#i mean mutuals are really fucking great obviously i really like them

[blueskittlesart]

deeply refreshing to see someone critical of Swift who also like, genuinely likes her. Like i'm neutral to positive on her, but the online discourse has been absolutely rancid. flipping between "Taylor Swift has never done anything wrong ever and she's a fucking genius" and "Taylor Swift is the worst lyricist of all time and also a bad person" is exhausting, so thank you for like. nuance or something lmao

not to make it serious for a sec but i genuinely think that being able to like things that are bad is really important. like I think that it's an important skill to be able to look at something and see what you personally enjoy about it and then take a step back and acknowledge that objectively it's flawed. and to also be able to acknowledge that liking something isn't necessarily an identity or a moral stance. and i think that fandom space in general could really benefit from more people taking the time to learn how to do that. it's okay to like things that are bad

[sigma-alpha-writer-chad]

Grow Up, Would You? [Josh Washington]

“I don’t know if you’ve changed any since middle school but I really hope you’ve learned the difference between pranking somebody and just being a fucking bully.”

You can also find this story on Ao3!

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two

[Italicized chapters are sort of like,, flash backs? Stuff in the past, whatever.]

[CHAPTER ONE]

I’d never been one for parties.

Yet there I stood, staring up at the house of the address I was given, the windows flashing a multitude of colors as the muffled music blared. People were scattered around the front lawn, holding their drinks and talking happily amongst themselves as laughter filled the cool night air. I felt a sense of midding as I slowly made my way to the front door, a small smile formed on my face.

I opened the front door to be met with the loud, hot air of the party. It wasn’t packed, but it was close. Immediately I started looking around for the one who invited me, gently pushing my way through the groups of people. There were faces I recognized, and ones I didn’t. I hadn’t seen anyone in the area since I’d changed schools years prior. But none of them were who I was searching for. Until finally, I saw him.

He was tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes behind a pair of thick black rectangular glasses. He wore a dark green sweater that fit his broad shoulders snugly and blue jeans. I especially knew it was him when I spotted his hiking shoes.

Who wears hiking shoes to a party?

“Chris!” I called. M y cousin, Christopher Hartley, leaning up against the wall and talking to a girl with red hair. He turned to me and smiled.

“Jordan! I didn’t think you’d show,” he said. He took a step towards me and pull ed me into a tight, familiar hug. Chris took a step back as if to get a better look at me. “You look great!”

“Yeah, well, y’know,” I grinned. I tucked a hair behind my ear. It was Chris’s friend group’s graduation party, and it was a big one. A smaller celebration had been held prior by the adults for Chris , a nice outdoor barbecue with baby photos tacked onto the walls and various cork boards. But once that was over and everyone had left, Chris begged me to go with him to a much larger, run by the teens grad party the next week.

“Let me introduce you to my friends!” Chris was practically yelling into my ear to be heard over the blasting music.

“Uhm, no! I’m good, actually, I’ve met your friends!” I’ d met his friends. Mean girls, meat-heads, and -

“C’mon, Jordan, please! You haven’t seen them in like 4 years, they’re totally new people now!” Chris insisted. He grabbed my wrist and began to pull me back towards the red-haired girl. I recognized her then.

“Hi, Ashley,” I waved meekly.

Ashley Brown. Despite the people she surrounded herself with, Ashley seemed like a nice girl. She had red shoulder length hair and hazel eyes under thin eyebrows. Her makeup was subtle and suited her well. She was a very conventionally pretty girl and one that Chris had a huge crush on. Even back in elementary school I remembered seeing her and Chris, nervously sitting together at lunch. Their crushes on each other were so obviously mutual it was sickening to know they were both oblivious to the other’s feelings.

“Hey, Jordan.” Ashley smiled sweetly and waved back at me before glancing back at Chris with a look that screamed “get me out of this.” I decided to get her out of the situation myself while escaping the prospects of having to re meet Chris’s friends. As far as I knew, the group was entirely made up of the same people as it was when I’d changed schools 4 years prior. “Actually Chris, I’m going to go…” I paused. “To the bathroom.”

“But you just got here,” Chris’s face dropped. He knew me well enough to know I was just making an excuse.

“I drink a lot of water, and -”

“Jordan. Don’t ditch me,” Chris said. “Please.” At that moment I despised him for being a sweetheart. I couldn’t say no to Chris, no matter how much I’d wanted to.

Chris spent the next hour or so introducing me to his posse. Just as I’d suspected, it was exactly the same as it had been previously. Emily Davis, Jessica Riley, Matthew Taylor, Michael Monroe, Samantha Giddings, and Hannah and Beth Washington. I noticed there was one missing, but I didn’t dare ask in fear of reminding Chris of th at final person.

“ Sam seems nice,” I commented. “She’s probably my favorite out of everybody that you’ve introduced me to.” And I wasn’t lying. Sam stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the people she ran with. She was active, vegan – not passive-aggressive.

“Yeah, Sam’s great. Hey, I’m going to grab a drink. Do you want something?”

“A water bottle?” Chris gave me a look.

“Really?” I nodded and he left to go get the beverages, leaving me by myself near a fireplace. I took a moment to really look around at the house I was in. It was large, just short of a mansion, and old. The architecture was somewhat gothic.

“ BOO!” I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden scare. Someone had grabbed my shoulders hard as they shouted into my ear. I knew immediately who it was, and I was as far from happy as someone could have ever possibly been. I heard a familiar laughter as I turned around to face him, taking deep and steady breaths.

“Joshua Washington,” I said blankly. “Still fail to grow up?” Josh’s smile fades.

“Whatever your name is,” Josh repeated my tone. I couldn’t tell whether or not he had actually forgotten my name or didn’t care to use It. “Still can’t take a joke?”

“Guess not,” I shrugged. Josh stared at me, his shit-eating grin slowly returning to his face. “Or maybe you should come up with some new jokes. ‘Boo’? So last year.” I held eye contact with Joshua for what felt like an hour.

“An oldie but a goodie.” Josh’s brow twitches in frustration. He still held onto his smile but I could tell it was a struggle.

“Not a goodie if nobody fucking likes it.”

“I like it.”

“Hey, Josh! I see you’ve re-met Jordan!” Chris chimed in. Whether he knew we were about to start fighting or not was a mystery, but I was grateful for the interruption nonetheless.

“ Right, Jordan, that’s what it was,” Josh said. “I didn’t remember her at all other than the amount of crying she did.”

“The amount of crying you made me do.”

“All in good fun.”

“You tried to get pig’s blood to ‘Carrie’ me.”

“Like I said, just jokes.” Chris finally interjected.

“C’mon, Jordan, he didn’t mean anything by -” I hold my hand up to stop Chris there.

“I’m not doing this. You were in on a lot of those, Chris, you know how they hurt me.” I didn’t expect him to be on Josh’s side, but then again it wasn’t that surprising considering the amount of torture he helped exact. Chris looked down at the floor in defeat. I turn to Josh.

“I don’t know if you’ve changed any since middle school but I really hope you’ve learned the difference between pranking somebody and just being a fucking bully.” I huffed at him. I could barely see him under all of the lights but I managed to catch a glimpse of expression other than snark. For half of a second I could’ve sworn it was remorse.

It didn’t last.

“ Well. I’m not a bully, so… whatever.” Josh turned around and walked away, leaving Chris and I. I was shocked to look at Chris and see him glaring at me.

“Did you have to do that?” He asked. I raise my eyebrows in surprise.

“Do what?”

“Start a fight, just like that?” I could feel my heart sink.

“Chris, no, I didn’t -”

“Why can’t you just get over it already?” I could smell the booze on Chris’s breath. I knew he was drunk, he didn’t mean it. He couldn’t. He watched me cry enough growing up to know what kind of effects Joshua Washington had on me and my mental health. I chose to say nothing, my eyes full of tears threatening to spill over. My throat felt tight, and I knew if I said a word, all eyes would be on me as I cried in the middle of the room. So I just shake my head and shrug. I took my water bottle and headed out onto the back porch of the house – where Hannah and Beth Washington happened to be.

They noticed right away that my expression was negative. Something I’d apparently forgotten was how different from their brother the twins were, as they came to me immediately.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Hannah asked as she took my hands into her own. I swallowed.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” I sighed, looking over the balcony and into the woods.

“Was it Josh?” Beth asked. My eyes flickered to hers. My silence was all the answer that she’d needed. “He’s an ass, for sure. But he’s not as bad as he makes himself out to be. When it comes to you we don’t know what’s wrong with him.” I’m surprised at what Beth was saying. “Have you heard that dumb stuff about ‘he’s only making fun of you because he likes you’ from, like, grade school? I think it’s like that.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at that. The twins ignore the obvious attitude and continued to chat with me. There was absolutely no way Joshua harbored any feelings for me other than disdain, and there was no way in HELL that it could have ever been romantic.

“Girl, don’t worry. You can hang with us.” Hannah grinned at me as she hopped excitedly. “He’ll leave you alone if we tell him to, or whatever.” I smiled at the girls. Just as I had with Chris, I could smell the booze on them and could only assume this kindness and promise of friendship was temporary. Once they were sober, they wouldn’t remember this at all. And if they did, I was sure they would regret it.

“Sure, that would be nice,” I admitted. Even if it’s just for the night, I would never complain about having friends – even if they were related to my sworn enemy.

“Great! Give me your phone!” Hannah insisted. I did as she’d asked, and next thing I knew I had their contact information. “We’ll hang out after tonight, we promise.” I nodded. I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t hoped it would happen, that these two would somehow integrate me into their lives.

It was severely unfortunate that it didn’t last long.

[sillysiluriforme]

So, I know Chlogami subtexts are definitely, wonderfully, apparently, hopefully gonna be a thing. But I wanted to share some Chlogami thoughts cos these two are kind of like opposite sides of the same coin.

A really quick & easy comparison is how both of them will got to an audition in fully kitted out, personalized gear, basically declare themselves the hottest shit and dare anyone to prove otherwise.

They also are both very much no hesitation, blunt people who can become intensely driven or focused on a subject or person very quickly and for reasons all their own.

Both have a strong competitive streak and no small iota of pride in everything from themselves to their families and reputation. Both are also heavily driven to seek the approval of a cold & aloof mother figure.

Also they are both very athletic, 8 years at Paris's most intense ballet school is not for nothing. Also they tend to be fairly fearless in regards to Akuma. Like Chloe will briefly panic but so long as she doesn't die right away she's just like, "Fuck you & the butterfly you rode in on" and Kagami is down to fight anything, anyway were anytime.

The big differences tend to come in a couple of notable ways too however:

One, their mothers, Tomoe at least got the memo that being a parent means raising a person to participate in society and while her expectations and treatment of Kagami are far from healthy they are nominally attainable. In contrast Audrey has zero interest & her expectations/desires are seemingly for Chloe to stop existing at best.

This gives Kagami focus and goals, while Chloe kind of just flounders.

Then there's a sort of base temperament angle, Kagami when stressed & upset tends to shut down and collapse inwards. While Chloe tends to melt down very externally.

Also I tend to feel both are kind of not great at social cues.

There's obviously other differences too, but yeah I feel they are sort of like, the kind of people who could meet and either hate one another intensely, be ready to make out after like one interaction, or have an extremely elaborate and drawn out rivals to lovers, rivals to mutual self destruction and eventual murder arc very easily.

I am very fond of them XD

sorry all im hearing is sentimonster chloe

[coffin-ramblings]

In your opinion, what makes Andrew's interest in Ashley romantic rather than just sexual? Love your analyses and wanted your expert opinion, bc personally I'm kinda on the fence about it

I am very flattered that you like my analysts and consider me an expert! It is a great honor to be told that.

The first evidence Andrew is romantically in love with Ashley is this dialogue back in Episode 1. This was actually one of the big reasons why I did not check out Episode 2 for a long while because of how fucking weird Andrew is. I already knew he was weird and actually down bad for Ashley, but that moment really shows how deeply fucked up this guy is. What do you mean you think it's too romantic to commit suicide by jumping off the balcony with your sister? Even Ashley thinks he's weird there.

And then he explains that he thinks it's romantic because that'd mean their bodies would be be entangled together and have to be buried in the same coffin. Despite this, he likes that Ashley wants to join him, which wow, okay dude.

We now fast forward to chapter 2, where we get a lot more of incestuous hints from Andrew.

The first obvious one that you will always see is Andrew checking on Ashley because she's obviously in a bad mood having their burglary thwarted and having to talk with, cook for, and eat with their mother who abandoned them, likely sold them out, and wanted them dead. Ashley doesn't want to talk about it because this confirms her desire to sacrifice them and was hoping she didn't have to say it to Andrew, so she is also frustrated he's not picking that up either and being snappy. Andrew then thinks, "I want to hug her until she smiles", which okay, that's innocuous enough, but is then followed by, "I'm not going to do it, it's another thought that I wish I never had." What kind of thoughts do you have that makes you not want to hug your sister and comfort her Andrew? Isn't it a good thing you want to make her happy especially in this really shit day? And why are you blushing at that thought???

After that, you can have Andrew go talk with their mother and have this gem:

While it's easy to think Andrew thinking, "I don't want to grow fonder of Ashley because she's a bitch" if you see this the first time, notice that he starts blushing there. He very much does not want his romantic desires for Ashley intensified, nor does he ever want to be separated from her as we find out later on at the fireplace if you are on Burial route.

And before that, Andrew eats Ashley's mom-and-dad soup despite his obvious reluctance to and his outright refusal in Decay. He is only doing this to make Ashley happy, when the day before, he was holding back from just hugging her to cheer her up because of the fear that intimacy with Ashley will expose his feelings, which is why Ashley is surprised. That is, quite weirdly, a romantic gesture of Andrew.

And finally, no matter how you get Burial Sane, Andrew is still on better terms with her than before their parents died. Sure he's grumpy and aloof, but he still is happy to be with her and he doesn't start blaming her for their situation. This unnerves Ashley because she now realizes that he doesn't "need" her, but he's still hanging around for who knows how long and she can't guarantee he will stay.

It's easy to think that Andrew's feelings for Ashley is just sexual when the main focus has been Burial Questionable and the confirmation that they can have sex in Decay. Sane often gets neglected for being boring, "pointless", and Ashley being "out of character" for not teasing Andrew about the incest vision, but it is still a major route of the game and is worth analyzing. People often miss the main point of the game is that Andrew's and Ashley's (mostly) platonic relationship is already under a lot of strain due to their mutual distrust that the other will betray and/or leave them, Ashley being too stuck in the past in the most obvious form of being attached to Andy, and Andrew being cold to Ashley because he can't be honest with his affection for her. They have to rebuild their relationship as family and friends first before they can have a relatively healthy romantic relationship. Even after that obstacle, the fear of being rejected for their incestuous feelings is very real and valid when they're also family, and if the other leaves them for that or stops being on good terms with them, they are completely alone and/or heartbroken because they have no one left to love them and for them to love back.

This is why Andrew represses his romantic desire for Ashley, and Ashley can choose to stay platonic with him or tell Andrew that they will not have sex. They are both aware this really is not normal, they are most likely going to be rejected because it's abnormal, and they are afraid of what will happen after rejection. They value each other so much that they will be happy to give up their own desires if it means that they can still have each other around. That is also quite romantic, and needless to say, a very common experience for people who have trouble with confessing or never confessed their feelings to the people they love.

If Andrew merely had sexual feelings for Ashley, he can just keep dating and having sex with other women that look like her and move on. Even though Ashley doesn't like it and resents him for that, at least they still have a relationship, which is better than none at all for Andrew. It is much more difficult for Andrew when he is romantically in love with her, and he actively has to hide it away from her in hopes she won't reject him. He tried to make the best of dating Julia to try to get rid of his romantic and sexual feelings for Ashley, but even that is not enough. As seen in the Voicemails video, he needs to imagine Julia's Ashley to say romantic declarations of love to her, but that makes him sad.

On a more meta level, and one a lot of fans forget, is that TCOAAL is a psychological horror game. It is so much more revolting and well, horrifying that Andrew has romantic feelings for Ashley. My revulsion at Andrew was so strong that I stayed away from the game for months, planning to wait until Episode 3 because I want Julia to show up so I can root for her because neither sibling was sympathetic enough for me. If it was just Andrew being very sexually touchy with Ashley, I and many others would have thought he is sexually abusive or he only sees Ashley as a sex doll, and thus find it easier to root for Ashley and hope she leaves him or retaliates against him. But it is way more fascinating and accurate to a codependency that there is no clear abuser-and-victim or good guy and bad guy dynamic, that the siblings are mutually horrible to each other, but also mutually in love and lust for each other. Nemlei makes their romance an integral part of the game's horror, which is a masterful display of her skill as a creator to blend two seemingly opposite feelings into one work of art.

[captainzigo]

Hi everypony!

My kofi is ko-fi.com/captainzigo if you enjoy my art, consider leaving me a tip! this is otherwise entirely a labor of love so,,,

you can also send a request with your tip! but if you choose to do so, please read the disclaimer later on in this post**

my non-art blog, where i accept asks is @snapewife-divorce-lawyer and my reblog-spam blog is @3amgaypotion also i am on bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/captainzigo.bsky.social

that's a bunch of pictures of my oc(/ponysona) Prickly Pear. she's a cowgirl

Frequent/noteworthy questions below the break

**on donations made to me:

i still dont take commissions currently, but if you send a request with a donation, there's a 99% chance i'll do it. and that remaining 1% i'll probably just ask you for a different request. if you send me a request with a donation you are not sending me a commision. you are making a donation, and i might do you a favor as a result. you do not own the resulting art. and I am under no obligation to complete it or to do it in the way that you like. you do not need to make a donation in order to make a request. i talk more about it here

hello mutuals!

If you are a mutual, DM me for an invite to discord server and subsequently to minecraft server

on sending me asks:

any asks you send me should be like Strongbad emails. one paragraph. no attachments. unless you are sending me refs.

in any interactions, please keep in mind that i am a stranger on the internet and act accordingly.

unless I have explicitly said otherwise, you can safely assume that I do not count you amongst my friends. it is nothing personal, it is in fact the opposite.

why am i like this?

i am autistic. i say this because representation matters, but also because i would like to ask that you please be very frank with me. i don't even really need your patience. just say what you mean and we will get along fine.

can you draw my ocs?

you most certainly can draw any of my ocs. i'd love that acually. tag me

on (re)posting my art:

do not post my art on other platforms. do not repost my art period. I don't really exist on other platforms since i deleted Twitter. So if you see my stuff on other platforms, it's not me. except for my bluesky.

transformative works are obviously allowed, at least here in USamerica where i live. but if you want my blessing, please keep them SFW, and try to keep the spirit of the original artwork

is my blog SFW?

im in my twenties. i keep my blog SFW (as i define it) as a strict rule.

i do not consider the fact that sex exists, that some people enjoy it, or some innuendo to be NSFW. i also do not consider swearing, even as tho a sailor might, to be NSFW.

are NSFW interactions ok?

in short: no. while i have no aversion to to that sort of thing, and often actually enjoy it, i keep this blog SFW. the intention behind my art is to be SFW even when it might be skirting the line. in general, and especially, specifically with mlp, i do not wish to have NSFW interactions on the internet. please respect this boundary.

on shipping:

in my opinion, all romance real or fictional should be between people who are similar in age, doing age appropriate things, not closely related, and all with mutual consent. i am not interested in witnessing or interacting with anything outside of these parameters.

on my blue hair and pronouns:

i am a trans woman. i am also bisexual. i am also poly and demi since im listing things. i am out online becasue i know how important it is to know that you aren't alone.

do i take constructive criticism?

NO 🖕👹🖕 FUCK YOU!!!!!!! GET BLOCKED IDIOT!! unless you are a marginalized person who feels i have unintentionally made you uncomfortable somehow with my art or otherwise. in that case i am sorry and you do me a great favor by calling me out. OTHERWISE FUCK YOU DUMBASS IF YOU DONT LIKE MY ART GO DRAW YOUR OWN 🖕🖕🖕🖕

“i hate bronies”…

i don't necessarily hate you if you self identify with that label. i like to make myself off-putting to keep creeps away. i talk about it more in this post: https://www.tumblr.com/captainzigo/744131513208176640/when-i-say-i-hate-bronies-in-my-header-its

brony?

i don't hold a lot of nostalgia for old brony stuff. infact it's quite the opposite. i was a child when the show came out, and more than that i was a girl. i am not a brony.

do i like g5?

i like all generations of mip including the new stuff. gen 4 is just the one i grew up with

why is my header aurora, bori and alice from the best gift ever?

well that would be because i hate them like a mother hates a child. like the sun hates the moon. like sickly victorian child hates the slightest morsel of bread.

on flurryheart:

i often draw stuff about cozy glow x flurry heart. this is with the understanding that cozy glow spends about a decade turned to stone. nullifying the age gap.

🤓☝️ i think you mean effect, not affect

i am dyslexic. i spell stuff wrong all the time and i type weird. please don't bother correcting me. wooptydoo your brain is wired normally. sending you a medal.

on my username:

i've had the same username since i debuted on the internet. zigo is the name of an oc i made that i dont really talk much about anymore. zigo is a fine enough nickname, and at least one person calls me that irl.

[userautumn]

You are always 100% right and valid btw. Because like buck and Tommy are broken up, but you also have several interviews released today where Ryan calls Buck and Eddie “brothers” and where Oliver explicitly says Eddie is straight so they will most likely continue to be just friends. So if it wasn’t for Buddie, what was the point in throwing away a relationship the audience was actually behind??

Yeah, this has always been my problem with the idea of Buck and Tommy breaking up and, now that it's happened, I can finally unload all my thoughts.

Listen, my Buddie mutuals are very assured that Buck and Eddie will get together and have this lush and beautiful arc where they settle into a relationship and feel out the kinks in their dynamic and really blend together, and I respect that. I would love to see that happen. But I don't have that same confidence. Don't get me wrong, I DO think Buck and Eddie will probably get together, I just don't think it's going to happen until the last episode of the last season in a way that's more reminiscent of Johnlock "canon" (for those who did not watch BBC Sherlock: John and Sherlock continued to live together and raise John's daughter, but this was revealed in a montage without ever actually seeing them get together, or confirm that they were in a romantic relationship) than anything.

Why? Well, because it's easier to tease your audience than it is to follow through.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Tim is teasing the fandom in a malicious way, and—if nothing else—I know he is very aware of what these boys and the implication of their relationship means to people. 9-1-1 has always handled their relationship with a particular gravitas, and I don't see that changing now. But Tim has been writing Buck and Eddie for years. He knows what gets people going, he knows what this fandom likes to see, and what they'll read into. So why would he rush into making them "endgame," especially if he knows he already wants to take them in that direction? He has no incentive to make it happen Right Now because everyone will lap up what he puts out anyway.

And I get it, because I do love Buck and Eddie's relationship. I love the way they interact with each other and, yes, I will lap up any scene between them. But that's the part I find so draining too. I'm going to be honest, I've never liked a "will-they-won't-they" couple. As a personal preference, I've always liked to have a clear vision of a story's trajectory when I go into it. That's how I write, and that's what I gravitate toward in fiction. So the idea of going through any number of love interests until Buck and Eddie are "ready for each other" (so sick of that phrase. sob.) is literally... exhausting to me, and not in a fun way. Because this is a loop that could theoretically continue on, and on, and on, until whenever the powers that be decide enough is enough.

Sure, Eddie is happy and free now. Great. But he still doesn't know he's Queer. What happens when he does realize that? Does he need to date a guy first in order to be "ready" for Buck? Similarly (because their romantic arcs always run parallel to each other), when Buck fucks and sucks his way through Los Angeles, does he stumble upon a hot girl/guy and date her/him until Eddie's "ready" for him? How many times, exactly, am I going to sit through another love interest until they're on the same page after, by my count, three false starts? You know?

I'm obviously along for the ride. Always have been, always will be, and I fought too hard over the summer to maintain my love for these boys and their relationship to let it waste away now. But I desperately, desperately need Tim to give me something substantial that CLEARLY, and EXPLICITLY indicates IMMEDIATE strides toward ROMANTIC Buddie Canon. And I mean crystal clear. Not "building a thousand words of meta off a single line/moment" clear. Not "this look probably definitely means Eddie was thinking about ripping Buck's clothes off" clear. I mean, I want it so damn clear, a sixty-five year old grandpa with cataracts can see it.

Otherwise I'm just going to get really annoyed.

[hyperfixation-fix]

Alright girls, guys, and gays - welcome to...

A Newby's Guide to the Marauders Fandom

You keep seeing your mutuals post about this Harry-Potter-adjacent fandom. It seems cool, and pretty damn gay, and you're kinda curious to know more. Except there's one problem: there is little-to-no actual canon.

How do you get into a fandom with little-to-no canon material?

Well friends, I'm here to help! Consider this post your roadmap to the fandom - useful locations are noted, major landmarks and tourist destinations are starred, and recommended routes are highlighted.

But where you actually go is up to you.

Level 1: The Basics

If you're the freshest of fresh meat to this fandom, you may like to start with a nice little overview of our chaos-fanon. Here are some YouTube videos that give you a good tl;dr:

a deep dive into the marauders fandom by uncarley (YouTube video, general topic, no major content warnings) - this is a great starter video, especially if you're not a fandom person usually. It's digestible, fun, and not too lore-heavy.

The Marauders Era Fandom Deep Dive! by Coffeekoe (YouTube video, general topic, no major content warnings) - alternatively (or in addition), this is another great starter video, but possibly more from a fandom-familiar perspective. Also Coffeekoe just has great vibes and I want to kiss them on the forehead. Mwuah mwuah mwuah.

Marauders Era Ships Deep Dive! by Coffeekoe (YouTube video, several different ships, no major content warnings) - after you've got the gist of how the fandom works, you might want to know a bit more about the common Marauders ships. This video gives an awesome (and comprehensive) overview.

Level 2: The Canon in the Fanon

You're going to have a pretty tough time in the fandom if you're not at least somewhat familiar with The Fanfic™️, All the Young Dudes. This fic is as highly revered (if not more so) than the real actual canon text (obligatory fuck JKR).

First off let's understand what it is.

All the Young Dudes is a long-form fanfiction written by MsKingBean89 and published on Archive of Our Own. And when I say long-form, I mean long-form - this thing is a monstrous 188 (chunky) chapters long. It spans from 1971, when the Marauders start their first year at Hogwarts, until 1995, when Remus dies. Speaking of which, it's also canon-compliant, so I'll save you some heartache and tell you right now that all of the characters die in pretty tragic ways. I'm not going to lie to you, it's a pretty heavy story - there are strong themes of child abuse, homophobia, underage drinking/smoking, drug abuse, abusive relationships, and trauma. BUT. I really enjoyed it and have read it twice now, simply because the happy bits are worth the painful bits.

With all of that in mind, here are (my recommendations for) your options for acquiring your ATYD education:

All The Young Dudes Deep Dive! by Coffeekoe (YouTube video, ATYD, some light discussion of triggering topics mentioned above, spoiler heavy!!!) - yep that's right, it's Coffeekoe again. Mwuah mwuah mwuah. This video is a super duper great alternative to reading ATYD, or a great way to dip your toe in and see if you want to commit to reading it in full. Obviously it's spoiler heavy, so if you already know you want to read ATYD and spoilers bug you, just skip it.

All the Young Dudes by MsKingBean89 (AO3 fic, mostly Wolfstar, triggers as mentioned above) - here's just a straight up link to the fic. You may need an account on AO3 to access it.

All the Young Dudes by BIBLIOBIBULI (YouTube, same as above) - if you're like me and love the idea of reading a long-fic, but don't actually have the time/energy/patience/stamina to do it, an audiobook might be the way to go! This one is great, and complete. You're welcome 🫶

Level 3: Fics of Note

Okay! By now, you should have received your official Marauders Fandom Certification in the mail (or, I guess, via owl), and you're pretty much free to go and explore the fandom on your own. You may, however, still come across references that confuse you. Those (probably) come from one of the many, many, many popular fics in the fandom.

Here's just a few of the major ones and links to them, for your convenience (asterisks indicate fics that require an account to access):

NOTE: This is not a rec list. Approach with caution and read all the tags.

Crimson Rivers by bizarrestars*

Just Lovers (Like We Were Supposed To Be) by bizarrestars*

Best Friend's Brother by bizarrestars*

Choices by MesserMoon

Kill Your Darlings by MesserMoon

All the Young Dudes - Sirius's Perspective by Rollercoasterwords

The Cadence Of Part-Time Poets by motswolo

Art Heist, Baby! by otrtbs

Only the Brave by Solmussa*

Level 4: You're On Your Own, Kid

You're still here? Why are you still here? You should be out there, enjoying your newly acquired fandom!

Fine, one last piece of advice and then you really have to leave:

Engage.

This fandom is unique because it is the weird, Frankenstein's-Monster-esque lovechild of thousands of strange little obsessive gremlin people like you and me. Sure, it only has one eye and far too many nipples, but who cares? We made this and we love it. And it's your job, as someone in the fandom, to keep it alive by engaging. Yes, this is true for every fandom, but even more so here. Comment, reblog, share, recommend fics, ask for fic recs. Fuck it, create too - write, draw, share headcanons, make playlists. It doesn't matter if it's "bad" or "wrong", there aren't any fucking rules.

Add another nipple, by all means! Eyes are overrated anyway.

[eye-of-yelough]

kinda wish that my preferred method of character analysis wasn’t through weird sex headcannons but here we are. i don’t think i hc Lucanis as ace but i do feel like sex is just. not at the forefront of his mind, most of the time. i think he prefers sensuality over The Thing That Makes You Cum (and then Feel Weird about it.) (yknow what i love that actually. yeah lucanis experiences pretty intense post-nut drop and edges to stave it off. canon to me now.) so yeah he just wants to take baths and let rook/neve shave him if they want and polish their shoes while they’re wearing them. sex is fine too but it’s not the goal.

Spite, i think, is similar but… not? i don’t think he fully gets sex or why people do it or how to do it right. lucanis is obviously no help. However. i think he feels intense cuteness aggression, which is basically just repackaged sadism. and i think with guidance could easily be nurtured into that. he’d be great at it. so as i said it’s similar to what lucanis has going on - sensuality over sexuality - except kinkier, i guess. but he’d definitely need kink explained to him. and he’s certainly not a daddy dom or whatever the fuck 😭being a sadist and being a dom are Not mutually exclusive and begging someone to let you hurt them is really hot, actually.

i mean what. sorry i went off topic. ummm. quick imagine spite childishly pinching rook really fuckign hard just to hear them squeal. there. saved it. i think

[madam-o]

Re the weird divide in the Beetlejuice fandom, which I really don't get

Fandom is so strange. Just liking Beetlejuice himself as a character has invited all manner of unusual kinks and personal interests into the fandom, and hey, the more the merrier. Beetlefans and netherlings are an assembly of interesting weirdos, so like, you do you. And obviously, this means that you should try not to judge or make assumptions about others based on your own feelings about their interests. Riiiight?

So, Beetlebabes as a ship has been around since the beginning of the fandom, and it certainly seems likely not to be going anywhere with the sequel. Now, my own personal stance on the pairing lies straight in the middle. I think Lydia and Beej have a beautiful friendship in the animated series and musical. They're such a great comedic duo and there's something very pure and sweet about this girl and her bug-man. Their relationship in the musical IS colored by the fact that they're both using and tricking each other a lot of the time, but they seem to have a mutual respect on this point and don't let it ruin their friendship, well until the topic of moms comes up, anyway.

In the movie, it's more complicated. BJ is motivated primarily by his desire to be free and couldn't care less about Lydia's problems. He also gets just a tad creepy with Lydia, though he's not over the top about it. He claims that he thinks that she "really understands me", which is a frickin weird thing to say about a kid who you talked to for like five minutes. But the pervy implications are kept to a minimum so as not to drive the movie into darker territory. His motivations are still kept as primarily a green card thing, although the viewer is still pretty grossed out by the forced, child-bride marriage.

Re BJ, I don't see him as a human or someone who really follows human rules. He's a supernatural creature who has a vague, outsider's understanding of what being human means. Even interpreting him as a ghost and not a demon, he's too different from a human to remember what being one is like. In the musical and cartoon, he relates to Lydia from a child's pov, but tries to behave like an adult with the Maitlands. He's neither, though. He's an unliving, essentially immortal Thing. And while Lydia clearly has a lot of affection for "her monster", she's not exactly into this gross, stinky, creepy old guy. As for BJ, he's very attached to Lydia, perhaps unhealthily so, but he's not being a sexual predator with her.

However, as a Beetlefan, I've seen that it's pretty natural to pair the two up romantically. I certainly shipped them as a kid. And yeah, it's kind of a weird ship, but Beetlejuice as a concept is just weird, period. Weirdness and age gaps are hardly anything new or unique in any part of the internet. Teen fans ship characters their own age with much older characters all the time, and it's not usually frowned upon. But in the Beetlejuice fandom, there appears to be a lot of ship-shaming and accusations of p3d0ph1lia when it comes to this teen/ancient monster pairing, which I'm guessing is a lot more of an internet drama thing than about the actual pairing itself.

Now to be clear, I don't ship teen Lydia with anyone, but I also acknowledge that she's not gonna stay a kid and that things could change between them.

Personally I like the idea of Lydia and BJ being reunited after spending several years apart and things being super weird and tense based on their history. I've become primarily a fan of the relationship dynamic they have in the musical, so I see them as being distrustful of each other and competitive about getting one over the other. But they still gel in a unique way, and they can't help but enjoy their messed-up frenemy thing. And I think the awkwardness of the teen bride thing should be leaned into rather than forgotten or brushed away.

Lydia (to BJ): You really fucked me up, you know. I was just a sad kid who you manipulated. You fuckin creep.

BJ (to Lydia): Yeah but at least I didn't literally STAB YOU THROUGH THE HEART, so...point to me, there.

This type of prickly, antagonistic relationship is like catnip to me, honestly. So it's pretty disappointing and sad that all this fandom drama crap can and probably will affect my ability to share and enjoy beetlebabes content because "beetlebabes dni" appears on so many profiles and posts. It's the kinda thing that makes fandom culture such a double-edged freaking sword. Why can't people ever just let people enjoy the thing they like and try to be respectful of each other, ya know?

[bitchslapblastoids]

dumb fic thoughts that are going to sound whiney and like personal complaints but i promise are really me talking big picture about the state of fic engagement on ao3. and i know i've been on this soapbox before and I KNOW everyone who follows me is a homie so i’m really just old man yells at skying about this again, but just let me say all the quiet parts out loud please. I do not wish to be aloof and demure.

1. hits to kudos ratios are so fucking bleak. and i don't mean wrt my own fics, i mean in general, the two numbers side by side is always so dismal to see. hits are kind of a meaningless metric, esp for chaptered fics and for fics that people return to to reread, so i wish ao3 just wouldn't publish them, because it sets up this weird pair of numbers for people to compare and jump to conclusions based upon, even though they aren't actually informative for anyone. Why do I want to know how many people clicked on something? That doesn’t tell me anything.

2. That being said (to make it about me now), I know I’m a good fic writer. and while obviously my fic isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste (puppet smut isn’t a crowdpleaser wym??), I feel pretty confident that out of the 250+ people who have clicked on my brand new fic so far, more than just 17 of them must’ve liked it. which brings me to…

3. people can get so cagey about leaving kudos on explicit fics. this is a time-tested truth. let's let go of this phenomenon! I promise no one's stalking where you've left kudos. if they are, they're a freak. and if they're judging you, they're especially a freak because HEY LOOK, they wouldn’t have seen it if they weren’t on that fic too lol! let's all try and shake off these fucking shackles of sexual shame and stigma.

4. similarly, the # of bookmarks that i can see on an explicit fic i've posted vs the # of bookmarks the public can see is so funny. This one makes more sense to me and I can understand why bookmark choices feel more private. But i will say again, people aren't judging your bookmarks. even if it's smut! no one cares what you get horny about and probably the only reason they'd be looking is bc they trust your judgment and they'd like to get horny about it too lol.

5. lack of feedback/interaction is such a scourge. We all gotta fucking engage with the writers we like! it means so much and it's such a great way to build a mutually supportive community. Also, people who have left comments on my fic and vice versa are the people i became most immediately PALS with on here. It’s a lovely thing to do and it’s not time intensive I promise! Authors don’t seek comments for validation but more because publishing fic is sharing this thing this offering that you became so obsessive and giddy about that you had to literally create it and once it’s out you just want to be giddy and obsessive with others about it.

6. Obvs no one should feel obligated to leave kudos or bookmark or comment on anything they don’t like. Be a discerning reader and engage with what brings you joy! There’s a ton of shlock out there. No one has to pretend to like it all. But societally I feel like we’ve become such selfish consumers - I see it in streaming our favorite music for .0000000000000000000000000000002 cents, in the erosion of concert etiquette, in the rabid sense of entitlement towards celebrities’ attention and time, in the uncredited circulation of other people’s art without a second thought, and in the way apparently only ~10% of readers leave kudos, which are a paltry way for an author to get a sense if someone liked something enough to take the most bare bones possible step of simply tapping a button (you don't even have to have an account! you can leave kudos as a guest!). that's a bummer. I don’t want fandom to be a selfish one-sided space where we’re just taking what we want instead of connecting or building together.

Ok, that’s all ✌️✌️✌️

[luck-and-larceny]

FFXIV Write: Tempest

You're as charming as ever,” he says to me with a smile on his lips and malice in his eyes. With Marrant every compliment is actually criticism.

“That's true,” I reply and beam a giant grin at him that I hope is so brilliantly charming it fucking blinds him. “Which is why you went out of your way to contact me. You've missed this,” I motion back and forth to the “this” between us; it's nothing but animosity.

We stare at each other for what feels like a lifetime, neither of us blinking. I just come around to the idea that this interaction is intensely stupid when he sighs (and, notably, blinks first).

“Look, Lika, I need your help,” he finally says.

“Oh, is that all?” I ask cheerfully, “Great! No.”

Ah, that felt good! I just sat down at this bar and now I'm getting back up again. I love a good exercise.

I'm out the door in a heartbeat, but he's right behind me. He grabs my arm to keep me from disappearing into the night. I slap his face for having the audacity. The sound echoes through the empty alleyway we now stand in. Wow. Great acoustics in this spot!

A storm crosses his face, darkening every feature and tensing his jaw. I love storms. I especially love them on his face because it means I've pissed him off. If we fight here, anybody in proximity– tourists wandering the city at night,  patrons in the bar, the asshole wine vendor parked right outside the bar selling overpriced bottles to the already drunk patrons exiting said bar– will need to run for cover. 

It's been so long since I've seen that expression on his face that I almost welcome it. Let's have it out here. Let him tell me how I ruined his life all those years ago. Let me tell him he hasn't seen anything yet.

But the storm passes almost as soon as it arrives. I'm surprised. And mildly disappointed. I pretend I'm neither and return to the earlier game of staring bitchily at him and not blinking. It's still stupid. Oh, well.

“I need you to rob a rival of mine,” he finally says after a breath to gather his senses again.

Here's another thing about Marrant: He always hated when I stole things… except  for when I'd steal them for him. Seems nothing has really changed.

“Fascinating,” I reply. “Tell me more. Who is this rival?”

Relief softens his features. “His name is Audr Shade. His home is in Lavender Beds.”

“Audr Shade?” I repeat thoughtfully.

“That's right.”

Great!” I chirp. “I'll just go off and let him know you wanted to hire someone to rob him. Maybe he'll give me something nice for being an upright citizen! But even if he doesn't it'll still be worth it because I did something good and moral.”

He used to say shit about how I wasted all my talent doing pointless, petty tomfoolery instead of something ambitious, moral, and good. I hate the me that dated this blowhard. I also hate the me that remembers anything he said to me during that time.

He smiles at my response. His inner monologue is probably something like: “She used to pretend what I said didn't bother her. When she responds by repeating my words back at me I see that it did. I smile because in that moment I know I've won.”

Forget all the mes that I hate. I hate this asshole most of all.

“Fuck you, Marrant.”

“Mature as ever, Lika. Listen, I know you despise me. And you know the feeling is mutual. So consider for just a moment that if I've come to you that, sure, yes, I'm desperate. But there might also be something you can get out of it that is even better than my desperation.”

Obviously I want to say there's nothing better than his desperation but that lends itself far too easily to a sex joke. And there's really nothing that would repulse me more than associating sex with this guy ever again.

Better, I think, to say, “I don't care. This is boring.  I'm going home now.”

He looks annoyed before replying, “But you do care about something and I have information about it. I will give you that information if you first rob Audr Shade and then rob me immediately after.”

Then rob him immediately aft– what the hell? No. Don't fall for this, Malika. You don't care. 

“I don't care.  Good luck with the self-sabotage or whatever the fuck, you absolute fungus.”

“The Tempest Tapestry,” he says quickly. “I know where it can be found.”

I'm speechless. It's not because I'm impressed by what he's said; it's because I'm pissed. If I open my mouth to say anything at all it will open so wide that I will swallow him whole. I look like a 5’4” miqo’te standing in a dingy alleyway, but I’m actually a swirling vortex of rage. How dare he try this on me? How dare he even say those words?

He takes my silence as a good sign because he's an idiot. “It wasn't easy,” he says with a self-satisfied preen and smile.

“It's impossible,” I correct him as levelly as I can, “Because it isn't real. I already looked into it. You didn't find shit because there isn't shit to find, Marrant.”

There’s a legend that there is a book so old that only luck and spite keeps it held together. I admire that. The cover is said to be sewn together by thousands of threads, all a different color. That book is said to hold the answers of how to find the first item ever spun in the Spinner’s loom: The Tempest Tapestry. The book is named the same. I’d told Marrant years ago that finding and stealing that would be the ultimate job. I'd stop stealing after that.

I didn't mean it, of course. That's stupid. Might as well tell me to stop breathing. But if the book existed– which, again, it doesn't because I've fucking looked– I'd still want it.

“There's no such book,” I say, my voice low, hot and full of barbed wire. I'm saying this to myself more than to him. I can't get obsessed looking for this again. I can't. It almost destroyed me the first time.

“I'm not talking about the book,” he counters. “I mean the actual tapestry, Lika. I can tell you where it is.” No, he can't. That's stupid and offensive.

But I'm in trouble. I could and should say no this. Whoever has told him they know where this tapestry is is lying because there isn't one. It isn't real. It's a story.

But someone believes they have something they are pretending is the Tempest Tapestry. That's 1) blasphemy, I suppose and 2) fucking intriguing. Of course I want to see what someone thinks they could pretend is a legendary artifact.

And even when it's nothing but trash I'm going to want to steal it. Stories are more important than truth. People tend to believe in stories more than they believe the truth, too. Stories have power.

I'm so dizzy with wanting to do this, I think I might throw up.

This is a trap. It's so obvious. I go to steal from this Audr Shade guy and then from Marrant as he's requested and there are guards waiting at his place to apprehend me– that's GOT to be his plan. That has to be why he wants me to rob him.  There's no tapesty. He is making it up. Say no to this, Malika. Walk away. Walk away. Walk away.

“Fine. Tell me more.”

I'm so fucked.

[essektheylyss]

I feel a bit uneasy because I feel like maybe the Hells were affirming Ashton’s self-flagellation. Like they get to be hurt and angry but sometimes it felt kinda like maybe it’s gonna make the self hatred worse in the long run.

But I can’t tell if that’s justified or my own projections.

It's certainly possible that it did affirm that, and I definitely agree that as a whole they weren't fighting it by any means, but FCG said it best: the Hells are messed up. They've left a lot of shit unaddressed beneath the surface in favor of smoothing over their interpersonal interactions, and most of them are really not in a state to be giving advice or considering how they're actually enabling each other. That seems like it may be changing now though, and I think FCG in particular did start to push back against this in some ways, but even he was understandably hurt by Ashton.

I wouldn't say I'm concerned about it though because I think this as a concept is actually... fairly baked into this genre and format. Every PC is the main character of their own story, and main characters, especially in this kind of world, tend to have plenty of damage to work through, which can clash in many ways. Obviously any story can explore how people who care about you can still be bad for you, but D&D especially ends up in that realm because of this.

At the same time though, this kind of issue doesn't necessarily need to be something that's addressed in conversation—the Nein didn't have to stage an intervention for Yasha after she let herself get beaten in the underground fight club for her to deal with the underlying issues herself.

And even when it doesn't involve just PCs this can come through; see Caleb's concerns about Essek, and their mutual potential for enabling each other's worst tendencies in terms of both self-interest and self-deprecation to the point of harm—and often both at the same time, if you look at the argument about Trent in Aeor. That was a situation where they did actually work through that somewhat directly, but even then it wasn't an explicit aspect of the conversation.

In general, the game itself tends to focus on themes of power and agency as a whole, which I think really lends itself to this kind of thing. It's very "with great power comes great responsibility," but that tends to also end up at the issue of like... not everyone handles power or responsibility well. So when you've got a bunch of chucklefucks in the same ten foot diameter hut or whatever, who are all wrestling with having both power and responsibility for the first time on top of a lot of other damage, they're probably gonna fuck it up before they can do better and those fuck ups are going to reverberate through the group. Which is honestly one of the things that makes it interesting!

That being said, this fallout has been a long time coming, and I think because of the Hells' unique levels of avoidance it's picking up a lot later than it did in previous campaigns which means the stakes are higher for figuring it out, but I'm really stoked to see where it goes, especially since Ashton at the very least has decided they can stick around for the time being.

[karoochui]

I just wanted to say I am so enamoured with Binary Insurgence! I eat up everything, every little crumb, you drop about it and the entire idea is so interesting to me! I'm so in love with stories and worlds like this! I'm also curious to know about the relationship between Sun and Moon, if it's alright to ask. How was it before the fire compared to after? Does their relationship begin to mend (because I'm certain over the years it deteriorated) when y/n comes back into the picture? If any of this is too spoilery or you just haven't fleshed it out yet then you don't have to answer! I'm just super curious about the boys and how you see their dynamic/relationship. I just look forward to seeing how their bond has grown and/or broken and how it may be mended over time.

AHH im glad you like it so much!! Im happy to talk about what i've got, but you are right not everything is fully fleshed out. I have points i wanna get to but while im brainstorming and planning i make up a lot of stuff as i go and then go over it again later to see if i like it or can connect stuff in any way. I have 3 chapters for Arc 1 fully summarized as of now! (Which probably doesn't seem like a lot but i like my chapters long, so it's quite a bit actually).

I wanna say, too, that i'm planning for the first story to be more in the perspective of the reader, so most things about Sun and Moon's personal thoughts and feelings are gonna be more implied than said. I might have some switching points of view, i'm not sure, but i haven't found a place i'd do it or think it's relevant. The sequel is gonna be more from their perspective since it'll mostly be about them.

NOW! I see Sun and Moon as brothers, so they really treat each other in a way that's like that. Before the fire they get along pretty well. Most instances of issue would be when Moon blocks out Sun when he fronts, or just mutual panic over the fact Moon lost his shit w/ the virus. They'll have their disagreements about things (i havent planned specifics yet) but generally they're chill. Sun just worries about Moon hurting people, but Moon worries too. With the way the virus functions in this AU it's hard for Sun to fully fault Moon for what he does, especially because he's also affected by it but not nearly as bad. (I'm gonna explain this more in another ask i have).

Plus, even before the virus they were always glitch/bug-ridden because technicians fucked up their programming continuously after removing them from the theater to work in the daycare. So they had to kinda navigate through that together, glitches and errors on both ends (though not deadly). They hate P&S bc of this, obviously. Hardware fixes suck but they fucking HATE software examinations.

Later on though some issues come into play whenever Sun starts getting worse by being further exposed to the virus (it gets worse for him when they eclipse) because it presents itself in Sun differently than it does Moon. He gets snappier and angrier at times (that comic i made that's captioned "well someones snappy") and while they both understand he doesnt mean the shit he does it's still not great. And nobody's gonna just let themselves be talked to like a dog even if the reason it's happening is because of something the other person can't really help. They're still relatively fine at this point, though.

It's at the end when shit goes really bad, because this part of the story does end badly. I won't spoil specifics but after the fire Sun loses his shit. He starts trying to put the blame on Moon for everything (the virus enhancing his already bad habits/fucking with his line of thinking) out of grief and anger. That carries over into the apocalypse and he just gets worse in general. He gets irrational.

It's a long period of time though, so he eventually also manages it, in his own way. But! I did say before in an ask that in the sequel he's "not evil, persay, but he's a fucking nut". He damns Moon to an hourglass to just fucking get rid of him about 100~ years before they meet you again (he fully thinks he's in the right for this (and he also just hates him) and the only reason he really even stayed around after that was to make sure Moon didn't get out again). He's not a bad-intentioned individual, but he's off the fucking wall at many times bc of the virus having made him worse. He's stubborn as all hell to an infuriating degree, he's irrational, hard-headed, reckless, and while a good bit of his old, kinder self is still pretty prevalent he can be downright fucking mean if provoked. Again, worse than before, and it doesn't take much these days! I always imagined him to have more dramatic, snappy, diva aspects to his personality (even before Help Wanted 2 came out) bc hes so theatrical and intense, so basically take a Sun that's like that, crank it up to 100 and put him in a Bad Situation. That's what Round 2 Sun is like at his worst. He's not a complete lost cause though, and he's far from dumb when he does stuff, just clouded by his own judgement. He doesn't think anything's wrong with him (or does he?).

Moon doesn't really hate him like Sun hates Moon, because although he knows that what happened (the ending of the first story) is technically both of their faults he just feels guilt. They do fight a lot, though. Most of it is Moon trying his best to tell Sun that he's basically full of shit and not seeing things right after Sun starts something, but Sun's at the point where he's gotta learn by consequence. Part of the reason he's so bad is bc 1: hes been infected by the virus for so long now and 2: in his grief, anger, and resentment he's learned to live with it rather than fighting it.

But the sequel is gonna be a feel-good story! Falling in love w/ the reader all over again, i want things to get cleared up - or at least some kind of middle ground between Sun and Moon - the whole sha-bang.

[queenjunothegreat]

I have so many MOA scene rewrite suggestions (you obviously do not have to write all of these, but you asked for suggestions so!! also sorry for this being so long)

- (this is a big sad one) Jason reuniting with camp Juptier and realizing he wasn’t very missed and was basically replaced + Leo getting possessed and firing on Camp Jupiter (I can’t remember if this was Leo’s thought process in the books, but Leo would definitely think he was a curse for Jason or something. Like first he ruined things with Thalia and now this)

- I would love to see a one-shot of Leo and Hazel’s relationship being fixed. Cause I hate the fact that Hazel had to deal with two guys crushing on her after being traumatically revived into a new time period. This could also function as a Valgrace/Lost trio fic cause Jason and Piper would definitely get jealous of Leo being constantly stolen away to go on missions without them.

- Jason’s birthday picnic with Piper

- this last one isn’t MOA related but I want to include anyways cause it’s a special headcannon to me. I 100% believe that Annabeth pestered the shit out of Leo when he was building the Argo II. Not in a mean way!!! But, she would definitely immediately try to help Leo in making the ship cause she loves designing things and she wants to see her boyfriend. I feel like she horrible at assuming/accepting that people wouldn’t want her help. Therefore, she keeps pestering Leo on ship progress and ideas. And Leo being the solo worker he is, just doesn’t know how to work with someone else. It could function great as a 5+1 fic like - “Five times Annabeth tries to help Leo, + the one time Annabeth succeeds in helping.” Basically, I just need someone to write a fic about their friendship. As well as Leo accepting he doesn’t need to do everything alone and he can ask for help.

Never apologize for longwindedness to me. I am King President of Yappingtonshireville and I ALWAYS encourage everyone to run their mouths. In fact, I am THANKING you for all these wonderful ideas 😌

First and foremost, um???? Butting heads to work besties Annabeth and Leo??? Hello??? Sign me the FUCK up!! There's not NEARLY enough fics featuring these two and that needs to change ASAP! It will also be a really good chance for me to work on my Annabeth voice for the HoH rewrite. Her being so eager and willing to help to the point where it would be off putting to anyone much less someone like Leo while also not even recognizing it is SUCH an Annabeth thing oh my god. My darling girl mwah mwah mwah.

Also! Yes! Hazel! She deserved so much better than being forced into a weird bad love triangle that didn't do literally anything for the story. Leo will have absolutely ZERO romantic feelings for the traumatized 13 year old, bur he will absolutely flirt with her when Frank is around just to mess with him. I am REALLY fond of the odea of them becoming friends (and Hazel being like "Frank, why are you being mean to Leo? 🥺 He's my friend" and Frank folding like a house of cards) and I'm beyond delighted with the idea of Jason and Piper having a mutual pouting session about Leo hanging out with Frank and Hazel more. That in particular could fold really nicely into the Jason’s birthday picnic thing!

Ooooh, I am gnawing on this Jason getting to CJ concept. I was planning on writing it from (SURPRISE!) Reyna’s POV, but I think it would be sososo good to then swap POV halfway through and have them mirror each other's thoughts without even realizing it. I am actually in the middle of writing a fic that is immediately post everyone getting back on the ship after firing on New Rome, so I will for SURE be yoinking those "Leo feels like a curse" thoughts to put in there because it is SO good.

[eroticwound]

Okay so, I’m still getting through the new season but I need to see if I’m the only one who feels the Claire/Carmy scenes this far are kinda a retcon of last season?

Like, putting stupid shipping discourse to the side, one of the main criticisms of that subplot was that there was too much telling and not enough showing of how their relationship progressed as Carmy avoided the renovation. We saw them drop off the liquor license documents, go to the house party, first kiss, Carmy making dinner for her after talking to Fak about whether Claire is actually his girlfriend, and their love scene. Then there is friends and family, where Carmy is freaking out about everything and he inadvertently tells Claire their relationship was a waste of time (meanwhile Claire just said she loved him, which I don’t doubt)

But, according to the new scenes, they spent a lot of time together seemingly as a couple during those few months, as Carmy was clearly infatuated with her in those moments. So I guess my main confusion is — when the hell did all of this happen? Were those scenes before or after Braciole, because at that point Carmy doesn’t actually think of Claire as his *girlfriend* but obviously likes her a lot. Those new scenes scream “they were fully into each other and with mutual affection for each other” and definitely would’ve made me more convinced of their connection — rather than be told by every other character in the Berzatto clan all throughout s2 about how great Claire is for him. Because I never actually *saw* the effect she had on him — we only see it now that Carmy has pushed her away.

So far Claire is haunting the narrative (Carmy), sorta like Mikey in s1. But all of this new info has only made me more confused about the timeline of events and the significance of this romance subplot, rather than provide clarity for why an ongoing conflict is occurring.

i mean, carmy was said to be unfocused and away from the renovation, and that was because he was with claire. everyone says this. syd is especially annoyed by it, because carmy can't spare enough of his attention for the bear, and things are getting dropped. to your point, most of this happens off-camera, but that ep where he fucks off with claire to the post office and the party very much illustrates that.

the thing about the bear is that the first season carmy was solidly our main character, and then second season transitions into more of an ensemble show. there are some incredible pluses because of this, like an entire episode with marcus in copenhagen or richie staging at ever (tho i have issues with forks). however, by dedicating more screen time to fleshing out our ensemble, the show has to dedicate less time to carmy's plots.

and claire as a character and her relationship with carmy are the biggest casualties of this. a really clear example of this is when we follow syd during her food crawl in sundae, instead of sticking with carmy who ditches syd to help claire’s uncle(?) move. i'm sure a scene where we see carmy help claire would have done a lot of work to flesh out her character and their relationship more. but the writers had different priorities, and i am so happy they went with syd on her food crawl instead. that was some great syd character work, and a beautiful ep in general.

claire is not involved with the restaurant, but she's thee focus of carmy's arc second season. there isn't any cause for her to be at the restaurant, and they don't spare any scenes for claire to interact with our ensemble of characters. they only way they can include her in these scenes is to have characters talk about her.

now, how this translates for claire is that she felt very two dimensional, because she only exists in the story in relation to carmy and their (tepid, imo) love story, where they are mostly talking about him or the restaurant. it feels like she spontaneously spawned into the story, and all the characters know of her, but the audience isn't shown how they know her. we have to be told. repeatedly.

as for your timeline question, i think carmy was spending a loooot of time with claire from sundae onward. i think carm was confused about claire being his girlfriend before bolognese (assuming you meant bolognese s2e8, not braciole s1e8) because he's never had a gf before. he’s basically been a food monk most of his adult life (not to say he’s never fucked… tho i am personally in the carm is ace camp). he doesn’t understand the nuance. both the feelings and experience are exciting and bright (and so scary). it’s all new for him!

so the carmy/claire scenes this season did not feel like retconning to me. they really felt like more of the same. which was still bad, imo.

and ugggghhhhhhhh this explicit haunting theme this season felt.. like way too on the nose. like everything with claire, they have to make it obnoxiously explicit because there’s not enough time to flesh it out in a satisfying way. like did they ever have to tell us mikey was haunting everyone in season 1? no! they showed us that. but like their shoehorned love story s2, they have to keep telling the audience directly.

[fluffmecall]

never again

regulus black x fem!oc

warnings: smut

deloria hated regulus black, what happens when she gets drunk at a a quiditch after party

Deloria stood in the crowd of people as they cheered on the winning quidich team. She was a Ravenclaw and it was a Slytherin vs Hufflepuff match so she really didn't have a side.

Correction. Her house didn't have a side. She was any side as long as it wasn't Slytherin. And that was for one reason only. Regulus black.

They had been enemies since second year when he said she looked liked a dementor.

Sadly Slytherin had won. So instead of being there for the teams like any other student at the after party she was there for the firewisky. Four bottles in and she was properly drunk.

She was drunkenly dancing with some gryffindor when hands grabbed her waist and started to pull her away.

Thinking it was a new dancing partner she turned eagerly but her face went to a scowl when she saw black.

"Let go of me" she scoffed and tugged her arm away. But quidich seemed to pay off as his gripp was strong as he dragged her pout of the room.

When he closed the door behind them he finally let go of hr arm.

"What was that for!?" She stumbled little butr caught herself on a wall.

He raised a brow at her. "That was me winning a bet." He went to walk away but she stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"What do you mean by that?"

He sighed, clearly frustrated. "Rosier had noticed you drunk and said I wouldn't be able to get you to leave with me even in this state. Obviously he meant you won't fuck me but as long as he thinks you did then I win a hundred gallions."

She scoffed, "like I'd be caught dead in bed with you." She began to walk away when he spoke.

"don't worry, the feelings mutual."

"great, then you can stop following me." She said, looking back to find him behind her.

"my common room is that way. If anything you want me to follow you."

She scoffed, "as if! My common room is that way."

"well then I guess you just have to put up with me for now." He said, sending her a grinn.

They walked on silence for a few moments before he spoke.

"You know what else rosier said?" He asksd, both still slightly drunk.

"hmm?"

he leaned in, mouth right near her ear.

He wasn't sure where the sudden boldness was coming from but he didn't really care.

"he said, we would look good together."

The words were barly a whisper but nonetheless they made the air leave her lungs.

"you know what I think?" He asked.

she shook her head, her mind repeating the words in and out, coaching her to breath.

"I think you would look even better under me."

Deloria and him locked eyes and before she knew what was happening she was up against a wall and his lips were on hers.

His lips moved harshly against her and she didn't hesitate to respond with just as much force. Her tongue graded his lower lip and he immediately opened just enough for her to shove her tongue in. Their teeth clashed and tongues fought for dominance.

There was a voice in her head telling her it was a bad idea and she would regret it in the morning. She was pretty sure that voice was her common sense and seeing as she had thrown most of it out the window why would she keep the rest?

He pulled back and looked at her. "Dorm?"

"Empty classroom?" She countered, going for the faster option.

Never in a million years did Regulus think he'd be heading to a classroom with deloria to fuck her but he definitely wasn't complaining.

He nodded and they ran to the closest one. The moment he closed the door Deloria was pushed harshly against it. His lips were on hers again. He pulled away and started down her jaw.

She let out an embarrassing moan when he reached her sweet spot. She felt him grin against her before he sucked at that spot. She had no doubt that there would be a mark there.

He moved back to her lips and tugged at her shirt. She pulled it off, their lips parting for a moment, and he unclasped her bra before taking her left tit into his mouth.

Her back arched and he groaned before pulling back. In one swift movement he pulled her skirt and nickers down.

"May I?" He asked and loomed up at her.

"Yes, fuck yes. Please."

He grinned and dragged a finger through her folds. "Eager are we?" Before she could retort his lips attached to her clit and he sucked hard.

She let pout an embarrassing noise and he sniggerd, sending vibrations to her core. He slipped a finger in and started pumping her.

Just as she was about to cum he pulled back. She let out a whine as she stood.

"Not so fast, I want you to cum all over my cock. Sound good?" Deloria nodded but he wasn't satisfied. "Words princess."

"Fuck. yes." No sooner had the words left her mouth than he was undoing his belt and pulling his shaft out.

Her eyes widened slightly at the size but her thoughts were gone once his lips were on hers again. Without warning he slipped into her and have her a moment to adjust to his size.

After she agusted he slowly pulled pout before pushing back in. He continued this until he had found a pattern.

"Oh fuck- bl- fuuu- regulus-" she moanded as he hit her g-spot and lost all control of the words leaving her mouth she didn't realize that she had called him regulus and not black.

But he did. And oh did he like it.

he thrust harder and harder, hitting that spot each time until she was a moaning mess.

"Fuck! Regulus! Don't stop! Please- oh fuck!"

"I don't plan on stopping princess, but feel free to continue begging," he kissed and bit at her neck.

Once those words left his mouth she was clenching around him as her orgasm approached.

"Regulus i-"

"Cum for me, princess." He attached their lips together as her vision when black. He rode her through her high and with one last thrust he pulled out, his seed shooting out.

They pulled back and their eyes connected.

"Never again." They said in sync. Both nodded and cleaned them selves up before leaving.

Both knew that was a damn lie.