#just lines here and there that would actually give him the complexity and depth they were looking for

[good-beans]

Ok, I'm in the mood for some funny ranting, so Rudolf and M*neta for the character breakdown 😂

Character asks about such amazing characters! Thanks...

-How I feel about this character: ARGH they were so close to having something good and then didn't!! He’s the kind of character where they pull the twist and you’re like “woah! He was good all along! And was planning this from the beginning! How cool and smart and dramatic of him 🥺🤩” then like five minutes later when you actually try and work out the logistics of the plan you go

-All the people I ship romantically with this character: I couldn’t decide between Jedah or Mycen for the funniest answer...

-My non-romantic OTP for this character: Well is should have been Berkut – I genuinely think the story could have gone the same and we could’ve had the same power-hungry, arrogant, crazed Berkut except at least one person showed him the most basic of care this time. A cool parent/child team taking on the battlefield would be so great and narratively fulfilling in an fe game like that! It literally could have all been exactly the same but the writers decided to make Rudolf lame and fuck up Berkut in one fell sweep...

-My unpopular opinion about this character: I’m glad he’s that ugly because it explains why Walhart is the way that he is despite having Alm and Celica’s pretty genes in his bloodline 👍

-One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: He made any fucking sense!! Maybe my real unpopular opinion is that I think his plan had real potential. The first time I played it actually did convince me (and then I thought about it for more than two minutes.) A plot twist like that would have shaken the story if it, you know, actually worked

-How I feel about this character: My body physically shrivels up in pain each time I see him 👍

-All the people I ship romantically with this character: Uhhhh does the Heights Alliance garbage can count? Ships always work better when each member is very similar :)

-My non-romantic OTP for this character: AU where Kendo is part of 1A and instead of smacking the shit out of Monoma for being annoying she just decks Mineta every time he’s creepy and actually they’re not even friends she just beats him up with a giant fist every time he’s disgusting

-My unpopular opinion about this character: Okay wait this is a half-real answer but I actually think a grape-themed hero would be so cute! The concept of a fruit-themed bnha kid (who’s the tiniest in the class, just a lil guy!)  would have been SO adorable 🍇 ... But instead we just got a perv in a diaper :((

-One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Can you imagine if after establishing what a creep he was, Aizawa was just like “real heroes respect women” and then expels him no questions asked. Midoriya could even go on a whole anime monologue with the epic ost in the background about the true heroics of not being nasty to women. He’d write something in his notebook about it. It’d be great.

[maxdibert]

Alright, let’s dive into the dumpster fire that the Marauders fandom has become last years and threw any sense of canon or character integrity out the window. Because let’s be real, the way this fandom has twisted the characters of the Marauders and the Death Eaters, all while turning Severus Snape into some one-note “creepy stalker,” is embarrassing. The fandom seems obsessed with scrubbing characters clean, romanticizing abusers, inventing tragic backstories for literal sociopaths, and piling up headcanons that turn a few lines in canon into fully fleshed-out, fanon-only OCs. And somehow, the only character who gets relentlessly dragged and demonized is Severus Snape—a character who has actual complexity and trauma. It’s hypocritical, classist, and downright gross.

Let’s start with Severus. Canon Snape is a guy who came from nothing: poor background, abusive father, dead-end town. He didn’t fit into the wizarding world, was relentlessly bullied by privileged Marauders, and still somehow managed to survive and make something of himself. But instead of acknowledging any of that, the fandom loves to reduce him to this “creepy obsessive” stereotype. People act like he spent every waking moment pining for Lily and never did anything else, as if that’s all his character is. Never mind the fact that he was actively trying to get out of a miserable life, or that he was, you know, bullied on a daily basis by James and Sirius, who had wealth, status, and freedom to do whatever they wanted. Nope, to the Marauders fandom, Snape is just the “weird stalker”—because acknowledging his struggles would mean admitting that their golden boys were actually kind of awful.

Meanwhile, the same people are out here bending over backward to make people like Barty Crouch Jr., Evan Rosier, and Regulus Black look like misunderstood anti-heroes. Let’s be clear: in canon, Barty Crouch Jr. was a straight-up torturer, Evan Rosier died laughing as he fought Aurors, and Regulus was a kid raised with a silver spoon who only started doubting Voldemort when he realized he’d been signed up as snake chow. But no, fanon has turned these guys into “tragic, complex Slytherins” who were “just trying to survive.” It’s like they’re desperate for some tortured prince narrative, so they invent personalities out of thin air to give us this dreamy aesthetic of sad, beautiful Death Eaters who “didn’t really want to be evil.” Apparently, actually following the text is too much to ask when you’ve got fanon fantasies to uphold.

Regulus Black, in particular, has become this absurd fanon martyr. In canon, Regulus was a kid indoctrinated into pureblood ideology, who joined the Death Eaters without much hesitation. Maybe he had a change of heart eventually, but it wasn’t out of some grand moral revelation; he just realized Voldemort’s loyalty was to himself alone. Yet, according to the current fandom, Regulus is some misunderstood hero who was only “pretending” to go along with Voldemort and was “forced” into his choices. They’ve built this tragic romance around a character who, in the actual books, doesn’t have even half this depth. This Regulus in fanon is practically an OC at this point, and people cling to this made-up version of him so hard that they’ll defend it like it’s canon. It’s hilarious, and it’s also just plain wrong.

And let’s talk about the Marauders themselves. In canon, James and Sirius were rich, spoiled brats who spent their school years bullying anyone who didn’t fit into their world. They were kids with every privilege, and they used it to torment people like Snape, who had nothing. But the Marauders’ fandom has turned them into these fluffy, “good-hearted” rebels who just made “a few mistakes.” I’m sorry, but nearly killing someone as a “prank” is a bit more than a mistake. Yet people will ignore that or wave it away as “boys will be boys” just to keep up the illusion that James and Sirius were lovable scamps. It’s maddening—and it’s also classist as hell. They erase all the ugly realities of the Marauders’ behavior and then turn around and judge Snape for being “obsessive” and “weird” when he was just trying to survive in a world stacked against him.

The classism in this fandom is so blatant it’s laughable. Snape is written off as creepy and unworthy of sympathy because he didn’t have a cushy upbringing or the social standing to make him likable. Meanwhile, characters like Barty and Regulus, who came from wealthy pureblood families, get excused and romanticized to no end. It’s like the fandom is saying, “Well, Snape deserved it because he was poor and awkward, but the rich kids? They’re just misunderstood.” It’s the kind of privilege blindness that makes you wonder if people actually read the books or if they’re just projecting their own biases onto the characters.

And let’s not forget the army of new OCs the Marauders fandom has invented just to justify this headcanon universe (Mary, Marlene, Dorcas, that that Pandora no one knows why suddenly appears here lol) You’ve got random “best friends” for Sirius, unnamed Slytherins who magically have no ties to pureblood supremacy, and love interests for Regulus who supposedly saw the “real” him. All these characters are based on nothing more than a few throwaway lines, yet people have fleshed them out to a level that they’re practically new characters in the universe. It’s like they need this entourage of made-up people to back up their version of the Marauders and Death Eaters because, without them, their headcanons would fall apart. And all of this, while they keep painting Snape as this creepy loner with no real friends or worth. The hypocrisy is unreal.

At the end of the day, the Marauders fandom has taken a bunch of characters with clear flaws and complexities and rewritten them into these sanitized, tortured souls while dumping all their scorn onto Snape. They’ll go out of their way to redeem a literal torturer like Barty Crouch Jr. or turn Regulus into some tragic hero, but they can’t bring themselves to even consider Snape’s trauma or the systematic abuse he endured. It’s all about maintaining this fantasy where their favorite characters are perfect and untouchable, even if it means twisting canon and ignoring the ugly truths about class, privilege, and abuse that is reflected into the story. And that, honestly, just makes the fandom look shallow, hypocritical, and completely disconnected from the reality.

[where-does-the-heart-lie]

Can we have a deeper analysis in Sabo's shape language study please? It's amazing how you make him give different vibes with just his hair and I like to understand how does that work.

Oh. I'm SO glad you asked.

(The Post In Question)

Okay so this isnt the first post ive made about shape language,

Here are the others:

ASL Shapes Strawhats Shapes

i'm just gonna copy and paste the definition i have for shape language from those posts here so i dont have to write it all again.

Shape language is defined as “a concept used in art and animation to communicate meaning based on shapes we are familiar with” (source). This concept uses circles, triangles, and squares to convey an idea of the “personality” of the design without using any words.

In designs, using circles and rounded edges in your silhouette and detailing gives the design a soft and squishy look. They tend to be harmless, approachable, or changeable.

Designs using squares gives the design a solid, sturdy, and strong look. They are supportive, reliable, and inflexible

Lastly, triangle designs are sharp and directional. They are dynamic, dangerous, and unpredictable.

That's base level but here's more in depth description of each design for ya:

this one is up first!

You may notice how in this design, his hair isnt in large clumps like the others are. His hair falls delicately and waves gently with little to no hard angles.

In this design, i was trying to convey the idea of "he wasnt born to fight, but he's molded himself into someone who will." I tried to depict that by making his hair all light and feathery, his facial features soft and rounded, but also showing how he's modified his body in a pointy and aggressive way.

I didn't want to only go hard edges with the piercings though because much like he's strayed from his mold of being delicate, he's also strayed from his mold of being a cruel noble. so some of his piercings are rings, AKA: Circles.

You may also notice the different in how I've drawn the collars of these guys. the collar of this Babo's black coat falls softly, and its' arc is rounded. The shoulders don't have any padding and it rounds at the corner.

This Man Is Round.

Next up is this Freak

This is supposed to be Triangle Him.

His hair is in larger, hard angled clumps. Indicating that he probably cut his hair himself. He did... greattt. I already headcannon him as someone who cuts his own hair, but i dont think this one ever gets any better at it.

The hard angles on his teeth, his scar, his jaw, his collar, that line i forgot to erase on the left, and his coat all give indication that this guy is Dangerous and you probably shouldnt mess with him.

I didn't have any real deeper meaning to this version, I just wanted to make him look as opposing as I could. this guy is "what you see is pretty much what you get."

Even though he doesn't have a lot of deeper meaning, I think this one is my favorite of the designs. I really love these colors on him and his hair was really fun to draw. I think I wanna draw him again at some point. I think this version of him would be very funny paired with Koala. I'm chuckling thinking about it:

Koala and her Armed and On Fire kindergartener

And lastly this guy

Sabo's base design is very rectangle coded. From his Hat, to his face shape, to his coat. So this version was very easy to make as I didn't actually need to change that much!

I think maybe I could've made his design a little more complex? But also I think there is a beauty in simplicity for this one. He looks straightforward, reliable, and kind. He seems like the kind of guy who gets his hands dirty, not because he likes doing it, but because he does what he must for the greater good.

I really love his hazel eyes, too. I think it brings a nice warmth to his design that is really nice.

Additional comments:

I love talking about this stuff. I love designing. I love art. I love drawing so much it's so fun

Everytime I get to sit down and make some funky doodles my brain feels like 🧠🤸🧘🧜🧚🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🧚💃💃💃💃💃💃

If you got this far thanks for reading :)

I usually have a description for my designs and my choices and stuff and I forgot to do one for this post, it makes me happy to see that it was missed :)

[starlight-archer]

1k fic request for @megs-bee Catwin, cute autumn vibes!

Felt very wholesome about this one, I hope you like it! ✨

Edwin hadn't been back to the cannery in a few days and he was starting to get distracted by his want to return. He had mostly been occupied with case work, with Charles, Crystal and Niko, but in his downtime (far and few between as those moments were) his thoughts had, without fail, constantly drifted to Thomas.

Their relationship was still relatively new, and some things felt tentative. They hadn't kissed on the mouth yet; thus far, their kisses had been relegated to the cheek or the forehead. They had a lot left to learn about each other, but Edwin found himself looking forward to those things. The good and the bad. He was utterly captivated.

Thomas was complex and fascinating. He carried himself with such confidence and was so assured in who he was as an individual, and so open about his desires. But there were depths to him that Edwin was eager to explore. It was refreshing. It inspired Edwin to be a bit more comfortable in his own skin as well, and to allow another person to truly see him.

"Edwin... Edwin? Edwin!" Charles' voice cut through his thoughts. "You're daydreaming again, mate. Where did you go?" he had a knowing look on his face that Edwin did not particularly care for.

"I apologise for being distracted. What was it that you were saying?" Edwin asked, hoping to change the subject.

"You were daydreaming about the Cat King again~" Niko teased.

"I-" Edwin cut himself off with a sigh of resignation. "Yes. I haven't seen him in several days and I... miss him."

"You should go and visit him. I'm sure he misses you too!" Niko encouraged.

"Let's be real, he probably misses him every time he he has to blink." Crystal chimed.

The fact that the Cat King was enamoured with Edwin was hardly a secret. Crystal and Niko hadn't hesitated to tell Edwin all about their conversation with him before they went to confront Esther (they had not shied away from teasing about the Cat King's line of "I already hate myself enough for caring about that thin, stuffy little British tease.")

"There is no need for such dramatics... But I do believe that it would be beneficial to perhaps take some time to see him." as soon as the words were out, he knew exactly how all three of them were internally making fun of his phrasing.

Without further ado, he smoothed down his coat, tugged his gloves up and checked his hair one final time before hopping through the mirror to Port Townsend.

He had never really been one to preen or be overly conscious of his appearance, especially as a ghost with no reflection, but he found himself wanting to look nice for Thomas. It was odd. Maybe he should feel conflicted about it, but all he felt was giddy.

When he got through to the other side Thomas was nowhere to be seen.

"Thomas?" he called out, walking further into the cannery to peer around.

Suddenly, there was a thud and a clatter from somewhere deeper inside. "Edwin?" Thomas poked his head out from a doorway at the back of the warehouse. "Give me a minute, gorgeous!" he winked before disappearing back inside.

Edwin blushed and wondered closer, curiously. The clattering continued for a long moment and just before he was about to push the door open and peek inside, Thomas flung it open.

He was wearing a dark green knit jumper, amber jewellery that brought out his eyes, a long monochromatic tartan skirt and his usual boots. He looked incredibly cozy and unspeakably beautiful.

Edwin flushed again at being caught snooping, but he quickly recovered.

"What on earth was all that racket?" he asked.

"You're actually here at the perfect time! I just finished redecorating~" Thomas replied.

"Redecorating?" Edwin tried to peer around him, but Thomas simply stepped aside to let him into the room.

"I've been working on a little pocket dimension, so that it feels a bit more homey in here for when you visit. I usually keep the pocket closed, but it's nicer like this, don't you think?" Thomas was looking very please with himself (if not with a little tinge of nervousness), and for good reason.

Edwin looked around in awe at what Thomas had done.

On the other side of the door was a large living room, all greens and warm oranges, purples and gold. It had hardwood floors that creaked familiarly with each step, with luxurious Turkish carpets placed art fully on top. The walls were papered with a beautiful William Morris print.

There were two sofas that looked as though you could disappear into them, coloured a rich, dark green, and a matching arm chair, each decorated with plush cushions. There were several large, thick blanket throws hanging over the backs of the sofas as well, in varying colours.

In front was a roaring fireplace, where the mantle was decorated with little porcelain cat figurines. There were also a few standing lamps dotted around that looked like slightly fancier versions of the ones that were at the office in London.

At the far end was a wall to wall set of bookshelves. Each wooden panel and edge was delicately hand-craved with vines and lilies. It was a feast for the eyes.

The whole place was so beautifully reminiscent of the time when Edwin had been alive, and yet it felt brand new, mixed with Thomas' unique flare of individuality. It was a perfect blend of the both of them. Elegant, extravagant, timeless.

Edwin ran his fingertips over the book spines and over the ridges of the carvings,and it struck him with Fascination and bewliderment.

"How?" he asked, spinning around to look at Thomas.

"You can feel everything in this room. The same as if you were still alive." Thomas explained as he walked closer. "I made it with my own magic, so there's a little bit of me in everything." He took Edwin's hands in his and pulled his gloves off, tucking them into Edwin's coat pockets. "Enjoy it."

"I assure you, I fully intend to." Edwin smiled.

Rather than going back to the shelves or the books or the sofas, or the warmth of the fire, Edwin reached up and threaded his fingers into Thomas' hair, and pulled him close. Leaning down, Edwin kissed him softly and lovingly, the gesture eagerly returned.

[highonincense]

One thing I absolutely despise in drarry fics —and by this I mean a specific subset, not like in general cause there are many amazing fics— is the characterization of harry (and draco), the way he's an absolute fucking doormat!!!! I get it y'all are tryna portray him as a social dimwit, it can be done in a normal way without making him seem like a piece of cardboard! Are we talking about the same dude here?? You don't actually have to completely demolish a character, take away their key traits just to make the other half of the ship look better.

Let me give a pointwise description:

1. Dude stutters after every bloody sentence, like he's so overwhelmed talking to draco "smirking, smooth as butter, sardonic, sleek, godly" Malfoy who keeps insulting him every fucking second. Do you really think that harry would entertain that bullshit, especially in post-war fics!!! Like he'd just take it and not put him in his place?

2. I read this fic long ago and I don't remember the name, but good god it was unbearable. Basically the golden trio apologizes to draco for his tragic life that they were responsible for after the war? Like wtf? Why is there even a need to do that? 😭 That was too much and I stopped midway

3. Again, draco "3 OWLs" Malfoy, some supersmart / second coming of tom riddle, keeps patronizing every action of harry, the amount of times harry's intelligence is insulted? Immediate no from me, like are we still doing the whole "harry dumb mf potter is unobservant, slow, stupid, can't function without some rat hissing in his ear that he's an idiot 24/7"? Don't you think it's lame?

4. Harry has to always put up with his shitty attitude, I am all for character development, I know characters are multi dimensional and complex, and showing draco having a difficult personality is well and good, but it starts to get annoying when there's no real growth in him. I've read fics where he's absolutely despicable until the end which is covered up as him being a dickhead in general and harry "fondly" keeps up with his shit. *gag* canon harry would NEVER

5. I think it genuinely wouldn't make a difference if harry was there or not, I am not kidding or being dramatic, those fics might as well be character × y/n fics

All of this leads me to hate draco's character more! You portray him as this insufferable bastard who has a heart of gold apparently (where?) who has no real growth, shows no humility or regret or even pretends to and you think harry will put up with that?

It would be interesting if he starts out that way, works on himself and grows and changes, that would be more tolerable and interesting!

But no, he's always this annoying guy who hurls insults, keeps mocking harry or his friends every other line, you might argue it's in his character, but aren't those the traits which make him unlikeable? like those aren't cute or quirky? wouldn't it make more sense to show him grow out of it? It's really annoying

And harry, let's not go there, he's a completely new character, might as well be an oc atp, you can't even compare him to canon harry, that's how bad it is! I still haven't completely discussed it cause it's already getting long, but he's this wet bloody blanket and I can't stand it, the gryffs (except Hermione) in general are shown as some bumbling buffoons who can't differentiate between their hand and foot!! And the slytherins are all savvy, masterminds, geniuses... I really don't know whether it's admirable cause it's weird seeing them pushed into these moulds where they can only behave a certain way!

I'm so tired this is still going on like?? Why are their characters such caricatures? All of this sounds like it may have been a thing of past, but I am appalled it's still happening!!!

This is not directed at all drarry fics out there, cause there are some gorgeous fics written by amazing authors who fucking get these characters and make it about them, about their relationship and explore it in a depth and nail their characterizations without making either one of them boring. There are a good number of fics that I actually enjoy cause of the way they write drarry's characters, which makes or breaks the fic imho

[smokeybrandreviews]

Lack of Conviction

Episode five of Ahsoka really hammered home how goddamn ridiculous the entire Clone War situation truly was. Watching Ahsoka on the front lines of that Geonosis battle, a fight where she was canonically fourteen or fifteen, was ludicrous back in the original show, but seeing the character in that situation portrayed by the age appropriate Ariana Greenblatt was f*cking jarring. Greenblatt is sixteen years old, splitting the difference of Aksoka’s age range throughout the Clone Wars. She’s as close to a real, teenage, Tano, that we’re going to get and it is wildly apparent that she is a CHILD. The goddamn Jedi Order, was sending child soldiers to fight in a trade war against an analogous Sith overlord and his army of drones. I don’t care how good at space wizarding your teenager is, they are still just a goddamn teenager! And Ahsoka wasn’t the only one. Barris Offee immediately comes to mind! The age you become a Padawan Learner to a Master Jedi is around twelve. That means there were children as young as twelve taking laser shots to the face, not to mention the wholesale slaughter of these cats during Order Sixty-Six, because of a goddamn trade dispute. How f*cking ridiculous is that? Anakin even said the quiet part out loud when addressing Ahsoka’s hesitation. He told her that Obi-Wan trained him to be a peacekeeper, but Anakin was training Ahsoka to be a soldier. That sh*t was the intent. That was the plan. That was the whole dynamic; Train an army of child astro-sorcerers in the ways of war, by throwing them headlong into one. From anyone’s point of view, that’s f*cked up and lends credence to everything Poppa Paps was talking about. Imagine trying to convince the ludicrously powerful Chosen One you’re in the right, when the only other person outside of his mom and wife whom he genuinely loved, was put in his charge to turn her into a weapon. And then when she turned out to be a fantastic one, they cast her aside the second someone gets murdered in those hallowed Council halls. Cats give Anakin sh*t for slaying them Younglings but how are the Jedi any goddamn different? They literally use children until they are used up. I can only imagine the trauma the kids who survived will have to endure. Hell, we’ve seen a few of them already. Ahsoka, Cade from those absolutely dope games, Hera's dead baby daddy, and that one chick from Kenobi; None of who are healthy, well adjusted, stand-up adults! Absolutely emotional train wrecks, the lot of them!

More than that, this episode proved to me just how much of Anakin is in Ahsoka. They mirror each other as much as Ahsoka and Sabine. It's wild to see in live action, especially getting that from Hayden who finally got to play a complex version of Anakin. Clone Wars went a long way to redeeming that character but seeing him actually force a catharsis in Ahsoka was rough. I've seen them cross lightsabers before and it broke my f*cking heart. I've spoken at length about that, but seeing it here? Knowing this is training from a fully fledged Jedi Master Anakin? I cannot articulate how amazing that is. He pushed Ahsoka to her limits. Forced her to confront the grief and guilt she had for being a weapon, for abandoning Anakin. Hayden gave this role so much depth, so much emotion, it was just breathtaking to witness. Seeing him flit between Vader and Sky Guy was almost too much but it very necessary. It was necessary for Ahsoka. She had to see that, to come to terms with that, in order to move forward. She is everything Anakin is, even Vader, as demonstrated by those Sith eyes when she contemplated the unthinkable. Interestingly enough, even channeling the Dark Side like a champ, you can tell Anakin was concerned for his Padawan. Not that he would be killed, Anakin is beyond even that at this point, but that his Padawan, would fall like he did. Ahsoka did not. She chose life and Sky Guy gave her that smirk, telling Snips there was hope for her yet. F*cking everything. That last exchange was f*cking everything. Especially when you take into account that Anakin pulled her into the World Between Worlds to save her life. As a goddamn Force Ghost. What the f*ck does THAT even mean??

[iamnmbr3]

Zacharias Smith anon. I want to explain my reasoning for this interpretation a bit more.

First thing we learn about him is that he's on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Cedric was the seeker. I doubt anyone currently on the team is doing well.

Right off the gate he is already angry, more than I'd argue he has any right to be unless there was something else affecting his mood. (like, idk, the recent death of a friend/upperclassman you looked up to)

The only thing that Zacharias seems to actually be interested in hearing about is Cedric's murder. He immediately steers the conversation in that direction. Harry even picks up on this:

It had just dawned upon him why there were so many people there. He felt that Hermione should have seen this coming. Some of these people — maybe even most of them — had turned up in the hope of hearing Harry’s story firsthand.

Zacharias seems quite frustrated with the lack of detail that Dumbledore gave about Cedric's death, which makes sense. It would be like if a highschool student died on campus and the principal told everyone the student was killed by the booeyman and gave no further details. If you were friends with that student, wouldn't that make you angry? I mean, killed by the booeyman? What kind of explanation is that?

He strikes me as someone very firmly in the anger stage of grief, and no one picks up on that.

And then there's Cho. Her grief is a lot more obvious and acknowledged as grief. She also wants closure and thinks Harry is the only person who can give it to her. She is desperate to talk to Harry about Cedric during their date, but instead he shuts that topic down and unintentionally makes it clear he doesn't care about her feelings or her grief (and he doesn't).

I mean, look at this line after their disaster of a date:

“Women!” he muttered angrily, sloshing down the rain-washed street with his hands in his pockets. “What did she want to talk about Cedric for anyway? Why does she always want to drag up a subject that makes her act like a human hosepipe?”

Wow, Harry. Just... wow. If he couldn't give closure to Cho, Zacharias had no chance.

I think the next two years and torment by Ginny only served to turn Zacharias into a colder and more cynical person. It got to the point where in the climax he would rather leave wizard society to its fate than fight to defend the place that only served to make him miserable and took away all the good things in his life.

(This ask is a followup to this). This is very interesting and compelling. I love it. (My one point of disagreement is I will say I don't remember Ginny tormenting him systematically for two years; I remember her flying into him intentionally once, and I remember the twins being rude to him a couple times; but yeah other than that I love this analysis and I'm super here for it.) What a creative take. It's also neat because for all that he seems to not like Harry he also does come to DA meetings consistently and he never betrays them or expresses regret or uncertainty about his association with the group. And presumably he is not persuaded by the Ministry's viewpoint or the Death Eaters'. And yet he has utter disdain for Harry. Your analysis really adds some great depth and nuance to his actions and views.

Harry of course treats Zacharias like a normal person would treat someone they dislike - i.e. he doesn't spend time around him or thinking about him when he can avoid it, and thus neither Harry nor we ever learn much about him. (Harry was way too busy staring at Draco). But I love the idea of him having this whole complex inner world and conflict going on and it just not getting much play.

[muse-oleum]

TVD - 3

Elejah - 9, 16

Elena - 2

Elijah - 15

Rebekah - 3

choink u for the ask fwiend :)

FANDOM - TVD

3. ...which scene I would like to erase from the universe and why

Probably anything with Damon because dude is an asshole of grade A+ quality and that's not a compliment, it just means he's a really, really fucked up one. And like sure, yeah, he "changed" or whatever but if you think about it, he never really did: he's still as obsessed with Elena as he was at the beginning, will always believe he knows best what's good for her, will always hover and never believe she can do anything right for herself or even by herself....

BUT since I don't want to waste my breath on him, I think I'm gonna go with the whole idea of having Elena dagger Rebekah in s2 (I think??). Because what I wouldn't have given to have the Epic Trio turn into the Epically Badass Quatuor, my god. It would have been so fun if Rebekah befriended the girls! I'm not even saying like, right away or anything, but if it became genuine and you know, Rebekah could actually have friends, for once. Besides, her becoming besties with the woman her brother killed and her other brother is hopelessly in love with, not to mention the witch who nearly handed said brothers (plural) ass over to them several times and the baby vamp with whom said brother is infatuated with? Chaos. Love it. Give it to me.

SHIP - ELEJAH

9. ...what my ideal endgame for them is

Okay, for this one I kinda need to do some character analysis for Elijah, or at least how I view him within the TVDU. He's probably the most emotionally complex Mikaelson we see, and he's definitely given the most depth. Even though TO was supposed to be all about Klaus' journey as a father blabla, it's actually about Elijah and his fucked up relationship with family, duty and honor; none of which work well together, in his case, and continuously fuck him over.

So, yeah, dude is really hard to nail, as a writer, but even just when it comes to understanding him.

I stand by the idea that he is, at heart, a family man. And I don't just mean because of his devotion to his siblings. It's more complex than that. I think he's always wanted a family, but that was taken from him and then life just kept on happening so he's probably never really had a chance to sit down and think about it. Like, we establish, by TO s4, that Elijah never factored his wants into anything for the past 1000 years and the two times he did, shit went down (i.e.: the Strix in TO s3 and losing Celeste in TO s1).

So, bottom line is: my man is tired. I honestly think his ideal endgame would be death. But not as it was portrayed in this shit show of a finale that we got for TO. Death, but after a life lived in peace, with someone who loves all of him, not just the better parts of him (as Hayley does), with a couple of children running wild, a home in the country... He's not so different from Rebekah in that sense. He just hides it more and he's hidden it so deep that even himself can't find it by the end of TO.

I think what he wants is peace, a peaceful, happy, life and then blissful oblivion after a thousand years of pain. And I think he could definitely get that with Elena, who wants the same thing and always has. Unfortunately, the Salvatores arrived in town before the Originals did and boom, no peace. Not saying that the Originals are any better, they're basically trouble magnets, but I think their endgame would have been a hell of a lot better than the one we got, if they had ended up together and somehow been able to return to humanity.

16. ...three of my fic recs for this ship. And (in the event that I've written something for them) one of my fics involving them that I'm most proud of

I could probably write an essay with how many fics I've read but here's my current top 3:

She's Come Undone and Set Free by Terapsina (@terapsina) - Top Tier Elejah pining, 100% recommend, bonus for Elijah going into Protective!Boyfriend mode on the Salvatore idiots, Rebekah and Bonnie being the unspoken moms of the entire group because someone needs to

We Remain by AnonymousObsesser (@ao-anonymousobsesser) -Fucking obsessed with this one, extremely good deep dive into Elijah and Elena as independent individuals but also as a couple, Rebekah being the snarky little bitch that she is, Klaus being Klaus, it has everything

A Year to Eternity? by MissNMikaelson (@missnmikaelson) - Dad!Elijah but with plot, 10/10 fluff moments, Fix-It after the sheer disaster that was TO 5X13, I reread this one at least twice a year when I need my fluff fix

And mine: Always & Forever in which Elena goes to New Orleans to escape the chaos of Mystic Falls

CHARACTERS

Elena

2. ...how I would have chosen to change their story from canon

I mean, I've already touched on that a little bit but the short answer is: so many things.

First of all, the whole falling in love with Stefan wouldn't have happened. Because it's creepy and I can't believe I didn't find it weird asf when I first watched TVD as a teen but hey, hindsight and a fully developed adult brain will do that. So she would have still found out about the supernatural because there's just no way she wouldn't, but I would have rather focused on her already existing relationships, like, you know, her friends??? I would have everything revolve around the Mystic Falls Girl Gang (and Jenna, because I love Jenna and I hate that she died) until Klaus and Elijah roll into town.

Then, as you can probably guess, I would definitely have her end up with Elijah, but not for a while because I'm a sucker for slow burn and because it would make sense for them to take time. She'd have to grow up first, become a fully fledged adult for her to even consider a 1000 years old dude as a potential boyfriend/husband material and dude has got issues.

There's actually a (sadly) on hiatus fanfic that dabbles into that, and it's really well written and I hope that one day the author will pick it up again because it's really intriguing: blame it on stardust by allwritenow.

Elijah

15. ...what I think their role in the story is versus what I think it should be

I pretty much enjoy his role in the TVD/TO storylines, tbh. It's flawed, and toxic, and borderline obsessive, but it fits him and makes him really compelling as a character. I mean, that's why he's so popular; there's depth to that man.

His role as the Mikaelson protector, I get behind 100% because these idiots need him. Now, has he been the best? Nope. I mean, look at Kol and Finn's storylines. Do I think he favors Klaus and Rebekah? Absolutely. But again, it kinda fits because I think he sees Kol and Finn as threats, and Marcel too, to a lesser extent, given their history of trying to blow up the family. Is it fucked up? 100%.

His role as the patriarch? Also fits, whatever Klaus has to say about it, we all know Elijah calls the shots (whenever he's not in a coffin somewhere with a dagger in his chest, that is.)

His role as family executioner and villain that we see emerge in TO s3-4? I hate it, but I also see it. I hate that I see it but, again, it fits. My man has been through the trenches by this point. The red door storyline fucked him up bad, he's lost what he always believed defined him (honor and compassion), his family is intent on ruining themselves 24/7, which makes his decision to just... forget about them in TO s5 absolutely believable. And I actually loved early s5 Elijah, which I know is a massively unpopular opinion. I never liked him with Hayley and with Antoinette we got to see a side of him that we barely saw before, closer to whom he might have been as a human.

So, in short, I despise his ending and I refuse to acknowledge it but what I will acknowledge is that his storyline makes sense and is, in the larger sense, fairly accurate to the man we first met in TVD.

Rebekah

3. ...if I have an OTP for them

Honestly, unless a ship burns itself on my cerebral membrane right away, then I'm pretty much game for anything. So for Rebekah, because I pretty much hated every single one of her love interests (except for Matt, because Matt is a sweetheart and Marcel is alright i guess, just not for her), I don't really care. I do have a soft spot for Bonbekah, though, I think those would actually work well together.

.... and no it has nothing to do with the fact that I think all three of the Mystic Fall Gang girlies saying fuck it all and moving to NOLA with the Originals would be epic.

I do also kinda like her with Hayley??? Idk, I think in TO they had some chemistry (more than Hayley and Elijah, at any rate). Mainly, because all the men in Rebekah's life have been downers, including her own brothers, at some point in her story and for various reasons, I just see her ending up with a woman more than a man. She also has that ✨ bisexual ✨ energy.

[billpottsismygf]

Rogue

Oh wow, I have some complex feelings to work through with this one. Up front, really fun idea and very funny script and performances. There were quite a few moments that had me laughing out loud (the shed, the OK exchange) and I love the whole set up of these aliens who want to cosplay as humans in the regency era. It also connects nicely with Rogue's love of DND. I feel like I might have missed something when they seemed to know that the Duchess was a Chuldur, but I'll see if I catch that on rewatch or not.

As always, I adore Ncuti here. He's so funny and charming as the Doctor, but I particularly loved that we got to see his darker side here. It was only a glimpse, but that line about 600 years being a long time to suffer was quite chilling and very reminiscent of the "he was being kind" speech from Family of Blood. Indeed, it is quite a ruthless end for the Chuldur! They're sent to a random "barren" different dimension! It reminds me quite a bit of the relocation gun from Rosa and how much it was shown to be one of the worst things you could do to someone (and Ryan uses it on the white supremacist guy). Brutal!

Ruby and the Doctor didn't get to spend much time together this episode, which is a shame because we haven't seen all that much of them together for three episodes in a row now. I can't help but think it's a sad consequence of the tiny episode run that we barely get to see this Doctor and companion interact, so although I loved the Doctor calling her his best friend, and I especially loved her giving him a hug at the end and making him deal with his emotions, I don't feel that connection as much as I'd like to. Equally, when he's devastated to think she's been killed, it would have hit so much harder if we'd seen them build up a real relationship. They have a lot of natural chemistry, so you still very much believe them as best friends, but it feels like we're missing a bit of the depth there.

Okay, now, the romance! I was quite apprehensive about this one because it looked like there might be something going on between the Doctor and Rogue, and that was further fueled by a comment Millie Gibson made in an interview about this episode showing a different side of the Doctor. The reason that made me apprehensive is entirely down to my personal preference, which is that I like it when the Doctor is more a-spec. As it turned out, this episode managed to be both better and worse than I worried. Better in that it was beautifully acted, had fantastic chemistry, and I loved the scandalous gay dancing (very reminiscent of the Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness). Worse in that it wasn't just something happening to the Doctor, that he's swept up in, but instead something he's actively pursuing.

Again, this is entirely down to my personal preference for the Doctor's characterisation, but the way that this pushes further than other instances of romance/kissing/etc. upsets me a little. It reminded me somewhat of The Girl in the Fireplace in places - inviting him to see the stars; the tragic ending - but the difference with that one is that she kisses him. I don't know, it's a relatively small distinction but one that matters to me. The Doctor has had romances before, and the more overt they are the more I dislike them (eg. all the River Song stuff), and nowhere has the Doctor more actively flirted with someone new, expressed attraction to them numerous times and deliberately kissed them than here.

On the other hand, it's very gay and I have to like it at least a little for that. It gives us a more obviously queer Doctor than Thirteen and Yaz and they had a whole arc! (Not to bash Thirteen and Yaz; I actually quite liked how that went down in the end, but again that's due to my preference for an a-spec Doctor, which jived very nicely with Thasmin.) Obviously, this doesn't invalidate any readings of the Doctor as aro and/or ace, especially as that can mean many different things, but it messes with my personal view of the Doctor's sexuality, and how I prefer them to be portrayed. For me, if the Doctor is going to participate in sex or romance, I'd rather it be understated and uncertain or unintended from the Doctor's end. Now I know what to expect from this one, I may become desensitized to it with time and enjoy it more for its merits. Still, I can't change the fact that it's just fundamentally not what I want from Doctor Who the character.

Misc

I love that the battle mode for the earrings came back. I wondered if it would when it was first mentioned, then promptly forgot about it entirely.

The comparisons between Rogue and Captain Jack Harkness are obviously numerous, and it's very funny to me that Jack would definitely be pissed off that he lost out on kissing the Doctor like that to someone who was basically a carbon copy of him.

More singing, since people are taking note of that. Love a bit of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!

I was cringing a bit while the Doctor was dancing to Kylie, but also glad he got to do that after the Master has had several camp pop dancing moments.

Speaking of Kylie, I wonder if the Doctor has ever noticed her uncanny resemblance to Astrid Peth.

We got a nice little flashback with Carla telling him to keep Ruby safe as well, which reminded me a lot of Jackie.

The faces of the Doctor's various incarnations looked a little strange. I couldn't actually tell who some of them were meant to be. Am I crazy or was one of them Richard E Grant, like from Scream of the Shalka (and the Great Intelligence)?

I said this already in another post, but it was dedicated to William Russell and I criiiiiied!

[hourafterhour]

hmmm actually i'd be so interested in hearing about why you hated tsc? i personally didn't hate it but thought it was very flawed and would love to hear your critiques <3

very long below!

starting more generally, i thought the structure of it was bizarre, especially the choice to start it where she did. rehashing the end of TKM in very minute detail from a new pov did nothing for me, and i don't think it's where this part of jean's story "starts" if that makes sense. i found a lot of parts really ham-fisted and poorly written, esp very sloppy/lazy/straight up bad characterization (jeremy giving the homeless man a gift card, lmao); and her reliance on very high drama plot points (surprise secret sister - that was when i could not believe what i was forcing myself to keep reading; also reacher showing up, other parts i've forgotten). i think this approach works so well in aftg, where the melodrama is crucial, but it fails here, and i got the impression that she didn't feel like she was telling (what should have been) a fundamentally different type of story in content and structure than aftg. using any of the very compelling interpersonal dynamics wrt jean in her original trilogy to build drama in a subtler way would have been so much more rewarding imo. "can jean make a life outside the nest” is the built in stakes of the story. can he survive what has happened and what comes next. no need to make it any more dramatic than that - those are pretty high dramatic stakes to me. to give a more specific example, i thought the scene abt jean having to relearn how to check because the way the ravens do it is dangerous was excellent, especially when jeremy explicitly tells him “you’re hurting me” and it’s still unclear if that will be enough to make jean resort to a style of gameplay that’s less effective. this is more along the lines of what i’d hope we’d get from this book — subtle moments that arise from this being a sports narrative and a recovery narrative, and the unique situation of jean being forced into intimacy with a new team (again, a situation that is already so dramatically rich!) 

but my main issue is that I think aftg is a pretty exceptional (and exceptionally unique) trauma narrative, and i think jean’s trauma was poorly written here from start to finish, and pretty unimaginative/cliche. my overwhelming thought while reading it is that it was a really poorly researched book. writing the perspective of a character IMMEDIATELY after release from years of captivity is an extraordinarily difficult task, and the way she tried to account for what his patterns of thinking would have adapted to under those conditions was paltry to me: “I am Jean Moreau. My place is at Evermore. I will endure.” — i was literally rolling my eyes. just a really depressing lack of depth of interiority wrt an experience that was already so rich and subtle in canon. the single line in tkm when abby says he's already tried to escape back to the nest twice was more complex and worth more to me than all of tsc

to give another specific example bc this is one part i remember well, i was so annoyed at the scene when jean offers his racquet to rhemann for punishment. like it's so lazy!!! it's so lazy. jean is not stupid, and i could have believed it if it was written as jean being confused/getting where he was and who he was with mixed up, but a crucial part of the ideology of the nest was that this was not like other teams, and their lifestyle is not ordinary, and this is necessary to make them better than everyone else. jean would be well aware that other people on most other teams do not get physically abused by their coaches, in front of the rest of their teammates, as a matter of course. like maybe that seems nitpicky, but this actually seems so essential to me. and there were so many other moments where it just didn't seem like any meaningful or interesting thought had been paid to how jean would have interpreted his own life, and i hated how she had to make him do things like this to make certain things about his past visible because she couldn't do it in more skillful ways

i was kind of withholding judgement through the first little bit, but the first scene with kevin really solidified that i would not enjoy this book. jean is, what, a few days removed from the nest? i just do not believe (or want to be asked to believe) that he and kevin would be able to articulate any of that by that point, or have the words to discuss these things openly like that already. this was baffling to me because, once again, this is handled really well and compellingly in the original trilogy!!! hence my 40k two months of madness!!!! jean and kevin literally cannot even speak to each other when they see each other at the banquet, to the point where andrew intervenes just to get them to stop watching each other. iirc there was a part in the EC where nora said they don’t have a real conversation till a year (or multiple years?) out of the nest which felt extremely true to me. laila, cat, and jeremy constantly pressing him to express what happened, as if being able to narrativize a traumatic experience is not actively one of the hardest things about recovery, again just felt like lazy writing. everything has to be spoken out loud for it to work here, because she didn’t build conflict in any other way. i actively disliked laila and cat by the end of the book because she had to use them in such annoying and blunt ways to drive the story forward.  

OKAY there is my quota of "joyless hater" for the day... i appreciate you wanting to hear my thoughts!! if you have any thoughts on any of this i'd love to hear them as well. and if you're interested, i'll take the opportunity to rec an academic text on some of these dynamics, Alexandra Stein’s book “Terror, Love, and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems"

[todomemolesta18]

I think people are overreacting when stella in circus episode just revealed tormenting stolas just because she want to or she enjoyed it. The episode itself it's bad they try to make stolas is always innocent but that's just come off make him more annoying than it has to be. The scene he supposedly stand up just seem he whining marry to stella and blame all that problem on her

Stella character is never treated with respect not from the show and not from the fandom. If the fandom actually can give much more proper backstory for stella why she end up being abuser do i have to explain in more further of how she wasn't even a character at all from the show. Also why is people react differently when loona being abusive they don't said anything but when stella did you talk how she is irredemable

I missed the days when the show felt complex and mature by having Stolas doing a big mistake by cheating on Stella and hurting Octavia... *sigh*

When I watched The Circus ep when it came out, my reaction was "whatever". I didnt care about Stolas and the abuse he had because Stella was so freakin cartoonisly evil. Another thing that bothers me is people acting like Stella screaming at Stolas because he cheated on her in their own bed it was a sign that she is abusive.

Bro... Even before we knew about her abuse... Like, I still tough it was a normal reaction! Stolas cheated on her on their OWN BED! And then after he has no shame!

Also, the double standard, yes. When Stella does it, she is a bitch, but when is Loona "aw, she had a sad backstory and has trauma QwQ" oh, so, if Stella had a sad uwu backstory too then you would excuse her abuse too?

I wanna clarify something here. Right now. Im not a fan of Stella. She is unidimensional, and an evil person because. The depth she could have was taken so Stolas was excused from his actions. Is not right what she is doing, but at the same time, is freakin hard to care for Stolas when the whole situation is so cartonish.

LOOK, if they wanted her to make an abusive wife, PERFECT. I do think is important to show that woman can be abusive too! But first:

-The show didnt hint at all. Her screaming and being angry doesnt mean she is abusive. In that moment it made sense that she was, I would be too. Hiring and assasing isnt abusive eather, or is a clue that she is. Ms Macberry did it in the first ep FOR THE SAME REASONS and fans LOVE HER. Stolas did the same thing, but they defend him because the show wobified him. Neglecting dad? Arranged marriage? Abusive wife? The man he loves doesnt love him back? He has depresion? Oh god...

-As I said, they did it so Stolas was completely innocent. Thats why lines like "i would be sorry if i hurt you, but we both know I didnt do that" or "cheating implies there was a betrayal; this woman never gave two shits about me" makes me so freakin annoyed. Because is where is more obvious why they did the abusive stuff. Not to add complexity or to send a message, no, just to excuse Stolas.

Aha, sure she didnt care; thats why she was angry and screaming at you, and trowing stuff, and calling you a cheater, and also hired an assasing because you cheated; NOOOO SHE DIDNT CARE, OFC NOT.

-Stella is a caricature of an abusive person.

In a different show, in a more mature one, like Bojack horseman or Tear along the dotted line, they would accept that the character is flawed. But here, is so... extreme. In the sense that Stolas has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG.

And the Stolitz stuff? I will talk about that in my next post.

Sorry if this was long, thanks for the ask, anon.

[dayseternal-blog]

Hi Days! Hope you're doing well. I asked this to bornonthebreakofdawn too, but which NH fic writers do you really like and what do you like about their fics? (I'm not asking for fic recs, I just mean, like what do you appreciate about their writing styles, like characterization, plot, humor, angst, etc.). Thanks and I hope this finds you well!

Hello :)

Thank you for being sensitive to my request when you sent this! I didn't answer right away because to me, recommending fics or recommending authors is the same thing. If I'm recommending a fic, I'm basically trying to get people to check everything out that the writer has written. I'm not thinking about the fic so much as I am thinking about the writer behind the fic. I am a fan of fandom more than I am of the characters at this point... I am a fan of storytelling and using fandom for expression and connection, and NaruHina is our common choice of medium, if that makes sense. That's why it's important to me that I'm recommending authors, not just fics. Anyway, with all that said, I think I'm ready to try to get back into this.

I've answered an ask like this before, but I do want to answer this again!! Here we go.

Nevermind, I'm going to cry.

No, I'll be fine.

Characterization

My favorite Hinata characterizations are -

Szajnie AO3 Here. Szajnie's Hinata stands out because it feels the closest to canon to me. Szajnie's Hinata is strong, vulnerable, and determined. Inner strength is not easy to write. I think a lot of people write strong!Hinata as someone who always wins. Someone who is "badass" and can fight or can be sexy and that's all fine! That's fine. I think Szajnie goes a step further, creating a depth of character that I don't often see.

@peppercornpress AO3 Here. Peppercorn's Hinata stands out to me because it feels the closest to the epitome of Japanese femininity. Within canon, the Hyuuga demonstrate the most classy Japanese culture. Their house, the way they dress, the way they speak to each other. Hinata is that girl. She is the old-fashioned Japanese It Girl, all while never being egocentric. She has hobbies like flower-pressing, knitting, and cooking. Fandom calls her a princess not just because she's the Byakugan Princess but because I think even us cultural outsiders can tell that Hinata has been raised to be different from the rabble. Peppercorn is able to capture that Japanese elegance in Hinata that is missing in most fanfics.

My favorite Naruto characterizations are -

Katarinahime AO3 Here. I've said it before and I'll say it again. No one writes a sexier Naruto than Katarinahime. Try. Just try. Look around. Read as many fics as I have and try to build a case against my opinion. Katarina's Naruto is strong. He's funny. He's flawed. He matures. It's all written words, so how exactly does she manage to make him sound like a dream guy? Katarina's Naruto has a character development I wish I could write.

Peppercornpress. Peppercorn's Naruto also feels the closest to canon to me. He's just the silliest. Headstrong and kind of weird, like no one actually knows what's going on in his rationale, and that unpredictability, that spontaneity is not easy to write in terms of being truly, convincingly character-driven. Peppercorn's Naruto has a temperament I don't even know how to approach? And I have tried, re: In Between Drinks NH. Notice that I didn't give Naruto hardly any original lines in my version of the fic because I was afraid I would stray off of Pep's characterization.

My favorite character studies -

@bunny-hoodlum / Missachua AO3 Here. It's no secret to anyone who's been following my blog and stories for awhile that I am bunny's self-proclaimed Biggest Fan. You think you're a bigger fan than me? We will fight to the death. Bunny writes such complex, deeply-flawed characters. That takes bravery. I can list very few writers who have their characters just literally screw themselves over CONVINCINGLY. Anyone can write angst. But to write angst so that it makes complete sense for the characters to make the mistakes they did? That takes skill. I have never felt like Bunny forces a situation to happen. She takes the necessary time to create the background, the world that has formed her Naruto and Hinata. Bunny draws out aspects of their characters and amplifies them under a magnifying glass. Yes, they are still Kishimoto's characters. But now they are also Bunny's. Her approach to characterization is liberating.

Story Structure

Katarinahime. If anyone actually reads everything I write, well, you knew this already. At this point, I've said this so many times. I have based my story structuring off of Katarina's writing. Her deep approach to Limited 3rd Person Point of View makes a huge difference in reader immersion and setting up some serious angst. The unreliability of one character's pov keeps the reader in suspense because you never know the whole story. Second, her use of present tense instead of the traditional past tense in storytelling makes the story feel much more immediate, much more urgent and present, perfect for angst. Third, her scene transitions are the smoothest I have ever seen. Katarina makes everyone else using line breaks to change scenes (me) look inept. It is so hard. My first long-fic "It's No Secret" uses none of Katarina's techniques, but after reading her "Serenity Prayer," my fic "Nightdreams" uses all of these techniques. You can compare "It's No Secret" and "Nightdreams" and notice quite easily my technical growth.

BunnyHoodlum. Bunny uses flashbacks strategically. Not just to explain what happened in the past, but to draw parallels and symbolism to the present and to fortify character development. I used flashbacks in my fic "White Lilies" to strengthen Naruto's and Hinata's relationship, and honestly, without Bunny's technique, "White Lilies" would not be nearly as effective of a fic since the first half is basically them avoiding each other lol.

@sessakag AO3 Here. Sentence breaks. Fragments. Using sentence structure to create emphasis and rhythm. To speed a scene up or to slow a scene down. Sessakag has fantastic use of sentence structuring to create urgency when she wants, which is a technique I picked up from her while studying her fics. A non-native English speaker commented on one of my fics that this strategy of having shorter lines also makes it much easier for them to read and engage in the fic.

Language / Voice

Sessakag. I've mentioned this before, too, but I learned how to write by focusing on smut, and one of those writers who basically taught me how to write is Sessakag. Sessakag has an emphasis on descriptive, physical sensation that takes smut from basic "insert body part into other body part" into a Whole Body, Whole Mind, Immersive Experience. The smut is not about the doing. It's about the feeling. Phew. Hot stuff. Her technique of using physical description in response to emotions can be applied to all parts of the story, making an angst scene especially charged or a fluff scene especially heartwarming. Her language immerses the reader's body into the story. You'll see me using Sessakag's voice in practically any smut I've written since "Nightdreams," and in emotionally-charged scenes in "White Lilies" and "Friend of Mine."

BunnyHoodlum. Did I mention I'm Bunny's biggest fan? She uses imagery to create a sense of awe that the characters have for each other. It's difficult for me to explain...I think her imagery is sometimes metaphorical and sometimes it's just this sense of once-in-a-lifetime. You'll see me trying to channel Bunny's descriptive voice most obviously in my fic "That was the plan."

@utsus AO3 Here. Utsu is the GOAL. Folks, I am striving for utsu's level. Utsu's use of language is so high tier, I privately dubbed her the Queen of Capturing the Moment. Every description has a magnetic pull. The reader feels just as observant as Hinata, as though we were all given the Byakugan and can see beyond appearances. When I first starting writing fanfiction, I have to admit that out of all the writers I admired, I couldn't study utsus as an example because her voice is way too natural to try to imitate. Grab some tea, bundle up in a blanket, and sink into the vibrancy of utsu's world.

Worlds / Plots

There are so many writers who have written amazing fics, and I can think of many that had me reading nonstop. But there are just certain writers who wrote THE FIC for me. A fic that I would reread again and again or wrote the fic that would inspire me to write my own. Including the writers I already talked about above, the following writers gave me this sense of this is why I love fandom, this is why I love fanfiction.

@magmawrites AO3 Here. Magmawrites's stories are so imaginative and daring. Have you read a NaruHina zombie au before? Or a NaruHina dystopian scientific experiments on children au before? And they're...still romance? What always gets me about Magmawrites's stories is just the simple fact that I could never write fics like that. Never. Nope. And Magmawrites did not just write one or two original, interesting fics, but that nearly every fic has some crazy plotline of drama, action, or suspense. Like, how did Magmawrites manage to think up all of that? Oh, you know the real kicker? They're all ✨complete✨.

@chloelapomme AO3 Here. Chloe has the closest energy I have seen to magmawrites in terms of writing a ton of imaginative, unique AUs. Let's never forget her Bourne AU and Akatsuki!Naruto AU. But Chloe's energy is a bit more 😳🙈 hehe there is no one else out there who writes as wide a variety of tropes as Chloe. Sunshine family fluff to Soulmate au to Age difference and Threesomes??? I'm just wondering if there's any trope that Chloe wouldn't write.

@badluckbrebis / Imanga AO3 Here. Imanga consistently allows her fics to have a personal shine. What I love about fanfiction is the platform to tell stories that only you can tell and no one else. Imanga writes fics that are culturally personal or contain niche background knowledge from her own life. Things that she has seen or personally experienced, and that real-life stamp makes her fics so much more special to me. I would totally love it if more writers set NaruHina in their home country/city or just with a different heritage, which Chloelapomme also does! Let NaruHina be multicultural!!!!!!!!

@mmmbuttery / emmykay AO3 Here. Emmykay's NaruHina fics are....NarutoDays's origin story lol. I was absolutely blown away by emmykay's fics, like "Lady Usagi" and "Tsutsudori," and especially "Torch Song." You mean NaruHina can look and sound exactly like...my family, like me? "Torch Song" changed the game, turned fanfiction on its head, made me realize that I am my most important audience, that fanfiction can be made for me, and that such a story is worth telling and sharing even if I think no one else will read it, understand it, or care about it. Fanfiction can be minority representation, fanfiction can be historical yet written entirely for entertainment, fanfiction can be educational yet imagined, fanfiction can be all these things and anything else I want it to be, I just have to write it.

agitosgirl FFN Here. Another fic writer who inspired me to write my own fics is agitosgirl. Newer writers recently have been very daring like her, but back in 2017, agitosgirl was one of the few I saw writing just several very taboo tropes and with zero self-consciousness. She wrote fics and started new fics like changing clothes, following wherever the inspiration took her, and what I got out from her style is a strong sense of fun, as if she was never taking anything too seriously. Fanfiction is fun. And it's absolutely best when the writer is having fun. Agitosgirl's world is simply very fun.

BunnyHoodlum also inspired me to write my own fics because of her commitment to making Naruto and Hinata distinctly and convincingly Japanese, literally set in Japan, which back then, no one seemed to be doing...well. I'm serious. Read fics from just 5-10+ years ago, and it's BunnyHoodlum, Peppercorn, and Emmykay holding down the fort of "culturally Japanese NaruHina" without sounding...uh...weird... This was important to me because my heritage is Japanese.

Katarina, Szajnie, and Sessakag seem to approach fanfiction at times with a goal beyond entertainment, perhaps a stance on educating readers, or at least for the reader to come out of the fic with a new understanding of people's differences. That's how it is for me. When I read their fics, I feel like I matured or learned something new.

There are several other writers who I love!!!! SEVERAL. I could seriously go on and on about every single writer in this fandom that I have read and tell you exactly what I love about their writing. Send me another ask, and maybe I'll make a part II 🌺. It's just that these folks listed here were either formative to my own "voice" or have qualities in their writing that I particularly admire and prioritize.

[trblshxxtr]

—✩ A look into Yomi's power!

Hear me out y'all. When looking at the current cast of antagonists in gkkg (I'll be referring to them as the family), all of them have some sort of ability - for an example, look at Utsu and Yoru - but out of the three antagonists we've properly met, Yomi's power is the only one that hasn't been confirmed. We know that Yomi can remove the karmic stake without touching it, which at the very least shows a psychokinesis ability or something along the lines of that. I think Yomi's show of power when removing Alma's stake was just the tip of the iceberg, and his power's a lot more dangerous than just a psychokinetic ability.

It's entirely possible that Yomi's power is actually the ability to create maga. Think about it like this - a big part of Yomi's character is control. He manipulates others to do dirty work for him and he is the authoritative figure/leader in the family. He also is completely in control of himself, always speaking in a calm/mannered tone. If control plays such a large part in Yomi and his personality/character design, it'd make sense for his power to be creating maga as it would give him a physical representation/output of that control and really sets him in place as an extremely dangerous character. Yomi’s character also seems like the type to view himself as on the same level as a God (Always shown as ‘pure,’ doesn’t do dirty work - always manipulating the situation behind the scenes. He also looks down on others, e.g "You couldn't even become a pawn."), and the power to create maga could’ve been the origin of that god complex/the reasoning behind his controlling nature. 

When Yomi leaves in chapter nine he states that he is "the place where the lives of this world return and the place where lives of this world are born." If Yomi has the ability to create and/or control maga, this quote would play really well into hinting at that power. The place where the lives of this world return - he brings the dead back to life and turn them into maga, therefore 'returning them' - and the place where the lives of this world are born - this is either a play on the idea that people he turns into maga are 'born again' or him basically referring to himself as God ("He is the place where lives return and are born").

In chapter four Yoru turns a lady into a maga by forcing a pill down her throat - we've already seen Alma's blood being extracted to use for Tao's weapon, what if it's the same for Yomi? It also adds to the idea that he was the one who turned Alma half-maga - unlike Utsu and Yoru, his power might only be triggered when his blood is ingested by the person or an object he imbues with his power is embedded into someone. (I have a theory that goes more into depth about Yomi and Alma's connection here!)

That's all I've looked into for this theory - if you have any additions, arguments, etc, let me know :)

[fallinginaforrest]

Okay, I'm responding to your answer to my comment on the shayne & buffy post (confusing, I know, I'm sorry 😭) but I'm doing it here because I have too many thoughts lol. There's a couple of cast members I could see as several characters so I wanna know your thoughts! I first thought of Damien as Giles, because they're both into studying spooky stuff and I could see damien as a mentor figure. I could see Arasha and Angela as faith. I feel like they could handle that moral complexity really well. But I can also see Arasha as Anya?? I feel like Amanda could play Cordelia really well 💀 maybe it's just 'cause of her character in the zombies dread series, but I could see her in that kind of a role. I could see ian as Xander, idk why, I could just see him saying some of his lines. (And if we're not sticking with gendered casting) I could see trevor as willow?? They're both sweeties and to me that's enough 🫶. One last one I have is Spencer as Oz because to me they have similar energies. Very 🧍‍♂️ chill guy energy.

I could see the cast as a bunch of different characters tho so I'd love to know what you think!! Sorry this was long btw!! 😭

no don't apologise for the length im LOVING THIS. I'm going to ramble for even longer under the cut about why you're so right.

I absolutely agree with so much of this. Angela as faith actually has rewired my brain chemistry a bit so maybe i need to go and draw that huh! I think she'd be able to handle the depth and moral complexity of faith's arc alarmingly well. I mean. She played Lex Foster and I do think that Lex is a very Faith-Coded character so we have evidence that she'd do astoundingly well in that regard.

Arasha as Anya is perfect. No Notes. Not only because I think Arasha's deadpan delivery and committal to the bit give her this absolutely excellent weird girl energy that would lend itself to playing Anya so fucking well- but also because I want to see my fave be a vengeance demon and kill men. And sometimes that's okay!

Now, while i absolutely agree that Amanda would kill as Cordelia (I think she'd give cordy the underlying heart and earnestness that is necessary for her to not just be the "mean girl" initially and to make the audience like her, perhaps Olivia could play Cordelia?) I also could see Amanda playing Tara really well. Tara has this wisdom and ethereality to her that Amanda also definitely embodies. Amanda's also super spiritual and she draws tarot every day i think?? And I think because their spirituality and their understanding of the world beyond what most people experience is something that is so central to them both, Amanda would play Tara in my opinion.

I'm going to Skate past Ian as Xander because i just fundamentally agree with what you're saying and I think Ian would make Xander 100000% more likeable. Same with Spencer as Oz. So chill. Spencer as oz is actually just. Like. They're the same person.

Trevor as Willow is such an adorable thought. It's also so interesting because he wears a lot of clothes that have like plant life or motifs on them. I think it would make sense to connect him to witchcraft in some capacity. Also he would embody willow's excitement (and to an extent, naivete) really well. I also think Angela could play willow for those same reasons, i think how earnest she is and just how fiercely she loves her friends, i think she could also do willow justice.

Now, Damien as giles is an interesting one! Because i would have put him down as angel perhaps (if only to make the joke that He and shayne are ex-lovers LMAO) but he does also have that sort of deep empathy that Angel carries, as well as the social awkwardness and the Emo tendencies.

May i offer though, as a replacement giles, Tommy? I think tommy would EAT as Giles because of how fucking dry and tired he is. Both of these men are perpetually done with everything.

Anyway teehee maybe i'll draw some of these who knows!!

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

🦋's Post show thoughtsssss

Superb Acting, as usual

Thankful for our Helaena sighting, no matter how short. My heart went out to her when they got mobbed, my poor girl😭

Aemond serving cunt, I kinda giggled when in that first scene at the beginning hehehe

Honestly I really wanted that scene with Aegon to show him saying something along the lines of he loves him in his own twisted way, blah blah, some loyalty or remorse or something. But god forbid we have the greens actually liking each other.

I'm actually looking forward to Otto coming back, tbh, like him or not the man was a powerhouse- Aemond knows what's up (not always)

DAERON MENTIONNNNNN

Gwyane really said yea girl ya'll kinda fucked up in this place ngl, thank god I wasn't raised here lol

I may not have been Viserys's biggest fan, however, to see Paddy again was surprisingly welcome.

Alys slayed, I can't wait for her and Aemond to meet, I'm gnawing at the bars of my enclosure for this to happen.

I really wanted to see a fallout of the mobbing with Alicent and Helaena, particularly with Aemond, to see some kind of regret of something in him, but again, god forbid they give Aemond some level of complexity. Only thanks to Ewan's skill as an actor do we get any depth, but we get not one shit from Ryan Condal.

Poor Aegon, honestly.

Even though I'm tired of Daemon at Harrenhall, I really hope that the direction it's gonna take is him getting to the point where he's back to being the ultra loyal uncle-husband, SEND HIM HOME TO HIS WIFE, DAMMIT

Now, the Mysaria and Rhaenyra kiss. I know this could potentially be divisive amongst fans, however.....it was hot. I'm sorry, but....it was hot. I kinda wanted more, this is way better than seeing Alicent and Crispy. I felt the chemistry between them but I rlly thought they would leave it ambiguous. Again, not a fan of this overarching narrative of Rhaenyra being this holy blessed chosen one, and the greens are all one dimensional assholes who hate each other, but- that was hot. Give us them scissoring next episode k thanks.

Despite the general issues, I am curious for next episode.

Excited to see your thoughts (can't believe there's only two more episodes) I'll miss these post show asks but alas we shall find more things to discourse over <3

One of my highlights of the week is you coming to my asks after the episode has aired. I can't believe that after this one we only get to do our thought dumps twice more! :(

Here are mine!

I have to get this out of the way first, because it was my absolute favourite part and I cannot stop thinking about it; Rhaenyra and Mysaria!

I've had a feeling something like that would happen from their very first encounter, all of their interactions just feel very charged. It was hot AF and I hope we get more of that. Such an interesting dynamic.

Aemond had a little more screen time this episode and, as usual, Ewan slayed. He ran that small council meeting like a fucking drill sergeant and seeing him all hot tempered and mean was...UGH.

I think Aemond's reasoning for dismissing Alicent from the small council was similar to Criston's for not wanting to name her as Regent - he wants to keep her out of harm's way and protect her from the horrible decisions they are going to have to make moving forward.

The way he set Larys up was so fucking good, and I am frothing for the return of Otto. I just know he is going to deliver some absolutely incredible lines next episode.

The exchange between Aegon and Aemond at Aegon's bedside was so well acted by both Tom and Ewan - Aegon's fear and Aemond's unsubtle threat of "this is the version of what happened and you better not tell anyone otherwise" - I do think it's stereotypical sibling rivalry, but the context makes it so much darker.

Aegon and Larys's exchange was amazing too - Larys just laying it out there, basically saying "you are going to look deformed and people will judge you for it" - so powerful, and yet so sad to see Aegon's realisation that he's changed forever.

I have a huge gripe with the writers for what they have done with Sylvi. Yes, her relationship with Aemond was purely transactional, and it has now ended, however, Aemond has been vulnerable with her, spoken to her of things he's not told anyone, so he wouldn't take kindly to the untruths she's spreading around Flea Bottom. I think he would have her killed, not just for treason, but out of fear of what she might tell people about him. However, Michelle Bonnard isn't going to appear again this season, so that is yet another gaping plothole created by the writers.

I'm so bored of Daemon's story arc. Alys is the only part of it holding my interest. It's heavily implied that she had a hand in killing Grover Tully, and I am wondering if she did that to actually help Daemon, or if she has another agenda. Is she going to work with Daemon to help cross Aemond, or does she simply want to take them both down because of their callous attitude towards small folk? I am genuinely excited about her character and storyline.

Cute as it was that Seasmoke claimed Addam, it is yet another glaring oversight from the writers - give us some indication of what's happened to Laenor! Should we just assume he's dead?!

It was cool to see the groundwork being laid for Sheepstealer, though I am still annoyed they gave Nettles' storyline to Rhaena.

Anyway, overall, I really enjoyed this episode. I think this one and episode four have been my favourites so far!

[chiisana-sukima]

@nosammycomeon I moved here so I could go more in depth.

He didn't actually say the writers' room was writing destiel--afaik none of the writers has ever said that explicitly (although it's obvious which writers in the late seasons were in fact doing it, even without explicit confirmation). He said some stuff in a Then and Now additional patreon content interview question that got interpreted in a way he felt he needed to go back and clarify, which is what the tweets are for. The Then and Now content is supposed to be private for patreon subscribers only, but fortunately for clarity's sake, information wants to be free.

You can really see here how the complexity of communication makes everything Worse. Something I've noticed as an autistic person who sometimes finds communication difficult and pretty much always finds lying infuriating is that people in general have a relaxed view of facts. When someone makes [bald statement X] about almost any relatively nuanced topic, [bald statement X] is usually a stand in for a whole big set of information not formally in the communication that the listener is supposed to just understand the speaker means through context. But unfortunately everyone's understanding of any given context is different, so then often the speaker thinks they have communicated [huge set of context about X] but the listener thinks they have communicated [different huge set of context about X]. This is further complicated by the fact the speaker may be intentionally lying about [X], but it's often hard to know one way or the other, and by the fact that sometimes the speaker isn't lying, but doesn't themself understand what they actually believe the context of the statement they made to be.

Here, Edlund is pretty clearly saying as [bald statement X] only that in The End, Cas is ride or die for Dean and he got a note to change the wording because it was too obvious to be good writing. He was taken by some destiel fans to mean that he got a note to change the line because it made it too obvious that Cas was gay for Dean. This is clearly not actually what he said. BUT. To me, both Edlund's bald statement and the subsequent interpretative statements by destiel shippers are probably standing in for a lot of context that fandom is split on.

Cas' decisions in The End are honestly pretty extreme for platonic devotion. I mean, me, an aro, might be that devoted to someone platonically. And me, an aro, values highly the emphasis spn put on platonic devotion throughout the length of its run. To me, the context in spn is always 'yes these people are all platonically insane for each other'.

But lets be honest here, most alloromantic people are not used to thinking about devotion this way, and do not have it as a floating ball of context about spn or about life in general. They have the different floating ball of context that people only do this weird shit for each other if they are romantically in love. In the many cases of Sam and Dean's excessively devoted decision-making, spn uses the excuse that they are brothers (like that somehow explains it all. huge Lisa knows moment, i would not fucken do all that for my sibling).

But with Cas in The End, they don't even have that excuse. Cas just... gives up his entire family, his home in Heaven, his identity as an angel, destroys himself with drugs and cheap sex over the pain of simping for someone who no longer has the capacity to care for him, and then is all 'yep, I'll let you use me as meat-grinder bait without even the courtesy of telling me first'. And not to be all 'there's no platonic explanation for this' but given that it did indeed turn out that Cas canonically has been pining romantically for Dean in the main universe too and doing dumb sacrificial stuff because of it on the regular, and that most alloromantic people don't do world-ending platonic devotion, I think its very reasonable to assume that the destiel shippers are assuming that Edlund's bald statement about "its bad writing to be that obvious" includes the context "its bad writing to be that obvious about Cas being in love with Dean". And I think it's even quite reasonable to assume they are right and that was the context Edlund was speaking from within. His later clarifications don't imo negate that, because they all come with context we may or may not know too. Here is a post where the OP calls out some of that possible context. They are absolutely right imo that contending that Cas' speech in 15x18 could have been platonic reeks of corporate bullshit and impeaches any similar statements about other episodes considerably.

Meanwhile though, it's also true that Edlund didn't say anything explicitly about Cas being in love with Dean in The End and it is also reasonable to take people at their word. Spn really was primarily about platonic devotion. So of course people with a more platonically-minded set of conceptual assumptions will take the context as being "I said what I said and I meant it and nothing else", and they aren't actually necessarily wrong or acting in bad faith imo either. Because who tf knows what Edlund meant; we are all just isolated brains out here floating in our individual meatsuits and having confusing-ass, shit communication.

it's so obvious they knew all along that people shipped it… can't believe anyone would say otherwise.

So like, here's the other side of the destiel fans assuming a bunch of context that may or may not be the context that was intended. When people say "the writers didn't know about destiel", they can't mean it literally. Obviously the writers knew at latest by s10, because they acknowledge it on screen in Fan Fiction. But I think the ball of context around this is not unreasonable either. I think when people say this, the listener is supposed to understand that what they mean is "well of course the writers have heard about fan ships through the grapevine or whatever, but they never took any of that, including destiel, seriously. They never paid it much mind. Maybe they did some fanservice/cheap pandering once in a while, but they never meant it. They never queerbaited and they never intended us to take it seriously."

And while I think the evidence points to this not being the case, I do also think it's a reasonable position. The powers that be really have said multiple times over many years that "destiel doesn't exist", that they'd never heard of it, that "we don't pay any attention to what the fans are saying or change story elements based on what the fans want" (my google fu is failing me for that last one atm, but various writers and showrunners have said this multiple times), etc. The last one at least is CLEARLY a blatant, outright lie once you know enough bts information, but you can't blame people for believing it. These are professional liars; lying believably is their job. That people who believe them and are invested in a platonic reading of the show and often are-- not coincidentally--irritated at destiel shippers' insistence on reading thing (including sometimes ridiculous things) romantically would then go on to be impolitic/imprecise in their language on twitter or their personal blogs is pretty much just human nature.