#it's not canon. the story itself is well written. that's all i'm concerned with

[beevean]

Jimmy the moment Anya opens her mouth to express an opinion or give advice:

Jimmy as he heroically takes responsiblity and sacrifices himself to allow Curly to live on:

Jimmy to Anya after she told him he impregnated her, probably:

And in a reversal, now I want to live in a world where Hector chuckling along to Lenore's tasteless dick jokes (which on principle aren't different than Jimmy joking to Anya about being horny for cartoon horses):

is framed as him fawning to his enslaver to stroke her fragile ego and keep her at bay after she revealed her true nasty colors, much like Anya does after she gets stuck with her increasingly volatile abuser:

I love good writing that can write abuse with nuance and gives depth to an abuser to make them feel like a real person while always making clear how vile they are :)

also i'm giving a big mace to hector and the ship's axe to anya. no particular reason. i just think they'd appreciate it. they are besties in my mind

[carlyraejepsans]

UTY!Flowey, "lore" and how to criticize a fan prequel without being an insufferable pedantic, a guide by Biscia.

(for my muskless fellows, here's a transcript of my thread on Undertale Yellow that I posted on Twitter. enjoy!)

There's this really frustrating attitude in fan spaces i like to call "lorepilling" where people are substantially more concerned with encyclopedic knowledge of details & minutiae (so called "lore") in place of full-text thematic/narrative analysis as if the two are mutually interchangeable.

It's especially common in large franchises and story heavy videogames, and it's like... Are You Treating This Piece Of Art Like A Trivia Battle Or Are You Treating It Like A Story

This is coming from a person who is also deeply autistic about UTDR trivia btw, I'm just saying that when it comes to transformative *stories*, depending on the impact it has on character, themes, and narrative structure... lore is expendable.

Ultimately this is why most of the UTY criticism i see (on twitter specifically) falls flat. What does it matter if "lore" means Flowey couldn't chronologically be there when the justice human fell, as long as the game narratively justified his presence in the story in a compelling way?

The real criticism, in the end, is that it didn't.

He's a plot central, main cast character from the canon returning in a cast of mostly OCs and what does he have to show for it? An admittedly sick boss battle in 1/3 endings, sure but... not much else. He has no significant "presence" in the story, no tie, interaction, or even just... an opinion on the rest of the cast. Which is a huge miss when Flowey's meta role is to be Thee completionist player mirror. He's the OG lorepilled UT fan! He's an opinionated little shit!

This isn't to say that UTY *didn't* engage w/ his metanarrative. When me and @a-town-called-hometown first started playing the game (we were both skeptical of Flowey's inclusion), he immediately said "It would be really cool if they made it so this has been going on for a while and Clover has no idea". Which is precisely what the game did in the neutral ending, and what I will openly say was the most well written & well executed part of this game's story...

...a part we almost didn't see, because the pacifist ending disappointed us so much we lost all will to replay.

To put it in the words of my friend Mel @clowwwnbytes, there's a deafening hollowness to UTY Flowey's motivations & core principles where his guilt towards Chara—and resulting black and white thinking—should be. You're telling me Mr Kill-or-be-killed, "sacrificing yourself to do the right thing is stupid", would stand there after 1000s of failed attempts to make Clover survive, look on as they make the same mistake Asriel he did, and fondly call them friend? Cue the guitar, roll the credits?

He would lose it. Oh my god he would lose his goddamn mind, he would throw the nastiest temper tantrum in the world. Are you serious? How dare you. How DARE you. All this effort, all my patience, and you just let yourself DIE for a few worthless idiots? I should've let you ROT!

*clears throat* sorry got a bit too into character. as i was saying.

I can understand a UT prequel wanting to distance itself from the canon Chara storyline in order to form its own identity, but then turning around and choosing Insane About Chara The Character™ for a sidekick is... far from optimal. In the end, Flowey comes across as underutilized and inconsistent, with a whole lot of wasted potential.

This is an issue I have with UTY's character writing (original AND returning) and story structure as a whole. Lots of inconsistent character arcs, tonal dissonance, overuse of situational sadness... it's an amateurish work, after all, and you can feel it. There's no shame in that.

(Though, there ARE some issues that i take more seriously with its writing, especially when it comes to its two main female characters—Ceroba's lack of narrative agency and depth borders on misogynistic writing imo. But that's a topic for another day)

Over all, UTY was an incredible piece of collaborative transformative work, with gorgeous art and a genuinely incredible OST, which... would have benefited from more experienced writers. But hey, you can only ever learn by trying!

For all it could've been a better story, it certainly did not fail to entertain: both when my friend was playing it, and after in our many discussions of its writing, its faults and how it could've been improved (royal scientist!ceroba character fix you will always be famous. to ME!)

I'm sure this project served as an incredible source of experience for the developers: as individual creators AND as a team. I look forward to their future projects!

but also if i have to see another person say UTY is better than Undertale i might turn into The Jonker.

end of the essay! really couldn't stand any of the pedantic ""criticism"" I'd seen of this fangame so far, so i had to say my piece as someone more versed in analysis. happy to elaborate on anything in the replies or in my inbox!

[alchely]

My Top Gallavich fics

So, under the advice of the lovely @iangallagherisadeadman I've decided to compile a favorites Gallavich fic list along with a brief rec of each, this won't be a strict top 10 cause I'm not gonna torture myself into excluding some of these stories on some made-up self imposed arbitrary rules.

A bunch of disclaimers: most of these fics are long fics, going from 30k words up, I'm not purposefully excluding shorter fics, I have read plenty of them, but they do have a harder time sticking in my head months after reading.

Most of these fics will be explicit, just read the tags on the fic itself if you want to find out more.

Some of these fics don't have links because the authors chose to lock them and as such make them unlinkable, in order to read them you will need to go through the author's page while you're logged in your AO3 account.

This ended up ballooning out of control and is A LOT longer than ten fics, I apologize in advance :p.

YOU'LL NEVER SEE US AGAIN – spoonfulstar - 231k words

Mickey and Ian have been students at Marceline boarding school their whole lives, as their time at the institute draws toward the end they will start to discover many things, about themselves, about each other and about the world they live in.

THIS FIC! I CRIED! The number of fanfiction that are able to make me cry can be counted on a singular hand, the emotional stakes get higher and higher as the story goes on, leading to a beautiful and bittersweet climax.

This story will make you think and feel deeply about topics you'd never think a shameless fic would delve into.

I am obsessed with Mickey in this fic, he and Ian grow up in an environment that could not be more removed from South Side Chicago and yet his personality is still so recognizably and distinctly Mickey.

The story goes very dark at times, and the fic itself could be considered lengthy, but I assure you the author has made sure to not make you feel it. Those 200k words flowed so well the story did not feel long at all.

HELP ME (TEAR DOWN MY REASON) – wehangout - 34k words

Mickey is a detective and Ian becomes a suspect in an investigation except Mickey already knows him because he's his favorite dancer.

This fic falls under the umbrella of fics where “Mickey is so in love with Ian he does something unbelievably crazy”.

Oooh boy, this fic, it's written in second person (yes you've read that right), tbh out of all fics I've read from this author I think this one was the easiest to adjust mentally to the change in perspective.

I loved Mickey’s “love” in this, just… This raw connection to Ian, the perfect cocktail of feelings, I could read that all day long.

IN ANOTHER WORLD – Roryonic - 249k words

Mickey does not get sent to prison at the end of S5, what happens after and how his presence influences future events (mostly Ian, but also every other Gallagher as well as his own family).

As far as I'm concerned this fic is the closest to a perfect S6 and beyond fix-it. The dialogue writing in this story is so close to canon Shameless that I could picture entire scenes in my head with the actors playing the characters, with their body and personality quirks.

Sometimes I find myself describing this fic like it's the actual show's deleted scenes, “Look, Mickey has his own storyline! And Mandy is here! And the existence of Yevgeni does not become a plot hole!”

There are some Mickey lines in this fic that to me are as canon as if they'd been in the show. Absolutely iconic writing.

I love this author so here's a rec of some of their other longfics, however I highly suggest a lot of their other much shorter stuff as well:

BATTLESHIPS AND LOVE BOATS: Ian and Mickey start their “no strings attached” kind of sex relationship a little later than canon but their attraction and love is just as strong. This is a sort of High School AU that turns into a Prison AU that turns into something else and every shift is just as lovely as the next.

YOU SMELL LIKE LOVE: Ian and Mickey are childhood friends, to the point that the rest of the Gallaghers might as well consider Mickey a seventh brother, mmmh, I sure wonder how things will start to change. Look, I never thought I'd love a childhood friends AU for Gallavich yet here I am, if it's good it's good.

ME AND THE DEVIL: Mickey unconsciously calls for a vengeance demon and Ian Gallagher shows up at his door, because Mickey is a stubborn dumbass they fall in love instead. This story has a lot of twists and turns and the premise is only the very beginning of the story. I LOVED it!

THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF IAN GALLAGHER – Shamelessquestions - 309k words

Ian is a dancer in a club, he accidentally gets involved in the affair of a dangerous mafia don, but the true danger is the attraction he and the mafioso’s right hand Mickey feel for each other as soon as they meet.

What. A. Classic. Truly, an unforgettable story, and I don't mean this in hyperbole, I read this story around… 2016/2017 during my second round in the Shameless fandom, then I read countless other fics in a lot of other fandom and yet this story was the only one that my mind retained from back then, to the point that I could still remember some of the finer details as well as the final plot twists when I came back to reread it.

The plot is constructed beautifully and the original characters (part of the Shamelessquestions fanfiction universe, as they come back time and time again in every one of their AU to fulfill their role in the story) are just as vibrant.

What a story, truly.

Favorite original character in this AU: Sal, his downfall is so satisfying and yet so pitiful to read.

TEENAGERS SCARE THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME – Mellow_Yellow - 221k words

Ian finds something scary and calls Mickey for help, even though they had only reconnected that very day after two years of not seeing each other. Together, they get sucked into a situation they weren't at all prepared for. Can they even admit that they're in over their head?

The very beginning of this fic is SO cinematic it grabbed my interest from the very first scene and didn't let go until the end, DO NOT search for spoilers.

The only warning I'll give is that it does deal with a bit of gore and what I'm personally gonna define as slight psychological horror. That's it. Enjoy!

BROKE STRAIGHT BOYS – dancermk - 66k words

Mickey becomes a porn actor for a site where he has to pretend he's straight and not enjoying the copious amount of gay sex he's having on camera, enter Ian, another actor under the same agency and their off the chart physical chemistry.

This story has, needless to say, some really, really good smut. I especially loved their first time together, but every sex scene in this story is seared in my mind.

ETHERIZED AGAINST THE SKY – Snarfle - 213k words

So, I debated whether I should add this fic or not, but I think if there is one fic that will stay in my mind long after this Shameless binge of the past couple of months it's this one, and it should absolutely become one of those fic that everyone in the fandom should read.

After Mickey gets shot by Kash his life takes a completely different direction and he ends up in a group home where, through many difficult times, he turns his life around.

So many iconic moments in this fic, some funny as fuck, some sad, some so absurd that I'm surprised they weren't lifted straight from Shameless, one so gruesome in the very first chapter that I was surprised to have such a visceral feeling from just words on a screen. Yeah, this story will stay with me for a long time.

OLD RULES FOR NEW SIDE PIECES – Shamelessquestions - 217k words

Ian is a Fed and he spots Mickey looking suspicious in an art museum, the mutual attraction is overwhelming, Mickey is not what he seems and Ian is already with someone else, but that's not gonna stop him from pursuing what he and Mickey have.

Putting it as bluntly as I can, this fic made me face the realization that I love cheating fics (if the cheating happens to someone else to bring together the endgame couple). I have already reread this fic twice and I could probably go for another one and not get tired of it, it's that good, and out of all this author's fics it's probably my favorite.

Favorite original characters in this AU: It's a three way tie between Dre, Ivan and Carrie, they're all very captivating in this story.

Other fic from this author I'd recommend cause I really love their style:

LOST IN TRANSLATION: Ian meets a very attractive man while he's in Ukraine who doesn't speak English, a mere language barrier won't stop him from flirting for hours. (adorable)

YOU MAKE ME FEEL HUMAN – Dragona - 66k words

Ian is an assassin, he meets Mickey and thus begins a very sick love story.

To say I'm obsessed with this fic is an understatement, I suggest to everyone to just go read the original author’s own description of the fic, it sets the tone of the story magnificently.

This is an Ian Gallagher that almost resembles Jerome (also played by Cameron in Gotham) but like… a slightly more subdued and saner S1/S2 version of him. I love the layers that get peeled right in front of my eyes, the madness that creeps in a bit more every chapter. I LOVE this story.

DRIED INK - 87k words

This fic combines my two favorite Gallavich-specific tropes, one being ‘Mickey comes back from prison after s6, Ian is with someone else’ and ‘Ian cheats on that someone else for Mickey’

I love the Gallaghers in this and how unsurprised they are at Ian going back to Mickey right away. It's a little jewel of a fic.

Mickey tries SO hard to stop himself and Ian in this but their love is too magnetic, they're irresistible to each other.

THE QUESTION OF NORMAL – blue_newman - 92k words

Ian is a prison counselor, Mickey is in prison, they fall in love and it's beautiful and Ian is incredibly devoted to Mickey in this fic and I fell in love with them both in this.

KINDA RAW – catgrassplantdad - 6k

Quite simply this is my favorite short pwp fic.

Illustrating those “five times” in one night that Mickey references in 11x01.

This fic is so hot, I love it <3

QUATERVOIS – DodgerBear - 51k words

Soldier Mickey gets stationed in the middle of nowhere and meets a farmer called Ian who makes him question everything.

Falling under the same umbrella of “Mickey does something crazy for Ian” fics and this is why it stuck in my mind even if it's been a while since I've read it.

I LOVE this story, their dialogues and everything that happens in it. The setting is lovely and you will fall in love with the description of Ian’s farm.

Other fic by the same author that I also loved:

BURDEN OF PROOF: Cop Mickey gets caught in a legal battle between the two oldest Gallagher brothers, something doesn't feel right though…

THE WORDS HE DOESN'T SAY: Mickey is released before Ian in s10 and has to meet a court-mandated therapist. The story is from the therapist POV and goes AU from the beginning of s10 in that Mickey gets involved back into Yev and Svetlana’s life, the dialogue is, quite obviously, the main attraction of the story and it's really well done. (Also, written in first person).

THE MENAGERIE – CrossMyDNA - 147k words

Ian decides to re-explore his bdsm preferences at The Menagerie where he meets sub extraordinaire Mickey on his very first visit.

Shameless is undoubtedly the fandom that opened my eyes to what bdsm could be back in… approx 2016? When that other popular bdsm fic was still around *ahem*.

So it definitely feels like a sign that coming back into the fandom this fic now exists and is SO GOOD.

Obviously it's very explicit, the smut in this fic is one of the best I've ever read.

The chemistry between Ian and Mickey sizzles off the screen and can absolutely be felt even in moments not of the nsfw variety, absolutely recommended!

MICKEY MILKOVICH’S GUIDE TO FLIRTING – whatwouldmickeydo - 40k words

An s2 “missing moments” between Gallavich, completely canon compliant, all under the pretense that Mickey is following a step by step guide to flirting.

I wish this fic was describing canon moments, not kidding a single bit, I wish I could somehow magically manifest these scenes into existence they're that good and fit that well into canon.

M8TE – gallawitch - 53k words

Omegaverse fic where Ian and Mickey both start using an app and end up matching with each other, even though a connection is made almost instinctively, coming to terms with it with a sound mind will take a bit longer…

Hey,had to have at least one of these on here lol

I love omegaverse and this was everything I wanted from it, couldn't have asked for anything better really <3.

SHACKLED – MyRelapse - 19k words

Ian has a change of heart and he decides that Mickey IS the one he wants, even if he's still in prison, so he keeps in contact and goes through every hoop imaginable to have him back as soon as possible.

Reading this made me so happy like I could burst, love it.

WAITING ON MY OWN TOO LONG – Ride4812 - 266k words

This rec more than any other on this list is what I'm gonna consider self indulgent because it covers the trope I always craved to read in such a satisfying way: Canon AU where Mickey comes back from prison after 8 years, Ian has found someone else but the moment the two meet again they fall back into each other right away.

The series is made up of 4 smaller fics:

One more night

Something more this time

No more lonely nights

Ain't this life so sweet

(I will point out here and nowhere else that the last installment of this series has some segment that probably needed to be re-read a couple more times, but by that point I was too invested, and the quality fluctuates a lot only in certain parts)

The writing style is very direct and to the point, which I love, the smut is very present and written beautifully and most importantly never boring.

Ian is a MESS in this fic and had me Stressed™, mostly cause for some reason I can't handle too much casual depiction of drug abuse and addiction (I know, ironic considering the fandom).

Conflicts and resolutions are never clean cut, they don't necessarily resolve quickly or definitely or the way you probably imagine they should and I find this level of realism very satisfying.

Taking a bit of space here at the end to also rec a couple other Ride4812 fics that I also loved:

COUP DE FOUDRE - A model/photographer AU where Ian and Mickey fall in love the instant they meet and do some crazy things because of that.

HOPE HE MIGHT - A lawyer AU where Ian and Mickey are on opposing sides for the same client, an interesting murder mystery steeped in a religious cult.

Generally I feel like this author is really good at depicting just how unapproachable Mickey can be to anyone that isn't called Ian Gallagher and I eat it up every time.

WHAT THE NIGHT DOES TO THE DAY – andchaos - 9k words

A Gallavich childhood friends AU with a quite original arrangement for the story and the various segments of their lives. Very satisfying read.

RANSOM – BeckyHarvey29 - 112k words

Terry sends his sons to kidnap a Gallagher child to force Frank into paying back the money he owes, unfortunately for him Mickey and his brothers kidnap Ian, and a whole other kind of story unfolds.

Mickey and Ian falling in love in this fic is such a good read. I don't wanna spoil anything of how that or the kidnapping plot goes, since the two are so intertwined. Just know that it will be worth it.

UNDER LOCK AND KEY – Suzy_Queue - 106k words

Ian is assigned the night shift at his new job where he provides spare keys to his fellow college students stuck outside their dorm rooms. To make matters worse his shift coworker is the oh so infamous Mickey Milkovich.

I am magnetized by the way this author writes their pining for each other, their attraction and obsession, how it blooms and unfolds. This fic in particular had me develop a very bad case of tunnel vision, couldn't really turn away until I finished reading it all.

I still haven't read everything this author has to offer, but so far I also loved:

INHUMAN: A mysterious force starts attacking people close to Mickey and it all seems to lead to a mysterious redhead Mickey is oh so coincidentally obsessed with. Very cool paranormal story.

THESE FOOLISH GAMES: Mickey takes over as the boss of the local branch of a trampoline park, where Ian is one of the employees, they annoy each other to no end but what they don't know is that they're secretly texting each other.

IS THERE SOMEWHERE – andchaos - 48k words

Mickey is born with no words on his skin, convinced he's going to live a life of misery cause no one will ever say the words he's destined to hear, he's not a very happy guy. Here comes mute boy Ian who crashes into his life and won't let go.

A classic Soulmate AU, I love that like in a lot of other Gallavich fics their physical connection and compatibility usually comes before their emotional one, it is one aspect that I feel distinguishes their relationship to many other fandom’s ships.

LAST NIGHT AT THE VERONA GRAND HOTEL – the_rat_wins - 27k words

Mickey starts working at an ancient hotel who's supposedly haunted. Mickey doesn't believe in ghost stories, he is much more interested in this one guest he meets at night during his shift.

What a cinematic experience this fic is! Absolutely recommended, the length of it makes it so you can read it in the same time it would take to watch the same story in movie format.

Other fics by the same authors that have impressed me:

FADE THIS ONE TO BLACK: Ian dies of overdose in a pile of snow outside the club, when Mickey finds him there he vows to do anything to get him back.

I don't know why but this fic in particular gives off the vibes of being a pilot for a ya urban fantasy TV series, except we gotta imagine everything that comes after the first episode lol

NO LIE: Ian and Mickey are Soulmates and as such they can't lie to each other. This series is short and sweet and full of feelings, perfect

PARAGRAPHS – pink_ink - 100k words

Ian becomes a reading tutor for ex-convicts, Mickey is among them and Ian starts paying him more and more attention.

This is a story where they meet under very different circumstances and where they've lived slightly different lives compared to canon and yet they're still able to find each other in the end.

Also, sign me up for every fic where Ian has to work just as hard to help Mickey and care for him as the opposite, where Ian's brand of stubbornness is the only way to get through to Mickey.

I'm also adding a couple of ongoing fics, just two to not overwhelm too much.

NONE THE WISER – Loftec - ~218k words

Ian starts visiting Mickey’s diner, it takes a while and yet no time at all to warm up to each other.

I'm captivated by the author's writing style. I love Ian's and Mickey’s relationship. I love how they sort of take their time and yet pine helplessly for each other.

I'm obsessed with the fact that the whole point of the fic doesn't appear until two thirds of the way in cause the diner scenes were just too good to pass up on lol (and I 100% agree with them).

INTRO TO QUANTUM DATING – spoonfulstar - ~563k words

Canon Mickey and Ian meet in University. A college slice of life but drenched in the casual (and not so casual) darkness of canon shameless.

The dark humor in this is fenomenal and left me gasping laughing so many times.

Unexpectedly Ian in this fic is pursuing a linguistics oriented degree, which was what I studied when I tried university, the topics are explained in such an accurate way I have to assume the author studied them themselves and that this story is somewhat a reimagining of their own college experience because if not this would be an absurd amount of accurate research to make.

Reading this fic feels like living through the American college experience from the comfort of my home lol.

As I said before, this author's way of writing does not weight you down even with its length, the story flows perfectly from one scene to the next and before you realize it you've reached the end and you have to accept that 500k words weren't even enough.

Let's end this list with some quick recommendations

WHILE WE'RE MAKING OTHER (PEOPLE'S) PLANS - kyasticlikestea

Mickey is volunteered to organize someone's else's wedding after he managed to salvage his own so well, he'll do it, but his own Southside way.

THIS IS THE ROAD TO RUIN - bricoleur10

Ian and Mickey never go to rob Ned, the story unfolds differently from there. A fix-it with a lot of Gallavich longing , very good smut and some really good dialogue.

HEY, HONEY MINE (I WAS THERE ALL THE TIME) - serveteas

Mickey talks about his crush with Iggy and accidentally pronoun-slips. Short, to the point, funny af and I just really love it. Takes place after their fight at Kash’n Grab in s2.

AGAINST GLASS - AllThatMatters

Ian gets traded from one club to another as a dancer (and more) and ends up in the Milkovich family's club. This is a Mafia!Mickey story with some pretty tight sub-plots, I love his brothers in this.

ONE OF A KIND - fckyeahgallavich

Mickey breaks his finger and it has to be set in the hospital, chaos - of the homophobic kind - ensues. Protective!Ian, I wanna hug Mickey in this.

IAN THE FRIENDLY GHOST - Ravenheart

Ian is haunting an apartment and Mickey starts living in it, Ian is maybe starting to have a crush on him. This isn't angsty!

BLOOD IN, BLEED OUT - brewrosemilk, Whatsastory

Historical AU. Perfectly innocent bystander Ian Gallagher is thrown into the affairs of the Ukrainian Mafia back in 1954, his relationship with Mickey will span decades and he won't remain innocent for long, the mafia can corrupt anyone.

TEENAGE RUNAWAY - sadwhales

Ian comes to live and finish high school with his half siblings on the South Side, he's immediately captivated by a boy sitting under the bleachers, maybe his North Side naivety will catch his attention too.

GARDEN SONG - melwrtiesthings

A glimpse into their lives in their West Side apartment, a lot of initial angst due to a manic episode and then a lot of recovery and healing and learning more about themselves.

[kiame-sama]

For those angry about Malleus' temper and behavior in my AU and are bombarding my ask box about it and even trying to threaten me that it is isn't cannon (except Malleus has a shit ton of canonical yandere tendencies and this is a fucking AU WHICH IS NOT CANON), read the below statements. For those that want the HAE AU intricacies slowly brought up in the story itself, don't read because it may spoil some things I haven't written yet.

Spoilers for chapter 8, 11, and others of the HAE AU

Okay, I'm going to say this as clearly as possible because either I haven't done well enough job hinting at the truth/ it is too early in the story to really get into the meat/ or people really just don't suspend their disbelief to look past surface level and deep-dive into text anymore;

HAE MALLEUS IS YANDERE AND ACTS LIKE IT. All Dragons have yandere tendencies and in my AU they are all canonical yanderes. They have Hoards for a reason and those in the Hoard don't fight for that same reason. Malleus' Hoard is beholden to Malleus because 'Survival of the Fittest' is the main ruler of the HAE AU. Malleus is barely into adulthood in terms of Dragons and is already leaps and bounds above the rest in terms of skill, strength, and ability. He IS the fittest as far as NRC and the Hoard are concerned, there is a reason only those stronger than him or those he values can direct him to do anything without direct retaliation. They all have their primary animalistic instincts despite claiming to be above them because they all evolved hand in hand with their instincts and magic.

Malleus is instinctually programed to be yandere and that includes being yandere over his Hoard as well. Silver, Sebek, and Lilia all know the rules of the Hoard because they have all been in Malleus' Hoard for an extended period of time, that is why they go straight to Malleus when they are presented with certain behavior from the Human.

The Human is new to the Hoard and knows next to none of the inherent rules that come with being in a Hoard to a Dragon like Malleus. This is why the Human won't go straight to Malleus if propositioned by any of the NRC guys because they have no idea that is a rule Hoard members need to follow. They are learning the rules slowly and beginning to realize the rules are for the Hoard's safety from the inherent yandere behavior as well as the Dragon's safety of staying sane. The Human is only JUST NOW realizing that these monster men are unhealthy in their growing obsessions and that there is a genuine obsessive drive to behave this way BECAUSE OF THE HUMAN. Now, this is by no fault of the Human- it is a result of their own natural ability among monsters- but their simple presence among these monster-men is making it worse.

Overblot is a result of magic waste and negative emotions, in my AU, the yandere emotions and tendencies they feel are a direct contributor to Overblotting.

Riddle- who was NOT yandere before meeting the Human- was quickly consumed by the yandere behavior because he was not used to the feeling of such poisonous possessiveness and it overtook him the moment he thought he was losing what was never his.

Malleus got closest to Overblotting when he thought Leona killed the Human. Grim interrupting and revealing the Human is still alive was enough to break through that rage and make Malleus take the reigns once more over his behavior. His yandere tendencies were reaching a fever pitch because he believed he lost what he sees as his most precious belonging; the Human. He is instinctually programed to view others as belongings, he is a Dragon, he has no choice. The only way Malleus can Overblot in this AU is the genuine belief his Human, Lilia, or the entirety of his Hoard is dead. His Hoard is who he has chosen to obsess over, because instinct dictates that he needs to obsess. The Hoard allows him to let these yandere tendencies breathe in a way that- isn't really healthy for anyone, but healthier for him- prevents a catastrophic meltdown response from Malleus. He could theoretically lose Silver or Sebek from the Hoard because his two crown jewels- The Human and Lilia- are still there. Sebek and Silver are Jewels, but not the Crown Jewels of the Hoard. Losing Lilia would be devastating to Malleus, but he could pull through without an Overblot so long as he has the Human and his two retainers to calm him and soothe that yandere ache. Losing the Human will invariably result in an Overblot even with Lilia, Sebek, and Silver still present because the Human is Malleus' chosen greatest treasure. The coup de grâce for his Hoard and his chosen Crown Jewel that embodies his Hoard is the Human. Lilia is a Jewel in the crown, but not the main Jewel.

Many of the NRC guys are not inherently yandere, they are becoming yandere. Through a mixture of scarcity (only one Human) and literal addiction (Humans are more addictive to the monster men than Meth), the NRC guys are unwillingly falling into yandere patterns without realizing it. Malleus was already Yandere before the addiction to the Human set in, he can parlay with his Yandere behavior better than the others because he is used to it. He is used to it becuase the yandere behavior is already a core part of his instincts.

Those who are not yandere and have no yandere tendencies are more susceptible to overblotting because of that yandere factor slowly consuming them. Riddle crashed out after a few days under the stress of his newly formed addiction. Kalim is in big trouble because he is a genuinely good guy and doesn't naturally have those yandere instincts. Those who are new to these yandere tendencies are doomed to be consumed by them if they aren't able to keep themselves above their own primal hunger and addiction.

Those who are turning yandere are doing so based on the time they spend with the Human. The more time spent, the further they fall. Those who were already yandere can play their yandere behavior because they are mostly used to it, but the more time they spend with the Human, the worse it gets.

Silver and Sebek were not yandere from the start, they are getting there and they understand now why Malleus is the way he is. Lilia already had those tendencies long before he even got to hold a baby Malleus on top of having already spent time among Humans, he is willingly sauntering downwards into his addiction and obsession. By staying with Malleus, Lilia knows he is more likely to get his hands on the Human Malleus has claimed as a Hoard member. Malleus won't fight sharing, but he refuses to be cut out entirely. Lilia is playing him for this reason and because he ultimately cares about Malleus.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

thoughts on the hp epilogue? i kinda hate it and don't really consider it canon but im curious what your opinion is.

I'm not a fan, I usually disregard it.

There are things I don't like about the epilogue and things I don't mind. My dislikes range from the usual suspects like Harry naming his son "Albus Severus" to some deeper things actually.

This ended up a bit long, so I'll add a read more here.

So, I'm going to divide this into two parts, things written in the epilogue itself, and the supposedly canon future of the characters that bother me, but technically it's not in the books and therefore easier to ignore.

Thoughts about the epilogue itself:

I actually don't mind the character dynamics between the golden trio in the epilogue, I actually like some of them (like Ron's comments about his muggle driver's test). I like Neville becoming an Herbology professor as well.

Now, for what I don't like...

The existence of the epilogue as a whole bothers me. I don't feel like the books necessarily needed one, at least not one like this. I would've preferred it to end on a hopeful note of rebuilding and changing house stereotypes and muggleborn treatment so there won't be another Voldemort. Not just jump 19 years later to show a society that didn't change any of its inherent problems (more on that in the next section). But the fact Albus is concerned about being sorted into Slytherin shows me nothing changed. House prejudice is still rampant, and the wizarding world still gawks at Harry. Ron mentions casting spells in broad daylight on a muggle for his driver's exam, so clearly muggles and the Statue of Secrecy are still a joke. It's like, complete and utter stagnation.

I also, don't actually want to see the second generation in canon. This is one of those things I think is better off to leave for fan spaces. The whole epilogue feels like a weird fanfic, it doesn't feel like a part of the books. It's even written in a different POV, that same third-person omnipotent that appears in the first chapter of books 1, 4, and 6. It just feels outside the books, I don't know how else to put it. It took me out of the story instead of leaving me satisfied with the ending.

I made it no secret I hate Dumbledore, so having Harry name his son after the two men who made his life hell, as much if not more than the Dursleys, just... it's just really gross. I hate thinking about it even.

I'm not the biggest fan of the names Hugo and Rose either, but that's my personal opinion.

The final problem I have with the epilogue itself is more subjective than the others, but also the most glaring for me, and that's Harry and Ginny. I just really didn't like them as a couple for multiple reasons that I want to make a whole post about actually (it's in the drafts, I'm working on it). But I didn't like the fact Harry married Ginny, I just really don't like them together. It's more of a me thing, and I'm sure fans who ship them together don't mind this, hence why I saved it for last, but it does bother me quite a bit.

And it's not that I dislike all of JK's canon pairings. I like Ron and Hermione, Bill and Fleur, Remus and Tonks, James and Lily — I like all of them well enough. It's Harry and Ginny that I have a problem with.

Thoughts about things JK said about the characters' futures (cursed child and Pottermore and a bit of the epilogue):

I don't like the Harry's and Hermione's careers, I think they are a disservice to the characters.

I go into more detail below about why the Ministry of Magic really really sucks, but with how the final books (5 and afterward) are all about how bad and corrupt the ministry is, it sits really wrong for me than Harry and Hermione go to work there.

And like, with as much as Harry is good in DADA and likes it, I don't think he'll actually enjoy being an Auror. Being an auror is more than just fighting dark wizards. It's filling out paperwork, dealing with bureaucracy, and having to obey his boss. Harry can't obey anyone, I can't see him working well in a hierarchical system that supports authority, it's the antithesis of a character who could resist the imperious curse on his first try because of how much he hates obeying. Personally, I think Harry should've removed the DADA teacher's curse and stayed at Hogwarts. Like, I see him as a DADA professor who often joins Aurors as, like, a special advisor or something. It'll give him more freedom and I think he'll like working with students and staying at Hogwarts.

As for Hermione, yes, she had SPEW, and I definitely think she would spend her life trying to improve creature rights, I just can't really see her becoming a minister. Hermione isn't about strategy (that was Ron), and she isn't about leading (that was Harry). Hermione is compassionate, and I do, as I mentioned, expect her to work for creature rights and improve the state of muggleborns in their society. But she's also a need, who loves reading and studying, I kinda feel she'd be more at home as an unspeakable rather than the minister. She just isn't a politician. Think about them breaking into Gringotts where she literally couldn't lie to save their lives.

Ron, I kinda like the idea of him trying to be an Auror and leaving after two years (honestly, Harry could have done the same and I would've been more willing to accept it). And I don't mind the idea of him helping George at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, I understand why he'll want to do it. Both to get out of the limelight, to help George with Fred's loss that they all share (tbh I'm in denial about that), and the chill environment probably would be good for him after the war. I think Ron will have fun in such a profession, honestly. He's the only one where I can kinda see it.

I don't like the way the Wizarding World is portrayed in the epilogue as I mentioned above — like nothing changed.

In the final books in the series (but actually, we see hints of this in books 2 and 3 already) the ministry is repeatedly portrayed as corrupt and inherently discriminatory — both towards magical creatures and muggleborns.

I don't think I need to discuss House Elves and werewolves too much, as the books state the problems in the ministry’s treatment of these groups quite plainly. But what the books don't mention as much is how hard muggleborns who wish to stay in the Wizarding World have it.

While there are private professions like shop owners, broom makers, Quidditch players, authors, and such, most jobs in the Wizarding World are in the ministry. And you can't get a job in the ministry unless you have connections in the ministry. They run on nepotism and who-knows-who and not merit. This places all muggleborns, even ones like Hermione (if she wasn't a war hero) at a disadvantage when searching for a job after Hogwarts.

We see it with Tom Riddle (12 NEWTs, all O's, prefect, and head boy). Yes, Slughorn pulled some strings to get him job offers, but he preferred to work at Borgin and Butkes over the lowly ministry positions they were willing to give a muggleborn who got a recommendation! What do you think happens to the muggleborns without a close relationship with Slughorn or to students who were quiet but still got solid Os and Es. And we don't know if other teachers recommend students to the ministry.

And that's before I talk about how muggleborns are introduced to magic, which is abhorrent. Or the lack of care towards child abuse (cases like Harry, Voldemort, and Snape come to mind). Or wizards' condescension towards everything muggle. Even Arthur Weasley, who supposedly loves muggles, is incredibly condescending towards muggles and ill-informed about them.

This outlook on muggles is why the Statue of Secrecy is a joke. I mean, book 1 opens with Vernon seeing weird people in colorful cloaks celebrating Voldemort’s downfall. They have no subtlety. considering Ron confounded the examiner on his driver's test and Harry and his family walked with owls in a muggle train station, this didn't get better either...

Sorry for my rant about the ministry, but all this is to say, I don't like the idea of Harry and Hermione working in such a corrupt system that they both witnessed the damage of firsthand. And even if they did work there, I kinda expected them to change it. To actually put in the effort to improve the damaged system they had, and JK mentioned they did. But in the epilogue and any other material we see no signs of this improvement. Everything is still corrupt and running on connections and favors. Otherwise, Albus Potter wouldn't be scared of being sorted into Slytherin, that fact alone means the prejudices that are a huge problem in their world still exist.

The ministry's corruption was such a big plot point in the final books that it feels weird to me that it isn't addressed in any way in the epilogue itself. I mean, the reason Voldemort rose to power as easily as he did was because the ministry and their society were built to allow it.

My ideal epilogue will take place maybe a few months after the war, it'll show them rebuilding, and being hopeful for a future that'll now exist. Stop the house rivalries that do more damage than good and cease the discrimination against muggleborns and creatures, or at least take the first steps towards something better. And it'll show the couples together and the golden trio's friendship, but no second-generation stuff. I feel that wasn't necessary to get the point across. Which I don't feel it did. Like, it gave me the wrong kind of catharsis that I wasn't looking for, if that makes any sense. It just gave me answers to questions I didn't ask.

Tldr;

Sorry for my rambling, the epilogue and anything stated after the books isn't really canon in my head.

[grimalkinmessor]

AFO keeps all the OFA users corpses AU but while he has the others bodies in the nomu tank he keeps yoichi's body in his bedroom💀(but anon! Why does afo have all the other users bodies in a tank but yoichi's in his bed?!) Cuz their corpses don't deserve comfort and shall be turned into disfigured nomus!! Yoichi... eh, he's a difficult case. Let's just say afo nomufied his body to an extent where it can't rot. Kinda like a "living" doll without the soul or he found a very powerful meta early on that somehow allowed him to preserve yoichi's corpse very well(shush this is an au, not canon where his body was blown to pieces😭) uh I'm going to you for this cuz ur afofa stories are very good and I wanna know your opinions, thoughts and own story forming ideas if you were the one doing this au of afo just treating yoichi's stasised corpse as a precious doll/ or him being like "haha, my little brother is just in an eternal coma, he's not dead, just sleeping and that pesky all might has his soul somewhere that I just need to get to wake him up haha awww🥺look at him he's so adorable when he's SLEEPING" anyway I just wanna know how you'll do about this with afos creep factor n stuff

Okay that last bit made me laugh XD

Garaki, watching AFO cradle Yoichi's corpse to his chest as he works: Uh—

Takashi: He's resting :)

Though tbh Anon, I'm more concerned with the fact that he's got the OTHER holders' bodies than I am that he's got Yoichi's—because of course he has Yoichi's. The man's got Brocon written in neon across his forehead why WOULDN'T he?? We all know what he's doing with it 😭

For how I'd write it though,,,,,eehh I probably wouldn't?? Just because most of my focus is usually on Yoichi, how he thinks and feels and what he goes through and commits, and in an AU where he's just a corpse, well, I guess I just wouldn't be able to hold the premise long enough to do something interesting with it. You might get a necro oneshot out of me at best, maybe a literal corpse bride wedding that AFO forces all his minions to attend (+ drags the nomu OFA corpses to out of spite), but other than that I got nothing 😅 Nothing long term anyway. I'd read it if someone else wrote it though! I definitely like the premise itself! :D

[whoslaurapalmer]

asoue but one of the lemonberry ice (your choice) dies before the fire

Kam Why Would You Break My Heart Like This!!!!!

it's not that i intended to pick lemony but lemony was the one i immediately had a thought for and i don't know if i have the thoughts to re-puzzle canon together with the absence of bea or bertrand before the fire, SO

well, right off the bat, the books aren't written. barely anyone knows he's really truly dead because they think he's already been dead for some time. lemony is not alive to set the story straight, he's not alive to mourn and remember his friends, he's not alive to help clear his name, he's not alive to reveal secrets about vfd. he's not alive to help babybea reunite with the baudelaires post-canon.

i think canon is different. i have an idea of how it goes but i am concerned it is, assuming too much about certain points. but. i think, if lemony dies for real before the fire, the kids are taken by vfd.

-we know the kids have been photographed (the end pg 107-108, carnivorous carnival pg 141). we know vfd photographs children before they are taken (unauto). we don't know the intended recipient of the photograph, but we know a 'quick-thinking waitress' shenanigans the photograph from being served in the restaurant and into the alley, where lemony is waiting. i think we can say the kids are being watched by vfd (by some form, some faction, of vfd) and that lemony intercepts this particular photograph taken of them. -what we don't know is why the kids weren't taken anytime before the start of the series. -we all also have different ideas of how involved b+b were in vfd after their marriage, but that passage from the end also reveals that beatrice is still involved in vfd work in some way, so let's say b+b were, at the least, Minorly Involved In Fragmentary Plot Machinations, But Definitely At A Distance From The Rest Of VFD. -maybe b+b are the buffer between vfd and their children. -or maybe it was lemony. -maybe vfd has still been watching the kids this whole entire time, just waiting. -maybe lemony has been, when he can, protecting the children from vfd and intercepting a majority of vfd's surveillance of them. -in canon, dewey suggests that the children were taken, just by olaf instead of vfd (penultimate peril pg 178-184). -and if lemony isn't there to intercept vfd's surveillance, maybe here they are taken by vfd instead of olaf.

-do the baudelaires still go to the guardians? hmmmm. -you can make a case that they could still meet monty, re: the debate about if peru was vfd-related, if monty's herpetological society involvement itself connects to vfd -but while we know josephine is in vfd, i have a harder time making a case that she's still involved in vfd at this point in canon. ike's death has shattered her in a way that i think she's hiding not just from the world but from vfd. -but the idea that vfd is shuffling them between the guardians like chaperones...........i DO like that (-mr poe, in the background, constantly trying to find these kids and just narrowly missing them every single time as vfd moves them around: my goodness, this is a problem.) -i don't think this means the kids are immediately like pro-vfd either though, like i think especially going into it when they're older, with sunny, keeps their 'is this a good organization?' moral wondering, even if they might have access to a little more information. -but i also like the idea of kit being their chaperone. -and they would definitely meet jacques as well -- he wouldn't be searching for them. -olaf, though, is definitely still after the kids, and it might even be easier for him to get closer to them, bc he knows how vfd works and the kids are in vfd. maybe even more deaths, bc olaf has Had It with vfd's involvement -oh, some disguise shenanigans, though. they're all using THE SAME DAMN DISGUISE KIT.

-how does it end..................... -i think penultimate peril is even more of a climax. even more, uh, peril. i'm not sure how though.

[lighthouseborn]

If you could sum up your character with one sentence, what would it be?

Canon Questionnaire

Unpopular(?) opinion but I actually think this is an impossible task for any writer with any character — any character with even ankle deep depth, that isn't a function character, anyway.

Like you could describe function characters (the cabbage man from ATLA, Lt. Scarfield and the witch Shansa from DMTNT) with this method, because their identities are actually plot functions as far as the story being told is concerned. Sure they have names, sometimes, but even then they're likely to be there more to further something along than to have their inner worlds mapped out. (Pintel and Ragetti wobble on this line; they're almost one-sentence characters, but little bits poke through anyway). If a character is actually a part of things, has goals, gets to express nuance etc., I don't think it can be done. Or rather I think it can be done but it will always be an incomplete image. I know that's kind of the point, to cut to the 'most important' parts but I really think.. all the parts are important? Real people will have entire swathes of similarities and what makes them distinctly who they are is the little parts. I think people who lean on single-sentence type identifiers too hard end up losing sight of their characters anyway, in a different direction than what happens when they close their eyes to canon. Single sentencing too hard leads directly to flanderization. If they started flat to begin with, and don't need to be anything else, it's fine! If not, be careful.

With that in mind, I think the closest you can possibly get to a single-sentence for Henry is to simply take him at his own self evaluation (which the fact it was him who said it is in itself is an important part of things–), which is to say: “I'lll never stop, and if you throw me over, I'll come straight back.” This leaves a bunch of other things out but it does, also, cut to a really core drive of him, at any rate — a piece you couldn't remove without completely undoing the character. Arguably he doesn't have to be a storyteller, or even technically a pirate, but he does have to be confident, and persistent, and bold. And he has to be kind as well, and earnest; willing to listen, and to start causing problems if other people aren't listening, aren't paying attention. He has to be prepared to break things in order to fix them. (Running away to bring his family together; defying chain of command to (attempt to) prevent deaths.) He has to love so hard, all the way into it being a flaw. You take those and you've just... invented a different kid you're calling Henry. (Which, if you are just writing a different Henry, go ham! Do whatever! If you're calling him Henry though I feel like DMTNT should at least be on your radar a little bit though, and if you want to ignore it exists then maybe. Don't call him Henry. But that's a big fat fandom opinion on things that don't actually have any consequences or fallout s;dflkjg;wlrtkjg;sldkjfg) He cannot be resentful toward Will for his absence, I don't think. You'd have to be really really good at toeing a line for that one to work (and me personally I think that veers too far into just rehashing Will himself, which is boring. Parallels don't have to be carbon copies tyvm, let him love wildly and without anyone having had to 'earn' it.) And obviously I'm devolving into many many more than one sentence but I do think a lot of that that I just said can be, in some way, linked to his "I'll come straight back" which is why I think it's probably the closest a person can get to one-sentence'ing him. Or as close as I can get anyway, but I'm bad at it. (Kind of on purpose.)

For the ways I've written him I think the little epithets given at the top of the source material/divergences section of his bio page are also a good centering place? "Son of the Pirate King. Blood of a Turner, feathers of a Sparrow." It's more ... poetic? Ambiguous? Than a direct description, but nevertheless it tells you where I've focused him, what I'm pulling into it. Good short description only in that it evokes the entire complex history of three other characters that came before him in order to even get him on the page!

[ooops-i-arted]

I'm relieved to see that at least some other Star Wars fans are as sick of Ahsoka Tano as I am. Do you think there'll ever be a point where Dave Filoni will ever get rid of the annoying orange for good? With him literally breaking the space contiuum to save her from what would have been a fitting end for her character, I think it's doubtful.

No, not as long as he's in charge of Star Wars and as long as the majority keeps eating up his version of Star Wars. Everything he touches has to be part of his Ahsoka & TCW Extended Universe. (I'll spare you an essay on how much anxiety I have over Mandalorian season 3 just being another season of Din being pingponged between Filoni's favorite plot arcs instead of the story being about him and Grogu. I miss the freshness of season 1 so much, with all its new planets and characters I fell in love with, just being consumed by TCW plots/characters. Bo-Katan & the potential of the Mandalore storyline excite me but I am just so worried it'll be about what Filoni cares about rather than what's best for the story and Din's arc.)

Ahsoka won't die unless Filoni comes up with what, to him, is an epic and worthy death (probably where she saves the galaxy, stops Order 66, and can live happily ever after in an alternate universe with Anakin forever; Padme and her importance to Anakin are completely ignored, of course) and even then he'll just go back and write EVEN MORE fanfic about her life like more Tales of the Jedi stuff about her past, or a whole What If series focused on her, or something else equally ridiculous. Imo he's basically a fanfic writer promoted to canon and he's gonna make all of us look at his sooper speshul awesome OC until the end of time.

Not intended as a diss on fanfic writers or anything, just that his attitude is the same I had when working on my super amazing powerful perfect Jedi OC when I was eleven. Which was great! I loved it! I had so much fun! But I was eleven. I have higher quality writing now. Like, No Prison Can Hold was just the adult version of me playing with my action figures, but I still wanted to tell a story with a beginning/middle/end, have a character arc for Din, and keep all characters aligned with canon once I decided it was a story that should be that way (and in fanfic you don't have to do that! in canon you do!). If I wrote like Filoni, Din would be rescued by my super amazing Jedi OC from childhood, she would hold his hand and lead him through the whole rescue and always be right, and the climax would be how SHE felt about Din and Grogu's reunion. It would be a much less satisfying and well-written story if I sacrificed the story itself at the altar of my favorite OC.

Tl;dr I have Concerns about the writing quality and I see Ahsoka as the canary in the coal mine for it. Especially after Book of Boba Fett, where Din was the Super Special OC taking over the show (Din is just a more balanced character, he has flaws and doubts and a more realistic skill level; 14 year old Din wasn't beating General Grievous for example), but of course we had to shove Ahsoka in there too, and Cad Bane to finish an arc THAT WAS NEVER EVEN IN TCW AND I NEVER WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT WITHOUT TUMBLR, so I'm guessing the average audience member didn't know about it, and DIN AND GROGU ARE REUNITED IN NOT EVEN THEIR OWN SHOW, a HUGE moment and like ten minutes after being separated which was a big deal so it doesn't even feel earned, like this was a travesty of writing. Ahsoka is just one of the more obvious symptoms of writing whatever you want instead of planning a coherent arc and caring more about connecting your show to another show instead of focusing on your main character and making the story actually about them.

....I guess you got an essay after all. Oops. Like I said I have strong feelings on this. If I, a fanfic writer with a full time job on my hands (being paid WAY less than Filoni, I assume), can make the time to write with consistency and character arcs and focusing on the main character and all that, surely Filoni should be able to when it is literally his job.

[pqrachel]

Steph's Story

I just finished reading the new Life is Strange book, Steph's Story. (Even got my copy signed by Rosiee and Katy through streamily.) I really liked the book especially the beginning. The end seemed less like an actual ending of a story though. Which is fine I'm obv gonna play Wavelengths and True Colors again and see how it continues if it flows nicely. But I did want to talk about the book itself before I did that. Spoilers ahead...

First of all, I was not expecting such good music recs from a book, but Life is Strange always hits with its music choices. The overall story was really good and kept me wanting to read more, it wasn't a typical battle of the bands story but it was still tropey enough to be fun. Izzie being trans was an amazing surprise and I genuinely almost cried at how that was handled so neatly, but yet wasn't the focal point. It's not Izzie's story after all. But it was still handled well and I appreciate it. Getting more of Gabe at the end of the book is so great and it's gonna make his death in the True Colors replay hurt even more. And Gabe was the only returning character that was in the book, the High Seas band from the comic were a huge part and I loved seeing more of them. Even the nods to Chloe, Max, and other characters of Steph's past were fun. But bigger than all of that Steph dealing with her grief of Arcadia Bay and the storm that happened following the first game was very well-written and I loved it so much. But overall I loved the book and I recommend it mostly to fans of Life is Strange, but it's still a good book in its own right and could be a good read to non-fans as well.

Okay just finished my replay of Wavelengths and it blends perfectly from the book. I originally assumed the book was written after True Colors like how Farewell was written after the first Life is Strange but that can't be the case. Everything lined up so nicely, matching texts, actually voiced lines recalled from what happened in the book, and all the dates seemed to be correct and canonical. And getting to both see and hear Izzie in canon was cool too. I'm not sure if it lines up the same if you tell Wavelengths you Saved Arcadia Bay instead of Chloe which would contradict some of the book, but that's a non-issue for me because the book follows Bae>Bay like I did. Still excited to play True Colors again but I think I got my answer on how the book fits into canon. Which as far as I'm concerned is more canon than Farewell. (Not to say Farewell isn't canon there's just a lot of inconsistencies in it that suggest it's not entirely accurate.)

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

The thing people rarely caught was that Sawyer could, in fact, slow his break neck pace at which he did most things. But why would he? His heart might stop.

Hm... the one point in this that doesn't ring true is "his heart might stop" -- it was the heart in question, after all. I think there might be a deeper, subtler version of this I didn't catch.

The other issue here is that if you're going to apply this to Homestuck, you'd have to decide what it means for a heartbeat to "stop," here -- which I suspect isn't something you can say, exactly. Even if you are perfectly in sync with the "normal" pace of a heartbeat, every moment of time is actually "a heartbeat," in the sense that (ignoring things like the period of time in which blood must flow to the lungs) it's some fraction of a single heartbeat.

Now this is a perfectly fine argument to make against a certain kind of Homestuck skepticism! But I don't think it applies very well to the sort of Homestuck skepticism I endorse. I think what really makes me suspicious of Homestuck is that it's a work which appears to be structured in a certain way -- a way which might be seen as "unusually" close to ordinary life (compare to novels that more deliberately use some other type of narration, such as science fiction -- see my recent post about Nabokov), but which is also "unusually" complex in a kind of way that is hard to specify and might not correspond to a single characteristic of ordinary life.

For one, it has a very complicated plot, which requires you to do a lot of mental work (compare: e.g. this quote about The Bell Jar, a work whose plot is similar, albeit less complicated). (Some of this plot has to do with the characters, who are complicated not just through their individual actions but through the fact that they are the characters of the novel, and also through their interactions with each other).

For another, there is a pervasive sense that Homestuck is telling a series of stories of its own devising, rather than using the conventions of a single well-known story. This gives rise to moments when you are unsure if the story you are reading is going to turn out to be one of Homestuck's own, rather than one of a standard kind.

Homestuck has a complicated plot. It has to have a complicated plot, for similar reasons, I suspect, that the more complicated a novel is, the harder it will be for any single reader to completely understand everything that happens in it.

Homestuck presents itself as "an ordinary story" which, unlike ordinary stories, has lots of different plot threads intertwined together. But how do we know that it's an "ordinary" story? Because the characters are all named after authors of well-known novels? This is a standard, "conventionally" (?) named character convention in the literary canon.

It's hard to see what would make "ordinary" a character- or plot-dependent property, rather than something inherent to the structure of literature as a genre. What makes a work literary is the kind of complex stuff that we're talking about above -- plots, characterizations, etc. -- not the way it's structured (e.g. as a novel, or as a play, or as an epic poem, or whatever). A novel "looks like a novel" because it does that -- that is what makes a novel a novel, according to the way I'm thinking of things. If a work were to present itself as a novel or a novel-ish thing, this would be a distinct mark that its author (say) was interested in presenting his own fiction as "non-genre" in some sense. The fact that a novel looks like a novel is something the work itself does not say.

If a work were to say "I was a novel written by an author who was very specifically concerned to make this a "non-genre" thing," that might make more sense. But the fact that it is a novel is itself a distinctive mark of the way it differs from something that "looks like a novel," and in fact this is what makes the novel "a novel." If you take away all the aspects which mark a novel as being a novel, and just leave "the novel aspect itself," you still get something which "looks like a novel," but isn't one. So to the extent that a novel seems like a novel, is like a novel, and is a novel, the novel aspect is the relevant thing.

Now to be more clear about my recent post -- the quote from The Bell Jar isn't just about "the plot," it also seems to me to be about "the structure of the book." A "simple" novel is not at all like the structure of a Homestuck epilogue, but still might still be well-structured.

Now this may seem nitpicky, I admit. It's probably true that there is no "univocal" definition of "genre" available, so that anything that presents itself as something distinct from a genre will have some distinctive marks of its own.

But it seems like it's not a bad first approximation, all the same, to define "genre" as "a work which uses a well-known set of conventions." This includes, most obviously, the kind of novel, or play, or epic poem whose conventions we normally distinguish from "genre." But it also includes less obvious things (like the fact that many modern novels are written in "genre"), and the fact that a well-known series of conventions -- not just a specific novel or other work -- can in some ways be considered a "genre" is itself another reason to draw the distinction.

The "thing" the novel "is a novel is itself a thing, rather than something the author contributes to the work which looks like a novel."

There are also moments when people talk about "genre conventions" in the "conventional" sense, i.e. the sort of novel, play, epic, etc. that has such conventions. (The novel by Mark Twain that he mentions here is A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court). This is not an entirely coherent notion, either. It seems like there's a sort of "default" notion of "genre" available, e.g. the "genre of novel," which is the most "standard" kind of novel, and which could serve as a prototype of any other novel as well as any other "genre" (say, the "genre of epic poem" or "the genre of play" in the way we might say "the genre of Cabaret").

But some novels don't fit well into any standard "genre." E.

[jojotier]

because like on the surface, that kinda seems like the same thing doesn't it? the narrative is only the way it is Because Of The Writers. writers are the way that they are because they are Making A Narrative. it's a real chicken and the egg conundrum

but the thing about a good narrative is that it's hard to see the hand of god. in homestuck canon, even in those instances where hussie's self insert would appear, it rarely made it seem like the worldbuilding of Homestuck as a comic was a result of it being written, yknow? the story exists in a bubble all to itself, with its own rules and logic that (while getting bent 20 ways to Sunday by the tail end of act 6) generally for the most part stayed self contained. you dont see the guts of writing craft of exposition when you read Nannasprite explaining sburb- you see Nannasprite using a timely metaphor with graphics that gives you the reader insight into the world in an organic way, since this is also info John is learning about

like this isn't to say that homestuck didn't have a host of problems- just that in the grand scheme of its overarching story, the loose plot threads and unfinished character arcs could be allowed loose without destroying the structural integrity of the story itself. homestuck is an imperfect story, but it is still a Narrative

post canon on the other hand stand in a strange grey space. in a lot of ways, the ""narrative"" it's trying to tell seems unguided and patchy, which, on its surface, isn't necessarily a Bad Thing. if the dubious canon pieces of post-canon are meant to be a commentary on a "Post-Narrative", there are worse things you can do when trying to explore the duality of "happily never ever" and "oh shit there still needs to be plot or else we have no purpose".

the thing is you can see the hand of God everywhere in post-canon Homestuck media. it's in every baffling character flanderization you see (why is Jane Crocker suddenly a racist fascist? we needed a villain comparable to Condy. what, metanarratively, is the purpose of making Dirk's Ultimate Self inherently evil or to make him presume that becoming his Ultimate Self will make him evil? well, we needed a universal threat too, right?) and in every unexplored worldbuilding avenue (why is Earth C so humanocentric in the first place? trolls are part of their pantheon, are they not? and why are ultimate selves so poorly explained-) and contrived drama (I'm sorry but in what world is secretly cheating on your wife to give your friend a kid preferable to, I don't know, JUST AGREEING TO BE A SURROGATE MOTHER AND TELLING YOUR WIFE OR TO FIND A SURROGATE MOTHER HELLO-). you cannot escape the hand of God

and like, perhaps this is by design. post-homestuck material is "dubiously canon"- you could make the argument that it showing us the storytelling wires are kind of the point. if there's exposition delivered somewhat unnaturally, maybe the intention is for the story to point at it and go, see! that wasn't quite right! isn't this all a farce? but like. the argument can only take you so far. it's not exactly a good anatomy lesson if the cadaver you put in front of me has an internal bodily structure made out of beef flavored sponge cake, y'know?

in a lot of ways, I feel like the original comic was more concerned with telling a story to an audience. a good chunk of post-canon content feels more like it's trying to Say Something Clever.

the difference between homestuck and the epilogues/post-canon is that homestuck is about being doomed by the narrative but the epilogues and post-canon is about being doomed by the writers

[ghostcaterwaul]

For the "Weird Questions for Writers": 1, 17, 18, 19 ^-^ (Again, I know I'm a bit late, but if you still wanna do these~)

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

Arial, because it’s the default font and if I tried to pick another one, I’d probably just spend hours trying to decide on which one to use and never get any writing done. Lol.

(The rest of this post is long so I'm going to put it under a read more thingy.)

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Okay, so, I’m so not happy with the overall like, plot or whatever at this point. It sounded like a great idea while outlining but now I’m not so sure. I think Alice just doesn’t fit as well with the canon characters as I hoped she would, since she wasn’t made as a fan character or anything like that. I only started writing it because I was super excited to have such a new OC that was so developed and I really wanted to write about her but didn’t really have a story or anything and I’m currently hyperfixating on Metal Lords, so I figured putting her in a Metal Lords fic would make sense because I’d be motivated to write it but I’m not sure it’s working out and I’m lowkey annoyed. So, yeah, this is all subject to change and I have no idea what’s going to make it into the final story, especially since I’m having a hard time getting things from outline to draft, but anyways, here’s what I’ve got so far!

The outline of events I have written down starts before the movie, then there’s a few things during the movie and afterwards too (I haven’t written anything in like, 2-3 years, so I felt like using the movie as like, a blueprint for the outline would be the least stressful way to jump back into writing.) I’m thinking of either telling the whole thing in, like, disjointed scenes or in a sort of flashback format where the fic itself would start after Metal Lords, but have Alice recall different memories throughout the fic.

Alice meets Emily before the events of Metal Lords actually happens because they start at Glenwood Lake High on the same day after Alice and her mom inherit her late grandmother’s house. They get fairly close (as close as Alice will let anyone get to her, anyways). Alice falls hard for Emily. It’s very important, story-wise, that nothing romantic ever happens between them.

Emily totally starts unintentionally neglecting her friendship with Alice when she first starts dating Kevin, basically only hitting Alice up for “girl talk” AKA talking about her new relationship. Alice is wayyy too nice about this, because she’s way too nice about everything.

I’m not sure yet if Alice or Hunter is the first to notice that they’re both on the shit end of the stick as far as unrequited love is concerned, but this is like, the absolute basis of their friendship, at least in the beginning. The notes I’ve made seem to be leaning towards a queerplatonic type of thing with them, but we’ll see what happens when I actually finish a draft and start editing. Either way, I feel like Hunter needs someone to hang out with other than Kevin and Emily or he will absolutely lose his fucking mind.

Alice is kind of in love with the idea of being in love, but won’t let anyone get close enough to develop romantic feelings for her. This is part of her problem. Like, she doesn’t let anyone see past the tip of the iceberg, basically. Maybe Alice/Emily could have been a reality if Alice wasn’t so closed off.

Alice's mother always told her that her father left before she was born, but the truth is her mother is the one who left and her father has no clue she exists. Alice has no desire to try and connect with her father, so this will probably never come up and she will never find this out.

Alice’s room has so much stuff in it. I’m talking cluttered shelves full of stuff, stuff hanging from her ceiling and in her windows, stuff on her walls. Like, I have it all written down and I’m currently searching for some sort of outline/template that I can use as like, a reference sheet for her room just so it’s easier for me to read than the block of text I currently have in my Google docs.

Also, the more I outline and make notes, the more I’m sure that Alice isn’t cis. Like she’s probably under the non-binary umbrella in a “gender doesn’t make sense to me and feels like an abstract concept” kind of way.

I literally have so many notes on this WIP, overall, I had a hard time figuring out what to include in this answer, ngl. Like, I haven’t put this much work into something in a really long time, which is why I’m kinda determined to actually write it despite the fact I’m super hypercritical of it all the time.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

Okay, so anything I have written for my current primary WIP is a very rough draft, if that, and completely unedited. So I hope it’s okay if I use something from one of my other WIPs. This is from an original work I was working on called A Chaotic Love (working title).

They sit a few feet away from each other, tormenting themselves, auto cannibalizing from the inside out, drowning in the blood of their feelings and choking on the emotional word vomit that threatens to spill from their mouths if they dare to part their lips to even breathe.

But it’s okay.

Everything’s okay.

Everything’s o-fucking-kay.

She feels so full that she doesn’t know if she can hold back any longer.

Everything’s okay.

He fills the void with cheap liquor, she uses it to drown out the constant noise in her head.

It’s okay.

They’re okay.

It’s all o-fucking-kay.

He passes out on the couch, still sitting up, arms crossed over the albatross tattooed on his bare chest. She stands up, wobbling at first. She can’t tell if the dizziness is from drinking so much or if she stood up too fast. She makes her way to her room, or rather, their room. Though, she doesn’t consider it their room anymore, as he’s been passing out on the couch, drunk, every night and never sleeps in bed with her. She slips out of her sundress and sprawls out on her stomach on the bed like a snow angel. She misses him.

It’s not okay.

It never was.

It never will be.

She’s not sure how much longer she can continue to hold on.

She’s not sure how much longer she can continue to pretend that it’s all okay.

Because she knows it’s not.

And she thinks he knows it too.

So, this is still very much a draft of a snippet that I probably won’t fully edit unless I actually finish writing the whole novel. This is Mallory and Jeremy after the honeymoon phase of their relationship, when Mallory is starting to become disillusioned with what she thought was going to be her fairytale romance and starts to realize that maybe running away from home with a guy she barely knew wasn’t the best idea, even though she very much needed to escape her parents and her hometown. This is supposed to be the beginning of the end for Mallory and Jeremy. If I remember correctly, I used my tarot deck as a prompt to get this rolling. I can’t remember which card(s) I pulled for this, though. I pretty much freewrote this. The very first sentence came to me super easily and I’m pretty proud of it, ngl. Only thing I really changed from the initial freewrite was adding in some details like Jeremy’s albatross tattoo, Mallory wobbling upon standing up, her sundress, the snow angel comparison, etc. Basically just added more description to that paragraph in general.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I vividly remember putting together storybooks when I was as young as 5. I’d draw or trace pictures onto printer paper, and then dictate the words to my mom so she could write it in and then she'd help me staple the pages together. I just really liked making up stories. I got really into Buffy The Vampire Slayer when I was like, 9, and that’s when I started writing fanfic. Jumped from fandom to fandom for a while. Got into online written roleplay around the age of 11 or 12 and that’s where I’ve always done most of my writing. I didn’t really start thinking of writing as like, a career path until I was 13, when my 8th-grade English teacher overheard me complaining about the book she had assigned us, I don’t even remember the name of it, I just remember that I didn’t care about the main character at all, so enjoying the book was pretty much impossible. My English teacher got all pissy about my opinion and said something along the lines of “If you hate it so much, write something better.” And my snarky ass muttered, “screw you, maybe I will” and she fucking heard me, so then I was like, “Dammit, now I have to write a novel purely out of spite" because this teacher… Is the only English teacher I ever had that I could not fucking stand, I usually loved whoever I had for English, and she definitely had some sort of issue with me too, for some reason. So yeah, that’s when I started to take writing more seriously. I bought every fucking book and workbook on creative writing that I could get my hands on to perfect my craft and started writing more original fiction. I used to write every day. I was super dedicated too. Like, my parents would wake up at 5 AM, so I got my ass up at 4 AM every morning, so I could have an hour to myself to write with no interruptions while I had my coffee. Went to college for creative writing but never completed the degree. I’ve never finished anything multi-chaptered. I wish I could blame that on undiagnosed/untreated ADHD but I’ve been diagnosed and on meds for about 7 years now and I still can’t finish anything. Lol. I’m just now coming out of a really bad overall creative block where I just couldn’t seem to engage in any of my creative hobbies. I went from always having 1-3 projects (usually I’d be working on a story, something music related, and some sort of long-term arts & crafts project so I could alternate between the three) to not working on anything. I’m trying to focus more on fanfic right now over my original WIPs since fanfic is where I started, and I’m hoping it’ll get me out of this awful creative slump that I’ve been in for the past few years.

[cawareyoudoin]

So a while ago I have seen a post by @q-hayashida-fanboy , proposing a theory that I never before considered, but that stuck with me and has made me write a dozen pages of notes, and descend into madness.

In Hollow Knight, we play as the Knight. Like many video game protagonists, they are mute, but unlike many video game protagonists, they have a set, in-universe reason for it. "No mind to think, no will to break, no voice to cry suffering", etc etc, we all know the story. Of course there are various fan interpretations (which I love), but for now I want to focus on the canon.

In canon, they stay silent. At least outwardly, that is. They read, they listen, but sometimes, rarely, they describe their surroundings to us (or to themselves). It could of course be argued that this is just the omniscient Narrator speaking, and I will tackle that later, but for now... Just go with me. I've had an Undertale obsession. I am familiar with squeezing out character details from seemingly irrelevant pieces of narration.

So! These tiny pieces of narration usually happen when the player is given a prompt to do something: open a gate, use the tram pass, examine something closely. They are not phrased as "do I do something?", but then again- if that was the case, I wouldn't have to try so hard to prove my argument. My point is, they are also not phrased as "do you do something?". They are simply "do something?", a neutral form that can be either first, second, or even third person.

The one that stuck out to me the most was this: "A blue gem rests atop a stone dais". I am not a native English speaker, and I had to google "dais" to even know what it was. The other similar flavour text is quite simple, and so this bit of fancy language was surprising. However, these few lines of dialogue are not enough to support an argument, and are so few and far between that an average player can simply ignore them.

Now, on to the actual theory itself: the Hunter's Journal. Perhaps the single most text-heavy thing in the entire game, rivaled only by Zote's Precepts. You get info about enemies when you kill them, and additional notes when you kill a set amount.

Well, what struck me (and others) as odd, is the strange discrepancies in knowledge, attitude, and tone between the initial entry, and the one you have to decipher. It would almost seem like the first entries weren't written by the Hunter at all...

So, like the maniac I am, I have reviewed the Hunter's Journal, entry by entry (you can read my semi-organized notes here, I'm sorry I don't have the strength to organise them more), and the first section, the one above the Hunter symbol, is definitely written by someone else. This other narrator seems to value honour and skill in battle, watch the creatures around them closely, with an almost scientific approach, and they use complex and refined language.

Of course the "omniscient outside narrator" is also possible, but this narrator also appears to have the perspective of the Knight, describing the creatures Hunter's size as "huge", and describing in detail the enemies that the Hunter only vaguely knows about (see: Collector, Uumuu, Siblings). They also get the most annoyed and emotional in the Zote-related entries, but otherwise are pretty straightforward.

Thus, I am convinced that this mysterious Narrator... is the Knight themselves.

If we were to accept this hypothesis, we could gain some information on what kind of person the Knight is.

My conclusions about that are as follows: the Knight, as expected, is quite a stoic person. They do, however, have a concept of emotion, and most likely feel some themselves. The most prominent ones, at least where Hallownest's creatures are concerned, are awe and contempt. They respect skill, honour, and combat prowess, and dislike cowardice, and... Well, everything Zote has going on. They observe creatures around them with curiosity, and have some biological and otherwise scientific knowledge. They also judge those around them, but mostly when it comes to their relationships with others- not with themselves. They don't write like a child would, suggesting that despite their tiny stature, they are indeed mentally grown up, or, alternatively, that they are a very mature and serious child.

Perhaps, we could also theorize what environment shaped them to be that way. It is possible they were influenced by their time in Hallownest before leaving, but if that's not the case, I would pose, that the place where they lived:

1. Valued a scientific approach

2. Valued knighthood (that would also explain why the Knight is the Knight, in spite of likely never being acknowledged by the Pale King or another Hallownest ruler)

3. Was also quite civilised and was perhaps another kingdom beyond Hallownest (we already know that the Pale King "last kingdom" propaganda is bullshit).

So there. If anyone has any objections, additions, or corrections, I would be glad to hear them.

[cat3ch1sm]

could u write some boyfriend kurapika 🥺 literally anything will do, there’s a severe lack of well written pika content ❤️

🥑| yes ofc love sorry this took so long:(( school's been a bitch

🍡| does this mean i write good pika content???🤔🤗 reader is a blacklist hunter her working under the hunter association; this is during the election arc (obv setting won't b canon lol)! :D

kurapika when you're sick~ short story!

"103.9. Just as I suspected." Kurapika sighed, removing the thermometer from the side and staring disapprovingly at the number before pocketing the small instrument. "You're going nowhere."

"Kurapika-" You started to plead, sitting up straight in your bed, which Kurapika had forced you back into only a few minutes prior after feeling your burning face. "It's just a fever, really, and there are more important things to tend to-"

"There's no point in trying to convince me otherwise, Y/N. I'm staying here." Kurapika sat down on the edge of the bed, gazing down at you, his gray eyes filled with concern. You let out a breath in exasperation, staring up at the ceiling before dropping your eyes to look at Kurapika again.

"Kurapika. Please. You have your own job, and I really need to get over to the Association's headquarters. We're pursuing two very dangerous hunters, and I need to be there to help them figure out the logistics of when we move in to capture them."

Kurapika remained adamant, lifting his arms to put his blonde hair in a ponytail holder. "Y/N. Your face is flushed, your temperature's dangerously high, and you're sweating quite a bit. You'll probably kill yourself if you try and get all the way over there- it's probably all the time you've been working that led to this anyway, Y/N. You can have one day off, alright?"

"What?! I won't kill myself. I'm more than capable of handling a little fever. It's nothing, actually." You replied, waving your hand dismissively as you swung your legs over the side of the bed and stood up, Kurapika watching you dubiously. "See? I don't need you to-"

You were cut off when a massive wave of dizziness hit you, and spots exploded in front of your vision, making you blink several times to clear them. Disoriented, you staggered and almost collapsed, your head spinning and ears ringing. Suddenly feeling much hotter than before, you were forced to drop back down onto the bed to allow your body to recollect itself, burying your head in your hands and shutting your eyes.

Kurapika was instantly at your side, a comforting hand on your back as you slowly regained your composure. "Y/N, are you alright?" he queried gently, rubbing slowly up and down your back, his fingers occasionally brushing stray strands of your hair. "I told you you're in no condition to be pursuing murderous hunters- I've got half a mind to take you to the hospital.."

"Don't do that!" You bristled, making Kurapika chuckle warmly and smile a little. Stubbornly, you dropped your gaze to the ground, tapping your foot impatiently as you finally felt your head begin to quiet.

"Now can you take today off, my love? Please?" Kurapika asked sincerely, his voice soft and pleading. "Just let me take care of you today until you feel at least a bit better. And it'll give me an excuse to spend the day with you." Kurapika took your chin in one of his hands and lifted your face to meet his eyes. "Let's see... we can watch movies and play board games, and I'll make your favorite foods." He smiled endearingly, his eyes crinkling, and you couldn't help but smile begrudgingly in return.

Resigned, you sighed. "Alright... I'll stay. But-"

"Amazing." Kurapika leaned in and placed a soft kiss on your lips, making your eyes widen. He released your face and stood up, his ponytail swinging. "Stay put- I'm going to go get us some breakfast while you choose something to watch, okay?" A bright smile still on his face, Kurapika headed out of your bedroom and disappeared down the hallway.

Smiling to yourself, you reached over the bed for the remote, the sounds of dishes being taken down in the kitchen.

[dawn-sunlight]

If I may add my two cents:

I'm pretty confident the Ivypool's Heart crew is going to get back before Splashtail is defeated, and I'm even going to go a step further and say Icewing is going to be an important factor in defeating Splashtail.

I cannot see a universe where Splashtail wins and is still leading RiverClan at the end of Star. That is just not how these books work. So this passage tells us that the fight against Splashtail isn't going well(somehow) and that the traveling cats are needed back at the lake quickly, with them likely arriving back during the third act of Star. The reason I think Icewing in particular is needed to defeat Splashtail is that the book points out that Riverstar is looking at Icewing specifically while saying "Hurry back to the lake. There is still time." The book says that Riverstar says that to Icewing. Not to both Icewing and Ivypool, just Icewing. And the dream scene that comes earlier only cements this further.

The dream that was clearly sent by either StarClan or the even higher power very heavily implies that the traveling cats, in particular Icewing, are needed to defeat Splashtail. This dream is saying that without them at the lake, Frostpaw will fail and RiverClan will be no more. In addition, Icewing is the cat on the quest being emphasized by this dream. The others are all following her in this dream, not knowing the others are all having the same dream, but Icewing doesn't see any of the others. She's the one having the dream, meanwhile the others are watching her have it. The message is primarily for her.

So because of those two scenes, I think she will have a chance to prove herself. I think she will have something very important she'll need to do when the cats get back in Star.

And like both of you said, at this point she is the only remaining standout candidate. It has to be a cat from RiverClan because it's been made clear the movement must come from within RiverClan to fix itself, but everyone else who it could have been has either been discarded or is a choice that wouldn't make any sense. Owlnose and Shimmerpelt became completely irrelevent and Harelight is dead. Mothwing made it very clear that her position as temporary leader in Sky was temporary and she really didn't want to be leader for real. Plus, making her leader just kinda feels like a slap in the face to her story about choosing to be a medicine cat over a warrior. Duskfur is specifically pointed out to be elder age and absolutely does not have the qualities Frostpaw is looking for in the next leader. Splashtail is being written to be as obviously evil as possible. And Frostpaw was just established last book as a medicine cat. Not only would it be weird to throw that away literally the next book(and the rest of the Clans would never believe a word out of her mouth ever again if she switched again), but it would also be weird for Riverstar to have told her "You must pick RiverClan's leader" and then have the book go "actually Frostpaw, no you don't, you're leader now have fun."

Meanwhile, Icewing was stated in Sky to be the best at leading patrols in RiverClan. She has the qualities Frostpaw is looking for, and we've seen her peacemaking and compromising abilities in action, as well as her genuine concern and compassion for other cats, such as Frostpaw. When Sunbeam was told there was a RiverClan representative involved in the peace talks in Thunder, she immediately assumed it was Icewing. She just got her first confirmed canon apprentice in River so she's now actually eligible for the position without the need for headcanons. And two of her biggest and loudest critics, Duskfur and Splashtail, are now 'on her side' and 'the bad guy who needs to be defeated' respectively, meaning they won't be obstacles for her to be leader once all is said and done. In my opinion, she's the only cat in RiverClan that makes sense to end up as leader at the end of this.

But yeah, I agree that they definitely were trying to making sure the next leader wouldn't be immediately guessed and in the process made it next to impossible to make any actual predictions because now every choice comes with asterisks.

The thing is, they've really narrowed it down to 3 (arguably 2 because I genuinely don't think at any point have they honestly considered making it mothwing its just that shes the medicine cat and the only well established character so inherently important to this narrative about riverclan from a med apprentice's pov) options, and while there's a timeline out there where I could believe Frostpaw to bwcome leader... it really doesn't feel like this is it?

She's so far not showing ANY leader qualities in this, the final book, where you would think that's what they would do after she's gone on so many journeys. They had all of last book where they didn't seem to really know what to do to also establish it. And last book instead actually spent time... reestablishing her as a medicine cat? Unless this book throws out everything they've established so far and wastes her journey and has riverclan themselves choose her in a moment of bravery, I don't see her becoming leader.

The only realistic out of left field pick at this point is Dusk, though, and she is shown to be extra old and conservative, but I can see them pulling a character arc out of nowhere for her in this book since we haven't spent much time with her but have established her as existing.

I don't know if Icewing going away was so they could establish her as a character in ivypool's heart to make people root for her more and they just didn't think of the timeline, but I do think the preview has established this last book is likely going to be fast paced. (But they say the cats are only going to be gone a few days idk if thats another miscommunication between authors or setting up for the clans to worry about them not returning) or if it was to remove her from the picture? I think she'll be deputy if nothing else. I think she's the cat that they want us to think will be picked but the journey feels like it's removing her as an option.

I think that prologue, if the last chapter of last book didn't, and the comments about him so far have thoroughly established they arent gonna pull anything to say splashtail is the best option her just had to get over a bumpy beginning, though. Thats not actions they typically let cats recover from and theyre already saying he's just evil.

And the rest of riverclan have become the scared masses so unless a cat suddenly rises drom their rank I think all riverclan cats stoll in camp are being dismissed as options. Theyve certainly made sure it feels like frostpaw would never choose them evern if someone stood out among them with her even getting mad at the cats who got exciled for not standing up sooner.

Yeah I don't know, either this book's pacing is going to be insane and ignoring prior character development to get frostpaw where she needs to be, a mess to get icewing back in time, or to just pull a name out of a hat. It really feels like... they were super excited to make it impossible to guess until it happens but in the process have just straight up elliminated every option.

So I'm rooting for owlnose to get a second chance cause he feels as viable as anyone else at this point. Erins did their best to establish options but did even better at eliminating them as options and its entirely up in the air until we get to the choice on page.

It's by far my one major criticism of this arc, I feel like with 6 books either the options should have a stronger foundation for their possibility or we should already have such a strong idea its just a matter of showing them off by defeating splashtail at this point. It feels like they retroactively wasted the last book that was kind of filler in all honesty not doing this.

(And like i know you feel strongly about frostpaw being the winner but honestly itnfeels less like its because it makes sense as an option and more that there are no otherboptions as I said, imo)

This is a really good analysis on the whole thing.

I think the best way to explain my main reasoning behind Frostpaw becoming leader is through hope and also the quote

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

Frostpaw is my number one leadership candidate largely because of a lack of better or eligible candidates. Icewing is close second but that is reliant on her being back from her Ivypool’s Heart quest in decent time. I do hope she becomes deputy at least though. Duskfur being antagonistic in the first half of the arc holds her back for me, although there is still time for that to be addressed and solved. And I really think Mothwing would be very unhappy with having to get nine lives and become leader and always have to answer to StarClan.

I think so far Frostpaw has shown herself to be suitably courageous and able to stand up for what she believes is right. She just hasn’t had many moments of displaying leadership yet, but she did organise the group at the start of Star, so I’m hoping, if she is to become leader, Star is used to establish her ability to take charge and actually lead cats prior to this. Maybe then and only then would Riverstar was maybe like “yeah I want you to be leader, I was just waiting for you to be ready”

I think it would be cool if she was always destined for leadership in her clan but her mother took a sledgehammer to that destiny and now Frostpaw has to develop these qualities quicker than she ever should have under normal circumstances in order to fulfil that destiny. But this is just purely a hopeful theory/idea and not at all established in the books thus far.

Like you say this whole thing is more of just “ok who is actually somewhat likely to become leader” rather than picking out a stand out candidate. Except Icewing of course, but again like you say, it looks like Star is going to move very quickly so I doubt she will get back in time, I saw someone calculate that the Ivypool’s Heart crew are gone about a moon. Which seems like a very long time. I feel like she could pop back up right at the end potentially, but I wouldn’t want her just to stroll in and get leadership almost immediately by default, I would want her to prove herself first.