#it's meant to be an exploration of themes that probably won't make their way into mainstream media

[stars-and-darkness]

if you get into writing fic with the mindset that it's like any other social media where you're the content creator who builds up a following, you're never going to be happy with yourself because that's not how this community works

no, what fic writing is really about is bullying your readers with your words and your batshit ideas

[yanderes-galore]

Can I request a yandere concept for Pyramid Head (DBD)?

Sure, I haven't done much for him! He's a bit... complicated but here's what I have. Not really Yandere, mostly just dark, but again idk how to describe it.

Yandere! Pyramid Head (DBD) Concept

Pairing: Dubious

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Sadism, Torture, Obvious Violence, Imprisonment, Dark themes, Blood, Disturbing descriptions, Death mention, Touchy behavior, Dubious intentions.

Pyramid Head is a being of torment, judgment, and pain.

It's hard to think of him feeling anything else.

He's an executioner given a new purpose by The Entity.

That's about as much lore as we get.

He'd meant to be an unyielding force, one hellbent on passing painful judgment.

Your first few encounters, and probably the majority of the obsession, will result in pain.

However, in a realm where you're consistently sent to your death, that isn't really new.

Pyramid Head's intentions are impossible to read.

No one knows his motives.

Which means his intentions with his obsession are unknown too.

It's hard to tell since most matches end with you dead in some way.

The executioner is ruthless.

Be you wrapped in barbed wire, sent to a piercing cage to maul your flesh... or even sliced by that large blade before being placed on a hook...

Most of your encounters have you shivering... Your mind is always replaying those final moments of your flesh being torn from you....

Blood is a common sight when you encounter the executioner.

The crimson liquid clings to him with every kill.

What's worse for you? You're always saved for last.

Sometimes you are spared... most of the time you're merely put through your own special hell.

You can probably tell you are a favorite of some kind...

But it's hard to tell if that's a good or bad thing.

You're used to the pain and blood.

What you aren't used to... is Pyramid Head changing his pattern.

You always viewed Pyramid Head as some monotonous drone to The Entity.

Yet when he goes out of his way to prolong the chase, to toy with you, to occasionally give mercy...

You realize that this being has some sort of sentience.

What's even worse is it still doesn't explain its favoritism towards you.

There's times Pyramid Head abandons chase, or just "stares", or even ignores you.

There's other times he just won't leave you alone!

That's the scariest trait of Pyramid Head towards you.

His unpredictability.

Another thing you can't read is him targeting survivors around you first.

On a generator? He's picking off the guy next to you before you.

It could be jealousy... or something else entirely.

Regardless of his actions, you don't trust him.

He switches behavior too quickly... like he isn't sure how to act around you.

It's anything from slaughtering you to cornering you to pin you down.

He isn't sure what makes you react more.

Do you react more to pain...? Or pleasure...?

Another question... which one does he like more?

Pyramid Head is experimenting with you.

That's one of the reasons he acts so unstable.

He can't tell what way he likes to watch you squirm, just what is the difference if you squirm from affection or pain?

Sometimes he makes you squirm by exploring you with his touches, rough yet oddly affectionate.

He studies how you writhe before him...

But he also does the same thing with pain, not seeing any difference.

He only knows that he likes it.

Your best bet is to keep your distance, to evade him.

But no survivor is perfect... especially with a killer who seems to have studied your every move.

In fact, your attempt to evade him only makes him worse.

He seems to get irritated, hunting down other survivors to take his rage out on them.

By the time he finds you, saving you for last, he's covered in blood.

And you scream a lot more for evading him.

Pyramid Head is confusing due to what he is.

He's meant to be a being to punish people.

Yet he sees you, and isn't sure how to react.

He should harm you, punish you, torment you...

But he also wants to keep you away from other survivors, to lock you away, to keep you out of harm....

Pleasure and punishment blur a line with him.

Affection quickly becomes harm when he puts his hands on you.

It's all a personal hell for you.

Conflicting emotions leads to an indecisive yandere...

Which only seems to cause everyone more harm... just as The Entity likes it.

[jokeringcutio]

Open for Halloween Prompts & Updates

Hiya all,

I'm open for Reader insert prompts that are Halloween-themed or set during Halloween. If you want to be inspired, these are my fills from last year. They can be SFW or NSFW. I personally would love to write a few more consensual or more romantic kind of Halloween fics.

I'll accept prompts for fandoms such as: Stranger Things, One Piece, Harry Potter, Blake's 7, Joker (All versions), Peaky Blinders, Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Wednesday/Addams Family, Xena Warrior Princess, The Lord of the Rings & Hobbit, Good Omens, Crimson Peak, Dead Boy Detectives, Beetlejuice, Enola Holmes & All Sherlock fandoms, Shakespeare's characters, Many European Movies & of course TRHPS, Five Nights At Freddy's & most Slasher Movies, & Many more so check out my interests or just take plunge and see if I will write your request.

Will I fill all prompts?

Unfortunately, unless I receive just one or two, I probably won't be able to fill them all. I am currently recovering from surgery (Yay, this is a good thing, means we're going to come back babesss) , but still have long-covid weighing me down. So although I'm poking my nose into Tumblr again, I still have limited energy and might have to make choices. But I'll try and fill as many as I can.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN????

Sorry, I was ill and it became so bad, I couldn't write anymore. Luckily, I've had surgery and got rid of the nasty things so things are looking up. I need a month or two to recover from the surgery. I'll still have my long covid stuff that is weighing me down, but at least I'll be able to write again and slowly return to the living.

WHERE"S THE JOKER FIC????* *Or any other fic I started but haven't finished yet. As said above, I was unable to write and update. The Joker fic: The Man Who Claimed to be Yours is finished, but as a rewritten version that was meant to be an ebook. Because of my health, I've been looking into other ways to make a living and since writing was the only thing I could do (until a few months ago), I decided to explore my options there. I have been working on original tales that I hope to publish in the near future. I WANNA HELP YOU OUT AND COMMISSION Thank you to everyone who kindly donated to my Kofi in the past, or asked me for one of my ebooks or for a commission. I am planning on posting a wishlist in the near future with financial goals I wish to achieve, and setting up a system where I will write a tale for people who donated as a thank you :) I will, however, keep filling prompts when I can, so don't worry about that. I do this for fun and I love sharing with you.

I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO REQUEST BUT I WANT TO READ

Yay, that is wonderful. You can always follow my account. I usually place warnings and add a 'read more' so the post won't show the entire text. If it's not your cup of tea, you should be fine and able to ignore it and wait for something that is more to your taste. And you can always send in a prompt at a later date, when you come up with something. Or just poke me via chat and we can try and think of something together :)

[bereft-of-frogs]

last minute 'night of the fire' theory very very long post~

Ngl I'm kind of hoping for 100% flashback to mirror episode 3, partially because I love symmetry and partially because I've been waiting SO LONG for this flashback, I want ALL OF IT. Maybe with a small bridge at the end. Cutting back and forth I think would be too much.

I'm leaning towards the Jedi coming to Brendok either on a completely unrelated mission to the twins or utterly by accident. The leaker that predicted the nude scene in episode 6 (so I now trust them completely lol), said they think the reason the Jedi are dispatched to Brendok 1) might cause a lore complaint 2) connects to TPM and 3) made Sol remind them of Qui-Gon. I can't quite figure out the lore complaint, and the political subplots of TPM don't make sense (nothing about trade routes or taxation fits for why they'd be sent to the seemingly abandoned - except for the coven - Brendok) so I'm not sure about that, but I'm wondering if it follows TPM's plot of being on the way back to Coruscant from a mission of some kind and somehow being sidetracked? Or they're just assigned there to check up on the coven or they're investigating something, or searching for something, but I don't think it initially has anything to do with the twins BECAUSE:

then yeah, not unlike Qui-Gon in TPM who meets Anakin and is like 'nice, side quest' when they land on Tatooine, Sol just happens upon the girls in the forest and accepts this new padawan acquisition side quest. This could also explain why Indara initially takes the lead in the first confrontation (she's higher ranked, in command of the primary operation), but then keeps deferring to Sol about what he saw and how he wants to proceed with the test.

I also believe that, like in episode 3, what we're going to see on screen is for the most part objective truth. Popular theory is that Osha had things literally altered in her memory, but if that was the case, and we were meant to be seeing things from her perspective exclusively, we wouldn't have all the scenes that she had no way of witnessing. I think we're meant more to wonder about what context we're missing, rather than the essential veracity what's being shown to the audience. (*with possibly Mae in her room, who does seem out of character, that could be a vision of some kind, I'll cop to that one)

like the scene where they hear something in the reactor room and Koril goes to look and doesn't find anything. We're just missing the context, which I think is Sol spying on them (or whoever is shown in the trailer scaling the exterior of the fortress, I'm inclined to say Sol though)

I do NOT think the Council or Vernestra ordered them to do anything. There's been a lot of 'the Council ordered them to wipe out the witches' theories floating around and that makes 0 sense, both because in the show a big thing is confessing to the Council, and because Headland keeps saying one of the issues being explored is how far-flung these missions get and the lack of oversight. They were operating independently, probably without good communications (BIG high republic theme, that the long-distance communications networks are shaky at best, and we saw last episode they're still not great), and had to make decisions in the field they independently chose to cover up. Vernestra also really does not seem to know anything about what happened besides their cover story.

I also still don't think it's a conscious, premeditated decision even among just the four to kill anyone. I think there's probably an argument over the girls, the coven overrides Aniseya and won't let Osha leave, the Jedi push back on that because Osha clearly really wants to leave, and things escalate from there. With the spell on the table...yeah I just don't see this as that simplistic a situation as 'the Jedi just decide to slaughter everyone because reasons'.

Already posted a longer version of this, but still feeling good about my theory that the coven casts a spell on Kelnacca (at the very least) to puppet him into the fight, Sol steps in to keep him from killing Torbin, and Indara attacks/kills Aniseya to break the spell (which possibly rebounds and takes out the rest of the coven). Would cover why the witches all seem to die at once, why Aniseya's body is separate, and why Mae accuses Indara of attacking the unarmed (she doesn't think of her mother's magic as a weapon, while in Indara's eyes, she's eliminating a threat to their lives)

I'm a little shakier on this one, but I'm inclined to speculate (ok I just would really, really like this) that they do a Parent Trap (Jedi and surviving witch/possible Sith each taking one twin) and one of the reasons they want to cover it up is because they know there is something left back on Brendok for Osha (counter to Sol's sus line 'there's nothing back there'), but they want to make the decision easier for her or they've specifically cut a deal to each keep one twin and stay out of each other's way. (Could explain Indara's 'this isn't a road you want to go down' if they'd agreed to all stay separated...but also that was probably just a Matrix reference lol...)

That would also be a reason they don't want the Council to know. Making deals with the Sith (or any dark side group) and leaving an innocent child with them? That would be BAD, especially given how Vernestra reacted to the revelation Mae was still alive. Killing a dark-side coven that was threatening them? Yes also bad. But is it 'hide from the Council for 16 years while wracked with guilt' bad? Especially because the Jedi aren't particularly into punitive justice, it's not like they're going to be executed or something. They all (minus Sol) more or less exile themselves anyways. I can't quite figure why they keep this secret while they're so haunted. There has to be another layer to it, possibly something to protect Osha. (Sith keep making deals in this series...was this another one? Though the Jedi probably would not know they were Sith.) (Ok that last part was really just spitballing.)

I'm so looking forward to finally finding out but I am going to miss the mystery! I guess there will be a few things remaining to guess about the finale, but 'what happened the night of the fire' has really been the core mystery for me and I'm a little sad there will be no more theorizing. And I have to wait until Autumn for the next High Republic book???? Tragic.

I guess we'll all find out in a few hours. I'm gonna go see MaXXXine first though.

*I am going back on one thing, ok so either the initial reason for the assignment to Brendok is what I thought above, initially unrelated to the twins and connecting to Qui-Gon's side quest vibes in TPM, or they ARE specifically sent for the girls because of the prophecy. That could raise a lore complaint among the kind who were freaking out about Anakin and the prophecy back when episode 3 aired, and that could connect Sol and Qui-Gon. But I don't know how much these writers know or care about Qui-Gon's prophecy side project, it hasn't been brought up at all in the series. And like the main critique you CAN'T make about the show is that it doesn't telegraph its twists. It seems unlikely that they'd toss a massive curve-ball in at the last act. Plus, it really doesn't seem like the Jedi know beforehand that the twins were created in any other way than uh, traditional methods (Indara asking where their father is). I'm not sure how I feel about this one, I don't love the prophecy thing in general, but that might close the 'lore complaint' hole I'm struggling with. It would just fall under a general 'I would have liked more foreshadowing' like a lot of theories I'm kind of meh on, but wouldn't totally ruin things for me. But honestly, given how much they freaked out about a characters noncanonical age...a lore complaint could really be anything at this point.

And all the interview material about a 'lack of oversight' still makes me lean more towards 'they got sent out to do something unrelated and decided to pivot without checking in first and got in over their heads' which is also fairly in-line with what we see happening with other High Republic Jedi, that they have to make more decisions in the field than the more centralized Prequel era.

I'd also prefer the latter theory, because then it would tie in thematically to The Phantom Menace AND a moment in the show from episode 4: when Osha touches the umbramoth and muses that she caused its death by disturbing. That might have just been to point out that she still follows some of her mother's ideas about the Thread (that everything is connected, and to pull on the Thread is to have consequences), but it could also be a nice bit of foreshadowing, that disturbing something, even in what initially appears to be a minor way, could have dire consequences. Not unlike in The Phantom Menace, when essentially an accident of fate, choosing Tatooine to land to repair the hyperdrive, which leads Qui-Gon to randomly stumble on Anakin, leads to the destruction of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Empire. And given that my other main theory (that Sol is going to be framed from the deaths and this is the solution to the 'how to kill a Jedi without a weapon' riddle, to destroy a Jedi's legacy) also mirrors the fate of the Order in the PT, I just think it would be really neat if this was also a microcosm of something that happens to the Order as a whole in the PT (a chance meeting leads to destruction).

But now we're fully in the realm of 'what I want'/'how I'd do it' vs 'what I think is likely to happen or supported by the text/leaks/supplementary interviews'. I just think it would be a neat thematic package and just be nice as the vindication of The Phantom Menace continues, as someone who has loved it since 1999. XD Likely? Maybe not, but I have put up with so much shit for 25 years for liking TPM, it would be nice for a new Star Wars thing to be that directly linked to it.

Ok I'm really going to go see MaXXXine now. Bye! Pray for me that Indara doesn't turn out to be an evil Sith lord, I really doubled down on that on Reddit, I do NOT want to make that apology tour...

[cosmicjoke]

I am so glad anon asks are open again. I love talking to you and think you’re a great person but I am shy sometimes :(. Anyway I wanted to know your opinion on Armin. I think he’s a great character and he doesn’t get talked about a lot. Levi put his faith in him when giving him the serum and that was such an important part of Armin’s journey, I wonder if deep down he ever thought about Levi’s choice considering he probably really looked up to him as a leader/captain.

Hi there, and thank you so much for your kind words! That means a lot to me.

I love Armin, honestly. He's truly a great character, and highly complex.

I think his role in Levi's decision during the RtS arc gets severely overlooked and dismissed, usually with the intent to make it seem as if Levi cared more about Erwin than anyone else. But Armin plays a significant role in Levi's choice, which I actually wrote about here, if you're interested:

Basically, I think Armin was always meant to encompass this role in the story of hope. He symbolizes in many ways the hope of humanity, the possibility of a world without conflict, either internal or external. Like his conversation in the Paths with Zeke, he speaks about not needing to see any great purpose or object in life in order to also see the value in it and the value in being alive. Just being here, in and of itself, life's mere existence, should be enough to advocate its worth to anyone and the importance of preserving it. It shouldn't have to mean anything more than what it is to justify fighting for it.

Armin never really wants for anything to the point that it detracts from his happiness. He has dreams, but he's willing to forego those dreams and accept the possibility that they won't come true, too. And Armin's dream is a simple one. He wants to see the ocean. He doesn't want to change anything, he just wants to explore what's already there. There's a real sense of innocence and purity to Armin. He's extremely accepting and nonjudgmental. The world is what it is and he's okay with that.

Not that Armin doesn't have flaws or doesn't make mistakes. Speaking with one of my mutuals recently, they explained to me how while Armin was able to give up his dreams, the one thing he wasn't really able to give up on was Eren, and it's that failure on Armin's part that leads directly to the Rumbling happening. Because he consciously refused to accept that Eren intended to do harm or that his intentions were bad, he convinces everyone else to aid in getting Eren and Zeke to make contact. They actually fight to get Eren and Zeke together, because Armin couldn't accept that Eren was a bad person.

So he isn't able to accept everything the way it is wholesale. He's not perfect. He accepted the world for what it was, but he couldn't, at least until the end, accept Eren for what he was. In the end, though, Armin DOES accept Eren for what he is, and he still loves him, despite it all. That's true friendship, I suppose.

Anyway, yeah, those are just some thoughts off the top of my head, as a general assessment of Armin. He deserves more appreciation, that's for sure. He's vital to understanding so many themes of AoT itself.

[desultory-novice]

I was lore surfing RTTDDX and found an interesting subject. Magolor's EX screen says he learned about the Master Crown in a "dusty tome" and thought it was a fairy tale. Now it makes me wonder of the subgame Tome tracker. What if those books in that subgame are his personal library (lore collection)? What if those tomes were written by the Ancients themselves?

So, I've been thinking about this idea ever since I learned Magolor wasn't really Halcandran and it freed me to truly think of him as more of an "Interdimensional Traveler" ... and I think I have finally come around to my most current headcanon on this subject!

It involves the Spiders. That's right. This all goes back to "the portrait" in TDX!!

Magolor has a dream, right? A quiet, silly dream to build an amusement park that the entire universe could enjoy! But...well, he's also just a wee~ bit of a megalomaniacal egg, and even though he's WILLING to work toward his dream from the ground up, starting with a small, privately owned shop, we know that by the time of RtDL, he's definitely not against fantasizing about about things like cheating the system and becoming all powerful!

So, there's the our main character of this tale.

And what's the best and quickest way for an ambitious egg to get a big enterprise going? (Especially if he'd already tried things the hard way and failed?) Having FUNDING. So, Magolor reaches out to Queen Sectonia's empire, y'know, since the queen and her court magician can literally MAKE gigantic precious gems out of magic.

Ah, but she won't meet with just a humble (and very, very poor) future-theme park designer with nothing but an idea.

No, Magolor needs an identity to impress her.

...Thus begins Magolor's history of cosplaying!

Magolor puts on the blue and gold hood and describes himself to the court as "...a descendant of the Ancients." ("Look, look! I've even got a Halcandran name!" "...Why does your name mean 'liar?'")

Queen Sectonia, who possibly already have the mirror at this point (all we know is that Shopkeeper Magolor has heard that she once looked just like Taranza, we don't know whether he saw that transformation for himself) could be just as interested in getting her hands on more Halcandran artifacts as Magolor is, so she accepts him as a guest of her empire! ...And probably assigns Taranza to babysit the suspicious creature.

So it is HER library where Magolor finds the dusty old tome that tells him about the Lor Starcutter! (And a bunch of stuff, including ID-F86?!) Magolor is beginning to see that Halcandra, his "assumed" hometown, is where he might be able to make his dreams come true.

Time passes, Taranza and Sectonia learn that Magolor is not Halcandran, just a swindler (though Taranza holds some lingering affection for the fellow bookworm, enough to not throw out his picture) and Magolor is kicked out on his non-existent feet.

With the last of his resources, he hitches a one-way ticket to Halcandra and begins his search! (...Or maybe he actually got as far as having Sectonia fund an expedition for him? Maybe the portrait is of their :wipes a tear away: "...lost scholar-explorer Magolor"? Maybe they never did find out the truth about him, rather, they assumed him lost?)

On Halcandra, Magolor is desperate enough to search for any trace of truth in the stories until his fancy cosplay robes turn an ashy gray and start to break down (as I believe the opening cutscene for the Epilogue is 100% meant to show us that Magolor's clean look is but an illusory disguise he kept up with magic to impress others, including Kirby and the gang - because it's hard to convince everyone you didn't totally steal the ship you're on when you're literally dressed like a castaway - and his illusion breaks when he runs out of power)

But...just when it looks like maybe he'll die here, maybe his quest was in vain...the fairy tale turns out to be reality!

-

As for why the Tome Trackers game looks that way, I kinda think it could still be based off of Floralia's library? (Or whatever other library he may have gotten the information from.) But that the place we're running around in is just an attraction isolated to Magoland. He's got a replica (at least, I hope it's a replica) of King Dedede's castle throne room in Merry Magoland too! XD

[the-bad-batch-baroness]

Hi!! I’d love to hear 1, 6, and 11 about A Man’s Worth!

Freeeeeeeeeee, thank you for asking about my Tup fic 🥺 I am having so much fun writing "A Man's Worth" and it will probably be my first series fic I actually finish, lol 😅

1. What inspired you to write the fic this way?

As a preface, I love to write more unconventional themes and realistic subjects. Perhaps there is a better way to put that, but it's the best explanation I have. I like to explore things that are difficult to talk about, that are dynamic, and have multiple layers. I enjoy diving deep. Sometimes it's fluff and sometimes it's angst.

With all of that said, this fic started with the bingo square "obsession" from the clone x reader bingo game. I mulled that square over for a couple weeks and finally landed on a stalker themed fic. It's tough subject, but one that I have experience in, so I felt comfortable exploring it.

Then I had to decide on which clone to abuse use. This is going to sound absolutely horrible, but the decision was based on which clone could provide the most emotional damage, whether that be to the audience or to the other characters in the story. Which is how I landed on Tup. That poor baby.

What people may or may not have realized yet, is that this fic isn't about the reader. It's actually about Tup. The reader plays and important part, but they aren't the main character. The whole premise of the fic is built around the idea of "self-worth" and what that looks like, which is where the fic's namesake comes from.

Not to give too much away for Chapter 3, Chapter 4, and possibly Chapter 5, but there are heavy themes of "life after trauma" and what "normal" looks like after a traumatic event. It's a reality that many face in the real world, and not something that is discussed at length, which is the type of thing I like to tackle in a fic.

It's meant to make people feel uncomfortable, emotional, and tug at their heart strings. Some of it may be difficult to read, but that's how it's supposed to be, because their is nothing glamorous about trauma. Diving into the mind of trauma survivor is a terrifying experience, and I say that as a trauma survivor myself.

6. What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

All of my fics are unique and special in their own way. See my previous explanation from this post. This particular fic is unique because it's the most violent fic I have ever written. I don't know if it would border on "horror-esque" but it's not an easy read, that's for sure. If I can finish this series, it will be my first completed series I have ever written, so that also makes it different.

11. What do you like best about this fic?

What I really like best about this fic I can't actually talk about because it would be spoilers!!! If I had to choose the second-best thing I like about this fic, it would have to be Hound and Jesse. If you haven't read Chapter 2 yet, then I won't spoil it too much, but I gave Hound a personality that clashes with Jesse from the get-go and they have some interesting interactions. It's also the only comic relief in the entire fic, followed closely by Tup's terrible mini-golf swing mentioned in Chapter 1 😂

P.S. CHAPTER 3 DROPS TOMORROW!!!

Fanfic writer asks

[constantineshots]

hey f slur post anon again.

okay I understand what you mean now - I think your thoughts on that are really interesting!

I think probably at the time they didn't tintend to say that John himself was explicitly queer, but they definitely did intend to comment on homophobia.

It's really interesting to me how John was queer-coded before Smith canonised his bisexuality.

Reading later comics, I often feel like there was more to show his bisexuality before it was canon than after (in the hellblazer comics at least).

Delano and the artists in those books really put a lot of queer coding in.

If we imagine an alternate history where that "boyfriends" line was never written, you could say that the version of John portrayed at the time was a man who was not (necesarily) queer himself, but who was the type of man who is victimized by homophobia as someone who is percieved 'not masculine enough' by heteropatriachal society.

This relates to his punk background. Subcultures often deliberately subvert traditional heteropatriarchal norms, and therefore are criticised for non-conformism.

Queer people are victims of this same system which demonises those who refuse to conform.

I think that's what they were going for at the time. I think they also wanted to criticise homophobia as part of the political messaging throughout the comics.

They show John witnessing and experiencing homophobic violence as a way to criticise it. However, the queer coding of the character's style and experiences made him ripe to be read as a queer character.

And Smith confirmed it! Personally I think that makes these themes cut deeper in retrospect. When we know that John is a queer man, I think the homophobia of the world reads as more dangerous and impactful.

yeah, that's a good point too- the political messaging throughout the series is very prominent, so i wouldn't be surprised if those panels were designed to call light to it. this was also probably one of the few instances in hellblazer itself ( though! we do see a lot of homophobia in lucifer as well, starting right from the beginning issues. not relevant here exactly, but something to note in relation to vertigo not being afraid to delve into these topics ) where we see homophobic tones prior to john's confirmed bisexuality.

this turned out being a lot longer than i intended.

there is more homophobia explored- in the horrorist, which i believe was also written by delano- in reference to john as well. john doesn't explicitly say he's bisexual, but the comments he makes in retort ( for example, "you don't know where my mouth's been" and so on, in his own style ) suggest that he is. though the horrorist was written after the confirmation of his bisexuality, so i like to think that john's always meant to be queer-coded regardless.

with john being who he is and having the history he does, i think he was always queer-coded. it's just that some writers didn't have the guts in the rest of the series to explore it, or that when it was explored, it was... not in the best light. at all.

then, in the new 52, we do explore more of his relationships with men- and i do think there is this misconception where you have to date someone of the opposing gender on screen or you're just straight when it comes to bi people and people also like their biphobia, but that won't be talked about here- but some people have noted that, in one run, john was drawn as more "twinkish" ( the people who dislike the run's words, but i can say he doesn't really give that rugged look ) and some people found it off-putting. i'll reread the run and explore that, but there is that. and at one point, someone decided to write in that john had a crush on dick grayson. then there was the joke relationship between him and king shark- and i could go on.

i think as dc handles his character more in the light of "look, representation" whenever pride month rolls around then shoves him in zatanna's direction the whole time- again, not that there is anything wrong about a bisexual person dating someone ( or whatever it is with zatanna. i'm so confused. just let her date wonder woman and be done with this back and forth. ) of the opposite gender, but it's more what dc is trying to sell him as and then not doing it in the long run. it doesn't make much sense to me, where they play this "see? look! he's not straight, he'll date this guy" as if dating a guy has to prove that he's bisexual, but they killed off oliver ( i believe his name was? ) and then after that... we're stuck with the fact they can't write him right in general. there's no political undertones. there isn't much reference to any homophobia that he might face- he's a political character, and politically, if they're cramming him in the united states to work with the jld, they could explore that more. but they don't.

sure, hellblazer didn't have. much. on his bisexuality, but at least it was referenced. there's a newer run of hellblazer where he mentions having an ex boyfriend who was mute, i believe, and that's how he learned some of his sign language. and otherwise, john is single the whole run. i don't have a problem with john being single. but in most dc-aligned run, there's some need for him to have a romance, but they won't touch on anything regarding his bisexuality. there is nothing political underneath his character at all. they don't really explore homophobia- not that they have to, exactly, but john's a political character and now he's been deprived of that.

this is a long rant i am so sorry. point is, yes, i agree with what you are saying and it's a wonderful point to make, and it is SUCH a shame that this is something that is integral to john's character as a whole and not one person who currently works for dc comics at this very moment will explore this. let me work for dc comics. please.

[onekisstotakewithme]

5, 18, 20, 22!

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

I was talking to you about this earlier, actually 😅 but the HIMYM story where Ted actually accepts Victoria's ultimatum and moves to (Denver?) with her. Barney and Robin get engaged, and Ted, being Ted, decides to go to Barney and Robin's wedding (to support his old friends? to try and win her back? to let bygones be bygones? who knows!)... and he still meets Tracy there.

(The other fic idea I've had that I probably won't write is a duology where one of Mrs. Landingham's sons survived Vietnam - each half of the duology focuses on one of the twins, and the timeline ripples. it's silly but).

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

I'm doing two, because I always use the same one but it just makes me cackle every time:

from 'ye who are weary, come home':

“... Fine. Radar and… whoever he wants to bring.” He pauses, and reconsiders. “Unless it’s Randy.” “Randy is… his brother?” “Randy’s a goat.” “Right. So he’s not invited?” “If we bring Randy, Charles will turn himself over to the Chinese,” BJ says flippantly, and Peg, after considering this for a second, nods as though it’s completely normal.

And then...

“Danny, I’m going to run for President.” She sees his eyes light up, and holds up a hand to stop whatever exclamation he’s about to make. “No, let me finish.” “Okay.” "I… I want to run for President. I want to help whoever I can in whatever way I can, and... I guess I’m asking you to jump off that cliff with me.” Danny’s eyes are soft, a familiar smile slowly spreading across his face. “You want to run for President.” “Yes, and I need you to tell me now, right now, if you meant it, if you really think I should do this. Or tell me that you were kidding, and we’ll just forget the whole thing. But if you’re in, I’m in.” “I really convinced you?” “No,” she answers, and it’s the truth. “You just did what you do best – you brought the truth into the light. I did want to do this, on my own. You just helped me realize it. Because… you’re my outside perspective, and my first line of defence, and the last voice in my ear. And you said I should do this, so… let’s do it. Let’s jump off the cliff.” Danny is quiet, his eyes glittering with emotion, and before CJ can say anything else, he pulls something out of his pocket, and presses it into her hand. “I had this made,” he says quietly, bending his head to hers. “I’ve been waiting to give it you, but I just… knew.” CJ looks down at what he’s given her, and feels her eyes well up with tears. It’s a campaign button. Cregg for America. CJ blinks back tears, staring down at this simple proof of Danny’s love, Danny’s unwavering belief in her. “Told you,” he says, humour evident in his voice. “I can be pretty persuasive.” “Shut up.” “I love you too.”

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written?

Off the Record (it's the perfect title for a missing scenes fic, imo - it's off the record/offscreen).

happily ever after... and after (evocative, hits the exact theme I want)

Water from a Stone (it's a kidney stone fic... it's supposed to be a LITTLE punny).

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

Usually! I typically write long fics with a set ending in mind. Sometimes (*side eyes plane crash*) it's a generic idea but the specifics are open to be explored as I write, but most of my fics, I know where they're going!

... Though not always.

[malaierba]

Fans want everything to be resolved NOW and don't give shows the opportunity to set up all the pieces needed in a story before it gets resolved in a way that makes sense from a narrative stand point. Doing that takes time.

Not only that, but for hopefully obvious reasons the characters need to have conflict, be misguided, and show their flaws, so there'll be SOMETHING to resolve and so they can have some growth.

Getting specific about Helluva Boss below the read more

A common criticism that the series gets is that it has too many female characters that are bitchy and evil and that's it, and who are barely developed outside of their link to a male character. I see where this opinion is coming from, but I think it ignores a lot of the basic premise upon which the show is built.

Helluva Boss is about Blitzø, and how his self-loathing tendencies, abusive upbringing, and fear of being vulnerable, have messed up most of his past relationships + his present attempts to build something good that won't implode under the weight that is his self.

Because of that alone you can already see why most characters must have a link to him, a guy. We get glimpses of the other characters' personal lives just as far as they can have some sort of butterfly effect on Blitzø's (ie: Stolas' personal life, since he's his main love interest; Fizz's personal life since he was basically a brother to him, he accidentally disabled the guy, and his relationship with Asmodeous is going to impact Blitzø/Stolas' somehow; Moxie's because the show was originally conceived with him + Blitzø as main characters and they're meant to be foils)

When we look at the "evil women" I feel like we gotta keep in mind that this is mainly from Blitzø's POV? OBVIOUSLY Verosika is miffed with the guy. He was horrible to her. In his bad trip, we see he's aware of this. Barbie, his sister, even tells him why exactly she hates his guts.

While they're both antagonistic to Blitzø, we see in the way he reacts to the accusations that they strike a nerve. He thinks they're justified, that he's the one that messed up. Thing is, Blitzø is the type of mfer that will lash back if he feels cornered, which only makes everyone angrier at him (lol).

Both of them are, trust and believe, eventually have their arc with Blitzø much like Blitzø just fixed his relationship with Fizz. It's just not the right moment just yet??

Season 2 has prominently focused on the racism/classism of hell, what with Strider's arc, both kidnappings and now Ozzie/Asmodeous. All of that needs to be developed a bit more before it makes sense to go into whatever happened with Verosika and Barbie, which are probably going to address the themes of past relationships and stranded family — Themes that make more sense to explore after Blitzø and Stolas are finally at a point where they're talking couples dynamic + how their families fit in that.

Besides, to be super honest? I don't think there's more pointlessly evil women than there's men. See:

Verosika and Barbie, who we know will get to eventually share their side of the story and thus be redeemed. Their male equivalents would be Fizz (who got redeemed) and Striker (who probably won't, and good for him tbh)

Stella. Yeah I know, everyone wanted her to be smarter and to have more of an emotional connection with Via at least. Idk what to tell you, I agree it would make for a more complex story. At the same time, she's obviously the embodiment of a narcissistic abuser. If that's the story that Viv wanted to tell, that's up to her, right? Anyway from a narrative POV, she's comparable to Moxie's dad, who's another abuser who mainly sees Moxie as a means to secure his influence and wealth and had little emotional depth beyond that.

For whatever reason people sometimes bring up Luna and Octavia as meanie one dimensional girls because.... They're moody teens? I mean. Luna has anger issues that are very obviously a result of being institutionalised as an orphan who likely had to raise herself in a selfish environment that, to boot, sees her as a lesser race. And Octavia is a spoiled and sheltered teen, dealing with her parents divorce. She was probably sheltered from the reality of their marriage too. I don't understand why people say they have no good motivations. They both have had some interesting growth too, getting to explore the world for the first time, even bonding with each other (+ others in Luna's case).

Glitz and Glam, I don't see how they would've been treated any differently if they had been guys tbh. Their main narrative purpose is to be competition, and it's been established that in hell being able to talk shit is a daily skill. Aren't they just like any other episodic villain we've seen so far? Not every character needs a sob backstory, come on now. They're literally about as deep as Mammon is and that's okay, they're not challenging the main characters from an interpersonal standpoint but rather from a societal one.

The one female character I agree with my whole heart could be better, as in, given more depth, is Millie. In unhappy campers we finally see her declare that she wants to do things and be recognised for them, for herself, and that she tires of having to forego those desires in favour of coddling Moxxie. That was... So good. Even her falling back into the relationship' dynamic of going along with Moxxie was arguably good (realistic), as long as we see her break the pattern in the future. Unfortunately I don't think her scenes hit as hard as they could've. I think it was a scripting issue, the writers could've taken her dialogue farther but they didn't 😮‍💨 Still, I think they've set her up for conflict in the future.

Anyway. Be patient with your indie media. There's a reason why the story is being told over several chapters rather than being a short.

[nateslehky]

1-8 for the deep fic writers ask >:)

yue 😭😭😭 <3

1. what's the fic you're most proud of?

my maroon fic, probably. i worked really hard on that one and it was a little out of my comfort zone. i read it (or at least what i had written for it) before bed basically every night for a month before i published it (but haven't read it since 😅).

2. what's a fic that took you to an emotional/dark/hard place?

tbh i haven't really explored any darker themes. the 'angstiest' thing i've written is the maroon fic and even that i don't think is really that angsty. i really admire writers that can effectively craft works with darker themes in a compelling and nuanced way because it's definitely something i'm not naturally inclined to write. maybe one day.

3. what fic are you emotionally attached to?

....all of them? lol. maroon fic for sure. my longer natelehky wip too because it was my first real foray into hrpf. it still holds a really special place in my heart, which is part of why i haven't finished it. i'm scared i won't be able to do it justice, i think.

4. what fic of your own do you read for comfort?

for a while it was my cribbage fic! i really liked writing cale's pov for that and i think the story came across the way i wanted, if that makes sense? rn though any of my little established relationship one shots! they're relatively quick and easy for me to write and meant to be quick and easy to read :)

5. what fic of your own won't you read?

my maroon fic 😭😭😭. i think i put so much work into it and had so many expectations for myself for it that i'm afraid if i'll read it again that i won't think it's good or something?? idk it's silly and stupid and i've gotta get over it but yeah.

6. what's the hardest part of the writing process for you?

long answer here. short answer: endings.

7. how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

long answer here. short answer: it can put me in a funk sometimes but for the most part i'm grateful for every interaction ever <3

8. does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

depends on how i define 'personal' i guess. i have a lot of online-friends-turned-real friends from twitter, most of whom know i write fic. then my best friend irl also knows. my family does not and i will not be telling them (i probably would if i wasn't writing rpf but having the whole rpf discussion with my fam sounds horrendous lmfao).

[numericalbridge]

TOH rewatch semi-liveblog. Season 2a part 1a

episodes 1-2

Here we go, season 2a aka my least favourite part of the show

Episode 1

- Set 1,5 weeks after season 1 finale

- Ok, actually i like episode 1 on itself. I think on the first watch the lack of acknowledgement for Gus&Willow's actions had weirded me out way too much, but this time i was - sigh - prepared.

- The first scene is the main characters going bounty hunting (and King trying to eat a tiny demon). On the one hand this is just playing with tropes and silly humor for kids, but on the other hand, considering Belos's regime and overall themes of the show, it's kinda odd that bounty hunting is just an accepted activity and without examining the implications? Who exactly are they hunting and what happens to them? How is it different from those demon hunter villains from season 1? Whatever.

Still funny how in the fandom's eyes all these moments are acceptable except for Darius' - also clearly comedic moment - of saying that only the small ones will get eaten, when suddenly that line should imply something negative about his personality. Oh, wait, there are also those Hunter stans who thought that Luz comedically tackling Hunter in HM was her "being as bad as Belos".

- I do like how they show Belos's statue being put in the town and how the show in general conveys the increase in propaganda's intensity. I feel like pre season 2 for the general population Belos' reign was probably more outwardly 'subtle' and 'soft', particulary if compared to other evil cartoon rulers, and i think it actually makes a more chilling picture when things like secret petrifications are shown, and, of course, the perspective of people like Eda - though that's why i wish we saw other wild witches too.

- Lilith is ok here, and i like the way Luz introduces her in the beginning, and Lilith and Eda's scenes are still fun, but in retrospect i think the shift towards one of my least favourite character development tropes has already started with her. Though in these s2a episodes her development is still mostly fine.

- Not Eda trying to use King as a target practice😭

- I understand Eda hides her emotions under the facade, but i wish even the first episodes went a little bit deeper with her frustration over the loss of her magic.

- Would've been nice to have some news/mentions/montage about Willow, Gus and even Amity.

(Also - this a mostly minor gripe, but weird how there is no connection regarding the public opinion on Eda between the protest at the petrification ceremony vs the public mocking her in this episode. I can see several lines of reasoning for it, and that's why it is mostly a minor thing, but alas it is not explored at all).

- Luz became really proficient with the glyphs!

- Hooty is so funny: "A good friend would respect your wishes, but a better friend would help no matter what" lol

- Considering the same 'Bye' thing both Eda and Hunter do in the same episode, it wouldn't surprise me if his connections to the Clawthornes was meant to be a much, much bigger thing before the shortening (and, tbh, i don't like it... unless... i won't say it because it is too controversial even for this post)

- Lilith's potion: Could've introduced the Coven Heads here, imo.

- Also, forgot to include it in the season 1 finale rewatch post, but i really like how 'playful' Belos is, especially when interacting with Luz - really quite different from the standart 'obviously super strict' religious villains, and i think it makes a more interesting and even realistic take while still showing how awful he is, without rellying on tired tropes.

- The episode itself is actually pretty good: Luz and Camila's connection, Eda and Lilith, Lilith and Hooty's interactions, introduction of Hunter as an antagonist - are all good. For me it falls a little bit short - and i felt this way on the first watch too - as the first episode of the season, especially with the absense of real consequences of Willow&Gus's actions in s1 finale, since what they did seemed like somewhat of a big deal, and knowing how it only gets worse for them... yeah

+

I have conflicting thoughts about the 'must do it alone' part and the way the episode shows&resolves Luz's guilt. On itself it is perfectly fine, the lessons are good, the progression from s1 is resonable. But in the context of the whole show and with how even the very next episode repeats the same 'guilt-must do it alone' plot... it feels a bit odd and sometimes too repetitive.

And i don't think it's bad on itself that the theme of Luz feeling guilt is constantly present, and that sometimes her thought patterns and actions repeat - i think it could have been an excellent arc of showing how the progress isn't linear, and you can't just learn the lesson of the week to fix your problems forever, and that sometimes Luz gets pulled into the same thought spirals - it could've been a very heart-felt arc (and, to extent, it is in the actual show) if it was translated better across the whole series; but it doesn't fully work for me, because it feels like season 2 just keeps introducing new players and focusing on Eda&King (understandable, considering they are also main characters, but still...), while Luz has the lumity plot and get home plot, but her story could've been even richer - within the same shortened 3 seasons - via just varying more her responses to the same mini-arcs and through deeper connections to various characters. And with better pacing and character balancing. Does this make sense?

Episode 2😡

- Definitely among the worst episodes for me just for Gus&Willow's treatment alone. The only thing i like is the way Amity's emotions are portrayed in the episode, especially in the scene where her friends are getting expelled; and Eda and Lilith's b-plot is ok, but not great enough as to save the episode.

- again, no consequences or a real follow up to Willow and Gus' actions during the s1 finale (what their parents thought? the schoolmates?) except for super brief reunion with Luz and a 'thank you'. No reaction from Eda or a change in their relationship with her - the relationship that was present through season 1.

- Oh, don't worry, instead the joke is that Eda now 'doesn't remember' Gus' name😠 (yes, it is meant to be her teasing him, but imagine what would've happened if someone did it to Hunter?)

- minor gripe, but why was Luz absent from school for 1,5+ weeks - was it a school break or was it because of what happened with Eda and the ceremony? Why couldn't she meet her friends out of school? Why not make a one sentence explanation in the first episode or this one.

- yes Lilith and Eda's behavior like they are in school is probably funnier for the target audience, and it expands their characters a little, but i would've prefered if Lilith was specifically acting like that because she felt awkward after she treated Luz badly in s1 and now didn't know how to interact with her, similar to how she wanted to make the spell for Eda in episode 1, but much, much more awkward and cringe-y (and Luz being awkward in response, and then it would've been fully resolved in the time travel episode). Eda's subplot and her jealousy over Lilith's sucess worked better for me, and the scenes of Lilith making stuff for Hooty out of the ice were funny/cute, but I think some of the stuff that was touched here would've benefited from a more serious approach.

But at the same time i feel like it might have been easily dropped, Eda could've discovered glyph combos together with Luz in ep1, Eda and Lilith stuff could've been moved to the following episodes, and then the freed time could've been used for Willow and Gus🤷

- and why again, King - who will be revealed to be an 8 year old in the next episode - is the one who has to deal with 'it' (Eda's frustration) and not Lilith?

- Ah, yes, the fairy pie - but you see, Darius is the cruel one for that one comment.

(Amity's hands look so weird here, it seems like she has way too many fingers, lol)

- Meanwhile Alador is playing with Bumps' palisman. Like, the difference in fandom's reactions - in a much more unclear situation what Darius does is 'ableism' and it condems his characters both in- and out- of universe, but this rich white man is straight up playing with someone's disability aid / assistance animal while they are at work, and even people who dislike Alador won't mention it. (But i think it would've been an interesting frame to explore Alador's character - more below)

- What i especially hate about the episode is how Willow and Gus' reactions and emotions are framed in comedic way / played for laughs again and again, and how they are repeatedly taken out of the picture. Does Willow have 0 strong emotions from meeting the Blights after what she has found out in the Understanding Willow? Does Gus not feel anything deeper about being expelled and Amity not standing up for them? Especially when other characters like Amity here and King next episode start to show more 'realistic' reactions compared to show's usually cartoony/stylized style.

- The one thing i like in the episode is how Amity's reactions and emotions are portrayed. But it really just contrasts how Willow and Gus are treated. And, despite Amity mentioning them as being her friends too and, i guess, 'protecting' them from the twins' prank, there are no deeper interactions between the three other than what the immediate plot dictates - and i don't even mean anything profound, just a couple of lines here or there would've been better. What is even the point of having Gus&Willow in the opening when they are treated like side characters.

- Would've been also great if Amity remembered how her parents treated Willow

- Odalia saying/pretending(?) that she appreciates Luz's 'tenacity' - i think it would've been something interesting to explore if she was genuine and tried to act as some sort of 'dark mentor' type teaching Luz 'life lessons'.

- Bump is again played for laughs, and i think his scenes were funny, but i wish there was a serious moment or two because of the switch between this episode and his behavior from the Hunting Palisman onward.

- Alador even outright states that the Blights specialize in weaponry, so he is not as complitely oblivious as some people state (like yeah, he was making those weapons anyway, lol). And, true, before this episode they were not supplying the weapons to the Emperor, but he still happily posed with that abomaton in the penstagram photo later, so idk where the notion that it was all Odalia forcing him, or he didn't realize anything even comes from.

- like, Amity gets to have all those multi-dimensional reactions and plotlines, so the contrast to Willow and Gus is so, so clear

- Oh, and sure, Gus and Willow are just so easily taken out of the picture by some abominations😡 Even though it is probably unintentional - It still just feels like a deliberate dismissiveness because you could just either a) not include them in the resque at all and have a c-plot of them interacting with their parents or b) have them cause distractions outside while Amity saves Luz.

- But Luz holds herself extremely well against the abominaton. I dislike when the fanon downplays her abilities.

- I can see hints in this episode that Alador is a better person than Odalia, but he still was playing with Bumps palisman while his daughter's friends were getting expelled, so i think that should've been adressed. I actually think it would've worked well for Alador's character if that was something like an intentional flaw of someone who is rich enough (and buys into the Blight superiority) that he can afford not to pay attention to others, and then through getting to know Luz and King he becomes a better person.

But Odalia's interactions with him seem to be much different from the later episode, and i think it should've been kept that way and expanded upon - afterall the show manages it with Belos while still showing how he is an abuser - rather than weird cartoonish evil Odalia in the Clouds that seemed just so cheep narratively.

- Lilith is good at the end of the episode, until they bring on the 'oh, she treats Luz like Luz is a teacher' joke again. It feels just way immature even for the show, in my opinion.

- I love the headcanon - that i've seen others make - that Belos was buying the abomatons partily because he wasn't trusting Darius or at least as a way to insult Darius, though the real reason is probably just what is stated - he didn't want for the citizens to build a private army.

- Plus the Blights were, like, planning for Amity to replace Darius, lol.

- Also, can't help but notice how we already got at least glimpses of Willows interactions with her dads in her mindscape, and here it was expanded upon, meanwhile we never see a scene just between Gus and Perry until the s3 finale, and in this episode there was a clear opportunity for it😠

- Yes, so this is either the worst episode in the series for me, or the second worst. Would've been more tolerable if Gus and Willow were treated better. But the repeat of Luz's 'guilt-do it alone' from the previous episode was also a bit odd, especially since the ending focused more on Amity and lumity.

(One possible change i could see working would be for Luz and Willow to go together to the Blights, then Amity calls Gus to help them, expanding on their dynamics on the way. Or to make episodes 1 and 2 into one narrative, with the first episode still dealing with Selkidomos and second one with the Blights, but Luz's arc and various subplots continuing between the two.

Have Luz and Eda figure the glyph combo together in episode 1, move some Lilith and Eda stuff to the next episodes, have Gus cause an illusion distraction that somehow results in Willow getting injured to continue into the opening of the Glass Ruins, and have Amity or Luz call out Alador on his treatment of Willow - showing him feeling guilty - to continue Alador's arc and to make Amity and Willow's sub-plot flow smoother into the LR.)

----

Conclusion:

The first episode is fine on its own, but as the first episode of the season it hints at future problems. Second episode i really hate because of clear dismissiveness towards Gus and Willow. It would be one thing if they were just absent from the main plot or if there was a plenty of attention for them in the series, but that's not the case. And there were ways to remove them from the plot while being respectful to their characters instead of playing them solely for laughs.

And i asked myself - do i just overthink this show made for 10 years old? The show is mostly comedic, so would the target audience even notice? And, no, i think i would've hated the way Willow and Gus are treated even as a kid. I actually remember, as a child, switching from hating characters to liking them just because i felt the shows were not treating them 'fairly', so it would probably upset me even more at 10 years of age. And also just from the narrative and writing perspective it is so clearly favouring some characters (who are mostly white) over the others, and so unbalanced and at times it just feels narratively lazy.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Writing Method: Rapid drafting.

This isn't where I go, if you don't use this method, you are dumb and how could you. Or where I say this will guarantee success. Or where I say something like, if you use this method, you're locked into it for eternity and how dare you try another method. Rather, through this I want to explore ways to write to get a result you want, that you might not be able to achieve otherwise. The key word in the previous sentence is *might* not "can't".

And BTW, this isn't the only way I write books/stories. I tend to go wherever the story tells me I need to go in that squishy flower girl mentality. And sometimes the story needs a strict outline, and sometimes the story needs milestones. And sometimes the story needs to be written forwards–whatever the story tells me to do, I obey it. Because it needs to be written somehow.

After being sick of reading all of those writing manuals that go, but I'm awesome because I invented this thing out of thin air... I'm going to give where I got it from and why. 'cause we are not brilliant in a vacuum. And also, maybe I'm in the camp of I'll be disbelieved because I'm not white straight abled male and Christian. (This is a joke you won't get unless you read the whole journey through story structure–I get it sounds bitter, but you would be too after reading such hatred directed towards people who were not those things).

Inspiration for the method

There are two key people I used to create this method: Patrick Rothfuss and NK Jemisin. Both through author interviews, IIRC on Writing Excuses. I often listen to author interviews to collect different ways people write.

Patrick Rothfuss has a go and back up methodology. So he says, if something isn't working, something isn't working probably back there and you need to rewrite to get past the writer's block instead of charge forward.

NK Jemisin's writing method kinda got mixed into this as well. She roughly outlined it both on I Should be Writing and Writing Excuses. Frankly, I don't remember which episodes and it was a while ago, but this should be enough on how to find it. She said she "versions" out the scenes and tries different things then picks the best one.

I know this will look a lot like Chuck Palahniuk's writing method, but I'm not as particular as he is, but it does take a lot of reading your previous work.

What is it?

It's Discovery writing writing it out for a while, until you get stuck at a certain point, then you re-read, back up to the point that was good and then you slice and dice the remainder in a rapid rewrite.

Instead of "Cut your darlings" It's condense your darlings into one immovable plot and cut all of the fluff in between and then make sure that what you have is solid enough emotionally, event-wise, character-wise, tone-wise, theme-wise, etc to be a good foundation for the continuing story. You cut back as many times as you need and then you rewrite everything you can from there.

Why did I come up with this method?

I lost my writing a few times in a torrent of notebooks, files, etc, but I found when I rewrote the events more from memory, that the second draft, despite my chewing my nails, etc, was better than the first draft after I found my first draft. Also, writing this way cut down on all of the pretty turns of phrases I was hooked on and married to in the first draft. Having to redo the plot from memory meant I only chose key points of the writing and often improved the plot flow.

Who is this not for?

If you have no firm grasp on your writing, you're a beginner, and haven't mastered techniques, have poor memory for plot and character, or your characters constantly go into new directions no matter what you do every draft, this is not for you.

What stories is this not good for?

Theoretically I think two types of stories this would be horrible for are: Linear forwards slice of life stories.

This is because you're cutting out the small transition moments and the delicacy needed to thread together the plot. You need those small plot threads and you shouldn't be cutting them out.

The second one is the chaotic timeline where things happen out of order, which usually, for me, takes either milestone writing to create an outline, and then linear forwards writing to hit those points, or writing completely out of order and letting people sort it out.

If you do manage to get this type of writing style to work for both, I'd be kinda interested in how you pulled it off, but I think it's a bad idea to want to do this kind of chaotic writing style for either where you need more delicate organization and threading.

Why would you do this method?

You have a huge cast of characters that are near the front and you have no idea who they are, how they sound and you need to refine them roughly through events.

The death of you will come if you don't make those characters distinguished in voice, mannerisms, etc quickly. But sometimes for people character sheets don't work because they don't tell how the character sounds and instead, what defines the character is a certain event or type of event.

So you need to figure out everything under the sun about this character quickly and efficiently. But discovery writing is excruciatingly slow on this count. You end up with repetition, flat characters until you find the thing that defines the character, and it's always messy.

So if you cut around the events that define the character, and ruthlessly cut the rest, then condense, condense, condense, often the voice of the characters is steadier from chapter 1, rather than finding it out in chapter 3 or 6. And if it's in Chapter 6, death be upon you because Agents want the character voices clear in Chapter 1.

For example, you might set up a cast of characters that work at a circus. You go, Oh crap, I need a bunch of characters all at once, how am I supposed to do this? This is when you'd use this method.

The other is if you want to intensify the events because they are too loose. So say you have a battle scene you need to write. You might have discovery written Event A. But Event B you also wrote. There's strengths from Event A, but if you make Event B the B plot, it clicks together, but you don't know what will happen next until you rewrite Event A with Event B, because this might bring a new direction to the plot.

How do you do this method?

You need good memory, organization, and the ability to store previous drafts so you can pull from them (Psst something like Scrivener). DATE YOUR DRAFTS.

Write forwards

Write whatever you feel like and feels fun to you regardless of whatever the publishers say. Find your characters and events, tone, theme, etc as you like.

You got stuck or realize you need to backseed an event? Time to Back up.

Backing up

Take your entire draft and back it up. Go to the place where you would need to seed the event to get the draft to work. You really need to know your story well to do this.

Hit delete on everything forward of that event in a *new draft.*

Rework the event you need and see where the story goes. This creates a branching effect, which is NK Jemisin's contribution. String theory for books.

Try a new direction. If you liked the old direction with this new plot information, you can still stitch in and interlace the old scenes, but you need to really keep track of what was in the previous drafts. This is where your search function comes in and using keywords. you may want to square bracket key events as you read through your previous draft.

Try to condense the events or add new events in the same word count. The point is to make the draft *shorter* with more efficiency than before.

Every book has decision points. If you're stuck, maybe a previous decision was wrong. If the character stagnates, maybe you made the wrong decision. Back up, trust yourself, do it again.

Keep repeating this until the book is compiled. TT And then cry because you spent a day on draft that you aren't going to use, but be happy because you used that information elsewhere.

Advantages

Less rewriting. You did it in the first draft. You don't need to add anything.

The characters are clear on page 1.

There is no death by repetition and placeholder sentences in the work because by re-reading the draft from the beginning, you have taken them out.

There are also less plot holes.

You don't need to outline 10 different characters and it feels like they are affecting the direction of the events quickly through affect and effect.

The moments where you say screw you to the publishers for that brief time and do whatever you feel like are fun. You can faff around with your favorite characters more. The impact is minimal because you know it's not going to end up in the final draft. Who cares. Knock yourself out. And thus you might end up more creative than if you were thinking you must conform in the first draft or you're going to die under a pile of rejections.

You might find a new story structure this way?

Disadvantages

Your memory for the plot between versions might take a hit. You have to read your draft over and over and if you're not sure of yourself, your ego will take a hit and the story writing will slow down. TT Label the plot on rereading. Please. And remember keywords.

It's super chaotic as a way to create a book.

The delicate connections are removed.

It's horrible for creating soft silences.

It might feel like it's too much too soon for the reader regardless.

You really need to watch your pacing skills when you do this to make sure that moving event to event feels natural rather than forced.

You will have to cut some of your beloved scenes that simply don't work in the final draft.

It probably is the worst way to write something like "Ways to Live" type of story where you need to carefully orchestrate threads on tone and theme, not by events and characters. (For that, I would use Thematic plotting with milestone writing, but that's my personal preference.)

[gatorpriestess]

The Rules

This is a no minors zone

Sorry, but I write adult themes and I am the most comfortable writing with other adults. If your blog doesn't have your age anywhere, I am just going to block for my own comfort.

Bigots are blocked on sight

And yes, this includes if you can't see your character dating a certain minority (such as "yes my character likes men, but they'd never date a transman"). I do not care what your reasons are, it's uncomfortable and I don't want that kind of attitude in my spaces.

My topic blacklist

There are some topics I either won't roleplay or will only roleplay under specific circumstances. Please keep this blacklist in mind while interacting:

I ship based off chemistry, and only with muses that are of age and not related to Serafine. Ships happen in their own timelines and I will not roleplay out cheating arcs. Don't assume relationships, ask first.

I am extremely uncomfortable with the assumptions that Serafine is dumb and/or dirty. I write Serafine as quite intelligent in her own ways and she takes good care of her hair and general hygiene. I'll delete anything with these assumptions and probably block you.

I am fine with writing about SA or CSA if it is in the character's past. I am not okay with roleplaying these scenes out or having them done to my muse.

I am sensitive to things like biting/scratching either done to my muse or done by my muse and will not write them under any circumstance. Please do not expect me to and do not expose me to that content just because "that's what my muse would do".

Roleplay behaviors that make me uncomfortable

These are behaviors that may lead to an immediate block:

Godmodding is always a no. I don't mind if your character is a literal and powerful god, just don't use that to screw my muse over unfairly.

Please don't kill my muse. Though I understand other roleplayers enjoy exploring this theme, I simply do not. I will not kill your muse in turn. Torture is also a no for me.

Forced mood shifts. If I put a funny scenario into your inbox and you decide to make it depressing or if I give you a serious prompt and you decide to make it all flowers and rainbows, it's just a huge mood killer.

Controlling my muse. It's no fun if one person is dictating the entire roleplay.

The NSFW thing

I am fine with NSFW, but I do have some boundaries and things I am not interested in writing. As I said above, biting and scratching is a no go for me. So is penetration and things like aggressive sub/dom situations. I won't write anything involving whips or punishments. I may not be overly detailed or graphic about the scenes I write. Just keep these things in mind. If you want to start off a scene as NSFW or leading to NSFW, please communicate that clearly.

Don't lecture me about responses

Roleplay is a collaborative experience. Here are behaviors I don't consider collaborating:

Stating I meant something over just asking.

Publicly posting about issues in my behavior in the hopes that I will see it rather than either DMing or just blocking me.

Being overly picky about word choice or how I decide to fill in a prompt fill. The point of a prompt is filling in the blanks so it fits a character, creative liberties will be taken and that just is how it is.

Criticizing the way I write my character. If you don't like it, you're again, always free to block me.

It's okay to be specific or even picky about what you want. If I am able to and desire to provide that for you, I will, or we can politely go our separate ways and both find better partners for ourselves. Bossing me around like I'm your student sending in a paper to you for a grade is not it, and bad faith assumptions can easily just make you look like an asshole. Roleplay is supposed to be fun, don't be a dickhead for no reason. If I feel like you're giving me shit, I will just block you.

If you've read this, please send in the password, "or else you are lost again." You don't have to, but I may be uncomfy roleplaying with you until you do.

[alissaming]

Pokemon Legends Arceus Review

This is an incredibly fun, challenging game. It has it's problems, but most games do. I recently started playing from the beginning again.

The game is challenging and fun. The music is really pretty, and the storyline is actually a very good one. You're a kid brought from the future, possibly even another world (the voice that brings you here, Arceus, implies that you come from a world without Pokemon, but you can answer questions in such a way that imply you're from the future of the region you're in.) You were brought here to stop a catastrophe. However, the fact that you fell from the sky, as well as your "odd clothes" at the beginning of the game make others suspicious of you. Only your talent for catching Pokemon with the brand new Pokeballs Professor Laventon invented, as well as lack of fear for the creatures everyone else sees as terrifying, keeps you in Jubilife Village and gets you into the Galaxy Team as one of their researchers. From there, you need to get up to certain star levels from time to time to progress. This is one of the more frustrating parts of the game. It's really hard to reach a star level, as the only way to do so is to gain research on Pokemon. Catching new species and completing Dex entries (bringing a Dex entry up to 10 points) are the best ways to bring your star points up. You can get up to 10 star points, but even the hardest point in the game requires only a Star level of 5 stars. The real problem though is the difficulty curve. Theorectically, you should be able to take on the second location available at the beginning of the game with only one star. However, your second Pokemon battle has her Pokemon up to level 20, which you won't have your Pokemon at by the time you're ready to head over there. This is near consistent if you go by star level, where everyone will be at a higher level, their Pokemon will do more damage, and the Pokemon in the area will be at or higher than your Pokemon in level.

So how do you solve this problem? Simply, you try to stay a least 1 star level ahead. Before you head over to the 1 star area storyline was, try to get to 2 stars. Not only can you now successfully train Pokemon up to level 30 with that star level, you will now be at or above the wild and tame Pokemon in the area. If you keep this up to the best of your ability, you won't even have to worry about not being able to continue the story because you aren't a high enough star level.

Clothing options are limited, and generally in the same style. The style is Yakata (despite the top being called a Kimono) with a Hibori (I hope I got the style name right) top. Yakata tends to have shorter sleeves, but the belt and pouch is typical of the style. Whereas Hibori tends to have the longer sleeves of the top. Also, it's clear the style was created with the intention to be used in the field, when dealing with dangerous creatures like Pokemon, which is why the pants are form fitting, rather than looser. This is clearly meant to be sturdy and protective. Kimonos, for those wondering the difference, tend to be more dress style and a single flowing piece, often long, though not necessarily. So why is the top called a Kimono when it's not a Kimono? Probably because the Kimono is the most well known Japanese style, and most people will recognize the name Kimono, where they might not recognize Yakata or Hibori.

The most unique clothing is the shorter sleeve Fancy Kimonos and Fancy Bottoms, as thye tend to emulate specific Pokemon or themes, though the "Type" Kimono tops are also fun patters. Another good pick would be the Fancy Top, due to the patterns. Just go with what you like. Some are really pretty.

All in all, I would rate this game a solid 4/5. Yes, it has it's annoyances, but there are ways around it. And the game is built around the actual capture of Pokemon, which is why there are fewer Pokemon battles. It's also really nice to get to truly explore the land around you, try to be sneaky to catch some Pokemon, and have different research goals to fulfull. If you like Pokemon, definitely give this game a go.

[decepti-thots]

Hello! So, I had a dream in which instead of Megatron it was Optimus/Orion who joined the Lost Light. And I’ve been thinking about it... how different would everything turn out? Megatron staying on Cybertron and confronting decepticons (because I believe he would have joined the autobots in this AU?? too) and maybe even going to Earth along with Prowl, Arcee and co, his conflict with Starscream (and Windblade?), his conflict with humans after AHM (awkwaaaard), trying to redeem himself but kind of failing (like remember Optimus annexing the Earth?).

And Orion (who may or may not become a co-captain) dealing with his deeds (because he, too, directly or indirectly killed a lot of people), Brainstorm maybe actually trying to kill him instead of Megatron, Rodimus vs. Optimus, Getaway’s conflict with him (he (believed) that he was “worthy” of the Matrix, after all).

There’s just so much that can be explored!

first off, you guys continue to have way cooler dreams than me, and i continue to be jealous.

second of all, i get that you probably meant this from an in-universe perspective, but my brain immediately jumps to 'what if Megatron was in exRiD and Orion was in MTMTE/LL', which tbh is something i have thought about before, haha. the way the storylines on Cybertron vs the LL go is so tied not just to in-universe plot events but also the genres those comics are in and the approaches they take, it's hard for me to imagine without considering that element.

some not-very-connected thoughts i have, given all the above:

barber is a loooot less sentimental than jro about many TF characters. i don't say this as a value judgement, just an observation. in particular, his approach to OP as a Big Iconic Character TM in exRiD is to make OP central to the lives of other characters and explore his impact on them, rather than necessarily making OP a very conventional protagonist. which definitely fits with a ton of what you bring up here, and ESPECIALLY the stuff re: humans on Earth if Megatron was there, rather than off in space. the entire element of what atrocities Megatron committed during the war mostly being towards non-cybertronians by numbers that gets brought up in EC becomes a lot less hypothetical and lot more immediate with Megatron on Earth. i think that's a storyline for Megatron that would have a very ambiguous tone and be a lot more about how other characters feel about him than in MTMTE/LL, where much of the focus comes from his perspective more directly.

i think megatron-prowl would have been a FASCINATING parallel in this context btw. AND megatron-arcee. honestly, i think megatron would have fit into exRiD surprisingly well thematically. arcee, prowl and megatron in IDW all represent different questions about surprisingly similar themes IMO: culpability, change, agency over your circumstances and actions, and exploitation vs. being explioited. and prowl-megatron especially is very personal, and really brings into focus the 'war left every side with dirty bullshit to deal with', versus arcee having been largely uninvovlved and having a very different outsider perspective, so.

by contrast i feel somewhat less enthusiastic about OP in the LL? partly because I am not sure jro is great at committing to IDW OP as flawed. i won't get too into it here because one day i really want to write meta about it, but the backstory jro fleshed out for OP (the 'one good hero cop' stuff we see first in Chaos Theory and then in Shadowplay, etc) has always been one of the weaker parts of phase two for me. also, I don't think OP fits as well into the themes of MTMTE/LL as megs does for exRiD… there's a lot about what it means to make significance in your life when you have become insignificant, but OP never actually becomes insignificant in IDW. he sort of… tries to, and the issue he has is that he fails. imo anyway.

still, there's definitely some interesting possibilities. for a start, the rodimus-OP stuff would be WILD. the chance to really address some of that Autocracy stuff is so tantalizing, and something there was just never room for anywhere else. likewise the Getaway stuff you mention, especially regarding the MTO subtext coming full bore with the guy who approved that for the autobots right there. OP is not just the guy who has the matrix, he's ALSO the guy who approved the program which created getaway AND the guy who presumably approved it being so… you know. awful and a war crime and all that. (i would totally love a version of events where getaway preys on roddy's insecurities re: OP to depose him, only to turn on roddy himself.)

anyway jkfhjss yeah it's very interesting!! i will say, i didn't mention the starscream-windblade stuff because i genuinely am not sure where i think that would go... mostly because there are kind of two versions of those plots in idw and they have, imo, very different starscreams in particular. barber and scott were kind of telling different stories, especially re: that history with starscream, so... idk.