#its a fanfic writers heaven | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sunderedstar · 1 month ago

Text

good books of 2024

according to meeee.

there is no order here, at least one of these was published ages ago, I'm just working my way through my 2024 timeline, godspeed spiderman. 🫡

Metal from Heaven

surprise hit of 2024. top of the charts. stunning, spectacular. gorgeous. Metal from Heaven FUCKS. almost every single main character is an explicit spicy toxic hot mess of a lesbian committing literal highway/train robbery, the bad guy is literally named Industry, leading to such peak sentences as "I am going to kill Industry." the prose is synesthetic in a way that most writers cannot sustain for a full novel but which here culminates in a moment of pure blissful Neon Genesis Evangelion that I will not elaborate on due to spoilers. the author pulls out the FUNNIEST lines, and also the most abrupt and heartbreaking tragedies. we're not here to be subtle, we're here to put the pedal to the metal until the engine explodes. such a damning, whip smart condemnation of industry, capitalism, power. all in the form of Lesbians. also the phrase 'clown orgy' is mentioned. this shit is like gideon the ninth with CRUNCH. NSFW.

but don't take my word for it. take amal el-mohtar's.

Absolution

Absolution is a hard book. requires thought and rigor at all times to absorb what's going on - and also a reread of the entire trilogy beforehand, because there's time travel nuance involved, which makes it next to impossible to sum up the plot coherently on its own without spoiling things. jeff vandermeer described it partially as 'fuck that alligator from the movie' and - valid. the first 60% had me; the later section...swapped gears drastically, which meant it took a while to hit its stride (aka until it reached Area X again). in hindsight I was just not prepared for one of the POVs to be the Freudian, violently stoned, unreliable narrator love-child of Karkat and Dave Strider whose perception/conception of the heart of the Southern Reach is extremely phallic. and then suddenly cannibalism happens. I liked Annihilation and Acceptance better, but damn. it almost feels like this should be the set up to another trilogy. much 2 think about.

Yield Under Great Persuasion

I don't know why I didn't hear anything about this one before it came out! (instead, I only saw posts about rowland's other book released this year, running close to the wind - which sadly did not hit for me at all). Yield Under Great Persuasion is just ridiculous enough to be fantastic. stubborn little gremlin man, big mad about Pumpkingate years after the original inciting incident that set him at odds with his love interest, attempts to pack his little rucksack and run away from all his self-inflicted gay problems, fails, is forced to deal with said personal problems by direct goddess-intervention. you know it's gonna be good when the guys are hate-banging by page 2. a short, delightful mix of (extremely silly and low-stakes) enemies to lovers and hurt/comfort and working out your emotional and communication issues on page style comfort food. self-indulgent in a fanfic way that is rowland's trademark in a taste of gold and iron (which was also fantastic and probably deserves a reread now.) NSFW.

The Spellshop

between this and yield under great persuasion there's an odd cozy fantasy pairing here. a self-isolated shut-in spellbook librarian who lives for her work escapes the fall of her city and sets up shop back in her old hometown on a severely magic-deprived island. there's some internalized trauma being worked through, against a simply charming backdrop of community and solidarity and magic spells. really. I was. charmed. which is a rare reaction on my part.

The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low

the curveball of the list, The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low is a translated (gay) Korean web novel, and it's the perfect intersection of a decent translator meeting an author who knows what they're doing. notorious tumblr user @spockandawe has a write up of the plot and its major themes here, but in essence it hooked me with its hunter/super-hero meets Pacific Rim setting, its themes of gifted kid burnout and unacknowledged trauma with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and the fact that the author clearly plotted out all of this in advance, with minor details from the opening chapter being extremely plot relevant a hundred chapters later. also, the characters are FUN! the relationship compels me. clownery abounds in all the best ways, while the world-ending stakes are also scarily sky high. its translation is currently incomplete as far as I'm aware, which is literally this story's only downside right now, since you can read it online for free - but so much of the main story is up and translated already that it's hard to imagine how much higher the stakes can go, and I'm dying to know if these two make it through and get the happy ending they deserve. a delicious repast.

Apostles of Mercy

I'm gonna rant here. this is the story of a series that got the redemption arc it deserved.

if you don't know, axiom's end is lindsay ellis's blatant Bayverse Transformers female lead alternate history fic. period. she has openly admitted this. you can easily and clearly pick out the Optimus/Megatron/Starscream expies. and that first book was GOOD. it understood the assignment. loved it.

then...truth of the divine happened. book two of the series. was frankly. god awful. it was like twilight's new moon, where the main character's depression saturates and therefore stagnates the entire narrative, in this case to its detriment. it dragged. the entire appeal of first book of the series is the bond between the main character and her new definitely-not-a-Transformer life partner, and book two managed to both sideline that - the entire point!!! the main thing you're reading it for! the alien time! - and introduce the most skeevy and (for me) unpleasant to read human hetero romance of all time. it was so unpleasant I actually forgot how bad it was.

somehow. somehow. palpatine returned. after I spent three years mourning what could have been. book three saved it. Apostles of Mercy addresses the whole damn skeevy toxic mess that was book two and refocuses on what matters - the alien love interest and a LESBIAN love interest. yes. it's true. once again the sapphics won. we now have a book where the main character is reliving lesbian sex memories as an alien-robot-insect-definitely-not-a-Transformer mindmelds with her so I mean. good job team? her love interest also acquires an alien life partner of her own to expand this into potential alien foursome range? the assignment is once again UNDERSTOOD. in terms of the action scenes, to quote myself while reading it, "I can't believe I'm saying this but you needed to channel far more Bayverse" [for book 2], and doing so for book 3 has produced a work of art. I would say skip book 2 entirely and thank me later, but experiencing how bad the series got at its darkest point is part of what made book 3 such an exhilarating high in comparison. possibly that was the goal all along, impossible to appreciate until now. I just need lindsay ellis to get the contract to write the currently-in-publication-limbo books 4 and 5. because the series deserves it. it only just got good again! NSFWish because I can't remember currently how explicit they got all these months later, forgive me.

The Deep Sky

yume kitasei is new to me, but this book hit some interesting notes as a sci fi debut. it too is about gifted kid burnout and imposter syndrome, funnily enough, in a thoughtful take on the standard sci fi concept of 'a bunch of rigorously trained young adults are sent out into deep space as an ark to save a dying humanity' that actually does discuss how fucked up that is as a concept, both for the kids as they grow up under enormous pressure to win a spot on the mission and for all those people being left behind, in what might just end up being an overhyped waste of resources, since civilization sure is still kicking when they leave. the summary on the book is somewhat misleading - asuka, the main character, doesn't fall under suspicion until wayyyy late in the book, and spends the majority of it in a pseudo-detective role that is absolutely sanctioned by those in charge. she's not 'an immediate suspect' like the book blurb insists. go figure. it didn't knock me out of the park like most of the books above, but it was an engaging little read.

The Bees

a weird one from 2014, picked up on a whim - it's literally about bees! fictionalized bees! with personalities and priesthoods and caste politics and everything! I cried about it to be honest. very plotty, somehow all of it neatly taking place within the Lifecycle of A Bee™️, which takes some real craftsmanship to pull off and make compelling as a narrative. since I'm an unrepentant Raksura fan, I was like 'wow...how Raksura coded...' knowing full well that Raksura are dragon bee people, not the other way around. also the Raksura could never be as toxic (complimentary) as these bees are. 😂 it's just good literature your honor.

honorable mentions:

Heavenly Tyrant

has not come out yet. but let's be real. it's on the list in anticipation. it's what she deserves.

The City in Glass

I love nghi vo's work, have read and adored all of the singing hills cycle novellas. it took a month for my library hold on this book to be available. and then I promptly got distracted by metal from heaven and the hunter's gonna lay low 😂 I will read it!!! the first eight pages were good! vitrine's voice is very good! I've just had a very busy end of the year interrupting my everything. (update: I read two more pages and it immediately and promptly popped off. whoops. guess I'm reading that next. whenever I have free time again...)

#book recommendations #the hunter's gonna lay low truly gives off madoka vibes at times (complimentary)#i need more people to buy apostles of mercy in the dim hope it will continue lmao #long post

133 notes · View notes

nyxshadowhawk · 7 months ago

Text

A Retrospective on Harry Potter

Why did I like it in the first place? What about it worked? Where do I go from here?

I have decided to give up Harry Potter.

J.K. Rowling’s reputation now stinks to high heaven. At this point, she is quite indefensible. And even if that weren’t the case, she is not someone that I would want to associate with anyway. Meanwhile, the internet has not only turned against her, but against Harry Potter itself. An innocent question on Reddit, about which Hogwarts Houses the ATLA characters would be in, got downvoted to oblivion. Innumerable Tumblr threads insist that fantasy fans should get into literally anything else (suggestions include Discworld, Earthsea, The Wheel of Time, and Percy Jackson). And now that Harry Potter is no longer a sacred cow, there has been a recent slew of video essays that rip it to shreds, attacking it for its poor worldbuilding, unoriginality, and the problematic ideas baked into the original books (like the whole SPEW thing), etc. Those criticisms always existed, but now they’re getting thrown into the limelight.

It pains me to see such an ignoble downfall of Harry Potter’s reputation. If Rowling had just kept her damn mouth shut, Harry Potter would have aged gracefully, becoming a beloved children’s classic. I'd still plan to introduce it to my own kids one day (after Rowling dies and the dust settles). It’s not surprising that not all aspects of it have aged well, since it’s been more than twenty years since its original publishing date, and everything starts to show its age after that long. I acknowledge that most of the criticisms of the series that I’ve seen lately are valid, and I’ve read plenty of better books. And yet, when I return to the books themselves, even with the knowledge of who JKR really is inside my head, I still really enjoy reading them! There’s still a lot about them that I think works!

None of the other things I’ve read have had as collossal of an impact upon my identity, my values, and my own writing as Harry Potter. It’s hard to move on from it, not just because it’s something I enjoy, but because I have to literally extract my identity from it. I don’t know who I’d be without Harry Potter. I don’t know what my work would look like without Harry Potter. I don’t know how to carry it with me as just another piece of media that I like, as opposed to a filter for who I am as a person. So, with all that in mind, I have to ask myself why I liked Harry Potter so much in the first place. If I’m going to move on from it, then I have to be able to define and isolate the things about it that I want to keep with me. Something about it obviously worked, on a massive scale. So what was it?

It’s not the worldbuilding. The worldbuilding is objectively quite terrible, especially in comparison to that of other fantasy writers who knew what they were doing. At best, it’s inconsistent and poorly thought-out, and at worst it’s insensitive or even racist. Is it the characters? The characters are, in my opinion, one of the stronger parts of the story. But I felt very called-out by one of the many online commentators, who said that anyone who identifies with Harry is too cowardly to write self-insert fic. (I do not remember who said it or even which site it was on, but I distinctly remember the phrase, “Reject Harry Potter, embrace Y/N.”) The reason why people get so invested in Harry Potter’s characters is because they’re easy to project upon, and it’s possible that my love of Harry comes more from over a decade’s worth of projection than anything else. The incessant arguments over characters like Snape, Dumbledore, and James Potter ultimately stem from the fact that these characters do not always come across the way Rowling wanted them to. As for the writing itself, it’s decent, but not spectacular. Harry Potter is something of a sandbox world, with less substance than it appears to have and a crapton of missed opportunities, making it ripe for fanfic. For more than ten years, I’ve been doing precisely that — using Harry Potter as a jumping-off point to fill in the gaps and develop my own ideas, some of which became my original projects.

So what does Harry Potter actually have that sets it apart? Why are people so desperate to be part of Harry Potter’s world if the worldbuilding is bad? What, specifically, is so compelling about it? I think that there’s one answer, one thing that is at the center of Potter-mania, and that has been the underlying drive of my love of it for the past decade and a half: the vibe.

Harry Potter’s vibe is immaculate.

You know what I mean, right? It’s not actually a product of any specific trope, but rather a series of aesthetic elements: The wizarding school in a grand castle, with its pointed windows and torches and suits of armor, ghosts and talking portraits and moving staircases, its Great Hall with floating candles and a ceiling that looks like the night sky, its hundreds of magically-concealed secret doorways. Dumbledore’s Office, behind the gryphon statue, with armillary spheres in every single shot. Deliberate archaisms that evoke the Middle Ages without going as far as a Ren Faire: characters wearing heavy robes, writing with quills and ink on parchment instead of paper, drinking from goblets, decorating with tapestries. Owls, cats, toads. Cauldrons simmering in a dungeon laboratory. Shelves piled with dusty tomes, scrolls, glass vials, crystal balls, hourglasses. Magical candy shaped like insects and amphibians. A library with a restricted section. A forbidden forest full of unicorns and werewolves. That is the Vibe.

There are five armillary spheres just in this shot. They are unequivocally the most Wizard of tabletop decor.

There’s more to it than just the aesthetic, though. The vibe is present in something that writers call soft worldbuilding.

There’s a phrase that writers use to describe magic systems, coined by Brandon Sanderson: hard magic and soft magic. Sanderson’s first law of magic is, “An author’s ability to solve problems with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic.” A hard magic system has clearly-defined rules — you know where magic comes from, how it works and under which conditions, how the characters can use it, and what its limitations are. Examples of really good hard magic systems include Avatar: The Last Airbender and Fullmetal Alchemist. If the audience doesn’t understand the conditions under which magic can work, then using magic to get out of any kind of scrape risks feeling like the writer pulled something out of their ass. It begs the question, “Well, if they could do that, then why didn’t they do that before?”

You may come away from that thinking that having clearly-defined rules is always better worldbuilding than not having them, but this isn’t the case. Soft magic isn’t fully explained to the audience, but that doesn’t matter, because it isn’t trying to solve problems — its purpose is to be evocative. Soft magic enhances the atmosphere of a world by creating a sense of wonder. If your everyman protagonist is constantly running into cool magical shit that they don’t understand, then the world feels like it teems with magic, magic that is greater and more powerful than they know, leaving lots of secrets to uncover. Harry Potter, at least in the early books, excels at this. The soft magic in Harry Potter is what got me hooked, and I think it’s what a lot of other people liked about it, too.

The essence of soft magic is best summed up by this scene in the fourth film, in which Harry enters the Weasleys’ tiny tent at the Quidditch World Cup, only to find that it’s much bigger on the inside. His reaction is to smile and say, “I love magic.”

That’s it. That’s the essence of it. You don’t need to know the exact spell that makes the tent bigger on the inside. You don’t need to know how Dumbledore can make the food appear on the table with a flick of a wand, or how he can make a bunch of poofy sleeping bags appear with another flick. You don’t need to know how and why the portraits or wizard cards move. You don’t need to know how wizards can appear and disappear on a whim, or what the Deluminator is, or where the Sword of Gryffindor came from. You don’t need to know how the Room of Requirement works. Knowing these things defeats the purpose. It kills the vibe, that vibe being that there is a large and wondrous magical world around you that will always have more to discover.

One of the best “soft magic” moments in the books comes early in Philosopher’s Stone, when Harry is trying to navigate Hogwarts for the first time:

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk. —Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 8

Many of these details don’t come back later in the series, which is a shame, because this one paragraph is super evocative! It establishes Hogwarts as an inherently magical place, in which the very architecture doesn’t conform to normal rules. Hogwarts seems like it would be exciting to explore (assuming you weren’t late for class), and it gets even better when you learn about all the secret rooms and passages. The games capitalized on this by building all the secret rooms behind bookcases, mirrors, illusory walls, etc. into the game world, and rewarding you for finding them. The utter fascination that produces is hard to overstate.

Another one of the most evocative moments in the first book is when Harry sees Diagon Alley for the first time, after passing through the magically sealed brick wall (the mechanics of which, again, are never explained). This is your first proper glimpse at the wizarding world and what it has to offer:

Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, “Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad....” A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon.... —Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 5

What works so well here is the magical weirdness of wizardishness juxtaposed against normalcy. Eeylops Owl Emporium is just a pet shop to wizards. A woman makes a very mundane complaint about the price of goods, but the goods happen to be dragon liver. Broomsticks are treated like cars. All of these small moments contribute to the feeling of the wizarding world being alive, inhabited, and also magical. It gets you to ask the question of what your life would be like if you were a wizard. What do wizards wear? What do they eat? What do they haggle over and complain about? What do they do for fun?

In Book 3, Harry enjoys Diagon Alley for a few weeks when he suddenly has free time, and we get to experience the wizarding world in a state of “normalcy,” when he isn’t trying to save the world. He gets free ice creams from Florean Fortescue, gazes longingly at the Firebolt, and engages with delightfully weird people. He’s a wizard, living a (briefly) normal wizard life among other wizards in wizard-land. And that is fun. It’s so fun, that people want that experience for themselves, enough for there to be several theme parks and other immersive experiences dedicated to recreating the world of Harry Potter.

One of the greatest things about Universal was its phenomenal attention to detail. You can hear Moaning Myrtle’s voice in the women’s bathroom, and only the women’s bathroom. The walls of the Three Broomsticks have shadows of a broom sweeping by itself and an owl flying projected against the wall, so convincingly that you’ll do a double take when you see it. Knockturn Alley is down a little secret tunnel off of the main street, and that’s where you have to go to buy Dark Arts-themed stuff. It’s really well done.

Another thing that contributes to the vibe, in my opinion, is that the wizarding world is slightly macabre. They eat candy shaped like frogs, flies, mice, and so forth, and they have gross-tasting jellybeans. In the film’s version of the Diagon Alley sequence above, there’s a random shot of a pet bat available for purchase. In the third film, when Harry is practicing the Patronus Charm with Lupin, the candles are shaped like human spines. In the first book, this is Petunia’s description of Lily’s behavior after she became a witch:

Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that-that school, and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak! —Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 4

I remember reading this for the first time, and it just kind of made intuitive sense to me. I suppose it fits into the “eye of newt and toe of frog” association between magical people and gross things, but somehow it works. Unfortunately, this is retconned later with the knowledge that wizards can’t use magic outside school, but before that limitation gets imposed, the idea of Lily amusing herself by turning teacups into rats seems like an inherently witchy thing to do.

That association between magic and the macabre shows up elsewhere, as well. In The Owl House, Luz’s interest in gross things is one of the things that marks her as a “weirdo” in the real world. When she goes to the magical world of the Boiling Isles, weird and gross stuff is absolutely everywhere. That world’s vibe leans more towards the macabre than the whimsical, but it works because you sort of expect the gross stuff to exist alongside the concept of witches, and that they would be an intrinsic part of the world they inhabit. You don’t question it, because it’s part of the vibe.

(The Owl House is one of the few things I’ve encountered that has a similar vibe to Harry Potter, but it’s still not the same vibe. In fact, The Owl House outright mocks the expectation that magical worlds be whimsical, and directly mocks Harry Potter more than once. The overall vibe is much closer to Gravity Falls.)

The Harry Potter films utilize a lot of similar soft worldbuilding with the background details, especially in the early films that were still brightly-colored and whimsical. For example, the scene in Flourish and Blotts in the second film has impossibly-stacked piles of books and old-timey looking signs describing their subjects, which include things like “Celestial Studies” and “Unicorns.” When Harry arrives in the Burrow in the same film, one of the first things he sees is dishes washing themselves and knitting needles working by themselves, taking completely mundane things and instantly establishing them as magical. In that Patronus scene with Harry and Lupin, the spine-candles and a bunch of random orbs (and the obligatory giant armillary sphere) float around in the background. One small detail that I personally appreciate is the designs on the walls above the teacher’s table in the Great Hall, which are from an alchemical manuscript called the Ripley Scroll:

It’s all these little things that add up to produce The Vibe.

Obviously, much of the vibe is expressed very well in John Williams’ score for the first three Harry Potter films. The mystical minor key of the main theme, the tinkly glockenspiel, the strings, the rising and falling notes that mimic the fluttering of an owl, the flight of a broomstick, or the waving of a wand. That initial shot of the castle across the lake as the orchestra swells, as the children arrive at their wizarding school:

If you grew up with Harry Potter, just looking at this image gives you The Vibe. The nostalgia hit is definitely part of it, but The Vibe was already there, back when you were a child and you didn’t have nostalgia yet.

In my opinion, only Williams’ score captures this vibe — the later films, though their scores are very good, do not. But the soundtrack of the first two video games, by Jeremy Soule (the same person who did Skyrim) absolutely nails it. This, right here, is Harry Potter’s vibe, condensed and distilled:

youtube

This is why I feel invalidated by the common advice “just read another book.” I have read other books. I’ve read plenty of other books, many of which are wonderfully written and have left an impact on me. But there’s still only one Harry Potter. To date, there’s only other book that has filled me with a similarly intense longing for a fictional place, and that is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. That book deliberately prioritized atmosphere over everything else in the story, and actually lampshades this in-universe. The Night Circus has a plot and it has characters, but it’s not about its plot or characters. It’s about the setting and its atmosphere. It swallows you up and transports you to a fictional place that is so evocative and so magical that you just have to be part of it or you’ll die. And even then, The Night Circus has a different kind of vibe from Harry Potter. In this particular capacity, there’s nothing else like Harry Potter.

The thing is, I don’t think Rowling was being as deliberate as Erin Morgenstern. (In fact, given many of Rowling’s recent statements, I question how many of her creative choices were deliberated at all.) She was throwing random magical stuff into the background without thinking too hard about it, which works when you’re writing a kids’ story, but stops working when you try to age it up. Actually, scratch that — soft worldbuilding is definitely not just for kids! The Lord of the Rings has a soft magic system, for crying out loud, and Tolkien is the original archmage of worldbuilding. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that prioritizing atmosphere over meticulousness is bad worldbuilding. That is a valid way to worldbuild! Not everything needs to be clearly explained, not everything needs to make sense. The problem is that Harry Potter doesn’t balance it well. Certain things do have to be explained in order for the magic to play an active role in the story (and the setting of a magic school lends itself to that kind of explanation), but no rules are ever established for the kinds of magic that need rules. When you begin thinking about the rules, you’re no longer just enjoying the magic for what it is. At worst, you begin running up against the Willing Suspension of Disbelief.

It wasn’t actually the “aging up” of the story that did it in, per se, but rather, the introduction of realism. The early books were heavily stylized, and the later books were less so. A heavily stylized story can more easily maintain the Willing Suspension of Disbelief. That’s why, for example, you don’t ask why the characters are singing in a musical — you just sort of accept the story’s outlandish internal logic, and the inherent melodrama of it doesn’t take you out of the story. Stylized stories are more concerned with being emotionally consistent over being logically consistent. The later Harry Potter books changed their emotional tone, but without changing the worldbuilding style to compensate.

In addition to the more mature themes and darker tone, Harry Potter introduced more realism as it went, but Rowling did not have the worldbuilding chops to pull this off. There’s the basic magic system stuff: When you begin thinking about it too hard, something like a Time-Turner stops being a fun magical device, and starts threatening to break the entire story. Then there’s the characters: Dumbledore leaving Harry on the Dursleys’ doorstep in the first book is an age-old fairy tale trope that goes unquestioned, but with the introduction of realism in the later books, it suddenly becomes abandonment of a child to an abusive family. The exaggerated stereotypes of characters like the Dursleys become tone-deaf. The fun school rivalry of the House system is suddenly lacking in nuance. And then there’s the shift in tone: The wizarding world that we were introduced to as a marvellous place is revealed to be dystopian. You start thinking about how impractical things like owl messengers are, you start wondering if Slytherin is being unjustly punished, the bad history appears glaringly obvious, the quaint archaisms become dangerously regressive. Oh, and the grand feasts are made through slave labor! The wizarding world suddenly feels small and backward instead of grand and marvellous. J.K. Rowling’s bigotry throws it all into an even harsher light.

This is why I’ve always preferred the early books and films to the later ones. There’s a lot of things I like about the later ones, but they’re not as stylized — they don’t have The Vibe. Thinking about things too hard is just a necessary condition of adulthood, but it’s still possible to tell a dark, mature story that is highly stylized. I really think JKR could have better pulled off that shift if she was a more competent worldbuilder. But it is painfully obvious that she did not think things through, and probably didn’t understand why she had to. In her defense, she did not know that her story would end up being one of the most scrutinized of all time. As it stands, her strength in worldbuilding was in the softer, smaller, deliberately unexplained moments of magic that were there just to provide atmosphere. And there were less and less of those as the books went along.

Pretty much all the Harry Potter-related content released since the last film — including Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts, Hogwarts Mystery, Hogwarts Legacy, Magic Awakened, and that short-lived Pokemon Go thing — have been unsuccessful attempts at recreating The Vibe. In fact, the only piece of supplemental Potter content that I think had that Vibe down pat was the original Pottermore, back when it was more of an interactive game. And of course that got axed. That was right around the time things started going downhill.

Some of the art from Pottermore’s original Sorting quiz.

So what now? Well, that’s the question.

I think I can safely say that The Vibe was the reason I liked Harry Potter. It’s the thing I still like the most about it. I’ve spent years chasing it, like an elusive Patronus through a dark wood. If I can capture and distill that Vibe, and use drops of it in my own work, then perhaps I won’t need Harry Potter anymore.

I'm gonna write the story that I wish Harry Potter was, and when I'm a famous author, I won't become a bigot. I'll see you on the other side.

146 notes · View notes

lgbtpopcult · 1 year ago

Text

What cool WLW projects do we know are coming in 2024?

youtube

Drive-Away Dolls

Arguably the most important representation of the year comes from a movie directed by one of the Coen brothers. Ethan Coen directs this wacky comedy that is very much in style for him.

Synopsis:

This comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.

youtube

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage

A game had to be added to this list and here it is, the best one. From the creators who gave us Life is strange. Lost Records: Bloom and Rage tells the story of four friends who experience a transformative summer in 1995. After 27 years of no contact, Nora, Swann, Autumn, and Kat are reunited by fate and forced to confront the long-buried secret that made them agree to never speak again all those years ago. From the teaser alone it is obvious at least two of them dated.

youtube

Pluto

A Thai gl from GMMTV, known for its successful Thai dramas. The story is the telenovela cliche we've always wanted. Two girls in love. One gets in an accident and her twin takes her place to find out who was behind her accident, the other girl is blind. The twin has to fake being the real one so has to be in a relationship with the blind girl and of course falls in love with her. Match made in fanfic heaven.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

It was announced so long ago people are getting frustrated. However, with both a writer and a director now attached to the project, and the strikes over, we have every reason to believe we will finally get to see the hit novel, that centers the love story between two closeted Hollywood actresses, come to life. Whether you loved the novel or were indifferent and didn't see what the fuss was about, it is a very successful wlw romance and we want to see it on screen!

The Paying Guests

The director that brought us Carol adapting a book by the author of Fingersmith? Yes please!

Speaking to Indiewire, Haynes revealed he’s developing an adaptation of Sarah Waters’ 2014 novel The Paying Guests. “It’s a three-part limited series that would need to be a British production, but it’s a really great novel.” Set in post-WWI London, the drama is part lesbian love story and part murder mystery following a down-and-out widow and her daughter, the latter taking up a relationship with one of their lodgers. Waters also wrote Fingersmith, which was adapted into The Handmaiden by Park Chan-wook.

NCIS Hawaii season 3

One of our favorite pairings of last year, Kate and Lucy are the main couple of their show and they carry it well. They look good together, have progress and evolution in their relationship and have fun working together.

The Secret of Us

Thai channel CH3 is expected to hit us strong with this Thai gl. CH3 is big in Thailand so this one is a big deal. The story is the typical exes meet again trope and it's magnificent. It centers Doctor Fahlada, nicknamed Doctor Angel. She is trying to hide the pain after being abandoned by the woman she loved. But then...by chance that woman comes back into her life.

youtube

Whisper Me a Love Song

Our resident anime entry has to be Whisper me a love song. Based on a manga it is the story of Himari Kino. On the first day of entering high school, Himari Kino "falls" for her senior, Yori Asanagi, whom she watched singing with a band at the welcome party for new students. When Himari confesses her admiration to Yori, Yori misinterprets Himari's feelings as romantic love. However, before Yori realizes, she comes to fall for Himari anyway, and promises to win her affections for real.

Bad Sisters season 2

Bad Sisters is one of the best reviewed and hilarious shows on this list. Coming back for a season 2 was inevitable. Bibi, the lesbian sister, will keep entertaining us in 2024.

Station 19 season 7

One of the most enduring shows and wlw couples on TV are coming back for a season 7! That is a lot of seasons but Maya and Carina do still have that spark.

youtube

About Galaxy The Series

Part of the gl renaissance that is expected to go full force next year, this series is already hugely popular among Asian romance fans.

Synopsis:

‘About Galaxy’ is based on author Zezeho’s yuri of the same name, with a Thai title of “มูลค่าดาวล้านดวง”. The story revolves around Hong Yok, a designer who has a big scar on her face which led her to hide away from the public due to her inferiority complex. But something changed in her life when she met Note, a woman she was measuring clothes, and realized she is the same person who gave her that huge scar! However, despite the incident, she doesn’t outright despise her, and instead… feels safe. What will happen to the two women?

My Ex-Friend's Wedding

Kay Cannon ("Blockers") will direct from a script co-written by Taylor Jenkins Reid? Staring a group of friends trying to stop their friend from getting married? And one of them is queer? We're all in!

Arcane (Season 2)

It seems like forever since we first watched Arcane but we're definitely looking forward to season 2. Needs no introduction.

Dream the Series

We already have enough Asian dramas in this list but we couldn't leave out one of the most anticipated gl, Dream. The story is that of a woman that sees a girl in her dreams every night only to meet her in real life. While in real life they are friends in her dreams they do much more. She thinks her friend doesn't know about that what she doesn't know is that she also remembers everything they do in their dreams.

Harley Quinn the Animated Series season 5

Another season of our favorite criminal duo Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy? Yes please and thank you. These two, and this particular iteration of them, might be the best representation American television has ever given us.

Chaser Game W

Chaser Game W is the first gl produced by TV Tokyo so it has a historic significance for the advancement of representation for queer women in Japan. First episode airs January 8. Based on manga series "Chaser Game" written by Hiroshi Matsuyama & illustrated by Yukitaro Matsuyama

The story:

synopsis: Itsuki has been working in the "Dynamic Dream" game company for five years and is now appointed as the lead for a big Japanese-Chinese collaboration project, which she is fully motivated to work on. However, it turns out the Chinese company team is led by her ex, Fuyu, whom she one-sidedly broke up with back in university! After breaking up with Fuyu, Itsuki never dated anyone else and chose to focus on her work, all while not coming out to her family and coworkers... But when her ex-girlfriend suddenly appeared in front of her, her feelings immediately started to sway. Meanwhile, Fuyu always resented Itsuki for breaking up with her without saying why. She takes charge of the project and pushes impossible tasks onto Itsuki. While Fuyu plots her revenge, Itsuki is rekindling her unrequited love. What will the outcome be for these two opposites?

youtube

Vigil season 2

The first couple of episodes of Vigil season 2 will technically be shown in December 2023 (in the UK only) but we'll basically be able to watch it beginning 2024 and we're looking forward to it!

Several upcoming TV shows and movies have cast actors that make it obvious they'll have lesbian and bi characters but until we know whether the representation will be enough to be worth watching we're holding off on making that other, more elaborate, list.

379 notes · View notes

powerpuffobsession · 9 months ago

Text

As much as I love Adam for a few fun parts of his character and for what he could have been at the hands of a competent writer (as shown by the fanfics where he gets properly developed)...

I feel like he (and the way he's characterised) is what broke Hazbin hotel season 1 pacing, Lucifer's character and the show's overall atmosphere.

(Long and packed rant under the cut, because I've been having these thoughts since I saw season 1, and I want to share them. Viewer discretion is adviced)

Before Adam existed (pilot era) it was all simple and worked more properly: a story about the hotel and its inhabitants, and most importanty, redemption. It was a small snuggly location with a few characters in the center of a plot

Heaven was in the background and kept as a mystery. Moreover, from what we've seen in the pilot, Lucifer was obviously a background villain or at least an anti hero, one of the real obstacles for Charlie to overcome on the way to her goal (instead of a minor inconveniece resolved in a single broadway song)

But when Adam and his weird obsession with murder broke into that perfectly cut out premise, everything just shattered. Too many themes got weaved into the short story of the 8 episodes: Heaven vs Hell politics, overlords, war, Charlie's conflict with Adam, the seraphims...

All of that pushed the hotel and the redemption to the background instead of Heaven.... in a cartoon that's named after the hotel. Because 8 episodes is not enough to talk about politics, a war and a 6 month redemption course (the latter even happened behind the screen with only some verbal hints given about the amazing secretive progress the hotel guests made that we were not allowed to see!)

(Had this cartoon stayed indie, there would have been a possibility of making more episodes and tackling more themes properly. But big name broadway actors are more important than that, it appears)

Back to Adam.

He is not even a good villain. He really should have been more of a background antihero. Give the man some sedatives, for f's sake! Where did all that rabidity even come from, after centuries of living in Heaven? Honestly, he'd be expected to act calmer and wiser than how he actually did, especially with how old he is (as old as the earth itself). But instead it's like he got frozen in a state of a dumb jock bully from high school

Imagine if Adam allowed Charlie and her hotel guests to prove that redemption is possible, out of principle, or curiosity. Hell, maybe even allow him to threaten to kill them, but not straight away! Later, after they fail to prove him wrong! If that's what Adam's role had been, the hotel part would have gotten time to breathe and more spotlight

All Adam did in the series, was:

1. make a lot of excessive noise

2. do dumbass things (and it wasn't even explained WHY he's the way he is, not even a single flashback or his own musings and thoughts shown, which makes all of his actions fall flat in every sense)

3. break the remains of logic (Heaven looks plain dumb because of him, not able to tell sinning from non sinning and to judge human souls properly. It's not even corruption, since Adam is not that important or benefitial to Heaven, an actual archangel like Michael could have been leading exorcists in his place and do a better job.... it's just stupidity)

And then Adam just died, for nothing and with no consequences.

I mean, straight after Adam's death Lucifer is immediately trying to divert the viewer's attention: "who wants pancakes? :D". It's like the cartoon itself doesn't care that the first human, one of the most mysterious beings in vivzieverse and someone who badly needed a second chance and therapy, just died. By a very stupid joke too (Niffty didn't even have to stab him).

In short, Adam's plotline is a huge waste of screen time...

And while his final smile to Lute may give us some hints that there's something good inside Adam, but it's more akin to mockery. Since we were never shown that there's more to Adam besides "the main character's opponent=ultimate bad"

And of course Lucifer was retconned into a pathetic uwu boi, who's depression and "silliness" have overshadowed the fact that he practically doomed humanity to a life full of pain, suffering and surviving and took away Adam and Eve's home. We don't even get the slightest glimpse of what exactly Lucifer DREAMED of that was so important to force him to do the humans dirty. Meaning it was something abstract and not thought-through anyway.

(Free will my ass.. Adam and Lilith did as they pleased in Eden without the free will, Adam ordering his wives around, Lilith being able to defy him and Eve being able to disobey God. What good did "free will" from that fruit even do them? If anything, it only did harm to everyone)

And so now this daft egotist is being portrayed as this selfless harmless character only for the sake of contrasting the painfully obvious bad evil that Adam is.

That comes off as black and white writing, fit more for a childrens cartoon, despite the show critisizing Adam for thinking in black and white terms. Not a good look

#hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism #anti lucifer

169 notes · View notes

angelsdean · 5 months ago

Text

me opening up fanfic formatted as a script as i lead fans through the streets of vancouver: this is the original script yea, i was actually in the room when they wrote it! i was the coffee girl for the writers room so they just gave me a copy of the script. anyways yea so they fucked in the impala in heaven which is what gave the car its dimension-hopping powers in the winchesters bc it was infused with cas's cu--

#vic.txt

62 notes · View notes

kaledya · 6 months ago

Note

Hello, Hello !

So I will use this message to answers all your questions and talk about more 'important' writing from the fanfic, like that, all is in the same area !

(Also before thank you for your kind words for my healing, I'm feeling almost normal !🌸)

So first, I read you others responses and saw that you haven't really ideas for the rest of your SSAU and you see it more of a concept and I respect it, its normal. SSAU have a different ending in his first season than the main show, so to be a bit lost in how you want to direct the story, when you are not used to write, can be overwhelming. Don't worry, I've got you !

• So, what are my plans after the Overlords Meeting ARC ?

So technically, I was waiting for you to make more storyboards, you know, because that was the plan to write what you are imagining but as I said, its okay if you don't, we will talk about it and found something.

For the plans we already established in another message this order of things :

- Overlords Meeting ARC - Vox VS Alastor - Valentino and Angel problem ARC - Constantine arrives at the hotel

Season 2

- Serenity, Lucifer arrives too. - Charlie goes to Heaven - Ruthlessness by Azrael.

That is the base I keep.

So in my mind, what I'm preparing (without spoiler but still comprehensible)

- Episode 5 : Overlords Meetings ARC (more lore with the gangs) + flashback + Vox VS Alastor confrontation but not a real fight with powers. Just a song battle. Serenity and Alastor interaction.

- Episode 6 : ACTION. Secondary plot focus, Lolicia phase 2 showcase and emotional triggers + Lolicia and Alastor past flashback + (Combat songs!)

The emotional triggers link to :

- Episode 7 : Angel and Val + New OC entering (link to secondary plot) + unlocking more past for Lolicia. Husk conforting Angel (new song)

For Angel and Val, you already made some doodles and drawing about how it would happened with Charlie poison tail, (showcasing for the first time the Royal Autority ability - teasing more and more Constantine arrival) and Val suffering for some time as a punition.

- BETWEEN episode 7 and last episode,

[Second Interlude with short stories maybe with others characters ?]

details (no orders) : we have the activities for the japanese summer festival preparations, RadioSnare organisation (explaining how to gain influence probably), Pentious getting more confortable with the group as there is a new guest arriving (new OC of episode 7), inviting the Overlords one by one for the festival (songs), the Vees (Vox and Velvette) to deal with, Lolicia is changing because of the event in episode 6.

Now, do you have little arcs/exemple/archetypes of sceneries or interactions you would like to see in season 1 ? Something you wished happened in the main show fo exemple ? I could include it here ! Some Huskerdust, Chaggie (relationship things are okay of course)

Lolicia changing/breaking (time to be a writer and make my readers cry) : - explaining about the showcase of power in episode 6 - her power is offensive (what will see in episode 6) and defensive (purple cords) - offensive power (big rewrite song of the Underworld by epic the musical)

[remember that Lolicia as a power that doesn't use souls and still slaps and Alastor wants to know why]

Constantine related things : - Constantine arrives because something worrying happened close to the hotel and he wants to protect Charlie and see her 'progress'. - Epic meeting between Constantine and Lolicia - Constantine see something in Lolicia and wants to decipher it (that is why he will be more "relax" with her than others guests at the hotel, introducing his ways of interaction in season 2)

- Last Episode, Then at the last episode of the season, the japanese summer festival made by everyone with the Overlords invited (yukatas, fireworks, and realising that the people of the hotel are finally having something close to a friendship.) Developing trust is the main thing of this season.

Before the end of season 1 : - Lolicia reason of death unlock

Because in the main show Season 1 : we know HOW characters died (bullet in the head, alcool poisoning, drug/coma, probably abuse...) Season 2 : we learn WHY characters died we will probably have the past of Pentious and why is he redeemed, what happened in his life, perhaps Alastor's mother and past serial killer crimes, the mafia family of Angel ect.

And I will use the same pattern in my ff. HOW in first season and WHY in the second season. I hope it make sense !

[We need the coronation of Constantine somewhere in season 2 or 3 like in your short because it was amazing !!]

So yes, that is my plan, and remember, if you want to say/add anything, you can. We are both gods here as you said (no idea is stupid and can only be worked on) 🌸

• So Lucifer position in AA/SSAU ?

I'm based on what you said about him. He is more prideful and more serious (still depressed). I think, as we talk about, the bad blood between him and Charlie will be more difficult to cure. But he is a fallen angel, that guy is power, more than Constantine who is his son and already impressive. But Lucifer let his son deal with matter of the kingdom and live a bit on his own.

(I heard what you said about wanting Constantine to be more angelic, blonde and human and surprising Demons when they met him because its a contrast. And I like it a lot ! I'm excited to see how you will change the design!)

For Lucifer, I think a chill part of him and an important aura must be around him like Azrael and Abaddon that we already saw. Perhaps the corruption is around him and not inside him so he looks like a dark archangel ? Shattering away and reconstructing always. A never ending circle of breaking and healing ?

Of course tell me what you think about it ! Because its a little bit different of your idea of Lucifer !

Like it could be the other way around, when he is "normal" Luci look dark, not mean, just what I said before and when he is "mad" or ready to fight there is something more holy/unholy impressive in his face/body ?

I don't know if it make sense. We can keep his obsession with ducks. He is also occupied with his humans followers/cultists.

Perhaps, because his idea of Hell didn't appeared as he wanted, (the circus thing), perhaps he is planning to create a new part in Hell ? A new ring ? And this project took all his attention (hyperfixation) and he will have interesting conversations with Abaddon (and others Archangels) leading to why this Hell is not based on military legions ect ? Just ideas !

• Where is Lilith in AA/SSAU ?

Good question! Again, I was waiting for your ideas but now let's talk about it.

Lilith is already a powerful character, a queen, someone who reigns on her husband heart without even being here. And in SSAU, creator of the Ars Goetia, mistress of the night and bird-like appearance, right?

But technically, what is she really ? A human trapped in eternity, corrupted by Abaddon insides.

We need weakness and things she can't have to make her relatable. Perhaps while searching for something she can't have, she met Roo (that we already saw we know she is clever and cruel) get trapped in a sunny cage (bird symbolism and day/night) and Roo found the possibility to do a metamorphosis of the queen herself and her plan to destroy the Morningstar Family (with Alastor focusing on Charlie).

Eve is the host of Roo so perhaps her own anger/fear about the fate of her own family (Adam, Cain, Abel, Seth and the unamed daughters) give power to Roo to indulge in chaos/destruction. And Roo is just a concept of corruption and not even realising that the host she despise and treat as a child (Eve) is actually the one that make her exist ?

She took Lilith down, something link to her plan and for that she also need that Alastor do something ? Tell me what you think !

So yes, Lilith is trapped.

Actually I think Constantine would try to do something to find his mother. Perhaps send a detective (an OC we could create?) (And we like Sherlock type of dynamics) to search for Lilith ? Could link the Hellaverse part more easily with the story (with your OCs) : the seven deadly sins and their children, Ars Goetia, the brothel with the succubuses, even Verdelet !

• What Abaddon thinks of the others true archangels ?

So my Abaddon is an special angel and a place/hell, so yes he is a bit different from the true archangels, his brothers and sisters. He loves them all overall but he doesn't have plenty of quality time. He is not in Heaven even if he can go freely there.

To have a metaphor, I don't know if you saw the Ghibli movie "Castle in the Sky" ? There is a robot soldier who is the guardian of the floating island Laputa. And he is alone because the other robots are just asleep or dead. And he takes care of little foxes who kind of lives on him and trees. He cares for them.

Abaddon is like this robot and the little foxes are his brothers and sisters. That is how he thinks of them.

- Azrael, they are very close and work together from times to times.

- Michael, they don't talk too much, Abaddon sees Michael like something mixt between a heros and a gladiator. In term of strategy planning, they actually get along quite well.

- Uriel, is actually his favorite sibling but he can't talk to her face-to-face cause she is the Sun of God and he is the Abyss, so their power hurt eachother. So they write to themselves letters each month.

- Gabriel, they would probably do shopping together and talk of wild subjects. It would be like listening to 2 ADHD people conversing with each other.

- Raphael, his duty is to tell to Abaddon what the hell is happening in the world, the big changes in humanity ect ect. So they see eachother each year for report. Abaddon mostly don't listen and just scultp his brother face because he thinks his face is very feminine and pretty. Raphael took it as an insult each time but still take the bust sculpture his brother carved for him back to his domain in Heaven.

- Jophiel, is like an annoying little sister. She is curious of her brother and wants to know him better. She chit-chat a lot and its overwhelming him. So Abaddon listen but not necessarily answer. He makes her dolls to make her understand he still cares.

- Lucifer, Abaddon knows Lucifer very well because he lives inside him, in Hell. He knows that Lucifer is depressed and doing his own thing. Most of the time he calls him Mael Still (for Samael). They are actually kind of alike in their personality, both inventors and they have a lot of interests in common. But for Lucifer its difficult to see his brother and just forget that he is imprisoned in him (and if Abaddon would have been in his side in the rebellion against Heaven, perhaps he would have win ?) That is what he thinks. So yes, they have things to work with to their relationship to be better!

I will answer Lolicia faq in another message because this is already too long ! 😭 Ahah but I'm curious to see what you think and ideas, its very interesting to talk about all of this !

Thanks to read it all and I hope I did answer well (because I can definitely loose myself)🌸

First of all, thank you for your understanding.

And seriously, you don't have to follow the plans I made or infos ı take etc, I prefer you to be free. I seriously think you are a creative person!

And yes, generating new ideas etc. by talking is a really good plan! Thank you

---

(up to episode 7) I think the way you set up the episodes and events is really excellent Character development is happening slowly, events don't feel rushed It is very nice that we can delve into the history of Lolicia rather than just presenting it to us.

And yes, Angel's salvation is Charlie killing Valentino.Angel seriously deserves freedom after so many years

And it is very nice to mention the past of Alastor and Lolicia again, the threads come together as if weaving a carpet.

I can't wait to meet the new OC who will come in Valentino's arc, I'm already curious what kind of character they are

As I said until this part, I think everything is great.You've really made a very logical arrangement and it doesn't feel like it's a replacement for anything.

(Intermediate chapters after 7)

There is nothing I want to happen. Frankly, you have already written the events that should happen, there is nothing I can add🛐. Allowing breathing after story arcs. And it's really smart of you to think of sections that allow us to see the consequences of those important arcs.

And your choices are really great because these arcs both strengthen the story and introduce the characters better.And I think that stories always need sections where the reader can breathe.And that's exactly what you're giving them.

Regarding the relationships (huskerdust, Chaggie), I think these relationships can be improved by including them in arcs without a separate arc.

------

LOLICIA'S CHANGING/BREAKING????!!!!

Wait WHAT?? What will you do to her NOOOOO!!

As a writer, I know it's fun to make OCs suffer, but since I'm a reader right now, I don't want to see lolicia suffer.(⁠ ⁠≧⁠Д⁠≦⁠)

And what will happen in Ep6??? I know we will see the past and there will be a combat song but what will happen that will affect lolicia so much!!?!!

Rewrite of Underworld????? What will happen? For God's sake and I have always wondered where Lolicia's powers come from, I can't wait to find out.But I think I will be sad rather than happy when I learn this information?What kind of tragic story is behind their powers?

----

Constantine's reason for coming really made sense.Also, it makes sense why he is more interested in Lolicia. I'm seriously looking forward to the events after Constantine's arrival.

AND yes that encounter my god I seriously can't wait to see the dynamic and dialogue of these two!

---

Japanese festival? It's seriously a great idea to end the season, we see the character development of the characters clearly and before moving on to the next season.And I think it's a really enjoyable arc to read.

The HOW and WHY dynamic is really very logical, it creates expectation and curiosity on the part of the reader, and it allows the character stories to be told in a more orderly and logical way.It was truly a great choice!

I'm really glad you liked my short, but it was something I made for fun for that song.I don't know how it will be transferred into the story because in order for Constantine to be crowned king, Lucifer must either stop being king or die💀

---

Seriously, it was great to read your plan and I think you came up with a great plan, I don't have anything to add because it's already perfect!!

As a god, I take off my hat to you who are a god too 🎩

And thank you for your thoughts on the ideas, it really relieved me to hear that because I'm not very confident in my own ideas.But I still want to say that if something I said is not compatible with your story, you do not have to use it.And please feel free to tell me that I think criticism will improve me!

---

Definitely, Lucifer is a little more proud and serious than in the series, he is an energetic guy, but he is a really tired man, someone who was left alone after the loss of his wife and his estrangement with his daughter.While one side of him constantly wants to make things right with Charlie, the other proud side is too stubborn to admit his mistake.

And yes, the situation with Charlie is too serious to be fixed with a song and a hug. They haven't seen each other properly for 7 years and the last time they had a serious fight they never met again.Their bond isn't broken, but it needs repairing, and it's not something that can't be fixed with a long conversation and a willingness to listen to Lucifer on Charlie.They just need some daddy and daughter time, time will tell the rest.

((Lucifer's relationship with Constantine is very different from his relationship with Charlie. Since Constantine was raised as a king, he and Lucifer had a love for each other when Con was young , but they are not close now.And although Lucifer knows he can make things right with Charlie, he knows he can't(or don't know how) do that with Constantine.

Lucifer and Constantine have a relationship similar to Shifu and Tai lung, although it is not a form of hatred.

(Con still loves his father, but there isn't much intimacy between them, and after Lucifer's fight with Charlie, Constantine also had an argument with him about his attitude towards Charlie. V And since then they have seen each other much less. The last time they met was after Con arrived at the hotel and told Lucifer to go and meet Charlie.)

Lucifer's desire to make Constantine strong was for his own good, and little Con was someone who would do anything to make his father proud.But the way Lilith and Lucifer raised Constantine kind of killed the child in him.

""Kill the boy and let the man be born, Jon Snow"))

Long story short, Lucifer is currently alone in his palace, so it can be considered normal for him to be depressed.

---

THANK YOU!!! I can't say that I've changed him so much. In a way, he now wears his hair braided and open.And as an extra, I added an outfit with more dominant white+gold colors! + Golden scales make up under his eyes!

Here is The New ref sheet!

A circle that constantly breaks and then heals again as a reflection of the black archangel corruption of Lucifer is a really interesting idea.In a way, it summarizes The hell, a place that hosts new lives after death and die again, again and again until eternity.A death circle that can never be broken, created from Lucifer's mistake.

As an extra, this idea reminded me of Oroboros (I'm not sure if I spelled the name correctly.I think it was a snake eating its tail that described the endless cycle.

And I really like the idea of Lucifer being corrupted. There's still a fire burning brightly inside him, but it's slowly starting to fade away because there's no one around to feed the fire.

And Lucifer's idea of trying to create a new ring because hell is not what he wants is also very interesting. Maybe even if he cannot do this in reality, but in his palace he can create miniature architects like a LEGO.(Not exactly LEGO but you get the idea) He still has a love for ducks (maybe it's Lilith's memory,Or it has a special place in his heart because it is something he created.)

On the one hand, he is trying to create the utopia at home that he has never had but wants to have.After all, Lucifer was a dreamer Or who knows, this hobby was a distraction he used to escape his missing wife or problems with his children.

I really liked all your ideas, they all fit with Lucifer's character.

----+

Yes, Lilith is such a person in the story, and maybe Lucifer and Lilith may know about Roo's existence much earlier and try to prepare for this danger, but when will there be treat coming that they cannot see?

Regarding getting caught, Lilith may have finally found or encountered Roo, and after a conversation between them and a battle, Lilith may have lost.After all, Roo is evil and has become even stronger with the evil born over the past 10,000 years.

And Lilith is fighting with Eve here, maybe Lilith might feel guilty for what Eve went through, after all, Eve was once her younger sister. And this caused her to show a moment of weakness in battle.

I think of Roo as a kind of god. (Similar to those in Greek mythology) Roo only dies when she is forgotten or what she represents disappears.This is in a way impossible because what Lucifer did created evil and now evil has taken deep roots in the world.So I see Roo as a really difficult enemy to defeat.A kind of embodiment of evil

As for Eve's character, Eve is an intelligent woman, but she is filled with a lot of anger after being thrown out of Eden.The 'gift' that Lucifer gave her took a lot out of her, not only from her, but also caused a lot of damage to her loved ones.Their sons killed each other, all women in the next generation were cursed with the pain and risk of death brought by giving birth. Thousands of women suffered and.Eve was declared the scapegoat for all this pain

(I even thought of such a scene, but I don't know if it would fit the story.

---

Luci: Eve, I can understand the hate, but can you please just listen to me for a second-

Eve: HAH! Do you understand my anger?YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND MY ANGER.

IMAGINE LUCIFER CHARLIE AND CONSTANTINE KILLING EACH OTHER, AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT. ALL YOU DO IS HOLD YOUR CHILD IN THE BLOOD.AND WATCHING THE FEAR IN YOUR OTHER CHILD' EYES AND THE CHILD TO RUN AWAY BEFORE YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING.Because he think that I hate him after what he did. Thousands of women and children suffered for that damn apple, Lucifer. While you were sitting in your palace and spending time with the family you built, I stood by these things.I have seen crimes that make me disgusted with humanity You're the one cursed for your so-called mistake but all you do is watch from your palace and I feel every sin.You can't understand me, Lucifer. (In this scene, between Eve and Roo's personalities, Eve is much more dominant.)

----

So, she wanted to change things, take revenge, and Roo, realizing this, decided to use her.

In a way, the combination affects Roo eve's personality, and eve affects her , but on the other hand, they're separate existence and under that accumulated anger, eve is still a good person at heart, I guess she just needs a light.

(I think I can give Darth Vader as an example. In the end, no matter how corrupt he was, Luke was able to save Anakin again)

So, in a way, Roo is a corruption as you say.This is something that could happen to anyone. Eve's current state is corrupt. Eve still has her memories, she is still someone who cares about her children, but she is far from her old self.

For example, when we meet Roo/Eve Cain, it happens when Eve shows him the compassion of a mother.

For example, in Swap Au, Michael becomes corrupt after what he went through, and this is evident in terms of both personality and appearance.

And yes, it makes sense to take Lilith out of the picture in terms of Roo's plan. Because if Lilith was still there, she wouldn't let Charlie and Lucifer's relationship get worse.

And Constantine is also very affected by the loss of his mother. Lilith was the person who brought him and Lucifer together and made them spend time together. Also, Lilith was Constantine's role model and the only person who understood him, and after that loss, Constantine was left alone.

Lucifer lost the love of his life and his best friend and confidant, and was left alone in that huge palace with his past regrets.

So Eve Roo's plan worked really well. The Morningstar family is not whole right now.

And yes, then we have alastor. Roo is probably the main reason why Alastor came to the hotel. Probably to get closer to Charlie. But Alastor probably has plans to get rid of his chains.

---

And yes, Constantine is looking for his mother. Actually, I recently thought of an idea about this concept.Because a new OC and plan was needed for such a job!!

(If you think the idea is incompatible with the story, please tell me!)

After Lilith's loss, Constantine tries to search for his mother himself, but can find almost no clue. Whether Lilith left by her own decision or He does not know whether she is captured by a higher being than himself. ( Roo's existence is not known for certain, Lilith and Lucifer have not told him this yet.)

So after his own searches, Con knows that for such a search he needs to get information down to the smallest alleys, he needs to know even the smallest crumbs, but no matter how powerful he is, he know can't do this.

Not at the same time in all 7 rings, especially after his father left Royal duties and he was just starting to rule the kingdom.He tries to take time to look for his mother, but when he has just ascended the throne. He needs to show the demons how he will rule hell and also show his authority.

That's why he needs to go to someone who can provide information from every corner of hell and control even the whispers in the most alley.And the most suitable option for this task is the Clan of Whispers itself.A network of knowledge spread throughout the 7 rings of hell and a clan known for the accuracy of that knowledge and the trustworty of the clan.

That's why Constantine goes to meet Misfortune 7 months after his mother's disappearance.

(I'm thinking of writing their conversation here, but I'll summarize it for now)

No matter how much the Constsntine sees the Overlords as despicable Serenity is an exception, unlike the other lord, she is a lord who has become stronger with her silver tongue, intelligence and tactics, and has managed to spread her power to all the rings..While normally Overlords are limited to the pride ring, Serenity is someone who has access to all rings thanks to the hellhounds.

That's why Constantine already had a curiosity and interest in her.

Anyway, Constantine is meeting with Serenity. In the Serenity said that even if Lilith left by her own choice or was held back by someone greater than her,She says that in such a situation, finding a clue about Lilith may be almost impossible even with her resources, but she promise that she will do her best

Constantine then makes a small threat about what will happen to her clan if this information gets out of Serenity.

As a result, Constantine asks what he wants from Serenity. While Constantine was waiting for money, Power or something like that Serenity seeks protection. During her search for Lilith, she receives permanent protection when she manages to find Lilith.

The reason why Serenity wants this is that no matter how much other sinners or hell-born people stay away from her, she has no power of protection against nobles.But if she has the prince's protection, she no longer has to worry about her clan.(this is not a spell, just Constantine declaring immunity to Serenity and her Clan)

So, they make an agreement like this and while Constantine rules the kingdom, Serenity assigns her second most trusted man to this task.

You can change this idea if you want, it's all your decision✨

The reason why I chose Giovanni was that he was someone who could go to all the rings of hell and that he had a lot of resources as he was the 2nd most authorized member of the clan.He's a very clever and cunning person.

I also think it's a really great idea to discover the other rings through a detective character!! It was really nice to see the characters we knew from other circles.

Giovanni brings the information he has acquired every month to Serenity, and Serenity informs Constantine about the developments.

I liked this idea because I wanted to build a friendship between Serenity and Constantine, and once a month, Constantine visits Serenity and talks for a long time, and this lasts for 7 years. That's why they had already known each other for a long time before coming to Serenity Hotel.

(Normally, these visits are purely for business purposes, but mostly there is no new information, just some whispers. And after months and years, Constantine begins to enjoy these conversations, because There's rarely a time when he's away from royalty There are also a lot of hellhound puppies in the mansion. 5 years later, Constantine had a little talk with someone and played a little game with them.And from then on, the cubs did not leave him easily and whenever they saw the Consntine, they asked him to tell a story or show a spell.(After all, puppies don't know what hierarchy is, they probably don't even know who Constantine is)

Do you think this idea makes sense? If not, please tell me! You can change it as you wish or remove this idea, everything is ok for me!)

------

The metaphor you used is really cute. I really liked the way you saw Abaddon's siblings. Even though he cannot spend time with them all the time, sometimes just seeing that they are good and safe is enough for him

-I really liked his relationship with Michael. It's a kind of big brother and little brother relationship. I'm glad they are on good terms even if they don't talk much!

-Her relationship with Uriel is really sweet, it's too bad that even though they love each other, they can't spend time together because of the way they are created, but their correspondence is really sweet.

-Lmao Absolutely yes,seriously it would be so fun to listen to these two talk they could probably talk for hours about a topic they love. But the topic they talk about is completely different every 5 minutes

-Lmao his relationship with Raphel was really fun and it would be really fun to see someone as serious and strict as Raphael talking to someone more relaxed and playful like Abdaddon.

-She would definitely be someone who talked so much that he would swell the head becouse of Jophiel, she would probably be jumping around him constantly, asking his opinion on every subject or constantly trying to get to know him better. And it's so cute that even though Adaddon couldn't spend much time with Jophiel, he gave her a doll to show that he cared about her.

-You explained Abaddon's relationship with Lucifer very well. Even though they are similar, what happened in the past is what is causing these two brothers to be alienated and separated now.Is Lucifer still stuck in what if scenarios about the past?I hope their relationship can improve So they say there's nothing time can't heal.

I saw the article the you Answer questions about Lolicia!! Thank you in advance and I will reply to you as soon as possible!!

And seriously, thank you very much for answering all my questions and explaining the plan in detail. It was really nice to read what you wrote. I really love your ideas.And it was so much fun talking about these with you. I seriously loved all your ideas, there is not even one that I didn't like o. Also, seriously, everything is in perfect order and there is nothing I want to add!

Thank you again for taking the time to respond. And I'm sorry for this long message in advance.

Have a nice day!! 🫂🫂❤️❤️❤️

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel au #HazbinHotelSSAU #HazbinHotelConstantine #HazbinHotelSerenity

61 notes · View notes

centuryberry · 17 hours ago

Text

Queen of the Mountain Picrew

All right! The results are in and the majority said “yes” to me sharing how I imagine Yue (via picrew). Out of respect to those who’d like to keep things to the imagination, I’ll be putting all the images below “read more”.

There are quite a few Act II designs, but I also included some Act III designs too. They're not too spoilery. Just vibes. And I also added some surprises in here too!

A special thanks to @that-shy-fanfic-writer for editing Yue’s ears to make them colorful the way I imagined them! (Picrew unfortunately didn’t have the option to give the six ears multiple colors.) She toiled for hours to help make it possible. Lav, you’re amazing!

Act II Yues:

Queen Yue:

Note: Yue's usual look when she's back at FFM. She prefers soft colors and light fabric when she's home.

Traveling Yue:

Note: Yue's look when she was traveling. It's also the uniform she wore during her time at Guanyin's school.

War Yue:

Note: Yue's armor when she stormed Heaven to face LBD.

Act III Yues:

Casual Yue:

Note: Pigsy's Noodles has a cute new face. She's pretty quiet and keeps to herself. Wonder why she looks so sad...

Winter Yue:

Note: Yue's winter getup. Gotta bundle up when it gets cold! Yue's winter fur can only do so much on its own.

Summer Yue:

Note: Yue's swimsuit during a hypothetical beach episode. Doesn't she look cute?

Clones:

Script:

Note: While detail-oriented, this clone is the most creative of the bunch. She's an amazing stagehand and a reliable understudy. Great at memorization and details too.

Agenda:

Note: This clone is the perfect assistant to any researcher. She's the most active of the three since she's always running around to get the job done.

Mingle:

Note: Who's ready to have some fun? This clone is the social butterfly of the three. She's always down to play and party. She's also great at customer service at a pinch.

Bonus:

Shanzha:

Note: Created to strongly resemble Yue. She also has a hairpiece that's a nod to Chang'e.

RinRin:

Note: I based her design on her appearance in the Alakazam Film.

#queen of the mountain #lmk #picrew #yue #yuebei xing

25 notes · View notes

osunism · 4 months ago

Text

Muse's Fanfic Masterpost

⚠️ Please read the rules before following and interacting. ⚠️

🌻 Muse [She/They] 🌻 Black 👩🏿‍🦱 🌻 35+. I was there, Gandalf. 🌻 Multi-fandom and multi-shipper. 🌻 Writer 👩🏿‍💻 🌻 EDM Enjoyer 🌈🪩 🌻 Cat Mom 🐈‍⬛ 🌻 Professional Griot 💃🏿🪘 🌻 I don't follow back mindlessly; authentic engagement is the only way I do social media. 🌻 No bad faith arguments will be entertained. I will block and never look back.

Below is a list of all my current works. Since I’m currently only active in the JJK fandom, those are the works that’ll be listed! Once other fandoms get active, this list will be sorted and updated!

⛩️ AO3 𑁍 FFN 𑁍 Parallax OCs 𑁍 Sonder OCs 𑁍 Headcanons & Meta ⛩️

Fic Status Key

[♡] - AO3 version.

[⭑] - Tumblr version.

[♤] - Fanfiction(dot)net version.

[🚩] - Dead Dove: Do Not Eat

[🔏] - Commissioned Fic

[∞] - In Progress

[☥] - Rewriting

[☯] - Complete

[📿] - Parallax

[🔮] - Sonder

[🪄] - Lost Worlds & Endless Nights

Relationship Key

🧿👹 - Satoru/Sundari

⛩️⚔️ - Sukuna/Nadja

🧿🧜🏾‍♀️ - Satoru/Asabé

⛓️👸🏾 - Toji/Akasha

⛓️👩🏿‍🦱 - Toji/blackfem!Reader

Relevant Tags

#muse writes

#fic rec

#jjk x oc

#jjk x black oc

#jjk fanfic

#jjk fanart

#fic: [ficname]

#series: [seriesname]

#ch: [charname]

#oc: [ocname]

#otp: [shipname]

noun [📿] par·al·lax ˈper-ə-ˌlaks ˈpa-rə- 1. the apparent displacement or the difference in apparent direction of an object as seen from two different points not on a straight line with the object. especially: the angular difference in direction of a celestial body as measured from two points on the earth's orbit.

Nadja Hikmat, an immortal warrior tasked by Heaven itself to hunt Ryōmen Sukuna, falls in love with the sorcerer instead. From that fateful meeting, a ripple of unforeseen changes echos across the sea of time.

Beast of No Nation [♡] [⭑] [♤] – One night, the King of Curses took an over-curious fugitive of heaven to task. Over the course that night, and the many that followed, she found herself continuously drawn to the jujutsu world. [☯] [📿] ⛩️⚔️ || 🧿👹

If [♡] [⭑] [♤] – One night, Satoru meets a woman with strange tattoos who sears a place on his mind and memory. Who is she? [☯] [📿] 🧿👹

Crystalline [⭑]– The night Itadori Yuji takes in Sukuna’s Finger, Satoru sees Sukuna’s cursed energy erupt in Roppongi and finds a familiar face at its epicenter. [A commissioned fic written by the lovely @septembersums. Thank you for contributing to my JJK 'verse!] [🔏] [☯] [📿] 🧿👹

We Might Even Be Fallin' In Love [♡] [⭑] [♤] – The miracle of existence bridges the infinity between them. [☯] [📿] 🧿👹

Daughter of Disgrace [♡] [⭑] [♤] – In the aftermath of Satoru Gojo’s sealing, Sundari must choose rebellion in order to free him. Lucky for them both, rebellion has always been her preferred modus operandi. [☯] [📿] ⛩️⚔️ || 🧿👹

The Godslayer Project [♡] [⭑] [♤] – Sukuna’s daughter, Sundari, is navigating her new life as a jujutsu sorcerer and instructor at Jujutsu Tech’s Tokyo Campus. There is still much to be done in the wake of Kenjaku and Sukuna’s schemes, and not all of Kenjaku’s secrets died with him. [TBD]

07DEC2019 04:00 AM JST [♡] [⭑] [♤] – Gojo Satoru comes home and wants to be in the arms of his goddess and sleep. [☯] [📿] 🧿👹

The universe conspires to keep one pair's love kept safe. Nadja and Sukuna walk Samsāra, no matter the form, recognizing one another's souls everywhere they meet. Here is how their meeting ripples across the multiverse. [Or: I am in love with these two and here are some AUs I'm cooking up.]

Highball [♡] [⭑] [♤] – The price of peace has a cost. The scales must balance eventually. [Yakuza/Found Family AU]

noun [🔮] 1. the feeling one has on realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and real as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles: In a state of sonder, each of us is at once a hero, a supporting cast member, and an extra in overlapping stories.

A collection of fics in my sprawling JJK multiverse featuring various protagonists, including the Reader!

The Unforgiving Roads That Lead to You [♡] [♤] – Roxanne Abaza, the only foreign-born special grade sorcerer in existence, is called to assist with the wrangling and exorcism of Ryōmen Sukuna. What ensues is more than she bargained for. [☥]

Halfsleeper [♡] [⭑] [♤] – A young widowed sorceress seeks protection under the aegis of the Honored One, but he has a better idea for keeping her out of the clutches of her dangerous clan. [∞] 🧿🧜🏾‍♀️

Unsanctioned [♡] [⭑] [♤] – Bodyguard/Yakuza AU. Toji Fushiguro, who is in disgrace after having an affair with his boss’ now ex-wife, is now tasked with protecting her as the mercurial grounds of Tokyo’s Underworld begin to shift into uncertainty, putting the entire syndicate and anyone associated with them in peril. [∞] ⛓️👸🏾

Before It's Gone [♡] [⭑] – Toji’s been darkening your doorway for a while and is only now realizing what you already knew. [☯] [🔮] ⛓️👩🏿‍🦱

These are playlists for the fics and characters within my JJK ‘verse. It cannot be overstated how much music plays an integral role in my creative process, and it makes me happy to share it with you all to expand the picture I paint with my stories. A ☮︎ indicates a link to the Spotify version of the playlist. Keep in mind that due to licensing issues [yuck], my personal music library tracks can’t be played on some services so there might be more or less songs, different versions of songs, etc. Still bangers, tho. Enjoy.

🎧 [ fugitive of heaven ] [☮︎] – Nadja Hikmat's playlist. Like her immortal life, this playlist has been curated across decades, evoking imagery of a wild, twisting sojourn through many eras. 🐍

🎧 [ godslayer principle ] [☮︎] – Sundari Hikmat's playlist. Expect atmospheric haunting, psytrance, hard techno, some house, R&B, trap, and strange chanting. 🔱

🎧 [ ritual + bone ] [☮︎] – Roxanne Abaza’s playlist. Witchy, just like our girl likes it.

🎧 [ highball ] [☮︎] – The soundtrack for my Parallax AU: Highball.

© 2024 Hajara Asiri. Do NOT copy, translate, plagiarize, repost anywhere without permission [reblogging posts is okay]. This includes feeding any of my writing to an AI as well as copying my masterlist format. I only upload on Tumblr, AO3, and FFN. All general banners and dividers by @cafekitsune.

☕️ Member of the @pixelcafe-network.

🇵🇸 Palestinian Resources - A guide to Palestine as well as resources in order to help with relief efforts for individuals and families. You can also check my main blog for fundraisers I boost as well.

🇵🇸 Nominal - A Palestinian-owned jewelry company with many beautiful and inspired pieces in silver and gold.

🇵🇸 Olive Odyssey - A collective of Palestinian farmers who tend to the ancient olive groves in Palestine. They make a delicious olive oil, and also sell the Palestinian spice seasoning, Zatar. Supporting them puts much-needed funds in the hands of Palestinian farmers, as well as helping families in Gaza.

🇨🇩 Friends of Congo - A resource to raise consciousness to the ongoing crisis in the DRC. I've worked with this organization before, and they have chapters all over where you can sit in and listen and learn how you can help.

37 notes · View notes

icarusignite · 5 months ago

Text

Master Post

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Hey, Ace here, hope you have a good time on my page!

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ (she/her), Ravenclaw, INTJ, fanfic writer of many fandoms, self-taught artist, kpop/anime enthusiast, feminist, procrastinator extraordinaire.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Tiktok/wattpad/AO3/instagram: ace_asterisk

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ AO3 | Wattpad | Carrd

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Join the taglist

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Fandoms I write for

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ All completed series and longer stories are uploaded fully on wp/ao3. Oneshots are Tumblr/AO3 exclusive.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ for writing updates: @icarusignite-fics

(all fics are reblogged onto there)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ DMs and asks are always open! Drop by and chat <3

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Requests: OPEN

House of the Dragon

Series

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ An Eye for an Eye Masterlist (Aemond Targaryen x OC)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Before the Sky Falls Masterlist (Aemond Targaryen x OC)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ For Whom the Bell Tolls | HOTD World War 2 AU

(Soldier! Aemond Targaryen x Nurse! Reader)

Oneshots

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I hate you I love you (Cregan Stark x Fem! Reader)

The five times you told Cregan Stark you hated him, and the one time you actually meant it.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I want to fly with you on dragonback (and eat only cake) (Alicent x Rhaenyra)

Basically the title. Rhaenyra finally gets to take Alicent on that dragon ride and eat cake....and maybe kiss the girl she loves.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Like an old melody, my heart resumes (Daeron x Fem! Reader)

Parts: 1 / 2 / 3

After years apart and with several misunderstandings between them, you meet Prince Daeron at what is meant to be his betrothal feast. When secrets and unspoken desires come to light, you and Daeron are faced with a choice: to let go of the past and embrace a love that has always burned between them or allow your tumultuous history to keep you apart.

The Last Kingdom

Oneshots

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ The only heaven I'll be sent to is when I'm alone with you

(King Alfred x POC! Fem! Reader)

Parts: 1 / 2

You are a prominent scholar from Baghdad, visiting Wessex to learn more about English culture and try to help its ailing monarch with your medical expertise. However, conflict arises when you find yourself falling for the Catholic king, knowing he cannot give you what you deserve.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Valhalla Bound (Finan x GN! Reader)

During the ransacking of Rumcofa, you save Osferth thus exchanging his fate for yours. aka you die and Finan's reaction to that

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Night Terrors (Sihtric x GN! Reader)

Sihtric has a nightmare, and he accidentally snaps at you. What comes after is the most awkward confession of his life and you are oblivious af.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Praying's just a poor man's way of begging

(Sihtric x Fem! Reader)

You are Earl Ragnar's youngest daughter and the boy you've spent many pleasant afternoons with as a child was none other than Sihtric Kjartansson. Reunited after years apart, will the two of you be able to face the truth of your feelings or will it all end in heartache?

In this labyrinth of time, our souls entwined

(Modern AU Finan x Fem! Reader)

Finan and his friends witness a bar fight during their night out and Finan feels a magnetic connection to the hero of the fight. This can be read on its own but it can also be seen as a continuation of my earlier fic Valhalla Bound where you died and now your reincarnation meets Finan's in another world and that's why you seem so familiar.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Go ahead and cry, little girl (Aethelstan x Fem! Reader)

You are Sihtric’s daughter from his first wife. Your mother dies after he leaves her for his current wife and you blame him for his death. Aethelstan is yoiur dearest childhood friend.

Ateez

Series

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Danse Macabre Masterlist (Jeong Yunho x OC)

Oneshots

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Pirate Ateez Masterlist

Percy Jackson & the Olympians

Oneshots

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I don't want your sympathy (i just want myself back)

(Luke Castellan x GN! Child of Hypnos Reader)

Terribly injured after returning from his quest to the Garden of Hesperides, Luke Castellan turns to the only person who can help him sleep.

Criminal Minds

Oneshots

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Steady Your Heart in Mine (Spencer Reid x GN! Reader)

Exam season brings you a lot of stress and Spencer Reid is there to walk you through it. Established relationship, descriptions of anxiety and panic attacks.

Lockwood & Co.

Oneshots

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I thought I dreamed her (Lucy x Lockkwood)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I love you forever, I'm not a dreamer (Lucy x Lockwood)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes:

Series

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ These Violent Delights Masterlist

37 notes · View notes

speedierthanasubmarine · 9 months ago

Text

Finished heaven official’s blessing and I really enjoyed writing an analysis on helluva boss I want to make this a regular thing because it’s fun so here’s my thoughts on

Heaven Official’s Blessing

Spoilers (duh)

I think it’s incredibly impressive when someone can make an overarching narrative in which different seemingly disjointed events are significant without A) putting a giant exclamation mark on top saying “REMEMBER THIS IT WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER” and B) Significantly over or under emphasizing the importance of the scene in the moment. Each event stood on its own and I liked that.

There were several janky sentences and word choices but that’s a translation issue, this writer clearly knows what she’s doing.

Characters were a lot of fun and distinct, my favorites were Feng Xin, Pei Ming, Qi Ying, and Ling Wen whenever they were on the page I was like Ah yes, these pages are gonna be enjoyable and I was right, they’re all delightful (cept the brocade immortal stuff, but like I don’t care, Google assistant is fun) Xie Lian and San Lang are delightful, love them, and San Lang is so effed in the head it’s enjoyable to try and imagine what unhinged thing he’ll do next

Tbh there isn’t much plot breakdown I want to do with this series because it knows what it is, it’s a fanfic ass book with good times, trauma, gay fluff, and fights. Need I say more? That’s not a detractor, it’s a strength. Be what you are and own it because a house with a house’s foundation is a great house but slap a building on that house’s foundation and it fails in both regards.

The only aspect I’m going to analyze is the narrative voice the books are written in because holy crap is it super impressive. Xie Lian is a super mature (or ditzy, depending on your point of view) character, he doesn’t dwell on things, doesn’t hold grudges, doesn’t really care that much about people’s histories or even their present, doesn’t focus much on externals and it comes through in the way the book is written. I noticed this when throughout the books San Lang would do fucked up stuff like make it rain blood and kill a pit’s worth of people and Xie Lian kinda didn’t really seem to care and at first it pissed me off, why isn’t the author letting consequences occur because of these peoples’ actions, but then as it held consistently throughout the book and other people kept being super concerned about stuff, like Pei Constantly asking after Shi Qingxuan (I don’t know how to spell their name, it’s so hard to keep track I’m so sorry) or people bringing up Banue, I realized this is just Xie Lian, other people in the book are regular people like me, this one guy is just experiencing things, going “Well, ain’t that something” and then just moving on. Honestly iconic, but also I was halfway through book six when I realized. Especially since whenever they do flashbacks Xie Lian does all normal stuff. He describes settings he’s in, he mentions events that happened a few pages ago, he tells the reader how he feels, it’s after he experiences all his shit he goes through that this all kinda slips away. In “present” scenes he’ll reference things as they come up but like in the flashback after Mu Qing leaves they talk about it a few times and I find that aspect of acknowledgment to be noticeably absent in the “present” scenes. After the black water arc there is a complete lack of discussion about the frankly trauma inducing event that just transpired but sure Cie Lian, you and San Lang have to not hold hands for the billionth time. At first I thought is this author high but then I realized what shes doing is characterizing through prose which is IMPRESSIVE AS HELL. This may be a point I noticed and am now misremembering the entire series just to bolster my take and if that’s the case then I shall sheepishly shrug and say I’m sorry. I’m not rereading 8 books to write a tumblr review. Maybe if I ever start a YouTube channel

I don’t know, I just find it to be an incredible feat of actually good writing when a story is being told through the lens of the main character and you can characterize that character by simply reading the story and seeing how it’s written, not even through dialogue and action. It’s kinda like the Great Gatsby or a Separate Peace, and it’s super cool that a book like this can accomplish the same thing that makes those classics great. There isn’t as much symbolism or analytical potential but those books wouldn’t be nearly as impactful as they were without great execution, which this book pulled off in spades.

49 notes · View notes

bloody-teared-angel · 11 months ago

Text

I'm gonna take a wild guess they haven't read any of my other posts.

(Don't send hate or harassment to this person, please. I might get heated in this writing so, if I go out of line, stear me back in)

So um...Miss Medrano isn't some random person anymore. Random person would be a fanfic writer with no name to themselves, writing a fic for funsies and got dragged for it - which don't do it unless it has some really effed up stuff and issues behind it. (Stockholm for example)

Miss Medrano has enough money, to hire BROADWAY ACTORS into her shows - even f KESHA - her show getting picked up by A24 and being stremed on Amazon Prime. This is hardly a random person.

The issue is, Hell, doesn't feel like Hell. It's just second Earth with funny colored people that have deformities (horns) and have a bit more hairs on them (Hellhounds). Sinners don't really suffer - unless they sign a contract to an Overlord - then they just straight up chilling.

Heaven is depicted as this big hypocritical mess that doesn't even know its OWN LAWS.

You know there are good ways in criticising Heaven and the Big Allfather upstairs while still keeping the core of things.

That's why Horror movies about Hell (some) that depict them in their own unique way work because they keep the core of things the same.

Hell is supposed to be punishment, eternal torment for the sins they commited while alive.

The last Hellraiser movie did it well - bit the one with almost incest but the other one.

I'm not going to delve deeper since I already did in my few posts that I made.

What's also really funny to me that they called Miss Medrano some random person on the internet.

#hazbin hotel critique #anti hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel critical #vivziepop critique #vivziepop criticism #vivziepop critical #anti vivziepop #anti helluva boss #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critical #don't harass anyone in this post

119 notes · View notes

casgirl · 1 year ago

Note

hi casgirl! do you have any fanfic recommendations for sasuke/naruto or destiel? i haven’t read much about either of these ships and ur the only one i trust on them (i think i read a college hookup naruto fic you recommended once, and 3 destiel fics you recced: twist and shout, the fic about cas being homeless for months, and the fic where dean is sent away for false accusations and cas is institutionalized)

happy holidays :]

i've been sitting on this message for ages bc i gotta deliver nothing but the best recs for you!!

sasunaru:

something to remember me by by heimei: modern au, kind of a coming of age story, kind of a ghost story. sweet and sad. iconic.

a world of truth by luchia: everyone is stuck in a genjutsu where Everything is Perfect but sasuke is the only one who's aware of it. very fun plotwise i'm such a sucker for like that kind of scenario.

komorebi by saltedpotato and come find me when by kintou are both good examples of one of my favorite sns fanfiction genres which is "post canon sasuke and naruto both leave the village and travel the world together". komorebi is one of my faves, and come find me when is a newer one that i liked a lot!

baby animals, weddings, and other things not normally associated with uchiha sasuke by prettypreistess sasuke becomes a teacher :)

destiel:

all things shining by askance and standbyme (one of the writers of twist and shout): one of my all time faves, a case fic that's really well written and just feels very magical. like its the odyssey to twist and shout's illiad.

somewhere by foolondahill17: a west side story au. the period typical racism tag refers to castiel getting called anti-italian slurs. absolutely ridiculous.

r/supernatural by renrub: the reddit format fic by @tiktaalic. iconic in its own right and hilarious.

misty water-colored memories by ireallydidthistomyself : i recommend everything zoe @klainebayeuxtapestry writes, but this i think might be my favorite. its destiel, but mostly about cas raising jack and its sooooo good. i've read it like a hundred times.

the face of heaven by orange_crushed ohhhh so sweet so good. cas is a fallen star who lands on earth.

there's a bunch i'm probably forgetting but these all have the maj casgirl stamp of approval!!!

61 notes · View notes

tenpintsof-sundrop · 4 months ago

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/gardensofivy/760120697566707712/where-is-the-fluff-i-am-sick-of-the-smut-what

i feel like i remember you talking about posts like this before.

it kinda irritates me that everyone on that post are so harsh about how they REALLY WANT FLUFF and are SICK OF SMUT

all my dash has been lately is fluff and i’m not complaining, i like every genre. maybe it’s their dash.

fanfic writers are writing what they want and i’m sorry that you don’t like it, but again, it’s out there, you just have to look. maybe they should look harder. do they know that there are tagging systems on this app + ao3 where they can search for fluff specifically?

i know first hand that it’s hard to write fanfic but can’t they at least try it out for themselves if they are really wanting fluff instead of complaining about it and how writers won’t give them exactly what they crave?

sorry for bringing this to you i just have no one to talk about this with 😭

don't apologize for bringing stuff like this to me. my inbox is always open as a rant space

I went to look up the post and it said that it was deleted (I was very curious to see the comments, but rip lmao) - but even just from that blurb of the url, I can definitely get a sense of the aggression against smut in the post

as far as the 'I hate smut, I want fluff' crowd - it feels like people who don't know how to navigate fandom spaces, but also people who are sexually repressed.

BECAUSE

from all my experience, especially recent experiences - smut fics will always be more popular. if people actually wanted fluff fics, or fics without smut, then my non-smut fics would be more popular. every single time one of my fics has smut, it will always be more popular.

a lot of the time, I regret not putting a smut scene a fic (especially toward the end) because I know that people will read through the actually interesting well-thought out hard work 'plot' part of a fic that I wrote in order to get to a pointless smut scene that I never intended to have there in the first place (as of right now, one of my biggest regrets is not putting a smut scene in Heaven's Gate to get more eyes on it)

it is my opinion that people are lying when they say they don't want smut fics. just straight up fucking lying. (or very few people are telling the truth when they say it, and then they don't seek out the fics they truly want)

Heaven's Gate - which is clearly tagged as having fluff got 11 notes in its first 24 hours

Need - which is tagged as smut/pwp got over 100 notes in its first 24 hours of being posted

yes, there are other factors to take into account, like the length, the gender of the reader character (which, don't even get me started on the 'GN afab' reader character thing - which is so fucking transphobic and misogynistic and rigid to the fucking gender binary it makes me wanna die), and the fact that Heaven's Gate is also marked as Hurt/Comfort and a lot of people in fandom these days seem to hate basic conflict in stories??? - but they are for the same love interest and they are posted for the same fandom

so to me, this is solid, concrete proof that smut will always attract a larger audience. every single one of my smut fics that exists in the same genre as a fic without smut has a larger audience

(unless it's a wlw fic, but again - that's a whole different story. cause don't get me started on the whole 'we need more sapphic stories' crowd who never fucking read wlw fics when they are posted)

I feel like this is really a two pronged problem

one: the recent Catholic sexual repression in fandoms (and in queer spaces/the internet in general)

two: people who love to complain but make zero effort to change the things that they complain about in fandoms (hecklers, in a sense)

the first one is something me and @nctzenkane have talked about at large. it's the "sex scenes are so unnecessary in movies" thing and people directly relating the things you ship to your morals - the idea that the kind of fanfiction you write and read is directly in line with your moral fiber as a person. these are known as thought crimes. which is a highly Catholic sensation

in Catholicism, it's the idea that God can see all and knows all, and therefore, thinking bad things is on the same level of sin as performing a bad act - so thinking about sex too frequently or thinking about harming someone is on the same level as physically committing a murder, and both of these things equally make you a bad person. (and so you need to keep your mind 'pure' for God.)

in modern times, it's the idea that associating with certain topics of fanfiction makes you 'sus' and an untrustworthy person, and that you are more likely to follow through with the bad acts that you read about - like rape, pedophilia, unhealthy age gape relationships, violent crimes, ect. - if you read about those things frequently. (which is untrue, for the fucking record.)

and for the hecklers... god.

someone talked about the sensation of how the pandemic caused this huge shift in fandom, and yeah - I felt it happen in real time.

people who formerly were never in fandom or saw it as a 'nerdy' hobby (people whose hobbies were based around socialization - like drinking and going to bars, etc. or younger people who were allowed unsupervised internet access for the first time) all flooded fandom spaces with 0 sense of fandom etiquette. those are the 'writing fanfiction is too hard so I'm going to harass experienced fanfiction writers' people.

they love to complain about things they don't like in fandom without doing anything to change those things - even if it's something as simple as blocking and following the right people to curate their feed or curating their AO3 tags. the other day I saw dozens of people on tiktok saying that they don't know what the 4 symbols in the corner of the fics on AO3 mean. A lot of people assumed that they were there FOR NO REASON. it made me want to start chewing on glass, no lie

anyway. the landscape of fandom right now is so... (sigh.)

#sundrop answers #anonymous #fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #the walking dead fanfiction #daryl dixon smut

18 notes · View notes