#it’s not even my favorite arc. but idk it’s definitely like a kind of turning point

[shatteredsnail]

if the orv webtoon doesn’t do dark castle justice i’m going to be so upset. that arc is so important to me

[project-sekai-facts]

idk if I can ask u this but what is ur opinion on arata and kotaro

hello first off SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO ANSWER but no i don't mind giving my opinions on the side characters

Arata and Kotaro are actually two of my favorite side characters! I didn't like them that much at first to be honest but they've definitely grown on me a lot recently.

I think Kotaro is really overlooked actually. Like I still see people bring up his actions in the main story when he’s moved on a lot past that, and then just write him off because of it. And I mean, it’s probably because he never got too much screentime between then and Power of Unity, but since he’s been making more regular appearances I think they’ve taken his character in a really interesting direction. He initially became a singer because he wanted to be a cool older brother for his baby brother and just happened to see RW at that time, which pushed him into street music. He just did it as a passtime because he was sort of good at it. However, RW did have a big impact on him, just like it had on An and Akito, even if he was only sorta casual in the street music scene. He admits in POU that the reason he never went further was because he was afraid, and seeing VBS putting their all into it inspired him.

It’s sort of subtle up until Light Up the Fire, but Kotaro doesn't have a lot of self-esteem or confidence in his singing. I think the first time it's ever brought up is in Power of Unity as far as I remember, where he asks once or twice if he's holding everyone back. LUTF makes it really clear that he has a lot of insecurities: he believes he's holding everyone back and he believes that he has no talent compared to the others. And that's what sticks out to me, because 3/4 of VBS have felt the same way. Kohane, Akito, and Toya all at some point or another believed they were holding everyone back, be it because they were a rookie, lacking talent, or had no resolve. Kotaro has been all of those and it’s obvious that he is written the way he is to serve as a mirror character to those three. He's had the same insecurities but the way he goes about dealing with them is totally different. While VBS had each other to rely on, Kotaro doesn't have a singing partner or group. He's a solo artist. And while he works with VBS, Arata, and EVER, he isn't part of any of their groups. Even Arata who also works alone still has Souma, but more on that in a minute.

(Also just an aside, I think he’s a mirror to Kohane slightly more than the others, and that slightly being the fact that VBS is what got him inspired to take this seriously, because that’s how Kohane got inspired she saw the others and wanted to be just like them, she wanted something to throw herself into and give her all to. The fact that she’s the main one who tries to call out to him when he breaks down in LUTF I think also plays into this, like it seems to hint that she’s able to relate to him.)

I really think Kotaro is much more than how he was presented in the main story and could definitely become a pretty strong side character if he ever got an event with a bit more focus (like how Vivid Old Tale gave Nagi a lot of screentime or POU had a lot of focus on Arata). Also clpl have you ever considered giving Kotaro a partner please give him a partner. Considering you rubbed in how important singing partners are before now why haven't you even tried to give him one?

Arata has definitely been given more development than Kotaro and I genuinely think he has one of the best arcs of any side character. Like he starts out as a rival for Akito, a foil to Akito. He's basically everything Akito wants to be, and also kind of a dick. Him getting beat by Taiga though, even though it was a small moment, was definitely an important turning point for him because it put him on the same level as everyone else. Because even he has someone better than him.

Oh and his development in POU was so good I'm probably gonna go on a little tangent about his relationship with Souma now because it's so important to his character. Arata's doing all of this for Souma. Souma was the one who wanted to do street music, Souma was the one who took Arata to RW, everything was Souma's dream, but it was still important to Arata. They were partners after all. But that's what it is. Were. Even if Arata wasn't the one who was in that car accident, it still took a toll on him. Souma has been forced into a position where he isn't going to be able to achieve his dreams, so Arata has to carry all that weight on his back. Surpassing RW suddenly has become so much more important to Arata because he wants, needs, Souma's dream to become a reality. The thing is, with how caught up he was in doing everything for Souma, he approached everything on his own. Surpassing RW isn't something he can do alone; the original was a collaboration between several groups, there's no way Arata could do it alone. He needed to work with people again, which he finally realised in POU.

Actually I think one of my favorite moments in his arc has to be his showdown with Taiga in LUTF. Because he's been able to overcome what was holding him back, he's actually able to get closer to Taiga's level. That is, until Taiga drops the "we're not so different" bomb. Because that moment is so powerful. Because at that point we see Arata as less of a foil to Akito and more of a parallel to Taiga. Both of them went through a similar loss of a partner, and Taiga uses that to get under Arata's skin and he goes for a deep cut. Souma is incredibly important to Arata, and Taiga knows that and had a similar experience of losing someone important to him, and is able to see exactly what’s still holding Arata back from reaching his full potential. Arata is doing all of this for Souma. For Souma. Taiga points out that Arata isn’t carrying Souma’s dream, he’s clinging onto the idea to cope with his grief. The thing is, Souma can’t surpass RW anymore. Arata’s loaded that responsibility onto himself, without even considering his own feelings on the matter. As Taiga says, Arata is good, great even, but he can’t be the best unless he asks himself if he wants this. Arata can’t even say that he is carrying Souma’s dream, that he does want to do this and he isn’t just clinging onto the idea to cope, and it crushes him to the point of leaving Shibuya.

Honestly I think leaving was what was best for Arata in that moment. Because he does need to take a step back and just let himself actually process his grief. Because even if Souma is still alive, that partnership was still lost and Arata had dedicated everything to that partnership and to Souma, and really he still does. And honestly I think this is what he wants even if you take Souma’s dreams out of the equation, but he needs time to himself to think about what he wants. I don’t know when we’ll next see him again honestly it might be a while but I’m interested to see how that goes. Arata is surprisingly developed and nuanced for a side character and the fact the devs managed to do this across 3 events, two of which he only appears in for a couple chapters is insane. Oh yeah also I like him a bit more than Kotaro if the wall of text wasn’t obvious.

[sparklepirate]

Alright, final thoughts on Inheritance.

;-;

Eragon continues to be the guy of all time. I love him. He really displayed a maturity in this book that I think supersedes anything we've seen of him in all the previous books, and just like... His strength really is that he is compassionate and thoughtful towards everyone. Even Murtagh, now, too. He had the realization of how close he was to sharing his fate, sought to understand him, and that was ultimately what led him to realizing his true name had changed, tearing down Galbatorix's wards, etc etc. I don't know that I could properly articulate everything about him here, but Eragon definitely became the hero he needed to be by the end of the series, 100%. He is the only person who could've possibly thought of the final piece of magic to defeat Galbatorix. Even the dreams of starlings are equal to the worries of a king. Ahhh, it's so good. ❤️ I'm so proud of him.

On the other hand, Barst was some bullshit. Bro. Like, on the one hand, it was a very good climactic battle for Roran to participate in, and his triumph was the perfect culmination of his character- cunning in battle, cunning in strategy, the intelligence and charisma to sway everyone around him into cooperating and working together, sheer determination so intensely strong that he was able to crush and Eldunarí with his bare hands. His role was perfect! But Barst as a villain was kinda... Well, first of all, he came completely the fuck out of nowhere. He wasn't mentioned at all until they were already on their way to Uru'baen, and then he was only MENTIONED. They didn't hype him up enough before the actual battle in my opinion. And ONE human and one Eldunarí being enough to beat the QUEEN OF THE ELVES in hand to hand combat...? I mean, I guess that could work but... Ehhh... I dunno. It kind of felt like an excuse for Islanzadí to die, and Roran to triumph more than anything. It was cool, but it was probably the weakest part of the plot in my opinion.

That said though I think it's pretty safe to say this was my favorite book of the series. I'm having trouble recalling all the iconic shit (I took a pretty long break from reading about halfway through the book) but there was soooo much cool stuff in here. The Nasuada being kidnapped and being helped by Murtagh arc is GOLD, Vroengard was amazing, and all the battles were SO well written??? I need to study these books more closely just to learn how to write compelling fight scenes. Honestly, it's gripping stuff. I was on the edge of my seat, despite knowing how everything turns out.

Nasuada is amazing, Arya is amazing, Saphira is amazing, Roran is amazing, MURTAGH is amazing... I think I already liked basically every character in this series going in, but I somehow like them even more now that I've read it again. Everyone is so good, and interesting, and I want to be everyone's friend. I think the only character I liked less this go around was Orrin (sorry to my Orrin stan friend out there). That said, though, I don't dislike him, I think I just went from positive to neutral about him.

Orrin honestly just didn't get nearly as much screen time as I remembered? We only see him a handful of times throughout the book and each time the only thing he's doing is getting drunk and making an ass of himself, though... Idk, he also has a point? He has his own unique point of view, and his own unique experiences that lead him to his own ideas of how to conduct things, and it is definitely kind of true that like no one ever really listens to him or takes him seriously, despite being the King of Surda for w while at that point. I don't think there was a more graceful solution to the division of power/territory after Galbatorix was killed than what was decided upon, because like... Realistically, Orrin was never gonna be high king. He had good reason to assert for the throne, sure, but actually ascending to the throne? That is SUCH a far reach for power, unless the aim was to assimilate Surda in and have all of the humans under one crown. Nah, Nasuada giving up territory and ascending to the throne was the better choice, even if I do empathize with Orrin's point of view. It seems like Nasuada did as well, because even though she was persistent, she seemed to be gentle and sympathetic with him. He even had his line about like... "Why do you even want to do this?" "None of you would understand." Idk. Very interesting, but not tremendously notable compared to others, and he definitely was a bit of an asshole at times.

Murtagh my beloved my BELOVED I'm honestly just gonna make a whole separate essay post about him because his shit is Complicated™️ but one little note it was such a small detail at the end but I love that he said to Eragon "Hey check in on Arya about killing Shruikan. It couldn't have been easy for an elf to kill a dragon." And Eragon hadn't even THOUGHT of that and Arya probably would've been the last thing on his mind but he still was just so thoughtful. He is thoughtful like his brother and he cares so deeply and AHHH!!! And actually I want to see him and Arya be buds. I think they would have a cool dynamic. And also I love that he never once hesitated to acknowledge Eragon as his brother and just wanted to be with him and finally Eragon also acknowledged him as a brother too that last scene with them was just so good 🥹

Also I love how Thorn's like only spoken line in the whole series (until November) is to boop Eragon on the forehead and say "Hi. Thank you for not killing my rider. :)" and Murtagh is just like "Yeah thanks for that. 😒"

Love how quick Saphira and Fírnen hit it off lol. They really played tag and wrestled for like five minutes and then were like "Alright we're gonna go fuck like now see y'all later ✌️" And Eragon's like "Is this??? Okay???" And Saphira's like "Pfft dragon's don't mate for life 🤷‍♀️" Their little romance was so cute.

CAN WE FUCKING TALK ABOUT QUEEN AND RIDER ARYA??? That shit is by FAR the wildest endgame decision Chris made because like. That. That's so fucking. Oh my god??? Like, one, poor Arya!! She just wanted to be a rider and have adventures! She probably would've either spent her time happy herrying eggs across Alegaësia, or she would've gone with Eragon to Mount Arngor, but you can NOT convince me that she would be particularly happy as queen. She's grieving the loss of her mother that she barely had a relationship with, and denied the other eleven leaders for a full week before they convinced her to do it!!! Girlie!!! You deserve to be happy!!! And, two, the obvious point of holy shit that is such an enormous power imbalance in favor of the elves. Like, there is a REASON the riders were separate in the first place!! And, you know, Galbatorix JUST died and now there is another rider/monarch and it's the ELVES who have historically been both the most powerful race, and the race with the best relationship with the dragons. And Arya is the ONLY RIDER LEFT IN ALEGAËSIA!!! Because Eragon is gone (and stubbornly convinced that He Shall Never Again Return Oh Woe Is Him) and Murtagh is... Also gone to an extent. He at the very least holds no political power. Basically everyone hates him, and those that don't can't do more than, like, pardon him, for whatever that's worth. I just can't see this not rubbing people the wrong way, and not coming to an eventual head. Nasuada and Arya are both great, but I just get the feeling there is going to eventually be some sort of conflict between them, no matter how much neither of them want it. I do think Arya is perhaps the least corruptible person, other than maybe Eragon but... I don't knowwww maaaan it's complicated!!

Also I regret to inform everyone that rereading the last little bit did make me ship Eragon and Arya a teensy tinsy itty little bit. Just a liiiiittle bit. Like idk the last fairth and the telling each other their true names and calling each other their true names and Eragon's grief at leaving and his vow to love her forever and her insinuation of maybe one day just got to me alright???

There were a lot of cool magic things in this book! Like the pocket space that the Eldunarí were kept in? Cuaroc's body? More shit that I'm forgetting? God I would just love, like, a magical encyclopedia or something idk. Lots of cool shit. And artifacts!! I want to learn about more magical artifacts.

Also at my Galbatorix stan mutual? I'm a certified Murtagh Girlie™️ and therefore obligated to hold a grudge but like. I do get it. He is a... Very competent villain.

Alright I think that's it for now but. Wow. Man oh man. There is a reason I love this series. I'll probably think of some more things to talk about later, and I'm gonna be participating in the Big Bang, and I'll probably post about The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm as I reread that but yeah!!! Can't wait for November!!

[kurtmustdie]

caught up with cringetober because I literally forgot to do it, individuals and explanations under cut

Day 1: Heterochromia I’ve come to the revaluation that my sona is already cringe as hell considering not only can his entire body change color but he also has differently colored eyes as a staple of his design. They’re usually yellow and blue but this time I color picked the blue from the trans flag and the mint from the Vincian flag for this color palette, it turned out really pretty :)

Day 2: Self Insert Now she isn’t my self insert anymore, but back in the day when I was at “peak cringe” she definitely was. This is my warriors OC Icypelt and I have a post going over part of her story on my profile somewhere. She’s been through a lot and I think her modern design is very pretty :)

Day 3: Unnecessarily complex fit/design Spider scene is kinda infamous in my brain for having wayyy too much detail but I love them and I think this might be my favorite one out of this batch, super cute, the pose is really cute and the colors are nice and fits her really well :D

day 4: Angel x Devil inevitable MCR reference ik, Helena and Revenge, love them dearly. Poor revenge man this one is cute and looks like a sticker!!

Day 6 (I skipped day 5 because I didn’t want to open up ms paint today): neko i kinda hate this one but cat Gerard yay

Day 7: Pinterest base at first I wanted to draw hobie in place of Gwen but I remembered that I haven’t really drawn Mikey with her even though they’re supposed to be friends so I drew her instead. Idk. The height difference is not accurate because of that but Jumping Spider is small because he’s based on a jumping spider and those are tiny who would have thought

Day 8: tumblr sexyman i have never played undertale a day in my life i just know a lot of people wanted to jump sans��� bones

day 9: Crossover ship/rarepair OH BOY THIS ONE GOES KIND OF HARD AND IM EMBARRASSED ABOUT IT BECAUSE THEY KIND OF WORK FOR EACH OTHER UM MIGUEL OHARA X CLOTTED CREAM COOKIE IM INSANE OMG-

day 10: fursona i already have a fursona I already drew and yes I colorpicked from the lesbian flag how could you tell /j

Day 11: Yandere LYLA is technically canonically a yandere because spoiler alert she tried to kill Miguel’s fiancé via overheating her in the shower (essentially literally boiling her like a lobster) because she was “in love” with him (she said if she did have autonomy and had feelings the would be in love with him but she doesn’t but idk who knows I don’t).

day 12: niche interest ik MCR isn’t exactly “niche” but the black parades story in particular has always caught my interest and I have my own interpretation of it and a whole kind of story I’m still developing and character arcs and headcanons and interactions and yeah you get it, death in particular has evolved into god knows an OC on his own I just keep him attached to MCR because… it makes more sense that way, ig-

day 13: creepypasta does this count- whatever grimdark is just the same thing as a creepypasta- I’m not really in the MLP fandom anymore but it was my first ever “fandom” I was actually apart of. My first hyperfixation if you will. I wasn’t in the grimdark part of the fandom because I was too young for it but I was actually watching the izzzyzzz grimdark video and I was like “oh” and drew a rainbow factory Rainbowdash. Honestly I should draw ponies more they’re fun to draw

Day 14: candygore (?) im not good at drawing candygore and since I was rushing this o didn’t do it as well as I thought I can, but it still turned out pretty cool

Day 15: song lyrics aaaa inevitable hesitant alien drawing this one turned out so cute!! The colors and the sparkle eek so cute aaa action cat lyrics I’m breaking down right in front of you I’m sorry

planning on doing the rest of the month now, maybe not exactly on time since I’m still in school but I’ll try to get 31 drawings out by Halloween. Love the idea of cringetober because I just love all things cringe. Ack this is so good

[ms-cartoon]

a

Seen the few sneak peaks of some upcoming episodes of HB. We might meet Moxxie’s family (mainly his father). Sorry if I’m being nitpicky, but I was kinda expecting his father to be a little bit different from his son, as well as have a different voice. It’s like he’s a literal clone of Moxxie but slightly taller with a deeper and cunning tone in his voice. And from what I’ve heard, he’s supposed to be a mobster or just apart of some kind of dangerous gang (correct me if I’m wrong). So yeah, I think his appearance should be a little bit different, more tough if anything.

Blitzo stays an a**hole to his co-workers I see. Even after that DeEp and HeArTwArMiNg conversation, he had with Moxxie back in season 1 ep 6 (Which didn’t hit deep at all). You think that after he humiliated himself in episode 7, he’d dial it back with his behavior. But I guess Viv can’t have a comedy without someone unnecessarily being a jerk.

We finally get to hear Andre’s voice. He actually sounded exactly how I imagined; almost deep and haughty. I guess it’s made clear that he and Stella have a good relationship. I’ve seen some comics that show that Andre was possibly very mean to Stella during her childhood which probably would explain her behavior and why she acts so cynically. 

He and Stella are having a discussion with Stolas, and Andre brings up that Stella deserves something since Stolas cheated on her?? Which makes no sense to me?? Cuz, yes, Stolas did cheat, but why would Stella even care?!! The show already made it clear that she never even liked Stolas from the start. She didn’t even like being married to him and was only throwing fits and getting him killed simply because she was petty and liked tormenting him. What exactly does Andre and Stella hope to gain from this anyway? Neither of these two even out-rank Stolas. And what exactly has the divorce done that caused any harm to the Goetia’s. When Stella confronted Stolas, she made it seem like the divorce was gonna be a huge issue, but as far as I know... it did nothing. And they already had Octavia who’s in her late-teens, so what’s the threat here??

If they’re gonna keep bringing up the cheating, then maybe they shouldn’t have retconned Stella as a character and kept it to where she is only pissed about the affair. Maybe not have her be an evil b*tch since birth and hate Stolas for whatever reason?

Idk man!! Make it make sense!!!

We also finally get to see Barbie, Blitzo’s sister. I thought those two had a decent sibling relationship as most of us did, but it turns out... those two had a falling out as well. Barbie says, and I quote “Come on, Blitzo! Haven’t you f*cked up my life enough already??”

Jeezus!! Another one?? 

First, it was Fizz, then Verosika, and now his own sister!!? I mean, it’s expected, cuz Blitzo is an a** and he definitely deserves it, but is he seriously that much of a bad influence he screwed up his own sister’s life? Like, is she just over-exaggerating it?? What did he do that was so screwed up, she started to despise him? Hopefully, she won’t be like Verosika or even Stella; just straight-up petty and b*tchy for no reason. I know I’m wrong though.

Also, I see that she and Moxxie are fighting... wonder what that’s about. Probably something dumb.

And I also see that Blitzo and Fizz are having a talk. Not sure what it’s about. It was only a few seconds of Fizz talking. But from what I can assume, they might be discussing their relationship as friends (or ex-friends), maybe having a slight argument? Don’t know if those two are ever gonna reconcile in the end. All I know is that this kind of arc should’ve been explored way before we got into Stolas’s backstory with Blitzo (which we clearly don’t give the slightest sh*t about.) What happened with Fizz and Blitzo that caused the two to split up seems way more interesting than how Stolas and Blitzo met.

Here’s another thing that caught my eye (and y’all this one’s my favorite to laugh at). Stolas is shown being kidnapped by Striker, tied up n all, and even stabbed with a dagger!?

.......

I’m sorry, but are we just gonna forget that Stolas is a POWERFUL FREAKIN’ DEMON??? The same guy that can do this -

And this -

And even turn into THIS -

..... Like, are we sure he’s more powerful than Alastor??? What’s the point of him being a powerful demon prince if all he’s useful for is being a damsel in distress??? Less than 3 times Stolas is shown to be powerful when the plot says so, which is almost NEVER!!! It’s irritating!

Ugh! I just know I’m gonna go through hell watching this (no pun intended). And I’ve already seen the last few recent leaks to these episodes. This just adds on to the ridiculous bull.

[tojiscrack]

Gojo’s beef(?) with Kamo 😭 😭 oh kamo… they could never make me form an opinion on you.

I adoreeee Satoru and yn’s relationship, they're so silly

AND AJSBDIEBDOENEODI SCREW THAT FOUR ARMED FREAK………….

maybe they should just lock Yuji in one of those zoo enclosures every 29th, the ones with the really strong glass, idk curses and cursed energy doesn't exist so he’s kind of nerfed.

omg I can't believe you almost cut the scene with Megumi and his mom 😭 That was probably my favorite scene this chapter. They're so cute and Mamaguro is such a good mom. Wish we could've seen more of her in canon :(

Megumi is sooo real. Ik this is a reader insert fic but if I'm being fr I would 100% be Megumi in this story. LIKE I CANT EVEN BRING MYSELF TO BE UPSET AT HIM FOR HOW PASSIVE HE IS BC I WOULD TOO 😭 I HATE CONFRONTATION. AND I HAVE A CRIPPLING FEAR OF MY FRIENDS DRIFTING OFF OR REPLACING ME

yn being late kind of hurts like it ALWAYS starts off with the small things and next thing you know next chapter MERUPINE SEPARATION ARC.. but it's okay bc they will have a happy ending (trust me on this one…)

I AM VERY ADAMANT IN THE BUTTERFLY THEORY ☝️ yn and megumi are the caterpillars. yn turns into a butterfly and kamo is the other butterfly. IDK WHO THE MOTH IS YET. MAYBE KOKICH/MECHAMARU???? he's pretty mysterious? or maybe Kai lol. I just know mercupine is gonna drift away from each other 😞 it could happen any day now like I'm scared for the angst. I am quivering in my boots. Tojiscrack.. Sumaya.. please save us

anyways this chapter was so peak (like always) ilysm, please don't die 🫶🫶🫶

satoru has one-sided beef with the poor child ☹️ but it’s fine, ‘cause he’s also an adult who understands how teen drama is between teens, and not a man pushing his mid thirties 🌝 ‘cause i did age him up for the sole purpose of being appointed godfather at the right age lmao

‘i adoreeee satoru and y/n’s relationship, they’re so silly’ — i’m glad! i love writing their dynamic ’cause they’re my fav duo to write scenes with (alongside toji and satoru, and megumi and nobara) 😋

‘SCREW THAT FOUR ARMED FREAK’ — LOUDER FOR THE ONES AT THE BACK ☝🏽📢🫨

HAHAHA THE MEME

see, they’d 100% do the whole zoo idea, except the workers would definitely recognise megumi and y/n from the zoo incident of 2009 (when they ended up on national television) 😔

plus, megumi would throw a fit about sukuna leaving something behind in that cage that’ll hurt the next animal that’d be put in there 🌝

‘omg i can’t believe you almost cut the scene with megumi and his mom 😭’ — girl me too! when i saw the praise i got for that scene specifically, i was lowkey gobsmacked, and then sm relief came over me ‘cause if i’d left that out… 😧

i’m happy that i didn’t, tho! <3

IT ALSO ENDED UP BEING UR FAV SCENE TOO? 😭 UGH, THANK GOD I DIDN’T REMOVE IT THEN. this chapter was literally dedicated to you and another artist for ur lovely LL work, i would have hated myself if i left that scene out when you seem to like it so much!

‘wish we could’ve seen more of her in canon :(‘ — realer than real. unpopular take, but what i found most interesting about jjk was the clan politics. like after hidden inventory arc, i loved the beginning of the culling games arc ‘cause we got sm more info on jinichi, ogi, naoya (ew), etc. as well as the gojo clan’s involvement with the zenins.

and if you couldn’t already tell, i love a dysfunctional family dynamic — hence the multiple (insert name) incidents of (insert year) that involve their family 😭

‘i would 100% be megumi in this story’ — literally so true. unfortunately (or i guess it’s more fortunate) i’ve never had a crush on someone irl, but if i ever did, they (and everyone around me) would literally never know ‘cause i wouldn’t speak to them. like, at all 😬

‘LIKE I CANT EVEN BRING MYSELF TO BE UPSET AT HIM FOR HOW PASSIVE HE IS BC I WOULD TOO 😭’ — i think 99% of the readers would, too 💀 but obviously, fanfiction is where they can picture themselves out of their comfort zones, so like, why is the first male lead not making a move when he is so very clearly bothered by the second lead’s involvement.

‘I HAVE A CRIPPLING FEAR OF MY FRIENDS DRIFTING OFF OR REPLACING ME’ — NOOO :( in any case, if that were to ever happen (i’m sure it wouldn’t, you’re amazing) the LL universe will always be here to greet and welcome you back home :) 😋🫶🏽

‘y/n being late kind of hurts like it ALWAYS starts off with the small things and next thing you know next chapter MERUPINE SEPARATION ARC’ — i mean i can’t even not spoil this one. it is gonna start off with little things ‘cause as i mentioned before, this is slow burn like you’ve probably never even read before 😭 (we’re at about 170k words and only ten chapters have been released so far, so that should be ur warning, kinda)

‘I AM VERY ADAMANT IN THE BUTTERFLY THEORY ☝️’ — oh? 👀

‘megumi are the caterpillars. y/n turns into a butterfly and kamo is the other butterfly. IDK WHO THE MOTH IS YET. MAYBE KOKICH/MECHAMARU???? he's pretty mysterious?’ — i literally remember when i got this theory sent to my inbox, and it was by an ao3 reader 😭 i was giggling like crazy that day, it was playing on my mind for hours as i was doing mundane things like the dishes, homework, writing, etc.

‘or maybe Kai lol’ — sigh, no matter how many times i try and distinguish the kai x (insert LL cast member) train, it always finds a way to revive itself 😔🫳🏽🧯… 🔥🚬

‘i just know mercupine is gonna drift away from each other 😞 it could happen any day now like l'm scared for the angst. I am quivering in my boots’ — pls relax 😭 like PLS relax. i would warn you in the notes at the beginning of the chapter if anything angst-worthy is there, yk? and rn, it’s just a couple filler chapters with a side of plot to push this story in the direction it needs to be going.

just wait until the chapters that are set in march of 2020… 👀

‘tojiscrack…’ — HAHAHA i love my username for this

‘sumaya.. please save us’ — may i remind u that i am the one endangering you here 💀

‘anyways this chapter was so peak (like always) ilysm, please don't die 🫶🫶🫶’ — UGHHH I’M SO STOKED YOU LIKED IT SINCE IT WAS PUSHED OUT EARLIER THAN USUAL FOR YOU SPECIFICALLY 🤭 ugh i’m so relieved

ilysm, have a great day/night :)))

[ultfreakme]

Hi, Riki! How are you? Now that you've finished Arcane, what are your top 5 fav moments from the series (you can pick top 5 each for s1 & s2 or top 5 from s1 + s2)? Also, who are your top 3 fav characters? Which do you like best s1 or s2? Why?

So, I'm kinda confused, can I ask why are there so many hate for CaitVi & JayVic ships? Sorry if I ask too much....

Hi!!! I'm doing good~~ Thanks for asking anon!

Hmm, this is hard, I think I overall liked S1 better, so top favorites scenes:

Vi parkouring through the Undercity: I am a sucker for Vi, I just like seeing her happy and that was the happiest we ever see her.

Vi + Jayce taking down the Shimmer manufacturers. The fight was too cool.

Sevika + Jinx vs. Smeech: I love the song and the fight is just fun

Ekko in the final fight rewinding time: I have a huge soft spot for him and I am so happy he got his moment. That sequence where he's fighting the robots and keeps turning back time to redo things was amazing.

Jinx & Isha montage when Isha took the shot against Vander: Super painful, but also beautiful

Favorite characters!

Vi, easily my favorite from the entire show. She always was and she always will be. She has so much love inside her, and she keeps loving people and protecting people. It's to her detriment, but it's a part of her to be a protector. I wish the narrative would've let her love without hurting for once.

Ekko: I don't post about him often, most of my arcane posts are like, jayvik, but that's primarily because i have a hard line between personal stuff and fandom stuff. Ekko is who's going to stick with me for a lifetime. His leadership, the things he stood for, and his heart are simply beautiful. A person who saw all the darkness the undercity had to offer and decided to make something beautiful anyways. Someone who'll never, ever give up on hope. I wish I could be like him. I love characters who can hope despite the bleakness of the world because I can't, and I hope I can learn from them.

Viktor: Idk his arc is just very compelling to me and made me see things from a new perspective. It's kind of an overdone story but the way it was written explored him really well.

Season 1 is easily my favorite. I liked Arcane because of the classism and ableism discussion but that died down in S2. I still had hope for the liberation of Zaun, Vi was the MC, there seemed to be hope for a revolution.

Okay so the hate for CaitVi and Jayvik...

CaitVi:

To keep it short, a lot of people have issues with Caitlyn's barely addressed fascism and the large class and power difference between Cait and Vi. Caitlyn gassed the undercity, she was about to shoot a child when Vi was telling her to stop, then hit Vi, and she never apologizes for any of it directly. No one even really confronts her about ti and the one person who does is framed by the narrative as being just as awful as her(Jinx, also I think Jinx is a lot more forgiveable). She also calls Zaunites animals & got Vi to be an enforcer when they're the ones who killed her parents and locked her up in prison.

The tone-deaf writing of the class issues and police brutality, when many people are still watching people who look like Caitlyn do things that caitlyn did as an enforcer during real-life protests. The story equates Jinx's grief & Zaunite's violence born primarily as a form of protest and a way to fight back as equal to Caitlyn going into dictatorship after one tragedy. Specifically, POC have major issues with CaitVi because of this.

JayVik:

They're now trending and getting far more attention than CaitVi. People are saying it's fandom misogyny in play again, which definitely plays a role. A lot of JayVik fans post a lot of racist takes on Mel or completely mischaracterize her. Same for Sky. The POC women getting sidelined for the men.

There's also, like homophobes pissed off that people are saying jayvik can be read as romantic. One of the head writers, christian Linke, said stuff that just made the "Is jayvik canon?" question worse and there's lots of infighting. Or there was, it seems to have died down a little bit afaik.

That's all from me!!! DW about the questions I love answering asks!!!! Hope the last bits gave an idea of what's happening rn?

[ohnoitsjetster]

jesse!!! hi!! i have one very important question for you: ARE‼️YOU 🫵🏼 DAN🧍‍♂️REYNOLDS🎤⁉️

(okay now for my real question, what’s your fav hatchetfield installment?? it could be a musical or nightmare time ep or even workin’ boys if you’ve seen it :] i’m curious!! oh also if you want you can tell me about orin, i’m vaguely familiar with lsoh but it’s been a while!! so yea, free pass to talk about your lil gay sadist of a dentist <3 this was just an excuse to give you an ask so yk you can really just talk about whatever)

SOL! Hi hi hi hi !! (Sorry for the late response)

OHOHO! A dual fandom ask !! This means another long rambling post for my four most dedicated followers to read!!!! Im sorry in advance!!! this will probably be boring to everyone but me!!!!

I think my favorite might be NPMD. That one changed my brain chemistry for sure. But so did TGWDLM, I really believe that watching Show Stopping Number at the tender age of, like 11… well it just explains a lot about how i turned out ([obligatory “fuck Robert manion”]). I also frequently shake Time Bastard, Killer Track, and Abstinence Camp around in my teeth like a dog like HAUUFHGIGJHJGKKGKFGKRGJ RFRRRGJGG RRHHRHHRHH HREHHEGEGHGRGHRHHHHFFNFHFGGHF like that. But yeah at the present moment I'm being insane about NPMD. The songs are all bangers (Yes all of them) and I am in love with every character (Yes every character). High School is Killing Me is kind of my anthem right now. For no. Particular reason. Also, your honor those three nerds are all literally me and also i am in love with them and also im that fucked up dead bully but in a totally normal way.

So. Speaking of fucked up dead bullies… ‘,:]

Orin Scrivello, DDS <3 my beautiful bbg who has never done anything wrong in his life except for literally everything he did. Worst guy ever. But hey, you can’t choose who you rotate around in your brain, or how many Pinterest boards you make about it. Another instance of “he’s literally me but obviously not actually at all but I think he’s silly so that’s basically the same thing.” A tale as old as time. I don’t know how many queer awakenings one person can have but I was definitely already trans and bi when I saw Orin for the first(?*) time last year, and now, well now im the same but im more pretentious about it and I own a leather jacket. (*I actually saw LSOH a long time ago when i was way younger, but I didn’t remember it almost at all and I’d thought “The Dentist” was like this mad scientist type character, which, not exactly wrong ig, so anyway he’s been swimmin around in my brain making me silly for who knows how long, but yeah probably just since last year). I swear to cope with hyperfixating on such a fucked up character I’ve literally been making au’s in my brain where he’s morally ambiguous, or gets a redemption arc (he does not fucking deserve a redemption arc he deserves to be chopped up and fed to a bitchy gay plant), or where he’s literally just a nice guy. Yeah I’ll sometimes just remove the character from this character to appease the brain demons. But the cool thing about the Not an Asshole™️ AUs is that, in the og, the whole story basically goes south when Seymour justifies killing to feed the plant cause he can kill that jerk Orin, so if he’s not a jerk maybe they all survive?? Idk i just like thinkin. Also… ALSO!.. I made a post a while ago that I might someday make Orin textpost memes using pictures from my actual stage production, and well, that day has come! or, will come, soon. I’ve made the pictures I just have to make the post. It was very fun Im excited to share em. Okay thats all TYSM for the ask bestie!!!

Oh and to address your first question…

I 🧑🏻 AM 💥 DAN🧍‍♂️REYNOLDS 🎤 ✅

[roseofcards90]

Ah, before I forget. What were your overall thoughts on Link Click? Like, s1 vs s2, favourite characters or arcs, that kind of thing? ^^

Omg!!! I'm so sorry about the wait 😭 I was trying to get all my thoughts together so I can type something coherent here so it's not just me rambling about how amazing the show is LMAO

Link Click spoilers below btw!!!

First off, I just wanted to say the overall mystery??? Executed very well! I was definitely not expecting both Tianchen and Tianxi to have powers (I thought something else was going on like they both swapped places/identities or something 😭), but it makes sense since they're siblings and they're meant to parallel the Shiguang duo! Even in the first season, I assumed it was only going to be one person that was the culprit behind the murders, but the show pleasantly surprised me with that! The siblings themselves were also just pretty tragic omg 😭 that whole flashback sequence with them being the foxes in the story, and Tianxi slowly sees Tianchen go down his dark path was so good. You already saw that post I made about them, but yeah I love tragic and doomed siblings as a trope it's great <3

One of my absolute favorite parts from the whole show tbh is the entirety of Season 1 Episode 11. That was a perfect final episode to end things off on and tease a season 2. Like the nonstop twists they kept pulling??? Like how they first initially present Emma's death as a suicide as a red herring but it turned out to actually be the case is so much more impactful and tragic than just having her be another person who was possessed by Tianchen. That whole scene with her and CXS on the bridge OUGHHH IT BROKE ME 😭 THAT WAS SO WELL DONE!!! The song, combined with the montage of all the people he and Lu Guang helped, him talking her down from ending it all and reaching out his hand to her with the sunshine rising above him...EMOTIONAL DAMAGE FR. Like I knew it wasn't going to end all happily, but the emotional impact was definitely there. And that ending omg — having Qiao Ling, one of the main characters we've gotten attached to and love dearly, be shown to have stabbed Lu Guang was brutal, especially for Cheng Xiaoshi 😭 the angst that came out of that and Qiao Ling feeling guilt for hurting Lu Guang even if it wasn't really her was all really heartbreaking. That whole thing, as well as Qiao Ling knowing what Lu Guang did to save Cheng Xiaoshi's life, really makes their relationship pretty rocky but also interesting!!! I want to see more of their duo together since the show has had plenty focus on Qiao Ling with CXS and CXS with LG, and also angst I want to see them both go through the horrors while CXS is standing there like :D LMAO

I would definitely say that Cheng Xiaoshi is my fave character out of the whole cast. I absolutely adore everyone else don't get me wrong, but I think what makes CXS so special and unique to me is how they made empathy one of his core defining traits. Because he’s lived through so many different lives and experiences, he just has a lot of compassion and understanding for all kinds of different people, and that's pretty admirable! Idk, I don't see that often much, especially in a time travel story of all places, but the premise works here very well along with how CXS is initially characterized as a very easygoing person who wants to help people at his core.

As for other stuff exclusive to season 2, I'm very curious to see what direction they'll go in for season 3 just with the way season 2 ended with that bombshell lol. When a season 3 does roll around, I hope we get more character exploration on the guy who's seemingly the main antagonist, Liu Xiao. I know we got some characterization with him because of his past with Tianchen, but I would love to see more of him and what his plans really are with trying to "bring more parallel lines together". Also Lu Guang betraying his own rules to save Cheng Xiaoshi I don't have anything else to say other than GOOD SHIT!!! I love it when characters are hypocrites I love it when characters in time travel stories break time itself to save the person they love <333 it's like crack to me I swear lol.

Other extra things!!! Soundtrack absolutely amazing, I've been listening to all the ops and eds on spotify lol. Character designs, voice acting (I watched the original Chinese version), and overall animation was amazing. High marks all around for me fr!!! I think personally I enjoy season 1 just a bit more? Only because that final episode was beautiful for me and I loved seeing all the different clients the duo had, but in terms of overall plot, I would put season 2 above season 1.

[acourtofthought]

I was pretty indifferent toward Elain’s character and then at some point the ship wars made me a bit annoyed of her (not the characters fault) which was crazy bc I never truly disliked her. But I still felt like I didn’t know her no matter how much ppl explained her character. So… after having a good mental break from the internet I came back to see if anyone could analyze her character in a way that made sense to me & wasn’t repetitive or preachy. I just… didn’t want fandom nonsense to affect how I felt about a character, esp one who I knew nothing about (and when it’s regarding a ship bc that’s just worse, not to mention v silly!)

Anyway, I came across your blog (and other eluciens) and it has helped me see her character in a way that might not be so easy to notice at first, esp for casual readers (formerly me). It felt like I only ever saw one explanation for why she behaves/reacts a certain way but your blog gives a very diff perspective and I love that bc I couldn’t see it at first. If only I’d ventured out of my gwynriel blogs into elucien blogs back then! I wouldn’t call myself a “Stan” but I do like her very much! And it’s gotten to the point where I now get annoyed when ppl make the same claims about her that i used to think, or they say what’s been said about her for forever. In my head I’m like, “but you don’t know the half of it!” Also, not to mention the fact that it is 100% true that female characters have to “work” a lot harder to be forgiven for even the smallest things and that is absolutely not okay. And idc if it’s a female character (in general) I don’t really like— i still wouldn’t be okay with that.

I’d say biggest thing I got out of your blog (and others) is that I gained a certain amnt of respect for her. And i kno it will only go up for me when her book is out. That was honestly prolly my biggest struggle with her character in the beginning. Her being quiet or enjoying gardening wasn’t a problem to me (although I did wish she’d speak her mind every once in awhile). It was more like.. “Idk what I can respect about her, at least not yet” esp with the comparisons to gwyn. But this is absolutely NOT true for me anymore. I’m finally able to see her outer AND INNER beauty!

I’m so glad though that now I can love both ladies without feeling like they’re up against each other. So thank you!!

Btw the more I think about it the more I’m like.. she reminds me a bit of Penelope from Bridgerton (who I love) so I’m very interested to see her character arc!

Sending lots of love 🫶

Thank you for this message!!! ❤️

It's one of my favorite things to hear, that people that were really not fans of Elain's have come around to her a bit after something I or others might have said.

She's definitely not been as bold as the other FMC SJM has written about and if you like SJMs books, I can understand how that'll turn some people off.

And while she'll never be 100% like Feyre or Nesta or Aelin, you see the little hints that she's already much more than she currently looks to be in the NC.

And I think that's the issue I have with how some view Elain. To them, the thing that makes her happiest is to be gardening and cooking / baking / serving the IC. Where her purpose is to spend her days reassuring Azriel that he's not a big bad man, that he just needs a little love to be the soft gentle boy she knows him as.

And that Elain is horrific to me. I don't read SJM to read about a heroine who's purpose revolves around being a housewife to the male.

There is NOTHING wrong with being a housewife but I'm realistic about what fantasy books with a female POV are about and that's not the point of these kinds of story's. I want to see her grow and become a force to be reckoned with. I don't want her to take a backseat to Azriel, there to make him feel worthy and to tag along for his spy / torture sessions when we get zero hints that's what she wants.

Time will tell but I really hope SJM proves to E/riels that Elain is more than a character used to serve others. A character deserving to have a greater purpose than spending her days reassuring Az over and over that he's not a big bad male whose touch will taint her "immaculate skin". A character deserving of her journey to be told on page and not something that's apparently happened in someone else's book (friends already found, already in love).

[cl0udstrife]

also for the char thingie: yosuke hanamura!!!!!!!!!

first impression // i remember seeing him in this comics about persona 4 (hiimdaisys maybe?) so he seemed really comic relief and silly

impression now // definitely more depth than my original impression... a really jealous, lonely sort who acts high energy so he won't be abandoned. a character the turn of the game (removing his romance arc) left unfinished. i like him a lot. i'm gonna fix him.

favorite moment // basically the entire part where he faces his persona is one of my favorite parts of all time.

idea for a story // i still think about my AU i wrote for him a lot... maybe eventually i'll keep revisiting it even tho it's meant to be complete? it's focused on demons n magic n such

unpopular opinion // yosuke does kind of suck. like i love him but he's also the worst. the way he treated kanji was cruel. idk if it's that unpopular but i like how he isn't perfect (and is extremely far off the mark). but i can fix him.

favorite relationship // souji and yosuke for sure! i love them together

favorite headcanon // yosuke has internalized homophobia bc he's also gay... i mean... he really goes way too far in being the super straight guy all the time. i like thinking abt why.

[johnsbleu]

I've always been a silent reader, but I just wanted to say I love Hold My Hand! The way you write is just chef's kiss 🤌 I've been re-reading some of the earlier chapters again and again because I'm too scared to reach the latest chapters 😆

Love your version of John, btw. After everything that the man wen through in the movies, Lord knows he deserve this kind of peaceful life you gave him. The Rome arc is definitely my favorite! Ugh, the romantic and cheesy side of John never fails to turn me into a puddle 😩

I know you've seen JW Ch.4, so I was wondering if you're gonna weave that into the HMH timeline? And if so, how will you do that?

Also, what are your future plans for HMH? Kinda curious how you plan to end the series (so I can prepare my heart and mind for the ending haha)

Anyways, just thought I'll drop by to give you some love and to say you've got many of us supporting your writing (even if some of us supports in the shadows hehe).

Please continue to write more 🙏 And hoping the writing gods shower you with never-ending inspirations like John makes bullets rain upon his enemies 🫰

omgggg thank you so much! i adore you!

yeah so as for jw4, before they even started filming it, i wrote a chapter where john surprises her with a trip to paris for valentine's day. they didn't end up going since ro was having separation anxiety and decided to postpone it. so when it was announced that john would be in paris for jw4 i was like omg this is perfect. then the movie came out lmaoooo.

so yeah i do want to weave some of the events into it. i think paris is probably something he's never told her (understandably so since it would really be a lot to take in--his whole life is, tbh) and of course i'll have to change a few things for obvious reasons. i can't say certain things bc i don't want to spoil it but i obviously have to take some creative liberties there. also it's a chapter coming up soon too so idk how i'm going to post it since some people won't have seen JW4 yet. i guess i'll just have to tag it as john wick spoilers. MASSIVE john wick spoilers, obviously, and hope that they come back to it once they've seen the movie.

as for ending hmh, i really don't have any plans lmao. i just think of random things and i'm like i need to write a chapter of hmh with this! so i don't really have any plans to end it bc i do still really enjoy writing it and it's such a nice creative outlet for me! so yeah, no plans on ending any time soon!

[paranasloc]

Okay. So I’ve finished reading the promised neverland. I’m definitely rereading this, although I don’t know when I’ll get to it but I will, even if I don’t go through every detail. I just want to read it again, even if very casually. It was quite intense the first time so I want to just chill the next time I read it again lmao anyway, here are some of my thoughts and this is just for fun and whatever so nobody take any of this seriously please

It took me more than half a year to finish this, even though I pushed myself so hard to do so, so maybe there are some things I’m misremembering and maybe I’ll change my mind with a second read or simply as time goes by but, for now, just off the top of my head:

1. The start was amazing and very interesting. Immediately you know this is no ordinary plot. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with stories of the daily life, and any story can still turn out to be just as good, I guess it just depends on what you prefer. Personally I often tend to crave a bit of darkness and a bit of something outside of the ordinary, even though I get overwhelmed quite easily 😂 and of course this being a dark fantasy it really hit the spot for me. Right from the get-go it was very tense and seemed otherworldly.

2. I just looked up the official arcs and with my lacking memory as of right now I think I liked the second arc the best, the jailbreak arc, when they were still at the house trying to figure out how to get out alive. Nobody really knew what it was like outside and the future was full of mysteries and possibilities and their situation didn’t look very good, and even in the house at times things got pretty intense. I think my least favorite is maybe the second to the last one, the return to grace field arc? It was still good but I feel like compared to the others it seemed to fall off a tiny bit. Leuvis popped out of nowhere because apparently he had a second core, but they should’ve known that since he’s part of royalty and if they know about legravalima’s why didn’t they know about his? It seems as if he was brought back just so someone could convince the demons of the truth or something. And then while there was a bit of hesitation to not eat humans anymore I feel like it went quite smoothly actually, maybe a bit too smoothly for my liking. I expected a bit more opposition idk since they’ve been eating humans for so long, and they don’t eat human meat solely to survive they also actually like human meat, and different individuals react differently to things. Idk it was kind of wholesome I guess but it just seemed a bit too good to be true. The same goes for the sisters following Isabella. I understand they were all scared and fed up, but I expected a bit of crazy to come out of that situation because a group of that many people who used to anticipate each other’s downfalls couldn’t have been that easy to convince and unite, no? But that was that I guess, none of them blew the whistle. And then Isabella was somehow strong enough to hold onto a demon to prevent them from harming the children, and then a demon guard arrives just in time before Isabella collapses to the ground. Idk. Things seemed a tiny bit too convenient. Again, still a good arc, just not quite what I preferred. And there were probably other “convenient” things too in the other arcs, but I somehow feel like this arc had the most number of “convenient” things. But maybe this is just me.

3. Overall very, very good! I kind of wish the characters were explored more though, all of them. They’re fine as they are even without more backstories, plus it leaves a lot more space for imagination, but it also would’ve been fun to see I think. The conclusion is also bittersweet since emma has lost a part of her life and a part of what makes her family — forever. But I think that’s definitely a better ending than if there really had been no reward needed. It would’ve been too easy, again too convenient for my liking 😂

Time to pick my favorite characters!

10. Rossi/Leslie/“Him”

I’m sorry I simply couldn’t choose! I know rossi and Leslie don’t have many scenes featuring mainly themselves, but I have a soft spot for the both of them. As for “him”, or the demon god, I find him to be if not the most then definitely one of the most intriguing characters in the story.

9. Isabella

I don’t have a particular attachment to her but I must say she made a very fine antagonist. High IQ and EQ, very capable handling most things, and has nerves of steel. And then we find out later she’s also very much full of love and devotion and feeling. I wish we could’ve seen more of her.

8. Sonju

Another intriguing character! I wish we could’ve seen more of him too. Tbh probably the character that I wish we could’ve seen more the most.

7. Norman

I almost feel a bit sorry putting him only in seventh place, but this is how I feel. Like yeah I still like him, but it would be a bit of a stretch for him to be placed in the top 5…the main reason really being him planning and then actually committing the murders of so many of the demons. I don’t think it’s right to gloss over the fact that this guy planned to annihilate the whole demon race and actually tried to make it happen. Yes many of the other characters agreed with him, and yes many of them also did the same things, but the difference is that he was basically the one to lead them into all of that. It’s been said before that Norman basically makes the plans and the rest of them just help with carrying them out. Anyone can think of something that extreme, but to actually do it and what’s more to actually influence other people to implement it? That’s a whole different thing. If their leader had been, for example, emma from the start, would things have gotten to that point I wonder? On the other hand, am I saying that what he did was necessarily completely wrong? Not really. Maybe it really was the most effective choice. Or maybe even the only real choice at that point in time. Who really knows. What I am saying though, is that I do not agree with it. I believe that your first choice should not be the pain or the erasure of someone else. Everyone is different, and this is just me, and maybe I’m wrong. But I firmly believe in this. I’m glad that he corrected himself in the end.

6. Mujika

I mean does this even need an explanation 😅 I don’t think she’s even done any wrong ever

5. Gilda

Tbh at the start I wasn’t attached at all because she seemed to pale in comparison to the main trio, be it with her wits or her personality, but I ended up liking her more than I ever thought I would! She’s smart too, and so, so soft and sweet

4. Don

Beautiful sunshine! At first I also didn’t particularly care because he too seemed to pale standing next to the main trio, and also who could forget him being so impulsive, but I’ve really come to appreciate how warm and bright he is!

3. Phil

BEST BOY. HE IS BABY. PROTECT HIM AT ALL COSTS. ONE OF THE MOST PRECIOUS CHARACTERS IN THE STORY DONT EVEN LIE

2. Emma

She’s so earnest and selfless it hurts. No one is perfect, and no doubt she isn’t either, but she is so, so kind. Her heart is huge. She’s said she’s selfish for always pushing for the most idealistic decision, but she’s always thinking of other people. Even when she was scared out of her mind in the beginning it was mainly because she was scared of what would happen to her family, instead of what would happen to herself. She truly wanted everyone to find happiness and peace, even those that hurt her and her family.

1. Ray

I kind of expected this 😅 to be fair it’s pretty close between him and emma. But I’ve liked Ray since the beginning. He’s the character I’ve liked the longest I think and I’ve only grown to like him more and more. Probably one of the most well-rounded characters in the story, and I appreciate his character development too, I feel like he’s become much more sensitive towards other people over time. He deserves only good things!!!

Well this is getting quite long and I’m tired af. I may or may not make another list after I reread but for now. I’m happy I finished this story!

[brave-and-gentle]

Fanfic writer interview

Ooooo thanks for the tag @itsnathateasy! PS - I also used to be a huge Directioner! That is actually how I got on Tumblr in 2012 lmao

How many work do you have on AO3?

4

What's your total AO3 word count?

110,050

What are your top 5 stories by kudos/likes?

GirlDad!Jean tea party - 65 likes

GirlDad!Jean dance and soccer - 184 likes

Devil in the Cold - 88 kudos

GirlDad!Jean Happy Birthday - 62 likes

A TIE!! Second Chances and The Patient - 46 kudos

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

OFC. I'm so grateful that someone enjoyed my fic so much that they took the time to comment, so I will respond with aggressive love <3 (i am an aries venus)

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I actually don't think anything I've written has an angsty ending?? But Second Chances might, we'll see...(it'll be fine i promise)

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

they all have happy endings because i'm a sucker for happy endings :'')

Do you write crossovers?

I have not!

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No THANK GOD

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yesss hehe, mostly afab with Jean Kirstein because that's what i want lmao

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i hope not!!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

kind of! way back in 2009-2010 before i even knew the meaning of fanfics, my irl friends and i would write The Hunger Games fics together, but from decades before Katniss' story. This is going to age myself esp since I think most of my followers are a little younger than me, but we literally posted them to a private Facebook group LMAO. it was kind of like asynchronous DND, we even had a GM and would take turns!

What's your all-time favorite ship?

JeanBee, aka, my self-ship delulu!! :')

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

*takes biggest sigh of the day* I think I still have a post-war Gale Hawthorne redemption arc saved somewhere. Idk if I'll ever return to it, though I'd love to because he deserves it!! I never published it anywhere.

What are your writing strengths?

Based on my Ao3 comments, it seems like readers really think I've nailed how the different AoT charaters act, and I am honored :')

What are your writing weaknesses?

Diving into my characters inner thoughts more! I feel I sometimes rely too much on outer factors to relay their thoughts, which is definitely necessary, but sometimes I forget that they actually have inner dialogue lol.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Same as prev: in my experience, it's irrelevant to the plot more often than not. i do appreciate it when it's important to the plot.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I'd loooove to write JeanPiku, but I fear i would never do them justice!

What's your favorite fic you've written?

Definitely Second Chances, linked above. It's a mildly angsty divorced dilf Jean x reader fic (warning! DO NOT read if you are a JeanKasa ride or die, it ain't for you bbys, ilysm)

np: @hideandgopeep @mayariviolet @ppushable @d33pwithinmys0ul

Fanfic writer interview

Thank you @thelettersfromnoone for the tag!! 💖

How many work do u have on AO3?

3, not your local AO3 girlie lmao

What's your total AO3 word count?

8 534

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes

I'll go with Tumblr ones, cause from my 3 AO3 works the biggest number I got is 31 lmao

Anyone but you (Legolas x f!reader)

Night watch (Legolas x Reader)

Well-deserved rest (Haldir x f!Reader)

One messy night (Boromir x f!Reader)

Transition (Haldir x f!Reader)

Honorable mention (since it's not fics but headcanons)

Green Council receiving a hot pic from you (HotD)

TLK men's reaction on being pet named

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to respond to comments! These little things are brightening up my day, so I wanna let the people know that they are my heroes hahaha

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I really think it's Transition. All in all it's a pretty dark story, a bit depressing I think (I had these intentions while writing at least).

Otherwise, I don't think I have angsty endings fics?

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

New family members for sure!! Was thinking hard what to choose, cause I think all of my happy ending fics are on the pretty same level on a happy scale, but I remember that I have this gen, non romantic baby and I love it so much ❤️‍🩹 There's a little TLK OMC for y'all

Do you write crossovers?

I wanted to say I've never done this BUT THEN!!! My Assassin's Creed (Ezio) x LOTR little headcanon!!! My beloved child!!

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, not that I remember getting any hate on my fics

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, tho not much and on rare occasions. I used to write a lot of smut when I was younger (a teen), then I stopped being comfortable with it for a wild few years (tho reading never made me uncomfortable lmao).

Now I started writing smut again, idk what kind? Don't really understand what does that mean lol F x M traditional sex? Pretty detailed? If so, then yes lmao

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't know 😂 Maybe, maybe not. I think rather not.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge, I don't think so.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

We tried with my friend a long long time ago. Didn't go well lmao It's hard and kinda stressing, cause you never know what the other person is gonna write (at least we had this SURPRISE system), so... You kinda have zero plot cause everything you want to write plot-wise can be ruined by the second person's plot lmao

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Athelnar?? Athelstan and Ragnar were my first ever OTP (quickly followed by Alfred and Uhtred). You could never beat that Athelnar shit out of my body lmao I've never written for them, but oh I do love them boys!

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Now, that's the HARSH one lmao

I think I have at least 3 OC stories that I really wanna write (2 for TLK and one for LOTR), but I'm scared that I will never actually do it. I never was good with multi chaptered stories, and these are indeed not a one shots 🥲

What are your writing strengths?

Ugh... I don't know? I think I was pretty good with dialogues and descriptions of the surroundings to build the atmosphere. But... I guess it's not for me to decide but for the readers?

What are your writing weaknesses?

I rarely finish what I've started lmao I should write everything in one go or else I'll never finish it... Or will finish it in two months even if it's a 2k words one shot

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I love them! I've only done it with my LOTR fics (with Sindarin) but I really love it. But I really love it when the language is different from the language of the settings? Like, if the story is happening in England and everyone is English, but you have two characters who can speak idk Dutch, let them have a Dutch language in their dialogue. I had a rant post about it not that long ago actually lmao You have to think about your in-universe language

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

Ahhh Bungou Stray Dogs! I love them, and I'd gladly try to write something for them. Not a character/character but reader my beloved.

And maybe Stephane Narcisse (reign) my beloved and a reader

What's your favorite fic you've written?

The blood on my hands (Eomer) and Peace (Finan) are definitely my fave ones I think. They are dark and both explore some trauma

No pressure tags: @whitedarkmoonflower @lord-aldhelm @holy3cake @gemini-mama @emilyhufflepufftlk @persephones-journey @solinarimoon @mrsalwayswrite @emmanuellececchi @bilbotargaryen @levithestripper @mrsarnasdelicious @paula-in-dreamland

[fivekrystalpetals]

I am almost at the end of the Head Hunter Arc and there are a hundred story threads all running parallel so I would def have to re-read once again to fit in the sequence of events. Anyway, I will make a longer post about all my thoughts later,, but now I really really wanna get this off my chest.

warning: rant underneath, please check the tags for the subject of rant, proceed with caution—don’t come @ me if this is your favorite character

Reim died—and I did not feel a single thing. In fact, I am more frustrated he died just like that than his oh-dear-poor-guy plight being shown to me. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him? I just can’t.

He is the worst kind of character—the ones who always want to maintain the status quo, the ones who think they can get away with anything because they are on the side of self-proclaimed ‘Good’, and whatever they do is ‘needed for the greater good’.

This guy single handedly, with one bullet, ruined whatever positive interactions might have occurred between the Baskervilles and the heroes (Break at least? Because Vincent, who is already working with the Baskervilles, is on... idk what side?)

I still maintain the Baskervilles were pulled into some major political conspiracy and they were forced to kill all those people in Sablier in order to ‘save’ them from getting turned into chains.

[The more the author shows me their flashbacks and how happy they were as a family—

look at them, they are the literal essence of found family ;-;—

shedding happy tears rn ;-; Fang, Doug and Lottie were best Dads/Big bro/Mom/Big Sis to Lily. 

—the more I feel like they were never sadistic cold-blooded mass murderers in the first place.]

See, Break and Lottie were making baby steps towards coming to work together for a common cause. On their next meeting, when Break put his sword to Lottie’s throat, she, whether fearing his power and deciding to buy time or what, did make an attempt to understand him rather than trying to jump in for a fight at once.

And then, when the ‘false’ Baskervilles came onto the scene, they were forced to make an unwilling alliance to defeat them albeit for a moment.

I had hoped—one more meeting and then maybe, hopefully, at least, these two would put aside their differences and misunderstandings and start working together to exchange information and unravel all the mystery of the Tragedy; in the process, the heroes start to slowly realize the true nature of the Baskervilles.

But no. Reim just had to ruin everything. He heard Lily’s story, came to the realization that Baskervilles weren’t monsters but ‘laughed just like us’, and decided... ok this child is innocent but she will definitely kill many more people in the future so let me shoot her right through her head now and finish her off.

I had been reading with a smile on my face because their interactions were so cute, the way she tried to console him and relate to him, the way she squealed on seeing the March Hare (March Hare really is cute btw)—and then, bam! I was more shocked when he ‘killed’ her than when Fang announced Reim was dead.

I can’t put this in a better way either so here we go—Reim is an idiot. 

Here is a child that spills out everything unprompted if you simply humor her for a bit. She is a literal goldmine of information about the elusive Baskervilles. All you have to do is pretend-play with her that you are her ‘friend’ and she will tell you all tidbits from her life. All ‘truths’ because she has no reason to lie to a friend. “Family is good of course, but friends are good too.” She trusts her family, she trusts her friends. 

Instead, what Reim does is go for the kill.

Without even understanding the basic nature of Baskervilles. 

He didn’t know or even bother to find out Baskervilles could heal before playing his trump card. 

Is he not Rufus Barma’s apprentice? Did he not learn a thing from the tenacious information broker, who deals with even life-and-death matters using information?

Has he never heard of the saying—half knowledge is a dangerous thing? Does he not know of buying time? Never heard of humoring someone? If she wants to see your chain, show her that, play with her till you manage to pass information to your friends and then when Break or someone strong enough to handle her hellhound arrives on scene, capture her alive, gdi! (I remember that scene from Dark Era when Dazai got frustrated that Akutagawa killed off half a dozen hopeful sources of information. Now, I understand his frustration.) 

In fact, he did not even wait to hear her full story, asked a question or two, came to the conclusion that they are gonna reenact the Tragedy of Sablier—(after listening to a gullible child, btw. She is ofc gonna listen to her elders. If they say yes, then yes; if they say no, then no. How in the world do you make such a major decision after listening to the words of a child? And once again, I am not so sure if the Baskervilles indeed enacted the First Tragedy of Sablier in the first place. He is jumping to conclusions there too.)

—and shoots her through her head. Whether she died or not doesn’t matter here. She survived because of her super healing power. What matters here is that yes, Reim did have full killing intention when he shot her. Had she been a normal human, she’d have died. It was her brains that he intended to blow out. No way she was gonna survive that if she were a human. 

He is the one that betrayed her budding trust. Sorry but I have no sympathy for him. If she used her chain to rip his throat, that’s on him. He shot the first bullet. Whatever she does afterwards counts as self-defense for me.

Well, here comes another idiot, Break, who doesn’t know any of this. Without even finding out what transpired there, he directly jumped in to fight against two self-healing Baskervilles all by himself, spitting blood, lost eyesight, can’t-last-too-long-in-a-battle and all as he is, in order to ‘avenge’ his friend.

Lottie, please come and talk all of this out—is what I wanted to say, because she seems the only one with brain cells among this bunch of idiots. 

see, I can even draw up the parallels between the Break-Lottie 'friendship' and Reim-Lily 'friendship'. 

When Break offered her to be his ‘friend’ (Break being a way more powerful opponent compared to Lottie, she was completely overpowered and at his mercy), she got through alright. Even on their second meeting when Break wanted to ‘shred her to pieces’ for killing Reim (which she probs has no idea of. It’s Lily who found him.), she managed to buy time if only with the appearance of the ‘fake’ Baskervilles and later escape.

Whereas when Lily, a child with a bit stronger chain than Reim’s (or so he says, for idk what his chain does) asked Reim to be her ‘friend’, he goes for the kill. oh no, poor guy doesn’t know how to buy time with a talkative, gullible child who has long given up on wanting to kill him and wanted to simply chat with him *sigh*

Same situation, different brains, different outcomes.

But because of that one stupid brain, all is gone to waste. No way an alliance between Break and the Baskervilles is gonna take place after this. I mean, I don't know if he meant it when he said this--

what are the many things he wanted to tell her please i wanna know i am dying for more interactions between them please

But it is too late now. It has turned into a kill-or-be-killed situation. 

As of the present, it is Break vs Fang and Lily; and istg if something happens to any one of them, I will personally kill Reim. all over, once again. painfully.

I love all the three and I can’t see even one of them die over an idiot who caused his own death because he is an idiot. 

[jillianallen14]

Spirk fanfic rec

Some amazing Spirk fanfic to bless your dash because I’m falling in love with this shit all over again (this is like the 10th time this has happened lol):

Entering Orbit:  Jim escapes to Iowa to avoid the media frenzy following the Narada incident, but a late-night miscommunication results in Spock turning up on his front porch; rated m; 30,957 words

Papers in the Roadside:  Non-Starfleet AU. Jim owns a small bar in Chicago, keeps on picking up strays and taking care of everyone no matter how hard it makes his own life. Spock is a journalist writing feature articles for the Chicago Tribune; he depicts the world with uncanny skill, but hides more than one personal drama and is possibly under surveillance from the Vulcan royal family. They meet by accident just before their lives start to spin out of control; rated e; 49,637 words

Take Refuge in What You Know:  AU - Kirk has moved into a apartment/house and wants to get to know his neighbors. He meets his neighbor Spock, a loner who suffers from extreme agoraphobia. Kirk thinks he's beautiful enigma; rated e; 120,334 words

Listen, this is not only my favorite Star Trek fic of all time, it’s also one of my favorite fanfics in general. It’s right up there with Text Talk and The Shoebox Project from the HP fandom, which if you’ve read, you know are incredible and frankly life-changing. And this fanfic changed my life. The description the author gives doesn’t do the beauty of this fic justice. I suffer from agoraphobia and Spock’s depiction as an agoraphobic man was probably the most well-researched, sympathetic, empathetic, caring, realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be agoraphobic that I’ve ever witnessed in fiction. It made me cry like a child because I had never felt so seen and understood. This writer is incredible, and this fic is incredible. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s an AU, which I’m usually pretty wary about, but it barely even feels like an AU. It just feels like Jim and Spock. The author’s understanding of both of their characters’ is perfect, like just a spot-on portrayal of who they are. This fic genuinely helped me accept who I am and helped me understand that I am capable of & deserving of love. If you don’t read any other Star Trek fics (and you def should read more Star Trek fics because they’re amazing), then let this one be the one you read. I dare you not to read it three times in a row like I did.

Observations:  First Officer Spock comments on life aboard the Enterprise and his service under Captain James T. Kirk; rated m; 500,000+ words.

So the author of this fic actually did a thing where they made this fic into two books (similar to what The Shoebox Project authors did many years ago in the HP fandom). They don’t get any money from people buying the books; the cost is just to go towards producing the books. This fic is the equivalent of two LARGE novels. We’re talking 600 pages & up. It’s a huge fic. Now, that being said, I read it in one day. ONE DAY. It’s that good. This is another one of my all-time favorite fics, though not quite as dear to my heart as the one I listed above. It’s focused on AOS, and tbh, I forget that what happens in this book isn’t actually canon. Like it’s so well-told, it just feels like it’s now part of the timeless story of Kirk & Spock. The “professional” Star Trek writers would never be brave enough to do what this author does with Kirk and Spock, though. This fic will make you angry, will make you laugh, will make you cry. It has such a good grasp on every single character. It also shows the love between the crew of the Enterprise, which is always a treat, and it’s beautifully done in this fic. It has a sorta-enemies-to-lovers arc between Spirk and an enemies-to-close-friends arc between Spock and McCoy that is beautifully done and fleshed out. This fic is definitely a journey to go through, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s extremely slow burn, and you will want to slap both Kirk and Spock (and McCoy) upside the head at certain points lol. 

Of Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves:  The progression of a relationship, through Coffee Beans and Green Tea Leaves. Basically, it’s an AU where Kirk works at a coffee shop to pay his way through school, and Spock visits often. rated t; 16,429 words

Love, love, love, this fic. It’s cute, it’s in character. They have kind of a rocky start together, so it’s got a little bit of that Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy i-hated-you-but-now-i-love-you-marry-me vibes to it. I’m a sucker for that, if you haven’t figured that out by now lol. It’s really good, and a really enjoyable read. And it’s not too long, if you’re in the mood for something on the shorter end of things.

 Please Don’t Touch the Vulcans:  The "yes" is out of Jim's mouth before he can think about it. Jim is chipper about having time off for the holidays. He asks everyone if they want to spend time together but sadly, everyone ditches Jim over the holidays because they have plans. McCoy visits his daughter, Nyota visits her family, and everyone splits. Not knowing Spock has feelings for him, Jim doesn't even bother asking if he wants to spend time together figuring he has something to do. Something cute, romantic with the boys spending time with one another and confessions; rated m; 17,690 words

Super cute and has lots of Sarek, which idk about y’all, but I’m always a fan of. Sarek and Jim kind of get to know each other a bit, and it’s cute. Sarek knows about they’re in love before Spock & Kirk know lol. If I remember correctly, there’s also some appearances from everyone’s favorite: Old!Spock! You also get a little bit of jealous and protective Young!Spock. So you’re in for a real treat with this one. 

The Ren shat’var Trilogy:  A split-second decision changes Jim's life forever, as he enters into a bond with Spock in the face of certain torture. Enemies to the Federation emerge from unlikely places, and the command team must contend with unexpected threats, as well as challenges within their own intense relationship. In this three-part series, the Enterprise races across the galaxy to confront the unknown, and Jim and Spock discover the true significance of their unprecedented connection; rated e; 184,411 words

Textual Attraction:  Valentine’s Day does not bring up pleasant memories for Cadet Kirk. But the serendipitous switch-up of his cell phone with a particular Vulcan professor’s will make his day far more interesting –and romantic. Perhaps some new memories can be made! 15,900 words

SO GOOD. Just SO good

Spaceman:  Academy AU. Five times Spock realizes he's attracted to a barista at the academy spaceport, and one time he decides to do something about it. rated t; 3728 words

Short, sweet, funny. You’ll love it.

Subtext: Texting your Vulcan first officer in the middle of the night is never a good idea. Especially when you have an obsessive crush on said Vulcan.The holidays are approaching and Jim is left entirely Spockless aboard the Enterprise when his First takes shore leave on New Vulcan. After some midnight pining, Jim sends a text he instantly regrets. That is, until Spock responds and willingly continues their textual communications to an inevitable conclusion; rated t; 13,032 words

Cute, sweet, funny. It’s a texting fic. I think you’ve probably figured out I love those. This one makes me laugh so fucking hard. Like actually laugh-out-loud-omg-did-i-just-snort kind of funny. Spock is great in this one

All Spock Wants For Christmas:  While Jim is away on a delegation mission, he panics about what to give Spock for Christmas. With help from Bones and Uhura, and in between some spam texting with Spock, Jim realizes he already has the perfect gift. And all it needs is wrapping paper and a bow; rated t; 11,966 words

And here we have another cute, sweet, funny texting fic. Sue me lol

The Morning After:  Jim convinces Spock to take shore leave with him on Risa, hoping the time together will help re-solidify their bond of friendship after some recent tension. Meanwhile, Spock convinces himself he's on Risa for one reason and one reason only, to prevent his wayward captain from getting into trouble. After a passionately illogical night of Romulan Ale and chocolate infused liquor, everything changes when Jim wakes with something other than a hangover filling his head. Something he's sure neither he nor Spock can handle. Because if Jim knows anything for sure, it's that his messed up thoughts belong nowhere near Spock's clean, ordered mind; rated m; 50,381 words

HAHA. This fic fucking cracks me up. You’ve got drunk boys pining over each other & not realizing it. You’ve got accidental marriage. You’ve got bed sharing. It’s great, it’s cute, it’s funny. 

Take This Sinking Boat (And Point It Home):  In which Spock pines, Jim isn’t stupid (except he kind of is), and Christopher Pike has had enough of this bullshit; 6698 words

Pike is great in this one, and it’s super, super funny.

Extracurricular Activities:   Spock returns to the Academy from a tour of duty to find an intriguing cadet captures his attention; rated e; 15,433 words

Veritas: Basically, Kirk and Spock are on trial because the Federation thinks they are emotionally compromised by each other, which is putting the lives of their crew in danger. They have to convince a court they’re not actually in love with each other. They think the claims are bullshit. They think it will be easy to prove that they aren’t in love or emotionally compromised, damn it. It isn’t; rated m; 186,80 words

This one is so, so good. A real gem off of Fanfic.net. I remember it was actually one of the first Spirk fanfics I ever read, and it blew me away. The progression of their relationship is really well-done and interesting. It has star-crossed lovers vibes and has some really emotionally intense moments in it, especially for Spock. 

A Habitual Affection:  Living in 1930s New York with the Vulcan you're secretly in love with is no simple thing. But Jim never liked anything simple. And then, the big snowstorm hit...; rated t; 7998 words

A beautiful TOS fic about one of the gayest episodes of Star Trek. Love this one. 

Atlas:  Between what was and what will be stands James Tiberius Kirk, in all his fractured patchwork glory. Because saving the Federation was only the beginning; rated t; 135,529 words

A beaut. Really great characterization, and the progression of Jim and Spock’s relationship is really well-done.