#for the 2 people who read this fic and hadn't realized that it's gay as hell

[laugtherhyena]

I love making stupidly long chapters due to always misjudging how long scenes turn out to be

[generalluxun]

Hey! I've been loving your Chloé/Alya AU story as well as enjoying your posts a lot in general, I'll be reading Dog Daze too when I can because it seems like it's your "main story" and I'm curious about the dynamics of Adrien/Sabrina as a ship (which I hadn't thought of before seeing your blog!) - I also just enjoy the way you write the characters a lot, especially because you're both a Chloé defender and a gay Chloé enthusiast like me lol. And your dunking on Astruc is delicious too, of course! Do you have any upcoming fics/vague ideas you've been considering that you feel comfortable sharing?

Thanks for the question and for your followup clarification, I'll answer both parts here.

First off: Thank you for reading! The Chloé/Alya fic was an experiment, and a bit of a gift to @flightfoot who is a big Alya fan, and a treasure to the community. I've come to love the dynamic as I've explored it.

Dog Daze is the largest AU, yes. Chock full of one shots after the main fic. It *Does* start with Puppy Love, which was supposed to be a one shot, then oops, I had an AU. Fin fact:Dog Daze was supposed to be endgame Adrienette, but the goobers just didn't want to let each other go. Oops. 🤣

Adribrina is my comfort ship. They are just so... 🥺 It's sweet, it's gentle, it's supportive, and they don't even realize it.

I wouldn't call myself a Chloé defender. I just don't like anything that belittles/justifies/ignores choild abuse. Chloé happens to be an abused child blamed for her own abuse by the narrative. I fond that particular aspect of ML reprehensible and so am vocal about it. If they had just left her as a 1D bully the entire time, it wouldn't be an issue. Once you demonstrate child abuse *on screen* then certain expectations change.

I do think Chloé as a character is in an amazingly dynamic position, teetering and able to go in many directions. This is why she features so much in my writings.

As you said in your followup, I do put Chloé in both het and lesbian ships(even some bi) for me, her attraction has a lot more to do with the person *giving her attention* and the plumbing is actually largely secondary. Not knocking anyone else's headcanon, that's just my take on her.

I don't set out to 'dunl' on Astruc, bit he has positioned himself as the voice/aithority/control so questionable narrative lands in his lap. He also seems to be ill suited to engaging on online discourse (no slight there, it can be hard!) But also seems to want to enjoy the access to praise it offers. This makes for a volatile mess. In all honesty I would love a chance to corner him and just ask 'why' for a lot of choices. I do fear though many of hos answers would boil down to 'Who do you listen to, me, or your lying eyes?'

I was thinking of actually doing a LoZ TotK fic in the near future.

If ML there are cirrently 3 options spinning.

1)Continue Dog Daze Continuity with a story set in the final year before university and bringing Kagami back into the mix.

2)Continue Gothic AU continuity with a story focusing on Adrien's acquiring of the Pig, and Sabrina's akumatization with the Goat while continuing to explore the other dynamics (like Ladybug/Peluche and Chloé reason for being... Lile she is)

3)Chloé comes back worse. Post S5 fic where Chloé is actually putting in effort to be a chaos demon, not just other people's pawn.

Thanks again for the ask!

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (17-23 Dec 2023)

shout out to matt rogers for this delightful new entry to the xmas song canon

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes #0) (Travis Baldree, author & narrator) - prequel novel of Viv's much younger days - just as fun and cozy as Legends & Lattes

🥰 Hashtag Soulmates (everwitch) - 44K, RWRB AU - deliberately tropetastic sort-of meta fic where Henry's a fanfic writer & Alex is one of his biggest fans and they work together but don't know it. Hard to explain but fun to read. Good stuff on the nature of fanfic; also hilarious bits where it walks right up to the crackfic line but doesn't go over. I really enjoyed reading something the author so clearly had a blast writing.

😊 In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life (Amy Schneider, author & narrator) - entertaining read

😍 Tommy Cabot Was Here (The Cabots #1) (Cat Sebastian) - reread, novella; just really in a mood to reread in this universe! Hadn't read this since I read Daniel's book, so it was fun to see him guest star as a 12 yr old

😍 Peter Cabot Gets Lost (The Cabots #2) (Cat Sebastian) - reread; I love all the Cabots but this one is my #1 fave by a smidge. The grumpy/sunshine is *chef's kiss*!

😍 Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots (The Cabots #3) (Cat Sebastian) - reread; Alex & Daniel are actually dating but too oblivious (and busy pining in silence) to realize it. I love these dumbasses.

😍 Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue (The Cabots #3.5) (Cat Sebastian) - reread, set in the Cabots 'verse but with no Cabots in sight. Just two baseball boys pulling their heads out of their asses and figuring out what they mean to one another.

💖💖 +102K of shorter fic 💖💖

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Game Changer - s5, e6

Make Some Noise - s2, e15

Dirty Laundry - s3, e8

D20: Fantasy High: Sophmore Year - e16-20

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - s1, e1-6

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

It's Been a Minute - The IBAMmys: The It's Been A Minute 2023 Culture Awards Show

Today, Explained - EU vs. AI

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Songs To Help You Study

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - A Return to Recipe Graves

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Old City Hall Station

⭐ Switched on Pop - "Did I mention that it's Christmas in this club?" (w Matt Rogers)

The Sporkful - New Year’s Food Resolutions 2024

Today, Explained - How Barnes & Noble survived

Big Gay Fiction Podcast - "Time to Shine" with Rachel Reid

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang - “They Couldn’t Be Nicer Boys” (w/ Seth Meyers)

NPR's Book of the Day - 'Black AF History' examines American history from the perspective of Black people

Code Switch - Here are our favorite Code Switch episodes from 2023

Ed Zitron's 15 Minutes In Hell - Episode 20: Jamelle Bouie

Ologies with Alie Ward - Lemurology (LEMURS) with Lydia Greene

99% Invisible #564 - Mini-Stories: Volume 17

Today, Explained - The stretched-too-thin blue line

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Sniffing out What’s Special with Saskia Wilson Brown

One Year - 1990: The Angry Death of Kimberly Bergalis

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang - "You Can't Trust These Gay Guys"

⭐ Films To Be Buried With - Leslie Jones

Dear Prudence - My Mother-In-Law Doesn’t Wash Her Hands After Using The Bathroom. Help!

Cautionary Tales - When Stalin Killed the Weekend (with The Happiness Lab)

Our Opinions Are Correct - How Doctor Who Stood the Test of Time

Our Opinions Are Correct - BONUS: If You Could Turn Into Any Form of Transportation, What Would You Pick?

It's Been a Minute - Why does flying suck so much?

Off Menu - Ep 217: Ross Noble (Christmas Special)

⭐ Song Exploder - Foo Fighters "The Teacher"

⭐ Overinvested - Ep. 290: The Cutting Edge

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

my christmas playlist

Celtic Christmas

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album [The Beach Boys] {1964}

Merry Axemas & Merry Axemas 2

Orchestral Christmas Pops

Latin Jazz Christmas

Punk Rock Christmas

Lindsey Stirling Christmas

Orchestral Holiday Pops

It's a Holiday Soul Party [Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings] {2015}

my Christmas Divas playlist

Have You Heard of Christmas? [Matt Rogers] {2023}

Simply Christmas [Leslie Odom Jr.] {2016}

The Christmas Album [Leslie Odom Jr.] {2020}

Christmas With You [Laufey & Norah Jones] {2023}

Christmas Island [Jimmy Buffett] {1996}

'Tis The SeaSon [Jimmy Buffett] {2016}

Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family [Nick Lowe] {2013}

The Muppet Christmas Carol (Special Anniversary Edition) {2005}

Punk Rock Christmas

Classical Christmas

Rock & Roll Christmas

[areseebee]

Hi!! Just reread all of Maybe Someday - 😍😍 It is SO amazing and completely canon in my mind! Cannot wait for the rest of Someday!

I love the bisexual James HC and love to see it here too, and I know it won't be a focus of the fic, but I have been wondering - there is no way James "I support gay people even though I am not actually gay myself" Maguire didn't have a huge-ass crisis, right 😂? Did you have any thoughts on what that might've been like for James?

thank you!! 🥰 also thank you for this ask, i didn't realize how much my brain would light up to get asked questions about the story itself and my headcanons! here is my very long, winding, should-have-been-more-succinct answer to this:

james being bi was mostly something i sort of kept to myself as my hc of choice from the minute i wrote in smoke break chapter 1 about james having tried menthols before. it was the most minor detail, but, while michelle is convinced he tried the methols because of a girl, i chose from erin's POV to have her always think about a possible partner of james in terms of "someone" or "them." because, in truth, in my head, james did try menthols because of a crush at school, but it wasn't because of a girl (and he really doesn't want to talk about it because 1. it's just a crush and 2. he's not sure how he feels about having this crush).

it wasn't until i was chatting with @derrygirlstrash one day about where the story could go after smoke break that she was like "so, to me, james is bi" and it was the loveliest thing in the world for me to be able to say "me too!" that's when i decided to make it officially a part of how i write james.

i read james's sexuality through my own lens of experience - for a while, he's not really sure how he identifies, he's not really sure if his friendship with this crush with the menthols is because he hasn't really been friends with a lad for a long time because all his closest friends are girls, or if because he just admires and respects him, or if it's because he really likes this guy - all he knows is that he wants to be noticed by him, wants to spend time with him, goes out of his way to put himself in his crush's path. ultimately, however, it is something he sort of puts away in a box - he goes to derry for the summer and things happen with erin, and then goes back to london and meets his post-smoke break gf, faye. maybe he had a growing awareness of his sexuality, but it sort of took a back seat because he was with partners who he loved so it didn't really matter that much what he identified as. it's sort of a "i'll think about this later" sort of thing.

i like to think that him being so close to clare and observing her get more comfortable in her identity softened the "realization" of it all. he knew he had people around him that would be accepting, he knew it wasn't some end-of-the-entire-world kind of thing, and he just organically gets more comfortable with himself as he gets older. also - it probably helped that faye is bi, too, as hinted with mentions of with her and clare dating later on during the someday timeline. it just becomes increasingly a part of his ecosystem during the formative years of his life.

my experience is, of course, not everyone's experience. but i vibe with the part of me that figured it out over time without it being much of a struggle with my identity, that it was something that felt like welcoming a new color to my own identity that i hadn't seen in myself before, that also felt like it was about the individual i cared about/crushed on, rather than their gender identity. so that's the experience i choose to imagine for james too.

ultimately, to me, it doesn't really become a thing for james until he meets someone who sort of makes it a thing: miles, who he meets on a set of a film shoot, and who is disturbingly handsome - patrick swayze/john stamos lovechild handsome; the perfect 90s heartthrob, basically.

incidentally, i wrote a short little thing (very unedited) about the first time miles and james meet, which i am happy to share here. i gave him some bi panic, as a treat. but it’s because miles is absurdly hot, not because james is necessarily fighting against or even all that surprised by the attraction. i am not sure if it will show up anywhere "officially" in the future, so here it is now:

“Has anyone ever told you that you look like Patrick Swayze?”

Miles paused before a slow grin came over his face. James swallowed, his mouth feeling very suddenly dry. “Flattery will get you everywhere, mate,” he said, before turning back to his sound board.

“Not trying to flatter, just…wondered if anyone had said. Cause – Patrick Swayze’s great. And you definitely look like him.”

Miles glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, his smirk remaining firmly in place. “Big fan then? What’s your favourite Swayze film?”

“Er – Ghost. I guess.”

“Classic,” Miles answered. “Want to know mine?”

“Sure,” James shrugged, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets just to have something to do with them.

“Dirty Dancing,” Mile said with a wink. James immediately felt hot all over.

He cleared his throat and tried to sound nonchalant. “That’s…good choice,” he said. Miles nodded, and continued connecting cables. “‘I carried a watermelon,’” James offered.

Miles’s hands had been moving quickly, setting up for the day’s shoot, but they stopped as he glanced questioningly at James, “What?”

“Oh. Er,” James started, feeling exceedingly stupid. “It’s what Baby says. When she first meets him.”

“Oh. Right,” Mile said, chuckling, and turning back to his work. “Good memory.”

“I can’t help it. The lines just sort of stick.”

“And see, my brain’s just like a sieve. Goes right through. Maybe I need another watch sometime soon. You can tell me when all the good lines are coming up,” Miles said, another smirking glance sent James’s way.

“Oh. Yeah. Maybe.” James’s cheeks felt very hot. “Well…I should go. Do my…job. Or whatever.”

“Sounds good, mate,” Miles chuckled again. “See you around. And – if you ever want to get lifted like that, well…you know where to find me.”

“Um. Ok,” James said, knowing for certain now that he must look like a tomato. He turned exactly 180 degrees and walked for too long in that direction. It was only when he ended up on the outskirts of the set by the makeup trailer that he realized he’d gone exactly the wrong way. He had to call Clare.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hello there! I think I’m one of those peeps who appears to have just randomly ended up here bc my blog is many things, but it is not primarily a kotlc blog, and I show up and like your posts once in a blue moon - I’ve been lurking in the fandom tags for months (and whenever I’m in a lurking phase I’m always hesitant to like or rb things because anxiety is mean) after not really interacting with keeper fandoms for years (I think your analyses were some of the first posts I came across when I was rereading the series) and seeing other people post about my gay elf blorbos is so wonderful :)

Also, getting to the point here - I stayed up past 2 AM reading your fic because it was just. Anskdkfjdklsjf. Incredible. The stars-space-dark-light and finding each other motifs were so poignant and TIERTICE PROPOSAL (especially Prentice being the one to initiate affection and reminiscing and everything because Tiergan is so scared of getting so close just to lose him again and just. Oh my god the tenderness) and Tam rescuing Wylie from the light and them becoming brothers (brothers!!!!) and Linh and Rayni making amends and FAMILY and love and I absolutely love your writing style and this is just sleep deprived gushing but tldr: your blog and writing are wonderful and I hope this doesn’t come off as too weird! -🐳 (not sure if you already have a whale anon?)

Hello! I do not have a whale anon yet! Lurkers and not quite involved people are wonderful, it's so cool to see people who enjoy the same things I do even if you haven't made it practically your entire personality online. I'd put you in the "kinda unexpected but understandable" category, where I wouldn't peg the blog as a kotlc blog but they're involved in enough middle grade/ya fandoms that I can assume they partake in keeper casually.

There's just also this other category of "unexpected and I don't fully understand why you're here." This happens with like poetry and art aesthetic blogs run by adults, where they don't seem like someone who'd read keeper? And that's why most people follow me? But who am I to know their interests? So it perplexes me sometimes. I assume it's gotta do with my popular sibling post or something

But! back to your point! I am so sorry you stayed up late but also so flattered by that at the same time? wdym my silly little fic was worth losing sleep over? that does mean you got to read the fic at the same time the fic was set at though! I think that's fun.

Thank you for all the compliments!! i love the consistency the different motifs bring to each story, it feels like they're all intertwined in a deeper way. Like they're all on similar wavelengths in ways they can't even recognize but we can from the outside. It's so satisfying to write.

And the tiertice proposal! now they can be true antenna husbands <33. Was nervous to write their dynamic because I will be honest, I did absolutely all of it from memory and that memory was not very strong. Did not really pay attention to them at all when reading. And then when I realized "hey I didn't pay attention to them at all maybe I should double check what their dynamic is" I was too far into it and decided no we're winging it. If I just make this really good people will be too busy screaming to notice if they're out of character. I'm very glad I went ahead with my idea to add it (a proposal was NOWHERE in the original plan) because everyone seems to enjoy it if not find it absolutely adorable.

Yes!! Tam rescuing Wylie from the light! I hadn't even realized at first the meaning that could be found in that, I wrote it and only later realized that Wylie had been trying to get away from the light about found comfort in Tam, a shade. But I think it's an interesting comment on the importance of family to the two of them and the bond they've fostered, how something that can be seen as so threatening (all the things in the dark) can be utterly meaningless when it comes to someone you love. They're brothers and fiercely love each other, and it transcends expectations and social norms and they do it so casually. They fell into that life together, and I am. Endlessly fascinated by them.

Then there's Linh and Rayni!! Full disclosure I wasn't a huge Rayni fan going into this fic (she was fine, but I had more appreciation for her when she was Glimmer), but she grew on me. I admire how unapologetic she is, how thoroughly she's cast off her care for what other people think. I'm working towards being like that, but am not nearly as casual about it as she is. That whole section was an experiment with them

and don't worry, none of this comes off as weird at all! I think a lot of people fear they're weirder than they are, and if they are weird they should embrace it more :). I'm absolutely flattered you like my writing style though, so lucky for you I have no intention of stopping writing. Telling stories is so fulfilling I have zero desire to stop! so thank you for the encouragement, which I will use as writing fuel whenever I start up my next project (which is the dialogue prompts, but breaks about to be over and I just wrote that other fic so I'm chilling atm)

[couch-house]

What I read of it is good but there was a lot of content in that fic i cant really stomach. Ironic I had to stop reading an mpreg fic for casual homophobia and r*pe trivialization of all things lmao (I'm not critisizing anyone who enjoyed it btw. I doubt the author would have written some of the characters and dialogue the same way if it hadn't been the early 2000s)

ok when i first saw this message i got big mad and Hurt Butt Disorder about it but now that I’ve had some time to calm down I can see that yeah, although those things never bothered me, I can see how that type of content would be upsetting, especially coming from a character you like enough to bother reading fanfic for. for the benefit of other people who might similarly want to avoid these type of things, I’m going to put under the cut what (I think) you’re referring to, as best I can remember.

EDIT: the author is currently planning a rewrite of iss, so some of these content warnings will likely change in the future. from the replies: “fwiw, when I keep saying "I'm not going to start uploading new stuff or crossposting to AO3 until I've finished writing the fic AND EDITED THE FIRST THIRTY CHAPTERS"—this stuff is first and foremost among the things that I'm editing, and why I don't want to either post new stuff or present the fic to a new audience until it's edited.”

1) the rape mention has to do with repeated mention of a side character that was raped offscreen. most characters are sympathetic towards her (and gaz later beats the shit out of the rapist so that’s nice), but i think only once, it’s brought up around zim, who dismisses rape as “not real.” this is explained in-fic as being because irkens cannot be raped or commit rape, and zim is just a selfish shit that refuses to believe as a result that the same would not be true of others. this is framed within the story as wrong, judging by the reactions of the other character present, but this kind of thing in a fic can of course still be very jarring and uncomfortable. there may be another offhand comment by another irken character at some other point, but this is the only example I can recall. rape does not otherwise play any major part in the story.

2) I’m really uncertain about the homophobia but the closest I can recall is a scene where dib realizes zim’s in a m/m relationship and asks him if he’s gay. zim’s response is a very dismissive “no, too limiting.” again, this has an in-fic explanation irt irken sexuality, but I’m aware that many people may have heard these comments irl and be reasonably upset by them. as far as I know, there aren’t any other examples of homophobia, and if there are more they would likely be similar comments from other irkens.

anon if the scenes that you’re referring to aren’t here, shoot me an ask and I’ll correct this post.

EDIT: Anon added that: ““casual homophobia” was just Dib expressing disgust, his reactions to gay things being described as “disgust” explicitly, a handful of times. F slur being used in a swollen eyeball transcript, etc.“ 

My understanding of Dib’s reactions were based more on general disgust of ZIM being in those situations, but it’s entirely possible I’m forgetting/mis-remembering those scenes. I do recall the swollen eyeball bit, though I can’t be more helpful here with exactly when that was. I thiiiink it was in reference to an original character in the story and took place in-fic near christmas, if that helps people avoid or prepare for it.