#but it isn't anywhere near canon here lol

[tabl3]

Oliver and Marcus have so much chemistry in the rewrite. Are they just friends or...??? 👀

they do??? i don't remember them ever interacting lmfao 💀💀 ( I swear I know my own series please)

anyway putting aside goldfish brain, they are not friends or interested in each other at all. at the moment marcus is "evil" so they're enemies if anything else

also oliver is straight and marcus is aroace so they wouldn't be anything regardless

[canonicallyobserving911]

100% agree with not wanting buck to talk to temu about The Will! 📢📢📢

It would give temu and bommy relationship a significance and focus that is unearned and undeserved and I simply don't want him to have! Same reason i wouldn't want temu to get killed off, and i don't want them to break up over the issue of wanting/not wanting to have kids 🙄 i don't want bommy to be anywhere near having that kind of conversation

Ajfjgkdksk i swear, if they confirmed in canon that temu was trying to date eddie and just settled for buck 😂😂😂 i would never ask for anything more in life lol so unfortunately it's not going to happen. But OH it would be so satisfying!

As it seems they're not going to address temu's past, I'd be happy if they broke up for some really superficial shallow reason, which would just underscore how insignificant and tenuous the relationship actually is.

Good day @blutterlie and thank you for the ask.

[Link to my original post here.]

You're correct and I agree with your assessment because Buck and Temu talking about Eddie's will and it being a reason for them breaking up would give the "Bummy" relationship too much of everything. It would be like you said, both undeserved and unearned and IMO, T*mmy isn't a significant enough side character to be included in that intimate part of Eddie's and Buck's relationship.

Case and point, Eddie's NEVER told anyone on screen other than Buck that he added him to his will as Chris' legal guardian but he didn't tell either of his two on screen love interests. He never told Ana and he never told Marisol. Also, Buck never told Taylor or Natalia so why would he tell T-Rex? He shouldn't because he doesn't deserve to know. T*mmy's a plot device just like all the others which makes him that much more insignificant.

Furthermore, Buck hasn't told Maddie, his own sister and he hasn't told Bobby either. I know a lot of fanfic writers indulge and include Eddie telling Bobby in their fics for emergency purposes but that's not CANON, it's FANON. Do I suspect the 118 knows how important Chris is to Buck? YES! The shooting is evident of that since no one, not even Bobby questioned Buck being the one to tell Chris what happened even though Eddie was dating Ana at the time. But I don't think they know Buck's in Eddie's will and I don't think the Diaz parents know either. Isabel might know and I believe that's because Eddie's close to his abuela but I don't think anyone else does. Also, KR stating Chris knows about "the will" doesn't make narrative sense because if he did, he would have called Buck when he was upset with Eddie instead of his grandparents like he did in season 4. Actually, he ordered an Uber with Eddie's phone and ran away to Buck's loft and that was before Eddie was shot.

As far as the breakup of Buck and Tonsilitis is concerned, I WANT T*MMY TO ADMIT HE TRIED TO DATE EDDIE FIRST TOO! It's my villain origin story because it would highlight how ridiculous the writing was handled last season. I know it won't happen either but it would be so fantastic. I wrote a fanfic about it, it felt great and I also let Eddie tell Buck he deserved better than a dismissive asshat who doesn't listen to him and who only wants him for his body.

I'm sure the writers won't go there because they don't want to defame Tonka Toy's character but they sure didn't have a problem letting him be complicit when Gerrard's 100-year-old ass was saying racist and bigoted comments to Hen and Chimney.

At this point, I don't care how and why they break up, I just want T.K. 2.0 GONE ASAP and I don't want Buck getting advice from someone telling him to stick it out🙄. It's time for Buck to be single so he can figure out he was trying to get Eddie's attention this whole time and not T-Rex's. There's no more time for doubling down on the ridiculousness of these one dimensional and lackluster relationships for Buck or Eddie.

As always, thank you for the ask and have a great day.

[eyesmadeofpearls]

controversial opinion time the last of us show was fucking dog shit and they added random inclusivity that made 0 sense to look good and get praise. they didn't even bother to set bills area up in a town like the game and instead chose some random house in the middle of nowhere for some reason. I swear I've seen sesame street make a fake city background set better than that lol. they also made him a crazed redneck instead of a paranoid tech savvy for some reason. and they also made his boyfriend die much later in the storyline and might i add in his arms whereas he actually found him strung up in that old abandoned shit hole in game?? not sure why they'd change that. They also had a really toxic relationship, i mean frank ran off with bills battery for crying out loud. And then, when bill cut him down, he spit on his body. it adds heartache and thats what good story telling is all about. Bill didnt go on to get married and he's still alive in game too. sarah was never mixed, she was white because most of texas is white. especially considering they weren't anywhere near the city like austin. if you want black and mixed characters enjoy the ones pre-existing maybe??

instead of adding spores they added ''tendrils'' that spread through.. let me check my notes.. ah. zombies kissing humans. totally realistic everyone! and no, it's not hard to add fake spore effects if shows can add fake dust particles. lets be realistic here.

the storyline was too quick and rushed and they also randomly went from the main plot of "take ellie to the fireflies" and somehow along the way delved into "i have to see my brother and he's missing" which was never a mission in the game??

they missed important scenes that could have all easily been done too. they have the money to create a 1:1 replica of the entire game but they're too lazy. i personally think we need to stop settling for this trash and make actual adaptations and not sorry excuses of one. film making is an art, people should treat it as such. if you personally are fine with this bs because you aren't a diehard fan like some of us, thats cool, you go enjoy that and stop bragging about how you're so normal about the game. other people like myself want to see this do better and if that requires funding for this to happen then so be it.

this is like the whole sonic movie criticism all over again... or like how modern art and architecture is less than what it used to be. stop laziness and be productive! that's all folks

ps this is like trying to make your headcanons canon, do you see how that wouldnt work out?? christ this isn't the last of us anymore this is the remaining amongst us

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon Upd8s for June 26, 2024 and July 6, 2024

The peak of my convention season is almost over, and I'm taking a break to liveblog some Homestuck. It doesn't help that we've had two upd8s since I last checked the site. I'm also not feeling well, and I like browsing Homestuck stuff when I'm not feeling well.

When last we left off, I predicted that Calliope is using the Plot Point to influence the Candy Timeline through their connection with Roxy and her/their Void powers. If I'm right, this is the worst thing to have anywhere near a Serket. So I'm really wondering what's going on. Perhaps they think Vriska's ability to influence the narrative can give it a boost?

We don't get a news post for either of these upd8s, so we're going to jump right in!

Trippy . . . Though this seems considerably less seizure inducing than Homestuck's prior stuff. Perhaps the HICU are working on that a bit.

Okay, so I might be way off! So the Plot Point itself is the singularity at the center of the machine. The machine itself just stabilizes it, perhaps preventing it from expanding Big Bang style or sucking anything into it. And the fact it has both Calliope and Roxy's colors means they probably just worked on it together. I'm gonna go stand in the corner and turn into a sheep now.

Oh boy. Vriska is not having any patience for this . . .

Calliope said they needed authenticity, and Vriska following someone else's plan wouldn't exactly do that. Vriska would actually get as much info as she could normally though. So she thinks she has all the information she needs, she doesn't believe she can get accurate info from anyone in the Candy Timeline, or she's being affected by the Plot Point too. Possibly a combination of the three.

Either way, no we get an [S] page! Maybe this will be a substantive one.

So Vriska just got spaghettified into the Plot Point, and that seems to have changed the machine. That music was really creepy too. I'm continuing to have a bad feeling about this . . .

Oops . . . Roxy is not happy about this.

"Grumpy Exposition Creature: Exposit." lol

Oh shit! They have attracted some attention I don't think they're ready for.

Whelp! Even Dead Calliope isn't able to do much beside reveal what's going on. We've got another [S] page too.

Well this is eerily familiar . . .

Wait! That's Vriska's hive! But it's just Vriska's hive, no sign of Equius's. This has some dream bubble vibes, but it's definitely not that.

More God Tier art!

Uh oh. Ominous call back is ominous. And the narration here is driving that home even further. But what do they mean by "hungrier?" What other forces can be called into play here. The Horrorterrors perhaps? Something new? Us being hungry for more?

Yeah, I was already pretty sure this was a bad idea. Calliope might be many things, but they're not a liar.

Davepeta jumpscare!

Um . . . that's a lot of sprites . . .

Yay! Fefetasprite is here too!

Apparently this is an infurvention.

Holy crap it's SBAHJification time! I'm not gonna spoil that. You can see this masterpiece for yourself.

Okay. So the sprites seem to want to set Vriska straight. Emphasis on "seem." So why is this a bad thing? Is this simply bad from Calliope's perspective and her goal of trying to stabilize everything and end Dirk's influence on the timelines and the narrative? Is this a trap? Is this a previously unseen force or a new angle on one we know about?

So I'd previously blogged about how powerful the Plot Point could be. It is well within the realm of possibility for Vriska to be forced through a redemption arc. And there are definitely people out there that are hungry for that. As a god, this could put Vriska on the path to ascend, which might give her even more control over the narrative than Dirk.

But even with all the bullshit that's been going on in the Candy Timeline, even with the potential power of the Plot Point, even with all of Homestuck's prior ridiculous shenanigans, this feels a bit too convenient. Too contrived. Vriska, her Hive, the sprites. It all strains any kind of credibility.

And while there are people who are hungry to see Vriska redeemed, there's another outcome that I think far more people are hungry for . . .

"welcome to hell"

[simplysedusa]

I love the idea of the boys getting adopted by miss Keane sm. I picture at the end Mojo and Him are just confused how this kindly elementary school teacher managed to get three boys who were literally created to do evil (and rebelled against the both of them) to go against their programming and the boys are like ‘because she actually bothered to know and see us and she loved and believed in us when we made it very impossible to and no one else did and also cuz we actually respect her lol’. Look I love me ppgxrrb but I like the thought of the boys redeeming themselves for a maternal figure in their lives because they never had that and they to their shock actually really love it and love miss Keane. Also it contrasts the girls with a loving father nicely.

I'm not gonna lie, my main motivation for having Ms. Keane be the one to adopt the boys was her last name lol. I've said it before, but there isn't a canon explanation as to why Brick would allow the last name "Jojo" near any official documents. Keane sounded/looked the best near their names.

One of my many gripes with PPGxRRB fics is that the girls tend to be the only motivation for the boys to redeem themselves. The good girl that fixes the bad boy trope is just so toxic, and it's lazy. Removing HIM and Mojo from the equation and giving the boys a positive parental guardian (who's a woman) starts the groundwork for the boys becoming better people (and begin challenging their misogyny). BUT, Ms. Keane won't have to bear the responsibility of influencing the boys alone, because as they say, it takes a village. I haven't officially stated this anywhere but Professor Utonium helps out from time to time with advice, he's the only adult around who knows what it's like to raise supers. There's also an OC of mine who acts as a (mostly) positive father figure to the boys as well.

And the boys with Ms. Keane won't just be for the benefit of the boys. Ms. Keane gets development too! Ms. Keane tends to abide by a strict, logical set of rules. She doesn't allow the Powerpuff Girls to fight in school even when the lives of others are at stake, she convinces Professor Utonium to change the girls' bedtimes when they were sleeping in class (though to be fair, she had a point, five year olds shouldn't be fighting crime at 11pm at night), and she dumps Professor Utonium because there's no way a cat could've been a criminal. She's tight knit. With the Rowdyruff Boys, she could loosen up and stop viewing the world in black and white.

Plus I'm like 90% sure I'll have Sedusa and Ms. Keane dating each other at the end of the WIP, so they'll have another adult in the corner who can also relate to the boys as a former villain who's rehabilitated.

But NGL, I saw a post on here about the Mayor taking the boys in, and that could be very interesting in itself.

Though for me and my WIPs, Ms. Keane isn't the one that causes the boys to rebel against Mojo and HIM. The Rowdyruff Boys leave on their own. They're elementary school kids, they will eventually get bored and wanna go live their lives. That doesn't mean they aren't the mischievous little shits as we know them to be, they just aren't concerned with the Powerpuffs.

[justagalwhowrites]

Have the best time at the ren faire bestie!!!! Would you have any head canons for how your Joels / OCs would experience a ren faire in their universes 👀 I could totally see them setting up a little faire in Jackson omg

Thank you so much, Bestie!! I'm excited for it! Not excited to get up at 6 a.m. to go to beat the traffic to pick up our season passes but excited for the rest of it lol

Because it's me and I love story and I know Texas ren faires (I used to work at Scarborough for those in DFW!), Joel lived close to the largest ren faire in the world, the Texas Renaissance Festival! It's a fall faire just outside Houston, and I'm assuming that's where he'd go. MAYBE Sherwood? But probably TRF so that's where I'm going to be sending the pre-outbreak and no-outbreak Joels :)

Here are my Ren Faire HCs!

Lavender: Joel and Doc definitely took Sarah to TRF at least once. Sarah and Doc got matching flower garlands and the knight gave Sarah the token at the joust. Everyone got their own turkey leg even though Joel was very skeptical that Sarah could eat one by herself. Joel ends up eating all of his and half of Sarah's because she can't finish. Sarah falls asleep on the drive home and Joel keeps looking over at Doc with the flowers in her hair and a little smile on her face while her fingers are laced with his in the glow of the streetlights. When he carries Sarah inside and tucks her into bed, Doc calls him her knight in shining armor and she has to stifle a laugh when he damn near tackles her before taking her to bed.

Yearling: Savvy finds a book that talks about renaissance faires and she asks Ellie about them. "Fuck if I know, dude" is all Ellie has to say. So they take the question to Joel and Bambi. Joel's like "Took Sarah to one of those once... kinda weird but she loved it." Bambi gets a good laugh out of it and says "Yeah, there was one of these not too far from me when I was a kid. I went with some friends in high school once, almost got kicked out for drinking too much. They wouldn't let me try jousting though..." Savvy gets a little hung up on the idea in that way teenaged girls sometimes do so Joel organizes a little Jackson renaissance faire. The more theatrical kids put on a show, Julia makes flower crowns with the girls, he convinces Bambi to play some period-appropriate music with him. Jousting isn't really possible because without the armor you're just going to get hurt but Olivia helps coordinate some contests for the best riders in town (minus Bambi because that's just unfair.) Everyone has a great time. It becomes an annual thing.

New in Town: Beautiful has never been to a ren faire. "You're shittin' me," Joel just looks at her. "Not ever?" "Nope," she says. "Kind of thought they were a kid thing. Aren't they a kid thing?" He smiles a little. "There's kid stuff but... trust me, every time I brought Sarah there, the grown ups were having more fun than the kids." So they go to TRF and Joel insists on getting Beautiful a corset and then kind of regrets it because holy shit now he has to look at her looking like that without anywhere to sneak off and fuck her. They go to the rowdiest shows and when she gets tipsy, she whispers in his ear "You sure there's nowhere around here you can fuck me?" Joel immediately gets on his phone and books the nearest open hotel room. They fuck like crazy and decide to go back to the faire the next morning and see the rest of it.

Halcyon: Joel and Goldie definitely went to TRF when they were teenagers. She would have dragged him and he would have had even more fun than her. She'd think it was because of the corsets. It's really because he could see how happy she was and dammit, it's hard to get better than that for Joel. So they decide to take Sarah for old time's sake. Sarah and Goldie wear peasant skirts and shirts and at faire Sarah gets a cloak that she PROMISES to wear for part of her Halloween costume that year and Joel catches Goldie eyeballing a particularly beautiful corset. He convinces her to try it on. "C'mon, live a little woman." So she does and she looks so good in it he forgets how to speak for a moment and she says "Sorry, I know, it's dumb..." "No!" He almost yells it before he clears his throat. "No, it's... really not dumb, Goldie Girl. Looks really nice on you, you should get it." He tries not to stare at her all day in it but he definitely fails. She asks him for help getting out of the corset when they go back to the car later and his hands shake a little as he unlaces her.

The Savage and the Sanctuary: Ellie hears about the festival from a classmate and begs to go. "There are swords, Sissy. SWORDS." And Joel tries not to groan and Reader just smiles, realizing this is just another way to annoy him. "Well, you heard her. There are swords." So they go. Ellie is obsessed with the weaponry. Reader lets her pick out a sword to take home. Joel's head is on a swivel the whole time but Reader's baseball cap and sunglasses disguise have actually helped her fly under the radar here. So many people are looking at the elaborate garb on other patrons that she's largely ignored. She does get one or two "Has anyone ever told you that you look just like..." and she cuts them off with a laugh and goes "Yeah, I get that a lot. Not sure why, she's WAY prettier." Joel tries to not like how happy Ellie and Reader look because that would mean he cares and he shouldn't care. Fuck caring. The traffic to get out of the parking lot at the end of the day looks miserable so Reader lets Joel drive. He hates that she still wins because of it.

I hope you enjoyed this little adventure into fic land Ren Faire! This was so fun to think about, thank you for asking!!

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Do you have any recommendations for day by day fics like ficmas/advent calendar/autumnal days for example.

Like when the fic follows the characters for each day for a solid month

Anonymous asked: Love your page! Do you have any fics which follow John and Sherlock where each chapter is a new day or near daily where they are learning that they love each other?

Hey Nonnies!

Oh! This is a good idea for a list, LOL. PLEASE note that there is CONSTANTLY fics like this always being uploaded, especially in parts rather than chapters, so I'm just posting the ones I'm familiar with from my bookmarks that I know follow a "year in their lives" and then any series that I know also have this premise! I scoured my MFL list as well, so I most definitely missed some! Please add some more if you guys have any to add!

SEASONAL / DAILY FICS

And as the seasons change, I love you more by Teatrolley (NR, 3,219 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff and Angst, Est. Rel., Marriage / Proposal) – A year in the lives of John and Sherlock, essentially.

Equilibrium by augustbird (M, 12,351 w., 1 Ch. || Flowers for Algernon Fusion || Jealous then Worried Sherlock, Sick John) – At Baskerville, John is infected by a virus that turns him into a genius. But when the infection progresses into neurodegeneration, it's a race against time to save himself.

I Think I've Come A Long Long Way To Sit Before You Here Today by ArwenKenobi (T, 18,251 w., 3 Ch. || Grief/Mourning, Passage of Time, Major Character Death, Alternating POV, Sherlock Whump, Pining Sherlock, Hospitalization, Coma, Revenge Murders, Hallucinations, Love Confessions, Brutal Accident, Mystrade, Ghost John) – One year after John is killed Sherlock starts to wonder whether John has actually gone anywhere.

I wake up and I wake up and you're still dead by thisprettywren (M, 24,226 w., 1 Ch. || Memento Fusion AU || Amnesia, Timelines, Case Fic) – Sherlock isn't the only one who's lost.

Dear John by wendymarlowe (E, 23,031 w., 64 Ch. || Post-TRF, Online Dating, Pining, Epistolary, Cybersex, Long Distance Romance) – With Sherlock dead, John eventually (under duress) makes a profile on an online dating site. And falls into a long-distance relationship with an enigmatic partner who reminds him of Sherlock in all the right ways. (Hint: it turns out to be Sherlock.) Part 1 of Dear John

John Watson's Twelve Days of Christmas by earlgreytea68 (M, 53,464 w., 14 Ch. || Christmas, Holmes Family, Fake Relationship, Alternate First Meeting, Falling in Love, Fluff and Angst, Hardcore Pining) – It's the holiday season. John Watson needs money. Sherlock Holmes needs something else.

Points by lifeonmars (E, 53,791 w., 42 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || HLV Rewrite / Canon Divergence, Married Life, Pregnancy / Baby Watson, Drinking to Cope, Boxing / Fisticuffs, Clueless John, Angst, Minor Medical Drama, Tattoos, Christmas, First Kiss/Time, Eventual Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Doctor John, Sexuality Crisis, Slow Burn, Case Fic, Drugging, Blow/Hand Job, Emotional Love Making, Parenthood, Passage of Time) – What if His Last Vow never happened? This fic picks up a few months after John and Mary's wedding, in an alternate universe where Magnussen doesn't exist, but Mary is still pregnant. Life continues -- just in a different direction. And slowly, Sherlock and John find their way to each other.

Albion and the Woodsman by Glenmore (NR [E], 54,437 w., 50 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post S3, Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Angst, Family, Drug Use, Depression, Sherlock POV, Light Humour, Reconnecting, Declarations of Love) – Sherlock and John are devastated after Mary Morstan makes her final moves. Sherlock relapses at the crack house, John walks around the world … and a lot happens in between. Parentlock, in the good way.

31_Days_of_Porn_Challenge_2017 Series by distantstarlight (E, 96,540 w. across 31 stories || Prompt Ficlets, Assorted Kinks, PWP) – A collection in response to the 31 Days of Porn Challenge issued by AtlinMerrik! Thanks for doing that because this has been buttload of fun (that joke never gets old). All stories will be brief stand-alone one-shots. 

The Swan Triad Series by Pennin_Ink (T, 121,660 w. across 3 works || Swan Lake AU || Magical / Fairy Tale AU, Romance, Falling in Love, Pining, Psychological Torture, Transformation) – Sherlock and John grow up spending every summer together. Their mothers' attempts to play matchmaker only fuel their mutual resentment and scorn. But then, one summer.

25 Days of Johnlock Series by prettysailorsoldier (E, 136,961 w. across 13 works || Random Prompts, Various AUs, Christmas, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, First Kiss) – 25 Days of festive prompts submitted by all of you! Every Christmas trope imaginable will make an appearance, as well as a few surprises, so be sure to check the tags for all the specifics!

Free Falling by twistedthicket1 (M, 203,574 w., 38 Ch. || Guardian Angels AU || Guardian Angel John, Fluff and Angst, Humour, Kidlock / Teenlock, Light Mystrade, Passage of Time, Possessive John, Drug Use / Overdose, Victor Trevor, Graphic Bullying, Big Brother Mycroft, Hard Drug Use, Depression, Possessive Sherlock, Possessive John, Panic Attacks, Nightmares/PTSD, Pining, Healing Abilities, Kidnapping, Violence, Torture, Blow Jobs, Virgin John, Emotional Development / Attachment, Mortality, Happy Ending) – All Guardian angels are born with a Chosen human. When this child is born, the angel comes into being to protect and care for them during their life on Earth. For John Watson, all he cares about in the world revolves around his Chosen, Sherlock Holmes. Watching him grow up though, the angel soon learns that God must have had a sense of humour the day he decided to make Sherlock, as trouble seems to follow him like a magnet wherever he goes. John can't decide what's worse, the idea of losing his Chosen one, or the fact that he may be breaking the most taboo law of heaven as he disguises himself as a human to better protect and befriend the beloved detective he's always watched from afar. He was meant to care for him. But what happens when caring evolves into something more? What happens when an emotion an angel is supposed to be incapable of possessing comes to life suddenly and viciously inside John's chest? 

MARKED FOR LATER

Our Own Art Form by Corporate_cards (G, 2,176 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Art Forms, Angsty Fluff, Passage of Time, Canon Compliant) – That's what he liked most, when he was unsure of what he was feeling, art would show him.

Your Flowers, My Lungs by Corporate_cards (G, 2,353 w., 1 Ch. || Hanahaki Disease || Brief Mary/John, Passage of Time) – ...bright yellow pistil and stamen surrounded by pearl white petals...

28 Days of Fluff by Fluffbyday_Smutbynight (G, 8,177 w., 28 Ch. || Domestic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, 221B / 442B Ficlets, Humour, Original Characters) – A collection of fluffy ficlets (either in 221B or 442B format) written for Fluffbruary 2022.

Advent Calendar 2017 by Hotaru_Tomoe (E,  41,952 w., 25 Ch.|| Not S4 Compliant, Fluff, Humour, Smut, Light Angst, First Kiss/Time, Est. Rel., Hurt/Comfort, Spanking, Christmas Party, Lingerie, Various Universes, Advent Calendar Fic) – My Advent Calendar, 25 one shots from 1st to 25th December, Christmas-ish themed.  Each story has its own rating. Part 23 of The English job

Dawn Before the Rest of the World by PoppyAlexander (M, 65,164 w. across 12 works || 1920′s Historical AU || Romantic John, Wooing, Declarations of Love, Butler Sherlock/Gardener John, Kissing, Period-Typical / Internalized  Homophobia, Kissing, Love Letters, Hand Jobs, Kinks, Passage of Time) – In one of the grand houses of England in the 1920s, butler Sherlock Holmes is wooed to pieces by the world's most romantic gardener, John Watson.

Johnloctober by prettysailorsoldier (E, 169,945 w., 31 Ch. || Assorted AU’s || Alternate First Meetings, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, 30 Day OTP Challenge, Prompts, Halloween / Autumn, Assorted Tags) – 31 days of autumnal Johnlock with prompts from all of you! There will be a bit of everything, but you can check the tags for more specifics.

[scenetocause]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers 💫

i got tagged by @verycoolwearsleather and now i have to pretend i have a writing process haha

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

it says 52 but there's actually a lot more due to orphaning/anon-ing things.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

345,519 but again i'm not sure how much tha's counting

3. What fandoms do you write for?

gross f1 twinks

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

just telling it like it is (lando/maxv)

pretty sure this is just cus it's the oldest fic i have since the account reboot because it absolutely does not merit being anywhere near the top 10 lol it's just a 5+1 about other mando being obvious (it's anon'd cus i got bored of a load of my fics and didn't want them as part of the emptyhalf canon anymore)

every colour illuminates (george/lando)

for something i started writing offhand cus some of my friends were saying there should be more trans men in f1 fic, this one sure grew legs. i'm still insanely moved by the comments it gets and the way it seemed to resonate with people. i'm not sure i can really convey how dumb i actually am in a way that'd make people believe me but i really did just write this on vibes and it's one of the things i can say i'm genuinely glad i did. idk, it's just queer porn really but maybe we need more of that.

(i) just wanna get a little bit closer (mando)

you know i don't even think this is close to my best mando fic (personal choice is no plans of staying on) so there's no accounting for taste and you absolutely should practice death of the author or whatever. anyway, it's mando cohabitation era boundary breakdown stuff where they fuck and then go on a date about it.

shoreline i see when i'm off course (loscar, mando)

people rly are thirsty for a/b/o huh. how'd this little fic get into the top five so quickly?

the usual, upside down (alex/george/lando)

literally THEE most head empty omegaverse threesome fic in history y'all are horny as fuck. it literally only got written bc george did some dumb insta post where he called lando and alex his mates and also then was walking around looking horny af in the black fireproofs and mask when he stood in for lewis. there is NO nutritional content here even by the fast food standards of emptyhalf fic.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i uh. i should. i would like to but my brain is quite severely broken. i do read them all and i bookmark a lot in open tabs to come back to and reply to because they mean a lot but then i have 6000 tabs open and no executive function.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

we don't do that here. i guess maybe if you dig into the far distant past then it was probably i'm not just a fuck up, i'm the fuck up you love which is 18k words of jev not really getting over daniel that ends on a sort of optimistically blasted-open note.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

most of them are happy but probably actually pick me up, no headlights where george and max end up with their weird little family worked out and the kids are doing well, y'know

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no i don't think enough people read them to beef me lol

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

hahahaha oh yea. i like to think i write something along the lines of realistic queer sex, with the way that means it's mostly kind of funny and sometimes awakward and isn't elegant or arch or even particularly romantic except that you're getting to do it with the person you do it with. writing lando and oscar being straight with each other, even if it's in a cringe fail way, made me realise i really do not write straight people and i feel a bit like one of those painfully hetero actors who does a gay kissing scene and talks about how they had to get themselves in the mindset by watching the l word or whatever haha. what do straight people do? who are they?

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

i was gonna say no but then i remembered i wrote logan and oscar going ghosthunting and being kinda pass-agg horny about it because. idk? logan gave me ryan bergara vibes.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i think someone reposted some of mine awhile ago and it got dealt with before i really knew anything about it idk

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i don't know tbh. someone made a podfic of one of my fics a way back.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yeah i used to do that quite a lot but now. i am a lone wolf. (too perverse for other people's minds)

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

jenson/lewis but society has never been ready for this

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i don't. i don't wanna let doubt enter into it but my daniel goes to fe fic is up against a number of the dark souls boss level demons in my own brain 😔

16. What are your writing strengths?

uh. i uh. i can write on my phone? i have a relaxed attitude to whether what i write is any good at all? i don't actually think i really have any.

people quite often say i have a lot of emotional intelligence in my fics which is very funny to me because i am a deeply unemotionally intelligent person so idk how that's happened really.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

look we could be here all day.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i guess it has never bothered me so long as the reader could be reasonably expected to work out the meaning from the context.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

cardcaptor sakura (i was 14)

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

hmmm. in terms of thinking it's like, good or whatever it's probably don't say no or you'll have to go, the fucked up valtteri/george mutual seat envy/horror of being compared to lewis hamilton thing. or really, it's an old spy au fic called ten seconds before sunrise that i deleted ages ago so: sorry about that.

but favourite is probably some dumb mando shit or i have extreme recency bias so maybe logan and oscar go ghosthunting or whatever. oh wait, no, it's genders maxy the how-to-find-your-identity-post-racing-in-your-pussy treatise that was born of crack but ended up. no, it's still crack. anyway, classic emptyhalf shit tbh.

[the-torchwood-archive]

lol why do people try to fight you on timelines and canon? You got that tw flavor autism

Okay, this isn't really directed at you anon, you're just the person here at the moment.

Can we not do this? I come from a time in fandom when BNFs were a thing and it was goddamn awful. Especially in a fandom like Doctor Who, what is or isn't canon is a conversation. The entire point of fandom is sharing and collaboration and anyone trying to push the idea that their view of canon is more valid is an asshole. Fandom is built off a never-ending chain of "umm actually" and it's brilliant.

Again, sorry anon this wasn't entirely directed at you, I have had similar asks to this before and have chosen not to publish them.

Also I'm not going anywhere near that second comment as I don't personally sit on the spectrum so it's not actually the case.

[themyscirah]

@vampirehal asked me the ask game but for Jess, so I'm putting that in a separate post here : )

First impression:

Read Green Lanterns first and was like "oh she's AWESOME"

Impression now:

I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS WOMAN. sorry she's just SOOOOOO interesting to me. So cool so strong so BRAVE. I have so many feelings abt Jess I could talk about her for hourssssss

Favorite moment:

Hgggg okay so like Green Lanterns was one of the first comics I read like 3 years ago so I love it but my memory is starting to get kind of fuzzy. I'm doing a character read rn of both Simon and Jess and I'm up to Green Lanterns with Jess but need like 10 more Simon issues to get there with him (so early warning I'm about to get REALLY insufferable abt them) so of her moments before that I'd probably say her big moments resisting Volthoom as Power Ring? I'm insane for the whole Power Ring stuff in general tbh. Like OH MY GOD?!?!?!?!

This is more of a simonjess moment that a Jess character moment but the whole "Just breathe, Jess"/God thing in Green Lanterns is INSANE to me actually. Like what the hell oh my god THEY REALLY WROTE THAT????? wild.

Idea for a story:

On god I have SO many. So many. For one more specific to just Jess and her character arc I have an idea about her time as a Yellow Lantern and exploring that and working that in as a step in her arc and connecting it back to past moments as both GL and PR. (This eventually ends with her going back to GL) This idea is a biggie for me and one of my favorites but probably won't see a ton of progress for a while because I'm just starting rebirth on her character read and so won't get there for a while.

That's just one but I have lots of ideas, including those during her time as Power Ring which is a CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED era of Jess. Her mental state and struggles there are so insane to me and yet nobody takes what's written to their logical conclusion and it just !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know Justice League is a team book and they did some stuff with it but that actually drives me so nuts they didn't focus on Jess more during that era.

Also also have an idea that functions as a combo of Blackest Night (haven't read yet 💀) and the Star Wars zombie au novel Red Harvest that inserts Jess (and Simon too lol but we're not talking abt him rn) into Blackest Night (likely as an au, possibly canon compliant if it works once i read BN) and has Jess on Mogo alone protecting his ring from a group of zombies. It plays a lot on her origin and hunting abilities as she is tracked through the forest by the reanimated corpses of her murdered friends.

Unpopular opinion:

Hmm... I feel like she's a character with less popular opinions and more just opinions. Anyways here are some Jess opinions I disagree with.

"Simon and her should just be friends, men and women don't have to date etc." I mean yes i definitely agree in the importance of close platonic relationships between men and women but like... that's just not simonjess to me. They've also 100% got a hetbait thing going on so it's not like it isn't present in canon. Also like Jess does have close important relationships with men she isn't dating? Take her and Vic for instance (or in my ignoring canon lalala world her and Barry). Just very much disagree on this point.

Also ppl who think that Jess being a Yellow Lantern for a bit is like ruining her character or whatever I disagree? I think it had the potential to be done absolutely terribly (anxiety disorder = yellow ring type bs) but from what I've seen I don't think it has? I haven't gotten to this bit either yet but I think it's a concept with potential that could be beneficial to her character growth if done properly

Favorite relationship:

SIMONJESS!!!!!!!!! (To absolutely no one's surprise) they are like actually everything to me, basically the thesis of this blog at this point I just love them sooooo much. I feel like I talk about them a lot and yet still don't do it anywhere near enough. I can get hesitant to post bc I haven't read every single comic they're in yet or whatever but like I'm going through character reads right now and they're right about to meet so trust that situation WILL change and you will wish I'd shut up abt them : )

Also mentioned this earlier but Jess's friendships with Vic and Barry are very important to her character-wise in my mind.

Favorite headcanon:

Was about to say that I don't make a lot of headcanons but that is a LIE. anyways this is more of a future desired timeline thing so not canon but I think that when her and Simon get together, when one of them has to go out to space alone for a decent amount of time they swap rings and Jess talks to Simon's ring

[chaosintheavenue]

Design Doc 12: Hoover Dam

Chaos's obsession level: 1/3

There was still a Battle of Hoover Dam between Caesar's Legion and the NCR, but it's not framed anywhere near as important and consequence-ridden as it was in NV.

3-Some Caravan Company is here! I freaking love those guys.

Because I was exposed to NV first, I can firmly say that my brain will never, never accept that McLafferty's first name was supposed to be Ailis.

Otto Steeeeeed.

Looking at the general map of the dam, and I actually think I recognise the locations of buildings that were used in Arizona Killer/You'll Know It When It Happens. Might be misremembering, though.

Holy shit, slowly coming to the realisation that I barely know anything about VB!Hoover Dam. Probably because I knew from the outset that I wouldn't be including it in my iteration of VB lore, but still.

'A lovely receptionist behind the desk eager to greet the player in a foul-mouthed, military manner'- there's a running theme of VB location greeters giving amazing first impressions.

More 3-Some stuff here.

Crimson Caravan are secretly supplying both the NCR and BoS (who in VB are actively at war) with weapons. Can't say that's a surprise.

Followers of the Apocalypse are getting involved, apparently under the name 'Children of the Apocalypse'. I'm inclined to believe that name is a goof rather than a genuine subgroup.

Hoover Sabotage mentioned.

Fantastic real estate advertising: 'It comes completely furnished with the latest wasteland furniture and has a fine view of the toxic lake. On special evenings, one can look out on the lake and see horrible lake monsters fighting to the death. Romance doesn't get hotter than this'.

The designer left a comment that a specific NPC wasn't intended to have any associated quests, but might still be given some in future depending on how much the designer enjoyed writing their dialogue. Very relatable sentiment lol.

Okay, so this isn't news to me, but I just feel the need to acknowledge that a total dipshit of a Prisoner could have had the option to blow up Hoover Dam.

Trogs? Trogs. They're a far cry from the Pitt creechers, but AFAIK this is the first use of the name within Fallout.

Pig rats return.

There seems to be confusion over whether one of the Giordano triplets is named Carlo or Guido.

Once again, a lot of NPCs cropping up that I've never heard of in my life.

Van Graffs appearing again. And we have a namedrop of Jean-Baptiste Cutting specifically referenced as a prisoner (he was one of Josh Sawyer's player characters in the internal PnP edition).

Otto!

I legitimately forgot that Mallet McBride was here (in my canon he's found on the Strip) and got semi-jumpscared when I saw his name.

There's a quest to teach a school class on wasteland survival that seems very close to the one that wound up in Fallout 4.

The player could fix up and use the lab here? Neat.

[ratwars]

Sorry to bother you with Laito again BUT the more I read about him the more I think that if Yui was even a little bit less (and I hate the fact that I have to use this word to describe her) submissive he wouldn’t get anywhere near close her? Idk I thought about his whole obsession with purity and came to the conclusion that if Yui wasn’t such a stereotypical otome protagonist he would be scared of her? It could be a reach or it could be nothing new but I’ve been thinking about it :3 have a good day (or night since it’s currently 12:00 am here) <333

I'm not even apologizing for the length of this because at this point you have to know what you are doing sending me dialovers asks 💜🙏

Nono you have a point actually. Also I would argue with this series you don't need to tread so lightly on using descriptors for characters like submissive. The game purposefully has heavy bdsm themes, for better or worse, and sometimes it is only for aesthetic and sometimes it is very much a part of the route. Your status bars that your choices effect, and that effect your endings in game, are literally labeled S and M for sadism and masochism. High Sadism gets you the Manservant end (usually framed as a bad end, usually tragic in someway but often more so for the LI, if you don't like the LI you might not hate it though lol), High Masochism gets you the Vampire end (arguably the good ending for both LI and Yui) and having equal stats in both gives you the Brute end (Bad end. Often involving major character death. Typtical otome "you tried to play both sides so now you get to suffer" stuff lol).

Yui is often very submissive in her actions (and faces negative consequences in some routes in particular if she isnt), but that doesn't mean she isn't strong. The situation she is in is terrifying, and she isn't in it by her choice, but her strength, intelligence, and faith is what helps her survive. So I wouldn't look at calling her submissive as a bad/negative thing, her behavior being submissive isn't a negative in this setting. Some ppl hate on her character for it (and think she should have had more attitude or been more aggressive), but I disagree with those ppl. I adore Yui and she is a hell of a woman 😤 and she is who she needs to be in the setting she was written in and does a great job. Not everyone is some super aggressive fighter who acts first and asks questions later, and she canonically is a pacifist so I think it is cool there is a place for her in the story to consistently stick to that belief (and have it yield a good ending for her) despite being treated as prey from the beginning and onward by violent Do-S vamps. Plus there is a reason Karlheinz picked her to put her specifically in the household.

In later games/sequels you see it even more especially in certain route she is at that point *choosing* to be submissive, and it has no bearing on her strength, intelligence, or importance (nor should it). (One of my faves, Carla, actually often reminders her in his sequels that she now can and should ask for more and be more direct with her wants and needs, and that he would never shame her for it)

So the set up for dialovers (which you may have read up on already) involves this whole concept of sacrificial brides and "the awakening" (a sacrificial bride becoming a vampire) the more complicated stuff with Karlheinz' Adam & Eve experiment doesn't really matter here for this convo, because no one is aware of what he is trying to cause/pull until later on anyways.

Yui is *special* (because she is our heroine, right, so per the story she needs to be) but also because of certain qualities of her blood that are spoilers so I will leave this vague since idk what all you have read yet. Her upbringing is unique (raised by the church, pretty secluded from things though it is for *a reason*), however she is very religious and very pure, except she is a giant masochist that isn't being *honest* about it initially (and in some routes like...well you can't actually pry it out of her but everyone knows lol).

However if you make the right choices she survives. In some routes she goes through the awakening (becoming a vampire) in other routes she doesn't but she always lives in the good endings and into the sequels.

There have been countless sacrificial brides before her. And all of them have died. By the brothers hands, either through violence, torture, or them drinking their blood till they die. You have to imagine there was a variety of personalities between all the women that had come before her, and also that not every brother was partial to every previous sacrificial bride. So we can say probably that there was no sacrificial bride that Laito found either 1. Worth his time as much or 2. Worth his focus to fully monopolize her from the other brothers. (Previous sacrificial brides were some what free game, the idea of letting only one brother drink from the bride starts with Yui actually because she demands it from the start in the prologue of the first game).

Now he has fooled around with other people outside the sacrificial bride stuff too as well from what I remember we were told him game, but he gets bored with people so I think we can assume these were flings not long term.

Sorry this is so long winded. But basically I agree with you in the sense that, if Yui wasn't how Yui is Laito wouldn't have been as interested, or maintianed his interest. I can def see that. If she still had that strong sense of purity in this scenario but with an opposite personality then yeah I can see that too. It might scare him/put him off, but he sure as hell isn't going to admit it to anyone. Probably just leave another brother to deal with her instead (and it is possible maybe that something similar happened with previous sacrificial brides, since they were all given to the Sakamaki's by the church, and these dudes are hundreds of years old).

OR he would have only been interested to a point (that point being that he breaks her, she dies, or if she was just a regular girl from night school a fling he fools with then abandons). His route involving him trying to get under her skin and break her or get her to yield isn't unique, other routes take similar journeys, but on top of what is going on with her heart/blood, I do agree that her submissive nature and attitude helps him stick around. The combination of the things that make her "her", her purity, her faith, her attitude, her secret masochism and her submissive nature, are what makes her a good fit for Laito in the end. But yeah she is an otome heroine, so she is written in each route a little bit more for the specific LI, not the other way around. But I do think that the combo of traits she has is both what lures him in, drives him to a challenge, and then causes him to not let go even though it clearly is causing him turmoil at various points as you can see through his monologues and how he is lashing out at her (though her blood/heart also have to do with this some still especially in the beginning).

Of course in these potential scenarios where Yui isn't who she is and Laito maybe ignores her (or kills her), he is going to continue to be the same old Laito right because no one is going to challenge his thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

[seyaryminamoto]

I’ve been rereading, & I noticed Sokka has a ton of scars across his body! I tried to keep up but have lost track lol T.T So my question is, how many does our gladiator have (currently), and the locations if you don’t mind? XD I’m trying to visualize it for some odd reason lol I swear I’m not weird >.< On a more serious note - Will he have the strength to not beat Iroh to a pulp if they cross paths?? Will we ever see Hama? Will Kat ever know about Yon Ra? O.O TYSM for this amazing story! <3

Oh, you're not crazy for noticing this, I actually tried to do a general butt-naked Sokka reference sheet so I could keep track of his scars... and then I never did finish it, oops. Frankly he has a lot of scars, of variable severity, I'd say. There are some that will have faded more easily over time, others that haven't (for instance, the spike through his shoulder, courtesy of Toph back in chapter 17? that one's probably a very noticeable scar). Right now, off the top of my head, the ones I can remember are:

One on his shoulder, caused by Toph, chapter 17.

The burn on his stomach after his fight with Azula back in chapter 2, that then got basically smoothed over in 126, also courtesy of Azula... so his skin there has become smooth, kind of a rare situation where the scar just got flattened and isn't very noticeable anymore.

Light lines over his neck, also Azula's doing back, in chapter 2.

Also scars over his thighs, from Jet's fight in chapter 30.

The scar across his back from his fight against Rhone in chapter 114.

The childhood scar from having two fishhooks in his thumb... :'D

Multiple scars in variable locations from his time in the Amateur League, most of them are bound to have faded plenty by now.

... While he got decent medical assistance for those wounds eventually, I doubt the events from 236 + 242 didn't leave at least a few scars, especially burn marks. They might fade over time, but he definitely must have some lasting marks from it.

... Aside from all of this, I feel like maybe I've had Sokka growing strong enough to avoid serious scars through most of Part 2. While he often falls off places and takes damage when that happens, he's innately resistant to blunt force damage, I'd say (courtesy of canon and its cartoon physics, if they're going to make this man endure all damage miraculously just for shits and giggles, I'm gonna take that and make him OP for REAL).

About your other questions...

It's one hell of a challenge for him, and he absolutely hates being anywhere near the guy... but Sokka does indeed succeed at holding back from attempting to skewer Iroh simply because doing that would severely hamper his possibilities of saving Azula and ending the war. Much as he has told Ursa... saving Azula is his top priority. Revenge isn't what he needs when the person he's trying to save is, for all he knows, in a battle against time against Ozai's perpetual and very dangerous wrath. As far as Sokka is concerned, Iroh's unforgivable role in triggering this disaster will be something for him and Azula to weigh together once they're back with each other... and he firmly believes that, since Azula was the one Iroh's actions hurt most deeply, she's the one who should decide what to do with him.

... Which is a much scarier prospect for Iroh than getting beaten to a pulp by Sokka, I have to say...

Regarding Hama, she has died by now in Gladiator. I tried to think of how to incorporate her into the story long ago, but the more I pondered it, the less likely I found it for her to survive long enough to take up a role in the story. She was already quite old in canon, and we're talking about a survivor of severe torture and terrible imprisonment conditions, which most likely took a toll on her health. As she was found guilty of many deaths with her bloodbending shenanigans of locking people up inside a mountain (since Team Avatar of course wasn't here to stop her), Hama was imprisoned again regardless of her old age... and she passed away at some point afterwards. In a way, not a very different outcome than she faced in canon (she was captured too, presumably turned in to the Domestic Forces eventually), it's just a more definitive one on my part since I do believe she's dead at this point in time, whereas I doubt canon will ever talk about how long Hama lived after being caught in The Puppetmaster. Sorry if you hoped to see her :( but I really do think I would have been pushing believability too far if I brought her up in the story, unfortunately.

As for Katara and Yon Rha... while it's not impossible that she'll learn more about Kya's murder some day, I have no plans of revealing that to her during the story. Worth mentioning that I also don't believe her reaction would be what it was during the show, not only is she older and wiser in many ways, she's also been through certain experiences that would ensure that she doesn't react as impulsively to things as she often did in canon. There's several possible examples of that, but the first one that comes to mind is the strong contrast between her emotional reactions in the swamp when she sees Kya in canon vs. Gladiator: in this story, she realizes it's a mirage, even if it's a very painful one, and she understands it's a spiritual happening that will guide her onwards. In the show, the swamp certainly was being a lot more merciless to them (see what it did to Sokka, ffs...) but there's no instance of self-reflection on Katara's part, she simply breaks down over her vision of Kya. Evidently, she's ten years older at this point in Gladiator, hence the greater maturity, even if she still feels her emotions as powerfully as ever... but she has also faced certain challenges canon sure didn't throw at her, all of which has helped Katara grow stronger in Gladiator, in many ways. Enough that even if her initial impulsive reaction upon hearing about Yon Rha were the same, she wouldn't rush out to act on those impulses at once.

Another thing worth noting is that, in canon, no one but Yon Rha is held responsible for what happened to Kya... in Gladiator, we have our particular explanation of how the Fire Nation found out that there was a waterbender in the South Pole. And the people who are ultimately responsible for orchestrating Kya's death (Azulon, who wanted any new waterbenders killed, and Rhone's parents, who gave away information about Katara's powers to the Fire Nation) are already dead. While it's absolutely possible for Katara to want revenge on Yon Rha, who committed the murder... she would likely also learn that he's not the only person responsible for Kya's death, which muddles matters further here. Doesn't help either that Rhone is ALSO dead, and that learning about what Rhone did (if she ever does, though she's also not going to find out about it for a long time at least, Sokka is hellbent on keeping her from learning about it for the time being) would probably cause her to slow down if she starts craving revenge: Rhone killed his own parents in retaliation for what happened to Kya (though he thought it was Katara who had died, but anyway...), and he spiraled on and on into becoming an attempted mass murderer, an indiscriminate firebender murderer, and his worst choices had repercussions so severe that Azula is still dealing with those consequences to this day... it's not a pretty mirror to look into, and I do think that would give Katara's vengeful urges some pause. If she ever learns about Yon Rha and decides to seek him out, she'll definitely do it from a place of much more restraint than the impulsiveness we saw of her in canon.

(... also, worth noting that our Zuko isn't exactly eager to find Yon Rha just to make Katara like him, he doesn't have that kind of insecurity about his place in the group here, and he can strengthen his usually wobbly friendship with Katara through much healthier means, as he already has across the latest Gladiator arcs, so not having an instigator, ride-or-die, whatever you want to call it for this potential mission would probably make Katara think about that a lot more thoroughly...)

So yep, that's what's up with that :'D

Thank you for the question and I'm glad you've enjoyed the story! :D

[lanawinterscigarettes]

I am so in love with Clara I practically explode every time I see her in the actual episodes haha - sparkle! I found you a ‘Clara once said’ compilation, which has all of the Clara and none of the scaries, watch if you wish 🫶

https://youtu.be/JUWpZVHR6-s?si=fQfwzggliDoTb-3d

Aeron - my switch is the blue and red normal one, I got it when it first came out and I still have the same one! Not me having to google what a gas station was, we call them petrol stations over here 😭 also yes you remembered we call them crisps! I love it so much when you put the britishisms in the fics like when you put telly it literally made me feel so cosy and homely. We do have milkshakes! I love milkshakes, my favourite flavour is bubblegum, maybe google a Yazoo (liquid-y) milkshake, which are the ones you buy at the supermarket (grocery store for you) and then you get fancy US-style ones when going to a restaurant like Gourmet burger kitchen.

Omg Blair is gorgeous! If I ever watch gossip girl I know which character I’m looking out for 👀

My fav animal crossing character is Molly the duck! She’s so sweet and fuzzy and I love her I’ve had her in every edition of animal crossing I’ve owned.

Sparkle - I’m slightly perplexed and bemused at what you said because I also use the name star…well, as a pseudonym on the internet…idk if you use it as a pseudonym or it’s your actual name but now every star I see I’m going to be wondering if it’s you LOL. Very much a lesbian? Me too, probably - tbf I can’t figure out if I like the attention from men or I like men and I’m stuck somewhere between bi and lesbian…and now I’m just ranting 🫶

Clara’s gorgeous, witty and funny - you’ll love her, as I very evidently do LOL 🫶

Omg steam SDV I’ve seen so many good mods but I love playing with a controller and my computer would set on fire if I tried to run a game on it like that it can barely run THE SIMS

Girly I don’t think we even have Taco Bell here and if we do it’s not anywhere near me because I’ve never heard of it over here (EDIT: I take back my point according to the website there’s about 100 across the country so I’m clearly blind haha)

BAHAHAH the way you say ‘Blair is so hot I’m going to implode’ literally me every time Clara walks on the screen, she also is very witty and sarcastic which is my type to a T (not sure if that phrase is a Britishism too LOL) there’s also a scene where she kisses the doctor on the cheek and I’m like ‘I’m jelly’ but Clara is canon bi so I don’t feel bad for feeling the way I do 🫶

Sending hugs to you both! Hope my yap isn’t too long <3

- ⭐️

I have a nintendo switch lite instead because it was cheaper haha. And that's right, you do call gas petrol over there. Also I don't think we're talking about the same kind of milkshake?? I did look it up and I've honestly never heard of it before. Usually our milkshakes are made with ice cream and milk and it's put in a blender

I know she's so pretty, all the gossip girl women are honestly

I love molly!! My favorite villager is probably Bob the cat 🫶

Wait do you have McDonald's? Or KFC? Or Wendy's? Now I need to know which fast food places you know of and which ones you don't haha

Your yap isn't too long at all!! It's always lovely hearing from you 🥰

[mochlus]

I've been discussing this kind of thing with friends a bit recently and find the discussion interesting. I think a lot of fics that do this kind of skipping directly to the characters being in a lovey-dovey romantic relationship really do assume that the reader is already on board: they're written by and for shippers of the ship who have already worked out the little moments in their heads (and/or in their private discord servers with their friends who also ship it, lol). I don't think that's a bad thing in itself. In published fiction, sure, it absolutely would be, but in fanfiction... nahhh. It's just for a particular subsection of the audience. I see a fair number of fics posted that just jump right into the characters already dating and calling each other non-canon pet names and I'm like, oh, okay, I don't ship this in anywhere near the same way as the fic expects me to, and this story in particular does none of the work to take me from my current standpoint to its standpoint, so this isn't for me in the slightest. But some people really are starting at the fic's standpoint and would appreciate it a lot more.

I mean, I recently took advantage of the whole reader-already-figured-it-out-in-their-head thing for a fic I just plain didn't want to make too long... It was a birthday present for a friend, and I already know she's fully invested in this ship and has thought about them for bajillions of hours. I'd already written a short "first confession" story for the ship previously, so although the birthday present was nominally unrelated to that fic, I still took the emotional status quo that its ending left off with and picked that up so I could jump directly into an extremely fluffy, sappy established relationship fic tailored specifically to making my friend squee. The reader coming into it from the tag on AO3 who doesn't know me or my friend has none of that context beyond two sentences in the author's note, so it's probably kinda disappointing! But my friend loved it, so for me it was a huge success.

I'm not trying to make any particular point here, I guess. I complain about the exact same thing but I also totally understand the impulse that fics like this can come from.

It's so frustrating how romance fanfic writers these days seem to completely skip over the actual *falling in love* part. It's like they've decided that just because two characters are already a popular ship, they don’t need to put any effort into building the relationship. They assume the reader is already on board with the pairing and just jump straight into the fluff or smut without giving us the emotional depth that makes a romance compelling, even when the fic is a slow burn.

Falling in love is all about the little moments—the tension, the chemistry, the gradual trust and vulnerability between the characters. It’s in their interactions, the way they argue, the way they grow to understand and care for each other, *not* just in the fact that they're a ship. When that’s skipped, it feels hollow, like we are reading a to-do list leading to a happy ending.

--

This is almost always a skill issue, not the intent, though I do think later fics in a well-established niche in fandom tend to skip over things more often.

[idleglowingpixels]

XXY -- July 7th. 2023 - Launch Update (Author's Note)

AO3 was glitching on me, so for whatever reason, it wouldn't post my full note, cutting me off about halfway through. I decided I'd just post the full note on here in a separate post to the update so anyone who wants to read it can.

Hello, everyone! After all this time, we've finally reached the conclusion to the first batch of chapters (I consider 7 an extra chapter, for reasons I'll get into when it releases lol). It feels like yesterday I had officially rebooted the fic by uploading Chapter 1 back in February. If you told me then that the job I started wasn't gonna work out, I think I'd cry haha. But if you also told me XXY would have the sheer amount of support it's gained over the last six months, I'd cry too (but happy tears <3).

Before I let myself get too sappy, let me talk about the happenings of this chapter. Butch closes out the first round of POVs, and we get a bit more insight into how he views things. This version of Butch is a lot more reserved than the Butch I've read in others' stories, as I interpreted his canon self to be less talkative than the others and more focused on the battles ahead. Don't get me wrong, I think I've taken that interpretation a lot harder than I anticipated, but I think having the parallel to Buttercup's outspoken nature is nice. He's also (albeit closeted) femme to foil Buttercup's tomboyish personality, which admittedly wouldn't make sense in canon, but it was a change that I felt worked well.

Speaking of Buttercup, while she's still harsh and snappy with his brothers, she's got a bit of a soft spot for Butch. But unlike the blues, who have openly expressed feelings for each other in front of everybody, they've kept the story between them hidden. And for the most part, it's still hidden… (Sorry guys :'D XD)

Also, XXY has its name officially! Roll credits! Yeah it's a mitosis motif, looks like middle school science class ingraining that stuff into my head was worth something haha. Their logo would look more like X><Y. It represents how though they're a full team now, they started as two separate teams (PPG & RRB). Science isn't even my favorite subject, I just thought of the name somewhere along the way and it stuck. XXY actually came from me merging XX and XY for the teams' acronym pattern (AAB), as well as the whole Chemical X and Y thing referring back to their genetic codes, but finding out XXY is an intersex variation was pretty cool too!

Now to the sappy part, sorry in advance lol. I know I say this a lot, but being able to share my work has been keeping me going during this near-drought period I've had with writing over the last few months. It's been so hard not feeling guilty for my lacking progress, but I know there's been people who have kept up with this fic since its original run in 2020-2021 who waited over an entire year through 2022 to see it reboot this year, and their patience made writing these new chapters all the more worth it.

Before the re-launch, the last chapter I wrote of the original (Chapter 4) was uploaded in September of 2021, and I had made numerous updates throughout the in-between period on that last chapter so everyone knew I was still working on it. I'm so very grateful for everyone who waited through that time frame for the soft-reset.

Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, all of you, for your support. Whether you've been here from the beginning, just finished your first read through the whole thing at 3am, or you stumbled upon this fic anywhere in between, I'm so grateful you're a part of this journey with me and appreciate the time you've taken to read through this. I hope you've enjoyed it so far.

As always, thanks so much for all the things, including hits, bookmarks, comments and kudos! Stay hydrated, and have an absolutely wonderful day or night!!! <3