#gosh i should come up with some kind of meta tag or something

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Prayer circle for Travis to go on Talks soon so they can ask him a little more about Fjord's feelings. When did they start? When did he realize he was in love with her? Was it dying that made him act on his feelings more? Is he worried that other people may have feelings for her too? While we have to wait for his answers to this questions, what are your opinions on these?

Thank you for this, anon! It was really fun to sit down and think about this stuff and figure out where my head is at with these things!

Alright, first of all, yes. Travis on Talks please. I’d love for him to be on there with Liam for the next one. He deserves just one question about this, because he’s admitted it in game, which means he can finally give an answer that is mostly not trolling everyone.

Now. *cracks knuckles* LET’S DO THIS. This got long sorry?

1. When did they start?

It’s hard to pinpoint when his feelings started exactly, but we do know that something shifted for him during the Jellyfish Talk. He’s always adored Jester, but something about her confiding her real feelings in him changed the way he looked at everything she’s done.

However. 

I’m actually going to say that I think his feelings really started to develop during Uk’otoa Temple #2 (2x47). There’s that moment when she sits down to pray to the Traveler for Fjord’s protection and he’s listening and watching her do this and his face is just... soft. I’ve got receipts somewhere. Where are they? Eh, wait, Tumblr is weird about stuff showing up in the tags with asks that I put pictures in, never mind. 

ANYWAY.

Here’s Jester praying for his safety and he’s never really had someone who looks out for him the way she does. And she doesn’t want to go. She doesn’t want to leave him alone. And he’s so touched by this. He sits down in front of her and he tells her that it’s okay and she can leave, but she (and Beau) still waits for him as close to the door as possible while he’s down there. So I think that it was sort of a gradual thing over the whole pirate arc, but this was where it really clicked for him that shit, his feelings for Jester might be deeper than he thought they were.

2. When did he realize he was in love with her?

This one is easy. Although I do think this was another gradual thing for him, I think it really hit home during their talk at the forge when she sent a message to Vandran for him (2x72). It’s yet another example of how (almost in spite of her love of mischief) easily kindness and empathy come to her. She’s reassuring him over how vague Vandran’s message was. And okay, there’s this thing he says during this conversation. “I just don’t know if what I wanted before is the same thing I want now.” and “I feel like we’ve all changed. Me especially.” Okay, really though, this whole conversation is a lot. 

Fjord: There’s a part of me that wants to leave it all behind. Jester: Just go somewhere quiet and disappear, and hope that it never bothers you again? Fjord: Yeah.

And this is a big deal, because it’s showing him, once again, that their paths are aligned. They both constantly seem to be heading in similar directions and maybe they’re going to end up in the same place once this is all over. 

AND THEN HE TELLS HER HIS POWERS WENT AWAY FOR A WHILE. There’s that little way he hesitates when she asks if he would do anything to get them back. You can sort of see him scanning through this list in his head of things he doesn’t want to give up. Gosh I have a lot to say about this conversation and the way it pertains to their whole entire relationship in general. Like, he tells her so many things in this conversation. Everything he’s been holding in (his fears, his self-image issues, his thoughts on a new deity) just pour out and you can tell he’s been waiting to talk specifically to her about all this. This conversation is the catalyst that pushes him to decide to give up his fake accents and give up on Uk’otoa.

Okay, but here’s where I was really going with this. Near the end of the conversation, she says, “And we’ll do anything to get you away from Uk’otoa, okay?” And he just grins at her like a dork for a solid 7 seconds after she says that. Everything she is makes him so happy. She’s reaffirming that she’d do anything for him the way he knows he’d do anything for her and this reminds me a lot of how he told Beau he doesn’t want to ask about her feelings, because it just feels good. That look at the end of this whole exchange feels a lot like that italicized oh moment in fanfiction. 

3. Was it dying that made him act on his feelings more?

I... am not sure about this one. I’m not actually sure how much dying affected Fjord. That’s another question I’d like them to ask Travis on Talks. We know he wants more out of life, but I think that for a while, it felt like he was living on borrowed time and he really seemed like someone who was just doing whatever he could with the time he had left. Actually, I think he basically says this when he’s talking to Beau in 108, how he expected this to have an ending. To be an ending for him. And it hasn’t been.

So, hmm... I think that if dying affected the way he’s been acting with her, it’s minimal. I don’t know if he’s really had time to think about it. I think that he went from dying to thinking that he was going to lose Jester forever and I’m not sure any of that has really had time to settle in apart from just being relieved that neither of those things happened.

Actually, I guess I’d say that I think if anything is going to spur Fjord into action, it’s going to be the fact that he thought he was going to lose Jester. He was so desperate to keep her in that moment with the Moonweaver and I think he’s probably still dealing with the fact that he flung himself into the air over a volcano to try to convince her to stay. 

Also, his conversation with Beau was good. Maybe it helped him realize that him that pining after your best friend is all fun and games for a while, but the not knowing really sucks, so now, even though he’s scared, he does want to know. We all know how well Fjord handles not knowing. He spent 5000 gold on a Ring of Fire Resistance just to find out the name of the person it was on hold for.

4. Is he worried that other people may have feelings for her too?

This poor 7 wisdom half-orc. I don’t think it really occurred to him that he might not be the only one pining after Jester before Beau talked to him. He’s just not great at reading other people’s emotions. So I don’t think he was worried about it before, but I think he is now. That’s actually another thing that could have spurred him into action. Jealousy isn’t the prettiest emotion, but it’s definitely inspiring. We know he ultimately wants Jester to be happy and if that’s with someone who isn’t him, that would be fine. But maybe now he needs to know if he still has a chance at being that person for her the way she is for him.

That’s a big thing for him in this relationship. Reciprocation. She supports him, he supports her. She confides in him, he confides in her. She makes him happy, he wants to make her happy. 

Oh. Okay. So, I guess my opinion on this also has something to do with the way his face fell when she told the planar entity that she loves Artagan. Hearing her say that she loves someone else, even if it may not be in a romantic way, clearly shook him a bit. (I’ve got a lot of other thoughts on this, too, but I’m trying to stay focused.) He just finished telling Beau that he thinks he might be happier not knowing if her feelings for him have faded, but that’s clearly not the case. He was enjoying living in this world where she might. The possibility that she might not hurt. So, I think we’re going to see him do little things (or maybe a bigger thing) and trying to gauge her reaction with increasing frequency until he’s brave enough to say something. Or until she cracks and asks him what he’s doing. Whichever one comes first.

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. XCVI

It was a love story from the very beginning.

The Destiel Reunion and the Cowboys Date

(13x06)

Hello my dears! We are finally here, in TOMBSTONE fanfiction 🤣

And of course, a whole unique volume for this delicious episode.

Dean is happy now

The reunion between Cas and Dean was really very beautiful. First of all we have Dean incredulous face, he can't believe what his eyes are seeing, he can't believe Cas is alive and in front of him.

DEAN: Cas, is that really you?

SAM: No. You're – you're dead.

CASTIEL: Yeah, I was. But then I… annoyed an ancient cosmic being so much that he sent me back.

Dean is hopes, Sam reality in this dialogue. Every inch of Dean wished Cas to come back. Now that he has him there, his eyes can't believe, but he really wants. And Sam brings back the fact that Cas was definitely dead.

SAM: I don't even know what to say.

DEAN: I do. Welcome home, pal.

(Gif set credit @gabrielokun )

This hug is beautiful, Sam is still surprised, but Dean react with a hug, he missed his angel so much, he is the one "running towards him" at first. The emotion in his eyes, and the relieved and happiness to have him back. The love of his life is back, after so much suffering.

CASTIEL: How long was I gone?

DEAN: Too damn long.

(Gif set credit @shirtlesssammy )

And here we have the difference between Family Love and Romantic Love:

When Mary Winchester comes back in 12x01, she makes the same question Castiel did. But Dean's answer is different. He can calculate the exacting days and years his mother had been dead. But with Cas is different, Cas represents the love of his life, his hopes, he was suicidale after he was gone, so... That time Cas wasn't there with him, it felt like eternal. That's why he didn't calculated, Because it was TOO DAMN LONG.

And he says it with the painful remembrance in his eyes, red because he wasn't sleeping well, and because he maybe had crying so many times.

After this angsty scene, we have a huge change in Dean. He is happy now, so happy, that he can't hide it. He is shinning again. Smiling. Hopeful. And in addition, he has a cowboy adventure, even when the data they have from Dodge City isn't that clear, he drags the whole team to it.

And just like in season 5, he rewrites TFW now 2.0, describing each member enthusiastically.

DEAN: Yeah, but we should probably check it out.

CASTIEL: Wait. Really?

DEAN: Yeah, we've done more on less. Besides Dodge City's kind of, uh, kind of awesome. All right, well… two salty hunters, one half-angel kid, and a dude who just came back from the dead. Again. Team Free Will 2.0. Here we go.

Before continuing with this happy Dean, let's check a mystery, that had been solved in season 15. Why Jack had power on the Empty or how is that Cas woke up. Of course it was Jack's power over the Empty, because he will be new god, but also, it was the Profound Bond, the deep love these men feels for each other the path Jack used to find Castiel. Is so freaking romantic I just can't...

Okay, coming back now with happy Dean...

And how Sam was trying to make him confess... Something else. Noticing the change in his brother, knowing what was the cause of it, it was so blatant, that the smart little brother confirms here Dean's true feelings for the angel...

SAM: Still can't believe you brought your own hat.

DEAN: Well, I can't believe you didn't.

SAM: You're in a good mood, huh?

DEAN: Yeah. And?

Sam was waiting some time alone to ask this to him. Imagine you saw your brother in so bad shape a day ago, suicidal, not having faith or hopes in life... An now, he's happy, shining. Smiling. Laughing. What could happen? Of course, CAS is back... But is Dean ready to confess what he feels for him to his brother? Or even, to recognize his own feelings for the angel?

(Gif set credit @deansplushy )

Dean recognize Castiel is not just the win he needed, but the BIG WIN he wanted in his heart. And he stops there. He can't say more, but is not necessary to say it. Sam is an insightful person, and he gets it. He understands and confirms Dean loves Castiel in that special way. But he is not ready to "come out from the closet" . And the scene that comes after this one, is Sammy, smiling crookedly and tilting his head, Because he knows the message behind those words. He turns back and closes a closet. Pure Symbolism.

Cowboys Adventures

Let's jump now to the "angry bear" scene.

What it means? Simply and perfectly, that scene means CASTIEL WATCHING DEAN SLEEPING OR EVEN TRYING TO WAKE HIM UP. Both of it reveals CASTIEL IN DEAN'S ROOM. INTIMACY. First hint of scene we've never seen. But indirectly pointing at a canon fact. And we love it.

Also, bossy, grumpy Dean that needs his coffee to function. And Castiel just submissively obeying his angry bear and sitting back in the coach... Damm these two... Their dynamic had always been like that, but we didn't have enough of it. We didn't have enough of domestic destiel.

Then, once in the car, Castiel is wearing a cowboy hat. So, it means they had to go to buy it somewhere. Just Imagine Dean looking for a cowboy hat to fit in Cas' head.

He fixes his boyfriend, because he wants him to look even more good.

DEAN: All right, listen, these Dodge City cops aren't likely to trust big city folks, so we're gonna have to blend.

CASTIEL: Which is why you're making me wear this absurd hat.

DEAN: It's not that bad. Well, actually, yeah, it kind of is. Hang on. [Dean reaches over and removes the hat band and tosses it in the back seat] All right. That's better.

CASTIEL: Is it?

(Gif credit @grumpycas )

This scene shows us again their intimacy and how Castiel just accepts to be part of his fantasies. He is willing to play Dean's cowboys game. Because he loves him. And this means to share a good time with him. But, CAS worries about how he looks. And he peeks into the rear viewer mirror, and if you look at Dean's facial expressions, I think he's having a heart attack for Cas' proximity. Hahahahss. Oh, Dean you're so in love in this date.

DEAN: [sighs] Yeah. Look, just act like you're from Tombstone, okay?

CASTIEL: The city?

DEAN: The movie. With Kurt Russell? I made you watch it.

CASTIEL: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. The one with the guns and tuberculosis. [in a deep cowboy voice] "I'm your Huckleberry."

DEAN: Yeah, exactly. Well, it's good to have you back, Cas. All right, follow my lead. We'll fit right in.

Gif credit @agusvedder

Okay i really think here is when Dean had a heart attack, an stroke and a bonner, at the same time, I will elaborate hahahaha

Another hint of their INTIMACY, is the fact that they watch movies together! Not just that, but Dean made CAS watch Tombstone, and who know how many other movies! (More domestic Destiel)

And then... Cas goes for it, because he knows how Dean loves cowboys, and because he is a sexy, hot, angel that knows how to seduce him, not just with eye fucking... But... Using the link over Dean.

And it works... Because the hunter closes his eyes, swallows and tries not to faint right there of arousal. And then, shamelessly, he just says IT'S GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK, CAS.

And then, is so funny to watch Cas trying to follow Dean's lead. Oh gosh... Hilarious. Rom com.

Symbolism of the rest of the episode

Dean's bisexuality

Dave and Athena were a representation of Dean's bisexuality, just as in the Rocky's bar in 14x10.

In this episode we have Toxic!Dean mirrored by the monster, Dave and Innocent/Healing!Dean mirrored by Athena.

The dynamics between them was similar to te dynamics in the Rocky's bar, in which Dean's toxicity and AU!Michael, the monster, tried to keep Dean locked inside his emotional toxic prison.

DAVE: Athena, don't you think we have a good thing here? Why do you wanna go mess it up?

ATHENA: Whatever. I have to work.

Athena wanted to improve his life, to go to school and move to a bigger city. To be better. She had dreams. Innocent, is the best part of Dean.

Another important fact is Dave wearing another's man face, a very known bandit, adding to one of the topics of this season: masks, fake identity, as a foreshadow of Dean's possession.

So Dave is Toxic!Dean, his own monsters, trying to keep him in the darkness.

The visual narrative adds to this symbolism the red ascot I'm both characters, Dave and Athena, to point out again at Dean.

Jack and Dean

We will have Jack killing an innocent man because he couldn't control his powers. As a foreshadow of when he will kill Mary not controlling his powers again.

Jack carries with a green backpack, green is Dean's color, and the backpacks means guilts.

Here is when Jack starts feeling guilt for killing a man. TFW will connect with him trying to explain that's part of the job.

All the dead people and killing the monster

When Dave comes back with Athena, she discovers he is a monster, and rejects him. Because he killed someone. This is very symbolic because in Dean's head, he sees himself as a monster, a murderer, and he hates that part of him.

So, at the end of the episode, Dean says alone, helps the sheriff, the righteous man, saves him and saves the girl, his innocence, killing the monster, his toxicity.

This episode showed us the future inner battle Dean will have to win. And it will be successful.

To Conclude:

This was a very Destiel episode, they showed us hints of how intimate Dean and CAS are with each other. And how much Dean is in love with CAS.

The happiness after Castiel's returning alive, gives Sam almost a confirmation of Dean's true feeling for Castiel, assuming he is not ready yet to get out from the closet.

There was a foreshadow of AUMichael possessing Dean, and the inner battle of 14x10.

Dave and Athena represented Dean's bisexuality and part of his personality. Keeping in mind Athena is the greek goddess of wisdom, war strategy, is the good part of Dean and innocence.

Hope you like this meta, see you in the next one!

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weird-dorky-little-d @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @authorsararayne @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@destielle @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis @superduckbatrebel @2musiclover2 @madronasky @anon-non2 @cea1996 @lisafu02 @asphodelesauvage @destiels-canonahhhhhhhhhh

If you want to be added or removed from this list just let me know.

If you wanna read the previous metas from this season here you have the links:

Vol. XCIII, XCIV, XCV.

Buenos Aires January 17 2021 02:31 PM

[captain-of-the-historicfuture]

~hello~ !! For the meta asks!: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, and 25 :))

Hello!! Thank you for sending these; I was really excited to see that ask game and I was hoping somebody would send some in. It still took me a while to actually answer them though, and for that I apologise. But without further ado! Some meta answers (under the cut because they ended up being fairly long, whoops):

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (Consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway.)

I thought of a few examples, but they could basically be grouped together under a common theme: whumpy/angsty scenes that were self-indulgent as all heck. The whole self-indulgent aspect often required the characters to be just the teeniest, tiniest bit OOC and/or necessitated rather unrealistic plot circumstances. So it was simply easier to keep such scenes as maladaptive daydreams, rather than trying to think of explanations for the character/plot issues…or exposing myself to judgement for them LOL.

Receiving permission to write/share one such scene anyway is an opportunity I can’t let slip by though. It might be because I’m writing this while running on zero (0) hours of sleep—let’s hear it for insomnia, y’all!—but I suddenly couldn’t remember any of my newer ideas under this category. However, I did recall a one-shot I had started writing a couple of months ago that sort of counts? “Sort of” because I could actually be arsed to write it since I was, ya know, writing it. Only got about six hundred words down though.

…should I share those six hundred words…?

………nahhh. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.

But here’s the gist of it: Coulson and May (because of course it’s Philinda) were married for quite some time before the Attack on New York. But then Coulson DiedTM and then got ResurrectedTM. But gasp of horror, he had to lose his memories of his romantic relationship with May because reasons. (I actually did have some ideas for those reasons but sshhhh this is about me yeeting context and setup.)

The first half of S1 still happens as normal (except MayWard doesn’t happen because??? Vows) and it’s now post-E20 “Nothing Personal”. The morning after (or a morning soon after, whatever) the T.A.H.I.T.I. reveal! May’s mom—who doesn’t know about GH.325 and whom May fed a cover story about Coulson divorcing her or something equally as oof, IDK—shows up at the hotel and starts ripping into Coulson for breaking her daughter’s heart, then dragging her back into the field with her ex-husband (him), then accusing her of terrible things and forcing her away again.

Poor guy’s confused as heck, and so is the team, and soon enough so is Lian. The only one who understands what’s going on is May, and she’s freaking dying off to the side like why is this happening to me and eventually everybody’s like! Explain??? (Was thinking about including something from Coulson like, “Are you still keeping things from me?” Just for that extra smidge of angst, yay!)

So yeah then May gives a, like, two-sentence debriefing that elicits more questions than answers. Coulson decides to take May aside and they have a heart-to-heart. Lots of feelings and angst and hurt/comfort and at some point plenty of kissing too. Just! May hiding her feelings for Coulson’s sake but really magnified, plus some actual apologies and consideration of the grief May’s been through on Coulson’s part.

And uhh yeah that’s basically it I dunno hdsjncjshd. I warned y’all it’s OOC, plot-bendy, and very self-indulgent!

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

I don’t think I could name a single character for this. I get different things out of taking on different voices, you know? I guess recently I’ve found myself gravitating towards more taciturn and introspective points of view, like JQ from my original novel Rosewood or M. Yisbon from my…other original novel Temple.

Generally, however, I like tackling stories from an outsider’s perspective. That’s why I so rarely write my more “substantial” (serious? demanding? for lack of better words?) projects from the PoV of my “preferred” character. This usually means writing from their love interest’s perspective, but not always. With shorter fanfic, using a more removed/unconventional/niche PoV can be really fun. Like, I once wrote a canon compliant ficlet purely(-ish) about Philinda from Tony Stark’s perspective. That isn’t always sustainable with stories that demand more character development or closer character studies, however, which is why it’s a good thing I like writing drabbles!

9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other?

My word counts tend to run long, but I usually only write one-shots for fanfic. If I’m even inspired with a novella- or novel-length story idea for a fandom, you already know I’m in deep with them. And if I actually find the motivation to plan and execute that idea? Dangg. That’s only ever happened…twice, maybe thrice, and I’m in a lot of fandoms.

At times, I wish I could go for more of a middle ground ’cause, like, you know what I love to see? An AO3 dashboard with several completed novellas for my ship/character of choice. I mean yes, I hecking love >90k fics, but sometimes I’m in the mood for quick reads…and what am I supposed to do when I burn through all the drabbles and 2k one-shots? (Besides despair and/or reread my faves desperately.) Novellas are basically always safe for me LOL, and I’d hope to be able to give as much as I take.

Ultimately though, I think I’m okay with where I am with regards to that. I wish I could write more in general, but I’d be okay with “writing more” just meaning “writing more one-shots”, ya know? More than okay, really. I have mad respect for fic writers who have, like, a hundred or more one-shots under their belt for this one ship. The fandom ecosystem would be incomplete without them (as well as every other type of writer, but sshhh that’s the type of writer I’m closest to being right now).

I’m definitely a plotter, and I definitely prefer it that way. It’s cool having such a detailed record of my process. I like feeling like a frazzled genius on the brink of a major discovery with all of my different outlines and colour coding and many drafts and various websites.

12. Do you want your writing to be famous?

Not exactly. It might be cool if my original works were recognisable in the world, but I don’t think I’d want to be recognisable. As for fanfic, I’d low-key enjoy gaining a place in that fandom’s community as a fic writer. Like someone who gave and got fic gifts from fic writer friends, who participated in challenges and GCs, who received writing prompts on Tumblr, whose name was known for doing a certain trope/genre a bunch of times… Ya know what I mean?

Unlikely to happen when I’m so hecking hesitant to publicly (i.e., outside of AO3) claim credit for my writing, but fjnskfsjhfjs. A writer can dream, right?

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Of those three, tags are the easiest for me, for I have a reliable system for figuring out those.

Next easiest would probably be titles. For fanfiction, I like to use titles that are a quote from the source material. You should have seen all of my old Hamilton fanfic… I was really proud of some of those titles. And I don’t mean, like, whole lines—usually only two to five words. It’s a unique type of wordplay that I just love dabbling in.

And lastly, summaries. Sometimes inspiration strikes me and a snappy and intriguing synopsis just jumps out—one that I’m quietly pleased with—but most of the time I’ll spend way too long trying to think of such a synopsis and eventually just go with whatever I’d come up with so far. And live with my quiet dissatisfaction for the rest of time.

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (Plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations...?) Tell us about them!

Typically, no. If I have deleted scenes, I save and publish them separately, but that’s about it. I sometimes think of AUs for my own work and might talk about them in my author’s notes—might even talk about writing them—but I never really do anything with them.

Although…

It’s not uncommon for me to decide a plotline isn’t working for a certain story or to think of an interesting but undoable arc for a certain character, but what I’ll do is make a whole new story for those ideas. Once I’m done developing the original idea and the branched-off one, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell they grew from the same roots. Does that count?

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as (film, webcomic, animated series, etc.)?

That depends on the story. I’ve actually written stories in other mediums—movie screenplay, musical stageplay, poetry, TV show scripts, play scripts, roleplay—but the novel does tend to be my comfort zone. Sometimes, if I have an idea that I think could work, or would even work better, as another medium, I’ll label it as such in my folder of ideas and decide not to write it as a novel.

Most of the time, my non-book projects are collaborations. I’m working with five different people on six different story ideas: two webcomics, one stage musical, one anime, and two animated TV shows. Little concrete progress has been made in any of those, mind you, but they’re still fun to discuss!

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

Absolutely. But I’ve been writing stories since I was five years old, so we would hope so, huh?

I wouldn’t say my writing’s changed completely, though maybe that’s just my insider’s perspective.

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Oh gosh, I can’t believe you’d make me choose. Writing is just such a wonderful experience for me; I love just about everything to do with it. Admittedly, not all the time, but. Since that barely qualifies as an answer, however, I’ll give you this—

The endings. Not only that intense feeling of rightness when you wrap up that last sentence, but also the moments before. The adrenaline of knowing you’re almost there but you gotta push just a bit more to actually get there. And also the part right after—the real wrap-up, honestly: the revision and the editing. Heavens, I love revising and editing my work.

Which is not to say I don’t like writing it out for the first time, too—there’s nothing quite like seeing your cursor scroll to the next page, like going from a blank expanse to a Oh man, how many more lines are even going to fit on this page?, like watching that page counter tick up another number. However, there’s something cathartic about finally ironing out those problems I had to force myself to stop worrying about earlier because “just finish the first draft dangit”.

I guess that’s not really the end of the writing process, but whatever. Close enough (as fic writers are wont to say).

Another thank-you for these asks, and feel free to come back with more at any time! ;P

Send in fun meta asks for your friendly neighbourhood writer!

[sagemoderocklee]

Hello! For the meta asks, would you do 1, 5, 8, and 17?

you did not come to play, lilac! thanks for all these questions! <3

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  –   what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

oh lord. that’s a... question. i have. so many current projects, i don’t even know where to start. this is gonna be long so please bear with me lol i’ll probably give more detail for some fics over others, and i’ll only go over fics I’ve got documents for because otherwise we’d be here forever.

The Art of Love: so this one is obvious because it’s been in progress for the last 2ish years? no i think it’s three now. I won’t go into detail with this because the fic is roughly halfway through, so there’s plenty of content for that up! I’d say the progress with that fic is actually going really well, though. Unlike Alliance, which took 8 years--five years of writing, three of editing--TAoL has been up for way less time, and is already about to hit the halfway mark! I really need to get back to it, tbh because it’s been way too long since my last update.

Honor Bound (sequel to Alliance): so this is.... kind of on pause. I’ve got the first three chapters written, but my focus has been more on TAoL when it comes to my more complicated, long running stories, so HB has taken a backseat. I think I won’t get back to working on the Allied Nations Saga until after TAoL is done, in all honesty.

Find Me: this is my HS AU, which has been on the back burner forever and I feel terrible because I think it may honestly be my most popular fic. Unfortunately, AUs/slice of life stuff is difficult for me because I’m more interested in politics, so I lost momentum on this fic. It is about halfway done. I have a good chunk of chapter six written, but not enough that I could say I’m close to finishing it.

It Eats Your Heart: obviously I just started this one, and it’s a horror fic. I’ve really gotta sit down and do some major plotting on it because I only have some very vague ideas currently.

Pearl-Filled Lungs: this is one of like three ningyo AUs I have--the other are pirate/ningyo AUs (and ones actually a selkie not a ningyo). I started it last year for the GaaLee fest, and it’s been sitting unfinished for far too long. I finally sat down recently and plotted the whole thing out, so I’m hoping to get back to working on it soon! It’s only 5 chapters in total, so I don’t think it’ll take me super long to get through once I sit down and do it.

Who Dares to Love Forever: This is a working title, and I may change it. This is a fic idea I’ve had for a couple years, inspired by the song Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen. This particular fic is a vehicle for my sage mode!rock lee headcanon, and explores just how effective Chiyo giving Gaara her life would have been given she was an old biddy. So the idea for this fic is that Gaara’s running out of time because Chiyo only had so much to offer.

Absolution: this is another fic that I’ve had on the back burner for years. it was initially inspired by art by @brianadoesotherjunk but quickly spiraled into something much bigger because of course it did. This particular fic is one I’m extremely excited about. I need to go back over the first part, because I feel like it’s not quite right, but I do technically have the first part done. This fic follows Gaara struggling with bouts of narcolepsy that trigger nightmares induced by trauma and guilt from his childhood. These nightmares are incredibly dangerous for obvious reasons, but even more so because Temari’s baby is on the way. Temari and Shikamaru are married, living in the Kazekage estate, and with their baby coming and both needing/wanting to get back to work, they also need a nanny. Unbeknownst to Gaara, the year prior to the events of the fic, Maito Gai died, succumbing to the 8th Gate finally, and Lee has since been spiraling. His depression has become so self-destructive that he’s been taken off active duty. Shikamaru, along with the rest of the Konoha 12 (minus Neji and Sasuke), get together and discuss what to do. Tenten believes that Lee being a nanny would be the perfect thing. And so Rock Lee is sent to Suna, hired by Shikamaru and Temari as their live-in nanny...

We Need Not Be Yellow Tulips in a Garden of Gardenia’s, Yet We Go the Way of the Red Camellia: true to form, I decided that a hanahaki fic was something I had to do, and I was not going to pass up the chance at being as Extra As Possible with the flowery language, ergo the ridiculous title. I’ve gotten part way through the first chapter of this fic, but the whole thing is roughly plotted out and each chapter title is just as extra as the whole fic’s title.

Thirteen Strokes: so this is a fic I have--once again--had on my mind for ages, and--once again, because I am nothing if not a caricature of myself--inspired by a Florence+the Machine song, All This and Heaven Too. I started writing this the other night, as I wanna use it for GaaLee bingo. It’ll be 13 chapters, as per the 13 strokes that it takes to make the character for love, ai, in Japanese. The fic is from Gaara’s PoV, and follows his journey with and his relationship to love, with lots of worldbuilding and politics because it wouldn’t be an Eeri Original without those things.

Scarification: this is another idea for bingo based around the prompt shinshoubyou, which is a fictional disease where your emotions cause physical marks on you

Fill in the [  ]: another bingo idea, based around the prompt bouaishoukoigun, the fictional disease where you forget the person you love if it’s unrequited.

The Eagle’s Augury: an idea that allows me to play around with more worldbuilding and focus on Karura. In this fic, the curse (mentioned briefly on the Naruto wikia) that has led to every single Kazekage being assassinated, is coming for Gaara, and Karura is trying to warn him from beyond the grave. At the same time, Temari and Shikamaru’s marriage is approaching, and their ceremony is being held in Suna, with all the fan fair a marriage for someone from the Kazekage line should see. Again, another fic inspired by Miss Florence+the Machine, the song is Mother

Pomegranate Sun: this is a fic that I am... so excited about. Another fic that was originally inspired by a Queen song, Under Pressure, and has of course taken on a life of its own. This fic, I am actually going to be writing with @ghoste-catte! It’s an arranged marriage trope, and I’m super pumped for it! We’ve only got a little bit started, and it has obviously not taken priority for either of us since we both have a lot of fics on our plates.

The Ballad of the Dragon and the Phoenix: this is a fic I’m really excited but is going to take a LOT of research to get off the ground. I had this idea sometime last year, I wanna say? This fic is another self-indulgent headcanon about Lee’s origins, his family, etc. This fic starts when Gaara shows up on Lee’s doorstep, asking him to accompany him to another country for reasons Lee cannot understand. Gaara has been in talks with Phoenix Kingdom, hoping to forge a new relationship only to find that the Emperor wants to use shinobi for militaristic purposes. Lee doesn’t understand what help he could possibly offer the Kazekage, but he can’t very well turn him down.

okay, i’m gonna stop there. these are the ones I have titles and documents for, and honestly that’s probably way more than you wanted to know about lol

5. What character that you’re writing do you most identify with? 

Despite the fact that most of my fics end up from Gaara’s PoV, I actually identify with Lee the most!

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

Yes! Which is hard to find, tbh, because I am a sucker for political dramas with slow burn romances, but I don’t see a lot of that in the GaaLee fandom. I’m not as into like slice of life or short stories where the characters get together quick, I’m really not into established relationship fics unless it’s a sequel, so I tend to avoid those. I like AUs but it really depends on the AU, because I ultimately prefer the canon and I love seeing the way people write the shinobi world and all its rules and cultures and things. I’m just a big fan of worldbuilding, politics, and slow slow burns. Not this 25k SLOW BURN! crap because that is NOT a slow burn. I wanna see a fic that’s 200k words in and they still haven’t even figured out they’re in love! I like stories I can really sink my teeth into, ya know?

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

Oh gosh. I generally don’t think too much about it except like hoping people don’t think I’m like a stuck up asshole because of how I talk about my writing, writing in general, my hcs, etc. I mean, obviously I don’t expect everyone in this fandom to like me--and there are ppl I’ve gone out of my way to be vocally against because they do nasty shit--but largely I feel like I come across as too intense, so even the general population of GaaLee fans that I do want to interact with I’m always a lil nervous that people secretly don’t like me and basically are like “oh god this bitch again” when they see me in the tags. But I just get really excited and invested in my ideas, and honestly for the longest time this fandom was SO small and there weren’t a lot of people putting out content regularly so it was like a handful of us so I think it made me more emphatic about GaaLee lol I think I always like assume people aren’t as excited about my writing as I am or that people are like “too much politic, i need more romance”.

I’m always surprised when people really love my AUs, like Kado or Find Me have had such fantastic reception, and it’s like people just eat that shit up so much. And then I look at like Alliance or Art of Love and get kind of confused because I think by comparison those are more interesting and more developed than my AUs. I put a shit ton of work into everything I write, especially anything that requires research, so it’s not to say that I do less work per say, just that I feel like TAoL and things like it are more interesting and more developed, and the relationship feels.... somehow more to me there than in an AU.

a lot of my motivation really just comes from the lack of content this fandom had for so many years, and the fact that Naruto could have been a much more interesting series and I love worldbuilding so much. I think my motivation for each fic is different though. Like Alliance was started because I wanted to write something different from what was mainly in the fandom at the time because mind you I started that in 2010. But my motivation for TAoL is more wanting to tell a beautiful story with a complex narrative that looks at the failings of the shinobi world. Whereas like any slice of life fic is really just meant to be a fun break. And sometimes I write something literally just because I wanted to fulfill that trope for the GaaLee fandom--again, a lot of my ideas have been sitting for years and years and years (TAoL was an idea I had literally right after starting Alliance, but I didn’t get to it until 2017), so a lot of ideas that are old are because at the time that trope hadn’t been fulfilled yet in the fandom though that’s changing a lot with the recent GaaLee Renaissance of the last couple years.

[dreamybandee]

Rules:  Don’t reblog, repost. Reply as muse talking. Tagging:  Ahhhh anyone who hasn’t done it and wants to do it! Tagged by:  @sternenteile​! Thamk you Nikki. Sending big love ;v;

► NAME ➭   “Hello there! I’’m Dee! Bandana Dee! I’m uh...I’m sure you can guess why I’m called that. I can’t wait to answer these questions!” ► ARE YOU SINGLE? ➭  “Yes! I’m a single waddle dee among MANY Waddle Dees! There’s so many of us! You can ask Waddle Doo at the castle! He even says there’s a lot of the-...OH. Oh that’s not what you meant...But I guess I’m single in that way too! So yes again!” ► ARE YOU HAPPY? ➭   "Oh yes! Very! Thank you!” ► ARE YOU ANGRY? ➭   "Wha? Oh no. Not at all! I’m happy, after all! Wait...can you be happy AND angry? Is that possible? Oh man, I dunno!” ► ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL MARRIED? ➭   "Oh, well I...I don’t know...I don’t even know...my parents. I haven’t for a long time...Well, if they’re out there, I...I hope they’re happy. Having a good life...in a good spot...I wonder...Ohh. I’m sorry. Please continue!”

⚡️ NINE FACTS! ► ‘BIRTH’ PLACE ➭   “Dream Land! Just like every other waddle dee! I mean, I think. I don’t remember anything about it, but I’m pretty sure it was Dream Land I was born in. I just...I just don’t know where in Dream Land. I’ve been at Castle Dedede for so so long now? ...Wait, do you think I was born there?” ► HAIR COLOR ➭   "No hair here! But my bandana is blue! And I’m not taking it off to show you my head. Sorry!” ► EYE COLOR ➭   “Brown! Like um...Like chocolate! Milk chocolate! I love chocolate. Oh it’s so sweet...Oh! That wasn’t part of the question...Whoops.” ► BIRTHDAY ➭   “Oooh, uhm...I’m not...entirely sure? I don’t know when my actual birthday was. His highness told me he didn’t really know either...But November 7th is kind of a special day! That’s when I joined the army! I guess THAT could be considered a birthday, right?” ► MOOD ➭   “I’m feeling pretty good and pretty happy! Starting off the day on a good note!” ► GENDER ➭   “I don’t really do that! Sorry!” ► SUMMER OR WINTER ➭   “Summer! Oh yes! Perfect for walks, picnics, and picking apples! I love being outside in the warm sun!’ ► MORNING OR AFTERNOON ➭ “I have to go with afternoon! I feel so tired in the morning and mornings are really early for me too.”

⚡️ EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE! ► ARE YOU IN LOVE? ➭   "Always! I love the friends I have and the friends I’m going to meet! They mean a lot to me!...Oh wait...That’s not what you meant, was it? Well, no. I don’t think so anyways.” ► DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT? ➭  “I, well....I dunno! I think you should get to know people at least a little bit before you love them! It’s like an apple! I could look really clean, red, and delicious on the outside, but you gotta check if it’s rotting or has critters on the inside!” ► WHO ENDED YOUR LAST RELATIONSHIP? ➭   “Huh? You mean...someone didn’t want to be my friend anymore? Well, I don’t know who’s done that, but that’s up to them and...not me.... If they don’t wanna be my friend then that’s sniff th-that’s o-okay and sniffle sniff th-that’s their decision...” ► HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN SOMEONE’S HEART? ➭   “Oooh, oh I sure hope not! I really don’t want to hurt anyone or their feelings!” ► ARE YOU AFRAID OF COMMITMENTS? ➭  “Yes! Well, I mean- no? Yes and no? I don’t want to break anyone’s promises or let them down! Making people happy doing those things? It feels...it feels really good. Makes me really happy too! But some things are really hard to do! I’d never tell people that, of course...I’d hate to trouble them or make them feel bad...So....Yes and no I guess!” ► HAVE YOU HUGGED SOMEONE WITHIN THE LAST WEEK? ➭   “Yes! I’m always there for hugs when people need them! I like them. They’re warm and friendly...” ► HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SECRET ADMIRER? ➭   “Well k-kind of?? I get an awful lot of nice notes from fellow waddle dees and other people telling me that I’m a good rep for them! Even a role model! I don’t even know where some of these notes come from, but I’ll do my best for all the great people who sent them!” ► HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN YOUR OWN HEART? ➭   "You...You can do that? I didn’t really know...M-maybe I did? Ooooh, I have no idea. This isn’t....isn’t really fun to think about. I’m sorry.”

⚡️SIX CHOICES! ► LOVE OR LUST ➭   "Love! I don’t really know about that last one.” ► LEMONADE OR ICED TEA ➭    "I’m thinking...Tea! I like tea both cold and hot! I love Lemonade too, but sometimes it can be soooo sour. It leaves a really weird feeling! But you know what is good? Lemonade in some Tea! It’s so sweet and good! You should give it a try! I can make some if you want!” ► A FEW BEST FRIENDS OR MANY REGULAR FRIENDS ➭   “I-well...I have both actually! Is that okay? I love all my friends very much! The waddle dees, the dream friends, other people in the castle, even some people I’ve met these last few years! But I’ve had more time with different people, y’know? Kirby, Meta Knight, his highness, people at the mansion, they’re all so amazing. I love my friends...” ► WILD NIGHT OUT OR ROMANTIC NIGHT IN ➭  "W-wild? What does ‘wild’ mean? I mean, I don’t think I’m romantic, so maybe the first one? This is so confusing!” ► DAY OR NIGHT  ➭   "Oooh, I like both! Night is so pretty with the stars and the cool air! But it’s so dark! I like the warm sun and I like seeing. Both are great!”

⚡️ FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS! ► BEEN CAUGHT SNEAKING OUT ➭  “W-well...I....yeah. I guess...I guess the king caught me a couple of times. I really wanted to see how Kirby was doing and just get out of the castle a bit, y’know? But...work should ALWAYS come first, I guess. I’ll try and be a little smarter from now on...Oh, and please, don’t tell the king I said that! I-um...I don’t really know if I should have told you that...” ► FALLEN DOWN/UP THE STAIRS ➭   “Y-yeah, but stairs are so big and hard to step over! I hate walking on them when I’m holding stuff! I can’t see them! And I end up dropping everything all over the place? Ooooh, I don’t like stairs. I wish the castle wasn’t so high up! Then we wouldn’t have that many stairs!” ► WANTED SOMETHING/SOMEONE SO BADLY IT HURT? ➭   “Yes!! That cake Dedede had for the battle Tournament he made. Those fights were scary and they definitely hurt! But with Kirby’s help, we made it! It was worth it! The best cake I’ve EVER tasted!”

⚡️FIVE PREFERENCES! ► SMILE OR EYES ➭    “Smile! I’m so jealous. I can’t smile. I have no mouth. But seeing people’s smiles? It’s nice! I love seeing people happy! I love seeing that! I wish I could feel and show that for myself...” ► SHORTER OR TALLER ➭    “I like seeing people when talking to them! It feels weird to be looked down on. Soooo maybe shorter? I MEAN if other people were shorter! I myself would love to be taller! It’s so hard to reach everything! I hate asking for help too.” ► INTELLIGENCE OR ATTRACTION ➭   “You mean how smart? Or how nice looking they are? B-but...What about how kind they are? I mean- both are of those things are good, but I think being nice is even more important!”  ► HOOK-UP OR RELATIONSHIP ➭   “...What’s a hook-up?”

⚡️ FAMILY! ► DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GET ALONG ➭   “W-well I um...I kinda told you I don’t have a blood family so...Oh! But what about the other waddle dees? I hang around them a lot! Yeah! Okay! We get along a lot! Sometimes anyways. Sometimes I have to fight against them though. I don’t really feel good about that...” ► WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE A “MESSED UP LIFE” ➭ “Messed up? Oh no! Not at all! I know life has it’s fair share of ups and downs, but that’s okay. I’m happy with it. I’ve learned so much and gotten so far. And most of all, I’ve met so many great people! I think I like my life the way it is.” ► HAVE YOU EVER RAN AWAY FROM HOME ➭   “Yeah! A couple of times, actually! Monsters and all sorts of bad guys have taken over Castle Dedede or even destroyed it before! I think the other dees and me were lucky we made it out okay!” ► HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN KICKED OUT ➭   “Once again, yes! Those people who take over the castle aren’t very nice! His Highness has even dismissed me a couple of times...but mostly when weird things are happening! Oh, please forgive me, your majesty! I didn’t mean to sound so rude!”

⚡️ FRIENDS! ► DO YOU SECRETLY HATE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS ➭   “Wh-what? Oh no no! Not at all! I love my friends! I love Kirby, his Highness, Meta Knight, Sailor Dee, and oh! All the friends who helped in our recent adventure! Gooey! Adeleine! Ribbon!  M-...Magolor...S-Susie... and M-Marx and...and...I-I mean...I know they’re not all perfect b-but...we’re friends now, right? H-hating them would make me....make me a bad friend...” ► DO YOU CONSIDER ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS GOOD FRIENDS ➭   “Y-yes! I...I guess? I mean, some of them were bad before, but they’re good now! I mean...I sure hope so...” ► WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND ➭    “All my friends! I love them all very much in their very own ways! Sailor Dee and I have known each other for all our lives...Kirby is so strong and cool, and I want to be just like him...And the king too! He’s such a great leader! And Meta Knight always has our backs! And-and....! Oh! S-sorry about that. I guess I kind of...Kind of got lost in my thoughts there. Uh-heh heh...” ► WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU ➭   “Well...I don’t know if there’s anyone out there that knows absolutely everything about me, really. There’s still so much I want to show people! And so much I want to learn and do! I don’t think I even know everything about myself yet. Can I be as strong as my friends? Where am I going to go in life? How can I be better and stronger? There are a lot of things I’m still trying to figure out I think...”

“Oh! That was it? Gosh. That felt so quick, answering all those questions. Thank you for doing this with me! Come and find me at the castle if you have any more, okay?”

[lamiralami]

TMA Retro 4: Page Turner

I was touched to see some tag commentary on yesterday’s post! Honestly, it gave me an emotion - I am traditionally very anxious about engaging online, it speaks to my immense love of TMA that it brought me to Make A Post At Last. It’s very affirming and reassuring to get some response to my lunatic treatises. Y’all are all right. 💜

Anyway, grab some lighter fluid and a sturdy wastepaper basket, time to torch your haunted novel in MAG 4: Page Turner

It’s ironic that this statement is about the Vast when it is one dense motherfucker. so many dangling plot threads are introduced here, each ready to hook you and start reeling. we’ve been into the meta plot since episode one but this episode is the first time the audience is made aware of such.

seriously: Jurgen Leitner and his library, Gerard Keay and Mary Keay, Michael Crew. the figures introduced in this one thirty-minute installment loom large over the rest of the entire run

you could, your first time through, even file this away as a one-off scary story if not for the fact that Jon knows what’s going on (enjoy it while it lasts, my son). He’s heard of Jurgen Leitner. He alludes to an incident with his library in 1994. Deeper than that, he immediately takes the statement at face value and treats the claims within it as authentic, which is a complete 180° on the first three episodes

and this is such a smart story choice? Jon shapes our perspective into this universe and up until now he’s been utterly dismissive of the validity of the stories he’s telling. To go from practically rolling his eyes to scheduling a meeting with his boss about tracking down more haunted books - that tells us that Jon takes this seriously as a threat. And that makes us take it seriously too, makes us take note that strange books are dangerous things in this world. Any offhand mention of books in future statements will be enough to make us sweat

And! It starts winding the narrative tension on a character level. Why and what does Jon know about Jurgen Leitner and his library? Why does he say his name with such venom? And if he’s so sure about the supernatural nature of these books, why is he so loath to believe the other statements?

(and then it takes 80 + episodes to fully answer these initial questions. Jonny enjoys a slow roasted torment)

love that the statement giver presents, as proof of his iron-clad sanity, the fact that he works as a theatre technician. speaking as someone with an unfinished theatre degree: theatre people are feral my good buddy, try again. I mean, we refuse to say the name of one of the most famous plays in the English language because we think a ghost will trip us for the indiscretion. this is not the trump card you think it is.

a quick sidebar for the Red String Brigade: The Trojan Women is an ancient Greek tragedy that involves a baby being thrown off a city wall. The Seagull’s first published English translation was done by Marian Fell, and also a seagull is a bird and birds can fly. Much Ado About Nothing is very good and you should all watch the version from 2011 with David Tennant and Catherine Tate.

it’s interesting that these early episodes seem to take a cue from urban legends in some respects. Nathan Watts gets extremely drunk at a party and then is almost skinned by a monster while having a smoke. Joshua Gillespie is approached while engaging in a whirlwind of debauchery and has to take care of a cursed coffin after accepting money for what he thinks is a drug trafficking gig. Amy Patel regularly spies on her neighbour for her own entertainment and then has to watch him be replaced by a malevolent entity only she can perceive. and now Dominic Swain pushes past his guilty conscience to score a valuable book off an unknowing charity shop and...gets a bit dizzy and haunted by a phantom stink for a few days then gets ��£5,000, well anyway, the point is he got spooked! spooked after doing something kind of iffy! that is pure urban legend procedure; modern day fairy tales imparting dire  consequences onto societal transgressions. in a horror story this structure offers a false sense of safety - if you’re a good person, the monster won’t come for you. I can’t recall which upcoming statement yanks the rug out from under us with the first completely random victim.

cannot comprehend how this guy didn’t start plugging the book into google translate the second he got home. that probably saved him from being taken by the book but I am still judging him for not even trying it. yeah you’d be sucked into some sort of sky hell but at least you’d know what’s in the book!! could never be me

(yes I am aware in this universe I would have been eaten years ago. I’ve made my peace with that)

grbookworm1818 slays me. I don’t know which is better, the idea of Gertude carefully curating the most sixty-five-year-old-on-goodreads username she could as a cover for her cursed purchase history, or her actual sixty-five-year-old brain just expressing itself naturally because Gertrude is a very busy woman who doesn’t have time to immerse herself in the ins and outs of internet culture, she just wants to buy the demonic tomes she’s selected for destruction and get on with her day thanks.

did Gertrude know what a meme was? which Archivist could convincingly pose as a millennial best, Gertrude Robinson or Jonathan Sims?

The Key of Solomon and its former keeper, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, are both real historical figures. the book is basically Renaissance-era magical au fanfic of the Bible, and the man was a 19th century British occultist (and likely drinking buddy of Jonah Magnus) who founded a Very Serious Secret Society. this is a picture of him whiiiiiich rather dispels any sense of menace he’s meant to invoke. what kind of cosplaying nonsense

Mary Keay is such a striking figure. “She was very old and painfully thin, but her head was completely clean shaven, and every square inch of skin I could see was tattooed over with closely-written words in a script I didn’t recognise.” a Look, a vision!

I’m guessing that Our Gerard was blasting heavy metal at 2 am to try to drown out his undead mother while waiting for her manifestation to dissipate. I like to imagine him frequenting Reddit advice posts about dealing with toxic family members, poor lad

oh my gosh Mary refers to Gerard as “her Gerard” is that where Jon got “our Gerard” from?? I feel betrayed??

whatever, I’m reclaiming it. Our Gerard is meant with affection now babey! 

the eye portrait is a bit puzzling. the inscription - ‘“Grant us the sight that we may not know. Grant us the scent that we may not catch. Grant us the sound that we may not call.”’ - could almost be read as an invocation against the Eye? But in general Gerry is fairly Eye-aligned, so...shrug emoji

(honestly my main takeaway from the eye portrait is that it’s finely detailed and near photorealistic so we can add “tortured artist” to our list of Gerard Keay traits and is it any wonder that he’s so Fandom Beloved?)

Mary is Not Good at negotiating sales. her main technique involves terrible tea, bringing up repressed childhood trauma, and getting her magic book to drop animal bones onto customer’s shoes. I’m guessing Pinhole Books was in bad shape even before the police investigation and murder charges.

hahaha, the Vast pushes Dominic down the stairs. classic. you gotta grab what opportunities are available

so did Gerard have to follow Dominic back to his flat and wait awkwardly on the doorstep at like 3 in the morning, hoping none of his neighbours would notice and call the cops

the revelation that Mary’s been dead the whole time! this episode may be more intent on world building and plot set-up but damn if it isn’t still a good little ghost story.

kind of rude of Gerry to just burn a book in this guy’s flat without asking and then steal his wastepaper basket.

Jon may not call the statement giver a liar for once, but never fear, he’s still our petty bastard man. accuses Gertrude of filing statements without reading them, has Sasha double-check Martin’s research, grumps about his general misfortune . he’s stressed from the Archives’ disorder and having flashbacks to a certain picture book but by Jove, that won’t stop him making snide comments on what’s supposed to be an official audio transcription!

[ferrumfluorite]

heY did you ever write that thing about tailgate and functionalism?

I kdshf gosh no, I didn’t. I haven’t done a meta post in a long time, but seeing as today’s the start of a glorious four day weekend, let’s hit this up rq!

For some of my newer followers, I do occasionally…………. try to dip my toes in character analysis. It doesn’t always go well, but hey! That’s the fun of it. Anyways I very briefly touched on the subject of Functionism being laden in Cyclonus’ upbringing and then again with something Whirl says to him. Both times I was exploring different ideas tho and I didn’t want to segue too hard from them.

The basic idea is that Functionism is an ingrained, albeit subtle facet of how Cyclonus treats Tailgate in the series. 

I’d definitely had more to say about this when it was fresh in my brainspace, but that’s about the crutch of it. A lot of Cyclonus’ attitude we see in the comics absolutely have roots in Functionism, especially when it came to purpose and honor. 

He sticks to his guns here and he’s ready to toss his friend into the smelter, despite Scourge still being Very Much alive and Very Not into the idea, before presumably resigning himself to the same fate. But his ideals manifest very differently in comparison to the rest of his peers.

Galvatron enjoyed the position his high warrior status afforded him and clearly relished in it for the couple million years before he even met Cyclonus. Early Cybertronian days honestly were just like this. And Cyclonus was cultivated in the same crop as a lot of the people we see supporting this hierarchy, functionism, expansion, etc. But interestingly, Cyclonus clearly had a different idea of what Cybertronian conquest meant to him.

This was a pretty stark contrast to the stuff Nova was spewing at the time, and I feel like he must have made his case clear on several occasions. We don’t see a whole lot of interaction between Cyclonus and some of his other crewmates aboard the Ark but there’s a distinct line drawn between them and Cyclonus.

He’s not exactly held in high regard and subject to this imposed hierarchy. And he is reminded of it.

At best, he’s just a missionary that ended up on Galvatron’s good side bc of his fighting skills (with Scourge tagging along as possibly even lower). He came from the same upbringing, but he clearly doesn’t think the same as the likes of Jhiaxus and Nova–Hell, even Galvatron. 

Always just a “hanger on” and never really blatantly in their support (not until the Heart of Darkness comes into play).

Alright, I went a little to the side, but I wanted to get across that Functionism to Cyclonus is, at least, a bit different than how many of his peers perceive it. It’s the same deal, but he’s got a whole lot less active oppression and classism involved, despite the influences of those around him.

So let’s fast forward to the Tailgate bit and that part I mentioned in one of my other posts.

The accusations from Whirl of “He owes you? You own him? He’s not allowed to make other friends?��� didn’t strike me until later as–Why that? Sure, we know Whirl was trying his damnedest at the time to keep Cyclonus from interfering with Getaway’s plans. Whirl is represented as a pretty creative and astute individual, and it takes a certain amount of cunning to manipulate Cyclonus. Whirl had to base it on context that Cyclonus would believe and begin to doubt himself.

Which he does. Without warning him later, Cyclonus would have brooded through the whole ordeal and Tailgate left to his fate by Megatron’s hand–Megatron says he wouldn’t have hurt him, but who really knows. Nearly crushing his helm doesn’t do his claim any favors.

Whirl knows the world Cyclonus comes from (being intimately aware of the ideals of Functionism himself), and he knows how he’s predisposed and raised to view lower caste. So he uses it to his advantage in that scene to help drive his point.

Even if Cyclonus clearly has divergent views regarding the rights of other transformers as we see directly in the next issue–

Whirl still preys on it and makes him second guess himself to great effect.

But let’s be real here, Cyclonus didn’t exactly put his best pede forward at being kind to Tailgate upon meeting him. So it’s not as if his previous treatment is without basis.

(I could also include the infamous (and extremely short) physical fight they get into, but I feel the resulting stubbornness on Cyclonus’ end lends more to the argument than the fight itself. That felt strictly a matter of teaching Tailgate not to just hit someone who’s upset him. Not that Cyclonus wasn’t in the wrong either, but his retaliation was one of definitive conclusion to make sure no one freely strikes him unless they intend to actually engage him–A response I think we can expect from a character with his background, and many others aboard the Lost Light.)

Eventually Cyclonus’ feelings for Tailgate develop, but he doesn’t know how to act on them and, at a point, if he even should. @attentiondeficitstarscream​ pointed out to me that it’s def a bit of a Lover/Beloved deal going on where Cyclonus is there and is interested and begins to love after Tailgate, but is loathe to allow it to show beyond his commitment.

And during the events of MTMTE/LL, we see very little of Cyclonus regarding Tailgate as being equal to him. To the effect of that in the beginning there’s aloof indifference and contempt, to straight up placing Tailgate above himself and his well-being.

And this is how Cyclonus fulfills his duties to people he’s committed himself to. It’s archaic and reckless and not the healthiest approach, but it’s what he knows, and what he knows he’s good at.

Once Tailgate rebuffs Cyclonus’ intent to stay with him on the Necroworld, and further still once he finds out Tailgate has “died”, his reaction is as if he’s lost his purpose. Like on Gorlam Prime, he lapses back to believing death is his only conclusion because he’s been robbed of his function. It’s his will that Mederi molds itself to manifest as the Afterspark and he’s happy to be there.

Because, I guess, fuckin’ finally right after he’s near died (and actually died) so many times and the universe is like Nah Keep Going. Now, he doesn’t have to keep living without function and without Tailgate. So he believes, anyways.

Getting Tailgate and, consequently, the root of his function back really was his happy ending here.

All said and done, post Lost Light 25 (in either universe) I feel part of their further development would end up dealing with some of the issues of Cyclonus hanging too much of his perceived worth in his function to Tailgate, among other things. It’s been such a big part of his character as a follower of traditions, of hierarchy, of people and ambitions he regards higher than himself--When he’s left alone and without purpose, well and truly, it’s clear how much he lacks the self-reliance or drive to carve his own path.

[13unknownmind]

The Arrowverse is back!!!

Yesterday and last weeks episodes of The Flash where a thing so let's talk about it.

Ok I just want to say Nora is the most adorable character ever!!!

Ok so if you are reading this (I doubt it lol) you might have seen my thoughts and theories about this season I put up about four months ago (If you haven't just go to the tag #My thought about the arrowverse and you will)

Anyway I said a lot then and I am not sure but I think I mentioned that Nora was probably going to be the speedster from the comics known as XS and I am so happy that she is cause that character is so cool.

Now there is a lot to cover in this little bit of time lol so let's go.

First let's talk about the characters...

Joe my dude a great Dad and Husband I am happy to see that he has not changed, the heart to heart Joe talk is what everyone needs once in a while. Cecile even benefits from the Joe Barry father son talks it's great.

Cecile now that she has had the baby and she is losing her meta ability she was having a hard time but as I mentioned she is now seemingly doing better thanks to Joe and Barry. A lot to come and I know I am looking forward to seeing what happens.

Ralph... This dude is crazy man I don't know what I can say about this guy except he is a loyal friend for real, I am looking forward to seeing what they do with him this season. Oh and really this dude isn't that stupid why with the earth and time stuff... You are better than this Dibny.

Wally it appears is not going to be seen much I guess... I assume he will be returning for the crossover but we shall see.

Iris is doing well with her job and taking care of the team but I think she is kind of peeved about the lack of connection she is making with her daughter (from the future) I hope she holds no resentment for that cause for real Nora's whole life it was her and Iris so she should be cutting some slack. It also seems that Iris has made quite a name and way for herself in the city being able to get the captain to spill the beans so easily.

NORA!!! The adorableness oh my gosh I gushed over her the whole first episode she is just so "cheek squeezing" cute, ok yes there is an actual baby on the show but Nora is cuter. All she wanted was to prove herself and now she is only trying to help. There is nothing wrong with a speedster with ADHD lol I am so looking forward to her for the rest of the season.

Caitlin snow ok so first we all saw that she is clearly touchy about the whole killer frost missing thing, I am glad that is still part of the development of her character and they didn't abandon it, second we can all see she is wanting to confront the dad thing and after the talk with Cisco and a large pastry she is ready to go for it... I still think that her dad is gonna turn out to be cicada cause all the signs are there from my point of view. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of her story.

Cisco my dude I feel you heart break sucks, I still say WWHHHHHYYYYYYYY‽‽‽‽‽... But nothing can be done oh well. With any "luck" we can see gypsy again and hopefully it will be for a time not just an episode. Now having vibed info on Caitlin's dad situation they are one step closer to... Whatever the outcome will be. Just a side thing- ish but I can honestly say that Cisco and I are almost the same person and it freaks me out.

I guess that only leaves The Flash himself Barry, now this dude is such a kind heart and a gentle soul but really letting your daughter stay and risk the timeline getting more messed up than it already has been... I am happy he did cause as I said before you may recall she is adorable. So now we have to watch the timeline go 👈☝️👉👆👈👉👈☝️👈👆👉 that way... Anyway he is really trying to be a dad and that's kinda cool even if his daughter is only a few years younger than him lol I am exited to see what comes as The Flash and XS are teamed and ready to rock.

Now moving on to the other things...

Cicada this dude is clearly angry about something and I can not wait to find out what... I am seeing something along the lines of what happened in the comics but how are they gonna spin it is what I wish to know, maybe he hates and wants to kill meta humans because of Caitlin (if he is her dad) or maybe it's like the comics as in a meta did something or he is a meta and doesn't want to be... I do know one thing if nothing else that dagger is a piece of metal from Star labs I am figuring that it is a piece from where the Dark Matter originated in the particle accelerator right before it exploded and that is where he gets his power because of the amount of dark matter that is embedded into that blade which has seeped into his body ergo his whole thing... I do want to know what is up with the Darth Vader breathing mask make him sound like a cicada thing, we might find out oorrr maybe not I look forward to this story and this character unraveling and seeing what comes from it.

Final thoughts.

Are we gonna see an other hero join the team?

Is Nora going to make the timeline better or majorly worse?

Is the baby a meta and if so is it because Joe has residual dark matter in his system that never turned him into a meta?

Will Ralph be able to understand everything (I doubt it)

The Crossover oh my gosh I can't wait!!!

If you are actually reading this thank you and I hope you enjoyed it, please if you have any thoughts by all means fill me in or tag me in your post of thoughs or what ever you decide. I am so happy it's all back and that I am getting stuff together enough to blog YaY lol as always I hope you are well God bless and I will catch you later ✌️

[mittensmorgul]

What have been your favorite destiel moments so far this season, and can you point me to any really in-depth, detailed metas that kinda encompasses the themes, narrative and direction of the show so far this season?

Hi there! *points you toward my whole entire blog, except maybe the crack tags*

(no, there’s even probably some insightful stuff in the crack tags… no, wait, Let me get some coffee and then try this again)

Oh gosh there have been Some Destiel Moments™ this year, haven’t there? Oh my gosh. Just, the whole entire thing of 13.01, Dean’s desperate crushing grief, his bashed knuckles that are pointed out to us early in the episode by an angel-in-disguise but not explained until after said angel was unmasked and we learn her true objectives. How she taunts Dean with the “fact” that Cas was “all the way dead” this time and there’d be no bringing him back, as if she’d KNOWN how and why he injured his hand before, as if she’d heard his prayer to Chuck and then used Dean’s specific grief over Cas like a weapon to best him in that fight. And only after the fact do we get to see that scene where Dean prayed, and it was all literally prefaced on his grief for Cas. Dean alone prepares his body, and throughout the episode he can’t even say the words “Cas” and “dead” in the same sentence.

Just, wow.

It takes us until 13.03 for him to acknowledge it, to not only say it out loud, but to scream it into Sam’s face, that the reason he can’t be okay is because Cas is dead. And again, wow. That whole scene, after an entire episode where Dean was barely holding it together, and we see him struggling to cope on what should be a routine hunt, he finally breaks completely.

But hey, Jack overhearing his rage and grief is what somehow prompts Jack’s power into a cosmic alarm clock that wakes Cas up in the Empty.

(and since we later discover that Jack has no idea he’d had any part in Cas’s return to life, that he had no idea his power had done that, but we’d learned all season long that his power largely acted outside of his logical control, but more on an emotional and instinctual level, and was triggered mostly by Intense Emotional Protectiveness… I mean, y’all do the math here. It’s a pretty simple formula.)

If anyone was confused about Dean’s major emotional trauma this season, 13.04 sort of clears it up by process of elimination. Sam is the one upset about Mary’s loss, but Dean’s largely accepted it. As Samuel once told him way back in 6.10, Dean knows how to live without her. He’s been doing it his whole life. But 13.04 is also a turning point for Dean and Jack, after Jack saved Sam’s life, his power deflecting a bullet… but at the very end of the episode when Sam hopes this means Dean’s finally making some progress toward recovering from his grief, Dean states unequivocally that no, he is not okay, and he’s still essentially hopeless. Sam still does not get it.

This is fine. Everything is fine. *breathes into paper bag*

13.05 shows us Sam desperately doing everything in his power to nudge Dean into all of his (admittedly terrible) coping mechanisms– junk food, drinking, strip clubs, and a hunt with just the two of them… just like old times. Sam can’t accept that Dean is just not bouncing back from his grief this time, despite Dean telling him that his pushing isn’t gonna help either. And we see Dean “going through the motions” one last time, partly for Sam’s sake, but also partly because literally nothing else matters anymore.

(and hi hello opening song of s13, I didn’t need what’s left of my scooped out heart anyway, please just take it already)

(sorry, I was referring to Nothing Else Matters, in case that wasn’t clear :P.)

Dean skips right from discovering the asylum was still filled with the trapped ghosts of the doctor’s victims– and probably a dozen other things they could’ve attempted to find the bodies and free those ghosts– and goes right to Plan Z, shooting his heart full of poison (Thanks for the diy death kit, Dr. Robert). He doesn’t even give Sam a chance to talk him out of it, and then accepts his death with a sort of cavalier “oh well” attitude when Billie shows up and reveals she’s the New Death.

Billie offers him anything he wants, and he doesn’t even consider asking for his own life back. He asks for the souls trapped in the asylum to be released, because he doesn’t believe Billie will go back on her former ultimatum that the next time he dies will be the last time. I mean, CAS LITERALLY KILLED HER FOR THAT IN 12.09.

And then Cas died in turn in a jarringly on-the-nose, cosmically consequence-y fashion. Which Billie even says to Dean when he wonders how she was even alive, because Cas killed her. Her response of “How’s that working out for him” is like a punch to the stomach for Dean. He’s at such a low point he’s completely resigned himself to his own final death, because not even God, not even Death herself can bring Cas back from where he is.

Except…

(pffft, I was looking for a gif of this shot, of the light blooming across Dean’s face as he realizes that Cas is alive, but this version works) :D

Then we have the fever dream that was 13.06. What the hell was that whole entire thing? NONSENSE, I TELL YOU. I MEAN IT STARTS OFF WITH THIS:

THEN AFTER WATCHING DEAN GROW EVER MORE DESPONDENT OVER FIVE WHOLE EPISODES, IT MOVES ON TO THIS:

And when Sam is confused and questions Dean about this sudden turnaround in his whole entire personality, Dean basically gives 100% of the credit to Cas being back.

Please explain the entire first 5 ½ episodes of the season WITHOUT implying destiel. It’s entirely unpossible. Just… the whole narrative falls apart.

Yes, yes. At this point, folks can try and convince themselves that Dean’s feelings are purely platonic or familial, but then why is Sam’s reaction so markedly different? And not just in regards to Cas. I mean, go back up and read the bits about 13.03 and 13.04, where they each get a chance to voice their grief. Dean’s bursts out of him like a wildfire, and is clarified with words to be JUST about Cas, and it’s literally debilitating levels of grief. Sam’s feelings of loss are almost entirely focused on Mary, as a specifically familial loss. Sam is our exemplar of what losing a family member looks like right now, lampshading just how powerfully Dean has been affected by Cas’s death.

Again, please explain that difference and the intensity of Dean’s grief as a purely platonic thing. The narrative is making it very difficult to dismiss a deeper relationship between Dean and Cas here.

I mean… I’m trying to control myself about adding gifs to this post and I’m having a really difficult time.

13.07 brought back “Don’t do anything stupid,” which in 12.10 got a bucketload of subtext attached to it. Human weakness, and the clarification that Dean’s not mad, he’s worried about Cas. It’s not just a throwaway line, and it’s not just an insult. It’s their version of just come home safe.

And Dean knows something’s not right when he calls Cas, but circumstance prevents them from actually exchanging any useful information. And again, Cas is referred to as “your angel,” by Ketch specifically addressing it to Dean despite the fact that Sam is standing right there too, and the fact that Sam had been the one willing to believe Ketch’s lie throughout most of the episode. Yet, he still addresses this to Dean…

Then we discover that Asmodeus is impersonating Cas on the phone while holding Cas and Lucifer in his prison cells. And that he’s keeping Cas specifically as a bargaining chip to use against the Winchesters. Over the next two episodes, we discover that once again it’s SAM who keeps getting updates from “Cas,” and not Dean. Which is head-scratchingly odd considering all of this ^^. Because Cas is NOT CAS on the phone right now, and it’s easier to maintain the illusion with Sam than with Dean.

Incredible.

So that’s where we are right now. Well, as far as the destiel goes.

Now on to part 2 of your question. Some really in-depth and detailed metas that cover the themes, narrative, and direction of s13 to this point…

Again, this is kind of difficult. I think I summed up the basics here (well, leaving out the stuff setting up Wayward, and the AU’s and Michael and his agenda, and Jack, and Lucifer, and Asmodeus and his agenda, and the angels and their repopulation agenda… okay I apparently left out a lot of stuff… since the first bit of your question was specifically about destiel)

But I tag everything I write or reblog by episode number. The secret formula is this:

spn 13.06 (which translates easily to work for any episode by switching out the number at the end of this: http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/tagged/spn+13.06)

Note that there are 32 PAGES of results in this specific tag. That’s over 300 posts. Not all of them are meta, but a goodly portion of them probably are. From there you can probably find other tags that may be of interest in your quest for All The Meta. :D

[hamartian-cathexis]

Why would you do this to me.

tagged by @shousanki!!!!! o/ heylo my friendo

Rules: write your 10 favourite female characters from 10 different fandoms and tag 10 people (someone needs to rewrite the rules for these things. because “ten favorite female characters from 10 different fandoms” sounds like it means ten sets of ten characters, with each set from a different fandom... which amounts to 100 different female characters... instead of what it should be. which is 10 favorite female characters, each from a different fandom...and i WOULD just name 100 favorite characters but honestly most shows dont actually have 10 female characters to name...lame.)

Anyways I anticipate that this will be a long post, so the rest is under the cut. Even if I tagged you, you are absolutely in no way obligated to read everything I’m about to write here, lol. :^)

Bungou Stray Dogs: Yosano Akiko

Badass? Check.

She is beauty, she is grace,

please kick me in the face.

Slightly off-kilter, a bit trigger-happy except with knives (my FAVORITE), but with a strong personal philosophy and strength of character. Also she WRECKS perverted, misogynistic men. Sorry Naomi, sorry Kouyou... Gin...  BSD has a REALLY high number of amazing female characters, all of whom are BADASS AS FUCK and beautiful and deserve a place on this list, tbh, but I narrowed down the list because most of them have characters that are strongly linked to a male character through backstory or association, or have a male character as a love interest. It’s the same for a number of other characters on the list, but, well. It’s only one character per fandom, and there’s a reason why I put her first. (I’m super behind in the manga, but I know there is a loose connection between Yosano and Mori? But to me, out of all the BSD female characters, she’s still the most stand-out in terms of independence. Naomi came close because of her dominant personality but...Yosano... I want her to chop me to pieces... Ahem.)

Soul Eater: Medusa

Honestly? Probably hands down one of the best villains I can think of in all of anime.

(Also, she’s really hot.)

A bit of a controversial character in some (okay, a lot of) respects, but that just adds to her complexity. I don’t have to think she’s a good person to like her as a character. I, uh. Also. Usually don’t. Like the characters that are. Too Pure(tm). So.

PLUS, look at that character design, how fucking??? Badass?????? She’s also very mindfucky (MY FAVORIIIIITE SJDFSDL:FKSF:). Man, I gotta rewatch this show...

Durarara!!: Karisawa Erika

*cries because still has only seen the first season*

Okay this one should be obvious. Another slightly off-kilter, crazy, badass female. But also, WE SHARE THE SAME TASTE IN SHIPS. We’re basically already best friends. 

In addition: “If you make fiction just as valuable as reality, then any reality you don't need can be a delusion.”

“Reality is such a pain. And for those of us who get fed up with that kind of reality, we simply choose to make a new one. We create little walls, and separate the trash from the stuff we like, and when that's all done we keep the things we care about and kick the rest to the curb. You'd be amazed how well it works! A whole world made out of just moe, tsundere, and BL, it's the best discovery ever! If you ask me, that really is the best way to separate reality, from fiction.”

Durarara!! is an immensely quotable show, but Erika’s lines definitely...hit closest to home.

Pandora Hearts: Echo

...Incredibly underappreciated. And also. I can’t. Talk very much. About Pandora Hearts without spoiling everything. And breaking down. If you haven’t, read the manga (THE ANIME IS OFF-LIMITS with the exception of the soundtrack. The soundtrack is good.) Going into the many reasons why Echo is one of my favorites involves some meta, so...

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Akagi Ritsuko

Brilliant. Ambitious. Strong, but...okay, not that strong. But she puts up a really good front. As is to be expected of NGE, a really complex character. All of the characters in NGE are broken in some way and have a special place in my heart, but I chose Ritsuko because she’s...just, very tragic. In a way that I think not a lot of people see. 

I think if NGE came out more recently a lot of people would have issues with how her character was handled, but it’s because I have those same issues that I like her? It’s hard to explain. She was saddled with a really bad lot in life, but was also gifted and privileged? An impressive (heavy) legacy that she more than lived up to, but which came with a curse. She just deserved a lot better, and I think the story wanted to emphasize that with how badly they treated her while still showing off her talent. Her episode is definitely one of my favorites, if not my most favorite, in the show.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Hanji Zoe

The closest thing to kin that I can think of. Also, there’s definitely a trend here...a bit crazy, likes her blades (for slaying AND dissecting...). Also, she goes against the grain with her opinions, proves to have her moments of calm, turned what could’ve been something bad into an opportunity to explore and made THAT into a completely insane life goal and passion that no one else really understands... Yeah... I love Hanji a lot... Also SNK was my first actual fandom so, it needed to be here.

Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood): Olivier Armstrong

This was frikkin hard as fuck because all of the FMA females could kick my ass into the next dimension. I almost went with Izumi Curtis, but...Olivier is just...so obvious. The obvious choice. When it comes to badass female characters, she’s the first one to come to mind, every time. Not much explanation needed here, honestly.

FLCL: Mamimi Samejima

I don’t really know how to explain why I like her so much. But then again, FLCL in general is...very hard to explain. She’s kind of the classic lonely, broken girl with a sad past, all wrapped up in the right kind of lost, streetside aesthetic. Her episode was my favorite, and all of the FLCL episodes are excellent. They gave her a hopeful ending, though, and it had nothing to do with Naota or really anyone else. She just came to her own conclusions in her own time. I like that. *crosses fingers and hopes the new season won’t fuck anything up*

Noragami: Nana

This one was hard, too. I ended up going with a minor character who was introduced relatively recently because...well...she won me over, really quickly. A really earnest, yet badass kid, who’s loyal and fierce and at peace with herself and her death. Destined to remain a minor character, forever, probably (even if Noragami is taken off hiatus), but being a minor character never stopped me from getting attached before, so...

Boku no Hero Academia: Toga Himiko

SHE’S JUST SO CUTE. AND SO CRAZY. AND STABBY. AND. AND. GOSH. I love soooo many of the bnha girls but. how could i not put down yandere murder princess? LOOK AT HER. If she stabbed me I’d thank her and cry because I’m not worthy.

Honorable Mentions

Naomi, Kouyou, Gin (Bungou Stray Dogs); Azusa, Eruka (Soul Eater); Haruhi, Renge (Ouran High School Host Club); Shion (Psycho Pass); Tsunade (Naruto); Hagakure Tooru, Yaoyorozu Momo, Hatsume Mei, Ryuuku, Asui Tsuyu (Boku no Hero Academia); Misato, Asuka, Rei (NGE); Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop); Lacie Baskerville (Pandora Hearts); Rue (Princess Tutu); Mezato (Mob Psycho 100); Haruko (FLCL); Mayaka (Hyouka); Yuzuki (Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun); Ymir (SnK)

Tagging: @yatomochi @zokudarakuron @heyhaileyy13 @visceralluster @failbender @actualdevil @sonreiv @jdwicked @overh0e @mab-speaks but only if you feel like it, ofc haha.

[1dicta]

dicta do you have any larry fic recs? nothing specific but just any fic that you loved a lot? thank you, your opinion on fics means a lot to me, and i feel like you'd probably know the really good ones!

Oh my gosh anon I love the wording of this ask so much. I’ve been meaning to make a larry rec list for going on a year but it just feels so official/overwhelming? But this, fic I loved a lot??? I can absolutely do that!!! and aaaaah there are SO MANY!!! I am not as organized about larry fic as drarry fic so this is, basically, like, a list of fics that stuck in my brain and/or heart and that are all so so good. SO GOOD! (and tbh there’s a whole other list of stuff that i’d rec but would want to reread before attempting commentary, and I have so many things marked for later and like….yeah….there’s a lot of good fic out there) And really, what better rec is there than “this is a fic that stuck in my brain and/or heart”?? Everyone should read them all!!

an act of faith against the night by @elianefics​ - M, 65k - It’s a clear path, drawing itself in Harry’s mind – where they began, how they ended up here. It’s not hard to convey all the events that led them to this very moment, with all of their twists and turns, not when Harry has been going through them again and again every night, albeit searching for something else.  “Did you know?” When Harry replies, it’s a question, not an answer. “Did you know, that it would end like this?”[Harry and Louis had never imagined that, when they would finally go back to New York, it would be as spies.] (part two of the landscapes of war series)

The war from ‘a prayer for which no words exist’ (recced below!) is over, or at least as over as war can be for the people who were there, which is to say….not all that over, just taking different shape. I have endless love for the way this fic treats that aftermath, the way it shows how deeply and irreversibly harry and Louis were shaped by being fighters, and it is a stunning mix of beautiful prose and important ethical questions. It also does some really fascinating meta work with Simon Cowell, the Azoffs, and the Cordens taking on central roles in the post-war nation-building project. It’s a lot for one fic to do, and this one manages it beautifully, and throws in some more beautiful NYC cityscapes, heartaching and conflicted nostalgia, and taut but unwavering H/L love, you know, just for good measure.

another hazy may by deLILAh - M, 41k - louis is a terrible poet and harry lives in the now and they have six weeks to fall in love but, really, it only takes six seconds. bookshop meets military meets summer romance au ft. marlboros, the backstreet boys, and underrated literary devices.

It’s been over a year since I’ve properly read this all the way and I can still see parts of it as vividly as if it had been last night. Harry’s hair, cigarette smoke curling upwards, hardwood floors, the rhythm of Harry’s feet as he runs to stay in shape for the job that will take him away from Louis, the feeling of seconds slipping away, and each of them more precious for being so few in number. This is one of those fics that made me nostalgic for somewhere I’d never been - except who hasn’t felt as though time was moving simultaneously quickly and too slowly, as though there is something precious that could fall apart at any second? And that’s one of many things this fic does beautifully: gives us the universality of their story, and reminding us of our own.

Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart by @conscious–ramblings​ - M, 19k - Louis and Harry had been childhood best friends, but had been separated by evacuation as the city they grew up in was destroyed around them. Now, twelve years later, they are both back in London, and through chance they meet again. In a time when you can’t admit to being gay, for fear of arrest, admitting to your best friend that you love them seems like an insurmountable obstacle.Featuring boxer Harry and mechanic Louis, much pining, and a lot of post war Britain

There’s often a moment in fic where they’re trying to figure out if the other one is gay and/or available, that’s full of a certain kind of tentative hope because there’s some kind of attraction there and what if, what if it was everything they think it might be? This fic takes that to 11 in the most meaningful way, because it’s the 40s, and being gay is a crime, and it’s not a question of whether they’re reading the right signals - neither of them can afford to send any - but of trying to accept that it could never, can never be. Set against absolutely simmering chemistry (the moment Louis first sees Harry in the ring is a thing I’m still not over) and wonderful research and settings (loved the feel of it, the way it all came to life, how present the remnants of the war were as they went about their lives) and fab secondary characters (Niall is a gem, and Liam is so how I think of him, and really everyone was just perfect) and this incredible click where you can feel the ease and understanding between them, feel the sense that they are destined and absolutely belong together…it takes that tension and longing, already at an 11, to a 12, and the ending is cathartic and beautiful and means so much more for knowing how rare and lucky and precious that moment is, and how much they’re willing to risk, and how it’s kinds of risk that are sometimes very specific to being queer in a moment when it’s illegal and how many of them are universal, and how incredible and enormous and moving a thing it is when both kinds of risk pay off.

Don’t Look Down by zarah5 - M, 92k - AU. In which Louis is a solicitor at one of London’s most prestigious law firms and Harry happens to apply for the position as his trainee. And everyone else is around, too.

Harry is unbelievably charming here, and it makes total sense that Louis falls for him, and as the story unfolds the clarity and meaningfulness of their connection gets more and more apparent even as Louis is fighting it tooth and nail. But it’s not miscommunication and it’s not self-loathing, it’s that Louis’ reasons are genuinely thoughtful and important (professional ethics!!!!!! With real implications!!!!) and that they’re genuinely in a difficult position and can’t be together without betraying things that mean a lot to both of them, which made me love this version of him even more and root for them that much harder. And I was already rooting for them pretty damn hard. They fit together beautifully from the first, understand each other on so many levels, are drawn together just magically…and then there are these beautiful moments (Venice omg) and heart-wrenching moments (after that dinner and that one morning and then that other one omg) and hold-your-breath moments (what is Louis gonna dooooo) and heart-pounding momebts, and I could not put it down.

Fake you’re full and feel tomorrow by theglitterbee - NC-17, 21k - Louis is a high class prostitute and the best at what he does. Harry is a hard to please 17 year old who wants to give himself completely to another man. [It contains prostitution, d/s, daddy kink, silly banter and two idiots in love.](The one with the text messages.)

listen this is gonna sound like a weird rec but bear with me. this fic was one of the first 1d fics I read, and on face is almost entirely made of things i don’t like, and yet, here it is. It did that alchemical thing where it just worked and it did all these things really well - like daddy kink was 100% squick for me before this and it’s still like 80% squick but this fic explained it in such a way that i got it and could understand it and see why it worked for them and what it meant for them and that psychology made it work (and made me get why it was hot? which is pretty massive for something in the squick category). and i was hesitant about their ages but it wound up being (i think not unrealistically) part of a fundamental kind of self-discovery that was part of why things between them felt so critical and important. and i was v skeptical about social media stuff in fic but this one did it so well that i got it and felt like it really enriched the story and showed a particular kind of progress and dynamic in their interactions that needed to be done that way (and wound up being really cool and impressive). and i was nervous about the potential for the dynamics to not work but they are both full people who needed each other in this very specific way and fit together beautifully and it did some of the best stuff kink fics do imo, where the kink reveals something about who they are and what they need and why they work and who they are individually and together, and so here we are, a fic with tags i wouldn’t usually touch, reccing away and considering a reread. this kind of rec can be kind of ~, i know, but the tl;dr is that this fic is so good it overcame every hesitation and left me totally engaged and impressed and invested.

Hold Me Closer by balanceds - NC-17, 36.5k - Louis Tomlinson is one of the most promising dancers of the English National Ballet, on track to become the youngest principal dancer in the company’s history. That is, until forces conspire to significantly complicate his life, including: a surprise ballet, an unfairly attractive guest choreographer, and being pushed into a rivalry with his best mate. Featuring lots of wine, dancing, pining, and a happy ending.

I was so surprised when I looked up the word count for this bc I would have sworn it was at least twice as longc there is so much story, and so much development, and so many moments that stick that. Watching Louis come to terms with who he was as a dancer and and person was this beautiful process that was so rewarding to read, and it was unusual and fresh in this way I really want to talk about but really don’t want to spoil. Along the way there is spectacular chemistry, zayn and Louis taking on gay swan lake, so much yearning and despair and happiness and reckoning and growth, an amazing and deeply satisfying Simon moment, and one of those h/l relationships where they make each other strong.

like a boomerang by @youwilll​ - M, 52k - AU in which Harry gets trapped in a lift, Louis gets stuck in a Wednesday, and it’s always February 2nd. Until it isn’t.

This fic is so so utterly charming in like nine different ways. Harry and Louis slot together so beautifully you can practically hear the click, and then they do it again and again and somehow every time feels fresh and important, and through it all the stakes get bigger as Louis contemplates the meaning of their repeated day and all of these deep questions sneak in, and a bit of a mystery, and a bunch of self-discovery, and a bunch of personal growth as Louis learns and thinks, really thinks, about what he needs to do, and realizes how willing he is to do it. It was so perfectly balanced between being gentle and exciting, between destiny and action, between grand gestures and quiet moments, and it settled like a warm blanket and I looked forward to every chapter so much.  And then, at the end…it was one of those stories that made me want to add and place to my travel list because the relevant moments are so well located and satisfying that you just want to be there, and it captured this particular instant - the way it wound sound and smell and how the air would feel and the electricity of it - so vividly. Lovely through and through.

Love Is A Human Right by @conscious–ramblings​ - M, 41k - The one where Louis has spent years getting over his ex, Harry Styles, and was almost successful. That is until Harry is elected as an MP, and Louis is given the task of getting him to support an Act of Parliament. Through tears and arguments and a heavy dose of LGBTQ+ politics, their lives finally line up. Will Louis be able to forgive? Will they still want the same thing? It’s difficult to let go of five years of hurt, but even more difficult to be close to the love of your life and let them walk away again.

This fic is basically everything I want in a fic, but together so amazingly well that I would never be able to put into a prompt because it’s the *how* that makes it so perfect. I mean, politics, check, LGBTQ politics, check, larry, check, vivid settings, check, emotional stakes, check, pining, check, everything, check. But the kicker is the beautiful complexity to all of it, that the story really truly understands the complexity of coming out and why people  do and why they don’t and what it mean and how it works and the ways it plays out in queer communities, and these gay leads aren’t incidentally gay, but engaged in identity and politics in a way that feels true and resonant, and that manages to both say really important things about queer communities and tell a beautiful love story about coming to terms with who you are and what you stand for and how love shapes (but doesn’t always determine, and I love that about this fic too) your priorities. Then add some simmering UST and simmering RST (hot damn i mean really) and viscerally, deliciously painful pining and hilarious side plots (SGIL!! Ziam!! Nick’s guessing games!!) and a background story that had my heart twisting for them from the first and settings that felt so real they were popping back into my head for weeks and just…superb. Superb.

a prayer for which no words exist by @elianefics​ - M, 65k - “Louis is a few seconds away from blowing up a rather important section of the New York subway when he sees Harry for the first time.” (part one of the landscapes of war series)

War!AU in NYC! Another one that I will admit fit my interests beautifully but it’s the execution that makes it work so beautifully. From the second they meet, there’s an urgency and fragility to Harry and Louis’ relationship that is a perfect fit for the politics and the newness of it all. At the same time, their connection is so certain and solid, and whether they’re waking up in the Brooklyn penthouse loft that I am still not over or getting ready to run into battle, their love casts everything else into relief and brings out some of he human consequences to why people fight and what they have to gain or lose, and shows what all they’re risking. Left me breathless in the best ways, and so glad to have gone on this journey.

Pull Me Under by zarah5 - NC-17, 140k - AU. As the first British footballer to come out at the prime of his career,  it helps that Louis Tomlinson is in a long-term, committed  relationship. Even if that relationship is fake. (Featuring Niall as Louis’ favourite teammate, Liam as Louis’ agent, and Zayn as Liam’s boyfriend, who just happens to be good friends with one Harry Styles.)

This was the fic that tipped me right over the precipice and properly into the fandom; how could I not rec it? Even if I wasn’t personally attached, how could I not rec it? It’s so bloody beautiful, watching Louis come to terms with the idea of being out, and to take steps towards it, and to see how his interactions with Harry change that and what develops between them. The pacing is amazing, the depiction of internalized homophobia is chest-tightening in the good illustrative moving way, the world is so immersive (like I went to get the link and 20 minutes later I was still reading and totally entranced), and their relationship 100% made my heart sing, in both the big triumphant moments and the little ones.

things have gotten closer to the sun by starseas - M, 49k - it’s strange, making the choice to face his past—it almost feels like he’s heading for the sun straight on, like he’s screaming come on and burn me, i deserve it.-when a solar flare is announced to end the world in twelve days, harry reunites with the people that he used to know better than the back of his own hand.

I’m not even entirely sure what to say about this fic that won’t give it away or send people running because here’s the thing: it is heartbreaking. It is worth it. It is sad, yes. It is also exhilarating and beautiful and about why love, platonic and romantic, makes the risks worthwhile, and how we know, viscerally know what is important to us. Real talk pt. 1: read it because I had terrible pms and really needed to cry. Real talk pt. 2: it worked, in that very particular way thar also made me sit and think about who and what is really important and had me sobbing in the best, most cathartic way. That lasting, deep way that’s making my chest a little tight just thinking about it, but that also means that I can smell the snow and feel the frost and see the brilliance of the sun and feel the boys’ love as - more - constant than the sun, and what the heck else could you ask for?

These Inconvenient Fireworks by mdasch and everydayslike - NC-17, 190k - Future AU in which nobody tries out for X Factor but the boys end up finding one other eventually anyway. Louis is a jaded bastard who owns a cat named Duchess and teaches drama to teenagers, Harry is an idealistic aspiring photographer/part-time footy coach, Zayn teaches English lit and wears leather jackets, Liam saves people from burning buildings, and Niall is Niall.

this is one of the top ten most affecting things i have ever read in my life. i don’t know how. i don’t know why. i do know that i couldn’t put it down for days and wound up finishing it in a blanket fort on a friend’s couch at 4am, literally doing that feet-kicking thing where you’re so full of feelings you can’t actually physically contain it but have to be quiet and still because the rest of the world is asleep during your emotional revelation. it restored my faith in love and hope. i am still not recovered from the thing on the soccer field at night before the train or the star tattoo or harry taking picture after picture or basically anything about it. clear your calendar if you have to but read this fic and then pls come talk to me about it because like i said i am deeply affected and possibly forever changed.

walk my days on a wire by sunshiner - M, 38.5k - Harry hums, staring at his hands in his lap, and Louis can still feel their smoothness, how solid they were in between his own. “Do you think it’s the same for us? Are we here only because of the likeliness of our jobs? Of our lives?”“We’re here because we have inventive managers,” Louis says, giving Harry’s leg a little nudge with his knee, but all that’s going around in his head is, I think I’d be in the same spot in every possible universe.  or, when actor Louis Tomlinson used to daydream about dating Harry Styles, this is not what he had in mind.

There’s this one moment in Cannes when they kiss and I both really want to talk about it bc it is amazing and really would not dream of talking about bc you have to go read it yourself. So like the summary suggests, they’re in a fake relationship, and they know that that’s what it’s supposed to be, but of course - of course - there’s more to it than that. Like instantly more in this way that you can feel rolling off the screen, that is about sexual chemistry but also a certain kind of very precious fitting together. Watching them see themselves through each others eyes is beautiful, as is seeing how much it means to them to have someone else who understands the pressured of this rarefied, panopticonic world of celebrity, and who loves and validates the ott celeb performer and the human underneath the facade. It’s interesting to read in the context of this fandom, and entirely universal at the same time - who doesn’t want a partner who can love them at their most extreme and most mundane, most accomplished and most afraid, right in the middle of a stadium or right in the middle of taking up the whole damn bed?

whispering of fields half-sown by @elianefics​ - PG-13, 7k - “And how ironic is it that even now, at the end of all things, Louis’ mere presence makes Harry want to believe that anything is possible again. That the earth isn’t close to collapsing on itself, that the tomorrows are bright and shining and full of promises. Harry hates Louis for giving him something to look forward to when the sky only keeps getting darker. Harry loves Louis for it. ”[All of his boys come back to him in the end, but it’s Louis, Harry has been waiting for all this time.]

heartbreaking, lush, moving apocalypse!fic wherein it is absolutely the case that through fire and water and earthquakes and ice, there is one person Harry needs by his side. There’s Liam and Niall and Zayn, too, and what it would mean for all of them to say goodbye, really goodbye, who they all are and what those friendships mean. And Louis. Oh, Louis. My eyes got mysteriously damp in the really good way, and it made me want to sit down and write just to make words like this. The conversation at the end of this stayed with me like whoa, and my chest is getting a little tight thinking about it again. That may make some people want to X it off the list; think twice before you do. This is worth it.

Young & Beautiful by velvetoscar - M, 227.5k - Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn’t stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

absolutely beautiful. so vivid i dreamt about it and then went and got a whole bunch of flowers and spent a while wandering around in fancy clothes just because it felt as though i was already living in the story so why not? And how could you not want to be part of this world that is complex and nuanced and subtle and gorgeous (which is not a way i expected to feel about a fic about rich kids btw but this fic makes them so full and the story so engaging that it happened and not only a little). Dimensional characters, wonderful tension, simmering slow burn, complexity, believable and complex psychological motivations,  theme parties, a falcon named cleopatrick, long nights, loaded touches, meaningful subplots, love, resilience. The only possible complaint is it made me want a champagne fountain, and that is not any sort of complaint at all. (lmk if you have a champagne fountain though, it’s been a few weeks and i am really still about wanting to live inside this fic, and also champagne)

[ganymedesclock]

[anonymous submission]

Gah! Okay, I just lost time scrolling through your VLD meta because omigod it’s so goood! And I have sooo many questions! So, I read your “why Allura for Black Paladin” and “why not Keith for Black Paladin” posts, and I wanted to ask if you saw a potential conflict between the two? Given that they might be more alike than they think (magic? Maybe?) and also both seem to be the most gung-ho about bringing down the Galra (besides Coran), and also supposing that Keith still has lodged in the back of his mind Shiro’s “last request” that he lead Voltron, do you think a situation could arise where Keith disagrees with/undermines Allura’s command and jets off to do his own thing? 

Hunk question: you think that “Alfor is the Yellow Paladin” could open up a cool exploration of Hunk’s character. Do you see that also opening up an opportunity to develop a closer friendship with Allura, the (possible) daughter of his predecessor? (I don’t mean shippy, but maybe closer to friends than they are atm.) I’ve always gotten the impression that, out of the cadet-Paladins, Hunk is secretly Allura’s favorite, and there have been a couple references (Space Mall, I think?) to the two of them having casual conversations off-screen.

Shiro and Allura question: Ever since that s2 finale I’ve been wanting to see a Shiro-Allura vs. Zarkon-Haggar battle. Do you have any thoughts on the potential parallels between Zarkon & Haggar’s relationship and Shiro & Allura’s? I see it as a dark mirror-inverse thing, with Zarkon as Shiro’s foil and Haggar as Allura’s, where Zarkon&Haggar are clearly the evil to the Shiro&Allura good, but interestingly Shiro is subordinate to Allura in Voltron’s command hierarchy while Haggar seems subordinate to Zarkon. Maybe it implies that one of the virtues of the Black Lion is humility, and that while the Black Paladin is a natural leader, he/she/they should not pursue power for power’s sake?

Sorry, this is really long! I hope I haven’t made too many typos. Don’t feel pressured to respond! I just got so excited by your wonderful theories/analyses that I had to ask some questions.

Hello! Gosh, I’m charmed you like my meta so much. 

First: I will say I have changed my mind a bit, in that I don’t know if we’re going to get someone else as Black Paladin- rather, that the team, and Black, might try to manage and improvise roughly without. This is mostly the tone I’ve heard from official interviews talking about things to come, but it’s also a matter of, considering that Shiro and Black are counterparts, that shakeup of control in the season one finale was a huge shadow that hung over Shiro’s head for almost the entirety of season two. 

I can’t see it being a good experience for Black if her paladin is gone. Zarkon’s incapacitated for now, but there’s no guarantee he’ll stay bedridden for long and while she’s made progress fighting against him, the main catalyst for that happening was Shiro. In s2e6, Black didn’t attack Zarkon until almost the last minute. Shiro seems to have inspired her to stick up for herself more.

Suddenly having the prospect of flying solo in that regard when she had just barely gotten her feet under her is not going to be appealing. She’s going to be in a bad place to take in anyone else, and try to make concessions. 

As far as Keith and Allura coming into conflict- because even without Allura potentially becoming Black Paladin, without Shiro, she’s the only one left on top of the chain of command here- I think that it’s possible but s2e5 and the s1 finale ironically show us that Keith and Allura tend to be on the same wavelength. People have cited Keith’s call to potentially not go after Allura as harsh or evidence he might not like her, but I feel like it’s noteworthy Keith’s opinion is voiced the closest to Allura’s own- she got caught throwing Shiro to safety at her own expense, and when they do come after her, she’s not exactly thrilled to see them (“Tell me you didn’t bring Voltron here!”)

And then in Ark of Taujeer, Keith and Allura both independently worry that they’re holding the team back and they come to the exact same conclusion about what to do about it. Separately.

So I feel like, again, it’s super possible they might argue? But I think it’s also possible they might instead both make a bad decision at the same time and have the rest of the team running after them like “GUYS, NO”

(I mean, I don’t ship Keith and Allura personally, but, I get a little upset when people try to reject the idea that it’s possible for them to like each other at all or be friends because they want Keith to date someone else. There’s a way to have your ship and not throw a good friendship under the bus, too.)

Talking about friendships! I feel like Hunk as Alfor’s successor opens up a lot of really cool things, backstory-wise about the formation of Voltron, but it also, as you say, opens up some interesting conversations with Allura. We have seen implications they’re talking and interacting, but I think things are going to go more from here. Both Allura and Shiro have kind of a leadership problem where they try really hard to conceal their problems from the team. Mostly, at this point, Allura has been receiving support from Shiro and Coran, but I’ve actually been wondering if Shiro’s absence from the team is going to be set up as a way to actually break that pattern of Shiro hiding his issues.

I would hesitate to say that Haggar is subordinate to Zarkon as much as Haggar and Zarkon are both incredible powerhouses, but in different directions.

Zarkon very much embodies power in a very overt and physical way- he’s a huge, daunting athletic specimen, he accomplishes what he does by direct force. He is armed and armored, and metaphysical confrontations such as the astral plane fight with Shiro take on a very bodily, physical element. He presides over fleets of battleships, robots and soldiers. And in this very overt-power way, Zarkon has a specific royal title and place in the hierarchy that he wears very openly and obviously.

Haggar is Zarkon’s equal, and opposite. Because Haggar is all about, let’s call it subtle power. She’s a tiny, delicate-looking woman; a spindly, almost waifish build even by human standards, which makes her look deeply out of place among the galra who are overwhelmingly seven to eight feet tall. But Haggar is the mastermind behind the robeasts, and the druids- both entities that, unlike the soldiers, do not have obvious ranks and recognizable individuals- they don’t talk about their plans or how they feel. Physical confrontations with her take on a metaphysical, psychological element, as Haggar uses illusions and deliberately pries at Shiro’s trauma while fighting him.

Zarkon has his history, but he wears it very openly; in his scar, in the bayard he carries. Haggar, conversely, deliberately obfuscates her history to a point that only now, two seasons in, are we even realizing she’s Altean.

So I think that while at a glance, Haggar’s observation of Zarkon’s formal title does make it seem like he’s the one with the power and she ranks beneath him- but I’ve never read it that Haggar defers to Zarkon as much as, he is her partner, and she doesn’t usually operate without his input. At the same time, Zarkon seldom operates without hers.

I think that this can be set up as a parallel to Shiro and Allura in the sense that Shiro is, in a way, obviously enthroned in the Black Lion as the head of Voltron. But, in a slightly more oblique manner, Allura is bound to the Castleship- the vessel that carries the Lions. Klaziap and the Arusians identify Allura as the “goddess” that commands Voltron, and they’re really not wrong. Allura, not Shiro, is the one who has Voltron’s history, who can seek out any of the Lions by her own power.

It’s the same both ways. With Shiro and Allura, and with Zarkon and Haggar- one has an obvious leadership position, and it’s tempting to consider them the one running the show, but the other is so fundamentally integral to its workings that the longer you observe the group operating, the clearer it is that the allegedly less titled one is just as much in charge.

Haggar has absolutely zero reservations giving orders in Zarkon’s absence. When the druids are questioned on who’s giving them orders, they always state that it’s Haggar. We also see that, in terms of the ritual Zarkon was using to track down Black, Haggar was very clearly guiding Zarkon through it. Magic- something Zarkon relies heavily on- is not his domain, and it’s very likely that he himself doesn’t really have aptitude for it.

I absolutely agree with you, though- I think that Haggar is Allura’s antagonistic counterpart, and I really do think at one point we’re going to get the tag-team reckoning of destiny. 

[mithen]

Having read most of your Zowens meta, when the "Nothing without you" line was said, it was their last match in the indies together, right? So now, having reached the proverbial top of the mountain in the WWE, after all the heartbreak, after all the pain and suffering -- how would you book the ending, the TRUE ending, of the ballad of Kevin and Sami? I mean, they recreated some of the familiar beats already. How would "Nothing without you" go, in your head, in the WWE?

OH GOSH.  

Yes, DDT4 2013 was Kevin and Generico’s last match together!  For quick background (I’ve gushed about it so often, I’m sorry, I just want to make sure the basics are down), it’s a PWG tag team tournament, and Steen and Generico, best friends turned mortal enemies, somehow got booked together as a team (how did this even happen??  There must be an interesting story there).  Everyone knew Generico had signed with the WWE and this was farewell, and the resulting tournament was basically a love letter to Steen and Generico, a beautiful little present tied up with a bow, an attempt to let them have the closure to their storyline that they never got in Ring of Honor.  Across three matches, Steen and Generico finally reached reconciliation and catharsis.  And you know, the version they come up for the WWE (because they have one planned!  I know it!) will probably have strengths for being able to unfold over months (years?) instead of days, but it probably will get weirdly sidetracked and booked wrong as well, so I’m really glad we have the abbreviated/condensed version already!

If I were to book something, first there has to be some event that really brings Kevin low.  I’d like it to be something that really breaks him down more than simply getting rejected by Hunter, though I’d take that.  Ideally I want him to have a friendship that means something to him, so when that friend betrays him he can suffer as Sami has suffered.  It’s hard for me to imagine a reconciliation without Kevin getting SOME kind of karmic payback for what he’s done to Sami and Chris, though I think it’s possible without it.  Because of that, it might take years before Kevin can build a friendship worth getting betrayed again.  Given what we’ve currently got, I might (sorry, Finn!  Sorry, Sami!) have Finn turn heel maybe at SummerSlam (maybe much, much later, if we’re talking the Final Ending) and stab Sami in the back, joining Hunter’s faction.  Then build over a long time (at least a year or so) a friendship between Kevin and Finn, based on their shared dark heart of having both betrayed someone they know deserves better.  Someone new coming in from the indies (Adam Cole? Kassius Ohno?) could also do the trick, though!  It just has to be someone that can form a bond with Kevin that Kevin can believe is a true friendship (I just can’t see that happening with either Joe or Hunter).

I would have Hunter and Kevin’s false friend cast him out of their faction, have False Friend reveal/claim he was only using him (payback for Jericho there as well).  Then as a final indignity I would have Hunter tell him the only way he could keep his job at all would be to enter the tag team division with Sami, who I assume is just going to be eternally low-key at war with the Authority.  Lots of Sami being angry and miserable but basically being unwilling to cost Kevin his job (because he knows and likes Kevin’s family, after all!)  Lots of dysfunctional dynamic… slowly giving way to kind of helping each other despite themselves, to having a growing sense of pride in their tag team.  Samoa Joe and False Friend (and anyone else who’s joined them) could be constantly trying to thwart them, Hunter increasingly annoyed that they’re actually doing pretty well.  This could go on quite a while, depending on how happy the actors are to stay in the tag division together!

Obviously I would end it with them eventually winning the tag team titles, preferably with Kevin suffering horrifically during it.  Like seriously, I want Kevin shielding Sami’s body with his own under a hail of kendo sticks, I want Kevin getting superkicked for Sami, I want Kevin to be forced to grovel and plead for the bad guys not to hurt Sami anymore.  Give me all the OTT melodrama!  I want Kevin so destroyed by the end of the match that he can’t even stand and Sami has to drape their title over his body before collapsing next to him weeping.

And ideally, hard as this is to imagine, once we get to that I would do my level best to never book a betrayal between them again.  Oh, they could have disagreements.  They could have fights.  They could split up as a tag team.  But I would really want this to be the reconciliation that sticks, I would want them to have each other’s back when the chips were down, if you’re beating up Sami there should always be a chance Kevin’s going to come out and help him even if they’re feuding for a title!  My intuition is that Kevin and Sami have an end state in mind for their friendship, a grace from which they never truly fall again.  It doesn’t happen in wrestling, but if anyone could make an exception, it would be these two.

[renaroo]

Recovery None (56/61)

Disclaimer: Red vs Blue and related characters are the property of Rooster Teeth. Warnings: Language, Canon-typically violence, Psychological torture & manipulation, Mentions of gore, Character death, Minor Sexual content Pairings: Yorkalina, Chex Rating: T Synopsis: [Canon Divergence AU] When the Mother of Invention crashed, Project Freelancer was in shambles, its surviving agents scattered, its equipment stolen, and an impending investigation into the crash from the UNSC was on the horizon. To regain control of the deeply corrupted program, the Director established a new unit from his remaining supplies – the Recovery Unit.

Three former Freelancers were chosen for particular tasks: Zero is to hunt down and destroy the Meta, One is to investigate and recover stolen or missing equipment, and Two is to take down AWOL former agents.

Of course, no one’s motivations are what they seem…

A/N: I’m gonna go ahead and warn you, this chapter is SCHMULTZZZZZZYYYYYYYYY to the max and that’s not even counting the smut. The hilarious, couldn’t write with a straight face even if I’m hoping you all can read it as melodrama smut. Man this fic is all over the place. AND ONLY FIVE CHAPTERS TO GO OH MY GOSH

Special thanks to @analiarvb, @secretlystephaniebrown, @freshzombiewriter, @notatroll7, @washingtonstub, @every-survival, Yin, TheMightyLorax, MewtheConquerer, Linni, Bluebird202, irismon, Shinji09, Meep, and @a-taller-tale for the feedback!

Recovery One XVII: A Unified Front

Tex resisted the urge with everything within herself to let out a long suffering sigh as she stepped through the transporter and, once again, found herself standing in a foot of snow. 

Instead, she settled on a long, drawn out, “Goddammit.”

Which was about as much emotion as her frayed nerves could have handled at that point considering that they were one, made of actual electricity, two, dealing with a lot of bullshit that day in particular, and three, not anywhere near Church by the sight of things. 

Carolina appeared behind her and looked more surprised than angry at the circumstances. She immediately turned back and tilted her head at the device behind them. 

“Okay,” Epsilon whined, appearing over Carolina’s shoulder, “who sets up a transporter in the middle of the arctic for jollies?”

When Carolina gave him a glance, he raised his sprite’s hands. 

“It’s an important question, alright? Maybe not the most important question of the evening, but it’s pretty high up there,” Epsilon defended. 

“The most important being where’s the Director,” Carolina reminded him, turning back toward Tex.

Not moving, Tex leered at them both. “The most important being finding Church and that knucklehead Caboose before they get themselves killed.”

“Wait wait wait,” Epsilon demanded, crossing his arms. “What the fuck kind of name is Caboose?” 

With a shrug, Carolina looked toward Epsilon. “I’ve heard it before,” she said. 

“No fucking way,” he snapped. “From who? Who else could possibly have a name as ridiculous as Caboose--”

Ignoring them, Tex began leading the group forward. “No one placed the transporter in the middle of nowhere,” she informed them lowly. 

"Uh, obviously they did, we just went through it!” Epsilon replied testily, waving toward the transporter as he and Carolina caught up. 

“What is it?” Carolina asked instead just before the completed the turn around the mountainside. She then came to a stop and dropped her shoulders, looking up to the very monument that Tex had been expecting to see on the other side.

Tex came to a stop herself and scowled at the massive, broken open and exposed hull.

“Whoa...” Epsilon whispered. “Is... Is that...?”

Carolina stepped closer. “It’s the Mother of Invention,” she answered. “I haven’t seen it... I haven’t seen it since the crash.” 

The crash that Tex had caused, of course. 

“That transporter was cargo that flung out in the crash. I’m sure there’s a lot of that, along with unrecovered weapons and debris throughout this area,” Tex announced, looking toward the ship. By the time she tagged the signs she wanted and looked back to Carolina, the former Freelancer mission leader was looking at the cliffs with Epsilon silently standing by her shoulder.

“Guess I should be considered lucky that they didn’t leave me with the rest of the trash in the snow,” Carolina said bitterly. “Guess I hadn’t been broken just enough to lose interest in.”

There weren’t words for what Carolina was feeling, what she was going through. Tex knew that. 

At the end of the day, she had binary to hide behind, pretending those inexplicable feelings of needing approval and hating and loving what was never real, what was never there, could be sorted away and filed as something else entirely. 

In Carolina, though, for the first time, Tex knew that those inexplicable, breakable feelings were precisely what made them not only human, but the same. What made them almost sisters of sorts. 

"Hey,” Tex called out to her, drawing Carolina’s attention from the ship. Tex narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. “I know you don’t think much of me, but if there’s any bit of you that values what I might have to say, let it hear this out. You are not trash. You are not disposable. You’re not even the slightest bit wrong. You’re the best the military could have ever dreamed of training, and this fucker tried to take that all from you for his own gain. Not only do you not owe him shit, but he doesn’t deserve your fucks.”

“Stop talking about him like--” Carolina snapped before catching herself. She placed her helmet against her palm and gave a long breath. “Like you know him. Like you knew him before all of this.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Tex said simply. “Anyone who can make someone like you feel like trash is the only real garbage here to me.”

When Carolina looked up to Tex, Epsilon was joining her, almost reluctantly. 

“I mean that for everyone,” Tex confirmed. She then shoved forward toward the ship. “Now c’mon. We all have more than enough to feel sorry for ourselves or guilty over these days. I don’t see any point in trying to add more to it when we obviously have other shit to do.”

Carolina seemed reluctant, but she pulled out her electric batons and followed Tex. “Alright then,” she answered. 

By the time they got to the haul, Tex couldn’t help but run her hands against the twisted, interrupted metal and glass. 

She stared at the ship for a moment, just a moment, to reflect on how the damage was all a result of her crash. The crash she had started. 

There was a lot of damage, a lot of death, done to a lot of people that were just cogs in the machine. Like her. Like Carolina. Even lower on the totem pole. 

“Find something?” Carolina asked as she came up from behind Tex. 

Tex glanced toward her and then continued on into the ship. “A way in,” she answered simply. 

They walked across the frozen metal, mindful of ice pockets and of the slight confusion of walking on walls and ceilings as they navigated the twisted ship. 

After seemingly forever, there was a low, echoing voice. 

The women glanced to each other and then armed themselves, readied for a fight as they neared the source of the echo, hearing the words more and more clearly. 

“And I make your life-a-living heaven. We do everything together, like hide-and-don’t-seek, your favorite game. And I’m so glad that we found each other and I know you feel the identical-way-as-me! Church, I’m your best friend, that’s what I am to you--”

Tex paused and held up her hand to have Carolina follow suit, standing up with disbelief. “Wait,” she ordered. “That’s Caboose.”

“Again, I just can’t believe that’s a real name,” Epsilon whined.

“Why is he singing?” Carolina asked.

“What’d I tell you about asking questions involving these guys?” Tex said back, giving Carolina a look. 

“Right,” Carolina replied in a long drawl before moving forward, turning the electricity down for her batons, but not putting them out. 

“Tex didn’t completely follow suit, still holding onto her gun as she walked toward the source of the voice and found herself face to face with a familiar old friend.

“Why, Agent Texas!!!” Caboose cried out. “I wasn’t expecting you here! Church said I had to stop bad people from coming, he didn’t mention anything about good people!”

Tex tilted her head. “Bad people?”

“You think Tex is a good person?” Carolina asked critically.

Both Caboose and Tex looked at Carolina after the outburst. 

Embarrassed, Carolina held up her hands and shook her head. “Sorry, sorry. My bad. It’s... Old habits die hard and all that. C-continue with whatever you two are doing. Friendship and reunions and all that.” 

Carolina looked back to Caboose with concern. “What else did Church say, Caboose? We need to find him.”

“Why? He’s not lost, he said he remembered everything and knew his way,” Caboose questioned, scratching at his helmet.

“Those aren’t good things,” Tex tried to explain. 

“Hey, wait up,” Epsilon said, appearing over Carolina’s shoulder again.

“Epsilon!” Tex snapped.

“No, this deserves some questions,” he argued. “Like how does it make sense that the Alpha remembers shit if I’m his memories? Like what’s that supposed to mean for me? It’s giving me an existential crisis just thinking about it--”

“Please don’t have an existential crisis inside my head,” Carolina deadpanned. “I have enough of those in a week without your assistance.”

Caboose was literally vibrating beside Texas, his whole body was blurring from the shaking. “Church! We found you! And you are so very tiny!!! I will find tiny crackers and feed them to you!!!”

"Okay, this is getting to be a little much,” Epsilon said flatly. 

“Aw, you always say that, Church, but you never mean it!” Caboose replied, reaching for the sprite and watching in wonder as Epsilon’s projection was interrupted.

“Hey! Hey! Stop--” Epsilon disappeared and then reappeared on Carolina’s other shoulder. “Don’t do that. It’s annoying!” He looked up to Carolina. “Can’t you help an AI out?” 

“And miss where this goes?” Carolina asked in amusement.

“A... I?” Caboose asked.

Knowing where that conversation was about to go, Tex snapped her fingers rapidly and got Caboose’s attention. He looked at her somewhat bewildered. “Caboose, I need you to focus for a moment. Church -- the real Church --”

“Hey!”

“You’ve got to tell me which way he went. It’s very important that I find him and help him, okay?” she said with as much emphasis as she could muster without resorting to casual threats. 

“But Church told me to make sure no one followed him,” Caboose said, oddly wary of Tex. For a moment, she thought they weren’t going to get anywhere, but as quickly as he built the tension, Caboose cut through it like a knife and tilted his head. “He went that way!”

“Thanks, Caboose,” Tex said before looking to Carolina. “I need you and Epsilon to stand guard with Caboose.”

“What? No. That’s not what we agreed to when we started this,” Carolina snapped. “I want the Director, and that’s the only reason we’re working together to begin with--” 

“And the Director likes to slip out during distractions,” Tex snapped back. She vented and shook her head before trying a more calm tone. “Listen, Carolina... Finding Church... dealing with how he’s going to be right now? Returning here? It’s going to be very distracting for me. I remember why we agreed to work together, do you remember why we’re working together on my end?” 

She nodded. “Alright. But you take too long, I’m not going to let you keep the glory to yourself.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Tex replied.

Caboose looked back and forth between the women before waving his hand through Epsilon again. 

“Hey! I said stop that!” Epsilon near-screamed.

Tex moved forward in the direction that Caboose had pointed out to her. 

It was a long winding hall, and with the way the ship was torqued and not upright, it was difficult to precisely remember what hall led where on the ship. As her own agent, Tex had never had the luxury of investigating the ship much.

And before she was independent, well, that was fuzzy. 

All of it but one part.

The familiar pulse of the Alpha -- of Church -- was growing stronger the further she went. But though it led her through the twists and turns, soon enough it brought her to a closed door. 

There would have been nothing in it to punch through the door, no matter how reinforced it was. But the door was electronically shut and locked. 

Church had closed other people out. And Tex was tired of people barging in where Church felt safe without permission. 

“Church,” she called past the door. “It’s me. You can let me in. Or you can not. And in the latter case I’ll just sit out here. And I’ll get annoyed, because I’m impatient and hate being put off. But I’ll wait the whole time all the same.”

For a moment, there was no reaction, and a part of Tex couldn’t help but feel foolish about the whole thing--

Then the door began to open, along with all the ones after it. Her path, with each step she took, turned on the low level lights of the hall and they turned off behind her. 

If she had a heart, Tex knew it would be pounding. 

“Okay,” she muttered to herself. “Okay. We’ll just take it as it comes.”

"Why are you here!?” Washington demanded. 

“Um, I’m on Red Team?” York answered, hands up.

South gave Wash a dead even stare, arms defiantly crossed. “I’m a bodyguard.”

Washington could feel his eye twitching but he couldn’t deal with that at the moment because his teammates, his former teammates, were standing in front of him. In Blood Gulch. In Red Base. 

There were hardly words that could express the headache he was experiencing even trying to process everything. 

“Those answers aren’t good enough,” Wash warned, cocking his gun for emphasis as he narrowed his eyes on the two of them. 

“Well, tough tits, they’re the ones you get,” South snapped back.

York looked over his shoulder and looked somewhat aghast toward her. “Do you have a death wish or something? Fucking hell.” He then turned back to face Wash and forced a smile. “Wash, buddy. Oh my god, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you! You look... Uh. Well that armor’s kinda shitty. But I mean. Look at me. I’m one to talk, right?”

Unimpressed, Wash kept his gun up. 

Simmons began sliding toward where the Reds were but Wash couldn’t let that pass either.

“Simmons!” he growled out. “Why didn’t you tell me who the new Reds you were talking about were?”

“Ah!” Simmons screamed, nearly leaping out of his armor. “I didn’t know who they were! I didn’t stay long enough to learn names or anything! I definitely didn’t think you know them.”

“Knew,” Wash corrected darkly.

“Oh, wah,” South scoffed. 

“Jesus, woman,” York snapped at her. “Look, Wash, you have permission to shoot her if you want. I would actually feel much better. But let’s reconsider things before putting another hole in me at least. I’ve got my share, I promise you.”

“I don’t think you understand yet how little your promises mean to me, York,” Washington said plainly. 

Giving a full body flinch, York seemed like Washington had gone ahead and shot him. “Wash... ouch. I mean... I’m sure things from your side of the binoculars look... unfavorable toward all of us--”

“It does,” Wash confirmed.

"Okay, wow, you’re super pissed,” York marveled. “That’s okay, we can talk through this--”

“No, we can’t,” Wash cut him short. “You’ve not been in the canyon long enough to go that route.”

“What?” York asked.

“What?” South followed closely behind him.

“Wait. Shut up. Ignore that, I don’t know why I said it,” Wash ordered.

“Uh, because he’s fucking crazy,” Grif stage whispered toward his fellow Reds.

“I’m not crazy. Nor deaf,” Wash snapped. “I’m holding former colleagues at gunpoint in fear that they’re double agents and will be doing the same or worse to me the moment I take my sights off of them.”

“Good call,” South said flatly.

“I’m going to die because of you, so while I can, I want to make it very clear, I have always fucking hated you and the fact that we were at semi-peace before it all ended is kinda going to haunt me to my grave,” York told South. 

“Honestly, the only reason I’m antagonizing is in hopes he does shoot you out of his obvious paranoia-driven breakdown,” South explained. “I feel like that would make my death worth it.”

Washington, despite himself, felt a swell of nostalgia bubble up in his chest from the MOI. The competetiveness, the need to suck the air out of the room, the antagonism. It was... Oddly familiar and comforting to the point that he let out a laugh. 

That grabbed York and South’s attentions as they looked to him.

Wash coughed to cover for himself clumsily and reaimed. “I still need answers.”

“Dude, you got them,” Grif said, waving toward York and South. “He’s on Red Team, she’s body guarding for my baby sister. What the actual fuck are you hoping to get out of them now?”

Looking to the Reds, Wash opened his mouth in shock. “You... Just accepted some random Freelancer you don’t know onto your team? And you didn’t consult me?”

“Of course not, ya dirty Blue!” Sarge howled. “We need the advantage! And Blue Team’s had you Freelancers crawling out of their bee-hinds since the start of this whole mess in Timeline A--”

“I swear to god, if you make me explain that this isn’t an alternate future one more time I’ll take myself out,” Wash said humorlessly. 

“Prove it,” South antagonized. 

Washington narrowed his eyes at them and did his best to ignore that the Reds were even a factor. 

It was back to Freelancer problems, just like it had always been.

Unfortunately, Red Team was very bad at making itself known and Donut, of all people, stepped right between Washington and his former teammates. 

“Donut, get out of the way,” Wash ordered.

“So you can kill a fellow Red in front of me again? For no good reason?” Donut asked, crossing his arms. 

It had been a while since Wash had seen anyone outside of their armors, and seeing Donut without his helmet -- seeing the damage to the side of his face -- reminded him of the other victims of Freelancer. 

The ones beside himself. 

Still, it was too risky. “He’s not a Red,” he tried to plea with Donut. 

“He? What about her? Why is it he? How am I the one you’re debating shooting when South is right there?” York demanded. 

“It’s almost like your charm is actually nonexistent or something,” South said with a raise of her eyebrow.

“That’s grossly untrue and we all know it. Back me up here, Wash. If you only shot one of us, it’d be South, wouldn’t it? Just think about it. I mean like really think about it.”

“If I had only one bullet I’d line the two of you up,” Washington retorted.

“Jesus christ, you’re brutal,” York marveled. “Why did I try to save you again?”

The twitch came back to Washington’s eye, only it was even less ignoreable than it had been the time before. “Tried to save me!?” he cried out. “You blew up the ship I was on and left me in the rubble to be found by Freelancer again!” 

York’s mouth opened and then shut. 

South raised her brows more. “Interesting.”

Distracted, York pointed an accusatory finger at her. “You are literally such a bitch, you know that? I’m still certain that everything right now is your fault at the end of the day if we can roll back the tapes enough--”

“You say I’m responsible for things one more time, I’ll kill you before Wash grows the balls to,” South warned.

“Ooohhhh,” Red Team harmonized.

“You’re sticking your neck out for this?” Wash asked Donut.

Donut looked back toward the two Freelancers and hummed a bit before looking back. “Okay, honestly just York. Tan is totally a Red color. Unlike Yellow.” He gasped and covered his mouth. “Your stripe!!! How didn’t we see it all along?”

“See what? That he looks like a goddamn road divider?” South asked critically. 

“You are terrible at being in a hostage situation,” Wash informed South.

“I’ve had lots of practice with it lately,” she replied dryly.

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” York snapped. “Carolina told me about how you were a Recovery Agent--”

Wash dropped his sights. “What?”

York looked back. “Oh, shit. You didn’t know--”

Feeling literally winded, Wash stepped back. “Carolina... Why does she know about the Recovery Agents? She’s-- You two have been together since...” He whirled around on South. “You were involved with Recovery!? And Niner--” 

“Holy fuck,” Grif wheezed. “Let’s slip out the back, he’s getting kinda... mindbreaky--”

“Mindbreaky, Grif? Really?” Simmons asked critically. 

“We’re going nowhere! It’s about time a Blue was put in their place in front of me! Everyone’s ordered to stay and watch. It’ll boost team morale!” Sarge ordered.

“Wait, he’s a Blue like me?” the weird girl who threw the beer can asked.

Washington threw his rifle back over his back and turned to leave, eyes tightly closed. He was so -- so fucking angry -- he couldn’t handle it. And he couldn’t shoot them still, South was right. At least, not with Donut there watching him like that, with his face scarred like that--

“Every fucking person I knew left me when I needed them,” he said simply. “Every fucking person knew I needed help and they left me to straighten out Recovery and Freelancer and all this shit on my own.”

York was following him, like an idiot. Like Washington hadn’t been fully ready to shoot him right then and there. “Wash, it isn’t like that. I don’t know the whole story for everyone but it’s not the whole story for me. Not by a long shot.”

Stopping, Wash glared over his shoulder just enough to stop York in his tracks. “I don’t care about your story. Your story has nothing to do with me.”

“You’re wrong, it has everything to do with you -- with everyone,” York replied. “Wash, I know you have to hurt right now but--”

“York, you don’t know a goddamn thing about me right now,” Wash snapped. “In fact, you never did. I was just the stupid, lucky rookie who got into the top tier as a fluke, remember?” 

“No--” York began to try and argue.

“Your words,” Wash reminded him. “Yours and North’s. While I spent the past year and a half, alone, trying to figure out how everyone else had abandoned the project and me, I got to think about words a lot.”

“I didn’t... We never meant...” York stopped and shook his head before holding up his hands. “Can we take a moment to talk?”

“My moments are all spent up,” Wash snapped. “I have people who need me right now--”

“People? What people? Everyone okay at Blue Base?” Donut asked worriedly.

“Why the fuck do we care?” Grif asked. 

“I care! Wait, this isn’t Blue Base?” the girl asked beside him. 

“Tucker’s sick, hold on,” Wash said, looking at the message sent directly to his HUD. “Sheila just sent me... No, it’s from Sheila but it doesn’t sound like her at all. Someone’s sending me an update through Sheila. And it... makes no sense.”

“Oh, shocking,” Grif replied. “Something not making sense in this goddamn canyon. Everyone hold their surprise.”

“What’s it say about Tucker?” Simmons asked. 

“And is he hot?” the girl asked. “And this Sheila? Is she hot?”

Washington just stared dumbly at his HUD. 

“Uh... Wash, buddy?” York asked worriedly. “Everything alright up there--”

“Someone at Blue Base found Doc and invited him over because they couldn’t wait any longer,” he said flatly.

“Oh my god,” Donut said.

“They said the baby was coming either way,” he continued with absolutely no emotion in his voice.

“Oh, Tucker’s a she-Tucker?” the girl asked. “Is she hot?”

“Tucker is not a she,” Wash clarified.

Everyone went silent.

“What the fuck were you two doing in the desert?” Grif broke the silence. 

She had forgotten how deep the ship went, how long its halls stretched, but following the lighting trail toward Church gave her a decent reminder. One that Tex, really, could have done without after all the years she had spent running away from what had happened there. 

Toward the end, she had sped herself up from a hesitant walk to a brisk jog, ready to find Church and be done with everything there. 

And he impatience was rewarded with a soft, blue glow pulsing from a room at the heart of the ship. 

Tex stopped herself, feeling inexplicably angered and frightened. She knew that room. That office. That lab. 

“Dammit,” she hissed to herself before rushing forward and reaching the room’s entrance. 

He was there.

Church stood in the middle of the room, in the midst of a number of monitors and a control panel. There were blue lights pulsing with information and power around the walls, expelling outward from the station where Church stood, his hands motionless on the panels, but his HUD lit with binary speeding by fast enough that even Tex was having a hard time keeping up with it. 

“Oh, Church,” she uttered lowly, stepping into the room. 

Almost immediately, the robotic body’s head turned toward Tex and she stood by as he eerily evaluated her with his face full of code. 

“This is my ship,” he announced, his voice seeping with anger. 

When Tex didn’t have a response for that, Church turned back toward the panels and hunched over it more. He was nearly shaking. “I was so good at running my ship. At taking care of my ship. I did everything right. I evaluated everyone in the program. Even when I disagreed, I... I trusted. I trusted he knew what was best. What an idiot. What a fucking idiot! I should have known. I should have been able to predict what he wanted to do--”

Thinking fast, Tex stepped closer. “I’m glad you’re beating yourself up already,” she announced.

Church hesitated an turned his head enough to look Tex’s way. “What?”

“I said I’m glad you’re beating yourself up already,” she repeated, easing closer to the platform where Church stood. “It saves me the time of kicking your ass. Scaring me like this -- running off, getting caught by the enemy, running after a worse enemy, shoving bad shit in your head from this ship without even thinking about it. Those are a lot of offenses, Church. If you don’t get back to beating yourself up some more I’ll have to step in and do it for you.”

His binary sped up all around them. “Are you-- How dare you-- How can you say that it was my fault for not knowing what an unthinkable bastard he really was!?”

Tex stood by Church, towering over him. “Hey, now. I gave you a whole list of offenses you’ve made recently, didn’t I? And I didn’t once mention that on my list, did I?”

He turned to face her. “He... He took you away from me. He took you away and then he took away everything from me. I didn’t do anything wrong. I did the best thing I’ve ever done in my whole goddamn existence. I found you. I found you like it was the only thing I had ever been meant to do. And I was happy. And those were worth my life. Those were worth my loyalty. Why!?” 

She stared straight back at him. “I don’t know why,” she said. “I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember, or you never fucking cared?” Church demanded. 

“Hey, fuck off with the accusations,” Tex defended. “Do I have to remind you that you’re not the only one who suffered here? Do I have to tell you that you’re not the only one they tormented? That they used? That they lied to? Because you aren’t. You aren’t the only--”

“I am the victim!” he spat out venomously. “And you’re the reason why!”

"Church--” Tex tried to say warningly, but he wasn’t having any of it. 

“You’re the reason why and you don’t even remember and it’s not my fault, you were there. You were always there, I didn’t make you, I just did the only thing I could -- I...” he stopped ranting, the information pulsing out from him stopping, the streams of data halting visibly around them. “I didn’t make you. I just accepted you were always going to be a part of who I was.”

“And they didn’t understand that,” Tex filled in, a faint realization dawning on her. “They didn’t understand what we were. What the others couldn’t be.”

“I wasn’t whole without you, Tex,” Church said softly. 

“I...” Tex stopped herself. She had to be truthful. “We both are who we are, now, Church. No matter what they stripped from us. Maybe because what they stripped from us. We’re born out of the choice we made to keep moving forward. To keep renewing ourselves. They wanted to create life. We just wanted to live it. We won.”

“We won?” he asked.

“Yes,” Tex said, pointing toward the security monitors. “I know you’re wired into the security, Church. I know you can see that there are people waiting on us -- people that wouldn’t be there for us if we were just shadows of someone else. If we hadn’t grown to be our own people. We’re different. We’re real.”

He looked her up and down. “Tex?” he asked lowly.

“What, Church?” she asked back, only to be surprised when he reached a hand out to her -- but not the physical hand of his robotic body. It was a projection, data -- it was himself. 

“We’re not them... but are we still... can we still...?” 

Be together? Be human? Be ourselves? Be apart? Be one? Be whole? Be ruined?

Could they still...?

There was a hum across her body. 

All that time and Tex had been right beside Church, taking every step along the way with him since reuniting in Blood Gulch, but it was the first time -- it was the first time he truly was the Alpha. 

Slowly, doing the same, she reached forward and pressed into his offered hand. 

It was like static, small fireworks between fingertips. All the pieces weren’t there, but it was still familiar. The closer they moved together, the further they were from their robotic restraints, the more a flow of information flowed between them. It was as if the numbers that had been left vacant between them were finally being filled. 

“Ah,” Tex couldn’t help but moan out as the collision of information went faster. She could feel parts of her moving through Church, and in return he was moving through her. There was an incomprehenisble noise from as well, and it moved freely. 

There was nothing physical, technically their bodies were still three feet from each other. But in that moment, like blazing stars beyond the threshold of space, they existed outside of it all, in one moment Tex felt a shuttering awe take over. 

This was what it felt like to be whole. This was what it felt like to be more than human. 

A wave of euphoria disappeared and it was then that Tex realized there was something wrong.

“Church?” she asked lowly, finding herself returning to her robotic body. She looked through its optics, checked the range of motion in her arms and hands again. “What--”

You really are dominant personality, you know that?

Confused, Tex looked around. “Church? What the fuck--”

Also, not to freak you out, but I was still synced to the ship, so... uhhhh... our friends out there waiting on us may have heard us on the speakers.

Tex stared at Church’s robotic body still hooked up to the ship. “I’m going to kill you.”

You might have to get in line--

Holding her helmet gingerly, Tex shook her head. “How’re you--”

Hey, I’m talking. I said you might have to get in line. Looks like we’ve got some company that’s pretty interested in that literally internet-breaking sex we just had heading this way. And by that I mean multiple parties.

“If that was sex with you, I think I may have remembered why we broke up,” Tex said, beginning to run toward the door to secure it. 

Ha ha, real funny. Bitch.

A smirk was working itself across Tex’s face. “Asshole,” she said almost tenderly.

It was somewhat amazing how just a few short weeks left Wash with the unfortunate conditioning of not running away from a giant tank rolling toward him. 

“Sheila!” he called out, waving at her. “What the hell is going on!?”

“Oh, good day, Agent Washington!” Sheila replied happily, still driving toward him. “I am pleased to announce that labor is proceeding very well.”

“Yeah, about that,” Wash said, beginning to grow somewhat wary that Sheila wasn’t slowing down. “That’s part of the what the hell category I was -- Sheila, why are you still coming toward me?”

The tank nodded its cannon down. “Oh, that is not me, Agent Washington. I am allowing the pilot to learn how to manage the controls with me temporarily. So I do believe that is a question best left for her!”

Confused, Washington blinked. “Pilot?”

A few feet from him, Sheila did a sharp turn, lining up her cabin with where Washington was standing. When it popped open, Wash wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t Four Seven Niner. 

“Niner!?” he asked in shock. “But... you were--”

Washington was completely taken aback when the woman flung herself toward him and lunged into a full on hug around his shoulders, her arm muscles strong enough to put the crunch on him even in his armor. 

“Uh,” Wash fumbled out awkwardly. 

“You asshole,” she breathed against his neck. “I am so glad you’re alright, and I’m so, so sorry about so many things. And I’ll answer any questions you’ve got, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know, and I don’t want you to think I’m going to hold it against you forever that you were a little bitch to me back at Recovery when you left me, I’ll only hold it against you for a little while.”

Still awkward, Wash glanced around before refocusing on Niner. “You’re driving our tank,” he stated the obvious. 

"Actually, she and I have been talking a lot and she’d prefer to be recognized for her autonomy,” Niner explained. “We relate a lot.”

Wash leaned forward, being pulled by the force of having Niner hanging by his neck. “You called a doctor for Tucker? He’s with him? He thinks he’s pregnant?”

“Yes!” Sheila answered peppily at the same time Niner said, “Yeah I had questions about that, too.”

“Okay, well that could only be Doc then because Tucker is not pregnant. It’s probably something to do with his stupid sword,” Wash announced. He was completely bent over at that point. “Niner do you need me to do something or...?”

“Being self sufficient and autonomous myself, I actually hate when people help me. I can pull myself back into the tank, I got in there to begin with,” Niner said snappishly.

“Okay?” Wash replied blankly.

“But in this one instance...”

With a heavy sigh, Wash wrapped his arms around Niner’s waist, adjusted her and then pulled her into more of a bridal position, ready to put her back in the cockpit of Sheila. “Can you make me a promise that you’re not going to shoot me with our team tank after I put you back in there?”

“Why would I do that?” Niner asked.

Wash glanced back toward Sheila.

“I have learned not to take that bet,” Sheila advised.

“That’s comforting, thanks,” Wash replied dryly. He readied to put Niner back in her seat when there was the sounds of several pairs of feet behind him. He turned and looked in annoyance toward Red Team and friends. “Seriously, we don’t have time to ward off a Red Team Attack. You want our flag, you can take it, but I’m going to pay back anything you do to the base two-fold when I get things settled down.”

“Where’d you get your negotiating skills? From a Russian prison camp?” Grif asked. “I’m actually here because my idiot sister thinks she’s a Blue.”

“I’m here for the team, officer!” Kaikaina saluted with an army salute.

“We’re marines,” Washington pointed out. 

“Duh,” she snorted in return. 

“Wash!” York’s voice carried before he finished coming over the hill. He then stopped a few feet short. “Niner!!!”

“York!” she cried out before launching from Wash’s arms into York.

Unlike Wash, however, York returned the hug immediately and spun with Niner before coming to a stop, “Niner! Oh my god -- I was expecting Tex here, but I never dreamed-- That means... Carolina!? Is she here--”

“Tex and Carolina went after the Alpha,” Niner explained.

“The whatie whoie?” Sarge asked. 

“Of course they did,” Wash sighed, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like we have a man giving birth to something on the base. Which I still don’t believe--”

“Yeah, that’s what I came here for!” Donut announced, raising his hand.

“Me too! That and being a Blue, officer!” Kaikaina called out.

“They think the Director might be there, too,” Niner explained gravely. 

York took in a gulp of air. “Okay... well, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that that many coincidences don’t line up at once without an explosion in the process. I’ve gotta get there. Back them up.”

“How? You look like shit!” Niner cried out.

“Okay, everyone agrees that this guy is the bargain bin version of a Freelancer and my job is still at risk to him?” Simmons pointed out.

“Not at risk, Simmons! Completely and thoroughly already lost!” Sarge chuckled. 

“Caboose is there, too,” Sheila said. “I do hope there is not truly an explosion. Those are usually costly and devastating to Blue Team members within the blast radius.”

Washington let out a long sigh and rubbed at his visor uselessly. “Dammit. I have to help Caboose. But Tucker--”

“We’ll be on it, Wash!” Donut called out. 

Confused, Washington looked at Donut. “You’ll take care of Tucker?”

“Well yeah,” Donut replied with a snap of his wrist. “What’re friends for?”

Words failed Washington, but he knew the answer even if he couldn’t say it. 

This. That moment laid out before them. That was what friends were for. 

“Sheila, did they use the teleporter?” he asked. “And are the coordinates still set?”

“Yes they are, Agent Washington!” the tank chipped in happily.

“Alright,” Wash said, grabbing his rifle from over his shoulder. “Let’s get our friends.”

[strivesy]

7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator

Dr. Frank Buck on episode 227 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Become more productive today with these seven tools from Dr. Frank Buck. Automate what you can and save time.

Middle School Science teachers should get the FREE Xplorlabs Fire Forensics kit.Solve a mystery. Meet Next Generation Science Standards. Have fun!

Go to http://ift.tt/2CRu9h7 today to get your Free Fire Forensics Kit.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator

Link to show: http://ift.tt/2qM6oSa Date: January 9, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking to one of my dear friend, Dr. Frank Buck @DrFrankBuck. He’s really a productivity guru for education leaders.

We’re going to talk about seven productivity power tools for the busy educator.

So Frank, what is your first tool?

Tool #1 Toodledo

Frank: First and foremost, Toodledo.

That’s my task manager. That’s where everything that I have to do “lives.” And I’m surprised that it doesn’t get nearly as much press as it deserves. It is a free tool. It is web based.

I can add to it with my voice. It includes a large notes field for each task, which is free whereas a lot of other tools you have to pay for that. I can forward emails to it, so that helps me keep my email inbox empty. I can move unfinished tasks en mass to a future day.

It is a great tool; it’s sort of like my brain, I couldn’t live without it.

Vicki: Wonderful. OK, what’s your second one?

Tool #2: TaskClone

Frank: Well, my second one… most people would say Evernote, but I’m not going to say Evernote because everybody knows Evernote. But for everybody out there that’s either using Evernote or they’re using OneNote — Taskclone.

This is a wonderful tool,. It’s about $15 a year, but it integrates either Evernote or OneNote with your digital task manager.

So let’s say that I’m in a workshop, and I’m taking notes in Evernote. As I’m taking notes, I think of some things that I want to do, following that workshop. Well, I just continue to take notes right there in Evernote, but I put a little checkbox in front of those things. Before I close down, I just tag that note “taskclone.”

Magically, those things with the checkbox beside them appear on Toodledo on the day that I want to see them, and then the little attached note is a link that takes you right back to the note in Evernote.

Fabulous tool! It’s a must-have if you use Evernote or OneNote.

Vicki: It is truly a remarkable — in somes ways, secretary. It just takes care of putting things where they need to go.

Frank: Oh gosh, absolutely.

Vicki: OK, what’s your third?

Tool #3: IFTTT

Frank: The third one is IfThisThenThat (IFTTT). In the world of productivity, one of the mantras I keep hearing is, “Eliminate. Delegate. Automate.”

Teachers are pretty good at the first one — looking at things that just don’t need to be done and getting rid of them.

Most teachers are also pretty good at delegating, especially those master first grade teachers. You go in their classroom at the end of the day, and twenty kids are doing twenty different jobs. Everybody helps.

But the third one, automate, is really our opportunity for growth. IfThisThenThat does that. It allows different services to work together. For example, Instagram and Twitter — when I put something on Instagram, I’d like the same thing to go on Twitter. But instead of having to do double duty, I just have a little applet that I’ve created. This is an applet that says, “If I post to Instagram, then post to Twitter.”

Some other things that I have on there — on Twitter, when I see really good articles, I’m usually reading those on my phone, and I’d really like to read the articles when I get back to my computer desktop. So how do I hang on to all those little links? Well, I just have a little applet that I created that says, “If I “like” a tweet, then send it to Toodledo.” So all I have to do is click the “like” button, and then there’s a task that’s sitting over on Toodledo, so I can just forget about it, work through my Toodledo list, and there it is for me.

Some other things… “If I add something to my Google calendar, then send my wife an email.” That automatically keeps her updated on some of the things that I’m doing.

So it has so many features, does so many things. I used to not teach it in workshops because I thought it would be too difficult for people to understand, but I have been dead wrong. People eat it up.

Vicki: Well, and if you’re looking for home efficiency, I actually use it. I have Philips Hue at my house. It takes sunset times, and it starts powering down one of my lights because I tend to work too late. So at sunset, I know that I have about another 30 minutes. And that changes throughout the year, and I just love it because it kind of helps me keep my internal clock straight.

Frank: (agrees)

Vicki: OK, what’s our fourth?

Frank: OK, the fourth and fifth help me with my writing.

Tool #4: Hemingway App

The fourth one is a website called HemingwayApp.com. Hemingway, like the writer. So this free site does more to clean and tidy my writing than anything I can think of.

You copy and paste your draft into that site, and then just check your ego at the door, because it turns all these sentences colors. It flags sentences that are hard to read. It flags passive voice. It flags words that it suggests that you simply eliminate.

When I start working through that, and start resolving the suggestions it’s making, my writing actually really is a lot, lot better.

And then the next one… Vicki, I don’t know about you, but I cannot proofread my own writing.

Vicki: (laughs)

Tool #5: VoiceInstead

Frank: My brain tells my eyes what I meant to say, not what I said.

And even if I read my stuff out loud, no. My eyes… they see what I meant, and not what I wrote.

But I have a little Chrome extension called VoiceInstead. So while I’m there at that HemingwayApp, and I’ve got things cleaned up, I just highlight the whole thing, right-click, and in the little menu will be VoiceInstead.

And it reads it back to me. When I hear someone else reading it, I catch everything. It’s just a simple little Chrome extension called VoiceInstead that you can just get from the Chrome store.

Vicki: Those are two great tools, and we’ll just add one little caution. HemingwayApp does not like GoogleDocs. It does not save it for you. So if you close the web browser…

Frank: (laughs) Exactly!!!

Vicki: … without copying it… as my students have learned, because we love Hemingway. It’s a fantastic way to teach, making writing more concise.

OK, what’s our sixth?

Tool #6: igHome

Frank: Number six is igHome.

Several years ago, a lot of us used to have those personalized Google pages as our home pages. I loved it! But then Google discontinued it.

Right about that time, someone created igHome to really fill that void.

So here’s what happens. When I open my browser, right there, staring me in the face is my Google calendar, Toodledo, and Gmail — side-by-side. Right below it is the weather forecast for the day, the local news and the national news beside that. I have an electronic sticky note where I just need to paste something electronically. I have commonly used bookmarks.

I really think of it as my internet organizer, because really, all of my internet-based tools are in some way connected to that igHome.com homepage. I can get to it from anywhere. I love it. Couldn’t live without it.

Vicki: So we don’t have to complain about iGoogle going away, we can use this. Of course, there’s Netvibes and Pageflakes, but I’m really intrigued by this.

Frank: I have used Netvibes. I liked it, but really the igHome I like even better.

And what I tell people is, “Good tools come, and good tools go. But usually good tools are replaced by better tools. So don’t worry about it, because something better is coming along. Just watch for it.”

Vicki: OK, what’s our last one?

Tool #7: Spreadsheets (like Excel or Google Sheets)

Frank: The last one, Vicki, is spreadsheets.

If I had to point to one tool during my professional career that is the biggest game changer, it would be that. I’m so glad that back in 1987 — that long ago, 30 years ago! — I read some little chapter in a book about using Appleworks spreadsheets, and I had this epiphany.

I thought, “I could put my gradebook on this thing!” And suddenly, I was no longer spending one Saturday out of every six, hand-averaging grades and getting them ready to go on to report cards. Huge gamechanger.

And the thing that I would say to that busy educator is not that you necessarily have to go out and become the Excel guru — because I’m certainly not — but just start to formulate the question…

“Here’s the problem that’s in front of me. I wonder if maybe Excel or Google Sheets would do XYZ?”

Because once you’ve got the question, there’s probably a sharp student who can find the answer for you.

And I’m still running into situations where I don’t know the formula or if there is a formula to do the particular thing that I want done, so all I do is just Google it.

I put the word “Excel” in the Google search box, whatever it is I’m looking for, and somewhere in the world, somebody else has had the same problem, the same question, and has posed it on some bulletin board. And somebody else, somewhere else in the world, a lot smarter than I am, has come up with the answer. Just copy and paste it, and change the little cell references, and you’re good to go.

So that’s my number seven, spreadsheets.

Vicki: Well, remarkable educators, I think it’s important that we all have productivity power tools.

Do our students have power productivity tools? I’m amazed at how many students don’t know how to set a reminder, or set a calendar appointment, how to put things on a list.

These are some great tools that Frank has given us. Frank tends to pick things that are very, very reliable and rock solid. So if you need a place to start, these are awesome.

But the big thing is — do you have a place to put your calendar? Where are you going to put your notes? Where are you going to have your reminders, and your To Do List? We all need these essential things so we can be productive in today’s modern world.

Thank you, Frank!

Frank: It’s been a pleasure. Thank you, Vicki.

    Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford

kymberlimulford@gmail.com

  Bio as submitted

​​

Frank Buck is a veteran school administrator, public speaker, productivity coach, and author of Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders. He has spoken to audiences throughout the United States and internationally to help busy professionals achieve total control over their time and the peace of mind that nothing is falling through the cracks.

Blog: https://FrankBuck.org

Twitter: @DrFrankBuck

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator published first on http://ift.tt/2yTzsdq

[growthvue]

7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator

Dr. Frank Buck on episode 227 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Become more productive today with these seven tools from Dr. Frank Buck. Automate what you can and save time.

Middle School Science teachers should get the FREE Xplorlabs Fire Forensics kit.Solve a mystery. Meet Next Generation Science Standards. Have fun!

Go to http://ift.tt/2CRu9h7 today to get your Free Fire Forensics Kit.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

7 Productivity Power Tools for the Busy Educator

Link to show: http://ift.tt/2qM6oSa Date: January 9, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking to one of my dear friend, Dr. Frank Buck @DrFrankBuck. He’s really a productivity guru for education leaders.

We’re going to talk about seven productivity power tools for the busy educator.

So Frank, what is your first tool?

Tool #1 Toodledo

Frank: First and foremost, Toodledo.

That’s my task manager. That’s where everything that I have to do “lives.” And I’m surprised that it doesn’t get nearly as much press as it deserves. It is a free tool. It is web based.

I can add to it with my voice. It includes a large notes field for each task, which is free whereas a lot of other tools you have to pay for that. I can forward emails to it, so that helps me keep my email inbox empty. I can move unfinished tasks en mass to a future day.

It is a great tool; it’s sort of like my brain, I couldn’t live without it.

Vicki: Wonderful. OK, what’s your second one?

Tool #2: TaskClone

Frank: Well, my second one… most people would say Evernote, but I’m not going to say Evernote because everybody knows Evernote. But for everybody out there that’s either using Evernote or they’re using OneNote — Taskclone.

This is a wonderful tool,. It’s about $15 a year, but it integrates either Evernote or OneNote with your digital task manager.

So let’s say that I’m in a workshop, and I’m taking notes in Evernote. As I’m taking notes, I think of some things that I want to do, following that workshop. Well, I just continue to take notes right there in Evernote, but I put a little checkbox in front of those things. Before I close down, I just tag that note “taskclone.”

Magically, those things with the checkbox beside them appear on Toodledo on the day that I want to see them, and then the little attached note is a link that takes you right back to the note in Evernote.

Fabulous tool! It’s a must-have if you use Evernote or OneNote.

Vicki: It is truly a remarkable — in somes ways, secretary. It just takes care of putting things where they need to go.

Frank: Oh gosh, absolutely.

Vicki: OK, what’s your third?

Tool #3: IFTTT

Frank: The third one is IfThisThenThat (IFTTT). In the world of productivity, one of the mantras I keep hearing is, “Eliminate. Delegate. Automate.”

Teachers are pretty good at the first one — looking at things that just don’t need to be done and getting rid of them.

Most teachers are also pretty good at delegating, especially those master first grade teachers. You go in their classroom at the end of the day, and twenty kids are doing twenty different jobs. Everybody helps.

But the third one, automate, is really our opportunity for growth. IfThisThenThat does that. It allows different services to work together. For example, Instagram and Twitter — when I put something on Instagram, I’d like the same thing to go on Twitter. But instead of having to do double duty, I just have a little applet that I’ve created. This is an applet that says, “If I post to Instagram, then post to Twitter.”

Some other things that I have on there — on Twitter, when I see really good articles, I’m usually reading those on my phone, and I’d really like to read the articles when I get back to my computer desktop. So how do I hang on to all those little links? Well, I just have a little applet that I created that says, “If I “like” a tweet, then send it to Toodledo.” So all I have to do is click the “like” button, and then there’s a task that’s sitting over on Toodledo, so I can just forget about it, work through my Toodledo list, and there it is for me.

Some other things… “If I add something to my Google calendar, then send my wife an email.” That automatically keeps her updated on some of the things that I’m doing.

So it has so many features, does so many things. I used to not teach it in workshops because I thought it would be too difficult for people to understand, but I have been dead wrong. People eat it up.

Vicki: Well, and if you’re looking for home efficiency, I actually use it. I have Philips Hue at my house. It takes sunset times, and it starts powering down one of my lights because I tend to work too late. So at sunset, I know that I have about another 30 minutes. And that changes throughout the year, and I just love it because it kind of helps me keep my internal clock straight.

Frank: (agrees)

Vicki: OK, what’s our fourth?

Frank: OK, the fourth and fifth help me with my writing.

Tool #4: Hemingway App

The fourth one is a website called HemingwayApp.com. Hemingway, like the writer. So this free site does more to clean and tidy my writing than anything I can think of.

You copy and paste your draft into that site, and then just check your ego at the door, because it turns all these sentences colors. It flags sentences that are hard to read. It flags passive voice. It flags words that it suggests that you simply eliminate.

When I start working through that, and start resolving the suggestions it’s making, my writing actually really is a lot, lot better.

And then the next one… Vicki, I don’t know about you, but I cannot proofread my own writing.

Vicki: (laughs)

Tool #5: VoiceInstead

Frank: My brain tells my eyes what I meant to say, not what I said.

And even if I read my stuff out loud, no. My eyes… they see what I meant, and not what I wrote.

But I have a little Chrome extension called VoiceInstead. So while I’m there at that HemingwayApp, and I’ve got things cleaned up, I just highlight the whole thing, right-click, and in the little menu will be VoiceInstead.

And it reads it back to me. When I hear someone else reading it, I catch everything. It’s just a simple little Chrome extension called VoiceInstead that you can just get from the Chrome store.

Vicki: Those are two great tools, and we’ll just add one little caution. HemingwayApp does not like GoogleDocs. It does not save it for you. So if you close the web browser…

Frank: (laughs) Exactly!!!

Vicki: … without copying it… as my students have learned, because we love Hemingway. It’s a fantastic way to teach, making writing more concise.

OK, what’s our sixth?

Tool #6: igHome

Frank: Number six is igHome.

Several years ago, a lot of us used to have those personalized Google pages as our home pages. I loved it! But then Google discontinued it.

Right about that time, someone created igHome to really fill that void.

So here’s what happens. When I open my browser, right there, staring me in the face is my Google calendar, Toodledo, and Gmail — side-by-side. Right below it is the weather forecast for the day, the local news and the national news beside that. I have an electronic sticky note where I just need to paste something electronically. I have commonly used bookmarks.

I really think of it as my internet organizer, because really, all of my internet-based tools are in some way connected to that igHome.com homepage. I can get to it from anywhere. I love it. Couldn’t live without it.

Vicki: So we don’t have to complain about iGoogle going away, we can use this. Of course, there’s Netvibes and Pageflakes, but I’m really intrigued by this.

Frank: I have used Netvibes. I liked it, but really the igHome I like even better.

And what I tell people is, “Good tools come, and good tools go. But usually good tools are replaced by better tools. So don’t worry about it, because something better is coming along. Just watch for it.”

Vicki: OK, what’s our last one?

Tool #7: Spreadsheets (like Excel or Google Sheets)

Frank: The last one, Vicki, is spreadsheets.

If I had to point to one tool during my professional career that is the biggest game changer, it would be that. I’m so glad that back in 1987 — that long ago, 30 years ago! — I read some little chapter in a book about using Appleworks spreadsheets, and I had this epiphany.

I thought, “I could put my gradebook on this thing!” And suddenly, I was no longer spending one Saturday out of every six, hand-averaging grades and getting them ready to go on to report cards. Huge gamechanger.

And the thing that I would say to that busy educator is not that you necessarily have to go out and become the Excel guru — because I’m certainly not — but just start to formulate the question…

“Here’s the problem that’s in front of me. I wonder if maybe Excel or Google Sheets would do XYZ?”

Because once you’ve got the question, there’s probably a sharp student who can find the answer for you.

And I’m still running into situations where I don’t know the formula or if there is a formula to do the particular thing that I want done, so all I do is just Google it.

I put the word “Excel” in the Google search box, whatever it is I’m looking for, and somewhere in the world, somebody else has had the same problem, the same question, and has posed it on some bulletin board. And somebody else, somewhere else in the world, a lot smarter than I am, has come up with the answer. Just copy and paste it, and change the little cell references, and you’re good to go.

So that’s my number seven, spreadsheets.

Vicki: Well, remarkable educators, I think it’s important that we all have productivity power tools.

Do our students have power productivity tools? I’m amazed at how many students don’t know how to set a reminder, or set a calendar appointment, how to put things on a list.

These are some great tools that Frank has given us. Frank tends to pick things that are very, very reliable and rock solid. So if you need a place to start, these are awesome.

But the big thing is — do you have a place to put your calendar? Where are you going to put your notes? Where are you going to have your reminders, and your To Do List? We all need these essential things so we can be productive in today’s modern world.

Thank you, Frank!

Frank: It’s been a pleasure. Thank you, Vicki.

    Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford

kymberlimulford@gmail.com

  Bio as submitted

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Frank Buck is a veteran school administrator, public speaker, productivity coach, and author of Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders. He has spoken to audiences throughout the United States and internationally to help busy professionals achieve total control over their time and the peace of mind that nothing is falling through the cracks.

Blog: https://FrankBuck.org

Twitter: @DrFrankBuck

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

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