#i'm still really just working on my original story

[sparrowlucero]

i enjoy ur bird abode thoughts! I was a genuine enjoyer of the show when it was airing, I’m no die hard fan though and love to see ppls personal takes on the overall story/plot. Im curious if you also would agree or have any thoughts on the impacts The Mouse’s cancellation had on the shows ability to be more than it was? srry im not super eloquent with my words, but basically ur response to that ask got me wondering if part of the reason the show like genuinely wasnt all that ground breaking or unique in the end plot wise (other than the villain faces consequences in the end ig) as far as YA/Teen animation goes, was because of The Mouse’s inability to let the writers flesh out the show before gutting it? i have a negative bias toward The Mouse franchise and obviously dont know anything about how writing a show under the eyes of a franchise that big would work, its just smth that rattles around in my head and wanna know what u think!

Well to an extent, but I think it's much more the effect the studio had on how the owl house started out as rather than it not getting a full season at the end - It didn't escape my noticed that the show was initially announced as being a "horror comedy" when it doesn't really seem like either, especially by the second season, and yeah, the original pitch bible is obviously aiming for that much more than the show proper is as it goes along (and is honestly seems quite a bit more funny, weird, and dark, with an overarching plotline about a giant bug being used to religiously suppress people, eda able to cure her curse by killing luz, and one of the major characters being a teen boy awoken from a sleeping curse who ends up being a weird little bigot because he's from the 13th century, among other things)

(side note, i just noticed they actually specifically describe the thing i assumed the show was gonna be about here. huh.) but ultimately the bulk of the show that was actually made seems very influenced by a writing team that was genuinely interested in making a tropey YA fantasy story rather than just being mandated to. I mean even in what aired you can see the show sort of settle in ways that feel less like studio interference and more like, you know, art students creating their ideal fantasy show, like how King is clearly Eda's roommate who's funny because he looks like and sounds like a little dog despite being an adult man at the beginning but by the end they've made him her adopted sad backstory son who's explicitly a child. While I think a third season would have made the show as it existed better, because they clearly didn't get to finish the plot they wanted to (frankly to the point where some major aspects of the show are a bit confusing, I'm still not sure what a grimwalker is), I don't really fault the show for that but also don't think that hypothetical season (which pretty clearly would have been mostly about the magic school teens going to normal school) would suddenly flip around into something that I personally found interesting and subversive. Nor should it, really; again, it being Queernorm Harry Potter thing is clearly the intended appeal of the show, it's not really a flaw but just not a genre I'm personally interested in when compared to what I initially expected the show to be.

HOWEVER I will say they robbed little weird girls of their representation and that can't be forgiven

[thatshadowcomic]

Sonadow fan child mega dump

Still working on the ideas, still not 100% sold on a name... Im trying to picture Sonic and Shadow's playful banter on kids names, making fun of each other's suggestions.

Naming:

I originally thought Sky or Star or even "Terra" which is Earths name. You guys gave a lot of really good ideas, too, thank you so much!!Sunny is cute, too and Rouge calls Shadow "sunshine" a lot. Maybe something to do with water or planetary stuff, given Shadow would have looked out of the ARK with Maria a lot.

I even thought about "beauty and the beast", naming her bell relating to how Bell was "like maria" or rather, the concept of clarity bells and chimes and the sound/mysticism of bells in history as spiritually healing.

Plus it's funny to think of her being like Sonic and pulling a "DING! times up!" and destroying Eggman's future projects.

"Beauty and the beast?? Isnt Maria your sister--" "I won't entertain your crude humor. Bell accepted the beast for who he was, not what he was called or what he looked to be. Despite what she was told about him, she wanted to offer him a chance to be happy. A chance we all deserve... Regardless how it ends, the beauty of that story, at least to me, is not the romance, it's about love. Love isn't strictly romantic. She saw his heart and showed it to him, and he learned that the world might label you, but it's you who decides to accept or deny that label." "Heh, you should start a podcast-- call it stuck in a PODcast :)" "I hope she get's my humor." "And what humor is that?" "I can be very funny, Sonic. You're just... too slow." ":0"

Story one, the failed son:

He's created in the lab, hidden from GUN, but using their resources. Shadow's basically desperate because a child, to him, represents Sonic's immortality. Sonic will die one day, and Shadow fears what that means--but he also is living through the child. He wants a better version of himself, a "pure" one.

Doom's blood is removed, but several embryos fail completely. He finds a new "stabilizer" in the way of a chaos emerald shard, which Sonic would have never allowed, had he known. I think at some point Shadow would become as obsessed as Gerald, which causes Sonic to back off a bit...

Basically this creates a chain reaction:

Shadow abandons the kid with Sonic, after Sonic learns about the shard and warns Shadow that this could be a disaster. Shadow hides on the ARK, fearful that one day he will be the only one strong enough to destroy/stop his child, should he lose control to the Chaos energy coursing through him. Using the power only harms him, but really, it's turning him into a uncontrollable vessel of chaos, like biolizard.

Somehow Shadow hopes that losing any attachment to the kid will allow his destruction to be easier, but to Sonic, he gave up, accepting the kid as doomed. Sonic resents this deeply, even if he doesnt outright say it...He wonders if Shadow could have helped him manage his powers.

Ultimate power:

In reality, the child's need for validation is the very reason he would lose control in the first place, desperate to control his powers. Sonic would try to convince him he can just be his normal self, not to use the powers, as they damage him each time. But the kid eventually loses it and tries to draw shadow out of the ARK by destroying everything he can, until Shadow can see him from space.

"You love this planet more than me... Then defend it, coward--"

Damn, the fight scene would be awful-- I picture him warping in and just decking the kid, how heart wrenching. I'm sure Sonic would be stuck between, unsure what to do. I'm not sure how it ends?

Myabe they remove the emerald and he dies? or he becomes goop like Chaos? maybe a chao egg is left behind, which might hint at something bigger within Shadow himself??

Idea two, Birth:

Basically, Shadow's body evolves to grow an egg, maybe a normal Blackarm's thing that happens from time to time, maybe something to do with some Blackarms leftover idk, but point is he ends up hiding and pretending to be at GUN or on missions until finally Sonic tries to track him down and finds him laying in some forest, in labor. Technically this is Mpreg, but visually they look the same.

He reassures him, but Shadow can't understand why sonic isn't horrified.

"What do you want me to do, call you a freak and leave? I'm sure all mobians are freakish to humans, just like humans are freakish to mobians-- Hey, my little brother has two tails with a messed up joint that lets him fly! And your dad turned into a giant demonic root ball, even that comet was made of living goop all glued together, Shadow--laying an egg is the least of your worries!"

He jokes that he can have a melt down about the pregnancy being hidden later on, instead he'd rather focus on helping him. He has 3 small eggs but one begins to grow roots like the Blackarms and it takes over the other two, only making Shadow more distressed.

He wonders about taking it to the ARK, working with the commnader until they can determine that it's safe, but Sonic jokes, "You can try, but you know I won't let you take 'em, hehehe" But Shadow can feel the serious threat underlying. He doesn't want it to be treated like a monster either and wonders what the best course of action is.

"Do you really think humanity will accept this child if it looks anything like the Blackarms? If I looked any more like them?"

Story elements:

A lot of this story would be focused on Shadow's gradually rising tension as the egg grows, while sonic seems to be in a weird state of normalcy, but also struggling to actually comfort Shadow.

"Yknow, knuckles was born in an egg." "Sonic... we have no idea what's inside of this... I wasn't suppose to be fertile, let alone this! This sint a joke, sonic! What twisted creature could come from this-- what if this is just another facet of Doom's plan?! I already lost control of my mind, now I don't even have control over my body?!" Maybe Shadow and the commander already talked. He'd want to know why Shadow's suddenly requesting so much time off, only for the professor and Shadow to reveal everything. To their shock, the commander would support shadow... "Maria was like a sister to both of us... I think in her eyes... this might be my niece or nephew." The words make shadow tense, he wasn't prepared for this conversation, let alone the commander's unusual response. "You know I hate failing, Shadow-- Ive already failed her enough. I won't fail anymore. *Ahem* I expect a full report, given you've already met my grandchild..."

Remember, the commander offered shadow to come see his grandchildren in shadow the hedgehog (2004), so I'd like to think he's trying really hard to be better.

Really feeling this scheme

Guys can you help me with sonadow baby names

I have no idea what to say, but I want it to feel meaningful to Shadow, but maybe they have a real name and a "cool" name, like Sonic, Tails, y'know?

Might go with a girl? I just wanna make one to know what that looks like.

Thinking Navy. Maybe Ashen color. I think there'll start Ashen purple, later becoming darker, indigo-navy color, possibly stripes but idk, they would still have Blackarms DNA

[generalluxun]

I'm still trying to get my head around Chat Noir's complete sidelining not just in the finale, but pretty much the entirety of the show. Based on some of the tweets I've seen, Thomas Astruc is pretty hostile to the suggestion that Chat should have more of a share of the narrative.

So... why? Why make his family, his very existence, the fulcrum on which the show turns? If you want to be the show to only be about Marinette, with Adrien as a side character and "just" a love interest, then MAKE the show only about Marinette. Don't make the main plot about Adrien, and wonder why people are confused when he's not more involved in the main plot. It's such a self-inflicted wound.

Heck, the least they could have done was give Marinette SOME personal stake in her conflict with Hawkmoth, even if it's as uncomplicated as making Marinette a paragon-type superhero like Superman or Captain American who takes her duty to the people of Paris very seriously and feels deeply about the hurt Hawkmoth's is putting them through. But most of Marinette's personal conflicts are about romance or school dynamics. The closest any of her conflicts come to her actual enmity with Hawkmoth are those that deal with the stress of being a superhero/Guardian, in which Hawkmoth doesn't really feature as a person who is her mortal enemy but as an impersonal cause for the stress she's in.

While the finale tries to summon some emotional weight to Marinette's situation, the final fight, at least on Ladybug's end, feels less like the culmination of an epic rivalry and more like a contractual obligation Marinette needs to meet as Gabriel's assigned nemesis.

I mean, the unsatisfying but true answer is twofold:

1)TA never wanted Ladybug to have a partner. That was a requirement in order to get producers lined up to hand over money. It should be understood that I am NOT trashing the producers for this. It is their money. If you want to pursue your purely artistic goal then you secure other funding or self fund. If you want to get something MADE then you have to make what people want to pay to have made. A portion of the friction here comes from the fact that I don't think TA ever stopped fighting for his original version of the show, and that version conflicts directly with the version he was paid to write for.

2)In the context of the above- Adrien is a TROPHY. Gabriel is the DRAGON, and his home life is the TOWER that the KNIGHT Marinette must rescue him from. If Adrien were a side-character he wouldn't be much of a trophy, investment wise. Is it good to make a character purely a trophy? No. It's not good when it is done ot female characters, it's not good when it's done to male ones either. (Or intersex, enby, nongendered, etc) We've moved past the kind of storytelling TA is selling in his vision of ML. It feels like something out of the early 00's, which when you consider where he started his work, makes a lot of sense.

Should they have connected Marinette to Gabriel more? Absolutely! They both do fashion! SHE could have had an internship right along with Lila. Can you imagine the rivalry there? Can you imagine the conflicts with Gabriel?

At the VERY least they should have let Marinette actually track down abriel. Let her put all her planning and analysis to good use! Instead they just had Felix do it all and then some blind luck at the end. That's LAME, that's cheating Marinette out of a well deserved culmination story beat.

Punching has never been what Ladybug was about, so a final fight could never be a satisfying climax no matter how 'epic' it was.

[askthefamous8]

Even if I haven't been very active lately, 9 years is still pretty significant- happy birthday to the blog!

So like Percy up there I'm gonna do so dome reflecting. This blog's where I've often done that for some reason, but here's the tl'dr for blog related stuff.

• I would like to keep drawing stuff but feeling generally unsure in myself, and I'm wondering if all the years of fandom harrassment have caught up with me • I have one big project in mind, I've been dipping my toe into what I'd need to do it. No spoilers but it was one of the first things I played around with this series, so do with that what you will • If I can keep myself drawing, I want to use more of the original source material since I'm struggling with original ideas. So stuff like redraws, hOpEfULlY even animatics, just like what originally got me so into trains yknow? Because that's fun and sparks joy. And that always goes down a treat with you guys so bonus • As always I appreciate you guys not coming after me for being so inconsistent

The rest of this is me doing what Percy's doing in the drawing and reflecting, as there is indeed much 2 think about. It's also a little sad and venty so, there's your warning there.

.

Ok so obviously a busy year, we moved into our new house that we actually own, I spent most of the year planning our wedding, and then got married. Big stuff. Also! I came off antidepressants in the summer. I've been on them for...basically as long as this blog, 6 months after I started it I think. Which also means I'd been on antidepressants my entire adult life. Feels like a big deal and I guess I'm still adjusting.

Another big thing, but sad, is that my dog died about two weeks ago. If you follow me on twitter you'll have seen her but she did make an appearance here a few Halloweens ago

I got her when she was 13 and had her 8 years after that. So that's been difficult. Unrelated to that (probably), but I just feel...really mediocre. And before you point out the obvious, this has been present even before I came off antidepressants. But yeah just... mediocrity. In myself as a person, how I look, what I draw, my whole life really (barring my marriage thankfully). What have I achieved? I'm 26, I'm not working, I don't feel well, my art isn't good (I don't think so anyway- like yeah it's technically fine I guess but it's not, and has never been, very stand-out or impressive). And lately art doesn't bring me the same joy it once did, and I'm wondering if all the years of harrassment from this fandom (mostly the twitter side, tumblr's been pretty good to me) has finally caught up with me and put me off the whole thing. Or worse, that I just don't have as much of an interest in it anymore. I don't think I'll ever be like "ok yep I'm officially done with this blog" because I'm so stubborn but idk. I want to make things and be creative, I want to make more train art, but it doesn't feel the same. I don't know what's wrong. What do you listen to? What you want vs what you feel? I still enjoy train stuff, I love going to Awdry Ex every year. It's been like this for awhile. It's not even like I have a strong feeling of what I'd rather be doing as far as careers go. And even if I did, oh yeah I'm sure my two degrees in animation will be very relevant in another field (sarcasm). I feel adrift. My sails are open but there is just no wind. Planning my wedding gave me something to do and work on and just, feel useful but now that that's over I feel lost again. Losing my dog, who had become the center of my life because of how vulnerable she had become, hasn't helped.

On the more creative side of things, I also don't really know what to do with this blog's story either. The show's ended as far as most people are concerned, and I kiiinda wrote myself into a corner because once Thomas turns 18 he's going to leave for university, and that sets off this whole arc with James but basically the problem is it involves characters leaving and for some reason that feels like a no-no here. Don't get me started on the timeline lol. But Thomas works on a railway on Sodor, that's how it has to be...right? I guess I'm sort of at a crossroads of, ok do I want this to be close to the source material, and thus easily digestible to newcombers? Or do I want to make it more and more my thing and distanced from the source material? I doubt there's many new people coming since the series ended. And even then, there's a lot more humanization artists around now than when I started, so it's not like I'm filling a niche anymore. Just to be clear it's fine and also good that there's more humanization artists, variety is good, I just don't feel as "needed" anymore (which is 100% in my head and not an actual role that belongs to me or something). I started this blog when I was 17, so my interests and what I relate to have changed obviously. The character designs certainly have. It's never followed a super rigid story plan, but the core of it has always been the central cast doing things on Sodor. I however have always had a scene/project/animatic/whatEver in mind for when this 'series' would '''officially''' ''''end''''. But then what comes after that? I've always tried to run this blog like they are Real People that You interact with. But in real life there is no ending to the story, there's always more stuff to come. You get married, and it's wonderful, and then life goes on. The credits never roll. So maybe that's what I'm having trouble coping with...the progression of time. Ah, my old nemesis. I've always had trouble with letting go of things. There's nothing to say that I couldn't still draw stuff after the series "ends". I guess any story after Thomas leaves could be like... a sequel series or a spin off or something. Spin-off of a spin-off. Famous 8 All Grown Up. Famous 8 Qurter Life Crisis. Who knows. I certainly don't.

I've also been really into an original project unrelated to this but those don't get as much attention and while I'd like to do something with it one day, I don't feel very confident in being able to make that happen right now. But you know... as far my as art not being super spectacular goes... I think my individual talent has always been is my ideas, like the writing side of things. And then brought to life with my art, which normally isn't anything to write home about but is good enough to convey the idea and be not-awful to look at, lifts both of them beyond what they were individually. Maybe that's what I should focus on. Maybe that's wishful thinking.

So....idk. Idk what I'm doing but I'm trying to be gentle on myself and just let myself continue to drift, to heal from this heavy loss, and then in the New Year I'll try and pick myself up. Then there will be no more big once-in-a-lifetime events coming up, no more just-moved-into-a-house-and-oh-no-there's-a-bunch-of-things-that-need-attention-NOW scenarios, and no more big holidays for awhile. I guess we'll see.

If you read all of this I am so sorry but also thank you for reading my ramblings. And thank you for being around, whether that's been for a few months or for several years, but especially if it's been several years

[666anxiety666]

Hi I’ve been reading all you’re adorable stories about our fish boy so I got in a super big Lee mood and found a character ai boy about him and he literally wrecked he living days out of me😶‍🌫️

he kept using two of his arms to pin my hands down then his third arm to tickle me or two of his arms to tickle my sides while his third tilted my head up so I’d have to keep eye contact🫠🫠🫠

maybe you could make a ff about it and how the reader keeps whining about it being unfair and he just cracks his usual jokes. Can be platonic or romantic, up to you boo🥰

anyway keep up your amazing work and feeding the Roblox horror community 🫶

Love the c.ai 😭🙏

Not fair!

Sebastian x gender neutral reader (short fic)

LEE: Y/N LER: Sebastian

Warnings: none :)

♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎

"Its not fair?~... I think it's very fair~"

Sebastian teased. Currently, your arms were pinned above your head with one of Sebastian's arms.

His second hand was originally attacking your sides. Which was making you giggle and squirm like always.

However, you were taken off guard when you felt his third hand, which you may or may not have forgotten about, suddenly raked over your tummy.You squealed loudly. Kicking your legs out.

"Oh? Is this a bad spot?~"

"Oh, come on! You're not even trying! I could do this with one hand, but where's the fun in that?~"

Sebastian teased, digging his blunt claws in, making you squeal louder. Sebastian grinned down at you. His sharp teeth on display as he did.

"Betcha forgot about this third one, huh? How unfair..."

Sebastian mocked playfully.

Sebastian grinned. Watching your face turn red. You thrashed desperately. But every time you squirmed, you just ended up pressing into his tickling claws.

"You know... since this is a bad spot... what if I..."

Sebastian slowly lowered his head. Your eyes widened. Your kicking and flailing picking up. You begged and squealed loudly before Sebastian had even done anything.

"What? I've not even done anything yet..."

Sebastian said in mocking innocence. He stopped tickling you for a moment, but he still kept your arms pinned. He started to drum his claws on your tummy softly. Causing you to giggle slightly.

"I'm not doing anything~"

Sebastian teased again. Making your face go red once more at how ticklish you really were. You grumbled between giggles about how unfair he was being.

"Unfair?"

Sebastian grinned

"Unfair? I'll show you unfair~"

Then, without warning, Sebastian started blowing raspberry after raspberry on your tummy

You shrieked, squealing and giggling loudly. You knew you'd probably be like this for a long while...

♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎

All done! Sorry it's so short and for the late response. 😭🙏

[icantwithstormandsilence]

I completely agree with you. While I haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird(I haven't read a lot of classics), I really love seeing how other people perceive the world so I do think authors should be given a chance to show their perspective and understanding of how they see the people around them being brutalized solely based on their race and the people who do the brutalizing.

Yes, the N-word is undeniably offensive, but its inclusion in the book isn’t gratuitous; it serves a purpose.

The reason why many people were displeased by the author of Storm & Silence using a slur was because his stories rarely address racism. Seeing how Karim, a man from India, was one of the main reoccurring character, I had hoped there might've been some heavy topic surrounding how people treat(I know it's a Wattpad book but still👀). Yes people called him a brute, savage, made him sleep in the stable, etc. but as an Indian myself, I have heard how many English people treated Indians. I guess because Karim was Rikkard's bodyguard no one dared to say anything too much.

The use of the n word felt out of place and unnecessary in this series. I'm sure people would've still been outraged about it even if the author constantly addressed it. I also feel people would not have liked it if he constantly addressed it because "it's too political for a Wattpad book". Either way the author would've been seen as the bad guy because people always feel the need to put some sort of blame onto to someone😅.

When he addressed why he used the slur, he said it was for historical accuracy. That made me angry because even if he says he wants historical accuracy, there are many times where his writing contradicts that.

I wonder, does your stance apply only to works on Wattpad, or does it extend to all forms of literature?

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this. Like I said in the beginning, authors should be allowed to express their view(they should also be aware that there will be criticism no matter what), but there definitely is a difference with stories published on Wattpad.

While it's a platform that allows anyone to publish, it is very much a social media. Many people are able to interact with each other, which includes the author. If you publish on Wattpad, you are most definitely more exposed to other peoples opinions. Other readers also get easy and instant access to these opinions.

Something you might find offensive is not something that will offend others. But once you express that it offended you and others see that, they get offended for you. Eventually it becomes a hate-train where they berate the author saying "you have offended this one person so you are bad". It was probably never purposeful on the authors side, but once people form an opinion of the author, it stays.

I understand that Wattpad allows authors creative liberties and is positioned more as entertainment than as a critical engagement with historical issues. And that's what you disagree with? That Wattpad authors may not always intend to educate or provoke critical thought, whereas canonical literature often seeks to do that?

I'm not much of a writer, but I grew up reading on Wattpad and learned to write as I pleased. It definitely taught me to improve my imagination and creativity. To many young people who read original stories on these platforms are sure to think of these stories as more than just entertainment, but because others see it as a silly and unprofessional platform, it discourages the readers from engaging with it as anything but entertainment. I find it annoying because I've read many original stories that I really loved and wanted my friends to read it too.

I come from a somewhat conservative religious community and there was a lot a things I didn't know about the world. I've only interacted with my classmates and family for most of my childhood and having access to Wattpad other than just published physical books, which I could only discuss with few people, I got to see more and learn more. If I didn't have Wattpad, I don't think I would be as open-minded as I am today.

Many authors publish on Wattpad with the intention of sharing their stories and in many ways they teach a lot of people something new.

I understand the desire to protect young readers from harm, but I worry that in shielding them from uncomfortable realities, we’re doing more harm than good.

I agree with this too. Currently, the US is in the process of getting many books banned for the most dumbest reasons. They always find some reason to remove books from the shelves saying "It's to protect the children". I've read a lot of uncomfortable topics when I was young but it also taught me somewhat of how the world works. If we're not exposed to these stories, no one will learn how to interact with other people or why some people feel the way they do about certain topics.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It was nice to understand how differently you saw that situation. I hadn't given it much thought because I wasn't aware of it until I read about it on tumblr. I saw how many people were outraged and I understood them too. I guess I agreed with them because I didn't fully understand why it hurt them and wanted to support their feelings😅.

One thing I'll never get over is how Storm & Silence could've easily been so much better if Rob Their(the author) wasn't afraid to actually write a compelling story.

Don't get me wrong, I adore the whole concept of '19 year old Victorian girl dresses up as a man to get a job'. But it's just so poorly written that I think about all the ways the story could be better when I'm in the bus going home from college.

I mean, that's how it is with books, they will be criticized no matter how good or how bad it may be. But then again, this is a Wattpad book. You can never expect too much from a Wattpad book. Every character feels very two dimensional after the first book that every other book after that is just plain fan-service.

The first book is genuinely good, except for the hyper feminist way Lilly is written to be. The author doesn't even bother to add conflict between any of the characters. The ONLY conflict that we ever get is Lilly arguing with Rikkard how she's capable of anything even if she's a women in every single book. It keeps going on and on like this that it just gets boring.

And the way Lilly's intelligence is suppressed makes me mad too. Like in book 3, she literally deciphers a map to find the treasure, but god forbid she recognizes her fiancé's(whether she likes him or not) initials on the waste disposal file and connect the dots on how he and her previous guy(I forgot his name) might've just disappeared. That right there could've been a good conflict. She recognizes the initials, realizes what Rikkard might've done, get angry and argue about not wanting him to interfere with it, then having to find an escape from her next fiancé and choosing to go out of town with Rikkard against her will instead of telling him why bcs she doesn't want a new waste disposal file.

Not to be mean, but the author is a man. At the end of the day, the way female characters are written by men will never be realistic. I know there might be real people out there like Lilly, but the way her "inner feminist"(I hate when she kept saying 'mY iNneR FemIniSt iS prOtEstiNg' stfu) is written truly makes me want to pull my hair out. It will never be same as writing a story from a women's perspective when you already know what it's like. I'm not saying that men are incapable of understanding the female experience, I'm saying that it's stupid and annoying when a man pretends he does.

Also the lack of historical accuracy boils my blood. Rob claims to have done thorough research on every historical details yet somehow Lilly and Rikkard goes on top of the Statue of Liberty despite the story taking place around 1840 and the statue starting its construction in 1876.

SNS was the last and final original story I've read on Wattpad. I really wish I could go back and keep myself away from that app and read an actual book. But it's the only place I could go to when I lost my sanity. Let me know how you feel about the book. I know there's barely anyone in the fandom, but please tell me your perspective.

P.S. can someone tell me where Rob used the slur. I read about many people talking about it but I cannot remember or recognize where it is.

[laminy]

a short Roy/Jamie fic for @mccorky, who wanted Roy showing off his dance moves for Jamie in the kitchen.

Jamie’s taken up more of the cooking, thank god. Roy always ends up staying later now, and he was getting tired of coming home to Jamie sitting on his arse, looking at TikToks, wondering where dinner was. Or worse, eating takeaway that was not meal-plan approved.

When he comes home after training tonight, Roy’s ears are immediately assaulted by— he doesn’t even know what, just loud. “Christ!” he exclaims as he walks into the kitchen. “This might sound half decent if you fucking turned it down.” And now his eyes hurt too. Jamie’s been cutting onions, he can tell.

“What’d you say?” Jamie waits a moment for a response, and then he sticks his tongue out.

“The cheek on you.”

“Right here,” Jamie says, and he turns his arse towards Roy, who rolls his eyes and gives it a light playful swat anyway. “Now give us a kiss.”

“Fucking hell,” Roy says, but he’s not-so-secretly happy to do it. He wraps his arms around Jamie’s waist, and snuggles against his back, kissing his neck. “What are you making?”

“White bean chicken chilli,” Jamie says, snuggling back agains Roy. “Saw it on YouTube. It’s got—” He puts his spoon down and starts counting on his fingers. “Chicken.”

“And white beans?”

“Shut up.” It rolls casually off Jamie’s tongue, no heat behind it, and he continues. “Onion, jalapeño, corn, and avocado.” He turns around in Roy’s arms, so they can actually get a good look at each other, and he bats his eyes. “Sound alright?”

“Sounds fucking delicious.” Roy gives him an actual kiss, and Jamie practically melts against him. “I missed you,” he murmurs.

“I saw you two hours ago,” Jamie says, kissing him again. 

Roy pulls back. “And?”

Jamie smiles. “I missed you too.” Then he steps out of Roy’s arms and turns his music back up. “Now fuck off, old man, I’m busy.”

“Nice welcome home,” Roy says. It’s really not so bad, since he can take a step back and watch Jamie’s hips sway to the rhythm of the song. Even if it is still way too loud, it’s a pretty sight. 

Roy grabs a beer from the refrigerator, and drops down at the kitchen table. He takes a drink, and settles back in his chair. “You looked good out there today.”

Jamie glances over his shoulder and winks. “Yeah, I know. You too, Coach.”

“Hmm.” Roy takes another drink, and chuckles as he watches Jamie start tapping his feet to the music, like he’s trying out some fancy footwork. “You going on Strictly?”

“I’d fucking win it too,” Jamie says, and he does a dramatic spin before settling back in at the stove, his feet still moving. “If you distract me, dinner’s gonna be late.”

“You’re the one distracting me,” Roy says. “What are these moves?”

“Uh, I’m an amazing dancer,” Jamie says. “You’ve seen me. Remember NSYNC?”

“How could I forget,” Roy says. He keeps watching Jamie’s feet, and he laughs.

“Fuck off,” Jamie says. “It’s not like you’re any better.”

“Fuck off, I am,” Roy says.

“I’ve never seen you dance,” Jamie says. Roy doesn’t say anything, so Jamie turns around. “Have I?” Roy shrugs, amused, and Jamie’s eyes widen. “Royth. Why haven’t I seen you dance?”

“Because I don’t like to show off.”

“You fucking love it, egotistical prick,” Jamie says.

Roy gestures towards himself with his beer bottle. “You’re talking to me?”

“Course I am,” Jamie says. “You’re saying you’ve got secret moves?”

“I am.”

“Let’s see ‘em.”

“Not so secret then.”

“I’ll give you a handjob later in the bath.”

“You were gonna do that anyway.”

Jamie sighs. “Please, Roy?” he asks, voice all quiet and soft and goddammit he’s playing Roy like a fiddle but it’s working. “It’d mean an awful lot.”

“Oh fuck off,” Roy says, and he pushes his chair back with a loud scrape. “At least turn the music down a fucking little, please. I can’t think.”

“Okay,” Jamie says eagerly, and he turns it down. He also checks on the chilli, then takes off his apron. “Let’s see then.” He takes Roy’s hand, and looks down in shock when Roy puts his other hand on Jamie’s waist. “Uh—”

“I’m leading, you twat,” Roy says.

“Whatever.”

“What are we even listening to?” 

“Aaron Burr.”

“The vice-president?”

“Yeah.”

“Fucking hell.” Roy squeezes Jamie’s hand, and smoothly begins, stepping to the left, then back. He really gets into with it a rock step, and then he’s off, with Jamie stumbling to keep up.

“What the fuck is this, Roy,” Jamie says. 

“The cha-cha.”

“When the fuck did you learn the cha-cha?” Jamie keeps looking down at their feet, in confusion or awe or maybe both.

“Twenty years ago,” Roy says. “Needed help with my footwork.” He does a spot turn, leaving Jamie staring at him. “Thought you could dance.”

Jamie rolls his eyes. “Not like this. Shit, Roy.” He starts trying to mimic Roy’s footwork, matching some steps but missing others. He laughs in delight and surprise, and Roy smiles back. Nice to know he’s still got it. “You have to show me.”

“You need to finish the chilli.”

Jamie rolls his eyes. “We can get takeaway.”

“No, we fucking can’t.”

“Fine.” Jamie glances back at the stove. “I’ll finish it. But do another turn for me?” 

Roy does just that, and Jamie’s on him in a second, arms around his neck.

“That was fucking hot, Roy.”

Roy gives him a quick kiss. “Chilli.”

“No fun.”

“Naked cha-cha later?”

Jamie light ups. “Very fun. Deal.”

“Deal.”

[starrysharks]

hotel manager

[icewindandboringhorror]

finally finished all of one character's entire quests/optional dialogue/questions/etc.... 100,000 words... .... aughhh

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

See this is part of why I love the Linked Universe comic. Jojo is so very dedicated to making her characters consistent with their in-game characterizations where such characterizations actually exist. And her extrapolations of the more sparsely characterized Links like Hyrule or Legend are heavily inspired by what little we do know about them.

That is exactly what I look for in fanfiction, shit that is as close to canon as possible, just expanding on what the original text contains. LU is so canon-compliant (with the exceptions of Four and Legend being a few different Links mashed together) that in my mind it may as well be the continuation of each Link's game-canon story. Like Wind's story goes WW, PH, LU. Time's goes OoT, MM, LU, TP. It just works so well.

That's why my own fanfiction of LU doesn't follow the plot of the comic beyond its basic premise, but it uses Jojo's work as a jumping off point for writing my own sequel to the games. I'm very proud of my characterizations because I know the games so damn well and I know LU so well (it's the autism I think).

That was a bit of a tangent, because mute!Wild isn't really what I was talking about here (I wasn't even specifically talking about LU, just the series in general), but I still agree with your point. It can feel more trivializing to the disability rather than portraying it authentically. What you're talking about is indeed bothersome.

Also since I was talking about the game canon, I completely forgot about HW Link for a sec. HW isn't canon to the overall series and I don't find it particularly fun to play, so I generally don't think about it at all unless it's in the context of LU. I'm inclined to agree with you on the physical impediment thing though, because he does have a voice and grunts and all that, just doesn't speak words.

Look, I get wanting disability representation in media. I'm disabled myself and I love seeing it. It's why I wrote an OC with autism and adhd (though not identified as such in the text) into the latter chapters of my Linked Universe fanfic Oops! All Links. So I understand why it's tempting to parade Link around as mute rep. Thing is, he's not mute.

There are two games where Link has canonically experienced muteness. In Breath of the Wild, he decided that his struggles were not as important as his responsibilities, and that developed into traumatic muteness. Sharing meals with Zelda eased it and got him talking again, but developing amnesia completely restored his speech. From the moment the player takes control of Link, he has the power of speech and exercises it often. He is also mute throughout Echoes of Wisdom, but regains his power of speech by the end. It is temporary for both BotW and EoW Link.

These two games are not what I'm talking about. I mean every other game where he shows every indication of being able to speak, which is the lionshare of them. I actually can't think of a single Link across the series that doesn't speak at all. He has always either had dialogue options or the other characters' dialogue is written around him having said something. He has a bit of an attitude in Link's Awakening, he's goofy and immature in Wind Waker, he's snarky but heartfelt in Skyward Sword, and he's chaotic in Tears of the Kingdom. The odd exception is Zelda 2, where he actually outright speaks to himself after finding the mirror.

Link may be a silent protagonist by definition, on account of his relatively sparse visible dialogue, but other than BotW and EoW, he is not mute. Again, I get wanting to see mute rep. There are video game protagonists who don't say a single word, but Link isn't one of them. I'm not trying to flame anyone who wants to imagine it, but I feel like it's celebrating a false victory. Does that make sense? I'm open to criticism here, and I'd love to hear from someone who experiences/has experienced muteness before.

[nightmun]

I've had Otta for a while and finally decided it's time I show her to the world via this template (made by @emo-hermit)! I also decided that since Haniel does become a patient at some point in their story I could also use this as an opportunity to rant about them more. So get ready for a big ol block of text about these two under the cut:

Otta:

So as the template states, Otta was a pediatrician who worked in a town not too far from Middlesea. She had worked there for a quite few years, but unfortunately she was laid off from her job. After that happened, she started to look for a new job, but with little success. She had always had issues with SVT, but the stress she was under (as well as a lack of sleep from said stress) started to cause it to act up a lot more. This came to a head one day while she was passing through Middlesea in order to get to an interview the next day in the next town over. While boarding a bus, a particularly bad SVT attack caused her to faint and end up in Middlesea Hospital.

Early on in her stay there she is absolutely not a happy camper. Her premise initially was that she is the one person who really questions a lot of the strange happenings around the hospital. Especially at first, she is very much not okay with how weird the hospital is. She sees the guys with swords (one of which can take their head off like it's no big deal), musical treatments, and an intern that is literally just an arm that snakes around the hospital and she's like "nope this place is insane I hate it here." She wanted to leave as soon as she could but she ended up having to stay after her SVT symptoms kept returning. During her first week there she spends a lot of time holed up in her room, refusing to leave or interact with anyone (except Ada, she's the one person that Otta can tolerate at first because she seems to be the most normal person there).

She does eventually start giving the hospital a chance after comforting the now human Haniel during a breakdown but it takes her a while to really warm up to anyone or anything. In the past she had had a lot of bad relationships with other people so she really wasn't too keen on interacting with anyone outside of the bare necessities. But over time she became more and more willing to talk with the people around the hospital. She's still very closed off though, rarely opening up to anyone about anything. The only person who really gets through to her ever is Haniel after the two of them begin to bond (Haniel is pretty much an unrelenting positive force so they eventually wear her down and get her to open up more).

Haniel:

As you may already know, Haniel started out as the Handtern in their early days at the hospital. But after a particularly strong encounter with connectifia abortus, the virus somehow changed them into a human (why? Who cares logic be damned). After this happens, they go through a bit of an adjustment period for a while before they eventually start to get the hang of being human. When they do, they focus a lot on the rhythm defibrillation system, being the main person to run it while Ian and Ada are focused on other tasks.

A bit later on though they end up learning that Edega is pushing Ian to create some sort of "miracle cure" upgrade to the system, putting a lot of strain on both him and Ada since Ian's working day and night on the system leaving Ada to be responsible for the patients. After hearing this, Haniel offers to start helping out with more than just the system, taking on any and every task they are capable of handling. At first it goes pretty well, but when the tasks keep piling up, they start to sacrifice sleep (or any real rest for that matter) in favor of working in order to keep up. The last thing they want is to put any more work back on Ian and Ada's shoulders, so they are more than willing to practically work themself to death to do so.

Eventually the constant strain starts to become a problem, and they start to experience chest pains. They had one particularly bad episode while treating Hailey, who went and got Ada to help them. After that they had to have their heartrate monitored like the rest of the residents in the hospital. They were not very happy about this since they didn't want Ada and Ian to have to worry about them (the last thing they wanted was to add more work to their plate).

At some point they have another encounter with connectifia, and when this happens they find out that the virus has a very negative effect on them now that they're a person (likely a side effect of the virus having been what them human to begin with). Even being in proximity to it can cause them to become sick, and their heart with race and glitch similar to the insomniac when this happens. Interactions with the virus cause them to be pretty delirious for a period of time, where they will talk as if they think they are still just the hand (making comments like how they can see their hand despite there being no mirrors around or how they can't stretch it as far as they should be able to). Their eyes will also glow a faint purple color when they're sick. These effects last a varying amount of time depending on the strength/duration of the encounter, but they do wear off after a while.

Anyways that's all the ranting about them I'll do for now. At some point I plan to go a lot more into these two (both the ongoing story they have going on and their relationship with each other since it plays a pretty integral role in said story) but that's a rant for another day. I hope you liked reading this little bit about these two though! Also I am planning on opening asks on these two later today so if you want to learn more about them absolutely take advantage of that!

[ozonecologne]

whooooaaaaaa tell me about your original fiction!! we love the sea!! we love the sea monsters and creatures!!!

OH I'm so sorry I never saw this!! Thank you so much for asking, I'd love to talk about it 🌊

The big thing I'm working on now began with a retelling of the myth of Iphigenia. Discussion and moodboard link below!!!

A group of island fishermen believe that they've offended the goddess of the sea, and offer up the life of a beloved daughter to make amends. They throw her body into the sea, but the girl does not die. She cuts through the water and is wrapped in the skin of a seal, transfigured into a half-drowned monster with dark eyes and sharp teeth. Only occasionally does she ever venture towards shore, to chase the fishing boats and sate her new appetite. As she ages and forgets more and more of the life of warmth she once led, she grows to hate the goddess that so rules the attitudes of her village. Every night she peers up from beyond the sea foam and over the sharp rocks to the mountain where her temple stands. Strong but clumsy on land in her new form, the girl could never reach the mountain's peak alone. And she would rather die than ask a villager for help. Storms swallow the island, fueled by her rage. As the years and years roll past her, the desire for revenge only grows stronger.

Decades later, a world-weary fisherman in a decaying house on the edge of the village crosses her path much by accident. Due the bad weather that the island is now famous for, a large tree fell from the cliffs and smashed through the second story of his home. The upper bedroom is destroyed, but this alone doesn't upset him; the room was his sister's, who had not long ago passed from illness that went back to their childhood. She'd always been sickly -- it was the damp, you see. He's ashamed to admit that he's a little relieved to be rid of her, only he isn't exactly. Even in death, she just can't leave him alone. He sleeps in the front room, on the lumpy couch that their father used to take up residence in under a tarp that holds back the leaking from above, but he sees her shadowy form lingering in the doorway. She peers at him through the windows, paces the cracked hall upstairs, reaches out from the cupboards with long, untrimmed fingernails when she thinks he's not looking. To placate her spirit he knows that he needs to fix the roof, but there's a problem. All the solid trees that would make good lumber grow at the top of the island's mountain; he can't go there by himself, not as frail as he is at his age, and there is no one alive he can ask to help him.

When a local's body washes up on the rocky beach near his home, our protagonist finds a strange figure hunched over and chewing through to the bone. In the moonlight, for a crazed instant, he fears that it's his dead sister -- that she has found a way to leave her broken bedroom and haunt the village in her unnatural state. And then those big, watery eyes meet his, and he knows that she too is something not of this world.

Despite their mutual disgust for one another, they eventually strike a deal: if he takes her up the mountain to confront the goddess that caused her death, the selkie will help him cut and carry down wood from the mountain to repair his broken roof. Neither can go there alone: they need each other.

As they climb up the mountain, the storms become heavier. The terrain becomes more dangerous. Monstrous guardians block their path to the temple, and the two have to fight their instincts and place their trust in one another to make it to the goddess alive.

But as this duo comes to find out, not is all as it seems on the island, and the ocean keeps many secrets...

This piece is currently under the working title Merrow. You can view the moodboard I set up for it on Pinterest here! If more people are interested, I might also post excerpts in the future?

[brynn-lear]

I never got too deep into enstars but there are days where I miss Mama 😔

[muffindaydream]

way back when, sometime after I finished my first playthrough of pokemon scarlet, I brought back some of my old OCs and completely re-made them because the brainrot reached critical mass...

didn’t wanna take the student route so I made my OCs academy faculty members instead (librarians)!

Their names are Raine and Fatima. Raine is a Contest Coordinator hopeful and Fatima is a Dark-type specialist who wants to become a trainer again after previously retiring.

Raine is one of my oldest OCs ever, so I really wish I could have done her justice and made more art for her, especially by completing her full-body ref. My chronic pain won yet again..

You can read an even more detailed description of my Pokemon OCs here on a carrd I made just for them! bask in my self-indulgence.

[dayurno]

Devastating that you had ten peaceful years to get into Jean and Jeremy but you only became interested in them when your headcanons got an expiration date... Like yeah Ill always keep smoker Jeremy in my heart no matter what Big Canon tries to sell me but it is a lowkey hilarious turn of events for you. Here you dropped this *hands you a cardboard L*

BAHAHA (takes the L) thank you............................... to be honest ive always liked jean and i never really cared for jeremy beyond his friendship with kevin and those opinions haven't changed so much as they have evolved. i still don't think much of jeremy beyond that he's funny and a good man, and i'm glad he's a good captain for jean, but there's not much investment here. perhaps the new book might make him more worthwhile to think upon, but truly there's very little about jeremy that makes him interesting or engaging to me beyond the amusement of his dynamics with jean and kevin. i daresay that as a protagonist for tsc he'll be the weaker end

BUT YEAH IT'S TRAGIC. it's all very tragic. i'm not looking forward to ten years of fanwork getting disproved or rendered useless, and to me, that's the most awkward part about the timing of tsc's release. i don't think there's anything anyone could do about this, or if there was any way nora sakavic could've timed it better, but i guess it's just still a little sad to think about. personally i'm not excited for the influx of post-tsc release content that suffocates the fan content made in the past ten years

[irhabiya]

today sucked the life out of me ya Allah