#i haven't figured out a full plot for this but did write a lot of snippets for it

[chdarling]

Frequently Asked Questions

Hi! I'm mostly on a fandom break right now and consequently am really slow responding to messages, so I figured I'd post answers to some of the questions I receive the most. :)

Snippets and Spoilers can be found here!

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When will TLE3 be released?

I don't have an exact date, but it probably won't be in 2025. I am giving myself the space and time to write TLE3 at my own pace and pleasure, and I plan to have a full draft finished before I start publishing on AO3. I promise when it's ready, you'll be the first to know.

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Can I print TLE?

Please do not print TLE using any commercial printing service, as this is not legal (at least in the US, which is where I am). If you are printing and binding it yourself solely for personal use and in a manner that is 100% in compliance with copyright law – aka no one at any point in the process can make any money off of it – then I personally am fine with it (and very honored!). However, I cannot give approval for anything that infringes copyright law in any way. Thank you for understanding! I don't want to be sued!

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Can I translate/create a podfic/create fanart for TLE?

I would be so unbelievably honored! I give a blanket approval for translations, podfics, and fanart, and I'm so, so touched that you would take the time to do this. I just ask that you ONLY post to AO3* and to please mark it as a related work so it's linked to the original. I may be slow to approve the AO3 email linking the fics, but I promise I will! Thank you!!

*except fanart, obviously. Do whatever you want with that. Although if you post it on tumblr, I would LOVE to see it. <3

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Are you on any other social media sites?

No. I am ONLY on Tumblr, AO3, and the TLE discord. I don’t even use social media in my personal life, so don't try to find me! I'm not there!

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Do you have fanfic recommendations?

I’m sorry, but I am not a good resource for this. I haven't actually read much fanfic as I spend most of my limited free time writing it. However, I always recommend checking out @jilyawards for a fantastic collection of the incredible talent in this fandom over the years.

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Do you take requests for one shots/other fics?

No, sorry. I have my hands more than full with TLE.

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Do you take suggestions for the plot of TLE?

No, sorry. I have the story pretty tightly plotted from beginning until the (very) end, and while I occasionally swerve down new creative alleys, I’m very committed to sticking to my original plan.

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Is [super specific spoilery thing] going to happen in TLE?

You are of course welcome to ask, but I am almost certainly going to shout “SPOILERS!” and run away cackling.

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You say this is a canon fic but [super specific thing that I don’t agree with] is included. What gives?

For the purposes of TLE, ‘canon’ means the original seven books. Everything else is dressing. I do include as canon a lot of the lore JKR provided in interviews while the books were being published (for example, James being a Chaser), however I tend to view all post-book authorial additions as mostly optional. I do use a fair amount of Pottermore in my story, but I do not keep up with new HP material, so it’s impossible to stay up to date with everything. For example, I tweaked the Animagus process somewhat to my liking as opposed to what is described in Pottermore. This is partly because I already had my version sketched out before that was published, and mostly because I did not like what was given on Pottermore.

I do not consider any of the films canon. If this alleged HBO show happens, I will not consider that canon. Video game? Not canon. I also simply do not know what the words ‘Cursed Child’ mean, as I am pretty sure this is from an alternate timeline in which I do not exist. Tra la la. :)

All of this to say: The seven books are the framework. However, I feel pretty strongly that within that framework there is room for many, many interpretations – particularly with regards to the Marauders era, about which we know so little. Just because my headcanon or characterization is different from yours (or vice versa!) doesn’t make it less canon. Similarly, just because something is not explicitly described in the seven books, doesn’t mean it is against canon for it to have happened in the background, unnoticed by Harry, or before the timeline of the seven books starts. See: Wolfstar.

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Wait, there’s wolfstar in TLE?

Yes. There will be wolfstar in the series. I did tag it from day one, please stop sending me shocked and horrified messages! (lol) Because people have such strong feelings about this ship, I always feel the need to give my little disclaimer: There will be wolfstar. Personally, I love it and am excited to write it. However, if you are a fan of exclusively fluffy, happy wolfstar, you might be disappointed. If you are interested in exploring the fraught, occasionally toxic relationship between two angsty, repressed, and deeply traumatized young men during an escalating war…strap in, gird your loins, etc. We're gonna have some fun.

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Why do you have two blogs?

Because I'm dumb. Because I didn’t know how tumblr worked when I started this whole nonsense and thought that a side blog sounded like a good idea…aaaaand then pretty much immediately regretted it. This was back before you could reply from a sideblog, so everything was a mess. I'm an archivist at heart, so I can't bring myself to delete @chdarling-tle but I almost exclusively use @chdarling these days. Feel free to only follow that one, unless you only want chapter updates and none of my silly reblogs, in which case @chdarling-tle is here for you. Otherwise it's pretty dead over there.

(ok, confession: this actually isn't a frequently asked question at all, but I shoved it in here anyway because the two blog thing annoys the shit out of me and I wanted to give some context for my disorganization. I meant well, once upon a time!!!)

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Do you have a Patreon?

I’m amazed and flattered that I’ve been asked this enough to include it in an FAQ, but no, I do not. While I am so appreciative that people want to support this project, TLE is a work of fanfiction, created entirely out of and for love, and is in no way a commercial endeavor. I do not make a penny off of this project. I almost certainly lose pennies to this project. But that's okay! Because of the aforementioned love! And, once again, my deep and enduring desire to not be sued!

***

Ok but seriously when will TLE3 be released?

(sorry I couldn't resist)

[yunsound]

The Third Installment to the Oubing Saga- Yunbing

PRIOR EXPERIENCE NEEDED!

Entry ticket: reading this post and acknowledging that the following is about to be 18+. No, I'm not writing anything explicit, but it's going to be some mentions of sex. Move on.

After finishing Ne Zha 2025 (or the 2019 version if you're a real one), did you feel overcome by the gayness? Did you wonder why the fuck anyone would ever look at their best friend like that? Did shoujo anime music start playing in the back of your head?

...yeah you're not alone.

As previously mentioned, Oubing is currently China's biggest fandom ship (I stay hopeful that this wave of hype will last longer than it did in 2019). I also trust that you all understand why that is.

Seriously, I've never seen any piece of Chinese media except for straight up BL THIS gay.

Let's count on one hand how many BL tropes these movies include.

Red/blue

Soulmates

Only friend

Enemies to lovers

Friends to lovers

Oh oops, we ran out of fingers! Next hand.

Friends to enemies to friends to lovers

Forbidden romance

Demon x angel

Two halves of one... thing

...bondage? I suppose? If you know you know THE scene.

Oh wow look at that we ran out of fingers again. MOVING ON TO THE NEXT HAND-

Okay, I'll stop here. All of this makes Oubing technically a very vanilla ship (ignore the bondage that's mostly a joke. Though you WILL see a lot of art involving Ne Zha's red sash in... different usages) and very sweet. Pure love, I suppose.

Do you know about Shangmei Oubing, a variation on Oubing featuring different adaptations of Ne Zha and Ao Bing? Well now you do. Read this post to figure out what I'm talking about.

If there's a spectrum of the wholesome-ness of Oubing ships, Shangmei Oubing is in the middle. Yes, it's very toxic, but technically Ne Zha does really love Ao Bing a lot, just in the wrong ways.

On the OPPOSITE end of that spectrum, we have Yunbing.

Yunbing is the ship between Ne Zha and Ao Bing from the 2021 movie New Gods Reborn: Ne Zha. The movie itself is on Netflix- it's kind of a mid movie, I'm NGL, but the animation is pretty good.

I haven't watched the whole movie (how do I know it's mid? Because I saw some clips and they made me sigh out loud) so I'm maybe not the most reliable critic, but it's just not peak storytelling, okay?

Yunbing is 80% made TF up (headcanon ships are the best ships) because in the movies they hate each other, like TRUE hate, not gay hate. I'm talking GENERATIONAL hating.

If you ignore canon, though, (my favourite thing to do), you are left with Yunbing, which is honestly really fucking yummy.

Here's a quick overview of the background and dynamic of the ship/movie/characters without spoiling the plot of the movie.

The main character of the movie is called Li Yunxiang (remember that Ne Zha's dad is Li Jing, so technically his full name is Li Nezha prior to him fucking himself up via sashimi-ing his flesh from his bones).

Li Yunxiang is the reincarnation of Ne Zha in a modern setting in the fictional East Sea City (Donghai City). He doesn't know or remember being Ne Zha. He works as a deliveryman I think, or a smuggler or something low-paying and dangerous I think.

In East Sea City, water is in shortage due to the Dragon Clan (now a rich family business) hoarding it. The third son of this Dragon Clan (his name is De San) is, you guessed it, the reincarnated Ao Bing.

Actually I'm not sure if he's reincarnated or if he's just been here the whole time hating.

De San, unlike our polite nice Ao Bing from Ne Zha 2019/2025, or the terrified victim Ao Bing from Shangmei, is a huge bitch. He's also a girlfailure. He's not some mass-murdering psychopath, but he's a spoiled rich brat who lives and breathes capitalism and privilege.

Look at his stupid face. Isn't he punchable? No, despite the blonde hair, the director has confirmed he isn't mixed or foreign, he's just an idiot who bleached his hair.

He was supposed to be some sort of dominant playboy daddy character but the entire nation of China just immediately saw the potential for girlfailure brat bottom and I guess that's where my brain went too.

After Ne Zha pulled his tendons out, his dad paid some SERIOUS money to make him a mechanical tendon. Let me tell you I don't know why but this shot of his metal spine is SO fucking sexy

Sorry for thirsting on main, IDK what it is but it's getting to me.

De San still wants revenge on Ne Zha for pulling his fucking tendons out so he spends like 10000 hours trying his very best to kick Li Yunxiang's (confused) ass and never manages to get there, it's so funny.

See, the main reason this ship is so delicious is the dynamic, not their interactions because this is ACTUAL hate, I'm talking they'd kill each other in an instant with NO hesitation. The sexual tension is through the roof. Okay, they're both straight, but you DON'T HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THAT DOCTRINE.

Mild spoiler alert!

There's a scene in which Li Yunxiang gets one over De San by making him crash his car. As De San goes flying out of the car in intense pain, he glances over at Yunxiang, who's looking back at him.

Instead of giving him a middle finger or a thumbs down, Yunxiang fucking gives him a finger heart. IK it's supposed to be mocking but it's so funny, especially the BLATANT rage on De San's face afterwards.

The appeal of this ship is just the hate sex. This is a ship 100% meant for gooners, if you'd prefer sweet vanilla hand-holding and blushing you probably want to go back to regular Oubing.

Why does De San have such pillow princess potential? First of all, look at him. What the fuck is that waist to shoulder to leg ratio?

Second, in the Cantonese dub, he calls his father (Ao Guang) "daddy" (in English btw). Sorry, what? You are a twenty-something year old fully grown man. It is fairly common for rich Cantonese people to call their father daddy (according to my rich Cantonese friend) but it's a little much.

Third, he's such a failure it's hilarious. Spoiler alert: there's a whole scene in which his father calls him a failure and he's like "wait what". He's kind of dumb and pathetic despite being arrogant and proud.

Very princess-like. Chinese version of Drarry, basically. They also both really like cars! TBH if they weren't Ao Bing and Ne Zha's reincarnations they'd probably be really good friends.

Generations of hating each other is such gay behaviour, WHY is that other man on your mind over thousands of years??

Some of the popular headcanons for Yunbing:

Yunxiang calls De San "third princess" or "princess" because he's such a... princess

In the middle of like, fistfighting each other they somehow transition to having sex without knowing how

De San slaps Yunxiang in the face and he's like "on the other side too"

"Only I can be the one to kill him, fuck off!" *surprised look* "No that's not what I meant-"

Inappropriate usage of the metal spine (which is probably more sensitive and delicate...?)

I recommend, if you're looking for Oubing content (of the decidedly not workplace friendly variety) and if you like ENEMIES to lovers (emphasis on the enemies part) that you go through the AO3 Yunbing tag (云冰, I'll link the AO3 tag here directly).

If you want recs please ask me, I am so passionate about all three iterations of Oubing.

To quote a XHS user:

Oubing: Pure love

Shangmei Oubing: Pure fear

Yunbing: Pure hate

[ruukachoo]

Okay so I need to talk about corru.observer

So I'm just sitting here, minding my own business, poking around on the social media sphere when I see a repost of a post talking about a browser game called corru.observer . "Huh," I say to myself, "a browser game about rummaging through an alien biocomputer? Well, I do like my weird fiction, and a biocomputer sounds intreresting. I'll take a look. It's a browser game, in my experience those are typically pretty short, I can give it a looksee and then get on with my life. How long could it take?"

That, my friends, is what we call hubris.

A week and change later I've binged through everything I possibly can (with the exception of the optional hard archive vein section because I'm terrible at the video games especially when they activate hard mode I still haven't dealt with the hard sections in Deltarune ugh why must they put more plot behind hard sections). I have been left staring at the ceiling muttering about mindcores and thoughtforms and weeping over characters. I've talked Eien's ear off puzzling through the story and my brain is still running several cycles repeatedly trying to suss things out.

What I'm trying to say is this game is GOOD and it's gripped my brain HARD.

Unfortunately I learned that it wasn't finished yet well after I had passed the point of no return (this has been happening to me a lot this year with other media, I can't say I'm fond of this trend--I never did like cliffhangers) so I'm left waiting for the next part to come out and in the meantime I have to get out how amazing this game is and maybe convince some other folks to play it because I need to yell more and theorize and there's only so much I can do on my own.

The non-spoilery review: IT'S GOOD GO PLAY IT.

But seriously, the premise basically boils down to: you're a contractor that's been hired to retrieve info from an alien biocomputer that's been recently salvaged from a wreck at the bottom of the ocean. And then it gets weird.

Actually, to quote a character from much later, this is probably the best tagline for the game: "It will probably only get stranger!"

Aesthetically, the game reminds me a little of Welcome to Night Vale. Writing and humor-wise, it reminds me a little of Undertale. There are some elements that remind me a little of Hatoful Boyfriend shut up it does make sense if you've played through it. It's a game full of nooks and crannies to explore and a whole bushel of questions and mysteries to solve. I realize in hindsight that it pings a lot of the things that also caused me to gravitate towards Steven Universe: compelling and complex characters, tons of mysteries big and small to chew on, and rock solid worldbuilding. I am seriously in love with the worldbuilding here - everything, right down to the reason you hear music and the appearance of the characters, has a reason, and part of the joy of the game for me is just figuring everything out. Media scores major points with me when it becomes apparent that the creators have Thought Through Things.

My only really negative thing to say is that while I love the immersive interface, I would have appreciated a little readme file or an annotation or something to indicate how to save the game. In internet years I'm older than the pyramids and I grew up on point-and-click adventure games where being able to save every five seconds is paramount, and I think I would've had a little less anxiety at the beginning if I knew how to save my progress in case Firefox borked or something (I think the answer is there's import/export file functions under data management I THINK that's what it is).

But yes, overall, really good, loved it, really wanting the next part to come out now.

OKAY NOW SOME OTHER THOUGHTS EXCUSE ME WHILE I DO A BIT OF SCREAMING.

NNNNGH THESE CHARACTERS I LOVE THEM. They are all so good. I love Cavik's eagerness and Tovik's determination, I love how Gakvu and Miltza manage to work together despite their differences, I love Kazki's gentleness and Bozko's protectiveness, I love how Idril is basically the answer to the question "What if Osaka from Azumanga Daioh was a dull engineer?". I think what makes it work so well is that you get a chance to spend some time with them, the Call Team in particular. You see them when times are good and when everything is falling apart. The visual novel format, where a lot of the narration is from Akizet's POV, works super well here. You get not only a chance to see what Akizet thinks of them based on what she knows about them, but you see how her thoughts and opinions of them change over the course of the story, particularly in relation to the collapse arc. It gives them an extra boost of life that I think might not have been possible from a more distant POV. They're allowed to be complex and deep.

And oh Akizet is a multidimensional delight. I love her fondness for orange juice. I love how she is doing her best. I love how she is anxious and overthinks things and it's clear that she is trying to do the right thing, even if there are some pretty clear signs that she isn't always making the best choice. I love how she has regrets and joys and stumbles. I love how she is more competent than she thinks she is. I love how she loves these people. Her scene with Bozko where he's spiraling and she hugs him because it's the only thing she can do is lodged in me, both for how relatable it is when wanting to help someone dealing with trauma and the only thing you can do is be there for them, and because oh Aki, you don't need to be a Tir, you just need to be a friend. You just need to be you.

I feel like the overarching theme of the game is "Everyone is doing the best they can with what they have." Right down to the partial translations of words from the mindspike and the fragmented state of the cyst, everything that happens is coming from a place of working with what you've got. That kinda makes the end of the collapse even more tragic, as it's being made abundantly clear that Akizet did not have all the pieces to deal with Vekoa. All she had was her previous knowledge of what she had seen, and all of that pointed to, in her mind, Vekoa attempting a deception. Although I wonder how much of that is based off of what she saw and what she believed. There's a TON of layers here still to uncover.

And there are SO MANY QUESTIONS. There's the big ones of course ("What happened to Akizet?" "What the heck is the deal with the meteorite anyway?" "What is Velzie hiding?" "Who sent the message to Akizet that set everything in motion?"), although there are some smaller ones that I keep chewing on.

What is Kazki's role in all of this? She was conspicuously absent from the collapse, and it made sense she wouldn't be present based on her role, but I keep wondering if there was more going on with her than is apparent. She had been regularly speaking with a human, but the details of that interaction haven't been made known, so is it possible she has more involvement than we currently know? The fact that Drowning, who holds some of Akizet's memories of Kazki and may look like how Kazki actually looks, is guarding some of the deeper parts of the cyst, suggests a greater role.

What is Velzie anyway? The obvious answer is some sort of thoughtform, but from what? Something I started thinking about recently after looking at some of the transcripts is how Tozik wanted Akizet to share the truth about the meteorite. We assume his message got out at the end, but did it? Is Velzie related to Tozik somehow? On the other hand there's evidence Cavik might have some connection as well. HM.

"OUR" DULL SHIP? WHO IS THIS "OUR"??

How much can Funfriend really be trusted? This one's gotten me into a LOT of knots. Funfriend is trying to repair the cyst and is again, doing the best it can with what it has, but the Council and Jokzi Ozo suggest that maybe it's not what the rest of the cyst wants. Honestly I was starting to get a bit of a Myst vibe, where it feels like we're getting two opposing viewpoints and we're eventually going to have to choose one of them (or perhaps a third as-of-yet-unknown third option). But getting back to Funfriend, it's repairing with what it has to work with and its own memories of Akizet and what happened, so how much of that can be trusted? Are we seeing what actually happened, or are we seeing what Funfriend wants us to see?

What IS that weird dark space in Jokzi Ozo with eyes that look an awful lot like Tovik's?

Will we ever get to have a drink with the orange juice effigy? I'M ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS HERE.

Nngh, in the end all I can do is ponder for right now, but when the next part comes out I will be SO ready. And maybe by then I'll have figured out how to get through the archival vein. PLEASE BSTRD, I NEED MORE PLOT AND LORE. I'M NOT A GAMER, I JUST WANT THE STOOOOOORY!!!

[johaerys-writes]

I gotta ask about 4. Victorian Patrochilles

Basically this one is a reincarnation AU I started AGES ago... it is set in Victorian London, Achilles is the prince and in line for the throne, and Patroclus is a minor noble, and the meet at a ball and instantly feel this ConnectionTM... like it's one of the first patrochilles things I ever wrote lol, and the first chapter is actually up on AO3 in this collection over here. At first it was only going to be a oneshot but then I started thinking about it more, and I sort of came up with an outline for a full story and started writing it (I opened the file again recently and was surprised at how much I'd actually written) but I abandoned it after a while because I wasn't happy with some plot points and tbh I still haven't figure them out. But there's a lot of it that I still like, here is a small snippet:

I met him later that week. We walked the busy streets of London side by side, and the Prince didn’t seem to mind the mud that clung to his boots or the drizzle that darkened his golden hair to copper. He talked to me cheerfully- he seemed quite fond of talking, but not in the way one blabbers incessantly for the pleasure of hearing one’s own voice. He had much to share with me, and he spoke fast and with confidence, as if he could cram the information of a lifetime in just a few short hours. 

He was different when he was with me. Less aloof, less regal. He had a casual air about it him which he seemed to drop when no one was around; it made him look young, almost boyish—behind his princely facade he hid a cheerful disposition and a razor sharp intellect, as well as a knack for clever puns. 

It wasn’t long before our conversation drifted back to ancient myths and legends, as it normally did when it was just the two of us. 

“The Ancient Greeks were masters when it came to tragic stories,” he said, pushing the glass door of a tea shop open, a small and dainty one hidden in one of the side streets off Baker Street. “The most tragic of all, of course,” he sat by one of the tables, gesturing for me to sit near him, “is none other than that of Achilles and Patroclus. I recall you were quite fond of their love story.”

I self-consciously glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one near us had overheard, even though the Prince didn’t seem to have noticed anything odd about his speech. 

“We have settled, then, that they were lovers?” I asked him with a smile.

“Of course,” he said, without a hint of hesitation. “There can be no question about it. The truth is there, plain for everyone to see, regardless of what historians and scholars say. Left to their own devices, they would argue for centuries whether a tea kettle is black or simply very dark grey.” 

That was another thing about him that I’d noticed; he often spoke blunt truths without any intention to tease or gauge for a reaction. He spoke them because, frankly, that was what they were: the truth, and he had little patience for anything but. It was something I admired about him. 

Well, one of the many things I admired about him, in any case. 

“Indulge me, Your Grace,” I said, lifting the steaming cup to my lips after he had poured the tea. “What is it that you and I know, and all the scholars of the world do not?” 

[pandora-writes-one-piece]

(sneaks in)

I think you know what this ask will be about...

So... (Clears throat)

Would King from Trouble want to have kids with Reader? 🥺 He seems like he wants a domestic life.

Also, I headcanon Trouble! King was in the Navy aka a Navy SEAL before he became a bodyguard cus boy he can FIGHT and he's big 😩 He's giving me ex-military vibes or special ops vibes in short he gives VIBES. He's so mean and terrifying but ugh the way he made sure Reader finds evidence so she can finally break up with Ichiji? 10/10

King, all you had to do was introduce yourself to us in the bar, big guy, act like it's a coincidence and then ask to catch up.

ALSO THE FACT HE CAUGHT READER BEFORE SHE COULD FALL BEING THEIR FIRST MEETING? That had me like "awww 🥺"

Where did it go wrong, King? You had all the prerequisites to be the love interest! You'd just have to hide how obsessed you are, no biggie, right? WRONG. Damn it, King! 😭

I still love it.

(cries cus why are all the villains you write in Meet Cute Series so hot it's not fair Pandora IT'S NOT FAIR 😭🤧)

I swear to god if Katakuri is gonna be the villain in your Sanji Meet Cute fic I'll throw my phone at the WALL. You better NOT make me choose between those two wonderful men, you BETTER NOT! I don't think Katakuri can be a full on villain lol 🤣. Hell even in canon he wasn't really a villain, (that was Big Mom) he was just doing his job and protecting his family.

Sending you much love ❤️❤️❤️

(And can't wait for Part 2 of your Mafia AU 😳😳😳🥵🥵🥵)

- @physics-of-one-piece

Fizzy!

Here you are asking all the tough questions! Love it gurl! 🥰 I'm going to put my answer after the break here, because there are spoilers for Zoro's Meet-Cute: Trouble, for those who still haven't read and plan to!

So, I'm going to be extremely honest here... SHOULD he be allowed to have children? I mean... man's a stalker! 👀 He maims people... he didn't kill anyone, but he almost did...

Parenting goals? 😅

King might want a domestic life, but being so obsessive and controlling, I'm not sure whether he would like to share you with anybody. Not even your child.

On another note, maybe (and I'm going on a hypothetical tangent here) if your first encounter (when he caught you) had developed romantically (let's assume you left Ichiji and King was there and things evolved), his stalker/obsessive streak might not have escalated! If that happened, I can see him as a very devoted boyfriend/husband and wanting as many kids as possible.

Also, totally agree with your headcanon, any kind of special tactics team, for sure!

If you love all my villains, just you wait until I finally get down to writing that Ichiji prequel. I know you all hate him now... let's see what the sentiment is after that! 😬

Oh! I did not consider Katakuri for Sanji's Meet-Cute, but since Pudding might make an appearance, he might, too (I swear I still have half the plot to figure out, so I'm just throwing mud at the wall at this point). But Sanji's greatest villain will have to be Judge. He'll be the antagonist, for sure. And expect a lot more Ichiji, too.

I'll release chapter 2 of the Mafia AU tomorrow because it's Sunday, and it should be fairly easy to score some holy water. 😎

Love you, Fizzy! Keep asking weird questions, I freaking love it! And I love you! ❤️

[justcallmesakira]

hii this is like my first time here requesting,,

aaaaa your writing is so cool i love it smm,,

prompt 13 angst, for fyodor?

i think it fits him really well,, and i haven't read angst for so long...

"Maybe...maybe in another life, another time"

Prompt 13

Sypnosis: Your like an angel incarnate to him but even so, you`re a pawn to the outside and will be.

Fyodor x reader

Genre: angst

Warnings: lots of sad stuff :(, no comfort

A/N: Aaaah finally first time writing for Fyodor! I hope you enjoy this anonie!! because its full of angst. YUMMY ANGST.

Etheral- Txmy ♥︎ ⇄ ◁◁ 𝚰𝚰 ▷▷ ↻ ⁰⁰'²⁵ ━━●━━───── ⁰²'⁰⁸

No matter how strong a pawn is,,, a pawn is a pawn for bigger plans then why does he feel like this? He wonders.

You had joined the decay of angels out of desperation. Nothing in your life was not really interesting anyways.

After Fyodor found out about your mere existence he was intrigued.

A human being this beautiful having such a dead and poor soul? What a wonderful day to be a saviour! He convinced himself that its just mere interest. At that time.

You were also pique by this mans goals and likings if anything you realized that he and you had alot in common.

He did not let his other subcordinates listen to his cello playing but he did to you, and only you. He did not lay his head on his other subcordinates but he layed on yours, He did not share his past experiences with his other subcordinates but he shared them to you, Only to you and no one else....Perhaps it was just an illusion to weaken his strength.

Fyodor saw all of the population as mere foolish human beings nothing else but you were an exception to his complex qualifiction

You liked his hair which reminded you of the feathers of a raven, sleek and violaceus, his bright eyes like comparable to a pair of plums, fresh from heaven.

Sure, he wasnt the best in person but you admired him, quite alot but somehow you felt sympathy for him. Everyone else would look at his direction and cover away, scared and terrified but somehow because of your naivety you felt something for him. You cant tell whether its from your heart or mind but something similar to pity. But now things are different...why do you still have that aching feeling in your chest?

"Fyodor, Fyodor dont cry" drip drip...

You are a mere pawn, nothing else but was that true?

The terrace you stood on had white lilies here and there looking as pretty as a ocean of pearls.

There was barely a trace of emotion in your face as you kept staring at the sun almost setting so the night scenery can introduce itself. Too bad you wont be able to see tonight.

Quiet footsteps could be heard, quiet like a mouse towards your figure. You realised it was fyodor, ah yes the same smell of lilac and evil.

"Are you ready, dusha moya?" the voice asks, tone as careful and delicate as glass. Like the glass covering the greenhouse from above.

"This garden is quiet the exiquitive one with its prickly rose vines sheltering the top." Fyodor states to calm down the atmosphere in this plot of flowers. "I wonder if they ever get tired of protecting the glass garden" you spit out, with no expression in your voice and your back turned against fyodor who only walked loser to you.

Your head turned around with a blank expression on your face.

"Strange girl....."

"Well, zayka its time to bid farewell even the sun is setting a goodbye" Fyodor finally revealed the words out with a smile in his face, the smile you will never be able to see again.

You picked up a white lily in your warm hands and gracefully slid it behind your hair tucking a strand of hair and finally turned around to face him, this time with a smile on your face which makes the mans eyes widen for a second.

"You're right, Lets go." you calmly voice out with a somewhat soft expression on your face as you walk towards him on the clean grass.

At that time you couldnt make out fyodors expression, whether he was sad or happy or just emotionless.

He reaches out to you with his hand asking you to put yours over his.

"It was nice knowing you, Fyodor. It really was but i guess this is our goodbye. But you know... Even though i shouldnt say this since i am but a sinner i really love you, I really do."

Your pretty lips mouth out these shattering words to him though i doubt he would feel anything anyways either way he wont be able to feel the warmth of your hands ever again nor the care of your words asking him if slept or eaten anything.

As Fyodors ability activates the life in your eyes slowly wilt away like a lily symbolizing peace.

"Maybe,,,maybe in another life, another time"

It was almost time that you died and met your punishment so with every emotion and strength you have you said out your last words as your head gently falls to his side with your lashes flattered close.

Fyodor did not smile at that.

He simple carried your corpse in bridal style with your white sleeved arms dangling down and gently placed your body on a huge pile of white lilies.

The view was beautiful indeed with the lilies hiding aspects of your now run cold body making you look etheral finally at peace.

"Fear not myshka, i will soon join you in hell too." with that the terrace was locked. Locked from dangers, threats and any bad omen.

"Farewell, Fyodor I hope you enjoyed the part you played these past 3 years"

A/N Fun Fact Fiction time!: The rose vines sheltering the glass of the green house in a symbolization to fyodors heart. The white lilies symbolize grief so he locks away any trace of emotion. By this reader puts one of the lily in their hair and asks metaphorically if fyodor ever get tired of protecting his emotions in order to achieve his goal! Also reader worked with fyodor for 3 years and an average white lily lives up to 3-5 years :)

[shantismurf]

"The Mushroom Mine" sign by @shantismurf, with assistance from @tickles-ivory

As part of the celebration of the one year anniversary of the Bagginshield Book Club, we asked the lovely @chrononautintraining a few questions about this wonderful work.

June 2024 Author Q&A with Chrononautical

Q1. What name would you like us to use and what are your pronouns?

A1. Chrononautical or Chrono, She/Her

Q2. How many years have you been writing? 

A2. Most of my life, but posting publicly for about 15 years.

Q3. What do you think of as your writing style - are you a plotter or pantster?

A3. Pantster, primarily, though I've learned my lessons and do like to know where a story is going to end when I start it these days so I try to plot. 

Q4. What’s your favorite genre/trope to write? 

A4. Speculative fiction: stories about magic or science fiction, primarily. 

Q5. Is there a genre/trope you haven't written as much of yet that you're excited about for future writing?

A5. I'd like to do more comedy.

Q6. Was there an idea or scene that inspired A Passion for Mushrooms?

A6. Passion for Mushrooms is one hundred percent inspired by the quote I used for an epigraph: "Hobbits have a passion for mushrooms, surpassing even the greediest likings of Big People." - The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien. 

When I decided to write it, the fandom already had more than a few stories about Bilbo planting gardens and deciding to stay in Erebor with a miraculously alive Thorin. I was completely here for all of that, of course, but I wanted a story where the garden wasn't special because of gold or rare plants bought with gold. I wanted there to be a treasure that Bilbo could appreciate with the Baggins half of his heart, as well as the Tookish bit. And I know next to nothing about mountains, but I do know mushrooms do okay in caves, so... 

Q7. Did you do any special research before writing the work?

A7. If you're asking this because I go deep on How To Pluck A Chicken In A Medieval Kitchen during the cooking scenes, you're right and you should say it. I am a middling cook, but all of my ingredients come from grocery stores. I had to do a fair bit of research on the cooking aspects of the story that were furthest from my own experience. Fortunately, the professor already put tomatoes and potatoes in Middle-earth, so I didn't have to go Full Historical. 

Q8. Did the story change from how you originally envisioned it? Were there scenes or plot elements you had to cut out?

A8. It absolutely did. Because I am, as previously said, a pantster. I wanted a bigger bang for the ending of the story than I was set up to get. I could have stopped with Bilbo and Thorin getting together and had some simple falling action, but that didn't perfectly tie the subplot of Dis and Tauriel back to the main pairing, which I knew I wanted. Having Doron try to poison Bilbo was actually a late in the game choice. If I'd planned that from the start, I would have threaded him into more of the middle sections of the novel. 

As for cutting things out, the additional stories in the series started as deleted scenes/reader requests that I couldn't find use for. So most of what I cut didn't end up in the rubbish bin. Anything that wound up there really wasn't worth posting. 

Q9. Do you have a favorite moment from the entire series?

A9. I still really like "A Spy In The Shire" a lot. I know it's so self-indulgent to say that about a story focusing on an OC, but if the point of the Battle of Five Armies is to reclaim Erebor for the dwarves, then I want that to mean something. I want the average dwarf to be in a bad place. I want the average dwarf to need Erebor the way Thorin needs Erebor, to be willing to do anything to get back to the Lonely Mountain. Because if that's the case, then all the sacrifice means something. When I talk about this one luckless dwarf on the world's silliest quest to figure out how to help the king hook up with a hobbit, I'm talking about hope for the future. I'm talking about all the people who long for and dream of the home that Thorin was willing to die to reclaim. I think about them going back there and living better lives. It brings me peace.

[practically-an-x-man]

TST! Catch me up on your WIPs? Who's stuck, who's flowing, anyone got any new ideas percolating?

Oh man.... this question hurts a little bit (not your fault, just me) because I've been stuck on a lot of my writing lately. It's not exactly a full-on writer's block, since I've been able to tinker around with things like that new Eris piece I just posted, but I've just had so much trouble putting new pieces together - and especially getting my longfics updated.

I'm trying not to be too hard on myself, I know that I shouldn't be forcing myself to write and that it's normal for fanfics to go months or even years without updating sometimes because people have lives. But by that same token... it's been almost a year for a couple of my longfics, and I feel bad about that.

But here's the rundown:

Longfics:

WWFA?: I did start working on the next chapter finally, it still needs some work before it'll be ready and will likely be a slightly shorter chapter, but I'm trying to get things gradually moving into the third act.

Heartstrings: Been a while for this one too, but I've got the next chapter outlined and have just been trying to get it started. Got a bit of a block on this one since it'll arguably be the most emotional, climactic chapter in the fic, and that's made it hard to start.

Taking Flight: In theory the next chapter will keep us moving into the third book plot, and I have notes jotted down for the order of everything and how Kestrel fits into it, but I'm still trying to sort out what the next chapter specifically will contain. I've got a whole book's worth of plot ideas (and then some; there's 2 more books as well) but need to block out where that falls into each chapter

Heart in Your Hands: I've got a pretty comprehensive outline and I know what the next chapter will be, just need to start it. That's true for a lot of these fics, I think. Once I get started I'm usually better about getting things moving, but it takes me a while to start

Smoke and Mirrors: Similar story to WWFA?, I've got some ideas for the next chapter so I can move into the last stage of the fic with the final few chapters, but I need to get working on it and find those emotional beats.

Desert Song: I'm a little more lost on this one. I've got an outline for the overarching plot points of the fic and where I want it all to go, but I'm struggling to figure out where I want to place this next chapter - how much needs to happen, how much time has passed since the last chapter, etc.

____

Oneshots:

I've got part 3 of the Gia Werewolf AU in the works, managed to write a thousand words or so for it in one session but haven't touched it since then. Might be introducing a new OC alongside that fic but haven't fully decided yet, which could be the hangup I'm having with it

Ruin (the final part of my Prometheus series) has been stuck at about 70% finished for months now, and I physically haven't been able to get a word on the page. In theory I do still want to finish it and post it, just for my own satisfaction and completing a story, but since everything's come out about NG I've just had an absolute block on everything related to his works.

I've been working on another Vivienne/Wojchek fic in which the Demeter must sail through a den of sirens, got a decent amount of that written and I'm liking it so far, but I need to get back into it

I also have a standalone Madison/Alex piece in which the X-Men visit Madison's hometown, a real emotional piece, but that's been stuck in my tumblr drafts for a long time and I need to decide whether I'm finishing it or tossing it

Still got that Rae/Warren Void AU that I started after Deadpool & Wolverine first came out, but honestly I've grown less interested in that idea and might not finish it.

I've got an IndiHux angst piece in the works, still playing with that amnesia/reconditioning premise but this time with Hux being victim to it, but that's another one that I started and just haven't picked back up

I've got a couple ideas for Eris on the back burner, but I just came up with a mythology-inspired angst piece that I might try to add to the whole timeline with Scars and Crane Feathers, don't have anything written down for it yet but I'm intrigued by the concept

And as always, I've got an assortment of other oneshot ideas floating around here and there (a Gia sickfic, a Terra&Pluto supplemental piece, a few ideas for Eris and Nikoletta, etc.), but I haven't worked on those in a while and haven't really had motivation to continue them right now.

I know it's not the end of the world, and I know I still am writing even if I'm not spreading that energy consistently across all of my projects, but it still hurts a bit to look at all the projects I've started and just haven't been able to continue in so long :/

Thanks for the ask, though! Maybe this will be the kick in the pants I need to get back to those longfic chapters!

[isfjmel-phleg]

Elystan: 5, 19, 20

5 How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are the reasons behind their name different in- and out of universe?

Shortly after I created him, I lay awake at night shuffling around sequences of letters in my head until I thought I invented the name Elystan. I was pretty proud of it. Turns out the Welsh beat me to it centuries ago. It's a variation of Athelstan, meaning "noble stone." But at the time, I thought it sounded very fantasy. Nowadays I like how it rolls off the tongue. There are a lot of Ls in his full name (Elystan Allister Philimond Talfrin Liddick), which makes it fun to say.

In universe, Elystan is named after his maternal grandfather at his mother's insistence. His father allowed it on the condition that Elystan use his middle name Talfrin as his regnal name when he came to the throne. I haven't featured this in any of the stories yet, but Talfrin makes a point of using "Tally" as an affectionate nickname for Elystan, to rub in the name he was "supposed" to have.

19 What is your general favourite thing about the character? What is your least favourite?

I love how fun he is to write. His dialogue is always entertaining, and he's an interesting contrast to the quieter and more contained people whom he tends to be around. He's a jerk, but there's more to him than that, and a big emotional range across his long-reaching arc.

I am not a fan of how difficult it is to get him to actually grow as a person. He is incorrigible, and at some point he needs to knock it off and grow up, but it's a struggle to figure out how to balance actual, believable growth with not losing the essence of his personality.

20 Bonus question: share any additional thoughts, art, favourite scenes, anything you've been waiting for a chance to ramble about

Some things:

Elystan and the headmaster at Hollingham initially butt heads but develop a more complex relationship after it's revealed that they have something in common.

He is related to one of Amarantha's schoolmates at Queen Edella's and this will be plot-significant.

He eventually does get to meet Levico, his favorite author, and does not handle it the way that Amarantha expects him to.

He spends some time after getting his university degree doing some traveling. Delclis had to intervene during these adventures only a few times.

He has a complicated historical reputation, and there was a biopic of him made recently in modern-day Corege that was quite controversial among history enthusiasts there.

I don't know what age he lives to (definitely adulthood), but cause of death: heart failure.

[ruinparadox]

So, I have been taking the story of Guild Wars 2 pretty slowly, but I have been having a lot of fun with it. The game is so fun I literally forgot the teleport points existed and tried to walk into an area I couldn't go to because I haven't upgraded my account yet.

The weapon swapping is absolutely bonkers to me and its so fun and addicting. My charr is a mesmer and I have him on a staff and greatsword setup. The fact that each weapon comes with a different moveset and you can mix and match some of them is peak for me. Not to mention the skill tree where you can customize your additional skills at any time is genuinely interesting.

Although Mesmer is fun I did want to try Revenant because I hear they're a hybrid damage/healer/support, but I need a certain expansion for that, so I might have to remake Astros Dawnstone again.

The voice acting, story and the writing are really well done. You mean, I have a customizable character that has an actual voice, real agency in the story, AND what is effectively my sub-race isn't just an aesthetic thing, it has plot relevance and affects how the story plays out for my character?! Damn, sign me up.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get into the glamour/dye channels as I don't have the required resource for it, nor do I know where to get it. I'll figure it out at some point, but I really wanna keep my Mesmer mask. I will say, I was surprised that the character customization allows you to choose the dyes for your clothes right out the gate as well as customizing what kind of mask you have. I just love this game and I can't wait to get more into it.

Overall, I will upgrade my account and play the full story someday soon. For now, I'm gonna slow down on video games because damn, my laptop needs its storage.

[writingquestionsanswered]

I wrote an outline for a chapter I haven't finished but I still can't get around to writing the said chapter. Any advice/tips for that?

Chapter Outlined But Still Can't Write It

I'm not sure if you mean you haven't finished the outline or the chapter, so we'll tackle it both ways. :)

Chapter Outline Isn't Finished - If you're struggling to finish the chapter outline, start by looking at the conflict of the scene/s that make up the chapter. What does the character want in the scene? Are they trying to solve a problem? Are they trying to obtain something? (Like information, improvement of a skill, an object, agreement from someone to do something?) What tactic do they use in an attempt to get the thing? What obstacles do they face, and how do their tactics escalate? Do they succeed or fail in getting the thing? Are there consequences of getting the thing or not getting the thing? Understanding the purpose of your scene/scenes/chapter helps greatly in figuring out what needs to happen from beginning to end. You can also look at scene structure, which I tackle in my post Easy Scene/Chapter Structure.

Chapter Outline Is Finished - If your chapter outline is finished but you're still struggling to write the chapter, it could be because although you know where it needs to begin and what needs to happen, you may not know specifically how to start it. In other words, it's one thing to know that the chapter needs to start with Katniss preparing to go hunting with Gale, but that doesn't tell us exactly how the scene needs to begin. Try analyzing what needs to happen at the beginning and visualizing where your character is at the first point you know.

In the THG example, we know Katniss will walk out the door to meet Gale to go hunting. So, we can imagine her poised at the door getting ready to walk outside... now we rewind it. What was she doing in the moments before she got to the door? What did she need do in order to get ready? What room was she in? Who or what did she interact with? What was she thinking about? These can give you clues to specifically where you can start. Remember, it helps to start with movement, or in other words, something happening. Like, "My feet touch the ice cold floor..." or "Wooden bowls clatter to the floor when I open our tiny cupboard." Or, in the case of THG: When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress.

You want the opening image of the chapter to be a hook, either a dynamic moment that asks a question ("Where's Prim?") or dynamic imagery: Nothing about the woman sitting across from me suggested she was a private investigator, much less one who came so highly recommended by Hollywood's rich and famous.

Other things that could be going on... I can think of some other potential issues which are worth considering if the above advice doesn't help you move forward:

1 - You're not sure where the story is going - You may have a full or partial outline for your chapter, but if you're not sure what happens in the next chapter or later on in the story, that can create a sort of mental block that makes it more difficult to get started. It's almost like your brain can see the road is washed out up ahead and doesn't want to start moving until the road is repaired. So, make sure you have a good idea of what needs to happen next and where the overall story is going. You can head over to my Plot & Story Structure master list of posts if you need help plotting.

2 - You've stressed yourself out about it - When we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to start something or finish something, we end up creating an association of stress with the thought of that activity. In other words, when we think of doing the thing it stresses us out, and since our brains are programed to avoid stress, it makes us not want to do the thing. We can think we want to do the thing... we can be motivated and have things ready to go, but if that little bit of stress bubbles up, our brains can say, "Nope! Uh-uh... that way lies danger," and we just can't get going. So, see what you can do to resolve any stress you may be feeling about the chapter. Do some fun activities related to the chapter, like try story boarding it with cute doodles or images from the internet. Make an aesthetic for the chapter, or make a chapter playlist. Try doing a little meditation, yoga, or take a walk before you sit down to work on the chapter. And don't give yourself a hard time when you try but it doesn't go anywhere.

3 - You're not ready to write the chapter - Sometimes there's something blocking you from writing the chapter and it's not something you can necessarily figure out. On a subconscious level, maybe your brain realizes you don't know the characters well enough to give this chapter justice. Maybe something about the chapter isn't working. Or maybe you're just more excited to write another chapter. Remember it's ok to skip chapters and come back to them later. Sometimes that's all you need in order to make it work.

I hope something here helps for you!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[my-supernatural-rewatch]

Episode Five: Bloody Mary

Dean Winchester in the Supernatural episode Bloody Mary

Never one of my favorites but on this rewatch I realized it's actually pretty damn scary.

A child's game of Bloody Mary unleashes the vengeful spirit of a woman who travels through mirrors and seeks revenge on those with guilty secrets.

This one will probably not be that long either.

Right out the gate, we get concerned Dean who wants to talk about Sam and all the bad dreams he's having. Sam isn't very forthcoming. Big surprise.

I know we get a lot of "no chick flick moments" and all from Dean in the dialogue. But we also get Dean consistently saying to Sam basically "LET'S TALK ABOU THIS" so the narrative that Dean doens't like to talk about his or anyone else's feelings is already dispelled within the first five episodes of the first season yet it stuck to Dean for the entire series.

Make it make sense.

Right here is where I'm going to remind anyone who might come across this and decide to read it that I am not writing full synposes of the episodes so if you haven't actually seen the episodes there's a good chance you will be lost reading these posts if you're looking for any semblance of a plotline. This is definitely one of those posts that will completely confuse you if you don't know the episode. Sorry/not sorry.

I'm wondering if this is the only episode where we see the brothers bribe someone? It probalby isn't but at least it's the first. Sam bribes the coroner's assistant with money Dean won in a poker game.

Which gives us more of Sam trying to take the moral highground when Dean complains that it's HIS money by dismissing it becuase Dean won it playing poker. As if that isn't working for the money.

Christ, Sam.

Also on Sam: Yet another episode where he changes his voice when talking to the family of the victim so he sounds more sympathetic. How did ai never notice this before?

Cute brothers moment in the bathroom when they're both standing in front of the mirror talking about Bloody Mary and both refuse to say the words.

Okay, an important plot point: Bloody Mary only kills people with a terrible secret that they're absorbed with guilt over. Spoiler: Sam feels guility because he had dreams of Jessica on the ceiling burning for days before she died and he not only didn't warn her but he also took the fuck off with his brother to find their missing father who isn't really fucking missing. (Hey, does this mean we can pin Jessica's death on John?)

Another Dean myth dispelled in this episode is his intelligence. I mean they already pretty much have shown us Dean's no dunce, but in this ep he spends a LOT of time doing research, absorbing the material, and explaining things. And in one scene, he decides to do a national search for dead women fitting Bloody Mary's profile, against Sam's judgement...and THAT is how they figure out who she is.

Check out the big brain on Dean, motherfuckers!

They drive from Toledo, Ohio to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and back to interview someone, and my geography knowledge is so limited that I had to Google how long that would take. In one of what I would guess is one of their shorter trips, it's only about 3 hours round-trip. (THESE are the things I'm thinking about while watching the show?)

The name of this week's damsel in distress is...Charlie. I get there were over 300 episodes of this show but it drives me nuts how often they re-use names. (Amelia anyone?) Anyway...

Using his patented compassion and soft looks Dean's the one who gets Charlie to admit the thing she's guilty about (a troubled boyfriend who threatend to kill himself if she left him and then who DID kill himself after she responded "Go ahead").

In the Impala, the brothers are discussing how to call out the spirit and Sam says he has the guilt so he'll do the summoning. Dean has had enough of his emo, fatalistic bullshit so he stops the car and tells Sam to fess up his secret for fuck's sake.

Dean's concerns are that the spirit will kill Sam, and he reminds Sam that it isn't his fault that Jessica died. Someone should tell Dean we've decided it's John's fault because what does Dean say?

"Why don't you take a swing at ME? I'm the one who dragged you away from her in the first place."

Setting up a decades-long argument among SPN fans who think Sam made his own decision because he wanted to go back to hunting and those who blame Dean for goddamn everything.

To be fair to Sam, his response is, "I don't blame you."

Thanks for that, Sammy. (That's from me, not Dean.)

Dean really doesn't want Sam to call out the spirit but Sam is damned and determined to. It feels less like he's doing it to save poor first Charlie and more like he's doing it because he feels like he shoudl be punished for what he did (or really in this case didn't) do.

And thus begins the storyline of emo Sam feels guilty about everything that isn't his fault for the next two seasons culminating in Dean going to hell...

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Inside the antique shop where Mary's mirror is supposed to be, Sam is trying to call her out while Dean goes outside to talk to the cops who have shown up since someone is mucking about in the shop. When he can't convince the cops that he is the adopted son of Mr. Yamashiro, Dean knocks both cops out.

How often has Dean (or Sam) done this? I feel like not often.

We're also on a steady stream of slowly showing how well Dean can handle himself in a fight and I'm here for it.

Hey back to smart Dean (and skipping over pretty much the rest of the story): He breaks the first mirror that Mary appears in when she seems to have Sam in his trance and it gets Sam out of his trance, but it doesn't kill her. She shows up again and Dean...not Sam, Dean, gets the idea to hold another mirror up to her...and she kills herself when she looks in it.

Dean is a smarty. Stop telling me he isn't.

But not that smart...this time he only gets a handshake from the woman he saved...not even a kiss on the cheek. Oh well, Dean. Better luck next time.

We end the episode with Dean asking Sam what it is he feels guilty about...what his secret is, and Sam says this:

"Look...you're my brother and I'd die for you, but there are some things I need to keep to myself."

Two things: Sam telling Dean he'd die for him is kind of huge. Up until now, he's been acting like Dean is an inconvenience. So I loved hearing that. But, again, we get Sam not opening up to Dean about his secret...and yet fandom lore is that Dean is the one who always refuses to open up.

Some notes for posterity:

The significant music from this episode comes from Def Leppard -Rock of Ages (the first but not the last time we hear this one!), Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down, and The Rolling Stones - Laugh, I Nearly Died.

The brothers pose as medical students from Ohio State but don’t give out their names. When they introduce themselves to the first victim's family, they give their first names and say they worked with the victim. When Dean is talking with the police he tells them he's the adopted son of Mr. Yamashiro.

This hunt takes place in Toledo, Ohio, and they take a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Dean wears John’s jacket in this episode.

[l1atena1]

Hello, I know it can be annoying when they send you messages, because they've probably already asked you a lot, but...what happened to the cursed amuled comic? did you cancel it?

Hey, to all the concerned folks out there!

First of all, I want to relieve you all and say, no, The Cursed Amulet is very much not canceled.

I have been busy with irl stuff and art school. You know how many project they give you in here? Whohoo! I've got my hands full!

But fret not, I haven't forgotten about my comic, I am actually writing a script for it as we speak.

Ever heard of the advice "Go big or go home?" Yeah, no, it does not apply to comics or just long-term projects in general. Or, at least I really hope it doesn't, because I bit much more than I can chew. :D I was winging it with a vague, unfinished script, I beg you, please don't do that. Of course, you can change it, tweak it and improve whatever you need on the way. The important thing about writing a script is figuring out the overall plot, ideas, which ones make sense, which don't, and what do you want to tell us with your story. I kind of skipped the first step, so I'm taking a step back.

So, with my deepest apologies I ask you to stick around, because the comic will be continued!

[remuswriting]

Ask game questions!!!

(´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

o( ❛ᴗ❛ )o

(°ロ°) !

(ノ*°▽°*)

Under the cut, because we both know I yapped way too much, especially on the last one.

(´｡• ᵕ •｡`) : talk about the fic that you enjoyed writing the most!

In terms of reader fics, I really enjoyed writing More Significant Than Gravity. It's one of the very few requested fics I've written, and I wrote it so fast. It's a little more on the cliche side in terms of trope (insecure reader x Oikawa), but I like what I did with it. It was a fun time. Overall, I'm going to say Hold Me Tight, even though it's slightly the bane of my existence. I wrote a terrible social media au five years ago, and now, it's a whole other thing. I think the plot and characterization are different than some other fics. Most people won't read it, because it's an oc focused fic, which is okay. I think it's actually pretty good. I fear it may never be finished, though.

o( ❛ᴗ❛ )o : is there a trope / au you'd like to write more for?

I would actually really love to write omegaverse. Please don't throw tomatoes at me. I am not a smut writer, so it wouldn't deal with smut. I just find the concept of subgenders fascinating and how it would work within society. I will probably never fully write it, though. A different one is a full blown college au. I've written fics that take place in college, but it's always character who canonically go to college. I'd love to do a whole thing where everyone is in a made up college and playing on a college team together. That would be really fun. I just haven't had the full blown time to do that planning.

(°ロ°) ! : how do you get in the mood for writing? do you intentionally set time aside on your calendar or rely on sheer bursts of motivation and hyperfixation? do you have any pre-writing rituals?

I am one of those people that can write whenever. I may not write as much sometimes as I do other times, but I can sit down and write at least 100 words a writing session. I used to have a schedule where I'd write every day for three hours. That just programmed me to be able to write whenever since I was so consistent with it. So, as long as I have some water, I'm pretty much good to go.

(ノ*°▽°*) : how do you go about characterization? any advice on how you go about character analysis and interpretation is appreciated!

I believe characterization is important for multiple reasons. Obviously, you don't want to read a ridiculously out of character story, but also, if a character is out of character, then the story could not make sense. So, I think about it in two main ways: who is this character and how do they interact with the story? When looking at who a character is, I just analyze the source material. Picture it as if you're going to have a class discussion about the character. What are things you'd bring up about them and want to discuss? What are things that are key parts of them? Are these things loud or quiet? How do they interact with the story? Asking yourself these questions will help you figure out a character. For example, a lot of people write Tsukishima as "salty" because of his rude remarks. Why does he act like that? (Because he's an angsty teenage boy.) What are his other qualities beyond that? He's observant and doesn't let people in easily, meaning his keeps a distance. He knows when and what to say when wanting to make an impression. Yes, he has trust issues, but how far do they go? Angst and sarcasm are not the only two qualities of Tsukishima, which would be brought up in a class discussion. If that makes sense.

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natlan 5.0 brain dump

i did this in a lot of small chunks so i already forgot all of my detailed thoughts so i'm gonna try to keep it brief

general environment/exploration:

first off music and scenery is 💯💯💯

i particularly like how much wildlife there is and i really love the saurian gameplay (for me its hydro > dendro >>>> geo)

i feel so awful every time i accidentally kill a capybara they should be immune like the rhinos

it makes sense that there isn't "one huge city" like the other nations since natlan is composed of tribes, and each tribe looks like it gets a decent amount of attention, but i was still kind of disappointed by how small the stadium of the sacred flame feels in comparison for being the "main" area. i feel like they could have done a lot more with it

archon quest:

tldr; it was... not good? or at least very underwhelming? especially coming off fontaine/sumeru which had incredibly strong opening acts

act 1 was particularly like. whatever. felt more like a kachina story quest that rolled right into a mualani (but npc-focused) story quest

like for how important the pilgrimage is it just felt so. underwhelming and anticlimatic. yes yes i know kachina is precious and everyone loves her but i wish we spent less time doing kachina support group and focused more on the pilgrimage itself like can we at LEAST see some of the other playable characters participating instead of just hearing about it in passing

literally was soooooooooo fucking annoyed with the entire atea plotline. i wrote a whole rant in my first write up but basically that entire arc only existed so that they could bring back the purification plot device which WE HAVEN'T SEEN SINCE MONDSTADT

i was just incredibly annoyed with how that was all handled lol atea is also just such a non-character how am i supposed to care about her. she didn't even die in the end!!!

also mualani's tribe's whole thing being super stereotypical hawaiian tourism left a really bad taste in my mouth i wanted to get out of there as fast as possible

act 2 was weird because like. i felt like they were saying a lot of things that were like "this is a serious national crisis" but it didn't... feel that way? and a lot of the lore itself was pretty glossed over

i think a problem with the natlan story is that you need the first acts to set up the stakes but we just spent the first act gallivanting around with kachina/mualani and then when they DID get to the "main problem" in act 2 it just info dumped so hard to the point that i. didn't care?

pacing in general just felt all over the place

the only investment they gave us is through caring about kachina and i guess hating the abyss/not wanting a nation to be destroyed on principle but idk. especially with the "nah we gotta wait for the last 2 heroes first" the stakes are Not there for me

reminded me of when nahida was like "yeah i needed you to figure this out for yourself bc if i told you directly your head would explode." but at least that one was fun/could just chalk it up to nahida being cheeky and didn't like. prolong the plot for too long

SHOW US DON'T TELL US DAMN IT. i might just have recency bias but i genuinely feel like natlan might be one of the worst cases of telling and not showing as far as archon quests are concerned

also capitano's appearance felt so random LMAO he really showed up, said some cryptic shit, got his ass beat, and then left. at least the cutscene was cool?

chasca girl i'm shaking crying throwing up somebody get that girl a full pair of pants and brown contacts PLEASE

i find it interesting how detailed/fleshed out chuychu (chasca's sister) is, both in terms of design and personality/character. it kind of felt like they originally intended for her to be playable but turned her into an NPC instead

also citlali is definitely some kind of faruzan situation where she's old but young looking

night kingdom was cool i guess nothing really to say here. i am very interested in the wayob lore though especially in regards to how it ties into the rest of teyvat/why natlan has particularly weak leylines

i feel like mavuika's younger sister might also become relevant in the future... in a bad way. like the insistence to not being forgotten/seeing mavuika again, the fact that mavuika doesn't "really" know what happened to her. also she also got a pretty unique npc model. or maybe she won't be brought up ever again idk

in general that whole reminiscence sequence with mavuika was like. fine but again you just info dumped the shit out of me i have no emotional attachment to feel anything about whats going on right now???

also we all know that was fucking ororon at the end with capitano like lmao come on. but im willing to bet both he + chasca are the last two heros bc like. who tf else do we have left LMAOOO

capitano was supposed to be cool but he's just giving goofy villain right now. sorry capitano fans they flopped so hard with him in this act

[dancingontheblades]

Hey :) For the fanfiction writing asks, could I ask numbers 12, 17, 18, 30 and 79? (If it’s not too much). I’m curious about your writing process 👉🏼👈🏼

No worries, it's not too much. And I'm always happy to ramble about my writing process!

12.) Do you outline your fics? If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them?

A long time ago in a galaxy far away when dinosaurs roamed the young earth (15 years ago), I was more of a pantser, but that quickly changed as my projects became more and more complex. Since at least a decade or so, I always write an outline and I write it as detailed as possible for two main reasons: 1. Most ideas strike me at the most inconvenient time aka in the middle of another project. But it's a well-established fact that my brain is allergic to switching projects, so I write the whole idea down to get it out of my head and to have a foundation to work with once I can start writing this new project. 2. I tend to write stories of epic length that simply require an outline to develop the plot properly. Before YOI, I wrote a GoT-esque fanfiction series for years on end that demanded detailed outlines for each instalment because of the complexity of the plot and the sheer number of POV characters.

On average, my outlines are about 5-10% of the length of the actual project. My outline for In Love and War is about 25k outline and I expect the story to end up around >500k. It's divided into chapters and scenes that already have a POV character assigned. During intense writing times like NaNoWriMo the outline helps me to focus on writing.

However, I keep my outline flexible. Sometimes, new ideas would pop up or I need to weave a side plot from another instalment or a prequel into the storyline. But there's a even more crucial reason: Plotting happens through a distant, omniscient lens that doesn't really enter the minds of my characters no matter how well I know them. As a result, they develop a life of their own as the story comes alive. I often see writers complain about that because it "destroys" their outline, but it's a natural process and that's where the magic happens. Whenever that happens, I let my characters lead me and so far, I haven't regretted that.

17.) Do you have a writing routine?

My writing routine, if it can be called that, is writing in the morning before work and in the evening. On the weekends and when I have time off, I write all day long. It's not only that I feel the urge to always work on the stories I obsess over, it's how I relax. During NaNo, my routine is even more centred around writing for as long as my brain keeps braining, which regularly results in late-night dinners.

18.) Do you enjoy research?  Which fic of yours required the most research?

I LOVE research! Since YOI is set in the real world, I'd say that I did tons of research for all of them. I think most of that happened when I wrote Can You Hear My Hearbeat because: 1. It was my first YOI fanfiction and I knew nothing about figure skating or Japanese culture. 2. It's a novelisation and to preserve the spirit of YOI and write it as canonic as possible, I researched any official meta information like interviews with the creators and articles in magazines etc. I could get my hands on. But to be honest, every YOI fanfiction requires tons of research like figure skating programmes, rules, and venues, living in St. Petersburg etc. It never gets boring.

30.) How much do you edit your fics?  Do you edit as you write or wait until you finish the first draft?

Ooof. I'm a perfectioniest. I edit a lot. However, the exact process depends on the length of a project:

Short projects (100k maximum): I write the first draft in one go with only minor editing and edit the full story later.

Long projects (300k-800k): Since I write these projects in stages, I also edit in stages. After 150-200k I experience a sense of having written myself empty. That's the point when I switch to a short project to recharge. Some months later, I pick up that first wip again, edit the part I have written so far and then continue writing. That's a rinse-and-repeat until the draft is done, but it never takes me more than 3 cycles. When that draft is done, I revise the entire thing once more to ensure consistency and to weave lose threads together, before I hand it over to a beta reader. It also happened that I did two complete revisions pre-beta-reading.

In addition to that, I edit every chapter before posting again. By then, some months have passed since the revision and I've refined my idea of the story in the meantime.

79.) Do you have any writing advice you want to share?

To be honest, a lot of writing advice I consider as too restrictive and inflexible. When I talk to other writers, they often get to hear these two things from me:

The first draft is allowed to be a mess. Allow yourself to write away and revise later.

Especially inexperienced writers tend to agonise over their first draft and have this idea that their story needs to be perfect right away and if not, they're a failure. But that's not how creativity works. The best ideas happen when the story comes alive through writing. And only when you can see the complete picture you know what to add or take away to make your vision reality.

However, brains work differently, and I've seen a lot of advice that doesn't take the different wirings of brains into account, pretending that there's only one "correct" way to write and finish a story, which imho is bullshit.

That's why I also tell people this:

Write in the fashion that works best for you. If you feel the urge to vomit a train of words on page to empty your brain or because you're in hyperfocus and can't bother getting sidetracked that's as valid as meticulously editing every sentence before you write the next. As long as you keep at it, it's going to be fine.

Thank you for these questíons! Answering them was so much fun 💙✨✨

The questions are form this post. If you're curious about my writing process or my story, please hit me up with your questions!