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cailynwrites · 9 months ago

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Writing Patterns

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there’s a pattern!

Thank you @squibstress for tagging me in this. Though I’m not a writer (publicly, anyway), there’s clearly something about first lines that draws me to recording a podfic. This is such a fun idea. Working backward from my last posted podfic today (!), here goes …

1. “There was certainly something amiss with the temporal forces that morning, for Sybill Trelawney awoke with a splitting headache.”

From Ambiguity (podfic) by @vermin-disciple, Rated G

This is a perfect encapsulation of what’s to come. I already waxed rhapsodic about this character study in another post, but this first line crystallizes the dichotomy of the character and the world view, the tragedy and the comedy, the ethereal and the mundane, the two warring factions inside Sibyll Trelawney. She prances around dispersing her gift of Sight and great wisdom while at the same time completely wrapped up in the lowest level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It’s so hard to tell what’s real and what’s a sham with her, because she doesn’t even know herself. And all of that is in the first sentence! Masterful.

2. “The summer after Draco’s first year at Hogwarts was perfectly lovely.”

From there and back again (podfic), the 3rd installment in the dogfather AU series by @nonasuch, Rated G

Of course, the unspoken part is that nothing every would be again after that point. Draco fares much better in this AU than in canon or in many other fanfics. He reads The Hobbit, gets support from cousin Sirius, and ends up more or less on the right side of the war, though definitely not unscathed. @nonasuch is a whiz with a turn of phrase and leaves so much unsaid to be inferred. This fic in particular is almost like a series of interludes; it’s never telling the story as the exciting parts are going on, but rather it gives Draco's version of (semi-)canon events in the calm denouement periods after. As a reader, it keeps you on the edge of your seat because you don’t know when the next time jump will be or what things will have radically changed when you see Draco again on the other side.

(I’m going to cheat here and also give the first lines of the other fics in the series that I’ve recorded thus far, because I think they’re similar in an interesting way and I just want to celebrate every day what a masterful writer @nonasuch is.)

“Remus woke up warm and comfortable, and that was all wrong.”

From the black dog (podfic) by @nonasuch, part 2 of the dogfather AU, Rated M

A prequel to the original story, the dogfather, in which Sirius breaks out of prison and meets up with Remus much earlier than in canon. Again, this first line leaves us to infer so much and imagine what has changed, why Remus hadn’t been warm and comfortable before, what is to come. The first line presages all the angst and hurt/comfort to come.

“To begin with: this is a version of events where, on the morning of November 1st, 1981, the police are called to a house in Surrey.”

From the dogfather (podfic) by @nonasuch, Rated T

This one is slightly different and although this story also has very economical prose, it is much longer than its prequel and sequel above and has more room for details. The author spends a lot of time giving details and breaking the fourth wall, so to speak, to explain character motivations. But it’s all so blunt and bittersweet and funny. As I said in my original post, I think it might be my favorite wolfstar of all time, even though it barely wolfstars at all (especially compared to its M-rated prequel above).

3. “Looking at his watch for perhaps the twentieth time, Ron sighed loudly.”

From Libiamo! (amor fra' calici più caldi baci avrà) (podfic) by @khasael, Rated E

What better way to start a story than to drop our hero in media res at a restaurant with his future enemy-to-lover, Pansy Parkinson? And this is such a pitch perfect Ron characterization in my mind, all rough edges and a gooey, melty vanilla and caramel center.

4. “You can’t be serious?” The words were out of Hermione’s mouth before she could stop herself when Minerva broke the news about Hogwarts’ new Arithmancy professor.

From Stay (podfic) by vendettadays, Rated T

Another in media res and another pairing with Pansy. (I’ve been devouring Pansy fics since I recorded ‘tis the damn season (Pansy's version) by @the-francakes - podfic during the holidays and I can’t get enough of her, paired with just about anyone. I recorded this for @femslashfebruary and it really only features female characters, even the students.

5. “Poppy could feel sweat building around her temples as she continued to cast.”

From The Anniversary Quilt (podfic) by @vdoshu, Rated G

More in media res, with Poppy trying to heal her long-time partner, Minerva, after she gets hit with all those stunning spells. Throughout, we see Minerva through Poppy’s eyes and through the lens of their decades-long relationship.

6. “Severus found Hermione in the kitchens.”

From Mating for Life (podfic) by Arsenic, Rated T (sequel to Care of Magical Creatures (podfic), Rated E)

It may not be fair to compare a sequel opening line to the first in a series because it doesn’t have to do the same work. A first work needs to exert itself immediately to draw the reader in. But presumably, if you’re reading a seven-years-later sequel to a beautiful, pro-werewolf Remus/Hermione/Severus polyamory fic written almost 20 years ago before the book series was finished, you’re already hooked to the characters, the relationship, and the premise. You are drawn in by a desire to see a story you loved continue. And it does!

7. “Oliver Wood had one single year left at Hogwarts.”

From messin’ up my mind (podfic) by SkyRose, Rated T

This one is so nice and simple, but it sets up the stakes for the whole fic, a mutual pining story of Oliver and Percy finally getting together, with a little help from some of their Quidditch teammates. A lot of this story is Oliver’s internal monologue, so it’s fitting that this first sentence lays out what governs Oliver’s motivations - that this is the beginning of a series of “lasts” and that he still has so much he wants to do before leaving school.

8. “What are you doing?”

From The Cat With The Stars in Her Eyes (podfic) by @peachonified, Rated G

The first line isn’t spoken by the main character, Luna, but rather Ginny as an audience proxy to lead us into the story. We also want to know what, in fact, Luna is doing. Turns out she’s creating beautiful magic tattoos and therapizing all of Hogwarts (and later all of the Wizarding World) at the same time.

9. "Well, that's the last of them," Arthur said musingly, over breakfast on September second.

From Empty Burrow (podfic) by @copperbadge, Rated T

When I was looking for a little fic for Arthur’s birthday, I found this little gem, also written pre-Half Blood Prince. All the dialogue in this fic is sparse, like is so often the case with an older married couple who no longer need words to communicate most of what they want to say.

10. "I must ask one more time," said Dumbledore, the picture of grave concern with his fingers steepled on his desk, "If you are entirely sure about this decision."

From the stranger in the shell of a lover (podfic) by @slashmarks

Once again, the first person to speak is not the most important to the story, nor even the second most important. But it sets the tension and has a good hook, and once you find out in the next line that he’s talking to Lily, you’ve got to wonder what he’s so worried about …

Looking back over my recent work, I think a few things are clear:

I like fics that start with dialogue. I work hard on my voice acting and my accents, and though they are by no means perfect, I think they add something to the work. Being able to come out of the gate with a Dumbledore or a Ginny voice is a joy.

I also like jumping into the action of a story. It’s easier to tune out audiobooks or podfics than a story you’re actively reading (at least that’s true for me), so making sure that I have a story with a good hook is important to me.

Ever since I did A Very Pair-y Christmas in December, I’ve been branching out with different characters and ships, as opposed to doing mostly Drarry and Dramione a year or two ago. It’s been an absolute joy, I’ve discovered so many amazing new authors, and I welcome any suggestions for future recordings, especially if they’re different than what I’ve already done.

On the other hand, as I've moved away from recording Dramione and into more queer pairings, I worry that a lot of the fics I record wouldn't pass the Bechdel test. I'm pleased to see that in the start of 2024, the majority of my protagonists have been women.

On the other other hand, there's only ONE Explicit-rated fic on this list?!?! What have I been doing? Well, I promise there's some smutty stuff coming very soon ... 😉

This ask was so fun! I love gushing about other people’s writing. Thank you @squibstress for tagging me. Send me more of these so I can procrastinate on the Spanish paper I’m supposed to be writing.

Tagging @teledild0nix, @sweatersinthesummer, and @theselittleponders.

#harry potter fanfiction #hp podfic #first lines

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therappundit · 2 years ago

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*The Best of the Bestest!: The Rap Pundit’s Picks For The Finest Rap Projects of 2022

*Just a list of MY favorite favorites from a year filled with a lot of damn good music.

What else needs to be said at this point? You have probably seen at least a dozen “Best of” lists by now, with many of the same albums cluttered near the top....but this is THE Rap Pundit’s list, so you know you’re bound to find more gems than chalk.

In a historically deep year for rap music (a topic worth profiling in the future), the headline story was probably the numerous side stories. Be it the explosion of great music coming from areas that had a previously under-reported wealth of talent (especially Wisconsin and Florida), the underground scene getting more high profile exposure than it has in years (artists like billy woods, Fatboi Sharif and Lungs/Lonesword being shouted-out by numerous mainstream outlets!?), sample-driven drill officially becoming the preferred drill-flavor (at least on the east coast, shout-out Shawny Binladen, Four50, Big YaYa and the YTB), and of course the simply inescapable rise of club music’s influence on rap right now (Bandmanrill is clearly the master of this lane, but this style isn’t going away anytime soon)….if you couldn’t find something you loved in 2022, you might not actually like rap music.

But the proof is in the pudding, let’s get into it. Here are my personal picks for the most impressive albums/mixtapes/EPs/projects/whatever of 2022…

***High Honors***: Beware of the Monkey by MIKE, Motion Not Emotion by DB.Boutabag, Playing With Fire by ShooterGang Kony, Crack Music 2 by Skilla Baby, Beyond Belief by 38 Spesh & Harry Fraud, Gold Bricks by ElCamino, and Formal Intro by dp0mmy [+about 100 more that I plan to shout-out on future posts!]

100. VACABULAREE by Valee

99. The DogFather by Paco Panama

98. u be ight by QThree

97. Traumazine by Megan Thee Stallion

96. Metatron’s Cube by Aj Suede & Televangel

95. Spaceships on the Blade by Larry June

94. Scorpion Eyes by BandGang Lonnie Band$

93. Raw Extractions by Lukah

92. Marlowe 3 by Marlowe (L’Orange & Solemn Brigham)

91. SNOFALL by Jeezy & DJ Drama

90. Tales Of A Yung Son by Four50

89. Ima Island Boy by Pros AP

88. WHERE ARE THE BUGS!? by Cise Greeny, Phiik & Lungs/LoneSword

87. Let’s Do A Drill by Asian Doll

86. GRIPTAPE by the grittiest, Raz Fresco, Eric Right

85. Triple Black Diamonds 2 by al.divino & Estee Nack

84. Where The Shooters Be by SleazyWorld Go

83. As Above So Below by VIP Skylark

82. ONLY BUILT 4 DIAMOND LINKS by Peezy

81. Deutsche Marks 3 by Willie The Kid & V Don

80. THE LIZ 2 by Armani Caesar

79. Wordly Ways by Archibald Slim

78. I NEVER LIKED YOU (Deluxe) by Future

77. MARTINELLI MAC-ELEV by Willyynova

76. Jungle Life by DCG BROTHERS (DCG Shun, DCG Bsavv)

75. FACE (Deluxe Edition) by Babyface Ray

74. What They Hittin 4 by Jay Worthy & DJ Muggs

73. Sedale Threat by Wrecking Crew (Zilla Rocca, Curly Castro & PremRock)

72. Dollar Menu 4 by Mach-Hommy & Tha God Fahim

71. On High Alert, Vol. 4 by Real Bad Man

70. EA Monster by Young Nudy

69. Back For Everything by Kodak Black

68. raja’s sun by iblss

67. BussaBrick Vol. 2: BussOne 101 by Chicken P

66. 2 Headed Goat by 1100 Himself & Mitchell

65. The I&I by Teller Bank$ & Ed Glorious

64. COTI 2: The Course of the Inevitable 2 by Lloyd Banks

63. The Broadcast by Fil Jackson

62. The 13 Tape 2 by Jugg Harden

61. HTR Vol. 1: The Legend of Tawny Tone by Koncept Jack$on

60. MEMPHIS MASSACRE III *or* CRUNKSTAR [I still can’t make up my mind!?] by Duke Deuce

59. BEFORE SHIT GOT WEIRD by The Cool Kids

58. ENDLESS by evrymN

57. 25 Features, Vol. 2 by Los & Nutty

56. SLANG CASINO by YUNGMORPHEUS & Obijuan

55. Before The Winner Comes The Fall by Grunge Gallardo

54. Valley of Dry Bones by Stik Figa & Conductor Williams

53. Paint the City (Gangsta Grillz) by Icewear Vezzo & DJ Drama

52. Lost In Austin by kingdoughmane.

51. Gold by DJ Muggs & Rigz

50. Black Vladimir by Meyhem Lauren & Daringer

49. Dog$hit & Ammunition by WTM Milt

48. Laughing so Hard, it Hurts by Mavi

47. Metal Lung by Shrapknel (Curly Castro & Premrock)

46. Da Under Dog by MarijuanaXO

45. The Forever Story by JID

44. SHADOWSELF by Sleep Sinatra & Ohbliv

43. CHAINLINK by Phiik & Duro

42. $oul $old $eparately by Freddie Gibbs

41. Church by billy woods & Messiah Musik

40. RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART by Vince Staples

39. SOGW2: Estee Nack & The Order of the Golden Fleece by Estee Nack & Sadhugold

38. Blame Kansas by T.F, Roc Marciano & Mephux

37. Joe Fog by Errol Holden

36. ill be right back! by amani & robalu

35. LIVE FROM THE OTHER SIDE by Mikem Nahmir & The Fades Formation

34. The Elephant Man’s Bones by Roc Marciano & The Alchemist

33. Her Loss by Drake & 21 Savage

32. Frank by Fly Anakin

31. SOUTH CENTRAL by G Perico

30. Sewaside II by Mike Shabb

29. King’s Disease III by Nas & Hit-Boy

28. Cold Cuts by Wiki & Subjxct 5

27. Melt My Eyez See Your Future (The Extended Edition) by Denzel Curry

26. Intros, Outros & Interludes by Domo Genesis & Evidence

25. Few Good Things by Saba

24. BABYST5XNE GORILLAS by Baby Stone Gorillas

23. Fair Exchange No Robbery by Boldy James & Nicholas Craven

22. Continuous Improvement by Papo2oo4, DJ Lucas & Subjxct 5

21. Kiss The Ring by Rome Streetz

20. MOB by Babyface Ray

19. I Love Y.O.U. cuz Y.O.U. Ugle Vol.1 by Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire

18. It’s Almost Dry by Pusha T

17. Smoke Detector by Rich Jones

16. The Soufside Villain by Marco Plus

15. Tana Talk 4 by Benny The Butcher

14. Continuance by Curren$y & Alchemist

13. Cheat Codes by Black Thought & Danger Mouse

12. Languish Arts and Woeful Studies by Ka

11. Spirit Roaming by AKAI SOLO

Aaaaaaaaand now, my top ten...

10. I Told Bessie by ELUCID

[A well-oiled machine of an album, I Told Bessie lurches along from one ear-grabbing soundscape to another, each gifted contributor putting their stamp on some precious reflection from ELUCID (all producers were in top form here, but Child Actor, Messiah Musik and Sebb were especially potent). As one half of Armand Hammer, ELUCID has no trouble being a tour guide through his own stroll down memory lane. He is a superior narrator that knows his way around a vast array of different styles of instrumentals, which means that Bessie never gets too dark or too bright, adding easy replay value to even the heavier moments of the album.]

9. Component System with the Auto Reverse by Open Mike Eagle

[Open Mike Eagle has circled around the epicenter of the underground rap scene for some time now, always a worthy contributor, albeit not one to necessarily be recognized during award season. That should change with his latest effort, a brilliant piece of nostalgia, personal reflection, and an earnest love for hip-hop. Also, great writing aside, the beats on here are simply phenomenal.]

8. SICK! by Earl Sweatshirt

[Forgot that this dropped in 2022? The first AOTY contender to drop is all too often the album ending up with the short end of the stick come December, and that seems to be the case with SICK!. Less sonically aggressive than much of his previous work, Earl still manages to cram so much thoughtful writing into quick, fun-size doses. The most effective music isn’t always the music that begs for our attention, and this feels like an album where the listener is fortunate just to catch Earl’s thoughts before they float away, to make room for more poignant passing thoughts. Perhaps Earl’s best gift as an artist is his ability to leave fans wanting more.]

7. Bokleen World by Mike Shabb

[By now the buzz is just starting to nip at Mike Shabb's heels. The Montreal MC/producer was not on my radar before this year, but hot damn has he made an impact in 2022. If it wasn’t his TWO great solo albums that he dropped, it was the acclaim from tastemakers like Westside Gunn, who got his production skills the attention they deserve. More importantly, Shabb is coming out of Montreal, Canada, making him a representative of a scene that is starting to make waves well outside of the Canadian border. I loved his release from earlier this year, but for me it was Bokleen World that showcased all of the many dimensions of an exciting young artist.]

6. MOOR CHORES by Lord Kayso

[Another artist that I was completely unfamiliar with at this time last year, Brooklyn’s Lord Kayso is closing out this year as one of my favorite artists. There’s something about his delivery and the way that he colors in his world that feels simultaneously intimate but distant, much like how a young Nas was portrayed as a writer’s-writer, watching events in his community unfold from a project window. Kayso reflects on his world with a casual delivery that doesn’t seem to be emotionally affected in the moment, but the fact that he’s sharing these personal stories at all confirms that he’s a man with a great deal on his mind.]

5. For All Debts Public and Private by Defcee & Boathouse

[Last year Defcee & Messiah Musik really surprised some folks (myself included) by dropping Trapdoor, one of the best albums of 2021, in December...so let that be a lesson to anyone that thinks they can finalize their annual Best Of lists by the time Thanksgiving wraps up. That's a tough act to follow, but Defcee & Boathouse managed to strike in 2022 with another fantastic project in For All Debts Public and Private. An impressive list of some of the underground's finest join forces with Boathouses impactful backdrops and Defcee's revealing bars, all to create an album that is as thoughtful as it is prone to high levels of replay value. When it comes to dissecting one's life and perspectives, I don't know if any MC's pen is touching Defcee at the moment.]

4. Deathfame by Quelle Chris

[Detroit's uber-talented virtuoso Quelle Chris has been accumulating one of the deepest catalogues in music for some time now, but Deathfame is truly one of his finest works top to bottom. An under-reported trend for Quelle is that he somehow finds a way to become more and more versatile as a producer with every album. Never allowing his sense of humor to drown out his messages, and never being so devoid of humor that his messages come off as bitter, a great Quelle Chris album has become a most welcome tradition over these past few years....and I hope it continues!]

3. Aethiopes by billy woods & Preservation

[Gonna keep it moving here…billy woods is just flat out the most prolific writer in rap music right now, Preservation is a genius and their chemistry is off the charts. Add a handful of standout guest verses - EL-P, Boldy, Breeze and hot damn, Despot!? - and you have an AOTY worthy album. Too many memorable quotes and verse of the year contenders to list, but for some reason there’s a special place in my heart for “trying to pay rent - but that’s not black empowerment, that’s you trying to pay rent”.]

2. 10 (a.k.a. HWH10) by Westside Gunn

[Maybe my favorite Westside Gunn project since FLYGOD, which for me (as a bit of a Griselda stan since 2015), is saying a lot. Reminiscent of Kanye’s “anyone around, come to the studio right now!” energy during better times - his MBDTF G.O.O.D. Friday roll out - for the latest (last??) installment of his controversially titled music series, Gunn managed to pull together a somewhat surprising list of features for a mixtape of loose and FUN bar-fests over the most varied, ear-grabbing production that we have heard from the Griselda collective in a minute. I’m not actually sure who was in the studio and who wasn’t, but when the outcome puts Run The Jewels, A$AP Rocky, Doe Boy, Black Star, Busta and Rae & Ghost together on the same project, you get a straight-up dope tape that reminds me of why I fell in love with underground rap music in the first place. Classic Soundbombing vibes, for me.]

1. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar

[When it comes down to releasing new albums, no other rap artist needs to check as many boxes as Kendrick Lamar. JAY-Z, J.Coke, Drake, you name it - none of them have to incorporate mainstream bangers, nuanced “conscious rap”, alternative choices, catchy lyrics, superior production, clear expression of ideas, and manage to touch the bar set by fans with incredibly high expectations for an artist that doesn’t release new music as often as his peers…but such is the life of anyone who is considered to have the highest ceiling in their field. Yet with Mr. Morale, Kendrick unleashed the album that *he* wanted to release: a sprawling conversation piece that stumbles through dozens of sticky topics without digging his heels into any one stance for too long.

It’s the perfect expression of ideas from anyone that came out of the last few years of isolation with a creeping sense of doubt, mistrust for the information circling around him, and a general awkwardness for how to interact with the world once again. I’m not sorry that many of the thoughts he shared on this album weren’t met as “correct” based on our expectations of what many of us want him to represent, but more importantly, Kendrick shouldn’t be sorry either. Much like other prominent people of influence in the world today, we should be discussing the nuance of everything we’re told, and the great points often come from those exchanges - way moreso than the regurgitation of curated policy that is deemed acceptable by the loudest of audiences. So yes, I believe Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers to be hands-down the best rap album of 2022. All messages aside, how anyone could miss the well-crafted delivery and high quality production that is easily the most engaging of any mainstream rap album in 2022, is still pretty surprising to me….but I suppose conflicted opinions are exactly what should come from a talented artist stewing in his own conflicted opinions in recent years. Oh well, I guess even the best in their field can’t please everybody.]

Next stop....best songs. 👀

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nonasuch · 5 years ago

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...and we’re done. Or at least done for now. Thanks for coming along, guys.

#the dogfather #dogfather story post #harry potter #i wrote a thing #fic update

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startanewdream · 3 years ago

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Hi! I want to read your Jily Lives AU but I was confused about which fic read first.

Ooh, this was a great excuse for me to make a list of all the stories in Eyes Glistening.

To anyone who might not know, Eyes Glistening is how I call a series of fics all set in a Jily Lives AU that deals with James and Lily living the Halloween Night. Everything else still sort of happens the same way (there is Voldemort, prophecy, war, relationships - it follows canon mostly) but Harry has a good network of supportive parents, Sirius is free, Remus has his friends and all in all, it's a lighter world.

I built this AU as I wrote it, so in theory all stories should be read in the order I posted in the masterlist (here) because some stories may make reference to other events.

But if you enjoy a good timeline as I do, here is a list of the stories in a chronological order or something close enough, all considering Harry's years at Hogwarts.

Pre-Hogwarts

First Year

September 1st | Quidditch prodigy | The Mirror of Erised | Fate

Second Year

Slytherin | James and Harry roasting marshmallows

Third Year

Witch weekly | Thirteen years worthy of presents | About animal instincts

Fourth Year

Fifth Year

Sixth Year

Seventh Year

Hope (is all I have) | Hyacinth | One minute

Post-Hogwarts

Tales through the years

The other marauder

Dancing Lessons

20/20

Mia

#Eyes glistening #organizing this was actually good #now I know which years I'm so behind haha #I accept prompts for this series #sometimes I just take a while to fill them #but I love prompts anyway :)#this is my comfort world #Jily Lives AU

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ryttu3k · 3 years ago

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Thoughts on The Vanquishers, the sixth and final episode of Doctor Who: Flux, and the season as a whole!

First off, here are the questions I asked at the end of my post for episode five, and their answers! (Or lack thereof!)

So most of the known universe has been eaten by the Flux. Is this going to be reversed, or the new reality - a much smaller, post-apocalyptic universe? If it does get reversed/fixed, will the people who have already established themselves in a post-Flux universe remember what happened?

Still pending! Is this a post-Flux universe? They stopped the last event, yeah, but what about all the earlier ones?

Does the fob watch really have the Doctor's former memories, and if so, does she get them back?

Looks like it! She has the fob watch safe, at least.

Is Tecteun really dead, or is something else going on with Swarm and Azure's zappy thing?

Looks like it :(

What are Swarm and Azure's ultimate plans? How do they work into the whole thing?

Sadism, mostly. Wanting to release Time so they can watch the universe suffer over and over again, largely in revenge for Division punishing them.

What's the deal with the Weird House?

Very broken memories. Godspeed putting those back together, Doctor.

I assumed the Grand Serpent was just some petty tyrant that Vinder had the misfortune to work with, what's he doing meddling with UNIT and with the Companions on Earth?

...you know I'm still not entirely sure. Trying to take advantage of the chaos, maybe?

What are Bel and Vinder's significance? What about their kid? Will they reunite? (Of course they will.)

They just got caught up in the whole mess, it seems. Plus side, they had a lovely reunion and have acquired a grumpy dogfather!

What's going on with the Passengers? There's a hell of a lot of people in there, not just Vinder and Di! Are they just periodically being taken out to be used as Swarm and Azure's power source?

Looks like it was just Vinder and Di at that point, I guess everyone else had already been. Dissolved. Not sure why they captured Di in the first place. Still came in useful for stopping the last event, at least!

What's going on with the planet named Time?

It's an epicentre. Also, Time is a bitch.

What about the village? I assume it's no longer being isolated by the Angels and they found Peggy a new guardian who isn't a massive douche, at least.

Yeah, probably. Never got explained.

How did Williamson manage to dig out interdimensional tunnels?

By accident, mostly.

If the Sontarans are invading in 2021, and Yaz et al are in 1904 but the Sontarans just busted in, does that mean there's a door that goes straight to 2021? And, uh, does that mean the whole "FETCH YOUR HUMAN" thing is irrelevant?

Yup. Whoops.

Why did that one Lupari ship break formation?

Sontarans might have done it as a precursor to flushing the rest out :(

Is the Master going to show up in this whole mess?

Nope! He's being saved for later, it seems!

How much therapy is the Doctor going to need after this? (And Yaz? And everyone else lbr?)

So much.

What kind of godawful cliffhanger are we going to have after the last Flux episode in the lead-up to the New Year episode?!

Thankfully, none!! :D

Now, actual comments!

Overall thoughts: I enjoyed it, but it wasn't coherent as a story. Lots of dangling threads, and others ultimately ended up being unnecessary, to the point that overall, it was every uneven.

Let's go element by element:

The Flux: Started by Division in order to erase the universe, thanks to the Doctor being too influential. They dispatch the Weeping Angels to extract her in order to force her back into service, using her stolen memories as bait. Okay, got that bit. It's antimatter, and so can be violently countered with sufficient matter. That works. Using the Passenger, which has infinite matter, not a bad idea. Blowing up the entire Cyber, Dalek, and Sontaran forces, not a bad solution either but they literally... show Daleks in the next episode, so clearly, not exactly permanent (or complete, no doubt they had at least some staying behind just in case).

The thing is, it never actually gets reversed in any way. See my first question above - this does seem to be a post-Flux universe, with mass devastation throughout. Are we just... leaving it at that? Is that ever going to be addressed? There's literally bits of shattered planets left lying around and entire sections have been obliterated! That's a massive whopping death toll, it may actually outdo the Master in Logopolis!

And it's a bit weak if its entire staff is one woman and an Ood, and the woman gets zapped and the Ood defects at the first opportunity, isn't it?

Atropos, Time, and the Ravagers: Well, the planet seems to be safe, at least. Swarm and Azure have been dissolved for their failure, and Time is still around and not thrilled, casually delivering portents of doom. Swarm and Azure have been absolutely terrorising the post-Flux universe and have killed entire planets full of people, so no one will miss them, but like - where did they come from? Is there anything more to them other than just 'some randos the Doctor and Division once stopped and imprisoned and they never stopped having a grudge'? They just got dissolved without fanfare? That's it?

Huh.

Plus side, at least we know the Master is back! Maybe this time we'll see what came of the Kasaavin plot, too!

Edit: Just found a post that reminded me that absolutely nothing of Azure being stuck as a human was ever mentioned ever again. So that’s another bit missing, frankly!

The Timeless Child and Division: So has the head of Division just been dissolved, then? The Doctor has her memories back, great. I don't actually mind that, she has agency over her own past and memories, but has chosen to move on instead of focusing on it. But I'm not keen on how easy Division (and Tecteun! They had the Doctor's mother there and she lasted a whole... one episode!) was to stop. There's got to be much, much more out there, I'm assuming. We also never got an answer on who the other two on the mission with the Doctor and Karvanista were (Gat and Lee?).

The Companions: So Yaz has now spent more time waiting for the Doctor than she has... actually been around the Doctor. Okay! That's not fun for her. On the plus side, the Doctor is actually going to be emotionally honest, so hey, baby steps! Dan is definitely much more Yaz's companion than the Doctor's at this point, I'd love to see some point in the specials where Dan immediately turns to Yaz for guidance or advice rather than the Doctor because he's spent like, a few hours with her tops, and three years with Yaz. And ~Professor Eustacius Jericho~ dies without regrets, but thanks... the Doctor for the adventure, who he hung out with for a few hours once. If Yaz and Dan don't bring him up during the specials we're rioting, they were companions for three years!

And of course, the other companion - Karvanista. Oh, Karvanista, you poor pup. He's seen his entire kind wiped out (offscreen!) and is now the last of his kind. He's been adopted by a nice new couple as, uh, their new dog, I think. The dude he has a species bond with is heading off to hang out with someone else, which probably does suck even if he says it's cool. But the reveal of his past, that he was the Doctor's companion, that he joined Division for her, he has a thing in his head that could kill him if he says the wrong word like it'd at least be polite to save your old companion from Death By Brain Poison...

The Sontarans: I'm sorry, I just really have a lot of trouble taking them seriously as a Big Bad. "And... I wanted to ride a horse"? Perfect, fits the setting. The chocolate scene? Bit... bit more slapstick. I mean, it's Sontarans.

The Weeping Angels: Their only role in the narrative was to introduce Claire and ~Professor Eustacius Jericho~ and to have the Doctor captured by Division. Could have been replaced entirely. Fantastically scary episode, sure! But ultimately, not actually... narratively significant.

Bel, Vinder, and the Grant Serpent: First off, the Grand Serpent was... superfluous. He makes sense as a random petty tyrant to explain how Vinder came to be working in an out-of-the-way outpost in the middle of nowhere, but I do not understand how he came to be anywhere remotely near twentieth century Earth, especially considering they seem to be from at least a spacefaring society. We know nothing about Bel and Vinder's society other than 'higher levels of technology' and 'has something called the Academy', neither of which really went anywhere, so he just seems like he came out of nowhere to get his claws into UNIT for... reasons completely unknown. Did goddamn love his scene 'interrogating' the Doctor and the Doctor just immediately turning it back on him, that was spectacular. She's so annoying (affectionate).

Bel and Vinder were cute, yeah. But we still know almost nothing about them. It would have been nice to see them actually explored more.

Kate, UNIT, and Earth: I liked having Kate lead the human resistance against the Sontarans! It makes a hell of a lot of sense for her, post-UNIT! But why on Earth bring Smarmy Snake Dude into it? Why does it just appear to be her and a few unnamed randos who quickly get killed off hanging out in these caves? I don't know, I would have liked to see them actually be more organised, given that the Sontarans had literally taken over the world and of course people would need some kind of resistence. She just felt underused.

Claire and Di: Claire's psychic abilities came in clutch, but were they actually necessary? And did Di do anything other than show Vinder a way to escape the Passenger, and if it was that easy, why didn't anyone else make it out? Did she just sort of get overlooked when everyone else was hoovered up and thus was able to find a way out, or was she just there to up the stakes for Dan? And I completely respect her not wanting that date because of her trauma, but it would have been nice to get an acknowledgement of that XD;;

Quadruple Doctors: Okay, the Time one was a projection. Still, three Doctors! This is the kind of timey-wimey shenanigans I don't mind, even if it was definitely because they needed the Doctor to be multiple places at once so why not, and I goddamn loved the Doctor meeting herself and immediately going into Flirt Mode. The first person she flirts with and it's herself :')

Yaz and the Doctor: Okay, this I actually really liked. Poor Yaz has been lowkey tortured by her feelings for the Doctor since... uh, since she was introduced, and now she's spent three years away from her, and they've reunited and the Doctor's actually promising to be honest with her and that's the good shit. Will it be romantic from the Doctor's side? Who knows, since they never even confirmed any actual explicitly romantic feelings on the Doctor's part for even Rose, but it's basically undeniable from Yaz's side and it looks like the Doctor does feel more strongly about her than most other companions. That apology scene at the end was beautiful.

"I shouldn't have shut you out."

"No, you shouldn't have."

Very glad she said that, and that the Doctor accepted it. Now they can move forward.

Still, there's only three episodes left with them together. That's... going to be tricky.

The TARDIS: Girl went through it. I mean I'm glad she's feeling more herself and isn’t leaking black stuff and cobwebs but I think she at least needs some TLC.

So, how could this have been fixed?

I think this would have worked a hell of a lot better if it had been tightened up. Drop Swarm and Azure, have Division and Tecteun be the big bads. They were basically just there to be sadistic without being relevant. Hell, you could even still include Time as a plot element - have Time being the one trying to break out and necessitate placing the Mouri. Have Time being the one trying to undermine the Mouri. Have Time be the one trying to gain control of Flux.

Extra characters - there were just too, too many. I loved ~Professor Eustacius Jericho~, but he mostly just served as a foil for Yaz and Dan, and the travelling around part could have focused more on them, especially Dan (still very much an unknown quantity). Di did very little. Bel and Vinder were fun, but we still know bugger all about them. Karvanista was rad and he did need to be featured more, especially both as a past companion and as someone who should have had more interaction with Dan, so removing some of the extra characters could have focused more on him. (Definitely keep Williamson, though. I really like that the Doctor assured him it wasn't for nothing, and his tunnels were indeed very important and a fun little ongoing mystery!)

Anyway.

Overall, I really enjoyed Flux as a series. I do not think this finished it off well. This episode left so much dangling and other bits overly bloated, and the production was pretty roughly interrupted and I'm guessing a lot had to be rewritten on the fly, but it just didn't... stick the landing. 8/10 for Flux overall, 6/10 for this episode, specifically.

Next up: New Years special! And Daleks, again!

#doctor who #dw spoilers

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stark-tony · 4 years ago

Note

I'd love hp recs if you're willing!

* = incomplete

boy with a scar series* by dirgewithoutmusic

summary: A series of "what if" rewrites of Harry Potter, books 1-7. Cross-posted from tumblr (ink-splotch).

pairings: romione, hinny, wolfstar, bleur, jily

tags: hurt/comfort, angst, fluff

warnings:

we must unite inside her walls or we'll crumble from within series by dirgewithoutmusic

summary: stories for the ladies of hogwarts, who cry, waver, giggle, trespass, and who deserve our respect all the same

pairings:

tags: angst, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

the dogfather au by hollimichele

summary: “I’m not a reverse werewolf either,” says the man. “I’m your godfather.”

pairings: wolfstar

tags: fluff, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

The Changeling + Armistice Series* by Annerb

summary: Ginny is sorted into Slytherin. It takes her seven years to figure out why.

pairings: hinny

tags: angst, drama

warnings: rape

tell me whether he is dead by LullabyKnell

summary: Post-DH AU: Harry suffers a few side-effects of dying but not dying.

“Hey, can someone help me with this? The mirror in the bedroom’s stopped working for me."

“What do you mean ‘the mirror’s stopped working’?”

pairings: hermione/harry/ron

tags: fluff, angst, humor

warnings: none

Regulus Black and the Way Things Changed: A Not!Fic by imaginary_golux

summary: What if Regulus Black, and not Severus Snape, ended up being the turncoat Potions Master of Hogwarts?

A not!fic written in bullet points, ignoring the Deathly Hallows entirely because they annoy me.

Beta by my immensely patient Best Beloved, Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw, and by the delightful starbirdrampant.

pairings: wolfstar

tags: crack

warnings: none

who discovered your secret by LullabyKnell

summary: Pre-Canon AU: On the street named Privet Drive, in Little Whinging, Surrey, a man lived alone at Number Eight, supposedly.

It was apparently difficult to tell.

pairings: none

tags: fluff, angst

warnings: none

Little Lion Boy by ShanaStoryteller

summary: Draco is sorted into Gryffindor.

It's all part of the plan, really.

parings: none

tags:

warnings: none

a witch in the family by LullabyKnell

summary: - "For the 5+ Headcanon game, what do you think of an AU in which Petunia is a witch?"

Pre-Canon AU: Petunia Evans learns important life lessons from the magical world that every proper witch ought to know.

pairings: none

tags: angst

warnings: none

when in doubt, go to the library by LullabyKnell

summary: The Hogwarts Library saves the Wizarding World through the power of reading.

pairings: none

tags: humor, crack

warnings: none

these long cold days by dirgewithoutmusic

summary: In the war, Dean holed up in hollows and friendly attics and Muggle pubs. He drew Umbridge the Toad, noseless Voldy confused by the last dozen plus years of wizardly pop culture, the Ministry of Magic with its fingers stuffed in its stuffy ears.

He drew Snape as Headmaster, his sneer easy after seven years of notebook margin practice. Dean drew the Dark Mark over London’s skyline and he left his work nailed up around Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, Godric’s Hollow. He signed his name. He had things he wanted to say.

There were long days when he didn’t talk to anyone– walking old fields and long roads, sleeping in haystacks. There were long weeks when he only talked to strangers– passersby, shop owners, sympathizers, snatchers who he traded curses with.

He drew the Gryffindor Common Room, hearths all ablaze. He listened to Lee Jordan’s radio show on the crackling airwaves. He drew his little sisters, who had gone to France with his mother and father. He drew faces from the darkened boys’ dormitory– Harry’s long bangs hiding his scar, Neville practicing his dance moves for the Yule Ball, Ron asleep with his head on his thick Weasley sweater, Seamus grinning at him over a three a.m. game of cards.

pairings: deamus

tags: angst

warnings: kidnapping

Rise by Kyra_Neko_Rei

summary: When Voldemort came to kill Harry, Lily met him with a SIG Sauer pistol she bought at a pawn shop. Seems Dark Lords die as easily as anyone else when you empty two clips into them.

Hailed as the savior of the Wizarding world, Lily has a live baby, a dead husband, the personal enmity of most of the Dark Lord's followers, and not the slightest idea how to put her life back together.

Phoenixes have it easy. Burn, die, rise from the ashes.

For humans it's a bit different. Sort of.

pairings: none

tags: angst

warnings: character death

look to your kingdoms by Vail

summary: When she visits Diagon Alley, Hermione hates that the first thing the shop clerk in the apothecary tries to sell her is a potion to “tame her hair.” She likes her hair the way it is, curls and frizz, heavy around her shoulders. She thought the wizarding world would be different. (Black Hermione character study.)

pairings: none

tags: drama

warnings: racism

The Chamber Strike by BlainelovesKurt, evansentranced

summary: Harry is sick of Umbridge and everyone pushing him around. Halfway through fifth year, he decides to Do Something about it. Warning: Contains nuts. And cults, falling sugar bowls, terrible handwriting, and beleaguered caretakers. Crack!fic. Written with transfiguredbunny over Thanksgiving of 2006 after we ate ALL the turkey.

pairings: none

tags: crack

warnings: none

Dudley Dursley's Most Unexpectedly Fortunate Flower by aTasteofCaramell

summary: Dudley Dursley is leading a perfectly normal life, his contact with his odd cousin limited to Christmas cards and peculiar memories.

Until his daughter sneezes and sets the curtains on fire.

pairings: dudley/ original female character, hinny

tags: fluff, humor

warnings: none

repeated a thousand times in golden ink by LullabyKnell

summary: Half-Blood Prince AU: In which Luna makes a friend through desk art and Ginny helps.

Shameless, essentially plotless friendship fluff.

pairings: none

tags: fluff

warnings: none

The Splendid Gallery by LullabyKnell

summary: Pre-POA AU: In the summer of 1993, the Grangers vacation in France and meet the Delacours. When the Granger-Delacour parents elect to explore Wizarding France as a group, Hermione Granger is thrown together with a girl named Fleur Delacour due to some bizarre idea that they will somehow magically become friends. Even though they have nothing whatsoever in common and Hermione doesn't like Fleur at all!

In which two of the brightest witches of their age become very good friends.

pairings: fleur/ hermione

tags: fluff

warnings: none

riding up the wrong path by ashen_key

summary: When Lily is eighteen, she cuts her hair and joins the army. The British Army.The British Muggle Army.

Despite what the gossip papers say, she leaves her wand at home. She's not a complete idiot.

– –

Oh, right.

Maybe take a few steps back.

pairings: none

tags:

warnings: none

there will come a time, you'll see by aloneintherain

summary: They have Shepard’s pie for dinner. Ron and Hermione watch Harry fill up his plate and only start serving themselves when he picks up his fork and starts eating. Neville laughs into his wine glass.

“How are you dealing with their mothering, Harry?” he asks.

Ron opens and closes his mouth for a minute, groping for an excuse. Eventually, Ron says, “He’s just so small, Nev.”

“Hey,” Harry says. “I’m seventeen. I’m an adult.”

Ron shakes his head at Neville. “My best friend is an infant.”

A curse regresses Harry to his seventeen year old self, physically and mentally. He doesn’t recognise this strange peaceful wizarding world, but there are two people he does recognise: Ron and Hermione.

Based off this tumblr post.

pairings: romione

tags: fluff, hurt/comfort

warnings: none

call it a badge of honor by dirgewithoutmusic

summary: In those halls, they faced down Death Eaters under the guise of teaching robes. They faced them with raised wands, raised fists, or just raised chins, these children who kept telling stories in the dark about Harry Potter, who was going to save them.

pairings: none

tags: angst

warnings: none

Hogwarts, to welcome you home by gedsparrowhawk (FaceChanger)

summary: “You understand, Professor,” Harry began, after a moment, “that I don’t have my N.E.W.T.s. I never even finished seventh year. Between everything, I never had a chance the first time around, and then afterwards there didn’t seem to be much point. Hermione argued for it, of course, but I was so tired of Britain. So technically, I am completely unqualified for the position.”

“Quite a way to begin an interview, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall said, dryly.

Or, three years after the war, Harry Potter becomes Hogwarts' newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

pairings: hinny

tags: fluff, humor, angst

warnings:

THERMOS!, or, How a Muggle-Born Brought a New Age of Spell-Making to Hogwarts (Entirely by Accident) by susieboo

summary: Muggle-born witch Phoebe McDevitt just wanted her tea to stay warm during class. She didn't expect to accidentally start a spell-making craze among her classmates.

[Oneshot. Next generation. Based off a Tumblr post, which I will link to in the notes.]

pairings: none

tags: humor

warnings: none

and ready to suffer and ready to hope by irnan (locked to ao3 users)

summary: or, the one where petunia evans is a witch.

pairings: jily, hinny

tags: angst

warnings: character death

a very nice thing to say by LullabyKnell

summary: Chamber of Secrets AU: Harry and Ron miss the train to Hogwarts. Luckily for them, they're not the only ones. Harry's not sure what's going on, what they're going to do, or who these people are exactly, but Ron seems to know these Lovegood people and it's not like there's anyone else to help them get to Hogwarts.

tags: fluff, humor,

pairings: none

warnings: none

yesterday we were just children playing soliders by girlmadeofstars

summary: What if, when Harry heard the Slytherin portion of the Hat's song, he payed attention when the Hat sung perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends? Imagine this: a little boy- beaten, and ignored, for his entire life. A little boy- friendless, and lonely. A little boy- desperate for the kind of friendship he had read about in books, seen on the television screen.

When the Hat offered him Slytherin, imagine that Harry said yes.

pairings: hinny, romione, astoria/ draco

tags:

warnings:

The Transfiguration Incident, Or Pettigrew's Problems by Kyra_Neko_Rei

summary: The lesson is transfiguring rats into teacups . . . only Ron Weasley's rat is actually an Animagus, which has dire consequences for the spell, for Peter Pettigrew, and for the Dark Lord's prospects for resurrection (and rather better consequences for Minerva McGonagall's reputation). Cross-posted (finally!) from Tumblr.

pairings: none

tags: humor

warnings: none

In the Name of the Brave* by LullabyKnell

summary: “Who’s that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?”

“Oh, that’s Professor Black.”

- A slow-paced, self-indulgent, canon rewrite Philosopher's Stone AU.

pairings: none

tags: fluff, angst

warnings: none

Take Two* by Bundibird

summary: Never let it be said that a Slytherin doesn’t know to take hold of an opportunity when it’s presented to him on a silver platter.

[A Fourth Year AU in which Draco makes the most of Potter and Weasley’s fight and takes a second shot at befriending Harry. For the Greater Evil, obviously.]

Cross-posted at ff.n

pairings: none

tags: fluff, humor

warnings:

Percy Weasley and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by LullabyKnell

summary: Pre-Philosopher's Stone AU: In which fourteen-year-old Percy Weasley is very stressed, does not get enough sleep, and accidentally and unknowingly saves the Wizarding World because of bad aim.

pairings: none

tags: humor

warnings: none

beautiful enough for the both of us by dirgewithoutmusic

summary: “You know Professor Lupin was a werewolf?” Hermione said, ten minutes into a very awkward lunch she had asked for in an equally awkward letter.

Lavender pushed a sauteed carrot through a little puddle of pasta sauce. “I think everyone heard about that one. Someone told the papers, or something, right?”

“Er, yes,” said Hermione. “Snape did. Which is what I– I mean, it’s related. Oh, I wish you’d gotten to talk to Remus about this. He was a lovely man.”

“Not as lovely as Lockhart,” Lavender said and she and Hermione spent a moment in wistful remembrance. “God, I feel old,” Lavender said.

“Anyway, Snape,” said Hermione. “Snape and Lupin. When Lupin was at school, Snape would make him a potion that would… tame him, on full moons. He could just curl up in his office and sleep by the fire. If you’re interested, I’m trying to learn how to brew it myself.”

Lavender shook her head. “We’re not friends,” she said. “Never have been. So why are you doing all this?”

Hermione looked like she was trying to say “we’re friends,” but she couldn’t get it out.

Werewolf!Lavender, post-canon

pairings: lavender/ parvati

tags: hurt/comfort

warnings: none

#hp recs #my fic recs #hp #rape tw #kidnapping tw #character death tw #racism tw #becca answers #anon

33 notes · View notes

inspector-montoya-fox · 5 years ago

Text

here’s why Thieves in Time is a bad game

before y’all try it, i just want to say that i’ll be as unapologetically petty and sarcastic as i want and fucking rip this game to shreds. yes, this is how i’ve spent my days since Thieves in Time came out. sitting alone in my room, staring at the wall, crying and complaining. because it has since been my life’s aim and dream to think about it every day, state the negative things about it, and become an evil essay witch on this half-dead website. *evil laugh*

Story:

References: i want to start with the smallest problem, but one that annoys me to this day. in the original trilogy, there weren’t a lot of references but the ones that were included were meticulously researched and well thought-out (i’m specifically referring to that Neil Diamond Carmelita vinyl gag, but can’t find the original post). the references in Thieves in Time however, were obviously just the creators’ interests. Turning Japanese, Clan of the Cave Bear and Bentley’s “hacksona” presented as Rambo just scream 1980s (which i’m assuming is the decade the creators grew up in), and Of Mice and Men is classic literature about the Great Depression, which subsequently started being taught in school in the US during the 1980s. it feels like the creators just went ‘let’s discuss what our lives had in common during our teen years and put that in’ instead of researching it first. and, here’s the thing: when you’re adding references, in order to make them funny or interesting, they have to fit in with the property or the character that’s connected to them in some way. Don Octavio was an opera aficionado so his episode’s title card pays homage to the Phantom of the Opera, young Muggshot was influenced by the movie “The Dogfather” because he’s a gangster, etc. these were funny because they were so spot-on with these characters. if every character in the Sly Cooper universe references the same type of stuff (from the 1980s) and shares the same interests, it’s just claustrophobic and uninteresting. i’m pretty sure i’m not the only one who had to look up these ultra-hetero, scrotum references when the game came out. that’s because they were specifically tailored to be funny to them, and not their target demographic which were kids in 2013.

Narrative: now that we got that out of the way, let’s look at the narrative. at the end of Sly 3, Bentley says he’s building a time machine. Sanzaru took that joke and decided to run with it as the premise for their game. ok, not the best idea, but i get it - you’re literally picking up where the last game left off. since all the storylines were wrapped up, they could’ve done something different like Sly’s kids or Bentley and Murray’s families, but this isn’t an essay about suggestions so...... time travel (i want to say that it’s, again, an 80s reference but whatever) was pretty ‘out there’ in 2013. i mean, even Plants vs Zombies 2, which was released that year, had to do with time travel (yes, i’m referencing an app). but Sanzaru had the advantage of applying this premise onto already established mythos and lore. the story had definite potential: someone is threatening Sly’s lineage so he has to travel back in time to save the day. the player would get to explore new locations and iconic eras in history, and, of course, the main selling point: playable ancestors. how could you screw that up? welp.... let’s think about the plot holes here for a sec. Bentley’s device would take the gang back in time when given an item from the specific era. stop. this right here is called ‘over-complicating’. how did they know the items would take them directly to the point where the specific ancestor was in danger? the Feudal Japan period lasted for 700 years: how did the machine know when and where to drop them off? and if the gang could return to the present at any time, why didn’t they do so when they were in trouble? oh right, the machine was broken. so how did they return the baddies to the present after they defeated them? i mean, why did they use the Grizz’s crown to travel to Medieval England if they went back to the present to drop him off to Interpol first? and on that note, how did they drop the baddies off to jail without getting caught and without Carmelita being around? i can already hear you thinking but these are total details that aren’t important, you jerk! well, yea, they truly are details and i truly am overthinking it. and yes, i truly am a jerk. but let me tell you something: when Sanzaru chose to make a new Sly game, did they not think ‘oh we’ll have to follow up Sly 2 and Sly 3′s stories’ which were well thought-out narratives with depth and various themes and didn’t have huge plot holes (as seen by my analysis through the episode project) ???? and did they also not think that their game would come out eight years after the last one, having expectations at an all-time high???? yea, that’s what i thought.

Characters: i’ll make a different section for Sucker Punch’s characters, so this is for Sanzaru’s original ones. name one iconic original character from Thieves in Time. i’ll wait... nope. not one. that’s because all of them were absolute shit. and here’s where i want to touch upon Sanzaru’s over-reliance on the trilogy. Ms Decibel (perhaps the most obvious copy) is a mix between Don Octavio, Miz Ruby, and the Contessa. El Jefe is Rajan if he went to the gym. Toothpick has Sir Raleigh’s temper and tendency to grow in size. and the Grizz is... whatever the fuck he is. (don’t worry i didn’t forget Le Paradox and Bob). there’s a difference between studying & creating similar characters and blatantly plagiarizing older characters because you lack the creativity. oh, boo-hoo this evil jerk’s telling it how it is. this set of villains is so lacklustre, i don’t even know where to begin. El Jefe is a tiger, even though we’ve already had two major tiger villains and one tiger flashlight guard. ok. Rajan could summon lightning because of the Clockwerk heart but El Jefe can do the same, how exactly? Toothpick is an armadillo (good) from Russia (better) with an obsession with the West (excellent) who can also grow huge (very bad). it’s never explained how or why. why?????? just tell me why. i want to know. i really want to know. Ms Decibel is an elephant who got into a tragic accident which left her with the power of hypnosis. music and hypnosis have already been done, but ok, i’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. so how do we use this character? spend the entirety of her screen time making jokes about... wait for it... her weight !!! this is top-notch comedy... really? like... really? the creators’ humor is a crime, at best. fart jokes and fat jokes all around. oh, and then there’s the Grizz. what the fuck where they thinking? just, what the fuck. i guess the guys at Sanzaru thought black people speak in rap? is that it? apart from it being extremely offensive, it’s also a blatant copy of Dimitri’s backstory. like, his introductory cutscene even has his paintings thrown at him and into the trash, like the intro cutscene for The Black Chateau. honestly, all of these villains caused me several types of pain, but not as much as...

Bob & Le Paradox: the absolute worst. i can just imagine the meeting going something like this: Sly’s ancestors are awesome! i wish we could fit them all in the game... here’s an amazing idea! what if we use one of the game’s few levels to introduce a brand new ancestor! yea! let’s make him dumb as fuck, strip him of any athletic prowess, and retcon the entire lineage by having him be the first Cooper ever! the kids will love a prehistoric level! ..... could you kindly point out where and when did ANYONE ask for this? i remember @ironicsnap saying something like the game is good until Bob. no, it was already bad - Bob just lowered the standard. like, a lot. people love Murray and his gameplay is neat, but no one ever thought ‘oh i wish we had a Cooper character with Murray’s game style’. why would they waste the opportunity to bring in Henriette, Thaddeus, Otto, literally any ancestor? why??? but they went ahead and created their own Cooper, and that wasn’t even the end of it. they had to make him dumb. they had to make him unbearable. they had to ruin the Cooper ancestry by adding this mess to the lineage. Sucker Punch made sure that all the ancestors were unique, but at the same time made all of them suave and funny and slick and you wish you could be them! well, fuck that. also, his name is Bob. Bob Cooper. it’s been 7 fucking years and i still can’t wrap my head around it.... so now, let’s talk about Le Paradox. i don’t have to mention the previous main villains, but i will. Clockwerk killed Sly’s ancestors and father, and was seemingly an eternal threat. Neyla was a psychopath who fooled everyone on her journey to becoming immortal by resurrecting Clockwerk. Dr M opened up the possibility for Sly’s dad to be a jerk instead of a hero, and died trying to unlock the Coopers’ legacy. how does Le Paradox compare? well, he’s a sleazebag skunk who was mad because of his dad’s downfall to the Coopers. that’s it. no twist, no depth, no clever dialogue. nothing. there’s nothing there. this is a new character, unfamiliar to everyone, who was hyped up for 5 levels and defeated in the conclusion. why was he a match for Sly? i don’t know. how did he fight for his life and ultimately tricked Sly into helping him? i don’t know. how the hell did he kidnap Carmelita? i don’t know. was it the power of persuasion? no, he’s revolting. so i literally don’t know. there’s no backstory, no fleshing-out the character, nothing. all we’re given to work with is a brief info-dump about his dad and how he escaped prison. i don’t know what else to say apart from how big a humiliation this was for Sanzaru and their team of writers. you had 8 years to work on something and this is what you came up with? anything would be better. anything would best this utter cliché of a villain, a distasteful misogynist, crybaby, idiot with an accent. literally anything.

Arcs & Themes: let’s take a look at the formulaic subplots for the gang’s members. apart from dealing with Le Paradox, everyone had a small arc. Sly had to deal with his break-up with Carmelita. Bentley had to deal with his break-up with Penelope. Murray had to deal with playing second fiddle to Bob. Carmelita was a damsel in distress and sex bait for the ancestors. the ancestors had their own mini storylines along with reacting to Sly’s presence. there you have it. i summarised it all for you, nice and neatly. are there any themes like in the previous games? nope. i promise you i’m not lying when i say that i tried hard to come up with something, even some speck of a detail i could use to over-analyse the story and come up with some ideas on themes. nothing. there are no themes. the subplots are character-driven and the player gives it 0 emotional investment. there is nothing to analyse, nothing to talk about. maybe even a theme for each level, like a spooky level or something? nope. the levels are dependent on eras and historical periods. the variation here is ok. Feudal Japan, Wild West, Prehistoric Australia, Medieval England and Ancient Arabia - pretty good selection. i’ll give them credit for it. but that’s it. due to the absence of themes, the hubs feel empty. there’s no replayability factor. after you collect the bottles and masks and treasures, there’s nothing. i would spend hours revisiting the trilogy’s hubs, just roaming around. the hubs here are huge and empty. there’s nothing to reminisce about. nothing to recall. oh that’s where this mission went down. no, nothing like that. the aforementioned subplots are resolved during mission cutscenes and then they’re gone. you don’t have to explore spooky Prague alone as Bentley to have him overcome his fears, you don’t have to find out miners abducted Murray’s beloved Guru and search the Australian outback for him, you don’t have to hold back your tears when you’ve reached the end of the Cooper Vault and Sly asks his dad for help. nothing.

Gameplay:

Controls: as soon as i laid my hands on the controller the first time i played the game, that fateful afternoon, i knew something was up. Sly would respond 1 second late after you pushed something on the controller. it felt clunky, is what i’m trying to say or, as my sister put it, it felt heavy. and she was right. the controls were clunky and heavy and didn’t feel light, like playing as a thief should feel. i don’t know shit about game mechanics but this definitely didn’t feel right. the hubs are also chunky in design, the cliffs are huge and so cyclical or hexagonal, that when you parachute your way to them and are just an inch close, Sly will automatically just drop because he can’t grab onto them. running as Sly doesn’t feel fast, silently obliterating guards from behind feels slow, and swinging, grabbing, pickpocketting, and hanging aren’t fun anymore. presentation-wise, @designraccoon goes into detail here, in an absolute gem of a post. in short, the gameplay animations make Sly look less sneaky. Sanzaru didn’t even consider a thief’s movements.

Missions: why the fuck would you remove the player’s option to choose between which mission to do first? why would you do that? the game lays out what goes first, sometimes having only one mission available in the hub. and the missions aren’t even enjoyable. firstly, the loading screens take up to 5 minutes, maybe even 7-8. secondly, there’s hacking every 2 missions. the missions don’t have any dialogue to make them fun, lack in interesting puzzles, what more can i say? they’re overly easy and lack any challenge whatsoever. at least there’s variation in gameplay (hacking, RC car, fishing, costumes, ancestors, turret etc.) but because of the controls, even these get tiresome. the missions are solely there to progress the story and that’s why the operations are merely ‘storm the main baddie’. the trilogy had some pretty interesting missions which made sure to complete jobs required to take down the big bad. e.g. kidnap General Clawfoot to take down the security, hack Contessa’s computer to make sure Carmelita will be freed, steal voices to tempt Neyla, and then take down the Contessa. the missions in Thieves in Time lack substance and variety. and the hacking (all three styles) sucks.

Collectibles: here’s another fantastic idea: have players collect costumes in order to collect bottles in order to collect treasures in order to collect masks in order to unlock funky Sanzaru logo-themed merch! what was the reason for the collectibles? in previous games, collecting all bottles would unlock special abilities. that was it. it’s the same thing here too, but there’s less incentive? i mean when you have to collect 1000 things, what’s the point? the treasures are random and very few are references to the trilogy, so whatever. and the masks unlock... superhero costumes for what reason exactly? oh, and then there’s also the achievements for your Playstation account, like ‘open the map in every single location you visit’. what fun! if the reason for collecting the treasures is to play godawful hacking minigames in order to get masks, what’s the point? decorate your paraglider with the Sanzaru logo? or have Bentley dress up as discount Robocop? i mean including masks in the interior locations was cool, but the bottles were always supposed to be something you could do whenever your soul desired. sometimes i left them last before the operation, sometimes i collected them before the first mission. so i was pissed when i found out that, in some cases, you had to unlock the episode’s costume in order to get the all the bottles. so, fuck off.

Animation: i’ll keep this short. the animation was terrible. do you remember that tumblr blog from a while back, where she dedicated the posts to pointing out the mistakes in the animated cutscenes? yeah. point is, there were lots of them. the animation style was bad, the character design was ugly, the characters’ movements were unnatural. everything about it was shit. looking past the bad decision to drop the trilogy’s comicbook-style animated cutscenes, couldn’t they have hired someone better? someone with more experience? their concept art was awesome. couldn’t they hire that guy and have it be comicbook style if he wasn’t trained in animation?

Legacy:

The Players: let me ask a genuine question: who was this game made for? kids growing up in 2013? maybe so. because it feels like Sanzaru didn’t even consider the fans of the trilogy. actually, it felt like a huge fuck you. Sucker Punch made their trilogy for whoever. there were great stuff for kids, but adults would pick up and appreciate the references, the real-life setting (e.g. tobacco use, existence of nightclubs, spice instead of drugs, etc.). that’s why all three games are timeless classics. judging by Thieves in Time’s humor, the game wasn’t targeted for adults. so, it doesn’t make sense to use an already established property, beloved by its fans, to attract a new audience consisting of nine year-olds who’d laugh at Murray dressing up as a woman. if they really wanted to appeal to the fans of the original, why retcon everything? why change who the first Cooper was? when the gang’s stranded in Saudi Arabia, why have Sly say ‘i couldn't remember a time since we've teamed up that we felt so defeated’? the gang’s been in way deeper shit before. why the ‘Sly’s dad vs Le Paradox’s dad’ deus ex machina? Sly’s dad wasn’t famous because of stealing the world’s largest diamond, what the fuck are you even talking about? do the guys at Sanzaru have such big egos and bravado that they needed to change the original games’ lore? were they so preoccupied with leaving their signature on a property which was never their own? i don’t know who needs to read this, but i’m stating FACTS.

Characters: now let’s talk about Sanzaru’s treatment of the Cooper gang and the ancestors (female characters will get their own section). why would you change the characters like that? if it wasn’t for the voice acting, i’d say this is a completely different Cooper gang. there’s no wise-cracking band of best friends, going on heists and being proud of their brotherhood and bond. all that is replaced with the formulaic story arcs for each member. the trilogy’s cutscenes and dialogues made sure to establish how Sly, Bentley and Murray have lived together since they met at the orphanage, play videogames all day and order chinese food and pizza and whatever. through missions and their adventures, they face obstacles they have to overcome as a gang, and when Sly 3 came around, their friendship was put to the ultimate test when they almost disbanded. Thieves in Time was too lazy to add to this. Sanzaru thought ‘oh the trilogy showed how they’re best friends so we might as well have them focus on their own stories separately’ and if this is truly the case then i ask again: who was this game made for? because new fans would never know how tight the gang was just by playing Thieves in Time. there’s a lack of genuine friendship moments. like, what happened when Sly came back after faking his amnesia? that’s completely ignored. where’s the witty banter? the ‘wizard & sitting duck’ type of jokes? nothing of the sort. what we get is fart jokes and Murray wanting to dress up as a woman. on that note, what was that all about? ok, have him dress up as a geisha to get in. fine. have El Jefe slap his ass, have him perform in a painfully lengthy dance sequence, have him dress like that during the rest of the episode, and then have him be persistent about getting the belly-dancing gig? the hell? Murray was always kinda goofy but this just feels kinda homophobic? it feels dragged out and unfunny. and then there’s the ancestors. i said it once before and i’ll say it again, Sanzaru deprived me of a buff Arab daddy Salim Al Kupar and gave us that elderly shit instead. all jokes aside, the redesigns were uninteresting. why take away Tennessee Kid’s facial hair and give it to Galleth? i legitimately think all the ancestors were boring. i mean, their gameplay was cool, especially Tennessee Kid’s guns, but in terms of character, they were just some dudes. did they believe that Sly was their descendant from the future? maybe. did they care? nope. they all had the same storyline of dealing with Sly’s arrival, flirting with Carmelita and getting their canes stolen. that was it. the fans waited for so long to get even a glimpse of the ancestors in action, and Sanzaru downplayed all of them. they reduced them to useless idiots too occupied with women and food, incapable of getting their canes back from stupid Le Paradox. and they didn’t even stick to the lore. no ma’am. let’s make Rioichi the inventor of sushi !! because that makes total sense and would defo fit in with the character and the property! why. just, why. you were handed the lore !!! you were given all this rich backstory and you threw it all away to replace it with trash !!! complete trash.

Changes & Inconsistency: i want to briefly mention some changes that pissed me off. where’s the laser glide move? it was an important turning point at the end of Sly 3, so why did they get rid of it? Sly is a master thief who’s traveling back in time, so you’d think they’d actually make him a master thief. also, the changes in the binocucom and Bentley’s slideshows in order to modernise them. if Sucker Punch managed to place the mission starting points at locations where the binocucom would show the objective clearly, so could Sanzaru. instead, they chose to have it be a moving camera, floating around the hub. and Bentley’s slideshows were absolute classics, opportunities to include gags and have Bentley show off in his own way. you just had to change it into a tablet, didn’t you. omg you’re still looking at small details like these? yes sweetie, i consider the details because i think they shape the game more than anything. if i didn’t consider the details, then my opinion on the game would be incomplete. when i praise the trilogy i don’t only look at story and gameplay. because i’m unbiased like that. here, i’d also like the mention Dimitri. what a fucking waste. you either include him in the game or you don’t. but don’t give me some half-baked shit on how he’s working for the gang back in present day. Dimitri staying home, waiting on the gang to call him in order for him to give them details on the villains. how does that even slightly resemble anything about Dimitri’s character? they didn’t even include his voice, some greasy sweet Raccoonus Doodus dialogue.

Female Characters: you know it’s all been leading up to this. this is the crux of the Thieves in Time hate. i don’t want to say the game is misogynistic so i’ll call it anti-feminist. why? just answer me. why? why did you have to disrespect Carmelita like that? right off the bat, they swapped the pants for the skirt. in what world does an active inspector who’s always on the scene wear a skirt? Carmelita now wears a skirt because her only role in the game is to be the love interest. Carmelita now wears bright red lipstick and has a new hairstyle, which would be ok if only it wasn’t Carmelita. Carmelita now plays up her inner sassy Latina because she’s pigeonholed into the ‘angry ex girlfriend’ role. they compartmentalised her, tried to sexualise her because she couldn’t possibly be one of the boys. nope. let’s take a respected woman, high in rank and as physically able as Sly, and turn her into a cliché, an angry ex girlfriend for comedic relief, strip her of her abilities and have her be kidnapped twice, have every exchange with her be about how attractive she is, have almost every male character in the game flirt with her, have her boyfriend be jealous of his own ancestors because they’re flirting with her in order to create purposeless love triangles, and then, after all that, dress her up as a belly dancer and distract some guards while the rest of the gang do the heavy lifting. that last one was really the nail on the coffin. did Bentley have other ways to enter that door? absolutely. so, what the fuck? why did i come back for a good Sly game 8 years later and receive a game where you have to shake your controller to have Carmelita shake her ass? why did they have the guards’ eyes pop like that? why did no one stop them? and it isn’t just Carmelita. it’s Penelope too. god forbid we have a female character who doesn’t have a waist smaller than my finger, and a voluptuous physique. why was the redesign so drastic? the story stuff is also nonsensical. why did she leave? wasn’t she happy with Bentley? i watched her speech about turning on the gang about a thousand times and it still doesn’t make any sense. like, i literally don’t understand. what was her motive? and why reverse her story of overcoming the Black Baron persona and the connotations of a meek woman hiding behind a man’s disguise? why repeat it, shamelessly? do the guys at Sanzaru only know women who have recently broken up? why does Carmelita, Penelope and Ms Decibel all go through break-ups during the game? why does Penelope go against Bentley before they even break up? why waste the opportunity to introduce a new, well-written villain and use it to repeat something already done? why???? no woman is safe from Sanzaru because Ms Decibel... boy, did i feel bad for her. apart from continuously reminding us that she’s haha fat!! she’s also presented as a blind lovefool. love? what a silly concept only women believe in! Ms Decibel had a crush on Le Paradox (for some reason i can’t even fathom) and for that she must pay by being utterly humiliated. and what do ALL women do when a guy breaks up with them? they get so angry! yikes, stay clear guys! ....why does Sanzaru hate female characters? i’m genuinely curious. i mean, what forced them to depict women like this? i’m sorry, i can’t take much more of this.

Ending: and how do you end a disappointment that came 8 years late and didn’t even have a sequel guaranteed? yeap, you guessed it! a cliffhanger. but not just any cliffhanger - a total fuck you to anyone and everyone. with a single move Sanzaru instantly screwed over the franchise. the fans, the creators, the characters, anyone looking to continue the series. everyone. WHY would you trap the protagonist in the past? WHY? did you feel defensive about something that wasn’t even yours and went ‘well you can continue the series but the sequel will have to do with time travel’. why did you think it was a good idea? how does it even slightly resemble a good ending? someone fill me in please. because i don’t think i’m being unreasonable, i’m just telling it how it is.

Conclusion:

i did it. i fucking wrote it in all its motherfucking glory. the idiots at Sanzaru could’ve given us an amazing game but instead of working on how to make it better or including extra levels, they wasted their time on deciding what killable baby animal to include in each hub or what the backstory for each treasure should be. how fucking distasteful. and to think i’m an idiot myself for trying to force myself to like it because i was so in denial about how bad it was. i’ve just outlined everything wrong with that cursed game. i’m exhausted.

#yOu'Re rEaLLy pEttY ! sOrRy hAd tO UnFoLLoW #i think i covered everything #THIS IS AN AMAZING ESSAY #this is the crown jewel of my time on tumblr #i love myself so much #sly cooper #anyone who even remotely comes for me because of this WILL get blocked #the birds really think i care about my rep on this fucking hellsite #HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

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afteriwake · 6 years ago

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My Fic Recs For OTW’s Feedback Fest 2019!

So I had meant to post this yesterday but I hadn’t realized I was going to be in the mood to write so much on top of reblogging the stuff for the WIPBB challenge. But here we go, my list of my absolute favorite fics that I posted to the fandom list (but with links here, because I am nice):

Some Kind of Condition by @ukthxbye – A cute bit of Sherlock Holmes & Molly Hooper fluff from a pre-relationship/strictly friendship standpoint. It’s really cute and fluffy and sweet.

the dogfather by @nonasuch – I’ve been following this on Tumblr and it’s an amazing Harry Potter AU that answers the question (and answers it so so well) “What if Harry had been given up for adoption by the Dursleys?” Like it is just so very good, I love it. One of my fave HP fics ever.

Collingwood Debutantes by PhryneFicathon & @scruggzi – A really nice look at the pre-series friendship between Phryne and Mac before Phryne heads off to England. I love it because the characters are just so well-written and it’s a really nice bit of the rebellious Phryne before we met her, plus it explains how Mac got her impeccable style.

Music of the Night by @thequeenofhades – One of my favorite AUs for the Steve Trevor/Diana Prince ship. It’s just so well written and pretty and guh, I am in love.

Heart of Stone by @strangelock221b – This is a superb twist on Greek mythology and specifically the myth of Medusa with a Mycroft Holmes/Molly Hooper ship. I think there’s plans for it to be a series so I’m really excited for that. It’s such a great concept and perfect execution.

Guardian Sniper by @strangelock221b – Another good one from Dreamin with the Sebastian Moran/Molly Hooper ship. A nice detailed story of how Moran came to guard Molly and switch sides. I absolutely adore this one so much.

Arm Candy by Unpretty – Absolutely one of my favorite Bruce Wayne fics. It’s just a superb look at the “ditzy playboy” persona he’s got and the reason behind it.

Always Molly by LaMorenaReina – This is absolutely hands down one of the best fics I’ve seen dealing with the aftermath of the phone call to Molly in “The Final Problem” from Sherlock. Like, it’s brilliant and I really really wish I’d written it.

Sail Away Sweet Sister by goldenadagio – One of my absolute favorite Star Wars fics. An AU that celebrates Luke and Leia’s relationship as brother and sister and as the tag says, get your kleenex.

From a Mustard Seed it Grows by @sobeautifullyobsessed – One of my favorite Sherlock/OC fics. It’s the start of a series, so there’s more to love afterward, but it’s so beautifully written and the characters are so brilliant and it is just lovely.

Novacaine by moonstone1520 – This is heavily angsty but seriously, so so good. Shows more of the darker side of Sherlock and how he deals with Danger NIghts.

The Dominatrix and the Pathologist by @onceinabluemoon13 – This is a collection of Irene Adler/Molly Hooper fics that I am absolutely enamored with. They’re so well written and it’s just such a great example of how femslash could totally work in the Sherlock universe.

Brother Dear by @whclocked – One of my favorite stories showing the friendship and love between Mycroft and Molly, especially if they were to be related through marriage.

The Clyde Job by akire_yta – I am a sucker for a good crossover and this is one of my favorites between Elementary and Leverage. It’s seriously hilarious and I love it so so so much.

A Prince Worth Waiting For by dioscureantwins – I can’t describe this fic to any capacity to say just how brilliant it is. Like, it’s a perfect set of crossovers for multiple fandoms all in one with a brilliant portrayal of Molly and I just adore it.

All Wet / Grilled by @strangelock221b – Two fics both showing the same events (Steve Roger’s 100th birthday) from the perspectives of Steve and Darcy. Such well written and cute fics, I adore them.

Christmas Getaway by @strangelock221b – Not finished but it has pretty regular updates. A really really great answer to the question “What would happen if Eddie and Venom went back to NYC and met the Avengers?” and just I cannot give this story enough love. It’s REALLY REALLY GOOD.

The Transfiguration Incident, Or Pettigrew's Problems by Kyra_Neko_Rei - One of my favorite Tumblr posts cross-posted to AO3! I missed this in my first post of recs (along with the fic below) but this was just a hilarious “what if?” scenario describing what might have happened if McGonagal had transfigured Peter Pettigrew when the class was making the goblets from the animals.

McCOY: Owner's Guide and Maintenance Manual by AlbusGellertAlways - A hilarious character study (with implied McCoy/Chapel if you read with a TOS slant) about our favorite med bay doctor, Leonard McCoy.

#fic recs #ifd2019

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ao3feed-snape · 4 years ago

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Harry Potter and the Legal Definition of a Cat

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/387ll3v

by Valkyrie98

"Well," The man that was a dog and was apparently his godfather stood and clapped his hands together. "This won't do will it, I'm thinking we take out that wall and go from there."

Harry stared at him, then at the wall he gestured to.

"My bedroom wall?" He asked, frowning. "I'm not sure the Dursley's would like that."

"Ah, what the don't know won't hurt them." Sirius waved a hand flippantly and winked. Pulling out his wand and rolling up his sleeves. "If we're stuck in this house, we could at least be more comfortable." and with that, he pointed his wand at the wall and went to work.

A story about Sirius being more or less on the run but in the prissy rich boy on the run which is at home and not running at all and looking after his godson, hiding from the dursleys, going back to hogwarts as Padfoot only to encounter a certain teacher, neither of which knew the other would be there. Harry never thought having a family, albeit just one person, could be such a handful, he just prays his godfather gets some sense before he rolls his eyes straight out of his head.

Words: 1346, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: Sirius Black, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Luna Lovegood

Relationships: Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin

Additional Tags: Sirius Black Lives, Dogfather Sirius, Sirius Raises Harry, Sort Of, starts summer after second year, BAMF Minerva McGonagall, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, as i post and figure out what im doing lmao, Anyways, no beta we die like men, and then reread it in a week and edit it out of shame, anyway have fun, it's my canon now when creators go and get themselves fucking cancelled

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/387ll3v

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #Severus Snape #Snape #Professor Snape #SS

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pkstudiosindia · 4 years ago

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Inspection crew rescues dog stranded on bridge 120-ft above Mississippi river – The Indian Express

Featured Post in Water Filter India dot com - Water Filter India

By: Trends Desk | New Delhi | October 1, 2020 5:18:27 pm

Many who got here throughout the tweet thread lauded the workforce for his or her well timed intervention.

An inspection crew is being praised on social media after they rescued a dog that was caught beneath a bridge over the Mississippi River.

According to the inspection crew, the dog was noticed beneath the bridge deck, 120-feet above the river. Bridge inspector Craig Jenkins and his crew have been working over the Mississippi River once they noticed the dog,

“Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Our bridge inspection crew was working over the Mississippi River this weekend when bridge inspector Craig Jenkins noticed a stranded dog beneath the bridge deck, 120ft above the river,” the corporate tweeted.

Talk about being in the best place on the proper time! Our bridge inspection crew was working over the Mississippi River this weekend when bridge inspector Craig Jenkins seen a stranded dog beneath the bridge deck, 120ft above the river. (1/three) pic.twitter.com/ix8nTYo34q

— Stantec (@Stantec) September 22, 2020

Ryan Nataluk, lead climber and rescue technician for the workforce, rapidly known as the police for help and climbed right down to the dog. After assessing her for accidents and fashioning a makeshift harness for the dog out of rope, Ryan lifted her to security. (2/three) pic.twitter.com/6sFi4WlPuy

— Stantec (@Stantec) September 22, 2020

After making a makeshift harness out of a rope, the dog was lifted again to security.

UPDATE: According to the Natchez Police Chief, the dog was adopted by an area resident quickly after she was rescued on Sunday ❤️

— Stantec (@Stantec) September 23, 2020

In a observe-up tweet, the corporate stated that the dog was adopted by an area resident.

You are my hero! Thank you for saving the dog. I hope she/he will get a very good house.

— Patty Davis (@PattyDa60984458) September 24, 2020

Many who got here throughout the thread praised the workforce:

Heroes! This story did my coronary heart such good as we speak, a present out of nowhere. Thanks to all people who helped this candy dog and thought to seize/share her rescue story!

— Finnegrams314 (@Finnegrams314) September 24, 2020

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Thank you to all concerned in rescuing this magnificence and giving her an opportunity at a brand new life and a loving household!

— Regina Elizabeth (@LibraLady1007) September 29, 2020

Hero’s are all over the place. Maybe they be actual angels!

— TaybaeTheChi (@Becksgrandmum) September 24, 2020

Incredible work! @dog_rates @dogfather @dog_feelings

— LPG 🇺🇸 (@Laurie_Patton) September 24, 2020

Amazing! Thank you for sharing.

— Ok Walters 🌊🌎 (@miagl11) September 27, 2020

Love love love. Please that is what people are able to. Kindness, compassion and empathy. We are supposed to rescue these in want.

— Sandy White (@utsandywhite) September 24, 2020

This is superb!

— Debbie Eckert (@bachinventions) September 24, 2020

Thank you for going above and past to the rescue the dog! Such nice information !

— lcastil1 (@lcastil11) September 23, 2020

That positive was an exquisite factor

— rebelangel (@rebelangel44) September 24, 2020

This simply warms my coronary heart 💙

— Kristen Hampton (@kristenehampton) September 24, 2020

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Click Here to View or Learn More - Inspection crew rescues dog stranded on bridge 120-ft above Mississippi river – The Indian Express .........................For more Details,Please Visit our Water Filter India dot com - Home Page Link - Water Filter India

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nonasuch · 5 years ago

Link

It’s DONE! And there’s one more thing coming up right behind it, too.

#the dogfather #dogfather story post #harry potter #i wrote a thing #fic update

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alexseanchai · 5 years ago

Note

1) correct, Notfic is an AO3 canonical freeform

2) y’all know how @nonasuch started the Dogfather AU, right?

well, now you do

please observe its tagging when it got to AO3:

the dogfather (47681 words) by hollimichele

Chapters: 4/4

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin

Characters: Harry Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Rubeus Hagrid, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, Molly Weasley, Original Muggle Character(s), Hermione Granger

Additional Tags: Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Series: Part 1 of the dogfather au

Summary:

“I’m not a reverse werewolf either,” says the man. “I’m your godfather.”

not a self-deprecatory or work-deprecatory tag in sight!

(the authorial explicit vagueness on the matter of Harry’s surname is present in the first scene of the AO3 version, I should point out, and Harry’s surname is unambiguous later in the story. in case anyone thought Dogfather underwent significant polishing between going up as bullet points on Tumblr and going up on AO3. I mention this because people have this weird idea that stuff has to be higher quality to go on AO3 than just on Tumblr, or undergo improvement between being posted raw on Tumblr and being posted on AO3, or something.)

( @galahadwilder and @art-deco-shrimp you’re both opted in to co-creator stuff on AO3, yes? or will be for long enough to post this? just checking. because that’s a thing they had to make opt-in because abuse.)

I was curious, will Soulmate Liar being going on Ao3?

I’m thinking about it. I’m not sure how that would work, it’s not… technically a fic? I think I’d have to tag it as something else. @alexseanchai, you’re good at this kind of thing. Got any ideas?

#harry potter

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theguardian911 · 7 years ago

Photo

Former Gambino mafia family enforcer now becomes the ‘Dogfather’ to save animals. A former enforcer of one of the most infamous Mafia families in the country has turned in his penchant for crime in exchange for caring for Brooklyn’s abused and neglected animals. Meet James Giuliani, the “Dogfather,”who previously worked for the Gambino crime family (Gotti faction); they parted ways a long time ago. According to the Daily News, “Dogfella,” as Giuliani is also affectionately called, has returned to the Bensonhurst district he used to call home, and instead of hijacking vehicles, robbing homes, businesses and kidnapping, dedicates his life to searching and saving animals in need of rescue. He’s not all legal however – by taking in wildlife at his operation, he’s violating city regulations. “The Health Department regulates shelters to ensure animal safety,” a spokesperson for the department stated. “We will look into this.” The current population at Keno’s Animal Sanctuary is 52 animals which includes dogs, cats, lizards, tortoises, birds, squirrels and whatever other animals are needing help. As a former drug user and teenage heavy drinker, Giuliani believes rescuing animals are his real calling in life, and with his partner Lena and a host of volunteers, care for wildlife that are kept in the basement while the dogs wander free upstairs; it’s a no-cage facility. And though he never denies he has done a few stints in prison for past crimes, it wasn’t until he realized helping the animals, which grew up like him without a chance, is the reason why he does this now: “But now I have an addictive personality toward my passion. You gotta find something in your life. You gotta love it. If I don’t love do this, nobody will,” stated Giuliani as posted in the Daily Mail. “I rescue, no joke, 60 to 100 raccoons a year, About 30 to 60 possums.” And for the workaholic who hasn’t taken a day off in 1,160 days and sleeps just three hours a night, his shelter boasts a 94% re homing and return to nature rate for the animals he takes into his facility. In addition, Giuliani also owns a grooming salon and pet store that help to pay the bills. Check out the organization and follow their stories on Facebook. https://www.kenosanimalsanctuary.com/ (Photos of Dogfather and related animal photos via Facebook) Check out the short video, and just when you think no one cares, they really do! https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1453564328062420&id=470870369665159&_rdr

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northshoregadgets · 7 years ago

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Dug Up at Dogster: Honoring Ted Rheinhold and Betty Liddick

The Dogster and Catster brands have a very long history. Cat Fancy and Dog Fancy magazines, which have been around for 50 years, were merged with the Dogster.com and Catster.com websites four years ago to become today’s Dogster and Catster magazines and websites. Many, many people along the way have worked on these brands — Cat Fancy, Dog Fancy, Catster and Dogster — and given their hearts and souls to creating a space, be it print or online, where dog lovers and cat lovers can be a community, coming together to share stories and photos about their beloved fur family members plus learn about latest care and behavior information.

Honoring Ted Rheinhold

One of those very important people is Ted Rheinhold, who recently passed away at the young age of 47 from cancer, and we’d like to honor him here. Back in 2003, Ted co-founded an online community site for dog lovers and then cat lovers called — you guessed it — Dogster and Catster. It was groundbreaking in many ways. No surprise.

“He was a true innovator,” says my friend and former colleague Janine Kahn McCaffrey, Founding Editor of Catster and Dogster. “He started Dogster and Catster to give people what they didn’t have before: a place online to connect and talk about their pets — a place to ask health questions but also to post silly things and make friends.” She adds that this was back in 2004, and the web isn’t as we know it today. Facebook was being born around the same time.

Now, I met Ted a few times throughout those early years. I’d been writing and editing pet content for the parent publishing company of Cat Fancy and Dog Fancy and would see him at different cat and dog events. I remember him as outgoing with a lot of energy.

Although I didn’t have the pleasure of getting to know Ted better, I did have the pleasure of getting to know the wonderful editorial team he put together, when we ended up working for the same company a few years ago at Lumina Media. (In 2011, after expanding the community site into a more editorial direction, Ted and his partner sold Catster and Dogster to Say Media, an online media company, where it could further grow and expand. Say Media later sold Catster and Dogster to Lumina Media.)

I was part of the team that merged Cat Fancy and Dog Fancy with Catster and Dogster. I would hear plenty of stories about Ted and those early days from the “Sters” editorial team: Janine, Vicky, Keith and Lori (and later Pam), passionate content and community professionals who adore their dogs and cats, plus are just plain truly lovely people. They would talk about Ted, so I felt in a way that I knew him. I do recall that Ted was delighted for Dogster and Catster to take print form.

After hearing of Ted’s passing, I reached out to Janine to help us honor him. As you would expect, Janine is deeply saddened but was happy to share her thoughts about Ted with the Dogster and Catster family.

“Ted was an incredible person — equal parts warm and witty — and a true visionary. I was so lucky to have him for a friend and mentor at Dogster and am completely heartbroken for his family (Molly, Mabel and Moxie). He loved the internet and social media and was always keen on building community and sharing ideas. I’ve been re-reading Season of the Witch, Ted’s cancer journal on Medium and saw that he ended his first entry thusly: ‘If you’re ever wondering what you could do for me, please just share a funny gif or picture of beauty with me.’ Though he’s no longer around to send one to, I’m sure he would have loved to know you shared one with a person you care about on his behalf.”

Let’s lift a “muttini” or “cattini” to Ted. Thank you so much for being such an integral part of the Catster and Dogster family. We will miss you.

Honoring Betty Liddick

I want to honor one more member of the family, editor Betty Liddick. I met Betty when she was the editor of Dog Fancy magazine, Dogster’s “dogfather.” Although, once again, I didn’t work closely with her as I was working on some other pet publications at the time, I do remember her as both a passionate editor and dog lover. Betty went on to become the editor of Cornell University’s DogWatch, published by Belvoir Media Group. Strangely enough, a few years after Dog Fancy merged into Dogster, Belvoir Media Group became the brands’ and my home.

I was so excited to be a colleague of Betty’s again! Unfortunately, before I had a chance to reach out, Betty passed away following a brief illness. We were all shocked.

“She had a passion for bringing solid information to her readers, believing that a pet owner’s knowledge and understanding contributed directly to the health and happiness of the animals she loved,” eulogizes my boss and Vice President of Editorial Content for Belvoir Media Group, Tim Cole, who Betty worked with a number of years. “She was a skilled professional, a constant friend and a leading light. Those of us who knew Betty will remember her with great fondness.”

I reached out to my friend and former colleague, Steven Biller, who worked on Betty’s editorial team on Dog Fancy and then took over the editorship when she left. Steven says he was deeply saddened and shocked to hear of her passing. “She was an incredible editor and wicked funny,” he tells me. “Betty had a passion for words and genuinely cared about our readers and their dogs. Together, we created a bright magazine — active, positive, informative — that allowed emotion and action to burst through every story. Betty was the real deal. A total pro. I miss her.”

Betty, I can’t tell you how much we appreciate you being a part of history, our family. Both you and Ted gave so much and had passion, dedication and a genuine care for people and pets that you shared with others. It’s this history and these people that have helped make Dogster and Catster what they are today. Thank you, and we honor both of you. Rest in peace, Ted Rheinhold and Betty Liddick.

Stay tuned for more from Executive Editor Melissa Kauffman on Dogster.com’s Dug Up at Dogster column and on social media with #DogUpatDogster.

The post Dug Up at Dogster: Honoring Ted Rheinhold and Betty Liddick appeared first on Dogster.

from Dogster http://ift.tt/2xjKWpt via http://www.dogster.com

#Pets

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jeffreyrwelch · 7 years ago

Text

Dug Up at Dogster: Honoring Ted Rheinhold and Betty Liddick

Honoring Ted Rheinhold

Let’s lift a “muttini” or “cattini” to Ted. Thank you so much for being such an integral part of the Catster and Dogster family. We will miss you.

Honoring Betty Liddick

I was so excited to be a colleague of Betty’s again! Unfortunately, before I had a chance to reach out, Betty passed away following a brief illness. We were all shocked.

Stay tuned for more from Executive Editor Melissa Kauffman on Dogster.com’s Dug Up at Dogster column and on social media with #DogUpatDogster.

The post Dug Up at Dogster: Honoring Ted Rheinhold and Betty Liddick appeared first on Dogster.

0 notes

daddyslittlejuliet · 7 years ago

Text

Dug Up at Dogster: Honoring Ted Rheinhold and Betty Liddick

Honoring Ted Rheinhold

Let’s lift a “muttini” or “cattini” to Ted. Thank you so much for being such an integral part of the Catster and Dogster family. We will miss you.

Honoring Betty Liddick

I was so excited to be a colleague of Betty’s again! Unfortunately, before I had a chance to reach out, Betty passed away following a brief illness. We were all shocked.

Stay tuned for more from Executive Editor Melissa Kauffman on Dogster.com’s Dug Up at Dogster column and on social media with #DogUpatDogster.

The post Dug Up at Dogster: Honoring Ted Rheinhold and Betty Liddick appeared first on Dogster.

0 notes