#i wish i remembered more of my original idea for this expect the base i had for it… but this why we need notes! for fics! so many wips im

[evanescentdawn]

didn’t expect for my return to ao3 be releasing an old 2018/19 bleach wip, but well! life can certainly surprise you!

relationships: established byakuya/ichigo

tags: AU, humour, shenanigans, captain!ichigo, mystery

chapter: 1/?

summary:

“Here we are,” Kisuke announced as they reached a big black door. He pulled out a key and slowly opened the door to reveal a massive room buzzing with soul reapers. Taking out his trusty fan, Kisuke flapped it open, adding to his dramatics while gesturing with his free hand to a massive machine, “Behold, my greatest invention yet!”

“…What. The. Hell.”

“What? Is something the matter, Ichigo?” Kisuke lowered down his fan, a wide smirk painted on his face. “Speechless?”

-

It’s been years since their last war and Urahara Kisuke got busy, inventing his new latest machine yet. One that allows easy access from and to Heuco Mundo. Shiba Ichigo and others set out to test it but they run into something unexpected…..

[gurugirl]

The Handyman | a check-in*

Summary: You and Harry throw a housewarming party and your ex shows up with some advice for whoever built the kitchen counter. Harry makes sure to prove to you how well-built his countertops really are.

A/N: Based on this idea! Previously posted on Patreon. Read the original one shot here.

Word Count: 3,613

Warning: smut, the tiniest touch of jealousy/possessiveness

❊❊❊

You hadn’t intended for your little housewarming party to turn into a whole thing. Harry said he’d help you invite people from town, a way to make more friends and get to know some of the locals a bit better. But then when your dad told your cousin that you were throwing a small party she let it slip to someone from your past. Van, your ex. She apologized, saying she didn’t think he’d be interested until he asked for more details. But you weren’t going to be rude and uninvite anyone because the house was big enough for everyone. And you did say “open invitation” after all.

“Y/n, it’s so nice to see you again,” Van pulled you in for a hug when he arrived. You put on your nicest smile and attempted to act happy to see him. And it wasn’t that you disliked the guy but the awkwardness of dealing with an ex you hadn’t seen in a while was a bit daunting.

“Oh my gosh. You too! I’m surprised to see you here. All the way out in the middle of nowhere!” It truly was a surprise. It was an hour’s drive from the city to get to your house. And even though your cousin told you she told him and he seemed interested, you half expected he wouldn’t show up.

You made small talk with him before excusing yourself to go to the kitchen except he followed you.

“This house really does look nice, Y/n. Did you have help with all this?”

“Thank you. And yes. I had someone help with everything. Harry’s been so amazing. Listened to what I wanted but he already had his own ideas which I loved so much. Kept almost everything original.”

Van ran his palm along the butcher block island and ducked down to check the construction of the cabinets beneath, “Who’s Harry?”

“Harry owns a small company doing all kinds of work for people in town. He helped me restore the whole place and landscape. I mean, he basically did all the work but… yeah. He’s also my boyfriend.”

Van raised a brow at you, “Boyfriend huh?”

“Yep. Boyfriend. He’s actually here somewhere.”

He nodded as he inspected the window over the sink, “Not sure if you remember or not but I became an architect. Wish you’d have called me. I could have really done this place justice. Sort of feels like some of this could have been upgraded.”

“Oh? Like what?”

You caught Harry’s eye when he stood at the entry between the kitchen and the dining room as he spoke to a few people he knew.

“Well this window for example,” Van pointed, “I would have pushed this whole wall out, made a breakfast nook over the patio since there’s so much space at the front. Could have put in built-in bench seating and it would have given you so much more light in the kitchen and increased the value of the property.”

“I mean that sounds really nice but I wanted it to be original. Expanding the walls and windows like that sounds like too much. And I’m not planning on selling it so increasing the value doesn’t appeal to me.”

“I just hope he knew what he was doing. If someone’s not quite qualified you could have shoddy workmanship that shows later. Like all the cabinets and these new countertops,” he knocked on the surface, “might look fine now but give them a year and you’ll see if it’s up to par.”

Suddenly Harry was wrapping his arms around your front and kissing your neck as Van was then suggesting a rebuild of the staircase to expand the width. You placed your hands over Harry’s forearms and grinned at the feel of his lips on your skin. His distraction had almost made you forget that Van was still talking until he slowly got quieter as he looked between you and Harry and realized you were no longer listening.

Harry kept his eyes on Van as he pressed warm kisses to your neck. It was a signal to Van. You were taken and you were happy and Harry wasn’t some pushover. You were his girl and he was letting Van know.

“This the ex you were telling me about,” he whispered into your ear so Van wouldn’t hear it.

You nodded and giggled, turning to look at Harry when Van cleared his throat.

Harry stood up straight and put his hands on your shoulders, “Sorry to interrupt like that. I’m Harry, Y/n’s boyfriend. You are?”

“Oh, I’m an old friend. I’m Van,” he put his hand out to shake and Harry wrapped his big palm around Van’s with a nod.

“Nice to meet you, Van. Now, what were you suggesting I do differently?”

Van’s eyes widened slightly, “Oh��� I wasn’t saying you should do anything different… it’s just that there were some ideas…”

You were no longer interested in what Van had to say at all when you felt Harry’s hand slide down to your hip. It felt like a possessive move. You’d never known Harry to be jealous or anything but that whole exchange had you seeing a bit of a different side of him.

“Definitely some good ideas, Van. But we’re happy with keeping things original. Feel free to have a look around at everything if you like. Only room off limits is our bedroom upstairs that’s locked, but otherwise, knock yourself out.”

Neither you nor Van missed Harry saying our bedroom upstairs.

“Okay. Well, thank you. Yeah, I mean I think you’ve done a great job here and…” Now Van was backtracking.

Harry nodded, “The most important thing is that Y/n is happy with how everything turned out and the quality of construction is the best,” he rapped his knuckles on the countertop, his brow raised at Van.

Van kept his distance until he left a couple of hours later, only hugging you quickly and telling you, once again, how nice it was to see you. You weren’t sure why he showed up in the first place. Maybe, being an architect, he was genuinely curious about the new house you bought and had help restoring. Or maybe he was hoping to rekindle something long gone but then was caught off guard by Harry.

“I can see why you love it here,” your cousin nudged your arm as she ogled Harry who was talking to a woman animatedly.

You laughed softly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your boyfriend, obviously. Damn. Who knew small-town men looked like that? You’re living your Lifetime movie dreams babe. Old mansion, aunt’s inheritance, hot local who helped you fix the place up falls in love with you…”

You laughed through your nose and shook your head, “I’m not saying I’m not agreeing with you but… I would have stayed here with or without Harry. He’s just the cherry on top.”

“Oh, I bet he’s the cherry on top. So…” she looked around the space and then back at you, “He’s living here with you then?”

You nodded, “Yep. When we started dating it was just kind of the natural next step. I think my dad thought it was too fast but I didn’t want to be away from him at night anymore and he didn’t like it either. I suggested that he just stay and… well that’s really it. He’s here for good. Plus he put so much love into this house. It feels like it’s just as much as his as it is mine.”

You could admit, everything looked fantastic. Harry had made your home into something you could see yourself living in until you were old and grey. Something you were proud to show off to everyone. It was a labor of love, for both of you.

. . .

When everyone had gone, you were wiping up the countertop when your sponge was plucked from your hands and Harry pulled you back into his chest, “So Van thinks the construction of this counter isn’t well done?”

You turned in his arms and grinned up at him, “You know the construction is fine. It’s the best. Don’t worry about what he said. I don’t think he could tell from just looking anyway.”

“Did you like him a lot when you two dated?” Harry pushed you gently back toward the counter, your bottom hitting the edge.

“Why? You’re not jealous are you?”

Harry licked his lips and squeezed your hips before sliding his hands up to your waist and lifting you to sit on the smooth surface you’d just wiped down. You laughed and grasped onto his shoulders.

“Of course, I’m not jealous of Mr. Architect. But I do want to demonstrate how sturdy everything is. I’m not the type to cut corners, you know…” he dragged his big hands up your sides and one up your spine until his fingers found the back of your neck, collaring you with his big palm as he bumped his nose into yours.

You giggled and pushed your arms over his shoulders, “Seriously, Harry. I know how sturdy everything is. No need to prove anything to me.”

“Mmm… I know I don’t have to prove anything,” he smoothed his lips against yours gently, and slowly with the poke of the tip of his tongue at your plush lips igniting the furnace in your tummy that always simmered with need for him. But when he got like this… with his hands on your body and his mouth prodding at yours… the simmer turned into a boil.

You felt one of his hands travel down your hips and then to your thigh where he bunched the material of your skirt in his palm until he’d pushed the fabric out of his way and teased his finger up and down along the edge of your panties next to your crotch.

Spreading your legs for him you leaned back slightly and parted from the kiss with a laugh, “We gonna do this right here, Harry?”

He splayed both of his hands over your bare thighs and squeezed. His eyelids were heavy as he roved his pupils from where he was holding your plush thighs then up to your face, “Wanna?’

You couldn’t help but giggle again and bite your lip as you nodded.

“Mmhmm… Thought you’d want to. Given how wet your panties are right here,” he pressed his thumb over the crotch of your knickers, “Bet you need it more than I do, sweetheart.”

He smeared his thumb around the material of your sodden panties, wetting the pad of his digit before finding your clit and pressing into it. A breathy pant fell from your lips.

“What got you like this, Y/n? What happened, sweetheart?”

“Nothing, just you.”

“Me? Are you sure about that?”

“Always you, Harry.”

He grinned and pushed the fabric of your panties aside as he kept his soft green eyes on you, “What about me does this to you, hmm? You just like me so much that you start dripping?”

You felt your face heat up. Harry often liked to ask you questions that got you a little shy or embarrassed when you had to answer. And even though you should be used to it by now you still got a bit antsy. But fuck if you didn’t love it.

“Yeah. I really just like you so much…”

Harry’s grin never faltered as he kept his gaze pinned to yours and pressed his thumb at the entrance of your pussy, taunting it open until he had pushed it all the way in and you gasped. He began slipping it in and pulling it out, “I know you do. And I love how much you need me,” he continued fucking you with his thumb, “How your body reacts to me. Look at you, Y/n…” he dipped his gaze down to where he was thrusting his thumb into you, “Letting me fuck you with my thumb on the countertop I installed. Making a mess of my palm and I bet the quartz under your ass too. Almost shaking you need it so bad.”

You grunted and rolled your hips up against his thumb, pressing him in further and Harry groaned at your little pathetic wiggle.

Releasing one of your thighs he hooked a finger into the bottom hem of your blouse and pushed upward, “Arms up.”

Raising your arms overhead harry pulled the shirt from your torso and then pulled your bra down, exposing your tits one at a time until you were pouring out over the stretchy material. With his thumb still inside of you, he ducked down and wrapped his lips over your nipple, tongue first.

You moaned and closed your eyes when Harry moved to your other breast, pumping his thumb through your walls until it was all gushy sounding. He stood back, pulling his thumb from you and then bringing it up to his mouth, wrapping his lips around it to lick off every drop of you while his other hand worked at his button to get his pants undone.

There you sat at the edge of the counter with your legs spread and your wet pussy on display. Your panties were stretched to the side and out of the way but you could feel the elastic digging into the back of your thigh and your bum.

Harry pulled himself out of his pants, his gorgeous cock already at full mast and ready to split you in half. He cradled the underside of his shaft as he stepped in toward you and held your thigh in place as he smudged his tip into your labia, spreading your arousal through your crease. The dirty look on his face was heated, like he was about to overtake every part of you.

“Hold onto my back, sweetheart. Gonna fuck you on this well-made countertop now,” he smirked at you cheekily.

You would have laughed but you were already feeling his tip at your pulsing muscle and the anticipation of him stretching you open was making your head spin.

He rocked forward, his thick crown penetrating you and opening you up as he stuffed himself in. It took a few pumps of his cock in and out to burry into the hilt. He gasped when he felt your pussy devour him whole.

Your fingers clung to his back as he began to thrust, long and languid, wet and hot.

“Fucking hell… Got me so weak for you, sweetheart. So desperate to feel you around me all the time. Wanted to fuck you on this counter right in front of your ex-architect so he could see who’s fucking you these days, who’s treating you right…”

You moaned with every deep nudge of his cock through your wet channel. But when he ran his thumb over your clit you croaked out loudly, “Fuck! Yes…”

“See? Look how good I am to you… give you the best don’t I?”

You nodded, “The best, Harry…”

He crashed his lips to yours as he worked your cunt with his cock and his thumb and the languid thrusts turned into frantic jerking motions with his tip nudging into your guts, a hint of pain spreading through your insides at the way he bullied his thick length into you. He rocked his hips against you, the sound of smacking flesh and muffled moans between kisses filtered out through the open window onto your porch. Luckily you had no neighbors anywhere near so no one would know the kinds of things that went on in that old house every evening.

Your thighs were trembling with every swipe of his thumb at your clit and every dip of his cock through your insides.

“Gonna come for me already? Yeah? Fuck, baby…” he was swollen and leaking as he shoved into you. The feel of you wrapped tight around him was always heaven. His favorite.

You whined loudly, the build-up of your orgasm was unable to be stopped as you let him ravage your pussy however he liked. Pat-pat-pat… the sound of wet pussy getting fucked was a typical soundtrack in your house just about every night.

Harry ran a big paw over your tits and squeezed as he pounded into you. The counter under you never budging.

When your pussy began to squeeze and flutter and spasm and your mouth dropped open wide you let out a pitiful cry and dug your fingertips into the taut muscle of his back as you gushed on his big cock.

He only increased his pace as he fucked into you and watched your pretty face twist up in ecstasy. He loved watching you come. It only fed his ego to see such a pretty thing with your face all scrunched and lips curled and wet as you quivered in your orgasm.

He hissed to hold himself back as he felt your pussy slobbering arousal all over his dick. He’d have loved to unload his come right then but he wanted to force another orgasm from you before he allowed himself the satisfaction of coming yet.

When you felt him slow his thrusts you could hear him cooing at you, “Good girl. Fuck baby almost made me come you look so pretty like this.”

You lulled your head up to look at him and he smoothed his lips against yours as he stilled his hips, cock lodged deep inside of your tummy.

“Gonna have you bend over now, okay? Put your feet on this stool if you need it,” he dragged the stool next to his foot toward the counter for you. And with wobbly limbs, you adjusted your seating, turning over so your hips were face down against the counter top and Harry quickly placed his big palms on the round of your ass, pulling you apart so he could see your pussy and anus.

He inhaled sharply as he ran a finger through your folds and you jolted from being so sensitive, “Easy, sweetheart… This is gonna feel good once I get going. You ready?”

You nodded into the crook of your arm and let out a muffled yes as he nudged his cock against you again.

His fingers dug into the meaty soft part of your thighs before he split you open, burying in balls deep on first pass.

You grunted and braced yourself as he began to plunge through your insides, wet strokes of his long cock filling you and then pulling back to his tip on repeat.

“Ooh… shit, sweetheart. So fucking pretty…” he pulled at your ass cheeks and railed into you. You knew he was sweating already, he was giving it his all, using his strong muscles to fuck himself into you and panting breaths every time his balls smushed into your pussy.

You began to feel that fuzzy little prickle spread over your core with every stroke of his cock. The ridges of his bare dick always fit into your crevices and little spots like he was made to snug inside of you and get you off just like that. Your g-spot was never left unloved with the shape of Harry’s cock, his tip always dipping right into it with every pass.

He began to grunt with every glide of his hips, his cock being massaged by your warm walls making his balls tighten and his heart pound the closer he got to his end.

The sight of your pussy sucking him in, lips wrapped around his thick shaft and leaving creamy arousal along his length was just as hot as the way you felt encasing him. But of course, there was the scent and the sound as well. It was lewd. All his senses were burning and singing as he fucked into you.

“Ahh!” You moaned and began to push back against his thrusts, desperate for your next orgasm as it was approaching fast.

Arousal dripped down your inner thighs as he rutted into you, his pace growing sloppy and erratic as he could tell you were about to come.

And the moment you gurgled a wet moan and he could feel you clamping down he gasped and gripped onto your hips, moving you over his cock like you were a toy to fuck, he pulled your ass against his hips and then upward along his cock before slamming you against him again, smearing your pussy juice on the countertop as he did so. You cried out and convulsed around him as Harry finally pumped into you, pulling you back against him until he was stuffed into you as deep as he could reach and released every drop of himself into you.

He groaned as he came into your warm, cozy pussy, pumping strings of his come through your slimy arousal-coated cunt.

Harry made getting off easy. You’d never been one to come so fast or so easy but you were convinced his cock was shaped exactly like you needed. You reached back to take his hand as Harry leaned over your back and kissed your neck, “Pussy fucked and stuffed and countertop sturdy as a rock,” he laughed.

You giggled and arched your back to attempt to move yourself, the position was not the most comfortable after all.

Harry helped you down and held onto you so you wouldn’t fall and you both laughed again when you turned to face him, knowing you had mascara down your cheeks.

He cupped your face and grinned at you, “This is the best housewarming party I’ve ever been to.”

You pointed at the counter he’d just fucked you on and chuckled, “And that is the sturdiest kitchen counter anyone will ever see.”

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[nobodyfamousposts]

Scarlet Lady Top 10 Favorite Characters: Number 9

for @zoe-oneesama

Number 10 Here

Now let’s be fair about this. This list is subjective and according to my own personal bias. It’s not about who is deserving or who is “Best Boy/Girl”. These are just the top ones I like and enjoy seeing in the comic. My favorites may not be your favorites and I quite frankly don’t expect them to be anyone else’s favorites in the same order or even on the same list at all. And just because someone is not on my list doesn’t mean I don’t like them or that I don’t find value in them.

This is just a list of the characters I like the most and my reasonings as to why. What makes me like them? What makes them stand out? Because Scarlet Lady has a LOT of really great characters who all deserve a shout out, so these are just ten of them that stuck out to me the most.

And while I am at least attempting to value them here on their own merit in the Scarlet Lady comic as opposed to Canon or its many MANY issues or the differences between the two, it stands to reason that at least SOME mention of Canon is going to be made. That said, I am trying very hard to not rate them based on my feelings from Canon but more on how I feel about them in this comic.

And because naturally I like my dramatic moments, I’m going to do the list in descending order from number 9 to number 1.

So without further ado…

…

…

Number 9: Alya

I love Alya in Scarlet Lady. So much so that I feel bad that she’s not higher on the list, but to be fair, she has some pretty tough competition. And it says something when that’s the case because it feels to me like everyone deserves a spot on this list…it’s just that some deserve it a little bit more.

Alya certainly warrants her spot on this list. She was one of the characters with the fewest changes from her setup in canon and yet ended up with such a major and lasting impact that her canon self can’t match.

But if I have to break down the reasons:

1. Alya is a good friend.

When mention is made of Alya being Marinette’s best friend, SL!Alya is the version that comes to mind for me. And honestly, she’s the image I long had and long wished for Alya of canon.

A friend who is supportive in all the right ways. A friend needing her own level of support. A friend who will disagree with you on points but still be your friend. A friend who can make mistakes and jump to conclusions but you can always forgive because you know she would do the same for you.

In Mr. Pigeon, Alya was willing to throw down with Chloe Bourgeois to defend Marinette’s honor and her hat design. And this was only two episodes after Lady Wifi, where Chloe had abused her power to get Alya suspended over a relatively minor infraction that had literally nothing to do with Chloe except that Chloe chose to be offended by Alya’s incorrect conclusion. Sure, it can arguably be for payback (given how keen Alya was to confront Chloe), but let’s be honest here: after being forced into a position where you are completely helpless at the hands of a bully and even authority figures are not willing or able to step in, most people would hesitate to confront the bully again regardless of whether they know they’re in the right. And Alya arguably didn’t have proof at the time that Marinette’s hat was actually her original creation.

And yet, Alya was going to act anyways. WANTED to act. For friendship. For vengeance. Not quite sure HOW she was intending to take down Chloe in this case, but I imagine it would have landed her in trouble again and she was fully willing to do so on behalf of her friend.

And speaking of her friend, remember Alya in Reflekta? She was excited of the idea of Marinette being a hero and part of me thinks she really pushed the “Marinette is Scarlet Lady” angle because she idolized Scar at the time and very much WANTED her to be Marinette—someone she also adores. Having two of her favorite people be one and the same would have been amazing for her! Sadly (or fortunately depending on your view) that was not the case, but Alya still got to have her moments of seeing her best friend as a hero, and her starry eyes sell it for me. As does Marinette later arranging an interview for her as Marigold—something especially important given in this version, one of the two primary heroes simply has no time for interviews while the other wouldn’t give a blog like Alya’s the time of day regardless of how much Alya did to help promote her.

Plus how in Troublemaker, she got the entire class to come to school dressed in Chat Noir gear to show support for the poor catboy and to help protect Marinette after the way her room and her multitude of pictures of Chat Noir were revealed on live television. Just to try and limit her friend’s embarrassment after her privacy was violated and her crush was outted.

See this? This is the friendship I wanted to see in canon. The ride or die. A counterweight. Supporting each other in reasonable and healthy ways. To be able to say with certainty that when the chips are down, they have each others’ backs. And Alya does.

Then there’s the Love Square—and if the change to the setup didn’t already improve how it went, then Alya’s involvement certainly did.

Part of the reason the Love Square struggled in Canon was because of how forcefully it was pushed with such shoddy foundation, and Alya was the biggest pusher. She forced so many situations out of some misguided attempt to “help” that only ended up creating stress for Marinette, cringe for the writing, and no actual momentum on the progress of the pairing. If you want a metaphor, then let’s describe it like this: If the Love Square is an actual ship and if Alya was a tug boat, she wouldn’t have been helping her ship “set sail” so much as dragging it underwater across the ocean and to its watery demise.

But in Scarlet Lady, Alya is supportive and encouraging—and not in the way where she blows off Marinette’s anxieties or Adrien’s obliviousness and forces them both into a position they’re clearly not ready for only to turn around and be annoyed that it didn’t work out. 

No, she was aware of Marinette’s feelings and interests to the point she recognizes Marinette has a small crush on Adrien even before the girl herself did. She also seemed to be aware of Adrien’s crush on her. So knowing this, she tried to help nudge things along. Note I said “NUDGE”. 

She knows a spark could be there. So when Alya had an opportunity, she helped to set things up in a way that would give Marinette and Adrien time together to explore that. Not to confess. Not to date. Just opportunities to be together, interact, and see what happens.

Heck, it feels at times like she’s more of Adrien’s wingman than Marinette’s. Especially given the whole bit in Stormy Weather, which remains to date one of my favorite strips of the entire series. Alya was the reason Marinette even made it there in the first place. And when she was picked for the modeling spot, she still tried to influence things to let Marinette take over. Similar to canon, yes, but a notably better feel to it. Better humor. Better outcome.

Which is ultimately what a friend should be trying for. For ALL of her friends.

And by the end of the comic, I can say that Alya is a friend to not just Marinette, but also Adrien and Alix and the other classmates. Yes, even Lila. Which says something given how much she initially despised Lila for the fake interview and how long she held that grudge against her. Going from outright dislike to grudgingly hanging out with to swallowing her pride and giving a real chance to actual collaboration on revealing a major truth.

Now that’s progress.

And speaking of progress…

2. Journalist Has A Point

Look, many a story will have THAT character. You know the one. Whether a detective, journalist, or conspiracy theorist, THAT character is devoted to uncovering the truth, whatever it may be—and usually in the form of plot-relevant secrets and useful information. 

So one of the biggest disappointments you can create is having such a character 

with all the drive and reasoning to investigate be in a prime position to uncover a major plot point, in which you give them all the resources and all the motivation to make the discovery…and yet have them do nothing.

Or worse, have the truth spoon fed to them instead when it’s convenient. No effort. No drama or antics. No surprise. No real reaction to the revelation. Just take away all the fun why don’t you?

Alya is a major fan of heroes and a journalist in the making. When these things mix, you have a ready-made source of humor and drama in a character with the dual position of he hero’s best friend who doesn’t know her secret and a wannabe investigator who risks discovering the hero’s secret. Normally, such a position would involve a number of antics over a multitude of episodes, with the friend being in a prime position to out the hero and the hero having to regularly come up with ways to distract and mislead the friend in question in order to protect the secret.

In canon, we get all of two episodes that even play with this setup. Two in the four seasons it takes for Marinette to just blurt it out to Alya. Lady Wifi and Pharaoh. That’s it. And of those two, Lady Wifi had Marinette completely unconcerned with Alya’s claim of knowing Ladybug’s identity. No drama. No conflict. No antics. No attempts at misdirection. No introspection or question if maybe revealing the city’s hero is even a good idea. No internal questioning if Alya should be told the secret—if she’s trustworthy or if she would be in danger. No continued attempts to uncover her identity as if Alya had just gotten bored with it. Nothing.

And if you know anything from my previous essays, you know that few things frustrate me more than having a great setup that practically writes itself and doing NOTHING WITH IT.

In Scarlet Lady, that setup is nixed from the start since Marinette didn’t start off as the hero. Instead, what we have is a situation where Alya idolizes the self-proclaimed hero of the city, completely ignorant to the truth that we as the audience were already immediately made aware of: that said hero is Chloe and she is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!

Marinette is aware of her being horrible. Adrien is FULLY aware of her being horrible. WE all know she is horrible. But Alya, like most of the city, is enthralled and supportive of her as the “Hero of the City”.

This change immediately created a whole new setup. Where Alya is a fan of a hero while being ignorant to that hero’s true nature. Where WE know and even other characters in the show know, but it’s impossible to convince anyone else of this truth. I’m sure you all know what it’s like watching any character in that sort of situation. It hurts. But not as much as it’s bound to hurt her by the end.

And indeed it does, as it kickstarts what initially starts off as a funny setup where Marinette and others stay quiet and try to be supportive while inwardly cringing as Alya creates and manages a blog dedicated to the worst person ever sans Hawk Moth and Gabriel Agreste.

Adding to this is that said person won’t give Alya or her blog the time of day. Chloe has no respect or appreciation for the level of commitment Alya has or how much Alya helped her to get her fame, and even calls Alya a “stalker” at one point. (Not that she’s technically wrong to be fair, but bear with me.) This is a testament to Chloe’s view of heroism as a whole and her expectations regarding the treatment she should receive. Nevermind that Chloe’s initial rise to the spotlight was in great part because Alya was the one to put said spotlight on her in the first place. Chloe doesn’t acknowledge favors, only what she is owed.

This puts Alya in a difficult position. Unlike Canon, she doesn’t have the support of a hero to promote her blog. She is a teenager with no preexisting status as a reporter and no real connections or backing for people to take her seriously. And in a world of already established media and tons of fans like herself no doubt also trying to make names for themselves in similar niche areas, she has nothing to really make herself stand out. What ends up working for her is the live footage she gets of the akumas and the battles, which is exceedingly dangerous and puts Alya in danger. But to her, it’s worth it to be able to enjoy her two passions.

It is painful. It HURTS me to see Alya so devoted to someone who I know full well doesn’t deserve it and it hurt even MORE to see how Alya was finally forced to face the truth. Her reaction was real. Her difficulty accepting the truth that we all knew from the start and that Alya could have (and probably should have) picked up on as a journalist if she only investigated everything outside of the “Heroes WOW” light.

But this doesn’t make me look badly upon Alya. It’s not entirely her fault. It’s reasonable that Alya wouldn’t have known. Given Scar’s refusal to work with anyone outside of publications that “meet her standards”, Alya hadn’t gotten to interact closely enough with Scar to really see her “in action” so to speak. Not for some time.

Alya does ultimately end up finding the truth, but it’s not the one she initially went searching for. What started out as a love for heroes mixed with her interest in journalism slowly turned into a realization of what heroism actually is and who the true heroes are…and aren’t.

And with this realization comes a new outlook, new alliances, new goals, and a new plan to reveal the truth about Scar and just who is really the hero or the “sidekick” in the heroes team.

This here? This gives Alya purpose. It also emphasizes her role in the story and the impact she has. Because over time, the thing that most showed her flaws and ignorance became a major strength—AND ended up benefiting the city as a whole.

She was the only person who actively tried to help Chat when he was on the run in Copycat and gave him the info to know what was going on and who the true culprit was (especially important because Adrien had NO way of knowing what was going on or why he was being framed and Scar certainly wasn’t going to help).

She gave Lila and others a chance to share their stories that otherwise never would have been told. Especially notable given Alya’s initial dislike of Lila for her lies, something she continued to hold a grudge over for a long time after.

And as a result, she is a major contributor to Scar’s declining popularity as she helps spread the truth. Which adds a nice bit of irony to the situation that the little blog that gave Chloe her start and that she ignored ended up becoming something so major that it destroyed her narrative. 

Alya had been seeking the truth, been blinded to it, struggled to accept it, went out of her way to confirm it, and then shared it. Maybe it’s not as impressive as taking down the akumas directly, but it has a much greater overall impact on the story and helping get some of that sweet sweet karma we’d all been waiting for. And best of all, she does the one thing that many of us have also been wanting for Canon: to have SOMEONE investigate Hawk Moth and realize the puzzle pieces are pointing at Gabriel Agreste. 

If only she could have confirmed it a little sooner…

3. Alya as a Person

Alya is a teenager. She is a teenage girl and that shines in Scarlet Lady.

We see her PUMPED at the discovery of heroes in Paris. We see her genuinely EXCITED over the prospect of being a hero. We see her flip her focus and be SERIOUS over serious and not so serious things. We see her unapologetically and hilariously reject Adrien’s pleas for a trade of jobs only to be a hypocrite and turn around and beg him for the same. We see her get terrifyingly ENRAGED at Nino for changing her script without discussing it with her. We see her be PETTY and RESENTFUL over falling for Lila’s lies. We see her be IN LOVE after Animan. Plus how could I not love her sheer GLEE over getting to face off with Nora?

But what really made me love this Alya and put her leagues above canon is her growth. Growth that she didn't really get in Canon. And a lot of that growth was evident through her discovery of the truth that was right in front of her and how she had gone so long without seeing it.

And when she is finally hit with the reality that her hero is no hero and that she was wrong? It’s hard. No kid wants to admit being wrong about anything, but especially not about a belief like that. Not the idea of heroes and not over your hero specifically. Especially when you realize you spent so LONG devoted to something only to find out you were wrong, other people knew, and you could have/SHOULD have known had you really tried to look.

And Alya….did NOT take it like a champ.

Denial was the name of the game. But her growth came in acknowledging that she was wrong, WHERE she went wrong, and taking steps to move forward with what she knew. Not by doubling down and demanding “evidence” that should have been easy to find if she just looked, but by investigating the truth even if it’s one she knew she wouldn’t like. And even if it involved things she didn’t want to do. To this end, she made up with Lila and the two actually ended up working together to change the tide of public opinion against her over time. 

Let’s note that: She went back on her earlier promise to herself, forgave and worked with someone that she disliked, and let go of her own pride and resentment in order to get to the truth that she originally never wanted to acknowledge.

Alya in Scarlet Lady plays more of a role in the series than she did in Canon. She wasn’t just “Marinette���s best friend” and “Ladybug fangirl” or a tool or prop for setting up certain scenes where Marinette suffers or Adrinette is given a half hearted attempt.

Alya is her own person. She disliked someone the others like or come to like. She adored someone the others and even we as the audience couldn’t stand. She stood up to her sister for herself and with the backing of her friends. She was silly at times for all that she tried to be serious and mature. She was oblivious and opinionated. She was wrong about a core issue to the story.

And that was perfectly okay.

Not because the narrative said so. Not because anything she did was hand waved. Not because Marinette or anyone else was thrown in as a scapegoat to distract attention away from her.

But because Alya is a well-written character with a personality that makes her a PERSON rather than a prop. Which makes her development into a hero feel rewarding rather than an obligation.

4. Alya as a Hero

Okay, Sapotis in Canon wasn’t bad. It worked as a new hero episode. It worked as the FIRST new hero episode. It made sense for Alya to help corral her sisters. I loved Trixx and his subtle means of testing Alya. It also had Alya getting some personal development as she changes from her initial stance of wanting to reveal her identity as a hero to knowing when to keep some truths hidden.

The problem is that lesson didn’t really stick as Alya goes on to demand a truth from Marinette that isn’t her right to know, try to force Marinette to tell a truth when she isn’t ready to reveal it, and betray Marinette’s trust and reveal the secret just to make things easier for herself and her relationship with Nino.

Gotta say, not impressed with Alya as a hero in Canon. Especially given how much the narrative had gone out of its way to keep portraying Alya as being in the right in each instance she was involved in regardless of what she actually did.

Then there’s the matter of the issue of her getting the Fox Miraculous after everything that happened with Lila and the complete LACK of Fox Vs Fox/Alya VS Lila/Truth VS Lies setup that such a setup would have been primed for. And if they weren’t going to do that or even anything with Alya and Trixx, then what was the point of giving Alya the Fox? There was just really nothing else that came out of a truth-seeker like Alya getting a Miraculous specifically involved in setting illusions and how that could develop her character.

@punchlord has already done multiple evaluations of the characters and Miraculous and which ones would best/least fit and why, and has done so much more detailed and eloquently than I can really offer here. Instead, I want to focus on SL!Alya and the changes Zoe made.

Here’s the thing: we all knew going in that Zoe was going to follow Canon for the most part. She admitted as such. We also knew that some kwami-swapping was bound to happen as a result of the changes to the world. Chloe gets the Ladybug. Marinette gets the Bee. Sabrina was bound to get something at some point that wasn’t the Dog. And yes, Lila too.

But NONE of us were expecting that Alya and Nino would swap their Miraculous AND their hero episodes!

And it worked. It worked so well.

Koki Marina is an awesome hero with such a stand-out look. And the one image of her playing with her fluffy hair always makes me smile.

The changes Zoe made vastly improved the Anansi storyline. Nino deserved his own hero episode that wasn’t just focus on him secondary to an issue for Alya and ultimately accomplish nothing on his own while someone else solves the problem for him...twice. And Alya deserved to be the one to deal with Nora and take control of her life.

The thing is, this was an episode with a lesson that was misplaced. Misplaced andmishandled, much like many episodes in the original series.

In Anansi, the biggest problem wasn’t that Nino couldn’t prove he could protect Alya, it was that Nora was overstepping on Alya’s life in the first place, especially when it wasn’t necessary. She didn’t consider that ANYONE ELSE could protect Alya—even the heroes when it is their job to fight the akumas. 

But more specifically, she wasn’t willing to consider that Alya could protect HERSELF. Especially of note considering that by this point in both versions, Alya had been running around and getting involved in the fights with the heroes for blog views. And in Canon specifically, Alya had already been a temp hero—I was surprised and disappointed that Alya didn’t argue more and struggle with NOT revealing that fact in the episode. But I digress…

If Alya was to get a hero episode, this was the better setup for it. And Zoe saw that and provided us that sweet sweet payout, with Alya proving herself and helping to take down her older sister. And just the absolute GLEE she had in doing so. The sort of glee you’d see in any younger sibling getting a chance to take on and show up their older sibling. All the younger siblings out there should know it. 

Plus her and Wayzz bonding, omg they are so cute.

While Canon Sapotis was decent (if not a bit frustrating with the lack of lessons for the twins after all their antics), in my view, SL Anansi actually HIT in all the right ways and felt more satisfying overall in comparison as Alya’s hero episode and ESPECIALLY in comparison to the Canon Anansi itself. 

It’s a good episode with a stable episode-centric arc, where the conflict starts with Alya NOT really being able to face down Nora alone and only manages to overpower Nora in an arm wrestling contest because her friends back her and take on Nora in a 4 on 1 match and overpower her together. This is highlighted later in the episode when Alya faces Nora alone to buy Marigold time and is shown to struggle. Then gets the power boost through the Turtle Miraculous that lets her effectively take her down save her. Cough. Yes. Just save her.

It’s a very empowering story for Alya. But it plays a bigger role than that, too. It’s not just the start of Alya being a hero, it’s also the point where she really starts to turn things around in terms of the overarching story of the comic.

This episode is the follow up to Sapotis, where the other characters are having a sleepover partly to look after the younger kids but also specifically to try and support Alya as she comes to terms with the realization that her hero is a fraud. Yes, Alya already knew that Scar was horrible by the time Anansi happened, but actually being a hero and having to work with Scar gives her an up close and personal look at how Scar treats the other heroes and how much—or rather little she actually does in a crisis.

It’s also the point where Alya seems to gain more confidence and also direct her reporting to a better end. And by the end of the episode, we really see Alya starting to use her skills to this purpose. This is when we get to see Alya actually BE the journalist she wanted to claim she was.

This? Right here? This goes to show that not only does Alya herself make a great hero, but that becoming a hero helped Alya improve herself as well. Which is something we should be seeing more of in such stories with teenagers gaining superpowers.

So all that being said, SL Alya succeeds where her Canon counterpart fails. The narrative points out when she’s wrong. She learns lessons. She is silly at times and acknowledged to be silly. But through it all, she retains the heart that makes her a good friend and the passion that shows her to be not only a journalist, but a HERO in the making.

[xiaozhan-appreciation]

A small review of “Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants”

— no spoilers —

Coming out of the cinema yesterday evening, I was thoroughly impressed by many things in this movie, but neither then nor now do I have much time to write down my thoughts. So this will be shorter than I'd like it to be.

A short context for my experience with the movie: I saw it in 2D, in its original language with subs in my native language. I have never read the books before nor seen any of the other adaptations featuring Guo Jing.

So, let's start!

Story & Structure

The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallant is based on the the chapters 34 to 40 of the novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong.

The movie therefore tells only a small part of Guo Jing's life and covers both martial arts fights as well as a love story. It's in a way quite archetypical and does not aim to re-ivent the wheel, but it is solid and entertaining, and keeps you wishing to know how the story ends. I have weak spot for dilemmas such as Guo Jing finds himself in, so I had a really good time with the movie.

In terms of structure, I will say that the movie's greatest difficulty is that it aims to tell only a part of a larger story while makeing everyone understand the context. And while I think the story certainly was understandable, I also think it was very fast paced and could have benefited from going a bit slower every now and then, or from streamlining a couple of story elements that are probably more important for the whole story but didn't have enough room to breathe in this movie. But that's the opinion of someone who hasn't read the novel, and book fans might have a different opinion on the matter.

Aside from that I think the story flows smoothly, never gets boring and reaches a satisfying conclusion.

Tone & Theme

Based on my limited experiences, the movie hits the well established tone of Hong Kong wuxia movies. It was unexpectedly funny at times, sometimes through subtle characterisations or mannerisms, sometimes through good editing, and I don't remember any point where the movie seemed to go for a joke that didn't land for me. In general the movie is more on the serious side though, with a couple of really great and epic moments that were awesome to watch on the big screen. Only in a few cases there a bit too moments involving the main antagonist that felt too cheesy but that's not the first time I've seen that kind of cheesyness in a wuxia movie.

The movie includes a couple of themes, but they are difficult to discuss without giving spoilers. Keeping it vague, I think my favourite aspect was exploring the idea of loyalty to one's own heart, to one's family – both your biological and adopted, and to the protection of the people. While the movie includes othere themes as well, this is the core of the movie in my opinion.

Cast & Characters

The movie benefits from a strong cast that make it really easy to like the characters.

Xiao Zhan as Guo Jing was obviously why I watched the movie in the first place, and he has fully met my expectations for this performance. The real dedication for this role is mostly noticeable in how well Xiao Zhan vanishes in the figure of Guo Jing. Guo Jing is a believable character through and through: a simple, innocent and kind young man who easily connect with people.

I was impressed particularly by the Guo Jing's fight scenes, which are prominent in several scenes and were simply flawless, and also by Xiao Zhan's dedication to learning the Mongolian speech. I didn't expect the dialogue to be what must have been at least 1/3 in Mongolian, so that must have been especially difficult as it's always the case when you film a movie in a language not your own. I have no idea how good his Mongolian actually is, but I can certainly hear that he speaks it with conviction. And I have learned the Mongolian word for "idiot", isn't it nice...? 😆 So, well done Xiao Zhan, and thank you for introducing me to Guo Jing!

Zhuang Dafei as Huang Rong and Zhang Wenxin as Hua Zheng were also really good. I was afraid that the rivalry between these two characters might get annoying somehow, but it was unexpectedly great to watch them together on screen. They had good chemistry with each other and also with Xiao Zhan's Guo Jing. Huang Rong is certainly the smartest of the the characters in the show but sucks at pretending or being dishonest, and Hua Zheng is quite emotional, strong willed, and also very dedicated. I love them both.

Baya'ertu as Genghis Khan is also worth mentioning. He portrayed both the loving father and the powerful leader of the Mongols very well, and his character was also well used within the story.

Similarly, I had no complaints for almost any of the cast or characters – they all did well and the characters worked within their story and setting. The only exception to this is the main antagonist, who for my taste was a bit too much of a mustache twirling evil power-hungry maniac. Villains don't have to be complex characters with expansive back stories, but if they need to offer something – and for me that wasn't realy there. Luckily the story doesn't need him for the emotional parts of the story, and the thematic conflict works perfectly without him as well.

Cinematography & Score

Last but not least: the cinematography is amazing and simply beautiful. I love all the wide shots, I love the fight choreography, the costumes and set designs, and I love the lightning and the sometimes unexpected tracking shots. I love how flawless the combination of actually filmed scenes and visual effects is, which is so smooth that I can't really tell where one stops and the other starts. I have maybe two or three short moments that don't work for me because they are senselessly dramatic or weird choreographed elements (looking at you, random horses and random bee nest 👀), and I don't think the side by side blending is a good idea, but outside of that I have no complaints and lots of praise instead.

As for the soundtrack – I'm lacking the time and the knowledge to do a proper review of it, so I'll just say that the music was also great, and especially the main theme was fittingly epic. I think the little bit of Mongolian rock or metal (?) was also a nice touch, and fits the atmosphere of the setting. It was a surprising choice, but a good one.

Conclusion

Tl;dr: I've enjoyed the movie a lot, and not just the moments involving Xiao Zhan. It's an entertaining movie, you can see the efforts that went into the production and it has a lot to offer, especially visually. It's not without flaws, but accomplishes most of what it (presumably) set out to do. For people who don't like wuxia films: this won't convince you to like them. For people who are open to this genre: I think you'll find a lot to like or even love about this story of Guo Jing.

[sparkleobserver]

Since you worked on an early version of karmageddon and did some partial work on Sparklecare do you have any advice to aspiring webcomic creators like myself? I’m not really good with writing or coming up with complex ideas

Hello!! Advice on webcomics and just in general… I think people have asked Kittycorn before and from looking over her blogs recently it feels like she kinda gave fucking nothingburger advice at times. So here's my advice, under the cut mainly just because it’s long. I will tag the main Sparklecare tag with this specifically because I know there are a lot of people who want to take elements of it for themselves and make their own things, too. :] Other than that, I've stopped using the main tag and won't be using it.

So, not even webcomic specific related at first:

Don’t be afraid to take inspiration! Don’t be afraid of seeming unoriginal! If there’s an element of something that you like, steal it! Obviously try not to do it 1:1 or whatever, but if you’re working on your own original story, chances are that it will end up different than its original inspiration anyway. 

To quote a common proverb: “There is nothing new under the sun.” 

People get super hung up on making something 100% original. You can’t! As harsh and blunt as that sounds. Don’t worry about it. As long as you aren’t maliciously lifting huge chunks of things, it’s okay.

Okay, so, another thing. Not every idea has to be super complex. If you want it to be, sure! But not every story has to be something sprawling or deep. Sometimes your ideas may not add up into something massive, and that’s alright! Even simpler stories can be very engaging! 

I do think, if you’re making something much more complex, it is probably helpful to try and work out at least some base things before you start. Some people can get away with coming up with things on the spot, generally I just don’t think it’s that easy for everybody. Having at least a skeleton structure of what you want to happen will be very useful.

Do not be afraid to get feedback from people on your ideas! Don’t be afraid to ask people, “do you think this makes sense”? Fanfiction writers tend to have beta readers, for example. I think it can help to have people you at least check ideas with now and then. Having fresh eyes helps so much with catching things you might miss otherwise.

Okay, so onto actual webcomic advice:

I mean first of all, I think the big overarching sentiment is that like.. do what you want, yeah. That's valid advice. Don't be afraid to make what it is you want to make within reason (gestures to KC), don't worry about an audience right away. The right people will find you eventually, although you should definitely consider what audience you’re aiming for and what boundaries may be needed ahead of time. Try to be patient, yeah? A lot of things don’t explode completely overnight.

BUT like. Kittycorn said squeak never expected Sparklecare to get so big or whatever. Not her fault, but I think there’s something to keep in mind with that. I really think it is important to be aware and remember that anything on the internet that's public can get popular or viral. like. At least mentally prepare yourself for the possibility. Especially because there’s a real chance that people will go against your wishes or interact when you don't want them to/create context you don’t want. This reminds me of anecdotes about Disney show creators getting shown porn of their stuff and being told “hey, this will happen” ahead of time.

This is all I really have right this second. I know damn well later today after I’ve already posted this, something will hit me that I haven’t said, haha. I may make a bigger post later on if I think of more to say, but for now, I hope this stuff is useful! And I wish you good luck and fun in your endeavors!

[the-golden-comet]

✨Writer Questionnaire Tag ✨

Thank you for the tags @wyked-ao3 here, and @thatuselesshuman here and @nczaversnick here. Y’all are great! 💛✨

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

I’ve had this blog since….end of April? Early May?

What led you to create it?

When I set up all my socials, I wanted to use this as a way to build a writing community, share my stories, and exploring and sharing the ideas of other likeminded individuals.

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

How kind and welcoming writeblr is. The community is supportive of everyone’s stories and OCs, and everyone has some wonderfully unique and fascinating characters.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

You are always. Always. ALWAYS welcome to tag me, message me, send asks, interact with me. I absolutely endorse the engagement and excitement in this community, and even though I may miss a few tags, just know that seeing you tag me to see your stories brings the biggest, goofiest smile on my face. Thank you for being you and sharing your creative minds with us 💛✨

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

Kindness, support, and creative stories. Keep writing, keep inspiring, keep on keeping on.

WIP it Good

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Your Wish Is My Command is my current WIP at about 75% complete. I have a little bit to share from Tenshito as well, but the latter will have to get majorly cut down and restructured before it’s ready ✨

How long have you been working on them?

Planning and ideas began a couple of years ago. Writing them down? For YWIMC since early May, and Tenshito since 2020 (took a hiatus to focus on work and big life stuff, like moving twice and getting married)

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

My love of storytelling, video games, and Disney. I wrote and published Peter Hart based off of a few of my favorite video games 🏴‍☠️💛✨

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

All the time. At least once a day, if not more. My stories help me get to sleep…when I eventually GET to sleep 😴💤

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

BL romantasy novels. It encompasses every person asking, and umbrellas many subgenres.

Let’s Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

Oof that’s a big list. Let me just do major protagonists/antagonists from stories: Peter, Benjamin, Davey, Ali, Noah, Tenshi, Itazura, Yoji, Tyr, Gustav, Jak, Johnny, Nathan, X, Ollie, and Callum

Who’s the most unhinged?

Peter 🏴‍☠️💛✨

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Peter 🏴‍☠️💛✨

Do you ever cringe at them?

Sometimes….depends on what they do. I never cringe at my stories, but sometimes my characters make choices that personally make me go “😬”

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

(Slowly looks over at Peter)

Peter: …..What?

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

Oh always!! ALWAYS!! Any method is absolutely fine and encouraged by me, but I ALWAYS love when people leave AO3 comments on my stories 💖💫✨

On writeblr engagement

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I scope out the content before I follow for sure. Because I write adult fiction, I look through posts to make sure that our interests would align, and that the blog mentions an age that is 18+. If I am ever uncertain or have a suspicion beyond a reasonable doubt that the blog is run by a minor, I won’t follow them (and unfollow if I get suspicious of their posts)

What makes you decide against following?

I use discretion on age, politics, and religion before following. Any homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise hateful conduct gets automatically blocked. The world needs more kindness and uplifting of one another. We need to bring each other up, not tear each other down.

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

I try to! Usually in the form of reblogs and ask games. My pile for work and tumblr keeps stacking though, so I find myself getting very busy very often (and that’s a good thing! ✨)

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

All the time, every time. To name a few mutuals: G.J, Jamie, Gioia, Casper, Tobin, Jay, Wyked, Gina, and Jev have characters that are my current hyperfixations. But there are SO, SO many that are so interesting that I want to learn more!! ✨

Thank you so much for tagging me, you two!! Going to alert the tag list on this one 💛✨

✨Tag list for writing snippets below. DM me if you’d like to be added 👇✨

Tag List for writing tidbits (lmk if you want + or -)

@jev-urisk , @sunglasses-in-the-bentley , @wyked-ao3 , @glasshouses-and-stones , @alinacapellabooks , @gioiaalbanoart , @fortunatetragedy , @deanwax , @dyrewrites , @honeybewrites , @paeliae-occasionally , @lychhiker-writes , @thatuselesshuman , @kaylinalexanderbooks , @katenewmanwrites , @zackprincebooks , @fantasy-things-and-such , @billybatsonmylove , @madi-konrad , @far-cry-from-finality , @froggy-pposto , @fractured-shield , @avaseofpeonies , @thecoolerlucky , @willtheweaver , @somethingclevermahogony , @noxxytocin , @leahnardo-da-veggie , @addicted2coke-theothercoke , @mysticstarlightduck , @the-letterbox-archives , @theink-stainedfolk , @ominous-feychild , @saturnine-saturneight , @words-after-midnight , @sableglass , @cowboybrunch , @moltenwrites , @pixies-love-envy , @davycoquette , @writeahurricane , @greenfinchwriter , @oliolioxenfreewrites , @lavender-gloom , @smellyrottentrees , @aintgonnatakethis , @thecomfywriter

[kitkatopinions]

Just saw the extended animatic that was originally meant to end V9 and is now gonna get repurposed into the (possible) V10.

Let me just say, I still feel the same about the things I saw in the first animatic. I can now firmly say that Qrow has been replaced with a doppleganger same as Blake (I wonder if it's like a partial possession thing in this case where sometimes it's Qrow and sometimes it's the faker.) I hate the dumb Winter scenes about how disappointed she is that poor people aren't nice enough to her billionaire blue blooded mother in her silly little sunhat. I have no idea what the hell Raven is doing there. The 'Remember Her Message' thing is stupid because of how poorly done Ruby's message to the world actually was and what little impact Team RWBYJNOR has actually had on the world at large. And I still want to see Whitley without Willow for three point five seconds. And I'm still wondering why the presence of an army in Atlas was a sign of pure evil and was immediately seen as a horrifying threat but seeing an army in Vacuo is meant to be a sign of peace and hope.

But also, now I have more to say.

Like first of all, I'm even more confused on how Remnant managed to pull off any sort of army now that we know what remained in Vale after the Fall of Beacon got decimated. Where are they getting their army? From Mistral, where we know Leo had all the Hunters killed? Are we meant to assume that the people that showed up from Mistral are the cops Blake called on the White Fang? Or, maybe from Argus, even though we're meant to hate Cordovin and the Atlas military that was there? Second of all, this makes me even more annoyed at Winter for being like 'if my poor martyr sister could see how badly we're doing, she'd be disappointed,' Winter get realistic goals challenge 2024. Third of all, Team SSSN and CFVY made appearances and if I ever have to see Coco "based on a nazi" Adel ever again, it'll be too soon, but I still insist that it should've been just Sun, Neptune, and Velvet because none of their other teammates got enough focus in the actual show to be real characters. They could've been casually name dropped off-handedly and it would've been fine. Speaking of teams making reappearances, Neon is there, which means she didn't die in the Fall of Atlas and likely her teammates didn't either, but they had better have a full explanation in V10 for how soldiers on the field got back to the city and threw the portals, and it's weird that we saw Neon but not Flynt. Also can I just point out that "the people who were colonized by Atlas are being aggressive to innocent Atlas orphans and need to be told off" is a writing choice the writers didn't have to do, and considering all the whole history with RWBY and bigotry, I don't know why they did that. Neon and Nora had a moment though, and I was like... Ship material? Also, Tyrian and Mercury are working with the Crown, but... To be honest, if they don't scrap that in V10 (if V10 ever comes,) I'm gonna question their decision making even more, because they just did a new location with a new villain and it proved that this late in the game it's hard to set up or properly execute new threats, and if V10 ever comes out, it's a high probability that we're not ever getting a V11. So if you ask me, if they don't cut out the Crown, they're either gonna badly execute these new bads because they expect their fans to do homework to understand the main show, or they're gonna spend way too much focus on establishing them and the Mains will get sidelined again. Merc looks like a mess, though, and this would make me think a redemption arc is a-coming except that they're pressed for time like I said, so I'm not counting on it. The fact that I have to see Peter Port of all characters is also making me want to say a lot of bad words. Like I cannot emphasize enough how much I hated seeing him and his stupid face and how much I wish he'd never existed. What is this choice to not have the serious potential mentor character who had been part of Oz's inner circle come in and instead having the comic relief teacher who blathered about testosterone and flirted with an underage student be the one to break what should be devastating news that should by all rights get a lot of focus? And where the heck is Tai in all of this? Rip to Oobleck, but out of everyone from the Vale seasons, I would not have picked either of these men to bring back, I'd have brought in Tai and Glynda. It's just a bad choice. And still no sign of Maria and Pietro, so like... What the heck?

All in all, I thought before that I couldn't have less hope for the future of RWBY, but whoa buddy this extended animatic proved me wrong.

[newdougsblog]

About That HTTYD Live-Action Adaptation...

Unsolicited opinion time!!! I have many thoughts on the new HTTYD live-action adaptation. I'll be nice and start with the good:

Some awesome people are returning to work on the project! Dean DeBlois, who was behind the first 3 movies, is returning to direct it and John Powell is returning to compose the score. Gerard Butler will be back as Stoick. I trust all of them.

This project will hopefully reignite the fandom and bring more attention to such an amazing franchise! I'm happy a new generation will learn about HTTYD and maybe even explore the books, original movies, and TV shows.

The nostalgic nerd in me was very excited to see many of the same environments recreated in live-action.

Age-appropriate casting!!! I frickin' love that!!!!!!

Ok now I'm about to be a bit of a hater:

Let's face it: This is a blatant money-grab. Sorry.

DeBlois has previously spoken about his dislike of live-action adaptations and how he wishes studios would instead spend money on original ideas. I was kinda sad to see him turn around and head a live-action adaptation of such a beloved franchise (here's the Variety article with his comments if you'd like to learn more: LINK). It felt a bit disingenuous to me.

I think live-action adaptations of animated movies should bring something new to the table. From what I've seen, the HTTYD live-action adaptation looks the exact same as the animated movie, frame-for-frame. I appreciate that they're being faithful to the source material, but if I want to see HTTYD, I'll just watch the original.

It's a little unfair to the actors to give them many of the same lines of dialogue or actions that were in the original (I could be wrong about this statement because I'm basing it on the limited footage we've seen). Lovers of the animated version, such as myself, will inevitably end up comparing the two. I grew up on the originals; regardless of how amazing these actors are, I'm probably not going to like their line delivery as much because it's not how I remember it. That absolutely isn't the fault of the actors. Their performances shouldn't be the same as voice-acting in the OG, because voice-acting and screen-acting are two very different mediums with very different demands.

Toothless is incredibly expressive, and the medium of animation was the perfect way to show that. While I think they did the best they could in rendering a live-action version of the character (honestly, they exceeded my expectations), it's still iffy. That isn't a knock on the amazing work of the VFX artists; I simply think it's impossible to properly render Toothless as a live-action character.

HTTYD is the first movie I remember seeing in theaters. I've seen 2 and 3 in theaters, watched all the TV shows, and read the books. I grew up on this franchise, and it's incredibly dear to me. As a result, I have some Big Feelings about the live-action adaptation. That being said, I'm not here to rain on anybody's parade. If you're excited about it, then that's awesome!!!

Ok, that's all I've got. Thank you for reading my silly little rambles if you've gotten this far! I'd love to hear your thoughts, as well.

[bamfkeeper]

Hey, so i have a few head canons for my oc, Cloudstrike, aka Ethan Grey (also, when I made him, I completely forgot Jean’s name is Jean Grey. Im sorry Jean 😭. So rn it’s just a coincidence, but maybe I’ll change it, or maybe make them distantly related? Idk this is my first oc anyways :p). I submitted him before for a different ask you did (I don’t expect you to remember that ofc tho lol), and he has wind powers, to be able to control wind, turn into a gaseous state, use some lightning, etc.. Also, since X-men ‘97 is what brought me into X-men, a lot of my ideas are based on that universe in the show. So anyways, here’s some head canons I have for him 😊

Sometimes, Ethan likes to turn himself into his gaseous stage and go into the vent system in the mansion, and be shot around the place like a roller coaster. He finds it to be a fun way to pass the time. 😊

Like how Bobby/Iceman can use his ice powers to chill drinks, Ethan can use his powers to chill or heat anything up (though he can’t chill anything quite as good as Bobby). So, the other X-men like to have him around during freezing days for him to be their portable hand warmer lol

He likes to play video games, especially competitive ones, so he hangs out and plays with Jubilee a lot, Roberto too sometimes, but since he’s more inexperienced, they won’t play as competitive of games as to not make Roberto feel as bad 🥺

He loves to cook, and to experiment with unique dishes, so he loves to get recipes from the other X-men; German recipes from Kurt, Cajun from Gambit, and several African recipes from Ororo. 🥘🥧

While Ethan has a bed and sometimes sleeps on it, he prefers to instead sleep while hovering in his gaseous form in his room. He finds the lack of pressure or gravity to be comforting

When he’s goofing around, he’ll sometimes give the person a small static blast (doesn’t hurt, just tingles), which is especially affective against Kurt and Hank because of their fur.

Since he has somewhat similar powers as Storm, she helps him in the danger room to train. They form a bond from their similarities, and even practice fun combos they could do in fights.

He has a small crush on Kurt (because who wouldn’t lol, plus Ethan’s bisexual), but he isn’t acting on anything yet. Though, he can’t help but blush whenever Kurt compliments him 💙

He would consider Jubilee to be his best friend. Also, they bond over being raised for adoption (I changed this one part of his backstory, to where he was abandoned by his original family for unknown reasons, but was adopted by this nice and caring human family who didn’t mind that he was a mutant). In XMTAS, she has foster parents too, so they bond over this. 🥰

He isn’t that keen on Logan atm, as he finds him to be kind of a jerk, but Kurt keeps telling Ethan that Logan is cool if you get to know him, so Ethan’s keeping an open mind. Though, he can’t help occasionally making some jokes at Logan’s expense with Scott.

Ethan has an interest for science and engineering, and sometimes likes to nerd out with Forge (whenever he’s around) and Hank sometimes.

Anyways, that’s my ramble for now. Again, he’s my first oc so I have some things I need to refine and expand on, but this is what I have so far. I’m not even skilled enough if an artist yet to draw what he exactly looks like. Also, I’m completely open to any critiques, ideas for improvement, or other fun ideas that I could incorporate! I hope you enjoyed my rambling 😊

Of course I remember Cloudstrike, I love him!

I think wind powers are super cool. And turning into a gas is super useful! I wish that more mutants who had elemental powers utilized this. I also love how he sleeps in this state for comfort, it makes sense! I love seeing domestic sides of ocs too.

I love his relationships you mentioned! Jubilee and Roberto is a cute trio with Ethan, and cooking with Kurt and Ororo? Sooo sweet.

The shock! Kurt and Hank puff up!! That's so cute. Like rubbing a balloon on them and watching it stick 😂

You know Kurt the flirt is gonna be complimenting Ethan. He'd be so fascinated with his powers and I think he'd ask him a ton of questions about them, especially about when Kurt teleports and he asks Ethan about his brimstone smoke cloud. Can he control it? Does it have a taste? A smell? A feeling?? So many questions.

HA I love how Ethan doesn't really like Logan, he can be kind of an ass at first.

I love all the relationships he has with the team, it really feels like he's part of the group! He's fleshed out really well, and the connections makes him feel more real. He's sweet! Thank you for sharing him with us 💙

[ts1m1kas]

Original Ask: how about kostas thinking his girlfriend forgot his birthday, literally everyone wished him a happy birthday but she didn't, and after training he comes back a little moody but finds a sweet cake baked with his girlfriend apologizing cause she wanted it to be surprise!! (@findingnemosworld)

Word Count: 1085 words

(author's note: thank you for the request my love !! i've been waiting desperately for a kostas request, so this one really inspired me 🫶)

Kostas woke up with a smile on his face. The sun shone through the curtains, illuminating the bedroom he shared with his girlfriend. However, today was extra special. It was his birthday. Kostas loved his birthday. He enjoyed nothing more than spending time with his family and the celebrations that came with the occasion. 

He picked up his phone from his bedside table and began to reply to the mass of birthday wishes. His instagram inbox was the most full. Fans from all over the world took time out of their day to wish him happy birthday. It warmed his heart to know that he was appreciated and supported by so many people.

Kostas turned on his side and gently pulled his girlfriend closer to him. He decided to wake her up by pressing soft kisses onto the skin of her neck. Eventually, Y/N woke up and laid her head on Kostas’ chest.

“Good morning, baby,” she whispered tiredly, “Did you sleep well?”

Kostas was confused. He had expected her to say happy birthday and press a kiss to his lips. He decided not to dwell on it and chalked it down to her early morning tiredness.

“Yes, I slept fine.” He replied, trying not to let his annoyance show.

“Are you sure, you seem irritated?”

“Yes. I’m sure. I need to get ready for training now.”

“Okay my love,” she replied, smiling up at him as he got out of bed.

Kostas just looked away, knowing the hurt would be written across his face. He moved over to the wardrobe to busy himself with getting dressed. Y/N watched him intently. She always said he looked his best in the morning.

Once he was ready to go, he said a brief goodbye to Y/N and left. As he drove to the training ground he mulled over the events of the morning. Surely she hadn’t forgotten his birthday? Y/N was never the type of person to forget important dates. She always remembered every detail about the people she held dear to her.

The drive was over before he knew it. Kostas pulled into a parking space, grabbed his training bag off of the backseat of his car and headed inside the building. 

The AXA training ground was one of Kostas’ favourite places to be. Football had been his passion since he was a small boy playing on the streets of Greece. He never in a million years thought he would be where he was now. The peaceful feeling overtook him as he made his way to the changing rooms.

Pushing open the door, Kostas walked in. “Hello birthday boy!” he heard Andrew cheer.

"Come on everyone, let's sing him a song!"

As his teammates began to sing happy birthday, he felt instantaneously better. At least they had remembered his birthday.

Meanwhile, Y/N felt awful. She knew it was Kostas’ birthday, but in order to surprise him she had to pretend she’d forgotten. She also had to pretend she didn’t see the wounded look on her boyfriend’s face as he came to the conclusion that she really hadn’t remembered his special day.

As soon as Kostas had left the house, Y/N jumped into action. She blew up balloons and littered them down the hallway. She stuck up banners in every room and hung up bunting on the doorways. Once she was satisfied with the decorations, she checked her phone.

Y/N had ordered a custom cake for Kostas from his favourite bakery. She meticulously planned the design before sending her ideas to the bakers. She had finally received the text that told her it was ready for collection.

Pulling on one of Kostas’ hoodies, she set off to the bakery. Once she had arrived, the workers brought the cake out for her to look at. It had a white icing base with blue detailing to reflect the flag of the country he had grown up in. Written on top of the cake was ‘Happy Birthday Kostas!’. Y/N paid for the cake and they packaged it up for her. After thanking them for their help, she began her walk home.

Kostas had just finished training. Luckily for him, the training session hadn’t been too gruelling and he wasn’t too sweaty. He changed out of his athletic gear and into the tracksuit he had arrived in. He then began his journey home.

Pulling into the driveway of his house, he exited the car, locked it and pulled out his house keys. He was still feeling sour from his morning, although the team had done a good job at cheering him up. Unlocking the door, his eyes widened when he saw the decorations. Y/N was sitting at the bottom of the staircase and upon seeing her boyfriend enter the house, jumped up and ran into his arms.

Kostas dropped his bags and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend’s middle. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and smiled down at her.

“Happy birthday handsome,” she said, looking up at him, reciprocating the smile he was directing at her.

"I knew you wouldn't forget."

“How could I forget one of the most special days of the year?”

This elicited a laugh from Kostas as he leant down to give his girlfriend a proper kiss. She smiled into the kiss and when they broke apart, grabbed his hand and began to lead him to the kitchen.

“I have another surprise for you.”

Once she had pulled Kostas into the kitchen, she motioned for him to stand in front of the box on their kitchen counter. Kostas looked up at her, giving her a look that read; should I open it? She nodded at him, urging him to continue.

Unwrapping the ribbon, Kostas pulled the lid of the box open and raked his eyes over the cake that lay inside. Looking up at his girlfriend and back down at the cake again, a warm feeling spread through his body. Kostas had never been so in love with anyone in his life.

He moved over and pulled Y/N into another hug. Once they pulled away, Kostas took a deep breath, “Thank you so much γλυκό κορίτσι. I love you.”

“I love you too, Kostas Tsimkas. I’d never forget your birthday.”

The pair then grabbed forks and sat at their dining table to eat the cake. The cake was not only a symbol of Kostas’ birthday, but a symbol of the love the couple shared.

[nthtotaldramasideblog]

Thoughts on Gender Bend AUs

I get so interested in genderswap/genderbend AUs because I like to see how different societal expectations would affect the original individual personality.

E.g. Ezekiel gets kicked out because he was a sheltered homeschool boy who said guys are stronger and smarter than girls. But what if the character was a girl called Eliza? The other girls on her team would be more sympathetic/putting towards her and might keep her on and Eliza could get a feminist-based character arc.

(Although you might argue she wouldn’t be allowed to be on the show if her parents were strict with their girls like that but ehhhhh).

It’s interesting both when the whole cast has been gender bent but also only when it’s only 1 or 2 people so you can see their interactions with some “canon” cast.

Another example, the different Duncney dynamics specifically on Total Drama Island (if everyone remains heterosexual):

Male!Duncan & Male!Courtney: Duncan’s bully behaviour that was directed at Harold would probably go to Courtney instead. They’re at each other’s throats a lot as Courtney tries to force into the position of being team leader.

Female!Duncan & Female!Courtney: A lot like Heather and Gwen rivalry to be honest. More of an ideological issue between the two than the pettiness between Heather and Gwen, but I think you get the idea.

Female!Duncan & Male!Courtney: Duncan, instead of being “I know you like me, you can kiss me if you want,” she’s more like “I know you like me, I’ve seen your type before. You like the fantasy of a ‘bad girl’ but don’t want to ‘stoop to my level’. Let me ease your fears. You’re cute, but not that cute. Find some girl from the chess club if you’re really desperate.”

I hope any of this makes sense.

I think part of why I hesitate to do any of these kinds of stories cuz I worry things will seem too OOC or I’m turning a character into a Mary Sue. But I really think there is some interesting stuff that can be done.

I can’t remember what it was called now but there was a genderbend Alenoah fic where it was mentioned Female!Owen was eliminated early cuz she did all the stuff that canon Owen did, fart, sleepwalk naked. And I liked how they included those differences in that universe. I wish I saw that kind of stuff more often.

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Heyyy, how are yaa <3 I've been following and keeping up with your blog for a while now and I think you depict each and every character so well, which seems to be a failing factor to a lot of good writers who unfortunately cannot understand characters in all angles. - basically saying I love and I'm glad to have found your blog ahah

So I wanted to ask you something; I'm also a writer, not in the fanfiction/character-writing realm. It's texts, reflections, poems and songs! And I wanted to know how you managed to pave your way through and build a strong base here on the website; basically how you came to be and tried to launch yourself! It's something I always wonder when checking out other popular blogs.

Thank you!! Have a great one <3

HELLO MY DEARHEART! Thank you so much for this uplifting message! It seriously means a ton. It is so, SO important to me to keep all the characters true to themselves so I very much appreciate your feedback <3 I'm so glad you found me too! I actually have a post about this on what was/is my original fanfiction blog here ( @supernaturalfreewill ) which has an even more obscene number of followers than this one does haha because I used to get asked this ALL THE TIME. The post has some thoughts which may or may not be relevant/useful to you.

I think the main things to remember are: 1.) You should be doing this purely for yourself, not to hit some follower goal or some particular benchmark. If you don't enjoy it and you set certain expectations the work suffers and it can be very disheartening if you aren't hitting those goals when or how you wanted to. It's funny how when what you are doing is fulfilling to you, people are attracted to it! If you write what you love, it shows. And putting in the time to edit and reread and practice your craft makes a difference. 2.) Being consistent in multiple ways is important. Posting every single day feeds the stupid algorithm and gets eyes on your work and keeps people coming back for more. Producing a consistent kind of content makes people more likely to follow because they know what to expect from you. At the minimum, make it clear what your blog or site is going to have. I know for myself on Tumblr, I rarely follow blogs that are a mishmash of many topics or things because I like to know what I can expect to see on my dashboard. I follow blogs with a clear "theme" and I definitely have seen it work in terms of building my own following. It's why I have separate blogs for my different fandoms and didn't incorporate them into a multi-fandom blog. (But everyone has different tastes and I'm definitely not saying you can't be successful as a random blog or multi-fandom blog lol but you get what I'm saying!)

3.) Cultivate your "brand" and also be you! Putting yourself out there and being authentic also seems to attract people.

In terms of what I did here on Tumblr, it's literally just those things above. I was already doing the writing for myself and then thought "Hey, maybe other people would enjoy this?" and started posting consistently and frequently. I can honestly say at least when I started posting my Supernatural fics MANY moons ago, I NEVER expected it to take off the way it did. But once I got started, I just kept going as long as I enjoyed it. The idea is the same here on this blog. I try to post at least a drabble almost every day, I frequently interact with my followers, and I write what I love.

I hope this is at least a little what you were asking about haha and I wish you all the best inspiration as a fellow writer! <3 I'm glad you're here.

[roguetelepaths]

sparrow roguetelepaths — ey/em or they/them - read my DS9 postcanon fic where Odo adopts a Vorta daughter

used to be enbygesserit, follows from helplessnessxblues

old enough to remember when neopets breakfast cereal was a thing

aroace to a terrifying degree. not the cool kind that writes smut and passes out water bottles at the orgy, either. sorry

intersex (nCAH) (diagnosed professionally at 15) and currently working through medical trauma and neglect related to that

no gender we die like [tv static]

psychospiritually nonhuman, but I don't talk about it here — DM me if you want to know where I do

vaguely anarchist & emphatically against all forms of punishment as foundations for interpersonal relationships

on bluesky! @justiceforlyta.bsky.social

I also have a more serious™ blog off of tumblr, you can find it here

psychiatric survivor and ex-patient. madpunk, psychpunk, neurodivergent in the original radical anti-pathologization meaning of the term. the social model isn't ableist you guys are just willfully misinterpreting it

on team "believe others about their subjective experiences". yes, this includes that subjective experience you're about to send me anon hate telling me is absolutely just kids roleplaying for attention. wishing medicalists of all kinds a very merry go fuck yourselves. yes this includes sysmeds, what part of believe others about their subjective experiences don't you understand

my stance on proship/anti discourse can be summed up as "fiction may not literally be reality but it also can't be separated from the context of reality and it's good to foster an environment where that context can be openly talked about" and "freedom of fiction doesn't really exist without freedom of response" and "dislike and disgust are not indicators of morality but they also shouldn't be ignored or repressed, especially since they can teach you useful things about yourself" and "criticize ideas and works, not people" — some people call this neutralship but I've been known to describe myself as a pro-disliker or a pro-critic. that being said if I see you shipping weyoun and odo in a romantic/sexual way I will block you so hard and fast that your ancestors will feel it. same goes with snowbaird. I am a tolerant person but I do not want those things in my space

other important stances: occupied peoples have the right to armed resistance. the pandemic never ended, we just all stopped talking about it. all trans people face unique oppression based on their identity and positionality within society, and all trans people have common struggles.

update to unreality tag policy: I will be tagging things that usually get tagged as unreality as #surrealism going forward. this is a compromise to respect both my personal belief in the multilayered nature of reality and the needs of vulnerable people to be protected from content that doesn't align with shared reality. please block #surrealism if you have #unreality blocked.

fandoms you can expect to see (I care about themes and analysis over shipping, and when I do ship, it's always an extension of the themes I want to explore, so be prepared for me to be a pretentious piece of shit about all of these):

DS9 (especially the Dominion) (I have a discord server for this)

Babylon 5 (mostly telepaths but not exclusively. NOT a psi corps apologist in any way, just a season 5 telepath commune arc liker, which is almost as bad to some)

Dune

Severance

The Hunger Games & related media

Cult of the Lamb

non-media interests (may or may not post about these, honestly, it's anyone's guess, but feel free to tag me in these):

fucked up unethical pseudoscientific social experiments, the more fucked up unethical and pseudoscientific the better

relationship anarchy

aroace, trans, and intersex issues

disability rights, psychiatry criticism, and cognitive liberty

community building

apartment solarpunk

Scouting and related youth organizations

worldbuilding and writing advice

Heathenry and Norse mythology (though that's more likely to go on @heathen-starspawn)

[finalfantasythoughts]

FFXV Thoughts - Development and Evolution

FFXV is one of my favorite entries in the franchise, in my personal top 3/5 (controversial though that may be). However, it's no secret that the game had a development riddled with problems and the result is felt in various aspects of the game. This also ties to why people prefer the "game" (at least the very limited parts we saw) when it was still Versus XIII or just under Nomura's direction. I wanted to look at some of the issues with the game as well as point out how certain elements from the old trailers translated into the final game, even though certain people try to make it out that XV and VsXIII share nothing but a few locations and characters because the final product didn't align with what they thought the game would be. I'm not going to mention combat really because while a bit oversimplified, I still enjoyed it (my biggest gripe is how awkwardly magic was handled). I know I'm beating a dead horse and some people are over the whole situation, but I had a lot of thoughts and wanted to share them as somebody who played XV years later so I had no expectations for a game that despite being shown off over many years, didn't necessarily reveal much. This will contain spoilers for the whole of XV so here's your warning.

I'll start by saying that one of the biggest losses for me personally was the change of the opening the game in Insomnia through the invasion to Kingsglaive. I see why they made the film and I enjoyed it while watching it, but I do wish we could've played it, as that was pivotal to the story and old trailers suggest it was planned to have a lot of introductions there, both character and plot-wise. Not to mention I'm just not very attached to Nyx and the movie original characters. Noctis' Japanese voice actor even revealed that about half of the original script took place here, which makes sense that it'd be dialogue heavy due to character/plot/world introductions, tutorials, early boss fights, etc. (correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe FF7 OG's script spends something like 30% in just Midgar, for comparison). My other biggest loss is the idea that we may have been able to interact more with Tenebrae at some point (a "leak" claimed it would be akin to a dungeon, but who knows).

I do think it's exaggerated how much changed though, at least from a view of the major story beats. Certain things got recontextualized (Kingsglaive being the largest example), but I think more survived than people think. They even used Nojima's original script as the base of the final game. There are many posts that show all the parallels and references to the old trailers, though they are spread to the game, DLC, anime and movie. It also seems that even a lot of Fabula Nova Crystallis elements were preserved, just using different names and replacing the FNC gods with the Astrals. Some of it, like the "eyes that see the light of expiring souls" (most likely a take on the concept of the Eyes of Etro) seem to have been cut, though Noct and Luna are still chosen ones by the gods, and possibly had near-death moments (Noct in the anime, scene with Luna being abused that was cut). Another plot that seems to involve sleep (rumored to be a dream world or somewhere Noct would dream of dead loved ones, something I believe connects to Hamlet if I remember correctly) was seemingly cut, though there are loose moments where Noctis sleeps/dreams (Luna's death, in the crystal with Bahamut, platinum demo, dreams of the Omen trailer aka why Regis sent him away, etc.). I do agree that the final version was in need of presenting itself better; fleshing out characters, events, and locations would have been beneficial for the story. Instead the guys were taken out of infiltrations and big moments regarding the empire which was somewhat disappointing, as the old trailers and interviews made it seem that they would be consistently involved in the politics/war.

At a time, the keyword of Versus XIII was apparently 'misery' and this was appropriate for all the characters. I would say this is still the case; after the fall of Insomnia, Eos is thrown into chaos and each character suffers. Noct is forced to come to terms with his position, destiny, etc. while trying to process the death of his father (and eventually Luna), destruction of his city, etc. Ignis has to worry about Noct and sees a vision of his death in his DLC, as well as going blind which brings into question his value to combat. Prompto has his birth exposed which throws him off psychologically, killing Verstael, not to mention that he was already self conscious and unsure about being part of the group. Gladio (admittedly isn't as intense as the others) has to worry about Iris post-invasion, his pride being wounded easily by Ravus, and feeling unsatisfied with Noct's shift into king. Other characters like Ravus, Luna, Regis, etc. also go through 'misery' throughout the battles with the Empire. The bleak world described in early interviews is still present, especially after the Starscrourge continues to spread and nights get longer, aided by the empire's manufacturing of daemons and invasions of prominent territories (remember in the World of Ruin section they say Lestallum in nearly the only safe place left in Eos). Nomura also stated that despite this being the main theme, it would still be balanced so as to not make the game feel oversaturated with sad scenes and be unpleasant, which I think is present in the final game. I see people expecting essentially no humor or things that are present in every FF, and personally I don't believe XV under Nomura would've done away with some of these things. In my opinion, this game was going to be okay with getting darker, but I also think people blow out of proportion/had the wrong expectations about how far it'd go.

Another argument I see a lot is that the final version of Noctis is completely changed from the original version, which I don't really agree with. Early trailers with the more brooding, cold and overpowered Noct seem mostly (if not entirely) conceptual, not to mention that Nomura specifically said not to let the trailers fool you into thinking these were good descriptors for his personality and that presenting him this way was a conscious decision (probably because it looks cool if we're being honest). In later trailers, we hear Noct speak and he sounds pretty "shounen" (not a bad thing) and his conversation with Stella also paints him as shy but fairly friendly. Now I think the final game version made some changes and shifted his arc to be more about responsibility than revenge (which is what people seemed to predict his arc would be from the old trailers), but again, I think more was preserved than people give credit for.

Then there's the Stella vs Luna debate. This has always fascinated me because even though the interaction between Noctis and Stella is nice (and I wish we'd gotten something similar with Luna), we know virtually nothing about Stella. In fact, it seems between initial planning stages and the 2013 trailer (aka Stella's last appearance), her role had changed. Storyboards show her seemingly as a childhood friend to Noctis like Luna. It's possible they met but didn't know who each other were and would still "meet" for the first time at the party in Insomnia, but I believe Nomura also said that he didn't really like Stella's character when he made her and that she had grown into one that the he liked over time (including when scenarios would've been finished). Between that and the fact that there was no mention of the Stella vs Noctis fight for years before her replacement, it really seems like once the scenario was more developed, her role had changed. I actually like Luna's character as well, she just happens to be in the camp of characters who didn't have their story presented very well. Looking at the XV media, her story is interesting; she essentially is a hostage to the empire and has a fated role forced on her, which she grows into and accepts. From what we see she's determined and capable, yet also reckless at times, and it's a shame we didn't really get to know her because she was interesting in her own right (and while she was a "strong" female lead, I do think the devs overhyped this fact for how little we end up seeing her and how many lines of hers were devoted to Noctis).

People also complain a lot about the Noctis and Luna romance (and some believe there would be better romance with Stella, but I'm pretty sure Nomura said they wouldn't be romantic). To me, the romance was more so born out of Noctis and Luna's high mutual respect for one another combined with cherished childhood memories. Both of their lives changed after Tenebrae was invaded; Noctis was growing up and learning more about his role to someday be king and Luna was a tool of the empire, replaced her late mother as oracle, and was growing physically weaker due to communicating with the gods (not to mention the scenes of abuse that were cut). The fact that Noctis and Luna desired to be around each other always made sense to me and their relationship was tragic in the way of something that's always out of reach, but I feel like the marketing/a couple scenes made it seem like more of a true love story like other FF games which wasn't really the case.

Another point of contention is specifically derived from the 2013 E3 trailer where it was publicly announced Versus would be XV. That trailer featured a lot of crazy set pieces moving through buildings and the moment leading up to Leviathan that lead people to lament those sections of the game for not looking as it did here. The problem is that those seem to be mock up "target goal" looking sections that seem to demonstrate the level of spectacle the engine could create but no guarantee that it would run properly on PS4. People also complain about the Altissia map size being so much smaller in the actual game, but it's possible that all that map in the trailer would only be "explored" in the scripted event we saw.

World of the Versus Epic is another interesting thing that everybody seems to run with as proof that XV was to be a trilogy. Yes Nomura seemed to hint that XV would not be a standalone title (then not long after said nothing was confirmed), but there are so many possibilities. It could've been more like the VII Compilation with spin-off prequel/sequel games or movies or anime specials, etc. I feel like XV was not going to be structured like the VII Remake, and if it were to get full blown sequels, would be more like KH or X-2, XIII-2, etc. especially since Versus XIII's script was completed in 2010 for a single PS3 title (unless the script got significantly longer). If anything, this "epic" could've been a way to continue using XV's assets to carry fans over until Remake and XVI (I believe Roberto Ferrari said that Versus at one point had a tentative date for release in 2014). The only other point is that Noctis' VA said there were "three times as many scenarios" and so some got cut. Now every game seems to have cut scenarios, and given the fact that FFXV has a shorter runtime than the majority of FF games for main story, the only way I could see a trilogy is if they were all relatively short games. But even then, considering the amount of characters and areas that could've been fleshed out more (not to mention all the script that changed for Kingsglaive), many of the cut scenarios probably could've fit in the game had the team had more time/focused less on the open world.

One other thing that I wish had carried over more was the FMV/CG cutscenes and some of the art direction of the older versions that gave the game a bit more of a grandiose feeling, not that I dislike the final's more grounded take. I have a feeling that the lack of these might come from shifting resources to companion media and the fact that they added different costumes, but I loved the aesthetic and feeling these scenes added to the trailers. The older direction also leaned into a more "Shakespearian" vibe. Those elements are still very prevalent in the final version (there's many posts that explain the Hamlet inspiration), but I think some of the scenes that only appeared in trailers gave the game a bit more of a "dreamy" and tense, mysterious atmosphere that I wished would've been pulled from more. Not to mention the trailers always showed intense fights (Stella and Ravus one-on-one's, Noctis and soldiers, empire and Regis, etc.) which didn't get the same focus in the final game.

Finally, there's the theory that KH4 or a possible game based on the Verum Rex commercial from KH3 will be the "true" Versus. Personally, from what we've seen so far it seems like Nomura is using KH as a space to use some concepts that didn't carry over to XV, specifically things like having an open city space, some of the art direction and some aspects of combat. As I've said, I think the XV universe preserved more of the story than some people think, so between that and the fact that KH is it's own universe that doesn't really use some FF things (empires, FNC lore, etc.), I think he's just entertaining some of the things he still wanted to do something with while also possibly taking shots at XV and SE. Could be wrong once more is revealed, but that's how it appears to me.

Anyway, this has gotten incredibly long so thanks for reading if you got this far! To be clear, I really do love XV but some fleshing out of concepts would've done it good. I'll probably make more posts on elements of XV and how they relate to old concepts/FNC etc. so stick around if you're interested in that at all (as well as posts about other FF games, just in a XV mindset since I recently replayed).

Here are some of the links with good amounts of info in one place, if my info seems incorrect or anything, I apologize

[souurcitrus]

Iceman Origins

May I share part of a fic I was writing telling the origins of the Original Five in my own marvel universe? Based in "X-Men Origins: Iceman". The fic was supposed to focus more in Iceman, so it started with him and it would be tied with the rest of the Five as they are recruited.

(This story mentions others heroes, but they're not as important, just background)

Children of the Atom - Chapter 1

May 5, 1987

Bobby remembers the first time he did something wrong. He was only ten years old, or had just turned.

Mom and Dad had let him spend the whole day in the pool! It was so cool, he spent hours diving, climbing the trampoline or hanging from the tire tied to the tree in the backyard, swinging back and forth before jumping into the water again.

It was a warm day, almost late spring, but still warm. Bobby always hated hot days. Not that they weren't pleasant, but there was something that made him hate them. The pool had been a lovely idea. His father was in charge of making hamburgers for them, while his mother prepared the cake.

And Bobby had been left alone in the pool. Floating in the water, arms and legs spread, blond hair sticking to his face and mouth, he saw his hands crinkle and laughed softly. He wasn't ready to get out of the water yet, even though the sun above him was threatening to fry him alive.

He laughed and defied the heat. He wasn't going to leave.

Mom was singing in the kitchen, calling him to come in and get the burgers that would soon get cold. He didn't want to leave. The sun seemed to get hotter and even in the water, he knew he would get burns. If only it were cold, he thought. Just a little.

He hates the heat, he misses winter. He wishes, he thinks, that it would be nice to be able to have winter.

When Mom calls once more, he stands, his fingers barely touching the bottom of the pool and he huffs, covering his face with his arm as he fights the physics of the water to get to the edge. But he can't.

Before he can get to the edge, Bobby feels the heat disappear, the water begins to cool frighteningly fast. He looks down and almost screams in amazement. Ice, he knows it is ice, appears around his waist, his hands, the transparent and icy layer grows and grows, taking over all the water.

He doesn't want to scream, doesn't want to scare his parents, so he starts moving to get out of the water, mind in panic, moving his arms to get rid of the ice that sticks to his skin. He tries and tries, but the next thing he knows, he's trapped, completely encased in ice.

Strangely, he doesn't feel cold.

"Mommy!" He calls. His mother is standing in the doorway, looking at him with big eyes and a face as white as a ghost. "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"

When Mom and Dad get over the shock and manage to get it out of the pool - using a hammer and a pick, in a hurry so no one can see - the ice doesn't disappear, even in the hot sun. However, when Bobby looks out the window at night, the water is normal.

Mom wraps him in sheets and hugs him, but he doesn't feel cold.

"The first thing you have to understand is that you did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing." His father speaks, hands on his hips, his back turned to his son. "It was just an accident."

Bobby doesn't respond. He is more concerned about the tone of disappointment coming from William. Mom runs her fingers through his blonde hair and he still doesn't look at her.

None of them seem as shocked or scared as he expected. Bobby sane knows exactly what he expected, but it certainly wasn't that... the melancholic way his mother looks at him, and the way his father continues to face the window.

"We heard in the news about people like you, son."

"Like me?" He asks with his eyes on the carpet.

"People that can do... different things. They're special." Madeline says carefully, sounding almost as disappointed as her husband. Bobby slowly turns to face her.

"Is something wrong with me?" He asks, and his father finally turns to sit next to him, on the edge of the bed, still a little too far away. "Say, Daddy. Is something wrong with me?"

William Drake shakes his head with a sigh. Exchanging a look with his wife, he puts his hand on his son's shoulder.

"The news calls them different things. Lately there's been news about different people appearing. They call them mutants."

"Mutants." Bobby repeats, as if testing the word. He thinks for a while.

He's certainly heard about these people, about these fascinating stories that have been unfolding over the last few years, most of them seeming too impossible to be real, some old, some not. About creatures that change shape and take the place of people, about giant green creatures, monsters.

He closes his eyes and thinks. What does this mean for him. Why him?

Mom and Dad are very calm, almost sad, he can't tell. But the way Mom looks at him is very different from the way she looked at him that morning when she wished him a happy birthday, the way she hugs him, as if... as if she's keeping him close for fear of losing him.

Bobby is ten years old, he never did anything strange or out of the ordinary, he was a good child, the best you could ask for. And suddenly, sitting between his parents on his ruined birthday, he feels out of place. An intruder.

He turns to William with sad, pleading eyes and asks in a whisper. "Is that a bad thing?"

It's Mom who responds, a little desperate. She puts her hands on his shoulders and pulls him closer.

"No, no! But if you are – a mutant, I mean – there's nothing wrong. We love you." She smiles and kisses his forehead.

Bobby doesn't know why, but he wishes she would stop doing this. He doesn't want her to act like he's leaving, like she's losing him. Why does she keep talking like that?

"But..." Dad continues, still holding his shoulder firmly. Looking more serious now. "That means you'll have to be careful, son. For the rest of your life."

***********

Strange things continued to occur over the next few months after Bobby's mutation emerged. That's what he is. He began to understand. He is a mutant.

Mom and Dad knew, they always knew. They didn't want him to know more, they didn't want him to use his abilities, talk or ask about it.

They wanted their son to forget about the pool accident and pretend everything was normal. But Bobby wouldn't. Why would he do that?

Things started to change very quickly. The first sign of this would be just a few weeks after Bobby's birthday. If the appearance of green monsters wasn't enough of a sign, this would be. Bobby had heard the news, he kept an eye out after his birthday, looking for any sign of anything "weird" or out of the ordinary, as Dad called it.

They called him Iron Man. The media had gone crazy after his first appearance, and so had Bobby. It was such an incredible thing. For weeks, he followed every report, every newspaper, radio or gossip. Of course, it was everywhere.

First was Stark's kidnapping at the beginning of the year. He left everyone worried. Of course, a super rich and famous guy being unexpectedly kidnapped during another one of his business trips would catch everyone's attention. The world seemed to stop while Stark was missing.

Bobby didn't really care. There were more important things going on in the world and he had no interest in waiting for Stark to be rescued or found. His parents, at least, were as engaged in the news as everyone in his town.

Bobby couldn't help but roll his eyes at his mother's worried sighs during the three months Stark was missing. Then he returned, and Bobby still couldn't care about it. Not even a little.

He thought the world would continue in its normal cycle from then on. Back to the boring and ordinary it always was. Until the news began to change, no one could keep it hidden for long. First it was the Hulk, then it was Iron Man.

It was yet another sign to Bobby that things were going to change. The inner world was watching them, these wonderful new things happening.

At least, that's what Bobby believed they were.

He started training. Every night when Mom and Dad went to bed, he would jump out the window, hang from the tree next to his room, and run into the yard. It took a while, but little by little he learned how his mutation worked. It was harder when it was hot and there wasn't enough moisture for him.

So he trained near the pool. At night, hiding under the high fence so that none of the neighbors would see him. He doesn't know what's worse: that they could see him using his mutation and report him, or how his parents would react if someone found out.

Things were escalating. Not only was Stark in the newspapers, flying over buildings and saving lives in his red and yellow armor. There was also other news about those the public came to call "superhumans". The Hawkeye guy showing on the local newspaper, images of the "Hulk" leaking around, the Wasp and Ant-Man duo changing size, news of people with special abilities.

Mom and Dad got worse every day too. Bobby saw the looks of astonishment on their faces as he sat in front of the TV. Not exactly hate, but fear and despair. He didn't understand how they could be afraid of this, of these new "heroes" emerging. They were not the first.

Bobby had heard the stories of the first heroes, all those years ago, before all these mutants even started showing in the news. Torch, Toro, Captain America, Blue Marvel and everyone else. Why did things have to be different now? What changes? Were they not amazing, just like Bobby is? Why is it different with him?

When the Fantastic Four faced Doom in New York, it felt like the world had entered a new era and couldn't stop now. Not all "supers" are good. Like Doom, there were those who caused chaos out there. Bobby's parents were afraid of them, and consequently of everyone.

He knew it was stupid, but what could he do?

Fort Washington is a nice and safe place. However, even there, Bobby feels that things are becoming more tense, more dangerous. As if the time for small gestures was running out.

He wonders about other “special” people like him. The others called mutants. How many of them are there. And where? Living lives of fear and silent desperation?

He tells himself he's not like them, the ones in the news. He tells himself he's not a freak, or pathetic. He is normal. That's what his parents say every day.

[bestgirlinc]

Kingdom Hearts Review

After long last I am back with another review! This time with a review of Kingdom Hearts 1! Kingdom hearts is one hell of a large series. the game back in the day was marketed as a Crossover between Final Fantasy and Disney. An odd mix to be sure, but it sure intrigued my Disney loving, Final Fantasy loving ass as a kid. I remember playing this game over and over again as a kid. That is to say that I'll be honest that while I will attempt to be critical of it, I am not perfect and I am sure bias will peek through.

Gameplay: The gameplay of KH1 is definitely not as good as KH2 or 3. That's not that controversial to say of course. The series WILL get better over time as they explore and expand the gameplay. That said the gameplay is definitely good. The game is a simple action adventure rpg. It has elements of a platformer here and then but mostly just action adventure, with a heaping helping of hack and slash. The gameplay is pretty simple and even on the hardest difficulty isn't hard to understand or get over. I'll say the biggest criticism I have is of the game having such drastic effects on the game such as how fast you level or what moves you learn at all being behind quiz answers and such that at the time you'd never know and even now only if you do research is a very bad idea. It makes the game very annoying and punishing for those that want to go in blind. That is a VERY bad idea that I do not like at all. But IF you have help with that, then you are golden. The game is good, not great, gameplay wise.

Sound: The music in most of the levels is simple. Lots of KH music in the Disney levels are kind of mindless. Mostly just ideas taken straight out of the movies the levels are based on. Halloween town has the "This is Halloween" for example as the easiest choice of "yeah that's what I expected" choices. That said in THIS game most of the songs are BASED on the movies and not actually just the straight songs. But the music is still very much BASED on the music there and blends in a lot in my opinion. Tarzan and Peter Pan being the best levels in the game for music in my opinion. I think the music while very much of the movie it is based on is still rather nice. That said the big stand outs are the songs made for the original levels. Hollow Bastion's level having the best in the game to me as the music is intense and grand. It fits the concept of this being Maleficent's castle. This is where the greatest evils in Disney and the KH universe as a whole call home! It also makes you feel like "Yeah, I hit the final stretch of the game. Things are moving to the finish line now!" For that and much more the game's music STILL is something I'd consider good. Just don't expect top tier music from the Disney levels.

Story & Characters: We've reached the category that non KH fans dread: The STORY! So allow me to explain the complicated plot. A kid gets a giant key weapon. The kid fights Disney and FF characters with Donald Duck and Goofy to help his friends and saves the world from a guy who wants to conquer all worlds. Like I could go into unnecessary detail on the plot to make it seem more complicated but it really isn't that complicated. The worst of it is that the keyblade weapon Sora, our protagonist, uses sort of has a mind of its own. But that's sorta common for magic weapons in fantasy media. Really KH1 is very accessible for newcomers (obviously). You wanna play KH1? Don't do chronological order, just start here. The story overall is good, well written and hits the right beats. The Disney levels mostly are original plots that service the overall story too. So yeah, overall good.

Extra Segment, Is it worth it?: Why this segment? Because I played this game on the HARDEST difficulty after being bullied to do so. Now I wish to truly show my thoughts on Proud difficulty. Is it worth playing? No, not really. Like, it's not THAT hard. But not really worth it either. Just play it if normal difficulty is too easy for you. So yeah, no, I don't think it's worth it. I'll probably play on normal mode if I go back to it again. That way I can relax and not die over and over again. Don't get me wrong though I did nearly everything in this game on hardest difficulty. Only didn't do the synthesis and Gummi missions.

Final Thoughts: Kingdom Hearts 1 is a whimsical game that is easy to see how it became such a big thing that Sora being in Smash was the most requested character ever. It's fun and actiony and has a little something for everyone. I don't have much left to add except yeah, if ANY of these things intrigue you, go give it a shot. The game is dirt cheap nowadays.