#new is very much in line with the themes of rec and specifically her character in rec

[starwarsrecrimination]

IMPRESSIONS OF A MOTHER

Alfred Noyes, "Niobe" / Paul Delaroche, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey / Glass Animals, "Mama's Gun" / Ana Mendieta, Anima, Silueta de Cohetes / Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

[fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic]

Good Omens Fic Rec: Oh, Maker

"The humans are strange and graceful as they explore the garden, explore themselves, explore each other. The trouble is, the humans stare back, which makes him uncomfortable; there’s nothing particularly interesting about him. And, though he rarely admits it to himself, the humans make him lonely; he has no Other to explore." Or: how many times can you take a bath with your best friend before you kiss him?

Length: 57,034 words

AO3 Rating: Explicit / Spice Level 🔥🔥🔥

Best for: Mostly Safe in Public, At Home, Angst, Romance, Slow Burn

Triggers: None/ Religious Trauma themes

Read it here, fic by voluptatiscausa

*Minor Spoilers* I've had this fic bookmarked for months, I love this author and all the stories of theirs I've read. But my ADHD often has me piling on more without diving into what I already have saved. So, when I was about to begin the author's latest fic, I paused. I realized I needed to prioritize this story first, and appreciate it fully. And now, I want you to do the same!

This is a pre season 2 "through the ages" story, visiting some of the historical settings we're familiar with and adding new ones as well. We watch as the weight of the world hangs on Aziraphale and Crowley’s shoulders. The impossibility of alleviating human suffering, the pain of being abandoned by their Creator, their Mother, and the lingering desperation for her approval. So when they've burnt out, they turn to each other. They comfort each other with warm intimacy through baths, manicures, brushing each other's hair, each taking care of the other and showing us how holy love can be. It's gorgeous and heartbreaking all at once. Their love is so true, even if they have trouble believing they're worthy of being loved and desired. “It’s because love can’t be earned, sweetheart. It’s given.”

The beauty of fanfic is that it can exceed the canon. This is not just in character; to me it's more in character than the canon itself. The book and show are comedies; they don't have time to dive this deeply into their characters' motivations and histories. And, of course, that's not a bad thing, especially since it brought us all here. But when I read something like this, something that brings a real depth and understanding to the characters, I'm amazed. This isn’t the only fic I’ve felt this way about, but it’s a prime example of that feeling. It’s just that, when I read a story that specifically focuses on their entire 6,000 years together and all the history they’ve gone through, I get frustrated that those moments are played for laughs in the book/show. The Flood, the Crucifixion, the Spanish Inquisition all throw away lines that don’t stop to dive into the wealth of story that’s possible there. I get why it doesn’t linger, I do, but fic narratives are so much more interesting to me than what the canon alone can provide.

This is a deeply moving and powerful story. Full of musings on shame, desire, religious trauma, and the beauty of the world we live in. Life is a terrible and wonderful thing. While this is mostly safe for public, I really suggest making this an at home read. It's a bit heavier, something you want to be in the right headspace for, and it features very rich prose. Never dense or hard to follow, but very beautiful, and you'll want to give it your full attention. I realize I may have made this seem like full angst, but it’s not! There's some wonderful loving fluffy moments to be found as well. Be sure to check out the other works that belong in this series! They are devastatingly good as well. Pair with some fruit for the full effect!

Read it here, fic by voluptatiscausa

[inter-bellum]

I posted 304 times in 2022

26 posts created (9%)

278 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@its-tea-time-darling

@not-your-typical-jay

@persnickett

@itsthemxze

@anaisanais-stuff

I tagged 222 of my posts in 2022

Only 27% of my posts had no tags

#fic rec - 18 posts

#!!! - 8 posts

#tmr - 7 posts

#lol - 6 posts

#soral's shit - 6 posts

#gif tutorial - 5 posts

#skam fic rec - 5 posts

#incorrect tmr quotes - 4 posts

#tmr fic rec - 4 posts

#personal - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 107 characters

#this is giving me soo much nostalgia and reminding me of the pictures in the books i used to read as a cild

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

to parents

My parents were almost as kind and accepting as any lgbtq-kid could wish for. When I came out as non-binary, my mom gave me a hug and my dad a pat on the back. That however did not mean they started using the right pronouns, or later when I told them about a new name that I wanted to try out, then did not call me that. There was never really rejection/unacceptability, but rather a lack of awareness and the actions that came with it, sometimes felt like rejection.

For my generation, when you tell someone about a new name, the next obviously logical step is for them to start calling you by that name, it’s like a built in habit. But not with my parents, like i said, there was just a lack of awareness and knowledge and so they just continued referring to me by my old name. Only when I explicitly told them that I wanted to be called by this new name, they actually started using it. Though my father didn’t at first, his reasoning being ‘but she also listens to her old name, so why should I?’ Now that feels like rejection. But that was just from the lack of awareness, he didn’t not realise how important it was for trans people so see the new name get accepted (and with that, eventually being used as well) 

So to parents, regardless of the fact if your child is out, or part of the lgbtq-community, please educate yourself. Get some basic knowledge groundwork so to speak and know the meaning of ���standard’ lgbtq words like homosexual/heterosexual/bisexual and cisgender/transgender.’ My parents didn’t even know what transgender meant precisely, let alone the meaning of a more specific term such as non-binary, that alone adds a whole new layer of difficulty, that combined with that everyone expresses their label(s) in a different way, like I’m a very masculine non-binary person whilst others are more feminine or more androgynous. 

My parents didn’t understand me, they still don’t understand and I don’t think they ever fully will because cause this is such a unique, personal experience

(Even as fellow non-binary/trans person, you will probably understand out of everyone but still it’s slightly different from person to person) but they understood even less because of that lack of awareness and knowledge. So to parents, please educate yourself on themes like these as they are becoming more prevalent in todays society, keep up with those things, like one would keep up the news. 

There will I think always be this gap of understanding between generations, later in life I might find myself in a similar position like my parents now, but I hope at least that with every generation, the previous one will be outfitted with more tools to gain understanding and knowledge and have the knowledge lead to acceptance. Because giving a hug or a pat on the back isn’t enough, with acceptance must come action. 

11 notes - Posted November 12, 2022

#4

Gally: youre very annoying

Thomas: what can I say, its a lifestyle

13 notes - Posted May 29, 2022

#3

Gally: *begrudgingly hands Thomas his jacket, as his complaining about being cold annoys him (or so he tells himself)

Minho: why'd you do that? Thought you hated him *eyebrow wiggling ensues*

Gally: there's a fine line between hate and-

Minho: *crows* LOVE

Gally: *deadpan* vague feelings of affection

@its-tea-time-darling in light of the thomally week, of which I only see snatches, here's my humble contribution

51 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

#2

Minho: *eyeing Thomas*

Newt: Oh, for bloody god's sake, Minho, at least make sure he can still walk once you're done with him.

Minho: What do you mean, still walk?! They can always walk

Newt: *tsking* they hobble, Minho! They ho-

Minho: *loudly speaking* they can get from point A to point B!!

86 notes - Posted February 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Thomas: *presenting some wild, dangerous plan*

Gally: what's he on?

Newt: some highly addictive drug called idiocy

95 notes - Posted August 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[pebblysand]

[PEBBLYSAND'S 2021 FIC REC LIST] - HARRY POTTER EDITION

hi all! i hope you're doing well during this rather awkward week between christmas and new year's! i'm currently sitting on my mum's balcony under the southern france sunshine, enjoying a much welcome break from the grim winter irish weather.

as you might know, i'm not typically one to build extensive rec lists but as 2021 is coming to an end, i thought it would be fun to look back on the fics i read and bookmarked this year and give you a sort of 'best of' (especially since a lot of you might be enjoying some time off at the moment and looking for things to read). as a forewarning, while i did pick my ultimate favourite ten, these are in no particular order. i've tried to keep the ships varied (writing this list has made me realise how much i actually gravitate most towards a specific type of prose than any actual pairing) and am also reccing only works that are finished. if you want my full rec list, please don't hesitate to look through my public bookmarks on ao3, where i keep my most treasured finds.

pour a little salt, we were never here by youcallitwinter (harry/hermione-ish ; 1,274 words ; canon-compliant [1]): so, look. i appreciate that most of my following will not want to hop on the harry/hermione bandwagon with me (fair enough) but this one is definitely one of my faves within a very specific trope of harry-and-hermione-and-all-the-reasons-why-it-didn't-happen, which is probably my favourite trope for this pairing. this fic has some of the most gorgeous writing i have ever seen, period (literally every line is a quotable gem). it's about growing up and accepting life as it presents itself - the summary explains it much better than i currently am: "What happens isn't particularly epic, or even tragic. What happens is stupid; they all just grow up. That's it, that's the whole story." and yeah, that's it, that's the whole story and it's a formidable, heartbreakingly beautiful and realistic story. .

all is quiet in the clearing by slyther-ing (andromeda/ted ; 1,304 words ; canon-compliant): since reading turncoats (which is obviously the ultimate andromeda fic and is my actual favourite fic ever - if you haven't read it, please leave and go read it now), i've been low-key obsessed by andromeda's story and her trajectory from a young, Black, slytherin girl to resistance hero and grandmother to teddy. this fic presents a good insight into her relationship with ted, which is obviously tragic but so very interesting within the potter canon. it's rather short but spans over a few years as ted and andromeda meet, grow up, grow old, up until ted's death. it's beautiful and heartbreaking in all the right ways. if you're interested in that ship, i would highly recommend giving it a read. .

glass over the flame by thegreybeyond (harry/hermione-ish ; 1857 words ; canon-compliant): this is my second rec in the harry-and-hermione-and-all-the-reasons-why-it-didn't-happen category. the writing in this one is fantastic and it strikes similar cords in terms of growing up, coming of age, etc. as the first fic i recommended. i love this one because i think it very subtly studies themes of friendship and how there-might-have-been-something-but-we-chose-not-to doesn't have to be a heartbreak either. .

naive: in defense of hannah abbott by dirgewithoutmusic (neville/hannah ; 5,557 words ; canon-compliant): now, full disclosure, if you've been following me for a while, you'll know that i'm a dirgewithoutmusic stan. i've had to limit myself to only reccing one work per series because if i didn't, this whole rec list would just be dirgewithoutmusic. i've been slowly working my way through their series we must unite inside her walls or we'll crumble from within which is centered around hogwarts houses and different secondary characters, and after turncoats last year, this one was definitely my favourite i read this year. the degree of imagination and worldbuilding this author masters in shaping entire, fully fleshed characters out of the very little information we have about them in the books is truly unbelievable - i am forever in awe. this fic is mostly about hannah, her relationship with neville, the loss of her mother in book six, and a reminder that it'd okay to take time to grieve, and not to always be 'fighting' or 'okay.' it just such a gorgeous story that makes you cry and smile at the same time, just like life does. i adore this fic so much. .

the kids who chose themselves by dirgewithoutmusic (gen ; 9,714 words ; AU): i read this fic once. i will likely never read it again. it has lived in my head rent-free since then, has fucked up my psyche forever and is probably one of the most stunning what-ifs i have ever read. it outlines the scenario of what would have happened if both neville and harry had died that night on hallowe'en and there was no chosen one. i'm generally nnot one to enjoy fics where harry is dead but i suppose this is the exception. if you want to read about muggle/wizard alliances, clandestine schools, and a worldbuilding that is fucking stellar and will make you forever in awe of what this author can accomplish with less than 10,000 words, go read this immediately. the other works in the series are also amazing but this one just stuck with me. .

savior complex by @hiinnys (harry/ginny ; 1,495 words ; canon-compliant - the fic i tagged as not epilogue-compliant but i'm not sure why): someone once recommended this fic to me first asking me if i'd written it and calling it very "me," which i think i can't ignore when placing it on this list. this being said, not only did i not write this, but it's also written probably ten times better than i ever could. @hiinnys's writing is everything i adore down to the lack of capital letters (lol) and an amazing use of language and flow. it's a simple, post-war story around an ipod and harry's love of muggle music and running, topped with a gorgeous picture of his growing relationship with ginny, showing that you can create beautiful tales out of thin air. i can't stress how beautiful this is (and funny, too) and it warms my heart every time i read it. .

warm front by flagpoles (harry/ginny ; 5,332 words ; canon-compliant): as someone who's traveled quite a bit and lived in a number of different countries, i adore the trope of harry going traveling after the war and this fic (and the next one) does this so well. harry moves to australia with teddy and andromeda a couple of years after the battle and slowly learns to find his way home. there's a lot of letters, funny quotes and deep phone chatter between harry and the rest of the gang, and a very interesting study of how you can both miss people but also need to be alone sometimes. this fic is fluff and fun, and warm feelings done incredibly well (see, i'm not always bleak and angsty!) - i love the style and the dialogue and the cleverness of it all. it's something that i don't think i could ever write but which i aboslutely adored reading. flagpoles also very recently released another fic which i'm not listing here officially but also brought me a lot of joy. .

maps to the stars' homes by lizbee (gen - slight harry/ginny ; 7,475 words ; AU): i think i first read this fic years and years ago, but only rediscovered it last may. this one sort of explores the same trope as the previous one (harry goes traveling after the war) but does it in a completely different way as it was written in '05, so before book seven came out. it's a very interesting take in what could have been and what the war could have looked like if written differently, though it's uncanny how the end point is so strangely the same. i absolutely love the non-chronological structure of this fic (we all know i'm a sucker for non-linear narratives) as well as this idea that muggles could just be told about magic casually. this fic was a huge inspiration for how i wrote mia's reaction to magic in castles. .

the seam between by @copper-dust (gen ; 26,188 words ; canon-compliant): i think i'm not alone in saying i absolutely adore this fic, it's - imo - got potential to become a classic. to give you a little bit of a pitch, this story is (mostly) set during the summer between harry fourth and fifth years, before he makes it to grimmauld place. as far as i'm concerned, it sets the canon within that gap of time we never heard of in the books, describes his daily life at the dursleys', his relationship with petunia, the ongoing struggle to come to terms with cedric's death, etc. it's a fic i didn't even know i needed - i mostly read post-war fanfic to makes sense of the giant nothing that is the post-war world in my head - and i'd never really realised that there was a gap in those few weeks spent at the dursleys that i was interested in filling. in terms of the writing itself, i'll just what probably everybody knows at this stage, which is that copper_dust is one of the best (if not the best) writers in fandom at the moment. every word on that page is studied, thought through, chosen and exact, in a way that i've rarely ever seen, including in original fiction. the work and its tone is subtle, clever, and just right; harry's teenage, inner voice is rendered absolutely perfectly - as i've said before, this fic is canon, as far as i'm concerned. what i particularly love about this fic is the amount of research done on the historical context of that period of the 90s, which gives such an immersive feel to the story. you'll often hear that there is poetry in the ordinary, and this fic is the ultimate illustration of that. it is shaping beauty and truth out of the daily life of a scared and scarred teenage boy, in a truly invaluable way. i could not recommend this fic (and the rest of copper_dust's work) more. .

toxicology by speechwriter (gen ; 2,942 words): to me, this fic probably exists somewhere within a space of canon-compliant and not, which is why i'll let you be the judge. i really hesitated on what i'd recommend as my last point (close runner ups were: bless the children give them triumph yet and it's a small crime and i've got no excuse) but i chose this one because it's not only incredibly well written but also dives into an interesting concept: since harry was a horcrux, did being around him impact ron and hermione's personalities growing up, the same way the locket did in the forest? if so, in what way? i'm not sure that i fully subscribe to this theory but i think it's a terribly interesting idea and the exploration is done superbly well in this fic. i would very highly recommend.

[tthael]

I really admire so many things about your writing - the introspection and deep meaning, the realistic and sensitive way that you handle topics. Do you have any recs for fav media/books/tv shows/fanfics ? I guess I'm curious if there are any you think might have similar qualities/themes?

This is a tough one because basically everything I consume gets picked apart and reused in some way. However, I’ll give it a shot:

The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. There’s quite a lot I like about Zusak’s use of language and have since 2007 when I read The Book Thief for the first time, and there’s something very cinematic and magical about I Am the Messenger (particularly in the chapter with the young track runner).

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. He’s most commonly known for Cloud Atlas, but he has an ongoing theme of vampires and cannibalism reappearing in his work (I just read Slade House for the first time while I was in quarantine) and there’s something deeply satisfying about the way that all of the disparate pieces come to fruition at the climax of The Bone Clocks. Not a perfect book, but deeply satisfying.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. Again, she’s most commonly known for The Poisonwood Bible, but I liked that well enough to read The Lacuna in 2013, and I completely hated it for the first half of the book until finally something clicked in my brain and I activated the literary critic within, who doesn’t care so much about whether they enjoy something and more cares about how well something is done. The description of US American rationing during World War II really got me onto the novel’s side, if that makes sense; and I do love a good family epic, and while this only focuses on one protagonist instead of generations of them, it’s interesting in a similar way to The Bone Clocks where you see everything start to snowball together.

Literally anything by Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher. I particularly recommend The Raven and The Reindeer, which I read shortly after being diagnosed with my chronic illness and really helped me to understand the irrelevance of shame. There’s something very satisfying about saying “a reindeer doesn’t care if it smells bad, so I’m going to lean into that particular apathy and not allow a bully to take me down over it.” Something comforting about taking shelter in the animal and in survival, when you and your body are in one place and working on the same side, and it’s your brain that’s ready to give up first but your body will keep dragging you through because that’s what it does. Certain lines in Indelicate were inspired by her adaptation of Tam Lin in Jackalope Wives and other Stories (https://www.amazon.com/Jackalope-Wives-Other-Stories-Kingfisher-ebook/dp/B071946RLN). Lots of her short stories are available at this link for free: http://www.redwombatstudio.com/portfolio/writing/short-stories/

TV’s a little harder to unpack, since I don’t always think in terms of visual media, I tend to default to words first. Recently I’ve been enjoying New Amsterdam on NBC--it’s nice to see the radical socialist doctor doing his damnedest to secure the right thing--and Call the Midwife--similar reasons. There’s a lot about meeting someone where they are in both shows that I appreciate.

There’s also a lot of music that inspires my writing so I’ll have to dedicate a post specifically to that in my methods and materials.

Fanfic, though! Lots of my favorites, lots of genres. Here we go:

we are all stardust by synergenic (Losseflame) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5682496) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, pairing Finn/Poe Dameron. Sexually explicit, but also leans a lot into physicality. You can probably see the influence on the very first chapter of Indelicate when Eddie’s waking up in pain and Richie’s at his bedside. It’s very much inspired by a similar sickbed scene here.

If They Haven’t Learned Your Name by silentwalrus (https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329503) Captain America/Marvel Cinematic Universe Steve Rogers/James “Bucky” Barnes. The holy grail of Steve/Bucky fanfiction. If you want independent character exploration, this is the place to go. Natasha shaving her head? Yes. Sam pleading with Steve to keep his shit together while thirty Koren grandmothers assume they are American celebrities? Yes. Bucky defiantly hunting down his sense of self while bingeing romance novels in a space ship? Yes. Pay particular attention to the Sam chapters, because they’re a beautiful way of defining Steve’s characterization from an outside perspective, and I’m trying to do the same with Eddie looking at Richie in Indelicate.

An Ever-Fixed Mark by AMarguerite (https://archiveofourown.org/works/8523001) Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen) Elizabeth Bennet/Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy. Soulmark AU. This is one of my longtime favorite fanfictions and what it taught me was cause and effect. The characters move the plot forward based on their assumptions and decisions. Definitely very helpful when I was writing TTHAEL by the seat of my pants.

You Can Keep Holding On by NorthernSparrow (https://archiveofourown.org/works/7233709) Supernatural Dean Winchester/Castiel. Sexually explicit. A lot of the summary I can give here is spoilers, but if you read this one through, you’ll be able to see the inspiration for the “Can you tell me where I can get another Eddie Kaspbrak?” scene in Indelicate.

Work of All Saints by antistar_e (kaikamahine) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006644) Coco (2017) Imelda Rivera/Héctor Rivera/Ernesto de la Cruz. Sexually mature. Oh my GOD this is a beautiful coming-of-age story set in turn-of-the-century Oaxaca, this is the best complete expansion of canon that I’ve ever seen; the author takes the pieces and runs with them and it is WONDERFUL.

Lycanthropic Studies by Eiiri (https://archiveofourown.org/series/575263) Harry Potter, Remus Lupin/Sirius Black canon-divergence AU. I very much enjoy the meditation on lycanthropy as a chronic illness and I sometimes reread this for comfort. Particularly early on Remus has a rant about how he’s sick and he’s always sick and his life doesn’t stop for it, despite holidays and birthdays he still has to deal with the consequences of his illness and take the devastating medication, and there’s a lot about that that speaks to me. I haven’t kept up with the series for some time, though.

Careful Truths by SassySnowperson (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111966) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Bodhi Rook/Luke Skywalker canon-divergence AU. Sexually explicit. Honestly identity p!rn fics are a good inspiration for that third-person limited perspective I’ve been working on in Indelicate. Also I love love LOVE Bodhi Rook. It’s fun watching him run in circles trying to conceal his identity from Luke while completely oblivious to Luke doing exactly the same thing.

Stammtisch by chaya (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060152) Critical Role: Season 2, Caleb Widogast/Mollymauk Tealeaf, AU. Sexually explicit. Long before Caleb actually leveled up enough to cast Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, chaya speculated about what kind of spaces he might create for each of his friends. I think it’s a very good resource for really condensing characterization down into lots of images and concepts and deciding what other characters know about them. The idea of making space for someone else is something that I lean into a lot when I write Ben, who’s the kind of man who will set himself on fire to keep those he loves warm, and even though Critical Role has far more material than even IT for determining characterization, and even though this particular moment has already occurred in canon--it’s just a wonderful homey story, and has the kind of found family vibes I like for the Losers as well.

I know that’s a lot to unpack there, but all of those fics are very good and I recommend reading any assortment that appeals to you. (Work of All Saints in particular you don’t have to be familiar with the source material beyond the basic premise; it stands on its own.) Thank you for asking, and thank you for reading!

[bigskydreaming]

This isn't a meme thing or anything but I was wondering if you had a top ten favorite characters from books? I actually end up getting a lot of good book recs from reading your blog so I was just curious lol.

LOL I wasn't going to do this ask because I was like ugh I suck at top ten lists because I can never pick just ten. But then I thought about it for like, five whole seconds and realized I DO have ten standout characters in answer to this so its like oh hey, learned something new about myself today! Lmao.

Anyway, in no particular order:

1) Anyanwu - from Wild Seed by Octavia Butler - Can not stress how like fucking...formative Anyanwu's character was for me as an abused kid who first read this when I was like 12. The book heavily deals with the back and forth across centuries between these two immortals, Anyanwu and Doro, as Doro basically tries to control her every which way he can, and Anyanwu just defies him at every turn, and it just....you love to see it. She's a bad-ass and I adore her.

2) Prince Corwin and Merle Corey/Merlin - from Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny - Yes I'm cheating but its me so you should have seen that coming. Another fave series from when I was in middle school, its ten books in total, and the first five are in Corwin's POV and the second five are in the POV of his son Merle/Merlin. So I maintain it counts. And is fine. Shhh, let it go, Elsa said so. ANYWAY, I actually probably like Merle better than his dad, because I mean, lbr, Corwin is a total asshole. But he's MY asshole, y'know? Wait, that came out wrong. Don't quote me there. But you know what I mean. Merle is a lot more level-headed, and quick-witted I think, and I like his supporting cast of relatives who want to kill him and he sometimes want to kill more than his dad's supporting cast of relatives who want to kill him and he always wants to kill, but like. Both are Valid. Also shout out to Fiona and Rinaldo, with a side shout out to Flora, who are probably my next three favorites from the series. Dara would be up there too but she knows what she did.

3) Elric/Corum/Dorian/etc - from the Eternal Champion books by Michael Moorcock - Look I'm already cheating so why not continue on a theme. But basically this counts too, I'm just saying. See Michael Moorcock's big project going all the way back to the 60s was he created a fantasy multiverse of different dimensions where this one Eternal Champion, meant to balance the scales between the Lords of Law and the Lords of Chaos, like, is reborn over and over again in different incarnations but who are all essentially him. So Elric of Melnibone, Dorian Hawkmoon, Corum I can never remember his last name.....they're all essentially the same guy.....but they're all at the same time very very very different, and they have extremely different storylines. But I maintain if you're gonna read one you kinda gotta just read them all, all Pokemon like and such forth, because the real beauty of these books is seeing the familiar traces of the Eternal Champion threaded through each of these incarnations but also contrasting how different they are from each other and like, looking at what makes them so different each time and how much it stems from their environment and situations, etc.

4) Civet - from the Dragons of the Inland Sea series by Laurence Yep - This is a kids' series, like for ages 10-12 kinda, but easily my favorite from when I was a kid. I reread them so many times, and I love pretty much all the characters from Shimmer to Thorn to Monkey, but Civet was always a standout. She's essentially a tragic character and her ending is bittersweet, but like.....she fully knows who she is and what she's about and makes no apologies for that, and she ends on exactly the note she wants to. Like, her story and her characterization was pretty damn dark for such a young-aimed series, but that's part of what drew me to it, it managed to capture the tone it set out to convey but in a completely age-appropriate way, and in an era when most books aimed at kids dumbed down most of their story concepts and themes, this one was refreshing for just being....real. Despite being blatantly fantasy. Also the Boneless King is one of the best villains ever, despite being deliberately over the top a lot of the times....idk what it was about him, but he was just chilling.

5) Jack the Bodiless and Diamond Mask - from the Galactic Milieu series by Julian May - These are linked as well because they're a couple and their stories intertwine so much that there's no real point in separating them y'know? That's my story and I'm sticking to it. But anyway, they're a weird choice for me because Julian May is hit or miss for me overall....I HATE her Saga of the Pliocene Epic, which is technically in the same universe as her Galactic Milieu series, but they have totally different vibes and the latter series doesn't contain any of the elements from the Saga of the Pliocene that I loathe, so it just works. Plus it has Jack and Diamond Mask, and like.....I don't actually know why I love them so much? They're just so different from pretty much any other characters I've ever read. Like, May does a lot of really high concept stuff across the board, but Jack and Diamond Mask are like.....high concept character wise? If that makes sense? Its okay if it doesn't. I'm literally just spitting words out here. Honestly, its hard to say anything specific about them because so much of their characters conceptually just doesn't make sense without knowing the in-universe concepts that led to them even existing, but like. They're weird and off the wall but still astoundingly human for all that and I love them.

6) Naomi Nagata - from the Expanse books by James S. A. Corey - I mean, if you've seen me ramble all the Naomi love in my live-watches of The Expanse TV show, this should be no surprise, but my love for her in the books like, exists manifold. She's great in both, but the books cover so much more content-wise, that her character has so much more room to breathe and be explored in all kinds of directions the TV show never touches on. The funny thing is, I actually prefer the TV characterizations overall....I think the authors of the books are actually pretty shit at characterization a lot of the time, but the basic thread of Naomi's character is consistent and the sheer abundance of story material she has in the books like.....keeps me going back to them even just for her. Her conflict with Marco in the books in particular just has so much more depth than in the show....like, I don't hate the show's version at all, anyone who's seen my posts there knows that lol, and I'm not actually even sure which version I actually like more in terms of that particular storyline.....but I just love that both versions are so different, while still being recognizably the same, y'know? I don't even know. Nobody knows. Its a mystery. Just nod and say yes, shh, its fine.

7) Locke Lamora - from The Lies of Locke Lamora/The Gentleman Bastards series by Scott Lynch. This is an odd one for me, because in one sense Locke is a very contrived archetypal character from an author that doesn't always pull it off as successfully as I feel he thinks he does.....like, what I mean is Locke is inherently that type of character that is SUPPOSED to push buttons and straddle a line between likable and unlikable....and to be fair, that is VERY hard to pull off without at least some of the time falling on the wrong side of that line and alienating at least some readers. But there's something very genuine or sincere feeling about the character underneath all that, which is ironic for a character who is an acknowledged pathological liar and hardly ever tells the truth....like I said, its an odd one for me because I can't actually put my finger on what makes this particular character work for me when so many similar characters just bug the crap out of me.

8) Damien - from Black Sun Rising/The Coldfire trilogy by C. S. Friedman - This one is a whole fucking lie because I don't actually even like Damien that much lmao, but the thing is, I don't have a particular fondness for any of the characters in this series? But I gotta put it on the list anyway because I just love the world in this series so much, and its practically a character in and of itself. Like, so this was a science fantasy series set on a distant planet in the future but otherwise steeped in fantasy archetypes about spirit creatures that only Adepts could see, and like, Fae and life energy and sorcery that had roots in scientific principles but was otherworldly all the same. And that's like.....all literally my jam, and so I can't deny that this series was very formative for me even if its not the best example of those concepts. Its just the one I tend to go back to the most in my mind, like....the world and its characters are very standout and larger than life for me, even if they don't specifically APPEAL to me? They're impactful all the same. Its another odd one. I'm odd. You just kinda gotta roll with it. Its a thing. Its factual.

9) Yeine Darr - from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin - This was a tough one because I love literally everything by Jemisin and all her characters are just so....ooof. They're very very real, even in the most fantastical of settings. I have mad characterization envy every time I read her stuff, but like. Its so good. So really the struggle was picking one character or even two, because I mean, The Fifth Season and its sequels are easily her best known works and have a ton of fantastic characters, and I think her Dreamblood duology is vastly overlooked but in the end I had to go with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms even if just cuz of nostalgia. Its the first of her works and when I first started reading her and so its just.....anyway, if I was gonna go with that, it had to be Yeine, because she's so central to everything and also just....fantastic. Nahadoth and Sieh are also standout characters who get mentioned a lot in talk of this trilogy, and they're both such big personalities that at times they kinda overshadow Yeine, but Yeine has such a compelling.....undercurrent to her that she never actually gets lost in the shuffle even when surrounded by all these larger than life gods, and just. You love to see it. I do anyway. And its my list so nyah. But also if you're gonna read Jemisin, read everything Jemisin. It just makes sense, y'know? Good for the pores.

10) Cayal and Arkady - from The Immortal Prince/The Tide Lords by Jennifer Fallon - All the other Tide Lords can rot, but Cayal is hilarious in a depressing way. He's a ten thousand year old immortal whose greatest wish is just to die, which is how he meets Arkady who is a historian who just wants to like....know everything he knows once she realizes he actually is the figure of legend he professes to be and is so mad at him for not really giving a shit about all the weight of history he's been present for, but Cayal's just like, umm, I LIVED it so that's why I don't care, I'm allowed to not care, that shit hurt. Did you miss the part where one of the other Tide Lords threw a fucking meteor at me? And Arkady, distinctly unimpressed, is just like....I thought YOU did that, to Jasper. And Cayal's like, no that doesn't sound right. And Arkady's just like, you literally JUST told me that story. And Cayal's like, huh. I must have been lying. I do that sometimes. And Arkady's like, I thought you never lie, that's your whole thing? And Cayal's like, ahah, but what if THAT was a lie too? And Arkady's just like, bitch I hate you so goddamn much, how are you the worst of all the Immortals while still the only one who will actually talk to me and answer my questions. Cayal's like, we may never know.

Anyway, there's my list but like there's a lot more obviously because I'm me, I don't do moderation, its against my religion, but also I have to stop some time and the ask was for ten and those were the ten that popped into my head so they must be the right ones! Probably. Until I change my mind at least.

[therebelcaptainnetwork]

August Fic Recs: Occupational AUs

I had a really hard time describing what I wanted this rec list to be about. I knew I had these three stories with something in common, I just couldn't come up with a snappy descriptor that encapsulated "insular, unique worlds with Rebelcap doing things that require insane dedication and a very specific mindset but it works because Jyn and Cassian are both those kind of people already in canon." A bit clunky, no?  In the end I decided to describe them as "Occupational AUs" knowing almost nobody would know what I was talking about until they read the list. Oh well, such is fanfic, right?

Keeping Score by TinCanTelephone / @cats-and-metersticks

Modern AU, 8.4k, one-shot

Jyn is a gymnast with an impressive career behind her. When Cassian, a one-time ballet dancer turned journalist, turns up at her gym, she reluctantly agrees to let him shadow her for a piece, because she needs the possible sponsorship opportunities. But he frustrates and challenges her in a way she hasn't gotten from gymnastics in a long, long time. 

One of my favorite things about Jyn's arc in the movie is how she fights it almost the whole way, stuck in the lone-wolf mindset, until Cassian and the Rebellion show her a different perspective. At 23, Jyn is an old-timer in the infamously youth-oriented world of gymnastics. She's simultaneously burned out on the treadmill of practice/sponsorship/competition and stuck, unsure of how to move on. It's genuinely lovely to see how Cassian's perspective as a retired dancer slowly opens her up to new possibilities, even if she doesn't know what those are yet. 

Read Me Like a Book by ephemera / @incognitajones

Modern AU, 1.8k, one-shot

Cassian wasn't expecting much from his forcibly-volunteered (thanks Kay) gig at the Wobani Prison library. But one particular inmate captivates him with her closed-up quietness and her eclectic reading tastes. The only commonality seems to be that they're the thickest possible books in the collection, and Cassian starts bringing his own brick-thick favorites for her. But what happens on the day he comes in and she's not there?

I'm admittedly biased in favor of library stories, being a librarian myself, and true love via readers' advisory? Sign me up. (Not that it's happened to me yet but who knows.) I particularly liked Cassian's fascination with her quiet, wary intensity - one of the first things that drew me to her as a character. 

Headin' into twilight (spreadin' out her wings tonight) by @skitzofreak

Modern AU, 2.5k, one-shot

There's a reason Jyn's callsign is "Bruiser." She's a rough, tough fighter pilot who's not about to let anybody tell her that she missed her target, even in a training exercise. Besides, bickering about whether she hit him or not is a great excuse to sit in a very small room with Cassian Andor, callsign GQ, for hours on end. Now if one of them could eventually get their act together and ask the other one out for real  . . . 

This one really is one of my favorites from this author for the way it brings the fighter-pilot mindset right into your brain. The cheerful competition, the military surroundings, and most of all the sheer joy and adrenaline rush of flying, and how that all maps onto the dynamic between our two faves.

--

As always, if you’re one of the authors featured and would like me to change anything about the way I’ve listed your story, please drop me a line via PM or ask and I would be pleased to edit.

Next month’s theme is Collge/University AUs! If you have a perfect story to rec, drop me a line via PM or ask with the title, a link to the story, and maybe a few words about why you liked it, and I’ll include it with your handle.

Happy reading! Love, @mosylufanfic

[battlestar-royco]

okay here it is, part 1 of my sci fi tv and movies rec list! i’ve split it up into 2, kind of by tone and theme. these recs are on the lighter side. part 2 is for fans of darker sci fi. i could’ve gone on tbh but i had to draw the line somewhere. it’s not perfect but i hope you find something you like that you haven’t heard of! full titles, trigger warnings, and diversity/general notes under the cut. ask box open for any more specific questions!

part 2/2

If you liked STAR TREK and STAR WARS:

Black Mirror: USS Callister: (tw: simulated child loss, brief torture) coworkers get trapped inside their boss’s Star Trek spoof video game. It’s led by a white woman but the entire cast is pretty diverse (Michaela Coel!!!) and it’s critical of white edgelords. Dark moments balanced with funny!

Firefly: (tw: sexual harassment in one episode, sex worker phobia, Joss Whedon-ness) I think this one is more well-known; a small space crew travels the solar system taking on any weird jobs they can get. Two leading WOC, a black man, one interracial relationship.

Avenue 5: (tw: some dark humor, language) Star Trek meets the Titanic. Funny! I’ll leave it at that. 3 leading WOC, a canonically pan main character in a poly and interracial relationship.

Black Mirror: Be Right Back: (tw: grief, partner loss) a woman’s SO dies and she simulates his resurrection through a software that scans his social media accounts. This one isn’t diverse but it’s an hour of Domhnall Gleeson, if he’s your thing!

Stargate: (tw: 90s/00s racism/sexism) tbh I haven’t watched most of the content but I’d say it’s on par with a Star Trek kind of thing. SGA stars two or three POC in a cast of like 7 regulars.

If you liked PACIFIC RIM:

Black Mirror: Hang the DJ: (tw: none that I can recall) a man and woman fall in love via dating app. It doesn’t have monsters, but it’s an incredibly charming episode that exhibits some of Black Mirror’s best qualities imo and I think people who like the Raleigh/Mako dynamic will like what these two have!! Interracial relationship between a black woman and a white man; black woman is blink-and-you-miss-it bi, but still canonically bi.

Cloverfield (tw: violence/blood, frequent flashes, shaky cam): found-footage flick about aliens attacking New York. Basic and not too diverse but it has the huge monster appeal and I like the found-footage aspect.

Edge of Tomorrow: (tw: VB) Groundhog Day alien apocalypse. it’s Tom Cruise buuuuut you get to see Emily Blunt at her most “I’ll end you”-est so like? Worth it I think??

Arrival: (tw: child loss) aliens come to Earth to offer something to the humans. A little slow, but definitely a different take and some cool-looking aliens.

The Host: (tw: child loss) A girl gets kidnapped by a huge river monster. it’s in Korean and all the characters are Asian. Directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Kang-Ho Song and Bae Doona!! Plus environmentalist commentary.

If you liked MARVEL and DC:

Misfits: (tw: sex, language, violence, rape) imagine one of those superhero teams like the Avengers except they’re all criminals who’ve given up on life and don’t actually care about making the world a better place. Chaotic stupid energy. Two black leads :)

Push: (tw: a few bloody scenes) Chris Evans before Cap?? Dakota Fanning before Twilight? Secret government experiments and black ops superpower organizations? You love to see it!

Fast Color: (tw: past drug use referenced) superpowers that pass down from generation to generation in a family of black women. Need I say more? Need I say any fucking more?!?!

Sense8: (tw: child loss, grief, lots of nudity and sex, drug use, language, infidelity) 8 people around the world start experiencing each other’s lives and borrowing each other’s skill sets. This is probably THE most intersectional and diverse show I have ever seen. An international cast and setting that reaches almost every continent, leading trans lesbian, multiple QPOC. Truly incredible and one of my absolute favorites.

Jupiter Ascending: (tw: bees) I actually don’t really like this movie but I do think it has its appeal and I appreciate how much it is just unabashedly itself. Don’t take it too seriously! The cast is kinda wild too--Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Channing Tatum!!! And it��s by the Wachowskis, AKA the two trans sisters who did The Matrix and Sense8!

If you liked THE HUNGER GAMES:

Gattaca: (tw: implied body modification, trichophobia, eugenics) in a society that discriminates against genes, a man with a heart condition assumes another’s identity in order to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut. I love this movie. It’s very moody and soft with a really compelling dynamic between the two leading men which I’ve always read as gay.

Snowpiercer: (tw: VB, minor cannibalism) yet another winner from Bong Joon-ho, who’s surprised? All of humanity lives on a train in which all the cars are stratified by class. This is my favorite of all the movies from all the Chrises. Evans is by far my favorite Chris for this!!! It also features Octavia Spencer and Kang-Ho Song! Piping hot class war tea pre-Parasite.

V for Vendetta: (tw: torture, I don’t remember a lot of the details sorry!) I haven’t watched this movie in a minute so I don’t remember how much I actually liked it, but I thought it was worth mentioning because it’s a classic dystopian movie.

Children of Men: (tw: infertility, childbirth, VB) humanity has lost the ability to procreate for 2 decades until one day a resistance group discovers a pregnant woman. Holy crap so much extremely relevant and prescient commentary on immigration, race, class, and refugee crises!!!

Akira: (tw: disturbing imagery, objectification, nudity) I don’t really remember this one much either? But it’s Japanese, there’s biker gangs, and it’s super weird.

The 100: (tw: VB, kill your gays/POC trope, suicide, torture, child loss) 100 juvenile delinquents are dropped onto Earth and chaos ensues. I think most people know that this show is plagued with issues but it really does have a special place in my heart and I think it changed the conversation and standards re: the treatment of wlw in genre fiction. It starts off cheesy and slow but the stakes are SO high all the time and it’s full of thought-provoking ethical dilemmas.

[makeste]

Newest theory of the day. Shigaraki after finding out he can't steal OFA from Deku tries to dust him, the decay spreads across his arm and to keep Deku alive because his specific order from Endeavor was to protect him~ Bakugo severs his arm with an AP shot, because some of us are still on about Deku losing an arm in this arc. Then we can get from mentoring from Miruko, you know bunny themes, using your legs, and now how to be a hero with prosthetics.

anon I disagree with basically all of this, but I just want to be clear that it’s in a totally respectful “that’s just not how I see things going/where I’d prefer the story to go” way, and it’s more just a matter of my personal preferences than anything else! like, I’m about to break down every specific thing I disagree with, but I hope it doesn’t come off in an attacking way. I kind of feel like I’ve been shooting down pretty much every theory people have thrown at me lately, and I don’t mean to be a buzzkill about it or anything. but since you did send me an ask about it I’m assuming it’s all right to give my opinion. lol I’m probably overthinking this. anyways.

1. so first, I personally don’t think Deku is going to lose his arm, at least not in this arc. I just can’t see any kind of purpose for it. particularly since Deku has already injured his arm very badly in the past and has already gone through the associated angst, and had an arc of learning how to fight without it (for the most part) and learning to fight with his legs instead. I just don’t see this bringing anything really new to the table. and Mirko and Hawks already have the “working to recover from/adapt to disabling injuries” thing covered between the two of them, I think. I also am not a believer in the foreshadowing power of popularity poll covers, at least to the extent of using them as a basis for theories. I know this last part is an unpopular opinion lol.

that all being said, I do think he might lose the arm maybe towards the end of the series, but if it happens it would be from overuse of OFA. and it’s still not something I actually think should happen or think we need to see; Deku is someone who’s already struggled in the past with being differently abled from his peers due to being quirkless, so I’d rather see a different character go through this arc if it does happen. and I’ll also add that I’d be more interested in seeing Ectoplasm mentoring a student in regards to the prosthetic thing; no disrespect to Mirko, but he’s been dealing with it for a lot longer, and would probably have more insight to share.

2. Katsuki saving Deku at some point on the other hand has been foreshadowed, but if he does it won’t JUST be because he was ordered to watch his back. I don’t know if you were necessarily implying this; probably it was just the wording, but regardless, I wanted to throw that out there.

3. you’ve probably figured out my opinion on this already lol but I do think we’re more than likely heading for quirkless Bakugou.

4. Bakugou hasn’t experienced a so-called trauma in a long time, and also I think fandom has a tendency to exaggerate the number of traumas he actually has (and here we get into another unpopular opinion, but hey). canon!Bakugou is a very different beast from fanon!Bakugou, and I think there’s a tendency to conflate the two. canon!Bakugou, from what we’ve seen, does not have any lingering trauma from the sludge monster attack, being chained up at the sports festival, or even from being kidnapped (aside from the “blaming himself for All Might’s end” part of it). canon!Bakugou’s confirmed sources of angst are 1) him feeling guilty over All Might, 2) him feeling pressure to prove to the world that he’s not a villain, 3) and him not wanting to ever lose to Deku. that’s basically it. I know fandom likes to throw all sorts of other stuff in there (PTSD, child abuse, his quirk being toxic to him; you name it), but he’s really not like that in the canon at all.

he definitely has been through a lot, don’t get me wrong. and also I should add that just because I don’t think these things are canon doesn’t mean I’m not interested in exploring them in headcanons or fanfic. on the contrary, I have a fanfic rec list consisting almost entirely of Bakuangst for a reason lol. but the suggestion (not necessarily made by you, but other people have brought this up) that he shouldn’t lose his quirk because it’s “yet more Bakugou angst” or whatever is just something I don’t agree with for a lot of reasons.

here’s a spontaneous list which nobody asked for of all of the other characters who have experienced trauma since the last time Bakugou last went through anything of note.

Aizawa - had his childhood trauma revealed to the audience in a Vigilantes flashback, and subsequently went through the angst of realizing his dead friend had been brought back to life and brainwashed into becoming a villain. also recently watched a man die saving his life.

Present Mic - same as Aizawa minus the “someone died for him recently” stuff. also has to carry Ujiko around everywhere right now which I sure would find traumatizing.

All Might - had his “you are going to die horribly” prophecy revealed. watched his former sidekick die and was helpless to do anything. struggled with the guilt of having not reconnected with him sooner. grappled with trying to figure out how he can help people now that he no longer has OFA.

Ochako - struggled with survivor’s guilt over not being able to save Nighteye.

Kirishima - had his past revealed in a flashback and was shown to have depression and self-worth issues. struggled with those same issues during the Basement arc and was also horrifically injured. most recent response to being asked whether he was okay afterwards was “I’m getting there/working on it.”

Shouto - watched his dad come within an inch of being murdered on live television. is still struggling with reconciling his very complicated feelings about his father and his past actions vs the man he is trying to become now.

Tokoyami - saved his mentor’s life at great risk to his own; was nearly burnt alive; was told that he shouldn’t save Hawks because he killed someone (my poor baby bird is going to have a lot to work through after this arc).

Kaminari - had to overcome his fear of fighting on the front lines in a very real and potentially deadly battle.

Iida - yoinked part of his own leg out to get stronger wtf.

Mirio - lost his quirk; watched his mentor die.

Tamaki - was and is still grappling with severe anxiety. was nearly killed during the basement arc. dealt with boyfriend losing his quirk.

Endeavor - had his goal finally realized in the most hollow, meaningless way possible. realized he’d basically acted like a complete monster in regards to his family for the past two decades. came to terms with the fact that nothing he can do now will ever make up for it (although he is still doing his best to make amends and atone however he can). nearly lost an eye and had his face scarred pretty badly. also has a dead son who secretly isn’t dead so that’s fun.

Mirko - lost an arm and a leg and came within an inch of death and Endeavor had to cauterize her wounds on the spot.

Hawks - ahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Deku - learned about the All Might death prophecy. grappled with feeling like he wasn’t worthy enough to inherit OFA. dealt with the angst of not being able to save Eri sooner. watched Nighteye die. had a secret fight with a villain while worrying about the school finding out and also feeling conflicted the whole time because he empathized with said villain a lot. had his quirk suddenly flare out of control during an exercise and nearly killed everyone around him and subsequently learned that he’s getting a bunch of new quirks and has to learn how to control them all. was informed that all of the past users of OFA have died young. and last but not least, has now learned that Shigaraki Tomura is specifically targeting him and his quirk.

anyways that’s not even complete because I skipped a ton of other characters, but you get the idea. basically the “Kacchan has already had a lot of trauma” argument falls flat to me as a reason why he shouldn’t have anything else happen to him. if anything, looking at everything that’s happened to him recently in comparison to the other characters makes me wonder if he’s not overdue. Kamino was almost two hundred chapters ago. Ground Beta was a hundred and sixty chapters. there has not being anything else since. this is one of the reasons why I want there to finally be something else. I don’t get this idea that we’re done with him now or whatever. not that I’m being all “yes!!! more tragedy for Kacchan!!!”, but this is a story, and characters grow in stories by facing and overcoming obstacles. so let’s give him a new obstacle already. (and I do mean a new one, which is another reason why I’m not sold on the “has to blast off Deku’s arm” angst; him feeling guilty and blaming himself for something that wasn’t his fault is the exact kind of angst we’ve already explored with him, and which we don’t necessarily need to rehash just with minor adjustments.)

Deku has already struggled with his own physical limitations. Kacchan never has. he’s been frustrated with the pace of his growth, sure, but that was more or less just comparing-myself-to-Deku angst disguised as thinking-I’m-weak angst. which is something he’s still doing even now, by the way. he was literally doing it a couple of chapters ago. Ground Beta didn’t fix it; it gave him something new to work towards, yes, and a new perspective regarding his relationship with Deku being something he could use to grow stronger. but it never actually addressed the root of the angst to begin with, which is him only seeing himself as worthy if he’s above Deku. it never addressed the issue of him being so fearful of being “weak” to begin with. he’s so determined to prove that he’s not, because even now he’s still secretly afraid that he is. and this is something I very strongly believe that he needs to confront, one way or the other.

but anyway, this turned into yet another “reasons why I think Bakugou should lose his quirk” meta, which I didn’t intend it to, so I apologize. this pretty much veered way off track so I should probably wrap it up. again, I apologize if any of this comes off as needlessly blunt, as that’s not the intent. and we’re all reading the story in slightly different ways, and we all have different things we want to see explored, and I’m sure as heck not going to say someone else’s view on this isn’t valid! this is just my own personal take. but we’ll see what happens, and I’m going to be wholeheartedly along for the ride pretty much no matter how this turns out.

[akechicrimes]

You have the best takes and I was wondering what an actual Akechi redemption would look like? Sending him to prison is a weird take I've seen considering the themes of power, corruption, and manipulation of youth, and quite frankly it's just boring and lazy from a plot/character standpoint. I imagine the first step would be talking to Futaba and Haru (and others who were affected by his actions) but I'm not sure what would happen after that.

ok firstly THANKS i do my best yellin into the tunglr void

second “Sending him to prison is a weird take I’ve seen considering the themes of power, corruption, and manipulation of youth, and quite frankly it’s just boring and lazy from a plot/character standpoint” is the SEXIEST sentence ive ever read re: goro and thank you for putting these words in this particular order i want it framed, truly it makes zero sense whatsoever

third thanks for this super duper cool question because weirdly enough i havent…………….. really thought about it before??? ive seen more than a few really interesting goro redemption arc fics but if i were gonna do one myself………………….. hmmmmmm

ok ok ok ok ok ok i will. do my best. big psuedo revisionist fanfic under cut

a redemption arc needs to address the wrongs and hurts that he’s done, as well as just generally other noxious junk. to rattle them off so we know what we’re working with, he

killed wakaba (unknown circumstances), which hurt futaba

killed okumura, which hurt haru

assisted shido in his rise to power

assisted an unknown number of other douchebags like shido in their rise to power

killed an unknown number of other douchebags

created psychotic breakdowns, involving casualties and potentially some deaths

was generally a shit on live television

lied to sae.

betrayed joker.

and from there he needs to address these in such a way that his character grows and is better for it.

simultaneously i think it’s important to weigh the opposite issues, which are the ways that akechi is either right or has a valid point, the ways that akechi has presumably been mistreated/abused by people around him, and just generally following through on seeing akechi become happier and healthier for having gone through a redemption arc. in no particular order, he:

apparently desperately craves approval/recognition from others, but not in a productive way (sorry the TV audience does not actually love you lmao!!!!!!!)

has some kind of complicated relationship with shido to say the fuckign LEAST, and i think addressing that angle of shido’s abuse is important

really suffers from his inability to be honest with just about anyone; how deeply he’s hidden his true self has not only exacerbated his loneliness, but it’s done so in a way that i think should be really understandable to any one of the thieves, who also need to hide their true selves and feelings when in public

is 100000% correct about how much shido should eat shit and die

does have a valid point about how dangerous the phantom thieves are, and, in irony of all ironies, probably is a good critic and moral barometer to make sure joker doesn’t go over any lines

is canonically the character who is most unafraid to go against joker’s orders

is smart all absolute FUCK while maintaining an attitude of FUCK COPS

so with all that in mind:

i’d say, the engine room confrontation happens as SOON as they enter shido’s palace. not necessarily specifically in the engine room, but that confrontation happens off the bat. the phantom thieves take two steps into shido’s palace and find that they can’t go anywhere–everything’s locked, or off limits, and the whole place is under more surveillance than any palace they’ve ever seen. sojiro was right when he said that shido’s paranoid as fuck.

they try to leave the palace for the day to regroup, and akechi’s there like a guard dog ready to defend shido’s psyche. why wouldn’t he be? he must have planned that perhaps the thieves would retaliate like this, whether or not joker was alive.

that whole very embarrassing breakdown happens. haru and futaba already canonically seem in favor of akechi rejoining the team, so although haru does say she won’t forgive akechi, i do think that doesn’t need to be at odds with them being in favor of him working with the team.

so, say, akechi’s on the verge of being convinced to work with the team, and he’s not necessarily all in on this whole “being alive” thing, and he’s not super convinced that he deserves redemption, but the phantom thieves really really really insisted, because the phantom thieves can and do change hearts, even when they’re not in palaces, and they’ve just changed akechi’s. 

cognitive akechi doesn’t show up because i’m using him later.

first thing: akechi, haru, and futaba need to have a talk, which is actually pretty easy and not even irrelevant. go through shido’s palace, get the letters of rec, everyone recognizes akechi. like haru in okumura’s palace, akechi’s practically their ticket into half the ship.

getting the letters of rec naturally brings up okumura and wakaba, imo, because it hammers home that these sorts of scumbags are the kinds of people that akechi was killing. and also that this is the kind of scumbag that okumura was, in life. have haru go through the five stages of grief all over again, like she did back in okumura’s palace, realizing that her father kills his own employees for the first time. have her struggle all over again to reconcile the father she loves with the father who died with the father who murdered and exploited and drove his employees to the brink of death. have akechi face that even the people he killed were people, too.

depending on your interpretation of wakaba, she was either just as corrupt OR she was genuinely a nice woman, but that can be addressed in a bunch of ways–akechi didnt know what he was doing at the time, or he totally did but didnt feel like he had any other choice–either way, some sort of contextualization of wakaba’s role in shido’s conspiracy needs to be unearthed. 

say futaba wants to know what her mother was like. say she asks akechi because akechi knew her, maybe knew wakaba better than futaba ever did, because futaba was young and also because futaba never spent a few days literally crawling through her mother’s psyche like akechi did. make akechi tell futaba about the woman he killed with his own mouth. maybe he tells her only the good parts. maybe futaba MAKES him tell her the bad parts. maybe futaba thanks him for it, and akechi figures out that an apology could never be enough.

the point, basically, is to use shido’s palace to have haru, futaba, and akechi come to terms with each other. forgiveness isnt necessarily the point–understanding is more important. haru and futaba come to understand how and why akechi did what he did, while akechi has to sit through several weeks of looking his victims in the eyeballs.

for extra bonus points of making akechi look his victims in the eyeballs, personally i think that futaba would be the most supportive of all the phantom thieves of akechi turning over a new leaf. she canonically tells him that “it doesn’t matter where you start over” and relates his struggles to her struggle to turn her own life around, and honestly i think sympathy would fuck akechi up the most.

meanwhile, in the real world, capitalize on akechi’s position: if he’s deep in shido’s conspiracy, it really only makes sense that akechi could locate the people they need rec letters from in the real world, and use that to find their cognitive equivalent in shido’s palace. show me akechi’s relationship with shido, founded on akechi trying to appease shido and trying to avoid shido’s wrath simultaneously. 

maybe shido’s closing in on the phantom thieves in the real world. he suspects that things haven’t gone according to plan. make use of the fact that shido trusts (to an extent) akechi’s word, and have akechi cover for the phantom thieves in the real world. 

maybe show me shido actively manipulating akechi with praise. show me the greys of that relationship, like how we saw madarame treat yusuke well, or saw sae at her best and worst with makoto. show me how difficult it is for akechi to continue to help the phantom thieves even while actively engaging with his own abuser.

make akechi a traitor to shido. being a traitor was his role, wasn’t it? to betray the thieves? just have him betray shido back. he’s good at being a traitor, isn’t he? akechi probably volunteers himself for the role. let him capitalize on his ability to lie and outsmart those around him. let him make it up to joker in the only way that akechi feels he can: even more lying.

get all the rec letters. akechi himself hands shido the calling card. confront shido–cognitive akechi is there and just as much of a bitch as always. show me how much disdain shido has for akechi, how little he thinks of akechi, how nasty he is–and how blindly adoring cognitive akechi is in return. it’s gross as all hell, but it’s a final nail in the coffin to haru and futaba’s grieving process, even forms some sort of solidarity. 

there’s half a second where akechi is in the position to kill shido. shido’s shadow is down, akechi’s got a gun, he could pull the trigger before anyone could stop him. futaba tells him not to. 

haru tells him that he can kill shido if he wants to.

everyone’s like HARU??? HELLO???? but haru says, as far as i’m concerned, this man is just as much my father’s murderer as akechi-kun is. if you want to, i won’t stop you. but i know that it’s harder to survive than it is to die, too.

akechi does not kill shido. they steal shido’s treasure and return to the real world.

at this point in the canon plot, yaldabaoth starts to happen really fast, but bear with me for five seconds–bring sae back on the scene. shido confesses, and akechi’s reputation goes up in smoke. people call him a fraud, people won’t stop talking about shido being his dad, akechi’s name gets dragged through the mud worse than back when the PT were at their most popular.

sae takes up prosecuting shido’s case, and akechi can’t avoid her forever when he’s supposedly a key witness. sae says, i’m going to give you one chance to explain yourself. you lied to him, you tricked me, you pretended to be my partner all that time and then ran rings around me. talk.

so akechi explains himself, even though half that stuff isnt permissible in court. he doesn’t butter her up and he doesn’t use his cutesy prince mask, and for the first time sae sees him as he really is. and sae says, those are some pretty serious offenses, akechi, what are you going to do now? 

akechi’s just gone through that whole bonding session with haru and futaba, during which akechi had to realize, ah, shit, i fucked over the lives of these two very nice girls and even inflicted the same trauma that i myself went through onto other people. so akechi tells sae, well obviously i don’t fucking know, i dont have a career, i might be expelled, and i’ve killed a shitload of people and there’s no way that i can make up for that. but if i could, i would want to do something to right the wrongs that i did–i’d want to address the murders i committed, and maybe do something to fix it.

sae says, you’re smart as all hell, what you’ve done is irrevocable, you know your way around the police and its corruption, you’re willing to do better and you know how hard doing better is going to be. i’m the same way. i might not have killed anyone, but i’ve ruined the lives of so many people in the name of my career and a distorted sense of justice. if you want to do better, i could use a person like you. what do you say that when this case is over, we become partners for real, this time?

akechi says, but sae-san, what about your reputation, what about your career, wouldn’t it be bad to have a fraud like me by your side?

sae says, i didnt have you as a partner the first time around because you were stupid. use your head, make it work, and maybe i’ll buy you sushi off the conveyor belt someday.

case number one is prosecuting the shit out of shido. sae said they’d be partners after akechi is no longer a key witness, but at this point, being a key witness is basically like being her assistant. sae’s there every step of the way while akechi gets shoved through the public wringer. i say, make him lose all his public fame and reputation and more, everything that he thought he wanted, and he come out with sae’s respect, akira’s support, and the phantom thieves on his side.

the trial starts to stall because of yaldabaoth’s influence, which then brings us to that whole reveal about yaldabaoth using akechi as well for yaldo’s own ends. yaldabaoth offers the p5 vanilla bad end, in which the phantom thieves continue on and become incredibly famous and eliminate most crime because they just change the hearts of anyone who does anything halfway wrong.

i say, let the thieves deliberate on that one. all of them, not just joker. it’s not actually a very bad deal, necessarily; it’s just vaguely skeevy and authoritarian. let’s say, akechi is the biggest opposer, and points out that if akira goes down that route, akira will be doing exactly the same thing akechi did for so long–using his power for his own self-satisfaction, power unchecked and out of control. let akechi use the fact that he’s akira’s “rival” and outspoken critic to good use. akira tells yaldo where he can stick it.

fight yaldabaoth, win. sae takes akira into custody. akechi makes good on his deal with sae, and both of them work together to use akechi’s testimony, akira’s testimony, and shido’s testimony to nail shido and clear akira’s name. 

from there, flash forward to the epilogue in the same way that it happens in canon, except akechi is now sae’s lackey and she’s overseeing his efforts to undo whatever damage he did to all the nameless people he’s hurt over the years. she’s going to become a defense attorney, and akechi’s probably going to become her assistant and later paralegal. both of them are committed to reforming the justice system for the better and addressing their past wrongs.

im actually big fucking mad at how little i had to change about persona 5 canon to make this redemption arc work. @ persona 5 royal meet me in the pit.

[transarchivist]

Do you have any podcast recommendations? I've listened to tma, wolf359, the penumbra podcast, and like...half of night vale. You seem like you'd know some good ones!

!!!

I Am In Eskew is an absolute all-time favorite of mine! It’s very firmly horror, but not tragedy. Think… WTNV but 1. on a personal scale, 2. actually terrifying, and 3. not benign. It follows David Ward, inhabitant of the city Eskew, as he chronicles some of the terrifying stuff that happens to him. Eventually, we hear from Riyo Dulae, a private investigator who’s been pulled into Eskew’s orbit. It uses place-as-horror in an astonishing way! It’s a finished product with 30 episodes and the ending is honestly amazing. I’ve listened to it several times. It’s very good. Listen to it. Please.

This got long, so the rest of the recommendations are under the cut, and in no particular order! (Eskew is absolutely my top recommendation lol) Particularly sad endings and ongoing series are specified.

Janus Descending is a finished and relatively short sci-fi horror series. It follows two xenoarcheologists (archeologists for aliens) as they inspect the site of an abandoned alien civilization. It’s told in inverse chronological order, alternating between Chel and Peter’s perspectives. Chel’s is chronological, while Peter’s is backwards. It’s an amazing format and keeps you suspended in the mystery up until the very end! It is a tragedy, though, and has a sad ending.

ars PARADOXICA is an audio drama about time-travel and the Cold War. The synopsis is this: scientist Sally Grissom accidentally creates time travel, is transported back to the Cold War, and is entwined with a clandestine branch of the US government. It’s 3 seasons long- and I will say that if you’re not good with differentiating voices I recommend either listening to it without stopping for a long period and/or reading along to transcripts. The plot is intricate but engaging and the large cast of characters each has their own unique personality. Plus: canon ace main character (as in she says she’s asexual! in canon!), a Jewish lesbian semi-main character, a mlm (bi?) man of color side-character, and several other characters of color.

Mabel is an ongoing horror podcast with elements of fae/fairy lore and the place-as-horror theme. It’s not as outright horror as TMA, Eskew, or Janus Descending, it’s much more atmospheric? It’s several seasons in, with the next season currently in production. It follows Anna Limon, who is an in-home caretaker, trying to contact Mabel Martin, the granddaughter of the woman Anna is caring for. It has lots of wlw, lots of moral ambiguity, beautiful prose, and lots and lots of fae. 

Zero Hours is a 7 episode long anthology series by the creators of Wolf 359. Each episode deals with “the end of the world - or at least something that feels like the end of the world.” There’s 99-year intervals between episode and it starts in the past and ends in the far future. It’s honestly stunning and was well worth listening to in it’s entirety when it dropped (and subsequently staying up past midnight). 

The Bright Sessions is… kinda urban fantasy? The official synopsis is that TBS is a “science fiction podcast that follows a group of therapy patients. But these are not your typical patients - each has a unique supernatural ability. The show documents their struggles and discoveries as well as the motivations of their mysterious therapist, Dr. Bright.” (I tried explaining but was having a tricky time) The characters are amazingly written and unique. (And no, it doesn’t fall into the “evil therapist” idea, in case you were worried) One of the main characters is gay (and it isn’t a throwaway line). It has good and realistic representation of mental illnesses: a main character as a panic/anxiety disorder, another has PTSD, another has depression, and so on. The main show is finished but there’s a spin off that’s being made. Specifically happy ending!

Alice Isn’t Dead is a horror podcast by the creators of Night Vale. It follows Keisha, a trucker, who is looking for her wife, Alice. Keisha encounters many strange things as she drives back and forth across America, including murderous almost-human monsters, places that are stuck out of time, and a nation spanning conspiracy. It encompasses the whole… atmosphere of middle-of-nowhere America perfectly. It’s a complete story with a novel form (haven’t had the pleasure of reading it, though). Main character is wlw, and Alice is not dead.

Limetown is a horror podcast. It follows reporter Lia Haddock as she investigates the mystery of Limetown- a town in Tennessee where over 300 people disappeared overnight, never to be heard from again. It’s finished…? I think the podcast is finished but a book and a Facebook miniseries are in development? Anyways. Sad ending. I loved the first season a lot, the second season is good too though!

The Adventure Zone isn’t an audio drama, instead it’s an actual-play show of Dungeons and Dragons (and D&D like systems). The McElroy brothers and their dad host it, and are frankly absolutely hilarious. TAZ: Balance is the first season and starts as a classic d&d game but turns into an amazing and heart wrenching story with beautiful prose and music. And also 69 jokes. TAZ:B is honestly one of the most emotionally impacting stories I’ve ever heard. It has an amazingly happy and hopeful ending. Includes: casual lgbt rep and a late game but major character is a trans woman! I’ve heard good things about the recently finished season TAZ: Amnesty, although I haven’t finished it. There’s a new season, TAZ: Graduation, that started recently, and I’ve enjoyed the handful of episodes I’ve listened to! Currently ongoing, but tragic endings aren’t something that’s expected.

I haven’t finished/caught up with these, but I’ve enjoyed them: Sayer (sci-fi. think menacing capitalist Night Vale in space, heard s3/s4 are really good), The Bridge (horror, alternate modern day. follows a watchpost on a bridge that crosses the Atlantic), The Orbiting Human Circus (from the people at WTNV. surreal fiction. hard to explain). I feel like there’s more but I can’t remember any atm. 

I’m also gonna point you towards @theradioghost‘s blog and her podcast recs tag. Her taste is amazing and I haven’t disliked a single show I’ve tried. (Also, check out her show, Midnight Radio! It’s the next thing on my to-listen list.)

[floraone]

So, Rec'tober is almost over and I come in at the finish line.

But I wanted to write a special kind of fic rec, something beyond what I normally do. And so I target this post not towards our little corner of the internet that have read every big fic that was posted in the last two decades, but towards those who pop in from time to time, to those that loved Sailor Moon in their childhood and youth and feel that pinge of nostalgia for the world. This post is for you!

Not everything in the Sailor Moon franchise survived the test of time. There are parts of canon we REMEMBER differently - we remember what it made us feel at the time, but re-watching it, it just doesn’t have the same impact. We grew up, and we STILL LOVE THE FRIGGIN CONCEPT, but we notice the flaws we didn’t notice before. But we want that back - we want the feeling that we had watching the show when we were little. We want that wonder, that newness, that full heart about how GOOD and wholesome Usagi is, we want the miracle romance, we want our favorite characters but how they grew with us in our heads.

And well, there IS a place where we can find this fix of what it felt like. And it’s preserved in a treasure box of fanfiction. Of people who write these characters as they might be today, of people who take their essence and make it new.

So, this list is filled with tons of fics that tried to re-create canon with that affectionate, nostalgic feeling. I specifically for this list chose fics that dealt with canon themes - either through fix-it fics that took specific episodes and put their own spin to it, or to spins on canon, the what ifs - what if this specific choice weren’t made, what if the break up arc didn’t end, what if we took this plot point and spun it somewhere new, playing with the things we vaguely remember to have loved so dearly. (Though, of course, the world of Alternative Universes and Non-Senshi fics is vast, and if you are looking for a fix of that, please check out @uglygreenjacket ‘s elaborate worlds and @queenrisa14 fantastic AU spins out especially for this purpose!)

(Take note that these stories prominently feature stories revolving Usagi and Mamoru and the Miracle Romance, since that is my absolute jam. (Though it didn’t even used to be my most favorite part of the story growing up!) And some categories feature more stories by the same authors (for instance those that just like to dabble in What Ifs  - a not all TOO common trope, though I hope it were!))

So, let me transport you back into your childhood:

What If’s:

Forget Me Not by Antigone2 What if, post-stars, Usagi was suddenly the one to forget Mamoru for once, and he had to try really hard to make a new good first impression? This plays off all my buttons, and @idesofnovember is a master of making you remember the small details of these dorks that were so special.

What If by Antigone2 Canon had the habit of making Mamoru forget his memories, and @idesofnovember is a master of taking this trope and making it better. Here, Usagi wonders if Mamoru would have ever dated her if it weren’t for their history, and Setsuna, fed up, makes it happen.

Desperate and Divine by Antigone2 (Rated M) This story will always have a giant place in my heart: What If Mamoru never remembered after Beryl’s defeat, and Usagi was trying to get that one special night of closure. This had such an impact on me, reminding me how much I loved these characters, that it caused me to start writing fanfiction once more.

Royal Pain and Similes by Antigone2 What If the Senshi had found out Usagi is Serenity, but never that Mamoru is Endymion in this spectacular pinefest that will make your heart bleed.

Coming Of Age by Kasienda What if the R story arc surrounding Chibi-Usa was a little more sensical, a little more tragic, a little more realistic? This kid shows up in front of Mamoru’s door, Sailor Pluto informing him she’s from a great war in the future and him being the only one of age, he is now her legal guardian. Watch Mamoru and Usagi becoming parents to a war-traumatized Chibi-Usa, and all the struggles with it.

The Reveal by Kasienda This is a series of unconnected fics set in first season primarly and beyond, and it reinvents that crucial moment where the superhero personas of our favorite characters are revealed over and over and over again, because that moment can never be special and new enough.

A Craving for Milkshakes by Kasienda What if during first season, a monster-of-the-week had caused Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon to be telepathically linked? Watch how it would progressively have changed their dynamic in this endearing, sweet story!

Wring My Emotions and interpret canon anew:

Six Birthdays by Kiyoshi Dot This Fic reads like a poem, and it runs your through the ups and downs of the Miracle Romance via gifts Usagi receives forher birthday through the years, and it has the feeling of the Manga written all over it.

Aisuru, Mamo-chan by ellephedre Post-stars, Mamoru receives a package from Harvard. In it are all the letters Usagi wrote to him while he was dead during Stars. And yes, this read is as painful and therapeutic as you imagine it is.

Song for a scribbled out name by Antigone2 Centered in the first season during the anime’s Evil!Endymion arc, this little story teases you with what might have become of this enticing little nugget of piney, deliciously angsty plot!

The Odds Considered by Kiyoshi Dot Takes you through the secret romance of Usagi and Mamoru in the first season in this hauntingly beautiful way of forming words, and made me hurt in the way I always wanted the manga to hurt me.

Resiliency is My Mask by MamaLadyKT This is an episode fix surrounding the time Usagi was nearly suffocated by a monster-of-the-week in the infamous Saori-episode, and Mamoru cares a LOT about it.

Feel Good Little Moments with these characters as we remember them:

Je t’aime by Antigone2 A snapshot moment where Usagi uses the disguise pen to sneak into a university event of Mamoru’s and takes him for a little test. This little story feels so delightfully, essentially THEM in the way they behaved during later seasons of the anime that it makes my chest feel light and happy!

Day Of Delinquency by UglyGreenJacket A snippet of a moment that captures the humor of the series as my heart remembers it, in which Haruka takes Usagi on a joy ride, Usagi lands them in jail, and Mamoru and Michiri have to bail them out.

Distractions by Antigone2 follows Mamoru unsuccessfully trying to help Usagi study and it feels like home.

The Untouchable King in the Day and Night Lacunae Series by Tina Century What if we let @tinacentury show King Endymion the Sailor Moon Crystal series? This is exactly as delightful as it sounds.

A Romance For The Small Things by amomo Newest on this list, @spider-momo wrote these fall-themed snippets of Senshi interactions in the way that feel so painfully right and homey and warm they are bound to make you ache to re-acquaint yourself with these old friends of yours.

Public Eye by Antigone2 Canon never gave us a terrible lot of interaction between Usagi and Tuxedo Mask or Mamoru and Sailor Moon. This is a cheeky and delightful little ficlet about Mamoru having to pretend he has No Relations Going On With This Superheroine.

Rainbow by Kasienda I’m pretty sure I put this fic on every fic rec list I ever wrote, but @kasienda encapsulated everything I love about Mamoru and Usagi’s dynamic in the first season of the anime and made my heart ache in its simplistic beauty.

The Space Between by Uglygreenjacket This series of ficlets explores the space between R and S and gives you that sweet feeling of Usagi and Mamoru tender baby love as we were used to in S!

A Week With Mamoru Chiba by Dreams In Pink This fic takes us through a series of Mamoru-centered mini-stories in a mostly first season second that feel so delightfully warm and funny it will warm your heart.

Flower Power By irritable-vowel-types Do you miss the absolute ridiculousness that were these show’s monster-of-the-week, or Tuxedo Mask’s outrageous speeches? This fic is a crackfic, and yet it somehow manages to feel EXACTLY as ridiculous and not a tad more than those original canon monsters.

All’s Fun With Love and Orbs by irritable-vowel-types This is set in Super-S, and reads like an episode as it should have been. What if one of the Amazon Quartett’s shenanigans was to flip all love into hate for one delightfully hilarious read?

The Thing About Your Transformation by AngelMoon Girl Delightfully funny, this little ficlet explores the fact that Mamoru can’t quite deal with the fact that for a short moment before every battle, Usagi may be all glitter, but she’s also briefly naked as she transforms.

Shall We Dance by ncisduckie A snippet in time and a secret relationship as Serenity and Endymion share a bittersweet dance.

And, if you still want more, I wrote my own canon spins, too. Most notably, the Ikigai and Yugen duo (Rated M), in which I tried to hand-pick everything I loved about the Sailor Moon story, manga and anime and all, of all the seasons, and tried to reinvent it in a way that felt contemporary and told one consecutive narrative within the anime setting. And in contrast to that for the manga meets anime setting, my story Priorities (Rated M) tried to encapsulate what the feeling of reading the Manga for the first time felt like to me, but now with a very adult and mature and heart-aching spin to it.

This list I gave you is non-exhaustive. There are many, many more where they come from. And if you need a fix of Sailor Moon nostalgia, they are waiting for you. Have FUN!

(And if you liked any of them, please consider leaving the author a review, so they will keep motivated to supply us with such beautiful, free, nostalgic treasures!)

[dragimal]

Longform Audio Creepypasta Recs

hey TMA fandom! as a new TMA listener but looooongtime creepypasta fan, I find it rly cool that ppl who aren’t into horror are getting into TMA! I’m hoping this will help bring fresh blood (hah) to the horror fandom, so if you’ve realized that you rather like audio horror but don’t know what else to look into, I’m here to recommend my favorite longform creepypasta narrations! 

this is far from an exhaustive list of long creepypastas, but I just want to introduce some of the stories I consider to be the best of the genre. and while I’m just reccing longform in this post, there are plenty of short one-shots I could rec if anyone wants to ask me abt a specific theme/Entity or even a specific ep of TMA (there are several MAG eps that brought me straight back to a specific creepypasta or two, lmao)

also, I’ll just be linking to MrCreepyPasta’s narrations b/c I’m heavily biased so I mostly listen to him, but there are plenty of other great narrators out there like CreepsMcPasta, CreepypastaJr, etc. (most of their names are variations on a theme asdfgh). and if u just want the text version of any of these, every video I link has a link in its own description back to the original text posting of the story

THAT outta the way, here are my recs! I’ll try to remember all the trigger warnings I can, but keep in mind I tend to be p hardy to most horror content, so there may be some things that slip past simply b/c they don’t register to me. also it’s been a minute since I’ve listened to some of these, so some have updated or I may have just forgotten some aspects. I’ll also update this if ppl find it useful and I find more good long pastas~

Penpal (2.5 hrs, complete)

op recounts some of their odd experiences as a child, all of which stem from an elementary school project involving a pen pal. as he recalls these experiences, a horrifying picture of his past begins to emerge...

easily my favorite pasta of all time-- and that’s saying something, considering there are some damn good recs here. it’s one of the first I read so long ago, and few have come close to what this one made me feel. op does an incredible job of capturing the nostalgia and childhood wanderlust of youth, and the last few lines of each chunk of the story hit like a goddamned truck-- esp "Friends”, I cry like a baby every time, it just.... hits something tender in me...

TW: stalking of children, subsequent kidnapping and child abuse at the end (and while it’s not necessarily *confirmed*, heavy implications of child sexual abuse, for that last bit). implied cat death. some graphic description of the victim of a hit-and-run

Search and Rescue Woods (~5 hrs, ongoing?)

op recalls several of the strange and disturbing experiences (their own and quoted from coworkers) of working search-and-rescue for an unnamed national forest in the US

y’know that feeling u get when u see photos lawn chairs just sitting at the bottom of the ocean? even if there’s a perfectly good explanation for why they’re there, it’s still haunting b/c it feels wrong to see them there, in that context? that’s basically this entire assortment of stories-- the obvious example being the stairs, of course, but even a lot of the human elements feel so out of place and wrong. if you’re a fan of Spiral-type horror w/ a hard edge of Stranger, this is the story for u

TW: generally clinical but graphic descriptions of mutilated bodies. use of the r-slur against an nd individual (it’s during a story that the main character is quoting from a different one-off character, so it thankfully only happens the one time..). child death, in certain stories. some wild animal death

Borrasca (2.5 hrs, complete)

Sam moves to a small mountain town with his family after his father’s job relocates them. he hears some spooky legends about the town, but doesn’t think much of them... that is, until his sister disappears. as Sam and his friends dig deeper into the town’s history to find any clues to his sister’s disappearance, they begin to realize there’s something deeply deeply wrong with their quaint little home

I’ve always loved horror that’s ‘mundane’ enough to be done by regular humans, but vague enough that it could actually be supernatural, under the right circumstances-- and this is one of those mysteries that keeps u guessing until the VERY end. my mind felt like that Pepe Silvia corkboard meme the first time I listened to this, I was losin’ it. this is also prolly one of my favorite examples of MCP’s talent as a narrator, b/c he adds in his own subtle foreshadowing with his voicework, and it blows my mind every time I listen to it again

also worth mentioning there’s a (3.5 hr) sequel! since the horror/mystery is basically done after the first one, the sequel is mostly suspense/thriller and character closure. if ur just here for the horror/mystery and the gut-punch of that first ending, then the sequel isn’t necessary. but if you want more closure for our dear sweet cast who deserve so much better, then by all means!

TW: the ending involves heavy sexual abuse (involving underage girls, no less), part of which is graphic. like I know I joke abt having to take breaks after reading emotionally exhausting stories, but I genuinely had to take a couple days of recovery after this one-- and that’s from someone who’s p hardy to all kinds of graphic content. do NOT take this warning lightly if this is a sensitive topic for you

Tales From the Gas Station (10 hrs for free, otherwise ongoing)

Jack works at a gas station at the edge of a middle-of-nowhere town. Strange things happen at the gas station-- bipedal deer stopping by for a drink, dark gods leaving vague messages, fingers growing from the ground out back, sudden lawn gnome appearances-- All just a part of the daily grind, right?

so if I wanna be totally fair, this is more a rec for Night Vale fans than anything (tho the TMA/WTNV overlap seems to be p significant). the comedic, nonchalant tone taken towards everything supernatural and horrific is p much 1:1 WTNV. I’ve genuinely cried laughing at some of the fuckshit that happens, esp anything involving Jerry. not to say that GST doesn’t have its heavy-horror moments, but the frequency is more comparable to Night Vale’s approach-- dark comedy definitely takes center stage, here. tho this also varies by the POV-- the “Finding Vanessa” arcs are told from the perspective of a more serious character, so the heavy parts are far more frequent and hit a lot harder

as for the time estimate, here’s where it gets a littleee bit complicated. the first version was put out for free, and read for free by MCP (among a few other narrators). this came out in several different parts, and the one video I linked above has compiled *most* of volume 1, but not the Halloween story, featured here. HOWEVER, the author has taken a second go at v1 and beyond, which is currently ongoing and available to buy as books or audiobooks ALSO narrated by MCP!

as for deciding which version to listen to, I’ll just try to describe the differences here. the first version was written entirely via Jack’s online forum posts, which were subject to more direct reader interaction and Jack’s scatterbrain. thus, the first version leaves a LOT more details up to reader interpretation/theorizing, straight up doesn’t have or explain certain plot arcs yet, and is very disorganized in terms of timeline all due to Jack’s canon memory issues. this all, personally, made it v fun and silly to follow, but I’m aware that’s not for everyone. the second version is written from a more standard first person narrative from Jack’s perspective. while Jack’s memory issues still make him an unreliable narrator (often *upsettingly* so in this version), the actual narrative is far more organized, complete, and easy to follow. the fun thing is that the first version can still be considered canon material to the second version, as Jack references making those very forum posts within the second version narrative. so, personally, I consider the second version to be the core cohesive story, while the first version is supplemental, fun material that provides more context for a few of the strange bits that happen in the story (like Jack’s ‘secret admirer’ makes more sense if u’ve listened to the first version). either way, the second version is the only way the story is going to continue (as far as I’m aware), so if you’re ONLY going to listen to one version of the story, listen to the second version

TW: for the first version, there are some uncomfortable jokes/implications at certain points-- associating villains/assholes with fatness and/or personality disorders is unfortunately a running theme, and a few off-color jokes are made abt some of Jack’s conditions (general mental health and his brief use of crutches). there’s also a point at which it’s implied that a specific one-off arc is a ploy to rape Jack, tho nothing actually comes of it beyond awkward scheming (but just in case, that story is specifically “Death at the Gas Station” at the very end of that long compilation, if u wanna skip it). for the second version, I believe the author was made aware of these issues and either straight-up removed or fixed most of them in some way. there’s just one point where an intentionally-questionable character uses the g*psy slur, and a few points where a regular commenter on Jack’s forum posts has w*ndigo in their username

in terms of gore for either one, uhhh maybe some descriptions of injuries? body horror? this one’s a lot harder to call for me, b/c the comedy softens the blow on a lot of the horror

Accounts From a Lonely Broadcast Station (5 hrs, ongoing)

Evelyn is the new voice of a small mountain town’s local radio station. her job is to take calls, play music (ALWAYS play the music), and broadcast emergency warnings whenever the fog rolls in from the surrounding forest. pretty standard stuff. she tries to make the most of it-- if only that damn crow with human eyes would stop watching her...

this one’s similar to Gas Station Tales with its heavy reliance on dark humor, but it takes itself a bit more seriously, with a more even split b/t genuine horror and comedy. also MCP brings in wonderful extra voice talent w/ this one, I RLY love Evelyn's va ;w;

TW: graphic descriptions of mutilation and body horror

My Friend Has Been Living in an Alternate Reality (4 hrs, complete)

op’s eccentric friend, Clint, turns up on op’s doorstep unannounced after several years missing. Clint vanishes again just as abruptly, leaving op with a journal detailing a horrifying, dangerous journey that’s almost too bizarre to believe, yet...

so this one’s more like an action/thriller with horror garnish, tbh-- very exciting and suspenseful! I love the weird, apocalyptic world Clint describes in his journals, and the societies that have cropped up around these hostile circumstances

TW: graphic descriptions of mutilation/injury

My Name is Lily Madwhip (~8 hrs, ongoing)

Lily Madwhip sees things before they happen. they’re usually horrible things like deaths and injuries that she wishes she could prevent but often can’t. at least her best friend-- an angel possessing one of Lily’s dolls-- is around to provide advice

this one’s from the perspective of a little girl, and it leans into dark humor enough to soften at least some of the more traumatic moments. Lily’s young enough that she’s somewhat removed from the full gravity of the deaths around her, but the fact that it’s happening so frequently at all seems to be warping her perspective towards death to be more... casual? is that the right word? it’s just a rly interesting perspective to see for horror. also we’ve got another rly great guest va here for Lily~

TW: brief descriptions of injury, but they’re not graphic. frequent animal death.

The Showers (2.75 hrs, complete)

op recounts a scary story he heard from a teacher back in high school about a vague location and a terrifying encounter. he later ventures to find this location to see the truth for himself, but is it worth it?

this one’s a classic-- I think it was of the first creepypasta I listened to? not this version, but I wouldn’t be able to tell u which narrator it was at the time. I won’t say that this one’s the most unique story out there, but something abt it has always stuck with me?.... idk, I think the premise rly hooks me

TW: oh god it’s been a while, but I don’t remember anything particularly triggering? maybe body horror?

[teacuphuman09]

Inceptiversary 2019 MasterPost

It will soon be July and you know what that means! IT’S INCEPTIVERSARY TIME!!!!!!

In case you don’t know (and that’s fine, we love new blood in this fandom), Inceptiversary is the yearly celebration of the release of the film that keeps us darlings dreaming bigger: Inception. It takes place over five weeks (July 1st to August 5th) and includes fandom focused events, challenges, and content. It’s when we Inceptionites come together to strengthen the community, show appreciation, and welcome in a new generation of dreamers!

ALL SHIPS ARE WELCOME in the Inceptiversary festivities and we encourage you to explore a ship you haven’t before. You never know what you might find!

“But wait, teacup,” you say. “How am I to keep track of all these awesome events? How will I know what’s happening and what’s to come?”

I’m glad you asked, dear dreamer, because we have the super-organized and equally awesome @freighttraininmybrain over at the Inception Social Calendar and the miraculous trio of @flosculatory, @deinvatiwrites, and @dbshawnblog on the @Inceptiversaryblog keeping us from succumbing to Inception FOMO! So hold onto your grip on reality because the unbelievable details of this year’s Inceptiversary are laid out below!

1) Theme Weeks: 

Inceptiversary is structured over five glorious weeks, each of which caters to a theme in fandom. Fans are encouraged to post and reblog all manner of content related to each week’s theme. Memes, fics, fanvids, artwork, conspiracy theories; all will find a home! And you may just discover something you didn’t know you needed in your life.

This year’s Theme Weeks are:

Week 1, July 1 - 7 No Stone Unturned - Inception Gen Week 

This is a special Theme Week this year as we’ve paired it with a prompt challenge of the same name that will be run by @bayta-darell! The Inception fandom has a ton of love to go around, but what about the non-romantic kind of love? This week, we're focusing on all of the great platonic and familial relationships with a series of daily prompts. These are just meant as a starting point to get you inspired and by all means, disregard these as much as you want! All Inception content that isn't based on romantic or sexual relationships is welcome, and fanwork recommendations are certainly encouraged as well. Have fun, and happy Inceptiversary!

Day 1: Backstory

Day 2: Team Dynamics

Day 3: Character Study

Day 4: Rare/Underappreciated Characters (Philippa, James, Miles, Nash... anyone outside of our main dream team)

Day 5: Non-Canon Interactions

Day 6: World-Building

Day 7: Post-Canon

Week 2, July 8 - 14 It’s The End Of The World As We Know It: 

Zombies! Meteors! The Rapture! Girl Scouts! It’s the apocalypse and we want to know all about the survivors!

Week 3, July 15 - 21 Curtain Fic: 

Domestication at its best! Bring out all your happily ever afters and spend a week in bliss as your favourite ships ride off on magical rainbow unicorns and make all their dreams come true!

Week 4, July 22 -28 In Between The Lines: 

We all have them. Those headcanons about what went on behind the scenes of Inception. What happened to Tadashi? Is Ariadne hiding gills under all those scarves? Just what did the team do with all that time left over in the dream? And for Nolan’s sake, did the damn top fall over or not?

Week 5, July 29 - August 5 Crack/Fluff: 

It’s been a long month so kick back and relax with a large dose of everyone’s favourite guilty pleasure: Crackfic! We all need those fics that are purely for entertaining silly and happy ideas. They’re a soft place to land and a great opportunity to get wacky ideas out of your head! Indulge and enjoy the ride!

2. Watch Parties (@corinnetags, @noitsnacktime, @freighttraininmybrain ):    

Watch parties are an excellent way to meet other people in fandom and tend to create a ton of inspiration for future wips! All movies are connected to the cast of Inception in one way or another and will be held on either Slack or Discord or both depending on host availability/preference.  The schedule for all viewings can be found on the Inceptiversary Social Calendar.

3. Watch Party Bingo: (@withinmeloveresides1, @zuulee63)

On July 1st, 16th, and 31st, Inception Bingo during the Official (not really) Inception Watch Parties! You can check out the viewing times on the Inception Social Calendar. More info to come!

4. Inception 30 Day Challenge (@flosculatory): 

The 30 Day Challenge is such an interesting and entertaining look into the minds of your fellow Inceptionites! Learn how others feel about your favourite Inception moments and enjoy a look back at why we’re all still here, nine years after its release.

5. Trope/Kink Bingo (@teacuphuman09, @dreamhubbies):

One of the most popular aspects of Inceptiversary is the Trope/Kink Bingo, and goodness, does it ever deliver! Scoot on over to @inceptiversarybingo  for info on how to get your hands on your very own bingo card, then indulge your (not so) secret desire to write all the tropes and/or kinks your little fandom heart desires!

6) AELDWS: (@teacuphuman09):

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a stake in this year’s Arthur/Eames Last Drabble Writer Standing event. AELDWS was missed last year, but in 2019 it’s returning to its roots and eliminating one writer every week until a champion is crowned! (I’m coming for you, @deinvatiwrites)

7)  Inceptionkitties: (@a-forger-and-a-point-man) 

The Caption Contest is back! Send in your purrfect puss pics, captioned with a quote from Inception and you could win all the fame and fortune of the Inception cat fandom! Get to it, meow!

8)  Inception Quiz (@thingsbeginningwitha, @betterpausenow, @freighttraininmybrain):

Known by some (me) as one of the most difficult quizzes of all time, the Inception Quiz tests your knowledge, dedication, and attention to detail of all things Inception. Think you can handle it? (You can!) More details to come!

9) Inception Positivity: (@flosculatory)

Do you have a fandom crush? Someone you admire or look up to? Someone you feel needs to know just how important and appreciated they are? Then jump over to @inceptionpositivity to fill out a submission form and send your love across the fandom!

10) Fic Recs: (@teacuphuman09)

Looking for a specific fic or wanting to read along with the Theme Weeks? @inceptionficrx (@teacuphuman09) has what the doctor ordered! We’ll have weekly reading recs as well as special recs for Wednesday Hump Day and Bunk Fic Fridays (@avacynner); little pick-me-ups and some pants-tingling to see you through the weekend!

11) Inception/007 Battle Royale: (@a-forger-and-a-point-man)

The who, what, where, and when has yet to be announced, but get ready for yet another fight to the (canon)death! More details to come!

12) Inception Big Bang: (@dreaminghigher)

Back after a few years off, the Inception Big Bang is a fantastic event that combines titillating fic ideas with gorgeous artwork! Head on over to @inceptionbigbang for more info, and hurry because sign-ups are almost closed!

13)  Fandom Auction for @nolaespoir: (@corinnetags)

Fandom lost an incredible talent and friend, Nolaespoir, and this year’s auction is in her name, with proceeds going to charities dedicated to suicide prevention and mental health. Check out the auction site and bid on some amazing items up for grabs!

14) Here’s a list of other Inceptiversary blogs and tags you should follow to keep up to date on the festivities:

First and foremost there is the Inception Blogs Masterlist, curated by the incomparable @a-forger-and-a-point-man

Are you a member of the InceptionSlack yet? It’s a great online platform that allows us to communicate directly and get to know each other! We have chat rooms for just about everything from career support to writing & art, and everyone is welcome! We have the best custom emojis, let me tell you! This is also where the Watch Parties will be hosted, so if you’d like an invitation, send @teacuphuman09 or @deinvatiwrites an ask!

Looking for something a little more Inception-centric than Slack? Want to be part of everything Inception related? The Inception Discord is the place to be! So head on over and check their platform out and enjoy some sweet, sweet discord!

Wondering about who’s who or the history of our fandom over the past nine years? @flosculatory and @gessorosso have put together two wonderful resources! The Friending Meme is a place to put your deets if you’re wanting to connect with others in the fandom and the Fandom Page (which now houses the Friending Meme!) is an ongoing collection of events and moments in fandom history. If you’d like to contribute something to the Fandom Page, please contact @gessorosso.

You should obviously be following #inception,  #inceptiversary, and your ship tags (tumblr.com/tagged/[search term]), but may we also suggest:

#christopher nolan

#emma thomas

#wally pfister

#hans zimmer

#tom hardy

#ken watanabe

#marion cotillard

#leonardo dicaprio

#dileep rao

#ellen page

#joseph gordon-levitt

#cillian murphy

#michael caine

#lukas haas

#tom berenger

#pete postlethwaite (RIP)

14) Where can I find the Inception Button I keep hearing so much about?

RIGHT HERE!

That’s it, that’s all (it’s not, there’s always more). So get ready because we’re just days away from Inceptiversary 2019!

[seenashwrite]

The Fall ‘18/Winter ‘19 Edition of…

It’s a better-late-than-never situation, but it’s finally here!

*~* New to The Nail? *~*

The Nail isn’t about perfection. It isn’t about award-level contenders. It isn’t for highlighting certain genres of fics or specific ships. It’s about seeing real effort and hard work radiate off of the screen - the sole focus is quality. Character dimension. Writing with clever readers in mind. Well-built worlds. Killer starts and clutch endings. Crazy crisp dialogue. Incredibly tight plotting. More shows, less tells. Big emotion.

Find past editions HERE. Find what factors are considered when constructing this rec list, and learn how to get your recommendations to me HERE. Find info on the structure of these rec posts HERE, with answers to FAQs such as “Why did someone make up a title for my piece?”, and more.

>> The Basics On What’s Below <<

- All from the world of SPN (unless otherwise noted, i.e. cross-overs), across all genres; these are organized by length for the most part, so you’ll need to click thru to see if it is a theme of your preference; I aim to not have too much that’s of the same genre/length in a given edition, and limit the times a writer can appear on a given list (if they had more that fit the bill, I’ll chuck ‘em to next edition’s list); when applicable, unique projects, original stories, and any anecdotes/personal essays/family stories/etc. are near the end.

- You’ll see icons throughout…

If it has NSFW elements / walks an NSFW line - ⚠️

If it features / blatantly alludes to a specific ship - 🚢

If it has less than 100 notes (at time of this post) - 📌

And that last item is very important.

- A main priority of The Nail is to have at least 50% of these one-and-done SPN stories (so, drabbles and one-shots) be those which have less than 100 notes (give or take a few self-reblogs by the writer, and not counting mine) in each posting, and for this edition, out of 36, these comprise 26 so the goal was met!

Highly encourage you to at minimum hit the heart, ideally reblogging along with a note of feedback if you enjoyed. To do my part, I’ll be queuing these low-note fics one per day after this edition is published.

- Reblog of this rec list by “big blogs” (let’s say 1K followers and up) is especially appreciated, and not for my sake; it’s to get these wonderful writers with low note fics as much exposure as possible.

- Writers, make sure you scroll - you may be on here more than once!

- “Notes from Nash" at the very bottom of the post.

- For your mobile convenience, here’s The Nail Master Post of Editions

- And finally, shameless plugs....

 See Nash Write: Master List

You Totally Made That Up podcast - @youtotallymadethatup

Note: Just a line or two excerpt to paint a little picture - no specific feedback on these drabbles because each writer nailed it in the entirety - all are poignant, well-structured, thoughtful, and they did it all in a limited amount of words. Well done, all of you. 

181 words

The Wishes 📌  -  @sixtysevenandwhiskey 

It’s a lot of nothing, until nothing is all there is.

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182 words

Stars 📌  -  @covered-byroses

She loved looking at the stars.

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223 words

Storytelling 📌  -  @always-keep-writing

He shouldn’t be surprised that it ends up being a story.

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230 words

A Long Forty Years  -  @babybluecas

Sometimes, he’d wish he was so much older.

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352 words

Control 📌 -  @idreamofhazel

If only Dean knew the other, more biting things he holds under his tongue.

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370 words

His Hair 📌 🚢  -  @gabrielfallstonight  

He often wondered if, by spending as much time on Earth as he did, he was growing almost human.

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427 words

Topper  -  @alleiradayne  

Coffee. He just needed a cup. Or four. Okay, maybe the whole pot.

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483 words

Tedium 📌  -  @smi727  

This situation was something Michael simply could not abide.

555 words

Kids These Days 📌  -  @revwinchester  

A little behind-the-scenes interlude wherein Dean has an interaction with some kids in town. In medias res, OCs developed in a short amount of space, thoughtful/nice message without being preachy.

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560 words

Four Months Expired (But Still Good) 📌 🚢  -  @bendingsignpost

A delightful scene based on a premise that could've gone saccharine but stays the just right amount of sweet and humorous.

(I cannot tag this lovely, if someone would be so kind as to try to do so in the comments, it would be appreciated!)

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570 words

Black 📌 - @sculptorofbeginningslibrary  

An introspective look at Dean in the time between waking up with his demonized soul and when he left the bunker; doesn't merely recap what we know; nice take on the physical changes; excellent characterization.

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633 words

Smoked  -  @ameliacareful

A snicker-worthy tale of what should be an ordinary shopping trip, but as we know nothing can ever be simple for the brothers; well-structured, solid characterization, concise  descriptions that put you right there with them.

(I cannot tag this lovely, if someone would be so kind as to try to do so in the comments, it would be appreciated!)

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664 words

Last Night  -  @atwistoffate

A brief interaction between you and Dean that is a perfect balance of snarky and cute, and (thank Chuck) Dean is portrayed realistically, and I personally salute the writer for not uttering a single Y/N or sweetheart (it can be done, folks). I'd also be remiss not to highlight this beauty: “You know what? I don’t even care,” Dean says, caring deeply.

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714 words

Stay  -  @there-must-be-a-lock

Absolutely beautiful moment between you and Sam that doesn't get weighed down by over-dramatic pining, in part thanks to a sandwich. In medias res; descriptions that paint the picture without diving too deep; lovely from beginning to end.  

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812 words

Carolina 📌  -  @atc74

A first-person, introspective tale of an interaction Dean has with a stranger. In medias res; sets the stage from the opening paragraph, putting you right into Dean's shoes; well-developed OC in short amount of time; great closing lines.

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841 words

Strange Gifts 📌 -  @lastactiontricia  

Michael gives you the "gift" of knowing your potential fates. In medias res; great structure/descriptions that convey the mood without being belabored; clutch open-ended ending.  

1.1K words

Syruped and Feathered 📌 -  @mrswhozeewhatsis

A snicker-worthy on-the-hunt tale where you and the Winchesters get in a... well... a sticky situation. Ahem. Sorry, couldn't resist. Oh, and there's a surprise guest star that'll make you grin. In medias res, nice flow, creative use of prompts.

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1.2K words

Don't Panic 📌  -  @koedeza

Beautifully written, somber tale about what eventually happens in the lives of hunters. In medias res, excellent structure/flow, fantastic characterization, clutch ending. Keep an eye out for this writer - they are consistently solid and do not disappoint.

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1.3K words

'Til It All Falls Apart 📌  -  @lipstickandwhiskey

Angst done right in this story about what Dean might've gone through after Michael was cast out. Good flow, no laborious explanations of what we already know, reasonable actions/reactions from all.

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1.4K words

Bite Me, BitFit 📌  -  @shy-violet-soul

Exactly what you think from the title - a funny story about Dean's battle with healthy living. In medias res, nice structure, great characterization, several killer lines.

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1.4K words

Eggshells 📌  -  @hunenka

A coda to Nightmare Logic, this tackles Dean's internal processing of life as he now knows it, Sam in charge and what feels like a million people in his home. Beautifully written, Dean is as accurate as it gets, excellent flow, plausible scenario.

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1.7K words

Told You So   -  @there-must-be-a-lock

How to do hot and sultry without smut - read and learn. This is a story about what should have been just an ordinary post-hunt night back at the bunker, when it turned to something more. Great opening paragraph, easy flow, trifecta of snarky-sweet-sexy.

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1.8K words

Brother 📌  -  @sixtysevenandwhiskey

An exquisite look - to use the writer's words - at Dean over the years, through Sam's eyes. Excellent structure/verbiage, no unneeded repetition of things we already know, good use of song inspo, plausible within canon, feels genuine throughout.

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1.8K words

The Lie 📌 -  @sophisticated-angel

Stunning tale (and add this to the pile of "Why the hell doesn't this have more notes?!" stories) about what happens to those who are left behind after a loved one dies - but as always in the Winchester world, nothing can ever be routine. In medias res, creative plotline, moving and heart-grabbing that leaves you with both a sense of rightness and a sense of unease.

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2.9K words

The Unexpected Guest  -  @crispychrissy 

Per the writer's summary - "A day of researching takes a turn when you see something from your past that leads to some interesting discoveries." But, wait - this is so much more. Pay attention as you read, because the writer has left you clues along the way (starting with the title), and it's done quite deftly. In addition - nice blending of humor and drama, time taken to research the creature featured clearly evident, clutch ending.

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3K words

Easier To Be Me 📌 -  @alleiradayne

A Sam + Reader story labelled "floof" by the writer, but it's sweet without bending saccharine; in medias res; great opening/closing lines.

[Nominated by @atc74 who said - “So I have read a couple things of hers, this I read a while ago, but it deserves some love, because it is just that good. Hope you like it This was so wonderful. Well written and beautiful."]

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3.1K words

Teeth 📌   -  @lastactiontricia

Do you want to read something spooky that’s based on a true story, with a fantastic plot that has roots in a true story, which features well-developed characterization/accuracy in characterization, and is - in case I didn’t mention it - based on a true story?!

Read this. Find you a cozy corner, grab the drink of your choice whether it’s bourbon or hot chocolate, wrap up in a blanket, and Read. The. Story. It is unique, it is well-written, quality top to bottom, and it’ll give you the feels, tips to toes. Stop wasting your time on the same ol’, same ol’.

READ THE STORY

(Part of a collection, all are fantastic, so see also: Halloween Horror SPN One Shots Masterlist)

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3.3K words

Lay Me Down 📌  -  @stusbunker

A solid case fic here that balances itself with some cheekiness thrown in amongst the drama (and a bonus for me, not a "Y/N" in sight - it can be done, folks). In medias res, moves at a quick clip, great line here: "The spell spread quickly, like spilled water on a tabletop..."

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4.9K words

Shadow's Edge 📌  -  @saenalife 

A story of what happened one night when a routine retrieval of an item goes sideways. In medias res, excellent opening line/paragraph that perfectly sets the scene/mood (I mean - "Dark seems like too shallow a word for this. It goes beyond the absence of light - more like the light has never existed here at all..." - hello), creative plot, great structure (specifically: flashback/forward done right), and bonus kudos for switching things up with a feature not seen with regularity, that of a gender neutral lead.

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5.6K words

The Wonders of Modern Technology ⚠️ -  @littlegreenplasticsoldier

If you aren’t familiar with Greenie, she’s another one of those rare writers ‘round these parts who gives us consistently solid stories with a unique style that’s all her own, and this one is no exception, a humorous tale of a piece of equipment that doesn’t exactly malfunction, but we’ll just say there’s, ah, user error [wink]. 

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5.7K words

Like Ocean in the Desert 📌⚠️  -  @saenalife

Borrowing the writer's summary - "Baby needs some work before Dean can get back on the road. He went to the salvage yard for parts, but what he found was a human connection." In medias res, well-developed OC, nice premise, great structure/flow.

[Nominated by @littlegreenplasticsoldier who said - "Here’s a prime example of notes misaligning with quality. Pfft. Criminal. This is the third time I’ve read this."]

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6.4K words

The First Bite 📌  -  @shy-violet-soul

A story from the way-back-when, and as for feedback, I’ll let the curator take it away....

[Nom'd by @mrswhozeewhatsis who said - "Confession: I love Weechesters. So, this fic was already up my alley from word one. Add in pie mentioned just in the author’s note, and I was already a happy camper! Imagine my surprise when I was sniffling halfway through because wee!Dean was just killing me! The OCs are very well fleshed out, without being distracting, and the whole story was just so well-written I finished it just wanting to hug everyone. The grammar and other technical stuff was at least flawless enough that I didn’t notice it, and the whole story just unfolded in front of me like a cootie-catcher. I think I’m in love, and I might go read it again, even though I should be writing. *swoon*"]

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6.8K words

Gutted  -  @idreamofhazel

A case fic with some Dean + Reader sweet-n'-sultry on top. Nice opening paragraph that sets the tone, solid characterization, very creative plot/creature featured, excellent structure.

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6.9K words

About Dean's Dreams   ⚠️ -  @fanforfanatic  

This writer has yet to disappoint - and this story is damn near pristine from start to finish. It’s an actual, on god, Dean-in-character dive into the woman of his dreams. Sound fluffy or angsty? Nope. You’re wrong. It isn’t either. What it is, is just right. I’m not telling you any more - when you next have time to sit and read and really absorb an introspective Dean piece, make this your first choice.

Say hello to a new (-ish!) writer, @salt-n-burn-em-all !

Doors 📌

You will not believe this is just her 2nd SPN fanfic - captivating and moving, and even if you're swiping a tear away, I think you'll find yourself with a smile at the last three words.

East of Nowhere ⚠️  -  @thecleverdame 

You and Sam are strangers trapped in a desolate mountain town where you live alone, isolated from the outside world, for five years.

Very creative scenario that takes you on an intimate journey and - most importantly - has quite the satisfying reveal.

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How You and I Will Be  -  @katehuntington  

When a hellhound case in the mountains goes sideways, Dean and you find yourselves trapped in a small cabin, miles from civilization. Rescue is on its way, but will it be in time?

Opening paragraph sets the scene perfectly, you'll find yourself there immediately, and it's a plausible scenario of a hunt gone wrong. (We do love our case fics here at The Nail!)

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If This Is A Dream  🚢 -  @wendibird 

Sam receives a tip about a restless spirit haunting a particular patch of woods in South Carolina - one who has asked for him by name. He must now deal with the thought of putting to rest someone he once cared for, but will things go that simply?

Phenomenal opening line/paragraph that puts you in Sam's headspace from the jump, and boy howdy can we all empathize with him, and it's a plausible scenario, one I personally haven't seen tackled til this.

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Men of Cold Cases  -  @smi727

Sam had uncovered hundreds upon hundreds of cases the Men of Letters had never closed, [and the] idea was to investigate what those stodgy old nerds never got around to. Given the cases were at least 60 years old, the chances that any were still active were slim to none. They should all be milk runs…

Fantastic concept, completely original, and well-written to boot. Bonus? The writer has based the plots on actual cold cases and mysteries, and provides you links to the stories behind the story so you can learn more.

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The Ellison Lane Legacy  -  @sixtysevenandwhiskey 

Sam finds a case. You’re reminded of a past you want to forget.

Cheers for a well-rounded original female character who is tough and vulnerable all at once. Interesting and creative story that's heavy, yes, but thanks to skilled writing the flow keeps it moving vs. getting mired down.

Wrath 📌  -  @waywardjoy

Shakespeare gets a run for his money here with a small fic inspired by some of his words. Beautifully composed, from the title to the usage of the lines, flows like a dream, evokes big emotion, and puts you right there in the action, breathtaking from start to finish.

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The Runaway Vessel 📌  -  @butiaintgonnaloveem 

A creepy re-working of a popular children's story that will stay with you after you read it. Killer first line, clutch ending, and a detailed, stunning piece of artwork to boot from @lostmymuseagain, what a match made in heaven. This one dug deep, and definitely read like a cautionary fairytale about fate and choices that grandparents would tell/read to the children on a dark night around the fire, give ‘em a bit of a chill in spite of it. 

Ring-A-Ling  -  @winchester-writes & @littlegreenplasticsoldier & @mrswhozeewhatsis

To think, it all started with an innocent post about a tiny bell - get ready to laugh.

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Ten Years Gone  -  @cinnamonanddean  

This is a short-and-sweet, most worthy exception to a The Nail rule that no RPF will be on the list, wherein Jensen reflects upon his time on the show.

Carriers  -  @violetwolfraven 

Daddy Loves To Be Murdered   -  @gabesnonnie 

Slay Ride  -  @bendingsignpost 

The Awakening  -  @rmeisel 

The Chosen One  -  @copperbadge 

The Night  -  @later0varies

Bedtime Stories & How Chad Got His Name  -  @lostmymuseagain (also see the artwork related to the Chad story here)

The Author  -  @thebibliosphere

Notes from Nash

The document with my little summaries and personalized feedback for each of these got eaten - basically, I had to re-do the list and time’s been scarce, so forgive me for the lateness.

Also, there was a good handful of stories that disappeared due to what I presume was the purge/people deleting or losing their blogs. I did make effort to check AO3 but I’m afraid some stellar work has been lost for good.

There were a lot of repeat writers and folks I’m friendly with in this edition, more than I typically feature - I strive to highlight mostly lesser known writers and, as noted, mostly fics with <100 notes - but they earned it (and I even chucked a few more from some of these peeps into the folder for the next edition, that’s how hard they’re rockin’ it). That’s why it’s so important y’all let me know about the unsung writers and their undiscovered jewels - submit the story links and your reviews to me (links to your reblogs with your comments is perfectly fine) any ol’ time. 

That’s it! What’re you waiting for??? Get to reading!

[swainlake]

Hello! So now that got has ended I'm looking for some tv shows that I could watch after I'm done with my exams. Do you have any suggestions? I'm not looking for anything specific, although if you have watched some good period dramas, I'd love some recommendations. Also wanted to add how much I love your blog, it's really beautiful

tysm that’s so sweet!! i love giving recs so i’ve got a bunch that you might like under the cut; i’ve put a ♡ next to my favs

period dramas:

NEW WORLDS (2014)this one is a mini series, only 4 episodes long, but please don’t let that stop you! it’s about anti-monarchism and rebellion and forbidden love in the 1600′s & is set in both england and america. i cried more than once but the ending is so bittersweet and hopeful!! 

POLDARK (2015—)i have a love/hate relationship with this one tbh. i started watching because of the main relationship but i ended up really into it for the side relationships instead?? the actual political plot doesn’t interest me but i love the drama between the family members. also i adore the women in this show, every single female character is well-written and realistic and you’ll love them all (even if at times you hate them). the men tho? the men are pretty much collectively the worst. “what’s wrong with the women in this family?” “the men.”

SPARTACUS (2010—2013) ♡i started watching this before i ever got into game of thrones but if you like the fight scenes in got, you’ll enjoy this! great characters, great fight scenes, great friendships. this one is based on gladiators who are fighting for their freedom.

THE WHITE PRINCESS (2017) ♡okay firstly and most importantly: jodie comer stars in this so you know it’s good. it’s also got michelle fairly (catelyn stark) in it though tbh she wasn’t my favourite character in this and i didn’t find her likeable at all. it’s not very historically accurate ofc but the relationship between henry/elizabeth is honestly the perfect enemies to lovers rep & always lowkey reminds me of book!sansa/jon possibilities

PAN AM (2011—2012)this one isn’t like game of thrones at all but it’s only one season and it’s super cute and has a lot of famous actresses in it like christina ricci & margot robbie. based on the adventures of a crew of pan am stewardesses, this is a good combination of lighthearted fun and chilling cold-war drama. an old favourite. 

THE MUSKETEERS (2014—2016) ♡i’ll be gushing over this for years to come tbh it’s really just that perfect. the relationship between the musketeers is so lovely, the personification of ‘brotherhood’ really, but also the romantic relationships are really good too?? which for some reason i personally hadn’t expected. my fav couple is aramis/anne (anne is played by the actress who played roslin frey!) because the forbidden love & the respect and adoration between those two is just perfect but really every relationship (even the ones that don’t become endgame) are written very well

OUTLANDER (2014—)i haven’t watched every single episode of this one but from what i have seen it’s very good, and has some similar themes to game of thrones!! the sex scenes are epic, the main relationship is lovely, and overall its a very realistic show that features supernatural elements!

THE LAST KINGDOM (2015—) ♡i’m not going to lie: i started this series by skipping straight to 2x7 because i’d seen gifs of the relationship between aethelflaed and erik but it was so good i ended up going back and starting from the beginning! this show reminds me of ‘vikings’ more tham game of thrones but it’s not as gory and the characters aren’t all assholes. side note: if you love sansa stark as much as i do you’re gonna love aethelflaed, lady of mercia! she’s actually a real person but this show is based on a book series that looks super interesting! honestly the main character also kind of reminds me of jon snow

HARLOTS (2017—) ♡oh my gosh how do i describe this show?? the family dynamics are so! intricate! and! beautiful! honestly just stunning. everything about this show is s t u n n i n g. the costumes are colourful and vivid and honestly i’d recommend watching just for that but the storyline really does keep you hooked!! also: liv tyler and jessica brown findlay are love interests in this which is honestly a dream come true

BLACK SAILS (2015—2017)okay full disclosure; i haven’t actually seen this but i’ve heard very good things and it’s on my list!! it’s about pirates, i think there’s some queer rep (can anybody confirm??), and there’s lots of amazing women. again, allegedly. 

dramas:

THE SOCIETY (2018—)i literally watched the entire first season in a single night so it must be alright, right? basically all you need to know about this is that a town full of teenagers go on a field trip & then return to find all their parents mysteriously missing and their town closed off from the outside world. it’s basically lord of the flies but modern! with some kick-ass friendships! and amazing young women (one literally teaches herself to be a doctor can you believe?)! 

SHARP OBJECTS (2018)if you haven’t heard about this one yet idk what rock you’ve been living under but welcome back! this one is a m a z i n g but also hella chilling and the ending is such a shocker if it hasn’t been spoiled for you yet!

THE BOLD TYPE (2017—) ♡i always describe this one as ‘sex and the city for millennials’ but i’ve never watched a single sex and the city episode in my life so i honestly don’t know how accurate that is?? but it’s about a group of 20-something year old women who are best friends and work mates and they love each other so much?? the relationship between the girls is my favourite thing about the show but the show honestly tackles a lot of relevant issues; trump, age gaps, queer rep, immigration, racism, etc. i can’t recommend this enough!

CODE BLACK (2015—2018) ♡you know those episodes in greys anatomy where everything is life-or-death and you’re on edge for the whole episode? that’s basically every single episode of code black. this is hands-down one of my most rewatched shows ever. i love medical dramas and this one balances well written characters with action-packed medical miracles so honestly what’s not to like?? 

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES (2018—)okay admittedly the only reason i watch this show is because of the main couple but i can’t help it when they’re just so gosh-darn cute!! they love each other so god damned much! i wasn’t completely sold on this straight away but by ep 3 i was HOOKED. if you like supernatural romances/dramas that are more mature than your usual cw show, this one is a good choice!

THE OA (2016—) ♡i can’t even put into words how much i adore this?? but also: it will confuse THE SHIT out of you. no matter how smart you are, this one will leave you scratching your head. basically: a group of people who’ve had near-death experiences get kidnapped and experimented on. it’s not as brutal as it sounds, in fact the show is exceptionally beautiful, but it does deal with some hard themes and the good guys don’t always win. 

12 MONKEYS (2015—2018)do you like time travel? do you like forbidden and yet totally-still-devoted-to-one-another-anyway love? then this is the show for you! this one is dark and gritty and deals pretty realistically with the concept of time travel & self-sacrifice and what people will give up to create a better world. it’s got a happy ending & you wont regret watching!

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE (2018)oh this one will make you cry. in a good way though! long story short a family grows up in a haunted house and it affects them in ways they cannot imagine. it’s hauntingly beautiful and poetic and everybody should watch it at least once imo

comedies:

THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL (2017—)okay so this one counts as a period drama as well but it’s about a COMEDIAN so i put it in the comedy section lol. okay so long story short, a woman is left by her husband, she’s worth 1000 of him & everybody else knows it because you seriously can’t help falling in love with this woman but ofc there’s period-typical sexism she has to face as she struggles with being a single woman, a single mother, and an up-and-coming comedian. def recommend.

SANTA CLARITA DIET (2017—2019)drew barrymore is a zombie!! who lives a normal life but also eats people!! it’s only weird for the first couple of eps. the family dynamics are snarky and witty and they manage to make gore funny?? honestly this entire show is legit laugh-out-loud darkly hilarious.