#it's just interesting! the whole concept of being able to magically heal but not being able to *magically heal* you know??

[triangle-strategy-notes]

Magical Healing in Triangle Strategy

I'm currently working on a fic, and I wanted to have some clearer rules to play by as I try to make sense of Triangle Strategy's in-world healing system. I mostly made this for myself haha, but thought I'd share in case it's helpful for anyone else!

It's mostly just a breakdown of canon moments and potential implications, along with a more cohesive potential set of rules at the very end. Quick warning for spoilers: I discuss a lot of main plot points.

Canon Fact #1: Symon's heart-related condition couldn't be cured with magic.

This might imply an inability to fix some of the following:

any physical irregularity that the body naturally develops (e.g. a deformity in the structure of the heart) 

long-term injuries (e.g. gradual wear on the heart due to stress)

internal injuries

natural non-traumatic health issues in general

Canon Fact #2: Lyla is said to be in critical condition and then to be in stable condition relatively soon afterward. 

This supports that healing can have an impact pretty quickly. The two above screenshots are more than likely the same day, and seem to be around the same time of day as well. However, we don't know exactly how much Lyla improved (are her wounds completely healed? still pretty severe?), so it's hard to say exactly how fast the healing is going.

While it's unclear what specifically Jerrom is doing, we do know that he's not a magical healer. This indicates that magic healing isn't the end-all-be-all as far as healing goes.

(Though both of those points could also theoretically be handwaved away by assuming they were short on healers post-battle, and therefore couldn't heal Lyla as efficiently as they might like.)

Canon Fact #3: During in-game battles, members of your party are cured via magic and immediately continue to battle.

This includes injuries related to blades, arrows, fires, ice, lightning, wind, and blunt trauma; it seems like there isn't much that healing can't fix.

That said, temporary status effects (including poison, paralysis, immobility, and blindness), are a different story. There are non-healing spells that remove status effects as well, such as Geela's "Heal What Ails You," but they're uncommon. This might support the idea that these are two entirely different fields of healing and/or that they can't be done at the same time.

Healing appears to be more or less instantaneous, and after a unit is healed, they can continue battling on as if they had never been injured to begin with.

For a more specific time estimate: assuming that the turn system is supposed to reflect an actual battle with everyone moving and doing things all at once, we can say that a healer takes about as long to cast a healing spell as it does for a combat unit to make an attack on an enemy soldier (however long you think that takes).

There are also a variety of different costs to healing. In most cases, healing expends the healer's energy (i.e. TP), but in some cases it uses the healer's own health instead (like Cordelia's "Self Sacrifice").

We also have healing/status recovery pellets to consider. During a battle, they allow non-mages to heal themselves and others just as a mage would. Additionally, Medina has abilities to enhance the efficacy of those pellets, which could potentially mean there are methods of administering them that make them more powerful.

Canon Fact #4a: Dragan dies despite a healer being in the same vicinity. Cordelia, however, survives under similar circumstances.

Dragan seems to be killed by an arrow to the back, and no one even attempts to heal him after he falls, despite ample time to do so—he gives an entire monologue before officially dying. Conversely, when Cordelia is stabbed, a healer is called for and she survives. Some main differences between Cordelia and Dragan's injuries include:

The placement of the wound—Dragan might have been hit somewhere that resulted in a near-immediate fatality such as the heart, whereas Cordelia might have been injured in such a way that allowed her more time to be patched together

Roland might have held back upon realizing that Cordelia was the one taking the blow, vs. the archer who was definitely aiming to kill

Cordelia is a healer herself, and might have been able to aid in her own recovery

On a related note, Dragan was caught in an ambush (and might not have had access to any healer but Geela) vs. Cordelia's case, where they were in the middle of a war and likely had access to several healers and/or surgeons. Lyla, for instance, canonically helps out after Cordelia is stabbed on the boat.

General demographic stuff (Cordelia is likely several years younger than Dragan, and possibly has a history of better health since Glenbrook has historically had more access to salt)

They just liked Cordelia more?????

Canon Fact #4b: Additionally, Cordelia is weak and/or bedridden for at least a few days after her injuries (though due to route-splitting mechanics, she's weak even if she isn't injured, so this could potentially be disregarded as her being exhausted by her captivity, unrelated to her injuries).

This implies that healing can't be done all at once, and gives a better timeline for how long it takes for serious wounds to heal (at least a few days) even with the best of care. The above screenshots are in chronological order for reference.

Canon Fact #5: Healing can resurrect.

Healing can bring people back from death, with some caveats.

Magical resurrection is only shown to occur at the exact moment of death, and only if the spell is cast preemptively. Someone who is already dead cannot be revived outside of Quietus spells.

Resurrection earrings only work once per round, which might be interpreted as them needing time to recharge between uses (or possibly means that a mage has to recharge them). Likewise, Miraculous Light wipes out most of Geela's magic reserves, making it difficult for her to cast it many times in succession.

Since most normal spells only activate at the point of death, this also has some Ajin-like implications (i.e., that characters with the ability to resurrect might purposefully die in order to heal themselves of a non-lethal wound).

In canon, due to the mechanics surrounding it, Quietus can probably be tossed somewhere in the realm of dark magic and/or acts of god. (The word "quietus" is associated with finality, death, etc., which might support the "dark magic" point.)

 

Canon Fact #6: Healing is primarily done with a staff, while elemental magic is done with tomes.

The only exception to this that I noticed is Narve, who uses a staff for both healing and elemental magic.

Because of the consistency of healers having staves, it can be assumed that a staff is either required for healing or otherwise greatly improves efficacy. 

Theories

Taking all of that into consideration, there's a lot of different ways you can interpret what exactly is going on. I have two main theories that I play with while writing fic.

Theory #1: Healing as a time distortion

The linking factor between most of these is that magical healing can only heal what non-magical healing can also theoretically heal. Magical healing, then, might just be a speeding up of the body's natural ability to heal (even potentially an actual time spell that speeds things up, which is supported by Geela's "Haste" spell and Quahaug and Lyla's skillset in general). 

If this is the case, some potential limitations of magic would be:

It can't heal anything that the body itself won't put to right given time, so it can't cure terminal or chronic illnesses, nor save someone from lethal poison unless an antidote is also taken.

Likewise, it can't heal any wound that would kill someone faster than they could heal (e.g. possibly Dragan's wound).

It likely still requires an amount of non-magical healing techniques (Cordelia and Lyla might have required some sort of physical surgery to repair the damage they sustained). If a healing is performed without arranging things first and then the healing process was sped up, it would theoretically heal incorrectly and cause more harm than good.

It would still leave scars and leave the healed character in need of physical therapy when applicable. 

Larger, more serious wounds that would take weeks to heal will take a proportionally long time for magic to fix (at least a few days as shown by Cordelia's bedrest).

Infections and other complications could be an increased danger, assuming that everything is sped up including the growth rate of bacteria. Additionally, if it is a true time spell, then over time excessive amounts of healing would result in an unnatural, sped-up aging process.

Healing pellets/status recovery pellets essentially act as an already-cast spell sealed into a small capsule for use by non-mages, and would have the same effect as the spell that was sealed inside them. Panacea pellets are a little weird because no healer in the game is that powerful, but I guess you can assume there's some healing savant out in the woods somewhere who can make them (and then goes on to sell them for an exorbitant price).

Resurrection magic and earrings are just weird. For the sake of adding some sort of balance to these from a Watsonian perspective, you can always throw in sort of long-term drawback. I like to play around with the idea that resurrections shorten the lifespan/otherwise cost the user something with each use.

Theory #2: Healing as a temporary fix

For plot device reasons, I sometimes want the characters in my fics to be stuck on the sidelines for a few weeks/months at a time. So instead of speeding up healing, I go the opposite route and freeze the healing process altogether.

This theory revolves around these points:

Healing magic can't actually make the body heal, but it can put things back in place such that it heals properly. For example, it wouldn't be able to heal broken bones, but it could temporarily seal them into the right place such that someone could continue to fight in-battle. Same thing with bleeding wounds: it could temporarily stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't actually fix the issue. After the battle ends, both injuries would still need additional medical attention, and would take a normal amount of time to heal.

I usually imagine this requiring about as much attention/expertise as a surgeon would have.

Healing pellets are the same as in the first theory, as are resurrection magic + earrings.

This theory sort of has to work around status effects, since those aren't necessarily fixed by physical surgery-type techniques. For me, I assume that status effects such as poison and paralysis are magical conditions in their own right, and can therefore be negated by magic like Geela's spell (and normal, non-magical poison and paralysis can't be fixed by magic whatsoever). These magical status effects would eventually wear off when the spell runs out of juice, though if left untreated these effects could potentially be lethal.

Related to that, this theory gets complicated with things like burns or frostbite from elemental spells, since those types of wounds can't necessarily be healed by just moving things around. I could argue that a healer could manipulate the tissue on a cellular level, but that gets pretty overpowered the further I push it. (If they can heal damaged tissue from a burn, why can't they manipulate the tissue in Symon's heart as well? Going even further, why couldn't a healer manipulate their own flesh to the point of shapeshifting?) I usually sort of end up leaning on the first theory a little bit and say that it's easier to heal things that the body is biologically built to heal.

In the end, I usually end up using a blend of these two theories, and then pick and choose what I use in any given situation based on what plot device I need (which seems to be what the tri strat writers did as well haha). But it's nice to have some basic rules in place so I can plan around them.

[cripplecharacters]

So in a book I'm writing there are two ways how you treat your disability: 1) get an aid (can be magical or mechanical) that doesn't erase your disability but sure makes your life easier 2) go to a temple of a certain deity, adopt a pet (they run a giant animal shelter among other things), in a year come back with it, and kill it in their name with your own hands to get fully cured. My friend says that last one is a bit too radical...

Hi!

First thing, there should be more ways of what to do - or not do - in context of disability. Not every disabled person needs or wants aids; some people might want an aid for one disability but not for the other, etc.

If you would like our input on the first solution, it would be great to know what exactly is encompassed in the idea of a "magical aid" - we have a whole tag dedicated to it. Some magic aids are better than others in terms of representation and usefulness.

As for the second, please don't do it.

What you're describing is the "cure trope", that we also have a tag dedicated to, as it shows up all the time, and we try to discourage it as much as possible.

"Magically healing disabilities" isn't good representation, and the implication that disabled people would kill animals to get "cured" is strange at best and offensive at worst. Just because being disabled sometimes sucks (as most things like, in general? nothing is perfect all the time) doesn't mean we would kill puppies to be abled, and it's a concerning conclusion to come to. I don't know a single disabled person who would even consider something like this.

My advice would be to just completely get rid of the second "solution"; it's not representative, and the reasoning behind the concept is fundamentally flawed, it features some very tired tropes. I recommend going through our blog and the tags linked to get a better idea on why we take issue with the trope shown here.

You could easily use the shelter concept in a much more interesting way and make the pets into service animals who learn how to help their new owner properly, rather than the whole "dead pet>being disabled" conclusion.

I hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[sparkles-and-trash]

hawks focused with some dabihawks, light smut towards the end ~

Hawks doesn’t think of his body as anything but a tool.

A means to an end. Nothing but a vessel, a character to move around so he can do what he needs to do.

Ever since his handlers started pushing him towards modeling, he realized there was something about it other people found aesthetically pleasing, which he understood, to a degree, but it wasn’t something he focused on.

When he saw beauty in other people, he tended to see it in their faces and not their bodies.

So when he takes care of his body, he does it for their sake.

The photographers, the editors, the fans.

It’s an extra step in the routine to keep the machinery that is his body as useful as possible, nothing more.

Then, at some point, he’s suddenly free and with it, so is his body.

He’s not sure what to do with that.

At first he’s helpless, he either runs the same hard routine as always, or he totally slacks off and doesn’t care for himself at all.

There is no balance.

That’s where Dabi comes in.

Living with Dabi is interesting in many ways, including the way he keeps himself alive.

While his body is finally allowed to heal a bit more than he has before, there is still a lot to keep track of.

The ex-villain has a long routine to care for his skin, making sure it doesn’t get infected, but also to make it feel better.

That’s the part Hawks struggles with relating to.

Doing things to your body just to be kind to it.

But he wants to try, he really does, and watching Dabi inspired him.

It starts simple, with Dabi casually teaching him about intuitive eating, and finding a balance between indulging and giving into your cravings now and then.

Something similar happens with things like skincare and exercise, and it’s like opening up a whole new world.

And that’s before he discovers how much pleasure his body’s been hiding from him.

It starts innocently enough, with Dabi offering to fix up his wings after a windy day.

It’s the most amazing feeling ever, the firm and soft way Dabi’s taking care of one of his most intimate bodyparts.

Then when Hawks is half asleep on the couch, Dabi starts running his hands trough his hair, and another world opens up for him.

Honestly who knew that bodies could feel so amazing?

The feeling of just allowing your body to rest, to eat something REALLY good right when you want it, to have someone you trust touch you in such an intimate way…

Speaking of.

Listen, Hawks isn’t oblivious. He did some prettt risqué model shoots in his day.

Not that he ever saw them as more than a job, but he’s been told others didn’t feel the same way, to put in mildly.

But the first time he kisses Dabi, he feels totally unprepared.

It’s like his whole body, mind and soul is lit on fire in the best possible way.

He can actually FEEL his heart bursting, which he always just thought was a figure of speech.

He expects it to feel good when Dabi touched him, and of course it does, it feels fucking amazing, but somehow touching Dabi back, making him feel good and being able to read the proof on hos face?

Oh, it’s fucking magical.

And when he’s finally using his body, all of it, to connect with this person he loves so much he aches, to make himself feel good, to make Dabi feel good, it’s almost too much.

It’s everything, it’s all consuming and overwhelming in the best way.

Every movement he makes makes Dabi moan and hold onto him tighter, and the mix of his own pleasure and Dabi’s responses is making Hawks’ hips stutter and his wings flap as he whines and whimpers trough it all, feeling like he’s gonna explode any minute.

When they’re done, just lying there, touching, close in both mind and spirit, Hawks finds himself fully grasp the concept of not just having a body, but caring, appreciating and loving it for the very first time.

[eosofspades]

no bc you’re SO right that kai is WAY weaker as a villain than tai lung or shen (shen especially, bc imo he’s the best villain of the trilogy) and i’d love to hear your thoughts on why <3

100% agree shen is my FAVORITE villain of the trilogy and possibly one of my favorite villains of all time. and tai lung is an incredibly close second! however, i really didn't care for kai.

the biggest thing about kai for me is that, as a villain, he is way weaker than the other two because he is extremely lacking in a personal connection to po, and also much weaker when considering how his character reflects the themes and narrative of the movie as a whole.

tai lung, as a villain, worked so well because he was obsessed with the concept of being the dragon warrior, and the supposed "power" that would come with that. the lesson of kfp1, though, was that there WAS no real magical power given by the scroll - there is no secret ingredient! it's just you! it was never about the scroll; it was about choosing to be good and do good for the sake of being good, not because you wanted power for it. tai lung couldn't accept this, which is why he made a fantastic villain for this one, thematically. (and ALSO a fantastic foil to po, who is so humble and doesn't NEED power, he's just passionate about kung fu and wants to have a good time with his friends.)

lord shen as a villain who reflects the themes of the story, though, takes this to the absolute HIGHEST level. the entire story of kfp2 pivots around po's struggle to reconcile his origins with who he is now, and both of those things are directly related to shen - he leads the massacre that ends up getting po sent away, which sets him on the journey to BECOME the dragon warrior, and po's destiny was always going to be to defeat him. both then and now, the course of po's life is being shaped by shen. shen is also a fantastic foil to po in the same way that tai lung was - shen cannot let go of the past, he clings to his anger and his fear; while po is able to accept what happened, accept that it is part of who he is but not what defines him, and is able to find healing and peace.

kai, by comparison........ has almost nothing to do with po. kai actually has NO personal connection to po! his evil scheme is related to the pandas, but absolutely nothing to do with po, specifically. tai lung had no shared past with po the way lord shen did, but he still had personal and specific reasons to hate po because po was getting the title and role that he so desperately wanted. but kai's only beef is with oogway! he didn't even seem to know that po existed until oogway says "it was never my destiny to stop you - i have set another on that path." and kai just says "then i will find him, and take his chi as well." his motives are also much weaker than the other two's - who both wanted power, yes, but tai lung was also deeply desperate to make shifu proud, to live up to the legend that he had been raised to believe he would become, and part of this was shifu's fault! that's extremely interesting and tragic!! and shen was motivated by fear - fear of his prophecized defeat, of the inescapability of his fate - and by grief over his (perceived) inability to make his parents proud, or get them to love him. kai, by contrast, was..... mad that oogway wasn't okay with letting him become a magical chi-stealing warlord??

kai also doesn't tie in with the themes or po's arc in this movie. in terms of other characters, po's arc in this one revolves way more around his fathers - trying to handle his new responsibilities of being the teacher to the five, trying to figure out how to balance the two different identities he has as the son of these two different fathers, but the only connection he has to kai is that he needs to be a master of chi to defeat him, which he can only learn how to be from the pandas, which incidentally happen to be his family. (and the fact that at the end, everyone is doing chi makes it seem like him being a panda or not might not have even been that relevant to begin with!) and kai's defeat is also sort of weak - he's defeated by the "too much power" trope, but nothing else in this story was about being power-hungry or the dangers of it. it wasn't something any of the pandas struggled with, hunger for power was NEVER a part of po's journey, and at least in kfp1 tai lung's desire for the dragon scroll was about more than just power (he wanted to make shifu proud), but also, because the entire theme of that story was that you didn't NEED power to be the dragon warrior. kfp3's narrative isn't ABOUT power; it's about identity and culture and balancing different aspects of your life to find your truest self. kai's character has nothing to say about ANY of this, he doesn't struggle with or care about any of these things - he is JUST power-hungry.

he also lacks that character foil aspect the other two had. the ability to take chi is never even presented as an option to po. what MIGHT have been interesting would have been if the only way to defeat kai was to take HIS chi - something a master of it would be able to do! - and po was forced into the dilemma of having to choose between risking going down the same path as kai for the sake of protecting his loved ones, or the risk of endangering them even more by refusing to. if the conflict had been about the good vs evil uses of chi powers, then that would have made kai a foil to po as well. but as it is now, kai has nothing to do with po, personally.

basically what it boils down to is that kai, as a villain, is serviceable, but when held up in contrast to the previous two, it becomes very obvious how much weaker he is narratively. his motivations are much shallower than the others', his connection to po is tangential at best, and as an antagonist, he doesn't have anything to say about the themes or messaging of the story OR the protagonist's arc.

[rimarkka]

DT17 x Encanto AU

I already see some Ducktales x Encanto AUs and they were really good

But I want to present my version of this AU

I want to bring dt17 characters into the Encanto’s world. It’s still a family concept with magical gifts in a magical house.

Could Duckworth move into the house and revive it?

Speaking of assigning roles

♪ Wait, who’s a sister and who’s a cousin? There’s so many people How do you keep them all straight? ♪

Scrooge as Abuela 

Have you noticed that the Miracle Candle and the Number One Dime play a similar role in the plot?

♪ We swear to always Help those around us And earn the miracle That somehow found us The town keeps growing The world keeps turning But work and dedication will keep the miracle burning And each new generation must keep the miracle burning ♪

I think he’s more concerned with the Number One Dime the Miracle Candle by helping the townspeople through deeds and adventures than by helping people itself

Donald as Pepa

Pepa is emotional and with her mood changes nature. Donald is no less emotional

♪ My tía Pepa My tío Donald

Her mood affects the weather When she’s unhappy Well, the temperature gets weird ♪

Daisy as Félix

She has no gift, she became part of the family by marrying Donald

♪ She fell in love with Family Madrigal McDuck And now she’s part of the Family Madrigal McDuck ♪

June and May as Dolores and Antonio

The biological daughters of Daisy and Donald

♪ Cousin Dolores can hear a pin drop <…> Antonio gets his gift today ♪

Huey as Luisa

They both take greater responsibility for the well-being of their family

♪ I’m the strong one, I’m not nervous I’m as tough as the crust of the Earth is I move mountains, I move churches And I glow ’cause I know what my worth is ♪

But for both of them, this responsibility is a cause for concern. Their gift weighs heavily on them. Luisa has it as a nervous tick and a song

♪ Give it to your sister, your sister’s older Give her all the heavy things we can’t shoulder Who am I if I can’t run with the ball? If I fold to ♪

And Huey has the Duke of Making a Mess

Dewey as Isabela

They both focus more on image than on gift.

♪ My older sisters brothers <…> one graceful Perfect in every way ♪

He acts like he’s good at everything, but he’s really worried that his gift isn’t enough

♪ I’ve been stuck being perfect my whole life ♪

Louie as Camilo

Louis in the series is shown as a skilled manipulator, actually (not in a bad way). He knows what to say when to smile and so on

♪ Camilo shapeshifts ♪

I believe it’s his gift

Della as Bruno

♪ We don’t talk about Bruno Della! ♪

I want to see this song in the context of «don’t talk about her so as not to piss off Scrooge», and not «don’t talk about her so as not to cause trouble from her»

♪ They say she saw the future, one day she disappeared ♪

It’s all canon. Della is gone. They don’t talk about her. The end.

Just kidding, I’ll tell you about her fate later

Beakley as Julieta or Agustín

Beakley is not bound to this family by blood, she entered it like Agustín, but not by marriage, but as an approximation.

I couldn’t choose one character, as I found it interesting that even without the gift Beakley would have the skills of cooking and «magic» to even be able to prepare healing food

Webby as Mirabel

Mirabel has no gift, and Webby is not tied to the McDuck family in blood, so she has no gift either. In fact, nobody even allowed such a thought, so they even didn’t try. I’d like to end the story with Webby’s becoming the new the Number One Dime the Miracle Candle’s keeper. 

As far as their family ties are concerned, everything here remains like the cartoon, and does not change under the state of affairs in Encanto. Beakley is still Webby’s grandmother. Scrooge has just become the father of Della and Donald. Donald and Daisy are the parents of May and June. Dell is the mother of triplets.

It’s not that the relationship between Webby and Scrooge is that important. I love this storyline twist in dt17 and it can be in this au too, but I can’t say that it is absolutely necessary, it seems to be superfluous

The main character will be Webby. On the day of receiving gifts, May and June, born on the same day, were afraid to go alone and refused to do it without Webby.

Ugh, going all the way up to two doors knowing that she would never be a part of the family and get any gift... it must hurt

It was Webby who noticed how the house began to collapse, because there was discord in the family. With their quarrels, the gifts weaken. So she intended to help everyone.

Their main conflict was Della, or rather her disappearance. So the Webby began to reveal this secret.

She found a prophecy by which Della flew away and suffered a plane crash. Unlike Bruno, whose poor predictions were not believed, Della herself did not believe her predictions. She believed she had the right to change her fate with her gift.

I don’t really want to take a flight into space because a rocket crash is too much

Why did Scrooge cover it up and get angry at every mention of his daughter? Because he kept Della’s faith in the ability to change her destiny. But after the crash, he changed his mind. For this reason, he ignored Webby’s words about the destruction of the house because he had seen the prophecy about it, and he was convinced that fate cannot be changed.

Scrooge broke it. But Webby collected it and saw herself in the end against the background of the destruction of the house.

Webby loved her family so much, so she decided to go out on emotion to prevent it. But during the escape, Della caught her. She was quite alive, ha

Della had indeed crashed the plane, but she had survived with the loss of her leg. She lived inside the walls of the house, unwilling to return.

She gave an answer to Webby’s questions. It was not only Scrooge who looked at the prediction incomplete. Della dropped the memory first, splintered from it a small piece that did not allow one to look beyond the image of Webby. There was Della too. And just like Webby, she loves her family too, but she thought it’s better without her

Kinda similar, right?

It’s only then Webby realized how stupid and wrong they both are when they run away

They rerun Della’s gift and watch the entire memory to learn how to prevent it.

Della looked at the girl condescendingly, seeing herself in her, but allowed her to. Because if the outcome is predetermined, her efforts will not make it worse.

Webby really saw how she helped her family, in particular, the triplets who first quarrelled when they began to slowly discover the secret of Della.

At this time, Gosalyn as Mariano came to court with Dewey.

I don’t mind them as a couple, but I just want them to feel like friends in that au

Later, Webby extorted the confession that Dewey did not want to marry, he did not know if he loves Gosalyn in that way

So… Webby was trying to make up with everyone and she’s even doing it well until Scrooge told her that he didn’t see the good in her actions

How do those words of Abuela resemble those of Scrooge "you are not part of the family!"

And the house collapsed…

Webby escaped. Scrooge talked to her heart-in-heart. They found an understanding. Della jumped on the donkey, said it’s her fault, she had predicted it. Tearful reunion of father and daughter. Repair of the house. Webby is a new keeper.

The end :з

SORRY IS IT TOO MUCH, HUH?

[shirajellyfish]

Director’s cut! What inspired you to write As Long As We Are Loved? Was it something specific or just the general concept of living dolls that caught your interest?

And a follow up question, you mentioned your original concept was different than what you decided in the end (that dolls coming to life was a world established thing). What was your original idea going to involve?

UHHH this got long. I'm sorry!! I'm gonna put it under the read more because oh no, you activated my trap card and the trap is I talk too much

There's an idea I've thought about a lot. Robots are often said to be immortal in fics and other media, but that isn't necessarily true, is it? A mechanical being must be maintained. What happens when one day, there's no one who will maintain them? Or no one who will make for them the replacement parts they require? A robot might live for a very very long time, or they might live for only a few years before being discarded. They have no set lifespan, they will live for as long as they are loved.

I think that's what grabbed me. The idea of something that literally requires someone's caring to survive. Realizing that unaging is not the same as immortal, seeing how neglect can eat at anything. The idea of being able to give that needed love and care, to take something nearly lost to neglect and to love them until they are well again. Plus I just really, really enjoy slowburn healing.

My original idea was a future where many people have robots of their own. All very pretty, all very perfect, all very well maintained. Each one perfect, so much so that one might assume they will be perfect forever. Then Reader would discover what happens when one is no longer wanted. They'd randomly see a Sun (one they'd never met before) in a dumpster, holding tight to a badly mangled Moon. The Sun would be still active, but not really reacting anymore. Resigned, just waiting for his battery to run out. Reader would then of course be horrified, taking the two in and fixing them up. The original idea also had a separate body Sun and Moon that would become two AIs in one body as Moon's original body was going to be too broken to fix.

I decided to go doll AU for two reasons. Firstly, because an animatronic version of this story wouldn't be anything new for me to write. I See You Sundrop already has a lot of long repair scenes. It already has repair as a form of care and kindness. It already has situations where an animatronic's life is likely to end soon, but that is prevented because someone cares too much to allow that to happen. I didn't want to write the same thing all over again, so I needed something else.

That's where the second reason comes in- I just really wanted more doll AUs. There are only a few floating around on AO3, and none are quite the genre I was hoping for with that concept. If what you want to read doesn't exist, you have to write it yourself, right? Well here we are, an opportunity to write it myself haha (My biggest hope is that someone will read my fic and go "We should write more doll fics actually." Feed me the content.)

I decided to make living dolls normal in this universe just because with this concept, I felt like the whole "omg magic doll" stuff would get in the way of the fic's actual themes. I did once have a "spooky haunted jester dolls off ebay" concept once, but that one never grabbed me hard enough to actually invest the time to write it- or at least it hasn't yet. Dolls or animatronics or something else, I always wanted to make everything going on 'normal' for the universe it was set in.

[radical-revolution]

Acknowledging Death

By Chögyam Trungpa

In discussing sickness, whether physical or mental, we should recognize the importance of our sense of survival. We want to survive, and when we talk about healing, we are talking about how to survive. Viewed from another angle, our strategy of survival is the pattern of our reaction to the fact of death.

We do not have to try to conceal the unspeakable; on the other hand, we do not have to push it to the extreme. At the least, we should help a person to have some understanding of the idea of loss – of the possibility of nonexistence and of dissolving into the unknown. The whole point of any relationship is to share some degree of honesty and to explore how far we can go with it. In that way relationships can become extremely powerful and intense, and beautiful. Sometimes we might only be able to get a hint of the intensity; we might only be open up to just the bare minimum. Still, even then it is worthwhile. It is a step in the right direction.

Some people talk about healing in a magical sense, as when so-called healers put their hands on a sick person and miraculously heal them; others talk about the physical approach to healing, using drugs, surgery, and so forth. But I think the important point is that any real healing has to come out of some kind of psychological openness – constant gaps in our conceptual and physical structures. If we begin to breathe out, then we create room for fresh air to rush in. If we do not breathe, there is no way for the fresh air to enter. It is a question of psychological attitude rather than of being taken over by external powers that heal us. Openness seems to be the only key to healing. And openness means we are willing to acknowledge that we are worthy; we have some kind of ground to relate with whatever is happening to us.

The role of the healer is not just to cure the disease; it is to cut through the tendency to see disease as an external threat. By providing companionship and some kind of sympathy, the healer creates a suggestion of health or underlying sanity, which then undermines naïve conceptions of disease. The healer deals with the mishandling of the gaps that occur in one’s life, with one’s losses of spirit.

People tend to feel that their particular sickness is something special, that they are the only person with such an illness. But in fact, their illness is not so special – not so terrible. It is a question of acknowledging that we are born alone and that we die alone, but that it is still okay. There is nothing particularly terrible or special about it.

Often the whole notion of sickness is taken as a purely mechanical problem: something is wrong with one’s machine, one’s body. But somehow that is missing the point. It is not the sickness that is the big problem, but the psychological state behind it. We could not have gotten sick in the first place without some kind of loss of interest and attention. Whether we were run down by a car or we caught a cold, there was some gap in which we did not take care of ourselves – an empty moment in which we ceased to relate to things properly. There was no ongoing awareness of our psychological state. So to the extent that we invite it to begin with, all sicknesses – and not just those diseases traditionally considered to be psychosomatic – are psychological. All diseases are investigated by one’s state of mind. And even after we have dealt with the disease and the symptoms have disappeared, by pretending that the problem is over we only plant seeds for further neurosis.

It seems that we generally avoid our psychological responsibility, as though diseases were external events imposing themselves upon us. There is a quality of sleepiness, and of missing the gaps in the seemingly solid structure of our lives. Out of that sense of carelessness, comes an immense message. Our bodies demand our attention; our bodies demand that we actually pay attention to what is going on with our lives. Illness brings us down to earth, making things seem much more direct and immediate.

Disease is a direct message to develop a proper attitude of mindfulness: we should be more intelligent about ourselves. Our minds and bodies are both very immediate. You alone know how your body feels. No one else care; no one else can know but you. So there is a natural wakefulness about what is good for you and what is not. You can respond intelligently to your body by paying attention to your state of mind.

Because of this the practice of meditation may be the only way to really cure ourselves. Although the attempt to use meditation as some sort of cure may seem materialistic, the practice itself soon cuts through any materialistic attitude. Basically, mindfulness is a sense of composure. In meditation we are not accomplishing anything; we are just there, seeing our lives. There is a general sense of wakefulness, and an awareness of the body as an extremely sensitive mechanism which gives us messages constantly. If we have missed all the rest of the opportunities to relate with these messages, we find ourselves sick. Our bodies force us to be mindful on the spot. So it is important not to try to get rid of the sickness but to use it as a message.

We view our desire to get rid of disease as a desire to live. But instead it is often just the opposite; it is an attempt to avoid life. Although we seemingly want to be alive, in fact we simply want to avoid intensity. It is an ironic twist: we actually want to be healed in order to avoid life. So the hope for cure is a big lie; it is the biggest conspiracy of all. In fact, all entertainment – whether it is the movies or various programs for so-called self-growth – lures us into feeling that we are in touch with life, while in fact we are putting ourselves into a further stupor.

The healing relationship is a meeting of two minds: that of the healer and patient, or for that matter, of the spiritual teacher and student. If you and the other person are both open, some kind of dialogue can take place that is not forced. Communication occurs naturally because both are in the same situation. If the patient feels terrible, the healer picks up that sense of the patient’s wretchedness: for a moment he feels more or less the same, as if he himself were sick. For a moment the two are not separate and a sense of authenticity takes place. From the patient’s point of view, that is precisely what is needed: someone acknowledges his existence and the fact that he needs help very badly. Someone actually sees through his sickness. The healing process can then begin to take place in the patient’s state of being, because he realizes that someone has communicated with him completely. There has been a mutual glimpse of common ground. The psychological underpinning of the sickness then begins to come apart, to dissolve. The same thing applies to meetings between a meditation teacher and his or her student. There is a flash of understanding – nothing particularly mystical or “far out”, as they say – just very simple, direct communication. The student understands and the teacher understands at the same moment. In this common flash of understanding, knowledge is imparted.

At this point I am not making any distinction between physicians and psychiatrists: whether we are dealing at the psychological or at the medical level, the relationship with one’s patient has to be exactly the same. The atmosphere of acceptance is extremely simple but very effective. The main point is that the healer and the patient are able to share their sense of pain and suffering – their claustrophobia or fear or physical pain. The healer has to feel herself to be part of that whole setup. It seems that many healers avoid that kind of identification; they do not want to get involved in such an intense experience. Instead they try to play extremely cool and unconcerned, taking a more businesslike approach.

We all speak the same language; we experience a similar type of birth and a similar exposure to death. So there is bound to always be some link, some continuity between you and the other. It is something more than just mechanically saying “Yes, I know; it hurts badly.” Rather than just sympathizing with the patient, it is important to actually feel her pain and share her anxiety. You can then say: “Yes, I feel that pain” in a different way. To relate with total openness means that you are completely captured by someone’s problem. There may be a sense of not knowing quite how to handle it and just having to do your best, but even such clumsiness is an enormously generous statement. So, complete openness and bewilderment meet at a very fine point.

There is much more involved in the healer-patient relationship than just going by the books and looking up the appropriate medicine. According to Buddhism, the human essence is compassion and wisdom. So you do not have to acquire skillful communication from outside yourself; you have it already. It has nothing to do with mystical experience or any kind of higher spiritual ecstasy; it is just the basic working situation. If you have an interest in something, that is openness. If you have an interest in people’s suffering and conflicts, you have that openness constantly. And then you can develop some sense of trust and understanding, so that your openness becomes compassion.

It is possible to work with sixty people a day and have something click with each of them. It requires a sense of complete dedication, and a willingness to stay alert, without trying to achieve a specific goal. If you have a goal, then you are trying to manipulate the interaction and healing cannot take place. You need to understand your patients and encourage them to communicate, but you cannot force them. Only then can the patient, who is feeling a sense of separation, which is also a sense of death, begin to feel that there is hope. At last someone really cares for him; someone really does listen, even if it is only for a few seconds. That allows intense, very genuine communication to take place. Such communication is simple: there is no trick behind it and no complicated tradition to learn. It is not a question of learning how to do it but of just going ahead with it.

Psychiatrists and physicians, as well as their patients, have to come to terms with their sense of anxiety about the possibility of nonexistence. When there is that kind of openness, the healer does not have to solve a person’s problem completely. The approach of trying to repair everything has always been a problem in the past; such an approach creates a successive string of cures and deceptions, which seem to go hand in hand. Once the basic fear is acknowledged, continuing with the treatment becomes very easy. The path comes to you: there is no need to try to create the path for yourself. Healing professionals have the advantage of being able to develop themselves by working with the great variety of situations that come to them. There are endless possibilities for developing one’s awareness and openness. Of course, it is always easier to look down on your patients and their predicament, thinking how lucky you are that you do not have their diseases. You can feel somewhat superior. But the acknowledgment of your common ground – your common experience of birth, old age, sickness and death, and the fear that underlies all of those – brings a sense of humility. That is the beginning of the healing process. The rest seems to follow quite easily and naturally, based on one’s inherent wisdom and compassion. This is not a particularly mystical or spiritual process; it is simple, ordinary human experience. The first time you try to approach a person in this way it may seem to be difficult. But you do it on the spot.

And finally, what do we mean when we say that a patient has been healed? To be healed, ironically, means that a person is no longer embarrassed by life; she is able to face death without resentment or expectation.

From The Heart of the Buddha, by Chögyam Trungpa

[magicalgirlsuggestions]

Do you think YuYuYu is ableist?

IMO, i think the concept of having your disability magically cure isn't that bad, and some (not all, just some) disabilities can indeed be like a curse (like chronic pain).

I don't get why some just badly hate its ending where the girls gain back what they lost; the show isn't perfect (*cough* sexualizing minors *cough*) but the healing of their disabilities shouldn't be counted as one of the flaws.

Many people can live with their disabilities, but others suffered from theirs, how come wanting to cure your disability is seen as ableist?

I totally understand what you mean, Nonnie. Though, I feel like the specific problem isn't that the characters were healed, but rather everything with Tougo.

Because at the beginning of the show before we know anything about mankai or the sange, Tougo is in a wheelchair. It's a fairly respectful depiction too! The chair lift at school, how she moves around and all that. The fact she's a member of the main cast and gets to fight along side the others is even cooler!

But then we learn "oh, she wasn't actually disabled! it was because of mankai!" and at the end of the first season, she doesn't need a wheelchair anymore. So we start out with amazing representation done in a respectful manner, only to end with that representation being erased.

Something I said in my review of the series (which you should watch :3c) is that yes, not being able to walk sucks and being disabled is not fun. But at the same time, it doesn't have to always be so bad.

For instance! I have food allergies. Peanuts, tree nuts, and milk can and will kill me. That is something I have struggled and lived in fear of my whole life. Whenever I see even a minor instance of a character saying "oh I'm allergic to that" I feel a bit excited because I am seeing an aspect of my personal life reflected back at me. An aspect of my life that often gets ignored or forgotten by others.

So if a character was like, idk CURSED with food allergies or something, and they spent their whole arc searching for a cure or lamenting about how horrible and agonizing it is to live with these limitations! Idk man I'd feel pretty bad.

It is a complicated issue that warrants further discussion. I know that the writers and animators behind the story put the utmost effort into respectfully and realistically portraying Tougo's disability, and they did an amazing job. It just sucks that the effort is no longer needed after season 1.

Not to mention, but Tougo losing her Doc-Ock ribbon stilts is just objectively a less interesting character design choice. All the girls can jump around and run, but Tougo's movements in season one were unique and super fun! So it sucks that it was lost moving forward.

Again, I recommend watching my review because I go into a bit more detail on my personal feelings of the matter (around 20:34 is the timestamp). It is a very nuanced topic that deserves further discussion.

[cream-and-tea]

nightmare, secret, and wound for the character(s) you think have the most interesting answers!!!

~Morri (@memento-morri-writes)

Not Nice ask game here! (all of these questions are pallasbait so i’m going to get that out of my system and answer all three for them lol)

nightmare: What does your OC have nightmares about? How do they deal with their nightmares? Do they tell people, or keep it to themself?

pallas has a pretty messy relationship with the concept of sleeping in the same way that they have a pretty messy relationship with most Basic Human Needs, so they really only sleep when they absolutely cannot stay awake any longer. but if i’m being honest they’ve repressed everything they could have nightmares about SO hard that they don’t really have bad dreams and if they do they don’t remember them when they wake up. they do have one extended nightmare sequence in the book as i’ve planned it but that happens when they’re actively bleeding out + their entire worldview is crumbling, so it’s really a way to show the way all of their Repression Level 5000 Mental Blocks have started to break down lol

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

this is kinda hard to answer because pallas hate hate haaaaates being Perceived in any meaningful capacity, so their view of what counts as “secret” is massively skewed lol. if they had their way no one would be able to access any information about them without going through a fifty step vetting process and a blood oath binding them to never repeat any of it (which isn’t to far off from what they actually do tbh).

apart from one Super Huge Spoiler Thing i think the thing that pallas wouldn’t want ANYONE to know is that they aren’t anywhere NEAR as secure in themself/their position as everyone thinks. they put a lot of effort into coming across as Cool and Detached and Cruel, so to have anyone see past that would be absolutely devastating. because if someone could look and see how much what pallas does is eating them alive they might try to question it and bring them out of it and force them to—GOD forbid—self reflect for once. they’ll take hatred and fear over pity any day.

wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

heyyyyy character i have with the highest pain tolerance!!!! super powerful bloodflesh magic + incredibly taxing training (to put it mildly) + intense healing factor + functional immortality will do that to you!! due to uhhhhh All Of That pallas’s general response to being wounded is to walk that shit off unless it’s directly preventing them from completing their mission, which is a pretty high threshold. you know that they’re my specialist little guy because they’re constantly being battered physically mentally AND emotionally through the whole story. just put through the absolute ringer. it’s actually kind of hard to choose a worst one bc of that, but i’m gonna say that worst emotional/mental wound happened a year before the start of the book when their best friend nina Died supersuper hard and worst physical wound happens in book two when [REDACTED] [REDCATED]’s them ❤️

[13rie]

Yeastward

You’re on an epic journey to make the best damn sandwich anyone has ever had. Oh and an ancient evil is rising once more after 1,000 years of slumber (but that’s a little less important to you).

The concept for this game came from a conversation with some coworkers and the realization that at almost very job I’ve had, I’ve been a sandwich maker (over 10 years worth of experience). And with my love for RPGs, I thought:

“Wouldn’t it be funny if there was an RPG where your whole quest was to make a sandwich but everyone else thought you were off to slay an evil overlord?”

And thus, the idea for this game was born.

The Plot: There’s a festival coming up in your kingdom and you plan on entering your best sandwich ever in the cooking competition. At the same time, Lord Efaba has been reawakened after being sealed away for 1,000. Your King addresses the crowd during a public announcement if there is anyone brave enough to go slay the beast. And you, because you were too distracted thinking about what you’d be doing for the competition, call out that you will do it (when I’m reality, you were simply talking to yourself).

Your Character: Customizable appearance at the start but your class will always remain as a cook. You work at a local tavern ran by an old man named Walter (gruff and grouchy most of the time but you know he’s very caring about his patrons). You enjoy cooking and learning about new dishes, not afraid to try out new things. Often experimenting with different flavours, you don’t always get it right the first time but it’s doesn’t deter you from trying again.

The Cook Class: This class allows you to create dishes using items from your inventory for both offence (elemental damage and debuffs) or defence (healing and buffs). This class allows for versatility as you can take up a more defensive, offensive, or mixed role to suit your needs. You’ll still be able to do melee attacks but your dishes allow you to deal more damage with the added element bonus for some. Note: While there is more than just the five basic types of taste (salty, sweet, umami, bitter, and sour), research has been a little inconclusive as to what the other types there are. So for now, I will only be including the six that are the most recognizable.

Spicy: Fire-based Damage | Attack Effected

Salty: Earth-based or Water-based Damage | Magic Effected

Sweet: Paralysis or Blindness Effect | Speed Effected

Sour: Silence Effect/Lightning-Based Damage | M.Defence Effected

Savoury/Umami: Sleep Effect | Defence Effected

Bitter: Poison Effect | Luck Effected

The Party: There’s a whole cast of characters to choose as your party members, some with the same job but with different personalities. Although it’s not required to obtain a good ending, you can either romance someone yourself or play matchmaker (and of course, there’d be options to simply have people become friends if you aren’t interested in romance). Some characters will be available just by asking them, others might need a side-quest to unlock them first.

Genre: It’s a mostly fantasy with the classic rpg elements that you’ve come to know and love. And while it’s an adventure, there’ll be plenty of comedic moments as this game is mostly a joke itself. And just as a warning, there will be adult humour as well. The example below is for a boss you’ll face in the game for the vegetables you’ll need for your sandwich.

Enters the lair of the voluptuous evil boss

“Damn, those are some nice melons!”

Pans over to a watermelon patch

“Thanks! I grew them myself!”

There’s plenty of other things I can explain but that can be saved for a latter time. But here are some small fun tidbits of information that I thought of as well.

Lord Efaba is an anagram of Bread Loaf 🍞

When you sleep at the inn, your character also writes a letter to Walter

Each main boss can either be defeated by fighting them or through other means (but this won’t effect the ending very much, it’s mostly for fun and flavour)

Most of your party members think you’re off to slay Lord Efaba, only one actually knows that’s not true but plays along for the fun of it (which they’ll tell you at the end of the game)

Your character is willing to put almost anything and everything into their mouth, much to the horror (or entertainment) of some of your party members

“I wonder what this is?”

“Don’t put that in your mouth! It’s poisonous!”

“Yeah but like…how poisonous?”

“Try it and find out~”

“NO!”

[inconspicious-random-thoughts]

In regard to Pentious's ascension, I don't think it was just his heroic sacrifice that allowed him to be reborn as a winner. I think Adam's holy energy may've also played a part in it. It's been shown that demons and angels (or at least human born ones) can only be permanently killed by angelic steel. And Adam's powers, while definitely that of an angel, aren't connected to said steel, and thus wouldn't have killed Pentious permanently whether he was redeemed or not. While Pentious's willingness to save his friends and the girl he loves definitely played a big part in his ascension, I think it was a result of Adam "purifying" his sinful soul when he blasted his ship (unwittingly on Adam's end obviously). Maybe that's the real secret to bringing redemption for sinner's full circle, literally "cleansing" their souls with holy energy/light.

Maybe this will be how Baxter gets introduced. If he retains the high IQ the pre-show info implied he has, Charlie may hire him to build a "holy purification" machine that channels holy energy to purify redeemed sinners once they are rehabilitated.

It's a bit of a stretch, but I think it's one our dear princess would be more willing to work with then sending her patients to get themselves killed heroically once they've finished their program.

I never really thought of that. Its something I have to mull over and consider more. The issue with using the holy light as a cleanser...it harms the Hell population. But maybe there able to make a compromise somewhere with tech. Or just take a leap of faith and chance the cleanse as a final step.

Speaking of angelic steel, as much as I love Alastor. What was going on his head of arming himself with only his damn ego against Adam.

I am looking forward to Baxter. I always thought the anglerfish design was cool and interesting. Plus, I am a huge sucker for mad scientist characters.

Charlie may hire him to build a "holy purification" machine

When you said this, I totally imagine Baxter as Dr Doofenshmirtz (HAhahaa There's an autocorrect to spell his name correctly. I love that he a popular reference for that to happen AHAHAHA) "Behold, the Holy purification-ator"

Speaking of holy magic and dying and whatnot. On a related and unrelated note, the thought of Alastor wound popped in my head again today. Because...well, Alastor was hit right by Adams axe...obviously. But he lived. Now put a pin on that.

The thought I had today was, well, Angelic weapons are meant to cause permanent death. Right? So, the weapons are not made for the purpose to destroy the body...it mean to destroy the soul. Permanently ending the souls.

Now, unpin Alastor wound. He survived his attacked from Adams axe. Quite a feat. We know he hurt and weaken both physically and magically. But have we consider that...his soul is fractured?Like, the axe not only sliced at his flesh but lacerated his soul? Not only once, but twice. The wound on his chest and his broken staff that's part of his essence. I honestly, don't think the show will really explore it. But it is an interesting concept for need to be in control Alastor becoming increasingly more unhinged. Not only he can't fucken seem to heal while hiding the injury(or the the rate he use to) But he cracked to his very core of being and he doesn't know how to deal with that.

The idea of it Alastor soul being wounded, fractured from the holy weapon almost motivated me enough to try a write a one shot but I didn't really want to make a whole story of it. Hopefully, someone read this and pick up on the slack and somehow tag me to read it.

[thinkingaboutrwby]

Typing this on my phone as morning thoughts so forgive any typos:

As someone who loves both Oscar as a character I do think it’s an interesting writing/thought exercise. I just hate that people are using it as an excuse to bash on Oscar.

Let me preface this. I think having Ozpin merge with a younger and new character in Oscar worked out well since it gave Oz less control in managing the team since he was now in a host who is literally younger, weaker, and more innocent than them as well as a stranger. You could just tell that for the whole of V5 that Oz’s reins were slipping on keeping a mentor facade because it was especially easy to interrogate him as a new face (despite everyone’s trust of Oscar). There’s also some interesting narrative foils between Oscar and Pyhrra that make things fun: Oscar became the youngest member of JNPR now in need of training (while Pyhrra was a nearly adult prodigy); forcefully merged with an ancient soul (while she agreed to do that with the Fall Maiden but it didn’t work out); and they are some of the sweeter/more idealistic and self-sacraficing characters in the cast (I would say Pyhrra and Ruby were most similar between JNPR and RWBY before her death and Oscar and Ruby are now the most similar also not to say Jaune isn’t self-sacraficing he just approaches being a hero with more bravado than those three do). Having the new Oz as Oscar fill in Pyhrra’s spot on JNPR rather than just merge with Jaune also feels pretty narratively powerful no? I also think part of Oz’s arc has been learning to handover leadership reins which would have been difficult to write with Jaune’s steady growth as a leader. Oz is certainly still a strong force in the show in his own right, but handing things over to Oscar and learning to fully trust newer generations as leaders does seem to be a theme for him (also RWBY Beyond seems to imply is merge with Oscar is inevitably pushing him back to the front). Lastly, while I’m very convinced Miles Luna would have done an amazing job voice acting the merge, Aaron Dismuke absolutely slays at it and I’m glad we get to hear him.

However - The interesting advantage of having Ozpin merge with Jaune instead is the fact that they probably could have reached the point of being able to interrogate him faster given that Jaune already had more of a reason to question things and delve into Oz’s memories for justifications of Pyhrra’s death. There’s a lot of great angst and dramatic potential there. Another advantage would be to explain the mechanics of magic and aura more efficiently. We’ve been stuck wondering what’s Oscar’s semblance for a while now and I wonder if narrative they aren’t revealing it because it’s hard to fit into so many character arcs. Discovering Jaune’s healing semblance and then later on Oz’s magic could have been very cool. I think a merge between Jaune and Oz would have been a different flavor of tragic than between Oscar and Oz as well. Given we get Jaune at a low place and disillusioned by his hero’s journey in V4 post-Pyhrra’s death while Oscar is more innocently starting his and leaving his home there would have likely been darker places to go. Very fun concepts for a fic.

But yeah just wanted to lend my creative sense to this idea. No haters please.

Goddamn is it wild how you do a bit of speculation on how maybe Jaune and Oscar's characters could've been combined in an interesting way that would've both reduced male cast bloat and reinforced Jaune's theme of "wanting to be the hero but not being able to" by giving him a path towards it (merging with Oz) that would've, quite clearly, cost him himself by irrevocably changing who he is as a person, which at least to me is a pretty clear way of saying "this is not for you", and suddenly you're a "Jaune stan" trying to make him a bigger deal than the female leads?

Like, just... no? That wasn't my idea at all? I've been beating the "Jaune is not a main character" drum since I got into RWBY. I literally have all the RWBY/Jaune ship tags blocked because I despise fanon inflation of his character that much.

LoL, I'm just genuinely insulted to be lumped into Jaune fandom.

[hagoftheholler]

I imagine this is going to get me some backlash, but it is a topic I feel needs to be discussed more among the witchcraft and spirituality communities. Let's talk toxic love and light culture.

I've been active in online communities for witches, practitioners and people interested in spirituality for the past two years now. The ones that I had problems with were always the ones that exhibit toxic love and light culture. Most of the people in these online communities had similar beliefs and opinions that I simply could not agree with, nor can I see how they are "positive" for anybody. These are a few that I commonly see [TW: mentions of abuse, mental illness and more]:

• Many of the people that live by this toxic love and light concept encourage others to forgive people that have done them wrong. They say that you should forgive people that have done you wrong, not for them but for yourself. They often include forgiving abusers and similar types of people in this concept. I find this to be extremely toxic. Some things are forgivable, but other things simply are not. I'm not going to forgive the people who traumatized me and continue to repeat the same behaviors that caused the trauma. They may have their own trauma to work through, sure, but that never gave them the right to traumatize me. What I will do is heal myself and keep those abusive people far, far away from me.

• Some people who live by the toxic love and light concept appropriate or attempt to invalidate practices, religions and cultures that don't align with theirs. I find it funny how some of these people use white sage, the western concept of chakras, claim to work with Orishas among other things... but then get upset when they are informed that they are appropriating the religions and cultures these things come from. Then they proceed to get upset when they learn that the religions and cultures these concepts come from often have some dark, baneful practices that don't align with their new age spirituality.

• This one can be different among different communities, but many often view shadow work and the shadow in one of two ways. They either view shadow work as a horrible, toxic concept; or they believe that witchcraft and spirituality without shadow work is privileged, somehow making the individual less spiritual if they don't do shadow work... I believe that shadow work can be beneficial for smaller, more manageable aspects of the individual. I also believe that it is ableist and classist to claim shadow work is required to be a practitioner of magic or spiritual. Some people have severe trauma or disabilities that make things like shadow work a difficult thing. Shadow work can be harmful to people like this and should only be done in a safe environment with a therapist. Therapy is expensive though, and not everybody has the luxury to afford it. Being able to do shadow work without potentially causing harm to your mental health is privileged.

• I've also observed that many people who follow this toxic love and light concept are pretty judgmental and have narcissistic attitudes. It's often a subtle behavioral thing, but I've noticed it. Some of these people are pretty quick to shame people from different religions and cultures, but quickly cover it up with fake positivity or completely gaslight the individual. It's kinda funny to me, because they often use recycled methods you see in negative people that identify with organized religions (no hate to the Abrahamic religions- just the hateful people that identify with them).

These are only a few points, though I have noticed other things about toxic love and light culture. I thought going over the more common points would suffice for this little rant.

This isn't to say that love and light as a whole is a bad thing. I have met people who consider themselves "love and light" that understand that everybody has a shadow, are truly accepting and genuinely happy to learn other beliefs respectfully. I always enjoy talking to these people because they put genuine effort into understanding other people and where they are coming from. They may not agree with me and my beliefs, but they don't shame me for them either.

The witchcraft and spirituality communities really do need to start addressing these behaviors. I understand that some people prefer being passive. I don't blame people for wanting to be passive about these matters because they can be exhausting to confront, but we shouldn't be allowing people to enable harmful mindsets.

[samwisethewitch]

Witchcraft and Activism

The word “witch” is a politically charged label. If we look at how the word was used historically, it referred to someone who existed outside of the normal social order. The people accused of witchcraft in the European and American witch trials were mostly — experts say between 75% and 80% — women. They were also overwhelmingly poor, single, or members of a minority ethnicity and/or religion. In other words, they were people who did not follow their society’s accepted model of womanhood (or, in the case of accused men, manhood).

If you choose to identify with the witch label, you are choosing to identify with subversion of gender norms, resistance to the dominant social order, and “outsider” status. If that makes you uncomfortable or uneasy, then you may want to use another label for your magical practice. Witchcraft always has been and always will be inherently political.

In her book Witches, Sluts, Feminists, Kristen J. Sollee argues that the “slut” label is in many ways a modern equivalent to the “witch” label. In both cases, the label is used to devalue people, most often women, and to enforce a patriarchal and misogynist social order.

Superstitions around witchcraft are connected to the modern stigma around abortion (and, to a lesser extent, contraception). Midwifery and abortion were directly linked to witchcraft in the European witch hunts. Today, women who seek abortions are condemned as sluts, whores, and murderers. The fight for reproductive freedom remains inextricably linked with the witch label.

During the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s, the socialist feminist group Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell (W.I.T.C.H.) used the image of the witch to campaign for women’s rights and other social issues. They were some of the first advocates for intersectional feminism (feminist activism that addresses other social issues that overlap with gendered issues). They performed acts such as hexing Wall Street capitalists and wearing black veils to protest bridal fairs. The W.I.T.C.H. Manifesto calls witches the “original guerrillas and resistance fighters against oppression.”

In her book Revolutionary Witchcraft, Sarah Lyons points out that both witchcraft and politics are about raising and directing power in the world. In a postmodern society, most of our reality is socially constructed — it works because we collectively believe it does. Money only has value because we believe it does. Politicians only have power because we believe they do. Our laws are only just because we believe they are. Like in magic, everything in society is a product of belief and a whole lot of willpower — and that makes witches the ideal social activists.

Lyons argues that witchcraft is inseparable from politics, because witches have always opposed dominant political power. She makes a connection between the witch trials and the rise of capitalism and classism. She connects the basic concepts of magic to historic activist groups like the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), who used ritual as an act of protest.

Not every witch is a hardcore activist, but every witch should have a basic awareness of political and social issues and be willing to do what they can to make a difference.

Ways to Combine Witchcraft and Activism

Perform a ritual to feel connected to the earth and her people. Activism should come from a place of love, not a place of hate. Make sure you’re fighting for the right reasons by frequently taking time to reconnect with the planet and the people who live here. This can be as simple as laying down on the ground outside and meditating on all the ways you are connected to other people, as well as to the ecosystem, animals, and the earth herself. If getting up close and personal with the grass and dirt isn’t your thing, try to find a beautiful place in nature where you can sit and journal about the interconnected nature of all things.

Unlearn your social programming. This is the most difficult and most important part of any activism. Before you can change the world outside yourself, you have to change your own psyche. Think about how you have been socialized to contribute to (or at least turn a blind eye to) the issues you want to fight against. For example, if you want to fight for racial justice, you need to understand how you have contributed to a racist system. You can do this in a variety of ways: through meditation, journaling, or divination, to name a few. Note that whatever method you choose, this will probably take weeks or months of repeated work. Rewriting your thought and behavior patterns is hard, and it can’t be done in a single day. Also note that if you are a victim of systemic oppression or prejudice, this work may bring up a lot of emotional baggage — you may want to involve a professional therapist or counselor.

Go to protests. Sending energy and doing healing rituals is great, but someone has to get out there and visibly fight for change. If you are able to do so, start going to protests and rallies for causes you care about. Don’t just show up, but be an active participant — make signs, yell and chant, and stand your ground if cops show up. Be safe and responsible, but be loud and assertive, too. If you want to go all out, you can don the black robes, pointed hats, and veils of W.I.T.C.H.es past, which has the added bonus of concealing your identity.

Turn your donations into a spell for change. When you donate to a cause you care about, charge your donation with a spell for positive change. You can do this by holding your cash, check, or debit card in both hands and focusing on your desire for change. Feel this desire flowing into the money, filling it with your determination. From here, make your donation, knowing that you’ll be sending an energy boost along with it.

Organize an activist coven. Do you have a handful of friends who are interested in witchcraft, passionate about activism, or both? Start a coven! Go to protests together, hold monthly rituals to raise energy for change, and collect money for donations. Being part of a group also means having a support system, which can help prevent burnout. Make a plan to check on each other regularly. You may even choose to do monthly group rituals for self care, which may be actual magic rituals or might be as simple as ordering takeout and watching a movie. Activism can be intensely draining work, so it’s important to take breaks when you need them!

Hold public rituals with an activist slant. Nothing gets people’s attention like a bunch of folks standing in a circle and chanting. Holding public rituals is one of the best ways to raise awareness for a cause. You might hold a vigil for victims of police brutality, a healing circle for the environment, or some other ritual that is relevant to the issue at hand. These rituals serve a double purpose, as they both bring people’s attention to the issue and give them an opportunity to work for change on a spiritual level. Use prayers, chants, and symbolism that is appropriate to the theme, and ask participants to make a small donation to a charity related to your cause.

Begin your public rituals with a territory acknowledgement. If you live in the United States, chances are you live on land that was taken from the native people by force. If you seek to have a relationship with the land, you need to first acknowledge the original inhabitants and the suffering they endured so you can be there. Use a website like native-land.ca to find out what your land was originally called and what indigenous groups originally lived there. Publicly acknowledge this legacy at your ritual, and publicly state your intention to support indigenous peoples. (Revolutionary Witchcraft has an excellent territory acknowledgement that you can customize for your area.)

Make an altar to your activist ancestors. If activism or membership in a marginalized group is a big part of your life, you may want to create a space for it in your home. Like an ancestor altar, this is a space to remember influential members of the community who have died. Choose a flat surface like a tabletop or shelf and decorate it with photos of your “ancestors,” as well as other appropriate items like flags, pins, stickers, etc. As a queer person, my altar to my LGBTQ+ ancestors might include images of figures like Sappho, Marsha P. Johnson, and Freddie Mercury, as well as items like a pink triangle patch, a small rainbow pride flag, and dried violets and green carnations. You may also choose to include a candle, an incense burner, and/or a small dish for offerings. Just remember to never place images of living people on an altar honoring the dead!

Do your research. Staying educated is an important part of activism — not only do your actions need to be informed, but you need to be able to speak intelligently about your issues. Read the news (on actual news websites, not just social media). Read lots of books; some I personally recommend are Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Love and Rage by Lama Rod Owens, and (as previously mentioned) Revolutionary Witchcraft by Sarah Lyons. If you can get access to them, read scholarly articles about theories that are influential among activists, like the Gaia Hypothesis or Deep Ecology. Read everything you can get your hands on.

VOTE! And I don’t just mean voting for the presidential candidate you like (or, as is often the case, voting against the one you don’t like). Vote for your representatives. Vote for city council. Vote for the county sheriff. Voting gives you a chance to make sure the people in office will be susceptible to your activism. Yes, your side might lose or your electoral college representative might choose to go against the popular vote. Even so, voting is a way to clearly communicate the will of the people, and it puts a lot of pressure on the people in charge. It’s important — don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

In my experience, combining activism with my witchcraft is a deeply fulfilling spiritual experience. It strengthens my connection to the world around me, with helps grow both empathy and magical power. I truly can’t imagine my practice without the activist element.

Resources:

Witches, Sluts, Feminists by Kristen J. Sollee

Revolutionary Witchcraft by Sarah Lyons

The Study of Witchcraft by Deborah Lipp

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith

[raayllum]

Had another thought rattling around in my head.

What if Callum left the castle and his life there behind? Not for the same reasons as Rayla, but because so much had happened to him there that he no longer felt like it could ever be home for him. What if he just renounced his prince title and left, going anywhere but there?

I don't want to frame this as selfishness, more an extreme that his feeling of never fitting in could reach. He loses his mother, he loses his stepfather, and he loses the love of his life. Albeit Rayla didn't leave from there but I imagine that would be little comfort.

So what if he did just leave? I know it wouldn't and didn't happen, but what if he did?

I have always leaned previously on Callum ending up in Xadia long-term, once everything is over. I think the question (if the series chooses to examine it through this thematic lens) of where Callum belongs is an interesting one, because it's one he's always internally considered and chafed against, and he's a human with an arcanum, almost stuck completely right in between the concept of elf and human.

Part of this was simply because Callum loves magic so much, him being surrounded by it and able to chase it to his heart's content and possibly share it with other people just seemed nice. (1x05 boat scene with "It sounds incredible - I can't wait to see that" is when Rayllum was 100% cemented as a ship for me after all.) Then you have the narrative graces of having a brother on either side of the border, and of a human getting to live happily in Xadia, etc etc. Also partially because obviously he and Rayla are going to end up together, and her being let back into the Silvergrove could be an important part of her healing (if they wanted to take that direction; they could also take another just as easily)

I do think the show could easily do the narrative legwork to make ending up in Katolis their happy ending though, since that's probably been 'Home' in Rayla's head the past two years (because lbr, Callum is her home now). Especially if the show ends with magic being re-integrated into the West and Callum will have a vested interest in teaching other humans how to connect to arcanums.

However you're right: I think S4 is gonna really deal with Callum's identity. I mean, you don't have a character hemming and hawing over his titles - what identity he's going to hold - in his opening scene if we're not revisiting it. He holds Viren's old position, he's crown prince and brother to the king, he's high mage and excited to be a mage, but doesn't want to be like Viren (and Viren himself is probs complicated because of his own family but also because of why Rayla left, right).

He's living in a castle with a whole lot of ghosts - a childhood with Claudia and Viren and Harrow, lingering memories of his mother, and now Rayla for the few weeks they were in Katolis following the end of the war. And I do think that, even without the grief, Callum is probably struggling to fit in - either treating Ezran too much like his king (a la repeating patterns with Harrow and bc he doesn't want to deal with his own feelings) or too much like his little brother. AKA the whole 'royalty' thing is something I think will always trip Callum a little up emotionally so yeah, I'm still in favour of him dipping it all someday and having it not effect his day-to-day life any longer

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph! Would you happen to have any fic recs that involve John meeting the Holmes family? I always think that's such an interesting dynamic to see! Also, I think this goes without saying but I love your blog and appreciate your contributions to the fandom! Thanks!

Hey Nonny!

Ah, thank you! I’m glad you enjoy my blog!

Oooo! Yes, I love that dynamic too!! ANNNNND!!! You’re giving me the chance to make a part 2 for a REALLY OLD LIST!!! So YAY!!! I found a bunch on a text doc I haven’t posted yet, so HERE WE GO! Hope you enjoy, and as always, everyone please add your own!

PARENTS AND FAMILIES Pt. 2

See also: 

Parents & Family

Meeting the Family With a Fake Relationship

Do You Love Me? by whitchry9 (K, 641 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Family, Epic Bromance) – John asks Sherlock perhaps the most important question.

Once Upon A Time by ProfessorSquirrell (T, 908 w., 1 Ch. || Family, Snippets of Life, Romance, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Implied Drug Use, Angst with Happy Ending) – There is a room in Sherlock's mind palace where nothing gets deleted. And it looks like this...

Crisis Averted by Spartangal22 (T, 2,188 w., 1 Ch. || HLV Fic, Missing Scene After Confronting Mary, Canon Compliant, Sherlock Whump / Mary Shot Sherlock, Family / Friendship, Hospitalization, Sherlock POV, Holmes Brothers) – Lying in the hospital, Sherlock receives some surprising visitors, and manages to deal with two problems he's been having lately. A missing scene from HLV about a formal introduction that was never made and a visit that was never shown.

The Only Available Transportation by blueink3 (T, 5,379 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Fluff and Angst, Insecure Sherlock, Caring John, Parentlock, Sherlock’s Birthday, Family, Misunderstandings) – It’s possibly the desperation that’s seeped into his voice despite his best intentions, or perhaps it’s just a mother’s intuition, but she knows that whatever he’s calling about is Serious, hangover be damned. “What’s happened?” she asks, tone soft and as comforting as a hot cup of tea on a cold winter’s night. “Mummy,” he begins, voice catching. “I think John may be moving out.”

On the Steadfast Approach of an Oncoming Darkness by 2bee (T, 7,772 w., 1 Ch. || Apocalypse, Minor Character Death, Sort of Parentlock) – The world is ending. Not fast, but slowly, like falling asleep with a fever.

The Name Game by ItsClydeBitches221B (K, 8,958 w., 1 Ch. || Humour, Family, Platonics / Friendship, Sort-of Parentlock, John/Mary, Mary is Nice, Five and Ones, Baby Watson, Mycroft Loves Baby Watson) – The names that baby girl Watson comes up with for her extended family. Or: how everyone—Watsons, Holmes, and others alike— just learned to give up and embrace their weirdness.

The Burning of the Leaves by blueink3 (M, 15,915 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Angst, Reichenbach, Parentlock, Past Jolto, Idiot John, Sherlock’s a Mess, Puppies, Fluff, Possessive / Jealous Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock POV, Matchmaker Sholto, Melancholic Feelings, Emotional Sherlock, Domesticity, Love Confessions in the Rain, Kissing in the Rain, Pet Names) – After the events of series 4, Major Sholto invites John and Sherlock to lunch one day. It nearly proves to be too much for their tenuous relationship as the past haunts the present, putting the future that Sherlock so desperately wants at risk.

Permanent Fixture by vitruvianwatson (E, 18,836 w., 9 Ch. || Post-S4, Parentlock, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, They’re Good Parents, Blushing Sherlock, First Kiss/Time, Explicit Consent, Sexual Content, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Big Feelings, Crying, First Kiss, Fluff, Anxious Sherlock, Inexperienced Sherlock, Emotional Communication, Love Confessions) – Now, as Rosie sat curled up against Sherlock’s side, John watched and wondered exactly how he had ended up here. Domesticity had never suited him before, not at any point in his life. His disastrous marriage had been proof of that. But somehow, here in the warmth and safety of 221B Baker Street, here with Sherlock Holmes reading medical jargon to his daughter, Sherlock’s bony feet nudging against his leg, John couldn’t imagine anyplace that would make him happier.

Dropping the Act by jadztone (T, 27,258 w., 10 Ch. || Parentlock, Fake Relationship, Mary’s Family, Post-S4, Cuddling & Snuggling, Bed Sharing, Pining, Christmas) – Sherlock and John are quite happy living together with Rosie in Baker St. They might be even happier if they didn’t act towards each other like their love is only platonic. Mycroft brings troubling news in the form of Mary’s parents wanting to know just what their grandchild’s home life is like. The boys decide to spend Christmas pretending like they are in love in order to seem more like a "normal" family. It's easy enough to pretend when all you're doing is dropping the act.

An Acquired Taste by kinklock (E, 31,059 w., 4 Ch. || Vampires AU || Vampire Sherlock, Misunderstandings, Bat!Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Humour, Magical Realism, Fluff and Angst, Blood Drinking, Holmes Family, Slow Burn) – At Montague Street when Sherlock was forced to sate his body’s needs, he was at least able to wander about the flat as much as he pleased. At Baker Street, it was mini-bags in a mini-fridge and bedroom confinement.

Chaperones by MissDavis (T, 34,114 w., 7 Ch. || 11 Years Post-S4, Fake Relationship, Parentlock, Disney World, Bed / Room Sharing, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, First Kiss, Obsessive Sherlock, Insecure John) – Right. Of course. Everyone assumed they were a couple and no one would question it. John put his elbows up on the table so he could rest his head in his hands. "You want to pretend to be a couple so we can chaperone a trip to Disney World with Rosie's class and you won't have to share a room with a stranger?" "Exactly." Sherlock beamed at him. "Don't worry about the cost. The Birmingham case last month paid more than enough to cover expenses for all three of us."

Where The Ghosts Have Voices by HappyJuicyfruit (M, 37,691 w., 12 Ch. || Supernatural AU || Ghosts, Magical Realism, Light Horror, Fluff and Smut, John Can See Ghosts, John Whump, Emotional Manipulation, Dark Magic, Coma, Injury Recovery, Blow Jobs, Anal, Happy Ending, John’s Past, Mr Holmes, Powerful John, Holmes Brothers, Sherlock’s Past, Past Viclock, Drug Abuse, Hair Pulling) – John has lived his whole life as an outcast. It is only when he meets Sherlock, that be realizes being a freak might not be such a bad thing, and that the curse he has lived with his whole life may be a gift after all. (TO READ)

Anchor Point by trickybonmot (E, 49,856 w., 80 Ch. || Truman Show AU || Psychological Drama, Suspense, Slow Burn, Dark Characters / Fic, Alternating First/Third Person, Protective John, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Tender Moments, Love Confessions, Hand/Blow Jobs, Cuddling, Jealous John, First Kiss/Time) – The world tunes in nightly for Sherlock, the ultimate in reality TV: Sherlock Holmes, a real person with a legendary name, unknowingly lives out his life in a staged setting contrived by his brother. Things get complicated when a retired army doctor joins the show to play the part of Sherlock's closest friend. This fic borrows its concept from the 1998 film, the Truman Show. However, you don't need to have any knowledge of the movie to enjoy this story.

The Hollow Woman by ScopesMonkey (M, 51,335 w., 22 Ch. || Post-TRF, Major Character Death, Mystery, Romance, Friendship, Family, Angst, Crime, Reunion, First Kiss / Time, Nightmares, Doctor John, Jealous Sherlock, Jealous John, BAMF John, Angry John, Dub-Con, Rough Sex, Bottomlock, Possessive John, Villain Mary, Open Ending) – Forced to return to London sooner than expected, Sherlock falls into a case too close to home. Part 1 of the Hollowverse series

Repairing the Broken Things by BakerTumblings (M, 75,252 w., 15 Ch. || S4 Compliant, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Trauma, Hospitals, Big Brother Mycroft, Misunderstandings, Realizations, Severe Accident, John Whump, Pneumonia, Medical Procedures, Bed Sharing, First Time, Healing, Happy Ending) – "I'm calling today to notify you that there's been an accident."

Points by lifeonmars (E, 53,791 w., 42 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || HLV Rewrite / Canon Divergence, Married Life, Pregnancy / Baby Watson, Drinking to Cope, Boxing / Fisticuffs, Clueless John, Angst, Minor Medical Drama, Tattoos, Christmas, First Kiss/Time, Eventual Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Doctor John, Sexuality Crisis, Slow Burn, Case Fic, Drugging, Blow/Hand Job, Emotional Love Making, Parenthood, Passage of Time) – What if His Last Vow never happened? This fic picks up a few months after John and Mary's wedding, in an alternate universe where Magnussen doesn't exist, but Mary is still pregnant. Life continues -- just in a different direction. And slowly, Sherlock and John find their way to each other.

The Monument of Memory by J_Baillier (M, 79,663 w., 14 Ch. || Post S4 Fix It Fic / S4 is Canon, Angst, Family Drama, Guilt, Case Fic, John Loves Sherlock, Complicated Feelings, Mentalism / Hypnosis, Murder, Grieving John, Sherlock is a Bit Not Good, Team Work, Trust Issues, BAMF John, Psychological Trauma, Protective John, Autistic-Spectrum Sherlock, Parentlock, John POV) –  A genius traumatised by a past he's only beginning to recall. The psychopath sister that time forgot. A missing woman and a mentalist who may or may not be a murderer. And, in the middle of it all, stands John Watson.

Kintsukuroi by sussexbound (E, 91,823 w., 20 Ch. || S4 Compliant / Post-TLD, Grief / Mourning, PTSD, Internalized Homophobia, Therapy, Past Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Depression, Anxiety, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, Cuddling, Suicidal Ideation, Masturbation, Minor Character Death, Sexting, Frottage, Inexperienced Sherlock, Rimming / Anal / BJ’s, Emotional Turmoil, Finding Each Other) – “I love you.” Sherlock sees the words hit John with almost physical force. He reels back a little, jaw twitching and eyes filling. “I love you,” he repeats, a little softer, a little more gentle, as earnest as he possibly can. Because they’ve been teetering on the brink of this thing for years, and it had become painfully obvious over the last few months that they were at a tipping point. This had to happen. Now it has. Now they can see where they end up. The tears in John’s eyes spill over, and he wipes at them angrily. “Do you even know what that means?”  

The Summer Boy by khorazir (T, 94,706 w., 6 Ch. || Post S3/Post TAB/Alternate S4, Friends to Lovers, Asexual Sherlock, POV Sherlock, Flashbacks, Bullying, 1980′s Kid Sherlock, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Inexperienced Sherlock, Grief/Mourning, Pining Sherlock, Case Fic, Sherlock’s Past, Awkward Conversations, Anxious Sherlock) – About half a year after the fateful events at Appledore, Sherlock and John embark on a private case in Sussex. For Sherlock, it’s a journey into his past, bringing up memories both happy and sad that he has locked away for almost thirty years. For John, it means coming to terms with the present – and a potential future with Sherlock. Part 1 of the The Summer Boy series

The Wedding Garments by cwb (E, 105,390 w., 36 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Alternate Future AU || Alternate First Meeting, Dating / Arranged Marriages, Romance, First Kiss/Time, Heavy Petting, Cuddles, POV Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn / Falling in Love / Dev. Rel., Nervous/Anxious Sherlock, Jealous/Cranky, Hiking, Vacation Homes / Honeymoon, Sherlock’s Family, Horny John/Sherlock, Patient John, Massages, Hand Jobs, Assassination Plots, Hand Jobs / Oral Sex, Case Fic, Emotional Love Making, Bath Time Fun) – This is the story of a young consulting detective who wants nothing to do with marriage and an army doctor who wants to find true love. It's 2020 post-Brexit England and the British government is encouraging arranged marriages. Candidates meet through state-run agencies and date in hopes of finding love (and tax benefits). Sherlock doesn't need or want a spouse, at least not until John Watson shows up. Hesitant to give in to his more carnal urges because of the way they derail his mind, how will Sherlock progress toward the more intimate aspects of a relationship? The answer lies in a very special wedding gift.

The Bang and the Clatter by earlgreytea68 (M, 137,049 w., 37 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Baseball AU || Slow Burn / Dev. Rel., Possessive/Obsessive Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Body Appreciation, Depression, Closeted Sexuality, Family, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Ogling Each Other, Anxious Sherlock, Panic Attack, Drunkenness, Talk of Forever, Big Feelings™) – Sherlock Holmes is a pitcher and John Watson is a catcher. No, no, no, it's a baseball AU. Part 1 of Baseball

The Lost Special: Family Matters (As Do Relationships) by ShirleyCarlton  (M, 144,688 w., 40 Ch. || S4 Fix It Fic, Unreliable Narrator, John’s Mind Bungalow, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending) – Sherrinford is not really the name of some high security prison. That was just a figment of John’s frantic coma dream. And Eurus is not actually Sherlock’s sister. That’s just something random she said to John before shooting him. Sherlock and John were never actually estranged. That was just their act to cover up what really happened to Mary – or Rosamund Moran, as her real name has turned out to be. Sherlock does have a secret sibling, though, and his name is Sherrinford. After finally eliminating Moran – though in a rather dramatically different way than they had envisioned – and exposing the truth about Eurus, John encourages Sherlock to delve into his past and to find out whether the reasons to keep Sherrinford away from Sherlock were the right ones, and to discover what really happened in 1981. Along the way, Sherlock and John gradually, finally, stop keeping each other at a distance, and eventually become a proper family of their own.

Proving A Point by elldotsee & J_Baillier (E, 186,270 w., 28 Ch. || Me Before You Fusion || Medical Realism, Insecure John, Depression, Romance, Angst, POV John, Sherlock Whump, Serious Illness, Doctor John, Injury Recovery, Assisted Suicide, Sherlock’s Violin, Awkward Sexual Situations, Alcoholism, Drugs, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Body Image, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, Pain, Big Brother Mycroft, Intimacy, Anxiety, PTSD, Family Issues, Psychological Trauma, John Whump, Case Fics, Loneliness, Pain) – Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court.