#i feel like i definitely had more written for some characters but i got lazy when it came to rewriting sorry lol

[olde-scratch]

mm momsger high au. i didn't mean to misspell that. inspired by this post from @tobisiksi . sorry this took so long i had everything written out and then tumblr Deleted Everything even tho i had like two backup posts.

i tried to include everyone i could and give all of them unique monster types but there are some repeats :( ib sowwee i tried to make them unique when i could tho. lmk if u have any suggestions for characters or different monster types.

ALSO HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! i have to work but im going dressed as saiki so i still have the spirit

Saiki Kusuo - Lovecraftian Eldritch Horror

i mean. duh.

he poses as his own (human) worshipper to avoid being indoctrinated elsewhere

"i can't attend, i have worship tonight." "oh that's cool who do you worship?" "they don't like being talked about." "ohh so it's an... invite-only system. right......"

deciding now that closed worship systems like saiki purports are generally a total Scam and people avoid them like a plague. it fits with saikis foray into the internet lol

hes still sooo silly dw

to the people with the eldritch kusuo headcanons, i see u..... i hope u like monster high........ :)

Saiki Kuusuke - Cult Worshipper (Human)

bet you thought i was gonna say mad scientist. WRONG that's his day job.

kuusuke operates as a mad scientist since humans aren't allowed into the monster world (afaik humans arent even seen outside of jackson, who is half monster). idk what he makes tho. maybe he pulls a doctor finklestein and makes bone animals to roam the monster world?

kuusuke is the one who got his family into the monster world btw. i mean he definitely found it p quickly after kusuo started morphing and speaking in tongues and shit

kuusuke would LOVE the monster world, at least at first. he might get bored really quickly, but he'd love being able to be more of a crazy bastard than he already is

kuusuke functions as a head cultist for kusuo, but instead of strengthening him with sacrifices and praying for protection, he weakens him with sacrifices (the limiters) and prays for himself to be smote (kusuo to play games with him) (kusuo ignores him a lot)

maybe he made amp/anpu like he did warp. idk.

Saiki Kurumi / Saiki Kuniharu - Cult Worshipper (Human)

they were 100% human before being dragged into the monster world due to their sons

they basically live the same as they do in canon tbh i dont think a lot would change in the monster world

during the new years chapter maybe instead of saying kusuo has powers, they say something about his eldritchness or how glad they are to "worship" such a chill god. god i wanna write this now.

Kaidou Shun - Vampire

okay so not ACTUALLY a vampire but i think it was nopsi who had like an au where kaidou was like a weaker version of a vampire?? GOD i dont remember the name (hampir?? i cant find it on wikipedia, did it start with an f????). for all intents and purposes, im just gonna consider him a weak vampire

i cant remember if he'd be made thru a human/vampire relationship but if he was then i think we should play into the manga hair colors of his siblings and say that whole toki and sora and his mother are all full vampires, he was half vampire (perhaps he's from the father's side of the family from a previous relationship, since his mother has purple hair in her manga cover i think??)

draculara has her red drinks and her spf and her cute little parasol so OF COURSE kaidou has all of those as well. i think it would be very funny if kaidou had his umbrella customized to look like a hidden anime weapon, but it wasn't waterproof so he has to use a different one when it rains

i have a gen 1 og draculara from when i was a kid and i love her she's so cute :] someone draw kaidou in her outfit he'd slay. actually, just draw all of them in her outfit(s). gloom beach teruhashi. sweet screams mera. freak du chic saiki. sweet 1600 saiko. fearleader hairo. you cannot make her look bad idc.

Nendou Riki - Zombie (Frankenstein's Monster type zombie)

okay so this might be controversial but imagine:

everyone's chatting like normal, nendous head falls off, everyone goes deathly silent, nendou puts it back on and goes back to talking, cue kaidou screeching

bc im rewriting this im not gonna go thru my thought process so my idea was that takeuchi was a mad scientist who created midori after himself bc he only had access to a mirror (neither realized they looked the same). takeuchi died and chouno, who was smitten with midori, remade takeuchi who midori named riki and chose to raise as her own. chouno intended it as a poetic final goodbye but cut to 16 years later and hes still not over her lol

nendou being undead could also play into his appreciation for life.... protecting the obviously smaller and weaker saiki and kaidou.... his care for his dad that he never met (altho he might have two dads in this au?).... THE HAMSTER SCENE. NENDOU :((((

Teruhashi Kokomi - Tomie

im SORRY for bringing up junji ito but come ON

for those who dont know tomie, she's basically So Beautiful that men are supernaturally attracted to her until she drives them mad with her beauty. they cut her up and scatter her remains and they turn into more tomies

however. teruhashi isnt just a pretty girl. she's The Perfect Pretty Girl. so we can just ignore all the bloodshed and murder and deathmatches :D

i debated making her a siren but that just doesn't fit her for some reason. she doesn't have to try.

in op's post they made her aphrodite reincarnated but i don't think that there are gods walking amonst the student disembody unfortunately

Teruhashi Makoto - Intersection Bishounen

IM SORRY THE TERHASHI SIBLINGS JUST FIT JUNJI ITO SO WELL

the intersection bishounen is a vengeful spirit that roams the streets and gives fortunes to young girls that drive them to suicide, after which they come back as ghosts and beg for his affection.

makoto is more of a teenage/ya heartthrob than a vengeful spirit tho so we can get rid of all the cool stuff like fortune telling and driving to suicide

the intersection bishounen also didnt want to fuck his cousin so points to him

Hairo Kineshi - Fire Elemental

i KNOW he's BORING

think of heath. i think heath is like the son of hades or something idfk i say fuck that ive never heard that before until i started getting back into monster high that's not canon to me

theres... a surprisingly low amount of sports name puns :( there's casketball, ofc ofc, because mh is american. there's monster soccer from toralei's ghoul spirit notebook, but baseball and tennis from clawdeen and spectra dont get named so they dont have names. thats BULLSHIT btw someone who's good w puns help me im freezing up

gilda goldstag was also a fire elemental right? i dont actually know anything about her other than that she was in the student council bc she was in the doll pack

theres a wind elemental mentioned in spectras ghoul spirit notebook. figured that id mention it idk

i have nothing else to say this should be obvious

Mera Chisato - Shouku-jinki

okay i need to preface this with something that is very important to me about this, the Japanese creature the jikininki/shoku-jinki originated in the story of musou the preist. as far as ive been able to see, there is a second story featured on wikipedia about a pregnant woman that is legitimately someone's fucking oc insert. im not making this up, it appeared one goddamn day and i dont want to make an acc just to get rid of it but i dont want to have my ip address just There and i dont know how to like draw attention to it. so please know that the story of musou is the only legitimate source of the jikininki and the "jijinki" are just someones fucking oc inserts. i dont know why they did this, i dont know how it's still there bc its been YEARS how has no one removed it??

anyways im calm now.

jikininki (or, iirc the more modern version is shoku-jinki) are demons that were greedy or impious in life and were cursed to wander the earth forever starving and thirsty. at night, they eat dead bodies.

sooo remember how mera acted when she got her money back for a day.

her death was the cause of their bankruptcy, maybe they put all their money towards avenging her?

i think that mera would come from a half human, half monster family so she could already be in the monster world, but i dont have to worry about what powers she'd have due to being a monster.

her mother would be a demon and her father a human who doesn't quite know how to navigate the monster would, so he still has to go away to earn money. also imagine four kids following mera around, three have devil horns and taiks and one is just some guy. (idk if she has 4 siblings but you get the idea)

so yeah, mera is immortal, unable to feel satisfied by any amount of food or drink, working herself to the bone to provide for her siblings. the mera lore is Strong w this one.

u could totally also go for some real body horror with her if u wanted

Yumehara Chiyo - Ghost

ill go into the difference between ghosts and souls in toritsuka's part since you cant take away toritsukas thing but you cant just remove ghosts from mh

i initially thought of making her a cherub/cupid but girlie would be getting No One Together. also there's only one cupid in mh and uhhhh there would be no hope if that was chiyo. yk what chiyo loves tho? gossip. u know what spectra loves? gossip.

i think the ghosts in mh all have a chain motif iirc? ik spectra does but sirena von boo also does (the siren/ghost hybrid) and i dont know any other ghosts off the top of my head

anyways yumehara is totally just a regular people ghost. maybe she cries blood or somethin fun like that? maybe have a bit where she keeps getting told off for having makeup and its her eyes leaking or its her having anti blood leaking drops or wipes

Saiko Metori - Mummy

i was gonna make him a vampire but HELLO??? CLEO IS RIGHT THERE????

rich, bratty, self-centered?? DE NILE IS CLEOS LAST NAME.

idk if him being a mummy would change him like cosmetically, like skin tone or hair texture or whatever but i cant draw so that doesn't quite matter to me. altho ig hed probably just look like a pale, dehydrated, brittle pile of bandages if you wanna be historicallty accurate

his father glows because he's ra next question

he definitely decks himself out in a looott more gold than just his earring as a mummy. bangles, cuffs rings, anklets, hair accessories.

the bodyguards are just the tomb protectors that cleo gets as slaves

he gets a custom made desk of pure gold at pk and he never uses it

i think in ancient egypt married couples would be buried together regardless of if at least the wife was dead or alive, so he definitely propositions teruhashi to take a sand nap with him

he gets a pet crocodile. he has a tiger in canon i think and cleo gets a snake so like. nile crocodile obviously.

i cant tell if he lives in a pyramid just randomly in the middle of hidari wakibara, or if theres a bit about nendou asking him where his pyramid is and saikos just like "bro i Dont Live In A Pyramid."

Kuboyasu Aren - Werewolf

hello?? violent, tragic past that comes back to haunt them regularly and interfere with their daily lives?????

i dont think werewolves can turn into wolves in mh but like if you want doggy kuboyasu who's as big as kaidou, go for it

KUBOYASU WITH DOGGY EARS AND A TAIL.... i dont think that werewolves in mh have tails but thats. a crime.

kuboyasu can smell the rest of the cast. god i wanna know what they smell like in the non weirdest way possible.

i dont have a lot to say about this. doguyasu

Toritsuka Reita - Cult Worshipper (Human)

okay so there's a difference between ghosts and souls in this version. ghosts are a form of undead that are sort of just humans that can float and go thru walls and stuff. souls are the base forms of dead people that remain chained to existence with no knowledge of who they were. normal people can see ghosts, but not souls. toritsuka can see both

toritsuka was also raised in a temple in this au, pretty standard stuff. nothing interesting there.

:)

so yk how toritsuka found out abt saiki thru the souls

and yk how saikis an eldritch monster that melts mind and twists reality to his will in this au

toritsuka does not know the meaning of the term eldritch btw

if ur a torisai or toritsuka angst fan then u can always imagine toritsuka thinking himself inferior to the rest of the pk psychickers bc he's a human and didnt even find saiki by himself, but with the help of his ghosts. sorry i gotta push the torisai agenda.

i personally also hc him to be hypersexualized by the adults in his life due to his touchyness from a young age which lead to him being ostracized by his peers when he began repeating the behavior, thus encouraging the development of touch starvation that he misinterpreted as horniness. in other words, "damn bitch u live like this?". sooo do with that what u will in this au.

(could saiki like..... taste his desperation??)

Aiura Mikoto - Cult Worshipper (Devil)

basically aiura but with cute devil horns and a tail that reacts with her mood. she 100% bedazzles and paints her horns like she paints her nails.

shes still a prophet and stuff but like shes just a lil demonic now. as she deserves.

"yeah i can totes check ur future!!" (rips open a portal to the underworld, chants in a forgotten language, focuses in on one damned soul that writhes and screams for mercy as it withers out of existence where it will wait to be reborn into hell after being offered the temporary reprieve of total nothingness) "babe ur bf is cheating on u like one hundo percent. but ur gonna be a bomb ass doctor one day!!"

i want her to trip toritsuka with her tail

she's not human and she lords it over toritsuka's head when they fight for saiki's attention

Akechi Touma - Cult Worshipper (Human)

initially i wanted to make him a bugboy bc yea but consider

saiki knew him in elementary school so he pulled a real I Tracked Down My Childhood Friend Who Is Actually An Eldritch Monster Masquerading as a Pretty Boy with Pink Hair in a High School?!

yeah soo like what if their dynamic was "what if we were friends in our childhood years before you had to leave to stop the uncontrollable desire you had to break down my reality and drive me into irreversible madness, yet despite knowing the danger i faced i still hunted you down, my prayers meant solely to get a response from you devolving into genuine reverence, solidifying myself as your most loyal devotee...... haha jk. unless?"

we all know that akechi likely faced no difficulty finding the monster world dont even ask

you can insert ur own hcs with his mom all ill say is that shes probably masquerading as some sort of cult worshipper or jekyll/hyde situation to live in the monster world. or maybe he just moved schools and lives sort of nearby but not in the monster world idk

akechi would fucking Love the monster world. he'd never get bored of it. you know the sweet potato scene? oh, honey, he's got access to information about the average size of different monsters, along with the influence of proportions and size, magical interference, etc etc. hed fucking LOVE the monster world.

Satou Hiroshi - Ghost

ive already got three ghosts (see suzumiya and makino) but i couldnt think of the Most Generic monster but hear me out

he's a sheet

hes got two black or cut out circles for eyes and a little 'o' for a mouth. just fuckin 0 。0 .

HES SO. USELESS.

SO PLAIN.

SO BORING.

SO GENERIC.

SO. PERFECT.

and saiki is IN LOVE WITH HIM.

toritsuka is honestly so offended that he is not the ghost-themed object of saiki's affections

satous friends and baseball team are either the core basic monsters (werewolf, vampire, zombie, etc) or theyre basic japanese spirits. im. not doing tons of research on if there are generic japanese demons or if theres just sort of one kind of demon that has a lot of forms,,,, im so sorry i can only do so much research please correct me if you know better

Rifuta Imu - Catgirl

i dont know what the name of the actual catgirls are in mh (werecats?) like purrsephone and toralei and meowlody but fuck it catgirl

she would have THE cutest collar. OR she'd have a ribbon around her neck w a matching one on her tail like catrine de mew. she could maybe even have some sort of shredded piece of clothing like catty noir's skirt or a habit of shredding things

im sorry i dont know a lot about cat breeds so i dont have a lot to say about her species

cat themed accessories.......

btw she's a cat bc of japans obsession w cats. i considered making HER a siren since i scrapped that idea for teruhashi but i feel like it just. doesn't suit her.

Bonuses (people i couldnt find that much to talk about)

Suzumiya Hii - Cursed Soul

i mean what else would she be.

okay so shes not a SOUL shes a GHOST i just think it sounds better like that

Makino Arisu - Ghost

ring-style ghost. i think it's called a yuurei? i did my research for her but i forgot it and the og post got deleted so. im upset.

Matsuzaki - Headless Horseman

idk what is his horse would be i just wanted bloodgood to have Presence in this and the principal is only seen like. three times.

i considered giving kuboyasu the status as headless horseman bc of his motorcycle but g1 bloodgood did not serve that much cunt for her type to be given to a 16 year old im sorry

(i also recently got a bloodgood as my first doll when i got back into mh and i love her :] she came w a cool coat that isnt her og coat but its nice anyways)

Chouno Urkyoku - Mad Jester

okay so ik i said he was a mad scientist but he retired that in order to go into entertainment. it's not going too well.

you could also go for a ringmaster/clown route but we all lived thru 2016 (or was it 2017?) and the ensuing cliche-ifying treatment the media gave scary clowns put me off them personally lol they kind of bore me

(if u don't live in the us or don't know what im talking about that happened in 2016, then god i envy you. just look up "2016 clowns usa" im sure you'll figure it out)

Michael (Ikemi something I think?) - Zombie

idk it just fits him

zombies in g1 can only communicate thru moans which makes them nonverbal in some way but g3 STOLE that from us. fuck them.

Nendou Midori / Nendou Takeuchi - Frankenstein & His Monster

i explained this in nendous thing im not repeating myself sorry

PK Principal - Gorgon

yes its bc of the glasses

also i think theres something fun about being able to say he can rule the school with an iron fist (or ig rock fist) without needing to use his eyes

Kongou - Minotaur

big strong and VIOLENT. you can also play into manny's more delicate side with kongous change of heart after saiki helps him realize what matsuzaki does for him

Takahashi - Goblin

idk i think it just suits him

Shima - Changeling

her whole bit is being a forgettable face so what if she was always just a Little Bit Different every time you saw her

Iridatsu family - Mummy

okay ik ive already done mummy but HEAR ME OUT.

idk abt the mom but i think it would be funny if yuuta was just covered in bandages and his whole thing is tripping over/hitting people with them

The pervy teacher who wasn't actually pervy at all he just had an unfortunate face - Human

he's not even disguised as anything

the monsters saw him and said "nah im p sure he's one of us" and then took him

teacher doesnt quite care cause the monster world has better health plans /j

The "your manga artist is gnc af" guy - Kitsune

kitsune are typically seen as elusive tricksters which doesnt suit his character BUT

theres a whole joke about japanese mangakas being worked to the bone to provide chapters every week or so for serialization even going so far as to hide or make excuses as to why they did not complete the chapter

i feel so bad for them bro i could not (used to do weekly updates for fics for 5 years before i started needing money bc i turned 18)

also. someone give that man fox ears and a tail.

The Alphonse guy - Invisi Billy

idk what invisi billy is but he can be here helping alphonse hide from the shame of his chunnibyou :D

Makoto's rival guy - Banshee

it just. Suits Him.

idk if there are male banshees bc we only know sarah screams and her mom but we can have a trans icon if we need

[spitdrunken]

i am absolutely insane about your headcanons with the vee's, my mind is so full now... this is exactly what i was hoping to find when searching through the hazbin x reader tag after watching the episodes 👁️🙏🏻 please i'm so!! the being a writer for the vee's imagine is such a good idea, val and his.. comment especially got to me..

also, for your consideration:

Val — or all of the Vee's, really —, but, in the beginning, he's really not convinced about the quality of your dialogues, despite all the lines he's read (or, well, has had Vox read to him), so naturally you have to read your previous stories out loud to him, cheeks flushing and squirming when it gets to particularly graphic scenes and his gaze on you is so very heavy, smoke caressing your jaw while you stumble over your words.. It's worse if you've written about them and a character who resembles you, and Val's smile widens when you skip from story to story, mentioning the character — definitely not you — sucking Vox off, bending over willingly for Val and begging for Velvette to touch her, or even take all three of them at once, greedy...

Also the. love potions Velvette makes have me feeling things.. Her or Vox but they might end up putting a drop or four into your glass — purely accidentally, of course! —, and...

this is terrible.. my mind is too full now... i might have to post writing for hazbin now and it is your fault alone.. (affectionate; truly, I've enjoyed your thoughts so very much!! thank you for sharing!)

I'm glad you enjoyed it so much :D!! I had an absolute blast writing it myself, and I've been thinking about it lots!! Your ask made it even Worse (/pos) and I simply had to write more!! Please please please let me know if you write something for Hazbin, I can tell from your ask already that it'll be wonderful! And if you ever wanna chat about these guys, feel free to message me again, haha.

Notes: power imbalance, sexual harassment, heavily dubious/noncon due to love potion usage.

The fact Vox even bothers at all to take the time to sit Valentino down and read to him is already a show of your quality— He really wouldn’t go through wrangling him like that for just anyone, especially not with Val getting a bit pissy when being reminded your works were being compared to his. He needs to be told that, obviously, Val, some mere written words are never going to compare, especially not in earnings, to his creations. This placates Valentino. But all Vox gets for his efforts are a lazy flick of one of Valentino’s four wrists, his eyes not even looking at him. “Look, I still think it fucking sucks. But if you wanna hire them so badly, whatever. I’ve got better shit to do than listen to daddy’s horny story-time.” Suffice it to say, he becomes a lot more… Amiable (poor you) once you’re actually working there, and he has a face to attach to the stories. He can tell upon first glance that you’re one of those pathetic little hermits, too scared to leave your own shitty apartment, barely scraping by— He’s recruited plenty of those types as whores, after all. So easily pushed around that it shouldn’t give him nearly as much satisfaction as it does.

When Valentino practically demands you join him in his room and read your previous work to him, you sputter out protests, heart skipping a beat. Every employee in the company has something bad to say about this man, and so he’s about the last person you want to be caught alone in a room with. Especially not his bedroom.

“Ah, sir, I’m not really sure—“ But he’s already wrapping one of his arms around your shoulders, pulling you flush against his side as he drags you through the halls. The first thing that strikes you is how different the texture of coat is than you were expecting. It doesn’t even feel like anything at all. “Oh, sweetheart, call me Valentino. No need to be so unfamiliar with each other.” He practically purrs, a single finger tracing up the contours of your chest. “I feel like we’re going to get quite familiar.” If all the alarms weren’t ringing in your head before, they most definitely are now. But there’s nothing you can do. His grip on you is tight and, underneath his red coat, you can feel the hard metal of a pistol pressing against you.

He takes you to his room, walls covered with posters featuring himself, and you hardly have the time to look around before he sits you down on one of his red couches, still caught underneath one of his arms. It’s hard to think, much less speak, as Valentino starts to prod you to pull out your phone and start reading. “No need to be shy. You’re such an artista, aren’t you? Don’t keep me waiting.” It’s easy, at first. When the scene hasn’t grown explicit yet, and you can pretend you’re only reading the text out loud to yourself like you always do, making sure the sentences sound right. But Valentino makes it hard for you to distract yourself entirely. He rubs circles on the skin of your thigh, and the smoke from his pipe has long since been the only thing you can smell. The red smoke makes your head a little hazier, tongue a little looser— Though that all just might be because you’re not getting enough oxygen. Your every muscle is tense and, you think, this is what being a prey animal must feel like. The first time you stutter out the word ‘cock’, Valentino barks out a laugh, loud and sudden, entirely contrasting with the sultry demeanour he’s been putting on the whole time. You jump, gaze flickering from the screen to his face, before continuing. It gets worse when you realise exactly what story you’re reading out loud to him, one of the ones you’d never even posted anywhere, so utterly self-indulgent and poorly thought out that you regret it with every ounce of your being. (Unbeknownst to you, Vox has already read every draft you’ve ever typed up, but that’s neither here nor there.)

“Sorry, can I maybe, um, read a different one?” You practically squeak out. “I realised I have some better drafts, and…” “No,” Valentino shuts you down, tone temporarily harsh. “Don’t get too fucking cocky now, you’re already taking up enough time as it is. Shit’s about to get interesting, finally.” He’s saying all of this as if he wasn’t the one to drag you there in the first place.

So you trudge onward, reading as fast as you possible can, just trying to tough it out. As you read about a scared, unaccomplished demonic main character catching the eye of a trio of some of the most famous demons in town—through entirely unrealistic circumstances—you can see his grin grow wider from the corner of your eye. His nails dig into the flesh of your thigh, the smoke surrounding your face turning to caress your cheeks.

“So, let me gets this straight… You wrote about a trio of powerful demons with matching names, taking turns fucking an absolute nobody silly. One of them’s a pimp, the other a fashion designer, and the other a business man.” Valentino doesn’t give you the chance to respond. “Greedy little slut. You even chose this one specifically to read out to me, huh? Seems I got you all wrong,” he hisses out. “This must be a dream come true for you, isn’t it?”

Let’s just say that you got enough ‘material’ to write another four or so stories, just from that line alone.

----- A drop of love potion, and models always behave the absolute best, or so Velvette thinks! (As long as you don’t put in too much. It’s very hard to take good pictures when the girls keep trying to kiss you.) No bitching, no whining, only an easy to pose, cute demon to work with. And if she dresses you up in clothes that reveal more than they obscure, purely for her own enjoyment and usage, who’s going to blame her?

Certainly not you. You won’t remember a single damn thing. Not even the parts where you babble on about how pretty and gorgeous and cool she is, and how you’ve admired her for so long— All things she’s heard a million times before. Normally, she wouldn’t care less about it, but such words coming from someone with only a drop of her potion in her system means they’re all the absolute truth. She thinks it’s almost cute when it’s coming from you, really. ------------ Vox, on the other hand, would be more likely to use his hypnosis on you than a love potion. Just to have a few minutes in the middle of a meeting where you’re practically putty in his hands, all of your usual anxiety and shame having slid right off of your shoulders. He doesn’t feel any guilt about it whatsoever. Having read all of your works, he finds it safe to say that this is the exact kind of scenario you would enjoy…

And even if you didn’t, he still would. He gets a bit of a thrill out of the loopy, relaxed smile on your face as you nuzzles your cheeks against his arm, professing all of the thoughts you had about him before working at VoxTech, and the ones you still have today. It’s during one of these exact moments, that he’d likely find out that Valentino had fucked you already, something he hadn’t found necessary to mention. They’ll have a bit of a discussion about that later!

[willowmosby]

I have over the last 5 months watched all 15 seasons and the immortality special of the original CSI. I have no plans to watch the reboot anytime soon so I thought I would info dump my thoughts, and if love to know how others feel. I will now present a very very long post with breakdown some quick thoughts on the seasons, more thoughts on most of the characters and a few ships.

Tldr: I really enjoyed CSI as a whole and I'm sad to say goodbye to a formula and some characters I've really grown attached to. ( And If there is a good Nick Stokes written into immortality fic please lmk)

Seasons:

I do think the early seasons the most fun/ light hearted, which feels weird to say when it literally opens with Sara investigating Warrick for negligence. I kinda wish I had blogged along or something so I could be more detailed in my response about them.

Like a lot of shows I think it really hit its stride in the middle seasons. If I had to pick a few seasons to watch it be 5-7. It also helps that I had finally gotten used to the lighting.

I think the 9- 11 stretch is too serious, don't get me wrong there were some bangers but overall not great

12-15 they were better and back to a little more fun, and I think the series kept its footing pretty well in its final innings. It was no golden era and I felt really bad that Catherine got demoted but I really enjoyed it. ( Well ok I really wasn' a gig harbor arc fan)

Immortality was a fine special, although I don't really feel like it stuck the landing. Part of that will probably become obvious when I talk about my character and ship takes but I also just felt the case could have been better. It's the freshest in mind, obviously, so I will say I really loved having Catherine and Grissom back and if anything I felt like it gave good closure for them and to a lesser extent Sara.

Characters( kinda in the order of their exit):

The lab rats: Bobby, Mandy, Archie icons every one of them. There is a world where Wendy, Hodges and Henry get their own sections but I feel like they would appreciate being in this group. Never pushed into too much melodrama their characterization, always great at their jobs. I would love to grab drinks with any of them

The cops: Brass will get his own sections but to summarize my feelings on all the others. They did their job and I love that for them. They almost never overstayed their welcome but they also aren't the reason I'm watching this show. The only two I would want to get drinks with are the should have been lesbian Sofia Curtis ( she almost got her own section but then i got lazy) and the best uniform in the business, the man, the myth, my man officer Mitchell.

Warrick Brown: My smooth talking gambling king. He was definitely missed after his death. While I didn't love his characterization in the greda Arc, I usually really enjoyed his dynamic with the team and his drive to the job. His death was the closest I came to stopping my watching. His skills with kids are underrated ( probably cause Nick and Catherine are so good) and I do have a say on top of all his intelligence and skills at the job he is so handsome. I think he might go a little too hard for me to enjoy getting drinks with him but I would still do it.

Gill Grissom: My second favorite Dr. Bug ( sorry no one can beat Jack Hodgins) he really is the smartest person on the show. You can always feel his passion for science which is lovely. While sometimes out of touch or oblivious he is usually incredibly kind. I liked his tie to the deaf community. You can pull the fact that he is Demi from my cold dead hands. In a lot of the ways he was the heart of the show and it definitely shows when he left. His relationships with Catherine, Warick, Nick and of course Sara were well developed. I would kill to get a drink with him just to listen to him talk science.

Riley Adams: she gets a section as it is rude for me to not mention a character who was in the credits but she's fucking white bread milk toast. Would not bother getting drinks.

Raymond Langston: I love his relationship with Robbins and I think he's incredibly smart. But I just think the show gave him way way too much too quickly. I mean just compare it to the fucking effort Greg put in to reach CSI or that as new CSI 3 there was a long stretch where Nick didn't get his own cases. I appreciated his complex background but he brought with him the Haskell arc which was just too fucking long and serious. I would get a singular glass of wine with him.

Catherine Willows: What a girl boss. And I mean that is all the best and worst ways. I really love her at her best but man some of her lows are just.. no fun. She is absolutely vital to the show's success and 9/10 times she is out there taking no prisoners and careing for her team. Just you know wish she hadn't shown her daughter a dead body or faked a crime scene with a new guy to name some examples. She could drink me under the table no doubt.

Jim Brass: While never my favorite character I always appreciate seeing him on my screen. Competent enough to hang with the scientist and still be a good cop. I appreciated how dedicated he was to his daughter but Just not personally my vibes. I would get a drink with him but uhh maybe make it non alcoholic cause it's unclear if he needs sobriety help.

Julie Finlay: She's sweet and very very good at her job. If she had come earlier on she might be one of my favorites just my top 3 was already filled. She brings a good balance back to the team, and she has a weird level of breaking and respecting the rules that I enjoyed. She very quickly had such a good dynamic with all the returning favs that there are moments I forgot she was so new. She's got big Bi & Poly energy. I know the actress wasn't coming back but I would've paid to see her interact with Grissom. Sad that she died off screen but also kinda glad they didn't end 15 with her completely dead. I would absolutely get drinks with her, probably mimosas despite my dislike for them.

Morgan Brody: eh shes fine. I feel like despite everything she still comes off as naive. I love her relationship with Eklie and Hodges but overall she left something to be desired. Nothing that I super disliked but I do kinda wish some of her screen time went to Sara or someone else.

D.B Russell: he was honestly a breath of fresh air, well until he wasn't. I think I just love Ted Dansion for one but also I felt like Russell was a beautiful balance between caring and professional. It was nice to have a supervisor who was actually kinda good at politics. I love that he actually cares for his kids and loves his wife ( although I was informed by my mother that he is divorced in Cyber). I do kinda wish the kept the bit where he laid on the ground as a body but mostly cause I found it way funnier than it is. I really hated the gig harbor killer arc and I felt like a large reason is it made him too serious. I would get a drink with him, but honestly I'd love to have a full meal with his family

Super Dave: what a lovable but weird dude. Genuinely a great example of how you can blend strange comments with kindness and consistency to create a great character. I would love to grab a drink with him.

Doc Robbins: What an honest man and in the running for the best M.E ( up there with Ducky and Cam). I'm glad he mostly stayed out of the drama and appreciated that he was always thorough, even when people were occasionally questioning his own work. Not kind to a fault but definitely empathetic. I would 100% grab a drink with him.

Now to the top 3, the best of the best, the ones who were in for the long haul.

Nick Stokes: Whether it's the sweet Texas accent and big bown eyes or the fact that he's the longest running main cast member I do think he is my favorite. Empathetic and kind, almost to a fault, he is also a man's man who can hold his own against the worst criminals. The show put him through the absolute fucking ringer but he still leaves with a smile on his face. Even when he clashes with other characters I feel like he resolves the problems better than other people. He definitely could have benefited from good therapy but I still love him anyway. His skills with kids are so nice and grounded in his backstory. Loved that he became the new big guy. Occasionally they try and paint him as a bit of a player but given he sleeps with like 2 women over 15 seasons it doesn't super add up. This is definitely the queer in me talking but he gives huge repressed Gay energy. Like a lot of his early arc is about graining confidence in himself. Not to mention,his relationship with Warrick and Greg are so filled with undertones and honestly let that man get fucked and some of his problems might go away. Anyway. So I guess more power to the actor for not coming back for even a cameo but I really really felt the lack of him in immortality. So If anyone knows a fanfic where he's there lmk I would read that shit in a heartbeat. Would get drinks with him, would die for him.

Greg Sanders: I love rave going lab rat Greg. I love the new CSI trying to prove himself to Greg. I love mob history author Greg. I mean he's got to be one of the most intelligent characters on the show- he's good at science and history- and it never makes him come off as rude or entitled. I think his shift from lab rat to CSI, whether intentional or accidental, is well built. He is criminally oh I mean so so so criminally underutilized in immortality. I dislike when he's angry and there are certainly episodes where he feels off but overall he's just so lovable. Disgusting hair choices but hey at least that was a consistent trait. His relationship with Nick and Sara throughout the whole show are really great and after 15 seasons they really do feel like they've been a team for 15 years. He gives Huge Bi energy so I would take him to a gay club for drinks and dancing.

Sara Sidle: You can call her a problematic fav all you want but she's a bad bitch and everyone should love her. She is so great at her job and she never lacks humanity. The show kinda lost track of her exact backstory at some point but I don't care too too much as she stays strong willed and passionate the whole show. Her will to never quit and iconic smirks will stay winning forever. I have thoughts on her relationship with Grissom but bottom line she knew what she wanted and got it. Her friendship with all the main cast, particularly Greg and Nick, is really lovely and shows how she has grown and changed over 15 seasons. Because I actually care about continuity I would not get an actual alcoholic drink with her but non alcoholic drinks aplenty would be had if I could meet her.

Ships:

Listen I don't have a real finger on the pulse of what ships are popular as this show finished airing 10 years ago and I was trying to not be super spoiled.

That being said

GSR: I'm not super into Grissom/ Sara ( side note I know the Internet was a different place 20 years ago but who picked GSR as their ship tag), but I'm also not against it. I think they have a big "match my freak" energy which is nice but. I don't know I just feel like by the end of it Sara could do better. Like she gave up the lab director for the guy who asked her for a divorce. I still think it's better than some other options just you know not like my otp. 8/10

Catherine/ Warrick: I think that the flirting was all fun and games and then if became too much. Let's be honest neither of them are built for committed relationships. Probably would have been better then whatever the fuck was happening with Warrick and Tina. 5/10

Catherine/ Vartann: its canonical and like they were fine I didn't hate it didn't love it. Probably better for Catherine in the long term than any other of her potential ships 6/10

Nick/ Greg: idk if this is super popular but it's my otp for the show. They seem like they bring out the best in each other. Nicks more clean cut natural could balance out the more chaotic ature of greg. Obviously with the era the show was made in I don't think that there tension was intentional but it's still there. From the name that chemical compound game to working together until the end of really think they would be great. 11/10

Nick/ Warrick: I had to mention for the just two dudes who have homoerotic tension energy but ehh Warrick dose really read straight to me in every other context. 3/10

Wendy/ Hodges: ehh they give straight white couple who should have just talked about their feelings. 4/10

Hodges/ Henry: is this a real ship? idk man, But it's an friends to enemies to lovers I would love to read. 6/10

Morgan/ Greg: ok part of this is the my ship bias( see above) but I did not like them together. Their flirting is not good, his anger at her kidnapping too extreme, idk I Just really feels like they operate in different levels. 0/10

Morgan/ Hodges: I actually thought this was really sweet and was super said they went with the parents dating thing. I think they understood each other on a really fun level and that they brought out the best in each other. I loved how supportive they were of each other even in seemingly poor decisions. 8/10

Finn/ D.B: I would assume that this is the popular het ship for the them but uhh D.B is so happily married and Finn ( much like Warrick and Catherine) doesn't really give monogamous relationship. 0/10

Finn/ Sara: 100% queer women projection but uhh just imagine post divorce Sara figuring out her identity with Finn and they try friends with benefits but then need more. 6/10

If you made it this far thanks so much for reading and id love to hear others thoughts as I do a deep dive into this show. I Will be reading plenty of fanfiction and may start CSI: NY to appease the new hole in my heart.

[lurkingshan]

I Feel You Linger in the Air: Novel vs Drama 

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Happy IFYL special day! While I wait (not so) patiently for the special episode to become available for international viewers, I thought I would stop being lazy and get around to writing up my thoughts on the adaptation choices of the drama now that I’ve finally had a chance to read the original novel. 

First, let me just say: the novel is so fun. I’m so glad folks like @clairedaring and @pharawee talked about it on here and @waitmyturtles read it first and told me to jump on it, because I’ve had a really hard time with poorly translated y novels before and was definitely skeptical. But the story was excellent and the English translation was really solid, so a great time was had by all and I wasn’t even salty about spending eighteen American dollars on it. I didn’t think the novel was perfect (turtles can attest I had a few LOUD complaints) but it was a very enjoyable read. Shoutout to @bengiyo, @neuroticbookworm, and @wen-kexing-apologist as well for listening to me rant about Tee’s choices as I made my way through the novel. Bonus: if you have the chance to read this novel while vacationing in Thailand surrounded by plumeria trees and romantic scenery, I highly recommend. 

So, with that established, let’s talk about the adaptation! Adapting novels to a visual medium always comes with a lot of choices, and it’s not easy to make everything translate effectively. On the other hand, a live action drama can make some of what’s on the page feel even more vivid and new elements can be introduced that add to the canon. I’m on the record as both loving this show and feeling like there were some significant missteps in the writing, so I really wanted to understand the source material and how some of those choices were made. So here’s your spoiler alert for IFYL’s adaptation: it’s a real mixed bag of choices from our dear frenemy Tee Bundit, and all in service of one clear goal. 

I Feel You Linger in the Air, but Make It Sadder!

I’m going to break down the details below, but this is the TL; DR right here. Every choice Tee made in this adaptation was in service of transforming a relatively light and often comedic time travel romp into a story of deep melancholy and a thorough examination of queer pain. This is Tee’s whole schtick, so we can hardly be surprised; and yet I was kind of taken aback by how stark the difference in these stories felt even as a lot of the plot stayed the same. During the drama’s airing @respectthepetty talked about how this show was just too damn sad for her, and I gotta say, she was definitely picking up what Tee was putting down. YMMV on how sad you like your romance, but Tee Bundit is a very sad boy indeed.

Jom

gif by @junghaesin

Let’s start here, because this is definitely my biggest grievance with Tee: he removed most of Jom’s personality from the book in order to give us a flatter, sadder version of him that fit better with a much more melancholy vision for this story. As it turns out, Jom was originally written to be smart, sassy, and very funny (h/t to @stuffnonsenseandotherthings whose post on this really got me interested in reading to see the difference). Novel Jom is a smartass who never misses the opportunity to work in a salty comment or express his frustration when things aren’t going his way, and he’s such an active character. He does not just sit back and let things happen to him; he thinks and he struggles and he tries. By comparison, show Jom just feels… vaguely confused, mildly depressed, and wildly passive most of the time. This is by no means a knock on Nonkul, who is a fantastic performer—these are clearly writing and directing choices and he is interpreting the character as instructed.

And it’s not just the removal of his core personality, either. Jom in the book has emotional intelligence and a stronger sense of connection to others. For one, he actually cares that Eung Phueng is his sister! Throughout the book, we see him dedicate time and energy to finding ways to care for his sister despite their different social stations; this dynamic is completely absent from the show, where Jom doesn’t even seem to remember Eung Phueng has his sister’s face most of the time. This was a major hole in the show and I still don’t really understand why Tee dropped the ball on it when there was so much material to drawn from in the book.

Winner: The novel, hands down. If you take nothing else away from this post, please take it as a recommendation to read the novel so you can experience Real Jom in all his sassy glory.

The Mythology 

gif by @chickenstrangers

Now, I can’t really claim that either the novel or the show does a fantastic job with the mythology, because there’s a lot of hand waving in either case and some definite plot holes. But I will give the book credit for being upfront from the start: it didn’t really intend to explain it beyond giving us a little preamble about wormholes (yes, wormholes!) and for having Jom actually notice and care (and get very amusingly frustrated) that he didn’t understand what the wormhole wanted him to do or how to control it. He actually tried quite a lot in the book to figure it out, rather than just sitting around gazing morosely into the distance. In the end, the book tells us that Yai vowed to love Jom at first sight in every lifetime, which is a vow he made after the wormhole brought Jom to him but somehow affects the times that had already happened from our perspective. It’s a paradox that doesn’t fully make sense, but it is at least an explanation.

The show, by contrast, intentionally added layers to this mystery that it had no intention of resolving. The drawings opening up connections to the present, the ghostly visages haunting the characters, the glimpses of Jom in the future doing things we never saw in the original timeline, Mustache Yai kissing Jom in the water—all show inventions, and all setting up an expectation that some sense would be made of these clues. Which of course, never happened. Instead, these things were used to contribute to the spooky scary vibe and make everything feel sadder, and the show offered no explanation at all for why any of this happened.

Winner: It’s a draw since neither really did it well, but I’m staying salty with Tee for fucking with me.

Family Drama 

gif by @thii-nii

Here is where we get into some of the stuff Tee added to the story that actually worked pretty well. One very smart adaptation choice: he made Yai and Eung Phueng siblings so that Yai would have a reason to be more involved in their household and able to interact much more with Jom in the early parts of the story; in the novel there is no connection between the households and Yai and Jom barely interact for the first several months after Jom arrives in the past. He also added a lot of family drama in the back half of the show: the struggles with Yai’s father, the shady uncle, the plot to force Yai to marry, and the big confrontation over Robert’s misdeeds are all show inventions, likely added both to pad out the story and make the relationship harder and sadder, and because he was looking for an alternate source of conflict since he was not doing Part 2 of the book (which takes place once Jom is yanked away again and shot back to the Commander Yai time period). 

Another major change from the novel to the show: in the novel, Yai’s plans to go study abroad were already set before Jom even got there, not something he won as a consolation in a negotiation over marriage. Which has some implications I’ll get into in the next section.

Winner: The drama, where the family dynamics were much more thoroughly explored. 

The Romance 

gif by @loveisactivated

As I mentioned above, Tee made a smart choice in bringing Yai more firmly into Jom’s orbit early in the story, but unfortunately, he didn’t do much with that advantage and actually failed to use some of what the novel gave him to work with. In the novel, Jom is much more aware of the attraction between him and Yai, very attuned to Yai’s flirting and their age gap, very aware of his own growing attachment to Yai, and thinking through the implications of all of it as it grows, which is a more natural and believable build up to their romance than in the show, where Jom seems distracted and unaware of Yai’s affections until they suddenly start jumping each other. That lack of romantic development in the show (which we discussed even as it was airing) was not because the material was not there for Tee to use in the book; he simply had other priorities and neglected to build it properly in show time.

That said, I have to give major credit to Tee for how he handled the romance once our leads were together and intimately involved. First, he really brought some of the scenes that were in the book to life in a way that still has me shook, like Yai’s drunken poetry recitation (credit must also be given to Bright for his eye work in that and many other scenes, what a stunner). And on top of that, the drama has some of the best physical intimacy scenes I have ever seen in any drama, full stop, and that is nearly all Tee and his creative team. He used elements from a few scenes in the book, but he remixed and amplified them to be a lot more powerful, and certainly much more artful and sensual than the sex scenes in the book. That olive oil masturbation scene? The show gets full credit, and the way the direction, editing, and performances so vividly painted their attraction to each other still gives me shivers when I think about it.

But anyway, back to bitching about Tee: one of the scenes that really stuck out for me like a sore thumb in the romance arc in the show was when Yai learns he will be going abroad and he and Jom discuss it in a curiously flat and emotionless way, with Yai acting like it’s no big deal for them to be separated for three years. I mentioned above that this was a change from the book: in the novel Yai was already set to go abroad before he ever met Jom, it was not a new surprise that came about after they were together. They discuss Yai’s impending departure twice in the book; once when Jom is still only Yai’s majordomo, and then once again when they are lovers. As you can imagine, the emotional tenor of these two scenes are quite different. And Tee used the wrong one for the show! I almost threw the book at the wall when I realized I was reading the verbatim dialogue from that scene in the show in the context of Yai and Jom hardly knowing each other yet, and then again when I got to the second conversation that was actually appropriate for two lovers who do not want to be parted. That has to be one of the most senseless adaptation mistakes I have ever seen. Tee Bundit, what is wrong with you!!

Lastly for this section, I will just note that the very long, drawn out goodbyes between Yai and Jom are also a show invention. In the book, Jom gets yanked to the next time period with no warning shortly after they get together and begins his next adventure with another Yai. Since Tee was ending the show here in this time period, he went in a different direction, having Jom and Yai much more aware of Jom fading and anticipating a separation so that he could (say it with me) make everything sadder. His choice to wallow for two entire episodes in sorrow and melancholy and to put much heavier focus on Yai’s despair was entirely his own, and so very on brand.  

Winner: It’s a draw. The book definitely writes the romantic arc more holistically and doesn’t have any of the missteps the drama does, but the show is so artful and the parts it gets right are so good I will remember them for the rest of my life. And I can’t pretend I’m not an angst monster at heart, so Tee’s sad af vision totally worked on me.

Sides and Queer Community

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Here is where Tee’s adaptation really shines, and I know others have discussed these changes before so I won’t go too deep on the details. But I absolutely have to give Tee props for taking tiny threads for these side characters in the books and building them into whole people that we actually care about. Especially in the case of Ming and Fong Kaew, Tee really made something of their extremely thin book stories to turn them into fan favorite characters with real growth arcs. I do think the book was better in the way it handled the fated connection between Fong Kaew and Khamsaen, but everything else about Fong Kaew’s story was deepened by the show. And Tee gets credit for adding so many meaningful stories for women characters in the first place, let alone developing a lesbian romance for Eung Pueng and Maey. He picked up on a tiny bit of subtext for underdeveloped characters in the book and ran with it, and it really enhanced the story. 

He also used side characters as a means to make this story feel all around more queer, not only by including additional queer romances but by building out a real sense of community and solidarity among the queer characters. Not only the addition of nods to real queer history, but the speakeasy, James’s explicit queerness, and Nuey the Green Queen are all Tee additions to the canon that really enhanced the story.

Winner: The drama and it’s not close. Well done, Tee!

That Ending

gif by @dragonsareawesome123

One of my biggest interests in reading the novel was seeing how the ending with modern Yai is explained in the original source material, because I found the drama version of that scene so lacking. Well, it turns out, the novel did pretty much the same thing! The ending sequence of the book is even shorter than the scene in the show and similarly offers zero explanation for this new version of Yai or how he knows Jom before they jump each other and the story concludes. The main narrative ends there and the book then tacks on an epilogue explaining who this new Yai is, and it reads like an afterthought. Honestly, it felt to me like the writer ran out of steam and just didn’t bother to finish the story, and Tee did exactly the same thing. Which is kind of infuriating, because being able to fix stuff like that is one of the best things about a good adaptation. 

Winner: Absolutely no one, my kingdom for a proper ending to this story.

gif by @pharawee

So, my conclusions? 1) Tee Bundit is the saddest creator in Thai bl, hands down; 2) It’s a draw between which version of this story is better. The novel and drama both have different strengths and significant flaws, but both versions are compelling and had me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend the book to anyone who is missing the show and wants another chance to revisit these characters, plus the added bonus of seeing Jom wrangle Commander Yai, something we are unlikely to ever see on our screens (though hope springs eternal besties!). If you do decide to give it a read, come talk to me about it! 

[aquaburst3]

I've seen TikToks where people dunk on Rollo and Honest Fellow, and others, mainly in the Spanish and JP fandoms, being confused about this reaction. To play devil's advocate, the main reason is how the game handled them and that they're poorly written characters. I can pinpoint a few reasons why that is...

Honest Fellow: His motivations to make him sympathetic and his actions are at odds with one another.

In that arc, Honest Fellow gleefully turns people into puppets to sell off to the highest bidder, even hinting at some people using them for sexual pleasure in the JP version. Why is he doing this? Because the school system is hard and he wants to get back at rich people. Yes, really. That's one of the dumbest villain motivations I ever heard! How does that justify what he did or put his actions into perspective? He's a human trafficker! By making the reason why he's doing this something so disconnected from the story makes him seem like a sociopathic monster on par with the Coachman. It's like if someone murdered your pet and said they did that because had a hard time in school. That's horrible, but that has nothing to do with that action nor does that make you like that more any more.

(Personally, if I was writing this arc, I would've made his boss the TWST Coachman, who is threatening to turn Giddel into a puppet if he doesn't do what he says. That makes far more sense, and makes his actions more understandable. I think a lot of us had shitty bosses that forced us to do things we disagreed with or would do a horrible act to protect a loved one. It makes him more like his movie counterpart due to Honest John and Gideon being threatened by the Coachman to convince Pinocchio to come to Pleasure Island, despite Honest John thinking it was fucked up. Idk, that's just me.)

Rollo: While he's better written than Honest Fellow due to his motivations at least making sense, he's still not the best written character either. Shitty and lazy character name aside, being a woobie and not adapting the character in a...questionable manner.

A woobie, for those of you who don't know, is an older fandom term used to describe bland pretty characters with a tragic backstory that the author expects you to feel sorry for them and get away with everything. Oh, boy. Does he fit that definition in spades. He's pretty bland. His only real standout personality traits are that he hates magic and the fae, prideful, traditional and possibly athletic. That's it. He has a sad backstory where his brother died in a fire after his magic got out of control. Fine, that's cliche, but it works. Hell, it's kinda clever in a sense where it's inspired by the Hunchback of Notre Dame off-broadway musical. Characters like Idia point out the hypocrisy in Rollo's ideology and that he is really doing this thanks to his own guilt for his brother's death, which is a good thing. The problem is, outside of him being boring as a character, that despite wanting to suck out all of the magic in the world, he got away with it scott free, and his only form of "punishment" was living with the guilt of knowing everyone thinking that he was some sort of hero…despite Malleus wanting revenge on him five minutes earlier. (I don't get it either.) I think a lot of this problem plays into a reoccurring one the game has a whole—the character stagnation and Yana's utter unwillingness to let them face any consequences for their actions. Rollo is also prejudice against the fae if him covering his nose whenever he's around one is to be concerned, which is also never addressed.

I think the way he was handled was in poor taste. Frollo is one of the most realistic villains in the Disney canon and is triggering to a lot of westerners due to his ties with the Catholic church. Unlike the other Great Seven, there's no way to possibly turn his story to make him seem like a hero nor are their any admirable traits. The fact of the matter is that by making Noble Bell honoured after Frollo, who is such a realistic character and is tied up in a lot of religious baggage for westerners, the game is glorifying his actions to an extent. While I know Christianity is a minor religion in Japan, so adding Christian elements to "spice things up" is common in anime, the developers know that the game is being distributed internationally and should've known better. The game should've made Rollo like the staff where he has no dorm or school honoured after his counterpart. That would've lessened the impact a lot.

Both of them: Like I said with Rollo, they completely get away with their crimes, despite everything they did. That is asinine. All actions have punishments, and that goes for them. Plus, the NRC boys are based on villains! Wouldn't they want to exact their revenge on them, especially in Honest Fellow's case who wanted to turn them into living household items and sex dolls! You are based on villains, act like it!

(This is also a huge problem with the game as a whole, but I wrote other posts about that before, so I don't wanna get into it here.)

So, yeah. There reasons why many English speaking fans dislike or despise these characters. Hell, if anything the reason why they are so beloved in JP and Spanish fandom circles is more bizarre to me. I get it. Honest Fellow is hot. But outside of that...Really? So I guess it goes both ways and we can be baffled at each other's choices. xD

[calsvoid]

writing meme: about me

i got tagged by @lusthurts so thank you for that <3

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

ive been into writing for years before i got into fanfiction specifically so i guess just from reading fanfiction i guess, but if you want a longer story, i got more interested in writing from roleplaying on amino and got into fanfiction because the fandom i was in at the time got OBSESSED with this one popular work and i just HAD to check it out

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

officially, my ao3 account only has glee works rn but i do have a 911 fic im working on and i do want to venture into more fandoms, but i don’t really have the confidence to do so yet

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

i’ve been trying since 2020 to be more of a fanfic writer but never actually got anything solid until 2023 so 1-4 years depending on how you see it

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

definitely read im a slowass writer and part of that is because im too busy reading fanfiction instead of writing

5. What is one way you've improved as a writer?

overall in the years i’ve been a writer, i feel like i’m better at portraying characters as well rounded and creating characters that aren’t just one stereotype. when it comes to my time as a fanfic writer, im better at writing actual scenes rather than just random narration

6. What's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

the probability of survival when falling from certain heights. also ohio the glee writers were cruel for making their show based in fucking ohio of all places

7. What's your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

i’m honestly not picky i love all types of comments, but if i really had to choose, it’d probably be any that point out a specific part or line or whatever in my writing. it makes me so happy when people have some detail stick with them

8. What's the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

i honestly haven’t done anything too intense in my writing i think the most out there i’ve gotten is just emotional infidelity and that’s just standard for seblaine. i do plan on killing blaine in one wip of mine, but it’s just an idea for now because i’ve got other shit to focus on

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

longer stories are literally impossible for me. i absolutely SUCK at writing anything longer than a couple thousand words and even that is hard for me. smut is also hard but that’s because i haven’t bothered to write smut, so different vibes

10. What is the easiest type?

well if you see how many hurt no comfort fics i’ve published it’s obvious fluff is what i’m best at. but yeah short vignette angsty stories are super easy for me to write. it’s just 50% projection and 50% exaggeration and 100% gay, so no problem there

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

i often write at home, on my notes app, at any point of the day, and i post all my stuff on ao3. i will sometimes edit on my laptop on google docs, but i get lazy too and so my latest fics have been mostly raw and unedited.

12. What is something you've been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

smut and literally any ship that isn’t seblaine and also longer works. i’d love to be one of those writers who comes out with these multi chapter masterpieces but i’m just not right now. i’ve had ideas for other ships too, but i never really flesh them out because they’re usually stuff that would span across thousands of words and i don’t have the time, energy, nor skill level to do that yet. and again, for smut, i just never bother, and while i think im never going to be the explicit sex scenes type of writer, i love the angst potential of it

13. What made you choose your username?

acedisgrace is a name i’m like 85% sure i saw a joke about from a stolen tumblr post on instagram and i was like hey im asexual and a disappointment haha what if i change my discord name to that and then eventually when i got an ao3 account, i just went with it because i saw it was available there too. as for calsvoid, they’re my initials and i spew whatever bullshit i want on tumblr and also i wish i didn’t have a body and instead was an amorphous blob of nothingness

i don’t really know who to tag that i haven’t already seen tag so anyone who would like to do this can

[tetsunabouquet]

(Un)popular SK Opinion: Ren&Jeanne make no sense and Men's existence is the most questionable of all

Alright, let me first get this out of the way because I'm a known Ren fangirl- no I don't hate Jeanne. I kinda used to after watching the original anime, but the manga as well as growing up and realizing she was just a brainwashed little kid who should be playing with dolls made me a defender of Jeanne and I firmly believe Marco should be in jail for what he did to her. But that still doesn't mean Jeanne and Ren started making sense, not even after Red Crimson. The only thing they share is a similar pain from their pasts, and that's not enough to make a relationship work for the long-term. Ask my parents. A relationship is build on so much more then just having a similar backstory and regrets. What do these two have in common, except for perhaps a better-then-you mindset on top of the aforementioned similar background?! We see NO build-up at all. Even in Red Crimson, all we get is as much as a two page scene of them being a couple. Yet even during that one scene between Yoh and Ren about having a family, it was implied he might already have a crush on Jeanne

HOW?! In every scene they were in during the main series, he was pretty much annoyed with her and the X-LAWS. So HOW?! And then we get to their actual relationship, which seems messy AF. Like, Jeanne and Ren got engaged before she was pregnant, but she had short hair during their wedding. Ren said she cut her hair short after she had Men. So, did she get pregnant during their engagement and is Men being babysat by the Jiang Shi during the wedding or something? Also, the 'holy maiden', giving birth to a child out of wedlock?! Are you kidding me?! Am I seriously supposed to believe that considering Marco was so strict and religious, Jeanne grew up to be like, 'A baby before getting married? Okay, no problemo.' It's not unheard of for teen moms to be allowed to get married when they are above 16, so why the fuck didn't Jeanne and Ren get married first in order to legitimize Men as their child? And then we get to their actual married life. Iron Maiden Jeanne, THAT Jeanne, who would shoulder all the sins of the world on her shoulders through regular self-torture, would travel through war conflicts to aid the people in need and would sleep in camps having barely anything, who turnt the X-LAWS into the world's largest charity organization, THAT Jeanne became a STAY AT HOME HOUSEWIFE?! EXCUSE ME?! Where the fuck did her noble mission go?! She's an ambitious martyr, yet she gave everything up that she worked so hard for to mope the floors of her home? That's character assasination if you ask me. As parents, they make zero sense either. Ren's pain and hatred of his family came from them robbing him of his childhood. Yet he's perfectly fine to send his SEVEN year old son into a dangerous tournament where nobody can be revived from the dead for the SLIM chance of them getting back Jeanne. EXCUSE ME?! This doesn't fit Ren AT ALL. The more you actually think about Ren sending his son into the Flower of Maize and how it is in stark contrast with how he wants to be different from his family's ways and his established character, the more confusing it gets. And I didn't understood why until I watched a YT video about Ren's character the other day, in which they pointed out the Shonen trope of having a rival-friend that the audience could root for in case they didn't like the main character like Goku and Vegeta. That's what Ren and Yoh are in the series, and obviously, a lot of the people reading the sequal read the main series. The more I think about it, the more I feel like Takei created Men and the Jeanne storyline to keep the Ren fans invested in the sequel. Which is why, its definitely poor lazy writing, and not even the only problem of poor writing in the sequel (I am looking at you Miss Alumi, you're way too much like some fanfic's poorly written OC).

[eponastory]

Heya! Me again! XD I might need some writing advice.

First of all, I'm trying to get back to writing something, but I want to write an ATLA AU retelling where the characters are older and it's Zutara/Sukka/and Taang-based! :) Problem is, I have like 23 unfinished stories on AO3(four more on FF.Net), and I don't want to like, make another story to add it onto the pile, but...well, in your expertise (I mean, I hear that you write really well), should I just focus on the ones I've written now?

Secondly, how do I get back in the groove of writing? I feel like when I get myself going back to it, it just makes my head feel heavy or something, or I'm just tired. ^^; I don't know, maybe I'm writing too much. I just got other stories to update that I haven't for a while and I want to like...not let everybody wait for the next update on those stories, and...well, I just need some advice on procrastination, I guess. ^^;

I hope I'm making sense. I want to write, but I can't seem to get it going. Maybe I'm distracted too much. What do you do when this happens? What should I do? :O

(Also, no worries about the crossovers! I have two one-shot fics of ATLA, but they're both Taang-centric. ^^; They also have Zutara and Sukka in them, but they're only minor. XD I also did some Taang Week stories that I did in 2020. :) Either way, if you don't do crossovers, there are those to read! :D )

I will definitely check them out!

When I can. Because I've got like... four papers to edit for these people in college that are too lazy to edit their own. That's okay, I get paid for it.

And then there is my current fic I'm obsessed (it's unhealthy, I know) with and then I have to start planning for ZKBB...

Please have mercy on me.

I'm also pretty hungry for Chicken Shawarma for some reason and I really need some ice cream. And chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

@omegansamurai *edited because I am a dingus*

I totally missed the middle part of this ask. I apologize for that... I feel like such an idiot for missing that.

So, a neat little trick I like to do is a word avalanche. It helps get the thoughts going and keeps you on track. You just start with one word, and then you find the words, emotions, or senses that go with that word. It helps with creating scenes and prompts, you name it. I've been doing it for years, and sometimes, it ends up being a whole outline for an epic adventure.

If you have the opposite problem of too many projects at once, cut back on the stories that you feel aren't cutting it. Don't try to force something if you get stuck. Let it sit. Think about it while working on another project. Then go back. I like to keep a journal of all my thoughts that randomly pop up when I'm having a difficult time with a story. I write down those thoughts so I can go back to them later. Most of the time, especially with some of my original works, I get really stuck, and they sit for months. With fan fiction, it can be years before I go back to them. But when I do decide to pick them back up again, I have a journal with everything written down on where I wanted to go with it.

Prompts are also a good thing to practice getting better at introspective and character analysis if you are having issues with that. Putting characters in sticky situations tends to develop them more.

Also, it's totally okay to let go of stories you don't feel connected to anymore. You can always go back to them later on if you ever get the drive for it.

But rule number one is always do what you can make the time for. Overwhelming yourself will cause burnout. One idea at a time. Develop it, write it down. Make it work. But don't try to do too much at one time.

Again, I'm sorry for totally missing the point of your ask... I think I had just finished up that chapter and was posting on both my phone and computer.

[robinswise]

okayyyy unpopular opinion that will more then likely turn into a rant!

EDDIE 'THE FREAK' MUNSON IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE

AAAAAA

ok.

I. Do. Not. Like. Eddie. Munson.

Just to get this out of the way, I don't hate Joseph Quinn at all, he's a great actor, but I hate Eddie.

OKAY I NEED TO ACTUALLY GET TO THE POINT-

Eddie is an asshole

Why couldn't he push the dnd campaign to a different day? Is there a reason? I don't think there was, I don't remember there being one and when I googled it, sure enough, there doesn't seem to be a reason.

Really couldn't his role have been given to pretty much any of the characters?

Mike.

Lucas.

Dustin.

Jonathan would've made the most sense (to me) if he wasn't in Cali (in season 1 we know some people thought Jonathan might've k!lled Will, so they could've thought he did the same to Chrissy)

Even Steve.

Honestly, even Max could've been given the role

Also, I don't dislike most people who like Eddie, alot of them are just really obsessed (like a scary level of obsession)

ALSO STEDDIE-

I posted about them positively one time a while ago but no I do not ship them.

The context for that post was that I didn't hate Steddie - at the time I even vaguely liked them (or more specifically, I liked the way that certain people wrote them) but I didn't ship them, they just made the most sense for that specific idea and I didn't hate them at the time.

I was reading something that was part of a longer series of posts and the person had hinted that Stonathan would be in it but then suddenly Eddie appeared and Steddie was heavily implied - which normally wouldn't be an issue but they didn't tag it with Eddie or Steddie.

Anyways, Argyle is in my opinion the better character added in season 4.

Another thing, it didn't bother me initially but Eddie stans acting like Eddie and Dustin's friendship is so unique is really annoying to me-

Because- no- like sure, he's close with Eddie, but the friendship is not unique whatsoever, in terms of older brother like friends he had Steve, in terms of outcast nerds who like dnd he had the party, and in terms of friends with attitude problems he had Mike and Max

Also, was his death really all that shocking? It fit the st formula perfectly! Introduce a new character just to k!ll them off

Benny

Barb

Bob

Billy

Even in search 4 we got Chrissy Fred and Patrick

About his crazy fans - not all are like this, I've met some genuinely nice Eddie fans who've written genuinely good Steddie ficlets - but was sending death threats necessary? Because I just don't get why that whole thing happened.

I think Eddie coming back in any form other then a flashback or Vecna vision would just maks me upset tbh, like actually, what would be the point? They already pulled "look he's actually alive!" Trick with Hopper (and to an extent, Will) so doing it a third time (even for such a fan favorite) would just feel lazy to me

Also, in my opinion, Will would dislike Eddie, so many people say that Will would love him but to me, I feel like it would be very out of character for him to like Eddie (knowing that Will doesn't like extra attention - at least not from people who might judge and/or ridicule him - and Eddie actively draws it)

I feel like the fact we only got a reaction to Eddie's death from Dustin and Wayne is really telling as to how little importance he actually had, because even Mike who was friends with Eddie didn't know about his death - or at least his reaction wasn't important enough to show.

I found Eddie's guitar solo to be very pointless and even rather boring.

Also, there are people who ship Eddie with Billy?? Ew.

Even as someone who does not like Eddie at all I can confidently say that he deserves better and would probably not fall for that walking piece of dog shit (once again, I don't hate Dacre Montgomery I just hate Billy)

Anyways, in short, I don't mind Joseph Quinn or Eddie's fans, I know there's definitely worse characters in the show, and at the end of the day I'm just a nerd on the internet who's been fixated on the same subject for probably way to long so it's fine to have a different opinion then me

[katatonicimpression]

Psylocke #2 Spoilers:

Shinobi is in a comic again. Not written by duggan. And it's mostly pretty good. Let's go lesbians.

Here are most of the panels he's in, but I do recommend you go read it. Support the series, support kwannon, it's actually good:

A list of things i really liked:

look at my man in his tub surrounded by naked people of all genders. they let him hedonistic and bisexual again. praise be.

the meta joke about him being in the bath was great.

his face when kwannon says he has to go on this mission with her. priceless. that's my lazy useless coward alright.

he got to use his powers again!!! including the classic phasing through things

he's not even slightly the bad guy in this but still morally vacant, beautiful. it's what he deserves.

It's super bleak, but we also get a reference to his suicide which kudos for doing the reading I guess

we get a reference to him being hot, always appreciate that

no weird racist stuff with the katana

no dumb parentage retcon

i was bracing myself for the worst here, so the fact that i mostly had a whale of a time is really delightful

A thing I didn't like:

The retcon. So, in this comic, shinobi and kwannon know each other personally (not a huge stretch from past canon but still new) and they appear to be exes of a sort (that's definitely new) and whatever their past dynamic was, it involved violence and killing.

It honestly kind of feels like they merged some of the Matsuo stuff with Shinobi which... urgh

I don't love the idea of him being involved in super assassin stuff constantly (it seemed like super-stuff was more of a side hustle for him), but ok fine whatever it's not a huge stretch

But I really don't vibe with the exes angle. Or at least that's how the line where he touches her face comes across. Is there even any room for that in kwannon's backstory? I guess, if they are going to play with a love triangle, then having a history together saves a lot of work for the writer, but idk I didn't vibe with it.

Didn't hate their interactions per se, but I don't see why they needed to retcon anything to get there.

.... also he still doesn't have a real fist name. Just saying.

Two things I'm still deciding how I feel about:

the romance angle/potential love triangle. I do think there's a version of this that could be very funny. A little flirty cul-de-sac that's entertaining to watch but doesn't mess up the psycrow dynamic? That could be fun. But I'm worried it could end up not fun, we just have to wait and see.

If they're doing a love triangle, I'll get to see him again though and that's great. I hope he hits on john when they meet. It feels like a thing he would do.

i don't necessarily have a problem with him killing people in this story. And at least they're shitty guys. But I don't love the implication that this is something he was always up to, when actually him chickening out of murder was a recurring theme for years.

I actually think it's a very reasonable step to say that something changed around about the time when sebastian came back, hunted him down and killed him. Which is when that one issue of x-force where he kills a guy is set, but I think he's ooc in that. So, I guess I think an alternate version of that went down. But either way I don't appreciate retconning killing people by hand into his backstory because it is something he was explicitly not doing at the time. He was fine having other people do the dirty work, so it's not a moral distinction but rather a character one.

I hope John's OK 👍

[pruszided]

Okay controversial question:

Who's your favorite little guy in Hetalia and why?

Indeed a controversial question, but what do you mean by little guy? Little guy like small character, or like basic character? I'll answer the second one anyways lol (you are very sus, anon btw).

char. - character fav. - favourite

Fav. char. based on char. traits: (look for this colour)

Fav. char. based on acting in the series, subjective and patriotic opinion also included:

This one's easy to answer, it's Hungary. Partly 'cause I'm Hungarian and I love Hungary from many aspects, but she's so badass in the anime and the manga. I sometimes saw ppl considering her to be the manliest character in the series, so that's a bonus point, I guess. So yup, she's lovely, blowing kissies for her :3 (hogy a történeti hűség is meglegyen, magyarul is kiírom, hogy a térdeimre borulok a hölgyeményért. Szeretünk, Magyarország ε>) (Böskéről órákig tudnék beszélni, de már most érzem, hogy ez hosszúra fog nyúlni.)

Oh yeah, and people, her name is written as Héderváry Erzsébet, not Elizabeta, Elizaveta, Elizabeth, and the é's and the á are important, don't replace them with e and a, they are different vowels. Her most common nicknames are Bözsi, Böske, Bözsike, Erzsi, Erzsike, feel free to use them!

And, the other one:

I love almost all the characters (except for 2P! Russia :[ ), and I could ramble about some characters quite much. But let's stick with France, because he's the most controversial one, lmao.

Why this guy (csigazabálő szőke rüfke, a lehető legjobb értelmében, magyarul jobban sértegetek) [pros]:

First, he's got quite much of screen time, which helps to understand Himaruya's idea about France (that's a huge advantage though, and is "unfair" to char.s that appear rarely). In the anime, he was hilarious, I enjoyed every moment where he appeared lol (I like analyzing ppl cognitively, and that's a bonus point, hehe. Se dom definitely, and Fi is his second function, in my opinion. That would be SeFiTeNi, an ESFP, but argumenting abt why this is valid is a lot more than what I want to type. You can ask me if you're curious though!). Once I've got a general idea about France's cognitive functions (how his brain works, for ppl who'd rather avoid Swiss psychiatrists [Karl Jung, I mean]), it's time to get ideas (and no sleep).

France's character is very colourful, and can work in a lot of situatuons (just as his history btw! we usually call France by arts, museums, baroque, music, etc., but many scientists, e. g. Félix d'Hérelle, Lavoisier or Pasteur come from here, and Frenchies also were the ones who laid out basic units of measure in continental Europe [like meter or gram], pretty cool and practical, because it's all decimal. They tried to make time measurement also decimal, but it failed). I've got 9 projects that rely on France heavily, so yeah, he fits in almost everywhere.

France's character isn't flawless, and that makes a character good. You usually like characters that actually develop, or are able to develop, and it's just easy for me to understand where France's flaws come from (it depends on which situation he's put in, but in the anime, he's lazy, a bit of a hyporcite, stubborn, and proud, just to mention some, and these flaws are easy for me to express. If France in a story actually focuses on fixing these, he could make a good development, and I can express it nicely).

France is pretty, ngl. He's easy to draw, I quickly routinised the process. I love his hair, it's fun to mess with. Not a strong argument, I know.

France is very shipable for me, I've got 5 ships that involve him [namely FrUK, RusFra, GerFra, PrusFra, Frain]. This is important if you're one of those yaoi readers in the corner of a classroom.

Bonus: Natsuki Kizu, the mangaka of Given, had the inspiration to Haruki from France! If this isn't awesome, then nothing is (not even Prussia). Source (I couldn't find the original post, but you can have this):

First one is France, second one is Haruki. Tell me the difference (I can't see it)!

But as every characters, France also has downsides. Pretty deep ones, this is where we reach the controversial part [cons]:

(According to the anime,) France is annoying. Okay, he's amazing, gorgeous, sly and all that, but as I said, he's proud. And not quiet. Combine the two, and you make me want to rip out all strings of France's beard.

For some reason, I actually went insane by France for 2 months. It was some shit about second foreign language in our school, and I got so mad at myself for not choosing French that I got mad at APH France as well, lol. Every time I saw something that reminded at him, I told a rant and destructrive criticism first about the object I saw, and then one about France as well (but it's over now, yay).

Minus point for his official human name, which is Francis Bonnefoy. It's English, the French version should be François Bonnefoy, and it just irritates me that he's got an English name despite being the personification of France xD or he could be Ferenc Bonnefoy, if I want to push this thing more (Ferenc is Francis in Hungarian). So yeah, his first name sucks.

2013 France Fanpop. No comment, you know if you know (I gave a link, so you can be cursed as well).

Bonus art dump of France doodles I've made:

Thank you for asking! Love you, anon ε>

[viviane-lefay]

Thank you so, so much for your kind words and support, @memoriesoftanalorr!

It is very much appreciated!

I'm really glad you like my take on him, Santari, as well as their relationship.

His backstory was really important to me, because it is such a crucial part of what made him the way he is, so I really put a lot of research and effort in creating it. (P.S.: I added some things to my headcanon posts in the meantime, perhaps you'd like that, too!?)

And thanks that you like his parents, as well as their names.

Since Star Wars has quite some aspects that are inspired by Indian culture (names among them - Santari, too), I thought I'd take a look there. But it had to have a nice ring to it, as well as an appropriate meaning on top, fitting for the character, as well as their traits and cultural background (btw, Medhani means "of intelligence" - which reflects Arkanian values, and Dhaval means "sparkling white", because of his snow white hair).

As for Santari - being so close to Dagan, of course she must have known all this about him - and from what is known about her, I think her reaction would be pretty much how I described.

Sad, that there isn't much about her in the canonical sources, either.

And no, it is absolutely not fair that Dagan was treated so poorly by the writers. So often, I stumble upon comments by people who express their disappointment regarding his character portrayal. It's quite a widespread sentiment, actually.

For many he's just a pretty face / the Sexy Guy™ - and, above all, the "TANALORR IS MINE!" dude, as if there is nothing else about him, and he has no other lines but to spout this phrase all the time, like Pikachu does his "pika pika".

But they do have a point - his dialogue wasn't the most well-written, either (bar some very few exceptions).

Ironically, even with the information that was already given about him, it was pretty clear there is so much more about him, so much depth and complexity, that was just waiting to be explored - but somehow, just wasn't.

Because the man was just a mere plot development tool for the writers to use for their main character - because that's what good writing is about ... NOT!

UGH!!!

It really angers me that the writers seem to be quite unapologetic about it, too - and yes, the two-dimensionality definitely was intentional on their part.

That he's an Arkanian offshoot was added later, after the game was finished, according to what I heard, so they were even lazy on that front.

But, then again, Star Wars just isn't the same, quality-wise, after Disney swallowed it up.

I guess I'll never get over that ... *exasperated sigh*

Absolutely, yes!

She is his one and only - the love of his life! 💕

I like the thought of Cal and Dagan becoming good friends, as well.

In my headcanon, they definitely will develop a close friendship at some point - especially because of Cal's kind and forgiving nature, and something he did for Dagan (something concerning Santari) that left a lasting impression on the latter.

Frankly, during the game, it always seemed to me that Cal felt compassion towards Dagan to some degree - be it in the way he talked to and about him, which was still quite respectful considering how he was treated in return, and also how he paid his last respect to him, honouring him as a warrior, after he killed him (although I still feel that Dagan absolutely should have gotten a proper funeral on Tanalorr - even Bode got one - and he actually betrayed Cal on a very personal level, plus is the one responsible for both Master Cordova's and Cere's death ... I know, I obviously rejected this part of the canon, i.e. Dagan's death, but it still bugs me.).

I think, he'd be one of the few people besides Santari who could actually manage to make him drop his defenses and penetrate the walls he built around himself.

[slowdripsunrise]

jfc okay so i have forgotten/been too lazy to write up reveiws here i apparently havent updated since. lone women which is well. so ive read a shit ton since then so i'm going try my best to write up as much as i can in this post bc i don't want to just. stop and skip over stuff. so well. here we go. spoilers for various books under the cut, i'll tag them all !

first book i finished after i last updated was silver nitrate by silvia moreno-garcia. been a while but damn do i remember the fucking vibes. absolutely killer vibes and atmosphere, and the plot was fun and interesting; i do remember being a bit confused in one of the final scenes fighting the guy but it wasnt enough to take me out of the story. the characters felt real and i could feel their love of movies and maybe each other off the page, definitely recommend if you're looking for an atmospheric, creepy little book.

next (and i'll just group these together) i read the poppy war trilogy by r. f. kuang ! absolutely wonderful storytelling and the characters were interesting and loveable. i think that this story succeeds in being one of the few good "war stories" as in it doesn't glorify or make light of any aspects of the war. there are good moments and bright spots throughout, but in the end pretty much every single character we know and love ends up dead, and before they're dead, they've been shaped so thoroughly by the war around them that there is no way anyone could have come out of this series thinking that it in any way romanticized the events. i loved everything about it and more. but while i did love the series. tbh i don't agree with everyone saying that its the most serious and intellectual and groundbreaking book in the entire world. yes it is groundbreaking and yes it is based on a lot of real life horrific events, but it's also. extremely entertaining. it's written beautifully and has some very poignant scenes that i love, and i am gonna be honest i lost where i was going with this point. i think what i'm trying to say is like before i read it, i saw a lot of people on the internet saying that it is like. the highest peak of literature and such and like. for me, it's mostly just a damn good time. i go into most books looking for entertainment (meaning like. i would like to feel emotions, not necessarily happy ones, just emotions in general) and what i think a lot of people made it seem like, was ONLY an epic tome about the brutality of war, the military, and colonization. and it absolutely is about that ! i am not docking points for it being about those things, in fact if it hadn't had all these hard hitting topics i wouldn't have liked it as much. but it's ALSO about rin, kitay, and nezha, and how they love and hate each other. and sometimes i think people lean too much into one aspect of the book, one way or the other (i have absolutely seen the inverse of this, people forgetting about the colonialism and militarization aspects in an impressive show of hypocrisy. which... is worse imo.) but idk. i have no idea what i am trying to say i just like this book yall.

next oml. okay again grouping them together for my own sake but i read the southern reach trilogy by jeff vandermeer ! this series was such a creepy and weird and offputting good time i ate that shit right up. the first book and the biologists pov are my favorites, and all of the insight we get from her and the first book into area x was just. so compelling i could not put that shit down. i'm pretty sure the second i finished in the hospital lol i was INVESTED. and honestly. i did really like the second book. not as much as the first, but i don't think it was bad or underwhelming compared to the first. once i got past the pov shift, i really liked controls pov partly because he is just some guy. like he is just so average and banal, and seeing this set against the absurdity of the rest of the book was really interesting. i liked how even though we weren't IN area x, the southern reach still had that otherworldly and offputting suspenseful energy, even in a familiar setting (office building type i mean. as opposed to weird as fuck forest). that and also i am deep into my f1 phase so like i kept picturing control as checo perez. like hes just so guy to me like hes just a normal guy that has no fucking clue whats going on and thats really funny and awesome to me. like man. anyway the third wasnt my favorite, but i still really like the series as a whole and will probably read the 4th one coming out whenever it does.

NEXT. sharks in the time of saviors by kawai strong washburn. did i cry. maybe. did i really like the story. yes. it was definitely a change of pace for me after reading the above books but the story was lovely and magical and engaging and very sad and i enjoyed every bit of it.

after that i read scattered all over the earth by yōko tawada, which is a story that i kinda have mixed feelings about? i listened to the audio book and the narrator did such a wonderful job, i loved listening to the two man characters talk about language in the mc's made up language, panska. and if the book was just about that, i probably would have liked it more, exploring language and the loss of it; however one of the side characters constantly get's misgenders when the story is outside of her pov. and it's like. really fucking distracting. so like i guess i don't have very mixed feelings about it lol. i liked one bit, definitely did not like another bit, and the rest of the book wasn't really strong enough to sway me back into the "i like this book and think it's interesting" camp. although if you can get past the blatant transphobia, the audio book really is nice to listen to, especially coming off a post surgery high.

next i read the ghost bride by yangsze choo ! this was another really atmospheric, palpable book. i could feel the setting, the humidity, the smells, all of it and it was so good! an engaging story, i'm pretty sure i read this one in a day or two. the characters were fun, the plot moved quickly in a way that made sense, and exploring the realms of the dead and the living with the characters was so fun, definitely recommend !

im gonna wrap this post up here mostly bc im hungry but i still have a lot more to update on ! if u made it this far thank you and also im sorry. happy reading!

[frogwithhatto]

Froggo!! Can you post some domestic Vessel headcannons? Like what he would be like if you two were living together or something like that 🥺 (or just whatever you feel like!!)

Domestic Vessel

Pairing: Vesselxgn!reader

Summary: What it would be like to live with Vessel. It’s just a bunch of fluffy headcanons tbh.

Tw: none ?

Notes: This was literally written yesterday night and I only proofread it once bc I got so excited so I hope there aren’t any mistakes! Thank you for the request anon I loved the idea!!

- He’s not that good at cooking but he will try to make fancier stuff for you every now and then. He definitely taught himself how to make your favourite and your comfort food. Most of the time you two would cook together probably listening to some music while doing so. Get ready for silly dances and hopping around the kitchen with him but also if there’s a romantic song playing he would definitely slow dance with you.

- We know Vessel is a little science nerd so get ready to watch documentaries with him for hours! He definitely loves the serious super interesting ones but oh boy he’s a sucker for the trashy alien and/or gold digger ones. You know those really bad ones that never get to the point? Because those can get hard to watch you two would play Uno while watching!

- I also feel like he loves reading so get ready for sitting next to each other on your couch/bed your legs crossed over his lap sharing a blanket while either both of you read or he reads and you play nintendo (or whatever you like)

- If you’re not that big of a reader (or if you’re tired) he would definitely read his book to you. Like imagine you having your head in his lap as he makes funny voices for the different characters? He would be so cute!

- You’re the first to hear new lyrics and song ideas! „babe? Quick tell me if this slaps.“ (proceeds to play the most random thing you’ve ever heard but it does in fact go hard) He would also play guitar/piano for you if you asked him to. He definitely has recorded you a cover of your favourite song or even written you a song for a special occasion before

- He’s bath guy because I said so. He will bathe at least once a week if not more and he will ask you to join him not in a sexual way but more in a „let me wash your hair for you“ kinda way. If he has a bad day you would draw him a bath making sure to use his favourite bath salt and pick one of your oversized hoodies out for him to wear after it.

- Vessel is a big my clothes are yours and your clothes are mine guy. Will steal your hoodies, shirts and even jewellery.

- On the other hand if you had a bad day get ready for some cuddles and a comfort movie/show of your choice. (If you want to be alone he’s also very understanding but he will check on you from time to time asking if you need anything.)

- Lazy Sundays with Vessel would include sleeping in and after waking up you would start off the day by cuddling for as long as you wanted to. At some point you two would get up to make breakfast together and after it you either go straight to bed again to catch up on a show you’re watching or you get ready to go out (if you’ve made plans to go somewhere)

- „You wanna go take a walk in the woods??“ „Vessel it’s 10 pm… it’s super dark, cold and isn’t it raining outside?“

- He will leave notes for you around the apartment if he knows you will be home before he is. A little „I love you“ with squiggly hearts around it sticking on the fridge or maybe a random dad joke with a doodle on your dresser to make you smile.

- He will definitely send you postcards when he’s touring! Sometimes letters as well he’s a hopeless romantic which include the most random stuff. „The logo on this tag reminded me of you.“ „I thought you would like this flower I picked and pressed for you.“ You definitely keep everything he sends you though. Sometimes the letters will also include Polaroids of him and the other Vessels! (Maybe even a picture II took of him when he was writing said letter)

[itwoodbeprefect]

ooh there's so many good questions in that writers list. ummmmm 10, 18, 22, 59, 74

10. Cltr+f “blinks” on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

with a previous answer i did this for the starsky & hutch wips, so i'll do it for h50 now, which brings options. the main document with more or less Everything in it has 12 blinks, a flip-flop state of mind has 4 (though those have all already been posted), and sweet like a chic-a-cherry cola (which is, despite appearances, not dead) has 7, one of which is this one, from the aftermath of my gratuitous surf buddies scene rewrite ("“That’s so cute,” Mary says, while she accepts the coffee. She’s smiling, and Steve looks happy and clueless and good enough to eat, and Danny is, quite frankly, insulted."):

When he crosses the doorway he’s indignant, but by the time he’s hopping up on the kitchen counter there’s a nasty doubt creeping in. “Hey, look, we are more than just surf buddies, right? I’m not reading this whole thing wrong?” Steve has his head in the fridge, but at this he closes it without taking anything out. He turns to Danny and blinks. “Of course we are. We’re-” He predictably gets stuck right there, because they haven’t said anything like that out loud before. “Partners,” is what he settles for.

also, oh my god, that's 23 mcdanno blinks. brb editing out these people's twitching eyelids.

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18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

answered this one here!

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22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

ooh, interesting! and i'm leaning towards no, because i have very few hard boundaries with fiction. there are definitely things i'd be very unlikely to ever write, but there's very little i feel sure about ruling out completely. i'm not responsible (yet) for what tomorrow me thinks would be a good idea, and i only very recently had the experience of watching a show (one of the thai ones, predictably) that got me SO annoyed i had to grab myself by the back of my own shirt and forcibly yank myself back from attempting to rewrite the entire plot of a lazy thing about which i liked practically nothing, not even the characters. so i guess that's one thing i AM trying to actively avoid, and hope for future me's sake she won't be doing either: writing some giant project purely out of spite for a media property i don't enjoy. (peace and love, girl.) beyond that, i don't know! chances are vanishingly slim, but maybe i'll suddenly decide i have a great take on mpreg omegaverse deathfic tomorrow.

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59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

oh, yes! all my friends i think, my sister, my parents - though my parents wouldn't know where to find it, probably, and i wouldn't mind keeping it that way. i don't mind telling people, it's just that i also don't necessarily enjoy explaining (and defending) the concept of fanfic to random non-fanfic people, so it depends on the situation.

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74. You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

also already answered this one, here. clearly people agree you picked the best questions!

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Get to know your fic writer! 🔎

[glitter-and-metal]

From the writing ask going around - if you would like to share, would be cool to hear! 🖖

What’s your favourite line you’ve written in a fic? 

What is your ideal writing set up? 

What is your favourite fic you’ve written and why?

Any advice for writers working through writers block or burnout? 

This ask always a lovely surprise! Thank you!

What’s your favourite line you’ve written in a fic?

I particularly like “She might have been the one kneeling, but he was the one worshipping.” from You and I Belong. Also, “So you thought you’d bleach your hair brighter than the sun?” from Tickled Pink makes me giggle too.

What is your ideal writing set up?

Uuuhhhhhh. Well the most comfortable is definitely typing on my laptop but I do end up writing a lot of fic on my phone. I like to use Google Docs because it syncs so easily so I can always access my writing wherever I am, for example say in a waiting room.

What is your favourite fic you’ve written and why?

I am currently quite happy with most of my writing because I got back into it after more than a decade. I am quite proud of Anything's a Weapon If You Throw It Hard Enough because I was TERRIFIED that it was gonna flop but it's my most popular one. I also really love Darling! because it is 99% dialogue. When I started writing I could feel that dialogue wasn't my strong point but I kept at it and now I'm much more confident about it and I find it easier to find the characters’ “voices.” Also, You and Me needs a mention because I had so much fun co-writing it with @saintzenni

Any advice for writers working through writers block or burnout?

I just got back into writing a few months ago and don't want to lose it as a hobby. So I'm mostly going with the flow. I don't really "force" myself to sit down and write unless

I know what I want to write but I'm feeling a little bit lazy to conclude the story.

I have to finish a story by a certain deadline - like for a secret Santa

and in those cases I'd still be in the mood to do something with fic. So it's not even that I'm doing something I don't want to do. I just need to motivate myself a little sometimes!

Otherwise I just vibe. Some days I bang out 1k, edit, and publish. Some WEEKS nothing really gets done. Life has its own responsibilities too so sometimes time is just not available. And sometimes I'm too tired to write. But I know my writing is there waiting for me whenever I'm ready to continue :))