#and i think the idea of new media was a fun one to update media to what it is now

[restlesspazzi04]

Love Island: A Pazzi Fic

Part 1: Day 3

Genre: I've somehow managed to think up a forbidden love/enemies to lovers/reformed player/slow burn love island fic all together so imma pat myself on the back bc ive been getting so many asks for all five

A/N:

This is just the introduction chapter to a series that will be very loosely updated as it's more of a fun project i'm working on but hope you guys enjoy because this is just me riding off the love island hyperfixation im in lol

Extra Note: this is will be on tumblr only mainly bc this series will be trash and purely for my self entertainment so idc as much. slow falling will remain on ao3 only :)

ik some people have difficulty reading on tumblr tho so if i get enough asks i will put this on ao3 if its easier

word count: 3.2k (this will fluctuate depending on my mood)

Format Clarification:

When the contestant name is in front of the text, that means it's a cutaway and not actually said in the villa!

anything in italics is to be read in Iain Stirling voice please i love him

-

Day 3:

It's day 3 and it's heating up in the villa! Will the current couples pass the test of temptation as two new bombshells enter for the ultimate challenge? Find out here on Love Island USA: WLW Sports Edition! 

When Paige first got the call that she was nominated for Love Island, she knew who put her name in the sea of women’s athletes picked for the show. With her social media agents wanting to get the “player” allegations away from her image to make herself more marketable, she was a shoo-in for the show. 

Paige was confident in her coupling. Ellie, the Olympic swimmer from Australia, was up her ally of girls: hot, brunette, and gay. They had been going strong for the first three days in the villa, with Ellie picking Paige on Day 1 coupling. In the mess of drama the other couples were whirlwind into, they had remained together as a voice of reason. 

“I’m just not really feeling her I don’t know,” Kate groans, slapping the ping pong ball back to Paige. 

“Bro it’s been three days and you’re already tired of your match? Couldn’t be me.” Paige responds, returning the ball. 

Kate and Paige being the only WNBA athletes in the villa naturally stuck together as close friends, being each other's confidants on Love Island. They had the common ground of basketball solidifying their sisterhood and frequently took each other's advice.

“It’s not that. I just feel like there’s no spark. Sarah is great and all, but I can’t imagine spending the rest of my villa time with her.”

“Why don’t you explore your options tonight if we recouple? That’ll start some crazy drama.” Paige laughs mischievously, wiggling her eyebrows at an unamused Kate Martin. 

“All the other couples are pretty locked in and I don’t wanna be a homewrecker… plus they’re probably bringing in new bombshells today if I got the formula right. Hopefully, they’re my type because I don’t think it’s working out for me and Sarah. ” 

“New bombshells? I mean none of them better be basketball players. That’s Ellie’s type to a T. It was hard enough fighting against you.” Paige jokes, slightly concerned at the idea of new people. It wasn’t like she and Ellie were completely locked in, but Paige knew she’d be at risk of getting kicked off the show if any of the new bombshells coupled up with Ellie.

“Ellie is not my type. She’s too nice. I need some passion in my girl." 

“I like nice. She’s sweet and brings me orange juice in the morning.” Paige says, dropping her paddle when Kate sends the ball flying past her head, "Drama stresses me out. That's why Ellie is perfect for me."

“Nah, I like a little fight. It’s hot when a girl is mad at you… you should know better than me ‘Miss Star Point Guard on the Golden State Valkyries’. Aren’t women always fighting over you?” 

“I already told you I’m not a player in the real world or the villa. Why does no one on the island believe me?” Paige exclaims, plopping down on the way-to-colorful couch in the Villa playroom. 

“I don’t know… maybe you’re insane eye contact with everyone you meet?” Kate says sarcastically, taking her seat next to Paige. 

“Blame my parents! They’re the ones who told me that eye contact is respectful." Paige argues before adding, "I can’t help I got beautiful eyes.” 

“Shut u-"

Kate is effectively cut off when KK Harvey starts screaming "I GOT A TEXT" throughout the entire villa, everyone making their way to the poolside where she was sitting.

"Islanders please gather at the fire pit for a surprise! #WatchOutCouples #Bout to drop a bomb!" KK reads loudly, the whole villa shouting in response.

"Welp, I guess this is your moment to find a new girl." Paige sighs, making her way over to the fire pit.

"Not yours?"

"Nope, I'm pretty happy with Ellie."

"You sure about that? Not even keeping an open eye?" Kate teased, ragging on Paige's loyalty.

"I'm definitely not re-coupling with some newcomer." Paige asserts firmly. 

"If you say so." 

-

As the Islanders all flock to the firepit, taking their seats next to their partners, they await for further instruction. 

“I GOT A TEXT!” Kate hoots out as the other islanders get excited, “It says ‘Get ready as your two new bombshells join you guys in the villa! #AreYouReady?’”

Paige looks over at Ellie, who’s already gripping tighter on Paige’s arm at the news of Bombshells. 

“I hope they’re not your type,” Ellie whispers shyly into Paige’s ear. It was a cute gesture, one that should’ve made Paige blush. Paige just gives her a reassuring squeeze on the arm, leaning in to whisper back. 

“I already got a beautiful girl, don’t worr-”

Paige is interrupted as shouting rings through the villa as two new girls make their way into the villa. 

“Bro, can you see her?” Kate says, pulling Paige up immediately as two figures appear in the distance. 

“Not with you jumping on my shoulders.” Paige retorts back, leaning up to get a better look, “They’re tall.”  

“Wait, I think I recognize one of them,” Kate says with her eyes squinted

Kate: You guys are ruthless in bringing my exact type. Fuck, I want to stay loyal to Sarah but I do still want to keep my options open, you know?

Paige has to brace herself for this entrance. She recognized the two bombshells immediately as they got closer. The WNBA world was small and both of these contestants were prominent figures in the league. Azzi Fudd and Nika Muhl, the star guards for the LA Sparks would be joining the girls on the island. 

“No way they brought in more girls from the league!” Kate whispers into Paige’s ear. 

“Did they run out of gays for other sports? Or is the league just super gay?” Paige responds in a nervous whisper. Ellie had literally told Paige on the first day that her type was basketball girls and it was one of the main reasons why Ellie had picked her. It was not to Paige’s advantage to have multiple girls chasing after her girl. 

“Wait, I know both of them. We worked out together at Kelsey Plum’s dawg class for a few days. She’s super hot not gonna lie.” Kate whispered lowly so Sarah wouldn’t hear. 

“Oh yeah, I’ve met them a few times. Did you know that they both were gonna come to UCONN but chose UCLA last minute?” Paige droned on, her eyes oddly trained on Azzi as they finally reached the fire pit. It suddenly dawned on Paige that she had never seen the younger girl in a bikini and it set an uncomfortable fire ablaze in her stomach. 

Azzi: Hi, my name is Azzi Fudd and I’m a 5’ 11” shooting guard for the Sparks. I wanted to come to Love Island to find my future wife and make a strong connection with someone. I have been in a lot of relationships and they don’t seem to go well for me, so I hope I find my match here!

Nika: I’m Nika Muhl and I’m a 6’ foo-

Azzi: 5’ 10” don’t lie Nika

Nika: Don’t cut me off! Anyway, I’m a point guard for the LA Sparks and I wanted to come to Love Island to finally find my love match and establish a strong connection. I’m super excited to meet the Islanders. 

Another text sound rings through the air, coming from Azzi’s hand. 

“Bombshell’s Azzi and Nika, Pick two people to go on dates with tomorrow before bed tonight. Have fun getting to know everyone tonight in the villa! #newcomers #shootyourshot!” Azzi read out, inciting excitement through the villa again. 

“Hey you’re Azzi and Nika, right? Guard’s on the Sparks?” Coco asks, making room for them around the fire pit to welcome them. 

“Yeah, we’re shocked they picked us to go together since we knew each other. You’re Coco Gauff. I’m a big fan.” Azzi gushes, hugging Coco. 

“Hey Kate,” Nika says, acknowledging the blonde in the crowd as she scans around, “How’s the island?” 

“Good. Surprised to see you guys here but I’m hyped. We need more basketball representation in here.” Kate jokes. 

“We get enough ‘basketball is the best sport’ debating from these two. Now we got more.” KK Harvey jokes, motioning to the two basketball blondes in the pit. 

“Basketball is amazing though, you gotta admit.” Azzi plays along, earning a few lighthearted groans from the rest of the villa. 

“Just promise you shut up Paige before she goes on a whole rant. Kate just eggs on that little pest.” Coco groans. 

“I’m never wrong Coco, don’t play with me. Tennis is fun but basketball is art.” Paige says, earning more groans from the group. “Do you guys know who you wanna pull for chats?” Ellie asks the two bombshells, jutting into the conversation. 

“Um, I have my eyes on a few people but I’m gonna see for the next few hours as I get to know more people on the island,” Nika responds. 

“We know you guys are in couples right now, but we just wanted to wait until we got to know more people’s vibes,” Azzi adds, looking around all the girls in the pit. A few couples had already gone off to different parts of the villa, but she was getting a good look at everyone left. There were a few people on her radar and a few people who weren’t. 

Azzi: Kate was making some pretty clear eye contact with me, but she’s on my “pulling for chats” roster.

The group spends the next few minutes getting to know each other and filling in the two on the island news. Paige tried to focus on Ellie squeezing her arm, but she was distracted by things she couldn’t comprehend. 

Things such as Azzi Fudd making flashing bouts of eye contact with her to no end. Paige was not one to falter at strong eye contact, but she couldn’t help but grow slightly nervous under the shooting guard's gaze. It wasn’t rare for Paige to catch the eye of someone. New people entering the villa the past few days had flocked to her, but she rejected them to no avail to remain loyal to Ellie. It was still fun flirting and making stable eye contact was one of her specialties. But Azzi Fudd seemed to be looking at her with a specific glint that Paige couldn’t pinpoint. 

Paige: Did you guys see the way she was looking at me? I can’t tell if she wants me in her bed or wants me dead.  

Annoyance? Lust? Hatred? C’mon Paige tell us what you see!

“So you guys want a little villa tour?” Kate asks suddenly while stepping slightly closer to Azzi, “It’s super nice.” 

The group makes their way around the villa, showing the two new islanders all the spots. Ellie and Paige stayed hand-in-hand as they walked, Ellie refusing to let go. Even when Paige got closer to Azzi coincidentally, the shooting guard would make it a point to take two steps away and it didn’t help that Ellie was pulling her in the other direction. They end up at the rooms as they finish off the night, the girls entering their assigned makeup rooms to get ready for bed. Azzi is put into Paige, Kate, Coco, and KK’s room, getting spilt up from Nika. 

“So Azzi, what do you think of the villa?” Coco asks while wiping her makeup off. 

“It’s nice, bigger than I expected. Soul ties are a lot more secretive than I thought.” Azzi answers, unpacking her bags. 

“Yeah, a lot of shit goes down there. If you go to soul ties at night we know you’re fucking or something.” KK laughs. 

“Do you know who you’re picking for your dates tomorrow? You get two right?” Paige asks, speaking up for the first time. 

“Yeah, two. I’m not sure who I’m picking yet. I think they’re asking me to pick in an hour so I have time to think in the shower.” 

“What’s your type?” Kate asks Azzi boldly, getting an approval look from Paige. 

“Uhh, I tend to focus a lot on personality. Just someone who can match my competitiveness and my energy. But if we’re talking looks, I tend to go for tall blondes.” Azzi says casually, immediately getting Kate to snap her eyes to Paige. 

Paige: Is Azzi flirting with me or Kate? If it’s me, I’m in trouble. Ellie is not going to be happy if I go on a date tomorrow. 

“Is there a separate shower room? I need to unpack my bottles.” Azzi says while standing up.

“Yeah, it’s down the hall to the left. That’s where our group showers.” Coco instructs, getting a nod of thank you before Azzi leaves. 

“Hold up, was she talking about me?” Kate polls the group the second Azzi safely leaves the room, “Or was she walking about the other two blondies?” 

“I think she was just stating her type buddy.” KK Harvey jokes, “Plus, she’s totally talking about me. She’s been giving me the eyes.”  

“Really?” Paige chimes in curiously, “Like slightly angry but confusingly hot?” 

“No, like she wanna look into my soul…What type of looks is she giving you?” KK questions. 

“Nothing… she wasn’t really looking at me, just wondering,” Paige adds quickly. She was probably just overthinking due to the reveal of her type. 

“Back off KK, you’re happy with Kylie. Sarah and I have been distant for days.” Kate playfully challenges. 

“Kylie’s great, but Azzi and Nika are hot, not going to lie. I kinda hope I get to go on the date with them. Don’t tell Kylie though, she might kill me.” 

“As long as you don’t tell Sarah. I wanna test my connection with the bombshells but I don’t want to blindside Sarah.” 

“You guys are acting like Azzi and Nika want you guys. She could be talking about girls in the other room.” Coco jokes, butting into the heated debate.

“Please, Coco. We get it. You and Paige are in happy little couples and don’t need to worry about recoupling. I would say Kylie would leave me the second another hockey girl comes in here.” KK says sarcastically before adding, “I’ve never gone for a basketball girl before.” 

“I have. And I know them better than you loser. Azzi said tall, that means basketball. She was clearly talking about me.” Kate argues back. 

“I’ll be right back,” Paige says suddenly, jumping from her makeup chair. 

“Where are you going?” Kate asks as Paige starts exiting the room. 

“Just going to chat with Azzi for a bit. Nothing serious. I’ll be back in 30 seconds.” Paige says quickly, ignoring any questioning she got from the group. 

Paige makes her way down the hall, knocking twice on the shower room door before it slowly squeaks open.

“It’s unlocked,” Azzi says simply, her composure even. 

“Oh. Some people are uncomfortable with people coming in during showers so I always knock. Wasn’t sure if you were showering.” 

“Nope, just unpacking,” Azzi says shortly, confusing Paige again, “Do you need to shower? I can leave.” 

“Oh, no. I actually wanted to talk to you real quick before you pick your dates for tomorrow.” Paige starts. 

“Sure, what did you want to talk about?” Azzi asks cautiously, continuing to organize her skincare on her shelf. 

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m in a pretty solid connection with Ellie and I don’t want you to waste your date on me because I’m mostly taken. You can still pick me, but I just want to be transparent from the beginning before we get to know each other.” Paige says while sitting up on the sink.

Azzi stood up from her packing, giving Paige a focused look of mild confusion. 

“What makes you think I’m picking you?” Azzi asks with an even tone, eyes unwavering from Paige’s. 

“Well, you said tall blondes are your type and that’s only me and Kate. So I assumed you’d use your two picks on us.” Paige says, slightly less confident.

Azzi steps closer to Paige, closing the gap between them. 

“Is it true that if you take off your top they can’t air it because it’s nudity?” Azzi whispers into Paige’s ear, pulling the blonde in. 

“Uh, yeah? They can’t air it. But they get kinda annoyed when we do it and talk about villa stuff.” Paige whispers shakily into Azzi’s ear. 

“Turn your head,” Azzi says as she takes two steps back, swiftly taking off her bikini top.

Paige had never swiveled so hard, almost falling off the sink counter. Paige turned her head halfway before she realized she could see Azzi in the mirror reflection, leading her to close her eyes as fast as possible.

“I know your reputation in the league, but I’m not trying to air out your business on TV, so I’m going to speak like this,” Azzi yells out before turning around, “You can turn around now, it’s just my back.” 

Paige opens her eyes to see Azzi’s long braids flowing down her bare back, the only article of clothing being her bottom bikini. Azzi turned her head to speak. 

“How are you going to judge me on my so-called reputation?” Paige questioned back, getting offended at the “Player” accusations she hated. 

“You ghosted one of my friends, so don’t act surprised I’m cautious of you. I came to the Villa to find love and take home the win.” 

“So did I. You haven’t seen me with Ellie. I have a lot of layers, you’d be surprised.” Paige says with a smirk, her voice growing bolder. 

“Layers? Yeah, ten layers of player. I know what you did to Alyssa.” 

“Alyssa? Who’s that?” Paige asks, racking her brain for possible Alyssa’s in her past.

“Jesus, you don’t even remember her. That’s crazy.” Azzi scoffs accusatorily, “Anyway, don’t worry. I won’t pick you for the date, I’m not going to intrude on you and Ellie. Seems like you guys are happy.” 

Paige watches as Azzi slips her bikini back on. Watching the muscles on her back contract as she pulls her top over her head. Her bare skin was addicting to look 

So addicting, Paige was caught red-handed admiring her as Azzi turned back around. 

“You sure you're happy with Ellie?” Azzi jokes dryly. 

“Very. She’s a great girl. Exactly my type.” Paige challenges back, leaning her body toward Azzi. 

“What is your type, Paige?” 

“Hot, Brunette, Pretty Eyes,” Paige says a little quieter as Azzi steps a little too close for comfort. 

“I see,” Azzi answers, nodding her head. 

“Don’t think I’m calling you my type. You just happen to fit it.” Paige adds weakly. 

“You saying I got pretty eyes? I know I'm the other two.” Azzi asks playfully, opening the door to the shower room. 

“Maybe. Let me look into them longer and I’ll decide.” Paige chirps back, a surge of confidence coursing through her. 

“In your dreams, Bueckers.” Azzi sings out with a laugh as she takes her exit, leaving a mildly dazed Paige on the sink. 

This was certainly going to be an interesting summer in the Villa for Paige. 

-

A/N: I apologize if this is shit, this is just funny for me.

[thankskenpenders]

Happy new year, everyone! Welcome to 2024, the year that will mark the 10th anniversary of Thanks Ken Penders. I'd like to go over my plans for the blog for this year.

First of all: in the very near future, I'll have a post with my thoughts on Sonic Dream Team, and I'm sure I'll write one last Sonic Prime review once the final episodes drop on the 11th. I've also been sitting on an unfinished piece about the Sonic LEGO sets. I wanted this to be longer and more detailed piece that not only reviewed the sets but also went into the weird disconnect between homogenized image of Sonic the Brand and the actual fiction it's based off of, but it'll probably end up getting cut down a lot just so I can put something out. Let's just say I did a fun little thing with one of the sets.

Second: yes, I would like to return to regular TKP updates this year. As I've said many times, I wanted to do this in 2023, but I've been suffering from creative burnout after finishing SLARPG and have generally been unable to focus on any of my creative goals this past year. I'm hoping that this year will be better and I'll be able to get back into the swing of covering Archie Sonic issues. Even doing one issue every week or so would be vastly preferable to continuing the hiatus. I'm still only halfway done!! But aside from burnout, my other main hurdle is that I need to reread my own archive to refresh myself on all these things after nearly three years away. This will take some time.

The thing is, though, this year I'll have an extra incentive to go back through my previous writing and brush up on all things Archie Sonic. Because you see...

I've decided that I want to make a video essay about Penders. The comics, the copyright battle, The Lara-Su Chronicles, everything.

The why

I've thought about doing this before, but I never committed to the idea. I was too busy with gamedev, or I thought it'd end up being too long, or I figured that there were already enough videos on the subject, or I just lacked confidence in my ability to put together a video essay. So I told myself it wasn't meant to be, and let the multiple YouTubers who have cited me as a source on their own Penders videos fill that void.

Recently, though, a few things have happened that have convinced me it might be time. For one, YouTube video essays/media retrospectives/etc. are just getting longer and longer. When Quinton Reviews is out here doing 21 hours of videos on Sam & Cat, a subpar Nick sitcom that only lasted one season, I don't feel so crazy for wanting to make a video about several hundred comic books and two lawsuits that'd be at least an hour or two long lmao. Admittedly, I've also been self-conscious about doing a long video essay like this as a trans woman who has yet to do any vocal training. But these days I feel like I see a lot more transfem YouTubers who have done little to no vocal training, and that's given me more confidence on that front.

But the big one was Hbomberguy's recent plagiarism video. As I sat there watching it, I kept thinking about the time I found a CBR article that was just a crude 800 word summary of my two previous articles on Penders, published by a CBR writer who's put out over 4000 articles since 2019. If I've already been plagiarized before, and my writing is so frequently passed around as a go-to source on Archie Sonic drama, then I wouldn't be shocked if there were YouTubers out there straight up just plagiarizing me. I don't watch other peoples' videos on Archie Sonic, so I'd never know! So if people are just gonna paraphrase me when covering these topics anyway, why not take matters into my own hands and make what I would consider to be the definitive video on the subject? If hacks like James Somerton and iilluminaughtii can churn out these shitty video essays and people will still watch them, surely it can't be that impossible to make my own, right? (And also, uh, Hbomb literally told me I should make the video lol. If you're reading this, thanks for the encouragement.)

The what, how, and when

So here's the plan.

Part of this video essay will be an adaptation of my Medium article on the recurring themes of Ken's Archie Sonic run, with its content touched up and expanded upon. There were a few things I skimmed over in the article because I didn't want it to get too long, but again, people are out here watching ten hour videos about bad Nickelodeon sitcoms now. I can get away with elaborating a little more. I can add a few paragraphs talking about the Chaos Knuckles arc, or throw in a little more historical context I've discovered in the years since.

After covering the comics, the back half(-ish?) of the video will be dedicated to the copyright battles and their ensuing controversies, trying to give an accurate picture of what actually went down, the sheer scale of how bad Archie fucked up, and what our takeaways should be. This will have some similarities to my New York Magazine article on the subject, but I'll be rewriting it from scratch. I REALLY had to keep things short for that article because I was already way over the expected word count, and my tone was a little more straight-laced than normal because I was trying to keep things Professional. I can riff more and insert more of my own opinions this time, like I normally would.

I'll inevitably have to touch on some of Ken's Bad Tweets when discussing things that have happened after the lawsuits, but I don't want the video to just devolve into a list of times people got mad at him on Twitter, so I'm gonna try to keep that to a minimum in favor of focusing on his actual work. Things like the Scourge the Speed Demon incident and his continued statements on certain characters' copyright statuses probably warrant mentioning, though. And finally, assuming that the book really does come out this summer, I would like the grand finale of the video to be about those first couple chapters of The Lara-Su Chronicles.

I don't currently know when this video will get done, but it'll probably be in the back half of the year, especially with me waiting for the book to either drop or get delayed yet again. But I've actually already started writing a bit of the script, and will keep chipping away at it for a while.

So, uh, yeah, look forward to that? Wish me luck?

[sister-lucifer]

Taken To Another World 

⊹₊⟡⋆A Multifandom Fantasy AU Themed 5K Celebration Writing Challenge⊹₊⟡⋆

Special thanks to @ghostboneswrites2 for inspiring this! 

Interested? Keep reading! 

There will be two prompts for each genre; a pair for fluff, a pair for smut, a pair for angst, and a pair for horror. Each prompt comes with its own criteria, so read carefully! 

How To Participate: 

Reblog this post (for reach! thanks!) 

Pick a prompt (or multiple) 

Write your fic 

Post it and tag me (feel free to send it to me directly if I don’t see it!) 

Use the tag #lucifer’s 5k fantasy challenge 

The fandoms this challenge is open to are as follows: 

Obey Me!, Creepypasta, Marble Hornets, Batman (and all related media), Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (all parts), and any original characters/universes.

Don’t see your fandom? You’re still free to use these prompts (and please tag me if you do so I can see it,) but it unfortunately will not count as an entry for this challenge!

Rules: 

Feel free to pick multiple prompts, but you cannot enter more than one fic per prompt! 

The fics can be part of your own ongoing series, but they must be able to stand alone as their own piece without the additional context of the series 

Please state which prompt you chose somewhere on your post 

Feel free to cross post your work to another site such as Ao3, but please, do mention that it was part of my challenge 

Anyone can participate in this challenge, however I ask that minors stay away from the NSFW prompts 

You are free to bend the prompts as you wish, there is no mandatory time period or setting 

My inbox and messages are always open if you need to ask questions, consult me, or just want to discuss ideas!

The fics can be Character x Reader, Character x OC, or Character x Character; relationships can be platonic or romantic as you wish

Some prompts are written with pairs in mind; feel free to modify this to fit in as many characters as you’d like. Poly relationships included!

Absolutely NO incest OR pedophilia under any circumstances 

NO AI, NO using other people’s writing, and NO using a piece you’ve already written

Pay attention to the criteria! Prompt 1 will have a required quote, and Prompt 2 will have a required plot point/action

The Deadline is currently undecided. This will be updated soon 

Winners: 

I will choose up to 3 finalists for each prompt.  The finalists will be presented in a poll, and the readers will choose the winner. 

The winner of each prompt will get their own shoutout/promo post including an analysis of what I liked about their fic, & at least 3 fics I recommend from them and why. 

Does all that sound like fun? Good! Here’s your prompts:

Over The River, Through The Woods…

Fluff + Faeries

Prompt 1:  In a fit of rebellion, a naive royal flees from the castle and into the woods. They stumble upon a faerie who, against all they’ve ever been taught, seems rather…kind. 

Necessary Criteria: “Anyone can do a good thing if they try.” / “Well…how often do you try?”

Prompt 2: Fae don’t often leave their villages, except to gather. Unfortunately, one foolish faerie has found themself entangled in a trap left behind by a human hunter. Even worse, the human has returned to see what they’ve caught; although, they seem far more curious than hostile. 

Necessary Criteria: One of the characters teaches the other a new word in their native tongue. 

Magic Begins In Superstition, And Ends In Science…

Angst + Alchemy 

Prompt 1: The job of an alchemist’s apprentice is rarely an easy one. Magic is a fickle mistress, after all. When the apprentice’s companion tries to pull them away from their work, the argument gets heated, until the pressure becomes too much and causes an intense explosion…literally. 

Necessary Criteria: “You’re not even smart enough to understand what I do, and you think you get to tell me when to stop working?!”

Prompt 2: The alchemist’s work is starting to consume them. Blinded by their pursuit of knowledge, they recklessly decide to slip a bit of their newest experimental concoction into their companion’s meal without their knowledge. The alchemist convinces themselves this is all for the greater good, and surely nothing all that bad could happen, but soon comes to regret it. 

Necessary Criteria: A horrible transformation. 

The Tongue May Be Twice As Sharp And Thrice As Lethal As The Blade…

Smut + Swords 

Prompt 1: A rivalry between two swordsman gets a bit out of hand when the pair decide to make a salacious bet over a duel: whoever loses must play submissive to the other, starting from the moment they drop their sword. 

Necessary Criteria: “Don’t think I’ll surrender that easily.” / “Mm, I didn’t think you would…I like it so much more when you’re fiery.”

Prompt 2: A courageous knight rescues a royal from the clutches of peril, and their majesty simply can’t let their hero leave without thoroughly rewarding them for such bravery. 

Necessary Criteria: The pair narrowly avoid being caught in the act. 

Cursed Is The Man Who Dies, But The Evil Done By Him Survives…

Horror + Hexes

Prompt 1: Foolish explorers accidentally wander into a witch’s garden. One of them can’t resist plucking a berry from a bush, not giving it a second thought as they swallow it down, only for the horrific consequences of a curse to start taking form the next day. 

Necessary Criteria: “Please…you have to tell me you know how to make this stop.” 

Prompt 2: While treasure hoarding is generally frowned upon among honorable bounty hunters, some simply can’t kick the habit. This quickly proves to be a terrible mistake, though, as a cursed trinket starts to warp its owner’s mind and plunge them into a darkness that turns them on the one they love most. 

Necessary Criteria: Creative use of an everyday object as a weapon. 

Final Reminders:

Most importantly: Have Fun! 

Make sure to read the rules carefully! 

You’re always free to ask questions! 

Tag me in your entry + use the tag #lucifer’s 5k fantasy challenge! 

Happy Writing, everyone!

(even if you don’t plan to participate, please reblog and share this post so others will see it!)

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 03/April/2024

Do you ever have a week where there’s so much going on, but it feels really good to tick so many tasks off your list?

Well, I had one of those weeks, hehe! :D

First up was finishing up all the edits to the demo section, which went super smoothly, and it was great fun reading the comments from them. I always appreciate how they take the extra time to write what they’re enjoying, or their fun reactions to things that happen as they edit!

Then it was onto social media days! The sporadic internet has still been a major obstacle, but I actually managed to get on long enough to get some asks done! That was great fun getting to do those and indulge in getting to talk about Wayhaven even more with you guys, hehe!

With the Patreon content, I worked on the sketch for Adam/Ava’s masquerade mask for the upcoming ball in Book Four, which was both awesome because I loved the ideas and inspiration I had for it, but also was nice to get some drawing in! That’ll be going up on Patreon later this month!

And then I even managed to get a massive amount done on Chapter Two! Way more than I expected yet again, so this chapter is seriously moving on at a pace! I was actually starting to think I’d get it finished next week…but then I decide to move a big chunk from the start of Chapter Three to the end of Chapter Two, lol.

The flow will be much better. Where it ended before would have been a great cliffhanger at the end of Chapter Two but it just…it didn’t feel like where it should have ended. So, moving that section now makes it feel more like the chapter I wanted.

This new ending section does contain more variation to account for love interests, etc, so will take a bit longer, but at least that means it will also make the second demo section that much more chunkier! :D

But the first demo section is now with my final set of readers, so hopefully not long until I get to share that with you all!

I hope you all have the most amazing weekend! We'll be offline as usual, so I'll update you all again next week! <3

[andredeyemii]

hii girll ur page is amazingg <3 how do u make manifestation fun?

girl manifestation is soo fun in general like you don't even need to do stuff babes (but you should cuz it's fun skdksk) the concept of just being unserious and carefree enough to choose how you want to think and accompany yourself so good, you can influence how you feel (like talking to someone and your mood gets better) damnn it's just fun.. but then you get you desires after!? soo fun.

H E R E I S H O W ( I D E A S ) : :

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : GRATITUDE : : instantly top one, it's life. I mean use anything else but this one is tradition and pricelessss

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : SELF-CONCEPT : : just because it's second doesn't mean it's "less important" it should be a repiblic act

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : RAMPAGES : : I recommend high frequency guru for this, she has many amazingg rampages they're life

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : VOID STATE : : it's veryy spiritual and instant, like it feels so sacred like it belongs in ancient civilization practices

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : SUCCESS STORIES : : turn off the stress news and listen to magical girls who manifested money outta nowhere this is what my account is forrr

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : SUBLIMINALS : : guys we are evolving as a species, please use this and cherish it rnn goiss

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : SATURATIONS : : these are my 2025 goals and this has the right to be included in beauty rituals cuzzz wow

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : SCRIPTING : : you can script habitually or you can just write about your day with a lot of exaggerated positivity

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : DRESS UP : : would your higher self think like you? no, that's why you do saturations. would my higher self dress like me? no, so I do shopping sprees.

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : SHADOW WORK : : it's free therapy and it releases blocks and past traumas so you can embody ur dream self

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : VISUALIZATION : : it's the basics of manifestation do it as much as you can

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : BLAH BLAH BLAH : : stop complaining and start talking about success stories and lifelong goals instead, it's technically a mini-mind saturation

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : WORK W PLACEBOS : : knowing if something is just a placebo effect doesn't take away the magic of the mind when it just proves it. lmao.

T E C H N I Q U E S : :

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : social media technique : : when you see something you want, think "omg I have that too!!", "me rn", "twins!!" cuz y'all that's so much inspirational than jealousy

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : lists / checkbox technique : : list your desires and affirm that you have all of them cuz it's fun and you will anyways

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : the water technique : : esp if you're planning on drinking 2 liters of water and being hygienic for 2025, keep saying that water makes u prettier

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : the love letter technique : : if manifesting an SP or simply someone loving you, write a love letter to urself as if you're them with visualizations. or write yourself a love letter from you and write love letters you won't send hehee

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : I would like more technique : : gratitude is key for this, but basically if you experience one small good thing or a small manifestation, affirm "I am so grateful for this, universe / god, I would like more".

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : for you and for me technique : : you have to block out limiting beliefs. if you hear someone say "your standards are too high, good men don't exist." you think to yourself "good men don't exist FOR YOU" and stay safe. update your affirmations to say "money is so easy FOR ME to have" also <3

⋆˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : : play some music babes : : everytime you listen to music esp those dreamy love songs and those pretty lyrics, pretend they're all about you. feel beautiful.

G E N E R A L T I P S : :

!! some people will not find some ideas and techniques fun because they're coming from a place of attachment, scarcity desperation and doubt !!

🌺 : : but baby girlll manifestation is supposed to be magiccc. you have to feel like a little girl again and pick up the feeling of believing that you're just a pixie fairy or a pretty princess WHEN you were a child.

that's what ultimate detachment is!! children can experience stuff, they throw tantrums ofc honey but they don't get stuck in the experience. you'll cry over the past but them?? they'll cry over a broken crayon but once the crayons are gone, they're playing tea party next. SEE???

so yah, feel like a child. you should have no problems believing in anything because you're overconsuming. I see you gurl. stop thinking serious and hanging on. have fun y'all.

[britcision]

I’m pretty sure the people bitching about not giving money to tumblr are the same ones who complain when AO3 or wikipedia ask for donations, so I’m just gonna clarify something

Running a website is not free

Even if they made no changes and did only maintenance, they still need to pay for server costs, expert programmers for when something goes wrong, storage (although frankly storage is cheap as chips these days which is nice)

They need to keep up with the capabilities of new tech like improvements to web browsers, never mind their own apps keeping pace with old and new tech developments

Backwards compatibility (being able to run the updated app on old tech) is a massive problem for apps on a regular basis, because there are people out here using an iPod and refusing to update software

There’s a reason every few years apps like Animal Crossing will issue an update that breaks backwards compatibility and you can only play if your phone is running more recent software

This shit costs money even before you look into the costs of human moderation, which I’m not exactly convinced is a big part of their current budget but fucking should be if we want an actual fix for their issues with unscreened ads and reporting bigots

Ignoring that it’s apparently illegal for companies not to actively chase profits, running Tumblr is expensive

And advertisers know we fucking hate them here

They’re still running ads, which we know because they’re all over the damn place, but half the ads are for Tumblr and its store

Other ad companies know we are not a good market, so they’re not willing to put the money in

Tumblr runs at a $30 million deficit, every year, because hosting a site is expensive

They are trying to take money making ideas from other social medias because they’re not a charity; they need to make enough money to keep the site going

If you want tumblr to keep existing, never mind fixing its many issues that require human people to be paid to do jobs like moderation, they will need money

Crabs cost $3

One crab day a year can fix the deficit and hammer home for Tumblr that:

A) we do want to be here and want the site to keep going

And B) they do not need to do the normal social media money making strategies we all hate

They need a way to make money if you want the hellsite to exist, because we live in a capitalist hellscape and cannot all be AO3

If they think they can make enough to keep running without pulling all the tricks we hate, they have no reason to pull said tricks

But they need money

And a way to make money

And if we can show them we can do that, there is a significantly higher chance they will listen to us, the user base they need money from, than if we don’t

Tumblr isn’t perfect, or anywhere close. They need someone to actually screen the paid ads they put through, they need to take the transphobia, antisemitism, and bigotry seriously

These Are Jobs That Will Cost Money

People Need To Be Fucking Paid For Their Work

Tumblr Is Not Run By Volunteers For Free And Nor Should It Be

Paying People Is Good Actually

So if you wanna get all high and mighty over $3/year, by all means, go spend that hard earned cash elsewhere

Good luck finding a perfect and morally pure business to give it to though

Being a whiny negative asshole isn’t more appealing just because you’ve put yourself on a moral soapbox, it just means the asshole is a little higher up

For all the whining about “all the new updates are terrible this site is unusable”…. It’s one fuck of a lot more usable than it was in 2017, 2018, 2020

And yeah, it’s going back down and most of the newer ones have been fucking annoying and I would also like them to stop

But it got up somehow and that means it could do that again

Hope is more fun than edgy nihilism

August 1st is a good and exciting day to summon a crab army

[slavghoul]

Interview from Rock Hard [FR] Magazine 5/2023

In which Tobias talks about Spillways, Phantomime, how he chooses what songs to cover, the state of the world, why he loves churches, and some touring technicalities.

--

Rock Hard: Let's go back to the version of "Spillways" that you recorded with Joe Elliott, the singer of Def Leppard. How did this collaboration come about?

Unfortunately, this story is less sexy than it would have been if I could have done exactly what I wanted. Before Impera was released, I regularly mentioned Def Leppard in interviews because some of the experimentation on that album was inspired by that band, their writing style. […] As I often mentioned Def Leppard, people around me eventually told me that Joe Elliott and Phil Collen regularly spoke highly of Ghost in interviews. Since I obviously thought it was cool, someone suggested a collaboration. A good collaboration shouldn't be forced, it should happen naturally. The best ones are often the ones that weren't supposed to happen. Two drunk musicians somewhere accidentally writing a good song... Crosby, Stills & Nash style. People who, by chance, find themselves together in a different context from the one they are used to and do something together, by accident. Something magical! That's how I would ideally have wanted it to happen. So I said I was ready to call Joe Elliott and see if we had a rapport. We started talking on the phone and texting a lot, me living in Sweden and him in Dublin. As we were both on the move almost all the time, and he was on tour, we couldn't meet. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he tells me that he has recorded some vocals for 'Spillways'! Quite frankly, I was surprised because I wasn't expecting it. I was anticipating a possible collaboration, but in a different way. To be honest, I thought we would create something new later on. But when I heard the result, I thought two things. Firstly, I found it very flattering. Secondly, I thought Joe brought something new and cool to "Spillways".

But you would have preferred to have the opportunity to write a new song with him.

Yes, that's the way I saw it, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. And then I said to Joe, "You know how we post those funny little episodes on our social media?" He replied "Yes, I think I saw that!" and kindly agreed to participate in one of them. Nowadays, many artists are over-solicited to record video clips for anything and everything in order to keep their channels updated: "Come and see us in concert in such and such a city!", etc. etc. The aim is obviously to keep the media space occupied.

By creating "content"!

Exactly! And that's exactly what I don't want to do. That's why, instead of all this crap, we started some time ago to create these little humorous episodes. One day, for example, I came up with the idea of an episode set in 1969 featuring a sort of "pre-Ghost" group. To do this, I obviously had to write a new song, which I did with this psychedelic track, 'Kiss The Go-Goat', which I thought was funny. When we recorded it, 'Mary On A Cross', another song of the same type, came along. So we ended up with two sides of a single that became 'Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic.’ Instead of just announcing the release on our networks, we chose to shoot a new video in which we featured Papa Nihil and explained the origins of this so-called 'pre-Ghost' band. I thought it was a much more clever and fun way of presenting the single. We do the same when it comes to announcing an album release or a future tour. Joe Elliott has a great sense of humour and is capable of self-mockery, so he kindly agreed to play this little game.

Ghost have made a habit of releasing an EP between their albums, mostly, if not entirely, made up of covers: If You Have Ghost (2013), Popestar (2016) and now Phantomime. How is it not just about “creating content”?

For me, it's a kind of exercise. I like analogies. Let's imagine that the place we are in is a theatre, and that this theatre, in order to be viable, has to host performances all year round. At least fifty weeks a year. Daytime rehearsals, evening performances... You are the director of the place and you know that the play that is currently being performed there will end at the end of the month. So you look for something else to program in order to make the most of the place and keep your staff busy. Maybe an old classic like Doctor Glass (Hjalmar Söderberg, 1905), an adaptation of John Steinbeck, or a rereading of Shakespeare's Hamlet that you could revisit by inviting this actor or that director, renting out your theatre for three extra months for the occasion. Working on this old material, even if it means not releasing it if it doesn't work. We do that to keep the team active, enthusiastic, focused. That's my way of working. I worked simultaneously on the Impera album and the demos of the covers that are on Phantomime. One day I could record 'Spillways' and two hours before leaving the studio to go home, I could look at any of the covers and decide which ones to keep. So, as soon as Impera was finished, I was able to concentrate on those covers that the album's producer wasn't interested in putting on the record. Which was fine with me. I spent some time sorting out the covers I had recorded as demos. There were ten in total, but I only kept five. Because with those five tracks I thought I could come up with a really strong rock EP. In my albums, there are highs, lows, really metal tracks, ballads, instrumentals, etc. So I thought it was a good idea to make a really strong rock EP. I felt it would be cool if this new EP was viscerally rock’n’roll. The opening track, "See No Evil" by Television, sounds like the Rolling Stones on methamphetamine! (laughs)

You like the songs you cover, that's a prerequisite. But their lyrics also play a very important role in your choice.

Yes, that's what makes me choose a song or not.

Is that the number one criterion?

Erm... (he thinks for a long time) If I hesitate between two songs, yes, absolutely! Let's go back to Leonard Cohen, for example. For the bonus tracks of Prequelle, I chose "Avalanche" because it seemed to me to have a biblical and existential significance. This was not the case with 'Take This Waltz', another Cohen song that I liked as much, if not more. The latter, with its Viennese waltz feel, would have metaphorically taken us to Austria, which would not have been very coherent, unfortunately.

Should these covers speak about God, the Devil, ask questions about religion?

They must speak about evil, about good. Be existential, biblical, philosophical, but seen from a certain perspective. Or at least tick one of those boxes, like 'Hanging Around' (The Stranglers) which is about Christ. Some of the other covers I've recorded are more specific, such as 'Phantom Of The Opera' (Iron Maiden), which is about horror. I also make my choice according to the humour of the songs I want to cover. It should be close to my own sense of humour.

You mentioned the first Phantomime cover, "See No Evil". It takes on a different resonance today because, on January 28, 2023, we sadly learned of the death of Tom Verlaine, the leader of Television.

When I recorded this cover in 2021, just after completing Impera, it was already a tribute. But obviously, with Tom's death, this song takes on another resonance, that of a final posthumous salute. I've been listening to Television for twenty years, and I love them and have always considered them a great band. In indie clubs they always play the same song, 'Marquee Moon', but Television had many other good songs, especially on their first two albums: Marquee Moon (1977) and Adventure (1978). I like those two best. It's a band that had a huge influence on one of my previous bands, Subvision. So much so that at the time, I thought several times of covering Television songs that I loved: "See No Evil", but also "Elevation" and "Foxhole".

The first single from Phantomime is Genesis' 'Jesus He Knows Me', a scathing critique of televangelist stars like Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker and Robert Tilton. Ugly people who have made their fortune by 'promising salvation’ to naive believers for big bucks. Can we expect to see you wearing a wig in its video, as singer/drummer Phil Collins did in the original video for this song in 1991? 

(Laughs) We've already shot the video for this cover version (editor’s note: the interview was conducted on 11 March 2023) and I'm not in it, but it's a direct nod to the original video. I've always liked this song - except for the reggae part, which I thought was horrible in the Genesis version and which I reworked - and it's funny to see how this 1991 text is still relevant today. Except, of course, for a few "old-time" words, like "phone book". The televangelists are still there on television promising things to people who take their word for it and shower them with money because they are assured of "salvation", they are promised heaven. I also rearranged Iron Maiden's 'Phantom of The Opera' after taking care to contact Steve Harris for his approval.

Indeed, in your retelling of this song, you are the Phantom and not its victim...

Yes, I wanted to be the Phantom. I submitted the idea to Steve, who gave me the green light. I only made some surgical changes. Similarly, I would have liked to have proposed the same thing to Phil Collins so that the text of "Jesus He Knows Me" would have been more in line with the times. Change, for example, "but she don't know about my girlfriend / or the man I met last night" to "or the dude I screwed last night". Alas, lack of time prevented me from doing so. And then, since this was a slippery slope, I thought: - What if Collins refuses? Or what if he gets pissed off? - We could have made these changes without asking anyone's permission - as long as the artists get their royalties, it's not a problem - but there was no way I was going to do it. Neither I nor my label wanted to alienate anyone, obviously.

In 1977, in "Hanging Around" by The Stranglers, which you also cover on Phantomime, the singer Hugh Cornwell sings about several things, but also about Christ "telling his mother not to worry because he's comfortable in the city where he's high above the ground". Is that why you chose it?

Actually, the key thing that made me choose this song from the band over any other is that I grew up listening to the album it's taken from, Rattus Norvegicus (1977), the Stranglers' first release. There are a lot of songs on that album that I would have loved to play because, as a musician, I really like to play those kinds of songs. ‘Hanging Around' was a good fit for us because of the lyrics, but also because it was more in keeping with our style. Ghost are obviously a metal and hard rock band, but also have a strong punk sensibility. Punk, but well played (smiles). For me, The Stranglers have always done "well played punk": this band knows how to play, how to arrange its music, unlike GBH and Discharge, to name but two. Mind you, I also like the latter, but not for the same reasons. A lot of punk bands from the late 70s/early 80s sounded "sloppy". It wasn't for lack of trying to play better. When The Clash and The Jam went into the studio, they tried to do their best and they sounded great! The same goes for The Adverts. Those guys were doing their best. Nowadays, some people think that being a punk is to play badly on purpose, to be messy. No, no, no ! But I digress...

What is the reason for the nod to Metallica's 'Fade To Black' in the solo on 'Hanging Around'?

Just for fun. When I'm working on a guitar solo, I throw things in here and there, like a messy painter. It's like stretching a canvas on a wall and making big brush strokes... But when I start to feel like I've got something cool, I dig in more surgically, a bit like a collage artist would. I interweave little elements, and when it comes time to insert a solo into a piece, I refine things by continuing to add new elements. Generally, a solo gives you a space of freedom in the middle of an otherwise totally structured song. That's when you can come up with different things in terms of melody. So that's the way I do it, even on the demos of the covers. I ask my sound engineer, Martin Eriksson Sandmark, to play me the draft of the solos I've been working on over and over again, and then I try out different things, whatever comes to mind. It's as if I'm drawing a mental map of what the solo will become. Sometimes, if I'm on a part sometimes, if I'm on a bluesy part, I'll let myself play a few notes of Gary Moore’s "Still Got The Blues", or, if I'm tapping, Van Halen's "Eruption". When I was working on the solo for 'Hanging Around', I felt like playing this part of Metallica's 'Fade To Black', just for fun. And it ended up on the demo. I'm a decent guitar player, but I'm not at the level I could have reached if I'd worked harder. I could just record these solos in the studio, where you can always slow things down when you play them and then speed them up and put them on the album, but Fredrik Akesson can play these parts without tricks and with much more finesse than I can. He recorded the solo for "Hanging Around" as I had presented it on the demo, with this nod to Metallica, and we thought it was so cool that we kept it.

Hugh Cornwell, the ex-singer of The Stranglers, said in an interview that, although he was not a believer, he loved visiting churches. Is this also true for you? Are you also attracted to churches?

Yes, passionately! I believe in them like I believe in Star Wars. I've always thought of churches as stage props. Walking into one of them is a bit like walking onto a film set of the original Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. It's awe-inspiring, even though you know it's just cardboard. Churches have magical powers because they are centuries-old buildings and we know that a lot of things have happened within their walls. Not that I'm trying to throw up on these places of worship, but when I go into a church I don't hear God, but the whispers of time. I am not an atheist, although intellectually I can see that there are many reasons why I should be. I believe in a Force, in an Energy. I also believe that we don't know many things, but that there is a balance between these different energies. The white and the black.

Good and Evil...

Absolutely! Right now the world is in crisis, but we're going to get through it. It's a vicious circle. We do ourselves a disservice if we think that if the world were rid of people like Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Jair Bolsonaro and the ayatollahs of Iran and Iraq, we would be out of the woods. I think all this can happen - and I hope it will, in a way - but Good and Evil will always be there. That balance is necessary. But I am an optimist by nature. I believe that there is a future for Volodymyr Zelensky and the Eastern bloc. That there is perhaps a chance to put into practice what was tried there some thirty years ago. And I believe in a free Iran, in a possible return to what this country was in 1978. What a beautiful day that would be! But that doesn't mean there wouldn't be a new war somewhere else in the world. I'm an eternal optimist, but let's face it: history is always starting over. As I said, it's a question of balance, a permanent coming and going. Because I believe in this Force I was talking about earlier, I truly believe that the West can win, that the way we live and the way we have built our society is a step forward that shows progress and can make a large majority of people happy. Not all, but most. But even if we all lived in love and peace for five years, something else would come along to create chaos! An alien or something! (laughs) That's how it works. Our mistake is to believe in the status quo, in nirvana. It's not going to happen. It's always about balance. The Vatican and organised religion... All that crap is just to pick people's pockets, to control them, to take their energy and scare them into plundering them. The same goes for the GOP (editor’s note: the American "Grand Old Party", suspected of having Christian nationalist leanings), which only deceives people in order to take their money! That's all you need to know. It's simple, so simple to understand. All this does not mean that the energy that emanates from churches is not real. When you walk into one of them, you feel - or so I believe - the energy of all those who have gone before you, for decades, for centuries. Their fears, their hopes, etc. So much so, sometimes, that you can feel oppressed, even upset. So I can walk into a church and feel a sense of awe. I love visiting these places, especially from an aesthetic point of view.

On Phantomime, you also cover "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner. Don't you think that, given the state of the world today, we do need "another hero"?

I think Zelensky has shown how much we like heroes, how important they are to us. I think back, for example, to how the world went wild when Andrés Iniesta scored the decisive goal in the 116th minute to help Spain win the 2010 World Cup against the Netherlands. I believe in human determination and how it can inspire the world to distinguish between what is important... and what is really important. What is important for our daily lives. Yes, it's cool to have a complete collection of Venom's work, but it doesn't matter if I’m missing the most important thing. In the last ten years especially, the western world has been focusing on tons of unimportant things trying to pit people against each other, cancel culture and all that stuff... It proves that we are spoiled children. Our mentality shows it when it comes to security. Seeing Zelensky defend himself as he does appeals to our most primal instincts: it's beautiful and very inspiring. Nothing else is more important than that. It is the only thing that matters... Otherwise we have to be prepared for a lot of people to live in misery.

Next August, you will tour in the USA with Amon Amarth. I noticed that they will not accompany you on the last date, in Los Angeles, on September 11, 2023. There is no opening act, you ask the audience not to use their phones, etc. That sounds like a live DVD!

Yes, we are indeed planning to film this show, but it won't be the end of the Impera era cycle, even if we will not have so many dates left after this concert. There will still be a few shows in South America and Australia.

Nothing in Japan? A country that one might think Ghost was made for.

At the moment, it's not very clear. We had a lot of discussions with the Japanese promoters, as there was talk of us appearing on the bill of a Japanese festival scheduled for this month. Unfortunately, the festival was postponed... and then rescheduled for March! I think they originally had a big headliner, but the headliner didn't show up. So they cancelled, and then considered a smaller edition with Pantera. With all the back and forth, we ended up dropping out because it was too risky for us to play one date there after six months of inactivity. Our team is currently taking a break, but we preferred to use this time to rehearse for our next shows. The first one will be in Rouen on May 21st. We learned a good lesson the last time we played Hellfest. It was so hot that day, the conditions were so extreme, that we almost had a storm. We really had to fight against the elements and it affected me (Editor's note: the last encore of the show was not played, as Tobias was suffering from vocal problems). It was a very tough show. What really pissed me off was not the fact that I lost my voice, but the fact that the festival-goers who were there were not treated to our entire production. It was indeed difficult to foresee these extreme conditions. This summer we have to play festivals again, so we have reworked our production, which will be better adapted to the complicated weather. On this tour we will play in Spain, Finland, Norway, Greece, all within a few days of each other. So we'll be touring with two identical stages, so we can do all these shows without too much downtime. It's not very ecological, I'm sorry to say, because sometimes we'll have to take a plane to get to these cities in time. Not great, but it's the only way...

Will you play any of the Phantomime covers live?

One thing is for sure: we will play 'Jesus He Knows Me' because it's the first single from the new EP. As for the rest, we'll see during the rehearsals how the set evolves - because it's going to evolve a bit from the 2022 set. We're thinking of playing some songs from Impera that we've left out so far.

[confirmeddead]

Been thinking a lot of what season 3 might look like so here are my thoughts.

These are just ideas. I am not a writer, I’m just having fun engaging with fellow IWTV fans! I’m excited for whatever they do 🩷

Instead of Lestat telling his story to someone, Louis is the one to find his book in a shop window and read it. Our Louis loves his books so of course he’d pick up Lestat’s! Or be gifted a copy by him 😊

Throughout the series we see Louis reading Lestat’s book and the show pans to Lestat’s narration of his own story. I’d love Louis playing the Daniel in S3 (in a way) and audibly reacting to what he’s reading.

We’d get Rockstar Lestat updates aplenty. TV, Ads, social media, radio, etc. He’s just constantly in the background and the news is hyping up his SF concert. And Louis definitely wants to seek Lestat out and attend this concert.

I think the other storyline should be Daniel and Armand. I can see something like the chase happening that leads to their eventual companionship/Daniel’s turning. Daniel is gaining a lot of attention from the book from mortals and vampires alike. Armand takes it upon himself to tail Daniel and keep him safe. Since Sam and Fareed are listed in the cast, they might be part of Armand’s staff.

We’d be getting 18th century Lestat/Armand then that juxtaposition of Rockstar Lestat and Devil’s Minion Armand, which will be a bit of a breather from the heaviness that is Lestat’s origin.

I’m thinking this season would be a departure from what we’re used to. Seasons 1 and 2 were telling one story from (mostly) Louis’ POV. I realize TVL is Lestat’s story, but TVL is also a direct lead into Queen of the Damned. They have other stories to tell, most notably Armand and Daniel’s. All of this while keeping Louis in the plot, they have a lot to do and accomplish.

Fingers crossed for a 10-12 episode season!

Yes I want a Louis and Lestat reunion asap but I’d rather see a build up to it in the last episodes before the concert

[boldlyvoid]

I Can See You | Part Two

18+ Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader | Part One

Summary: While away in California working on a case, Aaron needs his Media Liaison's help. When she gets there, she realizes that being in the field is a lot harder than she ever imagined... she leans on Aaron for support so much that when they get home, their relationship is so different from when she left.

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence (case involving rape and murder) flirting, falling in love, emotional heart-to-heart chats, car sex, public sex, angst, miss understandings. love confessions. making love, unprotected sex, creampies, dirty talk

a/n: thank you @hotchsdoormat for making this post and giving me an idea for this one <;3

word count: 9.1k

Facilities management gets her office completely cleaned out by the end of shift on Friday, they turn the phone in that room back on and set it to her extension. They get a nameplate for her door and slide it into place and then the room is officially hers. 

She sits down at her new desk with a sigh. It smells like paper and dust, the shelves are empty, and it lacks character. She’s requested new, more natural lights, but she knows that changing the fluorescents from blue to yellow is still going to give her a headache. She asked for her own fax machine and this weekend she has to clear out the filing cabinet in order to reorganize it with updated cases. She’s going to have her hands full but that’s good.

Maybe keeping busy will keep her mind off Aaron Hotchner and all the amazing sex she’s been having with him. 

She thinks about him all the way home, in bed before she goes to sleep and even when she wakes up early on Saturday. She makes her way back to the office, it’s only Anderson, a couple of the assistants and herself that are in. She can’t pass Aaron’s office without thinking about how intense her orgasm on his desk was… but she makes it to her own desk with a sigh. 

She’s sitting for maybe 30 seconds when the phone rings. “Agent Y/L/N.” 

“How fast can you be in California?” Aaron asks. “I need you here.” 

“Oh, why?” She can’t help but smile. 

“JJ and Kate are interviewing all the women so that they feel safer and more comfortable but with JJ busy I don’t have anyone here who can speak with the reporters and the Colleges PR people,” he explains. “I really need you here.”

“Uh, yeah, I can come… get Penelope to find me the best ticket out there and I can be at the airport within the hour.” 

“Thank you,” he says with a sigh of relief. “Text me when you get there, let me know when you’re on your way and when you land. I want to know you’re safe.” 

His voice is soft and quiet, he might be alone or at least not around the main team. She loves this voice, he’s so sweet with her sometimes it makes her melt.

“I will,” she smiles. “i’ll see you then.” 

“Bye,” he says before he hangs up. And then he’s gone. 

She brought her go bag home with her last night, repacked it with better outfits and cuter underwear and brought it back to the office with her. This was the last thing she expected when she packed it. She grabs it and her tablet, she has her phone and records an away message for her office phone before she heads out of her office. 

“Anderson,” she calls, getting his attention. “I’m headed to California to help with the media frenzy, I don’t know when I’ll be back. Can you make sure that everything that’s faxed to me gets filed and organized and left on my desk?” 

“Absolutely, have fun,” he says with a roll of his eyes, knowing she’s going to be stressed out more than anything. 

“Can you drive me to the airport?” She asks. 

“I can, I’ll meet you in the garage in 5.” 

She heads right down to Penelope's office and knocks gently before entering. “Did hotch call?” 

“He did, I have your boarding pass here,” she says, reaching to the printer and pulling the paper out as it finishes printing. “This is your fist away case, isn’t it.” 

She nods, “any advice?” 

“Take a moment to yourself whenever you can. It’ll get overwhelming and seeing the horror upfront will suck, so, maybe take this,” Penelope explains, looking through all her little gadgets and toys, she finally picks a little pink unicorn with a clip on it. She reaches out and clips it right onto her go bag. “She’ll keep you company.” 

“Thank you,” she does genuinely appreciate it. 

“The plane leaves in an hour and 45 minutes, I called ahead and said you’re a federal agent and It’s imperative that you make this flight even though you’ll be there in the middle of boarding and they will hold the plane as long as they can for you, so you better skedaddle,” she explains. “Go on, boss lady.” 

“Okay, okay,” she laughs, “I’m going, I’ll probably talk to you later!” 

And with that, she’s gone. Anderson drives her to the airport, she texts Hotch from the car and when she arrives at Ronald Reagan National Airport a half hour later. She still has an hour to spare before taking off, the staff are all incredibly kind to her and she’s handed some complimentary snacks and water at her seat. 

It takes 5 and a half hours for them to fly all the way across the county. She’s on her phone the second she de-boards the plane, she’s about to text Aaron to say she’s arrived when she looks up at the gate and see’s him.

“Hey,” she swoons, she can’t believe he’s there to pick her up. 

“Hi,” he opens his arms and she gladly hugs him. “Garcia told me when you’d be landing and I wasn’t about to let you take another taxi to work.”

She just holds him tighter, appreciating how he smells and how strong he is, she sighs as she pulls back. “I don’t mind… but I’m glad you’re here.” 

He reaches out for her bag, offering to carry it to the car for her. “We’ve got to get back to the precinct. We have a lot to go over, the media is already catching on to this being the second college rape and murder, we need to figure out a way to break the story without causing panic,” he explains as they weasel through the airport traffic, towards his car. 

“I had some time on the plane, I’ve drafted a press release I just need you and the team to approve it and I’m going to send each of the colleges our profile so they can put it on their websites,” she explains. “Who do you want going in front of the cameras?” 

“We can do it together,” he suggests. 

His SUV is parked out front, the lights still going so that he doesn’t get a ticket, he opens the door for her first and then the second door on the passenger side. He puts her bag behind her seat and shuts the door at the same time she shuts her own. He rushes over to the driver's side and gets in quickly, he fastens his seatbelt and keeps the lights on so he can rush out with traffic as fast as possible. 

“You passed your weapons qualifications, right?” He asks, unable to remember off the top of his head. 

“I have… but I don’t carry a weapon.” 

He sighs, “I’m going to give you my second gun when we arrive, I need you to protect yourself. Once we put you on the news you could become one of his targets.” 

“Are you serious?” 

“Unfortunately, you’re around his age preference and you’re beautiful, he’s going to be upset hearing the words you use to describe him to the world and he could lash out,” he explains. 

“Do you keep a second gun in your bag or something?” She asks, having no idea he even had one. 

He smirks, “No, I keep it holstered to my ankle. It’s discreet in case I’m in a situation where they’ve taken my weapon and haven’t patted me down, or when I’ve had my Glock knocked out of my hand. I like to be prepared.” 

“God, you’re so hot,” she says under her voice, shaking her head slightly. 

He laughs, “if you say so.” 

“Aaron,” she can’t believe he doesn’t think he’s hot. “You’ve gotta know you’re one of the most handsome men on earth, I mean come on?” 

He blushes, “I don’t have terrible self-esteem, but I’m also not full of myself.” 

“I’m sure as hell not full of you right now, either, but I still think you’re hot,” she teases. 

He laughs, reaching over he places his hand on her thigh, “You’ll be full of me soon enough, sweet thing. We just have to finish this case, first.” 

“They’re going to catch on,” she reminds him. “We have to be careful.” 

“Even if they figure it out, they won’t say anything unless I bring it up first. They’re still pretty respectful,” he assures her. “But I think we can keep it a secret a while longer.” 

“I hope so, 'cause this is fun.” 

“You think so?” 

“I really do,” she smiles at him. She takes ahold of his hand, interlocking their fingers, appreciating this little amount of affection before they arrive and have to act professionally again. 

—

She goes on national TV at 6pm with Aaron by her side while the rest of the team delivers the profile to the local cops. She’s nervous, but she gets through it without a stutter and she even answers a few reporter's questions. They expect the unsub to see the new reports and act out, either by killing again or by sending them a taunt. Either way, it’s going to be an interesting night. 

They get dinner as a team, enjoying takeout in the back room of the UC Davis police department, and she feels like she made it. When she joined the FBI she always wanted to see some action, she wanted to help in a real way and now she was getting her chance. She reviews the case with them, she gets to help Spencer organize the murder board and she even gets to put in her two cents about who she thinks this guy is. The team is proud of her, they praise her contributions and pat her on the back for a job well done with the media. 

The only hard part is seeing all the gore. The photos of the two dead girls are hard to look at, and the rape kit photos of the other 4 girls are even harder to see. They have to live with this for the rest of their lives… all of them are in the police station, too, all waiting for this to be over. They have 4 cots set up, and a police officer sat outside of the room at all times. They’re as protected as can be now, but not when it would’ve counted. It breaks her heart. 

By the time it hits 11pm, nothing has happened, everyone is tired because it’s 2 in the morning back in D.C. so Aaron calls it, “Let's head back to the hotel, they’ll call us if anything happens.” 

“Sounds good,” Derek is the first to agree. 

They all head out to the parking lot, splitting up to ride in two separate SUVs, she sits behind Aaron's seat because of course she’d want to ride with him but she’s not important enough to call shotgun. Spencer’s sitting beside him, tired and quiet, and JJ is beside her. Derek, Kate and Rossi are in the other SUV, just behind them. 

“Do we have another hotel for Y/N?” JJ asks. 

“I called the hotel and had my room switched to a double queen,” Aaron announces. “I thought it would be easier this way, now the bureau won’t get mad at us for changing another $400 to the credit card.” 

It doesn’t look that weird either, with JJ sharing with Kate, Derek sharing with Spencer and the leaders normally alone, partnering with Hotch isn’t too suspicious. She wonders if it’s even true, if he switched the rooms to have two beds or if that’s just what he’s telling people. Either way, they’ll probably end up sleeping in just the one. 

“Smart thinking,” JJ praises him. “I hope you don’t mind his snoring.” 

Y/N laughs, “I’m used to it— my ex snored a lot. Like so bad we took him to get a sleep study done to see if he had sleep apnea or something? But he didn’t, he just snored like mad. It was annoying,” she quickly makes up a story. Covering for the fact she’s already slept beside Hotch before, she heard his snoring. She didn’t mind it, she actually found it cute. But JJ didn’t need to know that.” 

“If you were still with him I’d suggest mouth taping,” Spencer suggests. “I’ve been reading studies about it, apparently it works.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind if I see another dude who snores, thanks.” 

“No problem,” Spencer says with a smile. 

It doesn’t take long for them to arrive, they park, grab their bags and all head inside. Y/N and Aaron head over to the main desk to switch room keys and the others head on up to their floor. The teams on floor 3, Y/N and Aaron on the other hand, they’re on floor 6. It was the only double queen that was available. 

They head to their room quickly, she’s actually exhausted and ready to sleep even if they were joking earlier about having sex again. And if she’s being honest… she’s a little too sad to do anything tonight. 

He opens the door for them, lets her inside and she places her bag right down on the closest mattress. She sighs as she undoes the zip and searches for her sleep shirt. 

“You tired?” Aaron asks. 

She nods, placing her shirt on the bed, she kicks off her shoes and starts to undress. “I’m so ready to go to sleep.” 

Aaron places his bag down on the other bed, also searching for something to wear but he turns back to her just in time to see her take her shirt off. He smiles at her, she’s just in normal underwear this time, nothing too fancy and cute because she didn’t expect to see him today. “You’re beautiful.” 

She can’t help but smile, “Thanks…” She tosses on her sleep shirt and takes her bra off from inside the shirt. She unclips the back, slips it off both arms and then pulls it out from under, putting it into her bag right away. She pushes her skirt down, takes off her nylons and shoves them in the bag too. 

Once she’s done changing, she grabs her makeup bag and heads into the bathroom to take off all her makeup. Aaron shows up beside her, in just his boxers and a shirt as well, ready to brush his teeth for the night. They get ready for bed silently, both clearly exhausted. He finishes brushing his teeth and watches as she takes off her makeup and applies her nighttime moisturizer, mesmerized by her beauty, he smiles at her through the mirror. 

“did you want to sleep with me?” 

“Like sex?” 

He laughs, “No, I mean do you want to sleep beside me?” 

“Oh, yeah, I’d like that… but I’m not in the mood at all after everything today.”

“Understandable,” he wraps his arm around her and rests his chin on her shoulder, staring at her through the mirror still. “You did a wonderful job today.” 

“Thank you,” she leans into him with a sigh. “can we go to bed now?” 

“Yeah, come on,” he takes her by the hand and walks with her back to the room. “Pick a bed.” 

She picks the one closer to the window, gets in on her normal side and lays back against the pillow. Aaron takes a moment to plug in his phone, moves his bag over to their spare bed and then he turns off the lights. He gets into bed beside her and snuggles in real close, resting his cheek on her chest and his arm slung around her stomach. 

“I’m really glad you’re here,” he whispers. “I slept like a baby on Thursday night.” 

“I know, I did too, I didn’t even hear you leave…”

“I’m sorry about that,” he apologizes again. “I had to be there when Jack woke up 'cause Jess had an early morning meeting with her boss, I kissed you before I left but you didn’t even stir.” 

Her heart melts at the thought of him kissing before slipping out, they had such a wonderful night that night, it’s hard to believe it was even real. “Hey, you’re a good dad. I’m never going to get upset with you for wanting to spend time with your son. I bet he’s incredible, too.” 

“He is, he’s doing this summer gifted program and at the end, he’ll have a certificate that he can put in his college applications, he wants to be an engineer,” he shares, pride just spilling out of him. “He’s so amazing.” 

“He gets it from his dad,” she teases. 

“It’s his mom's side, Haley was always good with science and math, her sister Jess is a computer engineer, and their mom was a nurse for 50 years,” he shares. He’s never opened up like this before. 

“What did your parents do?” She asks, taking advantage of how soft and honest he is late at night, she wants to know all about him. 

“My mom stayed at home with us and took care of the house, my dad was a defence attorney. He was good at telling a lie.”

“Oh,” she can tell there’s issues there. “And you have a brother, right?” 

He nods, “Same dad, different moms, but my mom raised him. My dad got his assistant pregnant and she was going to give the baby up so my dad convinced her to let us keep him.” 

“Wow… that’s intense.” 

He just sighs, “Yeah, it sucked being related to him.” 

“I’m sorry—

“No, no, you don’t have to be, it’s been a long time since he died, I’m not haunted by him or anything, I’m good with where I’m at in life… but you, you’ve never told me why you joined the FBI, or really anything personal?”

“There’s not really much to tell. I went to college and got a degree in criminal justice and took media and communications for fun and then applied to the academy and somehow made it to your team. I guess I’m just lucky,” she shrugs, not thinking too much of it. 

“Your grades were amazing and you were in the top 5 of your class at the academy, it certainly wasn’t luck,” he assures her. “You were the best pick for the team, Cruz was so excited to add you after he saw your application. We were severely lacking without a communications liaison, having you on the team has been so nice… and not just because we’re sleeping together.”

She laughs, “This is a bonus.” 

He sits up slightly to look at her in the darkness, “I think you were right before… about me being lonely. I didn’t realize how much I missed this.” 

She leans in and captures his lips against her own, sharing a sweet kiss with him. “I’m glad you did something about it. I thought with your job, with how often you see power dynamics gone wrong, you would never sleep with a younger co-worker.” 

“I didn’t think I would either,” he admits. He rests his head back down on her, caressing his cheek along her shirt. “It's not because you’re younger that I like you… I can’t even really place why I do. I don’t want to sound crazy, but something more powerful than your looks or your age drew me in. You’re so smart, you’re incredibly kind. This just feels right, doesn’t it?” 

“Aaron Hotchner, don’t make me cry,” she tries to make a joke or else she really will cry. 

“Sorry, I just hope you know this isn’t just a fling. I’m not going to get what I want and toss you aside. I thoroughly enjoy your company, if I met you anywhere else, I’d still want to be with you. It’s just tough when I’m your boss and you’re my employee. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t have asked to keep this a secret. I don’t want you to think I’m ashamed or hiding you. I just want to keep this as pure and just between us as possible. If I file the paperwork and we make it known with Cruz, then Penelope will see it in the file, and she’ll tell Derek and you know how they are. They teased you because I was careless and left a mark where they could see. I don’t want you to go through that. I don’t want people to think you’re doing better than them just because we have sex. I don’t want anyone to diminish your work simply because you’re close to me.” 

“The fact that you care, like genuinely, wholeheartedly care, means a lot. Not a lot of men would think this far ahead or want to protect their mistress,” she hates to use the word, but that’s how she feels. “I know I’m special to you and to this team… and it feels so good to know that. It’s all I wanted for so long, I have tried so hard to be good at everything I do, I try too hard sometimes. It feels so wonderful to know I’m appreciated for my hard work.” 

“you’re not my mistress,” he says, rolling onto his back and pulling her over to cuddle into him instead. “I’d have to have a wife for that.” 

She wants to ask what they are then. But she can’t bring the words to her mouth, they stay in her mind, rattling around and wreaking havoc. “Still, thank you.” 

He kisses the top of her head, resting his lips there longer than she thought he would. He runs his hand up and down her back in a gentle motion, soothing her. “You’re welcome.” 

He’s so warm and delicate with his touches, it makes her even sleepier. Her eyes get heavy to the point she can’t keep them open anymore, and before she knows it, she’s sound asleep against his chest. She twitches a few times as she falls deeper, her breathing changes, and she gets heavier, too. 

He knows she’s asleep now. Knows she can’t hear him. So he says it. 

“Goodnight, sweetheart… I love you.” 

—

Neither one of them set an alarm last night before bed. So, at 7:30am, someone knocks on their hotel door. They’re cuddled into each other, spooning, facing the window when Aaron hears it. He’s quick to rub his eyes and get out of bed, heading towards the door. He squints as he looks through the peephole to see Spencer, fully dressed and ready for the day. 

“Did something happen?” 

Spencer looks at him and then into the room to see Y/N sound asleep in her bed… but the other bed hasn’t been slept in. Not a crease to be found on the comforter, his eyes go wide but he keeps this newfound revelation to himself. “Uh, yeah, it’s almost 10 in Virginia, Penelope got a CODIS match on a set of fingerprints we picked up at the last murder, the guy's name is Michael Hawthorn, we’re just waiting on warrants to go through the courts. We’re supposed to meet with the state police in 45 minutes about it all.”

“Shit,” Aaron realizes they’ve slept in, “okay, you all can head in with Derek, Y/N and I will be leaving in a few minutes.” 

“Sounds good…” 

“Don’t,” Aaron points at him. “It’s not what it looks like. She was having a hard time dealing with guilt after speaking with the victims yesterday, I offered her some comfort, and we fell asleep in the same bed. Nothing more.” 

“Okay,” Spencer takes his word for it. “I’ll keep this between us… just be glad it was me who drew the short straw to come up and get you.” 

“Thank you, Reid,” he gives him a small smile. “Seriously, we’ll be leaving shortly.” 

She wakes up to all the talking, she sits up and rubs her eyes just as Aaron closes the door again, “what’s going on?” 

“We never set an alarm,” he simplifies it. “The team is headed to the precinct right now, they have a CODIS match on a fingerprint.” 

“Oh, shit, okay,” she gets out of bed quickly and grabs her bag, “can I use the bathroom first?” 

“Go for it,” he doesn’t mind, heading into his own go bag to get ready for the day. 

He wears the same suit pants and jacket, he gets a new dress shirt and tie from his bag and quickly puts it all on. He adds deodorant and a little cologne, he combs his hair and waits for the bathroom to be free again so he can brush his teeth. He holsters his gun to his belt last and checks his pocket to make sure he still has his wallet, badge and cuffs on his person. 

When she comes out, she’s in a pants suit as well, his gun holstered to her hip and everything. She looks amazing. He looks her up and down quickly, wishing they had more time so he could properly show he how much he likes this outfit, but they don’t. “Wow…” 

“Oh, hush,” she says with a smile, clearly appreciative. “Finish getting ready, I’m going to head downstairs and get us some coffee from the continental breakfast and I’ll meet you by the car.” 

She goes to walk by him but he stops her, pulling her in by her suit jacket until their chests touch, he takes her jaw in his hand and directs her attention to his eyes. “If I don’t get a chance to tell you again today, just know I think you’re beautiful.” 

He leans in and kisses her, too. She pulls away with a smile, she’s never kissed him with 2 days of scruff on his face, before, so it tickles her upper lip. “Go finish getting ready, the faster we get this guy, the faster we can go home and spend some time together…” 

“Okay,” he agrees but steals one last kiss, he lightly smacks her ass as she starts to walk away, “I’m going to show you what this little number does to me when we get home.” 

She just laughs, “Oh, I can’t wait… but we have a killer to catch, so chop-chop.” She grabs her bags and heads out after that. 

He’s quick to brush his teeth, check himself in the mirror and then he’s out too, barely 5 minutes behind her. He rushes down to the car, only to see Y/N has dropped her bags and the coffee, she’s got someone at gunpoint beside the car.

He drops his bag too, raising his go as he makes his way closer. “What’s going on?” 

“It’s the college rapist,” she says through gritted teeth. “I know those eyes from the drawing. He was waiting here by the car, he—

“I just wanted to ask for your number, you’re pretty!” The guy cuts her off, hands in the air, he looks scared. “I’m not a rapist!” 

“What’s your name?” Aaron asks. 

“Mike!”

“Mike what?” He asks again, getting closer and lowering his weapon so the man trusts him a bit. 

“Michael Hawthorn,” he states his full name. “I promise, I was just walking to my own car, thought she looked pretty, that’s all man.” 

He knows he’s lying. He knows this is the man the team is currently looking for. Maybe sleeping in was a good thing. Giving Y/N his second gun was even better. He can’t believe she recognized his eyes from the sketch of the unsub. She was quick to draw her gun, quick to defend herself, too. 

Aaron drops his gun, reaches out for the guy and gives him a fake smile, “I get it…” and then he has him pinned to the SUV and starts to cuff him. “But, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me any further?” 

“I didn’t do anything!!” 

“Call Morgan,” he says to Y/N, “tell him we have Michael Hawthorn in custody.” 

“Aaron… we don’t have enough evidence,” she worries, holstering her gun again. 

“We do. That CODIS match that Penelope got this morning, the fingerprints matched a Michael Hawthorn. They’re about to issue a warrant for your arrest, anyway,” he explains. “You just couldn’t handle the fact that she went on the national news and started talking shit about you, could you? You’re such a weak little man you have to rape girls to feel control. You have to corner them in a parking lot to feel the power. You’re just a loser and you’re going to prison.” 

Y/N steps away and takes her phone out, she calls Derek right away and tells him everything. Hotch still has him pinned to the SUV, waiting for the inevitable slue of cop cars to come rushing to the scene, to take this man into their custody. 

Michael knows he fucked up. He got cocky, he thought he couldn’t get caught but here he is, cuffed and pinned to a fed’s SUV. “What were you even planning to do? Just talk to me?” 

“I’m not speaking without my lawyer,” he says. It’s probably the smartest decision he’s made today. 

“Derek said they are just waiting on the judge to pass the search warrant, it should happen in the next few minutes. That includes his car, which I imagine is here?” She explains. 

Hotch pats him down and finds his keys in his pocket. He hands them over to her. “When it goes through you can have the honours.” 

It doesn’t take long for them to hear the sirens approaching, and once they’re heard, they’re seen just as quickly. 4 cop cars and Derek's SUV come whipping around the corner and into the small hotel parking lot, surrounding them. They hand the unsub off to the police, Aaron advises them that he’s already been read his rights and they take him off to the jail to be booked. 

“how’d this happen?” Derek asks. 

“I came down to get us some coffee before we head out and he was waiting for me, he walked up to me and said ‘You’re just as pretty as you are on TV’ and I saw his eyes were just like the sketch that Amy drew, so I pulled my weapon and luckily Aaron was right behind me and was able to get his name and cuff him,” she explains. 

“if it wasn’t for Spencer telling me the guy's name, I would’ve just told him to fuck off,” Aaron adds.

“Why were you guys late to begin with?” JJ asks, it’s honestly unheard of for Hotch to be late. 

“We were talking when I was getting ready for bed and I never set an alarm,” he admits. 

“I was having a hard time sleeping knowing I get to live the rest of my life without the trauma these girls will have for the rest of their life,” she adds. It’s more than she told Aaron yesterday, but it’s the most believable because it’s true. 

Derek pulls her in for a side hug, “This job sucks sometimes but you saved a few more girls from going through it with your quick thinking… I didn’t even know you carried a gun?” 

“It’s Aarons…” she explains as she pulls away, referencing the small revolver at her hip. “He had a feeling this guy would see me on the news and contact me. He was right.” 

“He’s hardly ever wrong,” Kate teases. Having been on the team just a few months now, she knows everyone on the team is so good at their job, they could’ve all predicted this. 

Once the warrants go through, Y/N and Aaron check the unsubs car and the others head back to his house. She finds his rape kit but nothing else. “His souvenirs must be back at his apartment,” Y/N sighs, shaking her head. “I can’t believe how fast you got him pinned to the car?” 

“Why?” Aaron smirks. “You know I’m always going to protect you, right?” 

She nods, stepping in closer to him so none of the crime scene cops hear, “Yeah, I know… but it was hot. Like, really hot…” 

He takes off his plastic gloves and looks over to the cops, “are you guys good here without us?” 

“Yep, we’re basically done, we just need to take some photos and get his car towed,” the main detective explains. “Thanks for bringing him in, the colleges are going to be pleased to know their girls are a bit safer now.” 

“Anytime,” Hotch waves them off and has Y/N follow him back over to the SUV. 

She gets buckled into the passage side, watches him put on his seatbelt and throws the car in reverse, he peels out of the parking lot and she thinks they’re going to catch up with the others at the unsubs house… instead, he takes them down some random street and parks them in the ally behind an unoccupied storefront. “How hot?” 

“What?” She laughs. 

“How hot was me throwing that guy up against the SUV and cuffing him?” 

Heat rushes through her body as she realizes what’s happening, “Aaron…” 

“Answer me.” 

She unbuckles her seatbelt and kneels on the seat, unbuttoning her suit pants, “You know, if you’re going to be so sexy on the scene you should at least do it on days when I’m wearing a skirt.” 

His laugh is deep and dark, he undoes his belt and pushes the seat back so there’s enough room between his chest and the steering wheel for her to sit. He watches her push her pants down and as soon as just the one leg is free he hauls her into his lap. He helps her out of her suit jacket and tosses it onto the passenger seat, “I told you this outfit was doing something for me.” 

“Show me,” she begs. “You said you’d show me?” 

With one hand on her hip, he pushes her button-up shirt up to see what she’s wearing. It’s a 1 piece of lingerie, white to hide under her shirt and lacy as hell. “I will show you…. Just let me appreciate this a bit. I know you spent too much money to get these for me, I’m going to make it worth it, baby.” 

He doesn’t want to unbutton the whole shirt, he wants her to still be partially dressed if they get caught… he knows they won't but he’s careful, nonetheless. He unbuttons the first 4 buttons, allowing the shirt to cup her boobs. He leans in and kisses her neck, one hand on her back, helping her arch so he can press kisses down her chest as she grinds against him. 

“Please, Aaron,” she pleads. “Just move it to the side and fuck me.” 

He hums against her, “Take me out?” He whispers, moving up to kiss her on the mouth again. She reached between them, pulled his zipper apart and reached into his boxers. He was hard, so hard that as soon as he was free his erection slapped against his stomach and he moaned into her mouth. She stroked him gently, causing him to buck his hips up into her, clashing his teeth against hers as the kiss gets rougher. 

He pushes her panties to the side, and brushes past her clit which makes her gasp. Not wasting any time, Y/N moved back so she could angle her hips over him and slid right onto his cock. The feeling of being filled and the grip Aaron had on her waist was mesmerizing. Aaron took her face in his hands and pulled her in for another kiss, it wasn’t as rough as before but still full of want. 

Y/N started to rock her hips forward, picking up a rhythm as their mouths moved together as well. He’d never felt this way while having sex with another person, maybe it was just really good, or maybe this is what making love felt like… even if they were just having a quickie in a borrowed FBI SUV. 

Aaron’s never felt this many emotions during sex, never once had he got butterflies thinking about sleeping with someone, let alone had his stomach flip when he turned a corner and merely saw someone… Something about Y/N and all the things they did together was different. Even a week into sleeping with each other, it was all so different than any relationship he’d ever had with anyone in his life. 

He really loved her, he was sure of it. 

That thought rocked though his body like someone had punched him in the gut. He stopped moving and pulled away from Y/N’s mouth. Eyes wide and staring at him.

“What? Are you okay?” She asked in shock.

He blinked a few times and shook his head, “No, yeah, sorry I thought I heard something sorry.”

She kissed him again, lightly this time. “We can stop if you want?”

Aaron simply gripped her hips tighter, bit his lip while looking her dead in the eyes, “I really don’t want to stop.” 

“Good.” She moaned, pulling him in again and kissing him some more.

She moved one hand to be in the back little tuft of hair at the base of his neck, tugging gently. 

Y/N could stay in these motions for hours, the feeling of Aaron inside her, lightly hitting her G-spot. The feeling of his big hand on her hip as the other roamed around to the front to rub her clit, getting her closer to the finish. It was the best pleasure one could experience. All building to one massive crescendo. 

Y/N felt herself getting close, her hips bucking more erratically. Aaron’s breath on her mouth was a sign he was feeling it too, his breathing had picked up when he started to get close the last time as well. 

She breathes heavily into his mouth, moaning slightly as everything builds and builds and builds and “Oh,” she tosses her head back and rides out her orgasm over him. 

Her cunt flutters, sucking him in even deeper, he’s not that far behind her. He buries his face in her neck and sloppily kisses her, he grips her hips with both hands now and uses all his strength to keep her bouncing on his cock. He mumbles against her neck, “Feel so fuckin’ good, baby, oh my god, I’m right there….” 

“Please sir, cum in me, fill me up, I want to go back to work and feel you slowly dripping out of me for the rest of the day,” she eggs him on. 

He groans, deep from within himself, he had no idea something like that would get him going but here he is, finishing deep inside her. He kisses her neck again, up to her ear and then grips the back of her head, pushing her lips against his own. It’s hot and heavy again, still inside her, he wishes he could stay in her all day long… but then his phone rings. Bringing an end to their fun.  

He pulls back and brushes her hair off her face, looking deep in her eyes, “You’re nasty… I love it.” 

She simply smirks, “I know.” 

She reaches into his suit jacket and takes his phone, answering for him. “SSA Aaron Hotchner's Phone…”

He can’t believe she, answering his phone for him while sitting on his softening dick. He starts rebutting her shirt for her, pressing a kiss to the centre of her chest before doing the last button up 

“Yeah, he’s just driving right now, yep, sounds good, Derek. We’ll Meet you on the tarmac,” she smiles, hanging up on him. “They found his trophies, Hawthorn is royally fucked, now.”

“Good, now let’s get you home.” 

—

Agreeing to go to the bar after work with the main team wasn’t her smartest decision. You see, once Derek Morgan gets a couple drinks in his system, he’s even more of a teasing little shit than normal. 

So far, she’s been able to avoid his questions, he’s been kidding around with Penelope, asking JJ and Will about what it's like to have a sex life with a kid in the home and even teasing Kate about getting knocked up around Valentine's Day… Savannah seven shows up around the time gets a 3rd drink and she thinks the coast is clear, he’ll be too busy with the love of his life to ask Y/N any questions. 

She was wrong. 

“So,” he announces, letting everyone know he’s about to go off on another tangent. “Tell us about this new thing you’ve got going on, who is he… or is it a she?” 

She just laughs, “I’m not seeing anyone.” 

“Ooo so some random dude gave you a hickie on a Thursday night?” 

“What is with you and making the whole Thursday night thing such a big deal? I had free time after work, sue me!” 

“I’m not trying to be mean, I just wanna know what’s happening in your life! You’re hot and young, you’ve gotta be doing something fun with your time.” 

“You’re a poet,” she teases him for rhyming. “But no, it’s nothing serious. It's… a situationship at best. We fuck to blow off steam, it’s nothing more.” 

She hopes that that will get him off her case, she says exactly what she knows he wants to hear and nothing more… but then she turns to Aaron. He’s taking the last sip of his drink, he frowns and checks his phone. “Excuse me, everyone, I have to head home, Jack needs me.” 

“Oh, yeah, no problem boss man, have a good night,” Derek taps his shoulder as Aaron pushes through the crowd. 

Her heart breaks. She fucked up. Spencer looks at her, knowingly. He’s probably the only one on the team who’s clued in on them sleeping together, and it’s only because he was the one who came to their hotel room to fetch them during the case. 

“Um…” she’s so thrown now, she just stares at the door feeling like shit. “I think I should go home, too.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Derek rolls his eyes. “Go get dicked-down.” 

“Derek,” she stares him down, trying to stand her ground. “Please stop. I don’t like when you do this.” 

“Okay,” he backs down. “I’m sorry, I was just teasing—

“If it’s just you laughing, it’s not funny,” she snaps back. “Please, stop asking about it, stop teasing, stop digging. I’m not someone who likes to share.” 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, genuinely,” he truly means it. 

“I’ve gotta go,” she grabs her purse and all but runs out the door. She runs down the sidewalk all the way to the parking lot and blocks the exit so he can’t drive out. “Aaron!” 

He rolls the window down, yelling, “are you crazy?! I could’ve hit you?” 

She rushes around to the passenger side and reefs on the door, “Open up!” He clicks the unlock button and she gets in quickly. Cars honk behind him so he has to keep driving, rolling out onto the road, he follows traffic out. “I’m so sorry!” 

“No, it’s fine, I get it—

“No. You don’t. I only said that because then they’d stop asking about it! You’re more to me than some stupid guy that I just fuck for fun, I promise you, you mean so so so much to me.” 

He pulls the car over to the side of the road and looks at her. “How much?” 

“I-I… Aaron?” She pleads with her eyes, not wanting to embarrass herself by saying it if he doesn’t love her back. 

“Say it.” 

She opens her mouth, trying to say it but she can’t. 

“Fine,” he shakes his head and gives in. “I get it if you don’t feel the same but this isn’t just sex for me. I only started it as a sex thing because I couldn’t handle asking you out on a real date and romancing you and you just getting bored of me… I thought if we had sex, maybe, just maybe, you’d love me back too.” 

“Aaron—

“It’s fine if you—

“I do love you!” She shouts. “I love you so much it makes me feel fucking insane! I never imagined you loving me back…” 

“Why not?” He doesn’t understand that. “You’re everything to me? I haven’t felt this way about someone since I was a teenager. When I thought my first wife was going to be the love of my life…” 

She softens up, completely, looking at him with her whole heart in her expression, “Oh, Aaron, I-I… I’m sorry, I just never thought you’d love me, you’re so important and I’m just—

“You’re a crustal member of my team. Without you, we’d all be lost… but you’re so much more than just the media girl,” he admits. “When I rehired for that position I hoped I’d have someone who would help me but you’ve done so much more than that. You make me feel special. You make me feel handsome again… you make me feel loved and appreciated and like I’m good. I don’t often feel like a good person. You make me not only feel like I’m worthy of happiness but you bring me so so much. I love you. I don’t care if that affects how we do our jobs. I love you. And I don’t know if I can stop.” 

She unclips her seatbelt and reaches over, cupping his face in her hands, “I don’t ever want you to.” 

He presses their lips together a bit roughly and she smiles into the kiss, “take me home,” she whispers against his lips. “Please?” 

“Put your seatbelt back on,” he teases as he pulls away. He makes sure she’s safely buckled in before he merges back out with the traffic. He moves his light hand over to rest on her leg, rubbing circles with his thumb, he just likes to touch her all the time. 

She reaches down to the button of her suit pants and pops it, she pulls at the fabric making the zipper hiss as it’s ripped apart. She grips his wrist and redirects his hand into her panties. Sometime between the flight home and heading to the bar, she changed her underwear… what she was wearing got a little ruined from their previous antics in the car, but she didn’t care. 

“Eager, are we?” 

She nods, “Please?” She holds his wrist with her right hand and wraps her left around his bicep, holding onto him as his finger makes contact with her clit once more. “Oh, thank you,” she moans, relaxing into her seat finally. 

He smirks, watching the road but he can see her head lulled back in his peripheral vision. “Let me hear you, baby, it’s just us…” 

“I’ve missed your fingers,” she admits through bated breath. “Oh my god, Aaron,” she pushes her hips up into his touch for more, feeling him press into her harder, he uses his forefingers to rub her clit now. She’s so fucking wet he can hear it alongside her whimpers and moans for more.

“You’re just so desperate for me,” he teases her.  

“Feels, oh god, feels so good, I— oh,” she bucks her hips up against his hand he knows she’s close. She grips his bicep harder, “I wanna cum, please? Please? Can I cum?” 

He smirks, turning onto her street, he could either let her cum now or make her hold off until he’s inside her… “cum for me, baby,” he lets her go. She’s going to be so much more pliant and overstimulated once he gets her through the door, now.

Barely over her orgasm, she points at her usual parking spot and tells him to take it. He pulls in and parks, he takes his hand out of her pants and sucks his fingers clean. She doesn’t even bother buttoning her pants back up, she simply throws off her seatbelt and opens the door. He follows her lead, into the building and towards the elevator. 

Once the doors are closed he lunges for her, kissing her deeply he cups his hand at the back of her head to protect her as he slams her up against the wall. Her hands go inside his suit jacket, scratching at his skin through his dress shirt. The elevator dings on her floor, opening its doors, they pull apart and he holds her hand as she drags him down the hallway towards her apartment. She digs her keys from her purse and unlocks the door as quickly as possible. 

Once again, he gets her inside, she tosses her things to the ground and has her turn to push him up against the wall. He pushes her suit jacket off her shoulders and she undoes his belt, pulling it through the loops and then she tosses it to the floor beside her purse. He starts to walk he backwards, still making out, he follows the floor plan of her apartment and leads her towards what he assumes is her bedroom. She simply pulls away and laughs, “Taking me to do laundry?” 

“Sorry, I don’t know where we’re going?” He laughs, too. Smiling at her, he keeps both his hands on her hips. “Show me the way?” 

She takes his hand and tugs him the other way down the hall, into her bedroom she flicks the light on and feels a bit embarrassed, “Sorry it’s a mess in here.” 

“It’s fine… I’m going to end up making a mess of you anyway,” Aaron teases. 

He pulls her in close again and starts unbuttoning her dress shirt. She does the same for him, pushing both his shirt and his jacket to the floor once she’s done. She takes her own shirt off too and then starts pushing her pants down. She kicks her shoes off and once she’s in just her underwear she gets into bed. She watches him kick his shoes off too, he makes eye contact with her as he pushes his pants and boxers to the floor. 

Oh, she’s getting ruined tonight. 

He gets on the bed between her legs, “come on, get naked with me,” he says as he reached for her panties. He tugs them off and she reaches behind her back to unclasp her bra. As soon as she’s completely naked, he hovers over her, and runs his hand from her cheek down her neck and between her breasts, “you’re so beautiful.” 

“You’re not too bad yourself,” she teases, leaning in to steal a kiss. 

He drops his chest against hers, wraps his arms around her and completely engulfs her with himself. She wraps her legs around him, grinding his hardening cock against her core. Holding his face in her hands. He trails his hands over her stomach, along her sides up to cup her boobs. He grinds his hips against hers, cock pushing between her folds the head collides with her clit, making them moan into each other's mouths.  

“Aaron baby,” she runs her fingers through his hair, “make love to me?” 

He grips himself at the base of his cock and taps the head against her clit with a smirk, she moans slightly, reaching out for him to come back to her, equally just as needy as him. 

He slips into her slowly, pushing in little by little while his tongue explores her mouth. With her hands now in his hair, his all over her body, she wraps her legs around him as he bottoms out. He pulls his lips away just enough to whisper, “I love you.” He kisses her jaw, up to her ear as he starts to thrust lightly. 

“I love you,” she moans back, grinding up against him. His pelvis rubs against her clit, he’s so deep inside of her, he’s so tender with her and her body. He wraps an arm around her, under her back, and the other cups the back of her head while he kisses her neck, fucking into her with so much passion she could cry. 

Other than their subtle moans and the headboard hitting the wall again, they’re mostly quiet. She’s so close, her stomach is a flutter of fireflies, twinkling as they swirl around inside of her. “Please?” She mumbles, gripping his back like her life depends on it, “fuck, go a little harder, please?” 

He hums against her neck before pulling back, he settles on his knees, spreading hers apart as he fucks into her with more intent. He shoves a pillow under her lower back, getting even deeper inside than before while at a beautiful angle. He reaches between them, rubbing her clit for added pleasure and boy, does she love it. Her back arches and she writhes in the sheets with only one thought in her mind. 

“I love you, oh I love you,” she reminds him. “Right there, please, baby?” 

“Cum for me, my love,” he can’t help but smile, the sight unfolding under him was a dream come true. 

Her orgasm hits her suddenly, spreading through her body while she shook and trembled under him. “Holy shit,” he stumbled forward, resting against her again as he rutted his hips into her with vigour. She wrapped herself around him again, relishing in the pleasure that filled her body.

His rhythm falters, “I love you, baby, god, I’m— oh fuck, I love you,” he pants against her neck buried so deep inside of her, he lets go and finishes with a deep groan. 

He slumps against her, fucked out and exhausted. She holds him close, running her hands up and down his back. “I love you… I’m so glad I can say it now.” 

“I’m glad too,” he smiles against her. He snuggles in, not resting as much weight on her but still there, on her chest and still inside her. “I’m going to tell you all the time.” 

“Should we go see Cruz tomorrow?” She suggests. “I don't think I can keep it a secret anymore.” 

He nods, “Yeah… and you can tell everyone when you want to. I want you to be respected no matter what.” 

“Which is why I love you,” she teases. 

“We’re going to be okay,” he assures her. “I know it.” 

“I do too.” 

@dim-i-try @mrs-ssa-hotch 

General Taglist 

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 @squishyturtlee @katsukis1wife @babybisexual @marsmunson86 @buckleyhans

[asslover4]

Hot otome game takes but most of it is just obey me:

These are just my two cents ofc and people are free to disagree

1) I didn't really like Ikemen Prince. This is coming from someone who normally loves Cybrid games (and has even played some of the routes multiple times !), but everything about Ikemen Prince, from the plot to the characters, failed to grab my attention. In terms of the hype it gets, I think it should be switched with Ikemen Revolution, which I thought was stronger on all fronts but often gets left out of promo

2) The writing in obey me stopped being good about halfway through the first game, when it started attracting a younger fan base. This meant the devs had to balance between catering to the old fans and the waves of new, usually younger fans, so the quality of the writing suffered as a result

3) I'm not massively surprised about obey me nb. Back in 2022 (or whenever tf nb got announced), the devs also announced they'd stop updating om on reddit, a social media platform where the fan base was pretty much nonexistent. The only reason I found out was that I followed @/obeymesimppage on instagram at the time. Tbh, the very idea of nb had always felt pointless to me in terms of the plot - why did I need to start again from a new game after putting a lot of time and reading a lot of the story for the existing one ? Why not just add nb onto the old game as new chapters ? (the reason is money ofc, and trying to milk the vip players and gacha collectors). This, along with the continuation of many of the problems in the old game, was one of the reasons i never properly got into nb. Anyway, 5 more chapters are definitely not going to be enough to wrap up all the ongoing threads in a satisfactory way. The ending, if it will even be something that can be considered that, will probably be rushed and sloppy (am I salty about Thirteen remaining undateable in both games ? Yes. Yes I am)

4) This next one isn't really a hot take from what I've seen, but a lot of MCs are written to be quite two dimensional - most of them are soft, shy and feminine, which there's nothing wrong with, but it gets boring when all of the stories have protagonists that are carbon copies of each other. One of the reasons I like Ikemen Sengoku so much is that the MC is actually funny - she's sassy and takes no bullshit. After bashing it throughout this post, I'll also throw obey me a bone (because there were also many things the devs did incredibly well) - leaving so much about the MC up to interpretation (including the gender, which is definitely sonething I'd like to see more of) was an infinitely better move than writing the same old archetype for every story

5) Please include romanceable women and female friendships. The former is obviously self indulgent, but I feel like the latter would add a whole new dimension to the games and make them a lot more fun and relatable - it's usually just the (normally female) MC with a bunch of guys, so write in another woman who can support the MC, laugh with her and gossip with her about the love interests

6) I'd rather pay an initial price (thank you touchstarved) or watch ads at the end of a chapter than download a "free" game only to be forced to pay for vip halfway through or stop playing (looking at you obey me). I honestly think Cybrid do it best here with their daily free tickets

[bewareofchris]

I've been on the writer's tag again.

Listen guys.

Nobody owes your fanfic anything. I know that you want validation and adoration and those are both completely normal things to want. But this obsessive demand for comments over kudos and reblogs over likes is A Problem.

I won't bore you with tales of yore where we literally punted our fiction into the world with no idea of how it was being perceived by others because the only way to know if anyone even glanced at it was by the incredibly inaccurate page counter on our shitty geocities page.

(But that was a thing and it's semi-relevant to my point.)

A lot of you are growing up in a era of social media and viral marketing. You are babies of the influencer age, raised on the myth that if you can just get enough attention you'll get famous for something. I don't mean 10 million followers on insta famous but famous in your specific sphere.

That will not happen for you.

Not because people aren't reblogging your shit or writing out loving comments but because it's a myth. The idea that if you shame, beg and cajole enough people into interacting with your creation you'll access some serotonin high and ascend to a greater state of being is also a myth.

Here's the truth:

Most writers do not know how the majority of their audience feels about their fics. Those very few novels that you see on booktok, X (former twitter) or wherever else you get your writing news represent an infinitesimal portion of stories written and books published.

Most writers do have writing buddies or trusted members of an inner circle that they share their writing with.

For most fandoms, fanfics are so plentiful it's like going into a mall sized grocery store that sells only apples and then demanding the customer review every apple they touch.

For those few fanfics that you see that have an outrageous number of comments there are three possible explanations: 1. that person is what we used to call a "Big Name Ficcer" and they have amassed a following through consistent production of whatever that fandom is into, 2. that is a fic so long you have to sign a waiver to start reading it and despite the fact it was started seven years ago its still getting updated, or 3. that person is writing a viral fic in a fandom that is presently on fire.

Your self worth and self esteem cannot be tied to writing and posting fanfiction. It might be a fun outlet or you might be looking for your viral moment, but either way the moment you start weighing your worth as an author or creator based on what a bunch of strangers on the internet think of you is the moment you give up on yourself.

Social media has brainwashed you into thinking that you must be recognized and rewarded for the things that you put onto the internet. Or maybe it hasn't brainwashed you, maybe you just want to get a comment because you worked super hard on something and you feel like if you can't even get one decent response then its all been wasted. (I.e. you've been brainwashed into the feeling that you need the validation of strangers for happiness purposes.)

So what are you going to do about this?

Get off the internet. I don't mean permanently. I don't even mean literally. I mean take yourself out of the spaces that reinforce the idea that you need validation from strangers to be happy. Stop going on the social media sites for a few days (or a few weeks). If you've got a friend in fandom that you share fics, headcanons, ideas or anything with start chatting with them about something you want to write. Invest in them, in what they're doing and their opinions and how they react to your creations.

Put your shit on the internet like you literally don't give a fuck about anyone's opinion. Explain nothing about your writing choices. Put warnings, no more than 5 tags and drop that shit into the world like a newborn giraffe. Then ignore it.

Teach yourself to seek validation from your accomplishments: write a slightly longer fic, write a fic in a different genre, write a fic in a different rating, write a fic in a different fandom.

Find an actual friend that you actually interact with whose opinion you know matters because you agree on the important stuff.

Stop begging strangers for compliments like a cartoon hobo shaking a cup for coins. You're better than that.

[luxaofhesperides]

Listen. I love the dcxdp crossover. It’s a lot of fun! There’s so much that can be done for this crossover, with all the characters and settings and the many plots that can spring up from them. But as much as I love writing for it and sharing my fics with the community, there’s been a significant uptick in things that are rubbing me the wrong way. Some of these things have to do with canon vs fanon, but others are more about the shifting culture of the community.

(keep in mind that I only see things on Tumblr and am not in any discords, so my experience will be different from others bc I have a more limited experience with the wider community)

(putting it all under a read more bc its long)

Let’s start off with a look at what we’re doing as a group:

Building off of completed fics on tumblr: I always thought the etiquette is to not build off of a completed work without permission. Someone had an idea and executed it, then shared it with us. It should end there. If you want to add to it, contact the author first and see if it’s something they’re fine with; some will say no, some will say yes, some will say yes but be sure to credit them for the original fic. A lot of what I’m seeing is a completed fic gets added on to in a way that completely takes it away from the original idea. Having experienced this myself (on a requested prompt from someone else, no less), I found it kind of rude. Maybe it’s just me, but a completed fic is not a prompt request or something open for building up another story around. It’s already completed. Leave the story as is and let the author know you liked it.

Expecting others to write for you: the prompts are what build this crossover fandom, in my eyes. Prompts are posted and people create something around them, either as a group by adding onto what other people are saying, or as individual fics that one person wrote. Now I’m seeing people throw out prompts that are basically fic outlines, then begging others to write something for it. Like, those prompts are already written! They have very specific details! Why not write it yourself? You’re already halfway there, you can just write the thing you want to see and post it. It’s not about being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ at writing, it’s about crafting an idea to share to the world. Why ask others to write it for you when you’ve already practically done it?

But also, you are not owed fic. This might just be general fandom burn out talking, but being a fic author who has been treated like a machine? It sucks. I love writing, but I share what I write because what I wrote made me happy and I wanted to share that with others. I’m not a content creating machine who has to pump out fic after fic for other people’s entertainment. I just want to share what I love and having people pop up in my notifs only going “write more/tag me/sequel?/etc” is tiring. I get that it’s coming from a place of love bc you liked the fic enough to want to see more, but please actually talk about what I’ve already written instead of going “update? More? MORE????”

Hostility to DC canon: I get that DC canon is a mess, but it still is a canon and has a lot of cool stuff! I’m seeing a lot of posts recently about how dpxdc people refuse to engage with the comics, and I need to let yall know that this is not a new thing. DC fans also refuse to engage with the comics (it’s mostly batfam) and it’s very easy to tell who has and who hasnt ready batfam related stuff bc the fanon is incredibly wrong about characterisation and what happened in comics. But that’s for a different post.

I’m seeing both sides of the argument (this is for fun, reading comics isn’t required, don’t like don’t read vs it’s tiring seeing people butcher my favorite characters into ocs with their name/face, I want to share my love for comics but there’s so much pushback, it shouldn’t be weird to expect people engaging with a media to have actually engaged with that media). And I think you should engage with comics! DP is a unique case in which fanon is for the most part better and more interesting than the original show (also death to the author/butch hartman), but DC comics shouldn’t be engaged with in that way. If you like the characters you see in dpxdc, you should read about them in comics! The whole point of a fandom is that you’re a fan of the original media. That’s why you’re engaging with it in this way, writing within the world and characters and canon.

I don’t know how people write for fandoms when they’re not familiar with the source material. I wanted to write dcxdp so I started rewatching DP. I’m reading comics. I want to know the characters and their stories so I can have a foundation to write from, and also to better understand the media so I can share my love for it. The refusal to engage with source material while engaging with its fandom is so strange to me.

Also dc fans who love the comics are great! In my experience, they’re very kind and willing to help you jump into comics! Don’t know where to start? Pick a character or team and follow them! Want a reading guide? We’ve got TONS. want thoughts on a specific character or comic run? Just ask!

Now to more specific points about what I’m seeing in dcxdp works:

Mischaracterized batfam: this is a group of people who are disasters and have complicated relationships with each other. They’re kind, wonderful people who bring out the best and worst in each other. Why is Batman always adopting people. Why is this a running joke with the batfam. I get it being a joke the first few times, but I’ve seen it so often and done like it’s accurate characterization that I just. I can’t. I leave that fic immediately. I can’t do it anymore. Batman is paranoid and tried very hard to keep kids away from him/away from being a vigilante. Unfortunately all the kids he got are stubborn and smart so he was doomed from the beginning.

Superman and Kon: you guys are pretty much only pulling from Young Justice Animated which I think is a terrible adaptation, but that’s my own taste. But seriously. Clark is kind. That’s an important part of his character! He’s the strongest man in the world and he’s kind. He was also dead when Kon first appeared as a experiment from CADMUS in Hawaii. They’re not father-son, but they are family and they do care for each other, once they get to know each other. Also Kon is not an angry broody boy, he’s funny! And annoying! pls read kon comics guys, i promise youll like his actual character

Chronos??? Guys. Chronos is not a god in DC canon. He is in Greek mythology, but in DC he’s a Captain Atom villain and he’s literally just a guy who got obsessed with having perfect timing. He’s themed around clocks. He has nothing to do with time travel or time gods. The Speedforce is Time, basically, and it is not human. It is an eldritch being beyond our comprehension that can eat people. If it chooses to have a human form, it’s going to choose to look like Bart. Please read Flash stuff, it’s interesting!

Lazarus Pit Madness lasts like 5 minutes in canon. Jason having it, and being affected by it for years, is a purely fanon thing from the dc side. Not going to say anything more on this because it goes into Jason Todd discourse.

Repetition: I’m sorry but I’m tired of seeing the same things over and over. I barely see anything out of the dcxdp tags thats new and fun to engage with. Everything is the same variation of “Danny helps Pit Mad Jason”, “Bruce insta-adopts Danny”, “Superman is mean to clones”, etc etc. Think of any popular dcxdp trope and that’s all you’ll see. I get why these are fun and popular, but the way it’s being engaged with now? It literally makes me exit Tumblr and put my phone down.

Not every prompt has to go down the same routes as the other prompts. Please explore more options, branch out, twist those tropes around to do something new with them. And also stop going onto other people’s fics and saying “what about [dcxdp trope]? Cant wait to see [dcxdp trope]! You should have [dcxdp] trope.” If I didn’t include it, it’s not included for a reason. There are hundreds of other fics that write specifically about those exact tropes. Read those, or write your own. (im being super bitter here but please just let me write what i want to write without trying to pull the story into another direction for a trope you like. Im writing for me, but sharing it for you. Not every fic needs those tropes in them.)

Tumblr specific things: this is less about the content and more about general posting etiquette. Please put long posts under a read more. If it’s more then three paragraphs, consider adding a read more if there is significantly MORE than three paragraphs. Tag appropriately. Content warnings and trigger warnings should be at the very top of the post and in the tags so they can be properly blocked. If you’re posting fic/prompt, please double check your spelling and fix any typos you find because posts that are filled with excessive typos are difficult to read.

There’s probably a lot more to talk about, but just getting this much out is tiring and, frankly, I don’t want to think on it any more today. If you reply/add comments, I won’t get to them in a while bc I will be writing ghostlights and yhk fic to lift my mood :)

[wutheringmights]

Thank your for the chapter. This is me submitting my request for director's commentary.

Sorry this is very late.

But, you know.

*gestures wildly at the state of the world*

This is the first chapter in a long time where I was actively having fun writing more than 30% of it. Writing doesn’t always have to be “fun” for me to write it, but spending most of this year stuck on two chapters I absolutely hated did a number on me. 

I still didn’t get to everything I wanted in this chapter; I have been trying to get to the fallout for the Knights of Hyrule encounter for most of this year now (jfc!), but I’ve had to expand the plot points leading up to it. This entire Castle Town arc was planned to be one chapter. Past Frankie was insane for thinking that was possible. 

Pacing-wise, this chapter really did need to be on its own. The important plot points needed their own space to breathe; trying to shove all of this and the contents of the next chapter into one would have led to a lot of things being overshadowed. So even though everything is still moving along relatively slowly, the pacing is somewhat on purpose this time. 

As previously stated on this blog, I sorely neglected updating AO3 with the new chapter total. There is 6 chapters left (5 plot chapters, then an epilogue). Rest easy. This story will take me a while longer yet to complete. 

That being said, don’t be too surprised if I keep budgeting in more chapters. But if this story needs more than 40 chapters, I will abscond from society and become a sheep herder in, like, Iceland.  

(Sorry to front-load the housekeeping information; I usually keep this stuff for the end,  all of this provides context for my first bit about the actual chapter.) 

I am so happy that pre-heart connection stuff with Proxi got its own chapter, as opposed to being included with the post-connection drama of how Link starts clawing his way out of his depression. 

I mentioned last chapter that everything with the first Proxi meeting was an utter failure to me. While this chapter doesn’t erase the problems of the former, it nonetheless is an improvement and more in-line with how I wanted this Proxi storyline to go. 

Link’s depression baths is 100% me projecting-- I had a season of my life where everything in my life kinda fell apart and I became extremely depressed and anxious. One of my coping mechanisms was to constantly take showers. Like Link, I got up to around four showers a day before I was told to knock it off for the sake of the water bill. 

Depression causing a lack of hygiene and self-care is fairly well-represented in media at this point. I relate way more to depression causing a spurt of “good” habits (that are just maladaptive coping mechanisms in their own right) more, and I want to include more of them into my writing. Link seems like the kind of guy who would overcompensate like that too. 

The events of the chapter were condensed from my original vision. The party and the fireworks were going to be two separate incidents, but I wanted to cut down on the bulk of writing each chapter requires of me (more on this later). Luckily, the original idea for the fireworks also included celebrating a holiday (New Years), so the change was easy to pull off. 

I did lose an aspect of that scene I really liked though: Link knowing he was experiencing a trigger deciding to hide in his cellar, all the while congratulating himself for reacting normally while Proxi is like hiding in a cellar isn’t coping, Link!!!!

Fireworks being a trigger is a bit of a cliche, and a part of me really wishes I found something more unique to trigger Link with. But fireworks is a really effective shorthand, partly because it’s so prevalent in real life, and partly because contrasting a celebratory activity with war trauma is so evocative. 

It’s also very silly how significant events in Link’s life keep coinciding with holidays and birthdays. I want to acknowledge both for the sake of world building, but going through the effort of developing them is only worth it if there’s a plot point attached.

But who hasn’t had moments of great revelations while at the family Thanksgiving party?

I like the idea of various holidays/feasts in Hyrule having different levels of importance depending on your tribe or what region you live in, as well as them being celebrated differently depending on your culture. 

Both the Sheikah and the Hylians would place heavy significance on the feast since Hylia is one of their main goddesses, but they would be celebrated differently. I brushed a bit on the idea of the religious ceremonies being different, but I cut back on sharing more of my ideas for the specific celebrations. 

Very specifically, I wanted the Sheikah to have a tradition of performing theatrical plays of significant cultural moments (basically a kabuki-theater version of a nativity play) (can you tell I was raised catholic?). 

I have plans to do something involving a kabuki play next chapter, so I won’t elaborate more on what the play was supposed to be. However, the play did get cut because I planted Link in the banquet hall with no care to move him from that spot. 

I like the idea of moms who are flawed moms in really normal ways. The way Ayane’s mother is very sweet to Link while having these rigid standards for Ayane is very real to life, in part because it’s based on how a lot of mothers I know act to their child’s friends versus their actual child. 

In a similar vein, I’m also fascinated by mothers who fail their children in such specific ways that it would only be a failure to their child-- like a mother giving too much independence to a child who needs more help, etc. That’s my design for these slow (and hopefully subtle) reveals of how Link struggles with his mother’s memory. On one hand, it’s obvious that he was made to feel like a failure of a child, and he probably knows that was wrong of her. On the other, she was a good parent overall and she’s dead. If you have never experienced that particular cocktail of guilt, let me just say that it messes you up. 

The kids who were doing the snowball fight are Ayane’s friends, which is why one of them remarked that Link was going to yell at them again (see: when Link yelled at Ayane the first time he picked her up from school). Katsuki is the only friend of Ayane’s I’ve consistently named-dropped, so I hope that cued you in to who these kids were.

Speaking of which: I stole that name from Bakugo from My Hero Academia. I was watching the show at the time, and I like the character. Ergo, I stole his name.

Link being very aware that he had been triggered during the fireworks show-- I have a very specific gripe about the way people write PTSD that bleeds through this sequence that I cannot explain in a sentence or two. But what’s important is that I have experienced that moment when your body is triggered but your brain isn’t-- so you can start to feel yourself freaking out while in your mind you know there is no threat, yet the body’s reaction starts to cloud your mind, causing a spiral of anxiety and panic. 

Proxi visiting the fairy fountain in Kakariko is one of my favorite scenes. I just like how simple it is, and how it gives a glimpse into what Proxi’s life is like outside of Link.

I did momentarily freak out after posting because I was worried I didn’t make it clear before this chapter that while there is magic lingering at the fountain it can’t heal. But no one has mentioned it yet, so I think I’m safe to wait until a future chapter to clarify that.

Fairies being too small to have more than one emotion is of course taken from Peter Pan. As a long-time lover of fairies (my childhood hyperfixation), it’s a whimsical idea that I just adore. I originally wanted to use that idea as justification for Proxi mirroring Link’s emotions without Link mirroring hers. 

There would be scenes where he is utterly calm while she’s freaking out or crying because he’s good at covering his feelings, but she can’t. I thought this would rid her of too much agency, so I changed it to a mutual sharing of emotions so that Proxi has more space to her own person while still being his “translator.”

I also like the idea of Link being able to gather the ability to talk, but only in relation to comforting Proxi. That’s development, baby. 

I do wish I rewrote that last scene where he feels Proxi’s joy for the first time, as I really like the idea that he would feel a sense of helplessness and horror to be controlled by another person like that. What’s there now is fine, but it could be better.

Now, onto the present-day section: 

It is very, very obvious that I meant to end the last chapter with that conversation between Warriors and Lincoln. Like I said, the original version really sucked (or at least, my original prose describing what the Chain’s arrival at the castle was like). It makes more sense for Lincoln to drop the information about Lionel in the same chapter Lionel is name-dropped.

Lionel was originally going to be Lincoln’s name, but I picked Lincoln since it has the more obvious tie to the Link-Linkle naming pattern. 

Also, this chapter includes a much needed discussion about the ethics of blaming all of the nation’s problems on a single ethnic group. On one hand, it is stupidly effective to utilize bigotry to gather power, and it’s a rhetorical technique even a more morally-upstanding Warriors would use. On the other hand, that’s an objectively terrible thing to do oh my god. 

So I kinda had to go in and cover my bases of having the characters talk and acknowledge what the implications of Warriors’s plan is. The big glaring issue of this conversation is that it also implicates Lincoln and rids him of his moral superiority. 

Personally, I kinda struggle to think of a real-world equivalent to the dynamic I established in the story, where the institution of the Sheikah does a lot of harm while the people within the institution are experiencing the social-consequences of being associated with it. The best I can come up with is Mormoms. 

Either way, I live in fear someone is going to tell me that this is actually about an underprivileged group I am not aware of currently, and I am contributing to their oppression by not critically analyzing Link and Lincoln’s plans correctly. Which would be a valid criticism to make, but one I could avoid if I had just worked out in advance what the hell is this is an accidental allegory for, educated myself, and then fixed the issue. 

If you guys can think of something, let me know so that I can get started on educating myself and such.

The Castle Town arc’s recurring theme is just bureaucracy, which does not make for exciting storytelling. But I do think it’s fitting for Warriors, who used to benefit from the system, to realize all the ways it’s not made to actually help people. I also think he’s the kind of person to realize he doesn’t have the time or ability to rehaul it entirely and has to settle on trying to work within it.

I can finally reveal my “Midna is a fantastic public servant” agenda. My girl was explicitly stated to be a good and dedicated ruler in Twilight Princess, and I will not let anyone else forget it. 

I really wish that this was more of an ensemble story so that I can write about Hyrule and Sky’s adventures in the Castle Town nightlife

If there is one thing I don’t really like about this chapter, it’s the sequence from Warriors talking to Lana about Cia to the end of Icarius’s capture. Reading it back, it really comes off as very corny and very carelessly written.

I initially planned for Icarius to be captured during the bell ringing in the lead up to Warriors trying to draw the Master Sword

I was imagining a scene where they are watching the news about the invasion be announced and, as Warriors is cursing the bad luck of it all, Spirit would just scrunch his brow and say, “Captain.” And Warriors, who is unfortunately drift compatible with him, would be like “go ahead.” And then Spirit would motion for Linkle to follow, and the two of them would reappear after the Master Sword rejected Warriors with Icarius already tied up.

The problem was that would block Spirit off from understanding the whole Master Sword rejection thing, and I really needed him to carve up Warriors’s hand. 

So I punted this whole ordeal with Icarius off to another chapter, and I have been scrambling trying to find another spot for him.

Ultimately, I do think this worked out because I have no idea what the hell the would have done with Icarius during the networking scenes.

After being disappointed with how this version of the capture scene turned out, I was very tempted to cut it and just have Spirit and Linkle haul Icarius into Warriors’s office, but I didn’t want to cut out a scene of Linkle being a bit of a badass. 

And let’s talk about Icarius, because it’s been a while since we’ve thought about him.

First off, you can tell that I was having a lot of fun this chapter trying to find ways to let them have a conversation with Icarius when he can’t speak verbally and they don’t know his sign. The dictionary combined with the gesturing seemed like a fun but logical solution.

Though, in the back of my brain, I kept remembering how stupid I thought that bit in Iron Flame about the translation was. So when I wrote about Warriors translating Faovarian with just a dictionary, I was sitting there feeling like the biggest idiot in the world. 

This scene also reminded me how tragic it is that Icarius can’t speak, because I know how hilarious this man would have been with sassing his captors. 

I also got a chance to put forth the core tenant of Icarius’s feelings for Warriors: mainly, that he thinks Warriors is both insanely handsome but ultimately stupid as all fuck. 

When I first made it clear that the House of Nephus was a reflection of Warriors, Time, and Spirit, I totally thought someone would put together that Icarius, as the Spirit-equivalent, was trying to save Philo. No one ever remarked on it, so maybe it was too obvious to mention. 

(If I were to ever do another one-shot side story in the style of Smoke the Pipe, I would probably do one about Icarius’s life before the events of the plot, if only because I have a lot of ideas of how Faovaria works and how Icarius and Nephus got to where they are now; though I doubt anyone would be as interested in my silly OC’s as I am). 

I also thought someone would figure out Philo was related to the whole Fused Shadow plotline when, in his introductory scene, he used Midna’s powers. I thought it was obvious. 

I also like the idea of the Dark Interlopers having different legacies outside of Hyrule; generally, I’ve just had a lot of fun taking different bits of canon Hyrule lore and figuring out how they could fit into a greater world. My favorite (not in this chapter) example is when Nephus referred the the Three Goddess as oracles mistaken for goddesses. We know Din and Nayru appeared as oracles outside of Hyrule, and Nephus’s line implies that they are still important folk figures in Faovaria, just not goddesses. 

Spirit’s snarky good luck being the nice version of his thoughts is exactly the kind of bullshit I would pull as a socially-inept kid; he realized what he originally wanted to say was too mean so he wanted to convey some kind of recognition that he understood Icarius’s thought process but still wanted to warn him how hard it was going to be. He really, genuinely thought good luck would be the nicest way of conveying that. He’s so bad with people. I love him. 

And, god. Time. Poor guy has walked around his entire life feeling like there has only ever been one person who ever cared for him, only for that one person to turn around and be like yeah I regret helping you. 

Then there’s Warriors who is starting to learn to not let himself get tangled up in fights against Spirit, who is so wrapped up in trying to stop this war that he doesn’t even have the energy to entertain Spirit’s bullshit right now.

Which leaves Spirit alone, with only Warriors to cling on to. 

His conversation with Warriors in the hallway is another favorite of mine, if only because it sounds really natural. I think my dialogue is too on the nose sometimes, so I’ve been trying to let the characters talk around themselves way more. 

Hot tip: if you are writing about men, make sure you mention their facial hair and shaving habits. As a long-time lover of facial hair, I love hearing about characters growing stubble or having to remember to shave in the morning. It’s a little detail that gets overlooked in fiction a lot, and I’m so bitter about it. 

Oh, the newspaper article. Let’s chat about that now. 

Public opinion plays a big role in political intrigue, which I never see enough stories taking advantage of. I knew from the beginning that I wanted Warriors to get exposed in the newspaper after he was well into cleaning up his act, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. 

As many of you know, one of my most infamous cuts from the story is an original character who was a journalist during the war producing propaganda about Warriors. In the present day, this journalist would have felt so guilty for the role they played that they would have been on the pursuit of writing a story about what really happened back then. They would have been a neutral to antagonistic force in Warriors’s life. 

You can probably guess that this expose was supposed to be their work-- a decision to finally report truthfully despite being asked to lie once more for the greater good. I really wanted to juggle with the ethics of propaganda, and to have a moment where Warriors straddles that moral line by wanting to utilize propaganda for the greater good (but for real this time). 

I cut the character because a) there were too many bozos in this story already, and b) I didn’t think that a plotline about propaganda would be the most useful in a story about a kingdom where the people’s opinion does not matter (in retrospect, that’s a misconception on my part about what propaganda is used for). 

In some ways, I think it did hurt the story a bit to not have a specific character attached to the article. However, I ultimately like having no specific journalist attached to it since it places the blame more squarely on Impa. 

Writing the full article out was most definitely not the best use of my time or the best use of space, but I was worried that if I did not, readers would be really confused as to what the general public did and did not know. 

Stylistically, the article is meant to be more of an profile/investigation piece over a straight-informative blurb. The best example I can find is this article from the Cut on Usha Vance.

(I have spent the past month deep in the anti-Vance think pieces. Fuck both of them. I can’t believe I am going to have to keep hearing about these bastards probably for the rest of my life.)

As you can see, there is the occasional use of first person and more storytelling techniques used alongside facts. I chose this style mostly to make sure the article wasn’t too boring to read. 

I also struggled picking good numbers for the article that would sound severe, without being over the top. I think I picked some realistic stats. But if I messed up, it would be very funny and would invalidate all of my bitching about Fourth Wing’s bad numbers. 

At least I got to use this as an opportunity to drop some new info on you, such as...

Marigold was 19 when she gave birth to Warriors. Yeah, there’s a bit more to the Marigold story that is still left to be uncovered. There is a thematic reason to why Warriors does not seem to acknowledge how young she was when she became his mother.

How do I put this? There’s an irony in him knowing that he was failed by being made responsible for the kingdom at 17, and then not realizing that Marigold was also failed in a similar way. I think people generally have a problem realizing that the problems they see in the world are more widespread than they are, and that they take on multiple forms. And when one thing is wrong in the world, it usually is reflected elsewhere in an unexpected way. 

Warriors believes that Marigold had a responsibility to take care of him because she was his mother despite her age. Warriors had a responsibility to be the hero, despite his age. He understands that just because society at large saw this as his duty, it doesn’t mean it was right. He doesn’t realize this wasn’t Marigold’s duty either to take care of him.

I explored this idea earlier in the story with the use of child soldiers being contrasted with Kat’s underage prostitution. 

Also, Anders Brecht. His last name is a reference to Bertold Brecht, the playwright.

It’s nice to get his story out of Warriors’s perspective of my friend betrayed me and into this is a well-educated activist who was executed for trying to make positive change in the world. To this day, it surprises me how many people were not sympathetic to the turncoats in this story.

Another thematic point: both Anders and Marigold were the Hyrulean-equivalent of leftists. Despite having their influence on him, Warriors still turned out far more moderate than them, and far more prone to causing harm. Insert rant here about how just because you surround yourself with good people doesn’t mean you will turn out like them, etc. 

Spirit being ashamed about the article-- Spirit is definitely someone who understands that just because someone knows you went through some shit, it doesn’t mean they will really give you the validation you want. He’s what happens when the vitamin fantasy doesn’t yield the acknowledgement you thought you were going to get. 

And, finally, Warriors gets put into a corner and manages not to resort to using Spirit to his advantage. I enjoy that Warriors’s determination to not use Spirit as a pawn to sway public opinion back into his favor comes at the cost of, well, being on the verge of losing the goddamn fight. Oh Warriors, you can be a better person now but being a good person doesn’t win wars. 

While the opening conversation between Lincoln and Warriors would have 100% worked better at the end of the last chapter, I do think it’s nice that their conversations are bookends. 

I do think it’s kinda silly that celebrities have to apologize for doing something wrong to the general public, and a part of me wanted to use this story as a means to point that out. But I also have to admit that there is a social reason why we expect it, and I have come out on the side of pro-apology. 

This is the first time in-story that Lincoln hugs Warriors. 

Warriors really needed someone to tell him that they were proud of him and, I won’t lie, I also kinda needed it at the moment of writing. As much as Warriors still has a lot to learn and improve on, it feels good to see him get some of the praise he desperately needs. 

Warriors’s character arc really is just him realizing that while he has to do his heroic duties, he would much rather be living a quiet domestic life with his family. Well, he always knew he wanted that. He just went about it wrong with Spirit and Time. He’s just getting to start over with a better perspective and less coercion. 

And finally, the Knights of Hyrule are arriving. I’m not lying when I say that I have spent most of this year trying to get to this stupid plot point. I thought the trip to Castle Town to now was going to be one chapter. That was back in March. It’s November now. Ugh. 

So yeah. That’s the chapter. 

You might have noticed that my style is a bit different this chapter. Looking back on old chapters, I can see myself overwriting in a lot of places, especially in the narration the explore’s Warriors’s thought process. I’ve been trying to cut that back in order to both clean up my writing and cut down on the sheer bulk of words every chapter requires.

I think it’s working out so far, but I won’t blame anyone for thinking the chapter is a little underwritten, or it seems like I’m putting in less effort into the story. 

Ideally, I would like to get two more chapters out by the end of the year-- one for each month. I have no idea how that will work out when I am as busy as usual and the holidays are coming up. But I will try my best. 

(I also just realized that there is three weeks left to the month and I have not started the new chapter yet. Oof.)

(If I keep up the chapter a month pace, the story will end around April, aka: CTB’s next birthday.)

Thank you to everyone who has kept up with this story for so long. I love writing long stories, but there’s always a point where readership peters out (not surprising; comes with the art form). CTB has long hit this point (taking a four month break this year did not help), so I appreciate everyone who has kept up so far and everyone who has recently given this story a shot. Hopefully the next chapter will worth all the time and dedication you have shown this story so far <3

[crimsonhydrangeavn]

Hi! I absolutely loved the demo of your game—it was amazing! I'm excited to see more of it. I have two questions: First, how would Garret or Teagan react if they were in a room full of yanderes with y/n? Second, I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but I'm genuinely curious—how long does it usually take to release a new episode? I'm really looking forward to continuing the game, and I appreciate all the hard work you put into it. I hope I'm not rushing anyone, and I'm truly sorry if it comes off that way. Thank you so much for reading!

Thank you so much for your ask! I'll go ahead and answer your second question first before moving onto the first one! lol

I wanted to start off by thanking you for asking your question in a kind and respectful way, I completely understand where you're coming from and I don't take any offense to it what so ever!

I know I really appreciate transparency when it comes to games/ things I'm a fan of, so I want to do what I can to make sure I'm as honest and upfront with you all as possible.

So I went through my logs and did the math. Day 1 took me about 6 months from start to finish and Day 2 took me almost a full year from start to finish. That being said, Day 1 was 11k words and Day 2 was 24.5k words total. So given the fact that Day 2 was more than twice as long as Day 1, I can see why it took double the time as Day 1. (That and I learned how to add animation into Renpy and spent a little over a month going down that rabbit hole and making a few animations for the game. I also spent some time refining Day 1 while working on Day 2 so that probably made the Day 2 release take longer than it would have otherwise)

The reason why it takes as long as it does is because I'm making this game entirely by myself. That includes the script, all of the art assets, the programming, the audio, and not to mention all of the social media, and patreon content.

On top of that I also have a pretty steady stream of freelance work that usually equals to about 30-50 hours a week. I've burnt myself out in the past and I'm trying to keep a sustainable pace where I'm making progress on CHVN but I'm also enjoying life and taking breaks as needed.

That being said, I do post monthly game updates on my patreon to discuss what I've finished that month, what I have left, and what the current word count is. ( ATM it's longer than Day 1 and I still have a lot planned haha)

I also think it's worth mentioning that this is my first game and I'm learning how to do everything from scratch. My background is in the visual arts so programming and audio stuff is completely foreign to me. That being said, I'm stubborn as hell and for better or for worse once I put my mind to something, I'll get it done one way or another.

Hopefully that answers your question! Once I finish up the script portion of Day 3, I can give a better estimate of how long it'll take me, but until then I really have no idea when the actual release date will be.

Now, onto the easier/ fun part of your question! lol

Garret would play nice at first, however he would make sure that he was never more than a step away from your side. He doesn't trust anyone to behave themselves around you, especially if they're anything like him.

Teagan on the other hand would immediately try to get you to leave the room. They don't deal well with competition and would want to remove you from the situation asap. If you refused/ couldn't leave with them, then they would make sure to talk shit about all of the other Yandere's and taint your view of them. While it would put an obvious target on their own back, at least they'd know you wouldn't talk to or go off with them out of your own free will.

Thank you again for all of your support! I really appreciate it and I can only hope that the next update is worth the wait!

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles - Update 7/October/2023

It was weird getting back to coding this week, hehe! I’ve been only doing the writing for the planning for so long that getting back to the shift of how to code was a bit of an eye-opener once again!

But it didn’t take long to get back in the flow.

Though first up this week were social media days, and I had some serious fun with that!

It was the Autumnal/Halloween scenarios to write up for the Patreon specials this month, and you guys decided on some good choices in the poll for the AU romance scenes, hehe! 

So the dates of those will be:

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice (Haley Autumnal Scenario Special) 4th October

Can the sweetness of a new relationship beat the yumminess of the bakery’s tasty goods?...Both Haley and the MC seem to think so!

--

Jump Scare (Maaka Halloween Scenario Special) 11th October

For a first date, though maybe technically third, nothing seems better than dinner and a movie. Unless of course it’s a scary movie, and your werewolf boyfriend gets freaked out about anything that goes bumps!

--

Bittersweet (Sin Autumnal Scenario Special) 25th October

The change in seasons brings more than just a chill to the air—it also brings the return of someone who the MC hadn’t realized they’d been missing quite so much. And it seems Sin feels the same way…

--

Are you scared? (Alima Halloween Scenario Special) 31st October

Building a new friendship is hard enough, it’s even more difficult when traversing a haunted house together and realizing the tingle that’s running down both your spines is likely from more than shock of the plastic skeleton leaping out of the walls.

-

It was SO much fun writing these romances as they were all really different! Alima especially was a difficult one to write for but turned out even better than I’d hoped.

But after that, I finally opened up a brand new Notepad++ document and got to save it as ‘TWC Book Four’!!! I had a little bit of an excited and panicky screech at that point, hehe! :D

I’ve been working on all the stuff that needs to go into the background first: coding the character creation for people who jump in with new characters, writing a brief summary of Book Three, etc. I also need to add in a section now for those who want to jump through all the choices in order to create a new character, so I need to make sure I get in all the important ones from Book Three so that it works.

It’s taking a loooong time. And normally I would get all this stuff done before even considering writing anything towards the book, but it was a pretty heavy week of coding so I think next week I might actually jump into the writing and then chop back again when I finish a scene!

Got to find the balance between the fun and the necessary, right? :D

I’m already buzzing at the idea of writing the opening! I’ve actually got it rough written out already, so turning it into the ACTUAL opening is going to be such a major moment! The start of the next chapter within The Wayhaven Chronicles and where the romances are gonna lead!

Hope you all have an amazing weekend! We’ll be offline as usual, so I’ll update you all again next Friday as I dive into Book Four <3

[robogart]

Lengthy ramble for potential tier/restructure post! But if anyone has insight or feedback or advice, I'd be so grateful to hear it! Thank you for your time! 🥺🙏💕💕💖

*copy/pasted from my patrons post!

*Stressing potential again because I might just try to workshop maybe a couple of these tiers?? I'm editing this after a couple responses so far! So thank you everyone for reading and sending your insight in! It's SO helpful and valuable to hear, thank you!! 🙏💖💖

Hey lovely people! 🥳💖 So lengthy and candid post time, but I'm thinking about restructuring the tier prices (specifically the higher tiers, like the Sauce and Honeybear and maybe sketches too)? Currently I am making very little money, so while that is scary it is also sort of the perfect time to test out some change in how I structure things on here! So I'm sort of excited to potentially try something new! The tough thing with selling your own work is always how to price things - and it's the gentle balance of pricing for what you're worth, but also making a good price point that is accessible to more people! So while prices might be lower, the hope is that they bring forward more patrons and therefore I can make more money as well! SO! A Price Restructure of what I'm thinking (and a couple rewards movements from the $2 Tier to the $4 Tier, specifically) (Also the Sweet Pea Tier will be removed) :

✨ $2/month Tier (Buttercup : same rewards, updated here for clarity (bc I need to update them as well))

Access to ALL artwork and their process GIFs as I finish them! (currently only sharing crops on social media and select, older work)

Commission and Adoptables Priority (You get to access slots/designs first!)

Access to Fanart Friday Suggestions + Polls (we try to do them once a month!)

Access to Coloring Pages (as I make them! this is infrequent)

Access to the Patron-Only Discord (it's very chill and just for you and other patrons! And you can share art, music or just hang out if you want!)

✨ $4/month Tier (Cutie Pie : same rewards!)

Access to my sketchbook pages and the bundled pdfs! I post sketches in batches of 10 on here! When I have enough pages, I'll be uploading the pdf of the sketchbook for free for you to download (100 pages per Volume)! 

Access to videos! (I'll do speedpaints/timelapses from time to time!)

15% off adoptable designs while they are posted on patreon! (before moving to ko-fi!)

Access to all Licensed Character Designs I make (under the LC tag!) (These are for Personal Use Only - intended for DnD and similar RPG situations! ^ w ^)

✨ Access to Archived Works (this is access to all previous work I've shared for the Buttercup tier that you would be able to see on my website all in one place! Goes back to 2019!) 

✨ Early Access to Brushes

Plus all previous rewards! 

✨ $6/month Tier (Honeybear : same rewards!)

Access to the Honeybear Discord! A creative motivational group for artists! (I will be active in this discord!)

Activities for personal motivation and fun! There will be blob doodle pages, monochromatic challenges throughout the month, along with a monthly design prompt and a selected study piece!

Channels for just sharing personal work/wips and a critique corner as well for anyone looking for feedback on their pieces!

Plus all previous rewards!

✨ $8/$10/$15/month Tier (Sauce : same rewards!)(edit: $10 maybe? Or even keeping at $15, based on some comments from patrons)

18+ ONLY! 

Access to ALL NSFW pieces! Sketches and finished paintings alike!

20% off Store Discount! (For my Print Shop and INPRNT!)

Plus all previous rewards! (this includes the Honeybear Tier Discord and Activities access)!

--- So this an idea of what I'm thinking!

It's all still very much up in the air because part of me wonders if I just need to promo more as well? I also have had patrons tell me in the past that I make a lot of work (even if I panic and feel like I'm not making enough @ w @;;) and that the monthly subscription is reasonable for the rewards already? Ahhh it's just difficult figuring this stuff out, especially while stressing about things! So I appreciate feedback if you're feeling up to sharing! 🙏💖💖 Thank you all so much! 💖💖💖