#gotta think of a specific tag for severance

[iamdispleased]

What’s Happening With Lumon, MDR, O&D, and Gemma

I posted this on Reddit. Now, I’m posting it on here. Buckle up, cowboys.

Spoilers: Severance, The Lexington Letters

My theory is that Lumon is a sort of shadow government in expansion. The Lumon building is a military base/bunker. While not the only thing Lumon does, Lumon makes weapons, particularly bombs. They probably made or are making nuclear weapons. O&D designs the weapons and run Lumon’s equivalent to the ENIAC. MDR locate where to use the weapons and deploy them, similar to radarmen. I also think Lumon used MDR to cause Gemma’s car wreck.

02/09/25 Edit: I just read Ricken’s book, The You You Are, and it totally decimated my Gemma theory. So, never mind about that.

Petey’s map of the Lumon building heavily resembles a military base or bunker. The technology and aesthetic they use gives me old school military/N.A.S.A. vibes. The way it’s shot when Mark pulls out his locker’s drawer reminds me of a scene in a war movie or flashback— especially with the way his watch looks like a compass.

As I said, MDR are similar to radarmen. Radarmen first appeared during WWII in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. Part of the radarman’s duties was to detect and track vessels through radar equipment, find target locations for attacks (like bombings), and operate the Identification Friend or Foe system, or IFF.

The IFF system, also known as the Mark Identification Friend or Foe system, is an electronic system developed during WWII that military forces used to identify whether an aircraft or vessel detected on radar was friendly or an enemy. This could be why MDR focuses on “scary numbers”. The “scary numbers” represent enemies.

A macrodata refiner’s job description is to “remove impurities from data and reorganize it in its purest form”, and at first I thought MDR was creating atomic bombs specifically, because what is more pure than the atom? But now I could see this as MDR is locating Lumon’s enemies (imperfections) and bombing them (removing them); therefore, making the world/society (data) pure. By ‘pure’, I mean the, “Cleanse the world of our sins,” type pure.

Since radarmen are specifically related to the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, it would make sense as to why Irv is told his outie can swim gracefully and likes the sound of radar, which is what he named his dog after. In the 1970s, the radarman’s duties was split into a few separate jobs. The one MDR seems to resemble the most are Operation Specialist.

O&D design the weapons MDR uses, and seem to be running a machine like the ENIAC. The ENIAC is a big ole computer developed during WWII. It performed calculations for artillery firing tables, the construction of the hydrogen bomb, atomic energy, thermal ignition, and more.

MDR’s file names also clue in on this, with pretty much all of them having events associated with, wars, uprisings and the like.

Pacoima, a file Irv works on, is the name of a neighborhood in Los Angeles. A few screw-ups from radarmen have occurred there, like the 1957 Pacoima mid-air collision.

Moonbeam was the name of a Mustang fighter-bomber aircraft built during WWII.

In the Lexington Letters, Peg, a former MDR employee, thinks that her finishing the Lexington file caused one of Lumon’s competitors trucks to explode, ending with two employees being *burned* alive in the truck and four bystanders’ deaths. The company’s name was Dorner Therapeutics.

I believe Gemma ‘died’ in that accident. The connection to a therapeutics company could be the reason Miss Casey is a wellness councilor.

In 2x02, Mark says that Gemma can’t be alive, because he had to identify her burnt body. My guess is that Gemma’s body was burnt, but Lumon used some sort regenerative technology to heal her. Since Lumon ended up causing Peg to die in a car crash, I wonder if Mark took her job. (Maybe she didn’t die at all, and is in a Miss Casey situation.)

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first major battles of the American Revolutionary War. If the Lexington file involved Gemma’s accident, then that was the start of Mark working for Lumon. It makes sense for the start of Mark’s journey to be titled Lexington, the start of the Revolutionary War.

One final note— the actual severance chip itself looks like a bomb. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are bombs.

And fin.

(I have just started my first rewatch of Severance, and plan to examine it deeper, but I wanted to throw this out there before it’s Too Late.)

tldr: Lumon is a growing shadow government. The Lumon building is a military base/bunker. O&D’s job is to design weapons, while MDR’s job is to locate where to use them and deploy them.

Edit: I rewatched the scene where Mark and Devon are talking in 02x02, and Mark didn’t outrightly say that Gemma’s body burned. He said, “If Ricken died and burned, I’d be sad for you.” I still take this as Gemma’s body burned, though. Mark could have just said, “If Ricken died, I’d be sad for you.” So, the addition of, “… and burned,” feels super specific. Still— my b.

[woolydemon]

oh no guys, I miss blurrbee,

[visenyaism]

sorry man but i just gotta point out some people (like me) have actual, serious trauma from attending private school- mine manifests as severe ptsd and agoraphobia; my time in private education literally left me disabled. I had no choice in the matter, i did not want to attend that school, but i was raised by awful abusive parents who ignored the absolute hell i was experiencing and my multiple suicide attempts. If you’re gonna post derisive things about private school kids needing to be mocked, please at least tag or something so i can block it bc ngl reading first thing i the morning that i deserve to be made fun of for my abuse is extremely triggering. I don’t think it’s wrong to make fun of ALL people who went to private schools; but please, please take those of us who’ve experienced extensive abuse into account. We have been through enough and don’t deserve to be clowned on for being forced to the attend schools we were abused at? Sorry if im taking this personally (like i said, i have ptsd and this just happened to be a trigger i am not upset with you i just feel like you need to know this going forward), i would just really love if the abuse kids (especially queer disabled and otherwise marginalized kids) face at private school was taken seriously. especially because all of your other education takes are so good. Like i said there are private school kids that SHOULD be made fun of (the kids who participated in my abuse and got away with it come to mind for example), but for those of us with struggling with trauma PLEASE do not put us in the same category as our tormenters, thank you! 🫶

It sounds like you went through a whole lot and I’m sorry that happened. I hope you are talking to someone that is not me a random stranger on tumblr about it. However if you read this:

And interpreted that as me making fun of your specific personal situation and not the broader context of like lightly making fun of the wealthy I do not think that is fair. Do not put that on me.

[swordandscytheandpen]

Finished Guide. I have thoughts.

Mostly positive ones. I have nitpicks, sure, but it's damn near impossible to write a fully satisfying resolution to a three million word story. EE did an insanely good job considering.

Akua was one of the highlights, of course. Her arc was indeed probably the single best redemption story I've ever seen. The pivot in Praes, in particular, was amazingly compelling ("why was she not hearing the song?" hit me HARD). @kvothbloodless once responded to my tags while I was in the middle of Book 2, assuaging my skepticism that a character as remarkably hateable as Akua could have a well-executed redemption arc, and I gotta say her confidence was well-placed. It's a testament to EE's character writing skills that a character who is not only morally monstrous but immensely personally unlikeable could be turned around like this. I'll make fun of Guide's length, of course, but I don't think an arc like this could be handled so well in a work of reasonable length. It's a strength both of the writer and the medium, I suppose.

Her final fate, like most of the cast's, was a pretty solid conclusion to her character arc as well. Really followed through on the narrative's refusal to entertain redemption through death, while still being a surprise, unlike the whole Dead-King's-jailor thing. The dynamics of that particular fate on her character had already been explored through her and Cat's thoughts several times, so it's nice to see something different, instead of just watching the original plan play out with rings instead of a crown.

Same goes for a lot of the other characters. Viv and Indrani had excellent conclusions. Masego and Hakram I'm not dissatisfied with, though I do have minor points of umbrage. Hakram's arc might just have gone past me a little bit; I feel that if he has to be tied so tightly to the Clans as a whole he really needed more foreshadowing connecting him to his home. Instead, it felt a little bit like a family-conquers-all story shoved in with only justification in the moment, which ain't really my cup of tea. More specifically, it felt like the narrative required him to have deeply-held goals that he could go be independent about, but forgot to actually touch on those goals until he'd already left Catherine. Still, just a mild disappointment.

Then we've got Masego, and my take on him is similar in that it's broadly satisfying but I just feel like it doesn't fit in certain ways. In his case, it's mostly the apotheosis: the edges of that particular puzzle piece seem rough, as if EE had something else in mind but swapped it out relatively late in the process. There was some hinting that his dream of godhead would result in conflict with Cat, and then they just... didn't do that. Then in the epilogues, it really seems like his apotheosis hadn't made much impact on who he is or what he does. His part of the epilogue would have been just as suitable, to my eyes, if he hadn't achieved that. So it fell flat a little bit, which took some of the wind out of his ending. Everything else about him was great though.

Catherine's ending took the longest for me to think through. At first I was a bit ambivalent about it, 'cause it felt like nothing was really subverted. Minus a few hiccups, she got everything she wanted. Cardinal. The Liesse Accords. Even all the Woe surviving. The only thing she didn't get was Akua, and she already knew that wasn't on the table. I really just did not expect a straightforward Catherine Wins ending to the Guide. I thought she'd probably die at least; in fact, I thought the most likely outcome was Cat's death and her goals being posthumously realized! This story sure felt like a tragic ending was coming down the pipes!

And then once again, I remembered that this is a story about stories. What Cat has isn't just a happy ending, it's one last victory over the narrative. It's a middle finger to the idea that villains don't get to sail off into the sunset. And you know, it really takes some strength to put a fresh coat of paint on the very idea of a happy ending. So yeah, Cat's ending is great. Just perfect.

But of course, there's no way to wrap up three million words while satisfying every single plot point. So, keeping in mind that APGTE is probably among my top 5 written works in the English language now, I do have a point or two of order.

First off, towards the end, Named were dying like flies. Felt like every chapter had a list of casualties all its own. And I can see the drive to do that; there were a lot of Named involved by that point and there had to be casualties. It keeps the stakes high and the villains scary. But I can't help but feel discouraged from reading once six characters I'm somewhat engaged with die in the span of two chapters. Mostly offscreen.

The biggest offender here was the Painted Knife's band. I really loved the bonus chapter about their backstories, as well as the concept of them as the first band containing both heroes and villains, and I'd wish we'd seen nore of how that relationship developed. And I thought it was a weighty enough label that they'd shot up again later. So when it was mentioned offhand that the Royal Conjurer was killed, I was blindsided a little bit. And then the rest died, one by one, offscreen (except the Knife). Poor Poisoner. She was my favorite. Felt like wasted potential, like a story that wasn't followed through to the end. The Blade of Mercy was in a similar boat. He was important in the Arsenal arc! Let him die onscreen at least!

There was Roland too, who wasn't as bad. His death wasn't really satisfying, another surprise Hawk casualty, but at least it was shown and meaningful. Still, I feel like he deserved a proper character arc outside his backstory. Poor guy.

A couple other deaths, too: Rafaella and Alexis in the fight against the Dead King. Rafaella was ambiguous enough that I really wasn't sure whether she was dead for a while, and even after... I dunno. The hero who killed Captain needed a stronger resolution than "sacrificed herself to get rid of the Dead King's last line of revenants." Then Alexis's death just wasn't meaningful; it wasn't for anything. And I know, I know, that's not how death works, but it is in stories! Didn't feel right. It was too fast.

But the Keter deaths were really my biggest gripe, and if that's the biggest problem I have with a conclusion to a story that long? I can only offer applause.

You know what death I didn't have a problem with? Hanno, in the epilogue. How the hell do you kill a character that major in just a few sentences and make it feel satisfying? The epilogues were just all-around great. The character deaths and resolutions felt natural, plot points that were touched on in the main story were shown to ultimately be left to the next generation, and the continued history and development of the world made it feel so alive. It's a common sin for characters to create a new static world that's supposed to feel like it'll last forever. And sure, the framework of the Accords are kinda like that, but the rest of the world? There are still wars, still conflicts, still upheavals. (The Republic of Orense was a nice touch in that regard.) The epilogues are nearly flawless and I will stand by that.

Last thing - of course I gotta talk about Anaxares. When Yara dropped him into the Serenity, I was pretty hyped about it. But then... I dunno. It turned out a bit flat. Felt less like the culmination of Anaxares's character and more like a plot device to cross the Serenity out of the equation. At the end of the day, with Anaxares sitting in the Serenity through the final battle and then appearing in the epilogues just to pop up years in the future, cause problems, and run off again, he felt weirdly like a sequel hook? And forgive me, but I'd eat my hat if there's a sequel. I guess it's imagination bait, which is certainly preferable to a poorly-executed conclusion. He's still my favorite non-Cat character. If there's any decent fic about him, please give it.

Speaking of, that's all I've got. Looking back up, this was mostly petty complaints, but I wanna be clear: once the first few books were past and EE broke their worst writing habits, this became one of my favorite writing pieces ever. The length and the proliferation of typos and other errors mean that I'd hesitate to fullthroatedly recommend it to anyone, but it's one of those works that has permanently altered my brain. Good fucking book.

Okay, Pale Lights time. Hopefully I'll catch up before Book 3 comes to an end, but I'm not gonna rush. Rapidly chewing through ridiculously long works is not, I have learned, conducive to getting the most enjoyment out of them.

[cosmicjoke]

Just adding this on, but this isn't an attempt on my part or an encouragement to harass these people, though I'm sure everyone reading this already knows that. Just a means of letting others know who's behind at least some of the harassment lately.

Alright, well, here comes the call-out post that I promised anon. Have fun with it, I guess. It's about to get long, folks. A group of @tsuki-no-ura followers, who's been obviously vague posting about me for months at this point, specifically targeting every topic I discuss on my blog by making counterarguments to it on their blog, even though I never directed any of my analysis posts or anything else at them, nor has anything I've ever written been in direct response to anything they've written, is certainly behind at least some of the harassment. And other than the times I've tried having conversations with tsuki in the past, when I used to follow them, and wanted to discuss their posts with them, which almost always went ignored, I haven't at all addressed them or made reference to them, either implied or specifically, in any of my analysis posts. I only made reference to them a few weeks back when I found out that they'd essentially said my defense of Levi's violence was tantamount to Nazism, which I wasn't going to let stand. That's the only time I've ever directly referenced them. And yet, every time I make an analysis post, a counterargument to it magically appears on their blog the same day or a few days later, something that was brought to my attention by a mutual of mine. I had no idea until a couple weeks ago that this was happening, because I stopped following them more than a year ago, and only just recently blocked them. But they're obviously stalking me. And, inevitably, every time they do this, a slew of anon hate messages get sent, both to me and various other blogs that I follow, or that follow me. This isn't a coincidence:

@clearavenuelover, @66honeybadgers, and I'm sure various other of their groupies, are the ones almost assuredly largely behind the anonymous attacks on Levi blogs over the last, several months. They start out with their passive-aggressive bullshit, and eventually, of course, it turns to outright hostility, because that's just who these people are. @clearavenuelover purposefully tagged me in one of tsuki's posts, and so obviously they're aware of their followers harassing other Levi fan blogs. This is the link to the post they tagged me and other Levi fan blogs in: https://www.tumblr.com/tsuki-no-ura/739123803956854784/okay-so-here-i-come-with-my-discourse-causing

And yet more evidence that these people all congregate in the same circles and circle-jerk each other over how they think they're "winning" some non-existent contest against me and other Levi fan blogs.

And look who liked this answer as soon as it was put up:

And here @66honeybadgers is again, name-dropping tsuki-no-ura while they continue to harass me:

And this is clearly the same douche-bag that asked me a few weeks back if I considered myself a "Levi expert", and has now, over the last two days, continued to harass me for daring to express my opinion about Levi on my own blog, dropping the "friendly" act and showing their outright hostility:

This is clear harassment from a very specific corner of the fandom, mainly, surprise, surprise, eruri shippers, or even just Erwin stans who want to make everything about him, and get angry at anyone who dares to express any different view from the ones they hold, to the point of actively seeking out and stalking our blogs, hate reading our posts, going into our inboxs and sending us anonymous hate messages, trying to cram their opinions down our throats and then getting upset when we don't listen or accept their views. And then they want to go around acting like they're all the victims. What a joke these people are. Anyway, I just thought I should make this post so that actual Levi fan blogs can know to avoid and block these assholes. I can't say if they're behind ALL of the harassment, but they're certainly behind some of it, and it's good to expose them because they're cowards, and once they've been exposed, they won't have the fucking balls to continue.

[antimony-medusa]

Finding Stories

Okay so I started a conversation/poll the other week about anon fics, which clearly made it clear that I had the wrong impression about anon fics. I thought that people avoided them, whereas it turns out most people don't even notice if a story is anon.

However, it started me thinking about how people find stories in general. Because this would imply that anon stories get found because people are reading new in a fandom, are they actually doing that? And do people find published books the same way, just reading in the bookstore or free-scrolling on a site? So. I ran two new polls. Fandom. Published books.

And I gotta say that this was clearly something fired off while I was avoiding my communications class, and I have never taken stats. This is in no way formal. But I was really interested in the things that are similar and the things that were different. Do patterns change when you're actually spending money for things? What happens when people click boxes?

First off, in both cases, the thing that won the poll was "browsing new", either in the fandom or in the bookstore. But the percentages were quite different.

I figured that knowing "I want to go to the paranormal shifter romance section of the bookstore" is approximately equivalent to "I know I want to read Stucky Omegaverse" so I compared those two percentages. 49.3% of fic readers were out here just scrolling new, whereas only 28.4% of people would just rock up to a bookstore and start looking around. (or IS this true? A lot of people in the "several of these" (24.2%) said they did a lot of these, but they did not regularly specify if that meant they just browsed in a bookstore.)

I figured that sorting by kudos or hits would give you a similar impression as being on a book social media, where the popular books rise to the top. 24.8% of people were looking for what was popular in fandom, whereas 11.2% of book people were looking for buzz books. On the fandom side people said frequently that when they were new to a fandom they would read by kudos to get a sense of what the fandom was like, whereas there wasn't really an equivalent experience reported on the book side of discovering a sub-genre and reading popular in it. People just didn't mention it? Possibly. It's noteworthy that on the fandom side being able to target your search specifically by tag or ship was wildly popular and came up again and again in the notes, whereas on the book side I saw less people saying things like "when I know I want a cozy mystery"— possibly the poll didn't hit cozy mystery or paranormal romance readers.

Getting personal recs: this was a Very big one on the book side and less on the fandom side. 18.2% of people on the book side would go to librarians or friends, whereas only 12.4% of people on the fandom side would look in bookmarks or get recs from people. Possibly that is because a book club is thing and in many circles reading books is a social activity, whereas while being in fandom is a social activity, the specific fics you are reading is not as much the same thing. I know a lot of people mentioned in the fandom side that matters of taste would come up, and that they'd be aware that what other people would rec wouldn't be of interest to them. One big thing on the fandom side though, people mentioned very frequently going through the bookmarks of authors they trusted, so if you are an author, people are begging you to leave your bookmarks public.

Sticking with authors you trust: this is something that I expected to be much bigger on the fandom side than it was, and part of that may come down to how I phrased the poll, as I had people saying that their subscriptions aren't "new fics", they already found them. However, the result that I got was 2% of people read from their subscriptions for fic, and 4% of people stick with trusted authors for published books. Clearly more people will get auto-buy authors in the published world, but it's still a comparatively small percentage.

And then closing it up: 0.9% of people read for specific themes or events on the fandom side, and 2.2% of people read things like best of genres or horror recs on goodreads, 0.2% of people read ARCs, and 0.2% of people read email blasts like book funnel and their "best regency paranormals" emails. Is this a perfect comparison? No. Mostly I was impressed that any people still selected that they read for specific events on the fandom side, though I think some of that was people meaning that they read In The Gore Tag, and not reading like, Goreswap 2024 Exchange.

Do I have any conclusions? Not really, other than going oh man, people do legitimately just find the stories they want to read by browsing. A good summary/cover copy+cover legitimately can help people find your story. And please please please make at least some of your bookmarks public people are crying.

[creampuffqueen]

Year-End Writer's Roundup: 2024 Edition!

thanks so much for the tag @sweetorangepoptart!! i had to wait to actually do this until i finished the last fic i wanted to post for the year, so now it's time for the roundup!

i'm honestly not sure who to tag, so if you see this and you wrote anything this year, feel free to do it and say i tagged you!!

Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!!):

let's not even get into my WIPs there's so many lol. going by just published works, i wrote 73,234 words!! honestly crazy to think about!

Smut scenes:

three! all in their own standalone works. doing the math, that means my smut fics alone take up about 1/3 of my words written this year haha

New things I tried:

i've written for lots of ships for the first time this year! in fact, i believe all the ships i wrote for are the first-time ships for me, which is always very exciting

as well, i tried a slightly different writing style than usual in my fic i'm glad i get forever to see where you went. i really enjoyed writing like this, and i can definitely see myself doing it again in the future!

Fic I spent the most time on:

i think that title has to go to my fic Likewise, as it sat half-finished in my drafts for... honestly most of this year i think

Fic I spent the least time on:

i can't say 100% for sure, but i think my fic Something Nice. it was written for yangvik week, and it was quite literally written the same day it was published. i did that several times during the week, but as this one's word count is a bit lower than the others, i think it's most likely the one i spent the least time on

Favorite thing I wrote:

ughhhhh this is like asking me to pick my favorite child. i love them all!! but if i had to choose, i think i need to go with The Push. i am honestly so proud of this fic, and i actually go back and reread it quite frequently. it also became popular beyond my wildest belief, and was sort of my jumpstart into the yangvik ship/fandom. the response to it helped give me the confidence to write seven (and counting!) more yangvik fics!!

Favorite thing I read:

actually this is like having to pick a favorite child. how can i possibly choose when i read not only lots of fic, but lots of good fic?? i've gotta choose multiple lol

anything by my lovely mutual @katkastrofa, i legitimately can't choose any specific one to focus on because they're all so incredibly written! Ruby by KingWuko; i love all your wuko fics but this one in particular gets me every time! and outside of the atla fandom, i've been really enjoying this owl house fic on ao3!

Writing goals for next year:

honestly? just keep writing! writing fanfiction has honestly been incredibly helpful for me while i'm in college. seriously, my mental health is always so much worse when i'm not writing. even if i don't publish it, writing is so good for my brain. so i want to keep up with it as i go into the new year!

i've also worked on a loose writing schedule for the upcoming year - i'm not holding myself to it super strongly but i really am going to try and follow it! it's just a way to help me focus more on individual fics and know when i want to try and finish them. that way i can do things like publishing fics for friends' birthdays and participating in more fandom events!

and last but not least, a semi-writing goal that i have is to host another wonderful yangvik week! the 2024 event was amazing, and since it ended even more people have found it and expressed interest, so i 100% would like to do it again. and if i do it again, this time i'm going to try and write for all seven days! considering i wrote for six last time, it seems pretty manageable lol

----

thanks again for the tag! this has been a great writing year for me, and i can't wait to see what 2025 holds!

[tsunael]

OC Smash or Pass

Quick Facts

Height: 4'11" | 149cm.

Age: 32.

Gender: Female.

Pronouns: She/Her.

Sexuality: Bisexual. Probably.

Pros

Diligent. She can cook (kind of)! She can clean! No task is ever left undone. She'd make a good homemaker.

Romantic. As her Raen blood dictates, she's always looking for a place to call home.

Talented. She has a knack for conjury, so you'll always be on the receiving end of her tender mercies. She also knows of several styles of dance and can play stringed instruments.

Elegant. Rigorous training in her youth has given her a natural poise and grace. She would make excellent arm candy.

Cons

Tsundere. This might be a pro, as the appeal would be to crack her shell.

Haughty. If she has reason to believe you have unsavory ideas, she may give you the cold shoulder. Her temper is as sharp as her horns-- speaking of...

Au Ra. She is a danger from the front and the back. Go in for a kiss and you'll be maimed. Oh, and she has fangs, too. Want to spoon instead? Too bad! Tail spines! Guess you'll have to get creative.

Cynical. She's been through a lot in her life, and it shows through more often than not.

Daddy issues. She certainly wouldn't be projecting on you, or looking for love in the wrong places or anything.

Details

Romantically: It's something she daydreams about, though she often wonders if it would be best to keep it as one. There's somewhat of a hedgehog's dilemma there, both figuratively and literally in that she can't really get close to anyone without feeling the need to pull away. However, if she were ever to have a romantic partner, she would devote herself fully to them. One could expect small touches of the hand and shoulder in public, and truly intimate gestures like light massage, or washing their hair in private. Though a soft and sensitive partner would be the ideal and probably make her happiest, she really shines when she's around someone she can exchange (verbal) blows with. Make her match your wit, and reduce her to a flustered mess (it's easy to do).

Sexually: She's somewhat repressed. The particular Okiya she was raised in was convent-like in nature, and she rarely ventured outside other than to the markets, or for work. She's had undisclosed partners, but never any that let her truly bloom. ... Because of this she might be hesitant to try new things, or engage in anything she deems too 'filthy', but it's learned shame, and there is merit in helping her overcome it. Ahem. In a similar vein, she does know what she likes, but she may have difficulty asking for it. This would be considered a con, but with enough time and patience you might get to see an extra special side to her. Basically, I think her years of yearning, coupled with an excitable nature would make for a, uh... very passionate experience if you can get over how much of a wilting flower she is at first. She probably has a few kinks to unearth, too!! Who knows! Anyway!

Tagged by: No one. I took it, comrade. Because sometimes you gotta do it yourself. Tagging: This is my community garden. Take what you will.

I didn't include an other option because mama didn't raise a quitter. You will SMASH or you will PASS and you will like it.

Points if you say why though. 🔍👀

Rules: pretty self explanatory. include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. the “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idc)

[midnightraine131]

Love Letters from the Skies to the West Coast - Chapter 4 / 15

Pairing: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart Minor: Levi Ackermann/ Hange Zoe, Historia Reiss / Ymir Tags: Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Teenage Love, Awkward First Times, Slow Burn, POV Armin Arlert, Bottom Armin Arlert, Wet Dreams Warning: R18 contains sensitive topics If you are easily triggered by religions, specifically Christianity and Catholicism, I don't think this fic is for you. I have nothing against these religions and this fic is anything but serious. Summary: They say the most judgmental people are those who attend church on Sundays. Despite growing up in a Christian household, Armin Arlert felt overburdened by the pile of ministry activities assigned to him. So he made a pact with himself to never follow in his father's footsteps and become a pastor. With the goal of saving enough money to persuade his parents to let him move to another state after high school, he started accepting paid essay projects in school in secret. Everything in Armin's busy life seemed manageable until he met Annie Leonhart, a Californian girl whose parents had moved her against her will to Vermont. Upon discovering Armin's secret business, Annie approached him with a unique request- to write love letters for a long-distance lover. To craft the perfect love letters, she would help Armin embark on a journey of firsts— his first kiss, first hug, first date, and first everything in a relationship.thing in a relationship.

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Awkward silence.

That’s the best word Armin could describe their current situation. Annie sat on the bench beside him, her arms crossed over her chest. Her right leg rested atop the other, gently swinging her foot up and down. He couldn't discern if she expected him to say something foolish again or if he should awkwardly excuse himself, blurting out, "Hi, Doc Hange! I just remembered I have some errands to run. Send the bills to my address! Gotta go!" Then, making a dash for the door as if his life depended on it.

But, no, that scenario was wishful thinking. His grandfather was picking him up from this clinic; he needed a ride home.

Armin closed his eyes in resignation. If there were an award for making a situation awkward, he'd surely earn a noble prize.

He shifted his gaze toward the counter, squinting to catch their reflection in its glass finish. Annie appeared disinterested, likely gazing out of the window. He followed her line of sight and spotted her watching tangerine-colored leaves dancing in the wind. One leaf glided and swirled mid-air before disappearing from view. Armin rarely appreciated such things, but as he turned back to Annie, seeing her face light up, he found tranquility in that moment.

Annie's countenance was a fortress for her emotions; she guarded them skillfully, hiding something fragile. In a split second, she smiled. As Armin blinked, her usual stoic expression returned. He made a mental note that the next time he caught her smile, he wouldn't blink so she couldn't shield herself. She’s indeed a very pretty girl, he mused.

Clearing her throat, Annie broke the silence. "That's quite awkward, isn't it? If you have nothing more to say, I'll return to my work."

Armin blinked, looking away and feeling his face heat up. He shifted his seat as far as possible. "I said what I meant."

"Do you really mean it?"

He nodded.

Of course, he did. They might not have been the usual words one would say, but it was Armin. He'd bluntly speak his mind without much thought. Before he could answer, the door burst open.

Hange, sliding a pen back into her white-coated pocket, reviewed a report on her clipboard. "As I suspected, your girl is extremely malnourished. She was just a week old and required extensive care for a few days before she could eat independently. Also, her wounds are infected, not too severe, but I need to prescribe some antibiotics." Scribbling down prescriptions, she then noticed the two awkward teenagers on the bench. "Oh, do you two know each other?" she inquired.

Despite Hange being among the brightest individuals Armin knows in town, she occasionally displays a certain naiveté, often unintentionally. She's been married for over two years to Levi Ackerman, a pet groomer, possibly her first boyfriend post-university. Rumours has it they've chosen not to have children, instead opting to be devoted "fur parents." Their love for their fur babies evolved into a business—a small clinic offering pet grooming services.

Armin rose and approached the counter, where Hange was jotting down notes. Somehow, he felt relieved to escape an awkward conversation with Annie. "Well, um, yeah, we know each other. So, what will the bill be?" he inquired.

Hange clicked her tongue and sighed. "I won't charge you for the consultation, but for her medications, milk, and vaccines. It might be a bit costly. Also, my clinic is currently filled with animals carrying diseases. I can't risk a small kitten falling ill, so she needs a home."

Armin sensed Annie standing behind him, listening. He glanced at her before returning his focus to the doctor. While he could persuade his parents to adopt the kitten, he didn't want to engage in discussions about shouldering the expenses with them.

"As much as I'd like to take her, my dad will probably kick me out before I bring the kitten home," Annie deadpanned.

"Hmm." Hange leaned on her table, chin resting on her palm. "I can see in Armin's eyes that he wants the cat too. How about co-parenting for the cat? Armin provides a home while Annie supports her needs in exchange for visiting rights. You're a full-time staff member at my clinic, so you are eligible for a staff rate, it won't hurt much."

Not a bad idea, but...

"Uh, that's fine with me. I'm not sure about Annie," Armin replied, looking down at the white-tiled floor.

"I have no issue with that," Annie said, crossing her arms.

"It's settled then!" Hange clapped her hands in delight. "I'll prepare her things so you can head home. I have a small cage here for you. I'll be right back." She continued to chatter as she vanished into one of the rooms, leaving the two blondes alone.

Armin smiled awkwardly at Annie.

Great.

Read more on AO3

[i-heart-yellowstone]

31 - The First Date

Inspired dress for Faith’s date above

Part 32

Raised Fair Share of Hell

Tag list @bvbwestfall @hcwthewestwaswcn @child-of-of-the-sunshine @elenavampire21 @keep-the-wolves-close @kmc1989 @tallrock35 @whatelsecouldgowrong @lover-of-books-and-tea

Huddled in the corner of the dorm room sitting on my bed all I could hear outside was the loud storm outside my window.  I was told that if it stormed in Texas it was really severe depending on the area.  And it just so happens it decided to pick our campus tonight.  A loud crash of thunder followed by lighting made me scream, snatching my phone off the charger dialing the first number I could think of.  “Cooper!” 

“Hey, you okay?” He immediately picked up on the first ring. 

I sniffed wrapping my other arm around my knees.  “I’m really scared.” 

“Scared of what, Faith?” He asked me. 

I started to respond but another loud boom of thunder sounded off and I had no doubt he didn’t hear it.  “Ahh!” 

“I’m coming over.” 

Sniffing through tears I hadn’t realized I had started crying.  “Cooper, you don’t have to do that.” 

“You called me because you were scared.  Besides me and my roommate Dylan are just watching TV anyhow on the floor above you.  So I’m on my way.” He explained and I could hear his keys jingling in his other hand and a door shutting behind him.  “I’ll be down and at your door in a second.” 

I attempted to stop him already feeling better without him even needing to be in my dorm room but the phone call ended.  “Cooper - you really didn’t have to come here.” Someone knocked three times on our door and I was thankful Caroline was a deep sleeper and didn’t wake up when I opened the door. 

Cooper stood in the doorway shutting the door behind himself seeing tears slipping down my cheeks.  “You call anytime and I’ll come running.” 

“Awe.  Ahh!” I screamed jumping up and to my surprise he got my body when I wrapped my arms and legs around his body hearing another clasp of thunder. 

Cooper reassured me by shifting one of my legs so he could carry me over to my bed, sitting me down on top of it before climbing up onto it himself.  “Sssh I’ve got you.  I’ve got you, Faith.” 

“I’m really sorry about this.” I apologized pressing my back against the wall, hugging my knees to my chest. 

He shook his head sitting right up against my side, tossing the throw blanket at the end of my bed over the two of us.  “You don’t gotta apologize.” 

“You must be thinkin’ pour little ranchers' daughter from Montana afraid of a thunderstorm.” The day we met he had seen a decal on my backpack that had the name Montana sticked into it on the outside. 

Cooper draped one arm over my shoulder gently nudging my head to lay on his shoulder making me look into his dark eyes.  “Actually that wasn’t what I was thinking.  I was thinking "I wonder if this girl from Montana would be up to going on a date with me sometime.” 

“Really.  You and me on a date.” My face lit up at the idea.  I couldn’t explain the reason how I had developed feelings for him so quickly and now it appeared he felt the same way as I do about him.  All I knew was that it had happened. 

The son of an oil man asked me quietly hoping to not wake my sleeping roommate.  “So is that a yes or no?” 

“Yes, I’d love to go on a date with you.” 

Faith’s pov - two weeks later 

Tossing another shirt onto the floor I gripped my hair in between my fingers throwing my head back screaming into the air.  “I don’t like any of the clothes I have here.  There’s no way I am going on this date tonight.” 

“You need to calm down, Faith.  He wouldn’t haven��t asked you on a date if he only cared about what clothes you wear.” Caroline, my roommate and one of my new friends was sitting on her bed since we decided to simply loft the beds separately for more storage underneath. 

Flopping down on my bed on my back I covered my face with my hands getting an idea in my head.  Rolling over onto my side I grabbed my phone from my table dialing a specific number for advice.  “Hey Auntie Beth, are you free to talk?” 

“For you little niece, I can always make time.” The blonde business woman turned the phone on video call so I could see her face.  “What do you need my help with, sweetie?” 

Tucking hair behind my ear, I dropped my gaze.  “I have a date tonight and I don’t know what to wear.   I - I never did anything like this back home.” 

“Woah little Faith has a guy.  When did this happen?  I demand to know.  Do your parents know about him?” She fired off a couple of questions at me which only made me smile. 

Shaking my head I listed the answers off my fingers.  “One : he had asked me out about a week ago.  Two : I called him saying I was scared during a storm.  And three : no my parents don’t know and please don’t tell my daddy cause I don’t need him coming down here to shoot Cooper with a shotgun if he breaks my heart which I doubt he will.” 

“Hmm.  Have you unpacked that shopping bag I gave you yet?” My aunt asked me. 

Caroline rummaged around in my closet pulling out a long black flower dress and some tan boots that were inside of it.  “Auntie Beth! My father would kill me if he saw me showing cleavage.” 

“My daddy didn't mind.  Hell that's the same outfit I wore on first date with your uncle Rip.” She shrugged her shoulders in response.  “Try it on and go get yourself a cowboy.” 

“His father is an oil man.  He manages the rigs here.” I corrected her laying the phone down and slipping the dress on over my head.  Turning in front of the mirror I had to admit I looked rather cute in this outfit.  Sliding on the boots I brought some of my hair around to the front.  “So what do you think?” 

Beth smirked eyeing me up and down before responding.  “If you're lucky that boy might not be able to keep his hands off of you tonight.” 

“We haven't even had a first date yet.  I doubt I'm letting him take my virginity.” 

She bluntly informed me.  “What's wrong with that?  It's what your parents did on their second date.” 

“Gross Aunt Beth.” I gagged at the thought, not wanting to hear about my parents having sex. Beth made a noise before we heard a knock on our door meaning he was here.  “He's here, Aunt Beth.  Gotta go. Love you.” 

“Love you too.” She hung up the video call. 

Caroline flung open the door and I smiled seeing Cooper in our doorway wearing some dirty boots, nice blue jeans, a yellow tea shirt tucked into his pants and his hair wasn't a messy of curls like it usually was, not that I hated when it was.  “Wow.  You look  - just uh - wow.” He cleared his throat clearly nervous. 

Lowering my gaze briefly I smiled saying bye and closing our door behind me.  “You don’t look too bad yourself…so uh where are we going tonight?” 

“I wanna show you something.  Do you remember when you said you wished you could see the stars like you can back home?” Cooper asked leading me outside one of the dorm doors taking me over to one of the maintenance ladders that was leaned up against our dorm building.  

Lifting my gaze upward I was curious why we needed to get up onto the roof.  “Yeah.  Why , what are you thinkin’?” 

“You'll see.  Come on, I'll be right behind ya.” Cooper let me climb up the ladder first before he came up behind me.  Once we had reached the top of the roof he had us lay down on our backs, but he had his hand over my eyes for a second.  “One, two,  three.  Look now.” 

My mouth hung open in shock and awe seeing the same stars from back home dancing above our heads. From up this high we could perfectly see the stars. Tears began welling in my eyes picturing that I was back home on the ranch.  

“So do you like it?” Cooper asked softly, staring at me seeing a genuine smile on my face. 

Turning my head in his direction I locked my gaze with his leaning forward not entirely sure what had come over me but he didn't move away to stop me.  “I - I've never done this before.” 

“Neither have I.” Cooper muttered, closing the rest of the gap where we shared our first kiss together.  He tilted my chin deepening the kiss when I scooted closer to his body after we sat upright so the kiss didn't feel as awkward. 

[rosesradio]

so i told myself i would talk about this by the end of last year, but i never got around to it so here i am now

yesterday i reblogged a post and talked in the tags about how %0.5 of all readers comment on fics. not just my fics—most of the fics i’ve done the math for. the comment drought is very much a thing, getting worse by the day.

CE was my first pjo longfic. i explored a lot of elements in the fic i hadn’t before—and some of the things definitely did not hit. (i mean some of the fight scenes? goddamn lmao). there are definitely some things to be improved, so i’ve learned in the revision (don't ask about the revision 🚬).

i suppose this comment is subjective, and the details of it all depend if you’ve read the entire fic. imo i do think the nyx stuff was weak, only because the other elements were better (if you’ve read the tomb of sleep chapter & the layers of sleep deprivation you gotta admit it hits a little bit lol). it’s going to addressed a bit in IR, and i’ve been in talks with my editor about that.

regarding piper…i don’t appreciate this commenter’s tone in explaining to me how sexual assault works. i am a lot of things. a percy jackson fan. a writer. a college student. i am also a victim of sexual assault. i know what sexual assault is. its implementation into the story was entirely intentional with the knowledge of an adult who has been sexually assaulted (as a minor).

sure, you could argue that no trauma or identity makes the writing of a subject well thought out. in this specific case i would disagree, but i agree with the concept as a whole.

you can, in fact, write in a character who has done horrible things (especially as a child) and has realized the error of their ways and turns towards doing good things. they don’t deserve forgiveness, either from the audience or their victim(s), but they can choose to do good anyway. it’s actually a very human and realistic path for characters to follow.

as for leo…i feel like i don’t even need to explain this. to be quite honest i’m a bit baffled even now. his younger foster sister was the whole reason he stopped hanging out with his bullies. that was explicitly in the text like several chapters before this. he is written as a caring character in spite of his flaws and past, who stands up for his friends and tries to be generally kind in spite of what life has given him.

i would suppose (other than the prior leo of it all), this just comes from a place of “i got so pissed at these Uncomfortable Subjects being brought up that i had to leave a long, critical comment with all of my thoughts before exiting out of the fic” (because yes, based on the comments, this user did stop reading after this chapter).

because the context of this is that these subjects were brought up in flashbacks prior to a big fight (again, big fight is subjective lmaoo). there was no time for the characters to sit and talk about their past and feelings, the way they do in prior and (wait for it) later chapters of the fic. there are conversations in later parts of the fic, after the fight, in which the characters talk about their past and regrets and so on and so forth.

i won’t blame fandom culture as a whole for this. i do think people tend to jump on the purity bandwagon automatically when dark topics are brought up. they tend to do this to “protect victims”, even if a victim is writing it to be cathartic. additionally, i implemented a darker element into the characters’ backstories by nature of it being fanfiction. again, it’s subjective, though i think not liking a character’s altered backstory is not grounds to think of a fan work as “bad”.

then again, if some of my writing is flawed, it is and i can accept that. however, the right thing to do in this event would be to ask if you can leave constructive criticism, and then do if you get the okay. this is rude, and not the way to do it.

i want to hear everyone’s thoughts and feelings, really. if you have negative opinions, you need to ask. but what you should also understand is that i walk around with an ao3 tab open on my stats page every day. i refresh usually twice a day, waiting to see anything new.

%0.5 of readers comment on fics. this stands out amongst them. to be told a fic you worked hard on for months is a bummer to read? i can’t stop you from thinking what you want—and i’m not going to pretend to be something i’m not when i say this. i’m going to be vulnerable: it sucks. i don’t usually get comments as long as this, so to see this is what it is really, really sucks.

(also, needless to say, please don’t go find this comment and say anything. this happened a while ago. i’m using this as an example and ultimately don’t want to bother them)

this was my comment in response. if you ask me, i was being too nice, honestly because i was in a sense of shock. i later became so anxious and upset about this that i threw up at work multiple times and had to go home. is that the most mature response? no. one day, i’ll be Fandom Old, and these comments will roll off me like water off a duck’s back. it shouldn’t have to be that way, but i know that I’ll grow accustomed to it.

fandom is becoming more about Fast Content than ever, more entitled and more angry when things are not to their standards. i don’t want to budge, though. i want to take advice where i can to improve my work, and then i want to start biting people.

additionally (on a different fic):

(the idea was cool but really boring)

this user has hundreds of bookmarks, and about 9/10 of them were scathing. when i perused, i started to wonder if they even enjoyed reading fic, or if they just enjoyed bitching about amateur works they get unlimited access to for free.

your bookmarks are public if you set them that way. they can’t be removed (unless, maybe, you block the user). this is just…attached to my fic now. learn to make bookmarks private if you have shit like this to say.

fic writers do what we do for fun and the love of the craft, but it is truly thankless work sometimes. it’s only a matter of time before everyone realizes that, and one by one talented and unappreciated artists leave.

what will you do then? will you feel bad? or will you ask AI to do it and bitch at it, too?

[ariannaserissa]

2024 Fic Wrapped

Tagged by @teamdilf - thank you!

Words Posted: So, on New Year's Eve, I made the depressing realization that I hadn't posted a single thing on AO3 in 2024. I don't post very often as it is - my writing inspiration comes in spurts and then disappears for months at a time - but I didn't know it had been that long.

Additional Words Written: I didn't keep track of this, but I just looked at the WIPs that I'm pretty sure I started in 2024 and got a rough estimate of 16,000 words. Whoo...

Fandoms: Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate 3, and Mass Effect - in order of how much focus each received in my writing and brainstorming over the course of the year.

New Things I Tried: I finished BG3 for the first time in January 2024, and shortly after that I started working on fic for it.

Fic I Spent the Most Time On: I spent a good chunk of time putting together my Dragon Age canon across all four games. Those are a series of stories instead of one fic, though.

Fic I Spent the Least Amount of Time On: I'm not sure this is applicable, since I haven't finished any of the stories I started in 2024, so technically I'm still spending time on all of them.

Favorite Thing I Wrote: I've probably enjoyed working on my Inquisitor and Solas Post-Breakup story (see below) the most. There are some scenes and interactions between characters that I think are really good and I'm excited to share them.

Favorite Things I Read:

A Melody in a Forest by Missjlh (@teamdilf on Tumblr) - Contains ending spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard! - A lovely glimpse into Iris Lavellan's and Solas' future together in the Fade.

On Such a Starless Night by @diaphanouso - A Rolan/Tav story with such a fascinating and likeable Tav. It made me a fan of this pairing and DiaphanousO has several Rolan/Tav fics!

Writing Goals for 2025: GET. SOME. WRITING. DONE. More specifically, I'd like to finish the incomplete works I have on AO3. There are two currently: Heart of Flame, Soul of Steel (Avatar: The Last Airbender) and No Small Sacrifice (Dragon Age: Origins).

I want to post new stories, too, of course (see the section about New Works below). I'd also love to participate in a fic exchange this year! I haven't done that yet and it seems fun.

If I have the inspiration and motivation to work on any longfic this year, I've gotta spend that time on my original novel.

New Works: With these, I'm trying to focus on stories that I think I have a good chance of completing, rather than more complicated ideas that have been fun to think about but haven't materialized much in terms of actual prose.

Tentative Title: All the Hopes She Carries AKA Inquisitor and Solas Post-Breakup (Dragon Age: Inquisition) - I've posted a snippet of this already. I also have another story set after the Trespasser DLC from this Inquisitor's POV I want to finish and post.

Tentative Title: A Song in the Stillness (Dragon Age: The Veilguard) - Covers the endgame of Veilguard and beyond, mostly from the Inquisitor's POV. I've posted a snippet of this fic as well.

Tentative Title: What the Dawn Would Bring (Dragon Age: Inquisition) - The Inquisitor decided to leave Alistair behind in the Fade. The Hero of Ferelden - along with some friends - attempt a rescue mission.

I have one Baldur's Gate 3 fic that is almost done and I think might be worth posting once it is. However, that game hasn't inspired me to write as much as the Dragon Age or Mass Effect series do, so I'm not sure that I'll have a lot of works for that fandom.

Lastly, I still have some Mass Effect stories I want to write for my Priority: Shakarian series, not the least of which is Through Hardships to the Stars, which is the conclusion to my Shepard's story.

Tagging @kalliesa if you want to participate! Never any pressure with these.

[ao3statistics]

Oh, how about OCs that aren't human? I know there are subtags for some Original Pets on AO3, so what about tags that are associated with, say, cat OCs across fandoms?

This is self-made. Date of creation: 13.09.2024

Here you go! I gotta admit that this was a rather tough one because I don't think you can search for a tag in several fandoms and somehow put the resulting fandoms into a descending order according to how many hits the got in the specific fandoms... If anyone knows how to do that, feel free to tell me cause I tried a few ways and those didn't work... therefore I did this somewhat manually.

Please note that some of these fandoms are subtags of bigger fandoms (f.ex. BTS and NCT are subtags of K-Pop obviously) which means that all the stories in these subtag-fandoms (BTS, NCT) will also appear in the metatagged fandoms (K-pop). Most of these fandoms are metatags though (like the DCU tag that includes ALL fandoms related to DC).

Overall hits on Ao3 for "Original Cat Character(s)" (corpus): 2518 works

This means that there are around 800 works (at least) which are not accounted for because they are distributed over other fandoms not mentioned in the chart.

Please note that some of the works counted in the chart will also appear in several fandoms.

I tried to cover as many of the most popular fandoms as I could see on Ao3 or think of to look at, as well as some fandoms I like or know some of my followers are interested in. Nonetheless, there will be many fandoms missing.

I assume no guarantee or liability for the completeness, correctness and accuracy of this chart despite my best efforts.

Includes fanfictions in all languages available on Ao3, NOT English only.

More charts will follow. :)

Want to have a chart for different pairings, headcanons etc. in your favourite fandom? Send me an ask!

[sweetmage]

Gotta ramble and scream incoherently about Neve (specifically her first proper romance scene) for a moment so obviously spoilers under the cut!

Also this is a very Anders-flavored Neve ramble because you know me and my sad ice mages lol.

Also do not put any spoilers about her in the replies or tags, please! I'm not yet finished with the game, I'm only at the lock-in scene for her romance, nothing beyond that!

SHE IS SO PERFECT FOR ME, SHE IS EVERYTHING I WANTED AAAAAA

They really just gave me another self-deprecating, affection-avoidant, cat-loving, compassionate, cynical, snarky, freedom-fighting, sideways smirking ice mage, huh? They really just did that... I am feeling so so so so so so so normal about her!!!!!

Obviously they are very different characters (which I love!!) but this is very much scratching my itch of "I NEED MORE ANDERS!!!"

I know people compare Anders and Lucanis a lot, but to me Anders and Neve feel a lot more similar (in terms of some of my personal favorite things about Anders and his romance), just a much lighter version of it in terms of the severity of her with self-isolating, self-doubt, and fearing for the person who fell in love with her. But it's all still there and AAAAAAA!!!

I totally had her pegged from the beginning too. Before the game even came out I was just getting VIBES from her and I am so happy that they all came true. Genuinely gonna be so obsessed!! This is no longer just an Anders blog (in terms of Dragon Age) but an Anders and Neve blog because I love and adore them both. So perfectly my very specific type <3

Anyway, all that is to say that, while those things drew me to her, I actually love her character in general. The spin on the classic noir detective is so fun and interesting, I love and adore her sense of humor, her crooked smile and soft eyes melt me into a puddle every single time, her fashion is impeccable, I find her story (so far) to be quite interesting, I love the way she gets along with others, I think her voice acting is great and so fitting for her, and so many other things!! I have such severe Neve brainrot atm, it's unreal!!!

Also the romance scene was so cute. Her being so uncertain about Eddi (my grey warden lady) falling for her and her falling in return and walking away to try to clear her head before ultimately rushing back to kiss her OUGHHH. And the way she adjusts her hat right after is so adorable. They are so cute, I just can't with them 🥺💗

[olderthannetfic]

Really important for the relationship tag tho bc fr, it ain't about "oh what symbols can we add to mean different super specific designation" that's like w/e nobody fucking cares. What'cha gonna fucking do about the dumbest user? We already got ppl who can't see the difference between & and /, u really think that adding more isn't gonna completely fuck over everyone u got another storm coming.

Like in programming for users u gotta think of the dumbest person who might have to work with it. Someone who posts by slamming their device against the wall until it posts, you gotta think of them. Think abt that.

Idk if it even would be more inclusive anywho, like would having an entire wall of relationship markers be more inclusive to users, readers and the writers, or would it just make posting an absolute ordeal, esp if tags are right the fuck there. Don't forget about the poor fucking volunteers who gotta wrangle the fics. The fucking flooooooood of "Uhhh this fic used the platonic marker when akshually it should be the friends++ marker, and this one has the closed relationship marker, but akshually this one should have the open relationship marker, not to be confused with the cheating spouse marker." -this beheth satirical hyperbole. or is it just gonna be a real fucking mess because nobody is gonna fucking use the wall of markers and honestly just stick to the old ones and then give us the tags to be like "read the tags hoe" or "choose not to use specific relationship marker" bc some relationships just don't work like that.

U'll just end up with like 2/1000 fics having special specific markers and the rest is just gonna be cruising back with the &/ once the specialness of a bunch of markers wears of, and you figure out you gotta get a degree in AO3-relationship markers to post and find fics, and the entire list with the markers + explanations open on another tab.

Also like, Idk but I don't see anyone really going into / and expecting only sex either, or that it always means love between the A/B. Def would say that several of the non-con fics I read don't use / to mean romance, just sayin. / seems to be pretty open for interpretation of whatever ur reading and what the tags say, so read them.

--

[kattythingz]

Attack attack attack 🕯️🥤🥐🥝🐝

Literally every one of these questions was a targeted attack, what the FUCK Jinx. But fine.

🕯️ - on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? Why is that?

Unless I'm in a bad mood and/or the premise doesn't interest me, it's actually most often a 9. Sometimes even a 10. It took me a long time to realize this (hello fiction workshop), but it turns out my passion for editing is its own beast. Something about helping others' writing. Pointing out their mistakes not to laugh at them, but to further their writing because I want to see that!!! I want my friends to see their best writing and I want to help them get there! It's the greatest honor! And, when I really get into it, it's honestly just a fun process!

(Usually. We don't talk about the fucking blood that went into editing ch4 of Crown.)

🥤 - recommend an author or fanfic you love.

MAY I INTRODUCE THE FINE PEOPLE TO @asthmaticbee's BRILLIANT HP X FMA AU "of elder, stone and cloth (of death, rebirth and closure)". THE SURPRISE RAREPAIR IS AMAZING AND I AM SO UPSET I DON'T HAVE OTHER CONTENT FOR THEM AND THE CHARACTER WRITING IS PHENOMENAL. THIS AUTHOR GETS ED ON SUCH A DEEP LEVEL. It quite literally had me high for the three or so days I spent bingeing the fic. I CANNOT recommend it enough.

🥐 - name one internet reference that will always make you laugh.

SONIC FANDUBS LMAO. My little brother and I recite them at each other all the time (I suspect it's a verbal stim at this point?), and I can't. It's so fucking funny each time.

🥝 - do you lie a lot? What's the most recent lie you told?

Jinx, seriously. What have I done to insult you lately? /j

I do actually lie a lot lmao. That's kinda a necessity in a controlling household like mine, so it uh. Kinda happens like breathing. Which is mayhaps not a good thing, but. You know. Gotta do what you gotta do. I can't remember my most recent lie, aha. (Another shining endorsement for me, ik.)

🐝 - tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them.

I am honestly so blessed to say—it's so many people? I can't even tag them all off the top of my head. The recent support I received on ch5 of Crown was so fucking huge, I'll forever be unwell over how nice all my readers are?? I'm so grateful to everyone.

Off the top of my head, however, I MUST specifically tag @ilovepannacotta @sirchenchen @hijinks-n-lowjinks @crystalizedirongoblin and @thewitchqueen281

Panna, you brilliant fucking bitch, you've been struggling with your art lately but you are genuinely my favorite edling artist out there. You never fail to blow my expectations out of the water, and I hope you'll agree with me on that one day. Chen, your mind is so brilliant, and your aus are so thoughtful and deep and you ask questions I never considered before that then get ME thinking. Jinx, your understanding of Greed as a character, and Al too, have quite literally saved my ass several times. Citrine, I... can't think of sth specific cuz we don't actually talk often, but your support for my yj x fma crossover motivated me so much more than you think, esp since I was in a dry spell with Crown at the time. And Avi, you've literally been my ground support since ch1 of Crown. Your early asks gave me so much hope that this revamp might actually stand a chance, and then you further devastated me by writing me a goddamn 8k fic.

I'm grateful to all my readers, but you guys esp... you did sth deep to me. And I don't think I'll be normal again cuz of it. I love y'all <3