#and the hunger games IS genuinely life changing especially on reread

[stormyrainyday]

i'm rereading the books and like. MAN i do this semi-frequently and they still manage to amaze me every time

forgive me for having hunger games brainrot in the year of our lord and savior jesus christ 2024 i'm about to be fucking insufferable

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 4/8

The thing is, Davesprite's situation is more complicated than an unfulfilled time loop. His timeline isn't an irrelevant offshoot - in fact, it's integral to the existence of the Alpha Timeline, and presumably always was. Davesprite forms part of a weird, fully intact time loop which spans multiple timelines.

And since this is a future Dave, you have to assume he knows about Bro. The two clearly had a complicated relationship, but he's surely shaken by his death - if nothing else, it's a sign of how serious things have become.

That'll be a fun thing to check out when I've finished the comic! It reminds me of those Hunger Games simulators that were doing the rounds a couple of years ago.

That's true. Dave knows how strong the Underlings have become - and yet, he's still confident that Jade can stand up to them. Presumably she finds some sort of workaround for their First Guardian powers?

Sunslammer is so good! A standout song, even in a comic with as many bangers as this one.

Honestly, part of why I'm dragging my feet on the album reviews is because I want to hear these songs for the first time in context. If I'd heard Descend before watching Descend, I feel like it would have robbed the song of some of its dramatic weight.

I assumed it was just because witches are associated with frogs.

That would have explained why they're part of her Land, but I'm pretty sure that Kanaya's glitched planet was also a frog Land, and she's not a Witch, so...?

*The rest of Sal's response has been redacted, lest we fall once more into the Frog Theory Black Hole.*

I'm pretty sure that's a statue of Echidna, the mother of monsters and Jade's Denizen. Dave's probably close to LOFAF's Palace!

The Seer sees all - and sometimes, she understands the implications before we do.

It'd certainly be interesting. I just reread that conversation, and the biggest takeaway would have been that the kids were going to befriend the trolls, and get involved in their personal drama. This would certainly be consistent with the tone established by an Act 1 Hivebent!

Yup. Vriska was only able to 'create' Perfect Jack because Becquerel didn't object.

Really, he could have prototyped anything he liked, no matter what Vriska did. Even if she tried to shut the Entry down by incapacitating Jade, he could simply have activated the piñata himself.

I mean, that's basically what happened!

If any Aspect is geared around survival, then it's Feferi's. There's no breath left in her body, but our girl is still in the game!

Getting back to the trolls will be interesting, especially since - I assume - we'll be zipping back to when Feferi was still alive. The Veil is a much less friendly place, now - but does Feferi know this? What, exactly, is about to happen to the trolls?

I suppose. I guess there's no reason for every Carapacian to be created with knowledge of the Rings.

Actually, Sburb might not want them to know - Jack's probably not the only one who wouldn't respect the Ring's rules. There could be potential ringwielders out there who are far more dangerous.

Thank you! I feel like I've been doing a lot more character analysis in Act 5 versus previous Acts, where most of my speculation was about the lore. It's a fun change of pace.

Damn, I didn't think we'd actually be explaining these!

It's moments like these which really enhance the comic for me - justifications for things that I genuinely thought were just nitpicks on my part. It's really gratifying, honestly.

@thelegendofgreg asked: Here's some commentary from the jade enter flash, theres uh. alot to read but its all neat stuff "I talked about this way back, maybe even in an earlier book? Well, here I go again, so hold on to your ass. There are four entry items: Apple of knowledge, Bottle of wine, Crow's egg, Dog piñata. A, B, C, D. All of them are related to new life or new beginnings. You bite the apple, you fall from grace, enter a new world, begin this wild journey. You smash a bottle to christen a ship. An egg hatches, creating new life. You break a piöata to celebrate a birthday. Each involves breaking or puncturing something. Each involves a form of sustenance, or something to consume (piñatas have candy inside). Two are vessels for the substance (bottle, Piñata), two are the food items themselves (apple, egg), and one arguably counts as both (egg). Two of them drop from the same basic tree template (apple, piñata). They ramp up in complexity. John's is a simple test: bite the forbidden fruit. Not much to it. A single unit of departure, almost conceptually elemental, like an apple, as Rose goes on about later. The challenges get trickier. Rose has to break a bottle. Easy enough idea, but things go wrong, and she has to take a blind leap to get it done. A sacrificial gesture, and one of faith in a friend (Jaspers). Dave's is even more obscure. A simple test of patience, but one that's not clear. He isn't told what to do and just has to wait. Non-action is the key, and in a way it's another gesture of faith under dire circumstances. Finally, Jade's challenge incorporates a lot of these elements. It's another "blind faith" situation. She has to take a shot in the dark. There's a sacrificial gesture, but instead of risking herself (like Rose), Jade must symbolically sacrifice her friend via effigy and cannot complete the sacrifice without help from that friend. (Bec must redirect the bullet. There's no way this works if he doesn't.) It is also a signifier that the pet she knew as a friend her whole life is about to, in a way, become her enemy. Like a good dog gone bad, who now must be put down."

So they are all intended to be foodstuffs! And, apparently, alphabetical - although I think 'Crow's egg' is a bit of a stretch.

There are also themes of sacrifice and faith that I didn't really think about before. Choosing to enter Sburb at all, knowing the stakes, is absolutely a leap of faith - and it's a game which sacrifices your whole planet. Skaia's been telling us the score this whole time.

Homestuck absolutely deals with dark themes - but they start out buried under the surface, and even now, are still in the process of revealing themselves. This makes sense for Homestuck, a coming-of-age-story whose protagonists are slowly coming to terms with some dark truths about their lives.

Awful Hospital, however, immediately says: here's our protagonist. Her baby is dying. She just woke in a strange room. She doesn't know how she got here. Her baby has been stolen. There are monsters inside her brain. By the way, here's a quip, because this is actually a funny comic. It just felt... dissonant, and not in a fun way. I don't really know what it's going for, tonally.

Don't take this as a negative review, though! I only read a couple dozen pages, so I'm really not qualified to rate the comic - I just wasn't feeling it at the time, so I shelved it. I enjoy a lot of Bogleech's writing, and Awful Hospital's lore sounds pretty interesting, so I'll probably give it another shot at some point.

Not for the most part! I'm super into time travel stories, though, so I'm well-Primed to understand their intricacies.

So there might be intermittent stages between the four we've seen in the kids' session? That'd be interesting - I'd love to see the intermediary stage between John's 2D chessboard and Rose's 3D cube.

There are, at this point, too many awesome songs for me to pick favorites. Umbral Ultimatum and Sunslammer are excellent, but what songs aren't, at this point?

I can't imagine what we're in for when we reach the Act 5.2 finale...

Ooh, interesting. Considering how many accidental references Hussie seems to make, it's honestly up in the air whether that was intentional.

That said....

Jack is looking awfully divine these days.

I suppose Tavros has probably logged the most rocket-hours, yeah.

I'm sure all Breath Players probably learn to fly, unless there are some oddball classes which don't let you interact with your Aspect.

Anonymous asked: forwarding this message to you from someone who doesn't have a tumblr account. ~DJ "Important fact. Dave and Aradia both use musical instruments for time travel, but different ones. Aradia’s is a music box, it has a single prerecorded music, the only way to “play” it is to turn it so it plays the music that was always in it. Dave’s is turntables. They contain a preexisting music, but what you do with them is to jump, cut and shuffle this music, creating something new, having full control of it. - RM"

I like it! As Time Players, they both follow the set path of the Alpha Timeline - but Dave gets a little funky with it, multiplying himself with a complex series of time loops.

Aradia, ever the fatalist, instead turns to doomed clones for reinforcements. I don't think we've ever seen her make a stable loop.

[tryhardgwen]

rs archive 05/13/2024:

Out of genuine curiosity, what are your thoughts on "morally questionable" fics (especially in the rpf community)? Please feel free to ignore this if answering that question makes you uncomfortable!

hi anon and thank you for your ask! sorry for the late answer, i was thinking on this one for a while. trigger warning for anyone, i mention sensitive topics here.

the thing about morals is that they're subjective. like, obviously, many people like to think they're objective, and they are to a point. like MORALLY, child abuse is BAD! that is very true! don't abuse children guys! but what i'm trying to say is the line blurs a bit when it comes to comparably less bad and harmful stuff--what you're talking about: the ~questionable~. some people think writing rpf is morally wrong. do i? looks at my works um no. personally, i think life is too short to ponder on the morality of writing stupid fanfiction about league of legends proplayers. but to answer your question on "morally questionable" topics in fics specifically--im assuming, r/nc, death, self-harm/suicidal ideation, gore, abject characterization (like portraying (specifically an irl person) as a rapist or something)? i think it's the same kinda thing. people do or not do it, if i don't like it i won't interact. im sure they have their reasons and im im not going to go yelling at people for doing something or not doing something. was nabokov wrong for writing lolita? will me answering that question change anything? as long as you are true to yourself, your morals, and your beliefs, then i think that's good. in the broader scope of things, whats important is living a happy and fulfilling life yk. igaf what people do. i personally don't feel comfortable reading or writing some things, so i just don't do it or interact with it.

however, i have written/am writing gore and some more heavy topics (im literally working on a hunger games au right now). i'm sure that falls under "morally questionable/wrong" for some people. im sure rpf falls under "morally questionable/wrong" for some people! like, don't blame me was rather "tame" but like, if you think about it seriously, i literally strip keria of his humanity and turn him into an obsession demon. is that wrong? who knows i just thought "haha runeterra demon" because i read WAY too much fiddlesticks lore and then wrote a fic. i touch on suicidal ideation, self-harm, and abuse in all my love. i probably/might/maybe/im not promising anything will write some form of smut in the future, only what im comfortable with though. like i said, it's largely an introspective experience and has to do with yourself and your morals. if you decide you don't like something, don't interact, but don't go spreading hate to the people that do like it. the only thing i regret in reference to my fics and morality is probably like, we just need some time together but only because i was in a bad headspace when i wrote it (depression goes brr) and i think i used a lot of my emotions there in a bit of an unfiltered way. maybe it isn't as bad as i remember it, though. i haven't read it in a while and i wrote it two-ish years ago. should probably reread it.

just cus this is MY retrospring (ha) ill leave a lil list for people about my works specifically (subject to change, but probably wont). basically what my fics revolve around, what i will/wont write. um, all my fics revolve mainly around love. (love that takes a darker turn in like, don't blame me) but it really is the main topic i write about--relationships and love (but doesn't everyone?). haha funny for an arospec girl, right--but love exists on many wavelengths, not just romantic, so yeah. love for writing and esports and the players in general is why i write. next, i won't ever write suffering for the sake of it. im not someone who goes into google docs like "im going to write whump and cause pain and suffering and make people cry!" if angst in a fic doesn't have a substantial purpose or reason then i'm not doing it. i've scrapped one fic that did that (im not proud that i started it in the first place, but tbf to defend 2023 gwen i was in a really bad place mentally). i also won't write r/nc or like ship minors w adults or anything bc that is not something i want to do! i probably wont ever write like pure pwp cus i don't wanna. i try to portray the more difficult subjects in my works like sh/suicidal ideation/abuse/depression well and non-offensively. i keep my shipping in private places: ao3, tumblr, a private twitter, because that's what i want to do. i've identified my own morals and i stick to them!

all in all, rpf in general is weird. it literally is projecting fantasies on real people (shipping or not, which why i kind of LOL at people that hate fics shipping or with smut of real people yet turn around and write fics killing real people. ...?) like i said: it's all the same isn't it? we're projecting fake fantasies on real people and turning them into characters. obviously some fantasies are um, "worse" than others but that's exactly what i mean--that's for you to decide. i always make sure to detach my fanfiction from reality--i don't actually think the ppl im shipping are in love, and i don't take portrayals of proplayers and their characters 1to1. if a character is a "jerk" in a fic im not going to turn and go hate on that proplayer irl.

what i have realized for myself and what i can say is... don't stress about it. like i said, life is too short to worry about whether or not reading/writing fanfiction about real people (that they will (probably) never see) is a bad thing. if you get a thesis statement from this long-ass answer, it's literally life is too short to worry about [insert text here]. chill! go forth and have fun!! i love yall!!! alright, gwen out.

comment: 1k answer kinda insane BUT i wanted to add (if anyone even read this) that i realize i did stray away from the og question and focused a lot on "rpf" later in my answer, but since it's what i write/do i just naturally have a lot of thoughts/advice (?) on that. so yeah. i sort of used this question as a broad point to talk about rpf and fics and the morality of it in general!

[stillusesapencil]

Newsies! Fic Recs

Because there’s some real good stuff out there, and it deserves some love.

ships represented on this list: javid, jackcrutchie, jatherine, newsbians, sprace, ralbert, spavey, billdarcy.

First, my top five newsies fics, which was really hard to narrow down.

their mistake is they got old by PenzyRome / @penzyroamin 

holy crap, you guys, this one is breathtakingly beautiful and poetic. Davey and Katherine have a marriage of convenience because they’re both gay, and the story goes from there and it’s amazing. Awe-inspiring. If I ever stop gushing about this fic, I’m probably dead. Javid & Newsbians, One-shot, T.

Let’s See Where This Leads by shipNslash

Out with gays hiding relationship for angst, in with hiding for humor! This is genuinely one of the sweetest and funniest fics I’ve ever read. The characterization is spot-on, and I especially love the Jacobs family. Javid, Newsbians, Sprace, One-shot, T.

The End Page is Where you Write in the Rest by anglophileprussian

After I read this one, I kept thinking about it, which is proof of a good fic. Told sort of nonlinear, in little snippets. Jack Kelly’s flaws, as seen by those who love him. sortakinda javid, jatherine, and jackcrutchie, One-shot, unrated.

Stare Down the Odds, May they be in your Favor by ArtemisRayne

A Newsies hunger games au. I stayed up late reading this one. I cried. I reread it and cried again. It’s every bit as painful but also as wonderful as you’d expect it to be. The author is working on the whole series, and I’m sure they’ll all be as excellent as the first. (and if you’re worried about too many of our boys dying, don’t be.) Javid, 7/7 chapters, M.

Mountain Ridge Camp for Boys by timetogoslumming / @timetogoslumming

I love a good summer camp au, and this one combines the canon plot with a modern summer camp setting very nicely. Another one I’ve reread. Sometimes sweet, sometimes hilarious, sometimes a little angsty, and wholly enjoyable. Highly accurate depictions of summer camp life. There’s a sequel, which is also worth reading! Javid & Sprace, 22/22, T.

Putting the rest under a cut because holy crap this got long:

Javid

blue moon by illinoise / @livingchancy

I usually am not into kid fic but holy shit this one got me. Perfectly sweet and angsty by turns, and I guarantee Luna will steal your heart. One of the best and most accurately-written child characters I’ve ever read. Modern au, 16/16, T. 

it all comes back to you by scarlettroses / @thefactsofthematter

Commonly referred to as “the cake fic,” Davey and Jack pretend to to be engaged to get free cake, and well...things just happen from there. Hilarious, perfect pining. Background Newsbians and Sprace. Modern au, 13/13, T.

if it’s small enough to carry, you can I can call it home by swimthewholeriogrande

A small look at Jack’s empty life, suddenly filled by Davey. Canon, poetic, so sweet it makes me tear up. One-shot, unrated.

Jatherine

there’s no business like show business by eponnia

Katherine is an actress trying to escape her father’s shadow; Jack is her costar. Funny and cute, delightfully entertaining. Modern au, One-shot, T. 

Nothing Happens if you Just Give in by RealLifeKatherinePlumber

Jack goes missing after the strike, and Katherine does everything in her power to find him. Riveting with excellent background newsies being awesome. Canon, 19/19, T.

Scars by tupenny

Journalism student Katherine gets to know Jack by asking for the stories behind his scars. This one’s really good, y’all. College au, 15/15, T.

Heart on the Trigger by WritingToKeepMySanity

In a world where the strike never happened, Jack joins one of the most dangerous mobs in New York. His latest mission? Katherine. An angsty thriller. 13/13, T.

JackCrutchie

Your Orbit by Ailendolin / @ailendolin 

Little bit of canon angst, centered around Jack’s absence with new friends (but really he’s planning a surprise.) I smile every time I read the ending. 3/3, T.

Kings of New York by mattygroves

In the future, Jack and Crutchie have an apartment, and Jack is having feelings. Starts Jatherine. Supportive mom Medda. An easy sort of falling in love. One-shot, G.

Falling For You by byrd_the_amazin / @muckcty-mucks

Every fic rec list needs a classic, classy, coffee shop au. Crutchie writes pick-up lines on Jack’s cup. One-shot, unrated.

turning night right into day (orphaned work)

Have some canon mutual pining, wrapped up in a sweet coming out fic. One-shot, G.

Sprace

The Beast of Brooklyn by ArtemisRayne

A beauty and the beast/mafia/magic au. There’s magic and high stakes and dancer Race and it’s really, really good. Another one I stayed up late for. Background Javid. Almost made it into my top 5! Modern au, 26/26, M.

Let it Ride by snark_sniper

Five times Spot kissed Race under the mistletoe, one time Race kissed Spot. Quiet pining is probably my favorite thing ever. Canon, one-shot, G. 

Ralbert

On the subject of sea turtles by datetheplants

This is so soft. Race is a cinema student, Albert is biology. This is all quiet pining, and even the ending is quiet, too. Lots of love for this one, probably my favorite ralbert fic. One-shot, unrated.

Home by Ailendolin

Some Christmas angst for boys who care a lot. Albert’s home life is sad, but Race is a good, good friend. Canon, One-shot, T.

I like me better when I’m with you by buckydarling

Race is moving to Italy, and Albert doesn’t want him to go. This one hurts, but in a really good way. Don’t worry, it ends well. Modern au, One-shot, G.

everyone just wants to be in love by galaxygal

Albert and Race are dumbasses in love. This is the silly and adorable kind of mutual pining. Featuring adorable married!Javid and good bro Elmer. One-shot, E (and if smut is not your thing, it’s p minor and can be skipped).

Newsbians

Hearts as big as the world we inherit by PenzyRome

DO YOU WANT DIVERSE WLW? SIT DOWN, Y’ALL, BECAUSE PENZY WROTE SOME. Ok, I’m done yelling now. But seriously, well-written, cute, perfect amount of heartache. One-shot, G.

Slieght of Hand by illinoise

Sarah is a magician, Katherine falls for her immediately. Summer wlw, hilarious and sweet by turns. Background characters add beautifully to the atmosphere and plot. 12/12, T. Another contender for top 5!

the stars we steal from the night sky by Indigo_Penstrokes

Sarah is a musician with feelings, and she really loves Katherine. Touching and beautiful. Modern au, One-shot, G.

The Gal Pal Chronicles (Or: Hand-Holding and Pining for Dummies) by byrd_the_amazin

Sarah and Katherine fake date for an event to piss off her father. They are both the epitome of disaster oblivious lesbians pining and it’s FANTASTIC. One-shot, T.

Spavey

Paper boys by therudestflower

This one has me hooked. Davey ends up working a paper route with Spot in the 90s. Stayed up late to read it. Made me laugh out loud. Unique kind of storytelling through lists. 4/5, T.

(if it was) anyone but you by PenzyRome

Ah, Penzy delivers (again) some good, steady, relationship building. I think this was the fic that made me go, “ah, yes, this ship makes sense.” Canon, One-shot, T.

BillDarcy

how ‘bout a change of scene��and now I’m learning what is true (that love will do what it does) by darcyreid

I couldn’t decide between these two. Both are really good, canon-era stories about Darcy falling in love with Bill and making their way in the world. Funny and heartfelt by turns. Both are one-shots rated T.

Prepress by GalaxyGazing

Darcy and Bill, before and during the strike. A little angsty, a lot sweet. One-shot, T.

And I won’t pass up a chance to plug my own shit:

Canon Jack-centric one shot, angsty future fic. Jatherine & Javid, One-shot, T.

Ralbert canon angst four-chap, M. (now linked!)