#it's SO fun to write from that perspective especially jack not being the one with the supernatural experience here lmaooo

[trickstercaptain]

@harringtontm sent a meme: ❛ in another life, i would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you. ❜

       A high school nurse's office wasn't exactly ideal, particularly for the injuries to the neck and abdomen that Steve had sustained in the Upside Down, but it had a decent first aid kit at least, and it was for that reason that Jack had stubbornly dragged him here to patch him up as best he could before they went back through the gate to face hell again. It didn't matter that they still had to hammer out their plan. It didn't matter that Steve had said the adrenaline had taken away the pain for the moment. Ten minutes was all Jack had demanded and so here he was, rummaging through cupboards in search of antiseptic and clean bandaging.

       He finally found some and took a seat beside him, starting with the wound to his neck. Steve's choice of words gave Jack pause before he began, meeting his eyes with a small smile. “ And not also fight monsters on the side? I was too preoccupied to say so at the time, but the way you went at that bat almost made me think you were a professional. ” As light and teasing as his tone might have been, there was a sad implication behind such an observation. Understandably given the urgency of everything here in Hawkins, Jack hadn't gained the full story of how this had all started ( instead it was being fed to him in snippets here and there, each seemingly more insane out of context than the last ), but the thought that this had been Steve's life before he and Robin had moved to New York...

       Minus the supernatural elements, their lives really weren't as different as Jack had originally thought when they'd first met.

       “ Those seven, eight months we had in New York together with Robin... are probably the most ordinary and happy my life has ever been. ” Now seemed a good time for meaningful truths, faced with the quiet in the aftermath of the chaos, the anticipation of a more dangerous fight to come. “ I think that's why, when you changed the song, you managed to pull me out. ” Headphones still hanging around his neck, it was not something Jack wished to dwell on yet. But it was something Steve needed to hear. He forced another smile. “ So I'll be the first trying to make laundry and taxes our life again once we're through with this. If that's alright with you. ”

[batbabydamian]

BATMAN AND ROBIN (2023) #14 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Javier Fernandez! rambling about the new team and arc!! a jumping-on point for anyone wanting to read recent Bruce and Damian comics 🦇🐥

setting the stage with action!! mystery and intrigue!! expectations for further character exploration for Damian!!

if that's not enough to pique interest, here's a rendition of one of the many cute grumpy Damian panels

first of all THE OPENING ACTION SCENE OH MY GOD (this splash page hello!!)

i love...the collaborative effort in comics...it shines through right from the start, especially when it involves traditional inks 😭

using this single panel as an example from Fernandez’s ig:

Fernandez lays out most of the groundwork in his inks - the fully inked silhouette of the driver in the foreground, the shading suggesting the lighting, the white ink/paint lined and splattered for the rain!!

then off to colors with Marcelo Maiolo!! he elevates the panel to emphasize how it's a shot from within the vehicle looking out the windshield - the lightly tinted inks, the bright lighting from headlights, and the slight window sheen + bokeh!!

one more similar example, with comparison by the man himself - Fernandez already implying the glare, scraping white against Batman and Robin's silhouettes. then punched up with Maiolo's colors/lighting!! WOW!!

OKAY SORRY ONE MORE along with Steve Wands’ consistently lovely lettering, Fernandez included his own sfx in his inks of this page!! not sure how often he does it past this, but SO cool!! ever since seeing Juni Ba's sfx lettering in his inks, it's such a sick extra detail to me 😭

ANYWAY i can go on about what i love about each panel for this scene but gotta move on from the explosive intro of Batman and Robin to the more grounded side of Bruce and Damian (which ends up being just as explosive)!! 🥺

there's small details carrying over from Williamson's run like Bruce making Damian vegan meals and Damian creating comics; otherwise, we have a much more engaging writing of the two almost reminiscent to Tomasi and Gleason's run!

one example being his attitude towards a fancy event interrupting his and Dick's patrol in Batman and Robin (2009) #20

the first line from Bruce and Damian's disregard for a fundraising event is a bit of head scratcher to me when Damian is plenty compassionate, BUT for the sake of a jumping-on arc for new readers it’s a clear point of reference for Damian’s character - a kid who believes more in Batman and Robin work than what could be done outside of those masks. it becomes a matter of how Damian's perspective might change around this subject and how he'll take action in helping outside of Robin 🤔

another similar Tomasi-esque moment is Damian's snark about his grandfather lol, a sentiment that carries over from Batman and Robin (2011) #1

PKJ references his Ra's al Ghul story from Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant! especially curious when the final line by Talia is "...you will see my father again", when Ra's is currently dead. a fun lil callback or also a convenient nod to future plans? 👀

NOW THE MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE OF IT ALL...

Bruce's attention is caught by this man shouting "You sit atop the wheel" which i'm guessing is in reference to the Wheel of Fortune, especially if we're going by a literal interpretation of the rich and poor (depicting the group among tents and carts).

i'm really reaching here, but wondering if Bruce calling himself “Jack” at some point is also related to the arcana. the only relation i could find is the Page of Wands, and the Jack once being referred to as a "knave"

EDIT: an anon reached out to inform me that Bruce called himself “Jack” during his training! seems to be first introduced in Batman: The Knight (2022) #4

THE REVEAL OF THE NEW VILLAIN, MEMENTO...the first page opens on a deceased person's face, and the last dialogue is "We will see your face again." AND OH BOY WE CERTAINLY DO! 😭

the flames casting a harsh light against the plaster (or stone??) of Memento's mask, and how he looms over Bruce...SO EERIE...

FINAL RAMBLY THOUGHTS

Damian being colored with noticeable melanin...🥺 i can only assume this was a deliberate choice made by PKJ since the editors haven't changed, and for the past issues Damian's colors have been independent to the colorists - the only edit being after Rex Lokus gave him green eyes in #5 but were returned to blue in #6 (for consistency ig). along with the classic teen asian haircut, this feels intentional on PKJ's part and i hope Damian will continue to be colored brown here and other books 🥺👉👈

one of the things PKJ teased in an interview was the idea of Damian wondering if he even wants to still be Robin, much less Batman (begging this is where main canon Damian gives the Batman mantle up lol). so presenting Damian here as someone absorbed in that life makes me wonder what triggers those thoughts - is it going to be this incident or later? more currently, will Damian be able to protect the civilians that Bruce entrusted him with? especially after getting familiar with a few, however reluctantly?

anyway, a banger first issue that leaves you with just enough crumbs to know what you're expecting but still beg for more: what's the mysterious new group/villain, and their connection to Bruce? will Dr. Bashar and the Wayne grandparents have more to do with the story? how will this all affect Damian outside of being Robin? Talia and Ra’s?? so many questions!!

[night-raven-tattler]

Hello there, I recently became a follower and I love your writing so far, keep up the great work and I hope you’re having a wonderful day

I saw that requests are open so if it’s alright, can I get headcannons of the first years (separate) and shows/movies they’d enjoy watching with the reader?

Thought it’ll be pretty fun and an excuse for me to get recommendations lol, thank you!

Hello, Aesthetic! Thank you for your kind words! This was a bit of a challenge for Mx Tattly, since they are not a huge movie person. However she hopes you still enjoy his takes. They also wrote from the perspective of the Prefect/Yuu having access to some movies from their world of origin. Enjoy!

Movie night, otherworldly edition

Characters: Grim, Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel, Ortho, Sebek and GN!Reader (separate)

Warnings: food mention (Epel's part)

By opening the document, you agree to Mx Tattly's terms of source confidentiality.

-ˋˏ’✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Grim's preffered genres are: comedy, action, animation, fantasy

Grim trully is a child at heart, and all the colorful characters and scenes from animation have him hooked

He also enjoys a good laugh, especially visual gags

He barely has any attention to spare for a series, so movies are his preffered format

He would never admit it but he's a sucker for found family

Silent movie crier

Loud denier

Some favorites from your world: Home; Bolt; That one Wizard Boy Movie we Don't mention in This Household; he has a weird relationship with Ace Ventura

『••✎••』

Ace's preffered genres are: horror, thriller, action, adventure

He enjoys gorey stuff and being the guy you hide behind of when the scenes get too much, but he needs time to prepare for psychological horror

Ace is the type to look up spoilers before watching something and he tries to trick you into believing his made up version of the plot

He talks a lot during movies but hates when others do it

While he enjoys a good adventure movie, he hates superhero movies and he thinks they're silly

He prefers movies over series because he likes the format more, but he's down for a short series

Some favorites from your world: The Mummy; Jumanji (he loves making fun of it); American Psycho; Scary Movie

『••✎••』

Deuce's preffered genres are: action, adventure, animation, family movies

He is pretty easy to please, he'd watch anything that is entertaining

Definitely a Marvel fan

He also loves animation movies, the animation always leaves him awestruck

He likes movies about families and their bonds

Deuce is also surprisingly into medical dramas... but also cop dramas

He is a crier as well but only when he's just with you

Some favorites from your world: Black Panther; The Rookie; A Goofy movie; Police Academy 2

『••✎••』

Jack's preferred genres are: documentary, adventure, romance, dramas and telenovelas with a bit of nudging

Jack is the type of guy to retain various informations after watching something

He can sometimes memorise entire scenes, and he finds that habit less annoying when he watches documentaries; he likes something informative and motivational

Jack also enjoys some romance movies sometimes, but he is very picky so it's hard for him to find one he actually likes

He does, however, like to point out and comment on the weird courting habits humans have

Jack finds telenovelas and soap operas kind of nonsensical and overly dramatic, but he also gets hooked on the plot pretty quick and soon enough it would become a bit of a guilty pleasure

Some favorites from your world: David Holmes, the boy who lived; the social dilemma; Love, Simon; Yo soy Betty la fea

『••✎••』

Epel's preferred genres are: comedy, action, western, anything he can mock and make fun of

If you think Ace is bad with his mid watch commentary, Epel is 10 times worse

He mocks things in movies so often he's giving Cinema Sins a run for their money

He won't shut up even if you give him all the snacks, he'll talk while eating

He also has the most colourful, boisterous, ridiculous laughter imaginable (and I say that lovingly), so if the comedy movie is not making you laugh then Epel's laughter is

Epel is not a picky watcher so he can get behind anything that isn't too sappy

If you pull out anything with Vil on the poster though he will dematerialise from your couch

Some favorites from your world: Rush Hour; Desperado; Puss in Boots 2; any Fast and Furious movie (unfortunately)

『••✎••』

Ortho's preferred genres are: anything he finds intriguing, family movies

If anything, Ortho has a wide palate and can enjoy almost anything

He also knows how a movie ends before he watches it, but it never ruins his enjoyment

He never spoils anyone unless they try to argue with him about the direction of the plot

Most of his interest in movies came from wanting to understand human behavior better, but now he can just use them as a time killer or sleepover material

He also likes watching your reactions to the movies: how often you laugh, how often you cry, how often you reach for snacks

A favorite from your world: Big Hero 6

『••✎••』

Sebek's preferred genres are: historical films, (period) dramas, musicals with the right nudge

Listen here, musical enjoyers. Here is the most susceptible one to being convinced to join the dark side

One word: Hamilton.

Yes, he'll think the music is nonsensical, BUT he'll also tap his foot to it

AND if you say anything about teaching him something from the soundtrack to surprise Malleus with, he's all ears

He is also very quick to get songs stuck in his head: he's easy prey

All jokes aside, Sebek can be a good watch buddy when his interest is piqued

Not even he can deny when a movie has good plot and characters

He does prefer period dramas, since he has a soft spot for the setting

And historical films: a nerd do be nerding even during movie nights

Some favorites from your world: The Crown, Hamilton, Les Miserables, maybe Oppenheimer but it would be used in his anti-human agenda

『••✎••』

Speaking of Oppenheimer...

Well, let's discuss Barbenheimer.

Everyone went to watch both movies:

Ace went dressed in pink for the both of them

Deuce got confused by the "dresscode" and apologised to you for not knowing about it

Jack and Ortho enjoyed both

Epel insisted he liked Oppenheimer more but he's lying

Sebek cried at the end of Barbie

Grim is the only one who in fully in Oppenheimer's corner

[persbaderse]

ooooooh my god okay so now that doctor who has well and truly taken a bite out of fantasy for its science-fantasy era (/pos), i was thinking about the people in the bar.

i think from a writing perspective they were meant to be a (hilarious, frustrating) red herring. like everything they said was made up to fuck with ruby and they don't know or care what she's going through.

BUT, superstition can be driven by emotions, especially fear, and they scared the ever loving shit out of me ruby. what if all that talk of wales being powerful and soaked in blood accidentally made the situation a million times worse??

i think there was already timey-wimey stuff with the fairy circle. i don't think the mad jack reference was just a coincidence (in a "bad wolf" sort of way... coincidence but also not) and i think it's still written on one of the notes even if ruby never reads it. and i think the doctor got trapped in the fairy ring because he broke it and a note was read aloud--either he was suspended that whole time or roaming some kind of other realm either alone or with other trapped entities. but if the people in the bar DID make things worse, what if they trapped him forever?? like ruby COULD have gotten him out but everything got too powerful and that's why ruby got stuck in a timeline with no doctor and just this one awful thing defining her and the world around her?

i don't know if there is a "right" answer to certain things in this episode, but that's what makes it fun: it really gets you pacing the floor letting your imagination run wild

[bluecatwriter]

Director’s cut ask game: ⭐️⭐️ (aka whatever story you want to talk about!)

Thanks so much for the ask! I scrolled through my fics and chose one of my ensemble pieces, "Waiting,": "It's mid-October, and as the group stays in Varna listening for news of Dracula's whereabouts, Jonathan observes the way that each person deals with the growing suspense of waiting." (Spoilers ahead...)

-I think I started drafting this fic after I'd finished my first run of Dracula Daily back in 2022, but it sat half-finished for several months before I finally started working on it again. As is evident from the huge number of my fics that take place during the week in Varna, I'm a bit obsessed with that part of the book: the waiting feels unbearable, and of course my mind starts spinning stories of what everyone is doing to pass the time!

-I decided on Jonathan's perspective here, because I thought it would be interesting to view each person's coping strategy through one person's point of view. (I ended up doing this again in a different fic from Arthur's perspective, called "A Week in Varna.")

-The story has five parts, each focused on a different member of the Crew of Light (with Jonathan and Mina sharing the last section). I can't remember the original sequence, but I do remember that I reshuffled it a few times in order to get the narrative to flow.

-In the part about Van Helsing, I tried to show how heavy a toll all the waiting was taking as he tried to stay in control: keeping tabs on Mina's slow transformation, trying to do research, and so on. I loved the image of him praying the rosary over Mina while she slept during the day, too. And he's doing his best to try to make sure Jonathan isn't getting snacked on (but he's not very tactful about it). I tried to show Jonathan's compassion and empathy for him, even as Jonathan is withholding information from him.

-Beloved Arthur! He's the guy in the group who always has a granola bar in his fanny pack, and we love him for it. He is always golden-retriever-coded in my stories, but especially when writing from Jonathan's perspective. I did some minor internet searching to find a candy that someone would be likely to find in Bulgaria in the 1890s, but not sure if I succeeded. (If the violetki is anything like the drop hard licorice I ate in the Netherlands, I probably would not like it! Hopefully Jonathan does, though.)

-Quincey and Jonathan having an unexpected connection was a nice addition to this story, and looking back I can see some seeds for my later fic, "Step Into the Light." I liked the image of them sitting together in companionable silence, each cleaning and preparing their weapon.

-The section with Jack was the most fun to write, because he's being unbearably awkward and annoying to Jonathan right now, which is a dynamic that always makes me laugh for some reason. Though his dialogue is pretty ambiguous in the story, as I was writing it, the vibe I was going for was, "Trying to bring up the subject of 'what if your wife is eating you??' but wisely deciding to settle for some extremely ineffective flirting instead."

-The Jonathan/Mina scene in this one was the hardest to get right, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I wanted to show the ways that Jonathan is both supporting her (agreeing to pray with her every night despite All That going on with him) and putting his foot down (insisting that she drink from him every night). I also wanted to emphasize the different ways that they are dealing with God at this point— Mina through devotion, Jonathan through a dread and angry sense of waiting to see how it ends for him to make up his mind about what's going on. I'm one of those people who headcanons Jonathan as keeping his faith— albeit in a different, more mature form— in the end, but at this point all he knows is that Mina is hurt, and his teeth are bared.

-Speaking of bared teeth, Mina gets to drink all the blood she wants! #girlboss. This scene was pretty erotic but I ended up writing a more explicit version of it from Mina's perspective, which was really interesting, too. 

-I'm a bit too happy with the closing line: "Jonathan kept his promise to the professor— he did not need to tell him about the marks on his thigh, because he knew exactly what had caused them." BOOM. MIC DROP! But seriously, I liked how this tied the ending to the beginning scene, and how it shows Jonathan once again disobeying an old man telling him what to do by being sneaky about it. That's my boy!

Thank you again for asking! :D

(Ask game here)

[rayanneisreading]

A Curse for True Love Second POV

Heads up, I think this is going to be long lol.

So we have confirmation now that Jacks is getting a few chapters in his POV.

I feel like these will be toward the end, since Stephanie only recently mentioned adding them, and she’s currently at the tail end of writing the first draft). STILL THEORISING ON WHAT KIND OF SCENES THEY COULD BE. 

There’s still that main second POV we haven’t gotten confirmation on, though! I couldn’t find my screenshot of when Stephanie first announced it on her story, but I do know that EVERYONE’S first assumption was Apollo.

But shortly after, Stephanie posted another story saying that the second POV wasn’t as obvious as she thought it was, and that she hadn’t seen many people guessing it. I don’t know about you, but I think I saw EVERYBODY guessing Apollo. 

SO HERE’S MY THEORY.

I really don’t think an Apollo POV makes sense narratively. 

1. Apollo’s POV would give too much away — we didn’t know he had the power to take memories before he did it, and I think his POV would tell us too quickly who he really is (though I have a theory). 

AND about his past with Jacks.

Screenshot taken from @jackstheprinceofhearts because we didn’t have this edition in the UK :’).

I think this is something that would be more fun to discover, narratively, through Eva’s perspective, as she unravels the mystery of what really happened to her.

2. Apollo is our villain.

He’s keeping Evangeline and Jacks apart in this book. What’s the fun in knowing everything the villain will be scheming? I feel like a villain needs to stay unpredictable to surprise us (much like Jacks in the Caraval trilogy).

3. Our no.1 POV will be from Evangeline’s perspective...but she doesn’t REMEMBER the events of the last two books.

Presumably, she’ll be stuck in the palace with Apollo. It wouldn’t make sense for Apollo to be the second POV here either, because he has no real idea about what happened too (I mean, he was cursed in various ways the entire time). AND he’s in exactly the same place as her, offering us no fresh angle on the story. HE will see everything Evangeline will see, and there’d be no NEED for his POV when she can share everything that goes on in the palace. 

What we need is an outside perspective of what’s happening, someone who has known Evangeline for the last two books, AND wants her to get her memories back. 

It’s not Jacks. And from the blurb, we know Apollo wants to kill Jacks and keep them apart so Eva doesn’t find out what she lost. Jacks will probably be kept away from Evangeline for at least the first 1/4 of the book.

So, to me, that means the second POV has to be someone who can show us Jacks’ side of things, without it being Jacks himself. Most importantly, at the end of Ballad, Jacks was READY to give up Evangeline. 

So we need to see the process that leads to him fighting for her again instead. 

Without a second POV OUTSIDE of the palace (i.e., not Apollo), we probably wouldn’t be able to see Jacks at all for a good chunk of the book, and I doubt Stephanie wants that. 

So my guess is LaLa. 

Mostly because she’s a good plot device. She’s on the opposite side to Apollo, she’s friends with Evangeline, will want her to get her memories back, AND (mostly importantly) she’s friends with Jacks.

Chaos seems like he’d take too much attention away from the main plot to me. We don’t really know much about him, so I think FINDING out things about him would distract too much from Jacks and Evangeline. He seems like the perfect candidate for his own series tbh. His role reminds me a lot of Jacks in Caraval (and he seems like the kind of LI Stephanie would love to write — she loves vampires, after all).

Jacks would also NOT go to Chaos if he was in trouble, especially as we know he’ll be harbouring a grudge after what Chaos did to Eva in the other timeline. And an even greater one, if the blood on the arch means Chaos attacked JACKS instead the second time.

But we know Jacks goes to LaLa when he’s in trouble. 

This is when the after-effects of the vampire venom leave him nearly passing out in the street.

So he might ALSO go to her if he were injured by Chaos.

As well as this, LaLa already has a romance built into the plot, with her dragon shifter, Dane. Who would have been released from the arch at the end of Ballad.

So her side plot as a POV character could only be REUNITING with Dane. I don’t think that would take much away from Evangeline and Jacks, as this is a pre-established romance that needs no build up. As opposed to the attention Chaos would steal. In fact, if she turns human again, seeing as the only reason she became a Fate was because she wanted to stop loving Dane — that would only make her all the more motivated to see Jacks happy too. They were friends as humans, after all. 

Don’t forget, Jacks also just gave up what he sees as his only chance at ‘happily ever after’ by using the stones to save Evangeline, instead of going back to Tella. He not only just watched her die, but he can’t even have her now he’s saved her, because he’s afraid HE’LL kill her. He will need someone to motivate him again.

I think LaLa will be the one to realise something is wrong with Evangeline and that she’s in danger, spurring Jacks to action. 

Maybe LaLa will want to thank Evangeline for opening the arch and giving her back Dane. But will realise her friend doesn’t remember her at all.

This way, we’re not starting from ground 0 again, with only Evangeline’s POV, and the relationship development between her and Jacks completely erased. If we only had Evangeline and Apollo’s POV, not knowing ANY of the prior plot, the whole book could’ve turned into a stream of “who’s this”, “wait, what happened?”.

If we have LaLa, we can see Jacks suffer. We can see how he will REALLY react to learning she’s forgotten him. We can see how cocky he is to Evangeline’s face (his whole “you can’t stay away from me” shtick), with it then skipping to LaLa’s POV where Jacks is crying into his apple cores. Y’know. That sounds a lot more fun to me than an Apollo POV. 

AND just because it’s dual POV doesn’t mean they’ll be equally weighted dual POVs. The fact Jacks also has a few chapters just reinforces this for me. I think Evangeline will take precedent, and the second POV could be more of a plot device to build up to an EvaJacks reunion, showing us the situation from both sides. 

AND we know there will be more scenes in the Hollow. 

So maybe Evangeline will realise there’s something wrong with Apollo and run away with Jacks to find a solution?? Maybe I should write my theories for the actual plot in another post because this is getting LONG, BUT —

I don’t think the second POV is Apollo!

[imperatorrrrr]

ok bear with me here. ITS GONNA BE A LONG ONE. bc you had so many lovely fics out ❤️ these ones in particular made my brain spin around on a hamster wheel ❤️

rookies - this sideswiped me!! I was so delighted by this fic!! short and sweet, a nice introspective Lukey piece that made me laugh thinking about Luke observing the narrative around Jack in the devils core and how he fits into it. The Dune reference had me cackling. I enjoyed the softness of the fic too - Luke just observing all the nice things about Nemo. also: "To Simon, Luke is Luke. And that means something." I love this so much. this line has moved into my brain and it's staying rent free.

unfollow/dinner and a show - these two fics gave me such a SPECIFIC kind of feeling - that silent and almost unnoticeable disappearance of a once-good friend (or at least someone you got along quite well with) that leaves some kind of hollowness inside you when you finally realize just how long you've gone without talking. or that they've removed themselves from your life too I quite liked Jack's "outsiderness" in dinner&show, and the kind of untouchableness of the whole "Nico doesn't talk about Nolan" vibe. but also the humour in every baseball reference was peak.

eavesdropping - once again Luke perspective!! observing the mess that is jacknico and being sneaky about it. I liked the bit of Nico's "tough love" approach that somehow still retains that good/encouraging/kind Nico-Hischier-Quality that we know and love about him. I especially liked "...I'm here to make sure you have the ice you need to do your thing. You don't have to do it all alone. None of us do." Arrrrrgh so good. Also Luke envisioning Jack's actions even tho he's just listening in - he knows Jack so well and it's perfect. I loved the jacknico banter and how these two loveable idiots can't help but compliment each other even in the middle of a tough conversation.

absolutely delightful collection of fics!! thanks for sharing them!! 🦭

omg omg omg omg, when one of your favorite writers talks about your writing. I'm dead.

I've died.

I've peaked.

rookies - I just love the NicoJack NemoLuke parallels and I adore them together. I adore that we're gonna see them right from the start together.

unfollow/dinner and a show - eeeeeeeeeeep! Jack's POV is so much fucking fun to write. he's such a fun little guy for getting into his head.

eavesdropping - this fic was me projecting so hard 'cause I just wanted to sit Jack down and be like, my buddy, my pal, please, you don't gotta carry it all on your own. god, its insane how both Jack and Nico are like that about this team. plus, Lukey Boy is kind of my favorite Hughes, needed his very unique viewpoint of brother, rookie, teammate, (brother-in-law).

god, thank you so so so so so so much for reading. I'm not worthy. I am absolutely not worthy.

and thank you for matching me step for step in our DMs about these idiots.

<3

[hazelnut-u-out]

Hi! I'm making a playlist of Rick and Morty's dynamic, do you have any songs that remind you of them? Alsooo this is not needed, butttt could you tell me why it reminds me of them? I don't need it for the playlist, but I like hearing about it!

I really loved this question and I wanted to answer with a playlist breakdown. In order to actually get around to answering the question soon(ish), I opted to make myself pick one song from what I have of my breakdown so far and then post my full playlist later on at some point, lol.

This song reminds me a lot of their relationship from Morty’s perspective, especially at around the Season 5/Season 6 point of the series.

Generally, I think that Ricks and Mortys have a dynamic that cultivates this idea of subservience in a way that makes Morty feel like he needs to break himself over and over again in order to please Rick or keep Rick from leaving him. This is something I headcanon and use for a lot of Morty’s inner dialogue when I’m writing from his perspective because you can observe the evolution of Morty’s codependency with Rick as the series goes on.

For example, in ‘The Wedding Squanchers’ he says ‘Rick, I can handle it if you go, but you’ll break Mom’s heart, and I won’t forgive you for that,’ and by the time we get to ‘Forgetting Sarick Mortshall’/‘Rickmurai Jack’ he has a very obvious and very personal inability to let go of Rick. (Not to mention, infinite Mortys are made for Ricks to do with as they please and fully depend on their Ricks for survival.) Some specific lines:

-‘I think I’m feeling it now/Just like you did’

Reminds me of Morty learning to understand why Rick is the way he is because he is more similar to Rick than he wants to admit, but Rick is the one causing that.

-‘Taking hits for you/‘Cause I wanna feel like I’m supposed to/I could disappear’

Morty has to take hits for Rick (and the whole family) in order to be accepted. He says it best himself in ‘A Rickconvenient Mort.’

‘Shut up! Shut up! Okay. My whole life, I’ve never fit in anywhere. Everything I have to say is always met with an eye roll as if the act of hearing what I have to say is some exhausting chore. Nobody in this family thinks I can say or do anything right! I’ve been all over the universe, met hundreds of people, and Planetina’s the only one I’ve ever met that makes me feel like I belong, and you just kicked her out of our house!’

-‘Hold me down/And maybe I’ll quit if you stick around/Keep quiet/It’s the only place I know, but it’s my favorite’

Again, this makes me think of Morty constantly being overlooked, ignored, and labeled as ‘the annoying one’ or ‘the one who ruins everything’ by his family when, in reality, he’s just the youngest one. He’s just a kid with no one in his corner. Maybe one day he’ll stop trying to get them to hear him…

Thank you for the ask!! I’ve been having a lot of fun putting my breakdown together, so thanks for the idea, too. :)

[gaast]

Sorry you're sick! Maybe an ask will make you feel better?

I know you have an English degree, do you have a favorite author and/or work and why?

That's an interesting question. I'm gonna talk a little bit about the question before I try to answer it.

I ended up getting two English degrees, which I'm kind of proud of. My Master's was very fun to obtain. But once you get to the graduate courses, you are absolutely forced to recognize what your undergrad professors were implying very, very hard: Everything you read is a tool. Everything you see is a tool. Everything is a message that you can--and perhaps MUST--identify. Read enough books this way and they stop being entertainment. It l's not that the fun is gone--I still love reading--but you just engage with it so differently. It makes sense to ask a Lit major for its favorite author or book but it also feels reductive, in a way? And to be clear, I am NOT criticizing you or your question. I just feel like What It Means To Be A Lit Major is different from the outsider's perspective on it. Because, it's like, we're not just reading books well. We're formulating arguments based on what we read and apply it to the world as it exists. And we don't just read fiction.

For example, there's a classic essay that makes the compelling argument that the Watergate scandal was analogous to Disney World. I read an article that did a close reading of Starbucks decor. Freud was a jackass but his essay on the uncanny remains almost preternaturally compelling--and that essay? Required a close reading of literature.

I say all of this only to say that the question, "Who's your favorite author?" tends to elicit answers that don't open up a conversation. Which is a damn shame, because my business is conversations.

So I'm gonna try to answer as well as I can to avoid that pitfall.

For fiction, I really adore Jesse Ball. His words have a kind of fairytale-like quality to them that casts the world in the kind of mist you'd find deep in the woods somewhere, where everything in the margins comes out to play. Only those marginal beings can hurt you if you aren't careful. His recent memoir, Autoportrait, is fascinating, because it's very much a portrait of a man who feels quite strongly about his ideals and who believes, perhaps rightly, that his success is a fluke and will end one day. His writing really reflects his anarchism--it crafts harsh worlds, but worlds that invite unity, togetherness, and wonder.

I also really like Mark Z Danielewski's fiction. It honestly feels very worthwhile to put his work in conversation with Ball's, but I haven't done that yet! Anyway, MZD is masterful at making sense, just sense that you don't get. He operates on a level where his fiction is focused almost entirely on emotions, so he writes as logically and drily as possible. He creates conflicts out of normalcy. His work is best described as paradoxes with no origins.

I also have to mention some specific works, especially Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Phantom Brave, and Cultist Simulator. These are games, and they all create very evocative worlds that, while brutal, ultimately find distinct (if sometimes terrible) worth and value and light in the world.

As for nonfiction... Jack Halberstam's body of work is some of the most important you can read. I also adore The Body in Pain by Elaine Scarry, I believe? And Understanding Media by Marshal McLuhan is so fucking incredible. Yeah yeah his points have all essentially been moved beyond but come on.

As for philosophical work: read Tim Morton. I cannot stress enough how formative Realist Magic has been for me.

[whistlingstarlight]

It is so definitely the mike faist bias, cause in the show morris is the more violent one without a doubt. He’s the one that pushed crutchie during the gate scene - starting some random fight for no reason -

and right at the start of seize the day (in obc bootlegs) oscar (brendon) is constantly pushing morris (mike) away from fighting, in bootlegs you can literally see oscar say to him calm down lol

it’s also just so obvious morris is the meaner one, at the end of the show, (corey’s) jack is joking around with oscar, hitting his hat down and oscar just does one tired laugh at him (one of the bootlegs, idk which one but brendon pats luca’s les’ head at the end of the show as les pretends to fight oscar)

but when jack throws his bag up and hits morris with it, you can see that morris was still mad and he throws it down intensely.

(Also in the paper mill bootleg, when jack is writing strike on the board, you can see morris push oscar, like hard, to lock the gate)

I think delancey redemption is fine, especially if you acknowledge their behaviour or if it’s blatantly ooc (you’ve got to say it tho).

But this trend of EVERYONE treating morris like the mild one in the relationship is canonically just not true so the only explanation is Mike Faist. (It’s fine it’s just a little… idk it feels like favouritism but everyone has favourites on any fandom because of the actors so idk why is makes me uncomfortable)

Sorry if this was long lol.

I like to study stuff no one else cares about so when someone cares, even a little, I ramble.

Please don't apologise for it being long, this is what I was hoping to hear!

I've skimmed through the boots I've got and you're right, Morris is consistently more antagonistic towards the newsies. The only times I can find where Oscar gets genuinely angry are when Race mentions his father and when Jack makes fun of his counting abilities (and his reaction to both varies actor-to-actor)

Aside from that, they're either equally antagonistic, or Morris tends to take the lead. Hell, if I remember right Anthony Norman even said his Oscar was actively trying to control his emotions.

I will add to this once I've seen the show again, but if I remember right Morris is the aggressor in most situations in the London show too. He still harasses Crutchie at the gate and if memory serves me correctly, when the newsies ambush the Delanceys during Seize The Day Morris throws his cigarette at Jack to goad him into attacking.

And let's not even get into how he talks about his "skull-busting arm" in Livesies kskdks-

Some of the Oscars taunt the newsies and goad them into attacking too. (I can't remember his name, but Oscar's actor in the tour is definitely the most aggro). But that's the thing, they're both capable of violent actions and goading the newsies into violence. Not one more than the other though.

Neither of the brothers are nice people. I think some of their behaviour is exaggerated by the fandom, but even when you stick to the cold hard facts, they aren't nice. If you're going to redeem them that's fine (I'm fully onboard with it myself), but you need to treat them equally.

However, if you're coming from the perspective of watching the movie I completely understand where this perspective comes from. Oscar is definitely the aggressor in the film, but in the stage show it's Morris (they kinda switched roles in a way?)

Anyways, I think you're right about the Mike Faist bias, even if it's on a subconscious level. Mike did say Morris has the potential to be good (and he's right! Everyone has the potential to change if they choose to), but so does Oscar. I don't like the implication that because Oscar is seen as more violent and angry there's no way he can ever be better.

This response was long too😅 But I think it's an interesting topic!

(Also, I've not seen the Paper Mill boot. Don't suppose you could direct me to it?👀)

[sleepysaltuna]

I used to hate Vince, very much, but your fic and how you write him gave me another perspective of the character (and now I do like him). Also, that same fic made ship him with Jack, like ship hard. If this doesn't count as possible spoiler for the fic, can you give us some hc for them?

Aw, thank you very much! I’ve always really liked Vince though I wished he had been more three dimensional, but I guess that’s a little too much to ask for from a show that mainly focuses on the aliens and their problems instead of the humans and theirs, which makes sense though it’s disappointing at times. 💔 I’m glad my fic helped you warm up to Vince more! It means I’m doing something right as a writer. 😊

As for headcanons, I’ve got more than a few! I’m not really sure if these will be spoilers for the fic, as I actually have no clue how far it will actually go, but I’ll share some general headcanons that I don’t think will be touched upon in the story!

- Vince is the worst at cooking. He’s banned from the kitchen and Jack will not hesitate to tell him that he can’t cook a gourmet meal to save his life. Vince accepts this. However, that does not stop him from trying whenever Jack’s back is turned. He just wants to make his boo a nice breakfast in bed, is that too much to ask for? Yes, yes it is.

- their ideal date is going for a leisurely drive around Jasper and the surrounding area on a nice sunny day, with the likes of bands like Linkin Park and Daughtry playing on the radio. Vince has made it a personal mission to get Jack into rock music. It is working, though Jack will deny it profusely whenever Miko is within earshot. They also like getting ice cream together, and indulging on said frozen treats during the drive.

- after, y’know, being knocked out by an ex-friend, Vince loses some of that confrontational attitude that he had, as he’s afraid that if the same mistakes are repeated, he will not get so lucky a second time. However, if anyone messes with Jack or his loved ones, then he will unleash the beast, but he will not if anyone bothers him. So Jack is the one who usually comes to Vince’s rescue when needed, which everyone else has mixed feelings about because he will not hesitate to take a nearby fire extinguisher and hold it threateningly.

- they find comfort in just each other’s company. They don’t need to talk in order to comfort the other. All they need to do is hold each other and cuddle for a while and that’s all it takes to realize that everything’s okay, that they’ll be okay, that they’re safe and well. Vince especially needs this; Jack’s affection keeps him grounded and anchored to the earth, it keeps him from doing something impulsive and possibly dangerous.

- much to everyone’s surprise, Vince is the most affectionate, especially verbally. He’s got a new pet name for Jack every other week. The one he uses the most, though, is “Bunny” - basically, he took Miko’s “Jackrabbit” and modified it to his liking. Jack will never admit out loud that he’s fond of the nicknames but the way it makes him blush is a sign that he does like them.

- also surprising to everyone is the fact that Jack is a literal thief. Vince’s clothes, especially his jackets and his sweatshirts, go missing almost all of the time and when he finally one day decided to actually look around instead of brushing it off, he found every. Single. Lost. Garment. neatly organized in Jack’s closet. After Jack is busted, he shamelessly wears the clothes when he goes out for school and to base instead of just wearing them at home.

(It has been a while since I’ve last drawn the humans of TFP, so I’m out of practice. This was also a quick doodle just for fun, so Vince and Jack don’t look perfect here!)

Bonus headcanon for the future:

- eventually, they will get married, some day in the distant future after they’ve completed college and have gotten stable jobs. They are deeply devoted to each other and very much in love, and neither one of them can imagine life without the other in it. They complete each other. They are two halves of one whole. They are perfectly capable of surviving apart, but they are much stronger together. They bring out the best in each other. There is no one in the whole universe who could ever compliment these two lovebirds more than they do for each other. After the rough patch in high school, and after they’ve worked out their issues and grown as people, these two get along so much better than anyone could have imagined. Sure, they have the occasional argument still, but they now know how to work it out so things get resolved quickly.

[ace-of-squirrels-card]

Turpentine is my all time favorite song. It was my top song from Spotify wrapped in 2023 despite being released on October 20 (wrapped was released Nov 29 lol). It's about searching for meaning in a meaningless life. Let me tell you what's so fucking amazing about this song: an essay, by me, ace of squirrel

Soak your clothes in kerosene

Cleanse the mind of ketamine

Slide your mom on top of me

Wash yourself with turpentine

Okay this song opens with very classic Tom lyrics. Wacky, silly, seems meaningless, casually vulgar. In many ways this entire album feels like a return to form, and that opening verse is a great example.

My arms, I've raised again

Today I don't feel bitter

I have no path within

Don't know if I'll get better

My own mind's unclean

Can't taste anything

What if I'm not like the others?

A broken man, a Frankenstein

What if my heart won't recover?

I'll clean myself with turpentine

Then there's an immediate tone shift to these really raw lyrics. These lyrics are heavy. It gives the impression of someone who woke up one day, no longer recognizing themself. As if to say "Is this what I've become?" Feeling like somehow, the whole is *less* than the sum of its parts. We're all just these broken pieces, haphazardly sewn together and hoping it holds. 

Meanwhile the guitar has this desperate, almost panicky feeling behind it. Somehow this is also very classic blink.

I feel like I'll cave in

I'm anxious, I am weathered

I've lost my way again

I know there ain't no treasure

These lyrics *kill* me, my god. These lyrics are saying we're crumbling apart, breaking at the seams. We're on this journey, we're lost, and we know that nothing good awaits us at the end? There's such a hopelessness to this verse.

My mind breaks with ease

Sticks and stones and dreams

We already have the ingrained association of sticks and stones being things that hurt us. Now you want to lump dreams into that category? Oh honey, who hurt you

Sharks smell the blood in the water

We're all just lambs to the slaughter

It's only all the time, this time

A generation lost and forgotten

Clawing at the lid of the coffin

Your God ain't coming back this time

We have this fun little moment that is very Mark here. We see these "spoken word"-like verses from Mark in a lot of his other songs (and especially collabs like Find My Own Way or Let Me Down). While a lot of the lyrics sung by Tom feel like an internal monologue, Mark's verses look outwards. The world around is more than uncaring. It's actively harmful, maliciously negligent. There's a sense of desperation and utter loneliness and constantly fighting to survive. 

Quit your job and have a drink

Take a pound of ecstasy

Blah, bla-blah, bla-blah, fuck

Wash yourself with turpentine

This ^ *this* ^ 

Self destructive, desperate. It's like they want to convey how meaningless everything feels and the best way to do that is not even bother writing a lyric here. Love it. 

Light me like a trampoline

Stick your dick in Ovaltine

Snort a bag of Dramamine

Douse yourself in gasoline

Throw up in the limousine

Jack off to a magazine

Wash yourself with ... turpentine

Goddamnit

Ughhhh this last verse. Amazing. It's back to classic goofy Tom, but it feels *very* different given the context of the rest of the song. Theater of the absurd. It really pulls together the meaning of the entire song. Its not so much some silly lyrics, and more like a desperate attempt to feel something. Anything. Self-deprecating at best and horribly self destructive at worst. 

Just from the perspective of a rhyming scheme, the structure is *chef's kiss*. They're showing off a certain mastery of language in this song that I would've expected from more ....respectable artists.

The song as a whole is about searching for meaning but struggling to find it. Filling the void in your heart with whatever you can, but never being fulfilled. Doing all this dumb shit, acting a fool even if you're not, because you feel so broken on the inside. It's this delicious dichotomy between deeply meaningful and hopelessly meaningless. Now THAT is classic blink (just look at Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, which somehow has a really heavy song about about a broken family dynamic but also a song about grandpa just ate seven fucking hotdogs). 

You can hear it throughout the entire album, theres this  apology to each other. It's all of them saying "I lost track of what was important. I forgot who I was because of dumb shit that didn't matter." And turpentine is that introspective lynchpin. 

Anyway y'all thanks for reading, that was a lot to come out of an account that mostly reblogs weird Danny phantom content. 

[supershanaynay1]

For the “Get to know your fic writer” post. Can you answer the ones you most want to answer. And/ or these ones?

2, 7, 17 (I don’t want to go through all 77 again oh god. Plus I would ask you far too many questions. Love you! 💝)

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

It really depends. Most of the time it is write as I go, but I usually have some sort of idea of what I need/want to happen in a chapter. For the current chapter of my current WIP TBPWYAD that needs to be worked on/published I ended up outlining everything because I know what I want to write I just have no idea how. So if I know I need something I'll sometimes outline it, but usually it's writing out of my ass.

7. How do you choose which POV you write from?

Lmao so when I first saw this question on the original post I thought it meant first person vs third person (answer: I never write first person for fics; and then for original fiction it really depends on the feel of the story for me) then I realized just now it might actually be referring to like character POV. So with my spn fics, especially TBPWYAD, I feel most comfortable writing in Dean's perspective because he is the character I relate to the most so that POV/flow comes the most naturally. But if you or anyone has read my current fic they know it's in third person omniscient and that I do explore many character's POVs, even if only for a sentence.

With that third person omniscient and deciding when to switch perspectives/whose head I want to be in, I often think about it through the lens of a TV show and what I want to show the audience/what I want the reader to see. So like even one sentence in a different character's head before switching back to whoever is currently carrying the thread is like that one shot on a character where we get to see what they're thinking/feeling even if no one else does.

And with TBPWYAD a lot of it has to do with story. Cas is in the Empty and Dean, Sam, and Jack are on earth. Even predominantly writing Dean POV we still have to switch to Cas if we want to know what's happening in the Empty. And sometimes I just want to slip in a little something a character is thinking/feeling so that comes out lol. And other times I use it to build tension (like in Chapter 6: Devil in Disguise) we know that Lucifer has just shown up at the Bunker about to fuck shit up, but we cut to Michael and Jack talking and then Michael prepping to face Lucifer when he's confronted by two beings and we know Michael has had some sort of talk with someone but everyone else doesn't and knowing how the 15x19 and 15x20 go, there is the question/tension of is Michael going to betray the gang or is he going to keep fighting Chuck to get back his love Adam (another fun thing with doing Michael's POV in this fic is me pushing the midam agenda lol)

And even with the Dean primary POV switching to the others' perspective goes into whose story do I want to tell and what knowledge/information do I want to reveal to the audience. (Sorry that was a big ramble one lmao)

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block

FUCK. Well considering my fic has been on hiatus and hasn't been updated in over a year my answer is: i don't know. Although a lot of that does have to do with busy life so let's see.

Hm. I usually have a writing playlist that helps get me in the mood/mindset so I try to see if that helps me. I will also go back and read my work of what I've already done to see if there's any loose threads or ideas I've laid the groundwork for but haven't gotten to explore as of yet. I'll try seeing if there's anything in the story that I want and am able to write and go there (which is why in a previous ask I answered I mentioned future chapters even though the current one isnt written lmao). If I have writer's block on a particular scene I'll try writing around it and see if that helps. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Or I ever-so-helpfully just go on hiatus for a year and then fill with existential dread everytime I think about this block I need to conquer lmao

And link to original post here

Questions I most want to answer under the thing since I realized this is a long ass post already lmfao

39. Share a snippet from a WIP

So these asks have made me think about and also go back to TBPWYAD again and make me excited and want to talk about it (I think evidenced by my rambly answers lmao). So I really want to share a snippet from the current chapter I'm slowly but surely working on (The Famous Final Scene) <- and a little title easter egg as well

Meg glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the angels they’d just left behind. “That could’ve gone a lot better.”

“We weren’t immediately killed on sight, they heard me out despite the two demons at my side and my many sins on earth, and they let us leave unharmed. I would count that as a success,” Cas said, ignoring the tightness in his back from holding his wings still so long. They hurt if he moved them, they hurt if he kept them still, he’d long ago accepted there was nothing he could do to fix what he was: broken. “Whether they’ll actually go through the portal—”

“Oh they’ll go through the portal, Cassie,” Crowley interrupted, sulking at his side with his hands shoved in the pockets of his overcoat. “They’d be insane not to, especially after you had the Empty broadcast to everyone and their mother that they get to live again if they just get through the bloody thing. Even made sure they have to fight against God in the deal, cookie for you. Where that leaves humanity at the end of all of this, now that’s another question entirely.”

44. What mistakes do you keep making no matter how many times your beta corrects you?

LMAO. So I wanted to answer this one because I'm currently in a fiction workshop at my university and reading other people's stories is killing me slowly, but I also have been giving a comment that my betas WITHOUT FAIL give me everytime I send them a new chapter: "but how does a character feel about this?" and it's just personally hilarious to me. When writing I try to get down the plot and the happenings and think I've expressed how a character feels without actually giving time/space to do so, so my betas are very helpful in always pointing those moments out to me.

52. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

So I'll round it off with this one because I'll otherwise probably answer way too many. I always respond to comments, usually if it doesn't happen right when I posted the chapter the fic was commented on, I wait until I'm getting ready to post the next chapter. So when I finally respond to the three unanswered comments on my fic that have been sitting in my inbox for the past year, it's a herald that I've probably sent the new chapter off to my betas and there'll be an update in the next couple weeks lol. But I respond because I love comments. They always fill me with joy to receive, especially since someone took time out of their day to write something nice about my writing (there is of course the trepidation of potentially getting a negative comment but knock on wood it hasn't happened yet). It's an opportunity to talk about my fic maybe a little more, or it's just appreciating the readers appreciating my fic. Their comments say they see my writing, and me responding is me letting them know I see them back.

[kaleschmidt]

anyone ask for henry thoughts ramble post? well like i fucking fucked up my first draft and deleted all of it by mistake so um. i am now writing it all over again. i hope he explodes.

anyways it's all under cut and i need you to know i'm dunking on him so much he's gonna be a soggy cookie ok? ok nice

i have SUCH a burning hatred for henry to start this off. It was like. worse when I first got into dayshift, but i am now capable of hating him more in a cooler way

I hate Henry as a person but as a CHARACTER he's fun to me. I'm glad we know his backstory, even outside of the story, and that he's not excused. Yes, he had a shit childhood and experienced the horrors of war, but what he did after the war- all of dayshift's events... it doesn't excuse what he did, and I'm glad about that because like if he got redeemed, I would have had to get in the game and maul him dog-style myself. /lh

Now. Onto my interpretation of him.

Something important to me while writing Henry is that he's vague. He's never written in his own first person perspective. Only seen through others. Nobody knows what he's thinking. Only a VERY select few people can get close to his motives, and even then, they aren't on the money. Even when his son gets murdered (sacrificing nemself to save another's life), it's kept vague how exactly Henry feels about it. Kale (oc) believes that Henry's uncharacteristic aggression towards Dave prodding about his son is due to either Henry actually caring about nis death, or being upset his son's death stained the family, but it's never confirmed. As much as Kale likes to say it knows Henry more than he knows himself, it also admits that it could never know what Henry was thinking. Also kale is an unreliable narrator and has fucking issues /lh. I'm never gonna write Henry in first-person because I find him more interesting when he's not exactly picked apart from the inside, but the outside, if that makes sense?

Something also to note, which is canon anyways I believe, is that Henry is always scheming, no matter what. Always prepared. He makes sure that everything will go his way, albeit the small divergences and such. It's the big ones that irritate him. He'll always manage to improvise, though. hard to improvise when u get jumped by a dog and bitten and dragged to the void tho. #lol couldn't be me.... i'm different

ok like give me a bit i am so sad that my first draft was fucked up bc i had a lotta good points i couldn't remember. sniff.

I won't touch upon it too much (maybe in Jack's ramble if anyone wants it) but I really like parallels btwn Jack and Henry, especially as there are canon parallels. Henry is the Beginning, and Jack is the End. (i am so normal about this phrase btw. trust me.)

Also won't touch upon Martha in this post because she gives me major brainrot i have so many thoughts about her.

About Henry's void... i actually dunno if that's a confirmed char or not, but the concept is really interesting to me (...and i kinda accidentally did that before i interacted with the fandom too). Would love to dive into that but part of it is tabbykat's playground spoilers. And also will make this post longer than needed. just ask for kale ok?

OH another thing. More of a personal pref n no hate to those who do this, but I do NOT like henry good aus... genuinely cannot see that happening. Better counterpart for me is that he doesn't do murders but also he is a terrible dad in the most funny way (those terrible, terrible baby clothes. you know the ones.) I also just think man just became the way he is by himself n not the void but mostly bc i'm fond of my own interp who i would love to beat up and explode

I think. that's all i had but like closing this off with a song in my playlist for henry: Drink To Me. Look it's SUCH a fucking henrycore song. SOOOO fucking much. Parts of it relate to Dave ofc. god. Anyways hope y'all enjoy reading through this i love going into my thoughts of chars and should do it more

EDIT:

OK I FORGOT TO PUT THIS AND I CANT BELIEVE IT but I think of Henry gasterisms ok? He is gasterisms. And I think that's another thing that makes him interesting to me bc I like gaster. My brain is kinda fried but I need to put this hwre.

[theenderwalker]

re: DSMP "unsolved mysteries"

I've seen lots and lots of posts about the "unsolved mysteries" on the Dream SMP that focus on the TNT on top of the prison and the missing nukes. One of those I am very confident was implied canonically to be Ranboo, and the other I'm confident in my theory that it was him. Putting it under a read more bc its fuckin Long, but its worth the read! Word count: 2482

First: TNT at the prison.

This was implied to be Ranboo across a couple different streams, albiet subtly. I'm not surprised it went a little bit under the radar, but it's simply untrue to say we have no indication of who it could be.

This point doesn't hold true across everything of this nature, and if it did, it would be a dead giveaway, but I think it's relevant here for a couple reasons: Ranboo was online at the time of the explosions. Tommy tends to reflexively open the tab menu during his lore streams, almost as a nervous habit, so we saw multiple times that Ranboo was online, and would seen it have even if Tommy had chat turned off. Online at the time were Sam, Dream, Tommy, Foolish, and Ranboo. Foolish could not have been the culprit, as he was live at the time. In the case of this incident, it would have to be manually triggered by someone. Afterwards, when Tubbo was doing his "interrogations", his first bit of evidence was checking who was online when it happened. For these reasons, I feel this is a valid point for this incident.

That night, Ranboo was live on the SMP. This stream is notable for most people because it was when Ranboo did the odd code in his inventory, that read "He is in control" (or he is in control of me, if you count the to do list). Many people focused on this as a indication that Dream controlled Ranboo to set off the TNT, but this line of thinking was abandoned over time, especially as we saw the implication that the message was actually referring to the Enderwalk, talking about Ranboo stopping himself from doing anything to save Tommy from the prison during that week. However, other details in that stream also hinted it was Ranboo. Most notable to me was Ranboo reading chat or a dono asking him what he had done that day, and him answering that he had "probably gone mining," with some uncertainty. Later that same stream, he went down into his mines , found no ingots in the furnaces, and commented "maybe [he] didn't go mining", and that he wasn't sure what he had done that morning. This comes across to me as an indication that he had a blank spot in his memory that day--that he had been Enderwalking. He drew attention to this here, where he otherwise wouldn't, because it implies he was Enderwalking while he was visibly online, on Tommy's stream, where he would have been able to set off that TNT.

Ranboo was one of the only people on the server with a positive relationship with Dream, of any sort. It is true, especially at this time, that many people had negative opinons of Tommy, but Ranboo was the only one who didn't outright hate Dream... in his Enderwalk state. (with the sole exception of Punz, if you think the vault confrontation was staged, but that's definitely theory territory.) Dream has repeatedly stated that he finds Tommy "fun" and enjoys fucking with him. Tommy was locked in the prison after Ranboo could no longer visit, so assuming he has no supernatural means of communication with Dream (which is likely, as we have no real indication otherwise), he would have been acting without instruction. What better way to help Dream out than getting him his 'plaything' for at least a week?

Alternatively, you could frame it as a distraction or a break in/out attempt... which also doesn't make sense for anyone but Ranboo. Either way you frame it, Ranboo is the only person who makes sense without having to stretch their relationship with Dream into something it isn't.

Tubbo's investigation was the only real in character investigation into this incident we saw. He started out investigating people who were online, which is why I believe it's uniquely relevant to this incident. As I mentioned earlier, Foolish's alibi was that he was live. Ranboo's alibi was that he was mining. If you recall, the day Tommy was locked into the prison, Ranboo acknowledged that he did not know what he had done that afternoon, and that he distinctly had not been mining. This investigation didn't get much further than this because Tubbo refused to acknowledge that Ranboo could have done something like this. Because Ranboo has hidden his enderwalking so well, no one has any reason to believe he would do something to intentionally hurt one of his friends, or to help Dream.

Canonically, there isn't much evidence outside of Ranboo's comments to the audience because the characters absolutely cannot find out that it was Ranboo. He cannot be revealed as a traitor, narratively. Not yet, at least. So all of the evidence has to be directed towards the audience, which leads to it falling into subtext more often than not. The Enderwalk arc has the potential for an absolutely disastrous reveal at some point, where others discover exactly what he has done. It's unlikely that something like this will be confirmed explicitly until that point, but I believe the details I have explored above are foreshadowing, and will be explored again at this reveal. This point applies to the nuke, as well--perhaps even more so for reasons I will explore below.

Second: The missing nuke.

This one treads a little more into theory territory, but I think some of the subtextual implication is in this one too, it's just a bit further apart. Instead of being implied in streams the day of the incident and one week later, these implications are a little bit further out. I don't think I'm necessarily stretching by making these connections, though I can see why someone may think it's a stretch.

Ranboo was not online during this stream. This is why I think that's only conditionally applicable to the last point--Tubbo does not check tab habitually, and he had chat turned off intentionally. The tab list isn't necessarily canon to this stream. If we go by that, Jack Manifold is physically the only person who could have taken the nuke. The only other people online were Philza and Foolish, who were both live. Since this wasn't taken into consideration for the investigations, it's not relevant here.

Out of character, Jack took the nuke. Jack did not stream his perspective of this incident, he hung behind when Tubbo went ahead to start building the silo, and when the two came back together later, it was gone. This was intentionally done, as Jack usually streams his perspective for lore like this. If he had been the one to take the nuke, we likely would already know. His secret plans are not a secret from the audience, they are a secret from other characters--this leads me to think that in character, he did not take the nuke.

Very few people knew about the nukes, so we already start with a pretty small pool of suspects. One of these people was Ranboo. Even if Ranboo did seem to forget what Tubbo told him, the nuke would have been taken while he was Enderwalking--y'know, when he remembers everything, or at least remembers more.

The backbone of this theory, and the reason why I even began to consider it, is that Ranboo has a very solid and clear motivation to want the nuke. Ranboo has been helping Dream. The nukes were made specifically to be a deterrent/protection against Dream. If Ranboo takes one of the nukes, Dream now has access to that nuke, and the playing field has been re-balanced. Essentially, it's creating Mutually Assured Destruction between them. To take it one step further, only one of the nukes went missing. Tubbo was left with one nuke, and Ranboo and Dream have one nuke. Why not just take both? Well, leaving both parties with a nuke essentially ensures neither side will use it. It protects Dream, but it also helps to maintain (a semblance of) peace. Neither side can use their nuke without the other retaliating in kind. This leads to tensions, but prevents outright warfare from either side. It's not pretty, but it aligns with Ranboo's broader goals of keeping the peace.

So we've got the motivation, it makes sense. But that's not enough to make the claim on its own. What's the evidence?

This is a touch convoluted, so I get why it doesn't necessarily come up in relation to this as evidence often, but it's pretty solid to me. Especially compared to how vague most of Ranboo's subtext can get.

It's in the lessons! The highest number of lesson we were given was 94, though when Ranboo was repeating it outloud, he said 93. He later clarified saying 93 was intentional. This stream was on April 23rd. 93 days earlier, to the day, was January 20th--the day Dream was locked in the prison. 93 lessons for 93 days. If we take this to imply the lessons were daily, starting when Dream was locked in the prison, each lesson corresponds to a specific day. March 26th was the day the nuke went missing. 67 days from January 20th is March 27th, the day after the nuke disappeared without a trace. Neither Jack nor Tubbo had any real leads on the nuke. Lesson 67, the day after the nuke was stolen... "Leave no evidence of what you have helped with." This EXACT thing is why the nuke is so hard to pin down. There was no real evidence left. This lesson lining up so closely to the nuke's disappearance is not a coincidence. Further, at this point Ranboo no longer had contact with Dream. He had locked himself out of the prison and couldn't visit. If the lessons are daily, the things he writes down are things he's figured out for himself. The lesson being the day after the nuke was stolen makes sense, when framed like that. He stole the nuke, left no evidence, and wrote that down because it worked.

All of the hints/foreshadowing for the eventual reveal of where the nuke disappeared to has to be done in retrospect, and it has to be either from Ranboo, or from some other source that knows more than the characters. Which leads into my second bit of evidence: the Tubbo Texts. Across like, a week of streams (starting on April Fools Day), spooky half transparency cryptic text appeared on screen periodically, that c!Tubbo was unaware of. Those texts have never been explored in canon, it seems that none of the characters are aware of them or of their contents. So they are posed directly to the audience. The second one in particular stands out to me here:

"Quick, I don't have much time. Stay away from the North. A strange metal weapon washed up. It poisons the nature, the water. No it's not. That's it, we are leaving."

The 'strange metal weapon' seems to refer to the nuke, the poison being the radiation. Geographical direction is rarely paid any mind on the server, but north is distinctly the direction of Techno, Phil, and Ranboo's house. I think I remember Ranboo telling Sam he lives "up north" while trying to visit the prison. The arctic commune is the only notable northward location. The nuke disappeared, and reappeared in the north, in the direction of Ranboo's home. The rest of the texts refer to the north as well. We don't know where Ranboo's base of operations is in the Enderwalk, but we can assume he has at least one, and we can assume the nuke is hidden there, if he has taken it. If Ranboo has taken the nuke, it makes sense for it to be in the North.

Ranboo has proven he can take things without any evidence left behind. Remember his first beacon, that disappeared like, a day after he set it up? He never tracked it down, just replaced it. Within a couple days, he made a comment about his pickaxe durability being suspiciously low... maybe because he was using the stolen beacon to mine far from his home base so it wasn't noticeable that he had been mining. That's beside the point. I mean this to say, he knows how to take and hide things, he knows how to keep secrets, and he almost definitely has at least one secret base we've never seen onscreen.

So maybe Ranboo took the nuke, maybe he set off the TNT at the prison, that's cool, but why have they abandoned the plotlines? Why have we never gotten more explicit answers? Why won't they come back to it?

Ultimately, it seems a lot of these plans have been pushed back and delayed for one reason or another. Beyond that, an untimely reveal of either of these things to other characters would be a huge letdown. The arc seems to be building to a catastrophically large reveal, and each thing that gets revealed before then makes it much less impactful. Keeping it subtle towards the audience, while still offering some hints, stops a certain degree of the chat spoiling "metagaming" we see sometimes, that makes some streamers have to fully ignore their chats during lore streams.

This part is very much my own opinion, but I don't believe the missing nuke plotline will be resurfacing until after Dream is out of prison. Ranboo has no reason to reveal he has it until it will be put to use, either as a nuke or as a threat, and that won't happen til Dream is out of the prison and the nuke is in his hands instead.

The TNT on top of the prison will be an insanely gratifying reveal if it comes out with the rest of the enderwalk stuff. Any of this taken out of that context just kinda falls flat. So people know Ranboo set off the TNT, or know he has the nuke. How does that propel the plot? Ranboo won't do much of anything about it. People will distrust Ranboo, sure, but they won't know the depth of the issue, and that just makes the reveal frustrating. It will be revealed in time, I'm sure, but I think the enderwalk arc has to reach a climax first, or it's just disappointing.

I agree with the general frustration that these plotlines appear to be dropped or greatly delayed, but it's a symptom of a bigger pacing issue than solving either 'mystery' on its own will fix. And the answers aren't as obfuscated as they first may seem, it just takes a little digging!

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Top 10 5Ds Characters (old, sub based)

I know I was negative in my 5Ds overview but I honestly did like the first half. I wouldn’t sit down and watch the whole thing again but the things and characters that did stand out were some of the best things to come out of Yugioh. I can 100% see how this is people’s favourite show, it’s just not my cup of tea and the problems I do have with it drag it down as a whole. However, it’s still Yugioh and I still like it, so I’m gonna make a top 10 characters list for it… based only on the first half and Bonds Beyond Time though, I haven’t watched the second half. So I don’t know anyone introduced after the Dark Signers arc. Also, yes, I’m aware I just gave away one of the entries on this list with that explanation but let’s just ignore that.

10 Martha

I’ll admit I struggled a little bit to get ten characters for this list. These bottom two did somewhat boil down to “just pick someone” but thinking about it, I do genuinely like both of my choices. I don’t have a deep reason for this one, I just think Martha was funny and her “death” did draw emotion from me.

9 Kiryu

Again, this was kinda just by process of elimination. Kiryu’s history with Yusei, Crow, and Jack kinda came out of nowhere but it’s still a good story. He’s an interesting take on the concept of extremism and while his actions in the past were horrific, I can still feel some sympathy for the guy.

8 Misty

I really like villains, what can I say? Misty just had this air of mystery to her in her early scenes, that made her really interesting to watch. Like when she told Carly she saw death in her future which I still can’t believe was foreshadowing, that’s so clever. Her backstory and Divine’s intervention did botch her somewhat but I still like her overall.

6 and 7 Lua/Rua (Dub name: Leo) and Luca/Luka/Ruca/Ruka (Dub name: Luna)

These twins’ names are so confusing. I’m putting every variation of their names but just know that I default to Lua and Luca. These two are in separate spots, it’s just kind of hard to talk about them separately because their story is so intertwined. Between them though, Luca’s the better one. I liked both of them instantly for being fun and feeling like real siblings (switching between being at each other’s throats and having each other’s backs) but I really didn’t like how Lua overshadowed Luca, especially in that Dark Signer duel. I don't mind it being their duel and Luca coming in part of the way through to duel alongside her brother but Luca was in the Spirit World for way too long. She barely got to do anything in the duel she was destined to fight. It felt like she was being intentionally cast aside. Also, Luca was just more interesting. Her connection to the spirit world was interesting before it felt like over-padded filler and she was the one with all the pressure on her, which is more relatable. Still, I like the twins' conflicting personalities and siblinghood. They were one of the few light-hearted elements of 5Ds, a reminder of what the protagonists are fighting to protect, something really important plot wise to me that 5Ds was really lacking in.

5 Crow Hogan

This was inevitable. I loved Crow taking in some orphaned kids and becoming very protective of them in Arc V, of course I love him being every orphaned Satellite child’s father in 5Ds. I love how he seems like just a sneaky street thief at first but then you see that he has a heart of gold, being a loyal friend to Yusei and Jack and a father figure to the kids in Satellite who had no one. Crow had no one as a kid before Yusei and Jack and the game of Duel Monsters and he wants to make sure no one ever feels that loneliness and it’s just… god, he’s so sweet and simultaneously badass.

4 Jack Atlas

Out of everyone on this list, Jack is probably the objective “best” character from a writing perspective. At the beginning of 5Ds, he was a selfish snob who only cared about his status as the king, which he was willing to do horrible things in order to gain and keep. He felt like a discount Kaiba to me, and his appearance in Arc V really didn’t help his case. Then he (predictably) loses to Yusei, leaving him injured and shamed. He isn’t the king anymore, which was clearly what he based his self-worth on and because of what he did to gain and keep that status, he has no one he can genuinely feel close to. Then he meets Carly. Even if you put aside the (canon) ship, Carly is undeniably essential to Jack's growth as a character. She was there for him during his loneliest time and told him exactly what he needed to hear to pick himself back up again and become a better person. They forged a deep connection in a short amount of time. It's really no wonder Jack is so protective of her. After this, Jack becomes a much more humbled and mature character, which I liked him more as. He's still the 'gruff tough guy' of the group but he genuinely cares for Yusei, Crow, and Carly and shows that care, even if it's sometimes not in the best ways. He's no longer someone who will sell out his friends for power. He proves it in the final duel when he refuses that call to power (from the guy who previously manipulated him) but even more so in his duel with Carly, where he was ready to die alongside her so Carly didn't have to die alone. I've discussed that duel and Jack and Carly's characters and relationship in depth in a previous post if you want more details. I'm also gonna talk more about it in Carly’s section. BUT BEFORE THAT-

3 Paradox

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, he shouldn't be this high up, I know, I KNOW. But you know what? Paradox does qualify for this list. Bonds Beyond Time and thus Paradox are canon to 5Ds. BBT is basically a 5Ds movie that sets up later plots of the show (I haven’t seen those plots but I know Paradox only cameos and the little details 5Ds gives us about him are things I know about) and I have been wanting to put Paradox on a list like this for months now. Let me have this one, I love this freaking guy. He survived through an apocalypse, watched everyone he knew and loved die because of a card game and decided to go back in time and slaughter the bastard who created this card game of death. It’s the perfect story for the villain for the big 10 year anniversary event that Bonds Beyond Time was. Because Paradox is 100% correct. Not in the murdering but in his reasoning. Duel Monsters is dangerous and destructive. We’d seen it for ten years before this movie and for over ten years after. The main characters do save the world from destruction with these cards but from villains who use those very same cards. Still, Paradox is going really far. Because he didn’t just kill Pegasus, he murdered countless innocent bystanders, with the very cards he hated and claimed destroyed his time by the way. Not to mention he’s dooming entire generations of people to never exist, something he probably didn’t think about until he was dying (which I’ll get to), but the fact that he sees this many innocent people as worthy sacrifices to his goal is pretty terrifying and hypocritical. And honestly, that’s really fascinating to me. His motivation is sympathetic but the way he’s going about it makes him a villain, a really vicious one. Still, I feel bad for him. Yugi, Judai, and Yusei don’t even seem to care about what happened to his time, they just insist the future isn’t set in stone, implying they don’t even believe him and that he’s lying or something (as if someone would go to those lengths for the shits and giggles). However, Paradox knows they’re wrong. He comes from a time far beyond their’s so he knows their actions can’t prevent the apocalypse because it already happened. (I don’t know if Yusei later fixes the hecking apocalypse in 5Ds, I would assume so but BBT Paradox wouldn’t know this anyway.) Paradox, from his perspective, is the only person who can fix the broken future he comes from. That’s why he’s willing to go so far and why he’s so blinded in his pursuit of this goal to see the harm he’s doing. In his final moment in the sub, he wonders if his extreme actions were really worth it, and if they would’ve actually changed anything. It was a moment I initially found silly before giving it more thought. Paradox was so fixed on his “noble” goal of destroying Duel Monsters and felt he was the only one with the power and the will to do so that he didn’t think he didn’t think about the other possible consequences his actions would bring.

So yeah, Paradox is a really interesting character to talk about. He’s also just really funny. He has a lot of funny quotes, particularly in the dub. For a quick example: “I would say you three put up a good fight only you didn’t.” He’s so sassy and sarcastic, I swear that’s the fastest way to my heart: being funny and snarky. I know the idea of putting him over characters like Jack and Crow is absurd, but like… the heart wants what it wants, sorry guys.

2 Carly Nagisa

Okay, back to characters people other than myself care about. While watching Yugioh series, I sometimes read the Crunchyroll comment sections of the episodes and when I did so for 5Ds, one thing I saw was a lot of Carly negativity, mainly people calling her annoying or useless. Now obviously, opinions be opinions and you’re all perfectly valid if you dislike Carly… but you’re all wrong, Carly’s fucking adorable. Annoying or adorable aside (since that’s subjective), one thing Carly definitely isn’t is useless. Like I said earlier, Carly was absolutely essential to Jack’s character growth And actually, he was essential to her growth in a similar way. In the beginning, Carly cared for nothing but getting the best scoop as a journalist because if she lost her job, she would end up homeless on the streets. That’s not speculation, that’s something she straight up says. It’s understandable that she’s desperate and willing to do things of questionable morality to keep her job. It’s out of need. Still, it led to her considering making Jack’s private inner turmoil public, which she tried to drag out of him by getting him to spend time with her. She, like Jack, was willing to do messed up things to preserve her status. Both of them realised this about themselves about the same time, which is why Carly was the only one who could help him out of his funk: she understood what he was going through. I know I go on and on about this ship but it really did vastly improve both of their characters. I didn’t like Jack much at all before this development and while I did find Carly cute pretty much instantly, she did bother me a little. Like, disguising herself as a nurse to sneak into a hospital and find one of the patients is… definitely weird. She does get less weird after that scene with Jack in the tower. She still sticks her nose into things that aren’t really her business… like a lot but it’s less out of selfishness, I feel. And even if the snooping around she did in Arcadia’s base was too far, it’s the thing that gets her KILLED. Yeah… Carly being killed and resurrected as a demon was a huge gut punch for me, both because it’s just harsh to have the sweet innocent cinnamon roll DIE (in a realistic way too, jesus christ) and become a demon and because I knew Yugioh was cruel enough to force Jack to duel Carly like this, and very likely kill Carly. I was right, and their duel is one of my favourites in any Yugioh series. However, there is one 5Ds character I prefer to both of them.

1 Aki Izayoi

Yeah, this was obvious. I made so many thirsty posts about her, you guys probably just think I put her at number one because I have a crush on her. First of all, I can’t tell which ones I have a crush on and which ones I don’t anymore, I kinda simp for this entire top five and second, Aki is the most relatable character in 5Ds and one of the most relatable in Yugioh overall. I didn’t go in depth with this in any of my posts as the reasons I relate to her are very personal, so I stuck to what was funny for the sake of the memes. For this though, I’ll try to explain it. I liked Aki the moment she was introduced. She was this mysterious powerful woman, who spoke in a completely emotionless tone during her duels, even as she was hurting people. She was… kind of intimidating, I’m not gonna lie. However, there were hints even early on that Aki was severely damaged inside. That numbness alone was a hint but also the way she spoke of her signer mark, the mask she wore being potentially symbolic, and some of her lines, like the one about physical scars healing but not scars of the heart. It caught my attention. I could tell they were trying to set her up as this traumatised emotionally closed off person… like I am. I saw the most broken parts of myself in Aki. She was always hiding her true feelings behind a metaphorical and literal mask and feeling alienated from the rest of society, which did nothing but shun her for her oddities. Also, I don’t want to go into any personal details, but Aki’s backstory with her parents was relatable too, which is why it frustrated me so personally that she was forced to forgive them. It wasn’t me wanting Aki to be miserable. I’m so incredibly glad she was able to recover and find happiness, I just wish the way the writers had gone about it had been different. Her forgiving her parents should’ve been left completely up to her and the point of her redemption should’ve been for her to forgive herself and not let her father’s abuse define her. You’re not a bad person if you don’t forgive people who hurt you. Forgiveness isn’t an obligation, it’s a gift to give. I just feel like the writers were sending a bad message with the way they treated Aki in that duel, a message that could legitimately hurt people in the real world.

But anyways back to Aki. She was underused by the show, which did actually make it pretty difficult to choose between her and Carly, whose arc ended in a more satisfying way if we ignore everything post Dark Signers. Which by the way, can I sidetrack for a second and say how well 5Ds actually wrote its female characters in this first half? There are a lot of female characters with varying personalities and many of them, Aki, Carly, Luca, and Misty are vital to the plot. Heck, half of this list is women. That’s more than any of the other shows. (I may be a man but female representation is important so shut it.) Anyways, while Aki was a little underused in my opinion, she was absolutely fantastic when she was there and her relatability does put her higher than Carly in my mind.

So overall, 5Ds may not have been my favourite show but when it’s good, it’s really damn good. The top five on this list are practically sacred to me