#hell the entire universe probably doesn't have much of any given they don't have the same advances we do

[dumb-hat]

alternate: What would your OC's alternate universe look be? If they're a fantasy character, what's their modern look? If they're sci-fi, what's their fantasy look? What AU would you want to see your OC in, and how would they dress themself? Bonus: Prompt an AU! (Really expecting an Exalted answer here...)

Okay, goddammit. I'll do it. I'll do the damn thing.

So here's the issue, right: I love Exalted. I really, really love Exalted. Some of my best friendships have been made across a table where we played that game. A lot of the ones that weren't made by Exalted were made better by Exalted. Aside from a few breaks here and there, the game's been a big part of my life ever since it came out in 2001. I'm running an Exalted game right now, and I'll be running more soon.

So of course I've spent a lot of time figuring out where Evander could fit into all of that. Hell, I've done that across multiple editions, at this point. I'm going to stop myself short of doing an entire Exalted-focused rewrite of his character history, but trust me, that doesn't mean I haven't thought about it.

(Okay, okay... Fine. tl;dr: Replace Limsa Lominsa with Wu-Jian, you should probably replace Ishgard with a Northern satrapy to the Scarlet Empire, but I'm gonna swap it with Whitewall because I love Whitewall, then replace Ul'dah with Chiaroscuro... again, mostly because I love Chiaroscuro. If none of that makes sense, feel free to ask me about it and I will give entirely too much context. I will give so much context that you will hate me.)

Anyway... The quickest question to ask and answer regarding an Exalted AU Evander is "What kind of Exalted is he, anyway?"

Okay, quickest isn't the right word, or we wouldn't be here. But it's the question that people would ask if we were actually talking about it, so it's the question we're going to answer. There's... There's a lot of places to go with this. Depending on which edition you're going with and how you want to slice things up, there's like... anywhere from 5 to 10 different playable kinds of Exalted, and even then, you can break some of those down into like... subgroups and stuff. My point here is... I'm going to exercise some restraint and not go into each one.

I'm going to do three and whittle it down to one.

So, maybe the most obvious option would be to say he's a Solar Exalted. Solars are the chosen of the Unconquered Sun, the King of Heaven, the god of virtue and excellence. His chosen are champions and exemplars among humanity, and their legendary deeds are backed up by ambition and limitless potential. They're just fucking good at stuff. Given how much Evander likes to design and tinker with shit, and how much he loves just knowing stuff, it'd be tempting to go a bit against type and call him a Twilight Caste, the Solars who are chosen to be sages and scholars among their peers... But nah, he's an obvious Night Caste. Night Caste Solars are the shadowy left hand of the Unconquered Sun, acting decisively from the shadows. They're your superspies, superthieves and superassassins... And if we wanted to take the easy route, your SuperEvanders.

The Solar Exalted are my favorites, but I think it might be more fun to imagine him as one of the Dragon-Blooded, whose family lines have been chosen by the Elemental Dragons to wield their elemental gifts. They differ from Celestial Exalted (like the Solars, and another type that we'll get into soon) in that their power is not passed down through reincarnation, but through bloodlines and dynasties. Individually, the average Dragon-Blooded will be less powerful than your average Celestial Exalted (if either could be said to exist), but they're way more numerous. Exalted traditionally recognizes five elements within the setting of Creation: Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Wood. It wouldn't be a stretch to make him out to be an idealistic, innovative Air Aspect, a quick-witted and passionate Fire Aspect, or a hedonistic, thrill-seeking Wood Aspect, but I don't think any of those are a perfect fit. Personally, I think if we're making a Dragon-Blooded Evander, he works best as a Water Aspect: Like water, capable of calm stillness, or relentless, torrential waves; able to adapt to any circumstances, able to find weaknesses in the tiniest gaps.

Solars and Dragon-Blooded are both pretty easy, though. Lets get a little weird. We're not going to go full weird; like, we're not making him a communist war robot hero who will eventually become a city, and we're not making him a weird hero-from-another-world-that-doesn't-exist-because-his-strand-of-destiny-was-cut-from-the-loom-of-fate, heck, we won't even make him a spite-and-fury-powered punk rock prince of Hell. We're only gonna go, like, half-weird in Exalted terms.

We're gonna make him a Sidereal Exalted.

The Sidereal Exalted are chosen by one of the five Maidens of Fate: Mercury (The Maiden of Journeys), Venus (The Maiden of Serenity), Mars (The Maiden of Battles), Jupiter (The Maiden of Secrets) and Saturn (The Maiden of Endings). The Sidereal Exalted operate out of the heavenly city of Yu-Shan, where they work as a part of the Bureau of Destiny, a division within the Celestial Bureaucracy tasked with making sure that the destinies planned by Heaven come to pass to ensure safety and stability for all who dwell within Creation.

It's like the 36th Chamber of Shaolin meets the Adjustment Bureau. It's like Journey to the West meets Office Space.

It's amazing.

And it feels like a weird fit for Evander! As far as FFXIV characters go, he's pretty down-to-earth. He's not a god-killer; hell, he's barely a people killer! He doesn't channel the vast power of Hydaelyn, he doesn't roam other reflections; he's... he's just a little guy, who mostly gets in trouble and cares way too much about stuff while trying to pretend he doesn't. He's defined more by his connections to the people and the world around him (and his desire for those connections) than he is anything else, which is why he's the perfect candidate to be a Chosen of Serenity.

Also, I apparently love making him miserable, which is why he's the absolute perfect candidate for Sidereal Exaltation, because... well, the Sidereals are kinda fucked as far as that whole connection thing goes. The Sidereal Exalted are subject to arcane fate, a curse which dooms them to be forgotten by most, as it conspires to erase memories and records of the Sidereals alike. Sure, other Sidereals, many gods, and the occasional other Exalt (or rare exceptionally tricky mortal) might remember you, but the rank and file? Nah, you'll be forever forgotten. Trying to forge those connections that are oh-so-important to him would be like swimming upstream against the current of inevitable loneliness.

Venus, the Maiden of Serenity, oversees relationships of all kinds... And it's worth pointing out that societies, in this case, are kinda just like really, really big relationships, aren't they? Venus' chosen are entrusted with making sure that things under her eye unfold according to Heaven's will. They struggle to bring joy, peace, prosperity and (of course) serenity to a world drowning in chaos.

...

So, I was originally going to actually fill out a character sheet and out that here, but then I looked and realized that it's almost 4 AM, and, like... I have to work in the morning and then actually run some Exalted in the evening, so... I'm gonna pass on that, actually.

For now.

But, uh, yeah. So, Exalted AU: Evander's a Chosen of Serenity, I guess.

Ask me stuff! oc asks: character design edition

(If anyone ever wants to talk Exalted, omg please please, I'm right here, I'll do it. I love this shit)

[pitter-patt-art]

Ace Attorney AU August (halfway progress update!)

Okay technically it's the 16th (lol, 17th by the time this is done) so a little over halfway actually, but still I thought since I haven't had anything finished to post the past few days this would be a fun alternative!

I've been going a little nuts (affectionate) over @augustwritingchallenge's AU-gust prompts list this year so August has been a wild ride (about 40k words of one, in fact. so far.) but seeing as I will get attached to even the jokiest of AU ideas instantly, I've completed* a whopping 5 whole fics of 16, lol. Considering the shortest of those is over 3k and the longest is over 12k, I think the problem with not finishing these in a timely manner is entirely on my verbose foolish thick skull, haha, but I'm still having a blast with it.

Here is my ao3 series where I'm posting!

And a rundown / progress report / quick teaser of all the AUs including those I've yet to finish, if anyone's interested:

(*by "completed" I should note two of the already posted fics are basically assuredly going to be continued past the challenge, but let's say "completed enough to post and be on theme")

1. Canon Divergence - complete - 4.5k words ("For the Murder of Mr. Wrong" link)

Mia POV, gen. What if Dahlia succeeded in poisoning Phoenix and framed Doug Swallow instead (and then Mia defended him in court)? Basically a 3-1 rewrite. Fun Fact: I only came up with this AU because before I even remembered AU-gust existed at all, I'd come up with like 4 totally separate AUs in which I poison Phoenix in various ways With Real Consequences because it amuses me, lol, but he survives all those other ones and I eventually realized I hadn't even considered straight up killing him off yet so I figured I should try it at least once, haha.

2. Colorless - complete 1st chapter - 3.2k words ("Grey Matters" link)

Phoenix POV (for 1st ch --prob alternating after), wrightworth. "You can't see color until the first time you touch your soulmate"-soulmate AU. 1st chapter is their first meeting as kids (skipping the class trial itself). Fun Fact(s): I really love a color soulmate AU! Big fan of the "only see the color of their eyes" type of one too but uhhh on top of that working better for things that have wild anime eye colors, you could not pay me enough to try to figure out what the HELL is going on with Ace Attorney eye colors at any given time lmfao. (Also--spoilers for what i haven't written yet but hey if you're here you earned it--this IS one of my very many "teehee what if i poison Phoenix just a smidge as a treat for me" fics. NOT my fault the man ATE GLASS. That's on him.)

3. Dark Academia - complete "1st chapter" - 4.4k words ("The Spirit of the Laws of Magic" link)

Mia POV, lanamia. Magical boarding school setting featuring corruption and missing-student conspiracies and a most likely overthought system of magic with hierarchies and prejudices in societal views of academic/formulaic vs folk/innate magic. Fun Fact: I really thought for SURE i was going to skip this day entirely, lol. (foolish.) I don't think i've actually ever personally read anything "dark academia", technically--so if this doesn't read EXACTLY that way, there you go, but i did my best. I also then thought I could live with keeping this vague but I accidentally thought about it too long so... plus at least two people on top of myself at this point have expressed interest in more of this and so I have some semi-concrete Plans™ now.

4. Zombie Apocalypse - conceptualized (but not started)

Concept: probably gen and Phoenix POV, but also because I'm me and they're them, at least a little bit wrightworth even if it isn't necessarily explicit in any meaningful way bc they are Not Normal about each other lol. A little sketchy on how much of an "AU" this counts for, since it could probably be argued to be canon compliant somehow, but basically just: Universe where they make a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies-type Steel Samurai reboot movie thing (featuring, you guessed it, zombies), and Miles comes over and forces Phoenix to watch it with him just to have someone to bitch about it at, and then during that time Maya blows her way into Phoenix's apartment as well with the exact same intentions except her "day job" isn't quite as time-sensitive-strict so she's already finished watching it earlier and knows all the spoilers. Honestly a good chance Phoenix and Pearl (who came with Maya) end up hiding out in the kitchen together to let Maya and Miles rile each other up in front of the TV, but I'm never exactly sure where they'll take me once I wind them up and set them loose on the page, so who knows. I also hadn't necessarily determined the exact time frame yet but for it to make sense as a reboot-type movie/special episode/whatever it probably should be 7yg-or-later so Trucy may or may not be there as well. (That said, in my struggles to complete an actually short one-shot, I probably shouldn't even include Pearl let alone Trucy, lol.) Fun Fact: I also thought I'd skip this day bc I'm not the biggest zombie guy in the world, and to be fair, I managed to do Way Less with it than the dark academia prompt so, yippie?

5. Chess Players - incomplete (currently 3k word WIP)

Miles POV, wrightworth. Miles is a chess grandmaster and back in Japanifornia for the upcoming world cup tournament, but his greatest challenge is actually to FINALLY best Franziska in their annual who-can-get-the-best-Christmas-gift competition. Luckily, he just so happened to hear of an artist who makes bespoke chess sets, so the plan is to get a custom board made for Franziska without her finding out. The plan is not to get trapped in a weird art collective labyrinth with some model-photographer named Cindy who keeps hitting on him but also happens to be protective of the artist he's there to see because "she and her boyfriend kinda-sorta owe him big time", but this is what he gets for coming here without doing any extra research into the artist besides seeing his work and hearing only "his name is White, or, eh, something like that, you know how those artist types are" from Mr. Amano. (AU where we replace law with chess and no I don't think Phoenix could necessarily hack it in the top-world-grandmasters-level of chess tournaments HOWEVER have you considered he DID go to art school so what if he just tries selling custom chess sets until somehow that reconnects him with Miles. Is that somehow a more insane plan than studying law? Maybe. Did Manfred still shoot Gregory but now it was over fucking chess? Maybe. Idk. But I did let Greg live this time at least!) Fun Fact: we can all DEFINITIVELY blame my lovely, terrible, very wonderful friend Ben (shameless friend plug! she's an outstanding writer and has some AA fics of her own too!! @kindlystrawberry on tumblr!!) for making a total joke about "well what about au where they make chess pieces instead" while i lamented not knowing enough about chess to write an actual match and spawning this ENTIRE concept. It is her fault. 100%. She is the guilty party. (I want to finish this one VERY BADLY. Save me.)

EVIDENCE!!!!! Guilty.

6. Reality Show - incomplete (currently 700 word WIP)

Phoenix (& Franziska) POV(s), background wrightworth wedding planning going on as set up but it's also definitely just one of my many excuses to set Phoenix and Franziska up as bitchy worsties who can't admit they enjoy each other's company and will cut you down if you suggest it as such. So far I've only written the quote "set-up" section which is in Phoenix's POV, but that was SUPPOSED to be like 5 paragraphs and cut away and then lead into my actual plan for the main body, which was to be in Franz's instead, so. This is very similar to the zombie one in that it's them watching reality tv instead of being contestants on a show (I don't personally like or watch a lot of reality tv so my creative well was somewhat dry on how to make that work) and then I accidentally thought about Phoenix and Franziska watching something just to judge and tear apart the decisions of every person on it and that was too fun to not consider further, haha. Basically the plan is just they get left alone together and don't know what to do with that and end up wine-drunk and making fun of some reality dating show of some kind and Miles and Trucy come back to them losing it together over something stupid and are like "......uh. what's happening." Fun Facts: I really love the thought experiment of Franziska somehow discovering how often Phoenix's internal dialogue/reads on situations and especially people can be So Bitchy And Judgey despite his affable complexion, and her unfortunately finding his opinions to SOMETIMES be somehow slightly okay. Moderately correct, even--occasionally. I know the section she follows you-as-Phoenix around in T&T is really not long at ALL, but I adore it. There's something about it that so badly makes me want to force them into proximity more (to both their chagrin, I'm sure).

7. Farm/Ranch - complete - 12k words ("Two Little Dickey Byrdes" link)

Gumshoe POV, gumbyrde (tho i still think dickeybyrde is a funnier ship name). 5+1 things--except more like maybe 7-or-8+1 to be honest--so it's more: over 5 times Dick and Maggey sit on a wall together and 1 time they find someone else there instead. AKA: Dick runs his family's small farm (think fantasy farm like in a farming sim or maybe horse girl novel type of thing that has nothing to do with what a real farm is like lol don't worry about it) and Maggey starts working at the next farm over as the latest of her many odd jobs. Fun Fact: oh god this one got so far away from me. it was not supposed to be this long lmao. it's literally the elaborate set-up to a very silly Nursery-Rhyme-I-Didn't-Even-Know-About-Prior-To-This -based punchline!?! still, i was pleasantly surprised by how happy i was with this once it was done... two sittings and about 16 total hours later. haha).

8. Nomad - incomplete (planned/outlined)

Apollo (or possibly Klavier) POV, klapollo. Sort of Jove-Thalassa swap adjacent, but basically: AU where Jove survives the Khura'in fire but loses his memories for [contrived convince sake reasons]. (And also possibly loses some or all of his eyesight just to really go for the parallels?) Therefore: Jove and Apollo stay with Dhurke and Nahyuta and the Defiant Dragons for a time, while Jove recovers, but eventually they leave and head out on their own, just the two of them, and do the traveling musician thing, both because it's dangerous in Khura'in and Dhurke already canonically didn't want Apollo to get caught up in it and potentially get hurt to begin with and because with a functioning actual parent Apollo doesn't need to be taken in by him--and also Jove from what little we know seems like he prefers to be on the move and was already a world traveler anyhow, so even amnesiac maybe he gets a little antsy stuck in one place too long. And so like amnesiac Thalassa, Jove thusly becoming a renowned mysterious musician--and then Apollo, sweet tone deaf Apollo, becoming the sonager of all time (like a momager but...you get it) because he's not that into music but he IS into arguing for better conditions/making deals (contracts!! international legalese!! woohoo!!) with venues and promoters and stuff. And then--oops dang Lamioir still exists and now they have a meet-cute (2 electric bugaloo) (but by then it's later enough Trucy still exists because it will be a cold day in hell when I don't find a way to make her work) and they do music collabs or join up to form a group or whatever and OOPS this means now that Apollo and Jove are with Lamioir when The Gavinners / Klavier specifically meet her and get her to come to do the Guitar's Serenade concert eventually. And Apollo and Klavier ofc thusly also have a meet-cute and then talk and bond etc etc. AND THEN the au STOPS THERE and I DON'T think about how without Apollo Phoenix is totally getting convicted of Zak's murder because there's no way that trial works out as well for him with some other attorney and I also don't think about how reasonable it would then be that maybe Trucy ends up helping Valant with his work setting up the trick for the concert afterward on account of the one father in prison and the other being dead and having left behind a notarized confession clearing Valant's name of suspicion, etc. AND I DEFINITELY do not think about how i could then still so easily get everyone in one place at the concert for Turnabout Serenade and/or any possible funny Sibling (And Thalassa) Reveal that could happen i dont i dont i do not--

9. Accidental Baby Acquisition - conceptualized (not started)

Gen, possibly my weakest / least defined idea on this list, but basically: Phoenix kind of already lives this in canon, lol (insomuch as an 8yo counts as a baby) so I thought, well, how to take it a different direction, then? And I thought, I don't usually go for a Phoenix Fey kind of au because I personally really love the relationships he has with all the Feys as-is in canon and so it's not quite as funny to me as, say, a Miles Fey AU where like Misty and Gregory are married, or any of the ones in that bent, because I'm sorry but that's just SO funny (and sad, but mostly funny) any way you slice it--plus his NAME is RIGHT THERE mia-miles-maya he FITS--anyhow, that completely aside, there are just a lot of reasons I really love the platonic relationships the Feys already have with Phoenix and I don't think it NEEDS to be made specifically familial to still be so very important, y'know? BUT. That said. AU where Phoenix is idk abandoned as a baby or maybe his parents die young or something and it's like a Thing to leave babies at temples or churches or whatever, right? So like--Phoenix adopted by the Feys AU but only because the more i considered it the more i thought it would be WILD for him to literally know Maya her entire life, and it's fascinating to me to consider a Maya who ISN'T basically left all alone to her own devices (and Morgan's) and who has someone absolutely in her corner in the village the entire time even after Mia leaves (who isn't a baby when Mia leaves, love you tho Pearls), AND also and perhaps more importantly, the ships-passing-in-the-night-ness of a scene where, like: Morgan does something sketchy or whatever and Phoenix wants to keep Mia updated but for whatever reason decides to go down to the city and actually tell her in person and so he's waiting outside the courthouse or something (possibly part of or perhaps Most Of the reason he goes in person is because he knows her first courtroom trial is that day and he wants to see her + hear how it went) and when he gets there she's in a heated argument with some asshole in a fancy over-embellished jacket and once that guy leaves Phoenix is like "Sheesh, what's his problem?" You know???? And maybe he really would never even know!!!! Bc he grew up in Kurain!!!! And has no reason to care!!! About some random prosecutor who was mean to Mia!! Aaaah!!! So that, and on top of that, Diego would be there too ofc at that point, and I feel like he would ALSO be quite a funny interaction in this scenario. ("Wow, someone's popular, kitten, you have all sorts of guys waiting on a chance to talk to you, heh?" "Uh.--I'm sorry, WHAT did you just call her")

10. Enemies-to-Allies - incomplete (currently 370 word WIP)

Ema POV, faraskye. Cyberpunk AU where Lana is still under Gant's thumb and Ema, with no other way to stay close to her and getting rejected from any of the sorts of jobs she really wants to do, decides to just join the security force (or cyber police or w/e I decide to call it) and is tasked with hunting down the Yatagarasu, guerilla hacker supreme who is threatening the sanctity of the capitalist overlords. Except Ema's squad gets ambushed and she's captured and tied to a pole, and with her useless fop partner seemingly not coming to rescue her (if he even noticed her absence), she does some quick cost-benefit analysis and decides she didn't really like that job anyway and maybe there's another way she can get her sister back in her life. So she breaks free of her own handcuffs (which she definitely didn't modify into incidental ineffectiveness she's still testing for bugs) and helps fix the "Little Thief" device her captor seems to have broken despite how obviously valuable and impressive the tech is, and they eventually come to something of an agreement. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and all that. Either Ema as the hardware-engineer one and Kay as the software-programming one as the two sides of the tech coin, or else Kay can just be like doing the physical sneaking kind of spy stuff only--or maybe she knows a little about software but not so much she's a pro the way she is with infiltration and such. Possibly toying with the idea Kay herself is just completely an android, but if not, I think she has some cybernetic cyborg things going on regardless. Possibly from or inspired by her father? I also like the idea that Gant did something maybe more drastic with regards to having dirt on Ema to get Lana to do his bidding--like maybe Ema has a whole cybernetic hand because instead of just her handprint on a leather jacket, Gant has some sicko jar with her entire hand in it in his office safe, or something. I don't know why this would be useful to him but it is certainly an image. I also find it funny if Miss Fingerprint Powder Enthusiast doesn't actually have any fingerprints of her own anymore somehow in this AU, lol.

11. Retail Worker - complete - 6.7k words ("The Bake Anything Boulangerie" link)

Apollo POV, gen. Phoenix gets a job at a bakery instead of the Borscht Bowl Club during the 7 year gap, and Apollo happens to stumble across it and ends up meeting the Wrights while he's still in high school. He becomes a regular at the bakery and is already close to them by the time "Shadi Smith's" murder comes around. And also, yes, sibling reveal right away--at least as soon as Phoenix realizes and can reveal it. As a treat. (Other reveals, though, I might put poor Apollo through on a delayed basis. Also as a treat, lmao, just not one for him.) Fun Fact: I'm being redundant bc this is also in my a/n, but, Baker Phoenix lives rent-free in my brain because Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright was in fact the very first Ace Attorney game I ever played, technically, and Maya and Phoenix semi-brainwashed in that bakery was literally one of my first impressions of them. ........followed immediately by starting a let's play of Justice for All (which i watched through the first case, after which I was like oKAY fine maybe i DO need more context here, i should probably figure out what the actual first game is, and went back to start the series properly at the beginning hahaha). What do you MEAN i have a disproportionate fascination with amnesiac Phoenix, even if I have yet to finish and publish one of my myriad AUs that utilize stupid, unrealistic, plot convenient re-temporary amnesia?? Hm???? Idk what you're talking about. Also everyone who complains about 2-1 is wrong lmao it's objectively (okay subjectively is what i'm saying yes BUT objectively) such a funny place to start without knowing broad plot strokes, it's great. I both knew so much and absolutely shit-all nothing about Maya after PLvPW and 2-1, LMAO. god.

12. Animagus Wings (Joker) - incomplete (planned/outlined)

Miles POV, wrightworth. Angel/Demon AU, except I'm playing super fast and loose with the rules on that because all my knowledge of Christian-mythos comes from firstly and unknowingly the Chronicles of Narnia and more recently and cognizantly Lucifer (Netflix) and Good Omens. I know that's probably more or less what we're all doing with this kind of AU but still, I'm not even sure I want to refer to Heaven and Hell here, I'm kinda on the fence about maybe just keeping it all very vague? I also accidentally semi-worldbuilt more than i intended incidentally on account of "But Then How-Why Names If Angelic Creatures?" Format-wise it would semi-follow gomens s1 where it's hopping through some meetings between long stretches but also a kind of pre- and post- Fall type of thing? And potentially à la Lucifer becoming, like, these are My Mortal Humans and i will be Spending Time With Them, screw you celestial duties, I'm making my own Free Will, etc. And i mean i guess Lucifer is also a crime procedural lmao maybe they still solve crimes in the end too. Fun Fact: I didn't want to do the original prompt for several reasons, and sure fuck jkr is one of them but even before I knew about her I still wasn't really the biggest hp person in the first place? So i wouldn't know/don't remember at all the way it works without having to do the specific research and i...don't want to haha. Hence. And I know the prompt seems to be using it loosely / might just be borrowing the word and not actually referencing hp specifically but tbh either way human-animal shifter things just in general I can be somewhat picky about haha. (Okay okay plus full disclosure the ONLY idea I have for this sort of thing actually ties into my day-3-dark-academia-extended-au-verse and i COULD make my life simpler by just connecting the two days but Heh who would I be if I simplified things for myself... *sigh*) All that to say: I saw "wings" on the wild card list and I thought, ooh, well that's still sort of a related concept! Let's tag that one in! So it's still kind of day 12 prompt-adjacent, if you squint.

13. Found Footage - incomplete (planned/outlined)

Video Transcript POV? Is that a thing? Possibly capped by a little Phoenix POV (but i don't want that to get too long), wrightworth. Larry's new girlfriend of the month bakes weed brownies and Larry does not realize this and swings by the Wrights' apartment to beg some kind of help off Phoenix and forgets the whole tray there somehow (because it's Larry) and they leave to deal with Larry's thing and by the time they figure the brownies out, in some twist of fate Miles and Trucy have been hanging out (last minute babysitter/adult supervision? but she's at the very very least 14 or 15 here and most likely older, and Nick clearly isn't the most strict about like uhhh supervision in general lol sooo idk. he's helping her with a project or smth. it doesn't really actually matter; he's THERE, that's the important thing.) The point I'm very clearly getting at is they accidentally get incredibly high (not dangerously so because I'm not going that far haha but also, neither of them has actually been high before, so they are Affected) before Phoenix finds out what was in the brownies and tries to warn Trucy and hurry home to like, dispose of them or at least put a warning label on them or whatever, but he is too late lol. By a lot. Definitely an underage drugs tag on this bad boy because it's definitely sometime 18-or-earlier for Trucy, let alone 21. (idk about other places but as a Californian I can tell you Japanifornia "LA" could theoretically have it legalized at 21 for anyone (like alcohol) and 18 with Dr's permission--which Trucy definitely does not have in this AU lol.) Basically, Phoenix grabs Trucy's phone to get photo evidence so he can let them never live this down (after making sure they're okay lmao), but he ofc doesn't get technology so he doesn't realize he leaves the phone still recording when Trucy asks him for something / needs his help, so the recording just keeps going and captures a lot of tomfoolery and eventually some inebriated-to-Extremely-sober Feelings-Adjacent confessions (or maybe more like allusions). Idk, this was actually a fic I thought of before August and wanted to use as an excuse to try a Weird Format for fun, but then i saw this was a prompt on the list and...well. Fun Fact: Cannabis was legalized in California on November 8, 2016 (the first election I could vote in!!! ......uh, rip. lol. but yeah babey I helped legalize weed at least!! gotta remember the positives), which means it was legal right in time for Miles' case(s) / Turnabout Goodbyes!!! Yay!! I mean, I suppose that's genuinely seriously one way to try to mitigate nightmares and manage insomnia--not that I think Miles Edgeworth would ever deign stoop so low as to use an aid to manage his severe PTSD and trauma symptoms, psshaw, who do you take him for? (Get these people some help lol. They all need so much therapy.)

14. Princes & Princesses - conceptualized (not started)

So I've been reading a lot (a LOT) of isekai and/or revenge reincarnation romance fantasy manhwas lately (like, oh, too many, hahaha. they're quite good and they're VERY popular in webcomics at the moment.) Soooo. Soft pitch: Apollo already gets slapped into so many wild backstories he's constantly trying to dodge in an effort to be just a Normal Guy, he's honestly, like, the PERFECT protagonist for one of these lmao. And tell me Kristoph doesn't make a perfect "Upstanding Duke" kind of persona, and Klavier couldn't be the "wild rake" younger brother no one expects much from, and all I'm saying is it wouldn't be that hard to contrive a reason Apollo tries to get Klavier to agree to a contract marriage the way all these stories go, lol. And also, something something, Apollo from the "real world" is an orphan/has an absent family (also like so many of these manhwa protagonists, lol) but then he gets to actually have one in his second life!! I'm such a sucker for that shit. Slightly harder pitch, and the reason I did not let myself actually start writing anything (...yet): so what if the actual plot of the "original romance novel" Apollo is familiar with from the "real world (Earth)" is actually about the slightly older generation and something something instead of admiring Phoenix as a defense attorney, it's just that he instead was Apollo's favorite "love interest" character (not, like, for himself, just the one he most liked to read about) in every way except what a blithering idiot he became when the author had him fall for the female lead--but BEFORE that, he's a cool information guild leader guy who seems like he's trying to work toward some way to improve conditions for commoners in the kingdom (but abruptly there are no more mentions of this after he gets involved with the lead, which is annoying). Aaaand... I guess what I'm saying is, Dahlia is the original female lead because she REALLY fits the whole White Lotus trope, and I'm thinking Klavier is the original male lead because A) hilarious, B) fits in with the idea there's more going on in the ACTUAL world Apollo ends up in that is written in such a way as to make things seem different in the novel (like, that Dahlia and Klavier are actually as nice as they seem and that the terrible things that happen around them are just the trials and tribulations of being main characters and not anything they're directly involved in). And Apollo, the character in the novel Apollo, is an adopted prince of Khura'in, but he's the sickly younger prince and of course not actually of the royal bloodline (and also a man, considering Khura'in is matrilineal), so Rayfa and Nahyuta are the ones the public and other nobles actually know and care about and deal with. But wait! As it so turns out, The Wright Anything Information Guild (I feel like the actual guild name CAN'T have their freaking name on it front and center lol but you get the idea) happens to know some other things that aren't really expanded on in the original novel, and might be key to preventing Apollo's death so he doesn't follow the path of the original story, and also idk maybe Apollo and Trucy are half-fae or something like that and instead of like Aw Yay Bracelet in this AU it's more of a secret Iron Shackle Tool That Will Hurt I Mean Totally-Definitely-Help Us Later (still, in a way, passed down to him by Thalassa, but more as, like... she's kind of a secret hostage and does not manage to hide pregnancy number one so Apollo's now also a secret hostage, but she manages to escape so they don't know about Trucy, only she didn't tell Apollo basically anything to "keep him as safe as possible" or w/e, and......) Well, anyway. It got away from me before I even really wrote anything, that's all.

15. Secretly Alien - unfinished (currently 2.6k WIP)

Trucy POV, gen. Apollo gets sick of very consistently always losing the card games they play at the Wright Anything Agency (usually and in the specific instance the fic starts, Bullshit/BS) and in a stroke of inspiration somehow ropes everyone into playing Among Us instead. ("What! It's still a game of trying to lie/trick everyone else--like you like!--but I actually stand a freaking chance, so we're playing this or I'm going home.") Yes. This is my Among Us AU. Hi. They play Among Us. I'm justifying this one as prime AU territory however because A) Among Us has to exist in this universe, and even more pressingly, B) I found a way to force Phoenix to have--for at least a period of time if not moving forward in perpetuity--an actual smartphone instead of a Nokia-type brick cellphone. Which even under the wild but somehow plausible considering Ace Attorney circumstances I contrived, is just automatically a complete AU lmao. Fun Fact: I am so mad this one wasn't just totally finished day-of, lol. Why I ever thought I could give myself run of an entire WAA 4-person conversation and NOT get instantly derailed is beyond me. (And I want to get the prosecutors there, too?? Someone take the characters away from me.) Anyway. No, I have not written ANY of the actual Among Us part yet. Sigh. Also I haven't personally played amogus since like, 2021? maybe? And I know (now) that it's been pretty updated since then, but, ehhh, I'm just gonna run off like, lockdown-era amogus rules and vibes, lol. If I can get to the game part.

16 - Hobby Drama - conceptualized

I'm going to go out of order this time to say: Fun Fact: I have ALWAYS wanted to write a Reddit-style fic!!! I absolutely love them and I've read some REALLY, really good ones, so I've always wanted to try my hand at it. So theoretically this is the perfect time to make that a reality and write a r/HobbyDrama subreddit fic, buuut I got stuck before starting because I'm torn on two possible routes to take it (I can easily foresee myself caving and just doing both lol). - Option 1: Steel Samurai fandom discourse, always a fun/funny thing to think about, definitely would enjoy having Maya and Miles post some stuff for that. - Option 2: courtroom law fandom discourse, because come ON, how are those galleries ALWAYS SO FULL. The little wiggling rabba-rabba onlookers have GOT to have investment in this shit. And why WOULDN'T they, honestly. I've seen those trials and I have, in fact, spent a Lot of time thinking about them, not that any posts I've made lately would reflect that in any way or anything. Like I know it's hard to tell, but if I can be invested in the Lawyers Fandom, who's to say the people in the courtrooms aren't????? And I LOVE an outsider POV fic actually, I think they're so fun. So anyway. Reddit fic. You will be mine. Just as soon as I can hone my energy

And, what the hell, since it's so late now by the time I complete this "Heh This'll Be So Quick To Throw Together" post, I'll include today's, too:

17 - Flower Shop - conceptualized (at work earlier today. lol)

AU where Daddy Hawthorne is like, 97% less shitty. And the Hawthornes have a flower shop instead of like a gemstone industry or whatever. And he takes both Dahlia and Iris with him instead of dumping one of his daughters at a fucking secluded mountain temple and seemingly forgetting about her forever. On second thought, maybe what I actually mean is he's like 999% less shitty, lmfao. Anyway, Iris POV, but Dahlia (while not a "nice" person by any stretch) is not pushed to such extremes or nearly as desperate as canon, so Valerie lives, Terry Fawles lives, Doug Swallow lives, and Dahlia gets to live a good life overall--because as much fun as I love using her as a villain, she's really such a product of the absolute worst circumstances and I really do find her interesting so I've been kind of wanting to explore her in a less cartoonishly evil light, haha. (Don't get me wrong, I do love the cartoonishly evil light too, but I like spicing things up sometimes.) Like, she does (more) normal teen rebellion things ("Look at my inappropriately older boyfriend, Dad" "I'm going to talk my way out of speeding tickets and petty shoplifting as a bid for attention" etc.) and she still totally orders Iris around and Iris still totally does whatever she asks very much to her own detriment and has to learn to break away and be her own person. Fun Fact: I have a very passionate love for Iris/Adrian Andrews. Is that. Um. Is that a ship anyone else has ever considered before? Is that just me? I'm not sure but very possibly I'll just make this a rarepair fic as a treat, for me alone, teehee. (Like... it's about the becoming the master of your own destiny it's about breaking out of codependent cycles it's about how I genuinely honestly think they'd be each other's type and have chemistry even though they've obviously never interacted lmao... idk what to tell you.)

AND THATS MY AU-GUST UPDATE POST!!!

If you made it this far, take a sprinkle of my undying affection, and may you be blessed with AU inspiration if you so desire it!! (If you do not desire it, hopefully you are not cursed with it. I do not take refunds if you are. Sorry.)

Wish me luck with completing some more fics soon!!! Unfortunately weekends are actually my least free time because I work the most and the earliest hours so I have less time and am more tired, but also on Wednesday I'm leaving for a family vacation, which will either be the BEST thing to happen in regards to AU-gust or the WORST thing lmfao. If nothing else I have 2 flights, and I actually Love writing on an airplane, so fingers crossed for it being Good. <3

EDIT: Now with part 2 for the rest of the month here!

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

barely comprehensible ramblings under the cut, also spoilers for dune messiah

Figuring out in my head (with close to zero knowledge about nuclear physics & i'm too scared to research it because it scares me, your girl couldn't even watch Oppenheimer ok) how the stone burner in Dune Messiah works/what the hell it is. This likely will not make any actual sense, science side of tumblr please don't eat me.

What we actually know about it. 1) it's a weapon "powered by atomics" (what?) that is somehow barely legal within the in-universe laws surrounding atomic weapons 2) it "emits J-rays" (wikipedia did not elaborate) 3) it has just enough power to fuck up eye tissue of anyone in the vicinity but not enough to destroy skin, bones etc. The explosion itself like, levels an entire block of buildings though so there's that. Also, if "given too much fuel" it can also destroy an entire planet?

What we/I can infer from Dune: Messiah. 1) It's portable and at least somewhat concealable, or else the Tleilaxu not checking spelling on that i'm tired wouldn't have been able to sneak it into the city correct? 2) there are different "settings" or at least different fueling levels that can alter the level of destruction

What I'm not at all clear on: 1)what it actually looks like?? I have zero idea what I'm supposed to be picturing 2) how it's activated. Is it like a firework where someone's gotta run in and light it and then back the fuck away? is it remote controlled? is it a missile? no clue 3) similarly just...how it works?? clearly there's some kind of nuclear reaction going on but there seem to be suggestions that something external is going on too...once again I know Nothing about atomic weapons in our own world let alone this fictional sci-fi one but. it feels like it doesn't make a lot of sense ya know.

And honestly...it doesn't matter that much? I joke but I really don't mind that it's this sort of weird mysterious thing that isn't fully explained in the text. But I remain a very visual person, and it bugs me that I don't know what I'm supposed to be imagining. Also, I wonder how the hell they're going to depict it in the third film, assuming they do so, because while being deliberately vague about a piece of Weird technology can work in a book...in a visual medium that's a lot trickier.

(I've more recently wondered if Denis won't actually have a stone burner be a thing at all...while I'm convinced that, no matter how far from the book they might stray, they'll stick with Paul going blind, I almost wonder if they'll have it happen in a way that's similar but easier to explain just to get rid of the uncertainty around the tech?? Though I hope not bc I want to see what he comes up with)

So my conceptulization of it in my head as I was reading it, was like. Not something that probably makes any sense but I thought it was a cool visual and so tried to rationalize it??

I imagined something of a cross between a firework and a gas camping stove. Bear with me. I pictured something sort of tube-like in shape and a couple feet tall that houses...something radioactive. The "J rays" are the radiation that's released prior to the explosion itself and are somehow "inactive"/somewhat benign to begin with. Then then some kind of "spark" is set off remotely, and ignites at the top of the "radiation bubble", causing a chain reaction of ignition that "activates" the bubble and causes an explosion that remains within the specific radius and also causes the radiation to become dangerous.

So we have the hissing sound of the radiation "leaking" before the explosion, followed by the visual of the ignition spark rising slowly into the air and then sort of exploding downwards. Sort of like a weird firework. I am aware this is not at all how atomic weapons work.

@fuckyeahisawthat coming back to tag u in whatever the hell this is...

[sanityshorror]

the julius redraw of my beloved patrick led to julius becoming my other beloved. they're both so.....😍*chef's kiss* 💋could you please write a scenario about these two pretty boy psychos meeting each other for the first time? thank you❤️

Awe thank you so much, I'm glad you love Julius! I put so much work into him and I'm working on soooo many projects about him 👀 As for the scenario, I apologize but I really don't have time and I don't write fanfiction involving my own characters (I created Julius, to be clear; he's my character 😭) BUT I can tell you my silly HCs of if somehow their different universes collided and they met!

Given Patrick's personality and knowing Julius' like the back of my hand, unfortunately I do not see any sort of friendship ever forming between the two. Neither of the men are prone to form a genuine bond with anyone. Now, I can confirm that there are a few exceptions for Julius but it's very, very, very few. As for Patrick, it's up to one's interpretation of if he can/does form a true bond, I personally interpret him to be similar to Julius: no, with extremely rare exceptions.

While I do not see a genuine bond being able to form between the two, I absolutely do see them both as having a mutually beneficial fake-friendship. They're both east coast, coked up, sex addicted, rich white men who lead double/multiple lives and are deceptive as all hell. They both are also very obsessive over image, appearance and social status/perception. Now what I absolutely do believe would happen is Patrick forming an obsessive infatuation but intense jealousy towards Julius due to multiple reasons.

I'll explain:

Julius was born in a working class family during the Victorian era who immigrated to America and became a mainly self made multi-billionaire (being married to the Boss of the Boston Irish Mob brings in a lot of money on top of his own very successful business). Patrick on the other hand, despite being born into wealth still doesn't hold a candle to Julius' riches. Patrick may own a Manhattan penthouse but Julius could buy the entire building if he wanted to, and without batting an eye at the price tag given the multi-millions that roll in weekly for him.

That brings me to another reason: sheer status and power. Julius is so elite that brand names mean nothing to him and he sees brand names as something for the poor. Julius owns a very popular, top of the line, extremely expensive dress shop and boutique. Everything is hand made by him (he doesn't even use sewing machines), one of a kind and the man is talented. His shop is so revered you need an appointment just to get in and people will save up for years and fly across the country, even across the ocean to get a dress. (Of course, only the lucky actually leave the shop....) Basically, Julius' wealth and god like status (he can literally have anything he wants, whenever he wants and gets endless attention) is something Patrick would, though be very jealous of, lead Patrick to suck up to Julius. Our boy Patrick would set his homophobia aside in a second if it meant being seen going into Doherty's Dress Shop without needing an appointment.

Julius would look down on Patrick. He would find him annoying and pathetic. However Julius loves attention and loves people sucking up to him (and loves cocaine-murder buddies) so he probably wouldn't kill Patrick as long as Patrick played his cards right and didn't challenge him. I see Julius using Patrick as a verbal punching bag and forcing him to smuggle drugs and traffic humans and other shit, and probably also just make him do degrading things like "I'll let you enter my store wherever you want if you suck my boot until you jizz in your pants hahahaha nasty bitch" just for shits and giggles. And Patrick probably would because oh that sweet sweet sweet status.

Julius also would make fun of Patrick for being 'short and fat'. Patrick is said to be 6'0 and 190lbs whereas Julius, who is anorexic, stands at 6'5 (in the human leather boots he always wears, he's 6'2 without them) and horrific mere 135lbs (please seek help if you struggle with eating, you deserve it/gen). I think they would both feed into each other's body issues and obsession with perfection.

It would be interesting to see them meet, I must admit that lol.

[susandsnell]

for the character asks - 2 for sue snell and 4 for armand!

thanks so much nixe dear!!! hope your day was good!!

Character Ask Game!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character? - Sue Snell

It's so hard to pick one thing I love the most about her, so I'll pick the fact that she published her own book about the events of the prom, My Name is Susan Snell. There's so much to be said in horror fiction (and, more broadly, gothic fiction) about the role of the archivist, the narrator, the messenger; the survivor who acted as witness, who brings us the tale, and how their agenda and emotional realities colour the way they tell it.

Sue is, for all intents and purposes, the Final Girl of Carrie while also being the unwitting instigator of the latter reaching Killer status. As a bully, she was her monster's monster, partaking in the incident that would precipitate Carrie's descent into villainy. But crueler still, it's her attempts to atone and go from stepsister to fairy godmother that set the final tragedy in motion. In any version, the compassion and regret Sue feels turns to love and an ironclad will to do right by Carrie -- but no good deed goes unpunished. Sue is put through nine circles of hell. Everyone she knows except her immediate family -- her teachers, her boyfriend, her soulmate, her friends both current and former -- are dead, and she was powerless to stop it. In the 76 movie, she's left as we leave many final girls - screaming, howling spectres of the trauma they've absorbed. In the musical and the book, she's the scapegoat interrogated by police and committee, forced to identify Carrie's body before given proper medical help.

And the existence of the book turns so much of that on its head. She's taking back the narrative into her own hands to communicate the truth of what happened, to reinterrogate her own experience and to honour the memory of her dead, not as heroes or villains, but as humans. She willingly plunges back into hell itself and then brings that hell to the public eye, to communicate the truth, and hopefully, gain peace and closure through disclosure. (And maybe help some other tragic telepaths along the way, we don't know and that sequel is not canon to me.) Less than 10 years after the fact, Sue is the messenger on her own behalf and on the behalf of all those who aren't there, admitting her sins and contextualizing those of others. I know the excerpts from the book say she will be "thinking until she dies", because there's no leaving what happens to her behind, but as messenger, she doesn't simply evoke the memory of the prom, she shapes the status it will hold in the public's consciousness. Sue's nightmare is compounded by the fact that her greatest suffering is in the hands of the public to judge and understand as they will, but through her telling, she is grabbing it back and giving it the shape and status that only one who lived it can; she is the witness to the horrors demanding in turn that the world be her witness. It's in the title: My Name Is Susan Snell. (A parallel to all that's made of knowing Carrie's name?) A whole, complete person with her own voice, and not the villain or victim you'd have her be.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in? - The Vampire Armand

Oh, here's a fun one! I'm actually working on a top-secret AMC!verse crossover with a friend (can't give away much, but it's with Tanz Der Vampire), but I will talk about other possible media I'd like to see him in. Honestly, the gremlin would do just about great in most psychosexual horrors you put him in; the biggest no-brainer for me would be that he'd absolutely rock it as a Cenobite in the Hellraiser universe, since we know that even if he never wanted the leadership role in the coven/cult, he does manage solidly well for centuries, adaptive-yet-stagnant as he is. He would probably take great enjoyment in the entire mindfuckery-aspect of corrupting someone, reshaping their will, and exploring the intersections of agony and desire in the process; it might even be something that would benefit him in a twisted way, given that it normalizes what the crux of his suffering is with respect to the ways his relationship to pleasure and trauma are so tightly intertwined. (I also think Armand could totally, easily Saltburn someone, but I don't think he'd keep the same ending; there's no way he'd want to be alone in a big house like that!)

On a completely different note, I think he'd do well in a Moulin Rouge or Sucker Punch style backstage drama films or stage musicals (hell, even Phantom of the Opera?), especially since Sucker Punch involves a lot of reality-bending and the director's cut directly has seduction to accepting one's death as a comfort. He's a theatre kid and a snippy, exacting director at that. I'd love to just watch him occasionally throw around his breathtaking elder-vampire powers when push comes to shove with the drama and tension and potential patrons/investors, but not half as much as I want to watch him get overly invested in micromanaging stage productions of increasingly questionable quality. Put Armand in The Producers or Something Rotten. I want to hear his Andrew Lloyd Webber takes.

Or -- just throw him into Derry Girls. I think if anyone could outwit him to his defeat and then befriend the guy, thus kickstarting the world's most bizarre redemption (?) arc, it'd be them.

Thanks so much for this! <3

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I know they're not strongly characterized in the books, but what if Twilight starts with Phil and Renee coming along to little old Forks (just for a few months, weeks, just to help Bella settle)

Oof, thinking about this... Charlie is in hell, isn't he?

"I want to punish Charlie and Bella" - Anon

Why Didn't They Do This?

Well, first, we obviously had Phil being on the road which was the entire problem. Bella left feeling she was getting in the way of the relationship as her mother couldn't travel with Phil.

Phil can't take time off to help his stepdaughter move even if he wanted to.

As for Renee, that one's a much larger mystery except that it is Renee, who seems to be very self-centered.

I imagine it comes down to Renee doesn't want to go to Forks. She hates Forks, a lot, and has been telling her daughter for years how much she hates Forks (such that Bella hates it so much she all but stops interacting with her father for eight years).

Add onto Forks being Forks but Renee having a reputation as the police chief's runaway bride and Renee will never, ever, set foot in that town again unless she has to (i.e. Bella getting married later in the series).

Add onto that helping Bella, who just rejected Renee (as Renee doesn't know why Bella's suddenly leaving to live with her father she barely knows), move in with Charlie just after Renee's gotten remarried?

Feeling slighted by Bella, assuming Bella's hating her for marrying such a younger man, Renee doesn't approve of this decision and will not help Bella any more than necessary to do this.

Bella wants to leave, fine, she can see how much fun Charlie is and then come home.

Renee Shows Up

Given the entire premise of Twilight, we can't have Phil show up without it making no damn sense. So it's just Renee for a little bit.

Both Bella and Charlie are in Hell.

This is the universe where Renee decides to come with so she can passive aggressively let out her rage at everyone. Here, Bella, I'll help you move in. Wow, Charlie sure sucks at decorating, doesn't he? Oh man, look how gloomy and small and boring this town is Bella. Are you sure you don't want to be in sunny, populous, Phoenix?

Oh, boys are interested in you Bella, too bad they're all going to be stuck in this dead end town forever.

Oh don't mind your dad, Bella, he doesn't know how to talk to people.

Canon proceeds as usual, the only difference is that Renee is there trying to badger Bella into coming home. I imagine if she gets a chance she tries to strong arm Edward into dumping Bella so she's not stuck in Forks.

Edward misreads this and thinks Renee is very astute in knowing Edward's no good for her.

In all likelihood though, Bella probably doesn't make it a week, and returns home downtrodden with Renee and Edward is told when he returned that Bella moved back to Phoenix.

The rest of the book is his trying and failing to resist the urge to hunt her down in Phoenix. However, because he's Edward and he can't track, he doesn't find her in a populous city.

[fitzrove]

11. Are there any tropes that you particularly enjoy writing?

12. Are there any clichés or tropes that you actively avoid in your fics?

19. What's the most unusual or unique setting you've used?

34. Are there any fic writing tips or tricks you've learned along the way that you'd like to share?

(All for the fanfic writer ask :D)

(Sorry for taking so long to get to these - thank you so much for asking :D)

11. Are there any tropes that you particularly enjoy writing?

Hmmmmmm does bdsm count hmmm... In terms of language it's probably extended metaphors (like animal motifs and stuff, but ones that go overboard and subvert stuff, ie. it's not enough for someone to be dove-like, I'll describe a character as dove-like and then go into detail about how they would, given the opportunity, nonchalantly and seemingly aimlessly circle a piece of bread before quickly grabbing it and running for the hills). I tend to like things being/becoming just slightly off-kilter or messed up in some way (but not markedly!) and having that drive the narrative. All of my pov characters tend to be very clever and aware of it in a cocky yet sometimes self-deprecating way and idk how to stop writing that kind of narrator (it's a good vehicle for humor and levity, which I often feel like needs to be included to balance things out so it's not all darkness and despair lol).

12. Are there any clichés or tropes that you actively avoid in your fics?

Yes, many :D I dislike a lot of fanfiction cliches (in terms of repetitive phrases/descriptors), like orbs and toeing off shoes - and, admittedly, tongues battling for dominance. I also try not to write 'banter' in a cliched or annoying way, because that's not how people talk in real life - I try to make it seem natural.

As for larger tropes: this deals with Elisabeth fic and is potentially controversial because religion lmao, but I'm not a fan of a moralistic afterlife canonically existing in the universe of a fic. In one fic I read Rudolf went to hell (ish) and I just don't have time to unpack all that XD

In general I don't like, I guess, "protagonist-centered morality", like when characters are catty about other characters and the narrative seems to agree with them and karmically punish people that the protagonist/s find/s annoying? So in writing non-POV characters, I try to really consider their perspective and remember that they are also entire people with rich inner lives, fears, goals and ambitions. It's kinda hard sometimes but I think it makes for better fic (and yes I am taking my fic very seriously lol)

19. What's the most unusual or unique setting you've used?

The Cat Returns AU. Where there's a Cat Kingdom that just canonically exists parallel to Habsburg Empire times lmao

34. Are there any fic writing tips or tricks you've learned along the way that you'd like to share?

Hmm... I think that non-POV characters tip I mentioned is really good. Conversely, I'm the worst person to ask for productivity tips, because my entire life I've done a lot of stuff at the last possible minute and gotten away with it shdfghfhhg, which doesn't always spell that well for fic writing when it's a voluntary hobby.

[twinkrundgren]

been thinking about the hell show and i think i've finally like, got some good ideas on how to write a comprehensive critique. i want to write it as someone who wants to understand why people like it, why people are willing to look past so much around the shows and even in the shows and enjoy the show.

part of it i think is that people want to see deviantart OCs be legtimiatized in a professional setting, and you know what, yeah, me too. i don't think theres anything wrong with trying to tell a real story with your childhood OCs, i think that's actually pretty cool, but you need to back it up with good storytelling, which hazbin is unable to do so.

from what i know, half the story behind hazbin and helluva boss are given through old comics and livestreams. to understand hazbin hotel, to really evaluate it as a complete work, you need to be a super fan. you need to read all the extra material and watch all the directors cuts to understand it. because the story itself is just a bunch of *ideas* that would be really cool to see happen, but due to her abysmal storytelling ability, the best parts of the show are instead relegated to just being told they happen or worse, merely implied, like angel dust turning his life around due to husk's influence.

I'm told people really see angel dust and husk as a couple, but to me, they only see it because the show is forcing it. Some things can be excused due to the 8 episode limit, but the 8 episodes spend way too much time trying to traverse a huge plot point that could NEVER have been developed in 8 episodes. It's 0 to 100 so quickly and characters that we're supposed to empathize with are relegated to a single episode, if not less, of actual character development, and the rest is either wasted by events happening with no buildup or foreshadowing. Like, why did we get a whole episode dedicated to Alastor taunting Lucifer over being a surrogate father to her (which he never did except in this episode) and way too much time dedicated to seeing Vox spy and hate on Alastor only for him to not even do anything about it? (And no, sending Sir Pentious to spy for him doesn't count. that gets resolved as soon as they find out. Vox is just a guy who gets mad that things happen in the only other times he appears.)

The best episode is also the one people freaked out about for being storyboarded by a reprehensible person. And you know what, fair. But watching the episode itself, I found myself empathizing with Angel Dust and seeing what is probably the most complex and deep character in this entire universe probably, and if that came out of someone with a rape fetish... damn son.

every hazbin fan i've talked to have seen my ideas for actually writing the themes vivzie wants to tackle as a huge improvement. maybe i'll write them out sometime but the one thing is that I think season 1 should have just been about something way lower stakes and sir pentious relegated as a pathetic recurring villain ala Jack Spicer before he finally joins the Hazbin Hotel. The clash with Heaven should just have been a time limit that haunts all the characters, with Charlie at least rehabilitating Sir Pentious and Angel Dust *properly* before asking what Heaven thinks is worthy of redemption. God, I can see it now how funny an episode would be of these characters trying to do good samaritan things like walking a granny across the street in *Hell*.

Theres so much you can do with these characters, and I think fans of the series see it... but they are entirely willing to take vivzie at her word that these characters have depth and these stories are epic and deep without any actual substance behind it. i can almost feel it too, which is why i'm so willing to want to go and rewrite it to actually be good. I actually *like* Angel Dust and I'm willing to overlook the overdesigned scene ocs.

I can almost see the show like a fan would, but above all I can say that the show does *not* give you the tools and substance to convince anyone but someone who wants to believe it's good.

[llycaons]

ep43 (2/3): the most beautiful and emotionally evocative scene ever shot in the snow

there she is :( arguments about her consent to being married and t being imprisoned for her entire life aside, she doesn't wear a headband. I wonder how she felt to see her sons wear it

of course he did 🥺 mama's boy

I love lqr but he has no idea how to talk to children about death. useless idiot piece of crap guardian. your child is kneeling IN THE SNOW. don't reprimand him, EXPLAIN

but he's holding hands with lxc 🥺 anyway this imagery kills me

yeah this little moment makes me inordinately fond of lqr even though it's like the bare minimum and also not even that. I guess I didn't expect him to even do this

and THIS line? oof, what a powerful mental image. what powerful symbolism. I wish they'd been able to incorporate it into the show, but rest assured the fics have it covered.

...though not as thoroughly as you'd think

another piece of information that's given long after the fact, but still slots into what we know and enhances the character

I will complain about lwj being underdeveloped but through this episode alone it's clear that he's not poorly written. his backstory, choices, and role in the narrative all make sense, are really interesting and powerful, carry tremendous weight, and are endlessly compelling. I mean, if you like him. obviously. but he has a short yet rich personal history that provides perfect explanations for why he is the way he is, and his character development springboards off of his initial personality, values, and motivations. it's narrow in scope, but quite deep, which is a hell of a lot more than hua cheng got

people laughed at lxc for playing flute 'at awkward moments' but that is so rude and insensitive. he was playing a mourning song for his mother. idiots

this line confuses me a bit. doesn't lxc know how passionate and messy lwj is? does he really think his brother is icy after knowing him his entire life? maybe he's just commenting on how different people view lwj differently

ah the classic <3 wwx should probably drink less but I think if you told him to give up emperor's smile in any universe he's start crying. it's symbolic now

this scene hit me SO hard. lwj with his hair down all informal. wwx, now more aware of how much lwj has given up for him and how deeply he trusts him, coming in slowly to this domestic scene. he's blurry, his back is t the camera. he's the unknown element in a quiet and peaceful scene. and he enters warily, like a wild animal, which is funny because he's been less openly cautious in the past when he has less reason to trust lwj

I guess now...being that deeply trusted and cared for is intimidating. and wwx isn't very good with sincerity or vulnerability. it's easy to imagine his earlier carelessness was hiding a readiness to cut and run at any time, back when he wasn't sure what lwj was doing or why. but now....but now

well, he's still shy

this scene is so nice and peaceful. lwj pouring drinks, handing them over to wwx. really simple and comforting. wwx hasn't had a home in so long. that got me choked up. with what happened at koi tower and what he's just learned, it's sinking in. he's starting to really trust. and that's hard for someone with his history! I'm really proud of him!

literally some of the most gorgeous shots in the show. there's talking about his past, exploring it, what he wants to do moving forward

his bitterness, his rejection of the rest of the world. his loneliness and isolation

THIS shot. this is my favorite in the entire series. legendary. wwx on his own out in the cold, distancing himself once again, lwj staying behind near the shelter but not leaving him

sideways allusion to the novel canon, where he WAS responsible for all of that?

also a post I remember pointed out that he lowered the jar of ES after hearing wuji start, and they claimed like wwx stopped drinking so much bc he heard wuji, but that wasn't what happened. he had already taken a sip and he didn't stop at any point during this scene

lwj playing wuji again, telling him he's trusted, that lwj will always be with him, that there's a safe and warm shelter for him, that he's loved. and he doesn't go in quite yet. he still has some thinking to do. he didn't have much time, back in his old life. he avoided things that might have hurt him. he kept running

and that's why it's so rewarding to see him sit down and acknowledge his hurt, and his isolation. something something you don't realize how bad something is until you're relieved of it. now that he's in a safe place, wwx is able to process some of those feelings. maybe break down over them, though he doesn't in this scene. it's a start

I really love this entire scene, not just for being visially stunning and for allowing wwx a tiny bit of processing, but because it presents yet another microcosm of wwx and lwj's dynamic postcanon. wwx wary, wandering, exploring his feelings. lwj steady and warm and welcoming, keeping a place at the table for him when he's ready to come in, and reminding him he's still cared for. it's beautiful. it's exactly the kind of support I love about the relationship

oh yeah and the soulmate telepathy that never got explained

yesss they said soulmate!!!!

this line does confuse me a bit. I assume that lwj trusting in wwx = wwx having that clear conscience bc he trusts lwj to judge righteously, but in that case why is lwj the one to deliver this line?

his I'm sorry and thank you is very nice and I treasure it dearly, but almost nicer is this smile from him. just so much fondness and warmth in it. I wouldn't call it bedroom eyes, but I can tell why people do

we can very vaguely can see wwx doing SOMETHING as the camera pans away and it probably is him untying his sash or taking off his robe because I don't know what else would cause such a flurry of black material. again I don't think they did anything more this night (their dynamic is exactly the same the next morning, for one) but I can appreciate why people think they did

and on to part three! YOU KNOW WHO'S COMING!!!

[fayesdiary]

Well, the people have spoken

@felikatze @loregoddess

If I have to sum up this AU in a single phrase it would be "Claude and the gang forces all of Fòdlan to go through character development".

In typical Persona 5 fashion you'd steal the distorted desires of various antagonists and characters to change their heart, which let's be honest, in this case it'd mainly be used as the kickstarter for therapy. So ironically it'd be preventing several chapters in the original 3H from occurring, like for example stealing Lonato's heart before he sends several civilians to their doom.

And given I'm having Ashe be one if not the first to join the Phantom Thieves, while he doesn't have to watch his adoptive father die he has to hear from the man's Shadow he never truly loved he or his siblings and only adopted them to fill the void left behind by his "true" son. You know, because the poor boy always has to go through it.

Basically, it's Claude against the world, fighting the other house leaders, the Church (goddess don't even get me started on Rhea's Palace it's driving me crazy with ideas), the Agarthans, even the greed itself that caused most of the tragedies in Fòdlan while we're at it. Could even throw in Byleth as a bonus. All of this with zero killing involved but slightly questionable, which is exactly Claude's thing.

Anyway, here's my idea on who would be part of the Phantom Thieves of Fòdlan:

Claude - I mean, he fits too well as the leader. He's well-meaning, a pacifist but absolutely willing to use unconventional methods to get his way (the non-lethal poisons) and also the strategist and kind of a little shit (affectionate). Hell I think one of his Heroes versions is even referred as The Trickster!

(starting affinity: Wind)

Ashe - As I said before, he'd join during Lonato's arc. He had a past in thievery so he could be the one to craft the infiltration tools, he'd definitely be into it, and also he probably gets shit in-universe for being the adoptive son of a noble. Also his Persona would be Loog, no question.

(Affinity: Ice)

Felix - Joins during Dimitri's Palace to change his heart, of course. Given his apparent skill at tactics and absolute disdain for Faerghus society he'd be a great analyst. Who knows when he is with like-minded people he might even stop being an entire cactus in the ass

(Affinity: Thunder)

Marianne - ok I'll admit, it's mainly because of several people including herself viewing her as cursed. And if everyone's going to treat her like a beast, well... You might as well go a little wild.

(Affinity: Curse)

Dorothea - Mainly here because of the great interactions she could provide in Rhea and Edelgard's Palaces, but also with the whole thing about beauty standards and classism.

(Affinity: Fire)

Petra - Again, mainly due to her unenviable political position. Also I feel she'd be a great navigator for some reason.

I don't know who the second Golden Deer member could be, my ideas where Raphael (funny because he'd suck at stealth), Ignatz (Yusuke stand-in) of Lorenz (funny because he's Lorenz). Any case, the affinity would be Psy.

Flayn- The one Nabatean who barely hides herself, a pacifist through and through and a goldmine of great and funny interactions, especially at Rhea's Palace!

Also her Persona HAS to be Cethleann.

(Affinity: Bless)

Cyril- I'll be honest, he's mainly here so he can be in Rhea's Palace. But also given the constant racism he faces for being black Almyran, he'd definitely have a place to fit in the PTs.

(Affinity: Wind)

Kronya - ok ok, hear me out. If we do want to include a traitor even in this version of the Phantom Thieves, she's the one who has to join, mainly for the Agarthan rep. Maybe she'd forcefully join them as Monica only to then go and kill Jeralt, and then joining for real during Thales' Palace having reconsidered a few things after getting almost murdered and sacrificed for a dark ritual by her colleagues. She's pretty much a blank slate in terms of characterization, so...

(Affinity: Nuke)

Please send me more asks about this! I I really want to talk about the Palaces and their rulers 👀

Been chatting with a couple of friends and came up with the idea of a Persona 5 AU for Three Houses where Claude is the founder and leader of the Phantom Thieves, would you be interested in hearing more?

(To be clear the setting and characters would be exclusively from 3H, although it would include the Metaverse, Palaces and Persona like in P5)

[johnkrrasinski]

started from a call

full masterlist

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x female!reader

Word count: 3,610

Warning: angst with a happy ending! that's all.

Summary: written for @wkemeup's 9k writing challenge with the prompt "character a leaves an embarrassing, drunk message on character b’s voicemail and spends the rest of the night trying to discreetly delete it from [b]’s phone." inspired by a bit of ross and rachel from friends too. you found out from steve that bucky was in love with you in high school but after he returns home with a girl in his arm, you cancelled your plans to tell him how you feel. will you and bucky have your happy ending?

a/n: please like, reblog and leave a feedback. :) enjoy!

"Alright, I'll see you tonight. Bye." He leaned against the kitchen counter and hung up the phone with a grin on his face. "You hear that, Sam? We're going on our third date tonight." He threw his phone up into the air and caught it so casually without spilling a drop of his coffee sitting on his right hand. "Looks like I'm getting that 300 bucks soon."

"Hey, easy. You ain't going to that date yet, who knows? She could bail on you. It doesn't count if the date doesn't end well."

"Oh, but it will. I just gotta turn on my charm and next thing you know, we're already meeting the parents stage."

"Meeting the parents? That's a big step from you, Buck."

"Hey, I'm a man of my words. If I said that I'm going to change this year then I'm gonna stick to it."

"So Leah isn't just a one-time thing to get 300 bucks?"

"Maybe yes, maybe no. We'll see how tonight goes. But one thing's for sure is that I'm getting that 300 bucks."

Sam and Bucky made a bet as their New Year's resolution that Bucky would never go on a second date with any girl or remember to call her in the morning after a wild night. His commitment issues had given him a reputation as the player in the gang. It wasn't a new thing anymore to anyone that when they visited Bucky's place in the morning, they would see a girl with a dopey smile and slightly ruffled hair walking out of his apartment, giddy that Bucky just made a promise to call her later.

You, Natasha, Wanda, Sam and Steve were hanging out at Nat's place. The six of you had been friends since college. You, Nat, Bucky and Steve had known each other since high school and the four of you kept in touch despite going to separate universities. You met Wanda when you went to NYU and Steve met Sam while he was in Harvard. Long story short, after the four of you graduated, you and Wanda lived together as roommates and even started your own bakery business. Steve and Bucky lived in the same building as you and Natasha and Sam lived nearly alone. They were too independent for roommates. Don't even start on Natasha and how much she valued her personal space. That's how the six of you ended up here, gathered at your place on a Saturday afternoon.

"Are you gonna pick her up tonight?"

"Of course. Gonna clean up well, bring her some flowers and knock on her door at 7 pm precisely. Which girl isn't gonna fall for that?" Bucky walked over to the couch you and Nat were sitting on and leaned on the headrest, his arms caging both you and Natasha.

You didn't say anything nor did Natasha because she knew about your feelings for Bucky. Despite never feeling that way about Bucky in high school, your feelings changed a week ago after learning that Bucky used to be in love with you but never had the courage to tell you. That's why he never had a girlfriend during his high school years and he wanted to take you to prom and confess his feelings to you but he was too late. Another guy had already snooped in first.

You were his first love but it wasn't reciprocated until now. That's why in college, he learned how to get over you and slept with as many women as possible because he felt like he lost four years of his life of finding the one. He never intended to be a player and feed girls empty promises, it just kind of became his way of dating. He was too afraid that no one could live up to you yet he enjoyed being with women. Hence, the bet.

The day you found out from Steve about Bucky's past feelings for you while playing truth or dare, you immediately wanted to call him up but Bucky was out of town for a few days and as soon as he was back home, he had Leah in his arm. Your heart was crushed. Wanda told you that it would probably last for a few days and that he'd eventually be single again but you totally did not expect this thing to turn into something serious. You loved Sam with every fibre of your being, he was like the big brother you never had, but you wanted to curse him for making that bet.

So you just rolled your eyes and stayed silent throughout this entire conversation, even though your heart felt like it was being stabbed over and over again. "Alright, I gotta go. Got a big date tonight. I'll see you guys in a few hours." Just like that, Bucky walked out of the room without knowing the pain his words caused you.

The next day you were sitting in your bed watching The Notebook in your pyjamas because you were too heartbroken to do anything productive. It was Sunday so you could just have a whole day to yourself and do absolutely nothing but cry. Wanda knocked on your door bringing a plate of cookies and she had a pitiful look on her face. "y/n? Sweetie? I made you these cookies, they might make you feel better." Sometimes you thank the stars for bringing her into your life.

"Thank you, Wanda. You're so nice to me." You know you probably sound like a hormonal whiny kid but everything made you cry at the moment.

"Do you need anything else? I know how it feels to get your heartbroken, trust me. When me and Vision had a fight and we didn't talk for days all I wanted was to curl up and never leave my bed, so in case you need anything, I'm here." She offered you that warm smile of hers.

"No, all I want right now is to just eat these cookies and go back to my film, thanks Wan."

"Okay, I'll be outside." Your pity party was interrupted when Nat arrived in her leather jacket and burst into your room.

"Get up, you are taking a shower and you're getting that face beat."

"Natasha, what the hell? Leave me alone."

"Y/N, listen to me. I got a date for you. His name is Scott and he's a real nice guy, he's funny, he's a good friend of mine and he is really smart. He is so much better than Bucky, I promise you. Now c'mon, I already told him that you are meeting him tonight at Stark's restaurant at 7."

You whined, doing anything you can to get her to leave you alone with your tears and your cookies but you knew that once Natasha set her mind on something, there's no talking her way out of it. Damn that woman with her determination.

"Y/N, c'mon! Wallowing all day isn't you. I know you and what's good for you. That's why I found you a great guy who will charm you so good that you will forget Barnes even existed. You can't let him win, y/n. If he's going to be happy with someone else, then you better show him that you can be much happier with other people."

You stared at her, trying to absorb her words. There's some wisdom in that. You're not the type to cry over a guy, not even for even Bucky Barnes. So you let Natasha drag you to the shower and asked Wanda to do your hair when she does your makeup. She chose an outfit for you, a dress that was not too sexy but chic enough to leave a good first impression.

Scott was early to the restaurant and he looked elated to see you. He was wearing a grey suit with no tie and he had a really exuberant smile on his face, the type that drew people easily. You could see why Natasha called him a nice guy.

"Wow, sorry, I just- didn't expect you to be this beautiful."

"Ah, thank you, Scott. Have you been waiting long?"

"No, not at all. I just arrived here like five minutes ago."

The night went on and Scott did most of the asking and talking, you answered each question curtly with forced enthusiasm in your face and body language. You weren't even listening to half of the things he said because your mind kept playing images of Bucky with Leah and how you heard from Sam that the date went well so he lost 300 bucks. You kept thinking about Bucky and Leah and how they would probably get married and have kids and live in the suburbs with a golden retriever while you'd still be single and you'd compare every man you meet to Bucky. Maybe it was your karma for not reciprocating his feelings in high school.

Five glasses of wine and you spent more time nodding than talking. Honestly, all you wanted to do was to just go home and go back to The Notebook because their love story was much better than your love life. Scott woke you out of your daze, "Natasha told you that I was cuter than this, did she?" after you gulped your sixth glass of wine.

"Oh Scott, I'm so sorry. It's not you, it's me. I know it sounds cliche but it's just... I'm not in a place where I'm looking for a boyfriend. You are a really likeable guy and I swear, if we had met at another time, maybe I would be a better date but right now, I just- I have someone else in my mind." You sighed, it felt like a relief to get that off your chest.

"Is this guy... an ex-boyfriend?"

You chuckled, "no... He wishes."

Scott nodded, "look, I don't know what your situation is but I've been through a divorce and it's never easy. But eventually, you'll be fine. You can't see it now because you haven't had closure." Then it was as if the bulb above your head was turned on.

"That's it.  Closure, yeah. That's all I need. Okay, give me a minute. I'm gonna call him now and I'm going to get my closure."

Scott sat there watching you comically trying to find your phone in your purse and tapped on Bucky's contact number. The normal you would be sweating with every ring but intoxicated you had no worries in the world... For now.

"This is Bucky. Can't pick up right now, leave a message." Beep.

"Hello, yes, Bucky! Or James, should I call you James? I always thought Bucky was a weird name. Anyways, I'm just calling to tell you that I am fine and I am on a date with Scott. And speaking of dates, I just gotta tell you that I'm happy to hear that your date went well. And that, my friend, means that I am over you. That's right, I'm over you. Tell Leah I say hi." You said sarcastically.

You hung up the phone and threw your phone back into your purse. You felt like you just won a chess game.

The next morning you decided to sleep in because your heart was pounding and you could barely sit up without feeling like you might fall. You were supposed to be working at the bakery but since you owned the bakery, Wanda let you sleep it off until you recover. You couldn't remember anything from last night, how you got back to your apartment was a mystery. You tried to put the pictures together, from being forced to go on a date, meeting a guy named Sean? Simon? Sebastian? Scott! Yes, Scott. You ordered your meals and then... Nothing, it was all blurry. You weren't even sure if anything happened at all after eating your meals.

The apartment was empty because Wanda was working at the bakery and it was just you with your hangover pills. Bucky came to your apartment without knocking because Wanda told him on the phone that you were home. He greeted you with a smile and asked about your date.

"Uh, let's see. I think there was a restaurant, I know there was wine. And there's a guy, Scott and pretty much that's all I can recall."

Bucky made a yikes face. Seeing the state you were in, he could do the math (of the wine you had). You probably enjoyed the alcohol more than the guy. What a doofus, he thought. If he was the one going on a date with you, you'd definitely remember every detail from last night.

"Leah's downstairs and I'm taking her back to her place but I left my keys here last night. Have you seen it?"

"No, check the drawers. Maybe Wanda put 'em there."

"Ah, okay." He opened the drawers and found the keys to his bike.

"Did we... Speak on the phone last night?"

"Nope, my phone was dead and I didn't charge it all night so I haven't really checked it. Why?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's just... Never mind. My memories are a bit hazy right now. You should go, say hi to Leah for me."

Bucky nodded as you walked back to your room to go lie down. Your question reminded him that he should probably check his phone now because there could be work-related messages but the first thing he heard was a voicemail from you. "Oh, y/n. I got your message!"

That instantly stopped you in your tracks. Your eyes went wide and you froze. You immediately turned around and ran to grab his phone away from him. Bucky had a confused look on his face, "who's Scott?"

"Oh my God, no, Bucky, give me the phone. Give me the phone!" But it was already too late, he was already halfway through your voicemail and by the time you successfully snatched his phone out of his grasp, he had already heard every word.

Bucky stood there dumbfounded, he needed time to process everything you just said to him. "What do you- what do you mean you're over me?"

"Oh, God... Alright, um- lately, I've um- sort of, have... Feelings for you." You never had to chase a guy or confess your crush first so this felt new and my God, it was nerve-racking.

"You have feelings for me..." He said it as if he was convincing himself that his ears got it right. Bucky couldn't believe the words that just escaped through your lips, for years he had dreamed of this moment. Though never did he ever want you to make the first move but adolescent him wanted to hear you say what he'd been wanting to say to you too.

He didn't say anything for what felt like minutes and you couldn't decipher his thoughts from the look on his face. "I need to sit down," he pulled one of the dining chairs and leaned on his side in a defeated posture.

"Bucky... Please say something." You alerted him in a hushed tone, not wanting to startle him than you already did. But he didn't. He was lost at words. What the hell was he supposed to tell her?

"Look Bucky, I'm sorry for telling you this way but I had to. I just- I've been wanting to talk to you about it since you came back to New York, well- actually, since Steve told me but-"

"Whoa, Steve told you?!" He interrupted.

"Yeah, it just accidentally slipped when we were playing truth or dare..."

"Okay well," he stood up from his seat, yet he still couldn't look you in the eye. "I can't do this right now, Leah's waiting for me downstairs and I gotta go." He basically ran out of the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving you alone.

Once your hangover had begun dissipating, you decided to help Wanda at the bakery and took the night shift. She must've been exhausted from managing the bakery alone while also helping the employees in the kitchen so you told her to go home and leave it to you. The bakery's usually slower at night.

When it was nearing closing time and your employees had gone home, you decided to clean up and turned off the lights and checked everything one last time before locking the door. The bell above the door dinged and you were slightly annoyed because who the hell comes to the bakery at this hour?

"I'm sorry we're clo...sed." It was Bucky. He stood there in a black coat, with an expression you still couldn't figure out. "Bucky, what are you-"

"You have no right to tell me that you've got feelings for me." His tone was harsh, he never spoke that way to you or anyone... Ever.

"What?"

He walked closer to you, maintaining his gaze, "You can not tell me that you've got feelings for me now when I'm doing well with my life and Leah..."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I was in love with you for years! Years, y/n! And you never said and did anything and now when everything's going well you're ruining it!"

"I am ruining it?" You repeated the question because you couldn't believe what you just heard. How dare he said those hurtful things to you.

"Yes! I was doing fine with Leah and now I don't know what's going to happen with me and her anymore..."

"Yeah, well, I was doing fine before I found out that YOU were in love with me and never had the balls to tell me!" You did everything you could to not cry, you hated crying in the middle of an argument.

"Hey, it's not like I didn't try. There were your ex-boyfriends and your dates and I had to move on. I couldn't wait forever! And now, now you're too late."

"Oh, so what? You're just gonna walk away and pretend that this never happened?"

"Yes, I'm going to do exactly that and I'm going to go see Leah." He turned around like he did earlier in your apartment and left you alone once again with your heartbreak.

"Fine! Go ahead and see Leah because I don't give a fuck about cowards like you or whoever you sleep with." You slammed the door and tried everything you could to not have a breakdown here because you really hated letting an argument hurt you. You sat on one of the chairs where the customers would sit and you hid your face with your hands and cried.

Not because you just lost an argument but because of what Bucky said and it felt like you had lost Bucky before you even had him. Now there was no hope left for you and Bucky, things were too complicated.

You didn't know how long you had cried there, alone, in the dimmed lighting of your shop but after you felt like the tears had dried, you wiped the traces of your tears from your cheeks with the back of your thumb. You stood from your seat and was ready to go home. You couldn't wait to eat some leftover pizzas, take a warm shower and cry into your pillows until you fall asleep.

But when you were about to leave, you saw Bucky standing on the other side of the door, watching you through the windows with a softer expression on his face. You opened the door and Bucky instantly grabbed your waist and kissed you as if his life depended on it.

You gave in to his kiss, letting him pour every desire and yearning into your lips for as long as he wanted. You grabbed his face because you wanted him impossibly closer and you shut your eyes, letting your guard down. Because it was Bucky, and you'd known him for as long as you could remember and you both deserved this moment.

Bucky eventually pulled away until both of you were running out of air. You were breathless from his kiss, you never knew he was such a good kisser. (It's Bucky and he's had a lot of women on his bed, of course, he was excellent at it. Who were you kidding?) But now that you've had your own front-row experience, you felt a tad of possessiveness at the thought of sharing those lips or any part of him with anyone else.

"I couldn't go back to her knowing you are here alone and I had thrown away what I've wanted for as long as I could remember."

"I'm glad you came back." You pressed your foreheads and you rested your hands on his chest. You could get used to this.

"I hope it's not too late to say this but, y/n y/l/n, will you let me take you to dinner and see a movie after maybe?"

"I wasn't the one who said it's too late," you halfheartedly teased him.

"Shut up, so is that a yes or a no?"

You bit your lip and nodded, "yes. Definitely a yes." You stared into his ocean blue eyes, so deep and beautiful, you could easily get lost in it.

"y/n y/ln, I'm going to put all of your ex-boyfriends to shame."

"Hm, we'll see about that." You put your arms around his neck. Then a thought crossed your mind and your smile faded away, "what are you gonna do about Leah though?"

"I'll talk to her in the morning. Let's take you home now, yeah? It's getting late."

You bit your lip and nodded, "okay."

Ninth grade you dreamed of popular jocks and athletic seniors, but little did you know that, sometimes, the one who sincerely loved you was the book nerd who loved The Hobbit a little too much.

[septembersghost]

I'm confused as to why ppl think things can't have a happy ending. brba did have a happy ending. walt dies but was going to die anyway. he died saving jesse and had it set up to give the money to his family. like how could there have been a happier ending?bob said a chance at a 2nd life and that teaser of after all this, a happy ending? I'm sorry, but why the hell not. if ppl are punished then why can't they have their one true love? pretty sure the lesson has been learned.

you're preaching to the choir tbh, i am always a proponent of an earned happy ending, and "happy" can have a lot of different definitions. i don't necessarily think we're owed that in any given story, but i do fiercely believe we deserve narratively satisfying endings. i've written about this many times, but when i've hated and been very hurt by endings, it's not because they're tragic, it's because they're not satisfying and don't feel right for the stories' and characters' conclusions. tragedy can be beautiful and affecting and important, but it has to mean something, not be a last minute sadistic swerve to shock and hurt your audience. i probably have tons of posts about this, but i'm going to link these: 1, 2, 3 because they all very much speak to this idea.

i was just talking to @kendalroys about the ending of breaking bad - i think it's almost underappreciated now how much humanity and even hope is in that ending, after the oppressive darkness of the rest of the story. (granite state is, to me, by far the bleakest episode of the whole show, and felina is the denouement rising out of it again.) there could've been FAR more upsetting endings, but they didn't do that. like you said, walt manages to get his money to the schwartzes, he sees skyler and is able to give her some measure of closure, along with the coordinates to find hank and gomez's burial site (which is very sad, but better than leaving them unknown out there), he sees holly one last time, and flynn from afar (say what you will about walt, i never doubt he does love his children), and then he heads off to the nazi compound with his m60 in the trunk. he realizes jesse - his partner, his victim, his surrogate family, the person to whom he's most closely connected throughout the narrative - is a captive, and rescues him as he takes all of the nazis out (and they are so evil that we are geared to root for their deaths). his plan works. he dies entirely on his own terms (he's dying already, but wasting away from the cancer in jail would definitely have been a worse ending from walt's point of view), shot by his own weapon, standing in the lab amongst the chemistry that he put above everything. even after all he did and the depths he sunk to, there's still a shred of the person he was in his final actions. it's an oddly triumphant ending for him. jesse speeds away screaming into the night, and the coda of el camino resolves that fully, lets us know he escapes quietly into the light, with a long road of recovery doubtless ahead of him, but a feeling that he is going to find that.

the reason it's hailed as one of the best endings of any show is because it's narratively satisfying. it doesn't have to be nihilistic. it doesn't have to be punishing. it's a moving conclusion for its characters.

as a student of tolkien, i personally love/cling to his concept of the eucatastrophe - that moment when all hope seems lost, and then there is a turn of catharsis and joy. he meant it in the context of fantasy (as a genre), but it can be applied to fiction more broadly.

What made a good [story] not just enjoyable or aesthetically stimulating, but deeply moving? What did all good stories have in common? Eucatastrophe “is a sudden and miraculous grace [...] It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies… universal final defeat...giving a fleeting glimpse of joy...poignant as grief.

joy sometimes is seen as...lesser, or childish, or not as profound and mature as grief, and i just don't believe that or think it's a fair assessment. like i said in my other post earlier, hope can't exist without grief, the meaning of both functions together.

i'm wary about how much i say because i've been harassed about this (by another fandom entirely lol), and logically i KNOW bcs is very rooted in noir, and noir tends to be enigmatic in its conclusions at best, but bcs is also (i know i am a broken record here, but it's true!) a love story! that distinguishes it, that's something special about it. and it's part of this same universe they've built hand-in-hand with breaking bad and el camino, and i simply refuse to think that they're going to end bcs on a sadder or more desolate note for jimmy and kim, after everything we've been through with them, after how carefully they've layered their characters and their relationship all these years, than what happened to walt and jesse. i also don't think these writers are into relative moralism and teaching the audience some "lesson" and punishing us for loving morally complicated characters (which is, like, one of my LEAST favorite approaches from storytelling. don't build a story where i'm meant to feel empathy for complex people and then tell me i was wrong to feel it!).

if ppl are punished then why can't they have their one true love? pretty sure the lesson has been learned. right. they have been punished, they have suffered repercussions for their bad actions. i'd let them have each other and their love back if i could decide. <3

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

Something I find interesting to think about: I saw a post about how Jons idea of how to do things and specifically to love and want are all about pure consumption, to the point where he can't even grow flowers without some of them gaining teeth. But there are things in the universe all about this too, without any of Jons involvement. Planet Wraiths eating other planets, the Gates to Hell are Open Mouths, Demons make their Hosts Eyes sprout Fangs. The Universe of the Locked Tomb was fucked and cannibalistic way before Jon ate the human race.

You make a very good point! See also, revenants that can act as parasites and the hunger of the ghost in the River.

To be fair, we don't know that the stomas and demons aren't also results of something John did. I mean, all we know about stomas is that they push the RBs into them. Were they there before the RBs, before John (presumably) fucked with the River? Were the "demons" a problem before John and his gang started blurring the lines between life and afterlife? Or are they more results of his tampering? This series has such dense worldbuilding, and yet there's still so much we don't know! I mean, there were ten thousand years between when John resurrected the solar system and the story we're seeing now, possibly more. That's a long time, even celestially speaking. The universe could have changed.

Especially when you consider that John doesn't just have the power to tether a soul back in a deceased body; he's damn-near omnikinetic, from what I can tell! He raises earth out of the sea. He grows flowers. He can make a corpse walk around even without a soul to pilot it. If his intentional actions (killing+eating the Earth's population, the planets, and the sun) had drastic unintentional results (the Resurrection Beasts), imagine what the results might be if he's meddling with things he doesn't understand.

I still say whatever Abigail meant by the River being "dammed" in HtN has something to do with John, and this business with "the tower" in the River feels like it has something to do with him, too.

I have to say, though: You're probably right. Any universe where a human being can be given the power to kill and consume an entire planet is probably fucked at conception.

[ask-the-amph-greater-universe]

AD eclipse snarls that too many of them are spineless. Even if they were defend what they love, it's only when they aren't frightened first. He doesn't know who this glitter is. But he's probably doing far better off than any other Sun.

AD eclipse will grumble that that's all hobbies. It's not like a job. Not that he needs one. But it feels more important than a hobby. The only thing he likes so far is the puzzles they bring over and staring at the outside when he's allowed. He doesn't have supplies for crafts really. It's not like he can do anything fun here at the bunker.

AD KC says that's unfortunate. His two sons had a similar issue. Getting AD blood moon to let go of AD eclipse was a struggle. They're interactions haven't really improved because of AD blood moons aggression against AD eclipse. Be honestly wouldn't trust AD blood moon himself If he gets angry.

He and AD blood moon just start taste testing different types of blood. At least he's calm enough to play the game. Even if it is just an exaggerated taste test.

AD eclipse will probably grumble that his blood moon just hates him. It's not anything more than that. He'll say maybe to a co-op. He doesn't know if they have a co-op game. They don't really play together. They can at least play watch or something. Unless hourglass has a game. AD KC will tell him you can't do anything until he's patched up properly. But then they can play.

It's definitely very rare. AD KC has nearly given up a couple times. But he isn't going to let AD eclipse fall under his watch. He cares about him too much.

AD KC Probably will chuckle at the speaking comment. The others seem to communicate pretty well with chaos. He's just lucky he knows sign language pretty well.

Hourglass just rushed chaos out the door so he could show his new eclipse friend some freedom. It's definitely a little different than having your sibling rule an entire universe. Luckily chaos is pretty nice. So AD KC will trust him again soon.

Filling up that house with fun stuff will be very good to do. The entirety of the AD family will be very confused if they visit toy swap. This is not normal. That is not Freddy. There is no daycare attendant. There's only this thing called Crimple. Who says that their boyfriend is named eclipse but is somehow a lunar and Blood Moon. Very confusion.

AD KC just hold his hands up like he's at gunpoint. Saying he doesn't know how to cook blood delicacies. Or whatever the hell he just listed off. You can make blood desserts? AD blood moon is very interested. You can make blood into snacks? Yes they should definitely beat up their father over this.

How would chaos feel about actual dad eclipse? And given that he's an eclipse that has a kill code dad that's actually cares for him. Even if he is currently under house arrest/supervised watch so he doesn't do anything to Sun and Moon. Chaos could probably talk to the actual dad too.

(I barely have any build on this AU. So sorry if it's a bit sparse.)

Chaos would be ecstatic to meet another kill code that is somewhat a good parent/at least trying. Like kid Eclipse has a dadcode, but that's a little eclipse, of course he has a dad. Plus he has multiple guardians.

Chaos would bring over Hourglass and Pyxidis at the very least. Not sure how much electronics time he gets (computer, internet, gaming stuff, etc) but Chaos would bring things so the eclipses can actually do something fun. Chaos will be ad eclipse's fun uncle that gives him contraband and ice cream for dinner (metaphorically)

[lostacelonnie]

what drew you to durandal originally and is it the reason shes still a favorite now?

OK OK OK FIRST OF ALL. thank you SO much for this ask i love talking about her and also sorry it took so long to respond, i had a lot going on. hope you don't mind ehe,, ANYWAYS! to be honest, the reason i started liking her very early in the game is. purely a coincidence! and by that i mean, i got valkyrie gloria ~ch2 and she's been on my team for an unreasonably long time since then, so even before i even knew who she was i. kinda grew attached to her [same for seele, btw. swallowtail phantasm carried me through half this game. moving on.] then came the first mention of her in chapter i don't remember which one [2? 3? 4? something around there] and tbh i just heard teri's description and was like "oh she sounds neat :] i'm probably gonna like her!" [foreshadowing?] just bc she sounded like a genuinely. nice person?

so, that's how i originally got drawn to her! now, onto why she's still my favorite :D

ok so. starting off. sth you often see in the fandom is ppl saying that dudu doesn't really have much of a personality, and while she definitely doesn't get her character really shown in a lot of the game, that's very untrue! it's just a lot of ppl tend to kinda... not bother to look into her character too much??? and, while im not gonna go full character analysis, its just. its about the genuine sweetness. the fact that despite being schicksals strongest valkyrie, she doesnt even get the thought of placing herself above other valkyries, or hell, even kiana, the literal [from her perspective] herrscher of the void. its about the Himbo Energy. shes so so smart but so so silly!!!!! its about the little traces of the personality she was forced to repress for the sake of a bubble universe, seen for example when she was fighting su! think that was ooc? think again, thats exactly what she was like a few years ago!!!! dudu is excitable, she likes having fun and playing football with kids and she adopted a half honkai beast only bc it looked like a cat, because she had half her childhood stolen by having to protect an entire universe. and like, shes a really good person who worked with schicksal bc guess what? she was raised there! and human attachments exist! and despite resorting to questionable means of achieving what she needed to, shes capable of changing and fighting alongside new allies. you get me?

oh and also another thing very dear to me about her character is biankas approach to identity. as in, names dont play a big role until you give them one- flowers may smell and look and beautiful under any other name, but she has given her own name meaning and made it hers, just as kiana has done- and bianka being born under the name kiana doesnt change or refute either of their identities

anyway thank you!! this might be a bit incomprehensible cos i did it at 1am but i feel like i still got my point through. although, i really barely said anything and didnt address a lot of the ✨points of nuance✨ because if i started, we'd be here all day. so. there it is theres the mini dudu rant

[i-was-a-teenage-eldritch-horror]

okay so how do u feel about how the main female characters were handled in 4.0

This is going to be loooooong.

Firstly, I want to say that the fanservice was just godawful. Pedophilic, hamfisted, gross, and just plain annoying. The only adult characters who were subjected to anything resembling the female pilot's treatment were Midori and Sakura (who are in their early 20s if my math checks out). None of the adult women were subjected to the same type of fanservice as the pilots. It raises the question of...well, who's the intended audience here? It's especially jarring since there was like, almost none in 3.33. So I won't be discussing the fanservice in each of the character sections. Just know that I hate it universally. Also, people who fervently deny that asuken and marishin were romantic in this movie are on nuclear levels of copium. Obviously you don't have to (and shouldn't, to be frank,) ship it, but it's clear that hetero endgames were intended.

1. Ritsuko

I don't have any complaints here. I guess I wish she had more screentime. I liked her scenes with Misato, but their conversations felt a bit more stilted that how you would think friends of 25 years would speak to each other. I liked that she got to shoot Gendo.

Her new VA wasn't much to write home about. It was still a good performance, but Mary Faber's rendition of Ritsuko wasn't as deep or womanly a voice as Sue Ulu or Colleen Clinkenbeard's were. It took some adjusting, but she's definitely growing on me.

2. Misato

Kaji junior, as a concept, was actually genius and makes perfect sense. Tons of parallels were drawn between her and Gendo even in the original series so it's apt that she would become a deadbeat parent like he was. It's tragic yet fitting. Her being devoted to Shinji over her own son sadly makes a lot of sense. Additionally, it fucking sends me to think that she was pregnant at the end of 2.22!

I don't like how she swapped back to her old hairstyle during the climax, though. It doesn't make a lick of sense.

Also, her turning into the Spear of Gaius was dumb and misogynistic as hell. It's the "boy gets rewarded with woman's body" trope taken to its logical extreme. Like Soul Eater if it was unimaginably, violently misogynistic.

3. Mari

For the most part, I liked Mari in Thrice Upon a Time. She was the closest to an actual 3D character as she's ever been, and I found myself really liking her and getting excited when she was on screen. Her fight in Paris at the beginning of the movie was exciting and fun, probably the best part of the movie.

VERY weird, however, that she knew Shinji when he was a baby and then became his love interest. Like genuinely what the hell was that. The reveal that her given name is Mary Iscariot was also weird, but honestly I liked it. It was cheesy and bad in a fun way, unlike the rest of the movie. Obviously her surname being "Iscariot" is a reference to Judas and how she betrayed Gendo and Fuyutsuki, but I looked it up and apparently Iscariot is an actual surname. However, according to one website I looked at, it's so rare that only four people in the entire world are documented as bearing it.

It's also funny that Mari being British is like, never explicitly confirmed or referenced in these movies. Outside of cursory references to British folklore (her first eva being a quadruped, wielding a jousting lance, and slaying a reptile-like creature), it literally doesn't matter and is never brought up. In 2.22 there's this scene where she's like "wow it's such a shame that I have to use these adults for my agenda," and it's like...girl, what's your agenda?!?! Explain!

4. Asuka

The asuken thing was offensive on every level. I would be able to buy that they were just buddies IF Asuka wasn't walking around naked in front of him and if he wasn't in the doll at the end. As it stands, though? The vibe is definitely shippy, and it's disgusting. I mean, swap out Kensuke for Mari in the doll scene and everyone would recognize it for what it is. Speaking of asumari...

The asumari bait in this movie is also gross. Not because it's asumari, but because it's bait. We have all these scenes of Asuka and a flirtatious Mari, and for what? For Marishin to be endgame? For Kensuke to be a pedophile? For Asuka to be alone at the train station at the end? Fuck, I don't even like asumari. It makes me feel like I'm losing my marbles. But still. They got done dirty in this movie.

Moving on, Asuka's death in this movie actually shook me a lot more than I thought it would. It's way spookier and eerie than her death in eoe. To be honest, I've always been a "Bardiel is in Asuka's eye, and that's why she has the eye patch" theory denier because, to be frank, I didn't have faith in these movies to actually make sense, so that was a pleasant surprise.

I liked the revelation that Asuka was actually also a clone series like Rei. It was unexpected yet made a lot of sense. Asuka clamoring to be loved, for the affection that's been denied to her because she's just another fly in the swarm; a military weapon, ultimately. However, I gotta say that like...Mari was out here giving Asuka the affection and love she explicitly admits to wanting in the movie. The scenes of her training in Germany were cool to watch. That's something I wish we'd seen in the original anime.

The reveal that Asuka's older than Shinji and was in her early 20s during 2.22 (she looks about 10 to be in the flashback with Gendo, Yui, and baby Shinji) was weird but after the Mari thing I didn't mind.

5. Rei

Firstly, I was super happy to see Amanda Winn Lee back!

This movie came so close yet still ended up missing the mark when it came to Rei. The concept isn't the issue at all. "Rei gets accepted into the village and learns to truly live" is amazing, actually! The problem is the cutesification of Rei. Here's a really good quote about why this is a problem. In 3.33 she was depicted pretty neutrally, all things considered, and a few scenes with her drifted into the familiar eerie, tragic territory of the original show. So this change is both deliberate and jarring.

Another issue is that Q!Rei's characterization, especially in this movie, has always seemed to me like that of a semi-verbal, high-support autistic person. That in and of itself isn't the problem at all. With very few exceptions, such as the Angelic Days manga, Rei has always been heavily autistic coded. Y'all know how I feel about this. The way the "camera," for lack of a better word, perceives Rei, how she's drawn, and how other characters react to her (cooing and giggling about how cute and naive she is), all rub me the wrong way when you take that into consideration. Autistic people are infantilized and cutesified in real life. This heavily contributes to the ableist abuse and neglect that we deal with as a population. In 2.22, Rei's seen reading Oscar Wilde, and in this movie she's reading a picture book for kids, even though she can read the esoteric technobabble in an eva's UI. She also gets Hikari's old school uniform as a hand-me-down, immediately codifying and signaling that she's eternally a cute little kid. Obviously the curse of eva still applies to the other pilots, but it's on a whole new level here. Her feelings for Shinji are fantastically mishandled as well.

I love the scene she shares with Asuka, because it's basically Asuka telling Rei that she's experiencing comphet -- these feelings are not organic, nor are they her own. They were planted by Gendo. In a better movie, this would've been a pivotal moment of questioning for Rei. Instead, she just says "whatever" and leaves. She even delegates the job of picking a new name to Shinji, not because she herself is incapable of it, but because she doesn't think she's fit to. Shinji is also just downright rude to her, not just in this movie, but in 3.33 too. That scene where she returned the walkman to him only for him to push it away would've been a great moment for her to be done with him. Also, Q!Rei even having a crush on Shinji at all in this movie came out of nowhere since in 3.33 there was nothing to suggest that.

Her past abuse and life at NERV are never brought up beyond vague mentions of "orders." Again, Rei's trauma isn't cute or sweet. It's tragic, harrowing, and uncomfortable. She asks what a cat is, why they shrunk a baby, and doesn't know what a bath is. Yes, logically, she might be confused about these things, given her past. But again, the decision to include those things specifically were deliberate. They're cute, easy to digest examples. It reminds me of questions a toddler would ask, excitedly going "mommy, what's that!" upon seeing a new animal at a park, tying yet again into the theme of brutal and gross infantilization. I don't know, I just think that learning that you were abused, neglected, and cloistered for your entire life should be disturbing, horrifying, existential, and a traumatic revelation in and of itself.

Her death didn't bother me that much, since it was foreshadowed in 2.22. In a weird way, I was happy that she died early on so she couldn't get butchered even further. Long-haired Rei was fine. She felt like 2.22 Rei and didn't do much except listen to Shinji. I thought her saying "neon genesis" was cool. Just like the Mary Iscariot thing, it was bad in a fun, goofy way. I like Rei's outfit at the train station at the end. I always knew she'd be a maxi skirt woman. Oh, and those boomer farmer women were great.

6. Hikari

Hikari was fine in this movie. I will say that it felt jarring to see her go from a high-powered, conscientious class representative to a SAHM. That's not a dig at SAHMs, either. Just saying it was weird. Fits with the natalist hell that is this movie, though. Seriously, even the quiverfull nutjobs would think this is too on the nose.

7. Midori & Sakura

Covering these two in the same section since they share most of their screentime. These two behave irrationally, and, forgive me for using a historically loaded term, hysterically. They monologue about their pain and loss while pointing their guns at Shinji, hesitate to shoot, and miss when they finally do. Then Misato tells them that Shinji's going to save them and they change their tune entirely to "zomg Shinji is our savior!" and this all happens within like, a minute and a half, at most?