#going to be really honest. in a lot of my first rereads of this scene i DID completely forget about tesilid there

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

me rereading the magic republic dungeon burst fight

[cosmerelists]

Ranking the First Five Stormlight Novels

For the record, this is not meant to be an objectively correct ranking or anything--but it is my personal ranking. I wanted to wait to do this until Stormlight 5 came out!

And I gotta say--I like all of the books. But I can rank them by "least favorite" to "favorite," even if they're all among my favorite books in general, you know?

[Spoilers for Wind & Truth! ...And all the other Stormlight books too!]

#5: Wind and Truth

I feel bad ranking the newest book at the lowest spot...but so it goes. The thing is: I'm a simple woman. I come to Stormlight Archive looking for people with huge fantasy swords fighting each other in the sky. And while I do respect and understand Kaladin finding his place outside of battles and becoming a Therapist to the Stars, I did honestly miss him getting to duke it out against overwhelming odds.

I will say that this was probably my favorite Adolin book--his WAT arc was my favorite. I also loved the new ways that Shallan is using her powers, to say nothing of finally getting the Rlain/Renarin love story. It was also extremely gratifying to finally get a lot of the backstory about the Stormfather and Honor and the Recreance. I'm also fascinated that so many arcs involved oaths being broken framed as a good thing.

Lots of great stuff in Stormlight 5. But my monkey brain really wanted more sky fights.

#4: Oathbringer

I have to imagine that if you are a Dalinar stan, Oathbringer is probably your absolute favorite book. I'm a Dalinar fan but not a Dalinar stan, so that definitely flavors my reaction to this book.

This one does have one of my favorite Sanderlanches--the battle of Thaylen city is amazing (and Shallan single-handedly fighting an entire army does legitimately make me tear up every time). The invasion of Kholinar storyline is also great, and I loved meeting Azure.

Again, lots of good stuff, but not as much good stuff as some of the other books, at least for me.

#3: Rhythm of War

Rhythm of War was challenging for me because Kaladin is having the ABSOLUTE WORST time in his whole life and it's sometimes legitimately hard to read about it. At the same time, we get such great Kaladin fights thanks to the Pursuer, and one of the all-time great Kaladin Dramatic Entrances at the end.

Plus, I mean....Navani and Raboniel? So good! So toxic! Such an accidental toxic yuri horrifying love story. I'm such a sucker for self-sacrifice too, so Raboniel sacrificing herself to save Navani AFTER Navani killed her? That could have been created in a lab just for me.

PLUS this book had Maya and Adolin, both their kata fight and the whole "WE CHOSE" scene.

Incredible book, IMO.

#2: Way of Kings

I go back and forth about whether Way of Kings or Words of Radiance is my favorite, if I'm being honest. At the moment of writing this list, it's turned out this way.

I really love Way of Kings. The whole bridgeman plotline is horrifying but so compelling, and I love watching Kaladin build himself and his man back up. I love seeing all of the ways they manage to survive, from the side-carry to, well, war-crime armor I guess. The scene of Kaladin surviving the highstorm--with Syl in front trying to block it--is one of my all-time favorite scenes ever. The Tower Fight is fantastic all the way through. And the end with Dalinar giving up his shardblade to save the bridgemen is so earned.

On a first read I was less compelled by Shallan's narrative but it honestly gets more compelling the more often I reread which I've done...let's say a few times. She's such a great character from the first line.

#1: Words of Radiance

As I mentioned at the beginning, I am a simple woman sometimes when it comes to my fantasy series. Words of Radiance wins for me because it contains my three favorite plotlines / scenes:

The 4 v. 1 duel. So amazingly fun to read. Such a good scene for Adolin, for Kaladin, for Renarin. "Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do." Come ON.

Kaladin & Shallin fieldtrip in the chasms. I loved the way their relationship developed over the course of this scene. The end when they're huddled in the cave in the middle of the highstorm while listening to the Fused above them, telling each other their true stories--top-notch. Plus I'm a sucker for storylines where people have to both use and hide their powers, and so the fact that they're both Radiant and trying to hide that from each other makes me giggle maniacally.

The Kaladin vs. Szeth duel. This fight has EVERYTHING. They're in the sky. It's a highstorm. They literally run across enormous boulders that were RIPPED from the GROUND by the storm while said boulders are SPINNING THROUGH THE STORM. It's so over-the-top and it's my favorite fight in the whole series.

So that's me! I know there are tons of "What's your favorite Stormlight book" polls out there, but if you want to put your ranking in the tags I'd be interested to see it!

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Weekend Ramblings

Thame·Po Episode 10

Yeah, I'm late but my brain was not working properly on friday, so, now works. Congrats on the sex! I love this friend group so much. This episode was a lot. First of all Baifern needs to go touch grass. I did appreciate that the show went there, all things considering, but she made me mad. And not that I needed more proof, but Po is a better person than me. Also I hate Pemika and this whole thing around idols and dating. It's insane, but obviously eventually the company will come around, cause glass houses and all that. The PepperGam noble idiocy thing was a bit whatever, although still heartbreaking, but I'm hoping this means that our mains won't follow in their footsteps. This show is as close to perfection as I have seen from gmmtv in a while, so let's not ruin it. The best part was definitely seeing the group supporting each other. The hand holding at the press conference had me all emotional. I'm giving up on screaming at Thame. I guess since they were technically already caught, he's not bothered. Not that he acted like he ever was. Thame and Po continue to be them. I just love how even through all this, they keep checking in on each other.

GelBoys Episode 2

Never has a show made me feel so ancient. Also this show is a massive reminder of how much I absolutely hated all that love drama in high school. I had zero patience for it. Obsessively rereading messages, overanalysing every word to find some hidden meaning, wondering, Does he actually like me? Honestly, I’m exhausted just thinking about it. And on top of that, I’m beyond grateful that I didn’t have to deal with any of it in the era of smartphones, social media, selfies, apps, and so on. So much angst. I guess playlists are the new mixtapes. It's certainly easier. I continue to really like the atmosphere, it feels very grounded. And although I like Fou4Mod, I adore Baabin, so I'm not a huge fan of the way Fou4Mod is using him to make Chian jealous. Like since he's his bestie, he could've at least been honest. I'm sure he'd be on board. And I know he's gotta learn this for himself but, Fou4Mod, sweetie, this is a terrible idea. You are going to be crying a lot on that train in the future. But, I mean, who hasn't done that before?

Perfect 10 Liners Episode 17

I got YothaGun and PondSand. What a joy! I really could watch Perth do anything but seeing him being the biggest love sick puppy is a special treat. Faifa seems to have a bit of a savior complex, which we kinda knew but it's pretty obvious now. I love characters that hide their pain behind a smile, and he's so kind on top of that, so of course I love him. I also liked that he noticed Wine's overall mood and checked in with him about boundaries. I'm hoping Wine can break some of his walls and perhaps teach him the word 'NO.' I'm thinking maybe we won't get a side couple this time because we have enough couples to check in with, in between FaifaWine stuff, but we'll see.

The Boy Next World Episode 7

First of all, it was great to see Thorn/Tong again, I keep forgetting this is part of the TharnType Universe. As I said last week, BossNouel can bring it in those scenes, but I still feel like I'm watching RainPhayu. Now Cir, you had to see this coming, no? I mean you only had like a million chances to come clean. I feel bad for Phu, but I gotta say, last week I thought he might have an inkling about this, but maybe not?Now…for that ending and the preview. So not multiple universes, but something else is going on. He's dissociating. I'm intrigued and worried if they will land this part of the story. It seems we'll be getting our beloved amnesia trope and I'm so excited about it. Honestly I was thinking maybe he doesn't really have amnesia and he's faking, but wouldn't that be a bit much, all things considered? I mean, they’re going to end up together, so I’d really love to not completely despise Cir by then. The second half of the episode was strange though, pace wise. It felt a bit disconnected, and rushed. Part of it might be intentional, given Phu's state of mind, but it still felt weird to me. The sides are kinda cute, although I must admit, Wim gets on my nerves a bit. That dude must end each day with a tension headache. Like seriously, he's so tense it makes me stressed. And also, why is he so annoyed by Jin?, cause like he listed a bunch of stuff but honestly I don't see it. Wim needs to forget about Cir for 5 seconds and focus on something else. This animosity feels a bit forced.

Sangmin Dinneaw Episode 8 [Finale]

I honestly don’t even know where to start. I’ve come to expect a certain level of whiplash from this show, but this was on an entirely different level. We went from child abuse and murder plot straight into that cucumber scene. I can’t even begin to imagine the thought process behind it. This was a roller-coaster, and not in a good way. That said, at least we finally got a storyline where a guy gets revenge on his abusive parents, so that wasn’t terrible. But the fact that the hotel dude didn't get run over is unfortunate. Now that it’s over, I genuinely don’t know what to say. The main couple was cute enough, and the sides were decent, but overall, this whole thing was a mess. Honestly, the ending was the only part that felt even remotely normal. And still I'm not sure about the amnesia. But who cares? Most of this makes no sense and I'm not gonna waste any more time trying to figure it out.

[mxdarling]

[send me a pic]

aventurine fluff post, ooc aventurine, could be read as platonic or romantic, reader is trailblazer, gn reader who uses they/them prns, mostly texting format, takes place after 2.2 trailblaze quest, spoiler free!, a bit rushed, lowercase, 1.0k wc, based on a in-game text interaction with aventurine.

[a/n; got a in-game message from aventurine and decided to write for him LOLL I couldn't resist, my writing is so rusty now i;m sorry huhuu]

you were chilling in your room, laying down with your limbs spread out on the bed, doing absolutely nothing. after the events of penacony, you were completely exhausted. the bed was too comfy to get up from, like some magnetic force pulling you into the soft texture of the mattress. it was unusual for you to be doing nothing—doing nothing would make you bored, and you hate being bored, which prompts you to do anything to make that boredom go away. so having your eyes glued to the ceiling was a new feeling to you; you weren't in the mood to bother march and dan heng with your antics, or help pom pom clean the astral express, or talk to mr. yang and himeko, no, none of that. you simply wanted to be in your room, doing nothing.

minutes have passed, and your eyes, void of excitement, continued to stare down at the ceiling. it wasn't interesting, so it was the only thing your eyes could focus on without much effort. seeing as you weren't going to do much for today, the thought of sleeping away time sounded rather pleasant to you, plus the droopiness in your eyes gave you the go signal to drift off and take a nap. as you're lured into the embraces of slumber, you almost gave in until your phone let out a buzzing noise, pulling you out of rest.

your phone stays still on the bedside table, you sit up straight and leaned over towards your phone to take a peek at the notification that has woken you up.

a: [hey friend!] a: [how's life been treating you?]

caught off guard by his sudden message you leaned back and took a second or two to recollect yourself before reaching for your phone and typing out a reply.

t: [uhh been doing okay, hbu?] a: [a new shop that opened up here on penacony—cosmic star.] a: [checking the place out, it's fun, there's a lot of interesting stuff here.] t: [you planning on buying something there?] a: [well sort of, i'm not buying for myself though] a: [actually gonna buy something for you]

you audibly let out a confused 'huh' as you read and reread his message. this is definitely a first. you knew he had the credits to buy the most expensive things imaginable due to being part of the IPC, but you didn't think he'd let you indulge in his wealth beyond his missions.

t: [wait really? like actually??] a: [yeah gonna buy you something, first i need to find what strikes your fancy] a: [there's this "horizon" series pajama is made with a material so light it feels like nothing, warm in winter, cool in summer, and extremely comfortable] a: [wearing it to sleep should considerably lessen the fatigue from travel]

you were tempted to immediately say that was the item you wanted; after all, having some new sets of pajamas would be nice. though you decided to wait until he described the other items to you, perhaps there was something you'd like even more than the pajamas.

a: [speaking of travel, these "night diamond" series gloves, they're handcrafted and limited to ninety pairs galaxy-wide, perfect for parties and special occasions]

you didn't feel much for the gloves, if you were being honest; the ones you already had were fine and very comfortable during your travels through different worlds. still, you kept the gloves in mind in case you had a change of heart.

a: [and then there's this windbreaker from the "unmanned flight" series—a timeless classic!] a: [you can wear it and stand on the edge of a cliff, listening to the flapping of its hem when the cosmic storm hits… it's because of that scene in the movie, "unmanned flight" has now become the go-to choice for a generation of the nameless and their followers.]

the windbreaker sounded fun, you thought, plus you had a feeling that he picked that item because you’re a nameless as well. though you weren't sure if it would be any use to you.

a: [now, which one do you like?]

thinking very carefully between the three items he had describe to you, trying to sort out the pros and cons of each items but you ended up getting tired of doing so—in the end you settle for the vibes each item gave off.

t: [the "horizon" pjs then] a: [that's all? are you sure?] t: [yeah i'm sure] a: [alright, i'll have it delivered to you, just don't mind the extra packages okay?]

raising an eyebrow at his rather vague message, you hear the sound of hurried footsteps approaching. suddenly, your door slides open to reveal a disheveled march out of breath. "hey! why did you order so many packages!?" march whined, still out of breath as she continued to breathe in and out to catch some air. you watched from your bed in shock as she continued to huff out for air. looking back at you, she whined once more. "hey! these are your packages. help me out over here!" quickly you got off the bed and on your feet running after march, and you helped her carry your packages into your room. you wondered if this is what he meant by 'extra packages'.

t: [how many did you ordered!?] a: [what do you mean friend?] t: [i thought you ordered just the pjs??] a: [i did! with a couple of others things of course!] t: [????] t: [what others things??] a: [why don't you check the packages to see for yourself] a: [don't forget to send me a picture!]

with a sigh of disbelief, you turned your attention to the pile of boxes sent by aventurine himself, guess you should start unboxing.

t: [sent 10 attachments.] t: [what do you think?] a: [10 pictures isn't enough my friend but oh well] a: [as expected, you look really cute in those pjs friend!]

PLEASE DO NOT COPY, REPOST, SHARE, TRANSLATE OR REUPLOAD ANY OF MY WORKS TO OTHER SITES WITHOUT MY PERMISSION + REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED.

[caelanglang]

Who are your fav skk fanfic writers and why? Do you have their works that you love the most that you don't mind sharing here? 💘

this... this is such a hard question, *brings out a whole safe of records* /j (no srsly it's gonna be a long read--)

Here are a list of authors i really like :3 Their ao3 links/handles are:

the_most_happy: love how emotional their work can be! they have smut and fluff works, and most of all—which i think the the most delicious one, is the way they write angst <3 I actually made a bunch of fanart for their fics/aus when I was just getting into the fandom :3 They're writing is like going into a spicy sexy emotinal adventure... idk how else to describe it xD my fav fic of theirs... augh so hard to choose... In Loving Memory caught me so off guard (cuz i forgot to read the tags and immediately dived into it the moment i saw their post about it hhhh)

forest_racoon: The fluff and softness and magic in their writing is so good! I love the energy and comedy and seriousness and everything in their writing! it's always so fun to pick up any of their works~ Don't be tricked tho,, the angst they deliver have the same gravity ToT it's just so... augh... I first found them through Plate :( and have reread it several times (please check out their other works too it's all so amazing!!)

devilrin: love how she writes. period. the emotions and the poetic energy of it?? the angst?? so. good. the skk energy in their writing is more mellow(?) it feels more realistic—it's like watching people instead of characters ;w; (very cool how she world builds an entire life outside of her fic for her characters actually, got to witness the behind the scenes first hand myself its pretty insane to me) The fic that ruined me tho is Down to a Sunless Sea (which is so angsty im so--)

themadtree: The energy in their writing is just so amazing. it's very hard to stop mid-way! The dialogue feels very fun and engaging and you really get very attached to the characters because of how energetic and full of life they are. Whimsical is the best word I can think of to describe the reading experience of their work :3 They made a bunch of fun aus; their brain is just so amazing (pirate au and avatar au like broooooo) My favorite is Mors Vincit Omnia (yummy pirate au!)

StarshipDancer: one of the first ao3 writers whose name i decided to remember by heart (which means a lot considering how bad i am with names) because they are my most searched user in ao3 xD The fluff is just so addicting. The sillies and shenanegans are so on point for me, idk it just scratch this itch so perfectly in my brain. I draw a of inspiration from my skk sketches from their works actually :3!! READ EVERYTHING THEY HAVE PLS ITS ALL SO GOOD (you should check the fluff week collection augh) Without Words is one of my most reread ones... I think... I reread a lot of their works tho...

setosdarkness: let's be honest. i think everyone whose dived into ao3 skk just knows her alreayd xD she's such a kween for that, making sure we are so well fed with so much fun skk writing. Her works are so fun to read! Very comedic and has such similar energy to the gag moments and bickering and shenanigans of the anime skk for me idk why. I love how fun and unique each fic scenarios are :3 (no srsly you'll never run out of food made with so much love by athina-san)

xLillyle: I am working with Lilly for a Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood skk au!! (its Royai skk BUT it's also beast!skk) it's been so exciting to work with her :3!! You can check some of the teasers here. She made an iwaoi!skk fic recently so if that's you're type hehe *starts bawling*

there are lots of other amazing authors there but these are the ones that came to mind and i am most familiar with for now :3 Here are some other fics ~~

When I Awake: Ghost(?) Writer Dazai and Musician Chuuya. yummy angst. silly skk

castle out of couches: My favorite domestic fluff skk. it's my must read. Halfbloom is such a master of the fluff in comedic tone and capturing that skk domestic softness idk how they do it. it's just so good.

In One of the Stars I shall be Living: A sweetheart wrote a fic about my little prince skk au TT it's so well written and I am so in love with all the references and angst ueueue

Five Steps: My favorite skk knight x prince au TT

The Best Worst Thing: Another sweetheart wrote a fic based on my silly sketches ;w; it's so cute waaaaaa

okay. i am. so sorry for the long answer. I just love a lot of stuffs from these incredible writers. feel free to drop by again :3 these are the ones that comes to my mind first so i may have missed out on a bunch oop

[iridescentscarecrow]

I saw on twitter that you caught up with mtefil and i'm so glad since so few people know about it. What do you like about it? Personally I love it's rendition of the fallen angels, so vile and pathetic yet human.

hello!!! i kind of regret keeping the small liveblog thread i did on my priv and not posting on main, since i ended up having a lot more things to say than i expected. i'm still sorting out my thoughts right now, and i want to go back and reread some stuff with context, but here's a quick summary of what i felt:

i like the fallen angels a lot too, but my favourite aspect of mtefil is probably the depiction of the sins, it's wonderfully clever. i think the order of my interest goes lust (aria arc specifically ) > sloth > gluttony > greed > envy.

for lust, i feel like i might appreciate it more than other people because i was very interested in the "agelessness" associated with "sexiness" vis a vis idolhood and the creation of aria as someone "bottomless", as these are themes consistent with some of my favourite things in fiction. asmodeus is one of the characters i ended up liking the most because of this. her inflicting violence onto priest as a expression of her love for sarah, and the propertyship there was very good. asmodeus is constantly seeking worth & dignity! her connecting with priest through like a shared sameness really got to me. i liked how imuri was the audience proxy for our knowledge that aria was actually priest's assaulter, it made for some really horrifying moments of tension, i was kind of shaking through it, also, i think it contributes to my idea that imuri is the protagonist (the first page of the manga is literally her painting) and priest is the "love interest" - also a fun concept because of how bel frames him as a romcom protagonist later on? but that's just extended thoughts. the ending scene of the arc with him fantasizing about imuri and then throwing up was very powerful to me, because i think the gendering of priest is essential to the series. him being disgusted with himself because he feels like a predator, and immediately giving up the caregiving role (of gendered labour) that he assumed over imuri earlier stuck to me.

i like how gender entwines with every aspect of MTEFIL, tbh. its very well planned, even if it does end up beating you over the head with its themes at time lol! the sins are one thing - most of the male ones are dimensions of patriarchal abuse, and the two female ones we've seen are leviathan with her ill fitting motherhood, and asmodeus, who like i said, is focused on Worth through sexual conquest. the church refers to the "father, the son" & the witches to "evil" feminine figures. a lot of the manga discusses how the witches are alienated & considered inhuman, and their struggle is a tussle over humanity. verge literally brought up "storytelling" !! and this makes sense because imuri's Role is the "femme fatale", that she constantly refers back to and describes herself with, and that's essentially story trope.

sloth was the depiction i was most impressed by when it came to inventiveness. i was reading through the files intently before he was revealed since they're all written very well, so when he showed up, i assumed he was writing the child's room ones almost immediately. the scapegoating of women, paired with the eternal childhood of it all and priest's own exhaustion is all very fun.

gluttony being a grooming allegory is honestly insane. i often feel like depictions of gluttony end up imagining it as a kind of Greed Lite - but with a focus on food, which is boring TBH. the manner in which the sin of taste is presented as experienced/practiced by the abused & the way this connected to leah's "forbidden love" as described by the files... i really liked leah in this arc. beelzebub talking with her and saying,, this is just human nature,, centering her shame... it made me feel very ill if i'm being honest.

greed is a typical depiction but the way it's fleshed out connects really well to the manga's themes, although im more interested in tachibana than the actual character of greed. i feel she represents it in a more nuanced way than him, although that's probably whats intended. the file about her with the line referring to "the womb" and the one file conversation she has with verge really sticks to me. she's obviously portrayed as the sole woman in a room full of men and the way she revels in her success when it comes to The Meritocracy fascinates me. i hope we get more of her

envy is probably the one i have the least thoughts on: leviathan as the state & the sea monster connect to motherhood is kind of apparent but i wish i had more to chew on with respect to how that ties to the sin of envy. but that's a minor nitpick, and i'll probably understand more later.

overall, i'm kind of happy with how these themes are being tackled in a shounen manga, and i had tons of fun with it. i wish it had more attention! i like priest a lot, i think he's incredibly well written but my particular tastes in characters mean that my favourites right now are imuri, asmodeus, leah, and verge. the latter is probably biased by the fact that i'm deeply invested in the weird yaoi he and dante have going on, it's so fun?

this is everything that i could think of for now, but i'm considering talking about newer chapters when they drop on my main, perhaps? thank you for the ask, it gave me the opportunity to go on about it a little :D i liked it very much!!

[wehangout]

Shameless DVD Commentary

The wonderful @i-think-you-mean-reduction asked for a DVD commentary on Suncatcher! This was the first time I'd read it since finishing, so that was a lot of fun, too! This whole thing got away on me, so hit that read more if you want to read more 💜 as usual, thanks to @callivich for starting this awesome idea!

Which fanfic is your DVD commentary about?

Suncatcher!

Give us some stats - (when you wrote it, word count, how long it took to finish, is it a one-shot/multi-chapter, etc)

Okay, I started posting this in March of 2022, which leads me to believe I started writing it in 2021 (I'm on a borrowed laptop, so can't check). It took some time to finish because ~real life~ and word count hits 58,592.

What was the initial inspiration for your story?

Oooh, okay. This post. If you don't want to click, it's a text post saying "au where thief!cas tries to ride dean's dick and keep track of when his flashdrive is done stealing the contents of dean's computer at the same time". Obviously, that kind of scene never happened in Suncatcher, but vibes, you know?

If the story is written from a character’s POV, why did you choose this character?

Mostly Mickey because almost everything I write is Mickey pov. But I did experiment with this by writing those 3rd person Ian snippets, and literally the only reason for it is so the reader could be there for that moment of realisation when Ian figures it all out.

What was your favourite scene to write?

I don't know that I have one, but I really enjoyed the scene where Mickey asks Ian to come to Mexico. Getting to write them being soft, even just for a minute, was nice. And literally any of their flirty banter was fun to write lol.

How did you come up with the title?

I feel like this doesn't need an explanation, lol. I will say, though, I had three other titles in mind. I had "Denouement", "Encontrar", and "Atrapasol". Encontrar means "to find" in Spanish (because I knew it would end with them in Mexico), while "Atrapasol" means "suncatcher". At least, according to Google translate lmao.

Are there any little moments or references you hope readers will notice?

I did a reread in order to write this commentary, so, please, have a list of moments, foreshadowing, and references.

* Mickey's nautical-themed sleeve! “Sailing? Nah, man. I just really like pirates.” Get it? Because he's a thief? And pirates steal shit? Literally no one caught onto that haha * “Uh … growing up the way I did, I’m probably better at the B&E itself rather than tryin’ to solve it.” -- Mickey literally says this in the first chapter lmao * His mind doesn’t go over every detail of the North Side burglaries and he doesn’t obsess over the thief committing them. No thief. Just a bartender. Just Mickey. -- Um, hello? * “Never gonna give that up, are we?” “Never gonna live it down.” “Those aren’t the lyrics.” “Okay, lyric police.” -- 27 Dresses, thank you * Ahh, Mickey's blowjob tattoo. The amount of erotic tattoo designs I looked at for this, but nothing was right. Until Mitch 💜 * He snorts. “Clearly you don’t know many writers.” “I don’t. Should I?” “No. They’re the worst.” -- I'm dying 😂 * Well, this really has turned into a commentary, huh? Apologies. * "A little dry, to be honest." Chapter 3 and 9. Did anyone catch that?

Was there anything you struggled to write? If so, how did you overcome this?

The last two chapters. Life completely turned upside-down on me and I couldn't write a thing. Zero motivation, infinity depression. Then, at the beginning of this year ... I dunno. I don't know what happened, but suddenly I was writing again and I haven't stopped yet.

Favourite line in the story?

“Catch me if you can, motherfucker.”

“Two, I give you the keys to the cuffs and leave. But first I suck your dick until you come down my throat.”

“I’ll give you what you want, Red, you just have to decide what you want more; the thief, or his mouth?”

“I didn’t do anything,” he whispers. “You did everything, Ian.”

“Interesting,” he says. “I was already half in love with you by then.” 😭

“I’m gonna fuck you now. You know that, right?” You groan and drop your head. “You might just break my fucking heart if you don’t, Gallagher.”

“So long as that lover is you, Gallagher.”

Did the storyline change in any way as you wrote the story?

Yeah, but only chapters 9 and 10. Initially I was going to write Ian having a depressive episode and Mickey talking to him about everything while he was down, but I hated the idea. I didn't want it to seem like Mickey/the thief was the cause of his episode, and I also didn't want to use it as a tool. The idea changed into a possible attack on Ian, but that still wasn't working for me. So, instead, you got the scene with Mickey handcuffed and Ian asking questions. I switched the vulnerability around and made it way more fun.

If you are writing a particular trope or genre, was it your first time writing this?

Nah. A little crime with my romance is my go-to lol

What are you most proud about in the story? (plot, characterisation, dialogue, twist/cliffhanger, etc)

Finishing it. Kidding. Kinda. Not really.

Actually, though, the dialogue and banter is pretty good. It reads very natural, so I'm proud of that.

Are there any deleted scenes that didn’t make it to the final story?

Only what I mentioned above. I wrote the attack on Ian, Mickey sitting with him in hospital ... it wasn't good.

Are there any ‘behind the scenes’ info you’d like to share - e.g. what’s going on in a characters head in a certain scene or how you came to write a certain line?

Oh, the moment where Ian finds the camera and leaves it. He'd just heard Mickey tell him that he stopped watching before things got interesting, and that's what he's thinking about as he puts the camera back down with a smirk. About Mickey not stopping just as things get interesting. I had thought about writing it, too. A scene where Mickey doesn't close the laptop, working consent into it and Ian putting on a fucking show

Reading back the story now, is there anything you’d change or add?

I don't think so. I'm pretty happy with most of it.

Would you ever write a sequel to this story?

Kinda did. Wouldn't be opposed to doing more. All the cream pie banter I'm rereading is def giving me inspo for if I write more of them oops

Are there any ‘easter eggs’ in your story - e.g. references to other stories you’ve written, a trope you often use etc?

I think I mentioned this in the commentary for Thicker Than Forget, but Jim Morrison/The Doors lyrics. I don't know, man, it just works for me haha.

Also the name thing - Gallagher/Ian/baby and Mickey/Mick.

There's also the line "It’s gone from bartender and customer having a bit of fun flirting and teasing, to silk sheets and Nine Inch Nails pounding through the speakers." - The NIN might be a reference to Help Me (Tear Down My Reasons) 😏 iykyk

Were you nervous or excited to post this story?

Excited. Probably more excited to post ch2, though, just for the reaction to Mickey being the thief haha

Did you have a beta or a friend who helped you as you wrote?

@whaticameherefor always 💜

Ask your followers to pick a snippet (no more than 500 words) and share your thoughts about it.

@i-think-you-mean-reduction asked for the scene where Ian asks Mickey on a date which I've pasted below.

A couple of notes on it:

The Riverwalk Cocktail Festival is a real thing in Chicago

I put a stupid amount of research into finding them the perfect date and this just fits.

Reading it back, I love that the Mickey doesn't think of the thief or anything to do with that shit once during this conversation. It's just two guys who like each other, and one's asking the other out on a date. It's just happy.

I think Mickey was so surprised that Ian was asking him out that everything he said and felt and thought was genuine. He even has a moment of "Fucking finally" that he doesn't mean to say, but 100% means.

I'm sad they never did it.

“Just my gut.” He pauses. Smiles. “Speaking of … in the interest of trusting my gut with my personal life as well as my professional life, have you heard of the Riverwalk Cocktail Festival next month?” Your heart skips a beat. Yeah, you’re heard of the fucking festival, and you can’t believe Ian’s doing this. “I’ve been a few times,” you tell him. “Sandy and I go under the pretence of work, and then get shit-faced.” “Okay, so do you maybe wanna go again?” He fingers go back to the coaster, but again he keeps eye contact. “But, you know, with me instead of Sandy.” There’s nothing romantic about the Riverwalk Cocktail Festival unless you go to the Riverwalk Cocktail Festival with romantic intentions. If you go with a date then it’s stupidly fucking romantic and you and Sandy used to talk shit about those assholes every chance you got, but … But the idea of being one of those couples, of going with Ian and having it be romantic … it makes you sick to your stomach how much you like the idea. “You askin’ me on a date, Gallagher?” He stares at you, eyes wide and honest. “Yeah.” “Fuckin’ finally.” You don’t mean to say it. You think it and you mean it, but you don’t mean to say it. Ian’s smile, though, makes the slip worth it. “So that’s a yes?” “Yeah.” “Good.” He smiles. Fucking beams. “Because I’ve already bought tickets, so I would’ve been kinda fucked if you’d said no.” “You already bought tickets?” “Some might call it presumptuous; I call it optimistic.” You shake your head. “Ian, man, those tickets are expensive as fuck –” “Doesn’t matter.” “Matters. At least let me pay you back for mine.” You already know he won’t let you pay for both of them. “Not a chance. This is me trusting my gut, asking you out, and feeling really good about it.” A smile pulls at the corner of your mouth. “Oh yeah?” “Yeah.” He smiles right back. “You wanna pull me out of that good feeling, the one I get when you agree to go on a date with me, by bringing up my money woes? Or do you wanna talk about our date and agree upon matching outfits?” “You better be fucking joking.”

Anything else you’d like the readers to know about the story?

So, as mentioned above there was a good chunk of time where nothing was updated. If you were someone who left a kudos or a comment or messaged me on here during that time, or even continued reading when I finally updated, please know it meant a lot.

[julietasgf]

Rereading ballads and honestly......

i know this parallel seems unhinged but I can't help but compare snow and humbert humbert from lolita in how they are both unreliable narrators and it's from his POV, so I'm like "are you sure you're being honest??? or are you just being delusional" because there is so much going on in that paste brain. The way he sees LG and Sejanus, how he describes situations and keeps on defending something bad he thinks or does or makes someone play out to be a bad person or something and justifying himself??

omg anon first, I'm so sorry for taking a bit to answer! second, tysm for the ask!!! and the third: when I received your ask I was giggling and kicking my legs because YES!!!!! YOU NAILED IT

yk, I absolutely adore the book lolita despite it being horrifying and I'm fascinated with the narrative style and the way nabokov chose to write it! in general I'm a huge fan of unreliable narrators, and you REALLY nailed how coriolanus in tbosas sounds so similar to humpert in the way that he's trying all the time to convince us of his truth, or that his world views are the correct ones, and always in such subtle ways! and even more than the way he talks about lucy gray and sejanus, I think this gets so clear whenever he has an interaction with ma plinth! there's a scene with him and ma plinth in the car, and she's talking abt how hard it is for them (the plinths) in the capitol, and coriolanus' first thought is about how they turn all good fortune into misery somehow. or his classic lines about how maybe lucy gray was capitol all this time because the covey used to travel all panem, so it could be a thing. or then how he's trying all the time to convince us as readers how his father is such an honorable man.

and you know the worst? I think that tbosas was a very bold try from SC because it's very different in narrative style from thg. and I feel like a lot of readers simply weren't ready to go for a subtle type of unreliable narrator. he's horrible, but he won't throw it on your face. you may even feel sorry for him or even found themselves falling for his discourse!

(for example, I do think coriolanus is funny sometimes in the book, but a lot of times he's simply bigoted and people say they either related to these lines that alluded to his bigotry or then that they laughed at it! or then the fact that so many people think the plinths have way much more power in the capitol than what they actually have because of the way coriolanus paints them, despite he contradicting himself sometimes regarding it!)

also, one last thing: another unreliable narrator that I've read earlier this year and that reminded me A LOT of him was june, from the book yellowface! the way she distorted things and tried so hard to make herself feel like the victim in every possible situation simply reminded me waaaay too much of coriolanus and his narrative style!

anon tysm for the ask <33 it made me so happy!!! take care, I hope you're doing well!!

[butchhamlet]

hi!! i’m rlly into shakespeare’s tragedies and am curious about the histories, but they’re pretty intimidating. i started to read henry viii a while back, but it didn’t click. what are your thoughts?

i’m curious most abt richard iii bc he’s a blorbo of mine historically (a sentence i never thought i’d hear, much less say)

oh i fucking LOVE the histories i have been going crazy about the histories lately. if you're looking for advice on how to parse the... well, history bit, this post may be helpful! the hardest part for me was the number of characters who change their names or have multiple names (i know it's often based on location/which part of england they're in charge of, but Oh My God), but if r3 is a blorbo of yours you might be ahead on that already.

re: henry viii: i feel like this is hands-down the worst one. so if that turned you off, rest assured it gets better than that. i am sure there are people who like henry viii and have said very smart things about it, but i could not tell you one damn thing that happens in that play besides the doctor being called doctor butts. because it is so fucking boring. HOWEVER! henry viii is outside of the main sequences of histories--not sure how familiar you are, but for you and anyone else who might not know, most of the histories are broken into two tetralogies, and then hviii and king john also exist. (and merry wives, i guess, but that's not really a history, it's just a falstaff play.) those being the war of the roses (written first but chronologically later historically--the three h6 plays and r3) and the henriad (r2, the h4 plays, and h5). so you don't need to read henry viii unless you are on a deranged completionist grind. which i was and i still don't remember what happens in it

as to richard iii--if you're nervous about jumping into the histories, you honest to god can just read that one first. it comes chronologically last (except hviii), but imo it's the history play most capable of standing alone, and also it fucking rocks. i love richard iii. i love the play and i love the guy. i don't know what the historical consensuses on Real Life Actual Richard III are, but i assume you know that shakespeare's ricky is, uh, um, well, he's not, like, good PR for richard's historical reputation. but he IS a deeply fascinating character that i fucking adore. every single scene he's just lying. he's like do you wanna see something fucked up? and then he does it. it's also a play with a lot to dig into re: disability especially (again. not very good rep on shakespeare's part, but lots of good scholarship/intertextual responses), but also gender (women haunting the narrative). awesome play i love it so much.

also, if you like richard (the guy), you may also like henry vi part 3, because he's there and killing people and carrying decapitated heads around; i am sorry to say that the first two henry vi plays are much less fun but they do exist. i am a henriadhead myself but there are lots of wars of the roses people on shakespeare tumblr who write excellent analysis, so here's an open call to the crowd if anyone has stuff to share esp. re: richard. if you have any specific questions about the histories, i'm also happy to try my hand at answering :3 english history is not my era of expertise but i am rereading through the plays right now so i'm having lots of thoughts about kingship and gender and such

[dark-frosted-heart]

Beauty and the Beast's Last Theater - Keith Howell (part 1/4)

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this

Mireille: Brother and Emma are going to be on stage?!

Today, I was taking part in one of my everyday pleasures: having tea with Prince Keith and Mireille.

Mireille was sipping her tea, but then shot up to her feet at the unexpected news.

Prince Keith and I had a similar reaction yesterday.

Mireille: When was this decided?!

Keith: Yesterday. While having dinner with Sonia, an author who I owe a lot to, had asked.

Mireille: The author herself did, huh…But why you two and not actors?

Keith: Well…

~~ Flashback ~~

It came up while we were enjoying some after-dinner tea.

Sonia: My new book's become quite popular, so we decided to have a special one night only performance.

Emma: Congratulations! I can’t wait to see it being performed on stage.

Keith: The new book’s about a spirit of a large tree who falls in love with a prince, dons a magic robe of visibility, and goes to seek out the prince for a moment of freedom and happiness.

(It’s a sad story, but those moments of happiness warmed my heart whenever I read it…)

Keith: I especially liked the last scene where the two desperately tried to convey their feelings for each other and have reread it several times. 

Emma: You always take your time when reading that scene.

Keith: Huh, really?! I wasn’t aware…I’m so embarrassed. But hearing how you notice those little things about me makes me happy.

He gave me a soft smile with red dusting his cheeks.

It was my favorite look on him and made my heart race with happiness.

(It’s like he doesn’t know he’s hit me with a counter attack)

Keith: Emma and I love your work, so we’ll definitely go see the performance.

Sonia: I’m happy to hear how much you enjoyed it, both as an author and as a friend. Actually, the script’s already complete.

With a beautiful smile that’d even charm the same sex, Sonia handed the both of us a script.

(Since she handed us copies of the script, that means we can look at it, right?)

Prince Keith and I both looked at each other, and then at Sonia with hope in our eyes.

Sonia: Hehe, you two always have the cutest reactions. Go ahead and take a look.

Keith and Emma: Thank you…!

Holding back my excitement, I flipped open the script and found a list of characters and actors.

My hands immediately froze on the spot.

I blinked my eyes to make sure that I wasn’t seeing things, but the text remained the same.

(Weird…Prince Keith and my name are on here)

Prince Keith and I looked at each other again, and then at Sonia in confusion.

Sonia: To be honest, the protagonists in this work were modeled after you two.

Keith: After Emma and I…?

(I did notice how the prince was gentle, yet strong, and a little awkward)

(Every time I turned a page, I thought about how cute and cool he was…)

(He really was modeled after Prince Keith)

Learning the secrets behind how the book was produced had me feeling more embarrassed rather than happy or surprised.

Sonia: When I mentioned it to the stage director, he enthusiastically said, “I want them to play those roles.”

Keith and Emma: …

(Is this why Sonia invited us over for dinner…)

Sonia: Why not enjoy the play as its actors instead of from the audience?

Keith and Emma: Huh…?!

~~ End flashback ~~

(After that, Prince Keith tried to politely refuse, but was no match for her enthusiastic pleas…)

Incidentally, I was also no help at all.

When my favorite author asks for help with promoting her work, of course I’m going to agree to it.

Mireille: As expected from Sonia. She’s able to flawlessly deal with my pushover of a brother. 

Keith: …I’m not happy about that.

Mireille: Anyway, as our sister, I’ll be really happy to see you two on stage. We need to hold on to these memories. I’ll have Jade’s painters capture every second!

Emma: J-just one is enough…

Keith: No, just one won’t be enough for Emma’s first performance. But doing every second would make the painters collapse, so why not one per scene?

Mireille: That’s true. Then, if we go with your suggestion, how many painters will we need—

(Hopefully this won’t turn into some major incident…?)

A cup of tea in hand and eyes sparkling as bright as the sun filtering into the conservatory, Mireille started making plans.

I found myself smiling at how much she reminded me of Prince Keith when he was talking about plants.

(Since I get to see Mireille full of energy, this is fine)

Keith: …

Emma: Is something wrong, Prince Keith?

Keith: Ah, um…

Prince Keith’s eyes shifted from side to side before looking at me.

Keith: Sorry for bothering you.

(Because he wasn’t able to turn down the stage performance?)

I had heard it on the carriage home, but it must have slipped out again due to some lingering guilt.

I shook my head.

Emma: I didn’t turn Sonia down, so please don’t apologize. While it will be my first time on stage and I am feeling nervous about it, I’m glad I get to be involved with a work I love. More importantly, I’m looking forward to this once in a lifetime opportunity to be on stage with you. Let’s do our best to make this performance a huge success!

When I pumped my fists, Prince Keith’s brown turned downward and he gave a slight nod.

Keith: …Yeah. Thanks, Emma.

His apologetic expression was in some way different from the one before.

When Mireille noticed something was off, she clapped her hands together as if she remembered something. Her eyes were still sparkling.

Mireille: Have you two done a read-through of the script yet?

Emma: We were planning on doing that later.

Mireille: Is that so?! Then do you mind if I hear a little bit of it?

Emma: I don’t mind, but…

Keith: Ah……yeah, it’s fine.

Mireille: Yay! Thank you.

(Why does something feel off)

His eyes had wavered and there was some trembling in his voice, but he returned to his usual calm look when took the script from Liam.

Keith: Let’s start from the beginning.

Emma: Okay, it’s when you first meet the heroine’s spirit.

I flipped open the script and looked over the exchange between the prince and the spirit.

The story opened with the prince’s line.

Keith: …

The only sound that could be heard was water gently flowing in the conservatory, and with a deep breath, Prince Keith looked down at his script.

And then—

--

~~ Keith’s inner world ~~

Alter!Keith: Hey, how long are you gonna hug your knees and mope around for?

[deeplyridiculouslyinlove]

Thinking a lot about how Moiraine and Lan in Season 2 is essentially an exploration of the “does the bond chafe” scene from The Great Hunt, and how it turned something I disliked in the books into something I really love.

While there is a lot going on for Moiraine in this scene in the book, a core part of it is that she’s worried about Lan feeling compelled to abandon their mission both because she is worried she will die and he will freak out and because she is worried he will come to care more about Nynaeve than their battle against the Shadow. I get where this scene is coming from, both in emphasizing that Lan and Nynaeve are made for each other and in giving us insight into Moiraine’s calculating nature and the amount she is willing to sacrifice goodness for rightness, but I feel like this does Lan and Moiraine both a disservice, as well as their bond. Despite 20 years together, it feels like she doesn’t fully trust him. It also doesn’t quite make sense to me how they could have a conversation like that if they can feel each other’s emotions - it reads to me as blunt but not honest, and I’ve always assumed a core tenant of Moiraine and Lan’s relationship is deep honesty since they’re each feeling the other person reacting on a gut level in real time to every sentence said. Anyway, the scene landed poorly for me on my first read through and I still don’t love it even with a far better understanding of each of these characters on a reread.

So I really appreciate how the show flips this on its head and makes it about Moiraine doubting herself, not doubting Lan. In Season 2, Moiraine is embarrassed and insecure that the thing that made her who she is and that connected her to Lan has been taken away without her consent. You can extrapolate from this that she could also be worried or sad or insecure because she fears Lan might want to be Nynaeve's warder instead now that Moiraine is (in her eyes) useless in their quest, but there’s no indication that Nynaeve as she stands on her own is a primary motivation for Moiraine’s worrying about Lan. Moiraine’s callous actions towards Lan are so clearly rooted in Moiraine’s own fear, and not in Lan’s behavior. And then we get the final scene where Lan asks to be let back in to their bond. He has his out right there, he could go off and find Nynaeve and he chooses not to. Yes, this is because he is a man of his word and he took an oath, but it's also because he is devoted to Moiraine as a person, for who she is and their shared dedication. We aren’t left with Moiraine wondering when Lan will ask Moiraine to release him from his bond, but instead with him doing just the opposite and asking affirmatively to be rebonded. I find it really beautiful and it just speaks to this core of each of their characters that feels really authentic to me. And I think it will strengthen Lan and Nynaeve’s eventual relationship because it will feel like a very purposeful choice he’s making to enter into it, instead of something he’s pushing against. (It will also make the red door that much worse helpp.)

[blueskiesrry]

2024 writing evaluation :)

thank you lizzzz for tagging me

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: 5!!!

2. Word count posted for the year: 199,325

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction

4. Pairings: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson

5. Story with the most:

Kudos: everything of mine is yours

Bookmarks: everything of mine is yours

Comments: where we landed

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): I'm most proud of everything of mine is yours because it really was just written purely based on what i wanted to write and was full of self indulgence. the writing style is one that i'm always trying to somehow replicate with my other works.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): to be honest, i'm not entirely sure. i wish i would've put more time into if we were butterflies but i wouldn't say i'm not proud of it. i love beige as well but there was hardly any thought put into it so maybe that's the one i'm least proud of. but not bc i don't love it haha

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: any time i get a comment about a reread or someone going to read my other fics because they liked one of them is a different kind of special to me. to be specific though, i got a comment on where we landed from the person who submitted the prompt, and i still go back and read it when i'm struggling with writing. just know if you've ever left a comment or sent me a message about my fics, even if it's the smallest thing, i've held it close.

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: i found writing hard in late spring through the summer. i went really hard the first few months of the year (wrote four fics by may 😃) and i think it burnt me out a bit. there were some things i started and put to the side when i realized i was forcing myself to write them even though they weren't going how i wanted. this is the first year i've been serious and disciplined with my writing so i'm taking that as a learning experience.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: there is a scene in you, in every color where louis and harry have their first disagreement of the fic that acts as a sort of indication that things are getting rocky, and it was surprising to me how difficult it was to get right. i ended up writing it a few times before i finally felt like in emulated what i was going for. the first draft was a large screaming match which ultimately didn't feel right for the characters.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: oh boy, i'm just going to post the first one i can think of lolol. i have nothing to say about it. this is from if we were butterflies

There’s many times in an artist’s life when they must decide whether to savor the moment with their eyes or in their art. To watch a sunset sky turn from purple to pink or to dip a brush in watercolor paint. To snap the picture of a lover lying in the moonlight or to lie with them across cool sheets. To put the pencil down when Harry parts his lips, Louis’ name on his tongue, or to capture his expression forever. “Lou,” Harry says in a voice he’s never heard before, hands shaking in his lap. Louis’ gaze snaps to his, and he must decide—to keep this to himself or to never go another day without the reminder of exactly how Harry is looking at him. And any other time it would feel easy. If it was anyone else, there might be the promise of another moment. But now? With Harry, here, like this, and so, so beautiful?

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: as i said above, this is the first year i've been intentional with my writing, so i think i grew in a lot of ways. most notably, i learned how to outline in a way that works for me which has been HUGE in actually finishing projects. i also learned that writing scenes in order is a lot easier for me and makes it more likely that i'll finish something.

13. How do you hope to grow next year: i'd like to get better at editing. i kind of despise editing after the first read through which leads to sloppiness. i'd like to do better at being intentional with editing and keeping an eye out for specific things.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): this is also the first year that i've really had writer friends who i can talk about writing with so everyone that i've done this with has been a huge influence. specificallyyyyyy though, @harruandlou ofc. i've learned a lot from her about the technical side of writing from plotting to editing and everything in between. and obvs she's been incredible in putting up with my whining and scattered ideas during beta reading 🙂‍↕️

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: always. the first one i can think of is the place in chicago that harry goes in eomiy are places i also went for a conference during undergrad. i'm always pulling things from real life though, i couldn't possibly tell you all of them.

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: know your characters before anything else. while plot is important, people will come for the plot but stay for the characters so make sure you know exactly who they are, where they came from, and where they're going. i promise you it will make all the difference in how real your writing feels.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: i recently finished writing my longest (!!!!!) fic yet (over 100k!!!!) that will come out soon into the new year. i'm looking forward to finishing up editing and sharing it with everyone :) i also do have some things planned that i can't wait to get started on!

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

ik you may have already been tagged but @petitommo @wishingforloushair @28goldens @insightfulinsomniac @louieshalo

[asleepyy]

Hello! I just did yet another reread of your comic, so here's a list of random things I love about it!! Sorry if this is a bit uuuhhhh MUCH but I just love your comic a lot, and want to share some of that love, and this seemed like the best way to go about that. So:

-The way Azazel's wings are so fluffy and Jophiel's are so sleek! Your stylization of them is so pretty.

-How you draw Azazel's hands always folded as if in prayer, or fiddling...even though the rest of him is often so still. Very true to Aziraphale, of course, but also fitting of an owl - still and always observing. But still, something that betrays that vigilance.

-Jophiel's honest-to-someone mullet in Mesopotamia. I love him so much. His little curls give me life.

-How Jophiel is always moving, angling his head in funny ways, pulling absurd expressions! He's so fun and mobile, which is just perfect to contrast our very sad and stationary owl.

-just a second being overwhelmed again at the fact that Azazel risked and gave up everything for Jophiel and continues to do so after Falling for him I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine this is fine.

-The way they are so in character in this!! I love reverse AUs but it's very hard to keep them in character in them. You do so flawlessly, to the point that as I find myself trying to imagine future story beats, I struggle to because I just see them acting the way they do in the canon. Stellar writing.

-Jophiel's wink in Mesopotamia. This deserves its own point in this list. As does Azazel finally getting to look happy in the frame after, even if it doesn't last...oh sweet owl...

-Azazel tugging on Jophiel's abaya in Golgatha...completely unnecessary to get his attention, didn't need to pull him closer or anything, but it's like the fiddling of his hands wasn't soothing enough and he needed to reach out in this moment of fear for Jophiel, always asking questions.

-The return of Jophiel's mullet in Heaven! Hell yeah

-help you draw Muriel SO cute.

-Azazel's "I've personally witnessed an Angel become an owl" PLEASE it's so devastating yet so funny

-Every time we get a little frame of just Jophiel's eyes reacting with sorrow and anger at moments when it's so, so clear Azazel was never meant to Fall. His eyes are SO expressive. I don't think your future sunglasses are gonna hide the fact that you're constantly glaring at god my guy.

-I really love the way you draw Jophiel's nose, it's gorgeous!

-Jophiel. Calls. Him. Angel. Need to lie down

-Seriously, I should've anticipated it, and I didn't, that's on me, but my HEART was not READY and I'm obsessed with this scene and its implications. The way Jophiel, deep down, doesn't even see Azazel as a demon ("you were an angel once" "that was a long time ago"). How pleased and adorable Azazel is at being referred to thusly (the little hair poofs!!!). The care they have long held for each other, in its unique and strange manifestations, revealing itself as a tangible burgeoning affection.

-Jophiel's declaration on the most recent page to protect Azazel, having no freaking clue that he's frankly 4500 years late to the game. Glad to have you here, your demon friend has been protecting YOU since before time was invented! Woo...but seriously, such a powerful and touching moment all around.

Anyway, I know this is ridiculously long, but goodness knows long comments on my GO fics always make ME very happy, so I figured you wouldn't mind. ;) I eagerly anticipate every update and bit of art, and when you make this comic into physical form, I will be camping out front of the pre-orders like it's a Black Friday sale. Tent and all. And snacks.

Take care!

🥹🥹😭😭 THANK YOU!!! This is super super sweet thank you for taking ur time to do this!!! I think I’d create the first physical copy when we finish season one of the show in the story, and then if interest is still high, a second physical copy for when we tackle season 2!

[azrielgreen]

hi lovely! i just wanted to take a moment to tell you that prism (as well as the rest of your work of course) means SO much to me. i am so thankful that you and brooke brought this story to life and that you’re going to be continuing it. it is, in some weird way, my comfort series.

as a survivor of some (at least similar) situations that are included in prism, the way you explore these traumatic situations truly does justice to the themes in my eyes. obviously i don’t speak for all survivors, probably not even most, but i honestly think that you have handled the darker side of humanity in such an awe-inspiring way. you inspire me to write in general, but especially about these darker themes.

i fear that i wouldn’t be able to do justice to these themes and scenarios as you do. i know a lot of criticism of these kinds of stories is that they seem to “glorify” some of these heinous actions, and that’s an extremely difficult path to navigate. i have these strong urges to write about topics that i’ve experienced in my life, but i struggle to get the words written while being so focused on doing it respectfully and tastefully.

obviously you don’t have to share anything you don’t want to, but is there something that helps you to write about these topics while still making survivors feel seen and respected? or anything you try to focus on in order to not be so completely zeroed in on doing these themes, topics, and scenarios - not to mention the survivors of them - justice?

Well firstly thank you SO so much!! To inspire anyone to write is an absolutely beautiful thing and it always makes me so happy! This is a wonderfully generous and very kind message.

I think writing about such brutal, traumatic and flat out dark topics can be an extremely fine line to walk especially in terms of not wanting to be seen "glorifying" anything. With Prism, we said from the start we intended to post a Warning Wall and be as in depth as humanly possible with the content warnings. This actually gave us both a fair amount of confidence to write and post without worrying every step of the way about bad faith interpretations. Because the story is SO heavily warned (probably over-warned) we felt we had done our part in giving people the information required for them to make their own choice about reading it. This was really important to us both.

But to answer your question more specifically, and speaking only for myself here, I think when it comes to writing traumatic themes and exploring them I really do follow my feelings. The first draft I write completely in my feelings and nothing else. It's always very raw, often painful and a total mess. In edits, I sharpen it up technically but I always stay true to the core feeling that drove the scene and never deviate or allow fear of criticism/bad faith interpretations to sway me into middling the intensity or god forbid, pussying out and adding a PG-13 layer of moral bias, I.e "Eddie knows it's wrong, but..."

If I'm writing a morally grey (let's be honest jet black) character, there's no point spending half my time pleading with people to see the shades of white. Go all in, commit and follow your feelings, always.

I do however have a critical process for checking all sides of complex scenes, especially rape scenes. I will always write it in the feelings, but I'll read and reread it many times, examining it from many angles, seeking out my own bias. It's very tricky and I probably can't explain it fully, I'd need to use a scene as an example to demonstrate, but suffice to say I analyse traumatic scenes from many angles and really do always try my best.

I do think detailed warnings are an excellent confidence boost for anyone writing a dark story, as is the disclaimer "Depiction is never endorsement". I've seen a lot of younger/newer writers fall over themselves to try and reassure readers of this but they end up doing so IN the narrative/story. You should always write whatever you want and let it speak to those who care to hear it.

Other elements that contribute include letting the story go long, exploring multifaceted elements, facing the "mess" head on rather than fading to black and not being afraid to add details. It's often the details that really give gravity and grounding to a traumatic experience. My own tendency to anthropomorphise as a coping mechanism is something I use a lot in trauma exploration of characters. When we see tiny shards of ourselves reflected in fictional characters, our empathy is triggered, and it is empathy that gives way to good faith readings of extremely difficult subject matter, so I believe. This is very much how we wrote Steve and the abuse he suffers. One thing I've noticed that so many people comment on is the time Little Steve braided the candy bar wrapper to hide it from his Mother. This being an experience of my own, I thought it was fairly niche and likely to go unnoticed but so many people seem to have empathic resonance with it and just that one small detail gives depth, meaning and effortless backstory. I've always found that to be so incredible, how much the little things matter to readers. But of course that's part of why we all love fanfic so much, i think.

Anyway, sorry to have rambled on! Your ask really means a lot to me. Thank you so much again.

~Az

🌈✨️🖤

[love-fireflysong]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five of your other fave writers. Spread the self-love! ;)c

(Oh god. Oh god no. Don't make me do this. It's always the same exact fics cause I haven't written anything new recently im sorry 😭😭😭)

Fics with full summary and thoughts below the readmore cause I don't want to make people scroll past all this lol

1. Baby It's Cold Outside (so hold me tight in your arms and don't let go)

It was just supposed to be a weekend retreat in the Washington's lodge to remember the twins. And now Jess is dead, Josh is alive again, Mike is missing a couple of fingers, Ashley's covered in blood, and Chris' brain is just fried to shit from stress and trauma. But with Josh tied up in the shed and the night now half-over, it's time to lick their wounds and wait until Emily arrives with help. AKA, the After (Mid?) Care fic that no one asked for but you're still getting. (Man, I don't know what to say. Baby's first UD fic and even now like 5 years later I still think it's pretty good lol. Hell, every time I give it a reread I feel like I've never written better canon characterization for Chris and Ashley and everything after that is just me getting more and more into headcanon territory. But it's a fun little angsty between scenes fic that was written solely cause I was insulted that Chris never offered Ash his sweater in game. Like it isn't even romantic at that point, she's covered in blood! It's just the right thing to do lmao)

2. Nothing and Nobody But You

Chris is staying the night again. And though Ashley certainly hadn't expected sex to be on the itinerary tonight, she can't say that she's opposed to it either. Even if the only reason it's happening is because she accidentally drew on her forehead with a pen again. (The smut fic! Woo! It's not even sexy 😭 I just wanted to read a semi-realistic first time that dealt with nerves and feelings and how absolutely fucking awkward they would have been the whole entire time and by god I was gonna have to write it apparently. And somehow other people also really liked it too so yay?)

3. Artificial

It's been a little over half a year since Ashley, Chris, and Josh had been admitted to the Mount Massive Asylum for the Clinically Insane due to the fallout of their prank on the others. And since then, it's also been five months since the three of them had been separated from each other with no warning or cause given. But unaware to the staff, the three of them hold their own little secret: that these long months of separation and tests have unlocked their own little abilities. Just because they can't hang out in the same space anymore doesn't mean that they still can't speak to, or even see, one another. Even if they can't speak or see each other in the normal sense. And no matter what Murkoff does to her, Ashley will never EVER tell. (Easily my least popular fic on this list by far but I'm not really surprised by that lol. It's not only an au, but a crossover one with outlast so there's lots of viseral descriptions of abuse and torture and all the other fun goodies that come with it being set in the outlast universe. But, it's my baby and I just love this au so much you have no idea 🥰)

4. The Final Days of Our Youth

People do crazy things when they're tired. Some add salt to their coffee instead of sugar. Others are liable to crash on any surface that is vaguely horizontal and not completely covered in hornets. And some people accidentally kiss the person they've had a secret crush on for years. Wait, what? (Probably the fic that most people know me for at this point if I have to be honest. The fic that started from I dream I had where Chris accidentally kissed Ashley goodbye, and this was the result of me turning that scene over and over in my head as I tried to figure out exactly why on earth he would have done that. And while this is likely not my personal fav on this list, it is the one I'm most proud of, if only for those text messages and the accompanying artwork I commissioned for it. Especially that third chapter. Like I had to write my own CSS and HTML code for those error messages and it was so worth it. Easily my fav chapter of all time if only cause of how much emotion I was able to get across using text messaging and timestamps alone!)

5. Can't Undo the Scars

It's been six months since the events of Blackwood mountain, and Chris and Ashley are no closer to feeling normal. And with the reappearance of school on the horizon, Ashley takes it into her hands to try and get them ready with what should be a relatively simple test: just manage seven days apart. Easy, right? Shame it's not that simple or easy in the end. (And finishing off this list with some more angst! Entire fic was built off of the two scenes that had existed in my head since early 2020 that was just Ashley saying "I think we need to take a break" and then 3am panicked phone calls. Just really wanted to explore how so very fucked up and absolutely dependent on each other they would have been after not only the events of the game, but as the only survivors as well. They went through some shit and they are not dealing well with any of it AT ALL.)

[kadextra]

I’ve read quite a lot of orv over the past few weeks when I could, adding onto this long post as I went on so….. here we go!!

(warning major super ultra mega spoilers)

previously

-

Starting with the fight between dokja & joonghyuk during “a story that can’t be shared” episode.

At first after reading that battle I was really confused of what yjh’s intentions were, I’m gonna be honest. 😭 did he really want to kill dokja or not, or was it a plan he and sooyoung cooked up? that’s what it sounded like when they talked about it so??? why did he start smacking the fourth wall?? I had to read this part multiple times, and even look up interpretations on the internet that night to understand it. but I finally did! :3

dokja was just an incredibly unreliable narrator there, that’s why it was challenging to figure out yjh’s true motivations. dokja normally is unreliable so that’s normal, he thinks he understands people better than he actually does. and his mind was also in an even worse state after consuming that Eden good and evil fruit & practically losing it when he thought sooyoung died

joonghyuk never wanted to actually kill him- he had read the record of 1863rd turn, and the fight was all because he wanted to know the truth if dokja had given up on them & the 3rd round. if dokja did, then joonghyuk was prepared to give it up too (meaning: die. kdj didn’t even realize that was happening)

thankfully joonghyuk got the answer to the question he wanted, he didn’t die, he will live and reaffirmed himself as a “former regressor”. ough <3 he knocked dokja out and was attacking the fourth wall in hopes he could break through it and learn more of dokja’s thoughts.

very cool and emotional fight overall!!!!! reread it like 8 times I enjoyed figuring it out

-

And then I cried.

That whole goodbye conversation between dokja and sangah was beautiful…. so wistful about what things could have like been for all of them in another world…. and how even if things don’t go the way you expect, you have to live. at the end of the day everything is all about love… T_T I love her

then it came in with the double whammy of tears with THIS

HE WAS CRYING!!!!!!!! 😭😭��� AND IT WAS HIS BIRTHDAY 😭😭😭😭😭

-

The kaizenix scenario starting had me giggling and incredibly entertained because PRINCE RICARDO is here!!!! literally sat there laughing in total disbelief at the sudden reincarnation fantasy story that came out of left field 😭 help my orv changed genres

laughter abruptly stops

wtf

the party members have already spent several years in this place before dokja got here and they all lost their egos after being weathered away by the march of time, hopelessly waiting for him? 🙂 heewon and hyunsung forgot each other??? that scene absolutely tore my heart out. pls do not separate them. SOOYOUNG WAS THERE FOR 50 YEARS! CRAZY! she wrote a novel too. ended it the same as twsa🥲

“It’d been better if I sacrificed myself instead” kim dokja you better shut up

but at least everything turned out well in the end for this arc so I am happy :,)

-

And the good and evil war started!! I watched the resident problem son go home and visit his parents- the literal gods of the underworld! (I love that this whole thing between these three has happened)

ofc dokja had his parents gossip about his love life there too

💀💀AKDJFKFLGLRNWKFKGKAJEDM I CANR BREATHE

but the reveal that it was Hades who discovered dokja from the very beginning and watched him together with Persephone. they really loved and wanted to adopt him all along didn’t they, best mom and dad for our prince 🥹 and even though dokja has hated the constellations, he cares about them and doesn’t want those two to disappear aughfhghghgh.

-

HEEWON UNLOCKING HER CHAOS JUDGE FORM AND MURDERING TONS OF DEMON KINGS AFTER LEE HYUNGSUNG’S SACRIFICE. “Sympathy? Utterly disgusting.” SHAKING. EDGE OF MY SEAT. I love you jung heewon 💖 she is so cool and my eyes are leaking 😭

after that whole mess finally the entire Kim Dokja’s Company has assembled together again including an unconscious lee hyunsung but at least he’s not dead like I fully believed for a hot minute <3

naturally though they can’t have good things and the apocalypse dragon revived anyways against their best efforts, because the seekers of the end are all a bunch of insane people. that thing is powerful enough to kill constellations with a flick of its tail 💀

mom and dad came to help <3 but I got really anxious reading because everybody by this point was exhausted or hurt too badly or to block the third wave.

I had no clue how they’d resolve this chaotic situation it was not looking good

it was looking so bad in fact,

KIM DOKJA. PULLING THIS AGAIN

WHY IN THE HELL ARE YOU LIKE THIS SIR

it’s always in situations where I know he has to do it or literally everybody horribly dies but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it!!!!!! (that’s a lie I was super hyped) still. grabs him with my fists.

Going to ramble a bit here, but the way orv introduces new concepts is so natural and interesting. from the walls, to how stories can talk to you, now to the existence of “chaos” as the void/between of good & evil. it’s the first time I have been hearing this term explained in the story, yet it feels like it’s always been a fact, because it connects so well to what I already know. like of course the outer gods are beings originated from chaos, what else would they be? chaos in mythology was the origin state it makes total sense

being the demon king of salvation means to save people no matter what…… screams cries throws up

“That man is the world I wish to save” BLEW ME AWAY. such a hard line oh my goodness. I love you jung heewon 💖

and all the monologues from dokja in the void space between the indescribable distance and apocalypse dragon, slowly withering away but holding onto life because he wants to live 😭 he sacrificed himself, but it’s different this time because he asked to be saved. he took that action while putting full faith in his companions to do their best to save him. he wants to live. “will to live” even became a stigma 🥲 I can’t do this

-

Son Wukong my guy finally descended into the scenario and its as epic as I always hoped, hayoung was so smart for that. the monkey king himself helped fight off the fog clones and made a way for the trio go save dokja, so awesome. heewon boosting the other two forward, and sooyoung finally boosting joonghyuk.

joonghyuk following the fragments of dokja’s broken star in the pitch black darkness was an incredibly beautiful imagery for a scene, I saw it vividly it makes me want to draw it so bad. and the stuff yjh was desperately thinking during that got me teary eyed, of course. all I do while reading this story is get emotional damaged

but before yoo joonghyuk could reach dokja, someone else reached him first.

honestly felt my heart freeze over while reading that part.

but LETS GOOOOOOOOO FINALLY secretive plotter reveal!! I’ve been waiting for this for so long!!! It’s not future dokja, it’s future joonghyuk!!! :D I’d kinda suspected it to be him ever since the 1863rd round happened tbh so this feels great

I really enjoyed their fight, secretive plotter is insanely strong even with a time limit and was toying with joonghyuk, but joonghyuk never gave up and pulled out all his power to try and save dokja. in the end he was defeated but that was an amazing fight to see

sadly the group is without their beloved dokja again, not because he died this time but because he’s kidnapped 😔 man if it’s not one thing it’s something else, I feel so bad for them

-

and that is currently where I am! the most recent stuff I had read last night, just in time for me to see the webtoon adapt dkos death this morning. haha happy dkos death day 🎉🫡💥🎊🥲

I’m pondering a lot on the reveals in these chapters, some things still don’t feel fully answered to me so I’ll have more to say soon when I continue reading. VERY excited can’t wait to know more :D