#even beyond just the characters themselves (ya know. considering canon and all)

[schrodingers-hoarding-problem]

i’ve never wanted to study any characters as bugs before vegaspete

[goshdangronpa]

for the headcanons thing, how about mikan?

You mean Mikan, one of my absolute favorites and a character I post/reblog about all the time? Eh, if you want, I guess

MIKAN TSUMIKI

Sexuality Headcanon: Pansexual and panromantic. She can love any kind of person except herself :( (don't be sad, she'll learn)

Gender Headcanon: *projects nonbinary/genderqueer all over my fave chars*

A ship I have with said character: (Sparta Remix voice) TSU-MI-O-DA. I'm so fond of bandaid for honestly too many reasons to list in one paragraph. I actually had a whole thing written out for this ... but I'm saving that for something more ambitious. Suffice to say for now that they were high school besties in a group with another wlw couple, they'd support each other and give so much of themselves without asking or being asked, and they just seem real cute together. As for the whole "one killed the other" thing, well, that's the kind of spicy drama that turns regular ships into epic romance. Again, saving my thoughts for later.

A BROTP I have with said character: I'm surprised at how little exploration I've seen of Mikan’s relationship with Mukuro Ikusaba. None were closer, more enthralled with, and more completely under the thumb of Junko Enoshima than her twin and her girlfriend. None know her more intimately, and none were more directly abused. Imagine Mikan treating Mukuro for wounds sustained while carrying out Junko's orders, the two growing closer over time, Mukuro standing up for Mikan after Junko takes things too far, the two realizing how much the other suffers and in turn realizing how toxic this whole thing is for themselves, and changing their canon fates by escaping together ... Damn, are there any fanfics like this? (This is also an awesome romantic ship, obvi)

A NOTP I have with said character: There's plenty of merit to Mikan/Nagito (Florence Nightingale syndrome, anyone?), but I'm too amused by the idea of them as "worsties" to consider any other relationship. Nagito has a bitchy side waiting to be unleashed against an embodiment of pure despair, and Mikan will go for the fucking jugular if confronted with a total asshole who's also a socially acceptable punching bag. Cut them loose and let them fight!!

A random headcanon: someone on Reddit once asked, in a context I can't begin to recall, whether Mikan would prefer AVGN or Nostalgia Critic. I said the latter would trigger her because Doug Walker always stares straight at the viewer and often addresses his insults to movies and their makers in second-person. Mikan would not like a man yelling "FUCK YOU FUCK YOU" right into her face. James Rolfe's comparably dynamic cinematography and directed critiques would be more to her liking. So if I just ignore how unlikely a Japanese teen might be (or might not be?) to watch English-speaking American content creators, sure, headcanon

General Opinion over said character: SDR2 Chapter 3 was so hard because I lost both my fave chars from the game. I loved Mikan right from the jump. Maybe because I have a tendency to apologize more than I oughta, and I'm familiar with the feeling (thankfully less frequent now) that no one in a given room wants me around. That aside, she's interesting, funny, sympathetic, capable of great courage that saves the day (piping up about puncture wounds in the first trial), so troubled but not beyond saving ... well, until, ya know. But even then, she wasn't herself, and that's what makes it so much more tragic.

[questioned-quetzalcoatl]

30 Days of OTP: Day 9, Hanging out with Friends

Rating: K

Verse: Canon

AN: James invites his mates round to watch rugby during its hype season. Unfortunately they're all just as loud and as destructive as each other.

Had to add a few extra characters for this chapter: Aamade (South Africa) Aliti (Fiji) Michelle (Seychelles) Piri (Philippines)

James has too many friends; he’s a magnet for them. He can enter a room full of strangers and leave with a room full of people who adore him, and invite for them to meet up again. His extroverted and friendly nature, as well as the fact he can get along with just about anyone in any situation. He gets itchy being alone, not literally but he always loves to surround himself with people which, for a man like him, is never hard to accomplish. One of those people who can get everyone to love him instantaneously and it was no wonder that he was like the sibling that got away with everything.

Kainga, however, was almost the exact opposite.

He's got a few friends, some have dipped in and out of his life and some stayed for longer. James was acquainted to most of them, after all Kainga only really hung around with the same handful of people. For an introvert, socializing was not his forte. Even less so when friend making with his very specific interests and personality so his social life was mostly nonexistent. His requirements for friends where as slim as paper but if you could get along with him and enjoyed his interests it's guaranteed that you'll be friends for life.

Most of all, he never understood how James made so many friends so quickly. Until he realized during the height of the rugby season, coming to the realization that James and all of his friends are just as loud and destructive as each other. How they bonded over screaming at the TV, taking off their shirts before smashing beer bottles on the floor and punching each other was completely beyond him. Above all, they were all crazy for Rugby in a sense where if anyone was to walk in and see how apeshit they all were over a goal, they'd been deemed completely insane.

First there's Aamade.

He could only describe him as, truly something else. The South African was a force to be reckoned with, especially when it involved his team; The Springboks. He's more like James than Kainga, some boisterous man, rough and ready and frankly absolutely terrifying to the New Zealander at times. Surprising as they consider themselves as 'best friends' which in some cases is true. But that can easily change quickly as soon as rugby is involved. Aamade is a lot shorter than James, rather short in general but he sure as fuck packs a warrior's punch. His hair in thick, traditional braids, tied up to the back as James had a nasty habit of pulling on them when he was angry.

Then there's Aliti.

Aliti, is Kainga's older sister.

Why on earth James invited her round, he didn't know. But the two had a particularly immense disliking for each other. Even spanning way before James and Kainga got together. He swears at least one of the reasons James got with him for another reason to poke at her. Whenever James brought up the smug argument of 'I'm fucking your brother and there's nothin' ya can do about it' it always ends in a very broken nose for James. The Fijian is quick and short tempered, very over protective of her brother towards James.

So all of them gathered on one couch to watch the Saturday nights rugby game, could only end in complete disaster. Kainga knew this all too well.

Kainga had a very different night planned for himself. While James had his mates around causing a ruckus, he'd invited over some of his own friends for something as simple as getting together and having tea. Often times they'd just chat, knit and compare books they were reading or sweaters they had. It was the simple things but for Kainga, he enjoyed nothing more.

This night he'd only invited two of his closest friends around. Piri and Michelle, yet in order to get in, they had to get past the ruckus from the living room. At this point in time, James and Aamade had started to loudly argue over the results of half-time.

“Oh for fucks sake, that was blatantly our ball!”

“Well isn’t someone a sore loser? Your All Blacks have nothing on the Springboks!”

“Sore loser?! Says the guy who couldn’t handle us scorin a try!”

“That’s because you guys hadn’t got the ball off the fucking line!”

Piri sighed once entering Kainga's room, closing the door behind them both and staring at it like there was a zombie apocalypse occurring on the other side of it.

"Are they always like that?"

"Unfortunately yes."

As the night went on, both Piri and Michelle were rather surprised that Kainga didn't seem phased by the crashing and thumping from downstairs. He just simply enjoyed his tea and rambled off about the book he was reading right now. Even offering that they all start a book club before turning on the fairy lights he'd installed to give the room more light.

At one point, the yelling and crashing from downstairs stopped. Michelle couldn't help feel unease and Kainga just simply apologized for his boyfriend and his mates. Finally they had some silence, Aamade and Aliti must've gone home. Either that or they all died. Kainga knew that if James was quiet, something was very wrong as the New Zealander tended to never shut up. He quickly excused himself and went downstairs with his empty tea cup in hand.

"James? Did everyone go home?"

He's only met with James sprawled out on the couch, half passed out and surrounded by beer bottles and leftover pizza still in the greasy boxes. James managed to smile up at him sleazily.

"We wonnnn....we wonnnn th' gameeeee...~"

Of course, rugby was all he could still talk about in his state of, whatever it was. Kainga just sighed and shook his head. "C'mon let's get you to bed."

"I'm....fineeeee..." James insisted as he slumped onto Kainga like a limp sack of potatoes. Almost sending Kainga to the floor with his weight but instead of complaining, a small laugh left the Tongan's lips as he caught James in his arms. Meeting the dorky like grin James was pulling up at him. He couldn't help but smile down at him, holding James's cheeks before he started to kiss him. James let out a soft muffled mumble, wrapping his arms around Kainga's smaller slim waist to keep his balance we kissing back. His mouth only tasting of that horrible cheap Kiwi beer he'd bought and drank in celebration.

Kainga had to pull James's face away from him in order to get a short breath. Feeling the sharp prickles of the Kiwi's ever growing hairy stubble, more evident that James was growing a beard whenever Kainga kissed him. Kainga's soft skin always itched when James's rough stubble met his. Yet, he didn't mind, mainly because he thought James looked hella sexy with a beard. Stopping James's drunken whine by placing a kiss on the bridge of his lightly crooked nose.

"Alright you big boofy kiwi, I said its bed~"

[chaozsilhouette]

Realization

Recently, I discovered the art of @winterpower98 and fell in love with her Swap Au. There are so many events we don't know about and couldn't help myself. This is just my take on a scene. In no way do I claim any of this to be canon.

Odds are I will post similar content soon.

_____________________________

In the hallowed halls of the Celestial realm, one should know only peace and serenity. The tranquil beauty was designed to soothe even the greatest emotional turmoil, to give way to greater enlightenment. Unfortunately, for one immortal that peace would stay a cruel dream.

It was over. The Journey to the West was complete and would live on as an intricate tale filled with perseverance, courage, and strength. Once the scriptures were delivered, the pilgrims were brought to the Celestial Realm where the Buddha himself awaited to congratulate the brave travelers. Immortals of all sorts gathered to celebrate the momentous occasion, but one just couldn’t find it in him to find any reason to join in the merriment.

The Six-Eared Macaque secluded himself in one of the many heavenly orchards, far enough to have some privacy, but not enough to rouse suspicion from the guards. Considering how the last immortal simian to visit not only declared war on the Heavenly Court but nearly left the entire realm in ruins, their behavior was all too justified.

With his infamous ears, he was able to tell his brothers and master were enjoying themselves. After dedicating themselves to a journey that consumed more than a decade of their lives, they deserved a chance to truly unwind. As much as he wanted to join them, the truth just made him want to curl into a ball and die.

When their mission was over the Buddha pulled him aside and revealed a terrible truth. He knew from the start the two monkeys had switched places and feared that their action would have long-lasting consequences. Macaque’s actions may have been inspired by love, but they prevented Wukong from learning a much-needed lesson.

Wukong was meant to go on the journey. He was meant to grow close to Tripitaka and learn what it meant to truly care for others. He was supposed to learn how to face the consequences of his actions. Instead, the moon learned these facts of life while the sun became more ruthless. Macaque was supposed to gain independence and resentment towards his manipulator. Macaque’s purpose was to act as an important milestone for Wukong, a physical embodiment of his past flaws that he would have to overcome.

He supposed it made sense. Wukong’s life would make for an entertaining story. In too many ways, the black-furred monkey just couldn’t compete with the sheer charismatic prowess and physical strength of the Monkey King. It explained how their master granted Wokung a beautifully intricate name, while his was simply a description of his species. Sure, he was the only six-eared macaque in existence, but still! It was as if he was nothing but a side character in Wukong’s life.

Now that the Journey was over, Macaque had no doubt Wukong would strike soon. Honestly, it was a miracle they had been able to escape the first time they crossed paths. The fact Sun Wukong never expected Macaque to betray him was their only advantage. They had to start preparing for his next attack. Not even remaining in the Celestial Realm would spare them.

“Not one for loud celebrations I see.” A serene voice pierced through his depressing thoughts.

Looking down at his visitor, Macaque silently berated himself for letting his guard down. There in all his glory was the one and only Buddha.

“Yeah...well, ya know with six ears that can pick up everything, being in the center of crowds ain’t my thing.”

“Indeed.” Buddha humbly accepted the answer with a kind smile.

It was the eyes. Those all-knowing yet overwhelmingly compassionate eyes. “I screwed up.”

“It is true that by deviating from the original path, you created a future of uncertainty, but that does not imply you must face it alone.” Mercifully those lids closed, granting him a quick respite. “You have proven far beyond what was expected of you. You should take pride in your strength.”

“What good is any of that when Sun Wukong is still rampaging across the world?” Macaque bared his teeth in frustration. The two monkeys may have knelt before the same master, allowing Macaque to perfectly impersonate the King flawlessly for years, but that didn’t change the fact that Wukong was naturally much stronger than him.

“Sun Wukong once had a glorious future ahead of him and in many ways he still does.” His kind smile took on a slight note of sorrow. As though he was mourning the loss of a great warrior. “For now, let us focus on you. Not many are able to truly match the Monkey King in a straight fight.”

“We both know it’s only because that fillet is using a portion of his own power to sustain itself.”

“Perhaps, but that in of itself is an advantage.” Macaque watched as the Buddha took on a mischievous smile that would not have been out of place on Flower Fruit Mountain. “You have many skills he does not possess, while you are intimately familiar with his tricks due to sharing the same master. Your mastery of shadows can be a great asset and a way to help you find a style all your own.”

Macaque blushed as he scrambled to look anywhere else, especially not at his own shadow. It was true he had a natural connection to the darkness. His magic was drawn to the shadows and the coolness of the night, a complete opposite from Wukong.

During their five hundred years apart, Macaque had experimented relentlessly and was greatly rewarded. Over the course of their journey, he never got the chance to show off his new techniques in order to stay in character. Even when they learned the truth, he didn’t feel comfortable demonstrating everything he could do. He was so afraid of losing that kindness, he didn’t dare do anything to risk it. Especially since those who practiced dark magic usually were viewed in a negative light. But maybe now he could...

“I wish to apologize for everything. No one should be made to feel this helpless.” Macaque almost flinched as a soft hand rested upon his shoulder. Turning he saw the Buddha had joined him in the tree gazing upon him with all the love in the world. “If you wish, I could gift you a proper name. Sun Wukong’s name is more than another way to state his title, it was to reflect upon what he could potentially obtain.”

This time Macaque allowed himself to flinch. He couldn’t help it. The topic was far too convenient. “I’ve always been Liu'er Mihou.”

“Does that mean you are confined to who you once were?”

Macaque blinked as his ears fluttered. “No. With all due respect, we will have to continue this conversation another time.”

Backflipping off the tree in a graceful display, Macaque headed straight for Lao Tzu’s lab. If anyone had a clue as to how to keep the Handsome Monkey King pinned down for more than five seconds without it was him. Neither monkey could die, but as the Buddha proved they could be sealed away. They just had to figure out how.

[jjba-hell]

Fate and Fortune

So this was sitting in my WIP folder forever and I was bouncing between self-insert and OC but I figured it was just too specific for self-insert... ✌︎('ω')✌︎

Part 1 of (?) and tagging some moots- @risottoneroo (I know you’ve been going through it recently, I hope this upcoming series can help distract you just a little bit- I know your writing always helps pick me up) @giogio-gucci-gangstar @rat-makes-stuff and @uttertrash (sorry =w= I get nervous tagging any moots)

Setting for this one is pre-Stardust Crusaders and the best dscription for this timeline is MY CANON NOW. This is a very short entry piece of how Vera (my OC) first met Muhammed Abdul. As the story progresses I’ll give more explanation and context to my OC but for now, all ya gots ta know is that it starts off in Egypt.

Content warning is pretty mild- maybe some mysticism if you’re not comfortable with that but nothing beyond that. (Ya’ll know you just gotta et me know if I miss something)

Also- my interpretation of the tarot crads is about like 20% more accurate than Araki’s- meaning its probably not completly right but it makes a bit more sense than canon.

1.4 K words

Life as an expat in a foreign country wasn’t easy to begin with. Vera grew up a bit isolated from the real world, safely hidden behind the tall walls that held her with the other expat children from expat homes. That was, until she decided to go to a neaarby local market- in search of some cooler casual fabrics, an alternative to the continuously wrong winter fabrics the expat camp gave them for ventures outside of the walls of the camp- even though it was much too luxurious to be called a camp.

The decision to desert the safety o fthe camp had been made on a whim, without much warning to her parents, as casual as if she were heading toward the expat gym.

In hindsight, so much could have gone wrong for a 16-year old foreign girl but the threat of danger was never something she had felt too greatly. She had always felt safe- in a way. It had felt like there was always this...presence around her when she felt any unease. Dangerous or nerve racking situations unfolded themselves as life usually does, but things had a tendency to go her way, danger seeming to veer out of her path. She chcuckled at the thought- how cocky she used to be. Her first few trips unaccompanied had only cemented her idea that she was untouchable.

One faithful day- a few months after continous visits to the market- among the many stalls, stood a tall dark skinned Egyptian man- looming over the wares of a vendor whom Vera had made good acquaintances with. “Ah Muhammed. This is that teenager I was telling you about, the foreigner.”

“Hello Hassan.” She smiled- trying to hint at greeting her first.

She turned to the man beside her, almost two heads taller than herself. Two markings moved down his handsome face, a playful smile on his face- slightly marred by his eyes that seemed to hide an impossible sadness behind the warm brown. “You must be Vera. Pleasant to make your acquaintance. I’m Muhammed Abdul.” He gave a courteous nod, hands folding into his somewhat overlflowing robe sleeves.

Hassan leaned in to chip into the conversation before you could answer. “Vera is a foreigner, doesn’t divulge what her parents do but they’re the first in a long time to walk out the camp unaccompanied.”

“Now Hassan, I’m not one of your wares, no need to advertise me like that.” She smiled at the wares dealer with just a glimmer of warning in her eyes.

Muhammed chuckled. “More importantly why would you want to?” He asked with feign suspision.

Hassan looked shocked, dramatically holding his hand over his chest. “Muhammed, was it not you telling me just a few moments ago that you needed a new assistant for your shop.”

Hassan then rounded on Vera. “And didn’t you say you’d like a part-time job for some extra coin.”

Muhammed threw his head back and gave a hearty laugh straight out of his chest. “Hassan, if I didn’t know any better I’d swear this was an elaborate scheme to get Vera to buy more of your wares.”

Hassan showed his open palms up beside his head in a sign of surrender. “Caught red-handed. Easier to persuade her to buy something when her wallet is full. But why don’t you just believe that it’s a kind gesture?”

Muhammed turned towards you, that same warm smile on his face. “If you’re willing, Vera, we can discuss these things in my shop if you like.”

In the back of her mind she was a bit apprehensive, she’d been taught to keep her guard up when out alone. But then again, she had some mace on her persons, just in case of an emergency. And that presence looming over her shoulder seemed to make itself a bit more known, bringing a comforting warmth to her shoulders. So ,impulsively, she had agreed. “I’d love to see what you have to offer.”

Vera and Muhammed bid Hassan a temporary goodbye, Hassan assuring her that he’d skin Muhammed alive if he laid a finger her. Somehow the image of Hassan attempting to skin this monstrosity of a man walking ahead of her -almost gliding through the streets to his shop- a bit comical but at least she could appreciated the gesture. Ducking under a stone arch and then curling up some stone steps the two of them stopped in front of an old wooden door- looking as if it came straight from the 14th century.

Muhammed unlocked the heavy black iron lock and pushed the door open to reveal a ceiling of stars, dangling charms and sigils. “Would I be stereotyping you if I assumed you were a mystic of some sort?”

Muhammed gave a warm chuckle.“Indeed I am. I am what you’d consider a fortune teller, and Hassan heard assistant, when in actuality I was looking for an apprentice.”

“Would you say there’s a difference?” She had chcukled as she entered deeper into the shop.

Muhammed kept the door open, stepping through behind her as her eyes travelled through all the trinkets, stones, and more.

“Unfortunately there is. If I overstep a boundary, you are more than welcome to leave but...may I ask. Have you ever felt...guarded? Or watched? As if nothing could go wrong and if it did, it would turn out your favor.”

For a moment she couldn’t help but smile to herself. “Sounds like some crazy luck.”

Muhammed laughed again. She spun around on her heel and saw a deck of cards in his hands, tapping the edges on the red clothed table. “It’s actually a phenomenon I study. It’s considered mysticism but...if you really want this job, I’d suggest you at least have some inkling of what that feeling is.”

Abdul’s eyes flashed dark as his gaze moved from Vera to just beside her head. She frowned in confusion, looking over her shoulder to see nothing but before she could ask, Muhammed immediately looked her head-on with a calm yet stern expression. The focus in his eyes back.

“I’ll be honest with you, Mr Abdul. I do possess that feeling. Although it wavers from time to time- probably makes me a little cocky but I’ve never faced a problem that didn’t solve itself.”

Muhammed smiled, straightened a bit and then seamlessly slid into the chair at the table.

“A tarot reading? Before we discuss money then?”

She had laughed but slid into the chair in front of him and watched Abdul’s skilled fingers shuffle the deck and spread it out before her. “Pick three.”

One. Two. Three.

He slid them back together and arranged the three chosen cards a specific way.

“The past. Judgement, reversed.”

“Care to explain?” Her gaze locked with his for a moment.

“Your past is a source of turmoil to you- a never ending fountain of self-doubt and self-flagellation.”

Vera shrugged, not reacting much to this. She wasn’t about to explain her whole life to him any time soon.

“The present. Death, upright. Big change is coming very soon. Be weary of the storm that lies before you.”

You nodded, a slow fear creeping up your spine. Even Abdul seemed to swallow a bit harder at the prospect, as if avoiding her gaze.

“And future. Wheel of fortune, upright. You are the guardian of your own fate- even through the ever-changing storm of fates.”

She nodded, feeling more at ease with the last prediction. “Is it normal to feel such a variety of emotions after a read?”

Muhammed only smiled as he folded his arms before him. “It is. However no one likes pulling the death card. But that beside the point. How does 300 a week sound to you?”

“Generous.”

“Oh it‘ll only seem that way at the start. Later you’ll cuss me out for paying you so little. For now, I think it best I show you the ropes first.”

There a was a beat of silence, before Muhammed gracefully brought his hand out to shake. “Do we have a deal?”

Vera hesitated a moment before trusting in her own character judgement and shaking his hand to seal the deal. Abdul’s warmth as well as what she had seen from his character thusfar had her feeling as though she could trust him. But she’d be lying if that was the only reason- that unshakable good luck she’d been carrying on her shoulders her whole life seemed to assure her that if a problem ever did arise- she’d still be in control of her own fate.

It was, however, not Abdul whomst she had to worry about...

For not a month into her apprenticeship- Death has already sunken its claws into her life, and a violent change would alter the course of her life forever.

[urmomsstuntdouble]

i hope this helps you in your ranting/rambling mood! im curious about what hetalia canon you’d change, if any, and why. alternatively, what canon do you wish the fandom would pay more attention to?

1thanks for the ask! sorry this is so late btw, i sort of had to be Out and About today, but i do have many thoughts. i hope this is to your liking :)

 so the first thing that comes to mind is how infuriating the canon ages are. i dont think hima put very much thought into how ages work, or maybe he tweaked it to fit a specific character without considering the internal logic of the series at large. what he did was make it so that every character is about the same age during the modern day, and painted himself into a corner where ages need to be traced backwards from the present day, if that makes sense. like he wants everyone to be in their teens or 20s but not all countries are the same “age” if you can say that..idk, like how china and america could be confused for being the same age when china is like 25 times older than him. and this sort of results in some anachronisms (which, anachronisms and misinformation are inevitable when you try to personify countries because you’re just one person writing your interpretation of history and you have biases and whatnot, which is why its important for fans to DO YOUR RESEARCH) or just weird inconsistent stuff like america being the same age during the revolution as he is in the present day and also the entirity of chibitalia.

chibitalia makes absolutely no sense beyond a narrative perspective, and the narrative didnt even need children for it to be good. im also especially annoyed by chibitalia because it serves as proof that himaruya doesnt care about the internal logic of age in hetalia. factors such as “strength-” which i assume to mean military power- the economy, political stability, and cultural identity are what seem to be the driving forces behind the nations’ ages. so let’s take a look at chibitalia through those lenses. if we’re talking military power in the time frame of chibitalia, which im taking to be the early modern period (1500-1800), but it really could be When Fucking Ever during the hapsburg rule of northern italy. the papal states managed to organize and carry out several crusades to recapture jerusalem, and despite none of them being successful and also occasionally resulting in wars against the turks, it does take a lot to consistently organize and carry out that sort of military action without having what we today would consider a politically unified country. this is sort of acknowledged in canon, although its more of an offhanded mention thats brought up once and then never mentioned again, when turkey says that italy kicked his ass one time a couple hundred years ago. concerning the economy, italy’s economy during the early modern period was off the shits, actually. the whole. renaissance thing? although john green raises an interesting point of Did The Renaissance Actually Happen, its a convenient name for the time period, so we’re going with it. and especially where venice is concerned, seeing as venice was one of the wealthiest city states in the entire country, and i believe veneto still is. and then there’s political stability- this is an interesting one because it can be interpreted in different ways both in and out of the hetalia canon. for example, former soviet states are depicted as being younger, despite many of them being very old countries, and america and canada are depicted as babies during the colonial period- even though the colonies basically governed themselves with little oversight from the british crown. this also applies to moldova, who is referenced as being a fierce warrior by hungary when she’s a kid- about 1000 years ago- and is still depicted as being a 12 year old in the modern day. i think where chibitalia is concerned, hima used the control of northern italy by the hapsburg dynasty and the holy roman empire to mean that there was a lack of political strength for the northern italian city states, but! the final say in all matters belonged to the church. it had been like that for hundreds of years, and the church was very much not a design of the hre or the hapsburg dynasty. the church was kind of in greater control over the hre and the hapsburgs than the actual monarchs (until 1648) at some points, which i think would make italy a bit more politically strong than austria or hre. not that he’d be a whole adult or anything, more that they’d all be around the same age physically- or even that austria would be younger! and of course the italian cultural identity was long since formed. because of all that i dont think it makes any goddamn sense for italy to be a child- and of course this also applies to romano, who’s mostly representing naples and sicily. some things are different of course due to the north/south split, but most of this does apply to both. 

anyway, i also think that america’s age makes no sense. i love america as a teenager, i really do. teenagers scare the living shit out of me and america is teenagers. but the way that he ages is totally historically inaccurate. so he’s a child during the 7 years war? cool. why does he age like a regular human during the interwar period leading up to the revolutionary war? yes america was politically stable yes the south was filthy fucking rich off slave labor, but where’s the american cultural identity? nonexistent. the military might? there is no american military in 1750. so yes america should be a little older than a child, but he shouldn’t be the same adult he is in 1780 that he is in ww2 and in the modern day strips. i think this was done because it might be a lil fucked to have grown ass england be fighting a tween in the revolutionary war strips, although i say lean into that fucked-ness. of course thats just me, although i do think it might be more narratively impactful if arthur was an adult and alfred was a child during the revolutionary war strips, and more accurate. i think 11-14 is a good age, because at the time of the revolution, the states were more like their own countries, and no one particularly had an allegiance to america, they just had an allegiance against britain. people didnt really consider themselves americans over their state until after the war of 1812 (which ended in 1815), so him being middle-school aged at that point in time would really be interesting. kind of like an identity crisis, ya know? because it was, in all honesty, an identity crisis- who were the people of these united states (these united states is the og name)? n e whay, yeah. age is stupid and theres more characters i could talk about but id be here all night and i am tired! 

as for something i wish got more attention by fans, i think just all the weird shit. like they truly are Weird People, absolutely no sex appeal. anyway. im gonna go to sleep now, hope that was a cool answer! 

[kryptsune]

In this world, it is hunt or be hunted~ 

(I apologize for the pic quality so I will write what they are saying this was a response to the, What do you think about Fellswap question from before.) 

C: “I am sorry did you happen to mention us? But of course, she had a soft spot for us. We are Fells you know~”  G: “Kitten’s been workin on our debut, ya can call me Grimm.” 

C: “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Crimson~.” 

🌼Ok! Here we go! A few people asked me about Fellswap or SwapFell which understandably so I think by now everyone here knows my love for anything with Fell tacked onto the back of it. Secret discussion though that I adore Fellswap Papyrus and Sans so I had to make my own! As always I have rewritten the entire verse to have my own personal touch to it! I will just describe the main ideas and maybe some key character details in the process! Hope you all enjoy and if you would like to see more of these boys let me know! 

The Surface: 

I want to talk about the humans on the surface first to kind of set the stage for what this AU is going to be based upon. The surface has been overrun by corrupt leaders. It is very much the concept of big brother. If you are seen as a threat you will be immediately thrown into “prison” without a trial. They hold occasional public trials in the guise of being fair. Just as WTU claims, the very concept of magic is a threat to them so those that have it are quickly disposed of but leaders don’t always do the dirty work themselves. No. In fact, they use another source by means of execution...the monsters. 

More accurately it is very similar to the idea of throwing your enemies into a kind of gladiatorial arena. It is not technically considered an execution if circumstances lead to death. The humans are not stupid they know what is going on. Some believe in rebellion against the state and some wonder if the monsters could fix their corrupt world. Either way, the corruption continues and they are not above tossing innocents into “the pit” if it suits their agenda.  “The Pit” (aka the Underworld/Underground): 

The underworld is broken up into different factions by location. The only location without a faction or any type of ruler is The Ruins, because of its size and its isolation this is where humans try to reach for some form of Salvation. Asgore, the caretaker, has made it into an encampment for those that have fallen (the innocent ones). It is almost like a refugee camp only unfortunately very few make it to Asgore’s safe haven. He does his best. Poor goat dad. He is not like canon Toriel however as he will use violence if necessary as he knows that the humans are simply using them as tools to get rid of who they deem criminal. There are signs of old campfires, broken tents, and habitation. 

Before The Ruins is, of course, the main factions. I know a lot of creators tend to swap location names and since Snowdin is the beginning and my boy Crimson is one of the most powerful in the Underworld I am going to as well. Here is the list. Snowdin=Magmire, Waterfall=Windyspires, Hotland=Tundra. The Underworld is also backward to some extent. The humans end up trapped in The Capital instead and they have to make their way to The Ruins to escape. So it would go like this: The Capital -> Tundra ->Windyspires ->Magmire. The closer the faction to the capital the higher the rank in other words because both Grimm and Crimson live in Tundra and he is the lord of it he is one of the most notorious. 

“It’s Hunt or be Hunted”: 

The modo of this verse. Why? Well after so many centuries of humans being disposed of by monsters they become horribly bored. It also adds fuel to Queen Toriel’s fire that one of the humans that fell down the first time killed her son (;~; RIP my precious boy). That is when they realized that humans weren’t just falling into the Underworld they were not only throwing them down to them but also throwing the worst of the worst. 

At first, they just capture them hold them in the Capitals network of catacombs but then some began to escape causing damage across their “new home” Toriel wouldn’t allow it. Very much later it turns into a game of cat and mouse. The humans are detained and released and the monsters hunt them down. It used to be a protection thing but now it’s become a sick twisted death game. The forests of Tundra are littered with traps and deadly pitfalls along with the rest of the locations. 

Each faction has a lord or lady that rules over it. The ones loyal to Toriel’s (As a side note she is known as the ice queen) regime and their supposed way of life. This also means the closest ones receive the most benefits. Tundra is the one with the most prestige and of course other monsters are trying to stip that title from its current holder, The Crimson Lord. Due to Crimson’s loyalty, he is almost exempt from any wrongdoing in the Queens' eyes which means he can do pretty much anything he wants. Which is dangerous and I will explain why in a bit.

I have a faction ruler list sitting here so I am going to add that to this as well. They are as follows, of course, this does not account for potential power struggles during the story:  Tundra -> Lord: Crimson, Lady: N/A

Windyspires -> Lord? (I mean she wouldn’t want to be called a lady SHE IS TOO TOUGH FOR THAT!): Alphys, Lady: Undyne

Magmire->Lord: Grillby, Lady: Muffet

Some of the lords or ladies will keep humans as servants and things of that nature if they are able to be on their captor's good side. Some live good lives but others just become slaves essentially. It’s not a common occurrence in this I just wanted to make a note of it. 

The Brothers Grimm: 

Let’s get to the main event here. The two boys this post is showing. My Fellswap Sans and Paprus. Now I honestly was not planning to do them but I just. I love the puppy boi and I adore @cocofinny , @bis-cvit , @skesgo , @imjustalazycat and so many other interpretations of him. This... is mine. Sans name is Crimson, or the Crimson Lord and Papyrus is Grimm. I chose those names because originally I wanted a vampire and werewolf dynamic between the two and I think that still shines through. (I ain’t changin it~) Crim is the regal sophisticated seducer and Grimm is the wild possessive flirty type. 

Let’s talk about Grimm. Grimm is the wilder of the two brothers and is very much a predator type. His name is derived from the mythos of the Grimm or Black dog. I wanted to keep that dark omen symbology in both his name and design. He slinks around in the shadows so that the black dog aspect is not far off. He also loves watching from trees so if you see a shadow over you, whoops.  He enjoys the catching and hunting aspect of his job and even plays around with his “toys” (I know how that sounds) when he finds them. He will specifically call anyone “chew toy” in a mocking kind of way. That does not mean though that he will not spare you if he catches you. He is naturally curious by things. Fun fact he has a little skele tail too. Unlike his brother, Grimm doesn’t really have an ego he just finds his job fun. HE IS A GIANT PUPPY BOI WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

He admires his brother but he is not bound to his brother. In other words no master, dog nonsense. He is, however, the more accepting of the two. If he is asked to do something he doesn’t like then he most likely won’t. Also just because he has the whole puppy thing going on doesn’t mean he isn’t smart and cunning. Again he likes to play around with those he finds sometimes not even dragging them back to his brother for a while. If you are a threat he will kill you but if you’re not you can probably get on his good side. If he thinks you are cute he will probably flirt with you too. He is not beyond that. He plays the part of the dog quite well though well all know that there is more to him then that as is any Sans archetype. 

Crimson is more sophisticated. He doesn’t go out on “hunts” himself often as he has a faction to rule over but those brought to him will see first hand that he is an insufferable flirt. He also has a bad habit of keeping mementos from those he deems worthy (what those are... you don’t want to know). He is stern with his brother and seems very outwardly cold to most unless he is playing up his charm. He is not someone you want to make angry as Toriel considers him to also be the Bloody Lord. His weapon of choice is a scythe so if that doesn’t give the executioner vibe then I have no idea what will. His drinks of choice are red wine and champagne specifically the pink kind. Have to keep up that pink/ red aesthetic. Crimson’s incisor teeth also have that vampire point to them. They are longer than the rest of them (You can’t see it here since I decided to edit this prior to writing this up). There is far more to Crimson than just this as their backstories dictate but I wanted to give a general feel for what they are both like. 

Is there a story? 

Yes, there is. I will make it relatively short since this post is already massive in size. In my version, there are two siblings that fall into this world both twins. One is Frisk and the other is Chara. Since this is a swap, Frisk is more aggressive of the two and highly protective of her sister. Chara is the sweet and kind one that will abstain from any violence at all. Now Frisk in this is not the usual Chara swap because I want them to find their place amongst the world. Frisk has no problem using violence as a means of protection and self-defense but she won’t actively look for a fight. 

Why are they here you ask? Well, sadly they have magic within their souls hence the soul traits. They both also have the same soul outwardly, Determination, however, there is one other trait that is housed within their soul that makes them very different. Frisk’s is perseverance and Chara’s is kindness. As usual, the leaders of the Ebott Empire are threatened by their potential for magical abilities and as such are sentenced to be executed. Thus they become part of the hunt. 

Guess who runs into them? Frisk is the first to be captured by none other than Crimson and Chara is found by Grimm. It is strange that Crimson is not his usual self in their circumstances as he can tell, unlike so many others that they have captured in the past, that they are very different. Grimm can’t bring himself to harm Chara due to her innocence and Crimson enjoys Frisks headstrong and sassy attitude. In other words *slaps hands on table* you get a two for one. One Papyrus X Chara and one Frisk X Sans. They are adults by the way. 

Eventually much to Crimson’s reluctance they decide to help them escape as unlike most of the AU the monsters have no problem staying this way. Not all of them agree but the Lords certainly love their titles and don’t want to give up that power...that is until Frisk mentions that all those horrible corrupted humans on the surface could be like one giant... hunt. In which case Crimson is alll for so is Grimm but he is not dying to get to the surface. 

They make it to Asgore (who has all the souls btw the barrier is in The Ruins) who tries to get them to stay instead of sacrificing one of them for their freedom. It’s obvious that the brothers actually don’t want either of them to die. 

As Crimson says: “What is another century or two? We have all the time in the world.”  

Frisk and Chara become integrated into the Underworld and though Grimm continues his hunting he doesn’t want Chara to witness it. Crimson just has Frisk as his little huntress. It is unclear if they will make it out of the Underworld in this AU. It really depends upon how I feel the story would make the most sense and I think having the two sisters happy with and accepted into their lives is all they really wanted. They were considered “monsters” on the surface so why return there? (unless to watch it burn... of course). 

I have a lot more for this AU so feel free to drop any questions you may have in my ask box! I know this is a huge post so I really appreciate you all sticking with me if you made it this far! I really have enjoyed making my own FS for what I am now tagging Friskys multiverse! Have a great Tuesday everyone! 

DO NOT REPOST MY WORK WITHOUT MY PERMISSION IT IS NOT FOR YOUR USE. IF YOU LIKE MY WORK PLEASE REBLOG INSTEAD! It helps me so much! It makes such a difference.💙

[maggiecreekrp]

CANON FAMILIES

An asterisk (*) denotes a family that someone has already shown interest in or created a character for. If you find yourself invested in any of the families, starred or otherwise, please feel free to send us a message here to discuss. Most of the families, save for the Montgomerys, have multiple slots available, so even if they are marked with an asterisk, there is still plenty of room. The Bradshaw and Buchanan families remain the largest/most focal, and will not be marked. 

BRADSHAW + ADJACENTS

The Bradshaw family have lived in Reckoning since the town’s founding in the early 1800s. Each generation has taken up the same line of work as the previous: ranchers and, eventually, rodeo. They have had their grips in Reckoning politics for ages, some of them serving on the town council, in law enforcement, in the courthouse and beyond. What they own the most of in the town, however, is land, and a pretty penny has gone into Bradshaw pockets from people looking to purchase parts of it for business and homes alike. This has given them the upper hand for decades, as they have refused to sell anything to a Buchanan (or anyone who sides with them) since the beginning of the feud in 1899. They tend to steer clear of the violence brought on by the Buchanan family as much as they can, but sometimes, it’s damn near impossible. 

The Montgomery* family is proudly aligned with the Bradshaw clan, the alliance formed when the youngest daughter of a Bradshaw line married the hired farmhand who had rolled into town from Montana. A small family of only two generations, they still hold quite a bit of power in Reckoning and Greene County given the patriarch holds the office of Sheriff and keeps his grip tight on the position. The Montgomerys are sly and smart about revenge and very picky about who they exact it on. A proud bunch who are loyal to the grave, one cannot mess with a Bradshaw and avoid catching the hands of the Sheriff. 

The Abernathys* have been sided with the Bradshaws by default ever since they married into the family in 1919. Mostly known for their amicable dispositions, their most notable mark on the town is Aunt Peachie’s, a small boutique run by Peachie Abernathy, selling a little bit of everything. They are fortunately so genial that they give even the meanest Buchanan pause whenever it comes to deliberate menacing and petty crimes. Famously, in 1948, a tractor crashed through the roof of Francine Abernathy’s house, and legend has it, she merely went on with her knitting. 

The Calhoun* family married into the Bradshaw alignment in 1938 and Roscoe Calhoun was the founding member of it. They are an intelligent bunch, typically holding political office outside of the first responder sector. Though the family never holds the office of Mayor – that’s too public for them – the City Administrator position has been typically held by a Calhoun to keep the Bradshaw family’s hold on power. After being more recently targeted during the feud, some of them can be seen in and out of the Sheriff’s office asking for special assistance.

The Hunnicutt* family were once framed for shooting Old Man Elder’s horse, though it was later proven that he’d shot the horse himself. Since then, they’ve gained a reputation for being loose cannons, known for their propensity towards bar fights and aggressively rolling down their truck windows just to flip an Elder off. In modern language, they’d be called a family of ‘trolls’, with shit-eating grins characteristic to their faces, like they always know what’s up – always a few steps ahead of the game. 

The Casarrubias* family are the latest installation of Bradshaw loyalists, hailing from Mexico. They found their place in Reckoning two generations ago. Like many other newcomers, they were made privy to the blood-feud that paints Reckoning’s sunsets and sunrises. They were desperate to remain indifferent, to keep their heads down and keep themselves out of the fray. A message Reckoning interpreted as: Loyal to no one. They remained steadfast in their indifference, determined to turn a blind eye until the unfortunate day they were caught in the crosshairs. They were picked off one by one because of a perceived familiarity with the Bradshaws, so their hatred of the Buchanan family has carved itself into every bone and every vein. They’ve ingratiated themselves to the community as a whole, most taking on roles as civil servants. Though, many can’t help but wonder if their positions are merely just another Bradshaw play for power.

BUCHANAN + ADJACENTS

The Buchanan family are unpredictable, wild and hotheaded. Each member of the family has been mad at a Bradshaw for as long as anyone can remember, for reasons as heavy as the land dispute, all the way to something as petty as a bad parking job at the dive bar, Juniper’s. Though they’ll swear up and down they were framed for the murder of Timothy Bradshaw in 1899, they know what’s on record – they just refuse to admit it. “Never admit to nothin’, because someone’ll hold it against ya,” is the Buchanan credo. They hold their ground and bare their teeth at their enemies, and those newcomers who refuse to choose their sides are bound to have a Buchanan-made molotov cocktail hurtled into their shrubs. 

The Jackson* family has been aligned with the Buchanan family as long as anybody can remember. The Jackson’s are all muscle and have been called the “Reckoning Mafia” on more than one occasion. They are at the beck and call of the Buchanan family for any physical solution to an issue. Since the death of Anthony Jackson and the lack of investigation by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, the Jackson’s have taken up more violent actions without the consent of the Buchanan’s.

The Musselwhites* began their lives in Reckoning modestly, the weight and muscle behind the waves of Buchanan wrath. They became the peace keepers, generations of law-keepers and police officers that stretch back as far as anyone can recall. The most esteemed of the clan hold quite a few positions of power within the city, ranging from judge to deputy. Steadfast in their loyalty, they prize the silent influence they hold over town.

Notorious for their cruelty, the Pickens* clan isn’t one to trifle with. Their reputation is paved in bloody lips and wrong-doings. “Not too far from the tree,” they say, but their tree is rotten. No good comes out of the Pickens family. Born in Reckoning and to her soil they’ll all return. They’ve no aspirations to grow beyond their station. They’ve been called Buchanans’s lap dogs – but only behind the local’s hands, for fear of discovering how black their temper is. Those who are employed can be found in taverns and bars. Some pad their pockets by hunting and fishing. But near all are petty criminals.

The Elder* family will likely never live down the embarrassment of their great grandfather Larry Elder attempting to frame a Hunnicutt for the murder he commited to his own horse. Simple peach farmers, they attempt to keep themselves out of the chaos for the most part, though they are often targets for crimes such as burglary and vandalism. The biggest shock of the past ten years was when one of the current patriarch’s young daughters was kidnapped by a passer-through, prompting the famously Bradshaw-aligned sheriff’s office to help locate her. The Elders now lowkey consider themselves in debt to the Montgomerys, though they will never utter this to a Buchanan, and they are too scared to switch sides. 

UNALIGNED

The Brackish* family holds onto their indifference with white-knuckles. They’ve managed to keep themselves out of the dueling families crosshairs, but  not out of the fray. They fall in and out of favor, forever swinging the pendulum from usurpers to allies with the Buchanans and Bradshaws. The Brackish family has always kept their eye set on pastures new, reaching far beyond Reckoning. Their wealth and illicit connections make them the unseen powder keg, primed to blow beneath the floorboards. They’ll never bend, nor take a knee. Their loyalty is to their own.

The McCoys* have been serving the town of Reckoning as mayor-or-something-like-it since the town’s inception. They are old money, having had stocks in oil for decades. The McCoy family avoided being forced to pick sides as they were already holding the position of mayor at the time of the first mruder, and have kept themselves there, occasionally sliding money into the hands of a Bradshaw or a Buchanan to keep their shit to their own side of the road. 

Medical family Nash* runs the only doctor’s office in town, which is a family-oriented clinic of mostly general practitioners, though they have a few specialists such as a gynecologist, pulmonologist and a cardiologist. They are unfortunately not equipped with the means to perform surgeries or deliver babies, however, so they refer many patients to the larger hospital in Clemency, which is a 30-minute drive away. The Nash family have kept their irons out of the fire since they moved from Greeneville to Reckoning in the early 1930s, having convinced the people of the town that a doctor should always remain neutral. 

What keeps the Redwines* from being dragged into the chaos is the very fact that they are the town undertakers, and have been forever. Superstitions seem to abound on the Buchanan side that messing with a mortician will dredge up bad luck, while the Bradshaws merely understand the need for neutrality in such a position. They have seen more oddly murdered cadavers than they care for, but the Redwine family is the only one that can testify in court without the fear of coming home to a dead raccoon on their porch. They make a potent, blackberry cobbler flavored moonshine they call Embalming Fluid, that everyone is afraid to drink.

The Lawtons* are old money, much like the McCoys, though their wealth comes from the tourism that Reckoning sees. They own both Norma’s Nook Bed & Breakfast and Motel Reckoning, along with a few of the shops in the quaint town square. The entire town knows that a Lawton party is the ritziest kind of party one could possibly be invited to, and while the guest list is usually limited to those who they know aren’t going to roll a keg in and cause a ruckus, somehow that still manages to happen each time. 

The Turquiz* family has been in Reckoning for quite a long time now, joining the small town from Venezuela. They tend to hold small but important jobs in town, ranging from mechanic to city council, and everything in between. A few members of the family have been known to assist in shady deals with the Brackish family to ensure protection from the on-going feud.

[sixmorningsafter]

An Apology Letter, SMA Love Letter, & Gabi Appreciation Letter

Let me begin this review by apologizing. Not just for waiting almost a year to review this insanely awesome chapter (don’t even tell me I don’t have to; I’ll drive up state just to take you by the shoulders and shake you and that silly thought out of your head; it is an honor and privilege to tell you how awesome you are!), but also for the tone of this review feeling so haggard. 2018 was, as Damon told Kai, “not a good look”, and I feel like it’s digested all the gall and sass and shit-starting energy I usually dole out for these reviews, so here I am, a regurgitation, still holding to the fact that you’re a fabulous writer who deserves all the praise I can possibly muster for your efforts. Despite having a life (or not, considering, ya know, med school), you still post on this page; you’re clearly still carrying the headcanons and the plot and the characters with you. I know the feeling of having the desire to write but feeling too tired, physically and emotionally, or disinterested or unmotivated, or whatever so I can’t even sit in your inbox like “hey love sma! You write soooo good. You’re awesome! and uh when are you gonna update?” Of course, I’d love an update, but I also know you. You want to put out your best work, what you’re at least 95% proud of, and it’s so obvious in Chapter 17.

Side note: I reread Chapter 16 and my review to give myself context and bolster some pizazz just for you.

REPLY: Let me begin my response to this review by apologizing for MY TEARS. Cass, you’re just an absolute light in this bitchy eclipse of a world and your ridiculous kindness radiates off every sassy, stubborn, talented, vulnerable, open-hearted part of you and I’m so, so happy I get to call you a friend. The fact that you took the time to write all of this despite your ridiculously busy, full, grad student, WEDDING-PLANNING (at the time) life, largely because you knew it’d put an idiotic smile on my face? You’re just a gem of a human being. I don’t know what else to say. I’m trying to keep my responses as succinct as possible because I’m so eager to post this and share your insights and writing with everyone else, partly because they always make me and my dumb writing look smarter than it actually is, but mostly because it’s a crime to keep it from the world. Anyway, onward and upward:

Bamon + Kai + the Pig Cadaver

To remind the audience, Bamon had a pretty petty and deep-cutting fight last chapter; Damon got over himself, with the help of Kai (kinda), and now Bamon are on better terms. That being said, these two dumbies are so… nerve-wrackingly good at detaching themselves from conflict. Like, I feel like Steroline would have put up walls and ruminated hard on something as harsh as Damon’s mention of Bonnie’s shitty life, but Bamon are King and Queen of sweeping the bad shit under the rug.

REPLY: I think it’s so cool that you point that out because it made me realize that’s one of my favorite things about writing Bonnie and Damon: they’re ability to both deliver and take hits. They’ve both gone through some really dark, messed up stuff - the kind of stuff people with more traditional upbringings tend to tiptoe around because they don’t know how to talk about it - so it’s almost like to be accepted in their entirety, they need to be around people who are unafraid of that stuff. Unafraid to go there. Unafraid to bring it up, unafraid to cross lines sometimes, unafraid to make jokes about messed up experiences and accept them about each other without flinching. I think they can recover quickly from those kind of blows from each other because in a weird way, at least they’re being acknowledged. At least someone’s talking about it without getting that wincing, deer-in-the-headlights look and acting like it’s a forbidden topic. Obviously in the last chapter, Damon took it too far and was trying to actively alienate her with his comments, but in general I really enjoy writing their budding sense of familiarity with each other. Anyway, good thing I’m being succinct right the review hasn’t even really started GOOD LORD.

Damon jolting Bonnie like she’s being electrocuted is so unbearably cute to me. So domestic. So friendly but also playful but also coupley… I’m dead.

“Wow, you’re really going full nerd.”/”Oh… you sweet summer child, you haven’t even begun to see full nerd.” In my previous review, I (demanded) mentioned wanting more nerd!Bonnie, and you delivered. What an honor, truly.

“It was like he’d [Kai] never left, except now he was surrounded by a bunch of wires and a mini Tesla coil.” I don’t know if I ever mentioned this, but I think it’s so funny and silly that you embedded some serious sci-fi shit in this romcom fic. Like, we’re really out here, considering is Kai an alien? Can Kai really teleport or “dissolve in and out of the time-space continuum as he pleases”? He’s not just creepy or socially inept. He’s also fucking extraterrestrial.

lmfao in chapter 16 or 15 or whichever it was where they explored Kai’s apartment while he went swan-hunting, I had to make a choice about whether to keep things semi-realistic or just go balls-to-the-wall cray re: Kai and I think we all know which route I decided to take 😂

“Still, it was a surprisingly appealing thought, the idea of having some kind of effect on him.”/ “Snagging the unsnaggable.”/ “Ruffling the unruffable.” We out here, making up words and shit; my Word doc spell-check is having a field day. But her observation about having dealt with guarded people kind of relates to what I was tryna say earlier on: both Damon and herself are very guarded, and her ability to see that nothing truly sticks to him is reflective of that same for her.

“It was like he was coated in oil, like his entire personality was adapted to glide through life without ever catching on anything around him.” / “Even the good things.” Talk about knife to the gut (why yes, this is a reference to the future Steroline conversation, which I am using to demonstrate how fucking enamored I am by this understanding of Damon’s character). I feel like Damon started as the kid thinking “if things are good, then something bad is gonna happen” to “good? bad? what are those and, more importantly, who fucking cares?”

Just another day of Cass making me feel like a far better writer than I am because she always gets exactly what I’m going for and then explains it better than I do. That’s precisely his trajectory, man. He went from a kid with no control of his own life, constantly bracing for impact, to a kid who realized nothing can control if you don’t give a fuck. If good things don’t make you happy and bad things don’t make you sad, you’re always at equilibrium. You’re always at a steady-state. And most importantly, you’re at a steady-state that no outside factor controls.

“Maybe the oil coat went more than skin-deep.” Foreshadowing! I like this conversation a lot though. Insight about Bonnie’s past (another gracious gift promised last review, thank you SMA goddess for such a blessing) and her PTSD and embarrassment about the shit show that is her parents.

Bonnie’s “I wish I could turn it off like that.” Speaking of shit shows, nice nod to canon.

😂😂😂

“Was that—vulnerability?” Yes baby, revel in it! Idk if you did this on purpose, but it’s like Damon is leaning into his previous realization of her cracking his “varnish” (just realizing his description of a glossy seal is an almost visual parallel to Bonnie’s description of him being slick with oil (I’m thinking like petroleum)… anyways). Like, “she’s already seen me lose my fucking mind in the cellar, being a little vulnerable about it won’t hurt, right?” I mean, yes, but also, Bonnie is a shit-starter too, babe.

“Were those—emotions?” / “I hate knowing you.” / “Are you okay? Do you need some water?” and later paired with “How does it feel to be a human being?” / “Stupid.” / “That means you’re doing it right.”

You know how I feel about Kai’s “Friends!” He is so weird, and I love it, but I’m also afraid that I love it. Thanks!

Yeeeesssss, I wanted to show him slowly starting to adjust to the fact that she’s seen things. Him.  And you know what, here they are anyway. The world’s still spinning. She’s still being her weirdo competitive self. So maybe it’s not the worst thing to have (albeit accidentally) let someone in a little. A big motivation for me re: Bamon in this chapter was getting them to the point where they eased into being comfortable sharing things with each other. Not everything, obviously, but way more than they share with the average person. Kind of like a ‘well we’re stuck in this ridiculous situation and we’re unexpectedly more alike than we think so maybe we just lean in a little’. So I’m really glad that’s what you got out of this, WOOT.

Kai’s everyone’s friendly neighborhood son/serial killer and I think it’s best to just let yourself adore him and hope for a minimal body count. 

The Matt Talk

I think I already told you I was so emotionally distraught this chapter. If you’re new to SMA, hi I’m Cassandra and I’m always an emotional mess when it comes to Gabi’s writing. But, this was some next level shit. You’ve said so many times you’re worried about how these emotional scenes go, but like fuck dude. You went hard, and it was so difficult for me not to be actually crying. Idk, I’ve never been in Caroline’s situation or known anyone to go through this, but the whole injustice of it, you know? The possibility that any woman could be going through this or has gone through this. I’m not belittling the men who have been abused in their relationships, of course. What I am saying is if I am taking this personally, having never experienced it, but as a female, knowing this could very well happen, that means your writing is fucking spot on.

Full-disclosure, your entire breakdown of this scene is just the most beyond fantastic thing that I don’t even want to break it up with shitty responses. I’m pretty sure reading your insights about it affected me more than the entire multi-week process of actually writing it, so idk how you did that but here we are. For the millionth time, your responses are the only reason I think maybe all my fumbling and exasperated editing is somehow producing something half-okay. I’m dying whale noises. Bye.

Setting the scene up with Steroline in the tub, for being their poetic selves tryna be symmetrical in their emotional moments and emphasizing how thick the silence around them is… oof dude. I know you have that “movie” mentality when you write, and idk how you fucking do it, but it definitely translates. Idk if you’ve ever been in a moment like this, where you need to say something of Importance to someone of Importance, but your voice has just gone on vacation for a minute, and you’re sitting there with an empty tongue, and, in my experience, the person tries to prompt you about what you’re trying to say, but I’ve been in moments like this. So, this set up was so poignant for me. Luckily, she’s talking to Stefan, the boy who listens to even Rebekah earnestly and wholeheartedly.

Caroline’s Gazania daisies metaphor: shit breaks my heart. How long did she think about this? The metaphor is like… a detachment. Like, how light bends in water. Her story is the light, the flower metaphor is the water, allowing the story to refract, to be that much more removed from the reality.

“A flicker of intimacy based not on things they’d experienced together, but rather things they’d experienced apart.” I think it loops back to Bamon too, whether neither are eloquent enough to make that seamless connection. I think that should be the tag line of each ship; these very different people are tied to one another by feeling what they’ve felt and relating it back to what the other(s) has (have) felt.

I think you’ve very skillfully woven canon and SMA for Matt’s story. TVD made him the human golden boy, and SMA has him resentful and dark… and it just goes to show how environment can really shape a character’s outcome. tvd!Matt saw the supernatural as the reason his life was so shitty and suddenly had a purpose; sma!Matt didn’t have that scapegoat, so without rhyme or reason for his shitty circumstance, he fabricated that it was somehow Caroline.

Fucker.

“Senior year was kind of a train wreck” to “We were still okay, though. Still us.” Rereading this part made me seriously think of like… a slingshot. Like, all of this is just leading up to the snap and the release of Matt’s true colors. And how devastatingly it was that Caroline didn’t know, honestly couldn’t know, that it was going to happen.

Shit like Matt being mad at Caroline for proudly blurting out she got accepted into NYU when Vicky had just OD’ed is so fucked up to me. To be actually mad about it. Bro, stay mad about it. But that’s the point, isn’t it? That this was the final straw for him, the last thing to tip him into batshit abusive fuck mode.

As a therapist, I could easily say, he is clearly shaped by his circumstances, he didn’t have enough support or self-esteem to fully develop the core values and strengths that he needed to not become this abusive piece of shit, that there might be some self-awareness by the way he tries to remedy a bad fight with a great breakfast (or a learned behavior to get approval again). Even if I do consider those things, irl and even with Matt, it’s in no way condonable, and I don’t think I could ever be able move from this point of view.

“She’d lived like that for months, a blur of turtlenecks and concealer, of overbright smiles and obsessive thoughts, of guilt and blame and normalizing the abnormal, of questioning if what she thought was happening was actually happening.” / “Could actually be happening.” Just reading this summarizes all the females who are in relationships like this, who question whether their partners’ could actually be raping them… ugh. It breaks my heart even now, writing this review.

(Honestly, I had to step away and resume the next day)

Caroline’s comeback: “He was staring at the old Caroline. The one he hadn’t broken in. The one that ran on gall and instincts, that didn’t dim herself for anyone, that’d jump in front of a bus for the people she loved… She’d grown back into her skin. Unshrunken till she was towering over him, a bright, brilliant light staring down at a meager lick of flames.” This whole bit was so good, so relieving, so satisfying. I know what Matt did still haunts her, but Caroline coming back and reclaiming who she is, even to present time, is so, so satisfying.

“Let’s be real, though, Bonnie could probably beat us both up.” / “Definitely.” – these were my thoughts when Caroline was defending her lol.

The Universe Speech: ilysm but also fuck you for being so good at this lol. I am so mad at how good you are at this, and you’re kinda like shruggy shoulders, I’m-just-trying-my-best. Get your humble ass out of here. “I think you’re a universe. I think you’re full of suns—and comets and black holes and everything in between. And when one sun burns out, you’ll just flare into a million more, unapologetic and infinite, because nothing… not pain, not heartbreak, not even the entire exec board of Emory apparently, can stop a universe from expanding.”

And Caroline immediately clicking with the metaphor? (rewriting her Gazania metaphor story I hope) And she runs with it like, “It couldn’t help but make her feel like maybe she hadn’t lost anything. /  Maybe she’d just outgrown it.” and “An infinite, chaotic expanse of dazzling light and annihilating dark… capable of anything but responsible for nothing outside of stretching out toward an invisible horizon fiercely, constantly, even in the face of billions of years of gravity pulling her back”. THIS IS MY SHIT DUDE. First off, this visual representation of a person is so beautiful and inspiring and so full of grace and forgiving, you know what I mean? It just shouts volumes to how okay it is to fail sometimes or to feel Feelings, and how it shouldn’t and couldn’t be used against her. It’s literally the expanded and improved version of “reach for the stars” – more like be the universe, among the stars, and reach for the unknown. BIG OOF.

“I can’t possibly follow that up with my dumb Elena drama” / “Hey, not a competition.” – someone recently quoted someone else to me, saying It’s not the suffering Olympics, and it’s resonated with me so hard, dude.

Steroline throwing back things the others have said, Stefan’s “Whatever nice thing you feel like you have to say, it’s okay” and Caroline’s “You can’t escape me! / I’m unapologetic and infinite!”

I don’t remember if its this chapter or last, but Stefan indulging in Caroline’s playful side, and Caroline recognizing Stefan’s sassypants is by far my favorite Steroline Thing ™ in this story. Parallelly, Bonnie’s Damon-ain’t-shit attitude, and Damon’s she’s-more-than-I-anticipated revelation is my favorite Bamon Thing ™.

I am overwhelm-sion. 

I am aegoifhjaeoeagidhy.

That scene took me weeks of editing to get in a remotely publishable place and even then I was like WELP SURE HOPE THIS ISN’T OFFENSIVE FLAMING GARBAGE LOL ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT *POST* so. Needless to say. This response means el mundo. I am in full turtle.

But real quick, exiting emotional turtle stance to say that I feel like you and I have always been super in sync about liking writing that celebrates messiness and imperfections and humanity in all it’s mistake-ridden earnestness so I’m not surprised you liked the universe metaphor as much as I did. Fuck suns and their one-dimensional asses. We stan universes in this bitch. Asteroids. Supernovas. Blow some things up. Crash into some planets. Sink into some really deep darknesses. It’s okay. There will always be bright, brilliant stars all around you, too. 

Bamon, Kai, Bonnie’s Feral Sweet Tooth, and The Food Fight

Speak of the devil: “She shook her head, lips curling into a droll ‘get over yourself’ of a smile, and for some reason, something about the look stuck out to him a bit.” AND, MY FAV: “For some reason, he liked it.” YES YES YES YES.

He’s hopeless.

The “Love It” arc (why yes I did use that word very specifically to refer to the sassy snap). On a tangent, Kai on Twitter, Kai on Pinterest… for an alien, he’s very adaptive.

He’s got his entire home planet hooked on snapchat. 

Oh, here it is again: “Now that he knew what a genuine fucking weirdo she was, he was a little curious about what she’d actually been thinking.” I know fluffy moments such as Never Have I Ever (before shit hit the fan) are most likely over, but if they were to return, I suggest Truth or Dare, and Damon asks Bonnie what she thought of him when he’d met Caroline (and her) at that club. Listen, both Damon and I want to know. I’m not saying make it happen, but I am.

There’s another dinner coming for their last snowed in night because I’m nothing if not repetitive and I think Truth or Dare is a trope I can definitely work in. I mean, I wouldn’t want it to feel left out given that I’ve used every other fanfic trope known to mankind.

“Wow!” Bonnie exclaimed, leaning forward to peer at the uncanny cake topper with a bewildered look. He even got her one earring right. – I’m cryinggg

He’s special.

“Can we just… go through what all of these heavenly things are, because I may look calm, but I’m actually losing my mind.”

“Absofruitely!” This is a mine of just so many fucking gems.

Kai Knowing: I feel like he’s just a mind-reader, because he already stated he can’t read people very well. But I absolutely love how both Bonnie and Damon are like, oh yeah totally super in love you betcha bud, and Kai’s like, I see it for realsies this time. Bamon 4 Eva bb. Love at first bicker, honestly.

lolololol I just loved the idea that their growing connection was so goddamn obvious that even the self-declared Worst Person Reader Ever was like ‘wowza so this is love huh?’

The Food Fight. I love the “She was glaring at him, eyelashes coated in frosting” line so much. It’s both cute and endearing, and the fact that Damon is paying that close attention.

“Cupcake Quidditch seems kind of fun.”

“It’s stupid dangerous, not to mention a giant waste of food.” Lol Bonnie.

Bonnie being on the shooting team—and Damon also being good at shooting. AU of an AU where SMA Bamon are spies or assassins (Mr. & Mrs. Smith). But only sma bamon. Fuck canon.

We don’t know her.

But also yes to this AU. @coraxes​ once wrote this awesome drabble where Bonnie and Damon met as teenagers and because of it I’ve always wanted to do some alternate timeline where they grew up in the same city, weaving in and out of the same seedy social circle as teens, flickering in and out of the periphery of each other’s lives, but always having this strange tension whenever their paths happened to cross, you know? Just these rare, vaguely loaded interactions where they both saw glimpses of the fact that the other was smarter than this, better than this, you know? That they both were. The point of this all being that I could imagine them both showing off whatever it is they know about guns, lololol. 

“It’s not very captain-y to bathe in the blood of my enemies either but hell if that’s going to stop me.”

She’s also special.

“Temporary timeout” leading to the “Truce” leading to “she suddenly hit him with the look, like Bambi and Tiny Tim and sixteen puppies and every Pixar character ever created had been thrown into one of those face-combining apps” which ultimately leads to Damon’s “fine” and his absolute bewilderment “He just blinked in confusion, unsure of what the hell had just happened.”

From “he held out his [launcher] and she stared at it for a beat before grudgingly taking it” to “in the split-second before she spoke, he suddenly knew exactly what was about to happen” STRAIGHT UP, UNFILTERED GOLD. Like, there’s no other explanation, really. You’re the Midas of Belvafore. I’m calling it, it has been declared, no take backsies or arguments from you, young lady.

I AM NO SUCH THING BUT I WILL TAKE IT ANYWAY.

The Elena Talk

Stefan’s safe space being Bonnie’s room – my heart. There are a lot of things I don’t like about canon, you know, but it would have made so much sense to have a stefonnie friendship (more than bamon, honestly). I didn’t know I needed it until SMA lol.

Listen, I was never into it until I wrote this. I don’t even know where it came from - I legit think the clips for the first trailer I made just worked out that way so I rolled with it, but once I started writing it it felt so natural? They just bounce off each other so easily, it’s one of my fave dynamics to write in a fic full of dynamics I love to write.

The glow-in-the-dark stars: I can totally imagine Stefan helping Bonnie move into every new place, and once all the boxes are in, he’s like, all right now for the real reason I helped you move in, and he rearranges the constellations by memory.

LMAO YES.

The fire escape call backs lol. I feel like every single person in this universe is a shit-starter—it just comes easier to Daroline lol.

The segue from the glow-in-the-dark stickers to “Bright things fade” in reference to the bright, warm, gooey-ness that was Stelena. You already know, I am impressed times a thousand, as always. I also think using this space theme between them is interesting and something to be explored. (I feel like an English teacher, and like maybe it was intentional, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, there is something there, and honestly, as the writer, it was your gut feeling to go with this theme, so maybe it was a subconscious effort, if not fully intentional). (Fight me).

We can go with me having complicated, writery instincts with layers and intricacies that are all very intentional or we can go with me not being creative enough to come up with another metaphor. 

The Meet-Cute has a quality that makes it perfect for Stelena. Yes, you are the author, and yes, you created what is ‘perfect’ for them, and yet? It could have easily been a different meet-cute, not Stefan’s speechlessness or her instant smitten-ness. God, he is such a Ted Mosby. But, at least, he’s learning from his Elena experience, that love may not exactly work like that. Maybe love-at-first-sight is a thing (hard maybe), but like Caroline soon alludes to, it’s more devastatingly impactful if love is grown as between two friends or even two people who don’t even like each other (both ships, honestly).

THE TED MOSBIEST. I honestly had trouble writing some of that scene because I was trying to walk the fine line between ‘this guy is sappy and unrealistic but ultimately earnest’ and ‘this guy has imposed wildly unrealistic ideals onto the world around him and it comes from a place of entitlement and privilege and neither the narrative nor the characters condone it’. I’m a big hater of the Ted Mosby’s of the world because I feel like they go through the motions of ‘growing’ but actually just keep doing the exact same thing and falling head over heels for girls that ‘disappoint them’ without ever seriously looking at themselves, so what I tried to do in the scene was show the side of Stefan that’s kind of messed up AND the side of him that realizes he’s kind of messed up. I wanted Caroline’s original dislike of him to make a little more sense, but also wanted to show you why he’s different from the prototypical Nice Guy. He knows that he was unrealistic. He knows that he purposefully turned a blind eye to red flags. He knows that he was putting too much weight on something that had a flimsy foundation at best. But he’s still human and admits that he’s never felt something that electric before, despite all that knowledge, and that’s why he hasn’t been able to shake this for two years. SO yeah, he’s an interesting one to pin down.

Sidenote about the Salvatores: I think it’s interesting that the first person Rebekah calls is Stefan, Stefan calls Lexi. Does that mean Lexi calls Freya? Freya probably doesn’t call a damn one of them lol. It’d be interesting if Lexi or Freya called Rebekah, for non-logical thinking, you know what I mean? I feel like Freya (even though it should be impossible to feel anything about her, considering she’s just a thought at this point) is very well-grounded, and she has a harder time thinking with her heart—and that’s why she might call someone like Rebekah. Omg, could you imagine that they all want to call Stefan, but if he’s busy, they call one another like, “Okay what would Stefan say? What would Stefan do?” Lol, headcanon.

Honestly this is perfect. And you’ve got Freya down to a T so idk how that happened. One of my fave things is getting headcanons about the Salvatores because they’ve basically had like one scene (two for Rebekah) on the phone and yet everyone just gets them. Every headcanon I get is spot-on. It’s delightful.

“Sounds like you and me”… “You said scowls and blizzards and vomit-inducing disdain, right?” lol oh Caroline. Allergic to a sincere moment, either reacting very, very violently or with a joke to help alleviate his discomfort.

She’s a syrupy little thing.

“Nothing could diminish the drug-rush feeling that’d flooded his veins”. I think it’s interesting that his reaction is “Nothing could ever make him forget that he was capable of feeling that much” and not that he wanted to feel that feeling again. It seems like him staying with Elena was him resupplying that feeling, but irl, it seems like people are more likely to relationship-hop, thinking that the relationship/the significant other was at fault, that love in its full drug-like capacity is worth it and they need, need, need it. It’s interesting that he turned inward and actively avoids feeling that way. He later says “It’s so hard not to want to feel it again” but what keeps him from feeling that way again? Is it Caroline’s fear of a person’s potential to ruin? Or maybe it’s just that he hadn’t found someone who is like that? Does Stefan even date around? I’m curious about your insight.

This actually took me a while to pin down in the story because canon was so all over the place with Stefan’s love life - I feel like he had a new love-of-his-life-from-the-past every season and if it wasn’t this random guest star, it was the other one, you know? He was kind of a serial monogamist in canon and yet still managed to have this distinct air of believing in a singular soulmate/’Elena’ lowkey being the be all, end all, you know? So I basically ignored that confusing shit and conceptualized him as a very picky person when it came to love. He doesn’t fall easily - or before Elena, ever. He mentions dating Valerie in high school and I’m sure he went on a few dates here and there in early college, but Elena was a punch in the face for him. He didn’t know what it was about her. He’d never felt that way about anyone before, not even close. Love wasn’t even really the drug-rush, it was her, specifically. That’s why he hasn’t felt it again, that’s why he’s scared he never will - it was entirely tied to Elena. If we wanted to analyze the ‘why’ of it all - why her, why would someone so picky just see someone and feel something they’d never felt before - I would probably say that Stefan grew up with a very specific picture of what he wanted in life, and for whatever reason, she looked exactly like what he’d imagined. The dark hair. The soft features. The romantic eyes. I think it also ties into canon a little, too, since in TVD he was immediately drawn to Elena because she looked exactly like Katherine. Immediate, visual enrapture. So yeah, long story short, I don’t see him as a guy who dates around a lot. I see him as a guy who, pre-Elena, thought he knew exactly what he wanted and never really compromised until he (thought) he found it. And now I see him as a guy who realizes that was an incredibly stupid way to think about love but worries it’s the only approach he’s capable of/that’ll make him feel that incredible feeling.

“But I’m scared I will anyways… And you’re scared you won’t.” Oof. Biggest oof.

I like how Stefan says he doesn’t want to sound like a cliché, but he’s a Disney prince. It only makes sense that he would feel that way, you know? It only makes sense that his life would play out that way. Who are this boys’ parents? How did they indoctrinate him? Or, rather, what thing made him this way?

He’s a mess. This is what happens when you’re the lone golden boy in a family of six and everyone indulges your unrealistic bullshit as cute/funny.

Your writing, for this movie montage of their love, is so perfect. Rude. The imagery! The word-choice! The whole thing reminds me of a caramel-candy commercial, where everything is warm and gooey and slow-motion. Clearly I’m not as cultured to compare to a Sundance film lol, but nonetheless, you did an excellent job describing that warm-toned, rose-colored-glasses kind of love.

Wow, I just realized how much Stefan sounds like the stereotypical ‘male author’. Except he has some decency not to describe the weight of her breasts or her aura during sex (eyeroll). Even his “and he was happy to be her anchor to that for the rest of their lives if she needed him to be”. Idr when, but Stefan shakes off some fairytale notion, saying ‘life doesn’t work that way’ or something – that is character development that we didn’t know we needed!

CAN YOU IMAGINE STEFAN DESCRIBING THE WEIGHT OF ELENA’S BREASTS now I need it

Yeah, honestly, I already said it but I’ll say it again - half the battle of writing that scene was giving Stefan just enough Ted Mosby/Male Author vibes to make him realistically flawed but not going too far as to making him someone you’re actively not rooting for anymore. I think you make a great point, though - he’s growing out of it and recognizing the role he played in his relationship failures and I think that’ll hopefully be what sets him apart.

Also, kudos for the Colorado trip call back. I think it’s very telling how invested and how thought out your process is for these characters by how you using some passing details like, Steroline skirting around their Matt and Elena stories, and then actually using them in their ‘origin’ stories… like, again, you didn’t have to, but you! went! there! and you did a phenomenal job, dude. Again, just a testament to how invested you are. Sure, you could say you wrote it out of order or something brush-off-y, but  to even consider, oh hey continuity is a thing, is great. We stan an Awesome Writer!

lmao I’m so happy you get as much enjoyment as I do from little details like that - I’m usually pretty terrible at it because updating within a normal time frame? Don’t know her. But anytime I see a chance to make a random detail I threw in years ago feel remotely deliberate, I’m all over that shit.

“He felt the barest flicker of defensiveness shoot through him… instead he thought back to the trip”. Hopefully, before I submit this, I would have submitted a list of headcanons I have. One of them is that Stefan’s so well-adjusted via his introspection, that I think one of this parents are a therapist of sorts. I’m just calling it.

oooo, I LIKE that. Largely because Therapist Parents would annoy the everloving hell out of Lexi, lmao - I feel like she’s the prototypical daughter of therapists who goes out of her way to be unpredictable just so her parents can’t psychoanalyze her/figure her out.

I wonder if Stefan still thinks he and Elena could have OTP. Like, he says “or, at least, as much sense as the idea of her and a guy like Liam will ever make to me”. Because if Liam is like canon Liam… she and Liam made total sense (aside from her still being a vampire). Oh but wait… Elena is an artist, not pre-med. Because Elena x Liam made sense in TVD, being pre-med kids, flirty and competitive and ambitious. If she’d never known about the supernatural world, it would make sense for her to be with a Liam, and not a Damon, because Liam is the human version of intense/consuming… Sorry about that canon tangent. Canon, I don’t know her?

Who is she? I think I went to high school with her but we weren’t friends. 

What’s SMA Liam like? Or is Stefan’s bitterness getting in the way of seeing, maybe, that Liam did make sense for Elena?

Re: Liam - it’s basically what you said above. Very different from canon Liam. Definitely played more of the canon Damon role re: this cocky, morally ambiguous bad boy that appealed to the darker/superficial/more selfish parts of Elena (that she felt she had to hide from Stefan). I think at the start of the story, there’s still a part of Stefan that thinks Stelena was OTP but the further it goes and the deeper he falls into this thing with Caroline, the more that part disappears. I think it’s really easy to idolize something when you have nothing to compare it to, and even more so when you have no closure so you stay stuck on it and time keeps passing it and making it more and more immortalized.  With Caroline in the picture now, though, I think it’s shifting his relationship with Elena into a different, more exposing light and revealing some of the insubstantiality of it all. 

Elena’s “it’s was like all those awful parts of me were allowed to exist again” speech is so heartbreaking. I know we’re here to cheer for Stefan, be on his ‘side’, and in no way am I saying cheating is condonable, but it’s another great example of how a writer can make you root for both sides of a broken-up couple. A mentor of mine once told me the sign of a good therapist is for each person in a couple to think you’re on their side. And I’m applying this to writing now. Not, in anyway, can I apply this to Matt (fuck that guy), but I get it for Elena. And it totally makes sense that Stefan was like that, or has a potential to be that way.

This was exactly what I was going for so I’m so happy that’s what your fancy talented therapist brain got out of it. 

I love how Caroline’s conversation of ‘you can be this way and the situation was not your fault’. Basically, to say to Stefan ‘you don’t know if you could have loved the real Elena’ and ‘you didn’t deserve what Elena did’ is such a good conversation to have. Because knowing this Soft Boy and knowing how most people feel when their partners cheat, it would make sense for him to blame himself. It seems he does that by the way he holds himself back from doing that to Caroline.

Wow, he even comes to this realization, “he hadn’t been able to reconcile the idea of both of them being a little right”. Don’t I look dumb lol… time to retreat….

NO because as I was writing that dialogue I kept getting it wrong and either making it sound like Caroline was blaming him completely or too much on his side and I was struggle-bussing to strike the exact balance you’re describing so NOT DUMB AT ALL. Exactly what I was flailingly going for.

Caroline’s “Okay, now, you’re just indulging.” Another headcanon, Steroline have made a rule to say, “do you need a moment” for any self-indulgent emotion in a conversation. But they only allow a moment. That’s it. ~feel and let go~

Wow, Caroline a combination of all the Salvatore Sisters? Works like a Freya, thinks like a Bekah, talks like a Lexi.

😂this just got vaguely Freudian but also, yes.

“I don’t want to be the guy who makes people feel like they have to pretend around him. That guy sucks.”/ “That guy does kind of suck” BUT ALSO “You may have a certain gooey idealism about you that makes people want to, I don’t know, believe in good things.” My fairly-new/just-for-SMA Steroline heart!

There’s hope for them yet.

The Knife Speech: yes. Wouldn’t it have been kinda funny if, instead of pretending to stab herself in the stomach, she pretended to stab him, a perfect foreshadowing. Also her “I’d imagine that’s when you’re really fucked, so… best is yet to come for you, Salvatore.” BUT WAIT. Perhaps the knife stabbing of oneself is the imagery of allowing one’s self to be stabbed, to be gutted, to be vulnerable enough to be in love. (Here goes English-teacher Cassandra again, please forgive her, she’s eager and truly a huge fan).

This is a perfect example of you making me sound like a hundred times better of a writer than I actually am because I legitimately do not remember who she pretended to stab in the gut and I also thought you were going to say ‘wouldn’t it have been kinda funny if she actually stabbed him and he died gurgling in shock’ and was ready to enthusiastically agree.

On a different note: “Wouldn’t you like to know.” / He’d very much like to know. How does one create such sexual tension in one small exchange? Big oof again.

Honestly this makes my life because I always feel like I’m SO BAD at getting these mood whiplash lines to pack enough punch. Like they always do in my head when I can see the delivery and the camera shot and whatnot, but when I write it I’m always like ‘eh. I mean. I guess’. TRUST YOURSELVES FRIENDS.

Bamon in the Bathroom

First off: “In my defense, you goaded me into playing” / “Yeah, well in my defense, I didn’t know I was releasing the fucking Kraken”. L O L

Bonnie’s winning – “But hey, a win was a win, right?” – I love it. Never underestimate Bonnie Cutthroat-Competition Bennett!

“You’re kind of a maniac, you know that?” paired so deliciously with “Didn’t say I wasn’t a maniac, too.” AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I think I forgot how much I loved bamon and all their goodness? Especially your version. Ahhhh!

“You know, for a doctor, you’re really bad for my health.” Bad for your heart! ‘Cause she’s got it racing! Oooo, burn!

That’s such a Kai line I’m dying.

Bonnie getting all defensive and going off about how she doesn’t mind “being the person that someone needs at the end of the day” (serious Stefan vibes, doesn’t he say this at one point also?), and Damon being all, like, heart-eyes and shit, calling her ‘surprising’ and stuff. Good content, yes, yes, please continue.

Ooo, didn’t even make that parallel between Stefan and Bonnie (because I am, in fact, a garbage author) but it’s so cool that you bring that up because on Stefan, that line can easily sound a little self-aggrandizing - it’s coming from (again) a place of privilege, of playing the hero because he’s had this charmed life and it’s the right thing to do, but from Bonnie, it’s almost the exact opposite. She didn’t have that growing up. She was the person without anyone in her corner. So with her, it’s not a hero complex, it’s a victim-turned-survivor motivation. I feel like I’m being really mean to Stefan in these responses lmao I gotta back off, I adore that kid. Just keepin’ it real. 

“Maybe I’ve handled enough” in a playfully dramatic way, and yet, Bonnie’s full realization that (the man of her dreams) Damon probably has been through enough, and she knew what that was like. Sad boy hours.

Sad boy days.

Bonnie avoiding tension by returning to tending to his wound, Damon avoiding tension by returning to his sexy-mysterious-guy vibes. I almost titled this “SMA and the Many, Many Ship Parallels”.

The whole scene that I shall call “I go by daddy, actually” which is just vague enough to make me laugh wildly in this library full of undergrads studying for finals—and because the scene is so ridiculous and hilarious and so, so Bamon, I will die cackling.

I’m brainstorming ways to bring more ‘daddy’ energy into chapter 18.

Belavafore

“Why are you like this?” / “We’re embracing the great outdoors!” Use what he loves against him, honey, you’re doing great.

“Okay, you’re right, I’m sorry.” / “No, you’re not.” / “No, I’m not.” / “Would it help if I said I’m proud of you? … I really am.”

I love how much lighter Steroline has become. Like Caroline just casually throwing the responsibility of “Go for it” / “Forgive yourself for something” to Stefan is so… unlike her. I feel like she’s the type that shows people up whenever they’re afraid to do something, like tell their waitress this is not what they ordered. Because that’s exactly it. This whole forgiving themselves thing was not what Caroline ordered- just a side of cheesy jokes on Stefan.

GIRL YOU AND ME BOTH, I was so tired of writing their tension oh my Gooooooodsicles. I basically spent sixteen chapters trying to earn the ability to write them this light and this comfortable and this open with each other so I SAW MY CHANCE AND TOOK IT.  

“I can’t believe we’re listening to happy4eva dot com.” / “We’re not, we’re listening to me” / “Is that any better?” I agree with Caroline and am fully happy to admit I am in love with Stefan’s sass.

“Some of us are capable of taking this seriously” / “What makes you think I wasn’t serious about the printer ink?”

Leash him.

Caroline’s “Here was all she needed to be” realization and acceptance is giving me so much life, I’m teeming with so much love and pride and straight up inspiration, dude, bless.

Caroline’s cathartic sobbing, and Stefan’s, “I think you might be forgiving yourself.” My whole heart is just FULL and maybe I TOO started crying, YOU CANNOT PROVE ANYTHING.

Filed under: scenes I wrote horribly the first few times and still was not convinced I got right by the time I finally posted it so thank God it made someone feel something because ya girl was skressed.

Bonnie going onto the fire escape without coat or shoes, despite hating the cold, just to be there for Caroline, to hug her and be happy for her forgiveness journey is the most Bonnie thing, and I am living for it.

Tag-line for Damon: “She could always count on Damon to be a shithead”.

Bonne saying her date was horrible, Damon mentioned Kai still being present – so mom and dad of them! Did I mention this in a previous review? Maybe. Ugh, I love them so much, I don’t mind if I ramble the same few things about it and your incredible writing of them.

Baroline deciding for the boys ‘this is something we are doing’. *arc snap* love it!

<3

“You jump, I jump, Jack.” I’ll be honest with ya, when I first read this, I was like, dude I love you madly but it feels a little too late to bring this friendship quirk up in here, but then I was like, who the fuck says? You did a great job explaining the context of it, and I love it! Please bring it back! You know, when you write more…

LMFAO no girl I thought the exact same thing, so much so that I went back and edited it into the chapter where Bonnie apologizes to Caroline after her bender. It was totally too late to introduce but I was like ‘I don’t really know what else to put here so we’re gonna pretend this has always been a thing, join me friends in this who cares revisionist approach to writing’.

Steroline being protective of Bonnie’s feelings paralleling with Damon’s protectiveness of Bonnie’s physical wellbeing. It’s just much like, ‘I’m not good at the emotions thing, may I offer you a blanket and some boots instead?” Very in-character of him, this is good, good stuff.

YES, exactly what I was going for! I feel like my entire reaction to your review is either going to be YES EXACTLY YOU WORDSMITH or ACTUALLY I AM FAR TOO DUMB TO HAVE DONE THAT ON PURPOSE BUT I LOVE IT LET’S GO WITH IT.

Bonnie using the ‘you were mean to me’ to get Damon to participate!!!

Caroline’s only known Damon for a month?????? This would make sense, a little, but also it feels like so much longer. (this isn’t me side-eyeing the author, she’s busy and doing important things, but also…)

😂😂😂😂

Bonnie’s prompting of Damon, “And?” felt very much like when you’re at the doctor’s office, and they’re listening to your heart, and they’re prompting you to take a deep breath “again” and quiet and waiting. Was this on purpose? Even his “how many do I have to do?” and her “Just one more.” Feels very much like when they’re in the bathroom, and he’s being a literal child under her medical care.

This definitely falls under the ‘not smart enough to have done that on purpose but I love it so let’s go with it’ category.

“Fuck you world, I’m perfect!” inspired by our resident sociopath (who has no regrets, naturally lol). LOVE. It really aligns with Caroline’s “here” realization, and later, Damon’s “okay, noted” response. It’s kinda messy of them, considering they’re clearly not, but the acceptance and willingness to say, fuck you world, I don’t need to conform to whatever, is so nice. So, so good. So much growth. And the title name-drop! And all of them cheering one another on (especially Stefan)!

“…Damon sasses, making Bonnie’s bright laugh even louder, and in that exact moment, with Damon’s hand caught in some kind of Z-snap and Bonnie gasping for air and Stefan’s eyes crinkled from the size of his grin, she felt something shift for her… And looking at the laughing faces surrounding her, their movements arrested in some kind of vibrant slow-motion, the glint of the flurrying snow around them like magic, she couldn’t help but think that it had to be something good.” (okay maybe now I will admit to more crying).

Kai vs the Neighbor and Caroline’s realization of ‘this guy is crazy I like him’. She doesn’t like a cat, but Kai, she’s here for. “That was amazing!” / “Thanks! I still don’t understand you.” love it!

I think I’ve edited this scene (what don’t I edit) since you read it but I think all the parts that stood out to you were ones I mostly kept the same, so that makes me really happy. I had a blast writing it, particularly Kai vs. The Neighbor and everyone just giving in to hedonistic self-acceptance for that one, sparkling minute. It felt needed and I’m so glad it seemed to trigger all the right emotions. 

Scrabble, Backstories, THE Kiss

I know this is not what I was supposed to take away from this, but I like Bonnie’s dark moments, lol. Like her joke about her mom not being around. Like, it makes her more real. Like Stefan’s sass makes him more real. No one is just the One Trait that ‘defines’ them, whatever the fuck that means.

I love writing those moments. I talked about this a few paragraphs up, but a big part of why I love writing Bonnie and Damon is exactly those moments - the ones where she can make a joke about her absentee mom and Damon can laugh at the idea of Kai assassinating them. They need that. They need to be able to do that. It doesn’t feel real to me otherwise. It doesn’t feel special, you know? Why are they so drawn to each other if not for precisely that? Their ability to be every part of themselves around each other - the hopeful parts, the selfish parts, the angry parts, the vulnerable parts - is what makes them tick the most, so I’m excited I’ve gotten to the point in their development where they can do that. There’s a scene pretty early in chapter 18 where they have another one of those moments, where Bonnie lets Damon get this sort of ugly/twisted glimpse at her that she’s hiding from everyone else, and she does it with this casualness that I really enjoyed writing. She’s not afraid of judgement. She’s not afraid of what he’s going to think. She knows he gets it, and he does, and it’s simple but I think it means so much more than grand gestures or big sex scenes do for them (but those are fun too lol).

Aw Damon wanting to know more about Bonnie. We see a lot of Bonnie’s curiosity about Mr. Enigma, but he’s embarking on this conversation without really knowing where it’d go or what he wants from it.

That’s a big shift that’s carrying into 18 - Damon’s officially starting to get hooked. It’s been so fun writing him in this shifting context of developing confusing feelings because he’s kind of a disaster about it - especially because Bonnie’s distracted by all the Steroline drama so she’s not even full cognizant of it. 

Wow, why am I just noticing this: “He thought about the fire escape, about the things she’d claimed to forgive herself for, and dwelled in the awareness that they’d all been just as performative as his” !!!! excuse me! NOT OKAY. I guess they haven’t had the chance to talk it out like Steroline did, and maybe that’s part of the reason it was more difficult to jump onto the forgiveness train right away.

Yeah, they still have a long way to go. Honestly, I don’t even know if forgiveness really fits what they need. Bamon strikes me more as just needing to accept themselves, and I think being able to accept each other so casually and completely will play a big role in that. 

“He wasn’t sure when she’d started taking up actual real estate in his thoughts, but it was kind of a disorienting realization.” !!!

“He used to let himself feel every last lick of it [his anger], blistering and white-hot… it’d bite and fester at the inside of his skin till it wore itself out slowly bled out of his pores” that’s good stuff there, dude, great description.

“That was all before he’d met Katherine, though. Before she’d shown him how to turn it all of instead.” Nice nod to that dumpster fire of canon. Datherine was such an interesting thing that could have been cool. The debauchery, honestly, instead of Damon desiring to be ‘good’ or some shit.

I honestly don’t even remember their canon dynamic and I think it’s probably better that way.

“She’d moved on from the question. He’d had an out. But for some reason, he had this weird, anxious feeling, like an opportunity was flashing past him and he didn’t want to just let it. So he kept going.” We stan character development and growth. You go, baby!

I wonder what it was like for Damon, to re-testify. Was he all shelled-up, the Damon who jokes his way through, who doesn’t give a single fuck about anything, or was he Lily’s scared son, traumatized and hurt, unable to make eye-contact or even lift his head during his testimony?

I think he was forcibly numb to the whole thing until he saw her. Probably being sarcastic under oath, acting like this was a waste of his time, but distinctly edgier than usual. I don’t think he was planning on seeing her and I don’t think he was even supposed to, given the whole witness protection thing, but knowing Lily, she probably dreamed up a way to make sure she was being transported at the exact moment she knew he’d be there, and seeing her and how entirely unchanged, unrepentant, undulled she was after seventeen years, daring to look at him like a project she was coolly proud of, just flipped him out a little. 

“She looked protective./ He wasn’t sure anyone had ever looked protective of him before.” AHHHHHHH.

Once you have a Gryffinpuff in your corner there’s no shaking them.

Damon’s “Here” paralleling to Caroline’s “Here”. Two sides of the same coin, though. Caroline’s “here” was liberating and existing meant so much for her, but Damon’s “here” is just existing, not feeling or holding on to anything.

Okay, I will admit this one I did on purpose.

“Kai could probably kill them both if we asked.” Dark!Bonnie, yas queen, slay!

“They didn’t just ‘happen’ / “I did them. I actively ruined those people’s lives.” I know it seems like I’m grasping here, but this just really seems to echo Caroline’s speech to Stefan, that Elena made choices. Bonnie made choices too. Does this mean Elena is just as redeemable as Bonnie is? Stay tuned to probably never find out.

Elena Redemption Arc 2029

Damon: “In fact, it’s [accepting the ‘bad’ parts of her] not going to change you at all—they’re already part of you, they’ve always been part of you. I’m not saying they’re shiny or pretty but honestly, fuck shiny and pretty.” Stefan’s rejection of Elena’s ‘darkness’, Damon’s acceptance of Bonnie’s ‘non-shiny, non-pretty’ elements. I’m just saying dude, conscious or subconscious—your Inner Writer is doing amazing, sweetie, please keep it up forever, thanks.

“Goodness wasn’t default coded into you but having some perfect life that never tempted you to be anything else.” / “To me, that’s a hell of a lot prettier and shinier than someone who never had ugly as an option.” *sings quietly* Tell me how I’m supposed to breathe with no air? 

lmfaoooo why do your expressions always murder me

‘I’m too tired to be funny’ fuck you this entire review is either poignant af or hilarious I was ill-prepared I was MISLED

“Your desperation to paint me out as some kind of reluctant hero is your real flaw—in fact, that should be the part of yourself you’re ashamed of.” OKAY THEN STOP BEING ONE

He’s so dumb. And we haven’t even gone into the Tyler arc. 

Baroline quoting Defan to throw their own words back at them like ninja stars, pinning them to their words’ truths.

We love a good Pin The Truth Bomb on the Idiot game.

 “I’m just saying there’s a chance you aren’t a complete supervillain.” / “I’d be a great supervillain.”

(I just had an overwhelming sense of maybe, someone in this very library, could be a SMA fan also. How wild would that be???)

I wrote this HP fanfic a long time ago that got weirdly popular and someone once left a review saying they saw someone else reading the new update at the airport and they ended up talking about it together for a little while and it was the greatest moment of my entire life

“He wasn’t sure what made him do it. Wasn’t sure if it was a pride thing, a contrarian thing, or a product of whatever weird mindfuck of a thing had been brewing between them over the course of the night, but before he even knew what was happening, he slid his hands up her face and caught her mouth in a swift, deliberate counterargument.” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damon’s analysis of Bonnie: more exclamation marks

“And that even without the varnish, even with all bitterness and fear and anxiety bursting through his cracks like light, he was worth seeing.” Actual tears in my actual eyes. I am not a crier, Gabi, what have you done

He’s a love-starved stray, LOVE HIM. PET HIM. 

Bonnie being all weirded out by the intimacy of the kiss, Damon apologizing about it, “He felt a flicker of resentment over the charm of her awkwardness.”

“If he didn’t know any better, he’d think it was the beginnings of another panic attack.” It’s the knife! (you know the Vine where the kid is running alongside a pool, and the woman behind the camera says, “what’cha got there?” and the kid is like “a knife!” and she’s like “no!” that’s this.)

I’M DEAD.

INEVITABLE. BOOM.

LOOK AT ALL THOSE CHICKENS

Steroline and the Case of the Heart-Eyes

“Laughing on that fire escape was the happiest he thought he’d ever seen her.”

Stefan being unable to deal with Caroline’s weirdo silence. Being nervous and worried about it, being super boyfriendy without actually noticing it. Him finally, full out, asking her what’s her deal.

“I’m out of reasons.” It’s so simple, yet so awwwww inducing.

Stefan going into straight up panic mode is so hilarious to me, even though it’s supposed to be more on the serious side lol. Like, I can just imagine Paul Wesley’s scrunched face, pushing away, avoiding any sort of physical interaction—and I’m cackling.

oh my God now I’m cackling

why is he like that

lmao I just see eyebrows I can’t

“I’m not that guy.” / “I’m the guy who can barely breathe right now because of the smell of your shampoo / who literally can’t open his eyes because if I look at you right now, I’m going to kiss you / who’s a few involuntary stares away from having the exact pattern of your freckles memorized—in fact, I honestly might already. Six on the right, six of the left, rebel freckle.” My heart. Gabi, stoppppp! I didn’t even ship this ship before SMA!

He writes his Boy Scout-ass self blame him.

“I’m pretty sure what makes me happy is you.” I cry so many tears. “I think I might finally be at the point where I’m more scared of missing out on that than I am of what letting it in might do.”

“His heart began humming in his throat at the way she was looking at him.”

“The hope in her eyes grabbed his stupid heart but its stupid heart throat and why the hell did he even pretend he had any actual choice in any of this?” There you go, buddy, finally getting with the program. A parallel to Bamon, and Damon’s wtf is happening to me caring about this cupcake of a person?

“No banning of the full spectrum of human emotion.” / “Do your worst, Disney prince.” / “Don’t know if you can handle that.”

Another artful sex scene. I know they’re not your Fav to write, but you do a real good job. Especially for these two and this moment of it being Real.

Bless, I just never know how they’re going to come across. So easy for them to feel cheesy. Glad this one didn’t tip too far into that territory. 

Caroline’s “No” and Stefan’s “a soundless projection of determination so palpable it bent the air into a word.”

“Her eyes were mosaics, art made out of jagged pieces – chipped trust and cracked pride glued together into something flawed and lovely.” Stefan has ruined every romantic thing for me. Thanks, bud.

He sucks.

Caroline’s ‘shift’ (which I am now just realizing she refers to as ‘a lock snapping undone’; giiiiiiiirl) and Stefan’s “and he felt the knife go straight through his gut.”

I can’t read that metaphor now without thinking about her legit stabbing him like a black widow and just completely 180ing this into a slasher fic.

Bonnie and the Contract

Short scene, yes. Bonnie’s absentmindedness, not just because of Damon, but because she doesn’t have eyes for this lol. It’s so casual how you described it too, “just some clothes, abandoned mugs, scatter of papers”, the usual, ya know, nothing to see here lol. Damon’s attempt to keep her from looking at the contract. Like, he was all mischief and trickery a few days ago, waiting for this very moment, and now, he’s all ‘oh uh you may wanna….’ tongue-tied. Short scene, yes. Great cliff-hanger, absolutely. Awesome way to close off what felt like whole movie worth of content? A million percent yes, sign me up for more!

Writing it def felt like a whole movie’s worth of content lmao so getting to that short, final, zippy cliffhanger scene was glorious. Felt like delivering a placenta. Like I’d already birthed the thankless succubus of a baby and all I needed now was the placenta I barely had to push to get out, you know? This metaphor got lowkey gross but fun fact one of the women whose placenta I delivered in OB wanted to keep it so her and her husband could eat it and I was like coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool.

Okay, so this is a monster of a review for a masterpiece of a chapter (100+ pages, right?). Coupling happy and silly scenes with these intense confessions was amazing, and your fear of the emotional scenes not clicking is unwarranted! You’re truly a phenomenal writer, and I know I tell you all the time, but you need to hear it always and forever! I was recently telling my sister writing is my actual passion, and by the way in which you write, it seems like it’s, at least, one of your passions too. Like yeah, medicine is gonna be great, you’re gonna be awesome, and maybe I too will be successful as a therapist, but your passion and talent shines through your writing. YOU! ARE! GREAT! TRULY!

I will not apologize for such a long review, like I always do (13 pages babyyy), but I will apologize for basically rewriting the chapter in this review. I tried my best to simplify and summarize, but bro, so! many! good morsels of gorgeous similes and metaphors and descriptions and dialogue, and did I mention I am in love with your characters? your writing? your goddamn brain? Lol.

(Okay, I think I’m done. This took me almost three weeks to write.)

I truly hope you’re doing well, and if you’re writing, YAS, but if you’re not, you know what? You do you, girl, slay in whatever you’re doing. I am your support! I am your cheerleader! I’m here to bolster any sort of feeling you need! Love ya, toodles ;)

(If you’re new here and you got to the end of this review, hey I’m Cassandra, and you’ve made the best decision to read this fic. Gabi, look away, you’re not supposed to see my gushing about your story yet again. You, Reader, good on ya!)

Girl, I don’t even know what to say at this point. Your reviews are always just so lovely, so funny, so thoughtful, so insightful, so goddamn smart - I’m honored to have you as a reader, dude. Truly. Knowing you’re going to be reading challenges me to write better (and that’s actually true of a lot of you, if you’re reading this!). I adore having your therapist brain reading this, too, because it’s such a character-driven story and I’m writing about a lot of things I’ve never actually been through but have done my best to inhabit, and having your perspective is so wonderful. You find the motivations and you see the dimensionality and half the time your reviews actually give me ideas because you see things I don’t. So basically, all of this to say thank you. I adore you. You’re wonderful. And the one good thing about having taken so friggin’ long to post this response that I AM ACTUALLY WRITING lmao, and despite your busy life of saving people’s sanity and BEING FRIGGIN’ MARRIED, I hope you are, too! Love ya, babe. This was so kind. You’re a universe. 

[codariidoescrimes]

BITTER QUESTIONS ASK

tagged by my girl @buffkreia who apparently forgot i’m a libra... still let’s give this a shot huh? Gonna do it for SW:TOR coz of course I am lmfao

What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

Smuggler/Corso, Doc/Jedi Knight, PC/Arcann (he’s Kinda Bland lmao)

Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

Mako/Bounty Hunter largely because she’s canonically 19 and most ppl seem to create Bounty Hunters who are in like... their 30s. Actually I think Torian is about the same age although I wouldn’t be surprised if f!BHs skew younger.

Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

Nope! Left a sw:tor discord once, but that was because it had a literal neo-nazi in it which isn’t really a fandom opinion anymore.

Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

Doc I haven’t met I’ve just heard a lot about but Corso makes me really uncomfortable lmao so Smuggler/Corso. I don’t think they’re the Biggest Pairing™ but they have a bit of a following. Also not a fan of dark sith warriors with Vette or Jaesa, and considering the amount of dudes who go dark SW I feel like outside of tumblr that one is fairly popular.

Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

Not yet, but I don’t interact with fandom a ton beyond my close pals so there’s that.

Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

Hmmmm. Not that I can think of. My mate Io is really into f!si/f!smuggler, but I didn’t HATE that before I just didn’t really consider it.

Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

I dunno if I ever liked Hutta but I absolutely despise it now. I’ve played it far too many times.

Have you received anon hate? What about?

yea lmfao but they were just telling me to “learn to queue”. I deleted it.

Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Doc, Corso, SKADGE, most dark sith warriors played by men, Valkorian (Vitiate was... i hated him as a person but not a character. Valkorion annoys me)

Most disliked arc? Why?

Kotfetet. Had some good moments, but overall didn’t really fit my chara. Also the Traitor Among Chiss flashpoint, but that’s because I ran it SO many times to get the armour set I’m very Done with it all.

Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

[insert female sw:tor npc here]

Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Not necessarily an arc, but I like Hoth and Tatooine and a lot of people don’t.

Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

Koth was right to take the Gravestone from ur evil outlander lmao considering that you literally have to commit a war crime for him to do that

Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

80% of Imp mains you will meet in game absolutely SUCK imp fandom is full of racist, sexist edgelord dudebros. Also ppl who get pissy whenever their companions don’t 100% go along with their every move need to get over themselves and their power fantasies.

Unpopular opinion about the manga/show/game?

Consular story is good actually espc compared to the Knight, y’all just like to kill things too much. 

If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

Go back to unique class stories or at least unique bits for each class with the rest of the story being more “class neutral” instead of very clearly a jedi knight story. More female companions and more f/f options. Maybe some cross class romance options? I feel like that’d be possible now. Let us visit another Chiss planet. 

Does not shipping something ‘popular’ mean you’re in denial and/or biased?

No??? People have different opinions.

What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Za’i/Crisis, Crisis/Luna, Crisis/Luna,Quinn, Za’i/Crisis/Luna/Quinn In all srsness? ls!jaesa x ls!f!sw, vector x IA, f!jk x kira carsen, f!jc x kira carsen, ls!jaesa x vette

What are your thoughts on crack ships?

Love em. They’re just fun ya know?

Popular character you hate?

Skadge. He is WAY too popular among imp main edgelord dudebros. Like... he’s just gross lmao.

Unpopular character you love?

Does Quinn count? Also haven’t I already answered this? Answer same as above idk why it would’ve changed in the 2mins btwn me answering that one and this one.

Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not?

Yea.... I adore it even when it’s kinda shit.

Most shippable character?

Vette. She could reasonably meet MOST characters in the game so there’s a lot of potential.

Least shippable character?

Look.... if I said I dislike or hate them.... assume they count here. Also I love Blizz, but like.... they’re not shippable.... let’s NOT start shipping jawas ok. same with T7 get ur robot fetish from literally any other droid in the game you weirdos.

tagging: @pyralislegacy @i-declare-a-kaggath @sith-shenanigans @godsdammit-jason-no and anyone else who wants to do this one

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

There has been talk here and there about how the PS4 Spider-Man game was the first real attempt to give Spider-Man the ‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ or ‘Arkham City’ treatment in video games.

For those who don’t know beginning in 2009 (possibly as a late attempt to do a tie-in for ‘The Dark Knight’ film) a video game called ‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ was released. It started a massive Batman video game franchise and was not only hailed as the best Batman game but some regard it as the best superhero game ever and as redefining what a video game based upon an outside licence could be. 

Not only were there sequels to the game (notably an mostly open world direct sequel called Arkham City) but an animated movie tie-in and other pieces of merchandise based upon the specific video game version of Batman.

To me the Arkham games ushered in a new idea for superheroes. In much the same way the DCAU and MCU versions of the DC and Marvel characters proved they could be highly marketable and popular unto themselves, having their own ‘universes’ within the wider scope of their respective brands, the Arkham games showed us that this is possible for video game versions of the characters too. 

Unsurprisingly a similar sort of approach was taken for another DC video game ‘Injustice: Gods Among Us’. Although a fighting game (which tend to have fairly simple plots) the game offered a clear cut vision of an alternate DC universe and came out the gate swinging with a tie-in prequel comic book which led to even more comics and other pieces of merchandise.

In light of the Arkham and Injustice franchises the fact that people were talking about Insomniac’s PS4 Spider-Man as Spidey’s ‘Arkham Asylum’ might be more prescient than we realized.

Think about it.

Putting aside how much buzz surrounding the game, how much news was being dished out about it, how the promotional campaign surely went beyond what other Spidey video games have had, what was the first true piece of merchandise we got connected to the game?

A prequel novel.

And this is a bigger deal than you might think because aside from MCU related stuff and one Miles Morales YA book, there hasn’t been a Spider-Man novel in YEARS, possibly even a decade, and even longer for something which is clearly having Peter himself be the main character.

More than this PS4 Spider-Man is being advertised by Marvel comics proper in a way no other Spidey video game has ever been to my knowledge and in fact they are doing a whole event in part to promote him, incorporating him into Marvel Comics canon (albeit not in 616 obviously).

Let’s also consider that the number of Spider-Man video games that have truly attempted to have an entertaining story unto themselves that captures the essence of the character, as opposed to just something to facilitate the game play or a cool hook is relatively small.

Excluding the movie games because they were obviously based upon the films or else filling in the gaps from them (e.g. if you wanted to see Garfield’s Spidey catch Uncle Ben’s killer you better have purchased one of his video games) the only ones I can think of are:

Spider-Man 2000, my first and favourite Spider-Man game ever.

Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro

Ultimate Spider-Man, which for a hot five minutes was actually canon to the Ultimate Universe

Arguably Spider-Man: Edge of Time

And now Spider-Man PS4

Clearly, much like the Arkham and Injustice games, Insomniac want you to show up for the story as much as the gaming experience, hence people who aren’t even playing this game were hyped for it too.

Also consider that one of the major people behind the game when discussing the making of it said the whole point of the redesigned Spider costume was for people to look at it and instantly know that they’re seeing the Insomniac video game version of Spider-Man.

A creative stamp of ownership? Perhaps but equally it doubles up as just plain logical marketing...that is if you are planning on your version of Spider-Man to have a life BEYOND just the game itself.

Such as in...comic books, tie-in novels and other merchandise.

After all if he looks just like 616 Spider-Man then when you make a statue of him how would anyone know beyond seeing a logo somewhere on the box?

Whether by accident or design the idea of classic superhero characters having unique costumes for their video game counterparts is also true for the Arkham Injustice games.

In fact I suspect that in addition to wanting a more experienced Spider-Man simply because they liked it and because it’d be something different, having the video game Spidey be an 8 year veteran was a matter of creative/marketing practicality.

A 23 year old Spider-Man is younger than his canon counterpart and so has plenty of room to grow going forward with sequels. But equally having 8 years of untold stories gives you plenty of scope for expansion in the other direction.

This was yet another aspect of the Arkham and Injustice games I suspect Insomniac were looking to replicate. The Batman of the Arkham games has clearly been on the job for years, hence he’s already got a whole rogue’s gallery ready to fight and in the sequels Dick Grayson is already Nightwing alongside other Batman partners and proteges. Equally in the Injustice games the world has already fallen to Hell as the main story unfolds.

This allowed for further stories to be told in the past of each universe, with prequels comics for Injustice and prequel game for the Arkham series.

So I suspect going forward we will be seeing more stories set int he past that flesh out the world and characters of Insomniac’s Spider-Man.

His first encounter with Kingpin, MJ learning his identity, etc

[lenady]

A Whole New World - Book Review

A Whole New World

By Liz Braswell

#1 of the “A Twisted Tale” series

Genre- YA literature, Fantasy- fairy tales, Retellings, Romance, (arguably) Horror, Adventure

Synopsis- Aladdin is a Street Rat. There’s really no getting around that. Like most, he’s just trying to survive another day in impoverished Agrabah.

Jasmine is a princess, one who is about to enter into an arranged marriage. All she wants is to escape her fate, to see what lies beyond the palace walls.

But everything changes when the sultan’s trusted adviser, Jafar, suddenly rises to power. With the help of an ancient lamp, Jafar becomes determined to break the laws of magic and gain control over love and death. Soon Aladdin and the deposed princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion to stop the power-mad ruler. But their fight for freedom grows costly when it threatens to tear the kingdom apart.

This isn’t the story you already know. This is a story about power. About revolutionaries. About love. And about one moment changing everything.

My Thoughts- Sometimes when there’s something changed in what you love, namely characters and stories from your childhood, there can be a dissonance. A mental push-back. I’m fairly certain what I experienced reading A Whole New World wasn’t that. Especially considering how thrilled I was to find, essentially, a sanctioned canon divergence fanfic of Aladdin.

My elation didn’t last incredibly long into the reading.

Now, the book is decently well-written aside from some things I would have expected editors from Disney to have caught. The prose isn’t the best example I’ve seen in YA lit, but it could be a lot worse; middle of the road quality rather than really standing out for any reason. Although at times the author does do a pretty good job at translating the musical numbers into normal scenes.

Also, there were some interesting characters that were added in. I’m not one that turns their nose up at original characters, especially since these don’t overshadow the original/central characters but instead work with them fairly well.

Well, the characters that survive.

The death count is much higher than what I would have expected in a book linked with a Disney animated franchise. There’s a good chance one of your faves is going to die by the end of the book. One character doesn’t even make a real appearance because of it.

And the author doesn’t shy away from depicting some truly awful deaths- with descriptions more at home in a horror novel than a Disney retelling. I mean, the story does involve zombies. Literal lumbering-members-of-the-undead dispatched-by-head-removal zombies.

The remaining characters often don’t sound like themselves. At times they were very clear, the characters coming to life on the page in front of me, and at other times I could practically hear the author’s own voice pushing to the front- especially when they’re taking the chance to climb up on a soap-box (which happened far too often).

Often, it seemed as though the author was using the story/world/characters as a venue for getting their own opinions out into the world. Everyone does that of course, but not like this.

Also, it seemed that, despite the addition of the zombies, the author didn’t really know what to do with the magical elements of the story. Half of the details were handled in a more realistic manner- (e.g. the animal characters losing a great deal of their sentient characteristics/identity- same with the magic carpet) while some of it was generally along the same lines as the movie. You can’t get around Genie, of course.

You can add a brand new dark back-story though.

Suffice to say that, all in all, the changes made to the story largely felt like ways to make everything darker, and while I can totally get behind putting dark twists on things, sometimes, I don’t think it was done well here. There was far too much focus on it for one thing, feeling clearly intentional. And there was far too much of it. Dark elements of the original story were made even grimmer and light ones were often eliminated (by death or otherwise) or twisted somehow. The author did manage to bring in some new elements, bringing a bit more depth into the world, but the Agrabah that Braswell left us is one in which wonder is replaced by grit and death. It’s a whole new world I’d never want to see.

2/5

Warnings (keep in mind this is not a perfect list)- Weapons (swords and knives), Violence, Torture, slavery (Genie- something canon anyway- but this book has a darker tone), death, murder, body horror, dead bodies/corpses, kidnapping, hostages, classism, animal death (alluded to- not depicted)

[blood-fangs-talons]

Headcanon: Dracula/Alucard as remaining faithful

Okay so this is counter to a lot of canon in Dracula and in Hellsing and counter to a lot of vampire mythos in general, but if you know me at all you know that I don’t really care.

I like to imagine that Alucard, in his own way, still has faith in God. Maybe something happened when he died, that he saw something. I’ve mentioned in some conversations that, if Dracula had still felt the same way about Turks (and muslims in general) in undeath as he did in life, there would have been a lot more deaths, and Dracula would be a lot more targeted in his victims, so SOMETHING had to have changed his view of religion.

But that doesn’t mean he stopped believing. Vlad was a man who was worried–fixated, even obsessed–with the future of his soul. This was not a man who went to church because of tradition or for lip service, he really believed in his religion. He killed so many people for his religion. He arguably tore his own country apart for his religion. He may have converted to Roman Catholicism near the end, but God was very much still a part of his life. After a life–and death–dedicated to God, there could be a couple interesting ways his theology could go.

The classic way is the way of the God-Hater. “God has abandoned me, so I will abandon him, even oppose him.” This cynical view of faith is so overused and edgy and grimdark that I’m not generally interested. It’s also very unlike Vlad. He always struck me as a ‘Do it yourself’, 'god helps those who help themselves’ kinda guy.* He wouldn’t have expected God’s aid anyway. Welcomed, yes. Expected, no.

Another classic way that faith might go is towards Athiesm. Stories like these usually go “AH YES TINY MORTAL I HAVE SEEN THE VERY EDGES OF THAT UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY FROM WHICH NO (other) TRAVELER HAS RETURNED, DEATH. I HAVE RETURNED TO TELL YOU THAT NOTHING MATTERS AND LIFE IS MEANINGLESS.” That’s such a cop out and makes inexperienced people feel smart for being nihilists. Very lovecraftian (Not necessarily a good thing) and very teenager. (Very much not necessarily a good thing.)

Another way is towards ultra religion. People who have near-death experiences often find refuge in faith. This does not make them cowards, or prophets. It’s just a way it could go.

I think Alucard would be none of these things.

When I write Alucard, I write him as cold, intelligent, and playful. I write him as laughing, almost care-free. I write him as A-religious, but with a strong leaning towards Orthodoxy. While most vampires (Non-original) are affected by items wielded by people with faith, Alucard is not. He is shielded, in his own way, by his own faith. The non-vampiric magic he wields is channeled, Dresdenverse-style, through his faith. The spells binding him to Integra–spells that he constructed–are made with Orthodox symbology. He can enter churches and holy spaces, but he is reduced to defensive abilities–ultra healing, and his Base Vampire abilities like speed, strength, and senses.

((Personal opinion rambling time from ya girl Bat.

I think it’s sad if we consider all faith and all religion as a weakness, or a character flaw. I think so many of us have had bad experiences with religion that we can no longer tolerate any positive word towards Christianity.

We can have complicated, contradictory characters who still have faith. Who love God, or the idea of God, in their own way. Maybe for nostalgia, maybe for knowledge. He may not be part of a religion, but I like to imagine that

Faith is not trust. Nor is it idiocy. Or hope. Or knowledge. Or it might be. You decide for yourself what you believe. And faith goes beyond 'I believe there’s a big man in the sky who frowns when you play a little five-on-one with yourself’. Or 'I believe there’s certain energies in certain foods, and eating certain foods allows you to balance those out in you.’ Or 'I believe that, in the end, people are mostly good.’))

*(fun fact, 'God helps those who help themselves’ is not in the bible, and was made up, or at least the earliest recording we have of it, is from the fourth century BC. “Heaven never helps those who will not act” and “try first thyself, and after call in god. For it is to the worker that God Himself lends aid” a couple decades later. Good ol’ Greeks!)

Yo religion is a prickly topic so I’m gonna remind you this is just my personal headcanon about what makes sense to me, putting it out there cuz I think it’s fun.

[livefromtheloam]

Tenchi Muyo! Galaxy Police Transporter

So I finally watched Tenchi Muyo: GXP. This is super long and full of fifteen-year-old spoilers, so I’ll stick a jump right about here.

tl;dr: Absolutely adored the series (with a couple of gripes), but hate what it heralded for the Tenchi Muyo franchise.

To start off, I want to say that I loved watching GXP. Had it come out earlier (and obviously had it not starred Seina), I would dare to call it the ultimate Tenchi series.  It combines the canon and overarching galactic epic of the OVA, the episodic format and character development of Universe, and the unbridled humor of Tokyo, then kicks every one of those things into high gear. It also fixes a lot of the problems that the three series were notorious for, namely: the OVA’s tendency to throw important details under the rug in order to put together cool set pieces, Universe’s low animation quality and over-reliance on filler, and Tokyo’s over the top irreverence (I’m normally a huge fan of irreverence, but man did Tokyo take the entire franchise off the rails).

It feels weird to call GXP a Tenchi Muyo! series, considering it’s as much of a spinoff as anything can get, but it does share most of the themes that all TM properties share. It’s got the harem, space adventure, comedy, drama, excellent character development (except for its main character somehow), and a cabbit. Granted, not all characters we’re supposed to care about are given any kind of dimension (looking at you, Miss Balta), but it’s so weird to start to care about secondary characters that were, once again, thrown under the rug in the later OVA’s, like Airi, Mikami, Seto, and even a few of the tertiary characters. Except for Tennyo. So sad.

Oh hey these ladies are actually great characters! (Not pictured: Tennyo.)

My favorite part was how relentlessly funny it could be. The show had no problem engaging in little gags here and there, but once Seiryo gets a more prominent role in the story things get downright hilarious.

I will never stop laughing at this.

I also appreciated how the opening and end theme sequences added new things as the series went on, such as replacing band-aids with Fukus, highlighing or blocking out certain characters, and adding others when they join the story. While I don’t usually like the harem genre (I prefer the first two OVA’s and Universe for their use of a love triangle rather than an out and out orgy), I always try to put my hangups on hold when it comes to Tenchi. Additionally, I just pretended that Seina was at least eighteen by the time the series ended just to get over the creep factor of a person who would be considered a child entering into a relationship with several adult women. Graduating from space college has got to take at least three years, right?

Speaking of, as much as Seina was yet another mediocre yet earnest everyboy protagonist, I couldn’t help but enjoy his antics. Maybe it was his almost Brooklyn accent (I watched the dub, so sue me), maybe his misfortune, maybe his complete and utter acceptance of pain and injury, but it was hard not to root for him. Plus, I love how his bad luck superpower can be used to explain why so many women are attracted to him despite being actively bad for anyone to be around (and way too young - seriously what is up with that?)!

“I guess they must be thirsty.” Ya don’t say.

And then we get to the last few episodes.

This was the point where GXP got over the top irritating for me. At some point, Seina’s bad luck turns to good, but with no noticeable difference either way. He’s given an incredible amount of gifts - A living ship made by Professor Washu! A royal tree to merge that ship with! A primordial battle mech powered by the sibling to the original Juraian tree to merge himself with featuring built in Easter egg action and kung fu grip! Light Hawk Wings! - and bad luck or good, these things serve to push Seina to godlike status. And that’s ok because it’s just a TV show. However, when he wins the duel against Seiryo due to, what else, a fluke of luck (why did either of them agree to a rule whereby someone can lose via embarrassment?), it finally reaches beyond frustrating just how much the showrunners pamper their protagonist.

The first of many promotions, given to him about a week after enrolling in the academy.

Seina himself does precious little on his own. He does his best, but grows very little as a person. Just what are his motivations, aside from a vague sense that he wants to be in the GP? We never see him try to do anything he can’t reasonably do because he wins every single time through either bad luck or good luck or someone looking out for him. He never comes to understand Kiriko’s concerns or Amane’s insecurities, nor does he try to get to know Ryoko or Neju better. He’s gotten everything - power, money, women - without doing anything to earn it.

Finally, the series ends with his wedding. To four women. And sure, it’s a political marriage in a culture that allows powerful nobility to have multiple spouses. And sure it ostensibly serves to ensure the longevity of the dream team that’s been ushering in an age of prosperity for businesses all over the galaxy, fine good whatever. But the show can’t even bring itself to respect these women who, for the most part, have proven themselves to be badasses who’ve earned every bit of respect they never got.

Does this look like the face of mercy?

Kiriko was a tactical prodigy who rose through the ranks of the GP through her willpower, wits, and ability to jump fearlessly into any situation regardless of danger, not to mention a distant blood tie to the royal family of Jurai. Amane was a wealthy heiress who threw away a promising career because it was too easy and challenged herself to make her way through the GP ladder. Ryoko Balta, despite being a bit bland, was a badass space pirate whose intuition, navigational skills, and battle prowess kept her ship floating long after most of the rest of the Daluma fleet had been captured. Neju was considered one of the most powerful head priestesses of all time (told not shown, sadly), and was revered (and reviled) throughout the galaxy for her two millennia of stern justice.

And they get lumped all together during their own wedding, all so that Seina can get a huge flashy show.

Seriously, they all walk out at the same time with identical smiles on their faces, as if they weren’t fiercely independent women like one episode prior.

And sadly, this is the final piece of the puzzle I needed to understand where the Tenchi Muyo! franchise has been going over the past fifteen years.

After GXP was somewhat of a flop, Kajishima took it back and has been writing a series of novels based on it. This precluded any need for a team to talk him back from the skeevier elements of what he thinks TM should be, including the harems and incest, and gave him full control over the direction of the OVA continuity. While I’ve never understood why the doujinshi are considered canon by fans, it’s hard to argue with the creator of a series when he says the officially published novels are what the real story is. I haven’t read through the whole set (I figure I’ll do that once my Japanese reading skills get a bit better), but from what I’ve seen so far the novels eschew the comedy and lightheartedness for exposition and expansion of the lore. Which wouldn’t be so bad if it were going somewhere, I dunno, fan-accessible?

As much as I dislike what the future holds for Tenchi, I’d love to see them all on Maury. (Thanks to AstroNerdBoy for the scan.)

Instead, we get a Tenchi Muyo! OVA that seems to serve the purpose of connecting Tenchi’s world to Seina’s rather than the other way around. Characters who fans loved and built a following for are pushed to the wayside for characters who appeared in Seina’s story, and the overarching epic is leading somewhere few fans ever wanted to go - namely Seina’s harem of twenty wives, a number of whom are mother and grandmother figures.

This is literally a grid of potential partners for Seina. He has backup harems. One of them involving Kiriko’s mom. Fantastic. (Thank you Tenchi Muyo Wiki.)

If I’ve mentioned characters a number of times in this piece, it’s because that’s the unshakable foundation that the entire Tenchi Muyo franchise was built on. There are at least five different continuities, and throughout them all the characters remain the same at their cores. Tenchi is plain but earnest. Ryoko is hotheaded and passionate. Ayeka tries to be proper but fails in the face of Ryoko’s teasing. Sasami is sweet, kind, and hard-working. Mihoshi is ditzy yet well-meaning. Washu is the greatest scientific genius in the universe! As of the ending of GXP, however, characterization seems to mean very little to the author. Kiriko, Amane, Ryoko, and Neju give up their individuality because... Seina. The women of the Masaki home take a backseat to Noike because... they’re no longer important to the story being told. Proud Emperor Azusa, who was embarrassed at the hands of Tenchi Masaki, grandson of that worthless Yosho, is suddenly devoid of any personality let alone desire for vengeance because... Seto is also on screen and she was an important character in GXP.

I will say that I’ve come to enjoy the third and fourth OVA’s, simply because now I’ve been properly introduced to more of the characters. The final episode of OVA 4 does a great job of tying up many of the loose threads that have been floating around since GXP’s inception and bringing all the OVA continuity series into a cohesive whole. It’s nice, but once again, makes me worried that a series that used to be about lovable characters having space adventures and shenanigans at home with tender moments thrown liberally into the mix is turning into a creepy ecchi series with no regard for characterization unless it gives Tenchi or Seina another wife.

They spend so much time this episode of Tenchi Muyo! talking about Seina that it’s ridiculous. They then proceed to tease the mother of his childhood friends about her obvious hots for him. (Thanks to EcchiOujisama for the subs!)

My theory is that it’s because Seina is the one thing that Kajishima has had all to himself for over a decade. Seina is his favorite child, who will receive gifts of women and good luck, regardless of how much the fans still love Tenchi and company. As much as he can profit off of doujinshi and art (and I’ll admit that I hope to own one of his sketches one day), he still has to share Tenchi with other people. This doesn’t prevent him from throwing Tenchi a bone in his fan comics, but the more he can tie the entire continuity into Seina’s story, the better. I wonder if the same thing is going to happen to Kenshi now too.

I liked Seina and rooted for him, but by the end it was obvious that he’d never become anything but a fantasy fulfillment device. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me he has no reason to grow or change, and is emblematic of what many people disliked about the franchise after 2002.

I accepted a while back that the OVA series and maybe even the franchise was no longer “for me.” The old episodes, movies, novels, and manga still exist, of course, and I can and do enjoy them immensely. I’ll also be watching GXP for years to come and plan to read the novels when I’m able to. I think I just wanted to get my thoughts out about a series that I watched and enjoyed, and how it changed a franchise that went down a different path a long, long time ago.

Adieu, Tenchi Muyo!

Also, why did all the members of Tenchi’s household get new voice actors for this show? That was weird. 

[hopevoiceacting]

I REALLY WANT TO ROLEPLAY VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE!

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

 [This RP takes place within the Vampire: The Masquerade universe,based on the game of the same name. Where the Main Character is a newly sired vampire introduced into this underground world of Vampires settled within Los Angeles, with their own government and factions, meeting all different kinds of vampires,ghouls,monsters,etc. This type of vampire is somewhat similar to the traditionally seen vampires of lore, paler skin, fangs (though not particularly noticeable), sunlight can kill, but here is where things differ, Garlic does nothing for obvious reasons, running water does nothing, crosses do nothing,while smaller firearms don't do much, higher grade firearms will harm a vampire, members of different clans have different attributes, like Nosferatu can go invisible and look more monstrous, while Tremere can use magic,etc. I am looking for CANON characters of the series to interact with, I highly recommend checking out the game and wiki. I am also looking for Romance to take place in the Roleplay. I hope we can have a bit of fun together! OH! I have another prompt where it follows the story of Caine, the Father of Vampires returning to The Masquerade, check it out below.]

 Ya know, when you think of the lair of a vampire, you'd probably think of a dark cave or a big mansion, not some crappy apartment in Los Angeles. He could remember the night it all happened, when he was turned into a vampire...He was hanging out with his girlfriend, they had been going pretty steady for a little while, ya know,meeting up for nightly dates, going on long walks, making out, the kind of thing. But it all changed one night, he could still feel the sharp press of her fangs pushing into his flesh. When his transformation was complete, the first thing he recalled was being stabbed in the heart with a stake. When he awoke, he was in front of a audience of vampires, next to him? His girlfriend. Some rich asshole going on about how unofficial siring was something they couldn't have...So they cut off her head,killing her and leaving me in this unknown world of monsters called Kindred (it's what they call Vampires,it's more 'polite'). The man was named Prince LaCroix, he seemed in charge of the faction called the Camarilla, he let Xander live 'mercifully' so he says...Tch.

 From what he's learned so far,there were plenty of different factions, the Sabbat, The Anarchs, the Camarilla. There were also plenty of Clans, he was part of something called the Tremere Clan, the Mages of the Vampires. To Xander all of this was a pain, a life he hadn't asked for, he didn't ask to watch his girlfriend get beheaded and become some Prince's little bus boy. Having to go around trying to increase influence or go blow up a warehouse, beat down on human, go into clubs, deal with crazy women with duel personalities, the fucking Sabbat always hounding him. Ugh, it was such a pain. Apparently there was something big coming as well and he was smack dab in the middle of it all. 

 The Fledgeling(new vampires) sighed as he just moved into The Asylum, a club run by 'sisters', but he soon found out that the sisters were actually the same person with duel personalities. Or maybe they were spirits in the same body. He didn't know, nor did he want to get wrapped up in all of that. He just needed a bit of time to clear his head. He sat down at the end of the bar, looking down into his glass of water. God damn this sucks. He had been taking a sip from his glass of water until a familiar scent came through to his nose, his head suddenly looking to the side to see who it was that coming towards him...Oh, it was them.

Vampire: The Masquerade - The Return of Caine

 [This RP takes place within the Vampire: The Masquerade universe,based on the game of the same name. Instead of following the main premise of the game, I'd love to play one of the mythical characters of the game, Caine, the Father of all Vampires returning. It shall be centered in this underground world of Vampires settled within Los Angeles, with their own government and factions, meeting all different kinds of vampires,ghouls,monsters,etc. This type of vampire is somewhat similar to the traditionally seen vampires of lore, paler skin, fangs (though not particularly noticeable), sunlight can kill, but here is where things differ, Garlic does nothing for obvious reasons, running water does nothing, crosses do nothing,while smaller firearms don't do much, higher grade firearms will harm a vampire, members of different clans have different attributes, like Nosferatu can go invisible and look more monstrous, while Tremere can use magic,etc. I am looking for CANON characters of the series to interact with, I highly recommend checking out the game and wiki. I am also looking for Romance to take place in the Roleplay. I hope we can have a bit of fun together!]

 The Legend of Caine had been spread throughout all of vampire-kind since it's birth, the Biblical son of Adam and Eve who slew his own brother Abel, cursed by god to walk the earth for the rest of eternity, the Father of All Vampires. With many of the texts regarding Caine having been destroyed by time, many did not know of his first sire,Enoch, the slaughter of the second generation by the third, the curses he placed upon the Kindred Race so many years ago..But most did not know if the being even still lived, or had simply faded with time...Becoming a simple myth. 

 For over two hundred thousand years, he had walked the face of this world. He's explored the depths and peaks of this dimension and further beyond. He has seen the Abyss and the Light...He had ruled his own paradise, along with watching it's destruction along with the slaughter of his childe. But now? He was drinking. Prying the bottle of wine from his mouth, he ran his tongue along his tan lips. Sighing in satisfaction, he looked himself over,making sure none of the wine got onto his form. He didn't exactly wear the most extravagant clothing, a sky blue button up shirt with a gray coat over shoulders, matching dress pants covering tan legs. Though, the oddest part of his attire was the cloth that he wore around his forehead, it seemed to be held tight against his skin as if to conceal something. Looking to the young bartender, he smiled a bit,running his fingertip along the other's chin,meeting their gaze. "Thank you for the drink,hun. I'll be off now, but don't worry. I won't be a stranger." He muttered to them,his voice having put the bartender in a trance,making them Caine's slave until he left.

 Los Angeles, he's heard quite a lot of buzz going on around that area, The Camerilla, the Anarchs, the Sabbat. Three groups he had been watching quite closely, he must say, he was a bit disappointed in his children, having hoped they would of come together long ago after the slaughter of his childe. But he supposed that deep down, they were all human, that humanity comes with conflict,greed, lust, envy. He knew of the masquerade creation, but did not care about it. He sighed as he stood in front of the Cinema, one he knew was the home for the Kindred's meetings, simply prying the door open, he moved inside silently. He could feel the life force of the undead nearby,with each step, he could feel himself growing more and more eager to meet the kind he had created after so long! How had they changed? Were they different? How did they evolve? Had the government change much? Entering the theater, he remained in the back,pressing his back into a corner as he listened to the Prince go on about what they could do. Spotting many different leaders of different factions in their seats up front.

 A faint breath leaving him, he had concealed himself from his own kind for so long, this is what they had made of themselves? He simply wished to let himself be known, he was not here to get into politics...Consider him...Stirring the pot a bit. He sat himself down right behind a Malkavian and a Toreador. He was sure they might be able to feel the eerie air that came off of himself. He listened to the Prince go on and on about some boring topic, not that he had any interest in what he had to say in the least. He decided that now it was best to stir the pot, he smiled as he brought his thumb to his lips, bringing his canines down on the skin, piercing it and letting the beautiful crimson liquid flow,the scent hitting the air around him,causing him to smirk.

 "Daddy's home..."

[rpedia]

Players Who Hide OOC Behavior Behind Canon

"Well its canon so it's fine and you can't complain-" okay hold up you little shit, that's not what canon should be used for in the least, and I'm gonna give you such a smack if you use it as an excuse so you can be an asshole and ruin everyone’s good time in an RP. Muns control the story, canonical material aside, we’re never gonna be 100% canon. So if you’re getting complaints about your behavior because it’s disrupting play, ‘but it’s canon’ is not an excuse to keep doing it. If you’re ruining play by saying ‘but it’s not canon!’ it’s also not an excuse. More bitching under the cut, ‘cause you guys love it when I get pissed and explain things to death.

If you are getting complaints about your RP behavior, you gotta pause, pull you head out of your ass, and consider the fact that even if it’s shown in canon, it is not automatically appropriate for roleplay. Roleplay is a mix of writing together for fun and keeping true to canon. If you destroy either side of this equation to the point of detriment to RP,  then something is wrong. Fun always, but always, outranks canon. Here, little math for ya. Fun > Canon. Following? Great.

The other important part to remember about RP is a balance of Crisis, and Hope. If you remove either, the story fails. Your heroes and villains and those who are inbetween need these things. Crisis is a catalyst of change. This is true even if the crisis is getting your homework done on time, or stopping the giant evil bad guy riding a meteor from wiping out half of the galaxy. If someone magically solves it for your character, it solves your goals, and the RP ends. 

Same for Hope. Your character’s hopes and dreams are also goals, but beyond that if your character has no hope of beating another character... literally no hope... and the entire RP is about them just losing? No one wants to play with that. (Except kinksters, I see you guys. You do you, friend.) It gets boring fast when Superman just punches you and wins whenever you try something. This is why comic characters powers flux so much, the writers are the players. They change the characters to make the plot work, even if it’s not 100% true to last time someone wrote the character. The point is having fun reading THIS comic right NOW.

Just like comic writers, you are a human being behind a character, and regardless of who you play, it’s your responsibility to make sure you use them effectively for the goal of telling a story. If your character is problematic to your RP group, then you are at fault. Not your character. Not your canon. It depends on you as the player/mun to modulate your character’s behavior to fit the company you keep.  "BUT my character is a jerk IC!" and? You are not your character. If you are causing people to make OOC complaints, then they are harmed OOC. Canon is not a golden ticket to being the biggest jerk about something you can, and getting away with it.

“My power can do this, my character does this, my Canon says this or that.” Sure, fine, I’m not gonna argue that, but if you kill the fun of an RP by having no give and take, or if you make people feel like shit out of character, you aren't playing for the sake of growth or story. You're playing because it gives you the right to lord over others, with your personality, and your powers. Those playing like this are generally folk who have a bad time out of character. Your life isn’t perfect, and you take it out in RP because it’s where you have more control. Either that or you just abuse people for kicks because you like the feel of power and may need to check out therapy to help you figure out why you feel this urge to hurt others so you can help your relationships and find a constructive way to deal with the sadism. One way or another the act itself is still an asshole thing to do though. 

The people who respond to your abuse get hurt, and then they feel like they need to put up defenses. They become more suspicious and aggressive towards new people and cliques form because outside their friend-circle, there’s danger and those who harm others. This means newbies come in, and they don’t see a place for themselves. Usually they get hurt by the jerks who will take on anyone even new folks. No one is there to warn the newbies when this happens, and they get hurt by the cliques as well, because no one will help them for fear they’re a stranger who will hurt them too. So they build up walls, make a little clique, and become a wall against more newbies.

It’s a bad cycle my friend. It’s not 100% based on this behavior, human nature is to make a small functioning group because it’s more stable and has less drama and personality conflict issues, but this helps make things worse.

So think about situations. If your character is a metahuman for example, someone beyond what is considered typical for humans, then using those powers against normal humans without OOC permission is bad. It’s bullying. Just cut and clear, using powers to do whatever you want to people against their consent is fucking bullying. Period. There’s no getting around it. None. 

No ‘it’s just RP don’t be so serious’. That’s a lie you tell yourself, that RP can be gotten anywhere, and it’s just writing that means nothing. People still exist behind these names, and having shit forced on them when they say no is still bad. If someone is uncomfortable, they are uncomfortable, regardless of what is happening to put them there. Even if it’s not happening to them in real life it’s still happening, and you’re doing that to an actual person when you play the ‘lol it’s just rp’ card.

People are allowed to RP in any fashion they so desire, so long as they are not directly harming the experience of anyone else. That second half is extremely important to remember. If a situation arises and someone is uncomfortable, if your actions towards them are responsible, you need to stop doing those actions. As a rule of thumb, if your actions are not towards them, and if they can ignore what your are doing without explicitly saying they are ignoring it, then you can do whatever you fuckin’ want (within the rules of an area). If they have to deny that you are doing something, it’s within the no-no range of inflicting shit on other people.

They can police what you do to them, because they have the rights to their persona’s body. It’s an extension of them even if it’s not physical, even if it’s not a self insert, even if it’s ‘just writing’. They still choose to act as, and therefore think and react as, that character. They put themselves in their place so they can understand what to write next. Because they view things from the perspective of the character, it effects them similarly mentally to having it happen to themselves. This is not a bad thing. 

Yes, some people take it too far. They start taking OOC as against them or IC as really happening 100%. That’s bad. But IC to IC interactions, with a clearly defined fiction/reality line? Acceptable as all hell! Perfect in fact! As long as you know real life is completely different than your fictional life (and thus don’t do the ‘but our characters are together so we are together OOCly’ thing), you can fall as deeply into your character as you like for a scene. In fact, I encourage it, because it makes your writing much more lush, realistic, and enjoyable. It’s visible when you love your character and understand them as a person, and not just as a fictional construct you’re making stabs in the dark with.

Just recognize if someone is a little annoyed you just tried to smash their character with a big old Hulk fist, when they were just chatting with a friend, that their annoyance is entirely reasonable! We write so we can experience things, emotions and feelings, we can’t get from actions we do in real life. We wear faces of other people, and allow ourselves to feel that. The extremes of human experience are not at the fingertips of everyone, and therefore we seek it because we are a curious species who wants to understand more.

Using canonical material to attack others in an unfair way, especially if they complain, is wrong. Using advantages, purely for the sake of using those advantages, is extremely unwarranted. You basically just want to hurt other people’s feelings, and have found an ‘acceptable’ way to do it when you randomly jump into a room and kill everyone. Or when you force yourself into someone’s mind. Or you’re invincible and keep cackling and attacking people who clearly aren’t here for it and have not given you consent. It gives you pleasure to annoy, and alarm other people, whether it’s to get attention (good or bad) or because you’re frustrated and want to take it out on others.

Just don’t be surprised if they block you. 

Another point is, if people are RPing something without you, and they’re having a good old time, you don’t need to point out they aren’t being canon. You are not the canon police. You’re not there to inform them that everything they do has to be canon. They can play AUs. They can even be completely out of character, playing someone as the opposite of who they are in series. A cute, sniffly, heart broken version of a big, tough, never say die character may not sync with what you want to play with, and you are completely valid if you say ‘this isn’t for me’ and walk away from it. You can even ask them to change if you are going to play with them. If they say no, or if you don’t intend to play with them though. Leave them alone.

Those kids playing everyone as wolves, and making Mary Sue babies, and mucking over canon so badly you can’t recognize it with their friends? They’re having fun. Something you want to find, something you’re looking for, something everyone would adore having the ability to have with such a simple thing. Why would you take it away from them? 

Yeah, what they’re doing isn’t a universally fun thing. Not everyone’s going to enjoy that same RP. In fact, a lot of people will never RP with the wolf version of Sherlock who had magical puppies with Watson because they asked a forest dragon for help. Also Sherlock is the alpha of the pack, and uses his super awesome detective skills to hunt deer, and he goes into heat. I’ve made posts about the concept of going outside a certain range of canon, because yes, they might want to change if they’re not getting RP outside their friends. But I’m certainly not gonna bust up their party if I’m not invited by them choosing to read my posts and understand I’m not out to stop them from doing it entirely. Just, don’t do it to people who don’t want it. Stick tags on it so we can look away, maybe a read more. Enjoy your guilty pleasure.

It’s like childhood. Headless-Barbie #3 and Gay Biker Ken didn’t need a reason to visit the giant plushie tiger’s kingdom to beg for their very own adopted McDonald’s toy pet. It made sense to the kids playing. Do you want to be the parent that walked in, and said that was impossible? That told them they had to fit by societies expectations, and that magical tiger kingdoms don’t exist? Do you want to be the adult who made them stop dreaming, to stop looking at things and seeing stories and fun, and instead focus on cold hard facts? To make you grow-up? To make you start judging yourself, and what you do so hard you’re afraid to do anything?

Nah, so s’long as they don’t try to force you into it and are having fun without you, y’big tough realist with all your canon material packed in neat suitcases so you can prove from this one scene in this one thing means your character would smile at something, don’t bitch. Just say no thank you, and leave them to their fun. They have a right to it.

So in the end, you have two major ways to misuse canon. Both of them use it to force others to play something they don’t want to play (or to make an RP fall apart because you remove the crisis/hope). Be it because your character is forcibly beating theirs up, or whether you’re the guy saying ‘you can’t play that it’s wrong’. Both are bad. When someone asks you, ‘hey is this canonical?’ go ahead and drag out them facts for them. When someone is curious and wants to learn, have at it. When someone says ‘you know it would be fun for me to RP my modern-realistic cop character as being taken to the cleaners by a fairy godmother,’ then by jove, have your fun. Just, consent, kindness, moderate your character’s powers with your actual human behind the screen’s empathy and intelligence. Then everyone will be happier.

Thank you, have fun.