#monsters jim butcher

[noodlenoises]

54 Urban Fantasy Story Ideas to Trigger Your Creativity

(Thank you Patrons for voting for this post!) I got really stoned and spent hours just kinda reflecting on my place in the universe. Listened to some podcasts. Browsed r/nyc. And eventually came up with these 54 urban fantasy writing prompts. 👇🏾

I asked beloved Patrons which post they’d like to see next, and it looks like the beloveds would like some urban fantasy prompts this time around! Whether you write tons of urban fantasy and are just looking for some new ideas, or you’re brand new and looking to get inspired, I’m bringing you 54 urban fantasy story prompts for your beautiful brain meat. I’ve done this before with other genres. A…

[bullet-prooflove]

Hand Drawn Heart: Duke Crocker x Reader

Tagging:  @kmc1989 princessmermaid1289 of-mice-and-mirth bunnybarnes1917

Companion piece to The Finder - Haven has away of giving you what you need even when you don't know what you're looking for.

Prequel to:

Come Home - Duke travels to Nova Scotia to bring you home.

Layby - Duke and you take a moment in the aftermath of everything that's happened.

Duke knows there’s trouble coming when Evi appears on his deck. He’s making coffee in the galley when he glances up and sees his ex-wife step on board his boat. You’re sitting in your usual chair on the deck, wearing nothing but his shirt and a pair of his boots, the latest Stephen King novel clasped between your hands.

He hasn’t told you that he’s married, honestly it’s slipped his mind. Him and Evi haven’t been together in years, she doesn’t exist in his day to day. By the time he gets out of galley you’re already striding down the gangplank, book tucked under your arm, car keys in hand.

“You need to stay away from her.” Evi informs him when he tries to follow you, her hand fastening on his arm. “Being with her, it’s dangerous for you.”

He laughs then and it’s a bitter sound that tears right out of his throat. Of all the people in his life, you are by far the person least likely to hurt him.

“You don’t understand.” Evi tells him, her grip tightening. “It’s not her you should be worried about, it’s the person hunting her.”

She tells him a story then, about a man who hired her to track down his wayward wife. How the trail led her all the way to Haven, to the woman whose been sharing his bed.

“Who is he?” He’d demanded because he knows the other side of the story, the reason you left, the scars that monster inflicted on your body.

“Pat St Cloud.” She tells him and suddenly he understands the lengths that your mutual friend Jim went to hide you.

Duke has seen the damage your husband can do up close and personal. He used to do business with him, smuggling pot out of Canada before the authorities shut down some of his trade routes. He’d been there when Pat had caught one of the other guys skimming a little off the top. He’d chopped off two of his fingers with a butcher’s knife before he tossed them into the ocean.

“What do you think he’ll do to the man whose been fucking his wife?” Evi asks him.

Duke already knows the answer to that question.

When he turns up at your place a couple of hours later, he knows he’s already too late. The place you’ve been renting is locked up tight, your car missing from the driveway, his boots are tucked neatly alongside the screen door. He picks up the envelope sticking out of the top of the left one, his thumb chasing over your writing before he opens it.

There’s a hand drawn heart etched into the paper, his name written in the centre.

His eyes sting as he clasps the note to his chest because he understands what you’re trying to say, he feels it with every fibre of his being.

Your heart, it’s his. It’ll always be his.

No matter where in the world you may be.

Love Duke? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Interested in supporting me? Join my Patreon for Bonus Content!

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[vergess]

Okay actually I would LOVE to hear your summary of what the Dresden Files like. actually is, as a series. Because every so often some guy will demand that I read it while insisting it's Superior Literature and the best fantasy series ever (unless maybe second to Lord of the Rings, but usually not even that)

They also like to insist that well of COURSE the main character is extra sexist and never improves but it's a FLAW, the AUTHOR knows it's wrong, therefore girls should LOVE reading his sexism. So like I was not buying this any degree to begin with, but I would love to know what's actually going on here

Bro, these books are Bad(tm). Do not fucking buy them. I cannot in good conscience suggest anyone read them, ever. But I especially, immensely cannot recommend purchasing them. This is "skulking around the library not making eye contact" material.

These are bodice rippers For Men(TM).

They're also, (and for obvious reasons they aren't advertised like this) High Camp Melodrama Fantasy Where Everyone Is Bisexual. But I repeat myself.

With that in mind, they are easily the best written urban fantasy fetish pornography I've ever seen outside AO3, and frankly better than most of that stuff too. It's just... you need to be aware going in that these are serialized porn mags. They happen to have exceptionally written combat and freakishly well considered fantasy elements, but they nonetheless use the same racial and sexual shorthands seen in the bulk of heteronormative, white gaze pornography.

Also, the main guy is an obnoxious asshole on purpose from second one and he does not ever let up on this, so if you don't immediately get along with his sense of humour walk away.

Now as for whatever dipshitted asshole is telling you they're superior literature.... mmmm.... no.

They're REALLY GOOD porn. I understand how really good porn is going to emotionally confuse the highly repressed (and oh BOY do these books appeal to the repressed) into a sort of pavlovian "this is the best thing ever" response.

But like, mmmmm no.

If you do elect to read these books, I suggest casting the main guy with a Black actor in your head. That change alone makes the immense amount of police presence and abuse more palatable.

OH THE COP SHIT

I FORGOT TO MENTION THE COP SHIT

Absolutely bonkers copaganda levels.

Also, the books were um.... progressive for 2005. They are not progressive for 2024. Let's put it like this; Supernatural (TV series) was a contemporaneous peer in the same genre. If you are damned set on subjecting yourself to one of these White Boy Monster Serials, pick this one at least it fucks.

Nevertheless, the writing is surprisingly charming, the Christian fantasy elements are genuinely competitive in a post-LOTR world, and the fetish shit is fucking immaculate.

I don't think Jim Butcher is aware he's written fetish porn, but whatever, he's REALLY good at it. I cannot recommend the sex scenes and the combat highly enough.

It's just unfortunate about the everything else.

Did I mention they're Christian fantasy elements? They are. They really really really aggressively are. These books are set in a Christian-centric universe and they do NOT let you forget that. There's like... so many Christian angels in this shit.

Anyway, if you choose to join me on this cursed journey (do not join me on this cursed journey), some other stuff to note:

Lots of underage and youth fetishism

Like, I cannot emphasize enough how hot and cool all The Youths think the Main Guy is and how aggressively the book lusts-and-guilts-in-turn over The Youths

So, so, SO much incest

Gay incest also

Mafia wedding guy is there, the guy from all the mafia wedding fics on wattpad, he's canonically the main guy's soulmate (no homo) (unless..?)

Main guy has too many soulmates btw, several are gay and some are blood relations, but most are muscular blonde women because he has a serious muscle fetish; fuckin gym gay behaviours

Undiagnosed bisexuality on the majority of the characters (I'm calling it; Jim Butcher thinks bisexuality is the normal POV and this is totally how Normal Guys talk about each other's dicks)

Exorbitant amounts of racism, some of which is "on purpose" and the most of which is horrifically unremarked upon; includes plenty of racial stereotypes. Nevertheless, the cast is diverse enough (outside the circle of main love interests) that these stereotypes can come up at all, so weigh that carefully

Special shoutout to the first major love interest, a Latina woman who dies spectacularly halfway through the series after having the main guy's secret baby

Extremely confusing relationship to psychosis as a mental illness

Melodrama that would make the desperate housewives sit back and stare

Fascinatingly good about homophobia actually, in that queerbaity 2005 way

*slaps the main guy like he's a car* You can fit so much dysphoria in this cis guy

In conclusion: I see why so many AMAB bisexuals of various genders who were part of the target demo latched the fuck on to this series so hard. I myself was fooled into believing these books were "for" Straight Men, and to be clear they are. But they're also Pulpy Gay Camp Bullshit that we the faggots of the world deserve to mutilate and recreate in our own image.

Together, I believe we could fix them.

Oh right, the plot:

The Main Guy, Harry Dresden, is a private detective Wizard Cop (serial plot is investigation based) who may also be the chosen one destined to defeat some elder gods (long term plot), and along the way starts several major supernatural wars and at least 2 arms races.

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Yeah, alright, no. No don't this. I'll do you a few fucking better and teach you right here and now how to do this: You game? Blurb and lesson time. Got you. First up, a SPOOC. This is one technique that can be expanded (gonna give you examples too). WRITING LESSONS AHOY:

SPOOC = Situation, protagonist, objective, obstacles/opponents, climax/cost. So, when Frodo Baggins (protagonist) inherits the Ring of Power (Situation), he must set out on a quest to destroy it (objective). But, will he succeed when the forces of sauron and saruman unite and try to reclaim the one ring and use its power to destroy Middle Earth (climax - cost if failure). This specific example is taught by Jim Butcher so if you want some weight behind it.

There you go. It works.

Want to know how to do a blurb? Practice, but check it:

Who is it?

What's going on?

Why should we care?

What happens if the hero fails?

If you can, end on a snappy one liner or question. You can open on one too or a question like it.

What do shadows darting across the walls, cryptic writing, black fog, and a little girl who can see ghosts have in common? Paranormal investigator and soul without a body, Vincent Graves, has forty-four hours to find out. To make matters worse, his years of body-hopping and monster-hunting are catching up with him. He's losing his mind. An old contact has shut him out. To top it all off, something's skulking through an asylum, killing patients. Three guesses who might be next, and the first two don't count. The writing on the wall is not so clear. But one thing is: if he doesn't figure this out he's a dead man--well, deader--and a strange young girl might follow. Vincent's got his back against a wall, and that wall's crumbling. Some days it's not worth it to wake up in someone else's body.

That's Grave Measures - book two in my urban fantasy detective series.

Who is it - covered. What's going on? Why should we care (the stakes to the protagonist and more). The costs. And the above. It's not rocket science, and doesn't have to be. Here's one from book three: Don't make deals with the paranormal. They're better at it than you, and they never play fair.

Paranormal investigator and soul without a body, Vincent Graves, did just that—a deal made in desperation. Now it's coming back to bite him in the middle of a case. He has 57 hours to investigate a string of deaths involving people who've made some devilish bargains. Too bad devils don't deal in good faith. It'd be easy enough, if he didn't have to deal with things such as:

-Being hunted through the streets of Queens by a dark elf with a motorcycle fetish.

-Ending up the target of a supernatural hit.

-An old acquaintance dragging him to a paranormal ball where he could end up on the menu.

-And having one of his closest guarded secrets brought to light...

Not great for a tight clock, because if he doesn't get to the bottom of this case in time, Vincent and company might just lose their souls. Dirty deals are never done dirt cheap. And the supernatural always collect—big! Same formula. A lot of fiction uses it. You just might not realize it. You don't need a fucking AI. You need a few minutes every day of practice. You got that. You got this.

With SPOOC, you can outline a whole damn novel. You get a snappy two-liner pitch to sell with. YOu can expand it into summaries for each book to make up LOTR in this case or your series. Then you can reverse engineer and keep expanding each summary. It does it for you.

[narastories]

a good game of chicken ends in bed

Loooook, I wrote a Harry Dresden/Goodman Grey story. I always wanted to write something with them, so I'm pretty pleased that I actually did.

Fandom: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher Rating: Explicit Relationships: Harry Dresden/Goodman Grey Tags: Shameless Smut, PWP with lots of banter, Crack Treated Seriously, Flirting, Post-Book 15: Skin Game, spoilers for 'Monsters', Fluff and Smut, Anal Sex, what the title says lol, help some feelings crept into my smut Summary:

Harry and Grey fall into the habit of meeting up regularly. When one day Grey shows up in a strange mood, Harry is eager to prove the sincerity of their friendship. Except one thing leads to another and a little joke spirals out of control.

Read on AO3

[ashflamethewaffleangel]

I've been browsing the WoJ website, as one does, and realized just how excited Mr. Author seems to write Mirror Mirror Marcone, and now I'm very excited for that book too.

Do you have any theories about how that will go? Will Marcone be a good guy? 👀 Omg what if he went from the army to law enforcement. Imagine what that man could do in SI. ⚰️

YOU HONOR ME WITH THIS QUESTION HOLY SHIT (so very genuine; you are my beloved Dresden Files mutual) but bear with me because this is gonna be a long post. I have toooo many thoughts. God I'm sorry. /jov

BUT GOD. YOU HAVE HIT THE QUESTION I REPEATEDLY THEORIZE WITH MY PARTNERS. OUUUGH. There are SO many ways this could go I am gonna be SO very real and I love every single one of them bc it keeps my brain shoomvin'!

But considering WOJ has mentioned that this particular universe is ours but gone to shit MUCH quicker due to one of Harry's earlier decisions "Mirror universe Harry is different by one choice. One. And everything else just follows after that." WHICH MEANS. WHICH MEANS EVERYTHING STAYS THE SAME. UP TO THAT CHOICE. (I can't remember how early, so it could be a pre-books decision, or it could be a in-canon alternate decision) so Marcone depending on how early in the canon it is, I see a couple different options!!

NOW OBVIOUUUSLY. There are an ABSURDDDD Number of choices Harry coulda done EXTREEEEMELY DIFFERENT!!!! However. one that comes to mind-- at least if he's talking early series!! and from the sounds of it, he is, because he says everything goes to shit a lot fucking faster than our timeline-- is in Fool Moon.

Marcone gives Harry a choice in the Fool Moon garage; sign on and become an employee of his, or die by the people he's trying to protect Harry from. Marcone ALSO gives Harry the choice to stay off the case in Book 1.

What if Harry chose EITHER of these options? What if he stayed off the Victor Sells case? The entire series spiraled from there--- THAT'S THE REASON MARCONE CAME TO HIM FOR HELP IN BOOK 2!!! MARCONE, UPON NOT BEING ABLE TO GET HARRY'S HELP, RESORTED TO FBI AGENTS WHO BETRAY HIM AND TRIED TO FEED HIM TO A LOUP-GAROU. AND THEY WOULD'VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT IF IT WEREN'T FOR EVERYONE ELSE (including Harry) STUCK IN THE PIT BELOW WITH HIM.

Now Jim has said he's very excited to write Marcone; so I imagine he's not fucking dead but. What if this series of events leads him to Nicodemus instead of Monoc? What if he becomes a knight of the Denarius THAT FUCKIN EARLY so he could better protect Chicago?; ESPCIALLY SINCE HARRY HASN'T KINDA LED HIM THROUGH TRIAL BY FIRE AND SAVED HIS ASS ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS (as does Marcone vice versa).

But if Fool Moon has the changing point, then we've got a different route; Harry working for Marcone. That now begs the question of-- Would that have made everything gone to shit that much faster??????? Maybe !! As a consultant for Marcone? And telling him all the BULLSHIT that the White Council does? That the Red Court is doing? In his city?? Our evil Harry might be Marcone's enforcer-- as Mister Jimothy mentions, "If [Harry] was Lawful Evil I’m pretty sure he’d be Marcone’s enforcer."

Or might have been, at one point, in this particular universe. Either way, a very DELIGHTFUL choice of thought, but probably not where Mister Butcher is gonna take it.

Option 2; Marcone is FBI/Special Investigations -- LAW ENFORCEMENT TIME BABYYYYY!!! LAWFUL EVIL MAN STILL ON HIS LAWFUL ACT BUT THIS TIME IN THE MORE LITERAL SENSE! (/very jovial) I see this one happening if it's a complete Star Trek Mirror Mirror moment; he's still a powerhouse, he's still an ice-cold mf, but he's more of a deadly serious Fox Mulder, especially if the same event took place that made Marcone-- well-- Marcone! I'd see him being the same type of character, but more on the ground this time around; like he was in White Knight type beat; manpower and in-the-know folks taking down monsters to protect the citizens. Maybe he'll be giving our Harry a helping hand!! Especially if Harry is being framed for, you know, MURDER, as it's being told to us. Maybe we'll be having a soul-gaze, and because (I PRESUME) this universe's duo has already shared a soul-gaze it's a "Oh. Yeah no you're not lying. What. The fuck. Okay." OR, he's one of our main obstacles! BOTH ! AND!!!! Considering that Mister Butcher mentioned that we'll maybe be seeing something related to Marcone's capital n Name in this book... Definitely a possibility.

Option 3; He's literally just a guy! -- Less likely of the options? Yes. Still an interesting thought experiment? Also yes! This is ALSO based on this specific WOJ;

Q: I read the short story from Marcone’s point of view, “Even Hand,” and I noticed that John Marcone is not his real name. Is that going to be significant? Sure is if somebody tries to cast a spell at him using the name “John Marcone”! That’ll be a big deal. But we’ll have to see how that works out. Actually, the character that’s really interesting is the Mirror Mirror universe Marcone, and we’ll get to him in a few books.

Maybe! He's not John Marcone! Or, more accurately, he's the Marcone we see in Helen Beckitt's vision! Maybe he's still that charming motorcyclist who works for the mob! Probably VERY aware of word on the streets about Harry, and in Mirror Mirror, we'll see him go "huh. what the fuck." about our Harry! because THAT'S not the guy everyone dreads! This is a fucking goober! Powerful goober-- but tall, lanky ass, goober! Built his own paranet perhaps, due to the fact that Harry is not a "good" man in this universe.

I very honestly don't know, there's so many variations of these, ever so slight changes, and I am CHOMPING on my theorizing bit.

[trashboatprince]

Here's something silly for that mad scientists au I have with Dr. Crowley and Dr. McFell.

Ready to meet Jim? :)

Warning: unethical science, human-plant hybrid monster that shouldn't exist but does

On with the fic!

--

"I think that vendor scammed us!" Crowley growled as he looked into the basket. "I think we paid for apples she didn't give us."

"Well, at least we grabbed all the fresh ones, yes?" Muriel asked, looking at the basket as well as they walked back to the Crowley Manor.

"Yeah, well... still, I think we were scammed. Hope the tarts angel makes today are worth it. Things ain't cheap right now!"

"Nope! They're not!" Muriel nodded, huffing. "Just last week, when I went to get that order you placed at the butchers, I think he was trying to overcharge for the cut, and it isn't even of the best kind of meat! We were making stew, but a meal for royalty!"

Crowley smirked, listening to them rant, ah, he was such an influence on them. Just like a parental figure!

They approached the doors to their home, only to see McFell outside, fretting, pacing. He paused when he noticed them and put on a very forced, nervous smile. "O-oh! You're... you're back so soon!"

"It wasn't really a long trip to get veg, angel." Crowley commented, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"W-whatever do you mean? Nothing's wrong! What would make you say or think that?"

Muriel and Crowley looked at one another, then back at him. "Aziraphale, I'm your husband, and Muriel has been living with us for six years. We are very aware when you're upset or worked up about somethin', you're not as subtle as you think."

Aziraphale made a whimpering sound and wrung his hands, then moved to open the doors. "We can't talk about it out here, come inside."

Crowley shrugged and followed in with his purchases, Muriel trailing behind.

"Alright," Crowley started, setting his goods on a nearby table, careful of the many books on it, "who or what has you all twisted up in knots like this?"

"Well, uhh... this individual is... hmm..."

Crowley removed his dark glasses, frowning. "Is it someone we know?"

Aziraphale coughed and cleared his throat, trying to smile. "Uhh... Jim?" He called out.

This gave Crowley a moment of pause, staring at his husband. "Jim? Do we know a Jim?"

"Hello!"

Crowley whipped right around and saw an imposing figure entering their foyer. The figure was tall, slightly muscular, covered in bits of plant matter and dirt, green-tinted, and was very, very clearly naked.

It also looked just like the man that had been lying cold and unmoving on his work table in the lab just this morning.

"AHH! IT'S ALIVE!" Crowley screeched and stumbled backwards.

"I'll take care of it, Mr. Crowley!" Muriel shouted in a panic, running to the closet to grab their shovel.

"No, no! Don't do that!" Aziraphale exclaimed and rushed towards the plant man. "Don't hurt him!"

"Angel!" Crowley coughed, hand on his chest, trying to get his heart to stop beating like crazy. "How is he alive!? I thought the project failed!"

Aziraphale whizzed, looking at the monster, who was all smiles, like he clearly didn't seem to know what the problem was and was just enjoying the company. Which was probably the case. "I thought so too! But I came out of the library and there he was, right in our front doorway, ready to step out into the world as bare as a babe!"

Crowley looked around Aziraphale at the plant man. "You didn't think to cover him up?"

"I... I had a blanket on his lap, I thought he'd take it with him when he came in here."

"Clearly not."

"Hello! I'm Jim!" The plant man said, grinning.

Crowley made a face as Muriel approached, a shovel in their hands. The redheaded doctor put a hand on it, lowering it slightly, just in case. "Why did you name him Jim?" Muriel asked. "Was that the body's original name?"

"Nah, we used a variety of parts. Though there might be a James in there." Crowley replied.

"Oh!" Jim, as he was named, said. "That's the long version, right? Jim, short for James, long for Gabriel."

"Gabriel...?" Muriel raised an eyebrow.

"He looks like a man I know by that name." Aziraphale sighed. "No, I just... I panicked and just named him because he asked and it was the name that came to mind."

He coughed again, then tried to smile. "Uhh... well, at least we can say that your absolute nonsense of a scientific theory turned out to be true, eh, dear boy?"

Crowley stared at his husband, then at Jim. "You do realize this was a one in a million chance."

"Of course."

"And because of that, we now have an affront to God and Satan and all of science in our foyer, yes?"

"I am well aware."

"Who happens to be completely naked, and holding what looks like a mug of hot cocoa."

"He rather likes cocoa."

"Hm. We should probably get some pants on him and then have a long discussion about this over drinks. Strong drinks."

"That sounds like a plan."

"Muriel, put the shovel away and go get us all some of the really good stuff, it's gonna be a long talk."

--

The talk ends with them adopting Jim.

Not sure if Crowley marches off and gets hit with lightning, because this is a silly au and things like that could happen, but I'll leave that up to you, dear readers.

[geraniums-red]

Jim Butcher - Blood Rites

Book 6 in the Dresden Files series. 

Sometimes the heroes in this series are a bit morally grey. It makes up for this by making the villains dramatically evil, and the villains in this book are no exception. Harry is written as a noir PI, with all the biases that involves, but by this point in the series he has learned to over-rule his instincts more often than not. In Discworld terms, he has learned to have Second Thoughts.

In this book, Harry Dresden is simultaneously fighting the Black Court (normal Dracula type vampires), the White Court (sexy mind-control vampires), and whoever is using magic to kill actresses working on a particular adult film.

It's a fun book in an 'action film' sort of way. Monsters are killed, crises are narrowly averted, and Harry accidentally acquires a dog. There are also some revelations which change the way Harry sees some of his allies, and I'm looking forward to finding out how they change the character dynamics in later books.

[overworkedblorbobattle]

Welcome to the Overworked Blorbo Battle Preliminary Round!

Many characters were submitted for this tournament so, in order to allow as many different blorbos into the bracket as I can, I’ve had to limit them to one per series. For most, i just included the most highly submitted character but there were a number of series with characters who had the same (or very similar) number of submissions. Therefore, I’ve created a preliminary round for you to vote on which character from each series gets to enter the bracket.

There will be 37 polls lasting 1 week each.

The polls will be separated into 3 waves. Each wave will be posted 24 hours after the previous.

The first wave will begin on Tuesday the 27th of June at 3PM BST

I've tried my best to only include official images for all of the characters on the polls but I'm not familiar with every series listed so, when the polls go up, if you notice I've used a fanart or cosplay image without permission or credit please let me know and I'll add credit and correct it for any future appearances of that character.

I apologise if I’ve accidentally spelled something wrong or used a wrong name for something, I’m not familiar with every series listed.

The matchups are listed under the read more

There may be spoilers ahead

Wave 1

Poll 1: Ace Attorney

Dick Gumshoe

Apollo Justice

Miles Edgeworth

Franziska Von Karma

Phoenix Wright

Poll 2: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Katara

Azula

Aang

The Cabbage Merchant

Poll 3: Batman

Barbara Gordon/Oracle

Batman/Bruce Wayne

Alfred Pennyworth

Tim Drake/Red Robin

Dick Grayson/Nightwing

Jim Gordon

Poll 4: BBC Ghosts

Pat Butcher

The Captain

Poll 5: Welcome To The Table

CDC

DC

Poll 6: Carmen Sandiengo

Carmen Sandiego

Chase Devineaux

Poll 7: Critical Role

Laerryn Coramar Seelie

Percival De Rolo

Poll 8: Death Note

Light Yagami

L

Touta Matsuda

Poll 9: Disco Elysium

Harry Du Bois

Kim Kitsuragi

Poll 10: Discworld

Havelock Vetinari

Ponder Stibbons

Moist Von Lipwig

Poll 11: Doctor Who

Coordinator Narvin

Romana II

Rory Williams

The Doctor

Poll 12: Ensemble Stars!

Keito Hasumi

Mao Isara

Tsumugi Aoba

Wave 2

Poll 13: ER

Carol Hathaway

Mark Greene

Poll 14: Falsettos

Mendel Weisenbachfeld

Dr Charlotte Dubois

Poll 15: Final Fantasy

Aymeric De Borel

Emet-Selch

Reeve Tuesti

Jessie Jaye

Poll 16: Fullmetal Alchemist

Riza Hawkeye

Roy Mustang

Poll 17: Hatchetfield/The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

Emma Perkins

Paul Mattews

Poll 18: Homestuck

Karkat Vantas

Peregrine Mendicant

Poll 19: Honkai

Fu Hua

Natasha

Poll 20: House MD

Lisa Cuddy

James Wilson

Poll 21: Hunter X Hunter

Cheadle Yorkshire

Heavens Arena Elevator Operator

Kurapika

Poll 22: Lobotomy Corporate

Angela

Hod

Poll 23: Mistborn

Elend Venture

Marsh

Poll 24: Monster Prom

Joy Johnson-Johjima

Vera Oberlin

Wave 3

Poll 25: Persona

Ryotaro Dojima

Sadayo Kawakami

Poll 26: Project Sekai

Mafuyu Asahina

Yoisaki Kanade

Haruka Kiritani

Poll 27: Spongebob Squarepants

Squidward

Spongebob

Poll 28: Star Wars

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Commander Fox

Poll 29: The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre

Marcy Park

Poll 30: The Adventure Zone

Lucretia

Mama

Kravitz

Poll 31: The Owl House

Alador Blight

Hunter

Poll 32: The Wilds

Dot Campbell

Fatin Jadmani

Rachel Reid

Poll 33: The X Files

Dana Scully

Director Walter Skinner

Poll 34: Toontown: Corporate Clash

Atticus Wing

Chip Revvington

Poll 35: Transformers

Soundwave

Shockwave

Prowl

Optimus Prime

Minimus Ambus

Ratchet

Poll 36: Witch Hat Atilier

Olruggio

Qifrey

Poll 37: Worm

Amy Dallon/Panacea

Lisa Wilbourn

[clevermird]

Review: Cold Days (Dresden Files book 14) by Jim Butcher

(First off, apologies for getting this up late; I had a mini-crisis last night that kept me busy until very close to bedtime, but things are dealt with now and I am back on track!)

A wizard’s work is never done and nobody knows that better than Harry Dresden. At the end of Ghost Story, we found out that Harry was in fact only mostly dead and that Mab and the sentient island Demonreach have been keeping him alive as his spirit tried to prepare for the afterlife. But instead of resting on the laurels of having cheated death, Harry now plans to cheat fate. He might be the Winter Knight, but he has no intention of letting the role consume him and turn him into a monster the way it did his predecessor. However, he might not have that long to worry about it, as Mab’s first assignment might end his career early – she wants him to kill her successor, the Winter Lady Maeve. Reuniting with his half-brother Thomas and his infatuated apprentice Molly, he sets out to figure out how to do that.  Cold Days is a return to the classic form for the series – Harry discovers some kind of supernatural threat and has to stop it with the help of a selection of his allies – with an added twist. Instead of acting as a relatively lone wizard, this time he is an agent of the Winter Court, with resources and minions at his disposal. A lot of the story also focuses on his exploration of the powers that come with being the Knight and of his struggles with the new desires and temptations that such a position offers him. Honestly, I wish that this character arc had been explored a bit more. While it’s certainly something that will return in future books, it felt like there was little progression of it during this book, making the various scenes where it’s brought up start to feel a bit repetitive. Additionally, the main plotline of the book became a bit excessively complicated at times, making it a bit hard to follow.  Apart from that, though, this book was a lot of fun. Seeing Harry join up with his friends again and get back in action, getting answers to some of the questions left by the last book, and generally resuming the rip-roaring action that the series is known for was very enjoyable. Harry, Molly, and Thomas work very well as a trio and the book features the Fae Courts heavily, which was always one of my favorite parts of the worldbuilding. It will be interesting to see where Butcher takes the series from here, as several potential major plotlines are set up in the finale (and not just for Harry!).  Although Cold Days has a few weaknesses, it’s a solid entry in the now-sprawling Dresden Files universe that manages to mix the old status quo with the new quite effectively. 

Warnings: As mentioned above, much of the story deals with Harry’s struggle to contain the urges that the mantle of the Winter Knight gives him and as a result, there are frequent references to and threats of torture and sexual assault. The toxic and abusive nature of Harry’s relationship with Mab also recieves significant focus.

Rating: 8/10

[timetravelcr]

   No one just starts giggling and wearing black and signs up to become a villainous monster. How the hell do you think it happens? It happens to people. Just people. They make questionable choices for what might be very good reasons. 

       But it adds up. And one day they look around and realize that they are so far over the line that they can’t remember where it was. 

                                                                                                        - - -  Jim Butcher, Cold Days

Independent and private blog for the Young Master Xehanort (from Kingdom Hearts), treated as a fandomless and independent character. Established December 2023, and written by Sparrow (she/they, 25+).

See here for guidelines, muse info and content warnings

[cynfuldelights]

Ooookay, lets see if this works a second time.

My current writing project I’m trying to update every two weeks. Born of a Blade is set in the Dresden Files Universe and is about a gay half-demon girl struggling with being a monster hunter, a lover, and the target of a fallen angel.

Give it a shot if you like: Demon girls! Lesbians! Edgy Drama! Wanton Violence!

Don’t give it a shot if you don’t like: Gore, Blood, Burns, Graphic Descriptions of Violence, and Topics of Self-Hatred, Religious Trauma, and Parental Abandonment

[pastafossa]

Tagged by @softasawhisper! Thanks for the tag! 🥰

last song i listened to: hyperfixating on Fall Out Boy in prep for the new album next week so playing as I type is

three ships: everyone knows my dd ships so I'll step outside it! Garrus Vakarian x Fem!Shep (Mass Effect), Stormpilot (SWs), Eowyn x Faramir (LOTR)

last movie i watched: MST3K, the one with the gila monster 😂

currently reading: Deadbeat by Jim Butcher, I've read that book more times than I can read 😅

craving: i really really really want to be able to use my shower on the second floor again 😭, but no good until monday at least. If talking food, i would kill for a churrooooooo

tagging: @wonderlandmind4 @your-not-invisible-to-me @shadeblade16 @letterfromvienna and anyone else who wants to!

[rosemaidenvixen]

spooky prompts

Luz and claire scavenge halloween treats for their non-human-food compatible gf/bf.

Gus illusions make it possible for jim to participate in halloween prep.

Hunter uses palisman carving skills to carve jack-o-lanterns.

Hunter or Jim are frankenstein monsters au.

Morganna but she has bloody mary ghost vibes.

Halloween house decorating contest (could be a crossover???)

Vee gets to enjoy a nice autumn walk and nothing bad happens to her

Vee enjoys an autumn walk

Hunter as Frankenstein's monster

Bloody Mary Morgana

Hunter carves jack o lanterns

Gus uses illusions for Jim

Halloween house competition

Luz and Claire scavenging treats for their non human so's answered below

Ao3

Luz followed Claire as they wove their way through the farmer’s market. It really wasn’t a good time to come here, it was the middle of the day and the crowds were at their worst. And the large cooler Claire was hauling didn’t help anything. But half an hour ago she’d made an offhand comment about how hard it was finding treats she could surprise Amity with in the human realm, then Claire had piped up with how she used to have the same problem with Jim, and one thing had led to another and now they were here. Claire with leading the way to score some interspecies eats.

Because Claire wasn’t any ordinary human, she could do magic.

Humans. Doing magic in the humana realm. Every time she thought about it it sent a little thrill of excitement through her. She still hadn’t had the change to properly ask Claire some of the many many questions she had, but she’d have plenty of chances while she and the gang were in Cali–

“Sorry again, for…everything,” Claire spoke up, startling Luz out of her thoughts “I let myself get carried away and took things way too far, and you guys can stay here in Arcadia as long as you need to,”

Luz struggled but couldn’t quite keep the wince off her face as they ducked past shoulders and weaved through the crowd. She was thrilled to meet other human magic users and learn about the way magic in the human realm worked. But she really wished that they’d met under better circumstances.

And she really really wished that part of the reason she and the gang were visiting Arcadia wasn’t because they were waiting for the heat to die down back east.

Shaking her head, Luz forced the grimace away “Hey water under the bridge, and it wasn’t all your fault, there were…mistakes on both sides. And as soon as the fire marshall finishes their investigation we’ll be home free,”

Although even if the buildings were all fixed they’d never be able to get all the abomination goop out of the carpet and off the drywall.

Some stains never came out.

Claire gave her a small smile at her right as she came to a stop at a stand on the far end of the market, turning her grin towards the stall owner “Hola Jorge,”

The stall owner, a man with brown skin and graying black hair dressed in flannel and jeans, stood from the cooler he was stooped over and stepped towards them “Hola Claire great to see you, I’ve got a cooler around back all set up for you,”

“Thanks! You’re the best,”

Claire walked around the tent, Luz following on her heels, until they came to a small semi truck with a large cooler on the ground in front of it.

“So you know the guy who runs this place?” Luz asked.

“Kind of,” Claire got down on her knees and popped open the cooler, rummaging through its contents “Jorge runs a farm just outside of Arcadia, small scale sustainable meat farming kind of thing. He was the first guy I went to about getting some of the discards from butchering. Now we’ve got a regular thing set up,”

Luz glanced to the left and right, kneeled down right next to Claire, and leaned over to whisper in her ear “So does he know about….”

“Magic and trolls? I don’t think so, but I’m pretty sure he suspects, either way I think he’d be cool with it,”

Claire sat back on her haunches, giving Luz a full view of the cooler’s contents “I wasn’t sure what troll food also works as witch food, but I figured discard parts would be a good place to start,”

“What….parts specifically?”

In response Claire lifted out a plastic bag filled to bursting with eyeballs.

“Oooh that looks great!” Luz plucked the bag out of Claire’s hand “Amity loves eyeball pudding, oh man this will be such a great surprise for her–”

It took her a few seconds to remember Claire’s presence “Sorry, yeah, she loves eyeballs,”

Claire giggled “No worries, mind helping me pack up?”

They finished loading up their cooler from Jorge’s, Luz didn’t think that the gang would be able to digest some of the bones Claire was packing up, but she was really looking forward to trying some of the organ meats. And the eyeballs were destined to a big bowl of eyeball pudding with Amity’s name on it.

After giving Jorge a large stack of cash they were back on their way, pulling a much heavier cooler behind them.

“Hey I know this is a bit of a stretch,” Luz asked as they walked away “But I’ve really been wanting to make Amity a fairy pie, but I didn’t think the human realm had fairies, but maybe you know a substitute?”

Claire tapped her chin with her free hand “Pixies might work, do they have those on the Boiling Isles? Here they’re tiny creatures that will fly into your head and make you see your worst fear,”

“Not really but they do have Grometheus the fear bringer who takes the shape of your greatest fear, he lives under the school, and every year the Grom King or Queen has to fight him so he doesn’t escape,”

“Wow, remind me to never complain about the Spring fling royalty challenge again,”

“Wait till I tell you how me and Amity became Grom Queens! So back to pixies, do we catch them ourselves or…”

“I think we might be able to pick them up at our next stop, along with swamp maggots and fungi, I have a feeling your friends will really like those,”

“Next stop?” Luz blinked back at her “Where else are we going?”

Claire just gave her a sly grin.

--

Luz just stared with her jaw hanging open, the sight before her so incredible all she could do was stand there and stare with her jaw on the ground. When Claire had brought her to the underpass of a canal bridge she hadn’t known what to think, then Claire had drawn a door in the concrete and brought her here. To a glowing magical crystal city right underneath Arcadia!

They had told them about Trollmarket, promised to bring them there, but Luz had never imagined it was so close, or so sparkly.

Claire chuckled as Luz tried to figure out how to pick her jaw up off the ground “Yeah it’s pretty cool isn’t it, we all had that reaction the first time,” she picked up the cooler with both handles “Ready to head in?”

Luz finally managed to shut her mouth and struggled to find her voice.

She was absolutely stoked to go explore a human world magical city, but her first day in the Boiling Isles had taught her a lot about taking things at face value.

“So is there any troll etiquette I should know? I don’t want to insult anyone’s mother by using my pinky finger wrong,”

“I don’t think so, most trolls are pretty chill if you leave them alone, sort of a ‘don’t bother me I won’t bother you’ sort of thing. Oh! But when they introduce themselves as ‘Son or daughter of so-and-so’ that’s how they give you their pronouns. And misgendering usually results in being thrown in a sinkhole,”

“Misgendering leads to sinkhole,” Luz gave a solemn nod “Understood,”

Heading into the market, Luz saw it was made up of various stalls and booths carved into the rock themselves. Stone was the most common building material, but here and there were bits of metal and wood, along with the occasional crystals. Pictographic neon signs indicated what each booth sold, some of them were easy to figure out, like the fish or the beer glass, but some of them, like the sock and the dead cat filled her with more questions than answers. Milling around were large stone creatures of every shape and size in every color of the rainbow, trolls. There were also…little men in pointy hats running around?

Claire followed her line of sight “Oh yeah, gnomes, they eat parasites off larger trolls, not overly dangerous but don’t touch their hats, that makes them super aggressive,”

Luz nodded, gingerly stepping around the small cluster of pointed red hats and followed Claire inside a small cave off the main building.

Stepping inside, Luz saw it looked like a fantasy version of a convenience store, with various items seemingly random lining the shelves, and a large curvy troll standing behind the counter.

“Hi Bagdwella,” Claire stepped up to the counter and gestured behind her “This is Luz, I’m showing her around shopping for some interspecies eats,”

“Hi, Luz daughter of Camila here,” Luz gave a small wave and joined Claire at the counter.

“Greetings Luz,” the troll folded their arms in front of them “I am Bagdwella, daughter of Gerdr, and I know this market better than anyone else and would be delighted to give you the inside scoop,”

“Oh that’s gre–”

“Up up up,” Bagdwella held up a hand “You didn’t let me finish, I would be delighted to give you the inside scoop, for the right price,”

Without missing a beat Claire reached into her backpack and pulled out a large plastic bag full of…socks? Ok between this and the neon sign  she was definitely going to have to ask Claire about the socks later. Handing it over to Bagdwella “Half now, half once we’re done. To make sure your intel’s as good as you say it is,”

Bagdwella raised the bag and gave it an sniff before turning an appraising glance towards Claire “Claire you are a devious, cold blooded customer,” she grinned, exposing a mouthful of sharp teeth “I taught you well,”

Tucking the bag underneath the table, Bagdwella stepped forward, both hands on the table “So what are you ladies in the market for today?”

“Do you know anyone who sells pixies?” Luz piped up right away “I have a recipe I really want to try with them,”

“I need to get some swamp maggots,” Claire added “And I want to check out different types of fungi,”

Bagdwella tapped her chin in thought, stone clinking against stone “Do you want fermented or plain swamp maggots?”

“Ideally some of both,”

After a few more seconds Bagdwella pulled a pen out of her hair and started scribbling on a scrap of paper in front of her “Braggis has the best fungus selection, so you’ll want to go to his stand. For swamp maggots you need to go to Til and Rags next to the apothecary, they don’t have a lot of stock but their swamp maggots are the highest quality in the market. Pixies are a bit trickier. No one really stocks them, but Dex down near the armory preserves pixies on the side, ask him about it and he’ll be delighted to sell you some, but he will talk your ear off,”

“Oh wow,” Luz picked up the scrap of paper “This is great, thank you!”

Bagdwella chuckled “You can thank me by never buying from my competitors. Now you’re crowding paying customers out of my shop, so unless you’re going to buy something shoo!”

Luz and Claire retreated as Bagdwella waved them off, Claire hauling the cooler and Luz still clutching the paper.

“Soooo….fermented swamp maggots?”

Claire giggled “Yeah even for trolls those are an acquired taste, but Jim likes them,”

“Well then, let's get shopping!”

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Yeah, alright, no. No don't this. I'll do you a few fucking better and teach you right here and now how to do this: You game? Blurb and lesson time. Got you. First up, a SPOOC. This is one technique that can be expanded (gonna give you examples too). WRITING LESSONS AHOY:

SPOOC = Situation, protagonist, objective, obstacles/opponents, climax/cost. So, when Frodo Baggins (protagonist) inherits the Ring of Power (Situation), he must set out on a quest to destroy it (objective). But, will he succeed when the forces of sauron and saruman unite and

try to reclaim the one ring and use its power to destroy Middle Earth (climax - cost if failure). This specific example is taught by Jim Butcher so if you want some weight behind it. There you go. It works. Want to know how to do a blurb? Practice, but check it:

Who is it? What's going on?

Why should we care?

What happens if the hero fails?

If you can, end on a snappy one liner or question. You can open on one too or a question like it.

What do shadows darting across the walls, cryptic writing, black fog, and a little girl who can see ghosts have in common? Paranormal investigator and soul without a body, Vincent Graves, has forty-four hours to find out. To make matters worse, his years of body-hopping and monster-hunting are catching up with him. He's losing his mind. An old contact has shut him out. To top it all off, something's skulking through an asylum, killing patients. Three guesses who might be next, and the first two don't count. The writing on the wall is not so clear. But one thing is: if he doesn't figure this out he's a dead man--well, deader--and a strange young girl might follow. Vincent's got his back against a wall, and that wall's crumbling. Some days it's not worth it to wake up in someone else's body.

That's Grave Measures - book two in my urban fantasy detective series. Who is it - covered. What's going on? Why should we care (the stakes to the protagonist and more). The costs. And the above.

It's not rocket science, and doesn't have to be.

Here's one from book three:

Don't make deals with the paranormal. They're better at it than you, and they never play fair. Paranormal investigator and soul without a body, Vincent Graves, did just that—a deal made in desperation. Now it's coming back to bite him in the middle of a case. He has 57 hours to investigate a string of deaths involving people who've made some devilish bargains. Too bad devils don't deal in good faith. It'd be easy enough, if he didn't have to deal with things such as: - Being hunted through the streets of Queens by a dark elf with a motorcycle fetish. - Ending up the target of a supernatural hit. - An old acquaintance dragging him to a paranormal ball where he could end up on the menu. - And having one of his closest guarded secrets brought to light... Not great for a tight clock, because if he doesn't get to the bottom of this case in time, Vincent and company might just lose their souls. Dirty deals are never done dirt cheap. And the supernatural always collect—big!

Same formula. A lot of fiction uses it. You just might not realize it. You don't need a fucking AI. You need a few minutes every day of practice. You got that. You got this!

With SPOOC, you can outline a whole damn novel.

You get a snappy two-liner pitch to sell with. YOu can expand it into summaries for each book to make up LOTR in this case or your series.

Then you can reverse engineer and keep expanding each summary. It does it for you.

[original-spoiled-princess]

Have you read The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, The Nightside Series by Simon R. Green, or The Remy Chandler Series by Thomas Sniegoski? They're all urban fantasy mystery books. The main character in each of the series are private investigators, but one is an actual wizard saving the world from all sorts of monsters and villains, another is the son of the demoness Lilith, and the last is a disillusioned Seraphim archangel who abandoned Heaven after the war with Lucifer and lives life on Earth.

I have not! I have a problem reading series that are more than 4 books. I don’t think it when authors drag out series and fill it with crap. Lol I’ll definitely look into them to see if they are something I would be interested in.

Thanks for the suggestions 🖤