#like i've been missing quinn specifically A Lot but i also just miss all of them together when that was our dynamic

[callixton]

tbh i keep getting reminded of when i was So close to being in a polycule w five people i loved and like. i still miss it it kinda hurts

[pasteloctoz]

Redacted what ifs- Hero AU shitposting

might bring this series back i still need to write up mafia solaire clan.

They have the same powers as they do in the base universe, and unempowered people barely know about empowered people apart from heroes and villains, and D.U.M.P. is a corrupt government that controls people from reaching their true magical potential or whatever.

● DAMN Crew

-Vigilante Freelancer

Feel like Freelancer would initially be some kinda low level villainbc of how they were brought up, but then they meet Caelum and try to do more good than bad.

-Goofy Sidekick Caelum (i miss him so much)

Caelum would be Freelancer's gauge between good and bad. They'd probably become dependent on him at some point because they don't want to loose their temper.

-Hero Gavin

Gavin and FL have a complicated relationship initially and then find out abt eachothers identities and fall in love.

Also Gavin is probably the furthest thing from a hero he's just chillin with the lifestyle mandated by the corrupt government tbh.

Like he knows the government is bad but nothing compares to his life on Aria (forgot how to spell it)

-Support hero Lasko

Lasko is a support hero because of his relationship with Gavin.

-Civilian Damien

-Civilian Huxley

Lasko, Damien, and Hux are less involved in hero life bc they don't know about Caelum. Not to mention I like the idea of people who don't know about someone's trauma helping the person through it.

-Villain Vega

Hes more of a Vigilante but specifically for demon kind (i think ive barely listened to his audios) but in general hes a villain from FL's POV (cus he hurt caelum)

-Hero & Rival Kody

He's not enough of a bad guy to be a villain but he is enough of a parasite to frequent cameos in FL's routine.

● Shaw Pack

-Freelance Hero David

He takes jobs for money, and is indifferent to politics unless it effects his pack.

-Civilian Angel

Genuinely thought Davey was a normal guy (except for the moodyness n shifting). When they find out its about a year into the relationship and Angel isn't having any of that shit. Of course David told them about him being a shifter after a while but not THIS. Safe to say they'd be angry for a while.

-Civilian Asher

He's Davey's chairman, just cannot realistically be a full time hero because its too boring for him. Though he will help David any chance he gets.

Also probably the quipiest mother fucker ever-

-Civilian Baabe

They'd find out about Asher and Davey waaay before Angel and probably keep the secret too. Angel would be real hurt but heal a lot faster with Baabe.

-Hero Sweetheart

-Anti-Hero Milo

He definitely has SH realize the realities of government shit or whatever

Also Davey and Asher know about Milo being an Anti-Hero they just don't give a shit 😭

(I've lost all knowledge of what the fuck is going on with the vamps so im not caught up)

● Solaire Clan

-Support hero Sam

-Vigilante Darlin'

They're kinda on the run after getting a bit too violent with a villain. Then found out that the government is protecting certain villains because of the money they get if they do.

-Villain Quinn

Yes, the villain darlin' got too violent with is Quinn, who tf else would it be?

-Civilian Lovely

They'd still be a civilian after finding out they have magic, despite the government pushing them to be a hero. Although, they'd probably help a lot more after turning.

Another thing- the letters from the government asking lovely to be a hero would stop after their turning. They'd probably be even more angry when realizing that than when the government harassed them. Probably resulting in a breakdown and them thinking theyre worthless now.

-Hero Figure head Vincent

I don't think Vinnie would get too much into action unless absolutely needed.

-Hero Adam

Adam would've been a hero but gave into his cravings when lovely came around looking for vincent. But he wouldve been pushing his hero reputation a lot, if anyone knew of him before he died for good, they would've said hes a terrible hero.

-Hero Alexis

I dont think i need to say more, she'd still be on thin ice after sam's turning, though.

[rottentiger-art]

I am interested in hearing your take on this I’ve been thinking a lot about this since the trailer dropped . Something I’ve been analyzing is the relationship differences between Quinn/Mark vs Quinn/Logan. Quinn was always looking for more from Mark and he never could give it. When they start dating it her wanting to date him ( I don’t think he even knows her name) radio episode because he won’t kiss her. She is always looking for more intimacy. So she would get upset and he would like kinda give into her. Then they fell into this boring relationship. The moment he found what he actually wanted he left.

It was such a 180 to see her with Logan because it was like “oh I wanna kiss you all of the time.” There was this passion that a teenage relationship should have. She’s finally getting like a real high school relationship. Logan is finally seeing that knowing someone before just making out with them makes you want them more. Also looking back he’s the one making moves in the sense of him comforting her and he’s the one that said I love you first. He was choosing her and I think that was something she always wanted.

In the trailer we see that their relationship hasn’t dimmed he still wanting to touch her all the time and be close to her. He just seems so glad to have her and Quinn deserves that kind of treatment. I really hope they show the growth of the relationship and not just have them as the comic relief… I hope that they show that Logan just got carried away with the wedding because he wanted it to be perfect but when she runs away he realizes that he just needs to choose her and so they go back to their root and get married at PCA. Sorry this is super long I’ve just been obsessing over this.

Don't apologize, I love long rants about my ships.

Warning: I may be looking too much into a teen's show

I've been re-watching specifically Quinn and Mark's episodes as well as Quinn and Logan's, because I wanted to have a better understanding of both relationships. I hadn't seen all yet and been doing it more at random, so feel free to add more if you want.

Like you mentioned, Quinn and Mark's relationship started because she wanted it and the whole time he seemed quite uninterested on it/her. It's not that he was mean to her or a terrible boyfriend (save for the cheating, I'm side-eying you there, Mark), it's just that he just wasn't as into it and her as Quinn, I don't remember him telling her he loves her (like I said, I'm still rewatching, it might not have happened, or I must have missed it).

Let's see the differences between Logan and Mark when it comes to being Quinn's boyfriend.

Affection:

Mark:

Like you mentioned, in my rewatch I also noticed Mark didn't give her affection unless she requested it, it wasn't just the kiss, it's details like her holding his hand in the scene where she was directing towards the violinist and him dropping it as soon as he could. He just didn't seem interested in doing those things with Quinn.

He is seen holding Brooke's hand when Quinn catches them and he seemed happy to do so

So it's not that he doesn't like affection, he just didn't seem to like giving it to Quinn.

Logan:

Logan, however, is as clingy as her (maybe a little more, even). He has no problem giving her what she wants without having to being asked for it. Their very first scene post kiss starts with him telling her she "has the prettiest eyes" and them sharing an eskimo kiss, both happy and giggling. After they decide to "stop" (not even they believed that lol) he ask her for one more eskimo kiss before they go.

Then, on their next scene they're kissing again, unable to stop. Something that catched my attention was when Quinn was trying to get him to tell her what was bothering him, she got it once she used the "no telling no kisses" threat, and Logan's face too! He was like "tfym no kisses :("

Like, it's amazing to me, they've been dating for seconds and she already knew her kisses had an effect on him, and he folded so easily as soon as she said that, like they both knew he did not want the make out sessions to stop. Her confidence about it is a point I'll bring later on.

He's also the one requesting kisses, whenever they finished discussing something and he knows they have time he pops the "wanna make out?" question, and that's so funny, but also so cute, like you said, he's all like "oh I wanna kiss you all of the time".

He's also the one that said "I'm not sure I wanna stop" when Quinn said they're not making a good job in stopping those secret meetings. When Quinn said "if neither of us wants to stop they I guess..." and she seemed nervous about even suggesting it, still he completed with "we're dating?" , but he didn't look put off, he said it smiling, which feed my headcanon that he really wanted her from before the bench, he looked hopeful when he asked it (does that count as him asking her to be his gf?), so another first move.

Hanging out:

Mark:

Maybe it's because Mark is just... boring? but he doesn't seem to enjoy spending time with Quinn, most of the times we see them together, she is making experiments with him or dragging him around. Sometimes I felt like he enjoyed hanging with her friends more than her. He definitely seemed happier hanging with his own friends than her. I don't remember seeing them on a date besides their first, which he didn't know was a date, or actively seeking alone time with her.

He was always like "I guess" to her suggestions and efforts to being a normal couple.

But again, it seemed to be just with Quinn, he liked hanging out with Brooke and is seen on a date with her. He is still as boring as he was with Quinn, since Brooke left him because of that, but he seemed more into it with her. In one episode he showed more interest in Brooke than he ever did in two seasons with Quinn. And that made me feel so sad for Quinn.

That same episode random extras or minor characters showed more interest in Quinn than Mark in two seasons. What's worth noting is that Quinn didn't care about the attention she received for other boys, she wanted Mark to react like that. She cares about those things if it's coming from the boy she loves, and she would never get it from Mark.

Logan:

Before dating, despite still being a bit of an asshole towards her, Logan seemed fine with hanging out with Quinn, on the last season they became friendlier (again, despite him being still an ass), and post kiss he loved spending time with her, they were always finding moments to be together and alone, enjoying each other's company.

this scene was so fucking cute, while their friends were hanging out, they found a little hidden corner where they could keep kissing and be together:

When it comes to dates, Quinn didn't really demanded or asked him to, she said she wished they could have dates like normal couples do. And what I love of this scene is that his reaction wasn't "ugh, okay" or "I guess...", instead his reaction was more like (for me) "I'm just happy being with you wherever we are, but if you want more, we can totally do more" and he immediately thought up a solution, a place where he could take her and he even seemed excited about it (with how quickly he came up with it, I bet he has thought about it before too, getting her wined and dined and all that)

On the date he was as happy as Quinn to be there, and as annoyed when it was interrupted. Logan is the type to boast his wealth and stuff, but I don't think that was his motivation to take her there, I think he wanted to give her the best date possible, he wanted it to be special (if the theories are true, that might be the case too when it comes to their wedding, but that's for another point)

15 years later, he still clings to her and looks as happy to be around her as he was then.

"I Love You"

another immense difference between the too.

Mark:

Like I said, I don't remember him ever saying those three words to her. But wherever he said it or not, I don't think he did. I genuinely don't think he loved her. I'm not saying he didn't hold any emotional affection towards her, he just wasn't in love.

The way he broke up with her once he had the opportunity to be with another girl (thought I believe Quinn mentioned he had been acting weird for 15 days, so he might have been cheating on her for that long or less) is very telling. Like I know Mark is emotionless, that's his trait, but even then, he didn't seem sad at all about the break up.

And when she tried to get him back he rejected her quickly, making it clear he just didn't want that, even telling her how he felt about Brooke, and it's worth noting he never described Quinn like that, never said they had a connection or something, because they didn't, it was a very one-sided relationship.

Not wanting to kiss your girlfriend of two years until she starts bothering you about it is very telling to. Like I know aromantic/asexual people exist, but I doubt he had the same treatment with Brooke.

And honestly, despite the cheating, I felt bad for Mark, he seemed exhausted by that relationship. Like I said, Quinn was always dragging him around and experimenting with him. Plus, she was clingy, something that just didn't resonate with him (which makes me wonder: if him and Stacey are still together how did that worked out? since she is clingier than Quinn). I understand him leaving as soon as he could, it was a bad relationship for both.

Logan:

Like you pointed out, Logan was the first to say "I love you", and he did it publicly, he screamed it at the top of his lungs in front of a crowd, to her. But the first time he said it was to Stacey, and I really love his response to "why don't you want to kiss me" wasn't him telling her he didn't like her (which obviously he didn't), what came naturally to him was "because I love Quinn!", and it's so cute because he said in on accident, so it was the truth, that was his main reason that het slip, he doesn't want to kiss another girl because Quinn is the one he loves, the only one he wants to kiss from now on.

It was such a grand and meaningful gesture, a huge contrast to her previous relationship. This boy, unlike Mark, loves her so much he doesn't want to be with anyone else, he doesn't want to keep hiding their relationship, not if that means having to pretend to be interested in someone else, I love how he confirmed it again, with no regrets despite the guy behind him asking judgmentally "you love Quinn", like as soon as the words came out of his mouth he realized it was not worth hiding it, it didn't matter anymore if people were going to judge him (and for someone like Logan that's a huge step).

It was a very beautiful scene, it not only showed his love for her was bigger than his concern of what people would think, bigger than his ego, in a more subtle way it also showed he rather deal with that than being disloyal to her, even if it's just pretending, and that says a lot of how how different he is as a boyfriend.

I also do believe on that headcanon that he loved her (or at the very least was crushing on her) before the bench scene, just in denial.

And it's kinda funny, how Mark seemed inoffensive yet he cheated and Logan was seen as the womanizer, yet he was loyal to Quinn.

Quinn's Jealousy Issues:

Many years ago I read the take that Quinn didn't love Logan as much because she wasn't jealous like with Mark, and I honestly disagree.

I believe jealousy roots from insecurities, and Quinn is a very confident girl, so I get why people wouldn't agree her jealousy stems from that, but hear me out.

Like it was mentioned above, Mark wasn't very affectionate and didn't seem interested in Quinn, maybe he thought she didn't need it, but for someone like Quinn, who is constantly seeking romantic gestures and cuddlings/kisses/just any kind of intimacy, it's clear she does. I found it interesting how she knew how many days he had been acting weird, it showed she is attentive to details, she notices and cares for those things. I know it could be attributed to just a quirky thing of hers, but I don't think it is.

I think Mark's lack of, well, participation on the relationship did affect her confidence on their relationship and herself, so that's where her jealousy comes from, she's a smart girl, deep down she must've known he wasn't as into her as she was into him, so she feared someone would take him away (and she was right!), I think her jealousy came from the insecurities the one-sided aspect of that relationship. It was also his poor communication skills, he was always like "yea... I guess... uh..."

With Logan though, she seemed chiller about it. She still got jealous about him taking "make out Mandy" to prom, but I think that was it. It was just, like, normal jealousy, for lack of better words. And I think that's for how attentive Logan was, he showed his interest constantly, he was affectionate, he cared, their relationship was built on good communication, he made her feel wanted and loved, something she didn't feel with Mark, it's hard to feel wanted and loved when someone doesn't want you nor love you.

She didn't have to drag Logan along or force him to show his love, he came to her and he was doing all that willingly, like you said he made the first moves from the bench scene, stopping to confort her and staying despite being told by her to leave was the first move.

Telling her what he really think of her was a first move too, I just can't stress enough how special it is to me that Logan was the only one that said he prefers her as herself.

Ever from the bench scene he rebuilds her confidence, and he does it by just loving her and showing her with his actions and words, not on purpose, he just does it, he just loves her so much he can't help letting her know. And I think that's why Quinn is not as jealous with Logan, because she doesn't have to fear someone taking him away, not when he's clinging to her side and when she is on a healthy relationship based on reciprocate love and good communications.

Overall, Logan not only loved Quinn, he also liked her, and had no problem letting her know that.

Jealousy from their part:

There's not much to say about Mark here, so I'll just jump to Logan.

The "well, he's not [Quinn's boyfriend] anymore!" scene and him not letting her invite the shirtless guy to prom may not be the only times we've seen him jealous. If we take into consideration that he might have been into Quinn before the bench kiss, we can see his treatment of Mark in a different light. Like we all know Logan was a jerk, but he seemed to specially dislike Mark, making fun of him, not caring at all if he was injured/injuring himself (I really wish I had a gif or at least a pic of when he threw that frisbie at Mark, you can see in his face he did that on purpose and enjoy it), like he generally disliked him.

I do believe he was jealous, and seemed to calm down once he had Quinn.

The Relationship:

I'll make this point short because it's basically repeating what I already said.

Quinn-Mark relationship was one-sided, with Quinn doing most of the emotional and physical labor, Mark either reacted to her or was forced to reciprocate, but rarely even initiated intimacy, they had poor communication skills from his part. Overall, he wasn't into it as she was.

Quinn-Logan relationship was fully reciprocated, with Logan doing as much emotional and physical labor, he willingly spend time with her, showed affection and love, meeting Quinn's expectations and both parts communicated perfectly, working as a team to solucionate any problem they may have. Overall, Logan was an active part of the relationship and was very much into it an her, just as much as Quinn.

TL;DR: In a shocking turn of events, Logan turned out to be the most boyfriend material of the cast. The boyfriend Quinn dreamed of.

now, to answer the rest of the ask.

I also hope Logan got carried away on the thrill of giving Quinn the perfect wedding, making their day as especial as possible.

I love love love that you wrote "Logan is finally seeing that knowing someone before just making out with them makes you want them more" because yes! this is new for him too, this is his first relationship and it was so cute how he was like "alright, I love this, I'm never letting go" (don't even bring up that "they break up at least once" hc, I refuse to believe it, let me live in denial)

I also hope they're not just background comic relief, I hope they treat this beautiful ship with the respect it deserves, hope they don't forget they're the most loved couple for a reason and actually the reason why 90% of ppl will be watching that movie

I may be forgetting about more points, but I can always reblog later. Do share your thoughts please

also, now I'm sorry for having making this so long lol

EDIT: Ugh, I had to delete a few pics examples and gifs or it wouldn't let me post it.

[nalyra-dreaming]

First off, I absolutely LOVE your writing! You capture these characters so well, and Laden as the Sea was such a treat with filling in what might have been happening between the scenes we saw on the show. Sometimes I find it hard to remember that what you wrote didn't actually happen on the show! Thank you! Now for the ask: since you're a huge book fan too, how "necessary" do you think it is to read Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle before the Prince Lestat books - specifically for someone who really isn't all that interested in the Mayfair storylines? Probably irrelevant background - I've been a huge fan of the VCs since way back in the mid-80s, but never read those two. I haven't read the Prince Lestat trilogy either, I think at the time those came out I thought the Atlantis storyline sounded a bit out there and I didn't want to end up being disappointed, LOL. But I just have to know what happened with all my vampires, and especially now that they're obviously dropping references to the PL books into the show I definitely have to read them. Just not sure if there's any necessary background info in Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle that I really shouldn't miss. Thanks for any input!

Ohhhh thank you dear, that is such a beautiful feedback, thank you sooo much!!! 💕 So glad you like! *hugs* Hope you'll continue to!

Wrt to your question (also HIIIIII to another long-time fan, I totally remember being weirded out by the story hinted in the title(s), too^^^)

Those two books... are not "necessary".

I find Blackwood Farm a fun read, and also a bit of a wild ride, but ultimately there is not a lot of "new" things in there - and they barely have a connection to the later books. There isn't even a lot of Lestat in there (but the interesting tidbit that he still "cleans up" young ones from time to time, and that people warn others from going into NOLA.) Maybe the most important thing is knowing that (the names) Quinn and Mona come from this one :) Quinn is a delight though, in his own way, and while they might draw on the connections to the Talamasca and the Mayfairs later in the show (maybe) - you can read it later, if you want.

Blood Canticle... is something of a supposed follow-up, but it's... totally OOC for Lestat, and the whole thing with Rowan... *shudders*.

The book is totally ... IDK. It was written during Stan's illness and subsequent death and... mhh. I do think that influenced things. There's nothing I really like about it. Not the Mayfair nor the Taltos connections, and thank goodness Anne dropped the whole Rowan thing like a hot potato after, too. It just feels off. There is also a very infamous rant (copied here, though the Amazon link does not seem to work anymore, unfortunately) she posted in response to a negative review. In that response rant she closes by saying that Blood Canticle was the last of the Chronicles and that she was... glad.

Fortunately, she changed her mind.

The last three books are definitely a wild ride, too.

They introduce a lot of new characters, new background stories, and a lot of the interconnections of what we supposedly knew is rearranged. I have to say I appreciate them even more now reading them for the third time... there is a lot of rearranging furniture, so to speak, but, without wanting to spoil too much... Anne went, and gave "her" vampires a home, religion (in a way), and "happy ever after" (well, as much as that can be with them^^). There's also hooks in them that I'm quite sure Rolin picked up, if the changes they made for the show are any indication^^. (It will be VERY interesting to see where and when we are in Dubai, seriously^^).

So... my advice would be: skip Blackwood Farm (for now), Blood Canticle (definitely, the rant probably tells you all you need to know^^), and go into the last ones knowing that Anne actually managed to close a lot of arcs and proverbial doors (and opened a few new ones^^), leaving the future for "them" bright open and a lot more hopeful than one could have predicted.

Enjoy 💕

PS: If you feel like talking/yelling about them while you read.... *laughs*

[tuiyla]

Do you think Rachel would or has struggled with her sexuality? If we read her friendships with Quinn and Santana, or example, as driven in part by some level of romantic or sexual attraction, do you think this would be challenging for Rachel to parse, or a point of tension? Or does she just never explore it in canon because the opportunity is never there?

Imma put canon aside for a second be she's simply just not canonically queer but it's SUPER fun to think about a better show where she was so, yeah. Rachel's bi as far as my version of Glee is concerned.

In terms of how I see that going down, two ways. One more comedic and one more dramatic, depending on which side of the bed Glee would have woken up that morning. The more comedic version would have her behave similarly to how she did in Blame It On the Alcohol. That is, she'd view newfound feelings of queerness as a great opportunity for artistic expansion and would be a little over the top and silly about it. So, say, Rachel realizes, preferably when she isn't currently dating Finn, that oh shit, maybe she's attracted to Quinn, too. And because she's Rachel she'd go all in and be very grand gesture about it because yolo and push! Push your feelings away, they're that big! She wouldn't feel conflicted about the queerness of it all for long because, given her dads, she's always always been comfortable thinking outside of heteronormativity. If anything, she's a little relieved and very pretentious about it because now she's not only an ally but bisexual herself! And she does not shut up about it for a while. Very out and proud, but also treating it as a very natural thing because to her it is. Also idk why I used Faberry in this hypothetical when I've actually read a REALLY good Pezberry fic that handles Rachel in a similar way to what I would imagine. Please read that fic, I'm still hoping it will get finished one day.

The more dramatic approach would be to have Rachel struggle a little bit with the realization. And that would be understandable as the two most obvious candidates for her to realize her queerness with are Quinn and Santana, both tumultuous and complicated relationships. I kinda feel like it being Quinntana would be more of a point of tension for Rachel than just bisexuality itself. Because, say, in a version of Glee where Rachel develops feelings for Mercedes I really don't see those feelings posing a challenge, as such. Not the queer aspect of it. Rachel Berry is a lot of things and a staunch ally from day one is one of them, even if she is misguided on occasion. So realizing that she herself is queer wouldn't cause a crisis of identity nearly as much as it would for other chs (cough Quinn cough).

In terms of Faberry and/or Pezberry, however, there's angst potential. Say, Rachel realizes just as the Pezberry feud is happening that oh, no! Not only is Santana hot, which is something Rachel's always known, but she's hot in a way Rachel's very attracted to and now that they're fighting she realizes she's missing Santana as more than a friend. And that would be challenging to parse because I think she'd feel like she's not supposed to like Santana and would somehow project that onto the whole idea of Sapphic tendencies. And it would make her reevaluate the complex dynamic she had with Quinn, too. Additionally, this coming just after Finn's passing, too, would make Rachel feel like she just doesn't know herself and what she wants. So I think grappling with her own queer identity would make her spiral in that way but even in such a scenario the root cause of any tension wouldn't actually be her sexuality. It's just the specific circumstances, you know. Why her, and all that.

That said I don't think that it would always cause Rachel to spiral a bit, like I said this is the more dramatic version of events. I think, ultimately, that I just have to approach this as a matter of what could have happened in an alternate timeline because as fruity as I read Faberry and Pezberry, any sort of romantic and/or sexual feelings on Rachel's part are not canon. So like, that's why it's never explored in canon. But even if we don't totally rewrite things and instead just pretend those feelings were there and Rachel grappled with them at some point, I think the queerness of it all still wouldn't be a big deal to her. If Rachel were to realize in retrospect that at least some of her relationship to Quinn and Santana was motivated by those sexual/romantic feelings she'd quickly come to terms with bisexuality and just go "oh okay, cool!" Given that those feelings were in the past and/or not possible to act on, such as her looking back on it when married to Jesse.

So I hope that answers your question; this is fun for me to think about because the Fapezberry triangle is delicious. Even though we don't have canon queer Rachel, adding her to the mix just makes things even more interesting.

[unholy-fabray]

When Glee was still airing and I was actively watching the show, I could not STAND Rachel. Like I tuned out every time she was on screen, I was fully on board the Rachel hate train online, etc.

Then something snapped in my brain - or maybe I just got older - and during my recent rewatch of the show, I find myself deeply sympathetic for her as a character.

Setting aside the behind-the-scenes controversies, I think the on-screen character of Rachel Berry gets a little too much hate. I'm sure I'm reading way too much into this ridiculous show, BUT here are some Rachel Berry thoughts I have:

From a young age, she has been wholly dedicated to a very specific goal and encouraged/enabled by her dads to base her entire identity and self worth on this one dream which she then pursues to an abrasive, off-putting degree and is bullied for being "that theater kid". The way her dads handled this almost reminds me of pageant parents, ngl.

Glee is notorious for having it's characters do problematic shit then never really addressing it or calling them out on it, but I've noticed Rachel is very often called out on her bullshit. I know people like to say she gets everything she wants, but (Lea Michelle + RM bts issues aside) Rachel catches a lot of shit in the show - she's just really determined.

Her birth mother breaches a legal contract, manipulates minors to weasel her way into Rachel's life, forcing her into meeting only to REJECT her outright. Shelby describes how she dreamt this moment would go, then basically tells Rachel, "you didn't live up to my dreams, bye". How traumatizing wtf!

Not to mention: Shelby adopts a new baby and lingers around Lima, Ohio where she can continue to traumatize literally every kid she comes in close contact with (Rachel, Quinn, Puck) - but I digress, that's a topic for another post...

Rachel is a teenage girl who is routinely told she is unlikeable and unattractive - even her own boyfriends make comments that put her down compared to other girls. In addition, her satisfaction and pleasure is never considered when it comes to the physical aspects of her relationships (this is a running theme for female characters on this damn show).

On a similar note, Rachel is shown to have very low self esteem and is compensating through her ideas of stardom. She genuinely believes that she is nothing without her singing voice. She has been bullied all her life because she's weird and loud and she comes from a nontraditional family.

Idk man, the way Finn treats her* and the shit with Shelby and how Will + her dads just enable her problematic behavior really makes me sad for her. I think it's easy to forget these characters are teenagers and are so impressionable.

*Rachel also treats Finn badly, I'm not denying that

Anyways, she's a very flawed and at-times aggravating character, but I see her in a different light than I used to. I've developed a sort of soft spot for Miss Rachel Berry. I can better understand why she is the way she is (whether that was intentional or RIB's part or not, idk).

[harlivycentral]

Just wanted to say thanks for breaking down the comics that lead to Ivy’s series. I read some of it before but I knew I was missing something so your post is super helpful. Also I’ve been loving the Kate/Maggie posts as well I’ve been meaning to read more batwoman. 🙏

Thank you so much for sending this ask, I'm glad you've been enjoying it! It was really kind of a pet project for me, since I was in the same boat as you for a long time & wanted to archive for myself the complete backstory. I think seeing how they built up Harley's interest in being a hero for multiple years was really interesting, plus I loved a lot of Ivy's storylines!! So it makes me happy to hear people are appreciating it :)

In 2019, I was a very casual Harley Quinn fan--much more into other comics & hadn't read most of her stuff. I was living in Seattle and going weekly to this awesome comic shop that's since closed (RIP 😢), so I picked up & read all of the limited-run Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy. After that, though, I didn't really keep up with their main storyline. I prefer to read things physically, and I'd buy certain single issues I was interested in (I bought single issues of Joker War and Catwoman: Fear State that I read online had more Harlivy content specifically), but I was always slightly confused/wanted to know the full scope of it. When they finally gave Ivy her own ongoing series, that's when I was like, okay, I'm fully diving in!

(Just a side note, midtowncomics.com is awesome for buying cheap back issues physically. Although I have temporarily subscribed to DC Universe just to catch up on the full backstory & decide which comics I want to own physically. I also hoped excerpting stuff from them would help other people decide which arcs they wanted to read in full for themselves! I can definitely give my recommendations if anyone is interested.)

And I definitely had to do some digging on like old reddit posts and random comic reviews etc. to figure out which comics had their complete storyline over the past few years, so I was like, okay now that I've put this all together, let me put it one place for posterity. There's definitely parts of their storyline I think are way better written than others (though I've tried not to editorialize too much except for Heroes in Crisis lol). I was on vacation last week & had a dental emergency this week (which turned out to be fine as of yesterday woohoo!), but I'd love to make some more text posts with my thoughts on stuff (separate from just archiving it). And I would definitely love to hear from my followers any of their thoughts on specific Harlivy storylines/comics/writers/etc.!

Glad you've been enjoying the Kate/Maggie posts too! I have such mixed feelings about that Batwoman run. It is truly like, sigh, the amount of canonical gay women that DC makes former army or current cops is truly abysmal. And it also definitely has more running themes of violence against women than I expected/wanted (obviously outside of villains physically fighting Kate, I mean, as that's to be expected). But the art is TRULY gorgeous, the storytelling is engaging, and it does represent a lesbian relationship and center a lesbian superhero in a way I haven't really ever seen anywhere else. I love DC Bombshell's version of Kate SO much (the art is also gorgeous for that & her backstory is WAY more appealing to me personally), but sadly they were more focused on including a breadth of characters in that comic than diving deeply into any one character's storyline, including Kate (after like the first six issues). Anyway, I won't go too in depth on my Batwoman thoughts here lol.

But yeah, I was in the Batwoman tag and it was mostly Batfam memes. Which, understandable to some extent, since her last solo comic ended a few years ago, so that stuff is probably just buried. But I was like, well, since I'm reading this anyway, I would like more of the art & relationships from her actual solo comic to be in the tags, at least on my blog for my own reference.

Anyway, sorry, feel like stuff has been running mostly on a queue for the last two-ish weeks, and now I'm back and energized & your ask happened to spark this rambling. Lol thank you for dropping in to my inbox, hope you have a good one!

[anghraine]

I'm celebrating the new year with self-indulgent Guild Wars 2 stuff of limited interest to anyone but me. I'm on vacation, I do what I want.

...yes, this is the long GW2 post with copious footnotes that I was threatening awhile back. Apparently "what I want" is citations for my headcanons.

I'm really fond of my GW2 main, a human female mesmer named Althea, and all the fic pieces and headcanons I've come up with for her. That said, I also have another human mesmer, inevitably named Gwen—I liked GW1's Lady Althea a lot, but my #1 GW franchise blorbo is Gwen Thackeray.

My two mesmers are similar in some ways. They've been shaped by the same general tragic event (loss of a sister in the Seraph), end up in the Order of Whispers, and come from proudly Ascalonian families. But Althea's families are wealthy aristocrats, like the original Althea's. Gwen's are the exact opposite.

Born to homeless parents in Divinity's Reach, she's dealt with poverty for her entire life¹/². From her youth, she has faced and trounced some of the worst threats in the city³. Where Althea initially gets by in her social circle through composure and repartee, Gwen gets by on the streets of Divinity's Reach⁴ through her personal charisma⁵, attractiveness⁶, and the ability to switch from charm to menace at a moment's notice⁵.

Gwen is just as fiercely Ascalonian in her identity and sympathies as Althea, but until the story starts, she's never been able to make as much of a production out of it. In fact, it's frustrating to her that the Ascalonians who are most able to speak for the community and get heard also tend to be the least representative of it (it's canon⁷ that Ascalonians rarely own land and have little representation in Kryta's government).

It's even more frustrating to her that the most extreme Ascalonian partisans, the Separatist terrorists, are used to de-legitimize all Ascalonian criticism of the Krytan government and the specifics of the peace with the Charr. Gwen herself is no Separatist. This is partly because she can't afford to travel to Ascalon in the first place, and partly because she thinks their tactics are stupid.

But she has many reservations about the price of Kryta's protection and Queen Jennah's assumptions of authority over Ascalonians everywhere⁸. In fact, those reservations are part of the reason she's so close to her friend Alice, a firm anti-monarchist and revolutionary. And it's easy for Gwen and Alice to see how the Separatists make for a convenient rhetorical prop to silence dissent.

Meanwhile, since Gwen also has the missing sister backstory, there is a version of Deborah in the Pact Commander Gwen continuity, but their dynamic would have been wildly different, given the game's implications that the PC from the streets was formerly part of a bandit gang.

(Sidenote: this also means that the Althea in the Pact Commander Gwen 'verse is a spoiled only child, which amuses me.)

While still quite young, Gwen and Alice ended up in a local bandit gang per canon, along with their friend Quinn and some other long-standing acquaintances. For some, like Gwen and Alice, this was partly for their own protection and partly in hopes of forcing change. Soon, Gwen and Alice in particular had proved their usefulness among the bandit gang, and gained respect from other bandits (the dialogue implies that the PC's absence created a power vacuum).

Gwen's older sister Deborah, on the other hand, was equally fierce, but resolutely rule-abiding and squeaky clean. She ended up seizing a chance to join the Seraph, the main branch of both military defense and law enforcement in Kryta, both out of conviction and in order to make a new life for herself. She was appalled at Gwen joining a group of bandits.

The sisters had a massive falling out—Gwen fell in with the bandits at about the same time that Deborah got recruited into the Seraph, and though their paths had diverged well before that point, they'd been very close as children and stuck together on the streets for years. Gwen saw Deborah as selling out, while Deborah saw Gwen going down a destructive path where she couldn't help her. They were basically estranged from that point.

Deborah chose to serve in the military arm of the Seraph, however, rather than local law enforcement. She quickly rose to become a sergeant in one of the Seraph's most successful and decorated companies⁹, one wholly dedicated to defending Kryta's people from numerous threats, but mostly centaurs. Gwen quietly followed Deborah's career and had complicated feelings about it, but they hadn't spoken in more than a year when the Seraph tracked her down.

It had nothing to do with the banditry. They informed Gwen that Deborah's company had been wiped out by centaurs. She didn't even leave a recognizable body to bury or grieve over; the attack had been brutal.

Gwen was deeply shaken by this. She'd been growing increasingly disaffected with the bandits by then. Alice had suspicions, and Gwen much stronger ones, that their leaders didn't really care about revolution¹⁰, and were instead exploiting the vulnerable in much the same way as the aristocracy, but on a more immediate and personal level. None of her friends were willing to leave, even Alice, but Gwen felt increasingly guilty and dissatisfied with using her flair with illusion magic for nothing better than petty crimes.

Now she used it to plot her escape.

Up to this point, Gwen had occasionally managed to sell her services as an illusionist separately from banditry—some of these services were benign (the carnival!), some less so. At this point, she quietly amped up her efforts on the "legitimate in the eyes of the law" side, aided by her ability to create believable illusions of herself back with the bandits. Once she'd secretly saved enough to support herself, she snuck away from the bandits with little but a purse, the clothes on her back, and a nicked sword she stole as she left.

Gwen managed to obtain various odd jobs over the next year, sometimes through her charm, sometimes through the usefulness of her raw abilities with chaos magic and illusions (and sometimes both, of course). She managed to scrape by with a roof over her head and even occasionally give a little money to Quinn, who she stayed in contact with—his mixture of loyalty and terrible ideas worried her. All in all, she felt like she'd made something of herself¹¹. Deborah might even be proud.

But that wasn't enough.

She wanted to do more with her life than drift between unstable and unpredictable positions in the city. And part of her wanted to make up for helping the bandits prey on random people. It wasn't enough just to survive¹². But the highly stratified society of Divinity's Reach made it difficult, nearly impossible, to do much of anything. Finally, she decided to leave the city altogether, and see if she could find better luck¹³ and higher purpose in the wider world.

She'd scarcely walked through the gates of Divinity's Reach and towards the garrison of the nearby village of Shaemoor, however, when she found the locals in chaos. A large group of centaurs was assaulting the village and had broken through the defenses put up by a small group of Seraph and Captain Logan Thackeray, who even Gwen knew¹⁴ had defended Divinity's Reach faithfully for years.

Gwen thought of Deborah, and decided her time had come.

If she could handle anything, it was chaos.

-----

¹"she's dealt with poverty for her entire life": the intro screen says, I grew up on the streets. Although I have friends, my life has always been hard.

²Also, the hero story screen says, my people are dirt poor and I've struggled all my life.

³"she has faced and trounced some of the worst threats in the city"—the intro screen says, I've faced the worst this city could throw at me, and I sent it home bleeding.

⁴"the streets of Divinity's Reach": the human origin options in character creation are noble, commoner, and "street rat." I chose the last for Gwen.

⁵"personal charisma ... the ability to switch from charm to menace at a moment's notice": in character creation, your general personality options are dignified, ferocious, or charismatic/charming (these evolve further throughout the game, though with minimal impact on play). I chose "charming" (No one can resist me when I'm at my best), though given the personal story, I imagine her with a broad streak of ferocity as well.

⁶"attractiveness": if you choose Lyssa as your patron, the hero story screen says I was blessed by Lyssa, goddess of beauty.

⁷"it's canon that Ascalonians...": in the Upper City, a random citizen wonders why there aren't more Ascalonians in government. Another citizen responds, "The usual. No land, no vote."

⁸"Queen Jennah's assumptions of authority over Ascalonians...": either Jennah or the Krytan royal line in general has assumed the title of "Regent of Ascalon," listed after "Queen of Kryta" on two separate occasions. One of them is in-game; the title is listed on a legal document in The Dead End in Divinity's Reach during End of Dragons. Neither the Charr nor the Ascalonians of Ebonhawke seem at all likely to agree with Kryta on this point.

⁹"one of the Seraph's most successful and decorated companies": the PC describes it in "The Fall of Falcon Company" as "One of the most decorated units of Seraph" and the successes of the company are repeated throughout the storyline.

¹⁰"none of their leaders really cared about revolution": Alice says in "Going Undercover" that Pete "doesn't care about the struggle at all."

¹¹"she felt she'd made something of herself": the initial hero story screen says "I've made something of myself."

¹²"It wasn't enough just to survive": in the intro screen, she says, "I'm done living hand to mouth ... I can take care of myself, but that's not enough anymore. Someone has to help those who can't."

¹³"to see if she could find better luck": in the intro screen, she says, "I stepped outside Divinity's Reach, hoping to find better luck outside the city."

¹⁴"even Gwen knew": the PC of any origin will say in "Defending Shaemoor" that "Captain Thackeray's never failed Divinity's Reach."

[measuringbliss]

<3

OKAY THAT'S SO NOT FAIR!!!

I wrote a video script on Edelgard (specifically why I find her fascinating but also why as bisexual representation, she doesn't escape the usual "queer=evil" trope inherited from the Hays Code, which feels weird to talk about for a Japanese game but the American soft power probably shaped at least slightly some cultural expectations around the world and also, people didn't wait for the Hays Code to demonize sexy people)

Anyway I think I'm too lazy to actually turn it into a video? I'm not in the most rationally bestest of places to edit a video right now. I'll see what I do with it.

I didn't want to rant about that though

I want to ramble about Glee but I actually have no idea what to say because the fandom as it currently is feels... very weak.

Weak in multiple ways:

- lack of content. I guess it was more popular on LiveJournal, but I just can't find much stuff on Tumblr. That's what I miss from the Harry Potter fandom, you had multiple repositories for meta, you had multiple places for discussion, even your local language community was probably pretty well developed. Was some of the meta reaching? Absolutely! But it was fun, and there was A LOT. Fanfic wise, there was so much choice, and there still is! Obviously, there's still a lot, but it doesn't feel the same with the author just insisting on being a pain. I was invested in that fandom, and there was *always* new stuff coming out. Even your rarepair had GOOD content. It's something that is thoroughly lacking with the Glee fandom, even though it had a huge presence. Nowadays, only two ships have any visibility on Tumblr and that is Klaine and Brittana. Which, great! Gay canon couples, we stan, whatever. But as soon as you step outside of this, it is THE VOID. Good luck finding one (1) satisfying fic for your ship. I had to resort to using ffnet for the first time in years to find interesting stuff! *FFNET!!!* And I do realize that both source materials are completely different and HP lent itself much more to analysis and mysteries and stuff. Whatever you think about She Who Must Not Be Named, HP inspired a lot of us to just... write! I have a novel-length HP fanfic that I just kept wanting to write for, and even though I eventually gave up and wrote a summary of the last few chapters, it inspired me in spite of my ADHD. Nowadays I'm not inspired except for horny stuff, because I'm a horny gremlin. There hasn't been any other fandom like it, and a lot of works deserve much more than what they get. Even awful movies deserve people writing meta and stuff. But fandom on Tumblr is chaotic af and HP motivated a lot of people to create communities around it, specifically for HP. It's something that we'll probably never get again and it's sad.

- so yeah the Glee fandom feels weak firstly because there's practically no content. The second thing and I touched on it a little bit, is that the content isn't varied at all. Only two ships are considered, and the activity is almost exclusively gifs sharing. I've seen the show, I know what they look like!!!! I guess Tumblr was key in making gifs a major component of fannish activities but I'm pretty much not sensible to that. There's a few metas out there but even then it's only for those couples. And I know that the Glee community used to be huge and DIVERSE, because the show itself mentions several times SHIP NAMES and in particular, Faberry is joked about in later seasons even though it's not canonical (notably with Kitty saying something like "If you're going to go all lesbo, get it on with Quinn, I heard that the whole world is cheering for you") . Like, "Furt" (Finn/Kurt) is mentioned in S2. Season 2!!!! There was a big fandom and it got so loud that the show kept referencing it (and fanservicing it, hello to the Quinntana hookup, a surprise to be sure but a welcome one). But this content is nowhere to be seen. Ffnet is the main hint that there was something, but Tumblr is empty. I guess they were all on LiveJournal? I know there were heavy ship wars (Brittany literally mentions IN THE SHOW that she can't get with Sam or Artie–I don't remember whom– because there's hords of fangirls who ship her with Santana and they'd make his life hell) and I understand how these conflicts could sour people on the show (hello Hannibal Twitter fandom from 2020 or 2021) but it's still so weird to expect to be able to interact with resources and reflections and even just reviews... and you don't find anything. It's weird! I had the same issue with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but

1. Actual books have been written about Buffy and its fandom and there's a term for that kind of stuff, Buffystudies I think.

2. Buffy aired as the modern conception of Internet started setting in, so fandoms didn't have such centralized spaces and I understand it can be difficult to find them today. It was still very lovely to stumble upon that Spike/Xander fanfic archive.

Also, Buffy had naturally more interesting stuff to think about because it was, from the start, shrouded in prophecies, metaphors, and the likes.

Glee fanfics are all about their Starbucks AU. I'm exaggerating, but also kind of not? Not judging on these AUs, but it's not something I seek out.

So lack of content, and lack of varied content. I have nowhere to go to talk about Furt, Seblaine (well Seblaine does have its fans here) and so on. The Glee fandom also seems to be VERY homogenous. Everyone hates Will Schuester because he's a creep. Everyone hates Finn because he outed Santana. Everyone hates Finchel because they're Finchel. Everyone loves Furt, "but only as friendship". "The S4 newbies suck." "Shooting Star is an awful episode." "Sue should be in jail." and so on and you just see THE SAME. DAMN. OPINIONS. EVERYWHERE.

(Doesn't help that the show itself never knows if it's honest or satire, and YOU CAN'T EXPECT THE SAME THINGS FROM BOTH. Yes, Sue never goes to jail. YES, WILL IS INAPPROPRIATE. THAT'S THE POINT. DO YOU KNOW MANY TEACHERS WHO STASHED DRUGS IN A STUDENT'S LOCKER JUST SO THAT THE STUDENT WOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE GLEE CLUB?! OF COURSE NOT. OH MY GOD. People always talk about realism with this show and you motherfuckers, HANNIBAL IS A MORE REALISTIC SHOW THAN GLEE. Outside of being homogenous, Glee discourse is so asinine. The writing is so inconsistent that wildly different interpretations of the characters are completely possible. I–Ugh! Fiction discourse is already bad most of the time, but if you don't get how the source material prevents you from applying real-life values to it, your media literacy is pretty damn low. I will concede and repeat that the show's writing didn't do it any favor. Even the first episode never knows if it's a parody or a heartfelt drama. Goddamnit.

The show is still entertaining by the way.)

I feel like it's the kind of fandom where different opinions were shushed or something because EVERYWHERE, I see the same exact comments. Oddly enough, the Glee subreddit seems to be the current healthiest place for the fandom? Which is weird because you know. It's Reddit.

Like I don't know, with the Hannibal fandom you could (before The Event) totally say that Hannibal (the character) sucks, that Hannibal is great, that S3 is totally the worst, or the best, that Will/Brian is more compelling that Hannigram, etc. There was some kind of lightness where people didn't care too much and there was a lot of weird (and lovely, because weird is good) stuff and VARIETY.

The Buffy fandom has more defined mindsets (you're either Team Bangel or Team Spuffy, either you love S6 or you hate it, but everyone agrees that S7 sucked to some degree) partly due to its age, but there's still a variety of content. Hell, there was a lot of stuff that was discussed and envisioned that would get you harassed for years if you so much as talked about it today.

I don't know, I feel like fandom sucks nowadays.

Well seems like I had a lot of things to say, in the end.

[misscammiedawn]

Hypno Asks Answered 4/5

30. What’s your favourite audio file/audio file producer?

I am not going to answer anything other than my Goddess, Lady Ru'etha. Bias down to the core of me.

I suppose I can also shout out Secret Subject as she and I have collabed in the past.

31. What’s your favourite book/movie/TV show that includes hypnosis?

Oh bloody hell this is SUCH an unfair question. I have such specific memories attached to them. Maybe send asks with the following prompts:

Phantom of the Opera Incredibles 2 Super Hero Girls Sailor Moon

There could be more, but those are the ones that popped off at the top of my head.

32. Describe your biggest fantasy involving hypnosis?

It's a two way tie between a stage hypnotist/magician summoning me from the audience and turning me into their lovely assistant, complete with a beautiful sequined outfit and flying and having the person next to me take interest in me enough to want to brainwash me for the duration of the flight.

Both fantasies, mind. I doubt I would enjoy either happening in reality based contexts. But I could enjoy the bliss of the idea.

33. Do you have any fantasies about non-consensual hypnosis? Describe them

I mean the above two? If we're talking about "in reality" like "if I met this celebrity, I'd love to--" then no. I do not enjoy those thoughts at all.

34. What’s one fictional character you’ve fantasised about hypnotising/being hypnotised by?

It says a lot about my personality that my favorite ways of dealing with that kind of fantasy is to BE the fictional character, in which Poison Ivy is my favorite to go to (and one I've indulged in before) and Goddess wants me to do more Daphne Blake cosplay for that reason.

But I suppose I could always capture Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel… Grins knowingly

35. Do you like intelligence loss/bimbofication hypnosis? Why?

Not really my thing? I DO enjoy being fractionated into a silly puddle though, so I guess if that counts then it's the end goal of many of my scenes! Cammie is an absolute silly ball of fluff who spews out words without letting them cross reference the brain. I have been told she has said some really dumb things in the height of fractionation, including that vanilla people should be put in coffee.

I need my partners to keep a "shit Cammie says" list.

36. Do you like amnesia play? Why?

I do indeed on both sides of the watch. There's something so hot about the focus and intention of obedience fading all of a sudden with a look of confusion. There's so much to enjoy about that deep curiosity of "what did I do?!" there's always such playful giddiness when the shenanigans are in effect and all the more when the spell wears off and the hypnotee is allowed to RECALL. Yes. I like those moments oh so much.

For a specific memory of not remembering I go back to Beguiled 2022. My crush-turned-girlfriend knew so much that I enjoyed summoning triggers so added an amnesia reply. When she beckons I am compelled to come to her and then forget everything. I would be sitting and then I would be at her side and as the amnesia took hold I would even forget that I had blipped at all.

But I knew I had a trigger I didn't know about.

And I could tell Oikos members about it, but would forget every time I finished talking.

And so I went through the weekend summoned again and again and I told Oikos, especially Puppet who I was rooming with, about this spell no less than 5 times.

…the spell was bound to the return journey after the convention. When I got my recollection I was in the middle of typing to Her. She knew exactly what had happened and gave such a loving and snarky reply.

My heart skipped.

Amnesia is the best.

37. Do you like freeze triggers? Why?

I shall simply reply like this - the Kiss Your Miss story is based not just on real events, but on one of my favorite triggers which I adore abusing. https://www.tumblr.com/misscammiedawn/689670104313626624/kiss-your-miss-a-quick-little-scene-between-a

38. Do you like pleasure triggers? Why?

They're not my thing, sadly. I am tempted to learn to build them for my partners because I love them and I love watching them squirm, but I imagine they have other partners who are keyed in to that experience that would compliment their needs better. I simply do not enjoy receiving them. Cammie becomes immensely uncomfortable when things get too erotic.

39. Do you like alternate personalities created through hypnosis? Why?

Oh god…

For 15 years that was all my brain was used for on a near daily basis. Old partners who are no longer in my life enjoyed my flexibility and ability to BECOME the characters we roleplayed. Particularly allosexual heterosexual men.

I don't want to type more about this. Throw me an ask if you want a specific topic on it. I've been clean for 3 years now and I've got worries about how this has impacted my psyche.

[hellomynamiseglaf]

🌰Chestnuts and Warm Milk🍂

My List of ~Favorites~ for Interactive Fiction and Visual Novels

(This is a work in progress so please bear with me)

Interactive Fiction:

The Wayhaven Chronicles (WIP Series in Development) - @seraphinitegames  (Look,,, I’m just... obsessed.. I can’t stop thinking abt it,,, and I'm..... sometimes, I read and I think I feel like I know what love is.)

Mind Blind (WIP) - @mindblindbard (I just,, UGH it’s so good. I can't even say that much because my feelings about it are so potent that everytime I see an update I try to tell myself to leave it alone to play larger portions of updates as a treat and everytime my willpower FAILS and I replay the demo like twice in a row)

Demon: Recollect ; Forsaken (WIP) - both by @bathalafiction (whew...WHEW!!! Are you kidding me?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Look. I was attached to Demon: Recollect. I loved it. And then I played the Forsaken WIP and now I can't get over my absolutely BOMB character design for my player persona. Also it's kind of fun being considered a jerk in the game, because it opens up a lot of different options that I usually feel bad about taking)

Shadow Society - @carawenfiction (the concept is so interesting,, I dream of more. Also Quaiel...baby...)

The Soul Stone War - @intimidatingpuffinstudios (also whew!! I really enjoyed it and the characters all picture themselves really vividly in my mind for some reason.)

Greenwarden (WIP) - @fiddles-ifs (reading this is like thick fog.. but in a good way? I don't know how to describe it without pictures but this IF smells like fog over wet grass)

Divine Intervention (WIP) - @divineinterventiongame (the concept?? UGH SO GOOD. For some reason it's always the first game I click to check for updates)

Golden (WIP) - @milaswriting (😈😈😈😈)

Blood/line (WIP) - @bloodlineoffical (simply put,,, LARRY)

Supernatural in New York ; The Bastard of Camelot (both WIPs) - @llamagirl28  (UGH Both of these are so good in their own ways but equally as exciting to see updates for. I haven't consolidated my feelings much further than "my MC for SiNY is so cute" and "Mordred is a child" but they're all generally positive.)

Ace of Spades (WIP) - @steph-writing (I keep thinking about,,, con........)

Nevermoore (WIP) - @asteristories (AHHHHH.... let me say it again for those in the back: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)

Son of Satan: The Mortal Coil (WIP) - @sosthemortalcoil (YES.)

Shepherds of Haven (WIP) - @shepherds-of-haven (yes. I just have to sigh because it's very good and I like saying those funny little words of power. But also outside of the game I can only picture this game as a great, grey border collie)

Attollo (WIP) - @attollo (Also a very interesting concept, whoo... I almost forgot how immersive it was untill I played the demo again and was reminded of how 'into it' I was straight off the bat. Also the seperate, short little piece on the blog with Sysba was also really good and I had a dream about it the other day)

Into the Shadows (WIP) - @wynnakang​ (whooo.... I'm sighing again, but louder. I press restart and play the demo again)

A Comedy of Manors (WIP) - @sviyaginthegreat (I kept replaying options that I hadn't chosen before because I wanted there to be more lmao)

Fallen Hero: Rebirth - @fallen-hero (I think there's a sequel coming up? I haven't stopped thinking about this storyline since I finished it omg... the.. the details are really good and I've become ridiculously attached to my tragic villain? Character... she IS the standard for my reusable IF persona, or at least one of my most prominent ones ;-D )

Samurai of Hyuga (WIP series) - (I'm pretty sure multiplechoicestudios.com is the development blog for this game, or at least what I've been checking for updates..... this is a series with four book currently out.... and I've been playing through book 4 at slower than a snail's pace in a desperate attempt to prolong my experience. I really didn't think I was going to like it as much as I did but I got a little too into it and now I'm horribly attached to all the characters)

The Porthecrawl Witness(WIP) - @porthecrawl-witness (I'm pretty sure this is a WIP?? But ugh. SCREEEEEE- it's so good. It's SO GOOD. I really want to punch Talbot in the face. And Asher, if for a different reason. And sort of Staci just to try. Quinn is just a cutie I could never hurt him like that. Ugh but they're all so good and I forgot that I was reading a WIP untill it suddenly was over..... I'mfeeling really aggressive rn as I'm writing this, so please just note that the punch comment is meant as a statement on how interesting the concept and immersiveness of the characters and story is)

Forgotten Names (WIP) - by Alexandra_Zorila on the CoG Forum (turn the volume up. AHHHHHHHHHH!!! Look, look. It's..... delicious. It's SO interesting and I obsessively have a tab open on my computer to check for updates)

OFNA: Birds of a Feather (WIP) - @ofna (the vibes are so grey and smoky but the fog is definitely from a party smoke machine and the room is only dark because the walls are taped with those huge sheets of black construction paper that teachers use to cover their bulletin boards with... the game definitely falls in the 'dark and mysterious' genre but something just strikes me as really funny when I play it. Anyway it's good and it's in a lot if recommended lists for a reason. Also I'm very attached to my American Goldfinch)

More Things in Heaven and Earth (WIP) - @morethingsgame (in the same way that it's fun to play Guenevere in the Guenevere game or Mordred in The Bastard of Camelot, playing Ophelia in the sort-of Hamlet story is really fun. If anyone has read the Missing collection- which I absolutely love- by Margaret Peterson Haddix, this gives me similar vibes for some reason. Anyway, I really want to give Hamlet a hug and make him a flower crown or something)

A Tale of Crowns (WIP) - @ataleofcrowns (It's kind of not even funny how much I love this game... It's hard to even describe why I like it, just that it's so well rounded in terms of the story, characters, dialogue, and relationships. It's such an interesting plotline and it's pretty immersive. Also the first time I read the demo, there was an update as I was reading and the high that sent me on has very rarely been matched. Also Dara running to save my Crown in the tunnel?? 🤚😩🤭💓 ugh. UGH!! That's good food for my fool heart)

Scout: An Apocalypse Story (WIP)- @anya-dev (I'm usually not that into apocalypse themes/plots but I really enjoyed this game, and the plot was very good and intruiging... it really pulled me in and I like my character in the story a lot. I don't know why but it tastes like chikuwa, atsuage, and this specific type of carmelized onions that my mom makes sometimes)

Nothing left to burn (WIP)- @clowdee-works (......ouch. I *knew* what was going to happen and I STILL became attached to Drew)

Smoke and Velvet - @roast-ifs (It's good. And I am VEDY much into my character design. Also the story is really interesting, and I enjoy the setting a lot somehow)

Speaker (WIP)- @speakergame (very fun to play, and each update gets me more interested in the aspects of the plot. I also really like the little descriptions of what the characters think of the player)

The Nameless (WIP)- @parkerlyn (interesting plot, I like the characters a lot, and The aesthetics of this world are so interesting. Definitely had a good time visualizing what everything looked like)

Fields of Asphodel (WIP) - @asphodelgame (I think it's really cute so far!!! I like mythology in general, and the persephone/hades dynamic is *mwah!*... I like the way the story progresses in the beginning, and I think it works well in drawing the reader into the world. I also very much enjoy petting large dogs.)

...there are so much more.. and I have followed so many blogs.........

I'm not sure why I can't find it rn but there's this one WIP game that I really like where the MC buys a manor for like dollar and moves to go live there with her best friend and shenanigans ensue as they try to settle in and fix up the estate

Harbringer (WIP) - @harbringercog (....are you KIDDING me?? I was fully planning on just enjoying the demo and keeping a mental note to update the list sometime later,,, but this game... THIS GAME really made me fold. It's very immersive and regardless of how nervous the author claims to be after releasing the demo, it's of my humble opinion that those nerves can be calmed. It's very good. I was planning on procrastinating and reading a little bit and then going back to this essay I need to write, but somehow I got pulled in and ended up reading through the whole demo and it's apparent that I honestly had no chance of getting through this without becoming invested in the plot.... just... so good.. I'm very excited to see how this will progress)

Visual Novels:

Andromeda 6 (WIP) - @andromeda-six​  (I repeat: Obsessed, I come back every few months to see an update and I fall deeper into the hole every time...)

To the Edge of the Sky (WIP,, probably) - by Ajané (??) on Steam (I think, it’s been a while)

Next on my list to check out: Perfumare by pdrrook

Does.... does The Arcana game by Nix Hydra count as VN?? If so, then yes.

Similarly, the FictIF games are all entertaining, although Last Legacy and Heir to Love and Lies are my favorites rn (and.....unfinished....)

I also don't know if this counts, because I kind of consider Otome games to be their own genre, but on the Love 365: find your story by Voltage Inc. There are a bunch of fun stories, my favorite of which are: the Shinichi Kagari route on After School Affairs and the Saejima and Keiichiro routes on Bad Boys do it Better

..To be continued...

[writing-with-olive]

I feel like this is a common issue but I just haven't found what works for me yet and the more common suggestions I see floating around don't do anything for me. I have lots of short story plots planned from start to finish, but I struggle with actually writing them out. I've tried to set deadlines for myself, but my mind doesn't register those deadlines as "important" enough to stick to, as opposed to if I were writing for a school assignment. My motivation feels so low. What would you suggest?

Hi anon!

I’ve definitely been there.

I don’t know specifically what suggestions you’ve seen/decided weren’t the right fit for you so I do apologize if any of this overlaps. That being said, below are some of what I’ve found to work - and that isn’t so commonly talked about.

(this got to be a very long post, so I’ve put my tips below the break)

1) Start by figuring out where your motivation died.

This might be some time in the writing process, such as right after you finished a short story plot, or it might be some time in your life in general, such as when the coronavirus started to cause everything to shut down. Think about if there was any specific point that you started to notice you weren’t writing, or you weren’t enjoying writing.

2) See if you can identify what specifically killed your motivation.

Depending on what you might have been able to find based on step one, you might find this step useful, you might not. Going off of the previous examples I suggested before, if you discovered that your motivation died just as you finished outlining something, perhaps prompting you to try out a different story, maybe you were feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of switching from outlining to actually writing. Or something like that. If it was the coronavirus, maybe the stress was killing your creativity and without creativity your motivation died as well. See if you can identify a specific thing that could have killed your motivation. If you cannot, that’s okay.

3) Figure out if you’re more punishment motivated or reward motivated.

Most people are one or the other. 

If you’re more punishment motivated, that means expected punishment is going to be the thing that drives you to get off your butt and go do something. You might not care as much about what you can get out of your actions, but instead you’re more responsive to what you might lose.

If you’re more reward motivated, it’s more about what you can get out of doing something. Punishment doesn’t really mean much to you unless it’s something more extreme. You’re more likely going to do something based on what you can gain from it, whether it be social, emotional, or material, than what you will lose because you don’t.

Both are completely valid, though it can make the difference between what works for you and what doesn’t. If you’re reward motivated, being told you’re grounded if you don’t clean your room is going to have a significantly inferior effect to being told that you’ll get to do something you like if you clean your room. If you’re punishment motivated, then the opposite will be true.

If you’re having trouble thinking about which camp you’re in, imagine you’re a little kid, and another kid wants to play with your toys but you don’t want them to. You decide to share anyway. Would that decision come out of not wanting to go to time out, or would it have come from liking the praise that came from sharing?

4) Some possible suggestions

What you’ve possibly discovered during the first two steps will likely illuminate more of where your problem lies and possibly why certain pieces of advice that you’ve gotten maybe didn’t work. Hopefully my suggestions below might be helpful.

A) Think about ideas for a specific story while you’re taking a shower or going for a walk.

Yeah I know that seems random, but here’s why. Your brain is most creative when you’re relaxed. That’s why the best ideas seem to come when you’re on a commute home, or you’re on a walk or you’re taking a shower. Activities where you’re not on the clock, or activities where you’re able to get blood flowing will naturally cause your brain to release chemicals that will make you more relaxed, and therefore more creative. It’s also easier to be motivated when you’ve got a lot of ideas because then you actually have reason to be sitting there writing them down.

B) Seek out inspiration.

A lot of writers talk about writing every day even when you don’t have inspiration. And while from a professional standpoint - they need to make money to feed their family/themself and pay their bills - that makes sense, but I think that a lot of people tend to think about it as “inspiration is overrated. You have to learn to write without it.” and that’s not quite it.

You don’t have to HAVE to have inspiration when you write, but it’s a nightmare to try to write without it. But what if inspiration isn’t coming to you? Search it out. Here are a number of places you can go that have all worked for me:

Things relating to the topic of your story - can help generate new ideas

Videos, blogs, websites, books about the art of writing - can give a sense of “oh I want to try [x] technique in my writing”

Rereading what you’ve written - can give you ideas of where to go next

Talking to people about your story - they can help inspire fresh ideas

Thinking about how to get characters from point A in the story to point B (you can get really detailed with this - down to within a single scene or paragraph) - unlocks the problem solving part of your brain

C) Make notes of systems that work for you and ones that don’t.

I used a software that didn’t work for me for the longest time. Going on it killed my motivation. It took me far longer than I wanted to figure that out, but once I moved on, it was amazing how much better I wrote - and how much more.

You can mark things such as:

which tips work for you and don’t

which writing sites, softwares, etc seem to be helping/hindering your work

what physical locations, settings, times are making it easier/more daunting to write

Over time, you are likely to start seeing a pattern, which you can use to figure out what you need to do moving forward.

D) Try using 4thewords

This is definitely not a common tip, but I cannot emphasize enough how much they helped me. I went from writing MAYBE a hundred or two hundred words a  day to just over two thousand in the span of just a few months.

Here’s how:

The whole premise of the site is about gamifying writing. There’s a whole storyline that you follow, and as you write more (based on wordcount), you win more quests and you get to progress through the storyline. They’ve also got a pretty active (though not overwhelming) forum where you can talk to other writers. All of your writing is private unless you specifically make it public. 

For reward motivated people: 

you get to beat monsters

earn loot that helps you in quests

beat quests

build an avatar with earned wardrobe options (avatars are a pretty fun part of 4tw culture)

For punishment motivated people:

if you start a monster and don’t win write enough words in the given time period, you lose the fight

If you miss a day, your streak resets, and your that much farther away from earning wings, which are a big part of 4tw culture

It’s a lot of fun - honestly I reccommend it A LOT.

To sign up, you can go to the website (or click on the 4tw link below) and create an account. If you want a referral code, mine is

S2XSR15522

4thewords.com

It will ask you if were referred by Quinn-Erto. The answer is yes.

++++++++++++++++++++++

I really hope this helped.

Happy Writing!