginalised groups, less problematic love interests, and more unique plotting, all of which is so amazing and absolutely fantastic to read. But I still find close, supportive, realistic female friendships lacking, and as most of the books I read are written by women I always find this preference to have their female protagonists always hanging out with guys puzzling. So although there is a romance between my female protagonist and a male character, it’s tertiary, behind the plot and the core group of female friends that drive it forward. I’ve tried to write each of the girls as unique individuals rather than stereotypes, as characters with their own goals and personalities and no tokenism, and I hope that their friendship reads as strongly and sincerely to you as it does to me.

I’m hoping that this distinction, the focus on characters and the relatively less-popular type of mythology I’ve decided to write about will be enough to convince a publisher to give me a chance. (The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater is the series that comes closest to what I’m trying to achieve in terms of tone and themes with my novel, which also gives me hope that there’s still a market for it. Although obviously I am nowhere near as skilled a writer as Maggie, and I can only aspire to one day be anywhere near her level.)

So, to finally come to the end of this extremely long winded answer to your relatively straight-forward question: This novel is like my love letter to everything I enjoyed about growing up reading Paranormal YA and Urban Fantasy, but with modern day priorities and diversity included, and all the shit bits thrown out (hopefully).

[cyanmnemosyne]

Yuletide Letter (2017)

Dear Yuletide Writer,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to write me a fic!  This is my third year participating in Yuletide, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with. :D

If you have matched with me on one of these small fandoms, I figure chances are pretty good that we share some tastes as well. :D So while I’ve tried to provide at least a bit of commentary for each one, please feel free to ignore all my meandering suggestions if your inspiration takes you in a different direction.  :)  I feel certain I’ll love whatever you write, either way. <3

I also have no preferences as regards length, tense, or POV -- feel free to write the story however it works best. :)

AO3 name: darkcyan

Requested fandoms:

Shirobako

Mouretsu Pirates | Bodacious Space Pirates

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Machineries of Empire Series - Yoon Ha Lee  

[ hiding the rest under the cut, because as usual, it got long. :) ]

General Preferences:

Yes, Please:

fluff, found family, deep friendships, established relationships, brand new relationships where everyone’s trying to feel their way through, drama if it’s not gratuitous or inspired only by misunderstandings, hopeless pining, hopeless pining that turns out to be reciprocated.  People already trusting each other, people coming to slowly trust each other.

basically if it’s emotionally warm, I will probably love it

and if it hurts but resolves in an emotionally warm place, I will love it while crying

AUs.  canon-fork or otherwise.  I like it best when the characters still feel “true” to their canon personalities, as filtered and changed through the different lens of how the AU differs from canon.  For AUs that involve significant worldbuilding (e.g. sci fi AU), feel free to spend as much time as you want on the worldbuilding in addition to the characters.

Actually worldbuilding in general is great if that’s your thing.

Missing scene / other POV / canon continuation fic are also great. (I think what I’m trying to say is I like basically all kinds of fic?)

time travel. is a guilty pleasure of mine.  Primarily when used as an excuse to abuse one’s future knowledge to help put the past on a better track (though of course, it wouldn’t be as fun if the changes didn’t start piling up eventually. ;) ) Time travel paradoxes are an interesting thought experiment, but in my fic-reading I’ve got a strong preference for the “eh, changing the past forks the future, don’t worry about it too much” mode of time travel.

Female characters being their awesome selves.

Happy endings.  (Bittersweet is fine too :) )

Shipping is great, queerplatonic relationships are great, deep friendship is great.  Relationships are great! (I’ve called out my preferences or lack thereof on a fandom-by-fandom basis below in case it helps.  Anywhere I say “relationship”, feel free to assume that I’d be just as thrilled by anywhere in the spectrum from “really good friends” through “queerplatonic” to “romantic”)

Humor is good too! I’m usually not terribly interested in true crackfic, but the occasional lighthearted fic – or a dash of humor in something otherwise dramatic to lighten the mood – is great.

I feel certain I’m missing a lot, so let’s just say that anything that’s not otherwise called out in my maybe/no lists is fair game :D

Maybe:

issuefic (which seems to include things like alternate sexuality / gender headcanons? not 100% sure on the preferred terminology here?) I like my issues to feel organically part of the story rather than being a transparent soapbox, but other than that, I think that sort of story can be really interesting :D  This is in the ‘maybe’ category mostly because I guess there’s a risk that we might not happen to agree on said issue?? But if it’s the sort of fic you love to write, go for it! :)

Kidfic.  Haven’t really encountered much that interested me, but if you want to, go for it. :)

Please, no:

Onscreen sex. Fade to black or references are fine if you feel it’s critical to the characterization / plot, but if we’ve gotten to the point where we’re talking about limb positions, my reaction is almost certain to be somewhere between bored and extremely uncomfortable.  

(but honestly I’d prefer no sex at all. comes of being both asexual and a prude *shrug*)

Even if it’s not explicit or onscreen, please no rape / noncon / dubcon. *eyes list* Do I need to call out “no incest”? I don’t think so? But just in case: no incest either please. :)

Not a huge fan of drug / addiction plots either

Relationships, romantic or otherwise, where there’s a significant power imbalance (especially if it’s abused) really bother me, especially if it’s played as acceptable.[1]  (If the story shows it as deeply problematic and works through the implications, I’ve been known to have an intellectual appreciation for it, but it’s still not something I really want to read about.)

Most significant age difference fic falls into this bucket for me.  

I also feel pretty strongly about free will and freedom to choose, so “I’m taking away your choices by hiding things from you / doing things behind your back For Your Own Good” narratives mostly just make me want to punch things, no matter how good the supposed justification is on the part of the person doing it. So. I’d recommend avoidance. :)

… Emotional manipulation in general, to be honest.  Especially, again, if it’s played as acceptable.

Cheating and other forms of deliberate, sustained dishonesty within a relationship.  If the characters are lying to each other, they’d better have a really good reason, and chances are I still won’t like them quite as much after.  [2]

Gratuitous drama.  If the drama could be resolved by the characters just sitting down for five minutes and talking to each other, and the only reason they don’t is ~*~reasons~*~, then I start getting really annoyed, really quickly

Plots revolving around jealousy.  It’s a human emotion, but I hate it when characters let it eliminate their capacity for rational thought

Anything that uses “they couldn’t help themselves” as an excuse for making bad decisions. Like. I’m sure there are exceptions.  (Actual mind-control?) But in general my response to that excuse is “You’re an adult.  Act like it.“

Character bashing. Even the characters I hate are the heroes of their own stories.  

Not a huge fan of relentless grimness / Crapsack Worlds.  I enjoy some grim sometimes, but I prefer at least an occasional dose of hope with my grimness. I need to have some faith that the ending will be a happy one, or at least cathartically bittersweet.

Related: If I wanted to hear about awful people being awful all the time and how awful everything is as a result, I’d go watch the news. (... Someday I would like this statement to be less true than it was the previous year, instead of more. ;___;) There can be awful people, they can do awful things, but I’d really prefer they not be either the majority or the focus of the story.

[1] BDSM in which said power relationship has been consensually agreed on ahead of time is entirely different, of course. :)

… But it’s also not generally really my thing. :P

[2] For the record, I do not count poly relationships in this bucket at all.  All I ask is that everyone who’s involved is aware of and reasonably happy with what’s going on.

Fandoms:

Shirobako

Crunchyroll

Requested character(s): Miyamori Aoi, Yano Erika

Spoiler notes: I’ve watched the show and read the first several chapters of the prequel manga

Preferred pairing(s): gen or Erika/Aoi (side relationships between whatever set of the characters that suits your fancy are fine too - aside from my soft spot for Erika/Aoi I don’t have any strong ship feelings.)

THIS SHOW.  I love it to pieces. When I first started watching it, I was in the middle of a bit of a professional crisis of my own (trying to decide whether to change jobs), so this show hit basically all my “I love this” buttons, from laughing and crying about how well it depicted how hard it is to get a lot of creative people to work together (I’m a programmer, not an animator, but the similarities are pretty scary), to laughing and crying at its depiction of writer’s block, to adoring all the little in-jokes it slipped in about anime as a whole (I wish I could remember the name of that harem show …), to loving all the insights into how making an anime actually works, to empathizing like no one’s business with Aoi’s insecurity about whether she was “enough” for the job and whether it was okay to not have everything figure out yet, to Ema’s struggles with imposter syndrome, to Misa’s angst about whether she should stick with a stable job she knows or try for something more like what she really wanted, to …

just.

THIS SHOW.

I re-watched it last year and was struck all over again by how much I love Erika’s casual mentorship of Aoi; she’s one of my favorite characters, and I’m always sorry to see her disappear and I always cheer when she comes back.  

So what I’d really like to see this time is a story that focuses on their relationship.  A scenario where Erika helps point Aoi in the right direction?  When Aoi realizes Erika needs some support?

During that long gap when Erika is away caring for her father, do she and Aoi still stay in contact?  Does Aoi ever come visit?  

I’d just love to see more of these characters and their friendship.  

(Note: I do low-key ship Erika/Aoi, but I also am pretty iffy about workplace romance, especially in such a small workplace, and Erika especially seems like the sort to be level-headed about that sort of thing.  

So if you want to take things in a shippy direction, I’d like to request that it either stays at mutual pining or -- if they decide to make a go of an actual relationship -- actually addresses the workplace romance issue. One of them moves to a different company? idk.

But I’d also be 100% happy to see a fic that is completely gen, if that’s what you’d prefer. :) )

(And one final note: Hiraoka. I’m not sure I like him, exactly, but I’ve been uncomfortably close to where he is emotionally, so he gives me lots of complicated feelings.  So, if you choose to include him, please be kind?

And if you, too, have dealt with burnout - Erika and Hiraoka had a very interesting conversation at one point that made me think that Erika’s also uncomfortably familiar with it, but has just stabilized in a healthier place. If you wrote a story centered on that I’d probably love you forever, but I’m not sure it’s one even I’d be willing to attempt …)

Mouretsu Pirates | Bodacious Space Pirates

Requested character(s): Lynn Lambretta, Jenny Dolittle

Spoiler notes: I’ve watched the show and the movie.

Preferred pairings: Lynn/Jenny

… Yeah, no, I’m not even going to pretend that I’d be happy with gen when this is an actual canon relationship that is one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen.

(… Like, my high-pitched yelling about this pairing almost reaches the level of Uranus/Neptune back in my peak Sailor Moon fan years.  … … And that’s a lot. XD)

I meannnnn you can do gen if you reallllllly want to. :D I’m sure I’ll still enjoy it.  <3

But yeah, insofar as I have OTPs anymore, these two are definitely one of them. XD (And I’m hoping that if you’re offering these two characters, it’s because you ship them too. XD)

Ahem. Where was I?  

I really enjoy this show in general - it’s just so refreshingly, unabashedly fun; a lovely warm show about a bunch of ridiculous, adorable, and really damn competent girls being their awesome selves. (With a handful of fond, long-suffering adults on the side.) (And also piracy.)

And I love Jenny and Lynn in particular because even though they’re secondary characters, they exemplify this - every interaction Marika has with them, they’re being their competent, awesome selves, and it’s a true treat to watch.  

So please give me these two characters being being their badass competent selves.  Or give me something adorably fluffy with the two of them doing nothing in particular.  Give me them working together and sometimes having to remind each other to take a break and eat or sleep - or give me that year they spent separate, and their wistful pining, wishing they could reach each other through their holographic displays.  

(Okay, ngl, I have a special category of high-pitched yelling reserved for that phone conversation!! When Jenny is giving Lynn advice on being president!! And Lynn’s wistful-but-fond smile as she hangs up!!!)

In summary, please give me more of these adorable canon lesbians. <3

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Requested character(s): Nel Zelpher, Clair Lasbard

Spoiler notes: I’ve played the game and am ~ halfway through the manga and seriously wtf did you do to my favorite character less blushing more badassery for Apris’ sake!

Preferred pairings: Nel/Clair

Speaking of high-pitched yelling on the scale of Uranus/Neptune, I am fairly certain that Nel was my official first ever video game crush. This was a bit difficult for me to explain to myself, as I was convinced I was ~straight at the time, but she was so cool that I didn't bother to think about it in too much detail.

And when we are introduced to Clair as her partner, and every single scene in which the two appear makes it clear how strong their bond is -- it was a foregone conclusion that I would start to ship them as well. And Adray's obnoxious insistence on trying to find a husband for Clair just made me even more determined to headcanon them as lovers (or at the very least secretly pining for each other) in addition to partners.

As I said above with Lynn/Jenny -- if you don't ship them romantically, but just think they're great platonic partners, I'm sure I'll still enjoy it whatever you come up with. But in case there’s any doubt, I also very much ship them. :D <3

And either way, I just love their dynamic -- these two strong-willed, intelligent, fiercely competent women, working towards a shared goal that they both believe is more important than themselves. How deep and unshakeable their trust is -- and how even though it clearly tears Clair apart to send Nel out into a situation that they both know may not be survivable, she'll do it anyway. And Nel will go.

I don't have any specific prompts in mind -- if you want to write about a mission Clair has to send Nel off on, and the tension between their fear for and their trust in each other (and the knowledge hanging over both of them that they're doing something that they see as more important than them both), great! Want to just do fluffy interactions during a brief break from the action (do they get vacation? How many people do they have to bribe to get vacation at the same time?), or after the war is done and things are a bit more settled, go for it. In the narrative path where Nel goes with the party into space, does she think of Clair and all the stories she's going to tell once she gets back (if she gets back)?  What does Clair think, being left so much farther behind this time than any other time before?  What stories does Nel tell when they're reunited?

Got an idea that's burning in your mind and has nothing to do with any of these? I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever you come up with. :)

Machineries of Empire Series - Yoon Ha Lee 

Requested character(s): Kel Cheris, Shuos Alaia

Spoiler notes: I’ve read both Ninefox Gambit and Raven Stratagem, and a decent number of the other vignettes/short stories in the world.  If you want to check whether I’ve read a specific story, feel free to shoot me an anon ask. :)

Preferred pairings: Cheris/Alaia

Ah, these books. Ninefox Gambit is one of my favorite books I've read this year, and its sequel, Raven Stratagem, was an entirely worthy follow-up. I'm really looking forwards to how the trilogy concludes in Revenant Gun, but in the meantime: fanfic! :D

I debated what I wanted to request, since there's a lot about this series that I like -- the fact that pretty much all of the characters are competent and Done With Your Shit, the way it sets up a horribly broken system and then doesn't flinch away from both how broken it is, and how the vast majority of people have just ... accustomed themselves to the situation, and make do while tolerating the horrible. It makes the system feel sustainable enough to have lasted this long, while still making it very clear why multiple someones would have gone to so much effort to try and tear it down. And yet, it also doesn't flinch from the consequences of the actions that the various characters take to try and tear it down, either. (One of the many reasons I'm looking forward to Revenant Gun -- I'm very curious to see what the consequences arise from the events in Raven Strategem.)

I really enjoy how many characters are queer (including trans!!), and how casually the narrative treats this fact. And the way that many characters' families are factored into their thoughts, even if they're not on the page, in a way that felt very true, but that I feel like doesn't often come up in other novels that aren't explicitly about something family-related.

The casual inclusion of dyscalculia and ADHD is also pretty great -- how it’s clearly an aspect of the characters that have shaped them, while even more clearly not being all their character is.

... So what do I decide to request this year?

Cheris and that one ex-girlfriend of hers who shows up for, like, a paragraph of flashback in Ninefox Gambit. XD

I just ... really liked that little bit of insight we got into Cheris’ history, and would love to see more.  How did they meet? Why did they break up?  What was the actual most ridiculous drama they watched, and how late did they stay up making fun of it?

Feel free to go in a more serious direction as well (what sort of training incident gave Alaia her nervous tic? what is being Shuos like to someone who didn’t go the flashy assassin route? How did being Kel and Shuos inform their interactions with each other, and the world around them).

And, as always, feel free to ignore my prompts entirely if there’s something you’d rather do instead. :D

[thickasthievesrpg-hidden]

WELCOME TO THE HEIST, MARIE!

YOU’VE BEEN ACCEPTED FOR THE ROLE OF PENELOPE KANG

A note from Admin Tris: Firstly, I think I speak for all of us when I say how excited we were to see an application for Penelope in our inbox. As someone who once considered applying for Penelope in the starting stages of TaT, I’ve always wondered why she got so little interest. Certainly, her occupation isn’t the most glamorous, and being one of the babies of the Heist, I can understand why applicants would favor other roles -- but I’m so glad that you found something special in Penelope, Marie. You understand her, the shyness and the innocence, but you also hint to the fire of her personality. She’s a very soft character, naive in the purest sense of the word, and despite the loss of her father, she’s never really been forced to see the darkness in this world. I can’t wait to see what you do with Penelope -- and your request to use Komatsu Nana has been approved! Congratulations on your acceptance! You’ve been to the museums, the banks, the isolated manors with their black dogs and gilded keys. You’ve stolen their necklaces, their jewels, the prized heirlooms in their vaults and their safes. They’ll watch out for you. Please visit the after acceptance page and submit your account within the next 24 hours – we’re excited to have you with us!

Name/Alias + Pronouns:

What name/alias would you like to go by? Marie What pronouns would you like us to refer to you by? She/her

Age:

I’m 19. 

Timezone + Activity

At the moment, I am in CST (GMT+1). I’d say I’m a 5-7, depending on the week. I’m currently working and might take up extra hours if I have the opportunity to, but I’m usually done early regardless. I try to write every day, but as I am a slow writer, I might not produce more than one or two replies a day if I’ve got a particularly long interaction pending. 

One thing to be noted, though, is that I am moving to another country in March. This means I probably need a hiatus/semi-hiatus in the first week of March before returning to my usual activity. If this is a concern, please contact me and we’ll discuss it!

I. BASICS

Desired Role:

Penelope Kang. Often nicknamed Penny, or even Poppy at times.

Analysis:

sexuality/romantic preference — Penelope is heterosexual - well, that is what she assumes, anyway, having only ever been in love with one person. With that, it has to be said that her sexuality is largely unexplored, as she has kept her eyes and heart on Magnus since the incident in the Lee driveway. This means her assumed sexuality might very well change once she gets her chance to explore it, but at the moment that seems like an unlikely event as she is both very timid and completely smitten with Magnus.

birthdate — September 21, 1997. 

birthplace/hometown — Tokyo, Japan.

occupation  — Officially, she is a housemaid of the Lees. While she is told multiple times that she does not need to do the work of a housemaid any longer, she loves the people she used to work with and spends a lot of her time off helping them out. Especially around the time for important events or dinners, she is always there to deck the tables, clean the rooms or cut the carrots alongside the cook. 

criminal occupation  — Penelope is an excellent hacker. Her brain is analytical, numbers are her forte and she has a quick mind. She can find solutions and loop holes in code and security systems quickly and precisely. While hacking was originally just an experiment, she is grateful that it turned into a profession. It’s her way of being a hero without being directly involved in the action in the heist itself. She is confident in her abilities and sees it as a key opportunity to show people - and maybe Magnus in particular - what talents she has brewing inside her. 

pronouns: She/her

languages: Penelope knows quite a few languages. Japanese was the language spoken in her household until she was six, when Arthur Kang came into the family. With him came an accelerated learning progress of the Korean langauge - she wanted to understand her father’s mother tongue, after all, and it was also a language she was met with all over the Lee mansion. It remains a language she can speak alright, but she has troubles reading effectively. English was another language she heard all around her in the Lee mansion, but one she did not have much use for until she got older. While her English is good indeed, she carries an accent. Untimately, Czech is the language she speaks the most - or at least did before being welcomed into the Heist. After all, she grew up going to a school in Prague and formed most of her friendships and connections in the Czech language.

hobbies: Sewing, sketching, gardening, cooking, reading.

Four Characteristics:

List and describe at least two negative and two positive characteristics that you believe define your chosen character best. Please be as detailed as possible to show us how these traits fit into your perception of them. 

+ Observant: Penelope is an observant girl, which some believe might be the key to her compassion and cleverness. She is particularly sensitive to people’s feelings, noticing nervous gestures, the way people’s faces express false emotions in pressed situations and unusual drifts. While she might see through the masks of indifference people hide their emotions behind, she will not always comment on it even if she wants to, simply for showing respect to the person’s privacy. Spots, wrinkles and stains are also things she notice quickly, along with odd numbers or letters in clauses of code among other things.

+ Bright: There is no denying her bright mind. She is quick, clever and can solve most puzzles in less time than what people normally do. As her shy nature shines through the most, people might forget her razor sharp mind; she’ll come up with simple solutions to complex problems, speaking up from the corner of the room with a confidence they might not expect. 

- Shy: Another rather dominant trait you will notice when you first meet her, but one she tries to break out from and lay behind her. She wants to explore, to experience. She wants to be able to talk to strangers like they were her best friends – she has seen people do so, and their confidence is admirable. However, she sometimes finds it hard to gather the courage to talk to strangers at all and is generally not a girl of many words. When people get to know her, she will open up, and the trait fades a little. 

- Stubborn: Although appearing to be quite reserved, she can be described as stubborn by anyone who knows her. Once she puts her mind to something, it is not easy to make her thoughts stray from it. She usually stands up to what she believes, and this is where her shy nature seems to dim ever so slightly; she might interfere – though in a rather quiet manner – into people’s discussions or insert a quick comment about the case if she disagrees strongly. 

Other traits: optimistic, a little idealistic, gentle, perfectionist.

Expansion:

Expand on at least two connections that you see your character having, whether they were mentioned in the bio or not, AND/OR expand on any part of the biography that was left vague or nondescript. 

Camille Delacroix: Penelope, as a rather shy and timid girl who hopes to break out of her shell, is fascinated by people like Camille. While she does not know much about her, she knows she has travelled the world and surely she has been on more adventures than most. While her outgoing personality intimidates her somewhat, she wishes for nothing but to befriend her. Maybe even just make her aquaintance. Certainly someone like her would not settle for the boring everyday life - maybe she could bring her out on one of her adventures? She sees Camille as an opportunity to break out of her comfort zone, but also thinks it as a opportunity that won’t show anytime soon; girls like her doesn’t notice shy girls like Penelope in the corner of a room. 

Dominik Woo: Dominik is one of the people Penelope trusts the most in the whole wide world. She knows he would never laugh at her for things that were not meant to be funny; he is safe, and someone she feels she can tell everything to. She is relaxed in his company and does not feel the need to filter herself in such a way that she does with most other people, and her shy nature seems to dim even just a little in his presence. 

II. WRITING

Para Sample(s):

You may write as many para samples as you’d like

Your para sample(s) can be any length of your choosing.

In-character, third person, past or present tense are both acceptable. 

This is the most important section of the application. We are looking for a unique takeon the character, for you to show us that you really understand the character’s past, motives, and state of mind. Ultimately, we would like to see that you know the character better than even we do, so please don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and delve into the depths of their story! It is highly advisable to include dialogue andinteractions with NPC or canon roles, so that we can see how your character acts.

The ballroom was large and awfully colourless to Penelope’s tastes. There were cream-coloured walls and marble floors. Women in pale, long dresses and men in black and white suits made up the masses – important people from important families. The high roof echoed the hundreds of voices within the hall, and worked as an enhancer for the classical music played by live performers at the other end of the room. She had gathered that tonight was a particularly important night, and with that she was sure Magnus would show up. They had hosted two galas previously after Magnus’ return – she did not see him during those, and heard whispers that he had only been there for what might have been half an hour. She had attended them too, of course, but had left them by the end of the night with a lingering feeling of disappointment. Ah, he might be back from his five-year journey, but she saw him now just as little has she had five months ago.

She was dressed in black and white like the other serving girls and boys. Her friend Mina had fallen ill in time for the occasion. “I will not allow you to go,” she had told her sternly when she visited her that particular morning, placing a cup of green tea on her bedside. She was met with little resistance, and suspected the tea had gone cold in favour for sleep and fever dreams instead.

Though she was not happy that her friend had fallen ill, she counted herself lucky as she took her mid-day duty to do the rooms. Saturdays was the day she were to do the heir’s, and Penelope could not help but feel a little giddy as she entered the empty room. It was stupid, and she knew it well, but… it was really his! It was clear he had not been there this particular night – she had heard he did not always spend his nights in the Lee mansion – but she took her time to smooth over the sheets once more. She placed a small box of chocolates on his night table, too, along with a glass of water with small hand-plucked flowers in bright colours from her father’s own garden. She was not sure whether he would like the chocolates or not, nor was she sure if he would care about the flowers at all. And he certainly would not notice where they came from, would he? She hoped he see it and maybe smile a bit at  the gesture regardless.

“Penny!” She turned to find a girl dressed similarly to her, with dark hair and a wide smile on her lips. “You shouldn’t be here. You’ve got enough important work to do as it is!” She held her empty hands out to take the tray with glasses of champagne that Penelope had taken upon herself to walk about in the room with.

She returned her friend’s smile. “Don’t be silly, Hara!” She turned away slightly as to move the tray out of her reach. “I am doing very important things. You need a break every now and then, you know. Mina is sick, besides. I’m taking her watch.”

“Ari is already taking her watch.” Her friend let her hands fall, though, facing her defeat.

She offered her a light shrug of her shoulders, smile playing on her lips. “I’ll take your watch too. I suppose you can take a couple minutes off, if you want.”

Turning to look over the room, she leaned sideways in towards her friend. “I also heard they were doing important business today,” she said, voice low. Hara nodded knowingly. She only said so because she knew every one of the girls had caught on on the news already, of course. They had talked about before the event, and they had agreed that important people demanded excellent service – and they certainly was not going to disappoint. “I heard both the Kanes and the Bulletts wanted to strike a deal of some sort,” Hara told her seriously.

“I did so, too.” She paused a brief second. “Do you think Magnus will show up?” Her eyes revealing a hint of curiosity mixed in with excitement.

Hara straightened up and let out a snort. “The heir? No way. Apparently, he finds these kinds of things boring, so he doesn’t care to. That’s what happened the other two galas.”

“But those were mostly for fun, though. He didn’t have to come.”

“He left us for five years because he thought it was boring. That’s what Mandy says. He won’t show up at some stupid gala when he hasn’t been doing so for the last five years.”

Penelope furrowed her brows. She moved the tray from her right hand into both, holding it steadily in front of her. “Oh, but you don’t know that. He didn’t leave just because it was boring. He has his reasons, Hara. I know it.”

The other girl sighed, then shook her head, the corners of her mouth moving up slightly, forming a pitiful smile that Penelope could not help but feel a little annoyed seeing. “C’mon, Penny. This is ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous?”

“Yes! You talk about him all the time! You deserve so much better.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” she insisted.

Another smile shaped on her friend’s lips. “Sure you don’t. Hey, I gathered you and Jaesuk are close. Give him a shot, come on.”

Penelope could not help but to laugh at that, though her cheeks felt slightly warmer than what they were before. “Jaesuk? No, no, no! We’re just friends, you know that.” She cleared her throat, threw a quick glance around the room, subconsciously searching for a pop of bright red hair among the black-and-white coloured crowd. Then she turned her gaze back to Hara and held the tray out to her. “Go take a break now. Take a glass too, if you will. They said I could, but I’m not going to.”

With a sigh, her friend seemed to consider it for a moment. Then, with a glass in hand, she offered her a smile and turned around to walk through the doors towards the kitchen.  

And he did show up that night. Of course he did – Penelope knew he would. Once Hara had returned, she offered her a triumphant smile from across the room.

Starter Example:

Provide an example of a mini-para starter that you might post on your character’s account. Feel free to include a gif if you’d like! You may also add a gif-chat starter or multi-paragraph starter if you feel inclined, though they are optional.

ONE:

A day off was not something Penelope was used to. Most days she would spent her time in front of the computer screen, typing codes and figuring out the keys to secret security systems. Other times, she did the beds with the housemaids or watered the plants alongside the gardener at the Lee manison.

While the latter was indeed done in her time off, it was nothing like this. It was nothing like walking down the streets towards the local park, with no tasks  in mind, other than to drink up the hot cocoa she had bought from the coffee shop on the corner.

Her eyes were fixed on the pavement before her, carefully tip-toeing around the edges of the puddles left by the rain two hours prior.

“Oh!” She instictively stepped back into the puddle she had intended to step across, not seeing the person before her. “I’m sorry.” She turned her eyes up towards the other person, an apologetic smile playing at her lips. “It’s the rain, you know–oh, I know you.”

TWO:

Penelope would sometimes help out in the garden surrounding the Lee manison. She was rather fond of the work, and the head gardener - an older Korean man with kind eyes - was talkative and seemed to appreciate her company. As time had passed, he trusted her with more complicated tasks than watering the plants - on this paricularly sunny afternoon, she was replanting small trees that would eventually grow into a hedge.

The sun was burning in her neck, and she had parted ways with the gardener to take a break. She made her way outside the property. Up on her toes, she looked over the large fences to see if she could spot the hedges she had planted from the outside. And would you believe it? From her position on the pavement, she could see some of the leaves belonging to the trees she had planted. A smile spread across her lips.

Another step backwards. Maybe she could see more of them? Another step– she felt the very end of the pavement beneath her left foot, the stones separating it from the highway; she stumbled another step backwards to catch her balance.

Her cheeks burned hot with embarrassment as she spotted the other person. “I was just… trying to look over at the hedges.”

III. FREESTYLE/EXTRA

Optional.Time to let out your passion & creativity! This is where you may list anything else that you see for this character that is not stated in their bios. Go wild! This is the section that will be examined in the case of multiple applications, so don’t be afraid to let your muse out. (videos, headcanons, facts, song lyrics, diary entries, letters, memes, etc.) 

1. Penelope’s fashion sense can be describes as cute, but fashionable. She loves everything that is quirky and a little different in a simple way. Simple fabrics and simple patters. Orange and rusty red are currently her favorite clothing colours, and you are sure to spot the colour in every other outfit she wears. As for her hair style, she likes to keep it shoulder-length and with bangs. She might pin it up or braid it every now and then, but generally keeps it down. 

2.  Penelope writes a diary. She might not write every day, but tries to. She glues in fragments of papers, stickers and pictures that she stumbles upon through-out the day to the entires. Sometimes the entires strech over several pages becaus of it, other times there are only a collage to describe the day. She carries the pieces in a small pocket of her jacket until she pulls them out to glue them in.

Here is my inspiration tag for her!