#and i'm almost 200 pages in lmao

[binch-i-might-be]

it's been forever since I read a massive hardcover book but damn does it feel good to be back

[summerofspock]

Tagged by @shichidikai and @bageltopia to answer 20 writerly questions. Thanks so much for the tag! Some of these answers are embarrassing lmao

How many works do you have on ao3?

194 (in my defense I have been on there for over 10 years)

What's your total ao3 word count?

2,392,769 😩

What are your top five fics by kudos

Just One More (It Couldn't Hurt) - Star Trek

Car Trouble - Good Omens

mad or well-advised - Good Omens

South Downs - Good Omens

Under Construction - Good Omens

What fandoms do you write for?

Currently? One Piece and I'm fiddling with Arcane behind the scenes without posting. But I have written for Avatar The last Airbender, Game of Thrones, Star Trek, The Magnus Archives, Silmarillion, My Hero Academia, and MXTX works.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

OK so my inbox is a fucking mess. I do try to respond to comments but once I fall behind I fall so behind. And once I start getting mean comments or concrit, it's hard for me to go back and respond to comments on a fic. Usually, I'll respond in a big wave to comments on the last chapter before posting the next but sometimes I forget.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't really write unhappy endings. 🤔 I currently have an abandoned wip that ends at an unhappy spot and I have a few dead dove oneshots that are pretty angsty but no multichaps. Maybe feather of lead.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

They are genuinely all so happily ever after fluffy that it's hard to choose. Maybe Car Trouble. Or after all the angst, you might consider the ending of such small words super happy. Idk.

Do you get hate on fics?

Depends on how you define hate. I get comments telling me I made incorrect choices or that my fics are wrong in some way for doing xyz. I get character hate. I've been told I'm a bad person for writing certain kinks or tropes on pwps or that I'm perpetuating stereotypes and that's damaging. Annoying shit like that.

Do you write smut?

Lmao yes

Do you write crossovers?

I've done it once! Star Trek/Good Omens for shits and giggles.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

One time. It got taken down fairly quickly though.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah! A handful of times. It's always so cool when people ask.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes. With my beloved collaborater naromoreau. I think we have like eight fics we wrote together? Probably about 200k collaborated words at this point. I've learned so much from her and nothing is as fun as writing with her.

What's your all time favorite ship?

I will probably never get over spirk.

What's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Hot Sugar. I'm so sorry but I lost the will.

What are your writing strengths?

I am a fast writer. My methods of getting through writers block almost never fail. But those aren't strengths that translate to the page.

On the page, I think I'm good with character psychology and motivations which I think shows up well in dialogue, pacing and plot beats. My writing is concise mostly because if I don't have a reason for including something, I will cut it. I'm a brutal editor and will kill my darlings without remorse.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I am a fast writer lmao which sometimes means I write too much and quality dips massively because the mental reservoir will empty and I end up tapping an empty well. While I like to think I am concise and efficient at conveying things, I sometimes think I "underwrite" or perhaps "overtell."

Thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages?

As a younger writer, I did it but only because I spoke that language. I think there might be value. Here we come back to, if you can make a compelling argument for *why* it serves the story then I'm open to it but also you better check with someone who is fluent.

First fandom you wrote for

Star Trek. Unless you count my notebook scribbling of inuyasha fic when I was 14.

Favorite fic you've written

God ok. I've written nearly 200 fics across a gazillion fandoms so there's a few. Most recently life in your shape for One Piece because I challenged myself to write something low conflict and loved how it came out. Watermark from Good Omens. And Grossly Undeserved from Star Trek.

I just love writing about what love means to different people!!!

If you read this whole ass thing then have a kiss on the forehead and know i love you.

I'll tag @naromoreau @softzosan if you'd like! Most other folks I know have gotten tagged already!

[biblical-figures]

SELFY games haunting me once more. I need to go outside. Got four games (conpeito, cocoppa, dream stylist, a recreation of dreamselfy called emselfy (original thread with GT))

every few months I get like major into playing cocoppa but the new one that launched in june I've been playing daily for almost a month now lol. Wish I had started when it launched because I've missed a few gacha items, but honestly the gacha rates are really good and it's easy to get currency. Only time will tell if it ends up being as bad as cocoppa is. That game is so bloated and money hungry but I've managed to like never spend any money on it at all lmao. There was an nft blockchain vampire selfy game they made back in 2022 (clawkiss) which lasted like a year.. good riddance, crypto shit is so stupid. I've been playing selfy games for years at this point, like... since elementary school. That's a long time now.

took this from the conpeito files, transparent image for this below

annoyingly I learned that you can't archive twitter pages through wayback, so trying to archive the media tab for the selfy account did not work. I wanted it to.

back to cocoppa... as much as I love the game, it's so much. It's overwhelming how much they have going on at all times, and the load times are also pretty damn slow usually. The events they have include really pretty items, but those are pretty much impossible to get without spending money... I don't think I've ever got higher than 200-300 in ranking? and that was once after like, a LOT of grinding on the game. I didn't touch the app for months afterwards either lol. Once you get to a certain rank, unless you either pay money for shit or are online constantly, you'll either stagnant or lose rank. A new event started a few hours ago and I'm about rank 2000 something but that'll for sure change fast once more people begin the event as well. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to actually get every avatar item in the game without shelling out tons and tons of money (I'm poor as hell and wont spend the money either way). I like avatar dressup games too much to really quit though, so I'm stuck till they eventually die off (please don't)

my super super cute show on the app...

the art is always so pretty I love it so much oh my god I had been writing some of this on my phone and going back to the still open draft tab on laptop deleted so much of what I wrote. ok. ok. ok. ok. ok. ok. fine. Don't multitask.

I'll write more later.

[trilobi-te]

I gave them legs. Also no shading because why shade when you could simply not.

Uhh Chipspeech-related rambling under the cut because no one irl wants to listen to me talk about it but I feel the need to anyway

So I'm new to Chipspeech (finally read it after knowing about it for 2ish years).. and unfortunately most of the lore/plot seems to be on Twitter? I mean I still read through it but it was unpleasant because I do not like Twitter. Afaik there's no archive/way to read all of the tweets from all of the accounts in chronological order together anywhere else, so I'm making my own (on a Google doc lmao), which has been kind of time-consuming but I'm almost finished. Also it's around 200 pages long at size 6 font. And I still have all of the formatting to do. Someone please tell me if something like this already exists because this has been a lot, and I'm still missing the earlier stuff from Dandy/Bert/Dee that I'm assuming was deleted. I just want to read about the funni robots hhhhhhhh why is it like that

Anyways on the topic of deleted material, I know next to nothing about Daisy because her entire account was deleted. The Chipspeech wiki says she's been retconned, but I haven't found any other source that says that, just that the voice/character was retired? So like. Does that make the plot points she was involved in entirely non-canon? Because she continued to be occasionally referenced in passing way after 2016. What is going on there lmao. I am so many years late to this piece of media. At least the fandom here seems to be more active than the one on Reddit? Okay I'm going to shut up now bye

[vanhelsingapologist]

LMAO I am currently in ACOTAR hell. As in, I read all the books and so on (halfway done with the last). I am weirdly invested, drawing fanart and ranting about it. I dragged like 2 more people down with me because I won't suffer this alone, like it's book covid or something.

I can't say it is good. I can't recommend it. And yes, the first (and 5th) are the only ones where I had some positive enjoyment.

The first....I mean you're right - the start is so slow and unless you super vibe with the Tamlin-Lucien-Feyre dynamic there is not much there at all. The last third was fun tho for sure. Iono, it was like a 3/5 for me. Nothing special, nothing terrible. It was....fine.

BUT OH BOI THE REST. Everyone claims the second book is the best of the series and since I didn't outright hate the first, I picked it up with cautious excitement. THE BETRAYAL. I was so mad. I never hate-read anything so HARD. I was pissed at the shit this book pulled lol. I felt like the author was gaslighting me. Or tried to - and it only made me angrier. But I couldn't stop either. And it went on with the third. I just felt so weird, like I was reading different books than anyone else? Yet I had to go on because it kind of felt like some weird office drama that was clearly not meant for me but I am invested now.

So yeah, uhm, I'm stuck in the corner with all the hated characters having a weird party idk. Help!!

I don't mind a slow start! I even love a slow start, but I feel that 200 pages of that book should not exist. The world-building didn't justify a book that long. I really feel like the love interest could've been compelling but he was so overshadowed by literally every other character, which was bad because most of those characters were just not my cup of tea.

I liked Lucien! I think he and Feyre had weird, red-hot tension and my friend made the joke that it was like "someone had told Maas that Lucien and Feyre got on too well, so she went 'fuck, fuck' and started writing him out."

I also thought Rhysand was incredibly creepy, and it was so obvious what they were setting him up for. I had a deep, fundamental problem with his seemingly 'morally grey' characterization when I think 'morally deficient' would've been more believable to commit to. Personally, I think the justifications he offered for certain actions were shoddy, which is disappointing because I don't think he's supposed to be a villain. But he'd make such an interesting one! I love villains and I think if the book had just committed and made him villainous then I could've really been down for some apologism. I'm almost angrier that they won't admit that he'd fucked up and instead went "well, it's justifiable and it was even KIND of him."

All that being said, I really appreciate your perspective. I think the end of the book was so much fun too, and I feel so sad that I just spent half the book wondering how the hell it was going down. I'll hit you back up once I've read the second.

[lenasai]

uhh top 5 fave blaseball players :]

i'm gonna do this and then i'm gonna check my ao3 page to see if what i end up saying lines up with how many times i've written about them

i don't think i could actually rank them past my top spot so in no particular order:

-my ultimate blorbos, max and ivy. they are my kids who i rotate in my brain all the time like rotisserie chicken. i cannot separate them, they are like pair bonded kittens. i am holding them up to the screen. i will never stop thinking about how their stories played out in the long run. there's just something about being marked for death but managing to avoid it. instead, they lived long enough to kill the god who tried to kill them, and i am so proud of them forever. also they did funny things with the sim >:)

-jaylen hotdogfingers. the first blaseball player who took up so much space in my brain. i love her so much. i remember staying up until like 2am because we had a feedback game against the mechs and jaylen was pitching for the mechs. it was a really emotional moment when she came back to seattle. i took so much emotional damage when she got alternated, but i love jaybot too. i miss both of them so much ;A;

-chorby soul, for many of the same reasons i love jaylen but also because there's a different kind of tragedy in their story. jaylen was resurrected because she was loved. chorby was resurrected because they were identified as someone who could break the game. and then they got bitten over 200 times by sharks and got trapped in a cycle of death and resurrection until getting forcibly pulled from the league. they deserved so much more and i would give them so many hugs if i could.

-parker macmillan, the poor little meow meow of all time. part of it is his tragic backstory and part of it is me patting tgb on the back for creating The Blorbo Of All Time™. he killed so many people and it literally wasn't even his fault. he's divorced and upset about it. he got hyped up as this guy who was going to bring about the end of the world in season 24......and then he didn't. he only killed one team and it was so funny. also he kept switching between the pies and the garages. that was also funny. i'm glad he gets to be just a regular guy who kind of sucks on the crabs. good for him!

-there are so many players who could take this fifth spot because there are so many players i just really like who also happen to not be plot characters, but i'm gonna give this spot to alaynabella hollywood because i just think she's neat. i like werewolves and werewolf-adjacent characters. also she started out as a pitcher who absolutely sucked ass, which was the reason i got attached to her in the first place. she pitched s15d37 (the cursed game where max and nan almost exploded) and won, but at what cost (one of her friends almost exploded and another one got bitten by sharks and observed.) we moved her to batting, where she was pretty decent. i think this might have been what ultimately inspired us to move mike townsend to batting, where he hit Two Grand Slams before getting redacted for being too good at grand slams. and the funniest part of layna's entire career was ending the expansion era as a pretty good pitcher! you love to see it, but also i miss the season 14 pitching dumpster fire 💜

oops almost all of those players were on the garages at some point (with the exception of ivy.) my biases are kind of obvious lmao

okay let's see those ao3 numbers....

...which mostly track! of the characters i named, alaynabella hollywood is the only one who doesn't show up enough times to be listed in the sidebar. in case you want the actual numbers, max shows up in five works, ivy shows up in four, chorby and parker both show up in three, and jaylen shows up in only two, but that number goes up to three if you include jaybot (who now has her own tag on ao3!)

[meowzfordayz]

Hi hi gorgeous 🤍

I’ve had a weeeeeeek lmao. Work was so busy. I spent two days writing a brief for the court of appeals (my first one, v scary), a reply to a 150 page motion on law I’m not a super familiar with annnnd a big ass motion to strike evidence. All in all, I wrote like, 200 pages of legal shit and I’m TIRED.

On the plus side, all of the attorneys I did these things for ended up submitting what I wrote almost verbatim, which, makes me feel really good because at least that means they think I did well?? Tbh I’m in law probably because I have a praise kink.

I hope your week was fabulous and low-stress, but if it wasn’t, I hope you’re resting and have lots of snacks and all of your favorite relaxing things!!!

🍑🤍

Hihi Peach! ☺️ Forgive me in advance pls and ty, bc my answer isn't going to be nearly as long as your Ask. 😅

I hope this week has been less of a doozy for you, and that you've snuck in some rest here and there. 🥺

I'm sure you did do well, and there's nothing wrong w/ having a praise kink. 😌

My week wasn't too hectic, but still busy, and I'm sleeepyyy. 🤪 I'm currently (as I type this) enjoying a white chocolate mocha w/ soy milk while in Inorganic Chemistry rn. 😋🤓

Sending you fabulous Friyay vibes! 💝

[liamakorn]

Hey all!! Commissions are officially open! Im gonna be posting some newer art in the next couple days because i know ive been gone forever lmao but please hit me up! I'll draw p much anything as long as you follow my simple dont's list haha.

These are my starting prices but theyll probably be fluctuating as i find my rhythm. For right now I'm accepting payment through PayPal, but if you use something different definitely let me know and I'll see if i can set up an account! Im open to new ideas and always looking to expand my business to make things as accessible as possible for everyone. I cant wait to work with you! ❤️

[Transcription]

First Page

Hi there! My name is Liama, I'm 23, a Gemini, and a genuine menace to society. I'm reopening my commissions for the first time in a while, please be gentle haha. If anything on these pages is confusing please shoot me a message!

My handle on almost everything is @liamakorn, or you can email me at liaamakorn@gmail.com. Message me for PayPal ❤️.

Do's: pretty much anything! This is a friendly space for all communities and fandoms, including - D&D, OC or Existing IP, LGBTQIA+, Video Games, Furry, NSFW, Monster Love, Tasteful Gore

Dont's: i do not support and will not tolerate hate of any kind on my platform. If the following is requested or mentioned in my comments you will be blocked. - NSFW of underage OC or Character, Political or Bigoted Speech, Threats of Any Kind, Non-Con. NAZIS. LEAVE. You are not welcome.

Note: not great at Mecha but will try my best! :)

Second Page

Lineart Pricing-

Full Body: $50

Knees-up: $40

Torso-up: $30

Portrait: $20

Flat Color Pricing-

Full Body: $75

Knees-up: $65

Torso-up: $55

Portrait: $45

Simple Shading-

Line Art and Flat Color: +$20

For lineart, this could include crosshatching, flat shading, pretty much anything i could do with a pencil. Shoot me a message and we can discuss the level of detail needed.

For flat color this will include either hard or soft cellshading, and an optional rim light.

For anything for complex please refer to Full Render.

Additions-

Simple Background (colors/shapes/etc): +$5

Full Background (detailed scene): +$10

Add Character: +$10

Full Render-

A full render piece will be more of a case by case bases, dependent on project size, the detail required, the amount of time committed, etc. For this type of piece, by DM or email, we will work out what vibe you're looking for to better gauge the price. I wouldnt charge $10 a head for a crowd scene lol.

Please reach out to me with your idea and budget and we can discuss our options. Im excited to hear from you, lets make some art!

[Note under full render box, coming from a chibi version of my boyfriends sona-]

Something like this (full color, full render image with different light sources and a painterly style) would be about $200-$300

[coffeeallaloneandlord]

That poll about fiction vs nonfiction was funny to me bc just last night I made a formal reading calendar for myself which I am going to share with you all here. I'm using August to try and finish up some loose ends with what I'm reading and then sticking to my curriculum. For reference I am typically reading up to 6 different books at once I need a ton of variety which is why I came up with this schedule lol.

Fall

Fiction

September: Back to school. American Lit something short less than 200 pages. I'm thinking of reading Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck for this (107 pages)

October: Something I will admit to getting influenced to do is I started collecting Pulitzer Prize for Literature winners. I saw someone on tt who had theirs organized together and I was like I bet I have enough to put together a shelf. I had 7 at the time, a few months ago, now I've doubled that to about 14 (all thrifted!). But I've only read 1 lmao. Since the Pulitzer is awarded in October I'm gonna make that my month to read one.

Nonfiction: Historical Bio. For this category this fall I want to read a biography I have of Mary Wollstonecraft.

Winter

Fiction: Classic Literature. This can mean whatever I want but basically something pre 1945.

Non Fiction

Nov/Dec: Poverty Awareness in America. Got this idea from Google technically for January but I thought Nov/Dec makes a lot more sense for obvious reasons.

Jan/Feb: Black History

Spring, March - May

Fiction: Contemporary Literature

Nonfiction: Women's History, Gender and Women's Studies, Feminism, etc. This is really a year round category for me but I'll focus more on it in the spring.

Summer

Fiction: Shakespeare :) Really the idea to read on a yearly basis started with Shakespeare in Summer idea. The seasonal aspect really motivated me to follow thru with finishing. I can see myself expanding this category to include Shakespeare and also Greek/Roman Classics.

Nonfiction: June is Pride obviously, and then I couldn't really come up with a final category for July/August. Like I said at the top, I'm using the next 2 weeks before September to try and finish up some books, so I just wrote "Summer Reading :)" here lol. For nonfiction maybe I could do a sports book for the summer, I just read Moneyball which was one of my favorite reads ever so I'm still riding that high lol.

And this only represents 2 of my given reading slots, a fiction and a nonfiction. And the reason I did this was to balance my fiction and nonfiction lol! My other slots aren't seasonal but generally look something like this

Slot 3: Memoir/Personal Writing

Close friends of mine know that the single most influential important book of my entire life, the book that made me promise myself to never stop reading books, is the Autobiography of Malcolm X. I really really really believe in the power of autobiography and memoir, they are consistently my favorite books ever and I think we have so much valuable insight to gain from living inside the experiences of others. I am always reading something in this genre.

Slot 4: Elena Ferrante I know some of the tumblr girls respect this one. I am on the second of four in her Neapolitan Novels. I also have another novel of hers that I found at the thrift I couldn't believe my eyes. I predict it will take me another year to finish this out.

Slot 5: Something Fun and Light, either like sci-fi/fantasy or kid lit/YA or both. However Fun and Light are really misnomers bc I feel like I wade thru a lot of like shitty pulpy stuff trying to find something palatable. My friends on Goodreads know what a hater I can be lol. Or the flip side is I just read Charlotte's Web for the first time in forever and it almost made me cry like constantly lmao.

Slot 6 Miscellaneous but usually something will just call to me and make me drop everything else I'm reading so I gotta leave room for that.

And that's how you can figure out which 6 books I'm juggling in any given month!

[ismyteadoneyet]

Bringing this back because I am 200 pages into my re-read of Legendborn, and [spoilers ahead]

I've just gotten to the part where Nick shares what his upbringing was like, as well as what happened to his mother. He then tells Bree this:

"I had a thought about what I said last night." [Nick's] voice is quiet, almost meditative, as he watches his thumb on my cheek. "About being Arthur's Scion and how, on some level, I never thought I'd have to really deal with it, you know? Not really. My dad didn't. Granddad didn't. A dormant Scion has clout, but no real say in the Order. I never thought about how his powers might feel and what I might do with them until..." His eyes flick to mine.

My breath hitches. "Until?"

"Until that uchel took you."

Like ??? Are you telling me that this guy has spent half his life running away from the Order, pissed off his own oathed-for-life bodyguard by simply ignoring him and his fuction, and actively ignored something that is literally tied to his bloodline in a way that will reach him regardless of him wanting it to or not, and then he meets this "random" girl and hangs out with her for TWO (2) DAYS and suddenly he's back in the game ??? No hesitation???

Like yes the whole "call and response" of his Lancelot-Scion-ness feeling comfy about finally finding his Arthur-Scion is probably in play here big-time (because of the whole "as soon as I met you I just trusted you immediately ?? I know it sounds weird but -") but also ??? (I'm ofc biased to my own theory lmao) there is simply NO WAY he feels this strongly towards a girl he's known for TWO DAYYYSSS ??? 😭😭😭

Theories and predictions about 'Oathbound', and The Kingsmage Oath in particular

okayokayokay yes, I know, I can think of nothing else but Legendborn these days, but ngl I feel such a desperate need to write this out to get more thoughts on it. We already know quite a lot about the Kingsmage oath, right? But as the title of the third book suggests, I believe we will learn a whole lot more about it in Oathbound and I cannot fkn wait lol

[Major Legendborn and Bloodmarked spoilers ahead, read at your own... volition, tihi]

Alright. So. First off, disclaimer - I don't currently have my physical copy of Legendborn closeby to reference stuff, so if any of this is debunked in the first book please correct me! Most of this is sprouted from Bloodmarked! I don't think we got that much info about the Kingsmage oath in Legendborn but it was also quite a while since I read it lol

Theory no. 1

First off, the thing that made me start off my 10-message long rant about this to my Legendborn-partner-in-crime to begin with, is the fact that the two "participants" of the oath are connected to the degree that, not only does the Kingsmage feel if the Scion is in danger, but the Scion in question also feels the things the Kingsmage feels. Selwyn even explains that this is partly why he attacked Bree during the trials in book one during the infamous "graveyard scene":

" 'You remember that I planned our partnership during the trial. Planned to trick you, corner you, and kill you. I knew Nicholas would feel a desire to kill someone that night, because it would come over from me to him through the bond. I planned for him to eventually discover that the person he'd wanted to... was someone he-' [Sel] shakes his head, eyes hard. 'That it was you.' " - Bloodmarked, page 366

...and

" 'The morning after the first Oath, [Nick] came to me. Said he'd felt my desire to kill you and begged me to leave you alone, because of what it did to him' -[Sel] taps his chest- 'here. He said it felt wrong, wanting to hurt you. ' So I knew that what I sent through the bond would poison the part of him that was beginning to love you. Knew that if I failed, he'd have to live with the memory of wishing his girlfriend dead. Not just the memory, but the feeling of wanting to kill you himself, with his bare hands. Murderous intent like that is one of the worst feelings in the world. Haunting. Destructive. And for someone like Nick... it would tear him apart in a way he'd never forget and never heal from. And I did not care. I believed I was right, all in the name of duty.' " - Bloodmarked, pages 366-367

Both of these show the bad effects of the bond. Sel can actively affect Nick's views of the people around him, and influence his actions, and I believe that this is shown by how Nick beheaded that one guard without hesitation, that one time.

"I didn't kill Zhao for my father." Nick's eyes burn. "I killed him for me." Sel's eyes widen incrementally. "We should...come back to that." - Bloodmarked, page 467

The interesting thing about this is the way Sel has been so sure that Nick would "never hurt another soul", and yet, here he is, rejecting Sel's reasoning that Nick killed Zhao because of his father, and instead hammering home that "no, I did it for me." Because, and hear me out on this, Nick is, in the moment of the kill...oathbound to a Merlin actively fighting his own demonia from taking over.

Bree also brings up multiple times that "Nick has become a killer, the dangerous thing" after witnessing the murder (which, when I read it sounded a bit silly since Sel has tried to murder her multiple times and even explained in detail how he planned to do that specific thing but oh well lol), but in relation to how we've seen Sel act throughout Bloodmarked, and keeping the Kingsmage Oath in mind, it makes sense. Because is it ever explained how Sel's descent might also be transferring to Nick through the bond? If it is, I don't remember seeing it.

Also, Nick being so incredibly calm and no-hesitation about killing Zhao (in one of the more brutal ways he could have, even), makes me fully believe that it was either 1. not his first kill, or 2. he is more affected by Sel's demonia than Tracy wants us to realize. During the scene where Sel and Bree watch him kill Zhao, Sel is still void cuffed, which to me means that he is still actively fighting his demonia from taking him. Sel doesn't get his void cuffs off until the fight with Erebus where Bree root-boosts him back to his normal, balanced self, which happens after Nick's kill.

The synopsis of Oathbound hints at Nick having "secrets to share with the Table", and we know absolutely nothing about what he spent all of Bloodmarked doing. We only followed one half of the whole. If Sel was only half-successful in "poisoning" Nick with murderous intent towards Bree in Legendborn, when he hadn't yet lost his humanity... Do you see where I'm going with this?

Tracy herself shared a fanart of Nick doing The Thing, and quoted the artist with something along the lines of "Nick should scare you!" and "Ruthless Nick is the correct opinion to have!", and considering that Nick is now, by the end of Bloodmarked, bonded to a fully succumbed Demon!Sel, what does that make Nick?

Theory no. 2

Now, onto the more fun side of the oath (or, more heartbreaking, depending on how you read it, I guess lol)

I have seen a few people being put off by Nick and Bree's relationship in Legendborn because it, to some degree, reads a lot like "insta-love". And sure, love at first sight and all that stuff but how long has Bree known Nick, really? A couple weeks, maybe? I however, have another theory to this.

Again, the two participants of the Kingsmage Oath share feelings both ways, as explained by Sel:

" 'When did you worry [about losing your humanity]?' [...] 'When I started to see what I believe Nicholas sees when he looks at you. Only a monster could look at you and want to destroy you, Bree.' " - Bloodmarked, page 368

And of course we are led to believe that Nick, the "blond, good-hearted knight in shining armor" is the good influence, right, and Sel being the "tall dark and handsome demon" is the bad influence on the two...

...But what if it was the other way around the entire time?

[Sel:] " 'I was raised not to trust myself!' " - Bloodmarked, page 368

[Sel:] " 'I don't know if that's in the cards for me.' [...] 'If I'm allowed that wish, it would be truly something. But wishes are dangerous mind games we play with ourselves. The only way to win is to not play.' " - Bloodmarked, page 475

Sel was raised as a weapon and a shield for the Scion of Arthur, and has never been treated as anything else. He was never allowed by anyone else nor himself to put himself and his own feelings first. So when he is suddenly struck with feelings for Bree, it makes sense for him to "blame it" on Nick, automatically. He couldn't possibly be the one with romantic, wholesome, fluffy feelings towards someone else, right? To Sel, it would feel wrong. "Illegal".

" 'Why didn't you [leave]?' 'Because my judgement is not what it should be around you, Bree. It never has been.' " - Bloodmarked, page 369

"It never has been," huh? Now, I find that to be a very funny choice of wording, Tracy, since the over-arching conflict in the entirety of Bloodmarked is related to mesmers and witheld information.

And the fact that Bree's mother and Sel's mother knew each other.

" 'The woman that helped you hide the memory. Was that Sel's mother?' My mother smiles, fond and sad at once. ' Yes. Natasia.' I have to ask. 'Do you know where she is?' She glances at Sel, and I know her answer is for his ears and mine both. 'No. Even if I could speak to her now, she would not tell me.' " - Bloodmarked, page 447

We also know that Sel's mother was the one who mesmered Bree in the hospital. But what if both Bree and Sel were mesmered at some point? What if the romantic feelings Nick felt for Bree the moment they met was actually Sel's feelings for Bree, coming over through the bond?

Another thing that speaks to this, I believe, is the use of the phrase "call and response", which Bree uses a lot when talking about herself and Nick,

" And then [Nick's] mouth is on mine, and every call and response we've ever felt pales in comparison to this one. " - Bloodmarked, page 377

...but also how she describes the relationship between Arthur and Lancelot:

" I shiver. Even [Lancelot's] voice affects me like Nick's does. 'Arthur?' he asks. And I reply, 'Lancelot.' Call and response. That's how it is between me and Nick. How it has always been. " - Bloodmarked, page 132

I believe, again, that this "call and response" thing is what I personally believe is what might be bringing Nick and Bree so close so fast. They are both scions of what I see as one of the most bromantic knights in the entire Order. Of course they out of all people would find a connection soul-to-soul right way. And that on top of Sel possibly knowing Bree before Legendborn even happens? It's no wonder that both of the two boys feel so comfortable gushing about her being "beautiful forever" in that one bloodwalk that one time, lol.

In conclusion, I guess the big question at hand is "Where does Nick's feelings end and Sel's feelings begin?" Where is the line? Is there one? I'd like to argue that the fact that Sel's first instinct, when he first starts feeling "what Nick is feeling" towards Bree is to kill her, is denial in the most severe degree. He is the first character from the Order Bree meets, accidental or not, and even though Tracy has said that she wrote Legendborn without a set goal for the endgame-couple, I'm willing to believe that that has shifted towards a BreeSel outcome after the mayhem of a character-development-arc that is Bloodmarked.

The fact that I am a BreeSel believer might also be influenced by the fact that we simply have not seen Nick in A While lol

And if not, I'm willing to root for a Bree x Sel x Nick throuple lol. As long as Sel is part of the endgame setup, I'm good.

Just please let Lark be left alone for William even if Lark and Bree commit to a Kingsmage oath, Tracy, I beg

[crymeariveronceagain]

Thoughts on Nightfall after reading it again

Back on my bs.

Okay literally I read this book in 3 sittings, over 200 pages in each sitting. It's insanely fast paced, and well written. Once you start reading, it becomes really. Really. Really hard to set the book down.

Cognates! Are so emotionally unhealthy! It's horrifying! How is this something we're okay with! Especially for children! Quinlin kept an OPINION, not a secret, an OPINION from Alden, and they wrecked their cognate thing! This is not healthy! Anyone who thinks this is healthy! Get the Therapy you so desperately need! This is not good! Even married couples do not share every single thing with each other! Boundaries are necessary to being a functioning person in society!

Personally, I think Livvy and Quinlin could work it out.

Dang the Lost Cities' prejudice against humans really rubbed off on Sophie quickly. I don't blame her, but also. Yikes. That cannot be good for her.

Sophie's family is getting tortured and the Black Swan is like "we're doing all we can!!!" Despite how they do next to nothing and the kids(age 14-15) have to deal with it all.

Edaline calling Sophie perfect as a baby is going to be written on my heart as one of the most beautiful exchanges in this book. I'll post the quote later. It makes me want to break down in tears. Because stars above. Sophie deserves to be called a perfect baby by her mom.

Tam and Keefe are literally best friends and just too stubborn to stop taking cracks at each other. They started beat friendship and now they can't get off the ride. They're friends.

Keefe Sencen is WAY. TOO USED. TO BLOOD. He's just out there stabbing himself and getting hurt and being like eh blood. I feel like he's very not okay, or has seen so much blood that his own doesn't faze him anymore.

Forkle is the President Coin to Fintan's President Snow. No, I will not elaborate.

Dex and Biana are best friends. Don't ask how it just happened. It's good for both of them, I think.

Sophie. Does not want her and Fitz's relationship to change. It's so obvious. It hurts me. She does not want to tell him she likes him. She does not want to date him. She wants their relationship to stay the way it is. For as long as she can, she desperately wants to keep what sbe has with Fitz. And she is perfectly happy that he doesn't know she likes him. She wants for it to stay the way it is. And even when Fitz gives her every opportunity to change it. She actively avoids it. No thoughts. Just and observation.

Poor Marella.

Wraith's backstory would "Sidetrack everyone". Huh. I bet it would.

Linh loves Wylie's music. And I love Linh. So there we go. That's the whole point.

I forgot so much of what actually happened in canon lmao. I'm so sorry all my fics are so factually inaccurate in the little ways.

KEEFE IS SO STUPID I'D DIE AND KILL FOR HIM.

Keefe not registering for the match is peak Keefe and also heck yeah remove yourself from the Eugenics society dearest boy! Kick their butts! Metaphorically!

Sophie's so in love with Keefe it actually deeply pains me to watch her not notice it. Like uh. Honey. You love him. You love him you love him you love him you love him. Sophie, you love Keefe.

Keefe is so in love with Sophie. He's literally out there almost dying for her. Actively putting himself in harms way so that no one can hurt her. I just. Ow.

He's also so smart and so stupid all at once. Idiot. But a smart idiot.

I forgot how annoying Ro is in canon. Literally every moment after she's been introduced I've literally just wanted her to shut up. I love the Ro I've created in my head, but this Ro in canon makes me want to hit her in the face.

FITZ BAKES IMMA CRY GN GUYS

Marella really got targeted for her talent. It's kinda gross to see Sandor demanding that Marella not use a single spark without a go ahead even though he's never said anything like that to Linh, or even Sophie.

The Vacker Legacy. What is the Vacker Legacy. It can't be Alvar. It can't be. So what is it. Who is it.

Sophie does not get a break. She does not get a week to rest. Absolutely no breaks for the kid. This is the book where she starts getting exhausted. This is the book where it starts exhausting the reader, too. Because scenes stop getting time to breathe. Life only speeds up. Sophie does not get a single moment to rest. And neither does the reader.

Ah. A panic attack. Sophie has a full blown panic attack. Great. Love that.

This book is screwed up. This story is screwed up. Everything about this is screwed up.

Tam and Biana interact like a married couple. They have each other's backs and occasionally make comments that imply that they're fond of each other. I love that for them.

Ah. Sophie straight up disassociates for like 2 weeks. And then nothing changes. No one tries to fix it except her frienda who are, y'know, children. This is totally fine. Not at all a horrible sign of the state of the Lost Cities and adult elves as a whole. No. Definitely not.

IM GETTING WHIPLASH FROM HOW QUICKLY FORKLE GOES FROM TREATING SOPHIE LIKE A PERSON TO TREATING HSR LIKE A TOOL AND BACK AGAIN. NO WONDER SOPHIE'S SCREWED UP. I WOULD BE, TOO.

*various gagging noises*

Vespera. Ew. She sucks.

Gisela. Ew. She sucks.

Everything is awful, actually.

Sophie Foster having to say goodbye to her human parents for good hurts me.

I just.... This book was a fast paced mess. I feel like nothing and everything happened, and I wish it didn't. I'm so tired, and I know Sophie is too.

We're so tired. And yet we keep reading. Because we've grown attached. And we've got to fix the hole that this series has hollowed in our chests.

[melancholic-pigeon]

I finished The Last Olympian and I'm now almost 200 pages into The Lost Hero and I have a Great Many Feelings.

I was worried about how much I'd forgotten, and I had forgotten a lot, but I'm surprised at how much I remembered. Not so much specific scenes or lines, but like— observations I'd made about the characters still hold. My voices are mostly consistent with how I'm reading.

And I remember the first time I read TLH, I had a hard time getting into the new trio, and I don't think that's super uncommon? But man, going back and reading it again and knowing how it ends, things stick out at me that I missed the first time around.

For instance, Jason seems a little generic at first— until you learn that that's by design. He actively tries to be unassuming, because he's afraid of his own strength and he desperately wants to be judged on his own merit as dutiful, dependable and hardworking rather than Jupiter's Son and Praetor. He actually kind of hates the spotlight, and he's constantly working not to intimidate people from the second he's introduced. He is so painfully aware of himself. 🥺

I don't think he'd be a fighter at all if he didn't think it was his duty.

(Someday I'll write a Foils Meta about how Jason means Healer and Perseus means Destroyer, and how Percy is a fighter and Jason is a lover, but that's gonna have to wait until I get to the part where they actually, you know, interact. 😂)

...I was also amused to notice that Jason seems to be canonically prone to searing headaches, which I had completely forgotten and was apparently subconsciously homaging the whole time— OH FUCK SOMETHING JUST HIT ME.

EYE STRAIN. HE'S PRONE TO HEADACHES BECAUSE OF EYE STRAIN DUE TO HIS UNTREATED NEARSIGHTEDNESS.

Welp.

On that galaxy brain note, I am for bed, lmao. Mind = blown.

[lovelytarou]

love notes — midoriya izuku

— izuku is known for many things, among them is his knack for scribbling notes about the quirks of others. you also witness it firsthand as he left little notes around your house to remind you of small tasks and messages of love.

pairing: midoriya izuku x reader

tags: established relationship, mention of reader's quirk, mention of slight friends to lovers??

genre: fluff

word count: 797

a/n: 2/7 of the 200 follower event! i intend for this to be a drabble so it's shorter than the last one. i'm sorry the ending sucked i'm kinda bad at ending a story lmao

i went out earlier this morning to buy milk. i saw that we ran out of it today.♥

you read the note that izuku left on the fridge with a smile on your face. right, you forgot you were supposed to go out and buy groceries today, but it seems that your darling boyfriend took care of that already. 

memories flooded back to you to the time where the both of you were just friends and he used to do these kinds of things. you knew he loved writing in his little notebook about other people's quirks and even making points to help them improve their skills. that's actually how you two met. 

“quirk–photon blast? sort of like a dying star…” you heard him muttering to himself one day as you and your classmates trained. meanwhile, he was sitting on the floor as he scribbled his thoughts away. where did he even hide that thing?

you watched him for a moment, noticing the little doodle of yourself that he did and it brings a chuckle out of you. 

“maybe if they stored all the power into all parts of their body instead of focusing in one place…” 

“that's a great idea, actually.” 

he yelped when you spoke, almost jumping 40 feet into the air, his notebook and pen flying away. his face reddened upon seeing yours a few inches away, just hovering above his shoulder as you were watching him scribble a while ago.

“sorry, didn't mean to scare you. it's just that you're so immersed in your notes.” you laughed sheepishly, bringing a hand up to scratch your head.

“no! it's okay i uhm, i wasn't just expecting you is all…” there was an awkward silence after that and you noticed his forgotten notebook and pen on the floor, picking it up yourself as the page about your quirk was shown to you. 

“wow this great! i love how you got my hero costume right, and the colors too.” you complimented, a hand caressing the drawing softly, admiring it. 

“you really think so? it wasn't creepy or nerdy?” definitely nerdy...but in a cute way. not that you ever told him in his face. 

“not at all! in fact, i find it cool. the way you pay attention to certain details and how you figured out people's quirks is brilliant.” handing him his notebook, you gave him a warm smile. your skins touched and it made the two of you feel a slight tingle as you both pulled away. 

“so...would you like to go somewhere and talk about the notes you made about improving my quirk?” it was subtle, and pretty lame, to be honest. but you liked him for a while and you always find a reason to speak with him. every one of those chances getting cut off, or interrupted or simply wouldn't happen. a chance presented itself to you and naturally, you have to strike while the iron's still hot. 

“well, i was thinking about how you have this power, right? what if instead of focusing it into one part…” he told you all of his thoughts about your quirk as you two walked, and from then, came a date. and then another. until you're both getting to know each other and a few years later, here you are sharing a home with him.

you would usually find it annoying when other people would leave little reminders around the place. but not when it comes to izuku. there's something comforting about seeing his familiar handwriting, the cute notepads taped onto surfaces and the little doodles of hearts and smileys on them. 

don't forget your vitamins! it's important to stay healthy so you won't get sick! :)

it read on the pink note taped onto the container of your vitamins as you took one. 

it's weird but oddly soothing in a way. even if he isn't home, you know he still cared and his presence is all around the house everywhere you look. 

remember to take breaks! you got this, i believe in you! ( ˘ ³˘)♥

this one was taped on the bottom of the monitor of your computer. he had made that a long time ago and since then, you haven't removed it. you can call it a...motivation or inspiration for when you felt like you're procrastinating while working. one look at this note and you'll immediately feel like breathing fresh air, and that everything's going to be alright. 

you can say it's his way of caring for you. looking after you when he isn't there to do so while he's out there patrolling, or doing hero work. as something as simple as a note is enough for you to know that he's always there for you no matter what.

Taglist: @chibishae34

[mdverse]

So! i'm basing my design on a passage from the Iliad! it's right at the end of book 18, when Hephaestus is forging armour for Achilles

I'm starting by just,,, typing out the entire passage that describes the shield lmao. it spans almost 200 lines of the text (aka a bit over 4 pages of the book i'm using) and there are a lot of different images described so I wanna have it all in one google doc. it's also just a good refresher so i can go through the entire chunk and remember what the shield is supposed to look like. obviously it's really detailed and is meant to describe all these different scenes from everyday life so i might not include all of that in the drawings (actually scratch that - i definitely won't include everything because it's supposed to all fit on a shield) but rereading it all is never a bad thing imo

it is typed so idk if i'll annotate the doc directly or just make lil notes for each section once i start on the actual sketches but either way u need the refresher

[highlyintelligentmoss]

like. a lot of discussion around him since the John Wick movies have been a thing, & this year esp, implies/says outright that A. his career started going downhill after the Matrix trilogy & that John Wick is reviving it, & B. that he's not necessarily a good actor? but all of this is untrue & bad & buckle up motherfuckers I'm abt to tell you why:

A. shits on both the quality & sheer volume of work he's done besides those — just bc smth isn't hugely commercially successful doesn't mean it isn't good, & my man has been grinding to the tune of approximately 2 movies a year for his entire 30-year career when he could have retired off that sweet sweet Matrix money, he absolutely doesn't have to work as much or as hard as he does!! his career isn't "revived" bc it wasn't dead!!!! he hasn't gone anywhere, insert "yeah, I'm thinkin' I'm back" joke here!!!! dude is never gonna retire, he's gonna die w 200 imdb credits & a separate wiki page for his filmography like Christopher Lee

B of all, he's always wanted variety & there's nothing wrong w that — the sort of condescending implication is that the John Wick franchise has him finally coming to terms w what we, the plebs, have always known abt him: action is his wheelhouse & his choice to do Shakespeare/stage acting/romance/literally any accent was misguided. which is just??? sure, he's been in some shitty movies (& ymmv on what makes a movie bad but that's another post for another time) & has maybe given a few less-than-stellar performances or ones that haven't aged well or w/e but like... who hasn't?? lmao at least he shows up, yknow? there's nothing wrong w wanting to do a bunch of different things, w/e his reasons are? almost like he's better at some stuff than he is at other stuff, like... literally everyone else? Stars: They're Just Like Us. like really the evidence points toward him being this humble lowkey dude who just really actually loves his job & works hard at it & it's just annoying to see that glossed over/misrepresented as failure when it seems fuckin obvious to me, I guess?? in conclusion:

emotional abt Keanu Reeves' career hours my dudes

[oldtestleper]

Fox and the Fifth Brother (I'm really bad with repcomm names, otherwise I'd ask you one of those characters)

Don’t worry, these are great characters, these are perfect characters. I love these characters. I love at least one of these characters lmao :’)

Fox

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life

I would literally die for him. I’m getting emotional right now, in real life, just thinking about how much I love him. Don’t look at me.


hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 15/10 would bang

Look… I… yeah. I don’t have anything to say for myself.


hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

uh, brave as hell

never hesitates, even when he’s up against Jedi and ARC Troopers and bounty hunters

takes no shit from anybody

always does what he believes is right, even if it’s hard


best quality: Driven and dedicated and takes zero shit from anyone


worst quality: You wanna know something funny? Fox literally has zero negative character traits in canon. Everything he does makes complete sense considering his situation and the information he has. His only crime is not knowing what the audience does. I would say that his worst quality is his ability to compartmentalize the things he doesn and like… bottle up his emotions, I guess.


ship them with: No one really? I once briefly shipped him with my OC bounty hunter Moro (see here and here for exactly nothing explanatory, and my OC page for an extremely short bio), but I changed my mind and now they’re frenemies while she dates one of his captains.


brotp them with: General - I mean, Senator Amidala, plus Thorn, Stone - all the cool Coruscant Guard bros. Also I feel like… in another life…. he and Fives would have gotten along really well but that’s… just me


needs to stay away from: Palps. And Fives. I might love Fox to an unreasonable degree but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about the “Orders” arc, lmao


misc. thoughts:

I love him and want the fandom to love him also. Failing that, I’d like it if people maybe aggressively hated him less.

That theory that Fox somehow knew about the control chips and was, like, in league with Palpatine the whole time (beyond, you know, the standard levels of in-league-ness you can expect from a guy who not only is directly subordinate to ol’ Sheev but was literally created to defend the Republic, of which Palps is the head of state…) is fucking stupid.

Is NOT secretly a furry, goddammit

But is ??????literally Snoke?????????? god’s honest truth y’all

I’d just like to say one last time that I love Fox and I would die for him.

The Fifth Brother

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life

I wouldn’t say that I have any particularly strong emotions about the character as is, aside from “my, what a large grey shark-man,” but the ball of joy that is his voice actor makes the Fifth Brother much more lovable.


hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

Look I’m sure someone out there wants to bang him, but that person is not me.


hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

I know, I know, villain gets Slytherin, but look. He’s ambition, driven, and 200% willing to use whatever means necessary to achieve his goals, and I’d say that qualifies him.


best quality: Wicked lightsaber action, those broad, broad shoulders


worst quality: Murder


ship them with: I haven’t watched Rebels in so long that I literally do not remember any of his interactions with anyone but Seventh so I’m going to stick tentatively with her for now, for that snarky, snarky banter


brotp them with: Seventh. Let them be snarky and competitive and also friends, please. Even bad guys need friends sometimes maybe?


needs to stay away from: His evil boss, Darth Vader, and probably also the Grand Inquisitor. Maul, for obvious reasons. The Ghost Crew, for almost exactly the opposite reasons.


misc. thoughts:

Give him another appearance.

Give him a flashback scene to the Inquisitor Training Center or whatever.

Do it.

Do it for Philip Anthony-Rodriguez.

Philip deserves this much. Don’t let him down.

Send me a character!