#my favourite thing to do is draw characters from different pieces of media together

[extraterrestrial-artist]

i can't make serious fanarts i hope everyone understands

Pictured in this image: Kafka Hibino, Yuji Itadori and Solid Snake Not pictured in this image: The context

[saintsenara]

How are you able to enjoy toxic/unhealthy/“problematic” ships/characters without feeling weird (for lack of a better word) about it?

I ask this because I want to be able to do this myself as it seems like a much more enjoyable way of engaging with fiction to me. I can get over some ships just being toxic and the characters not being good together and still enjoy their dynamic but I have trouble with the other ships that feel morally wrong. I know it’s just fiction but I can’t seem to get over the ick feeling I have when I think about those ships/characters. I feel like I’m being too puritanical about these things but I don’t know how to stop feeling like something is gross when I feel it’s gross…

Do you have any tips to stop jumping to moralizing ships/characters?

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

i'm going to be upfront that this reflexive gross feeling isn't something i've ever really struggled with - both in fic and more broadly. this is due to various personal idiosyncrasies, above all the fact that i've got disengaged boomer parents who didn't police our media consumption [my favourite book when i was eleven? lolita...] and that i'm a doctor, which is a profession which requires you to develop a very high threshold for what you find disgusting. the human body - at all stages of its life-cycle and its cycle of decomposition - produces a lot of different fluids... and it's also the case that [just as if you can think of it, there's porn for it] if an inanimate object exists, somebody somewhere has got it stuck inside them...

and so the situation that i find myself in is that i consider it infinitely less weird that i enjoy the odd bit of hot tomarrymort action than that i actively enjoy cutting through bone with a saw...

but, obviously, "get a medical degree" isn't particularly helpful advice...

i am a ride-or-die fan of the concept of stepping outside of your comfort zone. this is why i'm such an avowed multishipper - i think it's good for us as fandom citizens to examine the potential of our faves in relationships [romantic or otherwise] which are either not their canon endgames or which aren't our preferred pairings, and in situations which don't align with their canon experiences [whether that means making them suffer or giving them full-on fluff]. it draws out the multiple aspects of a character to consider them from these different angles - and it prevents us from getting so stuck in one interpretation of a character or configuration of a ship which means that it puts our backs up to stumble across stories which approach things differently.

but stepping outside of your comfort zone doesn't mean that you have to go enormously far. it may be that a reader decides - having only ever read teen-rated fics where characters' sex lives don't extend beyond hand-holding and forehead kisses - to take the plunge into an explicit piece filled to the brim with watersports and age play. it may be that a reader decides - having only ever read teen-rated fics for one canon pairing - to read a teen-rated fic for a non-canon alternative. both of these are entirely valid approaches.

by which i mean, our comfort levels and our thresholds for discomfort are subjective, they're personal. if there are ships or themes or characters you don't want to read about because they don't feel good... you're not doing something wrong if you avoid them. exposing yourself to fics you expect to make you uncomfortable can be useful - and fiction is certainly a way to explore discomfort which gives you much more control over the experience than encountering it in real life - but it's not something you're obliged to do to be active in fandom.

the thing you are obliged to do to be active in fandom is to be nice to other people, no matter what their tastes in fiction. this means, at its fundamental level, that when you see people who ship pairings or like themes which make you think "ew"... you keep it to yourself/the group chat rather than putting it on the timeline.

but, once this is something you've got the hang of [which takes a bit of time! but practice makes perfect!], something i feel can be a really useful way of overcoming a tendency towards knee-jerk moralising reactions is to just vibe in the vicinity of people you know like the content you instinctively feel is gross.

this doesn't mean you have to read any of this content - but you'll learn just by hanging out near them that the people who do are just... normal. one minute they might reblog a rec for a pairing you think "absolutely not" about, the next they might reblog a cat picture which makes you squeal with delight. you'll like some of their content, but not all. you'll agree with some of it, but not all. you might like progressively more of it as you spend time in their orbit - maybe they'll explain why they like the pairing or character in question and you'll think "huh, i've never looked at it like that" - or you might not. this is absolutely fine.

all of us - at one time or other - have made a black-and-white moralising pronouncement: people who think x are gross; people who like y are fucked-up, you'd never catch me doing z. and these pronouncements are different from our wider, societally-influenced moral codes - which are good things, otherwise we'd live in the purge - in that they're fundamentally ways for us to feel good about ourselves and our families and our friends by defining ourselves as better than a faceless other. we say "you'd never catch me reading that, it's foul" when we know [or think we know] that the friend we're talking to would agree with the statement. we are far less likely to say it if we know that the friend - whom we see as a human being who is beautiful in their imperfection and inherently worthy of love simply by virtue of being alive - was reading and enjoying that just the other day.

and so the best way to train yourself out of reflexively moralising ships or characters or tropes is to put a face to the faceless other who likes them. be intentional in sharing a space with fans of the stuff you feel uncomfortable with and, eventually, it just becomes background noise. you'll scroll on tumblr, say "well there we are, jane's written some more of her sirius/harry piss kink fic - although i'm not interested in clicking on it" and go on with your day.

because the other thing i think it's really useful to do is to train yourself into reframing your disgust as disinterest. there are plenty of things which i don't seek out to read - and some of these topics are completely benign and some are darker [i don't enjoy reading explicit non-con, for example] - but this is because i try to frame it as that i don't think these things would interest me.

this is still the maintenance of a personal comfort zone, but thinking of the content outside this zone as something you are disinterested in turns it into something neutral. when you think of it as something to be disgusted or grossed out by, it naturally provokes a visceral response which makes you look through a moral lens. thinking in terms of disinterest, instead, gives you sufficient detachment from this visceral response to recognise, interrogate, contextualise, and control it.

and - in time - this neutral reframing may result in you feeling more interested in taking the plunge into the ships and characters and stories you currently don't vibe with, once you don't have an instinctive disgust response as a barrier.

or it may not. and this is absolutely fine.

[starry-eyed-never-satisfied]

Fandom Ask Game! 6, 7, 12, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24

7. Is there a piece of clothing you think [character] is particularly fond of/that you imagine them wearing a lot or like to draw them in?

In terms of drawing, I've drawn Paul in his Destroyer costume most often, because it's really easy to draw, and he looks hot in it. But he looks hot in anything so....

When I was writing Let Me Know, that was hard because when I described Paul as dressing like a rock star, I was envisioning 80s or 90s, ripped jeans, leather jackets, band ts, that sort of thing. I knew a bit about girls clothes in the late 60s, but not a lot about guys, so when I googled it, it was a bit of a shock, and I still struggle to picture him at that time.

12. What's the funniest or craziest AU idea you've ever come up with?

I don't really do AUs like putting them in completely different worlds/situations, so the most AU I get it using stories not from Kisstory. Take It Off is one of those, that scenario with Paul stripping is completely made up, although we all would love to see it I know. It was fun to write and picture him like that.

15. Have you noticed your style change over time?

I think so, my stories are getting longer and more detailed. I'm adding more action

18. Type [charater]'s name and tell us what the autocomplete suggests as the next word

Paul Stanley ass

I am ashamed. What is wrong with me.

19. What's your favourite thing about [fandom] (the people in it, not the media you're all enjoying together)?

The fact that I think all of you will understand the answer to the previous question and not think there is something wrong with me

22. Give us a headcanon for [character]

When Paul is trying to fall asleep he plays with his chest hair

23. Has your favourite character/ship changed over time?

No. Stardemon for life!

24. What's your favourite thing about [character]?

I love so much about him, its hard to just choose one. I guess that he just has the most beautiful soul. He's been through so much, yet has never lost his positive outlook on life, just constantly believing that things can be and will be better

6. Show us a bit of a WIP!

Okay, this is pretty new, so is most likely not in it's final form. One of my very first stories is called I'm Watching Over You, its the story of the morning after the drunken Hotter Than Hell photo shoot. This one has the working title I'm Watching Over You - The Night Before

Paul grabbed another drink.  A hand rested on his arm.  Gene.

“How much have you had?”

Paul shrugged.

“Paul.”

“What?  I’m a rock thtar, ‘member.  Thith ith wha’ Im meana do.” He swaggered off towards a couple of girls.

---

Peter opened his eyes.  The room was spinning.  He looked over.  Paul was unconscious.  Paul?  Peter blinked a couple of times.  No it was definitely Paul.  And there were men around him.

“Gee –“ Peter couldn’t move.  “Gee!” he cried, looking desperately around for the one person he knew would be sober.

But Gene had already seen.

“Get off him!”

Gene in full demon mode made an impressive sight, bearing down, shoving the would-be rapists aside.

“Hey, sorry man,” one laughed lasciviously.  “Didn’t know he was yours.”

Ignoring him, Gene crouched and carefully picked Paul up.  His head flopped limply against Gene’s shoulder.

---

Gene got Paul out the back door.  It was slightly cooler out there, and Gene leaned against the wall.  “Oh, Paul.  What am I going to do with you,” Gene whispered into his curls.

[mysticbeaver]

7 (Kevin and Rolf), 19, 23 :3

7.Is there a piece of clothing you think Kevin and Rolf are particularly fond of/that you imagine them wearing a lot or like to draw them in?

Rolf totally loves his sweater (maybe mama knitted it for him ❤️), but now I'm thinking he has some big old majestic Old Country coat he wears in winter and impresses everyone with it (an idea for a future drawing maybe? mmm). On a sidenote HIS PAJAMAS are so adorable... it's such a twist on his character (psst do you think Kev secretly has some silly pjs of his own? 😁 maybe there's bikes on them I dunno)

Btw I gotta draw Kevin in the letterman jacket at some point. Even when I drew them older, Rolf gets his cozy sweater but kevin is still stuck with the green/orange shirt :P

19. What's your favourite thing about the fandom (the people in it, not the media you're all enjoying together)?

I'm gonna go off on what you said yourself, it's really great and chill and everyone's fairly accepting of others' views. Especially cause a fandom war in a place like this would kill it all lmao (the fandom's seen some shit in the past I know) The fact that it's kinda small means you interact differently with others. Tbh I'm just spouting nonsense cause I've never been this actively engaged in any other fandom, so I can't really compare

23. Has your favourite character/ship changed over time?

For one thing, I think I started paying A LOT more attention to Rolf because of kevrolf, rather than the other way around. I think it might even been from "0% attention" to "one of my favs" not kidding. See? ships are good for something after all haha. Eddeddy was also a slow grower for me, believe it or not (probably why for the longest time I've felt like an oddball in the fandom 😅). I guess I was too busy shipping keveddy at the time haha

[ohkate]

Weekly Tag Wednesday

Thanks to @energievie and @metalheadmickey for the tag love.

---

which character from any media would you like to have as a father? Gomez Addams. Totally loyal and loves his family. Devoted to his wife. Rich. Doesn't mind me being a weirdo. In fact, encourages it.

if money, laws, time, and effort were no object, what animal would you want to have?

This little jerk right here. I mean look at how he's all wrapped up in his mom.

what is your Chinese takeout order? Well, potstickers always. If I could *be* a food, it would be a potsticker. But also, I live in southcoast MA where Chinese food is completely different from everywhere else- and superior I will fight you on that hill- and so this is more complex to answer. Chow mein here is made with what's called 'Fall River' noodles. They are made entirely for this area and are amazing. It's my favorite dish. I've lived all over the country and Chinese food elsewhere is just so shitty.

what's your favourite emoji? I still can't make emojis. : p That's as good as it's getting.

would you rather have a library, greenhouse, or home theater in your house? Home theater. I should lie and say library.

what childhood tv show do you think of the most fondly? I Dream of Jeannie. Not really a kids show but I was obsessed with it as a kid. I also liked Punky Brewster.

what was your tumblr like when you first joined? So gifs had to be under 1MB. You kids are spoiled with your 5MB lavishness. So there were a lot of shitty gifs. Tumblr was just better in general. There used to be so many great gay porn gifs. It was awesome. Then the morality police came in and made it less fun for everyone. My tumblr was basically just a history of my fav gay pairings that I brought over from LiveJournal. Don't get me started on LiveJournal.

what clothing style do you love but don't feel compelled to replicate yourself? Bohemian cool girl. She just wakes up like that. I could never pull it off. This dumpster fire takes some work.

if you were plopped into a fictional world, which one would you know the layout of the best? I barely know how to drive around my block without using GPS.

what is your favourite piece of art? My favorite artist is Flavio Zarck and my favorite piece is THIS. He makes creepy looking sculptures out of scrap metal. He also did a series on drawings made by by people suffering from severe mental health issues like paranoid schizophrenia that was really interesting.

do you have a water bottle? what does it look like? It looks like a can of Coca Cola. I should drink more water. If only to surprise my kidneys every once in a while.

what fanfic trope is a quiet fave? Ugh where do I start. I unapologetically love the Cinderella story where someone saves the other, or you find out later one is rich or a prince or whatever. I love hurt/comfort....like serious abuse where the other person helps the other recover and they fall in love. I love the 'pretending to be together for x reason but end up falling in love' trope. I also love the ABO 'oh no i've gone into heat! And my low key soulmate just happens to be here. Whatever will I do?!" trope.

do you carry a daily bag? what does it look like? what's the weirdest thing in it? Workbag with laptop. Probably just some errant tampons that somehow have come unwrapped.

if you had to ship Mickey with another Gallagher, who would it be? Lip for sure. I think Mickey would just wreck Lip. I love the episode where they go to shoot up the gentrified store together and Lip seems intimidated by Mickey. And Mickey was taking out all his anger for Ian on Lip. Mickey looked so hot. There was a slight sexual tension in that scene.

what is a fanfic trope you didn't expect to like and then very much did? Like @energievie said, Gallavich taught me the joys of AUs. I love so many of them. Also ABO. I got into ABO by accident with the Hannibal fandom, and those fuckers can seriously write. I found myself obsessed and now not a lot of sex scenes in regular fanfic can hold a candle to ABO most of the time. Regular fanfic was like weed and ABO was like heroin and now I'm addicted. I can't believe I'm into this but...it's hot.

Do you think s11 Mickey can still carry s11 Ian? Probably. He's pretty strong. It's just awkward because Ian is so tall. He'd find a way.

who got custody of the killing bat when they sold the house? Sandy took it when no one was looking.

[phoenixkaptain]

Thanks for answering my ask....If you don't mind me asking (again), what are your top 10 (or top 5) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Feel free to answer whenever you want to (or not). Thank you so much....

(You asked this a little bit ago and I put it in my drafts as a “I’ll finish this later” sort of thing then forgot until this morning, sorry)

1. Hyouka. It’s a mystery anime. There’s a manga as well, but I never got very far into it. The animation is really pretty, but the main draw for me was the mc Houtarou Oreki. The way he just doesn’t want to be there and also would like nobody to talk to him. Despite this, he’s friends with the exact opposite? And good friends. What a guy. Also, the mysteries are very fun to piece together.

2. Natsume Yuujinchou. I’ve always really liked this anime, and the manga. I like Natsume Takashi, the main character, and I also really like his grandmother, Natsume Reiko, who kind of acts as a secondary main character? She caused the whole plot to happen. I like how many people and yokai mistake Natsume for his grandmother, and the running theme of Natsume finally finding friends. It was also the first manga that ever made me cry, so it holds a special place in my heart.

3. MXTX’s novels. All three of them. I love the characters and I love the romances and I love the plots. I love the side characters! I can’t think of an author who has ever made me so invested in side characters before! I read them all for different reasons, so I don’t really have a favourite among them, but if I was held at gunpoint, I’d say Scum Villain is my favourite. Because I associate it with the colour green, and I like the colour green.

4. Moomins. I just… everything is so soft. And warm. And kind. Even when the characters are beinng objectively terrible, I just want to pat their heads and sigh wistfully. It’s definitely my comfort show. I occasionally watch clips from the nineties show just to cheer myself up again. I love Snufkin because his lines are amazing and I, too, would like to wander the world as a lone vagabond. (The whole conversation of “I made those footprints.” “What? How?” “With these big ol boots I found.” “Why are you wearing them?” “To see what life is like in someone else’s shoes.” “What’s it like?” “Uncomfortable.” I love every moment, I quote “uncomfortable” all the time)

5. Detective Conan (and Magic Kaitou) I love this series. I love the comedy of the most intelligent teenager alive being shrunk into a miniature. I love the drama. I love the characters, all twelve billion of them. I love that the twists are always so weird. I absolutey, positively adore the Kaitou Kid episodes! Something about little itty bitty Conan facing an international jewel thief… I also love the movies! I haven’t seen all of them (my attention span…) but my favourites are the Lupin III crossovers! And, of course, the best movie is the Lost Ship in the Sky, because it has the funniest scenes of anything ever. When Kaitou Kid (disguised as Shinichi) and Conan just leap out of a helicopter? I love them so much…

6. Encanto. I’ve watched this movie about 3-5 times (an impressive feat for me I promise) and every time the Abuela says “the miracle is not some magic that you’ve got, the miracle is you, not some gift just you” I cry actual tears. And I get major siblings feelings from all of it. It’s so good

7. Star Wars, specifically prequel-era and Original Trilogy-era. I love Anakin Skywalker. The most dramatic man to ever. And I love Luke Skywalker. And I love Leia. And Han, and Chewie, and Lando, and Obi-Wan (Obi-Waaaaannn 🫠) and just the majority of characters. I really enjoyed reading the Thrawn Trilogy because I found Mara Jade to be the funniest comedic foil to Luke. Luke is just vibing. Mara is like “You were stabbed fifteen seconds ago, what-“ Love the chaos duo Luke and Leia, who can’t go anywhere together because they attract misfortune but also can’t go anywhere apart because they attract misfortune. I love longsuffering Han who didn’t really realize that marrying Leia meant marrying Luke too. I have never watched the sequels, and I don’t really want to. I just wanna live in my lil bubble 👍

8. Resident Evil series. I’m counting the games here because I own exavctly zero consoles that run Resident Evil games and so I mostly just watch longplays, but I love the series. (One day I’ll be the Master of Unlocking… one day… when I have… more money…) I really like Ethan Winters because he reminds me of a kicked dog. I like Jill Valentine the mostest because I really like that her responses to all the weird comments Barry makes are just her laughing and agreeing. I like Chris Redfield because Wesker reveals his huge evil plan and Chris immediately starts laughing and Wesker gets actually upset that he isn’t taking him seriously. I like Ada Wong. She rocked in to Raccoon City to “find her boyfriend” (code for: do spy shit) in a dress and, like, tights? They could be leather pants, the graphics aren’t that clear, but I’m not sure? Her whole outfit in RE2 is amazing. Oh, and I like the horror elements too, the monster designs are so gross! 10/10!

9. Various DC comics. Namely, Batman, Robin, Young Justice, Swamp Thing, etc. I talk about Batman and Robin and all them a lot, but I really enjoy Swamp Thing! I never knew that it was a horror comic until I read it (I suppose it would have been logical to assume it was, but still) and I like him! He’s very cute. Squishy. I want to lay on him and tell him he’s doing a great job. I like the little mini Swamp Thing that grew after he was “killed” it’s so little!!!

10. Fire Emblem. I’m including another game series because I love Fire Emblem a lot. I have played so many hours of so many games (Tokyo Mirage Sessions crossover is underrated and everyone should play it and gush about it with me because Mamori runs a cooking show when she has no idea ow to cook!!! I love her!!!) I have wasted so much money on the mobile game (stop looking at me) I absolutely love this series! My favourites are Marth and Henry (FE:A) I love Marth, he is so… himself :) and I love Henry! He was raised by wolves! He converses with crows! He proposes with a cursed ring! He carries around monster parts just for funsies! He is the cutest little murder bean in the world! Fire Emblem Awakening got me into the series as a whole, and I have never been the same (side note: I also love Corrin, because they are a himbo whether male or female. I also love Robin, because they appear very reasonable and are tacticians and are very intelligent and they are also completely feral in weird ways and I like it a lot. I love Byleth, the best teacher who does not have a heartbeat and didn’t cry when they were born and doesn’t know how to emote)

This turned out longer than I expected, but I hope it’s what you were looking for.

[tvrningout-a]

so this is from an ask on my previous blog! for context, chiyo becomes a manga artist after a few years at college ( she thinks she's gonna teach and then!! pursues her passion as she should uvu ), and she does really well tbh! this hc dives a little into the specifics of her as a mangaka.

what are her favourite topics to write and make art about?

i'd say chiyo loves to write about topics like mental health, learning to love oneself, loss -- internal struggles that cause harm even if it isn't always visible. it's not just satisfying to watch her characters overcome these sorts of obstacles, but she also hopes that by portraying a healthy way to deal with these issues, she'll help people do the same. not everyone has a grandmother or parents to help guide them, but what do people often turn to? stories, be it for the escapism or seeing a character go through the very thing they're going through.

you'll also notice with chiyo's work that she does something studio ghibli often does -- she adds moments that let the readers breathe! she enjoys drawing intricate scenery that might take up a few panels or a whole page and taking time to focus on the beauty of the characters' environment bc it gives her an excuse to just have fun drawing and honestly!! she finds it to be necessary a lot of the time. the protagonists just went through a big fight, maybe lost someone? she'll let them and the audience breathe as she depicts the toll their fight took upon their environment, or how the sun still rises despite what might have happened. she never rushes through, especially when something big happens in the story.

what do you imagine her drawing style to be like?

i'm thinking!! her biggest influences art-wise would have been studio ghibli, a variety of shounen manga like n.aruto, b.leach, etc. and a touch of shoujo manga like f.ruits b.asket! so chiyo's art style tries to mash bits and pieces of these together, giving you very pretty environments and character designs she ends up cursing herself for bc yes they're pretty, but they take forever to draw :' ) but it's nice bc while chiyo has a preference for writing/drawing shounen manga, she does like to dabble in shoujo, so she just! draws as usual rather than switching stuff up.

i'm not sure if this is making much sense adfg but basically? take the more accurate/detailed body proportions of shounen manga but the prettiness of shoujo and you have chiyo's art style!

does she have any routines when she starts working on a new piece or is in the process of doing so?

chiyo's routine is wake up, leisurely go about her morning and enjoy it before turning on some tunes and sitting down and working till her brain hits a stopping point! she does try to give herself little breaks so she doesn't give herself hand cramps ( they're the worst ), but she mainly tries to draw as much as she can in a day, and more often than she'd like to admit, in a night. sometimes her inspiration or motivation doesn't hit until it's 10 o'clock, and chiyo can't break her rhythm once it starts for fear of losing it the next day.

if she hits a bad writer's/art block, chiyo will break routine and go on a walk, touch base with friends and family -- anything to get her brain out of its funk! pretty often it happens if she isn't stimulating herself enough, so doing something different, seeing people she cares about, and indulging in new media will usually do the trick.

[threewaysdivided]

do you have any favorite dp or young justice fics you would recommend to your readership? or even fics outside of those two fandoms.

thank you! deathly weapons is one of my favorite things to read- and i especially love reading your meta on the subject- so anything you’ve read that you think is great/ has an interesting premise would be cool to see.

(Young Justice: Deathly Weapons)

💜🤍🖤 Thank you as well! 

I’m always astounded and delighted when people tell me they're rereading Deathly Weapons or anything else I wrote.  To me, one of the elements of a good story is it being something that you can return to, and it’s lovely to hear that I’m doing something right on that front. 

(Also I’m just so humbled that you would give my story your time like that.  I put a fair bit of my own time into Deathly Weapons, but that’s still a little piece of your life in return and it’s just… amazing.)

For me writing and meta are things that kind of ouroboros together.  I tend to engage with stories in a very inquisitive/ interrogative way - I want to understand the characters/ events/ world it’s trying to create as well as the mechanics behind the curtain - and I have a special place in my heart for stories that were constructed with enough thought to reward that kind of curiosity.  Which then reflects in my own writing and the behind-the-scenes planning work I do to make sure things hold up to inspection by other puzzlers.

3WD's Meta Collection

Danny Phantom Maddie & Jack | Vlad | Tucker | The trouble with Sam (+ follow ups) The Asexual Appeal | Reboot Thoughts | Ageswap AU

Young Justice Season 1 (and also DW) Let’s Analyse the Light | A Different Take on Martian Bigotry

Actually Critical YJ Analyses Masterpost | Invasion: a Detailed Dissection | Antithesis of Heroism (Bonus Rhyme)

And now…

Fanfic Recommendations

This one is actually a bit of a challenge for me because I consume media (and analysis) quite widely across a lot of fandoms.  I tend to draw eclectic inspiration from my whole ‘source-pool’ and its meta-patterns, so it’s hard for me to point to any one thing and say: ‘that specifically inspired part of DW’.

It’s also a little tricky because Deathly Weapons was partly inspired by me having some specific itches that I couldn’t find any stories to scratch. “People won't write the books I want, so I have to do it for myself” and so on and so forth. If you would like to make any recs based on DW then please do so, I would love to see them.

That said, my FFN Favourites and AO3 Bookmarks double as general recs lists - I tend to use my bookmarks/faves as quick-access for stories I want to revisit, so you can take anything on there as something I would potentially recommend to other people.

What I’d like to do now is give a more specific list of stories that are somewhat DW-adjacent or are doing interesting things with their premise/execution/characterisation:

Danny Phantom

Alibi (FFN) by MyAibou Gen | Complete | Post series (no PP) He was Dash Baxter. Football star. King of Casper High. The world was supposed to have been his oyster for at least another decade. So how did he end up in the basement lab of FentonWorks working for the dad of the kid he used to beat up in high school? And how far would he stick his neck out to protect that kid and whatever secret he was hiding from the government?

A Ghost Story (FFN) by Cordria Gen | Complete | Slowburn mystery AU Maddie finds a strange toy airplane in a field, and it leads her to learning some very interesting things about her family.

You know how I said I can’t usually point to something as direct inspiration for DW?  This is one of the exceptions: Maddie’s realisation very much inspired Robin’s similar one in CH12: Answers.

What Little Girls are Made Of (AO3) by Haiju Gen | Complete | Dani-centric reveal fic Phantom and his younger double save Amity Park from a monstrous ghost, nearly destroying themselves in the process. The Fentons have always hunted ghosts; now it's time to save one.

Young Justice

Before we begin, I would like to share this AO3 filter I use for YJ fics published pre-2019.  It won’t pick up any still-updating fics or older fics that might have migrated to AO3 since, but if you want to revisit what the fandom felt like before the Fire Nation attacked then this will come pretty close.

Age of Heroes (AO3) by VelkynKarma Gen | Complete | Zombie Apocalypse AU The apocalypse has come and gone and the Age of Heroes is long since over. There’s not much left to live for, but Wally’s never been one to give up without trying, and maybe there are still a few miracles—and heroes—left in the world.

The Fedora Verse  (AO3) by itsxandy Gen | Series | Complete | Villain!Wally Elseworld Wally West is the newest, fastest thief in Central City. His biggest offense so far? Making crime look this good.

No One Said Flying Was Easy (AO3) by Wrtrmd2 Gen | Complete | Robin origin story Eight year old Richard Grayson has just watched his parents fall to their deaths. Hurting and alone, he struggles to adjust to the new life he's thrown into. Bruce Wayne takes him in, but seems to have no idea what he's doing. Can they help each other put the pieces of their broken lives back together?

Morals (FFN) by WonderWalrus Spitfire | Complete | CW: graphic depictions of violence When a mission takes a turn for the worse, Wally is captured by Shadows and held captive in a secret base. Alone and afraid, he finds himself talking to the only person who will listen: the blonde archer guarding him who refuses to give her name.

Coming of Rage (AO3) by BlackFriar Gen | Complete | CW: graphic depictions of violence Batman is infected with rage, leading Robin and Kid Flash on a mad dash through Gotham to find the cure before Batman destroys either himself…or someone he cares about.

Danny Phantom x Young Justice (or Teen Titans)

Turning Tables (FFN) by Blackwolfhunting TT x DP | Gen | Complete | Post TUE AU | CW: experimentation When the Teen Titans face a new apprentice from Slade, what are they to do especially when this one can turn Invisible and hide from their sights. Though they receive surprising help that just might help reveal the mystery around this new apprentice and why exactly he hates one Vlad Masters' guts.

Shoutout to this as the first proper fanfiction I ever read and the one that started me on the path into fandom.  If you’re wondering where ThreeWaysDivided began, you can look here.  (I ask that you not hold it against them: they knew not what would happen and no doubt meant well).

Unfair Justice (FFN) by Daruku Janubu  DP x YJ | Gen | Discontinued |CW: Post-dissection fic Within the cargo box of a missing truck, the team found something that would redefine their view on justice. For sometimes, believing you are doing what is right makes innocent people suffer; and sometimes, saving people's lives is not enough to make you their hero.

Not the first YJ x DP fic I ever read but this is the first one I remember really sticking with me.  Warning for heavy content but lovely style.  Also, coincidentally, by the artist who drew the cover which first enticed me into checking out Turning Tables.  Because life, like fic, is sometimes very well written.

The Heart of a Hero (FFN) by Rookey DP x YJ | Gen | Hiatus/ Discontinued | Post TUE AU With the whole world blaming him for an accident that killed thousands, Danny Fenton finds himself living day-to-day in a rather peaceful city he thought to be widely overlooked by the Justice League. But the heart of a hero knows no bounds, and Danny finds staying hidden to be much harder than he anticipated; especially when Happy Harbor isn't nearly as "overlooked" as he thought.

Control (FFN) by nikodark  DP x YJ | Gen | Abandoned | CW: kidnapping & violence Dick Grayson gets kidnapped a lot. A whole lot. We all know that tired trope. But this time he gets kidnapped by a ghost.

The Half-Finished, Half-Assed Guide to Being Half-Dead: By a Half-Ghost (AO3) by ItsyBitsyBatsySpider DP x YJ | Gen | Ongoing Dick Grayson is thrown into a world he didn't even know existed, with powers that he can barely understand, and Danny Fenton did not expect to become a ghost mentor when the Justice League came knocking on his door.

Red Eyes (FFN) by art-is-a-bang-yeah  DP x YJ | Gen | Complete | Post TUE AU | CW: abuse During a benefit Bruce and his charge meet Vlad masters and his son Daniel, a boy with blood red eyes. When Bruce notices a few things seem off about the teen, he decides he should investigate and what he discovers is much darker than he thought possible.

Ghost of A Chance (AO3) by MirrorandImage TT x DP | Gen | Complete | CW: PTSD & former abuse At a financial gala, Robin finds a curious girl who only has one thing to say: "Tell Danny I'm alive."

Other fandoms and crossovers

E.Nigma Investigations (AO3) by Gh0stWriter, zorasublime (Dr_Skeletons) Batman Elseworld | Gen | Series | Quasi-1940s Noir Mystery Recently-reformed and even more recently-released from Arkham Asylum, Edward Nigma is struggling to find work as a Private Eye. A changed Gotham greets him; marred by the scars of a harrowing catastrophe that put real fear into the public and shifted the dynamic of the Rogues. Cobblepot is on the rise and, with the Joker leaving burned bridges in his wake, the city's underworld is more dangerous for Harley Quinn than she wants to believe. Police, doctors and former friends on all sides, suspiciously-specific fires breaking out in the slums and Whispers of something more horrifying on the horizon. What a time to try to go straight.

What the Cat Dragged In (AO3) by Kryal Miraculous Ladybug x Early MCU | Gen | Complete Tony's pretty sure it's written into cosmic law somewhere: superheroes are not supposed be cute. Apparently, no one's told these two. He’s okay with that.

They're Us (FFN) by Goldenbrook15  Young Justice x Justice League Unlimited | Gen | Abandoned When Young Justice’s Team land themselves in another dimension by accident and then manage to escape the entire Justice League (who strangely don't know them at all) and flee into the world outside, Batman can only come to one conclusion, "They're us, from a different world."

Happytown (AO3) by TMBrown Zootopia | Gen | Complete | Buddy-cop investigation A special assignment leads Judy and Nick into a tangled web of history in Nick's childhood home, while Judy deals with the consequences of her fame back in Bunnyburrow.

Good Neighbors (AO3) by PitViperOfDoom My Hero Academia | Gen | Series | Complete | Leverage AU Sometimes you miss your calling, but that doesn't mean you won't find it again in an unexpected place.

the family brooklyn (AO3) by tactfulGnostalgic Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse | Gen | Series | Complete A series of fics set in the Spiderverse, about home and its variations.

Developmental Milestones (AO3) by audreycritter Batman (comics) | Gen | Complete | OC Centric Dr. Kiran Devabhaktuni is a neurosurgeon. He's the neurosurgeon that cut a tumor out of Bruce Wayne's skull. At first, Dev was just coming around for tea with Alfred. But somehow he's now working as the doctor for the Wayne Family. And the Wayne family? Also the Batman Family.

I don’t usually recommend OC-centric fics but Dev is one of the best support characters I have ever encountered.  10/10 very good Batdoctor.

Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach (AO3) by Nnm Good Omens (TV) | Gen | Complete As soon as Aubrey Thyme, psychotherapist, had opened her office door and seen her new client, Anthony J. Crowley, sitting in her waiting area, she was observing and assessing him. At first glance, she paid attention to the following: --His clothing was expensive and stylish; --He wore very strange but noticeable cologne; --His relationship to the seat he occupied could only, very loosely, be described as “sitting;” --He looked angry; --He was wearing sunglasses. What Aubrey Thyme, a professional, thought, upon first seeing her new client was: you’re going to be a fun one, aren’t you?

Other media recs

Going to finish off with a little tangent (as is my wont).  Sometimes I get the sense that Deathly Weapons is built a little different from the average crossover fic, and I think part of it is that I draw a fair bit of inspiration and stylistic influence from traditionally published media across a bunch of genres.  Here are a few of those:

Works that directly influenced Deathly Weapons

The Millennium Trilogy Book Series | Mystery/ Modern Noir | Trilogy | Complete | CW: MA15+ Millennium publisher Mikael Blomkvist has made his reputation exposing corrupt establishment figures.  Enigmatic delinquent security specialist Lisbeth Salander is a genius computer hacker who tolerates no restrictions placed on her by individuals, society or the law. They were men who hated women, and she was the woman who hates men who hate women.

This is one of my favourite mystery/ crime series and provided a fair amount of inspiration for DW in terms of structural, tonal and stylistic elements (especially in chapters like the Prologue and Phenomenon).  People familiar with this series might recognise some direct stylistic homages in future chapters. Trigger warning:  This series deals heavily in subjects of bigotry (especially misogyny), abuse (personal, sexual and institutional) and violence against women, and includes explicit depictions and discussions.  MA15+, reader discretion is advised.

The Kingkiller Chronicles Book Series | Fantasy | Trilogy | Incomplete (2/3 Published) I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me

One of my favourite fantasy series, and a big inspiration in terms of prose and style as well as some character dynamics.  Fans may recognise direct homages in some of DW’s chapter titles, such as Roads to Safe Places and Ill-Lit Ships.

The Book Thief Book | Historical Fiction | CW: War, Nazism/ Antisemitism, Death It’s just a small story really, about, among other things: a girl; some words; an accordionist; some fanatical Germans; a Jewish fist-fighter; and quite a lot of thievery. I saw the book thief three times.

This book has my all-time favourite prose in terms of lyricism and imagery, as well as its ability to speak to loss and find beauty in the human condition even under horrific circumstances.  I sometimes re-read it as part of preparation for writing emotionally heavy chapters like Roads to Safe Places, and fans might recognise some direct stylistic homages.

Avatar: The Last Airbender TV Series (Animated) | Fantasy/ Martial Arts In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.

What can I say about A:TLA that hasn’t already been said by a million other writers and story analysts?  I certainly took some structural and emotional cues from this show and the discussions around it when planning DW’s overarching story.

Other ones you might like

I’m going to bundle Psychonauts 2, Leverage and Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse together as I have discussed them at length in another recommendation post but if you enjoyed any of the story flavours in Young Justice Season 1 then these will probably scratch some similar itches.

If you like young adult spy stories that are played more for tension/ intrigue than fantasy then you may enjoy the Alex Rider book series.  I reread the first book, Stormbreaker, while working on the last third of the Black Gold mission.

The Bartimaeus Sequence is a very entertaining series of YA Urban Fantasy political intrigues featuring magic and demons, narrated mostly by a djinn who has some pointed comments to make about humanity.   Those who like their Urban Fantasy with intrigue/ crime elements, villain protagonists and/or banter may also like the Artemis Fowl series (YMMV on the last 2 books, which were written later and somewhat divisive for their shift in style and focus).

Speaking of morally ambiguous intrigue-heavy Urban Fantasy, the Death Note manga is a fun cat-and-mouse murder-thriller between two ruthless strategists.

Fullmetal Alchemist is another deservedly well-renowned modern fantasy manga with mystery/ political intrigue elements, which has some broad-strokes overlaps with A:TLA in terms of structure, tone and general thesis on humanity.

Spiritfarer is a cozy indie management game about dying.  This might seem like a bit of a dark horse offering but a major component of DW Arc II’s planned main character thread is about the journey through (and specificity of) grief.  If that is something you enjoy then Spiritfarer is a concentrated dose of that in an exceptionally executed, insightful, gentle and touching form, with a gorgeous soundtrack.

Another dark horse offering coming in to land (heh) is Air Crash Investigations (also known as Mayday: Air Disaster), a documentary series about aviation forensics.  As discussed here, it’s a very good example of fair-mystery style investigative storytelling grounded in human tragedy - especially from Season 11 onwards.  Fair warning: if you have issues with planes or flying then you may want to tread carefully here.

And with that I think we’ll stop for now.  Hope you find something you like in the list.  Please feel free to add on any recs of your own!

[aconissa]

tagged by @carpe-mamilia​ & @lesmiserabelles​ (thank you both!)

fave colour: red

currently reading: I’ve had very little time for personal reading lately but I’m finally starting on babel by r. f. kuang! I’m also slowly making my way through gothic: an illustrated history by robert luckhurst, which i STRONGLY recommend for anyone interested in the history of horror/gothic/the macabre. the author draws together everything from ottoman architecture to scottish fragment poetry to romantic art to folk horror films to japanese horror games, totally seamlessly and in the most eye-opening way. so good

last song: ‘night shift’ by lucy dacus

last series: again I’ve had sooo little time for watching tv but my partner and I tried to catch up on some wwdits a few days ago

last movie: apollo 13

currently working on: research assistant work for an anthropology project on indigeneity in the philippines (among other things)

share 10 different favourite characters from ten different pieces of media in no particular order:

will graham in hannibal

sebastian flyte in brideshead revisited

ellen ripley in alien

eowyn in the lord of the rings

sidney prescott in scream

harry goodsir in the terror

guillermo de la cruz in what we do in the shadows

paikea apirana in whale rider

sebastian maturin in the aubreyad/master and commander

ellie sattler in jurassic park

if you wanna do this consider yourself tagged <3

[potteresque-ire]

Commentary ~ Little Red Little Green Episode 18, “Fruits & Found Family”

Link to original post in Chinese, posted 2021/05/23. Link to official English translation.

(Disclaimer / Notes + Commentary under the cut!) (TW: possible eating disorder)

Disclaimer / Notes:

While the posts by Little Red Little Green (LRLG) are among my most favourite candies, I’d like to remind everyone that they are fake rumours, and should be read and enjoyed as such. ie, all CPN below!

The English translation linked above is the only one authorised by the Fake Rumour House; therefore, please treat all content below as a very casual, very *unofficial* convo between fellow turtle friends! ❤️💛💚

With Chinese being a highly region-specific language, my reactions to it is necessarily filtered through my background, which is, admittedly, somewhat removed from Gg’s, Dd’s and LRLG’s. However, it is not uncommon for even c-turtles (and several times, LRLG themselves) to be lost with what they read / heard due to regional differences ~ which reflects the reality of communicating in the Sinosphere. In fact, the regionality of the dialects used by different “characters” in LRLG’s dialogues is among the most critical elements that make these posts so authentic-sounding, and so difficult to replicate. A fun activity of following LRLG is to watch c-turtles patch their regional knowledge together, from local slangs to food choices, to make sense of what’s going on. 

Okay, with that all said *phew* ... onto the commentary! “p. X” refers to the panel number in the official English translation (there are 7 total in the Twitter post). 

p1. “Fairy”

Likely referring to the similarity between Gg’s current role for 玉骨遥 (The Longest Promise) and LWJ. Dd was praising Gg for being “fairy-like”; Chinese “fairies” (仙) have a certain style especially in visual media, similar to ... LWJ’s ~ otherworldly, white robes that billow in the wind, peaceful to the point of distant, scholarly, delicate. In between the lines, Gg likely said he was simply playing LWJ (hence, the ”act another me” in the translation), which Dd protested... and said Gg was simply playing himself. Whether that means DD IS NOT LWJ!!!!! 😡😡😡 or something else, we’ll know what we get to watch the show!

p1-p2. “Heat”

Yes about the Chang’e 嫦娥 reference!! Despite Houyi 后羿 shooting down 9/10 suns and saving the day, his wife is, indeed, more famous (and therefore the star, the more powerful one), because she’s frequently featured in Mid-Autumn festival art, along with her pet rabbit 玉兔 (”Jade Rabbit”),:

(Chang’e with her bunny, traditional Chinese painting. Source.)

Below is Gg’s rendition of Chang’e / Jade Bunny pair ~ Chang’e being the superman in the drawing while Jade Bunny is crouching on the planet!! 

Guess of the missing convo from Gg’s side: Gg had wanted to bring something to Hengdian (where the filming of The Longest Promise was taking place) to cool himself down, and Dd had said it wasn’t necessarily. Hence Dd’s “My bad my bad” and the promise to send that something to Gg.

The loveliest line in this segment for me—and for many c-turtles— is the one about white hair. Turning grey a common, but very old-fashioned way of expressing worry and poor Dd, who hasn’t even turned 24, is claiming he was turning white because he got so worried every time Gg complained about the heat (Aww). 

Turning grey with worry isn’t limited to romantic situations — it may happen to doting parents with wayward children, for example, or to ancient patriots over their crumbling kingdom. However, it’s also one of the more (very!) dramatic ways to communicate tragic love in Chinese fiction before Western influence allows “love”, as a term / word / character, to be used explicitly in writing romance. 

Here’s a little example, a little diversion that may be of interest. Those who are familiar with the Wuxia classic Return of the Condor Heroes 神雕俠侶 by Jin Yong 金庸, whether it’s the book or its numerous visual adaptations, may remember how the hero, Yang Guo 楊過, went white at his temples overnight after his Shifu and lover, Xiao Long Nv (小龍女), didn’t show up at the cliff at the end of his 16-year wait for her.  

Set photo from a TV adaption of Return of the Condor Heroes, 1995. Turtles may find the actress playing the perenially white-wearing, calm-to-the point-of-aloof Xiao Long Nv, Carmen Li 李若彤, familiar ~ she also played Lan Yi in The Untamed. 

The 16-year wait, the invitation to Carmen to play Lan Zhan’s ancestor (when the two shared similarities in aesthetics and personality), were two of the three references from Return of the Condor Heroes I picked up from The Untamed (the last one was more specific—WWX mentioned Yang Guo’s master 獨孤求敗). This tribute is unconfirmed, but MXTX did say before that Jin Yong’s works were her inspiration. I also read a (small) discussion on whether LWJ’s hair carried a few pieces of white in the final episode, or if the lighter strands in it were a trick of the sunlight. (Here’s a screenshot of the approximate place to look!!) 

While I lean towards the latter (the sunlight), turning white with worry, with love, is a tradition in Chinese storytelling. Here’s a little something I’ve noticed too, on this note ~ both in the actual interviews and in these fake rumours, Dd’s word choices, the way he conveys emotions are sometimes surprisingly traditional. It can be because of his background (which would require a study of how Luo Yang people and Koreans talk); it can be because the traditional way of talking allows for fewer words to be said, fewer things to have to be explicitly explained (example: LWJ), but the effect is that Dd has supplied the most romantic lines in LRLG’s posts because of that ~ romantic because it harks back to the rhythm, the themes of old poetry, of ancient stories that, as were true everywhere in the world, were about love. 

Okay, back to the rumour (and hoping Dd won’t look like Bad Wig Yang Guo in a few more summers!) ....

The line after the one about white hair ... the way I understand the original Chinese sentence is “Heat is The Reason”: ie, anything Dd wants Gg to do and Gg disagrees, Gg would use heat as The Reason (R) to not do it. This anything may be eating, for example, which also has a strong possibility as conventional Chinese wisdom says that heat causes people to lose appetite. Dd’s worry would therefore be: Gg refusing to eat because he claims it’s too hot to do so.

“Corny joke” ~ the Chinese for this is, literally, “cold 冷 joke 笑話”, which becomes a pun as the gzry (team members)’s joke was about the (cold) winter and black hair. So... Dd threw a corny joke to combat a corny joke :D .

p3. “Apple”

The first half I also had to rely on c-turtles to help me interpret what it meant! Regional dialects aside, LRLG has captured dls’s very quick wit, the way his ideas freely hop from one concept to the next and this hopping carries traditional + popular cultural references that I know only a fraction of, not being a local after all. 

I’ve read an additional interpretation of this segment: “big fruit” 大果兒 (as in dls: “Those are all big fruits, all big fruits”) is a Northern Chinese, traditional slang for women—dls might have connected that with the previous line in the convo about being Guowang, as explained in the translation, and “big and juicy” + “touch to feel” being suggestive phrases. Then, given the rare usage of the big fruit = women slang, dls expressed surprise that Dd understood what he meant, went on to say he expected Gg to know it (implying Gg could’ve taught Dd the meaning) ... 

Which led to the entertaining part of this segment. Dd was like “You guys (= Gg + dls) talked?” Dls appeared to have thought of the scenario customarily inviting this question (scenario: someone on the verge of catching their spouse cheating) and began playacting that scenario, started to stammer ... as if he had just been got caught trying to chat up someone’s spouse  ~  ”I-I-I....how to say it ...”. Dd caught on dls’s playacting and went along, continued with the “accusation”: “You’re stammering”. Dls then noted that Dd’s accusation was scary and Dd smiled, ending the playact ~ so, ah, readers, never mess with Dd’s spouse!! Dd gets scary!! 

(BTW: ”nijia na kouzi” 你家那口子 was explained in the translation for a reason ~ It’s a warm, friendly term for a dear friend’s spouse. 😊)

p4. Lychees

Lychees. Has everyone tried them? It’s important not to over-eat them though...

In which the “Feeding Gg” saga continues! This segment is one of those that are wonderful for fic writers who wish to capture Gg and Dd in words. Gg, like many brought up in traditional families, has trouble saying “no” outright, which is often considered rude. As such, he resorted to delay tactics, something he had also done with the fried noodles in The Makeup Room BTS. 

In the BTS, his delay tactics had been to argue that Dd hadn’t eaten his box of noodles and therefore, he couldn’t start (~2:35 mark)—as proper manners indeed dictated. In this dialogue, his delay tactics was to say he’d eat the lychees later, that the lychees would make him too full for the proper meal (rice). 

A cute thing about this convo is that rather than pouting and grumbling his only being LWJ’s replacement (as he had hilariously done in the BTS), Dd had, apparently over the last three years, become an expert on countering such delay tactics. He peeled the lychees, which not only removed a major obstacle for eating, but also set a timer as peeled lychees get dry quickly (and Gg, despite being a picky eater, didn’t seem to like to waste food). He said the fruit could make appetiser. He got the help of their team members, who assured Gg that two lychees would be all right.

Gg’s response to the assurance... takes a little time to explain. 

The original Chinese line for “Great, great, you’re so awesome” was 絕了絕了你們絕了。 “絕了”, a popular phrase used by Chinese netizens, was repeated three times.

絕, literally, means the extreme, the absolute, the end. 絕了 means pretty much the same ~ a thing that is 絕了 is standing en pointe at the edge of the cliff that is The Absolute End of a spectrum. It is the Ultimate. It can't be surpassed. It’s unbeatable. 

絕了 is usually used in a positive sense, as in the English translation, with the positive being implied. If I say the LWJ photo above is 絕了, for example, I don’t need to specify that the extreme in 絕 stands on the good end. It’s understood given the audience of this post are mostly turtles (HELLO *waves*). We’re all heart-eyes here. We agree, without saying, that this photo is The Top, The Pinnacle; it can’t be better. 絕了 is higher praise than Excellent; it’s so good that there are no adjectives for it. Its own presence defines How Good It Is. 

But 絕了 doesn’t have to be positive. If my audience is Su She ... he’s likely to take the same “This LWJ photo is 絕了” to mean the Mariana Trench kind of Absolute—the bottom of the bottom, the Unbeatable, Adjective-Defying Worst. 

絕了 allows for that understanding too.

In this scenario, I interpret Gg’s 絕了 as taking the meaning of both extremes (which make it a fantastic phrase choice!): that Gg thought Dd and the team members were being both the Absolute Best (for thinking of Gg, caring for him) AND the Absolute Worst (for going against his wish to not eat!) Gg’s 絕了 also signals defeat; if Dd and his team members were The Absolute ... Whatever, then poor Gg had no choice but to yield to their wishes. I can already imagine his “I can’t believe I lose this way” Look (see: every rock-paper-scissors he lost, which was ... pretty much all of them), mixed with, perhaps, a healthy amount of bunny tooth warning (how dare Dd et al banded up against him)...

Those bunny teeth had to be taken care of, right? And so Dd went on to say lychees being good omen that ensure things would go smoothly for the eater... targeting Gg’s being a, as c-turtles call it, 小迷信 (literally, “Little Superstitious”, a young + adorable + superstitious person). Dd said that to help Gg justify the choice to eat, to make Gg feel better about his defeat. 

(Of note: I had actually never heard of lychees being associated with good luck before, and a quick search online also didn’t yield any result. This could be a relatively rare association Google failed to catch ... or something Dd made up on the fly to make Gg happy.) 

(Lychees have, however, been associated with romance. If Emperor’s Smile 天子笑 was The Love Drink in The Untamed, then what is Concubine’s Smile 妃子笑? Answer: it’s the RL name of a type of lychees, lychees being the fruit very much adored by Yang Yuhuan 楊玉環, the consort of the Emperor Xuanzong (685-762 BCE) of the Tang Dynasty and one of the four most beautiful woman in Chinese history. Since lychees had only been grown in southern China, the emperor had had the fruit couriered, in express mode involving many horses, to the palace up north to please his favourite wife. Lychees had become a symbol of love from that historical tale.)

Did Gg get Dd’s message then, the love and care packaged in those peeled, sweet fruit awaiting his bite? Yes, but not without a little more fight! “Eat eat eat, (I’ll eat) until you go bankrupt” is a literal translation of his final line. Tonally, I can see the following as being an alternative translation: 

“Fine fine fine. I’ll eat, it’s not like I can bankrupt you by eating anyway!”

If it sounded a little sulky, that’s because it did ... a little sulky AND fiery. As expected from our favourite Chongqing Big Pepper 😂😂😂 (Poor Gg).

Dd smiled at that, needless to say. He won!!! He got Gg to eat!! The world shall rejoice!! 

p5. “Showtime”

There’s a show coming up for Dd (the YH concert maybe?), and Gg offered suggestions. 

The sweet point of this segment is about half-way down the conversation, in the piece of paper 📄 Gg gave to Dd (after “This is for you.”). Dd took the paper, noted the many words on it, and started saying 我把我整個靈魂, translated as “I bring my entire soul”.

c-Turtles have, based on these words, hypothesised that Dd was about to read out a quote that Gg had written on the paper, with the list of items Gg thought Dd should take, before Gg stopped him with a call of his name (“WYB”). The quote was included on the translation (”I give you my entire soul...only, a little good, love you.”) I have also talked about the same quote, in more detail, here.

I’m equally stumped on the final line of this segment. (Sorry!!)

p6. “Found Family”

It’s a heartwarming segment. While LRLG had previously noted that the TTXS bros had communicated with Gg, this segment made clear that they care for him like they do for Dd ~ as family.

* dls mailed Gg a lot of fruit for sharing with the film crew. “Family member needs to be impressive” is a rough translation, but this line does defy simple translation because 排面 a highly cultural concept that has much to do with the equally complex, Chinese concept of face (which this article explains... somewhat adequately). The message to take home is that dls cared enough about Gg that he wanted to make sure Gg wouldn’t lose face in front of the film crew; that, by having enough gifts (fruits) for everyone, Gg wouldn’t be viewed as cheap or inadequate or stingy, or whatever adjective that wouldn’t befit his top idol status. Because dls saw Gg as a member of his family. 

* The prescription from hg had been mentioned in a previous LRLG rumour. 方子 is a Chinese medicine prescription, which, unlike Western formulations, is individualised both to the discomfort / ailment and to the “body constitution” of the person who'll take it, the latter deciding the kind of ailments the person is susceptible to, and which ingredients are expected to be more effective. Chinese medicine also places a strong emphasises on long-term conditioning, whether it’s for recovery from a certain condition or for general good health. A good 方子 is therefore a far more complex and personal thing than, say, a scribble of “paracetamol” / “acetaminophen” on a piece of paper. :D

* fg’s gift for Gg (xx) is something for the waist. A brace support, maybe? For example?

My favourite line in this segment is when hg asked what will Gg and Dd do when they reach hg’s age. Given that the last two items (the prescription and xx) were health-related, I interpreted it as hg worrying about Gg and Dd’s health when they grow old... with all the health problems they already have. It’s the kind of thing a worried parent say to their children ~ my mom has said the same thing to me as well. 😢

p6. “The Cat Paw”

Not quite sure what’s happening here ... not sure what the cat paw is. (Sorry!!) But that é in the translation is Dd’s signature laugh (collection here), which is written as 鵝 (”Goose”) in Chinese 😂.

p7. “The Cat Toy”

Dd appeared to be shopping for a cat’s toy (something that can “hook the cat” in the translation, such that the cat can entertain itself and not rely on human companionship as much). Gg had already bought the toy though and sounded quite proud of it, told Dd to return the toy. The implied cat was, of course, Nut (堅果 Jianguo)... which had been repeatedly referred to in LRLG’s posts as Gg’s daughter.

p7. “Cool vs Cute”

Gg is often viewed as cute, and Dd as cool. Did Dd dislike Gg taking cute pictures for public consumption? Were they scheming an exchange of image? :D

And that’s it for this issue! Ooh, this took unexpectedly long ... I apologise for the ridiculous delay between the original post and this commentary! 

(I wrote half of it, then RL struck and I forgot about it.) (I’m hopeless.) (I need a 方子 for poor memory!!)

[narumayo-zine]

Creator Spotlight: Lyssala

Social Media:

Tumblr: @lyssala

Twitter: @Lyssalalaa

Interview below the cut!

1. How long have you been in the Ace Attorney fandom?

From around June 2021! My partner has loved the series since way back when the first game came out in the US, and always wanted to take me through the series because he (rightfully so haha) knew I would love it too. Once the original trilogy was re-released as a bundle, he knew it was finally time. We started right from AA1 and binged all the way through AA6 together, including reading the entire games aloud (he read for all the guys and I would read all the girls - it made the already enjoyable dialogue even more so!). It made the games special because we got to experience them together in such a fun way (him playing them with me and me for the first time) and I absolutely fell in love with the absolute charm of the series and every single character. I was already diving into the fandom by the time we hit AA2 because I knew even then I wanted more of these darling characters in my life.

2. What's your favorite aspect of the Narumayo ship?

I love how much they mean to one another, and how much they're at ease in each other's presence. It comes out in their banter, their teasing, that they don't need to worry about being anything but themselves when they're together. That he'd do anything to keep her safe and that she knows he'll always come to save her. It's that bond they've always had that really made me fall in love with them.

3. What is your favourite thing to draw/write? And are you working on anything at the moment? My favorite things to write are AUs, any type of them! I love taking everything I enjoy about the source material and imagining the characters in different worlds, different situations. I find it so much fun to explore what their personalities and dynamics bring in a different universe; to keep everything I love about them but to see it from a new lens.

I have a few ideas I'd like to work on next, but the one I keep coming back to is a Detective Noir AU. Writing period pieces allows me to do a lot of research which I enjoy, and since Ace Attorney already deals with so much crime and mystery it's easy to imagine the characters set in this classic setting. Plus I just really want to write Phoenix trying to be serious to get the job done which often requires being discreet, and Maya as his sassy assistant who'd much rather kick the door down because she has no patience to be discreet.

4. What are some other fandoms you create for? 

The other fandom I write for is Kingdom Hearts. Specifically centered around the Wayfinder Trio, but I have much love for all the characters and the series.

5. Do you have any past works you'd like to share?

This is my first time writing for the Ace Attorney fandom, so I don't have anything to share from it (yet!) but my favorite work so far is my ongoing AU set written for Kingdom Hearts. 

(Click here to see it!)

[caseyogdenart]

For my second piece of work with the IFY, I had a few different ideas, some of them past my skill level and some of them i didnt enjoy the idea of, none of them i went with in my final piece (explained later).

For my first idea, I thought of rotoscoping a tree in 360, hopefully one with flat leaves and then animating someone kicking their feet from the top, i could not find an isolated tree to realise this idea.

For my second idea I wanted to animate a timelapse of a tree being cut down and replaced by a house and then the tree gets washed away by a tsunami for a tree to grow in its place, starting over. While i liked this idea, i wanted to incorporate more of the things i enjoyed from my trip to the eden project, so i might revive this idea at some point.

For the next idea, I wanted to animate a gif where i would find a top down drone image of the entire Eden Project and then have pound signs lined up and moving towards the center in a heart beat fashion where i would replace the pavilion building with a beating heart, pumping out seeds. I liked the message i had created with this idea of the Eden Project being a positive and proactive tool of capitalism, however i had no idea how to realise this idea in photoshop and am leaving it on the table to hopefully revisit when my editing skills improve.

For my final purposeful idea i wanted to edit the videos i took at the eden project together in a coherent and visually interesting way. While i didnt enjoy this very much i thought it was the only thing i could do at the time. However, when i was spending time figuring out how i was going to plan my weekend around editing these videos, i was doodling a screenshot from my favourite video i took (sketch and video shown below) and realised how much i enjoyed drawing the bird and wanted to change my final piece around this. And so finally i ended up rotoscoping the bird and putting it to the audio track from the video.

My favourite us of rotoscoping in media is the character Elena from Street Fighter 3.

[meruz]

Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.

Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.

1. When did you get into art?

Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.

2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for? 

LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.

In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.

3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.

4. What defines your artistic style?

You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...

Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.

5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?

I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.

One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.

6. What levels of artistic education have you had?

I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.

7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.

heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...

assorted valentines prep doodles

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.

10. What do you like most about your art?

I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:

So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.

14. What do you like drawing the most?

Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.

oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.

15. What do you like drawing the least?

mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.

18. What is your purpose for drawing?

This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha. 

20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)

Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL

In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.

And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.

24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)

I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look

25. Draw a picture!

Man I’m so tired now but here.

I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.

OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.

I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!

I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!

That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.

Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:

from top > bottom

- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen

- tombow fudenosuke

- muji 0.38 ballpoint

- medium size poscas

- grey tombow double brush pens

- good ol bic mechanical pencil

not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.

You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3

Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...

uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.

I assume these asks are related? LOL

1) Yeah totally true. I love David.

2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at isellhotdogs@gmail.com.

<33333333333333333333333333

[inkdemonapologist]

So I'm terrified of reading CoC. All of the art makes me so emotional, but I still force myself to read it because it's so good. Then I start try to make something as amazing as that and just end up crying???

Do you have any art tips or any words of advice? How do you find the motivation to do all of it? How do you not throw that motivation away because you just don't want to do it? Also how the heck do you make artist friends? I've been trying to make some so I can draw with someone, but I can't find anyone.

Oh my gosh!! THANK U…. I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABT THE CTHULHU BOYS MYSELF…..

Okay lemme see if I can answer these questions in a non-rambling way!!

How do u not throw away motivation when you don’t want to do things? I think if you don’t want to do things, like you ACTUALLY don’t want to do them, and it’s something you’re supposedly doing for enjoyment, it is good and fine to just not do them!! Like, I only draw because I want to. If you don’t want to do something, and you stop and don’t do it until you want to do it again, that is not actually a failure. Obviously there’s exceptions and nuance to this -- sometimes you have to do art for work if you’re a professional artist, and sometimes folks will know from experience that doing art even when you don’t feel like it will ultimately give you joy and satisfaction so you do your best to get over that hurdle, but forcing yourself to do art when it isn’t enjoyable or fulfilling is actually how you get burnout. I also think that Doing Other Things And Cultivating Other Skills And Hobbies Besides Drawing is an almost essential thing for artists to do and highly recommend it. When you’re doing things in your free time, do the things you WANT to do!

How do you find motivation? The joke answer to this question is “hyperfixation lol” but I think the actual answer here is self-indulgence. BE SELF-INDULGENT!!! If you’re looking at a cool story or a cool piece of art and thinking “I want to make a thing that is as cool and impactful as my favourite thing” then like… what is there for your brain to even work with there? That’s so vague, and the pressure becomes so huge that it feels impossible. Whereas if you’re like “I LOVE MY OCs AND I NEED TO SHOW OTHER PEOPLE HOW MUCH OF A HIMBO MY ONE OC IS” or “I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT SAMMY LAWRENCE SMOOCHING JACK AFTER RECOVERING FROM TRAUMA AND I NEED TO CONVEY WHY IM SO EMOTIONAL ABOUT THIS” then like, THATS something you can get powered up about!!! People shy away from being self-indulgent because they think they’re supposed to be appealing to other people, or trying to figure out what other people think is cool, but the truth is that when you are really, REALLY absolutely into the thing you’re making? IT SHOWS, that love pours out of it and when you find the other people who wanted that content that you made just for you, they will get SO EXCITED. Draw the ideas that make you go HELL YEAH HELL YEAH HELL YEAH. The Call of Cthulhu game is MASSIVE self-indulgence for all of us and that’s why we’re so excited about it!! Every once in a while I think to myself “what would be a Cool Picture of Sammy Lawrence that other people in the fandom would like that might get a bunch of notes” and sometimes I even have ideas, but I never ever get around to drawing them because there are so many other things I would RATHER be drawing that are just very exciting to me personally. 

How do you make artist friends? As far as I know there’s not One Weird Trick to making friends of any particular sort, but my experience is -- (a) do things that you like, (b) join groups / communities / forums / follow on social media / discord servers for people who do the things that you like, (c) interact with those people in ways that are fun, (d) if you happen to both enjoy interacting and reciprocate with each other then you can interact more and invite each other to new and different interactions and lead towards some level of friendship! A lot of the art friends I have now are folks from a community for a browser game we all played -- I drew a bunch of fanart and liked their fanart and enjoyed yelling headcanons about the characters with them, and we ended up enjoying each other enough to want to do other things together, too. Friendship isn’t a thing where you like, find people you like and then try to figure out how to make them like you back, or an exchange where if you listen to someone talk about X then they’re required by friend rules to listen to you talk about Y. Instead, friendship is about running into people who are a good fit for you in circumstances where you click with them and have things in common, or things you can both share. So the part you can be proactive about is meeting people! And knowing that if people don’t become friends with you or a community isn’t fun for you, you can just wander off and try to meet other people. Sometimes this takes a bunch of tries, so I wish you the best in the art friend gacha!!

Anyway, that’s the best I got!! HOPEFULLY SOMEWHERE IN HERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS KIND OF LIKE AN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, ANON!! I wish u the best!!!!!

[runenc03]

Til the light goes out (and after) - part 2

Writing date: January or February 2021, I can’t remember

Genre: fluff! I figured we deserved that after the insecurity of part 1

Warnings: I guess a make out session? Should I warn for that? I think I should warn you that this is my ‘steamiest content’ (for now) and that is saying very laying because I’m too shy to write steamy stuff, even if i want to try to write it.

Word count: 2.7k words:

-----------------------------------------------------

You didn't mean to stare, you really didn't, but your afternoon performance was about to start and you knew that when he wanted to be alone, he always went to the equipment room to play music and order his thoughts, so you came to tell him that he was needed to discuss the latest details before the performance. Standing there, just about to announce your presence, something had stopped you. You watched as he sat there, crossed legged on an old sofa, flute in his hands, his knight armor clearly making it difficult for him to raise his arms to the right angle to be able to play. It almost made you giggle, he had always hated that costume. His eyes studied the sheet in front of him, memorising the last few little notes before playing it during the performance. You loved to watch him when he was like this, so fully himself, so unguarded. 

"Hi. Is it time?" 

He looked almost sad, and you knew that while he loved playing for people, he wasn't ready to leave his secluded spot yet. You decided extending his time a little wouldn't hurt anyone. 

"No, we still have a few more minutes. What part are you playing?" 

His mouth formed a smile, and he patted the space beside him on the sofa as an invitation. You giggled as the clattering of his armor costume disturbed the silence. You seated yourself on the sofa, briefly wondering if the old thing could even carry two bodies, and then threw your legs over his crossed ones, creating a mess of intertwined limbs. Then, you kissed his cheek - you couldn't help yourself, really - and enjoyed watching the blush spread over the place you had just placed your lips on. 

"After all this time together, I still get you flustered with a kiss on your cheek, without anyone near us?" 

He now fully turned his attention to you, carefully placing his flute on its holder next to the sofa, a grin growing on his face. 

"I can't help it and you know it. Besides, you wouldn't have it any other way." 

You had to agree with that. As much as you loved how other couples go all out on public displays of affection, you weren't sure you'd like that so much. 

"Touché. Now kiss me, we need to leave in literally 3 minutes." 

You saw his grin broaden, until he was so close that his lips were out of your sight. Not that you minded. Closing your eyes, you felt his smile, and that was your favourite way to experience it anyway. His arm slid around your waist, lightly pulling you closer to him, and your legs decided on their own to untangle from his and just entirely sit on his lap instead. As he felt you snuggle close to him, he hummed in appreciation, and you smiled at the rich sound of it. You continued to share kiss after kiss, the fingers on one of your hands weaving themselves through his hair, while the other slid under his armor, lightly scratching his back. You knew he loved it, and while you still questioned as to why that was, you really didn't mind doing it. After all, he did wonderful things to you as well. 

"I love you. So so much, you know that, right?" 

You often questioned if other people smiled as much while making out as you did. It was automatic, as opposed to him being so shy in public, he had the habit to mumble all sorts of little things to you while the two of you were alone, and it made it impossible not to smile. He made you so, so happy. You questioned if other couples felt as much love as you did, too. You answered him by covering his jaw in kisses, going from right under his ear to his chin, somewhere in the back of your mind noting that it was still scratchy, and realising that he probably hadn't had the time to shave this morning because you had texted him at 5 am to ask if you could go watch the sunrise together, something he had obviously agreed to, being the incredibly kind human being he was. 

"I love you too. I love you, I love you, I love you." 

Now it was his time to smile, the effect of your words alternating with your kisses, and your heart warmed a little bit more. Oh, how you loved him. Saying it just wasn't enough. He tilted your head then, gentle as always, and you gladly went once again from kissing his jaw to kissing his lips. You shuffled even closer, deepening the kiss, shifting your hand on his back to his chest, lazily drawing circles there, feeling his warm flesh against your cold hands. He didn't flinch, he never did. He had somehow made you believe in the beauty of your touch, and, in a strange way, because of it, in the beauty of yourself. His fingers now wove themselves through your hair as well, angling your face just a bit differently once again.  His other hand went to your upper leg, drawing circles just like you were doing on his chest, so in sync with each other. His lips were warm against yours, but not in a scorching way. You felt welcome, at home. 

"Hey, uh, you know I would say sorry for interrupting, but I'm really not that sorry. You have all the time in the world after the show, lovebirds, but for now, you need to come with me." 

Your boyfriend's groan would've amused you if you, too, hadn't been so hopelessly embarrassed. Ruby - now Ava - had come to get you, and while you wouldn't have wanted anyone else to walk in on you, you knew the smugness wouldn't leave her voice anytime soon. She did leave the two of you behind then, also understanding that embarrassing you any further wouldn't do right before the show, and you smiled at her thoughtfulness. 

"Come on, she was right, we need to get up. From now on, you're the unnamed music guy again, and I am princess Rose." 

You carefully pulled yourself away from him, careful not to knock anything over, especially not his precious flute, and straightened your dress once again, making sure there weren't any creaks in it. 

"I would call you my princess, but I guess you'd find that a bit too cheesy, wouldn't you?" 

Your laughter filled the room, and you took his hand, standing on your tiptoes one last time to give his cheek a kiss. 

"You know me so well. Now come on, unnamed music guy, it's time for us to make some magic." 

Flute in hand, he gladly followed you. _______________________________________

"Hey, love, I forgot my pocket sized sheet music in the office, can you go get it please? I still need to ask Ava about the music in the third scene."

You nodded, turning around on your heels and quickly jogging to the office, the room in which you all had brainstorm sessions about your shows. It wasn't unusual for your boyfriend to forget his stuff, and you knew that he and Ava were the two most musically talented people in your crew and they liked to make sure they both agreed with whatever music was played, so you weren't suspicious of the situation. That was, until you reached the office, and your feet stopped moving upon laying your eyes on the person that was already seated at your round table, smiling politely as she saw you enter. It was none other than Erica Rodriguez, billionaire, media figure, and basically the owner of the entire movie industry. 

"Hello there. I see that you found your way to me. Take a seat please." 

Your limbs felt like cooked pasta, your face heating up at her words, and an uneasy feeling settled in your stomach. What in God's name was going on? After being looked at expectantly for at least a few seconds, you broke out of your reverie, stumbling over your own feet, but into the chair opposite of Mrs. Rodriguez. 

"Excuse me ma'am, but we're about to play the afternoon show in the northern region of the park, and I'm expected to be-" 

"Don't worry, everything is taken care of. One of the women of your group with a very unimportant role in this play is taking over your character for the afternoon, so everyone is notified that you won't join your crew today. In fact, this was their idea, they personally invited me. And I must say, I'm pleased I responded." 

Your cluelessness was probably very evident on your face, Mrs. Rodriguez's polite expression morphing into a genuine, but amused smile as she pushed a piece of paper in your direction that you hadn't noticed before. 

"A few weeks ago, your friends contacted me, to tell me about this amazingly talented girl in their crew. About a year ago, that girl started allowing the crew to play her own written stories, and she even grew as far as to play the lead role in some of them. They told me that even though she'd always been a good writer, she'd also grown enormously over the last few months, and that the show they were about to play next was the best story she'd ever written, and that I should come take a look." 

"So...so you came to look at my play?" 

Your throat felt dry, your head foggy with all the unexpected information. Mrs. Rodriguez nodded enthusiastically, and the uneasy feeling inside your stomach swirled, although at this point, you weren't too sure it was uneasiness that was going on in there. 

"Yes, yes I did. I took my daughter with me, and together we watched your show this morning. I'm glad you didn't notice me, I wouldn't have been able to judge properly if you had, but it needs to be said, you have an extraordinary gift." 

The blush covered your cheeks before her words had any chance to cool off. You looked down, playing with the hem of your princess dress, somewhere in the back of your head noting that you must look utterly ridiculous. 

"Thank you, that's really kind, but it's not just me. I wrote the story, but my friends, the crew, they're the ones bringing the story to life, making the magic." 

Her smile morphed into a knowing grin. 

"Which is exactly the reason that, if you agree to make your play into a movie with my help, I would love for your entire crew to continue to play the roles they play now. I've been looking for something like this for a long time now, something with some classic elements, but with a creative twist. Something kids get excited about, but adults just as much. Something magical, really, and I found it here. Now, it wouldn't be fair for me to pressure you into saying yes immediately, your friends told me that this place is practically sacred for you. Just know that I would treat your story with the utmost care and respect, that making it into a movie wouldn't take away the magic, it would just capture it for eternity." 

Your next words were out before you knew it, your heart making little skips. This was huge, and you were surprised you realised that so soon, but in this moment, everything was crystal-clear to you. 

"I don't need time, ma'am. I've seen all the movies made under your care, and they're all astoundingly beautiful. I'd be honoured to make my play into a movie. Thank you so much." 

Your vision blurred by unshed tears, your smile had barely ever been this wide. You were flying, soaring, wanted to laugh, jump, dance, cry, sing with joy. You also realised that you wanted to share this with the rest of your crew. 

"You can keep this copy of the contract, it was a bit ceremonial anyway, I'll send you a copy by mail soon, is that okay?" 

You nodded quickly, standing up to shake her hand as she took her coat and her briefcase, once again congratulating you before walking out the door of the office room, leaving you with the most overwhelming wave of gratitude you'd ever felt in your life. _______________________________________

This time around, you found your boyfriend between the park's castle and the 'magic woods', not too far away from where the crowd was still gathered after the play. He was cleaning his flute, silently checking every inch to see if it hadn't been damaged somewhere during the play. It was a ritual for him, and while you'd normally let him have it, you were way too excited now to not engulf him in a hug right this second. 

"Woah....what happened?" 

But there was a certain edge to the tone of his voice, and you knew that he was perfectly aware of everything that had happened to you these past half an hour. 

"Oh, shut up. Was it your idea? Honestly I can't thank all of you enough." 

He chuckled, placing a kiss on your temple, and your arms automatically squeezed him a bit tighter. 

"Actually, it was Ava's, but I helped actually reaching out to Mrs. Rodriguez. We all did, to be honest." 

You wanted to kiss him then and there, engulfed in sunlight, while the excited chatter of visitors could still be heard from not too far away, when a certain little girl's voice broke the moment. 

"Princess Rose! Why are you hugging this man? And where is your husband? Do you not love him anymore? But you kissed this morning!?" 

You hadn't ever turned around as quickly as you did now, horrified that one of the little ones had caught you full on wrapped around what for them was just another character in the play. But your blood actually turned cold when you saw which little girl stumbled upon you. 

"Mummy, look! I found Princess Rose! But she's hugging someone other than Prince Carl!" 

And there she was, Mrs. Rodriguez. You relaxed a bit when you realised that she wasn't as horrified as you were, but only slightly. You could only stand there, wide-eyed, for once not knowing what to say. Fortunately, your ever shy boyfriend decided that this was the perfect moment to speak up. 

"Hi there! How are you?" 

The girl's mouth curved into a cute smile, regardless of the situation charmed that someone in a knight costume was talking to her. She nodded her head, but also leaned against her mum, trying to make herself a bit more comfortable. Your boyfriend, meanwhile, made a ridiculously deep bow for Mrs Rodriguez' daughter. You stifled your laughter. 

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Knight Ronald, and I am Princess Rose's favourite brother." 

The little girl's eyes widened, an excited look on her face. 

"Are you? I don't have a brother, although I would love to have one! Then I could dress up as a princess and play princess Rose! And then my brother could play you and we could go on adventures together! I-" 

But Mrs. Rodriguez had stopped her daughter's rambling, the biggest grin on her face. Your face probably mirrored hers. 

"Okay sweetie, I think it's time you and I go home. Say bye to Princess Rose and Knight Ronald, and then we need to leave, okay?" 

The girl ran forward, wrapping her small arms around your waist, as that was the highest she could reach. You hugged her back, mouthing a thank you to your boyfriend, and a sorry to Mrs Rodriguez, who gave you a reassuring wave in return. After the two of them had left, you concentrated all your attention on the wonderful guy next to you again. This time, you checked your surroundings before wrapping your arms around his neck, groaning slightly as you realised just how close you'd come to completely ruining both the little girl's and your own day. 

"Please don’t ever say that you're my brother again" 

He chuckled, but rubbed your head in a comforting manner anyway. 

"I won’t.” 

And he sealed his promise with a kiss worthy of being reciprocated by a true princess.

[impossiblepeoplesalad]

Radio silence by Alice oseman,

Spoilers-

I read this book over the last couple days and I think the only time I’ve felt like this was when I read solitaire (another amazing book by Alice oseman) the book radio silence it’s self is spectacular, there are topics, themes and representation that are hard to find in teen media (and media in general)I adored this book, I find the emotions in the book to be so contagious-a thing appearing in all of oseman’s work that I’ve read-I find myself grinning ear to ear without realising, close to hitting something, crying floods of tears. I love that as I draw a conclusion to a sub plot, believe I have the answer, it’s twisted and a new angle is revealed, a truth I hadn’t expected. I found myself sticking notes in almost every page as my mind filled with pieces that fitted together, quotes that I loved: related to, things I found hilarious and things that made me cry. I jotted down all the things I wanted to come back to because I had to read on, unable to stop. I found myself second guessing the choice sand actions of characters I loved. Aled (also one of my favourite side characters from the heartstopper series ) was a character I found myself heavily relating to, I questioned his choices as the book progressed. “That was out of line” I had wrote and stuck on a page. A few pages later however “it’s not his fault, I don’t want to assume the worst has happened to him” was what I stuck in as I genuinely felt worried for the character. I went through these same motions for raine, daniel and even Frances at points. I truly enjoyed creating ideas in my head of who a character was and reading on to have that warped and changed. Another thing I thurouly enjoy about oseman’s books or mainly the hearstopper series, radio silence and solitaire is the consistent characters. Although new characters are introduced in each, they all have character links and a timeline that sometimes interacts and overlaps. It’s almost embarrassing how excited I get when I learn a new thing about a side character from a different work and get to piece them together, or when the timeline interacts and I can indulge in the knowledge of everything as one as well as each individual book and fact. For example at the start of radio silence we hear carys say “well I guess the school burned down” moments before Frances freaks out about this very thing. At times like these my mind is flooded with the story of tori, of solitaire, of Michael and Charlie and all the emotions I felt when I was given tori’s point of view of the incident. I get really excited when I recognise a character or suspect a person of being a character I know, there is genuinely nothing I love more than pondering on the thought that ‘maybe that was tori’ or ‘wow if that is Michael then that means he went to the Olympics’ things like that really fill me with a joy I can’t find anywhere else. I feel I’ve rambled a bit but one last thing I adored was universe city it’s self. At base value they are just a fantasy story and that’s what I believed at the beginning but as I read more of the episodes I suspected there might be more to them, they related vaguely to events that we know happened. Then as this origami swan of a book unfolds and each crease in the paper spills information things piece together in multiple ways and some plots I had almost forgot are indulged in and ‘solved’. I loved nothing more than re-reading the universe city episodes after finishing the book and understanding, finally, what I had brushed past at the start. I genuinely loved this book and kinda feel lost now I’ve finished it, I’m not sure what to do with myself other than wright this and hope that somebody is reading.