#i might write more for them because their mutual nerdy competence makes me happy

[curator-on-ao3]

⭐ Director's Cut on the First Impressions ficlets, please!

Bahaha! Thank you for asking about those, @fiadorable! ❤️😂

Okay, so the trio of ficlets that form First Impressions are all … first impressions … in the context of two first officers — Jack Ransom and Una Chin-Riley. I originally posted the first and second ficlets to Tumblr (sort of glorified shitpost fics) and people asked me to put them on AO3, which was really nice. I put all three stories on AO3 a few days before the Lower Decks/Strange New Worlds crossover was announced and I thought, “Whoa. Of all my crackships, is Chansom actually going to go canon?!” So, yep, the joke in the crossover made me happy because how can you have first officer actors married to each other and not make a joke about it? The show did good.

Anyway, for the first ficlet, Jack Ransom falling for an Una Chin-Riley hologram (and Mariner teasing him about pulling a Geordi LaForge/Leah Brahms) was fun, and Jack meeting — and respecting — the actual Una as an aged and wise ambassador, all in the service of Jack’s emotional journey for his own self-confidence, was nice to explore. I see Jack as having a really beautiful and needy heart that he hides to protect himself (per Deanna Troi’s analysis). Letting Jack be vulnerable with Una made my own heart happy.

For the second ficlet, I was amused by the number of Trek characters played by married Trek actors and I wanted to get them all into one place. Hence, the nightclub that in my mind is officially named “Okudas,” but I couldn’t get that in there. Having Kira and Bashir (married actors!) comment on Jack and Una (married actors!) while reflecting on Tilly and Ryn (married actors!) and so, so many more had me smiling. (B’Elanna and Damar! Spock and Admiral Rollman! Jean-Luc Picard and the lounge singer from a dive bar in 21st century Los Angeles!) I like to believe that once Una and Jack figured out why they were at the nightclub (“Okay, so we’re fictional characters played by actors who are married to each other. That’s ummm …” “Not even the strangest thing to ever happen to me.” “Yeah, same.”) that they sort of warily circled each other, then Jack made a joke about testing out the ol’ rod and berries (yeah, a Roddenberry dirty joke — I truly believe Jack would go there) and Jack got nervous when Una seemed annoyed at first by his humor … but then he saw the amusement in her eyes and they both absolutely cracked up laughing.

The third ficlet was the only one of the trio that I wrote directly for AO3 (didn’t begin life as a Tumblr fic shitpost). And I have to say, I have a special place in my heart for it. The way Christopher Pike initially dismisses Jack Ransom as an idiot and, sure, it’s fine if Una has history with this guy from the future because it’s obviously just physical attraction and … what’s that? Jack is actually intelligent? Well, shit. Writing Chris becoming more and more insecure while Jack and Una have no idea that Chris is freaking out … and Chief Kyle just wants everyone out of the transporter room … had me laughing (lovingly) as I wrote and every time I edited.

Thank you so much, @fiadorable, for asking about that trio of firsts for two of my favorite first officers. ❤️

Want more information about a fic I wrote? Send me an ask.

[faithsreviews]

Review - Spiderman: Far From Home

I saw this movie the day after it came out and I absolutely loved it. I’ll write the quick review here at the top if you haven’t seen it and don’t want any spoilers, then there will be a more in-depth look at the movie itself with a huge spoiler warning beforehand.

So first, if you haven’t seen it at whatever point in time you see my review, watch it. Obviously after watching Spiderman Homecoming first, duh, watch things in order. The movie takes place after Avengers: Endgame, so watch that and Infinity War first as well. Of course I recommend that you watch the entirety of everything Marvel has ever produced but that’s just me. As for this movie, once you understand everything that came before it, it really stands out. I love Tom Holland’s portrayal of a nerdy but endearing Peter Parker, and that portrayal has only continued to be my favorite in this movie. The story is well-written and small hints at the twists that come later leave you with an uneasy feeling and the need to see what happens next. In my personal opinion, this is one of the top Marvel movies ever, up there with Black Panther and Spiderman Homecoming.

SPOILER WARNING: CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK OF SPOILERS

Now if you’re at this point, you’ve probably already seen the movie and are scrolling around just to see what others think of it. Clearly, I am a fan. So let me get into the reasons why.

1. The Characters.

As I said above, I love Tom Holland’s portrayal of Peter Parker. Toby Maguire’s Peter was nerdy, but his Spiderman just didn’t quite strike the right chord with me. Andrew Garfield’s Peter was a little nerdy, but he also seemed a little too cool at the same time, and his Spiderman was kind of a jerk instead of being funny. Not to mention neither actor looked like they were in high school at all. While Tom Holland is in his twenties, he looks the part and his Spiderman is both goofy and quippy and never stops talking, much like the comics. His Peter is nerdy and a little awkward, but that only makes him easier to relate to. (And yes, some of this probably has to do with the writing considering both Maguire and Garfield are very competent actors, but that’s another point).

Ned Leeds is, of course, a great character. He’s funny, supportive, and clearly very excited to be part of everything happening. Not to mention he is very smart. Come on, anyone who can hack Stark technology is someone I would even classify as a prodigy. Besides that, Ned is a great friend. While this movie doesn’t center on the friendship between Ned and Peter, the connection is still there, and really just shows that they each have their own goals and can still be friends while accomplishing them. Plus, these poor kids have been through a lot, given that so many of them were just gone for five years. Ned still manages to be happy and just a normal teenager, while still juggling his duties as “the man in the chair”. Honestly, can I just have Ned as a friend now please?

Now for one of my favorite characters. Michelle. Some people were a little disgruntled about the MJ reveal in Homecoming, but honestly why? Okay so she’s not a redhead, but it was a nice nod to the comics. Plus, you got Zendaya, why are you complaining? Anyway, MJ as a character was much more developed in this movie. The little glances between her and Peter throughout the entire first half are just adorable, and the fact that she figures out what Peter is hiding just makes me love her even more. She’s smart and she looks closely at what happens around her. Especially whatever is going on with Peter. And she immediately goes from finding out Peter is Spiderman to supporting him, and then she takes on a drone with a mace. I love this girl. And she’s sufficiently awkward around her crush without being too cringy. 

Obviously Happy and Aunt May are great, and seeing Fury, Maria Hill, and the Skrulls was very enjoyable. But then we have Mysterio.

2. A Great Villain

Mysterio was the perfect villain for this. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what direction they were going to take his character, even knowing he was a villain going into the movie. He’s nice, supportive to Peter, and Jake Gyllenhaal just really has a face you want to trust. The story of being from another dimension makes sense, mostly because Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse is on Netflix and I love it, so I really didn’t question it that much. Not to mention that he doesn’t look at Peter like he’s weird for being so excited about the multiverse idea. He just seems like a really cool guy who you’d want to be friends with, and I was hoping my feeling of something being off was wrong up until the moment Peter moves out of sight after giving up the glasses. I also checked with a friend who is not so heavily versed in the comic books to be sure my feelings of something being off wasn’t just because I knew him from the comics, and she confirmed they weren’t. 

3. The Ships

We have Ned and Betty, who are honestly kind of cute and maybe a little unnecessary, but honestly I love Ned so if he likes this girl I’m all for it. Plus the ending was a typical summer fling end. They dated, it was fun, now they’re mutually breaking up. Cool.

Then we have May and Happy, which I really enjoy if only because Peter’s facial expressions around the pair of them together are seriously hilarious. Who knows where they’re going from here, but I’m up for them being a couple.

And, of course, we have Peter and MJ. My friend and I were just quietly squealing at how adorable and awkward they were around each other. Peter is a sweetheart, as we all know, and the fact that he knows MJ’s favorite flower is just too precious. His whole plan is too sweet, and just makes it even more sad when it gets interrupted. Peter is worried about Brad moving in on MJ, but he’s not possessive about it, which frankly just makes it even better. And we the audience clearly see MJ is into Peter as well, considering she smiles when she catches him looking at her, and she’s just as nervous and awkward as he is. Plus we got not only one but three kisses for these two and it was just so adorable my friend and I had mini meltdowns in the theater because we were so proud of these two awkward babies. (Okay so they’re not that young I guess, but they are Sophomores, and I just think of my Sophomore friends and they’re just as adorable and I just... yeah).

4. The Fights

As always, the fight scenes are entertaining and you feel the real threat to the characters. Every time I remember that Peter is a Sophomore (which, horrible they all had to re-do the entire year), I have a mini freakout when he gets hurt because I remember the poor kid is just fifteen and I know fifteen-year-olds, and let me tell you if anyone hurt one of those kids I would be ready to battle. But Spiderman is always entertaining to watch as he swings around the bad guys, and watching him finally face down Mysterio and win made me want to cheer.

5. Iron Dad and Spider Son

Okay, so the fandom collectively decided that Tony Stark basically adopted Peter Parker, and nowhere else is it so obvious that Peter is basically his son and heir than in this movie. Of course there is the whole thing where Tony left him his glasses plus access to military-grade weaponry, which he said were left for the next Tony Stark, and then told the kid he trusted him. Yeah, ow, my heart hurt a little bit and I think that might have gotten a few tears. Peter’s momentary meltdown on the plane with Happy also got a few tears. But the thing that just completely got me into some real tears of sadness and emotions I can’t give a name to, was Peter building his new suit in the back of a plane to Tony’s music, and of course testing out the arm the same way Tony did when he created the Iron Man suit. He reminded me so much of Tony I had to take a few deep breaths to keep watching. And then in the street, instead of in a cave, Peter builds a way to get to Mysterio with nothing but scraps of what’s around him. 

So that’s my review. Add on your thoughts!

[fartingkitty07]

ya boi has emotions and they hate it

dont you love when you have emotions at 12am on a school night? me neither. i wanted to make something tragically beautiful and went into a haze of writing and i awoke at 1am holding this. enjoy.

***

I had a friend. In my second year of school, the age of scabby knees and gap-toothed smiles and clumsy colouring, I made a friend. He was small and clumsy, and I was clever and awkward, and I extended a hand out to him, a childish gesture of innocent hope.

“Do you want to be my friend?”

He accepted, and we grew closer throughout the year. I would run ahead, strong and fast and swift, and he would stumble behind, stiff and unsure, yet kind and understanding. We walked to each other’s houses, talking about everything and nothing, as young children do, not quite understanding the vastness of our world, and the complexity of time and space and the future.

We were safe. In the golden sun-touched sandpit where we played together and ate our lunches, we were together and invincible and the bond between us felt stronger than any promise we had made before then. 

Our peers looked on in youthful amusement, wondering if we like liked each other, if we were girlfriend and boyfriend, peeping at our conversations from behind brick walls and cheap playground equipment. We responded no, we were just friends, and nothing could taint this pure friendship. 

The years went past, and our friend group grew, adding more friends to our circle, yet he still remained one of the closest friends to my heart. Even after our childish seven-year old selves were changed and shaped by the inevitable course of time, our friendship remained, and we both knew it would stay. 

Once, while we were reading together in a quiet spot in the library, him reading a comic book, me reading a spy novel, he turned to me, resting a head on my shoulder. 

“Will you keep a secret?”

Of course, I answered, offended that he would think I could not. He told me the secret. Don’t ask me what it was. It’s a secret.

I still remember it to this day.

I remember it every time primary school is brought up, and the warm sunlight of our youth shines on my face.

I do not think I told him much about myself in the time we knew each other. We knew everything and nothing about each other. I could list off his middle name, what his minecraft username was and what his biggest pet peeve was. He knew what time my brother was born, what ice-cream I would always get from the canteen when I didn’t have enough money, how to jiggle open our faulty gate when we walked to school together. And yet, he did not know I had a deep insecurity of my voice, and I did not know what his favourite colour was.

It might have been blue. That seems like a safe bet. All boys liked blue. 

We envisioned ourselves as superheroes taking on the world, navigating the struggles of school, fighting the big bad monsters who happened to share the same name as some particularly nasty teachers. We wrote stories, saving them on our computers in a super-secret folder with a password that my mother would have been able to guess in five seconds. We were invincible. We were the superhero crew, me, the fearless leader, sure and capable and strong, he the nerdy yet intelligent inventor, and my other best friend the kind and sympathetic comic relief. 

We competed at everything - games, sports, schoolwork, swimming, you name it. I would win, of course. I didn’t brag. He didn’t mind. I stood tall and he stood in my shadow, and yet, it felt the opposite. He was everywhere, unpredictable where I felt boring and bland. He shone where I did not.

Primary school ended. It was the end of a golden era. My close-knit friend group took a scholarship test to get into the best school in our area. We all hoped we would get in together. 

I passed. He did not. 

At the graduation ceremony, I got an award. He did not.

I got a leadership role. He did not.

I should have seen it coming. I should have known that something this happy was not meant to be. The books that we had read together in the library years ago foretold it. Something forged from the brave souls of small seven year olds with nothing to lose could not withstand the harsh reality of time.

Someone always leaves first.

I look back, and look fondly at the time we shared, I should be thankful that I got to have that time with him.

But it wasn’t enough.

Is it greedy of me to ask for a little more time? Just a little more?

But no, the universe is harsh in its rules. 

We parted with empty promises to keep in touch. Final hugs were exchanged. 

That summer, my family moved to another suburb. 

I could no longer walk to his house. 

And a new era of high school began, with one of my best friends at my side, a gaping hole at my other. I felt exposed.

Last week, I opened up my computer to clean out my old files.

I stumbled on one that read TOP SECRET!!! DO NOT OPEN UNLESS YOUR NAME IS… 

I opened the file and cried.

The superhero crew had fallen.

I closed that file and kept it in a folder titled “Old stuff - delete”.

I did not delete that file. I do not know why.

I still have it, to this day, in a folder called “Stories”.

One morning, my brother started showing an interest in Minecraft, shocked by how much I knew about it.

“How do you know all this stuff?”

I did not tell him it was because I had listened to my best friend talk about it for hours.

I wonder if he remembers me.

A few weeks ago, I got moved into a different swimming class. He was there.

I said hello, and he did not respond.

We talked, and it was as if we were strangers meeting for the first time, or vague acquaintances having met through a mutual friend. 

I did not know which hurt worse.

How was high school? I asked.

Good, he answered.

And there was no childish determination, no naïve bravery to continue the conversation. 

We stood up to exit the water, and I noticed he’d gotten taller than me, stronger and more muscled. Another thing that had changed since our primary school years.

He had a new group of friends now, he told me. He did not tell me their names. He told me which subjects he was doing. He did not tell me if he liked them. I told him that I had taken up drawing. I had not told him I liked girls. I told him that I do karate now. I did not tell him about my right knee and the trouble it caused me.

How much had changed? 

Instead of swimming in the same lane like we did in primary school, we were split by a lane rope. I could not help but laugh at the irony behind it. Everything else had already separated us, and now this lane rope was turning once inseparable friends into rivals.

He swum faster now. It surprised me how much of an advantage puberty gave you. Still, I would dominate in sprints, outstripping him by a metre. Girl and boy. Girl vs. boy. 

It brought me some comfort that some things don’t change.

But they might. 

Yesterday, I got his number from a friend.

I messaged him that I missed him.

He read my message and did not respond.

[tumblunni]

NOW FOR THOUGHTS AND THINGS

* I don’t think the entire zodiac would work out well, so is there any other sort of thematic personality quiz or superstition that has closer to four or five options? Or I mean would people not mind if I said 'here is zodiac kingdom, but we’re only gonna romance four or five of them’? I mean just rationally it would take way too long to make a game with twelve love interests that each have a plotline in the real world and the magical world. Oh! Maybe it could be like.. aren’t there those ways to categorize zodiacs?? Like... uhh.. ‘muteable and immuteable signs’? or Something? or maybe just group it by seasons? Maybe its something like the seasons are all continents in the mirror world, so this game could just take place on one of them. And it leaves it very open for fanworks, yknow!

* Also, hmm, western or eastern zodiac? I mean it’d be easier to assign traditional fantasy races to animal signs, probably, but I don’t know many games that’ve used the western signs as a theme. But then again I really wanna do a kingdom of bunny people! Ehh maybe I could make that Libra cos that;s my sign. Or hmm excuses excuses well bunnies have good balance XD

* Possibly that star mermaid design I made up could work here? Tho I also like the idea of using it in one of my other plots.

* Maybe the ability to remember both worlds is an inherited trait of the royal family, and the whole reason they’re given the role of royal family in the first place. Like, they act as oracles and tell people about their real world selves, and try and predict conflicts in the fantasy kingdom based on stuff that’s happening in real life. So your country could be suffering from a lack of power after their last queen lost her ability to travel between worlds, and they’ve only been able to keep the economy steady because of her cool clockwork robot inventions. So there’s extra pressure on you being a great princess now that you’ve awakened to your power!

* Not sure whether I should keep that idea from my dream of the protagonist having multiple appearance options that give her different elemental boosts. Cos I mean you’d assume that each standard fantasy kingdom place embodies a different element, right? So would that mean you’d be princess of a different kingdom each time? Cos that’d be even harder to write all the dialogue for than writing 24 love interests... or is it gonna be like there’s four neighbouring kingdoms for the standard four elements and then all your selectable options are a bunch of more unusual elements that’d become the fifth one? like you decide if this world has element of steel or element of thunder or element of cake... OR maybe just the kingdoms aren’t limited to one element, and everyone just has their own individual element tied to personality instead of nation. That;d be cool cos there could be more variety in the npcs! Like fire and ice and water bunny folks!

* Though it could actually be really interesting if the protagonist country could change. Like maybe depending on what you pick, one of the love interests would be your sibling instead? O_O Could be cool to have a secret platonic sibs route for everyone!

* One simple idea for the prince/princess dynamic: everyone says get married to this dude, you end up smooching his sister instead, everyone shrugs and the two kingdoms get united anyway. Woo!

* Other possibly more conflict-y ideas tho: Love interest gal isn’t a princess, but just the butler or bodyguard that came to escort the prince. Love interest is a lower class commoner who just works in the prince’s kitchen, you fall in love over mutual love of fancy cakes~ Love interest is a robin hood esque adventurer who rescues the prince from bandits, now you have to compete against princey cos he fell in love with her too!

* Actually, could be interesting to think about the prince’s role in each of these routes, cos it’d get boring quick if he was always like a Gaston guy who wants you to marry him and gets villain-y if you refuse. Maybe for the butler lady, the prince is like her childhood friend who super supports her dating you? And he’s totally ace as hell and pretty much dies of happiness when you say you don’t want to marry him. Damn social obligations, amirite? It could be funny if he looks like your cliche stoic asshole smug guy for like.. a total of five seconds, before he realizes you’re not interested in him. “Oh phew, its exhausting to keep that up! And for some reason people STILL want to date me!” And I dunno, maybe for cake lady, the prince is her friend and he’s like a nerdy studyman who wants to revamp the political structure of his country and close the gap between the upper and lower class. So he actually DOES want to marry you, even though he’s equally uninterested. He’s struggling with kind of anti hero status here, cos he feels like he has to follow his parents’s dumb rules in order to ascend to the throne, before he can actually change things. And its like ‘but do the ends justify the means?’ when the means are pressuring someone into a loveless marriage and the both of you being unhappy forever. Though this kinda makes him a bigger focus of the route than cake lady, I don’t have any plot for her yet and I’m not sure what would thematically interlink with this plot and give her a starring role...

* Oh, and maybe there’s two princes that actually have a crush on each other, and you can help them get together?

* And then i had an idea maybe for the bunny people kingdom, where the batchelorette there has a bratty little brother who’s always getting in the way of the romance. And he’s the prince, but it’s like Blatantly Clear To Everyone that there’s been a mix up, you arrive there for your arranged marriage and the guy is like.. eight. No. Non. Nein. Nicht. Nope. But then he’s like Sibling Tsundere, and he’s only being bratty to you cos he can tell you have a crush on his sister and he wants to test if you’re trustworthy. And he can be a cute lil sweetheart once you win him over, and he helps convince the Council Of Vague Ominous Advisor Dudes to let the two of you hook up as super double bunny queens of joy and wonder~!

* Oh and i actually had an idea of how this one could tie in with the real world! Cos maybe the princess is a shy girl in the same class as you in school, who takes care of the class pet bunny. And Because Why Not, maybe she has the same backstory as me and she ran away from abusive parents and is spending the last year or so of high school living alone and struggling to make ends meet. And that bunny is the closest thing she has left to a family, and she’s really depressed about how she’s been the lil guy’s best friend for all these years and now she’ll never see him again once her last year is over. And like.. already she’s not able to see him as much, since he’s meant to be a pet for the younger kids and she’s only allowed to keep looking after him cos she’s in the biology club. But now cos her life situation is so awkward she’s super exhausted juggling schoolwork and jobs to make ends meet, and she might not be able to stay in the club too. Plus the rabbit’s getting kinda old now, and he’s been really sick, and it’s just REALLY SCARY for her... So then you end up finding out that she doesn’t actually have a brother, and her brother in the other world is actually that pet rabbit, because he loved her just that much! And you can tell her this and she’ll have a good old happy cry, cos she was always worried that maybe the rabbit didn’t need her after all, and wouldn’t miss her when she’s gone, cos he’s always been a tsundere little prankster in both worlds. Though that just makes the whole thing even sadder cos now we know BOTH of them are gonna be hella depressed when this school year ends... And then maybe in her ending the two of you move in together after you start going out, and things are a little easier with two of you working, and with her getting some support from your family and stuff. And maybe the teachers decide to retire the class bunny cos he’s getting so old, and they take him to a pet adoption shelter but make sure to mention the nice girl who took such great care of him and give her a great reccommendation if she wants to adopt him! And like if you got high enough stats and stuff you get the double good ending where the two of you are able to succeed enough at your jobs that you can afford to keep a pet. Or I dunno, maybe through Power Of Love Magic or something he could get the power to turn into a human in the real world too? Either way the whole family can be together ^_^