#i also want to do a pov swap on this scene tbh. like... have both povs

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

AND A TIMELOOP AU??? oh? I am. Intrigued.

apparently I have a LOT of Steph-centric WIPs right now bc this is yet another one! Steph gets caught in a time loop where the only constant is that Bruce/Batman dies. to break the loop she has to keep that from happening. BUT. she can't do it alone. and it might take her a liiiiittle too long to figure that out. long enough that by the time she starts going to the others, she's exhausted, and by the time she has any kind of real support within the 24-hour confines of her own personal hell, she's about at her breaking point. I once saw someone with a timeloop fic tag "Trope-Typical Suicide". yeah. and, predictably, I made it hints of Jaysteph. :)

It's 11:40 and B is going to die at 11:45 and the loop is going to reset at 11:47, and she's standing on a roof in the Narrows and wondering if there's anything left to try to change it. She's tried everything she can think of alone and even more with help but it's 10:41 and she wants it to be over. She just wants it to stop, wants to be anywhere but here, on a roof with the Red Hood because of all the geniuses in their team, the one person who's quickest to believe her claims about a timeloop is also the one other person who's died before.

Tim watches Doctor Who, sometimes, because he's a nerd and time travel, even the campy BBC kind, fascinates him. Stephanie thinks of stone statues and paradoxes and tops of buildings and- she doesn't think about what she's doing, stepping confidently, or as confidently as she can this exhausted, this desperate, this frustrated and tired and deprived of hope, to the edge of the roof. Normal, everyday chatter feeds through her comm.

"Hey Tim," she says abruptly, without activating her voice channel. Only Babs can hear her right now and she doesn't care. "Remember that episode of your stupid time travel show where the nurse jumps off a building to save everyone?" She feels, utterly and completely, like she's going insane.

"Spoiler," comes Hood's mechanized voice behind her. She ignores him and then feels bad about that but she's too worn down to care enough to change her mind. "Steph."

She steps one foot onto the raised lip of the roof and suddenly wonders if she even has the strength to lift herself all the way up, to push herself over the edge. She doesn't have to, though, because just as she steps into open air, something — someone — slams into her, strong arms coming around her and dragging her back into the middle of the roof.

"What the hell," growls Jason's voice from directly above her. He says something else, but she's not listening.

"Just let me go," she mumbles, even as she sags against him. "Please."

"No way, Sunshine," Jason replies, voice shaky even through the helmet. "It's gonna be okay. Just... stay with me, okay? Stay with me." His arms tighten around her and Steph leans into his solid form, rocking her carefully back and forth. "I've got you."

In one loop, not the last one but the one before that, Steph had climbed through the window of Jason's safehouse and explained the timeloop and he'd asked "Have you tried doing nothing?" And then made her sit down on his couch and eat something and sleep for awhile, because waking up in her bed every morning on the same morning doesn't count for real sleep, and when she'd woken it had been 11:44 and she'd held her breath, figuratively speaking, for two minutes before the phone call came. Tim, weak-voiced and in shock, calling Jason because their dad was dead. Steph had stared at her hands helplessly as Jason sat there in shock, then turned to her and asked, "How long do you have before it resets?" She'd told him, two minutes, and all he'd done was hold out his arms in an offer of comfort and then he'd just- held her, until she woke up again at the start of a new loop.

This is like that, and some small, not suicidal part of Steph's brain registers that even considering all the body armor, Jason is a really good hugger. "What time is it?" She manages, finally, after she counts out thirty seconds of silence through the comms and steady breathing from Jason.

He stops rocking her. "11:47," he says, and Steph stops breathing.

"Really?" She asks, barely daring to hope, but it's the first flicker she's felt in so long that she can't help it. It's in her nature.

"Yeah. I'm gonna let go of you a second, take the helmet off, 'kay?" Steph nods, misses the security of his hold on her for the few seconds it's gone. "Hey," Jason says, helmet and voice modulator gone. He says it like a greeting even though they've been together all day. It's a day, now, not a loop. It's a day.

"Hey," Steph whispers back.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

WAIT HAHAHAHAH MATCHING SHIRT WITH SHE BELIEVED I almost completely forgot about that iconic classic

YAYYYY CONGRATS!!!! Honestly such a mood I’m sick of grass LMAO but omg oaeu/pursuit time??? Lowk kinda curious on who youre gonna write next for the oaeu…LMAO wait imagine you write each one little by little and you cycle through their docs writing a paragraph or two then you close the doc and move on because your not feeling it and at some point you’ve gradually written all the remaining ones as a result of short spurts of inspo LMFAOOOO not manifesting that for you because that sounds annoying but it would be kinda funny ngl

OHHHH true true I hadn’t considered that LOL ig the only way around that would be doing sth like Barou oaeu where you swap POVs? But anyways a thought to be considered once you get through your current todo list LMAOA

NO FR 8bit you did otoya justice PLEASEEEE NO WAX KARASU ADDITIONAL TIME PLEASSEEEEE ok but there’s no way we aren’t getting that scene at some point it’s just a matter of WHEN (better be soon….tick tock 8bit hurry up….)

And ikr I remember reading the comment Nomura left like salmon pink is so specific what was the reason LMAO but anyways….im still half baffled at the Kaiser wc (only have because well, after all our convos im sure yk why LMAOO) if an opp get 18k words how many does a fave get /hj

Frrr I’ve seen Free! And Tsurune too (both sports but a lot more lowk than bllk LMAO) from kyoani and the visuals are stunning like this is the magnum opus of animation ugh the quality is too good

LMAOOOOO I WAS TLING THEM LIKE oh Mira’s gonna have a field day with this one but IM CRYINGGG “yooo i’m your biggest fan i loved your work with reunifying japan” HAS ME ROFL this should be a spinoff series once hollyhock is completed this is too funny

NO BC IM SURPRISED HE DOESNT GET BULLIED MORE??? Like I wanna know what kind of gene pattern allows this sort of hair to naturally grow like what even AHAH aegislash arc mention!!! I can so imagine them doing the randomest shit while nagi and y/n are like yo wtf kinda acting scheme did we get sucked into

I swear it’s because of 8bits magic if we got extra anime exclusive juicy scenes of Karasu people would be all over him…cmon 8bit…COME ON!!! The fact that I still see edits where I get clickbaited by Karasu from ep 1s additional time only for it to be a Rin edit….wait did you see any of the preview pics for the ep though YUKI LOOKING MAJESTIC so excited to see him shine!!! I wonder what we’ll get for the additional time this ep omg maybe more yuki nagi crumbs

LMFAOOO this is your moment your dad gets a side hustle as a lawyer AND finds you a bodyguard and you get your fantasy au of falling in love with your guard except it’s not fantasy it’s irl

CRYING the way I just passed by a meme referencing that (where doofenshmirtz is literally a question mark and then turns into an exclamation point im sure you’ve seen this somewhere probably also I probably spelled that wrong but wtv) fwtkac is just THE fic truly changing lives for Karasu nation also THE BEGINNING OF ONE SIDED KARASU YUKI BEEF truly too iconic

- Karasu anon

BEST COUPLES COSTUME EVER on a more serious note i think the couple costume i want to do the most is padme and anakin from star wars because i think i would slay and i also love star wars and anakin is super hot…now hear me out here i think yukimiya could absolutely EAT UP an anakin (from revenge of the sith specifically) costume LDKSFJHS okay so we have the tabimira costume and the yukimira (notice how we have the perfect best ship name ever #canon) costume…idk what nagi would dress up i feel like he would just wear a white hoodie and say he’s a ghost or something 😭

I’M SICK OF GRASS TOO TBH but ngl that’s literally what i’ve been doing atp…adding a few sentences to each wip before moving on to another one…you know it’s bad when even aikulations can’t save me from the writer’s block i’m going through 😓 but i’m also lowkey sick atm (not with anything physical but my mom and i have both been really lethargic and having migraines so it’s probably some weird virus) so i think that might be impacting my productivity too!! hopefully once i’m through it i’ll be back and better than ever…i’ve been working on the karasu version of the oaeu but considering i was working on the nagi version like three days earlier it’s really a toss up if i’ll finish and post that or if i’ll end up doing something else

i could def oaeu it hmm….anyways yes agreed i have way too much to get through atm HAHAHA i will consider it when i’m finally freed from the shackles of touching grass illness and requests

okay because honestly they could do a hair down karasu + hair down shidou additional time of them in their dorms and make a very large portion of the bllk fan base happy LMAOOO seriously though there’s no way blue lock will end and we won’t have a SINGLE scene of him with his hair down?? maybe we’ll get an additional time of those little “day before the u20 match” snippets from the egoist bible…in karasu’s he mentions that he was in the bath with hiori so maybe we’ll get him shirtless AND with wet hair omg my life would be fr complete if so

LMAOO SALMON PINK IS INSANE WORK it was definitely to differentiate it from chigiri (bright pink) kurona (peach pink) and sae (red bean pink) genuinely why are there so many pink/red haired characters in the show 😭 it’s such a random color meanwhile barou is the ONLY character with red eyes i’m pretty sure (since they got rid of kiyora’s cool emo color scheme from s1 😒) i actually love barou’s color scheme and how his eyes are so bright compared to his black hair i feel like it sets him apart from the monochromatic vibe everyone else has going on as well as the typical black hair/blue eyes combo that’s so popular

HELP I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE KAISER ONE GOT SO LONG tbh i think it’s a world building thing…that’s why whenever people are like “you don’t write as much for characters you don’t like” i feel like i need to clarify that how much i write is ENTIRELY dependent on the plot 🙂‍↕️ some plots require more words to develop and build and have maximum impact yk?? like karasu bfb would not have had nearly the emotion and punch it did if i shortened it because half of the appeal of the story is seeing karasu and the reader grow up and how their feelings and relationship shift over the years meanwhile the otoya version would’ve felt super dragged out and annoying if it was that long because it would’ve just been otoya cheating and reader not really caring because she’s TOTALLY not into him or anything SLKDFHJDS so like the kaiser req because it was fantasy needed the necessary buildup to the ending hence the longer word count (plus in order to make it believable that an angel would care about a human i had to show their interactions and reader’s character and shit) meanwhile a request that’s a little more specific and especially in an established relationship setting doesn’t require as much background context or anything so it’s like i can just write the scene a person wants and then be done with it LMAOOOO i do think all of the 1k event reqs are going to be really long though because they’re just tropes?? so i have to lay the groundwork of the verse and the plot and stuff to make the tropes feel believable

KYOANI QUALITY IS AMAZING and i feel like their work never has huge fan bases??? like the violet evergarden fandom is nonexistent ig because it doesn’t really lend itself well to a fandom but still i feel like it’s one of those things where everyone recognizes the quality of the work but people by and large don’t go around saying that they’re FANS of the work (not me though i’ll always say ve is my fav anime it has its sus moments ofc [that one ep with the princess was a little strange given the age gap plus gilbert being the romantic lead in the movie is kinda eh to me i don’t really like it i prefer thinking of him as a father figure] but what it does well it does SO WELL plus everyone is drawn super realistically and age appropriately?? if that makes sense like there’s no nonsense with “500 year old” elementary schools…also the exploration of grief and emotions is AMAZINGG you’ll never catch me hating)

RIN ISEKAI SPIN-OFF OF HOLLYHOCK WOULD ACTUALLY BE SO FUNNY i think it would be hilarious too because technically he’s otoya’s employer?? since he’s in yukimiya’s body…so his biggest opp (his celebrity crush’s boyfriend) actually just works for him imagine he sends otoya on random missions so that he can get closer to reader without otoya’s interference KSDHJFSLK or wait it would be even funnier if the bllk guys exist in his time line as well so he thinks everyone else got isekai’d too so he’s like trying to talk to karasu about “going back home” and gardener karasu is like fuck you my dad died this is my home now?? because he thinks “yukimiya” is being classist so we get the onesided karasu yuki beef again

AEGISLASH ARC MENTIONED WE ALL CLAPPED okay so if in the actual verse nagi and reader are gone for about a week just imagine it’s like karasu tullia and otoya freaking out for a day before completing random side quests where they “happen” to run into reo and chigiri LMAOO so it’s like nagi and reader trying to avoid death and going through this weird quest so they’re not killed by a psychotic ghost type meanwhile otoya’s trying to teach chigiri and karasu how to rizz up girls (and failing) and reo + tullia are “not on a date” but they keep doing date-like activities like going to dinner and shopping together and stuff (reo has a lot of extra money with nagi gone)

YUKI LOOKED SO SO SO SO SO SO GOOD THIS EPISODE reminds me why i started the manga for him…been a day one yukimiya stan fr and i’m PROUD i’m surprised i haven’t seen more fans of him maybe this episode will change that though?? i feel like he had as much majestic screen time as otoya in ep1 but for some reason everyone jumped to the otoya train and there’s not enough people left to be yuki/karasu fans but oh well more for me ig /hj i was really hoping that we’d get a yukimiya + nagi additional time instead of another nagireo one and 8bit DELIVERED please they were so cute (had to throw rin in there fsr ig but whatever yuki and nagi balance it out) i love them both and okay maybe the animation itself wasn’t FIRE but they drew yukimiya’s one v one emperor sequence so well i was blushing and giggling and kicking my feet and shit i feel like i truly won (missed seeing karasu on screen though fr)

HELP it’s perfect we’ve planned it all out…tbh only tangentially related but i think knight but specifically in a guard way is such a romantic trope and i remember we were talking about it before and how like karasu and rin wouldn’t really fit but they’re the closest besides barou and i cannot believe yukimiya didn’t jump to mind…COME ON THAT MAN IS SO DEVOTED BUT ALSO THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT COULD VERY EASILY BE SHIFTED TO FEEL IN CHARACTER AS TO WHY HE REFUSES TO GIVE IN TO TEMPTATION EVEN THOUGH HE WANTS TO???? the angst potential there is. absolutely insane. plus one v one emperor is such a knightly name idk if that makes sense but like it sounds like so regal and shit omg me omw to change that one megumi fic to a yukimiya fic ASAP af (/hj but also am i really)

FWTKAC THE FIC THAT BEGAN IT ALL i would never have been a karasu writer without it because i literally couldn’t think of any ideas for him before you made that req so you really did bless karasu nation and posterity with that (plus it’s what got us to start talking so like double win ^^)

[arsenicpanda]

Hey! You seem to ship fairly similar Riverdale pairings to me, so do you have any fanfic ideas? Unfortunately, I have writers block and I don't have access to any maple mushrooms to get through this one.

So, I do have a few that don't fall under "I actually want to write this myself", you are correct, and I am a wordy bitch, so let's put this under a cut

-Jabitha + Jughead and Veronica friendship post-college au: so, we diverge from canon in 5x03. Betty still leaves Riverdale, but Veronica stays, and she and Jughead slowly bond over film, pretentious references, criminal fathers, and the whole getting cheated on thing. Maybe throw in Reggie and the other Serpents too if you want to. When Jughead becomes homeless (again), Veronica eventually notices and invites him to stay with her, and it's awkward at first, but then they get used to it. They develop a brother-sister bond. So, then when they go off to college, they keep in touch and stay friends. Their friendship keeps Jughead from being supes lonely at college, which means he stays and learns how to actually fucking write, so his book is actually good and not just successful, and also he doesn't take up drinking and drugs. And their friendship also keeps Veronica from dating assholes like Chad, so she never even gets close to that terrible marriage. But after they graduate, Jughead moves to NYC and they live together and she becomes the she-wolf of Wall Street and he becomes a successful author (genre undetermined) and maybe also journalist (look, I am just too fond of this headcanon, and most authors need second jobs anyway), and neither of them pine over their exes. Veronica can settle down with Reggie, Josie, Katy Keene, or someone else or no one else, but she is successful and happy. Also, Tabitha goes to school in NYC, settles down there, works a six-figure job for a while, and then opens a Pop's franchise. Now, it can go two ways from here:

Veronica and Tabitha become friends in college. Veronica keeps trying to set Jughead and Tabitha up with different people she knows to no success (she keeps trying to set both of them up with intimidating women (partial success and bi Tabitha 4 life) and himbos (zero success, they both prefer smart people, and also bi Jughead 4 life), until one day she's complaining about it to Katy Keene or Reggie or Josie or someone and the other person is like "V, why don't you just set them up with each other?" And she's like "ohhhhh" and she does, and they either hit it off pretty quickly or Tabitha is like "wait, are you the guy who mooched off my grandpa for years??" And he's like "pardon??" And she dislikes him until he proves himself/Veronica explains the situation (Jughead was neglected and poor and Pop helped him out). But then they get along and swap stories about Pop and fall into some weird investigation and fall in love, and Veronica is like "Victory is mine!"

Tabitha starts franchising Pop's in NYC, and when Jughead finds out he's like "sus, very sus" and goes there and eats and is like ".....this is actually pretty spot-on". And he becomes a regular (who actually orders food and pays because he can now), and Tabitha is supervising the diner for a time, and they start to chat on late nights when he's the only customer left but the diner isn't scheduled to close for another two hours, so Tabitha could use the company. Jughead doesn't realize she's Pop's granddaughter, and Tabitha doesn't realize he's her grandpa's favorite customer (and known moocher, in her opinion), and when they find out, they're both very shocked. They clear up the moocher thing and keep falling in love, and it's beautiful, and Veronica spends some her spare time prying into Jughead's newest late-night haunt and then teasing him about his crush on the owner and later "of course you fell for Pop's granddaughter, of course".

-Jabitha or bugabitha: Jughead cooks his tired (future?) girlfriend(s) dinner because yes, he does know how to cook because he loves food, so obviously he learned how to cook, and also he notices how much his girlfriend(s) work and wants to take care of them.

-Jabitha: Tabitha teaching Jughead how to cook some of Pop's recipes one late, slow night, and yes, they kiss at the end and/or when he makes her something on another late, slow night or slow afternoon or one morning when he opens and she shows up later

-Bugabitha: Tabitha needs help with a mystery/situation and goes to Betty and Jughead's PI agency to hire them (whether Betty and Jughead are together is up for grabs), and they are both charmed as fuck by her, and Tabitha tags along on the investigation for idk reasons, and they all fall in love and also solve a mystery

-Jabitha: smut/pwp of Jughead eating Tabitha out in Pop's while they're both still in uniform

-Jabith or Bugabith: like three students trip and fall into being way too invested in their teacher's/teachers' love life/lives and become convinced that something is going on between Jughead and Tabitha (and maybe also Betty) and start snooping while also documenting it on a popular "my English teacher is dating his other boss (and also my shop teacher)" or "my English teacher is two-timing his boss with my shop teacher" TikTok series that Jughead and Tabitha (and Betty) don't know about it until it goes viral after the kids finally get proof they're together / find out that it's not that Jughead's cheating with Betty and/or Tabitha's cheating with Betty but that the three of them are dating (see: that one fanart I commissioned of the Elite meme). Told from the kids' pov, very comedy-heavy (more comedy than ship fluff, tbh), includes replies to the TikToks and other social media stuff. Still considering writing this myself, but I don't know if I'm funny enough, tbh

-Bugabitha: how they do or do not celebrate holidays and birthdays, especially if the holidays involving shuffling between/avoiding their families and Betty recounts the disaster that was Jughead's birthday in 1x10, right down to (lovingly) roasting him for the "I'm weird, I'm a weirdo" speech (she will be kind by including how sweet he was in the diner, of course)

-Bugabitha: Alice finally finds out that Betty, Jughead, and Tabitha are all dating when Betty moves out of the Cooper house and into an apartment with Jughead and Tabitha. It includes something like the following exchange, Alice's last-ditch effort to convince Betty not to do this:

"Elizabeth, you cannot think that moving in with your ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend is wise."

"Mom, I'm not moving in with my ex and his girlfriend, I'm moving in with my boyfriend and my girlfriend, and you're making me late for lunch with them, bye." And then Betty leaves before Alice can respond

And then it's very important that Alice freaks out. If you want, you can also include FP and Gladys finding out (v chill) and Pop finding out (the most wholesome and supportive)

-Jabitha: Pop playing matchmaker with Jughead and Tabitha at any age, could be in an au where Tabitha comes to visit Pop every summer and Jughead kinda falls for her from afar as a teen, could be Jughead gets a job post-senior year at Pop’s during the summer when Tabitha is working there that summer, could be during the canon s5 or an au s5, could be any time, idk

- Jabitha, bughead, or bugabitha: Jughead's editor says that his novel needs a sex scene for whatever reason, idk, idc, but his POV character/narrator is a woman, and he's like "how do I write this without finding myself on one of those lists of 'men who can't write women?'" and bemoans this one day, and, idk, somehow his friend(s) Tabitha and/or Betty trip and fall into ~helping~ him by being very explicit and descriptive of how it feels while they bone

I think that’s it? Let’s say that’s it for now.

[elviriel]

Oh, oh, top 5 Grishaverse characters! Or top 5 Arthdal Chronicles characters! Or both :D

Omg this ask delighted me?? I don’t know a lot of people who are both into the Grishaverse and Arthdal, that’s amazing, my day is made, so I’m gonna do both = D

Grishaverse

I was actually talking about my favorite Grishaverse characters with friends a few days ago, and I find it very hard to come up with a top 5, because for a lot of them, I love them a similar amount or I love them in such different ways that it’s hard to rank them, but I’m gonna try = D 1. Kaz Brekker. It’s very hard for me to rank him over the number 2, because I love them both a similar amount, but I do obsess about Kaz a bit more. I love how his backstory, trauma and personality are all woven together into one (1) bastard boi. (Also, the gloves. I am a sucker for characters who wear gloves it’s getting unhealthy). 

2. Inej Ghafa. Gah. Like I said, she’s number 2, but on some days, she’s number 1. I love her steadiness, I love the way she talks, I love her aesthetic, and I love, love, love her character arc so much. If there’s one hill I am prepared to die on, it’s that Inej is the protagonist of the duology. (She’s the first Crow POV we get and the last one, AND she’s the one who changes the most IMO. The ending is all hers. It’s what she deserves.) 

3. The Darkling. I kinda hate that he’s ranked so high xD but I can’t deny my own heart. I don’t root for him, but boy am I delighted whenever he’s on the page. I love his aesthetic. I love the snip snip shadows. I love his ridiculously extra dialogue. Also tbh, so many people who hate him are so obnoxious about it that it makes me love him more just out of spite. "did you know the darkling is terrible” yes thanks it’s why i bought this ticket

4. Nikolai. I feel like he’s not always in my top 5, because while I love Nikolai, I think about the first three characters much more than I think about him, and sometimes, I could probably swap out the other Crows for him, but also... Nikolai is such a delight. I love his layers, his lines, and his face = D

5. Jesper. Again, number 5 is not the same every day, but I love Jesper so much. I love his relationships with the other Crows, I love his relationship with his dad, I love, love, lOVE his POV... I just love him. 

(Lowkey annoyed with myself for not having Alina in my top 5 glkjdfj i’m sorry alina ily but so many of your scenes/arc involves Mal i’m not strong enough.)

Arthdal Chronicles

1. Tanya. I love Tanya so much, and I’m so, so pleased with the direction the show took her, because I was kind of expecting a regular “love interest” storyline, and instead, Tanya took center stage, and I love it so much. I want her to be the most important person in the history of everything in Arthdal and I’m not even sorry tbh

2. Taealha. I hesitate between her and Tagon for this but I realized that whenever she and Tagon are at odds, she’s the one I root for, so that’s a pretty good indicator xD I love my Slytherin wife. Ugh. The ruthlessness with vulnerability underneath? Her constant rejection of that vulnerability? How could I not love her tbh

3. Tagon. Another Darkling situation where I don’t really root for him, but I just find him so compelling. So much of the time, I’m like “no tagon don’t make me feel sorry for you” and then I... do. I enjoy him. also he’s gorgeous and in love with Taealha, so the last part is relatable

4. Saya. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Sometimes I might love him more than Tagon tbh. It depends on the episode. But I love him. He’s terrible and I have a lot of feelings about him and I’m curious to see if the show is gonna take him in a more villainous direction, or if he’ll slowly become less terrible. 

5. Yangcha. Listen... Mask Boi. THE MYSTERY

Honorable mention: Xabara, the head of the Momo Tribe, because I am queer and she’s so pretty

(i’m sorry eunseom i do like you a lot but you don’t do it that much for me I’M ROOTING FOR YOU THO I AM.)

[aqvarius]

For the writer asks 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 49 ❤️❤️❤️ sorry it’s lot but i’m curioussss

omg thanks for the numbers boo! i love talking about myself so feel free so send as many numbers as you want lmao

1. things that inspire you

usually the sky and scenery/settings! different variants of the sky give me different moods for writing usually, like sunsets will make me want to write really pensive pieces, or bright neon-lit city skies at night want me want to write something where two people are sitting in an empty basketball court drinking and being nostalgic lol. i’m also inspired by random pieces of dialogue and i’ll file them in my notes app or a new word doc and literally think of a plot and write a fic just so i can use that one line of dialogue. and i’m often inspired too by just scenes that i want to see myself - fanfic is great bc you have the base characters and contexts already written out for you and you can just fill in the gaps with whatever you want. pretty much all of my fics that aren’t requests are just self-indulgent pieces because i want to see a character react in a certain situation lol.

3. name three favorite writers

ahh it was so hard to pick just 3 but i’m going to name some of my fav fanfic writers since the next question is about authors! i’ll keep it to people who have written for voltage since that’s the main focus/fandom of this blog. 

@effloresensemn​ writes the best hue i’ve ever read. this is my absolute favourite hue fic of all time - i actually reread it recently and left a comment, forgetting that i already left a comment 4 years ago. i love her characterisation in everything she writes so much and the tone of her first person povs. 

@zacroix​ gorgeous, gorgeous writing. she writes smut that’s not just hot but also delicate and sensual and intimate. i love all the little details that just add so much depth and her lovely, sultry dialogue. 

@drawthecurtainstarttheplay it’s been so long but her work is still some of the best in the fandom imo. the amount of time i spent reading her bmp fics when i was an undergrad is insane - i’m surprised i even graduated. they’re creative and sophisticated and delicious. 

anyway as i was writing this i realised i couldn’t choose just 3 so here’s some more

@spyoflove (another classic!) for not just great smut and meltingly cute fluff but also some really fun and silly pieces. 

@heartofsnark i don’t even care that much about kbtbb but i read her fics just bc they’re so well written. i found her through her hue fic and i was like shook that she’d never written him before bc it was so good lol.

@duchessmimrose for being not only a prolific but absolutely quality writer, and for reblogging and promoting so many great fics on her blog. 

4. name three authors that were influential to your work and tell why

banana yoshimoto is probably my favourite author. i love the pensive tone of her writing, where it’s both detached but incredibly sensitive at the same time. every time i read one of her books i try to emulate the tone to practice but i can never get it. she makes me want to be really experimental and find my own voice. the soft endings of her books make you feel so satisfied but yearning for more at the same time. 

i adore michelle moran’s historical fiction. nefertiti, the heretic queen and cleopatra’s daughter? incredible. i love the way she writes clever, bold and charming women without making them mary sues. her worlds are so vibrant and immersive and i love the way she describes the grandeur of places and clothing in particular. 

i’m a sucker for historical romance novels (and also modern tbh) so i love lisa kleypas. the chemistry between her characters is always so palpable and i love her heroes (who doesn’t lol). i love the way she writes sex scenes too, they’re super sexy and so intimate and loving and passionate but not explicit? i often try to emulate that style of writing when i have to write nsfw scenes because i don’t always love a super brash/explicit tone.

7. early influences on your writing

that mates dates series of books? and also the truth, dare, kiss or promise series. also jacqueline wilson lol. and then fictionpress stories, ff.net, and fanfic i read on livejournal communities for sure (the latter being probably the reason why i (1) put my stories behind cuts and (2) have all my titles lower case.)

8. what time are you most productive?

4-7am after not having slept lol. also literally right as im falling asleep

49. writing advice 

for me, characterisation is #1! i think esp in a fandom like voltage where there are hundreds of characters, it’s so important to have the specific traits of the character you’re choosing to write for/about down to a T and think about how they specifically would react even in an AU or a situation where they wouldn’t normally find themselves. if you need to stretch beyond a situation in which they would reasonably be, make sure you provide enough context/exposition to make it believable and still recognisably that character. 

i like to go back and reread substories, epilogues and povs to refresh myself on the character’s dialogue patterns, how they react to certain situations, how that differs from other characters, how they express affection (what sorts of love languages do they gravitate towards), etc. 

also write down phrases you like whenever they pop into your head! sometimes it’s a good way to come up with new ideas, or you can always keep them in the bank for future use. 

and don’t be afraid to experiment with tone. sometimes it’ll be successful (in terms of audience reception), sometimes it won’t, but it’s always fun to stretch beyond how you’re used to articulating certain ideas. 

also make sure to double check for tense inconsistencies. something that peeves me is when pieces swap back and forth between past and present tense by accident! (unless it’s deliberate, like a flashback or something)

[themagiciansreccenter]

Five @ Five @adjovi

As a part of our author spotlight, we’ve asked each writer to highlight 5 fics and tell us a little about their experience writing (or reading) them.

1. Goodnight Moon

He felt a jolt go through him, with the intensity of a lightning strike. He jerked back, but the man held fast. He felt like his brain was splitting along the hemisphere. Everything was so fucking loud that it hurt. His legs felt weak, and he walked backwards, his knees hitting the coffee table and folding immediately into sitting. He was amazed the shitty particle board held his weight. All of it came crashing back at once, and he couldn’t stand the intensity. He began to weep involuntarily, rocked by the memories. ALL of it. His whole entire life. Growing up. His parents. Fillory. Julia. Brakebills. Magic was fucking real. Alice. Margo. Fuck. “Eliot.” His voice sounded like someone else’s, thick and slurred. He looked the monster full in the face. “What have you done with him?”

It smiled at him. The monster riding around in the Eliot meat suit. The eyes. That was what was so wrong. Fucking alien eyes. It smiled. “There you are.” Its voice was warm and full of affection. Quentin felt like he might vomit.

This was my putting my toe into a new fandom fic. Which—my last fandom was when Torchwood went off the air, so that was a long time ago. TBH, I really wasn’t even more than a casual viewer of the show up until S3, and then was like holy fuck. I didn’t even ship Q/El until this season, just knew that I wasn’t a fan of Q/Alice (sorry!), kind of agreeing with niffinAlice’s summation that their relationship had been a garbage fire. So, when the finale was coming to an end, I was like…holy shit! They are going to lean into Q/El! This never happens on shows that I love. Following swiftly with holy shit. Then, I got excited. Because I realized that it was going to be a slow and painful ride to get Eliot back. Also, Hale is going to kill it in this role, and Eliot is such a great choice because he is, IMHO, the emotional center of the show. Plus, if the monster gets all of Eliot’s memories, he’s going to have shitloads to pull from to torment Quentin with, and I am for it. Hence, this little fic was born. I wasn’t sure if I would stick around in the fandom, but I enjoyed writing this so much, that the fic ideas just started to flow.

2. The Long Way Around

“It matters because when you think I am not looking, you stare at me like I hung the fucking moon. The rest of the time, you avoid me because it seems like being around me causes you actual physical pain.” He took a deep drag from his cigarette, exhaling in a long plume. “And you say my name like it's a goddamn prayer.” He stared at Quentin, willing him to turn and face him, but Quentin continued his fastidious study of the ground. “So, the way I see it, we are either together in your timeline. Or, I am dead.” Quentin did look at him then, his eyes impossibly wide.

So, this was definitely a fic that was built around a bit of dialogue—the one above—that I wanted to center the fic around. Also, I am a sucker for stories where one character remembers and no one else does. I wanted it to be painful, and to force Q to be honest. The ending came to me when I was in the shower—I wanted something to anchor things to, and make it interesting. I tried writing this for Welter’s timeloops theme, but missed the deadline, but still liked the story enough to write and post it. Prompts are definitely my friend.

3. Situation Normal

“Oh, my God.” Eliot took a step back instinctually. They had been so wrong. About everything. He was wrestling with both shock and awe over the utter the depths of their stupidity. They had been told, over and over, that this Thing was feared by the Gods. The monster was ancient, and he realized dimly that they must look like mayflies by comparison. Their sheer arrogance that they could control It, they could win, was ultimately to be their downfall. He should have been used to losing by now, as apparently they were Wyle E. Coyote and the Universe was the fucking Roadrunner, and somehow they never, ever managed to see the anvil coming.

So, in my old Torchwood fandom, there was a challenge that was based on adapting the show around a movie—this could be a straight swap the characters out, or more subtle retelling of the show through the frame of a movie. My favorites were of the latter variety, and one of my very favorite fics to read coming out of that entire fandom was a Jaws/Torchwood crossover which never should have worked but was pretty much perfect. So, I wanted to try this myself. This was tough to plot out—didn’t want to reveal my hand too early on and keep people guessing. I literally sat in team meetings blocking out scenes and conversations in code. I was really happy with how this one came out, and want to try again with another movie. Please don’t tell my boss about that team meetings part.

4. The Zeppo

She wasn’t convinced. This meant something to him, she could tell. Nothing meant anything to him. He had been crushing hard on that geek since the moment he saw him, marking him as his target early and often. She actually couldn’t tell what Q had thought of that, he just seemed equally mortified pretty much anytime anyone aimed their attentions towards him. If she had been a betting woman, she would have put good money on Alice Quinn. That would have been delightfully awkward to observe and satisfying to tease. This? What was she supposed to do with this? It was absurd, she knew. But she hated not being in the know, even the tiniest bit, most especially when it came to Eliot, with whom she covetously and with great intent been entwined.

This was my first Margo POV, and I freaking loved it. She is so awesome, but there is something kind of mean girl from S1 but also super vulnerable when it comes to Eliot that I wanted to capture here. I also really loved writing about badass Margo who not only makes her own fun but kind of almost saves the day, with the help of the ladies. I really want to expand out the ladies winning everything in another fic, and also write more about Penny/Julia/Kady, which I never would have considered shipping before, so thank you S3 for my ot3.

5. Infinite Probabilities Ratios

Word of the Beast’s attack had spread quickly across campus, like the viral infection that it was. Eliot was completely shook. He made a hasty retreat to his room, unable to be around the others just now. He couldn’t look at their faces after seeing them all die, one by one, in horrific, albeit creatively different ways. He hadn’t realized there were so many means of eviscerating a person. He was currently staring at the Broadway poster of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on his wall, absolutely certain it was supposed to be the original book cover of “The Naked Lunch”. He had grabbed a bottle of whiskey and two glasses on his way up, not at all surprised when Quentin knocked on his door a short while later.

OK. So, I am actually in the process of writing a fiction book right now, which is all kinds of crazy. But, I wanted to try out the premise of that story—which is that the main protagonist has the ability to shift the world slightly away from the center, forcing the other characters to be in this sideways world. The changes are very subtle, but because the protagonist is the one who essentially builds this other world, there are things that are wrong. I wanted to do that here, with the shift being done by the monster, who guesses what their world should look like, missing out on the subtleties—for example, whiskey tasting like Kool-aid, or assuming Eliot would have a Broadway poster versus a one of a semi-obscure book about drug addled wanderings. Stuff like that.

[hyperfixation-hideout]

Idk most of these songs but if "talk to me" and "line without a hook" aren't the 2 Rosegarden songs I'll eat my hat

"The only exception" funnily enough fits a lot of these so idk which it is but possibly Fair Game or Bumbleby or even plat Emerald City? (Tbf I don't know some of these ship names* so I may be missing smth obvious) maybe even WR? it might be tbh, or Emercury?? That feels wrong but I don't ship a lot of the ones on this list so I'm not immersed in fanon interpretations. I'll have to look at the actual lyrics

*so seasonal depression is Tai x Summer and hey who allowed that? Phoenix is Tai x Raven and Gamemasters is Oz x Salem. Got it

Safe and Sound feels kinda like it could be Nuts n Dolts or Renora (I'd say "or RG" but I am 99% sure I got those two right and Safe and Sound is more of a "shh it'll be ok" song which kinda doesn't fit rg for a couple reasons) "Ready Now" is Renora right? I don't remember it much tbh... that's just off the title lol

hang on I'm gonna go listen to all these songs and draw lines connecting 'em

.....

ok I'm back!

[Note: OP said they swapped the Whiterose song to be a Freezerburn one cause it fits better and I think I got it right?]

(Ignore the haphazard edit-in of freezerburn and just drawing over the line in yellow lmao) Just gotta say, "Ready Now" as an Emerald City siblings/friendship song DESTROYED ME. I wanted to find a quote from it to show how perfect it is but I cannot choose because EVERY LINE HITS

These were my notes while listening to the playlist (oh yeah I made it a playlist) and trying to figure it out, enjoy the process XD

(I did these on shuffle but put them in order for your convenience)

Can't pretend: unhealthy or at least unsteady (emurcury or phoenix?)

"And my arms are tough / But they can be bent / And I wanna fight / But I can't contend. I guess that's love." Tentative Emercury

I was an island: arkos? emerald city? nah... idk yet. emercury or Blacksun. It's totally blacksun

Wait that's actually really sweet and I don't even ship it (PS: the song slaps)

Back to autumn: taiqrow oof ow or seasonal depression?

haha,,, crows *don't cry don't cry dont-* bird man haha

Irrelevant: gamemasters vibes for the first 3 lines "Let's start at the end / Becoming strangers once again / Or maybe that's all we ever were" ("body made of steel" is on the nose if nnd) ok it no longer fits gamemasters (that was short-lived.... ironically) maybe emberald? ok yeah gotta be emberald 100% Emberald

"You consume my thoughts / I'm not sure that I'm in yours at all" "The worst part of it all, is that I desperately still want / Someone who never wanted me." "And in your excellence, I forgot I used to have my own / You won't even notice that I'm gone" "Gone are the days that I'll cling to you / Throw me to the lions and start anew / And who the hell are you / For the hell you've put me through?"

ahhh I'm emotional about her leaving and finding people who actually care about her fuck you Cinder

Talk to me: like I said, if this one isn't Rosegarden I don't know what is. The whole song is Oscar @ Ruby like the whole song is dojo scene vibes (but like, carried onto their current relationship now that Oscar is less hesitant to speak his mind)

Just, both thematically and personality-wise this song fits Rosegarden like a jigsaw piece. The theme of sharing the burden's got Rising elements which is also perfect. "It's so dark tonight, but you'll survive, certainly" is more of Ruby-ish thing to say but most of the song is very Oscar pov with how he acknowledges darkness and pushes her to do the same without shame or guilt for what she's feeling

Ready now: renora iirc? NOPE just listened and it's Emerald City all the way oh oh I'm EMOTIONAL

this fits too well Emerald sweetie ilysm every line of this HITS for those two just let them hug crwby! Emerald being finally ready to leave thanks to being shown true kindness I'm gonna cry thanks

Brave enough: cant explain it but blacksun vibes? Arkos dumbass it's arkos

"There's something I should've said / I was too afraid / It was just so hard to let you know / And now it's all too late. What we had was beautiful / I didn't wanna wreck it all" Why did I get BS vibes?? That doesn't even make sense?? Also "The hardest part's we'll never know if we were meant to last" hey ouch?

Always gold: phoenix, right? The first line would make me think Taiqrow but that's just bc of gender (I'm so bad at the STRQ ones hjskdgh)

"Left in the dead of night / And I was there, when three months later / You were standing in the door all beat and tired / And I stepped aside" yeah it's Phoenix

Love you like that: personality wise from beginning ECS fits but feels romantic so maybe bb? ok not ECS lmao that lasted a few seconds. I think Bumbleby? oh yeah. "all that matters" "nothing else matters" got it.

"You hate that I usually don't open up [...] With you close I'm the happiest I ever was. I tend to avoid getting emotional / I'm not shutting you out / It's just the way I'm born / But I see myself next to you until we're old." and "I'm not always clever with the words I use / You want something deeper / Yeah, I know you do / But right when I hold you / Don't you know the truth?"

What a fun upbeat song I love it <3 It's definitely gonna get stuck in my head and that's a good thing (again, like line w/o a hook not a fan of "i need you"/ "nothing else matters" type rhetoric but c'mon. it's cute. And most actual BB songs have lines like that so)

Communist love song: immediate fair games vibes... ok even more now.... yup fair game

"So look me in the eyes under expanding winter skies / You'll find a feeling there that never knows the cold / Look me in the eyes and the skeptic in me dies / The skeptic is a fool / We are exceptions to the rule"

HEY NOW THE WINTER SKIES PART REALLY? WAS THAT NECESSARY??

Line without a hook: ok so i said rg bc that's the song I've heard multiple people say reminds them of rg and I totally get it but it might not be here so lemme think. It fits in vibe more than actual lyrics I think... but nah it's still rg. Maybe I'm just not a fan of "I need you" rhetoric but like, it's sweet and I'm reading too much into it :P I ADORE the song though, I never seem to get tired of it.

"It's a curse, and it's growing / You're a pond, and I'm an ocean / Oh, all my emotions feel like explosions when you are around / And I've found a way to kill the sound." And the chorus is just... the specific lyrics of this song aren't directly applicable but it somehow fits (largely bc of the music). "I broke all my bones that day I found you crying at the lake / Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden? / Oh, and if I could take it all back, I swear that I would pull you from the tide." "I found hope in a heart attack" sums up a lot of it tbh

though I'm sure this is part of why it reminds people of them:

FDHGSKFHL the Genius annotation

gotta love a funny coincidence haha not sad At All :)

Forever: grandmaster energy in the initial lyrics but not the music, maybe seasonal depression (ok yeah I think SD aw)

"I didn't know what it meant to be alone / I didn't know 'til the day you've gone / That I could ever feel this miserable." "And although you can't be here by my side / I feel you near me, when I close my eyes / So I won't let your memory come to an end" "Cause you're the closest thing to an angel that I've ever met / So don't you worry, I'll never forget you." and "Now every moment I'm imagining your face / And all the silly little things you used to say / This is the pain that I can barely tolerate [...] Now when I smile in front of people it's a fake / 'Cause deep inside I'm cryin for my baby / It's gonna be a while before I'm ok" so much Tai angst wtf

You said you'd grow old with me: SD or phoenix (tai pov) leaning phoenix "One last word / One last moment / To ask you why / You left me here behind / You said you'd grow old with me" listen I never think about STRQ but I see why people want a flashback now

Hurts like hell: grandmasters lyrics from the start, ok 100% and OOF

"How can I say this without breaking? When it's almost too much for my soul alone? / I loved, and I loved, and I lost you. I loved, and I loved, and I lost you [...] I don't want them to know the secrets / I don't want them to know the way I loved you / I don't think they'd understand it, no / I don't think they would accept me, no. / I loved, and I loved and I lost you. I loved and I loved and I lost you." "Your heart fits like a key into the lock on the wall. / I turn it / I turn it / But I can't escape."

You made me care more about their relationship with this song than the lost fable did good job </3

Safe and sound: might be ecs actually? ehh idk it could be renora. it's either renora or ecs both could fit but leaning renora now? Yeah no it's not as Oscary a vibe as I remember, more Ruby but wouldn't fit rg cause Oscar doesn't wanna hear comfort like this renora. It's Renora and my heart is both warm and shattering how'd you do that

"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go / When all those shadows almost killed your light / I remember you said don't leave me here alone / But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight. / Just close your eyes, the sun is going down / You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now / Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."

I mean how SPOT ON could you get for their meeting?? Also "Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire / The war outside our door keeps raging on / Hold onto this lullaby even when the music's gone" makes me think of Ren's mom and him carrying that to Nora

All I want: phoenix or seasonal depression - I'm torn between these but "All I want is nothing more to hear you knocking at my door / 'Cause if I could see your face once more I could die a happy man I'm sure / But if you loved me / Why'd you leave me?" feels more Tai/Summer than Tai/Raven I think?

The only exception: I rambled about it up there but after re-listening to the song and not just remembering the chorus p sure this is the Whiterose one (update: was switched to Freezerburn)

"When I was younger I saw my daddy cry / And curse at the wind / He broke his own heart and I watched / As he tried to reassemble it" YANG NO (I see why you switched this to freezerburn hh)

"And I've always lived like this, keeping a comfortable distance / And up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness / Because none of it was ever worth the risk" WEISS DARLING

Home to me: seasonal depression? taiqrow? Emercury I think? "How dare you love me like you've never known fear? / When you've got more troubles than minutes in the year / And a voice like your father's tells you nothing good's for free / Well that may be, but you're walking home to me" that's... kinda sweet. And the song is lovely <3 I like Emercury sibling vibes but this is... this is good

I wouldn't mind: WR or BB? Nnd? Lots of RG energy as well but I feel like I got those already... I think it's Nuts and Dolts aww <3 this one's pretty generic wholesomeness so it could apply to a lot so have to use some elimination for this one but yeah, NND and I'm <3 <3 <3

"You came and you took this heart, and set it free / Every word you write or sing is so warm to me, so warm to me [...] I’m not afraid, anymore, I’m not afraid. / Forever is a long time / But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side / Tell me everyday I get to wake up to that smile / I wouldn't mind it at all" beautiful thanks I'm pretending nothing bad ever happened ever NND is alive and well

This was fun!!! Can't wait to see what I got right/wrong, but these were the vibes I got! :D

RWBY Shipping - Theme Songs

Hello there RWBY shipping fans 👀 These past few days, I've been making a RWBY shipping playlist for fun ♡ (The song's choices are lyric-based, and I tried to find songs that feel at least slightly specific FOR the ship and not just generic lovesongs.)

I'm gonna try to make shipping gifs with some lyrics; in the meantime what would you say to a game if you're bored ? I'll give you the list of ships I've found a song for; and the list of songs. EVERYTHING IS MIXED UP. Try to put them together ! I'm curious to see whether others can see what I saw. Good luck :D

Warning: if a ship is canonically toxic; their song is as well. Ships like Taiqrow or Emercury can be read as platonic too if that's more your jam

Some ships have 2 songs (for the PoV of both characters; or bc I could not choose). I'll put a (2) next to their name if that's the case !

Ooookay; have fun ! You can reblog with a few guess; you can download the pic and link together ships & songs as you believe them to work together; you don't have to do everyone...

You can completely ignore this post & leave me alone with my playlists. Sad but understandable.

Have fun & a good day to you all !

[landofquartzandmelody]

ok i finished hiveswap act 1 lmao. i actually liked most of it a lot i think? and there’s a lot to talk about and there’s also a few things which were like.. Incredibly annoying. my overall impression was good tho! i’m going to dump my thoughts under a readmore though so no one accidentally gets spoiled

obvious warning for that !!

the setting is actually incredibly detailed and i occupied myself for a long time clicking on everything in the background? the art was really pretty and the actual gameplay itself was really smooth and not glitchy at all.

the video cutscenes didn’t play for me at all lmao. I had a few tabs of text-only websites open, and join.me, and that was it. i couldn’t easily lower the settings to make it run smoother either? which was really annoying, and i don’t see why the cutscenes were sooo much harder for my computer to get through than the actual gameplay.

the only other glitch i had was a framing glitch in jude’s treehouse i think

i liked most of the puzzles a lot and it all seemed very organic and fun. using items on other items was pretty cool, and i only got stuck like once or twice.

i really did not like the snake game mainly because i had to swap to using my keyboard for that and that alone lmao.

the monster fights were REALLY fun, i thought. they had a really classic homestuck feel.

it was kind of hard to walk up and down the stairs, actually. there wasn’t enough room to click where you needed to go and that was a bit irritating

i really really really loved the harleyclaire mansion!! everything about the first part of the game was REALLY good!!!

there’s so much to get into with jake and joey and jude and anna claire that it’s nuts tbh. but i really liked everything about that. imo it dealt with parental issues in a lot more depth than hs ever did, and surprisingly nuanced parental issues is definitely an hs thing. but joey’s problems with jake are a lot more fleshed out and realistic.

definitely one of the themes is that the adults in joey’s life have never been there for her. her mom isn’t there because she’s dead, roxy isn’t ‘there’ because she’s irresponsible and is already developing drinking problems, and jake isn’t there because he’s always been somewhere else. so there’s something interesting when xefros talks about parents there

i think i was expecting jake to be a decent father so i was definitely really sad when it became obvious that he was kind of.. not? and it’s evident that he’s really screwed joey up, but i think that it’s also very in line with how canon portrays jake. like his biggest flaw was being unwilling to put in the emotional work and commitment that his friends needed.

sometimes he was definitely scared of those, so i can easily conceive of jake taking the easy way out and heading out to trawl the pacific for a meteor baby.

the line about how ‘having a second thing which is sort of like the first thing but somewhere else is exactly the same as having the first thing’

it’s interesting that jade and joey both do the same thing by projecting on their dead guardians. jade’s thinking is a lot more magical than joey’s, but it really shines a light on how everything we assumed about grandpa harley was through the eyes of a girl who never really got to know him.

and like he died well before he could disappoint her, so.

it was REALLY really sad but i don’t think i actually have a problem with it.

part of the reason i don’t have a problem with it is bc it made joey claire’s characterization SO much more compelling

because she’s very angry at her father for doing the things he did, and is openly disparaging about him, and even chooses to use her mother’s last name instead of his? but she’s not angry or hard or bitter

i love my hard trauma girls but it’s really nice that joey just gets kinder and better in the face of a childhood full of neglect- without being pushed to forgive or minimize the damage that was done to her

the detail about joey absolutely refusing to use guns because she doesn’t want to be like her dad, and choosing to love animals and heal them was so good. and how that’s framed as an act of rebellion?

like the idea that kindness can be radical but that =/= forgiveness.

we didn’t see a lot of jude but i loved everything about him so much

like it was pretty subtle so i don’t know if y’all would consider it ‘canon’ but the bit where joey says that ‘when things got bad with my brother, our babysitter took him to see a doctor, and he was better for a while’ seems like it’s saying joey is being treated for a mental illness of some sort?

which seems completely in line with his character! he almost falls into the trap where it’s like ‘we all called this person crazy for seeing all these conspiracies but he was right all along’ but he doesn’t and that’s nice. it’s very subtle and pretty respectful imo. (also, fox mulder)

he and joey are the cutest siblings in the entire universe, and he was so sweet to her. he seems very earnest about wanting to protect her and caring about her.

the part where his birds left him made me SOOOO SAD. it was so sad. i felt so bad for him. I named dammek’s catdeer Frohike to pay my respects even though frohike was the worst gunman.

i’m really worried about him tho. i hope he’ll be okay without joey around

joey claire is such an obvious lesbian

honestly i know a lot of people were nervous because it seemed like it was setting her up to have a relationship with xefros but i absolutely don’t think that’s the case, just because she’s definitely gay.

every time she looked at a picture of a girl in the harleyclaire mansion she had one gay thought or another, and her entire room was plastered completely in images of pretty girls. not ONE guy.

there was also a lot of dialogue which implied she felt guilty or ashamed of how she felt when looking at girls, or like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to, or if people would judge her for having pretty pictures of girls on her walls.

also her password being the name of a boy she has certainly never met or talked to, and who we never saw an image of (despite said guy being an actor? i think) or heard mentioned before

the scene where xefros mentions he is a boy who likes boys and joey is like ‘oh. huh’ seems to me like it’s very obviously from the pov of a lesbian who had absolutely no idea what a lesbian is, or that she is allowed to be one. 

i think joey is definitely going to realize she is gay at some point in the future acts

i didn’t expect to like or care about xefros as much as i did?

he was obnoxious at first but basically as soon as we figured out what was up with dammek and that xefros thought he’d been speaking to dammek he became 100% less annoying and i started liking him a lot lmao.

he and joey had a really sweet friendship, actually.

homestuck breezed over a lot of the more horrible things about troll civilization, but hiveswap did a very good job of making it patently obvious how horrible troll civilization is for xefros and other lowbloods, and i think it has a redeeming effect on the Other Stuff.

i like that they made it obvious what’s happening is horrible and needs to like, stop or whatever, and don’t like... condemn the revolutionaries.

his situation isn’t really played for laughs or mocked.

that being said a lot of the writing for dammek was really really annoying and dumb.

people like dammek definitely exist and i think hiveswap does a faaairly decent of not conflating dammek being a shithead with the rest of the movement? the joke about personal property was very very annoying lmao but the movement itself is portrayed as legitimate and necessary. it’s a dumb reactionary type of joke but it doesn’t ruin the game for me

i do think he’s going to Learn To Be A Better Person while he’s hanging out with jude. i don’t think he’s going to get a vriska type arc at all but i do think he’ll learn the error of his ways.

i wish that we’d gotten to see a bit more of his personal motivation for being so intense about revolution.

i ALSO wish they hadn’t used like actual symbols of movements in the bg that was really annoying and crass imo. and if they had to, i wish xefros had had an anarchist flag or whatever.

abuse / neglect are big themes in hs so i’m not really surprised at all that they came back? they definitely shouldn’t have advertised dammek and xefros as being cute moirails though because it’s kind of scummy to do a bait and switch like that.

i don’t think the game’s going to be hetero though. xefros and joey would be incredibly ugly and i doubt it’ll happen

i also think homestuck the original thing is actually pretty on the nose about class stuff, even if it does feel the need to like couch that in Fake Alien Racism? at the very least i’d be surprised if hiveswap tried to pull the You’re The Same As Your Oppressors thing

i’m still annoyed that there was so much promo art of xefros and dammek being cute together when the actual game condemned every interaction they had. i think that it would have been possible to say the same things as they wanted to while also not making dammek a crazy leftist stereotype and grounding him in reality like a real person.

to be fair, we are going to get a sequel game with him, so he’ll probably be fleshed out a LOT better then.

trizza is somehow so much more evil than expected? how evil she is feels a lot more real than like, the condesce, tbh. she feels like a real person

i’m SUPER curious about cridea now and i can’t wait to see what she’ll be like

[lysical-secondary]

DvD commentary meme: The sorceress' face was twisted into a grimace, staring at the little one with astonishment. The red knives were wavering in the air. Artemis frowned and looked at Jason. The restraints were still there, but they were��� / A sharp snap filled the warehouse, echoing. / Circe laughed, stumbling backwards. The red knives shattered and lost their form. The magic swirled through the air aimlessly. / Red Hood was unrestrained, the bands of magic gone as if they had never been.

Is this is a sly attempt at getting spoilers for the third fic? 

me: *squints at what I just wrote* well there’s your spoiler I guess. 

Okay so. The minute that ‘a gang, a flight, a colony’ was conceptualized as a series and not just a one-shot--fairly early on, actually, I hadn’t finished or posted it yet, let’s say January of 2017--my mind basically decided to label the first three fics in the series as ‘The Artemis Trilogy’. So a gang, a flight, a colony, come away with the flying gang and the as of yet unnamed third fic are all Artemis POV. After those three I might expand and do different POVs because man. Chapter Three of come away with the flying gang would have been a lot easier to conceptualize if I could have swapped POVs. 

Anyway, the Third Fic brings it around to deal with what I set up in that chapter with Artemis and Circe. I do this a lot in this series tbh. If someone was to go scour through a gang, a flight, a colony they can find foreshadowing that relates to more foreshadowing I chucked in come away with the flying gang which is all set up for like...a distant fic in the series. If someone actually managed to guess what i’m on about this early on I’d write them a 10k fic of basically whatever they wanted*

In the comments regarding that part of the chapter I got a lot of All Caste guesses and one that was a bit more accurate. It is definitely setting up something in particular, and it will be dealt with more in the Third Fic. 

Also, I generally don’t like overpowered characters. Franklin Richards and Scarlet Witch at her most OP for example--reality alterers on that kind of scale are both too overpowered and too boring for me. A big problem as a writer if you keep having to do ridiculous things to try and beat them. Thus why often they end up villains or depowered because having that kind of power on your team makes setting up a challenge for them ridiculously hard. 

I also kind of feel this way in regards to Speedsters, although writers for some reason tend to underpower them and just go ‘he runs fast’, intead of taking them to their logical conclusion but if you think about it for like two seconds you realize that actually, Flash, Quicksilver and the like are all ridiculously powerful and hard to work around. That moment in Ultimate X-Men when Quicksilver snatched Magneto’s helmet and ended the fight comes to mind. 

SO ANYWAY, i ramble onwards, getting to my point. Whenever I have to write someone with strong powers I think about it a lot. With Circe, a seriously powerful sorceress who verges on OP, I think about how she uses magic. So up there when the red knives lose their form, it’s because while she can do incredible things and have multiple spells active at once, if you break through the will required to keep one active there’s a ripple effect. 

I.e. Circe can cast as many amazing and powerful spells as she likes but it’s based on her will and concentration. If you have something strong enough to resist one, the rest are impacted and Circe herself is vulnerable to that backlash. 

This is something that she Does Not Expect. The laughter is very much incredulity and anything else is a spoiler *stares at chapter five of come away with the flying gang*

Anyway the entire thing is setup for the Third Fic. I hope this is kind of what you wanted to know about that scene. If there’s anything specific just ask :D

*my usual exceptions apply