#fun fact this show is what introduced me to fanfiction for the first time

[basiltonbutliketheherb]

rewatching sherlock for the first time since the last season came out and i have two thoughts

1. i do not remember this shit being so campy

2. screw johnlock i’m shipping him with moriarty

[janethepegasus]

One Random Headcanon for each OM Character

Lucifer has a small collection of non-cursed records stashed away in his room, which he sometimes listens to them when he feels like it. He used to get one record as a souvenir every time he goes to the human world, but he stopped doing that once they stopped selling records. Though he was happy that records were back in the market again, he was surprised that they’re now treated as luxury items for super fans of various artists.

Mammon isn’t the kind of guy that’s knowledgeable on animals, but he’s an expert on crows and ravens. He can tell which is which and knows a lot of fun facts about them. You could say they’re his favorite animals.

Leviathan, whenever he needs some time to himself, he dives into the aquarium in his room (in his demon form of course) and just relaxes in there. He finds the underwater sounds very calming.

Satan could’ve been a huge Warrior Cats fan if he was introduced to the series.

Asmodeus can actually glow under UV light. More specifically his eyes, horns, and wings. His horns and wings glow cyan while his eyes glow a striking magenta, almost making his eyes the center of attention while dancing under the UV lights.

Beelzebub can accurately guess someone or something’s weight just by holding them. It’s a skill he learned and mastered throughout the years, in fact he thinks his skill is more accurate than a scale. He can also tell if someone lost or gained weight.

Belphegor does NOT do well with coffee. Sure he can get energized after he drinks it, but the second the effects wear off, he falls straight to the floor and goes to sleep.

Diavolo gained his habit of sneaking out the castle due to his desire to enjoy the things he and his father has given to his subjects, he wants to experience the wonders of everyday life. He wants to enjoy as much of it as possible before he's crowned king, as he knows that opportunity would be striped away as soon as he's king.

Barbatos once teased MC by saying exactly what they were gonna say before they could even finish a sentence. The classic “stop copying me!”

Simeon has tried his hand in writing fanfiction before, but just like his writing, he accidentally predicts future events that will happen in whatever series he’s writing for.

Luke tried to prove that he’s not just a kid by renting and watching a horror movie. He couldn’t get past the first scary scene without covering his eyes and whimpering in fear.

Solomon’s very first dish he ever made was an odd combination of mash potatoes and milk, as a weird way to recreate soup. He recalls enjoying it when he made it for the first time.

Raphael’s flavor palate is completely messed up, he can hardly taste any flavor of anything he eats, even things that would usually make a person sick. But he didn’t get this from birth, he got it after a poorly executed prank. He ate a cupcake covered in magma salt and it literally burnt his tongue. But he sort of sees his lack of taste as a blessing, now he can enjoy any kind of food without any judgement on how good it is. …Though this made him a really bad cook.

Thirteen, in all her years of reaping souls, has come to hate people who risk their lives because they think whatever they were doing is cool. Why risk their lives just to do that dangerous stunt? Or do some silly challenge that’s clearly too dangerous for them to handle? She just doesn’t get it. She becomes a lecturing mother towards any stupid human that managed to live after their dangerous stunt, as a way to teach them to NOT risk their lives again.

Mephistopheles may love taking care of horses, but show him any of those horse girl shows or movies? He’ll just roll his eyes and scoff at it. Taking care of these majestic creatures is not some quirky girly hobby in his eyes, and the fact there’s a whole genre of this brings him great shame.

[cherrygorilla]

Ok, so you may or may not have inspired me with your Outsiders post to interrupt my usually sparse story post schedule and indulge in my own obsession with a certain musical. And as chaotic and random as it sounds, I promise it is good haha. But even if you disagree, please just let me vent and get all this out of my brain so that I can go back to writing the next part of TMM 😂

Alright, I've loved Starlight Express ever since I saw it when I was around... 7 or 8, maybe? It used to be my favourite show for years, and (fun fact) it was actually how I found out about fanfiction haha. I never wrote anything properly for the show, just like one or two pages in a random notebook when I was, idk 11 ? But it was around that time that TBM then came out, which I was obviously more drawn to writing-wise - I suppose because it gave me more freedom with stories and characters, since this show is just...you know...about trains lol.

And from the few times I've mentioned it before, I know it probably sounds insane, but if you just suspend your disbelief and accept it for what it is (a bunch of trains singing and falling in love), it is a lot of fun hahaha. I like to think of it like a mix between Cats and Cinderella, but the basic gist of the story, so you can have at least somewhat of an idea of what's going on lol, is that Control (a little kid - I don't think they have a name, they're literally just known as Control) sneaks out of bed one night to hold this big race between all his toy trains to find out who is the best - so the story essentially takes place within his imagination, as all the trains come to life to tell the story. It's like Cats in the regard that most of the first act is everyone kind of introducing themselves in turn. There's Greaseball, the champion diesel train, Rusty, the little steam engine who wants to race with the big trains, and Electra, the electric engine of the future - and a bunch of other trains and coaches, but I won't bore you with all that (just yet 😉). So, to cut a long story short, it's basically a big competition between those three main trains to see who's fastest, with Rusty being the obvious underdog, and hence the centre of the Cinderella story element.

The plot itself is nothing groundbreaking, and neither are the songs tbh, but it's just such a fun show that I can't help but love it anyway. I mean come on, the whole thing's done on roller skates - that's pretty damn cool! And although I've loved it for years, it had taken quite a backseat for a while, but the recent revival that has recently opened in London has really reignited my obsession with it all over again 😆 Because how do you make my favourite pairing in the whole show even more iconic? ...you turn them into lesbians 😎 Plus the costumes were all reimagined by Gabriella Slade, who did the costumes for Six, and they look SO cool!

Now, a big part of why I loved your Outsiders post so much was all the story ideas/similarities for characters you included, but I can't really do that here because (once again)... they're all trains, and none of them are really that deep or serious anyway. BUT, what I did think might be fun, would be going through who I think each of our characters would be good at playing if they were (for some bizarre reason) to ever put on the show - because I do have some strong opinions about that haha. And, as a little bonus, I have written some little random one-off story snippets that are Starlight Express adjacent that I'll throw in at the end lol - more as a reward for you wading through all my nonsense than anything tbh. But they were fun to write too haha.

So yeah, welcome to the insane workings of my brain - and pull up a chair; this could take a while 😅

Ok, I think the best place to start would be with going through the characters in the show and, like I said, matching them up with potential characters of ours I think would be good at playing them. I'll sort of elaborate on 'why' for each one too to help keep things entertaining from an outside perspective lol - and hopefully to help back up my arguments for each lmao. Because, let's face it, none of our characters have particularly...train-like characteristics. 😂

First up we've got Rusty, who's essentially the show's main character. Most of the conflict in the show centres around him; the 'better' trains all totally disregard him, a lot of the coaches tease him, and although he loves Pearl, she's more interested in the newer, more exciting trains than boring, quiet little Rusty. BUT, as with all Cinderella stories, he comes out on top in the end; he wins the race (I would say spoiler alert, but it's also like...duh 🙄😂) and gets his dream girl. He's a really likeable underdog character throughout the story though, and he does put up a good fight to come out victorious, which I appreciate - he doesn't just lay down and let everyone walk (well, roll 😉) all over him.

Now, who do I think would be good to play Rusty? Well, as I mention later on in the one-shots, and have potentially mentioned elsewhere too, I weirdly feel like Riven would really like the show. Maybe he has some childhood nostalgia linked to it like I do - maybe his dad took him to see it when he was younger since it involves skating? I don't know all the details, but something within me tells me Riven would like this show lmao. And so, in the spin-off scenario where our characters put on this show (which is the one I'll always lead with in these things), I think he'd want to take a leading role in the directing side of it - and probably spear-headed the campaign for putting it on in the first place tbh haha. BUT, I feel like a lot of people at Camp (because yes, I think they'd do this at Camp; I don't know when else they would all want to put on a show like this lmao) would think the whole thing was an insane idea, and wouldn't want anything to do with it (because it kind of is an insane idea). SO, I think that Riven would not only end up directing most of the show, I also think he'd have to step into Rusty's skates - which wouldn't be as daunting as he initially expected since he knows the show so well already. Plus, besides the backstory element, I just think he'd be a really cute Rusty; his auburn hair is perfect for it, he's a quietly determined guy, and he's an experienced skater, so he'd have no trouble taking on such a demanding role in terms of the skating.

So yeah, Riven would be my first pick. BUT, this new revival of the show that's being performed in London is playing Rusty and Pearl (his love interest, who we'll get to in a minute) in a much more innocent, shy way - and it's freaking adorable. And I think if we were leaning into more of that version of the show, Royce would make a brilliant Rusty if Vivien could be his Pearl. I don't know how likely he'd be to take on another leading role after being thrown into Hairspray like he was in your last Camp Wanamaker story, especially one that required him to be on roller skates the entire time, but I think he'd really nail it with that more innocent, down-trodden interpretation of the character.

But if everyone was willingly getting involved in the show, and they wanted to lean more into the old-school portrayal of Rusty and Pearl, that feels a little older, and more heavily romantically driven, then I feel like Miles and Carrie make SO much sense for those parts. The whole 'chasing after a girl you think is out of your league' thing has both Miles and Rusty written all over, and I think Miles would, again, play that fluctuating determination and defeat really well. Plus, I know this doesn't really mean anything, but his struggles for money do parallel Rusty being this rundown, tattered, but persistent little steam train pretty well... 😂

Ok, now we'll move onto Pearl. Pearl is the newest coach in the little kid's collection, and is therefore the most sought-after racing partner (since all the trains need to race with a coach - idk why, it's just part of the story I suppose lol). Sometimes she's a 'first class' coach, sometimes she's an 'observation car', it doesn't really matter - all that matters is that all the trains want to race with her, and although she has a soft spot for Rusty, who has loved her all along, she gets seduced by the flashiness of his competitors, and it takes her almost getting wrecked in the final race for her to see sense. She can be a little naive sometimes, or will sometimes just blatantly play the field (depending on how you play her), but her heart is always in the right place, which is what still makes her so likeable.

Again, for Pearl I've got multiple options for who could play her, but I'll start with Juliet. The new all-white version of Pearl's costume that they use in the current Bochum production just screams Juliet to me: that sleek sophistication and quiet confidence, but also a touch of flirty, girly charm is so her! And I think she'd make a great leading lady - which is why she's my pick for that spin-off scenario version of the show. Pearl has some great songs, which would be perfect for Juliet to show off more of her voice, with her wanting to be a singer eventually, and with you hinting at Riven and Juliet maybe having a little bit of a fling or something in your last STDP post, having them play the two leads here seems like a perfect fit for them! Rusty thinking Pearl's way out of his league, but Pearl falling for his kindness and good heart anyway - that just screams Riven and Juliet to me! Pearl also has a strong sisterhood-type friendship with the other coaches, which I think really works for Juliet too. And Pearl does try to stand up for what she thinks is right when the bigger trains start taking the competition a little too far - so I think Juliet could bring a great deal of her own strength to her portrayal of the character as well.

Now, my second choice for Pearl, links with the second choice for Rusty above, which is, obviously Vivien. I feel like the new London revival Pearl was MADE for Vivien to play; the whole space-y vibes of the show, the fact that they made her purple, and the fact that they made her this happy little ball of excitement, with a touch more innocence than previous Pearls - she's perfect for Vivien. And the awkwardly adorable, friends-to-lovers arc Rusty and Pearl have in this new revival was practically written for Royce and Vivien lmao - I just think they'd be able to play them brilliantly. And again, like with Juliet, I think Vivien's fiestiness would allow her to bring a lot of strength and determination to Pearl's character that isn't always there - she can sometimes be played quite airy and 'damsel-in-distress-like', but I think Vivien would really ground her.

And my last choice for the role is Carrie - she's not my favourite pick for the role, and I think she'd be better at other parts (as we'll see in a minute lol), but as I said earlier, if Miles is playing Rusty, I think Carrie would make an amazing Pearl opposite him. Their dynamic just fits them so well - Miles pining for her but not feeling like he's good enough, Carrie being blinded to her true feelings by other options (in this situation I feel like Eric would make a great Greaseball lol) but coming around in the end - it's just perfect! And, I truly believe that the song Pearl sings in the original London production, Only He, can only be bodied in the way it deserves to be bodied by my girl Carrie haha. I'm not a big fan of Next Time You Fall In Love, but I do quite like I Do (the replacement options for Only He), and I think Juliet and Vivien would do great renditions of them, but there's just something about the thought of Carrie singing that song that just makes so much sense. I've got an idea for her to sing it in a legitimate story too (that's how obsessed with that song I am lmao), probably linked to the heartache referenced in the little drabble I'll post below, but I feel like she needs to sing it for an actual audience too haha. It's just such a beautiful, powerful, swelling theatre ballad - she'd kill it!!

Alright, now we're getting to the good stuff. This is Greaseball: arguably the main antagonist of the show because, although most of the characters rag on Rusty, a lot of them do so to show their support for Greaseball. They're the reigning, undefeated champion when it comes to the races, so they have quite the ego on them. They're brash, and cocky, and a little brute-ish, but they're also incredibly competitive, which often gets in the way of their better judgement, resulting in a total disregard for everyone else (including their undeservingly loyal girl, Dinah). They're a total showboat and narcissist, but they do have a dopey, lovable side that Dinah helps to bring out towards the end of the show, which does help redeem them haha.

Now, there are two ways that Greaseball can be played: the traditional way, or the new way. For the traditional way (the sort of wannabe-Elvis, old school rockstar portrayal), Butchy feels like an obvious pick. And although I don't think he's anything like Greaseball's character, you know if he had to play him he'd take to the greaser caricature like a duck to water lmao. Plus, if Mick was playing Dinah (which, you'll see in a bit, I think works perfectly for her), they'd make an adorable duo in the show, and I think they'd have a lot of fun hamming up the roles to make them even more ridiculously cartoonish. And if Mick was his Dinah, I think Butchy would do the whole 'crawling back to her with his tail between his legs' schtick soooo well - he'd just melt into a puddle for her the second he apologised for being such a brute haha. The only thing that's holding me back with Butchy is that I don't know how good he'd be at being so mean to his friends - especially if someone like Miles or Royce was playing Rusty haha; he's just too nice! Plus, I don't know how well he could roller skate lmaoo.

OR, the other way Greaseball can be played is like how they've done it in the new London revival of the show: by making her into a fiesty little lesbian. And this is the role I feel like Carrie could really excel at. I just think she'd have sooo much fun with all the showboating and playing up the bravado. It's so different to anything else she's played before that I think she'd have a great time getting to try it out too - and I think she'd really enjoy getting to lean into playing a villain as well. I'm just obsessed with everything about the London revival Greaseball - her costume is so cool, her attitude is so iconic, the way she's adapted the character I just, uh- it's brilliant! And as cool as it could be to try out a male Dinah by getting Miles into some frilly gingham (lol), I think having either Juliet or Mick be her Dinah would work really well. I'll get into why I think Juliet would be a perfect Dinah later, but her dynamic with Carrie if they were to take on these roles would just be perfect; Juliet's mild scolding of Carrie's bruteish behaviour, but her unwavering loyalty regardless, Carrie's brushing off of her affection for the sake of winning, but then realising she didn't know how good she had it with Juliet by the end - aaaah, I love them. But for the spin-off scenario, where Juliet would be playing Pearl, my pick for Dinah would have been Mick - again, I'll elaborate more on why that works so well for her in a bit, but there's something about Mick and Carrie being paired up romantically like this that just entertains me so much, and low-key kind of intrigues me too haha. In my head, the way it would have played out was that they'd approached Butchy with the offer for the role first, hoping that if they also offered Mick to be his love interest, he'd be more likely to accept it. But after he dismissed it so blatantly, and they couldn't get anyone else to convincingly fit the role, Carrie was called upon to take his place - and to get back at Butchy for not even considering the part, Mick decides to take the Dinah role anyway, but doesn't tell him. Because imagine his face when he realises that this role they'd said couldn't be played by anyone but him was not only being played by Carrie, of all people, but that his wife was playing her love interest (and was practically throwing herself at Carrie the whole show)! They'd have so much fun torturing him with it, I just know it haha. And omg Carrie would have a whale of a time with Pumping Iron lmao. Plus, her skating skills can finally come in handy for something lol; she'd be throwing in all the tricks.

Alright, so here's where I started grouping people together because I realised I was rambling far too much about the rest lol. As cool of a character as Electra is concept-wise, I don't think I can talk about them in that much depth haha - they're just not one of my favourites! I don't feel like they have that big of an impact on the story tbh; it feels mostly Rusty/Greaseball centred to me, but it's nice to give Greaseball a bit of real competition in the races I guess haha. Their futuristic, diva-ish vibe is really interesting though, and the fact they have their own entourage is pretty iconic too. But with that all being said, I just don't think there's any of our characters that really fit their archetype, even just in terms of who'd be best at playing them - especially males, since that's what Electra has typically been played as (even though they're nonbinary in the new London revival). I thought it might have been fun to get Donny to play them in the spin-off scenario, because I like to think he's a good enough actor to pull off any role haha - and like with Carrie and Greaseball, I think he'd have a lot of fun with doing something totally different to any of his other roles. I don't quite know how it would come about that he'd ever get involved in an amateur production like this, but in my head I thought it would be cute if, besides Carrie's constant begging and pestering about how they don't have enough people to fill out the cast, he's swayed by the fact that his son's in his 'train' phase at the moment - and so he agrees purely for shits and giggles and getting to make his son excited hahaha. Plus, I think he and Carrie would have a lot of fun getting to play rivals for once instead of lovers lol. And I just know they'd really lean into the comedic side of One Rock 'N' Roll Too Many. But besides Donny, I really have no other good picks. I thought if it was maybe the situation where Butchy was playing Greaseball they could do a female Electra and cast Carrie - because she'd do a fabulous job at selling the glitzy, diva vibes and overall over-the-top dramaticness of the character, and a female Electra would be incredible - but like with Pearl, it's just not my favourite pick for her. More out of necessity than anything haha - although it would be perfect to have Butchy and Carrie playing enemies like that lol.

And then the second one on this list is Poppa/Momma McCoy, who's an old steam engine that takes part in one of the races to help encourage Rusty and prove that steam trains aren't outdated after all. The role has been played by both male and female actors, but it tends to lean more female lately. And whilst I'm sure Grandpa George would happily help the kids out with their show, I have much stronger feelings on different female characters taking on the role.

Firstly, how iconic could it be if Nonna Dawn surprised everyone who wasn't helping out with the show by rolling out to sing Momma's (Poppa's) Blues?? Because that's my main pick for the spin-off scenario and I feel like Viv's face would just be a picture lmaoo. She helped out quite a bit with the stuff in the playhouse in Camp Wanamaker too, so she obviously likes theatre, and she just has that kind of fun, mischievous charm about her, so I feel like when Riven and Carrie would approach her with the idea, she'd love it - especially with that added element of surprise for the audience. And the whole mentor/advice-giver role Momma takes on in the show would work perfectly for Dawn; she's like the embodiment of the voice of reason haha.

My second pick, if you wanted to play Momma a little younger, like the London revival has done (with her playing both Control's mum, and Momma), would be Charlie, because she took a big role in helping out at the playhouse in Camp Wanamaker, and obviously cares a lot about theatre. And she has a really close relationship to Carrie and Riven, so I feel like they'd be able to talk her around to taking part eventually. My only thing holding me back is that part of my feels as though she'd want nothing to do with the production because she'd be too scared someone was gonna get hurt since the whole thing's done on rollerskates - her pseudo-motherly instincts couldn't cope with the stress lmaooo. And if it's in the spin-off scenario, where in my head Vivien's organising a rival production (probably of The Outsiders since you're enjoying it so much atm haha), I feel like Vivien would have already snagged her to help with directing on her project.

And my last potential pick for Momma, in an AU version, and one where Royce or Miles was Rusty, would, of course, be Mrs Murphy. I don't know how she would have done with performing, but Momma obviously takes on a motherly role to Rusty, and the freight/fuel trucks too - so Mrs Murphy taking on that role opposite one of her actual sons, and helping to give them the confidence they need to succeed, just makes so much sense to me! Pretty unlikely scenario, but a fun one to consider nonetheless haha.

Ooh ok, more of my faves again haha. Dinah used to be my all-time favourite growing up, so I have lots of opinions about her. But basically, she's another of the 4 coaches (along with Pearl), and her main role in the show is that she's Greaseball's racing partner (and therefore, essentially also their romantic partner). They have a kind of strained relationship most of the show, because Dinah's totally head-over-wheels (😉) for Greaseball, but Greaseball's also being fawned over by pretty much every other coach, and is reluctant to give in to Dinah's affection for fear of showing any weakness to their opponents - so they can be pretty mean sometimes. BUT, they do have a really cute moment when Greaseball loses in the end and goes back to Dinah to apologise, realising that they still love each other without all the glory of being champions.

She's a pretty confident character though, and is good at standing up for herself when she doesn't think something's right - but she's still able to show her softer, more vulnerable side, which makes her a really well-rounded character imo. There are a few good options for who I'd want to play her though, and although I mention later that Carrie would be a good Dinah, I only think she'd really get cast in the role if she it was an externally produced show, since she only ever lands secondary parts haha. I think she'd be a great Dinah, don't get me wrong, but I just think that if all our characters were in the show, there are better choices for her.

My first one, as mentioned earlier, would be Mick. The brunette hairstyle she's been given lately, as opposed to the blonde, works for Mick so well, and with red being her favourite colour, taking the red from the new London costume but applying it to the more traditional gingham style - aaaah, she'd look adorable. Plus, like I said above, having her play this role opposite Butchy just makes so much sense - but, having her play it opposite Carrie (like she would in my spin-off scenario) would be brilliant. I just think they'd have so much fun with it, especially knowing how weird it would make Butchy feel watching them together, and oddly, I feel like it would help their friendship grow even stronger😂 It's just such an iconic pairing, and I really think they'd do it justice. I think she'd make a really strong-willed Dinah, and as unsteady as I think she'd be on roller skates at first, I think that'd make everyone all the more impressed when they saw her racing and dancing around with everyone else haha - Riven and Carrie would work their magic with teaching her.

And with Dinah being typically played as a sort of 'Southern Belle' type, the obvious pick for Dinah, and one that also makes a ton of sense to me, would, of course, be Juliet. And if she wasn't playing Pearl, this is definitely who I'd have her play. I think she'd be able to lean into the more sensitive, emotional side of Dinah, whilst also keeping a bit of the strength that Mick would bring to her - and you just know that if Carrie was her Greaseball they'd be in their element playing lesbain lovers 👀😂 They'd peak here, I feel. This and Maureen and Joanne in Rent - they'd be untouchable.

I didn't even know whether to include CB in this or not since he's been taken out and put back into the show so many times, but I reference him in one of the one-shots so I thought it was best to. Basically, he's a caboose coach that, in the second act, reveals that he's got a little evil streak behind his oh-so innocent appearance, and that he's actually notorious for wrecking the trains he races behind. So, (although I don't think it's ever actually explained why lol) he teams up with Greaseball and Electra to trick Rusty into racing with him, only to try wrecking him in the big final race. Naturally, it doesn't work, but hey, he acts as a zany little extra antagonist, which I'm never going to complain about haha. 

Like I mention later on, I think Riven would feel kind of drawn to this role - especially because of the softer side we see with him when he comforts Dinah after Greaseball ditches her (for being too moral for their dirty racing tactics lol). Plus, there's that 'red' motif again that would work with his auburn hair - and I think he'd be able to play that coolly sly, kind of crazily sadistic twist well because of how chill he is normally. That switch would be so jarring! But, perhaps an even more jarring option, I think Bentley could also do this part really well. He'd be the perfect, innocent mask to begin with because he's so little and smiley - but then I think he'd have a lot of fun getting to flip that on its head and be the complete antithesis of his usual ball of sunshine personality to be a little crazy criminal instead. Obviously he's nothing like that normally, but acting-wise, if he felt confident enough with it, I think he could really do it justice! And it'd make an even cooler contrast if one of his brothers was playing Rusty; that betrayal would be even harsher!

Alright, now onto the coaches. Let's try to speed through these because I already know I've wasted far too much of your time lmao. If you're still reading at this point, I'm actually pretty impressed 😂 The coaches have changed a bunch over the years, mostly for things going out of fashion (*cough cough* Ashley the smoking car lol) - but the current ones in the London revival are Belle the sleeping car and Tassita the quiet coach. Since these are smaller, more generic parts, I don't really have as much to say about them. But, for Belle I thought that Jade might be a good pick, because I know she can sing since she's in Riven's band, and idk, maybe she naps a lot? 😂 Either way, even though she's said before that she can't act to save her life, I don't think she'd have to act a great deal in this role - but she can sing and skate, and that's enough to give her the confidence to agree to help out in my book haha. And for Tassita, who's the first coach to ever be played by a male performer, which is pretty cool, I thought August might be a fun pick - you know, because he's such a quiet guy himself lol. Besides that though, I've always thought he'd be a good performer (he was originally going to have a part on Find Your Voice after all), and although, like Jade, I don't think he'd have a great deal of confidence at first - especially in a role that still appears quite feminine when he's not totally secure about his sexuality - but I think they'd be able to tweak both the part and the costume until it was something he'd feel comfortable doing. And once he started working on it, I think it'd be really good at bringing him out of his shell! Plus, I like to think he's got a really good voice hidden behind all that shyness - so this is an excuse to finally bring it out into the open hehe. 

Other coaches that could be worked in from other productions are Buffy the buffet car, Duvet the sleeper car (an alternate to Belle), Carrie the luggage car (what a coincidence lol), or, the original Belle the sleeping car, from the original London production way back in the 80s. Belle didn't really do a great deal plot-wise besides help motivate Rusty, and Dinah and the rest of the coaches in the second act when they're ditched by the trains they race with (please, Starlight Express producers, bring back the Rolling Stock reprise; it's iconic lmao) - but if for some reason they wanted to use her in the show, I think Charlie would be a great pick for her. She'd give her all the old-school glamour and girl-power she deserves haha. And I think she'd look iconic in that red costume. 

Finally, my last category: the freight/fuel trucks. Well, actually just the fuel trucks. I thought about including the freight trucks too, but tbh, I don't really have any strong opinions on any of them, and this post is already far too long, so I just left them out lol. But, like the coaches, the fuel trucks are just more racing partner options for the trains. Some have bigger parts than others, but their main purpose is providing fuel (shocking, I know ha). They're new to the London revival though, and tbh I like them more than the freight trucks; they feel more central to the plot - even if it did make the song Freight significantly worse lmao.

And speaking of central to the plot, Hydra, the hydrogen fuel truck is the new reason why Rusty wins the final race (because before it didn't really make that much sense tbh lmao); he's now powered by hydrogen steam, which gives him the advantage over his opponents. And throughout the show, despite the other fuel trucks ragging on Hydra for being too new and dangerous in comparison to their more reliable fuel sources, he ignores them and stands by his belief in his fuel. The only pick in my mind for Hydra because of this though is Ethan - and although I have no idea if he'd ever have any remote interest in acting, especially in a musical theatre production, you know he's so loyal to his friends he'd do anything to help them out if they asked. And, I think he'd just think the idea was so weird he'd be down to participate just for the hell of it lol. But Hydra's way of not caring what anyone else thinks of him, and sticking to his own beliefs, is so Ethan to me - plus, they just have that same, chilled, laid back vibe. And, naturally, they both have that kind of green motif 😉🍃 So yeah, for me, Ethan has to be Hydra - and no matter who's playing Rusty, I feel like he'd vibe enough with all of them for him to jump at the chance to help them out like Hydra helps Rusty in the show. And it'd finally give him an excuse to use those roller skating skills I know he's hiding somewhere despite his usually terrible clumsiness ha. 

For Porter (the red coal truck) I think Zack could maybe play him? Not completely sold on that idea because I don't think he'd really vibe with musicals, but if August roped him into helping out I think he'd begrudgingly agree - and Porter basically does nothing anyway, so he couldn't really complain lol. And for Lumber (the blue timber truck) I picked Erica - not only because her blue hair would look sick with an all-blue costume like that, but also because the thought of Jade and Erica flirting as their characters during the little bickering section between the coaches and the fuel trucks in the song Freight had me weak at the knees. So if they were both in it, their characters would 100% be in love, no questions asked - I need flirty trucks and coaches hahaha. 

So then the final role I'm passionate about is Slick, the oil truck, which is the new London revival's answer to CB, since she not only takes on his main song, but also the whole concept of wanting to race with Rusty to wreck him and help out the competition. This revival also gives her a monetary aim though, which is good for giving her more of a motive, I suppose. I don't really know how trains are supposed to use money, but it's at least a reason, which is more than we had before lmao. I think Abby would be such a good pick for Slick though - I'd want to make her a little more girly, giving her some different hair (like my little reference picture, or maybe something like some fun bubble braids or something - like oil bubbles 👀) and a more feminine costume - but I think having a pretty important role like that would help bring out her confidence with performing a lot, without totally throwing her out of her comfort one with a big main role. I think she'd like the added challenge and fun that the villainous twist Slick has would bring though; it'd give her something a bit different to play with. And with Slick's colour palette mirroring Greaseball's, and her being an oil truck, makes me thing that Abby would really want to lean into making Slick a little Greaseball fangirl, who is constantly looking up to her and wanting to impress her (and hence giving her even more motivation to wreck Rusty and help Greaseball win the race) - which I think would also nicely mirror how much Abby would look up to Carrie (an established actress already) if they were to ever meet. I just think it works really well for her, and I love how the show's leaning more into mixing the genders of the coaches and the freight trucks - even if the costumes are still leaning more feminine and masculine respectively, I think our characters would have more fun tailoring them to each performer's preferences. Because come on, Abby being a pretty girly, but still menacing, little secondary villain would be so cool - she needs to let her rebellious side shine!

Excuse the TMM spacer lol, I'm too lazy to go make a new one lmao. Anyway, if you made it through all that, you really are a true friend haha - because that was soooo much insane rambling. But, I do feel better for dumping it out of my mind and onto a page. Maybe now I can finally stop obsessing over it and get back to writing the stories I should be working on. But hopefully this was a little fun post to switch things up a bit! And hopefully you at least liked it half as much as I enjoyed your Outsiders post haha. If, for some bizarre reason, you actually are interested in the show, then just let me know because I have a slime tutorial (*wink wink*) of the new revival I'd happily send you the link to, because I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. But even if not, like I said, this was just a bit of silly fun to give all these ideas a home. It's not a complex show, and it doesn't have particularly elevated songs or characters, but the orchestrations are clever, the costumes and theatrics are amazing, and it's all done on roller skates - so it'll always have a special, fun spot in my heart hehe. I've linked a video of the megamix at the end of the new London revival for you to get a bit of a vibe of what the show's like without having to watch the whole thing too if you want hehe - at least this way you can see some of the skating and costumes in action! And, as promised, as a reward for sitting through the insanity of this post, here are two little drabbles with our characters as a reward.

The first centres around the song There's Me, and a pairing I think works particularly well for it, that I'm dying to see/write more of - it's also plucked out of that Camp Wanamaker spin-off I wanted to do that I'm not sure will ever materialise. But consider this a sneak peek into what would have gone down lol. And the second is a litle bit of what the chaos the concept of Riven and Vivien putting on rivalling productions would have brought about haha. For context, I think although Riven would have bagged Carrie for his show straight away, Vivien would have furiously retaliated by claiming everyone else in their cabin for hers - hence the competitiveness that ensues. Enjoy! Hopefully they're not too weird to not still be enjoyable anyway 😅😂

The dusty deck creaked as a scuffed, black Converse nudged into her periphery. But her eyes never left the lake - as grey as the thick blanket of clouds overhead, and as bleak as her outlook. 

"The laundry house, really?" the voice demanded, pausing to give the girl a chance to explain herself. 

She did not. 

Sighing, the guest realised this was going to be harder than he expected. After all, he wasn't used to her being this…subdued. "You know, I just think it's a testament to our friendship that I was the only one who knew to look for you here," he offered with a playful smile…that went completely unnoticed. Frowning as the girl continued to ignore his very existence, he let out another sigh, this one as he lowered himself down and took up the space beside her, nudging the sole of her now off-white sneaker with his knee to draw her out of her thoughts. "Come on, Carrie. I'm trying here," he said. But when he leant forwards to try to get a clearer look at her face, and found her cheeks marred with glistening tracks in her foundation, and her puffy eyes speckled with remnants of her mascara, his frustration waned. "You can't hide from them forever," he gently added.

"I want to," Carrie murmured.

"You don't mean that," he tried.

"I do; at least that way I wouldn't be able to fuck things up any more than I already have," she limply insisted.

"You didn't-"

"Don't give me that, Riven; I know I did," Carrie said, cutting him off with an exasperated huff. "I shouldn't have done it, I shouldn't have yelled at them like that. But I was just in such a bad mood after that class, and I was so fed up with everything, so then to come back to all that I just…"

"...Let all those years of bottled up frustration out?" Riven offered.

"Something like that," Carrie mumbled, dropping her gaze to her lap, knowing that if she actually made eye contact with the boy her resolve would start to crumble in an instant. 

"Hmm," he began, murmuring his understanding as he took his turn to look out across the lake. "I heard it wasn't pretty."

Although Riven was no longer looking at her, he saw her dark blonde curls trembling out of the corner of his eye as she shook her head.

"I'm so embarrassed," she admitted, voice barely above a whisper. A fresh tear plopped onto her thigh as she kept her watery gaze steady, praying she'd be able to get a handle on her waterworks for once. "They hate me for sure now."

"They never hated you, Carrie," Riven promised, turning back to her again as though it would persuade her to believe him. 

But Carrie proved to be as stubborn as ever, completely bypassing the comment with a mournful smile she still couldn't bring herself to lift from the floor. "All that time I spent trying to win them over…down the drain, all because I had a shit day and lost my cool."

"I don't know, I'd still say you're pretty cool," Riven tried with a playful lopsided grin, bumping her shoulder until she turned to see it for herself.

When she did finally turn to face him though, it was with that flat, annoyed frown that always just egged him on more. "This isn't a joke," she grumbled, but Riven's little chuckle said otherwise. 

"I'm not saying it is," he countered. "I'm just letting you know it's gonna take a hell of a lot more than one dumb argument for me to stop thinking you're cool. Come on, you're Caroline Cole: entertainer extraordinaire-"

"Why are you doing this?" Carrie stopped his playful bolstering in its tracks with a weary sigh.

"Because I want to," Riven said, standing firm in his optimism. "Come on, I hate seeing you like this," he pressed on fitfully, uneasy with her uncharacteristic despondency. She was usually the life and soul of the party in that playhouse, now she had all the energy of a wet paper towel. Hoping to distract her with a little healthy competition, he added, "We should be out there crushing Erica's cabin at volleyball right now."

"Well forgive me, but I'm not really in the mood," Carrie flatly retorted.

"What are you in the mood for?" he challenged, with a primarily jovial tone, but a hint of creeping frustration. "Moping about like a kicked puppy?"

"Yes, actually," she snipped. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news but I can't be the 'smiling showgirl' 24/7…" Her frown twitched into the faintest of wistful smiles as her voice trailed off, carrying her focus back into the turmoil unfolding within her own head. "I'm allowed to have emotions, I'm just not allowed to show them," she went on to explain with a quiet, self-loathing huff. "'Cause that's when things always turn to shit."

All Riven's teasing intent slipped away, seeping into the damp wood beneath them, as it began to dawn on him that there may have been more to her dramatic disappearance than what he'd initially thought. "...This is about more than just you yelling at the boys, isn't it?" he slowly asked, treading carefully, as though to not set off a bomb.

And yet, Carrie dropped one on him anyway.  

"I think Miles and I are gonna break up, Riv."

The words hung in the muggy air between them, not daring to be believed.

Stunned, hazel eyes settled on Carrie's profile, unable to tear themselves away until she explained herself. So, she began to talk. Slowly but surely, she unravelled the tangle of thoughts in her head, laying them out before her friend, praying that his sensible, perceptive mind could help her make sense of them. "It's just…not felt right this summer. It's like he's…pulling away, or something," she started, still avoiding eye contact at all costs. At least that way she could keep a handle on her tears, even if her mouth did start to run away from her instead. "And the arguing with Royce never helps, but it's just been getting worse instead of better and I can tell he's getting frustrated with it, but I'm trying and nothing's working and I don't understand why and that's making me frustrated, which makes the bickering worse, I just-" She stopped to snatch a breath, only to blow out all her remaining self-confidence with it. "I feel like I've got no fight left anymore. I can't see it getting better. And when I know Miles would always side with his brothers, and everyone else would side with him if things went south… I don't know, it just kind of stings, I guess; one wrong move and I lose them all. No matter what I do, I'd still be left out on my own."

"Don't lump me in with that."

Startled, Carrie lost her focus and turned to the boy; she'd been so lost in her own thoughts she'd forgotten she wasn't alone anymore. But even when she searched his expression, his comment still made no sense. "What do you mean?"

"Well don't say I'd never speak to you again if things with you and Miles didn't work out," he explained as though it was the simplest thing in the world. "Which they totally will by the way, but that's beside the point," he tacked on as that playful chuckle of his started creeping back into his voice. "Of course I'd still speak to you; you can't get rid of me that easily."

"Really?" Carrie asked, wary despite the hopeful glint in her ocean eyes. 

"Yes, really, idiot," he snorted. "I'm not just friends with you 'cause you're dating Miles, you're my drama buddy," he went on to explain with a grin holding nothing but fond sincerity. "You're the only one that keeps me sane in that playhouse, and even then you're so ridiculous I can only take you seriously like 60% of the time. Plus, I did see you naked that one time-"

"I was not- it was just my top."

The frustrated tone shining through in the way she had cut him off, and the way she had hurriedly returned to avoiding his gaze, struck Riven down. "Oh my god, you didn't even laugh at the bikini story. This really is bad," he said - again, half-joking, half-genuinely-concerned. Reaching behind him, his fingers closed around glossy wood as a teasing smile started to tug at his lips. "I didn't want it to have to come to this…"

Hearing fingers start plucking at guitar strings, Carrie's bewildered frown deepened as she turned back to him. "What are you doing?"

"I can't help it, you've left me no choice," he chuckled, cheesily grinning back at her and continuing to lazily pluck out a melody. "I'm not leaving until I've cheered you up - even if that means resorting to music."

"Come on, Riv," Carrie wearily groaned, not nearly as amused by the offer as he'd hoped she would be. "Stop, I'm not in the mood. Can't you just leave me alone?"

The plucking stopped and Riven sat the guitar fully back in his lap, his own brows now starting to furrow. "They really got you this time, huh?"

Carrie sighed as she dropped her gaze to her lap again. "I don't like to show it normally 'cause I know they don't always mean it, they just want to get a rise out of me," she slowly confessed. "But it was…different last night. It's felt different since we arrived."

"I really thought you guys were getting somewhere," Riven softly mused, just as perplexed by the sudden nosedive in amiability as the others in the cabin.

"So did I," Carrie agreed, smiling painfully down at a knot in the wood. A million things she wanted to say swirled in her head, but none of her thoughts were quite able to be fit into words - nothing that could make a coherent sentence anyway. She didn't know whether to get mad, and let the rest of her pent up anger spill across the deck until she'd rid herself of it completely. She didn't know whether to just push it to the back of her mind again, put on a brave face and swan back into camp as though nothing was wrong at all. She didn't know whether to stay hidden, avoiding everyone at the cabin and all her problems at the same time. At least that way she wouldn't have to face them again, or have to try to explain herself and her inexcusable temperament to Miles. God, he was probably so mad at her right now. 

More and more thoughts flew through her mind, hitting the walls of her skull like rabid animals until her head pounded and her resolve broke down. Helpless tears started to slip from her eyes as the hopelessness of her position washed over her all over again. She felt a hand on her back that brought her back to her senses in an instant though - having forgotten, yet again, that she wasn't alone out here. She sniffed and hurriedly patted away the tears, trying to salvage what little of her makeup still remained. "Guess I'm not such a heartless bitch after all," she offered, managing a melancholy chuckle at her predicament that, although was an improvement, still did nothing to show Riven that she was feeling more like her usual self. 

In fact, he just felt more concerned than ever. Carrie was strong-willed and stubborn, bold and exuberant - not the shying, insecure, tearful shell of a girl before him. He'd already suspected that her confidence had been knocked this summer thanks to the rather personal disruption at the playhouse, but this was worse than he thought. And he couldn't stand by in good conscience and watch her fire be extinguished. 

Setting his guitar back into position, he began plucking at the strings again. Carrie shot him another questioning look, with a slightly annoyed huff, but he stuck to his guns and kept playing, offering her nothing but a cheesy, comforting grin in response. "Complain all you want," he chuckled. "But I'm not gonna stop playing." 

Although Carrie just rolled her eyes, she did manage a small, resigned laugh as she gave up on the pushback. And soon, to her surprise, lyrics began to accompany his playing - as gentle and reassuring as his own intent.

All alone, you think you're on your own You think there's no one in the world who cares for you That isn't true, there's me May not be, the one you want to see But if you need someone who's kind then look behind And then you'll find, there's me

I'll be near, standing by Never fear, you can cry But in a while, you will smile And I'll be there to see

By yourself you have to cry yourself Nobody else can cry the tears you have to cry But I will try, there's me Until then, when you're okay again You'll look around, find I'm no longer there I'll still be near somewhere You're not alone, there's me There's always me

I'll still be near somewhere You're not alone; there's me There's always me...

The soft, yet cheeky smiles Riven kept shooting the girl as he sang, paired with the meaning behind the words, and the added special meaning to them both, meant that by the time his strumming faded to silence, Carrie was finally grinning back at him. 

"You really came all the way out here to serenade me with a musical theatre song from the 80s?" she asked with a teasing chuckle, wiping away the last traces of any tears with the heel of her hand. 

"It worked, didn't it?" he teasingly fired back with a satisfied smirk. 

"Touché," she giggled, before hitting with a further pointed eyebrow raise. "But Starlight? Really?"

"Again: it worked, didn't it?" he retorted with a snort of laughter she was all too happy to reciprocate.

"You are way too attached to that show," she chuckled, teasingly bumping his arm.

"It's about roller skating trains - how can I not be attached to it?"

"I don't know, ask literally anyone else at camp," Carrie snorted back, referring to the many attempts the pair had made to try to get even just one of their friends to give the show a chance.

Knowing exactly what the blonde was talking about, Riven just shot her a grin. "They'll come around eventually, trust me."

Giving an equally confident, yet slightly more playful grin back, Carrie conceded with another giggle before continuing. "And when they do, I think you've proven you'd make an excellent CB."

Riven pressed a hand to his chest. "I think that might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me," he said with a comically dramatic earnestness that just had Carrie rolling her eyes again.

"Shut up, I compliment you all the time," she retorted, and her smile only broadened when Riven showed no signs of pushing back. "I'm serious though; if you ever manage to convince Nonna you don't need to be sectioned for suggesting we stage the show, I think you'd be great."

Biting back a laugh, Riven instead decided to lead with sincerity. "Only if you'd be my Dinah," he bargained with a fond, yet knowing grin she, again, gladly shared. But it wasn't long before he started rambling again. "But I'd sacrifice that if it meant you could be Pearl…"

With an affectionate shake of her head, Carrie playfully sighed, "I never play the lead - I can't break my streak now, you know that."

Taking his turn to roll his eyes, he retorted with. "Pearl is not the lead; the whole show's about Rusty."

"Ok well maybe you can play Rusty then, Mr Know-It-All," Carrie teasingly fired back as the pair fell back into their typical, theatre-based ramblings - idly chattering away without a care in the world as the wind pulled the clouds across the sky.

It wasn't until Carrie saw the sunlight skittering across the lake, and heard the distant chatter of counsellors start up again, that she realised her head had finally stopped pounding, and her chest no longer felt as though someone had carved a giant hole into it. Astonished, but grateful nonetheless, Carrie turned back to Riven with a smile. "Thanks for coming to find me, Riv."

Grinning contentedly back, he replied, "Well, I don't like thinking of you being sad. You're like my fun, crazy, big sister - I can't have you moping around like a sadsack."

"You really think of me like a sister?"

"Of course. We don't always understand each other, and I tease the shit out of you at every opportunity I get, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you. You always make me laugh, you're insanely talented, you give the best advice, but you're honest when you need to be - you're everything I'd want in a big sister. Plus, like I said, you're my drama buddy. The shit we put up with from those campers has bonded us for life, whether you like it or not."

Unable to hold back her laughter any longer, it spilled out from her grateful smile as she reached out and wrapped him in a big hug, nestling her face into the well-worn cotton of his hoodie. 

"And you give great hugs," he playfully added, mumbling through her mane of frizzy, golden curls.

"Thanks, Riv," she murmured between giggles, letting herself melt into the comforting reassurance of his embrace.

"Any time, Care Bear."

Sitting back, scouring his half-finished painting with an acutely analytical gaze, Bentley didn't even hear the door to the art barn open, let alone the footsteps that followed. He squinted his eyes, tilted his head from side to side, screwed up his mouth in concentration… And then his vision went dark.

Blinking, eyelashes brushed against an old t-shirt masquerading as a blindfold. But before he could try to question the ambush, a quiet voice broke through his haze of confusion.

"Alright, listen to what I say, or this is not gonna be pretty."

A chuckle couldn't help but slip from Bentley's lips, immediately relaxing as he recognised the voice. "Is that your attempt at sounding threatening?"

"I was actually trying to be reassuring," August countered with a bashful chuckle of his own.

"Oh, well then consider me reassured," Bentley laughed, still idly toying with his paintbrush. "As reassured as anyone can be when they're randomly blindfolded on a Wednesday afternoon. What are you doing anyway?"

"I need to take you somewhere, so put the brush down and get up - but don't go too fast; I've gotta make sure you don't bump into anything," August ordered, tying the old t-shirt in place before clumsily helping the blonde stand, taking him by the shoulders and leading him towards the door.

"Where the hell are we going?" Bentley asked, after they had navigated the stairs in a (somewhat) successful manner - consisting of only one giggling fit, and one almost-total-collapse - as he felt them move from the wooden deck to the uneven grass. 

"I'm not allowed to tell you, but it's nothing bad, trust me."

"Who's forcing you to kidnap me and parade me across camp like a prisoner?"

"You'll find out in a minute," August chuckled, steering him around a tree stump. "But just know that it's nothing bad."

"Well I'd hope not - I'd hate to think you'd willingly be involved in leading me to my demise," Bentley snorted, before continuing with his idle rambling. "Who's roped you into taking me captive anyway?"

"I don't know if I can say; they didn't give me much briefing, and I don't think they expected you to be this…chatty."

Bentley laughed. "Well then they should have sent a more intimidating kidnapper."

"They didn't want to scare you, they just needed you away from Vivien," August admitted, immediately falling silent for a few steps. "...I don't know if I was supposed to say that."

"Ohhh, ok then, so I'm being taken hostage by the competition?" Bentley chuckled through a smirk as he began to piece the puzzle together.

"...Maybe," August confirmed as he rounded the blonde and started to lead him up a new set of steps from the front to make sure he didn't lose his footing. "But if they ask then you figured it out on your own - you didn't hear it from me."

"Well it's not like I had many options; it was either that or some weird camp event I didn't pay attention to the announcement for," Bentley laughed to himself as he blindly stuck his foot out, almost completely missing the step until August repositioned him. "What do they need me for? Information about how our rehearsals are going? And how are you in cahoots with them anyway? Are you abandoning our show for theirs?"

"What? No, just… Hang on, gimme a second," August fumbled through his excuses, fighting to nudge the door open with his foot before carefully pulling his friend inside. "Alright, we're here. Just sit down and listen to what they've got to say, they'll explain everything," he continued, keeping his voice down as he offered the boy further reassurances he was sure he wasn't supposed to. 

Once Bentley was situated on what felt like a metal fold-out chair, August gave his shoulder one last reassuring squeeze before untying the old t-shirt and lifting it away from his eyes. Oddly though, even with the blindfold removed, Bentley could hardly see a thing; whatever cabin they were in had black-out cloths draped across the windows, leaving the room in complete darkness. Well, at least that explained why it had taken August so long to navigate him across the room. 

"Uhh… Hello?" Bentley tried, calling out into what felt like a completely empty room if the thick silence he was met with was anything to go by.

But before he could question his situation any further, a light sprang to life beside him, so bright he had to jerk his head back to save himself from temporary blindness.

Wincing, he tried to take in his now significantly more illuminated surroundings, only to find that he was sitting at a scuffed, fold-out table, occupying the very lamp that seemed to give off more light than the sun itself. Other than that, the rest of the room was swimming in darkness, creating a rather effective interrogation set-up, which he suspected the masterminds behind his kidnapping had hoped for. 

And speaking of these masterminds, just as the afterimages were finally starting to fade from his vision, a figure rolled out of the darkness and up to the table. Yes, quite literally rolled. 

They set their hands on the tabletop in front of him and presented the boy with a smug smile. "Hello, Bentley."

"What are you doing?" Bentley asked, snorting out a laugh at the surreal nature of the entire situation. 

"We have a…preposition for you," Riven slowly explained, his smug smile only broadening. 

"We?" Bentley questioned. "There are more weirdos than you tied up in this thing?"

Suddenly the lamp head was wrenched back, sending the beam of light directly at his face, once again making him jerk his head back. "And just who do you think you're calling a weirdo?"

Eyes watering from the visual assault, Bentley squinted through the brightness until he found a tanned hand clamped around the lamphead. Following it up, he found an all-too-familiar, shadowed face, framed by a mane of unruly golden curls. "Not you?" Bentley offered with a lopsided smile.

Thankfully, the gesture was enough to appease Carrie, who tilted the lamphead back into position - but not before she shot the boy a satisfied smirk in response. 

"You got any other questions? Or can we get down to business?" Riven asked. 

"Uh, yeah: what's with the kidnapping?" Bentley fired back, sporting an amused smirk of his own. "You so worried you'll lose the bet you're turning to torturing the competition?"

"What? No! We just needed you away from the boss," Riven laughed, his comically threatening act disappearing in seconds as he referenced his pint-sized figure skating partner. "Like I said, we've got a preposition for you."

"Couldn't you have just asked me in the dining hall? Or in my room or something?" Bentley went on to ask, still having to squint from the light.

"Well yeah, but where's the fun in that?" came Riven's snorted reply, to which Carrie just grinned and nodded in agreement.

Bentley shook his head at the pair, evidently equally matched in their passion for dramatising the most menial things. "This is so dumb," he breathed, fighting back a smile at the ridiculousness of their whole set-up. "What do you want then? What's this preposition thing?"

Carrie and Riven exchanged a glance, giving each other a confirmatory nod before turning back to the blonde. "…We need your help."

"With what?"

"With the show," Riven clarified.

"The show? Your show?" Bentley spluttered, eyes darting between the pair, looking for any evidence of jesting, yet finding nothing. "I don't understand," he slowly continued. "Why do you want my help? I've got no idea what I'm doing with all this theatre stuff. I'm out of my depth with Viv's show as it is. Plus, I already agreed to be in her's - I can't help out the competition."

"Why not? I am."

Bentley's ears pricked up as a new voice entered the conversation, and to his amazement, when he turned to follow it, he saw a grinning brunette emerging from the darkness on Carrie's right. 

"Mick?! You jumped ship?" Bentley asked, gawping at the grinning girl as though she'd just grown a second nose. "Does Viv know?"

"No, I didn't jump ship," Mick chuckled as she perched on the edge of the fold-out table. "I'm helping out with both."

"What? Why?"

"'Cause I wanted to," she snorted simply. "It's not like there's rules against it. This whole thing's just for fun anyway."

"Yeah, it's not actually a competition - we just both wanted to put on different shows," Riven added.

"Well could you let Viv know that? She's treating this like we're at war - we've all been sworn to secrecy," Bentley said, chuckling at his friend's competitive spirit.

"Oh we know, we already tried to get Mick to squeal but she wouldn't budge," Carrie said, sharing a knowingly playful glance with the brunette.

"And luckily, they had a cool job for me besides just being their spy," Mick cheekily added. "Or else all the effort it took to brainwash me would have been for nothing."

"Which is…?" Bentley tried.

"I'm building the stage," Mick revealed with a proud grin. 

Bentley's eyes went wide. "You guys need to build your own stage?"

Riven and Carrie shared another knowing smirk. "If we want the show to be as awesome as it deserves to be then yeah, it needs a custom stage," Riven confirmed.

"And since Butchy and Miles refused to even hear us out, Mickie stepped up to the plate to handle it all on her own," Carrie added, looping her arm through the brunette's with a fond grin. "And she's doing a way better job than either of those two bozos would have done anyway." 

"Well, I don't know about that…" Mick said with a roguish chuckle. "But I am doing a pretty damn good job."

"Does this mean you're helping with both shows too?" Bentley then asked, turning behind him to look for the friend who'd brought him here, who could do nothing but offer him a sheepish smile. 

"...Yeah," August slowly admitted, before adding a quieter: "You know I'm terrible at saying 'no' to things."

"So your solution is just doing twice the work?" Bentley asked incredulously, the information just serving more of a purpose to fuel his growing need to help August grow a backbone. 

"Well they're not big parts-" he tried to reason.

"You're actually in both of them?" Bentley demanded, his eyes practically popping out of his head when he saw the knee and elbow pads the boy was sporting. "But you don't know how to roller skate."

"They're teaching me," August chuckled, shooting Carrie and Riven a grateful smile. And when Bentley's disbelieving gaze found theirs, they just offered him smug grins and little waves, showing off their own elbow pads as they did so.

Bentley's shock jumped to a whole new level when he spotted Mick's elbow pads though. "You're in it too, Mickie?!"

"Well I didn't like how quickly Butchy dismissed them when they asked him to take part," Mick began, smirking at the very thought. "So I thought I'd teach him a lesson about not judging things at face level."

"Well, we should have known not to expect his neanderthal brain to be able to comprehend such complex concepts as 'having fun'," Carrie retorted with a cheeky dig Mick luckily started to laugh at.

"I've gotta admit, it did sound really corny at first. But once you get past the fact it's all about trains, the show is pretty fun," Mick confessed.

"Duh, of course it's fun, we're directing it," Carrie added, gesturing to the auburn-haired giant behind her, who just laughed in his approval. 

"The whole show's done on roller skates - I still don't understand how anyone could know that and not automatically think it's awesome," Riven said between his chuckles. 

But at that revelation, Bentley's eyes started to grow wide again. "Hold on, you're not expecting me to have a part in your show too, are you?" he asked, horrified at the very idea. "I barely have a handle on what I'm doing in Viv's already, and that's just one show. Plus, I can't even roller skate so-"

"No, we don't need you to be in it," Riven cut in with a chuckle before the blonde's anxious ramblings could make him run out of breath. 

"Unless you want to be in it, then we'd totally find you a part," Carrie tagged on with an encouraging grin. 

"And teach you how to skate," Riven added with a mischievous smirk. "If we can teach Mick, we can teach anyone."

And although Mick's playful whack of Riven's arm did help him relax a touch, Bentley's stance on their offer was still firm: "No thanks, I'm good." But his curiosity was still running rampant as the others giggled at his reaction. "Well if you don't need me to have a part in the show, then what did you need my help for?"

"We wanted to see if you'd be willing to help us with designing and making the costumes," Riven explained.

Bentley thought he had to have misheard him. "The costumes?"

"Yeah," Riven chuckled at the boy's expression. "What's that face for?"

"I don't know the first thing about making costumes - I've never worked with fabric in my life."

Riven and Carrie exchanged another glance. "That's kind of why we need your help," Carrie started.

But when Bentley just looked more confused than ever, Riven went on to explain. "None of the stuff in the playhouse storage bins will work because, well, they're just regular people clothes, so we need to design our own stuff. Juliet's already said she can help construct any actual clothing garments we need, but our main problem is how to actually use the outfits to make us look like trains."

Bentley's thoughts came to a screeching halt. "Wait…you guys are the trains?"

"Yeah."

"You're acting as trains? Singing trains?" They had to be pranking him, right?

"Uh, yeah," Carrie said, sharing another quick glance with Riven.

"What did you think the show was about?" he snorted.

"I don't know, I thought you were just like people working on a railroad or something," Bentley retorted with an incredulous splutter.

"Well we're not, we're the trains," Riven chuckled.

"Yeah, why else would we need to do the whole thing on wheels?" Mick added with a playful wiggle of her skate-clad foot. 

"So what? You want me to…make you look like trains?" Bentley warily asked. "Like with big chimneys coming out of your heads and stuff?"

Fondly rolling her eyes at Bentley's poor attempts at stifling his laughter, Carrie stepped in to try to explain the proposal a little more clearly. "No - we just need to capture the vibe of trains - you don't need to shove us all in cardboard box models. We can show you the costumes of the official productions so you can get an idea of the sort of things we're looking for, but we don't have a huge budget, so we're gonna have to get creative - hence why we came to you," she finished with a proud grin. 

"All we want you to do is draw up some concepts that make us look enough like a train to sell the illusion to the audience. And as long as they're moveable enough for us to skate in, and can be constructed from stuff we've got access to, the rest of the design can be totally down to you," Riven added.

"So basically you've got free reign to make us look as ridiculous as you want," Mick tacked on with a chuckle. 

"But try to be a little nice with it," August gently offered from behind, which just set Bentley off to laugh more.

He did have to admit that the offer sounded quite tempting. After all, he'd never worked on anything like costume designs before - and from the sounds of things, this concept would let him get pretty creative with it; these weren't just average costumes - in fact, they were probably more sculpture than costume anyway. But there was something still holding him back. "I don't know, guys. I don't know if I've got the brain space to work on two shows at once-"

"Oh please, Bentley - come on," Riven pleaded. "We'll look like complete morons out there if we don't have good costumes."

"We will," Mick earnestly confirmed. "Trust me, It's not pretty."

"Well if I'm on Vivien's side then don't I want you guys to look like complete morons?" he asked with a mischievous giggle.

"Maybe, but where's the fun in a landslide victory?" Riven countered with a smirk. 

"Come on, Benny, please," came Carrie's attempt at begging. "I'll sit with you and help you learn all your lines whilst you work on the costumes."

Bentley's ears pricked up. "...Really?"

"Mhm," she confirmed with a kind nod. "And I can give you all my tips for breaking down the script into easier parts to manage; I know they can seem really daunting when you try to go through them all at once."

Now that sounded like an offer he could get behind. He'd already been toying with the idea of asking Carrie for help with the seemingly impossible task of learning his lines, but had chickened out every time. There were just so many - it was like they all blurred into one every time he'd even open a page. And he hated the thought of letting Vivien down because he couldn't get his brain to work how he wanted it to, so if Carrie could actually help him get through a scene without having to look at his script the entire time��� Maybe it'd be worth giving up a few pages of his sketchbook to designing train-transformer-wannabes.

But he couldn't let them think he was that easy of a target… "I don't know guys, it just doesn't feel right going behind Viv's back like this-"

"Oh come on, Benny, please," Carrie tried again, with a touch more dramatic desperation.

"I'll do your dish duty for the rest of summer," Riven attempted to bribe.

But that just spurred on Bentley's reluctance even more. After all, he was rather curious about what else he could squeeze out of the pair to help sweeten the deal. "...I'm listening."

"You can have the rest of my pudding cups with dinner each night?" Riven offered. "And you don't have to go behind Viv's back," he added. "Don't go and tell her outright, but if she asks you about it then you're totally free to tell her. And if she's not happy about it, you can back out any time you want."

"Well, okay, but I still don't know if I'll have the time to-"

"If you say 'yes' we'll get you that rare Spiderman comic you want," Riven threw out in a moment of sheer desperation.

Bentley's heart skipped a beat. Damn, they really did want his help.. "...Seriously?" he breathed, eyes widening at the very prospect.

"Sure, Carrie'll cover it - won't you, Carrie?" Riven confirmed with a smirk as he gave the blonde's shoulder a squeeze. 

Shooting him a sharp glance, she hissed a tight: "I will?"

"Of course you will," Riven verified, his mischievous smirk only broadening as Carrie's mildly murderous glare was replaced with Bentley's whole-hearted satisfaction.

"Alright, done. Pass me a pen and some paper," he said, sealing the deal with a barked laugh and a cheesy grin before either one of them could back down on their offers again. 

"Welcome aboard, Bentley," Riven replied, shooting him a victorious smile as he reached across the table and shook the boy's hand. 

But just as Riven and the others were starting to unload all their ideas for potential costume concepts onto Bentley, with what he found to be startling levels of enthusiasm, the room's main lights flickered to life, illuminating a seething head of green hair in the doorway. Before Bentley could question the girl's sudden appearance, or could let his eyes adjust to the drastic shift in brightness though, she called out to her band partner with thunderous urgency.

"Riv, you've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do; I just looked up this 'Belle' character you want me to play - care to tell me why she's described as 'ancient' and 'peeling'?" an outraged Jade demanded. "Or why you thought I'd be so perfect to play her?"

Rolling his eyes and just laughing off the girl's anger, Riven quickly tried to appease her with a teasing: "That's not the version of her we're using, dummy. And don't you dare try to tell me you're not perfect for her - you nap all the fucking time."

As Riven and Jade broke off into their own friendly spat, and Mick and Carrie started up their own conversation about what Mick had been practising last on her skates, Bentley found himself turning to August - this time taking his turn to wear the awkwardly sheepish smile. "Why do I get the feeling I've signed up for way more than I can handle?"

"Oh come on, don't worry, it'll be fun," August reassured before offering a joke to further set him at ease. "And hey, at least you're getting a backstage job and a comic book out of it - all I'm gonna get is on-stage embarrassment and massive quads."

The guffaws spilled from Bentley's lips before he could stop them - and after glancing around to watch Carrie clumsily catching Mick (who looked as if she'd just stepped on a banana peel in an old cartoon) before she could fall, and Riven playfully bickering with Jade in the doorway, he started to think that working with them on this project might not be so bad after all. Plus, a whole costume concept all to himself? He could definitely have some fun with that…

[therossgarden]

Personal review regarding what if…? season 2 episode 8 (spoilers)

No ok, I must admit, the episode was good in some aspects.

Wanda was majestic. Loki and Scott were hilarious and I loved every single moment with them.

Thor was amazing, dark and serious out of loss but still enjoyable, and the crumbs of his relationship with Hela were very nice.

I’ve actually liked Tony for the very first time in my life, probably because I tend to like him a lot more in AUs and fanfictions than I do in the normal timeline.

And then… there were those two.

I will never comprehend why marvel wants Steve to be so dependent on Peggy. And I will never comprehend why, to make him interact with her, they have to destroy or sideline every other relationship he has built, or make his character flat.

Bucky being friends with Scott was amazing, but the fact that him and Steve interacted like two times was extremely disappointing. You’d expect “best friends in every universe”, if you dislike the romantic pairing so much, to acknowledge themselves for more than a few scenes, in only one of which they’re in frame together (Bucky was literally 😐 while his best friend disappeared, come on now).

And the storyline about Peggy coming from another world to save the universe was just… Mbah. It could’ve been executed in another way without including her and it still would have made sense. It really feels like a Y/N insert.

Seeing literally any other character was so good, so fun, and they had to ruin it this way, making Peggy once again the self insert and girlboss she didn’t need to be.

Plus, forgive my constant complaining, but it’s extremely infuriating how all of Steve’s friends were eliminated to put the focus solely on Peggy. Where’s Sam? Where’s Nat? Where’s Clint? It’s not an underrated friendship we’re talking about, a big chunk of the fandom loves the cap quartet or team cap, and after civil war it would have been nice to see them interact, especially after its popularity and popular demand. Outlaw team cap would have been glorious, a good chance to bring back many characters who aren’t here anymore in the right way, and involve characters that are rarely involved in What if in the storyline, for a change.

The treatment of Sam in this series particularly angers me, and even more so in this episode. I understand not involving him in other storylines, but Sam was a big part of CATWS and he wasn’t even in the episode centered on that film. What, because Steve met him while running he can’t be introduced in any other way? And oh, there’s no excuse for this episode. If there was one episode they could have placed Sam in, it was this one. Sam was there in infinity war, where the mess happened, and he should have been with the other avengers in this one.

If marvel wanted to involve someone from another universe so bad, it should have been a Captain America Sam from another universe. Can you imagine the poetry of seeing Steve and Nat again after endgame? Can you imagine having closure with them both, and having fun in the process? It would have been so great.

Another great storyline without involving characters from other universes would have been one where Steve, who touched the time stone, accidentally brought everyone in the past, and he was the only one to remember it. And to go back and prevent everyone’s distraction, he had to recruit the avengers, who don’t know him and don’t trust him but that in the end become his friends and companions. It would have been so interesting to see the original avengers involved in something different from being some side characters or extras in the one woman show that seems to be What if, constantly centered around the same bland, one dimensional reimagined side character. Peggy’s blandness is so obvious in these episodes (aside for some random remarks that made me smile) that literally everyone who’s involved directly with her must be bland like her, otherwise risking to overshadow her.

I don’t think I was supposed to cringe and look away as much as I did during Steggy’s forced scenes, but I did. If they had to force Steggy and Peggy down our throats, at least they could have done something different from the same bland and boring storyline as always. I wouldn’t be as mad as I am now if Peggy and Steve’s relationship wasn’t as bland. I would have preferred an enemies to lovers type of twist or change, where Steve doesn’t trust Peggy and struggles with her because he sees in her a different version of the Peggy that died in that universe. But noooo, god forbid, let’s go with the same old song.

An episode five or ten minutes longer with a better, avengers-centric or Steve-centric storyline would have been much better than what we got.

And given that this was my most anticipated episode, I was very disappointed by it. I hope for the next seasons, if there’s other ones, Marvel will listen to the general complaint regarding Peggy and will give her a break. I don’t think any of the original avengers or relevant MCU characters made as much appearances as Peggy, and being a main focus in four episodes out of nine is ridiculous.

[aimportantdragoncollector]

Hi!!! I love all your work!!!!! Your new original works are amazing, they’re giving me brain rot for days (especially yandere apartments). Lenas the best original protagonist I’ve read in a while! I love her to death!!!

Since you made that post about bnha ending, I’ve been trying to get caught up with the manga (the literal only way I’ve interacted with the franchise in YEARS is through your fanfics, which continued to be hilarious even when I didn’t know what was going on half the time), and I’ve noticed a fun trend of horikoshi introducing total bad bitches and then killing them off in like the next chapter??? I’m on chapter 334, RIP star and stripes and lady nagant.

ANYWAYS. The point of this ask. Yes. So, in the place where I’d left off originally, Yoichi and the holders hadn’t really been introduced as characters yet, although they had been mentioned-ish. So, while catching up, I’ve sort of been pointing at Yoichi whenever he shows up like “it’s katydids guy!!! Plagiarism!!! He’s just like katydid’s guy fr!!!” and then I have to remember oh yeah right. That’s fanfiction. Of the work I am currently reading. I just thought you’d find it funny that your interpretation of this character has completely overwritten canon and reality in my brain lol

Again, ily and all your work!!! I’m sorry that the ending left you so disappointed with bnha, I’m looking forward to probably also being disappointed with a vague sense of masochism and dread

Thank you so much! I was nervous about sharing some of my original work for the first time. It warms my heart to learn that people enjoyed it. I've gotten a great reception. I'm grateful to people who followed me from fanfiction into something new.

Haha, I'm pleased that my Yoichi made such a strong impression. Horikoshi barely gave me anything to work with so I crafted the character from scratch. In fact I created multiple versions of him.

Don't let me ruin the ending for you, I know that some people liked it. That's merely my personal opinion based on what I wanted from the story. I don't think the ending was objectively bad (although I do think it was objectively rushed.) The rushed nature skipped over all the parts I would have found most interesting. But Horikoshi told the story he wanted to tell, and that's his right.

[flamedraco]

So I don't really post a lot on this site. I reblog shit but the amount of times I've actually "posted" in the sense of using my words is a lot smaller than my reblogs. I write a lot of fanfiction though. So in celebration of the fact that my tumblr is now apparently a year old??? I think? Like hell do I know how this site works but I got a notification this morning about it? But in celebration of that I'm going to talk about "You Were Never Meant to be a Hero", my most popular, completed, TNT Duo superhero fanfiction. You'd expect me to talk about my fics more often so if you want to see more of this let me know I guess? And feel free to ask me questions. I enjoy getting them.

So YWNMTBAH started as an urge, as most fics do. I was reading through a lot of TNT Duo fics while working on my first project, Arsonist's Waltz, and I encountered one or two TNT Duo Superhero AUs. Now, I had just come to DSMP directly after two years worth of being in the BNHA fandom. Which if you didn't know is a superhero based Shonen anime. I love superheroes. I always have and probably always will, despite not being able to grow up with too much traditional "superhero" media. So of course I was excited seeing superhero AUs in my favorite ship. I had seen it a lot in SBI stories but not TNT Duo yet. However: I couldn't find the kind of story I wanted to read. The stories I read honestly just...didn't hit the right buttons for me. I'm not saying any of them were bad, gods no. They just didn't have my favorite trope involved or the type of pairing I was looking for. I saw hero/hero, I saw hero/vigilante. I saw a lot of "good" pairings. But I also saw a lot of characters being dumb idiots and while I do love some fun identity shenanigans it gets dull after a while. I have a thing with dense protagonists and 'will they won't they'. I hate miscommunication and a lot of tropes that were being used at the time. There's more to "superhero" than just secret identities. There's a lot of creativity to be had. Creativity and ideas that I just...wasn't seeing. I wanted hero/villain. And I wanted fallen hero, my favorite trope. The antithesis of the redeemed villain. YWNMTBAH started as a oneshot idea. Because I knew how I was. I knew that if I didn't cap it as a oneshot I would spiral when I already had a massive project I was working on. But after giving it more thought...I realized that I really wanted to do more with this idea. I wanted to write a multichaptered superhero fic for my favorite pairing. Self indulgent? Yeah. I didn't expect many people to read it at the time. Little did I know. Which brings me to what I really wanted to talk about: The first chapter.

Anyone who's read YWNMTBAH knows that the first chapter is very unique. I showed you the future before showing you the events that lead up to it. (This is the part where you should abandon ship if you don't want spoilers for the fic btw, link will be down below). From day one I knew what I wanted for the fic. I knew what its themes were going to be. I know precisely what the endgame of the fic was going to be. And for any other authors out there? Here's the best advice I can give you: Know what you want out of the story. Know your ending before you even think of the rest. The job of a first chapter is to ALWAYS- 1: Establish your main characters. 2: Establish your plot. 3: Establish your story concepts. The first chapter is always going to be the hardest in my opinion because it's your first chapter that you, as the author, use to introduce your world to your readers. Think of it like your hook sentence in a professional essay. You need to draw your readers attention and get them to want to keep reading. I was impatient and wanted to write Wilbur's fall immediately. I wanted to write his break down as opposed to the build up. So...I wrote it first. And then realized: I could make it the first chapter. I could make it the first chapter...and then the next few chapters could be flashbacks. Showing the events that lead up to it. Not only was it a clever way to establish the world, the characters, and my plot and concepts, it was a good way to hook the readers' interest! The first chapter's objectives were to make it obvious what the fic was. It should've been a clear sign as to what the fic is. In the first chapter it's present from the start that Quackity is a manipulative bastard and that Wilbur, despite that, and despite knowing what Q is trying to do, he's still a hopeless fool in love. There is manipulation, but there is real love too. (And anyone who got mad over Quackity, the villain, who is tagged as a villain, manipulating Wilbur clearly didn't read the tags. Just because I gave him a sympathetic backstory and the fact that he does LOVE Wilbur doesn't change the fact that he manipulated him and would do it again. Quackity is written as a villain. Thinking he was anything other than a villain was a fool's decision. I could go on an entire separate rant over this aspect of my story). YWNMTBAH is a dark fic. It's been a dark fic from the very beginning. They are a villain and a hero. They are on opposite sides of the war. They are enemies, each other's nemesis. It was the perfect way to introduce people to my world. I knew from the beginning what I wanted for YWNMTBAH. I knew what I wanted it to be. "Fallen Hero" is the trope that refers to a hero who falls into villainy. It's the opposite of the redeemed villain, a trope that I feel is so overdone and overused. It was self indulgent, and I never expected it to blow up like it did. I didn't expect people to latch onto it despite everything. I knew it was different from other things I had seen, it was like that by design. I didn't want to emulate fics like Clinic (that I didn't know existed by the time I was writing it, otherwise I probably would've picked a different villain name for Wilbur other than Siren XD), I didn't want it to be the same hero/hero, hero/civilian, hero/vigilante pairs I had seen, and because of how common Wilbur was written as a villain in the fandom I wanted to write Quackity as the villain. In the same lane: In future superhero fics you'll be seeing Karl as a villain more often too. But by design I made YWNMTBAH to be different from what I was reading. I wanted it to be unique because I wanted it to be EXACTLY what I wanted to read. And apparently? A lot of people got behind that self indulgent idea of mine.

"You Were Never Meant to be a Hero" is my baby. It's my magnum opus. It has an entire multiverse surrounding it now with alternate timelines and AUs for this AU. It's helped me build an amazing community and I feel absolutely FLOORED with the beautiful artwork I've received for the fic over the years of it being uploaded.

So from one author to others: Write the things you want to see in the world. Be the change you want to see. I've seen a lot more hero/villain pairings since I posted YWNMTBAH and I couldn't be happier to see them. Write things inspired by other author's works. Just make sure to credit them and tell them about it. We love it when you guys do things like that. Enjoy creating what you want to create and don't worry about what other people might think of it. Because you should write for yourself, first and foremost. So what if someone would've enjoyed YWNMTBAH if Quackity got redeemed? That was never the intention of the story. That was never the point. So what if someone didn't like that Wilbur ended up with Q in the end because of how Q manipulated him at first? It's a dark fic, read the tags. Write for yourself. Write what you want to see. Inspire others to create. And if you see my fic and think you want to write a version of it in your vision? Fucking do it. I dare you >:) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37319827/chapters/93120913

[fillinforlater]

what's your kpop journey ? (how you got into it, your first groups and biased, your opinion on kpop before etc.)

Thank you for the ask, my tired brain will try it's best to talk about how what when happened and yeah... let's go

Early Phase (2012-2016)

Basically me knowing that Psy exists because of Gangnam Style and later Gentleman. Young me really enjoyed those songs, but there was no real connection to korea or the idea/culture of kpop.

Then my sister introduced me to the song Tomorrow by BTS but because I was in my anime phase at the time, I just put it in my anime playlist. I fucking loved the song tho lol.

No bias, no real opinion either lol.

BLACKPINK Phase (2018-2019)

I don't really know how but I found Blackpink and started to vibe with their songs and style, which got really enhanced by their dance of DDU-DU DDU-DU on Just Dance 2019, which i played a lot. I got into them a bit more and my sister (who was a kpop fan behind my back basically kek) showed me Monster of EXO and Don't Wanna Cry of SEVENTEEN.

I was deinitely not a kpop fan, hell, I had no real clue about the culture or other groups or the fact that BTS, who I had one random song of was currently on and unprecedented rise. Everything was set in place, but I was still only danving to D4 lol

Lisa is my bias, though I dunno what that is yet lol. I like Blackpink, but the concept of kpop was not yet really in my mind.

Covid-Lockdown Phase (March 2020-May 2020)

This was the void. There was nothing to do, nothing thag mattered. All responsibilities were on hold. Time to watch vids my siblings to pass the time.

What are they watching? Asian men I do not understand? Looks... fun! With every day, every video, every song I add to my playlist I fall deeper into this glorious hole that is kpop. Like a sponge, I suck up all the content until I am this weird multistan with no sense of direction but the unbridled want to know more and to listen to more.

Blackpink, then BTS, then Twice, the it was already basically everyone else. Kpop filled my time with more fun than everything else could have. Life, strangely, was perfect. During a fucking lockdown, I reached a peek that continued.

My favorite group is BTS by a HUUUGE margin, my bias is switching between Lisa, Jin and Dahyun.

Deeper Into the Hole (June 2020-March 2021)

I add more groups to the list I like. KARD, Red Velvet, Mamamoo, EXO, NCT, SEVENTEEN, Everglow, aespa, TXT, ATEEZ... it never seems to stop. New releases left and right filling my mind to the point were even drastic changes in life cannot shake me up. I'm still falling, reaching deeper for more.

I find songs that I love to death. Answer by ATEEZ especially has me with adrenaline on every listen. It is about now that I find it not that difficult to remember names of members and that I see some (especially) female idols as very pretty.

BTS best group, Dahyun best girl.

K-Pop-Fan (April 2021-August 2021)

Basically yeah. Multistan that had commited to IZ*ONE last second because they were more than just good... they were literally the greatest girl group ever... though I have yet to realize it.

My life is going quite well, I have fun, I don't get tired of this genre that id more than music. It's stupid game shows, funny compilations, memes, stupid takes and pretty people. Around this time I get a bit spicy, reading fanfiction, dumb W*ttp*d stuff with crazy stories until...

Smut. Fuck, since when were TWICE this hot???

But this WP stuff is quite cringey... so I looked around and found Tumblr. First was Peach, then ddeun and then... Levi.

BTS best group, TWICE a close second, Dahyun best girl, Nayeon and Minju were in the hunt.

Smite, Smut and Smusic (September 2021-March 2022)

I messaged Levi (basically just a fanboy letter lol) and he encouraged me to try writing myself. The last time I wrote creatively was 2016, so I really doubted that I could pull something off.

About a week later, I'm in this server with all these cool smut writers and yeah... everything went crazy lol. My life was different and so was my kpop life. The visual effect of idols grew exponentionally, from very high to absurd, yet I still found myself finding beauty and attractiveness in other people around me. I dunno how to explain it lol.

I was writing, listening and also chatting with these new amazing friends that helped me navigate through what were difficult times while also being incredibly talented. My hobby of kpop now turned to another hobby with a new group of friends which grew to great importance in this phase.

BTS an inch before IZ*ONE, Minju easily my new ult.

That's my life (April 2022-now???)

A lot of stuff happened in this time frame but my attitude towards kpop, this community, writing or idols hasn't changrd too drastically. I saw my first concert, that was awesome. IVE rocks my world, other 4th gen groups fight their way to my heart, while I still really love older stuff.

I reach thousands of followers, find new insanely pretty and hot idols, write way too many fucking stories about fucking lol. I listen to almost everything, kpop is still my No. 1 hobby, yet it never overtook my whole personality.

BTS-IZ*ONE-IVE, Minju remains No. 1 but I love so many other idols, especially Yujin and Gaeul.

If you read all this, thank you, have a nice day!

[capinejghafa]

what did you think of them putting soc/ck moments into s2?

I mean, at first I was a little confused because we just genuinely didn't know how much of the soc duology we were getting this season.

Kaz - I think as soon as I realized about 7 minutes in that they were getting the Pekka storyline I was onboard. I love Kaz, a lot (I know very surprising, we are all shocked). And for whatever reason, every time I'm reminded of his backstory, I become an instant Kaz defender... it's happened the same way after I read the first book.

So from that perspective I enjoyed it. I know some people thought it was "too fast" but the general problem with that statement is we were introduced to that conflicted back in 1.01/1.02. So, even if we as book fans wanted to be mad it... it was already a problem that Kaz was going to have to deal with whenever he got back to Ketterdam. What I'm saying is extremely unpopular, I know. But that conflict had to resolve itself as a result of the events in s1.

Inej - I think the very minute Amita said/accidentally spoiled her ending I knew vaguely that this was going to take something from CK's ending... I think days prior to the premiere I was like if they split up the crows, I'm gonna be so mad because we literally just, you know, got 5 of the 6. They come as a set... at least until the end of the duology lol So, Inej's plot is something I keep coming back to... I have some unpopular opinions because I do think the writers have hinted at what happens since 1.07... and I personally don't think Inej is as open with her struggles as people want her to be? So, I loved that Inej is learning slowly about herself.... exactly like she does in the books.

Matthias and Jesper - There were things the show elevated, specifically on Matthias and Jesper. The problem with Matthias in the books is that we never actually get to see his struggles (we do get to read about his final fight, but just the general vibe of his everyday life? Nope.). Actually, I love the fact that we got to see this man struggle because Matthias needed the reality of what prison life does. I do love Matthias lmfaooo but I do have to remember that he was a druskelle and all the internal bigotry that comes with that. And I loved that Jesper embraced his gifts quickly... because we don't get to see that in the books ever (not even in ROW). We got to see him and his mom (or a version of his mom). That scene ended. me.

Wylan - I have no notes for Wylan because I fucking love Wy. But his story is slightly different from the books so we might get to see more??? *cross fingers*

Nina - Tbh Nina's arc was the one I was most worried about? Because I didn't know what elements from the books they were gonna use. And actually one thing I will say... maybe unpopular? But Kaz and Nina's friendship in the books was a bit hit or miss for me? So to have them have mutual respect and just generally vibe well? Like I loved that change so much. I don't know why but this fandom treats them like they legit hate each other, so it was nice to see them just chatting like regular normal people. If that makes sense.

(Also, don't hate me... but I do think Nina ended up having stronger bond with Kaz than with Inej? And that was strangely unexpected lol)

Also, this is me thing, but I went in with shockingly low expectations for this season. Like I was like this is fanfiction, I call the sab writers unironically sab fanfiction writers. They know what fan service looked like and went with it. Did I love the overall product? No, but I did have a lot of fun watching.

[whumpy-wyrms]

are u in any fandoms? what are ur interests besides whump? u don’t have to answer i’m just curious!!

someone’s asking me about my interests i can’t NOT answer

this got a bit long tho so i’m putting it under the read more for people who don’t care/are only here for the whump

OKOK. so i’m kinda in the starkid/nerdy prudes must die fandom rn but i know for a fact if i finished adventure time and started watching fiona and cake, that would quite literally become my entire personality for the next 3 months because simon and prismo (and marceline and princess bubblegum and all my other favorite characters) make me insane. but i haven’t done that because well. i’ve gotta write tllr yknow..

anyway, my absolute most favorite pieces of media of all time are undertale and deltarune guys. i cant put in words how much those games mean to me holy shit. as i’m writing this i’m sitting next to my jevil and sans and spamton plushie and they are saying hi. anywayyy yeah i was in the deltarune fandom for a bit it was fun. spamton is silly fucked up creature. jevil is my all time favorite tho

AND THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES… my favorite thing ever fr. y’all. LISTEN TO TMA SERIOUSLY YOU’LL PROBABLY LIKE IT!! it’s a horror podcast and it’s seriously the best fuckinf thing ever it’s so amazing seriously. it’s a bit hard to get into at first because season 1 is less story driven BUT HOLY SHIT. AHHHH ITS SO FUCKING GOOD. jon is one of my favorite blorbos ever and so is michael because he’s a silly distortion guy. just trust me and listen to TMA it will actually change your life.

also i love the amazing world of gumball so fucking much. i wasn’t allowed to watch cartoon network as a kid (idk why??) so i first watched tawog last year and holy shit holy shit it’s my favorite thing ever. rob. ROB!!!! ROB IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE CHARACTER. SO IS MR SMALL. AHHHH!!!! anyway i love tawog i’ve drawn a lot of fanart and even wrote a 60k word fanfiction (about what happens after The Inquisition because that ending fucked me up) that i’ve Never and will probably never show anyone because it’s probably Not that good. but it was sooo Important to me back then. tawog just means so much to me it :))) it changed me as a person. nobody’s a nobody and everybody is weird like you and me.

i also really like hollow knight! i haven’t played it in a while but i was at 111% completion on one of my playthroughs (CURSE YOU PANTHEON 4). i’m also super fucking excited for silksong obviously and i will say this now: WHEN SILKSONG FINALLY RELEASES… i will probably go on hiatus here LMAO. sorry but guys. SILKSONG…. honestly same for new deltarune chapters. the second chapters 3, 4, and 5 release it is sooo over for me. i probably won’t post much here for a few months during that. but that’s fine!! i’ll never abandon tllr but sometimes some things are more important to my silly little brain :3

gravity falls quite literally changed my life in 2018. like i can’t even explain it, but it’s how i was introduced to online fandoms and fanart in general. dipper LITERALLY made me trans (not literally but pretty much). it’s how i started watching other amazing cartoons and series i love, it’s literally what made me get into drawing art and writing and stuff. it’s what made me start making ocs. it literally made me an artist guys. which is how i started writing. without gravity falls and it’s effect it had on me, this account might have never existed?? i’m being super dramatic but wowww. i was so autistic about that silly cartoon

minecraft i love. i’ve been playing minecraft for over a decade and won’t stop because it’s like, probably a special interest of mine? i’ve watch minecraft youtubers forever too, hermitcraft and the life series are my favorite. i’m a huge grian fan too, been watching him since the evo days. anyway if u play minecraft and wanna play with me sometime, feel free to ask!!! :D i love making new friends and playing video games with people!!! let’s make a world together!!!

also i like terraria and stardew valley, and animal crossing new horizons but i haven’t played that in a few years. hmm other games i like are oneshot game, NITW, omori, celeste, cuphead, fnaf (although i’ve only played the first 5 games and am super super behind on the lore), ori, dead cells, untitled goose game (this is for u anon), and probably more i’m forgetting! feel free to recommend me some video games and we can even play together :3

other series i love are the umbrella academy. soooo autistic about this show it’s fucking AMAZING!!!!!! klaus is my favorite character. anyway i also like what we do in the shadows. it made me super autistic about vampires (before i watched this show i kinda thought vampires were cringe IDK WHY I’M SORRYY). the netflix show lucifer made me insane a few years ago and is what probably indirectly inspired me to give Dew wings. i also like our flag means death, breaking bad, moon knight, and camp here in there (another podcast i HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend, will wood made the soundtrack!)

i LOVEEE FINAL SPACE!! avocato has been my pfp on this account forever and now i feel like i can’t ever change it (i don’t want to). final space is seriously amazing!!! but it was cancelled and basically got fucked over by the networks- infinity train style. idk, stuff happened and it was removed from hbo max so there’s not really anywhere to watch it (legally) except for netflix international iirc? but it’s getting removed from that too i think. super fucking sad :( it ended on a huge cliffhanger too BUT there is a graphic novel being made!!!! super excited about that!

other cartoons i like are over the garden wall (dressed up as wirt for halloween last year), the owl house, adventure time, regular show, steven universe, infinity train, bojack horseman, rick and morty, mlp, the midnight gospel, and so much more i’m forgetting. OH anime i like are death note, demon slayer (haven’t caught up yet on the latest seasons tho), and MOB PSYCHO 100!! vampire in the garden on netflix is really amazing as well.

this is sooo long but now i gotta talk about my favorite music artists. WILL WOOD (AND THE TAPEWORMS) IS MY FAVORITEEE. I ALSO LOVEEE JHARIAH!!! AND HARLEY POE!!!!! top three of all time. i also like toby fox obviously, and glass beach (LITERALLY GOING TO SEE THEM IN MARCH AND I AM SOOO EXCITED!!!), mcr, shayfer james, weezer, mitski, lemon demon, set it off, tally hall, gerard way, and probably more i’m forgetting. i also like musicals!! (i was in the spongebob musical earlier this year for school! i was larry the lobster :))

so guys. GUYSSS. IF YOU LIKE MUSICALS, GO WATCH NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE!!!! OR JUST WATCH THE ENTIRE HATCHETFEILD TRILOGY!!! WHILE UR AT IT, WATCH ALL THE STARKID MUSICALS ACTUALLY!!! this is my current hyperfixation. the lords in black are amazing, npmd is amazing. i love everything about it. go watch it seriously, it’s fucking awesome and the soundtrack is AMAZING!!!

i think this is it. this got super long but i’m super passionate about my interests so yeah. this is pretty much everything. one very important thing (literally my special interest) that i didn’t mention are my other ocs. i have wayyy more ocs that are completely separate from the tllr ones. i don’t wanna post about them here though, cuz they’re not whump related and i want to keep my main account separate from this account. but they’re my favorite blorbos in existence so…

if u WANT to know about my other ocs, u can feel free to dm me for the username of my other fandom/oc account. that’s where i post other stuff that i don’t post here, like my fanart and my other oc stuff. i don’t post writing or anything like that there, so ur not missing out on that.

anyway those are most of my main interests! things i didn’t mention that im also really interested in are reptiles (snakes specifically), and animals in general. i have two leopard geckos named Lars and Alphys and i reallyyyy want a pet snake but my family hates snakes :(( anyway i’m rambling

thanks for the ask!!

[kebriones]

Sorry to bother but where can I find informations about Alcibiades? I saw you and the others mentioning many times on Tumblr and I got very curious, can you please help me?

No worries, I love introducing more people to the cult I mean spreading the love for alcibiades!

Here are my suggestions:

Plutarch's life of alcibiades. You can find this one in english online easily but I included a link. A good first read in my opinion, but you need to know in advance that the author is writting about Alcibiades a few hundred years after he lived and a lot of what he says can't be taken for absolute historical fact.

jacqueline de romilly's book on Alcibiades. This one I am afraid you might have to purchace as I have been unable to find it online with my surface-level searching. Perhaps you might be able to find it in a library, I am not sure. I own this one in a physical copy that my grandma gifted to me. This one is in my opinion the single best book on alcibiades, as far as I can remember the author knows exactly what she's talking about and is not trying to push any agenda, unlike other authors of biographies of his.

If you get REALLY into it, the most historically accurate portrayal of Alcibiades is by Thucydides, BUT his texts are a pain to parse through if you're not completely possesed by madness like I was when I read it. But you can find them online in english I am pretty sure. If you just care about alcibiades and decide to give thucydides a try, I would suggest looking up when exactly alcibiades shows up to avoid reading a massive part of the book which doesn't include him.

Plato's Alcibiades I, Alcibiades II and the Symposium, all paint a very vivid picture of him but here you must remember that these are more like fanfiction than an accurate portrayal of him, but they are still fun and I honestly treat this fictional alcibiades as if he's the same as the real one for fun's sake. Like, I know these aren't facts but I chose to ignore that to have a more well-shaped character to think about. All of plato's texts can be easily found translated in english online.

Articles and videos on him on youtube. Now, these might be shorter to read/watch BUT. Very big warning: Most, if not all of the articles, videos and podcasts on him that I have read/listened to etc (since last july, I have consummed DOZENS of that stuff) have bigger or smaller misconceptions, misunderstandings and inaccuracies in them. I am afraid this is because nobody reads the actual ancient sources but there's a game of "broken telephone" where misinformation on him gets spread around. I would be vigilant when reading stuff on him online, I have even heard professionals and phd students and what not getting details about him very mixed up. If you've read plutarch's life and/or De Romilly's book beforehand you can catch these misunderstandings, but if you haven't, it's very easy to learn things that are just completely made up or wrong, but presented as facts.

Hope this helps!! If anyone has any other suggestions for reading on alcibiades or anything please feel free to contribute!

[terresdebrume]

Favorite place in the world you’ve visited?

Guadeloupe! (It’s a tiny French island in the Caribbean.) It’s warm and beautiful, and that’s the place that made me appreciate the beauty of hiking, even though I never did manage to get into it after that x)

It’s also where part of my family is from so that helps too :D

Something you’re proud of yourself for?

I’m really proud of how much I’ve grown as a person these past few years. I’m proud of the fact that I’m still standing even though it sometimes felt like I wouldn’t be able to.

Also I’m proud of my writing to be honest. I think that’s the most solid ‘I’m good at this’ part of my life and it was the cornerstone of me building any kind of self esteem. I hope I get even better as time goes by :D

Favorite books?

I think the Hunger Games books are the ones I reread the most often (sidebar: I absolutely recommend you read Spin Control by Trovia in this fandom. It’s still pretty high on my ‘Introducing people to quality fanfic’ list!)

That being said, Pride and Prejudice is also a big favorite! A lot of my favorite stories are fanfics, though, it’s my favorite medium x)

Something that makes your heart happy when thinking about it?

My cats, my goddaughter, my niece, my friends 😊

Favorite thing about your culture?

The fact that we’re used to pushing back against authority (make fun of the French all you want for striking all the time, we sure do it a lot and even too much at times, but sometimes it’s useful to have a coworker who’s not afraid to be frank xD)

Also: how affordable books are! I miss paying only 5-10 euros for pocket-format paperbacks, especially when I can’t find anything under 13 dollars here ;_;

When did you join the HBO War fandom? What was the first show you watched?

Last year, and late in the year at that! Although whether I’ve really joined the fandom is debatable, given how bad I am at socializing, but I’ve definitely written fic xD

What can I say, I watched this show twice before I caught the fic/shipping bug for it! Now I’m trying to decide whether I can actually watch The Pacific without damaging my mental health because I am not a gore fan xD

Have you read any of Easy Company’s books? If so, which ones were your favorite?

None so far, though I’m still looking around for Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron’s book…and I’d like to get my hands on David Webster’s book as well, if I can. Not that the others aren’t interesting to me, but I’d say these are the two at the top of my list.

Favorite HBO War character and your favorite moment with them?

To my own surprise, I had a hard time deciding between Webster, Guarnere and Liebgott for this one! But I think David is the one that rotates the most in my mind, and I do absolutely love his whole “Can you believe I said that?” bullshit when he gets shot like, man what are your priorities xD

Do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?

Well, I’m coming up on a million words of fanfiction published on AO3, the most recent works being largely Band of Brothers fic, but I also occasionally fiddle on Canva to make fic covers!

Favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?

I think I still have to answer Tom Hiddleston, and Thor (the first one).

Favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?

I do love Mika’s lyrics in Rio: “Maybe I’ll be myself when I’m somebody else.”

It really resonates with me, and if I’m going to tattoo any words on my body it’ll be those.

Random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?

When I go cross eyed I can make it look like my eyes move independently like a chameleon’s.

If you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader (say yes so I can be your beta reader 🤭)?

Beta reader, cheerleader, whichever you prefer! I have too many fics on the backburner tbh! Right now I’m trying to wrestle the one where modern AU!Don Malarkey and David Webster met on Grindr, disliked each other too much to actually sleep together, but accidentally become ride or die friends anyway x)

Three things that make you smile?

I’m going to count my cats as only one thing, even though there’s three of them :P

Whenever my students compliment me.

The smell of rain on a hot road or warm grass.

And, because I can: swimming in a river/lake it hot weather.

Any nicknames you like?

I would describe myself as largely indifferent to nicknames on the whole? I’m fine with Matt tbh, I picked it myself and it’s only one syllable so it works x)

I do have two people who refer to me by a (different) nickname though, and I would feel very strange if they stopped ;_;

List some people you love to see around on tumblr!

Well, @almost-a-class-act, who tagged me, is a pretty nice presence :D I'm also always happy to see posts from @formerlyknownas-delight, @liesmyth (enjoying the Italian blogging at the moment even if I don't understand most of it), @lectorel, @nemainofthewater and @talysalankil

Lately, I've also really enjoyed the works of @renegadepublishing, @fuckyeahgoodomens and @atlaculture

What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?

Freeze and try to be as quiet as possible? Probably slowly kill myself with stress over my cats’ wellbeing.

Favorite movie?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but also The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.

Do you like horror movies?

No D:

Tag list: @ronsparky @cinnamonmalarkey @1waveshortofashipwreck and whoever else wants to do this :D

[theyarebothgunshot]

i was tagged by @trampledundercas to talk about 8 shows to get to know me, thank you for the tag!

i’ll be talking about the shows in the chronological order in which i started to watch them, to make it easier for myself lmao.

1. buffy the vampire slayer: listen. if there is just one show. one piece of media on this earth, that you need to know about in order to understand me, it’s buffy. this show came out when i was a kid, and i watched it even though i hardly grasped what it was about back then. all i knew was that david boreanaz was hella hot and also buffy + angel forevah. obviously, as i grew up, my opinions changed, and they continue to evolve even now. (for example: season 2 was my favorite season for the longest time, but the last couple of years, season 5 sneaked up on me and is now my favorite season). every time i rewatch it, i get something new out of the experience. the way i talk, my humor, my taste in media and ships, my very being has been influenced by this show. i know in my heart that this will always be my favorite show.

2. dawson’s creek: listen. i can’t really explain this one, except for the fact that it definitely solidified my love for the friends to lovers trope, and the enemies to friends to lovers trope. it is just *chefs kiss* and yes i also watched this way too young but ehh i survived. 

3. the o.c.: i was old enough to browse the internet when this show came out, thus i finally stumbled upon livejournal, and by extension, fanfiction. this was the first show i ever read fanfic for, and also m/m fanfic that i wasn’t looking for but that definitely rewired my brain for good. so. yeah. ever since, i have been permanently online. so there is that! plus - and this is a big factor too - it literally shaped my music taste to this day. next to the national, my favorite artists/bands are death cab and rachael yamagata, who i was introduced to by the o.c.

4. the office u.s.: next to the o.c., the office u.s. was a show i read a LOT of fanfic for at a formative time in life. jim/pam was my jam (hah. the ones who know, know). again: friends to lovers.... cannot get enough of it. i will say this though: once they get together, unfortunately the show did lose it’s spark for me. but alas. season 1-3 will always have a special place in my heart.

5. how i met your mother: i have a very complicated relationship with this show. a love/hate relationship, if you will. those who are familiar with it, undoubtedly know why. but this WAS a great show imo, at least when it went with the flow. again, the enemies to friends to lovers of it all.... yeah. that plus nonlinear storytelling? hellooo. sign me tf up. 

6. the wire: this show was just so good. SO GOOD. it was like watching a novel come to life. it definitely changed the way i look at tv, and made me appreciate long form storytelling.

7. breaking bad: this is purely a case of excellent television. it didn’t change me as a person, perse, but i cannot picture my life withouth this experience. i binged the first 3 seasons when i was sick, in the hiatus before season 4, and watched the last two seasons live. my friends and i had a watch party for the series finale, we baked a cake and made fake blue crystal meth, it was a whole thing lmao. good times indeed. 

8. supernatural. need i say more?

this was a lot of fun ngl. i’ll tag @regardingjenmish @clarkenting @blanketforcas @thosewildcharms but, no pressure, feel free to ignore lmao

[fickleminder]

In response to your post about your writing...

Forgive the essay, but you're one of the best writers I've seen on this platform. My favorite is probably "the years start coming and they don't stop coming"; it never gets old. I also LOVE "The Sphynx" and "Dirty Pop(sicles)" (but that last one... lmao).

I think the way you write is typically clear, concise, and interesting. You do a good job at varying sentence length and structure, and you use a wide range of vocab to avoid repetition. These things also give the MC a relatable personality and convey their emotions in a subtle way (not to mention the fact that they can be downright hilarious). "Actions speak louder than words" is always a hallmark of good writing, and I'd say you nail that most of the time.

One thing about fanfiction is that you don't have many opportunities to describe things without relaying something your reader already knows. But this is arguably good practice; in general you don't want to stop time to give a full description of an environment unless the character is in awe and observing it all in detail themselves (even then, keep it brief).

Personally, I like your character- and plot-centric approach; truthfully, the details of the setting and what someone's wearing aren't important to the reader... unless, of course, they are.

Some might disapprove of your "abrupt" transitions, but I think it works really well for you. The way you introduce the next part usually makes it easy to pick up and avoids being repetitive, so I don't see it as a problem (quite the opposite, actually).

In short, you do a great job! Do you write/plan on writing formally at all, or is it just a hobby for you?

I had to lie down and reboot my brain a few times before even thinking about how to reply this. This is such a motivating thing to read first thing in the morning, holy shit.

Thank you. Thank you so much. I’m going to print this essay and hang it on my wall.

I feel like I struggle with “show don’t tell” a lot, which leads to the balancing act between elaborating/describing and not over-explaining/stating the obvious. I’ve written plots too vaguely before, and I always have to remind myself that plot twists readers can see coming (or at least don’t come completely out of nowhere) are actually a good thing 😅

I’ll keep your encouragement in mind Anon! And to answer your question, writing’s just a hobby for me. It’s something I want to keep absolutely stress-free, so I don’t do those “write x words a day” stuff or monthly challenges. Kudos to the writers who do though, I have mad respect for them 🫡

I can’t say this enough, but thank you again. I’ll let you in on something: I’m actually in the middle of commissioning an artist for an illustration of a scene in The Sphinx. Since you enjoyed that piece (I had a lot of fun writing it too even though xOC fics generally aren’t popular), I hope you’ll look forward to it when it’s finally done.

Have a great rest of the week Anon 💕💕💕💕

[mothinfestedsoul]

Introducing....

One of these days I'll be able to introduce myself with confidence but today is not that day.

Hi, I'm Marshall Lee (no relation to the vampire as I have never properly watched Adventure Time) but you can call me Marshall. I'm a 22 year old author from Canada with a love for horror and horror adjacent things. I have a tendency to start more stories than I can finish and have delusioned myself into thinking that I will write every idea I have in the "List of Books I Plan to Write" (there's over 60 ideas there)

I thought it might be fun to post some of my writing here so I'm not bombarding my Instagram with story idea after story idea (because as previously mentioned, I start a lot of them and I need somewhere to info dump about them)

Please keep in mind that while I might have been on Tumblr as a teenager, I actually have no idea how Tumblr works and will be figuring it out as I go.

(i would also like to preface that this is a safe space for everyone and that hateful speech/misogyny/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc is NOT allow)

🂱 Basics/Fun Facts

𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑓𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 I am mildly addicted to green monster energy drinks, and at one point has about 70+ cans attached to my wall as decoration

My favourite colour is muted green (so sage) or neutral tones

I'll listen to just about any kind of music there is

I designed my first tattoo

I've had every hair colour under the sun except yellow

I am currently not in school which means I have too much free time on my hands; I have no idea what I want to do in life however at one point I did apply to go to university for History and got accepted so I can't say I didn't try

I was born and raised in Canada and I've never left the country

🂱 My Writing

I started writing when I was 12 years old and exclusively wrote fanfiction; I still continue to write fanfiction but in the last three years I've taken myself a bit more seriously and have since branched into creating my own stories

Outside of fanfiction I pretty much only write horror or horror adjacent type stories, specifically horror comedy because I don't think I'm a particularly scary person

I will find a way to work zombies or some form of cannibalism into 95% of my stories. I think I have about 9 WIPs that have zombies/zombie apocalypses/non-traditional zombies in them

I've been working in a novel for seven years inspired by the TV show iZombie

A lot of my works have LGBTQ+ characters/are queer; many of them are M/M — as a trans person, this is what I resonate with most

𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆; 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒊'𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒙 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅

[scorchieart]

Hey, Scorchie! ☺️ For the ask a reader meme: A9, A10, B3, B10, C4, C9

Take care! (⁠´⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠`⁠) 💖

Hello Syn! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you're taking care, too 💖

A9: Who was your first ship?

Haha, I honestly rarely get bit by the shipping bug. And if I do, it's always for canon relationships. The earliest I can think of is Aang and Katara.

A10: Who did you have your first fanfic-related conversation with? What was it about?

Ooooh, here's a short story-time.

I answered in another ask that the first fanfic I read was a Harry Potter fic. Well, that fic was introduced to me by my two best friends. We called ourselves Chocolate, Chip, and Cookie back then (I was Cookie 😋)

We talked about what we liked/disliked about the story and how certain scenes fit/didn't fit with the main canon. It was so fun that the three of us decided to try our hands at writing a fic. Chocolate had the best handwriting, so she was the scribe. Chip was the biggest Potterhead, so she was our fact-checker. And I... I was the fanfic noob, so I was just along for the ride. We came up with a story about the Marauders at Hogwarts and we shared it with the other fans in our class to humble success. That was years ago, and we never posted the story online, so the only copy is still over at Chocolate's house somewhere.

And that's the story of the first fanfic I ever worked on.

B3: What’s the best device to read on (phone, laptop, tablet…)? Why?

If you asked me in high school, I would say phone because it's the easiest to hide under the blankets when you're pretending to be asleep. Today I say laptop because it's more convenient to open tabs in case you want to save a story for later and it's easier to type comments on.

B10: What is the best plot twist you’ve ever seen?

In the realm of fanfiction, the best twist I've read was in a Hunter x Hunter story where an OC character was introduced so seamlessly into an existing arc from the series and then was revealed to be the target of a canon character... it made sense in the context of the story and it was so emotional it blew my mind (and my heart).

I tried looking for the story again to link it here, but it seems to have been removed T.T I don't think a story necessarily has to be super long to have a satisfying plot twist, but this beast was 70k+ words. And it was incomplete the last time I read it.

C4: What thing that fandom loves do you actually kind of hate? Why?

Ok, so the main reason I don't participate in shipping culture is because I've seen the ugly side of it on the internet and irl. Such wonderful art and stories and creativity have come out of ships, but the reality is that's not always the case. You can do your best to ignore it, but if a shipping war breaks out sometimes it's best to dip entirely. It's exhausting just to watch, I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a part of it.

To my knowledge this doesn't exist in the ikemen fandom, and I appreciate that.

C9: What show did you really try to watch, but you just couldn’t?

I am notoriously bad at completing recommendations people give me in a timely manner. I need the person who recommended the thing to sit with me and watch it so I can get the best experience, I think.

But one show I tried watching with a friend but I couldn't complete is Akame ga Kill. I never read the manga, but the impression the first 5 episodes gave me was that it was a generic dark world that kept trying to flood you with gore and edginess to distract from its very bland plot and characters.

Reader to reader, let's share some questions.

[rhosinthorn]

What happened to your FT fics?

I got an ask about Chained Dragon recently that made me realize that while I may be bad at keeping everyone updated in general, I’m really bad about talking about my FT fics.

TLDR: They’re not dead, they’re just difficult and it’s because of me. More detail below the cut.

Okay, so this is going to get a smidge personal but writing is (somewhat) personal to me and it ties in with what’s going on with my FT fics.

Sometime between 2008 and 2011, I was introduced to manga by a few different people. I read a couple of different things, but by 2012 I was following Naruto, Skip Beat, and Fairy Tail (plus a few other smaller ones). My entry to fanfiction as a genre didn’t start until 2013-2014ish, but writing fanfic wasn’t on my radar at all.

And then, in January 2015, Fairy Tail 416 came out.

My brain would not shut up. I had several different theories for what Lucy was up to after Tartaros. So I started writing, by hand first and then on my computer. I had a notebook that I carried with me that I used to draft scenes when I was away from my computer. (Fun fact, that still exists and I found it a while ago!) These theories turned into Strength of Spirit and Still Standing.

Eventually, I worked up the courage to start posting, starting with Strength of Spirit. Then, when that finished, Still Standing. The epilogue to Strength of Spirit, Raise Your Glass. A few side bits. Ship Weeks. Dabbled a bit in RWBY because I was having feelings about Season 3.

And all the while, I was still reading Fairy Tail. And if I’m honest, I was losing a lot of my love for it.

Personally, the Alverez Arc/anything after 416 is...really not my taste. And I think (though I can’t confirm) that it felt that way to a lot of people. I don’t want to get into debates over whether it was good or bad, but it was starting to really rub me the wrong way.

Which was a problem, because I had committed to a sequel to Still Standing, titled Frontlines, that would cover the Alverez conflict.

Every chapter, I looked for something that would spark an idea. I knew I wasn’t going to be drawing from canon, but I needed to work at least a little with what was happening. Why put myself through adding OC villain characters when Mashima was handing them to me? But nothing was working, nothing was clicking, and to top it off, things were very chaotic in Real Life that a) limited my writing time and b) sapped my energy overall.

So I just...stopped working on Frontlines. Updates slowed and ceased because I was in a massive block and didn’t have a backlog. Chained Dragon got hit with the same issue, because even though it wasn’t covering the Alverez arc, it was just...Fairy Tail. There was a CoLu I wanted to write, covering the “gap year”, but that never made it out of the notebook in any cohesive form. We Always Find Our Way Back Home was my last ditch effort to do something in the fandom, a crossover (different enough to hopefully break the block) and a NaNoWriMo project (to keep me honest).

It wasn’t enough (as the last 6 years show).

Now, I honestly haven’t touched Frontlines in those six years, until maybe three months ago. I found my old notebooks, and in them some notes about potential ways I could wrap up the Alverez conflict. My brain started scheming again, and I kicked around (word vomited) some ideas with my partner in crime. There’s a fresh document with words in it. Not many, not enough, but it’s more than I’ve managed in 6 years. Chained Dragon has had some work done from time to time, and Lucy and Acnologia are just being stubborn about figuring out where we go from there. But I did pick it up and work on it in the last three months or so.

They’re not dead. They’re just...really dormant. But I want to finish them. I don’t want to just label them as abandoned because I know people used to read and enjoy them. I used to enjoy writing them, until I didn’t. But I want to.

So yeah, for anyone who’s still around, I’m really sorry. When I started posting, I didn’t expect the Alverez arc to have such an effect on my creativity. But I’ve taken a break, dabbled in a few other fandoms, and hopefully I’ll get those two out of hibernation and finished.

I’ve started watching Fairy Tail again, from the beginning. I’m hoping that will help.

Thank you, for your comments, for your rereads, for checking in every so often, because that just...when I think that you guys have written it off, I consider just giving up and abandoning them. To know that you still remember, still are patiently (or impatiently) waiting for the rest of it? That helps me stay resolved to finish them.